Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 16:32:51 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Coup D'etat - Chapter 10 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII A tribute to Donald P. Bellasario in this part. It was my co-author's idea. --------------------------------------- Chapter 10: A Change of Plan Al walked into the infirmary, Ensign Harry Stark right behind him, and stopped in shock. "Oh, gawd!" he whispered. The infirmary was fuller than any other time in his career. There were about fifteen people there, their injuries ranging from severe to minor and each one of those injuries was caused by bullets. "Al! Come here!" Beth ordered, having heard him come into the room, despite the moans of pain that filled the room. Al obeyed immediately, this time not being followed by Harry, who stood where he was, starring in shock at the sight of the crowded infirmary. "Hold that," Beth ordered Al, indicating the cotton cloth she was holding in place over a bullet hole which was bleeding intensely. Again, Al obeyed, replacing her hand with his. "How bad is it?" he asked as Beth moved quickly to finish bandaging the wound upon which Al was keeping pressure. "Pretty bad. I'm having enough trouble tending these patients with two volunteers to help. I could use any men you could spare. We're getting more people in all the time," she added, finishing her bandage and moving on to the next patient after giving her previous one orders to rest. Al followed Beth, taking a quick look around as he did so. He recognized Beth's two volunteers. They were both Marine corporals - his Marine corporals. One's arm was bandaged. He had probably been a patient an hour ago. Al was proud of them. "Hold him still," Beth told Al as she lowered herself to cut off her patient's shirt. Al gently held the man by the shoulders. The man shook in pain as Beth slowly and carefully cut the shirt. The man opened his eyes and looked at Al, who gave him a reassuring smile. The man closed his eyes again, enduring the pain as Beth finished removing the shirt. Beth looked at the man's bullet wounds carefully. He had two bullets; both had punctured his left lung. "Beth, where's Dan?" Al asked, continuing to hold the patient still. "He's in the operating room," she told him. "But he needs my help in there. This place wasn't built for a catastrophe." Al lowered his eyes in sorrow. Right at that moment, he came to a decision. "Will he be okay if I release him for a moment?" Al asked, referring to their current patient. Beth nodded. She wiped the patient's forehead gently with a smile. Unfortunately, Al recognized the smile immediately. The patient was going to die. He took a deep breath before he quickly took off his uniform jacket, already stained with blood, and tossed it into a corner of the room. "You have a third volunteer," Al told Beth. She sighed. "Thanks but I need people with surgical experience also. This man will die unless we operate," she whispered to him so that the patient couldn't hear her, "and I need a real nurse out here, not a soldier." "How about a soldier with experience in a hospital?" a voice asked. Beth and Al looked up to see Harry Stark standing near them, his gun loose in his hand. Neither answered him. "Listen," he told them. "I've worked in a hospital for five years. I know surgical instruments and procedures and I can certainly tend wounds. You need help. I'm offering it." "What would the General say?" Al wondered. "Who cares?" Harry replied. "All right, then," Beth said. "Prep the patients and leave the gun in the corner." "Yes, ma'am," Harry said emphatically, hurrying to the job. "What can I do?" Al asked. "Help our new volunteer," Beth told him. "And keep up moral. You're pretty good at that." "You got it," Al told her, standing up. He walked to the corporals, calling the uninjured one to him to tell him the situation. Three hours later, many of the patients had returned to their quarters with the order to rest. Some still remained in the infirmary, their injuries too severe to allow them to leave. Beth was in the operating room with Dan MacArthyr, performing what they all hoped would be the last operation. Al, although he wasn't needed in the infirmary to tend patients, remained to sit by beds and give support, sometimes physical, to the wounded. His white t-shirt and dress pants were covered with still-drying blood. "Not exactly dressed in military fashion, are you, Admiral?" a strong voice said from the infirmary door. "Actually, General, I was thinking the same thing about you," Al replied quietly. There was an obvious sting in his voice. Burke smiled slightly. "You don't care for me very much, do you? You blame me for this..." He gestured around the infirmary. "...tragedy." Al glared at him. "Ten people are dead, thirty-two are wounded, a third of those critically, and you led the group that caused this. So, yes, I blame you for this tragedy." He mimicked Burke's motioning around the room. At that moment, Beth came out of the operating room with Dan. They both wore expressions of sorrow. Al knew that look; their last patient had died on the operating table. "Make that eleven dead," Al muttered sorrowfully. Burke looked about the room and noticed Harry Stark, who was standing by a patient. The expression on Burke's face turned from questioning to glaring once he saw the ensign dressed in white and covered in blood. "Ensign, what are you doing in that outfit?" Burke questioned. "You had orders." "Yes, sir," Harry replied. "I did not neglect in those orders, sir. In fact, by assisting with the wounded, I was better able to fulfill those orders, sir." Burke nodded slightly, accepting the response. He looked at Beth with intensity. Beth shivered slightly at the gaze. There was something about this man that bothered her greatly. "I didn't see you in the personnel file," Burke finally said. Al looked at him carefully, noting his words. "She's our new Assistant Chief of Medicine," Al put in before either Beth or Dan could speak. Both looked at Al in slight surprise. "Assistant Chief of Medicine?" Burke questioned. Al nodded. "Dr. Elizabeth Bellasario." He looked at Beth with a hidden warning that only she could understand. "Dr. Bellasario, this is General Albert Whitefeather Burke." Al spoke the name with a slight hint of contempt. Burke had seen Al's look of warning. *What did that mean?