Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 21:21:17 -0600 (MDT)
From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" <krfreymu@brain.uccs.edu>
Subject: Vengeance - Chapter 13
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.96.990415212049.30546O-100000@brain.uccs.edu>

Chapter 13

     "Rise and shine, gentlemen! That's an order! You too, Stark!
Carroll! Time's wasting!"
     Sam moaned as he opened his eyes to see Major Taylor
approaching his bunk. At the same time, Dan Carroll was slipping
out of the top bunk and landing in front of Sam's view of Genine.
     "Just because she pulled our asses out of the fire last
night, doesn't mean she can't kick our asses now, Harry," Dan
warned as he hurried to the foot of the bed.
     Sam slowly stood up, wincing at the twinge in his legs,
and walked to his place in the line-up along the foots of the
bunks.
     "Okay, gentlemen and ladies," Genine said as she strode
between the lines of mercenaries. "This is the way it's going
to be. Everyone is to be showered and dressed in one hour after
which everyone will run the same drills we ran yesterday. The
General was very displeased with them yesterday so we're going
to do them better. Is that clear?"
     "Yes, ma'am!" everyone replied in unison.
     Genine nodded. "Good." She smiled. "We don't want to have
to ruin our Thanksgiving holiday with repeating drills."
     "No, ma'am!" everyone said with a smile. All but Sam, that
is. The idea of doing any drills right now was anathema to him.
     "Well, then, let's get to it," Genine ordered.
     Everyone went back to their bunks or to their foot lockers
to retrieve their necessary change of clothes. Sam voted to
sit on his bunk in order to rest aching legs and shoulders.
     "Hey, Harry. You okay?" Dan asked him with concern as he
took out two sets of clothing from the foot locker and gave
one set to Sam.
     "To tell you the truth, no," Sam replied. He exhaled. "I'd
rather not talk about it right now."
     Dan nodded. "Okay. You rest. I'll let you know when your
time at the showers comes."
     "Thanks," Sam answered as he began to lay down.
     "Stark," Genine's voice interrupted his descent.
     Sam forced himself to stand up.
     "There goes the idea of rest," Dan muttered to Sam before
heading for the showers.
     "Yes, ma'am?" Sam said, trying his best to stand erect.
     "You and Carroll are on guard duty today," she ordered.
"Try not to fall asleep this time."
     Sam saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."
     "Lucky break," a gravelly voice said from his right.
"Genine's being kind to you. Gave you the easiest job."
     Sam looked at the Holographic Observer as Genine walked
away. He frowned with concern at what he saw. Al obviously hadn't
had much sleep since Sam last saw him. There was deep concern
in the Admiral's eyes.
     "What's wrong?" Sam asked.
     Al hesitated. "We found out why you're here."
     Sam nodded. "And?"
     Al looked at Sam. "You're here to keep Genine from making
the worse mistake of her life."
     "Marrying Burke," Sam surmised.
     Al looked at Sam incredulously. "How did you know?"
     "A supposition based on what you told me earlier." He looked
at Al carefully. *There's more than concern in his eyes*, Sam
realized. There was obviously also great sorrow.
     "What happened, Al?"
     Al took a slow breath. "Genine's body was found in a
dumpster behind the hospital at which she was treated. She'd
been abducted last night shortly after I left you." He paused
and blinked a couple of times. He looked at Sam firmly. "She'd
been tortured and then shot up." He rubbed his face with his
right hand. "And I'd seen her only eight hours ago." He closed
his eyes, not wanting Sam to know that he was on the verge of
tears.
     Sam lowered his head sorrowfully. "You think Burke murdered
her?"
     Al opened his eyes, lowering his lids hatefully. He slowly
walked away from Sam. "I know he did. Torturing people is right
up his alley."
     Sam closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Al."
     Al sighed. "It's not your fault, Sam. But we can't let
it happen to her again. No one deserves to die the way she did,
not even Burke."
     Sam looked at Al with slight astonishment. "I'm surprised
you're being so forgiving."
     Al laughed cynically. "I'm not. I want justice, not revenge.
I want that bastard to pay for the fourteen lives he took, four
of them with his own hands." He gazed firmly at Sam. "Fourteen
people, Sam! Not just Genine. Bill Fairbanks. Ensign Hastings.
