Beth6787

7 May y

Reality Check

My first Space 1999 short story. Season 1 cast. Set Earth Time March 2001. The thorny issue of making a life amongst the stars is being discussed by the section heads...

Helena Russell looked around the room at the faces of her fellow Section Heads and the gravity of the situation hit home. She had already discussed the "Any Other Business" agenda item that she was going to raise with Paul Morrow, whom she knew would be supportive and sympathetic to her viewpoint. She suspected that Victor Bergman would be too but, then again, he was of an age where it was unlikely to affect him on a personal level. As for Alan Carter and David Kano they still had all the time in the world (she inwardly cringed at the glib expression and made a mental note not to voice it aloud whatever the provocation). After all the lack of a world, as such - she had no doubt - was Commander John Koenig's primary reason for the dictat of no children that seemed to have been accepted into 'Alpha Law' by default.

So here they were. Five men and herself : meeting weekly to micro-manage their very survival in the fragile hope that they would find an Earth-like planet capable of supporting what may be all that was left of the human race, sooner rather than later. Only they had been hurtling through deep space for over eighteen months Lunar Time already and none of them was getting any younger...

"...so if that's all Kano I suggest we wrap up this meeting." Before John Koenig had a chance to utter another word their Chief Medical Officer cut in.

"Actually Commander, there is another matter. It has been raised before, but after the incident on Arkadia and the decision made by Luke and Anna...well, a lot of us have been re-evaluating our lives here on Alpha." She could see that John was about to cut her off and she raised her hand to silence him. "John, I know what you are going to say but that old chestnut just doesn't hold water any more. At breakaway we were three hundred and eleven souls and sadly, over the last eighteen months due to our ...adventures...out here we have lost ninety seven people. Which means that, even with the inevitable depletion of resources, we have capacity for another forty or so adults today. Without compromising our life support facilities in any way. Therefore, capacity for new born babies and small children would comfortably allow fifty to sixty births in the next year or so. This would allow every woman on Alpha to become a mother, should she so choose. Your argument just doesn't logically hold."

At this point Helena looked directly at Professor Victor Bergman for support. She was not sure what his position would be on all those potential children but if anyone could look at a situation logically and, ultimately, with a pragmatist's eye : it was him. She watched him exchange a glance with John Koenig and intuitively knew the two of them had had discussions that she was not privy to.

Before the Commander had mentally composed his reply young Alan Carter jumped in. "C'mon John, I know there were teething problems when young Jackie was born but that was only because we ran into those psycho aliens. As soon as they were gone things returned to normal and he's now a healthy eight month old. I'm looking forward to playing 'Uncle Alan' to the little guy as he grows and it would be great for him to have some other kiddies about. After all, now his mum is widowed it's not as though he's going to get any siblings any time soon..." As soon as he had voiced that thought out loud Alan inwardly kicked himself and felt his cheeks going red as he piped down and sank back in his seat.

Paul gave him a sympathetic look and then decided it was time to back the Doc up too. "Commander, I agree with Helena and Alan. Over the last few months many of us have formed ...close friendships...that are mostly exclusive with a view to the future. I know that, informally, even that is being discouraged. We all understand the need to conserve resources and not overstretch ourselves and obviously not all the women could be pregnant and on maternity leave at once but..."

John Koenig sighed inwardly. None of them had truly thought this through. The repercussions for their community, their very social cohesion. Only Victor understood. Even Helena, whom he would have expected to be the first to pick up on his true motivations, seemed blinded to the truth. But, then again, being female the no pregnancy policy hit home with her in a way it could not with the other five around this table.

Victor nodded at him "John...?..." .

Yes, it was time to expose the elephant in the room. "Alright people. I will explain my reasoning fully but this conversation never leaves this room. Am I clear? If we wish to discuss it further then discussions are held only amongst the six of us here now and only when we are all present. Do I have your co-operation?"

Glancing around the ring of faces he saw various expressions of confusion, concern and some alarm but they all nodded their assent. He stood and paced for a moment then went to look out of the viewport over the lunar landscape and the distant stars beyond. How much longer would they exist in this limbo? Hopefully he could get the full ramifications of lifting that limbo and starting to live full lives again to hit home : at least for a while. But even he could not ask them to put their futures on hold forever. For the women amongst them, within a decade, the possibility of children would be lost forever for the vast majority. But for now, well there was still time...

