Co-Stars: Jennifer Baxter (Marlene); Lyric Bent (Bartender); Natalie Brown (Peggy)

Originally Aired: 12-Nov-2001; Written by: Scott Peters; Directed by: Richard Martin

The medical community in Chicago is panicked over a new disease that is starting to show up in young women. It’s an illness that’s both crippling and deadly. And completely foreign to anything they have seen before. This stands to reason since the terrible disease originated light years away in another solar system.

The reports out of Chicago General Hospital are bleak and shocking. A fourth woman has died of bizarre symptoms: osteoporosis, combined with severe anemia and the shutting down of renal and cardiac functions. Six other women are in intensive care waiting for treatment, but unfortunately the medical staff is baffled as to the origin of the illness. The great fear is that the disease seems to be readily communicable, which means if not controlled it could turn into a plague of epic proportions.

After securing a sample of the latest victim’s blood, Daggon is able to pinpoint the cause of the malady, a virus from the planet Enix. He has to find out if any of the escaped prisoners were in medical isolation on Sar-Top so he contacts Bendal, his former partner. Bendal, at great risk to his own safety, is able to access prison records and he informs Daggon that a sadistic fugitive named Jax is knowingly carrying the disease and has a history of using the highly infectious virus as a method of killing. Daggon goes to the hospital to speak to the sick women and is able to find a common link: they have all come into contact with a certain dark-haired man in the past week. And all were sexually attracted to him. Using his special abilities and advanced technology, Daggon builds a profile of the Enixian, a twisted killer who stalks women and then purposely infects them. Daggon has to find him quickly, since only his blood can provide the antibodies needed to combat the disease.

Synopsis: This episode solidly builds from the opening moments to the final disposition of the ‘evil alien’ with a good balance of sex, humor and drama. Mel and Cole are working together against a common threat and they play off of each other very well. Mel has good reason for being involved in the action and Cole’s superior technical skills move the story along. A stronger bond develops between the two when Mel is placed in real peril and they have a chance to express the growing tenderness developing between them at the end.

The story concerns Tevv, a Nodulian bio-terrorist who, through intimate contact with Human women, is infecting them with a lethal, sexually transmitted alien virus. Mel seems to take charge more here, Cole obviously depends upon her a great deal and in many different ways, and the interaction between the two of them is starting to become more sexually charged. He has great feelings for Mel, but they confuse him and he doesn’t know how to express them yet (or even if he should express them), and Mel is still determined to keep him at arms length, although she’s beginning to become more at ease with him.

———————————————————————

In the teaser, a young woman named Marlene wakes up alone in bed, calling for Tevv, the man she’s just spent a hot night with. She’s both annoyed and depressed to realize that he’s gone.

On the phone with her girlfriend, she says that Tevv is hardly the type to slip out to bring back breakfast and that she hates one night stands. Suddenly she doubles over in pain. Something’s wrong with her stomach. She looks in a mirror and sees large, ugly lesions opening up all over face. She screams and then passes out, her girlfriend calling frantically from the phone: "Marlene! What’s wrong!?! Are you okay!?!"

———————————————————————

In the next scene, Mel is rushing into the emergency room of Chicago General Hospital. Jess hurt her arm throwing her new boyfriend, Gordon, out of the bar and Cole has driven her there.

Mel, kneeling down beside Jess: "What happened?"

Jess, petulant: "Hurt my arm."

Mel: "How?"

Jess: "Throwing Gordon out of the bar."

Mel: "You physically threw Gordon out of the bar?"

Jess: "Only because he wouldn’t leave."

Mel: "I thought you like Gordon!"

Jess: "I do."

Mel: "Then why did you throw him out of the bar?"

Jess: "Because he’s a jerk."

Mel: "Okay ... Just to let you know up front ... If there were to be a wedding ... I will not be coming! ... Where’s Cole?" She looks around a moment and spots him looking out of a window.

Cole, pleasantly, as Mel comes up to him: "Hello, Mel."

Mel: "Hi." Then accusatory, "What were you thinking, driving her to the hospital?"

Cole: "Jess needs to be here."

Mel, tightly: "You don’t drive, Cole!"

Cole, smiling: "Nestov taught me."

Mel: "Nestov!?!"

Cole bobs his head and says "Uh huh."

Mel: "Did Nestov teach you to park on the sidewalk, too!?"

Cole: "No." He smiles, pleased with himself. "That was my idea."

Mel, grimacing and laughing at the same time: "You don’t have a license, Cole!"

