It was home. Funny that the place would still seem so familiar, so... safe. The one thing it had never been was still her first impression upon returning. Not that she trusted it, not a single thing about it, and the first thing she did was to look for her captor--

But the second thing she did was smile. The Dark Fortress had been her ship for a long time, and there was nothing about it that she didn't know. Without a single discernible awareness in the vicinity, organic or mechanical, she shifted into a less recognizable form and started to inspect her surroundings.

She was careful not to move, in case whatever had brought her here was about to send her back with just as little warning. But she identified the junction at which she was standing, the nearest surveillance devices, and the sound of approaching footsteps. That made her turn, pivoting in place to face the wall as though working. No one would question a quantron at work.

Ecliptor. She recognized his voice immediately, growling at someone who was wisely keeping silent. "When you find her report back to me," Ecliptor said harshly. "Say nothing to Astronema."

The twin sounds of quantron acknowledgement were his only response, and she raised an eyebrow as he stomped past her in the narrow hallway. His mechanical escort evaporated and she heard him mutter to himself, "These games weren't cute when you were ten, Princess."

He was looking for... her? She frowned, turning her head just enough that she could watch him go. Had he dispatched those quantrons to find her? He used to do that, sometimes, when she didn't answer the intercom. It was an insult that someone would expect her to listen when they wouldn't go to the trouble of coming to her in person, so she made them look.

She had known that infuriated Ecliptor. Her lips twitched, and she told herself firmly that the time for childish glee was long past. Like any good soldier in a dictatorship, he never reproached her for the problems she caused him. And like any good dictator, she had taken his silence as acceptance.

She returned to her study of the wall, frowning again. Those days were over. He couldn't be looking for her, not unless he had been responsible for her sudden presence on the ship. She had given the Dark Fortress to Ecliptor with the unspoken understanding that she would never set foot on it again. Yet here she was, and someone had to have brought her here.

*Andros,* she thought intently. Her brother had probably already gotten a frantic call from Ashley by now. *I'm on the Dark Fortress.*

The answer was longer in coming than it should have been. *Kerone?*

*No, the spy goddess,* she retorted. *Who do you think? Where's Ashley?*

She should have tried Ashley first, she thought with a sigh. Andros could be shockingly slow on the uptake sometimes. If there weren't weapons being fired all around him, or things exploding in front of his face, he could be daydreaming a galaxy away for all anyone knew.

*Ashley?* she thought. *Are you still at the Center?*

*Kerone... what are you doing on the Dark Fortress?* Andros sounded odd, but she figured that was a fair question. Too bad she didn't have an answer.

*I wish I knew,* she replied. *One minute I was at the Center with Ashley, and the next thing I know, I'm surrounded by Ecliptor's quantron army.*

Ashley wasn't answering, which worried her. *Ashley?* she tried again.

When this produced no response, she told Andros, *Ashley's not answering. Get DECA to look for her. I'm worried that whatever sent me to the Dark Fortress sent her somewhere to. Obviously not here--probably not here,* she amended, looking around. *I'll start looking, just in case.*

*Kerone.* Andros' thoughts sounded disturbingly disorganized. *You can't be with Ashley. Ashley's on Earth. And you're... we lost you on KO-35."

Those words made her spine tingle, but she was controlled enough not to shiver. *When?* she demanded. Could she have lost time somehow? Was this a future far removed from the day she had woken up to this morning?

*Four years ago,* he told her. *When KO-35 was invaded. Zhane and I were the only--this is crazy. I'm crazy; why am I imagining this? Why do I do this to myself?*

*You're not imagining anything,* she snapped. *I'm here and I'm real and I want some answers. KO-35 was invaded again? By whom? What happened to Ashley and Ty? Where are you?*

There was no answer, and now she was starting to worry. The Dark Fortress was still there, she reminded herself. Ecliptor was here. She wasn't totally alone, and she wasn't exactly in unfamiliar territory. She had a place to start from and she would be able to make her own way if she needed to. And it was starting to look like she might need to, at least for a while.

*Andros,* she demanded. *Talk to me.*

It seemed to jolt him out of what was probably a haze of self-recrimination. *We met Ash two years ago,* he thought slowly. *I don't know who 'Ty' is.*

She didn't like the rapid escalation of the weird, and she thought he could probably hear it in her tone. *Your teammate, Ty. Tixe. The Black Ranger.*

Andros' mental voice was as short as hers. *Kaeth was the Black Ranger.*

Kaeth. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. *I don't know any Kaeth,* she told Andros. *But if I've somehow lost four years then I...* Something useful finally occurred to her. *How old are you?*

*Twenty. How old are you?* He sounded defensive, but the answer actually made her relax a little. She wasn't in the future. She was in some bizarre dream, or loyalty test, or weird alternate dimension--

She was in an alternate dimension. That was it. Was that even possible? Last year the former Astro Rangers had all started seeing things from JT's dimension. What if it was happening to her now?

