TWO

Sam stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked older. Not a lot but some. And he had the tuff of white hair. He remembered that from the bar he had been in. Just before he had gone to talk with Beth. Had he leaped into himself?

"Jog your memory any?" asked Dr. Parker.

"I . . . I'm not sure," said Sam. "Was I in an accident?"

"Not exactly," said Parker. "Let's start with your name."

"Beckett," said Sam. He hesitated for a moment. "Sam Beckett."

"Good," said Parker. "You seem okay. But you appear hesitant."

"I'm just not sure what's going on," said Sam, wishing that Al would hurry up and get there and let him know what's going on. "Like I said, things are a bit fuzzy."

"Or could it be that you aren't sure what to say?" questioned Parker. "That you aren't sure where you are or who you're supposed to be?"

Sam just looked at Parker. Things were getting more confusing by the minute.

"Maybe I should go first," said Parker. "Your name is Dr. Sam Beckett. Born and raised in Indiana. In 1989 you began work on a project called Quantum Leap with your best friend, Admiral Albert Calavicci. In 1999 you stepped into the quantum accelerator chamber because your project was in danger of having its funds cut off. After that you started bouncing around time, I believe as you put it, to put right what once went wrong. Ring any bells?"

Sam just continued to star at Parker. He seemed to have the entire history of Quantum Leap. But how was that possible? Unless they had somehow figured out how to retrieve him. But that didn't make any sense. The nurse had told him they were in Arizona. Project: Quantum Leap was located in the desert mountains of Stallions Gate, New Mexico.

"How do you know all that?" Sam asked.

"It's a long story, Dr. Beckett," said Parker. "I do know from the records that you would leap into someone in the past. Someone who had lived during your lifetime. And you would try to correct some error or mistake that had occurred. I also know that when you first leap into someone new you have absolutely no idea who you were supposed to be or where you were. I believe Admiral Calavicci would usually provide you with that information. Along with possible scenarios for why you were there."

"Yes," said Sam, thoughtfully, staring at his reflection in the mirror. "So this is really me? Have I leapt into myself?"

"No," said Parker. "You're back, Dr. Beckett. We've been able to retrieve you. That's why you see your own reflection and not some stranger. Do you remember earlier? When you were in the retrieval chamber?"

"I think so," said Sam. "It was pretty incoherent."

"It was just after we retrieved you," said Parker. "You were pretty disoriented from the retrieval."

"I remember," said Sam. "You said something about it being normal."

"Yes," said Parker hesitantly. "We're not sure exactly why. It might have something to do with suddenly being thrust out of the timeline ostensibly against the protocols you established for your project. But as you can see the effects are minimal and temporary. As I said, you should make a full recovery."

"Where's Al?" questioned Sam. "Retrieving me is almost as big a step as my traveling through time. Why isn't he here?"

"All in good time, Dr. Beckett," said Parker. "We need to make sure you're fully recovered first. I don't expect any serious repercussions but it's best to err on the side of caution. You just rest. I imagine you're hungry. I've ordered a meal brought to you. Rest up for a few hours and if everything seems okay then we'll talk. And I'll answer all of your questions then. You have a lot to catch up on."

Parker and the nurse left the room. Sam lay in his bed waiting for the meal to arrive. Everything seemed out of place. Al should have been there. At the very least Donna, his wife, should be there. They seemed to be trying to make him as comfortable as possible. If so, why weren't any of his friends there? In the back of his mind Sam knew that something was very wrong.

Sam took a seat in Dr. Parker's office. It looked pretty much as Sam had expected. There were several diplomas hanging on the wall. Two filing cabinets sat behind the doctor's desk. On a credenza against one wall were several photographs which Sam only glanced at. There were also some photographs hanging on the wall over the credenza.

It had been nearly 5 hours since Sam had learned he was home. In that time they had performed a number of tests. Each time he was told the doctor would review the results and discuss them with him personally. Finally an orderly had come and escorted Sam to Parker's office.

"Well," said Parker, looking over a file in his desk, "from what I can tell you're in the peak of health. All your tests came back normal. Your electrolytes are a bit off but nothing serious. We can correct that with a few supplements."

"Dr. Parker," began Sam.

"Please, call me Bill," said Parker.

"Bill," said Sam. "What's going on? Every time I ask one of the nurses or orderlies anything they keep telling me that you'll explain everything. And where is Al? And Donna? Why isn't my wife here? At the very least I'd think you'd let her visit me."

"Well, I can see your memory seems to be fully restored," said Parker. "I read about what you called your 'swiss cheese' memory. Gaps and holes that Admiral Calavicci had to help fill in for you. I imagine now that you're back you'll have full access to your memories again."

"You're avoiding the question," said Sam, looking around the office. "You keep telling me that everything is okay but no one will tell me a thing. I want to know where I am. And why is everyone so secretive about . . . ."

