Disclaimer: Still not mine, and unless there is a miracle in the space-time continuum (also known as 'winning the lottery') it never will be.
Reviewers: thanks for all the comments, especially constructive criticism! Your treat of the day is a Mini M&Ms brownie, cos thems is yummy :)
September 25th 1998 – Project Quantum Leap
Cristina Martinez-O'Farrell, PhD (Computer Architecture) watched the man named Colonel O'Neill warily and decided that she couldn't trust him further than she could throw him – and that wasn't far. He might look like Sam Beckett, but so far she couldn't see any other trace of similarity between them. He moved in a completely different way, his speech patterns and facial expressions were different, and – most importantly – he'd threatened to kill Al.
Ziggy's terms for Jack's release had been that all doors to the surface from Level -10 of the Stallions Gate Complex remained locked, and that he was only permitted access to the Control Room and Imaging Chamber in addition to the Waiting Room. Tina herself, as well as Gooshie and Al, were allowed normal access to the rest of the floor, but no-one else within Project Quantum Leap – other than Donna Alessi, Sam's wife (who, thank God, was hosting a lecture series at MIT today) – would be permitted to enter these three rooms while Jack was 'out'. Not only this, but Jack was allowed to look through Ziggy's databanks – and all in return for a small game of "Let's Pretend" later on.
All in all Tina thought this arrangement was far too comfortable for their unwelcome guest, and she scowled as she watched Al trying to show Jack how to use the search controls. It looked like the Air Force bozo had never seen a touch-screen computer before, even it he did seem to work in another top-secret nuclear bunker. She was more pissed with Al though – only a couple of hours ago she'd been freaking out because this trained killer had been holding her boyfriend hostage, and now they were swapping jokes over a cup of coffee as if nothing had happened!
"Hey Tina!" Al called suddenly. "Would you mind bringing up our file on Kinsey a second? Y'know, the one with all his evil field notes and submissions on this place?"
"What, you mean you have access to that kind of stuff?" Jack interjected, his face incredulous.
Al coughed softly. "Well kinda... I have a good friend in the Capitol who feeds me information from time to time – and Ziggy has clearance to all kinds of good stuff by herself."
"Yes, it's wonderful what a bit of bedroom golf can do for national security..." Tina muttered bitterly, then took a deep breath as Al glared in her direction.
She wasn't a jealous person by nature, but Al's contact in the Capitol was an ex-girlfriend who evidently wanted more. He'd had an affair with her not so long ago, and kept in touch frequently enough to extract information 'and nothing else!' – or so he said. The excuse had been that Tina had slept with Senator Weitzman – Kinsey's predecessor – for similarly 'professional' reasons, and that the new incumbent wasn't nearly as open to the idea of pillow talk. Tina, on the other hand, still found that while she loved Al and had been with him for several years, she didn't trust him explicitly. The man had been through at least five wives plus who knows how many girlfriends, and half the reason that she'd slept with Gooshie was to get back at Al for yet another 'bit on the side'. It had slightly backfired though, if Gooshie's continual puppy-dog eyes were anything to go by, plus seeing every day made life in the Control Room just that little more stressful. Then again she didn't get out as much as Al did, so her choices had been limited.
"The folder is on the G drive Al, you can open it yourself," she continued, wondering if her inconsiderate lover ever remembered that despite her apparent dizziness she did hold a doctorate and kept the hardware running in this place. She knew that many people thought she was a bimbo despite her high IQ, but either way she definitely was not a PA. "Look under Administration, Funding, Appropriations, Correspondence, Kinsey."
It was time for a chai latte, she decided – and maybe a brownie. Low fat version. Oh to hell with it, double chocolate with frosting if she could get it – she was in a bad mood and comfort food was the only cure... even if it was temporary. Plus there would probably be the satisfaction of finding Al and his new best friend hunting for the same file when she got back. That is, they would be unless they were brave enough to rouse Ziggy and Gooshie (who was still recovering from his moment in the Imaging Chamber) from their research into Jack's home territory – something that the other pair had tactfully chosen to do in relative isolation, at the other end of the Control Room.
