From: Philippa Chapman (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK.) Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 15:00 +0000 Subject: Looking-glass Limbo, part 2/10 LOOKING-GLASS LIMBO PART 2 We Leaped together, just like the time when I had saved Alia. We arrived in a feminine bedroom, the posters on the walls were of Wham, Elton John and the first LiveAid concert. "It's around 1985," I supplied helpfully. Viola looked at the wall with me. "Yes, but is it my bedroom....or yours?!" She looked at me and stifled a giggle. I looked down at myself. Pink jeans, white broderie anglais top. I turned with a sinking feeling in my stomach and looked in the dressing table mirror. No eyeshadow or lipstick, long dark brown hair ***and*** bangs. Ohhh, boyy, I even had a brace. And a figure that was verging on puberty, too. "You don't have to say anything, I feel a complete jerk. Perhaps you're my big sister." I dragged Viola over to the mirror. At least ***she*** looked OK in her pink dress. I took one look at the face in the mirror and sat down, hard, on the chair by the dressing-table. I couldn't speak for several moments. "You're....you're *****Beth***. Al's ***wife***, for God's sake." I saw Viola struggling to understand the implications,"He was, or rather will be, my holographic partner. Oh, my goodness, is he ***here***?" I raced downstairs, luckily my hostess liked wearing flat sandals. I opened every door in the house, but although I found lots of pictures of Al with Beth and four daughters....Four! Al always said he wanted girls, I was glad he'd got them: but I didn't find my friend. I paused, leaning on the mantelpiece to catch my breath, when Viola walked in. A moment later, a five foot four red-head in an orange catsuit came through the wall, carrying a blue and white handlink. She looked up at us both. "Hello, Viola; hello Sam. It's good to be able to speak to you in person." I caught the faintest hint of an accent in her voice. "Are you....from Scotland, Bea?" I asked, putting two and two together. "I'm glad you didn't say Scotch, sonny, or I'd have had to bash you over the head wi' my claymore one of these nights!" There was a roguish twinkle in her dark green eyes as she laid on the thickest accent I'd ever heard. "My goodness, if the Al I knew could have met you, he would have gone ***bananas***." And then some, I added mentally. Bea was about forty- fiveish, or so, as calm as a hurricane and, I have to be honest, built to Calavicci dream-date specifications. "Well, if what Sam says is true, **you** may see him. Who lives here, Bea?" "This is the house of one Admiral Albert Calavicci, his wife Beth and their four daughters. Joanne is visiting Beth's parents, the twins...oh, ***they*** will be a handful....**they're* ***eight years old, too. Terrible noisy age, eight.* *Anyway, it says here they're called Elizabeth and Alison and they're playing down the road with neighbours, and the best of British luck to ***them***. Sam, you're the eldest daughter, Bryony," Oh, no, they named me after a goddamned ***weed***! Bea continued,"Scherzo did some complicated jiggery-pokery with his projection unit so that you could see me too, Sam. Viola would explain it and I bet you'd understand if your memories weren't all like a string vest. Anyway, it's August 1985. This house is within easy distance of the Kennedy Space Center. Scherzo reckons you're both here to get the Admiral to consider the move to Starbright from NASA. That seems to be the move he ***didn't*** make in this timeline, because of the girls' schooling. I'll see if I can get some facts off Scherzo about that which may help you persuade him. Good luck." Bea disappeared through her imaging chamber door. "Well, Mom, what do we do now?" I teased. "I suppose, dear ***daughter***, that we wait for Al to come home," Viola quipped right back. I started to hope that I might have Viola for company for a while at that moment. Also that she would get me home, somehow. It seemed a long wait. Viola told me about her childhood and her schooling, her instinctive grasp of theoretical physics, her time sitting under the tutorship of Professor Stephen Hawkins in University. There were gaps in the narrative, though. I could pick up two holes; her apparent lack of any personal relationships in college and a more recent one during her own Leaps which had to include whatever Thames had done to her. I kept quiet and resolved to watch, and help if I could. I also learnt quite a lot more about Bea as well. "I know Bea seems very prickly, Sam, but she's alright, really. She's been like a best friend and a mother when I needed it. Her over-the-top Scottish performance has helped