Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 03:47:09 +0000 From: Daniel Lund <skyecatone@hotmail.com> Subject: Panther in the mist 7 This story in its entirety is for Romain, who is the most die hard fan of Panther and crew that I have. I apologize for the length of time in between each chapter, but I really didn't want a campy ending tone of my favorite tales. Panther has only a couple of chapters left and will come to a close. I have to warn you, it's a cliff hanger. Please note the new email address if you'd like to offer comments. Thanks, Daniel skyecatone@hotmail.com Panther in the mist 7: "Keep your head down!" Zak snarled at Kona and shoved him behind a cargo crate. "Can you shoot?" An explosion of green sparks erupted over their heads, and Kona nodded vigorously. Zak handed him a pulse pistol and met his eyes. "Hit 'em dead center in the chest, or they just keep coming." "Got it." Kona's eyes were wide with fear as he watched behind them for signs of the Jur'Kaalchik troops. The attack had come without warning, and half the marines had been asleep. Several of the sleeping tents had been leveled by blasts from orbit before the Moscow had engaged the Jur' cruiser. "Captain, this is Storm." Zak's comm. went off startling them both. Zak took it off his belt and fired blindly over the cargo container. "I'm up to my ass in busy. Anything new?" Zak held the comm. close to his ear so he could hear it. "The Jur' ship is dead. The ones you're fighting are it. Moscow also reports their engines are failing. They're going to de-orbit in about eight hours." Storm sounded disgusted and tired. "The entire bridge crew is gone, sir. Marken and I are the entire officer's staff." "Understood. Out." Zak touched the controls on the comm. and switched the frequency. "Major Ables, status." "We're mopping up towards you, sir." The young marine commander's voice also sounded winded. "Charlie Company has secured the landing area, and Bravo is cutting in from your south. Should be over soon." As he finished, Zak looked toward the command shuttle and watched as twenty three men came out of the darkness and opened fire on the last of the Jur'. Several purple green energy discharges hit the front of his and Kona's makeshift shelter, and they were both knocked down by the concussions. A container perched on a pile next to theirs teetered, and Kona jumped up to catch it. A Jur' pulse shot caught him square in the chest and sent him backwards onto the sand. "Kona!" Zak tried to grab him but missed. Two more shots hit over them, and Zak looked up to see one of the Jur' getting ready to shove their cargo box out of the way. It's head and face looked like melted candle wax and greenish moss, and its enormous arms looked like moss-covered trees. It didn't breathe or make a noise as it took a hold and strained to move the box. "Son of a bitch!" Zak snarled and pointed his pistol at its head and pulled the trigger. It went over backwards and Zak jumped up onto the box and continued to fire. "Goddamned cock sucking fuckers! Puss fucking whores, I hate you!" There a hole in the Jur's chest a foot wide when Zak finally stopped, panting, and threw the pistol at the creature's face. "Piece of shit cock bite bastard!" He said and leaned on his knees. "Zak!" Kona moaned and writhed in agony. "Help me!" He could feel his legs going numb, and he fought to move. "Oh, god!" Zak reappeared in his field of vision and knelt down. "I can't feel anything!" He grabbed at Zak's sleeve. "Easy, Kona. I have to get you into the command shuttle, okay? It'll probably hurt like a bitch." Zak slid his arms under Kona and lifted him up. "Stay with me, okay? You're going to be fine." He headed for the shuttle. The marine commander ran up as they neared the hatch. "No more, sir. We got 'em all." He helped Zak navigate the main hatch. "I have all the company commanders getting casualty reports." "As soon as you can, Jon, I need as many men on the Moscow as possible. Preferably trained as repair techs. They took out the Jur' cruiser and ended up with their own engines out. They de-orbit soon." Zak took Kona into the small medical bay and activated the console above the re-gen tank. "Aye, sir. They're on their way." Ables turned and left. "Panther, Kona took a shot to the chest. Charge the re-gen tank." Zak set Kona on the exam table and looked up to see the lights on the panel blinking on. The tank immediately began to fill with bluish clear fluid. He reached up and tugged at the sleeves of his ship suit and they came off at the shoulders. "Initial