Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 20:25:03 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Choices - Chapter 4 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII A quick warning to my readers. This part does get a little racy. There are some definite sexual innuendos in it. Just thought a warning was in order. Choices by Katherine Freymuth (Copyright 1997) Chapter 4 Dana Aptheker was drumming his pen to Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" as he sat at the table, waiting. The informant said she had something about the disappearance opf Dr. Samuel Beckett. Why she had set the meeting place as a coffee house in New York Dana didn't know. But the tidbits the informant had given him were enough to convince him to agree to the meeting. She had told him ten o'clock but it was almost eleven and Dana was growing impatient. He had a lot better things to do on a Thursday morning than sit and wait. Finally, a woman with short bobbed red hair and a sleeveless red dress to match, approached the table. Dana looked at her intense dark eyes and instantly knew that, despite their relaxed surroundings, their meeting was going to be strictly business. At least, he hoped it was. He had only been around her for a few seconds and already he was being affected by her presence. "Mr. Aptheker," she said in a definite English accent. Dana started to stand. "No, don't," she told him. "Much too conspicuous." She sat down. "And you are?" Dana requested. The woman smiled slightly, giving Dana heart palpitations. He swallowed some of the coffee in front of him, trying to hide the effect the woman's smile was having on him. For a moment, Sam Beckett wasn't on his mind - only the thought of the woman being underneath him as he gratified the lust he was feeling in his loins. "Does it matter?" she questioned. "I have something you want." *You can say that again!* Dana thought as he took a breath. "No, I don't suppose it does," he finally said. "Good," she said. "I wouldn't want my name to reach Admiral Calavicci's ears. It would be very unfortunate for both of us if it did." Dana nodded with understanding. "You know Admiral Calavicci?" The woman smiled again, the promise of what Dana wanted in her eyes. The look told Dana *Keep all of this quiet and you can have me as well.* "Yes, I know the Admiral very well. You could say that we're... counterparts." Dana nodded, taking a calming breath. "You said you had something to tell me about Dr. Beckett's disappearance," he said quickly. The woman nodded. "At the moment, he's in March." Dana leaned forward in excitement. "Where is that?" The woman laughed heartily. "Oh, you poor thing!" She looked into his eyes. "I mean the month of March. As in four months ago." Dana frowned. Suddenly, the great informant was starting to sound like a great dud. *Just what the hell does she mean Sam Beckett is in March?!* "Listen, lady!" he told her loudly. "If you came here and forced me to leave New Mexico just to yank my chain..." "I crossed the Atlantic to see you, Mr. Aptheker," the woman interrupted him firmly. "I would be wasting my time as well as yours if this were a joke. I assure you it is not." She paused. "Remember what the Admiral said in the bar? 'Who knows where or when he is?'" Dana stared at her in astonishment. "How do you know about that?" The woman smiled at him. "I know everything about Dr. Beckett and Admiral Calavicci. For example, seven years ago, Calavicci was a single man, divorced five times, no children." Dana laughed. "Come on! The record shows he's been married to Elizabeth Calavicci, nee Barrows, since 1961. They have four children." The woman laughed. "That's true now, yes. But that can be as easily changed as it was before. Just as easily as Dr. Beckett's brother surviving the war in Southeast Asia rather than dying in it." Dana looked into her eyes and, for some odd reason, could tell she was telling the truth. "You're telling me that Dr. Beckett is travelling in time?" he asked incredulously. "That my hypothesis isn't as implausible as it sounds?" The woman leaned forward and peered into his eyes. "That is precisely what I'm telling you, Mr. Aptheker. And he's been changing history to benefit himself and Admiral Calavicci. I have a written record of his activities." She paused. "Would you like to see it?" Dana's heart was beating fast with anticipation. "Please," he told her. She smiled alluringly at him. She stroked his chin. In that moment, Dana had lost all control of his hormones. "Give me