The silvery gleam and jerky movements of cyclobots. A flash of pink hair in sunlight. Nadira. Alex circled over the parking lot in front of some store she had apparently been caught in the act of robbing. Too bad it wasn’t her father. But she was a worthy opponent too; he hadn’t forgotten how she had tricked his teammates, helped break Ransik out when he was being transported to jail. He’d almost enjoy fighting her.

And he looked at the men confronting her with interest, too. The Silver Guardians, judging from the information in that last briefing. The historians had told him how they were involved, they and Bio-Lab were the critical element that must be protected in this time. This would be about the time they first appeared. For an instant he had the sense of seeing history being made.

He sent the Eagle, the personal flyer that came with the Quantum Ranger equipment, into a dive, pushed himself out of the cockpit, and leaped from it, landing on the pavement between the combatants, aware of the sudden silence as all eyes turned to stare at him.

Straightening to his feet, he took a step closer to the mutant. “I see you’re up to your usual tricks, Nadira!” he said.

“Who the hell are you?” she demanded.

It was tempting, to demorph, show her exactly who he was, the man her father had left for dead. But of course it was out of the question. “I’m the Quantum Ranger,” he said. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Another Ranger? Well, it doesn’t matter. My daddy will beat all of you!” She shot an angry glance beyond him, raised her arm, and even as he grabbed for the Quantum Defender to shoot her, disappeared in a twinkle of transporter light.

Alex growled in frustration, taking another step forward, but there was nothing but deactivated cyclobots left to fight. He turned, sweeping a glance over the navy-blue uniformed men still staring at him, and seeing five people nearby -- his eyes almost passed on, but then he saw her...

He started for them, almost did it, almost ran up to them, almost shouted ‘Jen’, almost grabbed her up in a hug. Took a few steps, before getting himself under control, staring at them. But they were all looking at him like he was a stranger -- and of course he was, as far as they were concerned, in his suit and helmet. And as he took a second look, he felt pure shock knife through him.

One of them was him, like a bizarre mirror image come to life.

“My daddy will beat all of you!” the pink-haired woman hissed. She touched something on her wrist -- and vanished. Eric was startled, despite having been warned in training. Knowing these mutant characters could do that was entirely different from actually seeing someone disappear into a sparkle of light like that.

The Ranger -- a new one, despite looking very much like the red Ranger they had seen in the news, but with black trim on the suit instead of white -- had turned toward them. He had taken a few steps, and was staring now, not moving. But not at them, Eric realized. At that same small group of five people, who were staring back, not in confusion, but in something like alarm. Abruptly he seemed to come back to life, raised his arm, then leaped into the air, landing on the small flyer that had brought him, which he had somehow summoned back down to pick him up. An instant later he was gone.

Guardians were exchanging looks, astonished and confused by what they had seen. But Porter pulled them back together, his voice loudly ordering them to secure the scene. Eric rose to his feet and moved forward with his companions, checking out the wrecked robots littering the boutique entrance, making sure none of them was still a danger. And he took the opportunity to take a closer look at the small group both Pink-hair and the mystery Ranger had found so fascinating. And got another surprise.

Later he would wonder what he had been thinking, to break discipline like that. But he did it. Walked up to them, faced them, close enough to be sure. He had known, of course, that they might run into each other. His old school ‘friend’. The rich kid. A nice guy, he had to admit, but still spoiled and lazy like the rest of them.

“Wes,” he said. “Long time no see.” He removed his sunglasses when the blond man still showed no sign of recognition.

“Eric!” Surprise, and maybe a hint of dismay flickered over his face, quickly replaced by a smile. Wes took a step closer and held out his hand. “What are you doing here?”

Eric swung his hands behind his back, somehow not wanting to accept the gesture of friendship. “I’m with the Silver Guardians. Working for your father.”

Wes looked surprised again. “My father?” he asked.

“Yeah. Didn’t you know about us?”

“Well, no. I don’t work at Bio-Lab any more.”

And apparently didn’t talk to his father. Eric filed that bit of information away. “Who was that guy?” he asked. “That new Ranger?”

Just a split-second of hesitation, before Wes answered. “Beats me. Never seen him before.”

“Strange. Seemed like he knows you. And your friends. So did that girl...” Eric took another look at the people with him; two Asian men, one tall and handsome, one with improbable green hair; a tall, attractive Black woman, and a pretty brunette, standing next to Wes, staring with cold and hostile eyes.

“No. We were just walking by.” Wes shrugged and grinned as he stepped back, but his eyes were wary. “Got nothing to do with this.”

