"Hidden Agenda"
Part XII

November, 2000
Stallions Gate, NM

"Al!"

Al burst into the Control Room, Celia trailing in his wake and generally
unnoticed by all. He went straight to Verbena and took the handlink from
her. "What's the story?"

"David's driving in his general direction - it won't be long before he
shows up there."

"And Sam?" he asked curtly.

She put a hand on his wrist. "Hanging in there, but fading fast. He
needs you, Al."

"I don't know what I can do for him. What are the scenarios showing?"

"We can't even get him out of the shelter - he's locked in and there's
no other way out." Her face crushed into an expression of helplessness.
"When it comes down to it, you may just have come back in time to be
with him while-"

Al jerked away from her touch, as if she'd betrayed him. "Like hell," he
retorted, fire in his eyes, and he almost ran up the ramp to the Imaging
Chamber.

~~~~~~
April, 1995
Hancock, MD

Al scouted out the area as quickly as possible, then centered on David.
He was in the car, an estimated 25 minutes from Sam's location. They
were running out of time.

"Gooshie, center me on Sam," he ordered in a controlled tone borne of
years of practice. Immediately, he found himself in the dark. He
squinted, trying to make out any forms, then stepped forward hesitantly,
as if afraid of running into something. He wished he could - he wished
he could _be_ there, dammit! He forced himself to stand absolutely still
and the labored sound of breathing was to his left and a couple paces in
front of him. At least Sam was still breathing - just because David
would have to have come back didn't mean "Gina" hadn't died before he
did.

"Verbena?" Sam asked wearily and Al was momentarily paralyzed. He didn't
sound so good. "Is Al here yet?"

He followed the sound, drawn by the pleading inquiry, and bent down next
to his friend. "I'm right here, Sam." He waved the handlink through the
air to give him some perspective. "Right here. How you doin', kid?"

"Al..." Sam's relief was almost painful and Al could feel his
unflinching trust, a blind faith that the admiral would work it all out.
"It hurts."

Al thought briefly of the man who had once told him stoutly that he
mattered, that there were things that were important and he was one of
them. Somehow, now, he sounded younger and more vulnerable and that
thought alone angered the admiral. He pushed it aside, forcing a
soothing quality into his voice, knowing Sam would respond to that. "I
know. I know it does, Sam, but it's gonna be okay." He stopped for a
shaking breath. *Don't do this,* he commanded himself. *Don't fall apart
now. You can do that later, when you have time.* "I need you to listen
carefully and follow my instructions, okay?"

"Okay."

Al leaned a little closer. "Okay," he repeated firmly, putting on a
false bravado that Sam probably saw right through. "Can you get up?"

"Al, why-"

"Sam, I don't have time to outline this for you, so we're going to take
this one step at a time, here. You're just going to have to trust me."
Al gripped the `link tightly. The only reason it was still on was so
that at least Sam could see him, even if he couldn't see Sam. "Now, can
you get up?"

"I don't know..."

"Try. Come on, Sam, you can do this, I know you can! Get up."

He heard Sam straining, the soft scuffing of his soles on the rotting
wood, then there was a loud thud as he fell against something and Sam
cried out reflexively.

"Sam?! Sam, I can't see you - you're gonna have to talk to me."

"My arm," he panted, "I think it's broken."

"Use your other arm to pull yourself up," Al commanded firmly.

"Al, I can't..."

"Get up!" Al yelled at him. *Forgive me, Sam...* "I don't care how you
do it, I don't care how much it hurts - I told you to get up!"

Sam grunted and, several agonizing seconds later, announced, "Okay, what
now?"

Al badly wanted to ask him if he was okay, to apologize for having to do
this, but he didn't want to waste time. Ziggy had said if he didn't make
it to a hospital within 24 hours, he was done for. Sam was a doctor -
surely he knew that. In all honesty, Al didn't know if he would be able
to do what he had to to save his own life. "Okay, there's a flight of
stairs you're gonna need to go up. I'm standing at the bottom step -
