Subject: Quantum Backstep

Author: Robin Margolin

Email: robinmargo@att.net

Disclaimers and Notes for Quantum Backstep

Disclaimer: Seven Days and everybody therein belongs to Crowe Entertainment and Paramount. Quantum Leap and everybody therein belongs to Don Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, NBC, and MCA/Universal. No copyright infringement is intended by their use. I own the story only, not the characters.

Cast of Characters by Original Show

7 DAYS
John Ballard
Isaac Mentnor
Frank Parker
Nathan Ramsey
Bradley Talmadge
Olga Vukovitch
"Salt and Pepper" of the Delta Team

QUANTUM LEAP
Sam Beckett
Verbena Beeks
Albert Calavicci
Donna Elesee Beckett
SammiJo Fuller
Irving "Gooshie" Gershowitz
Christina Martinez-O'Farrell
Ziggy

Music credits as found in the ASCAP (ACE on the Web) search engine.
http://www.ascap.com/ace/ACE.html

SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
Writers Otto Harbach
Jerome Kern

Publishers Universal Music Publishing Group

Music credits as found in the BMI HyperRepertoire Search Engine.
http://repertoire.bmi.com/index.asp

BABY LET'S PLAY HOUSE

Writers ARTHUR GUNTER
Publishers EMBASSY MUSIC CORPORATION

STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE
Writers LAMONT HERBERT DOZIER
BRIAN HOLLAND
EDDIE HOLLAND

Publishers STONE AGATE MUSIC

CRAZY

Writers WILLIE NELSON
Publishers SONY/ATV SONGS LLC

OPERATOR

Writers WILLIAM SPIVERY
Publishers CONRAD MUSIC

IT'S HARD TO BE HUMBLE

Writers MAC DAVIS
Publishers SONGPAINTER MUSIC

PEGGY SUE

Writers BUDDY HOLLY
JERRY ALLISON
NORMAN PETTY
Publishers WREN MUSIC CO INC

ROCK THE REDHEAD

Writers CHRIS RUPPENTHAL
RAY BUNCH
MIKE POST
Publishers SONGS OF UNIVERSAL INC

RESPECT

Writers OTIS REDDING
Publishers IRVING MUSIC INC

GOD ONLY KNOWS

Writers BRIAN WILSON
TONY ASHER
Publishers IRVING MUSIC

Special thanks go to:
Kathy and David for allowing me to bounce ideas off them.
Yulia Zaks for the Russian translations.
Hannah and Steven for "leaving Mommy alone" so I could work on this.
AJ Burfield for being my very patient Beta reader.

And to Irwin, who went to bed alone for many nights while I was with Sam and Frank.

By Robin Margolin
*****

PROLOGUE

You're about to be let in on the most highly classified data America holds. We have a device that will allow us to send one human being back in time seven days.

Never Neverland, Nevada
Friday, February 11, 2000

"Come on buddy, up and at 'em," Craig Donovan shook Frank Parker by the shoulder. "We're on full alert, intel should be rolling in 5 minutes."

"What happened? Did some bomb go off somewhere?" yawned Parker covering his eyes to the harsh light shining off of the bare white military walls of his quarters in Never Neverland.

Donovan's eyes lit up in surprise. "How do you always know what's going on?" he asked his friend.

"I was kidding," groaned Parker. "Did something really go boom?"

"Talmadge called for everyone in the briefing room in 5 minutes. Get some pants on, Frank," was Donovan's only reply.

After the briefing was over, Parker sat at his computer reviewing the schematics of the sphere. Backstepping was hard enough but landing the sphere right where he took off from was going to be tricky. He'd only done it once before, a backstep he'd rather forget. The NSA was cutting this one close. Two days were already past since the explosion. The next day, when the time to leave came, he was suited up, data wafer in place and sealed into his time sphere.

"Reactor at 90 percent, all systems ready," the lightly accented voice of Olga Vukovitch came over the intercom in Frank's helmet.

"Not all systems, Olga. I didn't get my good luck kiss," Frank pouted teasingly.

"Reactor at 95 percent, control to manual. That's what you get for mutilating wonderful music," she replied. "Reactor at 100 percent, good luck, Mr. Parker. Engage!"

The kick of the time sphere beginning its ascent into space always exhilarated and nauseated Frank Parker simultaneously. He watched the days count back: Saturday, Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday, Sunday. As the sphere began its decent, Frank felt a strange sensation on his skin like static electricity mixed with someone walking over his grave. He pushed it aside and concentrated on controlling the entry point for the sphere. The feeling grew. 'I'm definitely going to have to talk to Ballard about this.' Frank thought as he was engulfed in a blue light.

*********************

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

Sam Beckett had gotten accustomed to finding himself in strange surroundings but nothing prepared him for finding himself at the controls of a space ship. His body ached, blood mixed with sweat was dripping from his face and he had a pounding headache. The engine of the vehicle turned off automatically and Sam began looking for the exit. Suddenly the hexagonal hatch opened and a woman began to speak to him.

"Are you all right, Mr. Parker?" The words were English, but the accent was Russian. Had Sam leaped in during the cold war again, he wondered.

"Here, let me help you out of that." the woman continued as she unbuckled the safety straps that were holding Sam in the seat.

"I'll be fine in a minute," Sam said. Then he passed out cold.

CHAPTER 1

Sunday, February 6, 2000
Never Neverland

"Frank? Frank?"

Sam heard a voice calling as he came back to consciousness. A black man in army fatigues was standing over him looking very worried.

"Man, Frank, you scared me for a bit there," Craig Donovan said as he helped Sam sit up. He was laying in a hospital bed with cardiac electrodes attached to his chest and a pounding headache.

"Oh, I'm OK," Sam responded, "Thanks, aahh...Donovan." Sam read the name off the fatigue shirt and hoped it was right.

Donovan smiled, "What the hell were you doing, ruining my weekend? You owe me a beer, buddy."

"Sure thing," Sam said. Just once he would like to not feel clueless at the start of a leap.

"Not so fast. After four hours unconscious, Mr. Parker has at least one more physical before I release him," said the Russian accented woman. She was about 5'7" and had auburn hair, alabaster skin and flashing green eyes.

"Ah, come on, Olga, have a heart." Donovan teased. She frowned at him. "O.K. O.K.," he relented-- hands up in surrender. "Frank, I leave you to Dr. Vukovitch's tender mercies," Donovan said as he walked out of the door.

"Now that you are awake, Mr. Parker, let's have a more complete exam," Dr. Olga Vukovitch said as she snapped on latex gloves.

All Sam could think was 'Oh, Boy!'

*******************

Stallion's Gate, New Mexico

"Now this just isn't fair," Admiral Albert Calavicci was fuming. "I have a guest passed out cold in the waiting room, the imaging chamber is off line and Ziggy won't talk to me!"

"Oh, I'll talk to you, Admiral," the rich alto of Quantum Leap's Artificial Intelligence (Ziggy's) voice echoed in the control room, "I just don't have anything to tell you."

"Where's Sam?" demanded Al.

"I regret to inform you," Ziggy began, "that Dr. Beckett's whereabouts are currently unknown."

"I need a drink," Al groaned.

**********************

"I need a drink," groaned Frank Parker as he sat himself up. He was staring at four sterile white walls in a room with no discernable door. The only furniture in the room was the hospital-like gurney he sat on. This had been Frank's second thought on returning to consciousness. The first was that the aliens had reclaimed their sphere and taken him prisoner. His flight suit was missing, replaced with a white body suit and the bar-coded tattoo on his arm was gone.

**************************

Neverland

Having been determined to be "relatively undamaged" by Dr. Vukovitch, Sam was released from the infirmary and escorted to his quarters with the orders to get some rest "while Talmadge and Ramsey look over the data wafer". 'Whatever that means,' Sam thought. The pounding in his head had dulled a bit and he needed a shower.

As he helped himself to some clothes, he caught sight of himself in a mirror. A handsome man in his early thirties with dark brown hair and eyes looked back at him. "Hello, Frank Parker." He waved to the reflection and noticed the bar-coded tattoo on his forearm.

Now dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, Sam sat down at Frank's computer and began to learn all he could about Frank Parker. "It's February 6th," Sam noted by looking at the clock on the computer screen, "Two Thousand!" Sam's heart jumped in his chest. "I've leaped into the future!"

Sam was still in front of the computer an hour or so later when Donovan knocked on his door.

"What happened in the other timeline?" Donovan asked.

Sam just looked at him, puzzled.

"I guess I'm about to find out," Donovan shrugged. "Talmadge wants everyone in the briefing room ASAP."

"Coming," Sam said as he followed Donovan out the door.

In the briefing room, Sam began forming theories about where and who he was. He knew his name was Frank Parker and that the others around the table were co-workers of his in some military instillation called Never Neverland. The pretty Russian was Olga Vukovitch, some kind of doctor. The soldier, Donovan, called the G-man type in the cheap suit Ramsey and the balding bespectacled man in the wheelchair with the lollipop he called Ballard. A rather formal looking middle-aged man with a beard had called the briefing to order. Sam assumed him to be Talmadge, the one who had called the meeting.

"Let's get up to speed on this folks," Talmadge called for the briefing to begin.

"Shouldn't we wait for Dr. Mentnor?" Olga questioned. The name 'Mentnor' got Sam's attention.

"Isaac reviewed the data wafer as he downloaded it. He's checking with his contacts about some scenarios," Talmadge informed them. A hole in Sam's Swiss-cheesed brain began to twitch at him. "Frank?"

"Umm, what? Oh, sorry... I was...er..." Sam stalled and prayed for Al to appear in the Imaging Room and give him some information.

Olga chimed in, "What did the data wafer have on it?"

'Thank you Olga,' Sam thought.

Bradley Talmadge brought up the projection screen and began storytelling. "According to the data collected in the other timeline"

'Timeline?' Sam pondered.

"In five days a government installation at Stallion's Gate, New Mexico will explode, killing 287 people...."

Sam became aware of a heavy pain in his chest and suddenly felt nauseated.

"... of the joint congressional finance committee." Talmadge was continuing, "The project instillation"

"Quantum Leap" Sam supplied, accidentally aloud.

"Yes, Quantum Leap," Talmadge confirmed. "It appears that someone set a bomb off inside the facility."

Sam sat transfixed by the image on the projection screen of Stallion's Gate, his home for so many years, its top blown off-- looking like a smoking volcano. The photographs of four well-dressed people replaced the image.

"This is Senator Helene Mercer-Fuld, Congressmen Angelo Martinelli, Benjamin Fisher and Garrett Ho." Talmadge supplied, pointing to each picture in turn.

"The committee members?" Donovan questioned.

Bradley nodded and went on. The image changed yet again to a middle-aged Naval officer in uniform. "This is" Bradley began.

"Al" Sam interrupts softly.

All eyes in the room turn to him. "Admiral Albert Calavicci, the administrative head of Project Quantum Leap," Sam expanded; his eyes bright with unshed tears.

"And the only way we have of getting in, in order to stop this from happening," Bradley continued, "This is not just about the people in Stallion's Gate. The power source of the facility is nuclear and when it blew last time..."

"The radiation took out most of the southern United States and northern Mexico," Sam finished Talmadge's thought.

"Yes," Bradley retook the floor. "Now, as a military officer, despite his current assignment, Calavicci can be ordered to fall under our jurisdiction for National Security. I'd like to get our people into the security force over there, tighten it up. Nate," he turned to Ramsey, "I need fifty of your best."

"Got it," Ramsey said.

"That's not the way in," an elderly voice said from the doorway. Isaac Mentnor entered the room looking grim. Sam looked at him with Frank Parker's eyes. Isaac had aged well in the twenty years since he had been Sam Beckett's physics professor at M.I.T. He had been fascinated by Sam's time travel theory.

"...icci is eccentric but runs a tight unit. He won't take kindly to commando tactics at his base." Isaac was saying. "I've just been on the phone with a former student of mine who works at Quantum Leap. I've got an invitation. I'll take Craig and Frank with me. Between the three of us we can do the reconnaissance."

Bradley chewed this over for a moment before agreeing.

"While you do that," Talmadge continued, "Nate and I will get a command base set up at Socorro. It's not enough to stop this bombing, people, we also need to catch the bomber."

"It's about 400 miles to Socorro," noted Nate Ramsey.

"Which is why we need to begin moving out as quickly as we can," finished Bradley.

"I don't think Mr. Parker is up to an eight hour car trip," piped up Olga.

"You are still looking a bit pale, Frank." Ballard added.

Sam began to protest when Craig came to his rescue.

"Why don't I bring Isaac and Frank by helicopter?" he offered. "It'll take about 3 hours in the air."

Bradley considered this for a moment and then agreed.

"We'll leave in the morning," said Isaac.

CHAPTER 2

Stallion's Gate

A hidden door slid open and Frank Parker watched expectantly, interested to see whom, or what would come through it.

An attractive coffee-skinned woman entered and said, "Hello, my name is Verbena Beeks. I'm sure you're quite confused by all this." Verbena offered her hand to Frank to shake.

"Lady, I don't know what happened but you look human enough," Frank stood but refused the extended hand. Verbena retracted her hand.

"Were you expecting something else?" the psychiatrist questioned. Before Frank could answer, they were interrupted by a man in a lime green suit entering the room.

"What have you got for me, Verbena?" he inquired.

"Not much I'm afraid, Admiral," was the reply. Parker snapped to attention on hearing the rank and saluted Al. Al used this to his advantage.

"Name, rank and branch," he barked at Frank.

"Parker, Francis B., Lieutenant Special Ops., Sir." ['Where the hell did that come from,' Parker thought.]

"At ease, Parker," Al allowed. Frank relaxed.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, sure," Al replied as he sent Verbena to Ziggy with Parker's name and instructions to search military archives. Together the two men watched as Verbena sashayed out of the room.

"Nice" muttered Frank.

"Yeah" Al sighed. The men regarded each other for a moment, assessing body language.

"Admiral, I've got a ton of questions beginning with: Where am I and what did you do with the sphere?" began Frank.

"Sphere?" Al questioned before he caught himself. Then he changed the subject. "Nice to meet you, Parker. I'm Al Calavicci."

"Frank"

"Frank," Al began, "before I answer your questions I have a couple of my own."

"R.H.I.P. Admiral," replied Frank, "You go first."

"What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"

"Wishing I'd kissed Olga good-bye," answered Frank wryly.

Looking for more useful information Al asked, "What is today's date?"

"It's February twelfth." A fog began lifting in Frank's brain. He looked at Al as if really seeing him for the first time. "You're Admiral Calavicci," he stated. Al just nodded. "Then I made it," Frank realized sotto vocci.

Noting that comment in his head and wondering where the Guest thought he had 'made it' to, Al moved on and asked the most important question. "What year is it?"

"It's two thousand." Frank answered. Then he noticed the man's quickly covered expression. "Admiral?"

"Call me Al," Al replied as he hoped the horror he was feeling wasn't showing on his face. Parker said that he is in the year 2000. That's the first time Sam has leaped beyond when he stepped into the Accelerator Chamber that first time.

"Al, I'm currently attached to the N.S.A.," Frank continued. "Is there a phone here I can use?"

Before Al could answer Ziggy's disembodied voice called out to him. "Admiral, I have something you should see."

"Coming," Al responded to the air. Then to Frank he said, "I'll be back."

And Frank found himself alone again, with no information and his frustration rising.

******************

"What have you got for me, Ziggy?" Al asked as he was entering the Control Center.

"Frank Parker is at Hanson Island Psychiatric Prison." Ziggy supplied.

"WHAT!?!"

"That's the most recent thing we can find on him," Beeks added. "Here's the more complete biography." She pointed Al to one of Ziggy's multiple viewscreens. It said:

Parker, Francis B.
Born: 1967, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Education: 1989 - B.S. Biology, University of Virginia.
Background: Former Navy SEAL, CIA Spec Ops Division.
Personal Information: Divorced, one son age 8.
Parker was remanded to the Division of Mental Services in
South Carolina after experiencing violent paranoid tendencies during operations in Somalia.

"Oh, I've got to get to Sam," Al started. "Gooshie, bring up the Imaging Chamber and get me to Sam, NOW." Al almost bellowed the last word.

"I regret to tell you, Admiral, that the Imaging Chamber remains offline," Ziggy almost pouted.

"Well, keep working on it!" ordered Al.

Al's shouting still ringing in the air, the door to the Control Center opened to admit Dr. Donna Elesee. "Is there a problem, Al?" she asked softly.

"The Imaging Chamber is still offline, Dr. Elesee. I'm working on it," answered Irving Gershowitz, QL's Alpha Techno Geek, better known as Gooshie.

"I'm sure Sam's fine," Al lied to Donna.

"In that case, you might want to, er... freshen up," suggested Donna. "Company's coming," she reminded him.

As Al walked to his quarters to change his clothes his mind raced. 'A psychiatric ward. No wonder this Parker thinks it's next week. He's nuts.'

Neverland

Back in Frank's quarters, Sam got busy searching Frank's PC again about his mission and his coworkers. The data he found on the bombing was disturbing in several ways. First, the date of February 10th indicated an event that hadn't even happened yet. Second, the phrase "Backstep" was used several times. What did that mean, exactly? And finally, just the idea of his Project being blown to bits was unnerving. In the process of researching past mission files to try to uncover the meaning of 'Backstep', he stumbled across the personal journal of Frank B. Parker. As Sam got comfortable for a long computer session he wondered when his holographic Observer would show himself.

********************

Stallion's Gate

Al was very busy hosting a dinner party for members of the joint congressional finance committee. God, how he hated these things but he had to keep the funding for the project. If Quantum Leap was forced to close down, then Sam would never be able to leap back home, and that was totally unacceptable to Al.

So in dress uniform, the Admiral was wining and dining senators, congressmen and their aides. At his side was Dr. Donna Elesee, the lead quantum physicist of the project. She was with him for three reasons tonight.

First, Donna could explain the most technical of details of the project in plain English. Second, she was a damn sight better to look at then he was. And third and most importantly, Donna was the ever-present reminder of what and whom they all have to lose if they were to shut down. She was Mrs. Sam Beckett.

*******************

Frank hated cells. He's been in too many of them. Finding a way out was all Frank could think about all night. He wondered, 'why hadn't Al sent Verbena Beeks back to interrogate him further but rather armed guards? Just how he was going to rush the door when it never opened with warning?' But no matter what, he was going to find a way to get out.

Monday, February 7, 2000

Ziggy's soft alto purred softly to Al at 0500. "Admiral, the Imaging Chamber is online but I can't say for how long."

"I'm on my way," Al replied.

Neverland

The leaping process and its unfortunate memory loss side effect had taken its toll on Sam Beckett. Real time had stopped for him that day in 1995 when he stepped into the quantum accelerator and vanished into the past. There was no tomorrow, no New Year's Eve, no real concept of 'the present'. For Sam, the present was wherever and whenever he was.

Sam had spent the entire night reading about Project Backstep and its chrononaut Frank Parker. It read like bad science fiction but was undeniably real. Using alien technology salvaged from the Roswell crash, the USA built a time machine with a one-week limitation and has been using it to stop terrible events from happening. 'Just like I make right what once went wrong.' thought Sam.

"Nice cell," a familiar voice spoke from the doorway.

"Al!" Sam all but shouted. "Where have you been?" Sam assessed his friend's image and said, "You look like hell."

"Thanks, Sam" Al returned after looking down at his rumpled bathrobe.

"It's good to see you, too. The Imaging Chamber has been offline and I don't know how long it will stay up so we've got to talk fast."

"Al, I'm at a secret government facility...."

"I know Sam, we've done some research on Parker. By the way, that's you." Al used the handlink to point to Sam.

"Frank Parker, chrononaut extraordinaire," Sam said with glee.

"Frank Parker, nutso inmate is more like it," said Al. "Ziggy is still running scenarios so you'll have to play this by ear." The hologram was beginning to degrade. "Just be careful, Sam."

Sam nodded. "But, Al ..." he called.

"I'll be back, Sam. Gooshie, I thought you fixed this thing." Al was saying as he faded away.

"...I'm in the future." Sam finished to the empty room.

Stallion's Gate

"Gooshie, I thought you fixed this thing." Al was saying as he left the Imaging Chamber for the Control Center.

"I ... I ... I did Admiral," Gooshie finally got out indignantly. "It just fried a circuit board for no reason," he continued from under the imaging matrix control station. "I'll have it up and running again as soon as I replace it," Gooshie promised.

********************

Frank Parker was on his 253rd push-up when Verbena Beeks entered the room around 0800.

"How are you this morning?" she inquired cautiously.

"I'm fine, beautiful," he replied as he stood up. "And how are you?" he asked turning on the Parker charm. Beeks had left the door open and the guard outside.

"Oh, just fine. I was wondering ..."

"If we could have coffee together?" Frank finished quickly. "I'd love to."

"O.K.," Verbena agreed after some consideration. Turning to signal to the guard, Verbena found herself pushed aside as Frank rushed the door. He hit the guard in a flying tackle and the guard's head hit the floor knocking him out cold. Taking his gun, Frank ran off down the corridor in search of a phone.

************************

Al and Tina were having coffee in the mess hall when the general alarm sounded. Tapping the communicator on his wrist Al asked, "Gooshie, what happened?"

"Admiral," Gooshie's voice answered back, "We have a major programming problem with Ziggy and the Guest has escaped the Waiting Room." He sounded panicked.

"Dammit!" Al said. "Sorry, Tina," he called over his shoulder as he hurried from the room.

**********************

Neverland

Sam was in awe of everything he had read about Project Backstep on Frank's PC. It was an engineering and scientific masterpiece created largely by Isaac Mentnor and John Ballard, the engineering wizard whose talents rivaled Gooshie's.

Sam had long wondered why there was a deep man-made cave in a mesa at Stallion Gate. At first he had surmised that it was the result of a nuclear test, but it had obviously been dug, then abandoned in favor of the Nevada site for Never Neverland, long before Sam found it and realized this was the place to build his quantum accelerator. The history of Project Backstep also explained why the government placed Quantum Leap under 'military protection' and was only too happy to let Dr. Beckett have the military liaison he requested, Admiral Al Calavicci.

Heading out for an early morning run to clear his head and refresh his thoughts, Sam met up with Olga Vukovitch who was dressed in a tracksuit.

"Going for an early run, Mr. Parker?" Olga asked. Something in her tone gave Sam the definite impression she was miffed at something.

"Yeah, I thought I'd work off some of this nervous energy," Sam hoped his answer sounded lighthearted enough.

"Well you're late. We always run at 6 a.m. and it is now 6:20. We will have to cut our run short if we are going to take off on time."

"Sorry, I ... ah ... forgot." Sam stammered. "Shall we?" And the two ran off into the sunrise.

About four miles later the two runners took a short break for some water. Sam, winded and sweating, perched himself on a large rock staring out into the brush that surrounded Never Neverland while he tried not to guzzle the entire contents of the water bottle at once. Olga walked in circles while sipping at her bottle.

"Ja mnogo bi dala uznat' chto ti sebe dumaesh' (A penny for your thoughts)," Olga startled Sam.

Sam Beckett speaks seven languages fluently; unfortunately Russian is not one of them. 'Does Frank speak Russian?' he wondered silently. Then aloud he said, "Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Was there anything in particular keeping you awake?" Olga asked looking intently into his eyes.

As Sam watched the woman's pale skin glowing in the morning sun he realized, 'She's flirting with me'. He weighed his options and decided on the better part of valor.

"I was wondering if Talmadge and Ramsey had the remote site up and running yet," he said.

"And this kept you up last night?" she shook her head. "U menya i bez etogo zabot polon rot! (I can think of better reasons to lose sleep!)," she mumbled as she started her run back to the complex.

After a shower and a quick change of clothes, Sam met up with Mentnor, Donovan and Vukovitch. The four had a light preflight breakfast and took off at the pre-scheduled 0800. Whether it was the all-nighter at the computer, the eight mile run or the soft rhythmical whoop, whoop, whoop of the helicopter blades is uncertain, but which-ever it was caused Sam Beckett to fall fast asleep ten minutes after takeoff.

Temporary HQ, Socorro, New Mexico

In Socorro, Sam and Craig Donovan were assigned the same hotel room and had stowed their gear when Isaac knocked on their door.

"Ready?" the older man asked.

"Yup," answered Donovan.

"If you don't mind, Dr. Mentnor, I'd like to drive," Sam said.

Although slightly surprised, Isaac agreed.

"Just don't get any speeding tickets, Frank," joked Donovan.

The drive was refreshing for Sam. 'I'd forgotten how beautiful the desert is' thought Sam as he drove the car south through the small town of San Antonio, New Mexico.

A few miles later Craig Donovan tried to start a conversation. "Just what is Project Quantum Leap? I mean, what does it do?" Craig asked.

Before Isaac could answer, Sam started running off at the mouth.

"Quantum Leap is based on the theory that if one can accelerate his atoms to a fast enough speed he can travel to any time in his life." Sam looked back at Craig in the rearview mirror. Seeing a perplexed face, he continued, "Consider a piece of string. Hold it at one end and let it hang. That represents the life of a person, birth to death. Now take that string and scrunch it up in your hand. See how many parts of it can touch at any time. That's quantum acceleration theory," Sam concluded.

The silence in the car was deafening.

'Oh, boy, what have I said?' he thought.

Isaac Mentnor looked quizzically over at him. "I've only heard the string theory explained so well by one other person. He was a graduate student of mine. I had hoped to persuade him to come work with me at Neverland but it was not to be."

"What happened, Isaac?" asked Craig.

"His heart was way too committed to his dream. I felt it unfair to ask him to help me fulfill mine instead." Isaac sighed.

"Is that who we're going to meet?" Craig asked.

