Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 19:04:24 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Coup-D'etat - Chapter 1 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Chapter 1: Someone's Knocking at the Door The sun was just peeking over the horizonm making the sky a beautiful reddish-orange as it reflected off of the brownish-red New Mexican desert. The red sky hugged the many buildings and trees in the small city, making the few leaves that were on the trees dark brown. It was late March and, as usual, it was a cold forty-eight degrees in the city of Stallion Springs. In a very beautiful part of the city, towards the city's limits, was a house of classic Mexican design. It had a back yard, now turning back to its former green color, in which there was a large, one level garage filled with classic cars. Inside the house, Rear Admiral Albert Franklin Calavicci lay asleep in his bed. But he wasn't alone. Beside him was a beautiful black-haired woman whose hand held Al's left hand against her chest. She hummed slightly as the red sun brushed her eyes. She turned away from the sun, causing her head to snuggle against Al's shoulder. The sudden, though slight, weight on his shoulder woke Al. He looked over at the beautiful woman beside him and smiled. He raised his right hand and gently stroked the woman's shiny black hair. It was soft, as if it had been made from the finest silks. Al gently breathed out before kissing her forehead. Slowly, the woman opened her eyes to revealed two bright blue eyes. She looked at Al and smiled. "You're wonderful," Al told her, a lilt in his voice. She smiled. "I bet you say that to all the girls," she teased. Al kissed her gently on the lips. "I'd better go," he told her, some disappointment in his voice. "Tina'll be missing me." The woman smiled at him. "I'll kiss the girls for you." Al's smiled widened as he stood from the bed. "I'm not even showered and already she's kissing the girls for me." He looked at her with mock reprimand. "Beth, you're incorrigible!" Beth raised her eyebrows. "Then, why'd you marry me?" Al shrugged. Beth's mouth widened in astonishment. She picked up a pillow and threw it at him. "Admiral Calavicci, you're a terrible man!" "You're the one throwing things, Captain Calavicci," Al replied back. Beth laughed. "Go get into the shower, you tyrant! I'm going to have to call Gushie and warn him about you!" she told him as he obeyed the order. "That number's only for emergencies," Al shouted to her. "Your being tyrannical is an emergency," Beth shouted back. Al laughed. "You'd better wake up the girls," he shouted to her over the sound of water running in the shower. "They'll be late for class." Beth was putting on a robe and going to the bathroom as she spoke. "They're all over thirteen, Al," Beth told him. "They certainly don't need their mother to tell them to get up for class." The water stopped running and Al stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel to dry himself off. "I just feel better when I know they're in school on time, that's all." He stopped in front of her. "I just want them to be as intelligent as their mother." Beth smiled. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Al." "Flattery?" Al questioned. "Beth..." "I know," she interrupted. "I'm too much of a romantic." Al smiled, finishing drying off as Beth took her turn in the shower. Al quickly dressed, ready by the time Beth came out. "Al?" she asked as she started dressing herself. Al was putting on the final touches to his dress by adding a pair of silver cuff-links to his black dress shirt and white suit. "Si, mia capitana?" Al asked. Beth smiled slightly. It always amused her when Al spoke to her in Italian. "Are the girls up?" she asked. "Now who's the one worried about them?" Al teased. As if on cue, thge sound of running water came from somewhere else in the house. "Well, I'd say that was a 'yes'," Al told her. "I'll check on them." "You won't be late, will you?" Al shook his head. "It looks like it's gonna be a long day anyway." He left the bedroom as he spoke and checked on his daughters. As he thought, his tow youngest daughters, the only ones still at home, were up and dressing, the youngest hurrying so as to not be late for the school bell. Al went into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of black coffee. As he sipped at the coffee, he opened the refrigerator in search of breakfast. Finding a ripe apple, he rinsed it before biting into it. Just then, a very pretty young lady with long black braided hair entered the kitchen. Her hair, although very nicely done, still looked wet, indicating that she had braided it right after she got out of the shower. She quickly went to the coffee pot to fill a thermos mug she had in her hand. "Morning, Dad," she greeted Al as she poured the coffee. "Morning, Angela," Al told her between bites in his apple. "Running