"Explain it to me again," Liam's tone was flat, his words measured.

"We were doing a flush of the energy cells this morning, as I'd explained during your inspection."  Ticker took a deep breath.  He'd explained it all twice already.  "We were cycling the turbines and reinjecting the plasma gel when the attack occurred.  The armor plating failed above the turbines responsible for the east wing, and we lost the the entire eastern power grid.  Deflectors, atmospheric shields, artificial gravity, power... they all collapsed like dominoes."

"Why weren't we prepared for this, Ticker?"

"We took the standard precautions.  We did everything we could with the materials at hand, and then some."

"Then what the Shkshk just happened, old man?" Scott growled.  He looked up from the floor.  He was seething, and struggling to keep his emotions in check.

"You listen here, kitten.  I won't be spoken to like that by anyone, regardless of who their father was!"

Scott jumped to his feet, and bounded over the round table in the council chamber.  He grabbed for the old canamarian, but the grey furred man was far more spry than he appeared.  Ticker rose to meet his charge, ducking under Scott's grasping claws and taking him around the waist.  They fell to the ground in a heap.  Scott swiped at the old man's face, but Ticker kept his head pressed against Scott's chest.  The inability to hit his mark merely fueled Scott's rage.  He clawed at the massive arms crushing his sides, and forcing the air out of his lungs.  The sounds of shouting council members were being drowned out by the blood rushing through his ears.  Scott roared, and reached for the black band on his arm which would send him into war mode and end the fight.

An arm went around his neck and pulled him back in a headlock.  He raised his hand to strike his new foe, and someone tried to wrench his arm behind his back.  Two more jumped on him and soon he was being wrestled down.  Rational thought had fled.  All that was left was the need to fight.  Ticker released his grip and enough air returned for Scott to shout.

"When you interrupt The Ancient Grudge you make yourself an enemy of both Tooth and Claw!"

"This isn't The Ancient Grudge, you idiot!"  Liam said into Scott's ear.  "This is you being dramatic and going berserk."

"Get off me," Scott demanded.  He worked a hand beneath himself and pushed off the ground.  His strength was returning quickly.

"I can't hold him," Undeen yelled.

He shook his other arm free from her grip and clawed at the man on his back.

"Let him go before more people are injured."  As always Liam was shouting out orders, to Scott's annoyance.

The weight on him eased until there was only Liam's arms locked around his neck.  Scott looked at his black band, but enough sense had returned to keep him from triggering the change.  Undeen and the other men retreated back to the far wall where Dr. Ho examined the wounds across Ticker's forearms.  The old canimarian was tougher and braver than he looked.   The glances everyone casted his way made Scott feel like a fool.  He threw an elbow back, the connecting blow was met by a satisfying grunt.

"We don't have time for this, you big fur ball."

"Get off!"

Liam pushed off, causing Scott to fall to his knee.

"Stay down," Liam ordered.  He spit out a mouthful of blood.  "I'll put you down If you make me.  There are people depending on us.  This isn't gonna happen."

Scott turned a baleful look on the only other person on the station who could understand how he was feeling.  They stared at each other for a time, Liam's tired expression sapping Scott's anger.  Without his rage Scott's grief flooded the void inside of him.  His mind went to his sister whom he had failed to protect.  His eyes burned, but he stubbornly refused to acknowledge them.

Ticker walked over, and offered Scott a blood covered hand.  Scott stared at the amber rents marring the man's fur.

"Don't be ashamed, boy," the old man said in felarnian.  "I understand."

Scott growled, but took the hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. The old man patted him on the shoulder then reclaimed his seat.  Ticker tapped the seat beside him, then gestured for Scott to sit.  The old man seemed to have put the violence behind him.  Scott was forced to give the man grudging respect.  He would never apologize, but he would need to do something to make amends.  Scott pointedly ignored the wary faces around the table.

"Can..." Liam shook his head.  "How do we recover from this."

Everyone exchanged looks.

