A Leap Undercover
Sam Beckett saw the familiar blue light swirl around him. When it stopped he was sitting beside a very dirty river with a
rough-looking man. "Do you want the coke or don't ya?" asked the man impatiently.
"No thanks, I'm not into soft drinks." Sam replied.
The other man laughed. "Seriously now, do you want the goods?"
He pulled out a clear plastic bag filled with white powder.
"I'm not into drugs either." said Sam, now realising what the stranger had meant about the coke.
"What are you doing?" asked a female voice. Sam looked around and could not see the woman who had spoken to him. The other man seemed nervous.
"Are you expecting someone?" he asked.
"No. I just have this strange feeling, that's all." Sam replied.
Again the voice spoke, "Stone, you're supposed to complete the deal and get it on tape. Don't mess up, we can't afford to
lose this guy."
Sam put his hand to his ear and pulled out an electronic earpiece. He could hear the female voice coming from it.
"You're one of them aren't ya?" yelled the man. "You're a damn cop!"
The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at Sam, shouting at him. Sam stood up and began to run.
Sam heard the sound of screeching tyres and then a Kombi van pulled up beside him.
"Stone get in!" It was the woman who had spoken to him through the earpiece.
Sam got into the van and the driver sped away. Half an hour later the van arrived at police headquarters.
"What the hell did you think you were doing out there Oscar?" shouted the angry woman.
"Oh, go easy on him Mac, I think he got pissed last night." replied another man.
"That will be enough Pete. You can leave the room if you aren't going to offer anything useful to this case." answered the woman.
"Look, I was just having an off day, I didn't think that he would make the trade out in the open like that." said Sam.
"Look Stone, this department is up for annual review next week. If we don't measure up then Canberra will cut our funding and you'll be out of a job, got it!"
"I understand Mac. I'll try to do better." replied Sam.
"Canberra?" said Sam to himself.
"Yeah Sam, you've leapt out of the country again."
Sam recognised the voice as that of Al Calavicci.
"Not now!" Sam whispered under his breath.
"I'll wait for you." Al replied.
Mackenzie went to her desk, opened the drawer and pulled out a photograph. It was a standard police mugshot of a man in a
black T-shirt and denim jeans. She handed the photo to Sam.
"Okay Oscar, this is Dan Lockridge. He did two years for rape back in ninety-five. We have reason to believe that he is the ringleader of a child pornography racket based in Sydney. We think that he is here in Melbourne to contact some distributors.
We want you and Angie to pose as new players in the kiddie porn market. Gain his trust so you can get something against him that'll hold up in court."
A young blonde woman walked into the room.
"Okay Angie, I've been briefing Stone on the Lockridge case. I've booked a hotel room for you two at the Crown Casino. Dan is also booked at the Crown. Contact him as soon as you can and then get something on him. Good luck guys." Mackenzie said. "I'll just go home and get ready." replied Sam.
"Okay Stone, I'll meet you back here at 2 o'clock."
Sam walked out the door and pulled out Oscar's driver's license from his wallet to check the address. He was standing in the police parking lot with its huge array of cars. "Oh boy!" said Sam to himself, wondering which car belonged to Oscar. He took his keys from his pocket and looked at the Holden Commodore logo emblazoned across one of them. He noticed a solitary Holden Commodore just meters from where he was standing. He looked at the car with bewilderment. The steering column was on the right hand side of the vehicle. "This car is backwards." he thought to himself. He got into the car and drove off. Driving on the left took some getting used to for the American scientist. Arriving at Stone's home Sam opened the front door and walked in. Suddenly Al appeared out of nowhere. "G'day mate!" Al said.
"Where am I?" asked Sam.
"You're in Melbourne, Australia. It's March fifth, 2000."
"2000! What year is it back home?" Sam asked.
"It's 2010 Sam. Boeing has just brought out the personal jetpack. Sammy Jo has got one, she loves it." Al said excitedly.
