—

Chapter 23: Hide and Seek

—

Broodwing landed in front of Piggy’s restaurant and paced in barely contained rage. Viciously kicking aside an upturned chair, the mercenary surveyed the empty parking lot and trailer.

Someone had scrawled their name in graffiti across the front of the restaurant, and the metal counter was partially torn off its hinges. The restaurant was obviously abandoned. Piggy would have to be incredibly foolish to return here, the first place anyone would look for him.

Broodwing scuffed his feet in the dirt. He looked up at the towering buildings of SPD headquarters and wished all the ills of the universe on its inhabitants and one green ranger in particular.

‘He’ll pay for this,’ Broodwing thought. ‘Maybe I should turn him in to the other rangers.’ The idea was appealing. The Troobians would never know that Broodwing had betrayed them and, when Gruumm asked, he could probably blame it all on Mora.

‘No,’ Broodwing finally decided, ‘I still need him.’ After all, he couldn’t defeat Gruumm and Mora on his own. But one day, once he ruled the Earth, there would be no need for disobedient, treacherous rangers.

The bat smiled evilly. He looked forward to that day.

—

Through a peephole beneath his trailer, Piggy watched Broodwing arrive and pace back and forth. Long ago, Piggy had expanded the area beneath his restaurant, digging out a hiding place.

Accessible only through a secret entrance hidden beneath some storage crates, Piggy’s hideout had all the comforts of home; a well-stocked supply of pickled banana peels,  a comfortable bed of egg cartons and a unobstructed view of the area outside his trailer.

Piggy held his breath and stayed tried to stay perfectly still as the bat walked closer. He couldn’t stop the trembling, though,  which started in his hands and traveled all the way to his toes.

Outside, Broodwing cocked his head to the side, as if he could hear Piggy’s fear. The bat took a step closer to Piggy’s hiding place. ‘He knows I’m here.’ Piggy thought, beginning to panic. A moment later, however, Broodwing turned around flew away.

Piggy breathed a sigh of relief. ‘What am I going to do?’ He wondered. ‘Broodwing is trying to kill me and the green ranger is out to get me too. Gruumm and Mora are trying to destroy the planet. Maybe it’s time to leave Earth.’

Piggy mulled it over for a while. He still had friends and relatives, somewhere out in the Andromeda galaxy. Maybe his aunts would take him in until he could start a new restaurant.

Piggy shuddered. Living with them might even be worse than being held prisoner by the Troobians. ‘I don’t want to leave,’ Piggy thought, with a growing sense of anger and injustice. ‘This is my home!’

‘Do you really think that Gruumm and Mora will let you live?’ A voice inside his head whispered. ‘They’ll hunt you down, find you.’

‘I’ll make it,’ Piggy countered, trying to convince himself. ‘I’ve done it before. They’ll never find me – as long as the ranger doesn’t tell them where I am.’ That was the crux of the problem. If anyone could find him, it would be Bridge. Even though the ranger had saved his life, he worked for the Troobians and couldn’t be trusted.

There was only one  option left. He knew what he had to do, but he didn’t have to like it.

—

For the second time in one day, Cruger was faced by a group of angry rangers.

“Sir, you can’t do this,” Syd argued, “Boom doesn’t deserve to be shipped off-world!”

“He’s human, he should stay on Earth,” Jack said. “He’s not a threat to anyone. Why can’t we keep him here?”

“I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that.” Cruger thought of Fowler. “If we can’t prove Boom’s innocence by tomorrow, I will have no choice but to hand him over to Galactic Headquarters.”

“But that’s not fair!” Z exclaimed. She wasn’t alone – the other rangers, excluding Sky, were looking downright mutinous.

“No, it’s not,” Cruger said. “And I will do everything in my power to prevent this and, if necessary, bring him home.”

—

Boom had quickly grown to hate every inch of his cell. He hated the bright fluorescent lights, which caused him to squint every time he lay down. He hated the hard bed – a plastic ledge, really – and the reflective, polished tiles on the floor. But most of all, he hated the silence.

The isolation cells were completely soundproof. No one could hear him from outside this room and he couldn’t hear them. He missed the chatter of cadets, the mechanical hum of the labs.

Even the shouts and taunts of the other prisoners would be preferable to this. With nothing else to do, Boom spent his time worrying and agonizing over his future.

What was going to happen to him? Were they going to keep him in this cell forever? Who was going to feed his fish? He must be losing his mind, worrying about a goldfish during a time like this.

‘No, they won’t let anything happen to me,’ Boom told himself firmly. ‘Syd promised.’ As soon as he thought about her, the heavy outer door swung open and Syd entered the room, followed by Z. Boom got to his feet, but his smile faded as he saw their grim expressions.

“It’s really bad, isn’t it.” Boom said, a horrible feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. “What’s going to happen to me?

Z and Syd both looked at each other, suddenly reluctant to tell Boom the bad news. “They’re planning to ship you off-world tomorrow,” Z finally said. “I think they’re planning to make an example of you.”

“Off-world?” Boom said, stunned. He had never even been to Mexico on vacation, let alone off-world. “To where?”

“We don’t know,” Syd said.  “You have to have seen something, anything, that would prove to Cruger that you didn’t do it!”

“I don’t know!” Boom cried. “I didn’t see anything.” He sat down at the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. “It’s hopeless. I’m doomed.”

He looked up at the two rangers. “Can you guys do me a favor? Tell my parents that I love them and I didn’t do it. And I’m sorry I lied to them, I just wanted them to be proud of me.”

—

Bridge was on his way to the prison level when Syd ran past him. He could tell she was crying. Z followed close behind.

“Are you going to see Boom?” Z asked. “He’s really upset right now. I think he could use a friend.”

“Yeah,” Bridge said. “I wanted to speak to him before they… sent him away.”

Z spontaneously hugged him, holding him tight. Surprised, Bridge stiffened for a moment before returning the gesture.  “It’ll all work out in the end, Bridge. We’ll get Boom back.”

“I really hope so,” he said sincerely.

Bridge walked further down the level, finally stopping in front of the door leading to Boom’s cell. For several minutes, he stood in the hallway and wondered what he could possibly say to make things better.

‘I can’t just go in there and lie to him,’ Bridge realized. ‘No matter what Z says, it won’t be all right, ever again.’ Gruumm and Mora had already made sure of that. ‘I can’t change what’s happened, but I can at least help Boom. He’s my friend – I can’t let him take the blame for everything I’ve done.’

—

–back– (oOo) – next–

—

Chapter 22: A Matter of Time

—

“No way!”

“You can’t…”

“… not Boom!”

The command center was in an uproar. Cruger tried to speak several times, but kept getting interrupted. “Attention! Now, one at a time.”

Sky, who had been silent until then, spoke first. “Sir, why do you think Boom is involved?”

That was an easy question. Cruger was silently grateful that Sky was so level-headed. “There have been two incidents involving information being stolen from our computers. We’ve managed to trace it back to Boom.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

“Sir, there’s no way that Boom could have done that,” Jack said. “He must have been framed.”

“Yeah!” Syd exclaimed. “Boom was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I know he didn’t do this,” Bridge added. Sky was watching him closely, weighing every word. “Boom is our friend – he would never betray SPD.”

Cruger sighed. “I don’t like this any more than you, but we don’t have a choice. If Boom is involved in any way, we need to know about it. Securing SPD needs to be our first priority.”

