From: jj1152@mcis.messiah.edu Date: Thu, 18 Apr 96 02:01:00 -0400 Message-Id: <"d05MML.000000000*"@MHS> Subject: "Top Secret" part 7 Well, here it is! The long-awaited part 7. :) And just for clarification, the typing is in all caps, NOT because Ziggy is shouting, but to distinguish it from normal dialogue and thoughts, etc, since I can't use boldface on email. :) I'm also changing the paragraph format since this way is easier. TOP SECRET a Lois and Clark/X-Files/Quantum Leap crossover "Any luck?" Clark asked, glancing over Lois's shoulder at her computer. "Well, sort of. I found a biography of Dr. Samuel Beckett fairly easily, thought it hasn't been updated for at least three or four years." She ponted to the papers streaming out of the printer. "But Project Quantum Leap seems to have a security system a mile thick. I couldn't even figure out the first password, and I've been trying for an hour! I've been booted out of the system twenty times!" The frustration in her voice rose as she spoke, though she somehow managed to keep from raising the volume to a level that would attract attention. "Here, let me try it," Clark suggested. Relieved, Lois stood and let him take over at the keyboard. With a furtive glance around the room to make sure no one was looking, he began to type at super-speed. It took him only five minutes to bypass four security levels. At the fifth level, he entered the UMBRA number, and they were in. "How's that?" "Helpful," she replied with a grin. "It sure is going to be handy having you around the house." He smiled and nodded in the direction of the screen. "Let's see what we've got." A string of words appeared across it. THIS PROJECT IS CLASSIFIED. HOW DID YOU GET CLEARANCE? Lois tapped Clark on the shoulder and re-seated herself at the computer as soon as he stood. She thought for a moment. HOW ABOUT THIS? she typed. I'LL TELL YOU IF YOU ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS FOR ME. There was a brief pause. WHAT TYPE OF QUESTIONS? She smiled. WELL, WHO ARE YOU, FOR EXAMPLE? THAT INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED. CALL ME ZIGGY. "Ziggy?" Clark asked, amused. "What kind of people does this Project employ? First Gushie and now Ziggy." WHAT ABOUT YOU? WHO ARE YOU? 'Ziggy' asked. Lois hesitated. "You did agree to trade information," her partner reminded her. She nodded. MY NAME'S LOIS LANE. I'M A REPORTER FOR THE DAILY METROPOLIS DAILY PLANET. I SEE. There was another short pause. INTRIGUING. The two reporters exchanged a curious glance. "Well, it's nice to know I'm even intriguing over the Internet," she remarked wryly. I HOPE YOU REALIZE I AM NOT AT LIBERTY TO SPEAK TO THE PRESS, DUE TO THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE NATURE OF THIS PROJECT, the screen continued. WHAT IF I PROMISE YOU THIS WILL BE OFF THE RECORD? IT WOULD NOT MATTER. IF YOU ARE CONTACTING ME REGARDING A STORY IN ANY WAY, I CANNOT SPEAK TO YOU, EVEN IF MY COMMENTS WOULD NOT BE QUOTED. NOW, PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU MANAGED TO ACCESS MY SECURITY GRID. AND WHO GAVE YOU THAT UMBRA CLEARANCE CODE? Lois sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere with this Ziggy person. LOOK, I KNOW YOUR PROJECT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH TIME TRAVEL AND INVOLVES DR. SAMUEL BECKETT, THE NOBEL-PRIZE WINNER FOR PHYSICS OF A FEW YEARS AGO. ALL I WANT IS A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION TO SATISFY MY OWN CURIOSITY. IF IT'S THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU, I WON'T DO A STORY ON IT. If it were possible for a computer screen to look startled, this one would have. WHERE DID YOU GET THAT INFORMATION? A TAPE DATED MAY OF 1966. IT WAS PART OF A FILE FROM PROJECT BLUE BOOK. THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE. "This from a Project dealing with time travel?" Lois commented with a smile. She began typing again. WELL, HOW DOES THIS STRIKE YOU? She listed the information they had gotten off of the tape, including the clearance code. THE DATE MAY 1, 1999, WAS MENTIONED, IF THAT'S ANY HELP. "Don't you think you're giving him a little too much?" Clark asked. "If you tell him everything he wants to know, he won't have any reason to keep answering your questions." "I don't think he would answer them anyway," she responded. "This way I might be able to get a reaction out of him, at least." There was a long, perhaps thoughtful, pause on the other end. DO YOU STILL HAVE THIS RECORDING? Ziggy finally asked. WHY? Lois hedged. BECAUSE IF YOU DO, I WOULD ADVISE YOU TO DESTROY IT IMMEDIATELY AND FORGET YOU EVER SAW IT. IF NOT...FIND IT AND THEN DESTROY IT. "That sounds kind of like what the man who gave me the tape said--that it should never have existed," she commented. "But why destroy it? It seems to me that time travel could be something very beneficial." "But in the wrong hands it could be deadly." Lois was surprised at how quickly she found herself in agreement, and how the statement made her feel suddenly cold with fear. "I'm still going to ask him why, though." She reached for the keyboard. "Hey, Lois? Clark? There's some FBI agents who want to talk to you," Jimmy announced, approaching them. "Think it's about that tape?" With a startled glance at Clark, Lois quickly blanked the screen of her computer, wincing as she realized they probably wouldn't be able to access the Project again. "How did they get here so fast?" she complained. "Maybe they're not here about that," Clark reasoned. "I doubt they even know who has the tape at this point." "I hope you're right. But what else would they be here for?" Jimmy shrugged. "I don't know. All Agent Mulder said was--" "MULDER?" the two reporters echoed together. "Yeah..." he replied hesitantly, his expression puzzled. "You two know him or something?" Lois rolled her eyes. "He's been calling me at least once a month for the past two and a half years, asking about Superman." Clark nodded. "Me too." Jimmy looked disappointed. "Gee, he never called me." "Consider yourself lucky," Lois quipped dryly. "I just can't figure out why he'd be showing up now of all times." "Ultrawoman, maybe?" the young photographer suggested. Clark nodded. "I'd bet you're right." Lois rolled her eyes. "Oh, good. This should be fun." "Well, are you going to talk to them?" Jimmy asked, gesturing in the direction of the dark-haired man and shorter red-haired woman in matching trenchcoats standing just inside the newsroom. Lois glanced at her fianc'e. "Clark?" He shrugged. "They can't be worse than Trask." She nodded. "All right. Send them over. Might as well get it over with." Jimmy disappeared in the direction of the two agents and Lois took the biography of Dr. Beckett out of her printer, sticking the sheaf of papers in her desk drawer. "Don't want to raise suspicions." She also scribbled down a couple of interesting points that had come up in her conversation with 'Ziggy' so they could discuss and follow up on them later. "Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent," a voice said behind them. Recognizing it, the two reporters reluctantly turned. "I'm Agent Fox Mulder. This is my partner, Dr. Dana Scully. It's good to finally meet you." "I wish I could say the same, but I'm afraid I don't take kindly to pestering," Lois returned brusquely. Mulder's partner smiled as the reporters both shook the offered hands. "We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions," Scully asked. "About Superman," Clark assumed with a faint smile. Mulder nodded, a knowing twinkle in his eyes. "Basically, yes. You two have gotten quite a reputation as his contacts." "You make him sound like a spy," Lois smiled. "I'd personally prefer to say we're his friends." "So, you believe his abilities are genuine?" Scully asked skeptically. Lois studied the other woman, surprised. Somehow, she'd expected her to be as obsessively convinced as her partner. She smiled. "I take it you don't?" TO BE CONTINUED...