FIC: Command Post: October 6th, 2152, 1/6
Apr. 19th, 2006 03:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cloudy_ficTitle: Command Post: October 6th, 2152
Author: CloudyJenn
Fandom: Enterprise/Quantum Leap Crossover
Pairing: Archer/Reed
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: When a special connection allows Dr. Sam Beckett to leap a
hundred and fifty years in the future, he finds himself in a very
unfamiliar world just a day before he must save a man's life.
Author's Notes: None really except to say that I really loved writing this one!
Dr. Sam Beckett felt the familiar pull on his body and held his
breath. Sometimes, if he completely emptied his mind, he could
almost see the blue haze that Al had told him engulfed his body
during each leap. He concentrated as the warm inviting 1960s living
room gave way, his last view of the little girl sleeping on the sofa
fading quickly. He sighed slightly, almost sorry to leave the
comfortable life he had helped provide for that little girl and her
estranged father. A stray thought crossed his mind, a hope that
this next leap wasn't taking him into an immediately awkward
position. It cost him a second of concentration and before he knew
it, the leap was over.
Oh well, there was always next time.
He found himself in a small room, sitting at a desk. Relieved to
have leapt into an empty space, Sam took a moment to collect
himself, the memories of his last leap already blurring slightly due
to the infamous Swiss-cheese effect. He stood and immediately
became aware of the strangeness of the small room. There were a
number of bizarre looking objects whose purpose eluded him, although
he thought he recognized what appeared to be a rather advanced
looking computer of some kind. He felt the floor tremble and sat
down again hurriedly. Was the floor really moving or was that just
his post-leap nerves getting to him? He listened for a moment,
placing his hands on the desk, willing himself to remain calm.
Looking down at his hands, he realized that he was wearing some kind
of uniform-a sort of blue jumpsuit with yellow stripes on either
shoulder.
"Oh boy..." He murmured. This place didn't match anything he could
recall having ever seen in his life.
Just as he was coming to the conclusion that the floor really was
trembling slightly, a buzzer sounded from near the door. He stood
again and went over to the door, placing his palms on it. Maybe
this is some kind of prison, Sam thought. And the warden is here
to...To what, he didn't know. He sincerely hoped this wasn't
another leap involving a death sentence.
The buzzer sounded again. Sam started and stepped back.
"Hello?" He asked, cautiously.
The door slid open at this response and a young man stepped through,
nearly knocking into Sam.
"Holy cow, Captain! What the heck are you doing standing right
inside the door?" The man gave him an amused look.
Captain? Not a prison then.
"Um," Sam fumbled for words. Where the heck was Al? "Ah, sorry.
Guess I was a little distracted." He turned away from the man,
intending to head back to the desk when he caught sight of a small
window located towards the rear of the room.
And nearly fell on his ass.
Instead of the glimpse of trees or buildings he would have expected,
there seemed to be a black expanse stretching out into oblivion.
White streaks poured past the window, suggesting that whatever the
hell he was on was traveling at rates Sam couldn't even process.
The man followed his gaze towards the window, the amused look
replaced with one of wariness.
"Are you ok, Cap'n?" Sam was walking towards the window and barely
heard the question. He reached his destination and lifted a hand
toward the glass, (Was it glass?) half expecting it to fall through
to the white streaks.
He turned to the man and couldn't stop himself from asking. "What
is this?" The sense of wonder in his voice surprised him.
Now the man's look of wariness turned to downright concern. He
joined Sam by the window and looked closely at him.
"You mean the window? Is something wrong with it?" He turned
towards it, pulling out a small device from his pocket which he
aimed towards it. After a few seconds of studying the device, he
turned back to Sam. "It checks out ok. Have you noticed anything
strange about it, sir?"
Sam shook his head, finally reining in his amazement. "No, no, I'm
sorry. I think I've been...daydreaming." Right, daydreaming.
Knowing his luck, he'd leapt into a strict disciplinarian that would
never allow himself to be caught with his mind wandering.
Despite Sam's worries, the other man relaxed. "Yeah, I guess I
understand that. Sometimes I still can't believe we're really out
here. I guess it's even more overwhelming for you, sir." The
slight smile on his face spoke of deep affection and a familiarity
that told Sam that this man and the Captain were very close friends.
"Oh, yeah, before I forget. I brought you those specs you wanted.
I don't think that you have anything to worry about from the warp
core-the diagnostics we ran checked out fine."
Warp core? Sam took the flat, notebook-like device from the man and
glanced at it. There were a great deal of numbers and symbols
written on it that Sam couldn't understand and that frustrated him
more than he would have admitted. He was used to numbers making
sense.
He was used to being on solid ground.
"Thanks." Sam said the word with a tone of finality to it, hoping
that the man would then leave and he could have a moment alone
again. The man nodded and turned to leave when two things happened,
one which other man reacted to and one which he didn't. An
invisible voice called from a small box set into the wall and
another man appeared out of thin air.
"Bridge to Captain Archer."
"Sam! There you are. Geez, I thought we weren't going to find you
there for a minute."
Sam started yet again at the unexpected voices. He regained his
composure and threw Al a look that clearly said, Shut up for a
minute, but don't you dare go anywhere. He looked towards the box,
completely unsure of what to do. It buzzed again.
"Bridge to Captain Archer. Please respond."
He looked at the other man, helpless. The other man stared at him
for a few seconds, then sighed and walked towards the box. He
pushed a button on it and said, "It's Trip, T'Pol. What is it?"
A cool feminine voice replied from the box.
"Commander Tucker. Is the Captain well?"
Tucker glanced at Sam. "Yeah, I think so. I think he may have been
practicing that meditation you're always on about." A hint of humor
had crept into his voice.
"Indeed." The voice replied, devoid of any real emotion, but
sounding slightly ironic. Sam looked to Al during Tucker's
distraction and widened his eyes. He sent a silent message. What
the hell is going on here?
"Could you please tell him that we are approaching Helisa. We will
be within range in approximately one half hour."
Al walked toward the box, studying it intently. "This is the
damnest thing, Sam." He fell silent as Tucker responded.
"Sure thing." Tucker snapped the box off. "Well, Captain, duty
calls. After you?" He gestured towards the door, but Sam couldn't
follow, not just yet.
"I'll be out in a moment, um, Tucker." He replied. Tucker's
eyebrows rose at the name and Sam remembered he had referred to
himself as Trip. Oops.
"Alright, sir." He started to leave, then turned abruptly. "Are
you sure you're ok, Jon? You seem....odd," he finished rather
lamely.
Jon Archer then. That was helpful.
"Yes, I'm fine, Trip." Sam made sure to use the nickname. "I just
need a minute." Trip nodded, not really looking satisfied.
However, he did turn and leave. This time, when the door opened,
Sam was able to glimpse a much larger space beyond, filled with
people bent over workstations of some kind. The door slid shut and
Sam turned to Al.
"Al! What the hell is going on here?"
