TOOLS OF DARKNESS Part 2

By Sunraven


 

Terra, bristling, came up to the elderly denn-bok master. "He might not be able to make you leave, but I am not so constrained, Sech Durhan! I have been placed in charge here by Gray Council edict, and I insist that you return at once to your ship. Your Anla’Shok can stay, they will be helpful, but it is not acceptable that you put yourself at such risk."

Neroon, looking confused, asked Terra, "Do you know Sech Durhan, Terra?"

Sech Durhan smiled at his former pupil. "Do you suspect that she is this rude and disrespectful to every stranger she meets, Neroon?"

Terra’s face got red as a beet, her eyes and the globe got green, as she responded, "Me, rude and disrespectful? You old goat, I didn’t just call a member of the Gray Council a puppy!"

"Terra! You go too far!" Neroon yelled, his eyes about popping out.

Sech Durhan’s eyes started twinkling, and he was trying to look cross, but finally he broke out into deep gales of laughter. "Old goat, am I? If you don’t be careful, you young annoying Human, I will show you just what this old goat is still up to, and what do you think of that?"

Terra’s anger slipped away, since his laughter was just as infectious as Relinn’s. "Any time, any place, and in any position, Sech Durhan, it will be my pleasure to watch you use your denn-bok!" 

Lenann murmured to Neroon, "Another Minbari falls to the killer empath’s denn-bok." The warrior just growled at him.

Terra turned to the two younger men. "Neroon and Lenann, I am going to leave these two venerated elders in your hands. Please get one of the Minbari physicians to explain proper contamination prevention to them and to you two as well so as to minimize the risk. I have already spent too much time here. I need to get to those records, and to see some of the ill ones myself." She bowed to all of them, then left to her work.

Neroon, still shocked by what just went on between his old teacher and his ex-lover, turned to Durhan. "Sech Durhan, if you don’t mind my asking,…"

Durhan smiled at Neroon. "You want to know how I came into Dr. McClare’s acquaintance, Neroon? She came to Tuscanor and visited the Entil’Zha at Anla’Shok headquarters once. She helped us to solve a small problem we had, and stayed with us for a little while. I also saw her again when I came to Babylon 5 with Sinclair to visit Delenn. She is insufferably disrespectful, and quite rude when she is annoyed, and she makes me laugh more than anyone else I know. I find her quite refreshing."

The old denn-bok master turned to Lenann. "You are quiet, Lenann. Have you been keeping up with your practice? Since we are to be here for a little while, you and I will have to have a sparring match to see if you have kept proper technique." He caressed his battered denn-bok, his eyes shining.

Lenann groaned inwardly. The last match he had with Durhan lasted seven hours and ended with him on the floor unconscious. He had kept up with his practicing this time, though, so maybe this would be one that he would actually tie or win. He answered his old teacher, "I have been keeping up my practice, Sech Durhan, after I recovered from your lessoning in our last sparring match. I’ve also had some good matches coming here on the Ingata. I look forward to sparring with you." He smiled a big grin. "Though if I hurt you, sir, I’m afraid of what Dr. McClare will say when you can’t keep your rendezvous!"

Durhan laughed. "For that comment, Lenann, your lessoning will be extra painful this time around."

 

Terra stared into the electron microscope. She had transacted three slides of three different patients’ blood together and was staring at the result. Suddenly the iron corpuscles starting blurring, and she pulled back, rubbing her eyes. She sighed, stretched her back to get rid of the seemingly permanent kinks in it, and returned to the microscope. No luck. The blurring came back.

"Damn!"

"Terra?" Neroon’s voice made her jump in surprise.

"Neroon! You startled me. What are you doing here? I thought you were piloting supplies and visiting the cities with Relinn."

"I have been, for the last five days. Terra, it has been reported to me that you haven’t gone to your quarters to sleep for the entire time! I know that Humans can’t go without sleep for that long without having problems."

