Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 12:03:33 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: The Impossible Dream - Chapter 5 Message-ID: Chapter 5 Sam didn't get any sleep that night, despite Al's urges for him to do so. Instead, he got out of bed around seven o'clock, took a shower, and went into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast, quite a task when there was little to nothing in the refrigerator or the cabinets. Having eaten and dressed, Sam took the large amount of laundry down to a nearby laundrymat and washed and dried everything. Having paid a large amount of money for the loads, he returned to the apartment and put all the clothes away. He looked at the time. 11:21. He had to get to the arena, even though he knew the show would be rained out. As he pulled Jack's motorcycle into the warehouse, he received curious looks from Bill and Shaakeen. *Am I late?* Sam thought. "Well," Bill said. "If it isn't Jack Stutzman. What pushed you out of the bed this morning?" *Too early*, Sam corrected himself. "Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd get some stuff done." "Does that mean showing me an alternate show stopper?" Susie said from behind him. "Or are you here just to piss me off?" *What a wonderful relationship these tow have*, Sam thought sarcastically. "Tell her you're here to piss her off," Al told him as he came through the Imaging Chamber door. "What?" Sam whispered. "You heard me," Susie glowered. "Go ahead, Sam. Tell her," Al instructed. "And call her Mrs. Paprocki." Sam hesitated. "I guess I'm here to piss you off, Mrs. Paprocki." Susie glared at him. "My office. Now." Sam closed his eyes and started to follow. Al followed him. He was wearing a much colorful suit than he had been wearing the night before. His bright pink jacket and pants matched well with his black long-sleeved shirt, his black dress shoes, and the black arm-band on his right arm. He was obviously in mourning. "Okay, Al," Sam huffed. "Now, what the hell did you get me into?" "Exactly what Jack would have gotten into," Al told him. "Relax. She's not going to fire you." "That's really helpful to know," Sam moaned. "Hey, you've got to keep in character or Susie'll suspect something's wrong with you," Al told him. There was a mischeivous gleam in his eye. "Al," Sam huffed as he gave a warning look just before entering the office. He was immediately confronted with a passionate kiss from Susie as she closed the door with a push of her leg. "Don't call me Mrs. Paprocki," she told him when she came for air. "Now, what do you have?" Sam looked at Al, who was fiddling with the handlink. Al frowned. "Zigyg's got nothing on what was suggested. Whatever you tell her, she's gonna reject anyway. So, tell her something elaborate but safe." Sam sighed. How was he to know a stunt that was elaborate but safe? He looked at Susie. "I don't think you really need a show stopper. I mean, with all of the wonderful stunts you and Shaakeen do." "Shaakeen?" Susie questioned with surprise. Al shook his head. "Shake 'n' Bake, Sam." "Shake 'n' Bake," Sam corrected. "I figure you two can do your stunts and I can do a few of my own little stunts." "That's good, Sam," Al put in. "Your own little stunts?" Susie paraphrased. "Like what? Wheelie on the semi? I don't think so." "Well, what about, instead of length-wise, I do the stunt width-wise," Sam told her. Susie paused in annoyance. "Surely, you can do better than that. Time's wasting. Show time in two hours." Sam frowned. "What ever happened to safety first?" Susie laughed. "You talk to me about safety first? After wheelies on a semi? That's what I call dangerous." "Then why not do wheelies instead of the semi-truck stunt?" Al raised an eyebrow. "You have a point there, Sam. But it's not very spectacular." "As a show stopper?" Susie exclaimed. "You can't be serious. Can you, Jack? Not ever." "Kiss her, Sam" Al said. "She'll melt like butter." But Sam was already approaching her. "I can't be serious, huh?" he said softly. He took her head gently. Softly, he kissed her lips. Then, he let go. Susie just stared at him, lost in the black eyes of Sam's borrowed aura. "Ummm... You'd better practice," Susie started. "For the show." Al nudged his head towards the door. Sam took the cue and left. Susie closed her eyes. "Damn," she whispered. *Why do I always fall for that?