The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 4 by Heather Ray (ebook reader browser txt) 📖

grew to love her. But she weakened, and was dying. So, Nathaniel preserved her brain, and created a machine that could place her essence into another's body. But, it would only work if the host body was genetically similar to Ligeia's. So, every century, Sandman returned to the surface, and found another young girl in the Sloan family to place his beloved's essence into. However, he couldn't find a child similar enough to Ligeia for the transference to be successful, and to this day, Coppelius has been waiting for the young woman who was enough like her ancestor to bring her back to life."

"So, Coppelius hasn't been collecting slaves," said Tanya, "but companions."

"Yes," said Henry with a deep sigh. "He is a stranger in a strange world, and no one ever accepted him. Except Ligeia. She was pure and good, and grew to care for Coppelius. But she couldn't live forever, as Coppelius can."

"And this Ligeia, she is the woman on the portrait?"

"Yes," said Agatha quietly, "Tanya, you look exactly like her."

"I had struck a deal with Coppelius," continued Henry, "because he visited us on the New Year's Eve after your birth to remind us of the debt that hasn't been fully paid. I promised to pay him annually a tithe of rare chemicals, provided that he leave you alone. He agreed, because as a scientist, he has experiments to conduct, and he has difficulty obtaining the needed chemicals because he lives beneath the earth, away from all civilization. So, this annual tithe continued, until the night he saw you again, when you hid in my closet. Only then did he realize how much you resembled Ligeia, and he assumed that, because you look so much like her, your body would be an adequate vessel from Ligeia's brain. As soon as he saw you, he decided that having you was more important than the chemicals he had been collecting, she he tried to take you to his lair, hoping to raise you himself, and when you were the right age, he would transplant Ligeia's essence into your body. But I refused to let him double-cross me."

"That's when the fire started," recollected Tanya. "That's when I lost you..."

Agatha sighed and hugged her daughter even tighter. Tanya's eyes started to spill over as realization hit her.

"My God," she whispered, "can Coppelius really put another person's soul into my body?"

"He's been trying to perfect the process for some time," said Henry solemnly, "but he is mad. He refuses to accept that Ligeia is gone. He has preserved her brain, but that doesn't mean she is still alive. What was Ligeia is gone now. He cannot re-create a person."

"But that won't stop him from trying..." said Tanya. "He doesn't care if he kills me."

"Tanya, you must escape!" said Agatha. Henry placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"Escape is impossible," he said. "We are miles underground! How can we find our way to the surface? And certainly no one will come for us."

"Maybe," said Tanya, glancing at her yellow and silver wrist communicator. Discreetly, she unlatched it from her wrist and hid it on the floor. "In the meantime, let's take a look at this castle of his. Maybe we can find something useful."

Tanya stood up and pushed open the unlocked iron barred gate. Together, the small family ascended the stairs to the palace itself. Tanya frowned when she saw the painting of Ligeia, while Henry and Agatha marveled at it.

"You...you look even more like Ligeia than I thought!" Henry said in surprise. "It's no wonder he spent so long searching for you."

"Uh oh," said Tanya, looking around on the floor, "I...I dropped my bracelet downstairs. I'd better go find it."

"What?" asked Agatha. "It's not that important."

"Its got...sentimental value. I'll be right back."

"I'll go with you," said Henry.

"No," said Tanya, hurrying down the stairs again, "it'll only take a minute." Tanya went back into the cell, and picked up her communicator, which was right where she left it.

"Billy?" she whispered. "Rangers? Do you read?" But all Tanya could hear was static. She sighed deeply and tried again.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?"

Tanya frowned, and slowly ascended the stairs, out of the dungeon. I must be out of range or something!

she thought. Maybe some of the rocks in the caves are deflecting the signal? There must be a way to contact the CAC. Coppelius is a scientist, for Pete's sake! He's got to have some kind of communications device somewhere!

"Come on," Tanya said, closing the door to the stairwell behind her, "let's find Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory."

