Nadira was bored. She strolled down the prison ship’s corridors, looking for her father. Not that he would be any help, or even care. All he cared about was his cause, and his mission. That was all anybody cared about around here, certainly not the fact that she was stuck with nothing to do. She had considered robbing another store, but even that had gotten boring. And the Rangers or the Silver Guardians usually spoiled things anyway.

She stopped for a moment. There had been a sound -- coming from the corridor ahead of her. It had sounded like her father’s voice. Quickly she turned the corner and stopped abruptly at the sight of Frax, his back to her, and Ransik lying on the corridor floor a few feet beyond him. Her father was groaning in pain, his exposed skin marked with faint bluish patches. The sight was familiar. Another attack.

Frax was holding a vial of the blue serum her father needed so desperately. But he wasn’t moving. He just stood there, watching, mumbling something to himself. As she moved silently closer, she could hear what he was saying.

“I could save you again. But maybe this is the time. And what a fitting way for you to go, killed by Venomark at last. My chance to correct the mistake I made years ago.” He held up the vial. “So near, isn’t it, Ransik, you great monster? And yet so far.”

Nadira moved quickly. Even as Frax turned at the sound of her footsteps she snatched the tube from him with a glare. “Daddy?” she cried, as she ran to him and lifted his head. She trickled the blue liquid into his mouth.

It took only a minute for Ransik’s skin to return to normal. He opened his eyes and looked up at his daughter. When they both looked toward the doorway, Frax had disappeared.

The Silver Guardians were first to respond to the reports of trouble at Hillside Park, where some of the local businesses were their clients. They arrived in their SUV’s and moved into a courtyard cafe, blasters ready, led by their red-bereted commander, Eric Myers. The scene they found seemed almost normal, at first. There were people sitting at the tables, a few more standing, or walking. But many of them looked dazed, and in pain. Some were clutching at their necks or arms.

“Spread out. See if you can find out what happened here,” Eric ordered. He holstered his blaster and bent over the nearest victim, a young man in a chair who stared up at him with glazed eyes. Eric immediately saw a red welt on his neck. Noticing something else strange about the man’s skin, Eric lifted his arm and saw unnatural blue-tinted marks, giving the skin a mottled appearance.

Eric dropped the man’s arm and looked into his face. “What happened to you?” he asked.

“I don’t know… not sure. Something bit me, like an insect. I didn’t see it.”

“Did you see anything unusual?”

“Someone was moving around the courtyard. But I never got a good look. Never saw him clearly.”

“Thanks.” Eric examined him more closely. The mark on the back of his neck was a scratch, but red and inflamed. “When did you get this scratch on your neck?” he asked.

“What?” The man reached to touch it and grimaced. “It wasn’t there before. That’s where something bit me. It hurts… And I feel so sick…”

“Hang on. We’re getting help for you.”

Leaving the young man, Eric called to one of his men, “Call for ambulances! A lot of them. And tell them this may be a disease, or an insect or animal bite.” Hoping it wasn’t contagious -- or fatal -- he moved off to see what else he could find.

In their clock tower home the next day, Wes, Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie were watching television coverage of the Silver Hills plague. A tense-looking newswoman was describing the crisis.

“This is the scene at Silver Hills Hospital, where as you can see the facilities are overwhelmed by the number of patients. Since the first victims were brought here yesterday afternoon, an estimated three hundred and fifty cases have been reported. Effects of the disease include extreme pain, weakness, and bluish spots on the skin. It progresses rapidly; some of the earliest victims are already in serious condition. The one bright spot is that this is not a communicable disease; there is no evidence of spread from person to person.

There are reports that the disease is caused by a bite or scratch, and this is supported by the red marks found on the victims’ bodies. Some victims and witnesses have reported seeing a man with a pale face, dressed in black, who touched people before they became ill. No one seems to have gotten a good look at him.”

Jen switched off the television and said, “They used to call those red marks the mark of venom. It’s Venomark.”

“Another mutant?” Wes asked.

