Little Arms
Helena Russell relaxed in her office chair, hands back of her head, starring at the ceiling and smiling. After drawing a breath of satisfaction, she spoke. “Are we talking proportions, here?”
Maya circled Helena like a hawk with a look of disbelief on her face. “Isn’t it true that the T-Rex may have been no more than a scavenger? He did have awfully little arms.”
Helena gently spun around in her chair not saying a word, smiling.
“But seriously? The size of his hands could indicate a less than satisfactory size of his—“
Helena cuts her off. “You’re just going to have to take my word for it, Maya. In T-Rex’s case, there’s a reason why they called him the king of the pre-historic jungle.”
Maya fell in to a nearby chair, rolled her eyes, and sighed. “I just don’t see the logic in it.”
72 Hours Earlier
Tony Verdechi strolled down Moonbase Alpha’s corridor with a look of contentment. No only had he realized the benefits of having a metamorph for a girlfriend, he knew he was truly in love. God’s honest, no denying it true love. The only thing that concerned him was, was he enough for her? He wasn’t sure the way to her heart was through her taste buds. His homemade brew was still a dubious 5 on a 1-10 scale. Shaking his head he made his way to Command Center where he ran in to John Koenig.
Quickly he replaced his smile with a look of professionalism. “Evening, John.”
“Tony,” John acknowledged as they met in front of the Command Center’s doors. The changing of the guard as Tony replaced John for the day shift. “Any issues?” Tony asked.
“None what-so-ever,” John tried to make it out the doors until Tony added, “Ah hey, we still on for the chess re-match?”
“Oh yea, yea. Maybe after my morning conference.”
“Of course,” Tony responded. Chuckled to himself. “I’ll catch you later.”
John continued down the hallway while Tony made himself comfortable in the commander’s chair. Slowly swinging around in the chair, trying not to laugh. “Morning conference. Right!”
“Yasko?” Tony asked.
“Yes sir,” she responded eagerly.
“Anything to report?”
“Well sir,–“
“Actually, fill me in later,” he cut her off. “I’ll wait for Sandra to come on shift.”
Yasko turned around, slouched in her chair with disappointment.
Helena anxiously granted John access to her quarters with her comlock. John entered the room and swore aloud that in front of him was a vision of a goddess. He figured she was mis-named Helena and should of course have been named Aphrodite. The fact that she always tried to greet John with next to nothing on and a sultry smile unrecognizable to anyone else on the base. No one but her closest friends, John, Maya, and Sandra would ever know of Helena’s alter-ego.
There she lay in her sexy off the shoulder dress and John was on top of her in no time. The two ran the base with the same intensity they shared in their sex. Being the commander and the chief medical officer offered them little time together. No words were exchanged during their well deserved passionate release. Just some powerful gasps of pleasure emanated from their mouths. Never a disappointed time alone as John knew all the sweet spots.
Helena awoke to a ringing door comlock to find John had slipped out. She tried her best to ignore it but their insistence was annoying. Still comfortably nude, she answered the ring without the view screen. It was Maya.
“Helena?” She asked.
For Maya, she would make an exception and opened the door. After three years stranded in space, other than John, Maya had become her closest friend. Both needed each other’s confidence and friendship.
Maya darted in to find Helena relaxed on her bed wearing only her pajama robe.
“Is this a bad time?” Maya asked.
“An hour ago it would have been,” Helena said with a smile. “No, you’re fine. Come on in.”
“We tried something new!” she announced enthusiastically.
“Metamorph or human?”
“Metamorphosis of course. Not sure what other human ways are left.”
“You know that Tony loves you for who you are. You don’t have to change for him,” Helena advised.
With a childlike smile, Maya proclaimed, “Oh you’re just jealous.”
Helena laughed in admission because of course Maya was right. “Describe the “something new”, Helena begged.
On a Moonbase of less than three hundred men and women there were no secrets as to who was banging whom. After three years of being stranded with limited choices, maintaining a private relationship was impossible. They were humans with needs, after all.
Alan Carter could often be found in the recreation area pumping iron. Not only was it vital to stay in shape, it was his chance to show off to the ladies. With the exception of the alternate universe marriage to Regina, Alan was a confirmed bachelor. Though it had been his montra for years, let’s face it. He had no shot with Helena, whom he had wanted to do since day one. John had foiled those plans within weeks of his appointment to Alpha. John and Helena’s chemistry was undeniable. Alan kept focus on the fact that there were plenty of other fish in the Sea of Tranquility. With that thought, Alan trusted the dumbbells in to the air as Bill Fraiser approached him.
“Need a spot?” Bill offered.
“Nope, I’m good,” Alan answered with a painful grunt.
“Uh huh,” Bill laughed in disbelief.
Alphans had become experts with a quick reaction time to a crisis. In less than a minute, John, Helena, and Maya had joined Tony in Command Center. Someone in hydroponics had reported a mysterious fog-like substance that had knocked some staff unconscious.
John barked orders to the maintenance and security teams to investigate. Helena instructed a medical team to the site. Maya was working with Sandra who had just come on shift to determine the origin of the fog.
