Message-ID: Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 14:43:02 +0100 From: Heather Markham Subject: alternus-tempus.p02 CHAPTER TWO Sam closed the door to Pendrell's apartment, loosening his tie, he made his way into the room and took in the surroundings. The apartment wasn't what you'd call expansive but it was warm, bright and had an air of comfort about it. The living area was tastefully decorated and furnished. Two big soft sofas sat one each side of a mock fireplace. The log fire within the grate was also there purely for effect. A large white animal-skin rug was spread out in front of the fire-place. It looked like wolf skin, he hoped it was a fake! A huge wide-screen television stood over to one side, a deep leather chair sat invitingly in front of the state of the art piece of tv equipment. Tall bookcases had been arranged sectioning off one corner of the room in order to create a study area. There, a PC stood amid a mass of papers, note pads and books, on an elegant pine desk. The comfort and design of the apartment would suit him just fine. Being a time-traveller of several years experience, Sam was quick in adjusting to new situations and was very used to making himself feel at home in his new abodes. He dropped the tie and the newspaper onto the chair and wandered around the room inspecting Pendrell's possessions, searching for an insight into the man's personality and life. Walking over to the shelves of books, he tipped his head to one side, running the tips of his fingers from one book to another reading the titles embossed upon their spines. It seemed that the young forensic expert had a curiosity much like his own. The books gave a good insight into the man's mind. Apart from the books on forensic medicine and forensic criminology, science and medicine, there were such books as, Bio-chemistry, Genetics and Geno-Engineering, Virology, Physics, Quantum Physics, The theory of time travel, temporal mechanics and oddly enough, several fiction stories one of which was H.G.Wells "The time machine". The books indicated a wide interest in academic and medical subjects but it was the latter three titles which raised his eyebrows in a quizzical look. It seemed he and his host had many interests in common. Catching the slight odour of fertilizer on the sleeve of his jacket, he decided that, at that moment, a shower and change of clothes took precedence over curiosity. It took no time at all to find the room he was searching for, the bathroom was next to the bedroom. It contained a large and quite deep tub and shower fitment. Deciding on a bath for a change, he ran the hot water. He searched through the other man's stack of toiletries, sniffed at each bath additive, found one he liked and added it to the hot steamy water which frothed and foamed in response, sending pleasantly scented wisps of steam into the air. It looked and smelled so inviting. Emptying his pockets out onto a shelf above the hand basin, he quickly undressed, dropped the soiled clothing into a laundry bin and climbed into the tub. Sam lay there, luxuriating in the hot soapy water. It felt so good to relax. All his worries and tensions seemed to flow from his body out into the warm frothy water supporting his body. His eyelids flickered and closed, he felt he could stay like that forever, floating in a peaceful, worry-free womb of suds and soap. Thoughts drifted gently at the edge of a warm relaxed sleep. Oh, how wonderful it would be if this leap were just for something simple, like rescuing someone's cat or dog. Maybe that's why Al hadn't shown up yet, it was because he wasn't needed. He grimaced, no, that was just plain wishful thinking. For one thing Al would always turn up, even for the simplest of missions. Opening his eyes and wiping the suds from his face, he puffed out his checks and blew a soap bubble from the back of his hand. He watched it idly drift on a current of warm, steamy air as he considered the second thing. He somehow sensed there was a lot more to this leap than met the eye, it didn't feel as though it was going to be easy or simple. He decided it would be best to assume the worst and not to allow himself to be lulled into a a false sense of security, that way he wouldn't be disappointed if things became difficult. He began to steel himself, mentally, for the task to come. It was a thought which brought him back to reality with a thud. He had things to do and probably places to go and a very important phone call to make. Reluctantly, he climbed from the comfort of the warm bath, dried off, wrapped Pendrell's thick bathrobe around himself and padded into the bedroom. This room was softly lit but had a very masculine look to it, pine clothes closet, pine bed and chests of drawers and a large oak sea-chest at the foot of the bed. He noticed that a suit had been laid out on a chair next to one of the chests. He inspected the contents of the wardrobe looking for a fresh shirt to wear