The Terran Ranger/The Spectrum Force - The Preliminaries Volume 2 by Heather Ray (most difficult books to read txt) 📖

pink swimsuit and denim shorts! This girl has on orange...Lemme scan her."

Tommy held Kim's head off the sand while Trini started a DNA scan. The girl's eyes opened slowly and she saw the machine in her face.

"Where...am I?" she moaned. "What's that?!"

The girl pushed Trini's scanner away in panic. Tommy quickly hugged her to keep her calm.

"It's okay, Kim," he assured her, "you're safe. Where's Billy?"

"Billy?" she repeated. "Who's Billy...Who are YOU

?"

She quickly pushed Tommy away and rose to her feet. The sudden movement made her dizzy, and she fell to her knees. She saw a group of five teenagers watching in concern.

"Kim?" asked Tommy, surprised, "it's me--Tommy."

"I'm not Kim!" said the girl, slowly rising to her feet, "I'm Jocelyn... where's Matthew?"

The Power Rangers shrugged in confusion. Trini, who had finally finished processing the girl's DNA, jumped up in surprise.

"I was right!" she cried. "This isn't Kimberly! Her DNA is completely different, and her energy signature is...orange?"

"Energy signature?" asked Alexis, staring at "Kim"

and Trini.

"Yes. Everyone with a power coin has an energy signature. It's emitted by the coin. I'm yellow, for example, and Kimberly would register as pink. This girl has some kind of superhuman power associated with the color orange."

"So, is she a Power Ranger?" asked Jason.

"All I know is that she has superhuman abilities," answered Trini, looking from the scanner to the girl. "Wait, I'm also reading traces of a green signature--"

Before Trini could finish her thought, another person appeared in a flash of light. He had red hair, and was wearing a green tee-shirt.

"Matt!" cried Jocelyn, running to him. "Are you okay?"

Matt was partially conscious, and managed to open his eyes.

"Where are we, Joce?" he asked, looking around at the beach. "Where is the mountain? WHERE'S CELEA

?!"

Jocelyn helped Matt to his feet. He turned and saw five unfamiliar teenagers staring at him in shock.

"Who are they?" he asked, turning to Jocelyn. She was supporting him on her shoulder. Jocelyn shrugged.

"I'm Tommy," said Tommy, approaching the two confused teens and offering his hand in friendship, "and these are my friends Jason, Alexis, Trini, and Zack."

As Tommy politely introduced the others, they each smiled and said hello.

"Hi, I'm Jocelyn," she answered with a small smile, "and this is my friend Matt."

"Uh, do you guys mind telling us where we are?" asked Matt, finally strong enough to stand without help, "I mean, this certainly doesn't look like the Limbo of Lucifer to me."

"This is Angel Grove Beach," said Jason. "What's the Limbo of Lucifer?"

"We don't know for sure," explained Jocelyn, "but that is where Celea said she was banishing us--to suffer forever."

"Excuse me?" said Zack, obviously not following. Jocelyn looked at Matthew questioningly.

"Should we tell them?" she whispered to him.

"I don't see what choice we have. I don't know what Angel Grove is, but it sure isn't anywhere near Langstrum Alps."

"Should we try to contact Spectra first?"

"I'll give it a try," said Matt, raising his ring in the air. The ring glowed brilliantly, but nothing else happened. The Power Rangers just stared at Matthew in awe.

"There's no answer!" said Matt, bringing his arm down and staring at the ring, "but our rings are still sending the signal."

"Then we must be VERY

far from home," said Jocelyn, looking towards the teenagers. Her eyes met Tommy's and she giggled slightly at his confusion. She then noticed how all five of the teens stared at them.

"Uh, I guess we have some explaining to do, huh?" said Jocelyn, taking a deep breath. "Well, where should I begin?"

Chapter Seven

In the throne room of Cloud Castle, Spectra listened intently to Billy and Kimberly's explanation.

"...and then we used of teleporters to reach the Command Center, but we ended up on that cloud," concluded Kimberly.

"Very interesting. Somehow you traveled from your home dimension to mine, through a hole in the sand?"

"Yes, Ma'am," said Billy.

"And you believe you can locate your home dimension?"

"Yes. Via our communicators, I should be able to make contact. It will take some complicated adjustments to the wrist system, as well as a much stronger power source than the battery it runs on, but I believe it is feasible. If I can only manage to contact Zordon, then he can teleport us home."

"The problem is not the teleportation," said Spectra, standing up and floating to the floor, "I can easily provide an interdimensional doorway. My race are known to be travelers as well as magicians."

"Great!" said Kimberly, who only could pick up parts of the conversation. "So, when do we leave?"

"I'm afraid it isn't so simple, Kimberly," said Spectra, walking to the window. "You know how on a clear evening, one can see infinite stars in the sky?"

"Yes," answered both Kimberly and Billy.

"Well, there are even more alternate dimensions than there are stars in this universe. There is a multitude cross-time dimensions, where we all exist in the same year, as well as travel along one particular time-line."

