PART SIX.

It had been over a month since the crew of Eagle Three returned to Moonbase Alpha. Friends were becoming reacquainted, workmates reestablishing a form of camaraderie, and lovers - of course - rebuilding their closeness. Or, in Maya and Tony's case, reinventing a friendship which could now only ever be platonic.

John Koenig fell into his role as Verdeschi's second, a sort of trouble shooter or all-around union representative for those who had grown unexcited or short-changed by their on-going responsibilities in their floating world. Some of their complaints were petty and others legitimate. He enjoyed it, the lack of intense paperwork and the all-encompassing obligation, but still having a connection to the personnel around him. Yet, he confessed to Helena one night, while they were in bed, that he also rather missed the necessity and final say.

"Maybe I do have a bigger ego than I let on." he said, appreciating the sensation of his wife's soft body, the feel of her silky pajamas, resting in his arms.

She gazed up at him, seeing the conflict, but knowing him well. "You are adapting, John. If your ego was as big as you think you would have tried to wrestle Tony's command away from him the moment you came back to Alpha. But that is not you."

"I'm not stupid." He admitted. "I would have come off like a tyrant to our people if I took no prisoners."

Helena chuckled, hearing John play devil's advocate. "Well, I'm not going to lie. It's been wonderful having you around with me, bonding with Aaron, and not so stressed as you were when Commander of the base." She felt his cheek nod against her head but also sensed his despondency. Helena recognized John was missing something out of his life that even his family could not replace. She wished she knew what she could do, other than sympathize, to fill that void.

"Please tell me if I am over-stepping boundaries." Jared Tsu looked over the desk at a wide-eyed Maya, nervous but also confident that he and she had much in common, and possibly a closer alliance than many on Alpha. They were working in the lab, on a mixture - a chemical compound - when he asked the question.

"I don't know …" she said, honestly.

There was going to be a concert during the evening. A band of five Alphan technicians – and Professor Tsu asked Maya if she would like to go with him – on a date. They had known each other for a long time, since the moment she originally came to Alpha from her destroyed world of Psychon. She had become the moonbase's head of science once Professor Lew Picard, who had taken the position from the late and much missed Professor Bergman, had died. Maya and Jared Tsu, Picard's capable but untested assistant, worked together. He was a young man back then, a few years younger than Maya even, but now he was older and possibly a bit more confident. Although, at the moment, it did not show on his face.

"I am flattered, Jared." Maya said, lowly. "But I am not yet ready …" She hesitated, shaking her head negatively. "No. Not right now."

Professor Tsu bowed politely, disappointed, then returned to his work.

There had been much personal regret in Sandra Benes life. She had fallen in love on Earth with a charming young man, Peter, and became engaged. Then, when Alpha was removed from Earth orbit, she had fallen for Mike Ryan, a Lothario pilot who died when they got too close to a black sun.

Then there was Paul Morrow. Early on, they both had vision of marriage and an unbreakable togetherness, but shortly after the incident on Arkadia, where their Commander had put the moonbase in jeopardy to save Dr. Russell, she could see something was not right with Paul, David Kano, and – oddly – Tanya Alexandria. They had all soured on John Koenig's command, Moonbase Alpha, and life in deep space in general. The group, who were once so dedicated and loyal, had transformed into people she and the other Alphans did not know.

Sahn could barely believe her ears when Tanya told her there was great change coming. "Paul will lead us all." She said, in her heavy German accent, and had a nearly manic gleam in her eyes. It was then that Sandra realized that Tanya too loved Paul Morrow. Also, she was willing to give him something Sandra could not: An all-encompassing commitment to the detriment of Moonbase Alpha. Tanya and the rest would abandon Alpha, turn their backs on a dedicated, fair, but human Commander. Sandra could not.

Later, Helena would call their behavior a form of "green sickness" which brought about hidden mental issues and dormant desires. But the mystery of their disappearance, punctuated when Professor Begman passed away do to a spacesuit defect, remained. Sandra remembered Paul getting into a nearly violent altercation with Commander Koenig just before moving Main Mission down to Command Center. It was so unlike him. Alan, often a hot head himself, tried to calm him and understand what was happening but it was to no avail.

Then a week later, in the midst of their move, uniform changes, and a hunt for minerals to keep Alpha sustained, her beloved Paul had organized a mutiny. It was he, with only only a few others, that took a not so random Eagle and headed out into deep space.

Suddenly, they were simply gone.

The crew of six vanished into space, flying away, never to be intercepted. Even then their moonbase experts thought they had their own collision with a space warp, something still relatively new to them, and only a few considered the idea of survival. How could they, out there all alone, with ill provisions, and only their disconcerted enthusiasm and sense of betrayal leading the way, continue to exist?

