They had done it. In the eleventh hour the Excalibur had found a planet beyond the Rim much like Earth had been during the days of the dinosaurs. Volcanoes pockmarked the surface alive with teeth and claws and venom and marginally breathable atmosphere.
The teams had spread out to collect samples, keeping shuttle pilots busy getting the samples back to Dr. Chambers on the ship. Captain Gideon and Max Eilerson were exploring the area around the volcano sitting on the planet's northern pole. A shuttle touched down to prepare for returning the crew to the ship when a frantic call from Dr. Chambers came over the comms.
"Who collected Sample NCA1G?"
"I did." Gideon answered. "Why?"
"Our initial testing shows that sample slows the growth of the cells in the plague. I need more of the ash from the volcano."
"Roger that."
He looked at the expectant faces.
"Don't just stand there. Get the doctor her ash."
All the containers on the shuttle were filled, and several hours later an element found only in the ash from that one volcano was isolated.
While the scientists ran tests to match the element with the elements they had found in their journey, the crew continued extracting the element from the ash.
"Captain Gideon to the med labs." The computer voice jarred Matthew from where he'd fallen asleep on his desk.
"On my way."
"Dr. Chambers?"
"Ah, Captain." The doctor stepped away from her work. "I have good news and I have puzzling news."
Gideon arched an eyebrow at his CMO.
"The good news is when we combine all the things we've collected along with the element from the volcano it brings the growth and mutation of the virus to a standstill."
"But …"
"But, it doesn't kill the virus or render it inert. We're missing whatever it is that will finally kill the virus."
"So what … The virus just sits there like a time bomb?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Keep working, Doctor. I have to make a call." Gideon turned to leave.
"Who? Galen? We haven't seen him in weeks." Sarah scoffed.
"That's a Technomage for you. Always there for the victory party, but never the war." Matthew's tone was flat.
Sarah Chambers stared wide-eyed at the captain's back. She knew the two men had a strong connection, but each time Galen left Excalibur, the captain became more withdrawn. The last few times Galen had taken Dureena with him causing Gideon to close himself off. She wondered if the snarky Technomage knew how to grovel.
Back in his quarters, Gideon pulled the Apocalypse Box form its hiding place.
"We're so close to a cure … What are we missing?" He asked.
"You have everything you need on Excalibur. You need only solve the puzzle."
Matthew glared into the yellow light.
"What puzzle?"
"What will you do?" The box asked.
"Whatever it takes." Matthew answered.
"Even if it means your life?"
"Yes."
"We knew Galen had a reason for saving someone who seemed to be of no import at the time." The box practically chuckled.
Rage coursed through Matthew Gideon's brain. Before rational thought overcame the rage, his left fist landed in the box repeatedly.
**Fucking Technomages!** His inner voice snarled.
Blood from split knuckles spread through the box transmuting the magic inside. Gold and silver wound around his left arm pouring golden light into his veins ... Adhering to his skin like a symbiote. The golden light flowed through the red of his rage leaving behind 'something extra'.
Matthew fell back into his chair with a thump. He took a breath and 'looked' at the presence in his mind. If felt as though he had taken the Apocalypse Box into himself.
*I am you and you are we*. The thought floated across his mind. **We are the catalyst.**
Matthew's head dropped back against the wall. Vaccines were made from the antibodies of a person immune or who had survived a plague. John and Sarah were going to have a fit when he told them what needed to be done. Galen was … Gideon's heart clenched. He'd thought he meant something to the Technomage, but apparently he was a means to this end. Since he'd made it to this point, Galen obviously didn't feel him important enough to take his attention away from whatever he was doing. Matthew hadn't heard even a ping from the mage since he'd left to play intergalactic footsie with Dureena.
That thought settled the captain on his course. There was no family or lover to mourn if this blew up in his face. This was Earth's Hail Mary play, and he refused to let a broken heart stay his hand. He called his First Officer and Chief Medical Office to his quarters.
The walls vibrated from the shouting in his quarters. To say John and Sarah were unhappy was a gross understatement, but Matthew dug in his heels, and told them about the Apocalypse Box and showed off his new jewelry.
"There's something about me, this bracelet that's some kind of catalyst for the vaccine. We need to go 'old school'. Take the blood of a survivor to make the vaccine."
"This could kill you." They shouted.
