Copyright and Author's Rambling
Okay, okay, I lied. Two more chapters plus the epilogue. My dad's coming in about half an hour to get my computer (winter break
: Þ ). Hope the ending is satisfactory to you.
Project Quantum Leap
Stallions Gate, New Mexico
February 12, 2002
"You goddamn nozzle!" a raspy voice thundered. "What the hell just happened here? Ziggy?!" Lieutenant Colonel Erin Hunnicutt, Chief Programmer Jon Gooshman, and Chief of Project Retrieval Sammi Jo Fuller didn't have to look up from the controls to know who was behind the outburst.
Seeing as she was standing closest to the Imaging Chamber door, Erin was the first to reach the admiral when he stormed into the control room. "Are you alright?" she asked. "We just had a power surge," she explained. After I deal with Calavicci, I've got to reset all the electrical appliances. Wonder if the surge affected the entire building or just the Control Room. This should be fun.
Al glared at her. "Do I look 'alright'?" He proceeded toward Ziggy's blue orb with plans to smash in "that damned bucket of bolts," but Erin grabbed his arm.
"If you want Sam to return home, you can't destroy Ziggy," the Chief Surgeon reminded the irate Project co-director.
"I'm not going to destroy her," he grumbled. "I just want to knock some sense into that crappy piece of junk. We get this close …" he pinched two fingers together to demonstrate "… to ending this Leap, and the damned nozzle has to lose power."
Why isn't "Barbara Streisand" defending herself? "Ziggy?" she called out. No answer.
"That's right, ignore us," Al growled. "I'm gonna rip apart your mainframe."
Erin stole a glance at Sammi Jo and Gooshie, hoping for some assistance with the stubborn admiral. Sammi Jo hid a smirk by biting her nails, and Gooshie ducked his perspiring face and pretended to fiddle with the controls. The buzzing of the intercom – temporarily, Erin thought – saved them.
Gooshie pressed the intercom button. "Control Room, Gooshie speaking."
"My office just lost power for a few seconds," the Chief Psychiatrist's voice came over the speakers. "Did the power outage affect the entire building?" Well, I guess that answers that question.
"The Imaging Chamber went offline," the halitosis-infected scientist answered. He lowered his voice. "The admiral is furious."
"He's about to throw a conniption fit," Dr. Fuller volunteered, ignoring the glaring of Admiral Calavicci, the blushing of Dr. Gooshman, and the smirking of Lieutenant Colonel Hunnicutt. "I think you should get down here ASAP." She added a note of fear to her voice for dramatic effect.
Why didn't I just take Uncle Klinger's advice and join the circus? With these people, it's hard to tell the difference.
"Because you probably make a better doctor than clown," a voice said from behind her.
"Radar, don't do that!" she gasped. I guess this is what Sam feels like when Al sneaks up on him. She'd practically grown up with the man's "radar," but thirty-five-year-old Radar was different than twenty-year-old Radar.
The young man looked down to hide his red face. "I mean, you look like a… you'd be a good clown … but I like you better as a doctor," he stammered.
"Corporal, how did you get out of the Waiting Room?" The admiral asked. Leave it to Al to use military formalities.
"The power surge must have deactivated some of the controls," Erin suggested. Radar nodded in agreement. If he ever – God forbid – became a prisoner-of-war, the enemy wouldn't know what to do with him. He's got the knack and the wit to get out of anything.
"I … umm … was wondering if you needed any help."
"We can handle it, thanks," Gooshie told the visitor.
"Radar is very good with technology," Erin informed the others. "And he's not a security risk," she added for Al's benefit.
"The surge temporarily shut off the controls that monit …" Gooshie began to tell Radar.
"The surge temporarily shut off the controls that monitor the electricity, the Waiting Room, and the Imaging Chamber." The Chief Programmer was left gaping, but the Chief Surgeon and Project co-director only grinned and shrugged. "I tend to know about things before they happen," Radar quickly explained to the red haired man.
Gooshie continued. "We have to restart …"
"…The system, enter in the proper codes, and reattach some wires," Radar finished.
Erin stifled the urge to laugh at the scientist's apparent discomfort with their clairvoyant visitor. Poor Sam is missing all the fun. Now where did I leave my clown costume?
