From: Philippa Chapman  <philippa@dapc.globalnet.co.uk>
      (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK.)
Date: Sun 16 Feb 1997 18:00 +0000
Subject: About Time?, Part 3/3


'It is dangerous to meddle with Admirals when they say they can't do
things.' Winston Churchill.
'Time is the longest distance between two places.' Raymond Williams.

Al shrugged to himself as he left the Imaging Chamber.  The door to the
past swung shut behind him.  The console room was empty for once.  
"Oh, well.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
"I DON'T WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU."  Al smiled disarmingly.
"Not even if I say sorry and we kiss and make up?"  Al moved over to
Ziggy's multi-coloured glowing console before his nerve went,"Now, where
might a hybrid computer like to be kissed?  Which coloured block is
best?......Here?  Or maybe here?"  Al kissed Ziggy twice.
"Al!  You'll make me jealous!"  Al shot upright guiltily as Tina spoke. 
He smiled with the full force of Calavicci charm.
"No problemo, gorgeous.  *You* kiss back."  Tina sashayed up to Al in
one of her - and his - favourite skin tight mini dresses.  This one was
black, barely covering her bottom and plunged dramatically at the front
and back.  She put her arms around Al's neck and pouted.
"I've been so *lonely* without you, darling."  Al realised that he was
going to be lucky if they managed to reach the bed in the back of his
office.  He kissed Tina hungrily.
"Tina, bellisima, you know you drive me crazy when you come in here
acting like a naughty schoolgirl."  Tina grinned conspiratorially.
"And naughty schoolgirls need to be kept behind after class and taught
how to be very, very good."  Al steered Tina toward his office.
"I believe you're going to have to stay in my office for an all night
lesson, Ms O'Farrell,"  Al pulled the door closed and locked it
securely,"Ziggy, please don't disturb me until at least 10 o'clock
tomorrow unless Sam's in danger."
"VERY WELL.  I FORGIVE YOU.  SHALL I DOWNLOAD THE EROTICA THAT JAMES
MENTIONED TO YOUR CURRENT LOCATION?"  Al grinned.
"Yes, okay.  But I have a feeling that I won't need to access it
tonight."

'So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into
the past.'  Albert H. Fitz

 Sam woke up early the next morning feeling refreshed.  He got out of
bed, took a long shower, then finished Christopher's packing.  He pulled
on Christopher's underpants, pants and laced up the stout boots, then
pulled on the T-shirt and sweat shirt before carrying everything down to
the entrance lobby.  Breakfast was cornflakes, juice, bacon and eggs
with toast and marmalade to follow.  Sam was used to large breakfasts
from his childhood on the farm      and tucked in gratefully.  Karen
pressed a string bag of oranges on him as he joined the other occupants
of the camper van.  The journey north across rural Somerset was
punctuated by  small talk from Stella and Father Riley.  Tony was
concentrating on driving, especially as they neared the village of
Pilton.  Crowds of Travellers, on foot and in vehicles were all making
for the same location.   The camper van slowed to a crawl as all the
paperwork was checked and re-checked, then they moved up through several
gates and into the festival compound.  A marshall guided them to their
correct location and Sam helped erect what James had described as the
Coracle.   

It consisted of several long curved poles, lashed together, which were
interlaced with other poles before two great waterproof tarpaulins were
fastened over the top.  Inside, the structure was reasonably high at the
centre, then curved down to the ground on three sides.  The fourth side
was opened up in a semi-circular arch towards the healing field.   
<It's a bit like a rough upside-down boat,> Sam thought,<I must ask Al
to explain.>
Al didn't show up until Sam had finished helping to unpack and set up. 
Sam's eyebrow's raised at the sight of Al wearing the suit he had on
before, instead today it was looking rather crumpled and Al looked
tired.
"What's wrong, Al?"  Al managed to keep his voice level as he explained.
"Oh...I...I just didn't get much sleep last night.  I was...in my
office."  
"More paperwork?" Al's lips twitched into a smile as he looked away. 
The smile broadened, once Sam couldn't see, into one of lazy
satisfaction.
"Paperwork isn't *quite* how I'd describe it.  Anyway, I'm here now.  I
see you've put up the Coracle."  Al visibly waited for Sam to ask the
question.    
"Okay, Al.  *What* is a Coracle?"
"According to Ziggy, it's a small boat used by early peoples to get from
place to place.  The early Celtic missionaries used to set out in them
and see where God took them, then preach the good news.  The real ones
are coated with pitch on the outside, like Moses in the bulrushes.  They
still make them and use them in parts of Wales.  When it's upside down
like this, it's usually called a Bender.  Quite a lot of the people here
this coming weekend live in them, some all year round."  
"Like the Native Americans and their wigwams?"  
"Those that live that way, yes.  Very similar.  Next door you've got
some Buddhist nuns arriving soon, there's a Hindu shrine and you can
probably find most of the major religions around this open space."  

