Theorizing
that one could time-travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett led an
elite group of scientists into the desert to develop a top-secret project
known as Quantum Leap. Pressured
to prove his theories or lose funding, Dr. Beckett prematurely stepped into
the Project Accelerator…and vanished.
He
awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing
a mirror image that was not his own.
Fortunately, contact with his own time was maintained through
brainwave transmissions with Al, the Project Observer, who appeared in the
form of a hologram that only Dr. Beckett can see and hear.
As
evil ones do their best to stop Dr. Beckett’s journey, his children, Dr.
Samantha Josephine Fulton and Stephen Beckett, continuously strive to
retrieve their time-lost father and bring him home permanently.
Despite returning home several times over the last decade, Dr.
Beckett has remained lost in the time stream…his final fate no longer
certain.
Trapped
in the past and driven by an unknown force, Dr. Beckett struggles to accept
his destiny as he continues to find himself leaping from life to life,
putting things right that once went wrong with the hopes that his next
leap…will be the final leap home.
PROLOGUE
Sam Beckett was always uncertain of where he would wind up next. However,
that was a known consequence of Quantum Leaping, bouncing about in time
putting things right that once went wrong. There were countless Leaps that
had already happened, and likely countless more before Sam finally Leaped
home.
Sam was unsure sometimes about
how he felt about this. It was exhilarating, knowing that he had saved
someone’s life from being miserable, or possibly from ending. But on the
other hand, the always-changing time canyon served as a barrier between
everything he wanted to return to. The only constant was Al, Sam’s closest
friend and the Project Observer, who served as Sam’s window to the world.
Sam shook the longing off as
he came to his senses. The bright light faded, and Sam found himself
standing on a rock in a pool of sea lions. He was holding out a sardine,
which the sea lion was eagerly dancing in the water for. Sam glanced up at
the surrounding area outside the sea lion pool, and about fifty curious eyes
were transfixed on him.
Dead silence. The sea lion stared expectantly. So did the audience. One man
in the back coughed out the word “loser.” Sam had no idea what he was
supposed to do.
“Oh, boy.”
PART ONE
The sea lion found enough pity inside it to bark, as if to say,
So, am I getting that sardine or what? This lightened the mood and
the audience no longer looked like they were watching pre-hardened paint
dry.
“All right, all right,” Sam thought the best strategy was to go the humorous
route, things appearing as they were that that was what the sea lion was
going for. He tossed the sardine towards the water. The sea lion caught it
in midair, then after it had finished the sardine, it dove down and swam
laps–zoomies, Sam would call it–around and around the bottom of the pool.
Another sea lion emerged and joined the first.
Soon seven sea lions were zooming around beneath the surface of the water.
Then they all went back into the place they had come from. Sam was relieved
to hear a voice come over the speaker, “And that concludes our Sea Lion
Show! Please remember to gather your belongings before leaving the
amphitheater and have a great rest of your day here at Jacobs County Zoo!”
The people left, and nothing remained in the amphitheater but a few stray
pieces of litter in the staggered marble benches that surrounded the sea
lion pool.
Sam was impressed with this pavilion; the surrounding area outside of the
structure looked lush and well taken care of. Tall palm trees encircled a
large fountain that was an intricate iron sculpture of several sea lions
perched in majestic formation, on a very real rock. Tiny streams of water
flowed from their mouths.
“Hey, Brady, you coming back here?” a woman poked her head out a door at the
back of the sea lion exhibit. “We need to check up on Penn back here. You
saw how he was having trouble swimming after that accident in the show, so
he couldn’t go out for the zoomies finale.”
‘I’m not the only one that calls those things zoomies!’
Sam thought triumphantly. “Yeah, I’m coming,” was what Sam said aloud,
jogging into the door that was hidden in the blue undersea mural on the back
wall.
“Good boy,” came another female voice from inside the surrounding room.
“Stay like that.” The thin woman was wearing a set of pink scrubs with her
name embroidered on the pocket in purple. She rose from her squat next to
the edge of the pool. Several other keepers were in the water, holding the
sea lion, who was supposedly Penn, still. “I’m Dr. Shelly Hammond. I’m the
new marine mammal vet at the zoo, and I just need to do some checks on Penn
here, to make sure everything’s okay after our little incident with the
jump.”
“Good,” replied Sam. “Good that you’re here because something might be wrong
with Penn. I mean, not that something might be wrong with Penn but that
you’re here to prevent it.” Sam was getting more and more uncomfortable in
such a situation as this. Sure, he had had to deal with animals on the farm
in Elk Ridge, Indiana, but not wild zoo animals, and definitely not sea
lions!
“Brady, we need someone to keep the other seven busy while we do the checks
on Penn,” the stern male voice came from a man in the water. He had thin
stubble with graying black hair. His embroidered name patch read “Stevens,”
and he sounded and looked firm and confident. “Take them out into the main
pool with a few rings and rubber toys.”
Sam was relieved not to be expected to know anything about sea lion
veterinary care. This might actually be enjoyable. He sat at the side of the
pool and tossed rings for one sea lion after another. The seven marine
mammals began playing a sort of hot potato with the rings, like group
juggling. Sam decided to go with it and tossed more rings to the sea lions.
