"It doesn't matter whether she's Andros' sister or not. She's second in command of the greatest military power in the galaxies, and that power wants nothing more than to see the Free Systems obliterated. She'll say and do anything to accomplish that end."

Jenkarta had made the same argument over and over, rewording it every time someone spoke but refusing to let it go. Maybe he shouldn't let it go, maybe he was right, but it had to be irritating to have every idea countered by "it doesn't matter." It was a hypothetical issue anyway; he could at least embrace it as a thought question.

"She's second in command of a power she's starting to question! I was with her for three months, and I'm telling you she's not a ruthless villain! Her memory's been wiped, but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel. She's still human."

To Ashley, that apparently made all the difference. Humans were no less capable of atrocities than any other species, and just because someone could feel didn't mean that they felt guilt, remorse, or responsibility to the side of good. Although the time she had spent as Astronema's captive had provided them with extremely valuable intelligence, it had also--arguably--compromised her perspective.

"Human or not, she acts for Dark Spectre. The only mercy she has ever shown is toward you, Ashley. While this may be significant, perhaps even indicative of a turning point in her reign, it would be foolish to base an entire campaign on a single subjective event. I am willing to believe that Astronema can change. I am less willing to concede that she has."

Ko'Teth ma Ree was ever impressionable. Gentle, imaginative, and compassionate nearly to the point of weakness, she walked a fine line as leader of her own Ranger team. She relied heavily on her teammates to guide her decisions, and yet they listened when she spoke and carried out her decisions with no outward sign of dissent. He didn't understand her style of leadership... and yet hers was the only team to escape the border intact. Allowances had to be made for someone who could keep their troops alive.

"Forget the person for a minute. This plan is crazy. Why would anyone go to so much trouble to contact us, just to suggest something that any reasonable person would laugh at? It doesn't make any sense--unless she's telling the truth."

Ah, Andros. One could always count on him to produce the most convoluted logic in support of his arguments. The youngest Red Ranger in attendance at their impromptu strategy session was also the most experienced. He had been a Ranger longer even than Jenkarta, and although he was impulsive, headstrong, and occasionally irrational, he also had a way of achieving a favorable outcome from the most improbable of tactical scenarios.

It drove the Eltaran leader crazy. "You're saying the fact that none of us would ever go along with something like this is reason enough to go along with it?" Jenkarta asked wryly. "I don't know about you, but my team's going to need more than that."

Saryn wished he could close his eyes. It would be one less sense feeding him a constant stream of information, one less thing to process at the end of a day that had worn him down long before Jenkarta called this meeting. He acknowledged the importance of the information: the fact that Astronema had apparently sent an interdimensional message to one of their Rangers with the unbelievable offer of alliance was one that couldn't wait. But he did wish it had come a little earlier in the day.

"Saryn?" Jenkarta sounded impatient, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping back at the elder Ranger. "Do you want to share your opinion with the rest of us?"

He almost said no. No, because it would only drag this out longer, whether formal turn-taking degenerated into shouting matches or not. No, because Jenkarta had no right to patronize his fellow Rangers just because this was his planet. His level of battle stress was arguably the lowest of any, given that he was the only one still fighting on home turf with his original team in its entirety.

"This discussion is pointless," Saryn said flatly. "The question of Astronema's intent is irrelevant. Even if the border were to offer zero resistance, which is unlikely no matter the level of mutiny the Dark Fortress believes it can muster, the Free Systems do not have the resources to carry out an offensive of this magnitude."

"I think we do." Andros sprang immediately to the defense of a plan that Saryn was beginning to think he might actually endorse. "We can't gain ground on Dark Spectre the way things are now. But if Astronema managed to start something on the border, it won't be just another unaligned territory on the fringes of monarchy space. It'll be a war zone. It'll be a new front that diverts attention, troops, and equipment away from us."

"What if--"

"It won't--"

Ashley and Ko'Teth ma Ree spoke at the same time, and Ko'Teth ma Ree predictably yielded the floor to the Yellow Ranger. No one else would have done it, except perhaps Ashley's own team leader. Ashley was only here because the message had been directed at her, and Saryn wondered tiredly whether Andros would have been easier to reason with had Ashley been absent.

He decided, very privately, that he was glad she wasn't. Maybe he was losing his objectivity. Maybe he had been doing this too long. Maybe Cassandra was influencing him in ways he hadn't realized, or maybe he was just exhausted. But more and more lately, he found himself wanting to believe in Andros.

Ever since Ashley had returned from the Dark Fortress, Andros--with his Yellow and Silver Rangers beside him--had been charging morale across the planet. He knew just what to say, who to say it to, and when. It was somewhat startling to see the change in the formerly withdrawn Red Ranger. It was as though, Saryn sometimes thought, the faith that had been restored by Ashley's return was too much for him to keep to himself. It was infectious... and Saryn couldn't object.

If there was one thing they could use more of on Eltare, aside from everything, it was faith. He would take it where he could find it, no matter how unlikely the source. He wanted to believe in something for a change.

"If we had some other kind of diversion," Ashley was saying. "Say we can't count on Astronema, say this is some kind of setup. If we make a move, they'll expect it to be in the direction of the border. What if we went the other way?"

