Message-Id: Date: Thu, 14 Mar 96 13:32 PST From: jekel@cts.com (Julie Jekel) Subject: "Top Secret" part 6 TOP SECRET a Quantum Leap/Lois and Clark/X-Files Crossover Juan Pablo's Mexican Restaurant Stallion Springs, New Mexico June 9, 2000 "Admiral Calavicci! It's so good to finally meet you face to face!" Al merely scowled at the man who was extending a hand towards him. "Cut to the chase, *Governor*. We both know why I'm here, so don't act like you want to be friends," he said curtly. "It's a pity we couldn't have met under different circumstances, then. I feel sure we could have been friends." He smiled. "By the way, my name's Gregor Abruzzi." "You have no one to blame for the circumstances but yourself," Al replied, pointedly ignoring the introduction. "Ah, but that's where you're wrong. It's not my fault at all. Ms. Hammond helped me see that. It's his. And that means you have the power to change it. I can't understand why you won't." "You're asking us to kill for you." "So? Sam's killed before." "Only when necessary, and don't call him Sam! You of all people have no right to be familiar in any way towards him!" Mr. Abruzzi sighed. "I can see this isn't getting us anywhere. Won't you join us for lunch? I brought along a couple of ladies who are dying to meet you." "I'm not hungry." "Wait until you see the menu. I'm sure you'll change your mind. Come on, we have a table right back here." He started towards the back of the restaurant and Al followed reluctantly. He cursed silently at himself. Try as he might, he couldn't help but find the man almost *likeable*! There was no affectation whatsoever in his manner, and if he hadn't admitted to being the blackmailer, he would have found it hard to believe this was the same man. He must be a good actor, the Admiral concluded. "Here we are!" Gregor announced cheerfully. "Ladies, I'd like you to meet Admiral Albert Calavicci." The two women sitting at the table turned to face him, and Al stopped short. The older one was in her mid-forties or early fifties, with chin-length red hair and haughty eyes, while the younger was no more than eighteen, blonde and innocent. The Admiral's face went white and any sympathy he had begun to feel for the man vanished. The blackmailer didn't seem to notice, but went on with the introductions. "This is my partner, Zoe Hammond, and my daughter, Alia." "She's...your daughter?!" Al croaked in disbelief. "Yes. Why, is something the matter?" The Observer's expression darkened. "You bastard!" he hissed. Without waiting for a response, he turned sharply and stormed out of the restaurant. "What was that all about?" Gregor asked puzzled, watching Al's retreating back. Zoe smiled, amused. Unlike her partner, she had an idea of what the Admiral had reacted to, but had no intention of sharing that knowledge. "Something tells me our chances of getting what we want just went up." Back at the Project "That son of a bitch!" Donna's eyes widened upon watching Al storm into the Project, trembling with barely contained rage. His face was clouded with anger. "I take it the meeting didn't go well. What happened?" "She's his daughter, that's what happened!" "Who is?" "Alia!" he spat. "How could any man with a shred of compassion in him do that to his own daughter?!?!" Dr. Elise sat down hard. "Oh my...you don't mean--" "They TORTURED her, Donna! The reason she did what she did was because she was tortured if she failed! How could her father do that to her?" She shook her head. "I don't know, Al." The Admiral was almost crying. "Some people don't deserve to be parents!" "So what are you going to do?" "What else can I do but keep trying to stop him? I just pray she never went home, if that's what she had to go home to." The phone rang. Al swore under his breath. "If that's him again, I swear I'm going to kill him! I don't know how, but I'll kill him!" "Admiral, Senator Weitzman is on the phone," Ziggy's voice came over the intercom. Admiral Calavicci glanced at Donna in surprise. The Commitee had been relatively unobtrusive for the past three or four years. There was, of course, the annual funding review, but that had been fairly easy ever since Sam's Leap put Dianne McBride in the chair position. What could Weitzman possibly be calling about? "Put him through, Ziggy." A moment later the Senator's image appeared on the screen. "Doctor Elise, Admiral Calavicci, you're looking fairly well. How is everything?" "As well as can be expected under the circumstances." "Oh, yes. I heard about your little problem. I'm surprised you haven't dealt with it already. You are somewhat familiar with blackmail after all." There was a slight bitter edge to Weitzman's voice, and Al did his best to conceal a smirk. Well, that's what they got for trying to take him off the Project. "As you may imagine," the Senator continued, "the Federal Government is not pleased with the idea that one of their top secret projects is being blackmailed. There's a move to cut funding." Al and Donna exchanged a worried glance. "And what kind of support does this motion have?" she asked. "A lot, including mine, I might add. Dianne's supporting continuation, as usual, but there's still a very good chance it will carry." "But they can't cut funding--Sam's still out there!" "You know there are some members of the Committee who were never convinced he was 'out there' to begin with. And with this new threat...well, much as we would hate to lose a mind like Sam Beckett's, it may be a small sacrifice compared to the _potential_ loss." "But I told you, Sam's going to fix this! You can't give up on him!" "Well, I'm not the only one you have to convince. Even if we do cut funding, you may have a chance, though." "What do you mean?" "There's a private company that's offered to take over the Project. Owned by some guy named Abruzzi and his partner, a Ms. Hammond. Apparently they turn a pretty good profit, because they actually would be able to cover this place's outrageous running cost. Albeit on a tighter budget. And they will want to revamp a few things around here." The look on Al's face made it clear to Donna that Weitzman's suggestion was not a good one. "Do we have any other options," he asked faintly. "Well, if the motion carries, you can shut down, in which case they'd probably buy you out anyway." "Well, thank you for letting us know." "Just doing my job, Admiral." The connection was terminated. "Ziggy," Al said slowly. "What are the chances that Abruzzi will take over the Project and 'revamp' it to use for his own purposes?" "There is a ninety-eight point six percent chance that the motion to cut funding will carry, and Mr. Abruzzi and Ms. Hammond will carry out their threat." The computer sounded worried. "Do you mean the blackmailer is the same man who's offered to buy out the Project from the Government?" Donna asked incredulously. Al nodded grimly. "But how could they get Ziggy to do all those horrible things?" "If the Project is "revamped," in Senator Weitzman's words," Ziggy explained, "There is a high probability that they will wipe my memory banks and reprogram me." All of the computer's usual smugness had disappeared in her concern for her own survival. "Admiral, you and Doctor Beckett MUST stop these people! If you don't, I will essentially die, and what is left of me will become Lothos." TO BE CONTINUED... JJ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: "If you're lucky, life is gonna give you one shot at true love..." --Al Calavicci, "MIA", Quantum Leap "A little louder, I don't think they heard you in Gotham City!" --Clark Kent, "We Have a Lot to Talk About", Lois and Clark "I thought only spies and Nazis said that." "Well, I'm not a Nazi." --Amanda King and Lee Stetson, pilot, Scarecrow and Mrs. King "Prayers are always answered. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's no. And sometimes it's 'not yet'." --Monica, ?, Touched by an Angel