From: Brian Willard To: "alt.ql.creative" Cc: Brian Willard Subject: QL - The Next Generation, Part 6 Date: Tue, 03 Aug 93 15:30:00 EST Message-Id: <2C5E846D@smtpgate.ncdc.noaa.gov> Quantum Leap - The Next Generation Part 6 "Denied" by Brian Willard Samantha Jo made it through the second class better, mainly because all she had to do was give out a test. Alice Jackson had left the Imaging Chamber to talk to the rest of the guys at the Project about something they were working on. As the last of the students filtered out of the room after turning in his test, the young hologram returned to the Imaging Chamber. "Good news, Sammie! Dr. Beckett says that they're almost ready to retrieve you!" "What do you mean they're going to retrieve me? I haven't saved Jim yet!" "Actually, you have," Alice corrected, "What you did earlier apparently made him so mad that he no longer decides to kill himself." "But I thought you said..." "Well, I was just guessing that nothing would change. I didn't have anything telling me he hadn't committed suicide, so I naturally assumed nothing had changed. But when I was having lunch at one of the CSU dining halls I ran into him. Jim, that is. He's taking graduate classes there. Isn't that funny!" The expression on Dr. Fuller's face was now easily one of confusion. Not only had she saved Jim's life, but Alice had physically confirmed it. And to top it all off, PQL was going yo try the retrieval procedure again. "So how are they going to retrieve me? It never worked before," Samantha complained, "Are they trying something different?" "Yes, but I won't try to explain it. Dr. Beckett seems to think it will work." Alice looked around suddenly, though Dr. Fuller was not able to hear Dr. Beckett knocking on the door of the Imaging Chamber. "It's time, Dr. Fuller. They're telling me to...hold on, Al's coming in." Suddenly Admiral Calavicci appeared alongside Alice. He walked over to Samantha Jo. "Okay, were going to try to brink you back. What we need you to do is hold on to something that is metal. Uhhh...let's see. Aha! Go over to the chalkboard and grip the chalk tray. That should work as a fair travel path." Sammie Jo did as Al told her. Suddenly she felt something ice cold run through her body. Her vision blurred up and she began to feel faint. All of her body began to tingle, as if it weren't getting enough blood. Then she went blank. ************************************************************** "Sam! Get over here! Quick!" yelled Gooshie from the Waiting Room. Sam flipped a couple of switches on the cylindrical control table and ran across the room and over to the cubicle. "Is she back? Did it work?" he asked as he was running. He saw when he got there that indeed it had not worked, and that Professor Handras had fainted. On the other side of the room the Imaging Chamber door opened and Al came running out. "Sam! Samantha's fainted...I see she's not the only one! I don't know what happened, but it sure wasn't what we wanted." Sam looked back down at Jill. "Can she hear us?" he asked Gooshie. "I don't know, Doctor." Gooshie tried to make her move, but she was out cold. "No use, Sam. We'll have to wait for her to wake up." "Which means that Samantha Jo could be in the same condition," added Al, "and that could be bad if they try to get her to speak before then." Now Alice appeared from the Imaging Chamber. She ran across the room and then saw the collapsed body of Dr. Handras. Momentarily distracted, she lost her train of thought. "What is it, Alice?" asked Sam. "Uh...I...oh, they're taking Dr. Fuller to the school infirmary. What should we do, Dr. Beckett?" "You just go stay with her. Al you go with her. Keep talking to Alice. Whatever you do, don't let her tell them anything. Depending on what they give her, she could come around in as little as ten minutes, so hurry back!" Alice and the Admiral hurried back to the Imaging Chamber. Alice focused them in on the Infirmary, where Samantha Jo was laid out on a bed. A nurse was applying ice to the side of her head where she had hit the floor. "Sammie Jo, can you hear me?" said Al, using an authoritative voice, "Are you okay?" "Can she hear you?" asked Alice. "Probably not. But we've got to keep trying until she does and then we need to keep her quiet or she'll say some things we don't want her to." A nervous twitch went through Samantha's body and she rolled over, letting ou a miserable groan. Her eyes slowly began to open, where she saw two people looking down at her. She began to speak, inaudibly at first. Then she repeated herself. "Did the retrieval work?" she asked, not really sure what she was talking about. The nurse holding the ice to her head gave her a curious look. "Well, now that you're awake, I'll let you hold this," said the nurse, "That's quite a nasty bump you've got there." Sammie Jo waited until the nurse had left to speak. "What happened? Where am I?" "The retreival didn't quite work the way we expected," explained Al, "Both you and Jill fainted in the process. I'm just glad you're okay." "So why haven't I leaped? If I saved Jim and I wasn't retreived, why haven't I leapt yet?" "I'm not sure, Sammie," said Alice, "But I'm working on that. Right now let's just make sure you're okay!" "I'm fine...oww, but that bump on my head isn't!" Alice and Admiral Calavicci waited with her until the nurse came back, when Al decided to go back and see how things were doing for Sam. The nurse came back carrying some aspirin. "Come on, Jill. I'll take you back to my place. The infirmary's closing up now." Samantha looked at the nurse's nametag. "Okay, Sue," she said, and sat up on the bed. Sue, who was in her forties but really didn't look it, stretched out a hand and helped Samantha to her feet. Dr. Fuller turned to Alice and gave her a "what now?" expression. "I don't know," said Alice, shrugging her shoulders, "Go with her. I'll meet you at her house." Samantha nodded and she followed Sue out of the infirmary. Sue locked the door with a key that was part of a mess of keys and little keychain ornaments. They walked outside and Samantha Jo began to walk toward Jill's car. Sue grabbed her arm. "Oh, no you don't! Not with that thing on your head. Your car's not going anywhere." "Okay, okay," said Sammie Jo, "Sow how's life going for you?" "Fine, I guess," responded the nurse, "Jessica will be thirteen in a few weeks. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not. I wish Randy was still alive to help he through this." "I'm sure Jessica will be no worse than any other young girl," said Sammie Jo, having no clue about who she was talking. "Yeah, probably so. She's just so rebellious. I don't want her to get into trouble." "That's understandable. Maybe if I talk to her..." "Go ahead and try. We've got to pick her up on the way home. But I certainly wouldn't keep my hopes up if I were you." "No...well, I haven't made a habit of that anyway," said Sammie Jo, grimacing at her situation now. She figured it would probably have something to do with Jessica. They arrived at Sue's car, a large green Buick sedan. They climbed in and drove away. As they were leaving the parking lot, Samantha Jo saw that a large thunderstorm was growing off in the distance. To be continued... -------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Willard | "Revenge is mine, thus sayeth the hologram!" UNC-Asheville | Dr. Sam Beckett, "The Leap Back" ---------------------------------------------------------------------