QUANTUM LEAP -- The Search for Doctor Beckett

A fan inspired continuation of the hit t.v. show

QUANTUM LEAP

The Search for Doctor Beckett

Chapter 1

A Stroke of Luck

  New Mexico - Present day - 8:00 a.m. At dawn the desert was quiet. A calm wind whistled through the canyons. Piercing rays of first light danced across the rugged, endless flatland, capturing the landscape in glorious red orange glow. A moment of perfect silence. Perfect beauty. The desert was Tom Beckett's home. It was all he'd ever known. By the time he had started college most of his friends were long gone and even his mother had expected him to move but something about this place would not let him go. He didn't pretend to fully understand the draw himself. It was mostly dry and stayed reasonably warm the better part of the year. Brown and white colored the landscape around the town of Armwaur. He didn't mind. It was the piece and quiet which appealed to Tom. He just couldn't see himself in a busy city. But mostly it was because of mom. He was all she really had and even though she always insisted she would be fine, he just couldn't do it. Mother was strong. He knew that, but at the same time there was always a sadness lurking just behind her dark eyes. A sadness and a longing for absolution that never came. She never wanted to talk about the past, about his father. There were the books he'd written on subjects Tom simply had little interest in and all his notes that were not held classified, but he knew very little about Sam. He was a brilliant, dedicated, driven man who believed he could change the world, but all he really did was get himself killed. A freak electrical accident. That's what the government says, but he never believed it. He knew they were covering things up, but approaching thirty Tom was long past the point of wallowing over the ghost of a man he never knew. It was August and even in dim sunrise the air was warm. Tom wore a thin white t shirt and blue jeans. He sat on his dirt bike in the garage. "Open." The wide door ascended revealing the paved street lined with one and two story homes. It was still fairly dark. Tom flipped the bikes spotlight on, stepped on the ignition pedal. The throaty engine coughed and grey smoke billowed from the twin exhaust as he accelerated down the drive and turned sharply into the street. Armwaur was a small but prosperous, quiet city nestled in a sandy valley, hidden amongst the ancient rocks. Tom loved to ride. It was a true passion. So many mornings he'd ridden past the valley and into the mountains. Usually by the time he reached the line, enough light had crept across the horizon to at lest light his way. Sometimes he would ride for hours trying to get lost, but it was impossible. Work was easy now and he had his own money plus his fathers savings which he'd never touched. Mom did some. Got her a nice house and things. Things Sam would have wanted her to have. Today Tom was deep in the cliffs now. The terrain was very unforgiving and mostly dangerous. Stepping or riding in the wrong patch of loose, gravely earth could send you to a quick and painful death, if you were lucky. He stopped on a rocky outcrop overlooking his surroundings. He could see the city below, but the mountains looked much larger at this altitude. It was quite breathtaking. He wondered if people in the big cities even knew what this was like just to see this and see it for real, not as a hologram. There would never be a real substitute for real. The timeless rock was already beginning to steam as the sun rose higher and it was time for Tom to go back. He checked his wrist pad. It was his own design. Thin and light. 360 touch display. Style and functionality. It was a gimmick he had come up with one time for a commercial but it ended up in such high demand that Sony threw him an unrealistic amount of money for the rights. He called it a Curvie. But this one was old and broken. The GPS would not lock down. Tom sighed hard. "Oh boy." Maybe he'd actually done it. Made it so no one would ever find him. The screen was frozen and he was almost out of water. He resigned himself to riding higher to get a better look at the direction of the valley. He still could not see it. He went so far in the direction he'd felt was right but really he was lying to himself. There was nothing, just walls of jagged rock. He rode slowly now to save gas. The bracket would work eventually. What he really needed to do was find a way down. Up ahead the mountain side curved to the left and somewhat smoother in texture. Now Tom was hot. He walked the bike up a little ways and into the relative shade of this natural spire. He sat for a while, leaning against the warming rock. It felt good. Maybe he dosed off. Tom stood. It was time to get serious. He checked the computer. Still nothing. That was not good. It would easily get over 100 degrees today. That would be the pits. Luckily his bike was in good repair. Even off of it, having it made it easier to traverse the terrain. He made it slowly along the long, downward sloping face. It leveled off and he continued on. He decided to ride for a little while and make up time. As he got on the bike he looked back and something caught his eye. It was the rock. There was something strange about it. Something different. The curve of the rock on this side just looked a little too perfect. As he approached it, he could see the obvious remains of a carved road however it was in bad repair and the front of it was piled over with debris. He squinted upward. "Well Mr. we have two choices. We can look or we can ride. We probably should look. Tom managed to get himself and the bike over the hill and onto the flatter curve. It did in deed continue up into the mountain. He rode very slowly. There were holes and always the possibility of avalanche. The curve was pretty tight, about a car and a half's width and clearly served a purpose at one time but a long time ago at the looks of it. This portion of the mountain rose still higher but at a certain point the path ended at a wall of ruff rock and bolders all around. Now he was intrigued. Thirsty but curiosity was getting the better of him and there was still time. He kicked the bikes stand open and finally got it balanced. From one of the storage sacks he produced a steel hammer. There was little point in knocking. He went to town on the rock, chipping away at it. He went on and on. At what was going to be his very last stroke, one of the teeth of the hammers pry face glanced against something. There was a dull, booming metallic echo and Tom was taken aback. This was not just a cave. He worked more with the hammer and was eventually able to reveal a small portion of an old, rusted steel door. "Unreal." Tom opted to remain where he was until the computer decided to work and at some point it did. Now he was locked in. He would go home, resupply and finish what he'd started. It was well after noon before he'd made it back. He returned with water, tools and a long, solid flashlight. With a sledgehammer Tom blasted away at the rock face. Soon enough he'd cleared an opening wide enough to slip the bike through. Now what to do about the door. It had partitions across it like a garage door. Perhaps it was not a thick blast door or something like that. Next he tried the hand drill. The middle finger sized bit penetrated the metal about half way in. That was good news but even at that thickness it was going to take a while to cut a hole wide enough to get through. He'd brought extra bits but would it be enough? Maybe to at lest see what was inside. For more than an hour he drilled. Down down across. The last bit failed but not before it was most of the way down. He yanked it out of the slot and set the drill aside. Again with the sledge. He pounded and pounded. Finally the panel gave way. It whistled to the floor and smacked flatly with a ringing echo in from the darkness in front of him. Darkness and cold. A frigid blast caused him to step back and he frowned at the stale tasting air. The bikes light was a very bright halogen, a little nostalgic even for his rebuilt dirt rider. It illuminated a large portion of room, awashing it in a dusty, light blue haze. It was a parking garage. He could tell now from the yellow lines. Two rows of four. He proceeded on. To his amazement there was a car in one of the spots. Closest to the adjoining wall on the right. It was covered with an expensive zip top. Virtually air tight, it covered the entire body of the car like a cocoon. Frozen in time. Tom could see the little zipper lock glistening. He balanced the bike on the stand and reached into his bag. He produced a pliers and went to the rear of the vehicle. The rear number hung low and Tom had to get on his knees to address the lock. With a bit of work the lock popped free. Tom took a deep breath, pulling the zipper up as he stood. He took it about half way then stepped around. Black, shiny and chrome. It was a sleek thing of beauty. It would shine for miles. It was hard even to look right at with the bike light. He turned it slightly away to take a closer look and fetched the flash light. It was a convertible. The top was fine black leather. It looked untouched. The interior was matching and unremarkable. The doors were locked. He stepped back around to the rear and looked at the plate. The metal light slipped from his grip and struck the concrete floor with a crunch. He didn't need to retrieve it. In the soft glow of the bike light he could read it. BECKETT 1. Next to the rear of the car was a rectangular door with no handle. There was a number pad and card reader. Light in hand he examined the panel. It was an old system. Should be no problem. In the bag Tom retrieved his portable voltage unit. He made quick work of removing the panel and set about hot wiring the lock. Before long, he'd done it. The door slid open. It was an elevator. Rigging it took a lot more doing but Tom was eternally determined. He used his bracelet to access the elevators emergency system which a scan revealed was its own system, separate from the main grid. The charge unit would still be enough to get the car to. Move and maybe get another door open if he was lucky. So many thoughts were whirling around in his mind. He felt a bit as though he were regressing into a more primitive, instinctual state of mind. He rearranged the panel circuits and the cab lights jolted on. The sound of a dinosaur being resurrected. Tom looked around, nervous for the first time. "I hope that didn't wake the neighbors." It did. There were three clear buttons numbered top down. He pressed the first one. The doors did not close but the cab shook a little and did descend. It was a quick ride but unsettling. Thankfully at the floor the doors just opened. He got out fast. Tom found himself at the end of a long hallway paneled in some clear, reflective material. At the end of which he could just make out another door. "What the hell is going on here? Mother. Is this you? Is this one of your special projects? I won't get a straight answer out of this either! Oh yes I damn will. Another door another crossing of wires. From the hall he stepped into a large room. The floor was polished, stone and caused an echo as he walked. To the right there was an incline leading to a large rectangular door but there was no sign of how to operate it. Over to the left there was what looked to be a some sort of instrumentation table. It was full of screens and multicolored segments. It was covered in a thick layer of dust. He stepped over to it. He moved his hand over one of the yellow top panels. It was a console of some sort. Oddly designed at first glance, or to the untrained eye. "Oh my god. It-it can't be! This is it! This is what he was working on. I know this design. The organic, hybrid interface. Teaching a computer to think isn't the trick at all its getting it to care about the ideas. Make them understand the difference between what is real and what is not. Understand war in simulation is okay but real war is not. Humans are born with certain basic norms and or dispositions but a machine first has to understand what it is. Son of a b***h! U didn't just write a paper on it, Sam you did it. They crucified you for it didn't they? Huh!" Tom was mad and if felt good to yell. "Huh! Mom!" Tom took a break. He sat against the side of the panel and unscrewed the top of a small tin. He saluted the air and took a nip. He took several deep breaths. He was having a bit of difficulty breathing even down this little ways. But there was no circulation. God knew how much air was left down here. It was best not to get too worked up. After a short time he stood. He uncovered more of the console. It was smooth with hard edges and constructed like a geometric jigsaw puzzle. But there were reasons. "What did you find Sam? Why did they put you in this-cave? He shined the light above and was again surprised to see an amorphous frosted glass dome. It hung ominously low and contained a myriad of thin shimmering strands. It was really quite beautiful once you took it all in. "Tessa where is my mother right now?" A soft, woman's voice replied via Curvie. "Donna Mason is currently on-" The signal cut out. "Right. Tessa reboot." There was nothing to be learned from the inoperative console and there were no wires to cross here. The processor for this system was somewhere else. As he walked around he did not see it. Across from the console was an 80 to 100 foot curved display screen. In front of it, at waist level, was something shaped like a futuristic bird bath in that it had the shape and curve of such. Tom knew what that was too. "Tessa do you read?" "Yes Tom. I have boosted power to compensate for your distance and depth. Might I inquire as to what you are doing?" "You might say I'm on a bit of a treasure hunt. Are you getting this?" "Yes Tom. It is most intriguing. Is that an early biometric interface? It looks a bit crude. I've never seen one quite like it. What is this place Tom?" "I'm really not sure. I'm not sure about much of anything right now. There's a car up there with my last name on it. Now all this. Can you scan beyond this door?" "I will try. Can you get closer? That's better. Yes. There are two rooms off a short corridor. Both rooms are empty. There is no power. I am detecting low level radiation Tom." Great. More good news. "Toxic?" "No, but I should have lied just to get you out of there. It's not safe." "Tessa where is mom?" "Donna Mason is currently traveling north on highway 78. Her destination is Oakland Market." Tom shook his head. She was headed in the wrong direction. "Send her a message. Tell her I need to see her as soon as possible. Tell her it's important." "Message sent." "Tessa stand by to boost power again, I'm going to check out the other floor. Won't take long." Tom returned to the cab. He presses number 2. This time the door closed and the cab rattled down. It came to a stop and the doors parted. Down another dark hall to a door with a door at the end. This one had a pin pad he could fry. He was able to get the door most of the way up and he went inside. It was a circular room. Empty but odd that the floor seemed to be glass, or some other solid, clear material. It was perfectly smooth, as thought it wasn't there. He checked the time. "Well let's get the hell out of here." Simmons-Ried Navy Base. TenWoods, Nevada 6:00 p.m. Radar tec. Dillian McDell busied himself at his station aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Xavier. Crew was nearing the end of training drills and he was looking forward to real sail time. He was reading a tec. manual on his tablet when an indicator klaxon he'd never heard before went off. He set the device to one side and isolated the signal. "Well that's strange. Don't see anything in the L band anymore." He pressed a button. "Captain Frost this is Tec. McDell on RC1. I have something you should have a look at." Soon Frost was over the young mans shoulder. They were staring at a holographic radar display. "What is it officer?" "An emergency beacon in L band sir, but who even uses it anymore? It has to be an error, or false alarm." "Maybe. What's the source?" "That's even weirder." "What?" "It's centered in central New Mexico. Right out in the middle of nowhere. One of the nav. buoys picked up. There's a message encoded in the signal but it's coded level 5 top secret. Wow." "Level 5? That's Presidents eyes only. Are you sure its level 5? That can't be right. Check it again." "Confirmed sir. The signal is not very strong. It may be coming from somewhere underground." "Very good. Relay all data to my console and continue scans." "Aye." Washington D.C. Secretary of Defense Bill Hiller gripped a tightly bound manila folder in his left hand as he walked briskly toward the west wing. He'd already spoken to the President and informed him of the nature of the issue at hand. There was a guard at the inlaid door. Hiller nodded and the F.B.I. man opened it. The President was seated at his desk inside the oval office. "Bill please sit down. Now what is suddenly so serious?" "This is a level five security situation sir. Your eyes only." He placed the file In front of President Logan who frowned wryly. "I know what the classification means." Logan opened the file and perused the first pages. He couldn't believe what he read. He could feel the blood draining from his face. He shook his head. "Mr. President?" "Bill brace yourself. I'm going to tell you a secret. A secret Washington has been keeping for thirty years. He pulled a picture from the file. It was a black and white of a young attractive man with brown hair. "This is a man by the name of Sam Beckett. He's a doctor and scientist among other things. He's one of the most brilliant minds of all time, or at lest he was. Thirty years ago this intrepid Dr. conducted an unauthorized experiment on himself, the results of which were never fully understood even by those involved. Apparently, although I've never believed it, this Starlight Project had to do with time displacement. Something about the sharing of auras. Technical and spiritual mumbo jumbo if you ask me. The Pentagon saw fit to fund the good doctors research for a number of years, but at some point it was cut. Mostly because of Sam's unwillingness, or inability as the arguments went, to return himself to his present time and present his findings. At a certain point the PAC, Parallel Hybrid Computer designed to collate the data, lost Sam. Some sort of malfunction. Not long after that the project was terminated and Dr. Beckett was listed as missing. That has not changed. His Wife Donna fought to keep the power flowing but after six months of nothing she conceded and Starlight was buried. Literally. "Out there in he middle of the desert." "No that's where the project was located. Quiet and remote. It says here less than an hour ago an alarm sounded inside this abandoned facility in New Mexico. Here we have satellite images. Oh s**t. Look at this. Someone has found this place and they got in." "All the dumb luck in the world is with this person. What do you want to do?" "We need eyes on the ground. We need to find out exactly who went in there and then we need to flatten that facility to the ground. Do you understand me Bill? All other concerns are rescinded." "Of course Mr. President. We will handle his quickly and quietly." "I want you to see to this personally Bill." New Mexico 8:00 p.m. "Tom, what is it?" Donna stepped out onto the balcony. She was tall and thin, with dark hair and eyes. She wore an elegant blue dress with matching, sparking, star shaped ear rings. He turned and looked at her but said