"No, Dr. Beckett is... otherwise occupied now," said Isaac swallowing hard.

Another silence filled the car.

"Anyone want some music?" Sam offered, hoping to lighten the trip.

CHAPTER 3

Stallion's Gate

After putting the base on intruder alert and reinforcing the Taser-only rule, Al set out to find Gooshie. He expected the computer genius to be in the Control Center but he wasn't. Instead Gooshie was outside the Imaging Chamber, circuit boards strewn around and a laptop wired in to the motherboard imbedded in the wall.

"So, what's up, Gooshie?" Al called out to the techie-guru.

"Shhhh," Gooshie warned.

"Why shhhhh?" Al asked.

"I don't want her to hear us." Gooshie looked around nervously.

"Her who?" Al demanded in a whisper.

"Ziggy," the techie said. "She'll cut off my bypass if she finds out what I'm doing."

"What are you doing? And what's with the laptop?"

"While running a diagnostic on the Imaging Chamber I came across a hidden subroutine. It is why the Imaging Chamber is offline or rather why Ziggy is keeping the Imaging Chamber offline. I can bypass it for just a few seconds using the laptop, I think." Gooshie finished.

"Let's do it," Al volunteered as he stepped into the Imaging Chamber.

Gooshie began typing furiously on the laptop and after a confirming nod from Al, pressed enter.

Instantly the room around him dissolved and was replaced by the inside of a car and the sound of Clint Black singing. Al looked around for Sam; he was driving. No sooner had Al opened his mouth to talk to Sam, the image cut off.

"What the hell happened?" Al roared at Gooshie as he marched out of the room.

"I'm sorry, Admiral Calavicci. The Imaging Chamber is not online." Ziggy's voice responded to him.

Al stomped off to the Control Center to have it out with Ziggy.

****************************

Why Frank knew he had to get to a phone was hazy, but he knew he needed to call in to ... to ... "Damn," he swore to himself. The memory was just out of reach. What Frank did remember was the schematic of Quantum Leap that he studied before the backstep and had used that for three hours or so, to elude capture by the M.P.'s on his trail.

He made his way carefully to the staff quarters and went through a door bearing the name Christina Martinez-O'Farrell. The quarters were incredibly pink and frilly, Frank noted. There was a picture on the dresser of two young women, one in a cheerleader outfit, pink and purple pompoms waving, the other looking off into space. Sisters, Frank assumed due to the resemblance between the girls. In a second photograph, the same two girls, one in a graduation cap and gown, the other in army fatigues, were posed with an older couple that Frank presumed to be their parents. On the bedside table was another picture of the cheerleader, this time dressed in a bikini and laughing with a swimsuited Admiral Calavicci.

Behind this picture was the phone.

On autopilot Frank lifted the receiver and dialed. "Conundrum," Frank said to the communications officer.

*********************

Temporary HQ, Socorro

"Sir," the communications officer paged into Bradley's makeshift office, "I have Conundrum on line 3."

Bradley Talmadge looked up from his conversation with Olga Vukovitch. She volunteered to check with the flight center in Nevada to see if the sphere was gone. She returned a moment later and confirmed what Bradley had known, the sphere was still there and Frank had left with Craig and Isaac 10 minutes ago.

"Bradley Talmadge," he barked into the phone.

"Conundrum," repeated Frank in Sam Beckett's voice.

"Who are you?" Talmadge demanded.

The only answer was a buzzing sound followed by a low moan, a thud and then the line went dead. The call was way too short to trace, but Talmadge did so anyway, his mind racing. To say he was concerned was the understatement of the year. He just hoped his team had reached PQL to solve this quickly.

*******************

Stallion's Gate

Al strode down the hall purposefully toward the Control Center. He had been sidetracked from his talk with Ziggy by news from the security chief that the guest had been caught in Tina's quarters, by Tina. Al had gone to check on her first. She was fine and very glad now that he had insisted on EVERYONE being armed during an intruder search. Rather than argue with Al, Tina had accepted the day off he offered saying something about lunch with her sister in town.

As he turned around a corner, Al almost collided head on with Donna Elesee.

"Whoa, hey Al, where's the fire?" the physicist questioned the admiral.

"Under Ziggy as soon as I light it," came the miffed reply.

"Is this the Imaging Chamber problem again?" Donna asked. Al nodded. "I thought this might happen someday. I knew I was right to write that subroutine for Sam."

Al's eyes opened so wide he thought they might pop.

"You wrote the hidden subroutine that is keeping the Imaging Chamber offline." Al couldn't decide whether to be angry or relieved. "What is it and what does it do?" he asked.

"It's a time paradox fail-safe routine," Donna began.

"A pair of who?" questioned Al.

"A time paradox fail-safe routine," Donna repeated. "Think of it as protection for the future. In theory Sam can travel anywhere within his own lifetime. Some of that lifetime will extend, hopefully, beyond Project Quantum Leap." Donna watched Al to see if she had lost him.

"Go on," he prodded.

"It is too dangerous for each of us to know our own futures, so if Sam ever leaped into either our future or within 3 months of our past, I programmed Ziggy to follow his progress but keep the Imaging Chamber offline," Donna ended.

"But what if he needs us? I don't want him to feel like I've abandoned him."

"Ziggy won't let anything too dangerous go down without telling us, Al. This was Sam's order, just like not telling him what he doesn't remember about us," Donna reminded Al. The pain in her voice was very evident.

"Dr. Elesee?" Ziggy's voice called out to her.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Dr. Elesee, there are people here to see you on level one," Ziggy told Donna.

"Thank you, Ziggy." Donna acknowledged the computer. "I know how frustrating this is for you," Donna said softly to her friend.

Al swallowed down the lump in his throat. He knew how hard this was on her. "Go on," he smiled weakly at her, "you have people waiting."

******************

While Sam, Craig and Isaac waited at the reception area, Sam was trying desperately to fill in the holes in his swisscheesed brain. He knew this place as well as the farm in Indiana, the faces; the voices all stirred up warm memories for him. But just on the outside of all these warm memories, an uncomfortable yearning pulled at him.

Isaac Mentnor was also lost in thought. 'How could I have let all these years go by without calling her?' he chastised himself.

"Dr. Mentnor?" her warm voice called him from his thoughts. He stood to greet her.

"Donna Elesee, how have you been, my dear?"

"Isaac, it's good to see you. You're just as handsome as ever," Donna said as she embraced her former professor.

"I heard about what happened to your husband, Donna. I'm so sorry." Isaac extended his condolences as the embrace ended.

"Thank you, Isaac. I'm fine," she responded automatically.

Two men stood up behind Isaac and he turned to introduce them. "Dr. Donna Elesee, this is Craig Donovan."

Donna extended her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said.

"Same here," came Donovan's reply as they shook hands.

"And this is Frank Parker." Isaac introduced the other man.

Donna began to extend her hand to Parker as she had greeted Donovan and stopped cold. She looked into the face of Frank Parker and something inside her went PING. She stared into his eyes and felt as if she could see his soul; a loving man with a sensual laugh and a desire began in her she hadn't felt in years.

Sam looked at Donna and froze. He had never believed in the myth of love at first sight, until now. He met her eyes and fell into them willingly. She was exciting, sexy and oh, so beautiful. He wanted to stare into those eyes forever.

A soft poke from Donovan returned Sam to his senses and the realization that he had a job to do, stop a bomber. He willed himself to pull back his gaze and spoke the first words that came into his mind.

"If I had met you when I was an undergrad, college wouldn't have been so lonely."

As soon as the words left his lips Sam wondered where they came from. He watched Donna's features harden. Her gaze, soft and inviting a second ago was now cold and distant. Sam instantly felt guilty and slightly embarrassed.

"Mr. Parker," she both acknowledged and dismissed him with a nod.

Turning to Isaac Donna began the standard "Welcome to Quantum Leap" speech she had given the congressional party yesterday. Before she got too far she was interrupted by a request for the 'head' as Donovan put it.

"Why don't you and Dr. Elesee get started, Isaac." Sam suggested after Donna indicated where the tour would begin. "I'll wait for Donovan and catch up to you." Part of him wanted to follow the woman anywhere, but he forced himself to focus on his job.

"Good idea, Frank." Isaac said. "They can't get too lost, now can they, Donna?" he pushed her gently to his point of view.

"Sure, Isaac. This way." Donna placed her hand on Isaac's elbow and led him off down the corridor, happy to put distance between herself and that disturbing man called Frank Parker.

Walking arm in arm with her mentor, Donna prattled on about the history of Quantum Leap, contributions by other scientists, basics of computer technology; the usual 'visiting dignitary' tour guide script. Her mouth worked independently of her brain. Her brain was busy with self- flagellation and anger about the way Frank Parker had affected her mixed with guilt about betraying Sam like that. 'What would make him choose those words?' she wondered.

Isaac allowed Donna to continue mindlessly on with the scripted tour for two very different reasons. First, it allowed him to separate her from Parker and Donovan, giving them free rein within the compound. Secondly, Isaac could see how rattled Parker's come-on had made her and made a mental note of her reaction.

CHAPTER 4

As soon as Isaac had taken Donna out of sight, Craig and Sam made their move. The two men quickly strided up the main passageway through the heart of Quantum Leap chatting as they moved to avoid suspicious looks.

"I've seen you hit on women before, Frank, but what the hell was that? 'College wouldn't have been so lonely'?" Donovan kidded the Parker persona. "You were the biggest party animal that U.V. ever saw."

Sam shrugged. "It sounded good at the time," he said hoping against hope he'd hidden his embarrassment and sounded like Parker. The former Navy SEALS had mapped out their search pattern in advance and separated on level three. Donovan headed to the parking facility where the remains of the primary trigger bomb was found. Sam was supposed to be going to the power plant where the secondary but more deadly explosion had occurred (was to occur?) but instead his gut drew him down to level ten and the Control Center.

********************

A short time later, Isaac and Donna came upon a small 'break room'. Donna had begun to explain 'string theory' when Isaac felt it was time to take action.

"Donna" he interrupted her train of thought.

"Yes? Oh," Donna suddenly realized what she had been saying. "I'm sorry, Isaac. You of all people don't need Quantum Acceleration theory explained." Seeing that they were in front of a break room, she invited him in for a cup of tea. Isaac smiled as he accepted. It was time to truly get caught up with his former pupil.

After they had been seated Isaac waited for Donna to start.

"I'm so caught up in these finance committee meetings I sometimes forget who's heard what part of which speech," she tried to laugh it off.

"That's all right, my dear," Isaac said as he patted her hand. "Are you really 'fine'? I'm sure it's difficult on both of you being separated like this."

"It is and it isn't," Donna explained. "One of the unforeseen problems we encountered with the first leap is an amnesia effect. Admiral Calavicci refers to it as 'Swiss cheesed brain'." Donna smiled. "There are huge gaps in memory with no pattern, rhyme or reason. Sam doesn't remember me at all," she added sadly. " I'm aware of his," she searched for the word, "exploits as a project member. I just can't face the Guests," she concluded.

"Guests?" Isaac questioned.

"When Sam leaped all the important things went, his mind, his heart, his soul. But his body remained here." Donna stopped and studied Isaac's face. Seeing acceptance, she went on, "Sam switches places with someone in the time he's at. That person inhabits Sam's body while Sam inhabits theirs."

"It must be very painful to see someone who looks like Sam and sounds like Sam who isn't Sam."

Donna nodded. "It's also difficult on our 'observer', she said.

"Observer?"

"A member of our team who is linked to Sam via a neural implant."

It was Isaac's turn to smile. "A benefit from the Star Bright Project, no doubt." he said.

Donna smiled her confirmation then went on, "He can see the real Guest and can see and talk to Sam while in the Imaging Chamber. He's Sam's only connection to home." Donna finished.

"I'm sure the stress is enormous," Isaac said. Donna nodded again.

Isaac continued, "I feel I should apologize for Frank..."

Donna put her hand up to stop him. "Don't bother," she said. "He couldn't possibly have any idea that he spoke the exact same words Sam did the first time we met in your office, Isaac. Besides, I'm all grown up now."

"You were all grown up then, too," he reminded her. "I'm glad you came back to M.I.T. for your Ph.D." Their tea finished, the two old friends continued their tour.

And Isaac began to put some strange thoughts together.

CHAPTER 5

Craig Donovan silently searched through the parking level at Stallion's Gate. He checked license plates against his list of Project personnel. He noted any plate not on his list for later DMV search. Several people came and went and Donovan took the opportunity to observe the Gate guards on duty. They were efficient, nothing more, nothing less. As Craig watched, a navy blue Saturn LS approached the Gate. The driver was a pretty woman in her late 20's, wearing a wide brimmed cowboy hat and sunglasses. The guards seemed not to know her and called someone for clearance before allowing her to enter the garage. She parked in a visitor spot near the elevator and perched on her car, waiting. Eight minutes had passed, by Donovan's watch, when another woman emerged from the elevator. The second woman was a dark redhead with the same coloring and cheekbones as the Saturn driver. The two women embraced and got into the car. They passed the checkpoint on their way out with only a wave to the guards by the redhead.

Just after they left, a wild-haired man in a lab coat exited the elevator in a run. He slowed his pace when he realized he had missed whomever he had been chasing. Donovan moved closer to the guard hut to listen in as the lab-coated man approached the guards.

"Did ... Doctor... Martinez ... O' F ... Farrell... leave ... yet?" he managed to get out trying to catch his breath.

"Yes sir, Dr. Gershowitz. She left with her sister just a few minutes ago," one of the guards replied.

"Drat," was Gershowitz's only response as he turned to walk back to the elevator.

Donovan added conversation notes next to the Saturn's ID he'd written on his license plate list.

*******************

Sam made his way through the inner corridors of Quantum Leap. He noted the M.P.s on duty outside the Waiting Room and kept out of their sight. Sam entered the control center only to find the room strangely deserted. 'Where is everyone?' he wondered. The swirling, glowing light in the cube above his head drew his attention. He walked around the center console and placed his hand on the peach colored rectangular interface. The orb brightened and swirled faster.

"Hello Ziggy," Sam said.

"Hello Dr. Beckett," Ziggy almost purred.

"Could I have a status report, please?"

"I am functioning at 99.82% of optimal." was Ziggy's reply. Sam rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. It was his own fault, he realized. He had infused his Artificial Intelligence with a well-developed ego.

"Could I have more useful information?" Sam requested.

"I automatically sent a silent alert when you entered the room and a squad of M.P.s is on their way," Ziggy calmly reported. "Admiral Calavicci has also been alerted," Ziggy continued.

Sam began looking for a way out immediately as he heard footsteps from the corridor. He thought he had managed to escape detection by ducking into a room off to the side. He was wrong.

***************

"All right buddy, hold it right there," ordered Al Calavicci to the fleeing figure as it ran out of the Control Center. Signaling the MP's to wait and drawing his gun, Al followed the intruder.

"I said freeze," he barked again, gun aimed.

The intruder stopped in front of an open door, hands in the air and turned to face him. Al looked into the face of Frank Parker.

"Parker?! How did you get out?" Al asked closing the gap between them.

At that moment, Parker stepped back, through the open door into the Imaging Chamber. In his place stood Sam Beckett.

Simultaneously the two men spoke.

Al said, "What the hell...?"

Sam called out, "Ziggy, door," as he kicked the gun out of Al's hand and pulled him into the Imaging Chamber with him.

"Ow," Al complained rubbing his hand as he picked himself up off the floor. "That hurts, Sam. Sam!" Al called out as he hugged and slapped the back of his best friend.

"The Imaging Chamber is secure, Dr. Beckett," Ziggy reported.

"Thank you," Sam replied to the disembodied voice. He looked around the Imaging Chamber as he and Al separated. "Is this really what this room looks like?" he asked Al.

Al looked around. The empty room resembled, more than anything else, the inside of a soup can; gray and featureless. "Yeah," Al said, "I've never needed anything left here and you always provided the color."

"Al, listen to me." Sam got very serious. "I can't tell you how I know this but a bomb is going to explode here in three days."

"In the Imaging Chamber?"

"No, in the Project!" Sam gave Al one of his 'get real' frowns. "We need to evacuate the facility ..."

"No, Sam, we can't. We can't leave the power plant on and unmanned."

"So turn it off." Sam offered.

"It takes too long to come back to full if we shut it down. Besides, there's a congressional finance contingent here to assess the project for continued funding. We can't afford to have ANYTHING look wrong." Al returned.

"So, what options does that leave us?" Sam wondered aloud. 'And are the congressional visit and the bomb related?' he added silently.

***************

Temporary HQ

"Sir, we got a partial on the phone trace." Ramsey said looking concerned. All the faces of the Backstep inner circle looked expectantly at him.

"Give it to me," Talmadge said.

"It's local to south central New Mexico and federally assigned." Ramsey gave the bad news.

"What's around?" John Ballard questioned. "Alamogordo?" he offered.

"Cannon Air Force Base?" Olga questioned.

Ramsey and Talmadge looked at each other. Simultaneously, they said, "Quantum Leap."

***************

Stallion's Gate

"O.K., Sam, tell me everything you know about this bomb." Al said.

"Well, I'll tell you everything I can. Ziggy," Sam called out to the computer, "you're not going to have any of this in your database so keep this out of the main library."

"Why won't Ziggy have this?" Al asked.

"Because I'm in the future," Sam answered with a certain smugness in his voice. "It really does work in both directions." he ended triumphantly.

"No, you're not." Al said.

"Sure I am," Sam countered. "I took my first leap in 1995 and now I've leaped into 2000. This is my future."

Al looked like he had a pain somewhere. "Sam," he said quietly, "Do you know how long ago that first leap was?"

Sam shook his head. "It couldn't have been that long ago," he protested. "Ziggy," Sam said to the computer, "how long has Project Quantum Leap been active?"

"Project Quantum Leap has been continually active since May 8th 1995, four years, eight months, twenty-nine days ago. I'm sorry Dr. Beckett." she finished.

Sam sank to the floor with the weight of this news. A minute or so later he looked over at Al sitting near enough to offer support but not enough to intrude.

"I've really been gone almost 5 years?" Sam needed Al's confirmation. Al studied his friend's face and slowly nodded. Sam threw his head into his hands and wept.

Al slowly got up and made his way toward the door. He spoke softly into the wristband that all Quantum Leap senior staff wore. After a confirming beep from Ziggy, Al went back to his friend's side, and waited.

CHAPTER 6

It was only because he was 'Isaac Mentnor' that Donna allowed Isaac access to level ten to see the Waiting Room and observe for himself the Guest within. She herself stood with her back to the one-way window. In five years she had never seen a Guest, although she'd seen Sam between leaps. Donna convinces herself that he is just sleeping when she sees him lying there, unmoving. Once, about two years ago, a leap occurred just as Donna was leaving and the Guest called out to her. Hearing Sam's voice, knowing it wasn't Sam, was devastating.

The waiting room, and its occupant, were usually tended to by members of Dr. Beeks psychiatric staff. Finding M.P.s at the door was very unusual but not unheard of. Finding armed M.P.s at the door was.

"What do you know about the current Guest?" Isaac inquired. The body of Sam Beckett was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rocking as if in an invisible rocking chair.

"I know nothing about him." Donna answered, "but Verbena Beeks will. She's our lead psychiatrist and keeps a profile on all our Guests."

"I'd like to meet her, if I may?" Isaac requested.

Donna tapped the band on her wrist. "Ziggy, where is Dr. Beeks?" she spoke to her wrist.

A moment went by and then Ziggy's soft alto replied, "Dr. Beeks is outside the Imaging Chamber with Admiral Calavicci."

"Sorry, Isaac, Verbena is unavailable now." Donna reported. "Why don't we go into the main Control Center? I'm sure Gooshie would love to show off his work."

'I guess he fixed the Imaging Chamber' Donna thought to herself.

***************

Verbena Beeks was seldom paged by Al Calavicci about occurrences during the leap. Her job focused mainly on the Guests. Verbena's supposition from the page alone, that the situation was truly horrible, was confirmed by the dead serious look on Al's face.

"What's up, boss?" she questioned.

"Circumstances made it necessary to tell Sam just how long he's been out there." Al said.

"That's contrary to all our established guidelines," Verbena began to berate Al.

"I know, I know, but I had to." Al defended himself. "He's overwhelmed by the news. I need something to say to him. He can't afford to lose focus where he is."

"Hanson Island," Verbena suggested. Al didn't contradict her.

"Let me come in and talk to him with you," Verbena offered beginning to key the entry code.

"NO, no," he raised his hand to the keypad and stilled her hand. Verbena stared at him. Al had never raised his voice to her, not in six years. Al tried another approach. "'Bena, please," his voice was calm and quiet. "I can't let you in the Imaging Chamber right now. It's too ... temperamental."

Verbena sighed, "O.K. Al. Remind Sam of all the good he's done, that it's been time well spent. Try to assess how much he is remembering about the Project and personnel, WITHOUT telling him anything he doesn't already know." Verbena warned Al.

Al nodded his agreement. "And one more thing, 'Bena."

"Yes?"

"Keep this under wraps for now, especially from Donna." Al requested. Verbena agreed.

****************

Al reentered the Imaging Chamber and found Sam had pulled himself together reasonably well. He was discussing the specifications of the bomb, it's placement below the power plant, and possible triggering mechanisms with Ziggy. The conversation stopped when Al came in.

"What?" Al asked.

"Uh ... just feeding the dull dry stuff to Ziggy," Sam said.

Al looked at the purposefully innocent looking face his friend was attempting and decided to let it go. "Can't we just disarm the thing?" Al asked.

Sam shook his head. "No, what would stop a second attempt if we did? Nothing. We have to catch the bomber."

"Dr. Beckett, did anyone come forward and claim responsibility?" Ziggy asked.

"No," Sam answered automatically, then caught the mystified look on Al's face. He decided to change tack. "Al, has Parker said anything useful?" Sam asked him.

"Huh?" Al was chewing over the past tense in Ziggy's question. "Parker is a nut job. He went on about being attached to the NSA," Al said dismissively. "Anyway he ... I mean you are supposed to be in chains on Hanson Island. Wadjado, break out?"

"No, I didn't break out," Sam replied indignantly. "Parker IS with the NSA. There are … a bunch of things that you're just going to have to take on faith, Buddy. I can't tell you why, your security clearance isn't high enough."

"My security clearance isn't high enough?" Now Al was indignant.

"Well, I could tell you ..."

"Aha!" Al interrupted.

"But then I'd have to kill you." Sam finished. Sam wasn't smiling at the old joke.

O.K." Al agreed disgruntled. "So now how do we proceed, Mr. NSA?"

"Let me handle the bomber. I'll let you know where the bomb is so you can have it disarmed. In the meantime, go on as usual." Sam proposed.

"What should I do with Parker?"

"Try to get information on the particulars of the day the bomb went ... will go off. He may know something I don't."

"And after you catch the bomber you leap out of here, right." Al said.

"Right, oh and Al, Frank Parker is a unique person. I've read some of his personal journal..."

"You read his Personal Journal? Tsk, Tsk," Al teased Sam.

"I had no choice, you weren't there to tell me anything." Sam protested.Al just smiled at him.

"What I was going to say was, he reminds me a lot of someone I know. You should check him out." Sam recommended to Al.

"Dr. Beckett?" Ziggy interrupted.

"Yes, Ziggy."

"There is another alternative."

"Another alternative?" Al questioned.

"Dr. Beckett, you presently exist within the normal time frame. You could allow the bomb to explode and remain here. You are home."

*******************

Donna Elesee and Isaac Mentnor entered the Control Center as if the pair were taking a casual stroll through a park rather than a tour through a high tech secret government time experiment. Isaac was chatting on about his granddaughter Rebecca in Nevada.

"I can see that she's just the light of your life, Isaac." Donna said. "She's nine already. I remember when we got her birth announcement in the mail." Turning her attention to the bespectacled man in the room she said, "Have you made any progress with the Imaging Chamber, Gooshie?"

"Not much, I'm afraid." Gooshie replied as Verbena Beeks entered the Control Center from the opposite side of the room.

"Don't worry about it," Donna consoled the programmer, "It's doing what it's supposed to do." Gooshie looked at her in surprise. "Read section 58 lines 483 through 501," she told him, "in FORTRAN." Gooshie gave her a look of sudden comprehension. Practically all of Ziggy's programming was written in Sam Beckett's original machine language.

"Dr. Irving Gershowitz, Dr. Isaac Mentnor," she introduced the two men.

"Pleasure to meet you"

"Always nice to meet a friend of Dr. Elesee's" they exchanged pleasantries.

Signaling to Verbena, Donna continued the introductions, "And this is our lead psychiatrist, Verbena Beeks. Verbena, Isaac Mentnor."

"Very pleased to meet you, Dr. Mentnor," Verbena said casually.

"And me you, Dr. Beeks."

"I'm sure Dr. Elesee has everything well in hand here," Verbena said, "so if you'll please excuse me I have to check on our Guest."

"Something I need to know about?" Donna inquired.

"Al is with Sam and needs some general info. It's nothing major." Verbena said. She hates it when she has to lie to Donna, but there are some things better left unsaid. "But the Admiral is going to be tied up for a while," Verbena concluded as she left.

"There's not much more to see here, Isaac. Shall we continue on?" Donna suggested as she led him verbally and physically from the room.

*******************

"Dr. Beckett, you presently exist within the normal time frame. You could allow the bomb to explode and remain here. You are home," Ziggy said. A minute or two went by while the men considered what the Artificial Intelligence had stated.

"But this is not my body," Sam said. "What about Frank Parker? He does have a life."

"Maybe he'll agree to switch places," Al suggested, grasping at straws.

"I can't ask him to do that." Sam stated.

"I could," Al offered.

