Witching Hour

Steam from the kettle joined with the swirling mist.  Three old hags peered into the cauldron.  One shook her head sadly.  “They loose hope.”

The one in the middle passed her hand over the steam rising above the pot and coalescing into a pearly globe.  She turned to the third.  “No wonder they lose hope, with one disappointment after another.”

The third placed her hand to the middle of the globe and colors began to swirl and form a coherent image.  “Death stalks them.  Despair distracts them.”  She leaned toward the other two and murmured fiercely.  “They have a destiny to fulfill.”

The other two nodded solemnly.  “They need a chance to rest.”

“To regain their strength.”

“To regain their heart,” the third nodded.

The one in the middle nodded.  “Soon our powers reach their peak.”

The first to speak cheered considerably.  “We can gift them.”  She peered closely at the scene in the pearly globe.  “I know just the thing.”  She took her sisters hand and shared her plan.

“Change your mind,” Helena coaxed.  “Please.”

John leaned back and put down his coffee cup.  They were in his quarters sharing a late night cup of coffee.  “Helena, I don’t have the energy to figure out a costume, and I really don’t feel like it.”

Helena leaned forward and took John’s hand.  She was worried about him.  Ever since their narrow miss with that dust world and the death of Greg Sanderson, John had seemed to give up.  He kept them safe.  He did his duty.  But something deep inside him had given up.  There were no planets nearby.  No chance at a new home or a new life.  Other than herself, she didn’t think anyone had noticed, but she had.

“I’m really not in the mood for a party.”  John shook his head.  “I’ll make an appearance, but I don’t need to be in costume and everyone will have just as good a time after I leave.  I can send all the command center staff down to the party after I leave.”

“We’ve worked out a schedule for that sort of thing before.  And you need a chance to unwind.”  She stroked his hand and gave him a suggestive smile.  “You might decide you want to go somewhere besides Command Center when you leave the party.”  She was more than fond of him.  She had given him her heart long ago.  If their love life had suffered from his recent depression she wasn’t about to complain, but she also wasn’t above trying to correct the problem.

He smiled with her, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.  “Doctor Russell, are you trying to seduce me?”

“Is it working?” She asked.

He had to laugh.  “Could be.  But I still don’t have a costume.”

“Leave that to me,” she offered. 

“What did you have in mind?”  he asked.  His eyes narrowed suspiciously.  “You’re not going to dress me up as a bunny rabbit or something?”

She stood and laughed.  “I promise.  I’ll make sure your dignity is intact.  But I don’t have much time.  Let me borrow a spare uniform so I get your size right.  It’ll be ready tomorrow night.”

He kept hold of her hand, but almost refused one more time.  Then he felt something.  It was like a cold wind rushing past him.  Then he felt something… peaceful… settle over him.  He nodded.  “All right, Helena.  I trust you.  Go ahead.”

She leaned forward and kissed him quickly.  The smile included a promise of things to come, and for the first time in a long time, John found himself looking forward to such a promise.

Helena hurried from the room with the bundle of clothing.  She had an idea but very little time.  She needed some help.  Fortunately, she knew that Sandra had already created her costume.  She laughed at the thought of Sandra’s costume and headed for her quarters.

The following night Helena arrived at John’s quarters an hour before the party and let herself in.  She lay John’s altered uniform on the bed and headed for the bathroom to change into her own costume.  She heard John’s laugh when he entered the room and took a look at the uniform.  Smiling, she joined him in the sleeping area and met his eyes. 

“Oh, I see you’ve been given a promotion.”  He nodded at her own uniform sleeve.

She glanced down at the black sleeve.  “Turnabout is fair play.  I’m certain you’ll make a terrific CMO.”

“As long as no one wants me to operate.”

“I’ll just order everyone to stay healthy for your tour of duty,” she said flippantly.  “No, get dressed.  It’s almost time for the party,” she ordered.

“Yes Commander.”  He pulled off his own uniform and headed for a quick shower.  In a few minutes he had settled into his slacks and white sleeved tunic.  It fit well.  For a moment he was tempted to simply keep the uniform, report for duty in Medical Center tomorrow and let Helena deal with all the headaches of command for a while.  Helena had changed his id tag and commlock to indicate the different rank.  She was always thorough.

“Well, Commander,” John asked.  “Are you ready to go?”

“Kiss first,” Helena commanded with a twinkle in her eye.  John was happy to comply with that command and did a very thorough job.

The party was already starting when they arrived.  Wall panels were lit with orange lights and there were a few bats and fake pumpkins hung from the ceiling to indicate that this was a Halloween party. John and Helena mingled, drank a little of the punch from a large pot painted to resemble a cauldron.  The punch contained quite a kick.  Food Services had managed to distill something resembling an above average grade of moonshine.  Mixed with fruit juice, it was mostly drinkable. 

