Disclaimer: Saban owns Power Rangers; I just like to speculate about what goes on behind the scenes. Thanks to my soon-to-be purple belt sister for her help with the fight scenes :)

Old Friends
by Starhawk

Cassie leaned forward, accelerating out of the holding bay and into the vast expanse of hyperspace. *These tunnels could take you anywhere,* she thought, luxuriating in the feeling of speed and freedom. Infinity coalesced into her eventual destination, however, and the sky's blue horizon suddenly arched overhead as light returned to normal. 

As the warehouse district wavered into view, she drew back in shock and her Glider came to an abrupt halt. Quantrons lined the streets, peering from behind dumpsters and loitering in front of buildings. The longer she looked, the more she saw--and clearly, these soldiers had been waiting for them. A far cry from last night's skirmish, this could not be intended as anything but an all-out assault. 

*Are we going to be able to handle this?* Cassie wondered, leaping off her Glider as quantrons rushed toward them. 

The first blows were easy to duck, but as the number of simultaneous attacks increased, Cassie had to start blocking and striking back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw four Gliders streak into the safety of hyperspace. Before her conscious mind could formulate the question, a red blur plowed headlong through the sea of metallic forms, astroblaster firing repeatedly. 

Andros had not abandoned his Glider yet, and was using the advantage of speed and lift that the transport gave him to take out their groundbound enemies. The rest of the Rangers, unfortunately, lacked the necessary experience to make their Gliders anything but a liability in battle. 

Cassie fell into her own pattern of attack, defend, retreat and attack again. Before long, though, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it up on her own, and she started looking around for the others. 

As though that had been a cue, TJ hurtled past, head low and shoulders braced against a quantrons chest. The quantron stumbled and went down, and TJ followed, somersaulting across its prone form and coming to his feet with surprising grace. 

"Want a hand?" he yelled to her, already grappling with another quantron. 

Cassie set her feet and drove her elbow into a quantron's throat. "Thanks," she answered, spinning out of the way of its fall. She hit TJ's adversary with blade kick to the back of the knee, and watched in satisfaction as it tumbled to the ground. 

TJ leaped over the quantron to tangle with another of its fellows, nodding at her as he passed. "Thank *you*," he said, a grin evident in his voice. 

She nodded back, and the two of them fought side by side for a time. Several minutes passed before Cassie had the chance to look up again. She scanned the tumult quickly, looking for flashes of color amid the swirling silver.  

Ashley was the first to catch her eye; a streak of yellow dancing in a deadly whirlwind farther down the street. Closer to Cassie and TJ, Carlos was also holding his own against the hordes of soldiers--barely.  

"Carlos could use some backup!" Even as she shouted to her partner, twin lines of light found their mark among the Black Ranger's attackers, and the red Galaxy Glider shot past overhead. 

A front snap kick knocked a quantron away from her, and the whine of Andros's astroblaster cut through the noise of the fight once more. Glancing back down the street, she saw Carlos toss off a salute after the Glider as it hummed away to check on Ashley. 

Whirling past her, TJ summoned his Astro Axe and took out two quantrons in one blow. "We're stronger together than alone," he called, and she nodded, fighting her way toward Carlos in TJ's wake. 

Carlos didn't even slow down as they flanked him--he couldn't. None of them could. They were simply too outnumbered to do more than strike and withdraw and strike again, watching each other's backs and hoping somehow they could keep this up for as long as it took.  

*Where are all of these quantrons coming from?* Cassie asked herself for the fifth time. Something occurred to her, but she couldn't stop to think long enough to figure out what it was. 

Carlos threw a punch that somehow missed its target in the melee, and the overextension left him vulnerable. Cassie twisted the arm of another and threw it to the ground before it could reach the Black Ranger, and Carlos rebalanced within seconds. 

"Where's Ashley?" Carlos asked over his shoulder, fending off a quantron by the simple expedient of stepping out of its way. The speed at which it had come for him was not easily redirected, and the being stumbled several feet past its intended target. 

Busy with her attacker, Cassie didn't answer right away. Then the quantron Carlos had sidestepped decided to go after her as well, and she found herself being forced away from her friends.  

*This is not good,* she thought, ducking a blow and returning one of her own. It didn't have the force she'd intended, though, since she'd thrown it as she was recovering from her dodge, and the quantron was unfazed. 