Al turned away from the door and pulled his cigar from his
mouth. "Honestly, Sam? I have no idea. Ziggy can't get any
information about where you are at all." He tapped at his
infopad. "And this thing's useless. You've leapt somewhere crazy
or rather somewhen. The only thing we can figure is that you've
leapt out of your lifetime-that's the only thing that explains the
lack of information."
Sam wiped his hand across his face. "Are you telling me this is" he
gestured wildly around the room, "the future?"
Al glanced around. "Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that. Look,
Sam, it's gonna be ok. All you got to do is do your thing and
you're out of here." He said this with a somewhat forced tone of
optimism.
"Ok, Al? This is not ok! I don't even know how to open the
doors!" A sudden thought occurred to him. "Al, if this is the
future, I must have leapt into someone related to me. A
descendant..." The thought was unsettling. Sam had theorized early
on in his research that leaping outside of one's own lifetime was
possible as long as one had a close genetic relationship to the
person they were leaping into.
He looked around frantically, searching for anything that would show
him a reflection. How likely was it that a Captain would keep a
pocket mirror in his desk?
"Here, use this." Both Sam and Al recoiled in shock. A man with
short brown hair had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, though Sam
hadn't seen even a hint of movement from where the man was now
standing. He held a small mirror in his outstretched hand.
"Who are you?" Sam choked out.
"My name is Daniels and you are Dr. Samuel Beckett. Let's just
leave it at that." He waved the mirror slightly. Sam took it just
because it seemed like the thing to do.
"Leave it at that?" Al sputtered. "Listen, buddy, you better tell
us what's going on here." Sam glanced at him.
Daniels glanced as well. "I take it Admiral Calavicci is there
somewhere."
Sam finally sat in the desk chair. This was fast becoming too much
to handle.
"Listen, Daniels you said?" Daniels nodded. "I'm sorry, but you're
going to have to explain this a bit further to me. How do you know
my name? Or Al's? Where am I?"
Daniels gestured to the mirror in Sam's hand. "First things first.
Take a look."
Sam narrowed his eyes at the other man. "Please, it will help me to
begin to explain."
Sam looked down and gasped lightly. This man, this Jon Archer, had
Sam's face, that same large nose, those same deep set green eyes,
that same pronounced jaw. How many years had it been since he
looked into anything even approaching his own reflection? A
profound kind of sadness swept over him. He missed his reflection.
He raised a hand to his cheek, only then noticing that there were
some slight differences. This man looked to be about ten or fifteen
years older than Sam. The lines on his face were more pronounced
and the hair much shorter.
"Holy cow!" Al exclaimed, unknowingly echoing Tucker's earlier
exclamation. "Talk about your spitting images. I guess now we know
what you'll look like in ten years!" He sounded distinctly amused,
despite the situation.
"You were right about having leapt into your descendant, Dr.
Beckett. Your direct descendant, as matter of fact, hence the
similar appearance. Right now, you are Captain Jonathan Archer,
commander of the Enterprise, a vessel in an organization known as
Star Fleet."
Sam tore his gaze away from the mirror and stared up into Daniels'
face. "Star Fleet?"
"Yes, please forgive me when I say this, as I will over the course
of this interaction, but there is much I can't tell you. I will try
to explain this as succinctly as possible. You, of all people, must
surely understand the importance of treating time with respect."
Sam nodded weakly, unable to do much else.
Daniels continued. "I am from what is the future for both your time
and this one. I am somewhat of a soldier in a time traveling war,
if you will. This is not the first time I have encountered Captain
Archer. It has recently come to the attention of my superiors that
an event will soon take place that could result in one of two
possibilities. While we are reasonably certain that this leap
prevents disaster, we have decided that you cannot accomplish this
task without certain kinds of information." He held up a data
chip. "This should explain everything you need to know. It is
compatible with your computer at the compound. After I leave here,
I will travel to your location, Admiral, where you will be able to
use the data chip to help Dr. Beckett," Daniels said to the last
space he'd seen Sam glance earlier.
Al's eyes were so wide Sam feared he may not be able to close them
again soon.
"Um, thanks, I think," he muttered. "Sam, don't let him get away
without a better explanation than that."
"Yeah," Sam blurted out. "How do I know that I can trust you? This
doesn't make any sense to me." In truth, it did make a little
sense, but Sam didn't want Daniels to leave without giving him some
further information.
"I knew your name, didn't I?" Daniels' voice carried a note of
exasperation in it, as if he'd spent a great deal of time warding
off questions like this. "I know this is very confusing for you,
Dr. Beckett, but the fact of the matter is, is that you desperately
need my help if you are going to leap out of here. Let the data
speak for itself." He stepped away from Sam and said towards the
empty space where Al stood. "I will see you shortly, Admiral, if
you would be so kind as to meet me."
Al looked to Sam, who nodded. "Find out what he knows, Al. I'm
supposed to be leading these people towards a place called Helisa
and I'm still not sure how to open that door!"
Daniels pointed to a button next to the door. "It's this button.
Don't worry, Doctor. The Admiral will be back in no time to guide
you through this." He made a motion as if to reach towards
something Sam couldn't see, then stopped. He gazed at Sam for a
moment, seeming to struggle internally with something, then resolve
set in. "I just have to say that it's an honor to meet you, Dr.
Beckett. Your work in time travel is groundbreaking. We in the
future all know your research quite well." And with that, Daniels
vanished.
Al pressed a button on his infopad and the door to the imaging
chamber slid open. "I'll be back soon, Sam, I promise." He stepped
through, leaving Sam to his very confused thoughts.
*********************************
After several moments spent calming down, Sam decided he had better
get himself out into the other room before they came looking for
him. Al would turn up soon with the appropriate names and
information he would need. Hopefully.
He walked to the strange door and pushed the button that Daniels had
pointed out to him. It slid to the side and Sam allowed himself a
small moment of wonder. He felt like he was on a sci-fi show!
The other side of the door revealed what looked remarkably like a
bridge on a naval vessel. There were indeed stations set along the
walls as well as a helm in the front, which were all manned by men
and women wearing similar uniforms to his own. Commander Tucker was
leaning back against a station talking to a strikingly beautiful
Asian woman, who appeared to be laughing at something Tucker had
said. Sam blinked. She really was one of the loveliest women Sam
had seen in several leaps.
Speaking of beautiful women, Sam sincerely hoped that Captain Archer
was not romantically involved with any of his fellow crewmembers.
He was tired of thinking of excuses to avoid romantic liaisons. He
looked back at the Asian woman...Still...
He shook himself. Keep your head, Beckett, he scolded himself.
Turning towards a large view screen, Sam once again took in the
sight of thousands of stars streaming past at speeds that had to be
faster than light. It was a truly amazing thing, although this time
Sam was able to keep his amazement to himself. He stepped down
towards an empty chair in the middle of the bridge which just had to
be the Captain's chair. And hey, even if it isn't, I'm the Captain,
what are they going to do?