“Yes,” Jen sighed. “Venomark is extremely dangerous. He was created as a biological weapon. His teeth and nails contain a deadly venom. A scratch or bite is fatal within a week, without treatment. He has teeth as sharp as needles, and sharp nails like claws. He’s very fast. And he’s got a talent for not being noticed. He was made to be the perfect assassin, but he was too uncontrollable.”

“He had a talent for not being noticed? What does that mean?”

Trip explained. “It’s a telepathic ability. People just don’t notice him. They just don’t look at him. That’s how he’s managed to attack so many people. They never saw him coming.”

“You mean he’s invisible?”

“No, you can see him if you’re looking for him. If you’re not -- he just sort of blends into the background. You see him but you don’t notice. Kind of like how people don’t notice waiters or sales clerks.”

Lucas cut in, “Venomark’s crazy. He’ll attack anyone, with no reason, mutants as well as humans. He was sentenced to be kept in cryogenic suspension indefinitely, to protect the public. Ransik must have gotten hold of him somehow and revived him. He must be nuts to set someone like that loose.”

“Is there anything we can do for the people who have already been attacked?” Wes asked.

Jen spoke again. “An antidote was developed soon after Venomark first appeared. But it would be dangerous to use it in this time. It shouldn’t exist yet.”

“All those people could die,” Katie objected. “And that would mean a major alteration of history. We have no choice.”

“You’re right.” Jen looked at Circuit. “Circuit, do you have the formula?”

“The information in my data storage on the Venomark serum is incomplete.”

Trip said hopefully, “I’ll look through the datadisks I brought. I tried to get records on everyone being kept in the prison Ransik attacked. Maybe it’s in there.”

Jen nodded. “Do it. And we have to find Venomark before he poisons more people.”

“That was Dr. Fericks, wasn’t it, who developed the serum? The one who disappeared?” Katie asked.

“That’s right.” Jen looked at Wes. “Louis Fericks was a famous scientist and doctor in our time, and a humanitarian. He invented the serum that cured the Venomark poison. About twenty years ago, our time, his lab burned down and he disappeared. He used to treat mutants. Specialized in it. One of them probably killed him.”

“Daddy, I didn’t know you brought another mutant,” Nadira said. “And this one’s so... nasty.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t bring any more mutants.” Ransik was examining an empty containment vessel, marked with warning symbols.

“Well... somebody did.”

Ransik put the vessel down, his expression changing to angry suspicion. “What’s this one doing?”

Nadira told him, alarmed by the increasing rage on his face. “What’s wrong, Daddy?” she asked.

“Venomark!” he growled.

“Venomark? What does he have to do with you?”

“He's the one who poisoned me, who gave me my -- illness,” Ransik said. “Venomark was engineered to be vicious, to attack anyone, human and mutant. He has no loyalty to his own kind. Before you were born, when I was still living on the streets, he attacked me.” He raised his hand to the scars disfiguring one side of his face. “I still bear the mark of his bite. The pain was indescribable. I would have died, if not for a human doctor.

“He found me late one night, and took me to his clinic. It was also a laboratory, where he did research, and built robots. Dr. Louis Fericks was a man of many talents. An engineer and a chemist as well as a medical doctor. He’s the one who originally designed our cyclobots. I remember he talked to them as if they were living creatures. He had developed the antidote for Venomark’s poison, which made him a great hero to the humans. And he treated me with it.

“The serum worked immediately, I recovered within an hour. But Dr. Fericks told me it had permanently altered my mutant metabolism. For the rest of my life, I will have attacks, and need the serum to survive them. Thanks to Venomark.”

“I remember reading about Dr. Fericks. He disappeared years ago, in our time,” Nadira said.

“I needed his supply of serum. I took it and his cyclobot technology, set his laboratory on fire, and left him there.” He didn’t see the look of dismay that crossed her face.

“Frax must have brought Venomark along with us for some reason. And now he’s set him free. This must be the containment vessel he was confined in. Frax left it for me to find.” Ransik knocked the vessel away with a snarl. “With the serum, I’m safe from Venomark, but he is not safe from me. I’m going to find him, and settle our score.”

