From: Coast2C@aol.com
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 21:19:12 -0400
Message-ID: <960430211639_387212074@emout13.mail.aol.com>
Subject: Convergence:  Part 5 of 25

Convergence
by 
Dana Anderson

Part 5 of  25      (Author's Notes and Disclaimer found in Part 1)   

*               *               *               *  

When Al awoke the next morning he was momentarily confused.  
Then he remembered the events of the previous evening and realized 
he was, after all, in his own bed in his own quarters.  He glanced at 
the clock on the bedside table; seven thirty a.m.  *Swell,* he 
thought, *only six and a half hours sleep and I'm an hour and a half 
behind my normal schedule.*  He showered, exercised, showered 
again, shaved and dressed.  Well, if he was going to make Jenna 
Tyler an ally instead of an enemy he had better get started.  "Ziggy, 
is Colonel Tyler awake?"

"Yes, Admiral." the computer replied.  "She has been awake since 
three o'clock this morning."

"Three o'clock!"  He was startled.  "What was she up to at that 
ungodly hour?"

"She performed some calisthenics, went out for a run, showered and 
dressed and then started talking to me."  Ziggy said.

"To you?" Al echoed.  "What did she want?"

"She asked where she could access a computer terminal.  I directed 
her to the office that was assigned to her when she 'arrived' two 
weeks ago.  She requested access to all of Dr. Beckett's published 
work and anything he had written but was unpublished I had in my 
memory banks and that she was cleared for.  Based on the activity at 
her terminal she read everything except several articles from the 
early 1980s and his doctoral thesis in quantum physics."

Al's mouth was as dry as the Sahara.  After several attempts he 
managed to swallow and then speak.  "Why would she ignore those 
articles and that thesis?  Do you have any idea?"  This was not good.  
This was not good at all.

"Perhaps she was already familiar with them"  the computer 
responded.  "The information I have on her states that she has total 
recall."

Al groaned and sank down on the couch in the living room.  She 
knew about Sam.  And if she knew about Sam _and_ his thesis on 
quantum physics she had already formed an opinion about the 
project.  There was no chance for him to try and impress on her his 
and Sam's point of view of the project at the same time she was 
being introduced to the reality of the project itself.  Well, the 
damage was done; he had better get himself in a damage control 
state of mind and see what he could do to remediate the situation.  
"Where is she now, Ziggy?" he asked.

"In the main power control room"  Ziggy said.  "It is interesting that 
her survey of the project is beginning along the exact lines as I show 
in my records as having taken place two weeks ago" she added.

"Yeah, very interesting" Al replied.  Interesting and potentially 
dangerous.  He left his quarters and headed for the lower levels of 
the facility.

*               *               *               * 

He found her where Ziggy had said she would be, dressed in a 
uniform identical to the one she had been wearing when she 
appeared in the Control Room the previous day; highly polished 
black dress oxfords, dark green wool trousers, a white blouse with a 
contrasting black undercollar at the front and a black rib knit 
uniform sweater with her name tag and rank insignia attached.  She 
was considerably more attractive in this uniform than in utilities.  
*If she ever shows up in civilian clothes,* Al thought, *I'm going to 
be in serious trouble.*  

Jenna was pouring over schematics and specifications for the power 
control equipment and distribution grid.  He braced himself for a 
confrontation and walked toward her.  She sensed his approach and 
looked up.  

"Good morning, Colonel" Al greeted her.  "You must be an early 
riser.  I hoped you might join me for breakfast if you haven't already 
eaten." 

"Good morning, Admiral" she replied.  "As a matter of fact I 
haven't.  There wasn't any food in my quarters and I got distracted 
before I thought to ask where the mess was.  I'll join you as long as 
I'm not keeping you from anything important."

Al gestured toward the door and followed her out.  *So far so good,* 
he thought.  At least she wasn't ready to confront him with 
assumptions and accusations.  Not before breakfast anyway.  

