Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka
Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
So is a lot.
-Albert Einstein
Chapter 3—Three French Hens
Café Diem
Sarah, Chuck and Casey went to Café Diem again this morning. Julia did not come. She was going to meet Fargo for some kind of cross-country sleigh ride.
"Hey, Vincent. Same as yesterday?" Casey said. He motioned for coffees all around. None of the people from yesterday were there yet.
Chuck knew that they would be early. Sarah agreed to go up early to GD and see if they find anything more about the machine.
"Very pretty again this morning." Vincent commented.
"Yes, it is very nice. Julia and Fargo decided to go on a morning sleigh ride." Chuck replied.
As he poured the coffee, "You know they have been trying everything the last couple months. About two months ago they came in here and scared everyone. They were looking at Fargo's computer and saying that the nemesis was going to destroy the world."
"What's that? A character in some video game," Casey said looking at Chuck.
Vincent smiled, "You know that's about what Sheriff Carter said. But no, it was some cosmic cloud that will envelop the earth in 2000 years."
Casey grunted.
"So those two decided to go out and try everything. One day they came in here after a parachute jump. Fargo looked like he turned a paler shade of white. He was really sick."
Casey looked at Chuck and grunted.
"What, I didn't do anything?" Chuck quipped back.
Vincent finished filling Chuck's cup. "You know they really do seem to be into each other now. Anytime they are not doing that kind of crazy thing, they seem to be working on something. Now, it's the toy drive."
Chuck looked interested, "Oh, you have a toy drive for the kids?"
"Ah no, this is a contest to develop toys for Christmas. The prime toy has to be a toy car, truck, train, or something like that. It has to move and there are several other things it has to do or standards to meet. Fargo came in second last year. He is sure that with Julia helping their going to get first this year."
"Wow, I guess that would take a lot of work. How are they doing it?" Chuck asked.
"Well, I really wonder too sometimes how much real work they get done. Actually, that's almost anyone this time of the year. I mean we have two contests. The decorations and then the toy. The decorations drive some people crazy. They drive around every night and then come up with a better way to light their house. This year with those new lights, it is really cheap." Vincent put a little more coffee in Casey's cup.
Sarah was interested, "What light bulbs?"
"Someone at GD came up with lights to replace fluorescent bulbs. It is a good idea. They have mercury in them and that can be a problem. Anyway these new lights are brighter and so far they have been cheaper to buy."
Casey was not that interested in the lights. "I'll take a small steak and eggs with hash potatoes."
Sarah looked at Chuck. He nodded. "We would like pancakes and bacon."
Henry came in next. "Good morning everyone."
Vincent already had out a cup. "Morning Henry. The same?"
"Yep. How are you folks? Sorry you could not come into the lab yesterday. I was working with the higher energy lasers. Today I am going to work some data transfers, you can come in today."
Chuck brightened. It could be something closer to his interests. "That does sound interesting. We have to check in but we'll be over right after that."
"That will be fine." Henry began sipping his coffee.
Vincent came back with their orders in a couple minutes. "Boy, it seems a little empty in here."
Henry looked around. There were some people in their seats but not as many as a normal morning. "You're right wonder what is happening?"
"As far as I know there is no events planned for today. I don't know." Vincent looked up as Tess and Jack came in.
They sat at the bar also. "Hey, Vincent."
"Sheriff. Tess." Vincent grabbed a couple cups and started them with coffee.
Chuck, Sarah and Casey did finish before Jack and Tess got their plates. "We are going to head up to GD. We have to check in. See you up there," Sarah said as Chuck helped her put her coat on.
They went to GD in Casey's rental again. This time Casey was sure of himself as he started across the bridge.
Chuck spent about a half an hour working on the machine. Every time he thought he had the first time it was used he had to go back further. He was starting to think there were gaps in the use of the B&B for some reason. Couple times he thought he had it and then jumped another year back and had some activity.
Sarah got a call from Tess. Tess would come down and escort them around. Jack had stayed in town since Jo had called in sick.
