Disclaimer: Although there is only one explosion in this story--and a rather minor one, at that--it was nonetheless inspired by Saban's Power Rangers, for which I can take no credit.

Fifteen Minutes
by Starhawk

TJ looked over his shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time since he and Carlos had boarded the ship. *I hate this,* he thought to himself, careful not to speak aloud. 

They had seen no sign of activity in the short time they had been exploring, save the silent blip on the scanner Carlos held. The interdimensional distortion--real or artificially created--came through loud and clear, but they had encountered no resistance as they worked their way toward it. 

Approaching a corridor junction, the two slowed. Carlos overlaid an infrared scanner sweep across the dimensional tracking grid, and the screen filled with color. Nothing warm and moving showed around the corner, or in any direction for more than fifty meters. 

TJ held up his hand, pointing at his wrist to remind his partner about their check-in. Carlos shook his head, and tapped the simple code on his morpher that would send an "ok" signal back to the Megaship. 

TJ followed his example, unable to blame him for not wanting to make the noise required for a vocal exchange with DECA. The conditions *seemed* ideal--no distractions, eavesdroppers, or any apparent possibility of detection--but there was something about the perfect quietness that set TJ's teeth on edge. 

*It's almost too quiet,* TJ thought, with a wry grin for the cliché. *There's something spooky about this. It's like they're avoiding us; as though we were expected, somehow.* 

He touched a couple buttons on his own communicator, and a flash told him the link had been successful. Carlos spared one more glance for the scanner before gesturing to the corner. TJ nodded, and they crept forward once more, growing increasingly wary with every step. 

***

The faint slipping sound alerted Ashley, who had learned over the course of her Turbo Ranger career to recognize that noise anywhere. She tapped Andros's shoulder, not wanting to startle him but not willing to risk speaking aloud. 

He looked up from the scanner immediately, and she nodded at a nearby corridor. Without giving him time to wonder what she meant, Ashley took his arm and tugged him down the alternate and apparently (by the dust content) semi-used section of hall. By now the sound of pirahnatron footsteps was clearly audible, and Andros flattened himself against the wall beside her. 

*One thing about pirahnatrons,* Ashley thought, holding her breath as the contingent marched past, *they have lousy peripheral vision when they're out of the water.* 

Though their check-in was overdue, neither moved until the sound of pirahnatrons had once more faded into the background hum of machinery. Then Andros held up his wrist, and she nodded. Two "ok" signals shot simultaneously across the void of space to the Megaship's EM sensors. 

***

Cassie frowned at her scanner. For an instrument specifically calibrated for sensing dimensional distortion, it was being remarkably unhelpful. 

She and Phantom had ducked into one of the alcoves that seemed to dot the corridors. He stood just inside, keeping watch on the hallway while she tried to clean up the echoes that appeared on the scanner every time they moved. The closer they traveled to the original signal, the more duplicates showed up--and vanished, just as quickly. Finally, the scanner had become almost impossible to read, and she had called a halt to try and do something about it. 

Another false signal popped up when she turned, and Cassie shook her head. *What's wrong with this thing?* she wondered, exasperated. 

She did, at last, get the scanner to isolate the central signal and give it priority on the display. Moving forward as quietly as she could, Cassie flashed a thumbs-up when Phantom turned to look at her. Pointing at the scanner, she held her thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart to indicate that they were close, and he nodded. 

It took less time than she had anticipated to reach the signal's source--at least according to the scanner. As for any kind of visual identification… 

Cassie came to an abrupt halt as they rounded the corner and found themselves staring down a short hallway the opened outward in all directions at the opposite end. Up, down, left, right--the hall seemed to let out onto an observation deck for the area below. A supervisor's walkway, perhaps; it was about ten meters up and hugged the wall all the way around the cavernous expanse of work area. 

She exchanged glances with Phantom, and they moved forward cautiously, trying to get close enough to peer out over the edge. Unfortunately, every part of the walkway was visible from every other part, and some of it could be seen from the ground below. They stopped just before the shadows of the hall would have ceased to conceal them, and stared out across a bay that was almost half the size of the Megaship. 

