CHAPTER 4
As soon as Isaac had taken Donna out of sight, Craig and Sam made their move. The two men quickly strided up the main passageway through the heart of Quantum Leap chatting as they moved to avoid suspicious looks.
"I've seen you hit on women before, Frank, but what the hell was that? 'College wouldn't have been so lonely'?" Donovan kidded the Parker persona. "You were the biggest party animal that U.V. ever saw."
Sam shrugged. "It sounded good at the time," he said hoping against hope he'd hidden his embarrassment and sounded like Parker. The former Navy SEALS had mapped out their search pattern in advance and separated on level three. Donovan headed to the parking facility where the remains of the primary trigger bomb was found. Sam was supposed to be going to the power plant where the secondary but more deadly explosion had occurred (was to occur?) but instead his gut drew him down to level ten and the Control Center.
********************
A short time later, Isaac and Donna came upon a small 'break room'. Donna had begun to explain 'string theory' when Isaac felt it was time to take action.
"Donna" he interrupted her train of thought.
"Yes? Oh," Donna suddenly realized what she had been saying. "I'm sorry, Isaac. You of all people don't need Quantum Acceleration theory explained." Seeing that they were in front of a break room, she invited him in for a cup of tea. Isaac smiled as he accepted. It was time to truly get caught up with his former pupil.
After they had been seated Isaac waited for Donna to start.
"I'm so caught up in these finance committee meetings I sometimes forget who's heard what part of which speech," she tried to laugh it off.
"That's all right, my dear," Isaac said as he patted her hand. "Are you really 'fine'? I'm sure it's difficult on both of you being separated like this."
"It is and it isn't," Donna explained. "One of the unforeseen problems we encountered with the first leap is an amnesia effect. Admiral Calavicci refers to it as 'Swiss cheesed brain'." Donna smiled. "There are huge gaps in memory with no pattern, rhyme or reason. Sam doesn't remember me at all," she added sadly. " I'm aware of his," she searched for the word, "exploits as a project member. I just can't face the Guests," she concluded.
"Guests?" Isaac questioned.
"When Sam leaped all the important things went, his mind, his heart, his soul. But his body remained here." Donna stopped and studied Isaac's face. Seeing acceptance, she went on, "Sam switches places with someone in the time he's at. That person inhabits Sam's body while Sam inhabits theirs."
"It must be very painful to see someone who looks like Sam and sounds like Sam who isn't Sam."
Donna nodded. "It's also difficult on our 'observer', she said.
"Observer?"
"A member of our team who is linked to Sam via a neural implant."
It was Isaac's turn to smile. "A benefit from the Star Bright Project, no doubt." he said.
Donna smiled her confirmation then went on, "He can see the real Guest and can see and talk to Sam while in the Imaging Chamber. He's Sam's only connection to home." Donna finished.
"I'm sure the stress is enormous," Isaac said. Donna nodded again.
Isaac continued, "I feel I should apologize for Frank..."
Donna put her hand up to stop him. "Don't bother," she said. "He couldn't possibly have any idea that he spoke the exact same words Sam did the first time we met in your office, Isaac. Besides, I'm all grown up now."
"You were all grown up then, too," he reminded her. "I'm glad you came back to M.I.T. for your Ph.D." Their tea finished, the two old friends continued their tour.
And Isaac began to put some strange thoughts together.
CHAPTER 5
Craig Donovan silently searched through the parking level at Stallion's Gate. He checked license plates against his list of Project personnel. He noted any plate not on his list for later DMV search. Several people came and went and Donovan took the opportunity to observe the Gate guards on duty. They were efficient, nothing more, nothing less. As Craig watched, a navy blue Saturn LS approached the Gate. The driver was a pretty woman in her late 20's, wearing a wide brimmed cowboy hat and sunglasses. The guards seemed not to know her and called someone for clearance before allowing her to enter the garage. She parked in a visitor spot near the elevator and perched on her car, waiting. Eight minutes had passed, by Donovan's watch, when another woman emerged from the elevator. The second woman was a dark redhead with the same coloring and cheekbones as the Saturn driver. The two women embraced and got into the car. They passed the checkpoint on their way out with only a wave to the guards by the redhead.
Just after they left, a wild-haired man in a lab coat exited the elevator in a run. He slowed his pace when he realized he had missed whomever he had been chasing. Donovan moved closer to the guard hut to listen in as the lab-coated man approached the guards.
"Did ... Doctor... Martinez ... O' F ... Farrell... leave ... yet?" he managed to get out trying to catch his breath.
"Yes sir, Dr. Gershowitz. She left with her sister just a few minutes ago," one of the guards replied.
"Drat," was Gershowitz's only response as he turned to walk back to the elevator.
Donovan added conversation notes next to the Saturn's ID he'd written on his license plate list.
