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Time and Half Time

Authors: Sonia Foster
Categories: John/Helena
Show Year: Y3
Rating: PG-13
Date: 2003

Story 2 in the "Amour" series +
1 - The Loneliness Is Over
2 - Time and Half Time
3 - Never Say Never
4 - Love Me Gently
5 - Invaded
6 - Kiss Me, I do
7 - Keep Your Hands To Yourself Commander
8 - On The Verge Of Death
9 - Sleep Helena Sleep
10 - The Wedding
11 - Attack Of The Hordes
12 - Make Love Not War
13 - Love And Marriage
14 - The Prodigal's Return
15 - The Son
16 - Deadly Poison - Part I
17 - Deadly Poison - Part II
Dr Russell discovers a strange crystal during a recon mission to a meteorite, which causes her to lose control of her mind and body. Spurred on by love, Koenigs returns to the meteorite to find an antidote.
Average Rating: No reviews.

Moonbase Alpha Status report, two hundred days after leaving earth's orbit, Dr. Helena Russell recording. A strange rock is floating our way and Commander Koenig and I are going to reconnoitre and see if there is anything of interest to Alpha there. In two days, the rock will be close enough so we can fly out to it before and if it goes into orbit around Moonbase Alpha. According to Sandra, there are minerals and plant life evident.

Helena was busy putting her kit together when her comlock bleeped. She looked on the screen and saw that it was John Koenig. He was making it a habit of dropping by the medical center ever since that horrible experience with that computer virus. To tell the truth she was a little afraid of the closeness but they were becoming friends while ignoring their other feelings for each other.

She opened the door with her comlock. In his usual long strides he came towards her, a stern look on his face.

"Now Helena, I hope you know you need to travel light. We can't take all that equipment with us," he said poking fun at her.

"Well, I think we will need all of these cases John, for the samples if nothing else."

"OK Helena, if you say so. What I want to talk to you about is Victor."

"Oh, you noticed it too?"

"Well, I would have to be blind not to notice. Victor is one of my oldest and dearest friends. What's happening Helena, I'm a little worried."

"John, Victor had a check-up last week he ....ah..... well. I don't know if I should say anything, patient confidentiality and all that, John."

"Are you kidding me, Helena."

"John, he is entitled to his privacy. I think you should speak to him yourself."

"Well tell me at least if I should be concerned."

"Not yet John, not yet," she smiled.

She continued her packing not wishing to say anymore. "I take it the subject is close doctor."

He is beginning to know me, she thought.

He smiled, leaving with these parting words, "We will rendezvous in two hours."


As the men packed the kits inside the eagle John went ahead and checked his instruments making sure all was right with the eagle.

"All set, Commander," Simms said as Helena Russell came in and took her seat.

They left and John closed the eagle doors.

They went through launch procedures and Sandra gave them the all clear. The eagle pad rose and the Commander took off. "So is their anything else to report since we looked at the rock in Main Mission?" he asked.

"Surprisingly we have an atmosphere Sahn says. The trees and plant life must have caused the atmosphere. That means there must be micro organisms in the soil."

"Enough for us to breath?"

"Enough for us to breath."

The eagle approached the rock and Koenig looked for the best place to land. The eagle touched down without a hitch. The area was not dense but there was an errie light emitted from the plants that lit up the rock.

As they unpacked their equipment John surveyed the area. What a peculiar place, he thought, it gives me the willies. The plants were like nothing he had ever seen. They looked poisonous to him.

"Where should we begin?" Koenig asked.

"How about that glade over there," she smiled. The glade, as she called it, was a short patch of land that seemed devoid of flora and they hoped fauna as well.

They got busy moving the equipment and picking up samples on the way, storing them carefully in the containers. After an hour, they decided to take a break. They sat there making small talk. After a while they became silent neither one wishing to have eye contact with the other. They worked steadily after that. For two hours, they sorted the minerals and plant life into different categories, placing them in the eagle.

They took samples of the dust and rocks, carefully placing them in containers and labling them. They made sure they touched nothing with their bare hands.

