CHAPTER 07

Kat hadn't been in Commander Cruger's office much. And, as far as she knew, neither had he. And that was evident as soon as you set foot inside. The space consisted of a desk with a computer, two chairs for visitors, a sofa, and a large screen on the wall for video conferencing… and essentially that. No decorative plants, paintings on the wall, books, photos, or any personal items. If it weren't for the nameplate on the desk that read "Cmdr. Anubis Cruger," one might think it was a free office.

Most of the day-to-day work was directed and attended to from the Command Room, so it was more common to find the Commander there. That was something Kat understood to some extent. Of course, for her position, she should theoretically have an office, too, but she still spent half her time in her lab and the other half in the Command Room. Always working, always attending to something. They were similar in that, although Kat sometimes felt the Commander was even more obsessive about work than she was, which she thought was impossible.

Cruger used this smaller, more private office primarily for calls or meetings that needed to be handled without the prying ears of an assistant or cadet. Kat didn't initially understand why the matter he wanted them to discuss would fall into that category, but she did soon after.

"First of all," the Commander said as soon as they were inside the office, "I think you'll be pleased to know that I spoke with Officer Grayson after what happened the other day in the Command Room. It was difficult, but she has agreed to return to duty and follow Central Command's orders as soon as required."

That took Kat quite by surprise.

"And how exactly did you change her mind?"

"We had a long talk about the importance of our work and the responsibility of being a Power Ranger."

"Just that?" Kat questioned, arching an eyebrow in evident skepticism.

Cruger glanced sideways, almost surreptitiously.

"More or less… In the end, she understood that right now, the important thing is to defeat the Troobian Empire. And the best way to achieve this is for her and her team to go to the frontline and lead the onfall."

Kat thought about that statement for a bit. She didn't doubt that the Commander could be quite convincing when he put his mind to it, even if it was to convince someone as stubborn and proud as the Red Ranger of A-Squad was. But because she did indeed know Charlie well, she doubted that this conversation had ended there.

"I don't think what happened that day can just be overlooked and forgotten," Kat said with some severity.

"And you're right," Cruger admitted, letting out a long sigh. "We also agreed that once this threat is removed, we would both have another talk and discuss her persistence in the S.P.D., and mine."

Kat started, a little alarmed by those words and all the implications they could have.

"And what does that mean?" she asked somewhat hesitantly, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

Cruger raised his face, and his gaze met Kat's. They both stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, and Kat couldn't guess what was going through her Commander's mind. Had Officer Grayson threatened him or conditioned him in some way to agree to obey the order? That thought alone was enough to increase Kat's urge to give that stubborn and self-centered Ranger a good lesson, which was already quite evident that she needed.

Unfortunately, Cruger was unwilling to explain himself further, or at least not yet.

"Don't worry about that for now," he said seriously. "I need to talk to you about something else."

He then walked over to the desk, walked around it, and sat down in his chair. Kat followed a few steps behind, finally standing at the desk, preferring not to sit down for the moment. Cruger leaned his back against the back of the chair and fixed an intense gaze at Kat, which she did not perceive as very friendly, actually. This made her a little nervous; she felt almost like a student about to be reprimanded by a teacher, although that thought made no sense.

"When we talked the other day about the three candidates for B-Squad, you didn't mention anything about their meta powers," Cruger commented, his voice gravelly, leaving it unclear whether it was some sort of complaint.

Kat was a little taken aback by the comment but remained calm.

Meta powers, as many colloquially called them, were extraordinary abilities that a few individuals had begun to develop in recent years, outside the natural abilities of their own species. It was a phenomenon that science was still studying. The most accepted theory spoke of a dormant gene present in these individuals, which was awakened by different situations and affected each person differently.

It was very rare for that to happen in reality, and only a few cases had been documented. But as the Commander had just said, the three candidates Kat had chosen were from that special group of people.

Sky Tate had the ability to create energy shields before him with his own body of different sizes and with the ability to protect himself but also attack.

Syd Drew could change the molecular structure of her body into that of any material she touched, such as steel or diamond, strengthening her fist to be as resilient and hard as that object.