*******************
Sam made his way through the inner corridors of Quantum Leap. He noted the M.P.s on duty outside the Waiting Room and kept out of their sight. Sam entered the control center only to find the room strangely deserted. 'Where is everyone?' he wondered. The swirling, glowing light in the cube above his head drew his attention. He walked around the center console and placed his hand on the peach colored rectangular interface. The orb brightened and swirled faster.
"Hello Ziggy," Sam said.
"Hello Dr. Beckett," Ziggy almost purred.
"Could I have a status report, please?"
"I am functioning at 99.82% of optimal." was Ziggy's reply. Sam rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. It was his own fault, he realized. He had infused his Artificial Intelligence with a well-developed ego.
"Could I have more useful information?" Sam requested.
"I automatically sent a silent alert when you entered the room and a squad of M.P.s is on their way," Ziggy calmly reported. "Admiral Calavicci has also been alerted," Ziggy continued.
Sam began looking for a way out immediately as he heard footsteps from the corridor. He thought he had managed to escape detection by ducking into a room off to the side. He was wrong.
***************
"All right buddy, hold it right there," ordered Al Calavicci to the fleeing figure as it ran out of the Control Center. Signaling the MP's to wait and drawing his gun, Al followed the intruder.
"I said freeze," he barked again, gun aimed.
The intruder stopped in front of an open door, hands in the air and turned to face him. Al looked into the face of Frank Parker.
"Parker?! How did you get out?" Al asked closing the gap between them.
At that moment, Parker stepped back, through the open door into the Imaging Chamber. In his place stood Sam Beckett.
Simultaneously the two men spoke.
Al said, "What the hell...?"
Sam called out, "Ziggy, door," as he kicked the gun out of Al's hand and pulled him into the Imaging Chamber with him.
"Ow," Al complained rubbing his hand as he picked himself up off the floor. "That hurts, Sam. Sam!" Al called out as he hugged and slapped the back of his best friend.
"The Imaging Chamber is secure, Dr. Beckett," Ziggy reported.
"Thank you," Sam replied to the disembodied voice. He looked around the Imaging Chamber as he and Al separated. "Is this really what this room looks like?" he asked Al.
Al looked around. The empty room resembled, more than anything else, the inside of a soup can; gray and featureless. "Yeah," Al said, "I've never needed anything left here and you always provided the color."
"Al, listen to me." Sam got very serious. "I can't tell you how I know this but a bomb is going to explode here in three days."
"In the Imaging Chamber?"
"No, in the Project!" Sam gave Al one of his 'get real' frowns. "We need to evacuate the facility ..."
"No, Sam, we can't. We can't leave the power plant on and unmanned."
"So turn it off." Sam offered.
"It takes too long to come back to full if we shut it down. Besides, there's a congressional finance contingent here to assess the project for continued funding. We can't afford to have ANYTHING look wrong." Al returned.
"So, what options does that leave us?" Sam wondered aloud. 'And are the congressional visit and the bomb related?' he added silently.
***************
Temporary HQ
"Sir, we got a partial on the phone trace." Ramsey said looking concerned. All the faces of the Backstep inner circle looked expectantly at him.
"Give it to me," Talmadge said.
"It's local to south central New Mexico and federally assigned." Ramsey gave the bad news.
"What's around?" John Ballard questioned. "Alamogordo?" he offered.
"Cannon Air Force Base?" Olga questioned.
Ramsey and Talmadge looked at each other. Simultaneously, they said, "Quantum Leap."
***************
Stallion's Gate
"O.K., Sam, tell me everything you know about this bomb." Al said.
"Well, I'll tell you everything I can. Ziggy," Sam called out to the computer, "you're not going to have any of this in your database so keep this out of the main library."
"Why won't Ziggy have this?" Al asked.
"Because I'm in the future," Sam answered with a certain smugness in his voice. "It really does work in both directions." he ended triumphantly.
"No, you're not." Al said.
"Sure I am," Sam countered. "I took my first leap in 1995 and now I've leaped into 2000. This is my future."
Al looked like he had a pain somewhere. "Sam," he said quietly, "Do you know how long ago that first leap was?"
Sam shook his head. "It couldn't have been that long ago," he protested. "Ziggy," Sam said to the computer, "how long has Project Quantum Leap been active?"
"Project Quantum Leap has been continually active since May 8th 1995, four years, eight months, twenty-nine days ago. I'm sorry Dr. Beckett." she finished.
Sam sank to the floor with the weight of this news. A minute or so later he looked over at Al sitting near enough to offer support but not enough to intrude.
"I've really been gone almost 5 years?" Sam needed Al's confirmation. Al studied his friend's face and slowly nodded. Sam threw his head into his hands and wept.
Al slowly got up and made his way toward the door. He spoke softly into the wristband that all Quantum Leap senior staff wore. After a confirming beep from Ziggy, Al went back to his friend's side, and waited.
