Zhane stared out at the horizon, not really seeing the returning hovers or the heat shimmers that tried to hide them. The military encampment was emptying out as the hovers came back and departed again, groups that had been on search and reconnaissance turning one by one to transport and relocation. The jamming field had been lifted sometime last night, and when the comms came back online the search speed had increased dramatically. By the time dawn arrived, it had been widely agreed that KO-35 was deserted but for the rebels, and they were more than ready to reclaim their own.

It wasn't the hum of air traffic that held his attention, though, no more than the heat of day was enough to drive him out of the sun. There was something out there, just beyond his sight, and he wasn't going anywhere until he had identified it. He knew the feeling, knew it as well as he knew the planet on which he stood, and it was one that would give him no rest until he did something about it.

He had tried ignoring it before, but it wasn't a physical sensation. It was more like the feeling of something important that had been forgotten, or a revelation that promised answers to everything if he could just get his mind around it. It would start out so subtly that he didn't always notice it coming on, but if allowed to grow it would eventually erupt into a full-out vision of whatever mess his best friend had gotten into this time.

The sporadic bouts of telepathy the two of them shared had saved their lives more times than he could count, but Zhane wouldn't mind if it were a little more controllable.

He blinked as he realized someone was calling his name, and he looked away from the horizon at last. "Cassie?" She looked a little out of breath as she joined him, and he put a hand on her shoulder in concern. "You all right?"

"Yeah," she said, drawing in a deep breath. "You? I must have called you four or five times, but you didn't hear me."

"Sorry." He gave her an apologetic grin, but even he knew it looked distracted. "I was thinking about something else."

"Want to talk about it?" Cassie offered. Following his gaze toward the edge of the desert, she lifted her hand to shade her eyes. "Something out there?"

"I don't know." The hovers were sliding into camp now, leaving the horizon once more clear of anything but heat-distorted air currents. His mind was just as vague, and whatever premonition was tickling his unconscious, it apparently meant to stay hidden for now.

"No," Zhane said with a shake of his head, turning back to her. "It's nothing. What's going on?"

"Okay," Cassie said uncertainly, glancing back at the desert for a moment. "I was just coming to tell you the engine repairs are almost done, and we have brand new thrusters. They wouldn't even let me help. They told me to 'supervise', but it's not like they need any instructions... Zhane, what are you looking at?"

She sounded impatient, and Zhane tore his gaze away from the horizon reluctantly. "Nothing," he assured her. "Sorry, keep going."

Cassie frowned. "That's it. Well, except for one sort of strange thing..."

That got his attention. "What?"

For just a moment, her attention seemed to turn inward. "It's probably not important," she hedged, glancing down at the ground. But her expression was puzzled when she caught his eye again. "It's just--remember Saryn?"

"The pilot who was stationed here?" She nodded, and he shrugged a little. "What about him?"

"He's gone." Cassie was frowning again, but now she looked more pensive than upset. "There's a woman named Taramine here now, with orders to stay until the relays are fixed. She says Saryn was recalled."

Zhane shrugged again. "So? Jenkarta didn't seem too thrilled about having him stay in the first place. He probably wanted his Second back."

"But that's just it," Cassie told him. "Saryn wasn't Jenkarta's second in command. Taramine says he's not even part of the wing; he was just standing in for someone who was injured."

Zhane gave her an odd look. "Why would Jenkarta put a substitute in charge?"

Cassie folded her arms and gave him a "See?" look. "I told you it was strange," she reminded him. "Taramine says she's never seen him fly with the wing before. If he's a regular replacement, he doesn't train with her shift."

"You're just gossip central, aren't you?" Zhane couldn't help asking. He ducked as she aimed a playful punch at his shoulder, and he held up his hands defensively. "So she told you all this, but she didn't say anything about why Saryn was recalled?"

She gave him a knowing look, perfectly aware that he would have done his own snooping if it had been convenient. "She didn't know. Jenkarta gave her a coded message for Saryn and orders to stay in his place, but he didn't tell her what the message said."

Andros. The sensation of wrongness flitted through his mind again, stronger this time.

Zhane grimaced, turning to glare out at the horizon once more. The jamming field had been lifted, but with the comm relays down they still couldn't get in touch with anyone outside the Karova system. There was no way to find out what was going on without leaving KO-35.

"We have to go," he said abruptly. "We'll take the Megaship. Kinwon and Taikwa have everything under control here."

Cassie frowned at him. "You know something about this? Why didn't you say so?"

"What?" He looked at her in surprise before he remembered what they had been talking about. "No, it's not that. We have to get to Earth."

Zhane turned and headed back into the camp, intent on finding Kinwon. He didn't want to leave the day after they'd arrived, but Rangers were warriors, and there was no battle here. He had a bad feeling there might be one on Earth.

"Zhane!" Cassie had to jog to catch up to him, but her shorter stride was faster than his as she fell in beside him. "Zhane, what are you talking about? Why do we have to get to Earth?"

"I don't know," he said, pausing outside the main ops tent. "We just do."

"Zhane?" Taikwa hurried up before he could throw back the door flap, a concerned look on her face. "I saw you watching for the hovers earlier, but you didn't come to meet them."

"I wasn't watching for them," he told her bluntly. "I was listening."

He saw Taikwa exchange glances with Cassie, who shrugged once. "Listening for what?" she wanted to know.

"Andros is in trouble," Zhane said, pushing the tent open and leaning inside. It was empty, and he let the tent flap fall without further inspection. "We need to go back to Earth."

Taikwa hesitated, but she didn't argue. "I'll tell Kinwon," she said at last. "Be safe, Zhane. Cassie," she added with a nod and a small smile.

Cassie returned the gesture, but she looked no less confused than she had before. "We'll be back," he heard her tell Taikwa as he turned away. Then she was beside him, whispering, "What was that about? What's going on, Zhane?"

She wouldn't give up, he knew that, but his impatience wouldn't let him explain right now. "I'll tell you in hyperrush," Zhane said, resisting the urge to break into a run. Nothing terrible could have happened yet or he would have seen it, but they needed to get to Earth now.

