Shadowlands

The familiar blue light was fading, and Sam found himself leaping into…fog?

He looked around. Sure enough, it was all around him. What'd I do, leap into a London pea-souper? It would really be ironic if I made my last Leap because I fell and broke my neck in a fog, Sam thought.

Finally, the clouds started to part. At first Sam thought he might be in an alleyway, but then he saw it was some kind of a corridor-a hospital corridor, he realized. He looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing white. Well, maybe he was a doctor or an orderly. Sam saw that he was standing outside of a patient's room and instinctively went inside. A man was lying on a bed, hooked up to a respirator and an IV. There was something odd about this Leap. Sam felt like he knew the man, even though he was sure he'd never seen him before. And, for some reason, he felt as if he hadn't finished Leaping.

"Who are you?" Sam turned around, and was startled when he saw that the man speaking to him…was the same guy lying in the bed.

Sam tried to bluff his way through this as he had a thousand times before. "I'm, ah…" What do I look like, anyway? Sam saw his reflection in a table mirror and picked it up.

"I asked you who you were," the bedridden patient's identical twin said.

For once Sam was completely speechless. Because the reflection that he saw in the mirror was his own.

"Oh, boy…" Sam whispered.

ST. ANDREW'S HOSPITAL, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, 1989

"You're not one of the regular orderlies or doctors," the man said. "I should know; I've gotten to know all of them pretty well over the past five years. I've seen them coming and going a hundred times. So, I'd like to ask again-who are you?"

Sam decided he had no choice but to be honest in this weird situation. "My name is Sam Beckett," he said. "And I'm a doctor, too. And you are…"

"Carl Peterson," the man replied. He smiled wanly. "For what it's worth." He cocked his head at his twin.

"Wait a minute. If you're…him…" Then it dawned on Sam. "You're in a coma. No wonder I felt like I was still L-so strange when I, uh, got here."

"So you're not a hallucination? Well, I guess that answers that question. So, why are you here, in my head?"

"I'm…a traveler," Sam tried to explain. "I'm not so sure about this situation myself, but basically, I visit people and try to help them."

"And you do it in their heads?" Carl looked at him. "Why?"

"To put right what once went wrong." Sam looked meaningfully at him.

Carl chuckled. "Well, if you're here to prevent my condition, I'm afraid you're a little late."

"How long have you been this way? Conscious of your surroundings, I mean. That's pretty unusual for most people who have been comatose for as long as you have."

"I'm not sure. I think it must have started not long after the accident. At first I thought I was paralyzed, but then I realized I was in a coma. I finally figured out how to project myself into this state, and, well, here I am."

"You're talking about some sort of astral projection," Sam said. "But that's impossible."

"Why not? What happens to us when we die? For that matter, how'd you get here?"

"That was the result of an accident," Sam countered. "As for death…well, let me just say that it creates more questions than it answers."

"Sounds like you've had some interesting experiences in that area, Doctor Beckett." Carl sighed. "OK, so, back to square one…why are you here?"

STALLION'S GATE, NEW MEXICO, 2006

"There's definitely something going on inside the Leapee's head," Dr. Verbena Beeks was saying. She pointed at the brain scan graphs. "It's like there's two distinct personalities in there. His, and…someone else's. It's a very strong reading; so it's definitely not a dream the man is having."

"Are you saying that Sam is in there?" Admiral Calivicci stared at the unconscious man. He looked up at the ceiling. "Ziggy! Is there any theoretical way to reach Sam through that guy's head?"

"There is a possibility," the supercomputer smoothly replied. "If I modulate the data stream to become more compatible with the Leapee's own brainwaves, it may be possible to send a holographic stream via the handlink."

"Do it!" Al ordered. He looked at Verbena. "What do we know about this guy?"

"His name is Carl Peterson, age 35. He worked for an advertising agency in Atlanta, when he had a heart attack and went into a coma in 1984. According to the original history, he dies when he has another attack…two days from now."

"With Sam still inside of him? Not while I'm around. Ziggy, get that stream ready; I'm going into the acceleration chamber now!"

"Yes, Admiral. However I should warn you that…" But Al was already gone before she could finish.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, 1989

"What's happening?" Sam looked at his companion with alarm as Carl winced and stumbled against the bed.

"It's…my heart," Carl answered. "I must be having…another episode. I started getting them before the accident."

"Just hold on. I'll get help…"

"How? You're trapped in my head the same as I am."

"He's right, Sam. This is his entire world. You don't have any more physical reality here than he does."

"Al, am I glad to see you!" Sam looked at Carl with alarm as he fell to the floor, and seemed to be as unconscious as his counterpart in the bed. As Carl lay on the floor, their surroundings began to dim. "Al, we don't have much time. From what I've been able to learn, his condition is hereditary. He has a wife and daughter; they don't deserve to grow up without him."

"Hold on, pal, I'm way ahead of you." Al paused as he seemed to listen to somebody. "Right, Gooshie. We'll try it." Al focused back on Sam. "Verbena and Gooshie think that if you…reach into the heads of both Carls you'll be able to pull him out of the coma. Ziggy says that since you're essentially here as information, if you try to encode yourself onto his brainwave patterns…"

"It would be like completing my Leap," Sam realized. "No wonder I felt like I hadn't finished Leaping when I first got here. Okay, then. Here goes nothing…"

It was a strange experience, sharing the thoughts and memories of another man. He saw Carl in high school; at his wedding…and behind the wheel of his car when he had the attack that put him in this netherworld. I'm getting you out of it, Sam thought. Just hang on…

Two days later

"I still can't believe it," the doctor said. "By all accounts you were in a completely vegetative state."

"It was a miracle, Doctor," Carl's wife said as she smiled at her husband. "That's all that matters."

A miracle that came with a little help from a man named Sam Beckett, Carl thought. Thanks, Doctor Beckett, wherever you are…

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 1984

Sam felt himself moving as the light faded. He was quickly being taken down another hospital corridor by a blonde-haired man who was dressed in a doctor's clothing…but Sam had the feeling that he wasn't a doctor.

"Just hang on, Murdock. BA's got the van ready, and the Colonel's waiting at the airstrip."

I'm being broken out of a mental hospital? Sam groaned. Oh, boy…

THE END!