Falling back again, Cassie found herself completely on the defensive. Forcing panic out of her reactions, she let her training take over and block out all other thought. She allowed one of the quantrons past her guard, then grabbed the fist that came at her face, spinning out of the way and pulling the arm with her. 

The quantron stumbled a little as it followed, and she forced its arm down toward the ground. Suddenly off-balance, the quantron was unprepared for her to reverse her motion, and an almost casual push knocked it flat on its back.  

The maneuver had had the happy side effect of forcing the second quantron to give her some breathing room. Now, though, it came at her full force, and she centered herself, ready to throw it if necessary. 

It wasn't. TJ's Axe came out of nowhere, striking sparks across the metal armor and causing the quantron to swerve. Then, before either of them could follow up, a tremendous roar swallowed up the sounds of battle. Everyone in the street, quantron and human alike, looked up as a shadow momentarily blotted out the sun. 

Cassie drew in a sharp breath. The outline of the object hovering some fifteen meters above them was familiar, despite the shining halo of the sun that obscured its edges. She knew, with sudden and heart-wrenching certainty, just who had come to their rescue. 

The shadow opened fire on the street below, and she watched without surprise as quantrons staggered and fell beneath the hail of laser fire. Moving slowly, the shadow ceased its unnatural eclipse and allowed the sun to return to prominence in the sky. The ship, silhouetted now in stark clarity against the morning horizon, continued to fire with pinpoint accuracy as it proceeded down the street.

Nearby, TJ took advantage of the general confusion to dispatch the quantron that had been coming for Cassie. She shook her head once, coming out of her reverie with a start. *This isn't the time for daydreaming,* she reminded herself sternly, returning to the fight with a vengeance. 

The tide of battle had been turned by the arrival of their mysterious friend, however, and a few more minutes found the quantrons in retreat. She held out a hand to TJ, and he clasped it for a second before offering his own to Carlos.  

"Good job, you guys," Carlos said, touching first TJ's hand, then Cassie's. 

"You too, man," TJ answered, and Cassie murmured her encouragement as well. 

The hum of a Glider, higher-pitched than the thrum of the one-man fighter ship that still hovered overhead, carried along the now quiet street. Cassie looked up, as they all did, to see the red Glider angling toward them with two passengers. 

Ashley jumped off first, and Andros followed, shooting a look at the Yellow Ranger as he did so. She looked back, but Cassie had no idea what passed between them in those few seconds. 

They turned to the rest of the group as though nothing had happened, and Cassie couldn't help glancing up at the shadow lingering in the sky. She vaguely heard Andros asking if they were all right, but paid no attention as reassurances were passed around. 

*Will you leave now?* she wondered, praying to anyone who was listening that he would not. *You promised,* she reminded the pilot silently. *"See you soon," you said. Please don't make that a lie…* 

"Earth to Cassie," Ashley said loudly, and Cassie tried very hard not to jump. She failed. 

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked, her smug tone of voice saying that she knew very well what had distracted her friend. Cassie nodded anyway, making a face that Ashley would never see behind her visor. 

"Don't make faces at me," the Yellow Ranger reprimanded her, a smile in her voice, and Cassie rolled her eyes, exasperated and amused at the same time. 

"Andros to Phantom," Andros announced, and Cassie turned toward the Red Ranger. She held her breath, wondering if it was only her imagination that made it seem as though the response was overlong in coming. 

"This is Phantom," his voice came back at last. "I'm glad you are well, Rangers." 

"That's debatable," Carlos spoke up. 

TJ added, right on top of the Black Ranger's remark, "We'll get back to you on that one." 

"Are *you* all right, Phantom?" Andros asked, doing his best to ignore the other two. 

"I am… well enough," the enigma replied. The pause in his answer was obvious to everyone listening, but it was overshadowed by the words that followed. "I have information on Zordon."

The silence that reigned after that comment went unbroken for a good ten seconds. Finally, Carlos repeated, "Zordon?" as though he'd never heard the name before. 

As if they'd been waiting for a signal and Carlos had just given it, everyone started talking again. Even in the mild chaos that followed, though, Cassie didn't miss the turn of the Red Ranger's head, or the tilt to his helmet as he glanced toward Carlos. *The Look?* she thought, remembering Ashley's earlier complaint. 

Then Phantom's voice came over Andros's communicator again, and they quieted. "I don't know how much of our conversation Astronema can overhear," he said, rather pointedly. "And I do not wish to put it to the test…" 

Andros took the hint. "We'll meet on the Megaship," he said to his communicator, though his eyes took in all of the Rangers as he spoke. 

