Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 16:30:03 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Whale - ch 6 Message-ID: Chapter 6 "Gregor, the whale's already dead!" Alik exclaimed as he entered the smoke-filled kitchen. "No need to burn it!" Sam stared at Alik, unsure how to respond. "I know you don't like to do it but someone has to be the cook and I'd rather it be you than someone I don't even know," Alik told him. Sam stood erect and looked Alik directly in the eyes. "Are you going to kill Captain Rustov?" Alik laughed. "Of course! Isn't that what I've been telling you? Sometimes, drastic situations call for drastic measures, right?" "I can't let you do that," Sam said firmly. "What?" Alik chuckled. "I can't let you kill Captain Rustov," Sam repeated. "It's murder, Alik!" "And what's he doing to the whales?" Alik rebuked. "Alik," Sam said softly, "there are other alternatives." "Which we have already tried!" Alik screamed. "And what happened to those? They all failed miserably!" He sighed angrily. "I thought I could trust you, Gregor! I guess I was wrong!" With that, he marched out of the room. He returned for a brief moment. "Better hurry up with the breakfast. You're running out of time," he smiled chillingly and left. "I don't think that was strictly about breakfast," Sam told himself as her started over in preparing the meal. Breakfast on the ship went without any other problems. Sam worked as waiter and busser again until, three hours later, he found himself cleaning the dishes after eating a small plate of fruit. "Never was fond of fruit," Al's voice told him from behind. "Remember how you used to try to get me to eat a bowl of fruit a day? You gave up pretty quick on that after I gave you my recipe for killer pasta sauce." Sam frowned at him, obviously not amused with his story. "You a hologram so what do you care what I eat?" "A little touchy, aren't you, Sam? What happened in the past four hours?" Sam closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "I confronted Alik with his plans to kill Rustov." "What?! Sam, are you nuts? That guy can kill you!" "He's going to kill me when he sinks the ship, right? I had to try to convince him not to kill Rustov!" "Okay! Okay! Calm down, will ya? I'm just trying to help, you know." Sam nodded slightly. "Yeah, I know, Al." He lowered his head. "How is the problem with the security system?" Al shook his head. "Don't ask," he told the scientist with a frown that contradicted his choice of wardrobe. His entire outfit looked as if it had been painted by an Impressionist, full of bright reds and soft blues. Al took a cigar from his jacket pocket and lit it with a silver lighter. "What have you got for me?" Sam asked as Al puffed on the cigar. "_Niente_." "Nothing?" "Well, I thought I'd see if there was anything I could do to help. It's better than moping around the Control Room, waiting for answers from Tina and Gushie. So, Alik didn't change his mind?" Sam shook his head. "I just can't seem to get through to him." "I know what you mean," Al nodded. "Gregory still won't say a word. Your best shot is still to keep an eye on Alik and make sure he doesn't kill Rustov." Sam gave him a slight smile. "You know, I can't watch Alik all the time. I still have to be the cook aboard this ship and it seems like a full-time job." "You want me to watch Alik for you?" Al asked, making sure he knew what Sam meant. He nodded his head slightly. He raised the handlink and pressed a button, vanishing from Sam's sight. Al had stayed centered on Alik for the rest of the day. He had finished his cigar before lunch and was nervously lighting another. He normally didn't have more than two a day but he was now on his third. The problem with the system and with Congress was bothering him more than he cared to admit. It didn't help that he was suffering from stress-induced insomnia he hoped would leave before the leap was over. Alik had spent the entire day working: ordering men around and helped them bring aboard a sperm whale; he didn't help in killing it, though. He then helped the crew gut the whale, tossing the unnecessary parts back into the ocean as bait for sharks, whose skins they would sell. The entire action nearly made Al vomit, so repulsed was he by the whole thing. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the Imaging Chamber. But someone had to watch Alik while Sam was busy doing Gregory's job. Al was extremely glad when lunch time came around, knowing that Alik wouldn't try to kill Rustov during the lunch break and knowing that Sam would be there to watch him. With a brief word to Sam, Al left the Imaging Chamber and laid down on Ziggy's main console in the Control Room, leaving Ziggy instructions to wake him in two hours. He then proceeded directly to his complex quarters and laid down, hoping sleep would overtake him. Al was used to forcing himself to sleep. It was often the only way for him to sleep when he was a POW in Vietnam. Unfortunately, trying to force himself to sleep didn't always work. Once, as he tried to sleep, he had gotten up and emptied what little he had in his stomach, which only made him feel worse. He hoped that whatever Alik was doing when he re-entered the Imaging Chamber, it wasn't mutilating a helpless animal. The call from Ziggy seemed to come far too soon but, nonetheless, Al stood up, slipped on his red loafers, and buttoned his shirt. He poured himself a cup of black coffee before entering the Imaging Chamber. "Center me directly on Alik when I go in," he ordered Ziggy as he entered once again into the past.