Sandra ran the scan a second time to be sure of her findings. They were the same; she turned to Paul.

"Atmospheric scans indicate that the fourth planet in this system is similar to Earth. It has slightly less oxygen, but still breathable for humans."

Paul smiled, "Okay, Kano, anything?"

David Kano turned away from computer, holding a small piece of paper, "There is sufficient water, plant life and lower animal forms to sustain us, and there are no higher life forms currently inhabiting the planet."

Paul turned toward Carter, "Okay Alan, it's all yours now. Take a team down in a survey Eagle, and let's find out what this planet is really like."

Alan nodded, and silently left Command Center. Paul sat down in his chair, and his thoughts turned to the commander. It would be truly ironic if they settled on the fourth planet in this system. Ironic, and in another way, strangely fitting. He frowned at himself. Where had that thought come from? Fitting? There was nothing fitting about the fact that Commander John Koenig was being kept sedated because he could no longer be rational. Sandra looked over at him.

"Paul? You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just thinking about the commander...."

"Oh."

He pat her arm, "Hey, Helena hasn't finished all her tests, maybe she'll find a way to help him."

Sandra looked down at her monitor, "I hope so."

"So do I."

Helena removed the metal band from around Koenig's forehead, and set it down on the tray with the large electronic machine designed to read the wave patterns of the brain.

She turned to Victor, "These wave patterns match the baseline scans run when he took command of Alpha. According to these, there's nothing wrong with him. We're going to have to wake him. Every test I can think of is normal, the only way we're really going to know is by talking to him."

Helena picked up a hypodermic, and held it to John's neck. He began to stir slowly, and Helena couldn't help but hold her breath, waiting for a reaction. His bright blue eyes fluttered open, and he stared at her. After a tense moment, he smiled at her, and her eyes filled with tears despite the smile on her lips. She brushed a soft hand over his forehead.

"How do you feel?"

"A little tired."

Victor leaned in, setting a gentle hand on Koenig's shoulder, "Any pain, John?"

Koenig shook his head, "No."

Helena kept her voice soft, "John, do you remember what happened in Main Mission?"

Koenig's brow furrowed as he searched his mind, but he drew a blank. He shook his head.

Victor's even voice spoke gently, "You insisted that we execute Operation Exodus and evacuate to the fourth planet in this system. A planet that you said is called Bintoss." Koenig stared at Bergman, no recollection coming into his eyes, Victor continued, "John, you said you'd been in contact with a life form from the planet, a woman, you said she wanted to kill you."

"I....I don't remember.....How did I end up here?"

"You collapsed." Victor squeezed the shoulder under his hand, "John, you told me the woman was in your mind, and that you couldn't get away."

Koenig looked away, embarrassed. Helena brushed his hair lightly with her fingers.

"You don't remember any of it, do you?"

He looked up at her, the confusion in his eyes apparent, "No. None of it."

She cupped his face with her hand, "Are you sure you're not in pain, John?"

He nodded, "I'm fine."

She felt his forehead, and took his pulse; there was no sign of any fever or rapid heartbeat. Dr. Russell looked at Bergman.

"He seems fine now, perfectly lucid."

"And still, we have no explanation."

John's voice was slightly weak, "Victor, did I say anything else?"

"No. You were extremely confused though when I asked you to explain how you knew the name of the planet."

"Tell me."

"You got this look on your face that was very faraway, as though you were a machine trying to access a long-filed record. After a few minutes, you looked like you remembered something, but then you grabbed your head in pain and collapsed."

Koenig frowned as he tried to recall what happened. Helena touched his cheek.

"Don't try to force yourself to remember, John."

He looked at her, his voice slightly caustic, "Afraid I'll have a relapse of irrationality?"

Her brows narrowed, "As a matter of fact, Commander, yes, I am."

Victor stopped her with a calm hand on her arm, "I don't think upsetting him is likely to help."

Koenig snarled at Bergman, "I don't need a mother hen."

Victor pat him gently, "Hey, take it easy, John. We're both on your side, remember?"

Paul's voice broke in through the communications panel, "Dr. Russell, please have a member of your medical staff meet Alan in the survey Eagle launch bay in five minutes. We need someone from medical sciences to collect data from the fourth planet."

Helena pressed a wall panel, "Acknowledged."

As Helena gave instructions to a member of her staff, Koenig began screaming, holding his head in pain.

"No! No one can go down there. It's not safe to go to Bintoss." He looked from Victor to Helena, his eyes wide with fear, "Don't you understand me? No one from Alpha can go there, they'll never come back!"

Victor and Helena physically held Koenig down on the bed trying to calm him.

"John, take it easy, calm down." Helena yelled to Matthias, "Bob, I need a hypodermic of Dexetrol, stat."

"Right away!"

Koenig stared at her, his breathing rapid and shallow, "No, Helena, no, don't sedate me. Please, you've got to listen to me. Victor, tell her not to sedate me."

"Shhh, John, I think it might be for the best, before you have a total relapse."

Bob Matthias held the hypodermic to Koenig's neck, and waited for the light to indicate the contents had spilled into the man's bloodstream.

"NO! Don't let anyone go down to that planet, don't.....don't....."

Koenig's body went limp as the sedative took effect. Helena and Victor carefully adjusted him to a comfortable position on the bed, and covered him with a sheet. Helena brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen into his eyes, and Victor could easily see that her nerves were almost shattered. He moved to the other side of the bed, and gently turned her toward him, taking her into his arms. Helena let him hold her, allowing her emotions to spill out.

"I'm so afraid, Victor. I don't want to lose him." Her voice was barely a whisper, "I can't lose him....."

Her sobs jolted her body, and all Victor could do was pull his arms tighter around her. After awhile, Helena turned her face into the crook of his neck, exhaustion overtaking her. Victor lifted her into his arms, and gently placed her on the bed next to Koenig's. He covered her with a blanket, and lowered the light above the bed so that she could fall into a deep sleep. He turned and stood by John for a moment, watching the steady rise and fall of the man's chest. But he wasn't fooled; he could see the slight twitch of John's eyelids, and knew that the commander was experiencing deep pain. He sat on the edge of the bed, and rubbed a hand along Koenig's arm.

"I know you're in pain, John, and I'm sorry; I wish I knew how to help you. All I can do is stay with you, and hope that you know I'm here."

Alan landed the Eagle with ease, and turned toward his landing party.

"All right, let's try and make this one quick and easy. Darren, you're on water and plant testing, and Washington, you're on confirming that there are no other life forms on this planet, so you two pair up. Sarah, you're on geological, and Lance, you're on agriculture, so you two pair up. Fraser, you're with me." He smiled at all of them, "You know the drill. Check in with me every thirty minutes, and be back here in three hours for liftoff. Let's go."

Alan hit the button for the door, and all six members of the landing party filed out of the Eagle and off to complete their various assignments. None of them had the sense of foreboding that John Koenig had felt for them when he learned of the Eagle's mission. And none of them noticed the small beams of white light carefully trailing each of their paths.