Date: Sun, 22 May 94 12:14:48 EDT From: "Tracy E. Finifter" Subject: Meant to Be - Pt. 5 Message-Id: "Meant to Be - August 12, 1953" by Tracy E. Finifter Part 5 Salty air. That was the first sensation Sam felt as his new surroundings came into focus. Salty air and the sound of sea gulls overhead. Sam looked around, and was immediately struck by a sense of deja vu. There was something incredibly familiar about this place, about this time, but Sam couldn't put his finger on it. He continued his persona's path of walking down the marina, with a duffel bag flung over his shoulder. Before he could spend any more time trying to figure out where or when he was, he noticed a woman struggling to fix a flat tire by the side of the road. Without thinking twice, he walked up to offer his assistance. The woman was sobbing heavily, and only looked up when Sam put his hand on her shoulder. One look of her tear-stained face nearly sent Sam into shock. He recognized her, of course, because he had been here before. "Oh, boy," he muttered. It was Beth, again. And he knew who he was. "I'm Dirk Simon," he introduced. "Beth, Calavicci," she said through the tears. _Where was Al?_ Sam thought. He needed to know why he was here, *now*. Without knowing what else to do, Sam helped Beth with the tire, his shaking hands dropping the jack twice. A few moments later, another car pulled up, containing Roger Skaggs and Jake Rawlins. Realizing that the persona of Jake was already occupied by himself, Sam let the scene play out the way it originally had, this time being careful not to touch Jake, lest the two time travelers from different points in the future discover each other. He had no other choice; there was no way of knowing what he was supposed to do until Al came and told him. And, under the circumstances, it was unlikely that Al would arrive soon. After dodging Skaggs' questions, Sam drove off in Dirk's convertible, leaving Skaggs and Jake to help Beth. He went back to the address on Dirk's driver's license, and paced around nervously. Why was he there? What was he supposed to do? Most importantly, where was Al? Part of Sam didn't want Al to show up at all. Of all the times in his life, this was by far the most painful, and he didn't want his friend to have to live through it a third time. But something in this timeline was wrong, again, something else that God/Fate/Time decided needed Sam's fixing, but unless Al showed up to tell him what that was, there was nothing Sam could do. The questions flowed fast and furious through Sam's mind. Dirk Simon. Why was he Dirk Simon? What did Dirk Simon do or not do that he had to correct? How would Al react? When would Al show up? Just then, Al came out of the Imaging Chamber door, sooner than Sam had honestly expected, and wearing an expression that was incredibly passive. "Al, before you say anything..." Sam said as he approached the hologram. But Al started talking anyway, his eyes fixed on the handlink and not paying any attention to Sam. "You're in San Diego, Sam," he began. "It's April 1, 1969, and you're here to keep a woman from making the mistake of a lifetime." "Al..." Sam cautioned. But Al continued to ignore him. "Her name is Beth, and her husband's an M.I.A, a Naval pilot who's A-4 went down in the highlands two years ago. You're here to convince her to have the Navy declare her husband dead so she can marry you, Dirk Simon. The odds are solid on this one." "Al, what's going on?" Sam asked quietly, not understanding anything. Al looked up from the handlink for the first time. There was no emotion in his voice, face, or manner. It was as if he was describing the events of total strangers, not of his own life. It was worse than that, for Al usually showed some empathy for other people's plights. Now, there was nothing in his eyes. "Tell me," Sam prodded, firmly but gently. And to Sam's utter surprise, a small smile came across Al's lips as he seemed to relax, just a little. "You got her back for me, Sam," he said at last. "What?" "You got her back. I couldn't believe it, but there she was, really there." "Al, I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Al sighed and started walking slowly and aimlessly around the room. "It was Trudy. She lived through the institution. She didn't die until 1980." "God, Al, I'm sorry..." Sam began. "No, Sam. There's nothing for you to be sorry about. Thanks to you, Trudy lived through the institution and was there when I came back for her, or so I'm told." Sam was confused as to why Al didn't seem upset by all this. He had done what he did to see that Trudy made it into Al's present, but it had ultimately failed, and Trudy had lived and died in a timeline that Al didn't even seem to remember. "I don't get it Al. What does all this have to do with Beth?" Al settled down a little, and turned again to face his friend. "Because Beth and Trudy had each other while I was in Vietnam, Beth never lost hope that I might come back. She never fell in love with Dirk Simon and remarried like she was supposed to." "Supposed to?" Sam asked. "What's meant to be is for Beth to marry Dirk, have a few children, and live the rest of their lives together." Some of the pain of the situation was beginning to show in Al's manner, but he stayed relatively upbeat. "You have to convince Beth that it will be all right to put Trudy in an institution. She'll be there when I come home. And this time, I'll still have someone to come home to." "But you don't remember any of this?" Sam asked when he saw that all Al's information was coming from the handlink and not from his own memory. Al shook his head. "You were right before, Sam, when you were here the first time. Beth and me, we just weren't meant to be. Neither was Trudy's living beyond '53. You have a ripple in time to fix now. Several, actually." A rueful smile came across Al's lips. "Get this, in this timeline, Tina's married to Gooshie! Do you believe that?" "Is that so?" Sam mused. If Al wasn't upset by this, he wasn't going to be, either. But the feeling that time had gone all wrong, and was hurting his friend, and that it was all his fault, well, Sam always seemed to bare the burdens of the world. Al's tone grew a little more serious again. "Don't worry about it, Sam. Ziggy says that this is what you have to do, and when you do, it'll put everything back right again, and better. I'll still be in the space program, I'll still work on Starbright and Quantum Leap, I'll still be married four more times," he said with an insincere moan, "and I'll have Trudy with me, at least for a while. Ziggy has all this out to a 98.9% probability." He paused, and took a deep breath. "Thank you, Sam," he said. "Because of you, we had this week. While you were bouncing around in time, Beth and I, well, we did everything. We went everywhere. And I've been happier this one week than I can ever remember being. And because of you, I had one last chance to say good-bye to her. Thank you." "You're welcome, Al," Sam said. As soon as he said it though, it sounded incredibly inadequate, but words were failing him now, even though Al had always accused him of being the sentimental one. But what else does one say in situations like this? He didn't know, because he doubted that this situation had ever happened before in the history of mankind. With a push of a button, Al popped out into thin air, not even using the Imaging Chamber door. Sam just stared at the spot where his friend had been, contemplating. He had a feeling he wasn't going to see much more of Al on this leap, but that was okay. He had his assignment to complete, much as he didn't want to have to do it, but as soon as it was done, hopefully he could leap into a more objective setting. Or better yet, home. Keep Leaping... * Tracy E. Finifter + finifter@gandalf.rutgers.edu + New Brunswick, N.J. * * * * "I've got a strong urge to fly, but I got nowhere to fly to." * * -- Pink Floyd, "Nobody Home" *