Cole, puzzled: "Jess said that ... you took your father’s car once without a license."

Mel turns her head and glares at Jess, who rolls her eyes to the ceiling and pretends to look elsewhere.

Mel, snappish: "That was different!"

Cole, still puzzled: "Why?"

Mel: "Because I, at least..." she glances over to the nurses’ station and lowers her voice "... have an identity! ... Do you realize what kind of problems we could’ve had if the police had pulled you over?"

Nurse, approaching Jess: "I’ll need to make a copy of your insurance card."

Mel, chiming in: "She’s covered by my policy." She digs in her purse for the card.

Nurse: "Errr ... Your relationship to..." She checks her clipboard. "… Jess Brown is?"

Mel: "Sisters ... Stepsisters ... Different fathers, different countries. It’s very confusing during the Holidays."

Cole: "I didn’t know you were sisters, Mel."

Nurse, as Mel hands her the card: "I’ll, uh, get this back to you."

Cole, whispering: "That’s very nice, Mel."

Jess: "We’re not sisters."

Mel, explaining: "Jess doesn’t have any health insurance yet. My policy ... covers family ... Either you have insurance or you pay for it. Medical services here are real expensive."

Cole, incredulous: "They only care for people with money?"

Mel: "Unless you’re practically dying..."

They then spot a patient (Marlene) being rushed in on a gurney.

Mel: "That looks bad..."

Cole: "Well, she’s very lucky. If she wasn’t practically dying, she might be turned away. Right, Mel?"

———————————————————————

Jess is then examined by a handsome doctor, who she compliments for having very soft hands. He tells her that his wife says the same thing, and Jess immediately stops flirting.

Hearing that x-rays need to be taken of Jess’ arm, Cole digs into his pocket for the money to pay for them. Mel stops him, telling the doctor that Cole is confused because he’s from Canada, different health care system and all. She then gets rid of him by sending him to go get them some sodas.

On his way to do as bid, Cole sees a team of doctors working over Marlene in another cubicle and pauses to watch and listen. The doctors don’t know what she’s suffering from beyond the fact that it’s a virus of some kind, the fifth such case in a week, and apparently the start of a brand new plague. They stabilize her and have her taken to a quarantine room E295 of the ICU with Cole following. There’s something bothering him about this woman’s symptoms.

Donning a surgical gown, mask, cap and gloves like the doctors and draping a stethoscope around his neck, he goes into Marlene’s room as if he has every right to be there and to do so. Careful that he’s unobserved, he then conducts his own examination, passing a glowing hand over her, his brow furrowing with worry.

———————————————————————

Later, Mel is at her mirror putting on earrings. She’s just taken a bath or shower, her hair wrapped up in a towel and wearing only a robe. Cole throws open her bedroom door without any warning at all.

Cole, agitated: "Mel! There is a woman in the hospital with a virus!"

Mel, a little unsettled, with one hand primly holding the neckline of her robe closed, well aware that she has nothing on underneath: "There are a lot of viruses on this planet, Cole."

Cole, grim: "Not like this one, Mel ... It’s Nodulian and very lethal."

Mel: "How do you know that?"

Cole: "I ran a test on the computer to see the affects the disease would have on Humans. The woman in the hospital has all the symptoms."

Mel: "How many prisoners have this virus?"

Cole: "Only one. His name is Tevv." His agitation is so great he begins to stiffly pace. "He infected himself with the virus."

Mel: "He infected himself!?"

Cole, explaining: "He is what you would call ... a terrorist ... One of his victims was an important Cirronian ambassador, Mel, ... who did great things ... And one touch from Tevv was all it took."

Mel: "This is not good, Cole. This is really ... not good!"

Cole, plaintive: "I know."

Mel: "Why is he doing this here?"

Cole: "While Tevv is in his Human form the virus builds a poison in him. He needs to get rid of it every day or he dies."

Mel: "And ... how does he get rid of it?"

Cole, matter-of-fact: "Intimate contact with a woman."

Mel: "God!"

Cole, further explaining: "When a female is sexually stimulated her body draws out the poison."

[Note that Daggon seems to know all about "intimate contact" and "sexual stimulation." But then, he’s ‘fathered’ a child, so he has to know about sexuality and the reproductive ‘process’. However different the form or the mechanics may be on his and/or other worlds or between different species, the principle of sexual reproduction always remains the same: a ‘melding’ of the male and female of the species].

Mel, finishing: "And the virus is transmitted to the woman."

Cole: "Yes. It is fatal to her within ... three to five of your Earth days."

Mel: "By now he could have infected dozens of women!"