They formed a circle and passed the rings from lion to lion, in a sort of
rhythm.
“Incredible,” Sam breathed. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“Of course, you haven’t, Brady,” the first woman, who had poked her head out
the door, emerged onto the concrete and took a seat next to Sam. “I taught
it to them after hours when everyone else was done at this exhibit. I meant
it as a surprise, but obviously they had other ideas.”
Sam laughed. “Apparently,” he replied, finally looking closer at the woman.
She wasn’t short and she wasn’t tall, with long, light brown hair pulled
into a low ponytail that hung smooth down her back. She had green eyes and
wore a brown blouse and shorts of matching material. Her scrunchie matched
as well, and her name tag read Iris.
“Hey, why don’t you toss them a few more rings,” Iris suggested. “They can
pass around as many rings as there are of them.”
Sam did so, and the sea lions began swimming around in a wheel and moving
throughout the pool while continuing to pass the rings. Iris beamed at her
success, and a crowd began to gather. They clapped along to the sea lions’
even beat. Each ring was a different color and it made for a cool effect.
“The next show isn’t until 3:00!” a gray-haired woman with a droopy bun
hissed through the door. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, Miss Betty. The sea lions made a game-time decision,” Iris shot
back, and the woman shook her head before disappearing into the back room,
where Sam presumed Dr. Hammond was still looking at Penn.
“So,” Sam tried to keep the conversation going until Al could show up and
inform him who, where, and when he was. “How have you been? Outside of
training sea lions at 10:00 PM, of course.” Sam tried to get Iris to open
up.
“Oh, I’m doing fine,” Iris shrugged and glanced over as the sea lions
abruptly paused, swam around playing with the rings, and then started
passing again. “I finally got up the nerve to start touring apartments
instead of living in my parents’ downtown basement for all eternity.”
“Good for you,” Sam patted Iris’s shoulder in congratulations. “I wonder if
those sea lions train themselves!” The sea lions were now switching and
going in the other direction. One,
two, three, switch; one, two, three, switch; the rings became nothing
but colored blurs in the sea lions’ mouths.
“Nope, I taught them that, too,” Iris danced her finger in the air with the
sea lions’ rhythm. “One, two, three, switch; one, two, three, switch,” she
murmured along with the sea lions’ performance. Her finger drifted to the
water to draw delicate ripples across the surface.
“Sam! There you are, I–whoa, did you teach them that?” Al started, but then
cut himself off at the impressive sight of the bobbing sea lions passing the
rings.
“Excuse me, but I’ll be right back,” Sam got to his feet and followed Al
behind the entire exhibit. “Okay, Al, talk to me. Why am I here?”
“It has to do with an animal in this habitat. Seal. Ion. What?” Al whacked
the handlink. “Oh, sea lion. A sea lion who will be in critical condition.
He dies on the operating table due to what looks like an oversight.”
“Okay, now tell me who, where, and when this is,” Sam was all business, and
as much info as he could get, the better.
“This is August 15, 2002, you’re Brady O’Donnel, one of the sea lion keepers
at the Jacobs County Zoo in Jacob’s Bay, coastal Texas.” Al tapped several
times on the handlink. “That’s all we know for now. Have you seen anything?”
“The sea lion is named Penn. He couldn’t come back out for the finale,” Sam
said concernedly. “Dr. Hammond is looking at him right now, and Iris and I
are out here distracting the other seven.”
“Seven others? Wow, eight sea lions. That’s a lot of splashing,” Al marveled
at the large number of sea lions at the Jacobs County Zoo. “You better get
back there. Ziggy says you need to get Iris and go help with Penn. We don’t
know why, but just do it.”
Sam dashed back around and slowed when he was back in eyeshot. “Iris! We
need to go in with Penn. I just have a feeling that they’re going to need
our help in there.”
“Okay,” Iris stood up and they got inside not a moment too soon. Penn was
out of the water of his own efforts, and he didn’t seem to be pleased with
that. He was panting, hoarsely barking, waving his flippers in a flailing
effort to move, but it wasn’t working.
“Brady! Iris!” Dr. Hammond shouted, relief in her voice. “Go around and help
us catch Penn. He needs to be back in the water. He flinched when I was
giving him a sedative shot, and the needle broke, but that’s the least of
our worries. I need to finish with him.”
“Okay, Dr. Hammond. Where should we go?” Iris was laser focused.
“Over to the sides with the paddles. We need some people in the water to
coax him, and we need people on the deck to make sure he doesn’t run off.”
Dr. Hammond picked up a red plastic barrier and held it in a path. Sam and
Iris followed suit, and soon Penn was back in the water, securely held this
time.
“Do you need to give him an oral sedative this time, Dr. Hammond?” Iris
asked. Dr. Hammond nodded.
“Hold him there, I’ll get it,” Dr. Hammond replied. “Please, call me
Shelly.”
Sam was tasked with holding Penn from the side of the pool. Soon Shelly had
returned with the sedative capsules, and a piece of tuna to disguise it in.
Shortly, Penn was limp.