"But it could work. We need to exhaust every possibility." Gideon stood firm.
In the face of his stubbornness, they relented.
"When?"
"Now. Everything is in order for John to take over Excalibur should something happen to me."
"Fine." Sarah practically pouted as she led the way out of the captain's quarters.
Matthew lay in the isolation chamber as the automated arm injected the Drakh plague into his veins. He closed his eyes and waited.
Outside the room, Dr. Chambers watched his bio signs. When the symptoms of the plague began to manifest in Gideon, she loaded their serum, and the automated arm once again injected the captain.
There was no privacy for Matthew as he suffered the effects of the plague. Every minute of every day was documented by white suited scientists who poked and prodded and took his blood until he was ready to scream at the invasiveness of it all. When he stood on the edge of the cliff of insanity, a warm voice in the back of his mind called him back from the edge … Soothed the hurt feelings, the humiliation as the plague took away his independence. The voice taught him that even the strongest being needed to know when to surrender ... To live to fight another day. Matthew buried himself in the golden glow of the being joined to him and surrendered.
Lt. John Matheson stood on the bridge as Excalibur hurtled them full speed toward Earth. Though it cut him to the quick to be sitting in the Captain's chair while his Captain lay in sickbay dying from a last ditch effort to save a planet, he would carry out the Captain's wishes to his last breath.
He was startled when a warm presence brushed his mind. At first he was terrified. He took his suppressants, he was the model telepath. He scanned the room, but everyone was doing their jobs, not paying him any attention. Warm regard and affection filled his mind as he realized it was Captain Gideon.
**Sir?** John sent out the smallest tendril of thought.
**It's alright, John. Our little secret.**
John was really alarmed now … The captain sounded almost giddy.
**Are you dying, Sir?**
**I think so, or at least standing with one foot on each side of the Veil. I'll see you, John. We'll be free soon. I know why the caged bird sings. We shouldn't be caged, John. When this is over we'll go somewhere where we shall be the hunters.**
John was pulled out of the link with Gideon by the loudspeaker.
"Galen is requesting permission to come aboard."
Lt. Matheson rolled his eyes.
"Let him in." He told the shuttle bay.
A swirl of black cloak was all anyone saw of Galen as he rushed from the shuttle bay toward the medical labs, Dureena hard on his heels.
"Dr. Chambers, I demand to know where Matthew …"
"Dr. Chambers, we're entering Earth's system. What can I tell the President?"
Sarah Chambers looked at the man lying in the isolation chamber, his life's blood draining into bag after bag as he struggled to hold on a little longer.
Sarah Chambers pulled herself to her full height as she glared at the Technomage.
"Tell the President Captain Gideon found them a cure."
She turned on her heel and headed into the lab. They needed to synthesize the vaccine quickly. The captain couldn't afford to give much more blood.
Galen had taken Dureena with him to ferret out rumors of Drakh scientists that had engineered the plague. They had extracted all the information they could by magic and Dureena's more direct methods, but all they had come away with was a riddle about a man who'd been touched by many would provide a cure. His ship had barely broken orbit when the connection he forged to Matthew Gideon disappeared from his mind.
Using magic and jump gates, it still took ten ship's days to get back to the Excalibur, her race toward Earth keeping Galen hard pressed to catch up.
Shaking off the surprise at Dr. Chambers' treatment, Galen turned to look at Matthew. He was clearly alive so there was no reason for the bond to have disappeared. Something else tickled his magical senses. He walked around the chamber studying Matthew. He moved, pulling his arm from under the blanket to rub his face. Light played off the swirls of gold and silver winding around his left forearm. Galen gasped then cursed.
Vorlons.
**Forever sticking their noses in the younger races' business.**
Galen heard Dureena chuckle. He must really be rattled if he said that out loud.
"Pot and kettle, Galen." The thief teased.
He wasn't going to get any answers from Dr. Chambers. She was clearly perturbed at him for some reason. He'd ask Lt. Matheson how a Vorlon got on board the Excalibur.
"Vorlon? The Captain said he punched a box … The Apocalypse Box I think he called it."
John turned away to hide his grin. So that's what he felt. The Vorlon's separated the Technomage from his pet human. He'd always thought Galen took his Captain for granted stopping by Excalibur long enough to toy with Gideon's mind and affections before setting him back on the shelf until the next time he wanted to play. Whatever had happened when the captain punched the box certainly had Galen's cloak in a twist.
