A Leap Into Destiny
Faith and Good Works Part 2
"Hey Father Mac," Sam went up to the elder priest. "I've decided to stay a little later here tonight. Hope you don't mind?"
"Of course not," McRoberts replied. "I'll be in my studies. There are a few more books I have to get done with."
"Oh, which ones?" asked Sam.
"Have you ever read GK Chesterton before?" asked Father Mac.
"I've heard of him," confessed Sam. "But, uh, I don't think I've ever taken the time to read his works."
"I'm currently reading The Everlasting Man," Father Mac walked down the halls with Sam. "It's one of the greatest works of Christian apologetics ever written. When I'm done reading it, I could let you borrow it."
"That would be swell, Father," Sam smiled. "Thanks."
"I'll quote you a little something from this book," Father Mac nodded. "There are two ways of getting home, and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk 'round the whole world till we come back to the same place; and I tried to trace such a journey in a story I once wrote."
"More than one way of getting home?" Sam sighed wearily. "Honestly at this point I think I could teleport to every part of the world and still not make it home."
To Sam, the home he was talking about was his own time that he had yet to return to. However, to Father McRoberts, Sam's words sounded like a yearning for a more eternal home beyond the Earth.
"The journey will be tough, Frank," Father Mac gripped Sam's shoulder. "And along the way, we will encounter suffering and tribulations. But if we endure to the very end, we will reach our final destiny and rewards beyond any earthly riches we can imagine."
"That sounds nice," Sam replied, going along with Father McRoberts.
It wasn't necessarily that Sam didn't believe in things beyond the scientific and secular world that he was involved in. In fact, during many of his leaps, he had seen extraordinary things that defied logical explanations.
Along the way, he had seen ghosts, aliens, guardian angels, the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle, and at one point, even an age-old vampire. But by and far, it was not something Sam was used to. For most of his life he had not been a particularly religious man but in his many leaps, he had come to acknowledge that there were things beyond both the scientific and the mundane. But in spite of it all, he still operated on a basic skill sets of science and logic, with supernatural or religious phenomena kept to a minimum.
From behind the walls, Al appeared next to Father McRoberts.
"Hey Sam, we gotta talk," Al told him.
"Excuse me for a moment Father," Sam said to the elderly priest. "I'll be right back.
Before long, Sam was inside Father Pistano's office with Al pacing back and forth nervously.
"What do you have for me, Al?" asked Sam.
"I don't know what's going on," Al replied. "But Ziggy is telling me that there's an eighty five percent chance that Father Mac is gonna bite the bullet tonight even with you here."
"What?" Sam was shocked. "How can that be?"
"Unfortunately that's what Ziggy is telling me," Al told Sam, "Father Mac is still going to die."
"How can that be?" demanded Sam.
"I don't know," admitted Al. "Ziggy doesn't have all the exact details on what happened that night."
"I need to be there with Father Mac then," Sam got up.
"Wait Sam," Al called out. "Before you do, there's some more information I need to share with you."
"What is it?"
"Well it involves some of those bad leapers," replied Al. "Before I came to see you, I did some research with Sammy Jo. We may have a lead to whatever organization they are and where they're located."
"What do you got for me?" Sam was curious.
"Well their supercomputer Lothos for one…" Al checked his data. "We think we've found a lead on a possible origin for the name Lothos. Have you ever heard of a Nathaniel Lothoman?"
"No, I don't believe I have," admitted Sam.
"Well, here's what I found out," continued Al. "And you're going to be amazed. You remember your time at MIT with Professor LoNigro, right?"
"How could I not?" Sam smiled, remembering fondly his time developing his string theory with the professor.
"Get this, two years after you graduated," Al went on. "Professor LoNigro took in another star pupil by the name of Nathaniel Lothoman… a quantum physicist just like you. Apparently, they worked to further advance the string theories that you and LoNigro came up with together."
"Whatever became of this Lothoman?" asked Sam.
"Well if you're expecting the story of a scientist-turned-evil-genius who wants to take over the world, you may be disappointed," answered Al. "A few years before our own Project Quantum Leap began, Dr. Lothoman died under mysterious circumstances. Some claim it was heart failure as there was no sign of struggle but others believe he was assassinated somehow."
