From: Lenora McCoy Subject: "Quantum Leap: A New Leaper" (4/5) Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 22:38:52 -0700 Organization: Sprint Internet Passport Message-Id: <336EC3EC.3AB9@technologist.com> "Quantum Leap: A New Leaper" by Lenora McCoy (Part 4 of 5) Meanwhile, Sam was trying to avoid the advances of a short, stocky blonde man while simultaneously keeping an eye out for the suicide attempt Al had mentioned was going to take place. At least he didn't have to worry about Al not keeping his mind on his work, and Agnes probably could use Al's guidance anyway. He had been a little surprised when Al had introduced them and she had recognized who he was. He had thought she was as swiss-cheesed as Sam had been the first time he lept. Apparently, that wasn't the case. He'd have to remember to ask Al if they had done any improving on the Accelerator since he had lept. That might explain why Agnes had suffered no apparent memory loss. Then again, it might not, and trying to get a straight answer out of Al about goings on at the Project was damn well near impossible to accomplish. *Oh, well,* he mentally sighed, *I'd probably have forgotten it the next time I lept anyway.* Agnes turned away from the telescope to check the positioning of the telescope. When satisfied, she turned to the oven where the film was hypering. It rang just then, and she quickly loaded a roll. "So, any info on what time this comet will be in Cassiopeia?" Al was staring up at the stars through the dome hole, "What? Oh, uh," he proceeded to bang and smack the handlink. "Al, why do you hit that thing so?" Agnes cried, upset by the tortured sound of the squeaks the tiny handlink emitted. "Because if I don't, it never displays the information I need. Oh, here it comes, here it comes. The comet is discovered at 9 o'clock on the dot." Agnes turned back to the telescope. "That's better. Now to find Cassiopeia." Al walked up behind her and scrutinized the little oven she had baked the film in, "Uh, Agnes, why did you cook the camera film?" Agnes turned to look at him. He was puffing on his Chavelo cigar, and Agnes was utterly grateful that it was holographic smoke. "It's called hypering the film. It makes the film more sensitive to light so it can capture more faint objects -- such as comets. Then pictures are taken in sequence without moving the telescope. When developed, we have an instrument that allows two pictures to be viewed simultaneously. Unless it is close by or moving extremely fast relative to us, any object will not appear to have moved from shot to shot. But, a comet or asteroid moves quickly and is nearby, and so stands out when viewed in the stereoscope." She bent again to look through the eyepiece. Al leaned over her shoulder, "Can I?" he asked. "Sure, but, I mean, you can't touch anything here ..." Her voice trailed off. He leaned over and whistled softly, "Wow! Yummola! No wonder you astronomers don't say much about how you do your work. If you did, everyone would want to be an astronomer and they're'd be no jobs left," he backed away, stepping through the hypered film box, "Ooops. Don't worry, I didn't affect the film." Agnes said, "Sure, but it's better to be safe than sorry." She took all those photos and left them in the developing box, then reloaded the film to take pictures of the comet. "It's 9 o'clock Agnes." Agnes murmured a reply as she snapped off a roll of film, then reloaded and took a second roll ten minutes later. Sam kept looking around him and almost spilled his punch. He wished Al would come back for a minute to tell him exactly when this supposed suicide was going to happen. Back at the observatory, Agnes finished off the film and took it into the darkroom, with Al right on her tail. "Gooshie, increase the brightness of the Imaging Chamber ... she turned out the lights and I can't see a damn thing!" Agnes looked at him, "Al, the lights are off because this is a darkroom! Any excess light will overdevelop the film." Al yelled, "Thanks Gooshie! Don't worry, Agnes, I'm only agitated carbon quarks. I won't develop the film." Agnes rolled her eyes but went back to developing the film. "Why don't you check on Sam -- but come back in five minutes! He may need some information." When she looked up again, Al was gone. She set a timer for five minutes. Before the five minutes were up, the first pair of photos of the comet were ready and she ran out to check them in the stereoscope. Looking through the stereoscope, she searched the photos for signs of the comet. Sam jumped when he heard Al's voice behind him, saying, "How's the girl of my dreams?" "I thought I sent you to stay with Agnes!" "You did. She said to check if you needed any help, and then be back in five minutes. So -- need any help?" "Do you have an exact time on this suicide?" "Uh . . ." Al proceeded to slap the poor handlink, "Nope. We're outside the original history here, so we don't have that much info." "Well, you'd better get back to Agnes. Tell her if she found that comet yet, to come help me." "Will do, beautiful!" Al popped out before Sam could retaliate. Al popped into the observatory, and found Agnes bent over the stereoscope. Right then, the five minute timer went off with a ding. Agnes got up and turned around -- right into Al's face. "Right on time!" She ran back into the darkroom, with Al following. "How's Sam doing?" She asked as she pulled several more sets of photos out of the developing trays and set several more in. "He's okay, but he says he could use your help when you find that comet." "Mmmmmhmmmm. I should find it soon. I'm going through the film in reverse order so I'll find the comet quicker." She hurried out of the dark room with piles of film in her arms to find Al peering at the stereoscope. "How's this work?" Agnes loaded a fresh set of photos into the stereoscope as she spoke, "It's kinda like 5D stereograms. The comet will have moved from one frame to the next and so it will stand out when viewed in the stereoscope." She bent over the stereoscope to look at the set of film. "Eureeka!" Al jumped. "You found it?" He bent to look at the pictures. Agnes got up and pointed to the comet on the film. "Here it is. You see it?" Al gasped, "Holy mackrel! Well, now you can help Sam!" Agnes shook her head, "Not yet. I have to mark which set of film it is and the time and date etcetra in the log. It'll only take a minute. Why don't you go on ahead, and I'll meet you there." ----------------------------To be continued---------------------------- -- Lenora McCoy, confessed Obsessed Leaper, Al-coholic, and Dean-drooler AdmiralCalavicci@hotmail.com AdmiralAl@star-trek.com http://www.geocities.com/Area51/4401/ CalavicciQL@juno.com Author of "Quantum Kirk" and other stories (list and/or requests by e-mail)