He led her to the cafeteria and they took their trays to a vacant table 
near the rear of the dining area.  Conversation lagged as they passed 
and every eye in the place was on them as they seated themselves.  

*Great,* Al thought, *everyone here is as paranoid about her as I 
am.  She certainly won't miss that.*  If she had noticed, she didn't 
display any reaction.  

Al glanced at her tray and grimaced; some kind of hot cereal and a 
glass of milk.  Either she had no taste in food or was familiar with 
the culinary limitations of the run of the mill government facility.  
Probably the latter, he surmised.  After swallowing a spoonful of 
cereal and drinking some milk she began to speak.  

"I hope you don't mind that I went off on my own to start 
familiarizing myself with the project" she said.  I've never been 
particularly fond of those 'nickel tours' one gets on the first day.  Too 
wide ranging and no detail." 

"Why did you start with the power plant?"  Al asked.  He really was 
curious.  Knowing her background, he had supposed she would be 
knee deep in Sam's calculations the first day.  

"Nothing works without power" she replied.  "It's the basis upon 
which everything else is built.  If I start with the power plant I can 
follow the levels of the project in their logical progression and get 
the clearest picture possible of the entire operation."  She returned to 
her breakfast and Al was grateful for the opportunity to be stunned 
in silence.  

She must know what the project was all about if Ziggy was right 
about her knowing who Sam was and after the reading she had 
done.  And Ziggy, Al had to admit, was very unlikely to be wrong 
about that.  She must also have assumed that the activation of this 
project had been responsible for her leaping in time.  Could she 
possibly hold them blameless for subjecting her to what she had 
described as hell?  No one he had ever met would have passed up the 
chance to get back at someone who had done them an injury of such 
severity.  

Al sipped at his coffee and gazed thoughtfully at Colonel Tyler.  
Maybe it was precisely the fact that she had been leaping in time for 
ten years that had caused this reaction in her, he thought.  *She's 
used to stepping into the persona of whatever role in which she finds 
herself.*  He had collected his thoughts to the point where he was 
prepared to start questioning her again when his handlink beeped.  

"Admiral, would you please come to the Waiting Room at once?"  
Ziggy's voice said.  

*Terrific,* thought Al sourly; *Sam must have leaped.*  "I'll be 
right there" he responded.  "Sorry, Colonel" he said, turning to her.  
"Duty calls.  Maybe we can talk some more later."  

"That's quite all right, Admiral" she replied.  "I've been told I'm not 
much of a conversationalist once I get my teeth into a new project.  
I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get acquainted some other 
time."  

Al nodded as he made a sandwich out of his eggs and toast and 
grabbed his coffee cup.  "I certainly hope so" he said and left.

Jenna watched him leave the cafeteria.  When he was out of sight 
she sighed and looked back down at her breakfast.  His conversation 
had been pleasant enough, but the Admiral was suspicious of her; 
she had seen it in his eyes.  She would have to avoid him as much as 
possible if she were going to be able to remain here long enough to 
be of any help to Dr. Beckett.  *Too bad,* Jenna thought.  She was 
strongly attracted to him, but this was all the more reason why she 
would have to keep well out of his way.  Suspicion and mistrust 
were not the foundation upon which to base a relationship of any 
kind.  *Ten years, one day and counting.*  She thrust the thought 
away.  Another decade or so of celibacy wouldn't be the worst thing 
that had ever happened to her.  Not quite, anyway.

*               *               *               * 

Al's assumption regarding his next opportunity to talk with Colonel 
Tyler seemed wildly optimistic three weeks later, when he finally 
found time to consider the previous meeting.  

Sam had made four leaps without a break and Al had been 
scrambling to keep him supplied with data on each leap while doing 
his best not to neglect any of his interminable tasks as Project 
Administrator.  When Sam finally made his fourth leap and a fifth 
consecutive visitor did not immediately appear in the waiting room, 
everyone on the senior staff breathed a deep sigh of relief.  Everyone 
except Colonel Tyler, Al amended mentally.  

