Andros looked up in surprise as the door to his office burst open. "You haven't closed up any of the exits since I left, have you?" Carlos demanded. Andros stared at him, trying to figure out what he was asking for.
"What?"
"Well?" He looked impatient.
"Why."
"Because there's a fight in the entry way, and I have to get you out of here." Carlos moved towards Andros, and he stood, still trying to figure out what Carlos was talking about.
"A what?"
Carlos shook his head. "You've been invaded. They're armed with your blasters." He grabbed Andros' arm and pulled him bodily around the desk. "I have to get you out of here."
It finally clicked, and Andros stopped just as they reached the door. "Ashley."
Carlos growled. "Ashley has Zhane's whole team guarding her, including TJ. Plus, she's with Cassie. You have me."
"I can take care of myself," Andros protested, and the look Carlos gave him shook him more than he would have thought.
"You couldn't even stand up to Ecliptor, and he was only one." The words beat into him, and he shook his head. "There are more than one out there," Carlos continued, ignoring him. "I don't know who they want, but I'm betting getting you out of danger will be the best thing right now. Move." He punctuated it with a firm tug, and Andros stumbled forward.
Once outside the door, Carlos pulled him left, towards one of the emergency exits. Andros stopped, nearly pulling Carlos off his feet. "Let me think. Just give me a minute." He was utterly disgusted with himself; no one would have caught him off guard like this before!
"You're not going up to Medical. No reason to lead them up there and right to her." Carlos took a deep breath and seemed to be struggling with something. "Andros. I know this is hard. Let me get you safe, then we can worry about everyone else, okay? You can have your minute then."
Andros stared at him, then nodded. "Fine. I guess that's what we hired you for." The words left a bad taste in his mouth. He hadn't wanted to hire Carlos; he wanted him at the Academy because he belonged there.
"You're just lucky I know you. Follow me." He turned away, and Andros, sighing, followed him.
The Emergency door wouldn't open, and Andros could hear Carlos muttering under his breath, although he couldn't tell what. It was still a little too unreal to him; had they really gotten that complacent without anyone to fight?
"How did we get... Oh. Won't work. Don't they know that it's dangerous to lock these?" he mumbled distractedly. Andros studied his friend again. He wasn't pacing, like he would have been eight years ago. He stood still, brow furrowed in concentration. "Okay, here they come. This way." He pulled Andros down a side corridor. "Run."
They ran, and Andros found they were working in tandem again, almost like Carlos had never left. Pausing at cross corridors to make sure they were still clear, they moved towards another way out. It was eerie to Andros, how empty it was. It wasn't like when he walked through at night before going to bed. The Academy felt dead, and he shuddered at the images that thought produced.
A blinking red light caught Andros' eye, and he cursed softly. Carlos looked at him, impressed. "I didn't know you'd been to Jaiquan," he said.
Andros pointed up at the camera. "We installed an extensive security system, with cameras in all public areas. If they're in Jerome's office, it won't matter where we are, they'll know."
Carlos growled softly, glancing around. "All right. Keep moving. They know where we are, that doesn't mean they know how to reach us. Communications are down, so no teleporting, and we want to stay away from Medical. What about the current team's quarters?"
"None of the quarters do, but all the hallways have cameras."
Carlos growled again. "Fine. Bill me if this gets too expensive, I'll pay it off somehow." He jumped up to the camera and pulled the wires from it. Andros nodded. He really wasn't thinking straight. "Okay. Let's go. They can follow us by the cameras, but if we're fast enough, we can knock out a good area that we'll be pretty safe in. Let's go."
"You watch for people, I'll watch for cameras," Andros suggested, and Carlos nodded.
"Agreed." They set off again, rounded a corner and walked into a group of four men Andros didn't recognize. Carlos shoved him back into the corridor they had just come from. "Run," he hissed. He did, running for the next intersection, mapping it out in his mind where he was going to go next. Blaster shots fired behind him, but nothing hit him, and he spared a glance backwards. Carlos was right behind him, eyes narrowed in fury and concentration. Andros skidded around the corner, moving towards a stairwell that would get them off this level, only to run right into a second group of men. Literally. He didn't wait for an attack; he knocked them out of his way, using every skill he had, and behind him, he could hear Carlos doing the same. Then he was through and running again. He slipped around a corner and into a small closet, turning to pull Carlos in with him, then closed the door.
They could hear people moving around out in the hall, and voices, but nothing distinct. Andros pressed his ear against the door, trying to find something out about who it was. Finally, though, the sounds outside died away, and he slid bonelessly to the floor. "Hear anything?" Carlos asked. He leaned against the wall, looking barely winded.
"No. The door is too thick, I think."
"What are the chances of getting to the Megaship and taking off?"
"Depends. Unless it's built into their plans. For all we know, we'd get up there and be trapped." Andros closed his eyes and wished, not for the first time, he was telepathic instead of telekinetic. Anything to know Ashley was okay. "We can try for it."
"Let me know when you're ready to move again." There was the barest hint of sympathy in Carlos' voice, and Andros looked up at him. He looked haunted, remembering something, and Andros was pretty sure it was Brianna and Harmony.
"Where did you go?"
The question seemed to startle Carlos, and he looked down at Andros, then slid down his wall to the floor. "Away. I touched down on KO-35, but it was only a stop over, and I didn't get off the ship. It sounded good, though. It was busy."
Andros was a little disconcerted at his own lack of reaction. KO-35 wasn't home anymore, and it surprised him, somewhat. "Where did you end up?"
"Lots of places. Found work...." He trailed off, his eyes suddenly hard, and he stood. "Come on. I have to get you out."