with it. It contained all the conservative style clothes relevant to a man working for the FBI. It also held a stock of casual clothes. It seemed to Sam that Pendrell's tastes were not unlike his own. He rifled through the drawers in one of the chests and found fresh underwear. Hopping from one foot to the other he quickly pulled them on under the robe and padded barefoot back into the living room. Picking up the paper and sinking into the comfort of the large chair, the tired quantum physicist, stretched out and scanned through the articles in the paper searching for more news of the plane disaster. His mind kept going back to it, he wasn't usually so morbidly fascinated by that kind of thing......unless...unless, somehow he was connected with it. His heart lurched sickeningly, what if he was in the persona of the guy who had sabotaged the plane! Even as he thought it, he shook the idea away. No.....no...that didn't sit right, he felt he was the good guy here, as usual. He needed to know for sure, though. Where was Al? His earlier fears were returning. He put down the paper, picked up the tv remote and channel hopped until he found a News Network giving coverage of the disaster. The News reader gravely presented the horrific details. Early indications suggested that a bomb had not been the cause of the crash. However, the Special Air Services Investigators and officers from the Bureau had inspected the wreckage and sabotage of some kind was still being attributed to the cause of the mid-air explosion. The case was being investigated by the FBI, was that the connection he was looking for? Even if that was the case, he wasn't a field operative, he wouldn't be sent out to investigate anything, he had a nice safe job back in the departments lab. If this leap was anything to do with the crash, how would he become involved. Had he been sent to discover something whilst working on a piece of evidence in the lab, evidence, perhaps, brought to him by one of the agencies special operatives. Was he to work on an X-file classified case? Was he there to uncover a vital clue in solving the mystery of the downed plane? He turned the idea over in his mind and came to the conclusion that Pendrell would have all the qualifications necessary for solving any amount of forensic clues. Why would the man need to be replaced by him? What could he do that the other man couldn't? The news report ended and a commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken came onto the screen. His stomach took notice of the advert even though his mind hadn't. A loud grumbling noise came from within his abdomen. Sam suddenly realized just how hungry he was. He got up and wandered into the small kitchen to rustle up something to eat. The fridge was well stocked, so were the cupboards. He guessed the man he'd replaced was used to cooking and preferred to eat at home but he didn't feel inclined to cook. Collecting together the required ingredients, a cup of strong black coffee and a 'mile high', tuna and mayonnaise sandwich were soon prepared. He decided that as soon as he'd eaten, whether Al showed up or not and whether he liked it or not, he *would* make that call to his mom. Meanwhile, Al had materialized from behind the television set, he was wearing his white Naval Uniform. The holographic observer walked through it and turned to see what his friend had been watching. He paused, raised his eyebrows in surprised admiration, 'Baywatch' had just begun. Several 'babes' dressed in scanty red swim suits were running along a sun-drenched Californian beach. Al stood transfixed by the sight, a huge leering grin spread across his face, he hadn't noticed his friend walk back into the room behind him. Sam fought the urge to immediately start firing questions at him, he grinned impishly, it wasn't often he got the chance to turn the tables and surprise Al for a change. Putting down the tray containing his meal, he quietly crept up behind his distracted friend and yelled, "Gotchya" into his ear! Al jumped in sudden surprise, coughing and spluttering, he clutched at his heart, almost swallowing the small piece of cigar he had been chewing on. "Sam! Don't do that......dammit, you scared the hell outa me....you nearly gave me a heart attack!". Sam was curling up in laughter, "Hey, little buddy, makes a change for me to pull one on you." He was still grinning broadly as he peered over his friends shoulder to see what was so interesting, "So, what fascinating little programme has caught your discerning eyes. Uh huh, thought so.....girls! Girls in swim suits! Why did I just know it would be girls?!" Al kept his gaze firmly rooted on the tv screen, "Hey, Sammy boy, don'tcha just love this tv set, makes you feel you're really there. And the girls! Would ya take a look at all those girls in those itty bitty tight little red swim suits. Hey, Sam, look at those girls run. I love it when they run like that, don't you? Ohhh....wow.....double