"This isn't good," Billy said, lifting his gaze from the scanner in his hand to the damaged engine core.

"You think?" Zhane replied wryly. "Sorry," he added, when Ashley threw a look in his direction. Billy glanced down at the scanner again, ignoring him.

Andros could only watch. He knew what the Blue Aquitian Ranger was going to say. He had known as soon as he saw the engine room that there was only one possible prognosis; he had been able to sense as soon as he teleported aboard that the damage was exactly as bad as it looked from the outside.

Despite his own certainty, though, Billy's words made him flinch. "I don't think it's repairable," the other Ranger admitted.

"It's still here," Ashley said firmly, glancing over at him. "Of course it's repairable."

Andros gave her a half-hearted smile. The Megaship wasn't going to make it back to Aquitar under her own power; he knew that. But Ashley's immediate defense of the proud ship was as touching as it was unwarranted.

Billy shook his head slowly. "I really don't think so. The engine core can be replaced, of course, once we get back to Aquitar. But it must have automatically shut down when it reached critical--there's no way to power it back up now without destroying the entire ship."

Andros finally stirred, straightening from where he was leaning against the status console. He heard the quiet descend as he walked into the middle of the room, pausing in front of the darkened core and reaching out to touch it gently. He tried not to wince as his fingers came in contact with the Megaship's silenced heart.

*You'll be all right,* he promised. *We're going to heal you.*

"Andros?" Ashley asked softly.

He turned his head to the side, not quite turning to look at her. "There's no auto-shutdown on the core," he remarked.

He could almost hear Billy's frown. Billy, for all his mechanical expertise, simply wasn't used to dealing with sentient machinery. Or perhaps he was and just hadn't started to think of the Megaship that way yet; Andros didn't know.

"The engine core would have exploded," Billy said. "*Something* had to shut it down."

"Someone," Andros corrected, touching the shield around the engine core once more. The Megaship would have to be towed, and there was only one ship out there that could do it.

"Thanks, DECA," he heard Cassie say quietly.

He turned then, gazing at the people assembled in the engine room. He and Ashley had returned to the Megaship in the hope that they could contribute to the repair effort, while Cetaci, Delphinius, and TJ had left to join Kerone in the remaining Aquitian zords. Zhane had stayed for the same reason Ashley and Andros had come, and Linnse was there because she had nowhere else to go. Cassie's interrupted time in osteo regen hadn't been enough to heal her injuries, and when she stayed, Saryn insisted on staying as well.

"Thanks, DECA," Andros repeated, glancing up at the silent camera. The red light blinked solemnly at him, but did not reply.

He saw Cassie elbow Linnse out of the corner of his eye, and a moment later the Defense leader sighed. "Thank you... DECA," she offered grudgingly.

"You are welcome," the computer replied. Her tone was unusually prim, and Andros tried to suppress a grin.

Looking at Zhane didn't help, not that he should have expected it to. His best friend's eyes twinkled back at him as he agreed, "Thanks for not getting yourself killed, DECA; we would have missed you. Thanks for saving our friends' lives and helping them help us destroy Dark Spectre, not to mention healing us all afterward."

Ashley actually laughed at his cheerful litany, and she added, "Yeah, thanks DECA. We would have been in a lot of trouble without you."

Saryn stirred, putting one arm around Cassie's shoulders as he glanced up at the camera. "Thank you, DECA," he said simply.

There was a brief pause, and Andros glanced at Billy. The Blue Ranger looked up from his scanner, catching his eye before nodding at the camera. "It was good to have you in the fight, DECA."

The camera's light flashed rapidly, almost sparkling, and Andros tried not to chuckle at her discomfiture. Before he could tease her, though, the camera went suddenly dark, and he straightened in alarm. "DECA? What's wrong?"

There was no answer, and a hiss from behind him made him turn. His eyes widened at the sight of the damaged core, its shielding cracked and even rougher than it had been before as it glowed an unhealthy orange color. Something must have reactivated it, something that didn't understand the fatal consequences of such an action.