some time to have a colleague send me a copy of it. You are staying in New York?" Dana nodded silently, looking into her eyes longingly. "Good," she said. "Meet me at the Ritz-Carlton in Manhattan at seven o'clock tonight. Room 515." She placed her lips close to his ear, close enough that he could feek her breath going into it. "Don't disappoint me by being late," she told him before slowly licking his ear. Dana physically shuttered at the sensation, totalling entranced by it. He was barely able to control his excitement when the woman slowly returned to her seat, staring into Dana's eyes. "Now, go on," she told him. "It wouldn't be good if we were seen leaving together." Dana nodded quickly and hurried out of the coffee shop, hoping no one could see the stain at the crotch of his pants. He nearly ran into a waitress in his hurry to leave. The waitress went to the table at which the woman sat. The woman accepted the black coffee the waitress was offering. When the waitress was gone, the woman chuckled with amusement as she raised the up of coffee to her lips. "Zoe, darling, you've still got it," she told herself before taking a sip. ************** Sam had discovered by the end of the day that being Admiral Albert Calavicci, retired, had its benefits and its drawbacks. One of the drawbacks was that, although Sam was a fairly good cook, he didn't have the culinary experience Al had developed from years of experience. After completely ruining a pan of lasagna, he decided it was safer, and less expensive in the long-run for Al, to take Beth and Christy - who was the only one of the Calavicci daughters still living in the house - out for dinner before the concert. The benefits, he discovered, included enjoying Christy's concert, especially the solo performance she had. She had the most beautiful voice. Sam found himself growing a little envious of Al. "She really is something, isn't she?" Al questioned from Sam's left, sitting beside him and wearing the very same outfit Sam was wearing. Sam haphazardly wondered if he and Al looked like twins to anyone who might be able to see Al. Sam nodded in agreement to Al's comment and returned his gaze to the woman standing on the stage. He could hardly believe that Christy was twenty-two years old. The last he remembered seeing her, she was only eleven - just before he stepped into the Accelerator Chamber for the first time in 1995. He knew he had seen her at twenty-two before - he wasn't sure when - but the face he always remembered was that of the beautiful eleven year old girl. "You must be very proud of her," Sam commented to Al. "I am," Al and Beth, who sat on Sam's right, replied in unison. Beth took Sam's hand and squeezed it lovingly. She gave him a slight smile before returning her gaze to the stage. A few moments later, Christy finished her solo and returned to the main choir as the audience applauded her. Al took a deep breath as the next song began. "Sam," he said quietly. "We need to talk." Sam nodded in acknowledgement. He turned to Beth and whispered to her that he had to go to the Men's Room. He then slipped out of the auditorium and into the vacant hallway where Al was waiting patiently. "What is it?" Sam asked, looking at Al with some concern. "Ziggy thinks she's found out why you're here," Al told him, an unlit cigar in his hand. Sam got a knot in his stomach. He remembered that Al had quit smoking, turning to knawing on cigars when something bothered him. "And?" he said gently. Al hesitated. He took a deep breath. "The day after tomorrow, on March 13th, there's going to be an explosion in the complex." "You told me that already," Sam told him. He paused. "Is someone going to be hurt?" Al shook his head. He rubbed his left thumb over the top of his lips. "No," he said. "Someone isn't going to be hurt when he should be." Sam frowned. "Al, I don't understand." Al exhaled. He paused. "Sam, do you remember Alex Hathorn?" Sam thought for a moment. "I think so. He works for the Projecct, doesn't he?" Al nodded. "He did. In fact, he was the one who discovered that you had to be retrieved for your own health." He paused. "He died last week. He had AIDS." Sam lowered his head in sympathy. "Al, I'm sorry." Al didn't say anything for a moment. "You're here for Alex, Sam." Sam looked at Al with curiousity. "I can't save him from dying, Al." Al nodded. "True. But you can save him from a long and painful death." He looked into Sam's eyes. "Sam, you're here to make sure that Alex dies in that explosion." Chapter 5 coming soon.