Sylvie woke up at a burning in her right side, and bit back a moan. She had no idea what had happened while she slept, or even where, exactly, she'd ended up. She was actually reclining against something that felt... wrapped around her, and she opened her eyes to look at it. What looked back surprised her.
It was a machine, shaped a little like a horse, at least the head was. She reached out to touch it, running her fingers over the smooth, warm metal. After a minute, she decided it was time to get back to the room she'd been in; no reason to make everyone worry about her. She started to climb to her feet, and only then realized just how much it hurt to move. "Great," she muttered. "Get used to it, Vie. It's part of being a ranger. If I ever get that far."
She finally managed to stand up and looked at the machine she'd been leaning against. The rest of it looked like a horse as well, and she could hear the hydraulics as it stood. It shook itself a little and paced off, away from her.
Looking around, she had no idea where she was. At least, not until she saw the head of a huge lion zord against the wall. The Pit. Now, if only she hadn't left her datapad in the vent, she could probably get back. At least to the main building. "No, bad idea," she murmured. "What if those people are still here?"
A sound across the room made her turn, and she gasped in pain and went down on her knees. They can't find me! she thought, panicked, and searched for a place to hide. There wasn't much, but she did her best, crawling slowly and painfully towards something that looked like a very large eye. She curled up behind it, noticing only then the grease stains on her uniform, never mind the dirt from the vents. Then the noise repeated itself, closer, and she turned her attention back to whoever had come in. Her left hand found something she could throw, and she gripped it almost desperately. If they were going to take her, it wouldn't be without a fight. Slowly, she moved into a position she would be able to see from, and peeked over the equipment she was hiding behind.
Whoever it was hadn't come into sight yet, but they were coming closer. Sylvie shifted her weapon to her right hand, and prepared to fire. As soon as she got a big enough target, she threw the piece of machinery. She didn't expect the fire that ran up her side from the movement, and gasped as she collapsed back to the floor. This time she couldn't stop the tears, mostly of pain, that streaked her face again. It felt like she had ripped her skin off her ribs or something.
"Vie?" The voice took a while to penetrate her brain, and she tried to find enough breath to answer. Mr. Valerte, her mind kept repeating. Mr. Valerte, not Carlos. "Vie, is that you?"
"Mr. Valerte?" she asked finally.
"Yes. Where are you?"
"Hiding behind...." She didn't know what to call it, but cautiously stuck her foot out, hoping he'd see it. Even that movement hurt. "Over here," she added.
"Are you okay?" He knelt by her and gently pulled her onto her back.
"Mostly," she gasped out as little bits of machinery dug into her back and her side. "But one of them shot me...."
"So I see," he said, moving her jacket to see where the blaster had burned through the shirt she was wearing. "That looks bad."
"It hurts." She closed her eyes a minute. "Okay, help me up. I figure if you're here, they've caught the Vincent guy, and it's safe to go back."
"Help you up?" he asked.
"Yes. You aren't in any condition to carry me; you got shot four times. I've only been shot once." She began to sit up, and he stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder. There was amusement in his eyes, and she smiled wryly at him. It wasn't too long ago that their positions had been reversed.
He touched his communicator. "Bulk?"
"Yeah, Carlos?"
"We need a medical bed down in the Pit. One of the missing cadets is down here and injured."
"I'll send someone right down." The communication was cut off, and Carlos settled a little, then pulled her up so she was resting a little more comfortably against him.
"How did you like experiencing our life for a little while?" he asked after a moment. Sylvie, who had been enjoying his nearness again and had nearly fallen asleep, forced herself awake.
"Oh.... I don't know. It was scary. Did you get scared every time you went into battle?" She'd never had the chance to ask him that, but it had bugged her for a while. Especially since she'd been in the Academy, and had seen what they had all gone through.
"At first," he admitted. "The first time I did any fighting as a Ranger, I only knew one person on the team, and that was Ashley. I knew she was a game fighter, but I didn't know anything about TJ or Cassie, and Justin.... Justin had been a Power Ranger all summer, so he knew something of what we were going into. He was younger, but had combat experience."
"Were you surprised when you were chosen?"
"Yeah, a little." He grew quiet, then, and shook his head when she opened her mouth. Then she heard it, little noises, and glanced up at him in some panic. He was focused on the sounds. She knew she was in his way. Holding her breath so she wouldn't make any noise, Sylvie moved so she wouldn't impede him if he had to react quickly. He looked at her gratefully, and shifted so he was in a better position to defend them, if it came to that.
"Hey, Carlos, you down here?" The voice was one Sylvie only vaguely recognized, but Carlos breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, Skull. Over here." He stood, and Sylvie sighed, partially in relief and partially in disappointment. She had enjoyed spending time with him again, but she'd been rather afraid he'd ask her about herself, and she still didn't want them to know. It was better for them all. Without warning, he picked her up and set her gently on the bed, and he and Skull pushed her across the littered floor of the Pit. Before they even reached the tunnel to the main complex, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, she was in Medical, and a pretty black woman stood over her. "I'm glad to see you're awake," she said with a smile. "My name is Mrs. Williams. How are you feeling?"