Even as he lunged toward the control panels, he knew he would be too late. There was no way to stop what was happening, no way to drain the power off in time to prevent a core explosion. But he couldn't not try, and as he slammed his fist down on the console he felt Ashley at his side, echoing his movements even as the orange color brightened to a violent yellow.

Then he was back beside the darkened core, facing the others and staring up at DECA's camera with fond amusement. His expression fell away as he stared around, wild-eyed, trying to pin down anything that had just happened. Ashley's gaze locked with his, and from the horrified look on her face he knew she'd seen it too.

"What just happened?" he demanded, a little relieved when his voice didn't shake. "Did anyone else see that?"

Zhane frowned at him. "What? What happened?"

He stared around, seeing curiosity and concern, but no recognition anywhere other than Ashley's face--until he caught Billy's eye. The other Ranger wore a look of shaken disbelief, and the words were out before Andros could think them himself. "The nightmares."

"What?" Cassie exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

*Kerone,* Andros demanded silently. *Are you picking up anything strange out there?*

He could tell Zhane heard him, but there was no answer from Kerone. *Kerone?* he tried again.

When there was no response, he heard Zhane trying, but after a moment the Silver Ranger shook his head. "I can't reach Kerone," he said, for the benefit of everyone else in the room. "There's something going on out there--what did you guys see just now?"

The deck shifted underneath him, and he stared down in horror as the cracks in the engine shielding started to extend across the floor. The reactivation of the core hadn't been his imagination. The angry gold color of an overloading engine threw a wash of shadows across the disintegrating deck, and he heard someone scream.

As quickly as that, the vision was gone and the engine room was normal again. He shuddered, giving the core a suspicious look before glancing down at the floor to reassure himself that it was still there. The others *must* have seen it that time.

The terrible cry of pain came again and he whirled. Already on edge, he could only stare as Saryn clutched his head, slamming into the console behind him as he backed away from something only he could see. Cassie grabbed for his hands and he threw her off, sending her sprawling to the floor.

"Message from Kerone," DECA interjected urgently, and Andros started.

"Put her through, DECA," he ordered, taking a step toward Cassie. She waved him away, struggling to her feet on her own.

"Andros!"

He saw Zhane spin at the sound of Kerone's voice, his face pale as he sought out Andros with his eyes. *Are you okay?* Andros demanded, knowing it was a subjective term right now but unable to come up with anything better. *Hang on, Zhane.*

"Andros, I think the system is mined," Kerone said quickly, as though she didn't know how long she had to speak. "Whatever Ecliptor hit the first time wasn't the only one. We have to--"

"Get away from me!" Saryn's shout drowned out the rest of her words, but Cassie paid him no heed. Andros stiffened as she threw her arms around him, but instead of shoving her away Saryn froze.

"Have to what?" Zhane demanded.

There was no answer from the comm, and Andros exchanged worried looks with his friend. "It's hitting everyone," Andros muttered. "All of us at once."

"Is it?" Zhane asked. "Did it get the Mega V pilots last time? Or the Defense wing? We don't know--what if they're fine, and we just don't know?"

The shriek of overstressed metal cut off further conversation, and Andros felt someone grab his hand as the floor started to cave in. The engine core was pulsing a brilliant white, threatening a detonation that would take this entire ship with it--if the ship didn't break apart on its own first.

"Andros!" It was Ashley's voice yelling to him. He turned, staggering as he lost his balance on the shifting deck, and she was there to catch him. "This isn't real; it can't be! Remember before?"

Suddenly the engine room was entirely gone, not collapsed or disintegrated or exploded, just gone. In its place was the crushing weight of a school building that he hadn't set foot in since the day Dark Spectre's velocifighters had blown it to pieces six years ago. He hadn't seen it fall, hadn't been inside when it came down, but he recognized it instantly.

"Zhane!" he shouted, pushing against the surrounding stone. It was a futile effort, for it did more than just not budge. It shifted a little closer with every push, until it was a cage tight enough to almost prevent breathing.

