Always a Ranger - Part 20
How Blue is My Valley?
By Jeannine Trevizo
“So, could
you do that for me?” Conner asked as he, Ethan and Kira headed off the school
grounds.
“What? Use
technology to improve your game?” Ethan inquired.
“Yeah.”
“Sure, but…”
“It’s not
like you really need it,” Kira stated, glancing at Conner with a tight grin.
“Huh?”
“You’re
really good Conner. You know it, you just get insecure about it. Just like I do
with my singing.”
“Thanks,”
Conner replied, realizing the complement for what it was.
“Now that
we’re all done with the big bad bully guy, can we concentrate on Zeltrax
showing up on the school grounds,” Ethan questioned, moving towards Conner’s
car.
“You were
here before anyone else was. Did Zeltrax say anything else besides that he was
going to turn the Termitetron on the school?” asked Kira as she opened the car
door and got in.
“He said he
was going to unleash him on the city too… and there was this one thing, he said
something about where Dr. O was most vulnerable…” Ethan remarked, getting into
the front seat as Conner got into the driver’s side.
As Conner
turned over the engine, the three suddenly realized what else that could mean.
“Shit!”
Conner nearly yelled, and quickly turned the car onto the road to Dr. O’s.
Kira and
Ethan were smart enough to just hold on as Conner wove his way across town.
Even without running any stoplights or stop signs they made their way to 1992
Valencia Road. With a barely controlled skid, Conner parked next to the black
jeep and cut the engine. The three rangers piled out of the car and hurried for
the front door.
“Dr. O!”
Conner yelled as he pounded on the front door of their team mate and mentor’s
house.
The door
swung open, revealing their teacher with a look of concern on his face.
“Conner,
what’s wrong?” Tommy asked as he opened the door wide enough to admit the three
youths.
“We were just
talking about Zeltrax showing up earlier,” Conner continued, “and we rushed
over to tell you what we think he might do…”
“Look guys, I
know all about who Zeltrax is now,” Tommy explained, moving from them and
turning towards the boxes of discarded materials and his hard box with his
pictures and things he was saving.
“He said he
was going to attack you where you’re most vulnerable,” Ethan stated quickly,
moving to intercept his teacher. “He mentioned the school, the city…”
“And if
Mesogog or Zeltrax know anything about your real life, they’ll know about Kim,”
Kira warned, reaching into the box she’d been sorting pictures into and pulled
out the group shot of the original ranger team and thrust it out at him.
“She wasn’t
around when I was working with Mercer or Smitty… Mesagog and Zeltrax wouldn’t
know to use her against me,” Tommy tried to rationalize as the
“She’s been
here since then. You both got attacked by Tyrano-drones when she came out that
first time to visit,” Conner pointed out.
Kira, Conner
and Ethan watched as the realization that Kim might be in danger washed over
Dr. O. His jaw tightened, and they watched as his skin’s tone took on a nasty
chalk like pallor.
“Oh God,”
Tommy said quietly and moved to the phone, dialing her number and waiting
anxiously as the phone rang on the other end.
“Hello?” said
Kim’s voice through the line after three rings.
“Kim?” Tommy
said with trepidation in his voice.
“Hey there
handsome, what’s with the early call?”
“I need you
to do something for me…” he said solemnly, his tone foreboding.
“Tommy,
you’re scaring me here,” she said,
Tommy looked
to his students and fellow rangers and watched them stare at him as he fought
to reign in his concern.
“Look Kim,
some things have happened here…”
“What’s going
on? Come on Tommy, talk to me here.”
“We found out
who Zeltrax is,” he explained, moving to the couch and sitting down heavily as
the others huddled around. “He’s a friend of mine from grad school that was
working with Mercer and I on a dig together. He’d been in an accident… I
thought he was dead.”
“I’m sorry,”
Kim said softly.
“It’s okay.
It threw me for a loop, but after Mercer showed up, it’s not that big of a
surprise.”
“Then what’s
the problem?”
Tommy glanced
around at the worried faces of his students and realized there wasn’t any time
to put this off.
“Zeltrax told
Ethan something that has us all worried… that he’s focusing on where I’m
vulnerable…” Tommy explained, and then trailed off, leaving the last part
unsaid.
There was
silence in the room with the rangers and in Kim’s apartment in Boston. Finally,
Kim was the one to break it.
“You think
that he’d come after me here, don’t you?”
“It had
crossed all our minds.”