Turning her heel on a gaping Admiral, she exited the Control Room and headed for the break room. The canteen, unfortunately, was on Level –5 and therefore out of bounds during the lockdown, but the break room usually had a few caffeine-related goodies to power the project's researchers. For someone like Tina – who worked with a cybernetic female and a couple of males who just couldn't understand – the break room was her equivalent of a meditation corner. It also doubled as a gossip centre, almost matching the influence of the smoking alcove just outside the main doors of the complex. Ziggy wasn't the only one to enforce a no smoking ban, though she was probably the only omnipresent controller in the building. A nicotine-addict couldn't even get away with a quick drag next to a ventilation duct around here.
Luckily there were still a couple of muffins in the basket today, Tina noticed, probably because most of the female researchers were trying out the Atkins diet. No brownies, but she could live with that. The downside was that there were two other people in the break room between her and the muffins, as well as the kettle, and from the way their eyes lit up when she entered they were on a mission. Eleanor McGann and her sidekick Melanie Jones were on secondment from Annapolis to gain some research experience and add credits towards their Masters, but their team leader had already reported them as lacking in concentration. As one might expect from the Navy they weren't stupid, but they were extremely annoying – always on the hunt for a juicy bone... and Tina couldn't help but think that she was it. Normally she loved to gossip with 'normal people', but today was already a bad day.
"Hi, Dr Martinez-O'Farrell!" They chorused innocently, filling the greeting with all the phony surprise of a pair of cheerleaders lying in wait for a nerd who might agree to do their homework.
"Hello girls, taking a break are we?" Tina replied sternly, hoping that they would take the hint and leave her alone.
Eleanor nodded, smiling. "Yes Doctor, we're just waiting for the kettle to boil. Can I get you a drink?"
"A chai latte, perhaps?" Melanie contributed, reaching into the cupboard. "We weren't sure whether to open this new packet since we're lowly interns, but since you're here as well..."
Tina decided to let the leading comment float in the air for a short while, then nodded. "Ok, my mug needs a wash though – it's the purple Dilbert mug."
She hoped that this would be enough of a put down to dissuade the two young women from whatever line of gossip they were after this time. It was not.
"So, Doctor – what's the reason for the lockdown?" Eleanor pressed, as Melanie obediently began washing the mug.
There's no such thing as a free lunch, Tina was reminded, then decided that these girls' return favour would be to not be reported to their superior for wasting her time. Simple gossip, like the identity of the gorgeous new messenger boy in the Complex, was one thing, but operational information was totally out of bounds.
"Ziggy has already told everyone what the problem is, Cadet, or didn't you hear?"
Tina's words were emphasised by a cold stare that took in both young women. She had enough work to deal with – let alone this O'Neill situation – without having to dodge puerile angling for gossip from these two. Technically she knew they were Midshipmen, but then neither had graduated from the Naval Academy just yet and she was high enough up the Project food chain to get away with the insult, even if she was a civilian. Judging by the look in Eleanor's eyes, she hadn't learnt this just yet.
"Yes ma'am, but we're all still a little confused. I mean why are we running a security drill for so long? Surely all the locks and systems have proven themselves by now?"
Some people just couldn't take a hint, Tina decided as she accepted her hot drink from Melanie, whose face also wore an ingratiating smile. Ah yes, she remembered when she saw Melanie's yellow tinged fingers, they were also smokers.
"Let me spell this out for you girls more clearly then. If we ever need to use the lockdown system in a real situation, it is unlikely to be resolved particularly quickly. This drill is to test how well the locks will operate over a longer period of time, and to pick up any residual glitches while we're safe. It is also a test of how well our staff can operate under such conditions. Understood?" Tina repeated Ziggy's words precisely, then reached around to take the last double chocolate muffin. "And you can tell all the smokers out there that Ziggy will not be releasing the external locks to Project personnel until later this evening. Thank you for the chai, Melanie."
And with that she set off back down the hall, muttering inwardly about uppity temps who were lucky enough to not be emotionally involved with this project and who only thought about where the next cancer stick was coming from. They could report her if they liked, but this Project was far enough away from the bureaucracy of the Navy that few of the military personnel wore uniforms and most of the permanent staff were civilian consultants like herself, and they – the lowly interns – had been getting in her way, damn it! She could always report them to Al...
Speaking of whom he was the reason for her bad mood in the first place, plus that Colonel. Grrrr...she growled mentally, clutching her chai with a firm resolve. They'd better not ask her to pull a file for them again, the ignorant ingrates...
"Tina! Where'd you go doll?"
