Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 18:57:15 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Slide Before You Leap - Part 7 Message-ID: SLide Before You Leap A Quantum Leap/ Sliders Crossover Part 7 "Damn?" "Dr. Beckett?" Dr. Arturo asked with a concerned glance over his shoulder. "Are you all right?" "Me? Yes," Sam told him. "Alpha? No." He sighed, walking towards Arturo. "I can't seem to get the ego aspect down. How the hell do you write a program that actually gives a computer a personality?" Arturo took a breathj and turned around in his wheelchair to face Sam. "Samuel, you really need to take a step back from the problem and and relax for a couple of days." Sam laughed a bit. "You sound like Al." "The Admiral has sound advice." Sam sighed. "I can't. Not with that deadline hanging over my head." He looked at Arturo firmly in the eyes. "Max, if I can't prove my theories before the end of the month, I'm going to lose my project and not even Al will be able to talk Congress out of it this time." He took a breath. "How's the retrieval program?" Arturo took a breath, accepting the change of subject. "Slowly," Arturo told him. "Your concepts seem valid but the equations will not work in practice. Absolutely brilliant work, however." "Thanks," Sam said with a yawn and a little sarcasm. Brilliant work was not the same as a proven theory. "Alpha?" he asked to the ceiling. "Yes...Doctor...Beckett," the computer replied choppily. Sam shook his head. *A human could easily sound like a computer but why couldn't most computers easily sound human?* he wondered. "Run diagostic," he ordered, walking back to his work table. "All...currently...available...systems...functioning....Systems...unavailable ...for...diagnosis...are....." "I know what they are," Sam told the computer. "Thank you, Alpha." He started to pace the room in thought. Arturo sighed at the sight. "Samuel, if you feel you must work when you should rest, at least focus on something different." "Like what?" Sam asked, still pacing. "Perhaps the retrieval program," Arturo suggested. Sam smiled. "Tired of it already, huh, Max?" Arturo rolled himself closer towards Sam. "I'm concerned about your health, as I'm sure Dr. Barton is as well. And since you seem insistent on working, the least you can do for yourself is to move on to another problem. Since the retrieval program is the most readily available, why not take advantage of the opportunity." Sam nodded. "You are tired of it, aren't you?" "It would be beneficial if both of us gained new perspectives in our work." Sam shrugged. "What the hell. It can't hurt." As Sam and Arturo switched places, there was a beep from two ceiling speakers which warned that there was a message following. "Dr. Beckett," a young voice said. "Admiral Calavicci is on the phone for you. He says it's important." Sam stood up from his new position. "Transfer the call to Dr. Barton's office down here. Thanks." With that he left the large room which he hoped would soon become a control room and headed for an office just a short ways away. On the door of the office was printed in legible letters: Dr. Alexander Barton, Psychologist. Dr. Barton was Sam's second choice as his project's psychologist. His first choice, Dr. Verbina Beeks, had taken a well-paying position at MIT as a tenured professor. Sam though it would be most beneficial to have a psychologist on hand. Though Dr. Barton's primary job would be to analyze the effects of the project on its participants, it helped to have someone to talk to, especially given the problems they were having with the project at the moment. Dr. Barton was not in the project complex at that time so Sam knew that he could talk in relative privacy in the doctor's office. The phone was ringing when Sam entered the office. He picked it up hurriedly. "Hello?" "For a moment there, I was beginning to think that your working on that computer of yours was more important than talking to me." Sam smiled. "It almost was. Al, you said this was important and you know how far behind we are. What's up?" Al took a breath. "Are you sitting down?" "No. Why?" "I think you'd better." Sam exhaled and sat in the chair at the desk. "Okay, I'm sitting. Now, what's wrong?" "First answer me this. Would it be possible theoretically to travel from one reality to another?" That gave Sam pause. "What are you trying to say, Al?" "Just answer the question first." Sam thought for a moment. "Yes," he finally said. "If someone had actually found a way to access the Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge, it would be possible. But it's highly unlikely unless they'd been doing years of research in the field and I know of no one working in that field." "But it is possible?" Al asked. "Yes, it's possible," Sam told him. Sam heard Al sigh. "Then we have visitors from another timeline, Sam." Sam stared at a wall, trying to grasp what Al was telling him. "What?" "Apparently this kid found a way to access that Einstein-Roswell- Podiatry..." "Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge," Sam corrected. "Whatever," Al replied. "These four people claim to have been travelling from one timeline to another, trying to find their own timeline and they think that you can help. I told them I'd talk to you but I know you have a lot to do this month and really don't have the time to meet them to...." "When do they what to meet and where?" Sam interrupted. "They didn't say," Al told him, suspicion in his voice. "Then bring them here," Sam said firmly. There was a pause on the other side of the line. "Sam," Al finally spoke, "we aren't even sure these guys are legit and you want to bring them into a top secret military-controlled complex? Are you nuts?" "It's legit, Al. I can feel it in my bones." "All you feel is a muscle spasm from working too hard on Alpha." There was a definitely leer in Al's voice. "It's not that, Al," Sam reprimanded. "I know it. I feel the way I felt when I first saw those calculations I scribbled on that napkin after Star Bright. The one's that told me that I could travel in time. It's real, Al. They're legit." Al sighed. "Okay, Sam," he gave in, knowing there was no other alternative. "But they don't go near any place in the least bit important to the project and they get guards. When do you want them here?" "Immediately," Sam said quickly. "As soon as you can." "I was afraid you were going to say that." Al paused. "Sam, are you sure about this? If Congress gets a peep about this...." "I'm sure, Al. Besides, if these people can travel to different dimensions, they certainly have a good graps of quantum physics. We might be able to use their insight to solve some of our problems." "This isn't a good idea, Sam," Al warned, a final attempt to change Sam's mind. "What if you're wrong and Congress finds out or worse? You'd be washed up! Finished! Kaput!" "Al, I trust you to make sure that that won't happen," Sam said, confidence in his voice. "I'll see you soon." With that, he hung up. Al hung up the phone on his side slowly. "Sam, I sure hope you know what you're doing." --------------------------- Part 8 soon. Stay tuned. Kat Freymuth