“So that’s it?” Z asked, a little horrified. SPD was supposed to be about justice, not about imprisoning innocent people. This definitely wasn’t what she signed up for! “We’re just going to keep him locked up like some criminal?”

“It’s likely that Boom is being manipulated, probably by someone close to him.” Kat finally said. “Now that he’s detained, maybe the real traitor will become careless.”

“And what happens if they don’t?” Bridge said, speaking the fear on everyone’s mind. “Become careless, I mean. Because we’ve all been trying our best, and we haven’t caught them yet.”

“We will catch the real traitor,” Cruger replied. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Bridge briefly wondered how much of that confidence was real and how much was an act. Maybe the Commander knew more than he was letting on? ‘No,’ Bridge reasoned. ‘If he knew anything, it would be me in that cell instead of Boom.’

“Bridge, you’re closer to Boom than any of us. Have you noticed anything?” Cruger asked. “Does he have any new friends, or has he said or done anything strange?”

Bridge answered as honestly as he could. “No, sir. I haven’t noticed anything — he’s been pretty much the same as always. Well, maybe he’s been a little more stressed out than usual, but everyone kind of is.”

“That’s true, cadet.” Cruger said thoughtfully. “I’m sorry, rangers. But for now, this is the best option. Unless there’s anything else, you’re dismissed.”

—-

“Sir?” Sophie looked up from her console. “Supreme Commander Fowler is on the line.”

Cruger groaned. How did he find out so quickly? Kat was right – bad news really did fly faster than light! “I’ll take it in my office.”

Returning to his office, he sat down at the desk. Taking a moment to compose himself, he pressed a button, and Fowler appeared on the viewing screen.

“I hear you’ve finally detained a suspect,” Fowler said. The way he said it implied great negligence on Cruger’s part.

Cruger ignored the insult. Fowler enjoyed needling him, probably hoping that Cruger would lose his temper and do something rash. It hadn’t happened yet. “Yes, but we believe there are others involved. Boom is an easy scapegoat, but the investigation is ongoing.”

Fowler frowned. “You’re letting your personal feelings cloud your judgment, Commander,” he said disapprovingly. “Don’t look so surprised. It’s well known that you and Dr. Manx are close to the suspect.”

“My feelings have nothing to do with it,” Cruger countered. “Boom is not the traitor – he doesn’t have the skills or the motivation.”

“Are you sure, Commander?” Fowler asked. Cruger’s silence was all the answer he needed. “I suppose that it doesn’t concern you that this whole incident has been a publicity nightmare for SPD. “

“My only concern, Supreme Commander,” Cruger said. “is the welfare of Earth.”

Fowler ignored him, continuing as if he hadn’t heard. “Do you know what our enemies are saying? They say that SPD, the most powerful police force in the galaxy, is so incompetent that we are unable to secure our own bases. And worse, powerful people, important people, have begun to listen. What will you do, Cruger, when they strip you of your command and turn the defense of Earth over to, say, the Newtech Police Department?”

“That will never happen,” Cruger growled.

“No, it won’t,” Fowler said flatly. “A special task force has been sent from Galactic Headquarters to collect the prisoner. They will arrive tomorrow, and I expect your full cooperation. The traitor will be tried by an intergalactic tribunal, and you will be permitted to continue your work.”

The Supreme Commander of SPD gave a sharp salute. “Goodbye, Commander.”

“Supreme Commander,” Cruger acknowledged distastefully, returning the salute.

Fowler blinked out of existence.

—

Boom sat inside his cell and stared dejectedly at the floor. His prison was one of the few isolation rooms, reserved for particularly dangerous or unruly prisoners.

He didn’t think of himself as dangerous. Well, Kat might disagree with that, but he had never done anything illegal, certainly nothing that would get him arrested and confined! How could anyone believe he could have done all of those terrible things?

“At least my parents aren’t here to see this,” Boom thought, biting back a sob. After all, they still thought he was a ranger.

Clank!

Boom nearly jumped out of his skin as a guard rapped her baton on his cell bars.

“Traitor!” The guard hissed. Boom knew many of the cadets, but he had never met this one before. “You’re worse than the Troobians; you betrayed your own planet. People like you don’t deserve to live!”

Boom backed as far away from the cell door as he could. There was something scary about that cadet, a cruel light in her eyes. If she had her way, Boom realized with a shiver, he wouldn’t make it to any sort of trial – and many of the other cadets probably felt the same way.

“Leave him alone!” A familiar voice said. Standing outside of the room, Syd had heard enough.

“Yes, sir!” The guard returned to her post and stood at rapt attention.

Syd glared at her. “Well, what are you still doing here? You’re dismissed.”

Already in enough trouble, the guard saluted stiffly and left. She wasn’t going to argue with a superior officer, but she couldn’t understand why a ranger would stand up for someone like that.

Now that they were alone, Syd turned to Boom. “Boom, are you okay?”

“Not — not really.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He didn’t want anyone, not even Syd, to see him cry. “You have to believe me, I didn’t do it!”

“Boom, it’ll be okay,” Syd said. “None of us think you did it. We’ll prove it wasn’t you. You just have to hang in there.”

Boom nodded. “ I’ll try, Syd. I really will.”

—

For the rest of the day, through two training sessions and a battle in the city, Bridge was unusually silent. He spoke to his other teammates only when he had to, and he didn’t speak to Sky at all.

For the most part, people left him alone. Whether it was out of respect or suspicion, Bridge no longer cared. Most people, particularly the cadets who didn’t know him, seemed to feel a combination of both. Everyone knew he was friends with Boom; even Sophie was tiptoeing around him.

Sky, on the other hand, practically oozed suspicion. Bridge couldn’t ignore it or block it out, so he tried to stay as far away from him as possible. However, since they shared a room, there was no way to avoid him.

“You weren’t covering for Boom, were you?” Sky asked, finally cornering Bridge. “Because it would explain a lot.”

“He didn’t do anything,” Bridge said. “There’s nothing to cover for.”

“You seem awfully sure about that,” Sky replied. “I mean, even Cruger has doubts.”

“I know he didn’t do it,” Bridge said quietly. “I don’t need proof, he’s my friend.”

Sky looked a little ashamed. “Bridge, last night — I didn’t mean…”

Bridge cut him off. “Yeah, you did. And I deserve it, I guess. But you — you don’t trust anyone, no matter what. That’s why everyone thinks it’s you.”

—

To Be Continued

—

–back– (oOo) – next–

—

Chapter 21: More Important Than Friendship

—

Piggy was a coward. It wasn’t the usual kind of cowardice, which came quickly and left just as fast. Piggy’s cowardice was part of his personality, an ever present instinct for self-preservation.

“I – I know that I’ve caused lots of trouble,” Piggy stammered, trying to look genuinely repentant, “and maybe I haven’t been the best person around, but everyone makes mistakes, right?”

The ranger didn’t seem convinced.

‘This is it,’ Piggy thought. ‘I’m really done for this time.’ He frantically looked around his prison, searching for something – anything — to defend himself with. Digging through his pockets, he pulled out a rotten, half-eaten apple.

‘Why couldn’t it have been a Torellian grenade, or one of those tiny teleport devices?’ Piggy lamented, dropping the fruit on the floor.

Bridge drew his blaster and Piggy closed his eyes, too afraid to look. He could hear his heart beating in his ears and time slowed to a crawl. A very long second passed, and then another. Piggy opened one eye, sneaking a peek at his would-be assassin.