Sam looked around and pointed to the tree in the centre of the large
circle.
"Those are dream catchers, aren't they?"  Al looked surprised.
"Yeah.  They apparently act as a filter and let only good dreams
through.  You'll probably see some folk sleeping next to the tree in an
effort to catch a really good dream.  If it really works and you were
under that tree when you Leaped...."  Sam looked at Al intently.
"Are you trying to tell me that it might be the way home?"  Al shrugged.
"We've tried wackier things before now to attempt a retrieval.  Can't
hurt to try...but not until tonight.  Ziggy says that now Christopher
has to meet someone, after lunch.  I should go for a stroll and do some
talking with people.  The Reverends are having a rest, so you're free." 
Sam nodded and spotted a small group in the middle of an earnest
discussion near the tree.  He went over and they let him join them.
".....and if you haven't tried Astral travelling, you simply haven't
*lived.*"  This from a very earnest man with a brown goatee beard and
wide hazel eyes.  Sam decided to use his ears until he could get a
handle on what they were saying.  He looked at the other two, a younger
man with fair curls and blue eyes and woman who was sitting with her arm
linked through his in easy companionship who had dark plaits and grey
eyes.
"But, as I was saying before, if this whole universe is illusion or a
giant holographic projection, then Astral Travelling is only one of many
equally interesting but unreal states."  "Maybe the Astral plane *is*
the true reality, but we just don't know it yet."
"Maybe it's Heaven or Nirvana." This came from the young woman, who had
a rather dreamlike expression on her face.    
"Uh-oh, Sam.  Some of your new friends have been smoking pot.  Watch
yourself and take everything they say with a pinch of salt."  The goatee
beard turned to Sam.
"Have you ever tried Astral projection?"  Sam foundered for a moment,
then realised that this was close to something he knew only too well.

"I don't *think* so.  But I have travelled in time."  That should start
an interesting debate.
"Careful, Sam.  Not too many secrets, now.  On the other hand, these
guys are half stoned.  Maybe they'll regard you as just another harmless
lunatic like them."  Sam glared at Al.  Three pairs of eyes followed his
gaze.  The goatee beard smiled.
"Hey, grandpa, you can join us too.  We don't mind.  I bet you remember
the Sixties, too!"  Sam had to cough violently to stop himself laughing.
"What did I tell you?  Children, animals and...." He tapped the side of
his head significantly and looked at the man next to him,"I wish, just
for once, that I could be seen by a voluptuous sexy woman."  
"No problem, friend.  Hey, Rita, come over here."  Al nearly boggled
when he saw her and Sam had been forced to hold his hand over his mouth
because he was laughing so hard.  

Rita was maybe two inches shorter than Al, about thirty-five or so.  Al
took in the long, black curls, the dusky skin and the blouse she was
half-wearing over her stunning cleavage and swallowed hard.  Her hips
swung provocatively as she sat down next to Al.  He looked into her
midnight blue eyes and smiled seductively.  Rita smiled back and tried
to put her hand on his thigh. 
"You're a golem, aren't you?  I am true Romany, I know these things. 
You don't really belong here, nor does your friend.  I saw you in my cup
this morning; a handsome man with dark brown hair and eyes and a great
fire in his soul." 
"I...I'm not sure what a golem is, Rita.  I'm a hologram of a real man
from the future."  The other members of the circle made appreciative
noises.  Sam grinned as he watched Al clearly wanting to touch Rita, but
not being able to do so.
"Anyway, Al, this is Astra and her partner Rama.  This other man is
called Sky.  Your friend was talking about travelling in time," she
looked at Sam,"There are two of you - one that I have seen on the road -
 and another.  Which name shall we call you?"  Sam swallowed slowly and
decided on the truth.

