Date: Sat, 8 Nov 1997 12:28:58 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Choices - Chapter 11 Message-ID: Quantum Leap Choices by Katherine R. Freymuth Copyright 1997 Note: This part of the story is not based on the history given by L. Elizabeth Storm in her novel "Angels Unaware". It is based on "Theresa", my own sequel to "Another Mother" which can be found on the QL Archive. Chapter 11 "What do you want from us? Can't you leave us alone? Don't think I haven't heard about your pestering everyone and anyone even slightly associated with Dr. Beckett. I don't know where he is. Hell, I've only met him once over ten years ago." Dana smiled over the viewphone "Relax, Mrs. Williams. I'm not calling about Dr. Beckett. I'm calling about your daughter, Dr. Fuller." Abagail Fuller Williams frowned at Dana strongly. "You leave my Sammy Jo alone, Mr. Aptheker, or, so help me, I'll charge you with harassment." "You don't understand, Mrs. Williams. I'm just writing a simple article about Dr. Fuller: when she was born, where she went to school, her scholarships and awards - that sort of thing. For example, who is Dr. Fuller's father? I mean, her real father. Sure, William Kidman is listed but are you sure it really was him?" Abagail glared at him with controlled rage. "We have nothing to discuss, Mr. Aptheker," she told him. A moment later, she disconnected the line. Dana smiled with delight. "As I thought." He took out the cassette on which he had recorded the brief conversation and marked it "Williams" before taking another cassette and putting it in the recorder. "You can't run, Dr. Beckett. I'll find you out," he said aloud as he dialed yet another number listed in the binder. Al watched Alex carefully and with deep concern. The scientist was in obvious pain. He had locked his office door and was sitting on his couch, head bent over his knees and his hands holding his head by the temples. Al shook his head. He didn't understand this leap at all. He really didn't understand Alex at this moment. It wasn't like him to allow himself such pain without going to see Chief Etleman, the Project's head physician. He might have acted this way eight years ago, before his attempted suicide, but not now. He had changed drastically in the last eight years. He was much more open. After all, nothing worse could happen to him than his dying from AIDS. *Or could it?* Al thought as he watched his friend cringe. "Admiral?" Ziggy's voice put in, disrupting Al's study mercifully. "Yes, Ziggy?" "There is a all for you from Miss Brookner." Al frowned looking up at the ceiling. "From Theresa?" "That is what I said, Admiral," the computer replied haughtily. Al walked out of the Imaging Chamber as he spoke. "I'll take it in my office down here." Marching quickly through the Control Room, he made his way to the non-security area on Level Ten and to his office. "Patch it through, Ziggy," Al ordered, walking towards the desk. "Hello, Theresa," he greeted as he sat down before his viewphone. "What is it that makes you call me here, of all places?" Theresa Brookner, one of the few people outside of the Project completely who knew Sam was a leaper, looked at Al with concern. "Al, who is this Aptheker guy?" Al frowned. "I see he's given you a call." "He knew that Sam had leaped into my mom! He knew that I saw him!" Theresa exclaimed. "Of course, you didn't tell him anything," Al concluded. "Don't worry," she assured him. "I gave him a couple of lies about how I never heard of Sam Beckett except from newspaper and magazine articles. But I don't think he bought it because he then asked me about my relationship with you. He apparently also knows how you helped me off the streets." She exhaled. "Al, is the Project in danger? Because, if it is, I... I don't want to see anything happen to Sam." Al smiled slightly at her. "Don't worry. I'll handle everything." "I hope you can, Al," she told him sincerely. She smiled at him. "I'm holding as art show in two weeks, here in Manhattan. Will you be there?" Al's smile widened. "I'll certainly try. Why would I want to miss an exhibit of your art?" "Good," Theresa said gently. "Take care of yourself, Al, and take care of Sam. Give Beth my love." "You know I will," Al told her just before the transmission was ended. Al frowned and exhaled, leaning back in his office chair. "Ziggy, have there been any messages sent out of the complex in the past twenty-four hours?" "Negative, Admiral." Al's frustration increased a notch. "Damn," he muttered, standing up. He began to pace the room in thought. "Admiral," Ziggy put in abruptly. Al frowned at the ceiling. "Why is it that you give Admiral Kalarco a warning but not me?" he complained. "I have found that you do not respond to a warning but rather to an abrupt call for attention." Al glared at the ceiling choosing not to comment verbally. "What is it that you want, Ziggy?" "Based on information I have recently acquired, I believe I may have incorrectly calculated what Dr. Beckett must do to leap." "What?" Al called out. "You mean that I've spent the past twenty-four hours convincing Sam of his mission for nothing? That everyone in this complex has gone through a day and a half of grief for nothing?" Though he sounded a little upset, there was still hope in his voice that what he said was the truth. "Not at all, Admiral," Ziggy replied, ignoring Al's mood. "Dr. Beckett's objective has not changed. However, the reasoning behind the leap may have." "May have? What the hell are you talking about, Ziggy?" "If you will be patient, Admiral, I will explain." Al huffed. "Right now, Ziggy, patience isn't my forte. Spit it out." There was a brief pause, thus telling Al that Ziggy was a bit upset (for a computer) with the ex-Admiral's attitude. "The recent revelation that Dr. Hathorn had suffered migraines before his death caused me to decide to check his medical records in order to attempt to discover the cause. Dr. Hathorn had no medical history which indicated that he was susceptible to migraines." "So how is this related to the reason Sam's there?" "It is a strong indication of Dr. Hathorn's state of mind," Ziggy told him. "By Admiral Kalarco's orders, I have reviewed all out-going messages from the complex in the past year. I have found no inconsistencies with the exception of one: Dr. Hathorn sent a message to a