The Leap Back

Thanks to R. Joy Helvie & TVNewsCam

Teaser

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Quantum Leap
Shock Theater
October 3, 1954


Production #67303

QUANTUM LEAP
THE LEAP BACK
JUNE 15, 1999

TEASER

(THIS HAS BEEN FILMED)

LEAP IN

EXT. CROWN POINT TOWN SQUARE - DAY

Sam, clad in the hospital gown he was wearing when he leaped out of 'Shock Theater,' lies on the grass beside a Civil War cannon.  Standing on the other side of this vintage artillery piece is the Observer.  Unlike Sam, his wardrobe has changed...he is now wearing the uniform of a decorated World War II Army Captain.

OBSERVER
Sam, Sam...you okay?

SAM
Al?

OBSERVER
You okay?

SAM
(getting up)
You must have leaped with me....

He stops in mid-sentence as he notices the uniform Al is wearing.  The Observer gleefully starts to punch an entry into the handlink.

OBSERVER
We did it, Sam!
(notices the
uniform)
Sam.  What the hell am I doing in
this uniform?
(beat)
What's going on, Sam?

ON SAM

He thinks he knows and motions for the Observer to step toward him.

SAM
I think....
(beat)
...come here.

ON AL

He starts to walk through the cannon and bounces off of the barrel.  He's no longer a hologram.

OBSERVER
Sam, what the hell is happening!

ON SAM - SFX

Now certain that he knows, he takes a breath and walks through the cannon to Al.  As they realize they have switched roles, they turn to each other and say....

SAM/OBSERVER
Oh, boy!

START MAIN TITLE

ACT ONE

FADE IN

EXT. CROWN POINT, INDIANA - DAY

Sam and Al are standing in front of the Civil War cannon stunned with the realization that they have leaped together and some how switched roles.

OBSERVER
(punching the
handlink)
Gushie!
(beat)
What the hell is going on!

FEATURE SAM - SFX

As Al desperately attempts to communicate with Gushie on th handlink, Sam explores his new physicality or lack of it by stepping back and forth through the cannon and tree.  Eventually, grinning like a kid with a new toy, he turns to Al and puts his hand through the Observer's chest.  Unnerved by it, Al jumps back and bumps into the cannon.

OBSERVER
Stop that!

SAM
You know what this means, Al?

OBSERVER
What?

SAM
(devilish)
It's my turn to slip into the
powder room like the Invisible
Man.

Sam is surprised at his lascivious statement, but Al is too busy pounding on the handlink to pick up on it.

OBSERVER
Gushie!  Where the hell are you!

SAM
In the future.
(beat)
He's in the future and you're
in....
(looks around)
...I don't know the year, but from
the look of your uniform it's as
far back in time as I've ever
leaped.
(realizing)
Wait a minute.  I've been leaping
back and forth within my lifetime,
but since we switched places this
leap would be within your
lifetime.
(beat)
We could be in...when were you
born?

OBSERVER
June fiftheenth, nineteen....
(straining)
Nineteen....

Al can't remember.  It makes him crazy and he frantically pounds on the handlink.

OBSERVER
Gushie!  If you don't answer me
I'm gonna kill you!

SAM
Oh, my God your brain's swiss-
cheesed!

OBSERVER
My brain's fine!

SAM
No, it's not.  It's swiss-cheesed
from the leap.

OBSERVER
Stop saying that!

SAM
It's nothing to be ashamed of.
The first time I leaped I couldn't
even remember my name.

OBSERVER
(quickly)
Al.  My name's Al.

SAM
Al what?

OBSERVER
(trying to recall)
You think I'd forget my last name?

SAM
I'm about to bet on it.

OBSERVER
(remembering)
Well, you'd lose.
(smugly)
It's Beckett.  Al Beckett.

Sam laughs.

OBSERVER
(crushed)
It's not Al Beckett?

SAM
It's Al Calavicci.

OBSERVER
Calavicci?
(trying to recall)
Who the hell's Beckett?

SAM
Me.

Al stares at him for a beat, then pounds on the handlink.

OBSERVER
Gushie!

SAM
He can't hear you.  Ziggy won't
even be a gleam in my eye for
another fifty years.

OBSERVER
Ziggy?

SAM
The parallel hybrid computer I
designed to run Quantum Leap.
(beat)
Gushie's the head programer,
remember?

CONTINUED

OBSERVER
(remembering)
A little guy with bad breath.  And
Ziggy's a computer with a big ego.

SAM
Installing that ego was the
breakthrough.  Without it, Ziggy'd
just be another big number
cruncher.
(realizing)
Al...I'm getting my memory back!

OBSERVER
By taking it from me!

SAM
No.  The leap did that.  Don't
panic.  I'll fill in the gaps.

OBSERVER
Oh, boy.

SAM
Leaping together must have merged
our minds.
(sobering thought)
I wonder what part of your's I
got?

The Observer goes back to pounding on the handlink keys.

OBSERVER
Why doesn't Gushie answer?

SAM
Because Ziggy doesn't exist in
whatever year this is.
(beat)
We switched places, so I'd have to
have the handlink to reach Gushie
since I'm the one....

CLOSE ON SAM

The realization hits him.

SAM
(stunned)
...in the Imaging Chamber.

He looks around, trying to see through the hologram of Al's world.

SAM
Oh, my God, Al, I'm home!  I'm
home!

Sam begins to cast about like a blind man in a frantic attempt to locate the Chamber door.

SAM
The door!  Where's the door?

Unable to loacte it, Sam turns to Al and grasps for the handlink.

CLOSE ON THE HANDLINK - SFX

Sam's hand passes through it.

BACK ON SAM AND AL

Sam stares at the handlink knowing he can never hold what he sees.  THen he turns and wails....

SAM
Gushie!

OBSERVER
(joining him)
Gushie!

The two of them stand in the middle of the square yelling for the technician.

EXT. MARCHEZAK'S MILK TRUCK - DAY

It pulls up in front of the Crown Point Cafe.  Mike, the whistling milkman in a dairy cap and jacket, steps out with a wire basket filled with glass milk bottles.  At that moment, he spots Al and abruptly stops whistling.

MIKE'S POV - THE OBSERVER

standing beside the cannon, pounding on the handlink and yelling for Gushie.

BACK ON MIKE

His eyes widen in surprise and he almost drops his milk basket.

MIKE
Tom....
(louder)
Tom!

He takes off at a run, the milk bottles clattering against each other.  Mike runs with a decided limp.

ON SAM AND AL

They both hear Mike coming and turn to face him.  Mike's face is covered with a big grin as he limps to a stop in front of Al.

MIKE
Tom.

He throws his arms around him and hugs him tight.  Al looks at Sam, lost for words.

SAM
Your name's Tom.

MIKE
I don't believe it!  Your telegram
said you wouldn't be home till
Friday.

OBSERVER
(looking to Sam)
I...ah....

SAM
Caught an earlier flight.

OBSERVER
I caught an earlier flight.

MIKE
(stepping back)
You look terrific!
(softer)
Considering....

OBSERVER
Considering?  Considering what?