As soon as Isaac had taken Donna out of sight, Craig and Sam made their move. The two men quickly strided up the main passageway through the heart of Quantum Leap chatting as they moved to avoid suspicious looks.
"I've seen you hit on women before, Frank, but what the hell was that? 'College wouldn't have been so lonely'?" Donovan kidded the Parker persona. "You were the biggest party animal that U.V. ever saw."
Sam shrugged. "It sounded good at the time," he said hoping against hope he'd hidden his embarrassment and sounded like Parker. The former Navy SEALS had mapped out their search pattern in advance and separated on level three. Donovan headed to the parking facility where the remains of the primary trigger bomb was found. Sam was supposed to be going to the power plant where the secondary but more deadly explosion had occurred (was to occur?) but instead his gut drew him down to level ten and the Control Center.
********************
A short time later, Isaac and Donna came upon a small 'break room'. Donna had begun to explain 'string theory' when Isaac felt it was time to take action.
"Donna" he interrupted her train of thought.
"Yes? Oh," Donna suddenly realized what she had been saying. "I'm sorry, Isaac. You of all people don't need Quantum Acceleration theory explained." Seeing that they were in front of a break room, she invited him in for a cup of tea. Isaac smiled as he accepted. It was time to truly get caught up with his former pupil.
After they had been seated Isaac waited for Donna to start.
"I'm so caught up in these finance committee meetings I sometimes forget who's heard what part of which speech," she tried to laugh it off.
"That's all right, my dear," Isaac said as he patted her hand. "Are you really 'fine'? I'm sure it's difficult on both of you being separated like this."
"It is and it isn't," Donna explained. "One of the unforeseen problems we encountered with the first leap is an amnesia effect. Admiral Calavicci refers to it as 'Swiss cheesed brain'." Donna smiled. "There are huge gaps in memory with no pattern, rhyme or reason. Sam doesn't remember me at all," she added sadly. " I'm aware of his," she searched for the word, "exploits as a project member. I just can't face the Guests," she concluded.
"Guests?" Isaac questioned.
"When Sam leaped all the important things went, his mind, his heart, his soul. But his body remained here." Donna stopped and studied Isaac's face. Seeing acceptance, she went on, "Sam switches places with someone in the time he's at. That person inhabits Sam's body while Sam inhabits theirs."
"It must be very painful to see someone who looks like Sam and sounds like Sam who isn't Sam."
Donna nodded. "It's also difficult on our 'observer', she said.
"Observer?"
"A member of our team who is linked to Sam via a neural implant."
It was Isaac's turn to smile. "A benefit from the Star Bright Project, no doubt." he said.
Donna smiled her confirmation then went on, "He can see the real Guest and can see and talk to Sam while in the Imaging Chamber. He's Sam's only connection to home." Donna finished.
"I'm sure the stress is enormous," Isaac said. Donna nodded again.
Isaac continued, "I feel I should apologize for Frank..."
Donna put her hand up to stop him. "Don't bother," she said. "He couldn't possibly have any idea that he spoke the exact same words Sam did the first time we met in your office, Isaac. Besides, I'm all grown up now."
"You were all grown up then, too," he reminded her. "I'm glad you came back to M.I.T. for your Ph.D." Their tea finished, the two old friends continued their tour.
And Isaac began to put some strange thoughts together.
CHAPTER 5
Craig Donovan silently searched through the parking level at Stallion's Gate. He checked license plates against his list of Project personnel. He noted any plate not on his list for later DMV search. Several people came and went and Donovan took the opportunity to observe the Gate guards on duty. They were efficient, nothing more, nothing less. As Craig watched, a navy blue Saturn LS approached the Gate. The driver was a pretty woman in her late 20's, wearing a wide brimmed cowboy hat and sunglasses. The guards seemed not to know her and called someone for clearance before allowing her to enter the garage. She parked in a visitor spot near the elevator and perched on her car, waiting. Eight minutes had passed, by Donovan's watch, when another woman emerged from the elevator. The second woman was a dark redhead with the same coloring and cheekbones as the Saturn driver. The two women embraced and got into the car. They passed the checkpoint on their way out with only a wave to the guards by the redhead.
Just after they left, a wild-haired man in a lab coat exited the elevator in a run. He slowed his pace when he realized he had missed whomever he had been chasing. Donovan moved closer to the guard hut to listen in as the lab-coated man approached the guards.
"Did ... Doctor... Martinez ... O' F ... Farrell... leave ... yet?" he managed to get out trying to catch his breath.
"Yes sir, Dr. Gershowitz. She left with her sister just a few minutes ago," one of the guards replied.
"Drat," was Gershowitz's only response as he turned to walk back to the elevator.
Donovan added conversation notes next to the Saturn's ID he'd written on his license plate list.