Wes, Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip walked through the Silver Hills mall, the same place where they had first searched for Ransik and encountered Nadira, many months before. Now they were on a similar mission. The four from the future were again wearing their scanner-sunglasses. Curious, Wes had tried a pair but found the data display distracting and incomprehensible.

Trip was unhappy. “He moves so fast, our scanners don’t do a good job of detecting him,” he muttered. “The readings are so strange - I think we’re picking up the people he’s poisoned, too. Or maybe his ability interferes with the scanners. I think he’s around here but I can’t pin it down....”

They stopped to look out over the center of the mall with its fountain and crossing walkways. It was not as crowded as usual, many people were sick and more were afraid to go out. But there still were plenty of potential victims.

Trip turned in the direction of a group of teenagers standing in a small courtyard park in front of one of the stores. As they watched, they saw sudden movement and two people swayed and grimaced with pain. “There he is,” Trip said softly.

Wes looked harder and caught a glimpse of a man, medium size and thin, with a pale face, and dressed in black. He seemed perfectly ordinary, so ordinary that Wes’s eyes automatically started to move on. But then he saw the man casually reach out to touch one of the girls on the back of the neck. She gasped, staggered, and grabbed at the spot. Wes realized he had just seen Venomark in action.

“Get out of here! Run!” Jen shouted at the teenagers as they ran to the attack. Venomark saw them and started for them. “Morph! Now!” Jen cried. But it was too late, he was already among them. The mutant seemed to glide between them, reaching to brush his fingers over Jen’s neck and Trip’s wrist. It took only an instant and a touch for Lucas and Katie to be scratched, too. The four of them staggered to a stop.

Wes had time to hit the man in black from behind, but the mutant was stronger than he looked and hit back, knocking him flat. The next moment he was on top of Wes, pinning his arms down. Venomark grinned triumphantly, his open mouth revealing long, sharp fangs like a vampire, transforming his ordinary face into something surreally hideous. Terrified and revolted, Wes struggled to throw him off.

“Wes!” He heard Jen’s voice call his name, and saw flashes of light as his friends morphed despite the pain they must be in. But before they could attack, a bolt of energy struck Venomark from another direction. He jerked and rolled off. Wes twisted to see who had saved him, and was astonished to find Ransik advancing on Venomark with an expression of pure hatred.

“Ransik? Now wait a minute! You’re not still mad over something that happened so long ago, are you?” Venomark said, getting up.

“Mad is an inadequate word,” Ransik snarled. “Every time I’ve seen your mark on my face, every time I’ve had to drink that serum, I’ve dreamed of this moment.” He reached into a compartment on his belt, taking out a small tube of blue liquid. “Now my survival depends on this. You ruined my life with your poison. Now I’m going to take your life.” He stalked closer as Venomark cowered and retreated.

But Venomark was fast, too fast even for Ransik. He ducked behind a tree, then dashed for the building behind him. Ransik fired at him, barely missing and striking the brick wall as Venomark disappeared behind it. With a roar, he ran in pursuit, dropping the tube and completely ignoring Wes and the other Rangers.

Wes turned back to his teammates to see them demorph, looking as sick as all the other venom victims. He ran to Jen’s side and put a supporting arm around her. She pointed at the spot where Ransik had dropped the tube.

“That’s the serum. It must be.” She started for it.

Wes picked up the vial and returned to her. The tube had broken but there still were several drops inside. He offered it to her. “Is there enough here to cure you?” he asked.

“No. We’ll take it with us,” she said. “With a sample, maybe we can duplicate it.”

After the cab ride home, they dragged up the stairs to the central room, Wes helping the others as much as he could. He led Trip to his workbench. “Can you duplicate the serum?” he asked.

“No, not with this equipment. And I won’t be able to work much longer.”

“Then you’ve got to print out all the information you have on how to do it. I’ll take it to Bio-Lab,” Wes said. “It’s everyone’s only chance.”

“I’ll try my best. I just hope it’ll be enough,” Trip promised. Hands shaking, he started to work. Jen, pale and trembling, came over to help.

