CHAPTER 3
Stallion's Gate
After putting the base on intruder alert and reinforcing the Taser-only rule, Al set out to find Gooshie. He expected the computer genius to be in the Control Center but he wasn't. Instead Gooshie was outside the Imaging Chamber, circuit boards strewn around and a laptop wired in to the motherboard imbedded in the wall.
"So, what's up, Gooshie?" Al called out to the techie-guru.
"Shhhh," Gooshie warned.
"Why shhhhh?" Al asked.
"I don't want her to hear us." Gooshie looked around nervously.
"Her who?" Al demanded in a whisper.
"Ziggy," the techie said. "She'll cut off my bypass if she finds out what I'm doing."
"What are you doing? And what's with the laptop?"
"While running a diagnostic on the Imaging Chamber I came across a hidden subroutine. It is why the Imaging Chamber is offline or rather why Ziggy is keeping the Imaging Chamber offline. I can bypass it for just a few seconds using the laptop, I think." Gooshie finished.
"Let's do it," Al volunteered as he stepped into the Imaging Chamber.
Gooshie began typing furiously on the laptop and after a confirming nod from Al, pressed enter.
Instantly the room around him dissolved and was replaced by the inside of a car and the sound of Clint Black singing. Al looked around for Sam; he was driving. No sooner had Al opened his mouth to talk to Sam, the image cut off.
"What the hell happened?" Al roared at Gooshie as he marched out of the room.
"I'm sorry, Admiral Calavicci. The Imaging Chamber is not online." Ziggy's voice responded to him.
Al stomped off to the Control Center to have it out with Ziggy.
****************************
Why Frank knew he had to get to a phone was hazy, but he knew he needed to call in to ... to ... "Damn," he swore to himself. The memory was just out of reach. What Frank did remember was the schematic of Quantum Leap that he studied before the backstep and had used that for three hours or so, to elude capture by the M.P.'s on his trail.
He made his way carefully to the staff quarters and went through a door bearing the name Christina Martinez-O'Farrell. The quarters were incredibly pink and frilly, Frank noted. There was a picture on the dresser of two young women, one in a cheerleader outfit, pink and purple pompoms waving, the other looking off into space. Sisters, Frank assumed due to the resemblance between the girls. In a second photograph, the same two girls, one in a graduation cap and gown, the other in army fatigues, were posed with an older couple that Frank presumed to be their parents. On the bedside table was another picture of the cheerleader, this time dressed in a bikini and laughing with a swimsuited Admiral Calavicci.
Behind this picture was the phone.
On autopilot Frank lifted the receiver and dialed. "Conundrum," Frank said to the communications officer.
*********************
Temporary HQ, Socorro
"Sir," the communications officer paged into Bradley's makeshift office, "I have Conundrum on line 3."
Bradley Talmadge looked up from his conversation with Olga Vukovitch. She volunteered to check with the flight center in Nevada to see if the sphere was gone. She returned a moment later and confirmed what Bradley had known, the sphere was still there and Frank had left with Craig and Isaac 10 minutes ago.
"Bradley Talmadge," he barked into the phone.
"Conundrum," repeated Frank in Sam Beckett's voice.
"Who are you?" Talmadge demanded.
The only answer was a buzzing sound followed by a low moan, a thud and then the line went dead. The call was way too short to trace, but Talmadge did so anyway, his mind racing. To say he was concerned was the understatement of the year. He just hoped his team had reached PQL to solve this quickly.
*******************
Stallion's Gate
Al strode down the hall purposefully toward the Control Center. He had been sidetracked from his talk with Ziggy by news from the security chief that the guest had been caught in Tina's quarters, by Tina. Al had gone to check on her first. She was fine and very glad now that he had insisted on EVERYONE being armed during an intruder search. Rather than argue with Al, Tina had accepted the day off he offered saying something about lunch with her sister in town.
As he turned around a corner, Al almost collided head on with Donna Elesee.
"Whoa, hey Al, where's the fire?" the physicist questioned the admiral.
"Under Ziggy as soon as I light it," came the miffed reply.
"Is this the Imaging Chamber problem again?" Donna asked. Al nodded. "I thought this might happen someday. I knew I was right to write that subroutine for Sam."
Al's eyes opened so wide he thought they might pop.
"You wrote the hidden subroutine that is keeping the Imaging Chamber offline." Al couldn't decide whether to be angry or relieved. "What is it and what does it do?" he asked.
"It's a time paradox fail-safe routine," Donna began.
"A pair of who?" questioned Al.
