The world exploded. Her back was to the blast, but she felt the fire envelope her as a blaze of heat and golden light swept across her vision. For one timeless second everything hovered between existence and nothingness, and her last panicked thought was that Andros would be furious with her for dying.

Her next thought was that she stood amidst the rubble in nothing but her street clothes, and if her Ranger armor was gone then she would be little use in holding off the quantrons. Her teammates were clad in their regular clothes too, and that could only be bad. They were all... sparkling?

Ashley looked down at her hands, lifting them up even as the golden sparkles faded and fell away. She was still alive, she realized suddenly. She looked around in confusion, but the quantrons were gone. She barely had time to process that before the crowd surrounding them swept in, swirling around them, patting, touching, congratulating and hugging them all at once.

She heard TJ's exultant whoop from somewhere far away, and she saw Carlos engulfed by grateful civilians as he threw up his arms in a victory wave. She saw Zhane and Cassie clinging to each other in the melee, ducking and laughing at the same time, and then she too was caught up in the rising tide of exultation.

Throughout the kaleidoscopic whirl of cheers and dancing and the embrace of strangers, she looked for Andros. He had to be here, somewhere. If they had won, if the quantrons were really gone and Earth was free again, then he had to be here. Only Andros could have worked such a miracle.

Everywhere she turned, Ashley saw flashes of red, long hair swinging, and the glint of silver on an unguarded wrist. But the Red Ranger remained absent, and a stillness began to settle over her frantic thoughts. He's gone, a voice inside her head whispered. This time he's really gone.

She felt someone catch her hands and she turned expectantly, but it was only Cassie, pulling her out of the chaotic celebration and into temporary refuge beneath a fallen steel girder. "Any word from Andros?" the other girl whispered, the words barely audible over the shouts of triumph from the street.

With a single shake of her head, she tried to let the silent answer lie. The words bubbled up anyway, and she found couldn't keep from voicing her worst fears. "Cassie... I don't think he's coming back."

The look of sympathy and sadness on her best friend's face was too much, and she looked down at their clasped hands. Cassie accepted without question that if anyone knew what had happened to Andros it would be her, but her acceptance was worse than denial. If she had protested, that would have meant there was hope.

Ashley felt another hand on her shoulder, and she knew without having to look that Carlos had found them. He said no more than Cassie, and she hated them for it. They made everything more real by not fighting it, and she just couldn't believe it was true. She couldn't accept it, or winning wouldn't mean anything anymore.

He's gone, the voice in her head whispered again, and she closed her eyes.

It was the hum that made her look up again, staring at the girder as though she could see through it and stepping away from her friends when she couldn't. There was a dissonant buzz in the air, building under the excited sounds of the impromptu party that had sprung up around them. Building under it, and then overwhelming it, until the other sounds were silenced completely and all that was left was the angry roar of the Dark Fortress settling into the very rubble it had created earlier that day.

It meant nothing. All their work, all their sacrifice--all that for a few moments of imagined freedom while Astronema recalled her soldiers and gloated over her handiwork. She must have known when the Rangers' armor was lost, perhaps even been responsible for it herself, and she had known there was nothing more this backward planet could do to repel her. She had called back her quantrons and had now come to enjoy their defeat personally.

The boarding ramp was lowered to the ground, and Ashley stared numbly at the unforgiving metal as she waited for the honor guard to make its appearance. She could probably take the first ten or so quantrons, even without armor, and the insult might be some small payment for everything Astronema had taken from her. She could probably do it, as long as she remembered how to move long enough to make it to the ramp.

A pair of boots appeared at the top of the ramp. A single pair of boots. Black boots, with silver buckles, striding down the ramp toward them. A grey flight suit over a red shirt, with a double planet insignia on the breast. Blonde-streaked brown hair pulled back from an expressionless but very familiar face...

"Andros!" The cry was torn from her before she even realized what was happening, and she found herself racing forward, intent on catapulting herself into his arms.

Only when her mind finally caught up with her heart did she realize that his arms were already occupied, and his face was not expressionless but full of a terrible sorrow that made her own fears seem insignificant. He held Astronema's still form close to him as he descended the ramp, and he laid the body of their archenemy reverently down on the cracked pavement below.

Distantly, Ashley was aware of the unbroken quiet behind her. The engines of the Dark Fortress had fallen silent, but the sole focus of the crowd was taken up with the scene playing out before them. She could feel her teammates crowding close behind her, not quite daring to step past in case this turned out to be something bigger than they were.

Alive or dead? Her mind chanted the words over and over, and she searched the frozen tableau for some sign one way or the other. Alive or dead?

Andros was crying now, a single tear running down his face, though he hadn't moved since he laid Astronema down. Another tear followed the first, and the sight made Ashley long to go to him, to wrap her arms around his kneeling figure and offer him some reprieve from his pain. No matter how she wished it, though, she couldn't seem to make her feet move.

Her vision blurred with her own tears, and for a moment she could see what Andros must see: his sister, younger by all of six minutes, lying there in Astronema's place. The red hair faded to blonde, the ugly metal implants disappeared, and color suffused the pale cheeks of a girl who had been torn from him yet again. She had been the only family he had left, and now--

Now she was sitting up, a bewildered look quickly being replaced by concern as she caught sight of her brother's tears. "Andros?" She stared at him for a moment, and Ashley blinked in confusion. No matter how she tried to clear her eyes, though, the vision wouldn't fade.

"How did I get here?" Karone asked uncertainly, looking down at herself and then back up at Andros. She seemed more worried for his obvious shock than for her own apparent amnesia.

"That's--" Andros choked on the words, as though a chuckle might be trying to work its way through his tears. "That's a long story," he managed at last, leaning forward to help her when she propped herself up on her elbows.

As he pulled his sister into a sitting position, the spell that held everyone else motionless was broken. Ashley found herself running forward, half-dropping, half-falling to her knees beside the two of them. She threw her arms around Karone and at the same moment she felt someone touch her hair, gently but deliberately.

