Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 12:50:16 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Coup D'etat - Chapter 11 Message-ID: Chapter 11: Fire and Ice Al looked around at the scene around him. People were crying out. Men were shouting in the distance. There was fire everywhere. "What the hell?" Al exclaimed as he watched the floor beneath him collapse, making it seem as if he were standing on a cloud of smoke. He raised the handlink and pressed some buttons, trying to find out what was happening. Ziggy gave him the information willingly. "Gushie, center me on Sam, " he ordered, pressing buttons on the handlink. A moment later, he was outside, standing by a fire engine. "Sam!" he called out. "Al!" a voice responded from a red-headed, tall fireman who held a fire hose at the fire. "Where were you?" "It doesn't matter now," Al yelled to him. "There's a little girl on the fourth floor of that building and, if we don't get her out soon, she'll die!" Burke's voice came over the Imaging Chamber speakers. "Admiral, you are wasting time! This is not our mission!" "To hell with your mission!" Al told him. "What?" Sam exclaimed in shock. "I'll explain later," Al told him. "Just get the little girl." Sam quickly handed the fire hose tto a nearby fellow fireman and hurried towards the door. "Where the hell are you going?" Todd stopped him. "It's too dangerous in there!" "Someone's in there!" Sam exclaimed to him. "A little girl! I saw her in one of the fourth floor windows! I'm going after her!" "The building's gonna come down any minute! Besides, it's already been evacuated! There's no one in there!" Todd insisted. "Yes, there is!" Al and Sam insisted in unison as Sam broke away from Todd and ran into the blazing building. "Admiral!" Burke's voice put in again. "Shut up!" Al told him, pressing some buttons, centering on Sam. "Where is she, Al?" Sam yelled. "Take those stairs!" Al yelled, pointing to a metal staircase behind Sam. "Four floors up! Be careful! They're very hot!" Sam ran up the stairs quickly, panting evenly when he reached the fourth floor. Al met him at the top. "Third apartment on the left!" Al instructed. "Hurry! She's running out of time!" Sam was at the door as Al finished the sentence. He kicked down the door quickly and hurried into the apartment. He looked around. "Where is she?" he yelled to Al. "She's over here!" he heard Al yell. He followed the yell into a bathroom where he saw Al talking to a four year old girl, calming her. "It's okay," Al told her. "Helps here. Just let him take you out of here." Sam quickly but gently picked up the girl and took her out of the room, protecting her from the fire with his jacket. "Come on, Sam! Hurry! It's all coming down in only a couple of minutes!" A minute later, Sam came out of the building. Todd breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him come out. "Thank gawd!" He saw the small frightened bundle in Sam's arms. "How did we miss her?" Another fireman came up to Sam and took the girl from him. "Come on, sweetie," he said as he took her. "Let's get you someplace safe." "An angel helped him," the girl told the fireman. The fireman smiled at Sam. "I'm sure one did." He carried the girl away from the building. Al exhaled from relief. "That was close, Sam." Sam nodded just as the rest of the building collapsed. "So, what happens to the little girl?" "Well," Al told him with a smile, "she went on to become First Lady in the year 2000. At the age of twenty-six, she's the youngest First Lady in U.S. history." "Enough, Admiral!" Burke demanded with a near scream. "Tell him!" Al glared at the ceiling, more specifically at the speakers. with contempt. "Sam, we have to talk." His voice indicated that he wanted to talk in private, where no one would see Sam speaking to himself. "What about the fire?" Sam questioned with concern. "Don't worry about it," Al told him firmly. "Let the pros take care of it." "Hey, Dan!" someone called out. It was Mike, the supervisor whom Sam met over the game of poker. "Good job." He looked towards the now dwindling fire. "Why don't you sit down for a few. Looks like we have this thing under control." "See? Told you," Al said with a frown. It wasn't he usual cheerful jesting. Sam knew there definitely was something wrong. "Okay" he answered both Al and Mike, leading Al to a private area behind a fire truck. Having arrived, he turned to Al. "What's wrong?" he asked Al. "What is taking so long, Admiral?" Burke demanded, sounding ready to break down the Imaging