"The break room – and where's your new best bud?" Tina replied, pouting. He needed to know that she was mad, and took a bite of the muffin without offering him some to prove it.
"The little boys' room," Al chuckled, then cocked his head to one side and looked straight at her. Maybe he was picking up the irritation vibes after all. "Tina, don't worry hun. I know he's not Sam. We do seem to get on pretty well though –"
"Yeh, when he's not holding broken glass at your throat!" She hadn't meant to yell, but the startled look from Gooshie showed she'd made more noise than intended. "Al, he was threatening to kill you. I was worried. He's still here, and I'm still worried."
"About what?"
Jack couldn't have re-entered the room at a worse moment, looking so like Sam and yet being – in Tina's mind at least – his complete antithesis. The Leapee looked like he'd just been through something horrible himself, but she was in no mood to acknowledge that. On the other hand after a quick glance at Al, she decided that now wasn't the time to yell at the Colonel. It was still Al's turn to bear the brunt of her anger.
"About the other staff. None of them known what's really going on, nor that a Senator is about to appear, and I just got accosted by a pair of interns who aren't buying the drill story."
"Oh," the Sam look-a-like replied. "Well that's always the problem with a base full of geniuses – they think way too much."
Al looked like he was trying desperately not to laugh, as Tina and Gooshie – who had now left Ziggy to her searches and rejoined the main group – glowered angrily. Sarcastic comments were definitely not the way to make friends around here, and Al's number one spot on Tina's vengeance list became shaky.
"What are you saying, Colonel?" Tina snarled, deciding that maybe she could take on both Al and Jack at the same time. She was armed with chai and a chocolate muffin after all. "That we should just take happy pills and go home?"
Jack didn't seem to take any notice of her fury, which enraged her even further. "No, no, nothing like that, peaches – just that smart people think too much. Especially on military bases. Stupid people like me can't keep up, but then we're just here for decoration."
Wisely, Al stepped in at this point. Even he knew that as flighty as Tina was, she didn't take kindly to nicknames like 'peaches' – at least not outside the bedroom. "Calm down guys, this isn't the time. Jack, you have to understand that this isn't really a military base. Do you see any uniforms? The only part of this complex that holds real soldiers is the lobby, and the rest of it is a research centre full of scientists who are very very good at their job. Some of them may technically be military, but their job is still the science. Thinking is what they do!"
"Hmph," Jack muttered. "Well this is the loosest ship I've ever seen. No offence Al, but I work with a bunch of scientists too and when we say jump, they jump. Except Felger. And maybe Daniel... But either way it shouldn't concern them why you're holding a drill. A drill's a drill, even when it isn't. But that's just my stupid opinion."
The last was clearly added as an afterthought for her benefit, Tina decided, especially since he said it while staring right at her. How dare he!
"Sorry Colonel, did you say Felger?" Gooshie interrupted, probably not realising that he had interrupted what might have been Tina's biggest diatribe against military small-mindedness. At a hesitant nod from Jack, he continued. "Not Jay Felger?"
"Um..." Jack's eyes flickered this way and that, clearly showing some kind of inner second-guessing. "Well, yeh – I think that's his name. Smart, young-ish mad scientist kinda guy, great with computer bugs and that, but a little obsessive in a personal way if you know what I mean?"
"Yes! He's my nephew!"
Tina quickly held her breath to stop herself from laughing. From Al's expression he was doing the same thing. She didn't know what she found funnier – Jack's goldfish impression or Gooshie's ecstatic yet naïve smile. It sounded like this Jay Felger guy was a younger clone of Gooshie – and based on previous experience, Gooshie probably hadn't even heard Jack's semi-insulting tone of voice. It was also fun to watch Jack squirm as he realised that he might have mortally offended the Chief Programmer.
"Erm, right... well... oh crap..." Jack stammered. "Um... nice kid."
An overly smug giggle escaped from Tina as Jack slowly turned to Al with what could only be a silent plea for help. Al was still trying desperately not to laugh, hesitated just long enough to let Gooshie get another word in.
"How is he doing Colonel? You see, his mother is my elder sister and she rarely hears from him these..."
"Gooshie!" Al interrupted, still fighting off a grin but commanding nonetheless. "I don't think Jack wants to swap family gossip right now. We still have a Senator to distract and a friend to save, remember?"
