From: Coast2C@aol.com
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 21:31:44 -0400
Message-ID: <960430212233_387219081@emout12.mail.aol.com>
Subject: Convergence:  Part 15 of 25

Convergence
by
Dana Anderson

Part 15 of  25      (Author's Notes and Disclaimer found in Part 1) 

*               *               *               * 

A few days later Al managed, through Ziggy, to acquire another 
electroencephalogram of Jenna's brain waves.  The next time he 
visited Sam he took it with him, along with the others that Sam had 
already seen.

Sam compared the new pattern with the others.

"When was this one recorded?" Sam asked, pointing to the new 
piece of paper.

"1964" Al replied.  "She was eight."

"Why would anyone give an eight year old an 
electroencephalogram?" Sam wondered.  "Was she injured?"

"She was admitted to the hospital with a concussion" Al told him.  
He hoped Sam wouldn't continue this line of questioning.  Al was 
very nervous about where to draw the line when it came to 
discussing Jenna's personal life with Sam.

Either Sam had forgotten what Al had already told him about the 
incident or Sam wasn't concerned with the manner in which Jenna 
had received the concussion.  He just nodded and continued to study 
the patterns.

"How did you find it?" Sam inquired.

"Ziggy found it in the archives of the research that was done on 
Jenna by those nozzles in 1989." Al said. 

"Well" Sam said, rising to his feet "this early example of Jenna's 
brain waves is very similar to yours and hers as an adult, but the 
differences are on a greater scale than any documented changes I 
can remember reading about.  Did Ziggy analyze them?"

"Yeah" Al said.  "She agrees with you.  She said they were more 
significant than anything in the published literature on the subject."

"Where's Jenna?" Sam inquired.  "We should show her this so she 
can look into it further."

"I'll see if I can get her to pry herself out of her lab" Al said.  He 
carried on a brief one sided conversation, then turned back to Sam.  
"She'll be here in a minute" Al advised his friend.

When Jenna arrived, Sam explained the theory he had formulated 
and the source of the new electroencephalogram.  Jenna looked it 
over briefly and compared it to the others.

"Interesting theory" Jenna said.  "Was that all?"

"Aren't you going to look into this some more?" Sam asked.

"Why?" Jenna responded.  "I'm satisfied with understanding the 
scientific explanation for my ability to see and hear you and your 
surroundings in the Imaging Chamber."

Sam spent some more time trying to interest Jenna in pursuing the 
research, but to no effect.  Neither Sam nor Al could convince her 
that how or why it had happened was as important as the 
explanation itself.  When they finally ran out of arguments, Jenna 
excused herself and left.

"Give it up" Al advised Sam, who was obviously still trying to come 
up with more reasons he might use on Jenna later.  "She's deep into 
some other kind of research and I keep seeing the same look on her 
face that I used to see on yours.  I've been hiding napkins and felt 
tipped pens for days."

Sam laughed at the reminder of the times when Al would issue a 
stern admonition to the waitresses in every bar or restaurant they 
would enter to keep all napkins and placemats out of Sam's reach.  It 
was the only way he could keep Sam from doodling mathematical 
equations incessantly and ignoring Al completely.

"What's she working on?" Sam asked.

"I dunno" Al replied.  "But there's no point in asking her.  I've never 
met a woman who could keep her mouth shut like Jenna can.  She 
won't say a thing until she's damned good and ready and then you'd 
better be ready to listen."

Sam laughed long and uproariously at the frustration in Al's voice.  
"Gee, Al" he finally managed, wiping tears out of his eyes "that 
reminds me of someone else I know.  Who could that be?"

"Okay, pal" Al said, taking the cigar out of his mouth and trying, 
unsuccessfully, to hide his own amusement.  "Go ahead and get your 
jollies out of my getting back a little of my own.  Maybe one of these 
days you'll leap back and I'll get a good laugh watching you trying to 
talk to her when she goes off to genius-land in a trance."

*               *               *               * 

Al might have been more annoyed with Jenna's preoccupation with 
and  refusal to discuss her work if it hadn't been for the fact that 
when she was with him, she was wholly with him.  Al had started to 
hide napkins when he first saw that familiar look on Jenna's face, 
but soon found that his reflex action was unnecessary.  She doodled 
all the time at work, but not on every flat, porous surface she 
encountered everywhere she went the way Sam did when he was 
gnawing on a problem.  It was also rare for her to go off to 'genius-
land in a trance' when she was away from her workplace, too.  But 
when it happened, usually when they were sitting outside smoking 
or at a meal, she was every bit as far gone as Al had ever seen Sam.

