Path: cronkite.cisco.com!ames!stanford.edu!rock!concert!uvaarpa!caen!destroyer!wsu-cs!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!po.CWRU.Edu!eah4 From: eah4@po.CWRU.Edu (Elizabeth A. Hlabse) Newsgroups: alt.ql.creative Subject: The Three Doctors, part 3 Date: 10 Dec 1992 17:56:45 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Lines: 213 Reply-To: eah4@po.CWRU.Edu (Elizabeth A. Hlabse) NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu Several hours later, Gooshie, Al and the Doctor, watched carefully by several computer technicians, Verbena and Peri, pressed on Ziggy's counsel and held their breath. After a moment or two, Ziggy's voice came over the speaker system. "New programming parameters will make it possible to retrieve Dr. Beckett. The retrieval program must be run at the exact moment that Dr. Beckett leaps our of Dr. David Grenig." Whatever else Ziggy might have said was lost in the cheering that came from everyone present. The Doctor smiled softly, but everyone else was practically screaming for joy. Al had tears in his eyes as he hugged Verbena and planted a rather enthusiasitc kiss on her lips. For once, she didn't protest his advances. "We can get him back, 'Bena," Al shouted over and over. This was the happiest he had been in years. Although when he did get Sam back, he wasn't sure if he would hug him or knock him on his butt fro the stupid stunt he had pulled and the many grey hairs that he had given everyone at the Project. Only the Doctor's grin held a bit of reservation in it. Yes, he had fixed the computer, but they would have a problem if Sam Beckett started interfering with established history. He had been talking to Al and he knew that Sam wanted to change a major turning point in history and that just could not be allowed. Small things were okay, but what Sam planned was much too large. Dr. Beckett didn't realize it but he was in a position to do a lot of damage. Peri noticed the Doctor's pensive expression and moved to his side. "What's wrong, Doctor?" "From what the Admiral told me, quite a lot, Peri. I have to stop Dr. Beckett from doing something that he very much wants to do. It is also something that could spare a lot of people a lot of pain." The Doctor looked thoughtful. It seemed as if he was looking into himself to find the courage to go on. "If it will spare people pain, do you really think he should be stopped?" Peri looked at him carefully, weighing her words. "Dr. Beeks told me what happened in 1986. Don't you think you should let Dr. Beckett stop the explosion?" "Peri, that's one of the problems with time travel. Some tings are just meant to be. If he changes history, it could disrupt the entire universe," the Doctor replied, shocked at what Peri had been suggesting. "Besides, the shuttle explosion ends up causing a lot of good in the long run." The Doctor glanced over at the celebrating crowd. "Tell the Admiral that I've gone to talk to Dr. Beckett about what's going on and that I'll be back when I'm back." The Doctor grabbed some of the computer printouts that were on the table and disappeared into the TARDIS, closing the door before Peri could follow him. The impromptu celebration was cut short by the grinding of the TARDIS leaving the complex. Although he had been told what it could do, AL hadn't really believed the Doctor until he saw the TARDIS dematerialize. He came dashing up to Peri. "Where's he going?" "Wherever and whenever Dr. Beckett is," she answered. "He said he'd be back when he's back, whatever that means." Peri was worried. Turlough had warned her that the Doctor always seemed to get into a lot of trouble and this seemed like it was going to be a good opportunity for him to do so. "Gooshie!" Al called out. "Get the Imaging Chamber fired up. I need to talk with Sam. Convincing him the Doctor's a friend is going to be a little difficult if the Docotr gets there before I do." Al punched a button on the counsel and a hand-link was produced from somewhere inside the table. Gooshie headed out the door into the control center, Peri following behind. The monitors in front o fGooshie began to light up as Al stepped throughthe door into the Imaging Chamber. Ziggy's voice came over the speaker. "Admiral Calavicci had made contact with Dr. Beckett." On one of the screens, Al appeared to be talking to no one. He was walking around, waving his arms, and occasionally stopping, as if to listen to someone. "What's happening?" Peri asked. The sight of Al yelling at thin air was rather amusing and she had the beginnings of a smile on her face. Her eyes never left the monitor that showed the Admiral. Gooshie noticed her fascination with the Admiral and had a knowing smile on his face. The Admiral was lucky that Tina had gone to visit her mother for two months. "The contact is done through holographic projections," Gooshie explained. "Dr. Beckett and the Admiral can see each other and the Admiral can also see the environment that Dr. Beckett is in. However, we can't see any of that and we can't hear what Dr. Beckett is saying. From the look of things, though, Dr. Beckett is not happy about what the Admiral is telling him." "But how can they see each other when no one else can?" Peri knew a little about holographinc projections and this was unlike any that she had ever heard of. "Both the Admiral and Dr. Beckett have a neurological implant that links their brainwaves. The images that they're seeing are really projected right onto the optic and auditory nerves, so it's more like a telepathic link than a true hologram, but holograms