As she listened to Dr. Heath finish up the meeting, Katherine tilted her head and watched Captain Hunter, both out of curiosity, and appreciation.  Though he remained essentially impassive, she sensed him deep in thought and assumed it was concern over the meeting’s direction.  She could understand that all too well, since it mirrored her own misgivings, and the realization they were on the same wavelength about this buoyed her confidence.  It was so strange in a way, that he should be the one she felt was an ally, and not Dr. Heath, but the past couple of days had turned her almost all of her initial assumptions upside down.  So much had happened in a relatively short period of time, and the profound experiences she and Captain Hunter shared, had quickly helped establish a mutual respect, or at least that’s how she felt.  Their time on the planet, the brush with danger, and his strength and compassion throughout, had also deepened her growing attraction, but for now she felt it best not to dwell on that, convinced more than ever it was a complication neither of them needed.  It was better to focus on simply working well together, and it pleased her to know that her very first impression of him that evening in her office back at NORAD was proving correct.  However, his expertise was not the only thing that qualified him for this assignment in her opinion.  No, he was also extremely smart, but even more importantly had common sense, something she considered highly underrated, and valuable beyond measure.<br/><br/>Finally, Dr. Heath stopped speaking and dismissed everyone, becoming the first to leave the table and head towards the door.  Katherine watched her walk away and noticed Dr. Davis and Dr. Pike pull her aside, looking quite serious.  The three spoke quietly for a few minutes, and then Dr. Heath nodded, following the other two out of the conference room.  Katherine wondered what that was about, but assumed she’d find out eventually if it turned out to be something important.<br/><br/>Glancing at her watch, she remembered she had missed lunch and was hungry.  With the others now gone, she smiled at Captain Hunter. “I can’ t say I’m disappointed that’s over.”  Not sure what else to say, she looked down at her lap for a moment, tempted to invite him to join her in the cafeteria, but it dawned on her she was shy to ask him for some reason, which wasn’t like her at all.  It was silly really, since there was nothing unusual or wrong with wanting to get to know a colleague better, but she knew why she felt that way.  She was afraid the wall of professional distance might come tumbling down and make it harder to stay detached.  Still,<em>not</em>making an effort to be friendly would be unfair, and so she decided to take a chance.<br/><br/>Standing up, she smiled warmly, put her hands in her pockets and gave a little shrug.  “Well, I’m starving.  Since the meeting forced me to miss lunch, I think I’ll go grab something to eat.  You’re welcome to join me if you like.”<br/><br/>*****************************************************************************************************************<br/><br/><em><strong>Dr. Pike, Dr. Davis and Dr. Heath<br/>Conference Room – After the meeting</strong></em><br/><br/>The three scientists stood near the conference room door, and Carole Davis was the first to speak. “I’d like you to join us in the infirmary Dr. Heath, if you can. There is something I think you need to see.” She said imploringly.  Dr. Pike nodded, and Janet saw something in his face that hinted this was important.<br/><br/>“Why, what’s going on?” Janet asked, frowning with concern and feeling a bit impatient.<br/><br/>Dr. Pike shook his head. “No, no, not here.  It’s too complicated to explain,” he said firmly, inclining his head towards the others as though he didn’t want them to hear.<br/><br/>With a growing sense of alarm tinged with irritation, Janet gestured to the door, and followed the two scientists.  They walked quickly, and once inside the infirmary, Dr. Davis stopped and turned around so she stood in facing Dr. Heath.  With a deep breath, and her arms crossed in front of her chest, she said, “Right…well…remember that soil sample from the planet’s surface Dr. Randall gave me?”<br/><br/>Janet nodded. “Yes, I do.  Did you find something in it?” She asked, not really interested.<br/><br/>Carole Davis looked at Dr. Pike before continuing. “Yes, it was positively teeming with microorganisms, and we’ve been examining and separating them, trying to determine their form and function.  So far, they resemble earth bacteria, the similarities are quite remarkable,” she said excitedly, clearly thrilled with the discovery.<br/><br/>Dr. Pike coughed and then interrupted, his attention on Dr. Heath. “That isn’t why we asked you here,” he said hastily. “One strain is…how can I say this…highly specialized.  Someone,” he shot a withering glance at Carole Davis who flinched, “placed one of these microorganisms in a contaminated petri dish, one I had already placed some influenza virus for testing.  At that point, my experiment was ruined, but I was naturally curious, so I checked it several hours later, only to find the virus had mutated into one so complex, I’ve never seen the like.”  He paused, running his hand through his hair in a gesture that indicated he was worried.  “So, I ran another test, placing one of the organisms into a dish with a strain of Streptococcus B bacteria, and sure enough, within hours, it too had mutated into something I can only liken to a super bacteria, similar those we’ve seen on earth, but kicked up several notches.”<br/><br/>Janet raised her eyebrows and held out her hand questioningly. “And…what does that mean exactly?”<br/><br/>“It means that we<em>may</em>have unwittingly unleashed two superbugs on the ship, with no idea what the effect might be, and no idea if the medications we brought with us will have any effect,” he said sheepishly.<br/><br/>With growing annoyance Janet’s frown deepened. “So what now?  You’re telling me that two top scientists just made an unconscionable error in judgement, and don’t have the first clue what the consequences will be?  That these two so called experts have essentially taken the common cold and turned it into something dangerous and untreatable? Fantastic.”  She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, while she glowered at them, clearly displeased.  “How long until you know if anyone will be affected?” She asked, crossing her arms, impatient for an answer.<br/><br/>Dr. Pike shifted uncomfortably, and said, “Normally, the incubation period would be several days, and though I haven’t finished mapping the new structures yet, I’m confident in saying that we can expect these new strains to cause symptoms within hours.  Of course we don’t know for sure that people will get infected, only that there is a risk.”  He hesitated before asking, “So, when should we inform the others?”<br/><br/>Janet shook her head vehemently. “No, no...don’t say anything about this to anyone else.  You don’t even know for sure if there will be an outbreak.”  She eyed the two doctors to see if they objected, they didn’t, so she said, “Excellent...then there is no point setting off a panic is there?  The last thing I need is half the crew coming down with a severe case of hypochondria.  Just...keep me informed.”  She said icily. Then Janet turned her back on them, and calmly walked out, completely uninterested in anything else they had to say.<br/>