The thought made him smile and after a few moments, he began to
relax somewhat.
"Enjoying yourself, Captain?" Al's voice said into Sam's ear. He
jerked back in surprise, causing a passing crewmember to give him a
curious look. Sam glared at Al, who just held a hand up.
"I know, I know. Don't say anything; just listen as I give you some
names. Ready?" He clicked a few buttons on his infopad. Sam
nodded, wanting to ask about his meeting with Daniels, but not
wanting to give Archer's crew any more reason to think their Captain
had lost his mind.
"Alright, now, you've already met Commander Charles Tucker III,
known to his friends as Trip. And speaking of friends, Archer and
Tucker apparently have been best friends for nearly ten years. He's
the chief engineer." A few more clicks. "And the dish next to
him," Sam rolled his eyes, "is an Ensign Hoshi Sato, who does the
communications on this ship." Al gave her a thorough once
over. "Boy, I wouldn't mind communicating a little bit with that
one." He leered at her for several more moments.
"Al..." Sam murmured.
"Huh? Oh right, sorry, Sam. In front of you at the helm, is Ensign
Travis Mayweather. Now, what you got to remember about him is that
he grew up in space. Geez, isn't that amazing, Sam?" They both
looked up towards the young black man who was tapping various keys
on the console in front of him. Growing up in space? What must
that be like? Sam couldn't quite believe that he was actually in
outer space and this man had been raised here!
"Oh right, moving on. Now, this one..." He stopped and tapped at
his infopad. "You don't say? Really?" He listened as if someone
was talking. "Now that's something!"
Sam squashed the temptation to yell and instead stood up quickly.
Tucker and Sato glanced up at him and he nodded. They smiled a bit
confusedly and went back to their conversation. Sam turned to Al
and gave him a dirty look.
"Sorry, Sam. It's just…Ok, you see that woman over there." He
pointed towards an exotic looking woman that appeared to be wearing
a suit that could have possibly been painted on her. Sam raised his
eyebrows at her. She was...well, unlike any other woman that Sam
had seen before. And that was before he noticed the ears. He
narrowed his eyes, but still it stayed the same. Her ears really
did come to a tapered point. She seemed to sense his staring and
looked up at him.
"Yes, Captain?" She asked in a familiar sounding cool voice. Ah
yes, the woman on the intercom. Sam smiled. He remembered the name.
"No, T'Pol. I was just thinking...how long till we get to
Hel...Helisa?"
"Good, Sam," Al added.
T'Pol consulted something on her desk. "We should be arriving in
approximately twenty minutes. According to their customs, the
commander of the Helisan government will contact us first."
"Ah, yes, of course. Thanks, T'Pol."
"Say, that's good news, Sam. Maybe you'll just be able to follow
the other commander's lead."
Sam nodded and walked around behind his chair. He was a bit too
antsy to sit.
"Subcommander T'Pol is Enterprise's first officer and the science
officer," Al continued. "And get this, Sam? She's an alien! As in
from another planet all together!"
Sam couldn't stop himself. He whirled around again for another
look. I guess that explains the ears, he thought.
"Strange, huh? I always thought aliens were big green things with
tentacles or something," Al commented. "But this T'Pol. Va va
voom!"
Sam gave him another look and Al chuckled. "What can I say? This
excites me, Sam! It's like, think of all the opportunities! The
universe is just full of beautiful women, ripe for the taking!"
Sam didn't even bother to look at Al this time. He walked closer to
him and whispered as he passed, "Why am I here?"
"Oh, right, well, ok, you see that guy sitting over there behind
you. Don't turn too fast, Sam, it attracts attention."
Yes, Al, I know that, Sam thought. He turned slowly and saw a young
man sitting behind a console, bright blue lights throwing his face
into sharp relief. He was concentrating intensely on his monitor,
his body rigid.
"His name is Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and he runs the security team
on Enterprise," Al informed him. "Daniels personally told me a bit
about him. Apparently he's a sort of repressed British guy, you
know the type, all rules and regulations. Anyway, unfortunately,"
Al paused and Sam grimaced. He knew that pause all too well.
Something not good was about to come out of Al's
mouth. "Unfortunately, tomorrow, he's going to die."
Sam glanced at him. "He does?" Surely Daniels didn't send him here
to let this man die. He had said that things would most likely turn
out ok.
"Well, no. At least, he didn't in Daniels' timeline, but you're
here to make sure that he doesn't. I'm not exactly sure what he
meant when he said that his superiors 'detected' another timeline,
but apparently they did. And in that timeline, Reed dies by getting
shot and Archer slips away into a kind of...overwhelming depression,
which causes him to be..." he gestured as if trying to find the
words, "off his game, shall we say and in about a week, a hostile
race attacks the Enterprise and well..." Sam looked at him again.
He asked the question with his eyes. Al looked down. "The ship is
destroyed."
Shock flowed through him. The entire ship? Blown up? All those
people...
"No," he whispered. That would not happen. He wouldn't let it
happen. As he turned his gaze back to the young man, it occurred to
him that something about this story just didn't add up.
"Why?" He murmured.
Al leaned in. "Eh? What's that?"
Sam looked around. Everyone seemed preoccupied at their
stations. "Why would that destroy Archer?" He asked as quietly at
possible, looking back to the man at the security station.
Reed suddenly looked up and met Sam's eyes. Surprise and something
else entirely shone in his grayish eyes before a wall dropped down,
turning him once again into a soldier.
"Captain?" He asked in an elegantly accented voice.
"Well, Sam, the thing is...Archer is in love with Reed."
"Love!?" Sam blurted out, without thinking. Reed's eyes widened
and he looked away quickly at his station.
"That's just great, Sam! Scare the hell out of him! You two aren't
together yet. Not until after he survives the shooting!"
Sam took a step forward. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I was completely
on a different planet. I wasn't...I wasn't really even in this
room. I was just thinking about...something from...years before,"
he finished rather stupidly. Reed looked up, a sort of bewildered
and somewhat hurt look in his eyes. Damn it, Sam thought.
"Carry on, Lieutenant," he said, moving away slowly. This was going
to be a lot harder than he thought. He had to get to somewhere
where he could be alone with Al and talk about his situation in more
detail.
"I'm just going to go back into my office for a minute," Sam
stammered, waving his hand in the general direction of the room he'd
leapt into. He heard Al snorting off to his left.
"They call it a ready room, Sam," he said, as if any idiot should
have had that bit of information. Sam ignored him, just as he
ignored the strange looks his crew was giving him.
"Right. I'll be back." He turned to leave, but was stopped by
T'Pol, who had stepped forward, her face still carefully neutral.
Her lack of visible emotions was beginning to freak him out just a
tad.
"Captain, the Helisans will be contacting us within the next fifteen
to twenty minutes. Due to their mercurial nature, I cannot
accurately predict the time the meeting…"
"Just give me a few minutes, T'Pol. I promise I'll be back out
soon," he interrupted. Sam was sure she was just doing her job, but
he really needed a few moments alone with Al. He felt totally and
completely out of control of the situation and he needed more
information.