“The needle’s just in a piece of skin, not anywhere near any arteries or
anything, so we can wait on that,” Shelly gave a passive commentary as she
swiftly checked Penn. “But-” she paused on a section of Penn’s back,
approaching his tail, “It appears we have something here.”
“What is it?” Miss Betty put her hand on Penn’s head worriedly.
“Seems like we have some sort of bruising here,” Shelly flexed the section
gently. Penn twitched. “Yep, we’ve got something. I’ll have to take an x-ray
here because it might be a fracture.”
“Oh, no,” Iris made a movement to approach Penn, but Stevens held her back.
“What if it is?”
“Then we’ll have to perform surgery to fill it in with veterinary bone
cement,” Shelly was grave now. “You can go supervise the others now if you
want.”
Sam went out onto the deck. Iris stayed behind, however, which gave Sam a
chance to talk to Al.
“So, we don’t have anything else on the sea lion,” replied Al, tapping on
the handlink. “How did it go in there?”
“Decent. Well, sort of,” Sam casually leaned against the back wall and
watched the sea lions give up on their little ring act and simply chase each
other around with the rings. “Penn got out of the water, and the needle
broke when he was getting a sedative shot. He also had a little accident
before I leaped in and he either pulled something or fractured something.”
“Oh, my,” Al’s eyes widened.
“They gave him some oral sedatives and I don’t know whether or not they’ve
finished the x-ray by now. Iris is still in there helping,” Sam glanced over
at the door, within which was poor Penn. He hoped Shelly had been able to
retrieve the broken piece of needle, and that Penn hadn’t fractured
anything. That kind of issue was the last thing Penn needed.
“Well, it looks like you’re ahead of me for once,” Al started to nudge Sam
before remembering he was only a hologram. Too late, the movement simply
swooped right through Sam.
“Brady!” Iris burst through the door. “Penn’s awake. It is a minor fracture,
and we’re scheduling surgery right now. There’s only one OR at the main
hospital, so we’ll have to wait at least three days. We will be able to get
the needle out easily while Penn’s in surgery, though. He’s going to be able
to swim in the habitat until the day of the surgery.”
“Well, that’s good,” Sam and Al remarked in unison.
“What’s Jenkins doing?” Iris turned a confused eye to one of the sea lions,
who was now barking and clapping at Al. Iris, however, only saw a sea lion
excitedly barking at thin air.
“I’m sure he’s just goofing off,” answered Sam. “That’s what these guys’
lives are all about, right?”
“Goofing off and eating sardines that are literally tossed right into their
mouths,” Iris laughed. Jenkins clapped at her next, then Sam, then a
three-year-old in the crowd watching.
“Mommy, there’s a man with awful clothes up there with the zookeepers!” the
child loudly exclaimed, pointing. “Now he looks really scared.”
“Uh, Sam, I should probably go,” Al eyed the child nervously and opened the
Imaging Chamber door. “See ya. See ya, kid!”
“Okay, bye-bye, silly man!”
PART TWO
“So,
I know you haven’t been working here very long,” Iris said when most of the
crowd had cleared, and they were once again alone with the sea lions. “Do
you want me to tell you who’s who out in the pool?”
“Sure,” Sam tried to keep the immense relief out of his voice, but he feared
it was in vain.
“That one over there with the squarish tail is Sushi. She’s always rolling
around at the bottom of the pool,” Iris began. “The one with the scar on his
back is Zeus. He’s kind of skittish, so don’t go throwing anything but
sardines at him. He was a rescue. The one who was playing with us you know
is Jenkins. He thinks he’s a beautiful singer, so we have to suffer through
his warbling.”
“Sounds like a real entertainer,” Sam replied, and as if on cue Jenkins
started letting out a hoarse, throaty howl. Iris laughed before continuing.
“You know Penn. He’s usually our stunt man, even outside of the shows; but
we’re going to have to keep him on chill pills. Over there sunbathing on the
rock is Abigail. You can usually find her either on that rock or somewhere
being very protective of a certain orange rubber ball. And out in the corner
with his tail up in the air is Gerald. He’s the black sheep, usually up to
some weird antics. Smart as anything, though. Out in the dead center playing
tug-of-war with the purple thing are Delsie and Danni.”
“Are they twins?” Sam asked. He could come up with no other reason to name
them with the same letter.
“Yes, actually. Interesting story. Delsie and Danni were wild rescues. They
almost got killed in a speedboat accident. Delsie lunged and knocked Danni
out of the way. Danni came out unscathed, but now Delsie has a permanent
tail injury,” Iris said with both pride and sadness. “They were sent to us
by the NSLRA.”
“What’s that?” questioned Sam, hoping this wasn’t the wrong question to ask.
“Oh, it’s the National Sea Lion Rescue Association. It makes sense that you
would be unfamiliar,” Iris was completely understanding. Sam breathed a sigh
of relief. “I used to work with them, you know.”
“Oh?” Sam was quite interested now. Delsie yanked the long purple rubber
rope out of Danni’s grasp and swam triumphant laps around the pool.
