From: martin@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_GATEWAY_FILE (Michele Martin)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.quantum-leap.creative
Subject: XOVER:The Witness pt4
Date: 14 Mar 1995 19:57:41 GMT
Organization: Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Message-Id: <3k4sfl$qcl@news.duke.edu>

scene 6b
Toronto Metro Police Station
6:15pm
  Having made his phone call to his wife, Jenny, the being who called 
himself Paul Edwards waited patiently in the lobby of the station.  
He rarely waited impatiently.  Then again, he rarely did anything impatiently.  
At the moment he passed time by thinking about the fascinating pair
of detectives he'd just been introduced to.  He'd have to ask Scott what 
he'd thought about the two.  First there was the one called 
"Schanke"--who wasn't really Schanke at all.  Paul had immediately 
sensed that upon shaking his hand.  He'd also observed that everyone who 
talked to Schanke was looking in the wrong place...as if they were talking 
to a man who was shorter than the man Paul saw.  Then, of course, there was 
Detective Knight. Paul wasn't sure what he was either, but he certainly 
wasn't like any human Paul had ever encountered in the 9 years he'd been 
on Earth.  He seemed much, much older.  And not quite, well, alive.  At 
least not in the human sense.  Still, neither one of them seemed dangerous 
or intent on causing any harm, so Paul wasn't worried.  In some ways, 
they were much like himself.
   What did worry him, however, was the "incident" that Scott had 
witnessed.  Scott hadn't given him any details, but he knew his 
son desperately wanted to tell him something about what he'd seen.  The 
idea of murder made Paul acutely uncomfortable...mostly because it was, 
like war, an idea that he just didn't understand.  Why would one human 
kill another?  It didn't make sense.  Paul was also hoped that this 
wouldn't put Scott or Jenny (or himself, for that matter) in any danger.  
He'd sensed Scott's uneasiness when Detective Knight had mentioned the 
FBI. In fact, he'd been a little uncertain about that himself.  But Jenny 
had assured him that the US government did not have any power here in Canada 
and that it was highly unlikely that they'd want to advertise the real 
reason they wanted Paul and Scott "Edwards".  Besides, these FBI agents 
were here to investigate a murder, not aliens.	

  "Just remember, Mulder, we're here to investigate a murder, not 
aliens," Scully said as she and Mulder arrived at the Toronto police 
station.  She hoped he'd keep his mind on the real case at hand.  He'd 
been pretty good about sticking to the case on the flight over, to the 
point of elaborating on why he thought the beheadings were the rituals of 
some bizarre international cult.  He'd even gone so far as to say he was 
pretty sure the "Wisconsin ENBE (Extraterrestrial NonBiological Entity)", 
as he called it, was not connected to the beheadings in anyway.  Though 
the electrical phenomena were highly suspicious.
  "I promise to behave.  Besides, who'd believe me anyway?" Mulder 
replied with one of his smiles as he turned off the engine.
  "I don't recall that that's ever stopped you before," Scully remarked 
as they both exited the car and made their way into the police station.
  As they purposefully strode toward the front desk, both passed by the 
very alien they'd just been discussing without noticeing him.  Mulder and 
Scully flashed their badges at the desk sargeant as Mulder said, "I'm 
special agent Fox Mulder with the FBI and this is my partner Dana 
Scully.  We were told to contact a Captain Cohen upon our arrival."
  "Yes sir, she's been waiting for you.  If you'll come this way?" the 
sargeant replied.  He led them to Captain Cohen's office and knocked on 
the door, "Captain, those FBI agents are here."
  "Send them in.  And when Knight and Schanke are finished, send them in 
as well," replied a voice from behind the door.  The sargeant opened the 
door and indicated that the agents were to enter.  As they did so, the 
asian woman behind the desk stood up and reached out to shake their 
hands. "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully.  I'm glad the Bureau answered our 
request for help.  Please have a seat and I'll fill you in on what we 
know so far."
  "I noticed you asked for the detectives to join us when they were 
finished.  Are they involved in something related to this case?" asked 
Scully as she and Mulder sat down.
  "As a matter of fact, there's been another beheading.  This time, 
however, it looks like we have a break.  Detectives Knight and Schanke 
have come up with a witness to this latest incident and they're in the 
process of getting a composite description of the murderer right now.  
