A Leap Into Destiny
Pieces of a Puzzle
"Sam, are you awake?"
Sam Beckett got up, still shaken and stunned from the taser attack he had experienced. To his great surprise, his friend Al was not there in front of him.
"Al?" Sam called out.
"I'm in the cell next to yours," Al managed to wave a hand out of the bars.
"We gotta get outta here," Sam shook his head.
"It's not going to be easy," Al pointed out. "Each time the guards come by to check on us, they come in groups of three or more."
"Do you have anything that could help us out?" asked Sam.
"Well under normal circumstances, I would just phase through these bars as a hologram," Al said half-jokingly. "But now? I got nothing so far."
"I've managed to escape prison cells before," Sam said thoughtfully. "Remember that time a long time ago where I had to help Joseph Washakie find his final resting place in the land of his birth?"
"That could work," Al nodded. "Let me see if I have anything in my pockets that could help us."
"I could try playing sick," Sam threw an idea out there. "I know that stuff's been done in the movies but right now, we don't really have a lot of options."
"You're both wasting your time," another voice disrupted the conversation between both friends.
"Who is it?" Sam spun around.
In the corner sat a man with a stocky body and a receding hairline. He was dressed in a fancy suit, albeit one that looked a bit haggard and worn out at this point.
"Oh yeah I forgot to mention," Al pointed out. "This is your cellmate, Sam."
"Hey, didn't expect to see you in here with us," Sam glanced at the man. "Who are you?"
"My name is Vincent Wellington," the man got up, dusting himself off. "And you, my friend, are wasting your time if you think there's any hope of escape."
"Have you been kept prisoner here for a while?" asked Sam.
"You could say that," Wellington snorted.
"Then maybe we can help each other," Sam told him. "After all, if you've been kept prisoner here, then whoever is in charge of this leaping project probably sees you to be as much of a threat as us."
Smiling incredulously, Wellington began to chuckle.
"What's the matter?" asked Sam. "Don't you want to get out of here?"
"You silly boy," Wellington sneered. "The one in charge of this project couldn't possibly see me as a threat."
"Why's that?" Sam was curious.
"Because… I am the man who founded this project!" Wellington declared proudly.
oooo
"Thou hast done well," Kairos praised his new pupil as the two walked down the hallways. "I had not made the wrong decision when I chose thee."
"Yes, and the sacrifices that I made, small though they may be, were well worth it," Zoey agreed, thinking back to how her apprenticeship required the blood of her project observer, Thames.
"Thou wast required to sacrifice thy companion," Kairos acknowledged, "but thou shalt gain so much more."
"I must know," Zoey asked. "What are our goals? Will we go back in time to a certain era and make a big change? Perhaps ensure that certain people are never born?"
Before Kairos could answer, Dr. Oliver ran up to the both of them, panting heavily. On his arm was a sling. Apparently, he had been injured in some way since the last she had seen him.
"Dr. Oliver," Zoey frowned, hating that she was interrupted. "Is there any particular reason you feel the need to barge in on our conversation?"
"It's Dr. Sam Beckett," Dr. Oliver told her. "He's found out that we were holding his friend somehow."
"What?!" Zoey's face turned red with anger.
"However, we've taken care of it," Dr. Oliver told her. "Sam Beckett is now locked up as well."
"I see you personally had a hand in it," Zoey glanced at his sling.
"Well, let's just say that Dr. Beckett proved more resistant than expected," Dr. Oliver coughed, trying to save face.
Raising his other arm that had not been broken, Dr. Oliver beckoned for Zoey and Kairos to follow him.
"If you may, I would like for you to come with me," Dr. Oliver requested. "I've made an important breakthrough in the trade secrets Dr. Beckett had given to us."
"Hmm, this could prove interesting," Zoey looked at Kairos.
Kairos only nodded in confirmation.
"Very well, doctor," Zoey followed him. "Show us what you've got."
oooo
"You… you're the one in charge of this project?" Sam took a step back.
"I was," Wellington replied caustically. "Until one of my own operatives started a coup and landed me in this situation."
"Zoey," Sam deduced. "She worked for you…"
"She was an ambitious woman," Wellington confirmed. "I had high hopes for her when we hired her. Perhaps I should have tempered my enthusiasm back then."