"No." Sam gave his friend an exasperated look.

"Ziggy, what are the odds of leaping back to my own body next time?" Sam asked his brainchild. "No, never mind. I don't want to know. Is the hallway clear?" Sam asked consulting his watch.

"The corridor outside the Imaging Chamber is unoccupied."

"I'm going to be missed soon." Sam said to Al. " Ziggy, door please."

The friends walked though the Imaging Chamber door together. Just past the threshold, the face of Frank Parker returned on the man Al now knew to be Sam Beckett.

"How am I going to get a hold of you?" Al wondered.

A wicked grin spread over Sam's face. "Al, there's this great new invention. You might have heard of it. It's called the telephone."

**********************

Having completed his reconnaissance in the parking facility, Craig Donovan began making his way back to the central meeting area. Frank and Isaac should be there in 20 minutes if they had timed this out right. Directionally impaired is not a term usually applied to Donovan but the tunnels and catacombs at Quantum Leap could confuse even the most experienced navigator. With all the back and side tracking he had to do to avoid detection, Donovan found himself in a hallway on a level he didn't expect. Crouched behind a desk at what appeared to be a checkpoint, he was across from a doorway. A doorway guarded by armed MPs. Wondering what that was about, Craig began to leave when he heard voices and footsteps coming up the hall. Staying in one spot seemed the most prudent course of action.

"... pacing like an angry cat," the male voice said. He was an Asian in his mid twenties, wearing casual clothes and a lab coat.

"Angry? I'll bet he is. I'd be in his place, wouldn't you?" a female voice asked. She was an African-American in her early thirties. Dressed similarly to the man, she carried a clipboard that she appeared to be studying. "I'm going in to talk to him."

The Asian looked concerned. "Dr. Beeks, are you sure that's wise? Maybe he will respond better to a male?" he questioned.

Dr. Beeks looked at her newest nurse with a bizarre mix of anger and amusement on her face. "You don't need to protect me, Nurse Ohara. I can do that just fine myself. Besides, I need to show that SOB that he didn't hurt me this morning," she finished ruefully.

As she was speaking she turned to face Ohara and Donovan could see her face clearly. She was beautiful in an un-obvious way, flawless skin, high cheekbones and incredibly serene eyes. Her body language spoke of a polished professional with a generous heart. Donovan wished he weren't in the middle of a covert operation.

"Open it up," Dr. Beeks ordered the M.P. on duty. He pushed a code into a pad on the wall and the door slid up into the ceiling. Donovan looked past Beeks to the interior of the room. He saw a man in his early forties, about six feet tall with sandy brown hair and very tense posture.

"Have you quite recovered from your adventure this morning?" Beeks was saying as she walked into the Waiting Room. Frank Parker wasn't listening to her. Instead he was staring past her into the hall. There was someone trying to hide behind that desk and it looked like ...

"Donovan!" Frank yelled. "Craig Donovan! Help me! Get me out of here!" he continued to yell as he rushed toward the door. This time Verbena Beeks was ready for him. She quickly took him down with a knee to the groin followed by a large syringe full of tranquilizers.

Donovan took off down the corridor to the nearest stairwell. The M.P.s were too busy assisting Dr. Beeks to follow him. His mind was moving even faster than his body with a thousand questions. Who was that guy? Why was he in a guarded room? And how did he recognize me, even use my first name? Craig promised himself answers to these questions later.

****************

Al Calavicci and Sam Beckett were headed to the main elevator shaft when they heard the commotion coming from the Waiting Room. The M.P.s were placing the still struggling Frank Parker in bed and in restraints. Al watched his friend's face as Sam witnessed his body being tied down to the bed. Sam looked sad and angry at the treatment he saw. Despite this he assured the Observer that he understood.

"Parker isn't taking this well." It wasn't a question. "I'm not surprised, given what I've read in his file and his journal," Sam commented.

"This is very uncommon for a Guest," Al rushed to defend his staff's actions.

"I know." Sam admitted softly. "Still..."

"We'll take it easy on him," Al agreed to the unspoken request. They continued to watch a moment more then continued on to the exit.

"Here," Sam said as he thrust a business card into Al's hand.

"What's this?"

"The phone number of the hotel I'm staying in."

"Thanks. Hey listen, there's a reception for the congressional committee on Wednesday evening." Al remembered. "If you need to get back into Stallion's Gate that would be the night to do it."

"I'll remember that." Sam truly appreciated his friendship with Al now. The elevator slowed on its approach to the main entry point. The doors opened and Al began to walk out. Sam stopped him. "I don't think we should be seen together just now." Sam warned.

Al conceded the point. "I just hate to see you out there alone." he told Sam.

"I'm not." Sam assured him and he went out to meet up with Mentnor and Donovan.

CHAPTER 7

Socorro

The trio rode back to the makeshift Backstep offices in Socorro in silence. This was S.O.P. for a reconnaissance mission, each man would be debriefed separately so as not to contaminate each other's data. Then after the data was reviewed, all parties would come together to come up with a battle plan. On arrival, they were met by a very apprehensive looking Bradley Talmadge.

"We may have a bigger problem," he said to Isaac Mentnor as he escorted the doctor away to the pseudo-briefing room. Donovan went off with a laptop to type his notes from the mission. Sam waited for some clue as to where to go next. Olga Vukovitch and Nathan Ramsey strode up to him less than a minute later.

"What was Quantum Leap like, Mr. Parker?" Olga wanted to know.

"Later," Ramsey cut her off. "Did you get everything we need about the power plant or is this going to be another in the famous Parker screw-ups?" he challenged Sam.

"I got it, Ramsey," Sam responded neutrally. He was still unsure of the interpersonal dynamics of this group.

"Does this debriefing have to be confrontational?" Olga quickly intervened.

Sam picked up on her unintentional cue. "Not if Ramsey doesn't start with me," he growled.

"Good. Let us proceed then." And the group went off to an unoccupied office where Sam provided the dimensions; power source and other crucial information needed about the power system at Quantum Leap that he had gotten from Ziggy while alone with the super-computer in the Imaging Chamber.

Stallion's Gate

Telling Sam about the reception on Wednesday reminded Al that all this finance committee business had created a two-foot high stack of paperwork on his desk that he HAD to do. He placed a soft jazz CD on and settled down at his desk to play paper jockey. After whittling the paper stack down to just above three inches, the admiral paused for a stretch.

Tapping lightly at the keyboard on his desk he checked on all the vital functions and personnel at the Project before calling it a night. Drs. Elesee and Beeks had signed out for the evening and the Guest was being seen to by Matthew Davis, the project's relief psychiatrist. As for the Guest, Parker was doing an admirable job of looking distracted and disinterested while keeping totally aware of everything going on around him.

Gooshie had ordered food from the mediocre Chinese/Mexican restaurant in Bingham with the atrocious name of Casa Pagoda and was eating in front of his laptop. The growling of Al's stomach prompted him to glance at the clock on his desk. 1830, no wonder he was hungry! Lastly, but most assuredly not least to Al, Tina Martinez-O'Farrell had returned at 1650 and was in her quarters. After turning off the lights, Admiral Calavicci headed to Tina's to ask her to join him for dinner.

********************

HQ

The Backstep personnel met for a strategy meeting later that evening.

"Between the specifics Frank and Craig brought back of the spider's web of corridors within Stallion's Gate, the access ways to and from the primary bomb location and the power core," Talmadge paused and nodded his thanks to the two men, "Nate and I have developed an attack plan." Turning to the wheeled chalkboard at the front of the room he continued. "The car containing the primary explosive was parked in one of these spaces." Talmadge indicated three spaces to each side of the internal door of the complex. "These two," he said pointing to the two spaces closest to the right of the door, "are our most likely targets. They are guest spaces. This one," indicating the next space on the right, "is designated for Admiral Calavicci. The three on the left are similarly designated for senior Quantum Leap staffers Drs. Beeks, Gershowitz and Elesee."

Donovan slapped Sam lightly on the arm to get his attention. He mouthed, "Elesee? the ice princess" and grinned widely at his buddy. Sam just frowned at him.

Nate Ramsey had taken the floor. "Bradley and I are taking a small squad over to Stallion's Gate in the morning, unannounced, to pay a visit and officially inform Admiral Calavicci about the bomb threat. Donovan, we want you to come with us. The plan is to get Calavicci to accept our men into the security detail over there. While we are there we'll have the perfect opportunity to search the place for the source of the phone call."

"What phone call?" Sam asked.

"While we were in transit this morning Bradley got a phone call from 'Conundrum'," Isaac answered.

"Conundrum?" Sam questioned. "Why do you think it came from Quantum Leap?"

"We traced it as far as we could. The exchange leads back to Stallion's Gate," Ramsey answered hotly.

"Why don't I go with you," Sam offered trying to sound nonchalant.

"No," John Ballard said. "I'd like you here, Frank, to look closer at the..." he faltered. Ballard is a lousy liar.

"The power plant," Olga finished rapidly for him. "You were there and can be a big help in working out a plan to shut it down if we need to." She smiled disarmingly at him.

Sam realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with this group so he let it drop. He listened intently to the rest of the meeting, making mental notes on the raid so he could call and warn Al as soon as he could get away.

Stallion's Gate

Tina and Al's on-again, off-again relationship was currently on and running smoothly for a change. Tina had anticipated Al's mood; she knew how much he hated the rigmarole of proving the need for continued funding. She wore her lavender cashmere sweater-dress with the plunging neckline, kept the lights low and the conversation light.

"Al, honey, I want to thank you again for giving me the day off. Dee and I had a wonderful time in Socorro."

"How is Delilah?" Al asked not so much because he wanted to know about Tina's sister but in order to keep Tina talking. The combination of her lightly nasal voice and the view across the table were working wonders at keeping the stress of the day at bay.

"Still dating that boss of hers, you know, the married one. No matter what I say she won't listen. Al honey, you should have heard her, 'But Tee, he can't leave his wife now. It's an election year and his platform is all about family values.'" Tina rolled her eyes. "Honestly it's enough to make you cry."

Al chuckled at Tina's impersonation of Delilah. If Tina was the perfect combination of brains and bimbo (and she was) then Delilah was truly 100% bimbo. Al had met her only once, several years ago. Delilah had been the cause of one of the couple's off-again times.

"So, where did you girls go after lunch?" he asked.

"Shopping of course, silly you," Tina teased her paramour. "I got the perfect dress for the party on Wednesday. It's scarlet red with ... No, I won't tell you." Tina decided mid-sentence. "You'll just have to wait and see," she said slowly, her eyes promising that the wait would be worth it.

The couple rose from the table, carrying their wine glasses with them to the well-hidden balcony. They stood together looking up at the starlit sky, Tina leaning back against Al's chest, his arms surrounding her. They treasured moments like this. They were so rare. Afraid to spoil the mood, Tina hesitantly inquired about Al's day.

"The most important thing about today," he said kissing her neck, "is that it's over." He kissed her neck on the other side.

"Oh no," Tina replied huskily, "This is far from over." She turned to face her man. He held her close as the two, kissing, slid to the floor to make love.

*************

Socorro

Getting a moment alone to call Al was a lot harder that Sam had thought. As Parker, he was always escorted by 'Salt and Pepper' as Frank had named them in his journal. He had tried to get out to a pay phone. No dice. He went to the hotel bar and tried to slip out through a bathroom window. No luck. His only recourse was to hope that the phone in his room wasn't bugged. Using the phone in his room was tricky, too. Craig Donovan was already there, reading a local newspaper.

"Hey, Frank," Donovan greeted him.

"Ah, hi," Sam returned. Donovan had laid claim to the bed nearest the door so Sam pulled the small duffel he had packed Frank's clothes in onto the inner bed and began pulling toiletries out of it. Donovan watched his every move from behind the sports section.

"What?!" Sam demanded.

"Did everything go O.K. in the sphere?" Donovan asked. "You've been ... I can't put my finger on it ... just different, man. You know, like it's not really you."

Sam thought fast. "And who am I?" he challenged good-naturedly. Sam picked up an air guitar and struck a pose. "Elvis returned from the grave?" He offered a bad imitation.

Donovan laughed. "Never mind." Putting the paper down, he got off the bed and headed for the bathroom saying, "I'm going to shower unless you need..."

"No, I'm fine. Go ahead." Sam answered, releasing the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He waited for the sound of the shower running. Then he picked up the phone and dialed the number Ziggy had made him memorize earlier. The voice mail system announced an innocuous fictitious company name and began to recite a list of names and extensions. Sam hit the combination to Al's office and waited. Ziggy's voice answered with the message that the Admiral was unreachable at this time. Sam entered the bypass code.

"Good evening, Dr. Beckett." Ziggy said.

Sam quickly relayed all the information on the raid and the 'Conundrum call' to the Artificial Intelligence with instructions to deliver it to Al as soon as possible. He went further telling Ziggy to allow the Admiral access to all files on Frank Parker and Isaac Mentnor that were available. He was just hanging up the receiver when the door to the bathroom opened and Craig Donovan, wet and wearing a towel, stepped out.

"What was that?" Donovan demanded.

"What was what?" Sam responded, trying to sound innocent.

"Who were you on the phone with, Frank?"

"No one." Sam recalled the name of Frank's estranged son, "I ... I thought about calling Jimmy and then ... realized the time difference, so I hung up." Sam finished sounding, he hoped, sad.

Donovan looked chagrined. "Sorry I jumped on you. Ramsey has us all seeing spooks everywhere since that 'conundrum' call today." he explained.

Sam smiled. "Please, no, not Ramsey," he said in false horror. Which sent Craig Donovan laughing back into the bathroom to get dressed for bed.

Feeling that he had dodged a bullet, Sam started to get ready for bed. He pawed through the duffel twice looking for pajamas and came up empty. He figured that he had simply forgotten them since he packed half asleep. He was starting to do a third duffel search when Craig returned to the room.

"Bathroom's free if you want it," he casually offered. Sam picked up his toothbrush and paste and headed off to the bathroom. "Frank?" Craig called after him. Sam turned around to face the other man. "I'm turning in," Craig continued, "try to sing softly in the shower, will ya?"

"I ...ah... I'm gonna shower in the morning," Sam said. "I know you have to get up and out early in the morning." Seeing surprise on Donovan's face, Sam followed that with, "and besides, I know what a fan you are of my musical talents," as he closed the bathroom door behind him.

Stallion's Gate

Frank Parker returned to consciousness slowly. He was in a dimly lit room and in restraints. Temporarily, he thought he was back at Hanson Island but the room smelled to clean for that. As memory returned, his conflicting thoughts of 'that bitch' and 'good on her' about Verbena Beeks were uppermost in his mind. He wouldn't underestimate the psychiatrist again. What the hell had Donovan been doing here at Stallion's Gate? Stallion's Gate? Why did that ring a bell? Frank heard the sound of the door opening and someone entered the room. As the lights came up a bit, footsteps approached his bed; heavy male sounding footsteps.

"Mr. Parker?" A baritone voice spoke near his head. He decided to feign unconsciousness and ignore the man. The footsteps retreated and the lights dimmed again. Frank waited. He wasn't sure for what yet.

*******************

Socorro

Olga Vukovitch and John Ballard were more than colleagues and collaborators on the Backstep Project; they were friends. It was not unusual to find the pair together with a pot of tea, exchanging light pleasantries and winding down at the end of the day. At the end of this day, they were having their tea in Dr. Ballard's hotel room and the conversation was not light pleasantries. Their topic this evening was Frank B. Parker.

"I wish I knew more about what happened in the previous timeline," Olga was saying.

"I checked the sphere out top to bottom after you pulled Frank out," John said. "The only unusual findings were an uncharacteristic lack of damage and the abrupt change in cardiac telemetry on landing. Neither of which explains the personality changes we've seen in the last 24 hours."

"Were you watching his face when he was told he had to stay here in the morning?" Olga asked.

"The poorly feigned nonchalance?"

Olga nodded.

"That is just the latest example of Frank's 'tough guy/I don't care' mask slipping. His attitude change," John went on, "it all started with losing consciousness on landing.

"Then not flinching at all during his post-flight exam. And," Olga just realized, "he's not used my first name, not once. Frank usually calls me Olga unless he's angry with me."

"Craig's noticed too. He told me Frank straightened up his quarters before leaving this morning. He's even been civil to Nate." John said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't exactly say civil," Olga responded, "but certainly more restrained. His language has been a lot less colorful. During our run this morning, he slid on some loose stones..."

"Sure footed Frank?"

"Yes, but not one curse word crossed his lips." Olga finished.

"Something is definitely going on with him." John concluded.

"I just wish I knew what it was," Olga said exasperated.

"You'll spend more time with him tomorrow," John said. "I'm sure we'll figure it out," he reassured her.

"I guess you're right," she said unconvinced. She rose to leave as she wished John, "Sweet dreams. See you in the morning.

CHAPTER 8

Tuesday, February 8, 2000
Stallion's Gate

Al Calavicci gently disentangled himself from the still sleeping Tina Martinez-O'Farrell. He'd been awake for about an hour, a question gnawing at him. What did Sam mean when he said to "check out Parker"? He had checked out Parker, asked Ziggy for everything it could find on him and came up with precious little. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand: 0430. Knowing he wouldn't sleep any more this night, Al put his clothes on and throwing a silent kiss from the door at Tina, returned to his own quarters for a shower, shave and fresh clothes.

0500 found Al booting up a PC workstation and logging in to 'Ziggynet' as Tina had aptly named the Quantum Leap computer network. He looked up from the monitor and surveyed the office he sat in. He hadn't been in this office for several years. He usually felt like an interloper in Sam Beckett's office. However, this morning, for this purpose, it seemed appropriate.

The shelves were lined with books on diverse subjects such as Computer Technology, Physics, Archeology and Elvis Presley. On the wall a photograph of the teen-aged Sam Beckett, wearing a tuxedo and standing in front of a grand piano was almost lost among the myriad of diplomas that were framed and hung despite their owner's protest. On the desk, neat stacks of papers and books semi-hid two other personal items: a photo of Sam and Al taken in front of the Star Bright laboratory and a formal photograph of Donna Elesee, radiant in her wedding gown.

A soft chime from the computer reclaimed his attention. The log on process was complete and his message icon was flashing. He clicked on the flasher first. Instantly the NSA planned raid on Stallion's Gate was laid out in front of him. Ziggy had even calculated possible outcomes based on what and/or whom the NSA found on the premises. The Admiral read through the information and chose his course of action. The clock read 0505. Al sent a wake-up call and urgent, 0600 meeting notice to all senior staffers via Ziggynet. He decided to use his pre-meeting time productively by researching Frank Parker as Sam had suggested.

The old song "What a Difference a Day Makes" came to Al's mind as page after page of personal information on Francis B. Parker rolled across the monitor screen. Birth records, school records, military records, marriage license, divorce decree, even some medical records flowed from the computer. The volume of the information was so outrageous that the admiral opened a voice link to Ziggy to confirm what he had on his screen. The Artificial Intelligence confirmed that the entire file was indeed on the Francis B. Parker that was in the Waiting Room. In response to Al's question as to why none of this was available the previous day Ziggy replied that only Dr. Beckett could approve access to "time sensitive data" and he did so at 2200 yesterday. Al pondered for a moment on the Artificial Intelligence's incontrovertible loyalty to Sam and then set about the task at hand.

HQ - Socorro

At 0530 the Backstep strike team assembled for breakfast and a final briefing. Bradley Talmadge allowed Nate Ramsey the lead in outlining the tactical strategy. For Bradley Talmadge, this was the opportunity to officially notify Project Quantum Leap of the bomb threat and offer N.S.A. help to Admiral Calavicci. Ramsey deployed 3 man teams to search the offices, work areas and personnel quarters at Stallion's Gate. Officially, their objective was to locate any existing bomb. Their real objective was twofold: 1. locate the possible origination of the "Conundrum" call and 2. gain any and all information on the man who called out Donovan's name. They would move out at 0600.

Stallion's Gate

0530 found Admiral Calavicci sitting in front of the computer monitor in Sam Beckett's office.

He was totally floored at the similarities between Frank Parker's life and his own. Both men had been orphaned early and placed in the care of social services. Both ran away as teens to make their lives on the street. Al turned to show business; Frank had several soft brushes with the law before each man joined the Navy. Both had fought on foreign soil and been P.O.W.'s, which in both cases ultimately cost the men their marriages. 'Parker was lucky enough to have a son,' Al thought, slightly jealous. Frank Parker was now in his life where Al Calavicci had been thirty years ago, and Al remembered it all to well. The question that had awakened him two hours ago now had an answer. Parker reminded Sam of Al.

A soft knock on the open office door derailed Al's train of thought. Donna Elesee stood in the doorway.

"I was on my way to the meeting you called and saw the light on." she said surprised.

Al suddenly felt very guilty. He turned off the monitor. "Sorry I'm using Sam's off...." he began.

Donna walked over to the desk Al sat at. "Why are you sorry? It's a logical place to go when you're thinking about him." Al looked very uncomfortable. "I've been thinking a lot about him in the last day or so myself," Donna continued. She picked up the picture of Al and Sam at Star Bright and smiled at the two faces in it. "You know, Sam and I met before you introduced us at Star Bright."

It was the admiral's turn to be surprised. "You did?"

"When I was interviewing for colleges my senior year of high school," Donna said.

"You went to Sarah Lawrence undergrad," Al said.

"Yes," Donna replied, "But I also interviewed at M.I.T. There I met a grad student in a professor's office."

"Sam Beckett?"

Donna nodded, looking lost in the memory for a moment. "He was just slightly older than I was but a Grad Student. That's when I figured I'd never make it at M.I.T. Besides, I liked Lawrence. I was reminded of that yesterday. Someone," she gave a nervous laugh, "someone handed me the same pickup line Sam gave me in Dr. Mentnor's office."

"I hope you handed it back," Al said quickly, his paternal instinct alerted.

"Of course" she said lightly. Her own family was far away, so Donna appreciated the way Al looked out for her.

"Did you say Dr. Mentnor?" Al questioned.

"Yes, Isaac Mentnor. Why?"

"Just a name that came up recently," Al tried to close the conversation. Donna's questioning eyes wouldn't let it go. "Ziggy's been researching papers written on time travel other than Sam's." Al thought the explanation was weak but Donna accepted it.

Looking again at the picture in her hand, Donna said, "I don't think Sam ever remembered that meeting. It was so brief and so long before Star Bright." She took a deep cleansing breath and changed the subject. "So what are you working on?" she questioned Al, replacing the photograph on the desk.

"Some research on the current Guest," Al answered truthfully. He saved the Parker file in a password-protected program and glanced at the desk clock, 0548. "Want to grab some coffee to take to the meeting?"

"Why Admiral," Donna adopted a 'southern belle' accent, "I thought you'd never ask." she teased. Al shut down the workstation and escorted Donna to the meeting room.

****************

Socorro

Nate Ramsey caught up with John Ballard just before leaving for Stallion's Gate. "Keep a close eye on Parker, will ya, John? He's been acting weirder than usual."

"How so?" asked Ballard.

Nate pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and offered it to John. "This is the surveillance report on Parker for the last 24 hours before we left Nevada. He spent all night that night reviewing mission logs and personnel files. There," he pointed to a spot on the page, "he was observed having a very animated conversation with thin air just after 0500."

"Frank's always talked to himself." John observed.

"This was different. He usually doesn't usually wait for replies in his 'stream of consciousness' verbal diarrhea. He did last night." A beep of a horn interrupted the conversation. "I gotta go, John. Just think about it," Ramsey finished as he ran over to the waiting humvee.

Stallion's Gate

At 0600, as the convoy lead by Talmadge left Socorro, Al began the hardest staff meeting Project Quantum Leap had seen. Senior staffers present included Verbena, Gooshie, Tina, Donna and Jim Reed, who was the commander of Quantum Leap's security staff of Marines.

"We are about to get a visit from the N.S.A." Al began. "During the little stroll our Guest took yesterday, he placed a phone call to them which has been traced to Stallion's Gate. They will be here in approximately 30 minutes and we need to be ready for them."

"What do you need, Admiral?" asked Reed.

"Jim, alert the men to the situation and arrange for a congenial welcome. I don't want the N.S.A. to know that we know." Al dismissed the commander to attend to his men. "I'll have to blow off that meeting in Alamagordo..." he continued.

"No problem, I'll take it," Donna offered. "The bureaucrats will have to do with me in your place."

"Good, Donna. Thanks. It's at 10 and Ziggy has the outline of the presentation." Al said. Turning his attention to the two computer experts he said, "Gooshie and Tina, I need you two to 'disappear' all the data on the current leap including all information on our Guest. I realize in my absence you would usually take the reins, Gooshie but I need someone who really 'reads people' well to handle the N.S.A. Verbena, that's you." All three nodded their agreement.

"What do you mean in your absence? Where are you going if I'm taking the Alamagordo meeting?" Donna wanted to know.

"We can't have our Guest questioned, it would endanger Sam. I'm taking him off premises."

Loud protests arose from all the Quantum Leap staffers. "Admiral, I don't think that a good idea." "Why don't we just sedate him again?" "Al honey, he's dangerous." Al raised his hands to quiet everyone down.

Verbena asked, "Why are you taking Mr. ..."

"The Guest" Al quickly corrected her. The less people who knew Parker's name, the better.

"The Guest off grounds?" Verbena finished her question.

"I don't want to keep drugging him. I need a chance to find out a few things about him and I think I can catch more flies with honey." Al answered. "No more protests, we don't have time."

Gooshie stood up. "Admiral, if we're going to arrange a little amnesia for Ziggy, Tina and I better start."

"Good, go," Al waved them out of the room.

"I've got to change if I'm going to meet with Congressmen." Donna stated, regarding her casual attire. She started to leave the room.