In his time, Piggy had met many criminals. He knew thieves and informants, smugglers and crooks. Many of those people would kill without a moment’s hesitation. A moment ago, Piggy would have put Bridge into that category. After all, if he could betray the rangers, he was probably capable of anything.

But it was Bridge’s hands which gave him away, hands which trembled slightly as he held the blaster. “Don’t do this,” Piggy implored. He looked into Bridge’s eyes. “You — you’re not like the Troobians. You’re better than that. You know this is wrong. And if you do this, you’ll just be another one of Broodwing’s thugs.”

‘Piggy’s right,’ Bridge realized. ‘Even if he deserves it, I can’t just kill him in cold blood.’ It went against everything he believed it, everything he had been taught at SPD. “Okay, Piggy,” Bridge said, slowly lowering the blaster. Removing the keys from one of the fallen krybots, he opened the prison door.

Piggy took a moment to silently thank all the human and alien Gods he knew, promising for the hundredth time to be a good, upstanding citizen from now on. When he looked back, the ranger was stripping the uniform from a krybot.

“What are you doing?” Piggy asked, momentarily dumbfounded.

“I won’t kill you, but Gruumm and Mora and even Broodwing probably would if they find you. Well, they definitely would. Anyways, I didn’t save you just to let you die on this ship,” Bridge said. “So you need a disguise.” Tugging the uniform off the krybot, he gave it to Piggy, who put it on without protest.

The inside of the krybot uniform reeked of burnt plastic and electronics, and Piggy stifled a cough. It was hard to breathe inside the helmet, and even harder to see out of the dark-tinted eye openings.

“You’d better go,” Bridge said. “He’ll be really mad once he figures out you’re gone.”

Piggy didn’t have to ask who ‘he’ was. Cursing the day he had ever become involved with that treacherous, good-for-nothing bat, Piggy crept towards the door, keeping a wary eye on Bridge.

“If you go up the stairs and to the left,” Bride told him, “and then take another right and follow the long passageway to the other side of the ship, there’s a teleporter which should take you back down to Earth.”

Piggy couldn’t believe his good luck. “Uh – thanks. But what will you do about Broodwing?”

“I guess I’ll have to take my chances. And Piggy?”

“Yes?”

“I know all your hiding places,” Bridge said. “If you tell the other rangers, I’ll make sure Broodwing knows exactly where to find you.”

Piggy nodded fearfully and scurried away as fast as he could.

—

Nobody saw when Bridge returned to SPD. Silently passing by a sleeping guard, Bridge made his way back to the dorms. Finally reaching his room, he slipped inside, closing the door behind him.

His only warning was the click of a switch, and then the room was flooded with light. Bridge blinked and waited for the bright spots to fade away. Trying not to look guilty, Bridge crossed the room and sat on the edge of his bed.

“Where were you?” Sky demanded.

“Nowhere,” Bridge said. The lies were becoming easier to say, but harder to keep straight. “I couldn’t sleep, so I went up to the roof.”

“No, you didn’t,” Sky said quietly. “I checked there. I checked everywhere. In fact, I don’t think you were at SPD at all.”

“Where would I go?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”

Bridge said nothing.

“You see, that’s exactly it,” Sky said. “We used to be friends, but you don’t tell me anything anymore.”

“We’re still friends,” Bridge replied. “Being friends doesn’t mean that we have to tell each other everything. I mean, everyone has secrets.”

Sky shook his head. “Everyone has secrets, but not like yours. You have nothing but secrets.” And it was true. “Something is wrong, something doesn’t fit. I’ve covered for you, even lied to Cruger for you. But I can’t do it anymore. There are too many questions, questions which only you have the answer to.

Where do you go at night, Bridge? Why are your powers changing? These things can’t all be coincidence. Why is it that every time something bad happens, you’re nowhere to be found?”

“I don’t know,” Bridge said. “I guess it’s just bad luck.”

“Bad luck?” Sky said incredulously. “Look around, Bridge. We’re in a war. The whole planet is depending on us. So if you know anything that could help…”

“I already told you, I don’t know anything,” Bridge insisted. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Fine, I will,” Sky said, looking hurt. “This isn’t over, though.”

Bridge ignored him. Lying down, he turned towards the wall and pretended to sleep.

—

His mind full of anxious thoughts, Sky tossed and turned in bed. Finally falling into an uneasy sleep, he woke as the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window.

“I’m sorry, Bridge.” Sky thought, taking one last look at his sleeping roommate. “But some things really are more important than friendship.” Moving quietly, so as not to wake Bridge, Sky changed into a new uniform and crept out the door.

Haunted by a lurking sense of failure, Sky went in search of Cruger. First he went to the command center, but only Sophie and a few cadets were on duty.

The Commander didn’t seem to be in any of the training areas, either. Maybe he was with Kat, in the temporary science labs set up in the basement. Taking the stairs two at a time until he reached the lower level, Sky saw lights within and tried the door. It was locked.

A little discouraged, Sky returned to the main atrium. He arrived just in time to watch Boom get arrested for treason.

—

To Be Continued

—

–back– (oOo) – next–

—

Chapter 20: Choices and Decisions

—

Sometimes, Cruger felt like his job consisted of arranging the pieces of a large and impossibly complex puzzle. There were a thousand clues, a thousand pieces of information. And he had to put it all together, no matter how many pieces were missing.

“I have the report on the lab accident,” Kat said, entering his office. Cruger sat up a little straighter. Whatever she found must be important; Kat almost never asked to speak to him privately. “The explosion was a diversion. Around the same time, the camera outside of your office was disabled. I also checked your computer – someone has hacked into it to steal important files.”

“Which files?”

“Everything on the SWAT upgrades.”

Cruger growled under his breath. That information was undoubtedly in Troobian hands by now; so much for that secret weapon! “We should modify the SWAT upgrades,” Cruger decided. “There’s still a chance that we can add something and take them by surprise.”

It all depended on how much time they had left. Cruger would bet his Shadow Saber that Gruumm was planning something big, and the Troobian was nearly ready to make his move.

“Most of my equipment was damaged in the lab explosion, but I’ll see what I can do,” Kat said. “If possible, I’d like to borrow Sophie as well.”

“Take whatever you need. This project is to have the highest importance.”

Kat hesitated. “Doggie, there’s something else.”

—

Even in the most isolated corner of the Troobian spaceship, Broodwing could neatly place Mora in her playroom. For some reason, her pointless chatter seemed to penetrate through the walls, following Broodwing everywhere he went.

Broodwing had risked death and imprisonment many times – all in the name of profit, of course! At the moment, however, he would rather fight down the entire ranger team than deal with Mora. The pint-sized menace was currently playing house with a small army of krybots, and she intended for a very particular bat to play the “baby”.

Which was why Broodwing was lurking in the shadows of an empty storage room, at the far end of the ship. A troop of krybots passed his hiding place before continuing onwards, and Broodwing could hear another one on the level below.

Broodwing waited until he heard the soft, ever-present hum of the engine increase in pitch, signaling that the teleporter was in use. Leaving his hiding place, he quickly made his way to the teleporter room. “You’re here,” Broodwing observed, eyeing the newcomer. “That’s quite risky, considering how things are at SPD.”

Bridge shrugged. “Mora called me. I had to come.”

“Yes, I know,” Broodwing said. “You’re good at doing things for Mora and Gruumm but now it’s time you did something for me. Piggy is here, in one of the prison cells on the lower level. It would be suspicious if I… disposed… of him, which is where you come in.”