He wanted to scream, knowing his friend had suffered through this once in life and a hundred times in his dreams. He didn't even care that it was crushing him, only that he had to find Zhane, to pull him out of here somehow, the way DECA's teleportation had done so many years ago.

Then he was on the floor of the engine room, gasping for breath as he pushed himself to his knees. That "vision" had been more real than he ever wanted to know, and it hadn't even been his. He knew without a doubt that he had somehow ended up in Zhane's nightmare, and even as he searched for his friend he heard Cassie cry out.

"You're hurting me," she whimpered. Saryn's arms were tight around her, too tight for anyone with broken bones to have to endure, and Andros flinched as a bright red flash exploded between them.

"Andros!" Ashley's voice shouted at him as the deck crumbled away. The glow of Saryn's Power became the deadly outward thrust of the engine core as it flashed past critical and reached out to consume them all, and he found himself falling.

Ashley's hand grabbed his wrist, yanking his arm hard enough to make him cry out. "It isn't real, Andros!" she yelled, her voice just barely audible over the roar of the explosion that was consuming the Megaship. "Don't look at this, don't think about it, don't *accept* it! It's a trick, Andros, it isn't real!"

He closed his eyes, clenching his fingers around her wrist. *Where am I?* he wondered, feeling the explosion of the core all around him. That in itself was utterly impossible; he should have been vaporized the instant it began.

"Don't think that!" Ashley shouted at him. "This isn't real! Nothing's happened to the Megaship, Andros; you have to trust me!"

He did trust her. He had always trusted her, with so much more than his life. All she had to do was tell him what was true, and he would believe her.

"The two of us, Andros. We're true." She was speaking directly into his ear now, though he couldn't remember when he had stopped falling or how she had gotten so close. "Somewhere else, somewhere that isn't here where things didn't go horribly wrong, that's where we're supposed to be. We're there together. You just have to believe it."

He felt her hug him fiercely, knew that she believed every word no matter how little either of them knew of anything else. Her belief infected him, buoyed him up when he thought he was beyond hope, and he felt himself hugging her in return.

The hard metal deck of the Megaship pressed against his cheek, grinding into his shoulder as he opened his eyes. The ominous whine of an impending core explosion was absent, and the floor was as solid as ever beneath him. The lights flickered from time to time, but only with the unsteadiness of depleted energy reserves, rather than the terrifying threat of imminent destruction.

"Ashley?" he croaked, pushing himself up with an effort.

"Yeah." The word was more of a groan than anything else, and he managed to turn himself toward her in time to see her lever herself into a sitting position. "I'm here."

"But they're not," he mumbled, glancing around the engine room.

Billy had collapsed by the status panel. Cassie and Saryn lay by the opposite bank of consoles; Linnse sprawled across a chair nearby. Zhane was curled into a ball, knees to chest, by the door, and Andros' heart clenched at the sight. None of them were moving.

"Cestria's not here to get us back this time," Ashley murmured, crawling over to Cassie's side. "What do we do?"

He sighed. If he had been thinking clearly enough to anticipate it, he would have dreaded that question, for he had no idea what the answer was. He dragged himself over to join her, reaching out to dislodge Saryn's white-knuckled grasp on Cassie's wrist.

He felt then the sudden and absolute certainty that anyone who got too close would disappear, vanish, be killed. He knew he could never tell them how he felt about them, could never reveal his face for fear that he would never see them again.

"You didn't count on me," Cassie's voice whispered, and he reached out for her as she faded away. His hand clutched only empty air in the place where she had just been.

Andros turned wide eyes on Ashley as the engine room reinstated itself into his reality with a violent shove. "Do *not* touch him," he whispered, wanting his voice to be louder but not able to make it do what he told it to.

She nodded wordlessly, not asking what he'd seen.

"Andros?" DECA asked, sounding strangely tentative. "Ashley?"

He looked up, startled and infinitely relieved. "DECA! Are you all right?"

"Are *you* all right?" the computer demanded, her light seeming to brighten as she inspected them. "I am still unable to detect any wave, but Kerone assures me that it is there."

