The cat's out of the bag

Around five days after the incident with the military station, Cass found herself on the Promenade, idly strolling along with her two MED’s as she worked on her handheld terminal, tweaking the evolutionary parameters of a simulation she was piecing together, to try and better comprehend the way Jay’s virus worked

“Hey there!”
Glancing up from her work, her heart sank as she saw Katrina and Max, sat finishing an ice cream sundae together at a table outside Mister Whisker’s
“Hey” Cass ambled over and came to a halt in front of them “How’re you guys doing?”
“Haven't seen you in a while” Kat gestured to one of the other chairs at the table “Have a seat”
Dog-tired, and faced with little choice other than being rude, Cass slumped down opposite Katrina, her two MED’s moving to tower, darkly, behind her
“You look like shit” Kat observed wryly
Cass wrinkled her nose
“I've not been sleeping so well” she confessed “Too many things to do; and when I do sleep, I keep dreaming about that smegging MACO murdering all those GELF’s that looked like me”
“That sounds like a classic acute stress reaction” Katrina frowned “You should ask Phi for something to help with that”
“I've lived through worse” Cass shrugged dismissively “I’ll get over it”
“How're you doing anyway?” she continued, changing the subject as Max twisted impishly to wipe his mouth on Katrina’s top and wriggled down from his mother’s lap to run off and play nearby
"So-so" Kat rolled her eyes at the chocolaty mess smeared on her shoulder "I’ve been wondering when you were going to come and see me"
Closing her eyes, Cass sighed and tiredly rubbed her face with her hands
"Yeah, about that..." she said slowly
"Oh, here we go" Katrina scowled and thinly pursed her lips
"Listen Kat, I'm sorry but... us... what we're doing..." Cass took a breath "It doesn’t feel right for me"
"It's just a bit of fun" Kat shrugged “What’s not to like?”
"Yeah, but in here..." Cass steepled the fingers of one hand over her heart "It doesn’t feel right. I can't keep doing it. I'm sorry"
"I don’t suppose this has got anything to do with you and Jay suddenly being friends again, has it?"
Cass regarded her in silence for a moment
"As much as I want it, I don’t think Jay's ever going to come back to me" she said sadly
"So what are you smegging worrying about?"
"Oh, I want him, he wants you, you want me... Urgh" Cass threw her hands up in the air "It's a smegging mess"
"Don't flatter yourself" Kat snorted angrily "I’m not all that keen"
“So if you're not that bothered, why even take advantage of me?” Cass demanded “You knew I was vulnerable!”
Kat shook her head and looked away
"Yeah, okay - It was unfair of me" she conceded "I'm sorry"
Cass leaned back in her chair to wearily pull a pack of fags out and light one up
"Then why do it?" she asked, exhaling smoke
"I dunno" Kat shrugged "...There are lots of reasons"
"Such as?"
"Smeg's sake, I don't need to justify myself to you; just everything, alright? ...I'm struggling to cope with everything, and you are... were a welcome distraction from the unremitting awfulness of here!"
"The Dwarf?" Cass shrugged, exhaling smoke “It’s not so bad - It’s home...”
"Smeg's sake” Katrina snapped “It's not just that; It's Max and Jay, and..." she trailed off with a shake of her head "what’s wrong with Jay. Everything"
Grimacing Cass flicked the ash from the end of her cig
“I know what you mean there” she sighed "I feel as though him being as ill as he is, is my fault”
Kat raised her eyebrows
"He told you what the matter is with him, did he?"
"Yeah" Cass sighed "It's not good but having studied the pathology now, I reckon I can engineer a fix – I just need the right facilities"
"Good" Kat nodded curtly "Now perhaps you can tell me what's wrong with him; the bastard's been holding out on me!"
Cass's eyes widened in surprised panic
"He didn't...?"
"No, he didn’t" Kat said in clipped tones "I was just talking about how I was feeling. Now, what's wrong with him?"
Shaking her head, Cass ground her cig out in the ashtray on the table
“Listen Kat, I’m not a great one to ask for advice; but if you’ve problems coping with Max and Jay, you need to talk with Jay about that; and as for what’s wrong with him: That needs to come from Jay, not me”
Katrina regarded Cass in silence for a moment
"It would be a shame if he were to find out what we’d been up to, wouldn’t it?" she said dryly
“Smeg’s sake Kat!” Cass looked hurt “There’s no need to be like that! I’ll tell you as a friend because I think you need to know okay? - but don’t be like that!”
“So what is it?”
“If he asks, I only let it slip by mistake, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever” Kat waved a dismissive hand “What is it?”
Cass grimaced but, faced with little choice, continued
“How’s your genetic science and virology?”
“Keep it simple”
“Okay" Cass paused to gather her thoughts "As far as I'm able to determine, Jay seems to be have been infected with some sort of tailored nano-phagic virus”
“That doesn’t sound good...” Kat murmured, her brows knitting
“It’s not” Cass sighed “It seems to be making some very heavy duty modifications to his DNA; one of the side effects being that remarkable healing ability we saw ...and another will be the eventual disintegration of each and every single cell in his body”
“Shit” Kat croaked
“Yeah” Cass nodded, pausing to light another cig “Now, I’m almost positive that I can cure it; but I need time and access to facilities far more advanced than we currently have aboard the Dwarf”
"Hasn't Jaxx's lab got a load of medical supplies?" Kat asked
"That's all pretty primitive" Cass shrugged dismissively "The nanotech's just a cut and shut job; it's all keyed to him, and there's no way I can re-engineer it without better facilities"
"Smegging shit" Katrina groaned, beginning to sound upset "How long does Jay have?"
"I dunno - It could be weeks, days, months... tomorrow"
“Oh, my poor man” Kat breathed, distractedly running a hand back through her short hair "This is all my fault!"
Cass stared at her in astonishment
"You're joking aren't you!?"
"He only got this thing because of me and helping to rescue Max!" Katrina rounded on her "And now he's going to die because of it!"
"Kat!" Cass protested "He isn’t going to die; and if anyone's to blame, it's probably me - This all began with what I did three million years ago"
"I can't believe I've been so selfish" Kat continued, ignoring her "Jay's going to die and all the while I've been making him sleep on the sofa and carrying on with you!"
She stood up, pushing her chair away from the table and turned away
"Max? C'mon honey; we're leaving"
"Kat..." Cass tried again "You're not to blame for this"
"I've played more than enough of a part in this, and I feel as guilty as hell about it" Katrina snapped as she gathered Max up into her arms and turned to leave "God only knows how you must feel!"
Watching her walk off down the Promenade, Cass took another drag on her fag and exhaled a smoky sigh
"I don’t think anybody gives a shit about my feelings" she murmured to Katrina's retreating back "But at least I don’t pity him"
She tiredly pulled her terminal out again to flick it on and summon Holly
“Where’s the nearest habitable planet Hol?”
“That’d be about four days away”
“Plot a course for it – I reckon we could all do with a bit of a break and some time off this ship...”

<tag>We’re off for a little R&R, what’s everyone doing in the meantime, and does anything happen on the way?</tag>