Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 16:33:56 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Coup d'Etat - Chapter 25 Message-ID: Chapter 25: Life and Death DAY 9 Al yawned as he sat up and looked at the time. 0949. He sighed. At one time, little more than a week ago, he would have considered getting up after nine o'clock sleeping in. *I guess I needed it*, he thought as he stood up. He had to delay action yet one more day. He needed to give Tina the time to successfully sabotage Ziggy. He also needed tome to make one final visit to Sam before cutting power to the complex. "Good morning, Admiral," Ziggy's voice told him as he started to do some push-ups. "General Burke is awaiting you in his office. Colonel Stewart will arrive to escort you in thirty minutes." Al did a push-up and glared at the ceiling. "Can't I have the least bit of privacy?" he asked with a seethe as Beth woke up. "I am merely obeying General Burke's orders," Ziggy replied. Beth sighed. "What does he want now?" she asked as she stood up. Al looked at her with a smile of appreciation. "I do not know why General Burke wishes to see Admiral Calavicci, Dr. Calavicci." Al huffed. He was tired of having to come at Burke's beckon call. He hoped Tina had succeeded in sabotaging Ziggy. He hadn't had any update from Genine as yet. He thought for a moment. "Ziggy, what time is it?" he said as he stood up from his exercises. "0922,"the computer replied. Beth frowned, looking at Al. "She's..." "Yes, she is," Al replied, giving her a look which warned her to keep quiet. Ziggy was a half of an hour off. *She's never been off before by even a second*, he thought. Obviously, something was wrong with her and Al knew who caused it. "What time will Colonel Stewart be here, again?" Al asked. "0950," Ziggy told him. "Well, you can tell Colonel Stewart to wait until I call for him," Al told the computer. "I have a couple of things to do first." Beth looked at him with curiosity. "General Burke is quite insistent upon your reporting to him as soon as possible," Ziggy told him. "General Burke can stuff it!" Al told her angrily as he headed towards the bathroom. "Al!" Beth exclaimed in surprise. Al smiled mischievously at her before going into the bathroom. "Another such outburst may result in a court-martial for insubordination, Admiral," Ziggy warned. "Court-martial?" Al questioned as he stepped into the shower. "The man isn't even a general anymore." "Correction, Admiral Calavicci. General Burke is a three-star general and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." Al's eyes widened in shock as hot water beat down on his chest. "What?" he questioned. "General Burke is a three-star..." "I heard you the first time, Ziggy," Al said quietly. "How did it happen?" "Dr. Beckett prevented Senator Struther from being in an automobile accident on March 1, 1995. As a result, Senator Struther believed that Solomon Havlin was indeed psychic. Struther attempted to convince Congress to invade but failed in his attempt. He did, however, succeed in convincing Congress not to press charges against General Burke, thus preventing his court-martial. General Burke was later promoted when he was appointed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a temporary advisor until General Craig Hartley recovers from his recent heart attack." Al sighed. "Terrific," he moaned as he lathered some soap. "What kind of idiot appointed _him_ temporary advisor?" "General Hartley chose him to take his place with the President's permission," Ziggy told him. "It was a rhetorical question," Al told her. "Of course, Admiral. I would suggest that you finish cleansing yourself with expediency. You have twenty-two minutes before Colonel Stewart will escort you," Ziggy informed him. Al hit his head on the shower wall in frustration. With a sigh, he finished his shower, dried off, and returned to the main room of the quarters. He saw Beth sitting on the bed, waiting. "You didn't know General Burke was on the Joint Chiefs of Staff?" Beth questioned. "After all the hubbub you made over it last month?" Al sighed. "Guess I'm too closely attached to the project to have a different memory yet." "So Sam did change history," Beth concluded. "Apparently so," Al replied. Beth sighed. "So, what are you going to do?" Al thought for a moment. A smile came across his face. "Al, what is it?" Beth asked. "Stay here," Al told her with a kiss. He went over to the door and placed his hand on the silver plate by the door. The door opened instantly. Beth gasped in surprise. Al smiled. "Stay here," Al repeated firmly. "Where are you going?" Beth questioned. "To feed a guest," Al told her as he stepped out cautiously. Beth exhaled in frustration as the door closed. She hated it when Al kept her in the dark. "Be careful," she wished softly. ************************* "General," Ziggy's voice came over the speakers in Sam's office where Burke was sitting, waiting for Al's arrival. "Admiral Calavicci has left his quarters without escort." Burke sat up in astonishment. "What do you mean? Didn't I order his quarters to be locked from the outside at all times?" "Yes, General Burke. However, the lock seems to be malfunctioning. I cannot explain it." Burke glowered. "I can. You're a collection of useless parts! Track me! Find out where he's going and tell me immediately." "Yes, General," Ziggy replied. "And inform Stewart of the situation immediately." "Yes, General." Burke huffed. "And I thought the damn thing was uncooperative _before_ I reprogrammed it." ************************ Al marched into the infirmary with determination. "Al!" Dan MacArthyr exclaimed in surprise. "Where's Verbina?" Al demanded. "In my office," Dan answered. "Why..." Al never let him finish his question, marching into the office. "Verbina," he said , startling the psychiatrist. "I need you to do me a favor." "Al!" Verbina answered in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "What favor?" "I need you to give the guest breakfast," Al told her. She laughed in shock. "Are you serious?" "Very," Al told her. "Listen. Burke isn't letting anyone into the Waiting Room. By now, Havlin's stomach's starting to talk to him and getting him something to eat is the perfect opportunity to also get some information from him." "The guy's shook up as it is by now and you want to question him?" Al looked at him intensely. "It's the only