MIKE
(a bit aback)
What?  Tom, you just spent two
years in a prisoner of war camp.
(MORE)

MIKE (Cont'd)
(looking him over)
They didn't feed you much did
they?

OBSERVER
(automatic)
A bowl of rice a day.

MIKE
The Germans fed you rice?

OBSERVER
(automatic)
The V.C.

MIKE
(confused)
V.C.?

SAM
(warning)
Al.  You're not Admiral Al
Calavicci!  You're Lt. Tom
'somebody' and you better start
acting like him until Ziggy
can tell us what you're here to
change.

OBSERVER
(to Sam)
How?
(indicating
handlink)
Nobody's home.

ANOTHER ANGLE

Mystified, Mike lookes from Al to Sam (who, of course, he can't see) and then back to Al.

SAM
Don't look at me!  Look at him!

MIKE
(confused)
Everybody's home.  They're just
still asleep.
(looking at the
handlink)
Is that a walkie-talkie?

OBSERVER
Ah....

SAM
Yes.  You're testing it for the
military.  Top Secret, of course.

OBSERVER
Yeah.  It's...ah, Top Secret.  The
Pentagon's asked me to evaluate
it.

SAM
Put it away.

Al stuffs the handlink into his pocket.

MIKE
You just get liberated from a
prison camp and they give you a
new duty assignment?

OBSERVER
You know the Navy.

SAM
Army!

OBSERVER
(correcting)
Army.

MIKE[/ b]
(concerned)
You okay, Tom?

SAM
(quickly)
Ask him how...'she' is?

OBSERVER
(to Sam)
How she is?

SAM
There's always a 'she'!  Ask him
how she is!

OBSERVER
Ah....
(to Mike)
...how is she?

MIKE
(after a beat)
Susanne's fine, Tom.

SAM
Susanne.  Probably your girlfriend
since I don't see a wedding ring
on your finger.

MIKE
Finding out you were alive came as
quite a shock.

SAM
Oh, geez.  She must have thought
you were dead.

OBSERVER
She thought I was dead?

MIKE
Hell, the whole country thought
you were dead after Ernie Pyle's
column.
(beat)
Your crew told him how you kicked
them out of the tank and turned
back to cover the battalion's
retreat.  They saw you take out
three Panzers before your tank got
blown up.
(beat)
President Roosevelt even read
Ernie's column on one of his
fireside chats.
(beat)
You can't blame Susanne
for...doing what she did.

OBSERVER
What'd she do?

MIKE
(nervous)
Didn't she tell you?
(feels rotten)
Aw, shoot.  Don't tell me she
didn't tell you.  She said she
told you.  Told you when you
called her from Bethesda

FEATURE THE OBSERVER

He is suddenly quite calm and very sad.

OBSERVER
(softly)
She didn't have to...I already
knew.

SAM
(warning)
Careful, Al.

MIKE
Yeah, I guess you would.  You two
always knew what the other one was
doing since you were kids.

OBSERVER
When'd she marry him?

MIKE
She hasn't yet.  The wedding's on
the seventeenth.

OBSERVER
And today's....

MIKE
June fifteenth.

OBSERVER
My birthday.

MIKE
You're birthday's in April, same
as mine.
(beat)
You okay, Tom?

OBSERVER
Just a little woozy from the
lea....
(catches himself)
...flight.

SAM
Good catch.

MIKE
Hell, what am I thinking of!
You've got to have been up all
night getting here.
(beat)
When did you chow down last?

OBSERVER
I...don't remember.

Mike hands him a bottle of milk.

MIKE
Start working on this.  I'll get
Kelly to whip you up a hero's
breakfast.
(sincere)
Tom, Crown Point's so damn proud
of you it could bust!

With that he turns and runs toward the cafe.

ON SAM AND THE OBSERVER

Mike limps across the grassy square toward the cafe.  As they watch him go, Al turns to Sam.

OBSERVER
Why do I have this creepy, crawly,
scary feeling?

SAM
Deja vu.
(beat)
You were an MIA in Nam for six
years.  After four years your
wife, Beth, was sure you were dead
and....

OBSERVER
...she remarried.
(sadly)
I remember, Sam.  I remember.

SAM
Sorry.

OBSERVER
(sucking it up)
It's not like it just happened.
(beat)
But, it sure is weird...leaping
into a guy who shares the same
fate as me.

SAM
Maybe that's why you leaped into
him.

OBSERVER
To put he and this Susanne back
together?

FEATURE SAM

He goes back to groping for the Imaging Chamber door.

SAM
Or to keep them apart.
(beat)
Without Ziggy we don't know if
Susanne married you or the guy
she's supposed to marry in two
days.
(frustrated)
I can't see a thing through this
hologram.

OBSERVER
Wait a minute.  You're the
hologram.

SAM
(exploring)
To you.  But in the Imaging
Chamber,you and everything around
you is a hologram to me.
Remember?
(more to himself)
Why doesn't Gushie open the door?
He's got to be monitoring the
situation.
(realizes)
Unless....

OBSERVER
Unless?  I don't think I'm going
to like this 'unless.'

SAM
To leap together we had to have
either been struck by lighting or
sitting at ground zero during an
atomic detonation.

OBSERVER
Lightning!  It was lightning!

SAM
Thank God.

OBSERVER
I remember a big electrical storm
just before we leaped.

SAM
A lightning strike could have been
misread by Ziggy as a catastrophic
collapse of the nuclear
accelerator ring surrounding the
Imaging Chamber.  Ziggy would have
automatically sealed the Chamber
to protect the project from
radiation.

OBSERVER
(relieved)
Okay.  When they realize the ring
didn't collapse, they'll open the
door.

SAM
Once sealed, it can't be re-opened
by Ziggy until the radiation
half-life of the radium ring has
expired.

OBSERVER
This is going to be a big number
isn't it?

SAM
Not in cosmic terms...a mere
sixteen hundred years.

OBSERVER
How could you design a system
without a fail safe!

SAM
(defensive)
I didn't!
(beat)
If the door was sealed in error
anyone trapped in here could open
it.

OBSERVER
Thank, God.

SAM
By using the handlink.

Al slowly pulls the handlink from his pocket.  As they both look at it, we....

FADE OUT

END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO

FADE IN

EXT. CROWN POINT TOWN SQUARE - DAY

Over our slow move across the milk truck to the cafe, we hear....

SAM'S VOICE
My dream had come true...I was
home.  Back in my own time.

INT. CROWN POINT CAFE - DAY - MOVING WITH SAM

as he gropes about the room in a futile search for the Imaging Chamber door, he moves past Andy who is talking in a low and excited voice to someone on the other end of a hand-cranked telephone.  On the wall beside the phone is a 1945 pin up calendar featuring Ava Gardner.

SAM'S VOICE
And it was turning into a
nightmare.
(beat)
I was trapped in the Quantum Leap
Imaging Chamber and the only way
out was through the handlink in
Al's pocket and Al was back in....
(eyeing the
calendar)
...nineteen forty-five.

