Message-ID: <19980322001612.26470.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Carol Belyea" Subject: Re: Chances: Chapter Eight Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 16:16:10 PST Chapter Eight In the morning everyone awoke with a kind of dread in their stomach. All the senior staff awaited the moment the committee would arrive and expect criticism on everything they saw was wrong. Staff hated that. But today was a little different compared to all the passed times the committee visited. This time, senior staff had everything ready. A program of Al's creation to prove time travel was planned to be used. Using a drop of blood from anyone and using the DNA to connect to the imaging chamber, the person of that DNA strand would be able to view all the Leap Logs Ziggy has kept in her files. Breakfast was being made in the Beckett apartment and the aroma of scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, and coffee even woke Al up all the way from across the hall. With bacon and sausage still frying in the pan, Donna busied herself with feeding little Johnny his breakfast of strained carrots. She'd finally gotten him to swallow some of the baby food with most of it ending up on his bib when there was a knock at the door. "Come in, Al." Donna said, concentrating on feeding her child. Sure enough, it was Al. He opened the door and rolled into the kitchen. "How'd you know it was me?" Still not looking at Al, Donna smirked. "Who else would come knocking at my door in the middle of cooking?" Al smiled. "Yeah, you caught me." He grinned at his godson and rolled over to him. "Hey, Johnny." The baby smiled a two-teeth smile. His mother was frustrated. "Come on, Johnny." Prodded Donna, trying to get the baby to eat his food. She held the tiny spoon at John's little lips but he did not accept it into his mouth. She gave up and put the spoon dripping with strained carrots on the high-chair's tray table. "Here, let me try." Al offered, taking the spoon, scooping up some food, and imitating an airplane. "Here comes the airplane." He said to Johnny. The baby laughed and gladly accepted the spoonful of carrots. "How did you do that?" Al shrugged, "Don't know. But it worked." Just as he got the words out, Johnny spat out his food onto Al's neon orange and green shirt. Donna couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry," She giggled, "no one'll notice on that shirt!" She continued to giggled, retrieving a moistened paper towel for Al. Johnny giggled as well. Awakened by the commotion, Sam staggered into the kitchen wearing a robe tied loosely about his waist. He slowly made his way to the coffee maker, blurting out a shallow "'Morning" while he poured himself some coffee. Gently, reminded of the hangover Sam must have had from the night before, Al said, "Good morning, Sam." Quickly covering his ears, Sam said, "Stop shouting!" "Geez, Sam. No more brewskies for you." Commented Al. He shook his head, grinning to himself. Donna continued attempting to feed their little pride and joy while Sam sat down at the table, sipping his coffee and slouching. "So," Al began, trying to make casual conversation, "How did we all sleep last night?" In answer, Sam only rubbed at the back of his neck, indicated that their couch must have been the worst sleeping area in the Beckett dwelling. Donna grunted a little and said nothing as well. Al folded his hands neatly in his lap, "I guess that answers my question." Mere moments passed by without a sound. Then Al piped up again, "So . . . how ‘bout those Dodgers, huh?" Still silence between them. "Nice day outside. Don't you think?" Not a word from either of them. "Okay, I get it. I just hope you haven't forgotten about the committee coming today." Donna nearly shouted, "What committee?" Sam winced and said softly, "Would you whisper, please?" "Oh, Sam! You haven't forgotten, have you? Did you finish your report?" A frustrated sigh came from the physicist, "Ah, damn it." Al asked, "Did you even start it?" Sam looked at the clock. "Um . . . how long until they get here?" "I knew it!" Announced Donna. "Yeah, I thought so." Al said, "That's why Uncle Al came to the rescue. Again. I stayed up the rest of last night finishing what you started." "Thanks, Al." Sam said, "Now that'll give me just enough time to wash my teeth and brush my face. Could somebody help me to the bathroom?" he said to the woman nursing and the man in the wheelchair. Donna was still perturbed at him. "Fat chance." "So, Dr. Beckett," began Weitzman, "How is this contraption going to work?" He paused a minute, "Uh, should we all be wearing sunglasses indoors?" Sam quickly took off the Raybans and stuffed them into his lab coat pocket, still squinting at the mild florescent light that illuminated the Control Room along with Ziggy's ever flashing control console. Al, sitting in his chair next to Sam, chuckled under his breath. "Want another aspirin?" Al asked Sam, trying hard to hold back the laughter. "No, uh," he rubbed at his temples, "No, I'm fine." The other committee members, including Weitzman, stared at the duo. One of the greatest scientific discoveries of the last hundred years was being presented by a man with a hangover and a man in a wheelchair. Breaking the uncomfortable silence, Al grabbed a stack of stapled packets and handed them to each one of the members. "Ladies and gentlemen. What we're presenting is one of the most unique discoveries of mankind. The ability to travel in time. In the packet I have just given you, you will find a brief summery of what we're here to prove to you today, and what Quantum Leap is all about." All of a sudden, the door slid open and Gooshie rushed in along with Dr. Beeks, The Project Psychiatrist, and Dr. Bryce, the chief of medicine. "Sorry we're late, Dr. Beckett." Gooshie said. They all lined up in front of the console next to Sam and Al. Sam presented his team. "Ladies and gentlemen, our top senior staff. Dr. Gooshie Crosnolf, head programmer. Dr. Verbena Beeks, project psychiatrist. And Dr. Christopher Bryce, chief of medicine. Shall we begin?" Using a drop of blood from each of the members of the committee, the DNA was processed into Ziggy's data bank. Linking their DNA with their brainwave patterns in the Imaging Chamber, everyone on the committee was able to view three dimensional Leap logs, or recorded visitations to the Imaging Chamber during a Leap. For three hours, the committee stared at their holographic environment, saw Dr. Beckett in those environments as if he were really there. Phase three will involve traveling into the future and by the look on the committee's faces, Al and Sam could tell that their chances for the grant were looking very good. After the presentation, the committee was extremely impressed. As the committee prepared to leave, Weitzman approached Sam and Al with an approving grin and shook Sam's hand enthusiastically. "Well done, Dr. Beckett! I had my doubts at first but now I congratulate you! We'll give you the grant for this project. Quantum Leap will go into phase three ASAP!" Sam smiled. "Thank you, sir! Thank you very, very much! We won't let you down!" And with that, Weitzman got into the car and left. Al stared as the cars drove away. "Yeah, thanks."