"My name is Sam, but I'm ....borrowing the aura of Christopher Walker
for a while."
"Let me see your hand, Sam."  Sam hesitantly extended his hand.  Rita
looked it closely for several minutes.
"Yes.  I see Christopher's future; he will not be alone for much longer. 
You, Sam, have a great mind and a long life ahead of you.  One day soon
you will stop being on the drom.  Like Al, you are one of the world's
great lovers."  Sam started to blush and Al just stared.  A slow smile
spread across his face.
"Who's been talking?!"  Rita shook her head slowly.
"No-one, Al.  It is just there in your eyes....and I would expect to see
the same in your hand,"  Al presented his palm eagerly,"Yes.  No doubt
about it.  You have Italian and gypsy blood running in your veins.  But
we must get back to the subject of time travel.  That is why you are
both here."  

Everyone turned their attention back to Sam, who was still trying to get
over his embarrassment.  He cleared his throat.
"I...What do you think of travelling in time?"  He looked at Sky first,
because he seemed to be the most articulate.  Sky stroked his beard
thoughtfully.
"I have heard of adepts who were able to use Astral travel to go back
and view the past, even re-visit their past lives.  I never thought much
of the time machine idea - I much prefer your way of borrowing auras. 
It makes you anonymous to everyone without spiritual sight like Rita
here.  That's neat."  Rama asked the next question.
"But what do you and Al *do* in the past?  Just hang out and talk?"  Sam
shook his head.
"It seems that I've been sent back to put right things that went wrong
in my own timeline.  Usually they're small things on a world-wide scale
- saving one life, or a marriage, or someone's job.  I seem to be here
to talk with you guys at the moment."  Aster smiled.
"That's awesome.  Pilton's a good space to be in.  Have you been to
Glastonbury yet?"  

Sam frowned.  An image that was strange to him surfaced.  A hill-top
covered in grass, Al and a tall striking woman with blue eyes and
shoulder-length brown hair looking at him with warmth and affection.  A
second older woman, with fiery red hair and generous curves in Al's
arms, kissing him with passion and love.  Remembrances of long,
incredibly sweet kisses that *he'd* shared with the first woman.....but
none of it was real; it was like a dream of might-have-been.
"I...er...I don't think so."  Rita smiled.
"In one timeline, you did.  The images you saw were as real for *that*
Sam as this place is for you, now.  *He* found the love of his life with
someone else.  Somewhere there is at least one Sam who is home and
happy.  Equally, there are other Sams who are still lost."
"Pardon me?"  Sam tried to follow Rita's train of thought.
"Every significant decision you make leads to all possible outcomes. 
The parallel universe theory.  There are several Sam Becketts *and* Al
Calaviccis, maybe even hundreds.  In some you never leaped, in others,
there is no-one waiting for you, in others you have a wife or a partner. 
You may have several children or none.  Al realises this more than most. 
Don't you know that his relationship with Tina shifts when you change
something significant?  Sometimes he finds that it's not even Tina
waiting in his bed."  Al actually blushed.     
"Good grief, *more* women?  Don't tell me that you took advantage of
this arrangement.....  Oh, boy, I can see that you *did*."  Al grinned
at Sam's discomfort.
"Hey, it wasn't *that* bad.  Most times it was one of my ex-wives or an
old girl-friend.  Though on the occasions that it's been someone
new......  Well, thank-you, Sam.  You've always provided me with
gorgeous passionate women.  Once it was even 'Beena.  When I got over
the shock and surprise, we were *incredible* together.  I've never quite
had the courage to pursue it since.  I was married to her at the time,
for all of three days.  And if you can fix it for me to kiss beautiful
Rita here one day, I shall be eternally grateful.  Anyway, where does
all this multi-verse stuff leave us *now*?"  Al's mind skipped to a
scenario he dreaded.
<I just hope that I never have to deal with having Donna as my wife. 
That would be *tough*.>
Rama smiled at Al's reminiscences.  The sunlight caught in his blond
hair and blue eyes as he turned back to Sam.