Cole: "There were others at the hospital. Not many ... But there may be some that couldn’t make it there."

Left unspoken is the obvious: ‘And others who’ve already died’.

Mel, grimly: "How do we find him?"

Cole: "I thought this might help." He hands her Marlene’s Quarantine Observation Log (she’s in critical condition). "I found it in her room."

———————————————————————

The Quarantine Observation Log provides them with Marlene’s full name and address [Marlene Stratford, 21211 Amhurst Drive, Apartment 355], so Mel and Cole head to her apartment to hunt for clues or anything that may help them in their search.

Mel: "This makes me very uncomfortable, Cole."

Cole, searching the bathroom: "Why?"

Mel: "Because we just broke into this woman’s apartment and now we’re going through her things."

Cole comes out of the bathroom with a towel.

Mel: "Hand towel."

Cole: "Yes, I know, Mel." He sniffs it. "But it smells very strong."

He holds it out to her.

Mel, sniffing: "It’s cologne." To his puzzled look she adds, "Men sometimes wear it ... to make themselves ... smell better."

Cole, thinking a moment: "Tevv must have used it."

Mel: "It’s possible but ... a lot of men wear cologne."

Cole: "I’m not interested in cologne, Mel. I’m interested in the picture Tevv may have left of himself."

Mel, mouthing the words, ‘picture Tevv may have left of himself?’ to herself, follows him out.

———————————————————————

Scenes cut back and forth between Tevv showering, dressing and getting himself spiffy while making ready to go clubbing that night to pick up a woman (without showing his face), and Cole in his War Room, setting up (mumbling, "Human technology is so slow") and then slowly extracting the image of Tevv’s Human face ("That’s what you look like") from the hand towel with a George Forman no-fat grill. Tevv is then shown, full face, at Club Crucible.

———————————————————————

Mel returns to the bar with an armload of newspapers, apparently having done some research at the library.

Mel, seeing Jess behind the bar: "I thought Megan was taking your shift."

Jess, her left arm in a sling: "Why?" The sling makes her clumsy and she spills the drink she’s serving over the bar top and the customer. "Oh! I’m really sorry!" She grabs some towels. "Sorry."

Quickly, she and Mel towel off both the bar top and the customer.

Mel, to customer: "Next one is on the house." To Jess, "Can I speak with you for a second?"

They both say ‘sorry’ again to the customer and they move off to the side.

Mel: "Jess, what are you doing here?"

Jess, embarrassed, abashed and angry, slaps down the towel she’s holding: "Okay ... I’m waiting to see if Gordon is going to come in."

Mel: "Gordon ... The guy you threw out of the bar."

Jess: "Yeah ... I wanted to know whether he’s bringing her."

Mel: "Her?"

Mel: "Well, you only went out with him the once. Were you expecting some kind of exclusivity?"

Jess: "I wasn’t expecting anything! ... I thought maybe this guy might be for real."

Mel, reassuring: "All right. If he comes in here again, we’ll both toss him out. How’s that?" Jess gives a faint smile. "Just be sure you don’t break anything."

She starts to gather up her newspapers, then notices Jess’ guilty expression.

Mel: "What?"

Jess: "When I ... was throwing Gordon out..." She hands Mel a framed picture with shattered-glass. "My shoulder hit one of your caricatures when we went around the pool table ... It fell off the wall."

Mel, examining it: "It’s okay ... Its just not scratched ... It’s ... it’s okay. I’ll just replace the glass."

Jess: "I’m sorry."

Mel: "It’s okay ... Just call me if anyone orders the expensive scotch."

She heads upstairs.

———————————————————————

Brief cut of Tevv prowling the Club, trying to pick up a woman (who already has a date) and failing.

———————————————————————

Mel, barging into the War Room: "Guess what? I have been through all of these newspapers and there are other cases of this thing – or something very like it – in three other cities!"

Cole: "Tevv must be moving around to avoid getting caught."

Mel: "And now he’s back in Chicago."

Cole: "And he won’t be here for long ... I have an image." He brings it up on his computer screen. "Tevv in his Human form."

Mel, staring in astonishment: "How did you get this?"

Cole: "Impression from the hand towel. He patted his face. I extracted his features."

Mel, ruefully: "Remind me not to leave my bath towels lying around."

Cole: "There would be no need, Mel. I already know what you look like."

Mel, laughing and sitting down: "So ... Even if you find this guy ... and extract him ... What happens to the women that he’s already infected?"

