The Storybook Dimension

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The Weakest Color

Chapter 10: Special Investigations

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There was so much to do, he didn’t know where to begin. What did they expect of him? He was only the head gadget tester – he didn’t know anything about investigations and megazord saboteurs. All he did was help Kat in the lab!

Agitated, Boom walked a little faster. The giant stack of papers and reports shifted perilously in his arms, and a note slipped from the top of the stack, falling to the ground behind him. Carefully bending down to retrieve it, he shoved it back into the pile.

Straightening in a hurry, he nearly collided with Bridge, who was walking the other direction. “Oh!” Boom exclaimed, “Sorry, Bridge! I didn’t see you.” A few stray papers escaped his grasp, drifting traitorously away. “I was distracted…” He said almost tearfully, chasing the papers around the hallway.

“What’s wrong?” Bridge asked, concerned. Boom was usually scatterbrained, but he hadn’t seem his friend so stressed out since the day he dropped out of the Academy.

“Kat wants me to do a diagnostic on the main computer,” Boom explained. “…and I have so many other things I have to do today!”

“The main computer? Why?” Bridge asked curiously. “It was working fine earlier.”

“Well… Kat told me not to tell anyone, but it’s probably okay if I tell you. It’s to see…” He bent in closer and whispered, “…if anyone’s tampered with it.”

“Oh.” Bridge shurgged. “I guess that makes sense.”

“So you’ll help me?” Boom asked pleadingly, giving Bridge his most pitiful look.

“Um… I don’t know…”

“Please? There’s just too much to do, I can’t handle it alone.”

It took only a few minutes for Bridge to relent. Sometimes, he was far to nice for his own good. “Okay.”

“Great!” Boom said brightly. “I won’t have time to do it until this evening, so come by then.” He lowered his voice again. “Oh, and… don’t tell Kat, okay?”

“I won’t.” Bridge promised. And for a fleeting moment, he felt a terrible urge to confide in his friend, to tell Boom about what he had done.

But he couldn’t. ‘For the sake of the Earth, I had better hope they don’t catch me.’ He thought. ‘If I spend the rest of my life in prison, I won’t be in a position to save anyone.”

–

For the first time in his career at SPD, Sky had been summoned alone to Cruger’s office. Previously, he had always been with another member of his squad – and he could count the number of times that had happened on one hand.

As far as Sky knew, Cruger was rarely in his office: the commander preferred to be out and about, and could almost always be found in the command center, or training his cadets. Even Jack had only the occasional private briefing – and he was red ranger!

Overall, Sky suspected that truly sensitive information tended to bypass the ranger teams altogether, and remained between Cruger and Kat. Which, of course, made this meeting even more of a mystery.

But these were strange and difficult times. A traitor in SPD – at first, he could hardly believe it!

But the more he thought it, he was forced to admit that it was not only possible, but plausible. So many people worked at SPD, no one could hope to know them all personally. The Troobians could easily have planted a spy within headquarters. And this spy had access to the megazord.

It was a scary thought.

Entering the small office, he saluted Cruger, and waited for the commander to speak.

“You’re probably wondering why I’ve called you here.” Cruger began. “As you probably know, SPD is in a very precarious situation. There’s a saboteur amongst us, and they are skilled and unusually bold. The megazord could have been destroyed this morning, along with your team and any chance we have of defeating Gruumm.”

“In these circumstances, an official investigation is not enough. That’s why I called you here.” The commander looked Sky straight in the eyes. “I need you to watch for anything unusual. To follow leads, and to do it discretely. To see if there’s anything we might have missed.”

“Yes, sir!” Sky replied, and a moment later had a terrible suspicion. “But… can I ask you something, sir?”

“Go on, cadet.”

“Why did you choose me? Why aren’t you telling this to the other rangers?”

“I chose you because I trust you.” Cruger replied simply. “I knew your father, and I’ve known you since you were a child. I believe that it’s against your nature to serve evil.”

“But what about the others?” Sky pressed.

“I would trust the other rangers with my life.” Cruger said, visibly hesitating before continuing. “But no one is infallible, and Gruumm can be very persuasive. We can’t take any chances.”

