Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 13:01:59 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: The Impossible Dream - Chapter 17 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Just a note: the CAPITALS in this part are not Sam's memories but are Beth's. ------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 17 Al was standing in one corner of the room, faking his way through a conversation with one of the prettier scientists on the project. Normally, his whole heart would be into the act of seducing this young, attractive woman but not this time. His mind was on Sam. It had been almost an hour and a half since Al had returned to the cafeteria and his worry was growing. Finally, a beep came from the wristband on his right wrist. He politely excused himself from the scientist and left the cafeteria. Verbina noticed and followed him out. "What's up?" she asked catching up with Al. "I'm about to find out," he told her as he pressed a button on the wristband. "Thanks for the page," he said into the wristband as he and Verbina entered the elevator. "What's up?" "We have a theory as to why there's no one in the Waiting Room," Tina told him. "I've been thinking about that, too," Al told her as he pressed the tenth level button. "The only way I can think there would be no one in the Waiting Room is if Sam leaped as himself." "That's the same conclusion we came up with," Gushie told him. Al frowned. "Sam's somewhere in time as himself?" "Ziggy thinks so. Yes," Gushie replied. "Then, how do we find him?" Verbina asked. "Ziggy's not sure we can." There was a long silence on both ends before Al broke in. "Dr. Beeks and I will be there in a minute," Al told him. "I'm assuming you at least have some ideas on how we can find him." "We do have a theory," Tina told him. "Tell me when I get there," Al told her, turning off the wristband as the door of the elevator opened. He and Verbina exited the elevator and headed directly to the Control Room. "Okay, what's your theory?" Al asked. "Ziggy thinks there's a good chance we can find Dr. Beckett by doing a nano-search of your brain waves and try to sync them with Dr. Beckett's in the past," Gushie told him. Al nodded. "How do we do that?" Tina took a breath. "You would need to be in the center of the Imaging Chamber and with the handlink activated." Al took a handlink from the computer console. "So, how long is this nano-search going to take?" "Ziggy estimates about four weeks," Gushie told him. Al looked at him with wide eyes. "A month?! You expect me to stand in the Imaging Chamber for a month?!" Gushie raised his eyebrows. "Well, Ziggy's pretty sure we can get a _neuron_ lock in two weeks, give or take a day or two." Al sighed. "Oh, Gushie," he moaned. It wasn't looking good. "Al," Verbina looked at him with concern. "Are you sure you're up to this?" Al smiled. "Keep the party going," he told her. "I'll be back in no time. He exhaled. "Or at least I'll be there for New Year's." He walked into the Imaging Chamber, centered himself, straightened his suit and activated the handlink. "Ready, Gushie?" he asked him through the Imaging Chamber's speakers. "Ready, Admiral," Gushie replied as he and Tina started the sequence. Images from the past swirled down and around Al at a dizzying rate. "I know you're out there somewhere, Sam," Al said aloud. "Lock on to me, buddy. Lock on!" ************************ "Al's alive?" Beth said more to confirm what she already knew than to question Sam's word. Sam nodded with a smile. "How do you know?" Sam lowered his head slightly. "That where the story comes in. Everything I'm about to tell you hasn't happened yet. And it doesn't have to happen this way." Beth looked at him with confusion. "Al was captured by the Viet Cong two years ago when his plane was shot down. They held him captive until they released him eight years later in 1975." "1975?" Beth questioned. "How can you know that? That's six years from now!" Sam was quiet for a moment. "I'm from the future." Beth stood up in disbelief. "What?" Sam stood up to look her in the eyes. "The year 1999 to be precise." Beth looked at Sam angrily. "Get out!" she ordered. Sam raised his eyebrows in a little surprise. "I don't know what kind of horrible game you're playing but I'm not going to be part of it!" Beth told him. "It's not a game, Beth," Sam told her calmly. "Please, sit down and let me finish. In your heart, you know I'm telling the truth." Beth sighed. There was something familiar about this man in front of her. "Who are you?" Beth questioned. "Beth, you can question me all night and not get anything or you can sit down and let me explain this in my own time and in my own way." Beth took a step back in shock. "Oh, my gawd! Jake Rawlings! But how? Why?" "Please, Beth," Sam said, indicating for her to sit. She obeyed slowly, almost in a trance. "Beth," Sam continued. "Al was repatriated in 1975. When he got home, he discovered that, thinking he was dead, you had the Navy declare him as such and you remarried in June of this year." Beth had a look of total shock on her face. "It's Dirk, isn't it? I marry Dirk Simon." Sam nodded. "Yes." "Oh gawd!" Beth cried. "Losing you was too much for Al. Although his military career continued and he rose to the rank of admiral, his life was riddled with alcoholism until we met." A tear trickled down Beth's cheek. "He married and divorced four other times. When he was divorcing his fourth wife, the Navy had decided it was time for him to retire. Of course, Al was extremely angry by this; the Navy is his life." Beth nodded. "It is," she agreed, remembering what she had told Dirk. "FLYING WAS HIS FIRST LOVE, THE NAVY HIS SECOND, AND I GUESS I WAS HIS THIRD. BUT I KNEW THAT WHEN I MARRIED HIM." "At the time, he was working for a government program," Sam told her. "He was coming to work with a hangover, even drunk. The chairman of the program fired him. I was hired to replace Al as Chief of the program. "The day I was hired, I went to the laboratories of which I would be in charge. I found Al in one of the labs. He was so drunk, he was beating a vending machine with a hammer." "Oh, Al," Beth moaned. "I helped him sober up, got him back on his feet, and even got him re-hired. Al in turn hired me as his assistant. He never did retire; he's still in the Navy." "I know," Beth said quietly. "He told me. He told me he was an admiral." "I'M AN ADMIRAL NOW: ME, THE ENSIGN WHO SAID THAT ANYONE OVER THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT WAS A HORSE'S ASS," THE GRAVELY VOICE TOLD HER. "You could sense he was here," Sam said more than asked. Beth nodded. "Could you hear him?" "In a way," Beth told him. "But it didn't think it was real. It felt more like memories. I thought it was his spirit saying good-bye." Sam smiled involuntarily. Beth caught the smile. "He still believes in ghosts, huh?" Beth asked. Sam nodded. "Yeah." There was a moment of quiet between them. "He really was here, wasn't he?" Sam nodded. "Yes, he was." "How?" "That's another story." "Please, tell me." "It's a long one too," Sam warned her. "I have all night," Beth told him. "I want to everything about Al. How he was here and how you are here." Sam smiled. "Okay." He took a breath and began telling her about Project Quantum Leap. ------------------------------------------------------------- The final chapter is next! Kat