me smile more than once." "She seems to be like all the Golden Girls rolled into one, apart from being a lot younger, of course." Viola smiled and shook her head. "Bea picked up some impressive genes from somebody. She'll be collecting her bus-pass in four years - but for goodness sake don't let her know that ***you*** know. She gets a real buzz from men younger than she is looking her over, though she'd never let it show. So, technically she's just about old enough to be my mother, if not legally." I quietly put my jaw back in place for the second time. "I had you down as a thirty-something, Viola." "You old smooth-tongued flatterer. I'm a fifties baby; just." While we were making supper, I heard a key in the front door. "How are my two beautiful ladies tonight?" called out the voice I longed to hear. I dropped the cutlery and ran. The kitchen door slammed shut behind me. I met Al in the hall, wiping his face from the heat of the day. I threw my arms around him and hugged for all I was worth. "Hey, bambina, you're stopping me breathing," I pulled back a little, torn between joy and longing. Al's dark brown eyes looked into mine with concern,"What's the matter, Bryony?" I seized up; I couldn't move or speak and I could hardly breathe. I couldn't even begin to explain. "Come and talk it over with me and Mom. Whatever it is, we'll sort it out together...." he walked away from me, launching into a stream of Italian that I had no way of following. I stood, rooted to the spot, just looking at him walking away from me. He went through the kitchen door. There was a moment's silence, then he yelled. I've never heard anything like it, before or since. The shock and pain of it unglued my feet and brought me to his side. I looked in growing horror at the terrible scene. Viola had obviously been trying to get something from on top of the cupboard, and, not knowing if there were any steps around, she'd used a stool which had given way underneath her. I was on my knees by her side before I had time to think. Her face was grey and there was blood pooling from her head over the floor, but she was still alive, thank God. "She's still alive....Dad...we have to call for an Ambulance....Dad?" I looked up at Al. He was still rooted to the ground, his face white as a sheet. I ran past him, found the phone and made the call. Then I went back and knelt back beside Viola. Tears filled my eyes, for her and for Al. "It shouldn't be like this. It's not damn well ***fair***," then, in a whisper, so that Al couldn't here me,"She deserves to go home, too." "Don't use bad language, Bryony. It won't do any good." Al's voice seemed to come from a long way away. Shock was setting in and his reaction was automatic and made without much conscious thought. I went over and helped him to sit down. He was still staring somewhere off into the distance. "I had such good news too. I've been given the chance to go on this trip to a conference. It's during the holidays, too. I was going to take you all along, all expenses paid....." then Al lapsed back into another stream of Italian, this time half mumbled and incoherent. My heart ached for him, he shouldn't have to go through this, not with his beloved Beth. The ambulance came quickly and we went along with it. I had the presence of mind to get on the phone to the neighbors, whose number was printed up on a piece of paper above it. They were wonderful, agreed to look after Alison and Elizabeth overnight if necessary. I chickened out of phoning Beth's parents, I just didn't know how to talk to them as Bryony. The staff at the hospital were wonderful and did the unwelcome duty for me. At least it gave me the chance to watch Al and Viola all the time until they took her away for surgery. Al was allowed to go in to see her first, and when he came out of the room, Bea followed him ***through*** the door. I followed her eyes and we went for a little walk together. "Viola's alright, Sam. She's holding on and actually keeping Beth going. Al told her about the trip, I think it was for want of anything else to say. Viola worked up the energy from somewhere to make him promise to go, no matter what happened. If he agrees, it'll be painful for a while, but the move to Starbright will help him and the girls in the long run. You see, I'm afraid it looks awful bad for Beth and if he stays in the house, it's always going to be haunted by her memory. He'll never be able to sit in that kitchen again. Do you ken what I'm trying to tell you?" I turned and looked at Bea. Years of dealing with Al had helped me read concern well-hidden under a polite mask. It was standing right in front of me. Bea didn't have to say the word 'death' for me