wow. This is my favourite show, Sam, it's called 'Babewatch' and it can be real exciting at times." Sam raised one eyebrow and pulled a quirky expression at the scene on the screen, "It doesn't look very exciting to me. Is it really called 'Babewatch'?" "Well...er..no. It's actually called Baywatch but from where I'm standing....." Al glanced sideways at his friend and grinned, "And, yeah, well, I suppose it wouldn't do anything for you Sam, you being Mr Morals and all, but it really gets to us hot-bloodied Italian types." Slowly tilting his head sideways, Al watched one of the 'Barbie' clones race out of the sea, having rescued some hapless male swimmer, having dragged him up onto the beach and was about to administer mouth to mouth resuscitation. Sighing enviously, he remarked, "Aw, lucky guy! What I wouldn't give to be the guy lying under that pair of...." Sam cut his fantasy short. "Yeah, yeah, okay, okay! I get the picture." He picked up the remote and clicked off the tv. Al rounded on him peevishly, frantically scrabbling at the tv remote, trying to reset the 'On' button and cursing silently as his fingers slipped through the piece of gadgetry only to close on thin air. "Hey, what'd ya do that for, I was enjoying that!" "Al, come on, at least try and get your hormones under control. You didn't come here to watch tv, you're supposed to be here to help me......at least I hope you're going to help me, 'cos boy, do I need it, things are real weird. Have you any ideas as to why I'm here, what this leap is all about? Why were you so long in getting to me....you just better not give me one of those 'I was just getting to know this real cute girl' excuses!" Al shot his friend a look of hurt indignation, "Calm down, calm down, when have I ever abandoned you in favour of a woman?" Sam raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to one side, a thin tight smile on his face. Al shrank a little, "Yeah, well, I admit I sometimes get a little side-tracked but I would never leave you on your own for so long without good reason and in this case the reason wasn't a woman....not even Tina!" "So, what happened, what kept you? Was it something to do with the way I leaped out? Al, I've been getting flashes of memory from my last leap but I can't remember the end part. Did I complete my mission, what happened?" The older man jerked back astonished and surprised at the sudden revelation, "You can recall things? Sam, you don't usually remember your leaps, at least not without me prompting you, even then you have a real hard time. Sometimes that swiss-cheesed memory of your's won't even allow you to remember your own name!" Sam rubbed, absentmindedly, at the back of his neck, "Well, this time's different. It all seems so strange. I've leaped into a guy called Pendrell who was working in a crime laboratory at the FBI building, I seemed to instinctively know the place, like I had someone else's memories. What's going on here, what's happening to me?" The Navy man narrowed his eyes, he seemed deep in thought as he took out a fresh cigar, lit it and sucked it into life. Blowing out a small cloud of grey smoke, he directed a concerned gaze at his questioning friend, "You leaped out ten days ago, for a while there we thought we'd lost you. I can't tell you how worried we all were.." Sam broke into Al's explanation, "But I've been 'out' for that long before, what was so different that it caused you to worry about me this time?" Al stared at him, "Because, nozzle-head, the events surrounding your leap-out were far from normal, Sam. What kind of memory flashes are you getting? How much do you remember?" Pacing the floor Sam tried to explain, "I remember being an FBI agent. I remember being a guy called Fox Mulder. As far as I'm concerned, it feels like everything happened yesterday!" Another agonizing flash of memories and feelings jolted him. Al watched in horror as Sam buckled with the pain and slumped back into the chair clutching his head. Gasping, he rubbed at his temples and slowly stared up at his friend, a look of sudden realization in his eyes, "Al.....Ohh Al, I...I remember Dana. I can remember everything about her. I can recall everything that happened between us, we....we spent the night together back at the project apartments." With trembling fingers, he tapped distractedly at his forehead. "Everything is so fresh in my mind, how could I have forgotten her....I'm still in love with her." Al looked on sympathetically as his friend hung his head in despair. "And I know I'll probably never see her again." a look of torture darkened his eyes, "It hurts Al, it really hurts....we were meant to be together.......forever." "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't remember that part. I knew you'd be upset. You never know your luck, kid, you might run into her again some day." His young friend cast him a look that said, 'Oh yes, like, in a million years!' Al, moved as if to put a comforting