Message-ID: Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 20:44:50 +0000 From: Heather Markham Subject: Aliquantum Salio - Chapters 22-25 "ALIQUANTUM SALIO" by Heather Markham CHAPTER TWENTY TWO Two hours later Al returned to the private lab, he opened the door quietly and poked his head around the door to look for Sam, who was busily scribbling away at a thick note pad. Sam hardly noticed Al's intrusion until he spoke. "I've just come back from the medical wing and I have a visitor for you." He stepped into the room, Dana close behind him. Sam glanced up, the words had suddenly registered. He ceased his work, dropped his pen and stood up as Dana walked into the room, she shyly looked across at Sam. Al had changed clothes from the red suit, he was now wearing white trousers, a deep blue shirt, silver brocade waistcoat and tie. He watched the pair of them, gave them a playful, roguish grin and said, "I guess I'll leave you two together! I promised to go see Verbena, so I'll see ya later." He cocked his head impishly to one side and waved bye-bye and left. Sam shook his head and laughed, "He gets worse! Come on in Dana, would you care to join me for a while." Dana smiled awkwardly, "Yes, I'd love to but I guess I owe you an apology first. I said some rather harsh words earlier." "No, no, please don't apologize. If I'd been in the same situation, if I'd been you," he looked slightly embarrassed but chuckled lightly, "and Oh, God, I could just as easily have been you, I'd have thought the same thing." He watched for her expression. They looked at each other for a few seconds and both burst out laughing. It was just the right thing for Sam to have said to break the ice between them again. "Anyway, how's Mulder doing? Is he okay now?" "He's fine. He needed a couple of pints of blood but we managed to patch him up. I stayed with him until he woke up and your friend helped me to explain things to him properly. It was rather funny, me, trying to convince him of something out of the ordinary. Now I know how he feels sometimes. Anyway, he understands things now," she paused, her voice light and filled with humour, "He's promised to be a good boy, he won't cause any more problems. They've just moved him to the waiting room." Sam sighed, of course he knew the possibilities of leaping out before completing his task but he hadn't wanted to think about it. He'd pushed the thought that he still might be snatched away and whisked through time, to the back of his mind. Mentioning the waiting room was a harsh reminder of an unknown reality. Dana looked around the room, she was intrigued by all the futuristic technology. She walked round the holo-screen, trying to decipher the equations that appeared to hang in mid-air. She touched them, they wavered and moved. "This is certainly a fantastic place you've got here and I understand most of it is down to your own design. This data screen is years ahead of anything I've ever come across, it's quite fantastic!" She turned back to him, "I couldn't help noticing the strange illuminated wall material you have here. Was that one of your inventions?" Sam shook his head, "No, not my field, that was one of Gushie's...er..Doctor Gushman's little projects, bio-luminescent cell cultures combined with a special mineral coating. There have been a few problems with it but it cuts down energy consumption and produces quite a relaxing, gentle light." She gave him a surprised look, "You're worried about energy consumption?" Sam nodded, "Well, yeah! Anything to cut expense, this place already costs two point four billion dollars a year to run!" Dana whistled through her teeth, "Wow! Now I know where all my tax dollars go!" The scientist began to explain the set up of the lab, showing her all the different gadgets and equipment. He showed her how to use the holographic visual, interactive data display screen. She was completely fascinated by everything she saw, she was also becoming fascinated by the man who had, up until today been passing himself off as Mulder. No wonder she'd begun to see a different side to Mulder's character, Sam's character was much warmer. He appeared to be so different, now that he was being himself. He was so much more confident, so open and direct, so much easier to talk to than Mulder. She truly hoped she might be able to aid him in some way. "I would really like to be able to help you with your work, I'm a big admirer of yours you know. Although, I have to admit, I thought you'd got it wrong, I didn't think it would be possible to time travel, not with the technology we have at this time....I guess I was totally wrong about that. Anyway, if I'm to help at all, you'd better give me a crash course in your theories and explain the process of the retrieval program you're trying to correct." Sam drew in a deep breath before answering, "Okay, I'll try. The quantum accelerator generates