* Outside of Susie's office, Sam glared at Al. "Now, how did any of that help save Susie?" "Well," Al told him, "the chances of her being killed went down." Sam's eyes widened in surprise. "To what?" "Eighty-seven percent." "From?" Sam asked, a little suspicious. "Eighty-eight percent," Al told him without looking at him. Sam glared at Al. "Hey, a little romance never hurts," Al defended. "Do that another thirty-seven times in the next two days and you're home free." Sam shook his head. "I don't think so." He looked out into the arena. "I thought you said it was going to rain." Al punched buttons on the handlink. "Give it another half an hour." "And what do I do in the meantime?" Sam asked. "Work on your bike," Al answered as he pushed the exiting sequence. "And try to convince Susie not to have the semi-truck stunt. I'm gonna see if Jack has any suggestions." With that, he disappeared behind the white rectangular light that was the Imaging Chamber door. Sam sighed. Trying to convince a woman like Susie to not to have the semi-truck stunt was like trying to make the world spiin backwards. But Sam had to try. Just as Al had told him, the rain came down a half an hour later. Sam, Susie, Shaakeen, and Bill all waited until show time for the rain to stop. But, just like Al said, ti didn't, forcing the audience that did come to get their money back. Susie groaned as she watched the rain keep coming down. "A whole day's profits gone." "Ah, come on, Susie," Shaakeen told her. "It's not that bad. We're still making more than we ever did, thanks to Stutzman's stunt." "Thanks, Shake 'n' Bake," Sam muttered. "But I'm not gonna do it anymore." "Then, you'd better come up with something tonight," Susie told him. "Tomorrow's the deadline." Sam winced slightly. She had no idea how right she was. He suddenly had an idea. "Well, then, I'll make you a deal. Extend the deadline to Monday. If I don't have something by then, I'll do the stunt on Monday." "You want to extend the deadline, go ahead. But until you find a really good stunt, we stick with the semi-truck stunt. Got it?" "Yes, ma'am," Sam answered. "Hey," Bill put in. "Since we have the afternoon off, let's make the best of it. Anyone for Old Chicago's? I'm starved." "Sure," Susie replied. "I could use a beer about now. Jack? Shaakeen?" "Old Chicago's?" Sam questioned. "It's that or the Golden Bee," Bill told him. "But that's pretty expensive." Sam shook his head. "Old Chicago's is fine." "Then, let's go," Bill offered. All consented and followed Bill to the restaurant in downtown Colorado Springs. ************************ Thirty-five years in the future, Ziggy registered a shift in the timeline and noted it. She calculated new odds for the possibility that Mrs. Susie Paprocki would die on June 18, 1985. She determined that the new odds were not yet important enought to disturb Admiral Calavicci, who was busy working in his office, preparing the budget for the new year and the new century. ************************ "What do you guys want of me?" Jack asked when Al had gone into the Waiting Room after he left Sam. "I told you what you wanted. Now what?" Al smiled., trying to ease the tension. "Relax, Jack. I just want some suggestions. We're trying to get Susie NOT to do the semi-truck stunt," Al told him. "In her show," he added quickly. "Look, I've tried everything I could think of except sleep with her. She's just impossible to please." He paused. "Tomorrow's Saturday, right?" "Uh... Yeah," Al told him. For Al, it was actually Wednesday but it was better not to confuse Jack anymore than he already was. "Shit," Jack muttered. "If I don't think of something really good soon, I'll have to do the stunt Monday. Or Susie'll do it. If there was only some way to convince her how dangerous it is," he thought aloud. Al paused. "If you think of anything, just let me know." Getting no response, Al left the Waiting Room. Jack Stutzman sat on the Waiting Room table and started swinging his legs nervously. "What will work for her?" he asked himself. Nothing came to his head. ************************ Saturday had finally come. Sam opened his eyes slowly. He was glad that he'd had plenty of sleep last night unlike the night before. He was going to need plenty of energy today to try ot convince Susie to get rid of the semi- truck stunt. Sam followed the same routine he had the other day, minus doing the laundry, and made sure he was running a little late in getting to the arena. He hadn't thought of any stunt to replace the semi stunt. Then again, he wasn't a stuntman. "'Morning, Sam," Al said as he stood by Sam as Sam rode the '75 Harley-Davidson. Sam swerved a bit, startled by Al's sudden appearance. Al winced. "Sam, it's not a good idea to lose control of a motorcycle