undo lock on the other side of the door.
“Wait.” Max said before Michael went to turn the now unlocked door.
“What do you mean wait? My sister is in there.” Michael said reaching for
the door again.
Max grabbed his arm pulling him away from the door before speaking calmly,
“Yeah, well so is mine. That’s why we can’t go marching in there. We don’t
know what we’re against. We don’t know if they have security of any kind,
and we don’t know what they’ll do to them if they catch us.” He said
releasing Michael’s arm.
“So what you got a plan or something?” He asked.
“Actually I do.” Liz said coming between the two guys.
*
The two men that had taken them passed a hand over their face making the
façade disappear.
“Oh my God. We were kidnapped by a twelve year old and his minion.” Maria
cried out as the younger alien dismissed his partner in crime.
“I’m not twelve.” Nicholas cried out frustrated.
“What are you?” Tess asked, “And why are you doing this to us?”
“Well why wouldn’t I princess?” He asked with a sneer.
Tess and Maria backed up as far as they could. Their backs were shocked with
an invisible volt of painful energy as they ran into the force field that
still surrounded them.
“What do you want?” Maria squeaked out.
“The granolith.” Nicholas said as though it was the most obvious thing in
the world.
“The what?” Maria asked confused.
“The granolith. The only person who knows where it is on this God forsaken
Earth isn’t even here, but her children and their unit are. We raided the
chamber when you were still in those pods. The only thing we could find were
these simple communicators, but then once we examined them we discovered
they weren’t that simple.” He said picking them up off a near by table in
the over crowded basement like building.
“Why didn’t you just kill us?” Maria asked confused.
“They are specially activated, and we can’t activate them. That’s why we
have you two. If two of the queens daughters can’t activate them than no one
can.” Nicholas said placing the two round orbs inside the now completely
closed force field.
“We don’t know how to us them.” Tess said picking one up.
“Don’t tell me your protector never taught you how to use them I know he
did.” Nicholas said running out of patients.
“Protector?” Tess said confused.
*
“Are you sure this will work?” Michael asked looking skeptically at the
door.
“It’ll work. It has to work.” Liz said as she walked behind the other two
boys towards the door, hands raised.
But when they opened the door they were surprised to find they couldn’t get
through because of a very strong force field.
“If the force field is around the entire house that means that…” Michael
began but was cut off by a fist making solid contact with his mouth.
“So much for that plan.” He said as he started to shoot energy at the
attacking alien.
*
Isabel’s eyes flew open as the window opened and a form fell through landing
in a heap on the floor.
Isabel began to nudge Alex’s chest with her elbow. In response Alex looked
up at her. She nodded towards the intruder. Alex shook his head and smiled
before laying all the way back down.
Alex shot up in bed. He picked up one of Liz’s stuffed alien dolls and threw
it at Kyle’s head. When Kyle opened his eyes he turned on the bedside lamp
on instinct still unaware of the trespasser.
“DAD?” Kyle said as he stood up to help his father.
“Hello son.” Jim DeLuca said as he leaned on his son.
“Are you OK?” Kyle asked as he led his father to Tess’ bed.
Jim reached down and placed his hand on his ankle. His hand began to glow;
“I am now.”
*
“Nice to see you three could join us.” Nicholas said as some of his men
placed them in the same area as the other two girls.
Liz grabbed Tess and Michael grabbed them both squeezing firmly.
Maria grabbed Max as if he was her lifeline. Max was just as eager to put
his arms around her. Michael let one of his hands snake out and touch
Maria'’ shoulder gently. She too untangled an arm to capture his hand.
Max sat on one said with his arm around Maria and his hand on Liz’s
shoulder. Liz sat with Maria’s hand and Tess’ gripped firmly, and Michael
had his harm around Tess.
“There aren’t many of you power rangers left, are there?” Nicholas asked
unimpressed.
*
“Let me get this straight, they were all royalty way back when on another
planet, and when that planet broke out in war they were killed, but before
they died their… essence was captured, photocopied and sent to earth?” Alex
asked from the back of the cruiser with Isabel.
“There’s a lot more but you’ll find that all out in time. Right now we have
some where to be.” He said as he looked over at his son who still wasn’t
making eye contact with him.
“They’re in Marathon. It’s a four hour drive and a 45 minute flight.” He
said as he drove into the airport.
*
“The plane will be landing in five minutes please turn off all electrical
appliances, buckle up, and place your food trays in the up right position.
