The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 6 - Heather Ray (read novels website TXT) 📗

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At that moment, the shrill beeping sound of the communicator echoed through the silent room. Mr. Caplan's eyebrow rose, and he folded his hands over his chest.

Despite herself, Brittany shrank under the glare of authority.

"Sorry," she whispered, leaning back into her chair in an attempt to hide from the principal. Mr. Caplan sighed, and reached towards the watch.

"And how do you turn this contraption off?" he demanded, staring at the microphone curiously. "Funny...this isn't anything like any pager I've ever seen. There's no screen for the phone number of the caller to register..."

"It's actually a...prototype for a new kind of pager," Brittany stated, sitting up, "My friend Billy Mitchell designed it --"

"Ah," Mr. Caplan said, a small smile of pride melting his fierce expression, "Billy Mitchell. One of the finest young men I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. So, you're a friend of his?"

Brittany nodded, a smile spreading on her lips. "Yeah. Our families go waaay

back."

Brittany then swallowed, and looked away from Mr. Caplan sharply, toying with a lock of her dark hair. "Mr. Caplan, I'm terribly sorry the pager went off in school. Billy's still working out the bugs. I thought I had turned it off, but it still rang. I can't figure out how to mute the ring! And I didn't check into the main office when I got here because I've never been to this school before. I was kinda wandering around when the pager went off, and you found me."

Brittany then looked back into Mr. Caplan's eyes, her most sincere expression lighting up her eyes and face. After a moment of silence, Mr. Caplan sighed in defeat, and laid the watch on his desk again.

"I'll be right back," he said, rising to his feet, "I'll get you a visitor's pass. What did you say your name was again?"

"Brittany Lee," she repeated, watching as he walked out of the office. She then sighed in relief, and immediately reached for her communicator. After another quick glance around to make sure no one was within earshot, she activated the communicator.

"Anthony, this is Brittany. Do you read?"

^Brit!^

came a voice in answer. ^Where the heck are you?^

"I'm in the principal's office, Tony," she sighed.

^Why?^

asked Regina's voice.

"Well, Mister Caplan heard my communicator go off. I explained it was my pager, and he called me to his office. Sheesh!

What kind of Nazis don't allow students to have pagers in school?"

^Remember, this is the twentieth century,^

said Anthony. ^The rules are different here. So, what did you find?^

"I'll come tell you," she said, standing up and walking to the door. She swore under her breath when she realized the secretary was standing right outside.

"I guess he considers me a flight risk or something," she said, quietly closing the door. "Guys, I'm teleporting out."

^Brittany, if you use the teleport relays of the CAC, you'll alert the Terran Rangers to our presence,^

Regina warned.

"Sheesh, Gina, you make it sound like we don't

want to encounter them. Maybe instead of seeking them out, we should make 'em come to us," Brittany responded wryly, pressing the buttons. She instantly vanished in a column of yellow light.

Chapter Fifteen

In the Central Access Complex, the home base of the Terran Power Rangers, Billy sat at his desk, his feet propped on the wooden surface and his head leaning backwards. He chewed on a pen, squinting at the ceiling as his mind worked its wonders.

Billy was completely determined to remember why the name Anthony Monroe sounded so familiar.

While he focused on his mental search, the computer on Billy's desk came to life. Billy nearly stumbled to the ground in reaction to the sudden alarm signal that sounded from the screen. He then quickly recovered himself, and stared at the screen.

"Curiouser and curiouser," he muttered to himself. "According to the transport logs, someone used the transporter to leave Angel Grove High minutes ago. It's not the teleport signature of any of the Terran Rangers, though. I've never seen anything like it before..."

Just then, the alarms screamed to life. Billy leaped from his seat, and turned on the Viewing Globe. He saw an image of Goldar, hiding behind some rocks, peering at two teenagers.

Billy frowned in disgust.

"Just what we need," he groaned, stepping away from his computer, "Goldar has decided to pay us a visit."

He then squinted, staring closer at the two youths on the screen. They seemed completely unaware of Goldar's presence, as they continued their journey through the rocky terrain of the desert west of Angel Grove.

"Why would Goldar tail these kids?" Billy asked himself, folding his arms, "I'd better get some Rangers over to that area, before I find out."

