Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 20:47:05 -0700 (MST) From: Cathy Laughlin Subject: He Also Serves, Part two Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII He Also Serves, part 2 Al consulted Ziggy, and pointed Sam in the proper direction. Sam began to pack up the little stove, which had burned itself out while he was asleep. *Great,* Sam thought. *Here's another thing that's completely ruined. I can't find North, and I can't cook dinner. Some hiker I make.* Sam dumped the noodles out of the stove; they had overcooked and turned to mush. "Yuck-o," Al said solemnly. "Makes sense though. You never could cook." Sam gave Al his patented dirty look, to which Al replied, "Hey, don't blame me. I didn't think even *you* could ruin a bunch of noodles." Sam threw another snowball at the Observer, with a good deal more force, which Al avoided nimbly. He took out the handlink and began to enter the sequence to open the Imaging Chamber door. "I'll see you later Sam," he said with a chuckle. "Looks like you have problems of your own to deal with." He pointed to the backpack, where a gutsy raccoon was busy bolting down most of the food supplies. Sam shouted angrily and waved his arms, and the raccoon fled into the trees. He checked the bag again- the raccoon had eaten all the beef jerky and fruit, and most of the trail mix. "Oh, boy," Sam sighed softly. "What more can possibly go wrong with this Leap?" Sam heard the Imaging Chamber door close as he shouldered the backpack and started slowly up the trail. Al exited the Imaging Chamber and went to the Control Room, his mind whirling. Just thinking about all the work he had to do made him sigh with frustration. There was a personnel review to write, several financial requests to review, and a few work orders to be written. On top of all that, Al had to worry about Senator Weitzman's upcoming visit. Dr. Verbeena Beeks caught him on his way to his office. "How's Sam?" she asked softly. "He's fine, 'Bena" Al replied. "I think he's getting frustrated though. He seemed pretty annoyed when I left." Dr. Beeks smiled and said, "Our visitor seems to be having the time of his life in the Waiting Room. Ziggy's been keeping him entertained with 'Star Trek' videos and popcorn." "'Star Trek' and popcorn, huh?" Al grinned. "Hey, I'm the Admiral and *I* don't get 'Star Trek' and popcorn. What a lucky guy." Dr. Beeks laughed and patted Al on the shoulder, and bid him goodbye. Al sighed and steeled himself against the coming onslaught on paperwork, and then headed down the hall to his office. Back on the mountain, Sam was having problems finding food. He had been able to find a few edible plants along the trail, but he had no way of getting any kind of meat. Water was another problem; Sam remembered Al's advice against leaving the trail, but he knew that he would have to find a stream somewhere. He finally came to a decision, and headed off into the trees in what seemed like a likely direction. As he moved, he used Dan's hatchet to mark the trees. Sam hoped that he could find his way back to the trail once he had found something to drink. He looked for more food as he went, but a few terminally frozen berries were the best he could manage. It seemed to him that the whole world had disappeared under the thick blanket of snow. He trudged through the snow almost without thinking, walking for what seemed like hours. At one point he glanced to his right and stopped short. Sam turned and squinted into the trees, and then ran through the trees with a whoop of delight. He had spotted a small stream that wound through the forest. Reaching the stream Sam knelt down and peered into the water. Although the river was covered by a thin layer of ice, Sam could see moving water below. He broke the ice with his hatchet and scooped up some water in the pot the noodles had cooked in. Sam guzzled the icy cold water and turned to leave, when he heard a splash. He turned back and looked into the water carefully. He could see movement inside; closer investigation revealed a group of small silver fish. Sam crouched by the riverside for a while, wishing fervently for a rod and reel. Al squinted at the computer screen, trying to decide which of the Project employees had earned promotions. He hadn't had to fire anyone this month, and there had been no accidents or security breaches. The Admiral was happy to see such good performance, and he decided to award several employees with raises. He marked each of the exemplary workers between bites of stale cafeteria pizza. *I wish I had time to cook a real meal,* he thought sadly. *I haven't had calzone in a while. God, I wish Sam would come back. He used to like my calzone.* Al's good mood was fading fast, ruined by the absence of his best friend and by the mounds of busy-work on his desk. He closed down the program and headed for the Imaging Chamber, eager to visit Sam and get away from work for a while. Sam had given up fishing as a lost cause, after several failed attempts to grab them himself or scoop them up in the pot. He walked back to the trail dejectedly, muttering to himself and wondering if this nightmare of a Leap would ever end. He heard the Imaging Chamber door open and turned to greet his friend. Al still wore his uniform, though it was a bit rumpled and had a small pizza stain on it. Sam could see by the look on Al's face that he wasn't happy. "Hi Al," he said, smiling at the Observer. "How's everything at the Project?" "Not too good," Al sighed. "I miss you so much, pal. I miss the way you used to like my cooking, the way you'd always remember my birthday... the way you used to do half the work." Sam laughed, and Al flashed a grin. Just being around his old friend made him feel a little better. "Making any progress?" he asked. "Not really," Sam replied. I found some water, but there doesn't seem to be much food out here. Dan didn't bring very many supplies. If I only had a fish hook, I could've had lunch." Sam looked up at the sky, and saw that the sun was almost directly overhead. *Noon already*, Sam thought. *I'd better hurry. Maybe I can get to the pick-up point before the storm hits.* He picked up his pace, forcing Al to jog to keep up with his longer-legged partner. "Hey!" Al cried. "Slow down a little, will ya?" "Sorry," Sam said. "I thought maybe I could make the pick-up point faster." Al shook his head and poked at the handlink. "Ziggy says no way, Sam," he replied. "The pick-up point is miles away. Even if you could run all day you wouldn't get there before that storm tonight. Save your energy, that way when that storm _does_ hit you'll be able to make it through." This seemed like sage advice to Sam, so he slowed down to a more measured pace. "I sure wish I had some fresh food, though," Sam said earnestly. "Maybe one of those calzones you used to make." He turned to see Al doubled over with laughter at the coincidence. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Nothing," Al said, and then started laughing again. When he was finally able to collect himself, he gasped, "Do you remember the time you managed to drop an entire calzone in your lap? I've never seen you move so fast in your life!" Sam burst into laughter too; he well remembered how quick he'd jumped out of his chair, with cheese and sauce all over his suit. Laughing softly, the two friends started up the trail together. Parts 3 and 4 are coming sometime after Thanksgiving... If you have any comments please email me! This is my very first Quantum Leap story, so be gentle ;-) ************************************************ * "Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed, sow it * everywhere!"- George Washington * * Free Kaneh Bosm-the world's safest medicine! * Cathy Laughlin: Hempster@nmt.edu * http://www.nmt.edu/~hempster ************************************************