For a moment, there was blissful silence. Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to enjoy it, because he was too busy trying to decide whether he had completely missed her point or she had actually said something nonsensical. She was sincere, he knew that. But that was as far as his empathy got him.

"Look," Ashley said, before anyone could verbalize the expressions of non-comprehension he could see mirroring his around the table. "It's a win-win situation. Covert ops on a planet like Earth could be a precursor to military action in any direction--toward the border if Astronema comes through, or toward the Milky Way if she doesn't. We provide the distraction we were expecting from her, and it's in the opposite direction. Any ambush she might be planning ends up working against her if her forces are gathered on the other side of the local group."

"Earth isn't the planet I would have picked," Jenkarta said at last. Saryn looked at him in surprise. If he had expected anyone to take Ashley's suggestion seriously, Jenkarta would have been the last. "Earth has been hammered by assault and occupation to the point where resistance must be negligible. We've had no reports from out that way in far too long--"

"I have." Ashley's interruption was against the rules of the debate they were currently engaged in, but to her credit she stopped there and let Jenkarta decide whether to let her speak. When he just stared at her, she lifted her chin a little higher and stared back. Months in the company of Astronema had taught her a great deal.

"What do you mean, you have?" Jenkarta demanded. "The relays are overrun or missing altogether, and hyperboosted transmissions would have been traced the moment they were sent. You can't possibly have contact with anyone on Earth."

Not to mention the fact that it was highly illegal. Such transmissions were not only traceable, they were also impossible to secure. There were very few encryption codes that the monarchy hadn't broken, and the only ones available to civilians were too new to have been disseminated on Earth before it fell. In times such as these, messages that could be intercepted were tantamount to treason. If Ashley had heard from someone on her home planet without reporting it--or worse, contacted them herself--only her Ranger status would protect her from martial law.

"Gabriel Vargas is part of the resistance," Ashley told him. "He's Carlos' brother. He gave Carlos an encryption key before he left and I used it to contact him just a few days ago. They don't have tech, but they have people and they have organization. They could free that planet on their own if they had any way to defend it afterward."

She was either deluded or extremely well informed. He looked to Andros, belatedly realizing that everyone else at the table was doing the same thing. Was there any reason to believe that Earth had that kind of potential?

Andros nodded slowly. "The resistance is being run by a secret warrior society," he told them. "They have some kind of supernatural powers, and they've kept themselves hidden from the occupation for years. If what Gabe says is true, they do have a chance."

They couldn't defend Earth. It was too far from the Free Systems to be easily encompassed, and if it had no tech of its own then there was little hope that it could maintain an unaligned status. On the other hand, if it was to become a temporary source of conflict that would serve to divert Dark Spectre's forces... that was another matter entirely.

"We'll need every bit of intelligence your source has," Jenkarta was telling Ashley. "Along with some method of direct communication if what he says turns out to be true."

"I can get that together," she said steadily. "By tomorrow at the latest."

"Would you have picked a different planet, Jenkarta?" Ko'Teth ma Ree drew their attention with an almost forgotten question, and Saryn couldn't muster anything but the most dispassionate interest in the answer.

Even when it turned out to be an answer worth the interest. "Aquitar," Jenkarta said simply. "They've had time to regroup, reorganize, and rebuild," he added, when the silence lingered. "Completely isolated from Dark's Spectre's forces. They could, potentially, be our most valuable ally."

"If anyone knew how to contact them," Andros said, disbelief evident in his voice. "If the planet even exists anymore."

"It has to," Ashley murmured, and it was questionable whether he had said all he wanted to say or if hers was simply an interruption he permitted. "Carlos came back from it after it vanished. It's still there. We just can't see it."

"Which is why it's the perfect ally," Jenkarta repeated. "It's free of any monarchy influence."

"Then why," Saryn asked, fixing his stare on the tabletop, "would it want to help us?"

There was an uncomfortable quiet. Finally Andros said, "I'll ask TJ if he knows anything that could help us get in touch with Aquitar. We have to ask, if we can. Jenkarta's right--they could be a better bet than Earth."

Ashley shifted in her seat but said nothing.

"I like both possibilities better than the border," Jenkarta admitted. "But that's all they are: possibilities. We'll meet again tomorrow to hear whatever news Andros and Ashley have for us. In the meantime, get a team consensus: is there anything Astronema could reasonably be expected to do that would convince us? A gesture of faith, so to speak?"

Saryn gave in to the temptation to close his eyes. He couldn't take the sensory input any longer. He didn't like shielding: it was tiring, distracting, and led to an eerily muffled sensation that made him feel like he was trying to participate in this meeting with all the sound turned off. But he was shielding now. Anything that would block out the psychic noise. At this point, he would put his hands over his ears if he thought he could do it and escape comment from the rest of the Rangers gathered.

"Saryn?" Jenkarta's irritable tone once again pierced the conversation, and Saryn opened his eyes reluctantly. Jenkarta's look was pointed, and he clearly didn't intend to repeat the question this time.