Half an hour later, they were finished. Wes helped the other four to their sleeping quarters, put them to bed and hovered over them briefly. The sight of bluish spots appearing on Lucas’s arms reminded him of the urgency of the situation, not just for his friends but for everyone who had been affected. Hastily he threw on a jacket and collected what he needed. Minutes later, he was on his motorcycle, armed with the printouts and a few drops of Ransik’s precious serum.

He hurried into Bio-Lab, almost at a run, bumped into someone, apologized absently, moved on and ran into someone who didn’t move aside.

“Hey, hold it! Where do you think you’re going?” Eric demanded, stopping him by stepping into his path as he tried to pass.

His fear making him angry, Wes grabbed Eric’s wrist and tried to push him aside. “I’m here to see my father.”

Eric twisted his arm free and stepped aggressively closer. “He’s busy, and so am I. In case you hadn’t heard, the city’s under attack.”

“I know! That’s why I’m here!” Wes said hotly. Then with a note of desperation he added, “Please, Eric. My friends are sick.”

Eric stared at him, the anger abruptly leaving his face. “What can your father do?” he asked.

“I have information about a cure. I hope.”

“How did you-”

“I got it from my friends. There’s no time to explain.”

“Right. Come on.” Eric turned and headed off into the building so fast Wes had to trot to catch up. They went right through several security checkpoints and passed Alan Collins’ secretary with just a nod. No one even attempted to stop them, leaving Wes struck by how much status Eric apparently had. They stopped outside the office door.

“Wait here,” Eric said and opened the door. Going a few steps inside, he cleared his throat and excused himself, interrupting the conversation going on inside.

“Yes, what is it?” Wes heard his father say with a note of impatience. Eric nodded at Wes, who entered the room with some hesitation. The other two men in the office quickly wiped the annoyance from their faces as they recognized him. He saw surprise, happiness, nervousness, and a touch of anger chase each other across his father’s face.

“Mr. Taylor, Mr. Jennings, would you excuse us?” Collins said. The two men nodded to Wes, took their briefcases and left.

“Well, Wesley?”

“Dad, I need your help.”

“I don’t see you for months, and now you come asking for favors? And in the middle of an emergency?” Collins paused for a moment before going on, “All right, son. What do you want?”

“This isn’t about me, Dad. It’s about what’s happening. All those people are sick. They’ll die without help.” Wes set the printouts and the tube of serum on the desk. “I think this can cure it.”

“Where did you get that?”

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is if it saves those people.”

Collins picked up the tube with its bright blue drops. “If it works... does anyone have a patent on it?” he asked.

Wes almost smiled. “Not yet.”

Collins looked up at Eric. “Arrange it. Let me know if there are any problems. And make sure it’s tested as much as possible, we don’t want to get hit with lawsuits.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Wes said as he and Eric started out of the room.

An hour later, in the Bio-Lab laboratories, Wes and Eric watched as Dr. Zaskin and his staff settled down to work. Wes paced nervously until Eric took his arm and firmly led him outside.

“Go home,” he said. “Take care of your friends. I have to get back to work but I’ll call as soon as we have anything.” His voice held the kindest tone Wes could remember ever hearing from him as he added, “Don’t worry. If anyone can do it, Dr. Zaskin can.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting.” Wes tried to smile before he headed out.

The next two days were torment for the Rangers as Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip struggled with increasing pain. It was almost as hard for Wes. He could do nothing except try to make them comfortable. No help was available, the hospitals were full of people worse off than they were, and it was impossible to get a doctor. The only good news was the fact that Venomark seemed to have disappeared, undoubtedly hiding from Ransik.

For the first time the clock tower seemed gloomy to Wes, old, the shadows full of death and decay. He was afraid to leave for even a minute, yet he couldn’t bear to watch the others. Especially Jen. Seeing her in pain, restless, crying when she couldn’t stand it any more, being powerless to do anything to help, was pure hell. Eric had started to sound irritated the third time he called asking for news. So he was stuck with waiting and watching his dearest friends fading slowly away.

