"Don't worry, she'll get past this.  I'm going to get her something to eat."
"I would have done that, but I was afraid she'd throw it at me," he smiled when he said it, but was more serious than joking.

"Well, I don't think she'll throw it at me.  She needs to eat something." Kate watched him as he shoved his food from one side of the plate to the other.  "And so do you."  She added gently, "She'll be all right, John."

Koenig grinned.  Very few people called him by his first name, and Kate never had.  He didn't look up from his plate, but he spoke quietly to her.  "I know you don't exactly approve of me, Kate, but I do love her and I worry about her.  Tell her-- well tell her whatever you think might make her feel better.  I'm at a loss-- but I'm not mad at her."

Kate nodded.  "I'll tell her -- something."  Koenig looked at her sharply.  Kate grinned.  "Trust me!"  She slid out of the chair and headed for the kitchen.  It was the longest, most civil conversation she had ever had with Koenig, but she didn't want to ruin her reputation as a rebel.

She chose noodles with a spicy tofu and tomato sauce topping and a sweet pudding that also had a high protein soy base.   She added a pitcher of mixed fruit juice and a small salad with imitation cheese.  Knowing her friend's eating habits, the meal probably had more protein than Helena had eaten over the last week.  She packed up the trays and headed back to Helena's place, smiling as she thought about Shermeen's discovery.

Kate swept into Helena's and took charge before Helena could protest, calling her to the dinner table, and brooking no complaints about the food set before her.  Kate took getting her off the sofa as a major accomplishment.  Shermeen was puzzled, but hadn't eaten and joined the other two at the table.

Kate dug into her own supper and glanced at Helena when she hesitated over her own.  "Shermeen, tell Helena about your discovery."

Shermeen's eyes lit up and she flashed a smile at Kate and Helena.  "I should have found it ages ago.  I don't know why I didn't."

"Found what, Shermeen?" Helena asked, more because Kate obviously wanted her to know than any real curiosity on her part.

"I was looking through a storage area in Hydroponics to see if we had some spare parts for one of the growth accelerators.  I'd looked before, for the very same parts, so I was digging a little deeper.  Behind some of the equipment that had been packed away since Mateo's death was that case.  It looks like he had just gotten the green light for a privately subsidized experiment just before Breakaway.  The date on the case is August 15, 1999."

"What were they planning to grow?" Helena asked.

                "Cacao trees."  Shermeen said with a smile.

                Helena's eyebrows went up and she glanced from Kate to Shermeen.  "Cacao -- as in chocolate?"

                Kate grinned.  "As in chocolate," she confirmed.

                Shermeen brought the case over to the table and opened it.   Coccooned among the styrofoam packing were a half dozen clear plastic bags each containing small round seeds of various colors.  They looked almost like beads.  The seeds in one bag were deep purple. Another bag held seeds that were white.  Others were more the shade of aged ivory.  Still others were lavender.  Each bag contained a label with a number.

                A folder was attached to the lid of the case.  Helena removed it and thumbed through it, eating absently as she read.  Kate felt triumphant.  She had Helena's interest and had her eating too.

                The experiment was sponsored by the American Cocoa Research Institute.   Their goals were listed at the beginning of the brochure: as promoting sustainable growth of cacao trees in a wide variety of environments.  These seeds were part of a biodiversity experiment spanning the globe.  Similar seeds for both varieties of cacao trees, Forastero and the milder Crillo had been disbursed to such varied places as Indonesia, Guatemala, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Hawaii and Viet Nam.  Trinitario trees were a hybrid and seedlings would be grown in controlled circumstances in a hot house in Mexico and shipped to the research sites at a later date.  Alpha was a control site and was to grow the seeds in what was considered optimum conditions.  Detailed instructions were included for each site, but Helena concentrated on the instructions for the Alphan seeds.

                She glanced up at Shermeen.  "Can you grow these?"

                "They've given me extremely detailed instructions for ideal growing conditions.  I think I could probably force grow them twice as fast as that experiment allows."

                Helena had noticed that this was a long term experiment.  It would be five years before a mature crop would be ready from these seeds.

                Kate leaned forward.  "We could all use a bit of extra fat in our diets.  Right now, we have virtually no fat of any kind-- no meats at all and the small amounts of vegetable fats just aren't the same.  You aren't the first person to tell me how bad the food is.  No matter how hard my people and I try, it isn't always very satisfying."

