Message-Id: Date: Thu, 20 Jun 96 23:43:52 -0700 (PDT) From: jekel@cts.com (Julie Jekel) Subject: "Top Secret" part 10 The warehouse described in this episode is the one from the L&C first season episode "Strange Visitor From Another Planet." As usual, characters are not mine, just temporarily humoring me. :) TOP SECRET An X-Files/Lois and Clark/Quantum Leap crossover Four high-beam flashlights cut ribbons of light out of the shadows inside the large, empty building. The door which had once filled the space that the human intruders were standing in hung open, a large black scar on its lock where Clark's heat vision had burned through. One of the four stepped hesitantly into the warehouse, the darkness doing its best to disguise his lanky figure, but not quite succeeding. He was followed by the two women, the shorter one with hair that sent out flame-colored sparks every time one of the lights touched it, and the taller one, the only person not wearing a trenchcoat. The other man, about the same height as the first, but more built, hung in the doorway, his glasses resting low on the bridge of his nose and his eyes scanning the darkness. "Do you see anything?" Lois asked, turning to glance over her shoulder at her fiance. He shook his head, pushing the glasses back up to their usual resting place. "I didn't scan the whole building, but it doesn't look like they left anything behind but dust." Mulder's face registered his disappointment and the beam in his hand dropped towards the floor, illuminating a patch on the bare cement like a small spotlight. To come so close so often... Scully gave her partner a reassuring pat on the arm. "Come on," she told him softly. "There's nothing here. Let's go." He glanced over at her, indecision written plainly on his face. Then, his eyes hardened with determination. Turning on his heel, he plunged into the darkness, his intent footsteps echoing against the steel walls. His partner watched the distance grow between them for a few minutes, until all she could see was the shrinking beam of light from his flashlight. Then, with a sigh, she set off into the darkness after him, walking swiftly to catch up to his long strides. Lois started to follow them, but Clark caught her arm gently. "Let her go, Lois," he said softly. "I think this is between them." After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and placed her own hand over his where it still rested on her arm. He smiled softly at her, and they stood there together, relishing each other's presence and watching the retreating figures of the two agents. "Mulder, wait." Hearing his partner's voice, Mulder slowed his steps enough to let her catch up to him. He could see that she was slightly out of breath, though she was doing her best to try to hide it. He smiled weakly at her, knowing the risk she had taken in coming after him, and not just that Lois and Clark might take the opportunity to leave. When she reached him, she met his eyes with understanding and sympathy. "Mulder," she told him softly. "Kent said the warehouse would probably be empty." "I know," was the quiet reply. "I guess I just hoped they might have gotten careless and overlooked something." With a sigh, he overturned an empty crate and sat down on it. Scully crouched down beside him. "You can't keep looking for Samantha behind every locked door with a US government seal on it, Mulder." Her voice was gentle, the words formed of concern, not criticism. "I'm..." "You're what?" he wanted to say, but Scully knew him too well. "I'm just tired of always coming so close and then missing!" He balled his hand into a tight fist that whitened his knuckles, and pounded his knee with it. The flashlight which had been in his hand rolled off his lap and across the floor of the warehouse until it came to an uneasy rest against a nearby wall, still lit. "I know," she replied softly. "I know." They sat there in silence for a few moments, lost in their own respective thoughts. Finally, Mulder stood with a sigh and Scully followed his lead. "I guess you're right..." he admitted. She smiled. "Come on. Let's get out of here." He nodded, walked over to the wall and bent down to retrieve his flashlight. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of bright colors reflecting the light out of the corner of his eye. His heart jumped a little in hope and he turned his head to get a better view. Lying carelessly against the wall was a pocket-sized cluster of multicolored flourescent cubes, mostly hidden behind another empty crate. His face brightened into an eager smile. "Scully, look at this!" Scully's eyes turned to where her partner was kneeling beside the crate against the wall, holding the flashlight aimed at it with one hand and reaching behind it with the other. "Did you find something?" she asked, surprised. He nodded and stood with the strange device in his hand. His partner's eyes widened as she took in what seemed to be a glowing gob of polychromatic Jolly Ranchers or Legos, or _something_. Project