"I like this idea.  Maybe somewhere there's another me who settled down
to a steady job just like his parents wished and is married with a
family.  Aster and I are married as far as we're concerned, but my
parents probably wouldn't accept the ceremony we used.  As for children:
we'd rather do our bit to help those children in the world who are
starving.  We can help several children for the price of one of our
own."  Aster nodded and gazed lovingly at Rama.
"It must be hard though, giving up a family for the sake of your
beliefs."  Sky turned to Sam.
"If you're travelling in time, then you must have left wherever *you*
call home for the sake of *your* beliefs.  You might have a wife or
lover and children back at home waiting for you."  Sam shook his head.
"Not when I left, no.  Al was the nearest to family I had.  Since then,
I tried to alter the past of the one woman that I really loved so that
she would marry me, but I can't remember if it worked.   Al can't or
won't tell me, so I go on, still hoping that I'll get a happy ending one
day."  Al looked at Sam sympathetically.
"You made the rules, Sam.  No information on your personal history
incase you did something that might change it for the worse.  Anyone
waiting at home would want their identity preserved too.  You couldn't
act as a free agent if you knew for certain that you had
responsibilities."  Sam shook his head.
"It's the thought of being unintentionally unfaithful that worries me. 
I'd always hoped that there'd be one woman, for life.  I believe in the
spiritual and physical bond between two people completely committed to
one another *and* in fidelity.  I know I haven't lived up to that.  My
Swiss Cheesed brain may forget a lot of things, but right now it
remembers three other women that I made love with since I've been
leaping."  Al shrugged.
"Don't be so hard on yourself.  I'd had that many by the end of my
sixteenth birthday party!"
Rita gently leaned over and touched Sam's hand.
"Did you intend love with those women, Sam?"  Sam nodded.

"Yes, absolutely.  When I was with them, there was no-one else I would
rather have been with.  As far as I can say such a thing, I was in love
with them.  If I could have stayed, it would have been for a lifetime." 
Rita smiled softly.
"Then your conscience should be clear, Sam.  Your intentions were
honourable.  Do you know the story of Krishna?  He had many lovers, but
only one true love of his life.  The stories are intended to reflect the
intimacy of contact between the Divine and humankind."  
Al's eyebrows rose.
"This is getting *weird*.  I just can't get this stuff.  God and sex in
the same breath again!"  Sky stroked his beard for the umpteenth time.
"Krishna is an avatar, a redemptive figure.  He came into the world at
the right time to advance religious thought - you could say give it a
leap forward.  After him there have been others, of course.  Rama,
Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, the Ba'ab.  An equal number have been female,
it's not a masculine-only club.  That which I call divine is beyond male
and female in any case.  I believe we all have a spark of the divine
inside us, it's just that not everyone has realised it yet.  We are
*all* potential avatars.  Sam, perhaps you are more than most, but you
just haven't realised it yet."  Sam boggled.

