By Maureen J. Long
A distressed and tired John Koenig walked through Main Mission and entered his office. It was almost one o'clock in the morning and he had spent the last 3 hours arguing with his wife. Those on duty in Main Mission exchanged sad looks as their Commander closed the doors to his office. Everyone went back to their assigned tasks except for Sarah Pulcher. She discreetly removed herself from her desk.
Sarah Pulcher had a crush on John Koenig from the moment she met him. They met a few days after Breakaway. Koenig made a point to meet each member of the staff to reassure them. When he introduced himself, Sarah's heart had beat so rapidly she could hear it in her ears. She was so entranced by him that she could only stutter when trying to answer his questions. Since that day, she'd had an imaginary relationship with him. Her fantasy had always been to make love with him and give him a child. In her fantasy world, she'd dreamed that Koenig would leave his wife and come to her for comfort. Then she would reveal her true feelings to him. But she knew that was impossible for John Koenig only had eyes for his wife. She had watched Helena give John two children and this had driven her mad with jealously. In her mind, she plotted to have John's child, all she needed was the opportunity.
A few months earlier, Sarah had been in medical center having a cut mended. While she was there, Dave Reilly was brought in following a nasty accident. Bob Mathias had left her to attend to Reilly. Sarah observed Bob give Reilly a drug that basically rendered him unconscious. While Mathias was busy repairing Reilly's leg, Sarah slipped some of the substance into her pocket. She carefully noted how the drug was dispensed so that she could administer it correctly when the time came to use it. As she entered her quarters she muttered "Tonight's the night John. Tonight's the night we make our child."
Having been on temporary assignment in Main Mission, Sarah had heard all the rumors regarding the state of the Koenig marriage. She felt now was the perfect time to implement her plan. She poured the substance into a cup of coffee and prepared to enter Koenig's office. As she eased into the office via the back door she saw him sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. He was crying.
"Commander?" she called softly
John looked up from the couch and stared at her.
"What do you want Sarah?" He said his voice filled with anger at being disturbed.
"I thought... I thought you might need some coffee, sir," she replied nervously.
John looked at the cup she was holding and sighed deeply.
"Thanks," he said, his anger dissipating. He took the cup she offered, smelling the contents before tasting it. Sarah smiled from across the room, watching as he drank from the cup. It took three sips before she noticed any change in the Commander's posture. He began to seem disoriented and sleepy.
"Commander, are you all right?" she asked innocently.
"I feel a little faint," he replied, his head starting to swim.
"Maybe you should lie down. Let me help you," Sarah said moving over to assist her Commander.
She sat beside him on the couch and waited. She carefully watched Koenig as he slowly slipped into a state of complete oblivion. Wanting to make sure he was completely incapacitated she conducted a little test.
"John, it's me, Helena," she cooed.
"Helena," he called, reaching for the female shape in front of him.
"I don't want to fight anymore," he said as he pulled Sarah over to the couch and on top of him.
"I don't want to fight anymore either darling," Sarah whispered into his ear still pretending to be Helena.
"Good," he replied as he smiled up at her. "Let's take a ride up the beach," he suggested kissing her ear. The kiss sent such waves of pleasure through Sarah that she suddenly didn't care that he thought he was still on Earth and kissing his wife. If that was what it took to get him to make love to her then that is what she would accept.
"John," she called as she began to remove his clothes. "Let's skip the beach and make love on the couch. You know I'm not a beach person," she purred.
"You'll have to do all the work, I seem to be having trouble moving my arms," he joked. But Sarah knew it was not a joke. The medicine was working and he was unable to move anything. She worried that she'd giving him too much making him so out of it he might be unable to perform. Her fears were dispelled as she removed his clothing. Quickly she moved into position and took the Commander.
It was over in ten minutes. She carefully dressed John making sure that everything appeared to be normal. She smiled as she left the room. She had fulfilled her fantasy. Mentally calculating her cycle she knew that she was ovulating and hoped that they had just created another life. So what if he thought he was making love to his wife.
As the first shift entered Main Mission the next morning, one of the staff pulled Tony aside and advised him that John was sleeping in his office. Tony entered John's office and found him sleeping on the couch. He shook him lightly and John stirred.
"Helena? What happened? Where am I?" a very groggy John Koenig asked.
"John, it' me Tony. You OK?" Tony asked more than slightly worried.
"Oh, Tony," John sat up feeling dizzy. "I must have fallen asleep in my office. I had the weirdest dream," John said trying to shake the cobwebs out of his head.
"Well you look terrible. Want to talk about it?" Tony was growing more concerned about John's appearance.
"No, no. I'll be alright." John didn't get the words out of his mouth before he slumped over. Tony barely catching him before he hit the floor. Alarmed, Tony called medical and asked for assistance. Moments later, Bob Mathias entered the office and examined Koenig.
"Tony, it looks like he's been drugged. I need to get him to medical and do some tests."
"Drugged? Who would have a reason to drug him?" Verdeschi asked
"I don't know, but he doesn't appear to be in any danger."
"Yeah, Okay Bob, do what you have to do."
"Tony, let's not tell Helena about this until we know what happened. Her condition is so delicate at this point I'm afraid something like this may send her into premature labor."
Tony considered the consequences of the suggestion. He would wait until John was awake to see if an investigation was needed. He did not want to face John if the news caused Helena to go into premature labor. So he agreed with Bob not to tell Helena.
Within a few hours, the Commander had recovered from his ordeal with little side effects or little memory of what happened. Fearing for Helena's health, John ordered a limited but discreet investigation into the incident. Two days later, Tony's investigation revealed nothing. There were no witnesses or fingerprints. Nothing had been disrupted in the Commander's office. The only person that knew what happened was Sarah Pulcher and she wasn't talking.
Sherita
July, 1999