Sliding Leap Fanfic...Part 3

Date: 08/13/2001
From: ScifiSTP

May 15th, 1999

Al knew he was dealing with a smart kid, one that wanted to play ball. He needed to talk to Gooshie and figure out what to do about the situation. All he knew is that a lock on Sam had turned up inconclusive. Ziggy said they started to get a lock on him but they all the sudden lost him. Ziggy wasn't just acting up, she was telling the truth and if Sam was lost,who knows if they'd ever get him back.

"Listen."Al started."We are both in some bad situation. We'll get things fixed for the both of us but you're going to have to cooperate with us. All I can say is,here, we play by the rules." Quinn seemed to settle down a bit, but he was anxious. Anxious about where his friends were and where and when he was. "I'll be back with more answers for you, but I'll also have more questions." They gave eachother a look of confidence and then Al turned and left the room. As he started his way down the hall he took out another cigar. He was really worried about Sam. Where was he? Maybe this cigar would calm his nerves a little bit.

As he walked further down and started smoking his cigar, he wondered how much he'd have to expose to this kid to find out what happened to Sam. He seemed to know what was going on here a little bit, but he knew for sure where Sam was. It was only a matter of time that this kid would say something. At the same time this kid seemed to be real worried about his friends. He also meationed something about a timer. So, Al figured he could play this same kind of game because this guy was just as desperate to get back to his life.

Finally Al met up with Gooshie. He too was frantically trying to figure out what was going on. He was drinking coffee, trying to stay awake. It was early in the morning and everyone at the project knew they would all be working around the clock to resolve this current problem.

"We can't figure out anything." Gooshie said as Al approached him."For hours we've been looking but no trace."Gooshie was less calm than Al."Have you talked to this,Quinn, at all?"

"So far he isn't saying much. Strangely, it seems he has his memory, nothing is swiss cheesed." Al noted."Worse off," All said sighing," he's sorta caught on to the project." Gooshie opened his mouth and was about to yell when Al continued."But, he doesn't know much. Unfortunately, he's got an attitude and is going to be hard to cooperate with. He seems to know the answers to our problems. I need to meet with everyone else to decide what to tell this kid so that we can figure out where Sam is." Al finished. Gooshie looked at him and thought a moment. Given the situation, this sounded logical. Usually they'd dismiss the fact that Quinn knew some things about the project, but the fact that he didn't have any memory loss worried them. If that was the case, he would remember everything here after leaping back into himself. What worried him and Al, was that they wondered if he would even leap back.

"Ok."Gooshie said."I'll round up everyone and we will meet in the conference room in thirty minutes. Meanwhile , you try and get information on this kid." Al sucked back on his cigar and let out a cloud of smoke. He looked at Gooshie and nodded. At risk of uncovering the project, this seemed like thier only option. They parted ways and walked in oposite directions.

While Gooshie went to group the other people on the project team, Al went back to the waiting room and was determined to find out where Sam was. As he walked in he found Quinn exploring the waiting room. Even though he was upset about the situation of not being with the others, he was facinated with where he found himself. Ther wasn't much in the room, but he found it amazing. He was doing funny things looking into the reflection pool to see the image of Sam do the same movements. As he heard Al enter the room he looked up and tried to act as if he wasn't goofing off.

"Having fun?" Al jokingly asked Quinn.

"Well, this place is kinda neat." Quinn said with a smile on his face. Then the look dropped from his face. He may have been having fun but he still meant business. He wanted to get back to his friends. He was worried if they already slided or not."So," he said seriously, no longer being playful," am I going to find out what's going on?"

"We are going to be able to discuss this soon."Al told him. Quinn then thought,we? There were more. He needed to find out. To these people, time didn't seem as much of a problem. It was to Quinn, time he was unaware of without the timer."First of all, I need to find out certain things. Now until I find out weather or not I can openly discuss our side of the situation, we will use questions with yes or no answers." Quinn looked and nodded. He figured this was fair, not too much would be revealed.

I agree." Quinn added." As long as I get to ask a question for everytime you do."

"Fair enough."Al replied."Now, we have a friend who may be with your friends. He knows no knowledge of what you and your friends do. After you arrived here we lost him. We usually can find him but in your case we couldn't. Do you know why we can't find him?" Al asked finally. He didn't want to give away too much away about they project while explaining the question.

"Yes." Quinn answered.

"Now given we get to tell you what we know, will you be able to help us in knowing what happened to our friend?" Al asked. Quinn thought for a moment.

"Yes." he answered. "Now I get to ask two questions." Al nodded." Will you be able to return me to my friends?" Quinn asked. Al stood there. He wasn't sure because as long as Quinn wouldn't talk about his side of the situation, he couldn't quarantee it.

"If you cooperate, yes." Al responded.

"What do you mean if I cooperate?" Quinn asked loudly.