"I will come," Phantom acknowledged. 

The connection terminated, and Andros lowered his arm. He was frowning slightly, and Cassie saw Carlos and Ashley exchange puzzled glances as well. 

She couldn't blame them; Phantom had been absent from their lives for months now. There had been times when she had worried he had been too badly injured the last time they saw him to call for help--not that he ever did anyway. He was worse than Andros when it came to asking for assistance. 

There had always been a part of her that believed she would know if he died, even if the more logical part of her brain refused to accept that. But when weeks passed, with no word from him, and the weeks stretched into months, she had doubted. She suspected they all had, after seeing him barely able to stand following the encounter on Hercuron. 

He was here now, though, alive and apparently well… *So why haven't we heard from him until now?* Cassie thought. She well understood the bemusement of her fellow Rangers--though in her case, the slight was a little more personal. 

*He's a Ranger,* she reminded herself firmly. *You, of all people, know what that means. Some things are just more important, that's all…* 

True though it was, that rationalization had seldom helped her sleep, or cheered her when she found herself staring out at the stars, searching for some sign that she had not been forgotten. Nor did it now quell the pain that came with watching Phantom's ship accelerate away and out of sight, even when she knew it was only heading for orbit. 

"Hey," Ashley said softly, putting a hand on her arm. "You okay?" This time, there was real concern in her voice, and Cassie tried to smile. 

"Yeah," she said, grateful to her friend for bringing her back to the present. "I'll be all right, thanks." 

"Good," TJ put in. "Cause no one's allowed to be depressed." He slung an arm around her shoulder and drew her into the group she didn't even recall stepping away from. "We won, remember? Let's go finish breakfast!" 

Cassie couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. Her first friend in Angel Grove had always been able to cheer her up. "That's right," she said, lifting her chin. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Carlos asked, looking skyward and raising his communicator. "Galaxy Glider--hang ten!" 

Summoning her Glider restored the rest of Cassie's perspective, and she actually felt a little silly for being so morose. After all, as TJ had pointed out, they had *won*, and against frightening odds. And if she was going to obsess over Phantom, she might just as well be happy that he had finally decided to rejoin them. 

*He certainly has good timing,* she admitted to herself, stepping onto her Glider. *I just wish it didn't take a catastrophe to make him put in an appearance.* 

The five of them left the street behind, rising into the clear morning air together. Through some unspoken agreement, they bypassed the tunnels of hyperspace that would have returned them almost instantly to the Megaship and opted for the more leisurely pace of realspace flight. 

Cassie kept an eye on the warehouse district until details were impossible to make out, and then she shifted her focus to include all of Angel Grove. Everything looked so peaceful, and the hazy sunshine promised a perfect beach day for teens, children, and adults lucky enough to get away with playing hooky from work. 

She thought she saw Andros looking down as well, and she knew that he had to be thinking along the same lines--beautiful as the scene was, it instilled in her a desire to protect these people from forces that would take this perfect day away from them. *It's a warrior's instinct,* she mused, *to defend that which is vulnerable. And we are all of us warriors…* 

A little ahead of the rest, Ashley executed a victory roll, crouching low to stay with her Glider as she flipped end over end. She looked like nothing so much as an exuberant skydiver, and Cassie felt a grin spread across her face. *Some more than others, of course,* she thought wryly. 

Carlos evidently took Ashley's maneuver as a challenge, for he caught up to and passed her seconds later--but he didn't just swerve around her and continue on. He came up behind her and climbed sharply, turning over as he did so to zip by overhead and upside down, waving as he passed. 

The air was thinning and sound carried less and less, but Cassie heard Ashley's laugh over her communicator. "Showoff!" the Yellow Ranger accused. 

"You started it," Carlos pointed out good-naturedly. 

Cassie looked around for TJ, surprised he hadn't joined in their sport. Even as the thought entered her mind, she saw the Blue Ranger angle toward Ashley and lean into the diminishing wind. "Coming through!" he yelled to the pair, accelerating to the point where Cassie doubted he would be able to turn in time to keep from hitting someone. 

She trusted her friend's judgement though, and said nothing. Just as it looked like TJ and Ashley would collide, the Blue Ranger leapt into the air, somersaulting over Ashley and landing solidly on his Glider just as it shot out from beneath her yellow one. 

