From krfreymu@brain.uccs.edu Thu Dec 26 15:25:56 1996 X-Delivered: at request of mdb on airedale Received: from beasley.cisco.com (beasley.cisco.com [171.69.2.135]) by airedale.cisco.com (8.6.12/8.6.5) with ESMTP id PAA29179 for ; Thu, 26 Dec 1996 15:25:56 -0800 Received: from brain.uccs.edu (brain.uccs.edu [128.198.1.126]) by beasley.cisco.com (8.7.6/CISCO.GATE.1.1) with SMTP id PAA27188; Thu, 26 Dec 1996 15:25:54 -0800 (PST) Received: from localhost (krfreymu@localhost) by brain.uccs.edu (8.6.9/8.6.9) with SMTP id QAA21684; Thu, 26 Dec 1996 16:25:42 -0700 Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 16:25:42 -0700 (MST) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" X-Sender: krfreymu@brain.uccs.edu To: "Gary J. Marsh" , Kristi Sterling , Nora Belyea , Rachel Sibio , QL Archive , alt-tv-quantum-leap-creative@cisco.com, ql-archive@cisco.com Subject: Coup d'Etat - Chapter 23 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: R Chapter 23: Countdown "Okay," Donna said as she sat at her desk in her lab. "What's the damage?" Donna, surprisingly, had been given a lot of free access in the complex, probably because Burke didn't feel that a seven-month pregnant woman was much of a security risk, even if she were Sam Beckett's wife. Sammy Jo Fuller, on the other hand, was being watched carefully. She was, after all, Sam's intellectual equal, making her, in Burke's eyes, a very dangerous individual. It has taken several approvals from various people, including Burke, to allow her to help Donna, Gushie, and Tina in assessing the complex's systems. Sammy Jo sighed slightly. "It doesn't look good. Burke's reprogramming Ziggy is causing some major problems. Her ability to access information has dropped almost seventy percent. The security system is a complete shambles..." "You can say that again," Tina muttered. Sammy Jo smiled slightly before continuing. "And I can't guarantee that anything will work three days from now." Gushie was frowning. "I've been watching Burke's changes to Ziggy. It looks like he's planning on changing everything about the Project, including who's involved. I just found out that he's ordered Dr. Beeks to scan his neurons and mesons so that he can make direct contact with Dr. Beckett." Donna's eyes widened with apprehension. "Can he do that?" "Easily," Gushie told her. "Especially since he has control over Ziggy." Sammy Jo frowned. "If Burke does that, what'll happen to Al?" "I won't be needed anymore," said Al from the door. They hadn't heard him come into the lab. Genine was right behind him, guarding him. "He'll kill me," Al told them. "What?" Sammy Jo exclaimed. She shook her head. "He wouldn't do that. Would he?" Al nodded. "Believe me, Sammy Jo. He would in a heart beat." He looked around at the scientists in the room. His eyes focused on Tina. "Could I talk to you for a moment?" Tina looked at Al and then at Genine. "Sure," she told Al. She turned to Donna. "I'll be right back," she said as she followed Al and Genine to a corner of the room. Al looked at Genine with raised, questioning eyebrows. Genine nodded. "We should be okay here as long as we keep our voices down." Al nodded. "Good." He looked at Tina, whose face was covered with curiosity. "Tina, meet Lieutenant Commander Genine Strickler. Commander Stricker, this is Dr. Tina Conelf." The two women shook hands. "Strickler?" Tina questioned. "Not Taylor?" "It's a long story," Genine told her. "And one we don't have time to tell," Al added. "Tina, I need you to do something for me." "What is it?" Tina asked. "I need you to shut down all of Ziggy's secondary systems." "What?!" Tina exclaimed. Al winced with trepidation. *If they hear us....* "Keep it down!" he ordered in a whisper. Tina frowned. She didn't like being ordered to do something. "Al, do you realize what you're asking me? If the main system goes down without back-up, the entire complex would be dead!" she whispered emphatically. "We'd have to reprogram Ziggy from scratch! And we'd never be able to get her back up to her full capacity! Only Dr. Beckett could do it and he's not here!" "Wrong. Sammy Jo can do it just as well," Al corrected her. "It's not the same!" Tina told him firmly. "I know," Al nodded. "And I wouldn't ask it if it weren't vital in regaining the complex." He looked at the woman carefully. "I need you to do this for me, Tina. It's important." Tina took a breath. "Is it really that important?" "Absolutely," Genine told her. "If you think you should download her programs onto floppy, do so," Al told her. "Do what you have to do to save the Ziggy we all know and