"Can you talk to Kerone?" Andros asked quickly.

"Not anymore," DECA admitted. "I am worried for her safety."

"I'm worried for all our safeties," Ashley muttered. "Not to mention our sanity. We need to get out of here *now*."

"Ecliptor," he said suddenly, pushing himself to his feet.

She frowned up at him, clasping his hand when he offered it and hauling herself up. "What are you talking about?"

"These waves can't be designed to affect evil," he explained. 'Think about it. The Dark Fortress might have the only functioning crew out there."

"And they're the only ship that can tow us," Ashley said slowly, staring at him. "Billy was right, wasn't he. The engine core isn't repairable."

He shook his head, though it pained him to admit it. "No. It isn't. DECA knew that when she shut it down."

She didn't look any happier with his answers than he felt, but she asked what they had to. "Will Ecliptor even help us? Does he answer to anyone but Kerone?"

"I don't know," he admitted, looking up at DECA's camera. "DECA, can you get through to *any* of the zords?"

"The Aquitian zords are not responding," she answered. "I am attempting to reach Mega V right now."

"Try each zord individually," he urged. "If Ash and I got out, someone else might have too."

"You don't think any of that was real, then," Ashley murmured.

He shook his head slowly. "Last time, the wave knocked us all out, and this time you and me 'woke up' the same way we did then. I think we've been in a nightmare since that first flash you and I saw of the engine core. Maybe even before that, I don't know."

"Then why were they there?" she wondered, glancing around the engine room. "We were alone in the last wave. This time everyone was talking to each other, at least some of the time."

He followed her gaze, and his eyes settled on Zhane's still form. "I don't know," he said quietly. "Maybe it adds to the fear."

"The Defense wing is trying to contact us," DECA put in. "Mega V is not responding."

His eyes snapped back toward Ashley, and he saw the same comprehension on her face that had to be on his. "The Rangers," he began.

"It's going after Rangers!" she exclaimed.

"Reply to the Defense wing," he told DECA. "Let me talk to them."

"Megaship, what's going on?" Def-1's voice demanded a moment later. "The entire fleet's gone silent out here!"

"What's your status?" Andros asked, his gaze drawn inevitably back toward Zhane as his mind raced ahead. "Are all your pilots accounted for?"

"Of course we're all accounted for," Def-1 shot back. "We're just off your starboard bow, holding a fallback line for the Dark Fortress. Not that it needs it."

Unspoken but unmistakable was the distrust in the wing leader's tone, and the implication that his ships would rather sit behind the Dark Fortress than in front of it. Ecliptor's unannounced arrival had done nothing to endear him to the Defense, no matter his subsequent show of strength for their side.

"Are you detecting anything..." Andros trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence. What were they even looking for? Why could the Aquitian zords detect it when DECA couldn't? "Strange?" he finished awkwardly.

"Strange?" Def-1's voice was laden with sarcasm. "What would you consider strange, here? The fact that Dark Spectre's 'princess' just turned up on one of your zords? The fact that Dark Spectre's flagship apparently just defected? The fact that the Megaship is currently the only responsive ship in the fleet?"

"I'll take that as a no," Andros interrupted. "Maintain position. We'll get back to you." He motioned to DECA, and the wing leader was cut off mid-sputter.

"That wasn't very nice," Ashley said quietly, clearly trying to stifle a smile.

"We don't have time for this," Andros said, staring around at his fallen teammates. There was something wrong with the picture they presented, but his brain had switched from explanations to escape and it was loath to turn back.

"Do we try Ecliptor anyway, then?" Ashley followed his gaze, and he saw her wrap her fingers around her wrist out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe he'll listen to you."

"Yeah," he muttered, frowning a little. "Kerone must be--"

Kerone and Linnse weren't Rangers. The thought was as startling as it was unhelpful, coming out of nowhere to sidetrack him. He was sure he had seen Linnse between core explosions a few moments ago; he was positive she had been in the engine room with everyone else. And she was obviously unconscious on this end...

"What?" Ashley asked, staring down at Linnse. "What are you--she's not a Ranger."

