Welcome to the Journal of Now and Forever. This Journal is a collection of my Star Control and Star Control 2 fiction. Note: Some of this material is, by necessity, extrapolation from the slim information provided by canon sources.

New fiction is posted first at My Livejournal before it appears here. This story is in response to 15 Minute Ficlets' Picture Challenge #18.

" – okay, you've got people working full-time on antibodies for mara-disease. How soon can we expect anything?"

"You mean anything like vaccines, or anything like knowing exactly what this thing is?" Dean asked. He wondered how he'd ended up being in charge of the mara-disease research program. "It's a weird thing. It looks like a kludge of different organisms. That might be why there's different symptoms in different people." He leaned back in his chair and looked around at the varied meeting participants: Consuls, Advisors, and several others of critical industries, besides himself as leader of the Church of God the Creator and, apparently, head of microbial research. "It doesn't look like it's fatal, at least to us, but I can't say for anything else."

"You mean humans," Jack said, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Just in time for us to make another run to Sol, too. Well, we can't do that until we get some kind of ... either a vaccine, or a hermetic chamber or something to keep the bodies in."

"Are we trying for live bodies or just any bodies?" Ruth interrupted. "The disease won't go after a dead body, will it?"

"Odds are against it," said one of the other Androsynth, another XR4-IT like Dean, but one whose hair was much better mannered. "Most diseases need to spread through living hosts. If they kill off the host too quickly, they can't spread."

"That's what bothers me about this," Dean interrupted. "We've got a Patient Zero and date of infection and everything, but the disease hasn't shown one fatality yet. Even on Earth at the time of the Exodus, you'd get fatalities off any new disease. New diseases that are too strong kill off the hosts too quickly – "

"- We know," said the other XR4. "It's not like we don't know the science."

Dean bristled. Dina looked at him and the other clone, and verbally stepped in. "I think the point Dean is making is that this is a suspicious disease, isn't it?"

"Yes," Dean conceded. "It doesn't feel right. I don't know another way of putting it."

"Well, we've waited eight years already, a few more months of research won't hurt us." Gary stood and walked to the window, where condensation had formed on the glass, and looked out at the cold wintry Eta Vulpeculan landscape. "Besides, I'd have to round up the crew again – they went back to their ships after the last voyage, and I know most of them are out on patrol at the moment." He placed a hand against the window.

"Fine. So we study this bug for a few months." Kurt clasped his hands behind his neck. "Then we get ready for another trip to Sol. Sounds like a plan. Anything else?" His gaze slid over to Dean. "Your Church won't get together until either everyone's caught the bug or we figure out a cure or vaccine."

"I understand your position," Dean said, "Although I hope the Consul will consider that Church membership accounts for less than one percent of the population, and therefore other large gatherings should be equally restricted." He hated sessions when Kurt was one of the Consuls. Kurt had major issues with religion. It didn't help that Dean's inability to remember faces had kept him from recognizing that Kurt and Nick were both KORBs, both the same clone series. Once he'd realized that, it had explained a lot of why he felt so cranky toward Nick after dealing with the Consuls. Subconsciously, at least, he must have been conflating the two. It had taken three years to figure it out, and after that, there was no confusion over who was the difficult one to deal with. Nick might not be religious, but he wasn't hostile to it either. Kurt, though –

Before Kurt had a chance to respond, the door to the meeting room opened, and all heads turned to see who was there. It was one of Gary's subordinates, with the comet insignia on his uniform, looking pale and strained. Dean hoped it wasn't bad news about the disease; the last thing they needed was a rush job on the research because it was killing irreplaceable Androsynth.

No, it couldn't be that, this was one of the spacers' ground crew. Unless this was the first one who'd reported it...

"Sir," the subordinate said, speaking quietly and looking at Gary, who still stood by the window. "Sir, there's an urgent message coming from – one of the patrols."

That got everyone's attention. Gary straightened. "What is it?"

"It's – I think you'd better hear it for yourself, sir."

Gary excused himself from the meeting room, leaving the rest to wonder quietly among themselves what it was. Another probe? It couldn't be Earthlings already. Aliens?

Gary returned to the room, looking grave. "Our patrol was attacked by a group of alien vessels. They – the patrol – were forced to surrender. The aliens' demands are forthcoming. You..." he took a deep breath. "You may wish to consider our previous emergency plans." With that, he left the room again, barking orders to his subordinate, while the Consuls, Advisors and other Androsynth looked at each other in stunned silence.

Comments? Email me: laridian at aol dot com