scan shows internal burns and bleeding." Panther's voice rumbled. A series of beams washed over Kona as Zak removed his boots and suit. "Cardiac damage, irregular heart rhythm. Infection is at sixty eight percent. Tank is set for cycle." Kona moaned as Zak lifted his naked form into the tank. His eyes fluttered open briefly, and he tried to lift his arm. "Just relax. Okay? You're gonna be fine." Zak lowered him into the fluid. "Panther, I need a probe set." A bundle of wires lowered out of the wall, and Zak began to attach them to Kona's skin. "Internal organs will require complete regeneration." Panther said. "Viral infection is now seventy one percent complete. Introducing Anti-viral agent." Zak slammed his fist down on the lip of the tank and felt anger welling up through his guts. "I've had enough of this, Panther. I mean it. Everybody I ever cared about the Jur' have killed or tried to. I'm sick of it!" He stood up and brushed a tray of instruments on the floor with a loud bang. "This has to end. It has to." "Zak is angry. Zak should rest." Panther intoned, trying to open the mind link. "Don't mother me, Panther. I'm not in the mood." Zak kicked the instruments out of the way and left the medical bay. Panther adjusted his sensors and found Zak as he left the shuttle. The giant living computer endlessly checked and rechecked its readings, then scanned Kona's progress one hundred and seventy eight thousand times. Though it was never designed for it, and would never admit it, it was worried. An hour later Zak stood with Major Ables near a video comm. and spoke to Storm on the Moscow. "Is the computer bay standard sized? Can we put Panther in the cradle?" He put his hands on his hips and had a look on his face no one wanted to challenge. The tiger-like stripes on the left side of his face and arm flashed in the bright lights of the shuttle landing field. "Sure, it's standard, but we can't but Panther in it without approval from earth, Zak. They'd come unglued." Storm responded nervously. Ables folded his arms and leaned against the nose of a shuttle. "Moscow's a light battleship, Captain. Panther's not rated to run it, and your crew's not rated to man it." There was no insult in his voice, just fact. "Not to mention it needs five hundred men to get it moving. You have about two fifty." "Wrong, Jon. We have about four hundred with your men and the remaining Moscow crew." Zak looked at him sideways. "I'm not experienced as a captain, either, but you and your men are doing what I tell them. How hard could it be for them to learn other duties?" "The fleet will have a shit." Ables smiled and shook his head. "You have a point, I guess. Never was one to turn down a challenge myself. What if we find the Jur'?" "They already found us, Major." Zak rubbed his temples. "Have you repaired the engines, Storm?" "We need a Panther uplink to restart the computer systems. If we can get him onboard we'll be fine." Strom looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Zak, you're my captain, and I'll follow you into a nova if you ask, but I want you to know that this is going to get us in deep." "Oh fucking well." Zak murmured. "Okay, here's the deal. Panther, online please." "Online." Panther rumbled. "You've monitored the conversation?" Zak asked. "Affirm. Zak's plan has a seventy nine percent chance of success." "And what if we don't get the Moscow up and going?" Ables asked the computer. Panther was silent for a moment. "Probability that all hands will be defeated in next Jur'Kaalchik attack." "Major Ables, you'll be the Ops Officer. Storm, you're First Officer. Let's get this show on the road." Zak clapped Ables on the shoulder and walked towards the command shuttle. "Panther, can you travel?" "Affirm." "He's going to do what?" Marken's mouth hung open. He stood on the burned out command deck on the Moscow and stared blankly at Storm. "They'll vaporize us! You can't just arbitrarily put a bio mass in whatever ship you want." Storm chuckled and handed him a data pad. "I'm not going to disappoint him, are you?" "Well of course not, but this.." Marken tried to protest, but Storm took him by the shoulders and turned him towards the door. "You're the comp tech, now. I need the dead bio mass ejected so I can install Panther, and I need it done an hour ago." He keyed the door open for Marken and smiled kindly. "You're not going to disappoint your new First Officer, are you?" Marken shook his head. "No. The Moscow crew will be a little pissed, though. They liked their computer the way we like