T'Pol nodded calmly and Sam left the bridge, ardently avoiding the
concerned looks being sent his way from several of the other
officers, though he noticed as he passed Reed's station that the
security officer was just as ardently avoiding his gaze. He winced
a little. He really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.
Al was waiting for him when the ready room's door finally closed
behind him.
"You ok, Sam?" he asked gently. Sam just shook his head and flopped
down into the chair.
"I feel like I'm losing my mind, Al! I'm totally out of my element
here and that's saying something considering how my life usually
goes." He put his head into his hands for several seconds, willing
himself to remain calm.
"I don't blame you, Sam. But just listen to me. Everything's going
to work out just fine. This leap is a bit different than the others
you done…"
"You're telling me! I'm about to be contacted by an alien race!
Aliens, Al!" Sam exclaimed, unable to keep his nerves at bay any
longer. He stood up and strode around the tiny room, throwing his
hands out before him as he ranted. "I've got a first officer that
acts like a robot, a ship full of dangerous technology I don't
understand under my command and I've already managed to scare the
hell out of the man I'm supposed to be in love with!" His voice had
gotten quieter and quieter as he spoke until he was practically
hissing out his words. Al just let him talk himself out.
"Are you done now?"
Sam nodded and slumped once again in the chair. "Yes, I think so."
Al smiled and pulled his info pad out of his pocket. "Good, now
listen to me. First of all, apparently, this T'Pol acts like that
because her race has kind of a thing for logic and repressing
emotions. Don't worry about her-I'm sure she's used to humans by
now. And don't worry about messing up with Reed," he said
firmly. "You're just here to save him and if you act like your
usual lovable self, you probably won't screw up too badly."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the confidence," he said.
"You're welcome." There was a pause as Al took a drag off his cigar
and consulted the info pad. "Anyway, here's the thing. This leap
is different from the others, I mean, besides the weird aliens and
bizarre gadgets," he interrupted himself with a nod to Sam, who
looked at the ceiling and sighed, thinking that that was strange
enough for anyone. "It's different in that you're here to change a
history that didn't really happen."
"Which means what exactly?"
"It means that you have to try and do everything exactly like the
original history, instead of trying to do things differently.
You're here to ensure that history goes as planned."
Well, that should provide an interesting challenge, Sam thought.
Then again, doing every single thing like it happened before would
most likely prove quite difficult, wouldn't it?
"Every single thing? Do we know even every single thing that
happens?"
Al punched at the info pad a few more times without answering him.
Sam, knowing his time was limited, leaned forward.
"Al…"
"Yeah, well close enough. Ok, here's the history. This Helisan
commander who's going to call you is a good guy. It's his second in
command you gotta watch. A guy named Lurd. Lurd?" He hit the side
of the pad. "Ha! What a name!"
"Al, concentrate please."
"Oh right, anyway, Lurd," he twisted the name, "is the one that
shoots Reed in the arm."
Sam's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Reed gets shot? I thought I was
here to stop that."
Al shook his head. "No, you're here to stop Reed from getting shot
in the chest and dying. He's meant to be shot in the arm, but he
lives. It's going to happen when they come on board Enterprise.
Apparently, Lurd's" Al snorted just slightly after saying the name
again, "not happy with his government getting entangled with other
species and he's willing to die because of it, so he tries to shoot
Archer, you know, thinking it will put Star Fleet off of staying in
contact with the Helisans."
"Well, I'd say that'd put a damper on things," Sam commented.
"Right, but what actually happens is that Helisans are
understandably appalled by his actions, so they get rid of him post
haste and work that much harder on their alliance with Star Fleet,
who in turn take their actions in good faith."
"Ah." Sam thought all this over in his head, immediately coming up
with several ways why this plan didn't make any sense to him. "Why
don't I just not let Lurd come on board? In fact, why don't I just
stop this whole contact right now?"
Al's expression turned very serious. "No, Sam. I know it goes
against your better judgment to let people get hurt, but you gotta
let things happen the way they do. These Helisans become important
allies to Starfleet and this Federation thing they got going later.
This first contact has to happen." He glanced at his info
pad. "And Reed's gotta get hurt."
"Why? What good can come out of that?" Sam didn't want to believe
that there wasn't a way to let the first contact happen and keep
Reed from being hurt at the same time.
"Because it's what finally gets Archer and Reed together. You see,
Reed was hurt a few weeks back on some kind of mission and having
him get hurt again so quickly is what finally convinces Archer to
confess his feelings, you know, because Reed keeps almost dying."
Life in space was sounding less and less appealing. "So you're
telling me that if I don't let this Lurd person on the ship, there's
no chance that Archer will just tell Reed his feelings at some other
point?"
"Ziggy says there's an 87% chance that if Reed isn't hurt now,
Archer may not tell him how he feels until years later." He smiled
as he read something off the tiny screen. "Oh geez, listen to this
Sam. It says they get married in three years and adopt a kid." He
looked up. "If Archer doesn't say anything for that long, they
won't have the same kid and she won't grow up to be an important
diplomat for the Federation." He cocked his head to one
side. "Sam, you come from a really over achieving family, did I
ever tell you that?"
Sam laughed for the first time since this leap had started, feeling
slightly comforted now that he heard how well things would turn
out. He wondered for a moment how Ziggy was calculating those odds,
but decided he didn't have enough time to ask.
"And besides," Al continued, "you won't have any solid proof that
Lurd is planning anything, so if you refuse to let him on board, the
Helisans will probably take that as some kind of insult and you'll
botch up the first contact."
Sam sighed heavily. "Ok. I still don't feel all that comfortable
with this, Al. I don't like letting people get hurt."
"I know you don't. I don't either, but it really is for the best."
"I suppose." He thought about the pain that Archer would go through
once he leapt back in. No matter how well things turned out, that
would still be hard and Sam felt bad about it. Somehow, knowing he
was related to the leapee made him feel more responsible for what
happened to him and those close to him and that thought made Sam
think of something else.
"Al, have you been in to see Archer at all?" He knew that Al didn't
always talk to the leapees, but there were instances when he did.
Al shook his head.
"No, why?"
Sam shrugged. "Maybe you should. I don't like the thought of my
descendant being confused and alone. Maybe you could get him to
talk about Reed, you know, find out how they act together, so I know
more about what I'm in for. I know you said they aren't together
yet, but I mean, they must spend some time together." Sam felt
silly for being that concerned about how to act around Reed, but he
couldn't help it. He'd never before in his life had to deal with
romantic liaisons with a man, at least not while he was a man
himself. It made him very nervous.
"Yeah. Ok, Sam. One more thing. When you go…o..ay..mi….ke….ed.
Sa…?"
Sam sprung to his feet. Al had begun to phase out, a high pitched
whine emanating from where he stood. He could barely see as Al
lifted his head to yell, presumably at Gushie. A second later, he
snapped out of existence. Sam gulped.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," he murmured to the room.