Once again, Sandra grieved deeply. Paul had tried to bring her into their circle, but she declined. He was not being reasonable, and she told him so – and he left her. Like so many others. But then Psychon happened and there was simply too much to think about to mourn for long. Sandra had learned her lesson and kept herself free from romantic entanglements. That was, until she and Alan had fallen into an embrace years later. Neither expected it and both were tentative … and then he too was gone.

And Tony Verdeschi had been there all along, also having loved and lost. They knew it was right.

"But are you happy?" Alan sat with Sandra in the recreation department, the play area, watching as the children, two of which were hers and Tony's, play and run around like playful monkeys. "Be honest with me, Sahn."

"Of course, I am." She said, nearly offended, "Tony has been a wonderful husband." She pressed. "He's devoted to me and the children."

"I know. I also know that his honor would never let him entertain the idea of straying – even if he did love another woman." Alan watched as her head snapped, her eyes looking up at him with anger. She did not say anything which meant, in his opinion, Sandra had been thinking the same thing. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"The only one who can hurt me right now is you." She spoke lowly, under her breath.

There was no denying that she and Alan had grown close before he disappeared in Eagle Three. Neither of them had any close associations with men or women on Alpha since the days when Paul Morrow and Tanya Alexandria had been potential paramours, but when they left the moonbase, when the security of those first years on the Alpha heralded change, uncertainty and – yes – the devastation of being left behind, she and Alan remained. It was as if the universe was trying to tell them something.

And maybe it was.

For they had been parted, as they were in the past, and now it seemed only friendship was in their future. It was as it probably should be, they thought. Still, that did not prevent him from being protective. If Sandra did not feel threatened by Maya she was a fool - and Alan knew that was one thing the data analyst was not.

"Alan," she took one of his hands in hers, suddenly understanding his concern. "I adore your worry. And no, it has not been easy. But we are trying. Tony and I have talked and he is devoted. We have seven years together as a couple and two blessed children. He is not and will not ever be willing to toss that away. So yes … I am happy. And so is he. Despite it all."

A little less satisfied than he probably should be, Alan allowed a lopsided smile and attempted to look assured.

Perhaps it was not Sandra he should worry about being hurt but himself.

They were never the same, could not be duplicated, but they were always horrifying. It was violent and without warning. A neck snapping, body twisting, nearly bone crushing force that was as mind-bending as it was unexpected. And, as always, it caught Alpha and everyone in her ill-equipped.

It was a space warp.

The first sensation he felt was being lifted off his feet.

John Koenig was walking down the hall in corridor 8B. His schedule had him checking in with the tech crew in charge of the seals on the west end dumps. He had often wondered what might have happened if all the nuclear waste containers exploded during that fateful day in 1999, when the flareup changed their lives. No doubt all on Alpha would have been killed, the moonbase turned to rubble, but what about Earth? Would anyone back home have survived the ordeal? They now knew that Earth had somehow managed to make it through the moon's departure, despite all indications that it should have been destroyed, but had all of the dumps gone up human kind - Earth people in general – would have ceased to be. That was his theory anyway.

In the midst of these thoughts, a familiar sensation overcame John. He did not know what it was at first and later he would wonder if he was the only one who felt it, a sort of electricity in the air, before all hell broke loose. It was the same awareness he felt in Eagle Three just before they disappeared.

Suddenly, he was then slammed into the wall beside him, sliding slowly downward as the world appeared to shatter. He heard something, terrified screams from others probably, but also a high-pitched squeal that reminded Koenig of an ungreased wheel attached to a wheat thrasher. As he collapsed to the polished floor, Koenig saw spots before his eyes and felt time rush by him in waves of the unfamiliar.

Then there was blackness. He awoke either minutes or hours later to a red alert alarm and a frightened female voice calling to all sections of Moonbase Alpha. "Report in!" she exclaimed, 'Our environment is currently stable but many have been hurt or incapacitated …"

Koenig stood slowly, looking down at himself, grateful he was one of the uninjured. But then thought after terrifying thought assuaged him: Helena! Aaron! The children! His comlock was not working so he struggled over to a compost. He punched into Medical Center without results then into the school. No one was answering and, he supposed, with good reason. The moonbase was in chaos. He then called into Command Center and managed to reach Bill Fraiser.

"What's going on?" he barked. Koenig could hear the disorder going on behind him, operatives attempting to get themselves pulled together, pushing buttons, and – first of all – getting the base up and in running order.

"It was a warp." Fraiser confirmed, "We are still waiting to hear from all sections of Alpha but so far we are okay. The environment is holding steady."

"Where is Tony?" he asked.

"Medical Center. The Commander was hit pretty hard."

"Medical is operational?"