"Wait a minute." Al requested. Then he turned to Verbena and said, "Would you see that our Guest is awake and dressed? I will be in to talk to him in a couple of minutes."

"Sure," Verbena said as she left the room.

"This nozzle who hit on you, he wasn't one of the congressmen, was he?" Al asked Donna.

"No, it wasn't a congressman," Donna smiled broadly at him. "It was someone with my old professor, Isaac Mentnor. A guy named Parker, Frank Parker."

Al began to smile and stopped himself. "Good, I didn't want to send you across the state to an over-amorous bureaucrat," he said to Donna as they left the meeting room to head in opposite directions.

**************

Frank looked to see who was coming through the door of his featureless room. He smiled when he saw Verbena with an armful of clothes. She was followed by an armed marine.

"Oh, good. Day shift is back," Frank greeted Verbena. "Your night replacement is nowhere near as pretty as you are, Doctor."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Mister Parker."

Frank winced at the formal name. Damn, he missed Olga.

"Parker!?" Verbena called his attention back.

"What?"

"Let's call a truce and we can let this Marine go on with his day. You don't push past me anymore and I won't kick you again. Deal?" Verbena offered her hand.

"Deal" Frank agreed and shook her hand.

"Good," Verbena said and told the guard to wait outside for Admiral Calavicci. After he left, she offered the clothes to Frank. "Here, you could probably use a change by now." She touched some buttons on her wristband and a small screen rose from the floor allowing for a private dressing area in the far corner.

"Thanks," Frank grunted as he took the clothes and went behind the screen to change. He had gotten the pants on when he heard Admiral Calavicci enter the room.

"Where is … oh, there you are." Al spoke as Frank appeared from behind the screen, shirt still in his hand. "Good, you're dressed."

"Almost" Frank responded as he pulled on a vintage 'Jimmy Hendrix' T-shirt.

Al was feeling every tick of the clock although he was trying not to appear rushed. "You caused a lot of problems for us by calling you friends at the N.S.A." he began.

"I did?" Frank barely tried for innocence.

"Don't play now, Parker. It's time for the truth." Al's anxiety was beginning to get the better of him.

"Truth would be refreshing," Frank challenged.

v Verbena jumped into the conversation. "What's with the attitude?" she directed at Frank.

Al waved her off. "Ignore it, 'Bena." Then he turned his attention back to Frank. "I need to know what you know about the bomb..."

"BOMB!" came from an astonished Verbena.

" ... And what you remember about where you are." Al finished, ignoring Verbena for the moment.

Frank thought this over for a moment. "And in return?" he questioned.

"I tell you the truth, too." Al stared through Sam's aura directly at Frank as he spoke.

Verbena was shocked at the number of his own rules Al was breaking. She moved to his side and touched him lightly on the arm. "Admiral?"

Al looked at his watch in response and said, "We're running out of time."

Frank watched this exchange and the realization of how much Calavicci was putting on the line became clear. He directed his statement directly at Al. "I'm at Project Quantum Leap."

Al nodded, waiting for Frank to continue and Dr. Beeks to pick her jaw up off the floor.

Frank continued, "It's a time travel project lead by Dr. Sam Beckett."

Now Verbena had to speak up. "How do you know all this?" she asked Frank.

Simultaneously Al and Frank answered her. "It's history." Frank said. "Later, I promise, 'Bena" came from Al.

Frank returned his attention to Al. "It's not February tenth yet is it?"

"No, it's the eighth."

Frank breathed a slight sigh of relief. "In the early morning of February tenth, a bomb is going to explode, destroying this facility and killing everyone in it."

"I know," responded Al softly.

Verbena had had enough of being ignored. "Admiral?!?"

Al turned his attention to her. "That's the official reason the N.S.A. team is coming today. The real reason is to look for him. Yesterday he made two separate contacts with N.S.A. members." Al took his friend's hand in his. "Sam is working on this from his side."

"So he," Verbena nodded at Frank, "has to disappear." Al nodded. "I have some notes to shred," Verbena said and walked out of the room.

Nothing makes Frank Parker more nervous than being spoken about in the third party in his presence. The word 'disappear' didn't reassure him either.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"You and I are going on a field trip," Al said. Seeing resistance in Frank's eyes he opened his jacket enough to reveal the Taser strapped under his left arm. "I'd rather not carry you out but I will if have to."

Frank decided to play it cool. He wouldn't believe the Admiral would murder him and Tasers weren't lethal. "No problem as long as you take me somewhere I can get a good cup of coffee," he promised Al.

"You have a deal," Al said. "Let's go." Al led Frank through the corridors of Quantum Leap, up the main elevator and to the parking level. Frank couldn't help but notice the stares and smiles that people flashed as he walked by. The pair stopped just before exiting the facility. Al touched a series of buttons on his wristband and waited.

"The parking facility is empty but I estimate arrival by the N.S.A. team in five minutes, Admiral." Ziggy's alto responded.

Al touched the wristband in acknowledgment and motioned Frank out the door. The men went to a vintage fire engine red Thunderbird convertible.

"Nice car," Frank observed.

"Thanks, get in." Al responded. The engine roared to life and as the car approached the checkpoint, the Gate swung open. The two guards at full attention who saluted as they drove past amused Frank.

Al swung the around the far side of Stallion's Gate and headed off into the desert. He wanted to avoid the road until he was sure the N.S.A. had arrived. A few moments later, the onboard link to Ziggynet beeped. Talmadge and his band had arrived at Quantum Leap. Now it was time to fulfill his end of the bargain with Parker.

"Frank? I can call you that, right?" he questioned.

"As long as you don't call me late for dinner," Frank responded with the punch line of an old joke.

"Did your Intell say anything about how Dr. Beckett travels in time?"

"By switching places with someone in that particular time frame." Frank answered. "Why?"

Al stopped the car. He reached across Frank and pulled down the passenger side visor. "Frank, meet Sam Beckett," he said as he brought his hand off the mirror on the inside.

"Holy Shit!" The phrase was out of Frank's mouth as he did a double take at the reflection in the mirror. Gone was the face Frank had gotten used to in the last 32 years. A slightly older man, one with light eyes and sandy brown hair had replaced it. 'Aging Surfer' was the description that came to Frank's mind. He looked over at Calavicci who was studying his reaction with a practiced eye. "This is crazy!" Frank finally said. He watched the face in the mirror say it too.

"That it is, Frank. That it is." said Al. Satisfied that Frank wasn't going to flip out on him; Al put the car back in gear and headed off into the sunrise.

Socorro

Just after Craig left the room in the morning, Sam got out of bed and began his day. After dressing in running shorts and a T-shirt, he called Ziggy for an update. Ziggy informed him that Al had received and acted on his warning. The N.S.A. would find nothing of concern at Stallion's Gate. Relieved, Sam went to find Olga to invite her to run with him. He couldn't afford to raise her suspicions by acting too 'out of character's for Frank Parker.

Isaac Mentnor and John Ballard were finishing a discussion on opera over coffee when they saw Olga and 'Frank' return from their morning run. They promised the runners they would keep the table and wait for them.

It was then that John remembered what Nate had said about Frank and brought it to Isaac's attention.

"It's funny that Nate mentioned this because Olga and I are concerned about Frank, too. How was he yesterday at Quantum Leap?" John questioned.

Isaac shrugged his shoulders. "Typical Parker. He tried to pick up my former student. What was it that raised your concerns?" Isaac was working on his own theory about the change in Parker's behavior.

John filled Isaac in on the conversation he and Olga had had the previous evening citing the lack of profanity, the formality with Olga and the over interest in Quantum Leap. He showed Isaac the transcript Nate had given him. The review of the mission logs and animated conversation with himself the night following the backstep were of intense interest to Isaac and lent themselves well to his theory. However, until he had more proof, Isaac wasn't quite ready to share this theory with his colleague.

************

Stallion's Gate

Bradley Talmadge and Nate Ramsey made first contact at Stallion's Gate by asking to see Admiral Calavicci. After being told that the Admiral was off premises, Bradley asked to speak to the highest-ranking member of the Project. Verbena greeted the NSA team like honored guests. Quickly Bradley informed the good doctor that the government had received a threat against Project Quantum Leap and had dispatched Ramsey and his team to locate and disable the explosive. Verbena reacted reasonable shocked at the prospect of anyone wanting to destroy all of Dr. Beckett's hard work. She granted access to Ramsey's team with the proviso that a QL M.P. accompanied each of the search groups to "act as a guide through the maze of internal corridors and unlock any necessary doors". Ramsey had no choice but to agree.

******************

Donna Elesee, now dressed like a university lecturer, placed the printed copy of Al's speech in her briefcase. She stopped at the Control Center before she left for Alamagordo. Gooshie and Tina had downloaded all the current leap data onto Gooshie's laptop and then purged Ziggy's memory. They were musing about where to stash the laptop when she entered the room. Feeling that 'off-premises' was the safest, Donna volunteered to take the laptop to Alamagordo with her. Neither techie could see any reason not to give the laptop to Dr. Elesee. Besides, it added to the image she wanted to portray to the finance committee. Tina also gave Donna a note for Congressman Martinelli's assistant "if she saw her".

Donna drove past the NSA convoy parked in front of Stallion's Gate on her way to the highway. She noted the similarity between them and the contingent of Marines deployed to Project Quantum Leap. All fresh-faced young men and women eager to make their mark on the world. It was about thirty miles later that Donna realized she had seen one of those faces before. It was Donovan, one of the men that Isaac had brought yesterday.

*************

Al Calavicci had stopped briefly in Bingham for the promised coffee then swung southeast through the Capitan Mountain range toward Roswell. During the drive, he and Frank exchanged information about Project Quantum Leap and the bombing. Frank kept talking about the bombing as if it had already happened and the past tense of his remarks both mystified and amused Al. He was very impressed with Frank Parker. He was very bright, quick-witted and had a great eye for detail. The 'swiss-cheesing effect' was very limited and Parker's memory was filling in with each passing mile. Al just hoped the same wasn't happening to Sam.

**************

HQ

Later in the morning John Ballard, Olga Vukovitch and Sam were kicking around ideas on how to protect Project Quantum Leap's power core. Olga came up with the obvious first.

"The easiest thing would be to move the primary away from the power core," she said.

John responded with, "If we find it in time."

"We could just defuse it," Sam offered, the thought of any explosion in his project just ate away at his gut.

"Isaac is reviewing the data on the bomb fragments from the last timeline," John told them. "He prefers that option above all else."

Olga was studying the diagram of Project Quantum Leap on the wall. "Is there anyway to add shielding to structure here and here?" She pointed to the two levels between the garage and the power core.

John answered, "We would have had to have started already. Construction alone would take two weeks. Why didn't they shield the core better when they built it?"

Sam reacted before he could think. "WE..." he started out hotly. John and Olga immediately stiffened at his tone, and Sam's brain kicked in, "... Well, I guess they never thought they'd be a bombing target," he finished fighting to keep the bitterness he felt out of his voice. Sam watched Olga and John's reactions and realized that he had not succeeded. He took a deep breath and tried another approach. "We could force a rapid shutdown of the core."

The worry on John's face was replaced with intrigue.

Sam continued, "It's risky but if Ziggy detected the..."

"Ziggy?" Olga questioned.

John beat Sam to the explanation, "Ziggy is the hybrid supercomputer that controls all the vital functions at Project Quantum Leap."

Sam stared at him in amazement and Olga voiced the question on Sam's mind, "How did you know that?"

"Susan and I relied on the groundwork done by Dr. Beckett when we created Claire."

Satisfied, Sam continued, "Ziggy could shut down the core in forty-five seconds if she needed to."

"How long was it between the primary and secondary explosions?" Olga asked.

"Thirty-eight seconds," John and Sam answered together.

Olga continued, "So if we can't stop the primary we have 38 seconds to evacuate everyone."

"Or the AI needs to know about the primary before it explodes," John built on Olga's train of thought.

"Evacuation saves lives," Olga finished.

"But not the technology built into that mesa." Sam retorted. "We'd lose the Acceleration Chamber, Imaging Room and Ziggy." He looked meaningfully at John and said, "We can't lose her like we lost Claire." Silently Sam thanked Frank's personal journal for the information on previous backsteps.

The passion in Frank's words raised Olga's concerns about her friend and it showed on her face. Fear and nausea began to push at Sam. He had to get away. "I need a break," he rushed out of his mouth and walked just as quickly out of the conference room.

Outside Sam consciously slowed his breathing down. If he allowed the fear to have a foothold, he would not be able to save anything. Ziggy was his brainchild; he would not let her die. As he walked slowly back to the conference room a new idea occurred to him. Once in the room he noticed the addition of Isaac to the group. All three faces studied him with anticipation.

"There is another consideration," Sam said.

"What's that?" Isaac asked.

Sam chose his words carefully. "If the acceleration and computer technology is lost, Dr. Beckett will remain where he is."

"And who he is." Isaac added under his breath.

"Dr. Beckett won't be able to return." Sam stated the obvious then gave it a moment to sink in to the Backstep personnel. "I know what it feels like to be displaced in time," he added.

Olga's face had softened considerably. "You feel a kinship with Dr. Beckett," she stated.

Isaac jumped in to the conversation, "Of course, he's a fellow time traveler."

The group paused to consider what had been said. John Ballard broke the silence, "O.K. so let's focus our efforts on the primary. Isaac, what did you find out?"

CHAPTER 9

Stallion's Gate

QL Security Chief Jim Reed had been plastered to Nate Ramsey's side for almost two hours. Nate Ramsey had been searching for the three phones that could have been where the Conundrum call originated. He had six out of seven digits from the trace and seven of the remaining ten possibles were out of service.

The two men had fallen into a standard search pattern in each of the staff quarters: Reed went left, Ramsey right. This allowed Reed to circumvent Ramsey's entry into bathrooms and balconies. He didn't seem to know about the existence of the balconies and Reed saw no need for him to find out. Ramsey had located one of the numbers in Dr. Gershowitz's quarters and another in the quarters of a scientist named SammiJo Fuller. There were two personnel quarters left to search; those of Admiral Calavicci and Christina Martinez-O'Farrell. Figuring he'd get less of an argument from Reed, Nate went to O'Farrell's quarters next.

Bradley Talmadge and Craig Donovan were being given the VIP tour that Donna had given Isaac Mentnor the day before. Verbena tried to keep the NSA agents above level four but she had no recourse but to allow them total access after verifying their security clearance. As they exited the main elevator on level ten, Verbena tried to steer the group towards the Control Center. Donovan directed Talmadge to the Waiting Room.

"You appear to know your way around here, Mr. Donovan," Verbena observed. She was sure this was the 'Donovan' Parker had called out to yesterday.

"The construction plans were on the Government Intranet," Donovan replied. The trio stood in front of the Waiting Room which, to Donovan's complete surprise, was unguarded, open and empty. He turned to Bradley and said, "There was a man in here under armed guard."

Verbena quickly responded. "This is where the Guests wait for Dr. Beckett. It is almost never guarded with armed M.P.s."

"It was yesterday," Donovan insisted. He shot a look at Bradley to check if he could continue the direction this conversation was going. After receiving confirmation from his boss Donovan continued, "Yesterday Dr. Beeks, you went into that room with some armed guards to quote show that SOB that he didn't hurt me this morning unquote."

Verbena tried to quell her fear by controlling her breathing, with limited success.

Craig knew he had the advantage and pressed it. "The man called out my name, Doctor. I want to know who he was."

Verbena decided on the truth. "The man you saw yesterday, Mr. Donovan, was Dr. Beckett."

"I don't know Dr. Beckett."

"Dr. Beckett makes it his business to know the name of everyone on base," Verbena stated Sam's former practice. "How did you get on base yesterday, Mr. Donovan? How did you get to this level without escort?"

Bradley felt this was a good time to intercede. "The NSA sent a reconnaissance team to Stallion's Gate yesterday lead by Dr. Isaac Mentnor," he admitted.

Verbena looked back at Talmadge in surprise. "Donna Elesee's professor?"

"Yes," Craig confirmed. "We used him to gain access to the Project." Craig wanted to protect Isaac's position at Backstep from becoming known.

"I see," Verbena replied.

"So I saw Dr. Beckett yesterday?" Donovan repeated.

"Well," Verbena began and was interrupted by Ziggy's voice calling her.

"Dr. Beeks?"

"Yes, Ziggy"

"Could you bring Mr. Donovan and Dr. Talmadge to the Control Center, please."

*******************

HQ - Socorro

Isaac Mentnor drew a diagram of a single component explosive on the chalkboard. "The Primary is very simple," he said. "One pound of Plastik set with a delayed fuse."

"That doesn't have much destructive force," Olga chimed in.

"It doesn't need to," replied John Ballard. "All it has to do is explode through a weak spot near the reactor chamber. That's why I'd have put money on a homemade device," John said.

Isaac continued, "Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of explosives could have set it."

Sam thought out loud, "But not just anyone could get the Plastik."

Olga started listing the possibilities, "Contractors, Demolition workers, Police."

"Military," John added.

"But why?" Isaac wondered. "What at Quantum Leap makes it a target now?"

A thought jarred Sam's mood. "Maybe Quantum Leap isn't the target," he suggested brightly.

"The finance committee," Olga offered.

"Or someone on it," John added.

"I'd say we have some research to do," said Isaac decisively. "Let's split the list to save time. I'll take Ho."

"I've got Martinelli," Olga sang out.

"Frank, you take the senator," assigned John, "and I'll take the final congressman, what's his name, yeah, Fisher.

"I'm on it," Sam said as he grabbed a PC workstation and got busy.

*********************

Stallion's Gate

"Could you bring Mr. Donovan and Dr. Talmadge to the Control Center, please," a pleasant voice asked Dr. Beeks. It appeared to be coming from everywhere and nowhere.

"Who is that?" Bradley asked.

Verbena began walking toward the Control Center before answering, "That's Ziggy." The two NSA men followed her down the corridor and through the door to the Control Center. Inside Gooshie and Tina were doing routine system checks, busy work for the benefit of the NSA visitors. They looked up as the door slid open to admit Beeks, Talmadge and Donovan.

"This is our Control Center." Verbena was continuing the tour speech. "From here, all the facets of Project Quantum Leap are coordinated by Drs. Martinez-O'Farrell and Gershowitz." Verbena indicated each of her coworkers as she said their names.

"And I am chopped liver, I suppose?" Ziggy asked in a very peeved tone. The swirling light in the orb overhead was alternating hues of red to further illustrate the AI's irritation.

"Not at all, Ziggy," Verbena said at the same time as Bradley asked "That is?" as he gestured toward the orb.

"Ziggy." Gooshie answered. Looking up at the cube he said, "Ziggy, these are the men from the NSA."

"Dr. Bradley Talmadge and Captain Craig Donovan," Ziggy identified the newcomers. "I am the one who coordinates all the vital functions here at Quantum Leap, gentlemen. I've done some research on the bomb threat you've mentioned. From the search pattern your men are conducting, I presume you believe there will be two separate detonations; one in the parking facility and the other in the power core."

Craig Donovan had to almost physically pick his jaw up off the floor. The combination of Craig's expression and the matter-of-fact delivery from the Artificial Intelligence caused Bradley to laugh out loud. Amused he asked, "Have you formed any plans for action?"

Ziggy didn't respond.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked the computer technicians.

Tina responded, "She prefers to be addressed by name. I happen to agree with her, Dr. Talmadge."

Bradley tried again. "Have you formed any action plans about the bomb threat, Ziggy?"

"As a matter of fact I have," she replied. "It is highly probable that the target is not Project Quantum Leap itself but rather one of the members of the congressional committee currently inspecting us."

"Sounds reasonable," Craig admitted. "But I still want to know about that man in that Waiting Room."

"That, Captain Donovan, is classified as need to know," Ziggy responded.

Craig looked like he was about to explode when his walkie-talkie called out his name. He excused himself from the conversation and the room to answer the call in the hall.

It was Ramsey. "Where are you, Donovan?"

"Talmadge and I are in the Control Center. What did you find?"

"I found all three phones. I'm trying to round up the people whose room they were in now. Have you come across anyone named Martinez-O'Farrell or Gershowitz?" Nate questioned.

"They're both here with us."

"Roger. I'm on my way," Nate ended the communication.

When Craig Donovan walked back into the Control Center to report to Bradley he discovered Beeks taking Talmadge out the other door of the room to something the QL people called the Imaging Chamber. Bradley took the report quickly and instructed Craig to remain in the Control Center to wait for Ramsey to arrive.

Verbena was explaining the hows and whys of the Imaging Chamber as she led Bradley into the featureless room. Once inside, the door closed, Bradley began to ask some hard questions.

"The man in the Waiting Room that Craig saw wasn't Dr. Beckett, Beeks. Who was he and where is Dr. Beckett now?"

Verbena soft-pedaled around the truth. "I don't know where Dr. Beckett is now."

"Look," Bradley was beginning to lose his patience with this total stonewall, "I know everything there is to know about Project Quantum Leap. I know that Dr. Beckett jumps around in time changing places with people in the time-frame he's entered. That while he 'possesses' their body they are here 'possessing' his body." Verbena very consciously closed her jaw.

"Dr. Talmadge," Ziggy interrupted.

"Yes Ziggy."

"I'm pleased that you took the time to educate yourself on Quantum Leap," she began patronizingly, "I also have done my research and educated myself on you and your NSA branch."

Warning bells began to ring in Bradley's head.

Ziggy continued, "I know that you have been working with Drs. Mentnor and Ballard. Your name appears on many documents related to the failed Global Space Station and the Artificial Intelligence named Claire."

Bradley began to breathe again.

"Please believe me when I tell you that whomever Capt. Donovan thought he saw was of no threat to your projects," Ziggy finished.

"All right, Ziggy. I'll believe you," Bradley said to pacify the Hybrid-super-computer. He turned to Verbena Beeks. "Dr. Beeks, the last thing I want to do is interrupt your work here. My only interest in Quantum Leap is to keep it from blowing up."

"Then why the intensive research, Dr. Talmadge?" Beeks was curious.

"Time travel is an interest of mine," Bradley admitted.

Ziggy opened the door to the Imaging Chamber to allow them to return to the Control Center. Nate Ramsey was entering the Control Center from the other door as they arrived.

"Bradley," Nate began to deliver his report, "the three phones are all in personal quarters belonging to Drs. Fuller, Martinez-O'Farrell, and Gershowitz. Dr. Fuller is out of the state visiting her mother, she's due back today."

Tina took the opportunity presented. "I'm Dr. Martinez-O'Farrell," she sauntered over to Nate to greet him. Like most men, Nate Ramsey greeted Tina's breasts before ever looking at her face. "Is there something wrong with my phone?" she pouted as she took Nate's arm.

"I think I should question Dr. Martinez-O'Farrell," Nate said.

"That's fine, Nate," Bradley told his security chief.

"Let's go look at the phone in question," Nate was saying to Tina as he escorted her out of the Control Center.

Craig watched the pair leave with amusement when his line of sight was suddenly blocked by Verbena Beeks.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" she asked him point blank.

"No, I'm not. Unless..." Craig started.

"Unless what?" Verbena wanted to know.

"Unless you have dinner with me tonight." Craig finished.

Before she could answer, Bradley and Gooshie left to go to Gooshie's quarters where the third phone had been located.

"Dinner would be nice," she said finally. "I'll meet you in Socorro."

Craig handed her the business card for the hotel with his room number written on the back. "Call from the lobby if I'm not there when you arrive."

HQ - Socorro

Sam didn't bother with the Government Intranet to research Senator Mercer-Fuld. Instead he went straight to Ziggynet by dialing his personal access number and silently thanking God that it still worked. In thirty minutes he had a full floppy disk on each of the committee members and another three floppies with bio's on their staffs. While it was downloading, Sam checked on the status of "the raid" at Stallion's Gate. Ziggy said Verbena was handling Talmadge and Donovan while Tina had sidetracked Ramsey. Sam had to laugh at the mental image of Tina flirting with Nate Ramsey, and the even funnier image of Ramsey's response. Sam checked on Al and the Guest next. Ziggy said they were in Roswell. Sam opted not to pursue with Ziggy why Al chose Roswell; it was too bizarre to be coincidental. He had Ziggy give him Al's cell phone number and logged off. After depositing the floppies on Isaac's temporary desk, Sam went to his room to call Al.

Roswell, New Mexico

Al Calavicci and Frank Parker were in a park opposite the "Alien Museum" in Roswell watching the world go by and splitting an Italian hoagie, as Frank called it, and a six-pack of beer. Al was impressed and unnerved by the amount of information Frank knew about Project Quantum Leap.

Frank explained, "When I was, for lack of a better word, 'hired' by the NSA for my current assignment I had little to do on my off hours except surf the web. I came across Quantum Leap data in a search on time travel."

Al stared at him aghast. "On the Internet?!"

Frank laughed, "No, no. On the USGov Intranet."

"But that stuff is classified," Al protested.

"It all depends on your security clearance, Pal. You know that," Frank said. "Mine is high enough to read most of it. I kinda have a hard time swallowing the 'string theory' though."

Al studied him for a moment. "You have a hard time with string theory. You should have heard me giving a 'Dick and Jane' version to the President five years ago."

"Actually I read the transcript of that meeting." Frank admitted.

"Oh, so that explains the 'history' comment to Beeks," Al commented mostly to himself.

"Yes," Frank answered. "I've always liked the gravitational distortion theory myself," Frank referred to the Sphere's time travel method.

"It's great in theory," Al responded, "but the energy requirements are too enormous to be practical."

Frank looked to see if the admiral was pulling his leg. He appeared earnest in his belief and Frank wondered just how much, or little, Admiral Calavicci knew about Project Backstep.