"Yeah, you should have," Sam glared at Wellington balefully.
"And who might you be?" Wellington demanded.
"Sam," the quantum physicist responded coldly. "Sam Beckett."
"Ah yes," Wellington smiled. "You're the one who started this all."
"If you mean leaping through time, then yes," Sam told him. "I never wanted my research to be used for… for this!"
"You wanted your theories on time travel to see the light of day just like Einstein and all the other geniuses out there wanted their scientific theories to better mankind," Wellington countered. "Don't be surprised if, along the way of your research, a few Hiroshima's and Nagasaki's occur."
Sam continued to glare at the man.
"In every scientific or technological breakthrough, there will be a darker undercurrent," Wellington explained. "Einstein never took part in building the atomic bomb directly. However, his Theory of Relativity directly influenced the building of the bomb, leading to thousands of lives lost. Much like how your research, along with that of Dr. Lothoman's, helped to make us what we are, in spite of your obvious distaste for our accomplishments."
"What are you getting at?" demanded Sam.
"It's simple, you are the Albert Einstein of your Project Quantum Leap," Wellington grinned. "And us? Let's just say we are the Manhattan Project."
"Why do you do it?" demanded Sam. "Ruin other peoples' lives?"
"Well, you know what they say about breaking a few eggs to make an omelette," Wellington said haughtily.
"These aren't eggs we're talking about," Sam shot back. "These are human lives."
"Great accomplishments in architecture, technology, and science are often accompanied by great suffering from the contributions of the masses," Wellington pointed out. "Tell me, do you think the great Pharaohs of Egypt built their pyramids with a modern day paid construction crew on an eight hour workday schedule filled with a twenty minute lunch break? If so, you're more naïve than I thought!
"I never wanted my ideas to be used to destroy other peoples' lives!" Sam told him. "Your project perverted my research!"
"To be fair, it wasn't just your research we allegedly perverted," Wellington pointed out. "Your esteemed Professor LoNigro had a second pupil sometime after you by the name of Nathaniel Lothoman. He took your basic string theories and added his own research on the matter. Alas, the poor boy required funding. And that was where I came in."
"So that's how this whole project began," Sam concluded.
"Hmph, Nathaniel had a vision," Wellington told Dr. Beckett. "It actually quite a mundane vision, even moreso than your do-gooder Quantum Leap project."
"What was it?" asked Sam out of curiosity.
"Dr. Lothoman wanted nothing more than to travel through time as a holographic observer," Wellington said contemptuously. "He only wanted to go back in time to observe history in the making… to see how prehistoric man lived, to see how the Magna Carta was written, and to see how Benjamin Franklin flew his kite!"
"Hey!" Al chimed in from the other cell. "Speaking as an observer, let me tell ya! There ain't nothing wrong with that!"
"Lothoman was a fool," Wellington ignored Al's voice. "He was unaware of the great power that lay in his research. Eventually, I had to take a much more proactive role in this project."
"And he agreed to do it?" Sam glared at Wellington.
"At first he was unaware," Wellington replied. "But slowly, he realized that I was giving his Project Chronos new directives than what he had originally envisioned."
"Then what?"
"Because Dr. Lothoman was becoming resistant to continuing his work with us, we had to use other means," Vincent Wellington looked away, crossing both arms behind his back. "He had a fiancée during that time…"
"So you threatened her life," Sam felt the sudden urge to punch Wellington. "Blackmailed him to continue working for you even though you were going against everything his research stood for!"
"Well I had to do something," Wellington turned around with a satisfied look on his face. "Otherwise he would have left our project uncompleted."
"So what happened to the fiancée?" asked Sam suspiciously. "I know Dr. Lothoman eventually died from unknown causes."
"His woman was not important," Wellington waved his hand dismissively. "But Dr. Lothoman? By the time his research had given birth to a fully operational time travel project, he had contributed all there needed to be for us. Combined with the fact that we had scientists like Dr. William Oliver who were much more on board with my agenda… well, let's just say that Nathaniel had outlived his usefulness."
"That's sick," Sam pointed a finger at Wellington. "You're sick!"
