“Daddy, there’s six Rangers now! What are we going to do?” Nadira demanded. It was the next day at the prison ship, and Ransik was conferring with his allies, including his daughter.

“I’ve also lost another one of my soldiers. Brickneck was an overconfident fool. He should never have tried to fight the Quantum Ranger. Now I’m left with only Conwing, Frax, and those idiot cyclobots. But don’t worry, my dear, I have a plan,” Ransik said.

“This ship has excellent detectors. I’ve traced the Quantasaurus Rex through the timestream. All we have to do is use the timehole generator to go back and get it. We may not have the power of the Quantum Ranger, but I’ll still get the Quantasaurus.”

“But how can we control it?” she asked.

“For once Frax has been doing something useful.”

Frax spoke up from his corner of the room. “The prison ship library contains plans for the Q-Rex. And if there’s anything I know, it’s robots.”

“Get to the point, Frax,” Ransik growled.

“I’ve built a device which can override the Quantum morpher’s control of the Quantasaurus. All we have to do is find the Q-Rex and attach the device.”

Ransik turned to Conwing, his only remaining soldier, who had been quietly watching them, idly playing with a knife. “I want you to take a flyer and the timehole generator and go get it for me.”

“My pleasure. The Quantasaurus is as good as ours. I'll enjoy using it on this city.” With an icy smile Conwing turned and left the room.

“He gives me the creeps,” Nadira said softly with a shiver.

“Perhaps,” Ransik said just as softly. “But he’ll get the job done.”

Eric walked out of the Guardians’ headquarters and spotted them waiting for him in the parking lot. Wes stood in front of his four friends, all of them staring at him, wearing the same expressions as before, as if they were facing down a dangerous animal.

He greeted them with a grin that had nothing to do with friendliness. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

“Eric, this is Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip,” Wes said. “We want to talk to you. In private.” With a nod, Eric silently turned to lead them toward the side of the building.

A few minutes later they were following him across the roof. He turned to face them, held up his left arm with the Quantum morpher strapped on it, and got right to the point. “You can forget it. The Quantum morpher’s mine.”

“It doesn’t belong to you!” Wes exclaimed.

“Finders keepers.”

“You don’t understand the power it has!” Jen said.

“Oh, I understand. Much more than you think,” Eric answered coolly. He had spent most of the night getting information from the morpher and experimenting with his new abilities and equipment. If these Rangers thought they could intimidate him, they were wrong. “The morpher’s very informative. About the mutants, and about the other things that come with the Quantum Ranger powers.” He smiled again as Wes and Jen looked at each other uneasily. “That’s right. I’ve already got the Quantum Defender and the Eagle. As soon as I get control of the Q-Rex… the sky’s the limit.”

“Eric -- that morpher was meant to help us against Ransik. We need the Quantum Ranger powers to stop him. Please… give it back,” Wes pleaded.

“What do you think I’m going to do with it?” Eric asked angrily. “I’m a Silver Guardian. Our purpose is to protect this city from Ransik and his mutants. And we can do a better job with Ranger powers on our side.”

“You’re not trained for it,” Jen said.

“I’m a fast learner. And I’ve probably had more combat training than you. Certainly more than Wes.”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Lucas asked.

“You don’t. You people appeared out of nowhere with all this strange weaponry and no explanation. Why the hell should I trust you?”

Wes and the others were staring up into the sky behind him, no longer listening. Turning, he saw a narrow beam of light reach up from the ground just outside the city, and form what looked like a black whirlpool high in the air before disappearing.

“A timehole?” Jen gasped, as she and her teammates rushed to the edge of the roof. Eric followed them. They saw a small flyer speed into the whirlpool and disappear.

“The Quantasaurus was sent back millions of years, remember?” Trip said. “Ransik must be going back through the timehole to get it.”

Eric immediately started away from the edge of the roof. “Where are you going?” Wes called after him.

“I’m going after the Q-Rex. No one’s getting it but me.” With a command into his morpher Eric transformed into the Quantum Ranger. Lifting the morpher again, he commanded, “TF Eagle!” Almost instantly a sleek, one-person aircraft with short wings and a clear-topped cockpit swooped over the roof and settled down next to him. Eric leaped onto the wing and smoothly slid into the seat.

“I’ll just beat Ransik to the punch,” he called to the other Rangers. “See ya!” The Eagle lifted and started to move across the roof. He saw movement, and looked back to see Wes running after him, and a flash of light. Wes transformed into the Red Ranger in mid-stride, and leaped onto the Eagle’s wing as it flew over the edge of the roof.

“Wes, what are you doing?” Eric demanded.

“Coming with you!” They had no more chance to discuss it; they were already high over the city, the timehole was shrinking, and there was no way for Eric to dump his unwanted passenger without killing him.

They entered the timehole and were engulfed in a swirl of light and color. They had only their suits, and in Eric’s case the Eagle’s shielding to protect them. Eric could feel the distortion of time and space rippling through him at an atomic level, feeling like he was being turned inside out. He held on fiercely and kept a straight course through the tunnel.

