Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 19:24:45 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: The Impossible Dream - Chapter 13 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Chapter 13 As Al entered the Imaging Chamber, he could hear Sam's (or rather Mike Selantono's) voice speaking softly. "No. I'm not the one doing it." There was a pause. "I don't know." Al approached him slowly. "Sam." "Al!" Sam replied emphatically. Al hurriedly sat down. "Sam!" He sighed with relief. "Al, thank gawd you're here!" "Of course, I'm here. You think I'd leave you?" Al looked at Sam's face. His eyes were closed but were moving rapidly. *Rapid Eye Movement*, Al thought. *REM. He's asleep and I'm in his dream.* Al closed his eyes in slight despair. "Of course not," Sam told him. "I knew you'd come. I was just worried when you didn't show up to tell me why I'm here." Al raised his eyebrows. This would be the perfect opportunity to find out what Sam was dreaming. *Whatever it is, it's a leap. What would I say if I was late for a leap?* "Gee, Sam. I'm sorry but we had a devil of a time trying to find you," Al improvised. "At least you're here now," Sam told him. This wasn't helping Al. He needed to get the ball rolling. "Yeah but where are we?" he asked. "Al's Place," Sam replied. "It's a bar." Al laughed at the answer. "I always wanted my own bar," he joked. He was about to say something more when Sam spoke. "But this is more than a bar, Al." Al's brow furrowed. Now they were getting somewhere. "It is?" "This is where Quantum Leap started." Al looked around carefully. If anyone heard Sam speak about Project Quantum Leap, they might have trouble like they did when Sam leaped into Maxwell Stoddard and told about the project, while under sodium amethol, to a couple of Air Force nozzles working for Project Blue Book. Seeing that the coast was clear, he turned back to Sam. "New Mexico?" Sam shook his head. "No. Remember when I first leaped we felt that someone or something had yanked me away?" "Yeah," Al replied, tilting his head. "Well... he's the someone or something that... yanked me away." There was no indication as to whom Sam was referring, especially since Al couldn't see what Sam saw in his mind. "Who? The bartender?" Al joked, remembering that they were in a bar in Sam's mind. Sam's response surprised him. "Yeah. He's the one that's been leaping me around. He wants me to believe that I'm leaping myself around but that's not true." Al was starting to really worry about his friend. "Right. You aren't being leaped around by God, Fate, or Time; you're being leaped around by a bartender." "What I mean, Al, is... I think he IS God... or Time or whatever." "Sam..." Al whispered. Was his best friend losing his sanity? "I know it sounds crazy but it's true," Sam told him. "And in there, there's Frank and Jimmy LaMott but here they're Tawchy and Pete. And Moe Stein - you remember Moe Stein? Captain Galaxy? - but here his name's Ziggy. And there's a guy in there with a long beard named Gushie but he doesn't look like our Gushie. But he's got the same horrible breath!" Al closed his eyes. This was all too painful hearing Sam say these completely insane words. "Oh, Sam," he moaned. "Al," Sam said firmly. "When I leap do I turn all blue and tingle with electricity?" Al opened his eyes and frowned at the question. "I don't know. When you leap, I go back into the Imaging Chamber." "I bet I do!" Sam exclaimed."I bet I turn all blue and have electricity pass all through me just like Stawpah. But no one leaped back in his place," Sam wondered. Al's eyes widened. "Stawpah?" he asked with a dry mouth. "Yeah. Stawpah. It means Steve in Russian," Sam told him. "I know what it means," Al said, looking at Sam with more than a little curiosity. "I have an uncle named Stawpah." Sam shifted a bit in his bed. "Al, does he have rheumatory arthritis?" *How'd he remember that?* Al questioned himself. *I have talked about Uncle Stawpah for years!* "Yeah," Al replied. "He's all twisted like a pretzel." To Al's surprise, Sam started to laugh. "It's not funny," Al told him firmly. "Ah, but it is," Sam muttered. "Why?" "It just is," Sam whispered as he began to fade from Al's sight. Al took a hard gulp. "I'll get you out of this, Sam," he promised. "Whatever it takes, I'll get you out of this." With that, Sam's fading image was replaced by the baby blue walls of the Imaging Chamber. At sat there, his eyes closed. He was more than just scared now. He was terrified. His best friend was not only slipping from one state of consciousness to another but was also losing his mind in the process. Al took a deep breath and stood up. *No use in fretting in an empty Imaging Chamber. As if it's better to fret in a full Control room or a vacant office*, Al thought as he stepped out of the Imaging Chamber. He let the door close behind him and then leaned back against it, his eyes closed to fight off the pessimism that was tugging at his heart. "Al?" Verbina's voice cut in. "Are you okay?" "How's Selantono?" Al asked, not answering her question and not opening his eyes. "As best as we can expect, I suppose," she told him. "He was very talkative. Talked a lot about his love for Ms. Paprocki and how he was going to propose to her. And Sam?" Al opened his eyes. "He was talkative too." He straightened himself and walked out into the Control Room. Verbina followed. "Al," she said, marching behind him quickly in an attempt to catch up with his quick pace. "What's wrong?" Al turned to face her as she approached him. "What's wrong? That's the hourly question, isn't it? What's wrong with Sam? What's wrong with me?" Al took a calming breath and exhaled. "What's wrong with me is I desperately want a drink. What's wrong with Sam is interrelated and needs a bit of explanation." Verbina nodded. "How about in my office? But only one drink." "I don't need any more than that," Al told her and allowed himself to be escorted to the office just a few doors away. -------------------------------------- Well, I've got to stop typing sometime today. But don't worry. At this rate I should have the whole thing done by Thursday. Kat