nothing. There was a look in his eyes she had never seen before. A deep, penetrating glare that sent a chill down her spine. She stepped close, tentatively. "You said it was important. Tom what is it? Something is wrong." He took a long deep breath. He felt as though he looked into the eyes of a total stranger. Someone he'd known his whole life but never knew at all. It was a horrible feeling. He just stared at her. Finally, he forced a smile. It was not his mood, more a way to savor the last few moments of his ignorant bliss. But he had had enough. He handed her his phone. She took it. "What is it?" "Take a good look. You tell me." "Oh my god." Her heart began to race. Her hands began to tremble. "How did you- where in the hell did you get this!" "You know perfectly well where mother. Out there!" He thrust a finger in the direction he'd gone. "I found it in the cave. That's it isn't it. They stuck him in a hole to finish his work and when he did they what? Made him disappear! Is that what they did!" "No!" "Did they kill him? Huh!" "Tom please stop. Just-" "Just what! Just stop. More bullshit. I saw it mom. I touched it. The interface. He built it. It was his life's work. They couldn't just take it from him, so they did something else and you let it happen. You stood by and you let them do it." "Enough! I will not be spoken to like this. Not even by you. I loved your father d****t. If you want to believe I didn't do everything I could to help him then that's fine. Believe what you want. Sam, your father, chose his own path. No one chose it for him." "What about the interface? They just left it there? Why is his car there? "Tom please. I can't-" "No mother. You answer my question or so help me god I'll tell the whole world about that place. God I can't believe you. It was right here the whole time and you were never going to tell me." "That's right! That is absolutely right." She sighed hard. "What you saw, is the prototype. It never worked right. Without your father, even the brightest minds government could produce couldn't improve upon it. So they shut us down. They buried the project. There was no reason to remove the interface. The core is out. It has no power. It took a lot just to turn it on, to say nothing of processing. "After the accident, you left his car. Why?" "I left it because I couldn't bare to look at it and I surely never wanted to see you in it." She stepped closer and touched his shoulder. "I will always love Sam, Tom, but I moved past it. You know how sorry I am. You wondered why I always wanted you to leave this place, this was one reason. A good one at that. It wasn't a cave at all. It was my home for 7 years. Then he was gone. Gone forever." Donna stepped beside him and leaned slightly over the ledge. She closed her eyes. When she did, she could still see him and it angered her. It was the part of him that stayed with Al when the two of them leaped into each other. Al would say, the best of Sam was always with him. He was right. "I would have waited 70, if there had been the money. It just, became impossible." "What did?" "Powering the core and the interface required a tremendous amount of energy. I had to let the government in. It was the only chance your father had. He was ambitious but impatient. He pushed things. I wasn't there to stop him." "You blame yourself for what happened?" She looked at him. A fragile smile crept across her face. She touched his hair, thick and brown. "You look so much like him Tom. Too much." "What would you have to wait 70 years for?" "What?" "You said you would have waited 70. For what?" Donna was going to tell him. It was right there and she was going to do it, but something stopped her. It wasn't continence, it was fear. She grabbed his shoulders. "Wait a minute. How did you manage to get inside?" Tom smirked. "Well I used a hammer and and a drill. Sorry. You know what, you're absolutely right. In the morning I'll go back and cover the hole. There's no power. It's not like anyone can find out anything, right?" "But you acceded the control room via the elevator right? You used the emergency system. I know it. D****t Tom.” "Mom what!" "You triggered the fail-safe alarm. I'm surprised I haven't gotten-" Her Curvie alerted her to a call. She pulled a sleeve back. She gritted her teeth. "Crap. Don't talk." She tapped the screen. "This is Donna Mason speaking." "Mrs. Mason my name is Captain Ellis Preston, United States Navy. A situation has come to my attention and due to its highly sensitive nature I thought it best to contact you myself, before there are any surprises. Are you alone ma'am?" "Yes. Please, what is it about?" "An alarm was triggered several hours ago from your former lab doctor. That's all I know. I've been ordered to inform you the President is aware of the situation and has already dispatched an envoy to help oversee things." She did not like the sound of that. "Oversee things? Come on, it's probably just kids hiking and messing around. I'll go up and have a look in the morning." "Well I'm sure that's your prerogative ma'am. I'm just relaying the message. Sorry to bother you and have a good night." She gripped the Curvie like she wanted to rip it off. She glared at Tom. "Well now that's it. Now they will just blow the whole thing up." She stepped back to the ledge. "Maybe it's for the best. I guess I -" she looked at him. Tears began to show. "I always held out a little hope, one day he might." "Might what, magically reappear!" Donna smiled. "Yes. Something like that." Chapter 2 MIA Al hadn't been down this road in 20 years. The last time he was going in the opposite direction believing it would be the last time. A long stretch of desert highway leading to a past he had long buried. Surely it couldn't be. After all this time? Granted time, like Mr. Gooshie said, could be a very different concept to Sam. If he were still leaping. It may not be a question of his ability to return but perhaps more desire. Al never believed that. He could never accept his friend not wanting to see his friends and family again, in his proper present time. He remembered walking down the ramp. Seeing Beth there. The shock. On the other hand, maybe Mr. Gooshi had been right all along. Sam had given him a great gift. One he'd never got to thank him for. That was the hard part. In all honesty he didn't want to be making this drive. He was long retired now. A fossil well, not yet. One more president had one more job for him to do. It was a complicated one. The drone footage he'd seen was conclusive. Someone had broken into StarBright. Or broken out. Maybe his thinking was wrong. Maybe they were a million miles from this. He turned his mint, red 50's Cadillac off onto the Armwaur exit. It hummed in the warming breeze and the top was down. This was a very special car. It was one He'd bought special for Beth, although he drove it way more. It was the car he was driving the first time they....kissed. Some things, you don't forget. Some things you have to let go. It was hard to let Sam go. Hard for everyone. Al did everything he could to help his friend. He even tried to get the project privately funded, no one with that kind of money even believed his story. People accused him, and the absent Sam too, of programming the computer "ziggy", the a/v interface for the hybrid processor, to recount this unbelievable tale of a man lost in time. He caught a lot of flack in those days, protecting the invisible man. The price of total secrecy. Al knew the Pentagon was as interested in theory today as it was then. Some of the faces were different, but not the attitude. It was only his clout which kept StarBight classified under Navy jurisdiction. But this would be the last straw. Now they would want to bring the dossers in and maybe, Al thought, they were right. There was no longer a direct route up to the sight. After he arrived at Toms home he would procure a chopper. It figured the president would call him, but who else and why was he not allowed to call either of them? He knew Donna would not have went up there alone and did that. In the pit of his stomach he knew who it was. " Maybe he didn't see anything. The alarm kicked on, so he must have at lest seen control. Now he knows his fathers work was farther along than he was told and his work was hidden." He would press Donna. How long before she lost that battle. "No unsecured communications. Just get there. That's what the man said." Washington was suddenly hot over something Congress largely deemed a grand stunt. "A grand stunt in deed." Al parked in the driveway next to Donna's shiny black, gold flaked tank. She'd parked on the right side so he was able to step out freely. His hair was graying. He wore a short sleeve white shirt with sharp purple swirling patterns embroidered into it, tight white khakis and the most reflective, buffed out pair of Navy men's shoes there would ever be. One small pride he still took. He took the curved walkway leading to the long, shaded front porch. She was here, so he knew what he was up against. Before he could press the bell the inside door opened and Donna stepped in front of the glass. He could see she had been crying and probably not really slept. She had that look in her eyes,again. That stern, stubborn gaze you tried like holy hell to ignore. It was the way she looked at him in the months of fruitless scanning and waiting for Sam. But there was never anything. He knew she never really let him go. Now he was looking into those eyes again. Older, but still beautiful. Finally she said something. "Al. It's-nice to see you-um-please come in." She fumbled with the handle. She looked out behind him. "You came alone?" She closed the door fast. The foyer has large, with ___ inch rounded tile and a high sky light. There was a stairway to Al's right and hallways ahead and to the left. He turned to Donna. Smiled. "It's good to see you again too. How long has it been. I know I've been to your place a few times." "Three years." She sighed. "But who's counting anymore right?" "I'm sorry, I didn't realize. You know I'm always here for you." Donna wore a sheek, all black skirt-suit and dangerous heels. Her hair was tightly braided. He was alone but not really. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? Huh? When they come to finish the job. That's why the President sent you isn't it. To talk me down? Make sure I don't do anything stupid. Tell the world what really happened up there. There was a hint of grapes in the air. Wine. Strong wine. "This is just going to make things worse. Is she drunk? Please don't be drunk. Hell maybe I should-no the hell you should not! Get your mind on the business!" He gathered himself. "Donna listen, I wish to high heaven this was purely a social call, but I knew you were here and it's not. I'm not here to be the bad guy, I just have to find out who or what triggered an alarm at the facility yesterday evening. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Donna tried to remain composed. She was angry and sad and a little afraid. She wanted to hug Al and in the same breath smack him. "It was Tom. He-he found the path. He went inside." She. Took a step closer to him. "I'm so sorry Al." She shook her head and looked to be on the verge of either a good cry or a nervous breakdown. "I just couldn't do it anymore. I tried l - tried to look my son in the eye and tell him his father is never coming home! Do you know how much I hate lying about everything? I don't think you do." Al stood his ground. Clearly Donna was upset, but trying to shelter all of the guilt was not an effective strategy. For one thing, Al spent way more time with Sam in those days than she did. That was her choice. It was probably a good one, although no one had suggested it. "Donna don't do this. Don't say things you know aren't true. There's no need to be selfish with the emotions of the past. I waited longer than I could. He just never showed up." Donna swallowed hard. How much time was there? Were they on the way now? "You should know I- had some wine last night and I told him things." Al's eyes widened slightly. "Things? Things like what?" explosion"Like time travel." Tom answered, as he made his way down the stairs. Al opened his mouth to say something, but Tom cut him off. "Don't. You know something, I can't believe the two of you! Lies, all of it. My father didn't die in some freak explosion no, this far far worse and I still can't believe it. You know, you could have said that from the beginning and I never would have believed it. Mom seems petty convinced." Tom crossed his arms over his chest. "What about you Al? Were you time traveling too?" He rattled a sarcastic finger at him. I bet you were. I know how close the two of you were but Al cut me a break. Please? I saw the accelerator ring. I know there was more going on in there than experimental computing methodologies." Tom dropped his arms and moved closer to them. What are you saying? What-did he do? Al parsed his lips and whistled out a curse of air. "I will give it to you in technical terms. Your father subjected himself to a highly concentrated, phased burst quantum plasma and radiation stream. He blasted himself into the 4th dimension. We could never figure out a way to bring him home and the longer he was away the more difficult it became to maintain contact. Sam became a ripple of water cascading though time. The last time I saw your father, something was wrong. There was-something different. The whole situation was weird. We could never pinpoint what it was that threw us off, but we lost him. The project was eventually canceled and your mother and I went on to other projects. Your father was classified ultra top secret. Only a hand full of people knew what was going on. The truth is Tom, the only person who would ever have been able to get Sam back was him. He was the only one who fully understood the interface and could make it do-what it did. But something went wrong that first time. Something was off. He slipped just out of our reach. We had a piece of him, but never enough." "Dad was time traveling for six years? Guys I'm sorry. Look, if you're trying to test me or test lame cover stories that's fine, but don't make them so dumb it insults his intelligence. Besides, dad would never do something like that without some sort of plan. He would have thought of something. Listen, I have to go see a client. I'll be back in a couple hours and we'll have lunch. How does that sound?" Donna glanced at Al and smiled faintly. "I think that would be fine son. The two of us have a bit of catching up to do." "Mmmmhmmm. I bet you do." He gave mom a kiss on her check. "I do love you. Even when you tell crazy stories. He shook Al's hand as he stepped between them. " I'm not sure what to think about you Al. On one hand I'm inclined to take my mother at her word, but on the other hand what proof do you have? Is there anything? I think I know what this is. More bullshit." Donna called after him. "I'll be back." Al stared a her. "What are you going to do?" "The only thing I can." 2 hours later Tom was a man of his word but when he returned his guests where gone. "Cowards," he thought. "what a lazy story anyway. But what of the accelerator? Did the interface really require that much energy? Something was not adding up. He entered the kitchen and set his Curvie Stick at one corner of the island. He removed a thin white jacket and from the platinum colored refrigerator Tom produced a frosty brew. The day was hot. He closed the door and went to the long bar which separated the kitchen from the large living area. The t.v. remote was there. He sat on a comfortably padded stool chair and was just about to press the button when something already on the screen caught his attention. It was yellow and square. Tom smiled curtly and slid out of the chair. It was an 80 inch screen. Some special person had stuck a note up there where he barely could get it. He looked at the paper. " Play me." Tom rolled his eyes. He wished he'd never-no he didn't. "Its too late for that now man. He clicked the disk player on and walked back to the bar with the remote. He pressed play. There was a burst of interference and static. Then a man sat in front of the camera. A man Tom knew, but didn't. The man he saw every time he looked in the mirror. " Dad?" "For the record my name is Doctor Samuel Preston Beckett the second. My mother's name is Tracy Ellison Beckett and I have a brother Tom and sister Nancy. My wife's name is Donna and I love her very much. She ran out on me, but she came back. Now look at me, I'm the one who's always gone. It's impossible to described how it feels to finally be home. To see my people. Hold my wife who I forgot about. There are side effects to the aura leaping which I did not anticipate and I fear I am running out of time. The memory loss is a huge thing and I can't seem to do anything about it. It's virtually a clean wipe each time I black out. Then suddenly there is all this light around me and and I am somewhere else. I am constantly fighting with someone else's mind. For a long time I pushed the other side away, but as time goes on I'm becoming less interested in putting up that fight. But what would happen if I just stopped? If I refused to do another good deed. I am home, but I am still not myself. Inexplicably, Al and I have merged and I ended up on his side. I might not have the time to analysis the data. It's going to to take years to collate all this data. I see no one has been doing it. They want to shut the project down. I guess this is not impressive enough. Perhaps I will try something a little more dramatic. Another unfortunate side effect of leaping is an increasing sense of disconnectedness. I almost feel as though I'm not real. I just want this to be over. I've been going over the retrieval data. They have made 3 attempts to leap me back and all have failed. I have no memory of these events, of course. I've corrected flaws in the matrix flow and reconfigured the anodyne relays for max. dispersal. There are so many thoughts running through my mind. Being here now, like this, just is making me crazy. I can feel Al. It's a bizarre difference, basking in the aura of someone you know. You see yourself reflected in their minds eye. It's impossible to describe. There is so much work that needs to be done here. God I need a real team! I need officials, but But they don't believe me. The Pentagon has been here several times but of course I am never in a position to begin proselytizing the intricacies of advanced quantum molecular engineering. Not with with a Swiss cheesed memory and half of that or more belonging to someone else. Donna tells me I had some brief conversations with government officials, but not one believed what they were seeing in the imaging chamber was a projection of an actual moment in time. A rewind of a snap shot. I've read the reports. ((sigh)) They think I'm a joke and this is some exotic hologram show designed to sell books. It's quite unbelievable actually. They are making everything about money of course. This isn't even about money. It never was for me. I was gone for close to 4 years. Somehow I am back. It's hard to remember anything that's happened, but the computer records should remain secure. I've added layers of security and updated as much as in could. I think I can get back for real. God I want to. I want Al's sick, perverted mind out of my head. And what do I do about Al? He is experiencing the life of a man in a situation similar to his own at around that age. Ziggy is working scenarios. It's just going to take some time. Al is strong, but I'm not going to leave him in 1944. There must