The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 6 by Heather Ray (free ebook reader TXT) 📖

Mercerville, New Jersey
March 2025
9:45 a.m.

Inside a comfortable split-level ranch in the relatively quiet town of Mercerville, a rather tall, slender young boy was busy doing a routine of push-ups. As he exercised, his chestnut brown chin-length locks flew up and down, and his dark eyes shone with determination.

"Twenty three, twenty four, twenty five!" he breathed, rolling over to lie down on his back. He crossed his arms over his chest, and prepared his body for a round of crunches.

"One, two, three..."

"Micah?" called a gentle voice, knocking on the door. "Are you awake?"

Micah frowned, halting in mid-crunch. He knew that voice, and it could only mean one thing...his parents had left again.

"Of course I'm awake," he snapped, his hurt building and being released in the form of anger, "I'm doing my exercises!"

"Mike? Open the door, please!"

"When I'm done!"

"You, young man, have to start listening to me," the woman sighed. "Now, open this door!"

Micah growled under his breath and rose to his feet. He unlocked the door, and immediately went back to his crunches. A tall brunette woman of about forty years followed him into his room.

"How long have you been exercising?" she asked, noticing the sweat on his gray t-shirt.

"An hour," he muttered.

"Don't you think you've done enough?"

"No," he said with a frown, "Dad exercises more!"

"Your father is an adult," she pointed out softly.

"I know, Aunt Mandy," said Micah, "but if I want to be a martial arts master, and leader of the Power Rangers, I have to stay in shape."

"Who has ever heard of a thirteen year old Power Ranger?" asked Emandia Trueheart, helping Micah up. "Now come on, I made pancakes."

Micah followed his aunt downstairs and into the kitchen, where his uncle David was busy reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. On the other side of the table, Micah's nine year old brother Devon was enthusiastically consuming pancakes. Micah sat down beside his uncle, and David smiled down at him.

"How's it going, Champ?" he asked. Micah just looked up at him.

"So, where are Mom and Dad this time," Micah asked flatly. "The U.N.? The White House? Another solar system?"

Young Devon glanced up at his older brother inquisitively, muttering an incomprehensible question through his full mouth. Mandy's eyes narrowed, and she threw Micah a meaningful glance.

"They both had important meetings to attend," she said, her gaze shifting between the boys as she set a plate of pancakes in front of Micah."

"They didn't even say goodbye," Micah said bitterly. "They never say goodbye. They just leave, and they never even tell me they're leaving. I guess I'm just not important enough."

Devon shook his head emphatically, swallowing a long sip of milk to clear his mouth. "Mom and Dad work very hard to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads," he quoted.

Micah groaned. "More like to keep a planet under our feet," he muttered under his breath.

Devon didn't hear his brother's comment, but David was within earshot. He locked his penetrating gaze on the oldest Oliver boy, and rose from his seat. "Micah Samuel Oliver, may I speak to you for a moment."

Micah cast his eyes to the floor as he followed his uncle out of the kitchen.

"Micah's in trouble! Micah's in trouble!" Devon chorused cheerfully, his mouth full of pancake.

"That's enough, Devon," Emandia said humorlessly, turning on the kitchen television. "Now, let's finish breakfast and watch television."

Micah ignored his little brother's merciless taunting, and took a seat on the living room couch beside his uncle. He carefully kept his chocolate gaze inclined to the floor beneath him.

"What's gotten into you today?" David asked gently. "You know better than to talk so freely about your parent's role as Power Rangers. Devon doesn't know about them yet."

"I know," Micah whispered.

"Now, when did Tom and Kat tell you about their secret?"

"Last year."

"And why?"

Micah sighed. "Because they thought I was responsible enough to keep the secret, and mature enough to accept it."

David nodded. "Are you trying to prove them wrong?"

Micah remained silent, folding his hands tightly in his lap. "No, Uncle David, it's just that --"

Suddenly, Emandia hurried into the living room, panic widening her deep brown eyes. David rose to his feet.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's on the news," Emandia said faintly. "Th..the Power Rangers are...dead

!"

"What?" David demanded, walking past his wife to the kitchen. He stood at the entrance to the kitchen, where Devon was seated at the table, his huge eyes focused on the television screen with rapt attention.