"You're halfway around the world from the project, Sam. It took a while for Gooshie to track you down. Your name is Oscar
Stone. You are working for the undercover unit with the Melbourne Police Department. Your partner on this case is one Angie Piper. Ziggy says that there's a ninety-nine percent chance that you are here to save Angie."
"What happens to her Al?" Sam asked, worried.
"In two days her body is found tied up in her car at the bottom of the Yarra river. Drowning was ruled as the official cause of death."
Sam paced around the room nervously. "Did they ever catch who did it?"
"No Sam. And another thing, Angie's death so upset her colleagues that they couldn't concentrate on their work. The police minister cut their funding a week later. The unit was disbanded."
"That's awful Al." Sam replied. "What do you want me to do?"
"You have to go to that hotel and continue with the case that you, I mean, Oscar, was assigned. Keep an eye on Angie, Sam, don't let her out of your sight."
Arriving at the hotel, Sam saw his newly-found colleagues hiding cameras and microphones in the hotel room.
"Okay Stone, Angie," said Peter, "Try to get Dan up here if you can. Get him to sell you some pics and videos or at least get a confession from him."
"All right Pete." replied Sam. "What if he won't make the exchange in here?"
"He has to. You can't wear a wire because Lockridge is a cautious bloke, he'll search you before he even says hello."
Peter and Ellen left the room leaving Sam and Angie alone.
Angie picked up the telephone and dialled a number.
"Hello, Daniel Lockridge? We have just arrived from Adelaide and would like to see some of your work. We think we can line up a national distributor. "
"That's great. We're in the Crown Casino hotel, room 303." Angie hung up the phone.
"Now all we have to do is wait for Danny boy to show his face." said Angie.
An hour later there was a knock at the door.
Sam opened the door and welcomed Dan into the room.
"Come in, come in. Make yourself at home." Said Sam.
"I must check something first." replied Dan, who proceeded to frisk Sam and Angie.
"You're okay, ya never can be too careful."
Dan went in and sat down on the sofa.
"Can I get you something? A cup of tea perhaps?" Asked Angie.
"No thanks," replied Dan, "I don't drink caffeine. I forgot to ask your name."
"I'm Ally Morgan, and this is John Simpson. We've heard a lot about you and your studio in Chatswood. We would like to do
business."
"All right then." said Dan. He began to pull out a photo album.
"I take it these aren't holiday snaps." said Angie.
"Of course not." replied Dan. Opening the album, Angie could see that the photographs were of nude children, in various
explicit poses.
Suddenly Sam heard the sound of a heavy door opening. He looked at the door to his room. It was closed. "Not again!" Sam said under his breath.
"I'm going to have a quiet talk to the lady, if you don't mind John." said Dan.
Sam, seizing the opportunity to talk to Al, said "If you insist."
Dan and Angie left the room. Al began yelling. "Do you know what you have just done?"
"I know, I know. I didn't think. We've got to go after her."
Dan and Angie were in the car park.
"Which car is yours, Ally?"
Angie pointed Dan to her car. Dan and Angie got into the car. Dan held up a miniature camera he found hidden in the sofa. "I found this. I also had looked into distributors in Adelaide. I had never heard of you until your phone call from the motel.
Bleeding Christ, you're a freakin' cop!"
Dan pushed the accelerator pedal hard to the floor. "Where are you taking me you bastard?" yelled Angie.
"You're gonna have a little swim in the Yarra my darling."
Sam ran out into the car park. "What are we going to do Al? If I don't catch Angie she's going to be fish food."
"Just commandeer one of the staff vehicles."
Sam got into one of the cars and drove while Al directed him. Arriving at the river he saw Dan cutting the seat belt with a pocket knife. Dan tied Angie with the seat belt and placed her in the back seat of her car. Sam pulled out his gun and said "Freeze Dan! Get your hands up where I can see them."
Within moments Sam felt that tingling feeling again and saw blue light all around him.
He was laying in a sleeping bag under the stars. Laying next to him was a middle-aged woman. Suddenly the woman looked around and screamed in horror.
"My baby! A dingo has got my baby!"
Sam replied. "Oh boy!"
