Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 11:49:29 +0000 From: Heather Markham Subject: Aliquantum Salio - Chapters 14-17 "ALIQUANTUM SALIO" by Heather Markham CHAPTER FOURTEEN Sam tossed and turned and finally woke from a fitful sleep, a dream ridden sleep filled with strange images, shadowy memories and ghosts from Mulder's past. Sam looked at the bedside clock, it registered five past eight, he had slept for longer than he'd intended. He disentangled himself from the sheets and padded barefoot to the bathroom. He stood in the shower, the cool water felt good as it splashed down upon his naked body, it cleared his head and drove away the nightmares of his dreams, it was as if it were cleansing his soul, refreshing his mind as well as his body, refreshing him in readiness for the new day.....the new day....today, today he hoped to have his hearts desire. Sam prayed that God, fate or whatever it was that controlled his destiny, wouldn't decide to leap him out before he had the chance to visit Project Quantum Leap. The thought of going home, seeing Al, being able to hug him, teased him. Sam pushed the thoughts of leaping now, from his mind, he was utterly determined to fulfill that desire, he would be going home but first there were a few things to attend to, he had to go and check on Langly. He would also have to contact the sheriff to see if Langly would still be wanted for further questioning, although this he felt was unlikely, he also had to tie up a few loose ends. He stepped from the shower, dried off and whistled quietly to himself as he quickly dressed, he could have kicked himself for not having had the foresight to pack a suit case. His nose wrinkled as he sniffed at the shirt he wore the day before, it couldn't be helped, the stale clothes of yesterday would have to do. The first thing Sam noticed as he headed in the direction of Langly's room was the absence of the weird looking silver van-trailer. He mouthed a silent profanity, Langly was becoming a pain in the butt. Why couldn't the man simply stay where he was put. Sam jogged over to Langly's room, as expected, there was no answer to his knock. He turned the handle of the door, it opened. Some of Langly's things were still strewn around, wherever he'd gone, he meant to come back. Sam didn't really need to wonder where that was, he knew the man had gone back to the Project Centre. Sam made his exit and slammed the door shut. As he did so, an indescribably sharp pain thrummed through his left arm, the intensity of it caused him to cry out, he lurched forward clutching at the arm, he gingerly inspected the area, there was no blood, no apparent cause for the feeling but it felt damn well as if he'd just been shot! He rubbed at the arm in an effort to ease the pain as he ran over to the motel's reception room, he needed to find out if anyone had seen Langly leave, if they could tell him what time the man had left. Sam managed to catch the night clerk just as he was going off duty, he'd briefly questioned him and had discovered that Langly had left at about three that morning. Sam was on his way over to the car, when Scully hurried from her room heading in his direction, he called over to her, "Scully, Langly's gone! He left early this morning and if I'm any judge of character he's gone back to take a look at the Project Centre." Scully jogged the rest of the way to him, "I know Mulder, I've just had a call from the sheriff's office, they've been trying to reach you. Apparently, they received a call from the Project Centre a little while ago, Langly has been apprehended inside the facility and to pass the information on to you, that because of technical difficulties, someone called Al couldn't contact you via normal channels. They also wanted you to know that their other guest had decided it was time to leave." she paused and cocked her head to one side giving him a quizzical look, then continued "they told the sheriff you would know what that meant. Mulder what is going on? Who the hell is Al?" Sam stopped momentarily and rubbed at the painful arm as he considered the gravity of the message, if Al had to resort to using a phone to contact him, then things must have gone pretty ca-ca back at the Project. If the guest had left, it must mean that Mulder had escaped from the Waiting Room but was he still in the confines of the Project area? Hell, why, oh why, were things never simple, why was his life always so complicated. He only ever wanted to time travel, he hadn't wanted to put the world to rights....why couldn't he just go home? CHAPTER FIFTEEN Mulder emerged from the shadows of the entrance into the brightness and the heat of the morning sun, it washed over him, it felt good to be outside but he couldn't afford to waste time, his injured arm hung painfully and limply by his side, he shielded his eyes from the brightness with his other hand and gazed around. He took in the surrounding area, the mountain, the complex of buildings, the parking area, there