"I’ve slept, here, when I’ve gotten too tired to stay awake." She motioned to the rumpled couch in the lab.

"All of us are worried about you. Satai Relinn insisted that we kidnap you away from all this for an evening so that you can refresh your spirit." He reached over and touched her face. "We have missed you. And Sech Durhan told me to tell you that he is waiting for you to tell him where to meet you for your rendezvous!"

She sensed his mild jealousy, and smiled.

"I’m not sure a night off would be a good idea right now, Neroon, though Valen knows I would love one. I feel like I’m right at the point of breaking through, if I can just keep at it. And with more people sickening every day…"

"Sometimes letting a problem rest in your subconscious for a night can bring a stubborn solution to the light of day. And it will not do the plague victims any good if you collapse from exhaustion." He smiled at her gently, warming her tired spirit. "After all, you Humans are so fragile!" He turned her away from him and started rubbing the knots between her shoulder blades. "Your muscles are as tight as a Religious Caste female’s …, uh, they are very tight. Does this help?"

Ignoring the interrupted obscene comment about her caste and sex, she leaned into his strong fingers, feeling the heat and strength of them melt the knots away. "That feels marvelous, Neroon, thank you." She continued to lean against him, enjoying the body warmth that always came off of him from the difference in their body temperatures. 

"My eyes are starting to blur whenever I look in this damned microscope." 

"Lenann and Durhan have been invited up to the Ingata to have their sparring match so the crew may observe it. Satai Relinn is coming too, and we’ve all been invited to dinner with Chakur. I thought you would like to go with us."

"Their sparring match?"

Neroon sighed. "Every time the two of them see each other, Durhan challenges Lenann to a sparring match with the denn-bok. This time has been no exception. Except that I mentioned it to Chakur when I talked to him last, and before I knew, we had committed the entire evening to the entertainment. We are all to be the guests of the Ingata for the night."

"You warrior caste sure know how to show a girl a good time."

"Then you’ll go?"

"Yes, I’ll go. I could use a break. You are right about that. I am tired." She turned back around to him and put her arms around his neck. "I feel like I could go to sleep just like this."

Of course he took the invitation she offered, and kissed her deeply. Afterwards she leaned her head against his armored chest. "I’m definitely more awake now, and it’s all your fault!"

 

They all sat on the shuttle that Neroon was piloting, Lenann, Durhan, Terra, and Relinn. The men were acting outrageous, trying to one-up each other to see who could tease Terra the most. She was laughing so hard that tears were coming down her face, and Sador’s Globe was glowing a bright blue. God she needed this break!

When they approached the Ingata, she noticed that Neroon was starting to get excited about something. "Neroon! Don’t you dare do any skin dancing with all of us in here!"

That got all of them going, telling him to go ahead, and teasing Terra about being afraid of a little skin dancing. Neroon wouldn’t have been Warrior Caste if he could have resisted all of those high-ranking males egging him on. 

So he took that shuttle and turned it into a swirling, curling, bouncing demon again. This time it was Relinn who put his arm around her to make sure she wasn’t afraid. He had a big grin on his face, and looked like a kid, just like the rest of them. Men! Terra thought. They are all the same under the skin. No matter how young or how old. As before, the Ingata couldn’t get a bead on the shuttle, even with the extra mass of two additional bodies. Neroon’s expert skill more than compensated for it. 

This time, when they docked, Chakur met them with a big smile on his face. He even bowed to Terra, surprising her to no end. He had made arrangements for them to eat dinner before the match, because it was possible that it would go on for many hours. Terra was placed between Lenann and Satai Relinn, which was fine with her. Both men had a large repository of stories and wisdom and interesting things to discuss, and though both of them teased her unmercifully, she enjoyed herself immensely. For the first time in almost five days she started to relax, and the visions of dead Minbari bodies stopped dancing in her head.