Panther." "Remind them that they're alive, and that we intend to get them home." Storm patted his shoulder. "I need a report in thirty minutes, Marken." "Aye." Marken sighed through his nose and headed down into the unfamiliar ship. Storm turned and surveyed the heavily damaged bridge of the Moscow and shook his head. Many of its control surfaces were blown out, and techs from the Moscow were working on replacing them, starting with the computer core controls. He made a circuit of the bridge and checked off items that needed attention and relayed the information to Panther through the temporary link. Storm hesitated for a moment, and then lowered himself into the command chair. He much preferred the helm, but at the moment Moscow's helm was a pile of twisted metal and debris. He looked up as the door opened and the senior officer left of the Moscow walked in. 'Rip' Ripley Donner, the Chief Engineer, walked over and leaned on the rail that surrounded the command dais. "If your captain's right about the bio mass fitting in without going nuts, we can restart the main reactors fifteen minutes after interface." Rip said, grinning. "I never heard of a bio mass doing what we're gonna do, but it beats hanging around to burn in, don't it?" His large muscular frame rippled under his dirty uniform, and his dark hair was mussed. "Rip, if we pull this off, we'll make history." Storm shook his head and smiled. "But, as our talented young captain often says, fuck it." "Core controls are online, sir." One of the computer techs said, standing up near the new panels. "The bio mass can be ejected now." "Good job, you two." Storm walked over towards them with the engineer in tow. "Call Marken and fill him in, then go get something to eat." "Aye, sir." As the two techs walked off the bridge, Rip bent over the controls and ran a quick test. "They done good. There's no errors on any of the quick checks." "One hurdle down, a million to go." Storm sighed. "Zak." Fisher stood up from the workstation in the command shuttle as the captain came in. "Kona wasn't going to be finished by the time we launch, sir. I put him in stasis until I can use the Moscow's Med Bay." "What were the casualties for the marines?" Zak settled into the command chair and held out his hand to the helm officer. "Curtis, right? Fire it up and set your board for a max speed orbit." "Aye, sir." "The marines lost thirty one men, we lost eight." Fisher handed Zak a pad and pointed at the small screen. "The good major has converted one of the cargo shuttles into a rudimentary hospital to move the wounded when we leave, assuming that's the plan." "It is, and with any luck we'll leave soon." Zak handed the pad back. "Thanks, Doc." The deck plates vibrated under their feet, and the helmsman's hands flashed over his board. Zak leaned forward. "When ever your ready, Mr. Curtis." The shuttle rose slowly at first with only the slightest of jolts as it cleared the ground. At fifty meters up, the pilot added speed, and the shuttle began gaining altitude fast. Zak smiled in satisfaction and looked up at Fisher. "He's not half bad, is he?" He said it loud enough for Curtis to hear. "Considering that I was aboard the shuttle that you crashed on Marlidan, I'd say he's doing splendidly." Fisher chuckled. "I'll be in the back if I'm needed." The flight didn't last long, and Zak moved up and stood behind the helmsman as the neared the Moscow. Evidence of the beating the ship had taken was easily seen, as were the army of repair techs moving around in enviro-suits fixing the hull. "Jesus, sir, look at that." Curtis pointed at a gap in the hull as large as their shuttle. "Looks like they got rammed." "They did." Zak studied the damage intently. "That's what took out their bio mass. It's in the center of the ship." "Will Panther be alright?" Curtis sounded worried. "A boat that size is a bitch to pilot solo." Zak chuckled. "Actually, they need him installed before the can seal that hole off. They need to restart the reactors. Panther has to balance them as they come up to power." He sat back down in his chair and sighed, overwhelmed by the size of the ship. The Panther, before it was destroyed, was the largest thing Zak could remember seeing, and watching Panther's sister ship, the Star Shine, maneuver in orbit around earth had been incredible. Now he watched the light battle cruiser Moscow sliding by them, and he was awed that people that could build such a thing. Where Panther was graceful and looked like a sort of bird, there was no mistaking the intentions of Moscow's