When Tess got down to the 5AC2, the machine was covered and looked like another desk. "Hi, again. I heard Henry suggested we go see him first. If that is okay, let's go. It is just down the hall."
When they got to the room, Fargo and Julia followed them in. They went off to a corner and were talking and laughing.
Henry introduced Doctor Unna and explained a little of what they were doing.
"We are going to attempt some laser communications with high level packets made of images. The images include the data that Kim brought back." Henry did not explain what Kim was or who Kim was. "We are attempting to see if the data transfer is successful. You can stand over by the table. The laser itself is like an intense flashlight. It wouldn't do anything to you. Here see." Henry put his hand in front of the laser.
"What we are going to do is center the laser on the receiving optics, try a synchronization signal and then transmit the data," Henry said as he adjusted a joystick.
Chuck looked at the set up, "So how much data do you think you will send?"
"This is our first test and we hope to get to transmit signal at 1 petabyte per second."
"Okay, that's impressive." Chuck looked at Sarah. She was watching Doctor Unna at the receiver side. 'Maybe she thinks that is the Korean voice?' Casey was moving around behind the Doctor.
Henry said, "We have it centered. Beginning sync." At that moment Chuck began to step forward. Fargo's mini-masher truck jumped and sped forward. Fargo being Fargo had set the speed at sixty and the little truck made it to fifty by the time Chuck's foot came down on it. It exploded almost at once, sending Chuck head first into the laser table. The explosion caused everyone else to react. It was a bad choice for Doctor Unna; he pulled a ceramic glock and was taking aim at Sarah. By the time he had his aim there were three bullets in him, one from Sarah and two from Casey. Something in Chuck worked against him. When he hit the table his eyes had closed but the sound of the shots made him open his eyes to see what was happening. The laser performed its function, projecting the images on Chuck's retina. Everyone continued to be on alert. Sarah saw Chuck fall, but kept a hand on his back to keep him down and out of the gunfire. Tess saw it first.
"Henry, turn it off. Turn off the laser." She was almost running to Henry to get the switch herself.
Henry realized it and moved his hand to the switch.
Sarah saw the sparkle coming from Chuck's eye. "Oh God no, please." She put her hand in front of Chuck's face and bent down to him. "Chuck, Chuck, please be okay." She began kissing his forehead. "Please Chuck."
Over in the corner, Julia was crying in Fargo arms. He wasn't that happy either.
Casey went to check on Doctor Unna. He was dead.
Tess called Jack, "Get up here. There has been a shooting."
The room filled with guards coming in from all over Section 5. Weapons up and ready.
The guards in-turned called the medics from the infirmary. They were there in a minute.
The medics took the doctor and Chuck. He was still not responding. Sarah stayed with him holding his hand. The medics checked Julia and gave her a sedative. Tess went with them to the infirmary. Casey followed with Henry.
When they got to the infirmary, Doctor Unna was placed on an advanced medical table with monitors popping on as soon as he was against the table. There were no signs that he was still alive. The infirmary doctor pronounced him dead.
The medics put Chuck on the next one. His vitals came right up. Most readings were elevated, heart rate, blood pressure, and brain activity. Henry reached up and turned off the monitors.
Tess looked in surprise, "Henry, why did you do that?"
"We need everyone out for a minute and I'll explain. I think he'll be alright. We can monitor him externally." Henry gave her one of his most serious stares.
"Okay, staff and guards please leave the room." Tess looked at Sarah and Casey and nodded that they would stay.
When everyone had left Jack came in. "Okay what happened? And why is everyone clearing the infirmary?"
"It is okay Jack. I cleared it." Tess came over to him. "Okay Henry, you better explain yourself and quick. I want and I am sure Sarah wants that monitor back on Chuck."
"First who and what are these people? And what is he?" Henry looked at Tess.
"It is okay Henry. They have been cleared for everything we do. They were cleared by General Mansfield. They are to know all our projects and they have the clearance for it. You as the mayor have the right to know and are now cleared. There is a bomb threat, which we believe to be real, sent by some rogue spy organization. Sarah, Casey and Chuck are here to investigate."
