SPACE: 1999 YEAR 2
JOURNEY BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
SECTION SEVEN: A QUIET FIRE
In Command Center, the usual hum of operations was shattered by a sharp, rising tension, as if the air itself had thickened with dread. On the Big Screen, a cluster of unidentified objects steadily advanced, their trajectories ominously converging with the moon.
Alpha's fragile peace once again teetered on the brink. The scars left by Mentor's attack were too recent, they were in no condition to endure another calamity. A collision course with these objects would be catastrophic.
Commander John Koenig strode into the room and, with a swift motion, yanked his chair out and dropped into it.
"Magnify," Koenig ordered, a tightly controlled blade of calm urgency in his voice. His eyes never left the display, scanning the flickering shapes with a sharp, focused intensity. Seconds stretched into an agonizing eternity.
Sandra's fingers flew over her console, her movements as precise as they were frantic. "I am trying, Commander. Better visual… forty seconds," she replied, her voice carefully composed, though a faint tremor of tension betrayed her inner turmoil.
Koenig leaned forward, holding his breath. The entire room seemed to be holding its breath. There was a stillness pressing down upon them like the weight of a coming storm.
Then, the screen flickered. The image sharpened.
"Magnified," Sandra announced, her tone steady but her eyes betraying her unease.
Twelve jagged meteoroid-like objects filled the screen, their shadowed surfaces glinting faintly as they drifted through the void.
"Course?" Koenig demanded, his voice cutting through the tension like a whip.
Sandra's fingers danced over her controls; her concentration unbroken as the hum of calculations filled the Command Center. The seconds stretched; each one weighed down by a shared, suffocating tension. The soft beeps of the computer seemed deafening in the silence, an auditory countdown to the inevitable.
Every eye was on Sandra, the room holding its collective breath as if afraid to disturb the fragile moment. Finally, the calculations finished, and Sandra's voice broke through, steady yet laced with quiet dread.
"Directly with the moon," she said, her words hanging heavily in the air.
Another pause. Another eternity.
"Directly with Alpha," she confirmed, the finality of her tone slicing through the room like a blade.
Koenig's jaw tightened, his mind already churning through possibilities. His voice was sharp and resolute as it filled the Command Center. "Go to Red Alert."
The room sprang to life with urgency, the once-heavy silence replaced by the flurry of movement and rapid exchanges of information. Yet John Koenig's gaze remained fixed on the screen, his expression as immovable as stone. Grim possibilities raced through his mind, each one darker than the last.
Reason and sanity suddenly slammed into him like a freight train, cutting through the haze of raw emotion and leaving behind a gnawing ache.
This was not right, and he knew it with every fiber of his being. With immense effort, Tony slowly forced himself to pull away from her, feeling like it took every ounce of strength he suddenly didn't have. His breath hitched before he exhaled sharply, the sound betraying the conflict raging within him.
"Damn," he muttered under his breath, the word slipping out like an involuntary confession of guilt.
"Tony," Maya whispered softly, her sweet, delicate voice trembling with questioning confusion.
Her tone twisted a knife in his chest. He ran a hand roughly through his hair, the gesture both frantic and revealing the turbulence beneath his exterior. His face burned with regret as he stumbled over his words, his usual confidence utterly dismantled.
"Maya, I am so sorry," he said, his voice raw and uneven. "Please forgive me. I don't know what the hell I was…" He trailed off, shaking his head as if trying to shake free the storm of emotions overwhelming him. "That was very disrespectful. I should not have done that."
Unable to bear the weight of her questioning gaze, Tony swiveled away from her, elbows on his knees as his hands rubbed over his face in a futile attempt to scrub away the guilt. His eyes locked on the floor, his jaw tightening as he fought to suppress the storm within him.
What kind of man was he to kiss this poor woman when life had stripped her of everything? The thought clawed at him, guilt gnawing relentlessly at the edges of his mind. But beneath that guilt was another truth, one he wasn't ready to face.
God help him, he had wanted to kiss her.
Desperately.
Fiercely.
That realization was a punch to the gut, leaving him breathless.
His fingers curled into tight fists against his thighs, knuckles whitening with the strain, as though he could physically grip the torrent of emotions threatening to escape. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to shove the truth into the deepest corners of his mind – far away, where it couldn't hurt him, where it couldn't touch her.
His breath came in shallow, uneven bursts, chest rising and falling with the effort of wrestling feelings that refused to be silenced. The air around him seemed heavier, charged with the weight of everything unsaid, the battle raging inside him nearly spilling over.