were guards out here, but these men were dressed in naval uniforms, so this was a military installation after all. He noticed other personnel going about their business as usual. How long could he go without being detected, could he make it over to one of the cars or jeeps, he ducked back against the doorway of the main entrance while he considered the possibilities, it was going to be difficult to pass himself off as one of the guards now that he was wounded. That thought made him realize just how much his arm was hurting, the bleeding hadn't stopped despite the makeshift tourniquet, he would need to stop the flow of blood and find a clean jacket or coat if he was going to convince anyone he worked here, he pondered the possibility of taking a jeep and talking his way past the guards on the main gate. He had realized that the power had been affected by something but had no idea if the power fluctuations were still hindering the security of the complex or not, he had no way of telling what was working and what wasn't. He walked as casually as he could from the doorway over to the nearest set of buildings, he noticed security cameras positioned here and there on some of the roofs, would he be able to get past those, were they functioning? Mulder walked from the shadows, acting as casually as he could, he hoped no-one would take any notice of him. He began to walk the length of a terrace of utility buildings, a group of uniformed men came out of what looked like a canteen, one of them glanced over at him while talking to his colleagues. Mulder paused, looked around and began to hurry away in the opposite direction, it was too late they had spotted him, one of them yelled at him to stop, Mulder always thought that was a stupid thing to yell at anyone on the run, he wouldn't let himself be caught that easily. He raced off in the hope that he could lose them among the complex of buildings and huts. He darted around a corner and tried the door of one of the storage huts, it was a metal door and was securely padlocked. He cursed and ran on, more of the guards had joined in the pursuit, he turned, opened fire on them with his gun as he darted across and behind another set of buildings. His wound was sending waves of sickening pain through his arm and chest, the bullet must have caught the bone, he held his arm tightly about himself as he ran, the exertion was causing more blood to pump from the wound, it spattered onto the ground leaving a tell tale mark, he looked down,he uttered another profanity and kicked dirt over the stain. He desperately needed somewhere to hide. He stumbled behind an accommodation block, made his way through a maze of smaller buildings, weaving between a cluster of huts and utility blocks, he rounded a corner, lunged at the next door he came to, this too was locked but it was an ordinary wooden door, he took a couple of paces back then ran forward and kicked at it with all his remaining strength. The lock gave and the door swung inwards, Mulder stumbled inside the gloomy room closing the door behind him. He scanned the immediate contents, a couple of chairs and a desk. He lurched forward and grabbed one of the chairs and firmly jammed it against the handle of the door. He leaned against the wall beside the door, his breath was dry and rasping in his throat. He could hear the guards outside, he held his breath as they shouted to each other and came his way, one of the guards tried the handle, it turned but the door didn't budge. Mulder heard one of the other guards yell, "That holding room is locked, you can forget about that one, spread out, he couldn't have got far. We'll try further up the line of buildings." Mulder relaxed and slowly slid to the floor trying to catch his breath, when a movement in the corner of the room caught his attention. A somewhat crumpled figure was emerging from under a blanket on the bench bed on the other side of the room. "Hey, what's going on? Who are you?" Mulder froze momentarily, he recognized the voice, it was Langly! Mulder looked across at him incredulously, "Langly, what the hell are you doing here?" His old friend rose unsteadily from the bed to get a better look at the man he hadn't recognized, he eyed him suspiciously, "Who are you? Do I know you?" Langly noticed the state Mulder was in, except of course he didn't know that it was Mulder. He continued, "Hey man, what's happened to your arm?" Mulder struggled to his feet, "I was trying to get out of here, they shot me....Langly, you're not going to believe this but it's me Mulder." "You're damn right I don't believe you, you look nothing like Mulder. Don't try and take me for a fool. Look, what is going on here? Is this some kind of a set up just to get me to talk?" Mulder knew it was going to be practically impossible to get Langly to believe his incredible story but he had to try, "You have to believe me, I am Mulder, they abducted me, I think they've been conducting experiments into mind swapping. They've performed