Miles and Ver walked into the clinic hand in hand. "This is day one. If you don't find a cure by day five, I'm going to try to save them myself," Ver warned, keeping her voice in a whisper. "I can't let them stay like that any longer than that."

Miles nodded, worried that five days wasn't enough.

As they entered the stasis room, Miles released her hand and went to Medic Renn while Ver checked on the five patients and those who loved them who were sitting in chairs beside their beds.

The patient's mates all looked briefly up at her as she passed by before returning their attention to their mates.

"How are you doing, Miles?" Medic Renn asked, noting the tiredness in his eyes and the tenseness of his features.

"I'm okay," Miles said quietly. "We need to find a cure in less than five days," he said worriedly. "She will try to save them on day five. We need a cure before she does."

Medic Renn nodded, understanding the situation. If Ver tried, she would not survive. "Then I guess we'd better get to work. Yesterday, we checked for less tension on the siphon. It helped, but not enough to save them. The computer is still working on doing it while the patients are in stasis. The results from yesterday were inconclusive. I had to run the tests again this morning. It's still running the tests."

Miles nodded, moving his gaze to the panel where the readouts were updating continuously. "What about finding a neutralizer or something to repel it so it comes out without binding to the tissue?"

Medic Renn frowned. "We can only run one set of tests at a time. As soon as we get the results for this one, we can start on a neutralizer. I don't see how a repellent can help unless it's something injected into the tissue, so it doesn't want to bind. If that's the case, we have to worry about the mix of chemicals making matters worse."

Miles continued to look up at the panel. The human form was on the surface, the ever-changing information beside it, as it tried multiple adjustments to the test. When it finally beeped, letting them know the tests were complete, Medic Renn and Miles looked at the results.

"Failure. This one does not show inconclusive. It shows a failure," Medic Renn complained. He was getting frustrated.

Ver heard Medic Renn's complaint from where she was standing. She frowned, looking over at Medic Renn and her mate. She had hoped that the current tests would show something. Hearing that it was a failure did not sound good.

Starting the next test, Medic Renn pulled the toxin so they could find a chemical to neutralize it. He set the information in the computer, then gave it instructions to find a chemical to neutralize it. On the panel, two strands of bio threads appeared. One was the toxin, and the other was the chemical it was testing with it. They watched as the second bio thread flashed red, showing a failure, and then a new bio thread appeared. With each failure, the bio thread flashed red and was replaced with the next. Medic Renn had matched the toxin with all known chemicals in the computer's database. There were thousands of chemicals in the database to test. They had only just begun. It could take days to go through them all.

While they waited for the computer to work, Medic Renn pulled out different compounds, testing it freehand. With each attempt, he noted it on his tablet. Nothing was working as a neutralizer.

Miles watched the computer as it worked through its tests. He turned to look at his mate, who was holding one of the infants. Miles didn't know which one. She was smiling down at the infant while it giggled and laughed. Miles smiled; she would be a good mother if they could find a cure for the five humans. Not only would it save them, but it would save her life, too. He worried that they wouldn't be able to find a cure and she would do it herself. He didn't like the outcome. She would die so they could live.

*** *** ***

Fleet Commander Lerian walked through the ship, passing the large windows with the view of the blue planet below. The swirl of clouds moved slowly over the surface. He wanted to help find a way to save those in stasis but didn't want the toxin aboard his ship.

He remembered seeing the white-eyed girl. Heading to the archives, he rushed through the corridors with purpose. He remembered that having white eyes meant something, but he hadn't remembered what. Council Leader Vorik had told him what he had said during the interrogation about Ver. She was a healer, and she didn't know about it. If he could find the information he found as a youth, he would be able to find a way to help her learn how to heal them safely.

Arriving in the archives, he stepped in, pressing the button to activate the archive's large information panel. "Show me everything about white-eyed Ramesians," he told the computer.

The computer beeped a few times but showed nothing. Lerian sighed. He needed to find the correct wording to get the information he needed.