It didn't matter. Saryn hadn't given it any thought anyway. "No," he said, closing his eyes again. What did it matter? They couldn't do it. He no longer saw any point in speculating about it.

His empathic shields were disturbingly effective, and the renewed discussion of Astronema's intentions reached him only through his ears. There was one person his shields couldn't exclude, though, and the mental silence only made her presence more difficult to ignore. He was looking at a picture on a ledge half a world away by the time Jenkarta finally called a halt to the proceedings.

He opened his eyes, and the picture vanished from his mind. Not the regret, though. The sadness lingered, and he knew where he would be drawn. Despite his fatigue, no amount of apathy would be enough to keep that cry from reaching his heart. Even on his strongest days, he couldn't ignore that kind of plea.

He left the building by teleportal and found himself on the outskirts of her territory. Still her territory, even after months of living in the medical ward. She had moved back here afterwards... to the building, if not to the room. The quiet separation between her and her fiance was finally official. He didn't know if the twins' birth had been the final blow, or if it had come much earlier than that. She didn't say, and he wouldn't ask. Not now.

He made his way to the top of the building, following an invisible pull to which he had long since become resigned. Cassandra was out on the edge of the roof, unfettered and undefended. He wished she would pick a safer place to spend her solitude.

He joined her silently by the railing. She would have known when he arrived. He would have known if she didn't want him to be here. There was no need to greet each other... indeed, there was little need to speak at all.

He wished she would.

"Jenkarta annoyed you." She didn't have to ask.

He was grateful that she made the effort to converse. Too often lately--as ever, at least in private--their shared company was silent. It was barely an improvement on the times when any remark they thought could be overheard was scathing or intolerant. Now, though there was no longer any reason to publicly disparage each other, there was every reason not to interact at all. He saw her only when she was alone, and private conversation was something they both had to work at.

"Everyone annoys me lately." It was an unfortunate truth in circumstances that made close social contact both necessary and constant.

Cassandra glanced sideways at him, and muted curiosity penetrated her cloud of regret. "Except you," he added quietly, in answer to her unasked question. Her effect on his psyche went far beyond simple annoyance.

She looked down again, fixing her gaze on the picture that he knew she held. He had never seen it. He didn't have to see it. He had memorized everything about it. It bothered him that she had never shown it to him. She hadn't hidden it, she simply... didn't offer it. Perhaps she thought he didn't care.

Cassandra held the picture out to him without a word.

She was very close tonight. She shouldn't be able to interpret every idle thought that crossed his mind, and yet somehow it seemed that she was. Of course, he shouldn't be able to see through her eyes either, and he had. An unanticipated result of his voyager inheritance, maybe. Or simply a side effect of the Power? To his knowledge, bonded empaths had never simultaneously held the Power until now.

He took the picture from her and stared down at the tiny figures curled in the middle of their pink and white blankets. He had never seen them in person. "You did the right thing," he murmured.

To his surprise, she laughed. It was a short, humorless sound, and the disgust that clouded her emotions made his heart ache. "When was that, exactly? When I was cheating on my fiance? When I lied to him, when I slept with you, when I brought babies into a world that doesn't deserve them? When I gave them up because this is no life for an adult, let alone for a child? Tell me when I've ever done the right thing!"

"When you gave me something to believe in," he replied softly. "When you told TJ the truth. When you realized you had been given children you didn't want and you bore them anyway. When you allowed civilians to care for them so that they might have the attention you can not give."

She scoffed, leaning harder against the railing as she tried to stare herself across the drop in front of them. He wanted to tell her to step back, to relinquish the edge she seemed so determined to haunt. But he had his own edges, and until he found his way back from them he had no business trying to call her to his side. He wouldn't ask her to trade one cliff for another.

"I hate myself sometimes," she told the edge of the building.

"I love you," he said simply.

At first, he thought she wouldn't answer. Then, finally, he heard her tell the railing, "I miss the way you used to hold me."

It had been a long time since he had touched her. He wasn't sure that risking it now was the most prudent course of action. It was too easy to lose himself when her emotions flooded into his, too easy to forget the boundaries they had set for themselves, too hard to stop touching later. But prudent or not, he couldn't ignore the wistful tone of her voice.

He put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned with downcast eyes to step into his embrace. It was easy, natural, nowhere near as awkward as it should have been, and he closed his eyes with a sigh. This was a moment he would like to hold onto for as long as he had the strength to remember such things.

He let the picture rest against her back as he hugged her closer. No one had been more shocked than Cassandra when a physical exam following the disappearance of her dimensional counterpart revealed the same pregnancy a month delayed. An Earth month: roughly the same amount of time between the conception of her counterpart's twins and her first dimensional transit.

Whether the timeframe was significant or not was moot. The twins were hers and his, and they couldn't disprove the possibility that dimensional shifting had nothing to do with their existence. They would probably never know--and that uncertainty brought the truth to light. Their illicit relationship was undeniable.

Relations between their teams went from companionable to effectively nonexistent overnight. Or rather, the Earth Rangers stopped speaking to either him or Jenna, and they found it simplest to return the favor. Andros and Zhane refused to have any part in the events. The two Kerovan Rangers became the Astro team's representatives in any and all issues that involved the Elisians.