Pirahnatrons scurried across the floor, and cargohaulers moved more slowly along the outside walls. Catwalks started about five meters up, stretching across the room and continuing upwards to run almost directly underneath the observation walkway on which they stood. Overhead, multiple points of light were arrayed on the domed ceiling, illuminating the chaos below. 

Cassie shook her head, not knowing or truly caring what the purpose of all the activity was. What bothered her more was the fact that she could see no hint of any kind of interdimensional time warp. 

Looking back down at the scanner, she confirmed their location. *We should be right on top of it,* she thought. *Even if it's artificial--what in that mess could be producing the signal?* 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Phantom move slightly, and she looked over at him. He held up his wrist right, tapping it with two fingers, and she nodded. 

They withdrew back down the hallway a little, and Cassie rolled back her glove to expose her morpher. Keying the output volume down, she linked up with the Megaship. "DECA, this is Cassie," she said quietly, counting on the noise echoing out of the work bay to keep her voice from being heard by anything but the communicator's sensitive microphone. "Phantom and I are both all right, but we haven't found the source of the distortion yet." 

A second flicker of red light indicated an incoming transmission. "Acknowledged, Cassie," DECA's calm voice replied. 

Satisfied with that response, knowing DECA would have told them if the others were in trouble, Cassie signed off. She glanced at Phantom, and found him looking down the hallway, away from the work bay.

Following his gaze, she saw nothing but dimly lit corridor, so she turned her attention back to the scanner. 

The thing was still giving off false indicators, but the original distortion now showed up as a steady, green-tinged glow amid yellow echoes. She was adjusting the scanner for the close-range accuracy they would need to pinpoint the source when she noticed Phantom stiffen. 

She heard the scuffling even before she could look, and time seemed to slow as a sinking feeling descended on her stomach. Her gaze tracked inevitably down the hallway, and the brief flare of blaster fire seared her vision as she turned. 

*One minute…* 

She heard Phantom shout her name, and felt a weight crash against her side as sudden, numbing pain spread across her chest. She didn't even realize she was falling until the hard grid surface of the deck bruised her shoulder and hip, pinning her left arm beneath her. 

Gasping for breath, Cassie tried to roll, knowing their attackers wouldn't stop at one shot. The dead weight on top of her registered then, and she felt Phantom slide off her as she struggled to sit up. She caught at his shoulder, staring in disbelief at the burn marks on his armor. 

Another blast streaked by overhead, and she ducked instinctively, going for her astroblaster. Clenching her teeth as another wave of pain hit her, she crouched in front of Phantom and leveled her blaster at the shadowy forms lurking by the corridor junction. *The same one we just came through,* she thought distantly. *Were we being followed the whole time?* 

She fired blindly, hoping to discourage anyone from coming further down the hallway. She was rewarded by a solid thunk as one of the bolder pirahnatrons fell, caught by her random fire. The others drew back, but not without several parting shots that cut into the bulkhead beside her as she dove out of the way. 

Turning her head, she saw Phantom still prone on the deck, and fear raced through her--a fear completely unlike the rush of adrenaline that the ambush had triggered. She crawled closer, pushing herself to her knees so she could look down at him. 

The burn marks on his left shoulder and chest stared back at her accusingly, and she glanced down at her own chest. Nothing--her uniform was completely unscathed, and the pain she had felt earlier was nearly gone. 

*You saved my life,* she realized finally. *That blast was meant for me…* 

She couldn't tell if he was conscious, or even breathing, but there was no way she was leaving him here. Their attackers would be back before long--she'd done nothing but buy the two of them some more time, and they would need every second of it. 

Cassie reached out to touch his shoulder, wanting to know if he could move under anything like his own power. She stopped short, staring in shock as his armor started to shimmer in the dim lighting. 

She rubbed her eyes, thinking they were tearing, but the hazy quality of his form did not resolve itself into the familiar outlines she had known for more than a year. Instead, his armor seemed to *shift* somehow, becoming more and more insubstantial, until she was seeing more than just the shadow he had always appeared to be. 

Phantom demorphed completely. 

*Two minutes…* 

A blast ricocheted off the wall across from her, and Cassie flinched. *They're faster than I would have guessed,* she thought, grabbing Phantom's arms and pulling him down the hall in the other direction. She had no idea where they would go, but they certainly couldn't stay here. 