"That's good to know. As mayor, we will have to talk later about the speed at which I have been informed. But what is he?" Henry was pointing at Chuck.
Sarah was becoming a little unglued, "What do you mean, what is he?"
Casey pulled her back.
"Okay, let me explain. We were transmitting Kim's data, all of it. We figured at 1 petabyte per second we could transmit it in less than a minute. I don't know how much of that was transmitted in the time he was looking at the laser." Henry looked at Tess and Jack. They understood.
Sarah wasn't that slow. "Let me guess your information was stored as images so that you could send it and then check the receipt of all of the information. And what, let's see for GD, they are the secrets of the universe? Close?"
Sarah was becoming madder as she went. "Next, you don't know what happens to a person's mind with all that information stuffed in it at once. Well, let me explain. They become catatonic or dead. We have seen it, and escaped. Thanks to Chuck.
"Then there is that one in a billion, our scientists are really not sure, that can take the data. Then probably another one in that billion, if there were that many, that could actually act on it. Chuck is that person. We believe, along with his Dad, that the files he downloaded to help protect us and this nation, had at least two or three petabytes of data. Now do you understand?" At that point Sarah grabbed Chuck's hand to make sure he was still okay.
Casey moved over to protect Sarah. He was almost growling. "What was in your data?"
"I don't know for sure what all is in the data. We have only had it for a couple months. I worked on a project that was a deep space probe, only this was like universe deep space. Doctor Kim Yamazaki, my," Henry stopped for a moment.
And Sarah looked up.
Henry continued, "Kim and I made the data package for the probe and some other things at went on the mission. Kim structured the mission so that it would return to earth if it could. She also gave it the ability to form its own artificial intelligence. It did, in a way. By the time it came back, Kim had been killed."
Chuck flinched at that point. Sarah looked back at him.
"But the probe returned with a Kim in it. That Kim was a replica and was used by the probe to store the entire datum it collected on its mission. So you are right, the datum were the secrets of the universe. Do I know what is in it yet? No. We were experimenting with this, so we could find a way to ship the data easily. We need others to help us," Henry hung his head.
About that time, Sarah felt her hand being squeezed. "Sarah?"
She was down to him in a flash. With her face next to his, "Chuck, you okay?"
"Yeah, you? I heard gunshots." His eyes were still closed but he was reaching for her. "My right eye seems to hurt. I don't think I want to see bright anything just yet."
Tess handed Sarah a towel and gave her a hug. "I am sorry. Henry can we get the medics back now so we can get some help?"
He nodded. "Jack would you let them in please?"
Chuck said with the towel over his face, "Please turn down the lights." He was still holding Sarah with one hand while the other held the towel. "I am sorry I fell. Sarah, are you okay?"
"Yes, Chuck I am right here. I am fine." Sarah was now holding him.
"Okay, what about John?" Casey looked over at him. He'd only heard Chuck use his first name a couple times, normally when he was kidding around and a couple times when they were both in very serious trouble.
"Yeah, kid. I am okay."
Tess was intent on watching the screen. She was a bit surprised how much she thought Sarah was actually in love with Chuck, but at the same time came across like a partner. And with Casey it was almost touching. He wasn't such a big lout. He did have feelings, and his reaction to both Chuck and Sarah were very close to what she had seen in Jack and Allison when working a dangerous situation.
After the doctor and medics were done checking Chuck, they recommended an afternoon off, but he did not have to stay in the infirmary. They also gave him an eye patch in the belief that the laser light may have caused some damage. Sarah promised to take him back to the B&B as soon as they made their report. Jack and Tess were invited.
Down in the 5AC2, Sarah began explaining the events from the night before and the sequence in the lab. Jack listened very intently thinking that Unna was likely the spy. When Sarah concluded that they were not sure who the doctor was with, Chuck told the General that he had no knowledge of the doctor. The General told Chuck to go get some rest. Before the General signed off, she asked Chuck whether he had any indication of remembering the information from the lab. He told her no. There had been no triggers like with the Intersect and the only effect so far was that his eye hurt from the back of his head. As normal, the screen went blank.