“I won’t hold it against you if you refuse.” The commander continued softly. “I know that this is an unfair thing for me to ask. I understand that you have loyalties to your teammates, as well as to SPD.”

“You don’t have to decide right away. But whatever you choose, this conversation has to remain between you and me.”

“Yes, sir.” Sky said somberly.

Cruger nodded. “Dismissed.” And so he left, conflicted, his mind full of doubts and terrible implications. ‘Everyone is a suspect.’ Sky realized. ‘Even the rangers.’

Cruger has to be wrong.’ He thought. ‘I know I would never betray SPD, but neither would the others… would they?’ He wanted to say that it wasn’t possible, that it would never happen. That he trusted them beyond all doubt. But he couldn’t.

And, deep down inside, he hated himself for that.

–

In his very short life, Invisor had experienced a broad range of emotions. Although he was created only a few days ago, those days had been full of intense experiences… and dark feelings.

Hatred came first. He was rooted in hatred. First for his enemies, then for himself.

Then came anger. Anger at the rangers and their trickery. Anger at his creator, who had brought him into such a life.

Boredom came soon afterwards, because he was a monster, and his kind was not made to wait. The mother-ship was quiet now, quiet since Gruumm had paused in his attack on earth, and Mora had obtained a new pet.

There was another emotion there. He felt it at every thought of Mora, and that foul human… her human, the key instrument in her plan. He felt it every time Gruumm mentioned his newest minion, every time he saw Mora’s idle doodles, drawings of a destroyed earth and a familiar figure, all dressed in green.

His jealously grew, festering within him, consuming him. ‘If only I had killed that ranger while I had the chance.’ Invisor thought bitterly. ‘Then I would have been chosen to destroy SPD.’

‘What does the human have that I don’t?’ Invisor fumed silently. ‘I am more powerful than him – I defeated him… twice! Yet the human was vital to the invasion, and the ultimate conquest of earth. In comparison, he was unimportant, expendable. Mora had chosen the ranger over him.

He imagined his claws encircling the rangers neck. Oh, yes, the human would struggled. His hand would flail as he struggled for air and then, a quick twist and a snap later, the human would be dead, and he would take his rightful place as victor.

An unfortunate krybot passed him, and he offhandedly severed its head from its neck. It fell to the ground, twitching uncontrollably before exploding into a smoking pile of circuitry. ‘The ranger will feel my wrath.’ The monster vowed. ‘One day, my time will come.’ He stalked onwards, searching for something to kill.

He was, after all, a monster.

–

Sometime after Boom had left him, he had begun to hear an odd buzzing in his head. It was more than a feeling, but something less than a noise. It was like electricity was racing through his mind, and it was only getting worse. He shook his head, trying to dispel the sensation. That was when he heard the voice.

‘Ranger…’ It whispered. ‘Ranger!’ Bridge shivered. He was never going to get used to the idea that Gruumm could speak directly into his mind.

Looking around, he hurried to an empty stretch of corridor. After all, he didn’t want anyone seeing him staring into space or worse, talking to himself. ‘Yes?’ He thought back, concentrating very hard on sending the message.

There was such a long pause, he wasn’t sure that Gruumm had heard him. ‘It’s time for you to fulfill your end of the bargain.’ The warlord eventually said. ‘I have a task for you.’

Bridge swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Cruger’s computers have some very important information on them. Information concerning SPD’s defenses.’ Gruumm paused for emphasis, and then continued in a more strident tones. ‘I must have this information. And you’re going to get it for me.’

‘There are powerful security systems on all the SPD computers,’ Bridge thought back. ‘What if I can’t do it?’

‘You can.’ Gruumm stated, his voice cold as ice. ‘And you will.’ And with the that monster was gone, and he was alone. For a moment, Bridge waited by the wall, paralyzed by misery and his own anxiety. ‘This is it.’ He thought, biting his lip. ‘I can’t believe this is actually happening.’

‘But what else could I have done?’ He asked himself, searching for an answer, some option that he had missed. ‘No,’ He ultimately concluded. ‘I don’t have a choice. Gruumm is right. I will do this.’

‘I have to.’

—

To Be Continued

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