follow my voice. Come on, Sam, you can do it. Don't make me yell at you
again...come on..."

"Okay," Sam whispered right on top of him and he jumped reflexively.
"Al, I'm really dizzy. Verbena said I already fell down these stairs
once and if I-"

"You have a railing to hold onto?" Al interrupted. He didn't want to
think what would happen if Sam fell, and he didn't want his friend
thinking about it, either.

There was a short pause. "Yeah." Sam labored up two steps, then stopped.

"Keep going," Al prompted. "It's easier to keep going than to stop and
start."

"Al, I'm tired... Can't I just take a minute to-"

"Don't you dare, Sam, don't you _dare_!" They didn't have a minute and,
besides, Al worried that if he sat down, he'd never get up again. He
waved the handlink, wishing he could smash it against something. "I'll
keep talking, but you have to keep going."

"When's he going to get here?" he questioned breathlessly.

"Don't worry about it, Sam," Al said, but glanced at the handlink
anyhow. Sam was moving too slow - they were never going to make it. And
they hadn't even hit the hard part, yet. "Are you at the top, yet?"

"There's something above my head."

"That's the wooden hatch. Now listen to me - there's a piece of wood
slid through the handles to lock it shut, but one of the handles is half
off - it's only screwed on at one end and the quality of this wood is
questionable to begin with. A few good blows and you can break it."

Sam wanted to protest, Al could _feel_ it, but he just took an unsteady
breath. "Okay," he agreed, gathering his strength.

He had so much trust that it scared Al. He'd always felt that way. He
once told him: ‘No kid with as innocent a farm boy heart as you should
waste that kind of faith on me - you'll get hurt!' But Sam wouldn't
listen. Now Al felt the same way - he could be leading Sam to his death
for all either one of them knew. "I'm gonna go on the other side and you
give it all you've got."

"Hurry, Al," Sam pleaded - he must have been fading.

Al punched a button and found himself staring at rusted handles and
rotting wood. "Okay, Sam," he called, "come on, pal..."

Sam didn't waste the energy it would have taken him to reply, but Al saw
the doors jolt as he rammed his shoulder against it, tugging at the
loose screw and stretching the limits of the construction. "That's it,
Sam, you're getting it!" He hit the doors again and again, but each blow
carried with it less and less force until there was no definable
progress. He was too tired - it wasn't going to work. Al reached past
the panic within him to find some untapped source of strength and calm
and he glanced at the `link - 12 minutes. "Oh, no," he whispered. Even
though David was a big man, Sam would normally have had a good shot
against him, but not now. "Sam - what's wrong with you?" Al demanded.
*Low blow, Al...* "Push. Push!" Sam tried again and Al noted the
loosening of the screw with hopeful eyes. Still not enough, though.
"Dammit, Sam, keep going - don't give up!"

"Al, it's not working," Sam cried desperately.

"Yes, it is!" The wood creaked, as if in defiant disagreement. "Dammit,
Sam, don't _make_ me leap back here to save your butt!"

That spurred Sam on and he threw his weight upwards and the entire door
broke away, crumbling with age, and collapsed in on him.

"Sam!" Al cried, sick to his stomach. He slammed to his knees on the
smooth, cold floor of the Imaging Chamber, each sensation reminding him
that he had nothing but words. *Told you to watch where you put that
faith, Sam.* "Sam?! Answer me!" He could see something move, faintly,
and he forced air back into his lungs. "Sam, come on, pal - can you hear
me?"

"Al, I can't get out..." Sam's voice was rough, muffled, but it was
there.

"Well, you gotta!" *What on earth am I supposed to say, Sam?* "Come on,
kid - you're running out of time! Sam, don't _let_ this bastard hurt you
- or Gina. He's hurt a lot of people." *Oh, sure, appeal to the kid's
sense of responsibility - that's low, too. He's got the most
overdeveloped sense of responsibility of anyone already - goodness knows
he already does more than he probably should and not enough for
himself.* Even so, Al pressed on; words were his only weapon and he had