company called Zicorp two weeks before his admittance into the Alamagordo hospital in which he died. Further investigation showed that Zicorp does not exist nor did it ever exist." Al frowned. He didn't like the sound of any of this. "What are you getting at, Ziggy?" "I suspect that Zicorp is a cover for an unknown group who has an unexplained interest in Project Quantum Leap." Al looked at the ceiling. "That's a pretty big jump, Ziggy." "As I said, it is only a suspicion. I have no evidence to support it. However, giving recent events, it is a logical supposition." Al thought about Ziggy's words carefully. As he did so, he came to a realization of what Ziggy was saying. "Ziggy, if Zicorp is what you suspect it is, then Alex..." "Affirmative, Admiral," Ziggy told him. "There is a sixty- three point one percent chance that Dr. Hathorn was the leak you are currently seeking." There wasn't much to the budget meeting with Admiral Kalarco, though Sam had to admit it was nice to have a say in how funding was spent on his project. He vaguely remembered being in a similar meeting with Al a long time ago - probably before he had leaped for the first time. It made him wonder, though, why Dr. Beckett wasn't at the meeting. Was God, Fate, Time, or Whatever trying to keep the two Becketts from meeting and touching or was Dr. Beckett just not interested? Sam hoped it wasn't the latter. He hated the idea of his not being concerned about the Project's finances. Sam's reverie was broken by the sound of Janet snapping her fingers in front of his eyes. "Earth to Al," she said gently. Sam looked up at her with a slight smile. "Sorry, Janet," he said quietly. "I was just thinking." Janet smiled in return. "Well, the next time you decide to visit the moon again, let me know in advance. Okay?" She took a breath. "As I was saying, we can probably have that final statement to the Committee ready by tomorrow." She looked at Sam questioningly. "Do you think they'll keep funding us now that Sam's finally home?" "Not a chance," came a growl behind Sam. "We had to fight tooth and nail to get funding after you leaped, Sam." Sam lowered his eyes and took a breath. "I don't think so, Janet. I think now that he's home, the Committee will consider Quantum Leap over." Al raised his eyebrows. "That's what I told her in the original history." "What do you think Sam will do if they don't approve funding?" Al huffed. "Climb the walls." Sam repeated him, including the huff. Janet laughed slightly. "Probably. Speaking of which, he's still down in that lab of his. He's probably sleeping down there, if he even sleeps. I don't think he's completely gotten over Donna's remarriage." Sam frowned and looked at Al. Al shrugged. "You were pretty shook up." Sam took a breath. "I'll see if I can get him to take a breath." Al looked at Sam carefully. "There must be some mind-merging in this leap because you're acting like I did." Sam stood up. "All done?" Janet nodded. "For now. I hope it's only for now." Sam smiled. "I'm going to go check on Sam." Janet nodded again, as such giving permission for him to leave. "You're back soon," Sam commented quietly to Al after the two had left Janet's office. "Yeah," Al nodded slightly. "Well, Ziggy's come up with something and it doesn't help us at all." He took a deep breath and looked at the man with whom he was walking. "Meet me in my office. We need to talk." Sam nodded slightly just before Al disappeared from his sight. He then returned to the Admiral's office to find Al pacing the room, an uncomfortable look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" Sam questioned after closing the door. Al stopped his pace and exhaled. He then looked at his friend carefully. "Sam, I didn't want to say anything about this but this leap leaves me no choice. There's this reporter here named Dana Aptheker. He's been digging around, trying to find out where you are." He paused, looking into Sam's eyes. "There is strong evidence that he knows about Project Quantum Leap." "What?" Sam exclaimed with concern. "There's more," Al told him. "Ziggy thinks Alex leaked information about Quantum Leap to a company called Zicorp. The only thing we know about this Zicorp is it's probably based somewhere in England and we're not sure if it really exists. Ziggy has no record of any such company and she searched all her databases and connections. We can't even be sure t is really based in England. All that we know comes from Ziggy's transmission records but the signal could have been bounced from England to some other place on the Earth." Sam slowly sat down, shock on his face. "You're telling me that Alex is a traitor?" he asked quietly. "Ziggy thinks so but I think that's a lot of hooey. Alex just isn't capable f doing such a thing. I don't know what this Zicorp is or why he sent them an encrypted message, but he's no traitor." Sam raised his head at Al's words. "Encrypted?" Al nodded. "Definitely. Ziggy tried to read his mail but she couldn't get the envelope open." Sam exhaled. "How does this effect the leap? When did he send the message?" "Two weeks from now," Al told him. "But Ziggy postulates a sixty-five percent chance that, if Alex dies in the explosion tomorrow, the Project's security won't be compromised and Aptheker won't go digging around." The two were quiet for a moment as Sam leaned back into Al's desk chair. "I can't do it, Al," he finally said. "I can't. It feels completely wrong." He looked at the Observer. "I just know I'm here for another reason." Al took a breath. "Sam..." "Don't say I'm wrong, Al," Sam said warningly. "I wasn't going to," Al replied. "Actually, I was going to suggest that you get Alex to see someone about those migraines. Just like you know you're not here to kill Alex, so do I know that somehow those migraines are connected to this leap and to our problems with Aptheker." Sam raised his eyebrows slightly. "You admit that Ziggy's wrong about this leap?" Al hesitated. "I guess I do - to a point. I still think Alex should die with dignity but I'm not sure the explosion in the way." He gave a slight smile. "It's not the first time Ziggy's been wrong about a leap." Sam smiled as well. "I'll see what I can do for Alex." Al nodded slightly. "Thank you." "I just hope you're right about Alex's innocence," Sam commented, standing up. "So do I, Sam. So do I."