The sight that greeted Crane as he walked into Med-bay burned itself into the back of his mind. When Jamie had called and asked the Captain to come down quickly, he had imagined the Admiral had managed to stay awake for more than a couple of minutes; not this.

Chip was lying on a gurney connected to a series of monitors and an oxygen mask; one of the corpsmen was busy taking down the unconscious exec's vitals. Jamieson walked around the corner and Lee immediately pounced.

"What the hell happened?"

Will looked over at the newest arrival and raised a finger informing the Captain he needed a minute. He turned to his corpsmen and asked for an update; they reviewed Chips latest readings and Jamieson issued several orders to Steve, who promptly began to carry them out. Jamie closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath; there was no way this conversation was going to go well. Even though he had been working nonstop to try and create an antidote along with dozens of other staff members, medical, science and research alike, none of them had anything promising.

"There are some things I need to tell you Captain" Will said as he grabbed the young man by the arm and escorted him into his office.

If the doctor was hiding behind rank, things must be bad. The day had started out fine; granted there were the usual issues to contend with, but nothing that pointed to ending up with Chip in med-bay. "What's going on Jamie?"

"Did Chip talk to you at all?"

"Talk to me? Talk to me about what?"

Will shook his head. Damn you Morton; you were supposed to tell him. Deep down Jamieson had a feeling the exec wouldn't tell his friend in a stubborn effort to shield Crane from all that was wrong in the world; but like all good intentions, they always led to hell. "Chip's dying."

The words were like a kick to the chest. How could he be dying? All the air seemed to rush out of the room, and the tie around Crane's neck was suddenly way too tight; he unconsciously began to loosen it.

"How can he be dying; he was fine this morning. Wasn't he?" Wasn't he? Lee began to replay the last few days back in his head. Chip had been experiencing headaches recently, but that could be the stress or the lack of food he was eating. It shocked Crane just how little he had being pay attention to the people right in front of him lately.

"It's Alexi; he poisoned Chip just before they escaped. I've been searching for a cure, but so far we haven't been able to find anything. I'm not sure how much longer he has; but unless we do something soon, he doesn't have that long Lee."

"How- how do you know Alexi poisoned him?"

"Chip received a phone call shortly after he arrived back home; Alexi told him that he had been poisoned by an engineered substance that only he has the antidote for. This isn't anything we've ever come across, and from what we can tell most of the world believes it only exists in theory."

Anger flashed in Carne's eyes. "He's known about this since he got back; why didn't he tell me? Why didn't you!"

If the situation were reversed, Will would probably have been standing there with the same accusatory tone that was being directed at him now. All their good intentions seemed so shallow and hollow at that moment. "He didn't want you to worry."

"He didn't . . .!" Crane bit off the rest; he was exasperated and terrified. "But what about you? This doesn't just affect him; I'm his commanding officer, I'm his friend, Jamie!"

"I told him he had to tell you or I would; he begged me not to! He didn't want you to . . ." Jamieson stopped himself before he finished his thought.

"He didn't want me to what?"

"Alexi offered him a trade; you for the cure. He didn't want you running off to die for him."

"And what? I'm just supposed to stand here and watch him die? Well it's not going to happen, so you better tell me everything you know about his contact with Alexi."

Jamie told Crane everything Chip had divulged about Alexi's threats over the last few days, but it wasn't very much. The doctor couldn't give anything for Crane to go on, and from his prognosis it didn't appear that Chip would be able to clear things up.

Lee sat in Morton's chair in his temporary office. How could all of this been going on right under his nose; he had been watching Chip so carefully since his return. How could he not notice that his friend was slowly dying, let alone that Alexi was still harassing him?

The Captain began to go through all of the desk drawers and office files looking for any clue as to how to contact Alexi or when he wanted to conduct the exchange. After turning over every item and covering every square inch of the office, Lee still had nothing to work with.

He began to retrace his friend's actions over the last few days. With Chip staying at Lee's house, the two had spent most of their time together. He couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary except- the first night when he had returned from grabbing dinner. Chip had stayed behind while Lee went out to get some food. When Crane had come home he heard a crash that turned out to be Morton relocating his cell phone with extreme prejudice. Chip's cell phone! Alexi had to have contacted Chip via his cell.

Morton's phone had been given to Ryan who would deal with any callers in regards to the current situation. In their line of work, an important call shouldn't go to voice mail if it could be helped. When Lee entered the office he found Ryan engaged in a conference call; with any luck she would be too distracted to ask any unwanted questions about Lee's intentions. The less anyone knew the better. If Crane didn't have the information then there would be no way he could face Alexi; he knew they were just trying to protect him but right now he needed to do what he did best, regardless of safety.

In a quiet but firm voice Lee said, "I need Chip's phone."

Ryan cocked her eyebrow and gave the Captain a confused but questioning look.

"He has some notes on there I need for one of my reports," the skipper offered.

She placed her hand over the phone speaker and whispered, "It's the blue one on the table over there. Just make sure you bring it back by the time I'm off this call."

He gave her a big smile and nodded his acceptance of her stipulation and left for his office; turning on the cell revealed one new message. It took four tries but Crane eventually cracked Chip's voicemail access code to play the message.

Beep. "Charles, just because we don't get along is no reason to let me deal with your answering machine all the time. I'm going to give you one last chance to change your mind and turn Crane over to me. I'm sure by now the headaches, cramps, nausea and debilitating pain has made you reconsider your position. Seven o'clock, Chateau Juneau, room 210, Tuesday."

Seven o'clock Tuesday; that gave Lee four hours to work out what he was going to do; he would need back up but who? He was sure that by now Chip had informed the whole Institute not to let him go to this meeting. If he went to any of the crew, they would probably rat him out to Jamie; who was no doubt the ring leader since Morton's admittance to Med-bay. Crane couldn't blame them; they were probably right. He was definitely going to go out and do something incredibly reckless and suicidal; but if he could save his friend, it would all be worth it.