Cassie had tumbled to the ground with her, and Ashley released Karone into her friend's embrace as she looked up at Andros. His hand was still caressing her hair, but when he caught her gaze he slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She couldn't keep her balance, but his other arm encircled her as she fell against him and he held her safely in place.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but before long Cassie was helping Karone to her feet and Zhane had stepped up to her other side. While Cassie only looked solicitous, watching Karone's every movement, Zhane was clearly assessing the crowd. No one knew for certain how the news of Astronema's true identity would be received, although Ashley had given it some thought when Karone defected the first time.

Zhane hadn't been there then. This time, his expression said clear as day that anyone who had words for the former Queen of Evil would have to go through him first.

Carlos and TJ were equally protective of her and Andros, Ashley noticed. As Andros drew her up beside him and took a step forward, their teammates fell into flanking positions on either side of them. What trouble they expected, she didn't know, but she found the gesture oddly comforting--especially with the crowd they now found themselves facing.

"Andros!" Adelle's voice was the first to catch her attention above the increasing commotion, and she felt Andros focus on the Surf Spot's owner. His attention seemed to give her some kind of authority, and those nearby quieted as she stepped forward.

"Or should I say, 'Red Ranger'?" Adelle had her hands on her hips, undaunted by the sudden scrutiny. She was giving them the same appraising look that she gave every teenager who walked into her establishment, and Ashley wondered if revealing their identities had been such a good idea.

At her side, she felt Andros square his shoulders. "That's me," he said calmly, meeting Adelle's gaze without flinching. "I'm sorry we couldn't keep Dark Specter's war from coming to Earth."

Adelle snorted. "You just saved this whole dang planet, and you have the nerve to apologize? Let me tell you something, smart alec--" Her eyes twinkled at the gasps from the crowd, inviting Andros to remember their first conversation and share the humor. "If I'd known who I was talking to all those months ago, you'd have been eating free at the Surf Spot ever since."

Those words elicited a cheer from the crowd, and Ashley couldn't help laughing. Andros nodded once, conveying his appreciation, but as soon as it was quiet enough for him to speak he said, "Unfortunately, we have a lot of work to do before I can take you up on that. Is there anyone here from the hospital?"

A blonde-haired woman raised her hand as she stepped forward to join Adelle. "I work in Pediatrics," she offered, and Ashley blinked. It was the same woman who, in a last ditch effort to save Angel Grove that morning, had claimed to be the Yellow Ranger.

"Is the hospital still standing?" Andros wanted to know. "Will you be able to treat seriously injured people there, or will we have to send them to..."

"Stone Canyon," Ashley whispered, and he squeezed her shoulder in thanks.

"Stone Canyon?" he finished, as though he hadn't paused. "We'll need satellite treatment centers too; even if the hospital isn't damaged it'll fill up fast, and some people won't be able to travel that far."

Ashley swallowed, hearing Andros' own experience in the words. He had cleaned up a mess like this once before on his own planet. There the battle had ended with retreat instead of victory, and she knew the memories still haunted him.

"The hospital was in good shape the last time I saw it," the blonde-haired woman told him. "If we can find people to staff it, we should be able to treat the worst of the injuries."

"You'll need volunteers," Andros said, his gaze sliding away from her and out across the gathered crowd. At his words, several people began to push their way forward to cluster around the pediatric nurse. She looked a little startled by the sudden support, but Adelle spoke up before she could say anything.

"You can use the Surf Spot as one of those 'satellite treatment centers'," she told Andros. "It's in one of the least damaged sections of town, and we'll convert it into a shelter right quick."

"Can you organize some kind of shelter network?" Andros asked, studying her. "Maybe get people settled at the high school, too, and find out what other public buildings are in good enough condition to use as temporary housing."

"You got it." Adelle took on the responsibility without hesitation, and Andros glanced over at Ashley.

"Who's in charge of search and rescue?" he whispered, and she had to think about it for a minute.

"The police, or the fire department I guess," she replied at last, just as softly.

Raising his voice again, Andros asked, "Anyone from the police or the fire department here?"

Ashley stifled a giggle as she realized he was repeating her words verbatim, but it sounded all right. When shouts from further back in the crowd identified the requested officials, the others parted to let them through and Andros shot her a helpless glance. Hospitals he knew, she guessed, but local law enforcement was probably beyond him.

"We're going to have to search pretty much the whole city," she announced, knowing she didn't have to tell anyone here that. "We can't have untrained people going into unstable buildings, so the fire department will have to direct volunteers and decide who can go where. We'll need the police to keep track of where the searchers are and where victims are being taken so that people can find their family members."

"We also have to find out how widespread the damage is," Andros put in. "The attack seemed to be centered on Angel Grove, probably because Astronema wanted the Power Rangers, but we'll need to make sure."

Ashley glanced at Karone, but Andros' sister didn't so much as blink at the mention of Astronema. Ashley wondered how much she remembered. She must at least have connected the devastation with the presence of the Dark Fortress, even if she had no real memories of her most recent time under Dark Specter's control.

One of the officers offered to put Andros in touch with the governor, and Ashley hid a smile when he addressed Andros as "Red Ranger". When one was faced with the end of the world one didn't tend to think too much about consequences, and they really hadn't been given a choice when it came to revealing their identities. It was done now, for better or worse, and it looked like the rest of the city didn't know exactly how to handle it either.

"Will you come?" Andros asked her, startling her out of her musings. More quietly, he added, "I don't know anything about your government. Maybe I should have gone to History with you after all."

It took her a moment to realize he was joking, and his lips quirked upward when she rolled her eyes. "Is that a yes?" he wanted to know.

"Yes," she sighed, making a show of reluctance. "I'll go talk to the governor of California with you. But only because I don't have anything better to do."

"Andros," Zhane interjected, keeping his voice as low as theirs. He turned a little, staying between Karone and the crowd, but his gaze didn't waver from Andros'. "You know I want to help, but I left the rebels in a lot of trouble. I have to go back to KO-35."

Andros frowned, but Ashley knew he wasn't disagreeing. He was wishing he could go.

"We can do it without you," she said softly, though the idea of him leaving hurt her heart. "If you want to go with Zhane, we can help put Earth back together."

He turned his frown on her. "Do you want me to go?"

