Disclaimer: If I ever created a TV series, it probably wouldn't be set in the US since I know very little about the place...
Reviewers: merci bien, mes amis – vous êtes fantastiques! Apologies for the delay, but it was another of those weeks... that and I had quite a bit of trouble with this chapter (hence its short length). The treat of the day is some Kiwi "lolly cake", which is full of sugar and very more-ish.
technetium: thank you very much for your comments! You're right, Jack isn't very engineer-ish, but to be an officer in the military he does need a degree. I guessed that Aero Eng was probably a common one for the Air Force, and that would have been a good 25 years ago. He's had a while to get corrupted into his current 'doohickey' ways, hehe. Re the Leapee's memory & changing history... well I have to admit that this was me trying to sort it all out in my own head. A proper in-depth analysis of the series probably wouldn't agree, but since Jack would have needed an explanation I came up with one so I wouldn't trip over my own feet later in the story :)
P.S. Yes, Kinsey will be back :) But not yet!
September 25th 1998 – Project Quantum Leap
Jack's POV"No! No way!"
Jack banged his fist on the table as the two men glared at each other. Gooshie tactfully ignored the disagreement by leaning closer towards his screen, while Tina clenched her fists in the corner.
"Don't you want to Leap out of here?" Al growled.
"Damn straight! But what I want is not the issue," Jack pointed out for the umpteenth time, and becoming more impatient by the minute. "The issue is that the SGC is a highly classified project with a very, very short command chain. General Hammond to the Joint Chiefs to the President. I will neither break nor betray that chain by giving you any more information than you actually need!"
"We need anything and everything that could help Sam stay alive and in one piece on that planet!"
"He's a smart man, as far as you've told me – he can handle himself!"
"Not in this he can't!"
"Oh no? So why is he so keen to crack on?"
"Because he's like a kid in a sandpit and you know it, Jack," Al clenched and unclenched his jaw a few times. "I can't stop him from stepping through that Stargate, but I do want him to come back!"
Jack shrugged casually. It wasn't every day that he got to yell at a two-star Admiral with little or no chance of disciplinary consequences. "He'll come back all right, one way or another."
"Alive?"
"Probably."
It was Al's turn to bang the table. "Damn it Jack, can't you see that your own life is at stake here? Or are you so brainwashed that it doesn't matter any more?"
Jack laughed, but it wasn't a nice sound. "Al, I've come close to dying so many times that it really isn't that much of a problem any more. Sure I want to live, but if I weigh my life against all those other lives I really am not worth it."
"There's got to be some value to keeping you alive if Sam's supposed to save your life..." Tina pointed out, her voice quiet in contrast to those of the two men arguing.
"All the more reason to keep the status quo, my dear. If whatever it is that's bouncing your good friend around in time did send him in to save me, he, she or it would have already known what I'm like." An idea struck him; a potentially illogical one, but something all the same. "Besides, if it is fate that's keeping him going – sorry, I just don't have tome for the God theory these days – then fate will also want to keep Dr Beckett alive, right?"
"Um..." Tina obviously wasn't as good at quick comebacks as her partner was.
"Sure, that's always a possibility," Al conceded, though his eyes were still flashing fire. "But this is the most dangerous situation we've ever faced and I do not like the idea of sending him in blind."
"We back to the beginning again, Al," Jack smiled sarcastically, wagging his finger at the other man. "Dr Beckett may be limping, but he's not blind. He knows where he is," Jack began ticking points off on his hand. "He's obviously had access to either a computer or some report files because he has a fair idea of what's going on at the SGC. He will have the support of Teal'c while off-world, and to be honest if it's shock tactics that the General wants, it's a few home truths from a Jaffa that he actually means. I'd be there for decoration only, especially in a wheelchair. And finally, he's managed ok so far. There's no proof that he's about to get caught as far as I'm concerned."
Jack sat back, a smug look on his face. This sparring game was fun, but it was getting boring – and either way, Al was not going to win. If need be he could keep going until the cows came home... or Dr Beckett, whichever happened first.
"What about the fingerprints, and the handwriting?" Al changed tack a little. "Sooner or later they'll have a match, and it'll all be out in the open."
"Yeh well, there are enough files on that database that it could take days – and I'm willing to take that chance," Jack crossed his arms and stuck his feet up on the table. "In the meantime, if he's off-world he won't be spreading many more clues around will he?"