The hallway widened sharply just before it let out onto the observation walkway of the work bay, and Cassie managed to duck around the corner with Phantom in tow as the fire resumed in earnest. *Since when do pirahnatrons carry sidearms?* she demanded silently, leaning forward to look back the way they'd come. 

A shot that practically singed her helmet greeted her, and she pulled back instantly. The brief view had shown pirahnatrons approaching unchecked down the corridor toward her, obviously motivated by something scarier behind them than Cassie was in front of them. 

*And I think I'd rather not meet whatever it is,* Cassie thought, cocking her astroblaster. She took a deep breath and swung out into the hallway on one knee, the other bracing her firing arm. She fired as rapidly as she could pull the trigger into the advancing squad, and had the satisfaction of seeing most of the front line stagger and fall as she decimated their ranks. 

Unfortunately, the pirahnatrons were as kamikaze-minded as she was, and they just kept coming. The only good news was that she seemed to have hit most of the ones carrying blaster weapons, and the firefight was quickly becoming one-sided. 

She spared a single glance for Phantom, still out of their line of sight, and her eye fell on the ruby that hung on a gold chain around his neck. Except for that, there was no identifying him as the Phantom Ranger, and the thought occurred to her that anonymity would work to his advantage if they were captured. 

Pushing out of her defensive stance, she skidded the few steps to his side and wrapped her fingers around the ruby. She hesitated then, remembering the last time he'd been without it, but slapping finlike footsteps convinced her and she quickly pulled it off over his head. 

*Three minutes…* 

Slipping the necklace into her boot, Cassie stood and stepped out into the hallway in time to see pirahnatrons only meters away and closing. "Satellite Stunner!" Cassie exclaimed, and holding out her left hand. 

She'd never been particularly ambidextrous, but at this point it didn't matter. There were so many pirahnatrons that she was bound to hit something with any shot she got off. Even against the now weaponless army, she knew she would be overwhelmed eventually. 

Sooner than she'd expected, the squad had closed around her, rendering her blaster and stunner next to useless in the close quarters. As she glanced down for a split second to reholster the astroblaster, a pirahnatron went for her stunner and she flung her hand away. 

The fingers caught on her morpher, still exposed from her earlier communication with DECA, and she felt the wristband snap. Cassie felt the Power ebbing out of her, and she looked down in horror as she demorphed. 

*This is *not* good,* she thought fervently, instinctively dodging a blow. If she couldn't hold them off with her powers, she certainly wouldn't be able to do it now… 

As she went to block another blow, her left fist came up in guard position and she realized she still clutched her Satellite Stunner in her hand. The discovery did her little good, however, as another pirahnatron grabbed her shoulder and tried to hold her in place for his friend. 

*Right,* Cassie scoffed to herself. *In your dreams!* Whirling, she tossed her stunner from hand to hand and shrugged out of her jacket, managing to evade both grasping hands and incoming fists.  

As she straightened once more, guard at the ready, her eye caught the control panel at the end of the hallway and a sudden wild hope dawned. *If the work bay ever needed to be sealed off from the rest of the ship…* 

Cassie started backing up--not difficult, considering that the narrowness of the hallway had kept the majority of her attackers from surrounding her, and the assault was still concentrated in front of her. She sensed rather than saw the fist flying toward her from behind, and ducked past the last pirahnatron and out onto the edge of the observation walkway. 

Hefting the stunner with her good hand, she sited toward the control panel and fired. The panel exploded in a shower of sparks, and she thanked any deity that cared to listen when a bulkhead slammed into place between her and the pirahnatrons. 

*Four minutes…* 

She drew in a deep breath, and turned to Phantom. Her eyes widened as she remembered the ruby, and she looked down automatically. But she could still feel the stone digging into her ankle, and the discomfort was almost as welcome as the sight of the descending bulkhead had been. 

The sound of fists pounding on the aforementioned bulkhead brought her back to the issue of refuge, since this one was obviously temporary at best. Her gaze roved across the bay as she shoved the grip of her stunner into her belt, and she noted distractedly that the hustle below had not abated in the slightest. No one appeared to take any notice of them. 