I'm hoping that the information you have in conjunction with the 
witness's testimony will help us catch this person and wrap up this case."
  "Well, it may not be that simple, Captain...,"  Mulder began.

  "How does that look?" asked the artist, indicating the face on the screen.
  "That's him, I'm sure of it.  This computer graphics stuff is 
amazing--it almost looks like a photograph!" said Scott.
  "All done?" asked Nick as he and "Schanke" looked up from their desks 
where they'd been going over Scott's preliminary testimony and comparing 
it to previous cases.  Well, that's what Nick had been doing at least.
Sam had been trying to figure out the mess on Schanke's desk while 
pretending to do some actual work. He wished Al would return with some 
more information about this leap. He really didn't relish encountering 
more headless bodies or whatever else came the way of a homicide 
detective working the night shift.  For lack of anything better to do, he 
got up from his desk to look at the picture now coming out of the 
printer.  As he did so, the desk sargeant approached.
  "Detectives, Captain Cohen wants to see you in her office as soon as 
your done here. Agents Mulder and Scully from the FBI are here."
  "Okay.  We'll be in shortly," replied Nick.  As he did so, Sam caught 
the sound of the imaging chamber door opening.  He searched his mind for 
a good excuse not to go to the Captain's office just yet so he could 
speak with Al.  In doing so, he missed the look of confusion that crossed 
Scott's face at the sound of the door that supposedly only Sam could 
hear.  
  "Ah, Knight, howabout you talk to the Captain and I run this through 
the, ah, the computer and see if anything comes up," he said, indicating 
the drawing.  "That way, you can brief the FBI and we can get this taken 
care of at the same time."
  Nick nodded.  "Sounds good.  If this pans out, maybe we won't need the 
FBI after all.  Scott, thanks for your help.  You better go get something 
to eat.  If we need you anytime soon, we'll send someone down to get 
you."
  Scott nodded and headed for the lobby to meet with his dad.  Sam 
noticed that he seemed to be in a hurry though trying hard not to look 
it. *Well, he's had a pretty trying night.  I just hope I can keep it 
from getting worse.*  As Scott left, Nick made his way toward the 
Captains' office.  Sam picked up the computer generated picture and 
headed for what he hoped was the appropriate computer.  As he did so, he 
muttered under his breath, "What have you got for me, Al?"
  "You know Sam, maybe it's not a good idea for you to let Scott out of 
your sight.  Ziggy doesn't have any information on the exact time of his 
disappearance," replied Al.
  "Well I can't very well go and have dinner with him when I'm supposed 
to be on duty now, can I?  Besides, I get the impression he really wants 
to talk to his father alone.  Probably had a pretty bad scare if he 
witnessed what happened to the victim.  Do you have anything else on them 
or on this case?"
  "Ah, well, it says here that the Edwards moved into Toronto in 1992 and 
Paul runs a camera supply store across town.  Other than that, we don't 
have much information.  Edwards is a pretty common surname, and the names 
Paul, Jenny and Scott are as well.  So Ziggy can't be sure that any of 
the Edwards families in her computer base are the right one."
  "Which doesn't give us any idea of what could've happened to them.  
Maybe it has something to do with this case.  Maybe someone finds out 
Scott is a witness and, and wants to keep him from testifying."
  "But who?  If the guy he IDs ends up dead anyway..."
  "I don't know Al! I'm just trying to get a handle on what's going on.  
There's something really strange going on.  Has Schanke said anything 
about his partner?"
  "Why?"
  "I don't know, there's just something...odd about him but I can't put 
my finger on it.  Then again, there's something odd about Paul Edwards as 
well.  For one thing, he's awfully protective about a son that's old 
enough to take care of himself."
  "Not protective enough, apparantly."
  "Well, maybe he knows something that can key us in on what I'm here to 
do.  Maybe he's protective because they're hiding something or from 
something.  Look, since I can't watch him  maybe you should go keep an 
eye on him.  Unless you have something more useful to tell me."
  "I'm doing my best, Sam.  It's not my fault we don't have much 
information..."