“The team
too?” Kim asked, surprised.
“They care
about you, and they know what it would do to me if something happened to you,”
he replied seriously.
“Tommy, I
appreciate the concern, but I think it’s really misplaced. First, Mesogog and
his bad guys haven’t moved past the city limits, just like all the bad guys do
– they’re focusing on beating the rangers first so they can dominate the planet
easily. And second, they have no idea where I am.”
“But…”
“No, no
buts,” Kim insisted, continuing quickly. “Besides that, I’m continually around
one of the most highly visible events in the world. The security is pretty damn
good, you know.”
“Okay, so
you’re probably right. Still, I worry about you,” Tommy said in a tone that
made the three eavesdroppers blush and find elsewhere to look.
“If you
didn’t, I’d wonder what happened to the man I love. You have always tried to
protect me, but you forget sometimes that I can take care of myself if I need
to. You don’t need to worry.”
“Fine, just
promise me you’ll keep an eye out and be careful.”
“You know I
will.”
“Look, I’d
love to chat but the team’s here and we should discuss what we’re going to do
next,” Tommy explained with a frown.
“I
understand. Tell them to stay out of trouble and I’ll talk to you soon,
alright?” Kim replied.
“I’ll call
tomorrow.”
“Love you,”
Kim said brightly.
“Me too Kim,”
Tommy replied, and heard Kim’s laugh.
“You’re gonna
have to get used to saying the words in front of them someday handsome.”
“I know… just
not today, okay?”
Kim’s laugh
crossed the phone line and made Tommy feel better just hearing it. No, she was
right. He’d have to learn to tell her he loved her in front of everyone…
especially if he was going to make a life with her.
“Bye,” she
said, and then hung up the line.
Tommy turned
off his phone and looked at his students. Kira was blushing, but had a knowing
smile on her face. Ethan and Conner were studiously avoiding his gaze by
studying the floor, ceiling and any other flat surface that didn’t look like
their teacher.
“Alright, so
Kim’s been warned,” Tommy said, taking control of the situation. “Still, I
don’t trust Zeltrax. He may have been my friend, but after what Mesagog had to
have done to him, he’s not himself any longer.”
“So, what can
we do to make sure he doesn’t go after Kim anyway?” Kira asked, getting up from
her seat and rubbing her arms with her hands.
“I’m calling
Hayley,” Tommy stated, “I want to find a way to make sure that Zeltrax can’t
follow up on his threat.”
Everyone
nodded in agreement and as Tommy dialed Hayley’s number, the team headed for the
trap door for the basement command center.
-
The rangers
had been discussing for half an hour once Hayley had shown up what they could
do to protect Kim from Smitty/Zeltrax when an alarm pierced the air, sending
several of the team into frantic motion, thinking they were under attack. What
they didn’t realize was the sound wasn’t the alarm from the ranger’s console
for attacking monsters, but rather an alarm that Tommy had installed in his
house since Kim left, so he’d know if someone broke into the place. Since it
was going off, something was obviously upstairs.
“Could it be
Zeltrax?” Kira asked, looking to Dr. O as Hayley shut down the alarm.
“I don’t
know,” Tommy answered, and then stated for the stairs, “you guys stay here and
I’ll check it out.”
“If it could
be dangerous, shouldn’t we all go?” Conner queried, trying to be tough.
“And if it’s
not a bad guy and someone from the school, I’m supposed to explain all of you
being in my basement on a school night how?” Tommy asked.
“Study
group?” Ethan suggested, and the others smothered laughs.
“Just stay
put for right now, okay?”
Climbing the
stairs, Tommy pushed open the trap door slightly, glancing into his living
room. He saw a person standing near the front door, and his side table knocked
over, the lamp usually on it smashed on the floor. Without that light, the room
was darker than he would have liked. Still, he had to find out who was prowling
around his home. While he doubted it was Zeltrax, his heart rate refused to
listen to him, speeding up as his adrenaline pumped.
Climbing out
of the trap door space, Tommy walked stealthily to the light switch in the
living room and quickly turned it on, surprising the intruder. Only when the
person turned, blinking at the sudden light did Tommy find his mouth dropping
open in shock.
Not Zeltrax,
but someone else from his past just as unexpected…
“Billy?”
“Affirmative
Tommy,” Billy replied, a sheepish grin appearing on his face.
Tommy shook
off the frozen stance he was in and ran to hug the former blue ranger. His
brilliant friend’s timing couldn’t have been better.
