"No, that was just Jaran. A super droid." Sirena muttered rolling her eyes. "What we're facing will be much worse." She added afterwards, seeing Zhane's face grow whiter. "But don't worry, if he kills us, our death will be quick."

"Gee, I sure feel better now." Zhane muttered. "Thanks for the reassurance, Sirena. I'm all hyped up for battle."

"Don't worry Zhane. I'm sure Sirena's just joking, right?" Karone glanced at her friend. "You are just joking are you?"

"No she's not." Andros muttered. "She's serious in her own way. Remember guys, we can't give up, no matter what things seem to be like. Remember Kalika's attack? We survived, we can survive this too."

"And after we kick butt again, we can go on a long deserved vacation." TJ added. "I already know where I'm going. Tahiti here I come!"

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Ashley muttered. "This is setting me on edge and I hate it."

"Not much longer I can assure you. The dimensional gateway has just been opened, he's coming." Sirena muttered remember the information from the file and also from what she could tell with the sky.

"How can you tell?" Carlos asked. He stared out into the void of space. "I don't see anything but blackness."

Sirena sighed. "Nevermind. I can just tell all right. It's one of the specialties of being under Zordon's schooling. He taught me to tell when evil is coming or when something's going to happen. Like in this case."

"So can you tell which planet he's going to attack first?" Cassie asked. "I want to be alert and ready."

"I believe he will attack Earth first. I mean, besides being the closest planet that poses as a threat to him, rangers of Earth long ago were the ones who destroyed him. He might want to get revenge first."

"If he attacks Earth first, are the other rangers going to come give us a hand if things don't go well?" Cassie asked looking at Sirena, Zhane, Karone, and Andros. "I mean, we are on the same side, they have to helps us."

Sirena shook her head. "They have they're own planets to protect. They won't come and help us, just like we won't be helping them."

"Great, we're fighting something really evil all by ourselves." Cassie kicked her foot at one of the consoles.

"They will be helping, just in a different way. They'll be waiting for their scientists to figure out a way to stop him once and for all."

"So have you actually seen this guy?" TJ asked. "I mean, if he's as infamous as you describe him, shouldn't you know what he looks like?"

"I'll know him once I see him." Sirena muttered. "So will the past Earth rangers, we might even get some help from them if they realize what's going on in time."

"That's good. I think." Karone muttered.

"So what are the chances of them realizing what's going on fast enough?" Zhane asked from where he was pressed against a window. "I can already tell we're going to need help."

"Well, that's hard to tell." Sirena thought for a moment. "The rangers that went up against him are Rocky, Tommy, Billy, Adam, Kimberly, and Aisha. Since they worked really close with Zordon, I say they can probably figure things out pretty fast. I believe in time to help us out too."

"Why don't we give them a call? That way, they'll be ready in case we need them fast." Ashley asked. "We know Tommy and Adam pretty well. I think Tommy still has his communicator."

"And if we don't need them?" TJ asked. "They'll just be on guard for a waste of time. Who knows, we might even teach that Oozehead a lesson and send him back into a hyper-lock chamber. Maybe even another dimension."

"I don't think so TJ." Karone said. She had been watching Sirena's face. "From the looks Sirena had, I can tell she wished it were that easy."

Sirena shook her head. "That's not the point, the old rangers don't have their morphin powers. The morphin generator was destroyed, and the power coins, the Zeo crystal, and the turbo morphers went along with it."

One of the cargo bay doors was opened and Ivan stepped inside. He was met by the entire crew of piranatrons, quantrons, cogs, putties, and StingWingers on their knees bowing. Jaran himself was in the center right next to a seat.

"Welcome my master!" Jaran yelled to the floor.

"Master!?!" Ooze yelled. "There was Lord Zedd, King Mondo, Queen Divatox, Princess Astronema, Princess Kalika, King Scorpius, and the Monarch of all Evil, Dark Specter. After all of those, you still call me MASTER!?!" Ivan Ooze sighed. "From now on, everyone on this ship, in my power, and in this universe shall call me the Supreme Monarch of All Evil, the Boogie Man! Otherwise as `your majesty' or `your highness' by you nincompoops!"

