Chapter 2

Boot camp was open. Scot and Don separated the training duties. Scotter would work with the men as a group to teach them military protocol and basic physical training. Don enlisted Dr. Smith's participation in developing individualized bowflex programs. Their goal was to develop the men's physical strength as quickly as possible. These men needed to become the core of a rebellion and had to be well trained. How much they could do in six weeks was debatable.

In addition Don would conduct group sessions on gorilla warfare, and he even convinced Dr. Smith to teach a class on clandestine operations. John would cover basic communications and electronics. Weapons training was last on the list, as they had a minimal supply. Other than the laser pistols and rifles on the Jupiter, the only weapons they possessed were the gun they had confiscated from Appolus and the few weapons they found on the Marvenius Miracle, as they had come to call their stolen ship. As their numbers increased, other tactics could be introduced, but they would never have the weapons, numbers or discipline to engage in an all out war with the Marvenian government. But… They had to start somewhere.

With Maureen and Marcus working in the med lab, cooking duties fell to Judy, Penny and Will. It had been some time since the family had eaten a meal together. With so many people in the camp, they found that they tended to eat in shifts, but Judy was intent on getting the family together for this particular meal, since it was Kairon's twenty-first birthday.

With the help of the robot, Will and Penny had calculated the Earth birthdates for all of the newcomers, and found that Kairon's was on May 28, 1979 by Earth's calendar. His only wish was to continue with their training, but he allowed the children to devise their own celebration for him at dinner. He especially enjoyed the brandy that Marcus had shared with them, and so this was added to the dessert menu for the adults.

Since there were so many people in camp, the children planned to teach the Marvenians softball as part of the celebration. The recruits had no idea what recreation was, and the children were looking forward to their reactions at actually having fun. They planned it out with Don, who volunteered to be permanent pitcher. The Robot would be the umpire. John, Maureen and Penny would be on one team with Kairon, Dr. Smith and three of the recruits. Will, Judy, Marcus, Ronon and Scotter would make up the second team with the remaining three recruits.

The basics of the game were taught before dinner, so that they could get a feel for the bat and ball and the eye hand coordination that would be needed to throw, catch and hit. Dinner was quickly consumed, as the Marvenians were itching to play a real game. Don took some time to adjust to pitching while sitting on the hover bike, so the first inning was fraught with runs by both teams. The end of the second inning found John's team to be ahead by a score of six to five. The powerhouse hitters were John and Ronon. They were surprised at Ronon's prowess, and were happy to find that he was a natural athlete.

Don finally found his pitching groove by the third inning, and he gave-up only one more run to Will's team by the end of the 5th inning. The game was now tied. Dr. Smith was up with two men out and a man on second base. He was determined to get on base, as he had been the only one not to get a hit so far in the game.

"Strike one!" The Robot called as Zachary refused to swing at the first pitch.

"That ball was clearly outside, you nattering nincompoop! Strike indeed!"

"It is poor sportsmanship to belittle the umpire, Dr. Smith. Consider this a warning."

"Humph! Throw the ball over the plate this time, Major West!"

Don grinned and complied, with Dr. Smith swinging straight through the pitch. "Strike two!"

Scotter was the catcher, and couldn't help teasing Smith, "You got it right where you asked for it, Dr. Smith."

"No fraternizing with the enemy, Sir! This next pitch will be the one. I am sure of it. Just watch as I hit it well over their heads!"

Don's next pitch was low, and Dr. Smith made contact but fouled it off.

The next pitch caught the inside corner, and the Robot yelled, "Strike three! You're out!"

"What?! That was no more a strike than the other, you twittering tin can! Do you need your visual sensors cleaned?"

The Robot threw his arm up, ejecting Dr. Smith from the game. "You're outta here!" he exclaimed.

Kairon stood on second base and asked, "Will, is this all part of the game?"

"Well, kinda… it's not an official part of the game, but it seems to happen a lot," Will replied.

Scotter escorted Dr. Smith off the field so that his team could get their turn at bat.

It was now the bottom of the sixth inning. Will and Scotter both got on base, but Marcus hit into an easy double play, sending Will to third base. Judy was up and Don was teasingly warned by Penny not to show favoritism. Don nodded and threw the first pitch wide, but Judy had a good eye and took it.

"Ball One!"

The next pitch was right over the plate. Judy timed her swing and made perfect contact, sending the ball between the shortstop and second baseman, scoring Will. They now lead by one. Ronon was up, and the outfielders moved out. He swung at the first pitch and sent a long fly ball to left field, which was easily grabbed.

Will's team took the field for the last inning. Maureen pulled a walk, and Penny hit a weak grounder to first for an out, but it was enough to move Maureen to second base. John was up and he was determined for Maureen to score. He knew that he needed at least a double, preferably a triple, to bring her home. The first pitch was inside.

"Ball one."

The second pitch was inside, but right where John, who was a superb athlete, wanted it. He sent a screaming line drive down the third base line. Ronon stopped the ball with his leg and heard a snap. He immediately fell to the ground, but the ball careened off his leg right into the glove of Will, who was playing shortstop. He held onto the ball for the out and tagged Maureen as she jogged over to Ronon to see if he was alright. Double play… game over.

Unfortunately Ronon's shin took the brunt of the nit and was unable to move his left leg. As he lay there in pain, he asked, "Did we win?"

John felt responsible and answered, "You won, but you're supposed to knock those shots down with your glove, not stop them with your leg!"

Will ran in to get the stretcher while Marcus examined him and used the bat as a splint to stabilize him. "Probably a broken tibia, but we won't know for sure until we put him through the diagnostic machine."

