Author's note and disclaimer:The copyrighted characters of Quantum Leap are not mine; however, some of the characters such as Albert, Heather, and the supporting characters in the year 2000 are my OC's. This story was penned over fifteen years ago on an old computer, so I am hoping the formatting survived its transition from WordPerfect 5.1 to MS Word. I did run the spell check, so I hope all bloopers are fixed. Now, please enjoy this Quantum Leap fan fic!
QUANTUM LEAP:
THE NEXT GENERATION
JULY 10, 2020
Over the years, his curiosity grew into a fixation, then into an obsession. All he wanted was to know the truth--what ever had become of his father. At the tender age of three, the boy asked his mother why he didn't have a daddy like all of his friends. Knowing the child was too young to understand, the woman simply told her son that Daddy died before he was born. He believed her. He believed his father was dead for the next twelve years. It wasn't until he had gone to visit his grandmother on her death bed that Albert Samuel Beckett started to believe otherwise.
His paternal grandmother, never believing her second son was dead, told the teen that his father was still alive, missing, but still alive. When Albert asked what made her so sure, she only said, "A mother would know if her children are dead; and my Sammy is not dead." Before she closed her eyes for the last time, Thelma Louise Beckett made her grandson promise he would try to find their missing relative and, if he did, to tell him that she loves him.
That one day--that one promise-- changed the youth's life drastically. Albert, once a confused kid with no idea what his future plans were, suddenly made up his mind that he would dedicate his life to searching for his long-lost father. He no longer veged in front of the TV; instead, he spent all his free time up in the attic, sifting through his dad's old notebooks and personal possessions. Old photos, CD's, and certain articles of the man's clothing made their way into Albert's dresser.
Albert's research was a secret to Donna Elisi. After the Project lost contact with Sam in early 2000, she tried to escape from her grief instead of dealing with it. Shortly after Albert was born, she and the baby left Project Quantum Leap and moved to Colorado, where she taught chemistry and physics classes at the local high school. Donna didn't talk about Sam that much; in fact, whenever Albert would ask what his daddy was like, she would either dismiss the subject or say she couldn't remember. Unable to part with Sam's personal belongings, Donna kept them packed in boxes and had them stashed in the far, back corner of the attic. Because his mother told him he was never to disturb those boxes, Albert knew he had to be careful not to let her catch him poking around Sam's things.
For the next five years, Albert was successful in keeping his project a secret and avoiding parental wrath, but his lucky streak ran out when he, totally immersed in his reading, didn't see his mother enter the room.
"Albert Samuel Beckett, what is the meaning of this!" Donna demanded, recognizing the familiar long-hand that littered the fine-lined notebook paper. "That stuff doesn't belong to you. I want to know what you think you're doing--"
"Why didn't you tell me the truth about Dad?" Albert interrupted with 'You lied to me.' written all over his face. "You told me that he was dead, Mom."
"Albert, he is."
"Then how come there's no death certificate or records of his being buried or cremated back in New Mexico?" the boy demanded. "If Dad died before I was born, there would be some records on him in Alamogordo . . . wouldn't there?"
Donna shot a surprised stare into Albert's brown eyes.
"I made some calls to New Mexico, Mom. Dad is missing. He was never declared dead. I want the truth, Mom; what happened to my father?" Albert insisted on some answers. "Are you gonna tell me, or do I have to read about it?"
After a sigh, Donna finally said, "It's a long story, Albert."
"I have the time," the boy countered stubbornly. "All of Dad's journal entries and reports talk about some top secret military project having to do with time travel. The entries stop in August 1995 . . . with the single exception of one on September 18, 1999 . . . and I think you know what was going on."
"Maybe he didn't have time to keep the journal all those years," was Donna's excuse.
"I don't think so," Albert cross-examined. "Dad made entries in his logs faithfully every day. Why would he all of a sudden quit making the entries without any good reason. . . And why are there no more reports or any other transactions from him after the entries stopped? Is that when he disappeared?"
"You're just as stubborn as he was," Donna declared.
"And I won't back off until you give me some answers," Albert insisted. "Another thing, Mom, we don't know he's dead; so, until we know one way or another, I don't wanna hear you talking about him in the past tense!" Albert then reiterated, "Now what happened to Sam Beckett?"
"It was his experiment," Donna finally gave in. "Your father tried to test it before it was perfected. He decided to be the guinea pig and send himself back in time . . . Well, when we tried to retrieve him, we couldn't bring him back." Swirls of wet nothingness blocked her view of her wide-eyed son. "Sam was lost in time for about four years . . . He came back for a little while in 1999, and that's when you were conceived . . . but he had to leap out again to prevent his best friend's death. He . . . "Donna choked on the words that couldn't make their way from her vocal cords to her lips. "He never came back."
After allowing his mother to cry in his arms for a little while, Albert continued his questioning in a gentler tone. "What about the Observer . . ." Albert asked as he noted one of the entries, "Admiral Calavicci . . . According to the duty roster, he was Dad's contact while he was . . . what didja guys call it . . . 'leaping around'. If he could get in touch with Dad, then he'd know if he was still alive or not."
"I don't know what happened, but sometime in the year 2000, Admiral Calavicci lost contact with Sam . . . and no matter how hard he tried to reestablish their link, he couldn't find him again."
"Is that when you decided to leave New Mexico?" Albert wondered.
"I . . . I just couldn't handle staying there anymore. Everything reminded me of him . . . There was a good chance he would never come back, and I wanted to get on with my life."
"So you ran away before you knew fersher?" A hurt expression crawled across the youth's face and sent tears to flood his eyes. "I can't believe you just gave up on him, Mom. You just can't quit and run away on someone you love . . . someone who needs you." When the tears spilled away, Albert stared at his mother, who appeared as a fuzzy image. "Mom, is the Project still goin' today?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I wanna see if there's any way to bring Dad home again."
"You can't bring him back, Albert!" Donna exclaimed. "We tried for years to retrieve your father. What makes you think you can?"
"I'll never know if I don't try. Besides, I made Grandma Beckett a promise, and I have every intention of doing what it takes to try and honor my word. I've gotta bring Dad home or die trying."
"But he could be dead," Donna quietly replied.
Albert rested his warm, caring hands on his mother's shoulders and passed a serious glance into her eyes. "Then shouldn't we at least bring him home for a proper burial?" After a fog of silence enveloped them for a brief moment, the determined young man continued, "Please, Mom . . . I have to do this. If you were the one who was missing, wouldjoo want Dad to try to find you?"
A sudden feeling of terror came over Donna. "You aren't thinking of leaping are you! I already lost your father; I'm not gonna lose you too!"
"Who said anything about leaping? I just wanna see if I can help them bring Dad home."
"Do you realize how far away the Project is?"
"Do you realize I'm twenty years old and perfectly capable of taking care of myself? C'mon, Mom, I go to college in California, and you're worried about me goin' to New Mexico?"
"That's another thing; what about college?" Donna wanted to know.
"School doesn't start until September 15. That gives me two months to work on helping Dad. If I don't bring him back by then, I'll come back here and get ready to leave for Cal Tech. I'll see if I can maintain contact with Quantum Leap from there. I'm gonna do what it takes to help my father, and there's nothing you can do or say to stop me." The same determination Donna saw many times in her husband shone in Albert's eyes. "You've gotta trust me to know what I'm doing."
"Will you call me once you get there?" Donna gave in at last.
"I promise." The sincerity that highlighted Albert's features also reflected that of his missing father's.