"Yeah, Helena has it under control."

Koenig felt alleviation. At least Helena was safe. "What about the children?"

"We haven't heard from Pamela or the other teachers yet but we know there is a door jam in that area."

"Power?"

"Minimal for now. Bet there are a lot of frightened kids down there."

"What about the travel tubes?" He waited to hear what someone beside Fraiser was telling him, "They are not yet moving down as far as the lower levels. But there is a way in through cavern C18 and corridor E."

"I'll check on it. Let me know when Tony is conscious and able to give orders."

"Okay but …"

Koenig snapped off and made his way to the catacombs before Fraiser could finish. Again, John knew he was probably being self-centered but his son was down there and he had to know he and the others were unhurt and would remain that way.

When he got there, Dave Reilly and a couple other men - including Steiner - were already in front of the school room doors, attempting to pry them open. "We don't dare fire a laser at the control panel." Reilly said, "We don't know what type of toxic fumes are in here. Warps have a way of stirring things up we'd rather keep underground."

Koenig knew how Reilly felt about Aaron and suspected he was there for the same reason the boy's father felt the need to be hands on. He tried to call inside, using his own comlock but, as with the upper levels, communication was still off-line. "Why are you having such a hard time forcing the doors open?" John asked the men with frustration.

"It's not level." Steiner replied, working on the problem. "It's like pulling on two heavy blocks of cement."

Koenig put his ear to the door and thought he could hear the crying of frightened children. Spurred on, he helped the men pull at the doors, throwing his weight into them. Then slowly, almost agonizingly, they came apart. When a crevice appeared, about an inch thick, he called out: "Is everyone okay in there?"

Pamela called: "Yes! Jimmy hurt his hand but we were lucky. Being underground like this we felt very little other than a jolt. Is everyone else satisfactory?"

Koenig felt relief, glanced at the equally thankful Reilly, having pictured small broken bodies and gore once inside. He felt even better when hearing Aaron's muffled: "Dad!" then, "Uncle Dave!?"

Abruptly, power was restored, the light in the hall blinking on with a crackle and the doors parted easily.

The children made a beeline for the outside of the classroom and he told Pamela to take them to the underground park and play area.

"We will have your parents come down and get you later!" Koenig told the children. He watched as Reilly's daughter ran to him and the Irishman picked her up lovingly. Of course, John thought, he was down here for her. Aaron was important to him but it was his own child he thought of first. That was only natural. Then, when Koenig saw Aaron he opened his arms and reveled in the feel of the boy gratefully jumping into his embrace. Crouching, he pulled back and looked at his son's nervous and somewhat dusty face. "You're good?" John asked him.

"Yeah. Is Mom safe?" he asked.

"She's in Medical Center helping the wounded. I'm going there now."

"Can I …?" the boy started.

"I need you to be brave, A.J." Koenig took his shoulders firmly in his hands, "There are a lot of scarred children and adults that will be going down to the play area for sanctuary until we can get Alpha completely on-line. I want you to help Miss Pamela keep everyone in line. Your Mom and I will come and get you later but I need a soldier down there, not a little boy. Can you be that?"

The boy looked at him for a moment, unsure, then his expression grew firm and certain. "Yes, I can do that, Dad. I won't disappoint you."

Koenig nearly smiled, proud. "You never could, kiddo." He patted him gently on the back and sent him on his way. He watched as he took LeAnn Reilly's hand and escorted her down the hall.

Reilly stood with Koenig for a moment, staring after their children. Then, feeling a little uncomfortable, Dave said: "There may be structural problems. I better be on my way."

"Dave." Koenig stopped him before he departed, "Thank you – for everything."

Reilly hesitated, thinking and knowing Koenig was showing gratitude for more than getting the children out of the classroom or even his knowledge of underground construction. "Sure." He said, remembering a time from the past, a great few months, a regret, and moved on.

"John!" A call came to his now working comlock. It was Helena and he knew what she needed to know, "It's okay, Helena. Aaron and the children are well and going down to the lower bunkers." He paused briefly and asked, "How are you?"

"Good." She said, appearing worried. "But I need you in Medical Center. It's Tony. He just came out of surgery – and it's not good."

Surgery. Koenig had no idea his injury was bad enough to warrant surgery. Perhaps that was what Fraiser was trying to tell him.

When he arrived, Sandra was sitting by Tony's bedside, holding one of his hands. She had just been told that their children were well but her worries were not yet over. Maya stood at the foot on his bed, her countenance unrevealing, and Alan stood behind her. Helena was on the other side of the bed, looking professional, but when she saw him her face nearly crumbled into uncertainty. John rounded the bed to meet her, placing an arm around Helena's shoulders as he looked down at his friend and Commander.