"Of course not!" The protest was out before she had time to think, and it seemed to reassure him. "I had to watch you leave once," she reminded him, unable to hold his gaze. Staring down at the ground, she admitted, "I don't want to do it again. But--if you need to be on KO-35, I'll understand."

The gentle brush of fingers against her cheek made her look up, and she found Andros studying her with the same intent expression he'd given her the night before. Just before he left. She didn't know whether things would play out the same way they had then--or if maybe this time he'd kiss her before he went.

"What I need right now," he said softly. Staring into her eyes, he seemed unable to finish the sentence. "What I need..."

She swallowed, and she heard Zhane clear his throat. Andros blinked, letting his hand fall. In a more normal tone of voice, he said, "What I need right now is to be here with--here, on Earth. But I don't want you to go alone, Zhane."

"I'll go," Cassie offered unexpectedly. "We owe the rebels for helping us defeat Darkonda on Centaur B. I'll go with Zhane; you guys take care of Earth."

"They'd say you don't owe them anything," Zhane began, but Cassie shook her head.

"They're our friends," she said firmly. "We have to help them. Can we take the Megaship, Andros?"

Andros glanced at Zhane. "Can you take the Megaship, Zhane?" Despite his dry tone, some of his worry came through. He would be heartbroken if his precious ship had been damaged beyond repair.

"Her offensive capability is totally shot," Zhane answered. "No pun intended," he added as an afterthought. "But she's spaceworthy, and as long as we don't have to fight she'll make the trip fine."

"But we won't have any way of getting in touch with you," TJ reminded them. "Our communicators won't reach that far without DECA to boost the signal, and we don't have anything else right now."

"Yes, we do." Karone's voice was as confident as Astronema's had been, if a little gentler. "The Dark Fortress took almost no damage during the attack, and the comm system can easily reach KO-35."

Zhane gave her a surprised look, but Andros just nodded. "Good. We'll stay in contact, then, and Cassie... keep Zhane out of trouble, would you?"

"No problem," Cassie agreed with a grin, while Zhane yelped in protest.

"Karone," Andros said, glancing at his sister again and ignoring the indignant look Zhane was giving him. "We're going to need to know what damage the Dark Fortress did take and what exactly it's capable of inside an atmosphere. Think you could take TJ to help you assess things, and maybe educate him a little at the same time?"

"Of course," Karone murmured, giving TJ a sideways glance. "As long as he doesn't mind working with a traitor."

"That's not going to work," TJ informed her, although he looked like he was trying not to grin. "You're not going to get me to apologize again, so just forget it."

Ashley shot a quick look at the plainclothes officer who was still waiting patiently for them, and she nudged Andros gently. Behind the man who had offered to help them reach the governor, the rest of the crowd was breaking up into smaller groups. Some followed Adelle and the nurse, while others were allowing the remainder of the public offcials to organize them in some useful fashion. A few others were simply drifting off or hurrying away, in search of loved ones or places they had called home, but all of them gave the Dark Fortress a wide berth.

All of them too, Ashley noted, gave Andros wide-eyes looks of wonder from time to time. No matter what task they were engaged in or which direction they seemed to be headed, no one left the sight of that final showdown without a last glance at the leader of the Power Rangers. She supposed they were curious about Karone, too, wondering how the one who had been Astronema came to be standing at Andros' side, but they were still enough in awe that questions like that could wait.

Andros took it all in with a fraction of the time she'd spent, and his gaze came to rest on her after he'd finished his scan. "Carlos," he said, not taking his eyes off of her. "Can you do a sweep of the city and make sure the Vanishing Villain Act didn't miss anyone important?"

"And help anyone else it might have reformed," Karone reminded them. "I couldn't have been the only one."

"And help anyone that might have been reformed," Andros agreed, though he didn't look optimistic about the prospect.

"I'm on it," Carlos promised. "I'll let you know what I find."

Andros' fingers squeezed her shoulder, and he nodded once. "Right. Then let's get going."

The Earth dwindled steadily behind them, but that was the only indication she had that they were traveling at an impossibly fast speed. There was no rush of wind in her ears, no nearby objects slipping past in her peripheral vision--no sense of motion at all, really, save for the shrinking planet behind her.

Cassie supposed she would never truly comprehend the Galaxy Gliders. The tiny vehicles went from standstill to 286K in less than a second, defied both gravity and inertia while generating their own portable atmosphere, and were surprisingly resistant to attack for all that. Not resistant enough, of course, but these days what was?

She might find out when she got around to fixing hers. It had been damaged beyond casual repair several days ago, and Andros' jury-rig had lasted only long enough to get her to Earth. Now she shared Zhane's silver Glider for the brief ride to the moon. He hadn't said, and Andros hadn't asked, but Cassie assumed the Megaship's teleportation was down along with her "offensive capabilities".

The moon appeared in front of them, expanding like a balloon as Zhane's Glider soared through the vacuum and began its steep dive into lunar gravity. The slowing of their momentum was imperceptible despite the massive deceleration that had to be taking place, and she was glad for the comfort of Zhane's hands on her waist. The omni theater effect was convincing and completely real, and her body tensed involuntarily at the sight of the moon's surface racing toward them.

Within seconds, their descent had leveled out and the Glider was slipping through the cloak that surrounded their zord base. The metal structure sprang into visibility, and Cassie flinched as they slid through the outer grillwork faster than she could see it coming. Then she caught sight of a crushed "W" lying amid what looked like nothing so much as a pile of rubble, and her breath caught again.

"Zhane," she whispered, craning her neck to catch another glimpse as they zipped past. "That's the Megawinger?"

The bubble of surrounding atmosphere carried his reply easily to her ears. "It was," he corrected. "Now it has an offer for a starring roll in 'Scrap Heaps of the Century'."

She couldn't quite wrap her mind around the damage, even after seeing the Mega Voyager blown to pieces the week before. "And you survived?"

"What can I say?" His voice was irrepressibly cocky, and it brought a smile to her face. "Technology just can't keep up with me."

She elbowed him gently, just enough to tease, and his grip on her waist tightened. "The Megaship's in pretty bad shape," he warned, and his voice in her ear was suddenly serious. "I didn't ditch her until I had to."