TBC
Author: CloudyJenn
Fandom: Enterprise/Quantum Leap Crossover
Pairing: Archer/Reed
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: When a special connection allows Dr. Sam Beckett to leap a
hundred and fifty years in the future, he finds himself in a very
unfamiliar world just a day before he must save a man's life.
Author's Notes: None really except to say that I really loved writing this one!
Dr. Sam Beckett felt the familiar pull on his body and held his
breath. Sometimes, if he completely emptied his mind, he could
almost see the blue haze that Al had told him engulfed his body
during each leap. He concentrated as the warm inviting 1960s living
room gave way, his last view of the little girl sleeping on the sofa
fading quickly. He sighed slightly, almost sorry to leave the
comfortable life he had helped provide for that little girl and her
estranged father. A stray thought crossed his mind, a hope that
this next leap wasn't taking him into an immediately awkward
position. It cost him a second of concentration and before he knew
it, the leap was over.
Oh well, there was always next time.
He found himself in a small room, sitting at a desk. Relieved to
have leapt into an empty space, Sam took a moment to collect
himself, the memories of his last leap already blurring slightly due
to the infamous Swiss-cheese effect. He stood and immediately
became aware of the strangeness of the small room. There were a
number of bizarre looking objects whose purpose eluded him, although
he thought he recognized what appeared to be a rather advanced
looking computer of some kind. He felt the floor tremble and sat
down again hurriedly. Was the floor really moving or was that just
his post-leap nerves getting to him? He listened for a moment,
placing his hands on the desk, willing himself to remain calm.
Looking down at his hands, he realized that he was wearing some kind
of uniform-a sort of blue jumpsuit with yellow stripes on either
shoulder.
"Oh boy..." He murmured. This place didn't match anything he could
recall having ever seen in his life.
Just as he was coming to the conclusion that the floor really was
trembling slightly, a buzzer sounded from near the door. He stood
again and went over to the door, placing his palms on it. Maybe
this is some kind of prison, Sam thought. And the warden is here
to...To what, he didn't know. He sincerely hoped this wasn't
another leap involving a death sentence.
The buzzer sounded again. Sam started and stepped back.
"Hello?" He asked, cautiously.
The door slid open at this response and a young man stepped through,
nearly knocking into Sam.
"Holy cow, Captain! What the heck are you doing standing right
inside the door?" The man gave him an amused look.
Captain? Not a prison then.
"Um," Sam fumbled for words. Where the heck was Al? "Ah, sorry.
Guess I was a little distracted." He turned away from the man,
intending to head back to the desk when he caught sight of a small
window located towards the rear of the room.
And nearly fell on his ass.
Instead of the glimpse of trees or buildings he would have expected,
there seemed to be a black expanse stretching out into oblivion.
White streaks poured past the window, suggesting that whatever the
hell he was on was traveling at rates Sam couldn't even process.
The man followed his gaze towards the window, the amused look
replaced with one of wariness.
"Are you ok, Cap'n?" Sam was walking towards the window and barely
heard the question. He reached his destination and lifted a hand
toward the glass, (Was it glass?) half expecting it to fall through
to the white streaks.
He turned to the man and couldn't stop himself from asking. "What
is this?" The sense of wonder in his voice surprised him.
Now the man's look of wariness turned to downright concern. He
joined Sam by the window and looked closely at him.
"You mean the window? Is something wrong with it?" He turned
towards it, pulling out a small device from his pocket which he
aimed towards it. After a few seconds of studying the device, he
turned back to Sam. "It checks out ok. Have you noticed anything
strange about it, sir?"
Sam shook his head, finally reining in his amazement. "No, no, I'm
sorry. I think I've been...daydreaming." Right, daydreaming.
Knowing his luck, he'd leapt into a strict disciplinarian that would
never allow himself to be caught with his mind wandering.
Despite Sam's worries, the other man relaxed. "Yeah, I guess I
understand that. Sometimes I still can't believe we're really out
here. I guess it's even more overwhelming for you, sir." The
slight smile on his face spoke of deep affection and a familiarity
that told Sam that this man and the Captain were very close friends.
"Oh, yeah, before I forget. I brought you those specs you wanted.
I don't think that you have anything to worry about from the warp
core-the diagnostics we ran checked out fine."
Warp core? Sam took the flat, notebook-like device from the man and
glanced at it. There were a great deal of numbers and symbols
written on it that Sam couldn't understand and that frustrated him
more than he would have admitted. He was used to numbers making
sense.
He was used to being on solid ground.
"Thanks." Sam said the word with a tone of finality to it, hoping
that the man would then leave and he could have a moment alone
again. The man nodded and turned to leave when two things happened,
one which other man reacted to and one which he didn't. An
invisible voice called from a small box set into the wall and
another man appeared out of thin air.
"Bridge to Captain Archer."
"Sam! There you are. Geez, I thought we weren't going to find you
there for a minute."
Sam started yet again at the unexpected voices. He regained his
composure and threw Al a look that clearly said, Shut up for a
minute, but don't you dare go anywhere. He looked towards the box,
completely unsure of what to do. It buzzed again.
"Bridge to Captain Archer. Please respond."
He looked at the other man, helpless. The other man stared at him
for a few seconds, then sighed and walked towards the box. He
pushed a button on it and said, "It's Trip, T'Pol. What is it?"
A cool feminine voice replied from the box.
"Commander Tucker. Is the Captain well?"
Tucker glanced at Sam. "Yeah, I think so. I think he may have been
practicing that meditation you're always on about." A hint of humor
had crept into his voice.
"Indeed." The voice replied, devoid of any real emotion, but
sounding slightly ironic. Sam looked to Al during Tucker's
distraction and widened his eyes. He sent a silent message. What
the hell is going on here?
"Could you please tell him that we are approaching Helisa. We will
be within range in approximately one half hour."
Al walked toward the box, studying it intently. "This is the
damnest thing, Sam." He fell silent as Tucker responded.
"Sure thing." Tucker snapped the box off. "Well, Captain, duty
calls. After you?" He gestured towards the door, but Sam couldn't
follow, not just yet.
"I'll be out in a moment, um, Tucker." He replied. Tucker's
eyebrows rose at the name and Sam remembered he had referred to
himself as Trip. Oops.
"Alright, sir." He started to leave, then turned abruptly. "Are
you sure you're ok, Jon? You seem....odd," he finished rather
lamely.
Jon Archer then. That was helpful.
"Yes, I'm fine, Trip." Sam made sure to use the nickname. "I just
need a minute." Trip nodded, not really looking satisfied.
However, he did turn and leave. This time, when the door opened,
Sam was able to glimpse a much larger space beyond, filled with
people bent over workstations of some kind. The door slid shut and
Sam turned to Al.
"Al! What the hell is going on here?"