Thank you for flying with Delta.” The flight attendant said calmly.
“I hate flying.” Isabel grounded out threw her gritted teeth as she dug her
nails into Alex’s arm even more.
“You weren’t driving the ship were you?” He asked in a lame attempt to cheer
her up, but the only thing he got was even deeper claw marks.
“I can’t believe you never told me. Does mom know?” Kyle asked his father in
the seat before Isabel and Alex.
“About me or about you Max and Maria?” Jim asked looking straight ahead.
“Both.” Kyle said staring into the side of his father’s head.
“Yes. She’s known for as long as you have been with us.” He said turning to
look at his son.
“And you didn’t tell us?” He asked in disbelief.
“It was safer that way. Besides you found them on your own.” Jim said
nodding his head to the seat behind them with a smile.
“What am I supposed to call you, Jim, Mr. DeLuca, Protector? Do you have
another name form out home planet?” Kyle asked.
“Try Dad, It might work the best.” Jim said evenly.
He looked over at his son who was suddenly quiet.
“You’re still my son Kyle. You’ll always be my son, just as Max and Maria
are my children too. I love as my own son Kyle.” He said placing a hand on
Kyle’s arm before putting it back on his own lap.
*
“OK, let’s try this again. How do they work?” Nicholas asked as he flung the
five aliens around in the force field.
“We don’t know!” Maria screamed as she crawled over to Michael.
Michael welcomed her with open arms kissing her lightly on the forehead. Liz
had her hand intertwined with Tess’ as she snaked over to Max’s arms.
“I don’t believe you.” Nicholas said as he raised his hand again.
*
“How do you know where they are? We can’t even contact them.” Isabel said
from the back of the rented car.
“I have a tracking device that can find the skins.” The drivers said as he
placed the vehicle in park near the jeep.
“That’s what they are?” Alex asked finding the name not very inventive but
fitting none the less.
“Come on we have to get inside.” He said as he walked towards the door.
That’s when they heard a gut wrenching scream form Maria inside.
“Oh my God.” Kyle said as he ripped open the door and ran inside only to be
thrown back about ten feet.
“There goes that tactic.” Alex said helping up the fallen alien.
*
Both force fields rippled but were quickly solid again.
“Go find out whose out there.” Nicholas ordered out to one of his men.
“Come on.” Max said as he formed a plan.
“Throw yourself as hard as you can against the side.” He said as low as he
could manage.
“I wouldn’t try that. Ask your little friends. It’s a pain full experience.”
Nicholas said with an evil smile.
Maria and Tess shake their heads in the affirmative regretfully.
*
Kyle, Alex, Isabel, and Jim watched as three skins came out of the door with
ease causing a slight ripple in the force field.
Jim pushed Isabel through the ripple, Alex and Kyle soon followed. As Jim
went to follow them he found himself being propelled through the air and
landing at the feet of the enemy.
*
Isabel and Alex were the first to notice what was going on. Kyle on the
other hand kept trying to blast through the force field to get to his father
only further hurting himself. The ripple had made it less harmful, but with
out the ripples it was as strong as it was when it had been but up in the
beginning.
Then he saw his father take out his gun and smash the handle down against
the lower back of one skin making it disintegrate. Kyle turned around to
find himself face to face with a gun. An Uzi to be specific.
He began to raise his hand to fight back put the guard laughed knowing that
Kyle’s powers would not work inside.
Kyle took this opportunity to kick the man in the stomach making him double
over. Kyle then brought his interlocked fists down as had as he could on the
man’s lower back.
Alex and Isabel stood paralyzed as the man in front of them disappeared
leaving only the gun. Isabel was the first one to move.
She swooped down and picked up the heavy gun before turning swiftly trying
to find the next skin they had to take out.
“How did you know how to kill them?” Alex asked confused.
“Runs in the family.” Kyle whispered moving against the wall as Isabel had
signaled.
They had heard foot steps but they quickly turned into a different room.
Isabel peeked around the corner watching them raise their hand to the floor
and suddenly to her surprise the floor sprung up. The men hurried down the
stairs not bothering to shut it.
She moved forward instantly not thinking of anything but her friends. Kyle
and Alex walked behind her quietly.
Once they had successfully made it to the end of the staircase they found a
rather cluttered room. Three men stood in a row blocking their view of the
person speaking… that’s when they saw their friends… laying on the floor
with bloody noses and bruised bodies…