Al noticed the scrutiny Frank was giving him and decided to change the subject. "So, do you like your current project?" he cast out a verbal fishing line.

Frank snorted, "The hours suck but the travel is always interesting."

Before Al could respond, a cell phone rang in his pocket. "Calavicci," he answered it.

"What ever possessed you to take Parker to Roswell?" Sam's irate voice exploded from the phone.

"What?!" Al was taken aback by the intensity of Sam's question. "Good afternoon to you too, Pal. Kind of cranky today, are we?"

Sam took a deep breath. "Sorry," he said and then continued in a calmer tone, "I understand taking him off grounds by why so far away? Why Roswell?"

Al watched Parker, who was very carefully trying NOT to be interested in who was on the other end of the phone connection. To Sam he responded, "I couldn't go to Socorro, or Alamagordo 'cause I blew off a meeting there, and I certainly wasn't taking him out of the country. This was the only direction left."

Sam accepted that. He was hoping that Parker wasn't assuming that Al knew about Backstep. "Having fun?" he asked.

"It's like spending the day with Bingo." Al replied gleefully referring to the younger version of himself that Sam had leaped into a while ago. The change in Al's tone was very curious to Frank.

Sam laughed, and then asked, "Has Frank given you anything more than I have on the bombing or the bomber?"

"Not yet," came Al's reply.

"Nuts," was Sam's disappointed reply. There was a pause in the conversation.

"I can smell the wood burning from here. What are you thinking?" Al asked.

"Well we've broken almost every rule we established on this leap, what's one more." Sam sounded resigned, "Give him the phone, Al."

"ARE YOU NUTS?"

Frank stopped trying to look uninterested and paid rapt attention now.

"Maybe," Sam said to Al, "but do it anyway."

"Here," Al said as he tossed the phone at Frank, "talk to yourself."

CHAPTER 10

Stallion's Gate

Tina Martinez-O'Farrell closed the door to her quarters and burst out laughing. The expression on the face of that NSA agent when he saw Al's picture on her nightstand was priceless. He ran from Tina so fast, it was like he had jet-powered shoes. It had been fun, flirting to distract him from looking too hard for the Guest. It had been a long time since she'd played the sex kitten for anyone but Al. It wasn't that she didn't love him, quite the contrary. But with his marriage track record, she knew she shouldn't invest in a white gown anytime soon. 'Damn!' she thought, 'I'm as bad as Delilah and her married congressman.'

She wondered out on to the balcony. Her lavender mules were in the far corner where they'd been pushed aside last night so as not to be crushed in their passion. She picked them up and held them to her chest as she came back into the main bedroom.

Her reflection in the large mirror over her dresser captured her attention. She'd held up well for almost thirty though spending so much time in the pit at Stallion's Gate had ruined her tan. 'Now Dee has a great tan,' she thought.

After depositing the slippers in her closet, Tina returned her attention to the mirror. "Christina Gianna Martinez-O'Farrell," she said to her reflection, "You, unlike your sister, are in this relationship with your eyes totally open. You have a wonderful man who doesn't lie to you, again unlike your sister." Her eyes lit on the scarlet dress in the open closet. "And furthermore," she said, "you are going to look fantastic tomorrow night!" She checked her reflection one more time and reapplied a coat of her favorite lipstick. "All right, pep talk over," she told herself, "go back to work." She turned on her three-inch heel and practically danced out of the door.

*************

Alamagordo, New Mexico

Donna Elesee had been smiling at bureaucrats for the last four hours and her face hurt. The finance committee had two funding bills to consider; QL and a museum project at Alamagordo. Al had planned be at the Alamagordo meeting to deliver a "good neighbor" speech, but Donna wasn't feeling particularly good about any federal neighbors today.

After seeing Donovan this morning, questions kept nagging at her. Why was Isaac in the company of an NSA agent? She hated the thought of her favorite professor being used like that. Where had Donovan and Parker gone while she and Isaac were visiting? Donna refused to believe that QL security was lax enough to allow them to wander the facility. Was Isaac NSA, too? That thought, more than any other, angered Donna because that meant Isaac had been using her. Donna Elesee wore her professionalism like a suit of armor; showing confidence in her project, despite her emotional upheaval, as she went through the day's activities.

**************

Stallion's Gate

After doing a 'courtesy' search in Gooshie's quarters, Bradley Talmadge was ready to call today's operation at Stallion's Gate over; well almost. He asked to meet with the security chief Reed and Dr. Beeks one more time. They met in the public conference room on first level.

"Have you found anything?" Verbena Beeks asked of Bradley.

"No, the bomb isn't here. With all due respect to Chief Reed and his men I'd like to beef up security with some of my men for a few days," Bradley offered.

"Jim?" Verbena landed the decision in Reed's lap.

"I have no problem with having a few extra bodies around, especially during the party tomorrow, but the final decision is Admiral Calavicci's." Reed responded.

"What party?" Bradley inquired.

"Our final opportunity to impress the finance committee is a reception here tomorrow evening," Verbena stated.

"I think it would be prudent to have my men on grounds then," Bradley pushed.

"That decision is not in my power," Verbena stated firmly. Seeing the coming argument on Bradley's face she added, "However I can add names to the guest list." Bradley nodded in agreement. "Then it's done," Verbena said. "The reception begins at eight and it's black tie."

***********

Roswell

"Talk to yourself," Al Calavicci said tossing the phone at Frank Parker.

Frank gave Al a puzzled look, then slowly put the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he said.

Sam Beckett heard his own voice come from the receiver. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Hello, Frank. I'm Sam Beckett," Sam said.

Frank dropped the cell phone. That was his own voice! After taking a deep breath to control his anxiety, he picked up the phone again. "I feel like I'm in an episode of the 'Twilight Zone'," he said.

"This isn't a regular occurrence for me either," Sam agreed.

"I don't know what more I can tell you about the bombing that wasn't on the data wafer."

"That's not why I wanted to talk to you," Sam quickly said. "I wanted to warn you not to say anything to Al about Backstep. I didn't tell him everything."

"Why not? Can't he be trusted?"

"Of course he can be trusted," Sam defended his partner. "There is no reason to jeopardize both projects. It's need to know and for now, he doesn't."

Frank couldn't take this at face value. He had to test the voice on the phone. "How are all my comrades taking this?" he asked.

"I've managed to keep the illusion that I'm you," Sam told him. "But Olga Vukovitch is killing me with these 6 AM runs."

"Damn, you really are me," Frank almost shouted.

"But I didn't live the last timeline, Frank. You did. Is there anything, no matter how small that wasn't included on the wafer?"

Frank could hear the anxiety in Sam's -his- voice. "Nothing relevant." Frank said.

"Well if you think of anything, tell Al." Sam requested.

"Will do." Frank answered. He offered the phone back to Al.

"Sam? Are you still there?" Al asked.

"Yeah, Buddy, I'm still here but they're going to come looking for me soon."

"Be careful," Al warned. "These NSA people are really sharp." Al looked directly at Frank. "Keep as close to Parker's normal life as possible."

Sam and Frank began laughing. Because of being neurally linked to Sam, Al heard both men as Sam Beckett. "Great," he moaned, "Stereo."

Socorro

In his hotel room, Sam heard a knock at his door. He bade Al a quick good-bye and hung up the phone. Crossing the room, he called "Who is it?"

"Isaac," Dr. Mentnor's voice called back. "I hope I'm not disturbing you," he continued as Sam opened the door.

"Nah, come on in," Sam invited.

Isaac held up the seven floppies that Sam had left on his desk. "You did a great job with these, Frank. Saved us a lot of time. Thank you."

Sam blushed. After all these years, praise from a former teacher still felt good. "All it required was the right search tool," he said humbly.

"We've decided to get a late lunch. Want to join us?" Isaac asked.

"I could eat," Sam conceded. The pair went to meet up with John and Olga at a local diner.

************

Alamagordo

It was during a break in the speeches that Donna Elesee noticed a familiar face. She strode up behind the woman and asked, "Why are you here?" As the woman turned around to face her, Donna realized her mistake. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

The woman smiled. "No problem. You're from Quantum Leap, right? Everyone confuses Tina and me the first time. You did mean Tina Martinez-O'Farrell, didn't you?" she inquired.

"Yes," Donna admitted. "You must be...."

"Her sister." Delilah met Donna's extended hand to shake. "You are?"

"Donna Elesee."

"Nice to meet you. Tee mentioned how nice you were." Delilah looked around the room. "Can I talk to you a moment?" she asked.

"Sure," Donna said.

"The decision about which project to fund is agonizing. My congressman, Congressman Martinelli, hates the idea of this museum but it's half the cost of Quantum Leap." Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "He may have to vote on the side that saves his constituents money despite wanting to do the opposite. It's an election year." Donna just nodded.

"Not telling tales out of school, are you Lyla?" a deep baritone boomed next to the women.

Flustered, Lyla was quick to defend herself. "Of course not, Angelo, I mean, Congressman. Congressman Angelo Martinelli, this is Dr. Donna Elesee," she introduced them.

"I know that. She gave us the guided tour through Stallion's Gate the other day," Martinelli said to his assistant. "Doctor, I hope my assistant hasn't been bothering you," he added to Donna.

"Not at all," Donna said, "as a matter of fact I have a note to deliver to her." She pulled Tina's note from her jacket pocket and handed it to Lyla.

"Thank you," Lyla said.

"Now if you'll excuse us, Dr. Elesee, we have some business to do." Martinelli said as he placed a directing hand on Lyla's arm. "Lyla?"

"Yes, coming." She turned with her boss and walked away as she put Tina's note away.

Donna mulled over the strange encounter as she returned to the conference room. She had always prized herself on reading people and something was definitely off with Tina's sister. Lyla had spoken too possessively of "her congressman" and Martinelli was too familiar with her in Donna's opinion. He had teased her about "telling tales". Donna wondered if they were having an affair. After working with Tina for seven years, Donna didn't find the thought at all surprising.

**********

Socorro

It was during lunch that Isaac planned to test his theory about the change in Frank. He steered the conversation to colleges; who went where and did what first. Olga had finished a story about an explosion in her chemistry class at the University of Leningrad when Isaac made his move.

"Now of course I went to college a lot longer ago than you, but I had a story I used to tell to all my undergraduate students when I was teaching," he said.

"Tell it, please?" Olga asked, the request was echoed by the rest.

"It goes like this: There was an Indian Chief who had three wives. Now the chief gave each wife her own teepee to live in and each teepee was made from a different animal skin. The first was made from buffalo skin, the second was made from the skin of a grizzly bear and the third was made from the skin of a hippopotamus.

Whenever the chief went hunting he distributed his catch among his wives. He always gave a portion each to the wife in the buffalo teepee and the wife in the grizzly teepee but to the wife in the hippopotamus teepee, he gave two portions.

When the corn crop would be harvested, the chief would distribute corn to his wives. Again, he would give a portion each to the wife in the buffalo teepee and the wife in the grizzly teepee but to the wife in the hippopotamus teepee, he gave two portions.

Whenever the chief would give his wives ... I seem to have forgotten." Isaac interrupted himself. He turned to the man seated next to him. "I've told this to you. What is the next thing?"

Sam smiled at the memory of Isaac telling him this story two decades ago. "Whenever the chief would give his wives gifts, he would give one to the wife in the buffalo teepee, one to the wife in the grizzly teepee but he always gave two gifts to the wife in the hippopotamus teepee. Do you want me to finish this, Isaac?" Sam asked.

"Go ahead, my boy," was Isaac's reply.

"One evening around the tribal fire a young brave asked the chief why it was that he always gave the wife in the hippopotamus skin teepee more than the others. "It is simple, my son", the chief responded, "The squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the squaws of the other two hides."" Sam delivered the punch line with flair.

John Ballard exploded into laughter. Olga grimaced at the pun.

'I guess it doesn't translate into Russian well' Sam thought.

Isaac was laughing almost as hard as Ballard, but his reason was different. He had proved his theory. He had never told that joke to Frank Parker; he had to Sam Beckett. Now it all made sense: the personality change, the review of mission logs, the conversation with 'air' and the pickup line he had used on Donna Elesee. The man sitting next to him was not Frank Parker but Sam Beckett quantum leaped into Parker's life.

CHAPTER 11

On the road

Having received an all clear from Gooshie, Al and Frank began their long drive back to Stallion's Gate. They talked about women, boxing, women, football, women. Frank told Al about his son Jimmy, who lived in Washington DC with his ex, Patricia and her husband. As Frank spoke Al heard the bitterness in his voice. It sounded so painfully familiar to his ears and Al found himself breaking one of his most primary rules. Al told Frank about being a POW in Viet Nam and about Beth.

It was late afternoon before the presentations at Alamagordo broke up and Donna Elesee had made a decision. She had to confront Isaac Mentnor with her suspicions. She checked in with Ziggy and requested that her plans be made known to Al when he returned. Then she headed to Socorro where Isaac had said he was staying yesterday.

Socorro

At about the same time Donna began her drive to Socorro, the NSA team returned from Stallion's Gate. Bradley Talmadge and Nate Ramsey got together with Isaac to review the dossiers on the members of the finance committee and look for any possible targets among them. Craig Donovan caught up with Olga and Sam on a casual stroll through the town.

"How did Admiral Calavicci react to the news about the bombing?" Olga asked Craig.

"He wasn't there," Craig answered with scorn. "We were given the run around by their Lead Psychiatrist."

"Now I thought you would like Verbena Beeks," Sam teased as he thought Frank would.

"Why?" Craig challenged him. "Did I say anything in the pre-launch briefing in the last timeline?"

Sam smiled broadly at Craig. "You always were a sucker for a pretty face," he said.

"Well, I wasn't taken in this time, buddy. Somehow she managed to hide the guy who called my name yesterday and evade every question on the subject."

Olga finished his thought, "And you want answers to your questions."

"Damn right I do," Craig answered. "That's why I'm taking her to dinner tonight."

Sam's head snapped up in surprise. "You're not."

"Oh yes I am," Craig smiled. "You're still ticked that Elesee shot you down yesterday." he said pointedly to Sam.

"No I'm not," Sam protested quickly. "I just hate to see you engage in a battle of wits without ammunition."

"Ouch," Craig answered. "Hey Frank, look at that." He pointed to a signboard in front of the local steak house across the street from their hotel.

"Karaoke?" Sam questioned.

Olga began to protest, "Really, Mr. Donovan..."

But Craig pressed on. "Isn't it about time you made Olga pay up on her Superbowl bet."

"Well, ahh..." Sam fumphered.

"I think it's a great idea." Nate Ramsey said from behind the trio. "I think I'll join you," he invited himself. "Let's meet in the lobby at 1900."

Cornered, Olga relented. "Oh all right, 1900 it is."

"Good. Now that that's settled, Talmadge wants everyone in the briefing room," Nate said.

HQ - Socorro

Bradley Talmadge began the meeting with a recap of what he, Nate Ramsey and Craig Donovan had found at Stallion's Gate: precious little. "The phones that could have been the source of the 'Conundrum' were located in staff quarters with no clue as to who made the actual call. Admiral Calavicci and Donovan's 'mystery man' were absent and Dr. Beeks was very gracious about allowing an NSA presence at the Congressional Wrap-up party tomorrow night."

Nate Ramsey took the floor. "The security over there is better than I had anticipated. Their chief, Jim Reed, is a good man. Worked LAPD in the '70's. He has made room on his roster for a dozen of our people as soon as he gets the OK from Calavicci."

Craig Donovan picked up the ball. "I'm following up with Dr. Beeks tonight to get more info on the guy I saw yesterday."

"Despite what Ziggy said," Bradley added. His tone indicated that he didn't agree with Donovan's opinion.

"You talked with Ziggy?" The question came from John Ballard.

Bradley nodded and said, "Yes. Her theory is that the target of the bomb is not Project Quantum Leap itself but...."

"One of the congress-people." Ballard finished his sentence. Talmadge looked at him surprised. "That was our theory, too," John continued. "I combed the data on the whole contingent that Olga, Isaac, Frank and I gathered this afternoon." John indicated the pile of floppies and printouts on the table in front of himself. "I came up with some interesting stuff but nothing that stands out as a motive for murder."

"Can I take a look see at that?" Nate requested.

As Ballard began to hand off the summary report, Sam jumped into the conversation. Dripping with sarcasm, he said, "Oh, gee Ramsey, you won't be able to go out with Olga and me this evening. Too bad."

But Talmadge was quick on the uptake. He intercepted the hand-off and said, "Nate, you don't need to do this tonight. I'll go over it and we can get together in the morning."

"I'll work with you," Isaac Mentnor offered to Bradley Talmadge.

Nate smiled at Sam like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. "I'm not that easy to ditch, Parker."

John was curious. "Where are you going?" he asked.

Olga responded, "To the Karaoke Bar across the street so I can pay up that stupid bet." She didn't sound happy about it.

John didn't seem to notice. "Mind if I tag along?" he asked.

v Sam shrugged. "The more the merrier," he said.

"All right," Bradley tried to regain control of the meeting. "That seems to be it for now. We'll reconvene at 0900." All around the table people began to gather their belongings to leave.

"Frank?" Isaac called to Sam. "Got a minute?"

"Sure."

They waited for the room to empty. The pause gave Isaac a chance to mentally compose what to say to help Sam with Olga without letting on that he knew who Sam was.

"We need Olga in reasonably good shape tomorrow, so don't torture her too much with your singing...."Isaac began in a teasing tone.

"I'm singing?" Sam interrupted.

"Yes, that was the terms of your winning the bet, wasn't it?" Isaac coached Sam subtly. "She'd have to take you out and listen to you sing."

Sam was only half listening. "I'm singing in public again," he sighed to himself. Catching Isaac's look of amusement, Sam readopted Frank's rakish attitude and said, "But can I torture her a little?"

Laughing, the two men left the conference room.

****************

Stallion's Gate

A knock on her door interrupted Verbena Beeks as she was dressing for dinner with Craig Donovan. Lying down the two outfits she was trying to choose between, she asked who was there.

"Verbena?" came Tina's breathy soprano, "I was wondering what you had on for this evening?"

Verbena opened the door and allowed her best friend entry. "I've already made plans. Why? What's up?" she asked.

Tina let out a deflated sigh. "I was hoping you could come to Socorro with me. I'm meeting my sister there. She just called. Sounded real upset." Verbena made soothing noises and continued dressing while encouraging Tina to continue talking. "Usually Dee is sooo level headed. That's why she did so well in the army. Dee sounded sooo upset on the phone. I think her boyfriend just dumped her. Don't wear the blue one, go with the orange one." Tina pointed at the dress in Verbena's hand. Sometimes following a conversation with Tina required a road map.

"So she's meeting you in Socorro..." Verbena prompted her.

"Yeah. She and a bunch of congressional aides from the committee are going to a Karaoke Bar to let off some steam. She wanted to meet me there and talk. Here, let me do your hair." Tina offered to Verbena.

Handing over her brush Verbena asked the obvious question, "So what did you want me for?"

Tina cleared her throat and apologetically said, "I was hoping for a buffer. Someone to get between us when she begins to melt down." She met Verbena's eyes in the mirror. "Don't look at me that way 'Bena. You know I'm no good at the hard stuff. I'm the lunch and shopping pal. I hate that 'share your feelings' stuff, that's your territory."

"Sorry, friend, but I've got a date," Verbena said.

"Anyone I know?"

"The NSA guy from this morning."

"The buff one with the cute butt?" Tina asked.

"That's the one. His name is Craig Donovan," Verbena replied. She inspected her reflection. "Thanks for doing my hair, Tina." An inspired thought struck the psychiatrist. "Why don't you bring Al?" she suggested.

Tina looked wistful. "I already asked him but he and the Guest won't be back until late, he said."

"Well, there's always Gooshie," Verbena offered.

Tina's face brightened at the thought. She said, "That's a great idea, 'Bena. Thanks."

v***************

Socorro

1900 hours came all for quickly for Sam Beckett. He had dressed in appropriate urban cowboy attire; dark jeans, western shirt with silver snaps and boots. Sam was looking forward to a calm social evening. He had them so rarely. Sam rapped on the bathroom door on his way out of the room. "Craig, I'm leaving," he called to Donovan through the closed door and the sound of the shower. He heard a mumbled reply and went to the hotel lobby to meet Olga Vukovitch, John Ballard and Nate Ramsey.

The quartet entered the restaurant and began looking for a table. Although it was early the room was almost ¾ full. Ramsey found a table about halfway to the stage and took possession of it. As they got seated Sam surveyed the room. It would seat about 100 comfortably if full. There was a group of women all dressed in scrub suits at a large table in the left corner of the room, nurses, Sam presumed. Most of the tables held couples or trios at varying stages of their meals. There was another large table in the right corner. It was currently empty but had a reserved sign on it. The long bar at the back of the building was well populated. There was a sign on the stage that read 'Singers will perform at the discretion of the Emcee'. Each table had two menus on it; one for food, the other for songs. The song menu was larger.

"Whatillitbe, folks?" the waitress asked as she placed cocktail napkins on the table.

"What do you have on draft?" Ramsey asked.

"Miller, Bud, Lite, Coors, Corona, Dos Equis," she recited.

"Vodka, on ice please," Olga ordered.

"I'll have a Manhattan, straight up," said John Ballard.

"Dos Equis," Sam ordered. Nate Ramsey gave him a dirty look.

"Bud," Ramsey told the waitress. "How can you drink that foreign junk, Parker?" he said to Sam.

Sam decided the question was rhetorical and ignored it. Instead he took out the food menu and began to scan it. When the waitress returned with their drinks Sam ordered a basket of Buffalo Wings for the table.

"I wonder what time the Karaoke starts." John said.

Olga picked up the song menu and turned to the first page. "Eight o'clock," she answered. "Look at this. It's alphabetical by song title. How are you supposed to pick a song from here?" she complained.

"Let me see that," Sam requested. The song list was long and varied. It included rock, pop, country, swing, gospel and even a few Broadway hits. Sam realized he knew nothing of Frank's taste in music and decided to delay actually singing as long as possible. He buried his face in the menu and hid.

CHAPTER 12

Temporary HQ

Bradley Talmadge and Isaac Mentnor were busy synthesizing the data on the congressional party. In particular they were looking for anyone with an obscure past and/or with experience with explosives.

"Senator Mercer-Fuld is well liked in her home state but not on the A list in DC," noted Bradley. "She has made several decisions in the past few months that were unpopular on the Hill."

"Enough for murder?" Isaac questioned.

"I doubt it. I know Helene. She's not afraid to speak her mind and that makes people nervous."

Isaac digested this information. "Look here." He drew Bradley's attention to his computer screen. "Her senior aide is ex-army."

"He's also her godson," Bradley commented. "I don't see any motive. They get along well." He returned his attention to his computer. "Congressmen Martinelli and Ho both have ex-military personnel on their staffs. Martinelli has Carter, an ex-marine and Hobkirk, ex-army, with him on this trip. Ho has Inowe on his staff. She's naval reserve."

"She's also Daniel Inowe's daughter," Isaac commented.

"Senator Inowe?" Bradley asked. Isaac nodded. "What about Fisher?" Bradley asked.

"Fisher has no military on his staff. He himself is a veteran of the Six Day War." Isaac supplied. "He has announced his retirement from public office next year."

A telephone ringing interrupted the men. Bradley answered, "Hello?" He listened for a moment then held out the phone to Isaac. "For you," he said.

*************

Socorro

Craig Donovan waited patiently in the hotel lobby. He thumbed through a magazine and checked his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. The click of high-heeled shoes made him look towards the front desk. He watched Donna Elesee have Isaac Mentnor called and be given the phone. She appeared satisfied with the answer she got and hung up quickly.

The long drive from Alamagordo had cooled Donna Elesee's anger and left her with worry in its place. As Donna hung up the phone and turned to wait for Isaac she heard someone call her name. Looking up she saw Verbena Beeks walking towards her.

"I thought that was you," Verbena said. "How did the meeting is Alamogordo go?"

Donna half smiled, half grimaced. "You know how these things are, Verbena. S.O.S. What brings you to Socorro?"

"I'm meeting someone for dinner," Verbena answered.

Curiosity peeked, Donna asked, "Anyone I know?"

"No," Verbena answered.

"Actually, yes," Craig said as he approached the women. "Nice to see you again, Dr. Elesee." He greeted Donna with a smile.

"Mr. Donovan, I wish I could say the same," was Donna's terse reply.

Verbena decided to get between these two before tensions ran any higher. "I'm just famished. Craig, can we get going?" she asked him. Without waiting for a reply she turned to Donna and said, "The report you were looking for this morning is in your office. See you in the morning." She turned and began to walk towards the door. Craig had no choice but to follow her.

Donna was still standing by the desk staring after the long gone couple wondering what report Dr. Beeks was referring to when Isaac Mentnor appeared.

"Donna, what a lovely surprise," Isaac gushed at her.

"I was on my way back from a full day of governmental meetings and thought we could have dinner," she explained. "What do you say?"

"I'd love to." Isaac replied as he offered her his arm to take. They strolled out the door together.

On the road

About 20 miles from Stallion's Gate, Admiral Al Calavicci parked his car on the side of the road and opened the onboard link with Ziggy. His passenger Frank Parker had taken a short walk to stretch is legs and relieve his bladder. Al received a full update on the situation at Project Quantum Leap. Ziggy informed him that most of the senior staff was in or leaving shortly for Socorro for assorted reasons, Dr. Fuller had returned and that Security Chief Reed wanted to speak with him on his arrival.

Standing by the cactus in the darkness Frank Parker weighed his options. He could make a run for it but he wasn't too keen on his chances in the desert at night alone with no supplies. Car jacking the convertible was out. It was too unique to hide from cops and had that onboard link to the QL computer. He could stay with Calavicci and see how this played out. Calavicci was all right, seemed to understand where he was coming from and besides, he was stuck in Dr. Beckett's body. Frank idly wondered if Olga liked older men as, decision made, he walked back to the convertible.