                Helena smiled and shook her head, "Kate, you of all people should know you don't have to convince me that chocolate on Alpha would be a good thing."

                Shermeen looked at her seriously, "The thing is, Helena, I don't have the space to grow them.  This would be a long-term project, and the trees will be large.  I don't currently have any place to put them."

                "Helena, we want to apply to the science board to use some of the catacombs to grow the cacao trees." Kate lay all her cards on the table.  "We want you to sponsor us."

                Helena smiled.  "I think you'll do fine even without my sponsorship.  Besides, I'm not exactly on John's good side right now."

                Shermeen's eyes grew wide with surprise. 

                "Nonsense, Helena."  Kate reassured her friend.  "I just saw him in the cafeteria.  He said to tell you he hopes you feel better and he'll check on you tomorrow.  He said he worries about you when you don't feel well."

                Helena looked surprised.  "He told you that?"

                "Yes, he did," she replied.

                Helena looked a little dazed, but pleased.  She turned to Shermeen.  "Write up your proposal, what you need and how you plan to proceed.  Let me look it over and I'll consider adding my name to it."

                Shermeen grinned and reached into her pocket for a data disk.  "Kate said you'd want that.  It's all here."

                Helena took the disk and looked down at her dinner, surprised to see she had eaten it all.  Kate packed up the dishes and shooed Shermeen out.  "Thanks, Helena.  Now you get some rest.  I'll send over some breakfast in the morning.  Be sure you eat it."

                Helena sighed but smiled, "Yes, Dr. Goldberg."

                Kate grinned.  Phd's were so common on Alpha that only medical doctors were accorded that title.  "I like the sound of that.  Mom would be so proud," she said, joking.  With a wave she left the room, leaving Helena alone again.

The meal and a night's rest left Helena feeling better, but she decided to remain on sick call another day to regain her emotional equilibrium.  She knew that if she were needed for an emergency of some kind John or Bob would contact her anyway. 

                She slept late, and found a tray with breakfast on her table when she woke up.  She wondered how Kate had managed that, but knew her friend to be a resourceful person so wasn't particularly surprised.

                Shermeen's research proposal was detailed, but concise and to the point.  The young botanist was very good at planning and carrying out projects such as this, and also had a good feeling for her work.  Despite the fact that she had ended up on Alpha by accident-- a teen at Breakaway on a field trip to view Alpha's research facilities-- her passion for botany had been a boon for Alpha when their botany/hydroponics section had been decimated because of a dangerous mystical experiment that Mateo-- recipient of the grant for the cocoa experiment-- had initiated.

                Helena looked over the information Shermeen had left her, then did some further research on the computer.  She was surprised when her commlock buzzed for attention.  She noticed it was almost noon. Kate was undoubtedly continuing her campaign to make sure Helena ate healthy.  She was surprised again to see John's face on the screen.

                "Are you feeling better?"

                "Yes, I am," she smiled almost shyly, not sure how much she wanted to say by commlock, knowing she owed him an apology.

                "How about lunch then?" He stepped back and she could see that he was standing in the corridor holding a covered tray.

                She pointed her commlock at the door and opened it.  John entered hesitantly, as if afraid she would throw him out again.  She tucked her bare feet under her and ran her fingers through her hair; much more aware today that she was wearing worn sweats and hadn't bothered to comb her hair.

                John deposited the tray on the table, put a second container on the coffee table and joined her on the sofa.  He looked her over carefully.  "You look better today."

                She blushed.  John's intensity sometimes overwhelmed her.  "I must look awful."

                He pushed a lock of hair from her face and teased her. "You looked worse yesterday, believe me."

                "Thanks a lot," she smiled then turned serious.  "I'm sorry about yesterday.  It was all my fault.  I was horrid to you."

                "It's okay," he said.  "Everyone has a bad day every once in a while.  Fortunately, yours don't come along too often."   He pulled her gently into his arms and she relaxed against him.

                "I guess I don't deal well with being less than 100% healthy." Her eyes were closed and a tear escaped.  She was still a long way from her usual calm control.

                He wiped it away gently with his finger.  "I have the feeling you're more worried about that tumor than you'd like us to believe."

                She nodded, eyes still closed.

                "It's all right to be scared, you know.  You don't have to be tough all the time."

                Her response was to put her arms around him, more tears falling.  He held her tightly and pulled her into his lap, letting her cry.  A man of action, he wanted to do something.  He was grateful for Kate's coaching this morning and he didn't try to make Helena stop crying until she was ready.