Quantum Leap momentarily forgotten, Mulder studied the unearthly looking gadget, turning it over and over in his hands. "This can't be man made..." he murmured to himself. "Human technology isn't this colorful. It must be some sort of alien communicator." He flashed her a lopsided grin. Scully rolled her eyes. "May I take a look at it?" He nodded and handed it to her with an amused smile, knowing that she would disagree with his assessment, but feeling sure he was up to the challenge. He was seldom wrong about things like this, after all. "I don't see why this can't be man made," she replied predictably after a brief perusal of the device. "It could easily be a portable link to a supercomputer, or something like that. Look, you can see some of the circuitry through the cubes, and the screen..." She squinted at the tiny screen on the thing. "Seems to be a liquid-crystal display. Though admittedly, an awfully small one." Mulder peered at it over her shoulder. "You actually think a human being could read that thing?" "Sure--it would be a bit of a strain on the eyes, but, it's definitely possible...if only the thing worked..." Scully whacked it hard on the side with the hand that was not holding it. She jumped as the thing came to life with a sudden glow and a protesting squeal, almost dropping it. Almost instantly, Clark was beside them, with Lois in his arms. "Are you all right? I heard a strange noise." The two agents just stared at him and the woman he was carrying. "Aren't you supposed to carry her across the threshold *after* you get married?" Mulder asked dryly. With an embarrassed smile, Clark set her down. "Well, she complains about not being able to keep up with me..." "What did you find?" Lois asked, when her fiance's attempt at an explanation had kind of faded out. "I'm not sure," was the murmured reply from Scully. Mulder started to offer HIS explanation, but she cut him off with "We both have our theories." "There's something on the screen..." Lois commented, pointing at it. Indeed words had appeared on the screen, scrolling slowly across it, although every once in a while the flow would stop until the device was jarred somehow. Scully peered at the tiny display. "This doesn't make sense. It's just a string of facts." Clark slid his glasses down on his nose and glanced over her shoulder at it. "March fifteenth, nineteen sixty-two, Kevin Michael Sager, Yakima, Washington, Weatherman, father of two boys, Jason Michael and Tyler Allan, wife Helen dies March seventeenth in Col." He frowned. "Col?" The female agent deliberately hit the device again and it let out another squeal. "Lision." Clark concluded. "Lision? Oh, COLLISION." Lois looked at the thing, baffled. "What is this, some sort of biographical database? And why the first date--March fifteenth? What's the significance of that?" Mulder's eyes widened in sudden realization. "You're right, Scully," he said in a voice that was almost awed. "This IS a portable link to a supercomputer, and..." He turned to Lois. "You're right about it being a database." An excited smile spread over his face, much like the expression he had worn when he thought their discovery was of alien origin. "This must be what Al uses to keep in contact with Ziggy!" Project Quantum Leap (1996) Stallion's Gate, New Mexico "Let's see, your name is..." Admiral Albert Calavicci glanced down at the handlink in his hands, frowning when he saw that the screen was blank. Startled, he glanced back up at the expectant face of his best friend. "Well?" Sam asked. Al frowned. He slapped the calculator-sized console and looked at it again. "Gushie!" he howled. The programmer's voice came over the intercom. "Is something the matter, Admiral?" "Where's the information I asked you for!" Gushie stammered. "Why...I...I sent it to you. Ziggy sent it to you." "The screen of the handlink is blank!" There was a brief silence. Al imagined the little programmer's hands flying over Ziggy's main console, trying to figure out what was wrong. "Uh oh." Gushie's voice sounded worried. The Admiral's head snapped up from where he had been again looking at the silent handlink. "What?" he asked, his eyes and voice wary. "Admiral, you'd better come out here. We have a problem--Ziggy's picked up the signal of ANOTHER handlink." Al's eyes widened in alarm. "Sam, I have to take care of something back at the Project. Will you be okay for a while?" Sam frowned at the Observer, reading the concern in his friend's eyes. "Al, what's wrong?" "I don't know," the Admiral replied honestly. "But I'm going to find out and get back here as soon as I can, I promise." TO BE CONTINUED... <>< JJ --> Leaper, Chancer, FoLC, Knightie, developing X-Phile :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: MAKE THE LEAP IN FIVE--Help bring Quantum Leap to the big screen by 1998! SAVE STRANGE LUCK--visit http://www.unc.edu/~mystery1/ to learn how! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: There are no coincidences in life, only connections we haven't yet seen.