" As you pointed out Dr. Russell, we have sadly lost ninety seven of our fellow Alphans over the last eighteen months and already we are working eleven hour shifts rather than eight hour ones to compensate being down to only two hundred and fourteen people. To be precise, one hundred and fifty nine men and fifty five women. A ratio pretty much of 3:1 . Think about it. Should we morph from purely professional relationships, platonic friendships, to forming pair bonds with a view to marriage and children... then we would inevitably end up with fifty five couples and one hundred and four spare, single and lonely men...".

Koenig paused and looked around the room at those present to emphasise his point. He saw reflected in Helena's eyes the same revelation that had sunk in instantly with Victor when the two of them had discussed some of the rumours surrounding himself and Helena Russell that had been doing the rounds. The implications of having over one hundred men permanently excluded from the possibility of a romantic relationship by the lucky fifty five who paired up with the women first... well, it didn't bear imagining. Paul Morrow looked devastated that his hopes of a family with Sandra in the short term would likely stay on hold for now. Alan Carter just looked as though he was unconcerned. No doubt his youth and popularity with the ladies making him pretty sure that he would be one of the lucky few and could take his pick. David Kano looked completely disengaged, always having preferred the company of computer to any of his human companions, of either gender.

"I know there has been gossip about Paul and Sandra, Alan and Tanya, and...yes I'll admit it, myself and Helena. Helena knows full well that I have become inexplicably distant to her on occasion. I hope she now understands why?" He looked at Helena whose eyes were welling up whilst she was doing her best to continue to appear fully composed. "I have not been subtle about discouraging Paul and Sandra too. It is not that I do not wish my friends well but we have to lead by example. Of course, it is only natural that - given enough time - couples will inevitably be drawn to one another. If we had more of a gender balance I would let nature follow its course but..."

"But, human nature being what it is, we cannot expect over one hundred relatively young and virile men to accept that there are no possible partners for them...ever. Should that occur then it is inevitable that conflict will eventually break out between the men." Victor added.

Paul Morrow looked at Helena Russell then piped up " Sure John, I see where you are coming from, but surely the alternative - that all two hundred and fourteen of us remain celibate indefinitely in the vague hope of finding a new home sometime in the future - will start causing just as many problems. And probably a lot sooner."

"And out of those fifty five women we only have nine in their late twenties, twelve in their thirties and thirty four already over forty. Within a very short number of years we will be down to only twenty or so women young enough to bear children at all." This last from Helena. "I know that reversing the moratorium on childbearing will cause short term social cohesion problems for us all John but, seriously, what is the alternative to resuming our lives? Staying in limbo until time literally runs out? As for the gender imbalance we can only assume that it will rectify in the next generation. The birth ratio is approximately one:one under Earth conditions and I see no reason for there to be a sex skew here on Alpha. So when our children reach maturity there should be roughly the same number of men and women going into the future. It is only an initial generation problem."

"But that 'initial generation' is the one on Alpha base in the here and now. So it is the here and now that is my responsibility and the 'world' we all have to inhabit. Like it or not. So we have come full circle yet again. Without an innovative new solution my decision still stands. We maintain a professional distance from one another until such time as Operation Exodus is finally achieved." Commander Koenig assembled his notes and was about to stand to signify the end of the meeting when Victor Bergman mumbled one word under his breath "Polyandry."

"Victor?" Koenig was now staring intently at him. Surely the professor could not be serious?

Victor Bergman walked around to the head of the table and the white board behind the Commander's seat. "Polyandry. We have ascertained that we have three men for every woman on the base. If each woman was to take three husbands her children would only be half siblings. Therefore all one hundred and fifty odd men would father a child maximising the gene pool variation in the F1 generation. All we would have to do is ensure that no two people who shared a maternal line married to produce the F2 cohort." Victor Bergman started to animatedly scribble his mating pairs on the white board. "Assuming three children per woman for two generations then we would have between four and five hundred Alphans within forty years." Victor looked enthusiastically around the table then focussed on their CMO. Surely, Helena Russell of all people would see the beauty in his plan. He was somewhat deflated by her response.