"I can't explain." Al said."Now your questions are up, that was two." Quinn got frustrated. This was hell. He kept thinking, I'm trapped here, they slid without me. The thought wouldn't leave his mind. He paced back over to the reflection pool. He looked down in the mirror image and shouted.

"Who is this?" he yelled, looking back at Al."Is this your friend you're looking for?Huh? There he is! I seem him , I see him!" He was enraged.

" I know your beyond confused but we will have answers, you just have to trust me. The people I'm meeting with, I'll talk to them and get what you want.? Al said, trying to calm him down. Quinn grabbed the ledge of the reflection pool and seemed to calm down a little bit."Now you meantioned something about a timer." Al said, Quinn immediately looked up.

"Yes." Quinn said quickly.

Al continued."Are you, your problem, working on a time limit?" Quinn knew that this answer wouldn't give much away.

"Yes. I am working on a limited time. If I don't get back to them, I may never see them again. I'm also afraid, that due to the nature of my situation, the chances of me getting back to them and you getting your friend back are slim. Unless we colaberate and work together, we won't get anywhere. It has nothing to do with me knowing your secret and you knowing mine. Frankly, i don't care if you know mine, but I need to know your's if we are going to figure this out." Al knew what he was saying, and he was right. They would get nowhere unless they worked together, or else they will have lost Sam forever and this young man would live out the rest of his life as Sam Beckett. He was determined to go into that conference room and convince them that revealing the project was the only thing to do in order to get things back on track.

"You're right."Al said finally."Do you know how long you have, you know, your time limit?" he asked.

"No the limit could be days from now, or it could have already passed. Without my timer, who knows." They both stood there thinking the same thing. If Al didn't have to get the approval from the other project members, he would already be discussing with Quinn on how to resolve this troubled situation. He had about ten minutes until he had to meet with the others.

So, you seem like a bright kid."Al said, trying to ease the tension."You remind me alot of my friend I've been talking about." Al added.

"What's his name?" Quinn asked, starting to relax a little.

"Sam, Sam Beckett." Al answered, thinking, worrying about his lost friend.

"How long have you been friends with him?"Quinn asked

Well, Ive known Dr. Beckett for awhile now. Our paths crossed, we became good friends and I became apart of a previous project he was on and then this one." Al said, thinking more and more that he would maybe never get to see Sam again."If you don't mind me asking." Al said, changing the subject. he needed to know more about what the situation was on his side so that he could convince the others that having Quinn know about the project was necessary in getting Sam back." Tell me about your friends and your situation."

"Well,"Quinn started off," a few years ago I was a college student in San Francisco, majoring in physics. To make a long story short, I accidentally stumbled upon the ability to open up a dimentional portal to other dimentions. I didn't know all the tricks to it when I decided to try it out. The first time, it worked to plan. The device I made uses a timer and I set the time and travled to another dimention, and when the time was up it sent me back home.I discussed this with my professor and my close friend Wade. We decided to take a small journey and stay on the other dimention for a few hours. I figured the portal wasn't big enough for the three of us so I increased the power. We all got sucked in and another person, who has become one of the gang, was driving by at the time and accidentally got brought on the journey." Quinn stopped a moment."Things were still fine, but we eventually made a mistake. We ended up on an iceworld about to be sucked into a tornado. We decided we had to get out of there fast so we opened up the portal before the timer hit zero. What we came to find out is, this enabled up to go right back to our homeworld. So, we've been going from world to world, trying to find home."He paused."But we haven't yet." Quinn looked over at Al. He had a strange look on his face. Al couln't believe how similar thier situations were. He knew that this would convince the others. It had to."They've, over time, become great friends to me. And I don't want to lose them."Quinn finished.

"I don't want to lose my friend either. That's why we are both going to get our friends back." Al looked at his watch . It was just about time to start the meeting." I need to go. I'll be back, and we will get out of this."Al turned but looked back at him. Quinn was just standing there, confident that he'd get his answers, then Al left.

......TO BE CONTINUED

Stay tuned for part 4 on Thursday. Enjoy. Comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.

ScifiSTP

Hmmm ...

Date: 08/13/2001
From: The_Seer

It'll be interesting to see how they are able to find Sam and the other sliders. Will Al have to "slide"?

Looking forward to the next installment.

Question:

Date: 08/14/2001
From: TimeFluxEMC2

"What we came to find out is, this enabled up to go right back to our homeworld. So, we've been going from world to world, trying to find home."

If they were able to go right back home, why are they trying to find it? My guess is that you typed the wrong word(s). But without knowing for sure, it is confusing.

Later,
TimeFlux

typo..sorry

Date: 08/14/2001
From: ScifiSTP

What I was meaning to say there is..."this made us unable to go back to our homeworld." Sorry, I sometimes make revisions or type too fast and don't check up on it. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the question. I'm also trying to make this as true to the two shows as possible.

ScifiSTP

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