Over the next few weeks, Al was repeatedly amazed as his love for 
Jenna grew.  Every time he thought he wasn't capable of feeling 
more for her, he would experience a strengthening of their bond.  It 
was an unexpected and profound sensation.  A touch, a look, 
something she said, there was no way to predict what would 
stimulate the growth of his attachment.  Sometimes, when he passed 
her lab and saw her through the glass partitions, the mere sight of 
her would cause an overwhelming wave of passion to course through 
his body and mind.  The sensation was more breathtaking than 
sexual intercourse had been with many of the women he had known.

The most wonderful part of the entire situation, however, was the 
absolute reciprocation he felt from Jenna.  Every so often he would 
glance at her and see, shining there in her eyes, an emotion which 
faultlessly matched his own.  He had no name for this feeling, love 
seemed too pale and overused a designation.  All he knew was that 
no one, not even Beth, had ever looked at or felt like this about him.  
He felt sorry for everyone in the world who was merely in love.  

Everyone he came in contact with noticed the change in him.  Only 
Sam and Dr. Beeks suspected the cause.  Only Jenna really knew the 
depth of effect.  

His personality, looks and demeanor did not really change.  If 
pressed, Sam, who knew Al better than anyone, would have 
described the alteration as Al becoming Al to the nth degree.  He 
was, quite simply, comfortably and confidently himself.

Jenna spelled Al occasionally as Observer, but Sam had not been 
familiar enough with her during her early days at the Project to 
notice a significant change in her.  He just found himself charmed 
by her personality and presence.  Sam hesitated to make any 
assumptions about her relationship with Al, especially after he had 
been so wrong, or so he thought, about them before.  He certainly 
never brought the subject up in conversation.  But nothing kept him 
from enjoying the companionship of Al in unabashedly tip top form.

Dr. Beeks was frankly astonished at the change in Jenna.  She knew 
that both Al and Jenna found her confusion amusing, but she didn't 
really care.  All that mattered to the psychiatrist was that, somehow, 
the relationship that had formed between Al and Jenna had healed 
wounds in the two of them the depth and pain of which she could 
only guess at from previous observations.  Verbena Beeks' one regret 
was that she knew they would never allow her to question them 
about their experience so she could document the effectiveness of 
their unique cure.

*               *               *               * 

One day in early February, Jenna was acting as Observer for a leap 
while Al was down with a cold.  Sam had leaped into a teenager 
whose best friend was going to be killed in a drag race in less than 
two days.  Sam was pretending to talk on a payphone in a burger 
joint while Jenna relayed some new information to him from Ziggy.  
With the jukebox blaring in the background, Sam was having 
trouble hearing what Jenna was saying.  When 'The Twist' began to 
play he lost all perception of her voice.  Then he realized that it 
wasn't just the volume of the music, Jenna had stopped talking.  She 
stood in front of him, one finger poised above the handlink, her face 
devoid of any expression and her eyes vacant.  Sam waved a hand in 
front of her, but she didn't even blink.  

His immediate concern was that she must be epileptic and was 
experiencing a seizure.  His second concern was that there was no 
way he could call for help, or render any assistance to her himself.

Ten minutes went by and Sam was nearly frantic.  Why didn't Ziggy 
alert someone that the Observer was having problems?  She was 
supposed to monitor what was going on in the Imaging Chamber.  
She must know something was wrong, Sam thought, the handlink 
had been making the most excruciating noises for at least five 
minutes.  A moment later, the Imaging Chamber door opened and 
Al appeared.  Sam hoped he didn't feel as bad as he looked.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Al rasped.  He sneezed 
violently into a handkerchief a couple of times and blew his nose as 
he approached Sam and Jenna.

"I think she's having a seizure, Al" Sam cried.

Al's eyes went wide, he thrust the handkerchief back in his pocket 
and hurried to Jenna's side.  As he reached a point where he could 
see her face, he relaxed and expelled an exasperated sigh.  "Jeez, 
Sam.  Don't ever scare me like that again" Al complained.

"What are you talking about?  Get a doctor, Al.  This could be really 
serious!" Sam insisted.

Al nodded and sneezed again.  "It's serious all right, but not life 
threatening; except maybe for me" Al said, removing the handlink 
from Jenna's grip.  Jenna remained frozen in the same position and 
Al reached over and straightened her arms so they rested at her 
sides.  He punched the handlink a couple of times and began to relay 
the information from Ziggy at the point where Jenna had left off.

"Al!" Sam shouted.  "Forget about the data for a minute.  Help 
Jenna!"

Al looked up from the handlink.  "Unless you've got a pill that will 
decrease her I.Q. by about fifty points or so there's nothing we can 
do."