designers. The whole thing looked like a weapon, from the long heavily armored main hull to the two massive Grav-Drive engines. Three large domes faced forward on the top of the main hull, their pulse cannons large enough to take out a small city in a single shot. Three more main guns were on the bottom of the main hull, and along the sides of the ship they could see the rectangular hangar doors that protected Moscow's fighters. Two thirds of the way back along the top hull was the command tower, nine decks tall. The large bridge could easily be seen three decks down from the top of the tower. Curtis maneuvered down and under one of the stubby thick pylons that supported the port Grav-Drive and banked to bring them into the main hanger. The bridge guided them to the place on the ceiling where they need to dock to transfer Panther, and Zak looked up through the windshield as Curtis carefully lined them up. "Four seconds." Curtis' hands flew over the board. He glanced up, made a correction, and there was a barely perceptible thunk as the shuttle hard docked. Curtis sighed and leaned back, blowing air out of his cheeks. Zak patted his shoulder and took his comm. off his belt. "Storm, panther is in position. Opening the top hatch." He keyed the sequence and walked over to Panther's tank. "Are you sure about this? We can link you in the hangar." He put his hand on the clear metal of the tank. "Not enough time. Zak is a fuss." Panther rumbled in his mind. "Yeah, Zak is. Are you sure?" Zak returned through the link. He realized that he had very strong feelings for the living computer, and he was more than just a little worried. "Panther will be fine. So will Zak." Panther's amusement was obvious. "Beginning movement procedures." Several decks overhead, the clamps that would hold Panther's matrix chamber in place began to slide down the rails to the shuttle. Marken watched them as the settled in to the shuttle and locked on, and he checked the read out. "Zak, everything's green. Tell Panther he can move up when he wants to." Almost immediately, the large clear tank began to slide up the rails and out of the shuttle. Zak stepped back and laughed. "Think he's in hurry?" "Probably sick of being cooped up, sir." Curtis secured the controls and moved to the hatch. "We have a good seal if you want to go aboard." He touched the controls and the hatch rolled up. "Tell Fisher he can move Kona when he's ready." Zak headed for the hatchway. "Good flight, Curtis. Report to Storm when you're done here." "Aye, sir, thanks." Zak noticed immediately how different the Moscow was from the Panther. The corridors were a dull gray and much more cramped, and they turned at strange angles to fit the various compartments rather than being long and straight. The Flash Points were down because of the lack of power, and it took fifteen minutes to climb the ladders from deck to deck and make it to the computer center. Marken looked up from the console he was studying and smiled. Zak waved and went over to the hole in the floor that Panther would come up out of any time now. "Two minutes, Zak." Marken said and looked back to his controls. He took his comm. off his belt. "Engineering, are you ready with the power feeds?" "We have about eight minutes worth of battery power, Marken. After that we won't be able to connect it." Rip said irritably. "We need to step on it." Panther's case slid up out of the floor slowly and locked into the socket in the ceiling. Almost at once the lights in the room began to blink as Panther set up his interfaces with the ship. "Tell him to open the power leads." Zak said, looking at the readouts next to Panther. The floor closed under Panther's tank, sealing him in place. "They're open." Marken wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Damn, we're gonna be close." "Bridge to Comp Center. When can we restart?" Storm sounded tense. Zak took out his comm. and looked over Marken's shoulder. "Engineering's already powering the reactors up. Is Curtis up there?" Zak asked. "Yeah, boss. He's at the temporary helm." Storm answered. "Our orbit is decaying now, Zak. It might be a good idea for you to get on the shuttle incase this doesn't work." "Bullshit." Zak gave Marken a quirky grin. "One for all, remember?" "Reactor one is starting." Rip interrupted. "Now two." There were several quiet seconds as everyone watched the readouts. Panther's systems tied into the reactors and controlled the fuel mixtures, and both reactors neared the limits of their containment abilities. "Storm, standby to eject the reactors