Al turned away from the door and pulled his cigar from his
mouth. "Honestly, Sam? I have no idea. Ziggy can't get any
information about where you are at all." He tapped at his
infopad. "And this thing's useless. You've leapt somewhere crazy
or rather somewhen. The only thing we can figure is that you've
leapt out of your lifetime-that's the only thing that explains the
lack of information."
Sam wiped his hand across his face. "Are you telling me this is" he
gestured wildly around the room, "the future?"
Al glanced around. "Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that. Look,
Sam, it's gonna be ok. All you got to do is do your thing and
you're out of here." He said this with a somewhat forced tone of
optimism.
"Ok, Al? This is not ok! I don't even know how to open the
doors!" A sudden thought occurred to him. "Al, if this is the
future, I must have leapt into someone related to me. A
descendant..." The thought was unsettling. Sam had theorized early
on in his research that leaping outside of one's own lifetime was
possible as long as one had a close genetic relationship to the
person they were leaping into.
He looked around frantically, searching for anything that would show
him a reflection. How likely was it that a Captain would keep a
pocket mirror in his desk?
"Here, use this." Both Sam and Al recoiled in shock. A man with
short brown hair had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, though Sam
hadn't seen even a hint of movement from where the man was now
standing. He held a small mirror in his outstretched hand.
"Who are you?" Sam choked out.
"My name is Daniels and you are Dr. Samuel Beckett. Let's just
leave it at that." He waved the mirror slightly. Sam took it just
because it seemed like the thing to do.
"Leave it at that?" Al sputtered. "Listen, buddy, you better tell
us what's going on here." Sam glanced at him.
Daniels glanced as well. "I take it Admiral Calavicci is there
somewhere."
Sam finally sat in the desk chair. This was fast becoming too much
to handle.
"Listen, Daniels you said?" Daniels nodded. "I'm sorry, but you're
going to have to explain this a bit further to me. How do you know
my name? Or Al's? Where am I?"
Daniels gestured to the mirror in Sam's hand. "First things first.
Take a look."
Sam narrowed his eyes at the other man. "Please, it will help me to
begin to explain."
Sam looked down and gasped lightly. This man, this Jon Archer, had
Sam's face, that same large nose, those same deep set green eyes,
that same pronounced jaw. How many years had it been since he
looked into anything even approaching his own reflection? A
profound kind of sadness swept over him. He missed his reflection.
He raised a hand to his cheek, only then noticing that there were
some slight differences. This man looked to be about ten or fifteen
years older than Sam. The lines on his face were more pronounced
and the hair much shorter.
"Holy cow!" Al exclaimed, unknowingly echoing Tucker's earlier
exclamation. "Talk about your spitting images. I guess now we know
what you'll look like in ten years!" He sounded distinctly amused,
despite the situation.
"You were right about having leapt into your descendant, Dr.
Beckett. Your direct descendant, as matter of fact, hence the
similar appearance. Right now, you are Captain Jonathan Archer,
commander of the Enterprise, a vessel in an organization known as
Star Fleet."
Sam tore his gaze away from the mirror and stared up into Daniels'
face. "Star Fleet?"
"Yes, please forgive me when I say this, as I will over the course
of this interaction, but there is much I can't tell you. I will try
to explain this as succinctly as possible. You, of all people, must
surely understand the importance of treating time with respect."
Sam nodded weakly, unable to do much else.
Daniels continued. "I am from what is the future for both your time
and this one. I am somewhat of a soldier in a time traveling war,
if you will. This is not the first time I have encountered Captain
Archer. It has recently come to the attention of my superiors that
an event will soon take place that could result in one of two
possibilities. While we are reasonably certain that this leap
prevents disaster, we have decided that you cannot accomplish this
task without certain kinds of information." He held up a data
chip. "This should explain everything you need to know. It is
compatible with your computer at the compound. After I leave here,
I will travel to your location, Admiral, where you will be able to
use the data chip to help Dr. Beckett," Daniels said to the last
space he'd seen Sam glance earlier.
Al's eyes were so wide Sam feared he may not be able to close them
again soon.
"Um, thanks, I think," he muttered. "Sam, don't let him get away
without a better explanation than that."
"Yeah," Sam blurted out. "How do I know that I can trust you? This
doesn't make any sense to me." In truth, it did make a little
sense, but Sam didn't want Daniels to leave without giving him some
further information.
"I knew your name, didn't I?" Daniels' voice carried a note of
exasperation in it, as if he'd spent a great deal of time warding
off questions like this. "I know this is very confusing for you,
Dr. Beckett, but the fact of the matter is, is that you desperately
need my help if you are going to leap out of here. Let the data
speak for itself." He stepped away from Sam and said towards the
empty space where Al stood. "I will see you shortly, Admiral, if
you would be so kind as to meet me."
Al looked to Sam, who nodded. "Find out what he knows, Al. I'm
supposed to be leading these people towards a place called Helisa
and I'm still not sure how to open that door!"
Daniels pointed to a button next to the door. "It's this button.
Don't worry, Doctor. The Admiral will be back in no time to guide
you through this." He made a motion as if to reach towards
something Sam couldn't see, then stopped. He gazed at Sam for a
moment, seeming to struggle internally with something, then resolve
set in. "I just have to say that it's an honor to meet you, Dr.
Beckett. Your work in time travel is groundbreaking. We in the
future all know your research quite well." And with that, Daniels
vanished.
Al pressed a button on his infopad and the door to the imaging
chamber slid open. "I'll be back soon, Sam, I promise." He stepped
through, leaving Sam to his very confused thoughts.
*********************************
After several moments spent calming down, Sam decided he had better
get himself out into the other room before they came looking for
him. Al would turn up soon with the appropriate names and
information he would need. Hopefully.
He walked to the strange door and pushed the button that Daniels had
pointed out to him. It slid to the side and Sam allowed himself a
small moment of wonder. He felt like he was on a sci-fi show!
The other side of the door revealed what looked remarkably like a
bridge on a naval vessel. There were indeed stations set along the
walls as well as a helm in the front, which were all manned by men
and women wearing similar uniforms to his own. Commander Tucker was
leaning back against a station talking to a strikingly beautiful
Asian woman, who appeared to be laughing at something Tucker had
said. Sam blinked. She really was one of the loveliest women Sam
had seen in several leaps.
Speaking of beautiful women, Sam sincerely hoped that Captain Archer
was not romantically involved with any of his fellow crewmembers.
He was tired of thinking of excuses to avoid romantic liaisons. He
looked back at the Asian woman...Still...
He shook himself. Keep your head, Beckett, he scolded himself.
Turning towards a large view screen, Sam once again took in the
sight of thousands of stars streaming past at speeds that had to be
faster than light. It was a truly amazing thing, although this time
Sam was able to keep his amazement to himself. He stepped down
towards an empty chair in the middle of the bridge which just had to
be the Captain's chair. And hey, even if it isn't, I'm the Captain,
what are they going to do?
The thought made him smile and after a few moments, he began to
relax somewhat.