“Yeah, I was one of the ones on the front lines. Answering calls about hurt
animals. It was exciting, to be sure, but it could also be quite saddening,”
Iris’s eyes clouded. “We’re supposed to be good stewards of the Earth He
gave us. The amount of God’s creatures harmed by careless litter in the
ocean…That hurts, to know that every time a piece of trash leaves your
control, that that could be what happens to it.”
“I guess so. You don’t hear as
much about that in a land-locked state like Indiana,” Sam replied. “Where
I’m from, we use compost.”
Iris sighed and shook her
head. “I was one of the ones who rescued Delsie and Danni. I was the one who
cleaned up Delsie’s tail, discovered they were twins, named them, trained
them.” Sam saw a deep love in Iris’s eyes. “When they left to come live
here, I couldn’t bear to part with them. So, I left the NSLRA. I came to
work with them here. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to
them.”
“That’s beautiful,” Sam smiled. Iris looked up at him.
“I
might have to part with them again. They’re planning to transfer me to the
otters,” The tears began trickling down Iris’s cheeks. “It’s all the way on
the other side of the property. I won’t be able to see the girls at all. Not
very often, anyway.”
Sam was optimistic. “If you told them how much Danni and Delsie mean to you,
they’ll–”
“Transfer me anyway,” Iris cut him off. “They want to train the otters, and
the cameras saw me working with the sea lions. Stevens told me while Shelly
was setting up the x-ray. He said that the transfer was already in the works
and that I could be head of an otter show. I just wish I could have a say in
it. Just because Stevens is a man, and he has a little seniority over me in
the system doesn’t mean he gets to tell me where I want to work and put me
in for the job.”
“Well, did you tell him about Delsie and Danni?” Sam was determined to allow
Iris to keep her position with the sea lions. “Does anyone in this entire
zoo except me even know about you and Delsie and Danni?”
Iris sighed. “No. I can’t make myself tell a personal story like that, and
when I try to, I’m always assigned a task to do.”
“I
know how that can happen,” Sam related to her struggle. “But before you go
and do the task, tell Stevens or Miss Betty or whoever that after it’s done,
you want to talk to them. Then it’s set, and you don’t have to worry about
being too shy or coming in at the wrong time.”
“I
suppose that’ll work,” Iris lifted her head. “Brady, you’re the best.”
“Aw, I’m not sure if that’s quite true,” Sam waved off the compliment. There
had been plenty of times where he had definitely not been the best.
“Believe me, it is true,” Iris pulled him to his feet. She grabbed a cowbell
and clanged it. Every last sea lion went gliding into the back through the
submerged doors. “Since Shelly is here anyway, we figured we’d check up on
all the others, too.”
“Sounds smart,” Sam remarked, and he followed Iris into the door and the
back room.
PART THREE
PROJECT QUANTUM LEAP
STALLION’S GATE, NEW MEXICO
Al
went straight to the control room from the Imaging Chamber. “Ziggy! What do
we have on that surgery?”
“Well, Admiral, it appears that an employee of the zoo was fired due to the
result of the surgery. The name of the employee is Doctor of Zoological
Medicine Michelle Avery Hammond. She is currently working at Buc-ee’s in
Jacob’s Bay, Texas,” Ziggy’s smooth, human-like voice filled the large room.
“Buc-ees?
Oh, Shelly, you can do better. I also heard Iris telling Sam about a job at
the otters,” Al continued. “Check Iris.”
“Iris Elane Smith was transferred to the otter exhibit and resigned from her
position two weeks after receiving it. Her motivations surrounded being
informed of the transfer request after it had been put in. She is also
currently working at Buc-ee’s in Jacob’s Bay, Texas.”
“Okay,” Al found himself mimicking Sam’s responses to information. “More
Buc-ee’s, ugh.”
“Dr. Hammond and Miss Smith do, in fact, place a memorial for Penn in
Buc-ee’s in Jacob’s Bay, Texas,” Ziggy continued.
“Okay, enough with Buc-ee’s already! Has anything improved with Penn’s
outcome? Do we know what went wrong?” Al wheedled more information out of
their supercomputer.
“The needle became infected and was not discovered until after the
commencement of the surgery which was intended to fill in an oblique
fracture,” Ziggy went on. “Dr. Hammond was administering her inaugural
surgery; the sea lion in question regained consciousness in the midst of
surgical operation.”
“Ziggy,” Al said, “be nice to all of us and speak in English.”
“Shelly Hammond was performing her first surgery on Penn, and he woke up
wide open in the middle of that surgery,” a hint of annoyance tinged Ziggy’s
voice. “Is that plain enough for you, Admiral?”
“Yes,” Al replied. “Thank you, Ziggy.”
“You’re welcome,” If Ziggy had a face, Al could see it smugly grinning at
that moment.
JACOBS COUNTY ZOO
JACOB’S BAY, TEXAS
AUGUST 16, 2002
Sam called out to the sea lions as he set down the tin bucket of sardines.
“You guys! Breakfast!” The sea lions came eagerly swimming up. Penn was back
in the pool today, something Sam was pleased about.
“Sam, we found out what went wrong with Penn’s surgery,” Al entered the
scene, tapping on the handlink vivaciously.