"A time paradox fail-safe routine," Donna repeated. "Think of it as protection for the future. In theory Sam can travel anywhere within his own lifetime. Some of that lifetime will extend, hopefully, beyond Project Quantum Leap." Donna watched Al to see if she had lost him.
"Go on," he prodded.
"It is too dangerous for each of us to know our own futures, so if Sam ever leaped into either our future or within 3 months of our past, I programmed Ziggy to follow his progress but keep the Imaging Chamber offline," Donna ended.
"But what if he needs us? I don't want him to feel like I've abandoned him."
"Ziggy won't let anything too dangerous go down without telling us, Al. This was Sam's order, just like not telling him what he doesn't remember about us," Donna reminded Al. The pain in her voice was very evident.
"Dr. Elesee?" Ziggy's voice called out to her.
"Yes, I'm here."
"Dr. Elesee, there are people here to see you on level one," Ziggy told Donna.
"Thank you, Ziggy." Donna acknowledged the computer. "I know how frustrating this is for you," Donna said softly to her friend.
Al swallowed down the lump in his throat. He knew how hard this was on her. "Go on," he smiled weakly at her, "you have people waiting."
******************
While Sam, Craig and Isaac waited at the reception area, Sam was trying desperately to fill in the holes in his swisscheesed brain. He knew this place as well as the farm in Indiana, the faces; the voices all stirred up warm memories for him. But just on the outside of all these warm memories, an uncomfortable yearning pulled at him.
Isaac Mentnor was also lost in thought. 'How could I have let all these years go by without calling her?' he chastised himself.
"Dr. Mentnor?" her warm voice called him from his thoughts. He stood to greet her.
"Donna Elesee, how have you been, my dear?"
"Isaac, it's good to see you. You're just as handsome as ever," Donna said as she embraced her former professor.
"I heard about what happened to your husband, Donna. I'm so sorry." Isaac extended his condolences as the embrace ended.
"Thank you, Isaac. I'm fine," she responded automatically.
Two men stood up behind Isaac and he turned to introduce them. "Dr. Donna Elesee, this is Craig Donovan."
Donna extended her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said.
"Same here," came Donovan's reply as they shook hands.
"And this is Frank Parker." Isaac introduced the other man.
Donna began to extend her hand to Parker as she had greeted Donovan and stopped cold. She looked into the face of Frank Parker and something inside her went PING. She stared into his eyes and felt as if she could see his soul; a loving man with a sensual laugh and a desire began in her she hadn't felt in years.
Sam looked at Donna and froze. He had never believed in the myth of love at first sight, until now. He met her eyes and fell into them willingly. She was exciting, sexy and oh, so beautiful. He wanted to stare into those eyes forever.
A soft poke from Donovan returned Sam to his senses and the realization that he had a job to do, stop a bomber. He willed himself to pull back his gaze and spoke the first words that came into his mind.
"If I had met you when I was an undergrad, college wouldn't have been so lonely."
As soon as the words left his lips Sam wondered where they came from. He watched Donna's features harden. Her gaze, soft and inviting a second ago was now cold and distant. Sam instantly felt guilty and slightly embarrassed.
"Mr. Parker," she both acknowledged and dismissed him with a nod.
Turning to Isaac Donna began the standard "Welcome to Quantum Leap" speech she had given the congressional party yesterday. Before she got too far she was interrupted by a request for the 'head' as Donovan put it.
"Why don't you and Dr. Elesee get started, Isaac." Sam suggested after Donna indicated where the tour would begin. "I'll wait for Donovan and catch up to you." Part of him wanted to follow the woman anywhere, but he forced himself to focus on his job.
"Good idea, Frank." Isaac said. "They can't get too lost, now can they, Donna?" he pushed her gently to his point of view.
"Sure, Isaac. This way." Donna placed her hand on Isaac's elbow and led him off down the corridor, happy to put distance between herself and that disturbing man called Frank Parker.
Walking arm in arm with her mentor, Donna prattled on about the history of Quantum Leap, contributions by other scientists, basics of computer technology; the usual 'visiting dignitary' tour guide script. Her mouth worked independently of her brain. Her brain was busy with self- flagellation and anger about the way Frank Parker had affected her mixed with guilt about betraying Sam like that. 'What would make him choose those words?' she wondered.
Isaac allowed Donna to continue mindlessly on with the scripted tour for two very different reasons. First, it allowed him to separate her from Parker and Donovan, giving them free rein within the compound. Secondly, Isaac could see how rattled Parker's come-on had made her and made a mental note of her reaction.