a stream of quantum particles, this forces the particles out fourth dimensionally, which creates a quantum tunnel through which the time traveller can send his very essence. His bio-plasmic field is pulled into the past, it has to inhabit another body, so it pushes out the soul, the memories of one person and lets....forces, the traveller....me, to inhabit the aura of another body for a short time in history. Of course this is restricted to a period within the traveller's life time, my life time. Once the quantum leap has been made only a holographic transmission attuned to the masons and neurons of the time traveller can link him with the present. In my case and as you already know, that's Al. Anyway, communications travel up and down the quantum tunnel. The retrieval, however, is somewhat trickier. An accelerator would be needed in the past to push the leaper back into the future," he had been using his hands to express and emphasize what he was saying, he stopped to ran his hand absentmindedly through his hair, "or a very powerful stream of quantum energy would have to be delivered to the leaper to force him back into the future." Dana thought about it, turned the information over in her mind, "Do you have such an energy source." Sam frowned and walked over to the holo-screen, studying the equations, "We....I thought we did but it seems I was wrong, my calculations were off. The former of the two methods is impossible because it would require me to build an accelerator in the past and I don't have the resources or the time while I'm there to do that. "Dana stared at him for a few minutes while she thought, "What about the accelerator here, could that not be modified to send you forwards. This opportunity presents you with the unique situation of only being an hour into the past......and you have the accelerator at your disposal!" A smile played across Sam's features, "Yes, I've already begun working on the formula for the conversion of the accelerator, to send me forward instead of back. Once that's completed it's just a matter of instructing the technicians on how to re-align the accelerator, although that will take some time to complete, it's a difficult and time-consuming operation. At least I can communicate directly with Ziggy and the technicians from here." "What can I do? How can I help?" "You seem to understand my work, you seem well qualified to help me develop the equations. I could use you as a sounding board for theory. Perhaps you could even help me to get the the formula and equations right this time because if I don't, there's no telling when or where I might end up. I don't want to end up leaping around in the future, Al wouldn't be able to reach me." Dana frowned and nodded sympathetically, "Well, we certainly can't have that." She paused, caught his eyes with hers, "What's it like? I mean...what does if feel like to time travel...to be someone else, in another time?" He pursed his lips and considered her question, "The actual time travelling...the leaping in or out, tingles. It feels as if I'm being engulfed by an elecro-static field. Depending on the situation, what my host body is doing or has been doing, dictates somewhat as to how I feel. Sometimes the leaps are gentle and sometimes they're pretty rough." She frowned, "Yes, I suppose that would make a difference but does your body feel different?" He smiled and shook his head, "No, It's kind of difficult to explain, leaping doesn't work quite the way we expected it to, it doesn't exactly follow the correct laws of physics. Perhaps that's due to the fact that God or fate, plays a big part in my leaping. However, the laws allowing my body to be in two places at once still seem to apply. I'm here in the past and yet my 'other' body is still in the future, in the Waiting Room and of course that is occupied by the person I replace." He paused, put his head on one side and gestured at himself. "As far as I'm concerned, my body leaps with me, my body is my own body. I see myself as myself, except for my face...for obvious reasons. I have all the physical attributes of my own body. If I leap into someone who is blind, I can see. If I were to leap into someone deaf, then I would be able to hear. If I leap into a woman, I still have the strength of a man." He blushed slightly, "Of course leaping into women does cause a few difficulties and can cause a little embarrassment from time to time. As you already know, the only thing that causes me real problems is the swiss-cheese effect leaping has on my brain but sometimes I think that is for the best, it stops me from remembering too much, too many time lines." He stared into her eyes, "When you look at me you see Mulder, but you're only seeing his shell, his aura. Al is the only person who can see through the aura and see me for myself." Sam was still gazing into her eyes, he sighed then his smile widened