Space: 1999 "Remembering Julia" Short story Written by Stephen Jansen 2010

A woman's desperation brings Commander Koenig's focus to the left out lower ranks of Alpha's personnel. 

 

DIDJA KNOW?

 

"Remembering Julia" is an original short story published in the Space: 1999 - Shepherd Moon collection published by Powys Media in 2010.

 

The page numbers presented here come from the full Space: 1999 - Shepherd Moon collection. "Remembering Julia" begins on page 171 of the book. 

 

CHARACTERS APPEARING OR MENTIONED IN THIS STORY

 

Commander Koenig

Alan Carter

Dr. Helena Russell

Julia Vale

Richard Vale (mentioned only, deceased)

Professor Bergman

Ellis

Dr. Mathius

Dr. Lee Russell (mentioned only)

David Kano

Sandra Benes

Paul Morrow 

 

DIDJA NOTICE?

Eagle 31 was one of the Eagles that crashed when Nuclear Waste Disposal Area 2 exploded in "Breakaway". It had been piloted by Richard Vale.

On page 173, Commander Koenig muses on his realization that he must allow some level of democracy and not appear to be some sort of dictator over Moonbase Alpha.

Also on page 173, Koenig imagines that some might start to think of him as a Moses or a Caesar with Security as his Praetorian Guard. He also realizes that part of him must remain the fool in the court, to remind himself that he is not all-powerful.

On page 174, Dr. Russell tells Koenig that Julia is on triazolam, "a powerful anti-depressant". But, from what I've found in research, triazolam is actually a depressant. Dr. Russell's description of it as used to treat anxiety on pages 176-177 is correct, it is a short-lasting drug, used for brief events such as short medical procedures or airplane flights up to a few hours in length.

On page 180, Koenig sees the current crisis with Julia Vale as potentially putting his command on trial before a jury of around 300 people. But it's more like 350 people, as there was said to be 311 personnel at Moonbase Alpha at the end of "Breakaway" and then about 50 more refugees from Moonbase Beta arrived in "Operation Deliverance".

On page 181, Julia recalls the phrase "There ain't no Hell, like an old Hell," wondering if it is an expression or from a song she'd heard. The line is from the 1995 song "The Motel" by David Bowie.

Dr. Russell talks to Julia about her own husband, Lee Russell, who disappeared on the Astro 7 mission to Jupiter years earlier. This event is revisited in "Matter of Life and Death".

On page 185, Dr. Russell reminds Koenig that the average staff member in Moonbase Alpha had not gone there for science or the Nobel Prize, they went for the hazardous duty pay, knowing they would cycle back to Earth after a year's duty. The Nobel prizes are awarded annually by a committee of the Scandinavian countries for work in the studies of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace and are considered the top prizes in the world in each field.

On page 189, Julia complains about the low supplies of TT2 for treating radiation sickness at Alpha. She rambles that TT2 is a drug made from amino acids and protein blocks taken from a species of tortoise in South America. TT2 is a real world preparation, but it comes from the blood of a Central Asian tortoise species, not South American.

On pages 189-190, Julia remarks on how she wanted to move Alpha's walls, put the corridors into different routes, put the room in a different order. This may be a sort of in-joke by the writer referencing the sets of Alpha constructed for the production of the TV series. The walls where built onto two-sided frames and constructed as separable sections that could be moved around so they could make new rooms, hallways, etc. within Alpha as scripts called for them.