Helena walked over to a bolder scanning as she went along. Mmm, she thought as the lights began to blink, that's odd. She hopped off the bolder and headed to the west as the strange reading was coming from that direction. After walking for some time she saw the object of her strange reading.

A blue crystal lay gleaming, embedded in a red crystal the size of a small car.

As Helena moved towards it she felt a little dizziness come over her. She corrected herself and scanned the crystal. I better get some samples, she thought.

She took out her little chisel and started tapping away at the crystal. The blue pieces came off easily but the red one appeared to be of some form of iron. The two pieces were like nothing she had ever seen before. As she placed the sample of blue crystal in her bag, she tried to get some of the red crystal. She decided to try her stun gun after chipping away at it and getting nowhere.

Her comlock beeped. "Helena, where are you?" It was John he looked concerned.

"I'm not far from you," she said.

"Why did you leave without saying something?" he asked.

"Don't be such a worry wart, John."

"Do you need any help?"

"I found what seems to be two strange crystals. I am taking back a few samples, if I can get the red crystal. Give me a few minutes."

Helena took out her stun gun and fired at the red crystal. It had no effect. She set it on the highest frequency and fired again. A red laser came from the red crystal. As it struck her, she was thrown back, landing in a heap, as Koenig came around the steep incline.

Koenig bent down hurriedly. "Helena, are you alright!"

Koenig lifted her up off the floor and carried her back to the eagle. He looked through the medical supplies and scanned Helena. She was breathing but her heart rate was a bit erratic.

Koenig held her hand as she started to groan and come around. Her eyes opened. "What happened?" she asked.

"You tell me," he said.

"I don't know. My mind's a blank. Where am I?"

"Were on the asteroid," he said.

Koenig helped her to her feet. She said she was OK so they packed up and left carefully placing all the samples and kits in the storage space. Koenig watched as Helena strapped herself in. She seemed a bit preoccupied with her thoughts and spoke very little as John took off.

"Helena," he said, "I want you to get a check-up when you get back to Alpha."

She looked up at him a bit perturbed. As if I don't know when I am fine.

Helena let it go. Her memory was fuzzy. She nodded.

The eagle landed on Alpha and was taken by pad to the entrace port near hydroponics.

As the crew unpacked the samples Helena told them what she wanted in the medical lab and what should go to hydroponics.


"Well, doctor?" Helen asked as Dr. Bob Mathias finished evaluating her.

He looked at her rather wearily as doctors did make the worst patients. And she was no ecxception.

"Nothing conclusive buaI did notice a little imbalance. The lab will tell us a little more. Apart from that you can go back to work and I will report any findings to you."

Helena saluted him and jumped of the examination table.


Helena was working late in the medical lab unpacking her samples. She came across the blue crystal. She had forgotten she had it. She got out her plastic gloves and began extracting the crystal from the box. As she reached in, her glove tore a small hole and her finger touched the crystal. She pulled her hand back after feeling a warm glow envelop her body. She felt a little dizzy so she stopped for a moment until she regained her balance.

Her monitor buzzed, it was John. "May I come in, Dr. Russell?" he said.

Helena opened the door and looked at him as he approached her. He looked like a man who had something on his mind.

"Well how is the research going?"

"Oh great," she said pulling her gloves off and discarding them. No need to tell him about her little accident, she thought.

They talked a while about the day's event. Helena could tell he was nervous about something. The tension was getting heavy when suddenly he took her by the hand. She stared at him for what seemed an eternity, when he kissed her. She did not pull away. John thinking she was all for it, deepened the kiss. Helena, against her own volition, responded. Her lips parted as John's tongue sneaked into her mouth. She groaned as his hands went around her waist. The kiss deepened. Panic started running up her spine. She pushed him away and stepped back. Helena, turned and left the medical lab. Her cheeks were red with embarassment.

Koenig was left speechless. What did I do? Did I misread the signs?

Helena reached her quarters and let herself in. She felt paniced. Her pulse was racing and she felt her chest tighten. Am I having a heart attack, she thought. The dizziness came over her again and she fainted.