He sighed again, choosing not to think about those first few weeks when he had something so much better to enjoy right now. Cassandra's mood was lightening, reluctantly but noticeably, and he wondered that it had been so dark even he was as positive contrast. Amusement filtered through at that, and he resigned himself to her unstoppable knowledge of his thoughts for at least the near future.

"Are you worried that I'm going to steal your Resident Self-Loather title?" she whispered. No matter how teasingly she meant it, the words made him frown.

"It bothers me to hear you say that," he whispered back. "I can't stand to think that you truly hate yourself."

Her reply was disturbingly enigmatic. "Now you know how I feel."

He considered that, running the words through his mind over and over, until she took pity on him and explained. "You punish yourself for things that aren't your fault more than anyone I know. I hate that there's nothing I can do about it."

"But there is something you can do." He let the words stay so soft he wasn't sure she could hear them, wasn't sure he even wanted to say them out loud, but it seemed as though she would know what he thought whether he gave voice to it or not. "You're doing it right now."

He felt her arms tighten around him. "Do you know what I dream, sometimes?" she whispered.

He probably knew better than she did, but he didn't say so.

"Sometimes... I think about what this planet would be like if we ever won. If we beat Dark Spectre and we didn't have to patrol every day." She stopped for a moment, and her voice was so faint that he held his breath to hear her words. "I think about getting my babies back, and I think about raising them."

She hesitated just long enough that he thought that was all she would say. Then she added, almost inaudibly, "With their father."

If she expected him to protest a vision of the future so idyllic he had never dared imagine it, she would wait an eternity for a challenge that never came. "Would that dreams were contagious," he murmured. "So that I might catch yours and dream it every night."

Her grip loosened, and he allowed her to take a single step back. Strange... he had thought it would be harder to let her go. It must be the euphoric delight that her vision evoked, the thought that she might share a wish so long denied.

"Would you really want a family?" she asked softly, searching his expression. "It wasn't... it was never something we thought could happen."

"It's the thing I want most," he confessed. She couldn't know that the image of him with her and the twins was the thing that made this day beautiful again. He held out the picture she had given him without taking his eyes off of her. "Second only to you."

"Keep it." She didn't even look down, but she lifted one hand from his waist to curl his fingers around the edge of the picture. "I have another one."

He made no effort to object. "Just when I think," he told her quietly, "that I can not endure another day. When I think that tomorrow I may wake up and all my caring will be gone... I see you. In my mind, in person if I am fortunate... and my faith is restored."

She smiled. It was the first time her expression had lit up like that since he found her out here, and it was one more in a string of sparkling moments that he wished he could replay at will. "I can't tell," she remarked, "whether we're getting better at small talk or if you're just using your diplomat-speak to win me over."

He gave that the consideration it was due. "That depends," he said at last, very seriously. "Is it working?"

She looked like she came very close to a giggle, and he lifted one hand from shoulder to cheek. Stroking her skin, he added gently, "I am sorry you have come to know me first as an instrument of deceit, and only incidentally as a person of sincerity. In this, at least, I am grateful for the connection between us, for it must reassure you to some degree."

She gave him a skeptical look, but he could feel more amusement than doubt behind the expression. "There's nothing about you that reassures me," she said with a sigh. "Except the fact that you're here."

"I would stay if you wanted me to," he said softly. He knew it wasn't what she meant and he couldn't help from offering anyway.

"No, you wouldn't," she countered. "Because I do want you to, and you won't. It wouldn't be fair to the others."

"There will come a day," he warned, "when 'fair to us' will seem more important than 'fair to others' in my mind."

Her mouth curved slightly, but this time it was a sad smile and one he took little pleasure in. "But not today."

"No," he agreed reluctantly. He still felt the weight of duty and moral obligation to his teammate--and to hers. He was sure their penance made little difference in the grand scheme of things, but it was a punishment they both felt they deserved. "Not today."

She took another step back, letting her hands fall, and he let go of her completely. It was a lonely feeling, even with her still there in front of him. "Thanks for coming," she murmured.

It could have been anything: a dismissal, an invitation, a simple acknowledgement of his presence. There was only one way he could answer. "Thank you for being here."

She hesitated a moment longer, then turned back to the railing. She could have walked away, but she didn't. It had been an unnaturally long day--he could have walked away just as easily. But he wouldn't leave her out here alone. Not when this was one of a very few times when he didn't have to.

He leaned on the railing beside her, saying nothing, and they contemplated the edge together. Somehow, though, with her at his side and the picture she had given him tucked into his uniform, it seemed a little farther away than it had before. He hoped there was anything about his presence that made the precipice less appealing to her as well.

"We saved you some dinner if you're hungry." Zhane knew he might not be, or at least might not realize he was. For Andros food was usually an incidental concern, something to be consumed when he had the time or when he could no longer function without it, whichever came first.

"Thanks." Andros flashed him a preoccupied smile, but he did look around as though he might notice if food suddenly appeared in front of him. That was enough of an invitation to make Zhane break out the leftovers.