Al watched the silhouette of Sam Beckett's body as it walked towards the car. The admiral had taken a calculated risk letting Parker wonder off into the desert alone. He was pleased to see that he had not misjudged the man. Parker may be a hot-tempered loose cannon but he wasn't dumb.

Frank opened the passenger door and let himself back in the car as Al asked who was manning the control center. A rich alto voice answered him "I am" in a very petulant tone. Parker grinned.

"Secretary?" he asked Al as the admiral closed the communication line.

"Don't let her hear you say that" Al warned. "She thinks she runs the project."

Frank laughed, then asked, "So where to now?"

"Now we go home. I'll give you the grand tour of the place," Al offered.

**********************

Karaoke Bar

Having devoured the pile of wings and on their second round of beverages the Backstep group at the Karaoke Bar decided to order dinner. This was a steak house after all. As their meal arrived the lights on the stage came up and a Native American Elvis Impersonator took the stage. He introduced himself as Elvis Redwing, the emcee for this evening, and began to sing "Play House", an early Presley hit.

Sam looked down at the steak he was cutting on his plate and suddenly flashed on a luncheonette circa 1950's. He had a guitar in his hands and was standing on the counter singing this very same song and doing a better job of it. Then just as suddenly, the thought? memory? vanished.

After completing the song Elvis the emcee explained the rules of performing, how to pick your song and how to let him know that you wanted to sing. The crowd contained half a dozen regulars, whom Elvis called upon to entertain while the "newbies" read through the music menu and filled out the performance requests provided by the wait staff.

Sam spent the meal trying to reason out Parker's musical taste. He was from Philadelphia so probably preferred rock to country. He didn't appear to be very religious so gospel was out and Sam also ruled out show tunes as too 'fluffy' for Frank's taste. Frank was also about a decade younger than himself so Sam ruled out anything from the fifties era.

"Jesus Christ, Parker, it's a song, not a lifetime commitment." Nate Ramsey interrupted Sam's thoughts.

"Picking just the right one is an art, Ramsey," Sam countered. "But then, I can't expect a connoisseur of elevator music to understand that."

Ballard, who was keeping score of the ongoing verbal tennis match said, "Point to Frank."

"I'll show you art," Nate glared at Sam as he pulled the music menu out of Sam's hand. He quickly wrote a song on the request form and shoved it into the hand of a passing waitress.

"Nate, you don't have to do that," Olga softly said.

"I'm not about to let the city boy show me up," Nate responded hotly. Sam had to repress a smile of amusement at the term 'city boy'. Frank may be from Philly but Sam Beckett was raised on a dairy farm in Indiana.

Sam realized that Olga was watching him in anticipation of a response. Rather than disappoint her he said, "No skin off my nose if he wants to sing."

The first of the 'newbies' to sing that evening was a trio from the nurses' table doing a Dixie Chicks hit. They were followed by a businessman who sang a very off-key version of "Elvira." Sam excused himself from the table and headed off to the men's room.

CHAPTER 13

Socorro

Isaac Mentnor and Donna Elesee opted for the lone Italian restaurant in town, really just a glorified pizza parlor. Over pizza and soda, they exchanged small talk. Donna was trying to gauge Isaac's mood, not sure exactly how to explain her concerns when Isaac unintentionally provided the perfect opening for her.

"Did you run into Craig Donovan in the lobby?" Isaac asked her.

"Yes, I did. He and Verbena Beeks were headed out to dinner." Donna replied. "I was surprised to see Verbena with him, you were with him yesterday." Isaac could read the conflict on Donna's face as she spoke. He let her ask the much-needed question. "How did they meet, do you think? Was it when you were distracting me so he and Parker could wander around Quantum Leap?"

Isaac set down his cup and paused for a moment before answering. "No, they met this morning when the NSA paid a visit to Stallion's Gate." Donna had prepared herself for almost any answer from denial to out-right lie. Any answer but the truth she just got from her mentor. The shock silenced her as Isaac continued to speak. "Yesterday, Donovan, Parker and I were at Stallion's Gate to gather information about the layout of the facility because the NSA received a bomb threat against Project Quantum Leap." Isaac watched Donna's face carefully as he explained as much as he could about this mission and his role in it. He admitted to and apologized for using his friendship with her to gain access to the facility.

"We didn't know who at Stallion's Gate could be involved and didn't want to tip our hand, so to speak," Isaac finished.

"You didn't know who could be trusted?" Donna was aghast at the idea that any of her coworkers at Quantum Leap could be involved in a bombing of their work.

Afraid she had jumped to the wrong conclusion, Isaac quickly said, "I always knew you couldn't be involved, Donna. I chose to lead the recon team because I knew I could trust you. Today the unit I am with tried to meet with Admiral Calavicci to warn him about the bomb threat."

"Instead you met Verbena Beeks."

"Not me, Donna." Isaac said. "This has been taken out of my hands now. I spent the day in Socorro with my face glued to a computer screen."

"I don't know if I should thank you or yell at you, Isaac." Donna answered after a long pause in the conversation.

"I deserve both, I suppose," Isaac replied with a smile. "Instead, how about some spumoni?"

*********

Stallion's Gate

Admiral Albert Calavicci walked Frank Parker through the Quantum Leap facility at Stallion's Gate, New Mexico like a commander showing off his flagship. Frank found the place as impressive as Never Neverland, his home base in Nevada. Finally they got to the heart of the project, the Control Center and the Imaging Room. In the Control Center they met up with a pretty brunette wearing a lab coat that was embroidered 'Dr. SJ Fuller' on the pocket.

"Admiral," she greeted Al.

"SammiJo, how was your vacation?" Al inquired.

"Just fine. My parents are gearing up for a trip to Canada this Easter." SammiJo replied. Then she noticed Frank lurking in the doorway. "Hi, I'm Dr. Fuller," she greeted him, extending her hand to shake.

"Dr. Fuller, I'm charmed to meet the face that goes with that wonderful voice I've been hearing," Frank said glibly as he took her hand in his. The remark puzzled SammiJo but she chose not to remark on it.

"This is our Control Center. From here all aspects of the project are monitored and correlated." Al was continuing the tour speech. He didn't want SammiJo to learn too much about Frank before being properly briefed.

"I'm curious about how you keep in touch with Dr. Beckett during a leap." Frank said.

"The Imaging Chamber is our next stop," Al responded as he keyboarded a request to Ziggy. After receiving a confirming light he said, "it's been temperamental this last week but let's give it a shot."

He led Frank through the Control Center to the ramp at the far end of the room that led to the Imaging Chamber, picking up the handlink on the way. The door opened to the featureless room and the men stepped in. The Imaging Chamber gave Frank the willies. It looked a lot like the first stop on his journey to hell with Claire, the Artificial Intelligence that almost killed him last year. Frank was about to bolt for the door when it slid closed, trapping him inside.

The panic of claustrophobia hit Frank immediately, knocking the wind out of him as if he's been shot with a cannonball. He clung to the door fighting for breath as the room whirled around him causing a muffling roar in his ears. Slowly he began to calm his breathing and through the roar in his ears he began to hear someone calling his name.

"Parker! ... Frank Parker!"

A middle-aged man in a brightly colored jacket got in his line of vision and grabbed him by the shoulders. Frank forced himself to look into the man's face. In just a few seconds he recognized the face of Admiral Calavicci and his panic began to subside.

"Frank, what just happened?" Al demanded.

Frank took a deep breath and put up his hand in the typical 'stop' sign, asking silently for a moment to regain his composure. Al watched as control returned to the Guests face.

"I don't suppose the bio you got on me included the fact that I'm claustrophobic," Frank finally said to Al.

Al's face registered immediate comprehension as he said, "No. Sorry kid, I never would have brought you in here like that if I'd known."

Frank looked around the room slowly. He half expected it to look like the 'Holodeck' of Star Trek fame. According to Al it served a similar purpose.

"Gentlemen, if you're ready I'd like to get this show on the road." SammiJo's voice resonated throughout the room.

"SammiJo, center me on Sam," the Admiral ordered.

Frank heard a soft whirring and then... nothing. He saw Al looking around the room as if he was seeing something else.

"Admiral, remember Mr. Parker." Ziggy's voice cautioned.

"Oh, yeah. Frank, hold my hand." Al said.

Frank snorted, "I realize we just spent the day together, Al, but you're not really my type."

"Smartass. You want to see this in action? It only works because Sam and I are connected through brain waves. You have to be in physical contact with me to see what is happening."

Frank took the proffered hand. Instantly he was in a bar, music was playing and people were talking. A woman laughed. His eyes followed the laugh and landed on Olga Vukovitch's face. He raised a hand to wave, "Yo, Olga" he called.

"She can't see or hear you," Al said. "To you, she's a hologram. Only Sam Beckett can see and hear us."

"What bull!" Frank retorted and let go of the admiral's hand. The bar vanished and the music was replaced by the faint whirring of the Imaging Chamber at work.

Afraid that claustrophobia would again seize him, Al grabbed Frank's arm. The bar reappeared.

Amazement took hold of Frank's features. "I can only imagine what drugs you guys were on when you came up with this. This is wild!"

Al had continued to scan the room for Sam. He found him coming out of the men's room.

"Sam, how's it going?" he said to his best friend.

Sam recovered from the shock of seeing Al at the bar quickly and tersely said, "Outside" as he passed the holographic observer.

"That seemed rather unfriendly," remarked Frank sarcastically.

Al considered his options before saying to Frank, "I think I should talk to him alone first."

Frank heard the unasked question and answered it; "I've beat the claustrophobia for today. But I'd like to see more of this."

"O.K." Al replied and let go of Frank. Parker made himself comfortable on the floor nearby.

Outside of the restaurant, Sam Beckett walked about halfway down the block before finding a doorway he could sink into to wait for Al. He didn't have to wait long.

"Nice boots," came the gravely voice of the Observer.

"Is that all you have to say? 'Nice boots?' !" Sam spat back at him.

"What else should I say?" Al responded in kind.

"HOW ... COULD ... YOU! Showing up at the restaurant, using my name. You've gotten too used to being a hologram."

"I am a hologram." Al stated matter-of-factly.

"Not now," Sam shot back. "I'm here. You're here. We can't be seen together and you know that."

"Sam. Sam! SAAAMMMM!" the admiral had been trying to break into the leaper's tirade.

"What!?!"

Al put his hand through the doorpost they were standing near. "I am a hologram. I'm in the Imaging Chamber. I wanted to catch up with you and this seemed the best way."

Within seconds Sam Beckett went from anger to shock to shame at how he had treated his best friend. "I'm sorry," he murmured contritely.

"What's really wrong, Sam?" the Admiral asked.

"It's this leap. I'm home but I'm not home. I'm with a very sharp group of people who I'm sure are going to find me out eventually. I hate lying to Dr. Mentnor. He was my back-up proctor at MIT when Dr. LoNigro was busy."

"I know, I read through the data Ziggy gave me." Al replied.

Sam looked straight into Al's face. "I miss you. I miss having you feed me data from Ziggy about people and events. I feel so alone on this one."

"You want me to call Verbena," Al jokingly offered.

Sam began to laugh. "You can't. She's having dinner with Craig Donovan."

"Who's Craig Donovan?" Al asked.

"Craig Donovan is the guy who got me into this Karaoke mess tonight," Sam answered.

"Craig Donovan is my best friend." Parker said from the floor of the Imaging Chamber. "We've known each other for years."

Sam realized Al hadn't heard his answer while watching the Observer turn to listen to something or someone in the Imaging Chamber. "Is someone there with you?" he inquired.

"Parker" came the quick answer. "Didn't you see him before?"

"No" Sam replied.

Then a wicked grin worked its way to the Admiral's face. "You guys want to meet?" he asked.

"NO!!" The answer came in stereo.

"... the phone was weird enough for me..." Frank started.

"... thank you very much." Sam finished.

Both men answered simultaneously and although Al knew they could not hear each other, the continuity of their responses was eerie.

"What about Craig Donovan?" Frank wanted to know.

v Al shrugged, "Something about Karaoke."

Frank Parker began to laugh. He knew how badly he sang but, like most of the tone deaf, he didn't care. He could only imagine a scientist like Sam Beckett in front of a crowd with a microphone in his hand. Scientists are notoriously bad performers, too introverted.

"Al, what's Parker saying?" Sam asked. The concerned expression on Al's face was disconcerting.

"Parker's having a great laugh at your expense," Al responded wryly. He was just hoping that Frank's giggle fit wasn't a prelude to a meltdown. "I'll be right back, Sam," he said as he turned to check on Parker. It was then that Sam noticed someone standing under the street lamp nearby.

That someone was one of the nurses and she was giving herself a pep talk through her tears. "Why are you letting the jerk get to you?" she said. "You've heard worse from patients. Suck it up, girl. This is Mary-Ann's party and you can't spoil it for her by acting like a baby." She was about 5'2", had curly brown hair, and her full face was flushed from a combination of anger and embarrassment. Four hundred years ago her body would have been an artist's inspiration, in the present she was obese.

Sam was deciding between making his presence known and trying to slip away quietly without disturbing her when he sneezed. She looked toward the direction of the sound and commanded, "Come out of that doorway."

Sam stepped into the circle of light from the street lamp. "I'm sorry if I surprised you and I wasn't trying to eavesdrop," he said. "I needed a break from the noise for a few minutes."

Embarrassed at being caught talking to herself, she lowered her head and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." Sam pursued the conversation.

With obvious effort she raised her face to meet his eyes. Seeing no hidden agenda there she said, "I said I'm sorry I intruded on your peaceful moment."

"Oh, that's O.K.," Sam said taking two steps closer to her. "I noticed the group you're with. Are you nurses?"

"Yes, we work at the health center in town. Now before you think we go out carousing every night, we're out tonight to celebrate a birthday."

"Mary-Ann's, I heard," Sam offered. "What happened in there that sent you out on to the street talking to yourself? Really, I'm a good listener," Sam added seeing the defensiveness on her face.

She paused, assessing the man in front of her, before speaking. "Some of us were on stage doing a 'Supremes' number. When we finished, as I was coming off the stage I heard some jerk comment about me. You know, my weight." She paused again. Sam waited for her to go on. "I have heard this stuff my whole life. I usually don't let it get to me, you know. But this just blind-sided me. He Had No Right!"

"You're right," Sam agreed, "He had no right, and he's a jerk." He smiled encouragingly at the nurse. "So what did you sing?" he asked.

"That big hit of Diana Ross's. You know," she said.

"Which one?" Sam urged.

The nurse took a step back, put up her hand and began to sing, "Stop, in the name of love, before you break my heart." As she sang she did all the moves and dance steps the Supremes had done long ago. She danced well and moved with a grace that belied her size.

"That's great," Sam said applauding.

v "You think?" she said with the first smile Sam saw on her face.

"I just hope I sound as good when it's my turn to sing," Sam said.

"I was going to do another song alone but I'm not going to now," she said.

"Why? Because of the jerk?" Sam asked. She nodded. "Don't let him win," Sam pressed. "If you like to sing, if you want to sing, then sing damnit. If he doesn't like it, tough."

"I don't know," she began.

"What song were you going to do?" Sam asked.

" 'Crazy' by Pasty Cline" was the answer. Seeing a confused look on Sam's face, she began to sing, "I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so lonely. I'm crazy, crazy for feeling blue."

"No, no, no," Sam said shaking his head. "That's a loser's song. Sing a triumphant song."

"This Jewish girl doesn't sing gospel!" she said with a laugh.

"Not gospel. Something that's a real kick in the butt," Sam said. "And I know just the song," he finished with a gleam in his eye.

Inside the restaurant, Olga was growing concerned about Frank's extended absence from the table. "Do you see him anywhere?" she asked Nate Ramsey.

"No, but he's probably caught in that crowd at the bar." Ramsey answered.

On the stage a foursome had just finished a lively rendition of the spiritual "Operator" as Elvis the emcee returned to the stage. He called the next performer up. Nate Ramsey. "I'll look for him from the stage," Nate promised as he stood to answer Elvis's call.

CHAPTER 14

In the Imaging Chamber, Al had SammiJo bring him back inside the bar while he checked on Frank. The current performer was destroying a wonderful song by doing a truly awful rendition of it. Al touched Frank's arm and pointed out the performer. "Sam will do a better job than that guy. So if you're worried about your reputation, don't." the admiral said encouragingly.

Frank pulled himself together and checked out the performer. "He's not so bad," Frank said about the performer.

Misunderstanding who the comment was about, Al agreed, "He's not so bad."

The next group of singers was beginning the spiritual "Operator" as Frank began to check out the 'scenery' at the tables. Laughter brought his attention to a large table in the corner of the room. About a dozen people in their 20's were partying together, the men outnumbered the women three to one. Frank brought Al's attention to the table and they walked closer. The group seemed to be in a discussion about which one's boss was the worst to work for. All the women at the table were lovely.

The first one to catch Al's eye was Asian or Polynesian with long dark hair, jet black eyes and a Marilyn Monroe figure. The second woman at the table was a tall African-American with short natural hair. Her deep creamy chocolate skin was set off perfectly by the pale yellow of her cotton top that stretched just so wonderfully across her bosom.

"Are you sure they can't see us?" Frank whispered to Al.

"Or hear us either so you don't have to whisper," answered Al. "That's one of the perks of being a hologram."

Wistfully Frank reach out to touch the long dark hair of the first woman. His hand passed right through her head.

"And that is one of the problems." Al added.

Both men laid eyes on the remaining woman at the table and gasped. Frank was practically eating the woman with his eyes from her long legs to her tiny waist and full breasts right up to the deep red curls on her head. While Al always appreciated beauty, he definitely didn't like the way Parker was eyeing this woman. Then she lit a cigarette and Al realized that he had almost made the same mistake he had made a few years ago. This was not Tina, his Tina, but Delilah her sister.

"Wow" Frank didn't realize he had spoken aloud. Then a look of confusion crossed his face. "I've seen her somewhere before," he said to Al.

Al gave a quick snorted laugh, "Yeah, in your dreams, kid."

"No, Al. I'm serious. I've seen her somewhere before," insisted Frank. "I just can't place it right now, but I will."

"Sure, whatever." Al dismissed the thought.

Elvis the emcee was back to introduce the next performer, Nate Ramsey. Frank Parker spun around to face the stage so fast he almost knocked Admiral Calavicci over.

"Someone you know?" Al asked.

Parker was grinning ear to ear. "This is going to be sweet," Frank said. "I'll be able to lord this over him for a month," he gloated.

The music began, a 25-year-old country tune made famous by Mac Davis, and Nate began to sing. "Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way." That was when Frank Parker lost it. Laughter overtook him so hard he lost physical contact with Al. The bar disappeared and Frank found himself back in the Imaging Chamber at Stallion's Gate, laughing his face off.

**************

Stallion's Gate

Frank Parker had recovered from his giggle-fit, at least enough to walk, escorted by Dr. SammiJo Fuller, back to the waiting room under his own power. Just before shutting down the Imaging Chamber, Al Calavicci centered in on Sam and told him that he'd catch up with him later. As he went through the Control Center, Ziggy reminded the admiral that Chief Reed was still waiting to speak with him. Al checked Reed's location and went directly there.

Socorro, Backstep HQ

Having returned from making amends with his former student, Isaac Mentnor went back to work with Bradley Talmadge on a suspect list. No one was jumping off the computer screen and shouting, "I'm a bomber" at them. At 2200 they shelved the work until the morning.

Karaoke Bar

Sam noted the increase in size of the crowd as he came back in. The dining room had not one empty table and the bar was packed four deep. Surprisingly, John Ballard was in that four deep throng at the bar in the company of three blondes. John raised a glass to Sam as he walked past on his way back to the table.

"Where were you, Mr. Parker?" Olga inquired of Sam as he reclaimed his seat at the table.

"You missed my performance, Parker," Nate complained.

"Ah, gee, Ramsey, I'm heartbroken," Sam sarcastically replied. "I saw John found 'other' entertainment at the bar," he added in a neutral tone.

"Par for the course," Ramsey answered matter-of-factly.

A couple on stage was doing a very bad Sonny and Cher imitation. The crowd loved them anyway. The rapidly firing synapses in the genius mind of Sam Beckett were still working on picking a song to sing. The duet reminded him of another duet, one by Barbra and Neil that was on an album that Katie played over and over ad nauseum one summer when he was home on a break from school. There was another song on the album; a song Katie liked but said had been done better. Sam scanned the music menu again. 'Good, it's there' he thought. Sam wrote down his selection and flagged a waitress to give it to.

After 'Sonny and Cher' left the stage, the parade of performers continued. A young man sang "Peggy Sue" reminding Sam of the gentle boy who worked at the Veterinary Clinic after school. Another man sang "Smoke gets in your Eyes" and after a few country tunes, a thirtyish man sang the King Thunder hit "Rock the Redhead". Sam sort of remembered having sung both "Smoke" and "Redhead" but the memories were very blurry.

"... came from her table." Nate Ramsey was saying.

"What?" Sam questioned.

"The rocker up there came from her table," Nate repeated, the word 'her' dripping with disdain.

"Whose table?"

"The little tease from Quantum Leap, Dr. Martinez-O'Farrell. She's sitting right over there with that group," Ramsey indicated the large table in the right corner of the room.

"Now really, Nate." Olga began to chide him. "I heard you practically dragged that woman off to 'interrogate her'."

"Salivating all the way I'm sure," Sam added dryly. He was looking at the large group in the right corner. He recognized no faces at that table as being PQL personnel and neither of the two women at the table resembled Tina.

Time passed and more singers sang, some were actually quite good. Elvis appeared between performers doing intros and jokes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been told that the next performer has changed her mind." The crowd called out a huge "Aawwe". Elvis put up his hands to stop them. "She has decided to do a more upbeat number." The crowd cheered. Again Elvis put up his hands for quiet. "We just need a moment to cue the tape." A beat of silence passed, then Elvis began his intro, "OK, let's put our hands together and show a little 'Respect' for Bobbie Finklestein."

Instantly recognizable Motown music filled the room as the large nurse Sam had comforted outside took the stage. Sam was glad she had decided to do the song he suggested. She sang out strong and sure, picking faces out of the crowd to sing a phrase or two to. Although her pitch wasn't always on, she strutted and shimmied commandingly on and off the stage. In the middle of the song, she shimmied up to Sam's table. He smiled radiantly at her, conveying his pride in her courage. But she did not come over to him. Instead she put her ample bosom right in Nathan Ramsey's face as she spelled it out for him. "R*E*S*P*E*C*T, find out what it means to me." She turned away from his reddening face with a bump of her hip and flirted with the next man in her sight. The entire room was clapping along in rhythm.

When she had returned to the stage and finished, she received a standing ovation, begun by Sam Beckett. During the ovation Nate made a beeline for the men's room.

As they sat down Sam turned to Olga and asked, "What's with Ramsey?"

She smiled brightly at him and said, "He's probably embarrassed." Sam questioned her with his eyes. "Earlier this evening, he made a comment about her ... ah... appearance when she sang back up for a friend."

"So he's the jerk," Sam replied under his breath. Olga caught the comment anyway and questioned him with her eyes. Sam chose to leave the question unanswered and directed Olga's attention to the next performer on the stage.

As Nate made his way back to the table he ran in to John Ballard at the bar. Ballard commented about it being 'pumpkin time' for him and asked Nate to make his good-byes to Frank and Olga for him. Nate agreed and watched his coworker and friend wheel out the door with the three blondes. Shaking his head he returned to Parker and Vukovitch.

"So, Parker, when is it your turn?" Nate said as he sat down.

"Whenever they call, I guess," Sam answered with a shrug and another long draw from his beer.

Elvis was back. "Our next performer is a newcomer to our stage. Lets give it up for Frank Parker."

"I guess it's now," Sam said as he stood and walked onto the stage.

Olga's forehead began to tense as her body prepared for the assault her ears were expecting. Frank Parker is a multitalented individual but singing is NOT one of his fortes.

The music began and violins filled the air. Soft sleigh bells began a faster tempo than Sam had remembered but he began to sing anyway. "I may not always love you, But long as there are stars above you, You never need to doubt it, I'll make you so sure about it. God only knows what I'd be without you."

Most of Olga Vukovitch's fears melted away as she watched and listened to Frank sing. He had chosen a song written and recorded by her favorite group, the Beach Boys, and was doing it rather well. Whatever was going on with him, he was sending her a message that he would be all right.

CHAPTER 15

Stallion's Gate

SammiJo Fuller walked with Frank Parker to the waiting room in silence. She was always a bit cautious with Guests at first meeting. This Guest seemed to be in a world of his own, perhaps processing what had happened to him in the Imaging Chamber.

Frank Parker was racking his slightly swiss-cheesed brain trying to remember where he'd seen the redhead from the bar. The silence in the hallways was a welcome change from the noisy bar he'd just come from.

"Here we are," SammiJo said as they approached to Waiting Room. She used her card key to open the door.

"Thanks." Frank stepped into the room. When SammiJo didn't follow him in he turned to her and asked, "Aren't you going to tuck me in? Dr. Beeks always does."

"No, I've got work to do with Ziggy yet tonight," SammiJo stated.

"Ziggy?!" Frank exclaimed. "I thought that was the Admiral's nickname for you."

SammiJo was surprised. "Ziggy is our Hybrid-super-computer. I'm merely a Ph.D. Would you like to speak directly with Ziggy...?"

"No, no," Frank cut her off. "I've had as much contact with self-aware computers as I want in this lifetime." He shot SammiJo the 'Parker smile'. "I'll just say good night then Dr. Fuller."