MIRROR SHOT

Kelly, the cafe's owner, cook, waitress and chief-bottle washer, heaps home fries onto a plate of steak and eggs and turns to set them in front of a handsome, twenty-eight year old Army Captain, who's busily wolfing down buckwheat pancakes.

KELLY
Steak and eggs, buckwheat
pancakes, home fries, whole wheat
toast and black coffee.

We pan off the mirror to reveal....

THE OBSERVER

wolfing down the pancakes.  Behind him, Sam (who did not reflect in the mirror) is feeling the air in his search for the Imaging Chamber door.

KELLY
(pouring coffee)
How long's it been since you had
a breakfast like this, Tom?

OBSERVER
Too long.
(checking the sugar
bowl)
Got any Sweet and Low or Equal?

KELLY
Sweet and Low?  Equal?

SAM
They didn't have artificial
sweeteners in forty-five, Al.
(admiring Kelly's
breasts)
But they sure had women with big
jugs.

Sam can't believe he said that and neither can Al, who surprisingly, shoots him an admonishing look.  Chagrinned, Sam goes back to searching for the door.

OBSERVER
(answering Kelly)
They're...ah...sugar substitutes
Uncle Sam's developed for the
military.

Mike slips onto the stool next to Al and Kelly pours him a fresh cup of coffee.

KELLY
We sure could use something like
that on the home front.  Even with
the Cafe I'm rationed to
half-a-pound of sugar a week....

She slaps Mike's hand as he heaps a teaspoon of sugar into his cup.

KELLY
(continuing)
...and Mike tries to put it all
into his cup.

MIKE
You forgetting who slips you an
extra pound of butter now and
then?

KELLY
(coyly)
I didn't think I was swappin'
sugar for it.

FEATURE SAM

He leans in lecherously to Kelly

SAM
Honey, if all it takes is a pound
of butter, I got a dairy farm
that....

OBSERVER
(to Sam)
Stop it!

Sam is Chagrinned as much by what he said as Al's shout.  Mike and Kelly both freeze and stare at Al.  Sam begins to apologize profusely to Kelly, who can't hear him.

SAM
(rapid-fire)
Oh, God, I'm so sorry!  This is so
humiliating.  I can't imagine
what's come over me.
(looks to Al)
Actually I can.
(pointing)
It's all his fault!

OBSERVER
My fault!

Sam grabs his head as more prurient thoughts flash through his mind.

SAM
(to Al)
What a filthy mind!

OBSERVER
(to Sam)
I'm not the one talking dirty!

KELLY
(embarrassed)
Sorry, Tom.  I guess we all need
to wash our minds out with soap
after this war.

OBSERVER
(to Sam)
Especially you.

MIKE
Did I say the F word, again?
(beat)
I'm sorry.  It's a hard habit to
break after Guadalcanal.

The bell over the door jingles and Mike looks from whoever has opened the door to Al with a grin.  Al turns to see....

SUSANNE

backlit in the open doorway.  She's twenty-four and as pretty as a field of buttercups.  Her blue eyes sparkle with moisture as she tenderly smiles at Al.

ON THE OBSERVER

Mesmerized by her beauty, he slowly rises to his feet.

ON MIKE AND KELLY

Both beaming with pleasure as they watch.

ON SAM

He gives her a once over that we usually associate with Al.

FEATURE SUSANNE

As the screen door slowly closes behind her, she runs across the cafe and leaps into Al's arms.  She kisses him with a passion usually reserved for feature films.  As they part she looks up into his eyes and sighs.

SUSANNE
Oh, Tommie....

Then, she kisses him, again.  Kelly takes Mike's hand and gives it a squeeze.  Susanne finally lets Al up for air.

SUSANNE
(teary-eyed)
I didn't believe you were alive.
Not even when I heard your voice
on the phone.
(leaning in)
Not until now.

She bends Al back over the pie case in a kiss so passionate it damn near bubbles the apple pie.

SAM
Al, she keeps this up and I'll
need a bucket of cold water to
separate you.

Sam immediately cringes at his words.  Al slides down onto the stool with Susanne still locked onto him.  Finally, Susane breaks it off and slumps onto a stool next to him.

SUSANNE
Wow!

OBSERVER
(weak)
Wow....

MIKE
I knew it!  I knew getting you two
together would put the kabosh on
Susanne marrying Clifford.

OBSERVER
Clifford?

SUSANNE
(defensive)
He's changed a lot since you
shipped out, Tommie.

KELLY
Yeah.  His feet got flat so he
could get classified 4-F.

SUSANNE
His feet have always been flat.

MIKE
Not until after Pearl Harbor.

SUSANNE
(to Al)
Clifford felt terrible about being
classified 4-F.  He does
everything he can to support the
war effort.
(beat)
He organized the biggest scrap
metal drive in the state of
Indiana!  The Governor even gave
him a citation.

Mike taps the ribbons on Al's chest.

MIKE
These are citations, Susanne.
Silver Star.  Purple Heart.

KELLY
It doesn't matter now.  Tom's back
and he's the guy she'll marry.
(beat)
Right, Susanne?

ANOTHER ANGLE

Susanne looks to Al and then to Mike and Kelly.  She looks undecided.

SAM
Oh, oh.
(beat)
This could be why you're here, Al.
To get Susanne to sleep with
you....
(quick correction)
...marry you.

OBSERVER
Marry me?

Susanne turns and flings her arms around Al.

SUSANNE
Of course I'll marry you, darling.

She bends him over in another long, passionate kiss.

CLIFFORD'S VOICE
Susanne Elsinga!

ANOTHER ANGLE

Standing outside the screen door is Clifford...glasses, bow-tie, straw hat and seersucker suit.  He opens the screen door and enters, his face flushed red.

CLIFFORD
What are you doing!

SAM
It's called sucking face.  Very
popular in the sixties, seventies,
eighties....

OBSERVER
(to Sam)
Will you shut up.

CLIFFORD
No, I will not shut up!
(beat)
That woman you're ravishing is
practically my wife!

MIKE
(cheerfully)
Not any more.

CLIFFORD
What do you mean by that?

SAM
You're about to find out, nozzle
nose.
(Chagrinned)
Nozzle nose?

MIKE
Tom just proposed to Susanne and
she accepted!

CLIFFORD
(to Susanne)
You can't be serious?
(beat)
We're to be married in two days!
(beat)
What's my mother and father going
to say?

SAM
Cancel the church.  Cancel the
reception hall.  Cancel the band.

SUSANNE
(confused)
Oh...oh....

Clifford moves closer to her and softens his voice.

CLIFFORD
I know how confusing this must be
for you, darling.
(beat)
A ghost from the past appears and
it's only natural that you have
some old yearnings.

SAM
And I'd like to satisfy them.
(abashed)
What am I saying!

CLIFFORD
See this for that it is, Suzie.
A connection to the past that
you've outgrown...like running
barefoot through sprinklers.

OBSERVER
(a Sam thought)
I love running barefoot through
sprinklers.

Now Al's the one who can't believe what he's saying.

SUSANNE
(quickly)
So, do I.

CLIFFORD
(to Al)
You know, you have a lot of nerve
coming back two days before our
wedding, Jarret.