love but I need that secondary system down." Tina looked at Genine with curiosity. She still didn't trust her. She looked at Al. He was nodding in assent, telling her to go through with the crazy thing. The look in his eyes told her that, even though he knew the consequences of what he was asking, he was certain of his request. She sighed. "When?" "As soon as you can," Al told her. "Then tell Commander Strickler when you've done it." "Can you make it look like a technical problem?" Genine asked. Tina thought for a moment. "Sure. I can do that." Al smiled. "Good. I owe you one, Tina." He thought for a moment. "One other thing." Tina sighed slightly. "What is it?" "Make sure everyone is in their quarters when I tell you. All civilians. I don't want anymore innocent people hurt." She frowned. "Hurt? Al, what do you mean? What are you going to do?" Al took a breath. "Try not to think about it." He turned to Genine. "Let's go," he ordered. The two left the room while Tina and the others watched them carefully. Tina took a breath. She had an idea of what Al was planning but she didn't want to speculate on it. Whatever it was, it was big and it was a secret. She wondered about Major Taylor/ Commander Strickler. Just who was she? She shook her head. Al was right. It would probably be better not to think about it. Al would explain it all later. She hoped. "What was that about?" Gushie asked her with curiosity. "I'll tell you later," Tina told him. "Now, where were we?" ************************* Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That's what Tom was getting back from the Secretary of the Navy and he wondered why. The Secretary was a punctual man, if annoying at times. When he said he'd give Tom an answer later that day, he meant it. But here it was getting to be five o'clock in the evening and there was no word from the Secretary. Tom didn't like the look of things. There was a soft chime. Tome sat up in his office chair. *Finally!* he thought as he pressed his intercom button. "Yes, Lieutenant?" "The Secretary is on line one for you, sir," the lieutenant informed him. "Thank you," Tom answered. He quickly straightened his appearance before pressing the receiving button on his viewphone. "Hello, sir," he greeted. The Secretary's face was quite serious. "These are strong accusations you make, Admiral. Do you have any physical evidence to support them?" Tom frowned. This didn't sound right - no exactly, anyway. "As I said earlier, sir, all of my evidence is in that file." The Secretary frowned. "Admiral, you are accusing a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of treason. What you have against him is basically hearsay." Tom's eyes widened. *A member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? Hearsay?* It sounded right but something in Tom's gut told him it was definitely wrong. "Sir, I don't consider the words of Admiral Calavicci and Lieutenant Commander Strickler hearsay. You will recall, as well, that General Burke has some unorthodox ideas about how the President should handle military situations. He's on the verge of being court-martialled right now." "But he is still popular with the people - and with the President," the Secretary reminded. He took a breath. "I can't authorize any actions against General Burke, Admiral." Tom couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Secretary was just going to let it slide after every thing that happened. "Sir," Tom said calmly. "You know as well as I that General Burke is in control of Project Quantum Leap illegally. We've been sitting on our hands on this issue for too long and, if we don't do something soon, it'll be too late. Sir, I beg you to reconsider." "I have reconsidered, Admiral," the Secretary told him. "I'm afraid I cannot let this situation tarnish the President's reputation. The decision stands. Officially," he amended. "And unofficially, sir?" Tom asked, noticing the slight smile on the Secretary's face. "Unofficially?" the Secretary repeated Tom's question. "Unofficially, you do whatever you think is necessary to take back the Project Quantum Leap complex. But do it as quietly and as quickly as possible." "Aye, sir," Tom said with a lift in his voice. The Secretary's face was dead serious. "If you fail, Admiral, I won't be able to protect you. You'd probably be the one that's court-martialled for treason instead of General Burke." Tom nodded. "I understand, sir." A moment later, the viewscreen went blank. ------------------------------------------------ Sorry about how short this one is. Chapter 24 is next. Rob and Katherine Freymuth