The end
Sam Beckett saw the familiar blue light swirl around him. When it stopped he was sitting beside a very dirty river with a
rough-looking man. "Do you want the coke or don't ya?" asked the man impatiently.
"No thanks, I'm not into soft drinks." Sam replied.
The other man laughed. "Seriously now, do you want the goods?"
He pulled out a clear plastic bag filled with white powder.
"I'm not into drugs either." said Sam, now realising what the stranger had meant about the coke.
"What are you doing?" asked a female voice. Sam looked around and could not see the woman who had spoken to him. The other man seemed nervous.
"Are you expecting someone?" he asked.
"No. I just have this strange feeling, that's all." Sam replied.
Again the voice spoke, "Stone, you're supposed to complete the deal and get it on tape. Don't mess up, we can't afford to
lose this guy."
Sam put his hand to his ear and pulled out an electronic earpiece. He could hear the female voice coming from it.
"You're one of them aren't ya?" yelled the man. "You're a damn cop!"
The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at Sam, shouting at him. Sam stood up and began to run.
Sam heard the sound of screeching tyres and then a Kombi van pulled up beside him.
"Stone get in!" It was the woman who had spoken to him through the earpiece.
Sam got into the van and the driver sped away. Half an hour later the van arrived at police headquarters.
"What the hell did you think you were doing out there Oscar?" shouted the angry woman.
"Oh, go easy on him Mac, I think he got pissed last night." replied another man.
"That will be enough Pete. You can leave the room if you aren't going to offer anything useful to this case." answered the woman.
"Look, I was just having an off day, I didn't think that he would make the trade out in the open like that." said Sam.
"Look Stone, this department is up for annual review next week. If we don't measure up then Canberra will cut our funding and you'll be out of a job, got it!"
"I understand Mac. I'll try to do better." replied Sam.
"Canberra?" said Sam to himself.
"Yeah Sam, you've leapt out of the country again."
Sam recognised the voice as that of Al Calavicci.
"Not now!" Sam whispered under his breath.
"I'll wait for you." Al replied.
Mackenzie went to her desk, opened the drawer and pulled out a photograph. It was a standard police mugshot of a man in a
black T-shirt and denim jeans. She handed the photo to Sam.
"Okay Oscar, this is Dan Lockridge. He did two years for rape back in ninety-five. We have reason to believe that he is the ringleader of a child pornography racket based in Sydney. We think that he is here in Melbourne to contact some distributors.
We want you and Angie to pose as new players in the kiddie porn market. Gain his trust so you can get something against him that'll hold up in court."
A young blonde woman walked into the room.
"Okay Angie, I've been briefing Stone on the Lockridge case. I've booked a hotel room for you two at the Crown Casino. Dan is also booked at the Crown. Contact him as soon as you can and then get something on him. Good luck guys." Mackenzie said. "I'll just go home and get ready." replied Sam.
"Okay Stone, I'll meet you back here at 2 o'clock."
Sam walked out the door and pulled out Oscar's driver's license from his wallet to check the address. He was standing in the police parking lot with its huge array of cars. "Oh boy!" said Sam to himself, wondering which car belonged to Oscar. He took his keys from his pocket and looked at the Holden Commodore logo emblazoned across one of them. He noticed a solitary Holden Commodore just meters from where he was standing. He looked at the car with bewilderment. The steering column was on the right hand side of the vehicle. "This car is backwards." he thought to himself. He got into the car and drove off. Driving on the left took some getting used to for the American scientist. Arriving at Stone's home Sam opened the front door and walked in. Suddenly Al appeared out of nowhere. "G'day mate!" Al said.
"Where am I?" asked Sam.
"You're in Melbourne, Australia. It's March fifth, 2000."
"2000! What year is it back home?" Sam asked.
"It's 2010 Sam. Boeing has just brought out the personal jetpack. Sammy Jo has got one, she loves it." Al said excitedly.