It would be interesting to see what developed after the captain recovered from the plague.
Captain Matthew Gideon was still weak and pale, but he was sitting in the command chair of Excalibur as she parked in Earth's orbit. His First Officer stood on his right, his Chief Medical Officer on his left. The World Council filled the view screen.
"Are you certain this will work?" The President asked.
"We are not, Madame President. I refuse to put the life of one of my crew at risk when there is an entire planet of test subjects below us." Gideon's tone was harsh.
"Where did you find this cure, Captain?"
Matthew ignored the huff of indignation coming from the Council.
"A reliable source told me how to find the elements we needed."
"You trust this source?"
"As much as I trust anyone." Gideon smirked. "All you need to know is that it can be synthesized, and we have sent a shuttle to the exchange terminal with our research and supply of vaccine. The Excalibur will wait for the results of the population being vaccinated. After that we'll be taking some much needed shore leave."
Galen listened with one ear to the conversation being broadcast ship wide. He and Dureena were searching the captain's quarters for the remnants of the box. Having poured the contents of a black velvet bag into his hand, Galen felt his insides twist when he looked up to see Matthew watching Dureena step away from his safe while the Technomage held the shards of the artifact in his hand.
"Find what you were looking for?" The captain's voice was cold.
Dureena's eyes went wide. No one had been able to get the drop on her in years, but she had always underestimated Gideon. That was probably his greatest strength.
"Matthew, let me explain …" Galen stepped forward.
Golden light snapped in dark brown eyes.
"Explain! You want to explain. Fine. Riddle me this … Why did you rescue me when the Shadows destroyed my ship?"
"It was the right thing …"
"Nope. Try again."
Galen remained silent. He thought he'd seen all sides of Matthew Gideon. The passionate man that shared his heart and his body. The passionate man who fought for his crew and ship. The passionate man who refused to give up even when he was one step from death's door to save his home planet, but never had he seen this side of Matthew. Without the magical connection they'd shared, he couldn't read the Captain's thoughts.
"I wanted to know what you had done. When they said you had an Apocalypse Box I had to be sure. Matthew let me see if I can undo what you did."
Using a cajoling tone, Galen hoped to steer Matthew to his way of thinking. If he could get rid of Matheson he could probably convince Gideon to let him get rid of the bracelet.
"It's interesting ..." Matthew leaned against the doorframe. He didn't want to show how weak he still was by having John prop him up. "For ten years I thought we had something special only to find out what you had was an intergalactic leash reinforced by sex and my own emotional blindness. Near death experiences have a way of shining light in all those dark places in your mind. Your vision becomes clear. If not for the far seer you had on your ship that day, you would have left me in the black to die. You got to be my watcher to find out what was so special about Matthew Gideon, and if you got some side benefits from the deal then all the better."
John and Dureena stared in shock at Galen. Galen stared at Matthew.
"You speak truly, Matthew. I was chosen to watch over you because I have always been fascinated by humans. I clouded your memory of your rescue so you would be more accepting of me in your life. I admit that I was surprised when our friendship took a more personal turn, and we became lovers. Obviously Katrenka was correct in her vision. You most certainly made yourself a catalyst, and did so while I was distracted … By other matters."
His eyes flickered in Dureena's direction.
"This Apocalypse Box was of Vorlon design. You merged with a piece of Vorlon consciousness. Let me help you."
Matthew studied Galen like he was an amusing child. Galen now realized why Gideon found it so irritating when he was condescending.
"I don't need your help Galen. In the past five years I have asked for your help more times than I can count, and more often than not you left us to our own devices helping only when it served some interest of yours. Yes, there is a piece of Kosh in me. Kosh stood by the younger races and helped Valen, Jeffrey Sinclair, Delenn, John Sheridan, and now me. A Vorlon who left a piece of himself behind though the Old Ones have gone beyond the Rim. When did a Technomage ever give that much of himself? I think I'll be just fine."
He felt his body trying to give to his exhaustion. A surge of energy from Kosh kept him upright.
**Almost done.**
"I think it's time for you and Dureena to leave Excalibur."
"Matthew …"
Galen stepped forward thinking if he could touch Gideon he could get the situation back under his control. He grabbed hold of his hand.
