Message-Id: Date: Fri, 11 Aug 95 01:59 PDT From: jekel@cts.com (Julie Jekel) Subject: "Donna's Song" part 2 "Donna's Song" Chapter 2 Your life has no value if you cannot give Your time, Your strength, Your happiness, Your heart, Your life, Yourself, For the sake of someone else-- Another's happiness Another's life. "They just called Trudi's flight," Samantha announced. Trudi laughed and rumpled her younger sister's hair. "I know, Sam. I can hear just as well as you." She picked up her carry-on bag. "Now remember to get some sleep on the plane," Al cautioned his daughter. Trudi's merry eyes sparkled. "Look who's talking, Dad." "Oh, he's going to sleep as soon as we get home," Beth assured them, smiling. Lisa laughed and hugged her younger sister. "You were smart, taking a plane. I hope I don't fall asleep at the wheel." "You'd better not!" Al warned. The Admiral's oldest daughter grinned. "Don't worry, Dad. Stephanie's driving first since she got plenty of sleep." "Well, I'd better go," Trudi reminded them. Hugs were exchanged all around. "Hey, Ruthie, you gonna come visit me?" Ruth, a senior in high school nodded. "Of course. I have to decide if I want to go there with you, don't I?" Trudi grinned and turned to board the plane, blowing a kiss behind her. Samantha raced to the window and gazed out of it, her eyes fixed on the plane. As soon as the gate closed behind the last boarding passengers, the rest of the family joined her. If Trudi were looking for them out her window, they would have been easy to spot. Al and Beth were standing behind the girls with their arms around each other. She had her head on his shoulder and her dark hair stood out against his silver flight jacket. She was wearing a simple blue dress, almost the same shade as her husband's tie, but lacking the metallic sheen. In front of their parents, the other three girls were alternately sitting or kneeling on the wide window ledge, waving vaguely at the plane in hopes of being seen by their sister. Like Trudi, Lisa and Ruth favored their mother, although Trudi alone had inherited their father's naturally curly hair. Samantha though, was purely her father's daughter, from her face, which mirrored his, to the brightly colored vest she was wearing with a green blouse and her favorite floral jeans. They stood there at the window, like a family portrait with one face missing, until the plane had taken off and disappeared into the clear blue desert sky. Al didn't fall asleep until almost noon, even though Ruth and Samantha's awareness fled the moment they hit their beds. Beth remained awake, gazing pensively at the ceiling of the master bedroom. Her mind had leaped backwards in time to a night in San Diego in 1969. Their song, hers and Al's, had been playing in the background, and she was dancing. Although Al was far away, if not dead, she seemed to sense his prescence. With her eyes tightly closed she could almost feel his hands in hers, then he seemed to kiss her...and she heard him say goodbye. When she opened her eyes again to his absence, all her hope had dissipated. For the first time, she believed that he was dead. She believed it as fervently as if his spirit had been with her, and had told her, even though she heard his voice ringing in her mind, asking her to wait. For one awful moment, she was certain he was never coming back. Then, unbelievably, she had heard a sound, and turned to see a man standing behind her. He was a stranger, dressed in a short-sleeved white shirt and long brown slacks, but for some reason she trusted him. Maybe because he said he was a friend of Al's. He sat her down, and told her: "Al's alive. And he's coming home to you." Tears had streamed down her face, clouding her vision, but not enough to keep her from seeing the stranger disappear in a blaze of blue light. She thought he was an angel...and she had believed. From that day on, every day of waiting had been bearable, because she knew... Donna's face floated in her mind. Beautiful dark wavy hair pulled hastily back from a careworn face, whose beauty still shone through the shadows and lines. Eyes that had so captivated the young physicist on Project Star Bright were haunted with an indescribable depth of sorrow. She was so different from what she had been fifteen years ago, the night Al had introduced Sam and Donna to Beth when he brought them home for dinner for the first time. That night she had recognized him, and after hearing his dream of traveling through time, had known he was her angel. That night she had formed a special friendship with the beautiful young woman, somehow knowing Donna would someday have to face the familiar agony of being cut off from the man she loved. Sighing, she rolled over on her side to face her husband. For the first time in weeks his face was peaceful. No, she wouldn't tell him. He would try to stop them, but more importantly, it would rob him of that brief peace. She could hear as clearly as if they had been spoken the words he would say if she told him what she was going to do. "I have to help her, Al," she whispered in explanation to the sleeping figure. "Sam stopped me from giving up hope on you, can I do any less for his wife? I know what she's going through better than anyone else on the Project. I know why she has to do this...and I have to help her." She kissed him softly on the cheek and quietly slipped out of bed. It took only a moment to shed her nightgown and replace it with the dress she had been wearing earlier. Downstairs in the living room she lightly tapped the fluorescent, multi-cubed wrist band that each member of the Project wore as an audio link to Ziggy when not using a handlink. "Ziggy," she whispered. The computer's melodious voice filled the room as if she were present. "Yes, Nurse Calavicci?" Beth smiled. She remembered how long it had taken her to persuade Ziggy not to address her by her Naval rank. "Is she ready?" "Doctor Elise is ready and awaiting your arrival." "Good. Tell her I'll be right there." TO BE CONTINUED... JJ "Our imaginations leap ahead to places we have yet to see." --a poster in my room