"Hey!" Ashley exclaimed indignantly. "Since when am I part of your obstacle course?" 

TJ just laughed, and the Yellow Ranger took off in pursuit across the darkening sky. Cassie shook her head at their antics, glad to see her friends having a good time. 

That thought made her glance over at Andros, who hadn't spoken since they left Earth. He was staring straight ahead, though whether at their fellow Rangers or at the first twinkling stars that had begun to shine through the upper atmosphere, she couldn't tell. 

"Andros?" she asked. 

His helmet turned in her direction. "Yes?" 

She smiled, fondly exasperated at his literalness. "I was just wondering if you were all right." 

Up ahead, she saw the Ashley pause and look back toward the lagging Pink and Red Rangers. She didn't interrupt, however, nor did she attempt to join them, and Cassie was impressed by her restraint. 

The twilight around them deepened considerably before Andros answered. "I was just thinking," he replied at last, but something in the way he said it made her think that he was troubled. 

Tapping her communicator, she cut off her link to the other three Rangers, so they wouldn't hear her side of the conversation. "Thinking?" she prompted gently. "Do you want to talk about it?" 

He shrugged, but a moment later, he cut his communicator off from the rest as well, making their discussion private. "It's just--" He looked ahead, at where TJ, Carlos, and Ashley were still trying to outdo each other.  

"I'm not like that!" Andros burst out suddenly. Then, as though the outburst startled him, he added more quietly, "I'm not like you guys." 

Puzzled, Cassie followed his gaze, not understanding the connection. "No one's exactly the same as anyone else, Andros. Our differences are what make us unique--they're something that should make us proud, not ashamed." 

"But you guys are so…" He hesitated for a second, searching for the word. "Loose. Optimistic. I don't know." 

"Carefree?" Cassie suggested, still uncertain what he was getting at but trying to see the other Rangers from his point of view. 

He nodded. "Exactly." Andros sighed, though she didn't think he intended for her to hear it. "Especially Ashley…" 

With those last two words, comprehension dawned. *He's not talking about us so much as he is about her,* she realized. "And you think you're not?" 

"I *know* I'm not," he answered, still watching the friendly competition of the other Rangers. So quietly he was almost whispering, Andros asked, "Why would she want to hang around with someone so completely the opposite of her?" 

Cassie's heart went out to him. "You've never heard that opposites attract?" 

"Or explode," he mumbled. It took her a moment to realize that he'd taken her literally again, taking the science of what she'd said rather than the traditional usage. 

"Andros," Cassie began, as the Megaship appeared first as a bright star, then a rapidly growing splotch in the night sky, "Ashley lo--likes you just the way you are." Not sure how far her friends' feelings went, she edited her sentence just in time. 

"But--" he objected, not seeming to notice her stammer. 

"Look at it this way," she interrupted him. "Why are *you* attracted to someone so completely the opposite of yourself?" 

"That's different," Andros protested, the Megaship looming large in the background. 

"Is it?" Cassie replied, just before the Megaship's teleportation system snatched them off their Gliders. 

The flash of pink faded to reveal the Glider holding bay, and Cassie found herself standing, demorphed, in front of her jump tube. She glanced around for the others, and found gathered once more at the table on the lower level. 

"Hey, slowpokes!" Carlos waved at them, and Cassie grinned back. 

"Hi, speed demons," she replied, climbing down to join them. She caught Ashley's eye and tilted her head at Andros, who had come down the other set of stairs. 

A slight frown creased Ashley's forehead, and she followed Andros over to the Synthetron. "Are you all right?" Cassie heard her ask quietly. 

*I think that makes the fifth time someone's asked that question this morning,* Cassie thought idly, considering her interrupted meal. 

"Is this contagious?" Carlos asked, watching Andros and Ashley with barely concealed curiosity. 

"What?" TJ inquired, digging into his pancakes with gusto. 

"This brooding. First Cassie, now Andros--it's going around like a bad cold," Carlos observed, turning back to the table. Regarding TJ with amazement, he added, "And how can you *eat* those? They've been sitting here for almost an hour!" 

"Can't even tell," TJ assured him. "Besides, *you* got to eat before we left--I'm hungry!" 

"You're not the only one," Andros agreed, returning to the table with a full plate and glass.  

Ashley was right behind him, and she regarded her abandoned food with much the same air as Cassie and Carlos. Lifting her own glass, she wrinkled her nose as she tasted her drink. "My juice is warm," she complained, as though it were the most exasperating thing that had happened all morning. 