Cassie tried to stifle a gasp as the Megaship came into view. Like a bird with broken wings, the once-proud battleship was huddled in the shadows beneath the exterior supports. She was barely inside the base at all, protected mostly by the cloak and whatever luck had seen her through the countless battles to this day. It was as though the starlight itself was painful to her metal skin, yet she couldn't be denied the sight of it.

Zhane said nothing as his Glider came to a halt in the shadow of the wounded ship. He stepped down and offered her his hand, and she accepted the gallant gesture absently. Still staring up at the hulking battleship that had been their home for so many months, Cassie wondered aloud, "Is DECA all right?"

"Well, she's not speaking to me," Zhane remarked, straight-faced.

Cassie frowned, but when she looked over at him he cleared his throat. "She's not speaking to anyone, actually," he admitted. "Her speech circuits are offline, but I don't think her neural matrix was affected."

It was hard to believe there could be anything unaffected underneath the scarred and pitted remains of the Megaship's battle armor, and the interior did nothing to quell Cassie's skepticism. The lifts were down and the lighting did nothing but flicker as they made their painstaking way to the Bridge, hindered by emergency bulkheads and the icy chill that had sunk into every corner of the battleship.

The Bridge, like the rest of the ship, had been sealed off when the Megaship started to vent atmosphere, and the bulkheads that protected it seemed to have suffered damage of their own. The first one she and Zhane came to wouldn't respond at all and the second one stuck halfway up, forcing them to scramble underneath to get through. When she saw the Bridge, Cassie finally gave voice to her doubts.

"Are you sure she'll make the trip?" she asked, her voice hushed as she surveyed the darkened control center.

"She'll make it," Zhane said confidently. "She's been through worse."

At Cassie's incredulous glance, he amended, "Well, as bad, anyway. Remember Onyx."

She ran her fingers across the weapons' console, missing the surge of power that usually accompanied her commands. The panel didn't even light when she touched it, and she hoped they didn't run into anything nasty between here and the Karova system. Zhane hadn't been exaggerating the Megaship's condition.

"I remember," she agreed, looking up as the Silver Ranger settled into the pilot's seat. "But you shouldn't. You were sleeping the sleep of the fatally injured during that fight."

The obvious answer came to her when he shrugged. "Andros told me," he said, even as she guessed the same aloud. He grinned, but he didn't take his eyes off the controls. "Yeah. He caught me up on a lot when I woke up."

The end of his sentence was almost drowned out as the Megaship rumbled to life, stuttering and growling as raw power shuddered through the engines once more. The harsh rasp of damaged thrusters joined in as the ship lurched forward, maneuvering toward the cloak's perimeter with halting uncertainty. Cassie barely noticed the moon's retreat as Zhane coaxed the Megaship out into the void of space, but the noise decreased to a more bearable level when the thrusters turned off.

It was still a far cry from the steady purr of normal acceleration and the almost unnoticeable hum of standard cruising speeds.

"Come on," Zhane muttered, apparently talking to the ship. "Just a little faster... you can do it. Don't let us down now."

Cassie watched in surprise as he urged the Megaship on, pushing her toward hyperrush with his hands and his voice. She'd never heard him sound quite so gentle before, and she wondered if DECA was listening. Whether the ship's computer could do anything to help them was open to question, but she would probably appreciate Zhane's concern if she were aware of it.

Finally, hyperspace yawned open around them and the visible universe flashed out of existence. Zhane leaned back with a sigh, glancing up at the screen where a computer-generated simulation of stars streaking by on either side had replaced the regular sensor feed. "Got it," he said unnecessarily. "We're on our way."

"Did you know it would be that hard?" Cassie wanted to know, settling into her usual chair to the left of the pilot's station. "You didn't seem worried when you were talking to Andros."

"Andros doesn't need anything else to worry about," Zhane said, avoiding and dismissing the question at the same time. "Let's see if we can get some news."

Cassie had watched Zhane scan the infoweb often enough to know that finding "news" in outer space was considerably harder than turning on the television at home. Nonetheless, as he switched to Ashley's station and started fiddling with the comm setup, she supposed she should be glad the comm was working well enough to make him optimistic about the possibility.

The view on the main screen wavered, and she looked up in time to see a silver line appear through the middle before it went black. The image, or lack thereof, was immediately replaced by the words "No service." Then a more deliberate message appeared, with a vaguely familiar background and the words "Star Network is not transmitting at this time. Please contact the station for details."

"Their relays must be down," Zhane muttered. "Maybe Intergalactic's back online."

This time, a live image replaced the error screen and an IGN symbol appeared in the upper lefthand corner. "--following the apparent eradication of evil in the known galaxies," a reporter was saying. An orange band cut off the bottom part of the screen with words Cassie didn't bother to read scrolling across it.

"Eltar is calling for the support and cooperation of all League citizens in this time of uncertainty," the reporter continued. "Just moments ago, a spokesperson reminded us that the aftermath of war is potentially as destructive as the war itself--and there is still no conclusive sign that this one is over."

"Earth isn't on there yet," Zhane commented, surprising her. "You ought to log in and let them know you're all right."

She frowned at him, puzzled. "What?"

He nodded at the screen. "They're running confirmation lists for every world that survived the war. I saw them do this on KO-35 once, right after the first attacks. Everyone who can calls in, and they try to track down anybody who doesn't. It'll probably be a while before they can get someone out as far as Earth, but you should contact them anyway."

"How?" she wondered, hoping her face didn't betray her thoughts. There was only one person she could think of that might be watching for her name on the "safe" list, and she didn't even know where he was. Or if he'd survived.

It was a disturbing thought, but she tried not to let it show. Instead, she listened to Zhane explain the interactive display and wondered if digital TV would ever be this involved. If it was this easy to communicate with the rest of the universe, then what was the Phantom Ranger's excuse?

"Zhane of KO-35," Zhane told the screen, and a new display popped up in place of the reporter's face. His voice could still be heard in the background, but now they were watching a solid color screen with a Ranger list and two planetary status summaries.

