Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1993 19:02:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Brian Willard Subject: QL - The Next Generation, Part 4 To: alt-ql-creative@cisco.com Message-Id: <01H0JKGPDG4I935RNR@UNCA.EDU> Organization: University of North Carolina at Asheville Quantum Leap - The Next Generation by Brian Willard Chapter 3 (Part 4) Amateurs Day Samantha Jo Fuller awoke to find herself lying upon a couch, wearing a pair of shorts and a midriff shirt. She moved her eyes about the room she was in. It did not look familiar. The house, the room, the furniture - none of it, not even the clothes she was wearing it. She couldn't remember anything, including her own name at the moment. She slowly pulled her legs down off the arm of the sofa and sat up. "Where am I? This isn't where I live...who am I? Oh God, I can't even remember my own name! What is this? Some kind of joke?" She stood up and walked over to the large bay window. From it she could see that she was in a small Northeastern town, like the ones in New York and Pennsylvania. The town appeared like any other of its kind, and even had the trees lining the sidewalk. By looking at the leaves and the colors, Dr. Fuller could tell that it was early autumn. According to the clock that hung on the wall next to the large window the time was now seven in the morning. An old car stopped in front of the house, and a young man stepped out of the car. Sammie Jo hid behind the frame of the window so that she would not be seen. The man appeared to be carrying a bag. He walked up to the steps and set the bag down, then walked away. It was just the paper boy. After the kid had returned to his car, Sammie Jo went to the front door. She heard the deep growl of the car driving away, and then cautiously opened the door. She could afford to take any chances when she didn't even know who she was. As she opened the door, a light, fresh breeze flowed in. She breathed in the clean air as she made her way down the steps to pick up the newspaper. She observed her surroundings, but nothing was even remotely familiar. She went back into the house. Sammie returned to the living room and took a seat in a large overstuffed recliner. As she sat down, a surge of memory ran through her brain. She suddenly knew her name...she was Dr. Samantha Jo Fuller, 33 years old. She worked for a project, but she couldn't remember that yet. At least she knew what her name was. She looked down at the newspaper. Removing it from the plastic and unrolling it, she noticed the name of the paper. It was the Statesville Gazette, and she was in the small township of Statesville, Pennsylvania. The date was...no, this couldn't be right... "September 28, 1975? No way. If it were 1975 I'd only be eight years old," she said, and then lifted the newspaper to look at her body. "Definitely NOT an eight-year old." But Sammie Jo was still curious. If it was 1975, and she was not eight, then who was she? What did she look like? She got up and began looking around the room, but there were no mirrors to be found. She started scrambling about the unfamiliar house, and finally found a bathroom. She groped about looking for a light switch. She finally found one and flicked it on. But the mirror directly in front of her reflected something she did not expect. "Oh God! Who am I? That's not me - at least I don't remember looking like this." "You usually don't," answered a deep voice from behind her. Sammie Jo turned around and saw a man of average height, with slighly graying hair, standing at the doorway. Next to him stood a younger woman, maybe twenty, who looked like she might be his daughter. And possibly hers too, whoever she was. Could this man be her husband? If so, he probably thought she was crazy by now. "Kind of a weird feeling, isn't it," the man said, "I once leapt. It was the strangest thing that ever happened to me. It was just after lightning struck the Imaging Chamber and Dr. Beckett and I..." "Dr. Beckett? Why does that name sound familiar? Come to think of it, you seem familiar too. What's going on here?" "Better leave the explaining to me, Alice," Al said, looking at his soon-to-be successor, "I've done this before." He turned his attention back to Dr. Fuller. "Your name is Dr. Samantha Jo Fuller. You were involved in a project...Project Quantum Leap, which dealt with time travel. Anyhow, for unknown reasons the project went a little ca-ca and..." "Dr. Sam Beckett is my father!" said Sammie Jo, suddenly remembering a bit more, "He stepped into the Accelerator one day and activated it. But the project wasn't ready, and he disappeared. He woke up to find himself as somebody else, in a situation that had to be changed for the better...I'm a leaper! How in the world?" "You were in the Accelerator when Dr. Beckett returned, and for some reason you disappeared," replied Al, "Now he's back and you're leaping around through time. And on top of that we had to move the project to Colorado because the government cut our funding." Al and the girl flickered for a moment as in the future Dr. Beckett switched the main power wire. Sammie Jo looked at them curiously, and then reached out to touch Al. Her hand passed right