"I'll go get it for you," he said, to keep their host from getting up. He headed for the kitchen, where Amanda was still cleaning up. He had offered to help, as always, and as always she had turned him down. When Bgoua cooked--which was most of the time--she cleaned, and she wouldn't let anyone talk her out of it.

Of course, he and Andros wouldn't let the neighbors help out in their apartment either. Guests were guests, and if there was one thing they could still do for each other in times like these, it was to extend the most basic form of hospitality. Cooking, visiting, pet-sitting... it was nice to have normal, competent, and above all tolerant neighbors.

"Still on the stove," Amanda said, anticipating him as he entered. "There's clean dishes over here if you want."

"Thanks." He transferred the remaining food onto a plate and added the appropriate silverware. By the time he'd turned around, Amanda had put down her sponge and poured another drink. "You coming?"

"That's as clean as it gets at the end of the day," she said with a smile. "Can I get you anything else?"

"If he even eats this much I'll be shocked," Zhane confided. "Thanks, though."

They made their way back into the main room, where the entertainment consisted mostly of lavishing attention on the dogs. Everyone was pretty low-key tonight, and Andros' arrival had only added to the sense that they should enjoy this quiet while they could. The Red Ranger rarely missed dinner without bringing significant news back with him afterward.

Andros accepted his plate with a gratitude that made Zhane wonder if he was more hungry than usual. He couldn't have skipped lunch, could he? Zhane tried to remember, but ultimately it was a futile effort. They had been on patrol early and had separated immediately afterward; he hadn't seen his partner again until now.

Amanda set the glass down beside him with a murmur of welcome, and Andros smiled at her in thanks. He was immediately the center of the dogs' attention, Zhane noted with some amusement. They wandered over with casual wags and pressed close against the couch, gazing up at him with adoring eyes. Food was the great leveler.

"Did you contact the others?" Ashley asked at last, her gaze alternating between Andros and the dogs. "I told Zhane about the meeting, but we waited until you got back to talk about it."

"Everyone's going to be in the pilots' lounge by 25.00 RST," Andros mumbled. He didn't look up until he had finished chewing and swallowed. "We'll get a team consensus then."

"Ranger business?" Bgoua guessed, and Andros glanced at Ashley.

"I didn't tell Bgoua and Amanda what it was about," she admitted. "Just that the Red Rangers had met and you were going to be late."

"We met about a message Ashley received," Andros said, for the benefit of their neighbors. He paused to take another bite. "It was supposedly from Astronema."

"Angelo, leave him alone," Amanda chided, snapping her fingers for the dog. "Come on, boy. You've already had your dinner."

"It's fine." And it probably was. Andros was used to Ranger begging by now. Zhane had only caught him at it a handful of times, but he was pretty sure that their Red Ranger was the biggest culprit when it came to sneaking the dog food under the table.

"Astronema, eh?" Bgoua repeated. "Is she in the habit of sending Rangers personal messages?"

There was no change in Andros' expression as he set his fork down and reached for his glass. "Just the ones she's held captive, apparently."

"So you think it really was Astronema?" Amanda frowned. "What was it, some kind of ultimatum?"

"You can't repeat this," Andros said with a sigh. "But yes, we think it was really Astronema, and no, she didn't deliver an ultimatum. She offered a kind of... truce. Alliance. Whatever you want to call it, she's saying she wants to fight for us."

Predictably, this news was met with silence. Zhane exchanged glances with Ashley while Andros apparently ignore the group reaction and concentrated on his dinner. Finally Amanda said carefully, "That seems... unlikely."

"Yeah." Andros looked up just long enough to catch her eye, and his wry amusement was obvious. "That's one word for it."

"Big huge trap is another," Zhane put in.

Ashley nudged him, making a show of trying to be inconspicuous. "That's three words."

"And they're all true," Bgoua said with a frown. "It seems so obvious that it's a trap that there must be something else behind her message."

Andros didn't answer, and Zhane glanced at him sharply. His lack of response was as telling as anything he could have said. Andros didn't think it was a trap. If he did he would have agreed with Bgoua automatically. Ashley had mentioned that he was considering the possibility, but Zhane had thought she must have misunderstood.

"Will you answer her?" Amanda was asking. "Can you even answer her?"

"I don't know." Andros had paused in his eating to stare at Ranger, who rearranged himself on the floor and lowered his head eagerly. "To both questions, I don't know. We can't go along with what she suggests, obviously, but any information about the enemy is good information. Even lies tell us something."

"And you expect to convene with your team tonight?" Bgoua asked after a moment. "What time is it now?"

"It's 24:41," Amanda answered for him. "We don't want to keep you..."

"We don't want to go," Ashley sighed, scrunching herself farther down in the cushions of her chair. She had to be tired if she was pouting, Zhane though, amused. She didn't usually let her cheerful facade down until she was back at their apartment, or occasionally when she was with her teammates.

"But we have to," Andros finished, scraping the rest of the food from his plate and looking around for his glass. Amanda was already getting up when he started to stand, and she held out her hands for his dishes. "You don't need to--"

"I want to," she said gently, smiling when he paused to drain his drink. "I'm glad you all could stop by. It's good to see you, even when there isn't much time to talk."