Cassie let it go, settling into her seat when they reached the Bridge without a word. He took Andros' station, bringing the engines online without a preflight and pushing the thrusters to maximum. The Megaship leapt from the planet's surface as though gravity had ceased to exist, plunging into the void of space with no regard for surrounding traffic. Luckily there wasn't much, but he saw Cassie shoot a sharp glance in his direction anyway.

The new thrusters cut out the instant the engines kicked in, the transfer of power as smooth as he could have asked. As smooth as even Andros could have asked, Zhane thought with a rueful grin, and he reminded himself to thank Taikwa's people when he saw them next. Hyperspace reached out inviting tendrils of color to envelop them as the Megaship accelerated to hyperrush velocity, and they slid into the space between the stars without so much as a tremor.

"All right," Cassie said firmly, turning in her chair and folding her arms. "Tell me what's going on, Zhane."

The main screen was showing a computer generated representation of hyperspace, and he looked away from the swirling colors to inspect the rest of the Bridge. "I don't know," he said, taking in the flickering lights and the bulkheads that still obstructed the doors. "I never know, until it gets so bad that I can see it."

He could almost hear her frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"I can tell when Andros is in trouble," he said simply. The air was warmer than it had been, but he doubted the environmental controls were functioning well enough to keep it that way. "You must have noticed; it works both ways. We don't have to be together to know when something's wrong."

"I guess we all knew you had a... connection." Cassie sounded bemused. "You always show up at exactly the right time. And Andros has led us to you--I don't know, more times than I remember."

Zhane shrugged, pushing away from the pilot's console and standing up. "I can't explain how we know, but I don't remember ever being wrong. Hopefully once we get out of the sector we'll be able to contact them."

"What did you mean about seeing it?" Cassie asked, looking up at him. "You said you never know until it gets so bad you can see it."

He shifted uncomfortably. On KO-35 it was widely accepted that he and Andros were more than just best friends. No one questioned their right to speak for or of each other, no matter the situation. He had never had to explain it to someone before, and he found it was harder than he'd expected.

"We have visions," Zhane admitted at last. "If his life was in danger, I'd see it. But unless that happens, all I know is that something's wrong."

When she didn't have an immediate response, he suggested, "We should see what we can do for DECA while we're in transit. Once her interface is back up, she can help us coordinate the rest of the repairs."

Cassie nodded slowly, getting to her feet with a thoughtful look on her face. To his surprise, she didn't pursue the subject, and they managed to get to work without any further mention of Andros. The repairs distracted him to some extent, but when the comm chimed he scrambled out from under the console without another thought.

Cassie met him at the forward row of stations as the main screen lit up. The Astro Rangers' logo flashed across the black, and they exchanged glances. Someone had clearly adapted the Dark Fortress' ID screen.

DECA's verbal interface was still down, but the words "Message waiting" scrolled beneath the logo. The last functioning relay between Earth and KO-35 had held the transmission until its intended recipient was within range. Zhane glanced at DECA's nearest camera, and the red light blinked at him in silent acknowledgement.

"Hi, guys." It was Ashley's face that replaced the logo as the message began to play, but her greeting was more subdued than usual. "We didn't know the relays were down, so I guess you won't be getting this message for a while. Call me when you do, okay? We've got trouble and I think we're going to need your help."

Zhane felt Cassie's gaze on him, but he didn't look away from the screen. Ashley didn't look good. It was more than just the dust and grime that still clung to her clothes, or the stiffness in her shoulders that spoke of a night spent on the floor. There was a worried look in her eyes that was totally out of character, and he wondered what could have put it there.

"I hope everything's all right on KO-35," she was saying, with an obvious effort to lighten her tone. It was a valiant attempt, but too transparent to be entirely successful. "We'll talk to you when you get the relays back. See you," Ashley added, producing an almost convincing version of her normal cheery smile.

Cassie caught his eye as the screen went blank again, and she shook her head. "She didn't sound good," the Pink Ranger murmured.

He looked back at the screen in time to see the hyperspace simulation appear on it again. "At least we're out of the dead zone," he said, hoping they weren't too late to take that worried look off of Ashley's face. "I'm trying to contact Earth now."

The Astro Rangers' logo appeared on the screen once more as the Dark Fortress received the transmission, but this time there was a substantially longer delay. Finally Carlos appeared in place of the logo, wearing an irritated expression that faded when he caught sight of them. "Your ID screen's down," he informed them, not bothering to say hello.

"Good to see you too," Cassie retorted. "We got Ashley's message."

"Yeah, she and TJ are at NASADA headquarters." Carlos pushed his loose hair out of his face, glancing away from the screen at something they couldn't see. "I've been doing research and public relations from the Dark Fortress; that's why it took me so long to answer. Sorry about that."

"Where's Andros?" Zhane wanted to know. Not only had Carlos avoided mentioning him, he'd also ignored Cassie's remark about Ashley's message. It was a rare thing for Carlos to be so evasive.

"He and Karone are on trial," the Black Ranger answered. His reply was so matter of fact that Zhane almost missed its significance.

"On trial?" Cassie repeated. "Both of them? For what?"

"Who's putting them on trial?" Zhane inquired with a frown. It would be just like Eltare to pull something like this. Why would no one accept that Astronema hadn't wanted to be evil? She had been brainwashed most of her life; it was no wonder--

"Just Andros," Carlos corrected. "He didn't want Karone to go with him, but short of tying her down there was no way to stop her. She refused to stay behind."

Zhane's thoughts screeched to a halt, and for a moment he was too shocked to respond.

"Even tying her probably wouldn't have worked," Carlos added, on further reflection. "She's still a sorceress, after all."

It took another several seconds before Zhane could form a coherent question. "What's Andros on trial for?"

Carlos shrugged apologetically, as though just now realizing he had forgotten part of the story. "Andros shattered Zordon's energy tube. That's what caused the light that turned all the quantrons to sand."

"Wait," Cassie said, shaking her head. "Zordon was on the Dark Fortress?"

"That's crazy," Zhane interrupted. "Zordon can't survive outside that tube."