They went to the same training room as before. Terra felt like she was in a religious procession, with Sech Durhan and Lenann like high priests in the lead, and the rest of them following devoutly. She settled herself next to Neroon as Durhan and Lenann faced off. She could sense the excitement in the room as everyone awaited this epic battle of the famous denn-bok masters. She was tempted to lean against Neroon and take a snooze, but knew that behavior like that wasn’t acceptable in a room full of warriors. Instead she looked around.

"Neroon?" She asked quietly. "Where’s Sorat?"

"I believe she chose to stand duty tonight, Terra."

"And miss this? Is she being punished for what she did, Neroon?" Her voice had chilled slightly.

He glared at her. "I do not break my word, Terra, and you know that! Sorat has chosen to punish herself for her actions, which is her right to do."

"But she didn’t do anything wrong!"

"She disobeyed her Captain’s orders to take Ran to the cells and ready him for interrogation. That is why she feels she needs to be disciplined. Since I forbade Chakur to do it, Sorat is doing it herself. She has great honor."

"I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you." She smiled at him.

"It is all right. I know you’re concerned for her."


Just then Lenann and Durhan started the match, and Terra swore that she couldn’t even see their denn-boks move, they were so fast. She had been impressed when Neroon and Branmer had sparred for her before the peace talks, and when Lenann and Neroon had sparred before on the Ingata, but now she knew what it meant when two master-of-masters fought. It really was fascinating to watch, but her tired body and mind betrayed her, and she finally did fall asleep leaning against the bulkhead. 

"Terra."

She woke up, and realizing she had fallen asleep during the match, blushed. She smiled at Neroon. "Sorry. I guess I’m pretty tired. How long was I out?" She whispered.

He spoke quietly, "Not for too long. You started leaning against me in a totally inappropriate way, and though I was tempted to just let you continue, I thought that someone might notice. Would you like to go to your quarters?"

At her nod, he leaned over to Chakur, whose eyes were following with rapture every move Lenann or Durhan made, and told him quietly that Dr. McClare was exhausted, and that he would escort her to her quarters. The Captain of the Ingata nodded at both him and Terra, then his attention went back to the match.

Neroon walked her to her quarters, which were the same old VIP ones, in silence.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

"Excuse me?"

"That is an Earther expression, asking what you are thinking."

"I was thinking that Durhan is getting old. Lenann was holding his blows occasionally, which he has never had to do before."

"Well, he is 163 cycles old, Neroon. He was bound to slow down sooner or later. Why do you think he keeps pushing Lenann to become a denn-bok instructor for the Anla-shok? He knows that it is time for his successor to take over. I suspect that Lenann will probably give in a few years from now. It would be quite an honor for him."

"My father died when I was very young, during a skin dancing exercise. Branmer was like a father to me, and Durhan, also. I have lost one, and I have no wish to lose the other one so soon afterwards."

He let her in the VIP quarters, and she took his hand. "I think Durhan is going to be around for a long, long time, yet, Neroon. Don’t you worry about him. He’s a tough old goat."

He took her into his arms. "Yes he is, but I don’t think I like you agreeing to be with him, what was it you said, any time, any place, any position, that was it. That was an indecent comment! And your enthusiastic greeting to Satai Relinn shocked the entire hall! I do not like your behavior with these other males! You are mine!" The fierceness in his words and the light in his dark eyes warmed her through and through.

"Neroon, Relinn and I always exchange Human-style greetings, you know that he likes me to greet him that way! And he and Durhan are both old enough to be my grandfathers! I love Relinn and honor him greatly, and I think Sech Durhan is an absolutely adorable old satyr, but I wouldn’t sleep with either of them, and you know it! I can’t believe you’re jealous of them." She touched his face with affection, her fingers tracing his lips lightly. He made a noise that sounded like a cross between a groan and a growl, then kissed her to within an inch of her life. 

When it was over, his voice was harsh as he said, "Valen was 145 cycles old when he took a wife much younger than himself."