"I'm certain we are from a cross-time," said Billy, "but just to make sure, the year we left Angel Grove was 1996."

"Excellent, that really decreases the number of possibilities. However, without the exact coordinates of your world, I will not be able to find it. There are simply too many possibilities, and I am not too familiar with the dimension you came from."

"So, we're stuck here?" asked Kim, her hope diminishing.

"If I can increase the strength of this communicator, I can pinpoint the Command Center. In order to do that, I need some equipment."

"Such as?" asked Spectra.

"A computer with a substantial amount of astromonical information. Some tools, a satellite dish, a large supply of energy..."

"Perhaps the Spectrum Force can help you. I shall summon them."

Kimberly and Billy watched as Spectra sat on her throne. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Within minutes, a portal of purple light appeared near the gate, and two people walked through.

"Amazing," said Billy, "telepatic communication between the Spectrum Force and Spectra. Indeed more convenient than a communicator..."

"Is that the whole team?" asked Kimberly, obviously not as impressed as Billy.

"No," answered Spectra. "This is Rachel and Craig. I summoned them because they should be able to assist you best. They are knowledgeable in computers and engineering. Although, I also tried to communicate with Jocelyn. Rachel, do you know where she is?"

Rachel arched her eyebrow and stared at Kimberly.

"She's right there, isn't she? And who is the guy with the glasses?"

"This is Kimberly Hart and William Mitchell. They are from an alternate dimension. They need technological assistance to communicate with their allies."

Craig walked closer to Kimberly and scrutinized her from head to toe. She cringed under his gaze.

"The resemblance is uncanny," said Craig. "Spooky."

"Well, Jocelyn and Matt are in the Alps," said Rachel, returning to Spectra's previous question.

"No they are not. I cannot reach their minds, so they are not anywhere on Earth."

"Excuse me?" asked Craig. "Are you sure?"

"Completely," said Spectra.

"Could Phaedra be behind all this?" asked Rachel.

"If she is, she has placed Matthew and Jocelyn out of my telepathic reach. They can only be in another dimension. There isn't even a residual trace of them, nor their Spectrum Stones. It is as if they simply ceased to exist."

"If they are in another dimension, then our situation seems to be very peculiar," said Billy. "Is it possible that your friends traded places with us?"

"Yes, that would explain why I didn't feel the loss of their powers," said Spectra. "The balance of power did not change, which can only mean that you arrived at the same time that Jocelyn and Matthew disappeared. Since your Power Coins seem to emit an energy signature much like the Spectrum Stones, I was unaware of their disappearance until I specifically searched for orange and green signatures."

"So, what can we do about it?" asked Rachel.

"Well, it's still only a hypothesis," said Billy, rubbing his chin, "so we shouldn't jump to any conclusions. The only course of action I can think of undertaking is to augment the power of the communicator. Once I can get the range of the communicator to a substantial enough level, we can send a beacon through the multiverse. Hopefully, it will reach Zordon."

"How are you going to send a message through the Mulitverse?" asked Kimberly.

"I shall create a portal throughout the crosstime," said Spectra. "But, let me remind you, there is no way to know how long it will take for you message to reach the Command Center. If it ever does."

"You're correct," said Billy, "as a matter of fact, the chances of our beacon reaching Zordon within our lifetime is very slim. If there are infinite dimensions, the radio signal could take forever."

"So, then we ARE

stuck in this dimension!" said Kimberly, getting frustrated.

"For now, this is all we can do," said Billy, giving Kimberly a reassuring hug. "But remember, Zordon and Alpha are most likely searching for us as well. The equipment in the Command Center is by far more advanced than anything I can throw together. Most likely, they will find our beacon, rather than our beacon finding them."

"Let's get to work," said Rachel. "We can go to my apartment. Jocelyn probably has all the equipment you'll need. She's a real computer whiz."

"I have plenty of tools in my room," said Craig. "Nothing too high tech, just your basic screw-drivers, hammers, nails..."

"I'm certain they will be of use," said Billy. "And thank you for your assistance."

"No problem," said Rachel, creating another portal with her Spectrum Stone. "After all, we superheroes have to look out for each other!"

Rachel, Billy, Kimberly, and Craig stepped into the portal and materialized in Rachel, Tamara, and Jocelyn's apartment.

"Where's Tammy?" asked Craig.

"She and Keith went for a drive. If things get really complicated, I'll contact them."

"So, how do you communicate with each other?" asked Billy, "Spectra appeared to telepathically summon you."

"Yes. We are all telepathically linked," answered Rachel. "We can't read other people's minds or anything, but we can call for each other telepathically, so long as we have our rings on."

"Truly amazing," said Billy. "It appears as if the fundamental difference between the Power Rangers and the Spectrum Force is the basis of our abilities. Apparently, our energy signatures are the same, except our coins were forged by advanced technology, whereas the Spectrum Stones appear to