“What happened?” Sam tossed a handful of sardines into the water, and the
sea lions darted to the bottom of the pool to retrieve them.
“So, Shelly was in charge of the surgery, and it was her first one ever.
They found out in the middle of the surgery that the needle was infected. He
woke up while they were cleaning it out, and he was still wide open on the
operating table,” Al said, continuing to tap the handlink before looking up.
“That’s terrible,” replied Sam, watching another load of projectile fish hit
the surface of the water.
“And Shelly gets fired because the surgery was an epic failure. Iris still
gets transferred to the otters, and resigns within two weeks because
apparently, she was bossed around about it. They both wind up working at
BUC-EE’S,” Al rolled his eyes at the word Buc-ee’s.
“Buc-ee’s? That one gas station with an entire Walmart inside?” Sam looked
over at Al inquisitively, letting another handful of sardines rip.
“Yes, Buc-ee’s. They also put a memorial for Penn inside Guess-Where,” Al
returned to tapping at the handlink.
“Buc-ee’s,” Sam answered.
Al’s attention was no longer on the handlink, but on Jenkins, who was now
belting out a sea lion opera. “Is he good?”
“Yes,” said Sam over the horrible sound. “That’s one of his… quirks.”
“Ah,” replied Al, “I see.” He looked as though he wanted to stuff a pillow
in each ear and pull the covers over his head. Jenkins stopped, and Al began
poking at the handlink once more. “Anyway, I was hoping you might have
changed history to where they got the needle out now?”
“No,” Sam said, his face falling. “And even if I had, I still wouldn’t have
Leaped, because Iris is still getting transferred to the otters at this
point.”
“Right, you’re right,” Al loosely waved his hand. “Is there anything that’s
improved?”
“Well, since you told me about the infection, I can tell the others to put a
covering over the site of the needle break,” Sam tried to put a positive
spin on the true answer to the question: Negative, ghostrider.
“I
see Penn’s back in the pool, but that’s what originally happened, so that
doesn’t quite count,” Al tried desperately to smack some sort of helpful
information out of the handlink, but nothing came up that they didn’t
already know.
“Oh, I found out the names of all the sea lions,” Sam mentioned. “That’s
sort of positive, right?”
“I
guess,” Al lowered the handlink and followed Sam’s finger as it pointed to
each sea lion in turn.
“The one with the scarred back is Zeus. The one with the square tail is
Sushi. On the rock is Abigail. The one with the injured tail is Delsie, the
one that’s always right next to her is Danni, and of course you know which
one Penn is, and the one in the corner is Gerald,” Sam finally finished,
trying to hide his panting after saying the entire speech on a single
breath.
“Gerald, that one over there
sitting like a diseased pretzel? Oh, I think I’m going to like him,” Al
grinned over at the odd sea lion, who looked over and grinned back, his head
still upside-down.
PART FOUR
PROJECT QUANTUM LEAP
STALLION’S GATE, NEW MEXICO
In
all the events surrounding 2002, Al had not yet gotten the chance to talk to
Verbeena Beeks about the Leapee, so this he did now.
“Al,” Verbeena greeted, standing up from behind her desk. “This one did
surprisingly well. Come see.”
She led Al into the Waiting Room, where, inside Sam Beckett’s appearance,
was the true Brady O’Donnel. He was currently examining Sam’s reflection in
the provided mirror, but when they entered, he looked up.
“Dr. Beeks, hey,” Brady said. “I’m guessing this is Admiral Calavicci?”
“Al,” said Al, “You can call me Al.”
“Okay. Al. I can remember that. Can you by any chance explain to me why I’m
not ‘me’?” Brady asked sheepishly. “Dr. Beeks has explained it to me a
million times, but it sticks like Teflon.”
“So, you’re a part of a time travel experiment from the future,” Al began.
“How far in the future?” Brady cut in.
“Sorry, can’t tell you that,” Al answered patiently. “Like I was saying,
you’re part of a time travel experiment. My friend Leaped into the past and
he’s been Leaping around in time ever since. He Leaped into you because
something was about to go wrong in your life, and when he’s fixed it, you’ll
Leap back and that’ll be the end of it. What is the last thing you
remember?”
“I
was in the Sea Lion Show. Zeus had just performed a trick and I was about to
throw him a sardine,” Brady sounded sure of this. “Is that what your friend
is doing now?”
“He’s finished with the show by now, but he’s still there,” Verbeena finally
spoke. This Leapee was unusually at ease, something which was both relieving
and concerning.
“Oh, okay. Which explains why I’m still here,” Brady continued. “I guess I
might as well make myself useful. Is there anything I can help with?”
“Ah, well,” Al felt bad having to tell this to the eager kid. “I hate to
break it to you, but you sort of aren’t supposed to leave this room. The
best way you can help is to tell all the information you remember to Dr.
Beeks.”
Brady’s face fell. “As long as that’s truly the best way I can help. But, if
you need an extra hand, I’m good with a mop…”
“Thanks, bud,” Al nodded. “I’m going to go now.”
“I
guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” Brady asked.