if we need to." Zak said quietly. "No dice, Captain. If the go critical, we go with 'em." Storm said into his comm. and looked over the helm controls. "The Grav field is building. Panther, there's a variance on the port engine." "Correcting." Panther's voice growled from the small speaker. The ship lurched under them, sending anyone on their feet tumbling to the walls. "Drive field at thirty three percent and building." "Sir, it's working!" Curtis shouted from the helm. "I have helm control. Thrusters are online. Engines are online. Setting high orbital course." His hands flew over the panel, and through the large clear view ports they could see the planet slowly moving out of view. Storm stood up and ran up the steps to the command chair. "Captain, we're moving into a stable orbit. The board is reading normal power readings through most of the ship." Zak looked across the room to Marken and smiled. "I guess we die another day." Marken shook his head and chuckled. "I hope I get your luck someday, Zak. I don't even want to be around when you're wrong." He locked down the computer control board and turned control over to Panther. "I'm going to engineering to help Rip." Zak nodded and headed for the door. "Plan on a get together in about an hour. Invite Rip, will you?" The door opened and Zak stepped into the corridor. It took several minutes in the unfamiliar ship, but he finally found the medical section. Fisher was working on a young kid in a tech's ship suit. His arm had been broken when the ship had rolled to one side and a large cargo container had fallen on him. Fisher looked up and nodded at Zak. "In that room, sir." He motioned his head at a door across the room. Zak stepped through the doors into the dimly lit room and stepped up next to the re-gen tank. He leaned on his arms on the rim of the tank and looked down at Kona's features. He had no idea why it had been so important to come here, but it calmed him to be here. Kona's face was totally relaxed in the coma induced by the computer. He floated in the slightly blue colored fluid with several probes and wires attached to his body in various places. There were still faint scars from the energy weapons that had hit him, and Zak traced the one across his chest with his eyes. "A few more days, sir, and he'll be fine." Fisher walked into the room and leaned back against an exam table. "We really had a time killing the Jur' virus in him. We nearly lost him." "What made it so hard? I thought we had it cured a long time ago." Zak asked and turned his head to see Fisher. "Shouldn't it have been easy?" "Kona's system is slightly different. I haven't really had time to dig into it, but I think we may be able to use his blood to synthesize and even stronger cure. I certainly hope so, at least." Fisher walked over to the tank and tapped a couple of buttons. The panel beeped, and a readout came up on the screen. "See this spike?" The doctor pointed at the screen. "Whatever this is in Kona's blood, I've never seen it in anyone else's, and neither had Panther. Whatever it is, it nearly killed him, and when it turned itself on, it wiped out the virus in under an hour." "I was in the tank for nearly a day." Zak rubbed his eyes. "I remember being somewhat aware of dreaming. Is Kona conscious?" "I doubt it. I induced the coma so he could heal. The virus devastated his immune system. He's going to be weak for a while." Fisher turned off the monitor. "You know how we all got these lovely purple eyes from the virus?" "Yeah, I thought it was cool at first." Zak smiled. "Kona's are the darkest indigo I've ever seen. They look black unless I use my exam light." Fisher smiled and shook his head. "Another one for the history books." "Meaning?" "I think it was related to how close the contest was for him. "He'll be fine, but he was one sick little son of a bitch, Captain." Fisher turned to leave. "Are we bringing up the rest of the crew soon? I need more med techs." Zak followed and nodded. "Yeah. We're meeting on the bridge in an hour if you can make it." "I can. See you then." He clapped the Captain's shoulder and headed back for the man on the table. It took five days to repair the ship and get ready to leave orbit. The colonial governor had been very generous with a gift of several tons of raw replicator material, used by the ship to make everything from food to medical supplies to engine parts. For a few days there had been some animosity between the two crews as they became one team. Zak ordered all of the various department heads to work hand in hand