Streaks of Purple Saga/Spectrum Force - Heather Ray (best beach reads txt) 📗

a school night," Alpha commented.

"What about Kim?" Trini wondered.

"Well, if I'm here, then it's only logical that Kimberly materialized in my world," Jocelyn pointed out. "I'm sure my friends took care of her."

"We don't know that for sure," Tommy groused. "Zordon, you even admitted you don't know what this portal is supposed to do."

"YOU ARE CORRECT, TOMMY. HOWEVER, A PROPER ANALYSIS OF THE READINGS WE HAVE SO FAR COLLECTED WILL TAKE SEVERAL HOURS. THERE IS NO REASON FOR YOU TO REMAIN HERE DURING THAT TIME. YOU SHOULD RETURN TO YOUR HOMES AND GET THE PROPER REST."

Alexis suddenly gasped. "Guys, we've got the PSATs in the morning! Wow, I totally forgot!"

Jocelyn's eyes widened as she stared at each of the Rangers in turn. "You guys are in high school?"

Tommy glanced at her. "Why? How old are you?"

"Eighteen… and I'm the youngest on the Force!" She frowned, obviously thunderstruck. "I mean, how do you do

it? Sneak off the save the world when you've got classes that actually take attendance and parents to deal with every day?"

"We manage," Zack understated with a casual shrug.

"Barely," Alexis sighed.

"But this time, it's going to be tough," Trini realized with a thoughtful pout. "Kim's gone, and the absolute earliest we'll see her again is tomorrow. Mrs. Hart will go ballistic if she doesn't come home tonight."

"Trini, call her and ask if Kim can stay overnight at your house," Zack suggested. "We've tried that before."

"But this is a school night, and we have an exam tomorrow morning," Jason responded, shaking his head. "Mrs. Hart won't agree to a sleepover; she'll insist that Kim come home tonight."

Then, an idea seemed to strike Trini, Zack, and Jason at once. Three pairs of eyes slid towards Jocelyn, their gazes calculating.

The Orange Enforcer took a step back. "You're joking…"

"You look enough like Kim to pull it off," Trini answered, stepping closer to the startled stranger. "Same height, same build, exact same face… just your hair and eyes are a little light. Mrs. Hart might not even pay much attention."

"I'm sure she'd notice I'm not her daughter!"

"Only if she spends some time with you," Jason countered. "I mean, it's not like she's expecting

a substitute. Just go home and tell her you're going to sleep early so you're rested for the test."

Jocelyn blinked. "Wait… you want me to actually take

Kim's PSATs? Isn't that cheating?"

Zack grinned impishly. "It's not like they really count for anything… besides, how'd you do on your PSAT?"

"I don't remember, but I got a 1380 on the SAT last year."

"Wow," the Black Ranger murmured. "Okay then, just try not to do that

well. Kim's a good student, but she's not that

good."

"But… I don't know anything about this world, or you guys, or Kim's life!" Jocelyn persisted. "How can I masquerade as her?"

"We can advise you on the most critical elements of Kimberly's school day," Billy proposed. "Tomorrow would be an optimal day for such an attempt, since the PSAT will take up the morning. You will only have to attend homeroom and the afternoon classes, and I believe at least one of us is in each of those classes."

"It won't work," Tommy decided. Everyone turned to their leader, who stood beside the Viewing Globe separated from them all. "She may look like Kim, but she's not Kim… and she can't just become

Kim. Somebody's going to notice that 'Kim' is acting weird. She won't recognize people, or know what's going on in class, or even know the combination to her locker. Even her voice is different! And don't forget her appearance… somebody will

notice."

"Then maybe a wig… or some hair dye?" Trini suggested.

"Hey

!" Jocelyn growled. "I'm not dying my hair!"

"Well, if anyone asks, we could always say Kim dyed her hair," Billy pointed out. "She does have a penchant for adjusting her hair color and style every now and then."

"If I tie my hair up, it might not be as noticeable," Jocelyn contributed, holding her hair in a bun to demonstrate. "The ends are lighter because of the sun."

Trini grinned. "So does that mean you're in?"

The Orange Enforcer sighed. "I sure don't like it… but so long as I don't have to fundamentally change my appearance, I guess I can try it." She then turned to Zordon. "But you'll keep us informed the minute

that polar storm eases? I'd like to see what's going on up there myself."

Zordon smirked at her somewhat demanding tone. "TO THE EXTENT IT IS PRACTICAL, YES. I WON'T INTERRUPT YOUR EXAMINATION IF I CAN HELP IT."

"I guess that's fair." Jocelyn released another heavy sigh, and glanced at each of the Rangers once again. "So, which one of you will take me 'home'?"

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sitting so close to her, watching her through the rearview mirror, he couldn't ignore the differences even if he'd wanted to.

Her hair's way too light… it's almost blonde. Kim would never dye her hair blonde. She might lighten it a little… but this is too drastic. And her eyes are all wrong; they're almost green. Not like Kim's… not at all.