Tony, in a Long John Silver outfit, was trying to distribute his beer with little luck.  Helena murmured to her escort that a command priority should be a better beer.  John had to agree.  Alan arrived in a Popeye outfit, sleeves of his t-shirt rolled up to show off anchor tattoos—he even sang the song about spinach until Helena “ordered” him to stop.  Technician Marilyn Chambliss was on his arm, an uncommonly voluptuous Olive Oyl.  There was a whole pack of werewolves, and Draculas of all sorts. 

Maya was dressed in a wispy green dress and had fashioned her luxuriant red hair into an elaborate nest of braids.  John wasn’t sure what she was meant to be until Tony started singing ‘sixteen men on a dead man’s chest’ and Maya turned into a parrot, perching on his shoulder and cawing along with him.  Sandra was dressed as a street-walker.  She had on a short black leather skirt, net stockings held up with garters and a red midriff that showed off her navel.  She seemed to be staying in character, flirting with every available male.  Olive Oyl began frowning with jealousy as Sandra danced with Popeye. 

John danced with several different women.  He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not, but they seemed to treat him differently without that black sleeve on.  Sandra even made a joke about ‘playing doctor’.  After Helena had danced with Bob Mathias as Sherlock Holmes and some vampire she returned to his arms and as they began a slow dance together in the dimly lit room he began to seriously consider playing doctor. 

He looked down at the blonde head of the beautiful woman in his arms, knowing that she would be detecting his mood just from her proximity to his body.  Yes, playing doctor with the pretty commander of this evening would be a good thing.  He leaned down and whispered in her ear.  “So, Commander.  How are you feeling this evening?  Perhaps you need a physical examination from your CMO?”

Helena stirred against him.  She had just been thinking that he did seem to be enjoying the party.  He needed a chance to relax and step away from his worries for a while.  She had also noticed that since they had started this dance, his intentions for later in the evening had become quite plain.

“Well, Doctor.  I just might be in need of your… ministrations.”

“I’ll be happy to give you the full treatment.”  He pressed against her suggestively.

She stretched up toward him and he leaned down to kiss her.

In the dim light no one noticed the addition of the three hags.  They wandered among the other creatures of the night with impunity.  The three touched first one person, then another, choosing with care those to cast their spell over.  Finding a person who needed their attentions, they would make sure to sprinkle a bit of ash over them.  Two met up and consulted over the pack of werewolves, who seemed to be inseparable.  They held a whispered conference and smiled as they reached an agreement.  They pulled ash from their sack and blew it over the pack. 

At the same time, their sister was seeing to John and Helena.  The pair were on the dance floor and oblivious to everyone else.  It was simple to sway to the music and work her way toward the command couple.  John leaned down to kiss Helena just as the hag blew the ash in their direction.  She smiled with satisfaction and returned to her sisters.

Placing their hands together, they moved to the center of the room and muttered a spell in a language more ancient that humans.  The spell moved across the room like ripples on a pond.

John had already decided that he would lead Helena from the dance floor and find someplace more private.  He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of touching her body with his.  He wanted her, and knew she was aware of it.

Although their relationship was far from a secret, both usually maintained a certain formal demeanor when around the others.  Maybe changing his sleeve color had more effect on him that he realized.  Helena seemed to melt against him, acknowledging his arousal as she moved her hips against him, and teasing him with the tip of her tongue against his lips.  He accepted her invitation and parted her lips with his, enjoying the taste of her and wanting more.  There was a dizzying sensation as the kiss deepened and it felt as if he were turning upside down.  He seemed to be reaching up for her instead of down.  His hand had been on her back, moving down to her hip.  Suddenly it was against her neck, teasing the short hair on the back of her head.  The hair seemed less silky, shorter, and he had to stretch further to reach her. 

He could feel her own breathrate increase and he noticed that his left sleeve was now black.  It had been white a few minutes ago.  He still wanted her, was still aroused, but it felt different, less urgent. He pulled back only slightly, breathless and looking into blue eyes.

“What?” he asked, then didn’t continue the question as he noticed the timber of his voice. 

Blue eyes looked into his.  “John?”  He heard his own voice whisper.

“Helena?”  His voice sounded completely strange.

“What’s happened?” He heard his own voice ask.  “John?”

John touched the white sleeve on the tall man whose arms were around him.  He recognized the face as the one he saw each morning in the mirror as he shaved.  He nodded slowly.  He looked around.  People were still dancing, laughing, enjoying themselves.  Maya, as a parrot, was sitting on Tony’s shoulder.  Somehow Tony’s costume looked a little more authentic.  Alan stood by the window lifting a giggling Olive Oyl over his head.  No one was noticing them. 