"Yes your majesty!" Jaran yelled. Everything Ivan Ooze had told him was being registered in his memory block. "And the rest of you nincompoops!" He yelled at the crew.

"Yes your majesty." Was said in several different unknown and untranslatable languages used by the crew.

"No no no! This will not do." The Ooze stopped to think. "Well nevermind. I'll deal with it later. Now hmmm... Which planet do I attack first?"

"May I make a suggestion your highness?" Jaran asked looking up a little. Ivan nodded. "How about Earth? Wasn't that the planet that destroyed you? You can have your revenge. As you know, those rangers that sent you away aren't rangers anymore. It will be easy destroying them and those amateurs that call themselves rangers."

"Hmmm... Earth? That's a good idea. All right Jaran! Start the ship towards Earth! We're going to party!"

"Yes your highness. You losers! Set a course to Earth." Jaran yelled at the bumbling crew. "And make sure nothing messes up or else you'll be history."

"But Leo, we don't know if he's going to attack Terra Venture or not. You heard what Dimitria said. He would most likely attack Earth first. Besides being the closest planet to the gateway, the old Earth rangers were the ones who destroyed him." Kendrix reminded soothingly.

"Kendrix is right." Magna Defender cut in. "Besides, why of all the other more powerful planets would he chose to attack Terra Venture? The best we can do is just wait and play it by ear."

Leo sighed. "All right." He held up his hands. "I'm just nervous that's all. I mean, the Earth rangers barely survived getting rid of him a few years ago, what are the chances of we all getting rid of him now?"

"Hey, remember Leo," Kai said from where he was sitting. "The Earth rangers were just one team then, now, we've got teams all over the universe to fight. The chance of winning this is a lot better."

"Just relax." Dammon ordered as he tossed an apple up and down. "We won't be any good if we're so tense. Any ways, we'll get a warning when he comes within a few galaxies away."

"Yeah, you're right. Hey Maya, keep listening for trouble okay?" Leo called over to where Maya was stationed at the only window.

Maya nodded as she kept her eyes and ears peeled the same way Sirena had.

"Tideus, I should be on Earth." Dimitria said worriedly. "I would be more of a use there than here. The least I could do is to gather the old rangers of Earth to help fight with us."

"No Dimitria. They have their own lives to lead and their own families to protect in case the astros fall." Tideus shook his head. "But hopefully that will not happen. Earth has the strongest team of rangers in the universe that we know. With the gold and purple astro morphers on their side, they are unstoppable. If we must, we will send the a few teams to Earth to help them out."

"I am still worried. None of the new teams have ever fought this kind of evil before. Even the astros have never faced it. If they don't know what to do, they will all be destroyed."

"Dimitria, have some faith in what the young people these days can do. They are a lot smarter and stronger than they look. Sure, they can be careless sometimes, but they recover fast."

"It's mainly Sirena I'm worried about." Dimitria sighed. "She took Zordon's leave strongly to heart. If she even thinks that destroying Ivan Ooze will bring him back, she will do everything in her power to destroy him. Even if it means her own destruction."

"I still have faith that if that still happens, her team will be able to talk some sense into her. I've learned that Earth rangers grow close to their team, and treat each other like family."

Dimitria nodded. "Yes, I've seen that with the Turbo rangers. I just hope it's the same with the astros."

"I'm sure it is."

"On screen!" Andros ordered when he and Sirena arrived on deck.

An image of a ship appeared. Sirena felt herself gasp. "That ship was destroyed millions of years ago! It was Ivan's old vessel. The one he was on when it crashed. Only he escaped."

"Well, we're going to have to deal with it now." Andros muttered. He wasn't looking forward to it. "DECA, ACTOM, sound the alarms." The blaring of the alarms was soon audible through out the entire ship.