The bulkhead behind her hissed, and she swung around in alarm. It had raised several centimeters above the floor, and she suspected whoever was on the other side wouldn't stop there. She debated for a second, wondering whether to try and lift Phantom, but dismissed that idea almost immediately.

"Sorry," she apologized wryly, dragging him over the solid decking. "But I'm not morphed, and you're not even semi-conscious--there's no *way* I can carry you far." 

Another ominous hiss echoed from the bulkhead they'd left behind, and she winced. *All right,* she thought, *we need to be out of sight *now*.* 

There was another opening coming up on her left, and she peered over her shoulder at it. The portal was indistinguishable from the one they'd just come from--with the notable exception of a lack of pirahnatrons. 

"Look's like that's as good as it gets," she muttered, shuffling backwards into the hall. They were out of sight--*but what now?* It wouldn't take the pirahnatrons long to get that bulkhead all the way up, and there was always the possibility that a completely different group might stumble on them… 

She glanced down the hallway--and stopped. *That grating…* Leaving Phantom, she darted over to it and tugged. With some effort, it swung open, revealing what looked like a maintenance shaft of some sort. 

*Five minutes…* 

Cassie grunted as she dragged Phantom into the tunnel. "Next time, *I* get to be unconscious and *you* can do the work," she whispered, pulling the grate shut with a clang. 

The cramped area of the maintenance shaft afforded her little room to maneuver, but with a combination of crawling and tugging she managed to get the two of them out of line-of-sight from the hallway in a niche whose use she couldn't fathom. When it came right down to it, though, she didn't *care* what it was used for, so long as it sheltered them from the prying eyes of pirahnatrons. 

Leaning back against the side of the alcove, Cassie let out a heavy sigh. Her heart was still pounding, and she heard pirahnatrons in every whisper of air, but her rational mind told her they were safe for a few minutes. 

She glanced over at Phantom, sprawled motionless beside her, and her breath caught. She stared, seeing him--*really* seeing him--for the first time since he'd demorphed. 

He looked human enough, with light skin and dark hair--a strange combination, she thought, until it occurred to her to wonder how much time he spent in the sun. He wore dark pants and a simple black tunic, belted at the waist, and she had to smile. *Black… I should have guessed.* 

He also looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't pin the feeling down more than that. "Phantom?" she whispered, suddenly uncertain about the name. Though it had been appropriate for the Ranger she had known before, she wasn't sure it fit the person she saw in front of her now.

He didn't stir--though she had almost expected him to--but the slight rise and fall of his chest comforted her. She remembered the ruby, suddenly, still grinding against her ankle, and she fished it out. Holding the stone in the palm of her hand, she let the gold chain slide through her fingers.  

The links sparkled in the dim lighting, and she edged closer to him. Gently, Cassie lifted his head and slipped the necklace back on. It fell against his tunic as though it belonged there--which, she supposed, it did--and she found herself staring again.  

"Who are you?" she wondered quietly, for maybe the fiftieth time. 

Footsteps sounded in the corridor, and she froze. 

*Six minutes…* 

It took several seconds to convince herself that the noise wasn't her imagination, but by then it was unmistakable. Something--a large number of somethings--was moving down the corridor off of which their tunnel branched. 

Inching back toward the wall again, she tugged Phantom with her, letting his head rest on her lap as she leaned back. A flicker of light caught on the opposite wall, and she held her breath, watching it dance up and down the tunnel and reflect into their alcove. 

Phantom picked that moment to move, mumbling something that she couldn't make out as he shivered. Cassie put a finger over his lips and leaned down to breath, "Shh," in his ear. She was aware of the intimacy of the action even as she did it, but it was the only way. 

To her relief, he quieted immediately, and she waited, hunched over, for the light to intensify. She refused to move, trying not to even breathe as the unsteady illumination came searching. 

Then it was gone, and she found she still couldn't move. What if they were still out there, just waiting for her to decide they'd left and make a break for it? *Not that there's anywhere to go,* Cassie thought, dismayed. *We're alone on an alien ship--no way to get off, no way to call for help, and no one will even know we're missing for another ten minutes.* 

Phantom stirred again, and she focused on his face, only inches from hers, and wondered what would happen if he opened his eyes. Of course he wouldn't--probably couldn't, even, if he was injured on top of his exhausted state, but she couldn't help wondering. 