"Don't act like you have the right to judge me," Wellington said defensively. "I made sure his death was as quick and painless as could be! I owed him that much for making all of this possible for me!"
"All of this?" Sam was only a few seconds away from assaulting Wellington. "You mean a black ops time travel project that goes back into the past to undo all the good that's been done?"
"Believe it or not," Wellington added angrily, "we do not go about committing random acts of evil for the sake of it!"
"Oh yeah, and what do you do?" demanded Al on the other side.
"You really ought to keep your companion in check," Wellington ordered Sam.
"He has a right to be mad," Sam dismissed Wellington's recommendation.
"Damn right I do!" Al added.
"You really think we're just some global terrorist organization bent on world conquest?" sneered Wellington. "It's really much more complex than that."
"Yeah?" demanded Sam. "And how's that?"
"We do not just go about changing history arbitrarily," Wellington straightened his suit. "Our scientists are constantly at work calculating the trajectories of each leap and taking the necessary precautions to ensure that whenever we do change history, they are only minor events that will not affect us or history at large in our current timeline."
"Minor?" Sam steadily grew angrier. "You mean like trying to destroy Jimmy's life and his family? And all those other horrible things you've tried to do?"
"I don't know of this Jimmy you speak of," Wellington snorted. "But I do know that one of the first missions I sent one of our operatives on was to sabotage the life of one mentally retarded target. The test run was almost a success… until you and your infernal observer interfered."
"You tried to ruin Jimmy's life… just as a test run for your project?" Al's furious voice was heard from the other cell.
"Why not?" Wellington retorted. "History at large would not have been affected by his suffering. Our scientists did all the calculations. You see, I needed an experimental first run with something and your 'Jimmy' was a convenient guinea pig for us at the time."
"Jimmy's family was nearly torn apart and he nearly lost his life!" Sam shouted. "Does that not mean anything to you?"
"It meant that our project would have been successful," Wellington responded coldly. "I had always planned for Project Chronos to generate revenue. Soon, I had rich men, oligarchs, and dictators lined up at my feet, hoping for a chance to either change their past or destroy their enemies. The profit I would have made from this was going to be astounding. And poor Jimmy? Well, he was just a stepping stone."
"You tried to use Jimmy," Sam growled. "You almost ruined his life! And for what? Just to make money?"
"Why do you care?" demanded Wellington. "He was just a damn useless retard!"
That was the final straw for Sam. Clenching his fist, he punched Wellington with all his might, sending the man crashing against the wall.
"Get 'im, Sam!" shouted Al.
"He had people who cared for him!" Sam grabbed Wellington by the collar and slammed him against the wall, "people who wanted a better life for him!"
"Guards!" shouted Wellington. "Help! I'm being attacked!"
Luckily for the bruised and bloodied Wellington, several soldiers were nearby and they rushed towards the prison cell with their weapons ready.
Sam, however, paid no attention to them as he continued to slam Wellington against the wall.
Soon, the guards entered into the cell and pried him off of Wellington. Sam continued to struggle, however. One of the guards punched Sam in the stomach as another two held him. Fighting back, Sam kicked the guard across the face, knocking him to the floor. He stomped down on the foot of the guard on his right and elbowed him after the man let go of him to attend to his own throbbing foot.
Unfortunately for him, the guard on Sam's left brought out a taser and drove it into Sam's temple, electrocuting him on the spot.
"Aaaahhh!" screamed Sam, falling down.
The three guards got their batons out and began beating and kicking Sam until he was unconscious.
"Sam!" Al shouted.
"Get him away from me!" demanded Wellington. "He made an attempt on my life!"
"We'll put him another cell," one of the soldiers told him as he and his companions dragged Sam away.
"Hah!" chuckled Wellington, wiping away the blood from his lips.
"You mark my words, Wellington!" Al told him from the other cell. "It may not be today. And it might not even be next week. But the day's going to come where you pay the piper for all the things you've done."
"I'm not exactly leaving this prison, am I?" Wellington retorted.
oooo
"So what is this breakthrough you're so excited about?" Zoey asked as she and Kairos entered into Dr. Oliver's personal laboratory, filled with notes and a black chalkboard with complex equations etched out across it.