*Do you know JT?* she asked abruptly.

*Of course I know JT. I guess that proves you're a figment of my imagination,* he added, *since there's no way my sister would know him.*

Common ground. It might not make any sense, but she was starting to get a vague idea of what might have happened. *You're right about one thing,* Kerone remarked, rapidly trying to rearrange her worldview. *I don't know JT. But I do know Justin, and I'm pretty sure I'm in the wrong dimension right now.*

But if she was here, and Ecliptor was looking for Astronema, then...

This could potentially be very bad. *I think Astronema's on KO-35,* she thought. *With Ashley. And the children...* Oh, she really hoped that Ashley had been able to keep her double from doing anything too destructive. Especially with children around.

*Kerone,* Andros repeated, for the third time. *You're... Kerone. From Justin's dimension.*

"You there." An unexpectedly human sounding voice made her freeze, but she didn't turn around. Quantrons never assumed they were the ones being addressed, even when they were. "I have a task for you."

The proximity of the voice made her tilt her head, and it confirmed, "Yes, you. Astronema wants copies of her upper level surveillance loaded onto this device. Leave it in the command center by the tactical grid when you're done."

She turned mechanically, wondering who this person thought he was. Human, at least as far as she could tell, short dark hair and a mustache. She'd never seen him before. And what he was asking her to do was absolutely prohibited. She didn't care how different this Dark Fortress was or wasn't, there was no way she would have trusted anyone with the upper level surveillance.

*Kerone,* Andros' voice intruded. *You have to get out of there.*

*Shut up,* she snapped reflexively. *I'm busy.*

"Who do I report to?" she asked the dark man. She took the device he thrust at her, repeating her question when he didn't seem inclined to reply.

"What?" Maybe he didn't understand quantron speech. He wouldn't get far on the Dark Fortress if he didn't, though. "Oh, never mind, just get going. Go, shoo!"

He would pay for that, she thought. Behind the metallic mask her eyes narrowed as she watched him hurry off down the corridor. That was the stride of someone who didn't want to get caught, and suddenly she was quite sure that he knew what he was doing was forbidden.

He would never expect a quantron to follow him, so she didn't even wait until he had rounded the corner to start after him. She did make the device disappear, though. If he turned around, he would see just another anonymous soldier. Could be any quantron walking along the hall behind him--any quantron except the one he had just been talking to, since this one didn't have anything in its hands.

She rounded the corner and stopped in her tracks. The dark little man was gone, and in his place was a figure straight out of her nightmares. She should pivot and go the other way, she should do it now, but she was frozen in place as she stared after the retreating form of Darkonda.

*Andros.* She needed any reassurance she could get right now, and she reached out for him instinctively. *Darkonda's here. On the Dark Fortress.*

*Who?* The question reminded her that this wasn't the brother she'd grown up with and lost, the one she had rediscovered so recently. *Who's Darkonda?*

*He kidnapped me,* she said matter-of-factly. She forced herself to turn around and start back down the corridor toward her original position. *When I was little, he took me away from KO-35 and told me my entire family had been killed by the Power Rangers. He sold me to Ecliptor.*

*What?* Even Andros' thoughts sounded horrified. *Kerone, you were never kidnapped. You were a Ranger for KO-35 until the planet was invaded four years ago and...*

*And I died,* she finished for him. *With the rest of the team, right? Except for you and Zhane. You two escaped to Eltare. Right?*

There was a long silence. *Zhane wasn't a Ranger,* he thought at last, but she got the feeling it wasn't what he meant to say.

*And I didn't die,* she told him. *So we were both wrong. Your dimension has an Astronema, and it's me. Believe me, I've met her. Your Kerone is alive, and she's not as evil as you think.*

He didn't answer, and she considered her options. She had anonymity as a quantron and under normal circumstances could probably roam the ship at will indefinitely. But Ecliptor was already looking for Astronema, which meant that he was going to figure out she was missing sooner rather than later. What would he do when that happened? As well as she knew Ecliptor, she didn't think she could predict his reaction to that discovery.

There were several plausible possibilities, of course. One, he would cover up her disappearance until she returned or he determined her location. Two, he would declare an intruder alert as an excuse to lock the ship down and search every section there was. Three, he would assume control of the Dark Fortress himself and prepare a very nasty welcome for her upon her return.

