Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 15:12:43 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Circles of Fate - Part 6 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Quantum Leap "Circles of Fate" Part 6 All three started slowly backing away from the towering man. Al pounded on the handlink, desperate for information. "Ziggy! I thought you said this doesn't happen until tomorrow! What the hell is going on?" "So, Alia," Frederick Hindon Sr. said with controlled rage. "You've decided to disobey me. That wasn't very smart." "I couldn't just stand by and let you hurt him," Alia told him firmly even though she and Sam were on the retreat. "And Freddie's been right all this time. You're not our father and we're ashamed to carry your last name!" Frederick approached her quickly, raising his hand against Alia. As he brought it down, Sam grabbed Frederick by the wrist. "Don't you ever hit her again," he told Frederick with a seethe just before punching him in the jaw. The punch didn't seem to phase Frederick at all. He retaliated with his own punch to Sam's abdomen followed by a kick to his chin. "Sam!" Al said as Sam fell to the ground. He looked to Frederick who was grabbing Alia by the hair and throwing her to the ground. "Sam! You've got to get up!" He quickly glanced at the handlink. "Ziggy says there's a seventy-three percent chance that Frederick is going to kill you both tonight! Freddie didn't have the strength to fight back like you do so he couldn't defend himself! Since you did, it just angered Frederick even more and this time Alia dies and neither Alia's nor Freddie's bodies are found!" He watched with helplessness as Alia was punched hard before she fell to the ground, unconscious. "Sam!" Al shouted. "Frederick just beat Alia unconscious! You've got to do something!" Sam was slowly getting up as Al said this last statement. He rushed Frederick, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. He punched Frederick as hard as he could, knocking the man unconscious. Al exhaled. "Good shot, Sam," he told him with a smile. His smile faded when he saw that Sam didn't move away from Frederick. "Sam?" He walked over to the physicist who stifled a harsh cough as Al approached him. Al looked at his friend carefully. "Sam, you're really sick," he told him firmly. "We need to get you in bed." Sam stood up with a slight sway. The world seemed as if it were spinning around him. A moment later, blackness surrounded him as he collapsed to the floor and fell unconscious, Al's concerned cry filling his ears. When Sam opened his eyes, he found himself face down on the floor. He moaned slightly as he forced himself to raise himself into a sitting position. "Sam, you okay?" Sam looked around slowly and saw Al standing over him, a cigar in his hand, looking more than a little worried. Sam exhaled in pain at the headache he had just discovered he had. "I thought you quit those things," he commented. Al smiled. The comment was a good sign that Sam was at least not extremely affected by his hard fall. "How do you feel?" he asked, not bothering to try to explain himself. "Sick to my stomach," Sam moaned as he slowly stood up. He looked around. Alia lay about six feet from him. Frederick Sr. was closer to him, still clearly unconscious. Sam noticed a rope a few feet from Frederick. He slowly went over and picked it up. He then used it to tie Frederick's hands behind his back. "Good idea, Sam," Al commented. "How's Alia?" Sam asked with concern, starting towards the sixteen year old girl. "She's completely out cold," Al told him sympathetically. "The bastard didn't get a chance to hurt her anymore than he already has." Sam exhaled. "What happens now?" Al shook his head. "I don't know. Ziggy has no ideas either. I guess you'll just have to go with your gut." Sam coughed before gently picking up Alia and slowly carrying her upstairs. He laid her on the couch before going to the basement door, closing it, and locking it. "I'll have to call the police," Sam commented. Al shook his head with disappointment. "No phone. How else do you think Fred Sr. got away with what he did in a small country like this?" Sam exhaled in exhaustion. "Any suggestions?" Al took a puff on his cigar. "My suggestion is that you and Alia get the hell out of this house." He looked at the handlink. "And quick. Fred Sr.'s starting to wake up. That lock on the basement door and that rope won't last too long. Ziggy says he'll be completely free in about ten minutes." As Al said this, there was a soft moan from the couch. Sam went to the couch and touched Alia's shoulder gently. "Alia?" he asked softly. "Freddie?" she moaned. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Seeing Sam was right beside her, she quickly threw her arms around his neck. "Freddie! Oh, gawd! Are you okay?" Sam nodded. "I'm okay. But we've got to get out of here. I locked him in the basement but that won't stop him." "What do we do?" Alia asked with concern. Sam looked at Al. "He's got to have transportation into town, doesn't he?" Al nodded. "An old pick-up truck just outside. The thing's in terrible condition, though. I doubt it would get you more than ten miles." "Freddie," Alia said. "Neither of us can drive and that thing hardly runs as it is!" Sam frowned at her statement. Al shrugged at Sam's frown. "If they can't drive, they can't escape. Fred Sr.'s thinking," he explained. Sam looked at Alia. "Regardless of both of those things, isn't it worth a shot? Besides, the faster we get away from this place, no matter how far we go, the less likely he can find us." "In that case, I'm driving," Alia told him. "No," Sam insisted. Alia frowned at him. "Why not?" Sam hesitated. "It's not safe." Alia looked at him seriously. "As if driving in your condition is safe!" She touched his forehead. "Freddie, you're burning up!" "She's right, Sam," Al told him. "You can't possibly think clearly in your condition. I've seen pneumonia before, Sam, and you're right on the road to it." "We've got to get you to a doctor!" Alia and Al said in unison, making an odd stereo sound in Sam's ears. "Frederick! Alia!" a scream came from the basement. Alia jumped in fright. "Oh, gawd!" Al frowned in concern. He checked the handlink quickly. "Sam, Mr Hyde's just freed himself from those ropes! He's heard you talking up here and he's coming after you! You've got to leave now!" "Let's go," Sam told Alia, standing up with a sway. Alia quickly got under his arm and led him towards the door as the basement door began to rattle as Frederick pounded in it with his shoulder. The two quickly exited the house and went to the old truck that was about ten yards away. "Get in," Alia ordered Sam as she took him to the passenger side of the truck. "What about the keys?" Sam asked. "Keys?" Alia questioned. "We don't need keys." She hurried around to the other side and got in. She turned the ignition switch, without a key, starting the truck immediately. "The starter's been messed up for years. I saw Father start the truck this way before." She quickly looked about the steering wheel, found the shift stick, and shifted the car into drive. "You've driven before?" Sam asked. Alia shook her head. "Never. I'm just a keen observer." She put her foot on the accelerator, causing the truck to jump to thirty almost instantly. At that moment, Frederick rushed out of the house. "Frederick! Alia!" he screamed. "Damn it, you get back here now!" He looked around quickly. There was nothing he could use to follow them. "Damn!" He watched as the truck sputtered loudly away. "You can't get away from me! You're both dead!" His words went completely unheeded. A much older Alia was hard at work in Sammy Jo's lab, unaware of the change in her history. For some reason unknown to her, she suddenly began to think about her brother. *Where is he now?* she asked herself. *New York, I think.* They had lost track of each other after Alia had gone to England with Zoe. She shook the vague memory away as she studied the computations in front of her. Something was missing; she could tell. She could feel it in her soul. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She hummed in frustration. *Maybe if...* She paused with realization. "Of course!" she exclaimed, standing up. "Why didn't I see it before?" She quickly rolled up the papers she was studying and grabbed a pen. "Ziggy, give me Admiral Kalarco!" she ordered firmly. A moment passed as Ziggy obeyed. "Kalarco," a woman answered. "Admiral, this is Dr. Fuller. I have a solution to our problem." She paused with a huge smile. "We can bring Sam home!" -------------------------------------- Part 7 coming soon. Katherine