From: cheryl492@aol.com
To: alt-ql-creative@cisco.com
Subject: Twist in Time - Part 2
Date: Thu, 03 Jun 93 18:10:20 EDT
Message-Id: <9306031810.tn11428@aol.com>

Twist in Time 
Cheryl A. Bellucci

Part 2

     "Al, what am I here to do?"  Sam was staring at his friend.  He
couldn't comprehend half of a town being destroyed in one afternoon.

     Al studied the handlink.  "Ziggy isn't too sure, there's too many
stories, and too many people who will need help for her to lock in on
just one event."  He looked at Sam.  "You're just going to have to play
it by ear."

     "What happens to Wayne?"

     "According to Ziggy, he's okay.  The car dealership isn't hurt too
bad by the tornado.  Wayne goes to school in the fall, becomes a
doctor, and is practicing in Chicago still today."

     "Wayne!"  Sam hadn't been paying attention to the hose even though
the water was running.  The mechanic slammed down the hood of the car
and stormed over to where Sam and Al were standing.  "You're supposed
to wash the cars, not me."  The mechanic stuck out his now soaked foot
to show Sam what he had done.

     Sam glanced quickly at the name tag just above the mechanic's
shirt pocket.  "Uh, sorry, Walt, guess I'm just paying more attention
to the weather than I am to my work."

     Walt glanced at the sunny sky.  "Yeah, I can understand that.
Okay kid, rinse off this car and knock off early.  It's not that far
from quitting time."  He shaded his eyes from the sun.  "Hard to
believe it, but the forecast calls for rain, anyway."

     "Thanks."  The mechanic turned and went back to the garage area of
the dealership.  Sam opened his mouth to ask Al another question but
the blare of the intercomm interrupted him.

     "Wayne Garber, phone call."

     "You better answer that, Sam.  I'll meet you inside."  With a
press of the button, Al disappeared.

     Sam picked up the bucket and sponge and followed the path the
mechanic had taken moments earlier, stopping to turn off the water at
the connection just outside the door.  Once inside, he saw Al standing
next to a phone.  Sam picked up the receiver and pressed the blinking
button.

     "Uh, hello."

     "Wayne, dear, could you please stop by James' on the way home and
get some bread for supper tonight?"  The female voice on the other end
of the line sounded older.

     Al answered Sam's questioning look with information supplied from
the handlink.  "Wayne lives with his mother.  According to our records,
he doesn't get married for another 6 years."

     "Sure, Mom," Sam spoke into the phone, "any particular kind?"

     "No," came the reply, "just whatever is on sale."

     "Okay, see you in a little bit."  After the voice on the other end
said goodbye, Sam hung up the phone.  "Al, what happens to Wayne's
mother, is she..."

     Al had been pressing buttons and getting information from the
handlink since Sam picked up the phone.  "No, the apartment you two
share gets some damage, but nothing major.  No reports about Wayne's
mother getting hurt."  Al shrugged.  "Ziggy just doesn't know yet,
Sam."

     Sam was about to ask Al another question when he noticed Walt
watching him.  "That was my mother, gotta stop by James' and get some
bread on the way home," Sam chuckled as he met Walt's gaze.

     "Then get out of here, kid."  Walt had taken his wet shoe and sock
off, but the tone of his voice was amused, not upset.  Sam started to
go out the way he came in.  "Wayne."  Sam stopped and turned around to
look at Walt again.  "James' is that way," Walt added, pointing to the
front of the dealership building.

     "Uh, yeah, sure.  Don't know where my head is today."

     Walt laughed.  "Just don't get lost walking home."

     Sam threw an inquisitive glance at Al, who answered, "Three blocks
that way," he nodded his head in the direction Walt had indicated,
"across the park, another block.  The grocery store is on the way."

     In fact, the grocery store was across the street from the
dealership.  Sam went in, found and paid for a loaf of bread, then met
Al once he was outside again.

     "You know Sam, the grocery store gets destroyed in the tornado.
So will this music store."  Al pointed to a building marked "Kincaid's"
that they were passing by, then he stopped and indicated a large brick
building just in front of them.  "And this school."  Sam stopped, too,
while Al consulted the handlink.  "In fact, this whole block will be
gone.  The buildings aren't flattened by the tornado immediately, but
there is so much structural damage that they have to be razed later."

     "Al, this is hard to believe.  So much destruction in one
afternoon?"

     "Try twenty minutes.  That's about how long it will take for the
tornado to run from one end of Xenia to the other, with nothing but
broken buildings in its path.  And death."

     "What?"

     "Thirty people are going to die in this town tomorrow."

     "Al, run scenarios on all the people who die, and cross those
stories with Wayne's background.  See if Wayne has a chance to save any
of their lives."

     "You mean Sam Beckett."  Al pressed a few more buttons.  "Okay,
Sam, by the way, you live at 101b Smith Street.  Go one block to the
right, then two blocks north, past the park, and then Smith Street is
just to the left.  Your apartment is on the second floor."  Al looked
up from the handlink.  "Here's some information that might be helpful
tomorrow.  The hospital is only two blocks north of the park." Sam
nodded, then Al frowned as the next bit of news flashed on the
display.  "Sam, you're going to go by a high school that gets destroyed
tomorrow, and four homes, and..."

     "Al, go.  Buildings can be replaced, people can't." Sam heard the
imaging door open and close as he turned to find the apartment.