"It's always good to see you," Ashley responded, not moving from her chair. Zhane rose from the couch when Andros did, and she added, "I'm just going to stay here, okay? Tell the others I agree with whatever they decide."

While Amanda carried Andros' dishes into the kitchen, Zhane held out his hand to Ashley. "Nice try," he told her. "No rest for the Rangers."

She let him pull her out of the chair, and Bgoua got up to see them off. By the time they were out in the hallway it was, through no one's fault, really too late to make it to the zord bay on time even if they went directly there. And they couldn't, not unless they took Ranger with them.

So they stopped at home first, dropped Ranger off, got Ashley a sweatshirt, and made their way down to the ground floor and the nearest teleportal. There was a line tonight, and Zhane wondered what the occasion was. Surely he hadn't forgotten about some important holiday? He wasn't as good with Eltaran customs as Andros was.

The line let them through, and Andros keyed their destination into the portal device. The Co-Op teleportal required authorization, like all military destinations, and Ashley held her astromorpher up to the scanner when Andros waved for her to go first. Zhane followed, flashing his morpher in the direction of the scanner, and Andros stepped out of the portal behind him a moment later. The teleportal closed immediately on the other side.

Co-Op was relatively calm right now, and Zhane didn't give it more than a passing glance as they headed for the lifts. They were at the low point of the patrol rotation, a typical dead zone that the teams cycled through on a monthly basis. One team per quiet period per month, and then everyone got bumped one patrol cycle back. Right now this period belonged to Rangers from Calijyt.

In contrast to Co-Op, the Mega V hangar was an active and noisy place. Tech was swarming over the zords, looking for and maintaining anything the self-repair systems couldn't get to, and there were bots everywhere. Zhane wasn't particularly fond of the little metal creatures, but Ashley liked to watch them work. She stared out at the bay while they crossed to the lounge, hesitating after he and Andros entered so that she could survey their work just a little longer.

As expected, they were the last ones there. Carlos and Karen had gotten the couch nearest the door, and Cassandra was curled up in the armchair against the wall opposite them. TJ was sitting at the table in the back of the room, cutting up something that looked brightly colored and definitely edible.

"Hey guys," the Blue Ranger greeted them. "I'd wish you a happy holiday, but I can't pronounce it so you'll have to settle for cake. Courtesy of our floormates."

"What is it?" Zhane wanted to know, deciding that his best bet was to be near the table immediately. The door closed behind Ashley, shutting out the noise from the hangar, and he felt her curious presence just behind his shoulder. "Is it good?"

"Haven't tried it yet," TJ answered. "Want to help me with a taste test?"

"I'll get the plates," Zhane said cheerfully. "Dinner from our neighbors and dessert from yours. I like how this is working out!"

"Maybe you should wait till you try it to get excited," Ashley told him, clearly amused by his enthusiasm. "Some of the stuff they eat here is really... strange. And the stuff they drink is stranger."

"This doesn't look drinkable," Zhane pointed out, passing TJ a plate. "Andros has made you paranoid about the food on this planet. Most of it's perfectly normal."

"Let me know," Ashley said dubiously.

To his own surprise, "dessert" really was. It was sweet and fluffy and surprisingly palatable for a society that considered its juice the perfect appetizer: you had to eat something just to get the taste out of your mouth. "It's good," Zhane said, separating another piece and holding the fork out to her. "Here."

She let him feed it to her without a hint of skepticism, and he grinned as she drew back in surprise. "It is good," she remarked, eyeing the cake speculatively. "Can I have a piece too, Teej?"

"Sure thing." He posed dramatically above the cake with knife and impromptu spatula in hand. "Anyone else?"

"Me please," Karen said, not bothering to lift her head from Carlos' shoulder. "I promise to care more about this meeting if I get sugar first."

"I'll have some too," Carlos agreed. "I don't promise to care, but I'll at least try to stay awake."

Andros folded his arms, considering them all from where he stood by the side of the second couch. "There's talk of retaking Earth."

After a moment of complete silence, Karen pushed herself away from Carlos and sat up. "Okay," she said into the quiet. "Interest level suddenly high."

"That's crazy," TJ said flatly. "We've been over it a hundred times. There's no way to do it and make it stick. We don't have those kinds of resources."

"Aquitar might."

Even Zhane paused in his happy consumption of sugary delight to stare at him for that. Aquitar? Help them defend Earth? How? What for? He had been listening when Ashley told him about that meeting, he was sure of it. He was equally sure that there had been no more than a passing mention of Aquitar, and it hadn't had any connection to Earth.

"Excuse me," Carlos said at last. "Maybe I'm a little slow tonight. Did you just suggest contacting a planet that doesn't exist to defend a planet that isn't free?"

Andros didn't hesitate. "I think that pretty much describes the plan, yes."

"Which plan?" Zhane asked suspiciously. "Theirs, or yours?"

"'They' don't have a plan yet," Andros pointed out. "Why?" he added, with enough innocence to match Zhane's suspicion. "Don't you like my plan?"

