June 3, 2017

Ben Song reads the article that Addison Augustine is projecting on the Silicon Graphics screen which is connected to an Apple iBook.

"What happened?" he asks.

"he was found by a groundskeeper the morning of June 6h," replies the observer. "Yitzhak Haddad was beaten with a blunt object and then stabbed multiple times. The RCMP investigated. They even suspected it was an assassination by ISIS."

"Did the cops catch the killer?"

Addison taps the handlink. "Yes," she answers. "a man named Corey Hooper, born 1984. A history of violent crime, spent a third of his adult life in various jails. Made Islamophobic comments online. Actually spent three weeks in jail for vandalizing Bridge to Heaven last year. He was- will be-arrested next week. Protested his innocence, but the jury didn't buy it and sent him to prison. He was later stabbed to death in a fight in prison in 2020.

"Yitzhak Haddad's murder was really big news back in 2017. The Prime Minister gave a lengthy speech condemning hate. #StopIslamophobia became the biggest hashtag. I remember this ad by a bunch of celebrities, including Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, to stop hate against Muslims. The City of Vancouver renamed Stanley Park into Yitzhak Haddad Park in 2018, and renamed the Kingsway to Haddad Boulevard in 2021. And in our time, the Canadian Parliament is debating a bill to make Yitzhak Hadda's birthday a national holiday!"

"I was a teen living in New York when 9/11 happened," Ben says softly. "There was a lot of anger against Muslims, even among other Koreans at school. I heard people wanting to pay back Muslims for the fall of the Twin Towers."

"I'll never forget that day," says Addison.

"Yeah."

For a moment memories of where they were rise up. They both remember watching the television all day that Tuesday- the only form of home Internet access was dial-up, which often tied up the only telephone line available to a household. They recall images of the smoke from the towers, and they recall the towers collapsing, releasing a huge cloud of dust.

"Corey Hooper would've been seventeen," says the observer. "According to statements from those who knew him, he was already a violent bully and a thug back then. 9/11 gave him a target to hate. Maybe he has this need to hate someone, and Muslims happened to be that someone he needed to hate.

"What I am wondering is why Hassan?"

"What do you mean?" asks the leaper.

"Why would Hassan be the best leapee for this mission? It'd be easier if you leaped into Yitzhak Haddad, and just avoid the scene."

"Hooper might have been looking for some Muslim to kill, not necessarily Haddad," answers Ben. "If I merely avoid being killed as Haddad, Hooper might kill someone else, maybe even al Naari. But maybe I should have leaped into a local cop, and simply stop Hooper at the scene."

"Haddad might have been fatally struck on the first blow. I think intercepting Hooper is the best bet. I'll need a lock on him."

"I need to be in his vicinity."

"Ziggy can get us his last known address." Addison presses the handlink. "He lives with his mother in Burnaby, just eight miles from Vancouver. If I can see him, I can get a lock."

"Okay," says Ben. "And then what?"

"I'll keep a watch on his life. Find out if he committed a crime, especially a violent one, prior to the evening of June 6th. Then you can make an anonymous tip and if he's in jail, he won't kill Yitzhak Haddad."

"Or otherwise, I would have confront him at the scene," says Ben. "that can get ugly"

He walks out of the office,. There is one thing he had not yet done since leaping into al Naari.

He enters another room. It is a bathroom, single-occupancy only, with a toilet and a sink.

And a mirror.

Ben looks and sees a man with a gray beard and a seasoned face, wearing a turban and spectacles.

"His next publicly known location was at Bridge to Heaven when he killed Haddad," says Addison. "You need to be at his house. And unless he spends the night at someone else's place, that's where we'll be."

"In the meantime, I guess I have priest- I mean, imam duties."

"And I can check out the wedding reception," Addison says, smiling. "I locked onto the bride. I wonder what music was popular back in 2017."

Ben smiles. "Just don't peek at their wedding night, please."

oooooooo

June 4, 2017

"Wakey wakey," says Addison.

Ben arises and walks to turn on a switch, revealing a master bedroom. On a wooden dresser is a wedding photograph of Hassan and Azra.

Hassan al Naari lives within walking distance from his mosque; the leaper only had to cross two residential streets. He explored the place, which looked pretty much the same as a single-family residence in Vancouver, with the typical living room, kitchen, hallway bathroom, bedrooms, master bedroom, and master bathroom. Hanging in a frame in a living room is a child's crayon drawing of two stick figures, and the phrase "i love grandma and grandpa". He brought the Apple MacBook laptop computer home, and did some more searching the web to learn about Yitzhak Haddad. Not surprisingly, there was neither beer, wine, nor alcoholic drink in the refrigerator or cupboards. This will be another sober leap.

It is 5:00 am and the sun is about to rise.

"We'd better hurry," says Addison. "I doubt our friend Corey will wake up really early on a Sunday morning."

"Well, most imams wouldn't wake up this early on Sunday," says Ben. "The Muslim day of prayer is Friday."

Instead of something elaborate, the leaper simply wears a shirt and jeans. Leaving the house, he heads to the driveway where a 2006 Volvo S40 awaits. Getting into the car, he starts the gasoline engine and drives the streets of Vancouver, toward Burnaby. It is a very early Sunday morning, so traffic is very light on the streets as he passes by various retail establishments with line the street.