Cole, indicating the wicked-looking, multi-pronged ex-sanguination gizmo he’s constructing: "I need to get a sample of his blood with this ... Then I can create an antidote."

Mel, amazed: "You can do that?"

Cole: "Yes."

Mel: "How?"

Cole: "Before I was a Tracker I was a..." He hesitates, apparently groping for a reasonably comparable word, "... Educator ... I studied many different areas of knowledge. Because your Human physiology is so ... primitive, it should not be difficult."

[One must assume that he’s been a Tracker for a while and that he was an "Educator" for another while before that. One must also assume that either there isn’t an equivalent word for his former occupation or that it doesn’t quite translate. After all, how else would energy-based light beings go to "school" other than to be able to directly download information/data into their synapses just as Cole can do with electricity? "Schools" and "teachers" in the Human sense of it would not exist in such a society].

Mel, sputtering in indignation: "Primitive!?!"

[One gathers that Daggon thinks Humans a bit archaic, much as we would think of prehistoric man].

Cole, with an amused smile: "Yes ... Which reminds me..."

———————————————————————

Cut to Nestov, panhandling as a blind beggar and trying to hustle a kindly, elderly woman.

Nestov, fishing for the cell phone in his pocket: "Excuse me." Annoyed, into the phone, "What?"

Cole: "It’s me."

Nestov, even more annoyed: "Me who?"

Cole: "Cole."

Nestov, quick attitude change: "Oh! You! ... Listen, man. This is really a bad time."

Cole: "I don’t care. I need your help."

Nestov, dismissive: "Yeah. I’ll do that."

The elderly lady, sensing something’s not kosher, walks away, Nestov still hustling her.

Cole, stepping out from around the corner: "Hello, Nestov."

Nestov: "Damn, Cole! How’d you find me?"

Cole, amused: "I’m a Tracker."

———————————————————————

Back at Mel’s apartment, Cole shows Nestov the printout of Tevv’s Human face.

Nestov looks at it a moment, then hands it back: "Never seen him before ... Can I go now? You interrupted a very lucrative financial opportunity."

Mel: "What financial opportunity?"

Cole: "He was begging for money, Mel." He heads for his War Room.

Nestov, calling after him: "I was not b –" To Mel, "I wasn’t begging. I was panhandling. Big difference.

Mel: "You give a whole new meaning to the word ... ‘Illegal alien’."

Nestov: "Do you know how hard it is getting a job down here?"

Mel, sarcastic: "We could always use some help ... cleaning the bathrooms at the end of the night ... If you’re looking for a job."

Nestov, moving closer: "You want me, don’t you?" Mel looks ill.

Cole, coming back and giving the hand towel to Nestov: "What can you get from that?"

Nestov peels off his gloves and hands them to Cole, who drops them in Mel’s lap. Nestov proceeds to stuff the towel into his mouth. In disgust, Mel throws the gloves on the counter.

Mel: "What’s he doing?"

Cole: "Desserians come from a planet where food is scarce and poisonous plants are in abundance."

Nestov, pulling the towel out of his mouth a moment: "I’m trying to concentrate here! ... Thank you."

He goes back to doing what he was doing.

Cole, whispering: "That’s why he has a highly developed sense of taste. It’s an early warning system as to what’s edible and what’s not."

Mel: "That is so gross!"

Cole: "That is what he does."

Nestov, now licking, mouthing and nuzzling the towel: "Cheap aftershave ... Cigarette smoke ... Alcohol ... Ohhh! Numerous perfumes ... Sweat! ... He’s at a club. Or a bar."

He tosses the towel back to Cole (who really doesn’t know what to do with it now) while Mel is studying a newspaper.

Mel, showing them the newspaper photo of Marlene in a hospital bed: "Her hand! ... Look at her hand!"

———————————————————————

In the War Room, Cole has scanned in the newspaper photo (also corrected contrast and color and gotten rid of the dot screening as well) and enlarges the image off Marlene’s hand.

Nestov: "It’s a tattoo."

Mel: "No, it’s not a tattoo. The ink smeared it. It’s a hand stamp like you get at a club."

Nestov: "Well, how do you know which one?"

Mel: "I don’t."

Nestov, to Cole: "Why are you running the simulator through ... the ... computer..."

Cole, as a match comes up: "Crucible. Wabash and Clinton Street."

Mel: "You think this guy would show up there again?"

Nestov, to Mel: "I told you it was a club!" He laughs, delighted with himself.

Cole: "If Tevv hasn’t found someone yet, he will have to soon. Or he’ll just get sick and die."

