The visions were almost paralyzing. Each crew member who had been exposed to the gaseous anomaly stood entranced before the warp core. It took only a few minutes before the Chief Engineer collapsed. The rest would soon follow suit.

     Several away teams had visited the Class M planet below on a much needed and well deserved shore leave. After a few hours, all had returned. Only the six who had gone spelunking with Commander Divak, Chief of Engineering, had been afflicted. And their symptoms did not manifest themselves until after their return.

     Zoologist, Lieutenant d'Garo, had not heard from his mate who had been exploring the great cavern with the Vulcan, Divak. And he could not raise her on any com channel. So the muscular Orion went to Engineering to see if she was there. What he saw, stopped him in his tracks! S'Lira was staring at the warp core, transfixed, as were those still on their feet. He took her by the shoulders trying to establish eye contact, "What has happened to you, my s'Lira? Where is your mind?"

     S'Lira only mumbled incoherently, but d'Garo thought he could discern a word or two. He released his wife and tapped his com badge. "D'garo to Sick Bay! "

     "Carr here...do you need assistance?

     "You're needed in Engineering right away, doctor!"

     "On my way!"

     Then, to d'Garo's horror, s'Lira collapsed at his feet.

     Dr. Carr arrived, took medical tricorder readings of those affected, then shook his head. "I get nothing," he said. "Did anyone say anything that might shed some light on this?"

     "I tried to get my mate to tell me something, anything! But, I couldn't understand her. I think I heard her mention the word cloud, maybe rainbow, but that's all. I'm not even sure about that."

     Carr tapped his com badge and relayed what he knew to Captain Draco. Draco, in turn, gave the doctor explicit instructions.

     Carr then said to d'Garo, "I need you to go down to the planet and search that cave for anything that might explain this! I can't go because my only medical assistant is one of those afflicted. I need to keep my senses intact. Wear an encounter suit, even though there's no guarantee it will protect you. Take a samples kit and sample every thing you can. Then go straight to Sick Bay."

     "I Will, sir! For my s'Lira!"

     D'Garo transported straight into the cavern. He took samples of the air, water from a small stream, soil from the floor, samples of various substances aligning the walls and even from the ceiling. He was about to call to be transported back up. Then he saw it! A translucent cloud, slightly aglow in gentle pastel colors with tiny, sparkling facets of light. It was mesmerizing. Nevertheless, d'Garo went straight to work filling several sample containers from within the cloud. Soon, satisfied, he tapped his com badge. "One to beam up!"

     Dr. Carr focused on the cloud samples. For hours he analyzed, researched, analyzed some more, tested, calculated and concocted. By this time, all those afflicted were unconscious and their vital signs were rapidly degrading. Even d'Garo had, by this time, lapsed into unconsciousness.

     When Doctor Carr felt he had an effective antidote, he wasted no time. He injected everyone with a hypo spray and waited. More hours passed. Then, finally, they all began, ever so slowly, to respond.

     Later, at dinner, Doctor Carr, described what he'd found to Captain Draco, d'Garo and s'Lira. "My first thought was of the Tsiolkovsky Syndrome where water had changed into a complex molecular chain that, acted like alcohol in the bloodstream. Our cloud, however, is not H2O based. It's a very rare acidic substance capable of penetrating skin and even encounter suits. Being acidic, it acted like an hallucinogen, like a bad twentieth century LSD trip. Moreover, it was strong enough to shut down immune systems and organs. I simply concocted a basic solution that neutralized the acid."

     Captain Draco followed with, "Nicely done, Ben!" Then, to d'Garo, "Your bravery saved lives today!"

     Beaming at her d'Garo, teary eyed, s'Lira squeezed his hand (Orions never kiss in front of others).