Chapter Ten
Albert Calavicci began.
"Quantum Leap's no-no list won't let me tell you exactly when I was born, but sufficed to say my childhood was horrible. I had a sister who was, for want of a better term for you to understand, 'simple.' My mother never forgave herself for having given birth to her, and left my father, sister and me and ran off with a traveling salesman. My father placed us both in an orphanage. At ten, I ran away. My father died when I was eleven, my sister when she was sixteen, in an institution. I lived and starved in the streets for quite some time. I couldn't go jump on a ship like you could!" Al stopped and savagely bit the end off another cigar, lit it, and continued.
"There were a few people that took pity on me for short periods of time . . . then I ended up back in the orphanage for a few years. As soon as I could, I joined the Navy, and I made Ensign a year later. That's when I met and married my wife — Beth." Al stopped for a moment and smiled, and then continued. The lines seemed to grow deeper on his haggard face. "Beth was a Navy Nurse. We were married for eight years but we only spent a total of two of those years together because of conflicting Navy assignments." Al heaved a ragged sigh as he looked backwards at his life.
"She was almost ready to divorce me when I signed up for a second tour of duty in Vietnam only four months after the first tour ended," he recalled. "We never had any kids. Not that I didn't want them, I just felt that dragging children around from place to place wouldn't be good for them. No stability. You know, the typical 'Military Brat" syndrome. What I didn't figure out until way too late was what children would have done for Beth when I was gone on assignment." He paused and looked at Gregg. "At least your Vanessa realized what the problems of an absent husband could be early on! You didn't marry her . . . and then loose her!"
"I went MIA in 1967 — My A-4 went down over the highlands in Vietnam — that place you have 'heard about' on the news. I was kept imprisoned in a cage near Cham Hoi until after the U.S. pulled out. No, I can't tell you when that was . . . is . . . but during that time I was held prisoner . . . it's been three years already in your time I've been in that cage . . . I existed on weevil-infested rice and whatever rainwater I could catch in my mouth — not much else." He shuddered at the memory and looked directly at Captain Gregg. "Spiritually, my love for Beth was the only thing that kept me alive during the time I was in that hell-hole. After I was finally repatriated, I came home — Then I found out that Beth had given up on me. She had had me declared legally dead and married some lawyer. I don't even know where she is now." Al shrugged. "Eventually I rose in rank in the Navy . . . became an Astronaut . . . circled the moon . . . as you know, I'm an Admiral now. Funny — at one point, I really didn't give much thought to any real advancement in the Navy — Considered anyone above the rank of a lieutenant to be a horse's ass!" He chuckled, and then continued. "I got married another four times after Beth – none of those marriages ever really 'clicked.' I'm divorced now."
Albert Calavicci looked earnestly at Daniel Gregg. "Beth was my first wife and the only woman I ever truly loved. The only woman I ever wanted to grow old with. If you are lucky, really lucky, life — fate — God, Time, or . . . Whoever is gonna give you one shot at true love, and Beth was mine. Carolyn Muir is yours, you know it, and I know it. You've been given another chance — and you're trying to throw it away! Now what's the REAL problem Captain?"
Captain Daniel Gregg looked at Albert Calavicci and started to speak, then he hesitated.
"Captain . . ." Al said desperately, ". . . Damn it, man, you time is running out! Now snap to it! I'm in a hurry!"