Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 14:44:19 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Circles of Fate - Part 19 Message-ID: Quantum Leap "Circles of Fate" Part 19 Sam waited until he was certain Al was out of earshot before looking at Genine. "He knows you're here!" he exclaimed. "How?" Genine frowned, hitting the handlink to try to find an answer. "Ziggy thinks that, because we're all neurologically linked to each other and the Al in this time is less than a week younger than the Al in my time, the Al in this time can at least sense that I'm here even if he can't see or hear me. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that he won't be able to see or hear me later. We're going to have to be extra careful around him." Sam nodded in agreement. "So, what have you got?" "I had Ziggy do a little researching in the past hour. Dr. Anders and Dr. Hathorn came into the complex at about nine o'clock. The explosion occurred at nine twenty-seven. Ziggy's fairly certain that, if you schedule a meeting at nine-thirty, they'll be in the Control Room when the explosion occurs." "How certain?" Sam asked. "She gives it a seventy-eight percent chance." Sam sighed, leaning back. "Can't she get it any better? Alex and Susan aren't the kinds to drop their work on a moments notice. There has to be something better." Genine shook her head. "She's trying to figure it out. Al and Donna came into the complex at nine-seventeen so she thought nine-thirty would be the best time." "But seventy-eight percent doesn't guarantee that Alex and Susan won't be in that lab," Sam told her. "Do you have an idea?" Genine asked with curiosity. "What if I sealed off the area before anyone can get into it?" Genine inputed the suggestion into the handlink. "Ziggy discounted that because it would raise suspicions about you. We can't risk anyone knowing you're not the same Sam Beckett." "But would it work?" Sam asked. Genine looked at him carefully. "Sam, we can't risk it. The odds of your retrieval are falling. The odds are sixty-seven percent now. They were seventy-two percent when you leaped in. Ziggy says that, if anyone finds out that you had leaped into yourself, the odds will drop below fifty percent. You can't risk that." "Will it work?" Sam asked slowly. Genine sighed. "Al is going to kill me if we don't retrieve you," she told him. "And I could lose my job." As she said this, Al entered the living room again. "Will what work?" he asked Sam, handing him a beer. "Uh... The retrieval program," Sam improvised. "I've been doing a little work on it." Al huffed. "Is that all you've been working on for the past few months?" He sat down in a nearby recliner. "Don't forget you made a promise to me." Sam swallowed slightly and gave Al a smile. "I haven't forgotten," Sam told him. "Good," Al replied as Beth entered the room. She went over to Sam who stood up and gave her a hug. "Hello, Beth," he said with a smile. "It's so good to see you, Sam. You should come by more often." She pulled herself gently away from him. "Dinner's ready," she told the two men. She looked at Al. "And, no, I didn't burn the calzone." Sam laughed at Al's raised eyebrows. "Not bad for someone who wasn't born Italian, huh?" he teased Al. Al laughed, standing. He went over to Beth. "No, not bad," he replied before giving her a kiss. "Have the girls come down yet?" "Both of them are waiting in the dining room," she told him, leading the men out of the living room. "That's right," Sam remembered. "Trudy and Liz are married and Angela's visiting home from college." Al looked at Sam curiously. "You don't remember?" Genine, who had been following then, cleared her throat. "Photographic memory," she told him. Sam smiled. "Of course, I remember," he told Al. "It just amazes me how quickly they grew up." That seemed to satisfy Al for the moment. The three entered the living room to see Angela and Christy, the younger of Al's four daughters, stand up with a smile. "Angela is the older one," Genine reminded Sam. "Christy is the other." Sam greeted the girls with hugs and smiled before joining them at the table. Genine remained for a few more minutes to make sure Sam didn't need her before she left the Imaging Chamber. Dinner seemed to go by quickly as the five at the table talked about various issues. Sam did well to hide his Swiss-cheese memory, though he could see the growing concern in Al's eyes. "Sam, are you okay?" Al asked as he escorted Sam to the front door after dinner. "You seem a bit empty-headed." Sam smiled widely. "That's one way of putting it." He took a breath. "I guess I've been overworking myself." Al huffed. "Figures. I knew you'd do this to yourself." He smiled at him. "Just lighten up on yourself, okay?" Sam nodded. "Okay." "I'll see you tomorrow," Al told him as the two waved good-bye to each other. ****************** "Ziggy," Sam said as he entered his lab at eight-fifty in the morning the next day. "Seal off Level Eight, Section 6. I don't want anyone in or out of that area." There was a pause. "If I do so, Dr. Beckett, Dr. Hathorn and Dr. Anders will be unable to enter Lab 8G. Their work will be delayed." "Yes, I know," Sam told the computer. "Just do it. I'll explain later." "Very well, Doctor," Ziggy replied. "I have sealed off Section 6. The area is clear." "Thank you," Sam said as he went to his lab table and looked at the papers lining the surface of the table. Looking at the equations on the papers before him, realization struck him in the face. "Oh, my gawd!" he whispered. "Ziggy?' he called out. "Yes, Dr. Beckett?" "Is Dr. Fuller in the complex?" "Yes, Doctor. She has just entered the complex.' "Ask her to come to my lab," Sam instructed. "Immediately, Dr. Beckett," Ziggy replied. "Sam, what have you done?" Sam spun around and smiled at Genine. "You can retrieve me! I can go home!" Genine shook her head. "We _could_ have retrieved you. You've sealed off Section 6, haven't you?" "Yes," Sam replied. "But what does that have to do with anything?" Genine sighed. "Weren't you listening to me last night? By sealing off Section 6, you're going to confirm the growing suspicions Al is having. He'll know you're not the same Sam Beckett who was here yesterday morning." "What about the explosion, Genine?" Sam demanded. Genine exhaled. "There's now a one hundred percent chance that no one will be injured because of the explosion." "Yes!" Sam exclaimed with joy. "However," Genine continued, "the odds of retrieving you have dropped to forty-nine percent." She paused. "We won't be able to retrieve you, Sam." ----------------------------------- Hehehehehe! Yeah, I'm cruel and evil! But it's not over! Find out what happens in Part 20. Katherine