Mike jumps up off the stool so quickly his artificial leg goes out from under him and he has to grab the counter to catch himself.  Kelly comes around the counter to help and restrain him.

MIKE
You draft-dodging,
chicken-farting, piss-ant!

KELLY
(sarcastic)
Why don't you tell him how you
really feel, Mike.

CLIFFORD
(cooly)
I may not have given a leg for my
country or been in a prisoner of
war camp, but that doesn't make me
any less a man.
(beat)
Those of us who stayed behind made
sacrifices too.  Only we didn't
get any of the glory.

OBSERVER
Just all the women.

CLOSER ON ALL

Clifford's eyes flare.  Kelly looks embarrased.

CLIFFORD
If you weren't so weak from being
in a German prison camp....

OBSERVER
Yeah, I know, you'd teach me a
lesson.
(beat)
Well I just had some of Kelly's
breakfast and I feel like I could
take on Mike Tyson.

Sam realizes where Al is coming from and tries to intervene.

OBSERVER
(answering both)
It doesn't matter.

Clifford nods curtly and strides toward the screen door with Al on his tail.  Susanne runs after them.

SUSANNE
I don't want you fighting over me!

EXT. CROWN POINT CAFE - DAY - SFX

Sam comes through the wall as the others pour out through the screen door.  Clifford and Al both peel their coats off.

SAM
Al, you can't do this!  We don't
even know why you're here!

OBSERVER
I think I'm here to kick
Clifford's ass.

KELLY
Tommy, don't forget.  He boxed in
Princeton.

CLIFFORD
(taking a stance)
Yale.  But I beat the best
Princeton coupld put in the ring
with me.

THE FIGHT

Clifford begins to circle Al, bouncing on the balls of his feet.  The Observer, his arms relaxed at his side, slowly pivots with him.

OBSERVER
Funny...you're not bouncing like
your flat-footed.

Clifford glances down and Al executes Sam's famous round-house kick, catching the boxer on the chin and knocking him out before he hits the dirt.

SAM
I didn't know you could do that?

OBSERVER
Neither did I.

As the others gather around Clifford's unconscious body, we....

CUT TO

EXT. COWN POINT STREET - DAY

Mike's dairy truck pulls to a stop in front of a small cottage that looks very much like Beth's house.  Al climbs out with his gear.

MIKE
Think a one-legged man could do
that move?

OBSERVER
If he doesn't mind falling on his
ass.

MIKE
(laughs)
It sure is good having you home,
buddy.

OBSERVER
(looking at the
house)
It's good to be home.

Mike puts the dairy truck into gear and pulls away.

MIKE
(calling back)
I'll bring your car back this
afternoon.  I've taken good care
of it!

OBSERVER
Thanks.

ANOTHER ANGLE

A sexy girl in short-shorts and a sweater full of 1945 pointed tits walks past.  We move into Al's face with suddenly looks very upset.

OBSERVER
A body like that and all I can
think is pure thoughts?
(beat)
Damn you, Sam.

He shakes his head and awlks up to the front door.

ON THE DOOR LATCH

It is dusty with cobwebs.  Al presses down on the latch and the door slowly creaks open.

ON THE OBSERVER - SFX

He smiles and pushes the unlocked door open.

OBSERVER
Small towns.

As Al bends down to pick up his bags, the door opens through Sam who is standing there.  Al straightens up and is startled to see Sam's smiling face in his.

OBSERVER
Don't do that!

SAM
(savoring the
moment)
Revenge is mine sayeth the
Hologram.

Al shudders as Sam walks through him and onto the porch.

SAM
I know how to open the Chamber
door.
(beat)
I designed Ziggy with a secret
backdoor code to override any
blocks...even those dealing with
catastrophic failures.
(beat)
All we have to do is get my
backdoor code to Gushie and he'll
be able to override Ziggy.

OBSERVER
Is that all?
(beat)
What do we do, wait half a
century?

SAM
In a sense, yes.  But for us it
will be instantaneous.
(excited)
It'll work, Al.  We can put the
code in a letter to be delivered
to Gushie in...exactly how long
have I been leaping around?

OBSERVER
(after a moment)
Four years.  It's nineteen ninty
nine.

SAM
(awed)
I'll be home in time for the
millennium.

OBSERVER
Who's going to wait fifty four
years to deliver a letter?

SAM
The post office...and Doc
Crosnoff, my dad's lawyer.  You
mail him a letter with say...a
hundred dollars.

OBSERVER
For what the stamp?

SAM
It's nineteen forty-five.  A
hundred dollars will do quite
nicely.
(beat)
YOu mail him a letter with the
hundred dollars and a sealed
letter to Gushie with the code.

OBSERVER
It could work.

SAM
It has to work.

Off Al's look, we....

CUT TO

CLOSE ON A LETTER

poised over a green mail box.

OBSERVER'S VOICE
But what if it doesn't?

WIDER ANGLE

The mailbox is just off the town square.  Al is holding the letter and Sam is anxiously pacing back and forth behind him.

SAM
We're never going to find out if
you don't mail that....

Sam suddenly takes a deep breath as a wave of anxiety sweeps through him.

OBSERVER
Sam!  What's wrong?

SAM
(breathing hard)
I dno't know.

OBSERVER
You're running out of air!

SAM
There's enough air in the Imaging
Chamber to sustain me for six
months.  I'd die of thirst first.
(beat)
It's my memory, Al.  My memory's
coming back!

OBSERVER
(slowly)
All of it?

SAM
Oh, God!
(beat)
Why didn't you tell me!

OBSERVER
I couldn't, Sam.  I couldn't!

SAM
Drop it in the mailbox!

CLOSE ON THE MAILBOX SLOT

Al holds the letter for a beat more, then lets it drop into the slot.

ON SAM AND AL - SFX

for a moment nothing happens, then the Chamber door opens behind them.

ON SAM

He stares at the door, afraid to believe it's true.  Then he gives one more glance back at Al and runs through the door shouting.

SAM
Donna!

ON THE OBSERVER

He smiles through the tears as we....

FADE OUT

END OF ACT TWO

ACT THREE

FADE IN

INT. QUANTUM LEAP CONTROL CENTER - DAY - ON THE IMAGING CHAMBER DOOR - SFX

Through the open door we see the weak holographic images of Al and the town square at Crown Point disintegrate as Sam runs into the intense white light of the tube leading into the control center.

CLOSE ON SAM - SFX

He stops and shields his eyes against the blinding light.  Behind him the Imaging Chamber door slams shut.  The blazing lights in the tube dim, leaving Sam bathed in a shimmering blue glow.

WIDER ANGLE

Sam stands near the perimeter of a circular ceramic room with three exit tubes and an elevator.  The tubes are marked:  Imaging Chamber, Waiting Room and Accelerator Chamber.  The elevator leads to the surface.  The shimmering blue light is emanating from a glass sphere floating without visible support above the center of the room.  The sphere is filled with living brain tissue immersed in a nutrient solution.  THIS IS ZIGGY.

