Message-ID: <6cd3114c.358ac531@aol.com> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 16:08:15 EDT From: Maryilee@aol.com Subject: "And Then There Were Two" Part 3 Chapter 3 Sam awoke the next morning to the strains of "Reveille", and bolted upright. Had he leaped without knowing it? He looked about wildly, then caught a glimpse Al standing next to the bed, chuckling as he stabbed at the handlink. The music stopped, as Sam glared at Al. "Al! What are you doing?" Sam grumbled as he flopped back, flinging his arm over his eyes. "Morning, Sam. Aren't you chipper today." Al commented. Sam threw a pillow at the hologram, muttering a curse under his breath as the pillow sailed harmlessly through Al. "Jeez, what a grouch." Al said, shaking his head, unperturbed. "You would be too, if you didn't get to sleep until two A.M. and then were awakened at..." Sam squinted at the bedside clock, his mouth set into a grim line as he saw the time, "six A.M." "Two in the morning?" Al said, surprised. "What were you doing up so late?" Sam groaned as he sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "Well, by the time we got my car back," Sam paused, yawning. "Where was your car?" Sam stumbled to his feet, and slowly walked to the dresser. "It was towed, but that's not important." Sam said, waving his hand dismissively, digging through the drawers, pulling out jeans and a sweater. He plopped back down on the edge of the bed, clothes in his lap, and tiredly rubbed his eyes. His expression grew serious, as he remembered everything that he and Gary had done the evening before. "Al, there is something really weird going on here." Al shook his head, not comprehending what Sam was getting at. Sam sighed. How to explain it? "Well, let's just say that Gary has a knack for turning up at the right place at the right time." "I don't follow." Al said in confusion. "Al, we spent all evening dashing from one part of town to the other. We stopped a mini-mart from being robbed." Sam started ticking off the incidents on his fingers. "We called the fire department and reported a fire in an apartment building. Gary pulled a drunk back onto the sidewalk, seconds before the guy would have been flattened by a truck. And, oh yeah," Sam finished, "all that was after Gary saved a woman from choking." " Jeez, you're not kidding, Sam." Al shrugged. "Ziggy doesn't have anything on it. According to the data, this is just your average leap." Sam stood, rubbing his forehead in thought. "Al, have Ziggy run a check on the fire. It was on West Ohio." Al jabbed some buttons, wincing as the handlink squealed and screeched in protest. Al banged it on the side. "Okay, here it is. There was a report filed by the Chicago Fire department about a fire at that address that began in a sofa, as a result of careless smoking. There were no injuries, and the fire was contained to the single apartment." "Al, I saw the paper yesterday, and it had that same address listed, except the facts were all different." Sam said slowly. "In the paper, it said that one person was killed, and five injured in that fire." Al shook his head. "You must have read it wrong, Sam, because the fire happened last night. It couldn't have been in yesterday's paper. It must have been a different fire." Sam nodded, that was a thought. "Al, run a check to see if there were any fires in the last couple of days that match that description." Al punched in the request, but the handlink just beeped. Al cursed, and looked up. "Gooshie! What's wrong with this damn thing?" Al shook his head in disgust. "Sorry Sam, I'll be back as soon as I can. Ziggy has decided to put herself into a partial stand-by. Gooshie's checking on it now." Sam sighed in frustration as Al disappeared through the imaging chamber door.