Without a word, Andros carefully extracted an ice cube from his own glass and dropped it into hers. Ashley beamed at him, and Cassie hid a smile of her own. *And that,* she thought at Andros, *is one of the reasons she would want to "hang around with you".* 

DECA broke into the ensuing pause with the announcement Cassie had been waiting for: "Preparing for docking procedures." 

"Thanks, DECA," Andros said. Breakfast apparently forgotten, he headed for the door. 

Cassie followed, pausing only long enough to return her plate and unfinished meal to the Synthetron. Carlos and Ashley were right behind her, and TJ caught up to them in the corridor, two pancakes in hand, rolled crepe-style for easier eating with his fingers. 

"Docking procedures initiated," DECA said, to no one in particular. And, seconds later, as they approached the drydock chamber at the end of Deck 6: "Phantom's ship has been secured."  

The five of them entered the chamber as soon as the door unlocked--which was to say, as soon as the other side stopped being a vacuum--and were in time to witness the last stages of their ally's arrival.  

Technically, Cassie had known that Phantom's ship couldn't truly "dock". It had never been designed to connect with another vessel, and as such, had no airlock. Thus, his ship would have to be completely engulfed by an atmosphere--the Megaship's, in this case--for him to be able to exit safely. 

The knowledge of this phenomenon was one thing, however. Actually seeing his ship hovering within the cavernous bay at the back of the Megaship was something else entirely.

The ship set down slowly, almost gingerly lowering itself to the ground. Then there was another wait while the engines and various other equipment powered down. Finally, though, the canopy seals were popped from the inside and the hiss of hydraulics could be heard as the clearsteel covering lifted. 

The pilot climbed out without fanfare or flourish. As soon as his boots touched the ground, he turned to regard them for a moment. Then he walked forward, stopping little more than a meter away, and inclined his head. "It is good to see you again, Rangers," he said. 

Andros let out his breath, though whether in relief or annoyance or a combination of the two, it was impossible to say. "It's good to see you at *all*," he responded, a half-smile on his face. "When we didn't hear from you after Hercuron, we didn't know what to think." 

"Yes," Phantom admitted, glancing at each of them in turn. His gaze lingered on Cassie, and he said, "I’m sorry for that." 

Caught staring, Cassie found she couldn't look away. *He looks so tired,* she thought. *What has he being going through these last few months?* 

"I will tell you what happened, if you wish to know," he continued, still looking at Cassie, "but first, I have news that you should hear." 

"You said you had information on Zordon," Ashley interjected. 

Phantom nodded. "I have." From somewhere on his person, he retrieved a small data disk. "This is a recording of a transmission Dark Spectre sent to Astronema. His message mentions both Zordon and the Astro Rangers." 

He passed the disk to Andros, who glanced at it as though he could tell what it said just by looking. Then he gave Phantom a curious look, but when the mysterious Ranger said nothing more, he shrugged.  

"We'll play it on the Bridge," Andros announced--logical, since drydock had no diskreaders. The sensitive electronics couldn't withstand the vacuum of space that invaded whenever the doors were opened. 

As the others trooped out, Cassie waited a moment, looking over her shoulder. Phantom hadn't moved. 

"Phantom?" She addressed him the only way she knew how, since he'd never told any of them his name, or even if he *had* another name. 

"Cassie," he replied, and she cocked her head at him. 

"Coming?" she asked at last, when he said nothing more. 

He nodded once, and the two of them left the room in awkward silence. Joining the others on the Bridge, they found a staticky image already playing on the viewsceen. The picture quality improved as time went on, but from the very beginning, it was impossible to mistake Dark Spectre's gravelly voice and lavalike form. 

"Astronema," he began, "this is Dark Spectre, lord of all that is evil and despicable--" 

Cassie rolled her eyes. She just couldn't take someone who sounded like Cookie Monster on a cookieless day seriously. *Especially when he uses such awful intros,* she thought, exchanging glances with Carlos, who was also trying not to laugh. 

"I located Dark Spectre's ship almost a week ago," Phantom told them, seemingly oblivious to their semi-contained mirth. "I intercepted this transmission 28 hours later, and managed to decode it." 

"You found Dark Spectre's ship?" TJ repeated, speaking over the recording, which was still going on about the evil glory of Dark Spectre. 

