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Sent: 8/30/2011 7:43:24 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: New story
ONE SMALL LEAP FOR SAM
by Carycomic
Disclaimer: this is a QUANTUM LEAP/BTVS/LORD OF ILLUSIONS crossover, partially based on the 1993 made-for-video romantic comedy, ANYTHING FOR LOVE. So, all recognizable characters and/or concepts are owned by/enriching somebody else.
Chapter 1.
September 13, 1993
(Sam Beckett's p.o.v.)
In the close to five years I've been mentally leaping around within my own life time, my mind has landed in some pretty peculiar host bodies. A pregnant woman; my own great-grandfather; even a genetically compatible chimpanzee! But, in each instance, two things had remained pretty consistent.
Recurring partial amnesia about my own life (affectionately referred to as "the Swiss Cheese Effect"); and the neuro-holographic presence of my good friend, Al.
Officially, he was Admiral Albert Calavici, USN Reserve. And, as a rule, he would materialize soon after my arrival (in whatever past time-period I was to conduct my next karmic mission) as a hologram attuned strictly to my brainwaves and optic nerves. Hence, only I could see and hear him.
A situation that had earned me strange looks from passers-by, native to that time-period, more than once!
This time around, I had leaped into the body of a man who bore a superficial resemblance to me. One who was driving what I quickly determined to be a modified 1969 Quandt Group Amphicar across what I quickly recognized as Lake Tahoe, Nevada. When I say "modified," I mean it had apparently been souped up so it could be driven through the water as fast as a conventional speedboat! And, a good thing, too.
For as it turns out, the amphicar was being chased by what appeared to be the freshwater counterpart of a sea serpent!
"Oh, boy!" I muttered to myself, as I headed for the nearest boat-launching jetty. Which, fortunately for me, already seemed to be crowded with state police officers from both California and Nevada. Needless to add, I came up out of the lake like the proverbial bat out of You-Know-Where. And, that lake monster came right up out of it after me!
That's when I had my second surprise in ten minutes.
A net suddenly enveloped that lake monster, from the bottom up. A metallic wire-mesh net, through which electricity was immediately conducted, stunning the creature into unconsciousness!
That was when I noticed Al sitting in the "shotgun" seat.
"Who am I this time, Al?" I hurriedly asked him (sotto voce).
Seeing there was no time for the usual pleasantries, Al quickly consulted his data-link. Imagine a PDA (personal digital assistant) resembling a Rubix cube as flat as a pancake. Now, imagine that data-link serving as your chief line of communication with a sentient artificial intelligence nicknamed "Ziggy!"
It was by this means that Al provided me with the background information on whomever I had leaped into, and what tragic past event I was there to most likely alter.
"You're name is Harry D'amour. You're a private eye with a penchant for cases involving the occult. And, according to Ziggy, you were hired by the elders of the Washoe Indian tribe to do something about...'Tahoe Tessie!' "
"Tahoe Tessie" turned out to be nothing more than a genetically engineered saltwater crocodile from Australia! And, according to the real Harry (whose mind was currently being hosted by my body, back in the Waiting Room at Project: Quantum Leap), she had been smuggled into the country by the Japanese yakuza as part of some convoluted attempt to take over the Washoe tribal casino!
Their thought had apparently been to convince the tribal elders that she was some ancient water-deity, from their folklore, who was displeased with the casino's presence. And, Al's reaction to this disclosure said it best for both of us:
"Someone in Tokyo must've watched one too many re-runs of 'Scooby Doo, Where Are You?' "
Half an hour later, after "Tessie" had been sedated and air-lifted to the San Diego Zoo, I went up to the bathroom of Harry D'amour's room at the Chateau Descartes Hotel and Casino. When I had finished freshening up, and put on some dry clothes, I found Al waiting for me near the two-person table of the kitchenette. Although, he was not doing so entirely out of politeness. You see, I had been wondering why I hadn't leaped out of Harry, as yet.
And, the stranger that Al was surreptitiously keeping company might be the reason why.
He seemed to favor the color brown. His slacks; his shoes; his trench coat; even the black-banded fedora with the up-turned brim on the right side. All were a shade of brown only slightly darker than his own moustache and beard!
"Mr. Harry D'amour?" he inquired, as he stood up. His accent, unmistakably British.
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, sir," I replied (quoting a line I half-remembered from an old black-and-white swashbuckler).
He smiled at my old-fashioned formality: "My name is Merrick Jamison-Smythe. And, I would like to retain your services on behalf of the Council of Watchers."
tbc