From: Coast2C@aol.com
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 21:09:33 -0400
Message-ID: <960430210634_387199857@emout12.mail.aol.com>
Subject: Convergence:  Part 3 of 25

Convergence
by
Dana Anderson

Part 3 of  25      (Author's Notes and Disclaimer found in Part 1)

*               *               *               *  

Al walked quickly through the Control Room to the Waiting Room.  
When he entered he was relieved to see that there was, indeed, a 
visitor present.  

Jenna stood quietly next to the table in the center of the room,  
gazing into the image on its' polished surface.  As he approached 
her, Al saw her lift her hands so that they, too, produced a 
reflection.  Al stopped at a point directly across the table from her 
and glanced down at the false representation of his friend's presence.  

Although Jenna had positioned her body so that the likeness of 
Sam's aura was visible from the waist up, she seemed most 
interested in his hands.  She stared at their reflection, turning her 
hands over and pushing up the sleeves of the skin tight leap suit to 
get a view of his wrists as well.

“Hello" Al said.  "I know everything must seem strange, but you're 
safe here.  No one is going to hurt you and I promise you'll be back 
where you belong very soon."

The stranger raised her eyes and looked Al up and down very 
carefully.  "'Back where I belong'" she echoed in a quiet voice.

"Yes" Al said.  "My name is Al.  Can you tell me your name?"

"You don't know who I am?" the visitor inquired.

"I think I know who you are.  Jenna Tyler, right?" Al asked.

Her eyes went wide with astonishment.  "How?" she began, then 
stopped.  Al saw her throat convulse a couple of times.  "Where did 
you hear that name?  Do I know you?" Jenna questioned him.

"I don't think we've met before" Al replied.  "Are you Jenna Tyler?"

"I used to be" Jenna said.  "How did you know that?"

"It's a little difficult to explain" Al said.  "What did you mean by 
'I used to be'?"

"It's been a long time, a very long time, since I heard that name; 
since I was that person" Jenna responded.  She glanced down at 
Sam's likeness again, then back to Al's face.  "I'm not Jenna Tyler 
now either, am I?"

"That's a little difficult to explain as well" Al said.

"No it isn't" she insisted.  "If I'm here and you know I'm Jenna 
Tyler where is he?" she pointed at the reflection in the table. 

Al rubbed a fingertip on a spot between one sideburn and ear.  *Boy, 
she's really quick,* Al thought.  He wondered what she meant about 
not being Jenna Tyler for a long time and why she didn't ask him 
whose reflection she was seeing.

Jenna could see that Al was not prepared to answer her last 
question, so she tried again.

"What's the date?" she asked.

Al decided this was a little safer.  "September 1st" he replied.  And 
it was, both here and where Sam was, Al realized.  Give or take ten 
years.

Jenna's face froze in an expression of absolute horror.  "September 
1st" she managed to choke out.  She stared at Al in shock.

"Yes" Al agreed cautiously.

"September 1st, 1989" she added.  "That's where he is, isn't it?"

Al did not speak, but the look of alarm on his face was evidently 
enough of an answer for her.

"I have to go back" Jenna said.  "He'll die, they all will and maybe 
more.  I have to go back."

"Wait" Al said, reaching out to touch her arm.  "What are you 
talking about?"

"I have to go" she repeated, and vanished.

Al blinked.  He was still standing next to the table in the Waiting 
Room, but he was alone.  Jenna had disappeared and so had Sam's 
image in the tabletop.  Al's mind shifted gears.  "Ziggy, where's 
Sam?" he asked the ceiling.

"Dr. Beckett has leaped, Admiral" the computer responded.

Sam had changed history; or someone else had, Al thought.  In 
either case, Sam had leaped.  Al looked at the hand he was holding 
out which had briefly grasped Jenna's wrist.  He sighed and dropped 
his arm back to his side.

He wondered what Ziggy would say if he asked about Lt. Colonel 
Jenna no middle name Tyler.  Did she exist, or not?  He turned and 
began to retrace his steps to the door of the Waiting Room.

"Admiral, will you come to the Control Room please?"  Gushie's 
voice came plaintively over a communications channel.  "There 
seems to be a problem with the Deputy Director."

Al halted in his tracks.

"A problem with who?!"  Al demanded.

"Colonel Tyler, the Deputy Director"  Gushie sounded a little 
desperate now.  "She appears disoriented and doesn't seem to 
recognize us."

Al sprinted to the door of the Control Room.  As he entered he saw 
Gushie and Tina flanking a decidedly confused looking woman, 
whom Al had seen only a moment ago in the Waiting Room.  This 
time, however, she was dressed in a Class B Army uniform with the 
rank of a full colonel on her shoulders.