"Years of research on the part of both Dr. Beckett and Dr. Lothoman," William Oliver explained to her. "It's all coming together."
"How so?" Zoey tilted her head curiously.
"I know you don't like it when I get too technical and throw around too much scientific jargon," Dr. Oliver told her, "so I'll try to keep the techno-babble to a minimum."
"You're off to a good start already," Zoey chuckled.
"After I recorded all the things Dr. Beckett told us about his Project Quantum Leap," Dr. Oliver told them, "I realized just how different both Sam and Nathaniel's individual works were."
"How so?" asked Zoey.
"For example," Dr. Oliver said to her, "each scientist had his own strengths and weaknesses when it came to their research. Sam Beckett's work was based more on abstract and circular theories while Nathaniel Lothoman's research was more centered on precision and pinpointing certain moments in time."
"Yes, I do believe that Sam Beckett was leaped around more randomly," Zoey put a hand on her chin, "almost as if he was being assigned to certain spots by a higher power."
"Absolutely," Dr. Oliver nodded his head. "On the other hand, Dr. Lothoman's work was already more solid, most likely because he had Sam Beckett's original research as a blueprint for him to work with. With him aiding us, we were able to send leapers back to a precise moment in time. But unfortunately for Nathaniel, he never cracked the code on how to actually bring a leaper back to his or her original time."
"Yes, it's a shame Wellington never informed me of that," Zoey sighed. "When it was Alia we first sent in there, I was under the impression that we were only keeping her in there to complete certain missions until we had no further use for her."
"Yes well… empathy was never Mr. Wellington's strong point," acknowledged Dr. Oliver. "Under his regime, we operated only on his time and his rules."
The whole time, Kairos said nothing at all. Zoey noticed how her master remained silent. Finally, however, he spoke.
"This information," Kairos finally spoke, "how will it be of benefit to us?"
"I'm glad you asked," Dr. Oliver grinned. "Sam Beckett and Nathaniel Lothoman both had their respective strengths and weaknesses as scientists. Some of Dr. Beckett's principles had a much better scientific foundation than Dr. Lothoman's. At the same time, Dr. Lothoman also was able to improve upon Dr. Beckett's theories of time travel."
Zoey and Kairos glanced at each other, eagerly awaiting the good news.
"Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle," Dr. Oliver continued. "Separately, the works of Dr. Beckett and Dr. Lothoman were fragmented and incomplete. Put them together, however… and you begin to see the complete picture."
"I do like where this is going," Zoey smirked.
"Put their research side by side like pieces of a puzzle," Dr. Oliver went on, "and the picture becomes complete. Their combined research has unlocked the secrets of the time-space continuum. With this new breakthrough, we can bend time itself to our will."
"So how will we do this?" asked Zoey.
"Well, we have the technology, the manpower, the equipment, and the blueprints of both Dr. Beckett and Dr. Lothoman," answered Dr. Oliver. "In addition, we also have Lothos in the form of the staff Kairos is holding. We can begin this evening."
oooo
"Ugh…" Sam finally became conscious again.
An unspecified amount of time seemed to have passed by and the last thing he remembered was being electrocuted and then beaten down by the guards after he tried to make Wellington pay for his crimes.
"Sam, are you alright?"
It was Al's voice. Sam realized that he had been put in a cell that was next to Al's but away from Wellington.
"I'll survive," Sam replied in spite of his throbbing head and bruised ribs.
"How unfortunate," Wellington's voice came from further down a cell.
"Oh put a sock in it you nozzle!" Al told the former project manager.
"Great," Sam got up, grabbing the bars of his cells. "We still have no escape plan even now."
"Don't worry, we'll think of something," Al tried to soothe his friend. "You know, back when I was under the tutelage of Magic Walters, he taught me how to pick locks and open them."
"Got anything we could use?" asked Sam.
"Well, I dug into my pockets and found nada," Al confessed.
"Looking for this?" Wellington reached through the bars of his cell and dangled a lock pick right in front of Al's cell.
"You got a pick?" Al perked up.
"Yes," Wellington took the pick back into his own cell. "In a previous rescue attempt, two of my loyal soldiers, Constance and Ramirez, attempted to free me but to no avail. Before they were disposed of, Constance slipped this lock pick into my hands in the event the rescue mission failed and I was on my own again."