to use them to spur Sam on, to light the fire through anger or passion
or whatever worked. "He was the one who tried to drown Tabitha. He
killed an innocent woman. He beat his _wife_, Sam! Don't make me add
your name to the casualty list!"

"Keep talking."

Al heard determination in his tone and he relaxed slightly. "Okay, Sam,
no problem. Be careful, but hurry up! Come on, pal..."

Sam's face was flushed with the effort, but he pulled himself from under
the board that pinned him, and emerged, gasping and drained, falling
onto the grass. As he pulled free, Al got his first good look at him
this leap by the only light for miles - the half moon above them. Sam
looked terrible. He cradled his right arm against his chest, one side of
his face was bruised and swollen, and there were first and second degree
burns on his hands and arms.

"Oh, Sam..." Al breathed, angry and distraught.

Sam climbed unsteadily to his feet and stood in front of Al, panting and
bent over. "Al..."

"Sam, you okay, kid?" Al hovered over him anxiously. "You did real
good."

"What - do I have to do?"

Al pushed back his concern - David was almost there. "Okay, you see that
little building over there? It's sort of a two room house and it's only
just got the basics. I want you to set fire to it."

Sam blinked at him. "What?"

"You can't get to anyone fast enough - you need someone to come out here
and get you. What would attract the attention of people miles away
better? Especially at night."

"Al..."

"Sam, it's your only shot! C'mon - you already did the hard part." The
hard part was over, but it had also taken its toll. The leaper had used
all his strength to get out and now it would just be to die in the grass
at Al's feet instead of in the dark already six feet under. *Stop it!
Stop it, stop it, stop it!*

"Okay, just tell me what to do."

Al led him into the house and to the stove. It was a gas stove and there
was a set of matches almost hidden in a pile of rust and a can of
gasoline that, Al realized with a sick feeling, had probably been used
to burn the body. Minutes later, the two-room shack was ablaze and David
pulled up just in time to see it. He got out, staring at the flames as
they licked at the sides, devouring not only the pitiful construction,
but beginning to eat away at the trees as well.

Sam was in the underbrush, ducked down, with Al standing guard. David
circled the house once, then stopped directly in front of Sam's
position, uttering a stream of obsenities. Sam emitted a grunt of pain
and Al crouched beside him. "Sam, take it easy."

"Is it working, Al?" Sam whispered, closing his eyes tightly against
pain that felt as if it had been going on forever.

"Uh..." Al shook the handlink. "The fire department will be here in five
minutes." David threw up his hands and went down into the shelter Sam
had been in. Al muttered several obscenities under his breath, then
looked down as Sam wrapped himself in a fetal position. "Sam?" he
prodded.

David emerged and, in what was obviously a fit of anger, started looking
around, then got in his car and drove off at alarming speeds. "Probably
going home to slap his wife around," Al snapped bitterly. "You gonna
make it, Sam?"

Al moved a notch closer and Sam seemed to breathe easier, though he
couldn't say why. It wasn't as if Al could _do_ anything. "When can I
leap out?"

*`Can.' Not `do', like it normally is... Oh, Sam, how do you always get
into these messes?* "Ziggy thinks it'll be as soon as the fire truck
shows up. You just hang on `til then. David's gone and I'll stay with
you until you leap."

"What about his wife?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Al was a little startled by the question, almost as if Sam had
been paying more attention to his words than he himself had.

"Can we do anything to help his wife?" Sam elaborated, his words heavy.

Al was amazed that he was even thinking about that now. "Sam, you just
relax and take care of yourself. She's going to be all right, in the
end, okay? Trust me." Sam just nodded against the leaves that carpeted
the soil. "I'm sorry, Sam - I shoulda been here."

Sam smiled dimly as sirens sounded in the distance. "You were."

Before Al could ask exactly what that meant, Sam leaped.