“Maya?” John shouted. “Anything?”
“Analyzing now, sir.”
“Let’s not waste time, John. Evacuate section C,” Helena suggested.
“Sandra?” John ordered.
“Yes sir, I’m on it,” she replied.
“And seal off all vents leading directly to Command Center.”
“Yes sir,” she again replied.
John began to pace the floor impatiently, hoping for the results of the analysis. Instead of that he was suddenly flooded with reports of unconscious personnel from around the base. Instantly he knew what had to be done. With the press of one button, he was on speaker with the base. “Attention all sections Alpha. This is Commander John Koenig. With the exception of the crews investigating the fog, I’m ordering an immediate evacuation of all personnel to the catacombs. I repeat. All sections evacuate to the catacombs immediately. Please remain calm. You will be notified when it’s safe to return. Koenig out.”
“John, I’ve got to get to Medical Center,” Helena insists.
“Absolutely not! Direct the situation from here. Haven’t we learned our lessons from the first two seasons?”
Helena contacts Medical Center directly. “Bob, the evacuation includes you. There are no critical patients, so move everyone to the catacombs. Grab what emergency first aid kits that you can carry.”
“Yes doctor,” Bob replied with equipment in hand. He was already on top of it.
Helena maintained communication with the team at the site of the first disturbance. They reported that they men were unconscious with no apparent damage.
Their breathing was shallow but the vitals were good. However, none of the affected had regained consciousness and it had been almost an hour.
“Where’s Alan and Tony?” Maya asked.
Organized as always, Sandra replied “They were both headed to Section C to investigate the fog.”
Alan and Tony were running down the corridor leading to Section C when Alan stopped them dead in their tracks.
“What!” Tony shouted.
“Don’t go in to the mist!” Alan said.
“And why the hell not?” Tony asked then continued walking towards the fog.
“Retha? Hello!” He should sarcastically.
“Uh, funny thing about that storyline. I wasn’t IN IT!” Just as Tony was explaining, his eyes faded to a blank stare and he fell back, passed out cold.
“No one listens to me,” Alan exclaimed as he turned to race back the other direction hoping to locate gas masks. He made it for about 20 steps, gasped, and then fell to his knees.
“Shit,” he whispered.
Tanya was running from another corridor and found the pair passed out in the hallway. She leaned down to check Alan’s pulse, and then quickly passed out beside him. Alan was in and out of consciousness and swore he heard Tanya say, “Are those your horns or are you just glad to see me?” With a puzzled look on his face, his head fell back hard to the floor. He was finally out cold.
Back in Command Center, they were receiving reports that the catacombs were no longer protected. The fog had permeated all of Alpha. They knew they were next. Suddenly, Helena took a deep breath and darted out the Command Center door. She felt she could make it to where there might be gas masks stored.
“Helena no!” John shouted. “Lock this door behind me,” He instructed and then chased after her.
Amazingly enough it wasn’t at all strange for them to walk empty corridors of Moonbase Alpha. John continued to yell at her to come back to Command Center while she continued stubbornly to hold her breath. They were close to Life Support when they both collapsed.
Helena didn’t recall ever making it to the entrance to the catacombs, yet there she was. With the press of a button the door slid open. Without warning she was knocked flat on her back by a creature that looked like a T-Rex dinosaur. She tried hard to catch her breath.
Before she could shout for help, she noticed that her hands were lizard-like claws. “What the ff–” she couldn’t even complete a sentence. In shock, she tried hard to push the giant creature off her. With one stroke of her right claw, the creature jumped back.
“Dammit, Helena! Manicure much?” The voice shouted.
It made no sense but she knew the T-Rex was John Koenig. Then before she knew it, another dinosaur came darting towards John. Knocked him clean off his feet. Alan Carter went for Helena.
The spikes on his tail appeared to be that of a Triceratops.
“Three years, Helena! Three! You could do better.” Alan announced.
John was back on his feet and lunged for Alan with a vengeance.
He had him pinned and Helena couldn’t help but smile. While struggling, Alan’s long and large tail was flailing from side to side. A voice broke the tension with a bang.
“Is that your tail, Alan, or are you just glad to see me?” Sultry voice of Tanya. With great force, Alan pushed John off and made his way over.
“I’m here, baby,”
Helena pulled herself to her feet. Now feeling more comfortable in her new surroundings, she made the move for the T-Rex she knew was hers and hers alone. Off in the distance she heard Alan and Tanya.
“Yea, that’s the spot.”
“Where? That’s not the usual spot,” Alan Exclaimed.
“A little lower….faster….brilliant!” Tanya said.
Helena awoke, just barely conscious. She pulled herself to her feet, fought through the headache and nausea she assumed the entire base will soon be suffering from, and dragged herself through the Life Support doors. She increased the oxygen levels and sped up the air purifying pumps. Exhausted, she rested her back against the wall and slid to the floor. Smiling. It wasn’t long until John found her and checked to make sure she was okay. With slow and purposeful breaths, she whispered “little…arms, but big—” She passed out with a smile on her face.
The End