“What do I get out of this? I don’t have anything against Piggy.”

“We had an agreement,” Broodwing hissed. “If you don’t want to hold up your end of the bargain, I might have to tell your friends at SPD about you.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Bridge said. “Gruumm would kill you for ruining his plans.”

Bridge couldn’t see it, but he knew that Broodwing was smiling. “Gruumm finds me useful, but he is also oblivious to the large part of what I do. If he found out, it would be a setback – but nothing compared to what your so-called friends would do to you.”

Before Bridge could respond, Mora arrived. The pictomancer eyed them both suspiciously, before turning to Broodwing. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“I was just leaving,” Broodwing said condescendingly. He swept from the room, but not before catching Bridge’s eye. ‘Don’t even thing about disobeying me,’ the bat seemed to say.

Bridge ignored him. “Why am I here?” he asked Mora. “Was there something wrong with the information I sent?”

Mora shook her head, and her pigtails flopped from side to side. “No, Gruumm just wanted to give you your next assignment in person. He really wants to talk to you. I mean, he wouldn’t even let me play with you first.” She brightened. “But that doesn’t matter, because once you come back, you’ll be able to play with me all the time.”

Bridge wasn’t sure he wanted to do that. “You know,” he said, “I think they’re onto me. They’ll figure it out really soon.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Mora said. “You see, this will be your last assignment. Once you’re done, no more sneaking around and no more SPD.”

—

Sky liked things to be black and white.

There was good and there was evil, there was SPD and there was everything else. There were also the things he knew, and the things he didn’t.

In the category of things he knew, Sky put the following facts. First, there was a spy somewhere within SPD. Cruger said it could be anyone, which meant that it could even be one of the rangers. He knew that sometimes, on nights like tonight, the green ranger would sneak from their room and return hours later, exhausted.

Bridge had also developed new powers, but didn’t seem interested in practicing with them or even understanding where they came from. Bridge was always curious — why had that changed? It was almost like Bridge already knew the answer and choose not to tell anyone.

The green ranger seemed to be hiding a lot of things lately.

True, he didn’t know where Bridge went at night. He didn’t know why Bridge’s powers were changing, or why he had suddenly become so secretive.

But Bridge would never betray his friends. Sky knew him better than that.

Didn’t he?

Sky lay in bed and wondered exactly when he had begun to suspect his closest friend of treason.

—

Cruger thought for a very long time before responding. “No, that’s not possible. I don’t believe he’s capable of such a thing.”

“I agree. He’s being framed or somehow manipulated.”

On one hand, this was the break they had been looking for. They finally had enough evidence to detain a suspect, which would appease Fowler and galactic headquarters. On the other hand, Kat was an excellent judge of character, and it went against everything Cruger believed in to imprison an innocent man.

But what if they were wrong? No matter what it took, Cruger couldn’t let Earth meet the same fate as Sirius. “He may be innocent, but can we really take that chance?”

For once, Kat was at a loss for words. “You can’t be considering…”

“I don’t have a choice. It’s for his safety, as well as ours.”

—

Bridge knew the Troobian ship well enough to find his own way to the throne room, but Mora insisted on escorting him. She skipped along the passageway, always keeping a few feet ahead and talking the entire time, chattering about krybots and Cindy and tea and wouldn’t he bring some toys from Earth for her, because she was getting so tired of the ones she had?

Mora’s monologue trailed off as they reached the throne room. As Bridge entered the room, he noticed something strange. Gruumm seemed to be lost in thought, and several uncomfortable seconds passed before the warlord noticed Bridge and beckoned him closer.

“It’s so close,” Gruumm said. “I can almost taste it. Soon, SPD will fall and Earth will be mine. And Anubis “Doggie” Cruger will be at my mercy.” The warlord looked at him.“How does it feel, human? To know that you are responsible for the conquest of Earth?”

“Not so great, actually,” Bridge said. “I betrayed my friends, the only family I had. But I couldn’t watch Earth be destroyed either, so I guess I made the right choice, although…” Gruumm’s eyes were beginning to glow angrily, so he trailed off.

“Why do you hate Commander Cruger so much?” Bridge asked bravely. “I mean, I know that you fought him before, but I bet you’ve fought lots of people, not just him, and you really seem to hate Cruger.”

Bridge didn’t really expect an answer, but Gruumm spoke again. “How much do you know about Sirius, ranger? I destroyed his world, but he took my horn. No one humiliates me and lives.”

Bridge privately thought that Cruger had been punished enough. His planet had been destroyed and, if the rumors were correct, his wife had been killed during the battle. Now Cruger stood to lose everything once more.

Gruumm, however, was clearly finished reminiscing about the past. “Deep inside SPD is a crystal. This crystal allows SPD headquarters to transform into the command megazord. You’re going to take it and bring it to me.”

“That crystal is in the most heavily guarded part of SPD,” Bridge objected. “There’s no way I can steal it without getting caught.”

“Didn’t I tell you this was your last assignment?” Mora piped up. “If they catch you, you’ll just have to fight your way out. Even you should be able to handle that. When you leave SPD, you’ll be teleported here.”

“I’ll do my best,” Bridge said. After all, it wasn’t like he had a choice.

“Of course you will,” Mora said and smiled. “You’ll do it, or you’ll die trying.”

—

Escaping his krybot escort was easy; the hard part was finding the correct room. The Troobian spaceship was a labyrinth of passageways and hidden doors, each made out of the same sinewy green material. Maybe the Troobians grew their ships instead of building them – he could always ask Mora, maybe she would know.

An orange-head krybot approached, and Bridge pressed himself against the wall, hiding in the shadows until it passed. Taking a winding set of stairs to the lower level, Bridge reached a doorway which opened into a large room.

At the far back of the room, Piggy was locked in a cage. Every once in a while, Piggy would pace from one side of his tiny prison to the other, looking anxiously at his two krybot guards.

Making sure the krybots couldn’t see him, Bridge took off his gloves. Green lightning leapt between the guards and both krybots slumped to the ground, smoke rising from their bodies.

Using his new powers was becoming easier, almost second nature. Bridge tried not to think about it; after all, maybe the powers themselves were evil, and the more he used them the worse he’d become.

Inside the cage, Piggy got to his feet and backed away as far as he could. “You. You’re here. And you’re working with Broodwing… and the Troobians?”

Piggy shook his head in amazement. “Honestly, I didn’t think you ranger types had it in you. I guess the whole justice and protecting the planet thing was just talk after all!” Oddly, Piggy felt a little disappointed.

“The protecting the planet part isn’t just talk,” Bridge said. “Although maybe the justice thing is. Anyhow, I’m here because Broodwing sent me to kill you.”

“Oh,” Piggy said ineloquently. What else could he say? “Well, you really, really, don’t want to do that.”

—

To Be Continued

—

–back– (oOo) – next–

—

Chapter 19: The SWAT Upgrade

—

Bridge walked the hallways in a carefully calculated route, every few minutes passing by Kat’s lab. One by one, he watched as the science staff left, heading home to their families or maybe, in a few cases, an empty apartment.

Not for the first time, Bridge envied them a little bit. True, they weren’t power rangers – but whatever happened, they could leave it all behind at the end of the day.

He saw Boom leave and, a few minutes later, Kat left as well. Bridge took a deep breath, and entered the room. Walking past a counter, he pocketed a small beaker of glowing green chemicals.