Finally, he forced himself to turn back to her, his movements slow and heavy, burdened by the weight of his regret and the raw connection they had just shared. The intensity in her eyes left him grasping for words, but his mind was a chaotic jumble, offering nothing coherent or comforting. He was acutely aware that he didn't have any idea in hell as to what to say to her.
Before he could speak, the sharp, piercing sound of the Red Alert blared through the room, slicing through the fragile tension like a knife. The abrupt shift snapped him back to harsh Alphan reality.
"Damn," he murmured under his breath, his expression hardening as his mind pivoted quickly to duty mode. Whatever the storm was raging inside him would have to wait. Whatever was beginning to form between them, fragile and undefined, would also have to wait.
Maya's eyes widened in panic, the sudden alarm amplifying her confusion and fear. She had no idea what was going on.
What was this sound?
What did it mean?
Was it danger? To her ears, the tone sounded like danger. Her heart raced, her thoughts spiraling into worst-case scenarios. She watched Tony quickly stand up, the gentle man of just moments ago suddenly replaced by a man who looked intensely disciplined, focused and deadly serious.
Seeing the terror in her eyes, Tony's protective instincts kicked in. He leaned over, reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Maya, it's a Red Alert."
His commlock chimed and Tony instinctively knew it was John before he even responded.
Koenig only got a chance to say Tony's name as Verdeschi quickly responded "I'll be right there."
Tony looked down at Maya as reassuringly as he could.
"Stay right here, I've got to go to Command Center. You'll be safe."
As Tony hurried towards his door, he turned and looked over his shoulder. "It will be okay, I promise."
And with that, he hurried out the door, leaving Maya still sitting on the floor. Alone.
Verdeschi raced through the corridor, his breath coming in sharp bursts, his heart pounding against his ribcage. Narrowly, he dodged two Eagle technicians with barely an inch to spare. Their startled shouts echoed but he didn't have time to acknowledge or the luxury of apologizing. The air of urgency seemed to hang over the entire base, each second, each tone of the alert a reminder of how their existence on Alpha truly was.
Rounding a corner at full speed, Tony's momentum carried him through the open door of Command Center. He darted past the Commander's desk, his boots skidding against the floor as he barely managed to stop himself from slamming into his own desk.
His eyes locked immediately onto the Big Screen, quickly taking in what had triggered the alert. Multiple objects, dark shapes moving with an ominous trajectory.
"Course?" he asked, his voice clipped and urgent, barely sparing a glance at Koenig.
"Us," John replied, his tone steady but grim. "Alpha."
Tony's stomach sank, but he forced himself to focus, to think. "Can we get them all before they hit us?"
"Estimated time of arrival, thirteen minutes," Sandra said, her voice even, though the faintest tremor betrayed the tension beneath.
The countdown began, ticking loudly in the minds of everyone present as they stared at the screen.
"Carter, launch Eagles," Koenig commanded, his voice slicing through the room like a blade, leaving no room for hesitation.
Alan was already reaching for the comm. He connected with the flight crews with practiced speed, his fingers steady despite the weight of the situation. "Fraser, launch Eagles Three, Four, and Five. Incoming targets."
"Already prepped," Fraser's voice came through, sharp and efficient. The man was already seated in an Eagle and the sounds of engines coming to life, punctuated his words, a stark reminder of the urgency. The Red Alert had left no room for delay, and Fraser had acted accordingly.
Tony's mind raced as he processed their options, his gaze flicking between the screen and Koenig. "Laser cannon?" he asked, his voice low but insistent.
Koenig hesitated, just for a fraction of a second, before nodding decisively. "We can't take any chances."
Verdeschi's finger had already been poised just above the button, and he tapped it without missing a beat. "Weapons section, arm laser gun."
"Right away," Petrov replied.
Command Center fell into an uneasy silence as they watched the Eagles lift off from the launching pads. The meteoroids were getting closer, the Big Screen displaying their inexorable approach.
"Eagle Five to Alpha," Fraser's voice broke through the stillness, crackling over the system.
"Go ahead," Carter replied, his eyes never leaving the Big Screen.
"We'll be within firing range in about two minutes," Fraser reported.
"Good," Alan said, his tone calm but steely.
Tony's jaw tightened. "Let's hope we won't need the laser gun," he muttered. "I don't like the idea of aiming at multiple targets while three of ours are up there."