Gushie approached Al and continued his lament in mid-sentence 
"...came over to the console as if she were going to talk to us then, 
suddenly, she seemed to forget what she came for and just backed 
off and started looking around as though she didn't know where she 
was..." he trailed off, apparently out of steam.  

"It's okay, Gushie" Al reassured the man. "I'll take care of it.  You 
and Tina go back to whatever you were doing."  Gushie retreated to 
the rear of Ziggy's main control panel, gathering Tina to his side 
with a glance.

*Oh boy,* Al thought.  *If this day gets any more interesting I'm 
going to have a complete breakdown.  What the hell is she doing 
here?  Why does Gushie seem to know who she is?  She doesn't 
appear to know who she is or what she's doing here.  In fact, she 
looks as confused as I feel.*  Al looked at Gushie and Tina and 
realized he needed to get himself and the unexpected visitor out of 
there.

Al walked quickly to Jenna's side.  "Let's go someplace we can talk" 
he said quietly.  She nodded slightly and he took her by the elbow 
and steered her out the door and down the hallway.  Deciding his 
office was the place they would least likely be disturbed, he herded 
her toward the elevator.  They traveled the remaining distance in 
silence.  Jenna still had a vacant look on her face as he allowed her 
to precede him into his office.  He waved her toward the armchair 
beyond his desk.  Al seated himself at the desk, unwrapped a cigar 
and growled at the ceiling "Ziggy, just what the hell is going on?".

The computer answered in her most sardonic manner "Could you 
more clearly specify the information you are requesting, Admiral"?  

"Damn it, Ziggy"  Al retorted, slamming a palm down on the 
desktop.  "You _know_ what I want know!  If Sam leaped, what is 
_she_" he flung his arm out to indicate Jenna "doing here and why 
does Gushie think she's the 'Deputy Director'?  'Deputy Director' of 
_what_, may I ask and..."  

Ziggy interrupted his tirade smoothly.  "You're ranting, Admiral.  
I'm sure it has occurred to you that history has been changed and we 
are now experiencing an alternate timeline".

Al settled himself back in his desk chair and glared sourly at a spot 
on the ceiling.  "Of course it occurred to me, but this change is a 
little more extreme than usual."

Al reverted his gaze to study the silent woman seated near him.  
"Are you okay?" he asked gently.  She nodded vaguely once again 
and her eyes seemed to be acquiring some focus. "How much do you 
remember?" he added. 

"Everything" she said.  The voice was barely above a whisper but 
carried with it more pain, sorrow and longing than Al thought 
possible for a single word.  He closed his eyes briefly in empathy 
and when he opened them again he saw that she was looking at him.  
She seemed, thankfully and finally, completely aware of her 
surroundings. "Except for what I'm doing here" she added, 
somewhat ruefully.  

"Did you go back to, uh, the place you expected?"  He was trying to 
be circumspect in case the suspicions that had begun to form in his 
mind were incorrect.

"Yes."  Her face reflected something close to physical pain as she
continued.  "Everything happened just as it did before" she did not 
elaborate and he saw she was grimly fighting off hysteria "but this 
time when it was over I found myself here instead of somewhere in 
the past."

Al's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward to scrutinize her face more
closely.  "'Instead of somewhere in the past'?  What do you mean by 
that?"  

Jenna opened her mouth to speak, but Ziggy interrupted, "She is a 
leaper, Admiral.  When Dr. Beckett leaped into Lt. Colonel Tyler 
the first time she did not leap here, but into the past.  After 
monitoring her arrival here, I am now able to correlate seven 
hundred ninety two time anomalies as being the result of Colonel 
Tyler's leaps into the past."  

"Wait a minute" Al objected, shaking his head.  "The entire time 
Sam was taking her place in 1989 you kept insisting she didn't exist.  
How come you know what happened now?"

"The only logical conclusion is that, before this timeline was
established, her past had been expunged and her future beyond 
September 1st, 1989 did not yet exist." the computer explained.

Al slumped back in his chair with a look of incredulity on his face,
"Nearly eight hundred leaps?  How long, Ziggy?"  he asked.  

"Based on the quantum flux readings I suspect are her leap 
signature" Ziggy began "and the local time duration between leap in 
and leap out..."  

"How long!" Al shouted.  

"Ten years."  Ziggy replied, slightly miffed.  She hated having one 
of her lectures cut short.  

Al was floored, his mind in a whirl.  He turned to Jenna again, 
"You leaped into other people, lived parts of their lives?"  She 
nodded, silent and with some of the confusion showing in her eyes 
again.  

Al opened the bottom drawer of his desk and produced a pair of 
glasses and a bottle of twelve year old single malt scotch.  He poured 
two fingers for her and one for himself and handed her the glass.  
She took it with a look of gratitude on her face and threw back half 
of it in one swallow.  Al took a small sip from his glass and watched 
as she relaxed marginally and leaned back into the armchair.  

