Hey! I just wanted to say that I really love writing the dialogue between Al and Ziggy.

That is all, for now :)

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 4

A few minutes after Al left, Laura noticed that she was really cold. Looking around the moonlit cave, she found piles of leaves and pine needles. Since she only had on a long-sleeved plaid shirt, undershirt, and ripped jeans, she shoved some leaves into her sleeves and pant legs. Curling into a tight ball, she piled the rest of the foliage all around herself. Facing the entrance, she waited patiently for Al to return.

It did not take long, maybe 10 minutes, before she heard the sound of the imaging chamber door open and Al slowly came into view. She was pleased to find that his image looked pretty solid, which meant they had seen her video message. Trying to curl up tighter, Laura quietly watched as Al pressed some buttons on the handlink before coming closer and sitting down.

Taking a deep breath, he finally said, "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I should have just listened to what you had to say before jumping to conclusions and letting my emotions get in the way. I would never be mad at you, just at the situation. Nobody should be stuck in time, especially not such a lovely and brilliant young lady like yourself."

Laura smiled, "Thanks Uncle Al. And I really was just thinking about Dr. Beckett and his family and how he might be the only one able to fix the retrieval program." She took a deep breath. "How is he?"

"Okay, I guess. Ziggy is not telling me much besides that he's sleeping. Don't worry; Beth and Trudy are going to take good care of him." Seeing her nod, Al looked back at the handlink. "Now that we've got that out of the way, I should probably tell you about this leap. It's October 4th, 1996 and you're in Wood-Tikchik State Park, Alaska. Your name is Joe Swanson, 27 years old from Seattle, Washington and had a nasty run in with some mobsters that you owed money. Since you couldn't pay, they kidnapped you, beat you up, and dropped you out of a plane over this lovely state park, miles away from civilization. In the original history, Joe just disappeared one day and his body wasn't found until about 10 years later. Sam managed to get a few miles closer to people but with a twisted knee and pneumonia setting in, he had a very small chance of making it all the way." Al shook his head.

"What about me? What are my odds? Because I don't have a hurt knee or pneumonia."

"Well, Ziggy says that you have a 70% chance of making it. It should take about two and a half days to get there, assuming that nothing happens. You just have to take it slow and conserve as much body heat as possible. You should be able to build a fire every night, assuming you can find some dry wood in all this snow."

"And you'll be here, helping me?"

"Yeah, for the most part. I won't be able to stay in the imaging chamber with you all day, but I'll do my best."

"Well, if my calculations are correct, any one of your daughters should be able to take over. You just need to add their DNA and brain scans into the system using the code that I already provided you."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Laura smirked. "I told you, I've been working on this for over a decade."

"Huh, okay. I'll get Tina and Sammy Jo to look into it. Trudy's busy with taking care of Sam and the rest are at school, but that's good to know. In the mean time, you need to sleep. You've got a long couple of days ahead of you."

"Thanks Uncle Al."

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

Al was about to stand up when Laura called, "Hey Uncle Al?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you," She looked down shyly and played with the cuffs of her shirt. "Do you think that you can sing to me?"

"Sure." Al smiled as he sat down and got comfortable. "Why are there so many, songs about rainbows, and what's on the other side…."

After making sure that Laura was asleep, Al left the imagining chamber and found only Tina in the control room. "Where's Sammy Jo?" Al asked as he gave Tina the handlink.

"Ah, well when I got here, you had already been in the imagining chamber for a few minutes. Sammy asked if I could handle things by myself and I said of course. Then she just left. Beeks followed her, but it didn't look like Sammy was in the mood for talkin'."

"Thanks Tina." Rubbing his face, Al looked at his watch and sighed. It was after midnight, which meant that he had been up for almost 24 hours. Looking at Tina, he could tell that she was equally tired. "Tina, I think that we're done for the night. Get a lab tech in here and then go get some sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks Al!" Tina smiled sweetly as she started shutting down a few non-essential programs.

Walking into the hallway, Al asked, "Ziggy, where's Sammy Jo?"

"Dr Fuller is in the observation deck of the waiting room."

"Is Bena still with her?"