* he wondered. Beth's eyes had widened at Al's introduction. "_The_ General Burke?" Burke smiled. "Is there another? Pleased to meet you, Doctor." He raised Beth's hand and kissed it gentlemanly. "I never knew you could act like a gentleman, General," Al told Burke with sarcasm. Burke frowned down on Al. Al looked into Burke's eyes. He had hit a nerve in the General and, if he wasn't careful, he could cause Burke to lose his temper. "Come, Admiral," Burke told him after a moment. "We have work to do." "I have to speak with Dr. Bellasario and Dr. MacArthyr first. Will you excuse us?" Al more ordered than requested as he stood up. He walked into Dan's office with Beth and Dan, closing the door behind them as they entered. Burke looked at the door with suspicion. "Ensign," he ordered Harry. Harry stood at attention. "Yes, sir." "Watch Calavicci closely. I don't trust him." "Yes, sir." *************** "Bellasario?" Beth questioned with a frown. "Do you mind telling me why I am suddenly going by my mother's maiden name?" "And why she's suddenly my assistant chief?" Dan put in. Al sighed, sitting down in a chair away from the door. "I don't trust him. He's dangerous." "So I noticed," Dan replied, looking down at his blood-stained operating gown. "But why the alias?" Beth asked as she walked up to Al and lowered herself to look in Al's eyes. "Beth," Al said, leaning forward, "if Burke finds out that you're my wife, there's no telling what he'll do. Just look what he just did to our people. Some of those people in that room are civilians." Dan nodded with understanding, seeing what Al was trying to do. "He's right, Dr. Calavicci. The man is obviously unstable. If he can just shoot innocent bystanders..." "He might usee you against me," Al interrupted. "Or worse, he might hurt you. And I can't risk that happening. So, please, be Liz Bellasario until I can get things back in order. "You don't think he's here under orders," Beth surmised. Al shook his head. "He says he is but I don't believe him. If only I knew...." Beth sighed. "Well, I hate being called Liz..." "Beth," Al pleaded. She smiled. "But I think I can handle being Liz Bellasario for a few hours." Al closed his eyes. "I have a feeling it'll be more than a few hours. Probably a few days." "A few days?!" Beth exclaimed. "What about the girls? They'll be worried stiff! And what about Trudy's wedding rehearsal?" "Let them be worried about us," Al told her. "It'll draw the attention of the Navy and then maybe we can end this quickly." He stood up. "Trust me on this, Beth. I'll make sure everyone know to call you Liz Bellasario and I'll find a way out of this mess." "Just be careful. Okay?" Beth told him. "I will," Al promised. He kissed her on the lips and left the office. "Well, Dr. Bellasario?" Dan asked. "What now?" Beth smiled. "You can call me Liz. For now." *************************** *Where's Al??* Sam thought as he lais his head down on a pillow. It was the question that had been racing through his mind as he helped the other firefighters stop a small fire at a residential home. It hadn't taken long to stop the fire and, for a moment, Sam thought he had completed his mission. But he hadn't leaped and Al hadn't shown up to tell him why not. Besides, something in Sam's gut told him it couldn't be that easy, despite how comfortable Dan Anderson's bed was. Sam closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander, trying to get to sleep. Al had never been this late in coming into the Imaging Chamber. Sam had a bad feeling about this leap. There was something very important he had to do. Unfortunately, Sam had no idea what that was. He would just have to wait for Al to tell him. It seemed as if Sam had just fallen asleep when the telephone rang. Sam looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was four o'clock in the morning. Sam had been asleep for five hours. He picked up the phone groggily. "Hello?" "Dan, you'd better get down here." It was Aaron, who was still putting in his time at the fire station. "We've got another fire and it's big. I mean really big! The old apartments are on fire and it's spreading like crazy! We're calling in everyone on this!" Sam instantly knew. *This is what I'm here for!* "I'm coming!" he told Aaron quickly before hanging up the phone and quickly dressing, heading for the front door as he did so. ********************* "Dr. Conelf, have you located Dr. Beckett?" "Ziggy's working on it, General," Gushie answered. There was little conviction in his voice. Burke glowered. "It's been working on it for the past hour! What's taking it so long?!" "You're ignoring her so she's ignoring you," Al told him as he entered the Control Room, Harry directly behind him. Al was beginning to feel like he was under house arrest. But that was okay. For some reason other than Harry's help in the infirmary, he knew he could trust Harry. He could certainly trust him more than he could trust any other of Burke's men. Al walked passed Burke and went to the control console. He placed his hand on a large block on the console, causing a beam of light to shoot from the block to the sphere hanging above the console. "Good evening, Ziggy," he greeted. "Good evening, Admiral Calavicci," Ziggy returned, her voice a mixture of relief and rebuke. "What's our status with Dr. Beckett, please?" Al requested. "Dr. Beckett has leaped into Dan Anderson, a volunteer fireman in Tucson, Arizona. It is June 28th, 1977." Al was getting a handlink. "Do we know why he's leaped in Anderson?" "Yes, Admiral," Ziggy answered. "There is an eighty-seven percent chance that he is..." "Who gives a damn!" Burke called out angrily. "Admiral, you are wasting time! Now, you had better go in there and tell Dr. Beckett about the change of command and mission. No tricks, Admiral! Or this project will be terminated right here and right now!" *He's nervous*, Al thought, listening to Burke's tirade. *He's definitely not here on Congressional orders. He's afraid I'll say something that will give him away. And the way he said 'terminated' scares me*. He thought of the possible meaning of Burke's words. *My gawd! He's mad!* "Ziggy?" Al asked, keeping an eye on Burke. "Yes, Admiral?" "Is the Imaging Chamber ready?" "Yes, Admiral." Burke smiled slightly. "Remember. No tricks, Admiral. I'll be listening." Al lowered his eyelids slightly with contempt. "Terrific," he muttered, walking into the Imaging Chamber. -------------------------- Chapter 11 will come soon. Rob and Kat Freymuth