Dan MacArthyr. Not to mention all the people he tried to kill
-- people like Hamon."
     "Hamon?" Sam questioned, the name a little familiar to
him.
     "The kid from your last leap," Al reminded. "The one whose
neck was broken. Burke did it. I thought I recognized him and,
the more I think about it, the more I'm sure it was him. And
Ziggy concurs. She says that the only way Burke could have
survived that explosion in the Accelerator Chamber is if he
leaped. Which means he's the reason for the time fluctuation
we were reading."
     Sam exhaled. "So, Burke's a leaper."
     Al shook his head. "No. We don't think so. At least, we
don't think he's a continuous leaper like you. Ziggy says that
his leap was probably a one time thing -- that he probably leaped
into the past and didn't leap again. She thinks it's because
of the conditions of his leap: he wasn't wearing a Fermisuit,
Ziggy wasn't exactly up to par, and the Accelerator Chamber
exploded. Not exactly ideal conditions." He didn't bother to
mention that he himself had cause the explosion.
     Al looked around quickly, seeing some mercenaries dressing
while other headed for the showers.
     "Sam, you'd better hit the showers. Looks like you're
running out of time."
     As he said this, Dan Carroll came towards Sam.
     "Your turn, bud. Looks like we've got guard duty. Terrific,"
he muttered sarcastically.
     Sam smiled slightly to Dan before walking towards the
showers. Al followed.
     "Don't worry, Sam," Al said as he walked. "Guard duty may
not be the most exciting thing in the world but, right now,
it's exactly what you need to rest yet exercise your muscles.
Tomorrow, if you're still here, I doubt you'll be so lucky."
     Sam nodded to show he was listening as he stepped into
a shower and turn on the faucet.
     "So, how do I keep Taylor from marrying Burke?" he asked
quietly.
     Al hesitated. "Good question. She has to already have some
feeling for him if she's going to be swayed by just a kiss.
I guess you'll just have to emphasize his negative points to
her - counteract the charm he's laying on her." Al looked at
the handlink as he paced through the downspray of water. "You
probably already started with that treatment Burke gave you."
     "You make it sound like part of a cure for a disease,"
Sam muttered. "Al, I'm not going through that again. Once was
enough."
     Al nodded. "Once was too much," he corrected. "I know,
Sam. I don't blame you." He exhaled. "Well, now you have
something to remind Genine about. And that's precisely what
you have to do, Sam. You have to keep her from falling in love
with that bastard because, if you don't, he'll kill her for
betraying him."
     Sam nodded with understanding. "You seem to know her pretty
well. Any suggestions?"
     Al took a breath. "I only knew her for seven months. She
kept pretty quiet about herself so I didn't really know her
personally." He paused. "But she had a wonderful personality
and was one hell of an officer." He shook his head. "My only
suggestion is keep showing her that he'll crush anyone in his
way, no matter who that person is."
     "And how do I do that?" Sam questioned as he finished his
shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked out of
the shower room and to his bunk. He started dressing.
     Al exhaled. "Good question. On thing I did learn about
Genine is that she is a very stubborn woman. I had to order
her to get counseling from Beeks because she refused to go of
her own volition, even though she admitted that she needed help.
So, you can bet that you'll probably have a tough time with
her." He paused. "But she does have an open mind. She'll listen
to your point of view before she gets the physical proof she
needs that Burke would even harm her if she got in his way."
     Sam frowned as he finished dressing. "Al, if what you're
saying is true, Burke is going to have to hurt someone more
than he hurt me - maybe even hurt Genine."
     Al nodded solemnly. "It could come to that but I hope not.
On the other hand, it could be that her involvement with Burke
made her stubborn and you might not have any trouble at all
convincing her."
     "Come on, Harry!" Dan called to Sam from across the room.
"Hurry up!" He motioned Sam to hurry over to him.
     Sam stood up and started walking quickly towards the door,
where Dan was waiting.
     "Just start trying to convince Genine," Al said as Sam
walked away. "I'm gonna go back and see if I can't get you
anymore information on this."
     Using only his right hand, he put in the opening sequence
for the Imaging Chamber door. He then exited and closed the
door just as Sam was leaving the barracks.