"Matthew, I thought you loved …"
He dropped the hand and stepped back cradling his own as fiery pain washed over his nerves.
"I did … Now I don't. I don't like being used. Humans may be the youngest of the space faring races, but we are not playthings for the pleasure of the older races."
Dureena finally spoke up.
"Captain …"
"I'll not have people close to me I can't trust. You've shown me where you loyalty lays. I hope you don't come to regret it."
"Of course."
John caught his captain as the door closed behind the mage and the thief, and lowered the exhausted man onto his bed.
It worked. The vaccine made from the antibodies of the blood of Captain Matthew Gideon cured the Drahk plague. The only ones that knew that were Lt. John Matheson and the crew of researchers led by Dr. Sarah Chambers, and citing doctor/patient privilege, they never told.
As soon as Excalibur was in space dock, and all the I's dotted and T's crossed, Matthew Gideon resigned his commission, and took a shuttle to Mars.
Lt. John Matheson knew they would never offer a telepath command of Excalibur, and he had no desire to serve under anyone else. Being around Gideon after he merged with the Apocalypse Box scraped away the layers of drug protocols and reawakened his abilities.
The odd part was not his telepathy coming back on line, but that being in contact with Gideon's mind did something wherein the watchdogs from PsiCorp could not tell he was functional.
In the weeks after the confrontation with Galen, his friendship with his captain had deepened. The pressure of finding a cure lifted brought out the more relaxed, playful side of Gideon.
John stared at the data crystal Matthew had given him as he left Excalibur for the last time. Gideon wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling them together until their foreheads touched was actually more on John's mind than the message on the crystal.
Three days after Matthew Gideon landed on Mars, he received two messages. One confirmed his appointment with Michael Garibaldi, CEO of Edgars Industries ... The other ... John was on his way to Mars.
Galen watched Dureena practice the spell work he'd given her. The little thief with her quick wits and nimble fingers had taken to the mage training as though born to it. She would soon be receiving her next piece of tech and move on to the next level.
Six months had passed since Matthew had kicked them off Excalibur. Now seemed a good time to see if his temper had cooled. With no bond to anchor him to Gideon, it took longer than he liked to find the ship. His tone was a bit churlish when he asked permission to come aboard.
"State your business on the Excalibur."
"I wish to speak with Captain Gideon."
"Gideon no longer commands this vessel."
That gave Galen pause.
"What about Lt. John Matheson?"
"Also no longer on board."
"Thank you. So sorry to have bothered you."
Moving out of Excalibur's sensor range, Galen began giving Dureena a crash course in coaxing information from Excalibur's computers.
What they found caused him to lean back and close his eyes against the emotions tumbling through his brain. Matthew and John had resigned their commissions and had not been heard from since they landed on Mars three months ago.
Casting information crawlers into the aethers, Galen set course toward the planet his Clan called home and waited for information to return to hm. When the first spells returned with no information he remained hopeful. Matthew would want to be away from the hoopla of Earth being cured of the plague, but the more crawlers returned with no information the more he lost hope. When the last crawler returned, he locked himself in his quarters.
After a week, Dureena crawled out of an air vent into his room to berate the Technomage.
"Don't know why you're sitting in here moping … It's not like he mattered that much to you."
Dureena was surprised to find a snarling Galen holding her off the ground.
"He mattered."
"Not enough for you to stay. Not enough for you to put aside your agenda for his."
Galen dropped the thief to the floor.
"Point taken. We will not speak of this again. Go. I need to get cleaned up, and you need to prepare for your next trial."
Shooing Dureena out the door, Galen stopped long enough to let one last wave of grief pass over him before shoving it into a box and throwing away the key.
A month after they resigned their commissions, Matthew Gideon and John Matheson ceased to exist. Matthew Johns and John Gliden left Mars on an Edgar Industries ship as contracted security. When that ship lifted off from Minbar, she had two less crew members.
They found a room in Tuzanor, the City of Sorrows, and settled in to wait. By mid-morning the next day they were being shown into an office at the edge of the city.
"Matthew ... John, welcome. I'm so glad you decided to take me up on my offer."
"We're very glad to be here Entil'Zha, Mr. Garabaldi sends his regards."
John Sheridan smiled at his two newest Anla'Shok.
~ Fini ~