"You...you mean she's thinking?" Sam gasped.

Al nodded again.  "The first couple of times I saw you do that I put a 
mirror under your nose to make sure you were still breathing."

Sam was amazed and shook his head in denial.  "I admit that I've 
been known to go off in a daze sometimes when I'm working on a 
problem, but I've never been that far gone!" he said pointing at 
Jenna.

Al snorted and then choked up a few dry, rasping coughs.  "Next 
time I'll make sure I have a video camera handy and record the 
evidence" he wheezed, then coughed painfully again.  "Can we 
discuss bizarre genius behavior some other time?"

"Sorry" Sam said, noticing how pale Al was.  He was wiping sweat 
off his forehead with the back of his hand and shivering.  "If you 
could just finish the data Ziggy has right now I should be able to 
muddle through until Jenna can revisit me."

"Good" Al said.  "It looks like Jen's already filled you in on the 
details.  The bottom line is that this guy Dave probably won't race if 
his girlfriend Jill finds out about it ahead of time.  Ziggy says she's 
got the best chance of talking him out of it."  Al started to say 
something else, but was overcome by another bout of sneezing.  

Jenna blinked and jerked her head towards the sound.  She seemed 
startled to see Al there.  "What are you doing out of bed?" she asked.

Al tossed the handlink to her, pulled his handkerchief out of his 
pocket and blew his nose.  "You're welcome" he said, as he exited 
the Imaging Chamber.

"What was that all about?" Jenna wondered aloud.

Sam sighed and began to explain.

*               *               *               * 

Luckily, Al recovered quickly from his cold, or Sam might have 
been deprived of an effective Observer.  

After Jenna's 'trip to genius-land' she became intensely involved in 
calculations that Al managed to follow for only the first few days.  
She spent a week and a half entering mathematical and scientific 
notation into Ziggy's memory banks via her terminal in the lab.  
Then she spent an equivalent amount of time filling page after page 
of computer paper with handwritten calculations.  

One day, on his way back to his office from the Imaging Chamber, 
Al glanced into Jenna's lab as he walked down the corridor and was 
surprised to find it empty.  The whiteboard was clean, the table was 
cleared of its' load of paper and the computer terminal was dark.  
Jenna was nowhere in sight.

*I wonder if I'll be able to understand the proposal she's come up 
with this time,* Al pondered as he continued to his office.  Al 
retrieved the single sheet of paper from his inbox as he settled 
himself into his desk chair.  He started to lean his chair into a 
relaxed position for reading comfort, then jerked back upright when 
he saw the title of the report:  'Result Projections - Beta Test - 
Retrieval Program, rev. 2'

Al scanned down the column of projections, looking for the 
percentage in which he was most interested.  The last projection 
carried the description 'Probability of successful retrieval of Dr. 
Samuel Beckett'.  There were two figures listed, 45.7% for program 
parameter set 1 and 99.3% for program parameter set 2.

Al was stunned.  Ninety nine point three percent.  After all these 
years, he couldn't quite believe it was possible.  Sam would be 
coming home.

"Ziggy, where is Jenna?" Al asked.  

"Colonel Tyler left the complex twenty three minutes ago" Ziggy 
responded.

Al was disappointed, to say the least.  He wanted to celebrate and he 
wanted to celebrate now.  He also wanted to know the difference in 
the criteria for the two sets of program parameters.  He hoped set 
two didn't require some sort of astrological alignment that only 
occurred once a century or something equally inconvenient to 
arrange.  

*Why the hell had Jen blithely gone for her run when she must have 
known how I would react when I saw this report?* he wondered.  
If he had not been so excited about the prospects for returning Sam 
to the present, Jenna's action might have raised suspicions in Al's 
mind.  As it was, he simply waited impatiently outside the main 
entrance, straining for a glimpse of her returning from her evening 
exercise.  When he saw her jog into the parking lot he ran toward 
her and caught her in mid-stride, swinging her around in a circle 
before setting her down again.

"You did it!" Al crowed.   

"So Ziggy says" Jenna agreed, somewhat breathless from a 
combination of the exercise and the reception she had just received.

"What are the differences between the two sets of parameters?" Al 
wanted to know.

"Mind if I run through some cool down exercises and grab a shower 
before we go over this?" Jenna pleaded.

"Okay" Al said, a little worried that her lack of excitement meant 
that it would be difficult to meet the criteria for the best chance to 
retrieve Sam.  "But don't drag your feet."

"I'll meet you in the cafeteria in half an hour" Jenna replied.