into a broad grin, "Hopefully, soon.....very soon, all that will change and you'll see me as I really am....I'll be back for good." She smiled back up at him, "I certainly hope so too, tell me where to start and we'll get busy!" They stood before the data screen and together began the arduous task of reconstructing the retrieval system. CHAPTER TWENTY THREE The hours flew past and gradually as they continued working with each other, the theories and equations pulled together and formed a corrected retrieval process. All that remained was the tying of the final proverbial loose ends, the final pieces of data necessary to bind the whole of the operation and make it work. They were now very close to the point where all that remained, was the time consuming, re-alignment of the accelerator chamber. Sam's fears of leaping-out before the right time were fast disappearing. He was too close to completion to even consider it a possibility. Everything had been going so smoothly, even the power surges and fluctuations had ceased. There hadn't been power fluctuations of any degree, since he had arrived and had helped to get the Imaging Chamber back on-line. As he'd worked, he'd felt himself becoming even closer to Dana. Al had been right, not only was she very beautiful, she had brains too. She was quick to learn, had grasped his theories with particular alacrity. There weren't many people he could discuss quantum theory with, on a one-to-one basis and actually have them understand his ideas and concepts fully. She not only understood them, she could build on them. He found her to have a fascinating mind, a keen and quick wit combined with sensitivity and a sense of humour, all of which made for a wonderful combination. He had previously wondered, if his feelings for her were mixed with those or mistaken for those of Mulder's, he now knew with clarity that they were definitely feelings of his own. Any feelings Mulder may have for her could only be mere shadows of what he felt towards her now. He had never, in his life, ever met a woman quite like Dana Scully. He paused from the construction of his final equation to observe her working. He gazed at her, mesmerized by her beauty, a soft longing expression in his....Mulder's green eyes. He thought about the possibility of being able to stay here, of leaping just the one hour into time that would bring him home for ever. Home, to his own time and in his own body. The thought teased him. He wondered if she felt anything for him too, if she would ever feel anything for him other than respect and friendship. Dana sensed his eyes looking at her, she turned and caught his gaze. Their eyes locked momentarily, it was as if they were searching each other's deepest thoughts, searching for something they both secretly hoped for. He looked away, embarrassed and a little flushed, had there been something there? Did he dare to hope that she really did care for him? Was it too soon to expect her to feel anything for him......after all, she hadn't really known what he was like as himself, until today. If she did like him, how would she feel after he was back in his own body? The situation was very confusing, his mind was full of questions and feelings, the thoughts were becoming a distraction to his work. Sam suddenly became aware that Dana was now watching him, she had an enigmatic look on her face, he couldn't fathom what she was thinking. He felt a little uncomfortable, a little flustered. He turned his back from her, to hide his embarrassment and pretended to busy himself with something at his desk. He sat down, a long slow sigh escaped him, he tried to concentrate on the task at hand, drawing up a work sheet of the re-aligning process for Gushie and the technicians to follow. Dana watched him as he sat down and continued the last and tricky part of the retrieval process. She smiled to herself as she considered how difficult it must have been for him to try and behave like Mulder. Sam Beckett and Fox Mulder were the most dissimilar characters she'd ever met. It was almost ironic that of all people, of all times, fate or God or whatever, should have chosen to leap him into Mulder. Of course, she'd always liked, trusted and respected Mulder, she was fond of him, cared for him a great deal too and had often wondered what it would be like to have a deeper relationship with him. There had been several times when she felt they had almost reached the point where they could have got closer but Mulder had always restrained himself. He continued to make it quite plain that his only aim in life, the only thing of true importance was his seemingly eternal quest for the truth! Dana sighed quietly to herself, she was still surreptitiously watching Sam work. He was something else, he was warm, gentle, tolerant, open but also a little naive of the world, like a little boy who had never fully experienced every