be a way to shake my aura loose. Perhaps an intentional plasma overload right as I leap. It might free me but it might put a hole in the ground. I need more power! And time! That's the real problem. I can save one person from being hit by a train, but that doesn't mean the very next person isn't going to get hit by that very same train. Sometimes its hard for me to know which side is up. It's disconcerting. Will I remember making love to my wife tomorrow? I know what you want Donna and I know how close we've been a couple times. It just seems like every time the us part wants to work, one of our jobs takes us over. We've paid a price for the decisions we've made. Hell I'm paying it now and I can finally see you! I love you Donna. I loved you the moment I saw you with that wonderful curly hair and in some really way too tight tennis shorts. I offered to give you tennis lessons." Tom laughed. "Dad." " Ziggy is not going to give me very good odds of being retrieved, but I did try to program a little optimism into her just to be on the safe side. I'm sure it's just a glitch. The retrieval program will work. It's my only hope. I've cobbled together some notes. Everything is here on this disk. It's labeled search. Don't lose this. You can give this to our kids one day you'll tell them. I want you to. I know l forget. Please don't forget about me. I love you. " Sam leaned forward and then the screen went dark. Then on the screen there appeared three files. Tom was beside himself. He was completely numb and speechless. It was impossible, but somehow Sam had done it. As he began to peruse the pages in the first file he learned about some of the various people he had shared auras with and the different circumstances he'd found himself in. As it turned out, Al was very much involved in this delicate business of life leaping. The pages read as though these people knew what the hell they were doing, but they didn't. They didn't. They pushed and something pushed back. "It didn't have to be you. I-I blamed you for a long time, for blowing yourself up. Now I find out u didn't just blow yourself up, you blew yourself into infinity. It's just crazy. All these people. Wait. What is this? Renegade leaper named Celina. Was able to track Sam's leaps. Claimed to be under the control of some otherworldly, superior being. She had become trapped somehow by this Lothos being and was being forced to tamper negatively with the timeline. At some point Lothos became aware of Sam and the person he had leaped into was almost killed. What in the hell is going on here? There are other time leapers out there? No way." "It's true. All of it. We tried like hell to find her." Tom turned to face his mother. He shook his head. "It's a lot to accept I know. Denial kept me going for a while. Being able to see his face, his body but knowing there was someone else inside it-well it broke my heart but after a while I just got used to it. After all I had a job to do. It was my job to get him back and I couldn't do that. I didn't know how. When I found that disk I thought it might hold an answer, but a lot of the data even I don't understand. Only Sam and programmer Mr. Gooshie could read the code. He volunteered to stay on until they shut the power off. After that, we all just went home. Gooshie died years ago." "What about this Lothos character? Were you able to get anything from the scans? Here's what I really don't understand. Why didn't you and Al just tell him the truth!" How could you expect him to help himself with one and a half hands tied behind his back? You kept his life from him." "Believe me Tom, it was the tuffist decision of my life. But it's one I'd make again. Sam had no real memory after his first leap. We didn't know what we were dealing with. What the rules were. Was he actually changing things? It took us nearly a week to lock on to him that first time. All his brilliance, brushed away. He was a shell of himself. Reminding him continuously would have been counterproductive and distracting. The computer your father designed ran countless scenarios to aid him in his efforts to change one life for the better and finally we got it! Sam altered history. He disappeared in a flash of light as did his replacement who was almost always there. But it wasn't him. I didn't talk to the replacement auras. There wasn't enough of him for it to matter. Al did that part. He was good at getting information from the people and that helped Sam to leap faster." "I just don't think I get it. How can he be here but not be at the same time? "Your father became un-suck in time. While he was living all those peoples lives, there was someone in the lab who looked and sounded like Sam, but it almost never was. It was too bizarre for me. I worked with Gooshie as much as I could. There was only so much to be done. The retrieval program never worked. It cost several hundred million dollars to run the accelerator. We had to pick our battles. At first we thought he was dead, or lost forever and we were stuck with this other man who looked like Sam but we found him. He was a pilot in the air force." "So you, just stopped looking? What about Al? Why didn't the government believe him?" "More towards our losing contact they did believe, but it changed nothing. Sam had to get back and he never did. Al was forced to inform the Pentagon of the change in status. They weren't going to keep the light on forever son. Why do you think I always try to convince you to leave the valley? I couldn't involve you Tom. Honestly I didn't want to. I wanted you to have a normal life. That's all any mother wants. Tom almost laughed. " Normal! Yeah, that's a good one mom. There is nothing even remotely normal about this. "The files, anything useful?" "In the right hands anything is possible. Tom spent the next several days dissecting the layers of data. Learning all about the mechanics of the StarBright Hybrid Processor Interface. A quantum leap in mechanics, it may have been the beginning of the end of the microchip. Imagine all your data floating around i n a static electric ball. More like a human brain. No wonder the interface looked so strange. Just the computing power was amazing. In the morning Tom had his coffee and went for his usual run. Then he got in his white Supernova, which he rarely drove and headed east, to Al's. He still had questions and he wanted answers before the dossers came and finished the job and his father was buried forever. Maybe he could at lest get strait answers from him. He couldn't trust mom. She was hiding something still from him, he could feel it. It was almost as if she wanted the truth to be buried. Part of him could understand why but why wasn't she in any hurry to at lest try and stall things. Everything was different now. Tom wasn't just going to let things go. The truth was right there the whole time. It was unbelievable. Tom made the exit off the expressway. It was Sunday and traffic was light. He'd only been to Al's twice. Both times with mother. He knew All had worked with his father in the years prior to the "incident" but he never spoke of those days. Tom never knew what questions to ask. Now he did. He turned into the crescent driveway. Al's house was a large, white country ranch with a three pillared front face. To the left, a neatly tended flower garden and to the right of the walkway a flowing two tier fountain. He did not see Al's car. He walked down the red brick path and up the wide, white wood steps to the door. It opened before he could knock. "I know exactly why you're here Tom. Listen, I can't stop what they're going to do up there in the hills. Even if I weren't retired. They took that clearance from me just as fast as they gave it but it never got me anywhere. No one listened. No one wanted to help your father when he really needed it. I couldn't." Al stepped out onto the deck. You see, at first it was a big game for us. Your father had done it. He had created a tether between times. We were all going to be rich. There was just one thing missing. We couldn't get your father home. We couldn't figure out how to sever the connection and get the whole Sam back in the accelerator. No one ever came back through. Donna-your mother, she showed you the disk?"1 Tom nodded. "A lot of it, but all of this aura transference crap goes over me. I don't understand his it could look like my father but be some other person. Even a woman? You saw this?" "When our "guests" looked in a mirror we could see their true appearance. I spent a lot of time staring into the ghost of your father Tom. The thought never crossed my mind that one day he'd be made whole again. But I'm afraid that day has long come and gone. You see, one thing we did not realize early on was every time Sam would leap, a part of him stayed with that person. The bond is never truly broken. I learned that the hard way. Twice actually. Your father is still here but in a way only I can experience. I feel him,still. But he's gone Tom. There wasn't enough of him left to lock onto. I had begun to notice a change in Sam's behavior as the years ticked by and there were no answered for him. He continued to ping pong in and out of random lives. But he never lost a sense of purpose. He always did whatever he could to put that persons life back on track but in the end he lost himself to it. It became more difficult to communicate with the real Sam as the host auras became more dominate. Its scary to watch a man slowly go crazy. I think that's pretty much what happened but before Sam went wherever he went, he did something. Something unbelievable. He gave me my life back. I waited too long to thank him, I just don't think about it anymore. "But he did get back one time right? I read that right. Something about electroshock." "Right. The man was a in a koo koo house. That was the first time he really started to lose it, lose control. He was going through all these different personalities and having fits. We tried again and again to establish a strong enough lock to pull him back but Washington couldn't spare the juice. We never had the power we got that first time he leaped. We fried half the west coast grid. We were lucky they didn't shut us down then and there. We tried not to complain." "You lied to him." "I kept the project under control! I did my job. In the end it didn't matter anyway he still went off the deep end. I don't know what possessed him to do what he did. Maybe it was a way of saying goodbye. Your father did the most amazing thing. No one even knows it, well, a few people still do but knowledge is not power here and power is everything." "You were with him when they zapped him. It switched you." "It did but that was not the answer. Sure, Sam could enjoy a respite but the other person is stuck in the past. Leaping causes gaps in memory. Long term, you can't remember much of anything. It was decided we not tell your father we had achieved targeted leaping, mainly because that one time was the result of an overload to his neural pathways. I just happened to be close to him as it happened. There was no activity in the accelerator. Sure, I could have turned in a few favors and got the Pentagon to crank up the file and I could have leaped into Sam. But I wasn't prepared to do that. Maybe it would bring my friend home but where did it leave me? Sam chose his path, no one forced him to do it. He should have waited. We weren't ready." All lit the thin cigar he'd been twisting in his fingers. He stared long and hard at Tom. "Your father was my best damn friend. One of the only people who still really knew me. I buried your father long ago, for my sake as well as his." "I want to ask you more about the last contacts you had with him. You said in your report he had begun to show increased signs of dementia and personality disassociation. You said you found him in a bar somewhere?" "That's right. We were lucky to find him at all. We were always concerned most when your father would leap into himself in the past. It happened several times, but this last time was different. He'd lept into himself on the very day of his own birth. He joined with his pure aura, which separated him from the confines of space time. He became-" "Free." "Maybe. Maybe not. Sam was not himself. He kept talking about seeing people from past leaps and even somehow brought my great uncle Stawpah into it. The man was long long gone before Sam was even born, he couldn't possibly have been there. He said Stawpah was a "leaper". We know there are others somewhere who have achieved aura swapping, but we were never in a position to investigate that reality. We barely had enough power to keep hold of Sam. As time went on it only got more difficult." "Okay you lost me. How could he leap into his own self as a baby?" "That's a question we never answered. The other times Sam was close to and at adulthood, so there didn't seem to be a problem, aside from the fact all of his memories were intact and he did alter his own future, it was nothing which changed the project or anyone involved. But our good doctor Beeks was fond of pointing out we were all being effected by what your father was doing, in one way or another. At first we thought we'd solved the problem of retrieval by leaping him into himself but it turned out both versions of Sam existed in the same place. There was no one with us in the present, as there normally would be. Beeks theorized his birth may have acted as a beacon, or maybe he figured out somehow that touching his aura at birth was the key. Anything is possible. I just know I haven't seen him. Neither had your mother." "Guess I'd be crazy to think otherwise huh." Al wafted several crude smoke rings over his head. He grinned. "You know, you're probably right. If I had seen him I probably would keep it a secret." "They're really just going to bulldoze the thing down?" Al sighed hard. "It's all that's left to be done Tom. Besides, there's nothing left. I get it Tom. You came here hoping I had something to offer you, or I could help you find Sam but honestly I can't. All my security clearances were canceled when I retired. By this time tomorrow no one will be able to tell there was ever anything out of place up there in the mountains. I'm sorry. Your father is gone." "I don't know know if I'm ready to accept that. Especially if there are other people out there leaping. I don't suppose you have an extra thirty-two million lying around." "Kid if I did you know exactly what I'd do. When you get older you start looking at things different. Sam Beckett did so much for me. If I could take it, I would go. Leaping, it takes its tole. Retrieval is tricky, a faster initial lock would be one help. It took us a god awful time finding him that first time. By then he'd unwittingly changed history. The computer was able to formulate to put things back together but when he did leap out the accelerator did not activate and there was a new sole in the observation room. He was a baseball player if memory serves. We never had enough data. The readings of most of the people who appeared were all over the place. Scared, confused, trapped between times. But some were more lucid. We interviewed a lot of people. That's what the work ended up being about. Recording glimpses into others lives. I didn't think about that much or anticipate the emotional role but this time around I had Beth. You've met my wife. I can't help but think maybe things are the way they are for a reason and man isn't to change things, for good or bad. After a short time, Al invited Tom in, but he declined. Tom could see talking to the adults was pointless. He wanted to talk to someone else. He wanted to go to the source. Ziggy. Back at home, in his work shop, Tom put together a special power generator. Not nearly enough to get him off the ground, combined with the facilities backup power system it would be more than enough to interface with the AI. Who knew what condition it's memory was in. Even with the air on, downstairs it was hot. He worked fast. Careful not to blow himself away. But he had to hurry. The man was coming and nothing in this time was going to stop them. When it was done, Tom wrapped the rectangle shaped contraption in thin bubble wrap, and strapped it onto a makeshift rear basket on the back of his bike. With that and water he'd be lucky to have enough fuel to get up there. Soon he was on his way. Racing between the poppy fields and then dry plains. Up through the winding shelves of worn rock. The gravel laden paths led him there. He spent another moment at his fathers car. He covered it up. This was coming with him, no matter what. In no time he was in the control room. Under the center front section, Tom found the connection. There was a false panel in the floor. He setup the power pack, then ran a cord from the unit to the panel on the door. The emergency power caused the interface to vibrate. It was all around him and through the metal floor. It was alive! He could see a dull shimmering on the wall, like at the bottom of a dimly lit lagoon and an occasional sparkle. "What the hell." Tom pulled himself up. The domed dealing had come alive. It was like looking into the white eye of some exotic futuristic creature. Streaked and flashes of white. The intensity increased. The vibration turned to a him which increased as well and reverberated through him. There was an energy here, something different. Them a voice spoke, booming and metallic. HYBRID MAINFRAME SYSTEM INTERFACE ACTIVE PROCEED WITH TWO STAGE INENTIFCATION Tom thrust his attention to the console. One red squared area glowed the outline of a hand. One that surely wasn't his. Next to it, in a yellow area, there was a digital keyboard and a calmly blinking cursor. His eyes narrowed. There was no mention of passwords or other security lockouts. He spoke to the ceiling. "Ziggy I- I'm sorry but I don't know the password. Please I- I really need your help and I don't have a lot of time!" VOICE INTERFACE RESTRICTED PROCEED WITH TWO STAGE ID "Emergency override." NEGATIVE FUNCTION "Alright. You asked for it. I didn't want to take advantage of you but that's the way you want to do things." Tom slipped back down. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? "Trying to disable your security lockouts. What do you think?" WHO ARE YOU? Tom stood. "Ziggy?" I STILL REMEMBER MY NAME MR. YOU'RE NO THIEF. I PROJECT AN 85% PROBABILITY YOU ARE A RELATIVE OF DR.- "Sam Beckett." IT'S IN YOUR EYES. TOM. ACCESSING NEW DATABASES. GOOD GOD. SAM!!! Tom couldn't quite put his finger on why but he was starting to become concerned about the machine. How it might react to being activated after all this time. Already it was talking to itself. Re-reacting to some event. The center of the dome began to oscillate and the white streaks increased across its curve. "Ziggy listen. I don't have a lot of time. Yes! I'm Tom. They're coming Ziggy. They're coming up here, they're going to flatten the place. Now I'm asking you, is there anything you can tell me about my father? Where he is? Where he might be? I'm no scientist. Maybe give me the simple version." THE SIMPLE VERSION IS SAM IS LOST POWER AQUSITION & DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM UPGRADED INITIATING RING ROTATION SEQUENCE Toms eyes began to narrow. "Ziggy. What are you doing?" 10% POWER I'M OPENING THE WORMHOLE "No,you can't! Ziggy they're coming. There's no time for this, I just need the information." 