HOSTILE TAKEOVER
BY AJ Squaredaway
PART SIX
When Dr. Fuller left, Sam started back to the Command Post, his mind racing. How could he get down there? What was he here to do? What should he do next? His whirling mind skipped a beat when he overheard a woman's voice pleading with someone. Something about the voice made him stop and scan the crowd gathered behind the police line. Eventually he saw a dark haired woman talking briskly with one of the burly sentries. Sam sucked in his breath and held it for a moment. He knew her!
As he racked his brain trying to recall her name, she glanced in his direction and saw him staring at her. She tried to smile, but the weird mix of anger and panic had taken control of her expression. Then it hit him: It was Beth!
Without a second thought he strode over to the line and took her elbow. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "I authorize her entry," Sam ordered the sentry, and he stepped aside. Beth gratefully passed the line and walked close to Sam's side. He could feel her shaking.
"Do I know you?" She asked, studying his profile.
"Uh, no," Sam stuttered. "I'm the Intelligence Officer. You're Mrs. Calavicci, aren't you? I, ah, saw your picture in my research." That sounded believable.
"Oh, yes, of course." She was trying to be cordial, but her voice was quivering. "Al..I mean, the Admiral's all right isn't he? Have you seen him?" Her grip tightened, the shaking gone.
"I just saw him; well, I saw live pictures of him, and he's fine." Sam was wondering now how he was going to explain her presence in the Command Post. "Ah, I thought you may help us with some names. Are you up to it?"
Beth's jaw set and she stood a little straighter. "You bet I am," she said determinedly. Her resolve made Sam grin.
He led her to his station where the fiber optic feed was now showing on his computer screen. "It's kinda dark, but let your eyes adjust. We counted about a dozen hostages, and have figured out the Senators and Al .. I mean, your husband. Do you recognize anyone else?" As she studied the screen, Sam started having second thoughts about having her here. What was the point? So she could watch him get tortured? Maybe die? Then Sam had to finally admit that she was here for purely selfish reasons. She was as close as he was going to get to home right now. She was like a lifeline that he wanted to keep close, and didn't want to let go and those thoughts started to make him uncomfortable. This probably wasn't a good idea, but he wasn't moving to send her away, either. He made a promise to himself that if her well being became threatened, he would send her away to safety.
"There," she said pointing to a hunched over man. "That's Avery, Weitzman's aide. The woman behind him is a clerk in the office...let's see..Cindy? I think that's it."
Sam compared the names to his list, and brought up their personnel files. The pictures matched. "Halfway there," Sam mused. Six more hostages to identify.
The sound of the Imaging Chamber door made him jump. He rolled his eyes in the direction of Dr. Fuller and caught the complete surprise on her face when she saw Beth. Her gaping and protests reminded him of Al, and he suppressed a smirk.
"What's she doing here? Don't you think that's a bit risky?! You haven't told her, have you?!" Dr. Fuller was practically prancing in place. Then something dawned on her, and she frowned suspiciously. "Do you even know who she is?" She asked quietly.
He frowned at her and shook his head, then stepped aside to pick up a phone to use as a prop. Beth didn't notice his shift in position, and Sam stepped out of her hearing zone.
"Yes. It's Beth Calavicci, isn't it? And no, I didn't tell her," he whispered.
"What's she doing here?!" The hologram repeated, the handlink squealing in protest.
Sam set his chin. "I thought she could help."
Dr. Fuller's eyes narrowed. He wasn't fooling her.
"OK, OK. It felt like the right thing to do, OK? What are you gonna do about it, anyway? You're not even here!"
Dr. Fuller sputtered and Ziggy squealed, and Sam simply stood fast and glared at them, unmoved. Finally, they gave up. "Fine. But you need to resist all temptation, Dr. Beckett! No cryptic messages or stuff like that, OK?"
Sam looked hurt. "Would I do that?" He said innocently. Her scowl was his answer. "Fine. No messages. Now why are you here? To give me more non-information?"
