Message-Id: Date: Thu, 10 Aug 95 23:42 PDT From: jekel@cts.com (Julie Jekel) Subject: "Donna's Song" part 1 Any questions, comments, constructive criticism, suggestions, etc. would be welcome! Please send them to jekel@cts.com (May-September and December) or jj1152@mcis.messiah.edu (September-December and January-May) Thanks! This is the second of my three post MI stories. This one is unique because it is the only one written in counterpoint with a poem I wrote of the same title, a poem which eventually became the story. A segment of it opens each chapter. "Donna's Song" by Julie L. Jekel How can I watch you walk away again? Just as before I will never know If you will ever return-- Can ever return... But I know you. It was one of those times when the tears just wouldn't stop coming. They fell on her hands, softening the ruggedness of work and worry that had become part of them over the past five years, and on the handlink, glistening like smooth-cut diamonds against the fluorescent cubes. She lifted one damp hand, careworn to the point of fragility, to touch the larger shape of Ziggy's CPU. "Run sequence," she whispered. In the Imaging Chamber, Admiral Al Calavicci poked tersely at his own handlink as the plethora of images swirled around him. Inside the spinning holographic column, his face could be seen, lined and shadowed with desperation, his haunted eyes searching... Despair hung more heavily than ever over the small assembly. Gooshie stood across from Donna at the CPU, his hands hanging limply at his sides instead of hovering hopefully over the console. Verbena, for once, did not notice Donna's tears. She stood alone, wrapped in a shell she would have tried to pierce for anyone else. Al's wife, Beth, balanced on the edge of her chair, her eyes fixed grimly and intently on the Imaging Chamber door while her husband still stood unmoving in the eye of the hurricane of pictures. Even bubbly Tina, who usually tried to distract Gooshie by flirting with him, was somber, slowly twisting the engagement ring he had given her. How different it had all been last week! Then hope had surged with Ziggy's announcement that history was still changing. Somehow, a small family in Kansas had been spared a suicide that originally devastated them. For one brief moment, a balloon of hope had floated within reach of the downward wending road and the small team had seized it. Below them though, the road had continued to descend, so when the balloon burst because they were too late to intercept Sam in Kansas, the fall was devastating. Hours passed in silence broken only by Ziggy's steady hum. Finally, at a nod from Donna, Gooshie raised his hand to the bright console and stopped the whirlwind. As always, within seconds Al's voice came over the intercom from the Imaging Chamber. "GOOSIE!" The little programmer jumped, and looked towards Donna for help. "It's after midnight, Al," she told him with forced calm. "I can find him, just give me a little more time, please!" The Admiral's voice was pleading. Donna bit her lip, trying to stem the flow of tears. What if he was right? What if they were close to finding him and giving up now would lose that chance? Beth stood, and her eyes met Donna's weakening resolve with a silent reminder. Dr. Elise nodded. "Ziggy, record the time sequence covered today and be ready to start again tomorrow morning." "Yes, Doctor," the computer replied calmly. The Imaging Chamber door slid open and Al appeared in the opening, his face bleak and his bright red suit rumpled. He cast Donna a fierce glare that softened into a sad smile at the sight of her red-streaked face. Beth touched him gently on the arm and he glanced up at her with that same puzzling ironic look that his face always wore every time he saw her after coming out of the Imaging Chamber. "Miss me?" he commented gruffly. "Of course. I always do." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and smiled knowingly. "I love you, Al." "I love you too, Beth." Ever since Al had fainted at the sight of Beth waiting for him at the Imaging Chamber door on the day Sam disappeared, this brief conversation had become a sort of daily ritual for the Calaviccis. For the first time in their more than thirty-five year marriage, Al seemed to need almost constant reassurance of Beth's continued presence and affection. Donna wondered what had happened between them and how it was connected to Sam's last Leap. She was tempted to ask Ziggy, but somehow she knew that this was a private matter between Al and Beth. They would tell her if she needed to know. Beth took her husband's hand and squeezed it. "Let's go home. Remember, Lisa and Trudi go back to school tomorrow morning." Al's face brightened at the name of his two oldest daughters. "I guess I owe them some time then, eh?" "I'm sure they would appreciate it." Al sighed and put his arm around his wife. "OK, let's go." He glanced towards the console. "I'll be back bright and early." Donna shook her head. "If you plan to stay up all night with your girls, you should probably stay home and get some sleep." The Admiral started to protest. "But I'm the only one who can..." "She's right," Beth interrupted him calmly. "You've been wearing yourself out, Al. Please get some rest before it kills you." "In fact," Donna resumed speaking hesitantly. "I've been thinking for a while, and I think we all need a day off." "If we take a day off, we may miss him!" Al objected sharply. "We've been vigilant ever since he disappeared and we still missed him," Donna reminded him. There was an awkward silence. Much as they might have wished to, none of them could dispute that statement. "Look at us," she continued. "Do you really think we're going to do Sam much good like this?" No one answered. "I want to find Sam more than any of you possibly can, you know that! But what if we did find him, and were too worn out to do anything about it?" She turned to Al. "How are we going to get in touch with Sam if you give yourself a heart attack by overworking yourself to the point of exhaustion?" Al nodded grudgingly and Beth led him out of the room, exchanging one last nod with Donna. The rest of the staff slowly drifted out, Verbena by herself, Gooshie and Tina hand in hand. Only Donna remained behind. "Is it ready, Ziggy?" she asked quietly as soon as everyone had left. "Yes, Doctor Elise," the computer answered. "Are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes," was the whispered reply. "I can't wait any longer. I miss him too much." TO BE CONTINUED... JJ "Our imaginations leap ahead to places we have yet to see." --a poster in my room