The three of them head out for Club Crucible.

———————————————————————

Tevv is still at the Club, now mopping his brow. He’s starting to feel the effects of the virus he’s carrying. He approaches a young woman named Julie, telling her that she smells wonderful.

Julie: "Really? I’m not wearing anything."

Tevv: "Maybe we can ... get out of here and both end up not wearing anything."

She looks at him as if to say, ‘go crawl back under your rock’, and walks away.

———————————————————————

Mel, Cole and Nestov arrive at the Club and start to look around.

Mel, after a few moments: "We’re never going to find him like this. You go that way, I’ll go this way."

They split up, each looking around. But Nestov soon feels the rhythm and starts dancing.

Cole, seeing him: "What are you doing? We’re trying to find him."

Nestov: "You’ve got to loosen up! You want to find the guy, right? You gotta blend in with the crowd a little."

Cole: "I’m not a Desserian like you. I don’t have the ability to blend in."

Nestov: "Not that kind of blend! Get your freak on! Shake your ass!"

Cole gives in and starts dancing while, in another part of the Club, Tevv is homing in on a likely victim.

Mel is looking around and finally sees Cole and Nestov dancing up a storm. She goes over to them.

Mel, to Cole: "What are you doing?"

Cole: "I’m blending in, Mel. I’m getting my freak on."

Nestov: "He’s getting his freak awwn!"

Nestov, protesting as she leads Cole off the dance floor by his wrist: "This is working, Mel!"

Mel: "That is not the way to find him, Cole."

Cole, looking like a chastened four-year old: "Okay, Mel."

Nestov, following: "Guys! He could be anywhere!"

The security surveillance mirror nearly above Nestov’s head shows Tevv leaving with a young woman.

The three continue searching the Club.

Cole, to Mel: "Do you think the bartender would know who Tevv is?"

Mel: "Maybe ... If he comes here a lot."

Nestov: "Look at the dude! I got this one!"

Cole, stopping him: "No, I will get the information from him."

Mel, stopping the both of them: "Look, why don’t you just let me get this one?"

She hurries up to the bar.

Bartender: "What can I get you?"

Mel: "I was hoping ... you could ... help me find this guy."

She shows him the picture.

Bartender: "Yeah! He was in here tonight."

Mel: "How long ago?"

Cole and Nestov come up behind her.

Bartender: "I don’t know ... Maybe ten or fifteen minutes ago."

Cole: "Did he leave with anyone?"

Bartender, warily: "Who are you guys?"

Nestov, pushing past Mel: "Excuse me ... What’s up, bro? What’s up? Give me five ... Yo! Listen, man, we got to do some business. Some important people here, man. You need to deal with us, yo!"

The bartender just walks away from him; Cole gives Nestov a long-suffering look.

Mel, chasing after the bartender, excuses herself for pushing a woman aside.

Mel, to bartender: "Please! It’s very important!"

Bartender: "It’s not important to me. I’m losing money here, huh."

Cole, handing him a $100 bill: "Would you lose this much?"

Nestov, to Mel: "Twenty dollars would’ve been sufficient!"

Bartender, admiring the money: "Oh, yeah!"

———————————————————————

The bartender shows them the Club’s surveillance videotape.

Bartender, mumbling to himself: "Oh, come on now. I’m sure I saw him..." He continues advancing the tape, then freezes it. "There." He points. "There’s the guy."

Mel, seeing the on-screen image of Tevv leaving with a young woman: "Oh my God!"

Cole, to the bartender: "Do you know her?"

Bartender: "Her name’s Peggy. She’s a regular." He points. "She was with those guys when she came in."

Cole: "Thank you."

Bartender: "No problem."

Mel and Cole eye the group of Peggy’s friends the bartender had pointed out.

Nestov: "All right, All right! You found what you need. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check out the sights around here. Okay? All right!" He takes his leave of them.

Mel, as they move toward the group of Peggy’s friends: "We’ve got to find out where she went."

Cole: "I don’t have any more money, Mel."

Mel: "That doesn’t matter. We’re not going to be able to buy information from her friends, anyway. They’re not going to tell us anything unless someone forces them to."

Cole: "Like Vic does?"

Mel: "Sort of."

Cole: "Good." He pulls an old police badge out of his jean pocket.

Mel: "Where did you get that?"

Cole: "From the bar."

Mel: "From my caricatures?"

Cole, swaggering up to the group, hands on hips, badge pinned to his jeans pocket, imitating Vic’s facial expressions, nod and manner: "Are you friends with Peggy?"