Now it was Sammie Jo's turn to look hurt. "Of course not! We have some good stuff here. Got some names for you. Fastid Hazzim, Rahstem G'hard and Alexander Moussad. Ziggy's hacking into some overseas system that has their records...hang on...they don't have work visas. No big surprise there. Hey! Moussad is an army pilot!" Sammie Jo's fingers flew over the keyboard. "Well, this is weird. He trained here in the US in the mid-seventies, squadron VT-10 in Pensacola."
"VT-10?" He repeated, not expecting the reaction he got from Beth.
Her head snapped up. "Squadron VT-10? In Pensacola?" Her eyes were wide with wonder.
Sam stared at her, not believing what he just heard. "You know it?" He asked.
"Sure. Al was their Commanding Officer in the seventies...let's see..it was in 1975. He got enough stick time there to qualify for the astronaut program. He loved it."
Sam could see Sammie Jo staring at her, too. " 'Stick time?' " They said together.
Beth grinned. "Oh, yeah. You're a civilian...stick time...flight time in a jet. You know? The joystick??"
"Oh!" They replied in unison, the term suddenly clear.
She laughed lightly. "He loved that duty. He said it was his job to try and make the trainees in the back sick..." She hesitated as her voice cracked on the last word.
Sam, noting her distress, asked quietly, "Did he train pilots for the Iranian Air Force?"
"Sometimes. But mostly he was there to train the second-seaters. The Navigators and the Radar Officers in the back." Her voice was soft as she returned her attention to the screen. Sam saw her touch it lightly with her fingertips. "How is that connected to this?"
Sam looked at Dr. Fuller, who then returned to poking the handlink. "Oh, oh. That checks out, all right. Al trained him in '75. I wonder if that's merely a coincidence?"
"I don't believe in coincidence," Sam grumbled.
"Hey! I don't believe this!" Sammie Jo couldn't help but smack the handlink to try and get it to speed up. "This is incredible!"
"What?" Sam replied after he made his heart settle down from her outburst.
"Ziggy has accessed Moussad's complete flying history with the Iranian Air Force. It seems that he was in the area of the USS Vincennes on July 3, 1988." She sounded angry. "So the Captain was right after all!"
"What?" Sam growled through clenched teeth. He had no idea what she was talking about.
"So you don't remember ...oh, sorry. Swiss cheese, huh?" She ignored his glare and continued. "On July 3, 1988, while on patrol in the Persian Gulf, the Captain of the USS Vincennes reported picking up the transponder code of an Iranian F-14. He tried all he could to confirm, but the jet didn't respond, so he felt he was under attack, and shot it down. The problem was, he shot down a civilian Airbus and killed everyone aboard. All civilians."
The shock on Sam's face was clear.
Sammie Jo continued. "But these records show Moussad was flying in the area! So the Captain was right all along! He did read a Fighter transponder, and all those people died because of that jerk in there!" She pointed to the screen. "I wish we could release this for the Vincennes Captain. He really suffered." She sighed.
"Why can't you release it?" Sam demanded.
Dr. Fuller patiently replied, "Because how are we, as a secret project, going to answer where we got it? Our computer hacked your computer? Sorry, Dr. Beckett. No can do."
"Release what?" Beth's soft voice sounded concerned. "Something about Al?"
Sam covered his anger and faced her. "It looks like your husband trained one of the terrorists as a pilot in '75. I guess we don't want to release that fact."
"Oh! Really? That's weird, huh?" She looked perplexed. "Do you think it's connected?"
Sam's mind was spinning, trying to make a connection. What if it was? What does that mean to Al? Was this coincidence, or did they plan to get him? He didn't like it when a leap had more questions than answers this far in the game. Then suddenly another question sprung into his brain, and he snapped his head around to face the hologram.
"Why is it that you just found that out?" He pointedly asked Dr. Fuller. "Didn't you have all this from the original history? I understand the part about Ziggy getting that classified stuff, but didn't you have any of the terrorist's identification from the original history?"
Sammie Jo froze. "Well," she started. "Well, they, ah, got away before."
Sam knew she was lying as she beat a hasty retreat through the Imaging Chamber door, trying to escape Sam's questions. The only thing that stopped her was the gasp of terror that escaped Beth's lips.
"They're taking him! They just grabbed Al!"
