Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 18:03:24 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: The Impossible Dream - Chapter 10 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Chapter 10 Verbina Beeks came into her office with a cup of hot coffee in her hand. It had been a very long morning, giving her hardly any time to tend to necessities such as breakfast and paperwork. She had just come from the cafeteria, having removed the first necessity; she now worked on the second. Her analysis reports were due in a week and she had yet to pass the Cs, following her habit of doing them alphabetically. She had finished George Cabard's, Hayden Cahoon's, and Melissa Cakort's analysis reports and she now came to her next report: RADM Albert Calavicci. She looked through the file. Everything seemed as it should. Al was a competent, hard-working man quite capable of his job as Administrative Manager/ Chief of Security/ Assistant Director/ Observer. However, Verbina knew that, sometimes, Al was a little too hard-working. An example was what he was doing right at this very moment. When Verbina last saw Al, he was sitting in the Imaging Chamber. Waiting. That was five hours ago. Verbina took a breath. Was it fair to include what was happening to Al now to a report on an analysis she made a week ago? *No*, Verbina thought. *Al won't let this interfere with his job. Or would he?* A thought came to her. "Ziggy?" he asked to the ceiling. "Yes, Dr. Beeks?" Ziggy replied. "Where's Admiral Calavicci?" "He is in the cafeteria with Dr. Elesee." Verbina sighed with relief. He wasn't in the Imaging Chamber as she had thought. When he hadn't come out of the Imaging Chamber after they lost contact with Sam, she went in to check on him.... "Al?" she asked, seeing him still seated on the small chair he kept in the Imaging Chamber. "Are you okay?" She approached him slowly. It took Al a moment to realize someone was speaking to him. "Hmm?" he questioned, looking up. He breathed out when he saw Verbina approach him. "Oh, it's you," he said as if he should have known it would be Verbina to come in after him. "He's slipped into a semi-unconscious state again," Al told her. Verbina nodded as she squatted next to Al's chair so that Al would have to look just a little up to see her. "I know." Al was quiet for a moment. "This time it was different." Verbina frowned slightly. "Different? How?" Al hesitated. "Just before we lost contact with him, Sam... flinched." "Flinched?" Verbina asked. "To what?" Al shook his head slowly. "I don't know but I don't think he wants to dream again." He looked at Verbina. "I think he was scared." "Could be," Verbina told him, standing up. "Or it could be that your scared." Al looked at her. There was no denial in his eyes. Nor was there surprise. He knew he was scared and he wasn't ashamed to say it. "I am," he told her. "But that doesn't explain the flinch. My imagination didn't cause that." Verbina sighed. "For Sam's sake, I hope your wrong." "So do I," Al told her softly. She started towards the door. "You coming along?" Al took a deep breath. "Later. I want to be alone for a while. I need to think." *I need to think*, Verbina thought as she finished writing her report on Al. *There's more to it than needing to think. This whole thing is tying Al up in knots and he won't talk to me. Perhaps staying in the Imaging Chamber for a while was his way of trying to gain focus.* "Ziggy?" "Yes, Dr. Beeks?" "How long was Al in the Imaging Chamber?" "The amount of time Admiral Calavicci has spent in the Imaging Chamber for the past five years is twenty-one billion..." Verbina laughed. "No, no, Ziggy. Just in the last five hours, after we lost contact with Sam." "Four hours, fifty-two minutes, five seconds," Ziggy answered. Verbina's eyes widened. "Al was in there this entire time?" "Admiral Calavicci left the Imaging Chamber when he discovered that he was in need of nutrients. Dr. Elesee agreed to accompany him." "In other words, he was hungry," Verbina translated. "That is correct, Dr. Beeks." Verbina thought for a moment. She looked at Al's file before her. "I'm getting a little hungry myself." ************************ The cafeteria wasn't very busy when Verbina entered it. She could easily see Al and Donna Elesee sitting together in a corner table. She picked up a tray and placed a Danish roll and a glass of orange juice on it. She then made her way to the corner table. Donna was obviously upset. Her eyes were filled with worry and uncertainty. Al was assuring her gently in a voice that showed he was also upset. It was the kind of comfort a friend in pain gives to another friend in pain. "May I join you?" Verbina asked politely. "Sure, Verbina," Donna answered. Verbina sat down. "How are you doing?" she asked carefully. "As well as I can be, given the circumstances," Donna told her. She looked at the clock and sighed. "I've got to go. Don't want to be late for my doctor's appointment." Al gave her a friendly nod and Verbina gave a friendly squeeze on her hand before she left. Both Al and Verbina remained quiet for a moment. Verbina took a sip of her juice. Finally, it was Al who spoke first. "Trying to analyze me, Verbina?" he asked softly. "See how the situation with Sam is affecting me?" He took a breath. "Well, I'll save you the time. It's scaring the hell out of me, not knowing how he's doing. But you already know that." "Yes," Verbina answered. "I know that. But that's not what's bothering you. Is it?" Al looked at her with curiosity. "What do you mean?" "You tell me," Verbina replied. Al didn't like that answer. "You love turning a question back on people, don't you?" Verbina shrugged. Al sighed. He hated when she did this to him. "What's really bothering me?" he asked aloud for confirmation. Verbina nodded. Al thought a moment. "What's really bothering me is that Sam didn't have to go through this. There were plenty of alternatives." "So, you blame Sam for this." "No!" Al exclaimed a little too quickly. He caught how that sounded to Verbina and smiled slightly. "The gentleman doth protest too much?" he questioned. "Does he?" Verbina questioned back. "You do blame Sam for this." Al frowned. "Maybe a little. I mean, if he weren't such a prude..." He laughed sickly. His face was serious again. "I have to admire his integrity, though." Verbina nodded "You blame yourself as well." Al didn't answer. Verbina sighed. "Al, it's perfectly normal for you to be angry with yourself and with Sam, even though none of this is your or Sam's fault." "I know that, Verbina," Al told her. "This isn't new news." "You may know it but you're not accepting it. When's the last time you slept? You're exhausted!" Al shook his head. "I can't sleep. Not now. Not when Sam might come around any minute." He looked at her firmly. "The last time, we had only one minute. One minute!" he emphasized. "I just don't have time to sleep." Verbina looked at him carefully. "Al, you've been having a rough time lately. Beth's death..." Al closed his eyes at the name. "...Sam's coma, the end of the year report. You really need to take some time to rest, even if it's only a few hours of sleep. So, I'm asking you do go to bed. Don't make me make it an order." Al looked at Verbina with thoughtfulness. "Okay, Verbina. You win. But I'm staying in the complex and I want to be informed the second we have anything on Sam." "Deal," Verbina told him, extending her hand. Al took it and shook it firmly. "It's starts now, Al. Go to bed." Al smiled slightly. "Aye, sir," he replied with a salute as he stood up and left the cafeteria. ----------------------------------- Chapter 11 next. If I keep typing like this, I just might be able to get all my stories on the Archive before the end of the semester! Kat