Chamber door. "Gawd, I wish he'd shut up," Al said softly. "Al?" Sam asked, confused. Al took a deep breath. "I think you'd better sit down, Sam." Sam moaned. Al only told him to sit down when it was really bad. So, he sat down. "Okay. Tell me." Al gulped. "Sam, we have a problem. Congress has ordered us to turn control of the project to General Albert Whitefeather Burke." There was a peculiar look in his eyes as he spoke. "Who?" Sam asked. Al closed his eyes. "That's right. You weren't here for his liberation of Cuba. The man's a national hero and now he has control of the project. We have a new assignment to change history on a global basis." There was that peculiar look again. "Wait a minute, Al," Sam said, standing up. "You're telling me that Congress has taken the project away from us and has given it to this General Burke?" Al looked at him firmly. "That's what General Burke says." Sam instantly understood the look. "But you don't believe him." Al shook his head. "No." "Is he listening in on your side of the conversation?" "Yes," Al told him. "And he wants to change history on a global basis?" Sam questioned. "Why?" Al shrugged. "I don't know. But if we don't cooperate, the project will be terminated by Burke." Another peculiar look came on Al's face. Although the look was firm, the eyes were full of fear and sorrow as well as regret. "Terminated?" Sam repeated. "What do you mean?" Al just looked at him. "You mean 'terminated' in the traditional military meaning? As in a person being dead?" "You could say that," Al said quietly. Sam looked at Al carefully. It wasn't like Al to be so quiet. Something very wrong must have happened. He thought about what Al had told him. What was really happening at Projecct Quantum Leap. The sorrowful look in Al's eyes could have meant many things and there was blood on Al's pants. Sam grabbed at the most likely meaning of them both. "Al, General Burke entered the complex forcibly, didn't he?" Sam said more than asked. "Definitely," Al told him, trying to sound positive for Burke's ears. Sam lowered his head. "There are people dead, aren't there?" Al couldn't help keeping the sadness from his voice. "Yes," he told him. "Admiral," Burke's voice interrupted, beyond patience. "Your conversation is over. Dr. Conelf, break contact," he ordered. "But, General..." Al could hear Gushie protest. "Gushie," Al told the programmer. "Just do it." His voice was plain. It could have indicated resignation. He turned to Sam. "We have to break contact now, Sam. I'll tell you what I can later." "Al, wait!" Sam started. But it was too late. The Italian admiral had disappeared. Al looked at the pale blue walls of the Imaging Chamber. He felt helpless. His instincts were telling him that they were in deep trouble unless they could find a way to regain control of the complex. Or rather unless he could find a way. Also, why did Burke want to change history on a global basis? Al doubted it were for any humanitarian reasons. "Admiral?" Burke interrupted his thoughts. "Are you coming out of the Imaging Chamber in the next few days? If not, we'll just put some bread and water inside for you." Al rubbed his face with his right hand before straightening his uniform and marching out of the room. Burke smirked at him. "Glad you could join us, Admiral," he said sarcastically. "The pleasure's all yours," Al retaliated with equal sarcasm. "Yes. Isn't it?" Burke replied, much calmer than he was when Al was in the Imaging Chamber. He turned to Harry. There was a frown on his face. Al saw the meaning in the frown. *He doesn't trust him*, he thought. Sure to Al's interpretation, Burke ordered Harry to stand guard at the Imaging Chamber door. "Colonel Stewart will take personal charge over you from now on," Burke told him. "A colonel watching me?" Al asked. "I must be some kind of terrible criminal." Al looked around. "Where is this colonel?" Burke motioned the colonel over to him. "Admiral Calavicci, Colonel Richard Stewart," Burke introduced. "Colonel, please escort the Admiral to his quarters." "I don't have quarters here," Al told him. "You do now," Burke told him. "How'd I know you were going to say that?" Al muttered under his breath. Burke gave him a patient smile as Stewart motioned Al to go to the Control Room door. With a quick glare, Al headed for the door, followed by Colonel Stewart, to go to his new project quarters. ------------------------------------------------ What! You want more! Well, okay. I guess so. Stay tuned for Chapter 12. Rob and Kat Freymuth