"ACTOM, ready the ship's mega-lasers." Pretty soon, her other team mates began arriving. "DECA, charge the auxiliary weapons. I have a feeling just the mega-lasers won't be enough."

"Is that Ivan Ooze?" TJ felt his eyes bulge. The ship in front of them was huge. And he meant huge. Sirena nodded as her fingers moved rapidly across the console. "Looks like the ship is readying its lasers."

"DECA, ACTOM, shields up!" Andros commanded as the ship fired. Even with the shields up, the megaship suffered heavy external damage. "Damage report!"

"Um... This isn't looking good." Zhane said as he scanned the report. "That damn ship damaged one of our engines. Megadecks 6 and 7 are off-line. Several more hits like this, and we're history."

"Ivan's charging the weapons with his own power." Karone yelled angrily from the scan she was finishing. "That ship out there has no weaknesses. There's nothing we can do but delay its voyage."

"DECA, aim and fire at one of the engines." Sirena ordered as she started a thorough scan of the ship's hull. "Maybe if we're lucky, we can damage the engine enough that it'll have to take a delay."

The megaship focused most of it's energy at one of the main engines. After several rounds of rapid firing, the megaship was suffering the worst.

"We need more power!" Carlos yelled from his station. "If we can hit its main power core, we'll shut down the entire ship."

"And if we hit it with all the power we got left, we'll shut down our ship. We're already running on emergency power here." Cassie shot back. "That's not much of a choice there."

"Well, we can't lose power either. Who knows how long it'll take them to get back on-line. If they finish repairs faster than us, Earth is not going to be standing where it is for a very long time." Ashley tapped in a few more digits. "And from this calculation, it'll take us weeks to get the megaship back into top condition for another battle like this."

"What if we power the mega-beams, the mega-lasers, and the galaxy cannon with our own morphers. If Sirena uses her staff, we'll have enough power for one shot, and one shot only." Karone suggested.

"And the power we'll have left?" Zhane asked matter-of-factly. "It'll take a few days for our morphers to get charged again. By that time, again, Ivan will probably have control of Earth."

"The Purple Fire Staff has enough power to get one really good shot in." Sirena said quietly. "But I'll have to do it on my galaxy glider. I'm also gonna need to get pretty close."

"No way are you going out there on your galaxy glider!" TJ shouted. "It's too dangerous. If things don't go the way we plan, you're gonna lose a lot more than just this fight. I've never lost a team member before and I'm not going to start."

"TJ's right. There's got to be another way. What if we charge the galaxy cannon with your staff? Won't that work too?" Ashley asked.

Sirena shook her head. "You'll lose some power that way. We need pure energy from my staff. It's enough to damage one engine and send Ivan into at least a week of heavy repairs."

"No way you're going alone. If you're doing this, I come with you." Karone said firmly. "And Andros, you're not going to stop me. Sirena is my best friend."

"What do we then?" Cassie asked grudgingly. "It'll only delay them a week. What do we do when they're ready to attack again?"

"Call the other rangers. I can get them all to come here. I've got a feeling that if we fight together, with all our power, Ivan can be stopped." Sirena said as she began establishing a visual contact with all the other planets.

"All right. That might work. I guess we can do that right now." Andros said softly. "If it doesn't work, we'll think of something else. All right guys, let's get to work, Sirena, send that message."

Sirena got to work, busying herself with preparing the inter-galactic transmission. It would be received by all the rangers who had their communications open and clear.

"Rangers, this is Sirena Lightstar, purple ranger from the astro team. Ivan is heading for Earth right now, we've been drawn into an attack. Both sides have suffered heavy damage. We are getting ready to end this battle with one direct hit to Ivan's main engine. This will only delay him a week or so, but we need help here." Sirena paused a little. "We only have enough power for this one battle. Our ship has already suffered massive damage to the engine which will take weeks to repair and get to the nearest repair station. By that time," The ship shook from another heavy hit setting her off-balance. "By that time Ivan will most likely have control of the entire universe. We need help here." Another blast destroyed the communication connection without any hopes of re-establishing it in time.