The Chief Programmer nodded reluctantly, and Tina almost felt sorry for him. It wasn't often that Al had to pull rank, but she knew firsthand that it hurt when a man who was generally a good friend brought them all crashing down to reality with a bark of military authority.
"Ok," Al stated firmly, though with a short little cough that might be disguising a chuckle. "Back to business. Jack, have you decided who to 'be' for our man Kinsey yet?"
"Well from my experience, Kinsey doesn't care much for underdogs and heads straight for whoever he thinks is directly to blame for the so-called money-wasting," Jack declared, and much as she still didn't like him Tina had to agree. "Either that or whoever can get him closer to the Oval Office."
Al nodded. "Yeh, the bastard generally comes straight at me like a bee to a honey pot. He would have loved to see this project closed down a long time ago, or at the very least send through a bunch more Leapers to 'maximise results'. Hah!"
"Precisely," Gooshie added. "He doesn't seem to care that the Project's creator is effectively lost in time and that we would be equally unable to bring any further Leapers home."
"Danger, Will Robinson!" Jack quipped, then took in Gooshie's blank look. "Lost in Space? Old sci-fi series with dodgy sets and corny lines? Never mind..."
Tina observed this exchange with barely hidden irritation. "Anyone would think that you watched too much tv, Colonel..." Al glared so she stopped, then crossed her arms and decided to pout. That always got Al on her side. He glared some more. Damn, it wasn't going to work this time. "So who're you going to be?"
"The only person I'm any good at, of course!" Jack announced, that harried look from before back in his eyes. "Me!"
Tina rolled her eyes. "Thank god for masculine imagination..."
"No seriously," Jack continued earnestly. "For starters I'm a crap actor. I do know a few federal money-wasters, but I'd make a pretty poor effort at imitating them. Ok, maybe if I pretended to be them at age 5 it wouldn't be so hard, but if your friend Sam changed anything in their lives so early on there could have to be a fairly drastic historical outcome, right?" Al nodded slowly. "So if he walked out of here and kept checking up on that person for weeks and nothing had changed, he'd probably come back in an even worse mood. Right?"
"Normally people don't notice when history changes like that," Tina butted in condescendingly. "It just happens, and most of the time the only record we have is Ziggy's data banks."
"Yeh, but if he thought that Dr Beckett leapt into Admiral Calavicci here at age 5 to get him interested in motorcycles instead of, I dunno, ships, the Admiral might not have grown up to be a royal pain in his butt," Jack explained, equally condescendingly. "If he waits a few weeks and Al's still here, he'll wonder if the Leap made any real difference at all."
Tina's eyes narrowed. In principle he was almost right, but there were some gaping holes in his argument – plus she didn't like being shown up by people she didn't like. "If there is a change in history, no-one ever notices it Colonel. Like I said: it just happens. Normally it only takes a few days to complete a Leap, then no-one remembers much of anything apart from us."
"Why do you think being yourself would work, Jack?" Al asked, glaring at Tina. She stuck her tongue out in return.
The Colonel/Sam look-a-like leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms with satisfaction, a benevolent smile of one-upmanship on his face. "Because it's close enough to now that he couldn't look for a drastic change, and I think he'd love the chance to think that he can manipulate my life, even if it's through you."
"Um... Don't get me wrong Jack," Al interjected. "But if you pretend to be yourself and he knows you've just died, we're not going to be able to think of a better reason for Sam to Leap into you than to stop that death from happening. Then he won't be so happy and we're back to square one!"
"Ah but Al, I never said I'd be me right now."
Suddenly Tina's intuition antennae tingled and she realised why he'd looked so stressed earlier when he'd entered, and then when they'd begun probing him for this information.
"Charlie..." she whispered, a thread of understanding sneaking its way through her dislike.
Jack nodded sadly. "Bingo."
"Sorry for asking the same question, but how will that make a difference?" Al cut in once more.
Gooshie, on the other hand, had swivelled back to one of the monitors and was tapping away furiously. "Actually Al, it would make a huge difference to Colonel O'Neill's life – and Ziggy postulates that the project the Colonel works with may not exist?!" He looked up, confused. "I don't understand, and she won't tell me why, but she thinks that you are integral to this project Colonel."
Tina could see why Gooshie was confused. As far as they knew Jack wasn't the man in charge – that was some guy called General Hammond – and it was pretty unusual for anything to be built around its second-in-command. Ziggy must have found out more and wasn't letting on.
