Message-ID: <19980827180618.12997.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Carol Belyea" Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 11:06:16 PDT Subject: Chances - Epilogue Epilogue What was left of the project was in flames, and all the staff who had evacuated could only stand and watch as everything they worked so hard for went up in smoke. The explosion had knocked out all ten sublevels and the two floors of apartments above ground were unsalvageable due to the fire. Some people were crying, some cursing, others just stared at the catastrophe in horror. It could not be helped. PQL was no more. Sam set Al down near where the medical staff were. Al, having his pride to regain and not really wanting to say thank you, quickly waved Sam off and told him to go find his wife. The physicist was uncertain but left Al and began to run though the crowd, pushing and shoving. He desperately called out his beloved's name. Over and over again, "Donna!" until he heard a faint reply from within the crowd. "Sam!" Shouted Donna, their bawling child in her arms, "I'm over here, Sam!" Sam ran to her as fast as he could and embraced her with all his heart. Johnny stopped crying right when his father came near, a comforting thought for Sam. "Thank God you're alright!" He looked into her eyes, relieved that both she and his son were still alive. "I love you so much. Both of you." Kissing her with all the passion in the world, he didn't think he could feel more relief than knowing that his family was unharmed and his best friend still alive . . . . to bitch at him. He pulled away sadly. "Sam, what is it?" Donna asked. Sam looked around. "It's gone." He said, "It's all gone." His wife put her free hand on his face and looked into his eyes. "But it's *not* all gone." "What do you mean by that?" Asked Sam with a furrowed brow. "Look around, Sam. All these people. All the minds that helped you put together this dream. They're the life of the entire project. Without them, your dream wouldn't have come true. You and Al made it happen with the help from hundreds of dedicated staff. Do you see them running away from this?" She indicated the building on fire. Sam nodded. He had to agree. PQL was more than just a bunch concrete walls and circuitry. It was Sam, Al, all the technicians, and the physicists and programmers. That's what counted in the first place. "So, where do we go from here?" He asked. "Well," she sighed, "It's going to be hard. But you've done it before." "We'll have to start from scratch." Sam sighed and looked once again toward the flames in despair. It will be a long hard fight. But it will happen. And Project Quantum Leap will be even better than before. (To be continued in Book 2 "A Shining Star for a Lonely Heart")