with their crews, and it was starting to come together. The most intense moment had been when Panther had announced without warning that the ship was no longer the Moscow, and that it would now be referred to as Panther. Several members of the Moscow crew that had fought for and nearly died for the Moscow had been understandably angry. Zak had made his way through out the ship explaining their quirky computer and doing what Storm called shaking hands and kissing babies. It didn't take long for the crew to unify behind Zak after that, and Zak silently wondered if that was exactly what the living computer intended. Of course, Panther was absolutely silent about it. It was finally time to head home. The night before they were planning to leave orbit, Zak sat in his quarters reading crew rosters. He tried to get comfortable in the chair the former captain had been so fond of, a large one piece recliner thing, but it just wasn't happening. Finally he tossed the data pad on the table and rubbed his eyes. "Panther, do you remember that adjustable lounger you made for me?" "Affirm." Panther growled through the intercom speakers. "Can you make another one and flash it in here? Get that piece of shit out of my sight." Zak shoved the chair with his foot. It shimmered and distorted, and then popped out of existence. A second later a different chair appeared, an exact duplicate of the one he'd had on Panther, or rather the first Panther. Zak sat on it and stretched out, feeling the chair adjust to fit his form. "God I missed that. Thanks, fuzz ball.." "Pleasure, skinny human." Panther's use of humor was increasing since his link with Zak had widened, occasionally irking the crew. Zak loved it. There was a buzz at the door and Zak looked up. "Come in." The door opened to reveal Kona standing in the hallway dressed in a garment Zak had always thought of as medical jimmies. It was a lightweight jumpsuit that was very stretchy and comfortable. Zak stood up and grinned. "It's about time." He ushered Kona in and closed the door. "I was beginning to think you liked that tank." Kona moved carefully to a chair against the other wall and sat down. "It wasn't my idea. Fisher wouldn't let me go. He kept jabbing me with needles and stuff. It sucked." He smiled up at Zak. Thanks for hauling me out of there." Zak sank into his lounger heavily. "Like I could leave you, right? We need a lead helmsman." He crossed his legs and leaned back grinning. "How do you like the purple eyes?" "I liked 'em the way they were actually." Kona folded his legs underneath himself and fidgeted with his hands. His face was pained as he took his time to answer. Actually they give me the creeps." "I remember the feeling." Zak sighed, his mind replaying images of when he'd regained consciousness on Panther after the Jur' had attacked his family. "It goes away, Kona. This part I mean." He tapped his temple. "Anytime you want to talk I'm here, okay?" Kona nodded. What he actually wanted was to be held, comforted, but he would never ask. Zak wasn't just a friend; he was also the rescuer, the captain, and the hero. All of which made him hurt even worse. When he'd finally been released from Med Bay, he had to come here. Now he wished he hadn't. Zak had spent so much time being 'Captain Zak' that he was caught off guard be the feeling that surfaced as he watched Kona's face. Kona was obviously upset, and Zak felt compelled to reach out to him. The clinical face of the captain couldn't stand up between them. He sat up in the lounger and slid forward resting his elbows on his knees. "Kona, what's wrong?" He put his hand on Kona's knee. Kona shook his head, unable to speak. A whirlwind of fear and anger and resentment and loneliness filtered over his thoughts like an oil slick. He tried to smile but it just wasn't happening. "I don't feel good." He whispered and tapped his chest. "This is all fucked up." He looked up at Zak and swallowed hard. "It just hurts. Everything, all the way back to my dad." He shook his head. "I don't know what to do. The whole time I was out that's all that went through my head." Zak smiled knowingly. "When I realized that everything I ever knew was gone, and that it was six hundred years later, I got really sick." "What did you do?" Kona pushed his hair out of his face. Zak decided to be honest. "I cried in Tony's arms a lot the first few days. I became friends with Panther and that helped, and I had a pretty deep relationship with Tony." "I guess that wouldn't work for me. Panther's okay but I'm just a human and he's just a