to pick it up. "What about Viola?" "It might be a good idea if you went and held her hand. That way, we'll keep track of both of you when you Leap. You can also watch your friend, the poor man." I picked up on Bea's cue and went into Viola's room. Al was deep in conversation with the doctor as I passed by. I wished I could be in two places at once. Viola's eyes fluttered open as I took her hand. "Sam, I'm so sorry....I couldn't stop it happening.....Bea says Al's best hope is the conference, and I believe her. After all, he's going to see ***you*** there." Of course, that was it. Al's terrible grief would give him an all too painful reason to hit the bottle and kick out that vending machine.....it wouldn't be easy getting him out past the pain, but I know I did it the last time. Thank goodness he had his girls to focus on. Helping them might just help him. Al came into the room at that point and I brought a chair alongside mine for him. His face was an unreadable mask. I put my hand on his shoulder; just touching him helped me and might help him. "Your Mom made me promise to go on that trip....." "You always told me to keep my promises," (I kept mine to you, Al.....I got you twelve good years with Beth and four daughters, and there might have been more if it hadn't been for this tragic accident),"Grandma and Grandpa can look after us and Mom while you're away." I turned to look at Al. There was a single tear running down his cheek, and as I leaned over to hold him, I Leaped. I was sitting on a bench in a garden. I looked down at my legs....brown pants that buttoned below the knee like plus fours and masculine boots. I was not alone. My companion had a pair of thigh-length black leather boots, a frilly white shirt and long blond hair. The face was definitely female. "How are the lines coming, David?" "Not too bad, perhaps....you could go over our first scene together?" The unknown lady came closer, brushed my hand with her arm under the script,....and melted slowly into Viola. We looked at each other for a moment in shock, then I instinctively pulled her into a hug. "Viola! It's so good to see you! Are you OK now?" "Yes, I'm fine Sam......When you Leaped out, Bea told me that you and Sammy-Jo were going to be there for Al and the girls all the way. You pulled out all the stops to try and help Beth, and I don't think Al's the sort of man to forget that, even when she didn't make it.....I feel guilty about that, I tried so hard to will her to live..." "You did your best, Viola. I know it hurts when you lose someone. I once sacrificed one life to gain another. I just hope that Al somehow managed to get past the pain." "Well, Sam, I never thought I'd see *you* using the old casting couch." I shot to my feet and whirled around. "Al!!" It was really him, right down to the loud suit and the rainbow handlink. My hand went straight through him when I tried to touch him. Joy surged through me like a lightning bolt,"I was never so grateful to see you as I am now." Al shrugged and a smile darted across his face. "Hey, don't do the lady any dis-favors, Sam. She's pretty attractive, you know. Not what I'd pick, but then it takes all sorts...." He blithely passed through us, unaware that Viola was silently fuming at him, then he stopped dead and I could see the familiar fires of lust starting to glow in his eyes. "Now, here, on the other hand, as the bard so eloquently put it, is metal far more attractive..." I turned to follow his path, Viola just behind me getting the view over my shoulder. Bea was sitting, as cool as a cucumber, apparently perched on the end of the bench. Al had stopped to admire her from a distance. His voice held a mixture of surprise, delight, awe and regret. "I've been blind to the female world for far too long. This gorgeous specimen is more than worth waking up for." I could feel Viola at my back begin to shake with repressed laughter. "Just you wait till Bea reveals herself! Your friend probably won't know what's hit him!" she whispered feverishly. I bit the side of my mouth as hard as I could bear and settled in to watch the fireworks. Al got closer and began to put Bea under close scrutiny. Bea, still calmly ignoring him, stood up, loosened her hair and stretched slowly. "I'll be with you in a minute, Sam. Just admiring this lovely lady's finer points.....and what points! If you're mind is half as beautiful as your body, baby, I could be your love slave for life. It's a crying shame that you'll never know my deep admiration and gratitude." Bea turned slowly and looked Al straight in the eyes. When she spoke, she laid on the Scottish accent with a trowel. "I'm a hologram from 2001, and what's your excuse, *pal*?!"