"Cheers for the compliment, Z," Jack replied quietly. "Ha! I don't know how whether she's right, but the project did have a tough time getting off the ground. The, erm... initial findings were made before World War 2, but there wasn't any real funding until the early 90s." He paused, and Tina figured that he must be wondering how to explain things without giving too much away. "Let's just say that the funding was just for research. In 1996 they, erm, needed to put things into practice – a bit like your friend Dr Beckett. It... oh hell, it was a suicide mission, and I was the only one suicidal enough to lead it."
The last sentence came out in a rush and he avoided looking at anyone in the room.
"Jack, you don't have to explain if you don't want to," Al sympathised. "And if this is as tough as it looks we can come up with another plan for dealing with Kinsey."
The Colonel shook his head. "The first thing that you thought of when I popped up was that it was to stop... Charlie... from dying." His eyes were full of emotion now, but he ploughed on. "Kinsey, bastard that he is, knows all about the fact that I went through some... troubled times... right afterward. I drank... a lot... and I really was considering suicide y'know... I even resigned my commission... but then this mission came along and I thought why not, at least this way I could leave Sara with a big fat life insurance check –" He fell silent for a moment, then looked at Al. "Charlie died, I didn't, and she divorced me, but I guess you already know that, huh?"
Al just nodded, and Tina remembered that Sam had helped him climb out of his own alcoholic bottleneck. She didn't think he'd ever thought about killing himself though.
Jack smiled weakly. "I know, I don't have to tell you all this but for some reason I feel like it. I'm not exactly likely to meet you guys ever again eh?" He snorted. "If Kinsey really does want to shut you down I want you to know that I understand the old bugger well enough to give him a sniff of the honey pot. My point is this – without that first suicide mission, the project I work on probably wouldn't exist and so it wouldn't be burning a $7.4 billion hole in Kinsey's pockets every year. He might thank Project Quantum Leap for saving him money elsewhere by keeping it running."
It was Gooshie's turn to add something to the mix. "From our experience of him, you could be right Colonel. Then, once Sam has completed his mission, we will be in a new timeline and the only record of this Leap will be within Ziggy. If Colonel O'Neill doesn't die, Sam won't have Leaped into him and we would never have met him. It follows that Senator Kinsey would not have made this visit in the new timeline and will not remember a thing."
Jack gaped, his face blank, and once more Tina found it hard not to giggle. "That's what I've been trying to tell you Jack - it happens every time. Or not, as the case may be!"
Gooshie laughed with her this time. Inside jokes were great when they excluded disbelieving intruders, she decided.
"So what are we worrying about all this for then?" Jack muttered, probably wondering whether he poured his heart out for nothing.
Unexpectedly, Ziggy replied. "Because Senator Robert Kinsey is a man of disturbing influence. He could potentially disrupt the completion of this Leap and the continuing attempt to bring Dr Beckett home by cutting funding or limiting my resources. As such, we must ensure that he leaves this Project in some way satisfied."
"English for the stupid people? Nice short words?"
"If Kinsey leaves here thinking that we're a waste of space, he'll shut us down before we can make proper contact with Sam and you'll be stuck in this time until he either figures it out for himself or dies in your place," Al replied resignedly. "We have to put on a good show or we're up shit creek without a paddle."
Jack threw his hands up in the air in apparent frustration. "For crying out loud! It doesn't seem to matter where I am, I still need another brain to keep up! Ok, I'll just stick with what I said and won't concentrate too hard on the time-blowing consequences in case I wind myself up into a knot. When Bobby boy arrives I will be my normal sarcastic self, because that's how I've always been, and I'll put on a song and dance so he thinks it's me before, erm... well, you know."
Tina picked up the remainder of her muffin and took another bite, satisfied that the annoying Colonel had finally seen the light. She still didn't like him much, even if he had been through a lot, but then as Gooshie said – if they did this right he should start cooperating so they could find Sam, and in a few days she wouldn't remember him anyway.
"Hey!" Jack's voice called, and she turned her head to see him staring at her – no, her muffin. "Pleeeeeease tell me there's some food around here?"
Smirking, Tina returned to her console and finished off the muffin. He caused the lockdown with his stupid glass-wielding stunt, so if he wanted something to eat he could share Al's lunch.