"You're crazy," Zhane told him. "Even if we could contact Aquitar somehow, why would they want to help us? You heard what Cetaci told Eltare. She thinks they're luring Rangers here, convincing them it's hopeless so they'll fall back... defend the League center at all costs. She won't have anything to do with us."

"She won't have anything to do with Eltare," Andros corrected. "I bet she'll talk to Rangers from Earth."

TJ was passing out plates of cake to Karen and Carlos, and the Black Ranger was forced to lean around him to make his point. "Hello, does anyone remember Aquitar's new defining characteristic? It's not there! It's gone! How are we supposed to talk to empty space?"

"I was hoping you knew something about that," Andros admitted. "They were your closest neighbors. They didn't tell you about a trick that makes their planet disappear from interstellar scans?"

"We weren't exactly brothers in arms," Carlos said, picking his fork up and holding it out to the side in an approximation of a shrug. "More like distant cousins. They defended their planet, we defended ours. We just happened to be in the same part of space. I can count the number of times I talked to anyone from that team on one hand."

TJ was regarding Carlos thoughtfully. "You know who would know," he said. "Aquitar."

"Thanks for that catch-22," Carlos put in, stabbing his fork into his cake.

"No," TJ said slowly. "No, I mean Aquitar in the other dimension. In Justin's dimension. Remember, their Carlos was on pretty good terms with Aquitar. What if we could get someone over there to ask their Aquitar how to contact them?"

Zhane scraped some frosting off of the side of his plate while he considered that possibility. "That's actually kind of clever," he said aloud. "Is there some obvious reason that wouldn't work?"

"Other than the fact that they might not have any idea what we're talking about?" Carlos seemed determined to grouse about anything involving Aquitar, and considering his counterpart's involvement with the planet maybe that wasn't so strange. At the same time, it seemed counterproductive.

"That's no reason not to try!" Ashley, ever the voice of optimism, managed to sweep Carlos' protests aside without making it look like she was ignoring him. The sugar must be perking her up, Zhane decided. "Let's leave a message for JT tonight. He can transmit it to Justin whenever he comes back on duty."

"Okay," Cassandra said, getting everyone's attention from her solitary spot by the door. "Assuming we can contact Aquitar, what exactly are we going to ask them to do? A mutual defense pact is a little bit different than overthrowing an occupation."

"I told Jenkarta about Gabe and the ninja academies," Ashley put in. "I told him I was the one who had talked to him," she added, glancing in Carlos' direction. "I'm sorry, but I thought he should know that Earth has an active resistance."

Carlos was frowning, but Zhane had never seen the volatile Earth Ranger lose his temper with Ashley over anything. She was probably the only one who could have said what she did and get away unscathed. Zhane thought she knew it, too... she might have done it for just that reason.

"How much does Jenkarta know?" Carlos asked at last.

"I told him Gabe gave you that encryption key," Ashley said immediately. "I told him that I used it to contact Gabe a few days ago, and I told him that Gabe had organized people to back him up. That's all.

"Andros said they could probably retake the earth themselves," she added. "But they wouldn't be able to hold it. Jenkarta seemed a little surprised, but not like he was going to throw me in jail or anything. He wants to know everything Gabe's told you about the resistance. He also asked if Eltare could get in touch with him directly."

"No." Carlos' response was as fast as hers. "They're not stupid; they won't talk to anyone they don't know."

"How do you feel about giving him information on the resistance?" Ashley wanted to know. "No contact info, no names or places or strategies--nothing specific, just the kind of force they have and whether you think it could work with one from offworld?"

This time, Carlos hesitated. "I could give him general stuff," he agreed grudgingly. "But he'd have to take my word for it. I'm not going to compromise them, and Eltare won't have any luck finding them without us. They're ninjas. They probably don't even know what that means here."

"Aquitar had ninjas," Andros said unexpectedly.

"Phaedos too," Zhane volunteered.

"I'll tell him," Ashley promised. "Or Andros will," she said, glancing in his direction. "I'm probably not invited to the meeting tomorrow, huh?"

"Oh, you'll be there." Andros' tone left no room for doubt. "I need someone on my side, and you always manage to make people feel guilty about being cynics. Besides," he said, more seriously, "you're a lot more qualified to talk about that part of space than I am."

Ashley set her plate down on the table with an uncomfortable look in TJ's direction. "Well, TJ or Carlos would be better--"

"Astronema sent that message to you," Andros said firmly. "I know TJ was the Red Ranger for your planet, and Jenkarta respects that. But I can bring you because you're already involved, and hopefully no one will say anything. It'll be harder to get anyone else in--especially since you've already told Jenkarta that Gabe is talking to you, not Carlos."

"Yeah, thanks for that," Carlos remarked, and it was impossible to tell whether he was serious or not.

Ashley apparently knew just how to interpret it. "You're welcome," she retorted, wrinkling her nose at him. "I'm always willing to take the fall for my friends."

"That's why you're so popular," Carlos agreed gravely.

"Anybody else want cake?" TJ asked, cutting another piece. "Cause the longer we're here, the more I'm going to eat."

"Carlos, give Ashley whatever information you can," Andros ordered. "TJ, can you come up with some kind of message for Justin and make sure that JT gets it?"