"Show me Ramesian Healers," he told the computer, hoping that it would work.

The computer beeped a few times, and layers upon layers of files popped onto the screen. Each file was stacked on top of the next. Starting with the one on top, he scanned its contents, finding it was only medic files. They were medical procedures and training materials. Closing that one, he looked at the next. Another file of medic training.

One after the other, he went through the files. He found nothing but medical information. He clearly had worded his request wrong. He needed to think about how to ask after he had scanned the last file.

After the last one, he thought for a moment about the correct wording. "Show me unusual birth defects," he finally told the computer. Lerian hoped that white eyes would be considered an unusual birth defect.

The computer beeped a few times before layers of files appeared. Scanning the first one, he found it was about someone born with no horn buds. As an adult, they never even grew horns. Shrugging, he closed the file, going to the next. This one was blindness. Closing the file, he continued going through the layers of files one by one. When he only had a few more files to look through, he realized he needed to think of another way of asking the computer. It didn't look like he was going to find what he needed with what he asked for.

On the last file, he scanned the surface. Eyes with missing color pigment. Opening the file, he noted that the eyes in question were white. Smiling, he began to read.

*** *** ***

Mikiel sat at the counter, drinking a warm tea. Verion was coming out of the back room. He looked up. "What some tea?" he asked Verion.

Verion shook his head slowly. He appeared to be uncomfortable. There was something on his mind.

"Do you think it's safe for me to go home now?" he asked. "I feel like I'm invading your home," he confessed. He had to speak slowly in order not to stutter, emphasizing each word carefully. If he spoke slowly, he wouldn't stutter.

Mikiel smiled. "I like having you here," he assured him. "Besides, I bet we'll be both stuck in one of the dorms if you leave. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go to one of the dorms. I found out two days ago that my dwelling was given to someone else. I bet yours was, too. Unless, of course, you lived with family."

Verion shivered at the thought of going to the dorm. "No, my mother died when I was young. I never knew my father. I don't want to go to the dorm," he agreed slowly. "If it starts to feel like I am invading your home, please tell me, and I will find somewhere else to go."

Mikiel smiled. "You'll be fine until one of us finds our mate."

Verion couldn't help but smile back. He liked Mikiel. He didn't treat him like the others. He was always kind. He didn't care about his stuttering. Mikiel always gave him time to speak without ridiculing him for his difficulty in speaking.

"Come on," Mikiel told him, putting his empty teacup back in the replicator to dematerialize. "Let's go get some pizza in the tavern."

Verion smiled. He liked going to the tavern with Mikiel. On this side of the dome, he was treated much better. Everyone was friendly. He couldn't help the way he spoke, though. It was too ingrained in him because of the way he was treated before. He even went to the tavern on his own. No one ever gave him any problems.

*** *** ***

Ver sat on the sofa in her and her mate's dwelling. Work in the clinic had ended poorly, in her opinion. Medic Renn and Miles were unable to find a neutralizer for the toxin. The computer was still running through the chemicals in the database when they left. There were too many for just one day. There were still four days to find a way to save them. On the fifth day, she would go in sometime during the night after Medic Renn got off work and help the five humans waiting in stasis for a cure.

"What progress did you and Medic Renn make today?" she asked Miles. She wanted to know if there was even a slight chance that they would find a cure before the five days were up.

"We're working on looking for a neutralizer. So far, we haven't found one, but there are a lot of things that look promising," he told her. Then, going quiet, he looked over at her. His face turned pale. We need to plan for you to heal them. I want to make sure we know what to do for the best possible chances of you surviving. I know I can't stop you, but I want to find a way to make it as safe as possible for you. I just found you. I don't want to lose you."

Ver took Miles's hand. "I don't want to be lost either, but it's something I need to do. If there is even the slightest chance that I can save them, I want to try."

Miles nodded. "Let's go to the tavern and get some pizza. We need to make plans and figure out how to keep you safe."

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