some weird experiment on me, I'm not in my own body...damn...you're never going to believe me are you?" Langly wasn't quite sure what to believe, had a guard suddenly gone nuts and that's why they'd shot him, he thought he'd go along with it and see what else this guy told him. Mulder slumped into the vacant chair, untying the tourniquet as he quickly related everything he could remember from the moment he'd arrived in the Waiting Room the day before. Mulder finished telling his story, Langly had listened intently to what he had been told, he was well aware of the kinds of experiments that went on in places like this and he was almost ready to believe but he needed further proof to satisfy himself it really was his friend. He shook his head, "Oh boy, that's some story you're asking me to believe. Trust me when I say if it was anyone other than me, you wouldn't stand a chance in hell of it being accepted as anything short of pure fantasy. Look, I would like very much to believe it but if you want to convince me you are who you say you are, then I'm going to need proof. Can you tell me something only Mulder and I could know about?" Mulder thought, then said, "Okay, you're an `Earth Two' fan, you once invited me to join you in an evening of nit-picking the technical impossibilities of the show.....you belong to an Earth Two and a Simpson's chat line....you go by the chat name of Hal." Langly grinned and nodded but it wasn't enough, "I'm sorry but anyone could know that, can you give me details of one of our more secret dealings?" Mulder ran through his recent associations with the team, "You, Frohike and Byers helped me to break into The Lombard Research Facility.... you broke through Lombard's main frame computer programme and discovered a file concerning an abnormal gene coder in Scully's DNA." Langly drew in a long deep breath and stared at the eyes of Sam Beckett, it was as if he was searching for signs of Mulder's soul, "How did we break into the main frame?" Mulder didn't hesitate with the answer. "You cannibalized a modified clipper chip from a government surplus army-field encoder." Langly's eyes widened, "Okay, before we went to the facility, you made a comment on how we should dress, do you remember what you said?" Mulder, thought for a few seconds as he searched his memory, a wry grin formed on his face, "Yes, I said, pick up something black and sexy and prepare to do some funky poaching." Langly's grin broadened, "Well, only Mulder could have known that, so I guess that means I'm going to have to believe you." Mulder stood up and looked around the room again, he spread his good hand and gestured around, "How did you get here, what's the story?" His friend moved over to him and began to check on his wounded arm, "This is a real mess." he continued to talk while he tore a strip from the bed sheet, binding the arm and wadding it to stem the flow of blood. He interrupted his account briefly to comment that he thought Mulder was losing too much blood. Langly's account of what had happened to him and Churnik was concise and to the point, Mulder was just as surprised by his story. The events of the past few days seemed almost too incredible for either men to believe. Mulder eased back into the shirt and jacket and stood up, he felt a little woozy. He shook his head in an effort to clear his mind and moved over to the door and pulled away the chair. "Langly, before I got out of the main building. I found an office with a cabinet drawer full of files of other victims, they've done this to others.... men, women, even children! We have to stop them. We have to get out of here! Can you walk on that ankle because I'm in no fit state to help you." The other man nodded "Yeah, I think so, they strapped it up for me." Another thought suddenly struck him, "Hey, if we leave this place, how do you presume to get your body back?" Mulder paced the floor while he considered his position, he hadn't been thinking clearly. Langly looked him up and down, "You know, now I come to think of it, you look kinda familiar. I'm sure I've seen that face before." he screwed up his face with thought, "The name rings a bell too. Yeah, I'm sure I saw a photo in a science journal a while back. Hell, I can't recall what it was in connection with." Mulder suddenly remembered where he'd heard the name Dr Beckett, the chink of the proverbial penny dropping in his mind registered on his face. "Doctor Samuel Beckett, I read a paper by him once, he was a quantum physicist. The paper was about time travel." Mulder gasped, "My God...Project Quantum Leap...it's a time travel experiment! I've got to get back inside. They must have a control room somewhere, they must have their own particle acceleration chamber, that would account for some of the strange lights around the mountain. Come on, let's go, I've got to get to that control room." Mulder opened the door, took a quick look around and grabbed hold of Langly. "Okay, cover my bad arm, if anyone asks, I've had