Sam looked around wondering if anyone saw him hit the ground. Fortunately, the street was quiet. He picked himself up and made his way to the house where Andrew lived. It was a two bedroom, one being used for fitness. A jump rope hung on the wall and a couple of medicine balls were on the floor along with dumbbells. He tossed the gym bag into the room and walked back to the living room, pacing up and down hoping Al would arrive with additional information. He turned the television on as a distraction and recognized the show but with his Swiss-cheese brain he couldn't think of the name. Four men were racing down the road in a black van with a red stripe down the side. Half of the men were hanging out of the windows shooting guns at a car in front of them. The oldest looking man finally squeezed off a shot that blew the cars tire. The car spun wildly out of control and flipped over. As the van came to a stop he pulled himself back into the van, taking the cigar out of his mouth he said, ‘I love it when a plan comes together’. Sam said the line along with him, remembering it, as if it had been said many times before. He then ignored the TV and went back to pacing up and down. His contemplation was interrupted by the sound of the chamber door. Al stepped in and noticed dried blood under Sam's nose. “What happened to you?”
“I ran into Amy’s husband. He punched me when he felt I was sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.”
“Was it?” Al asked.
“How can you ask me that? I was leaving the gym and saw Amy walking down the street crying. I went to make sure she wasn’t hurt and he pulled up in his car and punched me before taking her home.”
Al considered telling Sam he should have been more careful, then realized he would have done the same thing.
“So what did you find?”
“This is interesting Sam. He’s a military scientist working on a shielding project to stabilize quantum energy signatures.”
The words made Sam think for a second, “Isn’t that a field I specialize in? Am I here to give him the answers?” Sam sounded and looked disgusted.
“No, no. That’s part of the unusual bit. He’s highly skilled in this area. But his work on this project stopped suddenly when his wife left him. The break-up tore him apart and he became unraveled. Eventually the military let him go, his work was handed to someone else?”
“So I need to make sure his marriage lasts, so he continues the project? What difference does it make if he’s on or not?”
“As I said, he’s exceptionally skilled in this area. And uh…” Al trailed off as he kept looking at the display.”
“What? Did something happen? Al.”
“The person who took over for him was not as skilled. The shielding his replacement came up with was utilized in 2009. But it wasn’t as strong as it should have been; there was an incident which caused a catastrophic explosion, thousands of people died. If there was better shielding it could have been avoided. You need to make sure things are patched up between Amy and Matthew.”
“How am I going to do that? He tried to take my head off last time we met.”
Al didn’t respond but looked towards the TV, which was now showing a special news report. Both paused for a second as they listened to Ronald Reagan. A crowd gathered in front of him at the Brandenburg gate was cheering. When it died down Reagan continued. “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.”
“I’m not sure how you’re going to do it Sam, but one thing is certain. You need to tear down the wall that has come between Amy and Matthew.” Al tapped a few buttons on his machine, “He’s at a local pub, ‘the Sugar Shack’, a mile west of here.”
“Sure, he can go out.” Sam muttered to himself.
(To Be Concluded)
Next - Writers Block; The Getaway - Part 3)
*This is part 12 of the 20 part 'Time And Alternate Dimension In Space'.
A Doctor Who, Quantum leap, Writers Block, Sliders & Legion of Super Heroes crossover.
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