  "I'm sorry, Al.  It's just that this leap....I have this feeling this 
is going to be...I don't know, there's just alot of weird stuff 
going on.  Maybe it's just the after effect of leaping in standing over a 
decapitated body.  Just, can you please keep an eye on Scott for me.  Oh, 
and if you get the chance, see what you can find out about the FBI's 
involvement in the investigation.  Maybe Ziggy can get some information 
from the FBI files.  The agents investigating the case are Mulder and 
Scully."
   "Okay, I'll see what Ziggy can come up with.  And I'll keep an eye on 
our witness."  Al began pushing buttons on the handlink as he said, 
"Gooshie, center me on Scott Edwards."  With that, he disappeared.  Sam 
turned back to what Don Schanke was supposed to be doing.  But he was 
thinking about what Sam Beckett was here to do.

  Captain Cohen looked increasingly dismayed as Mulder filled her in on 
some of the more bizarre aspects of the cases from the X-files that were 
similar to the incidents occuring in Toronto.  He was interrupted by a 
knock at the door.
  "Come in, detectives," said Cohen.  The door opened as Nick entered.
  "Detective Knight, I want you to meet Agents Mulder and Scully from the 
US FBI.  They're hear, as you know, to help us in the investigation of 
these beheadings.  We're to give them any and all help we can and in return 
they've offered to give us any information they have on similar cases in 
the US.  In fact, Agent Mulder has just been telling me a little about 
the US cases and I have to tell you that it's beginning to sound like 
we have something more than just a twisted serial killer on our hands.  
Where's Schanke?  He'll want to hear this as well." 
  "Scott just finished giving us a description of the man he say and 
Schanke's running the composite sketch through the computer now.  He 
thought it would be more efficient if I tell the agents what we know 
while he tries to get some backround on this guy," answered Mick  
  "The witness's name is Scott?  Can we talk with him?" asked Mulder.
  "His name is Scott Edwards.  At the moment he's getting some dinner 
with his father who came to pick him up.  We informed Mr. Edwards that it 
could be a long night but he insisted on staying.  There's been alot of 
publicity about these cases and he might be worried about his son's 
safety.  We have his statement, but I told him you might want to talk 
with him.  We were thinking that while I was filling you in on the case 
it'd give him a chance to take a break," replied Nick.
  "Do you have a copy of the picture that we could see?" Scully asked.
  "Let me see if Schanke's finished running it through the scanner."  With
that, Nick exited the office and walked over to where Sam was fiddling 
with the unfamiliar equipment.  Fortunately, he'd managed to get the 
picture through the scanner by the time Nick reached him.  He handed the 
picture to Nick, who brought it back to the office.  He handed it to 
Agent Scully.  She took one look at it and gasped in amazement, then 
quickly handed it to Mulder.
  "Mulder, is that who I think it is?"
  Mulder nodded, then laid the picture on the Captain's desk as he 
stated, "It's Russell Nash."

  Relieved to be finally able to talk to his father, Scott tried not to 
obviously hurry out the door.  He found his father waiting patiently in 
the lobby.  Paul stood up as soon as he saw Scott and asked, "Can we go 
eat dinner, now?"
  "Yeah, they cut me loose for now.  Though Detective Knight said they 
may need me...I guess to talk to the FBI agents who just got here.  Um, 
speaking of which, I'm not really too keen on dealing with government 
agents..."
  "I thought of that, and I asked Jenny about it.  Since we're not wanted 
for anything in Canada and since these agents are here to investigate 
this murder, I don't think we really have to worry.  Besides, we changed 
our names, and Liz Baynes promised that she'd get someone to make up 
records for us just in case anyone wanted to check things out."
  "Okay, you're probably right. I guess I'm just jumpy.  First there's 
this swordfight and a beheading and then this electrical storm or 
something and then this Detective Knight..there's something weird about 
him...and then the FBI.  This is turning into a night right out of the 
Twilight Zone.  As if my life weren't weird enough. No offense, Dad."
  Paul smiled.  "None taken. I think we have alot to talk about.  And I 
for one would prefer to talk about it over something to eat."
  "Okay, I'm pretty hungry.  Let's go check out this cafeteria."
  "Hungry, eh?  That sounds pretty normal.  You're always hungry."  Paul 
clapped Scott on the shoulder as the pair made their way to the station 
cafeteria.