While Bridge Carson did exhibit some psychic abilities yet to be explored, including psychometry and even some precognition and telepathy, some of these still needed to be tested to be fully understood.

"It's not like they're a secret," Kat replied, shrugging. "They're described in the details of their files."

"But what's not in those files is the actual origin of those powers," Cruger pointed out shrewdly. "Because it's no coincidence that the children of three of your former colleagues have developed meta powers as they grew up. Or am I wrong?"

That sounded more like an accusation, and one that Kat couldn't quite keep calm about as she had before. Her gaze inevitably dropped to her feet as if she felt ashamed; perhaps she did feel a little like that.

"That's no secret either," she confessed in a low voice. "It's just something I'd rather not talk about too much."

"Why?" Cruger asked, curious.

"Because I'm embarrassed," Kat sighed exhaustedly.

And then she decided to take one of the chairs in front of the desk and sit down. She remained silent for a while, her eyes still lowered. Cruger watched her in silence, patiently. When the doctor finally got up the courage to speak, the Commander listened very attentively.

"During the many experiments my team and I conducted, we were frequently exposed to the Morphin Grid, and to significant amounts of energy from it. At the time, it was still new and uncharted territory, and there hadn't been enough research into the effects that prolonged exposure could have on an organism. But I was their leader and should have been much more careful. And the worst part is that, because of my genetics, I came away completely unaffected."

"And the others?" Cruger asked.

"They didn't suffer any harm," Kat quickly clarified. "It didn't cause them cancer or anything like that. However, they did have certain mutations at the cellular level, which altered… some of their physical functions. It wasn't as serious or obvious to them, but…"

She left the sentence unfinished. However, Cruger completed it for her, as often happened in their conversations.

"It manifested itself more strongly in their children, in the form of these meta powers," the Commander noted solemnly.

Kat nodded.

"And these powers did not always bring good things to these children. Some of them suffered a lot from discrimination and ignorance of the people in a time when people with such abilities were much rarer than now. Humanity has many good things, but the fear of the unknown or different has always been ingrained in it in some way.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened," Cruger said in an understanding voice.

"Oh no? Then who?" Kat exclaimed, perhaps even a little belligerent in doing so. "I was the team leader, I should have protected them better. And while I could perhaps justify myself by saying that we all knew there were risks in what we were doing, the truth is that these children did not. They never consciously signed up to be part of this; they weren't even born. And they still had to deal with the consequences."

Kat took a few seconds to breathe deeply through her nose, trying to calm herself. She was surprised, and at the same time annoyed, at how quickly she had lost control. That never happened to her with most people, but with him, it was so easy to let her guard down for some reason. And she wasn't sure if she liked that or not.

"Well, that's old history," Kat concluded, trying to downplay the matter somewhat. "Anyway, at least in the case of Sky, Syd, and Bridge, those abilities are now a quality in their favor. Look at the files and the results of the latest tests. All three of them have learned to manage and control their powers. I assure you they will be a tool in their favor on the battlefield."

"I have no doubt about that," Cruger said easily. "The point of bringing this up was not to blame you for this matter."

"So, what did you want to talk about then?" Kat asked, perhaps sounding more exasperated than she intended.

"Do you know if other members of your team had children who also exhibited powers?" the Commander asked directly, without further ado.

Kat looked at him in confusion, perhaps expecting him to give some additional detail to the question, but he didn't.

"I know of at least three other cases," she replied, slightly hesitant. "I also tried to track down the children, but I haven't heard from them for years."

"I have to assume that otherwise, they would have ended up here at the S.P.D. Academy anyway."

"I would have tried, at least. But why are you asking me about this exactly?"

Cruger turned to his computer. He typed rapidly on the keyboard, and a few seconds later, an image was projected on the large screen on the wall.

"I would like you to watch this video and share your opinion on it with me."

Kat turned to the screen and stood up from the chair. She stood before it, watching intently with her arms crossed.

It was indeed a video, or rather four, each from a security camera, if she wasn't mistaken. They showed images from different angles of what appeared to be a busy market, with several food and clothing stalls, and many people coming and going between them.