“Come on, let’s move it!” Porter’s shout ended the discussion. Eric glanced at the SUV’s to see the others waiting for him. He slid the sunglasses back on his face. “Well, I’ve got work to do. See ya around,” he said, and left them, running to take his place. But he watched them as the cars pulled out, still standing there, still staring.

“Who the hell was that?” Wes burst out as soon as they were safely back upstairs in the clock tower. “That new Ranger?”

“That was the Quantum Ranger,” Trip said, walking by him to drop into a chair.

“Quantum Ranger?”

“Yes,” Jen said as she sat on the couch, her face thoughtful. “Someone must have come back, with the Quantum morpher. Or they sent it, and someone from this time found it…”

“Whoever it was definitely recognized us,” Lucas commented. “It must be someone from our time.”

“Quantum morpher?” Wes asked again when the others fell into silence.

As usual when explanations were needed, Trip answered him. “The Quantum morpher was still being developed when we left. It’s more advanced and more powerful than the ones we use. The chronomorphers.”

“And now someone’s here, using it. Someone from our time.” Katie said, a smile breaking over her face. “That means…”

“Yeah… Time Force managed to send us help.” Lucas looked around at his teammates. “Maybe now we can finally get Ransik. And go home.”

They all grinned at each other. Wes watched, trying to look happy, but his eyes rested on Jen’s face, and his mind couldn’t escape the selfish thought of her leaving, so soon, the fact that he would never see her again. His heart sank, even as his face smiled.

“But who is he?” Jen asked, her expression becoming more serious. “He almost gave us away, almost came right up to us.”

“No reason he should know we’re keeping our identities a secret,” Katie protested.

“He should have guessed it was likely. And then why did he leave?”

“Don’t know.” Katie smiled. “Maybe he’s got equipment for us! A working communicator! A timeship!” Her expression sobered. “But why doesn’t he contact us?”

“I assume he just got here. He’ll be trying to find us,” Lucas said.

“The Quantum morpher can locate the chronomorphers,” Trip said. “He should have no problem finding us. And he could use the morpher’s communicator function.”

“Why is his suit red, like mine?” Wes asked.

Trip promptly went back into lecture mode. “The Quantum morpher is a prototype. The first of a new line of morphers. As soon as it was perfected, they were going to make a set of five, just like us, Quantum Red, Blue, Pink, and so on.”

“Then are there five of them out there somewhere?”

“No. When we left they were still working on red. And there hasn’t been time to make more.”

Jen still looked doubtful. “I want to know who he is. Where is he now? And he’s not the only complication we’ve got. Wes…” She looked up. “What do you know about those Silver Guardians?”

“Nothing. Just what you heard, that they work for my father.” Wes turned away, his mood darkening, not wanted them to see his face. “You heard the commander. They were hired to protect that store. Figures. They’re Dad’s latest way of making money off the trouble Ransik’s causing.”

He felt his hands ball into fists and shoved them into his pockets, suddenly angry, not sure if it was because of his father’s obsession with money or because they were so out of touch that he hadn’t even known about it. First that little confrontation when they were collecting garbage… and now this…

“But they’re helping to protect the city,” Trip was saying. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“He doesn’t care about the city!” Wes retorted. “All he cares about is money. His company.”

“Still, we could use the help.”

“I don’t know.” Wes shook his head stubbornly. “They don’t know what they’re getting into. We’re the only ones who have a real chance against Ransik and his mutants. Someone’s going to get hurt if my father keeps this up.”

“They seemed to do okay with those blasters,” Lucas said.

“But they shouldn’t have blasters,” Jen protested. “They must have gotten hold of the blasters from the cyclobots we’ve destroyed in the past... copied them. They shouldn’t have that technology. History’s changing right in front of us, and we can’t stop it.”

After a brief silence, Lucas spoke again. “And what about that guy who came up to you? What did you say his name was?”

“Eric. Eric Myers. We went to school together.”

“He didn’t exactly act like an old friend.”

“We weren’t exactly friends. He always had an attitude. Like he had to prove he was as good as the rest of us. Maybe better.”

Wes looked away again. Seeing Eric had brought back memories, some good, some not. School, his friends… He had been popular, the other kids had looked up to him. Mostly because of his father’s money, of course. Eric, on the other hand, had been disliked and ignored, because of his lower-class background, his lack of money, and also his standoffish attitude and his temper. Wes had been about the only one who tried to befriend him. It had worked at first. But soon Eric had started to resent him, probably for the differences between them, for everything Wes had and Eric didn’t. Their relationship had turned into rivalry, mostly over the martial arts they both had been so good at. Then it had become hostility... at least on Eric’s part. And now, here he was. Still resentful, apparently.

