Despite her long service with the Air Force, Taylor had never been into space before. The experience of gazing down at the blue-green orb in the sea of empty blackness was everything she expected. It was one thing to shoot through the sky in the latest fighter jet but this was something else. The trip to NASADA's orbiting facility hadn't taken as long as expected and before long, her journey through space was over.

The station itself was nothing spectacular, not the mammoth structure of Terra Venture that Taylor remembered from the news reports. This station was more in line with the International Space Station, long narrow tubes interconnected with cylinder structures that all linked to a central domed building.

The inside was ordinary too. Once the airlock door opened, the former yellow ranger was greeting with a sea of grey and beige, "Good to see the budget wasn't spent on interior decoration," she commented dryly.

"I think this shade is called military grey," Chris responded with a small smile, "trust me, it gets better than this."

Taylor raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further, choosing to follow Chris and the General deeper into the space station. At least the budget stretched to installing an artificial gravity generator and she wasn't expected to float everywhere. Taylor allowed herself the odd glance into the adjoining rooms but saw nothing but people in lab coats busily working away.

The corridor opened out into what Taylor assumed was the central dome. Dominating the room was a circular structure with a raised spot in the very centre. Above the small platform was an assortment of crystals connected to pieces of metal and wires. Lining the walls of the room was numerous computer banks flickering away. There was a small scrum of scientists, all surrounding an older man with thinning grey hair and a pair of thin glasses perched on the end of his nose, "Doctor," General Harkness called out to get the man's attention, "Doctor Gerhard Neuer meet Major Taylor Earhardt, the new trainer for Project Jet Force."

"The potential new trainer," Taylor reminded the General before shaking the Doctor's hand, "I'll decide once I've seen your work in action Doctor," she added.

"Ah Major," Doctor Neuer greeted with the hint of a German accent, "you won't be disappointed." He turned to the youngest member of the group standing near him, a woman in her early twenties with shoulder length jet black hair and a thick black pair of glasses, "Jasminder, bring me the briefcase, quickly please," he asked briskly.

The woman rolled her eyes, "Aye, Doctor," she replied, her thick Scottish accent grabbing Taylor's attention. She turned quickly, a little too quickly as she crashed into a console, "I'm alright, no need to worry," she added sarcastically before managing to make it to the door.

"Interns," Doctor Neuer grumbled under his breath before turning his attention back to Taylor, "What would you say Major, if I told you that we possessed the technology to improve a human being to the peak of their potential?"

"I would say that you've been reading too many Captain America comics," Taylor responded flatly, "but I've seen crazier things in my career."

"Indeed," the Doctor began, "after years of research, I've finally perfected a series of rays that I have called Avian Waves."

"Avian, as in birds?" Taylor asked, to which Doctor Neuer nodded in response, "Good thing you came to Air Force with your research, the Army would've looked weird with a bunch of birdmen."

General Harkness coughed, "Forgive the Major, she has a very peculiar sense of humour."

The Doctor shook his hands, "No need to apologise, I find her rather refreshing. Much better company than some of your other officers." Chris let out a little snort, earning him a small glare from the General. "I find birds the most overlooked species on the planet Major," he continued, "they possess remarkable speed, strength and resilience and soon, so will our chosen five."

"The new team of Power Rangers," Taylor began, "perhaps you could point me in their direction, I'd like to know who I might be training."

"Do you know wish to know more about the Avian Waves?" Doctor Neuer asked.

Taylor shook her head, "Trust me, I'm one of the least technically minded people you'll ever meet. Whatever presentation you have planned will be wasted on me."

"Very well, I do have final preparations to complete," Doctor Neuer began, "I believe the recruits are down that corridor. Oh and if you see my intern, can you send her back. I presume she's gotten herself lost again."

Taylor gave him a stiff nod and set off down the indicated corridor. She was just turning a corner when she crashed into Doctor Neuer's intern, sending her and the case she was holding crashing to the ground, "I'm sorry," the former yellow ranger began, "I wasn't paying attention."

"No bother," Jasminder replied, "although the Doctor will have my hide if he finds out I dropped this." She picked up the large silver case that was adorned with a stylised bird.