John put took Helena’s hand, no, his hand was Helena’s.  He was Helena!  Thoughts confused and fighting panic he was relieved when Helena, in his body, put a comforting arm around him and led him toward the exit.  Sherlock Holmes caught his eye and raised a glass in toast has they left the room.

Helena was every bit as startled as John.  She had opened her eyes after the kiss and appeared to be staring at herself.   But that wasn’t her only problem.  Before she had been pleasantly aroused and looking forward to an evening of flirting, dancing and eventually returning to John’s quarters for lovemaking.  Now, that arousal was urgent, and she could tell by looking down that there was all too much evidence of that need.  She felt some relief when she realized that even though she was no longer inhabiting her own body, at least it seemed to be John in there, not someone else.  She didn’t know what had happened, but she was sure that they had to get out of here.  She put her arm around John in her body and decisively headed toward the door. 

The door closed behind them blocking off the sound of the dance music and conversation within.  There were a few people in the hall, some couples with ideas of finding someplace more intimate, a few groups holding serious discussions about sports or other hobbies.  They barely paused.  John made a suggestion, “My office.”  Helena nodded.

Although Main Mission was closed down and the surface buildings were not normally in use, the old rec room was the best place to hold the party and John had agreed.  It was just down the hallway from Main Mission and his old office.  Helena did everything but run down the hallway, pulling along John in her body.

What really scared her was that the more she saw John, in her body, the more she wanted… everything.  She wanted to see that body naked and beneath her and screaming in orgasm.  And it was her body!  What did that mean?  She was trying to resist the curiosity, or the compulsion, she wasn’t sure what it was.

John reached for the commlock on his belt and pointed it at the locked door to his old office.  The door didn’t open.  He looked down, puzzled, and saw Helena’s picture on the commlock.  Next to him, Helena, in his body, sighed, pulled the commlock from the belt she wore and touched the button to unlock the door. 

Helena looked through John’s eyes, took her elbow and guided John inside.  As the door closed, Helena couldn’t resist pulling John into an embrace as soon as the door began to close. 

The kiss was long and hungry.  Helena was unable to resist moving her hand to the zipper of the tunic on the body John inhabited.  She pulled down the zipper and used a finger to caress the bare shoulder.  She finally managed to pull back and step away.  “What’s happening to me?”

“What’s happened to us?”  John said, with her voice.  He caught his breath and wiped his mouth.  He glanced down at the zipper and bare shoulder.

“John, I can’t seem to think straight.”  She took a deep breath.  “All I want to do is…”  She stopped, gesturing at her own body, and looking down at the male body she was now inhabiting.

John had to smile.  What Helena wanted was obvious, and he had to admit, he was fascinated by the thought.  To feel what Helena felt when they made love together, was an intriguing thought.  John looked around the quiet office.  After Breakaway it became his favorite place on Alpha.  He and Helena had spent a lot of time together here, and had mostly fallen in love here.  Most of the furniture had been moved and the few pieces left, the large conference table and the sofa, had been covered with cloths to protect them from dust.

“Something has happened to us!  And I can’t even concentrate on it!”

John reached over and took the commlock from her belt and said, “Computer, command override.  Lock the door to Commander’s office.”

“Command override invalid,” the computer’s voice droned.

John turned the commlock around to Helena.  Eyes locked with his, she repeated the command with his voice.  This time the command was accepted.

“What are we going to do?”  Helena asked.  The way she was looking at him made the next statement obvious.  “I’m having a hard time controlling myself.”

John looked over at the covered sofa, then grinned.  “First things first,” he said.

“John, shouldn’t we…”

“Helena.  Maybe it hasn’t occurred to you, but you just inherited a highly aroused male body.”  John took her by the hand and led her to the sofa.  “Now, most of us males spend years struggling to control urges like that.  So far, you’ve had less than five minutes.  Don’t you think it might be easier just to give in?”  He sat them down on the sofa.  “I speak from experience when I tell you, it’ll make it easier to think about something else.”

Helena had to laugh at that.  She found the proximity to her body more than distracting.  “How do you cope with this?” she asked, moving John’s hand back to the bare shoulder, pulling the tunic down to expose more skin.

She heard her own voice laugh.  “Lots of practice.  Helena,” John placed her hand on his leg.  “It’s just you and me here. No one else needs to know.  I’m just glad it’s you taking care of my body.”

Helena leaned forward.  That hand was driving her crazy.  “I was thinking the same thing.”

John removed their belts, then Helena helped as he removed his tunic.  “It’ll be okay,” he whispered.

Helena reached out to touch the bared breasts.  John welcomed her touch and leaned forward reassuring her and kissing her.  “That feels good.”

“Mmmm, yes.”  Helena was feeling a definite urgency.  “I want you, right now.”