In the first few seconds, everything looked very calm. But that changed drastically when, out of nowhere, a small hustle and bustle began. Two figures moved quickly through the crowd, roughly making their way through it. Three uniformed officers from the earthling police appeared in the image shortly after, going in pursuit.

Kat looked more closely at the two fleeing. Each seemed to be carrying something, but what? With a wave of her hand, the camera image enlarged so she could see them more clearly. They were a man and a woman, both young. They were carrying large packages under their arms. And judging by the way they were running, they were unlikely to pay for them.

"Street thieves?" the doctor asked, and she turned to the Commander, questioning with her gaze what relevance that had to their conversation.

"Keep watching," Cruger insisted, and Kat had no choice but to comply and turn her attention back to the screen.

The chase continued normal until something strange suddenly happened. The man who was fleeing ran straight into a wall with two of the officers hot on his heels. And when it seemed like he was going to crash, out of nowhere, his body literally seemed to go through the wall and disappear from the camera's view, with the two officers who were following him being the ones who ended up crashing into the wall.

Kat was startled by this. With a wave of her hand, she rewound the video to watch the sequence again and be sure she hadn't seen it wrong. When she replayed it, of course, the same thing happened. A little later, the same boy came out from another wall on the other side and continued running as if nothing had happened.

Kat's pulse hustled instantly. She quickly focused on the other videos, looking for the girl. She struggled a bit to find her after she separated from her partner, but found her moving between the stalls… Or no, more like she was moving between the people, getting lost among them… No, she was in the playground… Or wasn't she the one who had just crossed the street, narrowly avoiding a motorcycle?

Wait a minute, Kat thought, and then she put on the four videos at the same time; all four showed the same person, at the same time, in four different places. In one of them, the officer following her looked as bewildered as Kat herself, looking in all directions, unable to decide which one to go after.

Ability to pass through solid objects as if they were mere mist.

Ability to duplicate one's own body at will.

These were meta powers. And not only that: meta-powers that Kat had seen before.

"It can't be," she whispered, completely flustered, unable to look away from the video or even blink.

"Do you have any idea who these two individuals might be?" the Commander asked, still from his chair.

Kat didn't immediately react to his question. She paused the videos at a point where they both appeared and enlarged the image so she could focus closely on their faces. They were both young, maybe twenty or twenty-one years old. He was dark-skinned, with long black hair in braids and an athletic build. She was white-skinned, with shoulder-length brown hair and an intense gaze; all four of their copies were identical.

After a while, Kat slowly nodded, answering the Commander's question a little late.

"Jack Landors and Elizabeth Delgado," she said quietly, two names she hadn't thought of in a while.

They were two of three children of her former comrades whom she had lost track of. The last time he heard from them, Jack had been just a very young child, and Elizabeth had been a rather rebellious pre-teen. They had grown up quite a bit since then, but they were them; she had no doubt about it.

Suddenly, her attention was diverted to something else while absorbed in those images. She had been so focused on recognizing the two youngsters that she had overlooked another important fact: the place where they were. This was not just any market; she knew it, and only then did she realize it.

"That is Parkington Market," she exclaimed, pointing at the video. "Was this here? At Newtech?"

Cruger nodded in the affirmative.

"There have been multiple reports of thefts in the market and surrounding areas in recent weeks. Witnesses had reported that the perpetrators had unusual abilities, which made their apprehension difficult. Upon reviewing the cameras, we were able to confirm this. Given the type of powers they have and the ages they appear to have, I thought it might be a case similar to that of our three cadets."

"Are they both here? Together?" Kat asked, incredulous. "It's incredible."

"Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways."

Kat couldn't exactly say she believed in fate, but she had to admit that it seemed more than just a coincidence. Not only had the two of them somehow found each other after the last time she heard from them, but now they were right there in her own city. If fate didn't exist, this seemed like the closest thing Kat had ever seen in her one hundred and forty-seven years of living.

Cruger then rose from his chair and walked around the desk to join Kat before the screen.

"As soon as you see fit, I will assign B-Squad its first mission: they must apprehend this pair of thieves and bring them here."