He breathed out in amusement. "That's what I was just thinking. But I don't know what it means, and we don't have time to worry about it. Come on."

***

"Where is Astronema?" Ecliptor demanded, and Ashley sighed. Andros had already explained this to him twice, and he didn't seem any closer to listening.

"We can't reach her," Andros repeated patiently. "She's on one of the Aquitian zords, but she's not responsive. None of the Rangers are; there's something in the system that's making anyone who holds the Power hallucinate."

"Astronema is not a Power Ranger," Ecliptor rumbled, looking offended by the very thought. "These waves should not affect her."

Andros' head came up. "What? You knew about those? Are you setting them off on purpose?"

Ashley tried not to wince. Andros' emotions got in the way of his better judgement sometimes, and as sweet as it was to be reminded how deep his feelings ran it usually happened at the most inconvenient times.

"No," Ecliptor replied darkly. It was hard to tell if he actually resented the implication, or if he was just generally irritated. "I am not setting them off deliberately. They are undetectable, designed to be triggered by massive amounts of radiation. They activate every time radiation gets above critical levels."

"Every time something explodes nearby," Ashley breathed, glancing over at Andros.

Ecliptor nodded once. "Astronema should not be affected," he repeated stubbornly.

"She holds the Black Aquitian Ranger's Power right now," Andros told him. "It was the only way she could fly the zord."

"I want to speak with her," Ecliptor answered.

Ashley did her best not to throw her hands up in the air. "You can't," she told him firmly. "She's unconscious. Everyone is; that's why we need your help!"

"You are not." Ecliptor turned his stony gaze on her, and she found herself at a loss for words.

"No," Andros agreed. "Ash brought us back. We don't know why it worked for us and not for anyone else, but we'll never find out if we stay here."

"Find Astronema," Ecliptor ordered, and the transmission cut off.

Ashley pushed away from the chair she was leaning on and glared at the screen. "Well, he's a big help."

"No," Andros said slowly. "I think he might be right."

"About what?" Ashley demanded, turning toward him.

"Kerone. Or at least, the other zords. I don't think the Dark Fortress can get us all into hyperspace, and I bet Ecliptor doesn't want to admit that."

"So?" Ashley frowned, trying to puzzle that out. "That means we have to get the other zords out ourselves..."

"We could teleport onto the Mega Vs, and use their slave circuit to send them all into hyperspace at once."

"But one of us would have to be on board when they went to hyperrush," Ashley finished.

"And we can't to do it to the Aquitian zords," Andros added. "At least, I don't know how to."

She shook her head slowly. "I don't either. That means we need someone awake who has an Aquitian morpher."

Andros caught her eye, and she knew what he had meant before he spoke. "We're going to have to get Kerone, somehow."

She sighed, frustrated. "I don't even know how *we* got out. How do we wake someone else up? How do we even get back in?"

Andros was silent for a moment, and DECA's voice startled them both. "The Phantom Ranger," she offered.

She looked at Andros, wide-eyed. "You said 'don't touch him'. You saw his nightmare, didn't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah... but he was alone. Sort of. The others weren't there."

She bit her lip, knowing how serious what she was going to suggest was. "Try Zhane."

He hesitated, giving her an uncertain look.

"I know," she said softly. "We can't just go around jumping into other people's nightmares. But Zhane's your best friend, and if there's anyone he wouldn't mind knowing, it's you. Plus if Kerone's anywhere, it's with him."

"She wasn't before," Andros pointed out. "She was with Cestria, and he was with Saryn."

She frowned. "Yeah... I don't get that. But maybe you should just try. If she isn't there, at least you'll know how to get in. We can always teleport straight to the Zaal zord."

He sighed, not looking very happy about it. "You're right. I'll try. But you stay out here, in case something goes wrong."

"You were okay with Saryn," she protested, following him as he turned and headed for the door.

"But it was still *real*." He paused in the doorway, waiting for her to catch up. "It didn't last long, but for a couple seconds, everyone was disappearing. I was as sure of that as I was when the engine core exploded... as sure as I am now that we're on our way to the engine room."