"You're halfway around the world from the project, Sam. It took a while for Gooshie to track you down. Your name is Oscar
Stone. You are working for the undercover unit with the Melbourne Police Department. Your partner on this case is one Angie Piper. Ziggy says that there's a ninety-nine percent chance that you are here to save Angie."
"What happens to her Al?" Sam asked, worried.
"In two days her body is found tied up in her car at the bottom of the Yarra river. Drowning was ruled as the official cause of death."
Sam paced around the room nervously. "Did they ever catch who did it?"
"No Sam. And another thing, Angie's death so upset her colleagues that they couldn't concentrate on their work. The police minister cut their funding a week later. The unit was disbanded."
"That's awful Al." Sam replied. "What do you want me to do?"
"You have to go to that hotel and continue with the case that you, I mean, Oscar, was assigned. Keep an eye on Angie, Sam, don't let her out of your sight."
Arriving at the hotel, Sam saw his newly-found colleagues hiding cameras and microphones in the hotel room.
"Okay Stone, Angie," said Peter, "Try to get Dan up here if you can. Get him to sell you some pics and videos or at least get a confession from him."
"All right Pete." replied Sam. "What if he won't make the exchange in here?"
"He has to. You can't wear a wire because Lockridge is a cautious bloke, he'll search you before he even says hello."
Peter and Ellen left the room leaving Sam and Angie alone.
Angie picked up the telephone and dialled a number.
"Hello, Daniel Lockridge? We have just arrived from Adelaide and would like to see some of your work. We think we can line up a national distributor. "
"That's great. We're in the Crown Casino hotel, room 303." Angie hung up the phone.
"Now all we have to do is wait for Danny boy to show his face." said Angie.
An hour later there was a knock at the door.
Sam opened the door and welcomed Dan into the room.
"Come in, come in. Make yourself at home." Said Sam.
"I must check something first." replied Dan, who proceeded to frisk Sam and Angie.
"You're okay, ya never can be too careful."
Dan went in and sat down on the sofa.
"Can I get you something? A cup of tea perhaps?" Asked Angie.
"No thanks," replied Dan, "I don't drink caffeine. I forgot to ask your name."
"I'm Ally Morgan, and this is John Simpson. We've heard a lot about you and your studio in Chatswood. We would like to do
business."
"All right then." said Dan. He began to pull out a photo album.
"I take it these aren't holiday snaps." said Angie.
"Of course not." replied Dan. Opening the album, Angie could see that the photographs were of nude children, in various
explicit poses.
Suddenly Sam heard the sound of a heavy door opening. He looked at the door to his room. It was closed. "Not again!" Sam said under his breath.
"I'm going to have a quiet talk to the lady, if you don't mind John." said Dan.
Sam, seizing the opportunity to talk to Al, said "If you insist."
Dan and Angie left the room. Al began yelling. "Do you know what you have just done?"
"I know, I know. I didn't think. We've got to go after her."
Dan and Angie were in the car park.
"Which car is yours, Ally?"
Angie pointed Dan to her car. Dan and Angie got into the car. Dan held up a miniature camera he found hidden in the sofa. "I found this. I also had looked into distributors in Adelaide. I had never heard of you until your phone call from the motel.
Bleeding Christ, you're a freakin' cop!"
Dan pushed the accelerator pedal hard to the floor. "Where are you taking me you bastard?" yelled Angie.
"You're gonna have a little swim in the Yarra my darling."
Sam ran out into the car park. "What are we going to do Al? If I don't catch Angie she's going to be fish food."
"Just commandeer one of the staff vehicles."
Sam got into one of the cars and drove while Al directed him. Arriving at the river he saw Dan cutting the seat belt with a pocket knife. Dan tied Angie with the seat belt and placed her in the back seat of her car. Sam pulled out his gun and said "Freeze Dan! Get your hands up where I can see them."
Within moments Sam felt that tingling feeling again and saw blue light all around him.
He was laying in a sleeping bag under the stars. Laying next to him was a middle-aged woman. Suddenly the woman looked around and screamed in horror.
"My baby! A dingo has got my baby!"
Sam replied. "Oh boy!"
The end