computer." Kona sat back looking miserable. "You'd be amazed how good a friend he can be." Zak stood up and walked towards the corner and a door. "Look, when they started assigning quarters I put you in here." He touched a control on the wall. The door opened and revealed a set of adjoining quarters. "Hope you don't mind." "Thanks. That's great." Kona smiled weakly. "Zak, I don't think I'm going to be much use to you. I think I'm going crazy." He met Zak's eyes but his smile faded. "It's hard to think." Zak moved over by the chair and looked into Kona's eyes for several seconds. He felt himself being drawn into those deep indigo pools, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, he didn't really fight it. It had been a long time since he'd cared about someone, really cared, and the pain from Tony's death was finally going away a little. He held up his arms and saw Kona's eyes go wide. He hesitated only a second before standing up into Zak's embrace. "You earned some down time, Kona. I know what you're going through and I'm here, okay?" He ran his hand through Kona's hair. Kona's brain overloaded. Somewhere in his battered mind he decided that it was pretty okay to be held by the object of his desires. As if they never existed, his negative feelings seemed to evaporate as he wrapped his arms around Zak and felt Zak squeeze him tightly. After a few minutes Zak led him into the other quarters and helped him get in bed. His memories seemed to fog at that point as he began to sink into a natural sleep. He distinctly remembered a light kiss goodnight. The next morning Zak sat in the command chair on Deck One and sipped a cup of coffee and looked over the newly repaired workstations. His mind drifted over his missing friends and he wondered who was next. Maybe it was him, who knew? He shook his head and glanced over the system reports from engineering. Fisher walked onto the deck whistling and nodded at several people as he made his way to Zak. He made a sort of mock salute and handed Zak a data pad. "My report, Captain, from Kona's blood work. It has something to do with his Hawaiian ancestry, which may explain why so few of them were ever taken by the Jur'." "So what am I looking at?" Zak set his coffee on the console. "Pretend for a moment that I have no idea what these neato three dollar words mean." "Three dollar words?" Fisher was honestly puzzled at the reference. He dismissed it and pointed at the pad. "Right here, see that data spike? That's a protein compound that occurs normally in Kona's blood. It somehow bonds with the Immuno-factors in his system. When it activated, he defeated the virus in about five hours, the fastest I've ever seen." "So this is a cure? We can treat people with this during a Jur' attack?" Zak stood up and handed the pad back. "It won't be hard to synthesize." Fisher smiled. "It was hard to code it into the medical computer, but it should be a breeze now." Zak stepped down off the command platform and leaned against the rail, folding his arms. "Doc, what if this stuff was fired at a Jur'?" Fisher's eyebrows knitted together. "I never really thought about it. The Jur' are comprised of the same viral compound, so I would assume it would kill them just the same. I don't know how fast, though." Zak smiled in such a manner that it would give anyone else chills. "So maybe we could figure out how strong a dose you need to kill a Jur', and then maybe if it doesn't take much things might be a whole lot different." "I'm not sure I follow." Fisher was uncomfortable with what he saw in the captain's face. "You think this is the weapon we need to turn the war?" "No, Doc, I think this might be THE weapon. The one to end the war and get rid of the Jur' entirely." Zak patted his shoulder. "Get Hayman to help you from sciences, and I'll make sure you have all the computer time you need." "Aye, sir." Fisher turned and left. Zak walked forward to the newly rebuilt helm and put his hand on the back of Curtis' chair. "Navigation locked in?" "I have the course for Earth on the board, sir. Engineering called a minute ago and cleared us for gravity drive." Curtis brought up the course on his viewer. "Whenever you're ready, Captain." Zak looked out through the enormous clear metal ports and smiled. He folded his arms again and looked down at the planet that had almost been their final resting place. "Should've taken us while they could." "Sir?" Curtis asked. "Nothing. Get us the hell out of here, Curtis." Zak had to chuckle as a long forgotten memory came to him. "Warp speed, Scotty."