a little late, aren't you?" he asked seventeen year old. Angela put the lid on her mug and grabbed her backpack. "A little. Rona'll probably kill me." "Rona?" Al asked. "My friend from chemistry class." She gave Al a kiss on the cheek. "Have a good day at work," she told him as she went out the door. As she left, Beth entered the kitchen. "Angela drinks black coffee?" Al questioned. "Like father, like daughter," Beth answered. She spied the clock as she walked to the refrigerator. "You'd better get going," she told him. "You don't want to be too late." "I'll pick you up for lunch," Al told her as he took out his car keys and went to the door. "I can't," Beth sighed slightly. "We have a meeting at the hospital and then I have class." Al smiled at her. "You sure do," he told her, not referring to any educational lectures she may give. He gave her a wink before leaving the house. Beth shook her head with a smile. **************** The year 2000 wasn't much different from 1999. The same buildings were up. The same President of the United States was in office. Al was still married to the same woman he had been married to for the past thirty-nine years. Project Quantum Leap was still up and running. And, unfortunately, Dr. Samuel Beckett was still leaping in time. Al sighed slightly at the thought as he drove the complex's red 1996 Ferrari Testarosa. There was a time when Al would use such a sporty car to pick up girls. But that was nearly forty years ago. The car was of great advantage to his anyway. He enjoyed classic and sports cars, making the Ferrari right up his alley. The car was also convenient for getting to the complex, or anywhere else, as quickly as possible in case of emergencies. He remembered the first time he used the car to hurry to the complex because of an emergency, That was almost five years ago. He had been on his way back from Las Vegas where he had been spending some leisure time with some buddies. Beth was visiting her sick father in San Diego and the girls were quite safe at home. As he drove along the highway, he noticed a woman with reddish-brown hair, standing at the side of the road and looking very much in need of help. So Al pulled over and offered it in his usual flirtatious way. It was as he was driving the woman, to someplace that would be able to get her a tire for her car, when the message arrived from Gushie about Sam's first leap. Al was in a tough position: he couldn't take any unauthorized personnel to the complex nor could he finish the errand immediately. The seriousness of Sam's leaping won. He took the woman to the complex - and he never regretted it. That woman was Tina Martinez-O'Farrell who, after one year of working on the project, became Mrs. Gushie F. Conelf. Again the thought of Sam trapped in time worried Al. He didn't like it at all. Sam was his best friend and he wanted him home to see his eldest daughter's wedding, which was going to be in about a month. What bothered Al more was that Sam wouldn't see the birth of his own son, who was due in May. Sam's return home last September resulted in his wife, Donna Elesee, becoming pregnant. Al hoped he was wrong and hoped Sam would come home before then. Al pulled into the complex's parking garage and shut off the engine. He got out and proceeded to the security entrance system which Tina had installed and had updated every year. Having passed through the clearance, he entered the complex and continued down the elevator to the sixth level where his office was. Arriving at his office, he proceeded with the day's work which included a duty roster, supply orders, a meeting with Tina and Gushie about the yearly upkeep of the complex's systems, and more. It was after six in the evening when there was a knock on the door. Al's concentration had been on the latest food supply report; therefore, he didn't answer until the person had knocked a second time. "Come in," he said haphazardly, allowing Donna to come into the office. Al looked up at her. He frowned slightly. "What are you doing here? You should be at home by now." Donna smiled. "Why? Because I'm seven months along?" Al started to answer but stopped. It was ridiculous to think that Donna should have to be at home early simply because she was pregnant. Still, she did look a little ill. "What's on your mind?" Al asked with concern. Donna hesitated. "Did you notice anything wrong with the computer system today?" Al paused. "No," he told her honestly. "Why?" Donna sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it's just pre-natal nerves but something was wrong with the computer terminal at home. I though maybe it was linked with a problem here." "I don't see how," Al told her. "Ziggy would have told us if there was a problem." He paused. "I'll tell you what. If there's still a problem with it when you get home, call me and I'll take a look at it. I'll even see if Tina can come along." Donna