When they got back to the B&B, Chuck told Sarah that she did not have to stay. So she went back to her room for a while. She heard him moving around almost every five minutes. Chuck spent time in various positions around his room. He could not get settled. Finally, Sarah knocked on his door.
"Chuck, are you okay?"
"I don't know. Everything hurts. I can't stay in one position before I start thinking of you and that crazy doctor. What would have happened if instead of falling, I had slowed you down? Then I think of trying to explain any of this to Ellie. Or something like that." Chuck moved over to Sarah and held her.
"Okay, let's try to find you a good position." She moved over to the bed. "Let me sit up in the bed and I'll hold you. Come on everything will be alright." She was beginning to wonder whether they gave Chuck something up in the infirmary. He was way more excited than anything she'd seen. Eventually he had laid down on the bed and had his head in her lap. She played with his curls and kissed his smiling face until he fell asleep. They both were asleep in a little.
Later that afternoon Chuck woke to see Sarah beside him. She looked as peaceful as ever and woke as he shifted.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not mean to wake you," Chuck stretched as he said it.
"It's okay. I did not need to sleep all day. How is your eye?"
He reached for the eye patch and slid it to the side. Barely opening the eye, he winced and put the patch back. "Not ready yet. It is still sensitive. But I don't have as bad a headache." Chuck wrapped his arms around Sarah. "I am so glad you came over. I don't know what was wrong."
"Well, I am glad you are better. You getting hungry?"
"Yes, I could use something."
"Let's see if Casey's back and we will get something for dinner."
"Casey. How about we have dinner at Café Diem? I saw something you'd like. I'll order ahead so they have it ready." She went to the phone and called. "Hi, Vincent. This is Sarah I saw one of your Christmas specials this morning. There will be three of us. I thought the special said something about calling ahead. Anyway we'd like the three French hens." She smiled at Chuck and held up two fingers.
Chuck collapsed back in bed to defeat. 'How did she find it and then remember after all this. Sarah Walker, you are so special.'
Café Diem
"How is your head?" Casey almost rubbed the top of Chuck's head as he sat. But looked at Sarah and decided he better not.
"Well, thanks Casey. It is better. My eye is still hurting a little," Chuck remarked.
Zoe happened to come up at the same time Chuck made the comment. "Oh, what happened to your eye?"
"I fell while stepping on Fargo's toy truck and got zapped by a laser of Henry's. It focused on my eye for a while," Chuck thought that was the easiest explanation.
"Did they say how long it would be before it returned to normal?" Zoe continued.
"Well, I don't know." He looked at Sarah. "They didn't say anything to me. Did they tell you guys?"
Sarah said, "No, we only really talked about the accident. I'll explain that a little more later."
"That must have been why Julia was crying when she came." She looked at Sarah who had a question in her eye. "Oh, Julia and Fargo had been working together so long on that truck. I am still not certain why she went along with Fargo and made a truck. But they did and she was trying really hard to make Fargo happy. As you have probably seen he always seems to be getting in trouble for something he does. Anyway Julia was adding everything she had learned last year when she won with a hot little motorcycle. She must really be crushed."
"Well the truck really was. As a matter of fact, it blew up when I stepped on it. And that was an accident too. I was just getting closer to the table and when I put my foot down. It exploded and I fell forward," Chuck was trying hard to explain the accident.
"Some how that figures. Dad said they kept running that truck around GD like it was a turbo track or something." She got out her pad. "What would you like?"
Sarah put her menu down, "I called in the preorder for the French hens."
"Oh sure, Vincent is still in the back getting that ready. He'll have to give you the wine selection for that. But do you want anything else to drink?"
Sarah said, "I would like a water. Just a glass will be fine."
"Me too, please." Chuck followed.
"I like a cup of coffee please." Casey held a cup he found on the table.
Zoe brought the drinks to the table and Lucas came in.
