Message-Id: <9712152007.AA04007@arctos.bowdoin.edu> Subject: Reverse Reflection 6/7 Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 15:07:06 -0500 (EST) From: "Emilie R. Karr" Title: "Reverse Reflection", pt 6 Author: Emilie Renee Karr "Stop who?" Sam demanded of Al in a whisper, trying to convey his confusion to the Observer without Sidney and Berry noticing. The terrorists would be the obvious ones to stop, but Leaps were seldom so simple. Not that stopping seven machine-gun toting terrorists would be simple, but it sounded as if Sidney had a plan. "Stop them!" Al answered, gesturing at Sidney and Berry. "Find out what they're planning--" Sam nodded, spoke aloud, "What are you talking about?" Sidney talked in a low whisper, for Sam and Berry's ears only. "I've been with the other passengers. We've got to act soon. These guys are getting restless, and if they want to really get serious--" "Hijacking a plane's not serious?" Berry commented ironically. "Killing somebody would be moreso. We have to act before that happens." "And what's your plan?" Sam queried. "There's two guarding the passengers below," Sidney explained. "Three of the people down there have black belts; they think they can take them. We're up here--if we can take out that guard and get his weapon, we'd have a fighting chance." "That's what they try, Sam," Al added to this. "Only it doesn't work out the way he's talking." The Observer was rapidly punching inquiries into the handlink, frowning at the results. "In two hours the plane lands and the hijackers are arrested. But between now and then three passengers are shot. All fatally. You have to stop this crazy attempt. They don't know what they're doing." "Sidney," began Sam, "your plan's too dangerous to risk..." "Not any less dangerous than maintaining the status quo," Sidney argued. Berry shook her head. "You're talking about putting yourself directly into the line of fire--" "Not quite--" "--And then asking them to pull the trigger!" Berry completed her sentence. "She's right, Sam," Al agreed grimly. "One of the men shot is Sidney Reid." And he pointed to Sidney. Sam closed his eyes, determined not to let that happen. He could right this wrong, at least. "Sidney, what do you know about automatic weapons?" Sidney eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean?" "He means, how much experience do you have with those guns?" Berry clarified, cocking her head at the terrorist by the cockpit's entrance. "I've fired on a range before with an automatic rifle." "Have you ever hunted?" Sam pressed. "I know how to use a gun," Sidney insisted. "I shouldn't need to fire it. Just threaten." "You don't know if everything will go according to plan," remarked Sam. "How will you get it away from him to begin with?" "Oldest trick in the book," Sidney muttered. "Just pretend to throw a seizure or something. We call him over--" "These guys aren't the brightest," Al mentioned, "but I bet they've seen the same movies he has, at least." "If you call him over," Sam said quietly, "I will tell him your plan before you get close enough to implement it." "Ben, don't be stupid." "Sidney, don't be an ass," Berry parodied in a fierce undertone. "And don't throw your life out the window." "I'm not joking," Sam assured him seriously. "I'd rather you were tied up and locked away somewhere than shot trying something as insane as this." "Listen to him," Al and Berry insisted simultaneously. Despite the bleakness of the situation Sam was hard-pressed to smile at the invisible glare Al gave the young woman. "At least she's got her mind in the right place," the Observer finally grunted. "Now if he'll listen..." All three of them watched Sidney. It didn't take long for him to grind his teeth, sighing through them, "We need your cooperation." "I'm not going to give it." Another moment of intense observation, and then Sidney gave in. "I'll go speak with the others. And try to talk them out of this." He stood. "Good," Berry smiled. As he headed over to the opposite side of the passenger's section, speaking to the guards at the door, she turned her smile on Sam. "Thanks." "Not a very honorable ploy." She grinned openly for a second. "Whatever works. I think you saved his life." "Returning the favor..." Reminding himself wasn't the wisest of moves. Sam clamped his teeth against the sharp pain. Instantly Berry was bending over him, feeling his forehead. "You're out of shock. Must hurt like hell." "It does," Sam agreed weakly. "You should be in a hospital." Like a professional she sounded calm, reassuring, but Sam had too much experience with doctors. "That bad?" "You're going to be fine." And those were a true doctor's words. Confidence against the facts. "I agree with her on that, too," Al seconded quietly. He too had faith over the odds, which Ziggy surely must be able to give him. "You'll be able to get medical attention in only a few hours. And besides, when you Leap..." In past times his injuries had been healed in the mysterious empty time between Leaps. "Why haven't I..." Sam began, letting Al's knowledge finish the question. The Observer punched the handlink. "I don't know. Ziggy's having a hard time finding the conclusion of this episode. You've changed history, but she can't tell to what. I need to talk with her direct, Sam. Why--" "Why don't you try to rest," Berry suggested. "Like she says." Al nodded at her. "Okay? I'll be back in a flash, I promise." "Okay," Sam said to them both. Berry gave him a quick thumbs-up before he closed his eyes. Al waited until he had and then exited the Imaging Chamber, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts. All too much they lead back to the Observer. To Al, his friend, companion, assistant, and what he was deprived of to serve as such. A thankless task, when he could get nothing in return for all that he did...it wasn't fair. Sam rarely rallied against the universe for his own sake, but for others..."It wasn't meant to be." Did Al actually believe that, or was he just trying to find some reason to accept the fate he had been so wrongly dealt? He had only cycled through these thoughts a few times when he heard the whoosh of the Imaging Chamber door. Opening his eyes he saw Al standing before him with an odd expression on his face. Sam tilted his head inquiringly. The Observer shrugged minutely. "Nothing yet. Ziggy swears the newspapers are changing headlines as she reads them, and the speed she reads them at..." He took a deep breath. "She found something else, though." When Al wasn't forthcoming Sam risked asking aloud, "Yes?" His friend fiddled with the handlink. "I asked her to try to figure out why you'd be made to change history back. So that I'd lose--so that she'd still have re-married--" He didn't need to complete the sentence. Sam nodded understandingly, trying and failing to suppress the guilt. Al saw it. "No, it's not your fault, Sam. And...there was reason, a good reason. Ziggy calculated a 89 percent chance that the reason Be...she had to re-marry was because of their children. Sam's confusion must have been obvious. Al sighed again. "Her oldest daughter by that nozzle of a lawyer, she's only just turned thirty. She followed her mother's path, became a surgeon. Already she's saved dozens of lives, and more than that, she's working on developing some new techniques and technologies that will save hundreds more. Thousands. And... "Ziggy can't be positive because you didn't program her to see the future, but apparently this girl, this woman has recently joined a research group fighting cancer, and possibly she might have something instrumental to offer. You may not have thought so, but you did the right thing. You made it possible again for this daughter to be born. So she could do all this stuff." And then Al smiled, faintly and somewhat sad, but glad at the same time. "Funny thing, too. Her name's Alberta Simon..." Before Sam could react to that Al remarked, "Here comes the would-be hero." Sidney approached, sat down on the floor next to Sam and Berry. "What'd they say?" Sam asked. "It's off." Sidney's expression and voice conveyed resigned disappointment. "They won't try anything, we won't try anything up here. We're going to have to keep waiting it out." All three of them glanced over at their captor by the door. Then Sam shot an inquiring look at Al. The Observer was regarding his handlink intently. "Nothing yet," he reported. "If it were all over you would have Leaped, though." "I know," Sam replied aloud, drawing Berry's attention again to him. "I told you," she scolded quietly, "try to sleep. You need all the energy you can conserve." Obediently he shut his eyes. "I'm going to go check on our buddies in the cockpit," Al told him, "I'll wake you if anything happens. I don't think she's going to take any faking." Sam attempted to sleep. His thoughts were quieter now, less urgent, and the pain had dimmed into an immobile lethargy. Before he dozed off he briefly considered what Al had told him. Alberta Simon. Had she been named after her mother's first love? Of course she couldn't be related by blood, but at least...he found himself wondering what Al's "daughter" in name looked like, sounded like, wondered if he'd ever meet her, or if Al would ever bother trying, and then he was asleep. But not for very long. Before dreams could start Al had returned, shouting in his ear, "Wake up! You gotta get up, Sam!" His eyes snapped open. "What is it--" More stood nearby than Al, Sidney, and Berry. Three men--the terrorists, instantly obvious from their weaponry--surrounded his two helpers. "Come with us," one ordered Berry in a gruff, accented voice. "Why?" she demanded, though Sam could hear the strain in her voice as she kept it from quavering. "Where are you taking her?" Sidney challenged. Al provided the answer, for Sam's ears only. "To the cockpit, so they can shoot her! They've decided their demands need to be taken seriously--" "No!" Sam protested. "Shut up. She can't help you anyway," one of the terrorists snarled, kicking him lightly. Sam could do little but moan, overwhelmed by the agony. "Leave him alone, you SOB!" snapped Berry. "Don't do that again, bastard!" Al shot out viciously. Paying attention to neither of them, the terrorist grabbed Berry, holding her tightly with a hand across her mouth as he began to drag her toward the cockpit. "Let her go!" Sidney commanded, but was prevented from taking action by way of two AK-47s aimed square at his chest. One of the terrorists then demanded of his comrade holding Berry, in Italian, "Otto, why are you taking her!" "We need to be serious," Otto returned in the same tongue, tightening his grip on her. "We need to show them we're not playing games!" "But--" began the terrorist. "Antonio wants a death, Vincent. This is the most effective hostage we could dispose of." The terrorist by the door opened it for Otto and his struggling captive, closing when they had entered the cockpit. Al flashed out and re-appeared a second later. "Sam, they're gonna do it! Soon as Otto Stein convinces their boss Antonio that it's okay to shoot a woman in cold blood!" Sidney crouched next to Sam. "You should have let us acted," he growled. "If we had done something then we'd be able to do something about it now!" Sam had no time to reflect on his logic. "Al, what were they arguing about just now?" He ignored Sidney's stare. "About whether--" Al punched data rapidly into the handlink. "His name is Vincent Gaugin, he's the newest member of this Circle of Bronze--those are the terrorists--talk to him, Sam! He disapproved!" "Vincent!" Sam called, as