“Unless Sam Leaps in the middle of the night,” Al replied. He turned to get
one last look at Brady, then the Waiting Room door shut and he was alone in
the corridor.
“Brady, I can’t do this!” Iris admitted to Sam as they tried to finagle a
bandage from the bottom of a sea lion medical kit.
“I’m sure you can,” Sam assured her. “Telling someone else is going to be
just the same as telling me was.”
“That’s different,” Iris unrolled the spandex bandage with a sharp yank. “I
actually like you.”
“I
can tell where you’re going,” replied Sam. “You don’t have to tell Stevens
right off the bat. You like Miss Betty, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then talk to her first,” Sam continued, “or Shelly.”
“Shelly,” said Iris, summoning Penn before continuing. “I feel almost as
comfortable around her as I do around you.”
“Good, there’s a start,” Sam encouraged Iris. The bandage was on Penn now,
and Iris got up to call Shelly to come make sure Penn wasn’t infected.
“Good thinking, Sam,” Al said
abruptly, making Sam jump.
Unbeknownst to Sam, he had been right behind them the entire time. “Don’t
look at me like that. I wasn’t eavesdropping. I’m the Project Observer, I’m
simply doing my job. Observing.”
“Uh-huh,” Sam said crisply. “Anyway, I figured if the zoo knows about her
history with Delsie and Danni, they’ll let her stay with the sea lions.”
“That makes sense. But hush, she’s coming back,” Al nodded. It was kind of
important that the people Sam was helping not think him looney-tunes because
he was ‘talking to himself.’
“Iris! Did you tell Shelly you want to talk to her?” Sam asked.
Iris sighed. “No. I’ll wait until she gets here.”
“If you keep putting it off, it’ll be too late and you’ll get transferred to
the otters,” Sam said. Iris plopped to the ground beside him.
Gerald was now pushing on Sam’s legs with a ring to toss. The offbeat sea
lion’s lips almost formed a cheesy grin, and his long neck was upright and
square, as if he were even saying, “Yes, I’m weird, what’s it to you?”
“Told you I’d like him,” Al beamed as Gerald made a u-turn from the side of
the pool and centered over the ring before diving down for it. Just the
method he himself would have taken had he been in Gerald’s flippers.
The back door into the room opened and Shelly entered. “What’s this about
Penn?”
“We think there might be a hidden infection starting,” Iris said. Penn’s
head bobbed up from beneath the surface exactly where he was needed.
“Let’s get this bandage off and see,” Shelly murmured to Penn, slowly
peeling off the waterproof material. “Is this a hidden infection?” She
gently opened the wound and peered inside with an otoscope. “Trying to be.
We’ll get it taken care of, though. Don’t you worry, buddy.”
“So, he’ll be fine?” Iris clasped her hands together hopefully.
“If we take care of this now, then yes,” Shelly removed the latex gloves she
had been wearing while messing with the site of the needle. “Be sure to
change the bandage every morning and evening. I’ll come by in a bit and give
you a bottle of this prescription, which you need to give him every night
before he goes to bed.”
“Hey, Shelly,” Sam jumped in. “When you come by later, I think Iris has
something she wants to talk to you about.”
Iris looked at him gratefully before agreeing. “Yes, as long as you have
time.”
“Of course,” Shelly smiled before bending down to collect the rest of her
things. “I have to go check on the walruses up at the north end, and the
appointment is in literally two minutes, so I gotta run, otherwise I’d
totally talk now!” Shelly’s voice faded as she trotted down the rear
sidewalk toward the walruses. The sea lions were in the south end, so Shelly
would really have to dash to make it to the walruses’ appointment
punctually.
“Thanks, Brady,” Iris looked up at Sam. “I would never have been able to say
that on my own.”
“I’m sure you could have,” Sam placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Iris! Come help me with Delsie!” Miss Betty called.
“Delsie,”
Sam said. “That’s your chance to tell Miss Betty.”
“Right.” Iris stood and Sam heard an odd word or two drift over to him.
Delsie and Danni…
NSLRA…
speedboat…
otters… Miss Betty looked Iris in the eye and said something. Iris
nodded and said something in reply. Then she rose and strode back over to
Sam looking a bit brighter.
“What did Miss Betty say?” Sam
stood to meet Iris at eye level.
“She said she knew how hard it can be to share a story like that, and that
she’d put in a good word with Stevens for me,” Iris now beamed. She grabbed
Sam in an appreciative embrace.
“Don’t thank me for that,” Sam said.
“But I am,” Iris replied softly before she released Sam. She smoothed the
corners of Penn’s bandage; Shelly had been in a hurry when she placed it on
him. “Because you deserve it.”
The conversation went silent. Jenkins, sensing the need for interruptions,
tried to sing ‘Amazing Grace’ but failed epically. This made Sam and Iris
crack up. Iris was still laughing when she picked up the cowbell. The sea
lions practically flew out the underwater doors, and when Sam and Iris
arrived on the outdoor deck, they were busily playing a game of some sort.
It
resembled keep-away, but Abigail was ‘it’ with her orange ball and seemed
much more serious about it than the rest. Sushi finally gave up and took to
casually swimming around. One by one, the others followed. Abigail,
clinching victory, settled on her rock with her ball, and the excitement
came to an end, both for sea lion and for human.