"I'm not worthy....I can't be God!  I've made so many mistakes and I
couldn't save my own family, my father...."  Rita smiled with warmth and
deep sympathy.
"It's often those who are closest to us that are the most difficult to
communicate with.  Perhaps another Leaper will accomplish what you could
not do one day.  Your family could not listen to you simply because they
*are* your family.  Even Jesus had problems with his mother and siblings
until they understood who he was.  Also, everyone has free will.  If
somebody is set resolutely on a course of action, then they find change
difficult."
"I just wanted the best for them, to give them a better life..."
"I know.  So does God, but he uses the pain, transforming and
transfiguring it.  Look at all those who have a physical or mental
handicap.  You can't change *their* lives much.  But some of the most
radiant people I know shine through a damaged body or mind."  Sam smiled
warmly, remembering.
"Yes.  I can agree with that.  I learnt so much when I was in their
shoes."
Aster smiled at Rama.      
"I think I can handle being part of the divine being - it's as if the
Universe is working itself out through even me.  That's very humbling
and challenging."  Rama nodded.
"Yes, you are *my* Gaia," he said, looking at Aster.  Sam nodded,
slowly.
"So maybe what I'm doing is part of the plan.  I like the idea that
there are other Sams out there who got it right and made it home.  I
hope that we can all get home one day."  
"You will, Sam, even if it's the final Home; the consummation of all
things."  
"I hope it doesn't take *that* long.  I owe Al a monumental hug and my
gratitude for being there and helping me all this time."
"Aww, Sam.  It goes with the job description."   At that moment Father
Riley came over and interrupted Sam for lunch.  As Sam made his excuses
and left, he saw Al following Rita back to her gypsy caravan.  Al
turned, grinned eagerly, then waved before trailing in the wake of her
undulating hips.  Sam shook his head and went back to the Coracle.

Tony Draper leaned over towards Sam during lunch, his broad clean-shaven
face kind and amused.
"So what were you and your new friends discussing, Chris?"  Sam blinked. 
He had got used to having his own name for a while.
"Oh.....God, Time, love, avatars....stuff like that."  Tony smiled.
"That's a lot for one morning!  I know Sky, he came down to the
Community once.  He's got some interesting theories based on the idea
that this reality around us is merely a hologram of the True Reality. 
I *think* the idea is similar to the one put forward by C.S. Lewis, when
he described the difference between Narnia and the Real Narnia, where
everything looked as if it meant more.  It doesn't bother me really if
it's true; maybe heaven or paradise *will* start out to our limited
sight as an idealised version of this Earth.  Those who have come back
from near death experiences talk of a garden of light and angels and,
sometimes, Jesus or other significant figures.  Maybe God communicates
himself in terms we understand at first.  It's going to be quite
exciting finding out."  Sam said nothing as his mind explored the new
ideas.

'But the canons of time have never been in love...'  Heinrich Heine

Sam sat under the dream tree after lunch in the warm June sunshine,
almost half dozing.  His stomach was comfortably full and the afternoon
heat was making him sleepy.  Stella sat at the entrance of the Coracle
with Tony, while Father Riley went for a stroll to the Churches' large
tent on the other side of the valley to greet other Christians and
anyone else who he happened to meet on the way.  Sam heard a soft
jingling of bells and someone sat down near him in the shade of the
Coracle.
"Chris?  Chris Walker?"  Sam opened his eyes and found himself gazing
into a pair of almost midnight blue eyes fringed with long brown lashes. 
He blinked, then took in an attractive pale brown face, sun-bleached
light brown hair and a soft, warm smile.  A pair of tiny bells attached
to her purple dress provided the soft jingling that he had heard.
<Thank-you.  You always seem to give *me* nice women to look at.>  Sam
smiled back.
"Er...."  The lady blushed slightly and fine wrinkles appeared around
her eyes as her smile widened.
"Well, it has been over twenty years and you didn't have that beard in
school, but I recognised you."  Sam suddenly knew who she was.  This was
why he'd had to save Chris' life.
"Pamela!"  She smiled delightedly and Sam knew he'd hit gold.  His hands
met her outstretched ones.  A tingle ran up his arms.  
<Chris never stopped loving her.  Now I've got to see if she feels the
same.>         