There was still two assistants in the lab, working late on their projects. The first ignored him completely, absorbed in her work. The second, however, looked up and greeted him. “Hey, Bridge. Do you need something?”

Bridge tried not to fidget nervously. “No, I was just looking for Boom.” On the table to his left, he could see Dr. Keppel’s experiment laid out on a table, with the asteroid fragment suspended in a vial of clear liquid. Waiting until the lab assistant looked away, Bridge slipped the green chemicals into the vial.

“Sorry, he just left,” the scientist said.

“It’s… it’s okay,” Bridge replied, before backing out the door. “I’ll come back later.” As soon as he turned the corner he started to run.

—

Even those who couldn’t hear the explosion felt it – a single moment when the base itself seemed to tremble. Some, like Sky, were close enough to see the brilliant flash of light and heat. “Are you okay?” He asked, helping a scientist to her feet.

“That… that came from the lab,” she managed breathlessly. “I have to go… they might need my help!”

“No,” Sky said. “It could be dangerous; you should stay here. Find somewhere safe – I’ll go help.” Ignoring her protests, he carefully picked his way through the glass and debris scattered across the hallway. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure in a green-trimmed uniform slip down a side corridor, running in the opposite direction.

‘Was that… Bridge?’ Sky wondered. It was impossible to tell from this distance, but it could have been the green ranger. Leaving the wreckage of Kat’s lab behind, he turned and began to follow.

—

Jack had just left the cadet dorms when he heard the alarm. A moment later, the hallways were full of confused and frightened cadets, and every one of them expected Jack to have all the answers.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he repeated for the tenth time, squeezing his way past a group of first-year cadets. Hurrying down the main corridor, he followed the throng of people headed towards the science lab. Catching a glimpse of Sky, he called out, stopping the blue ranger in his tracks. “Sky, what’s going on?”

“There’s been some sort of explosion in Kat’s lab.” Sky craned his neck to look over Jack’s shoulder. Jack turned around to look, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Let’s go then,” Jack said, a little confused.

Sky hesitated for a split-second, so briefly that Jack almost thought he imagined it. Then they both headed towards the lab, Sky trailing a few paces behind. It was only later that Jack realized that Sky had been running the opposite direction from the explosion.

—

The hallways were empty as Bridge approached Cruger’s office – everyone, security included, had gone to investigate the commotion. Peeking around the corner, Bridge caught a glimpse of a camera.

Taking off his glove, he concentrated on the camera. Waiting until it turned away, he reached out. This time, the energy came on demand, green lightning arching across the distance. The camera sparked and stopped immediately, and Bridge could smell smoke, rising from the blackened lens.

Looking around one last time to make sure no one was nearby, Bridge entered Cruger’s office. The doors were unlocked, and a few papers were scattered across the desk. He could sense the commander’s presence – almost as strongly as if Cruger was actually there.

Bridge sat down in the single, oddly-shaped chair and looked around. The office itself was strangely empty; there were no pictures, only several awards and a large SPD logo on the wall. The furnishings consisted of a single shelf, a desk and a chair.

If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought that Cruger had just moved into this office. ‘Maybe he never unpacked,’ Bridge thought. It seemed unlikely – Cruger had been on Earth for decades. ‘Maybe he didn’t have anything to unpack. Or maybe he plans to leave as soon as Gruumm is defeated.’

Either way, he didn’t have time to worry about it. Bridge reached across the desk and turned on the computer. ‘Sorry, Boom,’ he thought, typing in the assistant’s password.

“Identity confirmed. Clearance 3.”

Typing a few more lines of code, Bridge pressed enter and held his breath.

“Identity confirmed. Clearance 1. Welcome, Commander. “

—

For once, Broodwing had actually told him the truth – the SWAT upgrades did exist and, not only that, there was an entire folder of information about them stored on Cruger’s computer. Bridge reached into his pocket for a datapad, but only found a crumpled piece of paper.

‘I must have forgotten it back in the dorms.’ Bridge realized, dismayed. But he had already come too far to abort the mission. Maybe Kat would be able to trace him – he’d have to live with that possibility.

Removing his badge, Bridge synchronized it with the computer. The transfer seemed to go faster this time, but Bridge stayed alert for any noise or flicker of an aura: being caught stealing from Cruger’s office would probably be a one-way ticket to KO-35’s prison moon.

“80%…”

“95%…”

“100%… transfer complete,” said the computer.

‘Gruumm told me to delete these files,’ Bridge thought, ‘but he didn’t say I couldn’t look at them first.’ Opening up the first document, he began to read. Skimming over the text, he opened the next file. It was a blueprint, detailing the design of the SWAT upgrades.

‘Without these, SPD won’t stand a chance,’ he realized. His finger hovered over the delete button, before drifting away. ‘No,’ Bridge thought. ‘I won’t do it. Maybe… maybe if I die, the Rangers can use these to defeat Gruumm.’

He pinned his badge back to his chest. It was warm to the touch and, in the dim light of Cruger’s office, seemed to be glowing slightly. The information on the SWAT upgrade was probably already at Gruumm’s ship, where Mora and Brooding would be waiting to sort through the data.

Shutting down the computer, he quickly left the office, closing the door behind him.

—

It took several hours for Kat to bring Cruger the damage report, three hours spent running between the infirmary and the lab, supervising the fire and clean-up teams, and making sure everyone was safe and accounted for.

“The main science lab has sustained serious damage,” Kat reported. “It will take several weeks to repair. Two of my researchers were injured, both seriously. We were lucky that there weren’t more people there.”

“Could it have been an accident?”

Kat hesitated. “It’s not impossible. The labs are full of dangerous chemicals and substances. I trust my staff, but someone could have made a mistake. However, we’ve had far too many of these coincidences.”

Cruger growled under his breath. For once, Fowler was right; something had to be done, and it had to happen before anyone else got hurt. “I want to know exactly what they were after.” He turned to leave the command center. “Tell me as soon as you know.”

—

Jack waited at the lab until the clean-up crews arrived, and people in suits began picking through the debris. He offered to help, but Kat practically ordered him away, and so he went looking for Z.

He found her in the dorms, sitting at her desk. “I wasn’t sure what I should be doing so I came back here,” she said. “I feel like I should help, but I don’t know how.”

“Kat seemed like she had everything under control,” Jack said. “I’m sure that Cruger will call us eventually.” He thought for a moment about how to phrase his next question. “Hey, Z? Have you noticed anything weird recently?”

“Like what?”

“Like… about Sky?”

Z hesitated. “Why?”

“Well,” Jack began. “Syd mentioned something to me, so I went to talk to Sky about it, and he just brushed me off. Which is pretty normal for him, I guess. But what really bothered me was that, today, after the explosion, I saw him running away from the labs. I mean, why didn’t he run towards them, like everyone else?”

“Maybe he was trying to get help, or something,” Z said. “I’m sure there are lots of reasons why he would have done that.”

“Maybe,” Jack said, unconvinced.

“Do you remember, a few days ago, when you came into the room and Sky and me were arguing?” Z said eventually.

Jack did, vaguely, remember it. “Yeah. You never told me what it was about, though.”

“I caught him looking over some files… really classified stuff, information on people who worked at SPD,” Z said. “He said he was investigating what happened to the megazord, and that he was on a special assignment from Cruger.”

“Do you believe him?”

Z suddenly looked very serious. “I don’t know.”