"At first" she said "I thought I was hallucinating, or crazy.  After a
while I decided I was dead and in hell."  She began to say something 
else, then shook her head.  She drank from the glass again and 
remained silent. 

"In hell..." Al echoed, thinking of Sam.  

She focused her eyes on his face and regarded him for a moment 
before speaking again.  "What would _you_ call it?  No one knew 
who I was, or thought I was.  Every few days I was looking at a 
different reflection in the mirror.  More often than I like to 
remember I didn't know where I lived or worked.  Even the most 
basic things were a mystery to me.  Imagine never knowing where 
the bathroom is in your 'own' house, what 'your' wife or husband's 
name is, not recognizing the face of _anyone_ you encounter every 
day for the rest of your life."  She took another sip of scotch.  "But 
the worst thing" she looked down at the floor as if ashamed of what 
she was about to say "was doubting that what I remembered as my 
own life ever really existed.  That Paul and my career, my life, were 
all just a dream."  She fell silent once more, brooding.

Al reflected on some of the things Sam had said to him since this 
whole crazy business started.  He had described Al as his lifeline 
and reality check.  Sam had insisted, more than once, that he 
wouldn't be able to go on without Al.  He said as long as Al was 
there he had a tie to the life to which, someday, he hoped to return.  

She had leaped without knowing what was happening; without an 
Observer or data from an egotistical hybrid computer to tell her why 
she was there or what she was supposed to change.  She had leaped 
because of someone else's actions, not her own; and had not had a 
single piece of evidence to support her memory of her own life.  Not 
even what Al sometimes considered his limited effectiveness as a 
hologram of an old friend.  *It's a miracle she's not a complete 
lunatic,* Al thought.  

*And now she's finally herself again but in a completely different 
time and reality, poor kid.  Another bunch of strangers in an 
unfamiliar place.  Well,* he thought as he finished his drink, 
*enough of this morbid crap.  I can't do anything about the past, but 
this time I can find out everything we need to know about what she's 
doing here.*

"Okay Ziggy, let's hear it " Al said "the short version from 
September 1st, 1989 to today and why Colonel Tyler is here."

"On September 1st, 1989" the computer began, apparently over her 
snit at being cut off earlier "there was an accidental release of an 
experimental biological agent in an enclosed environment of a top 
secret military installation.  Lt. Colonel Tyler was present and was 
the only survivor among the thirty seven people who were exposed."  

Jenna shifted in her chair but did not speak.  

"When all danger of contamination to the outside environment had 
passed," Ziggy continued "she was removed from the site to what 
she was told was a hospital but was, in reality, a weapons research 
facility.  She was held there, against her will and without the 
knowledge of her chain of command, for three months.  There is 
documentary evidence of extensive medical and psychological 
testing having been administered to her during this period.  An 
orderly 'blew the whistle' regarding her unauthorized detention to a 
Senate oversight committee.  She was released and returned to 
active duty.  The project leaders were censured and barred from any 
future government supported projects."

"Wow" Al said, sarcasm dripping from every word.  "I'll bet the 
committee chairman even shook his finger at them."

Ziggy continued as though she had not been interrupted.  "Over the 
next seven years Lt. Colonel Tyler was assigned to projects 
associated with electronic communications, power and computer 
research and development and was promoted to full Colonel in 
1994.  In 1996 she was given orders by the Pentagon to go on 
special assignment as a project 'troubleshooter'.  She has reviewed 
the operations of sixteen government projects that were over budget, 
overdue for completion or considered to be in jeopardy of ever 
producing anything of value.  Apparently, her opinion is highly 
esteemed as her recommendations have been followed in fifteen of 
sixteen cases.  Six weeks ago she requested reassignment to a 
research post and was on temporary duty in Washington until two 
weeks ago."  At this point the computer paused.

During Ziggy's dissertation, Jenna had shown more alertness and 
was now glancing at the ceiling with widening eyes.

"Go on, Ziggy" Al said "Let's hear why she's here."  He sighed and 
wished he trusted himself to have another scotch.  He didn't like 
where he thought this might be leading.

"This is the point in time" Ziggy continued "where your history, 
Admiral, exhibits a significant change.  When you went to 
Washington last month to demonstrate the necessity for next year's 
funding for Project Quantum Leap the committee agreed almost 
immediately; with the single contingency that you accept the 
assignment of Colonel Tyler as Deputy Director of the project until 
such time as Dr. Beckett is able to return to his duties as Director."

"I don't imagine I took that very well"  Al said dryly.

"In Dr. Beeks' words, you were 'fit to be tied'" Ziggy replied.  "You 
ordered me to find out anything I could about the committee 
members' motives in assigning Colonel Tyler here."

"And what did you find out?" Al asked.

