"Soul's Bonds", Chapter 3
OH NOES ANOTHER CHAPTER?! Don't expect them to be posted this quickly too often. *g* I post new chapters as I finish the one I'm currently working on so I don't catch up to myself and get stuck and have plenty of leeway in case I need to do any major revisions, but I churned out chapter 21 yesterday and am halfway done with 22, so 4 may go live Tuesday or Wednesday. But yeah, don't expect this. ;)
Chapter 3 (Sky)
As my comrades and I prepared to comb the streets of Newtech City, I tried to keep calm, reassure them, and radiate confidence as I felt a proper Red Ranger should. Privately, however, images from the darkest point in my life kept floating up unbidden, like they often did whenever we were faced with a crisis. Me, as a small child, being handed a red helmet covered in black cloth... a coffin being lowered into a grave... all of SPD and my friends and family dressed in black, mourning the passing of a beloved officer who had been killed in the line of duty. Stop thinking that way. Don't overreact, Bridge is going to be OK, I told myself. I'm going to find him, and whatever snatched him will be sorry he ever crossed us.
"Sky!" Z's voice cut into my thoughts. "Hey, you OK? You keep spacing out."
"Yeah," I said, shaking my head. "Sorry." I banished the images from my mind to focus on the task at hand and said, "Okay. I think a good place to start would be retracing Bridge's presumed steps up to where Piggy saw him, then we can fan out from there and search the area." As we approached Samuels Clothing, I saw, much to my relief, that Jack, Ally, and Piggy were in. While I agreed with Cruger that we didn't want the whole city to know that one of our officers had been kidnapped, it never hurt to have more eyes and ears open, and I knew we could trust them.
"Hey, everyone!" Jack called pleasantly as we walked up to them. He hopped off the back of the truck he was loading, wiping sweat off his forehead. "What are you doing here? Where's our favorite man in blue? And who's this?" he asked, noticing Tessie in her green uniform.
"You must be Jack. I'm Tessie Herdman," she said as she shook his hand, her eyes wide with admiration. "I used to be in C-Squad, now I'm the Green Ranger. I know who you are, can't believe we haven't gotten to know each other yet, but I've heard so much about you from the others."
"All good things, I hope? It's a pleasure to meet you," he said. "So, what brings you guys to my corner of the city?" He listened intently as we filled him in on what had happened, his eyes narrowing as I showed him the photograph of the captive Bridge. When we were finished, he gnawed his lip, looking up and down the alleyway almost as though he expected Bridge or a monster to appear from nowhere. "You know you can always count on me to keep an eye out," he said finally, taking the spare communicator I handed him. "I'm not a Ranger any more, but if I see the monster that did this to him, I'll tear it apart."
"Just don't go telling everybody that he's missing," Syd reminded him. "I know you're not that dumb, but it could pose a lot of problems if it gets out."
"Don't try and play the hero like you usually do, either, big brother," Z said, kissing him on the cheek. "Report back to us if you hear or see anything about it and please, for Heaven's sake, don't try to rescue him yourself. Get over to the Delta Base, or if communications come back online, we'll give you a buzz. Cruger knows we've got you on the case." Jack smiled at her.
"Don't worry, little sis. I was Red Ranger, remember? I know protocol by heart by now. Good luck, you guys." We thanked him before I turned my attention to Piggy, who had his snout in something rotten he'd no doubt just pulled out of the trash.
"Sorry to bother you during your breakfast, but I need to ask you a few questions," I said, waving the smell of his meal away with my hand.
"Shoot," said Piggy, licking his fingers.
"You saw Bridge yesterday afternoon, correct?" I inquired. He nodded affirmatively. "Let me make sure I have the story straight, then. You came back alone after making a clothing delivery, since Jack and Ally had gone out, and Bridge was sitting on the loading dock, sleeping in the sun. You woke him up, talked to him for a few minutes, and he left on his own, right?"
"Yup," said Piggy, giving a satisfied belch. "That's all."
"Now, which way did he go?" I asked. He pointed in a vaguely northwest direction. "OK. And he was still alone when he went out of sight? You didn't see him being followed, hear him being attacked, nothing unusual at all?"
"I didn't see anything happen to the green guy, I swear," he replied, wiping his hands on his pants. "Oops, I guess he's the blue guy now. Anyway, he was just cheerful as could be. Told me he had a day off and wanted to see Jack, and when I said Jack wouldn't be back for a while, walked off with hardly another word to me. I can't imagine why he didn't hang around, all I was doing was eating a perfectly good sandwich with half-rotted meat and... mmm, rancid mayonnaise..."
