A/N: I'll make a glossary at some point, because some of the terms are confusing.

Chapter 3

iIt's the only one we've got. It's the only one we've got./i The thought seemed to take control over Will's brain. It tormented him throughout the cleaning of the lab. It itched at the back of his mind during the seemingly endless walk down the hall towards the docking bay. It was his only thought as he watched the infinite sky pass by his window on the way to the meeting. This was why he decided to comm Lizzy.

"Lizzy," he said quickly.

"Hey, Dr. S," she replied.

"I've changed my mind about this whole thing. I'll go."

Once again silence overtook the waves.

"What?" asked Will.

"I kinda thought you wouldn't agree. At least not without a fight," she responded. "Usually you chemists are the most unmoving people I have to persuade to do anything."

"Listen, I'm landing soon, maybe another two star paces away. We need to get the funding for this project. Start writing up something and I'll look at it as soon as I reach the ground."

"Okay, sounds good."

The line went dead, and Will was left to contemplate how the day was going to turn out.

Thankfully for him, it was rather uneventful. Uneventful for a scientist, however, is about as uneventful as a meteor hitting one's planet.

Lizzy had finished a rough draft of the proposal for the board of the GCS and the AS. It was, as the name states, very rough. Although she had written proposals for legislation before, she hadn't written a bill so quickly in her life.

"No, not another loophole," she muttered, crossing out a few lines and inserting a completely different sentence.

The line went dead, and Will was left to contemplate how the day was going to turn out.

Thankfully for him, it was rather uneventful. Uneventful for a scientist, however, is about as uneventful as a meteor hitting one's planet.

Lizzy had finished a rough draft of the proposal for the board of the GCS and the AS. It was, as the name states, very rough.

"No, not another loophole," she muttered, crossing out a few lines and inserting a completely different sentence.

"It looked fine to me." Char was peering over her shoulder in slight interest, "You just have to put in that no expandability clause or whatever."

"Why didn't I think of that?" she muttered, adding another article to her already ten page long proposal.

"Where's everyone else?" asked Char.

"Will said he's about two star paces away, so he'll be here in a sec. I think Richard probably got lost somewhere in the building."

"Why haven't you commed them?"

"When I'm instructed to write a proposal for funding in less than ten minutes, do you think I have time to comm errant members of our group?"

"Hello? It's called 'multitasking'?"

"I'm a horrid multitasker."

Will came running over from around a corner.

"Lizzy is having trouble multitasking. Would you mind comming Richard for her? I'm helping her with the finishing touches on her paper," replied Char.

Will rolled his eyes.

"Hurry up already! The president and the board are due to arrive any minute. And then where would we be? No proposal, no money. Get on with it!"

"Fine, fine."

While Will walked off to comm Richard, Char helped Lizzy salvage the rest of her paper.

"It's as good as it's going to get," said Lizzy, dusting the eraser off her hands.

"Only one pencil and half an eraser later," commented Char.

"Hello, everyone!" said Richard. "Char, have you finally seen the error of your ways?"

"There was no 'error in my ways!' I simply didn't want to go on a trip to hunt down mold!" she said.

"Hey-" said Lizzy, slightly miffed at her fungus being called mold.

"-but now I totally want to go on this trip! It might earn me some unis, right?" Char asked.

"Well, I can't guarantee that," said Lizzy cautiously, "The societies are probably only going to fund the pod and the equipment. You're basically doing this out of charity for people who have the plague."

"Oh well," she sighed, "It was worth a try, right?"

"There's always the Galaxy Science Prize, though. You could get the prize money from that," commented Will, "And why are you so strapped for unis? I thought shrinks got paid good money!"

"Not when no one needs a shrink anymore. The comms work wonders for mental health, apparently."

"Not that I wouldn't mind a bit of money, either," said Richard, "But come on, this is the entire galaxy we're talking about here!"

"Sheesh, dude. I already agreed to go on this stupid trip. If I hadn't, that paper would still look the way it did twenty minutes ago.