He couldn't explain why it made him so uncomfortable, seeing this girl that looked so much like his girlfriend. When he first brought her to the Command Center, he'd tried to come up with explanations to her altered appearance. He hadn't even considered the idea that she wasn't even Kim.

Then, when she transformed and turned the infirmary upside down, Tommy had been outraged. At first, he thought this being had somehow followed Kimberly, and abducted her once again. But then, he couldn't rule out the color of her hair billowing beneath vibrant orange energy.

The girl in orange was the girl he'd brought from the North Pole. Meaning… he'd abandoned Kim.

It was too unsettling to ponder. Was there anything

he could've done to find Kim? Did he miss some critical clue? Did he leave too soon? What if the portal only vanished temporarily, just to reappear later? What if Kimberly materialized a little later? It wasn't impossible

for Kim to fall back through, right?

Had he known

that the girl wasn't Kim… would he have left that cave? Or would he have lingered, desperate to find the woman he loved?

If he'd stayed, Jocelyn would have died. It was a simple fact. Even as it was she'd suffered from hypothermia… had he fully investigated the cave, or delayed in any other way, she might not have recovered.

At least Jocelyn had

recovered. That's one life that didn't weigh on his shoulders. But that didn't do much to ease his anxiety. Kimberly was out there somewhere… and instead of trying to find her, they were trying to return to normal life. They were asking Jocelyn to fill Kim's shoes, as if those shoes were so easily filled.

"So, this is Kim, huh?" Jocelyn murmured from the seat behind him.

Tommy glanced again at the rearview mirror, noticing the sleeve of photographs she'd found. They were the photographs Kim had gotten developed just that afternoon.

"Yeah, that's Kim," Trini answered from beside her, "And the pirate there is Tommy."

"Great costumes," Jocelyn murmured, flipping to another image. "You guys look like you had a great time. I guess it was Halloween?"

"Right. We'd had a Halloween Ball on Friday."

Jocelyn blinked. "You mean this passed Friday? Wow… that's so weird! It's February in my dimension."

"I wonder if that's meaningful? We should tell Zordon about it tomorrow when we get a status update. Oh, here's a shot with some other people you should know," Trini added, sifting through photographs. "Here are Bulk and Skull, they tend to be a little obnoxious…"

Tommy's gaze lingered on Jocelyn until he finally forced his attention back to the road. When the question rose of who would escort Jocelyn to Kimberly's house, Tommy had almost flatly refused. But it was simply too logical: Kimberly had left her purse in his car that afternoon, immediately before leaving on their fateful mission to the North Pole. Either way Jocelyn had to make a stop at Tommy's car to collect Kim's essentials. And with Trini along for the ride, who better to provide Jocelyn with all the basic information she'd need?

Despite Tommy's initial resistance, the rest of the team was convinced this Kim look-alike could pull it off. Before the White Ranger's protests could become vehement, Jason had taken him aside, and offered his own two cents in private.

"Tommy, we're doing this for Kim. We'll find her; it's only a matter of time. But realistically, we don't know how much

time. Zordon and Alpha are doing all they can to track her down, but in the meantime, we have to do what we can to make things easier for Kim when she gets back. Jocelyn's willing to try it out, and if this works, when Kim does return she won't have to worry about panicking parents or missed exams. She'll be glad we did it."

Jason did have a point. Jocelyn was doing Kimberly a favor by keeping control over the more mundane elements in the Pink Ranger's life. The least he could do was help Jocelyn out… right?

But it still felt so wrong

.

"Here we are," Tommy murmured, pulling his Jeep to the curb in front of the modest townhouse Kimberly and her mother shared.

"Tommy, Mrs. Hart's car isn't here," Trini noted, gazing out the window at the empty driveway. "And the lights aren't on."

"So?"

"So, maybe we can give Jocelyn a little tour? It could only help things."

Tommy couldn't argue that. So he shut off the engine, and climbed out of the driver's seat.

Jocelyn followed the pair to the door, and frowned when Tommy held his hand to her.

"What?"

"You've got the key. In Kim's purse."

"Oh, right." Jocelyn dug out the house key, and a moment later Tommy flicked the switch, illuminating the small but stylishly decorated home.

Tommy and Trini led the way, Tommy entering the kitchen while Trini went to turn on the lights in the den. Tommy glanced at the answering machine, and activated it.

"There's a message," he explained.

Soon, the voice of Caroline Hart projected from the machine. ^Hi, honey, it's me. I guess you're still out, but I wanted you to know that I'll be going for a drink with Gerard. I may be back late. I'll see your in the morning.^

"Who's Gerard?" Jocelyn wondered.

"Kim's parents are divorced. I've never heard of 'Gerard' before, but I guess he's Caroline's most recent… uh… interest."

Tommy then turned to the cabinets, and began pointing out features of