2Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. At this point in time, they belonged to Saban.
Russell Stanton couldn't sleep.
He probably should be, he thought, as he checked his watch in the low light of "night" on Terra Venture. The readout read 2AM Galactic Standard Time. But his mind was restless, thinking of everything that needed to be done in the morning.
His ship was about to complete its mission. In less than six hours, he would give the order for Terra Venture to begin landing procedures on Planet 304.15. It didn't have a name yet.
It didn't have a name yet. Stanton paused at one of the observation windows on his walk to the bridge and craned his neck to look up at the planet. Bright green, its single moon orbiting in tandem with it. It doesn't have a name. He rested his fingers on the Lexan window. Herschel, Le Verrier...Stanton.
This was it. His entire career was orbiting, literally and figuratively, around that Earth-sized green orb in the sky outside.
His mind drifted back, just a few days. Being trapped in the Lost Galaxy, the constant threat of Captain Mutiny. His people being shanghaied off Terra Venture and taken to God-knows-where. Until the Power Rangers had staged a rescue. Until the hero known as the Magna Defender…
Stanton remembered the fear clutching his chest at their only exit, the portal, closing. Closing too fast for them to escape. And then the…the MegaZord, of the Magna Defender, somehow keeping it open. Long enough for Terra Venture to pass through in a shower of electricity and mechanical parts as the sheer gravity of the portal ripped the MegaZord apart.
He didn't know the identity of the Magna Defender, Stanton reflected. But if he ever found out, he swore, the Magna Defender would know that he saved their lives with his final act. That the commander of Terra Venture owed him everything.
Unsurprisingly, his midnight musings had led him to the bridge. The door slid back upon his biometric confirmation, and Stanton stepped onto the bridge, noting, with a small smile, that he wasn't the only one still awake.
His chief security officer, Michael Corbett, was leaning against the forward bulkhead, mirroring his commanding officer just moments before. The sunlight glinting off the planet below, along with the lighting on the bridge, illuminated his face well enough for Stanton to see bruising on his face. Corbett shifted slightly, wincing as he did so. His sleeve rode up, revealing an angry line of pink skin.
Stanton blinked as a thought raced through his mind. Another discovery.
The man who had graduated top of his class from Stanford, who'd served his country in the Air Force before taking a position at GSA and successfully was nominated to be the Commander of Terra Venture, was not an idiot. He'd seen too much in his time on the colony to be otherwise.
So it was with a hint of amusement that he said, "You could maybe get some sleep, you know. It's not going anywhere."
He'd startled the young man, but Michael Corbett didn't move from the bulkhead window. Stanton waited a moment or two before his security officer responded, "I just don't want to miss anything." He stared straight ahead as he said softly, "After all it took to get here…."
Stanton nodded quietly. "There was a time," he told Corbett honestly, "where I wondered if we'd make it at all." He moved to stand next to Corbett at the window, resting his head on his forearm as he joined him in looking down below at the planet. After a moment, he broke the silence. "We're grateful for your sacrifice, Mr. Corbett," he said.
His security officer blinked and finally turned to look at him. "Sir? I don't-"
Stanton smiled. "Please. I can run a space colony and put two and two together, son." He tapped the side of his face, just under his eye. "All the times you were late for work. Your AWOL stint after our lunar training exercise." He ticked them off on his fingers. "Your time in sickbay after we escaped Captain Mutiny." Stanton winked and tapped his left wrist. "Your new…accessory."
Corbett slid his sleeve up, revealing the still-healing burn on his left wrist from his fried morpher. Stanton's eyes widened-he'd seen him in the sickbay after the incident, but the injury had been wrapped in gauze then. "I'm sorry, Mike," he told him, dropping the formality.
"I'm not," Mike replied. "It's what the powers were meant for," he said smiling faintly, though Stanton wasn't sure why. Mike returned his eyes to the window. "It got us here."
"You got us here," Stanton countered. He pushed off the bulkhead, clasping his hands behind his back as he watched the planet spin above them. "Don't discount everything you've done, Mr. Corbett," Stanton said. "There's an old quote from an Earth astronaut. 'One small step for a man,'" he quoted, "and one giant leap for mankind.' And indeed, this is a giant leap for mankind, but it took many, many little steps to get here. None of which would have been possible without the men and women on this colony…or you and your friends."
He watched Mike's shoulders visibly relax. "Now, get some sleep," Stanton said. "That's an order."
Mike turned around slowly, like he was afraid the planet below them would disappear if he took his eyes off it. He straightened and offered Commander Stanton a smart salute. Stanton returned it as Mike walked past him toward the bridge doors.
"Sir?"
Stanton turned, looked questioningly at Mike. "Thank you," Mike said. Then, he grinned. "And, if it's not out of line, sir…the planet will still be there at 0800."
His commanding officer raised an eyebrow, amused. "That will be all, Mr. Corbett."
Author's Note: So I was rewatching the PRLG finale the other day. "Escape the Lost Galaxy" is one of my favorite episodes (I count it as part of the finale and let's face it that's one of the BEST finales Rangers has ever had. I always liked Commander Stanton as a character, especially how he interacted with Kai and Damon and Mike.