"Hey! It wasn't that bad. I just forgot the no expandability clause."

The president of the GCS showed up, looking slightly ruffled and tired, eyes bloodshot. "Where's the board?"

"They're not here yet," said Lizzy impatiently, "Neither is the president of my organization. You'd think these high ranking officials might be a bit more punctual."

"I heard there's some sort of battle going on on Zels. Do you think that might be it?" asked Richard.

"Probably. All of the board for the AS is on Zels. They're probably reading signs or something right now," she said disgustedly.

"Don't ask me where the GCS is," said Will, "They're probably still investigating the spill of one of our samples at the lab a couple of days ago." He walked over to a wall and leaned back, closing his eyes.

"Bureaucracy," moaned Char, "It's just a bunch of red tape waiting to happen."

The group started to get more nervous as time ticked away on the atomic clock. Lizzy started pacing, Richard rubbed his hands together, and Will began listening to messages on his comm.

"Would you like me to read you one message from: The GCS Board of Directors?" queried the comm.

"Go right ahead," said Will, eager to hear what was taking them so long.

"Dear Mr. Saper:

Regarding the spill in your lab a few days ago: we have found reason to believe it may have posed a potential threat to the health of your lab team. We are beginning testing for G. Pestis and will not finish until about 30:32. Please convey our deepest regrets to the assembled committee, and inform them that we will not be available until after the quarantine process is complete.

Sincerely,

The GCS Board of Directors."

"And that's all that's in the message?" Will demanded.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you," he said perfunctorily, and prepared to tell everyone the bad news.

"What's up?" asked Char as soon as she saw his face.

"The lab's under investigation. Apparently a spill a few days ago may have endangered the scientists, so it's currently under quarantine. As the board is helping out there until 30:32, we're not going to get any help from them," replied Will.

"Shouldn't you be over there then?" asked Lizzy, genuinely concerned.

"I'd probably just be in the way," said Will bitterly, "The board likes to run their own ship."

"But what if you've been infected?" asked Richard, "They're going to want to check you, right?"

Will just shook his head, and the group stared forlornly at the ground in silent contemplation.

The president was, as nearly always, optimistic. "Come on, just because you can't get the board over here doesn't mean you can't get funding! You could... Well... Hold a bake sale!"

"A bake sale?" said Lizzy tiredly, "You're suggesting a bake sale to save the entire galaxy?"

"No, I think I can do something about the funding issue, actually," said Will, "It'll just involve lots of negotiating."

-/-

As nightfall on D'lus drew nearer, Lizzy began to lose hope. "Any news on that war yet?" she asked Richard.

"It's still going on," he muttered, "Do you think it would be over in a day? If so, you're crazy."

"C'mon, I just want to find a hotel and snooze," groaned Char, "Sitting here waiting for Will to finish talking to some stuffy old diplomats is making my brains come out of my ears."

"We don't have enough funding to even get a ham sandwich at this point," said Richard, "Do you think we're going to be able to stay in some fancy intergalactic hotel?"

"Nah," said Char, "But it was worth a try."

"You gotta give the guy a break," said Richard softly, "His lab's just been overrun by a bunch of mad scientists."

"If we get out of here soon, you owe me a ham sandwich," said Char. She poked Richard. "You made me think of them, and now I'm hungry."

"Will?" asked Lizzy.

"Yeah?" he said, fiddling with the comms unit absentmindedly.

"Can you continue your calls back at our ship? Char's getting hungry, and frankly, I'm a bit tired," she replied.

"Sure," he said, "I've nearly got us a million unis if all goes well."

"Wha- You didn't enter it into the Plague-Buster contest, did you?" said Lizzy.

"Zooks, no!" said Will, "I just know a couple of people."

"You're gonna have to explain that to me later," said Lizzy, "Right now, I think we're going to head to the ship for some Galaxyway take-out."

"Was this the thing about the ham sandwiches?" asked Will curiously.

"It's a long story..." said Lizzy.