Chapter Fifteen

Adam's eyes slowly opened, but his vision was too blurry for him to recognize anything. When his eyes finally focused, he found himself staring at the ceiling of the CAC. He shuddered, instantly remembering what it was like to awaken after extensive heart surgery, only weeks before. He sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He saw the six Power Rangers standing beside Billy, as he busily worked at the scanning relay.

"Guys," Adam said quietly, "what's going on?"

His dark eyes widened when he remembered what happened just before he passed out.

"Where's Tanya?!" he cried, hopping off the med-unit and onto his feet. He balanced himself against the med-unit, and shook off a wave of dizziness. Aisha hurried to his side, and helped him stand.

"Take it easy Adam," she said. "You shouldn't stress yourself."

"Where's Tanya?" he repeated in a lower voice. "She's not here!"

"She went with the Sandman," said Tommy, as Adam and Aisha joined the others by the computer.

"Why?"

"Sandman has her parents as prisoners," explained Kimberly. "He threatened to kill them if she didn't go with him."

"So, what are you waiting for?" Adam asked, anger and fear prevalent in his weak voice. "Why aren't you following them?!"

"As soon as I locate Tanya, the rangers will rescue her," said Billy, "I'm recalibrating the scanning system, so we can get Tanya's coordinates. I believe I've found where Sandman has taken her. Or at least, where her communicator is."

"Where is she?" asked Katherine. "Are they still on Earth?"

"The coordinates read a latitude and longitude that marks a city called Falun, in Sweden. But..."

"But?" asked Jason.

"But the readings aren't in the city itself. They are...2.7 miles beneath the city."

"The Sandman took Tanya underground?" asked Zack in surprise.

"That actually makes sense," said Tommy, picking up his helmet. "After all, the Sandman can't live with other people, so he must alienate himself. What better place on Earth to be alone than deep in the crust? Billy, can you teleport us to Tanya's location?"

"I'm having difficulty locking a signal," said Billy in frustration, "and since the signal is coming from underground, I don't want to make an error. You may materialize inside a rock or something."

"Its a chance we'll have to take," said Tommy. "Back to Action!"

The rangers all took their helmets, and strapped them back on in reply. Adam stood back, and watched as they vanished from the Central Access Complex.

"Good luck, gang," he said quietly, "I wish I could be there with you..."

Chapter Sixteen

The Terran Rangers and X-Rangers appeared within a dark cave. Large stalagmites and stalactites sprouted from the floor and the ceiling, and pools of molten lava heated and lit the cave from within small wells in the rock.

"Is it just me," said Katherine, "or have we stepped right into Dante's Inferno

?"

"That's the first thing that came to my mind too," commented Jason.

The Silver Ranger climbed up onto a large boulder, giving him a clearer view of the dark chamber. "Guys," he called, "check it out!"

"What did you find, Zack?" asked Aisha, the recently instated Green Ranger.

"Would you believe...a humungous sand castle?"

The other rangers stepped onto the boulder, and gasped audibly. Not far away was a large palace of bricks made of sand, with a molten lava moat surrounding it entirely. The Red Ranger leaped off the boulder and began walking towards the castle.

"Come on," he called. "Something tells me this is the place to start looking for Tanya."

The Terran Rangers broke into a run towards the castle, but a wall of sand appeared in their path. They stopped short.

"Where did that come from?" asked Katherine.

"Sandman," Jason answered, looking around. Atop the high wall was a figure, who leapt down to the same level as the rangers. It was the troll-like Coppolla, who snarled at the rangers violently.

"Why have you come?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"Why do you think?" asked the Silver Ranger. "Where's Tanya?"

"She is home," he replied. "She will never leave. We made a deal, and it is not your place to break it."

"Sorry, Sandman," said the Gold Ranger, "but the deal's invalid! You can't bargain with what isn't yours, and you don't own Tanya's parents."

"I promised that no harm would come to Tanya's friends," Sandman growled, "but you have trespassed on land no human being may walk upon and live. Unless, I so grant him his life! And I shall take yours from you!"

With that, Sandman raised his fists, and the wall came crashing down, burying the six rangers beneath tons of yellow sand.

Chapter Seventeen