"Sure can," TJ said easily. He was concentrating on the cake, moving his second piece from tray to plate and lifting the knife with a flourish when he succeeded. "Last chance for some cake!"

Cassandra's voice was soft and unexpected. "I'll try some," she said, and the effort it took to be casual was evident in her expression.

"You got it." TJ's reply was prompt, but Zhane noticed that he didn't look at her as he handed the cake to Ashley. Ashley carried it over to Cassandra, taking a seat on Andros' couch afterward.

"There's just one more thing," Andros said with a sigh. "I know," he said, when Karen groaned. "It's a team consensus, so if we can't get anywhere we'll have to sleep on it."

"Or you could just decide for us." Ashley settled against the cushions on the side of the sofa closest to him. "You're good at that."

"Is there anything Astronema could do that would prove her good faith?" Andros ignored Ashley's comment entirely. "No one else believes that she's telling the truth. I'm not even sure I believe it--and even if I did," he continued, before Ashley could interrupt, "we could never act on it. There's no way to convince Eltare that its greatest enemy wants to defect, and we can't decide the course of the war without the support of this planet."

Ashley subsided. No one else said anything.

"You just answered the question for us," Zhane pointed out quietly. "There's no way to convince Eltare. So, no. There's nothing Astronema can do to prove her good faith."

"If she--" Karen stopped, then shook her head. "No, never mind."

"No," Carlos agreed.

"Even if she blasted her way out of the monarchy and volunteered her forces in service to the Free Systems," TJ said firmly, "I'd still suspect her. And so would every patrol wing and defense unit we have."

"So, that's a no?" Zhane inquired.

TJ threw him an exasperated look, and Zhane shrugged. "I was just asking."

"What if she freed a Border planet?" Cassandra said unexpectedly. "A whole system? And held it? Would that convince us?"

Everyone looked at her. Zhane got it first. "You mean, if she didn't ask anything of us. If she just struck out on her own and let us think whatever we wanted."

Cassandra nodded.

"Yes," Ashley said in a small voice. No one jumped on her. She was Astronema's most vocal--and typically only--defender. The other Rangers never derided her for it, but this time they were unusually quiet.

"Maybe," Karen agreed finally.

"She hasn't," Carlos pointed out. "And she's not going to. So what does it matter?"

"It matters because the question is whether or not there's anything she could do. If there's nothing, then her message is meaningless and nothing has changed," Andros told him.

"Not meaningless," TJ realized. "Not if there's some kind of gathering of forces to back it up--either to convince us or to ambush us, it doesn't really matter. It's a strategic shift toward the border. That's why we're talking about Earth, isn't it?"

Andros nodded.

Carlos was studying him. "Is your plan based on the assumption that she's lying, then?"

Andros gave him a slightly superior look. "My plan is based on the assumption that someone in power in the monarchy sent that message and intends to follow through with it in some way," he informed Carlos. "Whether it's true or not, whether it's even from Astronema or not doesn't really matter."

"Well, it's good to have plans that don't depend on pesky things like the truth," Karen said dryly. "Can we go to bed now?"

Andros glanced around, but no one wanted to be the one to further postpone the end of the day. "Go ahead," he agreed, when no one else jumped in. "Tell your neighbors thanks for the cake, TJ."

Amused, Zhane caught his eye through the shuffle of motion that followed his dismissal. "You didn't even try any," he reminded Andros.

Andros shrugged, wandering over to the table. "So? Is it any good?"

Zhane reached out and scooped some frosting from the top of the cake plate. Andros caught his hand licked the frosting off his finger. Tilting his head to one side, he pretended to give the flavor serious consideration. "Okay," he said at last. "Good enough for me. Is it time for bed yet?"

"You go," Zhane told him. "I'm going to stay and help TJ clean up."

"Oh, plates." Andros grimaced at the idea, but he wasn't leaving. "I'll help." He pointed behind his back at Ashley, still curled up at the end of the couch. "Don't get up. We'll do it."

"This is me," Ashley said with a yawn. "Protesting vigorously."

"This is me," Karen added from the door, "thanking people who care for washing our plates. Good night guys."

"Thanks," Carlos added, his hand in hers as they went to leave. "Night."

"Good night," TJ called over his shoulder.

There was another chorus of "good night"s for Cassandra, for whom Ashley actually made the effort of pulling herself up off the couch and following out into the hangar. Their private conversation left Andros and Zhane alone in the lounge with TJ and dishes that were coated with easily-removed sugar. They were done before Ashley returned.

"Thanks for putting together that message for Justin," Andros told TJ, as they got ready to leave.

TJ waved it away. "No problem. I'll send it to everyone on the team, too, so we all know what's going on."

"Happy whatever holiday it is," Zhane told him, and TJ just grinned.

"Good night," Andros said, his tiredness evident now as it hadn't been before.

Zhane echoed him and TJ just waved, apparently planning to stay and work on Justin's message from here. They picked up Ashley out in the hangar: Cassandra had left, but their roommate was entranced by the bots again. She fell into step beside them as soon as they emerged, and the three of them headed for the teleportal and home.