Sam dropped the phone and centered himself in front of the screen. All he saw were retreating heels. Beth's hand was over her mouth, and her eyes were wide and shiny with fear as she tried to catch her breath. Sam held her shoulders to stop her sobs, and glared at Dr. Fuller over Beth's head. His lips formed the word, "Go to him!"
"Center me on Al!" Dr. Fuller ordered as the Imaging Chamber door shut, cutting off her exit. She punched the handlink, and popped out of Sam's sight.
****************
The tunnel was starting to feel hot and close to Al. Mentally running through some relaxing techniques that Beth had taught him kept him from jumping up and berating each masked captor as they passed. After what seemed like forever two of the terrorists approached him, and without a word grabbed his arms and forced him to exit the tram. They bound his hands behind his back, and started down the tunnel. He heard Weitzman utter an oral objection that was quickly silenced.
Once they were around the bend from the trams and out of sight Al was able to make out a group of four men waiting for them.
"Tea time?" Al inquired sarcastically. "Gee, I forgot the crumpets." They responded by shoving him to his knees in front of the group. The tall man stepped forward, and Al thought he might be the one that had thumped him in the chest earlier. Did he know him? "Gonna aim better this time?" He sneered at the man.
"Ah. Calavicci, isn't it?" The man replied with a thick Middle Eastern accent.
All Al could see were the man's lips and eyes, and he studied them closely for any sign of recognition and future reference, if he had a future.
"And an Admiral. Well. We know a bit about you already." The man paused.
"Well," Al said smartly. "I didn't know I had a fan club."
The tall man smiled. "You know? We had our list of demands all set to go, then along came you to complicate things. Actually, that's not quite true." The tall man started pacing a slow circle. "In reality, you are the icing on the cake, so to speak. A nice surprise."
Al didn't like the sound of this. "So this is a surprise party."
"Yeah. And your part is to tell us all you know about the Starbright and Quantum Leap projects." He turned suddenly and pushed Al in the chest with his booted foot.
The Admiral toppled backwards and opted to lay still. He felt the tip of the man's rifle against his temple, and glared at him in the dark.
"You can start anytime," the man growled through the mask.
BY AJ Squaredaway
PART SIX
When Dr. Fuller left, Sam started back to the Command Post, his mind racing. How could he get down there? What was he here to do? What should he do next? His whirling mind skipped a beat when he overheard a woman's voice pleading with someone. Something about the voice made him stop and scan the crowd gathered behind the police line. Eventually he saw a dark haired woman talking briskly with one of the burly sentries. Sam sucked in his breath and held it for a moment. He knew her!
As he racked his brain trying to recall her name, she glanced in his direction and saw him staring at her. She tried to smile, but the weird mix of anger and panic had taken control of her expression. Then it hit him: It was Beth!
Without a second thought he strode over to the line and took her elbow. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "I authorize her entry," Sam ordered the sentry, and he stepped aside. Beth gratefully passed the line and walked close to Sam's side. He could feel her shaking.
"Do I know you?" She asked, studying his profile.
"Uh, no," Sam stuttered. "I'm the Intelligence Officer. You're Mrs. Calavicci, aren't you? I, ah, saw your picture in my research." That sounded believable.
"Oh, yes, of course." She was trying to be cordial, but her voice was quivering. "Al..I mean, the Admiral's all right isn't he? Have you seen him?" Her grip tightened, the shaking gone.
"I just saw him; well, I saw live pictures of him, and he's fine." Sam was wondering now how he was going to explain her presence in the Command Post. "Ah, I thought you may help us with some names. Are you up to it?"
Beth's jaw set and she stood a little straighter. "You bet I am," she said determinedly. Her resolve made Sam grin.
He led her to his station where the fiber optic feed was now showing on his computer screen. "It's kinda dark, but let your eyes adjust. We counted about a dozen hostages, and have figured out the Senators and Al .. I mean, your husband. Do you recognize anyone else?" As she studied the screen, Sam started having second thoughts about having her here. What was the point? So she could watch him get tortured? Maybe die? Then Sam had to finally admit that she was here for purely selfish reasons. She was as close as he was going to get to home right now. She was like a lifeline that he wanted to keep close, and didn't want to let go and those thoughts started to make him uncomfortable. This probably wasn't a good idea, but he wasn't moving to send her away, either. He made a promise to himself that if her well being became threatened, he would send her away to safety.