"My lips are sealed," Taylor replied, "it was Jasminder right? You're a long way from home."

"We're orbiting above the Earth so you're not exactly from these parts either," she responded, "and please call me Jazz, only my parents use my full name."

Taylor smiled, there was something she liked about this intern, "I mean you're clearly from Scotland, how did you get an internship on a top secret project for the US Air Force?"

"I'm a student, international exchange at the University of Arizona," Jazz began, "not to blow my own trumpet but you won't find many better coders on either side of the Atlantic. One thing led to another and here I am, a dogs body for Doctor personality."

The blonde let out a snort of laughter, "Please tell me your one of the potential Rangers, I really don't want to be stuck with five stiffs."

"Oh no," Jazz shook her head, "I don't have an athletic bone in my body, I pulled a muscle once getting out of bed." She straightened her glasses before continuing, "I know where two of them are training, follow me."

Taylor followed the raven haired woman towards a nearby window where two people dressed in grey boiler suits were squaring off against each other. One was a tall African-American man with a close cropped head of hair and firm looking jaw. Standing opposite him was a blonde haired woman, she was quite tall, only a few inches shorter than the man, "Lieutenant's Mark Atkins and Adrienne Becton," Jazz gave names to the faces, "the top two recruits and if you want my honest opinion, the stiffest stiffs you will ever meet."

"Really selling this project to me," Taylor sighed whilst watching her future trainees in action. The pair went through some basic sparring and she grudgingly admitted they were pretty good. They were quick, even without the enhancement from the Avian Waves. She could see something between them, the occasional warm smile and their eyes almost twinkling at each other, "Are those two a thing?" she asked.

Jazz nodded, "They think no one knows but we're not blind or stupid. It's kinda sweet in a way, I mean it's not against the rules to be in a relationship."

"Not at all," the pair jumped as Chris approached them from behind, "but what they do in their own time is their business, as long as it doesn't impact the project." There was a few moments silence before he continued, "Speaking of romance, how's things with Eric?"

Taylor let out a deep sigh at the mention of Eric Myers, "The usual, blazing arguments followed by earth shattering make-up sex," she responded with a shrug, "he's busy with the Silver Guardians and I'm busy with the Air Force, you know, the same story we've been living for nearly twenty years."

"Ooh juicy, what are you, friends with benefits?" Jazz's comment earned a cold glare from Taylor, "I'm so sorry, that was too personal for our first meeting."

"We prefer not to put labels on our relationship," Taylor responded simply.

"Yeah, the last time they did that, it ended with a divorce," Chris joked before he became the recipient of Taylor's icy glare, "Taylor, the two of you are basically the same person. Let's face it, you two aren't built for marriage, kids and a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence."

Taylor couldn't disagree, she had that argument with Eric many times. Marriage seemed like a good idea at the time but they were never the most stable couple. Even after the divorce they slotted back into their per-marriage routine. There would never be another man in her life, it would always be Eric Myers or no one, "Anyway, enough about the Major's love life," Chris continued, "the Doctor's ready so you'd better get that to him quickly Jazz." The young intern took that as her cue to leave, tripping over her feet in the process.

Still a little annoyed at Chris for bringing up Eric, Taylor chose to follow after Jazz to the main chamber. Standing in the far corner were three further men dressed similarly to Mark and Adrienne. Figuring they were the remaining three Ranger recruits, she was about to introduce herself when she felt a tap on the shoulder, "Major Earhardt," Mark greeted, "can I say it's an honour to meet you," he added with a stiff salute, "I've been eager to learn from you for many years now."

"At ease Lieutenant," she returned the salute, "if this goes well then you might just get your wish." Even with that brief exchange, it confirmed her initial assessment of the man. He was a career officer, all about climbing the ranks as quickly as possible. He probably even had a spreadsheet or wallchart detailing what steps he needed to take to be a General before his retirement.

For Taylor it was like looking through a window into the past, about twenty years ago she was just like Lieutenant Mark Atkins. Her time as a Wild Force Ranger taught her how to loosen up, she was still a consummate officer but she knew how to wind down. She had Max and Danny to thank for that, not that Taylor would ever express gratitude to the pair. That would mean admitting they were right which she would never do.