With holographic guidance from Addison, Ben turns the Volvo onto a residential street. The street is lined with trees, and houses set a few meters back from the sidewalk. The leaper finds a spot and parks the car.

"Okay," says Addison, holding the handlink. "I'll go to this house."

And the observer does so. Checking the house number, she enters. It is a typical middler-class single-family residence in Burnaby, with the typical living room and kitchen. She comes across a bedroom. The bed is clearly unmade, with the blanket folded randomly.

She walks into the hallway outside, and hears some sound, as if something is splashing into water.

She then peeks into the hallway bathroom.

Half a minute later, she is projected just outside the parked Volvo where Ben waits.

"We got him!" exclaims Addison. "Ziggy can now track our pal Corey wherever he goes."

"That's great," replies the leaper.

"And this is one instance I'm definitely glad I can't smell the past."

Ben has this brief look of confusion in his eyes, before turning the key and starting the gasoline engine.

Oooooooo

Ben parks the Volvo in the parking lot, where there are a few cars. He looks at the building.

It is a huge, expensive-looking building with tall minarets. It is bigger than most religious buildings the leaper had seen, either in his pre-leap life or the two and three-fourths years that he spent leaping around time.

He walks along the asphalt surface of the parking lot and reaches the main doors. Opening the doors, and he in through a vestibule, and then through into the main prayer room.

The room is huge, with a very high ceiling. There is a large marble floor where people can set prayer mats for the service. In the rear is an elevated platform where the imam would preside over prayers, and there are large screens on the walls.

"Hassan my friend," calls out a voice.

Ben sees a man wearing a shirt and khaki slacks, and immediately recognizes Yitzhak Haddad. With the mosque's chief imam is a bearded man wearing a black coat and black trousers, and a woman with a cloth covering her head.

"Hi there," says Ben, not expecting to see Yitzhak here in the prayer room of Bridge to Heaven.

"You've met Hassan al Naari before," says Yitzhak.

"Hi," says the visitor. "Samuel Sheinlein. I'm an orthodox Rabbi."

"And you remember me, Hassan," says the woman.

"And you are?"

"Surely you don't forget," she says. "My name is Nadiah."

"She will be my bride," says Yitzhak. "I was talking about the rabbi here about an upcoming charity mission.

Ben feels a little sad for the woman. Unless he changes things, she will become a grieving fiance in two days.

"He tells you you returned from helping Syrian refugees in Turkey," says Rabbi Sheinlein.

"So sad what's happening there," says Nadiah.

"Uh, yeah," says the leaper.

A girl in her teens, also wearing a cloth on her head, walks up to Ben.

"Hi there," she says. "Visiting?"

"I wanted to uh, revisit this place," says the leaper.

"It is impressive," sats the rabbi.

"Laila here is one of our youth volunteers," Yitzhak says. "She and her family fled the civil war in Syria back in 2014."

"It must be tough," Sheinlein says to the girl. "To have to leave home, become a stranger in a strange land."

"I live closer to Mr. al Naari's mosque," says Laila. "I sometimes go to Friday prayer service there after school. mosque here has a larger youth program. Imam al Naari did my cousin's wedding."

"I guess the youth program here helped you deal with having to flee your home, hang out with kids your own age" says Ben. I'm an immigrant from Kor- from Jordan. But I did not have to flee for my life."

"Hard to imagine what that's like," says Nadiah.

"I still need to talk business," says Yitzhak.

"I am looking forward to your wedding with this lovely lady," says Sheinlein.

"Private ceremony, probably out in the woods. I'm a bit of a celebrity, so I won;t have it here in this mosque. Hassan will be there; I wish Azra could be there. There'll be open bar for those of other faiths, or of no faith. Let us discuss our charity mission in my suite here."

Ben looks and sees Addison. He reaches into his pocket to pull out Hassan's Apple iPhone.

"Excuse me, sir," says Laila. "No cell phone in prayer room."

"Oh yeah," the leaper replies to the teenage girl, putting the iPhone away in his pocket.

Ben walks back to the front vestibule. He can see a framed sign showing service times for English, Arabic, and French. In a wooden stand are several tracts, in English, Arabic, and French. The leaper peruses them. He reads the titles – What God Wants, Charity: the Bedrock of Society, Feeling Gay?, Abortion: a Tragedy and a Sin, Anti-Semitism is Anti-God, Growing Up, and some others. Skimming through these tracts, it is pretty much the same as what is published on the Bridge to Heaven web site.

"Any luck?" Ben asks, holding the cellular telephone against his ear.

"Corey Hooper is mostly staying home," says Addison. "Can;t expect him o spend all his time committing hate crimes. Anyway, since I'm here, I might as well get familiar with the scene of the future crime."

"Yitzhak Haddad is here. He's meeting with a rabbi in his office."

"Great," says the observer. "I can get a lock on him as well."

"I'll walk around the place. Might as well get familiar with my surroundings."

The leaper continues to walk around the publicly-accessible spaces, continuing to be impressed by the architecture.

About half an hour later, he returns to the al Naari residence. As Ben gets out of the Volvo, Addison is projected just a few feet away from him.

"Ben!" she calls out.

"Yes?" he asks.

"Corey Hooper left his home," replies the observer. "I followed him as he was driving. He got out and he's at a Safeway in Burnaby."

Ben gets back into the driver's seat of the car. "Guide the way," he says, starting the engine.