Dynamic Power Rangers

Chapter 10: Fathomless Depths

Sky Base has been flipped, turned upside down by the arrival of a very special guest who announced that the project was now a joint venture between Astral Dynamics and Nodroz Corporation. At first Lark had been taken aback. Even if Dr. Wilhelmina Davis-Doyle was someone she admired, it'd didn't mean she would willing give up control of her first project. That, however, was not what she'd meant.

"Relax. No one's taking the project away from you. I don't have the time or inclination to relocate. I wouldn't trust it to anyone else. I'm just going to help spruce the place up a bit. The Caervinians were Eltar's allies. That makes this place not just a relic of a bygone alien species. I'm just going to help fill in the ranks a bit. Get a few non-essentials up and running," Dr. Billie informed her.

And that's exactly what had been happening. New personnel were coming along to study, work, and revitalize the island. Lark hadn't lost her job, it meant it was going to be busier. She felt it was a good direction. Something she'd have liked to do herself eventually, but her father's interest had only been in the technology. Not only the experimental Morph Tech but also the everyday technology the island utilized.

Dr. Billie seemed to have different ideas. Or, perhaps, Lark partially suspected, she was merely the conduit for the will of someone else. Perhaps the White Wizard. He seemed to speak for Eltar.

Meanwhile, Billie had taken over a smaller lab in the citadel to work on the broken Morpher. She didn't like being interrupted either. She scowled at Taylor through lenses that magnified her eyes to about fifty times their normal size. "I cannot science a way to unpossess Rena. I told you already, according to the experts, only <i>you</i> can do it and none of them would elaborate any further than that," she told him for the umpteenth time.

That's not why I'm here. I swear," Taylor said, holding up his hands in surrender. "You're a computer nerd, though, right?"

"Yes, I am highly intelligent and know how to do more on my computer than stream cat videos on YouTube," she answered.

"So you know other nerds?" he asked, ignoring her corrective jibe.

"Yes, I do know other highly intelligent people," she answered. "What are you trying to ask?"

He leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm trying to figure out the phrasing. I don't have the gift of speechifying like Tai. Man, that guy can make you want to run naked into the flames of Hell if it was the right thing to do," he said with admiration.

Billie snorted in amusement. "He is an artist," she agreed. "Take your time and don't hurt your brain," she permissed and went back to her minute work on the Morpher.

Taylor waited until she seemed to pause before he spoke again. "When you get that fixed, I'm going to need someone to replace Ram," he said.

"You needed that long to think that up?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I was trying to figure out a way to be less blunt," he answered. "Ram won't be able to do both. He can't be in the field and on the computers chasing bits of code to save our skins at the same time," he said.

"You sound as though you'd rather he be stuck in the Lab," Billie mused.

"No," he said immediately then seemed to think it over. He shook his head. "No. Ram was chosen as a potential Ranger for good reason. As good as he is in the Lab on computers, he's that good at the field stuff. He deserves his chance," he said.

Billie nodded thoughtfully. "What do the others think?" she asked.

"I haven't broached the subject with them yet. They're already about to blow fuses over the additional personnel being brought in. Talking about bringing a stranger into the Lab might, I don't know," he mimed a head exploding gesture.