CHAPTER SEVEN

"No matter what happens or how Swiss-cheesed your memory gets, just concentrate on one thing: Paul. Know he is hurting. Know he is broken," his older self had instructed him earlier. "Just remember that no matter what he's saying, know that he needs his brother."

Now as Albert stood in what was referred to as the Accelerator Chamber, Paul's emotions descended upon him. The punch, the feelings of being betrayed by a friend, the hatred, the game of 'Loyalties,' the awful war itself; none of it seemed to matter anymore as he thought about Paul. He and his Self had had a clear heart to heart about the other lieutenant's life. He loved Paul and cared for his emotional well-being very much. He knew he could forgive.

The Accelerator Chamber boomed and vibrated all around him, reverberating the atmosphere and pounding through to the very essence of his soul. White smoke billowed up, surrounding Albert in a dense cloud as his arms and legs were lifted through the fog, defying the laws of gravity itself. He was suddenly pulled and pushed at the same time and he found himself floating through a thick mass of nothingness. "Remember Paul," he heard himself mutter, his voice more pronounced and deeper somehow. He concentrated on those two words as his mind was filled with other memories returned and left, returned and left, returned and left…

He blinked and saw himself in a locker room, stuffing some personal belongings into a duffel bag. Another man stood at a locker next to his own, sorting staring at what appeared to be a wedding photograph. "Paul," Albert whispered.

************************************

"Remember Paul," Al muttered under his breath as his younger self left the compound. This particular Leap had been a long time coming in the life of Admiral Calavicci and also Paul Walker, a man who could begin to live again. Or at least live, period.

And with any luck, it could be over within the hour.

"Gushie, get the Imaging Chamber online, please," Al called out.

"Already in progress, Admiral," Gushie replied, handing Al the handlink. Al grabbed it and marched up the ramp. He began to ponder over his new memories, trying to get used to the idea that they had always existed and the old memories never have. Time was weird, he thought.

APRIL 17, 1969: NAVAL OFFICER'S QUARTERS; LIEUTENANTS ALBERT CALAVICCI AND PAUL WALKER'S CONFRONTATION

"How long have you and Beth been married, Albert?" Paul asked him hotly.

"It'll be eight years in June," Albert proudly stated.

"But you've spent more years apart," Paul said, recalling an earlier conversation. The two men had spent the evening together, discussing the good ol' days and filling each other in about recent times.

Albert shrugged. "Different assignments," he said.

The pair of lieutenants were about to be deployed for a second tour in Vietnam, Albert himself had volunteered his duty, the effects of which had nearly ended his marriage. Paul Walker, whose own wife Cindy had left him not a month after his first deployment and had married another man she had had an affair with during her and Paul's engagement, was upset with Albert for his apparent thoughtlessness concerning his own marriage.

"Why don't you care about your own family?" Paul wanted to know.

Albert steamed. That last statement was uncalled for. His memory was full of holes and as he struggled for recollection, he remembered Paul was torn up inside, being eaten away by all he's been through in his life. Sometimes hurting others is all's he knows how to do to ease his own sufferings. To just "mow right over" the pain. He took a deep breath and swallowed.

"We're soldiers, Paul," Lieutenant Calavicci told Lieutenant Walker. "It's what we fight for is all we can gain, not just for ourselves but for everyone. He eyed Paul carefully, feeling the intensity between them. "It's the soldier who fights for the freedom that others have."

Paul stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned against the lockers. "Would you care to elaborate on that, please?" he asked.

Albert sat down, closing his duffel bag. "We have freedom, Paul. Freedom to worship, freedom to vote, freedom of speech and to assemble. Hell, we even have the freedom to bear arms and make our own decisions. Those noz-," Albert quickly cleared his throat. Paul may be divorced but Albert still wanted to respect any feelings Paul may still have for Cindy. He continued. "Them others," he waved a hand in the air," still have the same freedoms we all have. And as a soldier I am willing to fight for that all in the name of Freedom. I love Beth very much, Paul. She's the world to me. I want her to live in a pretty great world, a world where she can be as free as anyone could ever hope to be. I want her to have the freedom to live her own life, too." He hung his head. "Even if it means her choosing to leave me, too."

Paul straightened up. "You're willing to die for that?"

"Well," Albert chuckled, "I hope she doesn't ever. But I care for her too much for her not to have the freedom to choose."

"Cindy was free to leave me," Paul said, tears welling up in his eyes.

Albert walked over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know, Paul. Sometimes it seems that people make the wrong choices. Or abusing the freedom we fight and die for just so they can have what they think will make them happy. But soon Cindy'll realize what she had and what she lost. The choices we all make will become our destiny."

"And if Beth ever leaves you?"

Albert swallowed hard. It was a scary thought indeed. One he'd thought about a lot since agreeing to go back to war. "I'll just know that I fought for the freedom she was given. And Freedom is the greatest gift I could ever give her."

A tear ran down Paul's cheek. "We're soldiers, Albert," he said.

"Brothers," Albert corrected him.

APRIL 5, 1970: BAMBOO HUT SOMEWHERE IN THE FORESTS OF VIETNAM; TWO AMERICAN SOLDIER-BROTHERS ARE FORCED TO PLAY 'LOYALTIES'

"You may not care what may happen to yourselves," a gruff, heavyset Vietnamese man said, "but your own guilt may get the better of you for your fellow mate." He locked the chains securing the two men to the wall. "To know where your loyalty stands, maggot, is needed." He walked away, laughing. "Twenty-four hours. Sleep tight, boys,"

He called, slamming the door and locking it tight.

Lieutenants Albert Calavicci and Paul Walker stood in the dark, windowless room manacled and surrounded by thick, rusty chains. The men had their arms raised and knew they could lower them at any time. However, this event would start a reaction among the maze of chains which would eventually lead to a heavy sandbag weighing nearly a hundred pounds being smashed into the other's face. It was a true test of strength and loyalty if there ever was one.

"Albert, save yourself," Paul grunted, breathing hard. "Save yourself."

"Paul, don't," Albert ordered. "We're gonna get through this."

"You have your wife…life. Me? I'm finished."

"I also have my best friend," Albert groaned.

"It's what we fight for. Freedom. Right?" Paul declared.

"And each other," Albert stated.

"And each brother," Paul said, a slight smile revealing itself in his words.

In the original history the former best friends, once trickster-buddies in an orphanage and now both lieutenants in the United States Navy had continued their heated debate about one's apparent thoughtlessness toward his wife well into the night, their arguing growing so loud that the Vietnamese soldiers standing outside started to move away, laughing the entire time. The punch Paul had thrown at Albert a year earlier, the POW! heard in the world of these two brothers, had escalated into hatred so deep that both men gave up everything they had ever meant to each other then. Paul had even yelled that he no longer had anything left to fight for then Albert had thrown a "punch" back at him, screaming, "An eye for an eye!"

Now, in this new history, in a better timeline created by a man who had buried a lot of hatred in himself for a long time, had learned how to respect and forgive. He had learned to truly love again. An emotional sandbag was lifted from his own heart as his younger self found the strength to hold on, to just hold on.

"We're soldiers, Paul," Albert whispered. "It's what we fight for is what we gain."

"I'll fight for you," Paul said.