She was going to have to make sure he found Astronema--and soon. That was all there was to it, and she was fairly sure she could pull it off. But she would need a lot more information than she had right now.

The best thing she had going for her right now was the fact that Darkonda apparently believed a quantron could walk into Astronema's inner sanctum without being questioned. Only fair, she thought, that his treachery would provide her with such a valuable piece of information. She would have to thank him for that later.

Assuming he wasn't completely delusional, of course.

*Kerone.* Andros sounded upset but steady. *You need to get out of there. Now. You did it before, when you brought Ashley back to us. Do it again. Come here. We can keep you safe until we figure out what happened.*

She smiled to herself as she abandoned her "work" station and headed for the upper levels. It was nice of him to suggest such a thing, even if it was impossible. *I can't do that,* she told him. *Astronema's gone, and if she stays gone, any hope you had of an alliance with her is gone too. I have to stay here.*

She didn't have to spell it out for him. *You're going to impersonate Astronema? You'll get yourself killed!*

*Maybe,* she agreed, hooking clumsy metal fingers over the ladder rungs and starting to climb. *And if I don't, maybe I'll get you killed. There's more of you than there are of me, Andros.*

*You can't count numbers when you're talking about people's lives!* His fury filled her head, and she noted that she'd hit a sore spot. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised. He lived in a war zone, after all.

*No,* she agreed soothingly. *But you can count choices. I choose to stay.*

It had been Zhane who hauled him out of the war room. It had been Zhane who locked the door behind them, keeping everyone else on the other side. It was Zhane who stood behind him now, hands on his shoulders, while he slumped over the conference table and tried to convince himself that he hadn't gone crazy.

And it was Zhane who sat down next to him when he lifted his head, watching him without question or suspicion or curiosity. Zhane had never asked anything of him, and it looked like he wasn't going to start now. Kerone had always said he was too good for Andros... too good for any of them.

*Please be careful,* he begged someone who might or might not still be listening.

He couldn't help waiting, holding his breath in the hope of a reply. It came, and it crushed him with its casual assurance. *Same to you,* his sister answered.

Unable to face Zhane, he turned his head back to the table and whispered, "I'm sorry." To whom and for what, he couldn't be sure anymore. But he was sorry.

"Sorry doesn't get us anywhere," Zhane said gently. "It's not about the past, it's about the future. That's what we're fighting for."

Andros stared at the table for a long moment, wondering how Zhane always knew what to say. "What if we're fighting for the wrong thing?" he asked rhetorically.

"We're not," Zhane replied. That was all, just we're not. Decision made, agonizing over, time to take action. Just like Kerone.

"It's true," Andros blurted out. "Astronema really is Kerone."

There was a moment of silence, and he looked up at Zhane's totally neutral expression. There was nothing revealed on that face, never had been, and Andros sometimes wondered if that was just the way he was or if that was what his life had made him. Mask or manner or both?

"She's alive," Zhane said at last. "That's great news."

"She's Astronema!" Andros shouted. "She's--"

He closed his mouth with an effort, clenching his fists. He'd thought he had come to terms with the possibility. He'd even tried to put it aside, knowing that it didn't help him make any of the decisions that had to be made. But to hear her voice inside his head, to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this was no trick, no illusion meant to break him, just the true and honest confusion of a girl who never should have ended up where she was...

He could feel tears sting his eyes. The anger and the despair surged just as fast and hard as the hope that lately seemed to spring from the strangest places, and then he was being held and he'd never done anything to deserve the faith that Zhane had in him. But he took it, and he drew strength from it. He let the Silver Ranger comfort him during the times that no one else should see.

"Don't you know," Zhane whispered. "This is why people follow you."

It was so strange, so unexpected. He wouldn't let go of Zhane and he wanted to hear his voice but the words didn't mean anything to him. His entire team, lost... except for the one who became Astronema. How could it have even happened?

"Because you still feel things," Zhane continued softly, not seeming to expect a reply. "So many people here are hardened to the reality of a life at war. You've never stopped mourning the people who are lost, or celebrating the ones who survive."

Their morphers had come back to him after the fall of Sai Kung. Morphers didn't leave their Rangers, not ever, not while they were alive and fighting... not while they were alive and fighting for good. But she couldn't have been evil then, she couldn't, it wasn't possible.

She couldn't have been evil. She couldn't have died if she was still alive. And her morpher had appeared in his keeping before he left the planet.

One of those three things had to be untrue.