"He didn't," Carlos said quietly. "He asked Andros to do it. Andros didn't want to, but... Karone went with him because she was there when it happened."

Cassie was silent, but Zhane just stared at Carlos. "You're saying that Andros destroyed all evil, everywhere, and he did it exactly the way Zordon wanted him to--and now Eltare wants to put him on trial for it?"

Carlos shrugged again. He had the rueful air of someone trying to catch others up on information he was long acquainted with, and who was no longer able to muster the appropriate enthusiasm for the subject. "Not quite all evil, but otherwise that about sums it up."

"Not all evil?" Cassie gave him a sharp look. "What do you mean?"

"Astronema reanimated the Psycho Rangers' data cards," Carlos told them. "The Psychos were in suspended animation when Zordon's wave went through, so I guess they didn't count as actively evil. Then Andros cut power to the Dark Fortress and the cryofreeze safeties freed them before any of us knew they were there."

"The Psycho Rangers are loose in the city?" Cassie sounded horrified. All Zhane could think about were those last few minutes in Secret City, when he'd stayed behind to try to get the data cards and had almost been caught in the explosion himself.

"It gets better," Carlos said dryly. "Karone thinks they may have taken human form again, and they may not look the same as they did the last time we saw them. In my spare time this morning I've been trying to find a way to track them."

"So they haven't attacked yet?" Cassie looked skeptical, but it didn't surprise Zhane. Without Dark Specter's power behind them, they wouldn't be able to rely on brute strength to beat a Ranger team.

"They don't know what happened when the wave went through," Zhane pointed out, hoping Cassie and Carlos would get the hint. A situation like this was exactly why Eltare didn't want word to get out about Rangers' inability to morph. "Dark Specter's gone. In a fair fight against Power Rangers the best they could do now is hold their own."

"But--" Carlos cut off as he realized what Zhane was getting at. Hacking into an unencrypted comm transmission wasn't difficult. Almost anyone could listen in, which was no doubt why Jenkarta had waited to raise the issue in person.

"The Psychos have never fought fair," Cassie said slowly. "It's only a matter of time before they get tired of hiding."

"That's why we tried to call you," Carlos agreed. "We're going to need the whole team to defeat them."

"Including Andros," Zhane muttered. "The only thing worse than Eltaran politics is Eltaran timing."

Cassie looked troubled. "What if they rule against him? What will happen then?"

"They won't." Zhane tried to sound more certain than he felt. "He saved the universe, Cassie; they're going to cut him some slack. You can't convict someone who just eradicated evil."

"Who's 'they'?" Carlos wanted to know. "Andros wouldn't tell us how the trial worked. He just said he had to go and let someone else decide whether he'd done the right thing."

Zhane tried not to sigh. "He knows he did the right thing, and so does everyone else. This whole trial is ridiculous. Under Eltaran law, the injured party has the right to convene a tribunal to assess an offender's actions, but Andros isn't an offender!"

"Yeah, and no offense, but the injured party isn't complaining," Carlos pointed out. "So who's judging him?"

Zhane glanced over at Cassie. She looked just as curious and a lot more indignant than Carlos did. He wished he had been there when Andros got the official summons... The wording could have gone a long way toward confirming his suspicion that this trial was a formality.

"On Eltar, a Ranger can only be judged by other Rangers." Zhane couldn't believe a planet that had fallen to Dark Specter months ago could spare its entire Ranger team so soon after its liberation, but by law Andros could have no other tribunal. "The Eltaran Rangers must be here to find out what happened."

The ship they had boarded might be Eltaran in design, but the room in which he stood could have been anywhere. The only light was a single glowing circle, a spotlight shining in the darkness to beckon them forward. It was the light of truth--the light of judgement.

Andros stepped into the circle. Karone followed silently, but he felt her tense at his side when movement whispered around them. She knew even less of what to expect than he did.

Six more pools of light appeared, each illuminating a hooded figure at their center as they surrounded him. "Your names," one of the figures demanded.

Andros turned to face the figure that had spoken. "Andros of KO-35," he answered, keeping his gaze straight ahead.

"Karone..." His sister's hesitation was brief but noticeable. "Of KO-35."

The hood turned at that, as though the figure was considering Karone. It was difficult to tell in the dimness, but the tribunal's leader ought to be the Red Eltaran Ranger. It was entirely possible that Jenkarta knew what had happened to Karone of KO-35 all those years ago, and her reappearance would be a matter of some curiosity.

"Why are you here?" the figure asked at last, following tribunal convention.

Andros gave the traditional reply, hoping Karone wouldn't answer at all. "I was summoned."

Karone lifted her chin, and he knew his hope was in vain. "I was there," she said simply.

He shot her a warning look. That could be interpreted in any number of ways, but there was no reason to make an issue of something that wasn't relevant. He doubted they could get through this without having Karone's identity revealed, but the longer it took the better as far as he was concerned.

The hooded figure that was Jenkarta didn't dispute her presence, and Andros was at once disappointed and relieved. He hadn't wanted her to come, and he still thought it would be safer for her if she didn't draw more attention than she needed to. But if her right to be at his side was questioned, he had no doubt that she would put up a fight that would do far more damage than her attendance alone.

"Andros of KO-35," the figure intoned. "Your teammate, TJ Johnson of Earth, claims that you are responsible for the death of Zordon of Eltar. You have been summoned to answer this charge. Do you confirm or refute TJ Johnson's claim?"

"I confirm it," Andros answered. "I didn't want to kill Zordon, but I did it."

Jenkarta paused, the hood of his robe turning to the side again. This time he seemed to be looking at one of his teammates. The figure directly to his right nodded once, and Jenkarta turned back to Andros with one word.

"Why?"

On Eltar, only Rangers could try Rangers. Some said it was favoritism. Others said no one could comprehend the choices Rangers made on a daily basis unless they were a Ranger themselves. The latter argument prevailed. If some of the formality fell away in such a setting, the truth was still served.

"Zordon asked me to shatter his energy tube," Andros said. "He said it was the only way to defeat the forces of evil."

"He said the energy from his tube would purify the universe," Karone added when Andros paused. "And it did. The energy wave made villains good and turned their soldiers to sand. It saved all of us."