A message at the top of the screen read, "Voice authorization confirmed" and below it was the double planet logo of the Karova system. Zhane and Andros' names were listed underneath that, Zhane's highlighted in blue, and two planets were listed to their right. The first was KO-35, but the second was one she didn't recognize. Both had the word "unconfirmed" beside them.

"Andros of KO-35," Zhane said aloud, and Andros' name turned blue as well. At the top of the screen, the message became "Teammate override accepted. Ranger status confirmed."

"End session." With Zhane's words, the new display vanished, revealing a new reporter's visage in its place. It lingered only a moment before Zhane did something else to the screen and nodded to her. "Say your name," he prompted.

"Cassie Chan," she said obediently, and tried not to look surprised when the orange bar expanded again. She got the same confirmation message that had greeted Zhane, but instead of the Karovan symbol there was a picture of their old Turbo logo. The roster, too, was outdated: Justin Stewart's name was listed along with theirs, and he hadn't been a Ranger for almost a year.

Or had he? Suddenly Cassie realized just how lax they'd been in keeping up with their younger friend. He had a morpher again, courtesy of an ally that took the form of a spaceworthy car. Sure, he had been headed back to Earth when they saw him last, but what had become of him since?

"Is this thing really smart?" Cassie asked slowly, considering the possibilities. "Or just really behind?"

"Really behind," Zhane opined. "Dimitria must have kept your listings updated for you, but I'm betting Andros never showed you how to change them after she left. He doesn't bother with the bureaucratic stuff much."

"Well, we don't know about Justin," Cassie admitted guiltily. Hers was the only blue name on the screen. "But the others are all right. Do I just say their names?"

At Zhane's nod, she recited her teammates' first and last names, and one by one they turned from orange to blue. Only Justin's remained unchanged. Before she could dwell too much on that, Zhane pointed to the notation beside their names.

"Earth status: confirmed," he corrected, but the screen didn't change. He shrugged, as though it didn't matter to him, and he leaned back in his chair. "It doesn't recognize my authority to speak for Earth," he said, sounding amused. "We'll probably have to harass Andros about that later."

"Earth status, confirmed," Cassie repeated, and this time a new subscreen popped up in the lower right corner. It started to blink, slowly, reminding her of a cursor on a computer screen.

"Don't say anything until you've thought about it," Zhane warned, a grin playing across his lips. "It's waiting to record whatever you have to say about Earth."

She opened her mouth to ask why it hadn't asked him about KO-35, then closed it again abruptly. Zhane's grin widened, and she shot an exasperated look in his direction. How could she sum up the condition of an entire planet?

"Earth... will recover," Cassie said, still at something of a loss. "Astronema--"

Zhane sat up at the mention of Astronema's name, and he shook his head sharply at her. "Don't tell them she's there," he said, his voice low but urgent. "Not even as Karone."

"Astronema wanted Earth's surrender more than she wanted its destruction," Cassie continued, giving him a "duh" look. "We don't know exactly how bad it is yet, but I think we'll be all right."

She stopped, not sure how to end the recording. She shrugged helplessly at Zhane before she remembered what he had said to log out. "End session?"

Before the screen vanished, she saw the words "Planetary status confirmed" flash across the screen. This time, when the IGN display returned, she saw the word "Earth" lurking on the orange bar at the bottom of the screen. "What about Eltar?" she wondered, and before Zhane could answer the word "Eltar" replaced "Earth" on the scrollbar.

"It's still in audio activation mode," Zhane offered. "It'll respond to things we say until we turn it off." He touched the tactical display in front of him, and the image on the main screen changed too. It showed the same orange field they'd been looking at before, but filled with Eltaran statistics instead of Earth or Karovan.

Cassie caught her breath as she focused on two words at the bottom of the screen: Phantom Ranger. There were five names listed above his, and a rather longer dialogue box to the right concerning the condition of Eltar, but all she could concentrate on was that single phrase. "Phantom Ranger..."

"Know him?" Zhane asked, surprising her with the realization that she'd spoken aloud. "He's not the most fun guy around, but he takes being a Ranger seriously. I hope he made it all right."

It was then that she realized his name was the only one listed in orange. "No," she whispered, staring at the screen. "He is okay. He has to be."

Zhane was watching her curiously, but she paid no attention. She hadn't seen the Phantom Ranger since he'd alerted them to Zordon's presence on Hercuron, and he had vanished before she and her teammates could catch up with him. The message he'd left there had given her hope that he might seek her out again, but now...

"He's survived worse," Zhane offered, startling her. "Not that things like this happen often, but the Phantom's not an ordinary Ranger. Some people think he's invincible." He paused, then added, "Of course, some people don't think he exists at all."

"He exists," Cassie said softly. "He's real. He came to Earth once."

"Really?" Finally she became aware that Zhane was studying her, his eyes not wavering from her face. "You must have been in an awful lot of trouble."

That snapped her out of her reverie, and he must have seen something in her eyes when she looked at him. "Hey, no offense," he said quickly. "He goes where he's needed, that's all. And I've never seen you guys need anyone outside the team."

"Yeah," Cassie agreed, trying to suppress a sigh. Those had been some of the hardest, and best, days that she had spent as a Ranger. "We needed him."

Looking back at the screen, she added silently, Some of us still do.

"You like him!" Zhane exclaimed, glee evident in his tone. He settled back in his chair, an infuriatingly smug grin on his face. "I see where this is going. He came and saved all your lives, and now you have a crush on him!"

Stung by the implied mockery, Cassie glared back at him. "At least I have a crush on someone who saved us instead of someone who tried to kill us, Mr. I'll-go-out-with-my-archenemy-because-she's-cute!"

Zhane's mouth fell open. "Did Andros tell you about that?"

"Nope," Cassie answered with a satisfied smirk. "I was just guessing." Actually, Andros had complained to Ashley about Zhane dating his sister, and Ashley had naturally let Cassie in on the secret. But it was much more fun to let Zhane think he'd given himself away.

The Silver Ranger narrowed his eyes at her. "You didn't just guess that!"

Cassie shrugged innocently, and Zhane muttered something she couldn't quite make out. "What was that?" she teased, leaning a little closer as though she thought he'd meant her to hear. "Did you just say you're sorry for making fun of me?"

