Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 20:28:15 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Circles of Fate - Part 1 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Quantum Leap "Circles of Fate" Part 1 *October, 2005* Rear Admiral Albert Franklin Calavicci, retired, limped through the fifth level hallway with a slight smile. Having grandchildren had its advantages and its disadvantages. Currently, Al was experiencing one of the disadvantages of grandchildren. Yesterday, Beth, Al's wife of forty-four years, had invited their eldest daughter Trudy's family over for dinner. Trudy had two sons, Samuel and Richard. Richard was the cause of Al's current pain. The three year old boy had a tendency to swing things. Al approached his office door. Although he had been officially retired for the poast year and a half, he couldn't possibly stay at his home in Stallion Springs while his best friend, Dr. Samuel Beckett, was still leaping through time. Sam needed an observer. Better that he have the same one he has had for the past ten years. *Ten years!?* Al sighed. He wished it would end. Donna Elesee had already given up hope for Sam's return. Sam's and her son was already five years old and he never knew his father. Donna, no matter how much she loved Sam, could no longer afford to wait for him, especially after meeting Paul two years before. They married, Donna claiming spousal abandonment on Sam's part. Al sighed. He hadn't yet gotten up the courage to tell Sam. "Good morning, Admiral," Gushie, Project Quantum Leap's head programmer greeted as he walked towards Al. He noticed Al's limp. "Are you okay, Admiral?" Al smiled at both the concern on Gushie's face and the circumstances behind the limp. "I'm fine," he assured Gushie. "Just a little sore. My grandson and I were playing in the back yard yesterday and he accidentally hit me with a stick. Boy, does my shin hurt, though." Gushie smile. "How's Mrs. Calavicci?" Al huffed. "Geez, Gushie! How long have you known us? And you still won't call us Al and Beth?" Al smiled at Gushie's sheepish look. "It's all right. Beth's doing great but she's driving me nuts wanting to look at my bruise. I think maybe..." "Al!" a voice shouted. Both Al and Gushie's heads popped up to see Dr. Alexander Hathorn hurrying towards them. Alex Hathorn had contracted AIDS several years before from his now ex-wife. The effects of the disease were starting to show. Alex had lost most of his hair and now tired more easily. Nevertheless, he continued to work on the project, researching the effects leaping had on the human body. "Alex, what's wrong?" Al asked, going towards him with concern. "This," Alex told him, giving Al an electronic pad. "You remember the analyses I've been runnin every year on the effects leaping is having on Dr. Beckett?" Al sighed. "Alex, I'm not in charge anymore. Remember? Take it to Admiral Kalarco. I'm sure she can handle it quite well. She's been on this project a long time." Alex exhaled. "Al, I think you'd better hear this. Al looked into his eyes and knew that Alex was deadly serious about the importance of wha t he needed to tell him. "Well, then, let's save you some time in having to repeat yourself. We'd better arrange a meeting. I'll talk to the Admiral. You get Sammy Jo and the others together and we'll meet in the Control Room." Alex nodded in agreement. "I'll get Tina," Gushie announced to Alex as Al turned around and went back the way he came. A few minutes later, Al approached an office door on the sixth level and knocked. "Enter," a female voice replied. Al placed his hand on a silver plate by the door. The door opened obligingly and Al stepped in. Two women sat in the office. Both were in uniforms of Naval officers, one of a higher rank. One, a brown-haired captain, sat listening to her superior officer, a beautiful blond woman who looked surprisingly young for her age. Both looked towards the door when it opened and both stood abruptly upon Al's entrance. Al smiled. "At ease, ladies. I'm not an admiral anymore." Both women smiled in response. "Captain," the blond woman said to the brunette, "you have my instructions?" "Yes, ma'am," the other replied. The blond nodded. "Dismissed." Al stopped the Captin from leaving. "Actually, Admiral, Captain Strickler should hear what I have to say as well." Admiral Janet Kalarco raised her eyebrows as did Captain Strickler. "What is it, Al?" Janet asked. Al looked at the women. "Dr. Hathorn had news on Sam and, from the way he spoke, it doesn't look good. I think we should call a meeting in the Control Room immediately. Gushie and Alex are already calling the others." "Who's Chief Administrator of this project?" Janet questioned with a smile. Al shrugged. "Old habits." The Admiral sighed. "Well, the