Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 15:43:38 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Choices - Chapter 19 Message-ID: Quantum Leap Choices by Katherine R. Freymuth Copyright 1998 Chapter 19 Sam looked over his shoulder at Al and Genine before returning his gaze to Alex. "What do you remember, Alex?" Alex took a deep breath, calming himself enough to speak. "I remember what they did to me and who did it." All three listeners raised their eyebrows in surprise. "Do you want to tell me about it?" Sam requested gently. Alex hesitated. "I'm not sure I can." "Take your time," Sam told him. Alex nodded. He took another breath before beginning. "It was about three weeks ago," he told Sam. "I was at home, getting ready to come here when I blanked out. I think." He shook his head. "All I really know is I next found myself strapped down to an operating table. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. This woman was standing over me with this... evil smile on her face. 'Relax, Dr. Hathorn,' she told me. 'This won't take long.' And then... oh, gawd! The pain! And she stayed there the entire time, smiling at me. Gawd, she enjoyed watching me in pain!" He took a breath and looked at Sam's astonished face. "Al, you think what happened to you in Vietnam was bad? You have no idea what pain is." "They tortured you?" Sam questioned quietly. Alex was silent for a moment. "It was worse than torture," he whispered. Al felt a know in his stomach. Sam kept himself from cringing as the memory of a frightened, quiet voice came to him. The words were too similar to Alex's for Sam's comfort. *"It was worse than death."* "When did they operate on him?" Al asked Sam in a near whisper. Sam took a slow breath. "When did they..." "That was when they put that thing in me," Alex replied, shaking and holding back tears. Shock filled the listeners' faces. "Oh, gawd!" Al whispered. He rubbed his face and began to pace, unsure what else to do. Sam closed his eyes and lowered his head, obvious sympathy and anger on his face. "He was conscious?" Genine whispered in disbelief. "Who would do such a thing?" The question caught Al's attention. He stopped pacing and moved closer to Alex. "Who's the bastard who did this, Alex?" he asked, though Alex couldn't hear him. Sam was asking the same question almost simultaneously. Alex composed himself. "When they had finished, they put me in this dark room. I was so nauseous, in so much pain, that I'm not sure what happened. I think that woman - that... bitch - had called the room 'the holding chamber' and she told me to give you her best but I don't even want to _think_ what that is. I slept for hours in that room. I slept on and off until I could stand without throwing up from disorientation and the pain." Al was consulting the handlink, hoping Ziggy had answers. "Ziggy says that, based on what Alex just said and on the trauma he must have been through, he was in that room for five to seven days." He paused with a breath. "And with the name of the room.... Sam, someone leaped into Alex!" Neither Sam nor Genine doubted Al's words. All three knew that they were dealing with ex-associated of Alia Hindon and associated of a red-headed woman named Zoe. Sam took a breath. "The woman," he said to Alex. "Red-head with a British accent?" Alex's eyes widened and his jaw dropped with realization. "It was them, wasn't it," he said firmly. "What that person must have done in my place!" "Ziggy's speculating but she's coming up with nothing," Al said as he pressed buttons. He looked thoughtfully at his partner. "Sam, that DTME in him was probably placed in him after Charles' experiment which just proves Ziggy's hypothesis that it was Alex's own computer that turned that thing on and off. The leaper's mission was probably to get the proper frequency to run the DTME." Al paused, looking at Alex. "And Alex was an unwitting spy for those bastards." Genine looked at Al with confusion. "Wait a minute. What experiment? Turning a DTME on and off? Where were you going to tell _us_ all this?" "Sam," Al said quickly, motioning Genine to wait a moment, "you've got to convince Alex to have the operation now. If this hypothesis is true - and Ziggy gives it a 97% probability - they'll leap into Alex again soon, do the same damn thing as before only this time take it out, and send him back with terrible brain damage. Then they'll use the information on that RAM chip to shut down the project, with Aptheker as their tool!" He looked at Genine and saw that she had figured out the situation in which Sam and Al were. "Let's talk," Al told her. As they walked away, Alex looked at Sam. "Speechless?" he asked quietly. Sam hesitated. "I'm sorry, Alex." "He did do something, didn't he?" Alex said firmly. Sam shook his head. "Not that I know." "Then why did he leap into me?" "You seem sure that it was a male," Sam told him. "He was," Alex told him. "I just know." Sam hesitated. "Do you know what they put in you, Alex?" Alex nodded. "We have to get it out," Sam told him. Alex shook his head. "No. I won't be operated on." Sam took a breath. "Alex, they put it in; they'll want to take it out." The thought terrified Alex. He began to shake. "Oh, gawd, no!" he whispered. "Let us take it out, Alex. It's your only option." Alex hesitated. "There's another option." Sam shook his head. "Suicide is never an option, especially when you put others at risk as well." He paused. "I know what you're planning, Alex, and it's not the way out. Getting that DTME out of you is." Alex was crying in physical and emotional pain. "I just want this all to end. And I want to forget." He looked at Sam. "Can you make me forget?" Sam didn't answer. Alex took a deep, calming breath. "Let's do this before I change my mind." Sam nodded. He helped Alex onto his feet and led him back to the group. "What is going on, Al?" Genine demanded when she and Al were away from Sam and Alex. Al was about to answer when he saw Dr. Beckett approaching with a look of curiosity. "I can't tell you, Genine," he said softly. "And your Sam mustn't know anything about this." "What's going on?" Dr. Beckett questioned. Al looked at Genine firmly. Genine took a slow breath and turned her head towards Dr. Beckett. "Nothing, Sam. We were just... reminiscing." It was obvious that Dr. Beckett didn't believe her. Al looked into his eyes. "Trust me, Sam. It's better if you didn't know. Yet." After a moment, Dr. Beckett nodded with reluctant understanding and left the two Observers alone. Genine faced Al. "Alex was leaped into, Al, wasn't he? The project's security's been compromised, hasn't it? And Congress is shutting down the project." Al gave a sad smile at Genine's observation. "Not if we are successful in getting the DTME out of Alex before they do," Al replied. He looked firmly at Genine. "We can't risk inadvertently changing history with prior knowledge of the future. Do you understand?" Genine nodded slowly. "Genine," Al said quietly. "Don't reveal to anyone, not even me, what you heard over by Alex. That is an order, Captain." Genine smiled slightly. "You're not an admiral anymore." She paused. "Are you?" she questioned. "Doesn't matter. I'll obey the order anyway." Al smiled slightly. "Thank you." Both looked towards Alex and Sam to see Sam helping Alex onto his feet and towards Janet, Verbina, and the Chief. "Looks like Sam's talked Alex into letting the Chief take the DTME out," Genine noted. Al nodded. "I just hope that with that damn thing goes some of his memory. I wish the same could happen for me. Genine nodded. "And me."