Girl, big eyed: "Uh, yeah ... Who are you?"

———————————————————————

In the hallway of Peggy’s apartment building, Mel and Cole come to her apartment.

Mel, after first knocking and listening at the door: "Okay. Go ahead. You do these things better than I do."

She stands aside and keeps watch as Cole uses his energies to unlock the door.

Mel, as they walk in: "Maybe they never came back here."

Peggy, wearing a robe, suddenly sees these two strangers in her home and screams.

Mel, quickly, reassuringly: "No, no, no, no! It’s okay!"

Peggy, still frightened: "What are you doing in here?"

Mel: "We have to know if Tevv is here."

Peggy: "Who are you?"

Cole: "Did you have intimate contact with him?"

Peggy: "What? ... Oh, my God! ... He’s married, isn’t he? What are you, his wife or something? Because I didn’t know! I swear it!..."

Mel: "No! No! No! It’s not that! I swear..."

Peggy: "... He just left ... I - I..."

Mel: "Look! We just need to know if..."

Peggy suddenly doubles over and starts to collapse. Cole catches her and gently lowers her to the floor.

Mel: "Peggy!? Are you all right? Peggy? Oh my God!"

Peggy doesn’t seem to hear. She’s in pain and ugly lesions are opening up on her face.

———————————————————————

In the emergency room of Chicago General Hospital as Mel and Cole wait...

Cole: "Are you okay?"

Mel, all but snarling: "No, I’m not! ... We already have a fatal disease on this planet that people get from having sex! We don’t need another one!"

Cole, looking pained and miserable: "I am sorry, Mel."

Mel: "It’s so frustrating!"

Cole, quietly, placing a soothing a hand on her head: "I understand, Mel."

Mel, taking his hand as he withdraws it: "We can’t let him do this again!"

———————————————————————

In Tevv’s hotel room, he’s making plans by phone to travel to another city ("Sounds like a great place to get lost in a crowd"). He relaxes on the bed with a drink, pleased with himself.

———————————————————————

The next day, Cole sees Mel come home from a shopping trip with a load of packages, which she carries into her bedroom and dumps on the bed. Since she’s left her door open, he curiously approaches.

Mel, grimly as she opens the packages: "We’re going to take care of Tevv tonight. We know what he looks like. We know where he likes to hang out. We’re going back to the Club. You are going to wait outside and I’m going to let him lure me home!"

Cole: "This is not a good idea."

Mel, insistent: "This IS a good idea! If we don’t take care of this guy, he’s going to continue to infect innocent women!"

Cole: "He is too dangerous."

Mel, terse: "I am going, Cole! Whether YOU like it ... or not!"

Cole: "But, Mel –"

Mel: "– Besides, it isn’t as if you can just go to the Club ... and take care of him in front of everyone!..." She changes tactics, "I am the perfect lure ... And I won’t be alone ... You’ll be there with me."

———————————————————————

That night, outside Club Crucible...

Nestov, bopping along with a lineup of watches up his arm, to himself: "Hey! Hey! Looks like I’m gonna make me some money today, baby! This is the real deal...

Cole, waving him under the awning of the Club’s alley back door: "Quiet! You’re late!"

Nestov: "Yeah, yeah. I know, I know! But I got myself a job! Look at these, it’s –"

Cole: "You got a job?"

Nestov: "Yeah! A job! ... Okay, forget the job. What do you need?"

Cole: "I need you to go inside and look after Mel."

Nestov: "That’s it?"

Cole: "Yes."

Nestov: "I’m on that, duke..." He heads for the door. "Partner."

Cole, to Nestov’s retreating back: "You are not my..." The door closes behind Nestov. "... partner."

Inside, Nestov soon spots Mel, ‘undercover’ and dressed to kill in her new and very sexy garb. Her hair is partly pinned up in a riot of curls. Not even the bartender recognizes her as she orders "something virgin ... make it look strong" and checks out the place.

She soon sees the image of Tevv reflected in one of the overhead security mirrors, then locates his position on the dance floor. As she heads over to dance next to him, Nestov becomes distracted by the pretty woman approaching him and doesn’t notice that Mel has left the bar area.

Tevv quickly zeros in on the beautiful woman who’s joined him and turns his attentions to her.

Mel, flirty: "I’m Mel."

Outside by the alley exit, an increasingly anxious Tracker steps out in front of an emerging couple with his Collector at the ready, badly startling them.

"Hello ... I’m ... just waiting..." is his nervous apology.

———————————————————————

Tevv, looking Mel up and down, impressed: "Haven’t seen you around here before."