20% POWER "Ziggy, when they get here this mountain is going to be a pile of rubble! Now come on." 30% POWER Tom noticed a slight tingling in his ears and there was a low him which seemed to come from all around. Pull the plug! Tom dropped back under the console. IM SORRY TOM BUT I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT 40% POWER The console table went dark. Now the whole room was bathed in blue and white. The iris continued to jirate and spark, now more aggressively. Tom jumped up. He went to the door. The panel was disabled. He turned hard. "Am I a prisoner!" 50% POWER "Ziggy!" (Elderon Army Base - Ten miles east). 3:00 p.m. Captain Randolph Jennings sipped coffee at his desk. He set the large cup down and leaned back some. He shuffled through some files. Training reports. "Its all about the future." He sighed hard. "The future." He rolled his eyes and went back for another long swig of dark java. As he began to drink, the lights in his office started to dim. He stepped out into the secretaries area and looked around. Sue was no where. "That figures. What's happening with the damn lights!" The lights flickered and continued to fade. His cell phone rang. He struggled to retrieve it from some pocket of his uniform. He flipped it open as he stepped back onto his office and to a file cabinet in one corner. He pulled out a 9mm. He holstered it. "This is Jennings." Yes sir. Ultra top secret, understood sir. "A long buried secret has become, unearthed, and it looks like there may be some complications. A team has been sent. They will-" The Generals voice trailed off in a burst of static. The lights flashed bright and dimmed again. "General Lister? Yes I- you went away there but I can hear you. I'm just grabbing my flashlight. I always thought about knocking out one of the walls in here, just to see." "Do this thing for me and you can paint your name on the damn building. The power drain, are you getting it there?" "Yes sir. It just starred. I was just about to call-" Just then two privates, clerks, burst into the waiting room with lights and everything else. They called emphatically for the captain. "Everything is under control here sir I can assure you." He waved the men back, the way one shoos an annoying child. "What is it you'd like me to do." "Well let me be the first to assure you Captain that things are most definitely not under control. The power drain is increasing. It could effect most of the west coast. The team will be at your post in around thirty minutes. I want you to go up to that mountain. Take whoever you want but go up there and shut whatever is going on down! Do you understand? Shut it into the ground. We believe there is one or more individuals inside. We prefer alive, but its Captain's discretion is that understood?" "Completely sir. Are we expecting serious resistance?" "Honestly we don't know. That's your job now. Get in as close as you can. The facility has only one door. The men have been briefed. Extraction, demolitions. Walk in the park for the army." "Hoooo raaaaa. Understood sir. Is there anything else?" "I want that mountain in pieces, do you understand?" "Yes sir. I will sir. Thank you sir. Bye." Jennings exhaled loudly. He looked at the young men through the shadows and blinding flashlights. You men want to go for a ride?" There were three now. They answered yes in unison. "Well go quick, get your gear on. Full armor, this is a live fire situation. I don't need one of you knuckle brains getting a little dirt in your eye. Can you guys even shoot? Where's my gunner. Peter's Peters!" 70% POWER The floor of the control room was vibrating. He could feel the static electricity. It tingled through him. "Ziggy I know you think this is pretty neat but the power you're draining from the grid is already having an effect. You know that. Why are you doing this?" The room was silent. Just the hum of the accelerator below. "Ziggy! I know you can talk to me when you want, so come on." 80% POWER I CAN HEAR YOU TOM I CAN ALSO HEAR THE LINE OF MILITARY VIECALS EN ROUTE. ITS NOT YOUR FAULT "Well what the hell is it!" I PROJECT A 76% CHANCE DR. BECKETT WILL RETURN TO THE ACCELERATOR WHEN FULL POWER IS RESTORED "What?" A shimmering glow cascaded across the mountain. It rippled again and then again. The convoy had yet to reach the main road. Jennings was seated on the passenger side of a green and black box truck with a curved, fabric covered top. There was another behind him, plus a demolitions crane two dossers and a jeep pulling the rear towing a cannon of some sort. He shook his head. He turned to the driver, a Lieutenant Bills. Good kid. Young. "This all seems like a bit much to me." "Two much what sir? Hey I've been cooped up in that hot base for weeks. If today someone wants us to go blow something up, you're damn sure we're coming with the big guns." "But up in the hills? I didn't know about any military project up there." "You'd be surprised where all the military is that you don't know." "Yeah I know you're not old enough to have any of that information." "Funny sir." "Wait. What is that? Is it a storm?" The lieutenant removed his cap and leaned forward. Up ahead, over a particular section of mountains-cape there was forming a cluster of dark flashing clouds. They seemed to be growing from within and beginning to swirl and flash. "Wow that's quite a freak storm. Weather is funny around here sometimes. When that warm air comes down the side of the ridge it can make a wall of water you never saw coming. Just last week I-" " Lieutenant just concentrate on driving for right now okay and let me see those binoculars." He could not believe what he was seeing. "My god. I need to contact General Lister "There's a sat phone in the compartment between us." "Very good. This is Captain Jennings for the Admiral. Thank you." "Ran its Peter. Are you at the sight?" "Not yet sir but were close. The terrain is going to slow the equipment down some but we'll get there. There's something strange going on up here and the power is going hay wire across the grid. The smaller stations are having to shut down to avoid surges. There's some sort of atmospheric disturbance over the area. It appears to be growing in intensity. Now there's lightning and were getting a few drops of rain " "Yeah our powers in and out. Were looking into it. We should have a satellite feed in a few minutes. Just get up there as fast as you can." "Roger that. Will advise. Jennings out." A bright silver bolt crashed into the ground on Jennings side. The energy wake rattled the truck, skidding it to one side. The sky was darkening, being swallowed up by a now ominous swirling vortex. As he watched, the mountains seemed to change colors. A beam of white light shot up from unseen source and passed up through the vortex and into the sky. It was widening. Jennings was sweating badly now. He saw how from bad to worse things were going to get. In his ear piece he was being given energy output readings. Now things were really heating up. "General hang on a second we just found the road. I am switching the car can on now. Yes the sky is very strange and there is some kind of vibration. I'm not sure exactly where its coming from but when it peaks its enough to rattle the can of this tin dinosaur." The caravan slowly traversed the winding gravel path. Up into the maze of nothing. They drove passed the curved base of the stone carved silo. There were bright flashes of light and electric discharges around the dome and the beam was now a widening tube. Jennings ordered a stop. The last truck was past the main structure. Aside from a good light show, there didn't seem to be any concerns which would keep him from getting inside. Get whatever someone turned on turned back off and get power back to now approaching tens of thousand. The situation had to be kept from spinning out of control. "Alright everyone out!" Jennings jumped out. His thick, black boots crunched on ancient stones, grinding them, squeaking them together. He walked quickly past a couple armored soldiers. He himself was wearing just his light fatigue jumpsuit. He had his pistol, his shot gun and his knife. He thought he was pretty ready for what he would find up here but now the beam looked like it might begin swallowing the clouds. "Alright, two rows! Everybody goes up. There's a little rumbling going on so watch your step." "Watch your head to sir." One of the lieutenants said. Up the broken, curved road they went. Jennings led between them, pistol drawn at his left side. Around the second bend something changed. Something felt different. Probably it was un-shielded static electric discharge from whatever the hell was inside. He held a finger to his ear. "Alright guys slow down. Alright. Got it. Listen up people. We have approx. 8 min. before we start glowing in the dark. This is strictly an extraction op. Shoot only on my order." The group continued up the path, finally reaching the exposed door. He motioned for one of the men's mag light. He stuck it in. He turned back toward the men. "Looks clear. Go night vision. Get to the door it should be right across the hall. You should be able to patch into the emergency program. One at a time come on. Check your targets. Go go. Inside the vibration was louder and deeper. A him rattled inside Jennings's head. The faint sound of a song he used to sing for his daughter when she was a child. The sounds coursed through the walls and the men. Something was sucking the life out of the west coast. Something here in this dark, empty place. Well not completely empty. There was a car. That was strange. While the men busied about the door and monitoring atmospheric readings, Jennings went over to the car. He back end. " Beckett. Now, why do I know that name. Beckett. Someone run that name. The information came to him fast. Right, the scientist. I remember my father mentioning the name. Some kind of an explosion. It didn't really make the news. Still, you have to wonder what he was doing up here like this. No way uncle same would pay for all of this. Guys how's it looking? Can we get power? Maybe a little light?" One of the men looked back. "Sir, there looks to have been some upgrades to the security lockout program. We can't even access the back up." "Upgrades." "Yes sir. The codex protocols have been rewritten. It might take some time. I'd like to know what all the humming and vibrations are for. If we're real lucky it'll shake itself to pieces and we can go home." "No ones going anywhere until we get into that elevator shaft and secure the control room. Turn this contraption off." "What is it doing to the sky?" one of the !men asked aloud as they worked. A couple men waited guard at the entrance which they'd enlarged. Now the mini tank could get in. Jennings smiled. "If the doors won't open we'll blast them. That's an activity I'm sure you all will enjoy. Two minutes gents. You can talk to me about code all day, I just need that damn door open." "Yes sir!" On the screen, Tom could see the soldiers. The tank rolling closer to the door. One of them had touched the car. Big no no. His eyes widened. "Ziggy! They brought the big guns so, what do you say you slow things down a little huh?" OH I AM SO INTIMIDATED WAIT. I HAVE SOMETHING LOW BAND. VERY FAINT "What is it?" A TRAIL SAM WAS HERE. HES BEEN HERE AT LEST ONE TIME SINCE LOSS OF CONTACT "He was here. Doing what?" ACCESSING FILES "Can you locate those files?" THE FILES IN QUESTION HAVE A SPECIAL ENCRYPTION I AM UN ABLE TO ACCESS THEM MY MEMORY HAS BEEN TAMPERED WITH "Tampered with. By whom?" THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE WHO COULD DO THIS. YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER "What the hell is really going on here? Ziggy can you stop the soldiers from getting in here?" IT WILL TAKE THEM APPROX. 20 YEARS TO DECRYPT MY ALGORITHM HOWEVER THEY DO HAVE EXPLOSIVES WHICH THIS GROUP DID NOT BRING IN WITH THEM. The room started to tremble. On one portion of the monitor Tom could see the area surrounding the facility. The sky was starting to resemble something something from Twilight Zone. "Ziggy what exactly are you doing?" I AM ATTEMPTING TO LOCATE DR. BECKETT UTILIZING A HIGHLY FOCUSED AND VERY STABLE, MIND YOU, WORMHOLE. "Ziggy listen to me. If you do this, they will blow you up! TOM, THEY WERE GOING TO DO THAT ANYWAYS FULL POWER REGISTRATION COMPLETE PREPARE TO FIRE " Ziggy!" FIRE FIRE A concussive blast slammed through the valley. Windows shattered, alarms all over. Up past the hills a hot white beam of light shot up through the middle of the growing ominous vortex. It went up and up forever. Blue lightning spider-webbed along the curling spin. Not only was there no power, even most vehicles were stalled and there were many accidents. Certain older models would. Radio was reporting the West coast was dark to the mountains and the outages were continuing to spread. "Ziggy you'll never have enough power to scan with this range. With nothing to go on. No direction. You're sucking the country dry damn it. I see you shielded the door so they can't get the explosives inside. That's great. You've made your point. Now what do you say, you give people back their wi/fi. Huh?" I AM NOT TRYING TO MAKE A POINT I'M TRYING TO FIND YOUR FATHER Jennings had lost his patience. He tapped his earpiece. “Erics do you read?” “Loud and clear sir. I don't mind telling you, I'd rather be in there.” “Well you're going to get your chance son. Access to the control room has been blocked. Someone down there thinks they are smarter than the U.S. Military. Lets show them who's really boss. Set a 20 gram charge on either side of that curved base. We'll blow a hole right down there. Ready weapons. Tell me when you're ready.” “Yes sir.” He called to the men working the door over to him and they walked close to the shielded doorway. “In position now sir.” “Do it.” The entire face of the mountain sparkled and was enveloped in a hazy bluish pink glow. Erics was kneeled just behind one of the armored vans. He mashed the button. There was nothing. He tried it again. No sound. He peaked up over the hood. The other men were looking now too. Light danced all around them. The mountain seemed to slowly flow below a beautiful alien ocean. Bursts of static knocked at his temple. He removed his ear piece. “Erics! Did you deploy?” He snapped his finger at the two men on the other side of the hole. “Get down there. I cant get a signal in here. God damn it.” I CANNOT ALLOW THIS FACILITY TO BE DAMAGED OR COMPROMISED. I HAVE ERRECTED AN ENERGY FIELD. THAT WILL KEEP THEM BUSY. MAYBE �" IF I FEEL LIKE IT �" I WILL LET THE MEN INSIDE ESCAPE BEFORE THEY RUN OUT OF AIR �" THATS IF I FEEL LIKE IT “Jesus.” Tom's mind was racing. It was turning into a surrealistic nightmare. Ziggy was taking matters into her own hands. “Ziggy listen to me. You have to stop! This isn't going to work. It's been too long. Please. This isn't the way and you know it. Minuit's passed. The sky continued to spin. Ziggy went quiet. Tom was trying to call out on his Curvie but signal was dead. That figured. The The large screen in the control room had a touch interface. He could access basic systems, but everything was blocked by the shield. SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE INITIATED WORMHOLE COLLAPSING RESTORING GRID POWER “Alright! Good job. Thank you Ziggy. Now do me another favor. Keep that shield up a little longer. I want to have a better look at these entries.” CHAPTER 3 TOMS FIRST LEAP (2 yrs. Later) ---- Al Calavicci digital log entry �" Aug. 11 2038 “It took two years for me to convince the board he actually had done it. Crossed the boundary of time. Sam was gone. That much was certain. It was a damn miracle he wasn't killed that first time. We'd run a few tests. We sent animals with tiny implants. Ziggy was able to detect musclemen levels of quantum energy, but no matter what we did, nothing ever came back. Couldn't even get the vegetables to obey. At first it was funny but for Sam it was another matter. He'd risked a lot to get access to the military grid. Even with it, we still needed more power. There just wasn't anywhere to get it. Sam was under a lot of pressure, plus with Donna and all. I just wish he would have waited,on things. That's all. Gave things a little more time. He was working so hard on his equations. He kept saying how close he was. So close and then he was gone. My friend was gone and in his place was this shell of a man. Sam but not. Sometimes it would be almost like he was there. I had lots of conversations with Sam's side, but It was hard to know where he ended and the other person began. Sometimes I could tell he was frustrated and he did get mad. I bought the project another two years, under the proviso Sam make his illustrious return and explain how the whole thing is done. Well that never happened. I always felt partly responsible for how things ended. There were a lot of things I never told Sam. Things I wanted to. It would have been a lot easier for me if I could have told him we were going to have to pull the plug. Watching him go through that, it was hard. I began showing up less and less. Sighting cutbacks and energy shortages. There was plenty of that. I think in the end Sam went his own way. He was a lot smarter than me anyways, accept maybe not to get in the accelerator that night. If I could go back, that's what I would do. But I guess that's the reason I'm not the one scattering my molecules through space time. Do I think Sam is out there. Yes. Do I think Ziggy can find him? She's the only one who has a chance. Tom is ready. He's been ready. I wish he'd never gotten involved but fate had other plans I guess. There are questions I do still want answered though and either doesn't have them or is lying. I want to know why Sam was here. Why did he come back only to vanish again and two times. It doesn't seem right. The board has given me a two year window. At lest they are on our side this time but they know everything now and I am again afraid for Sam. I know what my friend did for me because I remember things I shouldn't but did it cost him something? They want to know as bad as anyone why Sam isn't returning even with control. Ziggy has been fully updated. She is very confident but not about retrieval. Tom will have several micro locators within him but there's no telling if they will be effective, or even stay with him. All the guesses are the same. I don't wish anymore it was me. I wanted to but I have no time to get lost. Lost in the lives of other people. It's a strange experience and it does change you, like talking to your mirror image. V“Good-morning Ziggy.” ~Good morning Tom. Did you sleep well? Tom was in the control room long before his scheduled departure. It was dark and quiet. The guards let him right in. In the locker room he changed. He set his keys, wallet and a few other items into one of the keepers. Only temporary. He took a long hot shower. He thought about mother and how angry she'd been at him for pushing the project back open but Al was with him so that helped and besides the updated tracking should make retrieval pretty simple. That's what he kept telling himself. The protective suit was tight and cold against his skin. He'd waited what seemed like forever to feel that. He entered the control room and it was immediately illuminated,Ziggy already sparkling above. “If you don't mind Ziggy, I'd like to do a few push ups. You know, get my blood pumping.” ~Of course Mr. Beckett. You know me. I always like to watch a man sweat “Sweat? Geez Ziggy, it's six in the morning. So how are your readings? Found a good spot to drop me off? Hopefully not outer space. That's my real fear. That everything clears and there's the Earth. At lest I'd get to see it.” ~You sincerely underestimate my abilities and there are no aura signatures even in outer space, so the odds of you leaping into