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Time Bomb - Chapter 15

From Betamountain.org


Time Bomb

Chapter 15

by Richard Ryley


Doc sat up, rubbing his temple experimentally. "Is there any pain?" Q-Ball asked him.

"No. It just feels a little... funny."

"That's to be expected." He looked over at the other Rangers as they also sat up. Goose was looking grim, and Niko somewhat relieved. Zack was looking the others over, as Q-Ball was, watching for any sign that the implants had not taken. On the other side of a glass window, Daisy, Buzzwang, and Zozo were also watching.

"Well, there's only one way to find out if the operation was successful."

Zack nodded. Triggering his badge, he was reassured to see the familiar yellow glow wash over his right arm. The other Rangers then activated their badges as well, Doc pulling out his CDU to open his portal.

The tweakers zipped out into the room. "We're all A-OK, Doc-o!" Pathfinder squeaked, as he whirled around Doc's head.

The hacker grinned. "You just remember how close you came to being deleted. I'll remind you of this the next time you want to lag behind in some system 'Just one more minute'." He pitched his voice higher to mimic the tweaker for the last couple of words.

All four of them looked up as Walsh walked into the outer room. He said a few words to Daisy, then stepped through the door and into the inner chamber.

"What's the news, sir?" Zack asked him. Behind, Daisy and the other two Rangers also joined them.

"Well, Wheiner claims to have had no knowledge of what was on the disk. 'Project Failsafe', as he calls it, was supposedly put into place by his predecessor, with strict instructions only to read the disk if one of the Series 5 Rangers went renegade."

"I'd be concerned about what Wheiner considered 'renegade'." Goose muttered.

"Indeed," agreed Walsh. "The point is, I've got nothing I can pin on him. Most of the members of the Council on Extraterrestrial Affairs that were in office at that time are now retired. And those who were not are claiming, like Wheiner, that they were not aware of the exact details of the project."

"Well, at least Q-Ball was able to remove that 'feature'," Doc said, putting a finger to his temple.

Zack nodded. "The Queen will no longer be able to use it as a weapon against us. And..." He was interrupted as a brightly colored, female, teenaged whirlwind burst into the room.

"Shane!" Eve asked, hurrying to the Supertrooper's side. "Are you all right? How did everything go?"

"Everything's going to be fine," Goose assured her. "We were able to remove the self-destruct code from our implants."

"That's great," Eve purred, wrapping her arms around Goose's. He pulled back a little, obviously a little taken aback by her sudden affection, and looked up at Niko for help. To his suprise, she was scowling at him.

Daisy chuckled. Eve turned to look back at her, then looked at Walsh. "What about Miss O'Mega? Did she get that pardon?"

"Eve!" Goose protested.

"BETA has dropped all currently standing charges against Daisy O'Mega," Walsh said. To Goose's confusion, he seemed to be amused by something. But as he glanced at Daisy, his expression became more stern. "But this covers only current charges. If she gets in trouble again, BETA will not extend the same courtesy twice."

"I'll be makin' sure ye won' have cause to," Daisy put in. "I canna say I'll no be BENDIN' the law a bit, but I'll steer clear of ye Rangers from nae on."

"Any chance of you staying and working for us?" Zack put in.

Daisy glanced at Goose for a moment, but then she looked at Niko. "No. I've lived that life. I dinna wan' ta go back to it." There was a short silence while she paused, thoughtfully, but then she looked up again, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Mind you, if SHANE asked..." Daisy paused for effect. "And he asked... nicely..." Niko's scowl deepened.

"Well, I'm glad you helped Shane rescue me," Eve cooed, pulling the Ranger a little closer. Shane made a feeble attempt to extricate himself from the teenager's grip, but she only held him tighter.

From his other side, Daisy wrapped an arm around his neck. "I was MORE than happy to help," she said, leaning in close to the Ranger.

Niko stood up, still scowling. "Well, if you will excuse me..." she gave Gooseman a withering stare. Goose just stared back, completely confused. "I'm SURE that I have better things to do."

"Wait!" Goose stood up, dragging Eve along with him, as Niko stomped out of the room. He followed, severly hampered by the affectionate teenager clinging to his arm.

"Interesting." Buzzwang commented. "I rescued her once, as well, but she did not demonstrate the same gratitude towards me."

"Oh, I dinna want ta miss this. This is ginna be WAY too much fun." Daisy quickly followed the two Rangers and the enamoured Eve out the door.

Doc chuckled. "Some guys have all the luck..."

 

THE END