When Helena awoke she was on the floor in her quarters. Not remembering what happened she prepared for bed. As she washed her face, she noticed a dark blue area and splotches on her hand. She was alarmed. She remembered the blue crystal. How could I be so stupid. The crystal was making her dizzy and she had touched it.

Helena decided to go back to the medical centre. She ran some test, drawing her blood and looking at the crystal samples. It was morning when she finished. She took some blood again, noting the progress of the crystal in her blood. She was infected but was she contagious?

A strange feeling came over her, as she looked at that blue crystal again. The composition had changed. It was getting powdery and brittle. It was crystalline when it was embedded in the other crystal.

That red crystal, she thought, it must hold the answer to the effects of the blue crystal.

I have to get that sample, but how. Helena hurried to her quarters.

Her comlock buzzed. It was John Koenig. She remembered the kiss. Oh no, she thought, I have to avoid him at all cost.

Koenig was surprised, Helena was not responding. He spoke into his comlock.

"Kano, locate Dr. Russell."

"Computer says Dr. Russell is in her quarters, Commander."

"Thanks, Kano."

Koenig buzzed Dr. Russell's room. No response. Was she that upset about that kiss, he thought.

Helena was beside herself. She wasn't thinking straight. She was getting feverish. She checked her temperature. It was climbing. Her skin was getting bluer. She typed in her secret code locking herself in her quarters. No one had the authority to override her code, she was safe. Helena not thinking straight went to bed.


Koenig was getting worried now. Helena did not show up for duty and she wasn't answering her comlock. He decided to go to her quarters again.

"Computer open, Dr. Russell's door," Koenig said.

DR. RUSSEL DOOR HAS SECRET CODE ENABLED, computer responded.

"Override secret code computer. Authority A36Phi 1, Command 7 Delta 3."

The door opened. "Computer, lights." The lights came on.

What Koenig saw made him stop in his tract. There was Dr. Russell curled up in a ball on the floor. She was barely recognizable. Her skin had blue splotches all over it.

"Medical Centre!" he bellowed.

"Yes, Commander," Mathias responded.

"To Dr. Russell's quarters, emergency medical assistance, code red."

Koenig went over to her cradling her in his arms. For the first time in years he felt tears sting his eyes.


Koenig sat in Main Mission not sure what to do. The crystal he was sure held the answer. Helena was delirious and unresponsive. All she kept saying was 'the crystal'. The rock had not gone into orbit around Alpha. In another two hours the asteroid would be out of range. He got up and started walking.

"Alan," he said.

"Yes, John," came the reply.

"Get eagle one to the docking area we have 45 minutes of flight time I have to get that red crystal from that rock."

"Right, Commander."


"Well Tony, what do you think?" asked Victor stepping aside to let the physicist have a look.

"It does not look like a crystal. It seems to be a form of virus unknown to us," he said glancing through the microscope.

Both men had been working on the crystal for over an hour since Helena landed in the medical center. Helena was still the same in the medical centre. Both came to the same conclusion that it was a virus of some kind, composition unknown.

"So, Victor what do we do now? I would suggest a whole range of radiation to kill it."

"Way ahead of you, Tony, I tried that, no effect. I think John is right, that red crystal might be the answer. We just have to figure out how to use it to combat the spread of the virus."

The men walked over to the samples of Helena's blood. The virus was spreading faster.

"What do you think, Tony?"

"Well, didn't John say that the blue crystal was embedded in the red crystal?"

"Yes."

"He also said that the composition changed. It is not as crystalline as it was before. As a matter of fact it is almost powdery now."

"Oh, I see what you're getting at."

Bergman took another look at the crystal. The properties had definitely changed and it was still changing. Bergman looked pensive. If his hunch was right. He hoped that John would make it back. It was a long shot but he had to get their and back in two hours.

"Kano," Victor said talking into his comlock.

"Yes, Professor?"

"What are John's chances of making it back?"

"Professor, I told him not to go. It is impossible to make it."

"What can we do to help him, Kano?"

"I don't know."

Sandra was listening in, "Ofcourse', she chimed in, 'why didn't we think of this before, a refuelling eagle."