* * *
MASH 4077th
Ouijongbu, Korea
June 7, 1952
Nurse Leah "Baby" Brighton searched the kitchen, first to make sure nobody would catch her, and then to locate a mixing bowl and beaters. Major Houlihan gets real pissed when we cook in our tents, but I'm sure in the mood for hot fudge and lousy coffee. She shuddered at the sight of the large butcher knife lying on the table, but decided to ignore it and proceed with her "mission." Satisfied that no one would burst in on her, she grabbed a wooden spoon and reached for a medium-sized mixing bowl from the shelf. I'll give some to Bigelow, Kellye, and Baker, she decided. Better get the large bowl instead. Maybe some to Radar, Klinger, and Captain Hun …
Her thoughts were interrupted by what she recognized to be the impact of a rifle butt on a human skull and the muffled thud of flesh hitting the ground. Her face grew drawn and she bit her lip to stifle her heavy breathing. She quickly leaned against the table, waiting for whoever was outside to leave. No such luck, she thought grimly as the sweaty hand covered her mouth.
"Did you miss me, Baby?" the familiar voice sneered.
She squirmed and tried to bite his hand. Major Theodore Davis responded by wrapping his free arm around her and trapping her between himself and the table. "Don't try to move," he hissed. "Now, honey, why'd you have to lie to Hot Lips for?"
I didn't lie! She tried to ignore her pounding heartbeat and focus on the task at hand – getting away from the crazed major.
"I did not 'rape' you," Davis continued. "I love you, Baby. Loved you since the day I laid eyes on you. But you don't like me, do you? You avoided me. You mocked me. You …"
Brighton took this opportunity to kick the major in what Captain Pierce affectionately called his "family jewels." While he was momentarily "occupied," she reached behind her and quickly grabbed the gleaming butcher knife. "Stay away from me, you bastard!" she screamed. Davis lunged for the knife. She responded by aiming the knife at his throat.
"Take it easy, Babe," he tried to placate her. "You don't want them to call that shrink on you, now do you?"
I'll kill him. I want this son-of-a-bitch to die – right here, right now. She tightened her grip on the knife. A patient had once told her that out in the trenches, you become detached from your weapon. The arm attached to the hand attached to the finger attached to the trigger is not attached to your body. The hand attached to the knife plunging itself repeatedly into flesh was not connected to Leah Brighton.
"Leah, stop!" She felt a hand gently take her arm and attempt to pull her away. "It's okay, he won't hurt you anymore."
This brought Leah out of her funk. The voice was too caring to belong to Davis. When her hazy vision cleared, she expected to see the snarling major. Instead, she was greeted with the concerned eyes of Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly.
"W-where's D-Davis?" she stammered. Radar motioned to the body on the floor. She wanted to turn away from the blood and the twisted expression on the major's face, but something fixated her to the spot. "I – I think I'm going to be sick."
I killed a man. I'm a murderer. A murderer! She was vaguely aware of Radar leading her out of the kitchen and into the humid Korean summer night air. "I didn't mean to kill him," she finally managed. "He – he …"
"He would have killed you," her friend said. "His intent was to seriously harm you or kill you."
She closed her eyes. I'm a murderer … I'm a murderer … "That doesn't matter!" she shouted. "He's dead – that's all that really counts here."
"Leah, look at me." She reluctantly complied. "You acted in self-defense. If you didn't stab him, he would have raped you or killed you. You didn't have much of a choice."
She spotted a figure lying in the grass out of the corner of her eye. At first she thought it was a local girl or another nurse, but the magenta evening gown was too extravagant for any of these types of women. "Klinger?"
"Davis must have knocked him out before going to you," O'Reilly explained.
Her nursing skills kicked in and she rushed to the fallen corporal's side. I was right – impact with a rifle butt. She checked his pulse and vitals, and pressed her arms against his head wound in order to staunch the bleeding.
"Don't move him," the company clerk instructed. It was then that she realized that he had already started administering medical attention to the cross-dressing corpsman. "We need a litter over here!" he shouted.
Leah took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. As much as she wanted to help Klinger, those words kept taunting her: I'm a murderer … I'm a murderer …