nodded. "There was something else I wanted to talk to you about," she told him as she sat down carefully in one of Al's empty chairs. "And I think it may be related. It's about Ziggy." "What about her?" Al wondered. "Well, she hasn't been acting the same as usual." Al laughed. "Donna, she's a computer." "But she has a very sensitive ego. I think something's bothering her. She seems confused." "Confused?" Al asked. "About what?" "I wish I knew," Donna told him. "She won't talk to anyone unless she absolutely has to, not even Gushie or Tina." "That is weird," Al said, standing up. "Maybe I should talk to her. Ziigy seems to prefer to talk to me when she gets this way." Donna stood up, following Al out of the office. "Good luck. She won't even talk to me and I helped create her." The two took the elevator down to the tenth level and entered the Control Room, where the main computer body of Ziggy resided. Al looked around the room, seeing if anyone was in the room other than himself and Donna. Both Tina and Gushie were there, trying to talk Ziggy into speaking. Al looked at the bright multi-colored console. It was dimmer than usual, indicating that there was definitely a problem with Ziigy, who was usually bright enough to see by if the lights had gone out. He went up to Tina, who continued to try to get the computer to speak to them. "Any luck?" he asked in a whisper. The whisper was pointless and Al knew it. Ziggy could hear the sound of a pin dropping in a noisy crowded room. "Nothing," Tina told him. "I'm afraid of what might happen if Sam leaped into somebody while she's in this mood." Al sighed. "I'd have to do everything the hard way. It would take twice as long to find out what Sam had to put right." He looked at the faded control console and turned to Gushie. ":Let me try talking to her alone. Maybe she'll listen to me." Gushie hesitated, looking at his wife for an opinion. Tina nodded as did Donna. They all left the Control Room, allowing Al to be alone with the computer. "Okay, Ziggy," he said, looking up at the large blue incandescent ball hanging above the control console. "What's wrong?" The large ball brightened slightly as did also the control console. Still, there was no answer. "Come on, Ziggy," Al told the computer. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me." "Admiral," a female voice finally answered slowly. "I am concerned." "I can tell," Al replied, listening. "But you've made us all worried with your silence. What's bothering you?" "I'm afraid that someone may have been trying to hack into my systems." "What makes you say that?" There was silence. "Ziggy?" Al pushed gently. "Yes, Admiral?" Al sighed slightly. "What makes you think someone may have been trying to hack into your systems?" "Someone has accessed the main computer system to obtain information about Project Quantum Leap." Al walked up to the control console and put his left hand on it. "Ziggy, no one can access any information from your systems without the proper authorization code and password with palmprint," he reminded. "The person who accessed the information systems did have proper authorization." "Then what are you worried about?" There was a long pause. Al looked at the large blue ball hanging over the console as it paused in its flashes that indicated when Ziggy was speaking to others. Al wondered just how worried Ziggy really was, just how... human...did the computer become since it was first completed in 1994. "I'm not certain," Ziggy answered. "Where did the transmission come from?" "It came from the Pentagon," Ziggy answered readily. Al breathed out, hiding a smile. "Don't worry about it, Ziggy, It's probably just the bi-annual systems search." "But, Admiral, it is too early for a systems search." "So they're a half a month early," Al replied. "It's happened before." He walked around the console to be on the other side. "Why didn't you just tell the others about this?" "If my suspicions are correct, it is a matter of security and thus should be for your ears only, Admiral." Al thought for a moment. "True," he realized. "I hope I have relieved your fears." "I shall be able to operate within normal parameters, Admiral," Ziggy answered. Al nodded. "Good. Now, I think we should get back to work." He walked towards the Control Room door. "The time is 1827 hours, Admiral," Ziggy reminded. "I'm sure Mrs. Calavicci is waiting for you." Al smiled. "That's exactly why I need you back on track, Ziggy. I'd be lost without you." With that, he left the Control Room. "Is she talking?" Donna asked. She, Gushie, and Tina were waiting outside of the Control Room. "She's talking," Al told them. "How do you do it?" Tina asked with a smile. "I've got the touch," Al smiled, shrugging. ---------------------------------------- Chapter 2 soon. For all you Sam fans out there, don't worry. There's plenty of him in this but you have to be patient. Kat