"I remember being with you in school.  You were the first woman I ever
kissed."  Pamela nodded slowly.
"Yes, I know.  You were my first, too.  We were terribly young, weren't
we?  What happened to you afterwards?"  Sam dredged up what Al had told
him.
"Oh....University, several jobs, then I became a Traveller.  I'm at Tony
Draper's community at the moment."  Pamela nodded, then hesitated.
"I heard about Bob.  It was such a tragedy.  I'm sorry, Chris."  Sam
nodded.
"It's okay now.  I think I'm getting over it."  
"He was confused, even at school.  He kissed me too, but even then there
was something adrift in him.  I wasn't surprised when I heard that his
marriage had broken up.  I don't think he could handle relationships
with women.  It took me some time before I tried again, but I never
really found what I'd hoped for.  That's why I never married either.  I
couldn't find that mixture of friendship *and* romance....."  Sam could
see the ending even as he spoke.  It was so plain.
"Neither could I, Pamela.  I kept measuring every woman against you and
they fell short.  I've been on my own for twenty years."  Dark blue eyes
looked into his with a mixture of fear and wild hope.
"Is it that simple?  Was it you all the time?"   Sam gently ran his
fingers through a lock of Pamela's hair.  A glorious smile transfigured
her face as she moved closer, "I've missed you, Chris."  Sam pulled her
into his arms for a hug, then began tracing tiny kisses towards her
mouth.
"Pamela...." he whispered, hoping to Leap out for Chris' sake.  But
Pamela stayed warm and real in his arms.
<Maybe Chris wouldn't have had the nerve to follow through.  Well, it
won't be the first time I've kissed someone else's love - I just wish I
could have one of my own.>  


Sam's lips brushed Pamela's and she gasped softly.  He took his time,
planting tiny kisses across her top and lower lip.  When her lips
returned the favour, he sighed with pleasure.  Finally he couldn't wait
any longer and covered her mouth with his own.  Pamela moaned softly
with a mixture of pleasure and fulfilment as their mouths moved together
with slow sensual caresses.  After what seemed like half an hour, Sam
pulled away softly.
<I do hope Chris remembers that when he leaps back in.  That was one of
the sweetest kisses I've had in a long time.>  
Pamela smiled at him, her eyes wide and dark with joy and wonder.
"It *is* that simple.  I've never forgotten how wonderful your kisses
were.  Where do we go from here?"  Sam smiled contentedly.
"Well, I don't think I'm going to be a monk after all!"  He held
Pamela's face in his hands.
Pamela chuckled softly and warmly.
"I should hope not!  We've got over twenty years catching up to do." 
Sam couldn't resist.  The memory of the single exquisite kiss was too
strong.
"Mmmm, that includes twenty years' worth of kisses."  He captured her
lips again, starting gently like before, but soon deepening the kiss
into a promise of a lifetime that he knew Chris would keep.  Finally, as
the kiss became more passionate, the Leap took Sam away.   

Somewhere there was singing.  A woman's voice, sweet and unaccompanied.
"Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shone, will you let my name be known?
Will you let my love be grown in you and you in me?"  
Sam smiled and stretched, feeling a bed underneath him.  He raised his
head from the pillow as the female singer came in through the door.  
She walked over and felt his pulse.  Sam looked up into dark chocolate
eyes set in a beautiful pale face, surrounded by a cloud of fragrant
dark brown hair.
<Wow!> his mind trembled incoherently,<Absolute perfection.....and that
mouth is so soft and tempting.  God, why do you keep doing this?  Just
once in a while, I'd like to be able to give in and *know* it's going to
last for more than just a couple of nights...>      
"How are you feeling?"  Her voice was low and musical.
"I...er...okay, I guess."  She smiled reassuringly and the sun came out.
"You'll be just fine.  You're safe, nothing's going to hurt you.  Do you
remember your name?" Sam smiled.  It wouldn't hurt, at least until Al
showed up.  He could always plead amnesia; this place felt like a
hospital.

"Sam....Sam Beckett.  And you are *incredibly* beautiful."  Sam reached
up and kissed her before he lost his nerve.  For a moment she pulled
away, then she murmured his name next to his lips and began kissing him
back with such eagerness that he almost swooned with delight.  Suddenly
she pulled away and began smoothing down her white doctor's coat.
"I'm sorry.  That shouldn't have happened.  I shouldn't really be
here...everyone's gone to see in the New Year.  I hadn't really got
anyone to go with."
"I'd go with you.  I can't understand why a woman as beautiful as you
should be alone tonight."  She looked away with pain on her face.
"It's a long story.....but nothing that should concern you."  Sam laid
his hand over hers on the covers.  She looked back with puzzlement and
something else that was so subtle, Sam barely caught it.
"I *know* you.  And you know me...." Then the revelation hit like a
thunderbolt,"We were lovers; I've kissed you before.  You are the love
of my life."  Tears filled her dark expressive eyes.
"Don't, please...."  The holes in Sam's memory filled suddenly with
blinding revelation, joy and deep, loving desire.     