"Then he's not the one behind these evil leapers," Sam looked at Al. "Is it somebody else?"
"We don't know yet," Al acknowledged, "but I do believe this Lothoman may have created the blueprint for these bad leapers to jump around time. I'll go back and continue my research to see if we can dig up anything more on these people."
"Thanks Al," Sam got up again. "I think I'd better go keep an eye out for Father Mac now."
"Good luck Sam," Al nodded.
As Sam stepped outside, Al suddenly noted the shadow of another person behind the door that Sam had opened up.
"Sam, look out!" shouted Al, but it was too late.
Before Sam could turn around in time, a metal pipe struck Sam across the skull, knocking him unconscious.
As Sam crumpled to the floor, Al quickly ran through the walls to see the figure of 'Carl' standing there with a triumphant smirk.
"That was a cheap shot, you no good scumbucket!" Al shouted.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Beckett," Zoey smiled. "But it's more important that I fulfill my mission."
oooo
Sam was not sure for how long he had been out but as soon as he came to, he was hit with an immense throbbing in his head.
"Ugh… what happened?" he groaned.
Before long, he realized he wasn't alone in the room. Zoey stood a few yards away from him to the side. Sam tried to get up but soon realized that his arms were tied behind his back and his feet were tied to a chair.
"Oh I assure you," Zoey said to Sam in a faux-pleasant tone. "You won't be getting up anytime soon."
"You…" Sam glared at her. "So after all these years you finally showed up. I thought you died back in that women's prison."
"True I was mortally wounded by you," she acknowledged. "And I would have died too… but as soon as the aura from the leap consumed me, I was healed of my wounds."
She looked at Sam's incredulous glare.
"It's amazing what modern science can do now, isn't it?" she chuckled.
Sam sighed, realizing that she was right. A long time ago, he had leaped into the body of the infamous Lee Harvey Oswald. During that moment, he had gotten into a brutal fight with Oswald's commanding officer, a fight that had left Sam beaten and bloodied. However, right after he made the leap out of that era of Oswald's life, the aura from the leap had healed him completely of all his wounds. It was not unlikely that Zoey's very own leap had saved her life from the gunshot.
"Did you miss me?" she asked coyly.
"Like I miss acne," Sam answered disdainfully.
"Judge me all you want," Zoey told him, "but not even you can stop me tonight."
"Why are you doing this?" demanded Sam.
"It's simply really," Zoey replied cheerfully. "The priest needs to die."
"That's it?" Sam looked furious. "Father McRoberts has been through so much already. He's had to live with the death of a young boy from his parish. He's struggled to rein himself from taking revenge and staining his priesthood with blood. Why in the world are you doing this to him?!"
"Because," Zoey said matter-of-factly, "we're in this to test a theory."
"A theory?!" Sam was taken aback. "Ruining the lives of people just to test what theory?"
"That is actually not your concern," Zoey turned away. "Thames, is everything going to plan?"
Next to here was the hologram of a black man holding a handheld device in his hand. He was well dressed and posh. However, Zoey was the only one in the room who could see him.
"Sam, are you alright?" the hologram of Al leaned down next to him.
Sam gave a brief nod but didn't say anything more, not wanting to expose Al's presence to Zoey or her hologram.
"The plan is flowing smoothly," Thames replied with a smile. "Carl's bodyguard Lorenzo is in place to take care of Father Big Mac."
"Good, then I'll be taking my leave now," Zoey pushed her hair back. "I need to be as far away from this crime scene as I can."
"That would be best," confirmed Thames.
"Goodbye Mr. Beckett," Zoey walked towards the door. "I regret to inform you that when and if you do break free of those restraints, Lorenzo will have completed his task."
"Sayonara, sucker!" Thames waved at Sam.
When Zoey was finally gone, Sam turned back to the hologram of Al Calavicci.
"Is there any way I can get out of this in time?" Sam tried to break free.
Al looked around nervously.
"There's… there's, uh, a box cutter on top of this desk," confirmed Al, 'but I don't know how to get it off…"
Looking around frantically, Sam noticed the stray cat that Father Mac had taken in earlier. It was a long shot that he realized it was still worth trying to use the cat to somehow get free.
