Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1993 18:32:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Brian Willard Subject: QL : The Next Generation - Part 1 To: alt-ql-creative@cisco.com Message-Id: <01GZRLKHFH3M9OEERZ@UNCA.EDU> Organization: University of North Carolina at Asheville Quantum Leap - The Next Generation by Brian Willard Prologue "Ziggy, where is Sam? I was sure that we had him this time! Now there's nobody here!" Al said as he looked around worriedly. There was a lot of noise and confusion taking place in the Control Room, as everybody had come to welcome Dr. Beckett home. The only ones missing were Gooshie, who was trying to renew government funding for the project, and Dr. Beckett, who was just finishing his confrontation with...whatever had been leaping him around. Never before had so many people been in the Control Room at once, at least not since the first time Sam had returned home. Dr. Samantha Jo Fuller walked over to Dr. Beckett's confused observer. "He'll be back, Admiral. I know he will. I can just...feel it. It won't be long. Why don't you come wait with me in the Acceleration Chamber. We'll be the first to greet him." "Okay," Al sighed, "Do you really think he'll be back soon?" "Yeah. He probably just got...tied up a bit," Sammie Jo said. She took Al's hand and they went over to the Acceleration Chamber. "It's hard to believe it could be over soon. I mean...the project, as it is, with Dr. Beckett changing everything and doing so much good. I strive to be like my father - he represents everything I wish I could be." "Do you think you could do what he does?" Al asked Sam's daughter, "I mean, leaping around in time and all?" "I don't know. I certainly couldn't do it as well as he does. I don't think anybody could." "Guess that makes two of us. I just wonder what he'll do if he does come back." "I think...," Sammie Jo was beginning to have difficulty talking, "I think he'd continue to do what he does best." She smiled, trying to hide the silent tears that were slowly coming to her eyes. An eerie silence seemed to haunt the Control Room. Ziggy broke the silence in her usual insensitive manner. "You guys aren't going to believe this," the computer replied flatly. "Out with it. And don't tell me he's in the room," said Donna, who had been talking with Verbena and Alia. "Yeah, come on Ziggy. What have you got?" asked Al. "More than you, Admiral." "That's not funny, Ziggy. At least I have a wife and kids who love me." "Ouch. That hurt." "What about Sam? Where is he?" Verbena asked in her usual calm tone, though she was getting annoyed at the egotistical computer. "He's...well...I'm picking up his patterns everywhere." "What's that supposed to mean? Enough is enough, Ziggy!" yelled Admiral Calavicci. He was thouroughly disgusted at the machine, probably the only of Sam's accomplishments that he was not pleased with. "I'm not kidding, Al. His energy patterns seem to be emitted from all regions of time and space, almost as if he's turned into energy." "That's impossible. That defies all basic theories of inter-dimensional physics," Al blurted out. He didn't want to believe what Ziggy was saying, but in his heart he felt that the computer was giving its honest interpretation. It just wasn't right. *************************************************** Sam felt a strange tingling sensation, as if somebody were trying to yank him out of his body. It lasted only a second, and then he lept as usual. Only he didn't. Everything became dead quiet, and all around there was bright light. Sam slowly opened his eyes and saw that there really was nothing to see. He appeared to be in an infinitesmal white room with only a floor. A calm, soothing voice came out of the silence without warning. "Welcome, Samuel Beckett." Sam nearly fell backwards. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around for the source of the voice, "And who are you?" "Neither of those questions is important, nor would even you understand the answers. I am who I am, Sam...and you are where you are. I say no more." "Am I dead?" the physicist asked. "No, Sam, you're not dead." "Then why am I here?" "So I could thank you. I don't think you know how much of a help you've been." "Well, it's been tough. Trust me. I try my hardest." "I know, Dr. Beckett. That's why I figured you deserved to return home." Sam stood in awe. Not only had he finally gotten to meet the...whomever that had been leaping him around, but now he was finally going to get to go home. A tear of happiness came to his eyes. "Home," Sam stated sofly. "I'm going to miss having your help, Sam. You are a truly kind man, and you deserve to live the rest of your life to it's fullest." "If you really need me, I can continue..." "No, Dr. Beckett. It's somebody else's turn. Good-bye and thanks for your help. Enjoy your new life." "I will." Sam leaped ***************************************************** "I don't think I quite read you, Ziggy," said Dr. Beckett's wife Donna, "Is he dead or something." "No, Dr. Eloise. If Sam was dead I wouldn't detect anything. What I'm detecting is almost an unending force. Hold on, the force just disappeared. I'm afraid I've lost..." A light brighter than anyone in the Room had ever seen before suddenly poured out from the Acceleration Chamber. All in the Control Room immediately threw their hands to their eyes. A rustling breeze ran through the room, creating loud and eerie whistles as the air flowed between the multi-colored control banks. Admiral Calavicci, who had been fairly close to the Acceleration Chamber at the time, was thrown to the floor by the gust. After a few seconds, which seemed like forever to the personnel of Project Quantum Leap, the light and wind were gone. Al rose slowly, rubbing the back of his head where he had hit the floor. "What...ah! What the hell was that?" he exclaimed. Donna, who had flattened herself against the floor, glanced around. She looked over toward the Acceleration Chamber just in