"My darling, my only true love....*Donna*.  It's really *me*.  I'm
*home*."  Her eyes widened, then she gasped and flung her arms around
him.  Sam kissed her hair, the tears rolling down both their faces.  He
kissed her throat and finally back to her mouth again.  He kissed her
over and over, surrendering with joy to the aching sweetness of her lips
until his long pent-up desire took over.  He tried to go slowly, but she
let him know fairly early on that her need was as great as his.  They
made love with almost frenzied passion, then a second time, taking it
slowly, re-learning each other's bodies tenderly.
"So what year *is* it, anyway, darling?" Sam asked as they lay closely
wrapped together in the after-glow.  Donna smiled and stroked his face.

"It's still 2000 at the moment.  You made it back in time to see in the
new century and the Millennium."  
"I'm glad.  I can't think of a sweeter, more glorious home-coming.  The
next time we make love, it'll be next year," Sam smiled softly against
Donna's hair,"Although, if you keep stroking my leg like that..."  A
chime rang out from somewhere overhead.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR, FATHER.  I AM GLAD YOU MADE IT HOME AT LAST."  
Donna smiled joyfully.
"Happy new year, darling.  Now what was that about celebrating the New
Year?"  Sam held her close.
"I'm not going away again.  This is where I stay.  Always, Donna.  I
need to see Al, too...and everyone else.  And, Ziggy....destroy all
records of the last hour and keep your visual and auditory monitors off
in this room.  This is intensely private."
"I think they can wait until after the holiday, don't you?   Al's rather
busy.....I think he was hoping to celebrate the New Year just like this,
too."  Sam chuckled.

"Tina, I suppose?  Or is it Beth?  I don't remember how the timelines
worked out."  Donna shook her head gently.      
"He was married to Beth until last year, then, when she died, Tina
consoled him.  They were pretty hot for a while until she ran off and
married Davidson, the security guard.  Al's been alone until recently.
On his last visit to Taos, he met this incredibly wise and attractive
gypsy."  Sam smiled.
"Rita?"  Donna laughed.
"Yes, of course.  She was there on your last Leap.  She's been keeping
him at arms' length for a while, but she told me in confidence that he
was going to be her dream lover - and she his.  Last night she finally
kissed him and they went off together.  You're going to have to wait a
while to see him!"  Sam pulled Donna as close as he could.
"I owe him so much, and you too, darling.  You're my home, Donna."  
"I know, Sam.  And you're mine, my love." 
"I love you.  Now where had we got to in celebrating the New Year....?"

OR; if you prefer - in another timeline:
Sam carried on Leaping from life to life.  There were no commitments
calling him home, so he enjoyed his task of helping put things right,
snatching moments of happiness where he could.  Sometimes he wished that
he could touch Al, then his wish came true.  Al leaped after Sam to save
his life and the two men carried on Leaping together for a while, with
someone else filling in hologram duties.  Sam helped Al, too, especially 
when the latter had to cope with being a woman for the first time - but
that, as they say, is another story. 

'Our gift is Time.
Time to pray, time to worship daily;
Time to study;
Time to listen; time to help.
Time for other people.
It is time we put at God's disposal,
time he has given us.....
to share our thoughts, 
our inspirations with those who seek;
To help in time of need;
To listen to all who need to talk - in 
excitement, in despair - and to bring
their needs to God....
Single and married;
In homes, travellers and homeless;
resident and visitor;
Man, woman and child.
Time to be available to serve.
Our time is not our own, it is a gift from God.'  

(abridged)  Valerie Flint-Johnson, Quest Community, Glastonbury,
Somerset.     

'The dust will not settle in our time.  And when it does some great
roaring machine will come and whirl it all sky high again.'  S. Beckett 
(the other one, wrote a few plays...)