*******************
Sam made his way through the inner corridors of Quantum Leap. He noted the M.P.s on duty outside the Waiting Room and kept out of their sight. Sam entered the control center only to find the room strangely deserted. 'Where is everyone?' he wondered. The swirling, glowing light in the cube above his head drew his attention. He walked around the center console and placed his hand on the peach colored rectangular interface. The orb brightened and swirled faster.
"Hello Ziggy," Sam said.
"Hello Dr. Beckett," Ziggy almost purred.
"Could I have a status report, please?"
"I am functioning at 99.82% of optimal." was Ziggy's reply. Sam rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. It was his own fault, he realized. He had infused his Artificial Intelligence with a well-developed ego.
"Could I have more useful information?" Sam requested.
"I automatically sent a silent alert when you entered the room and a squad of M.P.s is on their way," Ziggy calmly reported. "Admiral Calavicci has also been alerted," Ziggy continued.
Sam began looking for a way out immediately as he heard footsteps from the corridor. He thought he had managed to escape detection by ducking into a room off to the side. He was wrong.
***************
"All right buddy, hold it right there," ordered Al Calavicci to the fleeing figure as it ran out of the Control Center. Signaling the MP's to wait and drawing his gun, Al followed the intruder.
"I said freeze," he barked again, gun aimed.
The intruder stopped in front of an open door, hands in the air and turned to face him. Al looked into the face of Frank Parker.
"Parker?! How did you get out?" Al asked closing the gap between them.
At that moment, Parker stepped back, through the open door into the Imaging Chamber. In his place stood Sam Beckett.
Simultaneously the two men spoke.
Al said, "What the hell...?"
Sam called out, "Ziggy, door," as he kicked the gun out of Al's hand and pulled him into the Imaging Chamber with him.
"Ow," Al complained rubbing his hand as he picked himself up off the floor. "That hurts, Sam. Sam!" Al called out as he hugged and slapped the back of his best friend.
"The Imaging Chamber is secure, Dr. Beckett," Ziggy reported.
"Thank you," Sam replied to the disembodied voice. He looked around the Imaging Chamber as he and Al separated. "Is this really what this room looks like?" he asked Al.
Al looked around. The empty room resembled, more than anything else, the inside of a soup can; gray and featureless. "Yeah," Al said, "I've never needed anything left here and you always provided the color."
"Al, listen to me." Sam got very serious. "I can't tell you how I know this but a bomb is going to explode here in three days."
"In the Imaging Chamber?"
"No, in the Project!" Sam gave Al one of his 'get real' frowns. "We need to evacuate the facility ..."
"No, Sam, we can't. We can't leave the power plant on and unmanned."
"So turn it off." Sam offered.
"It takes too long to come back to full if we shut it down. Besides, there's a congressional finance contingent here to assess the project for continued funding. We can't afford to have ANYTHING look wrong." Al returned.
"So, what options does that leave us?" Sam wondered aloud. 'And are the congressional visit and the bomb related?' he added silently.
***************
Temporary HQ
"Sir, we got a partial on the phone trace." Ramsey said looking concerned. All the faces of the Backstep inner circle looked expectantly at him.
"Give it to me," Talmadge said.
"It's local to south central New Mexico and federally assigned." Ramsey gave the bad news.
"What's around?" John Ballard questioned. "Alamogordo?" he offered.
"Cannon Air Force Base?" Olga questioned.
Ramsey and Talmadge looked at each other. Simultaneously, they said, "Quantum Leap."
***************
Stallion's Gate
"O.K., Sam, tell me everything you know about this bomb." Al said.
"Well, I'll tell you everything I can. Ziggy," Sam called out to the computer, "you're not going to have any of this in your database so keep this out of the main library."
"Why won't Ziggy have this?" Al asked.
"Because I'm in the future," Sam answered with a certain smugness in his voice. "It really does work in both directions." he ended triumphantly.
"No, you're not." Al said.
"Sure I am," Sam countered. "I took my first leap in 1995 and now I've leaped into 2000. This is my future."
Al looked like he had a pain somewhere. "Sam," he said quietly, "Do you know how long ago that first leap was?"
Sam shook his head. "It couldn't have been that long ago," he protested. "Ziggy," Sam said to the computer, "how long has Project Quantum Leap been active?"
"Project Quantum Leap has been continually active since May 8th 1995, four years, eight months, twenty-nine days ago. I'm sorry Dr. Beckett." she finished.
Sam sank to the floor with the weight of this news. A minute or so later he looked over at Al sitting near enough to offer support but not enough to intrude.
"I've really been gone almost 5 years?" Sam needed Al's confirmation. Al studied his friend's face and slowly nodded. Sam threw his head into his hands and wept.
Al slowly got up and made his way toward the door. He spoke softly into the wristband that all Quantum Leap senior staff wore. After a confirming beep from Ziggy, Al went back to his friend's side, and waited.