"Al, animals can still see you," Sam told his friend. "Think you could get that cat to get me the box cutter?"
"Uh Sam," Al looked at the cat nervously. "We're talking about a cat here. They're not exactly known for being able to fetch."
"It's a long shot but it's the only shot we have," Sam reminded him.
"Okay, I'm not very good with cats but here goes nothing," Al bit down on his teeth.
Luckily for Sam, the cat leaped on top of the table just a few inches away from the boxcutter.
"Here kitty kitty kitty…" Al looked at the cat, making a face.
The feline only stared back at him blankly.
"Try something else!" insisted Sam.
"Okay uh… fetch!" Al commanded.
Again he was greeted with silence.
"C'mon Al!"
"I got it!" Al suddenly realized.
The cat could see him… that much Al was certain of. However, it wasn't afraid of him… and that needed to change.
"Alright pussy cat," Al glared at the cat. "You wanna play it that way?"
Without warning, Al's hologram walked straight through the table, taking the feline by complete shock and surprise. Though the cat didn't have quite as developed of a sentient mindset as a human being, even she recognized when something freakish had occurred, such as Al's figure walking straight through the table.
Hissing in fear, the cat turned tail and ran, knocking over the boxcutter. The cutter fell off the table as Sam caught it just in time with his hands behind his back.
"Good job, Al!" Sam cried.
"Yes!" Al pumped his fist into the air.
"I've got this," Sam told Al as he opened up the blade and began cutting through the ropes. "Go make sure Father Mac is alright!"
Not needing to be told twice, Al disappeared.
oooo
Father Mac stood on top of the second story of St Mary's. He was deep in thought, reading a Chesterton book in hand and contemplating how he would deliver his next sermon.
Right in front of him, Al appeared.
"Okay, so far so good," Al breathed in relief.
As Father Mac leaned over a staircase, Al noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye. It was Lorenzo, the bodyguard of Carl and the man who was going to push Father Mac to his doom.
"Oh no…" Al panicked.
Quickly he disappeared, transporting his hologram back to where Sam was.
"Sam, are you done yet?" Al shouted.
"Almost halfway through…" Sam confirmed.
"You gotta hurry Sam," Al insisted. "That Lorenzo guy is right up there with Father Mac right now!"
"No!" Sam cried. "If I could just cut through these ropes right now…"
"Hang in tight Sam," Al told him. "I'm going to go back to see what I can do."
With that, he teleported his hologram back to where Father Mac was.
"You gotta turn around, Father Mac!" shouted Al. "He's right behind you!"
Fortunately for Lorenzo and unfortunately for Father Mac, the Italian bodyguard was as silent as could be in his steps.
Then Al saw another opening. Right behind Father Mac was a stained glass window. In front of that stained glass window was a dove. Al had had his encounters with doves before and their wing flaps could be almost as loud as a thunderclap. He had one chance and one chance only to save Father Mac.
As Lorenzo closed in on Father Mac, Al transported himself directly in front of the dove in thin air and screamed as loudly as he could, frightening the dove into taking flight and flapping loud enough to make Father Mac turn around.
Father Mac did not see the dove flying away but he did see Lorenzo standing right in front of him.
"You again!" Father McRoberts exclaimed.
"I was supposed to make this look like an accident but now I gotta do it the messy way," Lorenzo reached inside his vest.
Instinctively, Father Mac dove into Lorenzo before he could pull out his gun. Struggling with the other man, Father Mac slammed his hand into the wall, forcing Lorenzo to drop his gun. Whipping Lorenzo around, Father Mac punched Lorenzo, knocking him away from the gun.
Lorenzo got up, blocking one of Father Mac's swings and nailing the priest across the face with mean right hook that sent Father Mac crashing into one of the handrails near the staircase. The bodyguard closed in, grabbing Father Mac by the neck and attempting to push him off the rails and onto the lower floor below.
"C'mon, Father…" Al stood by the side.
He was still unsure whether or not Father Mac would survive but at least now he had given the older priest a fighting chance.
Without warning, Father Mac kneed Lorenzo in the gut, knocking the breath out of his assailant. As Lorenzo let go, Father Mac punched him directly in the jaw. As Lorenzo fell back, the priest punched him again. Repeatedly, Father Mac laid into the assassin with hard punches until finally Lorenzo fell down, unconscious and beaten.