"Yes," Phantom said. "But Zordon is no longer aboard it. He was taken from Hercuron by Divatox, who had orders to guard Zordon until further notice." 

"Divatox!" Carlos exclaimed. 

Studying the screen, Andros motioned for them to be quiet. Dark Spectre had finally gotten around to what Cassie assumed was the point of his message: "You have kept the Rangers busy, Astronema. Now you must increase your efforts--Zordon will be moved soon, and I don't want any trouble." 

The being swiveled his giant head, and continued, "If those Astro Rangers get so much as a hint about Zordon, I will hold you responsible. Do whatever you have to to keep them distracted--maybe you'll get lucky and destroy some of them." His tone said that he found that almost infinitely improbable, and Cassie could just imagine Astronema's fury when she received the message. 

As Dark Spectre rambled on with some not-very-subtle threat about what would happen if Astronema failed, Phantom took up his narrative again. "Two days later, the Dark Fortress appeared alongside Dark Spectre's ship. I do not know what words Astronema and Dark Spectre exchanged, but she departed again within the hour. 

"I continued to follow Dark Spectre's ship under cloak, in the hopes that I would gain some clue as to Zordon's whereabouts. I monitored the Dark Fortress's progress back to Earth, however, and noted that she detoured several times to outposts overrun with quantrons." 

The screen went dark as the message came to its end, and Phantom continued. "I realized that she and Dark Spectre must have resolved their differences--if that was indeed why she came to speak with him in person--and that Astronema had to be collecting soldiers to send against the five of you." 

There was a quiet moment as Phantom's words sank in. It was strange to hear how their own situation had come about from someone who had witnessed both cause and effect. *And equally strange,* Cassie mused, regarding the black-clad figure with some surprise, *to hear the story from one who has never spoken more than three or four sentences at a time to any of us.*

"I couldn't allow you to face such an army unprepared," Phantom said at last. "My intention was merely to warn you, but Astronema was thorough in her efforts to isolate you from the rest of the universe. Not only did she attack your homeworld--" Andros shifted uncomfortably at that, but Phantom continued without pause, "--in effect keeping you here on Earth, but she also jammed all interstellar communication to and from this solar system." 

A general stir shuffled through the room. Cassie looked at TJ, then Andros, who shrugged at them. "We've had no contact with anyone for days, but that's not unusual. There was no way to realize what she was doing unless we attempted to broadcast a message ourselves." 

"Which we haven't," Carlos murmured. 

"Well, it's a good thing you couldn't just warn us," Ashley opined. "If you hadn't shown up this morning, I'm not sure we would have been able to win that fight in the warehouse district." 

"Yeah, thanks, man," TJ added. "We could have been in serious trouble without you." 

Though sobering, Cassie knew their words were true. She saw even Andros nod in reluctant agreement. 

"So what are we going to do?" Carlos asked, ever practical. "We can't just stand around and let Dark Spectre get away with this. If Zordon's being moved, he'll be easier to trace." 

"And Dark Spectre knows that," TJ reminded him. "There's probably an entire army surrounding Zordon." 

"Maybe not," Andros put in. "Astronema was supposed to distract us, remember? Dark Spectre must think that we have some chance of stopping him, or he wouldn't have bothered to assign her to keep us busy." 

"Wait," Ashley said. "This is what I don't get--why us? Why are we so important that Astronema's only mission keep us occupied? I mean, there are other Rangers out there, right?" 

"Every League planet has its own Ranger team," Phantom confirmed. 

"But what about the other space Rangers?" Ashley persisted. "We can't be the only ones." 

Though she'd never devoted much thought to it, Cassie had always assumed that the Astro Rangers weren't alone. After all, one team to protect a universe? That didn't seem very logical, especially when they were filling in for the non-existent Earth team. 

As the others considered Ashley's question, Cassie couldn't help but notice that Phantom and Andros were being particularly silent. With Phantom, of course, it was hard to tell whether he was deliberately holding back information or simply didn't have anything to contribute. Andros, on the other hand, was rather obviously avoiding everyone's gaze. 

TJ noticed, too. "Andros?" he asked, looking around at the others for support. 

Andros shot a look at Phantom. Neither of them said anything, though, and Cassie wondered what they could possibly be keeping from the former Rangers of Earth.  

"Andros," Ashley repeated, and he sighed. 

"There are no other space Rangers," Andros told them. "There never have been." 