*               *               *               * 

When Jenna arrived at the cafeteria, she found that Al was not her 
only audience.  A celebratory group consisting of Al, Gushie, Tina 
and Dr. Beeks was sharing a meal and two bottles of wine.  They 
broke into a round of applause, cheers and whistles as Jenna 
approached them.  

Jenna stopped short of the table by a dozen feet, overwhelmed by the 
ovation.  Al rose and ushered her over to the empty chair which had 
been reserved for her; the place of honor.  Al reseated himself on her 
right and motioned for the serving dishes to be passed around the 
table again.  He was disappointed that he could only encourage 
Jenna to accept some soup, crackers, cheese and half a glass of wine.  
The other four returned to their spirited chatter while Jenna began 
her meal.  After she had swallowed a couple of spoonfuls of soup, Al 
ran out of patience.

"All right, let's hear it" Al said.  "We won't tell Emily Post if you 
talk with your mouth full."

"Ziggy says there's a ninety nine point three percent chance that we 
can retrieve Dr. Beckett" Jenna said.

Several cheers rose from the foot of the table, but Al shushed the 
outburst.

"That much is in your report" Al reminded her.  "What I want to 
know is what changes you made to Sam's program and what the 
requirements are to meet the second set of parameters."

"How much do you know about the original time travel program?" 
Jenna asked the assembly.

They looked at each other and shook their heads.  Al answered for 
all of them.  "I understand some of it, Gushie and Tina understand 
the language of the program itself, but not the theory behind it.  Dr. 
Beeks doesn't know that much."

Jenna shrugged.  "Then I can't really explain the changes I made to 
you.  They're all based on reversing the effect of the activation of the 
accelerator on the space-time continuum while taking into account 
the alterations Dr. Beckett has made in the past ."

"Okay, maybe we don't need to understand it, as long as you and 
Ziggy say it will work." Al yielded.  "But I _do_ want to know 
what's necessary to meet the criteria of the second set of program 
parameters."

"Dr. Beckett has to be between leaps instead of substituting for 
someone in the past" Jenna replied.

"That's all?" Al uttered in disbelief.

Jenna considered this for a moment.  There were a number of ways 
of interpreting his question, but only if one understood all the 
ramifications of the retrieval program.  At last she spoke, limiting 
her response to what she knew he was asking.  

"Yes, that's all" she confirmed.

The impromptu party continued for another hour or so.  Before they 
left, Gushie and Tina promised to complete another test run of the 
program in the morning to recheck the results Jenna had received.  

Al and Dr. Beeks discussed whether or not to tell Sam that they 
would be attempting to retrieve him the next time he leaped.  This 
discussion went on for some time but, try as he might, Al could not 
get Jenna to express her opinion; or even make a comment.  
Ultimately, they decided that it was better to tell Sam.  Al said he 
would go over the results of the test Jenna had run through Ziggy 
with Sam in the morning.  Dr. Beeks agreed and took her leave.  

Al shifted the focus of his interest completely to Jenna.  She was 
gazing at her nearly empty wine glass, rotating the stem between her 
thumb and index finger.

"You've been awfully quiet" Al said.  "What's the matter?"

Jenna sighed and stretched.  "I'm tired."

"And?" Al prompted.

Jenna met his eyes.  "I don't like messing about with things like all 
of human history and the space-time continuum, Al" she replied in a 
somber voice.  "I've been fighting against my principles the entire 
time I've been working on the retrieval program.  I never planned on 
working on anything that would have a universal or even a global 
effect."

"Can't you get thrown out of the geniuses' union for not having a 
God complex?" Al joked, attempting to nudge her out of her mood.

Jenna wasn't amused.  She finished her wine and rose from the 
table.  Al stood up as well, reestablishing eye contact with her.  "I 
don't think God believes that imitation is the sincerest form of 
flattery" Jenna said quietly.  "I think it really pisses him off."  She 
fell silent, the troubled look on her face deepening.  

Al put his arms around her and held her close.  After a moment, 
Jenna began to relax.  Finally, she burrowed her face into his 
shoulder with a contented sigh.  Al continued to embrace her for a 
long while, then reached a hand up and tilted her chin back so he 
could see her face.  "Better?" he asked.

Jenna smiled at him.  "Sometimes I think there could never be 
anything wrong with me that you couldn't fix by putting your arms 
around me" she replied.

"Well" Al said, with a grin spreading across his features and a lift of 
his eyebrows "if holding you didn't work, I can think of one or two 
other things to try that might do the trick."

Jenna laughed.  "Maybe we should practice them, just in case."

"What a great idea" Al agreed.

*               *               *               * 

End Part 15 of  25