She folded her arms across her chest, hesitating at his side. "Don't say things like that," she muttered half-heartedly.

He rubbed her shoulder gently. "Look, you got me out last time, Ash. You said we're real, and you were right. As long as we're together, everything's going to be okay."

"Even if this is just another nightmare?" she asked, lifting her head to search his expression.

"We can't do nothing, Ash," he said, gazing back at her. "We can't just give up. You taught me that. Maybe we can't fix everything, but if we don't try, what else is there?"

She reached up to take his hand, and he smiled. It was that rare, tender smile that took her breath away, and she squeezed his fingers gratefully. "Let's do it."

He didn't let go of her hand until they were in the engine room. Kneeling down beside Zhane, he gave her a nervous look. "I'll be right here," she promised. They needed each other's strength more now than ever. "We got out together last time; we can do it again."

He nodded, and she saw his mouth quirk as they passed the role of reassurer back and forth. Reaching out, he took Zhane's hand carefully.

He froze, and she watched his expression go distant on her. She settled down a little more comfortably on the floor, not taking her eyes off of him, and she was surprised when he turned to her a moment later. He looked directly at her, and there was none of the shock she had seen when he accidentally touched Saryn's nightmare.

"It didn't work," he said, sounding surprised. "I didn't see anything."

She frowned, reaching out to try without thinking about it. He caught her hand, tilting his head to the side. "Maybe... you should try on Cassie," he said apologetically.

"Oh," she said, startled. "Yeah, sorry. It's just... really weird."

"I know," he assured her. "Just--" His voice dropped abruptly. "You know, about Zhane?"

She knew he thought she understood, and she knew there was *something*. Zhane's odd reaction to Aquitar, the jumpiness he tried to conceal with jokes sometimes--there was something he didn't talk about, and Andros was trying to protect that. "Sort of," she hedged, not wanting to put him on the spot. "Enough."

He nodded, and she saw him squeeze his friend's hand before he let go. "I don't know why it worked with Saryn and not Zhane, but who knows what we might see if it works again. We should be careful."

"If we can be," she murmured, and he nodded again.

She crouched at Cassie's side, bracing herself as she laid her hand over her friend's. She wasn't sure what to expect--but the engine room remained unchanged. She glanced around, and found Andros right beside her, waiting quietly. She shook her head.

He frowned a little, his gaze sliding back toward Saryn. "Why him?" he wondered aloud.

She hesitated, but brainstorming didn't work if she kept her ideas to herself. "Not the empathy thing the Aquitians told us about?"

He gave her a sadly amused look. "I didn't know you were listening then."

She shrugged uncomfortably. "I heard. I just didn't care."

"Maybe that's it," he said, as willing as she to let the subject drop. "But if he's the only way in, how do we get to Kerone?"

"He got everyone out before," she said, taking a deep breath. "Can we convince him, instead of Kerone?"

He caught her eye, his expression unreadable. "Have you ever been able to convince Saryn of anything?"

She stared at him, uncertain, until she saw the corners of his mouth lift incrementally. She laughed, cuffing his shoulder affectionately. "There's that famous optimism again!"

He grinned openly. "He's almost as stubborn as I am," he teased. "How do you expect to make him listen?"

"Almost!" Ashley exclaimed. "He's almost as stubborn, you said it yourself. All we have to do is lock the two of you in a small room somewhere, and eventually you'll win."

"Right," he agreed wryly. "If I get any say in his nightmare, I'll envision a small room with a lock. Thanks for the advice."

Her smile faded, and she squeezed his shoulder. "Be careful, Andros."

"I will," he promised. He stared at her a moment longer, then turned back to Saryn. Maybe it was superstition, or only coincidence, but he reached out to push Saryn's hand away from Cassie's with exactly the same gesture he had used the first time.

***

The engine room was in complete chaos. The Ranger alarm was shrieking, forcing everyone to yell above it as they tried to converse with each other. All emergency power had been diverted to the environmental systems, and it was still freezing cold. The only light came from portable lanterns Zhane had dragged out from underneath one of the workstations.