loudly as he could manage. "Vincent Gaugin!" The man started, his gun wavering. Sam went on in French, not knowing Italian and guessing it was the man's native tongue, "Is this honorable, killing a woman?" "I'm not doing the act," Vincent replied in the same tongue. "You're supporting it," Sam argued. "You're one of them, and whatever they do you're doing through them." "We need to gain attention--" "Do you think people will listen to you because you shot a woman, a doctor in cold blood, who had done nothing to you but saved a life?" My life, Sam thought, wondering how much of a difference that made. Vincent shook his head, lowering his gun. "I cannot give orders." "But you can stop them!" Sam lifted himself up enough to stare the man in the eye. "You will get more attention, and better, for doing what's right, what's honorable, than allowing someone who is with you do what you know is wrong." Without a verbal response, Vincent swung around, headed for the cockpit. Shoving the guard out of the way he banged his fist against the door and shouted something in Italian. "What did you say to him?" Sidney demanded. "What's he doing?" "I don't know," Sam panted, worn out by the effort of his plea and praying it had been enough. They watched as the cockpit door opened and Vincent rushed through it. Al entered the coordinates into his handlink and vanished. For a moment there was silence, and then a shot rang out, echoing from behind the closed cockpit door. "No!" Sam gasped and Sidney shouted. The guard by the door and the terrorist watching them both exchanged uneasy glances but didn't move, and obviously weren't about to let Sam or Sidney do so. The cockpit door opened again and Vincent exited. From there he shouted to Sam, in French, "Everything's fine, tell your friend too that it's all right." "What happened?" Sam demanded. "We're almost out of fuel, we must land, and when we do you'll be safe," Vincent told him. "But what about Berry--the woman?" asked Sam, dreading the answer. Reaching behind him Vincent drew her out of the cockpit, almost gently lead her back over to them. "She's here, and uninjured." Berry pulled away from his touch and walked over to them. Her stride was steady but her eyes were huge and her face a mask, locked into an expressionless look. That changed to one of startlement when Sidney grabbed her in an impromptu hug. "You're okay?" Berry blinked and momentarily steadied herself by putting a hand on his offered arm. "Fine, they didn't hurt me, they--" she rubbed her temples. "They were going to shoot me," she said quietly, disbelievingly. "And then that man came charging in, shouting at them--I really have to learn Italian. To find out what he said to them." "He had a larger vocabulary than I would have guessed, considering it's not his first language," Al commented. "One of them--I think he was going against orders--he tried to fire anyway, but the other man knocked his aim off and he shot into the wall instead," Berry went on. "Luckily it wasn't one of the outside walls. The last thing you needed was the cockpit decompressing," Al finished. "He told me it's over," Sam informed them. "He said we're going to land soon and we'll all be safe..." "Should we believe him?" Berry asked. "He saved you," Sidney pointed out. "Thanks to Ben here." Berry looked at Sam. "What'd you do?" "Somehow convinced that guy to go help you out," explained Sidney. "You owe him." "Definitely," Berry agreed. Sam found it increasingly harder to focus on their words. The adrenaline which had propelled him through this was ebbing and with it came both pain and tiredness. "I was just paying you back," he said faintly. "We won't be even until you're all well, at least," Berry said, reaching over to take his pulse. "Sam," Al remarked, "I don't like how pale you look." Sam forced himself awake. "The blood-loss is getting to me." "They'll be pumping more into your veins before you know it," Berry assured him, though her expression indicated an unspoken catch to that promise. "Sooner than that, Sam," Al announced suddenly. "Ziggy's finally come through--you did it!" Now those were much-missed words. After so long he could be confident in his success again. "No one dies, Otto Stein isn't even executed because he doesn't kill anyone, but he and the rest are put away for a good long time. Except for Vincent, who's rehabilitated--he's out and believe it or not he's working for the French secret service. "Sidney Reid not only survives but prospers, finishes law school- -hah! Ends up joining the Anti-terrorist division of the FBI. Guess this experience has an impact on him. He gets married, too, no kids yet but it's only been six years." "What about Berry?" Sam asked. Inside he could feel a building of tension, forces falling into place, preparing to propel him into the next Leap. "It's coming up, Ziggy's having some problem calculating--" Before Sam had time to worry Al muttered, "Ah, here it is. "She goes on in medical school, becomes a doctor--she said she was going to at one point, don't think you were awake for that, Sam. It also looks like she gets married--" Al stopped so suddenly that Sam turned to him in concern. "What's wrong?" he whispered. "What?" Berry asked from where she sat. Eyes locked on the handlink Al said, "In a year she'll be Alberta Simon Reid." He looked up, staring at her closely for the first time, his face a battlefield of mixed thoughts. Sam too examined her features, for the first time recognizing their faint familiarity, her resemblance to her mother, whom he had met only twice during his Leaping. "What?" she said again, blushing slightly under his intense regard. But before he had time to explain, some final element fell into place, and in a flood of blue brilliance Sam Beckett Quantum Leaped. End Part 6