Both were a bit awkward with removing clothing, but soon it lay on the floor beside them.  John leaned back, letting Helena take the lead.  She touched his breasts, then moved her hand down between his legs, kissing him hungrily.  He helped guide her inside and she thrust against him, moving deeper and deeper.

It was a different sensation from what she was used to.  The erection placed an urgency upon the task and there was almost a pain associated with it.  She wanted relief in the worst way, and her thoughts kept taking a decidedly odd turn.  It wasn’t her own body that aroused her.  She was well aware that if her thoughts turned to any of a number of females on the base, she would feel the same way.  In fact, there was a part of her that seemed to want an array of women.  She would happily turn to any of several women, including Sandra, whose skimpy outfit of the evening had definitely been noticed by this body.  The thought of having Sandra here too brought her another foreign wave of pleasure.  These were not her usual sorts of fantasies, even when completely alone, much less in bed with John.

Release came with a suddenness and a brevity that completely surprised her.  With a final surge, pumping into the body of the woman below her, she felt a sudden rush, and with a cry of “Oh, John, yes!” it was over.  Breathless she stopped and looked down.  She knew without a doubt that John was both uncomfortable and surprised by the fact.  He was too new at this to try to fake his feelings.

“Are you all right?” she asked.  She withdrew as gently as she could.

“Yes, I’m…” John caught his breath.

“Did it hurt?”

“Did we do something wrong?”

“It was too fast for you.  You weren’t ready.”  Helena knew this.  She had expected hours more of dancing, kissing, foreplay and gentleness before lovemaking; none of this urgency.  She leaned down for another kiss.  “I didn’t expect this… need.  It wasn’t fair to you.” 

“But I thought I was ready,” John protested. 

“I was pretty rough.  Not that we haven’t played rough before, but usually when we do that, it’s mutual.”  They smiled at each other.  They were good together, sensing each other’s moods, taking care of each other’s needs.

Helena pulled John into her arms and ran one hand very lightly across the familiar body.  “Here, I know what to do.  Just relax.”

At first John felt awkward, but he did trust Helena, and she was right, she knew exactly what this body wanted.  Very shortly, he was moaning with pleasure, asking for more, telling her he liked this, but there seemed to be more, something he wasn’t getting.  He gasped for breath with each surge of pleasure, but he knew this wasn’t all.  “Helena,” he called out.

Helena whispered in his ear.  “You have to get yourself over the peak.”

“What?  I don’t…”

“You have to… want it, make it happen.”  She was frustrated.  There were no words for this.

“I do want… I want…” 

Helena moved his lips down her body. John still wasn’t sure quite what she meant.  Helena paid attention to breasts and nipples and a particularly sensitive spot just below her ear.  His hand found its way between her legs, stroking, stroking…

Then suddenly John found what she meant.  He pressed against her and the entire world seemed to burst open like a spring garden after a long winter.  There were always comparisons to fireworks, but that was too brief for a proper analogy.  This seemed to last forever and he moaned with the sudden pleasure as the world changed to psychedelic colors around him.

It took a while to return to reality.  Helena cradled him, kissed him, allowed him to cling to her.

“See what you do to me, John Koenig,” she whispered into his ear.

“I didn’t know it could be so… intense, or last so long.”

His voice chuckled.  “It gets better with practice.”

“I want to practice all the time.”

“Often,” Helena promised.

“Helena?” he asked a while later.

“Hmmm?”

“What if we… stay like this?”

“Then we have a choice.”  She shifted slightly to a more comfortable position.  John moved around as well.  “We can tell everyone what has happened, or not.”

“They’re likely to find out the first time they expect me to operate on someone and I lose my lunch.”

Helena shrugged.  “Then we tell everyone.”

“Do you think it will make a difference?”

“I don’t know.  It’s a fascinating experiment.  How much of your command abilities, or my own skills, are tied up in our genetic makeup, and how much of it is you and me?  The you and me who have exchanged places.”

“That sounds more like you,” John murmured sleepily, with a laugh. 

Helena thoughtfully fingered the silky blond hair of her lover’s body.  Except for some self control issues, she felt quite at home in this body.  Would she be just as skillful in the operating room?  And how much of John’s command abilities might be associated with hormones?  She wondered if he might now find himself on the other side of the argument to have children on Alpha, something he had always resisted.

“We’ll work it out,” she assured him.

“Together,” he agreed. 

They both drifted off to sleep.  Neither saw nor heard the three hags appear above them.  The hags nodded among themselves, looking pleased.  The middle one pulled a bit of ash out of the bag and blew it at the sleeping couple.

“Our work here is done.”

“The balance has been restored.”

“They are replenished and ready to fulfill their destiny.”

A dense mist blew up around the hags and they vanished.

October 2002

Broomhildi