ON SAM

As his vision recovers he turns toward a computer control console that looks like a large handlink.

ON THE CONTROL CONSOLE

A dozen project engineers and technicians, in Observer-type civilian attire, and a female Navy Admiral are standing around the console with expressions ranging from awe to elation.  Prominent among them is Gushie, Dr. Beeks, Tina and....

DONNA ELESEE

Bathed in the blue light, she steps out from the group.  Her eyes are brimming with joy.

ON SAM

His heart beat quickens at the sight of her.

SAM
(softly)
Donna....

ON DONNA

She walks slowly toward Sam, afraid that any rapid movement might break the moment.

ON BOTH

He, too, moves hesitantly toward her.  Then, their attraction overcomes their fear and they practically fling their bodies across the last few feet of space to clench in a tight embrace with Ziggy hovering above them.

ON GUSHIE, DR. BEEKS AND TINA

They join the others in applause and cheers.

ON SAM AND DONNA

Even when they part from their passionate kiss, Sam continues to tenderly hold her face between his hands.

SAM
(with guilt)
How could I have forgotten you?

DONNA
It wasn't your fault, darling.
(beat)
All that's important is that you
remember me, now.

SAM
Of course I remember you...you're
the woman I love.  My wife.

He pulls her to him and kisses her with a thirst that's been unconsciously building for years.  The Quantum Leap staff excitedly encircles the embraced couple.

ANOTHER ANGLE

As Sam and Donna's lips part she gently turns him by his shoulders to face his team.Gushie is the first one to embrace him in a back-slapping hug.

SAM
Gushie!

GUSHIE
Welcome back, Doctor Beckett!
(holding up the
letter)
Brilliant.  Absolutely brilliant!

SAM
When did you get it?

GUSHIE
Post Office delivered it today.
Fifty four years, seven months and
six days after it was mailed!

One after another the team greats their leader.  when he reaches Dr. Virbina Beeks, he kisses her on both cheeks.

DR. BEEKS
I don't recall your leaping into
any Frenchmen.

SAM
I think I picked that up from an
actor.

DR. BEEKS
I want to be sure you haven't
picked anything else up.  My
office in twenty minutes for a
physical.

Donna slips her arm protectively around Sam.

DONNA
Your office, tomorrow.
(beat)
Tonight, he's mine.

FEMALE ADIMIRAL
He has to be debriefed, Doctor.

SAM
(ala Groucho)
I'm not wearing briefs but don't
let that stop you.

Everyone is a bit aback at Sam's line except Tina who smiles wistfully as she turns to Gushie.

TINA
Gee...he sounds just like Al.

Sam greets a few more engineers and then sees Tina.

SAM
Tina!
(hugging her)
Ohhhhh, do you feel good.

TINA
You even hug like Al.

SAM
(back to reality)
Al!
(to Gushie)
What's he there to do?

GUSHIE
Ziggy doesn't know.

DONNA
Don't you remember?  The data in
the memory banks was limited....

SAM
(finishing)
...to my lifetime.  And, Al's in
nineteen forty-five.

GUSHIE
We didn't even know that until we
got your letter.

DONNA
We've been loading Ziggy with data
from forty-five as fast as we can
pull it from the National
Archives, but it could be days
until Ziggy projects a theory on
what Al's there to do.

Sam turns and loosk up.

SAM'S POV - ZIGGY

Floating serenely above everyone, emitting the shimmering blue light.

BACK ON SAM

He crosses to the console with Donna at his side and lays a hand on one of the Lucite panels.

SAM
Hello, Ziggy.

INTERACT WITH

ZIGGY

Who speaks in the same sexy female voice that we've heard deliver the saga sell for three seasons.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
(peeved)
It's about time you got around to
me, Doctor Beckett.

SAM
Sorry.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
No, need to apologize.  I don't
expect contact until you need me.

SAM
(looking for a
compliment)
You're looking very...user
friendly.

Sam winces and mouths he's sorry to Donna and the others.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I see that simo-leaping with
Admiral Calavicci has had a
positive affect on you.
(envious)
You're in for some pleasant
surprises, Doctor Elesee.

DONNA
I guess so.

SAM
Ziggy....

ZIGGY'S VOICE
(drawn out)
Yesssss.

SAM
Do you have enough....

ZIGGY'S VOICE
(interrupting)
...data to give you a reasonably
accurate projection as to why
Admiral Calavicci has leaped into
Crown Point, Indiana in the year
nineteen forty-five?

SAM
Ah...yeah.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
(terse)
No.

SAM
Do you have any data on Admiral
Calavicci?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
He'll kiss the girls and make them
cry.

TINA
Ain't that the truth.

DONNA
(reading the screen)
That's based only on absorbing
Al's biographical background up to
the age of seven.

SAM
Ziggy....

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Yes, Doctor Beckett.

SAM
You've made some brilliant
theoretical hypothesis with
minimal data over the past four
years.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
That's true.

SAM
I'd like you to make one now.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I don't think so, Doctor.

DONNA
Why not?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I'm dealing with too many
data-limited factors.  The
Admiral.  This Captain Tom Jarret
he's leaped into.  A year no one
had the foresight to pre-load into
my memory banks.
(to herself)
Actually I was doing quite well
absorbing the year until Franklin
Delano Roosevelt died.  It
depressed me.
(beat)
Try me in eleven point six hours.

SAM
What if the Admiral doesn't have
eleven point six hours?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I believe your brain is still
slightly magnafluxed Doctor
Beckett or you'd remember I never
experience guilt.
(beat)
That's a flaw found only in human
computers.
(brightly)
Goodnight, Doctor.
(sexual innuendo)
Have fun, you two.

SAM
Ziggy....

DONNA
It won't do any good.

SAM
Why did I give her Wearren Beatty's
ego?

NEW ANGLE FEATURING SAM

He begins to touch various prisms on the control console.

GUSHIE
What are you doing, Doctor
Beckett?

SAM
Setting up the Imaging Chamber.
I have to find out what's
happening to Al.

DONNA
You can't.

SAM
(softly)
Honey, I know I just got here.
It's not like I'd really be going
back.  I'll just go into the
Chamber to make contact.

DONNA
That's not what I mean.  You can't
use the Chamber.  Not for....

She look to Gushie who checks a handlink similar to Al's that's plugged into his side of the console.

GUSHIE
Seven hours, ten minutes and five
seconds.  Four seconds.  Three
Seconds.
(catching himself)
Sorry.

SAM
(surprised)
You didn't keep the back-up
handlink charged?

DONNA
It only holds a charge for
seventy-two hours and at a million
dollars a charge we simply didn't
have the money in the budget.

Sam realizes she is right, but it doesn't dissipate his frustration.  Donna puts her arm in his.

DONNA
Gushie will have the Chamber ready
by the time the handlink's
charged.

GUSHIE
Go home, Doctor.

SAM
(wistfully)
Home.

DONNA
Home, darling.  Home.

Sam relents and starts with her toward the elevator.  As the doors open he turns and loosk back to the Imaging Chamber.

SAM
(to himself)
Hang in, Al.
(beat)
Hang in.