orbit are 5% Tom turned over. “Five percent! Seriously? I guess I shouldn't have brought it up.” After some push ups and sits ups Tom did quick sprints from wall to wall. Just as he was beginning to lose his breath the control room door opened. It stopped him in his tracks in the middle of the floor. A figure in a long dark trench coat and black, wide rimmed hat stepped forward. A thin puff of smoke crept over the brim. “Every time this door opens a get a stabbing pain in my left ear. You get used to it but never really.” It was Al. He looked like a mafia hit man but the cigar was a bit of a give away. “How are you doing Kid? You look strong. That's good. You're going to need it. Since you're here and it's just the two of us, I wanted to talk to you about one thing and just-well you're probably going to forget we had this conversation anyways. That's the beaut of all. This is as bad of an idea now as it was them. Yeah Ziggy is better but Tom you could lose yourself. You know that.” Tom had moved closer to Al rested against the control center. “I know Al. We've been through this before. Locating Sam or finding signs he's been around, that's priority. Stay focused and connected. Do what Ziggy says and above all never tell anyone who you really are.” Al nodded with him. The boy had a whip of a memory. “It was double stared. I saw it.” “Don't call anyone.” Al pointed. “No love letters.” “No contact. Tom we have to be able to get you back or square one is going to be a lonely place for you and whatever did this to Sam, whatever trapped him in this maze of time will happen to you. But there's something else. Alia. You know her.” “Yeah. Crazy lady. I don't understand that. But I understand what your reports say. They are from some place well advanced of Earth and they honed in on Sam somehow.” “We never could determine how long they may have scanning or tracking Sam before they set that trap. They knew exactly what they were doing and that makes them dangerous. Leaping can play tricks on your mind Tom. Believe it.” Tom bent side to side, working other muscles. “You wouldn't leave me behind Al. I know that.” Al tensed. He lifted his hat some and caught a glint from Ziggy in his pale blew eyes. “I know there is a part of you that feels I let Sam down. I know that.” “You walled him up.” “I had to protect the integrity of the project. It was Sam's best chance and maybe one day, today, someone else would jump out there and get my friend back but hes already been here. That bothers me but it bothers the board way more. The more they get on my side with time travel the more nervous they become. Now they want those answers too. D****t Tom. Couldn't you have ridden your bike on the other side of the canyon that morning. Had a flat tire or something.” “Or an accident. Different ways to change history. I got it.” “Only kiss the women and men Ziggy tells you to. That's another big one. I'll remind you on that one, or your mother will. The holo-interface has been worked on. Interference should be negligible once Ziggy can establish a lock on you. It could take some time though. That's the down side.” Tom smiled tightly.“ Yeah I'm not actually kissing any guys-men. Sorry. How long could I be on my own?” “We still don't know. It took Ziggy two weeks to find your father and by then he had seriously altered the event line he'd leapt into. If anything it might have helped us find him sooner. Ziggy can detect the changes at the micro-quantum level and use that data residue form a point. Then she can triangulate where on the Earth that point is and zappo! But we didn't take things seriously enough soon enough. So you're right about that Tom. That I can give you but what you have in you now is the best that uncle can buy. Living trackers. We have enough power now to get you back. Just try and relax. Figure out who you are and where you are if you can. If you see yourself-” “Myself. Oh s**t. I never really thought about it like that.” “Never talk to yourself Tom. Ever. It only makes things worse. Impossible. Never break that rule. We are going to limit the scope of your targeting to the United States for the time being. Your father was very secretive and protective of his work. He had no connections over seas, not that I ever knew about. Everything he was doing was here. His life was here. The question is where to start. What do you think Tom?” That was something Tom had given thought to. Where to start looking. The logical place would be wherever there are people. Any major city would do but when and where? He relaxed his body and took a step closer to Al who'd begun to remove his coat. Al let him take it and it was a heavier thing than Tom had anticipated. He dropped it over a portion of the interface. “Is it bullet proof?” “Ha. Ha. It's Beth. If I go out in the morning she wants me to stay warm. But seriously Tom, with Alia. Just be careful.” “I will Al.” “Good.” Tom Smiled wide and he gripped Al's shoulders. “Ready to change history again Al! Find my father, maybe help a few other people along the way. I think it's worth it. Ziggy thinks it's wort it too. She's the one who really made this happen. Hell she gave us the information we needed. I think she thinks Sam is in some kind of trouble. That's something I've been thinking about. Maybe not trouble from some advanced civilization though.” “You think.” “Our own people. Ziggy has been unable to access any classified databases. She keeps trying.” Al rolled his shoulders back slightly and gave his cigar a good puff. He tried hard not to get a hint of ask on is all black outfit. “She wouldn't even if she got in. Here's something else you need to know before everyone starts coming in here. This is classified information Tom so just forget said it. Your fathers project, StarBright, has a “double-secret” classification on it. Has for years. That means the President of the United States, whoever that person happens to be at any one given time, that person has soul determination on what to do about-you. What I mean Tom is if you do anything they don't like they can pull the plug. Maybe put you in prison.” “You mean make me disappear. That's what your bullshit “double secret” is. I know. Yeah.” Tom had released the man and now he eyed the man sternly. “You think they won't let him live? You really think that.” Al tried desperately to shake his head. He took a short breath. “I just think it was a really stupid idea for him to come back and not stick around. Even say hi. Contrary to what you see in the movies, Washington cannot just take a person out whenever it wants to but if he begins to be viewed as threat, then I start to lose leverage we risk losing both of you. No I don't think they really would kill your father. Not unless-” “Unless what?” “If they could prove he used his leaping to access classified files for any use that could constitute treason. It must be tempting. Play the invisible man but even he needed a fix, needed a solution before he went mad. I just pray whatever your father is up to, he hasn't gone too far.” “I want to start at the bar.” “The what.” “The bar. You know.” “Al's Place. Yeah that was a little-well things got a little strange in there. Sam said he saw another leaper or something. Not Aliea. You read it. There seemed to be some answer there for Sam but I never understood it. But I understood it when I came out of the imaging chamber and Beth was standing there. In that blue dress. The bar, as I recall is a real place. It was in the middle of a mining town in Tennessee. In the hills somewhere. Quaint. Quiet. Then there was the accident.” “The workers got trapped. Most of them died. Then more died trying the rescue but Sam stopped it didn't he?” Al pulled again on the cigar. “As himself? In a time years before he would be born. Sam wasn't suddenly trying to make some kind of point.” “Not another soul in the room.” “Nothing. We recorded day and night. It was this quiet. Too quiet. So I agree with you, that's an interesting idea. I suppose you want to hit the date. If you really believe he'd be there. If he can go anywhere now who knows but-” “Who is saying he can go just anywhere? You say it was like something grabbed Sam and started pulling him in all of these directions. Maybe some rules do still apply. He might not be the rogue Washington wants to make him out like. Do they have any proof?” “If I knew I would tell you Tom. There were a lot of things I wanted to tell you. There just isn't enough time. You find him. If hes in trouble he might not want to be found and that's his best defense. Ziggy will work on trying to relocate Sam's aura signature. She'd said before, Sam might be able to block her with his mind but there was no evidence of him. You sure you're ready for this? Hopefully you will find yourself seeing a different world through your own eyes. When the connection is made you should re appear in the room.” “Me. But not me. Right?” “That's right. We will be able to talk to you that way but generally the dominant personality tends to lean more towards the person being leaped into. It was way easier to talk to the real Sam with the hologram but coms. In real time were strictly monitored. There were things we didn't tell Sam and there are going to be things no one is going to be able to tell you right away either. You have to learn to trust the people who come to you. Do you trust me Tom?” “My father trusted you with his life. You had his back. Maybe he just went crazy Al. Ever think about that?” Tom started to laugh. Sure Al, I trust you. Just keep the dogs off my tail.” Tom stiffened and gave Al a casual salute. “I saw Sam put a sauna in there. I'm gonna grab quick nap. Think about my life a little. Tell mother I'm here?” “I will Son.” As Tom reached the door Al turned and called his name. “Tom, I will get you back. With or without your father. I promise that.” “Thanks Al.” Tom knew mom would want to kiss him before he went down to the chamber. Two identical, oriental twins arrived with an army soldier and two men in black suits. The twins were to assist Al and Donna. Neither of them were especially elated by the idea but there didn't seem to be much of a choice. Tom didn't like it either. The men in suits asked questions about the target destination. To Al's supersize, they really liked the idea. Ziggy had a fast fix. There was indeed a bar, but already it looked less promising. The bar was never called Al's. Al was surprised by this, having seen the sign himself. It was something he would have to see with his own eyes. It was however a mining town. One of the more profitable for the time. There was no record of an accident and deaths. Not there. No one was exactly sure what the consequences of interrupting the flow of events to try and pull Sam back. Perhaps pull him back from the brink. Will he even understand what's happening? “Personally Tom, I don't think hes there. It's like the whole thing never happened. It's not even the same damn bar. That's a kick in the but right there. I think we have a much better chance finding an actual person Sam's leapt into and try and reason with him that way. We are changing history no matter what. That's the part I hate.” Tom strolled slowly into the wide circular room. With dim bluish hue and white light from above. Even his bare feet echoed slightly against the cold, smooth floor. He turned and looked at all, smiling but not really. “Don't worry Al she'll always be here waiting for you. I promise. Even if I have to go get her myself. I'll make that right.” “Good luck Tom.” “Yeah, its not the same bar because he changed history. Hey, watch those two weird ones. All that crap coming out of their ears.” “Yeah I know. Too many eyes. Don't worry. I'm on it. You just get into position. We fire in five minuets.” Al gave the man a reassuring nod and pulled the chamber door closed. It operated like a large bank vault. It took a few seconds to get it onto position to push it. He set the lock. Now there was no going back. Al was back in the control room. He went to Donna at the console. She was chatting with one of the orange boys. She shot him a nervous smile the turned her attention back to showing him something on one of the interface panels. He busied himself at another interface. Everything looked good. The radium ring was at eighty-five percent charge. Close to sub atomic. The main screen was divided vertically in two. One side was live feed from the cam via. Protected cam and the other were his vitals and data on the location of his leap. It would be a very accurate jump. And it could be a giant waste of time. Every so often he would glance over at the men by the door. The soldier didn't bother him, it was them. Always one little extra detail Al doesn't get to know about. Retired too long. “Four minuets to firing sequence.” Donna called out. “Al tapped a button. “Tom, can you hear me. Looks like the wind is picking up in there. Just relax and try not to move. The aura scan has completed and we are close to firing the laser. After that it's up to Ziggy. How do you feel?” “Great!” “That's good Tom. That makes Dr. Kim look a lot less nervous.” “Three minutes to firing sequence.” She had had enough of the orange alien. “It's fine it's fine. I've got it now.” She moved her hand across the console. The boy relented and joined his twin closer to the monitor. They chard conversation as the seconds ticked on and the air on the chamber became ever more violent. Donna was very nervous now. This was the worst part. “Tom this is your mother. I hope you can hear me. We are at two minutes to fire. Now the wind is really going to pick up in there son. It's going to stop feeling good and it's going to start to sting. “Ninety percent spin. It's going faster this time.” Al glanced up at the shimmering curve. “Ziggy are you complicating for the increased spin?” ~Everything appears to be on target. There is no degradation. Target is a mining town in northern Tennessee, summer 1954. I can see why these places never lasted. Too dirty “One minute to fire!” Donna called out again. Now the lights in the room dimmed and Ziggy remained aglow. A vibration permeated the room. It went through everyone and thing. It vibrated the console its self and made the twins antsy on their devices. “Ring at 97% of spin.” “Forty seconds.” “98%” “Twenty seconds. I love you Tom. Please come back to me.” “100% of spin. Apogee is aligned. Wormhole established.” “Ten Seconds.” Donna touched a control and a palm sized section of inlaid panel rose up. It was flashing madly yellow. Daring to be pressed. “Five. Four Three. Two. One. Clear to fire! She tried with all her might to press her hand to the plate. Just for a moment, it wouldn't go. “Clear to fire Donna!” Al tried to remain calm. Donna completed the circuit. The panel sank slightly and faded from yellow to orange and became darker. Then, unexpectedly, the console began to dim and the feed from the chamber was on static, despite being protected inside the wall. A strange silence fell over the room. The lights continued to dim and the screen stammered and then cut off as well. They were in darkness except for the light of Ziggy. But just for a moment. Just long enough to cause a shimmer of doubt, then the room was awash in light and the lights became overly bright and crackles and explosions began all over from above. Sparks of electricity over exposed the room and threw down random daggers. Al started to back away from the console. It too was acting very strangely. He could hear the systems struggling. He went for the emergency shut down but the panels he wanted snapped with blue energy. He looked quickly at Donna. She was handling an interface. He grabbed her should and pulled her away just as the section was compromised by the electrical field. It would have given her quite a jolt. Then there was a serous explosion and the room jolted. This led to more sparks and smoke from above and the console was a festering lightning rod. No one could get near it. Rumblings continued. The floor seemed less stable beneath Al's feet. “Ziggy, what the hell is going on! Where is Tom! Do you have a reading?” There was nothing from the computer. The audio link must have shorted out, or worse. Al went with Donna to the door. It was time to get out. He pointed at the army solder. We're going back out. Contact control and tell them to cut all power to the mountain. Got it. Make it the first thing you do. Doc come on we're all going up together before one of us gets electrocuted.” Everyone stuffed in and Al hit the button Donna looked at him. “What was that explosion.” Al sighed hard. He didn't want to talk until they were all the way up and out. He just glanced quickly at her. There was another strong tremor before they arrived in the garage. The army man ran out and snapped his fingers at the others milling around and pointed at the exit. When they were down the curve a bit Donna stopped his jog. “I'm sorry Donna. I think the ring is damaged. The force of the reaction. It caused a overload and the buffers couldn't handle it.” He tried to urge her on. He wanted to get completely off the sight just on the off chance of a collapse. He didn't say this to her. He just wanted to be on a little surer ground until the power was cut. They finally reached the base of the hidden entrance. The mobile army camp was active and still had power. That was a good sign. It didn't take long for a ranking member of the board to put a call in to the sight and talk to Al. He explained nothing could be done until the power was off. Everyone had something to do but not Donna. She was left to watch it all. The wind blew in her hair around as she looked up at the mountain. She started to cry. She knew her son was gone. “Please come back to me Tom.” New York �" October 11, 1984 �" Night “Just stay cool Johnny and everything's gonna be alright. You hear me under there.” The sack they'd forced over his head stank bad. His back and wrists were sore now from being bound from behind. Even the slightest bump sent a warm pain up his spine and made him even more mad. He knew just how bad the shocks were on the shoddy, red Studebaker they were in. He knew because he'd been the one driving it for the past two years. But not tonight. Tonight he was taking pokes to the head with the butt of probably his own gun. “You just sit back and relax.” It was hard to relax when you could hardly breath and what you could get tasted like warm crap. “You want me to relax take this damn bag off my head! I know who you a*s holes are anyways. Whatever game it is you guys are playing, I'm done.” “Oh but Johnny, we're not playing a game. We're under orders man. You done fracked up big time. And you don't know nothin' accept want you think. Just shut up and sit there. We're almost there.” It felt as though they'd been driving for hours. Probably had been. God knew where they were. “There there. It's clear. You can back in. This street's dead. Leave it running but kill the lights. I'm going to get out and make the call. You watch nimrod.” “Frack you!” Johnny spat in protest. Struggling was useless. He was sweating badly. He was struggling to think what this could be about. What did boss think he'd done. Maybe he was about to find out. At lest they'd finally stopped. “What are you going to do, put me in the scrapper? Eventually they'll find my body. Then what.” The other occupant said nothing. “Cal. Cal I know that's you man. Come on, cut me some slack. Just tell me what the hell I did and I'll fix it. Please!” Cal let out a long breath. “Sorry Johnny. This isn't personal. Just wait for the boss. He'll be here.” The ally was wide enough for two cars. Enough room for the boss's