aspect of life, which was odd considering how many different and dangerous situations he'd been in. She wondered if he was a romantic......yes, he would have to be, he seemed the type.....she bet on the fact that he could be very romantic given half the chance. It had been difficult at first for her to forget that he wasn't Mulder, to see through the illusion, the facade to the confused man, imprisoned behind the mask. Of course, she knew what the real Sam Beckett looked like, she'd spent several hours that morning, tending to his needs, nursing him and studying his face while she waited for him to regain consciousness. Now, looking at Sam in Mulder's body, she could almost see him as he really was. It was almost as if, her mind was superimposing one image over the other. Sam Beckett was an extremely handsome man, the combination of the man's mind and character in his own body was an extremely attractive thought. CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR There was a knock at the door, it drew their attention from their thoughts. The door opened, Al came in pushing a canteen trolley covered in a red gingham cloth. He pushed it squeakily over to the desk and drew up a chair opposite to the one Sam was sitting in. "Dinner is served m'lord" he said, in a mock English accent, sweeping the cloth from a large food laden tray, with a flourish. Dana went over to Al to inspect the offering more closely. "Mmm, this looks and smells delicious." Sam rose from his seat and leaned forward to get a better look, the tray contained all his old favourites, plus, Al had gone to the trouble of adding a bottle of good wine and had placed a flower in a tall thin, flute vase. "Thanks Al, you're a real pal. I'd kinda forgotten about the time and food." he looked up at Dana, "I'm sorry, I guess you must be starving. Why didn't you remind me it was time to eat?" "I didn't want to distract you, I know how important it is to get everything done as quickly as possible and anyway," she nodded and smiled across to Al, "your good friend here, had a tray of sandwiches sent over for me, for lunch." Sam moved round the desk to reach Al, clapped him on the back and then shook him by his shoulder playfully. "I really don't know where I'd be without you sometimes. Good food, wine...the only thing missing is a candle." Al wriggled free from Sam's grip, feeling amused embarrassment. His eyes sparkled with affection and pride for his friend, "Cut it out Sam, will ya...I'm only looking after you so's ya won't hassle me all the time! And as for the candle...I did look for one but do you know how hard it is to find something like that in a place like this." He fumbled in the pocket of his trousers and pulled out something hidden in the grasp of his fist. "This is all I could find," he chuckled, as he took a small night light from his hand and placed it on the desk, lighting it, with his cigar lighter. "I thought you'd probably appreciate eating here to save time and anyway, this is by way of a little working celebration, we'll have a real big one, once you've leaped home properly and for good. I guess that will be some time tomorrow night." Sam stepped over politely and helped to push in Dana's chair as she sat at the desk. Al began acting as waiter, setting the desk with the cloth, plates, glasses, napkins, cutlery and finally the delicious looking food. Sam began to help but was waved away and back into his chair by his friend. Al poured the wine, sampling a glass for himself, "No, no, let me do this, you two sit and enjoy the food, I know you've been working hard all day, you both deserve a little pause for refreshments." He settled himself on one corner of the desk while Sam and Dana began eating. Dana commented on the food, her mouth still half full, "Mmm, this is really good. Who prepared it?" "Yeah, well, it didn't take much persuasion to get the girls from the canteen to come up with something special." he beamed at Sam, "Reenie, remembered what you used to enjoy best. It seems everyone around here loves our old Sammy boy." He winked obviously at Dana. Sam gave a shy, awkward, over-acted grin, his hands indicated the food, "You should try some of this." Al was puffing thoughtfully at his cigar, "No, it's okay, I ate earlier." The two diners polished of the appetizing starter and main course. Sam offered up a bowl of strawberries to his friend, "Are you sure you wouldn't like some of these. I know you love them as much as I do!" Al was still puffing at his cigar, he looked down and frowned, his expression betrayed a little anxiety "No, It's okay, really, I'm not hungry." then he muttered to himself quietly, "I kinda lost my appetite a little." He didn't think Sam would pick up on it but his friend knew him too well. Sam stopped eating, he had picked up on the quiet words, he noticed the sudden change in his friends demeanour, he studied the slight