"No," he retorted. "I said I'm sorry I didn't swear Andros to secrecy... It was hard with him being upset over the whole sister thing at the time." His words full of remembered indignation, he added, "It wasn't like I knew who she was when I went out with her!"

Cassie couldn't help laughing at his supposed defense. "Which means you went out with Astronema thinking she was just our worst enemy, and that makes it so much better. You do know what 'conflict of interest' means, right?"

"Hey, at least I knew her name when I fell for her," Zhane reminded her.

"Not her real name!" Cassie shot back.

Zhane tipped his head as if to acknowledge her point, and she smiled ruefully. "Kind of a silly thing to argue about, huh?"

He grinned. "It keeps our minds off of other things."

She sobered a little, glancing back at the screen. "Why didn't you say anything about KO-35's status when you were confirming yours and Andros'?" she asked, her curiosity piqued again by the reminder.

In retrospect, his answer was obvious. "Because I don't know what it is," he said simply. "The relay stations in that sector went down before I left, and no one's been able to contact KO-35 since."

She started to nod, but then she frowned. "How did you know the rebels had surrendered?"

Zhane sat up, no longer lounging in his chair, and the rakish expression on his face faded the rest of the way. "They had a deadline," he said, lifting his gaze to the main screen. She doubted he was seeing it anymore than she was, but it gave them something else to look at. "Just before I left, they were given a solar day to surrender or... not."

He didn't really finish the sentence, but she could see what he feared in his expression. "They surrendered," he said quietly. "They have to have surrendered. I shouldn't have left, but I thought... I didn't realize what was happening."

"You thought you'd bring all of us back with you," Cassie guessed, watching his face for confirmation. "You couldn't have known the entire League was under attack."

Zhane didn't answer, and she reached out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You did the right thing," she said gently. "By leaving KO-35, and by staying to fight Astronema with us."

He still didn't answer, but he didn't pull away from her touch, either. She didn't like seeing his usually carefree expression so troubled. "Andros would say you did the right thing, too," she added, more quietly.

He looked up at that, and the heartbreakingly vulnerable look on his face made her swallow hard. "You think so?"

Cassie squeezed his shoulder. "I know so," she promised.

"You don't know anything," TJ repeated, following Karone through the winding corridors of the Dark Fortress. "How can you not know? You were here the whole time!"

"Ecliptor always took care of prisoner containment," Andros' sister replied. "He didn't think it was necessary for me to know exactly who was being held, or how. Except for Zordon, of course."

The remark was so casual that it took TJ several seconds to process its significance. "Zordon?" He stared after her, not aware that he had stopped walking until he realized she was getting farther away. "You had Zordon here?"

Karone too came to a halt, turning to regard him with a look of thinly veiled exasperation. "Must you repeat everything I say?"

"Where is he now?" TJ demanded. "What did you do with him?"

She looked away, but TJ didn't like the expression that had flickered across her face before she hid her eyes. "I didn't do anything," she said quietly. "It was Andros."

Suspicion flared within him, and he struggled to suppress it. He'd promised himself that he'd give her a chance. "You can't tell me that Andros would ever--"

"No," she interrupted him, her voice fiercer than he'd expected. "You don't understand. Andros saved us all! He did what Zordon asked him to do and he made me... good again."

Staring down at the deck, she whispered, "He even forgave me." This time TJ wasn't sure whether she was talking about Andros or Zordon. "Even after everything I've done. At the end--he still believed in me."

"Karone," TJ said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "What are you saying?"

She who had been Astronema lifted her chin and met his gaze squarely. "I'm saying that Andros did what I couldn't," she told him, the slight waver in her voice betraying her. "And it cost Zordon his life."

TJ could only stare. "Zordon's... gone?" he managed at last.

It was obviously the wrong thing to say, for she turned without another word and walked away. He followed, still trying to understand what had happened. "What do you mean, he did what you couldn't? Karone--"

He didn't realize where they were going until they were already inside, and even then it took him a moment to recognize the Dark Fortress' command center. He had only ever seen it over the comm screen, as an imposing backdrop for Astronema's latest threat. It was larger than he had expected, but it was also a shambles.

"What happened here?" he asked, taking in the scorched surfaces and collapsed grating. What he had seen of the rest of the Dark Fortress had been in perfect condition. This looked like a scene straight from the streets of Angel Grove.

"Andros." The word was so quiet he almost didn't hear it, but then Karone turned to face him. "Andros happened. He snuck on board last night; he must have told you."

TJ shook his head, remembering the war council they'd held by lantern light. "We didn't want him to go. He thought he could talk you into stopping everything, but we convinced him he wouldn't be able to get through to you with those implants in your head. Or we thought we convinced him. Ashley didn't tell us until after he'd left."

Karone looked away again. "You were right," she said. There was no emotion in her voice. "Zordon thought I could be turned, too, but he was wrong. Andros had to do it, you see. He didn't have any other choice."

"Do what?" TJ insisted. "What did Andros do?"

She wasn't staring at the deck, TJ realized suddenly. She was staring at the shard of glass that lay at her feet. There was another shard a short distance away, and another--the deck was littered with them. He hadn't noticed until now. They seemed to originate from an impact point on the other side of the room.

Following the trail of broken glass, he studied the destruction that seemed to be the source of the shards. It was hard to tell what had been there before. Whatever it was had been completely demolished by the force that had swept through the command center, and he couldn't come up with a reconstruction that would answer the question.

"Zordon told him to," Karone murmured. "Just like he told me to stop the war. I could do it, he said, when Dark Specter was destroyed. I was in charge, and if I said it was over, then it would be over. But I couldn't do it, TJ. I couldn't say it."

"Hey..." TJ took a step toward her, alarmed by the dreamlike quality to her voice. "It wasn't you. You were being controlled by that stuff in your head. You didn't have a choice, and Zordon knew it. He just had to try."

"I tried to kill Andros." Karone's voice was suddenly sharp, and her eyes were painfully clear when she caught his gaze. "My own brother. If I couldn't end the war, you'd think I could at least keep from killing the only family I have left. But it didn't even feel wrong. How can I be around anyone if I can't trust what I think is right and wrong?"