"The band is all here." Verdeschi croaked, attempting humor. He had a monitor over his chest and the screen above his head read low life signs. Tony had been cleaned-up but his complexion was nearly gray and his eyes were already half closed.

Helena would later tell him that Tony's abdomen had been pierced by a beam that fell where he was walking near Area 3C. Brambly had also been injured but would survive. Others were not so lucky. Their travel through the warp killed three Alphans.

And soon a forth would join them.

"Take care of Alpha, John." Tony whispered.

"Of course." Koenig spoke through a gulp, "We all will."

Tony, knowing there was little time left, spoke to his wife: "I thank God every day for you, Sahn, and what you brought into my life."

Sandra wept, holding her husband's hand, her head lowered, eyes closed.

She did not see Tony looking up, his vision taking in Maya. Before he departed, he said: "I do love you." And his eyes closed.

Alan, John, and Helena glanced from him to Maya, watching as she inhale, a hand moving to her mouth, and the tears fell from her eyes. Yes, he had always loved Maya.

Alan moved to take Sandra in his arms, ushering her away as the doctors moved in to try to bring Tony back to them. Koenig put his arms around Maya, in empathy, as Helena and her team worked. It was to no avail. Verdeschi was gone, now at peace, leaving the people he had loved and who loved him to grieve.

It was one week since the warp passed.

Once again, he was Commander of Moonbase Alpha. It was a position he did not relish, under the circumstances, but it was well earned and – as many would say – it was right. Verdeschi had been honored and respected, his widow and children would never forget him, and a plaque was left in the deep vaults of the moonbase, where the bodies of Alpha's fallen rested, to one day be buried on the planet that would become their home.

"Where are we?" Helena asked John as she stood behind his chair in Command Center. "I can't recall the last time I saw so many stars."

It was true. Wherever the warp had thrust them was now rife with a multitude of warm potential homes.

Maya, sitting at the science position in Command Center, now vacated by Professor Tsu who preferred lab work, said: "Our star charts indicate this is the galaxy of Iftimia. It has a class B sun but the prospects …" She turned in her chair and smiled for the first time since Verdeschi's demise. " … are there."

This was not supposed to happen. They were all going to live on Moonbase Alpha for the rest of their lives and only their chidren's children or beyond would see the potential of a new world. But, thanks to the space warp, they had been propelled three hundred and sixty-four light years from their previous position. It was unprecedented. Never before had they been tossed so hard and far. And, despite the death and injury – it was welcomed.

John felt Helena's hand on his shoulder and looked up at her, seeing the lovely wonder in her expression as she looked at the Big Screen. He knew what she was thinking. Aaron might still grow up on a new Earth. It could happen and perhaps before the magical light of childhood had yet to leave him.

He reached up and took her hand in his.

John then looked over at Sandra, the sadness in her expression. She had insisted she needed to come back to work after a few days of grieving and he was glad she made that decision. Alan was there sitting at the pilot's console, and she looked over at him with a small smile. Yes, it would be good for the children – and perhaps for them as well.

EPILOGUE.

It would take them three tries in this galaxy to find the right world, green and lush, with the proper atmosphere and potential for colonization. But when they did find it, they called her Idealia and she became home. They worked her hard and well, developing communities, happy with the physical work it took to build and advance their domain.

They mingled with other alien races, recommended by Bill and Annette Fraiser, that came to help and counsel.

And they were happy.

Sandra had more children – with Alan Carter.

Maya and Jared Tsu fell in love and started a family of their own.

John and Helena grew old together, watched their grandchildren grow into men and women, and could not have asked for a better life together.

Later generations on Idealia would remember those Alphans, the people from the moon, and would tell long tales about their adventures, how missing crew members would return, how love and loyalty played such a large role in their lives and decisions, the manner in which they remained a peaceful and hard-working people.

And they would also talk about a hero; a great man, tall, lean and strong, a courageous man with his mother's insight and his father's leadership ability. Aaron James Koenig would go down in the history of the planet Idealia as the greatest leader, official, and warrior the planet had ever known. His progenies would become revered doctors and representatives. And later, when Idealia had a space program, those descendance would spearhead its implementation and growth.

Idealia was what it professed to be: An ideal world.

The men and women of Moonbase Alpha? They would never be forgotten.

THE END

Nov. – Dec 2018.

Thank you all for reading and enjoying (please … haha) this fiction. I hope you had a wonderful holiday and will approach 2019 with a spirit of happiness and rebirth. I sincerely thank you for all of the kind comments regarding Thankful and, now that the story is done, hope you will continue to tell me what you thought of it. Nothing is more encouraging to a fan writer than to hear where they struck gold or where they need to improve. God bless and here is to the next one! Becky.