A/N: Yeah, that was a bit more than a week. :( But I'll try harder to get to the computer. I'm messing with the formatting, so the chapter may be on and offline for a bit. Reviews are appreciated!

Lizzy was tired. Tired of working for an astronomical society that never got anything done beyond speculating, tired of fixing generators because nobody else could. Truth be told, she did want a vacation. But the arrogance of that man!

Her shoes squeaked on the tiled floors as she walked towards the recreation area. She could already tell another rousing karaoke session was going before she opened the soundproof door. Long afternoons had just taken on a new meaning.

She found the president again sitting by a window, drinking a glass of Celiade, which was the worst beverage in the galaxy, but one would do anything for the cultural experience.

"How's the Celiade?" she asked.

"It's actually quite good. I don't know what all this talk about it being the worst drink in the galaxy is. It's probably one of the best!" His words were slightly slurred. There was no accounting for his credibility this afternoon.

"Have you gotten anything new from the Galactic Plague Prevention Society?" she asked.

"No. They just wanna know when we're gonna find the cure. Ha! Like we're ever gonna find one. Even with Will and his gang of idiots on Athemin we're gonna get nowhere. Might as well just sit here and watch people die."

"You're the president of the most prestigious medical society ever! You can't just give up!"

"Nah, only chemical. Although really, we are basically a medical center. No one needs chemists…" He drifted off into a forlorn silence.

Lizzy walked to the other side of the room, where she ordered lemonade. The sugar was necessary if she wanted to get the group of scientists President Rockwell had suggested together. Then she picked up her comm and began spitting out commands.

"Comm, call everyone on the list made twenty minutes ago. Put them on speaker."

"Will do, Ma'am."

"Who is this, and why are you waking me up at 30:46:05:30? It's too early to be comming," mumbled a voice.

"Hey, Char," said Lizzy, "Thanks for picking up. This is Lizzy."

"Not like I had a choice, now did I? The thing starts going off like no one's business unless you answer it. Oh, hi Lizzy. You haven't called in forever."

"Sorry, it's mid afternoon here and I've just been speaking to a scientist who's been up 'round the clock for a cure."

"It seems completely pointless to try and fix the plague. Everyone knows another one's just going to pop up again, and then we'll have another generation of sleep deprived scientists."

"Well, that's what I'm comming you about."

"You know I don't work like that."

"The president of the GCS suggested you. I had to try, at least."

"She's right, you know." This was Will.

"Hey, Will," said Lizzy, "Is not announcing your presence something you do to get new drugs introduced more quickly? Do you recommend the practice?"

"Be quiet," he said.

"Hey, Lizzy, are you going to that conference on D'lus?" asked Char.

"Of course! If we're going to have a mission to 115X, that's the place to do it," she replied.

"Who said anything about a mission?" queried Will.

"I did," replied Lizzy.

"I thought you said you couldn't get away from home!"

"Well... Exceptions can be made, you know."

"What's up?" asked Richard.

"Hi, Richard!" cried Lizzy. She sat down in a chair in her room, which she had been walking to while the comm hovered in front of her.

"Where've you been, Lizzy? Same thing for you, Jane! I haven't been able to contact either of you!" said Richard.

"Oh, you know, just researching fungi on a planet that no one's discovered, that kind of stuff," said Lizzy sarcastically.

"Hmmm… No, I haven't heard anything about that at all, especially in the news." Richard could give as good as he got.

"No one would bother to introduce me to this 'Richard' character," muttered Will impatiently. Muffled, but still recognizable, "Don't put the monkey wrenches in with the monkeys! They try to start a rebellion if you do that! No—I just said NOT to do that!"

"Oh, right," said Lizzy, "Hey Will, you got that monkey problem fixed?"

"Okay, I'm good now," replied Will.

"Now for grand introductions: Char Beniss, Richardricke Trusent the third, meet Will Saper of Athemin. Will, they're Char and Richard," replied Lizzy.

"Hi everyone," said Will.

"Don't call me Richardricke!" said Richard, sounding bemusedly angry, "Oh, hi Will."

"'Ello," said Char, "Now can we get this over with so I can go back to bed?"

"Okay. Here's the thing. You know the fungus info I sent you via comms?" asked Lizzy.

"Ummm… What info?" asked Richard.

"No one checks their comms any more," grumbled Lizzy, "Basically I found a lovely little planet called 115X that has this nice fungi that may or may not have healing powers."

"Right…" Richard said, "That's what you're talking about."

"So I think we should go there," said Lizzy.

A stunned silence overcame the comms, save the yells from the various scientists from Will's end ("I told you not to put that into the radioactive drawer!")

"What exactly are you suggesting?" asked Will icily.

"That we go to planet 115X," replied Lizzy, who was wondering how someone could be so thick.

"Who exactly is 'us'?" asked Char.

"Me, you, Will, and Richard."

"Lizzy…" This was drawn out and almost whiney. "I can't go to some marshy planet to look for fungus! I specialize in Psychology, not biology or medicine!" said Char.

"Join the club," groaned Will, "Just because chemists are so gullible doesn't mean we have to do all the dirty work!"

"I guess I'm the only one game for this," said Richard, "C'mon guys, this is stupid. You're complaining about saving the entire galaxy?"

"No duh," said Char, "Why us?"

"We're the only ones with information," said Lizzy.

"Your discovery has been publicized in any good newspaper in the country. Some scientist is probably already planning to take a mosey on over there and get the fungus," replied Char.

"Hey, I hadn't heard of all this til today," commented Will.

"Unsocial freaks," muttered Char.

"Lazy psychologist," replied Will.

"Hey, guys! Stop with the insults! We have to do this whether you like it or not," said Richard.

"I'll just battle this out with you later," said Lizzy, sighing in frustration, "Just read the files for me, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" said Char. Lizzy imagined she was mock saluting.

"Okay," said Will, "But fungus is kind of a stupid cure, you know."

"Just like we think 'space shuttles' are stupid now. When humans still lived on Earth, they thought they were the best thing since the microchip."

"If we do find this fungus and it doesn't work, you've just screwed up the entire plan for a cure that anyone's ever had."

"But, you see, it's the only one."