  Al was worried.  Which happened whenever there was a leap that neither 
Ziggy, he, nor Sam could really get a handle on.  Which seemed to be more 
often than not.  It didn't help that there didn't seem much information 
for Ziggy to go on.  Robert Greene, the man who would end up headless by 
the end of the evening if Sam didn't stop it, didn't seem to have a 
past.  The Edwards were no better.  And without some past information it 
was next to impossible to determine what might have happened to any of 
them. And without that information, it was awfully hard to determine what 
exactly Sam needed to do.  And Sam wasn't alone in having odd feelings 
about this leap.  Something about this whole situation gave Al the 
creeps.  He hoped he'd learn something from listening in on Paul and 
Scott.  Maybe if Scott told his father what he'd seen it'd give Al and 
Ziggy something more to go on.  As the scene in the imagining chamber 
shifted to the station cafeteria, Al made ready to catch any hint that 
would help them out.  He found himself behind Paul and Scott, who were in 
the food line of the almost deserted eatery.
  "So then, before I could do anything, this guy cuts off the other guy's 
head!" Scott was saying.
  "Why would he do that?"
  "How am I supposed to know?  It doesn't make any sense.  I mean, the 
victim was probably already dead to begin with.  And before you ask, no, 
I don't have any idea why people would be slashing away at each other 
with big knives.  That stuff just doesn't happen anymore."
  "But it did happen. It's all very confusing.  Why kill another human 
being?"
  "I think that's something alot of people would like to know.  Most 
people are just as confused by murder as you are.  Trust me."
  *Who's the father and who's the son here?* thought Al.  It almost 
sounded like Scott was the one trying to educate Paul on the ways of the 
world.  As the pair made their way to a seat, Al followed behind. He 
wasn't sure why he was being so careful...it wasn't like either of them 
could hear him.  Maybe he was just making sure not to make any sound so 
that he could catch their entire conversation.
  "So tell me what you saw next," continued Paul.
  "Okay, that's the weird part.  Instead of blood, this weird bluish 
white mist came out of the body and seemed to move towards the killer.  
Almost at the same time, I felt this...this..energy field or something which 
seemed to come from the body.  Like nothing I've ever felt before, even 
with you.  Anyway, the next thing I know the windows shattered and this 
wind kicked up.  It was almost like a huge storm came out of nowhere. I 
ducked behind some of the trash in the alley just as I saw what looked 
like lightening start striking the killer.  Only, I could kind of tell it 
wasn't realy lightening...it didn't _feel_ like lightening.  Then 
something struck me on the back of the head and the next thing I know 
some policeman was standing over me asking me if I was okay.  What do you 
make of that?"
  Paul seemed to mull over what Scott had told him.  Then he replied, "I 
don't know.  This energy field, what did it feel like?"
  "I can't really describe it.  I got the sensation, though, that it was 
composed of different components...like it had been collected from 
various sources over the course of years and was just waiting to be 
released. Does that sound at all like anything you've encountered?"
  "Not really.  Then again, I've never encountered people who cut off 
each other's body parts either."
  "I was hoping you might have."
  "Sorry Scott.  It's a big universe, after all."
*I wonder what that meant.  This is weird, very weird.  I don't like it.  
Beheadings of people who don't bleed and weird electrical storms or 
whatever.  And these two--one minute it's like Paul is the child and the 
next minute he's the sage.*  Al thought to himself.  Scott's description 
of the beheading was very unnerving.  Not only in what he described, but 
in the way he described it.
  "Okay, forget the beheadings. What do you think about Detective 
Knight?" Scott continued.
  "He seems very nice...but that's not what your asking.  I felt it too.  
And I don't know what to make of that either.  The only thing I do know 
is that whatever he is, he's not dangerous.  Once, maybe, but not now."
  "What do you mean?"
  "I sensed that he had once done alot of terrible things but that he was 
very sorry about it...and very guilty...and therefore he wants to try to 
help people.  Which maybe why he's on the police force.  I'd like to find 
out more about him, but I don't think we should be asking too many 
questions around a police station.  I trust what Jenny and Liz Baynes 
said about us being safe here, but I don't want to draw too much 
attention to us.  Now I have a question for you--what do you think of 
Detective Schanke?"