"That's enough, thank you, Piggy. Any more and I think I'm going to be sick," I said, then turned back to the others. "Let's go. We know what direction he walked off in; let's split up into two groups and start searching. Z, Syd, you two go together, and Tess, you come with me. Remember Cruger's orders- check in periodically, and if you find him, return to base so we can decide what to do from there." Tessie and I walked off one way, while Z and Syd went another. I noticed Tessie's head darting to and fro, looking for any sign of our missing friend. "You're still looking sick. Are you sure you're up to this?" I asked her. "I can send you back to base if you're not comfortable."
"I'm fine," she said. "It's just my luck, though, isn't it, sir? My first month as a Ranger, and somethin' like this happens."
"You don't have to call me sir any more," I said. "Remember, we're on a nearly-equal footing now."
"It's a hard habit to break," she said as we turned a corner, then she looked at me, frowning slightly. "Do you think he's OK? I'd really hate for us to do all this searchin' and find him hurt, or worse..."
"I know he's fine. Call it a gut feeling. And I'm going to make sure that whoever snatched him pays the price," I said, my eyes narrowing. "Nobody gets away with doing this to one of my Rangers- and one of my friends." As we continued on, I fingered the photograph in my pocket, picturing the terror on Bridge's face in my mind's eye, anger beginning to simmer within me. I wanted to find the criminal as soon as possible, punish him for what he had done, and recover Bridge, bring him back home where he should be. He got on my nerves a lot, it was true, and I tended to be a jerk to him sometimes, but I found myself feeling very protective toward him now, just like I had when the alien Bork had captured him only a few months before. Bridge was always so nice and kind to everybody... he didn't deserve what had happened to him...
"Stop," said Tessie suddenly, and she threw out an arm to halt my progress. "Sorry, sir, but is that blood on the ground?" I knelt down to examine the dark patches near the blank brick wall ahead of us, taking some tools out of my jacket pocket to collect some of the stained dirt.
"That's blood, alright, and it looks pretty fresh," I said. "We'll have to have it examined at the base to find out whose it is, but it looks like this is a start. Good find, Tess." There were also footprints in the churned-up dirt, both clawmarks and from normal sneakers. The clawed prints led right up to a brick wall, where they stopped. I walked up to the wall and placed my hands on it, pushing hard, then pressed my ear against it, tapping it with a knuckle. "Seems like a pretty normal, solid brick wall. But the footprints lead right to it. Either there's a way to get into or around this wall... or the creature that was here can fly. Let's get back to base, this could be the lead we're waiting for," I said.
* * *
One hour later...
Commander Cruger paced before the spot where Tessie and I had found the blood (which we'd since confirmed was Bridge's) and footprints. R.I.C. was at his feet, nose to the ground. Kat, Syd, Z, Tessie and I stood in silence off to one side as Cruger examined the wall in much the same way I did, pushing it, tapping it, as R.I.C. sniffed up and down it. Cruger then knelt down next to R.I.C., who barked several times at him and gave a little whine.
"There's no doubt about it, this is the spot were Bridge was abducted," he said, straightening up. "R.I.C. can detect his scent all over the place, and of course his blood is on the ground... but there's something odd, too." He scratched his chin, looking up. "R.I.C. is telling me there are no other scents here besides Bridge and the usual ones - mice and rats, trash, and so on. No sign of the kidnapper, however, aside from the footprints, which could belong to any number of species. It's as though both of them completely vanished into thin air. Of course, it is feasible that the kidnapper grabbed him and flew off, but if it were a flying creature, I'd expect to find a loose feather... and if the creature used a device to fly with, I would think that evidence of takeoff would be left behind- burn marks on the walls, that sort of thing. But there's nothing."
"What do you recommend we do, sir?" I asked. Cruger turned to us, still scratching his chin. Much to my surprise, he looked completely baffled.
"It seems like this is a dead end for the time being. Let's go back to base for now, where we can determine our next move," he ordered. "The kidnapper may have even tried to contact us again."
Extract from the journal of Sky Tate
We searched the city for the rest of the day and have found no more clues. There has been no further word from the kidnapper, still no signs of Bridge anywhere, and everyone is at a total loss of what to do. I'm about to pull my hair out, and I'm getting more worried about Bridge by the second. All I can think about now is the day my dad died...