"Good thinking Sahn. Get on it right away."

Bergman turned to Tony, "OK, that will definitely give us some time. Tony, lets get on this, get the laser boys down here, we have to act fast."

There was a beeping on the console as Bob Mathias' face came on screen.

"Any luck, Professor?" he asked.

"We are working on it Bob but I think we will need your help from a medical point of view. Can you come to my lab?"

"Right away, Professor. I must tell you though she is slipping into a coma and her pulse is getting weaker. It does not look good."

Bergman sighed, "Hurry, John."


Koenig touched down on the asteroid and as it landed he was out and at a run. He went through the doors and sprinting towards the area. Something was nagging at the back of his mind all the way here. What though? As Koenig approached the crystal he saw Helena on the ground in his mind. He remembered her laser gun was on the ground. She must have been trying to cut the crystal. What happened? Koenig stood behind a rock just to test his theory. He fired at the crystal, a red light came striking outward breaking of a piece of that rock he hid behind.

Koenig walked to the crystal it was unchanged. How can I extract it without killing myself, with only minutes to go? he thought. Koenig walked around the crystal. He found what he was looking for, another red crystal a few yards away. Koenig walked behind it, and fired the laser gun on high and jumped out of the way. The light from the crystal hit the other crystal, which in turn hit the first crystal breaking of a piece. Koeing grabbed the crystal and took off.

"What took you so long?" Alan said as John strapped himself in.

The eagle took off. "John we'll never make it. You spent too much time getting that thing."

"Let's pray for a miracle, Alan."

In the distance, Alan's on board computer picked up an object.

"John, look, it's another eagle!"


"Well, Bob, What do you think?" As Bob looked at the solution through the microscope, he saw the reaction the red crystal was having on the blue crystal. It was being neutralized.

"John?" Victor asked.

Koenig was elated the red crystal was the solution, but its composition was also changing rapidly.

"So Victor, how do we use it and how much do we use?"

Tony and Roger Mason walked over, they had been working on the crystal with the professor. "Commander," Roger said, "I believe the best way would be to radiate the area. Too much could kill her, however too little might not work at all."

"Victor?"

"I say radiate. Bob, how much radiation?"

"Professor, I have been looking at the reaction from the red crystal. I believe the virus from the blue crystal would have killed Helena by now. I think that the fact she got knocked unconscious by it on that asteroid, saved her life."

"I think you are right, Bob," Koenig responded.

"I think if we can use the same intensity that she got when she was hit the first time it would be enough to save her," Bob said.


All eyes were on Bob and Victor as along with Tony they placed markings on Helena's body and set the computations in the radiation machine. They placed a piece of the crystal in and positioned her. Koenig was tense. Everyone was hopeful.

Victor looked across at Koenig and nodded his head. He turned to Bob and they all left the room. Koenig prayed. Bob and Victor flipped the switches and put in the computations. The room glowed as Helena's body glowed. They would try small blast for short dosages.

It was touch and go in the medical centre as they monitored Helena for the next three hours. Her vitals were back to normal and within the an hour and the marks were beginning to fade. She still, however had not regained consciousness.

Koenig came in to see her every hour on the hour. Koenig finally gave up and asked Kano to cover for him. He was now stretched out on a chair in her room.

Later that night, Helena did open her eyes. She saw John sitting on the chair a blanket pulled up to his chin. She smiled and fell asleep again.

As Helena came awake the next morning, she saw his smile.

"John," she groaned.

"Helena, don't worry your going to be fine. There is no sign of the virus anywhere in your blood stream."

She smiled at him opening her mouth to speak he said instead. "Get some rest." She closed her eyes and slept.

It was noon, the next day when Helena finally felt strong enough to sit up. She told John all that happened avoiding the kissing incident. John thought she did not remember. He handed her a drink of water all the time avoiding eye contact. Maybe I should be glad she doesn't remember, he thought.

Koenig looked at her. She smiled but looked away.

Or maybe she does remember.



This is story 2 in the "Amour" series. Previous story - Next story
Copyright (c) 2003. Reprinted with permission.
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