"Two thirds of the turbines are back online, Mr. Marcus," explained Frederick Shan, the man charged with keeping the reactor running.  "We don't have the materials to replace the damaged ones but we might be able to repair four of the twelve by cannibalizing the rest."

"Do it"

"That won't deal with the ruined conduits."

"My guys are assessing the damage as we speak," Ticker assured.  "We'll have them up and running as soon as we can map a new infrastructure."

"What's the time table for this?"

"A week, Mr. Marcus."

"Earth, or Raiel?"

"Standard time.  A standard week."

"Maintenance could be ready in that time."

"Okay... a week."  Liam rubbed his temples.  He scribbled notes on a piece of paper, then made an entry on his datapad.  "Price, any update on your casualty assessment."

"20 dead, 11 unaccounted for," Undeen looked up from her own datapad, and turned to Scott.  He ignored her probing scrutiny.  "87 injured, 15 critical... one coma."

Anger surged through Scott's muscles, and he pounded the table.  He shook away the image of Patricia's still form.  The other members of the council watched him with unveiled concern.  Frederick's hand rested on the handle of his sidearm.  Scott looked into his eyes and growled.

"Everyone, relax," Liam said, his voice anything but.  "We were caught by surprise, but we survived.  You all know what you need to do.  Get your people motivated, and let's put our home back together."

People rose from the table in groups, all staring at him, all judging him.  Scott closed his eyes tight, fought back his anger threatening to make him do something else he regretted.  He felt Ticker squeeze his shoulder as he left.  Part of Scott wished the old man had been a Canamarian Knight, then real blood would have been spilled.  Then he wouldn't have been left to his emotions.  When the sounds of the council leaving faded he opened his eyes.  Liam and Dr. Ho had stayed behind.

"Are you alright, brother?" Liam said in felarnian butchered by his thick human accent.

Scott started with a nod, but ended shaking his head.  There was a bit of relief in admitting how he felt.

"Neither am I, but we can't lose control.  What just happened between you and Ticker others will forgive because 'you're cats and dogs and you'll always fight', but had that been someone else..."

"Had that been someone else we would have had Undeen arrest you, and throw you in the brig."  Dr. Ho's voice was both patronizing and matter of fact.  "People look to you for leadership, and because of it we have to hold you to higher standards."

"This can't happen again."

Scott grunted.  The actions of the ancient felarnian warrior were always measured and purposeful.  To apologize was to admit the chaos between one's intent and outcome.  A warrior never said sorry, he merely did better.  Scott remembered the teachings of his father and uncles well.  Most of his youth was spent learning the way of the warrior.

"Okay, Linn, how do we help Patricia?"

Liam's face was a mix of worry and need.  Scott imagined he looked much the same.

"I'll be frank.  We have no idea.  It's clear that at some point during the crisis she was injected with a sample of your blood and a dose of an unknown contaminant."

"R.Nano.  She was taking a sample of my R.Nano," Scott growled.  "I'm not sure what happened.  I took my eyes off of her for a moment and then the decompression happened.  I went into war mode, she was thrown against the wall by the shifting pressure.  I grabbed her and secured her in the charge alcove... that's when I noticed she wasn't moving."

"The hypogun probably went off before she could secure it."  Liam frowned.  "Doctor, is the coma a result of head injury or the injection."

"Your guess is as good as mine.  She suffered physical trauma, but she's also a felarnian.  She's tough, and I don't think her injuries severe enough to put her in a coma, but we can't rule anything out.  That's the problem, we just don't know."

"What do you know!?"

"Scott."

"It's okay, Liam.  Patricia is the only person on the ship who's done any study of the nanomachines running through your blood.  All I can tell you is it's strong and it's predatory.  Her body is being attacked on a cellular level.  I think we were lucky the injection site was a muscle and not directly into her bloodstream.  I put her in a stasis tank which will slow down the process, but right now we're discussing dialysis and amputation."

"WHAT? No!  No, no no."