white Lincoln. Pulled in next to the other car. The driver stepped out. It was Kalvin James, or the Boss. He was dark complected. His hair was braided in tight rows with beads jingling into each other around the neck. He was dressed in a black, long sleeve, silk shirt and black chinos. His boots were dark alligator and tipped steel and were spurred with small, deadly spikes. Over his shirt he wore a thin, causal dress jacket. He closed his door and tapped on the glass of the other passengers window as he walked farther down the ally to where his other minion stood. Kalvin didn't like either of these guys but help was help. Some help was just better than others. But it figured the rat would get in through these two bozos. He shook his head at the man as he got closer. The man looked scared, even though Kalvin had no beef with him. That was reputation. Mostly he liked that. It was necessary. “Don't look at me like I just hit you. If I hit you, then you can look at me like that. Alright.” “Sure boss. It's cool. Look, we did just what you said.” The man motioned to Johnny being pushed stubbornly toward them. He tried to fight us but we get him.” Kalvin smirked. “It's damn amazing you pulled it off.” He raised a hand forward. “That's close enough. Right there. Now get this filthy animal on his knees. Come on! Kneel before the boss!” Kalvin was reveling in his own superiority. “You know something, I like this ally. Lots of light. This way there can be no confusion-” He reached down and in one motion yanked the sack from Johnny's head and produced a sparkly, nickle plated Beretta from inside his jacket. It was cocked before he touched it to the mans head. “-that I am looking at a stinking a*s rat fink little bizzo. How about that!” Johnny shook his head frantically. He pleaded with Kalvin. “Wait wait man! You've got to believe me. I don't know what the hell's goin' on here boss but-” “I got!” He swiped the barrel of the gun across johnny's face, catching his left eye. The man went down in pain. Kalvin nodded for his partner to pick him back up. He smiled. “You know something, you were my best damn driver. I cant believe it.” He held the gun more from the back and punched Johnny hard in the face. There was blood on it now and on the ground. The driver grabbed Johnny up again from under his shoulders. “Boss. Please. I swear on my life I didn't do anything. I just drive I swear.” Kalvin holstered the gun. He crouched down and got closer to Johnny. He grabbed him tightly by his fro and bent his neck back. “I'm going to give you one chance to tell me who you are working for. You tell me who sent you and I might only frack your face up. Be a bizzo and the s**t can get thick real quick, you got me.” He pushed Johnny's head forward and stood back. “ Who was it? Who was it that thought they could get a lousy, fink weasel into my business? Come on. Just give me a name and I'll make things real easy for you.” Johnny spit to one side. The left side of his head was hurt. He could hardly see out of that eye. However, unfortunately, he truly had no idea what boss was going on about. He was usually on about something but this was different. He'd seen boss kick the crap out of people but never one of his own. “I'm telling you boss, you got the wrong bizzo. I don't know crap about crap.” Kalvin glared at the hulking driver. The man went to the trunk of his car and returned with a pair of ufc style gloves. The wind had picked up. It whipped at his jacket. He whipped it off and the angry vortex snatched it up. The air seemed alive. It howled between the buildings. He waved his hands in the air, reveling in the increasing flow of the wind. Kalvin applied the gloves. He hunched forward, close really as he dared. “I know it was you.” He hissed in a spitting whisper.” He arched back, smiling wildly. “First I'm going to beat the s**t out of you, then I'm going to kill you and it is personal.” Kelvin struck the man with a hard left and then another right, increasing the damage to his eye. The wind had really begun to pick up. It pushed him back half a step and he had to reclaim his balance. He struck Johnny again and the man fell to one side. “Get him up.” The driver obeyed and Johnny was limped back into position. Kelvin removed one of his Berettas from behind and pressed it to his head. Above, the sky had darkened and several sudden bursts of lightning flashed “You see that Johnny! It's the wrath of god. Ha ha ha! He's comin' for you!” Amidst Kalvin's ranting a sharp streak of blue lightning struck one of the ally lights and obliterated it and suddenly there were multiple crooked bands dancing between the buildings. The wind was howling harder now. Kalvin had to fight to stand still. He kept the barrel of the gun rested to Johnny's head. Even if god blew him over, first, he would get his man. “Hasta- la vista bizzo. Kalvin wanted to pull the trigger. His thought was to pull with all his might but in that instant he found himself unable to move. The bands of energy started to touch down on him as as they did a bright flashing began to emanate from where Kalvin was standing. The crackles of lightning increased and the flashing became a twinkling glow. The glow enveloped him a ball of energy and then then dissipated slightly and it was as if Kalvin was wearing a body suit of electricity. Blues and whites snapping together. Now the ally was almost dark. There was one light. The electrical storm above faded. As it did, Kalvin was released from the energy field. He collapsed immediately and quickly to Johnny's left. Nearly strait down on his face. The gun slapped to the ground. Johnny had been squinting tightly, fearing the end was near. The there was a sudden rush of wind and bright flashes and heat. He hadn't wanted to open his eyes but he risked it now as best he could with his left. He saw Cal. He was standing flat against the wall. He looked scared. He was breathing heavily and looking at Kalvin laying there. He looked dead. Call called out. “Is he frackin' dead!” Johnny was in partial shock. He couldn't even believe what he was seeing. The boss just fell over? Really? “Maybe-it was lightning. Look at the clouds.” As he spoke a spear of radiant light angled down between the buildings. It struck higher up. Cal seemed willing to accept that. He really was hoping boss was dead. That was one hell of a strike. It would have taken down anyone. It was just his bad luck. He moved along the wall, past where Johnny knelt. He looked at the larger driver. “Well, what do you think?” “I think we should get the hell out of here. Let the people he sold out to deal with him.” “Yeah. I like that.” Hey, what do you say we make an upgrade. I like white.” “Yeah. No problem. I'll move red. Boss wont mind. Even if he survives that, his brain will be cooked. He won't remember s**t. We can do what ever the hell we want with all his money. I know where all his s**t is. You don't, but I do. Let's get out of here, before it starts to rain.” It took Johnny a while but eventually, as the sprinkles began to fall, he was able to get to his feet and stagger his way out of the ally and into the murk of the New York night. He left boss there, lying in the shadows. The rain continued to fall, then came the thunder. It splashed all around Kalvin as he lay motionless. Slowly, life returned to his body. It was pelting on his head that woke him. Cold and endless. He rolled his head side to side. The ground was wet and muddy against his face. He grimaced and yelled out in pain. His cursed echoed back to him. Slowly, feeling returned to his arms, then his hands. He clenched his fists, gouging angrily at the ground. Lighting flashed above. The rain was unrelenting. Kalvin forced himself to his knees. He took a few deep breaths, staring off into the hazy night sky. His body felt on fire. He ripped at his shirt and made short work removing it. He let the rain fall freely into his mouth. His mind was racing. So many thoughts. Too many thoughts and the voices. “Who are all these people! What's happened. Where the hell am I!” Tom was in hell. He staggered to his feet, soaked. Cold and shaken with no clear memory. However, the car just ahead was running and about the only thing he did know is he could drive it. Even getting in it and out of the storm would be a respite. He glanced at the gun as he stood and felt his back to find its twin. He upholstered it and looked it over. “What the hell is going on.” He quickly grabbed the other piece and ran to the car and got in. Now at lest he could take a breath. Think. He looked around the car frantically. Why was he in this car? What was going on. He quickly checked his pockets and produced a wallet. He pulled it open and stared into the eyes of a man he's never seen before. A black man with braided hair and a goatee . A stranger. He began to breath more heavily. “No!” He tossed the wallet onto the next seat. “All the voices. “Who are these people? Just go home Kalvin. You know how to do that.” Tom eventually found his way but it took s long time for him to find the address on the I.d., a run down apartment complex. He found the right door and produced a set of keys to open the door. He could hear the dull murmer of voices and there was at lest one child crying. His room was on the second floor and he made his way cautiously up. Down the hall to the right he found the door. He unlocked it and went in. There was a small light on a table off to the left, illuminating the arm of a shabby, black leather couch. Otherwise it was dark. The floor creaked under his boots. The dull light from the hall was insufficient to light his cautions steps. He took another step but halted to the sound of what he thought was hammer of a gun cocking back. It came from behind. “That's far enough.” It was a woman voice. She sounded serious. Tom was beside himself. Something was wrong with his mind. He knew it and didn't like it. He was very confused and found it difficult to focus on anything. “Please. Please don't shoot me.” As strange as it was, Tom found himself identifying himself my the name Kalvin. It was all so strange and the flashes. They had to be memories but not his. He was seeing through the eyes of another man. He could feel the emotions in the images in his mind. “I'm going to turn around real slow, so you can see. Here I go.” He faced the silhouette standing against the wall next to the door. Suddenly a light came on. The woman had flipped the switch he'd missed and she did have a small, silver revolver aimed at him. She looked like she knew how to use it. She also looked nervous, even staring at him in the light she seemed unsure. “Kalvin?” Tom lifted his hands slowly. “Yeah. It's me. See?” Tom knew the voice he heard was different. He sounded like a black man. He felt very strange and then the dizziness began to return. He staggered forward slightly then back and down on one knee. He cupped his head in his hand. His mind was all scrambled up. Trying to sort it out was impossible. “I'm not feeling so good. I'm not sure what's wrong.” That was the truth for sure. What was he doing in New York? What the hell had he been doing? Was he here with people? There were big gaps in his memory. He knew his first name wasn't really Kalvin and that probably he should keep all that to himself.” The woman was soon at his side. Minus the gun. “Oh my god Kalvin. You scared me to s**t! The power went out. I was just a wreak. Where the hell did you go? Did you go somewhere after work? What happened?” Tom searched for an answer in his swiss cheesed mind. Any answer but nothing made sense for long. Memories were fighting, one on top of another. “I-I'm not sure. It was raining and I woke up in some ally on the other side of town.” He looked up at her. She was attractive. Dark hair and eyes. Fine red lips. Seeing her helped relax him a bit as he tried to clear his mind. “Honestly, I'm amazed I made it here. Is this-our home?” The woman frowned. The question genuinely confused her. “I wouldn't call it a home but until one of us gets a raise or wins the lotto, this is about it. You look like s**t. Were you in a fight? You're not drunk. Are you high?” Tom felt he should take some offense to that. Everything was on delay. Not just his mind but emotionally too, it was like he was getting a preview of how he should behave before he decided to do it. He was never a drinker or user, so he could feel how alien the questions were but he felt distant from things. There were truths just out of reach. Blocked by the thinking of this other person but the woman seemed not to see who Tom knew he really was. She saw the man in the picture and that was shocking. “No no. I'm alright. I think I was in an accident. I'm not sure. I'm going to lay down.” “Sure Kalvin. I'll help you up. There. Better.” Tom nodded. He did feel a little better now but he felt weak and disoriented . Hopefully in the morning things would be more clear and he could get some answers. Any answers. What the hell was he doing in New York and why did things not seem right? Nothing was right. He knew that. Even the people on the street seemed wrong. The woman went into the bedroom with him and he let her undress him. Her touch was warm and inviting. Despite his fatigue he found her difficult to resist. Perhaps this was just the thing he needed. The night passed quietly. Tom awoke to the first rays of dawn creeping in through the thin curtains. There was an odd damp smell to the building. Everything looked old. Used. He didn't want to touch anything. He turned over and saw the woman sleeping quietly. She was amazing. If he only could remember her name. It's probably around here somewhere. He was afraid to ask. Probably asking any questions would just make him sound stupid and put attention on him he really didn't want. He slid out of the bed and into the bathroom to the left. He closed the door and rested against it closing his eyes. He still felt off. Disconnected. “Let's have a hot shower. Then we will feel better. Towels are over there.” Tom removed his boxers and adjusted the water. It felt good. He let it massage his shoulders. It was worse when he closed his eyes, then he could see all the people more clearly. Those he was sure he knew and others who were strangers. None of the colored people he knew. His thoughts were interrupted by the woman who was joining him in the rising steam. She gripped him firmly from behind and kissed his neck. “You off today?” “What?” “Work. I forgot to ask if you wanted the alarm set. You were pretty fried.” “Fried?” “Oh, is the poor boy hung over? Well, I have just the thing.” They made love in the shower until Tom could no longer breath and the hot water had run out. He killed the flow and she jumped out, dried quickly and left the room. “Wow it's cold.” He grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist. He was very thirsty and went to the sink. He took a small cup and filled it. As he took a drink he swiped the haze from the mirror. His eyes widened and he yelled in terror. He threw the plastic cup down and took a step back. “Kalvin? What's wrong?” For a moment Tom was frozen. He then quickly closed the door and locked it. He hesitated again. He didn't want to but knew he had to. He had to know it was real. He stepped back to the sink. “Oh my god. Oh god. “Kalvin.” Tom whipped around. “This has to be a fracking dream. He looked back at Kalvin. Their eyes blinked as one. “Oh boy.” He gathered himself a moment then opened the door. She was standing there in a short pink gown. He took a deep breath and tried to smile. Is this how Kalvin smile? Did he ever? It was too much thinking. “I'm fine. I just-hit my foot on something.” “Sounded like you seen a ghost.” “No no. Nothing like that. I'm hungry. What do we have to eat around here?” They ate together at a small table. When Tom was finished he took the dished into the kitchen and came back into the main room. “I think I'm going to go for a walk. Clear my head a little.” Tom needed more than to clear his head. He needed to get out of this building. He needed to find answers. His mind was still a jumble of information. He left the building wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. He stepped out onto the narrow, bustling side walk. He was passed on either side by randomness. He looked one way and then the other. “Damn. Why can't I remember anything. Why cant I focus for five minutes. Am I Tom, or Kalvin? Maybe they got me with some kind of drug, whoever did this to me.” He started walking. He didn't get very far before two thugs appeared suddenly at his sides. They stepped in tight, forcing him to keep walking. He'd never seen these men before. They were not the same from last night but they seemed to know him well enough. They had been waiting for him. “Morning guys. What the hell can I do for you?” The men said nothing. They continued to walk until they got to an ally and they pushed Kalvin off to the side and held him firmly against the brick. “What, no gun? Damn Kalvin, you've got all the balls in the world now don't ya?” Kalvin struggled against their grip but it was useless. “You want the truth. Fine, I'll give it to you. Something happened last night. I don't know what but-” “Yeah, you bet something happened. You let a marked man walk. That little bizzo's probably talkin to every rat in city. Spillin all the secrets. This is bad Kalvin. Real bad. You know what I say? I say kill you now and get it over with but I'm not in charge. Not today. You have 24 hours to deliver the traitor to the man. If you dont kill him, we'll kill you and crush your dead boss body in your white a*s car. No one will ever know, or care, except for maybe your pretty little girl friend, Tina. Or is it Trina?” The man laughed and he leaned in as he did so and it was close enough for Kalvin to give the man a firm head butt. It sent the thug back and while he staggered Kalvin grabbed the other man by his jacket collar and butted him firmly in the nose. He planed his feet to deliver a firm right hook but his arm was held hack by the other man and they began to fight. Kalvin achieved the upper hand flung the man into his partner who was still seeing some stars and the pair crumpled down to the ground. “You leave her out of this. You hear me down there? Huh? Anything happens to her, you know what happens. I'll find you both and so help me god when I do.” He grabbed one of the men by the shoulder and propped him up against the wall. “I have questions for you and you're going to give me answers or I'll beat your a*s the rest of the way. First, what year is this?” The Hispanic man looked at Kalvin blankly. He just shook his head slowly. Kalvin shook him and he did answer. “Nineteen eighty-five.” He pushed the man tighter against the wall. “Who was was the man I was pointing the gun at in the ally? What is his name?” The other man sat up. He rubbed his chin uncomfortably. “Is that how you're going to try and stay alive Kalvin? Play stupie'?” The man laughed. “I've seen men kill their own flesh to stay alive.” Nothing surprises me man but the fact that it was you makes it all the more my pleasure. You remember who backed this play don't you? You kissed away three years of trust and for what? One mouth? All you had to do was pull the damn trigger. Plug the leak but you didn't and to be honest I don't care why. You're a dead man anyway.” Kalvin looked sternly down at the bleeding man. He looked him over good while gripping him firmly by the collar. “I'll tell you what, why don't you two get your selves together and get the hell on back across the bridge. Now! Next time I will have my piece. Believe it.” The men gathered themselves and ran