Sylvie took a moment to take inventory of her aches, and found them to be greater than she'd imagined. "Sore," she said. "But I don't feel much in my side. Is it okay?"
"It'll be fine. You'll have a nice scar there, but you shouldn't have any trouble moving." She patted her arm gently and moved away.
"Is Mr. Valerte okay?" Sylvie asked. The woman turned back.
"Carlos is fine."
"Is he still here?"
"No. He's gone to Triforia, but TJ says he'll be back before the end of the semester." The woman smiled. "You got close to him, didn't you."
"Well, as close as he'd let me," Sylvie said.
"Which seems to be closer than anyone else has. I guess shared danger does that." She started to walk out again.
"But is Karone okay? And Cassie and Ashley?"
"We're fine, Vie," Ashley said, stepping into the room. Sylvie suddenly realized she was pregnant, and just stared.
"You were pregnant?" she gasped as the black woman left.
"Yes, which was part of why Vincent attacked." She sat down in a chair. "Carlos said to tell you he'd be back soon. Although soon, when traveling in space, is longer than on earth. But he will be back." She scowled. "We have a way to track him, now."
"Good." Sylvie relaxed a little, and found herself sleepy. Before she could even make excuses, she fell asleep.
She was released the next day, still tender in the side and still sore. Her first order of business, finding that she felt a little guilty now that she actually knew Cassie more than just in her memories, was to find Zhane and tell him what she'd done. She trusted he wouldn't tell Andros who she was, if she explained well enough why she didn't want them to know. Her other reason was to explain why she needed to get into the vents again - she wanted her datapad back.
She found herself in front of his office not too much later, and took a deep breath before knocking on his door. "Come in!" he called. She opened the door and stepped cautiously in. "Yes, can I help you?" He was busy with paperwork, and looked a little harried.
"I need to talk to you about some... things," she stuttered slightly. "And I need your assurance of privacy, unless you really feel the information is important to tell someone."
He looked up, then, setting his pen down on the desk. "Close the door, have a seat, and go ahead," he told her, then tilted his head at her, slightly amused. The amusement faded almost immediately. "You're the cadet."
She blinked. "Sir?" she asked, startled.
"The cadet in the vents, the one that told us Carlos was okay."
"Yes, sir. Which is one reason I wanted to talk to you."
"About?"
"I left my datapad in there. I wanted your permission to go get it." She shifted nervously.
"Done. What's the other reason?"
"I don't know if you've found out yet," she said, and took a deep breath, "but I was the one that hacked into the medical files about Carl... Mr. Valerte's accident four years ago." It all ran together, and she looked at him hopefully, not wanting to repeat it.
He looked as if he'd been struck between the eyes. "Why?"
This was the part she didn't want to tell. She took a deep breath and started. "Um. Because I'm Sylvie Larson, and I had to know what happened, no one here could tell me, and I didn't want to ask, I didn't want anyone to know I was here, because I knew people would think it was because I knew Carlos and Andros that I got in at all...."
"Stop," he said, and she did, staring at him over the desk, suddenly aware of the tears on her cheeks. "You're Sylvie Larson? The little girl that got caught up in the whole Secret City thing?"
She nodded. "Well, I'm not so little anymore, it's been nine years," she said.
"No, I can see... Did you bring that doll with you?"
The question came out of the blue, and she stared at him. "Yes...."
He nodded. "That clears one thing up. No, two." He took a deep breath. "You didn't want to tell anyone you were here?"
"No. I mean, I know that you wouldn't take someone who wasn't qualified, but if people knew you knew me," she gestured helplessly, "then maybe they wouldn't take the Academy as seriously. This is bound to create some kind of press, I don't know if good or bad, but I don't want to be in it, if you can manage it."
"That's why you said your name was Vie."
"I couldn't let Carlos know. I couldn't let anyone know. I didn't expect to get caught in this...." She gestured helplessly again, and he laughed.
"Welcome to the life of the Power Rangers. Are you okay? I heard you were shot."
"It still pulls, but mostly I'm fine. I know I was wrong to hack into the files, but I didn't know what else to do, and I didn't expect this to happen."
He leaned back in his chair. "No, that's just the way it works." He reached forward and pushed a button. "Bulk, is Michelle still in?"
"Nope, she's gone to visit her folks. What do you need?"
"Verification on a story. Got anyone in mind, who can keep a secret?"
"Maya."
Zhane nodded. "Good. Send her up here, will you? She should be able to help." He turned his attention back to Sylvie. "Maya is empathic. She'll be able to verify if you're telling the truth."
Sylvie opened her mouth to protest, then nodded. "Okay. I understand, I guess, but...."
"I know, you don't want this to get out. My predicament is that Vincent had to get in somehow, and we've got people looking into the whole hacking idea. We haven't found anything but you, yet, but if we can rule you out, then we can start looking elsewhere." He sighed. "I have an idea that you wouldn't be involved in this; but as you said, what if I overlooked you just because you knew us...." He nodded. "Very sticky. If your story proves true, I'll keep your identity from Andros until the end of the year or until you have to leave. Fair?"