The rangers each took one moment to pray and hope in their own way that help would reach them in time.

"Tideus, we must send help." Dimitria tore her eyes away from the screen. She had been hoping that Sirena would re-connect with them.

"You we can't do that. We can't force the other rangers to go. It'll be their choice. They're first loyalty lies in protecting their planet. The universe is second. You know it's always been that way. But the astros are about to be lost. I don't even know if help can reach them in time even if we send it."

"I know." Dimitria suddenly looked tired and old. "I am hoping they will succeed. They must for the good of this universe."

"They will. We cannot lose hope yet. One or two of the planets will send help. I know it."

"Dad?" Trey asked silently when Sirena's message ended. "Do you think help will reach them in time?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. I hope so. We however, cannot leave Triforia. I'm more worried about what they're planning. How to end that attack." I hope not in some rash way.

"Don't worry, Andros and the others know better. They won't do anything rash or really out of line." Trey assured.

"I hope you are right. Earth has suffered through billions of attacks, both big and small, they can live through this one too."

Trey gave his dad a thin smile. "I've seen a few of those attacks Mondo sent. They must live through it. We've still got to finish celebrating after Ivan is gone."

The two turned their attention back to the screen. Another Ivan Ooze update was coming from the nearest planet to Earth, Aquitar. The next most likely target in Ooze would strike.

"You're forgetting that we all have our loyalties to our own planets or galaxies. Our first concern is Terra Venture and the Lost Galaxy. Just as the Eltarian team's first prior concern is Eltar, not that they have much to protect that Dark Specter's last attack." Magna Defender interrupted angrily.

"Calm down Leo. Ivan Ooze will be stopped one way or another. It'll take time, but he will be stopped. And just like Magna Defender said, the teams have sworn their loyalty to their planet, not the entire universe." Kendrix put a light hand on his shoulder.

Leo sighed as he sat down. His nerves were ready for action already. He wanted to see some action, not stay cooped up on a ship. Kai and Dammon looked at him worriedly. Maya was still near the only window.

"We'll see some action soon, don't worry Leo. We'll have our share of it." Kai said as if he knew what Leo wanted. "We'll also find a way to help Sirena and her team, but remember, we aren't the only ranger team in the universe."

Leo nodded. "I know. I just want to help."

"This is it." Cassie said not looking forward to it. The rangers were saying their good-byes just in case. "I just hope this was a waste of breath." She added as an afterthought.

"Me too Cass." Sirena echoed giving her another hug.

"Don't you guys worry. We'll see each other again. After this battle." Karone said firmly. "We're coming back."

"You two better be." Zhane said putting a little humor into the situation. "We've still got a lot of fighting to do with each other. Not to mention the throwing you two telekinetically into a pool, or the throwing food at each other."

Sirena pouted. "That's not fair. Me and Karone don't know telekinesis. Even though Karone did learn, she's forgotten it."

"Sirena, you have no faith in me, don't you? Andros said he was going to start teaching me again. You're welcomed to join."

"Really? Cool, I'm in."

"Great, we already have one clown with telekinesis running around this ship, do we really need another?" TJ muttered. It was obvious he meant Sirena. "But then, one isn't enough." He added quickly seeing Zhane and Sirena glare at him. "We do need more laughter." He said weakly.

"Hey Andros," Sirena started. She looked meaningfully at the other rangers. Getting the clue, they all left the two alone. "You know I love you right? If I don't come back,"

Andros quickly hushed her. "Like Karone said, you will come back. After this fight, we'll be together again. Don't say anything like that."

Sirena forced a tiny smile. "Right, I'll be back." She was clinging to the tiny spark of hope inside that what he, Karone, and all the other rangers were saying would be true. "We'll be back soon."