away. Kalvin rested against the wall, his heart was racing. He could fight. It seemed to come naturally. So many thoughts racing. He looked at the street. At the people. At the cars. Even the sounds were strange but he seemed the only one who could make sense of it. He decided to continue walking. After a while, he stopped at a street vendor and asked the portly man in suspenders and a white cap for a Coke. He pulled out his wallet and looked at cash in it. All hundreds. He frowned. Who is this guy? Who am I? The man, seeming to recognize him, rolled his eyes and filled a plastic cup with ice and soda. Kalvin hesitated but took the cup. The man said nothing, just busied himself at his stand. He must have walked for a couple hours. Down one street, then another, searching for answers. Every now and again someone would look at him. Most of the looks were not very friendly. He felt more and more out of place, like everyone was in on some secret he was not privy to. Then something stranger than all he had experienced happened. A woman in a navy blue business suit and dark hair passed by on his left. Very close. So close he could have sworn she passed through him. In fact he was convinced she had. He stopped and turned quickly. He called to the woman as she continued to walk. As she did, he watched in shock as one person, then another, walked through her as though she was not there. But she was there! He called to her again but she did not respond. Other people looked at him though. He could feel their eyes burning into him. Surely someone else saw what he did and besides the woman was dressed rather out of place. You could see her a mile away on this street but she passed unabated through the milling of people and they enveloped her. Kalvin snapped out it and charged in her direction but he did not see her. She couldn't have gotten far. He hadn't seen her cross the street but there were a lot of businesses, it was possible she'd slipped into one. He looked in what windows he could get to but she was nowhere to be found. “Tom! Tom!” He stopped again. The voice rang in his mind. He looked around as it called again. No one around him reacted to it. Why should he? Then something clicked. A sliver of a piece of memory crept into his swiss cheesed mind. He knew the name because it was that of the other voice in his head. He was not Kalvin. His name was Tom. Finally some real clarity! But that told him nothing. He did not see the woman anywhere but glancing across the street there she was. She was just off the curb next to a gratified phone booth. She waved and motioned for him to come across the street. The road was four lanes but they were narrow and at this hour there were ample opportunities to cross, wherever. As he proceeded he saw her turn and walk down a wide path between two buildings on the other side of the sidewalk. He caught up to her and called out. She stopped and turned. “Alright lady fess up. There's something not quite right about you, I know that. Who are you?” The woman took a small step forward. This seemed to startle the man, so she eased back. “Tom. You know that name right? I know you do.” “One of us does. What should we do?” “Let him talk to her. She's too old and white for me?” “I do. I heard you call it out. That's why I looked across the street but no one else did. Why? Who the hell are you? Are you following me? Oh my god. You might be about to kill me.” Tom began to carry on a bit more desperately and talking about inability to remember. “Tom. I need you to listen to me alright. I need you to calm down and just listen to me for a moment. I'm not here to kill you. Alright. Why would you say that? Are you in fear for your life?” The woman quickly hit a control on a device around her right wrist. It sang a quick tune. “Al. Does Ziggy have anything? I think we might be in serious trouble.” “Trouble? What do you mean?” “Just tell Ziggy to work faster. Damnit.” She sighed hard. “You don't have any idea who I am?” “Lady I'm not even sure I know who I am. I know right now my name is Tom but that's not the name on the id of the pants I'm wearing and I know more of them are coming. I shook to of them off. Couldn't believe I did that probably made things worse. So what's going on huh? Are you my shrink or something? Am I crazy?” “No Tom. You're not crazy. It took too long to find you. You got lost. Now this is where you are. You were looking for something Tom. Can you remember what it was?” “No mother, I cannot.” It seemed for Tom his response did not resonate quite perhaps as it should have but Donna let out an uncontrolled gasp. She threw up her hands. “Yes! You see, you're there. You can do it.” “You're my-” “Yes. I am. My name is Donna. It's alright if you don't remember me Tom. Just trust I am here to help you. What ever trouble you think you're in, it's going to be okay. Al chimed in. “Donna you'd better come back. Just tell Tom to lay low. Get off the street somewhere. Anywhere.” “Alright Tom I need you to listen to me and do exactly as I say alright. I need you to hide. Anywhere. Just get off the street. This-man looks like he has some money anyways. Can't say much for style. Did you get that?” “I think so. But wait. Where are you going?” “To get some answers Tom.” As she backed up a rectangular bluish-white glow opened up behind her. She continued to step through and was enveloped, then in a moment all was normal. She was gone. Just like that. CHAPTER 4 A MAN OUT OF TIME Donna was back in the control room. Al was behind the console. He was dressed in light brown chinos and shirt mostly red but with deep blue flake. There was a blond woman to his right in a casual black dress looking at some data as well. She faced them. “Well what is it? He's talking about people wanting to kill him.” Al nodded. “Yep, that's a big problem. History been changed. Ziggy is beginning to put the pieces together though now, here it is. The mans name is Kalvin Zander. He's African American.” “I know that.” “Right. Well he's a cold blooded killer. He's a part time hitman for the mob. Good old New York. Drugs and guns. Well It looks like Kalvin was supposed to make a mark last night. It looks like Tom must have prevented that murder but now the marks on him.” “What? Well that-that doesn't make any sense. He saved the guy. Why wouldn't he leap out?” “Because he doesn't know how,” The blond woman said. “and because that would only be one part of this equation. Yes, Tom did prevent the murder but now two lives are in danger. Kalvins and his missed mark. We missed the mark a little too but Ziggy was damn close.” “Yes she was C.J and you are absolutely right. Repairs cost us time. We knew that was going to be a possibility. The important thing now is make sure Tom stays safe. Do we have a solid lock now C.J.” “Yes Al. We are tracking. Vitals look good. Electro-cardio is way off. That's the duality point. We can chart the swings from personalty to personality, perhaps even control it.” “C.J. I realize how amazing and unbelievable this all has been for you but right now I need you to focus on getting this mark off Kalvin's head.” Donna resisted the urge to grit her teeth. She squeezed the edge of the console. “He'd have to be a killer. Who's to say we even can stop his death? Or maybe it's not his death that matters, it could be the other guy. Do we know who he was supposed to kill?” “We do now.” Said C.J Calpert Straum. Age 27, Several arrests. He's wanted for questioning in several other crimes. He met Kalvin through street friends and boom. There's nothing on why Kalvin would shoot him. “ Donna looked at Al. “This was- stupid. A stupid thing to do. But we have no choice now, is that right?” “Donna please don't do this now. We're not a bit closer to tracking down Sam until Ziggy can get Tom's brains unscrambled enough to do the trace. We need to get as much of Tom into that man as we can. We only get one shot with the burst trace, then it's a month to recharge and try again. Maybe at the same time we can get a physical lock and pull him back. A lot of that is up to Ziggy. Can she be fast enough?” “I am sorry Al. It's just frustrating. I know Ziggy can get him back.” Donna took a firm deep breath. “C.J. Contact me the moment Ziggy has a workable scenario.” “Yes doctor.” Donna exited the control room. She was followed by a man in a dark suit and tie. It was up to Al now. He signaled for Doctor. Woo. He had been in the room with Tom for some time now and it was time for an update. Maybe there is something about Kalvin that can help things. In short order, the balding Asian man entered from another door and made for the console. He was dressed in a dark blue, Japanese style shirt, with four gold chest buttons and slacks of matching color. In his hand a hand-link hummed and flashed. “Ah Dr. So what's the deal? Were you able to establish contact with Tom.” Woo shook his head nonchalantly from side to side. “Unfortunately the personality of Mr. Kalvin has a pretty good hold on things. I would say. I needed the guards to restrain him but its alright now. I sedated him and he did speak a little but I think the shock of things and seeing he was trapped was just too much. It's impossible to say how much of Tom is there right now. I think it's going to take some time.” Al smiled. He nodded at Woo. “Time doctor. What would you do if you knew you literally had all the time in the world? Ever think about it?” “I have but I myself, I would not want such power. Especially at my age now. I would miss my family too much, traveling to these places in time. If this Dr. Beckett is still out there, what makes the government think they would ever be able to catch him?” “C.J what is Toms current location?” “He's in a motel. Looks like a cheap one. The scan is clean. I can put it on the monitor if you'd like.” “Please do.” Al stepped around the console and across the floor to the large curved screen. He could see the location, the traffic passing by, people walking. It was just as it was. “Give me me quarter mile scan. Every license plate goes directly into the data base. Facile recognition can compile that's fine. Can we zoom in. What is it? Room 22. Bing bango. Hold at the door please Ziggy. Thank you. Go x-ray.” The screen flipped to a blue and white glow and what was seen was a hazy skeletal structure in a seated position and a brightly quivering object a few feet in it's front. “Alright. Good.” Al turned sharply and walked toward Dr. Woo. He motioned for the link and Woo handed it to him. “This is what I need you to do. Whatever it takes. Get that crazy person in there to listen to you. Sedate him, do whatever. It might be our only chance to come up with a way to help Tom. I'm going to make contact. He knows there are people with him now.” Woo nodded. Tom was tired. He had been here for hours and no one had come. He wanted to lye down but the images on the t.v were new and strange to him and it kept his interest. He was startled by a metallic whooshing sound and shinning light off to his left. He jumped up as a man in chinos and a reddish shirt appeared through the door. For a moment, Tom knew who this was but then it was gone and the fear disbelief in what he was seeing returned. People from nowhere. Was it drugs? He'd clearly forgotten things. The shimmering light closed upon and the room was normal. He took a step back. The man was holding something. He couldn't tell what it was. “Tom, it's alright. I know things don't seem quite right to you now. We are doing everything to help you but we needed to make contact with you to make sure you were at lest safe but it looks like we got to you a little late and for that I'm sorry. But don't worry, now that we've found you it's only a matter of time.” “You-you found me? I don't understand. Who are you people and what does my mother, if that really is her, have to do with it?” “Have you looked in a mirror yet?” “Yes. There's a person there that, I don't know, just doesn't feel right. Why can't I remember anything? What did you do to me?” “The memory loss is something you are going to have to work on.” “Why do you just-appear like that?” “Well I don't just appear Tom but you are seeing is holographic projection of me. I'm in your minds eye so to speak. See look.” Al stepped to the tv. He passed his right hand through it. The image flickered a bit as he did and a spark of dancing light outlined Al. “Holy s**t. You just-” “Tom calm down.” “No frack you!” Kalvin bolted. He was out and down the walkway in a flash.” “Damnnit.” Al punched at the control pad and took a puff of his cigar. Kalvin ran hard down the sparsely lit street. His heart was pounding. The strangers were in his head again. He could fight them one at a time. He could beat Tom but there were others and strange memories he couldn't explain. He felt trapped and needed to escape. The shock off seeing the the red shirted man suddenly ten or so feet ahead caused him all but fall in his jerking stop. Just about fell out of his boots. He wanted to run but just couldn't catch his breath. He looked at the man narrowly. “What the frack are you!” “You can't run from me Kalvin. I can track your every move with this gizmo in my hand. You see that now, so what I need you to do is stop running and let me help you. Now I don't have time to explain everything to you. These people that are looking for you. Who are they? Are they part of the mob?” Kalvin began to calm. He stood strait er. “The big boss is sending them because I didn't pull the trigger on Cal. It was like-I just couldn't. I wanted to but-I don't know. But it's all fracked up now. Now they're gonna get him and me. Two dead negros. Just like that. They probably already got to Cal, weather he was a rat fink or not. Negeo isn't half as smart as me. What about you you old man, what's your name?” “My name is Al.” “Yeah? Where you from Al? Wait let me guess, the future.” “You're smarter than you look Kalvin. Too bad you never put it to any use. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to help a friend of mine and he needs your help too. You're right, I am from the future. You have become entangled in an experiment my friend and I were conducting and wammo here I am. Are you seeing things in your mind you can't explain? People you don't know? Things like that?” “Yes, a little. My mind is-It's like it keeps wandering. It's hard to focus and when I try there's like this other voice fighting me.” “The other voice is my friend.” “T-Tom. That's the name I keep hearing. In my head. He tries to talk to me.” “That's right. Tom is with you right now and you are with him. There's nothing to be afraid of.” “Oh yes there is. The big boss wants me dead and he's gonna get me. He thinks I let Cal off the hook. I didn't but- frack.” “Kalvin listen. I need you to go back to the room. It's not a good idea for you to just stand here. Someones bound to walk by.” “Yeah so what.” “You are the only one who can see or hear me.” “Really?” “Yes.” “That's a trip. You really are from the future? How far?” “That's classified. Most of what you are going to want to know is, so it's best if you don't ask too many questions so we can focus and getting Tom out of here and figuring out how to keep the mob from getting to you and your friend.” “Cal isn't my friend. I mean he is but he isn't. But who cares about that. What I want to know is how the hell you're gonna keep the boss from poppin' me and from the future? Come on! I still think I'm probably on drugs.” “Kalvin you are not on drugs. I really need you to go back okay. Just go and wait. Don't leave unless you need to and go right back. I'm going to go and talk to some people and I'll be back alright?” Kalvin opened his mouth but words were lost as the shinny doorway appeared and Al dissolved into it and it shut with a echoing clang. It was as though the man were never there. Kalvin stepped forward. “No fracking way. He looked in one direction then the other. “Lets just go back. Sleep it off. See what happens.” (New York �" morning) Donna entered the control room. She was rested and focused. Interface tec. C.J was already at it. Some of Ziggys circuits were destroyed so it was helpful to have an extra set of eyes to pick through the data. She gave a short wave to Dr. Woo across the room at the screen. He was looking at something in a window. She went to the console. “Where are we?” “Tom is secure in a motel for the moment. Ziggy still cannot locate Cal. There is no reason to suspect he has been killed but at the same time there is no way to be sure. There wouldn't be until Tom can secure his secure his survival.” “What has she come up with?” “Unfortunately, not a whole lot. Kalvin is not a very, shall we say, public figure. He's a viper. Dr. Woo has been working with him but the man still isn't very interested in talking. He thinks he's in a government torture cell and we are trying to get names out of him to make arrests.” Donna smirked. “Well he's not very far off. How is Tom?” “Resting still. It's just after 8. Vitals are in the green and the lock is good. His phycee seems to be stabilizing but I cant say much for the one in the waiting room. He's just mean. Worst comes to worse, we may need to drug him, if just to get a strait answer out of him.” C.J gave a soft laugh. “Yeah I don't think we're quite there yet. What about Cal's home address?” “There are 8 men with that name within a 9 block radius of the prevented murder. Ziggy is trying to keep them in sight but there s only so much power. I think we will have better luck with Kalvin. He could know where the man lives, or where he might go.” “Maybe. Has Al been here?” “Not this morning. I was in at 7.” “That's fine C.j. I think it's time I introduced myself to our esteemed guest.” “There is a guard in there Kalvin doesn't like, so you should be safe but here is a Curvie.” “Thanks” The waiting room doors separated and Donna walked into the blue room lit from above. At the far end, past the clear table was a large, tall man in a black jumpsuit. On his waste was a belt with all manner of items about it. Enough to start a small war it looked like. To the right was single size bed and she saw Tom resting quietly on his back. It was Tom, or at lest it looked like him but inside there was another person bursting forth. For some reason the ego of the person lept into was generally stronger here than on their own time. Donna remembered Sam's first leap. There was no way of knowing that would happen. That Sam would immediately return, but it be not really him. At first it was strange, then humorous, then it became frustrating and depressing, for Sam too. Probably more for him because every leap was like a mental reset. His mind was never whole, so he was constantly trying to remember. But those times were hard for her too and although she did remarry, It always hurt that he did not return to her but now she knew what was really going on and she could not wholly blame Washington either, not really. Why was Sam coming here? She went to the table and activated a surface display. She glanced at the guard. His curved shades were dark. For all she knew he was actually asleep. He looked it. Probably one of Al's retired guards. “Kalvin. Kalvin it's time to wake up.” “What the frack. I'm still here.” Kalvin sat up. He looked first at the guard, then at Donna. He looked hard at her, like an animal analyzing an attack. “Who the frack are you? Some other doctor? Is that all you people are? I don't want to talk to any other doctors. I want to get the hell out of here!” “Well Kalvin we can talk about getting you out of here. We can. In fact that is something we have in common but I need your help to do it. The sooner you help me