"Yes, fair. And if it doesn't prove true, I'd expect to be kicked out anyway," she said. "And about my datapad?"
"Oh. Yeah, do you know where it is?"
"Yes. Only.... I don't know where we were in the Pit from the outside," she said sheepishly.
"That is easily remedied." He touched the communications button again. "Karone, would you come down here, please?"
A knock on the door heralded the arrival of Maya, and Zhane performed the little interview with calm and poise. Sylvie barely kept her attention on the Silver Ranger; the other woman's intense gaze was a little distracting. "She's telling the truth, no question," Maya informed him. "There's a lot of emotion involved, but she's not hiding anything in what she's saying." She looked at Sylvie, considering her. "She's very open about this. Pretty amazing."
Zhane grinned. "Thank you, Maya."
"Anytime," she grinned back, and left, holding the door open for Karone to enter.
"Oh, you found her!" Karone looked happy to see her. "I'm glad."
"Karone, this is Sylvie, plus nine years. It was her doll that gave you that nightmare," Zhane explained. Karone blinked and stared at Sylvie, who squirmed a little.
"Oh. That would explain why you were so frightened when you came out of the vent the first time, right?" Sylvie nodded. "It was a bit of a shock to me, to say the least. I hadn't expected someone to be frightened of me."
"Karone, it's really important that you don't say anything to Ashley, Andros, Cassie, Carlos or anyone else about her. She hasn't said anything yet because it could look bad on the Academy."
"Okay," Karone smiled. Sylvie smiled back. "So, what am I here for?"
Zhane stood and moved around the desk to his wife. "She wants to get her datapad back and to do that, she needs to be in the room in the Pit where you all hid out."
"I never saw the outside of it," Sylvie admitted sheepishly.
"Oh, of course. Come on." She led the way down to the pit, walking in silence for a while. "I don't quite understand why you didn't tell anyone who you were," she said as they stepped out of the elevator.
"Mostly, I was afraid that people would believe that I got into the Academy because I knew Andros, not because I was good enough to make it. And that would reflect badly on the Academy; people would begin to question the integrity of it."
Karone nodded as they walked through the tunnel to the Pit. "I think I understand."
"What was it like," Sylvie blurted out, and immediately turned bright red. She couldn't believe she'd actually said that! She really hadn't been aware she'd been thinking about it.
"What was what like?" Karone asked with some amusement.
At least she wasn't angry. "Um... being you... her again?"
Karone opened a door, waving to Droz, who watched them with some curiosity from across the Pit. "It was... interesting," she said after a minute. "I wouldn't want to do it very often. I almost hit Carlos again, with my staff."
"Why did he go to Triforia?"
She paused, and Sylvie stopped building herself a ladder from the boxes in the room to look at her. "He went because he needed to talk to someone. At least, that's what Ashley told me. But I heard a rumor that he was a hero there, and they hadn't known it was him."
"Doesn't surprise me," Sylvie said shyly. "I've always thought he was a hero." She climbed up and pulled the cover off the vent. She crawled in, then immediately crawled back out, unable to believe how small the vent was. "Will you wait here for me?" she asked, hoping Karone didn't ask why. She didn't think she could explain herself. Karone grinned.
"I won't leave without you," she smiled.
Sylvie returned quickly, trying not to think about how much smaller the space had seemed this time. She sank down on the floor at the base of her ladder and just shook for a while, glad to be out of there. How had she ever managed to get around there the whole time she had? She distracted herself by checking the data pad, and wasn't too surprised to find that it was dead. She'd have to recharge it that night.
"Are you okay?" Karone asked.
Sylvie took a deep breath and stood. "I'm fine, thanks." She even managed a smile that felt real.
They stepped out the door and came face to face with a metal horsehead. Sylvie jumped back, staring at it, and got the distinct impression it was laughing at her. After a second, she realized she must have looked quite funny, and laughed. "Thank you, for hiding me," she said after a minute. The machine seemed to nod, and ambled off with a contented air about it. Droz came up as it vanished behind the remains of... something large.
"What happened?" he asked. "Did it bother you?"
"No," Karone said, smiling in some confusion. Sylvie, still giggling, shook her head.
"That thing is hard to get used to," he said, looking after in with a frustrated expression
"Be nice to it," Sylvie said. "You'll be surprised what might happen."
"I am nice to it," Droz mumbled, shooting her a glare that his smile nullified. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do."
Karone led the way back to the main building, and Sylvie waved good bye as their ways parted. She entered the room in time to hear a shout of anger. "You two are just stupid! How can you be... Here, let me do it!" Amy shoved the other two out of the way and typed something on the datapad hooked up to the terminal in the wall. The monitor beeped and the information they had apparently been seeking scrolled down the screen. Then, with a frustrated sigh, Amy retreated to her bunk and her own datapad, turning her back on the rest of the room. Subdued, Sylvie plugged her data pad in to recharge, then asked Portia if she could borrow hers. With it, she headed down to the practice mats to study and practice, something she'd missed way too much the last couple of days.
Go on to Next Chapter | "I Wonder What it's Like...."