"What?" Carlos looked as surprised as Cassie felt. "One team can't defend an entire universe from people like Astronema." 

"It was never intended to," Andros agreed. "The universe is too big a battle ground. Ranger teams have always protected their planet of origin, or, in some cases, joined with each other to protect multiple worlds. There was no need for a space team, because every populated planet on the side of good had their own Rangers." 

"So… what are we doing here?" Ashley looked around, the expression on her face one of confusion. 

*I'm glad I'm not the only one,* Cassie thought, feeling as though she'd missed something vitally important to the conversation. "If there's no space team, then who are we?" she asked, bemused. 

Andros shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Technically, I'm still a Kerovan Ranger. My sister and I were to be part of the team defending KO-35…" He swallowed. "But Kerone was kidnapped before we were old enough to accept the responsibility, and after the colony was deserted, I was the only one of the four of us who were left that didn't give up my claim to the Ranger powers." 

It took a moment before Cassie caught on to the irony of the situation: despite all of Andros's remarks when they had first met about her and her friends being planetary Rangers--he had originally been the same. 

"But what does that make us?" TJ wanted to know. 

Andros looked questioningly at Phantom, who shook his head. "I have been somewhat… removed from the current League proceedings. All I can tell you is that before Eltare fell, you were listed as Earth Rangers." 

"Until a little after that, we *were* Earth Rangers," TJ muttered. 

"You're probably still considered Rangers of Earth," Andros told him. "I've been listed as a Kerovan Ranger since I first morphed, and KO-35's been deserted for years." 

"Bureaucracy's the same everywhere," Carlos said with a grin. 

"Why Kerovan?" Ashley asked suddenly. "Why aren't you a Ranger for KO-35?" 

"There are two habitable planets in the Kerova system," Andros explained. "The other one was supposed to be colonized as well, and since there were so few of us, there was only going to be one team for the two planets." 

*Plus, it would be really hard to say KO-35ian,* Cassie thought, smiling to herself. Ashley nodded at Andros's explanation, but from the look on her face, she was thinking the same thing. 

"So that leaves us with the unlikely alliance of Kerovan and Earth Rangers," Carlos mused. "And friends," he added, glancing at Phantom. "But it still doesn't answer my question: what are we going to do?" 

"Andros had a good point," TJ said, and the speed with which he answered made Cassie realize he'd been thinking about this throughout the discussion. "Dark Spectre must think we're a threat, or he wouldn't have gone to this much trouble to keep us out of the way." 

"We can't go after Zordon and leave your planet unprotected," Andros objected. 

"But you said that Astronema was only distracting us," Ashley put in, looking from Andros to Phantom, and back again. "If we go in search of Zordon, she'll follow." 

"Only if she's certain she can't force you to come back again," Phantom pointed out quietly. "Would you not return if she sent quantrons into the middle of your homes?" 

"We'd have to be able to out-bluff her…" TJ said, thinking aloud. 

Carlos shook his head. "That's too dangerous. What we need is someone who can stay behind on Earth and deal with anything she can come up with. With Earth protected, Astronema will know there's no way to lure us back here." 

Before anyone could ask the most obvious question, Alpha, who had been oddly unobtrusive throughout the recorded transmission and ensuing conversation, suddenly spoke up. "I'm certain the Aquitian Rangers would be happy to help. After all, their team has helped Earth before." 

"Of course!" TJ exclaimed. "Aquitar is far enough away that Astronema won't expect us to get help from there--and it's too far for her to send anything to attack while their Rangers are gone." 

"Alpha, contact Aquitar," Andros ordered, and the robot threw its hands up in the air in a very familiar gesture. 

"Yes, Andros, right away! Oh, this is so exciting…" 

Cassie couldn't help smiling at Alpha's enthusiasm, and when TJ caught her eye, he was grinning too. She swapped smiles with Ashley as well before glancing at Phantom. 

*Do you smile?* she wondered, finding no expression in his stance. Looking harder, she saw again the faint hint of exhaustion in his posture, and it alarmed her to see him sway slightly and put a hand out to steady himself on a nearby control panel. 

Her concern must have shown on her face, for he looked directly at her and shook his head, just once. She looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, but they were busy watching the screen as Alpha established a video link with Aquitar. Returning her gaze to Phantom, she nodded her understanding--but she vowed that if he was hurt, he would get medical care no matter *what* he said. 