*Zhane.* For some reason, his friend was terribly important. Turning, he found the Silver Ranger talking to DECA's camera, but he couldn't make out what the other was saying.

"Don't think about it," he heard Cassie saying. He didn't know whom she was talking to, and he didn't have time to catch the answer when Kerone's voice suddenly registered.

"They're not here," Zhane was telling her. "They're both gone, and DECA can't track them. Can you get Ecliptor to try and find them?"

"I can't reach Ecliptor," Kerone's voice answered, routed into the engine room by DECA. "I've been trying!"

"Kerone!" Andros started forward, and he saw Zhane whirl. His best friend's face lit up, and Zhane's grin of relief was the last thing he saw before everything went dark.

"We failed."

He spun. Saryn stood behind him, staring straight ahead but not seeming to actually see anything. "What are you talking about?"

"It's happening again. Don't you see?" Saryn tilted his head, eyes still unfocused. "They're disappearing. You, Ashley, Ecliptor. There's no way to hold on."

"No," Andros muttered. "Kerone, go play with your brother..." "There never is." "We'll vow to fight as a team forever!"

"Then why do we fight?" Saryn asked. "If everything we love is lost, what's the point?"

Andros frowned, the question sounding oddly familiar. "Because... we have to try." The words seemed to simply come into his mind, intruding on his consciousness from somewhere far away. "If we don't... if we give up..."

The darkness released its grip with blinding suddeness, throwing him back into the engine room without warning. Saryn staggered, and Andros saw Cassie grab his arm. "Hang on," she told him quietly. "It isn't real."

"Andros?"

He turned automatically, feeling Ashley's hand slide into his. He blinked, shaking his head in a futile effort to clear it. The entire engine room shifted somehow, became more distinct. It was as though a lens had been changed on a camera.

He stared at Ashley. "This isn't real," he said, and he heard her voice echoing his as they spoke in unison. She smiled a little, and he frowned. "How do I know that?"

She cocked her head, a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't know that before you came," he said, searching her expression. "Why *did* you come? You were supposed to wait--"

"It's a good thing I didn't!" she exclaimed. "Andros, this place is dangerous. Did you have any luck with Saryn? No," she answered her own question. "Of course not; you didn't remember..."

"You guys are all right!" He felt Zhane's arms wrap around him from behind, and he couldn't help grinning. He would never admit it to anyone else, but there were times when only his friend's hug could reassure him.

"Zhane," Ashley said firmly. "We're all okay, but you have to listen to me. None of this is real."

"We know," Zhane agreed, keeping his arm around Andros' shoulders as he turned to look at her. "We just can't figure out why the nightmares are coming and going like this--and what *happened* to you guys? One minute you were here, and the next--"

"No, Zhane," Andros interrupted. "You don't understand. *None* of this is real. The nightmares aren't coming and going, they're continuous. *This* is the nightmare."

Zhane frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You can't reach Ecliptor because he's not in it," Ashley told him. "It's only affecting Rangers. When we vanished, we were outside of it, on the real Megaship. This is all just an illusion."

Zhane glanced at Andros. He nodded, and Zhane's frown deepened. "Pretend you're right, and this is a nightmare. Are we all together? Or is it just mine? And why are you back if you got out?"

"It isn't just yours," Andros told him. "I don't know why, but we're all in it together this time. Me and Ash had to come back--we need help to get everyone out of here."

"Ecliptor told us that the things that are sending off these pulse waves respond to radiation," Ashley put in. "The background level of radiation in this system goes up every time a ship is destroyed. If we don't get out of here soon, we may not wake up again. Ever."

"How did you wake up at all?" Zhane asked suspiciously. "Astrea, wait a minute!"

Andros blinked, surprised to hear his friend slip up like that. He hadn't even realized his sister was talking to Zhane, but that was the only thing he could read into the exclamation. And he hadn't heard Zhane answer a mental comment aloud by accident in years.