instructions to take you down to see Admiral Calavicci.....let's see how far we get." Langly was limping as they marched to the main underground entrance. They passed a few staff members in white coats but they didn't encounter any guards. They reached the entrance without being challenged, Mulder guessed that was because no-one would expect him to try and get back in. As they stood before the security door, Langly noticed a small beam of light shining from the same black box he'd seen the last time he was here, it scanned them both, a computer voice accepted authorization, seconds later they had stepped through the doorway into the empty corridor beyond. "Hey, look at this place, it's like the inside of a science fiction space ship." Mulder nodded in agreement. "Come on, we don't have the time to waste on a guided tour." He strode unsteadily to the elevator pushing his old associate in front of him as they went. They emerged on level ten, Mulder ran ahead of Langly, his gun drawn and ready. He pushed a couple of surprised looking lab personnel from his path and moved on towards the Waiting Room, Langly tagged behind him. As he reached the end of the passage, he ran straight into Gushie, the man he'd seen talking to the Admiral earlier that morning. Mulder waved the gun in his face and shouted at him, "Okay, tell me where the control room is? Take us there!" Gushie's mouth opened, his eyes wide with fear from the unexpected confrontation. He tried to control the tremor and the stammer in his voice "N..no, I don't th..think I'd better do that." Mulder pulled the trigger back and held the gun to the side of the frightened man's head. His face contorted into a snarl, he spoke calmly and carefully, emphasizing each word with a nudge of the gun barrel "You will do exactly what I tell you to do and you will do it now!" Gushie swallowed with an audible gulp, "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say, just put the gun down...please." Mulder drew the gun from the man's head and waved him forward with it. The three men walked quickly to the end of the corridor, turned through a door, at the end of a short access passage was the entrance to the control room. Gushie stopped outside the strange octagonal door, he appeared to speak into the air. His voice quavered slightly, "Ziggy, it's Gushie, open the d..dd.door, please!" A computer voice answered him, a different type of voice to that of the security systems. It was a soft sultry, female voice. "Good morning, Gushie. I see that we have unexpected company, are you sure you want me to open the door?" Gushie called back into the air, "Damn it, Ziggy, I'm quite aware that we have company, open the door this minute." the voice purred back, "Very well, no need to raise your voice. Shall I inform the team of your entrance?" Mulder poked the gun into Gushie's back, "No!....no....just open the door....please." The door slid back to reveal the astonishing sight of the rooms interior, it was filled with a diffuse blue light, everything inside the room was tinged with the richness of the coloured light, a weird looking globe sparkling and pulsing with silver lights hung from the ceiling. The walls and ceiling of the room were almost indescribable, self illuminating, glowing. One wall looked as if it were made of a cascading waterfall. A strange colourfully lit console stood almost in the middle of the room, three men in white coats stood behind the remarkable console dais, a woman he recognized as Dr Beeks and the man he knew to be Admiral Al Calavicci were standing to the side of the dais. The whole scene looked like something from a futuristic science fiction movie. CHAPTER SIXTEEN Sam hadn't wanted to take Scully with him to the Project, he'd planned to make his excuses and leave her at the motel with Langly while he went there on his own, now he would have to take her with him. Scully brought him from his deliberations, he scrambled into the car, Scully climbed in beside him "Mulder, Mulder.....come on, tell me what's going on here! You know something about that place, don't you. You know more about this case than you're letting on.....Mulder, what haven't you been telling me...I need to know! What did they mean by another guest? Who is the other guest?" Sam ignored her questions as he slammed the car into gear and tore out of the parking lot. Scully had turned to face him as he drove, she looked angry and confused by his silence, finally she demanded, "For God's sake, Mulder....please tell me what's going on and why are you in such a rush to get out there?" Sam quickly glanced sideways at her and back at the road, he pushed his foot down harder on the accelerator, "I'm sorry but I can't tell you. Even if I tried to explain, you would never believe me, I'm not even sure I want you to believe me." Scully's expression changed, she shot a challenging look at him, she didn't know if he saw the look, she softened a little, "Mulder, you can trust me implicitly. After all the things we've