—

The waiting room in the infirmary was full of worried people – friends, family and co-workers of the injured scientists. The only one who Sky noticed, however, was Bridge, who was standing slightly apart from the crowds, looking concerned and little uncertain.

Sky studied him further. The green ranger seemed a little shaky and his cheeks were flushed, like he’d been running.

“Hi, Sky,” Bridge said, finally noticing him. He gestured towards the closed infirmary doors. “I hope they’ll be okay. I dropped by to see… I don’t know them very well, I mean, I’m not close friends with them or anything, but I spend a lot of time in the labs so I know most of the people there.”

“Yeah,” Sky said. “Where are you heading now?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe I’ll go to the rec room – do you want to come?”

Sky shook his head. “I promised to help train one of the C-squad cadets. If she remembers,” he added belatedly. That particular cadet, although competent, could be a little scatter-brained. But she was innocent, thoughtful and guileless – in fact, she sometimes reminded him of Bridge, the way Bridge used to be…

“Hey, Bridge?” Sky asked. “Where were you earlier?”

“Um…” Bridge fumbled for a little bit. “Well, first I got up and made some toast, and then I went to the…”

Sky shook his head. “No, not that early. I mean, just now. When the lab exploded.”

“I didn’t even hear it. I came after a cadet told me about it… I was on the other side of the base.”

Sky frowned. “I could have sworn I saw you there…”

“No,” Bridge said. “You must’ve seen someone else.”

—

Mora put a tiny plate down on the table and then, moving towards Cindy, placed another. The plates were followed by matching teacups and napkins until, finally satisfied, Mora sat down and poured a cup of tea.

Stirring in several squares of sugar, the pictomancer sipped her tea and watched the krybots pass in front of her playroom. First there was an orange one, and then a blue one. A few ordinary krybots walked by, followed by Broodwing. The bat was angry about something – Mora was sure of that. One of his many schemes was probably not going as planned, and now he was sulking.

Mora smiled sweetly. “Broodwing, do you want to have tea with me and Cindy?”

“I’m too busy to play with little girls,” Brooding huffed and hurried away, his cape swirling behind him.

She watched him leave and took another sip of tea. “Grown-ups think they know everything,” Mora said, turning to Cindy. “Especially Gruumm. He thinks because he’s emperor that he’s always right.”

She put the cup down. “But he doesn’t know about Broodwing, does he? Broodwing’s sneaky. Sneakier than Gruumm thinks. I know he’s up to something.”

“Gruumm won’t listen to me,” Mora pouted. “He wants to do it all on his own.” She picked Cindy off the chair and stared at the doll thoughtfully. “Maybe I should let him.” Cindy’s head flopped backwards, her remaining eye staring at the ceiling.

“You think so too?” Mora said. “Okay, then I won’t help him at all.” She looked back out on the hallway, where the receding figure of Broodwing could still be seen. A safe distance behind him, a pair of krybots followed the bat, watching his every move. “Well,” Mora admitted. “Maybe just a little.”

—

Jack paced across his room, from one end to the other. He bit his lip anxiously, plagued by doubts. It wasn’t logical. It wasn’t even fair. It was incredibly unlikely; in fact, the idea sounded ludicrous. But maybe Z was onto something. Maybe… could Sky be the traitor?

‘No,’ Jack thought. ‘He has the skills, and access to all the required areas. But he has no motive.’

“Sky would never do anything to harm SPD,” he said out loud, trying to convince himself. However, the thought had been inserted into his head, and wouldn’t go away so quickly.

‘I should at least talk to him about it,’ Jack reasoned. Maybe Sky would have an explanation, some reason for his behavior. Walking into the corridor, he knocked on Sky’s door.

“Come in,” Sky said.

Jack entered the room, and watched as Sky searched his desk. Eventually producing a clipboard, the blue ranger turned to face him. “Jack, I’m kind of in a hurry…”

“I have just one question,” Jack said. “Earlier, when Kat’s lab exploded, where were you going?”

“Nowhere. To the lab, of course.”

“No, I was going to the lab. You were going the other direction,” Jack pressed. “Where were you going?”

“I don’t have time for this, Jack.” Sky tried to leave, but Jack moved to block the door. He didn’t mean to say it, but the words slipped out before he could stop them. “Why, because you blew up the lab?”

Sky looked at him disdainfully. “First of all, I’m not the spy. Second of all, you don’t have any proof either way. So if you have something to say, Jack, then bring it up with Cruger.”

—

To Be Continued

—

–back–   (oOo)   – next–

—

Chapter 18: The Second Assignment

—

Supreme Commander Fowler Birdie straightened a stack of loose papers on his desk. Putting them aside, he picked up the top note in the stack, giving it a cursory glance.

‘Ah, yes. The Earth situation’.

It was clear that Commander Cruger was incapable of even securing his own command – weeks had passed, and still there were no leads, no results.

Someone had sabotaged the Delta Squad Megazord and infiltrated the base computers, and all indications were that they had escaped scot-free.

There had to be consequences for such things. Someone had to be held accountable. How would it look that Space Patrol Delta, the sworn protectors of the galaxy, had allowed such a thing to happen under their watch?

If this information was leaked to the public, the scandal could cost him his reputation, his very career. Fowler picked up his desk phone and hesitated only a moment before dialing the private number of Commander Anubis Doggie Cruger.

—

Boom stared at the page in front of him. The text swam, then swirled and then seemed to form little patterns on the paper. An ominous, growling noise came from his stomach, earning him a nasty glare from one of the lab assistants.

The doors swung open, and Boom did his best to look busy. Kat, usually an icon of patience, had been on edge lately, and he definitely didn’t want to get on her bad side – 147 years was plenty of time to learn a thing or two about revenge.

Sneaking a glance at the newcomer, Boom sighed in relief. “Hey, Bridge.” The grumpy assistant was still giving him the evil eye, and so Boom gathered his things and got to his feet. “Do you want to go to dinner or something?”

“Sure,” Bridge said, but his attention was immediately drawn to a complex looking project, with several vials of chemicals carefully arranged on a table. “What’s this?”

“Oh, that?” It took Boom a moment to remember. “Dr. Keppel is analyzing some mineral samples from an asteroid…  Interamnia 702, I think.”

“Isn’t that the asteroid which they mine Sarconium from, the one which had that accident in 2015?”

“Yes, that’s the one. Sarconium is… um… unstable when mixed with certain chemicals.” Boom looked up, puzzled. “Why?”

Bridge shrugged. “No reason, really. Are you ready to go?”

—

Jack was walking down the hallway when he saw something very strange.

Bridge and Boom were walking down the corridor, talking animatedly to each other. Sky, who was usually so directed and  goal-driven, was staring after them, seemingly lost in thought. “Hey,” Jack said, clapping Sky on the shoulder. “What’s up?”

Sky jumped in surprise. It was slight, so subtle that only someone who knew him well would notice it. “Jack. I didn’t see you,” Sky said. “I was just… wait, what?”

Jack repeated himself, and watched Sky’s expression shift from confused to guarded in an instant. “I don’t know,” the blue ranger said. “Why?”

“Well, I heard some things and came to find out what’s really going on.”

Sky felt a sudden, intense stab of anger. “Heard from who?”

“Nobody, really.” Jack silently berated himself and wished he had never brought it up. Sky hated gossip almost as much as he hated criminals and could hold a grudge longer than anyone.