Phantom's eyes opened, and he blinked slowly up at her. 

*Seven minutes…* 

Cassie froze again, held in place as surely as she had been when the light had shone down the tunnel toward them. Neither moved for several seconds, and she realized suddenly that her fingers still rested gently on his face. 

She moved her hand, not meaning the gesture to be a caress but knowing it had turned into one anyway. His lips quirked, and she saw him struggle to draw in a breath. "I'm not--" he started to whisper, voice catching. "I am not awake enough… to--to enjoy this properly." 

Cassie blushed, surprised and pleased at the same time. He lifted one hand to cover hers, and she started at the contact. *No gloves,* she thought, realizing for the first time that they had finally touched with nothing between them. 

His expression was startled as well, and he was staring at their hands. "I am… not morphed?" 

He sounded suddenly vulnerable and almost lost without his uniform. She shook her head, her hair falling further forward over her shoulders. "Do you remember us being ambushed?" 

His gaze returned to hers, eyes still wide and a little worried. He nodded slowly, moving his head only a fraction and not taking his eyes off hers. "They shot--" he swallowed. "They shot at you…" 

"Yeah," Cassie whispered. "You pushed me out of the way. You were hit--" She stopped too, glancing inadvertently at his chest. "Are you all right?" 

He closed his eyes briefly, seeming to remember only then the pain he should have been in. "I… I don't know," he admitted, voice still hoarse and barely above a whisper. 

She waited, but he didn't say anything more. "Can you sit up?" she asked at last. 

He tried immediately, struggling to get his elbows under him and push himself up. Cassie moved back a little and helped him prop himself against the wall, regarding him critically as he did so. "Now take off your shirt." 

He gave her a startled look, and she blushed. "If you're not going to tell me," she said firmly, "I want to see for myself." 

He didn't argue, just unbelted his tunic and started to pull it off over his head. She saw him wince at the movement, and heard his sharp intake of breath when he tried to lift his left arm above shoulder level. 

"Stop it," she begged at last, unable to stand his obvious discomfort. Leaning forward, she peeled the tunic back herself without making him take it all the way off. He relaxed a little, letting his arms fall, and she inspected the discoloration on his chest. 

*No blood, at least,* she thought, thankful that he didn't seem to have suffered anything more than impact wounds. "You're going to have some amazing bruises," she murmured, unable to suppress the instinct to cover them with her hand, as though by touching the injuries she could make them heal faster. 

*Eight minutes…* 

He shivered at her touch, and she looked up to find him staring at her intently. "When--" He stopped, then tried again. "When did I demorph?" 

"Right after the blaster fire hit you," she answered, conscious of her hand still on his chest. Removing it, she let his tunic fall, and asked, "Does it matter?" 

He looked down, hiding his eyes, and she realized then how much she had been depending on them to judge his reactions. How easy it had been to interpret expressions she'd never seen before--but she still had the advantage of all those previous months, and she found she could read him as well as she had before. 

Troubled, he whispered, "I am not… the way you knew me before." 

She had to smile. "Funny," Cassie murmured. "I was just thinking that you're exactly the way you've always been." *Stubborn and uncommunicative,* she added wryly, but she didn't say so aloud. 

Taking a deep breath--and only wincing a little--he met her gaze again. He started to return her smile, and she thought how long she had wished to see that particular expression. Before she could stop herself, she reached out and ran her fingers over his lips again, trying to capture the moment. 

To her surprise, he echoed her gesture, and, on impulse, she kissed his fingers. His hand trembled slightly, but he stared steadily back at her, almost daring her to move. She couldn't resist the offer--she edged closer, still on her knees, and let her hand slide across his cheek, making it perfectly clear what she intended to do. 

He didn't look away. Close enough to feel his breath on her face, she whispered, "You know how I feel about you, don't you?" 

The seconds stretched out as he just gazed at her. Finally, he nodded incrementally, as though the movement might shatter something precious. Still not certain of his reaction, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his. 

