Chapter 5


	"Brown sugar. How come you taste so good? Brown sugar. Just like a
black girl should."
	She quickly shut off the radio, quieting Mick Jagger's question.
Despite what she had told Al, Verbina didn't take a nap. Instead, only
minutes after she arrived in her quarters, she went to her desk to work,
turning on the radio on her desk for a bit of distraction. But when she
heard the Rolling Stones' rocking tribute to either an illegal drug or a
black slave woman, she couldn't listen to it. Mick Jagger wasn't the
only one to sing those lines that day and she really didn't want to
focus on the other person who sang those lines. She wasn't sure why it
bothered her so much. It wasn't the first time she heard it from a
guest. But this time, she couldn't just shrug it off like she had done
before. This time, there was intensity in the way Dick sang those words.
	It frightened her greatly.
	The problem was he hadn't done anything that could be constituted as
overt sexual harassment. A couple of lines from a Rolling Stones song
and a few glances were nothing Verbina hadn't handled before and she
wasn't sure why she couldn't handle it this time.
	She wondered if Susan received the same kind of treatment from him and,
if she did, how she handled it. Did she handle it at all? Did she just
accept it as being harmless or did she just put up with it?
	Verbina looked at her clock and noticed that five hours had passed
relatively unnoticed by her. She sighed. She didn't really want to but
she knew she had to go check on the guest to see how he was doing and to
see if she could get anymore information from him.
	She slowly made her way to the Waiting Room, taking a handlink and
putting it in her lab coat pocket as she passed the control console.
Taking a breath, she stepped into the Waiting Room, preparing herself
for "round three with Mr. Chauvinist Pig."
	"Well, well," Dick said with a lustful smile. "Chocolate pudding is
back."
	Verbina took a breath, trying to ignore his comment.
	"I came to see how you were," she told him very professionally.
	He smiled and walked closer to her. "I'm just dandy like candy now that
you're here."
	She took a step back, suddenly feeling more than a little
uncomfortable. "Please, Mr. Anderson-Kemp. I would appreciate if you
behaved less familiar with me."
	He smiled mischievously. "Oh, come on, Verbina. May I call you
Verbina?" He came closer to her and circled her slightly.
	"No. You may call me Dr. Beeks," she told him firmly.
	He shook his head. "I don't think so, Verbina."
	A voice screamed out in her mind, ordering her to leave. She didn't
hesitate in her actions. She immediately headed for the Waiting Room
door.
	Dick blocked her exit, a dangerous look on his face.
	"Step out of my way, Mr. Anderson-Kemp," she ordered as firmly as she
could.
"Or what?" he questioned with a small, sarcastic smile.
	She tried to walk around him but he blocked her every attempt.
	"If you don't get out of my way, I will have to call security," she
warned.
	He grabbed her wrist quickly and pulled her towards him. "Then call
them," he replied before kissing her forcibly on the lips. He quickly
forced her towards a wall, his kiss preventing her from any sound except
low muffles as she struggled to get away from him.
	She started to hit him, trying to force him to release her. Her efforts
didn't seem to be working, resulting only in her arms being forced
behind her back so that they were pinned painfully against the wall. She
felt his hand caress her inside thigh, his intentions obvious. Fear
overcame her, causing her to forget two things that were to her
advantage. The first was that he would have to let go of her to get off
the Fermisuit he was wearing. The second marched through the door and
yanked her assailant from her before giving him a hard right cross to
the jaw, causing the man to fall to the floor.
	Verbina didn't see her savior but she had an idea of who it was. Her
suspicions were confirmed when strong yet gentle masculine hands held
her shoulders and brown concerned eyes looked into hers.
	"Are you okay, Verbina?" Al questioned, obvious anger in his voice.
Fortunately, the object of his anger was also obvious.
	She hesitated before nodding a bit. "Yeah. I think so."
	His face softened. "Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest?"
	For a moment, she was silent before she nodded again. "Yeah, I think I
will," she replied just before she promptly fainted directly into his
arms.

	Sam worried. He was pretty good at that, especially since it was past
noon and there was still no word from Al. Of course, Sam couldn't
remember what time it was for his Admiral partner. He couldn't remember
if Al was sleeping or not. He certainly didn't expect the Observer to
appear looking as if he were ready to kill.
	"Al, what's wrong?" Sam asked as he stood from Dick's office chair.
	Al didn't answer for a moment. "We know what happened to Susan."
	The words caught Sam's attention. "You know who kills her?" he
questioned.
	"Ziggy doesn't but I sure as hell do!" Al told him with deep anger,
starting to pace to find a way to vent it.
	"Who?"
	"That bastard in the Waiting Room, that's who!"
	Sam's eyes widened. "What?!"
	"The sleazebag just tried to rape Verbina and I'd bet he's the one who
murdered Susan." His voice was filled with controlled rage.
	"He tried to…" Sam started in shock. "How is she?"
	Al sighed with frustration. "She passed out completely after I stopped
the bastard from going too far. I carried her to her quarters and put
her to bed. I think she'll be okay, though. She's just a little shocked
about what happened and I don't blame her. Luckily, he didn't get very
far in his attempt."
	Sam exhaled with no small amount of relief. "Thank goodness for that."
He took a breath, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Al, if Dick's the one
who does it, then shouldn't I be leaping? I'm not about to hurt Susan."
	Al shook his head. "No, Sam. You have to get Susan away from him. The
further away from him she is the better. You have to make sure that Dick
won't bother her when he comes back from the future."
	Sam nodded a bit. "How do I do that? Rejecting her will only upset her
and her rejecting Dick will only cause him to get angry when he returns.
What if he goes after her again?" He looked at his partner firmly. "Al,
I think Dick's been abusing Susan. If not physically, then mentally
because she always seems terrified of offending me. What if he goes
after her when he gets back?"
	"Good questions," Al commented. "Knowing Susan, she won't leave
Charlottesville when her business is doing so well. So, he'd be able to
find her quite easily." He straightened a bit, obviously having come to
a decision. "We're just going to have to convince him to leave her
alone."
	Sam's eyebrows furrowed. "You're going to try to intimidate him?"
	Al looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I can be pretty damn
intimidating when in dress uniform." 
	Sam smiled. "No doubt. How is she now?"
	"Susan?" Al questioned for confirmation. "She's taking a brief lunch
break."
	"What kind of shop does she have?" Sam asked.
	"Coffee and pastry shop. It's more like a delicatessen."
	Sam smiled. "No wonder it does so well. Her days must be exhausting."
	"They are but she loves every minute of it." He took a breath. "Sam,
I'm going to go check on Verbina before I go rattle Dick's chain.
Appropriate nickname for him," he finished with a mutter.
	Sam nodded. "I'll see what I can come up with to get Susan away from
him. Good luck."
	Al nodded as well. "Thanks. You too."