Message-ID: <19990211154451.14723.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Erik Dreiling" Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 07:44:51 PST Subject: Quantum Leap: Reunion (Part 1) Part One Author's Note: This story is written by Erik Dreiling. The characters and events depicted in this story are ficticious. Any similarities to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This story may not be reproduced in whole or in any part without permission. Disclaimer: Quantum Leap is from Bellisarius Productions. No copyright infringment was intended QUANTUM LEAP: REUNION _________________________________________________________________ Shamrock,Texas July 12,1978 Leaping was never easy for Dr. Sam Beckett. Being catapulted into an unknown situation and seeing the world through God-knew-whose eyes before disaster struck didn't quite make the process any better. When ever he would Leap into a situation the first two thoughts that would run through his mind were Who - or what - had I Leaped into and What wrong was I to put right. When it came to Leaping, Sam Beckett never knew what to expect. And that could sometimes lead to disaster. He had never really gotten used to seeing another face stare back at him when ever he would look into a mirror, he had always found that experience a little unnerving. He could only imagine how his Leapee would react when they would arrive in the Waiting Room and they would glance in the mirrored table and see his face staring back at them. They would probably, and Sam would bet on this, go into hysterics. He couldn't blame them for reacting that way. The first time that he had Leaped he was scared out of his wits when he saw another person's image in the mirror instead of his own,so the feeling was quite understandable. When the effects of 'after Leap paranoia' wore off he glanced around to observe his surroundings. The first thing that Sam noticed was that the sun had not quite risen, but judging from the red, yellow, and purple streaked horizon, sunrise should be within the next five minutes or so. Sam closed his eyes and felt the warm gentle breeze that would later turn this beautiful dawn into a scorching day. When he opened his eyes it was because he felt his left arm sag with the weight of something heay gripped in his fingers. He blinked, and shifted his shoulders, and lifted his arm. The fingers were gripped around the handle of a battered leather suitcase. Taking a few steps back, Sam bumped into something and turned around to find that it was a red and rust colored VW van that looked like it had seen better days. Sam set the suitcase down on the paved ground next to the van's drivers side door and walked around to the back side of the van, only to be presented with what looked like a half dozen luggage bags, and a green and gold trunk wedged in the middle of the chaos. He looked around to see if he could find any clues that might help explain what was going on here. Turning to his left he saw a house that was approximatly fifty yards from where he was standing. The house was quit pleasant with a white painted metal fence bordering the perameter of the yard and the driveway was made of blacktop. The front door of the house was opened, Sam noted. The roof sported a brick chimney and a weather vain. Looking across the street he could tell that the neighborhood was a bit small but it appeared to be plain and most of the houses looked as if they had been built in the 1950's. In the distance he could hear the barking of a dog and the chirping of birds. He turned around and began to walk to the house. When he got half way a person emerged from the front door and looked right at Sam. He looked to be about 5'10, had short, wavy brown hair, and had the most engaging brown eyes Sam could ever remember seeing. He appeared to be in his early or mid twenties. He stared at Sam for a moment the he walked up to him. "Kenny, what are you doing? I thought that you were going to unload the rest of the luggage from the van and put it in the front of the house". Sam looked at the man before he replyed. "Well, I was, uh, taking a break. Getting a little fresh air". The other man eyed him skepitcally for a moment and then shook his head. "Geez, Kenny, you only started unloading five minutes ago. What do you mean your 'taking a break'?" "Oh, uh, well-" "Just finish unloading the rest of the luggage from the van and put it in front of the door. And try to be quiet. We don't want to wake up Dad. Last time we did this we woke him up and he chewed both of us out for nearly an hour. Remember?" Sam wouldn't remember but he couln't let on that he didn't. "Oh,...of course I remember. I couldn't forget about that". He gave Sam a strange look before he went back inside the house. Sam stood by the van for a few moments staring in the direction that the man had went. Sam knew that the man had something on his mind,judging from the worried look on his face, but couldn't