He continued to hold absolutely still for more than a second, but in moments he was responding, and with a heat she hadn't expected. Their mouths melded together, and she rested her hands on his shoulders, trying to be careful of his injuries. 

He would have none of it, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, making her bare arms tingle where his skin touched hers. The kiss went on and on, until she broke away, gasping for air. He smiled, and then he kissed her again, and she lost herself in the feeling of his hands on her back and his mouth on hers. 

*Nine minutes…* 

"No," Cassie murmured when he pulled away at last, and he hesitated. He could stay here with her for the rest of the day, for the rest of his life, even, but if he did, neither of their lives would be as long as they were meant to be. 

Still… he couldn't ignore the pleading look on her face, and he couldn't deny that he wanted nothing more than to hold her and touch her for just a little longer. Giving in, he covered her mouth with his once more and kissed her hungrily. 

She melted against him, and he knew he was lost. He would stay here as long as she wanted, and though he knew distantly that there was something else they should be doing, he knew too that it would hurt his heart when he finally had to let her go. 

Blood pounding in his ears, he almost didn't hear her whisper, "Phantom?" 

He turned his head gently, letting her catch her breath. "Yes?" 

"What's your name?" Cassie asked quietly. 

He hadn't given his name freely in years, but he told her now without hesitation, realizing as he did so just how much power she had over him. "I was born Saryn, of Elisia." 

She tilted her head, her black hair spilling across her shoulders as she moved and standing out in stark contrast to her pink tank top. "Elisia is your mother?" 

"My world," he corrected, forcing himself to concentrate on her words, rather than her proximity. 

She smiled a contented smile that warmed his heart and brushed her fingers across his chin, tracing the line of his jaw. He swallowed, trying very hard not to react as he had before, so as not to scare her. 

"Thank you for your name, Saryn of Elisia," she murmured. 

"Anything for you," he responded quietly, knowing even as he said it that it was true. 

She leaned in and kissed him once more, a touch as gentle as her expression but somehow as suggestive and passionate as any of his. She almost destroyed his hard-won restraint right there, but he closed his eyes and managed to survive, somehow, until she pulled away. 

*Ten minutes…* 

He knew they had to separate then, for the sake of his sanity if nothing else. She was sitting nearly in his lap, and with her arms around him and the warmth of her body radiating into him, he could end up doing something unforgivable if she didn't move. 

"Cassie," he whispered, but she solved the problem before he could say anything more. 

Settling back into a crouch, she put enough distance between them that he could think again. "Yes?" she replied innocently. 

It occurred to him to wonder if she had been as affected as he, but he probably didn't want to know if the answer was negative. *I'll wait,* he silently promised himself and her. *Someday, when you're ready… I won't do *anything* to jeopardize your trust.* 

"Nothing," he managed to say, unable to keep from wincing as he tried to straighten. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, contrite but making no move to touch him. *Maybe she does know…* "Are you all right?" 

He nodded, but without his visor the smile on his face was obvious to her. 

"Aside from the fact that you need about three days' uninterrupted sleep," she allowed wryly, looking more closely at him. "And you probably feel like you've been hit by a small starfighter… and we're stuck on an alien ship with no way of getting in touch with the others…" 

He glanced at her wrist, the absence of her morpher only now registering. He didn't ask how she'd lost it, and she didn't volunteer, but he did raise an eyebrow in her direction. "Your homing device?" 

She shook her head. "It was on my jacket, which is currently in the possession of some extremely unhappy pirahnatrons." 

"Mine was on my uniform," he said ruefully. "I was not expecting to demorph--I suspect it's still on the floor near where I fell. If the blaster impact did not make it completely inoperable," he added as an afterthought. 

Neither spoke for a moment. Then Cassie shook herself, and said, "Right. Well, the first thing we need to do is get to a communications array. From there we can contact DECA, and she can get us out of here." 

*Eleven minutes…* 

She gave him an evil look when he started to protest. "I know what you're going to say, and first off, you're not in any condition to go *anywhere* except the Medical bay on the Megaship, and that won't happen unless we can get in touch with DECA. 

"Second, I don't have my morpher, so even if you could convince me to leave you behind somewhere--which you can't!" He had to smile at her exclamation. "I wouldn't be in great shape to defend myself if I got caught going after that distortion signal anyway," she continued. 