Andros got to his feet, and Carlos cautiously opened the door and peeked out. He moved further out into the corridor, and Andros followed, casting glances around. "Keep an eye out for cameras," Carlos said softly, and they started off again.
They took out four more cameras before running into the next scouting party. Andros didn't even know if Carlos knew about it; he'd used his telekinesis to do it while they were out of sight of the camera. They moved through this group the same way they had the others. Andros noticed they were moving towards the Astro Megaship. He wondered distantly what Carlos had in mind up there. They stopped again for a breather, and one of the scouting parties came around the corner. One man, who looked way too skittish, snapped his weapon up and fired.
Andros was suddenly falling, sliding sideways down the wall, then three more shots went off as he hit the floor. He sat up, staring at Carlos, who slowly crumpled to the ground, then Andros got to his feet and ran. Someone behind him yelled, but he heard no firing as he rounded the corner. How many times was that, now, three? four? that Carlos had taken a blow for him. He shook his head to keep it clear of the memories that wanted to intrude. Hopefully he'd be okay.
He avoided one scouting party by slipping into the closet they'd hidden in before, and waited patiently for the sounds outside to die away. They finally did, but only after a much longer time. When he ventured out again, he could hear them arguing over which way to go, which way he might have gone. A voice cut through the babble, and Andros guessed it was from a communication device of some sort.
"Did you find him?"
"We lost him again. His bodyguard is dead. The one in black." Andros winced. He did not want to have to explain to Ashley that his carelessness had finally gotten Carlos killed.
"Be careful. He's dangerous now, too, possibly more so. On the other hand, we found his battlizer in the desk, so you won't be facing a morphed Ranger. Send Stephen down. Mark said he shot at him." Andros cursed softly. He'd forgotten it.
"He surprised us," a second voice said defensively.
"Fine. But I want him alive, and if you're taking shots at him, I want you off the hunt."
Hunt, Andros thought. That's what it is, all right. And I'm the prey.
"I'll send him down."
"Good. Now find him." There was a click, as if it had been turned off.
"All right. We have to do something differently; this guy knows all the ins and outs of this place. We don't have Will's help in this sector, they took the cameras out. So keep your eyes open, and lets not leave anymore gaps. Most of you have seen him, if you haven't, he's got blonde streaks in his hair, and he's in red. Go."
Andros backed up, right into the barrel of one of the stolen blasters. He spun, but not fast enough to stop the blow; he did deflect it so it landed on his temple, leaving him stunned instead of unconscious, knocking him to his knees. His arms were twisted behind him, hands bound, then one of his captors pulled something that looked like a phone out of his belt. "We got him. We'll be down in a minute."
"Good work. Call everyone in, we can find the others later."
Others? Andros' stunned brain tried to focus, and he shook his head lightly to try to clear it. Others were free? He spent the whole walk trying to figure out who the 'others' might be, and praying to a god he thought he'd forgotten that one was Ashley.
He snapped out of his thoughts as they pushed him into his own office, and he saw Zhane, tied to a chair and slumped over. "Zhane?"
"He's okay." The unfamiliar voice came from behind the desk, where the chair had it's back to him. "He just hasn't awakened yet. He got hit pretty hard."
"Who are you." He'd better not have injured any of the cadets, Andros thought, or he will pay.
The chair turned, revealing a man not much more than twenty, with lank blonde hair and hard eyes. He looked vaguely familiar, but Andros didn't recognize him. "You don't know me," he said.
"Should I?"
"Yes, you should." The man stood and walked around the desk to face him. "Oh, it's been a few years, but you should remember. You had a couple of bad weeks, and I think I got the brunt of it."
Andros tried to match him up with anyone he knew, but couldn't. He shook his head. "No. I don't know you."
"Think back four years." The voice was icier than before. "Your black Ranger had just disappeared - wasn't that who they killed?" Andros didn't answer. He didn't trust his voice. "And just after that," the man continued, walking to where Zhane was, "your lovely wife lost your first child." He turned suddenly on Andros. "Where is she?"
He tried not to let the relief show, tried to keep him from knowing that he had no idea where she was. From the look on his captor's face, he'd been unsuccessful. "You don't know. Well... someone does, and we'll get it out of them." The man walked around the desk and sat down again. "Anyway, back to your memories. You had me dismissed."
He remembered, with an intensity that made him wince. "Vincent Corry."
"You stole my dream from me." The look promised instant death, but creatures with far more power than this man had given him the same look. A human just could not give off the malice that, say, Ecliptor did. Although Astronema had come awfully close.
"How many people's dreams did you shatter?" Andros asked softly. The whole situation had been horrible.
"They weren't important." He waved them away. "I was going to be a Ranger, and you took it away from me."
"You wouldn't have...."
"Quiet!" Andros took a step back from the rage and hate in the man's eyes. "I have plans for you, and your wife." He paused. "And your child. Mostly your wife."
Andros started forward in fury, wrenching free of the hands that held him. "Keep your hands off her," he growled.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to do anything like that. At least, that's not the plan." Vincent smirked as someone knocked Andros' feet out from under him. He fell, hitting his head on the edge of the table, and everything went blurry again. "Be careful! I want him able to watch me destroy his dream."
Hands lifted him up and set him in a chair next to Zhane, who had just started to wake up, moaning slightly. Andros felt blood trickle down his face and decided to play it up; was it possible that they didn't know everything about him? Hoping, he sat there, slumped in the chair, focusing on collecting his thoughts and calming himself down enough to do some good. If nothing else, he could get Zhane free, maybe; he could see the ropes that bound his friend to the chair. He closed his eyes to concentrate better.
Go on to Next Chapter | "I Wonder What it's Like...."