“I
still can’t thank you enough for helping me find my voice,” Iris sat on the
concrete watching the sea lions play. It may have been dark, but the Zoo was
still open, and the Sea Lion exhibit was no exception.
“I
knew you’d find it in you,” Sam replied, nudging Iris. “What you said, that
was something incredible, and it was on your own.”
“Was it, though?” Iris asked, bumping Sam with her shoulder.
“Yes, it was,” replied Sam. “That was all you back there.”
“I
guess so,” Iris finally relented and let herself take credit. “But I
wouldn’t have done it for myself if it wasn’t for you.”
Both Sam and Iris were at a loss for words now, and they simply stared
through the sunshade at the crescent moon. The stars twinkled through the
material, sending tiny pinpricks of light down onto the concrete and into
the crystalline pool. The sea lions were in the water playing a silent game
of grab-the-ring. The tall grass rustled in the surrounding park, and the
waters in the distant fountain splashed quietly.
“Brady?” Iris spoke at last.
“What is it?”
“I
think you’re really great. Great with the sea lions, great at helping, great
at navigating life–just…great.” Iris looked up and met Sam’s eyes.
“That’s high praise,” Sam replied. “I don’t think I deserve that.”
“But what if you do?” asked Iris and met Sam in a kiss.
JACOBS COUNTY ZOO
JACOB’S BAY, TEXAS
AUGUST 18, 2002
“Sam,” Al began. “Today is–”
“The day of the surgery, I know,” Sam finished for Al as he paced. Gerald
was copying in the center of the pool, matching Sam’s exact movements.
“Sam don’t look now, but someone’s behind you,” Al said, pointing. Sam
turned around and jumped. Somehow Gerald had managed to dash silently over
while Sam was paused from pacing and was sitting in much too close of
proximity. Gerald stared keenly up into Sam’s face with wide eyes and a
cheesy grin.
“Al, I would have preferred if you hadn’t shared that,” Sam puffed, trying
to catch his breath after the shock. Gerald leaped back into the water in an
arc, making a splash.
“Hey, I told you, Gerald’s my man,” Al shrugged as he returned to tapping at
the handlink.
“Hey, Brady, can you go check on Penn again?” Iris called as she lifted a
crate of sardines from the kitchen to the shed around back.
Al
followed Sam into the room, where Penn was in a separate section of the
indoor pool, netted off from the rest. The odd sea lion or two drifted in
the doors to sniff the netting and try to greet Penn. He was fine, and he
was starting to look bored and drowsy.
“Is he doing alright?” Shelly asked as she entered via the back door. “I’ll
be performing my first real surgery in my life on Penn, so he’s my
responsibility until he’s fully recovered.”
“The anesthesia is taking effect at the perfect rate,” replied Miss Betty
when Sam was tongue-tied. “I suspect he’ll be out in thirty to forty-five
minutes.”
“Excellent,” replied Shelly as she kneeled at the side of the pool to check
on Penn herself. “The procedure is in an hour. Brady, can you hand me the
light out of that bag? I want to check inside the needle wound again.”
Sam obediently dug through the burgundy bag that Shelly had brought in with
her. The black straps dangled on either side, and inside was a surfeit of
tools, but no light. He told Shelly so, but she simply shrugged.
“Oh, well,” she said. “We’ll see it soon enough anyway. I just hope I don’t
screw up; this is my first real operation.”
“Shelly,” said Sam, “Relax. You’ll do fine.”
“Uh, I’m not so sure about that, Sam,” said Al, tapping the handlink
nervously. “We need to talk.”
“Excuse me,” Sam stood and walked out the back door. Iris was no longer in
the back loading sardines, so the secluded rear of the sea lion stage was
perfect. “What happens?”
“The regular exposition to air has made the infection worse,” Al said,
trying to sound like a doctor.
“Do you mean exposure?” Sam corrected with a smirk.
“Ah, yes,” Al looked straight into Sam’s eyes, allowing Sam to see the
concern for the sea lion within them. “The anesthesia isn’t going to wear
off. The infection embedded the needle. Penn’s simply going to fail because
it takes so long to get the needle free.”
“How do I fix that?” Sam began pacing. “It’s a little late to Leap back and
prevent the needle from breaking in the first place.”
“Well,” said Al, “We’re sort of still working that out.”
“Meaning you have no idea,” Sam snapped without meaning to.
“Sort of, kind of,” said Al. Sam stopped pacing and shot him a look. “No
idea.”
“Maybe Penn just needs to be kept more stable,” Sam resumed pacing. His
stride quickened to match the pace of his thoughts. Al was constantly
tapping the handlink to appear at Sam’s turnaround spot.
“Sam, it’s working,” Al announced. “Ziggy says that with extra precaution,
Penn has a 96.8% chance of survival.”
“Good,” Sam glanced in the window of the back door, where Shelly and Stevens
were strapping an unconscious Penn to a pallet. Iris was packing a bag of
supplies from the various storage cases, and Miss Betty was missing,
presumably up-front supervising the other seven in the exhibit. The
underwater doors were shut, Sam could see from there. The pallet lifted.