Andros gave a thin smile also. "Come on, the others are waiting to get this show on the road." He grasped her hand not wanting to ever let it go. Gradually, Sirena felt tears threaten to spill out. "Don't, please don't cry."

Sirena fought to keep the tears back. "Andros," She whispered as he held her close. "I want to believe it, I really do. When I was younger, I always accepted what would happen, I never gave it a thought. I just didn't have anyone back here to wait for me. Except Zordon, but after I left Eltar, there was no one." She sniffled as she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Well I'm waiting for you now. Me, and everyone else. We're all trusting you to keep your promise and come back alive and in one piece. You and Karone. Promise me that?"

Sirena nodded. "I promise. I'll try, I really will."

"Come on, we really must have to go now. Everyone's ready to get this thing started. Afterwards, we'll just have to hope that help reaches us in time." Silently, without words, he kissed her.

Standing before the jump bay, Karone and Sirena, plus the rest of the rangers silently saluted their good-byes once more. In a quick motioned, the two rangers thrust their hands out and were through the tubes. The remaining rangers lingered for a second before returning to the bridge to create the distraction.

"Purple Fire Staff!" Sirena yelled in the lead. "Karone, you better not regret coming with me!" She yelled to her companion.

"Why would I?" She answered back. "You're my best friend, I wouldn't leave you to some mission alone now would I. Zhane wouldn't either if it was Andros and vice versa. I may be inexperience when it comes to rangering, but I know when my friend need help."

Sirena came to a stop a good distance away as not to be consumed or crushed by the explosion that would be taking place. Karone stopped alongside her.

"Karone, think you can keep watch for any movement that would indicate Ivan's ship firing on us?" She asked as she readied herself.

Karone grinned behind her helmet. "You bet I can. I'd rather not succeed than lose my best friend. You know that." She called for her planet plates. "This might not help much, but it might do enough damage still."

Well, we'd better get ready then." Sirena muttered. "Purple Ranger Fire Staff, Power On!" She called. Once again, for the second time since she'd received her staff, the amethyst gem glowed purple. "Now, I just need one good blast." She muttered as the ship before her shifted.

Karone watched carefully as the lasers beamed out firing towards the megaship and not them. A sudden shift in it's laser patterns made Karone realize that they'd been spotted while at the same time, Sirena had a good shot. "Sirena, we'd better get out of here fast!"

"Not now, I've got a good shot." Sirena yelled back. She wasn't about to let just one, small, laser blast stand in her way. Karone reached over to grab her. "Blast!" It was too late.

The other rangers were trying to get over their horror too. Nothing like this had ever happened or anything close. For the TJ and the Turbos, this was the first time team members had died. For Andros and Zhane, it was like living in a nightmare come true once more. They had lost members of their old team to Dark Specter's first attack on KO-35.

A comforting hand was placed on Andros' shoulder. Without looking up, he knew it was Zhane. "Andros, are you all right?" Zhane's familiar voice asked. Under these circumstances, all the laughter and fun was gone from his voice. It had been replaced by sorrow and tragedy.

"I feel like I'm responsible." Andros said quietly so none of the others would hear. "I promised Phantom that I would take care of his daughter. And my sister, I lost her once, I told myself that I would never lose her again."

"Hey, it's not your fault. You wouldn't have done anything to stop both Sirena or Karone. Phantom Ranger knows that as rangers, Sirena had a duty that came before life or death. She knew the consequences." Zhane said keeping his voice low. In the background, the other rangers could be heard crying softly or trying to keep their composure.

"The rest of the universe must be informed." Andros said quietly. "They can't be kept in the dark. Not Phantom, not Trey, not Dimitria. No one."

"I know what you don't want to do. I'll let them all know." Zhane said with a comforting pat on the shoulder. "You can count on me."

"Thanks Zhane." Andros tried to give a grateful smile. "I think I need to be alone for a while." Zhane nodded as Andros stood up to leave.

"You guys." Zhane said quietly as Andros left. "We have to let the rest of the universe know."