hand on his younger friends shoulder and cursed quietly, he couldn't touch his friend, he couldn't give his friend any physical consolation or comfort whatsoever. Even thought he was right there with him, he felt so far away, so out of reach. He knew how Sam had felt about Dana, perhaps that was why he could remember things. Perhaps Sam's thoughts for Dana were so strong all the other memories surrounding her had indelibly imprinted themselves onto his mind and now they were all surfacing together. Albert Calavicci knew what real love felt like, he knew what it was like to find true love and then to have it snatched away. He knew how Sam felt about Dana, their relationship may have been short-lived but he knew that for Sam, it had been the real thing, the one and only deep love of a life-time. It was the love which his best friend had been so desperately searching. It was the main reason why he had tried to advise his friend to be careful and not to get too involved, he knew how upset Sam would be if it ended badly. He hadn't expected his time-travelling buddy to start remembering things after the leap had ended. Usually, the interim period in limbo wiped all thoughts and memories away, helping him to cope with difficult memories and the next mission. Al questioned him gently, "What else do you recall?" "I remember getting back to the Project. I remember re-writing the retrieval program, Dana helped me. After that everything is shrouded in a thick grey fog." A look of non-comprehension passed across his face, "Why didn't I leap home, what went wrong, everything was ready, wasn't it?" Al drew in a sharp breath and let it out slowly, "I'm sorry, kid but you never got around to trying it out. Don't you remember? Think, think real hard!" Sam began rubbing at his temples, "No, no I don't. I don't know what happened after that night with Dana, everything is blank." The holographic observer appeared to sit on the arm of the chair, "You never got the chance to test the retrieval program because you had to go back into the desert to play the hero and rescue a guy called Langly from the clutches of some little green aliens!" Sam looked up at Al in shocked disbelief, "What!" The observer's eyes began to sparkle excitedly, "Oh boy, it was out in the desert, it was dark and there was this huge silver spacecraft hanging way up in the air, coloured lights were flashing all around it, there was a beam of spiralling multi-coloured lights shining down from it, spinning around on the dirt floor and there was this God-awful high pitched noise. Langley was laying unconscious on the ground just inside the weird beam. Boy oh boy, you should'a been there, it was really somethin' else....what am I saying, you were there. You stepped into the circle of light, you got him outa there but then you got beamed up!" He turned to study his friend's surprised face, "You really don't remember, do ya?" Al tapped the cigar at his brow, "Think.....try and pull it outa your mind. You were beamed aboard some sorta strange alien craft! Sam...you were abducted by aliens! Ziggy lost track of you....we...we thought we'd lost you for-ever. We were all going crazy. We didn't know what had happened to you. Poor Dana, she was terrified, she was with you when it happened." Sam gasped the question, "Was she alright, did they take her too? Al, tell me she was okay!" "Calm down, she was fine....well, not fine exactly but she was okay. I was with her.....as a hologram but I was with her. We...she got left behind in the desert, she was outa her mind with worry, we both were! The weird craft finally returned the next morning. You must have leaped out right at the point you were returned, 'cos it was Fox Mulder who staggered back into the arms of Dana. She was devastated Sam.......then the time lines shifted and changed. I ended up back in the Imaging Chamber. I was sorta hoping that, as you just said you could remember some of the events, you could sorta tell me what happened after you were abducted....you know, what happened on board the space-craft...what...'they' were like, who 'they' were and where 'they' came from?" Sam closed his eyes, a look of extreme concentration creasing his face, "Yeah, I...can see something, something's coming back to me. I kinda keep getting images of the desert. I get a sense of noise, a kind of whining sound....and lights...I remember pulsating coloured lights. I can sorta remember faces but they were human faces, just like you and me." A shudder ran through him, "It's muddled. and confusing." Rubbing at his eyes he looked back up at Al, "Argh! It's so frustrating, it's there but it won't come back to me. What was the point of abducting me if I can't recall what happened." Suddenly Sam's mind was off on another track of thought. He was out of the chair and back to pacing the floor again, He paused, hope glinting in his eyes he asked, "If I re-wrote the retrieval program does that mean it's still operational? Could Gushie try a tracked retrieval with me here? I'm only four weeks into the past, it could work." Al shook his head sadly, "I'm sorry kid, while you were on board that strange craft something very weird was going on back at the Centre. There were massive power fluctuations. Gushie said the whole place seemed to vibrate with energy for about ten minutes. A terrific surge of power went through the whole set-up. I was lucky to get back through the Imaging Chamber before everything blew out. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd been stuck in there. The whole place was put outa action. It was the reason I couldn't get to you earlier. We've only just managed to get the Imaging Chamber back on line and that's still got a few bugs in it. It messed up everything real bad. A lot of Ziggy's internal hardware was fried, it disrupted her data flows, destroyed all the new data we had and it destroyed the retrieval program. Every damned line of code was erased. Nothing was left to work on, nadda, zip, zilch, zero. The accelerator was hit too, burnt out several parts vital to its functioning. Every technician we had was put onto the job of getting everything ready for your next leap...this leap and we had one hell of a job getting the money we needed for the replacement parts. He gestured down at his attire. "That's why I'm dressed like this, I had to go before the committee again this morning to beg for more funding...they didn't like it Sam, not one bit. They were just about prepared to abandon the whole thing. I couldn't let that happen, no way was I about to let them leave you trapped in time and on your own. It took some doing I can tell ya. I'm sorry Sam, but I had to tell them about the thing with the aliens and the X-Files. That got Wietzman's attention, they adjourned the meeting, came back half an hour later and said they'd provide more money just so long as we provided them with a full report on the last leap and any further associations with the FBI's Special Unit." Al tipped his Military cap back off of his forehead, "I guess it's gonna be a while before the technicians get it all running smoothly again though. Ziggy may not have all the data we need for this leap, you'll have to bear with us Sam, I didn't have time to collect any data before I centred in on you. In one way, it's a Godsend that you didn't leap sooner or you could'a been stuck without me and Ziggy for the duration. You're gonna have to help us out as much as you can." Al saw and felt the disappointment in his friend's expression. Sam's shoulders drooped, he nodded despondently, "Okay. This is what I've learned so far. I'm an FBI agent called Daniel Pendrell. I work at the headquarters as a forensic expert. What odds does Ziggy give that this leap is connected to the last leap?" Al took out the hand link and tapped at the keys. "Uh huh, Ziggy confirms your identity. She also says Pendrell is a real clever guy, he's got several degrees and a couple of doctorates. He was brought up on a small horse ranch in Elm Bluff, which is only two hours drive from Washington. Due to ill health...er..heart trouble I think, Pendrell's father Bruce had to sell off most of the horses and went into semi retirement, he still has the ranch but it's more of a hobby now. He has a mother called Ammie and two sisters. His older sister is slightly disabled, her name is Kelly and still lives at home but his kid sister, Joan, moved to Alamosa, Colerado a couple of years ago when he she married....er...Oh, how about that! Pendrell is about to become an uncle. Joanie is about to give birth to twins...gee ain't that nice. Now, lets see what else we have here. Today is the 24th February 1997, which is only five weeks prior to the last leap. Oh, yeah, Sam, Ziggy says there's a 70 per cent chance that you're here in connection with a plane crash!" "I kinda suspected as much, I have this strange feeling about it but the plane has already crashed. Was I too late, have I failed already?" Al glanced up at his friend in surprise, "It has? When?" Sam gestured towards the blank tv screen, it was on the news just before you showed up. He picked up the paper and waved it under Al's nose, "I read it in this evenings edition of the newspaper, too! It happened sometime yesterday!" Al was back to tapping at the hand-link. It squealed and died, he thumped it in annoyance, it screeched, whined and re-connected with the hybrid super computer. "Okay, let's see what Ziggy has to say about that." An odd look of surprise and concern darkened his eyes, "Ah, You..er..you're here to save two lives. One is an FBI Agent, the other is Pendrell." Sam's eyes widened, "How? Pendrell has a safe job, doesn't he?" Al tried to skirt around the data he'd just read. "Yeah, well, it's not exactly to do with his job, he just happens to be in the wrong or right place......depending on how you look at it, at the right time." Sam spread his hands, seeking for further