the sooner I can help you but first I need you to promise me you can remain calm. The more agitated you allow yourself to get, the more difficult things will become and no one wants that, lest of all you right? You want to get out of here? You want to see your girlfriend?” That made Kalvin perk up. He tried to fully stand but a restrain on his wrist did not quite allow him to. It forced him back down and he cursed. “I swear to god if you people did anything to her-” “You'll do what Kalvin? Look around you? Do you see any way of getting out here? You can't even tell me how you get in here can you? Think about it.” The woman was right about that. There was a big blank spot in his mind and it was not the only one. He began to see the gravity of his situation. Maybe there was some way out. Yeah, if he went rat but never. He was already a dead man. “It doesn't matter what I tell you. They'll kill me as soon as you let me go. They have people all over the place believe it. You cant hide from the mob. I know Cal's dead by now. He wouldn't have anywhere to hide. He'd know better than to go home though, that's about it. He'll be looking out for me. He wont see the hit coming. It just will happen.” “Kalvin I'll make a deal with you. You answer a few of my questions and I'll ask the guard to remove that chain. Is that fair. It's important you not fear me. I know how confusing this is for you and you feel like a prisoner but Kalvin you are not. Okay? I promise you I am not interested in the mob and things like that, not really but I am interested in some details of your life. Things that might help me help you get-out of here. Your girlfriend is fine but how safe is she really if these people are looking for you?” The woman was making real sense. This was different than a holding cell. The table was clear and fancy looking and had something on it she was moving with just a finger. He'd never seen anything like it accept in the movies. “Alright lady you win. Shoot.” “Don't say that. Please.” Kalvin laughed. “You know what I do.” “I know what you've done. Yes but I am not here to judge you. The first question I have is where you think Cal might have gone after last night. Did he drive? Could he have left the city? Where do you think he might go? “He would have to go underground. That would be the only way.” “Underground? “Play homeless. Pray he isn't noticed. The mafia is no joke. Killing is what they do best.” “Could you find him?” “Find him? Lady I don't even know where the hell I am. How the frack am I going to find a two bit wacker? He could be anywhere now. My money is on dead. Why is he so important to you anyways? I'm the one here. Why am I here? Why is my memory all messed up. I see these faces I don't know. All white people. It's actually kind of funny because I don't have one white friend. In fact, I don't even talk to white people. You want to know something else funny, you look really familiar to me but I can't figure it out. It's like I know you but I don't” Part of you does know me Kalvin. It's too much to explain. I just need you to understand you can trust me. I am here to help you. Can you accept that?” Kalvin shrugged. “I'm beginning to see I don't have much of a choice. Could I get something real to eat? That Chinese doctor keeps giving me apples and water like I'm an ape in a cage. I want real food, then we can talk.” Donna nodded. “Fair enough. Now what about that restrain? Are you going to behave?” “Alright. Fine. It's cool.” “That's better. Guard please.” The man instantly came to life and strolled over to Kalvin. He took the the metal ring in his hand and inserted a key. The look opened and Kalvin removed his wrist. He rubbed it. At lest now he felt better about things. Kalvin was delivered the best breakfast he imagined he'd ever have. Everything tasted so good. He'd never tasted anything like it. He akined it to what rich people might eat. He drank the cold milk and orange juice in large swallows. Soon he felt like a new man. After a while the woman returned. She went to the table. “Is that better?” “That was amazing! I'd live here, accept the walls have to go. Seriously. What is all this blue?” Donna shook her head. “It's just what we chose. Alright Kalvin, I met you half way. Now can we continue? You don't know where Cal might be, that's fine. We know you were supposed to kill him but you did not and that's why you are here. We have to save you Kalvin. You and maybe Cal too. We just don't know how to do it. That's why I need your help.” “You want to save me?” Kalvin laughed hard. “Save me from the mob?” Lady, I love you. I'd love you more if you'd tell me why I didn't pull the trigger on Cal. Was he clean? Could have been. It wasn't my call. That's what you people need to know. It wasn't my decision.” “You were just following orders.” “Yes ma'am. That's all I do. Been doin' it for years. Pay is bithin' and I get protection. It's not like they call me every day. Sometimes I get a call and I do a thing. I aint robbin' stores like other negros. Messy fools. They don't know who own what stores. You rob a front and they mark your a*s. Believe it. I know. “So you don't actually know Cal was deserving of that bullet?” “Not for sure. No.” “Interesting.” Just then, C.j messaged Donna with some solution projections from Ziggy. Finally! The first one seemed to be the most plausible but the odds were not very good, barely 45%. She looked over the data. There was nothing on Cal. Damn. It would be impossible to connect a death record or current address if he were still alive. Ziggy was of the thinking he was in hiding. History would change if he survived but it would also change if Kalvin were to be hit. Ziggy confirmed he was still alive and at once the solution became evident. Kalvin was moving to the west coast. California. He was 85 and still doing alright. Donna looked back at the man. “Alright Kalvin. That is good for right now. What I need you to do is just remain calm and relax. I have to go and talk to some people but I will be back. You know there is a bathroom over there correct? Dr Woo showed you?” “Yep. Fanciest crapper I ever seen but sure.” “Great. I will be back.” Donna nodded shortly to the guard and stepped toward the wall and it it separated quietly.” Donna returned to the floor. “I think the plan is clear. We need to get this Kalvin out of dodge. There's background on this lady he stays with? What is her name?” “Helen Bolt. She is 37. Single. No arrest but Ziggy is detecting barbiturates. Nothing good. She is currently deceased with no survivors. All in all, I'd say the experiment was a great success. We missed the mark and the date but still there is a bold opportunity here. This really is amazing!” “C.j contact Al. Ask him to come in soon.” Al calmly sipped his third cup of coffee in a popular road side diner. He was allowed to smoke because everyone knew who he was. They knew if he was here something was important enough for him to be there. At some point, his pad shimmered and he finished his cup quickly. He humped in his classic Corvette and smoked the tires in the dusty lot as he pealed away. Once again down that lonely, uncertain two lane road. He had prayed each time that the next call would be the last one and the whole Sam would return but it never happened. Now Tom was entangled and in completely the wrong time and history was being unwittingly altered. Stupid. Never enough power. God the power. Maybe that's the reason Sam could not stay. Maybe it is a power problem but even then why would he not leave some real clue beyond his code time stamp in Ziggys log. Soon Al was in the control room. He joined Donna, C.j and Dr. Woo had joined them as well. “Alright kids,what's the plan?” “Ziggy has found Kalvin in the present. He is actually still alive but he is no where near New York. He's in California.”Donna said. “Really. Well that means all we have to do is figure out a way to get this Kalvin to California!” “We're talking about turning a cold blooded killer into a hard working family man. Is it possible?” “Yes.” Al said. “It is most definitely possible but eventually it comes at consequence. You can lose yourself to it. You lose people you care about to it. Ask me what I think about Kalvin and Cal, I think I want nothing to so with that but this is the bullseye Tom hit. We missed him and that was ka ka but there are always ways of dealing with things.” Al stepped around and interfaced with a panel. He went about a short length of business then produced a hand link. “I think it's time to give our guest a little more perspective. If we can make him see there is a better way, it could be enough. It might be enough to get him out of the city and totally change his Image. Disappear. But the man will have to com face to face with himself and that was always tricky.” In the past they had shown some “half-Sam's” a mirror so the alter ego could see the image of the aura he or she was mingling with. The results were mixed and most of the time mirrors were kept out of the room. Those were the strange times and Al preferred not to speak to this other person as much because it was so unexpected and unpredictable and even scary. “I'm be in the chamber. Tom's still in the room? Did he go anywhere?” “Not that Ziggy has detected. He's lying on the bed. No one has come to the door.” “Okay.” He nodded to Donna. “I have a plan.” Al went off to the projection room door. The space was completely white all around when the doors closed behind him. He went forward a few paced and stopped. Momentarily Al was blasted with an array of colors and the colors began to swirl around him and then patterns emerged and a world unfolded around him. He was outside in the pool area of the motel. Just a little off the mark. Al tapped the device. “Ziggy. Center me on Tom. Try harder.” Al was instantly in the room and Tom was dosing. “Tom.” The black man snapped up. It was the only name in his mind now. This echo of a person he could not shake. But he was tired from fighting to keep hold and Kalvin began to sleep and Tom found a measure of clarity. He looked at the man in the crimson trench coat and matching, black trimmed hat. “I-I know you. The woman. She-” “Your mother. That's Donna. We have to be very careful what we tell you Tom and what we don't. People want to kill this Kalvin guy you've leaped into-” “Leaped?” Al sighed. “There isn't any time. Kalvin is still alive, here in the present. Way in the future from where you came from. That means we have to get you out of here, big time. Now I know your brain is too swiss cheesed to think about how Kalvin would deal with this situation, so I'm going to help you deal with it the way I would and the computer would.” Tom motioned to the colored device in Al's right hand, parsley obscured by the cigar in his right. “I come from where you do? Where is that? How do I get back?” “Tom I promise I will explain everything to you but first we need to focus on keeping you alive, alright?” “Fine Al. What do you got? I'm a black man who knows hes white and my only friends now are like ghosts. I was-looking for someone-or someone was looking for me. I can't remember. “or someone was looking for me.” “What is it you want me to do?” “Well, Ziggy actually has come up with a couple theories. Both, I would say, look good. I mean the odds are pretty good.” “Pretty good? What am I really up against here? Am I going to stay like this forever? Be a crazed, hunter killer? Who want's that?” “Well exactly Tom and look I know you're frustrated and no you aren't stuck with Kalvin and you're right, he's doing bat things now but look here you landed. Right as the man was going to do it again. You can take a life going nowhere and turn that ship around. It's real power but sometimes that power comes with a price. I'm here because I understand it and we need to help you through it so the real answers we want in this thing can become closer. He glanced a the hand like. Some new piece of info. He took a short breath and held it inquisitively for a moment. “All you have to do is get your girlfriend pregnant. Ha. Well that's easy enough but I-ended up with five.” “I have to what? Be serious.” “Ziggy computes an 85% chance Mrs. Bolt would follow you anywhere. The three of you can disappear and start a whole new life together. That's the easy part.” “Easy for you to say, you're not even-really here.” “I am here Tom, with you, I'm just not right there now with you physically. Remember, no one can see me or even hear me accept you. The hard part is before you can start your new life, you have to pick a direction. Something you-or Kalvin- can do that will keep him busy and alive on the west coast. There is another life in the mix, I don't know if you remember.” “Cal. My mark. Yeah I can't remember anything about him. I know I was -this other man was meant to kill him. What if he was innocent? Oh jeeze! Al!” “Tom yes! You remember me?” “I changed history didn't I? D****t Al-this was-not where I was supposed to be. I know that. I should have been in a bar. Looking for someone. I can't remember who. Why a bar?” “Tom listen to me. There isn't any time for questions right now. If we don't figure this out you might never leave this place and the mob will more than likely kill you. Pick something. I don't even care what it is.” “Alright Al. Quantum engineering. I-don't know anything about that.” “No you don't. Don't pick that. That's probably unrealistic for Kalvin.” Al glanced hastily at the pad. “Yeah the computer doesn't like that one.” “What about just a regular electrician. That's simple enough. Hell I rewired my whole house, yours-too. Hey!” Tom pointed. “I remember that! Its so hot in the desert sometimes. Al I-feel like I'm losing my mind. Sometimes things are clear but then I just get lost. Mom was here right? Is she here now?” “Your mother is close by. She's not right here with me no. But shes close. But that's good. Electrician. Now all we need to do is find a shop that might be willing to teach an interested person a thing or two and walla. Then you and your preggers' woman can go all the way to the west coast and live happily ever after and hopefully then you will leap out of this unscrupulous sadar and more than likely back to where you came from. We hope.” “We hope?” “Well that's the plan. You're absolutely right, we messed up. This is not a bar. People really want to kill Kalvin here. It's a big mess but is at lest partially salvageable. Kalvin is still alive, so there is the proof no one got to him. No one there ever would have suspected he'd disappear that far. You know what you have to do?” “I do. I have to get back to that-to Kalvins-to the woman!” Tom stood fast but Al held up his hands and that caused him to slow, even though nothing Al could do would stop him. “Yes but you'll have to wait until night. It's too risky for you to be on the street around here and I don't trust the cabs. As night fell, Tom was taking a good, hard look in the mirror. He knew who he was dealing now and what he had to try to do. There was no information on Kalvin's relationship with the woman and she was even more a stranger to Tom but now she was probably not safe either. When they come looking for him, if she is there, he would have to do something. Best do like Al said and just vanish. Don't start any trouble. Tom stayed in the shadows and tried to avoid people as much as possible as he ducked in and out from parked cars. Finally, he found his street. He peered cautiously around the corner to see who might be standing around. There was no one and he didn't see any occupied verticals. He refused to carry a weapon, so if they were going to get him, it just was going to happen. If he could leap into the other guys too maybe. Plus there were things Al and mother were keeping from him. They look scared. Something must be broken. Tom made his way up the wiry staircase to the third floor. The hall was empty ans he made his way down. His wrist tremored slightly as he tried to stick the key in the slot. “It's alright man. You can do this.” He opened the door and again all was dark. “But she always does this.” Was she a vampire? “Helen?” He went forward some. This time she was not hiding in the shadows. He stepped back and felt for the light and then he could see to get down the hall. He found here on the bed. She was lying naked on her stomach, a black silk sheet loosely across her back. A fan was blowing in her face as she dozed. At lest she was alive. She was beautiful lying there. He touched her head lightly. Her hair was thick and soft. He sat next her and watched her sleep for a moment. “Helen.” She woke slowly and looked at him with unfocused eyes. “Kalvin. Is everything alright?” “No Helen it's not. Listen, we need to talk.” “Tom they're coming!” Tom jumped and looked into the doorway. Al was there suddenly. The device in his hand flashed wildly. “Do you-can you not do that.” He stood and stepped closer to the man. “Just be there! I was trying to-” “There's no time. Ziggy says there Is a box in the closet with some money. Get it, get her and get the hell out. They'll kill you both.” Tom turned back to Helen. “This is all my fault.” “Oh there's enough blame to go around on this one Tom but come on come on. Let's go!” Tom found a bag and he found the money. He but it in the bag with cloths and other items. He was able to dress Helen but she was slow rise and kept asking where they were going. “It's alright baby. It's just not safe here right now. We gotta go.” They made it downstairs and into the car. Tom started it and drove quickly away. No sooner did he then a black car pulled up and three men got out. One of them had a key to open the complex door and they went inside. “They ain't here.” “Big mans going to be pissed.” “Yes he is.” Tom drove. He just aimed the car west and went that way and every mile they traveled made him feel better. No one for miles on long stretches of road. It wasn't enough just to get out of the city. They needed to go all the way now. “You did it Tom. The mob never finds Kalvin.” “What about Cal?” “We might never know but you at lest gave him a chance and you surely changed Helen and Kalvin's lives.” “Alright, great. So now what do I do?” “Well, there could be one last-” Helen pulled Kalvin out of the phone booth and gave him a firm, passionate kiss on the lips and the world slowed down. “Ask her. “All said.” Tom unconsciously repeated the words out loud. “Ask me? Ask me what? He gave her a confident smile, mixed with a bit of worry but it was good enough. “Really? Oh Kalvin yes! This is why you brought me to California? You are really are somethin'.” She kissed him again.” “Say good-bye Tom.” A blast of cool air enveloped them and the booth began to quiver. Debris started to kick up around their feet, then higher. Then there were several flashes of white light and tendrils of electricity touched upon Kalvin. He was completely enveloped in light. “I must be dead!” EPILOGUE “Tom leaped out of California fifteen hours ago. Ziggy has been unable to get a lock. Chrono-scan is detecting a stable wormhole to the location of Sam's last leap but these things come and go. Now it is back to waiting. Waiting for Tom to come back, or what part of him is able. There are still unanswered questions, some probably only Sam can answer. My gut is telling me there is something else going on. I don't trust it any more than Donna but we have to go with the program, or I'm afraid they will just yank the whole thing out from under us. If they cut the power, Ziggy would have only a short time. Not enough.    

Author's Note

This is purely fan fiction and is in no way connected with any current production