"I don't think we have a choice," Cassie informed him, meeting his gaze without hesitation. "We have to abort the mission." 

He couldn't bring himself to agree right away--but he knew she was right. He suspected he would barely be able to walk, even with her help, and there was no way he would let her go after that signal alone.  

So, with a sigh, he conceded defeat. "You're right," he admitted quietly. She nodded, as though she had expected no less, and he couldn't help watching the way her hair shone even in the dim light.  

*Stop it,* he ordered himself, looking away as Cassie crawled past him toward the opening of their niche. *She is beautiful; there is no denying that. But she has *always* been beautiful. Concentrate…* 

He mentally trailed off when she turned her brown eyes in his direction. "Can you crawl?" she whispered. "I had to drag you in here, and I don't think you'd appreciate leaving the same way you entered." 

Taking a deep breath, he offered a one-shouldered shrug. "We will find out." 

He saw her roll her eyes as he pushed away from the wall and onto his knees. With an effort, he caught his weight with his hands, careful to keep his expression hidden so she wouldn't see his grimace as pain shot through his left shoulder. 

"I saw that," she chided, reaching out to stroke his injured shoulder with a gentle touch. "Go easy on that shoulder, all right?" 

"Yes, Cassie," he murmured, teasing her with the same words he had used the day before in the Medical bay. 

*Twelve minutes…* 

"I wouldn't have to mother you if you'd take better care of yourself," she responded, amusement in her tone as she shuffled out into the service tunnel.

"Next time," he answered, following considerably more slowly, "You may take the blaster shot for me." 

He heard her startled giggle from ahead, and he smiled to himself. The smile faded as his shoulder complained, but he stiffened his arm and kept going, clenching his jaw against the discomfort. 

She was waiting by the grate that connected this tunnel to the outside corridor, and her solemn expression told him that she had been watching his progress. She said nothing, however, as she shoved the grate open and climbed out, turning back to assist him. 

As he shifted to get his legs under him, gravity seemed to change on him, and he knew he wouldn't be standing on his own. She waited while the world settled down, and finally he let himself slide forward out of the tunnel so his feet were on the ground. 

Again, the movement played havoc with his balance, and he stumbled against the wall. *Better that than nothing,* he supposed, watching Cassie close the grate. 

*Thirteen minutes…* 

When it was sealed to her satisfaction, she turned to him. He nodded and pushed away from the wall, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to walk. She darted over to him and took his right arm, wrapping it around her shoulders before he could stumble again. 

"That's not what I meant," she hissed at him. "I was only asking if you were ready--I *know* you can't walk!" 

"How--" he began in a whisper, then shook his head, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. "Do not answer that." 

Her left arm behind his back, she let go of his hand with her right and tapped her temple with two fingers. The questioning look she shot at him unnerved him, but she didn't seem particularly upset, so he just nodded. "I think so," he murmured. "Do you… do you believe?" 

She didn't answer right away. "I'm starting to," she admitted at last. "There are things I *know*, that I shouldn't. I can't explain them, except for telepathy." 

"Empathy," he corrected. 

She just shook her head. "Sometime, you're going to have to explain the difference to me." 

*Fourteen minutes…* 

They fell silent as they approached a junction identical in every noticeable way to the one they had passed in the last corridor, just before they'd been ambushed. Cassie took her hand off his right arm once more to snag the scanner from her belt clip. He had to wonder when she'd had time to attach it properly--it had been in her hand right up until the first shot had been fired. 

He pushed the thought from his mind, only to have it replaced by an equally inconsequential musing: her Satellite Stunner was also on her belt, yet she was no longer in possession of her morpher. How had the weapon stayed with her after the Power was gone? 

*My focus is slipping,* he realized, feeling Cassie shift beside him to support more of his weight. 

"There," she whispered, tapping the display with her thumb. She had reconfigured the scanner to detect large quantities of radio signal, hyperboosted or not, and, even with its current short-range capacity, the instrument had located a possible communications array and indicated it on the display. "That's where we need to be…" 

*Fifteen minutes…* 

***

The scanner had been giving Andros problems for the last half-hour. No sooner had he isolated one source of distortion than another would appear while the first vanished. It was as though the distortion were actually emanating from the ship itself, rather than a point on the ship, so he had recalibrated the scanner for maximum range and set it to plot out every indication it received.

