Tommy's voice cut through her reflections. She managed a smile for him. No sense in worrying him anymore than he already was. "What's up?"
"I'm on the track next. I wondered if you were going to come down and watch with the rest of the crew."
"Sure."
"Is something wrong? You're so tense, and you look like you're dressed for a fight. You're expecting trouble, aren't you."
"I'm always expecting trouble."
"Which is why you're distancing yourself from the crew, isn't it?" Tommy realized. "Maybe I should tell Uncle John...."
"No," Kim cut him off. "Tommy, I don't want you to set your life aside because of all this nonsense. I know how much you want to drive in the Classic, and to do that, you have to drive in the practices and the time trials."
"Kim, the race won't mean anything to me if something happens to you." For a moment neither could speak, but Kim squeezed Tommy's hand tightly. "That means so much to me," she murmured hoarsely. "Tell you what, I'll stay by the pit. That way, if something does happen, I won't be alone, and your uncle can radio you. All right?"
"All right," he reluctantly agreed to the compromise. "Say, can I still borrow your helmet for luck?"
"Of course."
* * *
As Tommy maneuvered the car down pit row to the starting blocks, Kim could not keep still. She paced the pit area, unable to relax. She felt John's eyes on her.
"Is something wrong?" he queried.
"Just a feeling," she mumbled. "Would you mind if I brought my motorcycle down here?"
He couldn't imagine what she would need it for, but if it made her feel better... "Sure."
"Thanks."
Kim sprinted for the access tunnel under turn three as Tommy started his warm-up lap. The equipment truck was parked about halfway down the lot. Tommy's pick-up had been left in Angel Grove, but they had stowed her bike in with the race car. The back of the truck was still open, the ramp in place. For some reason, that disturbed Kim, and she approached cautiously. Nothing seemed to be out of place, and no one else was about. She entered the trailer, her gaze darting here and there. It was difficult to see in the back of the semi; she hurried over to her bike and rummaged through the side saddle until she located her flashlight. She swept the beam across the confines.
_You're letting your imagination get the better of you,_ she chided herself as her investigation turned up nothing. Then, a glint of silver caught her eye. It lay between the tire tracks of the car in a smudge of oil. It was a band of metal--about three inches in width and a half inch thick, and seeing it caused a cold knot to tighten in the pit of her stomach.
_Please, please let this be off the car!_ Kim quickly jumped on her bike and headed back into the speedway.
* * *
"What in the world... !" John gasped, jumping out of the way as Kim sped into the pit area. She skidded to a halt and leaped off the bike.
"Eddie!" she shouted, searching frantically for the crew chief.
"Kim, what's wrong?" John queried, just as Eddie ambled over. "I found this in the truck... it would have been under the car... do you recognize it?" Kim implored.
Eddie turned the ring of metal over in his hands. "I've never seen anything like this," he murmured, finding the thick band surprisingly light.
"But you have," John remarked upon seeing Kim's pale face.
"Mercyte armor," she gulped. "Get Tommy out of the car; they've done something to it!"
"Right."
Just as John tried to raise Tommy on the radio, Tommy put a call through.
"Uncle John, I've got a problem. The brakes aren't responding."
"Eddie, call up to the tower and have them get the emergency crews on stand-by. Don't mention it's sabotage," John directed, and the crew chief hurried off. To Tommy, he instructed, "Ease up off the gas and start slowing down."
"Coast to a stop. Got it."
Kim and John watched anxiously as the race car started shedding speed. As it whizzed past, Kim spotted a flash of blue light, and smoke wafted up from the tailpipe.
"Something else is wrong," she said.
"What's going on here? All of a sudden this thing is shaking like it's going to come apart," Tommy radioed.
"Take it back up to speed until the shaking stops," John ordered. To Kim he added, "I bet you anything those tin cans fixed it so that if the car drops under a certain speed, it'll blow or something."
Kim grabbed Tommy's helmet. "Then it's up to me to get him out of there. Help me set the radio so I can talk with him."
"Will you be able to match his speed?"
"We'll find out." As Kim hit the accelerator, she spoke into the mike, "Hang on, Tommy; I'm on my way."
"I'll try and hold her steady. But I'm losing control fast. Something's eating at my systems, shorting them out one at a time."
Kim bent low over the handle bars as she raced after Tommy, her mouth set in a determined line. She would get to him in time; there was no other alternative. She found herself grateful for the spin around the track she had taken yesterday. It had showed her that the track was more than simply an asphalt oval; it had its own special nuances. Tearing down the straightaway was not the same as tearing down a stretch of highway.
"How you doin'?" Kim queried.
"It's starting to get awful hot in here."
"I'm giving her all I got..." But both knew it wasn't going to be enough.
"I'm taking my foot off the accelerator. If I can bleed off just a little more speed..."
"I'll be along side you before that thing blows," Kim vowed.
"I know you will."
Kim shoved her fear down as she watched the cloud of smoke pouring out of the back of the car grow thicker. The racer was fishtailing all over the place.
"Steering's gone." Tommy reported.
It was going to make it difficult to come up beside him; it was almost as if the mercytes were controlling the car by remote control. _I wouldn't put it past them._
"I've got fire under the hood...."