“My apologies
for arriving on your doorstep unannounced.”
“Don’t worry
about it. What are you doing here?”
“We had an
energy reading spike in the Aquitar relay sensor array. I thought that there
was some kind of power flux, so I came down to check it out. Of course, the
time it took me to get here was considerable, so it may have moved...”
Tommy studied
his friend for a while. Gone were the blue jean overhauls and glasses that he
seemed to always associate with Billy. The man that stood before him was
dressed immaculately in what seemed to be a jumpsuit; most definitely not of
human construction in a gun metal gray that shimmered. His trademark glasses
were gone. Either he was still wearing the contacts he used to sport, or
somehow his eyesight had been improved during his years off planet.
Finally
putting aside his surprise at seeing his long missed friend, he focused on
Billy’s reason for being there. He thought for a moment what kind of power
could have registered that would have brought him here, and then made the
connection.
“Power flux
like a power coin?” Tommy asked, trying not to grin outright.
“Similar. The
symphonic and resonating harmonics of the signature are such to denote great
power to be harnessed.”
“Power like
this,” Tommy suggested as he pulled back his sleeve to expose the silver cuff
communicator and morpher combination, the black inset gem sparkling.
“Amazing,”
Billy stated as he leaned forward and appraised the workmanship, twisting
Tommy’s arm as he looked over the gem and the gauntlet.
Tommy fought
not to laugh at his technologically minded friend as he studied the wrist band,
and was reminded again why Ethan reminded him in some ways of this former
ranger.
“This is the
power source?” Billy asked, tapping lightly on the black gemstone embedded in
the metal and Tommy nodded.
“I hadn’t
really thought that if we could find them as well as Mesogog that someone else
might notice,” Tommy started, and then looked his friend in the eye. “I never
realized that you’d been able to keep tabs on Earth.”
“Officially
I’m Aquatair’s liaison with Earth, so I check out any potential threats Earth
might pose them. Unofficially, ever since Zordon was destroyed by the space rangers,
I’ve kept my sensors looking for energy signatures that might be rangers or the
source of power for new rangers. Just in case.”
“Well, that’s
what we are.”
“Rangers?”
“Yeah.”
“Who’s their
mentor? Not Dimertia again…” he asked curiously.
Tommy dropped
his gaze and his hand from his friend. He still hated this, no matter that the
new team was now finally getting comfortable with their roles as heroes.
“I am.”
“You?”
“I made them
Billy.”
“I’m at a
loss to comprehend how you could create power rangers,” Billy stated, tilting
his head to one side to stare at his friend and former commander.
“It’s a long
story. Say, you want to see the place? God knows I used to think what you would
have done in my place. You can meet the team…”
“I still have
1.3 solar days before I have to return. I wanted to make sure I set my return
calculations with plenty of time to do whatever research might be needed. Of
course, now that I know that the source of the energy is benign, I have
multitudes of time to see what advances you have been able to make to ranger
technology.”
Billyspeak…
Tommy had missed that. With a grin, Tommy clasped Billy’s shoulder with an arm,
leading him back towards the kitchen. Only once they stood before the trap door
did Tommy let his much missed friend loose so he could open the door.
Climbing down
first, Tommy was able to turn and take a good long look at his accomplishments
– the fact that he’d had help not withstanding, it was still a surprise to him
that he’d done any of it. Maybe his need to feel the power again had fueled it,
maybe not, but now it was a moot issue.
Tommy moved
aside as Billy came down the stairs and circled to see the expanse of
technology and artifacts interspersed in the large cavern.
“Impressive,”
Billy said quietly.
“Tom?” called
out Hayley as she heard voices from the stairway.
Since Hayley
didn’t turn from the computer, and the tone of her voice sounded worrisome,
Tommy moved quickly forward, nearly forgetting Billy in his concern that
Zeltrax had already made his move. When Tommy got to the console, Ethan, Kira,
Conner, and Hayley all faced the view screen, where a large colored map of
Reefside in relief was displayed, a bright white dot appearing over a set of
coordinates.
“What’s up?”
Tommy asked as he stopped behind the group, looking at the screen. He breathed
a small sigh of relief knowing that it wasn’t an alert for Kim’s location in
Boston.
“We had an
alarm. Seems that there was an unidentified landing of something within the
Reefside forest,” Hayley said, not turning around.
“Could be a
monster from Mesogog,” Ethan suggested just before he turned to see Dr. O’s
reaction.