No. I'm not going to let that happen again. My fears that he might get killed could be overkill, of course, but we can never be too careful, especially because we're dealing with an unknown menace. I am not going to stand idly by and lose somebody else I care about. My father's death was hard enough on me, but I don't think I could handle losing Bridge. I was too young to do anything about Dad dying. Now I can do something.
Chapter 3 (Sky)
As my comrades and I prepared to comb the streets of Newtech City, I tried to keep calm, reassure them, and radiate confidence as I felt a proper Red Ranger should. Privately, however, images from the darkest point in my life kept floating up unbidden, like they often did whenever we were faced with a crisis. Me, as a small child, being handed a red helmet covered in black cloth... a coffin being lowered into a grave... all of SPD and my friends and family dressed in black, mourning the passing of a beloved officer who had been killed in the line of duty. Stop thinking that way. Don't overreact, Bridge is going to be OK, I told myself. I'm going to find him, and whatever snatched him will be sorry he ever crossed us.
"Sky!" Z's voice cut into my thoughts. "Hey, you OK? You keep spacing out."
"Yeah," I said, shaking my head. "Sorry." I banished the images from my mind to focus on the task at hand and said, "Okay. I think a good place to start would be retracing Bridge's presumed steps up to where Piggy saw him, then we can fan out from there and search the area." As we approached Samuels Clothing, I saw, much to my relief, that Jack, Ally, and Piggy were in. While I agreed with Cruger that we didn't want the whole city to know that one of our officers had been kidnapped, it never hurt to have more eyes and ears open, and I knew we could trust them.
"Hey, everyone!" Jack called pleasantly as we walked up to them. He hopped off the back of the truck he was loading, wiping sweat off his forehead. "What are you doing here? Where's our favorite man in blue? And who's this?" he asked, noticing Tessie in her green uniform.
"You must be Jack. I'm Tessie Herdman," she said as she shook his hand, her eyes wide with admiration. "I used to be in C-Squad, now I'm the Green Ranger. I know who you are, can't believe we haven't gotten to know each other yet, but I've heard so much about you from the others."
"All good things, I hope? It's a pleasure to meet you," he said. "So, what brings you guys to my corner of the city?" He listened intently as we filled him in on what had happened, his eyes narrowing as I showed him the photograph of the captive Bridge. When we were finished, he gnawed his lip, looking up and down the alleyway almost as though he expected Bridge or a monster to appear from nowhere. "You know you can always count on me to keep an eye out," he said finally, taking the spare communicator I handed him. "I'm not a Ranger any more, but if I see the monster that did this to him, I'll tear it apart."
"Just don't go telling everybody that he's missing," Syd reminded him. "I know you're not that dumb, but it could pose a lot of problems if it gets out."
"Don't try and play the hero like you usually do, either, big brother," Z said, kissing him on the cheek. "Report back to us if you hear or see anything about it and please, for Heaven's sake, don't try to rescue him yourself. Get over to the Delta Base, or if communications come back online, we'll give you a buzz. Cruger knows we've got you on the case." Jack smiled at her.
"Don't worry, little sis. I was Red Ranger, remember? I know protocol by heart by now. Good luck, you guys." We thanked him before I turned my attention to Piggy, who had his snout in something rotten he'd no doubt just pulled out of the trash.
"Sorry to bother you during your breakfast, but I need to ask you a few questions," I said, waving the smell of his meal away with my hand.
"Shoot," said Piggy, licking his fingers.
"You saw Bridge yesterday afternoon, correct?" I inquired. He nodded affirmatively. "Let me make sure I have the story straight, then. You came back alone after making a clothing delivery, since Jack and Ally had gone out, and Bridge was sitting on the loading dock, sleeping in the sun. You woke him up, talked to him for a few minutes, and he left on his own, right?"
"Yup," said Piggy, giving a satisfied belch. "That's all."
"Now, which way did he go?" I asked. He pointed in a vaguely northwest direction. "OK. And he was still alone when he went out of sight? You didn't see him being followed, hear him being attacked, nothing unusual at all?"
"I didn't see anything happen to the green guy, I swear," he replied, wiping his hands on his pants. "Oops, I guess he's the blue guy now. Anyway, he was just cheerful as could be. Told me he had a day off and wanted to see Jack, and when I said Jack wouldn't be back for a while, walked off with hardly another word to me. I can't imagine why he didn't hang around, all I was doing was eating a perfectly good sandwich with half-rotted meat and... mmm, rancid mayonnaise..."