tell what it was. Looking back at the van he saw the crammed luggage and started to unload the van. **** After Sam had finished unloading the van and hauling the luggage to the front of the house, which took nearly twenty minutes, he propped himself up against the van and wanted to just relax. The sun was out and it was becoming terribly hot.....and it was only morning! Sam had found out that the young man that had greeted him by the door was named Chris. Chris had come out of the house with two large glasses of lemonade. "Here you, Kenny. Drink up. There's plenty more where that came from". Sam thanked him and accepted the cool glass with much apperciation. Chris had found a spot next to Sam and joined him. He had nearly worn himself out trying to get that trunk out of the van. When Chris saw Sam struggling to get it out of the van he had offered his help and the two of them lugged it to the front of the house and had set it on the porch. They had just sat there for a few moments enjoying their drinks when Sam heard the all to familiar hydraulic whoosh of the Imaging Chamber Door. He turned around and saw his holographic companion from his own time, Admiral Al Calavicci. Al was dressed in his naval uniform and had a unlit stogie clenched between his teeth. The Door had 'appeared' right in front of a big oak tree about 15 yards from where Sam was. He tapped in a command on the handlink and the brilliant white sheet of light vanished. Al had a distant look on his face that Sam immediatly identified. Sam got up and handed Chris his now emptied glass. "Could you please give me a refill?" Sam gave him a faint smile. Chris took the glass and got up to go back in the house. He stopped half way and wiped the sweat from his face and muttered something about the hot weather they were experiencing. Sam watched him leave. When they were alone Sam waked over to the nearest tree and stood under it to avoid the trecherous heat. He turned around to face Al. "Where have you been?", Sam said impatiently."I've been here for nearly an half an hour." Al stifled a yawn and then said, "Well, Gooshie and I were feeding programs through Ziggy and it took us a while. And then I had to spend time in the Waiting Room helping Beeks trying to calm down our Visitor. You should've seen the look on his face when he caught a glimpse of your reflection in that mirrored table." Sam stared at Al for a few beats before replying. Al saw the look that Sam was giving him, which wasn't good, and turned his attention to the handlink and saw the tiny information marching across the viewscreen. "Anyways, it's July,12 1978 and you're in Shamrock, Texas. You've Leaped into 18 year old Kenneth Richardson. Says here you go by Kenny." Sam wiped the sweat from his forehead and tugged at his sweat and dirt streaked white T-shirt while waiting for Al to finish. Al took out a gold plated lighter and lit his cigar and took a few puffs to get it going. When he looked back up he saw Sam giving him another bad look. A electronic squeal from the handlink cought Al's attention and he peered into the tiny viewscreen. "Hey, Sam. Ziggy has come up with some information on why you've Leaped here." Sam perked his head up and had a suprised look on his face. Al continued as he pulled records from the data files. "In the original history, Chris Richardson disappeared from home on July 16,1978 and was never seen or heard from again." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two men. Al blinked then said," The police records state that Chris dissapared sometime around 11:00 P.M. on the night of July 16th." "Police records, Al?, Sam asked quizzically. "Yeah, police records. Originally, Kenny Richardson went to the police on July 30, 1978, which is two weeks after Chris disappared, and filed for missing persons report. The report dosen't go into detail on why Chris left." Sam looked on as Al continued with the grim news. "All that the report said was that he had an argument with his father, James Richardson, and was last seen by Kenny. We do not know what they had argued about and no one ever found out". " So, that's why I'm here. To prevent Chris from disappearing". "This is odd, Sam, Ziggy is only giving that a forty two precent probability on why you're here. She says that there is a fifty eight precent probability that you are here to do something else." "Well, what is it?" "Ziggy dosen't know yet. Look, Sam, I'm going to go back and check with Ziggy to see if she can get more information on the Richardson family. In the meantime, try to keep an eye on Chris. I don't have enough data on why he disappared". Al tapped in a command on the handlink and the Imaging Chamber Door appeared and a moment later he was gone. Sam turned around and started to head back towards the house when he saw Chris and an older man staring at him with looks of befuddelment on their faces. Obviously, they had been watching Sam the entire time. Sam muttered an "Oh, boy."