The End of Days
Title: The End of Days, Chapter 13
Author: Griddlebone/eggplantlady
Prompt: #014 - the youth who wanted to know what fear was
Fandom: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Genre: Divergence/AU/Post-Apocalyptic
Word Count: 750
Rating: T
Summary: Tommy's flight test turns into a rescue mission.
Previous installments are here.
No sooner had the Hold come into sight than the airship's radio crackled to life. "Kimberly, we've got a problem. Do you copy?" The voice belonged to Trini.
Kimberly scrambled for the radio microphone. "I copy. Tommy and I just finished his training exercise. We're on our way back to the Hold. What's going on?"
"Jason and Zack radioed in a few minutes ago to say they'd found something weird out your way. I'd like you to go check it out and provide support if necessary. If you're close to the Hold, you can drop Tommy off here first and pick up a more experienced co-pilot..."
"Won't be a problem," Kimberly said. "Tommy's more than competent enough for this." With one hand covering the mic, she turned to Tommy and ordered, "Turn her around. We're needed back east."
While Tommy took care of that, she turned back to her conversation with Trini and obtained the coordinates they were heading for. With that accomplished, she slipped out of her seat and went to the back of the cabin, where extensive maps were pinned to the wall. He gave her a few minutes to chart the coordinates, then asked, "So where are we heading?"
"A spot pretty much due south from the training grounds," she replied, plopping back into the co-pilot's seat. "If Jason and Zack say there's trouble, then there probably is."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Based on the coordinates, I'd guess slave trafficking. We've had some trouble out that way before."
Tommy did not need to ask what kind of trouble she meant. He remembered Trini's initial reaction to him, her readiness to kill him on the spot if he was involved with one of the 'slave lords', all too well. And if two of the Hold's most accomplished Rangers were asking for backup, the situation would have to be something pretty intense.
The air in the cockpit was tense as Kimberly gave him directions to the rendezvous site. Even though Tommy knew they were covering a lot of ground, it still felt as if it would take far too long to get to where they were needed. If there was a conflict with slave traders, Jason and Zack could be captured or dead by the time he and Kimberly finally got there.
"Why are Jason and Zack out there together?" he ventured finally just to break the tense silence. "I thought patrol teams were made up of a man on foot and a woman with a glider..."
"They're working a double patrol. That route has a lot of ground to cover, and it's been quite dangerous in the past, so they send two teams. Zack's officially partnered with Katherine and Jason's with Aisha," Kimberly told him. "Don't you ever read the patrol rosters?"
He did not, except to see when Jason was going to be out of the Hold on patrol and he would have their shared room to himself. He'd never really paid attention to who got paired with whom, figuring it didn't really concern him since he hadn't completed his training yet. "So where are the girls?"
"Probably flying reconnaissance."
"And we're going to...?"
"See what's going on, and pull them out of there if we need to," Kimberly said, in the clipped tone that told him she was very worried for her friends.
He felt much the same way. Suddenly his half-formed idea of starting a relationship with Kimberly seemed utterly foolish. They had far more important work to do as Rangers right now, like getting their friends out of a potentially deadly situation. There would be time for personal lives later, or at least that was what he told himself. After all, it wasn't like they had to save the world or anything. They just had to go pick up their friends.
So he let the cabin fall silent, trusting that Kimberly would tell him anything he needed to know before it came up. They had miles to go yet, and he needed to concentrate on staying on course and making good time.
This day wasn't turning out at all like he had thought it would. He had felt fairly confident earlier, when he had mastered the training course with such ease, but now he felt only trepidation and the worry that he and Kimberly wouldn't make it in time to help. But then again, when the day started he'd been expecting a training exercise... not his first mission as a Ranger.
Author: Griddlebone/eggplantlady
Prompt: #014 - the youth who wanted to know what fear was
Fandom: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Genre: Divergence/AU/Post-Apocalyptic
Word Count: 750
Rating: T
Summary: Tommy's flight test turns into a rescue mission.
Previous installments are here.
No sooner had the Hold come into sight than the airship's radio crackled to life. "Kimberly, we've got a problem. Do you copy?" The voice belonged to Trini.
Kimberly scrambled for the radio microphone. "I copy. Tommy and I just finished his training exercise. We're on our way back to the Hold. What's going on?"
"Jason and Zack radioed in a few minutes ago to say they'd found something weird out your way. I'd like you to go check it out and provide support if necessary. If you're close to the Hold, you can drop Tommy off here first and pick up a more experienced co-pilot..."
"Won't be a problem," Kimberly said. "Tommy's more than competent enough for this." With one hand covering the mic, she turned to Tommy and ordered, "Turn her around. We're needed back east."
While Tommy took care of that, she turned back to her conversation with Trini and obtained the coordinates they were heading for. With that accomplished, she slipped out of her seat and went to the back of the cabin, where extensive maps were pinned to the wall. He gave her a few minutes to chart the coordinates, then asked, "So where are we heading?"
"A spot pretty much due south from the training grounds," she replied, plopping back into the co-pilot's seat. "If Jason and Zack say there's trouble, then there probably is."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Based on the coordinates, I'd guess slave trafficking. We've had some trouble out that way before."
Tommy did not need to ask what kind of trouble she meant. He remembered Trini's initial reaction to him, her readiness to kill him on the spot if he was involved with one of the 'slave lords', all too well. And if two of the Hold's most accomplished Rangers were asking for backup, the situation would have to be something pretty intense.
The air in the cockpit was tense as Kimberly gave him directions to the rendezvous site. Even though Tommy knew they were covering a lot of ground, it still felt as if it would take far too long to get to where they were needed. If there was a conflict with slave traders, Jason and Zack could be captured or dead by the time he and Kimberly finally got there.
"Why are Jason and Zack out there together?" he ventured finally just to break the tense silence. "I thought patrol teams were made up of a man on foot and a woman with a glider..."
"They're working a double patrol. That route has a lot of ground to cover, and it's been quite dangerous in the past, so they send two teams. Zack's officially partnered with Katherine and Jason's with Aisha," Kimberly told him. "Don't you ever read the patrol rosters?"
He did not, except to see when Jason was going to be out of the Hold on patrol and he would have their shared room to himself. He'd never really paid attention to who got paired with whom, figuring it didn't really concern him since he hadn't completed his training yet. "So where are the girls?"
"Probably flying reconnaissance."
"And we're going to...?"
"See what's going on, and pull them out of there if we need to," Kimberly said, in the clipped tone that told him she was very worried for her friends.
He felt much the same way. Suddenly his half-formed idea of starting a relationship with Kimberly seemed utterly foolish. They had far more important work to do as Rangers right now, like getting their friends out of a potentially deadly situation. There would be time for personal lives later, or at least that was what he told himself. After all, it wasn't like they had to save the world or anything. They just had to go pick up their friends.
So he let the cabin fall silent, trusting that Kimberly would tell him anything he needed to know before it came up. They had miles to go yet, and he needed to concentrate on staying on course and making good time.
This day wasn't turning out at all like he had thought it would. He had felt fairly confident earlier, when he had mastered the training course with such ease, but now he felt only trepidation and the worry that he and Kimberly wouldn't make it in time to help. But then again, when the day started he'd been expecting a training exercise... not his first mission as a Ranger.