Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 13:05:49 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Reply-To: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Slide Before You Leap - Part 25 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who's been reading this. Thanks for all your encouragement and comments. I hope you enjoy the end of the story. Kat --------------------------- Part 25 Al came out of the Waiting Room, Tom Beckett following. Both had determined looks on their faces. "Al..." Harlow started. "Sheidley Harlow, Meet Tom Beckett," Al introduced as he marched past her and to Alpha's control console. "Ma'am,' Tom nodded to her. "Alpha," Al ordered. "Set the time to April 7, 1970." "You're not send him back?!" Max exclaimed. "Why not?" Al asked him. "After what happened to Sam, it should be obvious!" "Sam did the whole thing all wrong," Al told him. "He tried to prevent Tomn's death instead of trying to stop the mission on which Tom was killed. Or at least instead of trying to alter it." "Which is what I'll be doing," Tom added. "This is ridiculous!" Harlow complained. "I don't call the lives of two people ridiculous," Al stated. "Then again, you and I never did see eye to eye." Harlow glared at him. "You ready, Tom," Al asked. "Yes, sir," Tom answered. "Through that door," Al instructed. "Good luck." "Thank you, sir," Tom smiled. "Call me Al," Al told him. Tom nodded just before entering the Accelerator Chamber. ******************* The Sliders all breathed sighs of relief once they had safely made it to their rooms in the Dominion Hotel. "I'm glad that's over with," Rembrandt expressed. "Now all we have to do is wait for the slide tomorrow night." "Assuming we're not found by the police first," Quinn added. "I can't believe we just abandoned the Admiral like that," Wade complained. "He needs our help." "Now, Miss Wells, the Admiral is a very resourceful man obviously," Arturo told her. "I'm sure he has things well in hand.." "I hope you're right, Professor." "Come on, guys. Let's get some rest," Quinn suggested. "We can debate this in the morning." However, Wade couldn't rest, wondering about Al. ***************** Five hours passed with no results. Al was pacing the floor of the Control Room while his guards watched him patiently. Harlow decided on sitting in a nearby chair and talking with Max about the nuances of the project. Finally, as the fifth hour approached, Harlow came to a decision. "Al," she said softly. "It didn't work." Al ignored her. "Al," she repeated. Al gave her a quick look but didn't stop pacing. "Alpha, update," he ordered. "What happened to Tom Beckett on April 8, 1970?" "Thomas Beckett, while helping in planning his platoon's next mission, discovered his source was in fact a North Vietnamese spy. The Chu Hoi shot Lieutenant Beckett before being killed herself. The mission was scrubbed. Lieutenant Beckett was apparently uninjured by the incident." Al looked at Harlow. "Didn't work, huh? Where's Sam?" he asked Alpha. "Dr. Beckett disappeared shortly after the Chu Hoi shot him four hours ago." "Is he alive?" Al asked quietly. "At last contact, yes." Al started to pace again. As he did so, the Waiting Room door opened. All eyes whirled to it. "Sam!" Sam smiled with relief. Sam collapsed to the floor, sliding down the ramp out of the Waiting Room. Everyone hurried to his still body. Al gently raised Sam's head. "Sam," he called to him. Sam looked at him and smiled. "I guess it works." Al smiled back. "Sure does." He looked at one of the corporals. "Get Dr. MacArthyr down here. Now," he ordered. The corporal left immediately. Al looked at Harlow. "I think we deserve that funding now. Don't you?" Harlow couldn't help but smile. "We'll see." *********************** Rembrandt, Quinn, Wade, and Arturo walked into Golden Gate Park a couple of minutes before the slide. "We won't ever know, will we?" Wade asked Quinn. "Know what?" "About Dr. Beckett, the Admiral, whether we should have waited five months for the slide." "Everything's going to be okay, Wade," Quinn assured. "It has to be." "Everyone ready?" Rembrandt asked. He pointed the timer at the open air and activated it. "Let's go." He jumped through the wormhole. "Come along, Miss Wells. Mr. Mallory," Arturo called before running through. Wade was looking at the city. She could have sworn she saw a car following them earlier. "Wade," Quinn called out. "Let's go." He went through. "Good luck," Wade said to ears that couldn't hear her. Or so she thought. A moment later, the window closed behind her. "Thank you, Wade," a husky voice told her after she disappeared. "You too." He looked beside him. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Harlow took a breath. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Al. I guess I'm not as open minded as you." Al smiled. "Now that's a scary though, especially since I have such a stubborn head." Harlow laughed. "I'll testify on your behalf at your court-martial. It might help." "Thanks," Al told her. He looked at his watch. "We'd better go back. I want to check on Sam before I go to bed. He may be a doctor but he's a terrible patient. I doubt he's having much fun with that gunshot wound in his abdomen from his leap." Harlow looked at him with interest. "You really love him, don't you?" "I hope you mean in the platonic sense," Al teased. "Yes, I do." Harlow nodded. "And me?" Al couldn't look at her. "I've already accepted that you don't feel the same way about me as I feel about you." "I'm sorry," she told him. Al looked at her. "No need to apologize. I knew that before I married you. Before I shipped out to Vietnam." Harlow didn't answer. "Let's go," she finally said after a moment of silence. Al nodded. The two walked to Al's Ferrari and drove back to Stallion Springs, New Mexico, just a few miled away from a top secret project called Quantum Leap. ADMIRAL CALAVICCI WAS TRIED AND CONVICTED OF BREAKING NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOR ASSISTING THE ESCAPE OF FOUR SUSPECTS. HE WAS DEMOTED TO THE RANK OF CAPTAIN AND TRANSFERRED TO A DUTY STATION IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA. HE AND DR. BECKETT CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE TOGETHER, THOUGH NOT ABOUT PROJECT QUANTUM LEAP. SAMUEL BECKETT WAS ASSIGNED A NEW MILITARY OBSERVER. HE CONTINUED TO RESEARCH FOR WAYS TO PERFECT THE RETRIEVAL PROGRAM. AS YET, HE HAS NOT MADE A SECOND ATTEMPT TO LEAP. ************** There was a burst in the air as the wormhole opened, depositing four people into the middle of the air. They fell with a scream, sliding down an angled surface for a short ways before stopping roughly on the ground. "What the hell happened there?" Rembrandt asked, standing up and brushinf himself off. Neither Arturo nor Quinn had an answer. Quinn looked around quickly. "Where's Wade?" he asked with concern. "Guys!" Wade called out from above them. They looked up and saw wade spraulled on top of a large statue's head, trying not to fall off. "What is that?" Rembrandt asked with awe and confusion. "My dear Mr. Brown," Arturo said, "that is a nubis, an Egyptian figure." Wade wasn't happy being stuck on the top of that statue. "Get me down from here!" THE END ------------------------- Hope you enjoyed the story. Keep your eyes open on the Quantum Leap Archive for more stories by me and by other writers (there are really great stories out there). Kat