"That's enough, thank you, Piggy. Any more and I think I'm going to be sick," I said, then turned back to the others. "Let's go. We know what direction he walked off in; let's split up into two groups and start searching. Z, Syd, you two go together, and Tess, you come with me. Remember Cruger's orders- check in periodically, and if you find him, return to base so we can decide what to do from there." Tessie and I walked off one way, while Z and Syd went another. I noticed Tessie's head darting to and fro, looking for any sign of our missing friend. "You're still looking sick. Are you sure you're up to this?" I asked her. "I can send you back to base if you're not comfortable."
"I'm fine," she said. "It's just my luck, though, isn't it, sir? My first month as a Ranger, and somethin' like this happens."
"You don't have to call me sir any more," I said. "Remember, we're on a nearly-equal footing now."
"It's a hard habit to break," she said as we turned a corner, then she looked at me, frowning slightly. "Do you think he's OK? I'd really hate for us to do all this searchin' and find him hurt, or worse..."
"I know he's fine. Call it a gut feeling. And I'm going to make sure that whoever snatched him pays the price," I said, my eyes narrowing. "Nobody gets away with doing this to one of my Rangers- and one of my friends." As we continued on, I fingered the photograph in my pocket, picturing the terror on Bridge's face in my mind's eye, anger beginning to simmer within me. I wanted to find the criminal as soon as possible, punish him for what he had done, and recover Bridge, bring him back home where he should be. He got on my nerves a lot, it was true, and I tended to be a jerk to him sometimes, but I found myself feeling very protective toward him now, just like I had when the alien Bork had captured him only a few months before. Bridge was always so nice and kind to everybody... he didn't deserve what had happened to him...
"Stop," said Tessie suddenly, and she threw out an arm to halt my progress. "Sorry, sir, but is that blood on the ground?" I knelt down to examine the dark patches near the blank brick wall ahead of us, taking some tools out of my jacket pocket to collect some of the stained dirt.
"That's blood, alright, and it looks pretty fresh," I said. "We'll have to have it examined at the base to find out whose it is, but it looks like this is a start. Good find, Tess." There were also footprints in the churned-up dirt, both clawmarks and from normal sneakers. The clawed prints led right up to a brick wall, where they stopped. I walked up to the wall and placed my hands on it, pushing hard, then pressed my ear against it, tapping it with a knuckle. "Seems like a pretty normal, solid brick wall. But the footprints lead right to it. Either there's a way to get into or around this wall... or the creature that was here can fly. Let's get back to base, this could be the lead we're waiting for," I said.
* * *
One hour later...
Commander Cruger paced before the spot where Tessie and I had found the blood (which we'd since confirmed was Bridge's) and footprints. R.I.C. was at his feet, nose to the ground. Kat, Syd, Z, Tessie and I stood in silence off to one side as Cruger examined the wall in much the same way I did, pushing it, tapping it, as R.I.C. sniffed up and down it. Cruger then knelt down next to R.I.C., who barked several times at him and gave a little whine.
"There's no doubt about it, this is the spot were Bridge was abducted," he said, straightening up. "R.I.C. can detect his scent all over the place, and of course his blood is on the ground... but there's something odd, too." He scratched his chin, looking up. "R.I.C. is telling me there are no other scents here besides Bridge and the usual ones - mice and rats, trash, and so on. No sign of the kidnapper, however, aside from the footprints, which could belong to any number of species. It's as though both of them completely vanished into thin air. Of course, it is feasible that the kidnapper grabbed him and flew off, but if it were a flying creature, I'd expect to find a loose feather... and if the creature used a device to fly with, I would think that evidence of takeoff would be left behind- burn marks on the walls, that sort of thing. But there's nothing."
"What do you recommend we do, sir?" I asked. Cruger turned to us, still scratching his chin. Much to my surprise, he looked completely baffled.
"It seems like this is a dead end for the time being. Let's go back to base for now, where we can determine our next move," he ordered. "The kidnapper may have even tried to contact us again."
Extract from the journal of Sky Tate
We searched the city for the rest of the day and have found no more clues. There has been no further word from the kidnapper, still no signs of Bridge anywhere, and everyone is at a total loss of what to do. I'm about to pull my hair out, and I'm getting more worried about Bridge by the second. All I can think about now is the day my dad died...
No. I'm not going to let that happen again. My fears that he might get killed could be overkill, of course, but we can never be too careful, especially because we're dealing with an unknown menace. I am not going to stand idly by and lose somebody else I care about. My father's death was hard enough on me, but I don't think I could handle losing Bridge. I was too young to do anything about Dad dying. Now I can do something.