Mel: "I’m new in town."

Tevv: "I’m a tour guide ... My rates are very reasonable."

Mel: "What kind of places would you take me?"

Tevv: "Places you’ve never been ... You wouldn’t be disappointed ... What do you say we get out of here?"

Mel, wrapping her arms around his neck: "Let the tour begin."

Tevv: "Oh, no. You’ve been drinking ... We don’t want to get pulled over."

Mel: "I only had one."

Tevv: "That’s all it takes."

Mel: "You’re right!" She offers him her car keys. "You drive."

Tevv: "Ah, I’ve had a couple myself ... Besides, I can’t wait to get you back to your place."

Mel: "My place?"

Tevv: "Oh, yeah ... Are you nearby?"

Mel: "Ah, not really ... Besides, my place isn’t that great an idea ... It’s just ... my roommate’s at home ... What about your place?"

Tevv: "No." He spots a cab and starts leading her to it. "You know what? We can get a cab. Go to a motel."

Mel, knowing she’s trapped into playing along: "Great!"

———————————————————————

In an agony of waiting and no longer sensing Mel’s presence, Cole can’t stand it any more and goes into the Club, looking around. He doesn’t see Mel, but he does spot Nestov in conversation with a woman and goes up to him.

Cole: "Where’s Mel?"

Nestov: "Look, man! You gotta –"

Cole, insistent: "Where’s Mel?"

———————————————————————

In the cab...

Tevv: "You really are ... beautiful..."

He tries to make out with her, but Mel is wisely being coy.

Mel, gently pushing him away: "Let’s wait till we get there."

Tevv is frustrated but complies as she digs in her purse, ostensibly only for her compact, but she also turns on her cell phone and speed-dials Cole’s number.

———————————————————————

Cole, pulling out his ringing cell phone: "Mel?"

He hears Tevv’s voice, to the cab driver: "Take a left next street ... then right on Hammond."

Cole: "Mel? Mel?"

Mel’s voice: "So, where is this motel?"

Tevv’s voice: "Not far from here."

Mel’s voice: "Gosh! It’s been so long since I’ve been in a taxi!"

Nestov: "What did she say?"

Cole: "Quiet! She’s trying to tell me where she is!"

Mel’s voice: "I love it down by the waterfront ... Sheraton Street ... is so ... romantic..."

Cole launches into hyperspeed, returning to real time as if out of thin air on Sheraton Street and scaring the bejeezuz out of a skateboarding kid. He starts looking around.

———————————————————————

In a bland, standard-issue motel room...

Tevv: "What do you think?"

Mel, as Tevv removes his jacket: "It’s very nice ... But it’s not that nice, right?"

Tevv: "Let’s see if I can do something ... to get your mind off the decor..." He tosses her purse aside and starts steering her toward the bed.

———————————————————————

Cole is anxiously searching the area and shaking his cell phone to no avail.

———————————————————————

On the bed in the motel room, Tevv is massaging Mel’s shoulders from behind.

Mel: "Oh ... that’s great ... You’re very good..."

He starts to stroke her and nuzzle and kiss her neck and she hurriedly gets up. She’s now extremely nervous and becoming frightened.

Tevv: "What?" He’s on a timetable. He’s starting to feel the buildup of the viral poisons.

Mel: "Nothing ... It’s was great ... Let me just go get ready." She grabs her purse. "I’ll be right out." She locks herself in the bathroom and repeatedly tries to call Cole, but the call won’t go through.

Tevv, knocking: "Are you going to come out of there? Or do I have to come in?"

Mel, realizing she might be on her own: "I’ll be right there!"

———————————————————————

Cole is sensing the ground, trying to get a feel for where Mel is. He turns when he does get that sense and sees a cab passing by (Z-Cab Company, #478). He starts after it, moving faster and faster with almost every step, not able to use his hyperspeed so soon again. He catches up with it at a red light, promptly opens the rear door and senses the back seat, able to tell that Mel had been there. The cab driver is just looking at him.

———————————————————————

Unable to put it off any longer, Mel emerges from the bathroom.

Tevv, eager: "Come here."

She doesn’t move, so he goes to her.

Tevv: "Oh, come on. I don’t bite ... Unless you want me to."

He takes her in his arms and starts nuzzling her neck. Mel pushes him back.

Tevv: "What?"

Mel, stalling: "Couldn’t we just ... You know ... Talk for a little bit first?"

Tevv: "No. We’ve talked enough." He forcefully grabs her.