"Don't blame yourself, Andros." Zhane's voice was like warmth inside his soul. "And don't ever give up, because you're everything we need."

And this was everything he needed. Zhane kept him together. "You're what I need," he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut to he let their embrace keep everything else at bay, just for a little while.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. Probably not as long as he thought, but after the first minutes had passed it could have been an hour and he wouldn't have known. Zhane just sat there and held him, shifting occasionally to get closer or more comfortable, and Andros tried not to think.

It didn't work, of course, but he held out against thoughts of what had to be done for a long time. Better to hang onto Zhane for as long as he could, because who knew when this could be taken from them. He couldn't imagine life without Zhane, and so he didn't. But he didn't take it for granted, either. Zhane was life.

"We need to tell the others," he said at last, not moving.

"Are you sure?" Zhane didn't sound skeptical, just... steady. "Would it change anything for them to know that Astronema is Kerone?"

"It's not just that." Finally he pulled back, keeping his hands on Zhane's arms. Then he thought better of it and lifted one hand to his face, then the other, trying to dry his eyes and push his hair back at the same time.

The gesture made Zhane smile, though what was funny about him falling apart he had no idea. Zhane just reached out, touching his face to reassure him before standing up and moving around behind him. He felt Zhane's fingers in his hair a moment later. "Let me get this out of your way," Zhane offered.

Andros didn't answer, which Zhane correctly read as assent. "She contacted me telepathically," he said instead. "She's switched places with the Kerone from Justin's dimension, and that Kerone came looking for me in my head."

Zhane's fingers kept stroking through his hair, apparently unsurprised by this revelation. "I thought JT stopped with the ID experiments so no one would switch anymore."

The idea that JT would actually give up one of his favorite research projects struck Andros as wildly unlikely, but he knew what Zhane meant. JT would have at least been more discreet about it, and that meant changing whatever he and Justin were doing so that it didn't get the attention of every Ranger on the planet. "I don't think JT did this," Andros muttered, staring down at the floor.

It didn't make sense on too many different levels. Not just the fact that JT had said he would stop, or the fact that JT ought to be too busy to come up with something so crazy in the first place. But the fact that Kerone didn't have a morpher anymore. The fact that she switched when no one else did. The fact that she hadn't expected it, hadn't even thought of it as a possibility when she first switched... that didn't sound like JT's doing.

"Is that why you wanted to tell them?" Zhane guessed. Andros could feel his hair being manipulated gently, pulled away from his face and twisted into what was probably a braid. "So you could ask him about it?"

"Yeah." They were going to have to help her out, if she was determined to take Astronema's place for the duration. And what was the duration? What if Astronema had already returned? Or worse, what if she returned tomorrow or the next day, after Kerone had already had time to have an effect on the Dark Fortress? Wouldn't that put Astronema in just as much danger as Kerone if she didn't know?

*Kerone?* He wasn't sure what he expected, but her immediate response wasn't it. No response, maybe. How had she even managed to communicate with him over such a distance? He knew real telepaths weren't supposed to be limited that way, but the two of them had never put it to the test.

Her voice was achingly familiar. *Yes?*

He swallowed. *Nothing. I'm sorry.*

*Andros.* She sounded concerned, and he wondered what she was doing that she could afford to be distracted like this. *Are you all right?*

I thought you were dead! He wanted to shout at her but he didn't have the energy or the emotion left over. I thought Astronema was trying to trick me! To lose her, only to get her back in so twisted a way... would it have been better if she had died?

Ashley wouldn't think so. Ashley would tell him that Astronema really was good, deep down inside. Ashley would say that Astronema was just confused, that she didn't remember who she was, that something had been done to her and it wasn't her fault. Even Kerone herself had admitted that she used to be Astronema--the Kerone from Justin's dimension, anyway--and that she had found her way home in spite of it.

How, he wondered suddenly? How had this other Kerone remembered who she was? How had she come back to him when Astronema seemed incapable of anything but lies and devastation? What was it about her that made Ashley trust her?

*I just wanted to hear your voice,* Andros thought sadly. It was hard to lie to a telepath. *I've missed you. I miss you so much.*

*We'll talk,* Kerone promised without hesitation. *Later. It's not too late for us, or for her. Okay, Andros?*

Somehow, she made him believe. Maybe he had to. Maybe if he didn't he was no different than the rest of the League Rangers, fighting a war without hope. *We'll help you,* he told her. *We can tell you everything Astronema told us. It's not much, but you'll know where the underground stands--on this end, at least.*

*Good.* There was a pause. *I'm going to need that, but not right now. I have to deal with some other things first.*

*Go,* he agreed. *Deal. I'll be here.*

He thought he could hear a smile in her voice when she replied, *I know.*

He couldn't make himself answer, and he knew he shouldn't when she was busy. He was grateful when Zhane's hands settled on his shoulders again, apparently finished with his hair. "Want to go now?" the Silver Ranger inquired. "Or should we wait out the strategy session?"

