"Love is closeness, emotional?" Leeza asked.

"It can be," Nathaniel replied. "But I don't understand how you can be feeling it for me. We've only known each other a week, and we're different species."

"Not so different," Leeza said, sliding her chair closer. "We have spent so much time together, it is as if we have always been. I have learned who you are, and we are not different at all; not in our thoughts or feelings. I want to be bonded with you, always."

Nathaniel tried to say something, his mouth cracked open with words on the tip of his tongue. Nothing came out, and his shocked expression told Leeza all she needed to know.

Jerking her hands back and folding her arms, she said, "If I had flesh like yours, yarn upon my skin and fire in my veins, would you feel differently?"

"I don't know," Nathaniel said in frustration.

"Then stay with me, and you will know," Leeza said, unfolding her arms. "What do you call it, when you feel something is supposed to happen? Something ordered by God?"

"You mean Fate?"

"Yes, I feel it is fate that you came here, to be with me. My perfect mate, one with a fighting spirit that never quits, and flesh so warm, untouched by the poisons of this world," she said, grabbing his hand again. She rubbed it against her cheek.

"Leeza, what you're grasping for, I don't think it's me," Nathaniel replied, watching her eyes passively close as she felt the warmth of his hand against her face. "Life has dealt you such hardship, I fear you see me as some kind of escape from it all; a fantasy."

"Then let us live a fantasy," Leeza said, relaxing to the warmth of the hand.

A loud thump suddenly snapped Leeza's eyes open, drawing her attention out of the pleasing moment. Standing up, her sight locked onto the bedroom door, where Vinsra now lay, struggling to stand up.

The very fact that Vinsra was able to move at all was phenomenal. The Skate Chills left a Lesher's muscles completely immobile, and victims were often unable to move for days following the decline of the plague.

Leaping from her seat at the table, Leeza rushed over to aid Vinsra.

"Leeza, I can't get up," Vinsra said, as Leeza knelt down beside her.

"You've been sick with the Skate," Leeza said, helping Vinsra into a sitting position on the floor.

"Skate?" Vinsra said, gripping her forehead.

"Nate gave you medicine," Leeza replied. "You must rest to regain your strength."

"What about Ganz?" Vinsra asked, looking around.

Nathaniel replied from across the room. "I'm getting his injection ready now," he said, opening up the medical kit.

"Everything will be all right," Leeza assured her, helping her back into the bedroom.

By the time Leeza had Vinsra back into bed, Nathaniel had an injection ready for Ganz, and administered it with haste. Seeing how quickly the antibiotics were working, he wondered how many doses would be required. Too few would cause a relapse, so he hoped their alien physiology would not be adversely affected by prolonged use of the drugs.

"Do not question my reason for love," Leeza mentioned as Nathaniel pulled the syringe from Ganz's arm. "Look at yourself, see who you are, what you do, then ask how I cannot love."

Leeza stepped out of the bedroom, leaving the young Lieutenant to ponder her words. As he prepared to leave, he was stopped by Vinsra's voice.

"Nate, what is love?" she asked, unfamiliar with the term.