According to Ziggy, the Deputy Director had not been anywhere 
near the Control Room, the computer core or any other area of the 
project related to time travel; except for the main power room.  In 
this respect, she had not duplicated the survey she had theoretically 
performed two weeks before she had actually arrived.  For this, Al 
was profoundly grateful; but still not at ease.  At least twice a day he 
checked with Ziggy to see if the stranger in their midst had 
communicated with anyone outside the project and the answer was 
always negative.  In fact, she didn't seem to do much 
communicating with anyone _inside_ the project, either.  

She hadn't been idle though; nothing like it.  Ziggy kept him 
informed of her activities.  She had spent several days reading the 
technical journals related to power generation and electrical 
engineering for the last decade.  Then she moved on to cutting edge 
theory.  That consumed another few days.  After that, she had spent 
most of her time in her office or in a lab she had requested and was 
assigned.  Al had caught a few glimpses of her coming or going in 
the corridor outside her office or quarters, but had never had the 
chance to speak to her.  She always seemed absorbed in her own 
thoughts and completely oblivious to her surroundings.  He had seen 
that look on Sam's face more times than he could count and knew 
that there was no point in attempting to engage her in conversation.  
Now he knew what she had been working on.  

Al leaned forward in his desk chair and picked up the proposal that 
had been deposited in his inbox since the last time he had been in 
the office a day or so ago.  He had looked it over and then had Ziggy 
check it over as well.  It was brilliant.  If her calculations were 
correct, and Ziggy said they were, they could cut their power 
consumption costs by over a third.  The upgrade would pay for itself 
in less than two months and she could do the work herself, with the 
assistance of the power control technicians.  The entire upgrade 
would take less than three weeks to complete.  Al picked up his pen 
and initialed his concurrence with the proposal and signed the 
procurement form approving the expenditure for the required 
materials.  He rose and walked to the next office and left the 
paperwork on her desk.

"Ziggy, where is Colonel Tyler?"  Al asked the ceiling.

"Colonel Tyler is between the third and fourth floor landings in the 
north stairwell" Ziggy replied.

"The stairwell?" Al repeated.  "Is there something wrong with the 
elevators?"  There were some disadvantages to having quarters at 
ground level, Al reflected.

"No, Admiral" the computer verified.  "I surmise the colonel is 
exercising.  As she has spent the last twenty two minutes running up 
and down the stairs, she does not apparently mean to use them as a 
way of getting from one place to another."

"Well, I'm not going to chase her up and down the stairs.  I'll have 
to talk to her later" Al said.  He had come back to his office after 
Sam leaped to take care of anything that couldn't wait for a day or 
two.  Now he planned to go back to his quarters and catch up on 
some desperately needed rest.  As he paced slowly down the corridor 
toward the elevator he thought back over the past few weeks.

He hadn't informed Sam immediately about Jenna's presence at the 
project.  Al had fostered the secret hope that when Sam leaped or 
following one of Al's visits to the Imaging Chamber she would 
simply have disappeared; leaving no memory of her visit except with 
him and Ziggy.  When Sam had completed two leaps and Ziggy 
confirmed that Colonel Tyler was still very much a fixture in their 
reality, Al found he could no longer hold out any real hope.  He 
waited for a relatively quiescent period in the leap when he and Sam 
could talk quietly without danger of being overheard or interrupted 
and Al had spilled his guts.

Al knew that Sam had known something was bothering him.  Sam 
could read him much better than Al liked to admit.  But Sam also 
knew there was no point in pumping Al for information.  Al never 
revealed anything until he was darn good and ready or until he had 
no other choice.  Sam let Al relate everything he and Ziggy had 
found out about Colonel Tyler and bring him up to date on her 
activities at Project Quantum Leap without interruption.  When Al 
finished, he lit a cigar and waited to hear Sam's reaction.  Al had 
watched his friend's face closely while he was making his recitation 
and could see that Sam was profoundly disturbed.  Sam had risen 
from the bed he had been sitting on while listening to Al and walked 
to the bedroom window and looked out into the night.  When he 
finally turned and spoke, his first concern surprised Al, but shouldn't 
have.