"We don't know," Ashley admitted. "But one minute we were here, and the next we were waking up on the floor of the engine room. The real engine room, where DECA is."

"DECA's here," Zhane objected, sounding more wary by the minute.

"No, she isn't," Andros said. "She can't be here, because she doesn't have the Power. The DECA on this Megaship is a hallucination, Zhane."

Zhane stared at him for a moment, then took a careful step away from him. "You didn't hear that."

"What?" Andros frowned at him.

"You're the nightmare," Zhane informed him. "I can't hear you in my head."

He exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Ashley. *Ash?*

*Yeah,* she answered immediately. *But he's right: I can't hear Zhane at all.*

"It must be because we're outside the nightmare," Andros said at last. "To us, they're unconscious. Of course we can't hear them." He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt, because he didn't want to consider the alternative.

"You would have an explanation," Zhane reminded him.

Ashley sighed, frustrated, but Andros knew he was right. He scanned the room, knowing there had to be *some* way to convince his friend, some anomaly he could use to his advantage. But without the mental link, he didn't know where to start.

His eye lit on DECA's camera. "DECA," he called, crossing his fingers in Ashley's gesture for luck. "Where was Zhane the day Kerone was kidnapped?"

"He was visiting his grandparents in the Cayeron district," she replied immediately.

He breathed a silent sigh of relief. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhane start. "And why was he at school the afternoon Keyota was attacked?"

DECA's camera blinked at him. "He was being punished for a prank."

"When did I first tell him that I loved Ashley?" Andros persisted.

DECA didn't hesitate. "The night after he woke from hypersleep."

Zhane was staring at him. "She doesn't know that," he said, clearly startled. "Not any of it."

"But you do," Andros pointed out. "She's not real, Zhane. When you ask her something she tells you what you know, not what she knows."

Zhane glanced from him to Ashley, then back up at DECA's camera. "All right," he said finally. "Say I believe you. What do we do?"

"We need Kerone," Andros told him. "Can you convince her?"

Zhane shrugged, an expression of wry amusement on his face. "Sure, why not. She credits me with her defection, after all." Reaching for his morpher, he added, "I'll be right back."

As he disappeared into a shower of silver sparkles, Andros felt Ashley's worried gaze on him. "Do you think he believed you?" she asked.

"I don't know," Andros admitted. "I'm not sure of anything here. But I think so."

"I'd love to know what he's going to say to Kerone," she reflected thoughtfully.

Andros frowned, watching Linnse say something to Cassie. There was something subtly wrong about her posture, but he couldn't pin it down--until Saryn yanked Cassie away and made an impatient gesture in the other woman's direction. "Linnse" vanished.

Eyes wide, he glanced at Ashley, about to ask if she had seen that. But his gaze slid past her to rest on Linnse, standing beside Billy at the status console. "What?" he muttered under his breath.

Ashley followed his gaze. "What's wrong?"

Someone he didn't recognize appeared behind Linnse, and she stiffened as soon as the unfamiliar figure spoke. Andros caught Ashley's eye, turning again when she looked over his shoulder. "What--"

A blond-haired girl stood in front of Saryn, a girl with curly hair and a pink blouse, whose face triggered the same feeling of déjà vu that Saryn's had when he first demorphed. "They're starting to overlap," he heard Ashley whisper, her hand squeezing his.

"The nightmares," he guessed, and she nodded.

"We must be seeing each others'..."

That was as far as she got before a flash of silver and violet announced Zhane's arrival with Kerone. "One skeptical princess, as promised," he informed them. "What now?"

"Ashley and Kerone go back," Andros answered. "Kerone gets Ecliptor to tow the Megaship, and she uses Delphinius' morpher to slave the Aquitian zords together. Ashley does the same thing with the Mega Vs, and we all go to hyperrush together."

Zhane eyed him. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to like our part in this a whole lot less?'

Andros tried not to sigh. "You and I have to convince Saryn that this isn't real, and get him to do whatever Cestria did before."

Zhane actually laughed. "You never pick the easy jobs, do you?"