"You know you have no right to be this jealous of me. I am not your property." She chided him gently. He was incorrigible!

"If you agree to marry me, then maybe I won’t have to be. Otherwise I have to fight for what is mine!"

"Now that is a definite Warrior Caste logic pattern, and a darned odd one, at that." She stroked his face again. "I’m very tired, love. As much as I’d like you to stay for a bit longer, you would get very annoyed with me if I fell asleep in your arms. Why don’t you go back and watch the match?" She could tell he was reluctant to leave, but since she could hardly keep her eyes open, he just kissed her again lightly and left. And it was a good thing, too. She had come very close to grabbing him and forcing him to stay. The man was deadly!

She fell asleep quickly, and was jolted out of a deep sleep by Neroon.

"Terra, wake up!" The panic in his voice was enough to raise the dead. 

"What is it? What’s happened."

"It’s Durhan! He collapsed during the Denn-bok match! The doctors think he has the Korun illness!"

She was up and dressing in a heartbeat, giving orders as she dressed. "Quarantine him. I want him taken down with me in the shuttle. Make Satai Relinn and Lenann go down on a different shuttle. When he is carried to the shuttle, make sure that the corridors are cleared. I want the hospital room he is staying in scoured with a bleaching agent bactericide. Let’s go!"

 

She examined Durhan, and confirmed the early symptoms of the Korun illness in the mottled and patchy skin. "I guess I should have listened to your harping, Terra." The old warrior said with a weak smile.

"Don’t you give up and get all soft like a Religious Caste, you old goat! I’ve almost got this thing licked, and you will stay alive until I’ve got the answer. You are too mean to die, and I won’t let you. Do you hear me?"

He smiled a little bigger, and in his eyes appeared the shadow of a twinkle. "Yes, Entil’Zha Terra. I hear and obey."

On the shuttle, which Neroon piloted despite Terra’s arguments, the old pike master slept deeply. Terra followed the portable bed into the quarantine area, and gave orders that he was to have a private room and the best care.

Then she went back to her lab and renewed her efforts at reading the trancasted slide. Yes. This was it! It was this simple, which was why the answer eluded all of them for so long. She got on the vid to Sarel 

"Yes, Dr. McClare? How may I be of assistance?"

"I think I have the answer to the what, Dr. Sarel. Now we need to get the how and the cure, and we’ve got it! Come to my lab, and I’ll show you what I have."

He came running in to her lab. She said triumphantly, "Look at this." And motioned him over to the microscope.

He looked in and said, "I’m not sure what I’m looking at. It looks like three slides of iron corpuscles."

"It is three slides of iron corpuscles. Each was taken from a patient with different stages of the illness. Look at the walls of the corpuscles. See how they become more variegated in color as the illness progresses?"

"Yes."

"The iron peliocites have been leached out of the corpuscles. I’ve had a count done, and the terminal state literally had no peliocites left. The biochemical enzyme that regulates the level of iron peliocites is 3,2 ceria-stronecenase. It is also the same enzyme that regulates skin secretions, which are really dead peliocites! Don’t you see, Sarel? We need to find out what the levels of that enzyme is in our patients. My bet is that it will become progressively lower the further the disease progresses. I need you to do that research for me, while I start synthesizing some of the 3,2 ceria-stronecenase to give to the inflicted ones. It should slow down the progress of the depeliocitation. We also need a team working on what is attacking this enzyme. It has to be attacking it either at the molecular level, or at the cernoy gland, where the enzyme is created. We haven’t found any obvious virus yet, but we have to go deeper! An agent is attacking the level of ceria-stronecenase, and we now know what is being attacked, so how it is being attacked shouldn’t be too far off."

"Yes! This is indeed a breakthrough, Dr. McClare! Thank you." And he bowed deeply in respect.

"Before we start patting ourselves on the backs, we need these answers, Doctor!"

 

 

Part 3: The answer!