Jenkarta lifted one hand to silence her. "We seek Andros' testimony so that we may understand his actions," he told Karone sternly. "What right do you claim to speak so freely?"

"I'm his sister!" Karone exclaimed. Never had she so openly acknowledged their relationship, and it would have delighted Andros had he not dreaded her next words. She didn't disappoint him.

"I was there," she informed the hooded circle that surrounded them. "I heard everything he and Zordon said to each other, so my testimony is just as valid."

Jenkarta turned slightly, and again the figure to his right nodded. Andros frowned, wondering who the empath on the team was. He had never heard that any of the Eltaran Rangers had the ability, but he supposed he had never paid as much attention to other teams as he ought.

"What was Karone of KO-35 doing on the UAE's Dark Fortress?" Jenkarta wanted to know. The question might not be directly relevant to the tribunal, but after her assertion they certainly had legitimate reason to ask.

"Karone wasn't there," his sister said, tossing her head. It was a gesture reminiscent of her long-haired alter ego, and as she moved the magic swirled around her. Violet sparkles transformed the image of a blonde teenager into that of the armor-clad queen of evil.

"Astronema was," she declared, as her staff materialized in her hand.

Jenkarta's form visibly stiffened, and two of his teammates actually took a step back. There was an untraceable murmur of noise; the sound of disbelief or protest or both as the Eltaran team stirred. The figure to Jenkarta's right didn't move.

"Dark Specter's second in command heard everything that happened on his flagship," Karone continued, unfazed by their reactions. "I kept Andros from carrying out Zordon's request. For a while," she amended, acknowledging the battle she had ultimately lost with a rueful smirk.

Andros looked down to hide his own smile. He took no pride in the outcome of that fight, but the mere fact that she could joke about it amused him. Karone was no less mercurial than Astronema had been, and he had a feeling that she would never be any more predictable than she was now.

"The leader of the dark forces is not welcome on this ship," Jenkarta told her, his voice cold.

Andros lifted his head at that. "Now wait just a minute," he began.

"No, Andros," Karone interrupted. "It's all right."

The glamour melted away into violet sparkles that flashed and faded, leaving only an innocent looking young woman. "Is this less intimidating?" she inquired, and the condescension in her voice was such that Andros had to struggle to keep a straight face.

Jenkarta was not amused. "Your identity does not change with your appearance," he snapped, his composure slipping a little. "What business do you have here?"

"My business is the same as yours," she answered haughtily. "To make sure that Andros gets a fair trial."

One of Jenkarta's teammates spoke. "What is Andros to you?" she wanted to know. Her tone was more curious than accusatory, and Karone hesitated for the first time.

"Andros believed in me," she said at last, and Andros looked at her in surprise. She didn't meet his gaze, instead addressing the hooded figure that had posed the question. "He believed in the good in me when no one else did. Now it's my turn to believe in him."

The woman who had spoken shifted slightly, and Jenkarta too turned. Both seemed to be waiting for something, and it wasn't long before Andros realized what it was. The figure to Jenkarta's right uttered one word: "True."

"Astronema is a sorceress," Jenkarta insisted. "The fact that she can change her appearance means nothing! She is still the same person who commanded the Dark Fortress in battle!"

Someone on the other side of the circle stirred. "Astronema's crimes are not relevant to this tribunal," a woman's voice warned.

"But they are." The one who had asked Karone what Andros meant to her spoke again. "If she has indeed changed, then her word is valid. Not only did the energy wave come from Zordon, as they claim, but it was released at his request. There is nothing more relevant."

"Karone of KO-35." The second woman did her the courtesy of addressing her as she had introduced herself. "Please restate your intentions for the benefit of this tribunal."

"I'm here to make sure Andros doesn't get in trouble for saving the universe," Karone said. Her voice held a combination of irony and wariness.

The figure to Jenkarta's right spoke again. "True."

The empath's voice was masculine and vaguely familiar, but Andros couldn't place it. The two women must be Kayatachi and Sayzie, the Pink and Blue Eltaran Rangers, but he didn't know either of their voices well enough to say which was which. There were only five Rangers on the Eltaran team, which left the sixth tribunal member unaccounted for. Andros wondered suddenly if the empath was the extra.

"And you, Andros?" The first woman to speak addressed him before Jenkarta could. "Do you believe that you saved the universe?"

"No," he said honestly. "But I know that Zordon did. Without him, every known world would be overrun right now."

Silence followed that statement, and he knew no one wanted to believe those words. But they had seen it for themselves: lives lost and spirits broken when Dark Specter's forces swept through, and not a Ranger team anywhere that could take them on and win. They knew... they had tried.

The voice from Jenkarta's right was quieter this time, but it was enough. "True."

"Zordon's gift to me--to us," Karone said, "was redemption." Her voice was just as quiet, but the statement was no less heartfelt. "He gave it freely."

There was a quiet moment, and then for the first time the empath offered a complete sentence. "I have no need to hear more."

"Nor I." The woman who had spoken in Karone's defense agreed first, and one by one her teammates followed suit. Finally, only Jenkarta remained silent.

"Have you anything else to add?" he asked, in the tradition of the tribunal.

Andros shook his head, feeling that he had already said what he came to say, but Karone spoke up. "I do," she declared. "Zordon sacrificed himself so that Andros and you and all the other Rangers wouldn't have to. Don't diminish that choice by condemning Andros for his actions."

Andros smiled to himself. For all that he had been against her coming, she had spoken more than he had. And more eloquently, too. Her words from earlier echoed in his mind. "Remind me to thank you later."

The empath inclined his head, acknowledging her words, but it was Jenkarta who spoke. "The tribunal will confer," he said simply. The six surrounding spotlights vanished, and the soft susurration of robes was the only audible indication of movement.

"You didn't tell me there'd be an empath," Karone hissed in his ear.

Andros gave her an amused look. "What did you expect? That they'd just take our word for it?"

"You're Rangers," she whispered indignantly. "I thought you were supposed to be the embodiment of all that's good and pure!"