Ziggy bleeped a warning. "You may continue to joust with Admiral Calavicci as much as you desire Colonel, however if you persist in using my tertiary processing unit as a footrest I assure you that you will receive an electric shock."
Jack suppressed his instinct to get away from the danger as quickly as possible, his head thinking that this might be a chance to demonstrate how tough he was. After a ribbon device, an electric shock should be a walk in the park – and he doubted that a high-powered computer like Ziggy wanted to short out her own systems.
He levelled his gaze at what appeared to be her main unit. "Make me."
Al rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it Ziggy, he's too much of a tough guy for that. Probably electrocutes his sensitive parts for a good time."
"Ooh, getting personal now are we?" Jack commented pettily, thinking that Al must be floundering if he was becoming that unprofessional. "I can go back to the Waiting Room if you like, Z?"
"I don't understand!"
This small whisper came from Tina, who was now hovering at Al's shoulder and looking at Jack as if he was about to jump over the table and... do something hostile. Jack didn't like this look – it reminded him too much off the look that people on Goa'uld-infested planets gave SG1 when they arrived.
"What don't you understand?" He asked in a more normal voice, hoping that he didn't sound too patronising. She was a lot smarter than she acted, allegedly.
Al and Tina shared a look, and the Admiral nodded that she should continue.
"Well... you've told us a bit about the Stargate and the SGC already... so we already know about it right?" She bit her lip and glanced away momentarily. "We know about the aliens too. I know that's only the basics, and we're not asking for everything... just enough to keep us going for a few days."
"Security is always in the detail, Tina," Jack explained as patiently as he could. "Would you give me the schematics to Ziggy's systems? Or to the Quantum Leap Accelerator?"
Tina's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in suspicion.
"See? That's exactly how I feel about telling you more about the SGC!"
"But we've let you read Ziggy's logs of what Sam's been up to all these years – can't you tell us about some of your own missions?" Tina pleaded.
Jack shook his head. "Tina, that's half the problem. Anything I tell you will be recorded by Ziggy, right Z?"
"Correct, Colonel," Ziggy's voice answered, her tone surprisingly close to 'depressed'. "I can also confirm what I believe you are implying – I do retain my records despite shifts in the timeline, and certain authorised personnel do have the duty of reviewing those records from time to time."
Tina wasn't done yet. "I could remove them!"
"Honey, no," Al interrupted her, though his eyes were still on Jack. "You know that Ziggy has safeguards against tampering, and we can't even turn her off or do maintenance without permission from the Pentagon – in triplicate!"
"Right," Jack agreed. Finally they got it. "And once someone's read it, even if that section goes classified, someone like Admiral Calavicci here might get ordered to spit it out. Hell, Kinsey might take a look and find out we played him for a fool – or an alternate him... or something."
He pressed his lips shut, not wanting to tie himself in a knot and undo the good work that had just been done. Eat your heart out Daniel, I'm trying to be diplomatic and subtle. Honest.
The only sound in the room was Gooshie's clattering on the keyboard, and he seemed oblivious to the argument boiling around him. Maybe he was like Daniel when he'd first started at the SGC, leaving the alpha males to their chest-beating, but he figured he was more like Carter with a science project... or maybe Felger. Yep, it was the genes that did it: this was Felger in 30 years.
"If you makes you feel better, it's nothing personal. I wouldn't tell anyone else either," Jack offered, finally getting antsy with the prolonged and awkward silence.
Al raised an eyebrow. "Gee, thanks. We were only trying to save your life. Wait!" He raised a hand to quash Jack's reply before it started. "I understand. I do. It's just... urgh!"
Jack nodded sagely. He knew how that felt. "I'm with you there buddy."
Tina was still glaring over Al's shoulder. Jack returned the glare – she had no right to blame him for doing his job, as far as he was concerned. The Admiral must have caught the look, because he turned round in his chair and took her hands in his.
"Look sweetheart, I'll put it another way for you. What do you think people would do if they found out that time travel was possible?"
She screwed her mouth up – if she was smart, it was computer-smart only, Jack decided. Al didn't exactly wait for an answer either.
"They might get scared, right? Some of them might want to try it for themselves?"
"Uh-huh."
"And maybe people would fight over how to use it? Yeh? Ok – all of these things would interfere with our work here, which is getting Sam from one Leap to the next and hopefully helping a big ol' cascade of bystanders every time, right?"
"Right..."