Stallion's Gate
After putting the base on intruder alert and reinforcing the Taser-only rule, Al set out to find Gooshie. He expected the computer genius to be in the Control Center but he wasn't. Instead Gooshie was outside the Imaging Chamber, circuit boards strewn around and a laptop wired in to the motherboard imbedded in the wall.
"So, what's up, Gooshie?" Al called out to the techie-guru.
"Shhhh," Gooshie warned.
"Why shhhhh?" Al asked.
"I don't want her to hear us." Gooshie looked around nervously.
"Her who?" Al demanded in a whisper.
"Ziggy," the techie said. "She'll cut off my bypass if she finds out what I'm doing."
"What are you doing? And what's with the laptop?"
"While running a diagnostic on the Imaging Chamber I came across a hidden subroutine. It is why the Imaging Chamber is offline or rather why Ziggy is keeping the Imaging Chamber offline. I can bypass it for just a few seconds using the laptop, I think." Gooshie finished.
"Let's do it," Al volunteered as he stepped into the Imaging Chamber.
Gooshie began typing furiously on the laptop and after a confirming nod from Al, pressed enter.
Instantly the room around him dissolved and was replaced by the inside of a car and the sound of Clint Black singing. Al looked around for Sam; he was driving. No sooner had Al opened his mouth to talk to Sam, the image cut off.
"What the hell happened?" Al roared at Gooshie as he marched out of the room.
"I'm sorry, Admiral Calavicci. The Imaging Chamber is not online." Ziggy's voice responded to him.
Al stomped off to the Control Center to have it out with Ziggy.
****************************
Why Frank knew he had to get to a phone was hazy, but he knew he needed to call in to ... to ... "Damn," he swore to himself. The memory was just out of reach. What Frank did remember was the schematic of Quantum Leap that he studied before the backstep and had used that for three hours or so, to elude capture by the M.P.'s on his trail.
He made his way carefully to the staff quarters and went through a door bearing the name Christina Martinez-O'Farrell. The quarters were incredibly pink and frilly, Frank noted. There was a picture on the dresser of two young women, one in a cheerleader outfit, pink and purple pompoms waving, the other looking off into space. Sisters, Frank assumed due to the resemblance between the girls. In a second photograph, the same two girls, one in a graduation cap and gown, the other in army fatigues, were posed with an older couple that Frank presumed to be their parents. On the bedside table was another picture of the cheerleader, this time dressed in a bikini and laughing with a swimsuited Admiral Calavicci.
Behind this picture was the phone.
On autopilot Frank lifted the receiver and dialed. "Conundrum," Frank said to the communications officer.
*********************
Temporary HQ, Socorro
"Sir," the communications officer paged into Bradley's makeshift office, "I have Conundrum on line 3."
Bradley Talmadge looked up from his conversation with Olga Vukovitch. She volunteered to check with the flight center in Nevada to see if the sphere was gone. She returned a moment later and confirmed what Bradley had known, the sphere was still there and Frank had left with Craig and Isaac 10 minutes ago.
"Bradley Talmadge," he barked into the phone.
"Conundrum," repeated Frank in Sam Beckett's voice.
"Who are you?" Talmadge demanded.
The only answer was a buzzing sound followed by a low moan, a thud and then the line went dead. The call was way too short to trace, but Talmadge did so anyway, his mind racing. To say he was concerned was the understatement of the year. He just hoped his team had reached PQL to solve this quickly.
*******************
Stallion's Gate
Al strode down the hall purposefully toward the Control Center. He had been sidetracked from his talk with Ziggy by news from the security chief that the guest had been caught in Tina's quarters, by Tina. Al had gone to check on her first. She was fine and very glad now that he had insisted on EVERYONE being armed during an intruder search. Rather than argue with Al, Tina had accepted the day off he offered saying something about lunch with her sister in town.
As he turned around a corner, Al almost collided head on with Donna Elesee.
"Whoa, hey Al, where's the fire?" the physicist questioned the admiral.
"Under Ziggy as soon as I light it," came the miffed reply.
"Is this the Imaging Chamber problem again?" Donna asked. Al nodded. "I thought this might happen someday. I knew I was right to write that subroutine for Sam."
Al's eyes opened so wide he thought they might pop.
"You wrote the hidden subroutine that is keeping the Imaging Chamber offline." Al couldn't decide whether to be angry or relieved. "What is it and what does it do?" he asked.
"It's a time paradox fail-safe routine," Donna began.
"A pair of who?" questioned Al.