"Senator Wilson believes that Colonel Tyler will not be able to 
retool her way of thinking from her most recent assignments and 
will establish, beyond doubt, the uselessness of the project.  He was 
the one who insisted that the rest of the committee back the 
contingency.  Senator Faulkner believes Colonel Tyler's training and 
abilities are exceptionally suited to the project and that she will 
prove a valuable addition that will generate more useful products 
from the project, making it easier for the Senator to support funding 
in the future.  The rest of the committee seems to have no 
demonstrable motive beyond having no objection to the assignment."

"In other words" Al added "one for, one against and three 
abstentions." He sighed again.  Well, he had an ace in the hole.  Al 
knew that the Colonel Jenna Tyler who was here now was not the 
troubleshooter that Senator Wilson thought he had foisted off on a 
project he wanted canceled.  The problem was, Al didn't know how
_this_ Colonel Tyler might cause trouble for Project Quantum Leap. 
Certainly the committee would accept her reports as coming from 
the person they thought they had assigned.  He needed more 
information about this individual who had the potential to be the 
biggest threat to the continuation of Quantum Leap in years, but he 
wasn't going to get it while she was sitting here listening to every 
word.

Al glanced back to this enigma in Army green and black and was 
unable to generate any rancor for her.  *She didn't ask for this,* he 
thought, *and she's here as a direct result of Sam's bouncing around 
in time.*  He pushed himself back from the desk, rose and stepped 
toward her.  He sighed, thinking that it didn't make it any easier to 
accept a problem just because you caused it for yourself.  She had 
been silent for quite some time now, staring at her empty glass and 
lost in her own thoughts.  As she became aware that Al was 
standing in front of her she looked up and handed him the glass.  

"Thanks" Jenna said.

"You look done in"  Al said as he placed the glass on the desk 
behind him.  "Maybe you'd like to get some rest now.  Anything else 
we need to know can wait until tomorrow, right Ziggy?"

"Yes, Admiral" the computer replied.

"Rest" she said, as though it were a foreign concept.  "Yes, that 
would be nice.  But, as usual, I have no idea where my bed is."

"Ziggy, where are the colonel's quarters?" Al asked.  

"Top Deck NW, Admiral" Ziggy replied.  

"I'll show you where to hang your hat" Al said.  He stepped back 
and offered her a hand out of the chair. Jenna rose without touching 
the proffered hand and walked out the door without a word.  Al 
dropped his hand back to his side and followed her to the elevator. 
*So much for gallantry,* he thought.

*               *               *               *  

Top Deck quarters were above ground level.  The majority of each 
room was carved into the mountain but each had doors leading to a 
balcony that was open to the outside air.  The quarters that Sam had 
occupied and where Dr. Donna Elysee, his wife, lived when she was 
spending time at the project were on the eastern side.  Storage 
rooms, ventilation and elevator shafts took up the core area of this 
level.  On the western side were two sets of quarters that had been 
designed for visitors who rated better than standard 
accommodations, but they had stood empty since the very early years 
of the project.

Al led Jenna to the door of the quarters on the northwest corner.  
She thanked him, opened the door, entered the room and closed the 
door again without another word.  

Al stood in the hallway for a moment, rolling his cigar between his 
hands.  

Jenna Tyler was every bit as attractive as the reflection he had seen 
in 1989 had promised; maybe more so.  Al would have greatly 
enjoyed the opportunity to meet her under other circumstances, but 
that didn't appear to be in the cards.  She was potentially dangerous 
and possibly a formidable enemy.  He couldn't afford to be distracted 
by her physical charm.  Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and 
began to retrace his steps to the elevator.

"Admiral, may I inquire where you are going?  We really should 
discuss, without further delay, the possible impact of Colonel Tyler's 
presence to the project."  Ziggy said.

"My thoughts exactly, Ziggy" Al replied.  "But I want to go to my 
quarters so I can grab a shower and some coffee first."

"I surmised as much, Admiral.  But if you intend to reach your 
quarters, you are heading in the wrong direction."

Al halted in his tracks.  "What are you talking about?"

"You currently reside in Top Deck SW."  Ziggy responded.  "Three 
years ago, in this time line, you became frustrated with being 
required to leave your quarters and go upstairs every time you 
wanted a cigar.  Since these quarters had not been used in some time 
and it appeared they were not likely to be needed in the near future, 
you moved up here."

"Southwest?" Al gaped.  "You mean right next door to..." he stood 
there with his mouth open, one finger pointing at the door to the 
quarters Jenna had recently entered. 

"Next to Colonel Tyler, yes Admiral." the computer replied.  

Al dropped his hand to his side, gritted his teeth and pondered the
situation for a moment.  "'Hold your friends close and your enemies 
closer'" he quoted softly.  "I wonder which category she fits into."  
He sighed and walked back to the door of his 'new' quarters.

*               *               *               *  

End Part 3 of  25