CHAPTER 7

Over the course of the day, Al told Laura about various leaps and adventures he and Sam had. Laura would laugh and ask a few questions, but mostly just let Al talk. While Al took his 30 minute breaks, Laura would take a break as well. Al would eat some food, check in on Sam, and ask if there were any pressing issues. Dr Beeks said that the visitor seemed to be doing okay besides avoiding the mirror more than usual. Tina and Sammy Jo would trade off who was in the control room, although Al had yet to see Sammy Jo.

It was about an hour before dusk when Al let Laura take a break while he scouted out a good campsite. After about 15 minutes, he reappeared, "Okay, there are a couple downed trees about a mile thataway which would make a good shelter once you add some branches to cover the openings. We also need to find more dried wood so your fire doesn't burn out right away."

Laura nodded and shivered, "H-how am I-I-I going to s-start a fire? M-my hands are fr-freezing and I don't have any matches."

"Don't worry; I've done this several times with Sam. If I concentrate a beam of light from the handlink through glass, like the pair of broken glasses in your pocket, over the kindling, we'll be able to start a fire."

"It works?"

"Yep, with a 92.3% rate of success. You just gotta make sure that the leaves and wood are dry because we'll only have enough power for 15 seconds. After that, we'll have to shut down areas of the project or black out the nearest city."

Laura nodded as she stood. "O-okay. L-lead on."

"Great. Just this way."


Laura finished setting up her shelter and starting the fire just before dusk came. She held her hands over the fire and tried to think warm thoughts.

Al paced back and forth as Ziggy gave him the weather forecast. "Now that the fire is started, you need to build it up a bit and get as close to it as you can to warm up. And not just your hands. We need to raise your core body temperature."

"I-I know. I've t-taken plenty of wil-wilderness survival c-classes to last a lif-lifetime. Although I g-guess I'll be living qu-quite a few lifetimes n-now."

"Just hurry up."

Laura laughed shakily as she built up the fire. "W-where's your sense, sense of humor?"

"I must have left it with Sam." Al said as he hit the handlink.

Laura frowned and looked at the fire. "What if I n-never get back?"

"You should have thought of that before you leaped."

She shook her head. "I-I don't regret l-leaping. I think it, it's a wonderful opportunity; a very u-unique way to travel. P-plus it sent Dr Beckett h-home. B-but the thing is, I'm o-only 21. I h-haven't really experienced m-much of life outside the proj-project. I never exper-per-perienced true love or had a first kiss. Now I have t-to bluff my way through other p-people's relationships."

"What about, oh what was his name, Greg? I thought you dated him for a few months?"

"You mean Cr-craig?" Laura laughed. "Nah, I was using him for s-s-sex."

"W-what?!" Al sputtered. "You were 18!"

"Yeah, and a v-virgin. But I knew I had to have sex and get com-comfortable with it if I was going to leap into others and o-o-occasionally be expected to do…it."

Al just gaped at her for a few seconds before asking, "What about Craig? Did he know you were using him?"

"Oh yeah. He was g-gay but hadn't told anyone besides me yet. We b-both wanted to experiment and thought that it was a good, good idea. His parents got off his b-back for awhile about why he wasn't dating anyone."

"Does your mother know?"

"Hell no, Uncle Al! She w-would kill me!"

"Well, did you at least, you know…use protection?"

"Yeah. Condom, b-birth control, the whole shebang. Even got test-tested before and after. We're both clean."

"Good." Al rubbed his face. "I can't believe you did that, of all people! And to think that you're related to Sam! The ultimate boy scout."

She glared at the fire, barely concealing the annoyance in her voice "It's n-not fair to compare me to him. We have, have totally different backgrounds. Plus he was in his 40's when he f-first leaped, so had many more l-life experiences. I had to cram as much as I c-c-could in such a short amount of time."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Al coughed, breaking the silence. "You should add more wood."

"Okay." Laura nodded as she pulled some wood closer.

"And I want you to try to stay awake for awhile."

She groaned, "But Uncle Al! I'm s-so tired! Can't I just go, go to sleep?"

"Only if you want to roll into the fire and burn to death."

"At least I'll b-be warm before I died." She mumbled.

"Just try to stay awake, smartass. You know, this reminds of the one time Sam-"

"Please, no m-more stories tonight."

"Why? I thought you enjoyed my stories?"

"I do, I'm just a bit, bit b-bored of them right now. H-how's Sam?"

Al sighed, "Still asleep."

"You mean a coma?"

"I didn't say that."

"Uncle Al, I'm n-not stupid. I know that if a p-person has been asleep for, what? Almost a day? It means that the doctors were unable to wake, wake him; therefore he's in a coma."

Al laughed and shook his head, "I almost forgot how smart you are."

"Yeah, it's not j-just my mouth that's smart."

"Anyways, Ziggy said that it should be clear tonight but the temperature is going to dip below freezing. So make sure you are well insulated."

"Thanks." She smiled at him before looking back at the fire. "I love you, Uncle Al."

"Ditto, kid."