enlightenment, "So, what happened, where do I come in and what do I have to do to put things right?" Al removed his Naval cap, placed it under one arm and scratched at the back of his head, "According to news reports, Pendrell was in a bar called the "Headless Woman", Ziggy says it's a favourite haunt for the guys at the Bureau. A guy called Frisch and the FBI Agent were there too. Frisch is a sergeant in the Air Force, he was...is a key witness to what happened in the air crash case, only it seems someone didn't want the truth to come out. Frisch and the special Agent were sitting near the bar waiting for a Federal Marshal to turn up and escort the sergeant to a place of safety, only the Marshall never showed up. It gets a little vague here, Ziggy says reports of what happened vary. There was a cover up of some sorts......some of this stuff is classified...hang on, she's got somethin'. Apparently, some hit guy showed up and tried to kill Frisch ...er...it's not quite clear whether Pendrell got in the way by accident or intended to play the hero but whatever, the result was that he took the bullet intended for Frisch. He got shot and died early next morning from his wounds." Al looked up and pinned Sam's gaze, "This all takes place some time tonight! You gotta go down to that bar and stop Pendrell from getting killed, that's your mission!" Sam rubbed a hand across his face, "How long have I got?" The observer consulted the hand-link once more, "Sorry, kid, we don't know," he glanced at his watch, "you'd better hurry though 'cos it's already nine o'clock, it could be anytime. All you have to do is turn up and cause some sort of diversion." Sam, turned away biting his lip. His friend walked up behind him and asked with concern, "What's up, kid....what's wrong?" "What would happen if I stayed here? That would change things, wouldn't it. If I don't go to the bar, I can't get killed. Al, I'm in 1997 I'm not too far in the past. I'd kinda made up my mind to call home before this leap was finished. If I go to that bar now, if I do what I have to do and save Pendrell, I'll leap out and I may not get the chance again. I really needed to talk with Mom and Katie." "Sam.....you know we've discussed this before. You know you shouldn't go contacting your family, it's one of your own rules, remember? If you phone them they're not going to believe it's you, your voice will be different and even if you could cover that, it would make things very difficult for us back at PQL. They would want to know what you're doing and why you can't go and see them, it would stir up everything all over again." Sam let his shoulders droop in despondency and disappointment, "I know, I know, but surely it couldn't hurt just this once, I could make up some excuse as to why I can't see them. Please Al, please let me do this, I miss my family so much. I left it too late in the last leap...I thought I would surprise mom after I'd leaped home. Tonight may be the last chance I ever get to speak to them!" Sam turned to his friend, his eyes were full of soft pleading. Al sucked at his cigar and looked away, he hadn't wanted to say anything to his friend but now he had no choice, "Sam, you have to go, if you don't, Frisch will die and so will the FBI Agent." His time-travelling friend didn't seem to be listening, he seemed to be searching for an alternative solution so that he could stay where he was. "Sam......you have to go because......you have to go because the FBI Agent is Dana Scully!" Eyes wide, Sam shot round to face Al. "She's here in Washington? Ohh, Al, I get to see her again.....to talk to her....why didn't you tell me, this alters everything!" The smaller man shuffled his feet awkwardly, "I didn't want to get your hopes up, you may not get the chance to talk to her and even if you do, she won't know you as who you really are." "I know that! But just being able to see her again, even to be close to her for a brief time, that's something." Suddenly his face creased into a look of panic, "Oh my God! She could in terrible danger, I can't let anything happen to her, come on I have to get down there as quickly as possible!" Loping off into the bedroom to get dressed, he called back to Al, "Find out where this place....the..er..'The Headless Woman' is, I need to know how to get there fast and ask Ziggy to search through any data she may have...find out how long I've got? I really need to know what time the shooting took place." Al tapped frantically at the hand-link, reception was intermittent and broken. "I think the bar is just down from the Federal building, yeah, Ziggy says it's about a half a mile away, up on the left hand side. Sam, listen, I hate to leave you but I'm gonna have to go back and get this thing fixed. I'll get with Ziggy while I'm there and see what she can come up with as to the exact time of the shooting incident. I'll meet you at the Bar. See ya later, Kid. I'll try not to be too long." -- Heather Markham