"Enjoying yourself, Captain?" Al's voice said into Sam's ear. He
jerked back in surprise, causing a passing crewmember to give him a
curious look. Sam glared at Al, who just held a hand up.
"I know, I know. Don't say anything; just listen as I give you some
names. Ready?" He clicked a few buttons on his infopad. Sam
nodded, wanting to ask about his meeting with Daniels, but not
wanting to give Archer's crew any more reason to think their Captain
had lost his mind.
"Alright, now, you've already met Commander Charles Tucker III,
known to his friends as Trip. And speaking of friends, Archer and
Tucker apparently have been best friends for nearly ten years. He's
the chief engineer." A few more clicks. "And the dish next to
him," Sam rolled his eyes, "is an Ensign Hoshi Sato, who does the
communications on this ship." Al gave her a thorough once
over. "Boy, I wouldn't mind communicating a little bit with that
one." He leered at her for several more moments.
"Al..." Sam murmured.
"Huh? Oh right, sorry, Sam. In front of you at the helm, is Ensign
Travis Mayweather. Now, what you got to remember about him is that
he grew up in space. Geez, isn't that amazing, Sam?" They both
looked up towards the young black man who was tapping various keys
on the console in front of him. Growing up in space? What must
that be like? Sam couldn't quite believe that he was actually in
outer space and this man had been raised here!
"Oh right, moving on. Now, this one..." He stopped and tapped at
his infopad. "You don't say? Really?" He listened as if someone
was talking. "Now that's something!"
Sam squashed the temptation to yell and instead stood up quickly.
Tucker and Sato glanced up at him and he nodded. They smiled a bit
confusedly and went back to their conversation. Sam turned to Al
and gave him a dirty look.
"Sorry, Sam. It's just…Ok, you see that woman over there." He
pointed towards an exotic looking woman that appeared to be wearing
a suit that could have possibly been painted on her. Sam raised his
eyebrows at her. She was...well, unlike any other woman that Sam
had seen before. And that was before he noticed the ears. He
narrowed his eyes, but still it stayed the same. Her ears really
did come to a tapered point. She seemed to sense his staring and
looked up at him.
"Yes, Captain?" She asked in a familiar sounding cool voice. Ah
yes, the woman on the intercom. Sam smiled. He remembered the name.
"No, T'Pol. I was just thinking...how long till we get to
Hel...Helisa?"
"Good, Sam," Al added.
T'Pol consulted something on her desk. "We should be arriving in
approximately twenty minutes. According to their customs, the
commander of the Helisan government will contact us first."
"Ah, yes, of course. Thanks, T'Pol."
"Say, that's good news, Sam. Maybe you'll just be able to follow
the other commander's lead."
Sam nodded and walked around behind his chair. He was a bit too
antsy to sit.
"Subcommander T'Pol is Enterprise's first officer and the science
officer," Al continued. "And get this, Sam? She's an alien! As in
from another planet all together!"
Sam couldn't stop himself. He whirled around again for another
look. I guess that explains the ears, he thought.
"Strange, huh? I always thought aliens were big green things with
tentacles or something," Al commented. "But this T'Pol. Va va
voom!"
Sam gave him another look and Al chuckled. "What can I say? This
excites me, Sam! It's like, think of all the opportunities! The
universe is just full of beautiful women, ripe for the taking!"
Sam didn't even bother to look at Al this time. He walked closer to
him and whispered as he passed, "Why am I here?"
"Oh, right, well, ok, you see that guy sitting over there behind
you. Don't turn too fast, Sam, it attracts attention."
Yes, Al, I know that, Sam thought. He turned slowly and saw a young
man sitting behind a console, bright blue lights throwing his face
into sharp relief. He was concentrating intensely on his monitor,
his body rigid.
"His name is Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and he runs the security team
on Enterprise," Al informed him. "Daniels personally told me a bit
about him. Apparently he's a sort of repressed British guy, you
know the type, all rules and regulations. Anyway, unfortunately,"
Al paused and Sam grimaced. He knew that pause all too well.
Something not good was about to come out of Al's
mouth. "Unfortunately, tomorrow, he's going to die."
Sam glanced at him. "He does?" Surely Daniels didn't send him here
to let this man die. He had said that things would most likely turn
out ok.
"Well, no. At least, he didn't in Daniels' timeline, but you're
here to make sure that he doesn't. I'm not exactly sure what he
meant when he said that his superiors 'detected' another timeline,
but apparently they did. And in that timeline, Reed dies by getting
shot and Archer slips away into a kind of...overwhelming depression,
which causes him to be..." he gestured as if trying to find the
words, "off his game, shall we say and in about a week, a hostile
race attacks the Enterprise and well..." Sam looked at him again.
He asked the question with his eyes. Al looked down. "The ship is
destroyed."
Shock flowed through him. The entire ship? Blown up? All those
people...
"No," he whispered. That would not happen. He wouldn't let it
happen. As he turned his gaze back to the young man, it occurred to
him that something about this story just didn't add up.
"Why?" He murmured.
Al leaned in. "Eh? What's that?"
Sam looked around. Everyone seemed preoccupied at their
stations. "Why would that destroy Archer?" He asked as quietly at
possible, looking back to the man at the security station.
Reed suddenly looked up and met Sam's eyes. Surprise and something
else entirely shone in his grayish eyes before a wall dropped down,
turning him once again into a soldier.
"Captain?" He asked in an elegantly accented voice.
"Well, Sam, the thing is...Archer is in love with Reed."
"Love!?" Sam blurted out, without thinking. Reed's eyes widened
and he looked away quickly at his station.
"That's just great, Sam! Scare the hell out of him! You two aren't
together yet. Not until after he survives the shooting!"
Sam took a step forward. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I was completely
on a different planet. I wasn't...I wasn't really even in this
room. I was just thinking about...something from...years before,"
he finished rather stupidly. Reed looked up, a sort of bewildered
and somewhat hurt look in his eyes. Damn it, Sam thought.
"Carry on, Lieutenant," he said, moving away slowly. This was going
to be a lot harder than he thought. He had to get to somewhere
where he could be alone with Al and talk about his situation in more
detail.
"I'm just going to go back into my office for a minute," Sam
stammered, waving his hand in the general direction of the room he'd
leapt into. He heard Al snorting off to his left.
"They call it a ready room, Sam," he said, as if any idiot should
have had that bit of information. Sam ignored him, just as he
ignored the strange looks his crew was giving him.
"Right. I'll be back." He turned to leave, but was stopped by
T'Pol, who had stepped forward, her face still carefully neutral.
Her lack of visible emotions was beginning to freak him out just a
tad.
"Captain, the Helisans will be contacting us within the next fifteen
to twenty minutes. Due to their mercurial nature, I cannot
accurately predict the time the meeting…"
"Just give me a few minutes, T'Pol. I promise I'll be back out
soon," he interrupted. Sam was sure she was just doing her job, but
he really needed a few moments alone with Al. He felt totally and
completely out of control of the situation and he needed more
information.
