Home

John left the return voyage to Alan Carter. He sat in the pilot's section with Sandra by his side and they both wore an expression of melancholy. Koenig thought of quizzing them. After all, this wasn't the first time they had come up empty-handed when exploring a possible home. Still, all things considered, why bother? Their thoughts were their own. John left them alone. Whatever it was they were thinking SO deeply about was probably private and, as he had recently noticed, Alan and Sandra seemed to take comfort when one or the other were simply sitting in the same room. He wasn't certain if anything personal was actually developing between the Australian pilot and Alpha's favorite Communications Officer, but he would give them the benefit of a doubt.

Koenig smiled mildly. He wasn't required *here* but someone in the passenger section would do well by his presence.

All of them had been through an ordeal but probably no one more than the woman he loved. She was sitting thoughtfully as he approached and slid down beside her in one of the passenger section's double chairs. Her hazel eyes had a sad cast to them.

"Okay?" John asked politely and took one of her hands.

Helena tried to smile. Failing, she turned a little away from him. "I keep thinking about the children." she said.

*And one child especially.* John understood. Helena wanted so much to bring Jimmie back with them and as tempted as the boy had been, as he lay pensively in his recovery bed, he chose to stay with Peter Pan. There was a special alliance between Peter and Jimmie and it wasn't something he could easily push away. Peter, in a sense, was his only true security. A Father figure of sorts. Yet, John thought, there was far more to Jimmie's decision than an obligation to Peter Pan.

Peter, in an act of nearly adult-like compassion, promised Helena that if Jimmie's wound didn't heal well, he would arrange to send him back to his own planet, for medical treatment. This was a vow Pan would keep, in spite of the fact that it might rob him of his best friend.

"Some of the children are so young, John. It doesn't seem right for us to just abandon them."

"I don't think we should worry. They may be small but they can take care of themselves." John chuckled as he continued to look at Helena's profile.

Jimmie was the child she had never had and she made as big an impression on him as he on her.

"Helena, now that we've visited Never Neverland and we know it's more than a story ... Who wrote it? I mean, how could the Peter Pan tales be written by someone who wasn't here? It's just too detailed to be a coincidence."

Helena's expression turned from melencholy to curiosity and she looked directly at John, "What are you saying?"

"Who WROTE "Peter Pan"?"

She thought about it a moment. "An Englishman, I believe. He gave all the rights of the story to an orphanage or children's hospital. His name was James M. Barrie."

John gave her a puzzled look. Until Helena had mentioned the author's name he wasn't entirely certain what it was he was leading up to, "James M. B ... "

It hit Helena all at once -"James M. ... JIMMIE BEE!"

Koenig couldn't believe it himself, "He went home and grew up sometime in our past, Helena." he reflected. "Imagine, if Jimmie HAD gone with us ... there might never have been a children's novel called PETER AND WENDY ... or anything else James Barrie wrote!"

And the literary world for children would have been a little less interesting without his contribution.

The complexity of the situation astounded the couple. Jimmie had made a few changes in Peter's adventures when he wrote the book. The alien lights John and Alan saw were turned into a single fairy - Tinkerbell - and Gwendolyn {Winnie) was turned into Wendy {and Helena later remembered Sandra questioning Peter about the girl and Jimmie listening in, fascinated). Then, there were other things. The Alphans had been instrumental in Hook losing his hand ... something Barrie's book had kept.

John nearly laughed when he saw the irony and happiness seep back into his lady's eyes. If only all their explorations could be so educational and entertaining! "You want to know something else?" John smiled, "I think Jimmie wrote the book for you."

"Me?"

"He wanted you to piece this all together, Helena. Writing the book of Peter and his lost boys was his way of letting you know that all had turned out well. He did it to put your mind at ease."

With a sob, too overcome for words, Helena leaned forward and put her arms around John.

Maya, who had been sitting behind the Commander an Dr. Russell in her passenger seat, listened silently
to John and Helena's exchange. She grinned, happy for the moment of profound happiness. Unlike the Earthlings, the discovery didn't quite have an impact on her still ... she was content and stretched in her chair when hearing the sighing from the seats before her.

As an exhausted Maya began a three hour nap, she concentrated on her on mate - the man waiting for her back on Alpha - and, with a sleepy but impish grin, knew that Tony Verdeschi would greet her warmly when the Alphans returned home.



THE END.
-written Dec/Jan
1991/1992-