"Lieutenant Atkins," Doctor Neuer called, "we're ready for you now." Out the corner of her eye, Taylor caught Mark giving Adrienne's hand a little squeeze before he marched towards the center pedestal. He took a moment to compose himself before taking his position, "If everyone's ready, we'll begin," the Doctor added.

Everyone took a couple of paces back as the assembled scientists worked frantically on their consoles. The machine above Lieutenant Atkins slowly hummed into life, "Is it safe for us to stand here?" Taylor asked, "Shouldn't we stand behind a blast shield or have a lead apron or something?"

"I can assure you Major it's perfectly safe," Doctor Neuer replied, "in fact the procedure has already begun."

"Not even a countdown," Taylor whispered to Chris, "what kind of mad scientist is this guy?"

The hum of the machine intensified and the crystal above Mark's head began to glow red. Taylor could make out his knuckles slowly paling as his fists clenched and a few beads of sweat on his brow, "nearly there, eighty percent," Doctor Neuer called, "ninety percent," the crystals flashed and the machines went quiet, "infusion completed."

Everyone was still for a moment, waiting for Lieutenant Atkins to make the first move. He took a shaky step forward, using the hand rails for support. With his next step, he pulled the metal rails clean out of their holdings, "I take it that's a good sign?" Taylor asked.

"Not for the person who has to fix the machine," Chris commented, "but it looks like the infusion has been a complete success."

"I would have to agree," Doctor Neuer added, "I would like to run a couple of tests to be certain. If the results are good then we can proceed with the next infusion."

There was a cheer from the team followed by a round of firm handshakes and back slaps to the first recipient of the Avian Waves. The only one who wasn't joining in with the celebrations was Jazz, her attention was firmly fixed on her screen, "Doctor, General," she called, "someone really should take a look at this."

"Honestly Miss Sharma, this is hardly the time," Doctor Neuer dismissed her over the noise.

"I really think someone should see this," Jazz added more firmly. With no one else taking any notice, Taylor walked over to the Scotswoman, "tell me I'm not seeing things," she asked the Major.

Taylor frowned, "It looks like a wormhole," she began, "I remember the Galaxy Rangers telling me about something like this."

"You've met a team of Power Rangers?" Jazz asked.

"Yes but this isn't the time for stories," Taylor shook her head, "how close is it opening to this station."

Jazz tapped a few commands on her keyboard, "Too close for comfort." She paused a moment, her eyes widening, "Oh, that is no good," she gasped, "I think something is trying to come through." Suddenly an alarm blared throughout the space station following by the worrying sound of groaning metal, "I think we're caught in the gravitational field, trying to compensate."

"Miss Sharma, what have you done now?" Doctor Neuer snapped.

"Hey, she hasn't done anything," Taylor fired back, "she's the only one who noticed this wormhole opening and is trying to save our lives so show her a bit of respect." Doctor Neuer wisely kept his mouth closed allowing Taylor to turn her attention back to Jazz, "Anything you can do?"

"I'm good but I'm not that good," Jazz replied, "I've accessed the emergency engines and turned them up to full power but that's only enough to hold us in place, not get us out the way."

"Only senior officers can fire the engines," Chris frowned, "I could have you dismissed from the program for this."

The wormhole was now visible in the nearest window, there was clearly something emerging. It didn't look like anything found on Earth or any of the other known planets. The ship was roughly egg shaped, covered in a dull rocky frame. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect was the shell underneath vaguely looks like the shape of the human brain, "We've got bigger problems," Taylor pointed out the window. Suddenly the space station was rocked by an explosion, "I think we're under attack."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N – Wow, thank you for the initial response. As a reward here's the next chapter where the brown stuff starts to hit the fan.

I had a few questions about Taylor and Eric which I hope this chapter addresses. I love the pairing but honestly, they're too similar for anything other than a rocky relationship. I haven't thought far enough ahead but I reckon the Quantum Ranger will made an appearance or two before this story is over