Carter nodded; his focus unwavering. "Bill's a crack shot, so are the others. We'll get them all," he said with firm confidence.
The tension in the room thickened as the screen displayed the still advancing meteoroids and the three Eagles beginning to arrange themselves into firing squadron formation, their maneuvers precise. Command Center was suspended in a fragile moment of anticipation, each second stretching unbearable as the countdown continued.
The piercing sound of the Red Alert reverberated throughout the base, but Maya barely registered it as she sat on the floor. She supposed she should feel alarmed, but her mind refused to focus on anything beyond the unfamiliar sensations coursing through her. Slowly, she raised her fingers to her lips, brushing them lightly as though she might recapture the lingering, delicate tingling that Tony's touch had left behind.
This was new. Strange. A man's lips had never touched hers before. The thought sent a ripple of emotion through her…a blend of wonder, curiosity and a vulnerability that she wasn't accustomed to feeling. For all of her intelligence, this was uncharted territory.
Events and her life on Psychon had robbed her of so many rites of passage, stripping away opportunities for connection and exploration. Beyond the clinical knowledge gleaned from books, romance was an abstract concept, something she had understood intellectually but had never truly grasped.
But this…this was no theory. She could still feel the soft warmth of his lips, something gentle that had ignited a spark deep within her. It wasn't just physical; it was something more profound. Something had stirred the depths of her being in ways she hadn't known were possible.
The intimacy of it both startled and intrigued her. How could such a simple gesture hold so much meaning? So much power? Her fingers hovered near her lips as if she could still feel the trace of his presence, as though she might somehow unlock the mystery of what had just transpired.
For the first time in her life, Maya found herself drawn into the complex, deeply human realm of longing and connection. It was both exhilarating and terrifying, an unknown frontier she couldn't ignore, even as the alarms continued to wail around her.
As she sat there, fingers lightly tracing her lips, Maya glanced around the room, her eyes landing on the spot where Tony had paused, just briefly, before heading out the door.
The memory of his touch, his protective words and the intensity in his eyes replayed in her mind. Despite the alarm and the unknown threat that it signaled, she found herself wanting very much to believe his promise that everything would be okay.
Nothing made sense anymore to Maya; there simply was no logic to be found for any of it.
In such a short time, her world had flipped upside down and inside out, bringing this strange moon and its inhabitants into her life and introducing her to waves of intense emotion, none of which she had ever experienced before.
The gods of the universe, if any did indeed truly exist, seemed to have lost their minds.
Weaving her fate with the Alphans and Tony in such a confounding and capricious manner suggested that cosmic forces had taken a twisted delight in unleashing chaos within her previously structured existence. They seemed to be reveling in their mischief as they intertwined her path with the Alphans, leaving her to navigate the bewildering maze all by herself.
She sighed deeply, hugging her knees to her chest. The room felt emptier without him, but she clung to the hope that he would return soon and tell her that everything was all right for Alpha.
It had to be; this was now her home.
For now, all she could do was trust this man she knew very little about; continuing to hold onto the small whisper of hope that one day, her life would seem normal again.
"Engaging targets," Fraser's voice from onboard Eagle Five crackled.
The room seemed to hold its collective breath, the only sounds the faint hum of equipment and the rhythmic beeping of the tactical display. All eyes were fixed on the screen as streaks of laser fire shot from the Eagles, their precision guided by the hands of skilled pilots.
One by one, the pilots picked their target and one by one, they fired. The meteoroids illuminated briefly upon impact, each dissolving into a fleeting shimmer of cosmic dust before vanishing into the black expanse of space. As each of the incoming dangers were eliminated, unspoken ripples of relief filled the room, but no one dared breathe fully until the last meteoroid met its end.
Finally, as the final burst of light faded and only the stillness of space remained, a collective sigh swept through Command Center.
Sandra closed her eyes briefly, her shoulders relaxing as she murmured quiet thanks to no one in particular.
Tony leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly before turning around and looking back at John.
John Koenig's sharp gaze lingered on the screen for a moment longer, as if confirming for himself that the danger had well and truly passed. Then, he looked at Tony, a small smile softening his features.
"Bill, Eagles return to base," Carter's calm voice relayed.
"On our way," Fraser confirmed in a voice that almost resembled a happy song. "Eagle 5 out."
On the screen, the three Eagles maneuvered to turn back towards Alpha and, for the moment, Moonbase Alpha was, once again, as safe as she could be.