They had waited long enough already. "Let's go now," Andros said, feeling Zhane's hands slide off his shoulders as he stood. He caught one hand before Zhane could turn away, pulling him into another hug. "Thank you," he whispered.

Zhane turned his head and pressed a kiss to his neck. His arms tightened in wordless support, and another long moment passed. Finally Andros straightened, their gazes meeting before they headed for the door.

JT was missing when they re-entered the war room. Every eye in the room turned toward them, and Andros might have felt embarrassed if not for Zhane's unwavering presence at his side. "Where's JT?" he demanded.

It was Saryn who answered. "He left to take an emergency call from an undisclosed source."

Andros exchanged glances with Zhane. "Where?"

"He was summoned to Co-Op," Saryn replied. His intent gaze said that he suspected something already, but Andros didn't feel like explaining twice. Or three times.

"I need to talk to him," Andros said simply. "We'll be back before you're done."

JT wasn't in Co-Op, but that wasn't much of a surprise. When Saryn said "Co-Op" Andros had immediately filled in "JT's office." The room had once been a secondary strategy council, but JT had taken it over as he started to spend more and more time in Co-Op. He actually cleared people to enter now, and Andros and Zhane had to wait until he admitted them.

JT was talking to himself again. Or rather, he was talking to his counterpart on the monitor, but he waved them in without interrupting Justin. Justin stopped when he saw them anyway, and JT filled them in curtly. "Kerone's disappeared."

"She's here," Andros replied. "On the Dark Fortress. Is Astronema with them?"

JT just stared at him, but on the screen, Justin nodded. "Yeah, Astronema's on KO-35. She doesn't have any idea what happened."

"Neither does Kerone," Andros told him. "She thought she was in the future at first. Did you do this?" he asked JT.

JT held up his hands in a warding gesture. "This is the first I've heard of it. How do you know what's going on?"

"Kerone contacted me." It was almost worth it to see the startled look on JT's face. "Telepathically. I told her to come here, but she won't. She's going to stay on the Dark Fortress and try to be Astronema so our whole rebel alliance doesn't disintegrate."

JT caught up fast, he'd give him that. "If she can pull it off," he said thoughtfully, "this could actually work to our advantage. Assuming she's any more trustworthy than our Astronema... we'd have a direct line to the Dark Fortress. Through you."

Andros could only stare at him. He felt Zhane's hand settle against the small of his back, a subtle gesture meant to calm. It was the only thing that kept him from snarling at a boy who was too cold and calculating for the youthful face he wore. A boy that maybe reminded him a little too much of himself.

"You can trust her," Justin was saying. "She's a Power Ranger."

Zhane spoke before JT could reply. "If she's willing to risk her life to help us, we've got to help her in return," he told the screen. "Astronema knows what information she needs, right? Can you get her to tell us so we can feed it to Kerone?"

"I'm not in contact with her right now," Justin answered. "I'll pass your message on to Andros and have him see what he can do."

"Good." Andros tried to ignore the fact that he was sending a message to himself. "Ask him if Ashley's all right, while you're at it. Kerone was worried."

He got odd looks from all three of them, but Justin nodded. "Can do."

She hadn't expected to sleep well. She knew she needed it, needed any sleep she could get at this point, and she knew that this was her best chance to get it. She had been assured that this structure was secure, and thanks to the curfew it was also dark and quiet until six in the morning. Ironic that she had been promised better sleeping conditions undercover than she had had for years on Eltare.

It couldn't quiet her mind. It couldn't turn off the underlying tension, the certainty that she could be called to action at any hour. But somehow, without her conscious acceptance, it did soothe her into a superficial sleep. She didn't notice until she woke up the first time, but sleep did come, and after the first doze it stayed with her for hours.

The second time, she woke up to the sound of a woman's voice. Someone calling her name, someone she didn't immediately recognize... she sat up, instantly alert in the darkness. "Who's there?"

*Ashley?*

The sound came again, distinct but directionless, and she grabbed her field jacket as she rolled out of bed. "Who's there?" she asked again.

This time there was no reply. She fumbled her way to the door, cursing the curfew that kept her from turning on the lights. She reached for her weapon, checked the resistance teleporter in her pocket, and listened for a moment before cracking the door. There was no sound from the hallway.