ON THE IMAGING CHAMBER TUBE

As we move in on this unique ceramic portal we hear Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters singing "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?" and....

DISSOLVE TO

EXT. MOONLIT LAKE IN INDIANA - NIGHT - STOCK

A soft breeze ripples the surface of the water, shimmering the reflection of the moon.

EXT. ON A WHITEWALL TIRE - NIGHT

We rise from the tire and over the streamlined fender of a '41 Ford convertible to discover Al and Susanne.  She has cornered him behind the steering wheel and is trying to strip his tie and shirt as she kisses him.  He is turn between his usual urges and his Sam-onized mind which is resisting.  His mind wins and he gently pushes Susanne away and re-buttons his shirt.

SUSANNE
(coyly)
Captain Tom Jarret, how you've
changed.

OBSERVER
You don't know the half of it.

SUSANNE
I remember when it was all I could
do to keep you from....
(whispers)
...you know.

OBSERVER
Oh, I do.  I do.
(beat)
But something's happened to
my...mind.

SUSANNE
It's the war.  It does it to all
the boys.

OBSERVER
(suspicious)
How would you know?

SUSANNE
Clifford told me.

OBSERVER
Figures.
(beat)
What a nozzle.

SUSANNE
(defending)
He read it in Reader's Digest.

OBSERVER
(sarcastic)
Oh, well, then it's gotta be true.

SUSANNE
Well, even Mike had problems when
he came home and you know how he
and Kelly were before the war.

OBSERVER
Clifford tell you that, too?

SUSANNE
No, silly.  Kelly did.
(beat)
She said it was a long time before
Mike could....
(whispers)
...you know.

OBSERVER
(thinking of
himself)
Not really.

SUSANNE
Why he was home for months before
I saw them up here.

OBSERVER
(jealous)
What where you doing up here?

SUSANNE
Well....

OBSERVER
Were you parking in Lover's Lane
with a draft-dodging nozzle while
your boyfriend was fighting for
his country?

SUSANNE
I thought you had died for your
country.

OBSERVER
Even more reason not to be up
here!

SUSANNE
(tearing up)
Tom Jarret, I cried my eyes out
for you for two whole years!  And
even when everyone including Mike
told me to get on with my life, I
still waited another year.

OBSERVER
(touched)
You waited three years before
you...you know?

SUSANNE
(nods)
And even then every time Clifford
kissed me I closed my eyes and
pretended it was you.

CLOSE ON THE OBSERVER

Her tears are an instant injection of testosterone to Al.

OBSERVER'S VOICE
Chill out, Sam.

He takes Susanne into his arms and kisses her like she's never been kissed before.  As steam practically rises from the two of them, we tilt up to....

A STAR-FILLED SKY

A million points of light blaze with an intensity that can only be seen in remote areas.

SAM'S VOICE
See that star?

CUT TO

EXT. NEW MEXICO DESERT - NIGHT

Sam is behind Donna with his arms wrapped tight around her, staring up at the starry sky.  She is wearing a silk robe that flows softly in the wind around the two of them.  Sam is in a pair of boxer shorts.  Both are barefoot.

SAM
(pointing)
Seven degrees south of Aquila.

DONNA
The binary?

SAM
You have great eyes.

DONNA
(turning to him)
Are you talking about the way they
look or my vision?

SAM
Both.

They kiss and then she folds back into his arms and stares up at the stars.

DONNA
Now, what's so special about the
binary?

SAM
The larger of the two is Karus.
It's fifty-four light years from
earth.
(looking)
That sparkle was born in nineteen
forty-five.

DONNA
(understanding)
He'll be fine, Sam.

SAM
Maybe.  Observing isn't the same
as Leaping.  This may be more than
Al can handle.
(beat)
God I wish he was here....

DONNA
I know.

SAM
(continuing)
So I could kick his butt.

CLOSER ON BOTH

Surprised, Donna turns in his arms to face him.

DONNA
What?

SAM
How could he let me leap around
all those years without telling me
about you?  The woman I loved.
The woman I married.

DONNA
Because I asked him not to.

SAM
(stunned)
Why?

DONNA
It was difficult enough for you
back there, darling.  You couldn't
have acted freely if you knew you
were married.

SAM
You know, everything I did since
I leaped is becoming a blur to me.
Sort of a reverse swiss-cheese
effect.
(beat)
I suppose you know everything I
did...after I leaped.

DONNA
Yes.
(beat)
And I never once felt you were
betraying our love.

Sam lets out a sigh of relief and takes her into his arms to kiss her.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Doctor Beckett....

ANOTHER ANGLE

Sam slowly breaks from kissing Donna he touches a button on his watch and speaks as if Ziggy was a third party standing beside them.

SAM
Yes.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Sorry to interrupt your first
night of matrimonial bliss in four
years but I thought you might like
to know that I can now project
with eighty-one point six percent
accuracy the reason Admiral
Calavicci's leaped into Crown
Point, Indiana.

There's a pause.

SAM
(impatiently)
Well....

ZIGGY'S VOICE
It appears that Tom Jarret and
Susanne Elsinga committed suicide
on June fifteenth, nineteen
hundred and forty-five.

On Sam and Donna's reaction, we....

FADE OUT

END OF ACT THREE

ACT FOUR

FADE IN

EXT. QUANTUM LEAP FACILITY - NIGHT - STOCK

Set against the mountains and starry night of the New Mexico desert, most of this extensive highly secret facility is underground.

SAM'S VOICE
It felt as if I had never leaped.
(beat)
My pre-leap memory had returned
and the last four years were
fading as quickly as a bad dream
in the light of a beautiful
morning.

INT. QUANTUM LEAP CONTROL CENTER - NIGHT

Gushie is at the control dias which is alive with color.  Around the room the other project engineers are at work, some with portable computer links strapped around their necks like electric keyboards.  Even Ziggy is emitting a much more intense blue than we had previously seen.  The sign over the Imaging Chamber door is pulsating.  The elevator opens and disgorges Sam and Donna into this highly active atmosphere.  Dressed in 1999 attire, they stride toward the control dias and Gushie.

SAM'S VOICE
(continuing)
Life would be perfect...if Al
wasn't in such desperate straits.

SAM
(to Gushie)
Is the Imaging Chamber on line?

GUSHIE
In three point four minutes.

Donna immediately goes to work beside Gushie as Sam lays his hand on one of the control link prisms.

SAM
Ziggy.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
That was a quickie, Doctor
Beckett.

SAM
(ignoring that)
What have you got on Al?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
He's one hundred and seventy-five
point two-six centimeters tall.
Weighs seventy point nine-one....

SAM
Ziggy!

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Yes, Doctor.

SAM
(sexy)
Give me what I want, baby.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Ooooh...if you weren't my
father....

SAM
Ziggy!  What do you know?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Only what I read in the paper.
(beat)
On June sixteen, ninteen
forty-five the Crown Point
Gazette...isn't that a parochial
name...reported that returning war
hero Captain Tom Jarret and
Susanne Elsinga, the fiance of
Clifford White, drove his
convertible off Lover's Leap.
(beat)
Why do human beings die for love?