"Good night," SammiJo said as she closed the door and locked the Waiting Room down for the night.

***************

Karaoke Bar

The Backstep trio at the Karaoke bar was calling it a night. Olga and Sam were heading out the door for some fresh air while Nate paid the bill with the company credit card. As they passed through the bar area Sam saw what he thought was Tina with one of the women from the table Nate had pointed out earlier. He had to stop himself from greeting her with open arms, the brilliant but ditzy redhead was always one of his favorite people at the Project, but she wouldn't recognize him with Frank's face.

The air outside was bracing, the desert having cooled down without the sun shining. A conversation drew their attention.

"I can't believe it took you so long to get dressed. Honestly, Gooshie, it's not like this is a date or anything," Tina Martinez-O'Farrell whined at her companion.

"I . . . I did not have a whole lot of warning," Irving Gershowitz shot back, equally whiny. "I've never met your sister. I want to make a good impression."

Tina sighed. "Oh, Gooshie," she said in her sweet breathy voice. "Don't let her make you nervous. She's just a woman."

The geeky techie swallowed hard. "Thanks for the reminder." he replied nervously as they walked past Olga and Sam into the bar.

Olga Vukovitch studied the expression on Frank Parker's face. He had gone from happy to crestfallen to amused in a matter of seconds as they had passed the redheaded couple entering the bar. Olga was sure Frank had no idea how badly his poker face had slipped. She was not going to be the one to tell him.

Sam had gone from delighted to see Gooshie and Tina, to crestfallen that they would not know it was him, to amused at their conversation. 'The more things change, the more they stay the same' he thought. Then it dawned on him, he had just seen Tina inside the bar with someone and outside with Gooshie in less than a minute. He'd heard Al complain that they looked too much alike but until now, Sam Beckett had never realized how much Delilah Hobkirk resembled her sister, Christina Martinez-O'Farrell.

CHAPTER 16

Wednesday, February 9th
Stallion's Gate
Dawn

Verbena Beeks arrived in the level 1 cafeteria, poured herself a cup of coffee and claimed a table near the windows. Spending so much of her working day underground, she enjoyed looking out on the morning sun capturing the desert in its glow. This was the calm before the storm.

"Hey Girl," Tina Martinez-O'Farrell greeted Verbena as she sat down at the table with her mug of herbal tea.

"Hey yourself," Verbena greeted back. "How was the Karaoke? And Delilah?" she asked her friend.

Before Tina had the chance to respond Donna Elesee sat down at the table, her cup of hot chocolate in hand. "What report were you talking about last night?" she asked Verbena.

"A fabrication," 'Bena admitted, "I just wanted to put as much distance between you and Craig Donovan as I could as quickly as I could. You seemed quite upset last night and judging by the chocolate in your cup, you still are." Dr. Beeks' job also included looking after the mental health of PQL staff.

"Speaking of Craig Donovan," Tina chimed in, "How did the date go? Com'on, dish."

Verbena looked at Donna. She watched the physicist take a long draw from her cup and nod in acquiescence before speaking. "He was cute, bright, funny and like a bulldog on the subject of the Guest. He just would not accept that I couldn't tell him anything more than he already knew."

"The whole date was just an elaborate interrogation?" Tina questioned in surprise.

"Yes."

"What a shame!" Tina sounded more heartbroken than 'Bena.

"It's O.K." 'Bena consoled her friend, "What use would I have for an NSA agent in my life anyway?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she glanced at Donna. "Sorry," she added with a grimace.

"That's all right." Donna responded. "I was in Socorro last evening..."

"I thought you were in Alamagordo?" Tina interrupted.

"I was, earlier. I ran into your sister there, by the way," Donna returned.

"In Socorro?"

"In Alamagordo." Donna took a breath and a sip of cocoa, and then continued. "I went to the hotel last evening to get some answers from Isaac Mentnor."

"And did you?" the psychiatrist prompted.

"Yes. He admitted being part of the NSA reconnaissance team. He said he volunteered to protect me, Sam and project personnel from undo suspicion," Donna stated.

"And you believe him." Verbena said. It was a question phrased as a statement.

"Yes, I believe him," Donna assured her.

That topic exhausted, Tina changed the subject with a question to Donna. "How did Dee seem to you yesterday?"

"Who's Dee? And can I join you?" SammiJo Fuller asked standing at the table, a glass of orange juice in hand.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Tina answered. "Dee is my sister. She works for Congressman Martinelli."

"She seemed a bit nervous yesterday," Donna answered Tina's question from before the younger physicist sat down. "She practically jumped out of her skin when the Congressman interrupted our conversation during the break. And when did she start using the nickname Lyla?"

"Lyla?!? That's a new one on me," Tina admitted with a laugh of surprise. "But nervous around Angelo might help explain why she got so wasted last night. She was so out of it that I brought her home with me,"

"Here?" Verbena questioned.

"I know it's against the rules but I didn't have much choice last night," Tina defended herself. "I had Gooshie drive her car here so she would have it when she got up this morning."

"So she's gone now?" Donna questioned.

"Yes, she left by cab just before I came to breakfast."

"By cab? Didn't you say her car was here?" SammiJo asked, confused.

"Yeah, but she couldn't get it started. Said she'd have it fixed later." Tina explained. "I hope she can pull it all together by tonight. I was looking forward to partying with my sis."

"Party?" SammiJo asked. "What party?"

"Oh, that's right. You've been on vacation for the last two weeks," 'Bena reminded herself aloud. "You don't know about the big formal party here tonight for the finance committee."

"On vacation, lucky you," Tina teased, then asked, "So how's your mom?"

Verbena noted that Donna stiffened ever so slightly as SammiJo talked about her mother, Abigail Fuller. Dr. Beckett had leaped into Abigail's life a couple of years ago. First as her father, then as her fiancée and finally as her lawyer. Although Donna had never said so, Verbena suspected that she knew what even SammiJo herself didn't, that SammiJo Fuller is Sam Beckett's daughter.

"So tell me more about what's been happening around here," requested SammiJo.

"It's been a laugh a minute," Donna replied dryly. "Along with all the congressional personnel to worry about we have the NSA breathing down out necks, a bomb threat to contend with and a psycho in the waiting room."

"Oh, just another normal week at PQL," SammiJo joked. After the laughter subsided she quickly asked, "What's this about the Guest? I met him last night. He seemed rather nice."

All three women began to answer her at once. "Nice?" "... escaped from the waiting room." "... called the NSA ..." " ... Hanson Island ..." "... had to Taser him..." "... by his name ..." "... in my quarters ..."

Dr. Fuller was just overwhelmed by all the information her coworkers were relating. She put up her hands in defense. "Whoa. Whoa! I got it. I think, I've got it," she said as her tablemates quieted down. "So this Guest came from Hanson Island, escaped the Waiting Room, called an NSA agent by name from Tina's rooms, started an investigation of us by the NSA and had to be Tasered by you?" She addressed the last phrase to Tina. "All in a matter of two days?" Three heads nodded in agreement.

"You got it," Tina said.

"More or less," Donna added quickly.

"Lord have mercy," SammiJo prayed. "Now about this formal party tonight?"

"Actually," Verbena began, "I was going to ask you a favor, SammiJo. As Wednesday is Dr. Conrad's usual day off, I was hoping you might see to the Guest this evening. I need to be at the party. I've been appointed NSA liaison and they'll be there tonight."

"Sure, no problem. I hate those things anyway," SammiJo responded.

***************

Temporary HQ
0740

After a brief meeting to update everyone on the situation at Stallion's Gate, the Backstep crew all went their separate ways in search of appropriate formal wear. Nate Ramsey left his formal wear to the discretion of Isaac Mentnor and left immediately after breakfast with a dozen men to begin security integration of Backstep and Quantum Leap personnel. Sam declined Olga and John's offer of a side trip to White Sands opting, as Donovan did, to use a rental from the formal wear shop in town. Bradley and Isaac went to White Sands. Sam had been hoping for some time alone to make contact with Al and Ziggy but Craig appeared to be glued to him.

Stallion's Gate
0740

Admiral Calavicci was looking forward to a quiet breakfast. As herounded the corner he heard the pleasant sound of feminine voices coming from the first level cafeteria. He stopped in the corridor enjoying the euphonious sounds within the room.

"And when did she start using the nickname Lyla?" he overheard Donna ask.

"Lyla?!? That's a new one on me," came Tina's reply.

'On me, too,' Al thought to himself figuring that they must be speaking about Tina's sister. He peaked in the door quickly. It was so gratifying to see the members of his staff enjoying each other's company. Knowing that his presence would put a damper on a seemingly harmonious breakfast, the admiral opted to eat elsewhere in the compound.

Socorro
1117

Sam had been unsuccessful in unprying Donovan from his hip all morning. He had even tried casual teasing insults aimed at Craig's obvious failure with Verbena Beeks. No dice.

Craig Donovan's suspicions had been raised when Frank turned down that trip to White Sands. Frank never turned down a chance to get out and about. Something had definitely changed about his friend after that last backstep and Craig was going to be there for Frank, no matter what.

It was late morning when Sam and Craig were in the formal wear shop getting fitted in their tuxes. Craig had insisted that Frank be fitted first. He wanted to observe his friend at a short distance. He couldn't be sure, but Frank even seemed to move differently lately.

Sam stared out the window of the shop letting his mind wander aimlessly while Craig was being fitted for his monkey suit. Across the street the health center had a mass exodus of workers in search of lunch. Sam was beginning to loose hope in being able to touch base with Al before the affair this evening when he saw his deliverance. Craig was pinned and chalked, unable to follow Sam as he made his escape from the store.

The nurse, Bobbie, was among the myriad of lunch goers. Sam made his way to her just in case Donovan was watching him from the shop. He reached out and touched her arm.

"Yes?" she said as she turned toward the touch.

"Hi, remember me, from last night at the bar? I wanted to let you know how wonderful you were. And to apologize again for my, well, coworker is probably the best word," Sam said as he began to walk beside her.

"I can't believe you were sitting with that jerk," Bobbie almost snarled.

"I'm really sorry he said what he did." Sam said apologetically. "You really put him in his place. Just think, I have to put up with him every day."

She laughed. "Oh, you poor baby." she teased.

"Well, I just wanted to say again how great you were. Bye now," Sam concluded as he turned the corner. He broke into a sprint and found a pay phone a few blocks away. From there he called Al.

Stallion's Gate
1200

Albert Calavicci had not risen to the rank of Admiral without taking part in his share of "pissing matches", and winning most of them. From the moment he met Nathan Ramsey Al knew he was in for another one.

"I want complete control over security for 24 hours: 1200 on 2/9 to 1200 on 2/10." Ramsey demanded. This didn't surprise PQL Security Chief Jim Reed, in whose office they all were.

"You know I can't allow that," Calavicci countered. "I'm not about to allow you to usurp Chief Reed's authority." 'If only to protect Sam and Frank', Al thought.

"Admiral, if you had been here yesterday," Ramsey began, "You would understand..."

"There is nothing about this situation that I don't understand, Ramsey." Al interrupted. 'Including your attempted pick up of MY girl' he added silently with a glare. He turned his attention to his security chief. "Reed, for the party only, let's make Mr. Ramsey your #2 man. Team his boys up with yours. But I want you in charge," Al finished.

Reed had worked with the admiral long enough to know what Al had in mind. "Since the affair takes place on the top level only, with parking on levels 1 & 2, there's no need to use any of Mr. Ramsey's unit below level 3 of the complex," he stated.

"Sounds good to me," Al said as Nate started to complain, "Now just a cotton pickin' minute."

Jim Reed and Al Calavicci waited to see what was coming. Nate Ramsey sized up the situation and relented, somewhat. "For the sake of interdepartmental relations I accept your offer. But be very clear on this, Admiral, if push comes to shove tonight, I take my orders from Bradley Talmadge, not you."

He couldn't be sure, but Nate thought he heard "Nozzle" as the admiral left the room.

A few minutes later as Al settled down behind the desk in his office when his phone rang, not the usual ring but the one he had added for private calls. He picked it up immediately.

"Calavicci"

"Al, it's me." Sam said from the phone booth in Socorro.

"Hi, you." Al returned affectionately.

"Has Ramsey put all his security measures in place?"

"The NSA nozzle? Yeah, he's here working with Jim Reed."

"Good. The man has the personality of a sandpaper but is an expert in his job." Sam reassured his best friend. "So where were you last night while Tina was making time with Gooshie?"

"Making time?" Al laughed. "I don't think so. Parker and I weren't back from our 'road trip' and Tina was meeting someone in Socorro. Gooshie went along for the ride."

"Tina was meeting Delilah, her sister, right?" Sam questioned.

"How did you know that?"

Now it was Sam's turn to laugh. "I saw her in the Karaoke Bar last night. I mistook her for Tina at first, but then I saw Tina with Gooshie and realized it must have been Delilah I saw."

Al's eyes lit up. "That's really funny, Sam. Frank swears he's seen Dee before, too."

"Speaking of Frank, has he remembered anything new?" Sam inquired.

"No, just Dee."

v In Socorro, Sam's eyes searched the street for any sign of Craig Donovan as he conversed with his friend. "I'll see you tonight. In the meantime, have Ziggy keep scanning the project for Plastik. It has to show up sometime soon. Damn," Sam softly swore into the phone.

"What?" Al wanted to know.

"Donovan just turned the corner. Gotta go." Sam hung up the receiver just as Craig Donovan spotted him and began to advance on the phone booth.

CHAPTER 17

Stallion's Gate,br> 1600

Al had been running bombing scenarios with Ziggy most of the afternoon. Although he would never say so aloud, he was glad that NSA security was on the premises. Both PQL personnel and the NSA group seem to be working under the assumption that the bomb will explode in the early morning, tomorrow. Given this scenario, it's most likely that the bomber will use the cover of the party to plant the explosive device at Stallion's Gate.

Reed and Ramsey stopped by the Admiral's office at 1600 to present their security arrangements for the evening's festivities. The plan was as tight as could possibly be; with NSA troops and PQL guards, paired, at the perimeter of the grounds and inside the facility.

After the two security chiefs left, Al realized that he hadn't checked in on Parker for a while. He made his way to the Waiting Room before beginning his personal preparations for the glad-handing ahead.

As Al entered the Waiting Room, SammiJo stood up in attention. For all its informality, Project Quantum Leap was a military project Frank noted with both admiration and amusement.

"Why don't you take a break, Dr. Fuller?" the admiral suggested.

SammiJo smiled and said, "Thank you, Sir. I'll be back in ten."

Just as soon as the door slid closed behind SammiJo, Frank began to fire questions at Al. "Have you located the bomb yet? What's happening with the congressional dance? Has Dr. Beckett ruined my life yet?"

"Slow down, kid, before you hurt something," Al verbally restrained him. Then he filled Parker in on the security arrangements for the dance tonight and the status of the search for the bomb. He had barely finished the recap when the Waiting Room door slid open yet again.

"What is this, Grand Central Station?" the Admiral barked at the doorway before looking up to see who had entered.

Christina Martinez-O'Farrell's face clouded over, two steps into the room. "Excuse me, Admiral," she said, "I didn't realize you were in here. I was looking for Dr. Fuller." Her voice was strained and over-polite.

"She's on a break," Frank supplied.

"Thank you," said Tina and she left the room quickly.

Frank Parker turned his attention back to Admiral Calavicci. "So how long have you been in bed with members of congressional committees?" he asked the older man pointedly.

"What?" For a moment Al thought the NSA man was talking literally about his affair with Tina.

Frank went on as if Al hadn't said anything, "Why are congressional aides roaming freely in your halls, Admiral, and fraternizing with your physicists? What is Lyla Hobkirk doing here?"

Warm relief flowed over Al as he realized that Frank had mistaken Tina for her sister. "How do you know Lyla, Parker?" he asked.

"She's the one person who survived," Frank replied.

"Admiral?" a disembodied voice called out.

"Yes, Ziggy?"

v "You are needed in the Control Center. Dr. Fuller is on her way back to the Waiting Room."

"Thank you," Al spoke to the air. Then he returned his attention to Frank. "That wasn't Lyla Hobkirk," he said with a smile. "That was Dr. Martinez-O'Farrell, one of our staff members. You were in her quarters during your first escape attempt," he finished.

"But she was in the bar..." Frank began.

SammiJo breezed into the room. "I'll take it from here, Sir," she told Al.

Once again, confusion and frustration reigned in the mind of Frank Parker as he watched Admiral Calavicci stride out of the room.

CHAPTER 18

Wednesday, February 9, 2000
Stallion's Gate
2000 Hours

The upper conference room at Project Quantum Leap had never looked so festive. Small round cocktail tables were scattered around the perimeter of the large room, a jazz trio was playing in the far corner, and a small dance floor had been designated in the center of the room. A buffet table was laid out along side the bandstand and the bartender was very busy fixing drinks at the other end of the buffet.

Although less than fifty people populated the room, Nate Ramsey had to look carefully if he was to locate any one person. The four congressional members were there, each escorting or escorted by a member of their staff. Admiral Calavicci, in full dress uniform, was escorting Dr. Martinez-O'Farrell. She stood out most effectively in a flaming red tango dress. The only other bright spot in the sea of black clothing was Olga Vukovitch in an electric blue metallic sheath so form fitting it appeared to be painted on.

Nate watched the movement in the room. Admiral Calavicci and Dr. Elesee separately worked the room, lobbying the congressionals for continued funding. Craig Donovan was going out of his way to avoid Dr. Beeks and as usual, Frank Parker was at the bar. He seemed unusually interested in the band. They were doing all right for themselves seeing as they were all PQL staffers and not professional musicians. Nate didn't recognize all the band members but the bass player was none other than Dr. Gershowitz, the computer genius.

From his vantage point at the bar Sam could observe the whole room. He watched with awe how Al schmoozed with the congressional brass and reminded himself how fortunate he was to have Admiral Calavicci as his partner and friend. He just wished his partner would meander over to the bar so they could chat. Then as if he heard the silent wish, Al came over to the bar.

"Welcome to Stallion's Gate," Al said as he offered his hand to Sam.

"Frank Parker, Admiral. NSA," said Sam reaching to shake the proffered hand, "Nice band."

"Yeah, they're all right," Al agreed, "but you should hear them when Dr. Beckett adds his piano to the mix. Then they really swing."

Sam and Al drifted out the side door of the room. Al nodded clearance to the security on the outside of the door and the men found a quiet room in which to talk.

"Parker had a bizarre reaction to seeing Tina," Al said. "He wanted to know why Lyla was roaming the halls of Quantum Leap. He said quote she was the one who survived unquote."

"He must have confused Tina and Lyla," Sam interrupted.

"My thought exactly," Al agreed. "So I had Ziggy run some scenarios focused on Lyla. I hate the thought but the one with the highest odds had..."

"Lyla as the bomber." Sam finished Al's sentence. The older man stared incredulously at his partner.

"But," Sam continued, "Why, what's her motive? Who's her target?"

Each man considered for a moment. Simultaneously they spoke.

Sam said, "Tina."

Al said, "Angelo Martinelli."

"Huh?" they questioned each other.

"Jealousy," each responded. They stared at each other.

"We've got to stop doing this," Al finally said in exasperation.

"Why the congressman?" Sam asked.

"According to Tina, they're lovers. Or at least they were. Tina said they had some kind of huge fight lately. He won't leave his wife. Maybe she figures if she can't have him, no one else can either," Al reasoned. "Why Tina?"

"Sibling rivalry?" Sam fished. "Tina is brilliant and beautiful." Al began to respond but Sam couldn't resist a small dig at his friend, "And has an unmarried lover."

"Cute, Sam, real cute," Al complained. "Our project is about to be blown to smithereens and you're cracking jokes."

"Sorry."

"I'll do some more searching," Sam offered.

"You can't. NSA personnel don't have free access and you're wearing Parker's face," Al reminded Sam.

"O.K. then you..." Sam began.

"I can't either. If I disappear from the party for too long it will be suspicious." After Sam nodded agreement Al continued, "I also can't keep Lyla in sight. If I pay too much attention to her..."

"Tina will castrate you," Sam finished Al's thought.

"That was her last threat," Al said.

"Dr. Beckett? Admiral?" Ziggy's voice softly said. "I can do the search of the facility and grounds. Captain Reed has already asked me to inspect everyone and everything that has arrived since 1800 hours."

"Good. That takes care of the search," Al said, the relief in his voice plain.

"And I'll keep an eye on Lyla," Sam promised.

Downstairs in the Waiting Room, Frank was getting bored and itchy. He checked the clock that Dr. Beeks had provided for him, 2250 it read. SammiJo was running out of light conversation and the ever-present threat of explosion was weighing heavily on her.

"I wonder what's happening upstairs," Frank mused for the fourth time this hour.

"Me, too," intoned SammiJo, also for the fourth time. She sat bold upright, as if struck by inspiration.

"What?" Frank questioned.

"We can see what's going on upstairs," SammiJo replied. A smile began on her face as she added, "Come with me."

SammiJo led Frank out of the Waiting Room and down the hall. At the junction leading to the elevator they were met by nurse Ohara.

"Dr. Fuller, I really must protest..." he began to speak.

"Protest noted," SammiJo responded. "This is on my personal authority, nurse. Back off." He stood aside and allowed the pair to pass.

"Level four?" Frank questioned as he watched her push the elevator button.

"Security main office." Then seeing questions on the Visitors face SammiJo continued to speak, "Look Parker, do you trust me or not?"

The elevator glided to a stop. The doors opened. In answer to the question Frank Parker stepped over the threshold first. SammiJo lead him a few doors to the left and into the office.

"Hola, Paulo," SammiJo greeted the security officer behind the desk.

The young Hispanic man greeted SammiJo with a broad grin. "Hi yourself, Esjay. What's shakin'?"

"We're bored. Can we check out the party upstairs?" she asked. Paulo hesitated. "Please?" SammiJo implored. "I'll share my mom's oatmeal cookies with you."

Paulo's eyes lit up. "The ones with the raisins?" he questioned. SammiJo nodded. "O.K.," he relented. "Just for you, Esjay."

He led them to a side room with a wall of monitors, each showing a different view of the compound. Then he returned to his post.

"Ramsey'd wet himself to see this," Frank said appreciatively. SammiJo shot him a quizzical look. "Just someone I work with," Frank answered.

SammiJo began manipulating the controls on the table in front of them. "Here, the conference room is on these three monitors."

CHAPTER 19

2330 hours
Conference Room

True to his word, Sam Beckett had spent the last three hours watching Lyla Hobkirk. It hadn't been easy. Lyla was a true social butterfly and flirt, dancing with every man in the room at least twice. In addition, Lyla and Tina were wearing the same dress in different colors; Tina in red and Lyla in black. Olga Vukovitch, who had been watching him watch Lyla, was intent on dancing with him as well.

The other main distraction Sam was dealing with was Dr. Donna Elesee. Despite being given the cold shoulder on Monday and the fact that she seemed to be going out of her way to avoid him, Sam found himself following her every movement around the room with his eyes. It was as if Sam Beckett were a moth and Donna Elesee a flame.

Isaac Mentnor spent much of the evening looking dignified and staying out of the center of attention. Helene Mercer-Fuld, the senator from New Jersey, took notice that Isaac had arrived with Bradley Talmadge and tried to pump him (Isaac) for information while they had a fox-trot. Isaac was only too happy to let Olga cut in and steal him away from the inquisitive senator.

After the dance with Olga, Isaac found himself alongside the dance floor beside Admiral Calavicci. "Lovely party, Admiral," Isaac began the requisite small talk.

"Thank you," Al responded. Offering his hand to shake Al asked, "You're Dr. Isaac Mentnor, aren't you?"

Isaac accepted Al's hand, "Yes, I am."

"I understand you're working for the NSA..." Al continued.

"I'm more of a consultant and advisor," Isaac cut him off, downplaying his roll in Project Backstep.

"You look too serious, honey," Tina's little girl voice softly berated Al as she and Verbena joined the men. Al made the introductions.

"Isaac Mentnor?" Verbena questioned. "Aren't you Dr. Elesee's professor?"

Isaac smiled. "Guilty as charged, my dear."

"Speaking of Donna," Tina interjected, "have you noticed that guy who keeps staring at her?"

"Who?" Al questioned after a cursory look around the room.

"Him," Tina nodded in the direction of the dance floor. "The dark haired one dancing with the 'painted-on' blue dress." The three other heads all turned in the direction of the dance floor to see whom Tina was talking about.

"Oh, them," Isaac said when his eyes fell on Olga and her partner. "The woman in the blue dress is my colleague, Dr. Olga Vukovitch."

"Why would anyone look at Donna with her in his arms?" Al said lasciviously, looking Dr. Vukovitch from top to bottom. Then said, "Ow!" as Tina punched him in the arm.

Verbena smiled at him as she taunted, "You deserved that." Turning her attention to Isaac she restated the question, "Who is that man?"

Al began to nervously shift from one foot to the other.

Isaac had no choice but to respond to Verbena's direct question. "That is another of my colleagues. His name is Frank Parker."

**********

The music had slowed to a sensuous waltz. Sam returned Olga to her seat and scanned the room for Lyla Hobkirk. 'There she is,' he noted to himself as Lyla approached the bar. Sam's eyes continued to sweep the room. Almost instantly they landed on Donna Elesee, chatting and smiling with Congressman Ho, across the room. The urge to talk to her, dance with her, struck Sam again. He didn't try to analyze it; he couldn't rationalize it away. The allure of Donna Elesee was inescapable and he wouldn't try to deny it again.

Determined, Sam Beckett began to make his way across the dance floor toward her.