"So what's the catch?" asked Sam from the far side.
"You free me and get me out of this castle," Wellington told them. "Then our business with each other will be done and we each go our separate ways. I confess I don't know much about picking locks so that is a task I will leave to either of you two, should you accept my offer."
"After all the things you've done, you think we're just going to let you walk free?" demanded Sam.
"You have little choice in the matter," Wellington reminded the two. "After all, you are low on resources and I know this castle like the back of my hand."
"Sam?" Al looked to Sam for guidance.
"Well?" asked Vincent Wellington. "Do I have your word you'll get me out of this castle and onwards to my freedom?"
"Common sense would tell me to leave you here to rot," Sam conceded, "but right now our situation is anything but common. You have my word."
"You sure you want to do this, Sam?" asked Al.
"We don't have much choice," Sam sighed.
"I knew you two would come to your senses," smiled Wellington as he handed Al the lock pick.
"Don't make me regret this," Al said to him.
"Actually, you may want to refrain from our escape plan for the moment," Wellington informed Al as the door to the dungeon creaked open. "I believe we are to have more security detail for the time being."
As five more guards entered down the hallway, Al put the locks away into his pocket and sat back down on the makeshift bunk on his cell. The time for escape would come eventually, but right now they had to sit it out in the face of insurmountable numbers.
oooo
Per the orders of Zoey and Kairos, Dr. Oliver had managed to get all their equipment moved to the outside of the castle, directly at the location of Stonehenge.
He was not certain why Kairos had specified this location but from what little he gathered from Zoey, the area had certain faultlines which could act as conduits of mystical energy. While it was certainly mumbo jumbo to him, he was not one to question someone who had easily overthrown Vincent Wellington. Perhaps this area had a certain magnetic faultline that would be more conductive to their experiment. At least that was how he could best rationally explain the situation to himself.
As Dr. Oliver looked up, he noticed several dark clouds gathering. He had forgotten there would be a thunderstorm on this night.
"Zoey, I recommend we not go through with this right now," he told her. "There's a thunderstorm brewing."
"We stay right where we are," Zoey told him confidently.
"But the storm!" Dr. Oliver protested. "It could destroy all of our equipment! I'm going to tell our men to pack it up!"
As Dr. Oliver turned around, he heard a clicking sound. He turned back to see Zoey with a gun in her hand pointed at him.
"We stay where we are," she reiterated.
"Very well," Dr. Oliver conceded fearfully. "I'll stay. My apologies."
Soon the overcast was upon them as thunder was heard from the skies.
"Turn them on!" Zoey ordered the technicians to turn on the machines they had placed at Stonehenge.
The machines soon hummed to life. At the center of Stonehenge, there were four quantum generators strategically placed in a circle.
"She'd better know what she's doing," Dr. Oliver said to himself.
The whole time, Kairos said nothing. There was nothing but an eerie silence surrounding the man that Dr. Oliver found most unnerving.
The machinery hummed to life soon enough as the rain began pouring down.
"Well Dr. Beckett," William Oliver said to himself. "I hope your research and Dr. Lothoman's studies are going to bear fruit soon enough."
As the four generators hummed to life, Kairos walked towards them ominously. Soon, he stood in the center of the generators as thunder crackled ahead.
Without warning, he raised his Lothos-infused time staff on high just as lightning came down from the skies, striking his staff and the four quantum generators all at once. Electricity bounced back and forth from the generators to the staff, empowering the weapon that Kairos held. Now imbued with new life, the time staff unleashed a powerful quantum wave which overloaded the quantum generators with energy and destroyed them, along with half the machinery in the area.
A dark red aura surrounded Kairos as he walked away from the fire and the debris.
"Are you insane?" demanded Dr. Oliver. "You could have killed us all with that stunt."
Zoey, on the other hand, pushed Dr. Oliver aside and went forth to her master.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Invigorated," he told her.
oooo
At once, Sam, Al, and Vincent Wellington felt the ground around them shake, in addition to a loud explosive sound in the distance.
"Geez, what was that?" Al grabbed the bars to steady himself.