"I did this to her.  It's my fault"  Sam said in a quiet and guilt ridden 
voice.

*Damn it!*  Al thought.  *The man has a severely underdeveloped 
sense of self preservation and self interest.*

"You didn't know you were going to affect other people's lives when 
you leaped, Sam"  Al reminded him.  "And think about all the good 
you've done."

"Not for her"  Sam insisted.  "What can I do to fix what I've done to 
her?"

"You didn't kill her husband, Sam.  She was there twice and might 
have been able to save him, if she was meant to change what 
happened.  But she didn't."

Sam walked back to the bed, sat down and regarded Al.  "No, she 
didn't.  The first time, she leaped into the past.  Seven hundred and 
ninety two times she leaped.  Ten years without any idea what was 
going on, and no one to talk to about it.  No friend to talk to"  Sam 
repeated and fell silent.

Al sighed, exhaling a plume of smoke.  He had anticipated that this 
would upset Sam.

"Listen pal, there's no point beating yourself over the head with this.  
You didn't do _anything_ to her on purpose."

"And the second time, Al" Sam went on. There was the glint of tears 
in his eyes and his voice broke. "When she finally leaped back to 
herself; she didn't leap home.  She never went home."

*Oh boy,* Al winced inwardly.  He hadn't ever really thought about 
that.  He racked his brain feverishly, trying to come up with 
something, anything, that might allay the fears and doubts this fact 
had most certainly generated in his friend.  Sam's one driving 
motivation in these leaps had been his fervent hope of returning 
home someday.  If that dream was taken away...  Al didn't want to 
think about what that would do to Sam's state of mind.  Finally he 
spoke.  

"What home, Sam?" he said gently.  "Her family, such as it was, had 
died twenty five years earlier.  Her husband and many of her friends 
and co-workers were killed the day she leaped back into the past.  
She had nothing to tie her to that life."

Sam looked up at him again, but said nothing.  

"Come on, Sam" Al went on.  "I think you're forgetting that 
someone else may have a bigger hand in this than anything you've 
done" he said as he jabbed one index finger skyward.  "Maybe 
there's another reason she ended up where she did."

This gave Sam pause.  Al could see his friend considering the 
implications of what he had said.  Sometimes it paid to remind Sam 
that he wasn't the be all and end all of this world shaking project 
they had embarked upon.  Genius carried with it the danger of a god 
complex, but Al had found that a reminder of this kind put Sam's 
concerns about what he was doing back into perspective.  From what 
Al could read in his friend's face at the moment, it might be working 
again.

Sam shook himself, like a dog coming out of water, and managed a 
wan smile for Al's benefit.  "Well" Sam said.  "I suppose if I don't 
snap out of this you'll really get your dander up.  Besides, you're 
right about the fact that there doesn't seem to be much that I can do 
about the situation."  Sam sighed and stretched.  "How much trouble 
do you think she might cause to the project?"  he asked.

Finally, Al thought.  A concern he could share wholeheartedly with 
Sam.  "Plenty, if she chooses to" Al replied.  "I just don't have any 
idea what she's thinking or what she's up to.  She seems to be 
looking for a job to do within the project; but I still don't trust her."   
Then, not wanting Sam to concern himself with persons and events 
that were beyond his control, Al said "Anyway, you let me worry 
about Colonel Tyler, you've got enough to think about if you ever 
plan on leaping out of here."

After that conversation they went back to the normal concerns of 
whom Sam had leaped into and what he was supposed to change.  
Al was determined not to broach the subject of Colonel Tyler again 
unless something drastic happened that he felt Sam needed to know 
about.  As no crisis immediately followed, during that leap or the 
next, Al did not mention her.