Still in shock over the two deaths, the four Earthlings sat back down at their stations. Communication channels were fixed and soon the entire universe saw the tear streaked faces of the five astro rangers.

"Rangers of all." Zhane began. His voice was quiet and everyone out there listening knew that something was wrong. "I am the silver ranger. We don't have very good news since the last time that Sirena Lightstar..." The full impact of what had happened hit Zhane just then and he began to cry. "God I don't want to do this." He said quietly but still the rest of the universe heard.

Cassie tried to give Zhane her best brightening smile. "You have to. You're second in command since Andros is in no condition to."

Zhane nodded. "Sirena Lightstar gave a report." He said continuing again. "We were ready to end the first battle with a crippling blow to Ivan's ship. It happened, but in the process, we lost two members of our team." At the word team, tears were streaming down his cheeks anew. "The purple and gold rangers were lost in this battle trying to disable Ivan's ship. They succeeded only to loose their lives." Zhane couldn't stand letting everyone see him cry. Like Andros, the two would taught not to show their feelings. Only Andros had master it while Zhane couldn't but he had still hated to show weakness. He turned and fled for the comfort of his own room leaving the communication channel open.

Ashley starred at her station while the other rangers each had their own way of grieving. With slow movements, she reached over and closed the channel bringing darkness to all the viewing screens out in the universe.

"Why?" Carlos asked silently. "Why did this happen? We were an unstoppable team before Ivan came. How'd this happen?" He demanded.

"It was bound to, Carlos." Cassie said trying to hide her tears but to no avail. "I guess we all knew it would happen someday. There was always a chance of never coming back from a battle alive. I guess Sirena and Karone were ready to face death." She buried her face in her hands as sobs racked through her body.

"We can't think of ourselves in a time like this." TJ insisted as they looked up at him surprised. "We all lost two great friends, and I'll miss them too I admit. But think of Andros. He just lost two of the women he loved most in the world. Even though we still have each other, it's not the same for Andros."

"Or Zhane." Ashley added remembering the silver ranger's own tears. It was the first time she'd seen him cry. "We can't just sit and mope about either. Not with Ivan repairing his ship while ours in worse condition. We have Earth and the universe to think about."

"And both Sirena or Karone wouldn't want us to abandon what we started. We have to finish it. If not for the universe, for them." Cassie added on. "It'd be their wish and mine if I'd have died too."

"Don't you dare think about death anymore!" Carlos warned. "I don't want to hear anything associated with it. Let's get the megaship fixed and send Ivan back to where he came from. We can mourn for Sirena and Karone then."

"Right." TJ agreed as he dried his eyes. "All right, I'll start on the engines, Carlos can work on the computers on the most damaged decks, you two can start fixing computers and re-establishing control of most of the lasers." TJ ordered taking charge. "We should leave Andros and Zhane alone."

"Dad?" Trey asked as he approached him. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I am fine." Daurius' lips barely moved as his armor shimmered away. "Is she really gone? Tell me it's just a nightmare."

"No nightmare." Trey said sadly. "We aren't only ones who are sad, dad. Sirena's team cared about her too. So did Dimitria and almost everyone else who'd come to respect her. We're not alone."

"I know. I just can't believe she's gone."

"We all can't." Trey said firmly stressing the we. "But we must think of her later. The astro team is in trouble after loosing two of their most valuable members today. Dimitria and the elders have called a meeting on Inquiris. Because the rangers are engaged in battling Ivan, they think he's no threat to the rest of the universe. They won't to decided whether or not to send help. We must go too. If Ivan attacks Triforia, our troops here can hold him back until help comes."

Phantom nodded not really hearing his son. All he could think about was Sirena and how they hadn't had the time to get to know each other.

"Let's go." Trey took his father's arms and steered him along towards a winger which would take them to Pyramidas.

As his sleep deepened, he dreamed what could not be.