"Apprehend them?" Kat exclaimed, a little agitated by the sudden instruction.

"They have been committing this series of thefts for quite some time and have misused their skills. Because of these, they have easily slipped past conventional police officers. On the other hand, our new Squad seems to be more capable of succeeding. Not only because of their training to deal with less conventional threats but also because they have their own unique powers.

"I understand all that. But if you give me the chance, maybe I can talk to them…"

"I understand that you may feel responsible for these children," Cruger said sternly. "But ultimately, it is not up to you to safeguard their lives forever. Sooner or later, they will have to decide for themselves what path they wish to follow in this life. And I will give them the opportunity to make that decision right now."

"Make a decision?" Kat muttered hesitantly. "What do you…?"

At that moment, all the pieces of that conversation fit perfectly in her head as she remembered what the Commander had told her in the lab: that he had another option to complement B-Squad that he wanted to talk to her in private.

"Wait, you're not planning what I think you are, are you?" Kat asked with an urgent concern.

Cruger remained silent but focused his attention on the monitor, where the faces of Jack Landors and Elizabeth Delgado were still projected.

"Five individuals, five Power Rangers. As I said, fate sometimes works in mysterious ways."

"Are you serious?" she exclaimed, raising her voice in disbelief. "You want to turn two untrained, inexperienced young people into Power Rangers?"

"Why not?" Cruger asked quite sincerely. "I've been thinking a lot about what you told me that night in the cafe, about how, in looking for members of this new Squad, we must find candidates with the heart and courage of a hero. And these don't always come from the most skilled or trained but can come from ordinary people who want to do good. All the thefts these two have committed have been clothing, food, and nothing more. And there's a rumor on the streets, shared by some of our trusted informants, that these things are not sold or kept, but given away to people in the city who need them, especially alien refugees. A crime nonetheless, but motivated by the best of intentions. Call it a hunch, but I think Mr. Landors and Ms. Delgado might be those two remaining hearts we need."

Kat felt a little stunned by the idea the Commander was presenting to her and especially undecided about how to interpret it.

"I know what I said," Kat admitted. "But it's a very different thing to give three cadets who have gone through their training at the Academy the opportunity to show what they can do… than to turn two civilians, with obvious criminal records, into Powers Ranger. The Supreme Commander will not approve this."

"It's a good thing the Supreme Commander has no say in choosing which Rangers are assigned to a respective planet," Cruger stated, even sounding a little amused as he did so. "At most, he can offer friendly suggestions, which the Commander in question can friendly ignore."

"Maybe on paper it is like that. But why risk alienating Central Command over something like that?"

"I take it from your remarks that you disagree with my action plan?" Cruger inquired, rather more seriously.

Kat didn't respond immediately. She hugged her tablet to her chest and looked thoughtfully at the nameplate of the Commander on the desk for no apparent reason. Did she really disagree with the idea? After all, she herself had proposed that they should opt for more alternative candidates. But when she suggested it, she had not imagined that they would reach that level of alternative.

But was that really so bad? It was risky, yes… But perhaps not a bad thing in itself.

"I…" she began to stammer, somewhat hesitantly. "As a scientist and S.P.D. officer, I feel obliged to disapprove of such a plan. But…" she paused for a few seconds, a small smile suddenly appearing on her lips. "As a person and an avid admirer of the human spirit, I think I am greatly encouraged by your hunch. Just as you have supported me, you can count on me, Commander. I will support you in any decision you make, even if this may end up blowing up in our faces later."

Cruger smiled and nodded in thanks for her approval of such a crazy idea.

"I appreciate your support, Dr. Manx. And I assure you that I will bear full responsibility if anything goes wrong."

"Not if I can help it, Commander," Kat blurted out, sounding very threatening. "And I assure you I will."

"I don't doubt that one bit," Cruger said with complete sincerity. His smile widened a little further.

Author's Notes:

I don't think I have anything to add this time except that we will look at our B-Squad soon. However, I think it's fair to say that we won't actually see them that much since the story is still told primarily from Cruger and Kat's viewpoint. But of course, we'll have all five of them around. I hope to do a good job of portraying their personalities.