He almost laughed. "You don't have to make it sound so terrible," he teased quietly.

She narrowed her eyes at him and he relented. "Rangers aren't superheroes, you know. They're just people that serve when they're called."

"They're chosen by the Power!" she exclaimed. "If the Power was capable of choosing someone who wasn't good and perfect, believe me, I would have tried it. Why do you think the Psychos used Dark Specter's energy?"

"You were going to transfer the Power we hold to them," Andros reminded her. "It would have worked, too. There have been Dark Rangers in the past. The Psychos wouldn't have been the first servants of evil to have morphers."

"But the Psychos are monsters," she argued, unfazed by his reference to her former plans. "No one would mistake them for..." Karone gestured helplessly. "Well, you!"

He smiled a little at her frustration. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he teased again, unable to resist. "But Power Rangers have gone bad too. Anyone can be influenced by an evil that's strong enough or persuasive enough." He hesitated, wondering how much to say. "You were supposed to be a Ranger."

She frowned. "So what you're telling me is that the Eltarans thought you'd snapped? Turned to evil?"

Andros shrugged uncomfortably, letting her ignore his last statement. "I don't know what they think. But Eltaran law requires an empath at every tribunal. They can't comment on anything that isn't spoken aloud, but they have to be there."

"Sort of a built-in lie detector," Karone muttered. "I wish I'd had something like that on the Dark Fortress."

"Did you need it?" Andros asked wryly. "By the time you assumed everyone around you was lying, it must have been fairly easy to figure out what the truth was."

She glared at him, but he got the feeling it was a reflexive gesture. She was so used to glaring that it just seemed like the right thing to do. So he smirked back at her, and to his surprise she lowered her gaze with a laugh.

"Andros," she said, smiling as she shook her head. Lifting her eyes again she searched his expression with a look of combined amusement and wonder. "I never would have guessed you had a sense of humor."

"Until pretty recently, Ashley would have told you I didn't," he offered with a straight face. His deadpan expression softened when she giggled again, and he admitted, "I know what you mean, though. I never thought I'd hear you... laugh."

"Well," he amended quickly, "I always hoped I'd hear Karone laugh again. But I didn't think I'd hear it from Astronema."

She gave him a look that seemed torn between sympathy and curiosity. "I'm not what you expected, am I?" she asked frankly.

He shrugged a little, not sure he had an answer to that question. "I didn't know what to expect. I guess I got so caught up in trying to find you that I forgot you wouldn't be a little girl anymore."

She reached up to touch her locket, and an odd sensation tickled the back of his mind. "I thought you were dead," she remarked, not as though it meant anything to her. "I guess I never thought about what you might be like if you were still alive."

He gazed at her locket for a moment, wondering if he dared to ask a question that had been on his mind since he realized who she was. The time they'd spent together on the way to Yotoba had established the most tentative of bonds, and he hadn't wanted to pressure her. He had answered her questions while trying to keep his own to a minimum.

"Karone," he said finally, deciding that if "the right time" hadn't come yet it never would. "Do you... remember? Me, or KO-35, or anything... from before?"

She hesitated. "Sometimes," she said slowly. "At least, sometimes I think I do. When I was on KO-35... I don't know. I'm sorry, Andros."

"It's all right," he assured her. "I didn't really expect you to; I was just curious. You must have blocked most of that out when you were kidnapped."

Karone sighed. "You have to understand what it meant to me to think that you were dead. And not just you, but my whole family. I was all alone in the universe... and then Ecliptor came along.

"He cared for me," she said earnestly. "I don't know if you can believe it, but he became... some of what I had lost. And he taught me how to focus--how to ignore everything but what was happening, what was right in front of me... what I had to do to survive. That focus is what kept me alive in Dark Specter's monarchy."

"And it's what made you forget," Andros surmised quietly. The sense of something just beyond the edge of knowing flashed through his mind again, and he tried to ignore it.

She nodded once, not quite meeting his gaze.

"You said it yourself," he murmured. "You did what you had to do. I'm glad it was enough. I'm sorry, though, for... how much you lost yesterday."

She caught his eye at last, smiling wistfully. "I'm focusing, Andros."

He nodded, understanding. "Thanks for coming," he told her, hoping she knew how much he meant it. "And thanks--for what you said. About believing in me."

"Thank you," she said simply. "I never said it before, so I'm saying it now. Thanks for believing in me."

The circle of lights lit up around them before he could answer. The six hooded figures were back, as silent as before and so still that it was easy to believe they had never left. Andros knew better, of course, but the illusion was a convincing one.

"Andros of KO-35." Jenkarta's voice rang out, authority in every word. "It is the judgement of this tribunal--"

The room vanished. The darkness and the lights disappeared as though someone had thrown a switch, and in their place he saw the exterior of the Megaship, looming large against the backdrop provided by the NASADA compound. Zhane and Cassie were on the battleship's cargo ramp, surrounded and fighting hard against four armored Psycho Rangers.

The vision was gone as quickly as it had come, and he lifted his left wrist. "Ashley, TJ, Carlos," he snapped, bypassing the communicator's allcall so as not to alert the Psychos. "Megaship, NASADA staging area, now!"

"Andros?" Karone asked, and only then did he realize her hand was on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Zhane's in trouble." Mentally, he cursed his inability to teleport. He would have to rely on Karone to get them there in time. "We have to go; the Psycho Rangers are trying to board the Megaship. Zhane and Cassie are up against four of them at once."

"Cassie?" The empath threw back his hood, revealing piercing blue eyes in a face less familiar than his voice.

"And the fifth?" Karone demanded, not questioning how Andros knew or what the Megaship was doing back on Earth. "Where's the other one?"

He was about to tell her it didn't matter when the floor seemed to sway gently. Missile impact, his mind decided immediately, and he felt Karone tense at his side. "Never mind," she muttered.

Jenkarta, too, tossed back his hood and strode out of the circle into the darkness. "Lights!" His disembodied voice commanded an instant response from the computer and the room was flooded with illumination. "I assume these 'Psycho Rangers' are exactly as they sound," he said over his shoulder as the light caught him halfway to the door.