"There," she said pointing to a hunched over man. "That's Avery, Weitzman's aide. The woman behind him is a clerk in the office...let's see..Cindy? I think that's it."
Sam compared the names to his list, and brought up their personnel files. The pictures matched. "Halfway there," Sam mused. Six more hostages to identify.
The sound of the Imaging Chamber door made him jump. He rolled his eyes in the direction of Dr. Fuller and caught the complete surprise on her face when she saw Beth. Her gaping and protests reminded him of Al, and he suppressed a smirk.
"What's she doing here? Don't you think that's a bit risky?! You haven't told her, have you?!" Dr. Fuller was practically prancing in place. Then something dawned on her, and she frowned suspiciously. "Do you even know who she is?" She asked quietly.
He frowned at her and shook his head, then stepped aside to pick up a phone to use as a prop. Beth didn't notice his shift in position, and Sam stepped out of her hearing zone.
"Yes. It's Beth Calavicci, isn't it? And no, I didn't tell her," he whispered.
"What's she doing here?!" The hologram repeated, the handlink squealing in protest.
Sam set his chin. "I thought she could help."
Dr. Fuller's eyes narrowed. He wasn't fooling her.
"OK, OK. It felt like the right thing to do, OK? What are you gonna do about it, anyway? You're not even here!"
Dr. Fuller sputtered and Ziggy squealed, and Sam simply stood fast and glared at them, unmoved. Finally, they gave up. "Fine. But you need to resist all temptation, Dr. Beckett! No cryptic messages or stuff like that, OK?"
Sam looked hurt. "Would I do that?" He said innocently. Her scowl was his answer. "Fine. No messages. Now why are you here? To give me more non-information?"
Now it was Sammie Jo's turn to look hurt. "Of course not! We have some good stuff here. Got some names for you. Fastid Hazzim, Rahstem G'hard and Alexander Moussad. Ziggy's hacking into some overseas system that has their records...hang on...they don't have work visas. No big surprise there. Hey! Moussad is an army pilot!" Sammie Jo's fingers flew over the keyboard. "Well, this is weird. He trained here in the US in the mid-seventies, squadron VT-10 in Pensacola."
"VT-10?" He repeated, not expecting the reaction he got from Beth.
Her head snapped up. "Squadron VT-10? In Pensacola?" Her eyes were wide with wonder.
Sam stared at her, not believing what he just heard. "You know it?" He asked.
"Sure. Al was their Commanding Officer in the seventies...let's see..it was in 1975. He got enough stick time there to qualify for the astronaut program. He loved it."
Sam could see Sammie Jo staring at her, too. " 'Stick time?' " They said together.
Beth grinned. "Oh, yeah. You're a civilian...stick time...flight time in a jet. You know? The joystick??"
"Oh!" They replied in unison, the term suddenly clear.
She laughed lightly. "He loved that duty. He said it was his job to try and make the trainees in the back sick..." She hesitated as her voice cracked on the last word.
Sam, noting her distress, asked quietly, "Did he train pilots for the Iranian Air Force?"
"Sometimes. But mostly he was there to train the second-seaters. The Navigators and the Radar Officers in the back." Her voice was soft as she returned her attention to the screen. Sam saw her touch it lightly with her fingertips. "How is that connected to this?"
Sam looked at Dr. Fuller, who then returned to poking the handlink. "Oh, oh. That checks out, all right. Al trained him in '75. I wonder if that's merely a coincidence?"
"I don't believe in coincidence," Sam grumbled.
"Hey! I don't believe this!" Sammie Jo couldn't help but smack the handlink to try and get it to speed up. "This is incredible!"
"What?" Sam replied after he made his heart settle down from her outburst.
"Ziggy has accessed Moussad's complete flying history with the Iranian Air Force. It seems that he was in the area of the USS Vincennes on July 3, 1988." She sounded angry. "So the Captain was right after all!"
"What?" Sam growled through clenched teeth. He had no idea what she was talking about.
