Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 16:28:57 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Coup d'Etat - Chapter 24 Message-ID: Chapter 24: In the Deep End Tina was smiling as she entered the Control Room. She knew precisely how she was going to shut down Ziggy's secondary systems and she knew that no one would ever know that it was sabotage. She had already made the necessary back-up disks on most of Ziggy's most important programs such as the Accelerator program, the program for the Imaging Chamber, and the ill-fated Retrieval program. She had done that months ago when a small power outage made her wonder just how secure Ziggy's programs really were. Therefore, reprogramming Ziggy wouldn't be impossible if the need came about; it just would be a pain in the butt. "Good evening, Dr. Conelf," Ziggy said in greeting. "I was unaware that you would be down here this evening." "Yeah, well, Al asked me to check up on the leap," Tina lied to Ziggy. "How's Sam doing?" "As yet, there has been little change in history," Ziggy told Tina as Tina put a disk into Ziggy's floppy drive. "A minor change has occurred involving Senator Struther. In the new history, he was not involved in a car accident on March 1, 1995." "That's good. Right?" Tina asked as she pressed a few buttons. "That is correct," Ziggy replied. "What are you doing, Dr. Conelf?" Tina stopped, embarrassed. She exhaled. "To tell you the truth, I'm downloading some games I got off of the Internet into your memory." "Why?" "Because Gushie is a lousy opponent," she answered emphatically. "I don't understand," Ziggy told her. Tina took a breath. "I need an opponent who gives me a challenge. Gushie's terrible at video games and no one else in the complex plays them very well so I thought I'd draft you. You don't mind, do you?" "Of course not, Dr. Conelf," Ziggy told her. "However, I doubt that General Burke would approve." "So, what's wrong with a little entertainment on the side?" Tina asked. "Let me just download these games and then I'll give Al his update." There was a bit of silence as Tina downloaded the games. "Dr. Conelf, if Admiral Calavicci wanted an update, why didn't he just request one over the intercom directly to me?" Tina sighed. "I hate to tell you this, Ziggy, but he doesn't want to talk to you." There was more silence. "I don't understand," Ziggy told her. Tina looked sorrowful. "You used to." There was no response but Tina could tell that the hybrid-computer was thinking about her comment. "Anyway," Tina said, "I'm done downloading those games but there's one I'm not sure is in your memory. Can you activate it? It's under the file name 'parasite'." "The game is called 'Alien Parasite'?" Ziggy queried. "That's the one," Tina told her. "I have activated the game," Ziggy told her. "Would you care to play a game, Dr. Conelf?" "Games?" a firm voice said from behind Tina. Tina turned around startled. "General Burke! I didn't hear you come in!" "Games, Dr. Conelf?" Burke questioned. "Just something to pass the time," Tina told him. "Ahh," Burke commented. "Well, since you seem so desperate for something to do, why don't you prepare the computer for a few tests. I'll be synchronizing my brain waves with Dr. Beckett's." Tina looked at him with slight shock. She covered it up the minute she noticed that Burke was watching her. "Of course, General," she replied quietly. "What was that, Dr. Conelf?" "Immediately, sir," Tina said more loudly. "Good," Burke replied. "Get to it." Tina took a breath. "Yes, sir," she replied with reluctance as Burke left. Regardless of what Burke told her to do, she wasn't about to let him get his way. ************************ "Hey, Sol!" a man called out to Sam as Sam prepared to go upstairs to his bedroom. It was late. Lucy had long been tucked in bed and Sam himself was ready for a good night's sleep, especially after having made that phone call to Senator Struther. The Senator was understandably skeptical of Sam's supposed psychic abilities but he nonetheless listened to Sam patiently. Sam looked at the speaker who had called out his borrowed name. The man was tall with auburn hair and hazel eyes. His face was gaunt in comparison to Sol's but he was still handsome. He was dressed in a white polo shirt and black slacks which gave him a relaxed yet professional look. "Hi," Sam said, unsure to whom he was speaking. "I see you've withstood Margaret's scrutiny," the man