"They're our Dark Ranger counterparts," Andros answered, trying not to fidget. He didn't want to follow, but he had no real right to leave this ship without the tribunal's consent. What had they decided? "Or they were, before the source of their power was destroyed. We have to go."

"I will assist you." The empath strode toward them even as the other Rangers shook their hoods free from their faces and scattered across the room. "We will even the odds for your teammates on the ground while this ship maneuvers above."

The ship rocked again, and Andros wondered briefly what the Psychos could be throwing at it. Then Karone extended her left hand and her staff appeared without ceremony. Violet sparkles swirled around it as she lowered it to the ground, the magical light brightening until it encompassed everything Andros could see. The violet glow obliterated his vision.

The sorceress' teleportation was unorthodox and more than a little disturbing. Though he had witnessed it from afar many times, he had never before been on the receiving end of it. The feeling of magic engulfing him was unsettling--but the scene that greeted them on arrival was even more so.

Saryn's gaze swept across the battlefield, assessing the situation with a pilot's eye for the big picture. There were, as Andros had said, four armored beings swarming the Astro Megaship. Whether they were attempting to gain entry or merely trying to cause damage it was impossible to say, but they had two of Andros' teammates effectively pinned inside the battleship's starboard hatch.

His Ranger reflexes kicked in as a stray shot burned through the place he'd been half a second before. Rolling into a crouch, he focused on the Megaship again. He was distantly aware of Andros hurtling past with his usual lack of subtlety, but his attention was on the two figures just visible through the open hatch.

Or more precisely, one of the figures just visible through the open hatch.

The Pink Ranger was a much better shot than her companion, but unfortunately their Astro Blasters didn't seem to be having much of an effect on the Psycho Rangers. Short of sealing the hatch there seemed to be little that would halt the villains' advance--until Andros joined the fray with a whirlwind energy that staggered the senses.

Out of the corner of his eye, Saryn saw Astronema's staff appear in her hand, and the sudden variable made him hesitate. He didn't particularly like a battle where he didn't know his allies, let alone his enemy, but the Power chose where it would. When he saw the pink Psycho Ranger breach the Megaship's last line of defense, he had no choice.

Throwing himself into the fight, he reached Psycho Pink just as she slammed her fist into the hull. Cassie had already scrambled out of the way, but Saryn intercepted the next blow before the Psycho Ranger could reacquire her target. "Evil has been eradicated," he told the monster in a low voice, glaring at her visor above their locked fists. "I suggest you take the hint."

She hurled him back against the hull with a casual strength no human could match unmorphed. "Make me," she sneered, turning her back on him as he struggled to catch his breath.

He lifted his right arm, and the weapon wrapped around his wrist fired the moment he clenched his fist. Psycho Pink staggered a little under the attack, and he shoved himself away from the hull, firing continuously as he advanced. Anyone who voiced a challenge like hers should know better than to turn their back on an enemy.

Psycho Pink spun, lashing out to kick his weapon aside and lunging before he could recover his guard. He sensed the blow from behind too late to completely avoid it, and one of her fellows shoved him right into her attack. Electricity crackled through his chest and for a moment there was nothing in the world but him and that mind-numbing pain.

Then the searing flash began to retreat and something hard was pressing into his back. He found himself lying on the ground, not quite able to focus on Cassie's face as she held out her hand to help him up. "--expect to see you here," she was saying.

"I was nearby," he managed, clasping her hand. He gathered himself, searching her expression as she helped haul him to his feet. There was recognition there, but only of the pilot she had been introduced to on KO-35. "I go where I am needed," he added, wondering if she even remembered.

Her eyes snapped back to his, and there was shock in her gaze as she demanded, "What did you just say?"

Psycho Pink had regained her feet and he pointed his right arm at her without a second thought. Only as he clenched his fist did he register the stabbing pain in his wrist, but the weapon had clung to him as it ought despite her attempt to disarm him. It fired without hesitation, and he saw Cassie raise her blaster out of the corner of his eye.

Something alerted him, and he spun just in time to block Psycho Blue's swing with one of his own. His already injured wrist screamed in protest, but he managed to push the Psycho Ranger hard enough that he stumbled back, giving Saryn some breathing room. He didn't like the way Cassie and Psycho Pink were fighting--he was subconsciously taking in the way they exchanged blows, and it seemed off... too similar, maybe. As though they were somehow anticipating each other's moves.

A shrill whine split the air as Psycho Blue charged him again, and two realizations crashed home almost simultaneously. The first was that the boom that had been ringing in his ears since their arrival was not an Earth normal noise, but rather the sound of an extra-atmospheric rocket launcher being fired from somewhere not so far away. The second was that the Eltarans were finally doing something about it.

He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but lasers meant for battle in space had already struck the surface nearby. The shockwave exploded outward, making the superheated air expand with crushing force as the ground bucked beneath his feet. The Megaship's hull slammed into him from behind, and as the breath deserted his lungs he found himself tumbling to the ground.

The distant sound of metal on metal was barely audible through the roar in his ears, and as he struggled to push himself up he realized how loud it must have actually been to penetrate at all. His hands made no sound on the rough gravel-strewn ground, and when he opened his mouth he couldn't hear his own voice. The only audible thing in the world was the silent noise in his head.

Climbing unsteadily to his feet, Saryn surveyed the scene as best he could. Two Psycho Rangers were dragging themselves up off the pavement even as he looked around, but the other two were nowhere to be found. The clang of metal must have been the Megaship's hatch crashing shut, for the entrance was now sealed. Presumably the remaining Psychos were on the other side of it--along with Cassie's teammates, as she was the only one he could see.

It was his turn to help her up, but her acceptance of the gesture was distracted, to say the least. It was not, however, the closed space hatch at which she was staring. Instead her gaze was focused on his chest, and he looked down automatically.

His necklace had come loose in the fighting. The ruby that glinted in the midday sunlight was not something anyone should see, but when he moved to tuck it under his tunic again she stopped him. Lifting her gaze at last, her eyes held him captive with silent inquiry.

He was still deaf to everything but the pounding in his ears, but he saw her mouth form the word: Phantom?