are easier to explain to politicians." Gooshie pressed a button and Al's voice came in over the speaker. "...and you know you can't break you're own rules. You stop the shuttle and that's a major change in history. Just help the girl pass her med exam and then we'll Leap you home." Al paused, chewing on his cigar and looked disgusted at a blank wall. "We figured out your damned retrieval program. It will work, but only when you Leap." Another pause. "We had some help." Al's face lit up and he pointed with his cigar. "Him." Peri could imagine what was happening. The Doctor must have made his own appearance and was probably right now at this moment explaining to Dr. Beckett who he was, how he got there and that he could help. She wondered how Dr. Beckett was taking all of this. ********** "You mean you can travel through time physically and that you came here to help get me back to my own time?" Sam had a very skepitcal look on his gace and the grin on the Doctor's face, that was echoed by Al, was not helping matters any. "It's impossible. I looked into that type of travel and it isn't humanly possible, at least not with the technology available in the 20th centry." "But I'm not human," the Doctor responded easily. "My people have been able to travel through time for millennia." The Doctor handed Sam the papers he had brough with him. "We worked out these equations and ran them through Ziggy. She agrees that this will get you back, but only when you next Leap, and only with the help of the temporal circuits in my TARDIS. That means you have to help this girl pass her exams so that we can implement it." "And stop the shuttle explosion," Sam added grimly. He was leafing through the equations and was impressed with the results. He nodded a few times at some things that he hadn't been able to figure out how to do and some things that he couldn't remember if he'd known. Sam looked up at the empty space next to the Doctor. Although the Doctor couldn't see or hear Al, he knew what he was probably saying. "I have to, Al." "The Admiral's right, you know." The Doctor had a sad expression on his face, remembering all the times that he had been unable to stop the death of someone he cared for. "You can't change this. It has happened and will happen, no matter what you do. Try to interfere and you will only make matters worse." "What do you mean?" Sam looke up, an angry expression forming on his face. "In this time zone, the shuttle explodes. Seven people are killed. If you stop it, research into new safety measures will never take place, or won't take place for several more years, and eventually, millions of people will be killed." "Millions?" Sam gasped, blanching white at the possible implications of his present actions. "I ran a program through the TARDIS to see what would happen if the shuttle had not gone up in two days. You don't want ot kow the entire story, believe me. But this much I will tell you." The Doctor's face was grim. "If the shuttle doesn't go up, within two centuries one of the most vicious races in teh cosmos will have almost totally destroyed this planet. Those humans that aren't dead will be no better than slaves. Do you want to be responsible for that?" "No," Sam answered, his voice a ghost of a whisper. He fell into the chair behind him. "But I want so much to help." When Sam looked up at the Doctor again, his eyes were glassy. "I know," the Doctor said as he crouched in front of Sam, a similar expression on his own face. "That's part of the reason I left my home planet -- to help. But sometimes, there's nothing I can do and it hurts." The two men locked gazes, knowing their pain was a type few could understand. To know what was going to happen and to be unable to stop it was something that very few people had to endure. And Sam was sick and tired of having to endure it. Even the good he had been able to do didn't stop the hurt of not being able to help everyone. "All right, Doctor. I'll help Angela pass her exam and I won't try to warn NASA about the shuttle, and then I want you to yank me out of here as fast as you can. I lived through this once. I really don't want to do that again." Sam looked over the Doctor's shoulder. "Yes, Al, I remember being here when it happened." Fleeting memories really, but very vivid and painful. The surprise Al had promised. Cold wind whipping through the VIP stands. Talk of postponing the launch once again. The beauty of liftoff and the total disbelief of what happened a few seconds later. The brief, quickly quenched, selfish thought of 'Thank God Al's not in the program anymore.' Tears flowing unashamedly from Al's horror-filled eyes. Holding a complete stranger as she sobbed into his shoulder, his own tears finally falling. A night spent getting drunk with Al that didn't help either of them forget. He shook his head to clear the bad memories that had invaded. "There are some things that you can't forget, AL, no matter how much you want to. And, Doctor, what's a TARDIS?" "It's my space/time ship, which I will be glad to show you, when you get back to your own time. However, right now I have to go back," he said, standing. "We'll have everything ready for when you make your last Leap." "My last Leap," Sam repeated with a grin. "I was beginning to believe I'd never hear those words." Sam turned to the spot next to the Doctor. "See you soon, Al." to be continued..... -- Beth Hlabse eah4@po.CWRU.Edu Assistant Sysop The Science Fiction and Fantasy Sig (GO SCIFI) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And it harm none, do as you will.