said, approaching him. "I know you two don't get along too well." Sam sighed. "You can say that again." "Have you seen Lucy yet?" Sam nodded. "Yeah. She's grown," he improvised. "Yeah, well, I raise them tall," the man joked. *This must be Mark*, Sam realized. Mark took a breath. "Margaret's in bed?" he questioned. "Uhh...no," Sam told him. "She's in the living room." "Waiting for me again," Mark concluded. "I guess so." "Well, I'd better let her know I'm home before I check on my little lamb," Mark said with a smile, referring to Lucy. "Listen, I'm taking tomorrow off. How about you and I play some one on one?" Sam nodded. "Okay." "'Night, Sol." "Good night, Mark," Sam said as he climbed the stairs and went into his bedroom. Two hours later, while Sam was asleep, there was a quiet knock on the door. It continued for a short while until Sam heard it. With a moan, he went to the door and opened it. Standing in the hallway was Lacy, fear in her eyes. "What's the matter?" Sam asked her gently. She hurriedly held onto Sam tightly. "Let me stay in here tonight," she said in a quivering voice. "Please, Dad?" she begged. "Hey," Sam said in a gently voice. "What's the matter, honey?" "I...." she started. ""I had a really bad dream. Please, Dad? Please?" Sam looked at her carefully. *She's lying*, he thought. *About the dream anyway. But it's obvious that she's frightened.* "Okay," Sam told her. "You can stay in here tonight. I'll sleep downstairs." "No!" she pleaded quietly. "Stay with me, Daddy? Please?" Sam nodded. "Okay, honey. Go on. Get in bed. I'll be in the chair. Okay?" Lucy nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Daddy. Thank you." She hurried to the bed and covered herself. Sam closed the bedroom door softly. He took a blanket that was in the bedroom closet, sat down in the upholstered chair in the bedroom, covered himself, and tried to get some sleep. However, as he started to drift off, a small whimper came from the bed, waking Sam. "Lucy?" he whispered, looking towards the bed. Lucy didn't answer. However, the whimpering stopped the minute Sam said her name. The routine repeated several times through the night. Sam finally got to sleep around four o'clock in the morning. When he awoke at about eight o'clock, he noticed that Lucy was gone from his room. She had apparently slipped out of the room earlier for Sam could hear Margaret telling her it was time to get up for school. Sam opened his bedroom door to confirm what he heard. Sure enough, he saw Margaret by Lucy's bedroom door. "Come on, sleepy head," Margaret told her. "You don't want to be late." "Okay, Mom," Sam heard Lucy answer as Margaret left the door. Margaret noticed Sam watching the scene. "Good morning, Sol," she said in a civil manner. "Good morning, Margaret," Sam replied. "If you want breakfast, you'd better get dressed and come down," she told him bluntly. She immediately started down the stairs. Sam took a step into the hallway. He then saw Mark coming out of his bedroom. "'Morning, Sol!" Mark said jubilantly. "Ready to get your butt kicked?" Sam smiled. "Well, I'm a pretty good player myself." Mark laughed. "Be ready by ten, sport. We'll see if you're as good as you say you are." Sam nodded as Mark jogged downstairs. He then took a breath and proceeded to Lucy's bedroom. He knocked on the door. There was a gasp on the other side of the door. "Lucy?" Sam questioned. He opened the door slowly. "Are you okay?" Lucy exhaled. "Dad, you scared me." "Are you okay?" Sam repeated. "I'm okay," she said quietly. "Dad? Promise me that you won't tell Mark I stayed in your bedroom last night. He'll just get angry." Sam frowned. "Why would he get angry?" he asked, noting that Lucy didn't call her step-father anything close to "dad". "He just would," she said even quieter than before. All of a sudden, the ten year old girl seemed six years old to Sam. *Something is seriously wrong here*, Sam realized. *Something between Mark and Lucy.* "I promise," Sam told her, hoping he wouldn't have to break his promise. "You'd better finish getting ready for school." Lucy nodded. "You and Mark are going to play basketball?" "Yes," Sam told her. She looked at Sam in the eyes. "Pummel him!" Sam could have sworn he saw pure hatred in the little girl's eyes. -------------------------------------------------------- It's hard to believe but there's only seven chapters left! Chapter 25 coming right up! Rob and Kathie Freymuth