"No. Dr Beeks is currently in her office. Dr. Fuller, as you say, blew her off? Dr Beeks expressed her worry, but she did leave."

"Were you eavesdropping on their conversation?"

"I do not 'eavesdrop.' It is not my fault that my sensors pick up every conversation that happens within a 5 mile radius of the project."

Al shook his head as he headed up the stairs to the observation deck. "5 mile radius? Why do you need to know that much?"

"In case there are people planning on entering the project without permission, of course."

"Of course." Al rolled his eyes. "Just be sure to delete anything that involves my wife and me in bed."

"If you wish. Shall I also delete some of the records from when you and Dr Calavicci are alone in the infirmary and your office?"

"What?!" Al almost tripped up the stairs in disbelief. "Yes! You should not be keeping records of what people are doing when they are alone! That goes for everyone else here at the project."

"Very well. But how else am I supposed to learn more about the ways human interact if I ca not analyze them when they are at their most vulnerable, intimate, and honest?"

Al sighed as he reached the door. "Just…keep the records extremely hidden and if someone does manage to hack into your systems, make sure the records are deleted as soon as possible."

"Of course Admiral."

Shaking his head, Al opened the door and stepped inside. Sammy Jo was at the window, looking down at the visitor, who was still sedated. Standing next to her, Al looked down and saw the bruised and beaten face of the visitor. Glancing at Sammy Jo, he asked, "So, who do you see? The leaper or the visitor; if you don't mind me asking."

Sammy Jo shrugged, "I kind of see a mix of the two. But if I concentrate hard enough and long enough, one stands out more than the other."

"I'm guessing you're looking at Laura then?"

"Yeah. She hates it when I watch her sleep. Says I wake her up every time. No matter how sneaky I am, she always knows."

"I guess I should be careful since I have a habit of watching Sam sleep. He finds it annoying too but he's only caught me about a third of the time."

Smiling slightly, Sammy Jo finally looked at Al. "Have you seen him yet?"

"Not since he first got back. I'm about to head over there if you would like to join me."

"Oh no, I don't think I should."

"Why not? You're family too and I bet Sam will be eager to see you."

She shook her head and looked out the window again. "I can't. Not right now at least. I'm still trying to get over the shock that Laura has been planning this for over a decade. I never knew and didn't see any clues."

"Hey, she managed to keep it a secret from everybody, except Ziggy. Probably only because she needed Ziggy's help."

"I will have you know that I had a suspicion of what she was thinking well before she actually came to me." Ziggy inputted.

"You should have told us when you suspected something!" Al growled.

"I'm sorry, Admiral, but I saw no harm in her wanting to know more about the project at the time. And when she proposed to either fix the retrieval program or leap so Doctor Beckett could fix it, I thought that it was a good idea."

"If you were a naval employee instead of a glorified computer, you would be facing a court martial right about now."

"Why do you keep giving me empty threats? I do not believe that they help in any way, except to make you feel like you have more control over me than you actually do."

Al growled as Sammy Jo snickered, "She's got you there, Al."

"I know." Al sighed as he looked at Sammy Jo. "Are you going to be okay?"

She shrugged, "I honestly don't know. There's nothing much I can do but try to help keep her safe. And until she comes back home, I don't think I will ever be okay."

He nodded and patted her shoulder. "Alright. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks Al."

Al smiled as he turned to leave. Once he was down the steps, he sighed, "I'm getting too old for all of these surprises."

"Life is full of surprises, Admiral."

"Can it, Ziggy," He growled.

"I still do not understand that phrase. What exactly am I suppose to 'can'?"

"It's just an expression."

"Why can't humans just say what they mean?"

"Fine. Please keep your comments to a minimum."

"Very well Admiral."

Al grumbled as he made his way to the elevator.

"Admiral, you should really be watching your blood pressure."

"Then I'll start by taking out your voice box."

"That is a useless endeavor since I do not have an actual 'voice box' and my vocal components are essential to keeping the project flowing as smoothly as it does."

"Just shut up Ziggy!" Al groaned as the elevator doors opened for him.

"I have nothing to 'shut', Admiral. And if I did, do I need to elaborate on why my voice components are essential?"