"Andros, I promised you I would return with Karone alive. And Karone and I intend to keep that promise. You hear me?" Sirena's voice was clearly audible in his mind. "We'll be back soon. Even if it takes us a long time. We'll all be together again. Time. It's all we need." Her voiced faded away echoing the time portion.

"Sirena! Come back!" Andros felt himself yell as he woke up. "God no." He thought as everything came back. Sirena and Karone were died. They weren't going to come back. No matter how long he waited.

A soft knock sounded at his door. "Andros?" Zhane's familiar voice seeped through. "Can we talk?"

"Come in Zhane."

The slid open and Andros squinted at the bright glare of the hallway. The door slid closed leaving the brightness behind.

"I heard you yell." Zhane began hesitantly. "It hurts me too. They were my team mates as well as yours also."

"I know. I find it all my fault. If I had stopped them from going. Even if I'd gone myself." Andros said frustrated.

"You don't really think that do you?" Zhane asked surprised. "If you were the one dead, Sirena would be blaming herself. And Karone would probably be the one telling her there was nothing she could do to stop it."

"Karone telling her? What about you?"

Zhane tried to muster a small grin. "I'd be with you of course. Best friends don't leave the other behind. Just like with Sirena and Karone."

"Yeah, you're right. Sometimes when I'm all alone in here, I think I hear them calling for me. Telling me to wait and that they'd be back." He gave a small sigh. "But I know it's not true. I'm just keeping the real facts hidden from myself. I'm lying to myself."

"I do too. You're not the only one. Before you called out, I thought I heard Karone tell me to let you know that Sirena and she'd be back before we'd know it." Zhane also looked away.

"What do you mean thought you heard Karone?" Andros asked thoughtfully.

"Oh no Andros. You don't really think those stories we heard as kids could be true, do you?" Zhane asked his eyes widening. He was referring to stories their parents had told them about rangers being blown up and coming back to life.

"But there's got to be some truth to those stories." Andros pointed out. "I remember Lyra, the old yellow ranger, saying that all stories need to have some truth that gave it its start."

"And suppose they were true?" Zhane asked. "The rangers were transported to another dimension. If they even figured out that they aren't where they're suppose to be, it'd be a hard trek to get back. Some don't even make it."

"We're just going to have to have hope, Zhane. Sirena and Karone are smart, they'll figure out that they're elsewhere. They're also strong in spirit. We both thought we heard them. And they both said that they'd be back. We're just going to have to trust them."

"Karone?" Sirena called weakly.

"Yeah, I'm here and in one piece. Just one question, where are we?" Karone asked as she held her head.

"I was hoping you could tell me." Sirena said softly. "This doesn't look like Earth or any of the planets in the solar system. In fact, I've never seen this planet before."

"I haven't either. It looks deserted." Karone said as around them, the landscape stretched endless with desert and sand. "Remind me that after we get off this place to spend all my free days laying around a pool with no sand in sight."

"Me too." Sirena agreed. "Do you heard something?"

"No." Karone looked around puzzled. "What do you hear?"

"I'm not sure. It sounds like hoof beats."

"Get real. I'm not sure any animal could survive on this planet for a long time." Karone snapped. Then she quickly covered her mouth. "Forget I ever said that." She muttered.

"What do you know about telepathy?" Sirena asked Karone.

"Telepathy? Well, isn't it when two people can communicate with their minds and not use words?" Karone asked. Sirena nodded. "Why?"

"Well, can't we use to get to Andros and Zhane?"

"Why not just use our morphers?"

"If this is a hostile planet Karone, I'd rather be stuck alone in a desert without contact with any human than be in the hands of the people living here. And if their technology is up-to-date as the rest of the universe, they'll be able to detect our morphers when we try to establish contact easily."

"Good point. But I'm warning you, I know nothing of telepathy. I've never even tried to use it before."

"Fine with me. I haven't either so it'd be my first time also. Let's just try. I got Andros, you call Zhane." Sirena said as fast as she could. Karone pouted. "And don't try to talk me out of it."

Karone sighed. "All right." They both closed their eyes and concentrated.