VIRTUAL SEASONS EPISODES

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.”