*               *               *               * 

After Sam's last leap, however, when Al awoke from a solid twelve 
hours' sleep he decided he was damned tired of waiting for the other 
shoe to drop.  He wanted to know what was going on in that 
woman's mind and was determined not to let another day go by 
without finding out.  He showered, dressed and grabbed a quick bite 
to eat.  Thus fortified, and feeling more human than he had in days, 
he checked the clock.  It was one.  He glanced outside.  It was dark.  
*Whoops, one in the morning.*  Al growled in frustration.  All 
dressed up and no one to confront.  Then he remembered Ziggy 
mentioning that Colonel Tyler kept a fairly bizarre schedule.  
"Ziggy" Al announced.  "Where is Colonel Tyler?"

"Colonel Tyler is in power substation #1"  Ziggy replied.

"Thanks, Ziggy" he answered and was on his way.

Al was still a few yards short of the room Ziggy had stated as 
Colonel Tyler's present location when he became aware of a 
pulsating vibration in the floor.  Concerned that this implied a 
serious problem, possibly sabotage he thought darkly, he hurried the 
rest of the way to the door and flung it open.  The music hit him full 
force like a physical blow.  

He recognized the song immediately, The Beatles' 'Twist and Shout'.  
He grimaced against the assault on his eardrums and looked around.  
*This gives me a whole new appreciation for the show tunes Sam 
listens to and sings while he's working,* Al thought.  

Two legs, clad in olive drab and ending in booted feet, were visible 
from the knee down and were protruding from what appeared to be a 
new high voltage power distribution cabinet.  One of the feet was 
twitching up and down in time with the back beat of the song.  Al 
looked the cabinet over and saw that the conduit leading to it was 
not yet installed and there was no sign of any cable.  Realizing that 
there was no way even his loudest shout would register to human 
ears over the rock and roll, he leaned over and grabbed the toe of 
one boot and shook the foot.

Both legs jerked and Al felt the reverberation of some kind of blow 
through the foot he was still gripping.  There was no further 
movement in the legs.  *Whoops,* Al thought, for the second time 
in ten minutes.  He sighed and bent over further, gripped the ankles 
with both hands and dragged Colonel Tyler's body into full view.  
She was still holding a socket wrench in her left hand, had a hell of 
a bump starting on her forehead and was out cold.

"Ziggy, shut off that damned noise" Al shouted.  The music cut off 
immediately.  Al rubbed one hand across his forehead, half in relief 
and half in frustration.  While he was trying to decide whether to 
dump a bucket of water on her or carry her off to the infirmary, she 
stirred and groaned.  

Al knelt down and put a restraining hand on one of her shoulders.  
"Don't try to move yet" he said.  

She opened her eyes and made a valiant effort to focus them on his 
face.  "What happened?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.  

"I guess I startled you" Al answered sheepishly.  

Jenna moved her arms and legs experimentally and then tried to sit 
up, but Al was still firmly pinning her to the floor with one hand.  
She gave him a determined look.  

"Are you sure you're okay?" Al asked.  

When she nodded impatiently, he removed his hand from her 
shoulder and she leveraged herself into a sitting position.  Jenna put 
a hand gingerly to her forehead and winced as she encountered the 
rapidly swelling bump.  She started to scramble to her feet.  When 
she realized Al was assisting her with a hand on one elbow, she 
stared at him.  He let go and stepped back.

She turned around, closed the hatch on the panel, picked the wrench 
up off the floor and placed it deliberately back into a nearby tool box 
and shut the lid.  

"I'd better go put some ice on this lump" she said without looking at 
Al, and left.

Al toyed momentarily with the notion of following her, then decided 
there was a one hundred per cent probability he would make a bad 
situation worse.

*               *               *               *  

End Part 5 of  25