"...and the wreckage is being searched as we speak, so we can find out the cause of this terrible tragedy,"

said the anchorwoman. "To repeat, the Terran Power Rangers' robot, the Terra Megazord, has been destroyed by a mysterious and unexplained explosion. The Power Rangers are presumed dead."

"Oh my God," David muttered quietly, leaning against the wall weakly.

"Wow," Devon said numbly, "I thought the Power Rangers were robots or something."

Micah remained seated on the couch. He couldn't even muster the strength to rise to his feet. "No," he whispered hoarsely, his fists balled tightly and rivers of rage pouring from his dark eyes. "No. No! NO!!"

Angel Grove California
March 2025
7:00 a.m. (Western Time)

A woman dressed in a black business suit busily brushed her short sandy blonde hair. She glanced at the clock beside her bed, and frowned.

"I'm going to be late," she lamented, rolling her twilight- blue eyes. "There's a faculty meeting at seven-thirty, and I still have to finish grading a few quizzes before second period!"

After stepping into her pumps, she grabbed a pair of earrings, and snapped them on as she walked out her bedroom door. She hurried into the kitchen, and hastily grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the table.

"Mom!" came a cry from behind.

Emily Lee turned around, and fixed her gaze on her daughter. The latter was dressed in her canary yellow bathrobe, and her short, dark brown hair was dripping from her morning shower.

"Good morning, Brittany," Emily greeted, kissing her daughter on the cheek. Brittany shook her head, and gave her mother a wry smile.

"You always tell me to make sure I have a balanced breakfast in the morning," Brittany chided. "And look at you!"

Emily laughed. "Your notion of a quick breakfast is a can of Diet Coke! At least there are vitamins in a banana!"

Brittany giggled, and turned on the coffee maker. "Where's Dad, anyway?" she asked, searching through the cupboard for a coffee mug. "Is he already at the station?"

"I doubt it," Emily sighed. "He and the other Rangers went on a mission last night. I haven't heard from him."

"What's the great emergency this time?"

"A meteor heading for Earth," Emily responded, grabbing her purse. "It's probably on the news."

"Might as well check," Brittany said, turning on the television. She quickly turned it to CNN.

^... and there is no trace of the Terran Power Rangers,^

the commentator stated. ^The Megazord has been reportedly reduced to cinders, and the Rangers did not contact the UN building, as they usually do when a mission is complete. The Rangers are therefore presumed dead.^

Brittany's large blue eyes were wide, and her hand flew to her mouth. Emily stopped short, her hand on the front doorknob. She dropped the banana and her purse, and sank to her knees.

Ever since Emily first learned her husband Jason Scott Lee was a Power Ranger, she dreaded this day. He was always hungry for adventure and danger, and Emily knew that some day, whether as the Black Terran Ranger or the captain of the Angel Grove Police Force, he'd be critically injured...or even killed

. She tried to prepare herself for this moment, since she knew it would happen eventually. After all, one man can only cheat death for so long. But no matter how much she tried to prepare herself, she couldn't fathom living out the rest of her life without him.

"It's a lie!" Brittany growled angrily. "It takes more than an asteroid to kill the Power Rangers! Dad's fine... and so are the others!"

Brittany's voice was uncertain, and she closed her eyes tightly, forcing back tears. She stood still, not moving from her position in front of the television. Emily glanced at her oldest child, tightly clenching her sandy blonde bangs.

"Brittany?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

Brittany didn't respond.

Bay City, Texas
March 2025
9:00 a.m. (Central Time)

"NO!!"

screamed a teenage girl, her head leaping from her pillow. She buried her tear-stricken face in her powder blue bed sheets, her dark hair cascading around her face. She shook violently and wept in silence, until her mother...a serene, beautiful Asian in a yellow nightgown...entered the room.

"Becky?" she said, sitting down beside the sobbing girl. "What did you see?"

Rebecca Mitchell looked up at her mother, her almond shaped mahogany eyes pulsing with an unnatural blue light. Rebecca then forced her eyes shut, and buried herself into her mother's shoulder.

"I...I saw the Power Rangers," he sobbed, "screaming in pain. They...they were trapped, and surrounded by fire, and explosions, and...and...darkness..."

Trini looked alarmed, but she continued stroking her daughter's hair gently. "Honey, it was only a dream."

"It's never only a dream!" Rebecca