"You know what's right and what's wrong," TJ said firmly. "The implants are gone, Karone. I don't know how, but you're free of Dark Specter's control. Take that gift for all it's worth and don't waste the rest of your life second-guessing yourself."

"Maybe the price of freedom was too high," she answered, her tone soft again.

He glanced back at the broken glass, frowning. "Karone... what happened? What did Zordon want Andros to do?"

"He told Andros to shatter his energy tube." Karone followed his gaze back to the glass on the deck. "He said the good energy in his tube would cleanse the universe of evil."

She delivered this piece of news in a detached montone, as though it didn't make an impression on her one way or the other. Her moodiness was entirely typical of Astronema, but for once he was worried by the similarity for her sake instead of his own. If Zordon had indeed sacrificed himself to end the war, the last thing he would have wanted was to have the former Queen of Evil lost in guilt over it.

He didn't doubt her anymore, he realized. He didn't know if it was the evidence in front of him or just the fact that she hadn't had to tell him any of this, but his earlier suspicion had evaporated. If she said Zordon had asked Andros to destroy his tube, then that was how it happened.

"Andros must have done it," Karone added quietly, oblivious to his silent revelation. "I saw how much it hurt him, but he must have done it anyway."

TJ raised an eyebrow. "He must have done it?" She was right, he noted absently. He was repeating everything she said. "You didn't see it happen?"

For the first time since they'd boarded the Dark Fortress, Karone gave him a small smile. "I was trying to kill him, TJ." To his relief, there was even the slightest hint of humor in her voice. "You don't think he'd just let me, do you?"

He gave her a knowing look. "He used the Battlelizer punch on you, didn't he. I swear he does that when we spar, but I haven't been able to prove it yet."

He had meant to cheer her up, but instead he saw her swallow as her smile vanished. "No," she murmured. "He didn't want to fight. He did everything he could to keep from attacking me, but when I turned my staff on him he had to defend himself. The bolt bounced back, and... I don't remember anything else until I woke up outside."

TJ whistled. He had suspected that Andros carried substantial guilt along with his sister's body when he emerged from the Dark Fortress, but it hadn't occurred to him that the Red Ranger might have been mourning an accident. "That's Andros for you," he muttered, not sure whether to be dismayed or impressed.

"He did what he had to," Karone said, something that might have been anger flaring in her eyes.

"He always does," TJ agreed seriously. "Several times now, I've thought his blind faith in you would be the end of us. But he's always done what he had to, no matter how much it hurts."

Karone stared at him for a long moment before lowering her gaze yet again. "I'm not worthy of that faith," she told the metal deck. "Believing in me only hurts people."

"Not true." TJ looked down at her fondly, seeing for the first time the scared girl that Andros must have fought for all along. "I believe in you. The rest of the team does too, I think. Andros has always believed in you, and it hasn't hurt him yet."

While that wasn't entirely true, she seemed comforted by the words. But then she nudged another piece of glass with her toe and her eyes sought further reassurance in his. "What about Zordon?"

"He made his own choice," TJ said quietly. "You couldn't really have stopped the war, Karone, no matter what he told you. It was too big. You were riding on the crest of a wave, but you couldn't have turned it back. No one could have. Zordon chose to sacrifice himself, not just for you, but for everyone in the known universe. You said it yourself: he saved us all. Don't diminish that."

Karone gazed at him for a long moment, an inscrutable expression on her face. He tried to imagine what she could be thinking, but when she finally spoke it took him by surprise. "I used to think that Rangers were weak," she said pensively, "because they always try to talk their way out of things. Now... I wonder if it's more of a strength than I realized."

He wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. "Communication is better protection than weapons can ever be," he offered at last. "That's what my sensei teaches, anyway."

She frowned. "Sensei?" she echoed.

"Teacher," he clarified, surprised to find a word she didn't know. "A martial arts instructor."

Her expression lightened. "Martial arts--that's your fighting style, isn't it?"

He tried not to smile, but he wasn't entirely successful. "Sure," he agreed. "It's a general term for the kind of self-defense we use. It's broken down into lots of different methods."

"Self-defense," she murmured. He noted with amusement that now it was her turn to echo him. "It's funny that you use the word 'defense' for something so destructive."

"We never start a fight," TJ reminded her. "But if we're attacked, we fight back."

Karone considered him. "I'll think about that," she said at last, stepping past him to a control island just inside the main doors. Before she touched it, though, she hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder. "TJ? Thanks--for what you said about Zordon."

He shook his head. "You don't have to thank me. It was the truth."

For only the second time, a smile crept onto her face. "It's been a long time since someone's told me the truth like that," she said, turning back to the island in front of her. "Thank you."

The words were deliberate, and ignoring them felt like an insult. So, shrugging to himself, he replied, "You're welcome."

She made no further reference to the conversation, instead gesturing him forward so she could explain the basic functions of the control island to him. She pointed out navigation, scanning, and satellaser override, then focused on the communications interface. It was far more complicated than he had expected, and he found he had no more time to wonder about her guilt over Zordon's death.

Finally, Karone looked up and pointed out, "You don't need to know how it works, you know. You just need to know which buttons to push."

He sighed, frustrated. "You're probably right," he admitted. "It's just--I took all that time to learn everything I could about the Megaship, and now it feels like I'm back to square one."

"I suppose you went through this with your zords, too," she remarked. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but it would be easier for you if you'd worry about using it before you try to fix it."

He flashed her a rueful grin. "Am I that obvious? Andros is always trying to improve things. I guess it's contagious."

"You're doing fine," she told him. There was a hesitance in her voice, which he attributed to her being unused to reassuring others. "You don't have to be able to take it apart and put it back together. You just have to be able to turn it on and talk."

TJ chuckled. "You make it sound so easy."

"It is," she insisted. "Quantrons can use this interface, TJ. Even Elgar could use it. What does that tell you?"

"Did you just compare me to Elgar?" He raised an eyebrow at her, chagrin warring with amusement. "That certainly puts me in my place."

"You're just trying too hard," she said, her lips turning up at the edges.