"Just a little bit more..."
"I've got a blow out..."
". . . almost there..."
"Kim, I gotta bail out now..."
Kim wasn't sure where the final burst of speed came from, but suddenly she shot alongside the wildly swerving car.
"Do it!"
Tommy was already halfway out the window. He held on for a moment longer then pushed off. Kim nearly lost control as he landed behind her; she didn't even wait for him to get settled but veered off as quickly as she could. A moment later, the car erupted into a ball of flame, debris showering them.
"That was too close," Tommy muttered, glancing back over his shoulder. "Oh man, the car..." Already the fire equipment was moving out onto the track.
"We're not out of trouble yet."
Tommy caught a glimpse of silver in the stands moments before the first shot rang out. "We've got to get out of here before they tear the speedway apart," Tommy said. Kim swerved away from a section of asphalt that suddenly turned into a bubbling morass. "Ow!" Tommy winced as a beam clipped his arm. "Tommy?"
"It's not bad... just singed me, that's all."
"I'm making for the main entry..." However, the next shot that crossed their path took out the tire and sent the motorcycle careening out of control. They skidded towards the pits.
"Abandon ship!"
The two dove off the bike as it crashed into a gas pump; a spectacular column of flame tore into the air. They both flew threw the air for several yards before tucking and rolling to a hard stop in the grass. However, there was little time to recover. Both were on their feet and in defensive stances as their attackers materialized in the infield.
"Surrender," the command unit intoned emotionlessly.
"Go to hell!" Tommy rumbled, lashing out with a kick that did little more than glance off the nearest hunter. He was promptly grabbed by a second attacker and forcibly restrained.
"Tommy, no!" Kim shrieked as Tommy was forced at gun point to his knees. "Let him go!" Kim launched herself at the robots holding Tommy. The move caught the mercytes by surprise.
Tommy quickly pulled free and tackled another hunter by the knees. When that assassin came crashing down, Tommy snatched up its gun. He whirled and fired at the automaton converging on Kim. He quickly worked his way to her side. He surrendered the gun, and as Kim cut a deadly swathe through the armor-plated ranks, the two attempted to get to some cover; however, they were outnumbered. A pair of mercytes cut off their escape route. With fire at their heels, Kim tugged Tommy in a different direction. That, too, was cut off. Tommy urged her towards the opposite path and found it blocked. In short order, the two were completely surrounded and looking into the barrels of the mercytes' arm cannons.
"No," Tommy whispered defiantly, but as the two looked at each other, they knew it was over at last.
Kim tore off her helmet and flung it at the command unit. "Why! Why are you doing this to me? What do you guys want? Who wants me dead!"
"This unit is not authorized to divulge that information. Target and the human designated as Tommy Oliver have been neutralized. Implement Program Omega 13: termination of intended target."
"I can't believe this is happening," Kim whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "There's still a chance... you aren't scheduled for termination. Maybe they'd let you go...."
Tommy pulled off his helmet and wrapped his arms around her. "No, Kim. If they kill you, they'll have to kill me, too," Tommy said gravely, looking deep into her eyes. "Like they say during the wedding vows, 'til death do us part'."
" til death," Kim echoed, smiling bravely as their lips met in a final kiss. She poured her heart and soul into the exchange, giving to Tommy all the passion she held inside and taking the like from him. She no longer feared death. She feared nothing with Tommy at her side. Tommy pressed her more tightly to him as their tongues dueled in a primal dance. While their mouths made passionate love to each other, the two waited for oblivion.
And waited.
Finally, the need for air forced them apart, and they were astonished to discover that they were still breathing. As one, the pair looked around. Eight assassins, guns still locked on target, stood motionlessly around them. No lights flickered on the chest plate powerpacks, and the unblinking red eyes were dark.
"Are they... ?" Kim began hesitantly, scarcely daring to believe. Tommy attempted to pull a gun from one of the androids. While he could not remove the weapon, the hunter made no move to stop him. He had Kim back out of the way as he depressed the firing mechanism. Nothing happened.
"Dead," Tommy murmured in awe. "The guns. The assassins. Everything."
"But how?"
Then, the two heard an all-too familiar hum, and five brightly colored streaks of light assumed the shapes of the Turbo Rangers.
"What's going on?" Tommy queried.
"We came to tell you that we located the time portal these things were using," the Red Ranger reported.
"It wasn't a naturally occurring time hole; someone went to a lot of expense to open it," the Blue Ranger added. "A rip like that could have caused serious damage to the space/time continuum."
"You guys closed it? Is that what turned these guys off?" Kim asked eagerly.
"According to Dimetria, the carrier signal powering the mercytes was cut off before we closed the hole," Red continued.
"They were shut off at the source!" Tommy realized. With a jubilant shout, Tommy caught Kim under the arms and spun her around. "Do you know what this means, Kim? It's over!"
"It's over?" Kim repeated numbly, shock filling her features as she looked blankly up at Tommy. He pulled her to him tightly and nuzzled his cheek against the top of her head, giving her a soft kiss. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
"Yes, Beautiful. Your nightmare is finally over."