*******************

Verbena Beeks almost choked on her white wine. Coughing and sputtering she repeated Isaac's words. "That ... is ... Frank ... Parker?" she questioned.

"Are you OK?" Tina began fussing over Bena.

"Fine, fine." Bena was more interesting in 'Frank Parker' than mopping up her dripped on dress. She peered back over the dance floor. Al and Isaac watched her gaze as it landed on 'Frank' making his way across the floor towards Donna.

"Uh-oh," both men said softly. Their eyes met and with a quick nod each realized that the other knew exactly who 'Frank Parker' was. Verbena was only half a second behind them. The impending disaster was obvious to all three of them.

Verbena took action first. She quickly crossed the floor and placed herself directly between Mr. and Mrs. Beckett. Isaac followed less than half a second behind her. He strode over to Donna and swept her on to the dance floor.

"Mr. Parker?" she asked the slightly dazed man in front of her.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm Frank Parker," Sam said, shaking off his near trance.

"I'm Verbena Beeks. Care to dance?"

"Ah ... yeah, sure," Sam stammered as he started to waltz with the psychiatrist. Bena took the opportunity to dance closer to Sam than she usually would a stranger. As they placed some distance between themselves and the other couples on the floor, Sam took the chance to ask a question. "Bena, is everything O.K. here?"

She leaned in closer still to whisper in his ear, "Yes, everything is fine, Sam." Then she put more space between them and more loudly answered, "Despite what Craig Donovan told you."

Sam Beckett felt a warm hand clasp his shoulder and a familiar voice ask, "May I cut it, buddy?" With Verbena's nodded assent, Sam left Verbena in the care of Frank Parker's best friend.

2345
Security Office

During the hour that they had been eavesdropping on the party Frank Parker continued to delicately pump SammiJo for information. After mentioning the matching dresses, SammiJo passed along the fact that Lyla and Tina are sisters.

"So which one of them did I see at the bar? In the Imaging Chamber, I mean," Frank questioned.

"It could have been either," SammiJo replied, "they were both there." SammiJo then relayed the story about Lyla getting too drunk to drive, that Tina had brought her to Stallion's Gate, and that Gooshie had driven Lyla's car to the Project.

As Frank listened to SammiJo a hole in his swiss-cheesed memory suddenly filled in. From his pre-backstep briefing he remembered 'the primary was in the parking deck' and his eyes began to scan for the monitors showing the parking facility. There were four of them, each doing the standard 90-degree sweep over a set area. Frank was at a disadvantage, not knowing which cars belonged to PQL staff and which were visitors. Then he spotted the Admiral's T-bird and another hole filled in.

"Dr. Fuller," he interjected, "I suppose Lyla took her car home in the morning?"

"No, it wouldn't start. She took a cab instead."

"Then searching the cars arriving for the party won't help," Frank thought aloud. "Which car is Lyla's?"

"I don't know," came the reply. "But I know how to find out," SammiJo added with a twinkle in her eye. She went out to the anteroom and had a few words with Paulo, then after entering something into a computer workstation she returned to the monitoring room carrying a remote control device.

"Let's go to the video tape?" Parker jokingly questioned, his hopes high.

"You got it, sports fan!" Fuller replied in kind. She pointed the remote at the screen in the bottom left corner of the monitor bank and pushed a button. The image on the screen blurred and was replaced with surveillance video stamped 2/8/00 2137 hours. Frank watched as he and Al returned from Roswell. Al had parked his vintage T-Bird in his designated spot. The two spots to the left of his were empty as was the one on the right. As the camera panned left, Frank noted that Drs. Beeks, Gershowitz and Elesee's spaces were all empty.

"Can we..."

"Speed it up a bit?" SammiJo finished the question. "Sure." She hit the fast forward button. Over the next several hours both Drs. Elesee and Beeks returned to the complex. At 2/9/00 0137 two cars entered the garage and parked. SammiJo slowed the tape down again. A blue Saturn with rent-a-car tags parked in the spot closest to the door while a white Mazda Miata pulled into Gooshie's spot. SammiJo began a play-by-play for Frank.

"That's Gooshie, um, I mean Dr. Gershowitz, getting out of the Saturn. He's going over to his Miata. That's Tina coming around to let Lyla out. And it takes both of them to get her inside."

SammiJo fast-forwarded the tape again. The next activity was noted at 1154 when Nate Ramsey pulled into the open space between the Saturn and T-Bird.

"That can't be right," SammiJo said. "Lyla used a cab to leave in the morning because she said her car wouldn't start, but she didn't even try to start it."

"Shit! It's been here all along!" Frank yelled. He started to run for the door. SammiJo grabbed his arm and he spun around to face her. "Look, Fuller; do you trust me or not?!"

There was no hesitation in SammiJo Fuller's response. "Let's go!"

February 10, 2000, 0002 hours
Parking area

Frank Parker peered over the hood of the Saturn, looking for security personnel. He motioned to SammiJo to stay quiet and still. Two members of Delta Team, as Backstep's security force was known, passed by. Once they were out of sight Frank asked, "Have you ever stolen a car before?"

SammiJo shook her head in the negative.

"First thing we need to do is jimmy the door lock." Frank said.

Again SammiJo shook her head in the negative. "The doors are unlocked," she confidently stated.

'Yeah right!' Frank thought but he tried the driver's door anyway. It opened. He climbed into the driver's seat as SammiJo was settling herself into the front passenger seat. He frowned at her but said nothing as he reached under the dash for the ignition wires.

"You're planning to hot-wire this?" SammiJo asked.

"You got a better idea, sweet cheeks?" Frank didn't bother to mask his annoyance at her.

"How about the key, stud?" SammiJo matched his tone of voice.

"Where...?" Frank began to ask when SammiJo handed him the Saturn key.

SammiJo smiled sweetly at him as she responded to the unfinished question. "I noticed them at the edge of the floor mat when I got in." Frank heard an unspoken exasperated "Men!" in her voice.

Frank started the engine, threw the car into gear and raced toward the exit gate.

CHAPTER 20

February 10, 2000, 0002 hours
Conference Room

The calendar changed seemingly without notice in the conference room. The music played, people danced, people drank and people laughed. The uniformed Marine guards at each entryway stood still as Beefeaters at the palace gate. Nate Ramsey was beginning to sweat. He, and the rest of the Backstep team, were acutely aware that the primary bomb had gone off at 0006 in the original timeline. His eyes scanned the room again. Craig Donovan was dancing with Dr. Beeks, Drs. Ballard and Vukovitch were seated at a table sipping their beverages and Dr. Mentnor was dancing with Dr. Donna Elesee. Frank Parker was holding up a corner of the bar with his hip as he sipped a beer. Next to him, Admiral Calavicci was talking to his wrist.

TALKING TO HIS WRIST! The thought screamed through Ramsey's brain as a voice began speaking in his earpiece. It was Chief Reed.

"Ramsey. We have movement on parking level A."

"On my way." Nate was turning toward the door as he spoke. A firm grasp caught him. He looked up at Bradley Talmadge's eyes; his set jaw and hurried posture were all the communication they needed. Bradley nodded and fell into step beside Nate as the two men rushed to the parking deck.

Sam Beckett was three steps behind Talmadge and Ramsey. He ran as soon as he heard Ziggy report to Al that Frank and SammiJo had found the bomb in the rent-a-car in the parking deck. He arrived, winded, just as the blue Saturn crashed through the single-arm gate and raced toward the desert. From the corner of his eye he saw Nate Ramsey taking aim at the fleeing car.

"NO" Sam screamed as he threw himself at Ramsey.

"Parker! What the..." Ramsey began to berate Sam for interfering.

"Can't shoot ... the car ... bomb," Sam managed to pant. Bradley gave both men a hand up.

"The bomb was in the car?" Talmadge questioned Sam.

"Yes."

"We need to know who that car belongs to," Nate said. Reed and three of Nate's 'men in black' arrived on the scene.

"It's Lyla Hobkirk's," Sam supplied to Talmadge as Ramsey was conferring with Reed about pursuit of the vehicle.

*******************

The Saturn raced through the desert at breakneck speed, Frank flooring the accelerator. His only goal now was to get the bomb as far away from Stallion's Gate as he could before 0006. He checked his watch, 0004, and he was just two miles away.

"We have about 90 seconds before this puppy goes up," he turned and said to SammiJo. "Get ready to bale out."

"Um-hum," SammiJo mumbled her comprehension. She was feeling around for something under the seat. "Got it!" she said triumphantly as she pulled a long handled snowbrush out.

Frank smiled broadly at her. "To jam against the accelerator," he stated, catching her drift. "Good thinking." Frank positioned the snowbrush and checked his watch, 0005. He scanned the desert for some kind of cover. Pointing toward a small dune he asked, "Ready?"

SammiJo nodded as she removed her seat belt. "On three," Frank continued. "One, ... two, ... Three!"

Doors flew open and two bodies fell from the speeding car. They rolled and bumped along the sandy ground in opposite directions before stopping about 200 yards from each other. Neither one moved.

*********************

Talmadge looked at Sam incredulously as Sam began to head back inside. He was achy from throwing himself on Nate and tired from the stress of staying undercover. As he passed through the entry door he asked the obvious question, "Is this place locked down?"

A disembodied contralto responded almost immediately. "Yes, sir," the female voice said, "as per Admiral Calavicci's order."

Talmadge gave Frank a sideways glance, noting how quickly Ziggy had responded to him.

Bradley and Sam continued on to the conference/party room in silence, the mind of each highly engaged in thought. As they entered, they observed the party in full swing. Only a small handful of partygoers appeared aware of what had happened. Surprisingly, Olga, Isaac and John were huddled around a table quietly conversing with Al and Donna. Craig and Verbena remained on the dance floor, as did Tina who was dancing with Congressman Ho.

Sam and Bradley approached the table of their coworkers, moving slowly so as not to alarm the rest of the party guests. Nate Ramsey entered just as Bradley reached the table. As soon as the doors closed behind Nate, the room shuttered violently as if a Mack truck had hit the building. A deep rumble filled the air mixed with screams from frightened voices.

Admiral Calavicci had taken control of the room immediately upon feeling the shockwave from the explosion hit the building. The band's music ground to an immediate halt, and Gooshie made his way to Tina's side. The once gay party was now as quiet as death, and everyone was moving cautiously in a surreal fashion.

Al had taken his place in front of the bandstand and made all the right calm reassuring noises that he was supposed to. Sam was looking for Lyla. He had expected her to be either huddled together with the Aides or in Congressman Martinelli's arms. She was in neither place.

Lyla Hobkirk had removed her 3-inch heels and was moving low and slow towards the side door of the room. She had almost reached her goal when Sam Beckett spotted her and darted across the room in an effort to catch her. Olga Vukovitch, however, was much closer and faster. The Russian grabbed the Taser from a surprised Marine, aimed, and fired.

"DEE!" Tina screamed as she watched her sister crumple to the floor.

*********************

The loud blast and searing light of the exploding car were enough to rouse Frank Parker into consciousness. His body was battered and bruised but nothing was broken. He made his way toward the dune he'd pointed out to the crumpled heap that he assumed was SammiJo Fuller. Cautiously, he turned her onto her back and wiped the sand filled hair off of her face.

"SammiJo?" he anxiously called to her. He did a quick injury inventory of the unconscious physicist. Nothing obviously broken and she was breathing. Frank sighed with relief. He brought his face close to hers.

"SammiJo, wake up!" he called to her again. This time she moaned in response. Her eyes flickered open and attempted to focus. A handsome man, about 30, with dark hair and worried eyes was hanging over her. She closed her eyes in an attempt to focus. When she reopened them the man with the concern on his face was in his late 40's and had longer, lighter hair with a familiar streak of gray in front; Sam Beckett's face.

"Are you all right?" he asked as he helped her to sit up.

She winced and stretched as she got up. "Yeah, nothing a warm bath and some aspirin won't fix," she bluffed. Her attention was pulled to the flaming remains of the car and she smiled. "Mission accomplished," she stated.

The unlikely pair turned their backs on the inferno that was the Saturn and began the walk back to Stallion's Gate. They walked in silence for a while. Then Frank began a conversation.

"The security guy, Paulo, he called you 'Esjay'. What does that mean?"

SammiJo began to laugh. "S.J.," she replied. "They're my initials, S. J., like on my lab coat."

CHAPTER 21

Thursday 2/11/00
Stallion's Gate
0900

All of the department heads of Project Quantum Leap were gathered in the secondary conference room located on the fourth level of the facility. That is, all except SammiJo Fuller, Tina Martinez-O'Farrell and Al Calavicci. SammiJo was in the infirmary being monitored for a mild concussion along with other strains and bruises sustained in jumping from a speeding vehicle. Tina being late was not unusual, especially after a late night; but the Admiral being late to the staff meeting he called was unheard of.

An eerie quiet filled the room while they waited. Everyone had been at the party last night but no one wanted to start the conversation about it; it seemed a taboo subject. The only sounds in the room were the tinkling of spoons in coffee cups punctuated by an occasional swallow.

At 0903, Admiral Albert Calavicci entered the room. He was more comfortably dressed than last evening's dress whites, wearing instead his favorite black chinos and matching cowboy style shirt accented by a Bolo tie with a silver clip. He found his customary chair at the head of the table and sat down.

"Thank you all for being here so early in the morning," the admiral began. "I just got off the phone with Dr. Martinez-O'Farrell. Currently, she is at White Sands with her sister. She has been granted a short leave to see that Delilah is settled in at the hospital." Al paused as a murmur passed through the room.

"The NSA has cleared everyone else on the bombing. It seems that Dee was acting alone out of a twisted understanding of love. She felt that Congressman Martinelli was too conflicted about which project to approve funding for, so she made the choice for him. If Quantum Leap didn't exist he wouldn't have to chose."

"And they were lovers," Donna Elesee interjected. It was not a question but Al responded to it as if it was.

"Yes, it seems that Miss Hobkirk and the congressman have been," Al paused and cleared his throat, "paramours for quite some time now. Anyway, the congressman has been cleared of any conspiracy in the matter."

"It sure was nice to have the Guest's unexpected help," Jim Reed threw into the conversation. "Parker was half supporting Dr. Fuller when my men picked them up in the desert after the explosion."

Although she tried to hide it, Donna Elesee's attention was grabbed by the name of the Guest.

"Their injuries aren't severe," Verbena Beeks interrupted Reed and began her report. "SammiJo has a minor concussion, some contusions, abrasions and strained muscles. She should be back to work in a few days. I'm going to release her from the sickbay by lunchtime."

"Good," Gooshie said. "With Tina on leave, I'm going to need SammiJo in Control."

"As for our Guest," Verbena continued, "his injuries are even more minor and he is being moved back to the Waiting Room as soon as I'm done here."

"So much for us. What about Sam? Is he doing all right in his leap?" Donna questioned. She knew better than to accuse Al of abandoning her husband during a leap but quite frankly, everyone was so involved with the problem at hand that no one had mentioned the current leap at all.

Al read the concern on her face. "I'm glad you brought that up, Donna," Al said. "I am planning on checking on Sam as soon as we're done here." He looked around the room as he asked, "Are we done here?" A chorus of "Yes, Sir"s filled the room. Al turned his gaze directly to the head programmer. "Gooshie, fire up the Imaging Chamber. Thank you everyone, for your continued grace under pressure and go back to work."

Chairs squeaked as all assembled rose to go about their jobs. Al caught Donna by the arm before she went out the door and requested her to stay. They waited while everyone else filed out. Then Al began to speak.

"You mentioned being hit on by one of the NSA people," he began very casually.

"Yes," Donna replied, hope growing in her mind. "He was with Isaac again last night." She tried not to fidget as her mind put some pieces together. "Funny, he has the same name as ... our ... Guest."

"And you were wondering ..."

"I was thinking ..."

Al made sure he had Donna's full attention before he spoke again. "Frank Parker did not try to pick you up because he was in the Waiting Room."

The emotional clouds that had been building in Donna's mind suddenly broke. She visibly straightened as she verbalized her thought, "That was Sam! He gave me that same line at MIT."

"Yes," Al confirmed. "He has no conscious memory of you. But somewhere in that noggin of his, he knows."

"It's not in his head, Al, it's in his heart," Mrs. Beckett replied as a tear of joy rolled down her cheek.

After making sure that she would be all right, Admiral Calavicci made his way to the Imaging Chamber.

Thursday 2/11/00
Never Neverland
0920

Sam Beckett threw the overstuffed gym bag that was impersonating a suitcase on to Frank Parker's bed and began to unpack. By the time the Backstep team had returned to the hotel in Socorro it was almost 2am and Sam acutely felt the lack of sleep. He had just closed the bureau drawer when he heard the familiar metallic whoosh of the Imaging Chamber door.

"I hope you're here to explain why I'm still here," Sam pleaded with his Observer.

"Will that make you happy, Sam? O.K., I'll tell you. You're still here because we needed time to treat Parker's injuries in the infirmary. Beeks should have him back in the waiting room within the hour." Al Calavicci looked closely at his disheveled partner. "You look like you pulled an all nighter. Sam, did you improve international relations with that fabulous Russian?" he teased.

Sam looked aghast at the suggestion. "No. Lovely as Olga Vukovitch is, she is not the reason I look this way," Sam explained. "By the time we got back to Socorro it was 2am. Then Bradley Talmadge decides we need to get back to," Sam stopped himself and took a breath, "our base this morning. So we get up at 5am to fly back here to limit our exposure." The last four words Sam placed within quotation marks with his fingers.

"The whole NSA team is gone, just like that?" Al questioned.

"Yes, no, all but Nathan Ramsey," Sam replied. "Ramsey personally escorted Delilah Hobkirk to the military holding site at White Sands. He'll be back later."

The corners of Al's mouth curled up just a bit. "I'm sure I'll hear all about it when Tina gets back. She's with Dee, too," he informed Sam.

Sam finished stowing Frank's gear by tossing the empty bag in the closet and turned back to his holographic friend. "So, I'll be out of here soon?" he questioned Al.

"Yeah, like I said, Verbena just needs to get him back to the Waiting Room," Al repeated, "within the hour, Sam." The admiral watched as Sam exhaustedly hurled himself into the chair at Frank's desk. As much as he didn't want to add to his friend's worries, Al felt he had to warn him.

"Sam, there's something I need to tell you."

"About Verbena knowing who I was?" Sam asked.

"Not Verbena," Al began, "Isaac Mentnor was acting hinkey last night. Suspicious, like he knew who you were."

"Did he say anything ... ?"

"No, not specifically," Al said and was then interrupted by a knock on Parker's door. "Hang in there, Sam. You'll be out of here in less than an hour," the Admiral finished. Then he keyed the handlink, opened the Imaging Room door and returned to New Mexico.

The knock came again, louder and more insistent.

"Don't these people ever sleep?" Sam growled softly as he went to open the door. Two M.P.s were standing outside the door.

*******

Several minutes later Sam Beckett found himself seated in front of Bradley Talmadge's huge oak desk. Bradley sat behind his desk. His was not the face of a man about to celebrate a mission well done. Quite the opposite, his face was full of questions and worries.

Isaac Mentnor was in the office as well. He appeared less concerned than Bradley but then again, he knew something that Bradley Talmadge didn't.

"Listen, Frank," Bradley began, "You know I've always given you a lot of leeway in how you act, particularly on missions. Because you're such a vital part of this project, I look the other way instead of coming down on you for things that would have someone else court-martialed. That ends today. I want explanations about your behavior in New Mexico, Frank." He looked into "Parker's" face and was surprised to see anxiety in his eyes.

Sam squirmed, trying to come up with a response, but Bradley continued talking.

"I didn't take Ramsey seriously enough when he complained about your erratic behavior. It has been odd, even for you. I can see you ditching Craig at the formal wear shop. Even singing Beach Boys songs to Olga. But I have to ask, how did you get so familiar with the layout of Project Quantum Leap?"

Sam opened his mouth to respond. This time he was cut off by Isaac who had been sitting quietly in the corner from the beginning.

"I think we need to look at what happened before Frank got to Stallion's Gate," Isaac said. "He doesn't often pass out following a Backstep. If I didn't know better, I would swear that he wasn't Frank at all." Isaac's eyes twinkled as he stared at Sam.

"There's more." Bradley continued, "The artificial intelligence at Quantum Leap was way too familiar with the personnel at Project Backstep. It mentioned knowing about several projects that Ballard, Isaac and I have been involved in and intimated that it knew about Backstep. And, then that insufferable computer of theirs calls you, Sir, Frank. I want to know why."

Comprehension of the real question came to Sam in an instant. "Now I see what has you so concerned. I understand. A breech of security in a project this important, especially by a computer with an ego the size of the World Trade Center ..."

"Frank, cut the bull." Bradley roared. "How much does Ziggy know about us?"

"What does it matter as long as there is no reference to Project Backstep in Ziggy's memory bank?" Sam asked.

"No reference to Backstep? How do you know that, Frank?" Bradley challenged.

Sam stole a glance at his former professor before answering. "Frank Parker wouldn't ..."

"But Sam Beckett would," Isaac finished.

"Sam Beckett?" Talmadge questioned. Now his face registered shock.

"Yes, sir," Sam replied. "The integrity of Backstep has not been compromised. Believe me, I know how to keep a secret." The familiar tingle of an impending leap began in the small of Sam's back as he stood up from the chair. Turning his attention to Isaac Sam said, "Apparently, so can you. Thank you, Isaac."

The professor smiled at his pupil. "No, thank you, Sam!" Isaac corrected as a blue light engulfed Sam, and he leaped.

Epilogue

May 18, 2000
Las Vegas, Nevada
2000 hours

Frank Parker was enjoying a well-deserved break before returning to Never Neverland. Within the past 48 hours he had reversed time another week and once again saved the world from annihilation.

He emerged from a cheaply rented motel room showered and shaved with clean clothes on his back. He had a few hours to kill as Talmadge had arranged for him to be met by Salt and Pepper at the airport at 2200.

A multitude of choices presented themselves to Frank as he wandered the infamous "Strip". He wasn't quite sure what type of entertainment he was looking for. About an hour later he found himself at a Jamaican Reggie bar with a bottle of Red Stripe in his hand. The music was pleasant and crowd watching was an interesting way to pass the time.

Out on the dance floor two women were dancing. One was a blond, about 30 years old, 5-foot-5 and wearing designer maternity clothes. The other was the same age but taller and with long chestnut brown hair.

From the bar, Frank watched the brunette lead the prego off the floor after the song had ended. They made their way to a table where a colorfully dressed African-American man stood to greet them, assisting the blond into a chair and placing a kiss on her flushed cheek. A moment later, the brunette stood up and began to make her way to the bar.

There was something familiar about the beautiful brown haired woman but Frank couldn't place her. As he pondered this, she almost magically appeared at his elbow.

"Thomas," she called out to the bartender. "Nancy and Roscoe need refills," she finished after getting his attention.

"Hi. You and your friend really know how to dance to this stuff," Frank said. He couldn't shake the feeling he knew her from somewhere.

"I should hope so," the woman's accent was pure honey, obvious American South. "Nancy grew up in Jamaica. She and Roscoe own this place."

"And you?" Frank questioned.

v She laughed, her hazel eyes catching the light behind the bar. "I'm from the south of Jamaica, a small unknown parish known as Louisiana."

Frank laughed. "I didn't realize Louisiana was in Jamaica. I'm Frank," he added extending his hand.

The bartender returned with two bottles of Ting and a Red Stripe. "Everyting irie, Miss Sam?" he inquired. The glare he tossed Franks way was deadly.

"Yes, Thomas." SammiJo Fuller replied as she shook Frank's hand. "I'm SammiJo."

Frank helped her to carry the bottles back. "I know this sounds cliché but ..."

"… Have we met somewhere before?" SammiJo finished. "I was just thinking the same thing." They set the bottles on the table and SammiJo made introductions.

Offering his hand Frank said his name. "Frank Parker." Her photographic memory kicked in and SammiJo silently answered her question. 'Frank B. Parker of the NSA, the guest who had saved Project Quantum Leap, and my life.'

Flashing Nancy, her old college roomie, the "Don't wait up for me" smile, SammiJo suggested to Frank that they dance. Frank couldn't wait to get this fabulous woman in his arms and lead the way to the dance floor.

While dancing, the feeling of familiarity increased and Frank was becoming annoyed at himself. 'Leave it alone, Frank' he ordered himself mentally. 'It'll come when you least expect it.'

As if on cue, SammiJo leaned in to Frank and whispered his ear. "I remember when you saved my life. Thank you, Frank."

Instantly Frank Parker remembered Quantum Leap. The Waiting Room, the road trip to Roswell and the exploding car all came rushing back to him. The woman in his arms was Dr. SammiJo Fuller, the PQL staffer that helped him find and dispose of the car bomb.

"Dr. Fuller," he said as he pulled her closer still. "Can I do something I wanted to do from the moment we met?"

"Ahuh," she responded with a sigh. Their eyes locked as Frank leaned in to claim her lips with his own.

Suddenly the steel-vice hand of "Salt" was on his shoulder hauling him off the dance floor. "Parker, you've got a lot of explaining to do." Pepper growled as he parted the crowd and lead the way out of the bar.

"Next time," Frank promised SammiJo over his shoulder as he was being dragged out of the door.

'You can count on that,' SammiJo silently answered as she returned to her friends.

After being stuffed into the back seat of the Delta team's rented stereotypical dark sedan, Frank began to complain. "Your timing really stinks, you know."

Pepper smiled. "Looked just about perfect from where I stood."

Frank glared at him but then decided it wasn't worth wasting his breath pursuing it. He turned his gaze toward the window. A smiled played on his face as he reviewed, more slowly this time, the events of February in New Mexico. 'Next time, SammiJo,' he promised again.

END