He looked down at the interface again. "Maybe you're right," he admitted. "You said we had to learn our zords too, but we didn't; not really. We know whatever we need to know when we morph. I guess I'm used to having all that information in my head in advance. "

"Quick," she said, pointing to a blinking light on the board. "What does that mean?"

He frowned at it. "Someone's trying to contact us?"

This time she did smile, though he wasn't sure why. "Close. There's a general transmission being directed at Earth, probably meant for anyone who can receive it. Can you pick it up?"

TJ touched the panel carefully, hoping she would tell him if he were about to do something disastrous. A screen to his left lit up, and he looked up in surprise. The only image that appeared was one of five half-circular outlines, colored and superimposed over a black background. He looked at Karone helplessly.

"That's the ID screen," she offered. "It tells you who's trying to contact you. Right now they're seeing ours."

"So who is it?" he wanted to know. "It's not very useful if I can't read it."

Karone gave him an odd look. "You don't recognize a Ranger logo when you see one?"

"You do?" he retorted.

She all but rolled her eyes. "Rangers are the only people arrogant enough to expect others to know who they are without words. Haven't you ever seen your own ID screen?"

"When?" TJ asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "This is Earth. The only time any of us used a comm system like this was on the Megaship, and it's not like we called ourselves."

"You'd better let them link," she reminded him, indicating the screen without bothering to answer. "Whoever's on the other end is staring at Astronema's sorceress symbol right now."

Alarmed, TJ returned his attention to the comm interface. He tapped what he hoped was the right sequence of controls, and a human face appeared in place of the semi-circle logo. TJ's first thought was that Karone had been wrong, it wasn't Rangers after all, and his second was that the face looked vaguely familiar.

"This is the Blue Aquitian Ranger," the image on the other end said, his tone tinged with wariness. "To whom am I speaking?"

"I'm the Blue Astro Ranger," TJ told him. "We're using the Dark Fortress as a temporary ops base. We're going to change the ID screen," he added, giving Karone a pointed look.

"TJ?" The sound of his name got his attention, and he looked back at the screen as the other Ranger repeated, "TJ Johnson?"

It was TJ's turn to be wary. "Do I know you?"

The other Ranger's face broke into a smile and he shook his head once. "No, but I've heard of you. My name is Billy Cranston. I was a Ranger for Earth for three years."

The name, like the face, stirred something in TJ's memory that he couldn't quite place. "Not a Turbo Ranger," he said at last. He had met everyone who had held the Turbo Power before his team, and Billy hadn't been one of them.

Billy shook his head again. "Morphin and Ninja," he corrected. "One of the first. I moved to Aquitar a few years ago, and... well, it seems history does repeat itself."

"Tell me about it," Karone muttered, sounding mildly annoyed.

"This is Karone," TJ said quickly. "She's--" He had all of two seconds to decide how much he should tell Billy, and in the end he finished awkwardly, "She's the Red Ranger's sister."

Karone narrowed her eyes at him, but she didn't contradict the statement. Billy's gaze flickered toward her as he nodded politely, and he did a quick but subtle double take. If TJ hadn't been watching for the other Ranger's reaction, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.

"It's an honor to meet you," Billy told her, though TJ was sure he hadn't planned to say anything in greeting just a moment ago. She couldn't be that easy to recognize without the makeup and the glamour, could she?

"I've already spoken to my family," Billy was saying, apparently unaware of TJ's discomfort. "It sounds like Angel Grove is in bad shape, but I was hoping to get a Ranger's opinion on the situation. What kind of aid are you going to need?"

"Aid?" TJ repeated, feeling a little overwhelmed. Billy had spoken to his family? When? And how? And since when did Earth request aid after monster attacks, as though it was something someone on another planet could compensate them for? "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about helping Earth," Billy answered patiently. "It looks like Astronema took a personal interest in your planet, a fact which seems to be confirmed by your presence on the Dark Fortress.

"Have you seen her, by the way?" The innocent question made TJ straighten where he stood, but Billy didn't wait for an answer. "There are some people turning up in the rubble who claim to be reformed villains; you might want to keep an eye out for that on Earth."

"We will," TJ replied evasively. "Carlos is out patrolling the city right now."

There was a brief but uncomfortable silence, and finally Billy nodded. "All right. Do you want some help assessing the damage? I know Earth isn't actively involved in the League, but Eltar has always watched out for you and as your neighbor Aquitar has some influence too."

"I'm not sure what you think you can do," TJ said, trying to hide a frown. "Earth has survived monster attacks in the past. Nothing on this scale, certainly, but the rest of the universe was hit just as hard as we were. Asking for help seems like... favoritism."

"If it is, then the League is built on it," Billy answered. "While I was a Ranger for Earth, Aquitar lent us its entire team on more than one occasion. Earth once sheltered a Triforian Ranger from bounty hunters, and later held his Power in trust while he went on a quest. Rangers swear an oath to their teammates, TJ, but everyone who holds the Power shares a responsibility to look out for each other."

TJ exchanged glances with Karone, not even aware of the gesture until after he'd done it. "Right," he agreed after a moment. "In that case, we could probably use someone with your experience."

For the first time, Billy looked away from the screen. He seemed to be listening to someone, but no sound was audible over the comm. "It might not be me," he said at last, turning back to them. "I may have to ask one of the others to go instead, but we'll get someone there soon. Can you pick up IGN from where you are?"

TJ saw Karone nod out of the corner of his eye, and he took his cue from her. "We should be able to; why?"

"It might be a good idea to start broadcasting that, if you can," Billy told them. "Or at least keep up with it yourself. I don't think Earth is going to be able to ignore the rest of the universe much longer."

TJ frowned. Even if that was true, he wasn't sure beaming an intergalactic news broadcast around the city was the best approach. "We'll think about it. In the meantime, I'll link my communicator to the Dark Fortress' comm system so you can reach us when we're not here."

"I'll let you know whom to expect and when," Billy promised. "Aquitar out."

Color semi-circles flashed across the screen once more before fading into darkness, and TJ glanced at Karone. "I can do that, right?"

She gave him a half-smile. "Link your communicator to the Dark Fortress'? I'll show you."