"Were we all laboratory rats or rabbits then I would concur. But, Victor, in case it has escaped your notice : we are your colleagues and close friends. You cannot seriously be suggesting that the women of the base...,that I ...select three husbands simultaneously to have intimate relationships with!" Helena became aware that she had raised her voice unintentionally towards the end of her reply but REALLY!

"I'm sure that's a very laudable scientific solution Professor but I can't really see our colleagues going for it. Especially the female ones. Can you?!" John Koenig was trying to suppress his amusement at the thought of announcing that particular game plan over the base wide communications channel. However Victor had done him an enormous service by highlighting just how thorny an issue their personal futures really were.

"Does anyone else have any ideas to add?"

Helena looked at Paul and transmitted with her eyes for him to let it drop. She would speak to John in private once the meeting was adjourned. She had to tread carefully but her primary allegiance must be to her patients and if that meant nipping any possible romantic feelings for John in the bud...then so be it. She was about to find out what truly made him tick : like it or not.

Commander John Koenig looked around the room and felt an internal sigh of relief. His point was made and the message seemed finally to have hit home with Paul and Helena. He had an uneasy feeling about the subtext and strongly suspected that Helena and some of the other older ladies amongst their community were hearing their biological clocks metaphorically ticking louder each day and were terrified of the implications of a long term delay in finding somewhere to settle. He sympathised but that was truly in the lap of the gods and he could only hope that time would not run out for them all...for her...

"Then I formally bring this meeting to a close. We will reconvene next Thursday at 0800 hours. Victor, I'll join you in your office to review the sensor data first thing tomorrow. Say 0700?"

"I'll be ready John. See you there."

The room slowly emptied and once he was alone John Koenig climbed up to the mezzanine and walked to the far end. From there he could oversee Alpha base laid out across the floor of the crater through the plexiglass window or swivel his head one hundred and eighty degrees to observe the microcosm of life that was the heart of their community : command centre in full swing. A bustle of activity as the Alphans milled around valiantly attempting to keep one step ahead of the oblivion of the icy grave, just waiting mere inches away, on the other side of those bulkheads.

He had seen the disappointment in him written all over Helena's face and...something else...he could not define. Knowing her as well as he was beginning to, he sensed that she would not let this particular topic drop but : oh, how he fervently wished that she would. It was an impossible situation only resolvable by their Terra Nova coming to fruition but when that would transpire he had no way of knowing or influencing. He must have stood there for a good fifteen minutes or so mulling it all over and going in ever decreasing mental circles before his Comm-lock bleeped to bring him back to the here and now. Pressing the activation button he was face to face with Helena.

"Commander, please join me in my office in Medical Centre as soon as you are available. There is a pressing matter we need to discuss so I will need about an hour of your time."

There were a mountain of reports awaiting his attention in command centre as well as Victor Bergman's research data to review ahead of tomorrow's meeting but he knew that he was unlikely to be able to give them his full focus until he had cleared the air with Helena. "Fine. I'm free now, I'll be with you shortly. Koenig out." A little curt and overly formal perhaps but everything transmitted through the Comm-lock system was logged in perpetuity by their central computer. No need to give Kano any fuel to add to the fire of the inevitable gossip mill.

—-

One hour later...

John Koenig was sitting in his quarters with his last flask of brandy. There were only a couple of swigs left at most and he had intended to save them for Exodus Day. But perhaps this was just as momentous a moment. Human nature and fate had taken the decision out of his hands. It was a fait accompli . The first Alphan family would come to fruition in approximately twenty seven weeks time, give or take a day or two. The only alternative would have been to command that the lady in question have an abortion. Which would have required the co-operation of the CMO and the mother-to-be.

John Koenig slugged back the last of his stockpile in one shot. As it burned the roof of his mouth and set his throat on fire he laughed at the irony of a universe that could make those one and the same. Not to mention the father-to-be ordering the execution of his own unborn child...impossible! So...Alpha was to transform from a barren barracks amongst the stars to the first true extraterrestrial human colony : and he would lead the way...Suddenly Paul's face flashed into his mind...he replayed the conversation from the command meeting and realisation dawned ...

With that John Koenig headed out to congratulate his buddy who would be travelling this path with him. One tiny pattering footstep at a time...

THE END.

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