"An explosion of some sort," Wellington snorted. "All the better for us then… it should be enough distraction for them."
"Got any idea what caused that explosion?" asked Sam.
"I don't know," Wellington conjectured. "A terror attack?"
Without warning, an ominous black and red portal opened up inside Sam's cell. Soon enough, Kairos stepped forth.
"I think I know now," Sam took a step back.
"Sam?" asked Al. "What's going on in there?"
"Kairos," Sam swallowed hard. "He's here."
"Oh no," Wellington's face went pale.
"You're not Father Time, are you?" asked Sam.
"No," Kairos answered. "I am something far greater."
"All this time you've been lying to me and using me," Sam growled. "Just who are you and what do you want?"
"Thou only needs to know that I am thy end," Kairos told him menacingly.
"Not if I have something to do about it!" Sam took a swing at Kairos.
Immediately, he punched into thin air as Kairos seemed to vanish into nothingness.
"Thou has told me much about thy journeys," Kairos reappeared a few feet away from Sam. "Truly thou has changed many lives… but also foiled the ambitions of many others."
"Sam, kick this guy's butt all the way back to the Stone Age!" shouted Al.
"Perhaps it is time thou became reacquainted with an old friend once more," Kairos said softly.
The time mage raised his time staff into the air as it glowed with power. Soon, Sam founded himself surrounded with a leaper's aura once more.
"No no no!" shouted Sam. "Al, it's happening again! I'm about to lea—"
He was not able to finish his sentence as he soon disappeared in the blue aura, only to be replaced by a total stranger. In Sam's place was an old man fully dressed in a butler's clothing. He looked around stunned that he had been transported out of his era and into a completely unknown location.
"What…" the old man stammered.
Kairos' hand reached out, grabbing the butler by the throat and draining him of the remaining life energy and youth he had. Before long, Kairos held a skeletal corpse in his hands.
"What did you do to him, you bastard?!" demanded Al.
"Sam Beckett has merely gone on another journey," a female voice next to him cooed.
Al whirled around in surprise to see the youthful Zoey standing next to him.
"I was always taught to never hit ladies," Al told her. "But you? You ain't no lady!"
He punched directly at her only for her to catch his fist. She twisted Al's arm behind his back and slamming him face-first into the bars.
"Ugh!" Al cried out painfully.
"If you must know, Sam has returned to the site of an old leap," she informed him, relishing greatly in his pain.
"Which one?" demanded Al.
She loosened her grip on him slightly and threw him onto the bunk bed that hung on the wall.
"I'll let you see for yourself," Zoey promised.
With a mere wave, she summoned a portal out of thin air, except this one showed the location of exactly where Kairos had sent Sam.
"I recognize this place," Al murmured. "It was the night of the… oh my God!"
"The night of what?" Zoey demanded.
"It was the castle where the night of the Blood Moon took place!" Al stammered. "Sam… you're in the lion's den now."
"Good," Zoey looked positively delighted. "Just where he needs to be."
Al gripped the chains to the prison cell's bunk bed tightly.
"Sam, stay safe," Al whispered.
oooo
Appearing out of thin air, Sam caught himself as he almost tripped over and fell, steadying himself against a stone wall.
"Where am I?" he looked around.
There was a definite sense of déjà vu. It was not often that he leaped into a medieval setting like this. And there were only a small handful of adventures he had over the years that had a setting which resembled this.
There were a few portraits on the wall, portraits of a nobleman of some sort. All around him were furniture and other accessories that resembled something out of a gothic novel.
The only safe bet was that he wasn't in America right about now.
Then Sam realized there was one component that was missing from this setting… mirrors.
"Now I remember," he looked around the area. "This was where I foiled the Blood Moon ritual."
It was the same castle where the alleged vampire Lord Nigel Corrington had staked out as his home. He was also the same person Sam had leaped into in the past. And he had used his leap as Nigel Corrington to save the man's young wife from being sacrificed in some sort of blood ritual at night.
Even now, Sam was not one hundred percent that the man he had leaped into was a member of the undead. However, he did know that he was not out of the woods just yet.
Just outside the castle, the sun began its descent as it began to set just at the tip of the mountains.