chance Sam's got. I'm tired of Burke using him and he needs to know why he's leaped into Havlin." He quickly looked at his watch. "Burke's guards are on their way by now. We have to go now." Verbina took a breath and let it out. "I'll be there." "Don't forget a handlink," Al told her as he headed towards a door that led into the hallway. "We have to bypass Ziggy and send information from 'link to 'link." "Give me ten minutes and I'll be there," Verbina told him. Al nodded as he opened the door. He checked to see if the hallway was clear and then marched down the hallway. He went down the stairs one level and slipped into Tina's quarters. Tina gasped in surprise at the sight of Al. Al raised his finger to his lips, telling her thus to be quiet. He pointed to the bathroom and led Tina into there. He then turned on the shower and sink faucets as high as possible. "The room is probably bugged and Ziggy's probably keeping track of me," Al whispered. "So keep it down." "How'd you get out of your quarters?" Tina questioned. Al smiled. "Whatever you did to Ziggy is working. I think I'm confusing the hell out of her." His face got serious. "Tina, I need to find a way to bypass Ziggy for a handlink to handlink connection. Could you distract her for fifteen minutes?" Tina smiled. "Easily. I can do that right from these quarters." Al smiled. "Tina, you're amazing. Wait seven minutes," he told her before quickly leaving the quarters. Tina shut off the water and returned to the quarters' main area. She looked towards the bed. Despite all that water running, Gushie was still asleep. *********************** Solomon Havlin's head snapped up at the sound of the Waiting Room door opening. He saw a beautiful black woman walk into the room with a tray in her hands. "Hello, Mr. Havlin," she said gently. "I thought you might be hungry." "What do you want?" Sol demanded. "Why won't you let me go?" Verbina let go a breath. She figured that something like this would happen. "Mr. Havlin, I know you're very angry right now," she started. "Angry?! Damn right, I'm angry!" Sol told her. "I know my rights, lady, and what you're doing is not only kidnapping, it's abuse!" "We only want to help you," Verbina told him. "Help me? You want to help someone, help me daughter by letting me go!" Verbina took a breath. "Is there something wrong with your daughter, Mr. Havlin?" she stated, walking towards him. "Stay the hell away from me!" "Listen," Verbina said more firmly. "I don't know what happened yesterday but I do know that you have to be very hungry. And I am on your side. I want you out of here as soon as possible too but the only way I can help you is if you help us." "I already told that woman Ziggy everything," Sol told her. "Ziggy has her own agenda and it has nothing to do with helping you in anyway," Verbina told him, putting the tray on the Waiting Room table, beside Sol. "Now, why are you so worried about your daughter?" Sol sighed. "There's no use in fighting you even if you're lying." He took a breath as Verbina pulled out a handlink. "What's that?" he questioned at the sight of the object in Verbina's hand. "This is for sending information to my co-conspirator," Verbina told him. "You mean you could get in trouble for helping me?" Sol questioned. Verbina raised her eyebrows slightly as she pressed buttons on the handlink. "I could get killed," she told him. Sol exhaled. "I think my daughter is being abused," he told her firmly. Verbina stopped at that. She looked at Sol. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said sympathetically. As she said this, she heard a loud bang. "Was that a gunshot?" Sol questioned. Verbina gulped silently. *********************** Al marched into the Control Room and grabbed a handlink that laid on Ziggy's console. "Admiral?" Ziggy's voice questioned as he marched. "What are you doing?" "You're the parallel-hybrid computer," Al told her. "You figure it out." "You are in the lead by three points," Ziggy replied. Al looked the computer with wide eyes. *Must be Tina's distraction*, he realized. Still he ordered what could have made the computer answered in such a manner. *No matter*, he thought, taking the opportunity to go into the Imaging Chamber without detection. Or so he thought. He quickly punched in a series of codes into his handlink. A moment later, he found himself inside Margaret's house in the kitchen, standing a few feet from Sam. Sam was seated at the kitchen table, sharing a beer with a man whom Al assumed was Margaret's husband. "You play a mean game of basketball," the man commented. "Well," Sam replied, "I had a good teacher." He was thinking of Tom. He looked towards the window and saw Al. Al had a very serious look on his face. "We have to talk. Now," Al ordered. Sam gave a brief nod. "Excuse me for a minute, Mark," Sam said as he stood up and left the room. He led Al to a nearby bathroom and closed the door. "What is it?" he asked with concern. "I don't have a lot of time," Al told him, "so just listen and don't ask questions. First of all, forget about Burke's orders. I have Beeks in the Waiting Room right now trying to figure out why you're here." "It's something to do with Havlin's daughter," Sam quickly told him. "Good. That narrows it down," Al told him. "Now, if we can just..." "Freeze!" a voice yelled firmly. Al looked at Sam carefully. "Al, what's wrong?" Sam questioned. "You're on your own, Sam," Al told him. "Who are you talking to?" the voice demanded. Al looked over his shoulder to see a man no more than nineteen years old. He closed his eyes. *That bastard Burke recruited kids!* Al turned around slowly. "Al, what's going on?" "Kid, put the gun down," Al told the young man gently. "Gun!" Sam exclaimed. The young man's hands shook slightly as he held the gun at Al. Al extended his hand slowly, palm down. A second later, Al let out a quick scream and collapsed to the floor. "Al!" Sam exclaimed, hurrying to the image of his friend. Al winced hard. He shuttered for a moment and then went limp. "What the hell happened here?!" Al heard Burke's voice scream in anger. "General Burke! I..." There was a loud shot just as Al lost all consciousness. "No!" Sam exclaimed as Al's image completely faded out. "Please, no! Al!" In total despair, Sam collapsed flat on the floor and wept. ------------------------------------------------- Chapter 26 coming soon. Rob and Kathie Freymuth