“Or Zeltrax
is moving on the house,” Conner suggested, thinking perhaps that was what the
cyborg had meant when he’d mentioned going after Dr. O where he was ‘most
vulnerable’.
“That’s most
likely my ship Tommy,” Billy stated after moving towards the group of people as
he looked around the room in wonder. “This is impressive Tommy. I never would
have thought…”
“Dr. O, who
is that?” Conner blurted out as he, Ethan and Kira looked up from the screen to
see the tall, sandy haired man moving towards them who had just spoken.
“The
picture…” Kira commented, her features turning up as she recognized the older
version of the man from Dr. O’s team photo.
Tommy glanced
at his students and then moved to place a hand on Billy’s shoulder.
“Oh wow! It’s
the first blue ranger!” shouted Ethan as he recognized Billy from the video and
the photo Kira had handed Dr. O just an hour ago.
“What happened
Dr. O, did you send out a flyer saying all old rangers should come through
Reefside?” Conner asked curiously. First Adam and Zack, now Billy in less than
two weeks?
“Doctor?”
Billy asked, puzzled.
“Long story,”
Tommy said quickly then focused on the introductions. “This is Billy Cranston,
the first blue ranger, one of my best friends and probably the smartest person
I’ve ever known.”
Hayley’s glare at Tommy made him amend his
statement, “Uh, smartest *man* I’ve known.”
“Billy, this
is Conner, Kira and the new blue ranger, Ethan,” Tommy stated as he introduced
the rangers.
“It’s a
pleasure to meet you,” Conner said, shaking the former blue ranger’s hand.
“Same here,”
remarked Kira, following suit.
“Wow, the
*first* blue ranger… now I’m not the only one of the group who hasn’t met the
first ranger who wore my color.”
“And was a
triceratops ranger too,” Tommy added for effect, making the younger man grin
even bigger.
“It’s good to
meet all of you,” Billy stated, shaking Ethan’s hand last. “Blue ranger?”
“Yeah… I hear
that the requirements are a big brain and stunning good looks,” Ethan joked.
“He’s our
resident computer geek,” Tommy explained to Billy, and he and Ethan both turned
to look at the black ranger.
“I guess that
the word geek probably isn’t the best choice, huh?” Tommy stated, backpedaling.
“Considering
Derek at school thought that was all there was to Ethan, I’d have thought you
wouldn’t do the same thing Dr. O,” Conner remarked.
“You mean the
moron that was itching for a fight? You didn’t?”
“No,” Ethan
remarked quickly, and then glanced at the former blue ranger. “I just used my
mind and made him and offer he couldn’t refuse rather than him wasting time
trying to pound on me.”
“A wise
course of action,” Billy remarked with a half grin, shooting a look at Tommy.
“Alright, you
brainy guys have it all over the jocks. I get it. I’m not seventeen anymore.”
“No, you
obviously aren’t,” Billy stated, taking into account the marvels that
surrounded him, his eyes drawn back to the technology amassed in the
underground chamber.
A loud
clearing of someone’s throat brought everyone’s attention to the forgotten
person in the room, and Tommy found himself wincing at the glare he was getting
from the woman mostly responsible for all the technology that Billy was being
so impressed with.
“Sorry, one
last introduction. This is Hayley,” Tommy finally stated, introducing the two
brilliant minds who were partially responsible for his survival – past and
present as a ranger.
“Nice place,”
Billy stated as he shook the red-headed woman’s hand, feeling an instant spark
at her touch.
“Glad you
like my work,” Hayley said as she took his hand and stared into the ice blue
eyes looking at her as if they’d never seen something so fascinating in all
their life.
“Considering
the fact you have never been a ranger, this is quite impressive,” Billy
replied, smiling.
“I get by.
Besides, Tom has been helpful in giving me whatever pointers he can from the
old days. Probably stuff he learned from you,” she demurred, averting her gaze.
Billy’s
eyebrows raised, and he turned to look at the man in question. Had Tommy
actually learned something from him? The former ranger leader shrugged his
shoulders.
“So, what
else have I missed besides you building an entire new group of rangers?” Billy
asked generally.
“He and Kim
are back together,” Kira offered cheerfully, gaining a series of groans from
her male team mates as she dished the gossip. “And when you arrived we were
discussing ways of trying to make sure that Zeltrax doesn’t try and jump her.”
“Kimberly?