time to see someone emerge. She raised herself on her arms and pointed in the direction of the silhouette. "I'm home!" Dr. Beckett said as he walked out of the well- lighted Acceleration Chamber. He looked down at his body, and quickly cross-examined his features, "I'm finally home!" Al, who was still dizzy from the fall he had taken, walked a few steps toward a bare wall, then backtracked and headed toward Dr. Beckett. He nearly collapsed on Sam, and Sam helped him over to one of the control banks, where Al propped himself up with his hands. "Sam!" Al yelled, just now gaining enough composure to see that his long-lost friend was finally home. He regained support on his feet and hugged Dr. Beckett, "Sam, you're back!" "My turn," replied Donna, and Sam put one arm around her. He looked at her for just a moment. "I don't know what to say, Donna. Thanks...thanks for believing." "I always knew you'd return. I always knew." They kissed. And kissed. And kissed. It was Verbena who finally broke things up. "I hate to have to spoil this moment," Dr. Beeks stated, "but something's wrong here. Somebody's missing." "Missing?" said Al, as the back of his head started to throb numbly, "Who?" "Dr. Fuller. I haven't seen her since Dr. Beckett returned. Who last saw her?" Al looked up, wincing in pain. "I did," he said softly, "she was going to wait for him in the Acceleration Chamber." The smile on Dr. Beckett's face slowly faded. He remembered what God, if that's who it had been, had told him just before he returned. "No! Not again!" he screamed, and ran over to Ziggy's control bank. He put his hand down on the identification plate. A white beam of light shone up from between his fingers. "Welcome home, Dr. Beckett. I am so looking forward to having you install my software again. Gooshie gets way to impatient and..." "Ziggy!" Sam demanded, "Where is Dr. Fuller?" "Dr. Fuller? I...don't seem to sense her presence, but that doesn't mean anything. I last remember her being here just before you leaped in, Dr. Beckett." The computer paused for a moment, then declared, "Dr. Fuller is not on the premises. Why do you inquire, Dr. Beckett?" "Because she was in the Acceleration Chamber at the time I leaped in." "So?" "Well she's not there now!" "I see. Hold on." Once again the computer paused, this time a bit longer. "I calculate an 86% chance that at the time you leaped back, Dr. Beckett, that Dr. Fuller also leaped out. This could only be caused by her proximity to a returning leaper." "That's crazy!" shouted Al, walking over toward Sam and Ziggy, "people are always near him when he leaps." "Not when I leap back into myself Al," Sam said sadly, "before I returned, I met God...or time or fate...whatever's been leaping me around. I was told that I would no longer be leaping, that I was going home. And also that there would be someone else taking over for me. That someone was Sammie Jo." "So where is she?" asked Alia, who had until then remained silent. "I suppose we'll know soon," stated Dr. Beckett, "As soon as she gets her first...assignment. Wait...Gooshie's not here either. He wasn't..." "Don't worry about Gooshie," said Dr. Beeks, "he's trying to get the government to continue funding the project. Looks like we still need it." "What will happen if they don't get the funding? What will happen to Sammie Jo?" asked Alia. "Let's just hope that Gooshie and Tina talked them into it," replied Al, lighting a cigar. He took a deep puff and exhaled, "or else we're in deep ca-ca." "Gooshie and Tina have returned," stated Ziggy. The main door to the Control Room opened up and they walked in. "Dr. Beckett!" exclaimed Gooshie, "You're back! Which is quite a relief, because the government just cut our project. We have to be gone in a week." "Uhhh," Al moaned. "Say what?" said Sam. "I said the project is dead. Sorry Sam. Is...something wrong? You don't seem too happy." "Oh boy." "What are we going to do?" cried Donna. "Do about what?" asked Tina, "Are we missing something?" "Uh, you could say that," said Al, finishing his cigar. "Dr. Samantha Fuller is now leaping around in time. She was in the Acceleration Chamber at the time Dr. Beckett returned," explained Ziggy. "Oh dear," said Gooshie, "Now what are we going to do?" "I don't know," Sam replied, now pacing about, his head running with thoughts. "Without government funding, I can't provide the necessary power to keep Ziggy's memory banks up." "Does this mean I'm going to die," asked the computer, "That would be very depressing." "No!" Sam snapped, "Nobody's going to die! I'm not giving up, and I hope nobody else plans on giving up either. You didn't give up on me. Now we have to do the same for Sammie Jo! I just need a minute to think of something. How long do we have again, Gooshie?" "One week. Everything has to be shut down, but we aren't allowed to take anything." "That means Ziggy, doesn't it?" asked Donna, "Oh Sam, without Ziggy we have no way to help Sammie Jo!" "I can reconstruct another Imaging Chamber pretty quickly, and eventually another Acceleration Chamber. And it doesn't have to be anywhere special, the project that is. But Ziggy...well..." "May I suggest an idea, Dr. Beckett?" asked the now- endangered computer. "Any ideas are welcome. My mind is blank." Ziggy started to explain her plan for survival, and everybody listened in. Dr. Beckett thought it sounded very good, but he didn't exactly know if he could do it. He and Al stepped out for a minute to talk about the plan. "It's worth a try, isn't it? What other choice do we have?" "They might agree, Sam. But there's no guarantee. It's a very sensitive issue with them." "Thanks, Al," said Sam, and he began to smile. But he knew they were anything but out of the water. Part 2 coming soon... ***************************************************************** Brian Willard | "Revenge is mine, thus sayeth the hologram!" UNC-Asheville | Dr. Sam Beckett - The Leap Back *****************************************************************