Hey guess what guys! I got a new kitten! His name is Moon and he's a cute little grayish brown tabby with white stockings, chest, and underbelly. And he snores...he's doing it now as a matter of fact! Currently he's in his favorite sleeping spot, which is right across the backs of my hands (which makes for some interesting typing) lol.
Anyway, had to share, and sorry for the wait!
ENJOY!
Crucible growled low in his throat.
The mice back on Mars had told him that Karbunkle was as devious as Corazon was cruel. They hadn't been kidding. One thing these scientists did share was incredible genius. Karbunkle's genius was showing in this poison.
It was a nasty piece of work!
The serum was designed to produce the maximum amount of pain the body could take, wearing the victim down until they were practically defenseless, unable to fight. Once the victim reached a certain point, the increased ratio of certain chemicals in his system would trigger the final stage of the serum's attack.
The poison would redouble its attack, tripling in strength and virility. It would then proceed to kill the victim in the most painful way possible, acting like a cancer throughout the whole body.
It would begin in the extremities, and slowly move inward till it reached the vitals, at which point it would slow it's growth even further to maximize the pain and dying time.
Crucible couldn't let it reach that point.
Once Vinnie's body increased its output of the trigger chemicals, he was done. That would be the end of it. Once the serum began the final attack run, there would be nothing Crucible could do but ease his passing.
The wear and tear on Vinnie's systems was exponential. The sedative was slowing the process down, but it hadn't halted the poison by any means. It was still slowly but surely killing him.
Vinnie is dying! And God help me, I cannot do anything to stop it!
He brought up the diagram of the serum's chemical makeup. By and large one of the most valuable bits of information he'd been able to pull from Karbunkle's notes. Unfortunately, as Karbunkle still considered it to be an experimental poison, he had never gotten around to formulating an antidote.
Leaving Crucible to battle against time and race Vinnie's waning strength to find a cure, before the Martian's rapidly weakening body raised the white flag that would end his life.
He clicked a button, bringing up a hologram of a serum molecule and studying it intently. The key to Vinnie's survival, and to that of possible future victims of this poison, rested here. All he had to do was find it.
He quietly began maneuvering the molecule, dissecting it, looking for some area of vulnerability. Some weakness.
All I have to do is find it…He bared his teeth with another low rumbling growl. So find it!...
"Miss Charley? What are you doing up there?"
Charley looked down from the open access panel in the roof of the Ripcord.
Malachi was standing at the bottom of her ladder looking up at her curiously. She smiled. "Hey Malachi. Just call me Charley, ok?" he nodded. "And as to what I'm doing up here." She shrugged. "Since I don't have any cars to fix at the moment, I thought I might as well come out here and work on the Ripcord."
"Can you fix it?" Malachi asked curiously.
Charley hop/climbed down the ladder and grabbed her crutch from where it was leaning against the wall. Propping herself up on the crutches, she pulled a grease rag from her back pocket and wiped her hands. "I think so. I've already talked to a couple mechanics on Mars and none of us think she's past saving. It's just gonna take a little time and elbow grease."
Malachi looked speculatively up at the access panel. "Can I help?"
Charley smiled, though she quickly hid it behind a serious face before the boy looked back at her. "Well…" The anxious look on Malachi's face was too much and the smile broke through. She gestured to her leg. "Since I'm laid up, I could use an extra set of hands. I don't see why not."
Malachi's face lit up. "You mean it?"
Charley nodded. "Absolutely." She pushed him back toward the garage. "Now if you grab yourself a pair of coveralls out of the closet and grab the black toolbox off the bench…"
Malachi grinned and bolted away. "Ok!"
Charley watched him run for a moment, then turned and went back into the ship. She patted the hull of the ship. "Don't worry Ripcord old girl. You'll be back up in the stars in no time. You'll see."
Buckshot sighed.
He hated recovering from a serious injury or two. He hated it for several reasons. It took forever, for one thing. It always hurt like a son of a gun for another.
And it always leaves me bedridden for what feels like an insane amount of time. He thought grumpily.
He sighed and shifted position yet again, wincing when his injuries protested through the pain killers. It wasn't even the pain that made recovering so horrible. It was the boredom. He closed his eyes, wishing he could go to back to sleep.
But no.
The painkillers were wearing off. That was what had woken him in the first place. In a little while, they would be completely gone, and he would be in agony once more. But for now, the pain was a far off echo of what it would become.
A small hand shook his arm. "Buckshot? Are you awake?"
Tiffany.
He sighed and opened his eyes, pasting a tired smile on his face. "Yes. I'm awake."
She took in the tired smile and the pain filled eyes at a glance and put her hand on the bandages. "Is it hurting again?"
His smile became genuine. This was the fourth time she'd done this.
She would come to him, bringing him something from Charley, wanting to play, or whatever. And sometimes, she would see something. The first time, she hadn't known exactly what was off, and she had asked him if he was ok. When Crucible had given him another shot of pain killer, she had understood.
And she had told Crucible and Angela. Twice since then, she had known and done something about it. Angela had done it a couple time's as well. He nodded. "Yes. It's starting to hurt again."
She turned to go and get Crucible from the kitchen table but he caught her hand. "Not yet Tif."
She cocked her head. "Why not?"
"Crucible is trying to save Vinnie's life, and he's running out of time. He doesn't have the time to come help me, but if you ask him to, he will."
He squeezed her hand. "No matter how much I hurt, I'll live. It's better to let me live with the pain, than to let Vinnie die because I could not." He winced as another needle of pain lanced into him. "Don't tell Crucible, Tiffany. I'll be all right."
She was quiet, a thoughtful look on her face. "Ok." She turned and walked away, going back upstairs.
He sighed and settled in again, pulling the blanket back up to his chin. The sooner he got back to sleep the better.
Well, I don't know if this qualifies as a long chapter, but at least it's longer than the last one! :D
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave 'em all in the drop box and I'll get to them as soon as I can!
Untill next time...