Zeltrax?” Billy asked stunned. The last thing he’d known, Kat and Tommy had
been moving towards dating. And now Kim was back in the picture? And who was
this Zeltrax, and why was he after Kim? God, he *had* been out of the loop for
*too* long.
Tommy sort of
blushed, and everyone stood watching. Still, his concern over making sure Kim
was protected was enough to override his embarrassment.
“I’ll explain
everything to you, I promise. Right now, how about I catch you up on current
events as I show you around the place,” Tommy suggested, looking at the team.
“As for you three, you have homework and finals… so head home. I’ll see you in
school I the morning.”
The three
rangers looked dejected at the idea. Still, what Dr. O had said was true… they
did have work to do. Seeing the internal struggle, it was Billy that put them
on the path back to their homework.
“You can’t be
a ranger without learning. And that doesn’t mean just how to work your zord or
use your powers. You need to be smart to survive.”
“So says the
former blue ninja ranger – cunning and swift,” Tommy joked, and the two smiled
in remembrance of their animal spirits.
“Alright,
we’ll go,” Conner said, giving a look to Kira and Ethan.
“It was nice
meeting you,” stated Kira as she headed for the stairs, Conner following her.
“You’ll be
back, right?” Ethan asked hopefully.
“I think I’ll
be checking in with the new ranger team in the future, yes.”
Ethan
grinned, and flashed Dr. O a thumbs up as he raced to catch up with Conner and
Kira to catch a ride home. Once the teens were gone, Tommy turned to his friend
again.
“How about
that tour now?”
Tommy steered
Billy around the basement, showing him the raptor cycles Hayley had designed
and the system of tunnels and computer equipment. Billy asked questions, but
for the most part, Tommy always deferred to him asking Hayley. When they’d made
the entire lap around, they sat down and Billy shot his friend with a stare.
“So, are you
going to provide me with the information that your team wanted me to know?”
Billy asked, still shocked by what he’d seen so far, and expecting nothing
short of more with Tommy’s explanations of what had been happening recently.
“Billy…”
Tommy began, feeling a bit uncomfortable trying to fill in his friend on
everything that had been happening.
“You and
Kim?”
“Yeah. It
took us a while, but we finally got things settled between us after…”
“After what?”
Billy asked curiously.
“Billy, you
know about Trini, don’t you?”
Billy’s face
clouded over, and he nodded simply.
“I’m sorry.”
“We were
friends, nothing more…”
“Still…”
“I heard
about it a few months afterwards, and I made my peace with it.”
Tommy nodded,
understanding that no matter how much time had past, Trini was a difficult
subject for all the former rangers that had served with her.
“So you and
Kim are together?”
“We’ve been
doing the long distance thing, but Kim plans to move in with me in the fall.
We’re taking about getting married…”
“I’m… wow,”
Billy responded, truly surprised, “that’s awesome Tommy. I’m so happy for you
both. I knew you really never wanted Kim out of your life, even right after the
letter.”
“I know. You
and Kat tried. But it just wasn’t what was supposed to happen.”
“And you did
all this as well. I’m stunned.”
“Well, I do
have a PhD now,” Tommy smirked, and watched his friend’s eyebrows rise for
third time that evening.
“Ah yes, Dr.
Oliver,” Billy started, still looking somewhat doubtful. His friend was a great
leader, but his mind sometimes seemed like a European dairy product… Swiss
cheese.
“Don’t panic.
I had a lot of help. Hayley did almost all of it. She’s in your class man. She
double majored in grad school and ended up with a PhD at UCLA while she
attended long distance classes in MIT. Next to you, she’s the brainiest person
I know. If she hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this.”
Billy nodded
and a slight grin crossed his face that Tommy looked at questioningly before
Billy focused on the situation at hand again.
“So, what’s
with this guy Mesogog and Zeltrax?” Billy questioned, still feeling confused.
“They’re the
bad guys. Mesogog wants the dino gems…”
“What evil
overlord doesn’t?” Billy joked, and Tommy fought to smile.
“And he’s
used some of the technology I was building during my PhD studies to create
monsters. He’s set on making the Earth a paradise for dinosaurs again.”
“Ah… I see.
Do you ever miss the days of Lord Zedd?”
Tommy did
smile at that.
“Every day.”
“And this
Zeltrax, the rangers mentioned he might be after Kimberly?”
“He’s another
story. Short version is that he and I ended up on opposite sides, and now he’s
threatened to hit me where I’m vulnerable,” Tommy said sullenly.