At the sound of a moan he glanced at Wes and saw him clearly in trouble, hanging onto the wing desperately, his grip starting to loosen, looking like he was losing consciousness. Eric hesitated -- only for an instant -- then he opened the Eagle’s cockpit top and reached out.

Eric stood at the edge of a small clearing, reloading his Silver Guardian blaster and watching Wes, who lay on the ground a few feet in front of him. He looked up at the sky uneasily. There were two extremely large bird-like creatures circling overhead. But they weren’t birds. They had long, leathery wings, long necks, and very long, narrow heads and beaks. It was hard to judge size but they looked as big as small airplanes. He knew he was looking at a couple of pterodactyls. They reminded him unpleasantly of vultures.

He thought back to their landing. It had been close. Wes had demorphed on the way down and he had done the same a few moments after they reached the ground. The Eagle had promptly disappeared, going back to wherever it came from. Unfortunately there were limits to the morpher’s store of information, it couldn’t tell him anything about the technology that had created it or even where it came from.

Eric looked back at Wes to see him stir, and then sit up. He stared upwards for a few moments, and then said, “Where am I?”

“Obviously we went back millions of years. I don’t know how far.”

As Wes turned to look at him, Eric went on. “What’s going on? How did Ransik get hold of a time machine? And how did the Q-Rex get sent back to the past?”

Wes shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “The time machine came from the same place as the morphers.”

“And where was that? Where are your friends from anyway?”

Wes shrugged again, and looked away.

“All right, don’t tell me. Doesn’t matter.” Sternly telling himself he didn’t care, Eric turned and walked off. He heard Wes get to his feet and follow.

As Eric walked into the trees, Wes’s voice came from behind him. “That was some ride. My morpher’s dead. How’s yours?”

Eric looked back at him suspiciously. “Mine too.”

“I must have passed out while we were still in the timehole. How did I...”

Wes trailed off, looking off through the trees with a startled expression. Following his gaze, Eric saw another clearing, occupied by a twenty foot dinosaur with a horned head and a huge bony frill over its neck. It was quietly grazing on the trees. Several huge mosquitoes buzzed by. Wes was staring, obviously in awe. Just like him to be so easily distracted. Eric got his attention again by walking up and giving him a push.

“That was stupid. You shouldn’t have come with me.”

“You’re not the only one after the Quantasaurus. If Ransik gets control of it he can destroy whatever he wants!”

“That’s not going to happen because I’m going to get the Q-Rex, not some mutant! And I don’t need your help!” Anger boiled up in Eric, at Wes’s interference, at his unwillingness to tell what he knew about the other Rangers. He grabbed Wes by the shirt collar and roughly shoved him back. Wes lost his footing and fell.

As he got up, Eric stifled a twinge of shame at his own brutality and said coldly, “I can find the Q-Rex with my morpher. You stay here.” He started to turn away.

“Wait!” Wes said. “We should stay together. At least until we can morph again.”

Eric eyed him distrustfully. “Okay. If you’re scared,” he said.

“If you had any sense you’d be scared too. Besides, how do I know you’ll come back for me?”

Eric sneered. “Just try to keep up. And stay out of my way when we find the Q-Rex.”

They had been walking in hostile silence for about ten minutes when they heard a sound of something moving through the trees, and footsteps. Loud ones. Eric stopped and looked around, every instinct telling him they were in danger.

“Eric...” Wes said softly. Eric held up a hand to quiet him. Suddenly they saw it, an impossibly big shape moving through the trees, a shape Eric recognized as a very hungry-looking Tyrannosaurus Rex, moving with alarming speed. It spotted them and turned in their direction.

Both stood paralyzed for a moment as the creature started for them. Then Eric grabbed Wes and shoved him into action, shouting, “Let’s go!”

They ran, finding it hard going through the thick underbrush. Several times one of them stumbled, only to have the other man pull him back up. Eric tried using his blaster but as he’d feared the shot only annoyed the huge beast.

After what seemed like an unending chase, they reached a dead end, blocked by a wall of dense vegetation. Desperately they searched for a way through, and then turned as the dinosaur charged. They ran in opposite directions, the reptile between them. Eric saw it swing its head against Wes, throwing him into a tree. Then it turned on Eric, who had hesitated when he saw Wes attacked.

It shoved its snout against him, throwing him onto the ground on his back. The dinosaur paused, obviously curious about this unfamiliar prey, and bent its head to sniff him, moving with him as he tried to squirm away. Terrified and helpless, Eric could only stare back.

Suddenly the Tyrannosaurus made its move, pulling back for a moment, then lunging with a roar. Eric froze in horror, ineffectively putting up his hands. Then he saw a flash of movement as someone grabbed him and rolled him out of the way. A moment later Wes was pulling him up, shouting, “Get up! Move it!”

And move it they did, fighting through the brush again until they burst into a small clearing, realizing too late that the other side dropped off into a cliff, and the only way out was over the edge. Cornered, they turned to face the dinosaur, which stopped for a moment and then swiped at them with its head again. Wes turned and pushed Eric out of the way, only to be struck and flung out, screaming, into space.

“Wes!” Eric shouted, and looked over the edge just in time to see a flash as Wes morphed before hitting the ground. He then turned back to his own problem, the dinosaur that was coming at him again. For a moment he considered jumping and taking a chance on being able to morph for a few seconds. But then, spotting a small cave through the brush behind the dinosaur, he decided on the equally dangerous course of running for it, between the dinosaur’s legs and up a small slope to the cave entrance.

The huge and frustrated creature was after him in a flash. Eric dived into the cave barely in time, only to discover that it was too small to offer much protection. Desperately he pressed his body into the back wall, barely out of reach of the jaws now groping for him as the dinosaur wedged its head into the opening.

After a few minutes, the Tyrannosaurus seemed to realize it couldn’t reach him, and withdrew its head. Eric sagged in relief, panting with exertion and reaction. He waited cautiously, only leaving the cave after he was sure the dinosaur was long gone.

It took him some time to find the place where Wes had landed. There were crushed vegetation and marks on the ground, but no body, no blood, and shoeprints on a nearby muddy patch. Wes was alive, and headed for the Q-Rex again. Eric’s concern quickly turned to anger as he hurried in pursuit.

When Wes came to he found himself lying at the bottom of the cliff, face down on a pile of foliage. Looking up, he breathed a silent thanks that he had been able to morph long enough to survive the fall. There was no sign of Eric, so Wes could only hope he had escaped. He debated going back, but if that dinosaur had caught Eric nothing would help him now. Which would also mean Wes was stranded here, millions of years in the past. But he still had a mission, and maybe if he found Ransik’s flyer, he’d find a way home. With a sigh, he looked around, and slowly started walking toward the mountain they had been heading for.

Almost an hour later, pushing through the bushes, Wes examined the incline leading up to a plateau above, looking for a path or a gentler slope. Suddenly, he looked up, seeing a small, unfamiliar flyer glide almost silently overhead. Realizing this must be Ransik or his agent, he hurried to follow, and saw it descend for a landing in a clearing in front of a large opening in the cliff face. Wes watched from the cover of the bushes as the tall, white form of Conwing emerged from the flyer and started for the cave. He was already inside by the time Wes morphed and started after him.

Running for the cave, Wes was startled by an energy blast from the forest, hitting the ground in front of him. Looking around, he saw the Quantum Ranger advancing, with his blaster, the Quantum Defender, pointed at him.

“Eric? What are you doing?”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Eric demanded.

“Conwing’s in there, trying to get control of the Q-Rex!”

“Don’t even try it, Wes. The Q-Rex is mine!”

“It’s going to be Ransik’s if we don’t get in there and stop him!”

Eric ignored his words and charged, changing his blaster into a sword on the way. Wes dodged a couple of swipes, then was hit and went down. He rolled back to his feet and retreated, trying to defend himself from the Quantum Ranger, who attacked relentlessly. As he tried to strike back, Eric grabbed his arm, clamping it under his own, and forced Wes painfully to his knees. Swinging the Quantum Defender down, Eric changed it back to blaster form and pointed it directly at Wes’s face. He laughed, softly and chillingly. For the first time, it occurred to Wes that Eric now had the perfect opportunity to kill him and get away with it, and that he just might be capable of doing it.

At that moment, they saw and heard the flyer lift off. Wes realized they had been too busy fighting to notice Conwing coming back out. As the flyer rose, it activated the return timehole, causing another whirlpool to form in the air. The Quantasaurus glided out of the cave, in flyer mode, and headed for it, followed by Conwing’s flyer. Their mission had failed; Conwing had managed to get control of the Q-Rex.

“No! The timehole!” Eric exclaimed. He pushed Wes down and ran for it. Wes scrambled up and ran after him.

A moment later, they began to feel the ground tremble beneath them, and heard a low, deep rumbling, quickly increasing in volume. As a California native, Wes instantly recognized the signs of an earthquake, perhaps triggered by the two timeholes. He staggered as the ground shook under him, then began to loosen and ripple like sand.

“Eric, wait!” Wes shouted. Several yards ahead of him, Eric summoned his TF Eagle, leaping onto it as it set down and sliding into the cockpit. To Wes’s horror, Eric looked back, sent him an ironic salute, and lifted off. He screamed, “Eric, please! You can’t leave me here!”

Abandoned, Wes realized he was also in immediate danger. There was a thunderous roar and the sky darkened as the nearby mountain’s peak disappeared in a black cloud, which swiftly swept down the slopes toward him. The ground became more and more unstable. The mountainside above him began to crumble, threatening to bury him in a landslide. He tried to run away, but his footing was too unstable for him to make much speed.

Abruptly he heard a voice, and looked up to see the Eagle, cockpit top open, swooping down at him. “Jump!” Eric shouted at him again. Wes jumped for it, but the soft ground was too unsteady, and he missed. Eric swerved the Eagle lower, reached down and grabbed Wes’s hand, heaving him up onto the wing where he held on securely.

“Eric, thanks!” Wes said gratefully.

“I saved your butt. Now we’re even.” Eric headed the flyer for the timehole, which was already shrinking.

“We’ve got to get through!” Wes said urgently.

“Hang on tight! We’re gonna make it!”