Ashley fidgeted beside him. Technologically inclined though she was--and she had been a help in altering the scanner's parameters--this waiting around was starting to bother her. He knew, because he had seen it before on the Megaship often enough. Waiting for *anything* just wasn't Ashley's style--she was very much a "go out and make it come to you" kind of person. 

Setting the scanner down for a moment, he reached out and squeezed her hand. She turned toward him, and he nodded, knowing nothing else would be conveyed by their visors. Her shoulders rose and fell in an exaggerated sigh, and he grinned. *Well, almost nothing else.* Leave it to Ashley to find a way to express herself. 

She tapped her wrist, and he nodded again. Looking around their wide open and almost completely unprotected position, he knew she would use the "ok" signal again, however much she might wish to check on the others through DECA. Andros did the same, tapping the simple signal into his communicator and returning to the scanner without waiting for the Megaship's acknowledging flash. 

***

Carlos turned the scanner in TJ's direction, and the Blue Ranger flashed him a thumbs-up. The two were, according to the sensing instrument, only meters away from the ship's resident dimension distorter. *Now to get through this bulkhead,* Carlos thought, just as his ears caught the sound of pirahnatron finfeet on the floor somewhere down the corridor. 

He and TJ looked at each other, and he knew the other Ranger had heard the noise as well. They turned from their ultimate obstacle and prepared to deal first with the current threat. 

*That means a plan,* Carlos thought grimly, his mind racing. Staring across the corridor, he shot a look down the main branch that ran perpendicular to their hallway and led directly away from the door in front of which they stood. 

The idea must have occurred to them at the same time, for he and TJ both dove for the corridor before the pirahnatron's weaker vision could detect them. TJ pointed to the pipes running over their heads, and Carlos nodded. 

The pirahnatron continued on, oblivious, until it passed the entrance to the corridor in which Carlos stood. Then it had the misfortune to glance his way, and he waved cheerfully at it. The pirahnatron's limited mental capacity caused it to pause in confusion for a moment, and then, predictably, charge the Black Ranger without sounding any kind of alarm. 

Carlos just watched it come, grinning like an idiot. He hated being bait, just on general principles, but it afforded him an excellent view of the pirahnatron's shock when TJ swung down from the ceiling and slammed his feet into the fish being's chest. It collapsed against the bulkhead they had been contemplating earlier, and TJ held up his hand for Carlos to hi-five. 

The Black Ranger did so, albeit quietly, due to the fact that they were both wearing gloves. "Check-in," TJ reminded him quietly, as he turned back to the bulkhead, and Carlos nodded reluctantly. 

His communicator, already set to minimum intensity, activated as soon as he slapped it. "DECA, it's Carlos," he told his wrist. "TJ's with me, and we're almost on top of the distortion." 

A red flash indicated near simultaneous receipt and transmission. "Carlos," DECA's voice came back, and he frowned. *Shouldn't she just say acknowledged or something?* he wondered, looking over his shoulder apprehensively. 

"The homing device worn by the Phantom Ranger has stopped transmitting," the computer announced, as though declaring the time of day. 

"What?!" TJ's hiss carried clearly to Carlos, and he motioned at his friend to lower his voice. 

"DECA, have either Phantom or Cassie checked in yet?" Carlos asked, trying to stay reasonable. 

"No," DECA answered. 

"Bring her homing device back, right now," TJ demanded, and there was a brief pause while DECA complied. 

"Cassie was not wearing her homing device at the time of teleportation," DECA told them after a moment. 

TJ swore, and Carlos looked at him in surprise. "Look, we're going to have to go after them," he told Carlos. 

The Black Ranger hesitated, giving the bulkhead in front of them one last look. But there was never any doubt in his mind--of course they would go. That's what Rangers did. Somewhere below the "always fight for good" rule and above "never escalate a fight" was the unspoken law that bound every team together tighter than family: "defend and protect your teammates." 

Carlos clipped the scanner to his belt, and nodded once to TJ. "Let's go."