"Yeah, that's right!" Al cried happily. "Good job, Father Mac!"
"Father Mac!" Sam ran up towards the priest. "Are you alright?"
"I am now," Father McRoberts sighed wearily.
"I was knocked out and tied up by these guys," Sam told him. "That Carl guy who tried to buy St Mary's earlier… I don't think he's going to give up that easily."
"He'll tale this church over my cold, lifeless body," promised Father Mac.
"Let's try not to have it come down to that, father," Sam smiled meekly.
oooo
"Bad news," Thames reported to Zoey, appearing in front of her as she sat in Carl's limo.
Zoey glared at him but gestured for him to continue.
"Your assassin didn't finish the job," Thames confirmed. "Father McRoberts is still alive."
Zoey sighed. "This day is just full of disappointments."
"What will you do now?" asked the hologram.
"You know what they say," Zoey reached inside a compartment of the limo. "If you want something done right, you'll have to do it yourself."
"Now you're talkin' my language," Thames smiled.
Above the limo, a strange hooded figure watched them. Soon, Zoey turned the car around and headed back to St Mary's. The stranger above took the hourglass off his staff and flipped it around, allowing the sand to fall down once more. In a flash, he vanished into thin air.
oooo
"So Al, any theory on why I haven't leaped out yet?" asked Sam.
Father Mac was back recovering in his office while Sam sat in the pews alongside Al.
"I mean, Father Mac survived, didn't he?" Sam continued.
"Eh, Ziggy's going funny on me," admitted Al. "It's not giving me all the data yet but I think you're supposed to watch Father Mac for a little bit longer."
"Don't tell me Carl or Zoey or whoever is going to make another attempt on his life?" Sam looked worried.
"That's exactly it, Sam," Al narrowed his eyes at the new data poured into his hand-held device. "Father Mac's life is still in danger. In fact, you've changed history. Father Mac is still going to die, except instead of falling to his death in a mysterious 'accident,' he's going to end up—"
Before Al could finish what he was saying, an irate Zoey burst through the door with a shotgun in her hand.
"Yeah, that," Al pointed out.
"You!" Sam got up.
"Where is he?" demanded Zoey.
"You won't get to him," promised Sam.
"Oh no?" Zoey pointed her shotgun at Sam.
"Careful Sam, she's got some heavy duty firepower!" Al warned.
"Oh, this is gonna be good!" Thames stood next to Zoey's side.
"As I recall," Zoey smiled. "You once nearly took my life with a shotgun. It's only fitting that I close your final leap with the very same weapon."
"What's going on here?" Father Mac entered into the scene.
"Watch out, Father Mac!" warned Sam. "She's got a gun!"
"She?" Father Mac looked at Sam incredulously and then at Zoey, not realizing who 'Carl' really was. "I only see a man with a gun in here!"
"It doesn't matter," Sam replied. "This guy's out for blood, Father Mac… your blood."
"How right you are," Zoey trained the gun on Sam.
"Don't threaten Father Pistano," Father Mac told Zoey. "I'm the one you want."
"Oh, I want the both of you dead alright," Zoey assured him. "But for entirely different reasons."
"You don't have to do this," Sam told her.
"Oh, but I do!" Zoey slowly pulled down on the trigger.
Suddenly, a massive whirlwind surrounded the entire church, knocking over pews and filling the entire room with a powerful wind. Soon enough, tendrils of sand gathered in front of both Sam and Zoey, slowly taking form into that of a man.
"What the Devil?!" Zoey cursed.
Sam, Al, and Father Mac could only stand back and gape in shock as a figure in dark blue robes appeared before them all, holding a staff and an hourglass in his hands.
"Who are you?" demanded Zoey.
"Thy beginning and thy end," the robed figure replied with a dark raspy voice.
With that, the strange being lifted up his staff, enveloping the room in a black and red aura, consuming everyone in sight. Soon, Al, Sam, Zoey, and Thames alike were taken in by this aura as they vanished into nothingness along with the mysterious stranger, leaving behind a very bewildered Father McRoberts in its wake.