“I didn’t like the questions he was asking,” Jen said. “He noticed the Quantum Ranger starting to come up to us. He’s suspicious. It could mean trouble.”

“He can’t prove anything,” Wes said. “And we may never see him again.” And yet -- Wes couldn’t decide whether that was what he wanted. He had liked Eric in school, at least at first. Had felt sorry for him, and admired his drive and determination. His hostility had hurt, and Wes had tried to change it up until the time Eric had dropped out. Now… if they did come into contact, maybe he’d have the chance to try again.

“Who was that, Daddy?” Nadira felt almost frightened as Ransik stared at her, his face reddened with anger, his eyes narrowing. Next to him, Brickneck looked serious for once, and Conwing’s face was blank and cold. “What’s... What’s wrong?” she asked in a small voice. As soon as she had returned to the prison ship and started to tell her father what had happened, he had called another meeting and made her repeat her story to the others.

Ransik glared, but spoke in a calm enough voice. “A red and black suit?”

“Yes...”

“Jagged edges between the colors? A holster and blaster?”

“Yes, Daddy. You know who it was, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know,” he growled. “The Quantum Ranger. A new morpher Time Force research was working on when we left. They must have sent another officer with it. It’s more powerful than the other morphers, and comes with more weaponry.”

Nadira knew what that meant. “You mean we’re in trouble, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Conwing said softly. “Was he alone?”

“I didn’t see anyone else.”

“Hopefully he’s all they sent. The timestream is unstable, they wouldn’t have wanted to risk more lives. But we should investigate, see if they’ve sent more ships or weapons with him.”

“I think they already have,” Ransik said. “I scanned the timestream when Nadira told me about the Ranger, and detected a transfer. A large object, mechanical, no life signs.”

“You think it’s the Q-Rex?”

“Yes. Luckily for us, it landed off-target by over sixty million years.” Ransik’s voice was thoughtful now. “We still have the timehole generator we used to get here...” He paused. “These Silver Guardians. A special security force working for Bio-Lab. They must be what we’ve been waiting for. This new Ranger showed up to help them. That confirms it.” He exchanged a glance with Conwing. “And that means we know who our next target is. Eliminate their leader, and we may eliminate Time Force.”

“It may not be easy, with six Rangers to deal with.”

“We need to attack in force. Divide their attention. Hit hard and fast... and I know just how to do it.”

Eric was still thinking about it at the end of the day, as he returned to the house he had moved into so recently. Wes. His old schoolmate. His friend, once. But that hadn’t lasted long. Couldn’t expect someone like that, rich and upper-class, to see him as an equal. Had to admit, Wes had tried... but not for long. And it had ended in rivalry, envy, dislike... Not that he could blame Wes, exactly, Eric admitted to himself, the hostility had been mostly on his side.

But now -- Wes knew something about the new Ranger, maybe the others too. He was involved, somehow. And Eric was going to find out exactly what was going on. Find out, and use that knowledge. He smiled to himself. Knowledge was power, after all.

In his ship, Alex stared at the monitor tucked under the main control panel. It was all there. The instruments had recorded it automatically, as he took off, opened the timehole, and escaped. An electronic record of horror.

All there... the shiver of change that had flowed through the fabric of reality, leaving a dead and blasted landscape. Instrument readings. No lifeforms in range, in what had been one of the busiest cities on Earth, unless you counted the deadly bacteria and viruses. High radiation levels, readings of poisonous chemicals.

Had anyone survived? Impossible to tell. Perhaps a few, in remote places. It hardly mattered, they wouldn’t survive long. War... that was there, too, in a few historical records he had picked up from the new reality. Devastating war between humans and mutants. Without Time Force to control the technology that had created the most dangerous mutants, and to combat those who became criminals, mutants had become powerful enough to challenge humankind for dominance -- with the inevitable result. A struggle to the death, with both sides ultimately losing.

No. He couldn’t allow it to happen. Had to change it. No matter what it took. He had come here to save Jen, and the others. But now -- much more was at stake. Guilt squeezed his heart as he wondered if he was to blame, at least partially, if his coming back had somehow caused the shift in history. But it was done, he was here, and there was no going back. And now he had to fix it, somehow. Make sure they won the fight with Ransik, no matter what. Jen’s life, his own, nothing was more important.

But... he leaned back, closing his eyes, allowing himself a moment to feel his own exhaustion. Tomorrow, he’d find his teammates, contact them. But he couldn’t face telling them about this, or about their own futures. No need to burden them, especially Jen. She had enough to deal with. And no one should know when they’re going to die... No, he’d keep it to himself, no matter how much he needed her understanding and support; this was something he couldn’t tell her.