(3)
He listened to the music, played by a small orchestra of technicians that were tunefully inclined, over a speaker in Main Mission. He had it turned down low but Koenig could hear laughter in the background, Alan cracking a rather blue joke, a silly but sincere laugh from that botanist, Ginger Su, and even a toast by none other than Professor Bergman, wishing one and all well on this evening of Saint Valentine.
The Commander sat at his desk, the Main Mission doors open from his office to reveal the Big Screen. Elbows on the desktop, hands folded together, he balanced his firm chin on accommodating knuckles.
He watched the blackness, stars, and gentle waves of color appearing and disappearing in the vastness before them. John found the space gasses accumulating and dissipating especially soothing for some reason, Alpha bypassing far from their dangerous influences. As a boy, looking at photographs, he wished he could reach out and touch those clouds but, even then, he understood how dangerous and virtually impossible that was.
Koenig's eyes closed briefly and he thought about a time on Earth, when he was younger, and he received his first communique that Alpha was not just being built but he eventually would be serving a tour of duty on her. They needed a few good astrophysicists and he came highly recommended. It was also suggested that the fledgling and eager John Koenig might be involved with future flights to Venus and possibly Saturn.
But it was the Moon that Koenig was most interested in. Earth's moon and Alpha. Where would they take him professionally and personally? Even back then he knew there was something special about the moonbase, that one day he would be its Commander. Never had he suspected the moon and everyone on it would be blown from Earth orbit to float endlessly through space. Yet, even during that first tour of duty he had an intuition; something amazing was going to spring from Alpha and its people through his eventual command. Later, when he became Alpha's Commander, John thought it was Meta, those very early signals captivating their small and confidential but eager audience.
Later, after the disaster, Victor said they were existing in a science paradise, learning and living through things no Earthling could ever have thought to encounter in their lifetimes. They truly were the pioneers of outer space!
Koenig reached for a button on his console and gently dimmed the lights in Main Mission. Their main center of operation was so big, with its vaulted ceiling and large windows showing what some thought the bleakness of space, it often appeared cold. More-so when he was the only person manning it. With the illumination low, Main Mission seemed a little more cozy.
John got up from his chair and disregarded the paperwork he had strewn on the tabletop. He really was not in the mood. He took a few steps down, still looking at the screen and sat down on the top step, smiling gently. He probably looked like a day-dreaming fool, but it was not often he got the chance to enjoy such solitude.
Yet, he really was not enjoying himself and it did not take a psychiatrist as talented as Bob Mathias to determine why he was feeling depressed. How were they going to get through this one? He and Helena would eventually have to talk, even if just to work together, but that was going to be so difficult …
"Laying down on the job, John?"
He immediately recognized the soft, smooth voice and thought, for a moment, his imagination was playing tricks on him. She was silhouetted in the frame of the main double doors from the outside hall into Main Mission. She held something in her hands and he could see it clearly as she approached.
"Helena." He said, feeling both nervous and strangely gratified.
"Victor told me you would be here on your own tonight." She murmured as she advanced. She sat a little away from him on the top step and placed two plastic cups and a bottle of wine between them.
"Did he?" Koenig knew he must sound foolish but he was completely stunned by her appearance. He looked at Helena, at her gentle smile, golden hair, the elegance and beauty of her manners. He nodded, explaining how he thought it was a good idea for everyone to have a break, a little pleasure tonight.
"All but you?" she asked.
"A Commander's happiness comes when his people are … happy." He said, somewhat lamely, unable to find the right words. "Kano said he'd come on by in a few hours and relieve me."
Helena looked out at the universe he had been watching. "Such a big expanse of space out there, isn't it?" she murmured, aware he was watching her. "When Lee left for Jupiter I thought he was so far away but look at us now, millions of light years away from our own galaxy."
Koenig looked down at the bottle and cups, "You still think of him." he whispered, acknowledging Helena and her departed husband's bond.
"He will never be long out of my mind." she admitted. Then: "But I know Lee would want me to continue on, to find a life for myself, and …" she hesitated ever so slightly, " … to forgive those who might have done something careless but reasonable." She cleared her throat a little and looked at the bottle, "Shall I pour?" she asked, "It's the same wine they are serving at the party. Aaron Pretsi from the kitchens prepared it. It's not great." She quickly said, "but it's not too bad either."
"I'm on duty." Koenig reminded, "I should not be drinking at all."
Helena poured. "I'm your doctor." She said, "I say live a little."
They did a short "cheers" gesture and sipped. The couple were quiet for a few minutes, looking up at the screen, listening to the soft music, and wondering who should make the next move.
Finally, Koenig asked directly, "Are you forgiving me, Helena?" His eyes could not help looking to the shoulder of her uniform, seeing the slightly rumpled material where the bandage remained. It would take a while for the laser wound to completely heal and when it finally did she would be left with a nasty scar. He knew Mathias would suggest plastic surgery to smooth it out but Koenig did not know if Helena would agree. There were a lot of things about Helena he did not entirely understand, including why she was with him right now when she could be enjoying the party.