"A time paradox fail-safe routine," Donna repeated. "Think of it as protection for the future. In theory Sam can travel anywhere within his own lifetime. Some of that lifetime will extend, hopefully, beyond Project Quantum Leap." Donna watched Al to see if she had lost him.
"Go on," he prodded.
"It is too dangerous for each of us to know our own futures, so if Sam ever leaped into either our future or within 3 months of our past, I programmed Ziggy to follow his progress but keep the Imaging Chamber offline," Donna ended.
"But what if he needs us? I don't want him to feel like I've abandoned him."
"Ziggy won't let anything too dangerous go down without telling us, Al. This was Sam's order, just like not telling him what he doesn't remember about us," Donna reminded Al. The pain in her voice was very evident.
"Dr. Elesee?" Ziggy's voice called out to her.
"Yes, I'm here."
"Dr. Elesee, there are people here to see you on level one," Ziggy told Donna.
"Thank you, Ziggy." Donna acknowledged the computer. "I know how frustrating this is for you," Donna said softly to her friend.
Al swallowed down the lump in his throat. He knew how hard this was on her. "Go on," he smiled weakly at her, "you have people waiting."
******************
While Sam, Craig and Isaac waited at the reception area, Sam was trying desperately to fill in the holes in his swisscheesed brain. He knew this place as well as the farm in Indiana, the faces; the voices all stirred up warm memories for him. But just on the outside of all these warm memories, an uncomfortable yearning pulled at him.
Isaac Mentnor was also lost in thought. 'How could I have let all these years go by without calling her?' he chastised himself.
"Dr. Mentnor?" her warm voice called him from his thoughts. He stood to greet her.
"Donna Elesee, how have you been, my dear?"
"Isaac, it's good to see you. You're just as handsome as ever," Donna said as she embraced her former professor.
"I heard about what happened to your husband, Donna. I'm so sorry." Isaac extended his condolences as the embrace ended.
"Thank you, Isaac. I'm fine," she responded automatically.
Two men stood up behind Isaac and he turned to introduce them. "Dr. Donna Elesee, this is Craig Donovan."
Donna extended her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said.
"Same here," came Donovan's reply as they shook hands.
"And this is Frank Parker." Isaac introduced the other man.
Donna began to extend her hand to Parker as she had greeted Donovan and stopped cold. She looked into the face of Frank Parker and something inside her went PING. She stared into his eyes and felt as if she could see his soul; a loving man with a sensual laugh and a desire began in her she hadn't felt in years.
Sam looked at Donna and froze. He had never believed in the myth of love at first sight, until now. He met her eyes and fell into them willingly. She was exciting, sexy and oh, so beautiful. He wanted to stare into those eyes forever.
A soft poke from Donovan returned Sam to his senses and the realization that he had a job to do, stop a bomber. He willed himself to pull back his gaze and spoke the first words that came into his mind.
"If I had met you when I was an undergrad, college wouldn't have been so lonely."
As soon as the words left his lips Sam wondered where they came from. He watched Donna's features harden. Her gaze, soft and inviting a second ago was now cold and distant. Sam instantly felt guilty and slightly embarrassed.
"Mr. Parker," she both acknowledged and dismissed him with a nod.
Turning to Isaac Donna began the standard "Welcome to Quantum Leap" speech she had given the congressional party yesterday. Before she got too far she was interrupted by a request for the 'head' as Donovan put it.
"Why don't you and Dr. Elesee get started, Isaac." Sam suggested after Donna indicated where the tour would begin. "I'll wait for Donovan and catch up to you." Part of him wanted to follow the woman anywhere, but he forced himself to focus on his job.
"Good idea, Frank." Isaac said. "They can't get too lost, now can they, Donna?" he pushed her gently to his point of view.
"Sure, Isaac. This way." Donna placed her hand on Isaac's elbow and led him off down the corridor, happy to put distance between herself and that disturbing man called Frank Parker.
Walking arm in arm with her mentor, Donna prattled on about the history of Quantum Leap, contributions by other scientists, basics of computer technology; the usual 'visiting dignitary' tour guide script. Her mouth worked independently of her brain. Her brain was busy with self- flagellation and anger about the way Frank Parker had affected her mixed with guilt about betraying Sam like that. 'What would make him choose those words?' she wondered.
Isaac allowed Donna to continue mindlessly on with the scripted tour for two very different reasons. First, it allowed him to separate her from Parker and Donovan, giving them free rein within the compound. Secondly, Isaac could see how rattled Parker's come-on had made her and made a mental note of her reaction.