Wes hung back, watching as the Time Force officers activated their communicator. A few minutes ago it had started making a low chiming sound; the equivalent, Wes guessed, of a phone ringing. The others had scrambled to answer it, and Trip had spent a couple of minutes making adjustments. Now a picture was forming in the frame. Alex’s face looked out at them, disturbing Wes again both with his resemblance to himself and with the way his eyes lingered on Jen.

“Hello, Rangers,” he said. They greeted him politely. All of them seemed still to feel somewhat awkward with this Alex who was not quite the man they remembered.

“Rangers, your mission is almost over. Very soon you must leave 2001.”

“We still have to capture Ransik, Frax, and Nadira,” Trip said. “Then we can go home, right?”

Alex frowned. “No, Trip. There is a major crisis coming to Silver Hills. Our records show a massive attack on the city, far worse than anything that’s happened up to now. The destruction will be terrible. You must not be caught up in it.” He sighed. “Our records are incomplete, but history shows you will not survive.”

They stared at him, stunned.

“What do you mean, we won’t survive?” Jen demanded.

“There must be a way to stop it!” Katie said.

“The attack can’t be stopped. But there is one way to escape.” Wes looked up as Alex continued. “I’m sending a timeship for you. You must return to our time immediately.”

Katie spoke. “You mean leave before our mission is completed?”

“We can’t just leave Ransik here!” Jen exclaimed.

“Ransik will be taken care of. The four of you must return to our time before it’s too late.”

“The four of us...” Trip said slowly. They all turned to look at Wes.

“What about Wes?” Lucas asked.

Alex’s face became even grimmer. “Wes must stay in his own time. He and Eric must stop Ransik.”

“But -- what’s going to happen to him?” Jen asked.

Alex didn’t answer her directly. Looking at Wes for the first time, he said, “I’m sorry, Wes. But there’s no other way. You must stay and protect your city. Only you and Eric can save Silver Hills.” He looked back at the others. “The timeship will land at the same location I used before. It will be there tomorrow, your time. You must leave before the final battle begins. If you wait too long and the timestream is disrupted again, you won’t be able to return.” He reached for a control, out of their field of vision. “I expect to see you soon, Rangers. Good luck, Wes.” The transmission ended, leaving them staring at the communicator’s empty frame.

Nadira watched her father from the doorway as he studied the plans for the second Dragon flyer that he had taken from Frax. She wondered if those lines of hardness and cruelty had always been in his face, or if she had just never noticed them before. Finally she stepped into the room. He looked up at the sound of her footsteps.

“Nadira, my sweet. I’ve hardly seen you lately,” he said absently.

“Yes, Daddy… I’ve been… busy,” she answered. He grunted in response, not paying attention. “Daddy…”

“Hmmm?”

“Where’s Frax? Is he all right?”

Ransik looked up, his face suddenly furious. “Are you concerned about that traitor? Doesn’t it matter to you that he almost killed me?”

“Of course it matters, daddy… but he went through so much. I think it affected his mind. Maybe you shouldn’t blame him.”

“Not blame him! I blame him for a great deal. But don’t worry. I still have a use for Frax,” Ransik said with a chilly smile.

“Where is he? Can I see him?”

“Certainly, my dear. He should be back in the holding area shortly.”

After a moment to build up courage, she spoke up again. “Daddy, Frax told me something. He said he’s analyzed the information about the timeline, and done projections.”

“Really? What lies did he tell you about it?” Ransik asked.

“If you prevent Time Force from existing, there’s going to be a terrible war between humans and mutants. He said it will kill most of the people on Earth. That’s most of the mutants too! Daddy, you have to stop this.”

“You believe that treacherous creature? He’d say anything to save himself.”

“It wasn’t like that! I do believe him! At least talk to him, let him explain it himself.”

Ransik snarled. “Too late for that. Wiping out Time Force will help mutants. It’s obvious. I won’t believe anything Frax told you. Now -- leave me alone so I can get back to work.”

He turned back to his plans, apparently forgetting her presence. After a few moments Nadira quietly left.

There were cyclobots everywhere, and the sky was dark, and full of timeholes. The air swirled up into them, creating whirling funnels, sucking up cars, buildings and people…. Wes saw his friends lifted into the sky and carried away, helpless. The last was Jen, screaming his name as she disappeared into a swirling black void.

Wes woke with a convulsive jerk, lying for a moment in the paralyzed, half-real world of a just-ended nightmare. His heart was pounding and his hands sweating. The fear and grief of the dream were still with him. He sat up, trying to calm himself, and realized Lucas and Trip were missing from their cots. Faintly he heard voices from the main room.

He padded silently out onto the balcony that ran around the inside of the clock tower. Hidden in the darkness, he looked down to see his friends sitting around the picnic table in the main room, in the pool of light cast by a single small lamp.

“We have to decide right away, and it has to be unanimous,” he heard Jen say.

“Jen’s right, we need to take a vote. Now who’s in?” Lucas said.

“I am,” Jen said instantly.

“I’m definitely in,” Katie said.

“Me too,” from Trip.

“Count me in for sure,” Lucas said.

“Okay, then it’s settled.” Jen’s voice held a note of finality.

Wes had already started down the stairs. A moment later he confronted them. “What’s settled?” he asked. “What were you talking about?”

Jen faced him resolutely. “We’re not leaving. We’ve decided to stay in this time, and fight.”

“What! You can’t do that. You heard what Alex said. It’s suicide. You’ll all die.” Wes grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly.

“We have a mission to finish here. Ransik is our problem. We’re not going to leave you to do it alone.”

“Our minds are made up. We won’t leave until this is over,” Lucas said.

Jen reached up to grasp Wes’s arms. “If you can make your own destiny, then so can we. We’re a team, no matter what.”

Wes looked around at their determined faces. He sighed and dropped his hands. Part of him -- a big part -- was touched by their loyalty, and relieved to have his team to share the final battle. But with the nightmare still strong in his mind, most of what he felt was fear for them, and a growing resolve to get them to safety, one way or another.

Entering the prison ship holding area, Nadira paused to see if there were any cyclobots inside. Increasingly, she felt like an outsider in this place, slinking around trying not to be noticed. She saw Frax standing inside the same cell as before. She came closer, moving up to the bars. He didn’t react.

“Frax!” she said softly. “What did they do to you?” He turned to face her but did not respond otherwise. “I want to talk to you more. About humans and mutants.”

“I am a fully automated anthropoidal robot capable of limited independent function. I have no information about humans or mutants.” His voice was now fully, and coldly, mechanical. There was no longer any tinge of humanity about him.

“Frax!” Nadira drew back in horror. Somehow what her father had done -- removing the last vestiges of humanity from what remained of Dr. Fericks, in order to use what was left -- was worse than simply killing him. She stepped back, breathing hard, and then turned and ran.

Wes, Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip parked their vectorcycles on the beach and stood for a minute, looking at the newly arrived timeship. It was a slightly larger version of the one Alex had used; spherical, studded with projections, with a conical base. This one also included a large porthole. They started to unpack their loads and take them to the ship. Trip was entrusted with the prisoners; he carefully carried the small trunk containing Steelix, Brickneck, Conwing, and Venomark in cryogenic suspension.

Jen walked up to the door and held her morpher to a small plate next to it. It slid aside noiselessly. “Just like Star Trek,” Wes remarked, earning half-hearted smiles from his teammates, who had become fans of the show.

“It’s keyed to our morphers,” Jen said.

“I wonder if it’s keyed to mine, too,” Wes said. He held his morpher to the plate, and the door obediently slid shut. He smiled.

Inside, they stored the few pieces of equipment they were sending back, and Trip put the prisoners safely away. It didn’t take long. Jen spent some time studying the controls.

“It’s all set up to return to our time,” she said. “After we make sure we’ve packed everything we want to send back, all we have to do is activate the autopilot.” Wes had been watching her; he now knew where the manuals for the ship were kept.

As they walked back to their cycles, Wes said as casually as he could, “I’ll meet you guys back at the clock tower. I have some things to take care of.”

“Okay,” Jen said. They pulled out and rode back toward the city together until Wes turned onto the street leading to his father’s house. As soon as the others were out of sight, Wes turned back in the direction of the timeship.

An hour later, Wes was on the road again. This time he continued on to the Collins house, and pulled up in the driveway. He dismounted, took off his helmet and stood for a while, just looking at the home he had grown up in. It had been almost a year since he had been in this house. He felt an almost overwhelming longing for the way things had been then, when he had nothing more to worry about than getting through board meetings without falling asleep.

It was a Saturday morning; Wes knew his father would probably still be out back, finishing breakfast and reading his paper, enjoying the air despite the winter chill. He walked around the house, past the garden where Trip had come to talk to him, and found his father sitting at the outdoor breakfast table.

Collins saw him approaching. “Wes!” he exclaimed, smiling. “How are you? Have you had breakfast yet?”

“Yes, Dad, I’m fine. And you?”

“Great. I’ve been thinking you should bring your friends around. Maybe next weekend. We could have a little party. I could invite Eric, too, if you don’t mind.”

Wes smiled at the thought of Eric at a party, especially with them. But he had more serious things to say to his father.

“That sounds good, but I don’t think we can make it next weekend.”

“Oh, too bad. Let me know when it’s a good time.”

“Sure, Dad.” Wes paused, then went on. “I appreciate your giving up the research on the serum and the Quantum morpher.”

“It sounded like the right thing to do.”

“It was. I just wanted to tell you… I’m proud to be your son.”

Collins looked at him with affection and a touch of concern. “Wes, it means the world to me to hear you say that.” After a moment he went on. “Is everything okay? If anything’s wrong, please tell me.”

Wes forced a cheerful smile. “Nothing’s wrong. Just wanted to say thanks. Anyway, I’ve got to get going.”

“All right,” Collins said. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Right, Dad. Goodbye.” Wes smiled again, and walked away, not looking back.

“It’s ready,” Ransik said softly. Nadira looked apprehensively up at the new Dragon, larger and more impressive than the first. “And now,” Ransik added, “the finishing touch. The brains of this operation.” He turned to watch as a group of cyclobots pushed a table across the warehouse and up to the Dragon.

Frax -- or the shell of Frax -- lay on the table, dozens of wires protruding from his body. The cyclobots lifted him and carried him up to a small control chamber in the Dragon. They began work on connecting him to his creation, replacing the built-in computer with Frax himself.

Ransik took Nadira’s arm. “This time, the Dragon will have intelligence as well as power. Nothing will defeat it. And this time, Frax will be loyal to me. Tomorrow, my dear, you’ll see the end of Silver Hills, Bio-Lab, the Rangers, and Time Force.”

Nadira shuddered.