Message-Id: <199308171426.AA15948@dirt.cisco.com> Date: Tue, 17 Aug 93 09:27:07 CDT From: Gina Goff Subject: "Afterimage", part 3 "Afterimage" by Gina Goff Part Three "We're closed." Sam looked around Al's Place before turning back to the bartender. "I can see that, sir. I need some information." "What kind of information?" "You said the leaps were going to get harder. How?" "Well, so far you've only leaped into your past," said the bartender. He began stacking chairs. "Of course I've only... Wait a minute. You're going to leap me into my *future*? How will I know what to do?" "That's something you'll need to work on." He handed Sam a mop. "Here. You're the clean-up crew." Sam woke with a shuddering breath. He sat up, rubbing his face, and was startled to discover Al standing patiently beside his bed. "Al! Don't *do* that." "Do what? I'm just standing here." "Don't watch me while I'm sleeping. It's creepy. Aren't you ever going to run out of ways to sneak up on me?" "I wasn't watching you," Al replied with exaggerated patience. "Ziggy said you were about to wake up." "Al, I know why I'm here." "You do? You're way ahead of me, kid. We're still working on where you've been." "What?" "Ziggy's picked up some irregularities. She says it looks like you leaped a couple of times before you came here." "That's not important. I *know* why I'm here." "Okay, I'll bite. Why are you here?" "To change the Project. I just had this dream where I was back at Al's Place, and..." "Whoa, whoa. Back up. You want to change the Project? That's a no-no, Sam. A big one." "I know that, Al; I made the rules. But we have to change the design or I won't know what I'm doing when I leap into the future." "The future?! No, Sam. No. You aren't supposed to leap into the future. Home is as `future' as you need to get." "Al... *He* said I'm going to leap into the future. We can either change the design while I'm here or we can fumble around in the future trying to guess what I'm supposed to be fixing. Which would *you* rather do?" "Changing the design is crazy, Sam. It's... it's... rollerskating in the street. If we make the wrong changes, we could wipe out the whole Project. You'll be stuck here. Forever. And I've got a little girl back in the Waiting Room who wants to go home." "I know it sounds kind of risky, but it's really not that complicated. I thought about it while I was mopping the floor, and with a few modifications to Ziggy, we could..." "Stop. Just stop. Geez, Sam, would you listen to yourself? You want to redesign the Project because you had some dream where you were mopping the floor and talking to God? Am I the only person in this room who thinks that's a little weird?" "It wasn't a real dream." "Is there some other kind?" "It wasn't a made-up dream. It was a memory resurfacing." "Sam..." "It was real, Al. Look, Ziggy thinks I leaped twice before I came here, right? Maybe I leaped... somewhere, and then I leaped back to Al's Place before I came here. And I Swiss-cheesed on my second visit to Al's Place until now." "Suppose you're right. Suppose you're here to redesign the Project. Why are you Maxine? Why didn't you leap into yourself?" "I don't know, Al. Maybe for the same reason I didn't leap into you. Maxine." "Maxine?" "She's only four. Little kids can see the real me. If I'd leapt into you..." "She would have seen Uncle Sam instead of Daddy. And she would have been able to see me, too." "But since I *am* Maxine, we don't have that problem. All I have to do is write the notes for the new design and sneak them into Daddy's briefcase. He -- Admiral Calavicci -- will think the other Sam gave him the notes to review." "Yeah, but as soon as the other Sam sees the notes, he'll know he didn't write them." "But the calculations will be in my handwriting. He'll have to accept the papers as genuine. You see, Al, it's really very simple." "Aw, Sam, I hate `simple' leaps." "Just let me sketch the changes for you. Is there any paper in here? And something to write with." "No, we'll have to go downstairs. Maxine could *not* be trusted with writing implements at this age. Say, Sam... speaking of bad little girls... as long as we're changing Ziggy, could we do something about her ego?"