A flash from the screen made her shift her attention in that direction, and Cassie saw a peculiar logo of stylized five-colored swirls. *The Aquitian Rangers' logo,* she guessed, assuming that whoever was on the other end was seeing the five-colored bar that adorned all the Astro Rangers' uniforms. 

She cast one more worried glance at Phantom before the image dissolved to reveal the underwater world of Aquitar. He was standing on his own now, though she suspected it was through willpower alone, and he faced the screen as everyone else did. 

Cassie looked back just in time to see a girl somewhat older than herself staring out of the screen at them. "I am Cetaci, White Ranger of Aquitar," she introduced herself, bowing in the tradition of her people. "May I be of assistance?" 

"I am Andros, Red Astro Ranger." Andros returned both the introduction and the bow, and continued, "We are contacting you in the hope that you will be able to help us outwit the villain known as Astronema." 

"Yes, we know of Astronema," Cetaci replied earnestly. "And the Astro Rangers are also well-known on this planet." 

Cassie didn't know quite what to make of that--Cetaci seemed sincere enough, but her formality and lack of expression made it hard judge the meaning of what she was saying. Still, Andros--whose ease at adopting the Aquitian way of phrasing things amazed her--appeared to take the comment at face value. 

He went on, "We have been searching for Zordon for some time now, and a friend recently brought us new information on his whereabouts--but Astronema is making certain we can't act on that information. She continues to attack Earth, effectively containing us there." 

"And you wish the Aquitian Rangers to defend Earth for you while you search for Zordon?" gain, there seemed to be no judgement in the question, just genuine curiosity--and again, Cassie was amazed, this time at the way Zordon seemed to be known everywhere. 

Andros nodded. "We do." He offered no further reasons or excuses, simply waited for Cetaci to decide. 

"One moment, please," Cetaci said, and the screen went dark. A tense moment passed while Cetaci contacted her teammates. 

The answer was not long in coming. The screen brightened less than a minute later, and Cetaci smiled out at them. "We will come," the White Ranger assured them, and Cassie heard sighs of relief pass among her fellow Rangers. 

"Transmitting coordinates for teleportation now," Andros said, fingers dancing across the control panel in front of him. "Thank you, Cetaci. We look forward to meeting you."

 "And we you," she replied, touching her fingertips together in an Aquitian sign of respect. Andros mimicked the gesture, and the screen dimmed, flashing the five-colored swirls once more before it darkened completely. 

"What coordinates did you give them?" Carlos asked. 

"The lakeshore," Andros answered briefly, tapping a few more controls. "DECA, send these coordinates to everyone's morphers." Then, to Carlos, he added, "They need freshwater, and the lake is the largest source in Angel Grove." 

Cassie pulled her sleeve up to reveal her astromorpher, still on her wrist from the recent fight. Tapping the catch to flip it open, and then several of the buttons inside, the numbers 1-0-8 flashed up at her in holographic gold before fading into nothingness. DECA's coordinates were transferred through the link, and her morpher reported a location lock for teleportation. 

Around her, the others were doing the same thing. Exchanging glances, they crossed their arms simultaneously and turned into miniature waterfalls of red, yellow, blue and black light. 

Cassie watched them go, then looked over at Phantom. "You're not coming," she said, stating the obvious. 

"I am not needed," he answered. 

"Plus, you can barely stand up," Cassie pointed out with some asperity. 

"I'm fine," Phantom insisted, and she remembered the last time he had said that. It had taken the combined forces of both her and Ashley to hold him up. 

"Come over here and say that," Cassie challenged, folding her arms in front of her. "I want to see you stand without leaning on that console." 

For a moment, he just looked at her. Then, slowly, he stepped away from the scanner controls and walked carefully towards her. "I am all right, Cassie," he assured her, just as he stumbled. 

She leaped forward, grabbing his arm and helping him into a chair. "Tell me what's wrong," she requested, leaving her hand on his arm. 

He looked down at her hand, then at her face. Finally, he turned his head away. "Your friends are waiting for you." 

"And if I go down there with them," she said, trying to lighten the mood, "how do I know you'll still be here when I come back?" 

The way he started, head jerking up to look at her and arm twitching beneath her hand, told her that her attempt at humor had been far closer to the truth than she would have ever believed. For a moment, Cassie could only stare at him, bewildered and hurt. Then, softly, she said, "That's what you were going to do, isn't it. While we went down to greet the Aquitians, you were going to leave.

Trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice, she repeated, "You were going to leave…"