look of concern which had etched itself onto Al's face. "Al, what's wrong? Everything is okay isn't it? What aren't you telling me," he enquired. "No, Sam, go on, finish your meal first." Dana stopped eating too and glanced from one to the other, she sensed the atmosphere had changed slightly. Sam pushed his plate away and demanded, "Oooh no, you tell me what's bothering you, right now. I can tell you're hiding something and you should know by now that you can't hide things from me!" Al looked rather sheepish, he was wincing in anticipation of what Sam would say, once he'd heard what he was about to tell him. "Er....I don't quite know how to tell you this...but we have, or rather had, a little problem with Langly." Sam got up and walked over to face him, "Well?" Al was still frowning, "Look, I know how you feel about certain things but I was talking to Mulder and Verbena earlier on, ya see, we have a problem with Langly," Dana broke in, "What's wrong with him? He was okay this morning." Al nodded quickly, "Oh yeah, he's okay. It's just knowing quite what to do with him. Langly's not the kind of guy to keep quiet about this place and he's seen too much of what goes on here for us to ever persuade him to keep his mouth shut. The Lone Gunmen publish their own UFO news sheet called the `Magic Bullet'." Al stared at Sam and swallowed, hard. "Verbena has been keeping him sedated since he regained consciousness this morning. Sam...he would never have kept quiet about this place. If we let him go, knowing what he knows, the next thing we'd be headline news in some God-damned weird exposure magazine. Before we knew where we were, there would be bus-loads of journalists and even worse, tourists turning up on our doorstep, demanding to see what's going on, or demanding to see the worlds first time traveller. If that happened, we would get closed down for sure!" "So, what are you saying, we keep him here indefinitely. We can't do that Al!" "No, Sam, we can't and we're not intending to." Al began to pace the floor a little, he looked across to Sam, his face took on the expression of a child about to be scolded for some terrible misdemeanour. Sam gave him a penetrating stare, "So, just what have you done with him?" "Verbena and Doctor Overlan agreed there was nothing else to be done, they have had to implant a false memory into his mind. They used one of the little bio-chip gizmo's that Overlan has been perfecting, to ensure he doesn't regain his memories even under deep hypnosis." Sam was glaring at Al, "They did what?" Al stopped pacing and spread his hands in front of him, "There really wasn't any other way of keeping him quiet. There was no choice!" Dana moved back from her place at the desk and walked over to join the two men. She enquired of Al, "So where does he think he is now? What does he think happened to him?" "We moved him to the top-side first-aid clinic. He doesn't think anything at the moment, He was still asleep the last time I checked. When he wakes up, he will think he came out here, climbed the mountain in an effort to gain entry into the centre, fell, hitting his head and twisting his foot in the process." His cigar was dying, he paused to puff life back into it, "There's something else I have to tell you...I'm sorry Sam but you're going to have to go over there tonight and corroborate the story. You'll have to convince him that you are Mulder, you came out here to find him, which you did and that you have personally investigated the Project Centre. You have to convince him that all we are doing here, is just natural energy experiments and trials." Sam looked perplexed, "Why do you need me to explain things, if he's already had his mind altered?" Al raised his eyebrows, "Because, although, we've already introduced him to the idea, we need you to re-affirm it. You have to convince him that we're harmless and had nothing whatsoever to do with what happened to him and Churnik out in the desert. You must make it clear that there's nothing of interest to him here...or out there. Tomorrow..." Al put his hands together in a mock gesture of prayer and turned his eyes heaven-ward, "please God everything goes okay, as soon as you have got the retrieval process working and have, hopefully, traded places with the real Mulder, he and Dana are going to have to take Langly back to Washington....as soon as possible." Al looked over at Dana. "You're going to have to see to it that he gets there with no fuss. You'll have to tell him there's something wrong with his van and that we've agreed to have it fixed and will ship it on to him." She nodded in agreement. Sam went back to his desk and sat down, he held his head in his hands for a few moments then looked back up at them both, "You know, I can't help getting a bad feeling about all this. You know I don't like messing about with people's minds, I just wish you'd said something