on Academy Boulevard. Trust me. I know. I was stationed at NORAD for a short time so I know this city pretty well." "Al," Sam shouted over the sound of the motorcycle's engine. "What about Susie? Any change?" Al looked at the handlink. "Good news. The odds have dropped to sixty- nine percent. Whatever you're doing must be working." "That's great, Al. What about replacing the stunt?" Al frowned. "We're working on it. But it doesn't look good. There's an eighty-four percent chance that she sticks with the stunt. Jack gave me a few ideas we can put past her but Ziggy says there's only a fifteen percent chance she'll take any of them." Sam pulled into the arena and stopped the engine. He frowned at Al's last words. "Then what do I do?" A slight grin came to Al's face. "You may have to sleep with her." Sam glared at Al. He huffed. "I'm surprised Jack hasn't done that yet." "Well, Jack hasn't done that yet because he's crazy about her and he's too shy to ask." Sam laughed, getting off the bike. "Jack? Shy? He taunts her!" Al shrugged. "It's his way of saying 'I love you'." Sam shook his head. "I can think of a couple of better ways." "I was hoping you were setting a trend yesterday," Susie said as she walked towards Sam. "What?" Sam questioned. "You know," Susie told her. "Actually coming in on time?" "You don't let anything get in the way of you r lifestyle," Al supplied. "Especially time." "Well," Sam started, "you know I don't let time interfere with my lifestyle. It was a fluke." Susie smiled. "Yeah, right. Shall we have our daily office discussion now or later?" "Lead the way," Sam beckoned. He followed her into her office and closed the door behind them. "Okay?" Susie said, sitting at her desk. Sam and Al went through the entire list of stunt ideas, each idea being summarily rejected by Susie as being not dangerous enough, not spectacular enough, too dull, or too unrealistic. "That's the best you can do?" Susie goaded. Sam glared at her. "Why are you so insistent with this stunt? Everything I suggest isn't good enough for you." "Sam," Al warned, looking at the handlink. "Give me one good reason to continue the semi-truck stunt, a stunt we both know is too dangerous," Sam continued. "Sam," Al repeated. "I wouldn't goad her, if I were you. The odds of her being killed are going up." Susie sighed. "I suppose you're right. If you can't do it, you can't do it." The handlink squeeled at Al. "Uh, oh, Sam! You'd better do something! She's gonna try the stunt in five minutes!" "What do you mean?" Sam asked. "I mean you don't have to do the semi-truck stunt," Susie told him. "I mean the odds have jumped drastically!" Al emphasized. "Sam! Do something!" "Then which stunt will I do?" Sam asked. "Whichever you want," Susie told him. She stood up. "Sam!" "Does that mean there won't be a semi-truck stunt?" Sam demanded. Susie didn't answer. "Don't do it, Susie!" "Well, you won't; so, somebody has to," Susie retaliated. "You promised me until Monday, remember?" Susie paused. "Just as we agreed?" "Just as we agreed," Sam told her. "I promise." Al looked at the handlink and sighed with relief. "You did it, Sam. The odds have dropped back down. Now, they're fifty-four percent." He frowned. "But the odds of Jack being killed have gone up to forty-six percent. Sam, what did you promise?" "Okay," Susie consented. "You have until Monday. But whatever ideas you have, they'd better be good or you're stuck with the stunt." She left the office. Al looked at Sam with concern. "Sam, what did you promise her?" he repeated. "Jack's odds are getting worse by the minute." "I promised to get another stunt," Sam told him. "Or what?" Al demanded. Sam left the office. "Sam!" Al demanded. "Or what?" He followed him out of the office. "Or I'll do the stunt myself," Sam told him quietly. "You'll what?!" Sam turned to Al. "Do you have a better idea?" "YES!" Al exclaimed. "You sleep with her!" "No way, Al!" Sam walked to the Harley. "Listen to me, Sam," Al told him. "Ziggy says that, if you sleep with her, there's a seventy-nine percent chance she'll drop the stunt!" "And what if I do the stunt?" Sam said. "Uhhh... eighty-nine point four three percent," Al read. "But the chances of your dying are ninety-two percent!" "I'll take that risk," Sam told him, walking away. "SAM!" Al called after him. No response. -------------------------------------------- OOOO! The tension builds! Stay tuned for Chapter 6....coming soon. Katherine "Kat" Freymuth The Al-coholic suffering from almost totally incurable QL withdrawl (that is unless our petition works!)