Mel, shoving him away: "I’ve changed my mind!"

Tevv: "WHAT!?"

Mel: "Look, I’m sorry ... But I’ve changed my mind."

She starts to leave, but Tevv blocks her path.

Mel: "Get out of my way!"

Again she starts to leave, again Tevv moves to block her path.

Mel: "Get out of my way or I’ll scream!"

Tevv backs off but, just as Mel edges past him, he grabs her, clamping a hand over her mouth and throwing her onto the bed. As he tries to force her, Mel reaches out a hand and snares the bedside phone, clobbering Tevv over the head with it. She scrambles up and starts to flee, but Tevv is quicker, grabbing her from behind and violently flinging her back down on the bed, now holding her in place with the weight of his body.

Just then, Cole bursts into the room, his features etched with the wraith of God.

His fight with Tevv is both violent and viciously brutal. Cole manages to fling the screaming Tevv down and pull out the ex-sanguination gizmo, but Tevv still has fight left in him. The gizmo is dropped as the fight continues, Tevv now trying to gut Cole with a letter opener.

Mel just looks horrified. On top of everything she’s just been through, this is the first time she’s ever really seen Cole in full combat, and it’s also the first full-scale Collection she’s ever witnessed up close. The woman’s in shock!

Then, reacting to Mel’s near-rape and infection, Cole rushes to her side but, beyond earnestly stroking her throat – for a few moments even using both hands to do it – he really isn’t sure what else to do. And even though he doesn’t seem to quite understand what she’s doing, stroking his face and then throwing her arms around him and clinging to him, he trusts her enough to allow it.

Being so new to the alien Human form, he doesn’t yet know how to demonstrate emotion with it. His left arm just uselessly dangling as she hangs onto him and cries is so touching it’s almost heartbreaking, yet his need to reassure himself that Mel is safe is very clear. But judging by his expression in "Without a Trace" after he’d morphed into Rod and Mel unknowingly hugged him, he might not completely understand it, but he’s starting to enjoy it.

[Note: Mel probably wouldn’t have survived if Cole hadn’t arrived in time to prevent the rape because she’s part Cirronian. The virus would’ve attacked her very aggressively, if what happened with the Cirronian ambassador Cole told her about is any indication].

———————————————————————

The next night in Mel’s bedroom, Mel is folding laundry and talking with Jess.

Jess: "How was I supposed to know that she was his cousin?"

Mel: "Well, you could’ve asked him, for one thing..." She smiles indulgently. "Before you threw him out like Stone Cold Steve Austin."

Jess, giggling: "I guess I just really want it to work out, you know?"

Mel: "Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, Jess ... It’s just, sometimes you’ve got to ... give people the benefit of the doubt."

Jess, standing up: "Sooo ... I’ve got Megan to cover my shift ... And Gordon and I are going to meet at an Italian restaurant in Lincoln Park."

Mel: "Great ... Have a good time."

Jess: "Thanks." She starts to leave.

Mel: "Jess..." She turns in the doorway. "With Gordon ... Be careful."

Jess, not sure what she means: "Careful?"

Mel, walking over to her, clutching a folded blanket: "You know."

Jess, rolling her eyes and heading for the stairwell door: "I know! ... Thanks, Mel."

Cole, just walking in: "Hello, Jess."

Jess: "Hey, Cole! ..." She looks back at Mel. "I’ll just leave you guys to..."

She leaves with a wicked grin.

Cole: "To what?"

Mel, with a chuckle: "Jess-speak for ‘good night’."

Cole, with a sigh: "It’s very complicated, Mel."

Mel: "How did it go at the hospital?"

Cole: "I was able to inject the women with the serum. They should get better in a few days."

Mel: "Oh, thank God!"

She drops the blanket and Cole bends to pick it up.

She goes on as he helps her refold it: "I just wish we’d ... found him ... before he had the chance to..."

Cole: "I know. I’m sorry."

Mel: "Well, it’s not your fault that a couple hundred of ... your solar system’s sickest minds decided to choose Earth as their hiding place."

Cole: "But it is my responsibility to catch them ... and one day take them home."

Mel: "Not for a while, right?"

Cole, agreeing: "It will take some time."

Mel: "That’s okay ... I’m kind of getting used to having you around."

Cole: "And I’m kind of used to being around, Mel..." She takes the refolded blanket from him and he smiles at her. "Good night, Mel."

Mel: "Good night.

They each retire to their separate rooms and close their doors.

Note: Rod Wilson also played the alien, Mabus, in the series finale of the Sci-Fi series "First Wave".