The morning of the third day, he sat at the picnic table in the main clock tower room. The tabletop was littered with the debris of Trip’s various projects, and Wes was doing some cleaning as a way of keeping busy. He was carefully putting the blast rifle Trip was working on -- the Turbobooster, he called it -- into its storage case, when his morpher communicator chirped.

“Wes, are you there?”

“Eric! I’m here, what’s happening?”

“We have the serum. It’s been tested for safety, and we tried it on a couple of volunteers who were sick and pretty bad off. It works.”

Wes sagged, dizzy with the sudden relief. “That’s... great. Wonderful.”

“We’re starting to distribute it. I saved you four doses. We’ve got our hands full here; can you come pick it up?”

“No problem. Listen... thanks.”

“Right. See ya,” Eric said, and disconnected.

He hardly remembered the trip to Bio-Lab. It seemed like only seconds later when a Silver Guardian was handing him a small box with tubes of blue liquid inside. For a minute he paused to watch Eric, striding about the Bio-Lab staging area issuing a steady stream of orders. Guardians were moving so fast to obey that they ran into each other. Then he caught Eric’s eye and offered him a smile and a grateful nod. Eric paused long enough to give him a quick nod in return.

The trip back to the clock tower also passed in a blur. Wes went to Lucas, Trip, and Katie, handing each of them a tube with orders to drink it all. Jen was last. He helped her up and gave it to her himself.

Glancing around, he saw the others already starting to sit up, a look of amazement on their faces. He watched as the red scratch mark on Jen’s neck began to fade before his eyes, and the blue patches on her arms began to disappear. She opened her eyes, looked around at the others, and to Wes’s pleased surprise threw her arms around his neck, an embrace he gladly returned.

An hour later, the group was coming out of the parking lot at Silver Hills Hospital. After an hour’s rest, they were ready to do what they could to help with the rescue effort. In front of the hospital, they saw a group of Guardians giving out serum, surrounded by a small mob of victims and their relatives and friends. “There’s Eric,” Wes said. “He can tell us how to help.”

“Yeah, he’ll tell us where to go all right,” Lucas muttered.

“Hey, he came through for us. He was practically nice. And my dad came through too. I heard on the news he’s letting the city have the serum at cost.”

They paused to watch as Eric handed his box of medicine to another Guardian and hurried through the crowd to an elderly woman who had been knocked down in the rush. He knelt and gave her a tube of serum, watching as she drank it and began to recover with the usual rapidity. She spoke, obviously thanking him. He started to help her up, giving her an astonishingly sweet smile. Wes and the others stared, fascinated.

No one noticed Venomark until it was too late. He moved almost too fast to watch, grabbing Eric and throwing him against a parked car, then twisting his arms behind him and holding him tightly, face to face. He bared his long, sharp fangs. Eric turned his head and struggled ineffectively as Venomark opened his mouth and leaned closer.

After a frozen moment of surprise, Wes and the others morphed. Just as Venomark seemed about to take a bite, two energy blasts hit him from behind. He let go, staggered back, and fell. But he was up again almost instantly, facing the five Time Force Rangers.

“You’re under arrest, Venomark!” the Pink Ranger said, stepping in front of the others.

“Rangers! You can’t stop me,” Venomark retorted.

“Wanna bet?” Wes said, moving forward.

Eric stepped in between them and Venomark, saying to the other Rangers, “I’ll take this one.”

“Eric, wait-”

But he was already morphing as Venomark charged forward. Eric met the mutant with repeated swift kicks in the midsection. Venomark finally managed to land a punch to the Quantum Ranger’s chest and knock him down, but the other Rangers blasted him when he tried to press his advantage.

Venomark gave up the attack and ran, but Eric went after him with Ranger-enhanced speed the others could not keep up with. He caught up, pulled out the Quantum Defender in blade mode and brought Venomark down with a tripping swipe to the legs. Then he finished the job with two blaster shots. Wes and the others ran up to put the mutant in a containment capsule. When they finished and looked around for him, Eric had demorphed and was quietly heading back to his duties.