  "Schanke?  Why?  He seems like the only normal person I've met today."
  "Because he's not Detective Schanke."
  "What?!  How do you know?"
  Paul gave Scott a look that said 'how do you think?'
  "Nevermind.  Forget I said that, it's just been one of those days.  
Okay, if he's not Detective Schanke, then who is he?"
  "I don't know.  Tell me, what does Schanke look like to you?"
  "Well, he's kind of overweight, balding, dark hair, a bit shorter than 
me..."
  "That's not the man I saw.  The man I saw that everyone was calling 
Schanke was about my height, medium build, light brown hair with a bit of 
grey over his temple...."
  Al had been listening to the conversation with growing alarm...and 
confusion.  The comments about Sam's partner had been unnerving at best, 
and now it seemed that Paul, at least, could actually see Sam.  The 
only people who could see Sam or Al were very small children, dying, or 
totally insane.  Because Paul Edwards was neither a very small child nor 
was he dying, this left only one option. The confusing thing was, he 
seemed like a pretty likeable guy.  Al frantically began pressing buttons 
on his handlink and muttering to himself.  The handlink made some of it's 
usual noises...
   Paul suddenly turned around in his chair and looked right at where Al 
was standing.  Al looked back and saw the puzzled expression on Paul's 
face.  He was therefore only partially surprised when Paul said, "Hello?"
  "Uh, Dad, there's no one there...who are you talking to?"
  "Don't you see him, Scott.  There's a man standing right here," Paul 
said over his shoulder while keeping his eyes on Al. "Who are you?  Do 
you want something?"
  Al scrambled for something to say.  This sort of thing was NOT supposed 
to happen.  Unless this guy's mesons and neurons were operating on a 
similar frequency as Sam's...maybe that was it.  He'd adjust the 
frequency later.  Now he'd better come up with something to say.  "Uh, 
you can see me?"  *Oh, that was brilliant?  What's he supposed to think?*
  "Shouldn't I be able to?  And why can't Scott see you?"
  "Ah, well, you see, I'm not actually here. I'm a figment of your 
imagination...yeah, that's it.  You're hallucinating."  
  "I don't hallucinate."  As he said this, Paul reached his arm out...and 
watched it pass right through Al.  As his hand made contact with the 
hologram, there was a slight energy flux that both Paul and Al felt.  
Suddenly Scott jumped up out of his seat.  "Whoa, what the..?!  Where'd he 
come from? And why is he wearing such tacky clothing?"   
   Paul was looking at his hand in puzzlement, then he looked back at 
Al.  Suddenly, he asked, "Are you with the man who isn't Schanke?"
  Al had had enough. He was definitely going to have to run this through 
Ziggy...then he'd better tell Sam.  He punched the keys on the link that 
opened the imaging chamber door and quickly exited from the scene.

  As the unidentified man disappeared through a rectangle of light, both 
Paul and Scott exchanged puzzled glances.  Scott returned slowly to his 
seat.  "What was that all about?  Do you really think he has anything to 
do with whatever's going on with Schanke?"
  "It would make sense...and I like that idea better than thinking 
there's anything else going on that we don't know about.  Police stations 
are alot more interesting than I thought," answered Paul, still staring 
at the place where Al had been.
  "Yeah, well, just don't get any ideas about staying here longer than we 
need to.  This is just too weird.  And that's coming from someone whose 
life is a science fiction movie.  I think there's enough strangeness in my 
life for me already, thank you.  I really don't think I want to deal with 
anymore."
  "I'd like to find out what's going on, but I understand how you feel.  
As soon as your finished talking to the FBI, we'll go home."
  "Good, because after all this, I could really use a good night's sleep. 
I just hope this doesn't give me nightmares."  With that, both Scott 
and Paul resumed their interrupted dinners.  Unfortunately for Scott, 
the night was just beginning.

--
Michele Martin
martin@abacus.mc.duke.edu
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Evil Guest Immortal: "I have you now, MacLeod." <clang, clang>
Duncan MacLeod: "I admit it.  You're better than I am." <clang, clang>
EGI: "Then why are you smiling?" <clang, clang>
MacLeod: "Because I know something you don't know..." <clang, clang> 
"..._I_ am the star of this show." <clang, slash, whap!, thud, cool fx>
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