"So you don't remember ...oh, sorry. Swiss cheese, huh?" She ignored his glare and continued. "On July 3, 1988, while on patrol in the Persian Gulf, the Captain of the USS Vincennes reported picking up the transponder code of an Iranian F-14. He tried all he could to confirm, but the jet didn't respond, so he felt he was under attack, and shot it down. The problem was, he shot down a civilian Airbus and killed everyone aboard. All civilians."
The shock on Sam's face was clear.
Sammie Jo continued. "But these records show Moussad was flying in the area! So the Captain was right all along! He did read a Fighter transponder, and all those people died because of that jerk in there!" She pointed to the screen. "I wish we could release this for the Vincennes Captain. He really suffered." She sighed.
"Why can't you release it?" Sam demanded.
Dr. Fuller patiently replied, "Because how are we, as a secret project, going to answer where we got it? Our computer hacked your computer? Sorry, Dr. Beckett. No can do."
"Release what?" Beth's soft voice sounded concerned. "Something about Al?"
Sam covered his anger and faced her. "It looks like your husband trained one of the terrorists as a pilot in '75. I guess we don't want to release that fact."
"Oh! Really? That's weird, huh?" She looked perplexed. "Do you think it's connected?"
Sam's mind was spinning, trying to make a connection. What if it was? What does that mean to Al? Was this coincidence, or did they plan to get him? He didn't like it when a leap had more questions than answers this far in the game. Then suddenly another question sprung into his brain, and he snapped his head around to face the hologram.
"Why is it that you just found that out?" He pointedly asked Dr. Fuller. "Didn't you have all this from the original history? I understand the part about Ziggy getting that classified stuff, but didn't you have any of the terrorist's identification from the original history?"
Sammie Jo froze. "Well," she started. "Well, they, ah, got away before."
Sam knew she was lying as she beat a hasty retreat through the Imaging Chamber door, trying to escape Sam's questions. The only thing that stopped her was the gasp of terror that escaped Beth's lips.
"They're taking him! They just grabbed Al!"
Sam dropped the phone and centered himself in front of the screen. All he saw were retreating heels. Beth's hand was over her mouth, and her eyes were wide and shiny with fear as she tried to catch her breath. Sam held her shoulders to stop her sobs, and glared at Dr. Fuller over Beth's head. His lips formed the word, "Go to him!"
"Center me on Al!" Dr. Fuller ordered as the Imaging Chamber door shut, cutting off her exit. She punched the handlink, and popped out of Sam's sight.
****************
The tunnel was starting to feel hot and close to Al. Mentally running through some relaxing techniques that Beth had taught him kept him from jumping up and berating each masked captor as they passed. After what seemed like forever two of the terrorists approached him, and without a word grabbed his arms and forced him to exit the tram. They bound his hands behind his back, and started down the tunnel. He heard Weitzman utter an oral objection that was quickly silenced.
Once they were around the bend from the trams and out of sight Al was able to make out a group of four men waiting for them.
"Tea time?" Al inquired sarcastically. "Gee, I forgot the crumpets." They responded by shoving him to his knees in front of the group. The tall man stepped forward, and Al thought he might be the one that had thumped him in the chest earlier. Did he know him? "Gonna aim better this time?" He sneered at the man.
"Ah. Calavicci, isn't it?" The man replied with a thick Middle Eastern accent.
All Al could see were the man's lips and eyes, and he studied them closely for any sign of recognition and future reference, if he had a future.
"And an Admiral. Well. We know a bit about you already." The man paused.
"Well," Al said smartly. "I didn't know I had a fan club."
The tall man smiled. "You know? We had our list of demands all set to go, then along came you to complicate things. Actually, that's not quite true." The tall man started pacing a slow circle. "In reality, you are the icing on the cake, so to speak. A nice surprise."
Al didn't like the sound of this. "So this is a surprise party."
"Yeah. And your part is to tell us all you know about the Starbright and Quantum Leap projects." He turned suddenly and pushed Al in the chest with his booted foot.
The Admiral toppled backwards and opted to lay still. He felt the tip of the man's rifle against his temple, and glared at him in the dark.
"You can start anytime," the man growled through the mask.