been through together, after all the things we've seen and experienced together, you should know you can count on my support, you must know you have my trust. Are you in trouble? Is that the problem? Does it have a connection to Churnik's death?" Sam concentrated on the road ahead, he was driving the car to the limits of its speed, he considered her words, if he told her, would she really understand? What would her reaction be? She may have been through a lot with Mulder, they may well trust each other but `he' wasn't really Mulder, he had only known her for a brief time. No, no, he couldn't tell her what had really happened or who he really was. He would have to think up an answer sooner or later but what could he say. He hoped later would never come. He hoped things might sort themselves out. He shouted to her above the noise of the engine, "Look, Scully, all I can say at this moment in time is that Churnik's death was nothing to do with me or the Project Centre, it couldn't possibly have...they're not doing any harmful experiments out there." he slowed the car a little and looked at her, there was an expression of hurt and sadness in her eyes, he felt that somehow not confiding in her had really hurt her feelings and that this conversation might even be damaging to her and Mulder's future working relationship, he decided to stop the car and talk to her, if only for a minute or two, he hoped Al would be able to cope with the situation at the Project Centre for just a little while longer. He drew up at the side of the road and turned to her, he held her gaze with his own, grasped her hand in his, her eyes were wide with expectation, "Scully....Dana, it's not that I don't trust you, I do.....look, give me a little time....I promise before this day is over I'll try to explain everything, Okay?" He gave her a weak smile, she nodded her head, "Okay, okay, Mulder, but remember whatever happens, whatever it is, I'm your friend, I'll always back you up....you know that don't you." He let go of her hand, restarted the car and headed off towards the Project Centre, his Project Centre. The car screeched to a halt outside the open gates. Sam nosed the car forwards until he was level with the security hut. The guard stepped out of the hut and walked round to Sam's side of the car. Sam held his I.D. up for the man to see, Scully leaned forwards and showed her I.D too. Sam spoke quickly, "We're expected, we had a message from Admiral Calavicci telling us to get here as quickly as we could....can you move this along, we're in a hurry." The guard studied the I.D's and asked, "Do you have a security clearance pass-code?" Mulder thought for a second, remembering the number written on the match-book "Yes, it's 1121." The guard ran back to the hut and spoke into a communication panel, hurried back to their car and handed them two security badges and instructed them to wear them at all times while inside the complex. The guard returned to the hut, the barrier rose. The guard returned to their car, he leaned through the window and handed Sam, two security pass badges. "Wear these at all times", he pointed over to one of the buildings in the complex and added, "Go directly to the visitors reception area. Someone will be sent over to meet you." The guard stood back to let them pass. Sam completely ignored the guards instructions and parked the car as close to the main entrance as he could. He hurried from the car and headed straight for the main underground entrance-way. Scully hurried after him, "Mulder, Where are you going? This isn't the way to the visitors entrance!" Sam called back to her, "I don't have the time to wait around, I know a more direct route." He had almost reached the doors to the main entrance. She caught up, to walk with him. He stopped and turned to her, "No, Scully, you can't come with me, do as the guard said and go over to the reception block, wait for me there." He turned to walk off alone but Scully grabbed hold of his arm, he swung around to look at her once more, "Oh no, Mulder, you're not getting rid of me that easily. Do you really think I'd let you go in there alone? Where you go, I go!" A look of exasperation spread across Sam's...Mulder's features, "Oh boy, you really are the most stubborn woman I've ever...." She was staring at him, her hands on her hips, he relented, "Okay, okay, but this place has a security code one, you don't tell anyone what you see here." She looked incredulously, "Mulder, since when have you been worried about keeping top secret projects a secret?" He smiled, nodded and added, "I think you may be in for a few surprises. I hope...." He didn't finish what he wanted to say, he stopped and looked back towards the entrance way. Scully spoke quietly to him, "You hope what?" "Ohhh, it doesn't matter, come on, follow me." Sam strode up to the outer doors and held it open for Scully, once inside they both stood in front of the main security door, Sam took a deep breath he was here after all this