before you let them go ahead and do it. The thing about memories is, that they come back to haunt you. They may come back to haunt us in the future. Are you absolutely sure there was nothing else, no other way of silencing him?" Al shook his head. "Sorry, there wasn't, what else can I say, Sam?" Dana added, "Sam, he's right. You don't know Langly the way I do. He would never have kept this place to himself! You can't risk having this place closed down. Not after all your years of hard work, all those awful years, never knowing where you were going to end up. Very soon now, you're going to be in a position no-one has ever been in before, you're going to be able to time travel properly and in a controlled environment. You can't let them take that away from you, all because of one man! You can't waste what you've done here. Langly may be an associate and a friend of mine and Mulder's but don't let everything be wasted just for the sake of Langly." Sam looked from Dana to Al, "Are you sure it's not going to interfere with his mind, it's not going to affect him in the future?" "Verbena and Doctor Overlan wouldn't have suggested it if they thought it was dangerous or detrimental to Langly's future sanity or health. He'll never know the implant is there, it's shielded, it won't even show up on a brain scan. Anyway, do you have any other ideas as to what we could have done with him?" Sam shook his head resignedly, "No..no, I guess not." "No, well...there you are then. Look, I'll get this cleared away." He indicated the dirty dishes and plates "You do what you have to do here, to make things work." he glanced across at Dana, "You make sure he doesn't forget to visit Langly.....and don't let him work all night. He's going to need some strength for tomorrow, the big day!" Dana and Sam helped Al to pile everything back onto the trolley, he pushed it to the door, "I'll see you later Sam. Let me know when you go up and see Langly." "Okay," he checked his watch, thought for a moment and added, "We'll get things finished off here, I'll get the technicians started on the re-alignment process, then I'll go up. I guess it'll be about another, say... hour or so. Oh, and Al...thanks for the meal." Al grinned, he waved his hand in Dana's direction, "I've had one of the suites up at the main house prepared for you. It has a beautiful view over-looking the desert. Sam can show you where it is before he goes off to see Langly. Don't forget what I said, don't let him work all night and don't let him keep you here until all hours either." Dana returned the grin, "Thank you Admiral, it sounds wonderful and I won't forget." Al gave an impish grin and added with amusement, "He never knows what time it is ya know, it usually completely passes him by!" He waved a hand playfully in their direction and left Sam and Dana to finish off the difficult task of getting his best friend home, once and for all. CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE Al had wandered out into the clear, warm night. He was leaning against the hand rail of the veranda outside the Medical Clinic, waiting for Sam to finish talking with Langly. He was looking up at the stars, thinking about all the difficult things Sam had had to cope with over the past couple of years of leaping in and out of other people's lives and problems. He was remembering all the good times he and Sam had together, before Sam made his first unscheduled and untimely leap. He remembered all the times he'd been observer to the leaps, all the funny things that had happened, all the weird things that had happened, all the sad or difficult times, when he'd wished he could have been of more help or supportive to his best friend. Times when he'd wished he could have hugged him, consoled him, physically aided him in some of the more dangerous situations Sam had found himself in. It had been two years, only two years since that first leap but it felt like a lifetime ago. His head was filled with all the alternate time lines that Sam had created. Sometimes he'd found it hard to separate the reality from the changed, altered histories. Sometimes he'd sat in his office and despaired, he'd looked at the contents of a full bottle of Bourbon and had been tempted but it had been only a temptation, he'd coped, for Sam's sake he'd coped. His friendship with Sam and the hope that he would someday leap home had kept him sane. God, was all that over now? Would tomorrow bring a new beginning for Sam, for himself and for the Project. A future where all of the leaps could be carefully controlled. Leaps where, at the first sign of danger, Sam could be safely retrieved without hitch. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, everything seemed to be okay but he still had a nagging doubt at the back of his mind. He narrowed his dark eyes and frowned as the thought crossed his mind, that fate wasn't usually this kind or helpful, real life didn't always finish up with a happy ending. Fate often threw a few of its own spanners in the works of the most well-oiled of machines, he'd learned that lesson when he had been an astronaut. A terrible cold feeling ran through his blood, it sent a chill through his spine. His body shuddered involuntarily at the thought that his best friend might be snatched from him at the very last moment. It didn't bear thinking about. He pushed the awful feeling from his mind and tried to replace it with a list of all the positive reasons why fate, destiny or God would allow Sam to get home. He brightened a little as he considered, from his point of view, there were far more good reasons for Sam to be home and safe, than for things to go wrong at the last minute. He crossed his fingers, he was hedging his bets as he offered up a silent prayer for Sam. He still wasn't too sure about God's role in all of this, if it was up to God to help Sam get home, then he hoped his short prayer was enough. Just then the rubber doors of the clinic flapped open, flooding the veranda in light and momentarily framing Sam in a bright yellow glow as he stopped, saw Al and walked over to him. Al regarded him anxiously, "How'd it go? Did you manage to convince him about this place and what we do here?" Sam nodded, they both began walking back towards the main entrance. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he believed me. He was still pretty confused about the events out there in the desert. He said he still wanted to investigate what had happened out there. I told him there wasn't anything left out there to see. That there hadn't been any more reports of sightings of UFO's since the morning of Churnik's death. I made a sort of deal with him. To ensure he didn't go back to the desert at some point in the future, I gave him the other piece of forensic evidence I'd kept." Al stared at him, a look of concern on his face, "Evidence?" Sam had a worried expression in his eyes, "Before Churnik's body was moved, just after we found him, Dana noticed a sticky residue on his body. I took two samples, I gave one to her and kept the other for my own analysis. I had Ziggy run a few tests on it while we were working on the retrieval process." He paused for a few minutes. Al was still staring at him, waiting for him to continue, "And," He prompted. "Ziggy, more or less, came to the same conclusions as the lab back at Stallions Spring. She couldn't identify the substances, the structures were foreign to our world." He stopped walking and turned to face his friend, "Al, Ziggy maintains that they were of alien origin!" Al's mouth opened and closed without words, he swallowed, "Do you mean to tell me that Langly and Churnik really were abducted by aliens. Aliens killed Churnik! I can't believe that Sam! Why? Why would they do that. No, there's got to be another explanation. Ya know I don't believe in alien abductions." Sam slapped the back of his hand against the palm of the other for emphasis, "The analysis is indisputable. Something did happen to those two men out there in the desert. I don't know what it was, Langly can't remember much of what happened after he saw the strange craft but he knows something happened to himself and he wasn't going to let it pass that easily. I'm still not so sure that he won't show up somewhere around here again one day." Al was still looking at Sam with an expression of incredulity. "You think giving him the forensic evidence will keep him off our backs for a while?" They began walking again, "Yeah, when I told him his van needed fixing and that he should come back to Washington with Dana and myself, or Mulder as it will be, he wasn't too upset at the thought of leaving this place. I don't think he cares too much for being kept in a hospital wing. I don't think he'll be interested in coming back to investigate the Project Centre but it wouldn't surprise me if he makes further investigations into the UFO sightings that have been witnessed out there, in the desert." They chatted on for a while as they walked, tossing about theories on the existence of extraterrestrials and what could have happened to the two men. Sam's voice betrayed another hidden worry. Al knew him well enough to pick up on it and although Sam hadn't mentioned any other problems, he knew something was bothering his friend. "Sam, I can tell that something is bothering you. Is there something you're not telling me? It works both ways ya know, you can't hide things from me either. Is it something to do with Dana?" Sam stopped walking abruptly, he sighed, turned to his friend. He had a scared, bewildered look in his eyes. Al felt his heart go out to him, he could tell Sam was deeply troubled, "Hey, what's the matter, everything's going okay, isn't it? You're not worried about Langly are you? He can take care of himself in the future." Sam