Date: Thu, 5 Sep 1996 13:09:25 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: QL: Slide Before You Leap - Part 23 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Part 23 "Absolutely not," Harlow told him. "We can't just let suspected criminals waltz out of our jurisdiction." "Both of us know these people are not criminals," Al replied. "All they want to do is go home and home is San Francisco." "In another dimension, or so they say," Harlow responded. "Either way, we have no ides what they know about Project Quantum Leap. When we have determinged what we know then we'll see." Al took a breath. "Sheidley, I'm asking you to do this as a favor." "I can't, Al, and you know it," Harlow told him. "I may be your ex-wife but you know me well enough to know that I go by the rules. The law is the law, Al, and I'm not going to let our relationship get in the way of my duty. The answer is no." "I understand," Al answered. "In fact, I would have been disappointed in you if you had said yes." "Keep yourself clean, Al," Harlow wanred. "It's bad enough as it is for you. Don't make it worse." "Thanks for the advice," Al smiled. "No matter what happens, I'll still consider you a friend." With that, Al hung up the phone. "What did he mean by that?" Harlow questioned aloud. ***************************** "Admiral," Quinn noted Al's entrance into the eleventh level cafeteria. Al looked at the four Sliders sitting at the cafeteria table, knowing the issue that was on their minds: what now? Al had the answer. "How was your night?" Al asked. "We slept well," Arturo answered. "Thank you." "Good," Al said. "Then you'll have enough energy for a trip to San Francisco." "Today?" Wade questioned. "What about that hearing?" Rembrandt asked. "All taken care of," Al told him. "Senator Harlow said you can all go." Quinn looked at him suspiciosly. "You're lying." "Do you want to slide safely or not?"" Al replied. "Get your things together. We'll leave in a couple of hours." With that, Al left the cafeteria. "Most peculiar," Arturo commented once Al was out of the room. "He didn't deny your accusation." "You mean he doesn't have permission to take us out of here?" Rembrandt asked. "Apparently not," Arturo answered. "If he takes us out of here, won't he get in trouble?" Wade questioned. Quinn nodded. "We can't just let him take the blame!" Wade complained. "That, Miss Wells, is exactly what we must do if we want to slide off this world," Arturo told her. "The Admiral knows full well of the consequences of his actions." "The Professor's right, Wade," Quinn told her. "If we don't go along with the Admiral, we might miss the slide. Better that we're in San Francisco than in a jail cell." Wade exhaled. "It just isn't fair." "Things rarely are, Miss Wells," Arturo replied. "Unfortunately." ********************************* "Al, this is really stupid!" Sam complained as Al dressed in a pair of black slacks, a black shirt, and a black leather jacket." "So are Beavis and Butthead," Al replied sarcastically. "What?" "That's right," Al answered more to himself. "You don't watch MTV." "Al," Sam reprimanded. "Don't do this." Al looked at him. "Do you want me to let them go to prison?" "We can't be sure they will," Sam told him "Senator Harlow has got to let them go." "She won't," Al said plainly. as he checked his pistol for bullets. "How can you be sure?" "I'm sure," Al told him. "I know her, Sam." He hesitated. "Neither her nor I wanted you to know this but we used to be married. She was my first wife." Sam exhaled. "How many other secrets are you keeping from me?" "It was important for both of our careers for us to disassociate ourselves from one another," Al told him. "She disowned me. I disowned her. End of story. Her career is her life. I wanted children. She didn't. All those kind of marital problems that come right before divorce." He slipped his pistol into a holster just inside his jacket. "Al," Sam said in a concerned voice. "You're not going to use that, are you?" "If I have to." Sam lowered his head. Al smiled. "Just for show. It's just blanks." His face grew serious. "Wish us luck. If I'm caught, you know nothing about it." "Al..." "I mean it, Sam," Al said firmly. Sam exhaled. "Okay." Al gave him a quick nod and left the quarters. "Good luck, Al." *********************************** It really wasn't too difficult for AL to get the Sliders out of the complex, though it did involve a show of force when Al held his pistol at an ensign who had orders to prevent the Sliders from leaving. Unfortunately there was no other way to get passed the guard. Al had gotten them into a van and quicklydrove them to the air field where they had landed before. He hurried them into his plane and took off minutes before a security detail arrived at the air field. "You know you're going to be court-martialled for this," Wade commented at Al when she realized what a quick get-away they had at the air field. Al nodded slightly. "Probably." "Then why are you doing this?" she asked. Al hesitated. "Because it's the right thing to do." She really had no response to that. As they approached San Francisco, Al regarded his landing area. "Shit," he muttered. The area was covered with troops. "They knew?" Quinn asked. "Well, it wasn't very hard for them to guess I was bringing you here." He looked at his aerial map quickly. "There," he said with conviction. He pointed to a small area of the map. "That's a lake!" Wade exclaimed, noting the area at which Al was pointing. "A reservoire, actually," Al corrected. "You're not planning on landing there!" "No, but you're going to jump into it." "Preposterous!" Arturo exclaimed. "Would you rather spend the rest of your life in a prison on this world?" Al pointed out. "Look at it this way, Professor," Rembrandt told him. "At least it'll be a soft landing." "Get ready," Al told them. "I'm going to come in low. Get out as fast as you can. Ready? Now!" The four piled out of the plane, splashing into the reservoire and then swimming ahore while Al pulled up. "Is everyone okay?" Quinn asked, shaking excess water from his clothes. Everyone seemed fine. "Then, let's get out of here." Al took a breath as he turned around and landed at the air field. He was instantly surrounded with military police. He slowly left his plane and approached them, his hands where they could see them. "Hi, fellas. Read any good books lately?" he joked just before being handcuffed and taken away. ----------------------- Part 24 coming soon. Kat