time he was finally here, home, back where he belonged. A sudden confusing thought hit him, how was he going to get in? He didn't have an access card or any other device. A flash of memory came to him, he grinned, stood squarely before the door, a red light glinted on and off, a thin beam of blue light scanned him and a robotic sounding voice seemingly from nowhere exclaimed, "Access initiated. Please confirm identity." The quantum physicist answered "Beckett, Doctor Samuel Beckett." Scully raised her eyebrows. The voice began to answer but was replaced by another voice drifting down from somewhere high above them, it purred a greeting, "Welcome Dr Beckett, it's been a long time." Scully opened her eyes wide raising both eyebrows and mouthed the words back at Sam, adding a silent "What" at the end. Sam smiled at her and then looked up into the air. "Ziggy? Is that you?" The answering voice could have melted ice, "Why, of course, it is father!" With that, the door slid open. Scully's eyes widened as she looked along the weirdly designed corridor, "Wow, look at this place." She trotted behind Sam, "Mulder, why did that security computer call you Beckett.....Why did you call yourself Beckett? Is this facility something to do with THE Dr Samuel Beckett, the quantum physicist we talked about yesterday?" Sam nodded but didn't answer her question. He led her to the elevator, they stepped inside, he pushed the button that took them down to level ten. The elevator doors opened, they both stepped out. His face was a picture of happiness. He turned to her, his eyes shinning brightly, he couldn't remember ever feeling as happy as he did at this moment in time. He couldn't resist another sweeping gesture, "Scully, welcome to Project Quantum Leap." CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Al and the technicians had been combining their efforts in re-establishing the functions of the Imaging Chamber. They had managed to open the door but they still couldn't get the holographics back on-line. Al looked up in surprise as Gushie led Mulder and Langly into the room. "Gushie! What the hell.....damn! Why did you bring him here?" Gushie stammered a nervous reply, "I...I'm sorry but I didn't have any option, he has a gun." Al narrowed his eyes, he was was totally unprepared for this sudden and unforseen confrontation with Mulder. Langly stood behind Mulder, he was in complete awe of the place, his eyes were wide with fascination as he viewed the hi-tech equipment, he edged sideways away from Mulder and the door, he stood against one wall, detaching himself from the events, he stood there silently watching the extraordinary scene unfolding before him. Mulder glimpsed Langly's movements from the corner of his eye as he pushed Gushie away from him and waved him over to stand with Al and Dr Beeks. He gestured to the technicians, "You three, come round to the front where I can see you, put your hands on your heads....don't try anything silly!" Mulder turned towards Al and aimed the gun directly at him. Al drew on his cigar, letting out a deep breath of smoke, he took a carefully considered step in Mulder's direction. Mulder extended his arm, pointing the gun steadily at Al, "You, you stay right where you are, don't come any closer." Mulder sneered at Al, "Oh and by the way, I've found out what you do here, you're experimenting with time travel, you're abusing innocent people in your efforts to time-travel." Al stood still, spreading his hands as if to calm the man, "Okay, okay, yes...this is a time travel project. It has a code one security clearance, that's why I couldn't tell you before. Would you have believed me anyway. Look, put the gun down. There's no need for any of this. Look at your arm, you're bleeding all over the place, you need help. Let Dr Beeks take a look at it but please just put the gun down first." Al turned to Verbena Beeks, looking for a sign of confirmation that he was saying the right things, she nodded and took a pace forward. Mulder's face was etched with pain, he growled at the suggestion, "Oh yeah, sure. I put the gun down and end up back in that damned blue cell." He nodded his head back in the direction of the door. Verbena carefully stepped beside Al, "Please Fox.....sorry, Mulder, at least let me take a quick look at your wound. Let me call for some medical attention." Mulder edged closer towards Al and the lady Doctor. His vision was becoming a little blurred and he swayed slightly, he was becoming more desperate for an end to this situation, "No, there's only one thing I need right now, I need my own body back.......you don't care what happens to me, you're only concerned about this damned body, Dr Beckett's body." A look of deep worry etched onto Al's face, he knew the consequences of Mulder being injured, "You're wrong, we are concerned for you, we try to look after all our guests with the utmost care and consideration, but yes, I won't deny that we are, also extremely concerned for the well being of Dr