“It was Syd, wasn’t it?” He should have known better – Syd was an excellent Ranger, but she was never very good at keeping secrets, especially about other people. “Nothing’s wrong,” Sky said. “Syd just needs to learn to mind her own business.”

“We’re a team,” Jack replied, “If something’s wrong, it’s all of our business.”

Sky shook his head. “Not this time.”

—

Piggy had stayed in many unpleasant places in his life. He’d seen his share of prisons, both SPD and otherwise, and out of all of those, Gruumm’s dungeon rated somewhere between that holding cell on Alandria and the tiny cargo hold in which he’d arrived on Earth. In other words, it wouldn’t be half bad… if it wasn’t for the company.

“You really need to lighten up, guys. Can’t we just all get along?” Piggy asked. The krybots guarding his cage said nothing, only shook their weapons threateningly. “Anyhow, I know this really good joke,” he continued, not discouraged in the slightest. “So a krybot, a Power Ranger and a monkey walk into a bar…”

The krybots didn’t laugh. In fact, they didn’t so much as twitch. Piggy sighed. Cyborgs these days just had no sense of humor.

—

It was chicken and rice day in the cafeteria. Not that Bridge didn’t like chicken and rice, although toast and chicken would have been far better. He just wasn’t that hungry… and hadn’t been for quite a while. It was bad for his health, and Kat would probably notice it eventually.

Recently, though, he couldn’t bring himself to care about things like that. There were a thousand other things to worry about – like what Broodwing was planning, and what Gruumm and Mora would order him to do next.

Boom had left a little earlier, saying that he had to go back to work. As he walked back to the dorms, Bridge heard a soft buzzing noise in his ears, followed by a familiar voice.

‘Ranger…’

Bridge quickly looked around, making sure no one was in hearing distance.

The voice came again. ‘Ranger, can you hear me?’

“Yes, I can hear you. What do you want, Gruumm?”

“Emperor Gruumm,” the Troobian corrected, but Bridge ignored him. Gruumm would never be his emperor, no matter what happened in the end.  “I am very pleased with the information you sent us,” Gruumm continued, “but for our plan to succeed, we need something else… something more.

“Like what?” Bridge asked, already dreading the answer.

“The scientist you call Kat has been developing an upgrade to the Ranger suits,” Gruumm said, “Broodwing tells us that it exists, and is called the SWAT upgrade. You’re going to steal it, and erase the data from the mainframe.”

—

‘Maybe Syd’s right,’ Jack thought. ‘Maybe something really is going on with Sky.’ He’d tried to talk himself out of it, telling himself that it was only his imagination and natural paranoia at work. However, that same paranoia had saved his life several times on the streets, and he knew better than to ignore it now.

And so he watched Sky. Jack watched him in the rec room and on the training grounds. He noticed how Sky watched everyone, as if waiting for something to happen.

Sky was distracted; curt to the point of being rude, even. He was defensive and secretive, even more so than usual. In fact, Sky hadn’t been so tense, so openly hostile since… well, since he had first joined the squad!

Even worse, it looked like Bridge was in on it, too. If Sky was acting overly secretive, Bridge seemed to be avoiding everyone, himself included. In fact, he rarely saw Bridge anymore except at training sessions, or if there was some sort of emergency.

‘They know something, and I’m going to find out what it is,’ Jack thought, determined. He was red ranger, which meant that he was supposed to be in charge – why did it always feel like he was left out of the loop?

Jack got to his feet, and went to look for Bridge.

—

Bridge wasn’t sure whether sabotage, like everything else, was just easier the second time. Or maybe he was just more reckless, and cared less for his own fate.

‘Gruumm wants me to steal the SWAT upgrade,’ Bridge reasoned. Rigorous scientific training had taught him to think through problems in steps, to divide them into little, easily analyzed pieces. ‘I can’t break into Kat’s labs again. They’re too closely watched, especially now.’

‘But there are only a few computers that would have access to that information.’ Anything about the SPD upgrades would be highly classified… if it even existed. Bridge had his doubts – Broodwing was hardly a reliable source of information. On the other hand, he doubted the bat would do anything to antagonize Gruumm, particularly now.

“Well,” Bridge thought, “there’s the computers in the command center.”

That was out of the question. The command center was never empty and besides, it was under constant surveillance. Which left only one option, an option so bold and unexpected it might actually work.

—

To Be Continued

—

–back–   (oOo)   – next–

I really wish that I was a more prolific writer, because there are so many stories I’d like to write!

—

Title: True North

Summary: A camping trip gone wrong leaves Bridge, Syd and Sky stranded in the wilderness. Can Syd prove that she’s more than a pretty face? H/C, Bridge/Sky slash. Academy fic.

Rating: PG-13/T

—

Title: Precious Things [tentative]

Summary: Dru Harrington has escaped from prison and he’s after one thing – revenge. Bridge/Sky slash, Warning: non-con

Rating: R/M

—

A few blocks from SPD headquarters is a small park, an oasis of green in the middle of Newtech City. I come here to remind myself of what I’m fighting for, of what I’ve sworn to protect.

Here, I can see people of every species co-existing peacefully. Two joggers pass by my bench, one human and one from Triforia. A bit further away, I see three children playing in a sandbox; one is an alien with green scales, another a human girl with curly pig-tails.

The last one is a little boy who seems familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.

It’s been nine years since I first came to earth and so much has changed. Entire ranger teams have come and gone, each followed by a new team of young, idealistic cadets. The only constant seems to be Kat Manx, who is now one of my oldest friends.

It’s easy to fall into a routine of planning, organizing, fighting and then all three again. Newtech City is always moving, always changing. There’s always some new threat on the horizon, some battle to win.

Sometimes, I have to remind myself that it won’t be like this forever. I don’t know how much time we have left, but I intend to make the most of it.

I look back at the sandbox. One of the children has wandered off to the nearby swing-set, leaving the others behind. As I watch, the little girl playfully throws a handful of sand and the boy scatters it away, with a sweeping blue shield.

And now, of course, I know why he looks so familiar. I’ve seen many strange and unusual things, but humans with super-powers are few and far between.

A tall, slim woman comes to sit beside me, and for a while we sit in silence, watching these children, the future of earth, playing together – and among them, a little boy with a very special gift.

She has long brown hair, with streaks of gray. I had never noticed the gray before – either it really has been that long, or the last few years have been harder on her than I realized. I’m not one to complain, though – we’re all a little older, a little harder. I can see it when I look in the mirror, and in her eyes.

“Commander,” she says, placing her hands in her lap. She covers the left with the right, every movement carefully planned and calculated.

I nod in acknowledgment. “Sarah…”

“You have no right to call me that, Commander.”

“I apologize, Mrs. Tate.”

As I watch, Sky does it again. He creates those shields with such ease – it comes naturally to him, so much so that he doesn’t notice it as anything extraordinary.

He has his father’s eyes and his smile.

“Not a day goes by when he doesn’t ask about his father. He misses him,” she tells me.

There are a thousand things I could say. I could say that her husband, Sky’s father, died fighting for an important cause, a cause he believed in. I could say that he died in the line of duty, following my orders. I could tell her that all of us, every single one, have lost someone important. That excuse sounds hollow, even to my ears. I look back at Sky, and briefly wonder if he would understand.

Of course he wouldn’t. He’s six and a half years old.

I settle for the easy route, and change the topic. “How have you been, Mrs. Tate?”

She shrugs. “Life moves on. I have to accept it, and I have.”