"Jack here is worried that the same might happen to his work, and you know what – he's right –"
"But Sam needs –!" Tina interjected.
"Sam needs help, but not at that kind of cost babe!"
"But we wouldn't tell anyone!"
Jack watched on, glad that Al was supporting him but not so glad that it might become a sticking point with the couple. He made a decision.
"Ok campers, listen up. I'm guessing that no one knows about this Leaping malarkey that shouldn't? Ok. Well, that's what we thought about the SGC – at least, we thought that everyone had been vetted well enough. Unfortunately it's a bigger project, and with more people you get more opinions on how to run the place."
He fell silent for a moment, trying to figure out whether any of this was sinking in. Al was, Tina looked a little sulky, and Gooshie was still in his corner. Good enough.
"Right. What we have right now is a General who believes that we go through the Stargate to fight the Gould and make friends with people on other planets, especially any people who have better technology than us." Jack took a breath and shook his head. This was hard enough to admit inside the SGC, let alone to near-strangers. "Unfortunately we believe – no, we know – that there are some people who aren't playing nicely. As far as they're concerned, making allies is secondary to getting the technology. This is why secret projects are secrets, and why sometimes – just sometimes – military dictatorships are a good thing. Understood?"
He finished, suddenly realising that he'd lapsed into 'lecturing' mode. That aspect of his personality didn't get let out very much these days, unless Daniel wondered off and fell into a hole... or if he was babysitting new recruits.
Hmm. An idea.
"I do have one suggestion though, um, sir," Jack smiled brightly, trying to avoid the weird look he was getting from Tina. If she was only computer-smart, not people-smart, that would still make her smarter than him according to most of Daniel's comments. Ungh.
"Yeh?" Al looked amused at the fact that he was being addressed as a superior officer.
"You, um... you've been on a few classified and military type missions before right?"
"Yes..."
"And fired a weapon, gone into space, been tortured, all that good stuff?"
"Mm-hmm..."
"Well, then – your man Sam doesn't need me, he needs you!"
Al looked a little incredulous. "Jack, the last time I was in a war zone was the early 70s! And a space shuttle isn't exactly a transporter-type doo-hickey like what you have!"
Jack was impressed. He'd finally found someone else who used the word doo-hickey in everyday conversation. Fantastic.
"Some difference – imagine some weird-ass g-force with lotsa bright lights around you and you're there. As for the combat, Jaffa aren't all that different to say the Viet Cong... well, they are taller and really strong, in fact some of them are huge, plus they have some great firepower, but otherwise they're just like us. Piece of cake!"
"I've never taught anyone!"
"Don't worry, I'm not that hot at it either - not with my winning personality and endless patience," Jack pointed out.
Al still didn't look so keen, so Jack shot him a benevolent smile that said 'this is all you're going to get buddy!'
"It's not like Dr Beckett's headed into a proper hostile situation, Al," he reminded the other man. "Just give him some pointers, suggest he plays on the bad leg, and get Teal'c to do the hard work. Maybe tell him that the curricu-whajimmy would sound better from a Jaffa, explaining the other side's point of view, mindset, all that kinda weird. He'll be back in no time!"
"In a wheelchair or on a gurney?"
Mmm. Tough one.
"He'll be back in no time," Jack repeated with a vacant yet amiable grin, taking comfort in his memories of a 'How to Inspire Difficult Personnel' course he'd been sent on years ago. Good old officer training.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Al replied, rolling his eyes. "No, really – I get it. Maybe I should go do some revision... Now, how long do you think we have before they get out of the movie theatre?"
Jack glanced at the clock. "They're on the time as us, right?"
Al nodded.
"They'll probably be in O'Malleys in around a half hour, but they won't be done with food for about an hour after that – what?" Jack caught a strange look from Al. "Hey, I don't know about you but it's a bad idea to get between me and a meal, especially if I've been watching a movie on a diet of air-filled popcorn."
The other man held his hands up in surrender. "Ok, so I have an hour and a half before it's officially safe to visit Sam? Ok. So what will you do?"
"Watch the Simpsons?"
"Figures," Al shrugged. "I, erm, might visit you later to ask for a few more pointers on what kind of pointers I should be giving Sam, ok?"
"I guess – it may not get you anywhere though."
"Fine thing."
Jack stood up to return to the Waiting Room, wishing that he could say more but knowing that it just wasn't possible. His eyes met Al's and the other man gave him a slight nod. At least someone here understood.