He shoved her out of the way as Psycho Blue's form rose behind her, but a blast pinned the Psycho Ranger before Saryn could even raise his weapon. A second beam of piercing light joined the first, and then another, and another, until five targeting scopes were trained on the Blue Psycho simultaneously. Saryn clenched his fist, pouring his own deadly assault into the beleaguered villain.

Cassie's blaster lit up too, leaving the Psycho Ranger with nowhere left to go. It writhed frantically under the onslaught, looking for escape and finding none as it crashed to the ground at their feet. Saryn flinched back from the resulting explosion, and he saw Cassie turn her head to the side.

The Eltaran Rangers strode out of the blast zone in perfect sync, the smoke still billowing at their backs. When Jenkarta lowered his weapon the others followed suit, and only then did Saryn realize that Psycho Pink was gone. The last Psycho Ranger had abandoned her companion to his fate while taking advantage of their distraction to slip away.

Jenkarta stopped in front of them, but his voice when he spoke sounded as though it was coming from much farther away. It was like hearing someone through a long tunnel, and a distorted, echoing tunnel at that. Saryn shook his head and put his hands over his ears briefly, trying to explain without having to speak.

The Red Eltaran Ranger frowned, but he nodded once. Almost as an afterthought he gave Cassie a questioning look, and Saryn saw him sigh in frustration when she too shook her head. Then movement made his eyes snap away from Jenkarta, seeking the source of the distraction.

Two of Cassie's teammates were racing across the tarmac toward them, skirting the blast zone without giving it a second glance. It occurred to him that, given the state of the rest of the city, the crater left by Eltaran lasers probably sparked little interest. And it was certainly nothing compared to the conspicuous absence of half their team.

"What happened?" the Yellow Ranger cried as they came to an abrupt halt in the shadow of the Megaship. "Where's Andros?"

Saryn started as he realized he had heard her. The words were still distant and far away, but Ashley's worried tone was audible through the curtain over his hearing. Belatedly, he remembered the motion Cassie had aborted earlier, and he slipped the ruby of the Phantom Ranger under his tunic again. This was no time for reunions.

Cassie pointed at the Megaship, flashing two fingers at her teammate. Whether Ashley got the message or not was a moot point, for she raised her communicator without another word. Andros, she said clearly, but after that Saryn's lip-reading ability failed him.

She did wince at whatever reply came over her communicator, though, and he saw Jenkarta's expression twist. He glanced at Cassie only to find her looking back at him, as frustrated as he was at not being able to hear what was said. He tried not to notice the way her dark hair glinted in the sun when she turned to her friends.

Ashley gestured at her communicator, making a sign with her hands that could only mean "no signal". But the few words he caught seemed to indicate that she'd heard something from the device, and he wondered if it was being jammed. Could these Psycho Rangers have done that so quickly?

"--two of them," he heard Jenkarta say. "One from... and... here."

Saryn frowned, not quite able to fill in the blanks. He heard Cassie ask, "How did you know?" She seemed to be catching more of the conversation than he was.

Jenkarta's answer was clearer, no doubt because he knew what it would be before the other spoke. "Andros knew," the Eltaran answered. "He told us where to go."

"There must--" Cassie's voice caught his attention again, but he lost the rest of her sentence when he looked over at her. She was staring at Ashley with the intensity he remembered so well, and he wished fleetingly that she would turn that unwavering gaze on him again.

Ashley shook her head, apparently disagreeing with her teammate. The roaring in his ears was receding slowly, to the point where he could make out the gist of her argument. She wanted to follow the others onto the Megaship, regardless of whether the closed hatch was a trap and acting only out of angry fear for her friends.

Luckily, TJ was every bit as level-headed as Saryn remembered. "We can't just storm onto the Megaship, Ash," he said, his words faint but determined through the static haze. "They must be there for a reason. Karone would have teleported them out by now if they were trapped; you know that."

He had a good deal of faith in someone who had been quite literally his worst enemy the day before, Saryn reflected. He also had an amazing amount of faith in his teammates' abilities. Whatever had happened when Ashley tried to signal their leader, it was obvious that they were completely cut off from each other. There was nothing to say Andros and Zhane were even conscious, let alone operating within whatever contingency plan TJ had in mind.

"--cut off access to DECA," TJ was saying. "We can probably hack into the database with Andros' override codes, but it's going to take a while if we don't want them to notice what we're doing.

"Cassie, you'd better let Adelle know what's going on," he added. "I don't really want civilians involved, but Carlos hasn't been able to find a way to track the Psychos yet. If Adelle can alert the shelters to be on the lookout, we might be able to find Psycho Pink faster."

Cassie nodded once, looking away from TJ to clip her Astro Blaster to her belt. Like most Ranger uniforms, their flight suits weren't designed to carry weapons, but these were extraordinary circumstances. The Blue Ranger didn't say a word as she let her jacket settle back into place, half hiding the blaster.

"You'll be a target," Jenkarta interjected, apparently unable to keep silent any longer. Saryn had been thinking the same thing, but he didn't want to draw more attention to himself than he had to.

"It's your Dark Ranger that's out there, and she'll certainly notice that you're alone." Though Jenkarta's words were clearly directed at Cassie, his gaze shifted between her and TJ, who seemed to have assumed authority in Andros' absence. "Saryn and I will accompany you, if you wish."

The look Cassie exchanged with TJ made Saryn's heart sink. Though their glances were neutral, the mere fact that they sought each other's eyes at all told him what he needed to know. They weren't overlooking the possibility that Psycho Pink would seek her out--they were counting on it.

"I know," Cassie said at last, confirming his suspicion. "But she saw us destroy Psycho Blue. If we go out in force, she'll avoid us until we split up. This way maybe we can lure her into attacking before the last three regroup."

"And if she attacks, then what?" Jenkarta persisted. "Am I correct in assuming that you cannot teleport without your ship's computer?" When Cassie nodded reluctantly, Jenkarta pressed, "At least allow Saryn to accompany you."

Saryn shot a sharp look in his direction, but Jenkarta's gaze was intent upon Cassie. "He can summon us when Psycho Pink catches up with you," the Eltaran Ranger told her. "Your plan is not complete without a trap behind the bait."