"I do forgive you, John. I should not have been so angry in the first place. I don't usually hold a grudge but … I hope you can forgive my pig-headedness." She clarified, "You have the hardest job in the world and we, all of us on Moonbase Alpha, owe you our lives. Yet, we question your command time and again. If you were not the right man for this job you would have lost it long ago. Somehow, I do not see Commander Gorski lasting a week under these same conditions."
"Sometimes I need to be questioned." He disclosed and once again sipped his drink.
"I suppose we all do." Helena chuckled gently. Then, more seriously: "But you never asked for this." She waved her hand as if to embrace Main Mission and Alpha, "And the least we can do is understand, guide you, and when matters look bleakest, we should know why you do what you do, John." She then took a deep breath and exhaled. Helena turned and looked directly at him. "If in the future for some reason you should have to take action against me, I will not ever again close you out, John. You must do what you must – even if you need to injure or kill me or any of the others."
"It won't happen again, Helena." he assured, expression equally as frank. "There is no way I could ever see you come to harm again."
"Don't say that, John. One day there may be a time when either Victor or myself will be in dire peril. If one or the other of us must die so that Alpha can continue, you will have to make the decision." Again she looked into his eyes, "I'm telling you this now because I don't want you to ever think I would die hating you. On the contrary, I love …." She gulped slightly and looked away, the words not easy after days of self-pity then guilt.
"Hey." He put a hand on her uninjured shoulder, feeling warmth and hope for the first time in a long while. "Don't assume I would ever hold a grudge against you either." He leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek, "I am rather fond of you too, you see." He whispered in her ear.
Again, they both chuckled gently.
Mild jazzy music was heard from the party band over the speakers and Koenig watched as Helena turned, reacting favorably to it.
"Come." He took the cup from her hand and placed it on the second step with his own. He stood and took her hand, miming her to do the same. "Let's dance."
They came together and he held her close, careful not to aggravate her wound. They swayed gently on the smooth floor near his office desk. John was gratified when Helena laid her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, delighting in her softness, warmth, and the scent of her subtle perfume. He never thought to feel like this again.
And yes, he was so please that a new understanding was forming between them. Both felt their emotional connection resume and he wished they could remain like this forever. Koenig could almost hear Arra whispering in his head, telling him about the plan of the universe and their part in it. He and Helena.
"John." She whispered and looked up at him, "Happy Valentine's Day."
"To you too, Helena."
Slowly, he craned his head and she reached up, their lips meeting softly. It was a profound kiss, nearly tentative, but lush in its meaning and the feeling it conveyed. He nearly opened-up to her further when they heard a slight in-draw of breath near the main doors. Helena had left them open when she came to see John.
Still holding one another, their kiss interrupted, John and Helena looked to where Paul and Sandra stood. Silly and amused expressions were on their ever so slightly inebriated faces.
"We thought to take over for you, Commander." Sandra said, "So you could go to the party."
"But we see Dr. Russell got here first." Morrow added with an entertained and nearly wolfish look in his normally somber eyes.
"Yes." Helena straightened and pulled a little away from Koenig, behaving as if it was business as usual although it obviously was not. "That is very nice of you, Paul and Sandra. I was just telling the Commander he should relax a little more."
"Yes, umh, maybe we can go to the party … now." Koenig straightened as Helena had done. "It would be a nice distraction."
"Hurry, before all the refreshments are gone." Paul looked to the wine bottle and cups on the office steps. "Although it seems …" Again, he smiled, amused.
With a sigh, knowing they were "caught", Koenig simply said: "Take the rest of the wine and enjoy yourselves." Then he added, knowing the couple's relationship and the fact they would be working – "But not too much." He then took Helena by the hand and walked with her down the stairs to the exit. "And thank you, Paul and Sandra, for the Valentine's Day gift."
"Yes," Helena chimed in. "We will have a great time … at the party."
"We owe you both." Paul said as he watch Sandra pick up and examine the bottle they left behind. "Have fun."
The doors closed behind the couple as they left and Sandra's eyes met Paul's across the room with further amusement. They fooled no one.
The Commander and Dr. Russell were not going to the party.
There would be more terrors and misunderstandings. He would be questioned yet again. They were all human beings, frightened and mistrusting in the deep reaches of space, and it was inevitable.
However, John Koenig would keep to his promise and one day, when the moon was stopped cold in space, when what seemed like a mad-man held Helena hostage, threatening her life and all of Alpha, the Commander could not and would not bring himself to say the words that might bring about her death.
Later, a slapdash plan formed and implemented, his people once again understood and believed in their Commander. Yet, it was fate and possibly even the influence of Arra that got the moon moving and in working order again.
All would be well – had to be – for the people of the moon to fulfill their destiny in outer-space. And perhaps with Luke and Anna, the Earth people's advancement in the universe had already begun.
But even then, he would remember this Valentine's Day, how John Koenig - possibly the last Commander of Moonbase Alpha - had been embraced, forgiven, kissed, and loved deeply and earnestly by the woman of his dreams. The compensations of this crazy life in space made all of the difference in the universe.
Perhaps Arra understood that as well.
He and Helena Russell, everyone on Moonbase Alpha, did have a future. Whether by choice or providence, the moon continued its journey.
The End
February 2017.
And Happy Valentine's Day to all of you too! :)