"Scott, we need to purge the contaminant, but we're having trouble even detecting it.  If we wait too long, it will be too late."

Scott jumped to his feet.  He couldn't believe what he was hearing.  It had been his job to protect Patricia since they were banished from Felarnia.  It was his job to keep her safe, and he failed.  It was his own blood killing her.  Their father would have never let something like this happen.

"Scott, sit down."  Liam was standing between him and Dr. Ho.  Scott didn't see him move from his seat.  "Linn is trying to help.  Sit down, and let's figure this out."

"I've gone over her notes, at least the ones that aren't guarded by that infuriating Cheshire program, and I can't make heads or tails of it.  She has a few theories, but she writes in a strange cypher which has me baffled."

"I'm sure you understood more of it than I did."  Liam scratched his head.  "I asked Taylor-06 to have a look at it, figured a digital mind might succeed where I failed."

To Scott it all seemed bleak.  He didn't share his sister's impressive technical mind or Dr. Ho' medical knowledge.  He fought things, killed things.  He wasn't equipped to help her when she needed him most.  He snarled in frustration.

The table's projector came to life and an image of Taylor-06 appeared.  She was seated at the work desk in Patricia's lab.

"Hey, Taylor-06.  Any luck with Patricia's notes?" Liam asked, even in grief his tone lightened when speaking to the construct.

She looked up from the datapads arrayed before her.

"I'm trying.  Most of this is theory on the nature of the R.Nano, and what The Pale Garden intended when creating it.  It's all fascinating and frightening."

"Is there anything that we can use to counteract the R.Nano or neutralize it?"  Dr. Ho asked as she wrote in her datapad.

"She does have a section about a possible cure, but it is yet untested."

"It's all untested, Taylor-06. What does it say?"

"She lists a collection of isotopes, and chemicals that, when mixed with untainted DNA, will create a booster which will disrupt the R.Nano."

"Have you followed her work?  Will it work?"

"No."

"Useless," Scott hissed.

"I have no microbiology or chemistry education.  The theory seems sound but, I can't confirm with more than 55% accuracy."

"If we get you access to a wide-net access node, could you download the necessary information?" Liam asked.

"I could download it, but it will take me roughly 48 standard hours to assimilate the data."

"Why?  Pepper has done everything she can to help you, why aren't you trying to do the same?" Scott demanded.

"I am!" Taylor-06 snapped.  "I can't risk overloading my memory packets.  My damaged core limits my-"

"Scott, shut up!  She is helping.  We'll get you to an access node, and you can download the data.  At the same time we'll collect the ingredients for the cure."

"Liam, this is going to be dangerous.  We have no idea what this will do to her."  Dr. Ho looked over her notes.  "Plus time is working against us."

"Can you test it?"

"I guess we can try out a dose on Patricia's tainted blood if I can get the materials for a proper lab."

"Fine, add them to the list of things we need."

"Wait.  I di-"

"Time is working against us, right?  We'll get what we need and if it doesn't work we cut it out of her."

"No!" Scott couldn't stand the idea of removing body parts from his sister.  It went against their beliefs.

"If it comes to it, we might have to."

"It won't be that easy, Liam."

"Linn, we'll do what we must."

"There's also a problem with the DNA," Taylor-06 said timidly.  She looked from Scott to Dr. Ho. "I've checked twice.  We don't have any of Patricia's blood or plasma onboard.  We will need a substantial sample, and the DNA must share at least 50% of the subject's genetic markers... a sibling or a parent would be the best match."

"Problem solved!  We take my blood."

"Your blood would be more tainted than her own, Scott," Dr. Ho said.

Once again there was something getting in the way.  He looked around the room for something to throw.  If he couldn't donate blood to help Patricia, what could he do?  How could he save her?  The feeling of impotence was a new one for Scott, and he didn't like it.  He stood slowly, and all eyes focused on him.  They could see how useless he was.  They could see why his parents sent him away...

"Wait.  I know where we can get a sample of untainted DNA."