SAM
Check Shakespeare.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Thank you, Doctor.

SAM
Not now!

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Why not?
(beat)
With a million gigabyte capacity
I'm quite capable of rubbing my
tummy, patting my head and doing
a trillion floating point
operations at once.

SAM
Because I don't want to get into
a philosophical discussion.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I've finished reading Shakespeare,
Doctor and I see your point.

SAM
Where's Al now?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I can't project a precise location
until you lock onto Admiral
Calavicci's neurons and mesons in
the Imaging Chamber, but I can
assume with ninety-six point five
perent accuracy that he and
Susanne are either parked atop
Lover's Leap...or dead at the
bottom.

ON SAM

He spins around and pop's the handlink out of the charger.

CUT TO

CLOSE ON THE HANDLINK

It instantly activates.

SUSANNE'S VOICE
It's beautiful.

We pull back to reveal....

AL AND SUSANNE

in the front seat of the convertible.  He is lighting two apres'-sex cigarettes at once as Susanne toys with the handlink.  Both are disheveled.

OBSERVER
But useless.

SUSANNE
Doesn't it work?

OBSERVER
(handing her a
cigarette)
Nope.

SUSANNE
(naughtily)
Maybe it just needs a little
encouragement, too.

She lovingly strokes the handlink and puts her lips close to it.

SUSANNE
Hello....

SAM'S VOICE
You didn't!

ANOTHER ANGLE

Al sits up with a jark that tosses Susanne forward.  He spins around to find Sam frowning at him from the other side of the car door.  Sam is holding the back-up handlink.

OBSERVER
Sam!

SUSANNE
(looking around)
Who?

SAM
How could you, Al?
(ala Groucho)
On the other hand, how couldn't
you?

Sam winces with regret the instant the Groucho line is out of his mouth.  Susanne adjusts her clothes as she looks around for whoever Al seems to see.

OBSERVER
It wasn't like that.

SUSANNE
Like what?

SAM
We have to talk...alone.
(looks around)
Where's a men's room when you need
it.

OBSERVER
Good idea.

SUSANNE
Tom, you're talking to someone who
isn't there and it's frightening
me.

OBSERVER
(to Susanne)
I'm sorry, Honey.  It's what we
call delayed stress syndrome.

SAM
In forty-five they called it
shell-shock.

OBSERVER
You know shell-shocked.

Susanne lovingly begins to stroke him.

SUSANNE
Oh, my poor baby.

OBSERVER
(melting)
Oh, boy.

SAM
Al!

OBSERVER
I'll be fine.
(oepning the door)
I just want to take a...you know.

SUSANNE
Oh...sure.
(getting out)
Me, too.

FEATURE SAM

Al and Sam are both surprised.  Susanne starts off for the bushes and after a moment, Sam begins to follow her.

OBSERVER
Sam!

SAM
(abashed)
What am I doing?

OBSERVER
You dog!

SAM
Me?  It's your mind!

OBSERVER
And I want it back!  All these
choir boy thoughts are driving me
nuts!

SAM
They didn't seem to stop you a few
minutes ago.

OBSERVER
(sincere)
That was a beautiful moment, Sam.
I've never experienced anything
quite like it.
(beat)
I guess I owe that to you, huh?

SAM
(smiles)
Yeah, well, I owe one to you, too.

OBSERVER
(curious)
Do you?

Embarrassed, Sam quickly changes the subject.

SAM
Ziggy thinks she knows why you
leaped into Crown Point.  In the
original history, Tom and Susanne
drive off this cliff tonight in a
double suicide.

OBSERVER
Impossible.  Suicide's the
furthest thing from her mind.

SAM
If it wasn't suicide....

OBSERVER
It was murder.

At that moment, Susanne screams.  Sam and Al spin to where Susanne disappeared into the bushes and after an exchange of looks, race in after her.

EXT. LOVER LEAP WOODS - NIGHT

Al and Sam appear on the path searching for Suanne.  Sam is pounding on the handlink.

OBSERVER
You got a fix on her?

SAM
No!
(pounding keys)
Damn it, Gushie, what's wrong?

INT. QUANTUM LEAP CONTROL CENTER - NIGHT - SFX

A stream of sparkling matter flows from Ziggy to the main control console where Gushie and Donna are at work.

GUSHIE
There's not enough data for a
lock!

EXT. LOVER'S LEAP WOODS - DAY

Sam continues to pound on the handlink, when Al spots Susanne sprawled unconscious on the ground.

OBSERVER
I got her, Sam!

Al rushes to Susanne's side and takes her into hsi arms, gently brushing the dirt from her face.

OBSERVER
Susanne....

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Doctor Beckett.  I should warn you
that a Clifford....

Clifford steps out of the bushes and viciously strikes Al across the head with a tire iron.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Too late.

ANOTHER ANGLE - SFX

Clifford stands over the bodies with the bloody tire iron in his hand.  Enraged, Sam tries to attack Clifford and leaps right through him.  Clifford picks up Susanne and begins carrying her down the path toward the car.  Sam scrambles to his feet to block him.

SAM
Put her down!  Now!

Clifford walks right through him.  Realizing he's helpless, Sam sinks to his knees beside Al.

SAM
Al you've got to wake up!
(beat)
Al!

ZIGGY'S VOICE
He has suffered a blow from a
blunt instrument to the right lobe
of his cranium which has generated
a concussion, which induced an
unconscious state which will
terminate in eight point seven
minutes.
(beat)
Unfortunately, Admiral Calavicci
will terminate in five point two
minutes when he drives a nineteen
thirty-nine Ford convertible off
Lover's Leap.

SAM
(angrily)
How can he drive if he's
unconscious!

ZIGGY'S VOICE
(pause, then)
Excellent point, Doctor.
(beat)
Clifford must push the car over.

SAM
Brilliant, Ziggy.
(to Al)
Al...you've got to wake up.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I just explained, Doctor.  Admiral
Calavicci cannot regain
consciousness for another eight
point....

SAM
Damn it, Ziggy tell me something
I don't know!

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Tina's having an affair with
Gushie.

SAM
A way to save Al and Susanne!

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Stop Clifford from pushing the car
over the cliff.

SAM
How?  He's in nineteen forty-five
and I'm in nineteen ninety-nine!

ZIGGY'S VOICE
I didn't say it was easy.

CLOSE ON SAM - SFX

He looks down in anguish at his unconscious buddy.

SAM
I'm sorry, Al.  It should be me.
Not you.

And then the idea hits him.  He quickly punches a code into the handlink and the Imaging Chamber door opens behind him.

INT. QUANTUM LEAP CONTROL CENTER - NIGHT

The tube leading to the Imaging Chamber door is flooded with the brilliant white light as Sam races down the ramp stripping off his shirt.

SAM
Gushie!  Activate the Accelerator
Chamber!  Se it for June fifteen,
nineteen forty-five.

GUSHIE
What?

SAM
Do it!
(turning)
Tina.  Get me a Fermi suit.

Tina looks to Donna.

SAM
Now, Tina!