“Kim,” Billy
stated, knowing that his friend’s greatest strength and greatest weakness had
always been the former pink ranger.
“Yeah. We
thought that we could give her a personal shield, or an alarm or something to
make sure he doesn’t come after her without us knowing about it or at least
being able to protect her.”
“She knows
about this then?”
“I called her
earlier. She, of course, said that I was worrying too much and that she could
take care of herself,” Tommy replied.
“She can you
know. Even without the power she is a formidable opponent,” Billy remarked
seriously.
“I know, but
I worry, you know?”
Billy smiled
at his friend. Yes, he knew that Tommy worried about Kim. He’d *always* worried
about her. It was part of him, and the love that he felt towards her. And Billy
knew that no matter what, Tommy would do anything in his power to make sure Kim
was safe.
Still, that
seemed to be only part of what he and the new ranger team were up against.
“Are you guys
going to be okay?”
“We will. You
know how it goes Billy… rangers get through anything the bad guy throws at
them,” Tommy replied, leaning over to place his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Come on. Let’s see if Hayley came up with any ideas.
Getting up,
Tommy led Billy back to the main chamber where he found Hayley diligently
working on the problem of keeping tabs on Zeltrax and keeping Kim out of the
fire. As they came in, she turned in her chair.
“I don’t know
what will work Tom. There’s a lot to consider,” she stated, looking at the
black ranger and the former blue ranger.
“Maybe I can
help?” offered Billy as he looked to Tommy for any concern, and finding none
took the seat next to Hayley.
“Sure,” she
replied, giving him a long appraising once over.
“I think that
your best bet is to monitor the general vicinity of Kim’s location. If anything
that is a monster comes into that area, your sensors will alert you to it.”
“So, I need
to modify the sensor array for the Boston area? But how can I pinpoint
Kimberly’s location within that area?”
“You could
use her bio-signature.”
“I… I don’t
know what that is.”
“I can help.
It shouldn’t have changed much,” Billy replied. “May I?”
Hayley waved
to the keyboard, and Billy went to work. Behind them, Tommy stayed out of it.
He might have his PhD, but the real geniuses were way out of his league. As
Billy worked his magic, Tommy stared at one of his oldest friends and his
college friend. They looked good together.
“Tommy, I
think Billy and I’ve got it,” Hayley announced, and turned to where Tommy still
stood behind them.
“Good…” he
replied, his body language showing some of the concern he had about Kim’s well
being evaporating at the announcement.
“I think we
can take it from here,” Billy stated, looking from his seat to Tommy and then
settled his gaze on Hayley.
Tommy was
slightly taken aback, but realized it made a lot of sense… It was funny. For as
long as he’d known Hayley, he’d had the feeling that he just needed to hook her
up with one of his friends. Maybe he just hadn’t introduced her to the right
one.
“I have some
papers to grade… How about you make sure you check in with me before you
leave,” Tommy said to Billy, and then looked at Hayley with a hint of a
grin. With that, he turned and headed
to the stairs, leaving the two alone.
“So…” Hayley
started, staring at the handsome and very smart former blue ranger. It wasn’t
often she was impressed, but damn he was brilliant. “You’re heading back off
planet soon, to wherever it is that you live now?”
“Affirmative,
I mean yes. I have a while before I go though. Maybe we could get a cup of
coffee? I miss coffee.”
Billy smiled
at her, and Hayley found herself thinking that maybe she’d finally found a
ranger that was worth her time and wasn’t preoccupied with his ex.
“You know, I
just happen to own a café,” she remarked with a grin, and watched as Billy’s
smile turned up even higher. “How about we have that coffee now?”
“Well that
sounds perfect.”
With that,
Billy got up and offered Hayley a hand. Taking it, she let him guide her to her
feet, and she escorted him towards the back entrance, their conversation taking
a technical turn as they followed the path past the raptorcycles.
“So, did you
make the morphers using super conductive polymers to allow the gems to bond
with the metal?” Billy asked as they walked.
“It was the
only way I could figure out how to do it without incorporating technology that
I didn’t have full access to,” she replied, smiling at the former blue ranger.
Yes, Hayley
thought as they left the command center, maybe with some help from Billy, she’d
be able to do some of the things wanted to do with the technology she had, and
maybe she’d finally found a ranger that she could relate to.
-End-
click the picture to go to the Always a Ranger page