“What needs to be done now?”
“Open the door,” Al said simply.
Sam was excluded from the operating room in the zoo’s main animal hospital,
but the picture-window was almost enough. The movements and the screens and
the look in the surgeons’ eyes, all these told him plenty.
He
had told Shelly about the precautions before the surgery, and she had
listened. Her eyes became alarmed behind the safety glasses when she saw the
inflammation, and all the things she had put into place at his advisory were
now blessings.
“If it weren’t for your precautions, Sam, Penn would have expired by now,”
Al tapped at the handlink from his illusion of sitting in one of the plastic
chairs.
“They’re finished,” said Sam.
After Penn had woken up and been transported back to the sea lions’ back
room, Shelly, who had returned to her customary pink scrubs, approached Sam.
“Hey, Brady,” she said. “I just wanted to thank you for that thing you said.
About the precautions? I really feel like Penn wouldn’t have made it.”
“Well,” Sam smiled at Shelly. “I was just making sure Penn had the best
chance of staying with us.”
“I
suppose that’s all it boils down to,” Shelly beamed back. “I’d better go put
that waterproof thing on him so he can swim. See you around?”
“See you around,” Sam replied, then went out front to watch the other seven
with Iris. He stood against the wall for a minute. “What happens to her,
Al?”
“She stays with the sea lions the entire time she works at the zoo, and she
still is,” Al read off the handlink. “She even starts a program for any sea
lions rescued by the NSLRA that can’t find a home to live at Jacobs County
Zoo. Delsie and Danni are the mascots of the project, and their story is
told everywhere.”
“I
knew she could do it,” Sam murmured, and now approached Iris. “Knock,
knock.”
Iris looked up from Delsie. “Oh. Hey, Brady.”
“Just thought you might enjoy some company,” Sam replied, taking a seat next
to her.
“Thanks,” Iris turned to Delsie, who had swum off to chase Sushi. “I guess
she decided we’d be better alone.”
“I
guess so,” said Sam. Iris leaned into him and he put his arm around her.
Penn swam out through an underwater door and the other sea lions greeted him
profusely. Sam and Iris threw out all eight rings and the sea lions began
passing them around their circle.
“Ya
done good, Sam,” Al said from behind him. Iris scooted closer to Sam and her
gaze remained on her sea lions. A crowd gathered to watch all eight sea
lions perform and Sam Leaped.
EPILOGUE
The
electrified quantum blue energy receded, then faded away. A rarity in the
profession of a Leaper, there was nobody standing in front of him, demanding
an answer to a question he had no chance of correctly answering. He did not
find himself in any sort of compromising situation. He was not in any
immediate danger. He was alone, sitting at a cluttered desk in an office.
Soft sunlight filtered in from behind him in thin beams, casting stretched
shadows across the shag carpeted floor. A porcelain mug filled with black
coffee sat next to a stack of papers. Sam smiled to himself, picked up the
mug, and took a cautious sip. Fresh, hot, and bold. He looked up at the
ceiling and said,
“Thank you.”
He was about to take another sip when he saw the only door to the
office, expecting it to be flying open at any moment. The door did not open.
With a satisfied smile, Sam enjoyed his coffee, going through the stack of
papers on the desk. He glossed over them, noticing a purchase requisition
for washing machines. Other papers had an OAKWOOD CHILDREN'S HOME letterhead
on them.
“Children’s home?” Sam said to
himself as he stood up, moving around the desk. When he saw the knee length
blue skirt he was wearing, the matching coat with large buttons, white
blouse, and white heels, he frowned.
“No, no, not
the heels again,” he said,
trying to maintain his balance. No matter how long he had been Leaping
through time, the one skill he never quite perfected was walking in heels.
Slipping the heels off, he decided this was the best time to take a good
look at his new surroundings.
In front of the ornate desk were two chairs. One wall of the office was
comprised of mostly bookshelves, fully stocked. The other side of the office
held framed pictures, and in the center of the pictures was a diploma. It
was a Doctor of Education issued from Oklahoma State University to Miranda
Helen Bishop. The conferral date was March 16, 1968. The pictures
surrounding the diploma were of children, ranging in ages from toddlers to
teenagers. Some were of the children playing in a playground, others were of
them running and laughing on a field of lush green grass. A few were
exterior pictures of Oakwood Children's Home. Another one had a tall
dark-haired woman with slender, pale features, standing in the middle of a
group of children and scrawled in elegant cursive at the bottom was MIRANDA
AND HER KIDDOS.
He finished his coffee and immediately wanted another cup. He was
determined to enjoy every moment of solitude he had before the chaos took
over. He saw a small table near the door that had a coffee pot. He had
finished pouring another cup and was about to take his first sip when the
door flew open, bumping his shoulder. The piping hot coffee sloshed out of
the mug and all over his face, stinging his eyes, and soaking his blouse.
Two young boys, who looked no older than ten years old and clad in collared
shirts and bell-bottom pants, stood there, eyes wide in shock. They
exchanged looks of dread, with one of them muttering,
“Oh boy.”
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