Something was wrong. She didn't know what, but her skin was crawling and that voice had to have come from somewhere. Maybe the first time she had been dreaming, but not the second. She had been fully awake the second time.

The room across the hall was Cam's, and it was empty. That made her nervous. Under normal circumstances, she would have pegged him as the type to stay up till all hours working on some pet project that no one else would even understand. But this was war, this was occupation, and the curfew was no joke. A single light would bring soldiers to their door, and she was sure Cam was too careful for that.

She put her hand on the wall and started to feel her way toward the front of the house. She paused every couple of steps to listen, but she still heard nothing. The work room was empty. The living room was empty. The kitchen was empty too, and that meant she was the only person in this house right now.

She shouldn't leave. She knew that, she knew she didn't have a chance on her own in a world she no longer understood. But if she was on her own anyway, she liked her odds a lot better if she was mobile. No one wanted to be a sitting duck.

She didn't bother with supplies. She had her field jacket. She wasn't wasting any time if her nearest ally was suddenly missing. Anything that could take an experienced ninja out of the house without her knowing it could catch her in less than the time it took to find a flashlight.

She heard movement when she pushed the back door loose. Movement from outside. It made her hesitate, ears straining, trying to decide whether to run for the front door or hold position. Had whatever it was noticed the door move?

A weapon armed, the soft hiss penetrating the silence. She tensed to leap back when a whisper held her in place. "Ash?"

She couldn't tell if the voice had actually called her "Ash" or if it just spoke to softly for her to hear the rest of her name. "Yeah," she breathed, figuring the enemy didn't make a habit of whispering people's names when they were caught sneaking out of their house at night.

"Cam," the voice whispered. Whether that was an identification, a request, or a protest, she couldn't tell, but she held her ground and a moment later a shadow ghosted up to the door. She stepped back to let it enter, not totally surprised when it was followed by a second.

The taller shadow closed the door behind them. "Away from the door," it muttered.

She tried not to jump when she felt a hand on her arm. Cam, she thought, catching a sparkle from the necklace he wore as he guided her down the hall. There was no sound from behind her, but she didn't doubt that the second shadow was following.

He steered her into the work room, stopping just inside the door. "Sorry to wake you," he whispered. "You have good hearing."

"We're at war too," Ashley whispered back.

He didn't acknowledge that. "Hunter says they've stepped up the raids. Maybe random, maybe not. We made some noise bringing you in yesterday."

"Raids, where?" she whispered, alarmed. "After curfew, even?"

"They're going house to house in town." The taller shadow must be Hunter. It was a little disconcerting to be talking to people she barely knew when she couldn't even see them, but it blunted the news a little too. Somehow things seemed a little less immediate in the darkness.

"Will they come out this way?" she wondered.

"Doubt it." And that was all he said.

"If they do," Cam whispered. "I'll know before they get here and you can hide in the basement. If for whatever reason they make it to the door before you know they're here, do not hide."

He paused, and she repeated it back to him. "Don't hide if I'm not already gone by the time they knock. Got it."

"You're from Angel Grove," Cam continued softly. "You work at DP 257. It's a desalination plant in Angel Grove and anyone who asks will know what it means. Your ride ditched you and you couldn't make it back before curfew."

"And I was visiting you why?" Ashley whispered.

"You're my girlfriend," he said dryly. "Why else?"

This prompted a snort from Hunter, and she smiled to herself. "Right," she agreed. "DP 257, came to see my boyfriend, couldn't make it back before curfew."

"They won't come out here," Hunter told her. "Cam's got some weird ninja mojo going on this place; most people don't even remember it's here."

"You seem to find it with surprising frequency," Cam muttered.

"I'm motivated," Hunter informed him.

And he probably hadn't come all this way just to tell Cam that the raids were increasing, either. If he was so confident that they wouldn't come here, the news could easily have waited until morning. "I'll just... go back to bed then," Ashley whispered, glad that the enforced quiet disguised some of the awkwardness.

"Wait." Cam stopped her before she could take more than a step back. "What do you know about controlling a zord without a morpher?"

"I've done it before," she answered honestly. "It wasn't fun, but it's not impossible either."

"We're gonna have to do it," Hunter said softly. "We've got twenty-seven zords and six morphers."

Twenty-seven. It was a staggering number, especially when she considered none of them had fought during the initial invasion. There was no point in questioning past battle decisions, especially when the force in question hadn't actually been a battle force at the time. She couldn't help wondering, though...

Nineteen zords defended Eltare now. But if it ever fell she doubted they could retake it with less than twice that number. It was always easier to defend then attack.