deed's done and it's obviously important." She walked around her desk. "Let's go." She led the way out of the office, Al and Captain Strickler following. "So, Genine, how are you keeping yourself? I haven't seen you in a while." Genine Strickler smiled slightly. "Admiral Kalarco keeps me almost as busy as you did. It's not easy being the Assistant to the Chief Administrator but I've never regretted taking the job." Al sm iled as the three of them entered the complex's elevator and went down to the tenth level and to the Control Room which housed the core of Project Quantum Leap, a parallel-hybrid computer which Al had irreverently nicknamed Ziggy. Entering the Control Room, they found Tina and Gushie Conelf and Alex Hathorn waiting for them. Dr. Verbina Beeks and Dr. Samantha Josephine Fuller entered the room, having come from Dr. Beek's tenth level office. Al and Janet looked about the room. All the senior staff members were there, all of them full of curiosity. Al looked at Dr. Fuller with concern. She seemed more confused than curious. He ignored her facial expression as Janet spoke. "Looks like everyone is here," she commented. "Apparently, Dr. Hathorn has something important to tell us about Dr. Beckett." Dr. Fuller's eyes widened a bit, as if the name surprised her. "Thank you, Admiral," Alex said as he raised his electronic datapad. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very serious problem on out hands. My latest research show that Sam... is dying." Everyone stared at Alex in shock. "What?" Al asked quietly. Alex nodded. "Quantum Leaping apparently has a negative effect on the human body. The more a person leaps, the slowly their natural body functions become. Over the past ten years, Dr. Beckett's heart rate has slowed by fifty-two percent and it's getting worse. The deterioration rate is increasing with every leap. I estimate that, within six leaps, Sam's body will slow down to the point where he can't get enough oxygen to his brain to survive." Al looked like he was on the verge of fainting. It couldn't end like this! All those years of leaping through time and of trying to get home only for him to suffocate to death in the past! "Admiral Calavicci," Janet said to him. Al didn't hear her. "Al," she said with a little more force. Al snapped his head towards her. "Yes, Janet?" "Have you noticed any ill effects on Dr. Beckett lately?" Al thought for a moment. "He does get tired more easily lately but I'd been associating that with the leaps themselves rather than with the leaping process." He paused. "The assignments had been getting more and more difficult in the past five years and Sam is fifty-two years old." Al gave a wry smile. "The Becketts aren't known to age gracefully." Janet ignored his last comment and turned to Dr. Fuller. The moment the Admiral said her name, Dr. Fuller looked like a trapped rat. She tensed up instantly and her eyes widened with apprehension. "Yes, Admiral?" she said quickly. No one seemed to notice her sudden tenseness except Al. He watched her with concern. "How's the Retrieval Program coming?" the Admiral asked. "It needs some work," Dr. Fuller replied after a long pause. "But I'll need to look at my notes to give you better details." Admiral Kalarco seemes to accept her answer but it was apparent that Al hadn't. He frowned at the answer. *Look at her notes?* he thought. *Sammy Jo has never had to look at her notes!* He looked at Tina, Gushie, and Verbina. They too noticed the flaw but didn't seem as concerned about it. "Give m e an upda te as soon as you can," the Admiral was instructing Sammy Jo. She addressed the entire senior staff. "Doctors," she started. "And Admiral Calavicci. The issue is no longer whether or not we can get Dr. Beckett home but rather whether or not we can get him home before he dies. Let's not lose him, people." "Amen," Al said gently. Janet looked at him with tenderness. She then looked at the others. "Coordinate with each other to find a way to retrieve Dr. Beckett. Dismissed." While Admiral Kalarco left the Control Room, Tina, Gushie, and Verbina went to Alex to examine his data. Sammy Jo followed them, listening intently to their conversation but not putting in her own two cents worth. Al watched her very carefully. There was something wrong with her but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Al?" Genine asked, standing beside him. "Are you all right?" Sammy Jo looked at Al but diverted her eyes quickly when she noticed Al was watching her. "I'm fine, Genine," Al told the Captain. "You don't look fine," Genine told him. "What's wrong?" Al frowned. "I'm not sure," he told Genine as he continued to watch Sammy Jo with concern and curiosity. ----------------- So, what do you think of part 1? :) More to come! Katherine