Beckett's body, he's going to need it back someday." Mulder picked up on that last word, "Someday, what do you mean someday?" Al puffed at his cigar and shuffled his feet awkwardly, "We have no control over when that will be, we have no control over this experiment. We don't control Sam's...Doctor Beckett's time travelling leaps." Mulder hadn't expected this answer, his head was spinning, he felt more than a little lightheaded. "What about all the names on the files.....I read the files in your office, Admiral, what happened to all those people? What do you mean, you don't control the experiments.....the leaps. You must be able to bring Beckett back whenever you want, otherwise he'd be stuck out there in another time!" Al sighed and lowered his voice to a more sympathetic tone, "That's exactly right, ya got it in one!" He gestured around the place with his hands, "This was Sam Beckett's baby, the hybrid computer, the experiment, he was the brain behind the whole thing. He designed most of the apparatus here, he wrote the software for the project, only for some God-damned reason two years ago he stepped into the untested Quantum Accelerator and vanished." A look of sadness and regret played on Al's face, he looked down and paused for a few seconds then continued, "There was a glitch, a bug or something in the retrieval program, something wrong with the system.....we," he swallowed hard, "we, couldn't retrieve him, we couldn't bring him home. He's been leaping around in time.....leaping in and out of peoples lives, righting wrongs, helping people along the way ever since that day. Mulder swayed, he fought to stay in control, he tightened his grip on the gun and staggered to within a few feet of Al, "There must be something you can do, there must be someone who can fix the program," he turned his head to look at Langly, he called over to him, "You know people, software experts, computer geniuses, could they fix this?" It was more of a plea than a question. Langly shook his head, and gestured around at all the high-tech futuristic equipment, "You've got to be kidding. I've seen some pretty hi-tech stuff in my time but this....half this stuff shouldn't even be invented yet....and as for the hybrid computer of theirs, it's years ahead of anything I've ever seen before!" Al chewed on his cigar and took over the conversation, "There's only one person who can correct the error and that's Sam himself." Mulder swayed and staggered backwards to lean against one of the rooms floor to ceiling cable conduit columns, "Are you in contact with him? Do you know where he is." Al had no idea just how close Sam actually was, that he was, in fact, already there, making his way down towards the control room. "Yes, we are in contact, I appear to him as a hologram, but this leap is....." Mulder broke sharply into the Admiral's reply, "I don't understand. If you are in touch with him, why hasn't he told you how to fix things so he can return." Al tried to explain, "Because leaping around in time affects his memory, it sorta swiss cheeses it, it puts huge holes in his memory. He can't remember how to fix things, he would have to be here, to familiarize himself with the set-up before he would be able to remember things properly." Mulder staggered back and slumped against the column for support. He thought for a few seconds while he tried to pull himself together, his mind felt sluggish from shock and loss of blood, "Wait a minute, if everything you say is true and this is genuine time travel, why aren't I in the future?" Al grimaced and drew in a breath between his teeth, this was the one question he hoped wouldn't come up, he raised his eyes heaven wards muttered to himself, "Damn this leap, why do you have to make everything so darned hard." He returned his gaze towards the wounded man, "I know this is going to be difficult for you to understand in you're present state......you are in the future but only by one hour. "Mulder moved forwards a little, his voice catching in his dry throat, "An hour? What good is an hour to anyone, what difference could it possibly make?" "It can make a hell of a difference, believe me. It made the difference to your friend." Al pointed over to Langly, "We tried to explain things to you when you first arrived here, for reasons of security we were unable to tell you the whole truth but now I am telling the you the truth," Al shook his head, "Sorry kid, there's nothing we can do to put you back in your body, in your own time line. All we can do is wait until this leap ends and only time, fate or God knows when that will be." Mulder considered what Al had said but he didn't intend to wait, didn't want to wait.....he didn't have the time to wait. "Beckett, he's out there somewhere with Scully leading my life....get him here, I want him here now!" Al noticed that Mulder was becoming increasingly agitated, he didn't know what more he could say or do to appease him. Suddenly the door to the control room slid open. -- Heather Markham