"Hey, babe, still working tonight?"
"Yeah, I have until seven then I can come help."
"Okay see you over there." And Lucas went back out the door.
"What are you working on? A toy project too?" Sarah looked at Zoe who seemed unhappy that she had to stay at the Café.
"Well, he has a toy project but that is almost done. Tonight, we are putting together the Christmas display for my Dad. He doesn't know or have the time for it. But since Lucas and I are going off to school in Boston next semester we thought we would make something special for Dad."
"Oh that is very sweet. You are both going to Harvard?"
Zoe set her pad down. "I am going to Harvard, but Lucas will be just a little ways away at MIT. We are trying to convince my dad that an apartment together would be the way to go. But he hasn't agreed yet." Zoe was smiling.
Casey just shook his head and Chuck looked at his plate.
Sarah tried to field that one, but was at a loss too, "I am sure your dad will help you with the right decision."
Casey rolled his eyes.
Fortunately Vincent came out with the dinners. The French hens were a little bigger than a quail. Vincent had bread stuffing with celery and mushroom. There were other squashes and a light corn with the meal. He gave them the wine selection and showed them the match he recommended. They were happy with that and toasted each other to a fine day.
Bed and Breakfast
When Casey, Sarah and Chuck got back to the B&B, Sarah said she did not feel too well and excused herself to her room. Chuck pleaded a little with her knowing that his next obligation was to call Ellie. But she just shook her head and left.
Chuck nervously dialed the number, "Hi Sis. Yeah, we're doing fine. Well, actually Sarah is not feeling too well and went up stairs. Yeah, there were a few people out sick today. Sure, we'll be careful. It has been fun. It snowed up here and they have some real nice Christmas tree lights. It kind of made it come alive. Sure, let me talk with Devon.
"Hey Bro. Okay, I did not hear, what was the score? I know. Yeah, we'll be careful. Later," and Chuck disconnected.
Chuck and Casey stayed down in the TV room and were watching a Laker's game. Julia came in and had red eyes from rubbing them.
Chuck got up and went over. "Julia, I am terribly sorry about the truck. I wish I could help. Is there any way I could help put together another? I don't know about your truck, but my friend and I used to put together some pretty mean model cars when I was a kid."
Casey laughed, "Is that why the knuckle head bought the DeLoran and then the orange piece of?"
Chuck laughed at that too, "You're probably right. But you have to admit without the De Loran I would not have been able to do what we did that night to save Sarah and her Dad."
Julia looked at Chuck, "What do you guys do? Why were you in Henry's lab?"
Chuck looked at Casey. He nodded his head, "We were asked to come here by General Mansfield. He found evidence that there were people like Doctor Unna here at GD. We were asked to find them."
"Oh. At least that explains why you had guns. Do you carry one too?"
Casey got a laugh at that too, "Not unless you count water pistols."
"Well no, I generally don't. I've only used a tranq gun on him," Chuck pointed at Casey.
"Oh wow, before I start something, did you say you had a DeLoran? Like in 'Back to the Future?'" Julia asked.
"No, it was a Morgan car. It was a wreck, only got up to twenty miles per hour. But I guess we could actually find a real one here. I mean with all that you guys do I bet you could build one."
Julia thought about that. She had heard what Tess' project was for the Nobel Prize, "You know that could be possible. Let me show you the drawings for our truck. Maybe you have an idea for the replacement."
"Ah Julia, the only thing I know is computers. I might be able to help with a model that but not what you are doing." He saw her shoulders just slump. "But I could try, let me see."
They spent the next thirty minutes going over the drawings. Chuck made a few changes to style the body into what he remembered of the DeLoran. He reminded Julia that the DeLoran from 'Back to the Future' had a nuclear reactor. She showed him that part that was a mini-reactor.
Chuck said he would think about it and give her any ideas in the morning.
When the game was over Casey said he was heading up to bed and would see them in the morning.
A/N Okay a little more action during the Holiday season. It's snowing here, so maybe it will snow for Christmas.
Please review. It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing.