From: jj1152@mcis.messiah.edu
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 96 16:02:00 -0500
Message-Id: <"d057=xn000000000*"@MHS>
Subject: "Top Secret" part 2

See?  I told you QL was part of it. :)  The focus of it, even. :)


                               TOP SECRET
             A Quantum Leap/X-Files/Lois and Clark crossover
                                     by Julie L. Jekel

                             June 8, 2000
                         Project Quantum Leap
                      Stallion's Gate, New Mexico

     Al slammed the phone down with a curse just as Donna walked through the
door.  Her eyes widened in surprise.
     "Are you all right, Al?"
     He glanced up, startled.  A sheepish expression came over his face as he
recognized Sam's wife.
     "Oh, sorry, Donna.  I'm just a little frustrated."
     Dr. Elise nodded wisely.  "Was it him again?"
     Al nodded curtly, his eyes burning.  "That son of a..." he muttered.
     "Didn't Sam get the tape?"
     "Yeah.  He didn't have any qualms about taking it once he knew what was at
stake.  Still, if I had kept those nozzles from getting their hands on him in
the first place..."  He scowled.
     "But there must have been a chance they could get it back, or he would have
Leaped and we wouldn't be having this conversation."
     "The tape and the file have to be destroyed."
     "So, as soon as he does that, he'll Leap?"
     Al shook his head.  "He doesn't have it anymore.  He gave it to a newspaper
reporter."
     Donna stared at him as if he'd just announced that her husband had lost his
mind.  "What?"
     "He gave the tape to Lois Lane," the Admiral repeated with a sigh.
     "The reporter from the Metropolis Daily Planet?" she asked incredulously.
"Why?"
     Al sighed uneasily.  "Ziggy, can you find a picture of Lois Lane from
around 1995 or 96?"
     "Of course, Admiral.  Would you like me to?" the computer asked innocently.
     The Observer glared.  "Ziggy!"
     A moment later the screen of Al's office interface with Ziggy was filled
with the image of a young woman with short dark hair and expressive chocolate
eyes.  He turned the screen to where Donna could see it.
     Dr. Elise's face paled.  "I see," she replied softly.
     "They say everyone has a double..." Al commented.
     "Mine just happens to be fifteen years younger than me," Donna commented
wryly.  "She looks just like I did when Sam and I first met--except for the
length of her hair..."
     Al said nothing.
     A look of sudden hope crossed her face.  "Al, does he know--?"
     He shook his head.  "He still thinks you never showed up."
     Donna bit her lip to hold back the tears and nodded.  "What does Ziggy say
Lois Lane did with the tape?"
     Al frowned.  "She doesn't know, or if she does she's not talking.  All
she'll say is that this guy still gets his hands on the tape, which..."  He
indicated the phone.  "I had already figured out for myself."
     "Do you think he'll actually carry out his threat?"
     A picture of Alia flashed briefly through Al's mind and he nodded.  "I
think Ziggy would give that a 100% probability."
     Blackmail.  It was something neither he nor Sam had ever expected when they
had begun Project Quantum Leap.  Of course, they hadn't known that Sam had
accidentally left evidence of his Leaping in the past, evidence that this man
who called himself 'The Governor' was threatening to use for his own ends, ends
that they had already seen the possible results of.
     Donna sank heavily into a chair, her bearing clearly showing the anxiety
they were dealing with as a result of this unexpected threat.
     "Why is he doing this, Al?  Why does he want Sam to kill for him, and why
is it so important to him that he'll go so far as to do it for himself if we
won't?"
     Al sighed.  "I don't know.  Apparently this man ruined his life in some way
and he either wants revenge or to prevent it from happening.  I'm not sure
which."
     "What did he want this time?"
     "He wants to meet with me.  Prove to me that he can do what he says he
will.  And there's no way I'm going to tell him I already know he can!"
     She looked puzzled.  "You do?  How?"
     Al looked uncomfortable.  "Oh, that's right.  I didn't tell you much about
those Leaps, did I?"
     Donna laughed softly.  "I can always tell when Sam falls for someone during
a Leap, because they're just about the only Leaps you don't describe in great
detail."
     "Is it that obvious?"
     She nodded, a sad smile on her face.
     "Well, let's just say this time it was another Leaper."
     "ANOTHER one?"
     "Her name was Alia.  Don't ask me how she did it--she was definitely too
young for half of those Leaps to be within her lifetime.  Apparently, she was
from another Project, only her task was to make things go wrong.  Sam Leaped in
to stop her, but she made him believe her mission was the same as his, and
almost got him killed.  Because she chose not to kill him though, everything she
had caused to go wrong in the Leap was undone.  The next time they met, Sam took
it upon himself to rescue her from her Project by taking her with him."
     "Taking her with him?  What do you mean, Al?  Taking her where?"
     "He took her with him when he Leaped.  Since they were able to see each
other once they touched, he figured that maybe if they were touching when they
Leaped, they'd Leap together, and since he'd succeeded and she hadn't, he'd take
her with him."
     "Did it work?"
     "Yeah.  But Alia's Observer Leaped to try to find her and bring her back.
It got pretty complicated there for a little while, and we lost track of Alia,
but at least the other Project did too."
     "So she's lost in time somewhere?  Leaping around by herself?"
     Al nodded, and Donna shook her head sombrely.  "That poor girl."
     "So we can't just refuse to give in to his threat.  We have to stop him."
     She nodded.  "I hope we still can."
     "Oh, we can.  I'm sure of that.  It'll be a lot more complicated than we
originally thought, I expect."  If things kept following Murphy's Law the way
they had been, it would DEFINITELY be complicated.  "But we'll do it.  Somehow."