Chapter Two
When Ein was certain that Spike was asleep, he went and followed Faye. He found her sitting at the computer terminal, typing something into it. Ein 'woofed' to get her attention.
"Damn, I wish Ed was here! She'd know where to look for antidotes!" Faye grumbled, ignoring Ein for the moment. With a quick jump, Ein was on Faye's lap and pawing at the terminal.
"Hey! Get down!" Faye shouted, angrily, as she grabbed Ein and put him back on the floor. When she again looked at the screen, Faye was stunned to see that there was a whole list of illegal poisons listed on the screen!
"Whoa…………………." Faye muttered, then glanced at a rather smug looking Ein.
"Smart ass." Faye said, getting an annoying, doggy smile from the data dog for a response. Before anything more could be said or done, a cry of pain emanated from Spike's room. Leaping from her seat, Faye rushed back to the room, with Ein at her heels. The Spike they found in the room was nothing like the one they knew from even a few moments before; he was almost as pale as the sheets beneath him and cold sweat shone on his skin. His face was taut with an expression of intense pain and the bandages about his waist were soaked in blood.
"Ein, go call Jet! Hurry!" Faye shouted, not even taking into account that she was telling a dog to call someone, as she as she went to get something to help with Spike's pain and rising fever. Ein yelped and ran out of the room, heading for the video-phone. With a quick jab of his paws, Ein turned the machine on, and hit the number of the phone Jet carried with him. Seconds later, Jet's face appeared on the screen.
"Jet here, what………………..?! Ein! What're you doin'?!" Jet asked, a bit surprised that the dog had called him. Ein whimpered, then started barking like mad, trying to get the point across that Spike was in trouble.
"Okay, okay! Calm down! We'll be back in a little bit." Jet said, as Ed's face appeared briefly on the screen, then the screen itself went dark. Whimpering with anxiety, Ein dashed back to Spike's room. When he got there, he could see that the moment had passed, but Spike looked worse than ever.
"Dammit, he needs that antidote now, but we don't even know what kind of poison those thugs used!" Faye said, as the hopelessness of the situation set in. As Faye set about trying to bring Spike's fever down, Ein went over to the wastebasket and sniffed the bandages she had just removed. With the quickness of a machine, Ein went over the huge number of chemicals he knew the scents to in his brain. After a few moments, Ein went back to the terminal and input the data he had come up with. It took only seconds for the computer to give him a result.
"Spike-person! Faye-Faye! We're back!" Ed called, as she and Jet rushed in, their arms laden with groceries.
"Faye, where the hell are you?" Jet called, sounding a bit put off.
"Jet! Thank god you're here! Get in here quick!" Faye shouted, not even bothering to hide her distress. In a flash, Jet had set his grocery bags down and run to Spike's room. Ed, in the meantime, was curiously looking over Ein's somewhat diminutive shoulder at what was on the screen.
"What're you looking at, Ein?" Ed asked, as she crawled into the seat, placing Ein in her lap so she wouldn't disturb him much. Ein whimpered and pawed at the screen.
"Hmm? Poison? Why would you want that, Ein?" Ed asked, again. Ein shook his head and barked, jamming one paw down and bringing up the page that had a picture of the antidote bottle.
"I don't understand, Ein." Ed said, still very much in the dark as to what the dog wanted. With a yip, Ein jumped down from her lap then led her to where Spike now lay.
"Faye-Faye! What happened to Spike-person?! Is he sick?" Ed asked, horrified by what she saw.
"Yeah. And he won't get better without the antidote." Faye murmured, her eyes tired and worried.
"Antidote? Spike-person's been poisoned?" Ed asked. She got a nod from both Faye and Jet for a response.
"So that's what Ein was trying to show me! He's found the antidote!" Ed said, finally realizing what the dog had been trying to show her.
"You're kidding. We don't even know what kind of poison it is that is doing this, yet." Faye said, in disbelief.
"Ein must have smelled the chemicals for the poison in Spike's blood. Always knew that a data dog would come in handy." Jet said, as he gave Ein a grin and a thumb's up.
"Yay! Ein might save Spike-person after all!" Ed shouted, gleefully. Within the hour, Jet had gone to get the antidote, taking Ein with him. When the two had gotten to the location where the antidote was being manufactured, Jet set the dog on the ground.
"Now, in case something happens, I'll give you a transmitter so I will be able to track you down. Remember what the antidote capsule looks like, all right? I don't want to accidentally poison Spike to death." Jet said, as he opened the tiny (for him) metal grill that led to the air vents for the Corgi. With a nod, Ein went in, knowing that if he failed, Spike would die. Once the vent was closed behind him, Ein knew that there would be no turning back. He was on his own.