Chapter 3

Only in Dreams

Spike had no clue how long he had been in the waiting room. Although it must've been some time judging by the numerous cigarette butts that dotted the floor. Occasionally someone would come by and give him food and more cigarettes. They wouldn't say where he is or why he couldn't see his reflection but for Spike Spiegel he didn't much care.

            He didn't know if he was in heaven or if he truly died but everything had been a part of him in terms of memory was gone. He couldn't remember anything about himself. There would be the occasionally fuzzy image but as to who he was or what he was doing was a complete mystery. Spike didn't know how to feel but he didn't feel angry. It almost as if he were at peace but there was still a small part of him that knew that this wasn't it. There were still things had to be done.

            "So how long do I have to be in this stupid get-up?" Sam whined?

            "Tell we get a visual on archer." Jet's voice shouted back over the radio.

            "But why do I have to wear the hot dog costume?" Sam said as he stood on a city street in mars next to a hot dog cart. He was dressed as a giant hot dog while Faye was dressed in a surprisingly conservative hot dog server's outfit complete with apron and paper hat.

            "It's the luck of who gets to play who." Faye said to Sam. But Sam just turned and gave Faye a dirty look.

            "Are you sure we've got to do this?" Sam asked. While he did feel somewhat silly in being in the outfit he didn't normally complain like this. It must've been something that was part of the personality of the bounty hunter he leapt into.

            "It's the best chance at eating for quite sometime." Jet said back into the radio. Jet was currently in the skies above the city in the Hammerhead. Which was this long, cumbersome looking ship that had a large grapping hook built above the cockpit.

            Sam didn't know if this plan was going to work but all he knew this was why he must've been brought here. It had something to do with the capture of Archer it had to have been. Otherwise he'd be trapped in a place that appeared to be a dream. Although as a child he dreamt of being on Mars he just never thought Mars would look like this, much less in the way he got there.

            "Has there been any progress as to what has happened to Ziggy?" Al asked Gushie as the two of them walked down a hall way.

            "Nothing major although Doctor Beeks and I have an idea what might have sent Doctor Beckett into the future."

            "What was that?"

            "We believe that the temporal fluctuation occurred when something had entered into Ziggy and began tampering with her system.

            Al stopped to look at Gushie.

            "Are you saying she was hacked?"

            "That's what Doctor Beeks and I think. But whatever is going on isn't permanent. In fact it's quite temporary but who ever has been doing the hacking has been able to go right through our highest encryption levels as if they were nothing."

            "Well how does this affect Sam?"
            "That we don't know. Ziggy has no control over what causes Sam to leap."

            "But this hacker caused something in Ziggy that caused Sam to leap into the future."

            "Maybe"

            Al got frustrated and just threw his hands up into the air.

            "Look, the guy in the waiting room who I might is practically the most laid back person we ever had in there may have come to terms he's at least 65 years in the past. Not to mention we don't even know the future that Sam has leapt into is our actual future."

            "Either way the whole team is working on this but all we can hope for is that Doctor Beckett leaps out sometime soon as he has done in the past."

            "The only question being what does he have to do?"

            "I think that all goes back to that person in the waiting room Doctor Beckett. I think there are things he doesn't want to talk about although  it could just be about finding this Archer. Whatever the case may be Admiral what Doctor Beckett has gotten into will have to be pretty much undone by Doctor Beckett."