"Least experienced pilots get the morphers," she said with a sigh. "You know that's the only way to do it."

"It's not that easy," Cam muttered. "Ninjas have elemental affinities. So do the morphers. Three elements, three morphers. You can't mix and match."

"Let me get this straight," Ashley whispered. "Not only do the morphers have to go to ninjas, but they have to go to ninjas with a particular... elemental affinity?"

"That's the way it works," Hunter told her. "Zords too. Gotta have the right element. Otherwise, kaboom."

"There's no 'kaboom'." Cam sounded vaguely exasperated. "The zord simply resists an unmatched pilot to the point of malfunction."

"Like I said," Hunter agreed. "Kaboom."

"I knew about the zords." Ashley frowned to herself, wondering what exactly counted as an "affinity." "I didn't realize the morphers were the same way."

There was a subtle vibration against her skin, and those things had been designed and tested for subtlety but in the silent darkness she wasn't the only one who heard it. She didn't even hear it; she felt it, as she was supposed to. But Cam and Hunter were either psychic or supernatural, because they heard something.

She didn't need the tingling feeling at the back of her neck to know that both their weapons were now pointed at her.

Ashley's answer was a long time coming, and finally he gave Billy a worried look. "You're sure the transmission can't be traced."

"There's nothing to trace," Billy told him. "I've run numerous tests, and in every instance the signal appears to originate from the device in which it's received."

Carlos didn't dare signal her again. They waited.

Finally, a quiet voice whispered into the room over the open comm link. "Carlos? It's Ashley."

"Can you talk?" he asked, instinctively lowering his voice to match hers.

"No." That wasn't Ashley, and he stiffened at the unmistakable hostility in the man's voice. "This planet is under a communications blackout and this continent is under curfew. Any signal at all will bring raiders down on us in a matter of minutes."

That explained the long silence, then. "Then I assume the fact that you're talking to me at all means you've already figured out this signal doesn't exist. The raiders have had plenty of time, right? And they're not there."

"Carlos knows what's at stake," Ashley's voice hissed. "He would never contact me if it could compromise us in any way."

"He can't make that call," the other voice replied. "He doesn't know the situation."

Their whispers were suddenly easier to hear, and Carlos looked up. Billy gave him a thumbs-up, mouthing something to him that probably had to do with boosting the gain. Carlos nodded, returning the thumbs-up in thanks.

"This is Billy," the Blue Aquitian Ranger announced, and he didn't speak loudly but he didn't bother to whisper either. "I'm a Ranger for Aquitar, and I assure you no one can identify this signal, let alone trace it. I assume you've already tried."

Carlos gave a half-smile. Yeah, he was sure they'd tried to. Like he hadn't tried everything he could think of to prove to himself the signal was secure before he'd even considered contacting Ashley. Thanks for the faith, guys.

"They tried." It was Ashley again. "Took it away from me and held a gun to my head while they did it, too."

She must have handed over her transmitter voluntarily. There was no way they would have been able to detect it, otherwise. Even the guys who had designed them couldn't tell when they were in use.

"Great," Carlos told her. "So you all trust each other."

There was a brief hesitation, but Ashley correctly interpreted his comment. "Yeah," she answered. "What's going on?"

"We're ready," he answered simply.

There was a longer pause this time.

"Excuse me?" the male voice on Ashley's transmitter asked at last.

"The Aquitian Rangers have agreed to stage an assault on the Earth occupation," Carlos told the still-anonymous voice. First rule of resistance: don't ask anyone to identify themselves if they don't volunteer on their own. "They can be there in a couple of days."

"A couple of days?" It was the unidentified voice again. Ashley didn't answer at all, which Carlos guessed meant she was with someone who actually had some authority in the ninja resistance.

"Days," Carlos repeated. "Two at least, four at most. You can basically pick the time of arrival, but don't change your mind once you do. Everyone's going to see them coming. They're counting on a ground force to back them up."

He knew surprise when he heard it, even if no one was talking. Carlos tried not to smirk, knowing they'd be able to hear it in his voice if he did. He'd been pretty startled himself. He got the impression that no one questioned the White Ranger, though. If she said they could do it, they could do it. And they would.

"We have a ground force," someone said, and Carlos frowned. Was it his imagination, or were there two different people there with Ashley? "We're kinda short on pilots, though."

"How short?" Carlos demanded.

"Three," the voice answered, and yeah, that definitely wasn't the same person who had been talking before. "Twenty-seven vehicles, twenty-four pilots. Counting you."