As Ronon was carried to the med bay, Maureen approached Marcus. "This would be an opportunity to test the enzyme on mending bones. Do you think he would be willing?"

"Let's find out," he replied.

May 30, 2000

Mom and Marcus tried the enzyme on healing Ronon's broken tibia, and it worked beautifully. Marcus was surprised because he thought it didn't have any beneficial effect on Don's vertebrae, but Don's vertebrae wasn't broken. His theory now is that injecting the enzyme into healthy tissue causes the tissue to grow or swell, which can have a negative affect on the surrounding area.

I asked mom when they would be ready to work on nerves, and mom was evasive. That's not like her. She said Marcus wants to experiment on muscle tissue next, then organ tissue. He feels that the nervous system is just too difficult to work with, but Don doesn't want to hear that. He's been pestering them everyday to use him as a guinea pig. He knows his chances of regaining his reproductive functions are slim, but he wants to know one way or the other.

Don and John were amazed that Dr. Smith's clandestine operations class was going better than anticipated. The men were more interested in learning how to spy and infiltrate government systems than the physical training that the others had given them. Since Dr. Smith had the recruits for the day, John, Don and Scotter took the time to work on the Marvenius Miracle. They were not only enjoying the hands-on activities, but also the camaraderie that accompanied it.

"Do you think Dr. Smith will ever let his captive audience go?" John asked.

"When we hear them banging on the door, we'll save them," Don answered.

"What's in store for next week's training?"

"There's really not much left, except learning to use the few weapons we have. To be honest with you, I think what they're getting with Smith right now just might be what they need the most."

"This has gone faster than I expected it to, Don. We're getting close to deciding on the time to return to Marvenius, aren't we?"

Don stopped his work and wrinkled his brow. That decision was going to be difficult for him. He was hoping his own personal medical problems would have been dealt with well before he had to decide to return. Yet, he couldn't allow his trainees to leave Carmellia without him.

Scotter noticed the change in Don's countenance and asked, "You don't have to go back with them, son. Kairon has grown into an excellent judge of character and strengths. He'll be good at assigning the men their roles. Ronon is a natural lieutenant. He's calm and thinks straight under fire."

"Yeah, but none of them are really strategists. Not that I'm anything special at that, but at least I would know when to attack and when to pull back. They're all too wet behind the ears to judge if an operation has reached the point when it needs to end, even if the objective hasn't been met."

John knew Don was torn about his sense of responsibility to the recruits and his loyalty to Judy. She was pressing him to stay until Marcus was ready to work on him, although that still seemed to be several weeks away from happening. "Don, Scotty's right. You have a duty to yourself and Judy too."

"I know. If it were just me, it'd be an easy decision."

"We still have a week or two of simulations to run with them. Things can change in that time. In fact we still need to devise those simulations, don't we? Scotty, didn't you have one in mind?"

They both looked towards Scotter and noticed that his skin had paled. He was rubbing his chest and seemed to be in pain.

"Scotty? What's wrong?" Don asked.

"Nothing, just some indigestion from that lunch Will brought out to us today."

John came over to him, concerned that he was making light of his symptoms. "Scotty, where's the pain?"

"Just here… and my left arm. I think I'll just go in… and lie down a little bit... I'll be fine."

Shortness of breath was affecting his speech and he was sweating profusely. Don looked at John and asked, "Heart attack?"

John nodded. "Let's get him to the med bay."

Fortunately, Scotter's heart attack was relatively mild. It gave them another chance to see how the wonder cure would work on repairing heart muscles, and, once again, it had an astounding affect. It didn't do much to clean out arteries, however, so Scotty was put on a strict diet and exercise regimen. His illness caused a delay in the basic training schedule, and the simulations had yet to start. They decided that waiting until Scotter was ready to participate would be beneficial to both him and the recruits. The men needed to see that he had recovered so they could put their faith in him when they returned to their home planet.

The June celebrations of Maureen's anniversary and birthday were fast approaching, but she did not want to spend time away from the lab. John insisted, however, that she desperately needed a break, and he wanted to get to know his wife again.

John walked into the med bay to see Maureen studying a slide under a microscope and Marcus writing notes in his journal. "Maureen, I'd like to suggest that we get away for a few days to celebrate our anniversary."

"John, you know I can't leave now, I have too much work to do. We can celebrate our anniversary on my birthday in a couple of weeks."

"You know, darling, if I wasn't so sure you loved me, I might be jealous of Marcus here, since you're more eager to stay with him than me." He winked at Marcus as he said that, which Maureen didn't notice.

"John, you can't be jealous. I'm doing this for Don and Judy and all of Marvenius." When she finally looked up from the microscope, she saw the twinkle in his eye and laughed. "I guess I do need a vacation."

Marcus raised his eyebrows, "Vacation?"

"Yes, time away from work and responsibilities so you can relax and enjoy yourself." Maureen explained.

Marcus shook his head, "I don't know what I'd do without my work to occupy me!"

Maureen made an executive decision. "Marcus, I am closing the lab this afternoon. Tomorrow begins a four-day vacation. John and I are going away to rediscover each other, and I'm assigning my children to find things for you to do as recreation. No lab work. Understood?"

Don had wandered in to pester them again and overheard her pronouncement. "You better listen to her, Marcus. The last time she made that proclamation, Smith and I got into big trouble."

Maureen marched up to Don and commanded, "And you, young man, will abide by my directive this time. No fooling around in the lab until I get back. Do I have your word on that?"

Don made a cross over his heart and held up two fingers, "Cross my heart and hope to die. Well, not literally, of course. Can Marcus and I at least talk about the research?"

"As long as you stay away from needles and the enzyme."