Cassie actually smiled a little at that, but she didn't nod until TJ did. "All right," she said finally. "Saryn and I will see what we can find out. Call me if you need help," she told TJ, giving the Megaship a meaningful glance.

Saryn took the opportunity to frown at Jenkarta while the others were distracted. The other knew of his fascination with the Pink Astro Ranger, but there was no reason to push them together. Jenkarta's return stare was bland, acknowledging nothing.

"Let's go," Cassie said, waiting for him to catch her eye before turning away.

He caught her arm before she could head off across the tarmac, and she gave him a questioning look. Tapping the badge on his tunic, he said, "Two to teleport, most recent entry point."

Black fire leapt across his vision, and the diminishing ring in his ears was the only noise he could hear in the teleportation stream. A new world coalesced around him in less time that it would have taken to blink, and he had to reorient himself to the crush of minds around them. Shoving the sensation down forcefully, he shook his head to clear it. Teleporting into unknown places did strange things to his empathy.

Cassie was looking around in surprise. "How did you know where we were going?"

He shrugged, self-conscious in her presence as he had not been when there were others with them. "I... guessed," he admitted. "This is the place from which Andros teleported earlier."

She turned a concerned look on him. "What happened with the trial? He's not going to be in trouble, is he? He saved all of us, you know, and it's not like he wanted to kill Zordon--"

"You do not need to convince me," Saryn assured her. "Nor the tribunal. They found no fault with Andros' actions."

She closed her eyes briefly, smiling in relief. "Zhane wasn't sure," she admitted with a sigh. "He said the whole thing was crazy, but he was just worried enough to scare me.

"We'd better go find Adelle," she added, not giving him a chance to reply. "She'll be inside."

He followed without a word, images of her and Zhane together on KO-35 flashing through his mind. Shoulder to shoulder as teammates at Kinwon's side, then whispering together like friends when they went to follow Jenkarta. Handfast and laughing moments later as he watched them depart...

He didn't know what Zhane was to her, but he meant to find out.

The building in which "Adelle" was to be found was not quite the command center that he had expected. There were people everywhere, but Cassie's uniform was the only one in evidence and there seemed to be little order to their interactions. Cassie made her way toward the back of the building first, and the way people stopped to stare led him to believe that her presence here was not typical.

"Adelle?" she asked, knocking on a door that was only partly open. "It's Cassie. Are you in here?"

A voice came back immediately. "Come on in, hon!"

Cassie pushed the door open the rest of the way, and a large woman sitting on a desk gestured for them to enter. She was holding something to her ear, and when she spoke again it wasn't to them. Saryn could only the object in her hand was some sort of communication device.

"I've got to go," she was saying. "I have a shelter to run. I'll tell them if I see them, General."

Cassie started, waving a hand at the other woman. She mouthed something Saryn didn't catch, and Adelle told her communicator, "Hold your horses there, General. Wait one darn moment."

Holding the object away from her ear, Adelle gave Cassie a resigned look. Pointing at it, she asked quietly, "You want to talk to him?"

Cassie nodded, and Adelle passed her the communicator. "General Norquist," Cassie said, with a cheerfulness that hadn't been in her voice a moment before. "This is good timing. We've got an emergency situation out in the staging area, so I'd appreciate it if you could keep your people away from the Megaship for now."

There was a pause, and Saryn felt Adelle's gaze on him. She was assessing him, wondering whether she'd seen him before and when she concluded that she had not, wondering what his connection to Cassie might be. He didn't need to be empathic to sense her curiosity.

"He's been called to help deal with the situation on the Megaship," Cassie was saying. "We've had relations with Aquitar for several years, General; Carlos' absence won't jeopardize that."

"No," she said a moment later, sounding suddenly stern. "The Power Rangers will take care of this, General. There's no need to worry. TJ will contact you as soon as he can."

"Thank you," she said, after a brief hesitation. "Goodbye."

"Well, he's getting mighty pushy," Adelle drawled as Cassie set the communication device down. "I'm starting to feel like the Power Rangers' secretary here!"

Cassie flashed a brilliant smile at the woman, tinged with just the right amount of apology and commiseration. "I know, and I'm sorry, Adelle. I'll tell him to stop calling, if you want."

"No, no." Adelle waved the suggestion away. "They've got to be able to reach you somehow, and I don't mind taking messages. But I won't be held responsible if he doesn't start treating you all with a little more respect, you hear? Do this, do that--just like you're one of his soldiers!"

"Norquist didn't expect the Power Rangers to be teenagers," Cassie said with a sigh. "He doesn't know what to make of us."

"I'll show him what to make of you," Adelle muttered, but then she made a visible effort to put her irritation aside. "So, what can I do for you and your pretty friend?"

Cassie shot him an embarrassed glance before rolling her eyes at Adelle. "He's a Power Ranger from Eltar, Adelle. His name's Saryn. Saryn, this is Adelle."

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you!" Adelle held out her hand in a gesture Saryn had seen before, and he mimicked her without thinking about it. When she shook his hand, though, he winced and her sharp eyes didn't miss his reaction.

"Something wrong?" she asked bluntly, studying him.

"You hurt your wrist, didn't you." Cassie was at his side instantly, taking his hand from Adelle and turning it over. "How bad is it? Can you move your fingers? I saw you get hit, but I didn't think--"

"It is not serious," he interrupted, all his attention focused on her careful touch. "Only an inconvenience, without the Power to heal it."

"I was just about to take this stuff out front," Adelle said, bustling over to a box by the door. "Can't be broken, with the way you grabbed my hand. Probably just sprained.

"Here, hon." She returned, thrusting something into the Pink Ranger's hands before resettling herself on the desk. "You bandage that up, then tell me what's so important that you left your friends in an emergency just to find me."

Satisfied with her inspection of his wrist, Cassie proceeded to do just that. But he knew the story, and her fingers were so gentle. He alternated between staring at them and watching her face, her expression intent as she wrapped his wrist and explained the situation to Adelle.

He didn't hear a word she said.