Chapter Sixteen

"Okay," Aisha declared, slipping a fresh tennis ball from her pocket. "Thirty serving Love."

"Oh please!" Zack groaned from across the court, "don't even try it!"

"Try what?" Aisha asked innocently, casting a mock-confused glance at her tormentor.

"Psyching us out by constantly repeating the score," Zack answered, bending his knees and tightening his grip on his racket. "Can you believe her show-boating, Jay?"

Jason shrugged at his doubles partner. "You have to admit, she's got a wicked serve. Neither of us have been able to return it!"

"And you won't either!" Tommy called from beside Aisha. He then grinned at his partner. "Okay, Aisha, let 'er rip!"

Aisha beamed wickedly at Zack before tossing the bright yellow ball into the air. Her arm hung behind her back, and with the force of a bullet, sliced into the air in a smooth motion. The face of the racket slammed into the soft ball, forcing the small sphere in the direction of the net. It sailed just over the net, smacking the dark green court just within the small white box on the opponents' end and sailing directly at Jason. Jason raced like the wind towards the ball, and bit his lip as he hit the ball with a powerful forehand swing. He managed to make contact with the ball, but instead of sailing over the net again, the ball flew blindly out of bounds, and into the neighboring court.

"And Aisha Campbell scores another ace!" Tommy declared, quickly high-fiving his partner. He then smiled at Jason and Zack, who were both seething at the lost point. "So, how's the Humble Pie today?"

"Stop talking like you have anything to do with it," Zack called back. "Your racket hasn't touched the ball this service!"

Jason began to chuckle as he chased down the wayward ball. "I don't think Aisha needs a partner to wallop the two of us, Zack."

Jason stopped right outside the neighboring court, where four other classmates were engaged in a heated volley. Finally, the point was finished, and one of the players retrieved the extra ball from near their net.

"Did you lose something, Jason?" she asked, tossing her thick ebony hair over her shoulder as she held up the guilty ball.

"Sorry, Angela," Jason said, catching the ball she threw at him, "but none of us can seem to hit Aisha's serve right."

Angela shrugged her eyebrows as she fixed her gaze on Aisha, who was still engaged in a shouting match with Zack. At this point, both athletes were hovering at the net, their voices high. While the two were involved in a heated debate over tennis skills, anyone could see that the argument wasn't truly serious.

It was especially obvious when Zack conceded superiority to his opponent, and ended the dispute by accepting Aisha's peace offering: a gentle peck on the lips.

Angela's lips curled in disgust for a moment, before she returned to her own match.

"If you two are finished now, we can get back to the game," Jason sighed, tossing the retrieved ball to Aisha. She caught the ball easily, and walked toward the back of the court in preparation for her next serve. But before the ball left her fingertips, the sound of a nearby communicator snapped her focus.

Tommy glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching. Fortunately, the tennis courts were spread out enough for no one other than the four to have heard the signal. Tommy then nodded to Zack and Jason, and the four congregated at the center of the court.

"What's up, Billy?" the leader of the Terran Rangers inquired.

^It looks like Goldar has decided to grace us with his presence,^

Billy's voice said over the communicator. ^He's just outside Angel Grove, near the Native American tribe reservation.^

Tommy frowned deeply. "What could he possibly want there?"

^Whatever it is, it has something to do with two kids. He's following them pretty closely.^

"We'd better get over there," Jason decided, "before Goldar makes his move."

^I'll coordinate your wrist-teleporters to Goldar's location. Once you're free and clear, Zack, Jason, and Tommy can morph and head straight into battle. Aisha, you can come here to the CAC and give me a hand. Since you four are in gym class, I figured it would be easier for you to skip class.^

"We're on our way," Zack said, watching as Tommy deactivated his communicator. "So, how do we get out of class?"

"Easy," Aisha said with a grin, "Zack, I'm going to serve the ball to your backhand. Pretend to twist your ankle or something."

"Got it," he responded, as the four returned to their stations. Aisha narrowed her eyes as she aimed her serve carefully, causing the ball to skid just along the white line that marked the edge of the court. Zack scrambled to return it, but lost his footing and fell to the pavement.

"AH!!"

he screamed, clutching his ankle in agony. "MY FOOT!!"

As classmates gathered around the moaning sufferer, Aisha and Tommy moved closer together.

"He's such a ham," Aisha giggled.