His voice trailed off as he noticed a picture hanging over the credenza. He recognized the picture. It was a picture of Al in his full military uniform. Underneath the picture was a plaque that read "Admiral Albert Calavicci, March 5, 1936 – September 22, 2017". Sam stood up and move to the picture. He pulled it off the wall and looked at it. From the looks of the plaque, it would mean that Al had died on September 22, 2017.

"What year is it?" Sam asked.

"Dr. Beckett," said Parker. "Sam. Please, have a seat. I am going to answer all your questions. But as I said, you have a lot to catch up on. More than you realize."

Sam returned to his seat.

""In answer to your question," continued Parker, "the date is – or rather should be – March 12, 2052. It's somewhat complicated."

"What do you mean 'should be'?" questioned Sam.

"As I said, it's complicated," said Parker. "A great deal has happened in the decades since you first leapt through time. As you are quite aware, Project: Quantum Leap was your attempt to travel through time during your lifetime. But something went wrong on your first leap. They weren't able to retrieve you as you had predicted. They never were able to fully understand why.

"I can tell you that in 2010, the government decided to cut all funding to the project. They just didn't see any appreciable return on their rather considerable investment. Admiral Calavicci did his best to keep it going. But even he wasn't able to persuade them. Officially, the project came to an end on July 17, 2010. You team was disbanded and the entire project was put in moth balls, as they used to say."

"So how did I get here?" asked Sam. "If they shut the project down, there would have been no way to keep track of me. Or any equipment to retrieve me."

"As I said, that was in 2010," said Parker. "It was believed at that time that we just didn't have enough information to attempt such an experiment. That there was some variable that no one knew about that caused you to be 'lost in time', as it were. Not the first time it had happened."

"No," said Sam. "A lot of my work was based on a previous time travel experiment."

"Yes," said Parker. "Project: Tic-Toc. A tunnel through time, I believe was the colloquial phrase at the time."

"That's right," said Sam. "They called it a time tunnel. But the same thing happened to them that happened to me. On their first attempt the time traveler was lost. They were able to track him and even help him on occasion. But they were never able to retrieve him."

"Them," corrected Parker. "If you'll recall there were 2 of them. Dr. Tony Newman, the original time traveler. And Dr. Doug Phillips, a colleague of Dr. Newman who went back in an attempt to try and bring him back."

"Oh, yes, I remember now," said Sam. "Guess I'm still getting my memory back. I do recall that the experiment began in 1968. By 1975 the government had decided it was a waste of time. Much, apparently, as they did with Quantum Leap."

"That's right," said Parker. "When they shut the 'time tunnel' down, they effectively lost Drs. Newman and Phillips. They were, for all intents and purposes, permanently lost in time."

"That's why I never tried to find them," said Sam. "There's no way to know where or when they might be. It's a pity. Dr. Newman was largely responsible for the time tunnel project. It's very possible he could have helped fix the problem and brought me back. But as I said, there was simply no way to know when or where they were. But I don't understand. If they shut Quantum Leap down, how were you able to retrieve me?"

"In 2040," said Parker, "it was decided to make a third attempt. We established the Temporal Institute. That's where you are now. Because of the size of the complex for Project: Tic-Toc, it was decided to use that old facility. It had to be refurbished but we have more than enough room. Initially it was decided to simply view the past. See what we could learn. There was never any intent to send someone back to the past. We had learned that much from the previous two attempts."

"Initially?" questioned Sam.

"Yes," said Parker. "It was believed that, somehow, sending a person through time distorted the timeline. That's why neither you nor Drs. Newman nor Phillips could ever be retrieved. The timeline was distorted to the point that you couldn't be brought back through the 'doorway' you had used to move through time."

"Apparently something changed," said Sam. "I'm here. Which means you've figured out how to correct the distortion."

"Not exactly," said Parker. "For the sake of argument, let's just say we were able to open a second doorway. One which allowed us to bring you back."

"I'm not sure how that's possible," said Sam. "From everything we know about quantum physics, a second door like you described could have unforeseen repercussions."

"There's been a lot of advancement in quantum physics and quantum mechanics since Project: Quantum Leap, Sam," said Parker. "I don't understand a lot of it. I'm just a medical doctor. I do know enough to know that it is possible. You're proof of that."

"Apparently," said Sam.

"Perhaps the men responsible for your retrieval could better explain it," said Parker. He pressed a button on his intercom and said, "send them in".

Sam watched as two men walked into the room. One was a younger man, perhaps 30 or 35. He had black hair and was dressed in a lab coat, similar to Parker. The other man was somewhat taller than the first and somewhat older. He was also dressed in a lab coat.

"Dr. Sam Beckett, I'd like you to meet the 2 men who made it possible for us to retrieve you," said Parker. "I'd like you to meet Dr. Anthony Newman and Dr. Douglas Phillips. Two fellow time travelers from Project: Tic-Toc."