Trust is a strange and fragile thing, hard to earn, and even harder to regain once broken. In our experimentation with the morphing grid, we developed a powerful weapon – and in the process lost some of our greatest scientists.

Of them all, Sarah stayed the closest, but not out of choice. Her husband was a ranger and, using the technology she helped develop, fought to defend the Earth. Sky’s birth and the discovery of his powers were a turning point, and after that, she wanted nothing to do with Space Patrol Delta. “Sky’s abilities – they’re a gift, you know.”

“It’s a curse. Do you think I want to be reminded, every day, of what happened? And Sky – he knows he’s different. He has questions… what am I supposed to tell him?”

“The truth?” I suggest. She shakes her head.

“My husband respected you, admired you. But you’re not infallible, Commander.”

I sit up straighter. “No, I’m not. But everything I’ve done, I’ve done because I felt it was necessary, to preserve to well-being of the Earth. Something’s coming, Mrs. Tate, and we have to be ready. It’s my job to make sure we are.”

“No matter how much it costs, or who it hurts?”

I nod. “No matter how much it costs.” For some reason, a vivid image of Isinia flashes before my eyes.

“I’m not one of your cadets, Commander. I’m a mother, and what’s most important for me is doing what’s best for my son. I’ve spoken to some of the others already – the Carsons will stay on Earth, I think, but the Landors will leave to the colonies.”

I sit in silence for a while, before asking the question which weighs most heavily on my mind. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why? Because you are just like all the others. You look at that little boy there and you see a tool, a weapon you can mould and shape.” Sometimes, in moments like these, I wonder how well you can ever know a person. A few years ago, I would never have thought that Sarah would confront me, stand up to me when no one else would.

I try to meet her eye, but her gaze never strays from Sky.

“Do you know what I think, Commander? You want our children nearby, not out of any interest in their happiness or well-being, but so that you can control them and their powers.”

She expects me to argue with her, to disagree. I do neither. No matter how long or troubled my relationship with Sarah Tate is, I won’t lie to her. After everything she’s done, after everything she’s been through, she deserves better.

She studies me for a while, before getting to her feet.

“You took my husband from me, Cruger. I’m not going to let you take my son.” She inclines her head. “Goodbye, Commander.” The words have a terrible finality, and I wonder if I’ll see her or Sky ever again.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Tate.”

Does anyone know when/if this will show on MTV here in the US?

—

Chapter 4

—

Maybe he had judged Bridge too quickly.

No, Bridge wasn’t Dru. He wasn’t so good at fighting, or at simulations. He wasn’t even a friend. Instead, he was just a new cadet, who was bright, and enthusiastic and friendly. People liked him – ran to his defense, even.

‘I didn’t want to give him a chance because I felt he was trying to replace Dru,’ Sky reluctantly admitted. Syd was right, as usual. He owed Bridge an apology, and a second chance. ‘I don’t know why Bridge is on this team, and why Dru isn’t. Maybe I’ll never know. But Bridge deserves a chance to be accepted for who he is, not judged for who he isn’t.’

But no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find Bridge anywhere. He looked in their room, and the cafeteria. He even looked in Kat’s lab, where Bridge’s friend – Boom, wasn’t it? – gave him a suspicious look and sent him hurrying away.

Finally, his search led him to the trainee dorms. He knocked on the door. “Is Bridge here?”

The trainee shook his head. “You haven’t heard yet?” He asked, squinting at Sky’s uniform. “Isn’t he on your squad?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything. What happened? Where’s Bridge?” Sky demanded, a little annoyed at this veiled accusation of negligence.

“Cadet Carson is in the hospital. He was shot…”

—

Sky walked through the wide, sterile hallways until he found room 26. A clipboard on the wall had Bridge’s name written on it, as well as a great deal of other information which was incomprehensible to Sky.

He slowly entered the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Bridge lay on the hospital bed, unconscious. A tube ran from his mouth, connecting with a ventilator. Above the blanket, Sky could see extensive bandaging around his chest.

“What are you doing here?” A tense voice asked from the corner. Sky tore his eyes away from Bridge, and turned to face the lab technician from earlier. His first instinct was to demand the same question of Boom, but he instantly thought better of it. Of course he was here. He was Bridge’s friend.

“I came to… apologize,” Sky said, taking a seat next to the bed.

“He’s the one you should be apologizing to,” Boom said. “Do you know how he got hurt? He was trying to help someone. He didn’t know her, didn’t have any weapons or anything. But he fought to protect her, not because it was his duty, but because that’s just the kind of person Bridge is.”

“Yes,” Sky said, hanging his head in shame. “I know that now. I wasn’t fair to Bridge – I never gave him a chance. Will… will he be alright?” Sky asked uncertainly, almost feeling as if he had no right to ask the question.

“I don’t know,” Boom said. “I think we just have to wait and see. I don’t think anyone knows for sure.”

Sky nodded and sat back in his chair. He waited by Bridge’s side, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest, listening to the steady beep of the machines. ‘Please live, Bridge,’ he thought silently.

‘Don’t leave me, too.’

—

Sky woke suddenly, a little disoriented. He hadn’t meant to doze off – in fact, he hadn’t even realized that he had fallen asleep. Panicked, he looked at Bridge, and was immensely relieved that he was still present and alive.

Sky also realized that he wasn’t alone in the room – a tall form with pointed ears was standing next to Bridge’s bedside. Sky recognized him immediately and stumbled to his feet, managing a salute. “Sir!”

“At ease, cadet,” Cruger said. He gestured for Sky to be seated, but the cadet remained standing. “Have you been here all night?”

“Yes, sir.” Cruger gave him a knowing look, and Sky continued. “I… I had to stay. I was unfair to Bridge; he was on my team, and I let him down. I came to apologize, but now I might never get that chance.”

Cruger put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “We all make mistakes, Sky. The important thing is that we learn from them.”

Sky nodded and sat back down, his eyes never leaving Bridge’s face.

—

Over the following week, Bridge’s condition slowly improved. Cruger temporarily removed Sky from active duty, leaving him with a great deal of free time – every moment of which he spent by Bridge’s side.

Maybe it was guilt. Maybe it was the lingering fear that Bridge would take a turn for the worse, and Sky knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Bridge died alone. In this, he was powerless – there was nothing he could do but wait, and so he did.

—

Bridge did eventually wake, but not that day, or the next.

He woke slowly, bleary eyes fixing on the person next to him, someone who he thought he would never see again. “S… Sky?” Bridge’s voice was scratchy, unfamiliar even to his ears. “What are you doing here?”

Sky looked into his eyes, really looked at him for the first time since he had joined D-squad. “I… I wanted to apologize to you,” Sky began. “I said some things which I shouldn’t have. I let my feelings get in the way – I didn’t give you a fair chance. I guess what I mean to say is that I’m sorry, and I’ll try to be a better teammate from now on. Can you ever forgive me?”

Bridge studied Sky carefully, searching for any lie, any deception. He could find none – instead, he only saw genuine regret.

“It’s okay,” Bridge said. “I forgive you.” And that was that. Because that was just the kind of person Bridge was. He held out a unsteady hand, and Sky took it without hesitation, giving him a rare smile.

“Why don’t we start over? I’m Sky Tate, D-squad leader. What’s your name?”

Bridge smiled crookedly. “I’m Bridge, Bridge Carson.”

Sky gently shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Bridge. I’m honored to have you on my team.”

—

The End

—