T'Pol nodded calmly and Sam left the bridge, ardently avoiding the
concerned looks being sent his way from several of the other
officers, though he noticed as he passed Reed's station that the
security officer was just as ardently avoiding his gaze. He winced
a little. He really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.
Al was waiting for him when the ready room's door finally closed
behind him.
"You ok, Sam?" he asked gently. Sam just shook his head and flopped
down into the chair.
"I feel like I'm losing my mind, Al! I'm totally out of my element
here and that's saying something considering how my life usually
goes." He put his head into his hands for several seconds, willing
himself to remain calm.
"I don't blame you, Sam. But just listen to me. Everything's going
to work out just fine. This leap is a bit different than the others
you done…"
"You're telling me! I'm about to be contacted by an alien race!
Aliens, Al!" Sam exclaimed, unable to keep his nerves at bay any
longer. He stood up and strode around the tiny room, throwing his
hands out before him as he ranted. "I've got a first officer that
acts like a robot, a ship full of dangerous technology I don't
understand under my command and I've already managed to scare the
hell out of the man I'm supposed to be in love with!" His voice had
gotten quieter and quieter as he spoke until he was practically
hissing out his words. Al just let him talk himself out.
"Are you done now?"
Sam nodded and slumped once again in the chair. "Yes, I think so."
Al smiled and pulled his info pad out of his pocket. "Good, now
listen to me. First of all, apparently, this T'Pol acts like that
because her race has kind of a thing for logic and repressing
emotions. Don't worry about her-I'm sure she's used to humans by
now. And don't worry about messing up with Reed," he said
firmly. "You're just here to save him and if you act like your
usual lovable self, you probably won't screw up too badly."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the confidence," he said.
"You're welcome." There was a pause as Al took a drag off his cigar
and consulted the info pad. "Anyway, here's the thing. This leap
is different from the others, I mean, besides the weird aliens and
bizarre gadgets," he interrupted himself with a nod to Sam, who
looked at the ceiling and sighed, thinking that that was strange
enough for anyone. "It's different in that you're here to change a
history that didn't really happen."
"Which means what exactly?"
"It means that you have to try and do everything exactly like the
original history, instead of trying to do things differently.
You're here to ensure that history goes as planned."
Well, that should provide an interesting challenge, Sam thought.
Then again, doing every single thing like it happened before would
most likely prove quite difficult, wouldn't it?
"Every single thing? Do we know even every single thing that
happens?"
Al punched at the info pad a few more times without answering him.
Sam, knowing his time was limited, leaned forward.
"Al…"
"Yeah, well close enough. Ok, here's the history. This Helisan
commander who's going to call you is a good guy. It's his second in
command you gotta watch. A guy named Lurd. Lurd?" He hit the side
of the pad. "Ha! What a name!"
"Al, concentrate please."
"Oh right, anyway, Lurd," he twisted the name, "is the one that
shoots Reed in the arm."
Sam's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Reed gets shot? I thought I was
here to stop that."
Al shook his head. "No, you're here to stop Reed from getting shot
in the chest and dying. He's meant to be shot in the arm, but he
lives. It's going to happen when they come on board Enterprise.
Apparently, Lurd's" Al snorted just slightly after saying the name
again, "not happy with his government getting entangled with other
species and he's willing to die because of it, so he tries to shoot
Archer, you know, thinking it will put Star Fleet off of staying in
contact with the Helisans."
"Well, I'd say that'd put a damper on things," Sam commented.
"Right, but what actually happens is that Helisans are
understandably appalled by his actions, so they get rid of him post
haste and work that much harder on their alliance with Star Fleet,
who in turn take their actions in good faith."
"Ah." Sam thought all this over in his head, immediately coming up
with several ways why this plan didn't make any sense to him. "Why
don't I just not let Lurd come on board? In fact, why don't I just
stop this whole contact right now?"
Al's expression turned very serious. "No, Sam. I know it goes
against your better judgment to let people get hurt, but you gotta
let things happen the way they do. These Helisans become important
allies to Starfleet and this Federation thing they got going later.
This first contact has to happen." He glanced at his info
pad. "And Reed's gotta get hurt."
"Why? What good can come out of that?" Sam didn't want to believe
that there wasn't a way to let the first contact happen and keep
Reed from being hurt at the same time.
"Because it's what finally gets Archer and Reed together. You see,
Reed was hurt a few weeks back on some kind of mission and having
him get hurt again so quickly is what finally convinces Archer to
confess his feelings, you know, because Reed keeps almost dying."
Life in space was sounding less and less appealing. "So you're
telling me that if I don't let this Lurd person on the ship, there's
no chance that Archer will just tell Reed his feelings at some other
point?"
"Ziggy says there's an 87% chance that if Reed isn't hurt now,
Archer may not tell him how he feels until years later." He smiled
as he read something off the tiny screen. "Oh geez, listen to this
Sam. It says they get married in three years and adopt a kid." He
looked up. "If Archer doesn't say anything for that long, they
won't have the same kid and she won't grow up to be an important
diplomat for the Federation." He cocked his head to one
side. "Sam, you come from a really over achieving family, did I
ever tell you that?"
Sam laughed for the first time since this leap had started, feeling
slightly comforted now that he heard how well things would turn
out. He wondered for a moment how Ziggy was calculating those odds,
but decided he didn't have enough time to ask.
"And besides," Al continued, "you won't have any solid proof that
Lurd is planning anything, so if you refuse to let him on board, the
Helisans will probably take that as some kind of insult and you'll
botch up the first contact."
Sam sighed heavily. "Ok. I still don't feel all that comfortable
with this, Al. I don't like letting people get hurt."
"I know you don't. I don't either, but it really is for the best."
"I suppose." He thought about the pain that Archer would go through
once he leapt back in. No matter how well things turned out, that
would still be hard and Sam felt bad about it. Somehow, knowing he
was related to the leapee made him feel more responsible for what
happened to him and those close to him and that thought made Sam
think of something else.
"Al, have you been in to see Archer at all?" He knew that Al didn't
always talk to the leapees, but there were instances when he did.
Al shook his head.
"No, why?"
Sam shrugged. "Maybe you should. I don't like the thought of my
descendant being confused and alone. Maybe you could get him to
talk about Reed, you know, find out how they act together, so I know
more about what I'm in for. I know you said they aren't together
yet, but I mean, they must spend some time together." Sam felt
silly for being that concerned about how to act around Reed, but he
couldn't help it. He'd never before in his life had to deal with
romantic liaisons with a man, at least not while he was a man
himself. It made him very nervous.
"Yeah. Ok, Sam. One more thing. When you go…o..ay..mi….ke….ed.
Sa…?"
Sam sprung to his feet. Al had begun to phase out, a high pitched
whine emanating from where he stood. He could barely see as Al
lifted his head to yell, presumably at Gushie. A second later, he
snapped out of existence. Sam gulped.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," he murmured to the room.
TBC