That last almost sounded like a question. Carlos didn't wonder for long, though, because Ashley confirmed, "Yeah, count me."

"So, twenty-four," the voice repeated. "We need three more."

"Find them," Carlos advised. "Find them and get them ready, because we're on our way."

"We can't train anyone in two days." That sounded more like the first voice, and Carlos really wondered who he was talking to. "Even with morphers, they wouldn't be ready."

"Every day that goes by is another day that the resistance could be discovered," Carlos reminded him. "'Ready' won't do them any good if they're dead."

"Don't lecture us," the second voice snapped.

"It's okay." The first voice was quiet, like it wasn't really talking to the rest of them at all. "He's right. We'll find three more pilots by tomorrow night. Can you contact us again then?"

"I can contact Ashley any time," Carlos said pointedly. "Tell me when, then go away so I can talk to her alone."

Strangely, the voices on the other end seemed to respect that. They picked a time to re-establish contact, and then, as far as he knew, they left. Ashley started talking again, anyway, so that was a good sign. He got as much information as he could from her, including assurances that she really was okay, and gave as much in return as he figured she wanted. There was such a thing as too much information, especially when it came to uncertain tactical scenarios.

When they'd finally caught each other up--and he saw Billy taking notes the whole time--he braced himself to repeat the entire thing with Eltare. Or at least, most of it, minus the part where he explained the transmission and hopefully the gun-waving. He'd already surprised Eltare with Aquitar's "nonexistent" transmission once, so they should be expecting him this time.

Andros answered. Not, Andros was there, or even, someone called Andros and he showed up quickly. No, Andros actually answered the incoming transmission, and that made Carlos nervous. There were only two possibilities: either Andros had been waiting for him, or Andros had been in Co-Op and was wound so tightly that he was doing other people's jobs. Both seemed equally bad.

"What's wrong?" Carlos asked. He didn't bother to say hello, or even to explain his question. Andros would know what he was asking.

Andros knew. "Astronema's not in charge of the Dark Fortress anymore," he said. He didn't look nearly grim enough about it, and Carlos frowned warily. Andros continued before he could ask. "Kerone is."

That explained exactly nothing, and Carlos' frown deepened. "What does that mean?"

"It means that we have reliable communication with someone we can trust on the Dark Fortress," Andros told him. "We don't know how long it will last, but we have to take advantage of it while we can. Did you reach Ash?"

"Yeah." If Andros had had time to explain, he would have done it, so Carlos resigned himself to not understanding. "She'll have twenty-seven zords ready to fly in a day, and the Aquitians can be there in two."

"Will it work?" Andros asked bluntly.

"I think we can retake the planet," Carlos answered. "I don't know whether we can hold it."

He could hear the ironic humor in Andros' voice when he replied. "As strange as it sounds, we may end up being your diversion, instead of the other way around. From what Kerone can see, Astronema's been telling the truth about a Border mutiny. It's going to happen fast, it's going to be big, and it may just keep reinforcements off your back."

Carlos exchanged glances with Billy. "Man, Andros," he said after a moment, "you sure know how to throw a party."

"It's a team effort," Andros countered, without so much as a pause. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, if you have a second." He didn't wait for Andros to answer, since they both knew he was going to ask anyway. "How's Karen?"

"Karen's doing great. She's flying well and she knows how to keep her head down when she needs to. She makes a good Ranger."

Carlos snorted. "Yeah, cause keeping their heads down is really something Rangers are known for."

"I'll tell her you said so." Andros sounded amused.

"Please don't," Carlos said with a sigh. "Just keep an eye on her for me, okay?"

"I will," Andros said simply. No reminder that he kept an eye on everyone, that they were all important or that he was phenomenally busy. Just, I will. That was why he was the Red Ranger.

"If you stick to the call schedule," Andros added, "I'll have her up here next time so you can talk to her yourself."

Carlos swallowed. He had secretly hoped she might be around this time, but he hadn't really expected it. "Thanks, man. That'd be great."

"Sure. Stay safe, Carlos."

"Yeah, you too."

He ended the transmission, closing his eyes briefly and sending a silent appeal for the welfare of his wife. He had no doubt that Karen did make a good Ranger, but he was equally sure that his characterization of Rangers was more accurate than Andros'. Keeping her head down was something she'd never been very good at.

When he looked up again, Billy was waiting for his attention. "Every part of our strike force is going to count," he said, as though their previous conversation hadn't been on hold for the last two transmissions. "You think you can fly one of our fighters?"

Carlos smiled grimly. It wasn't really even a question, and Billy knew it. "Does it have weapons?"