closed his eyes and shook his head, he gulped back a breath before answering. "I've been monitoring my reason for being here, Ziggy has been giving me updates on it while Dana and I have been working on the retrieval program.........the percentages on my being here for Langly haven't dropped. Al,.....they've been consistently rising! The last time I checked, there was a ninety percent chance that I was still here to save Langly's life and not for me to leap home." His voice had risen in desperation. Al's face matched Sam's expression of bewilderment, "Nooo.......No, Sam, You mustn't let yourself think like that, Ziggy must have got it wrong, you know she can't collate all the relevant data she needs for forecasting the events of this leap. She's made a mistake Sam....it's not the first time she's made a mistake. We both know Langly's okay now, he can't get into any more danger. Nothing else can go wrong now!" "Ohhh, Al, I certainly hope nothing goes wrong. It's just that any little thing, the slightest doubts keep haunting me. I guess you're right. I'm worrying about nothing...Ziggy has been wrong about things before. Remember when I leaped into that vet....Ziggy said I'd leaped in to marry the rancher's daughter. All along it was just to give Buddy Holly a hand with writing Peggy Sue." He forced a smile, "What can possibly happen now. I'm too close for anything to happen now." Al's own private thoughts of concern came back to plague him but he patted Sam on the shoulder and tried to sound brighter, "You look dead beat. Why don't you go and get some sleep. You're going to need all your strength for tomorrow. Remember, this time when you leap, you're not going to get a nice little rest in limbo-land." Sam, rubbed at his eyes, "No, I'm okay, I've still got work to do and I really should go and see Dana, let her know about Langly and thank her for all the assistance she gave me today. You know, I may not have been able to get this far without her help and ideas, I may not have been able to do it at all, without her help." Al smiled to himself, "Yeah, well I told you she was a clever girl but be careful Sam, I know how you feel about her, so don't go getting too involved. Once you've leaped and Mulder's back in his rightful body, he and Dana will be leaving here, probably later tomorrow. You may never see her again." Sam Sighed again, he had a wistful look in his eyes, "Yeah, I know, your probably right. Anyway, as soon as I've spoken to her I'm going back to the Control Room. I can't leave the technicians to it, they may need my help." Al admonished him but in a light hearted manner, "Ya know I know what's best for you, you should try and grab a couple of hours rest at least. Never heard of the old saying, Too many cooks spoil the broth." Sam laughed, "Yeah, and haven't you ever heard that, many hands make light work." "Well, I guess you got me there. Well, even if I can't persuade you to get a few hours rest, at least go and get cleaned up, go and change into something clean. You must have been wearing those clothes for days. You know what they say, as I'm your best friend, I think it's up to me to tell ya," Al cackled hoarsely and held his nose "Sam, you need a shower." Sam looked aghast and sniffed at the air around him, "Is it really that bad? I've been so absorbed in my work I kinda didn't notice." Al laughed, "Well, no, but," His eye's sparkled, "if you're paying Dana a little visit I think you should freshen up first" Sam cocked his head to one side and gave him a look that said, Al! Cut it out! He shook his head and together they burst out laughing. "Yeah, yeah, okay, I get the message. I guess a shower would freshen me up. Is my old apartment suite open?" "Yeah, sure. I sent a maid in to check when I had the rooms prepared for Dana. There should be fresh towels and stuff laid out for you. Aww, you should see the maid...Maria..she's got the biggest b..." Sam shot him an affectionately but disgusted grin. "Al....!" Al chuckled hoarsely, "No, no...Sam, I was about to say, she's got the biggest pair of brown eyes I've ever seen." He was seemingly staring at nothing but his expression was clearly showing where his mind was wandering, "Oooh Sam, she could turn down my bed sheets any night of the week.....if it weren't for Tina, that is." he hastened to add. "Yeah, well just you remember that. I don't want you and Tina to end up fighting." "Okay, okay, but a man can daydream a little can't he?" he sighed. "Yeah, I guess so, we all have our dreams, Al." He paused momentarily as he wistfully thought about Dana, "So, where will you be tonight." Al grinned and winked roguishly, "Me, oh yeah, me and Tina have our own little celebration party planned for tonight......but if you need me, if there are any problems, just get Ziggy to contact me. I'll be with you...well," he laughed, "as quickly as I can." -- Heather Markham