She turns and runs to a storage unit near the Accelarator Chamber door to withdraw a jumpsuit.

FEATURE SAM

As Donna joins him, he peels off his trousers.

SAM
How much time till Al terminates,
Ziggy?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
One point six minutes.
(beat)
Great legs, Doctor.

DONNA
Sam, what are you doing?

SAM
Trying to save, Al.

DONNA
How?

SAM
I'm going to leap into him.

DONNA
What!

Tina runs up with the suit and Sam begins to put it on.

SAM
Donna, four years ago my first
leap was targetless...subject to
the whim of fate.  Since then I
must have been subconsciously
working on the problem because I
now know how to hit the bullseye.
(MORE)

SAM (Cont'd)
(beat)
I can leap into Al.
(beat)
He'll leap back to the Imaging
Chamber where he was when the
lightning strike simo-leaped us
and I'll be in nineteen forty-five
where I can stop Clifford.

DONNA
Forty-five is eight years before
you were born!  You can't leap
earlier than your own lifetime!

Sam zips up the suit and crosses to the control console where he begins to rapidly adjust the prisms.

SAM
When we simo-leaped some of our
neurons and mesons obviously
merged.
(beat)
Part of me is Al!

He hits a switch and the sign above the Accelerator Chamber tube begins to flash.  The lights inside come up to a brilliant intensity.

ON THE ACCELERATOR CHAMBER DOOR TUBE

A vacuum on the door is broken and the air rushes out of the tube.  A deep read light begins to pulsate in the tube as Sam races up the ramp with Donna at his side.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
One minute and counting.

DONNA
How will you get back?

He stops and turns to her.

SAM
The retrieval program.  I've
up-dated.
(beat)
You'll try it again

DONNA
Ziggy....
(beat)
What's the odds of retrieving
Doctor Beckett?

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Nine point six percent.

She stares at him with tears in her eys.  Sam takes her in his arms.

SAM
I can't let him die, Donna.

DONNA
(crying)
Go.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Thirty seconds.

Sam kisses her and holds her tight.

SAM
I'll be back, darling.  I swear.

DONNA
I love you.

SAM
I love you, too.

Sam turns and rushes into the tube.  We hold on Donna's tear streaked face and then....

CUT TO

EXT. CROWN POINT LOVER'S LEAP - NIGHT

The convertible is poised on the edge of the cliff with Ssuanne slumped in the front seat as Clifford drags Al from the woods toward it.

INT. QUANTUM LEAP CONTROL CENTER - NIGHT - SFX

Ziggy is shimmering with activity as controllers with shoulder-slung keyboard links take up positions.  Donna joins Gushie behind the main console.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Fifteen seconds and counting.

GUSHIE
Synchrotron on line.

DONNA
Affirmative.

GUSHIE
Colliders on line.

DONNA
Affirmative.

GUSHIE
Fire!

ON DONNA

With tears streaming down her cheeks, she presses down on a control prism.

WIDER - SFX

A river of plasma leaps from the main control link to Ziggy instantaneously triggering streams to each of the portable control links.

ACCELERATOR CHAMBER - ON SAM - STOCK

He raises his arms and leaps!

INT. FORD CONVERTIBLE - NIGHT - SFX

Clifford shoves Al behind the wheel and reaches for the emergency brake.

CLIFFORD
You want each other.  You got each
other.

An electric-crackling familiar blue aura envelopes Al.

ON THE EMERGENCY BRAKE

Clifford's hand is about to release the brake when Sam's hand clamps over it.

CLOSE ON CLIFFORD

His eyes widen in surprise as he looks into....

SAM'S FACE

an instant before he slugs Clifford on the chin.

ANOTHER ANGLE

Reeling from the blow, Clifford staggers backward, loses his balance and falls screaming over the cliff.

ON SAM

He runs from the car to the edge of the cliff and peers down at Clifford's lifeless body on the rocks below.

INT. IMAGING CHAMBER TUBE - NIGHT

The bright white light dims and the familiar blue shimmer envelops the tube as Dr. Beeks and a medical aide carry Al out on a floating gurney.  Tina rushes to Al's side as he regains consciousness.

TINA
Al, honey.  Are you okay?

OBSERVER
(groggy)
I'll let you know...when we get in
bed.

ON DONNA

She smiles and shakes her head as she turns to Gushie.

DONNA
Ready to retrieve?

GUSHIE
Ready.

DONNA
Retrieving.

Sh e pressed the same control prism

WIDER - SFX - (THIS IS A REVERSE OF THE EARLIER SCENE)

The river of plasma that leaped from the main control link to Ziggy reverses and leaps back as do the streams from the portable control links.

EXT. CROWN POINT LOVER'S LEAP - NIGHT - SFX

Standing whwere we left him on the rim of the cliff, Sam begins to faintly glow and crackle with electrical activity.  The blue glow fades and he turns back to the convertible.

ON THE CONVERTIBLE

Sam checks Susanne who is beginning to regain consciousness, then picks up the handlink and punches in a combination.

SAM
Gushie.  This is....
(beat)
This is....

We move in tight on his face.  Sam can't remember his name.

DISSOLVE TO

EXT. STARLIT DESERT SKY - NIGHT

A million shimmering points of light against a pure black sky.

ON DONNA

Her eyes are red and swollen as she stands with her arms wrapped around herself in the desert behind her home.

OBSERVER'S VOICE
He leaped.

She turns as Al walks up beside her.  His head is bandaged where he took the blow from Clifford.

DONNA
When?

OBSERVER
As soon as Susanne regained
consciousness.

DONNA
(nods)
Where is he now?

OBSERVER
On an airplane in nineteen
fifty-six.

DONNA
You've talked to him?

OBSERVER
Yes.

DONNA
Does he...remember me?

OBSERVER
No.
(determined)
But, I'm going to tell him this
time.

DONNA
(turning)
No, you're not, Al.

OBSERVER
Donna....

DONNA
Four years ago you convinced me
his amnesia wasn't caused by
leaping.  That who or whatever was
leaping him from life to life did
it to free him to think with his
heart.  So he could put right the
terrible wrongs in people's lives.

OBSERVER
I don't know anymore.

DONNA
I do.
(beat)
Sam's back on the job and you're
going to treat him exactly as you
have the last four years.
(turning)
He came back to me once.  He'll
come back to me, again.

Al wraps her in his arms.

OBSERVER
(tenderly)
You're one hell of a woman.

DONNA
(looking up)
Nineteen fifty-six?

OBSERVER
yeah.

DONNA
(touching her watch)
Ziggy.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Yes, Doctor Elesee.

DONNA
Locate a star forty-three light
years from earth.

ZIGGY'S VOICE
Percles.  Six degrees north of
Cassiopia.  A blue white star of
the fourth magnitude.

MOVING IN ON DONNA AND AL

as they look up at the stars.

OBSERVER
(pointing)
There.

Donna smiles through her tears as she stares at the star.

DONNA
I love you, Sam.

ON THE STAR

surrounded by a cluster of others.

SAM'S VOICE
I love you, Donna.

FREEZE FRAME

END OF ACT FOUR