through him. "Oh my God, you're a...no, that's right! You're a hologram!" "Bingo," responded the Admiral, "So is she." Al pointed at Alice, who was quietly watching her predecessor. "Then where are your handlinks? For communicating with Gooshie." "No, Gooshie's the short guy with bad breath. We used the handlinks to communicate with Ziggy, but we don't need them anymore." "Why not?" "Well...it's rather complicated. When we moved the project, Ziggy was too large to take with us. So Sam surgically placed Ziggy's memory banks inside of Alice here's brain. He also saved young Miss Jackson from dying of a brain tumor." Alice looked at him and smiled, realizing her importance to the project now. "Yep, Alice knows all about the past, especially the twentieth century, don't you Alice?" The girl nodded and then reached out her hand, but then returned, remembering that she could not touch Sammie Jo, only see and hear her. "I'm pleased to meet you Dr. Fuller. I've heard many great things about you. My name is Alice Jackson, and I'm Admiral Calavicci's daughter's best friend. As a hologram I'll be assisting you and giving you the necessary information to help you accomplish your...mission." "Just like you did for Sam, right Al? Only she doesn't need the handlink because Ziggy's in her head." "Close enough," replied Al, "but my hologram days are over. Being a woman, Alice will probably be more helpful to you anyway. Most of the time. Well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted, but remember, I'm always next door." Al disappeared through the Imaging Chamber door. Sammie Jo and Alice walked out of the bathroom and back into the living room, where Dr. Fuller had originally leaped in. Samantha returned to her seat on the recliner. "Why don't you have a seat, Alice?" "I can't. To me, this furniture and everything else is a hologram. If I try to sit on anything, I'll just land on my butt. But I will sit down on the floor. So, what's it like to be somebody else?" "It's strange...I feel like myself, but when I look in the mirror, I see someone completely different. By the way...who exactly am I?" "Oh yeah...uh...your name is Jill Handras. You're 35 years old and you're a Professor of History at Statesville Junior College for Men. Hmmm, I'll have to tell Pam about this. Anyway, I calculate about an 86% chance that you're here to prevent an affair between Jill, that's you, and one of her students, named Jim Watson. Originally, the story of the affair leaked out, and Jill lost her job. But she was better off than Jim. He threw himself from a nearby bridge." "Wonderful," said Sammie sarcastically. "I also calculate a 100% chance that you'll be late for your first class if you don't get your butt out of that recliner," added Alice, smiling. She and Dr. Fuller were going to get along just fine. ********************************************************* As it turned out, Sammie Jo got there a few minutes early. Alice walked about the small classroom, criticizing everything from the crudity of the furnishings to the size of the windows. "What am I supposed to be teaching again?" asked Dr. Fuller. "Twentieth-century history. Or current history, as it would be in 1975. Don't worry, I'll help you. Ziggy was full of this junk, and now I am. I'll baffle them," Alice said, laughing at the idea of making a classroom full of guys look stupid. "How old are you, Alice? Just out of curiousity." "I'm 19 years old. And if it hadn't been for your dad, I'd never have lived to see twenty. I was in a coma for three months. Hard to believe, ain't it," said Alice, "I mean, I've never felt better in my life. You seem pretty young too." Sammie Jo grinned at this statement, "I suppose...I'm only 33. But I feel a lot older sometimes." "Wait a minute - your dad, Dr. Beckett, isn't he about 50." "He's 47. But he's not my legal father. I was conceived during one of his leaps. My legal parents were never married, and I don't know what happened to my dad. My mom's still back in Louisiana, where she's lived all of her life." "How did you know that Sam was your real father then?" "I'm not sure. He leaped into a lawyer friend of my mom's when I was 11, and that's when I knew. I can't explain how I knew...I just did." The first student walked into the classroom and seated himself at one of the back desks. Alice drifted over to inspect him and then looked back at Dr. Fuller. "I suggest you not talk to me, or they'll think you're looney. Just let me talk and you repeat, okay." Sammie nodded, just slightly, and watched as more students began to filter into the room. One of the boys, who seemed a bot older, set his books down on one of the front desks and then approached Dr. Fuller. "Ready for tonight, Professor?" he said, "I've confirmed reservations at Capallino's, Italian Experience." Alice walked up beside him and looked at him. She pointed at his jacket. It was a letter jacket. The name on the jacket said Jim Watson. "Oh boy." Part 5 (Chapter 4) to follow soon... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Willard | "Revenge is mine, thus sayeth the hologram!" UNC-Asheville | Sam Beckett - "The Leap Back" -----------------------------------------------------------------