Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1993 20:10:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Brian Willard Subject: QL : The Next Generation - Part 3 Message-Id: <01H0B93CZ1EQ8Y5264@UNCA.EDU> Organization: University of North Carolina at Asheville Quantum Leap - The Next Generation Chapter 2 Rocky Beginnings by Brian Willard Chris Grayson slowly descended the stairs of the dorm. He lived on the third level, he was headed for the basement. He wanted to watch the news. His parents had promised him a TV if his semester's grades were good enough. He had gotten a 3.2. But they still hadn't brought him the television. Of course, they didn't visit often - Atlanta was a long way from Colorado. As he approached the lobby he found out that somebody had already beaten him to the tube. He had seen the attractive female before - the dorm was coed and Chris enjoyed it. His love life was going nowhere, but he really didn't care. "Hi Pam," he said with artifical confidence, strolling into the room with a can of Coke in his hand. The girl looked around to see who had joined her. "Oh hi Chris. Yeah...I was just getting ready to watch the news. I presume you're here to do the same?" "Yes," he said with little hesitation, "Gotta keep up with current events." The familiar face of Peter Jennings appeared on the screen and Chris walked over to turn up the volume. He sat down in the chair next to Pam's, and soon his attention drifted as he began to daydream. Nothing interesting on the news anyway...just politics. Everything in the world seemed to be going good, and everybody wanted credit for it. It was February, but Chris already knew he would not vote for Dan Quayle. He might go for Gore, or possibly even Perot, if he could stay in this time. Chris's thoughts subsided in a hurry when he saw a strange man enter the lobby where they were watching TV. The man walked in a few steps, and then turned to watch the news also. Chris leaned over and tapped Pam on the shoulder. "Do you know him, Pam?" he asked. "Who...uh...DAD!!! What in heaven's name?" "Hi Pam," Al stated in a serene voice, "We need to have a little talk...alone." Pam rose up out of her seat. She turned to Chris. "I've got to go right now. I'll come by and talk to you later tonight, okay." "That's cool," said Chris, not really paying attention to anything but the Coke can he held in his hand. He looked up in time to see Pam and her dad leaving the room. "I hope she's not in trouble," he muttered softly. *********************************************************** The last person Pam had expected to see that day was her dad. Since she had started school last August, her parents had only visited her twice. But now without warning her father was here, and he had just laid a double-whammie on her. "How can Alice be all right? She was dying of brain cancer. God dad, that's impossible!" "Dr. Beckett's an amazing man, dear. I had my doubts too, but Alice is here, and I'm sure she'd like to see you again." "Is she still the same? Or did she lose some of her memory? She can't be exactly the way she was." "Well, for the most part, she's no different," replied Admiral Calavicci, "But she's not quite so shy anymore." "Is she in Colorado now?" "Everybody's here now. We moved the project, remember? The government cut our funding, so Sam got a job as a professor here at Colorado State and they're going to give him what he needs to keep the project going." "So I might be in one of Sam's classes?" asked Pam, smiling from this explosion of good news. "Only if you pass Physics I, Pam," Al said not-to-seriously, knowing that his daughter was currently working with a 3.8 GPA. Pam and her father left the room shortly after and headed for the Physics building. A security officer checked them for ID's just before they arrived and Pam was nearly beside herself when she saw her own dad pull out a college ID, even though he had a staff version. They went into the building and down the elevator to the bottom floor. "He's using lab room 016," said Al, "But this project is still Top Secret, so try not to make this place a hang-out." "Okay, dad," laughed Pam, "But that's what you've been doing for the past five years!" "Hey, I had reasons. Besides, Sam needed my help...this hologram didn't have Ziggy's memory banks in his brains." "What?" "Uh...Pam...when Sam operated on Alice...he...uh...well, he had to find somewhere to put Ziggy's memory. There was no way we could transport her all the way from New Mexico to Colorado." "So Alice is really Ziggy. Is that what you're telling me?" Pam said, noticably upset, "Is my best friend a zombie now?" "Oh no! She only has Ziggy's memory. She still has her personality...maybe with a quirk or two, but damned if she doesn't make Albert Einstein look stupid! She knows everything there is to know about anything, especially stuff from the 20th century. And she has the equivalent of a photographic memory!" "Really? I'll have to remember that when it comes time for my Calculus test." They finally came to the room where Project Quantum Leap now resided. The door was double guarded with an ID-card slot and a combination lock. Al Calavicci slid his card in and then pressed a simple combination on the door. The electric lock snapped back and the door became slightly ajar. Al pulled the handle and then motioned Pam inside. This facility was nothing like the Trinity Laboratory, which Pam had also seen. There was no long corridor, just a small hallway which housed restrooms and offices. Through the open door at the end of the hallway Pam could see strange flashing lights of all shades of the spectrum. She walked up to the doorway, escorted by her father. "Isn't this a kick in the butt?" commented Al, looking around the new facility. "Are we still at Colorado State University?" "Yep...though something tells me that if the head of the Science department saw this, he'd probably have a heart attack." Pam wandered in to get a closer look at the project. The rooms walls were the same bare, institutional cinder blocks, but the rooms adjoining were something else. To her left she saw a small room not much larger than the hallway they had come in through. Next to the entranceway, a plaque on the wall said WAITING ROOM. Straight ahead was the Accelerator. Pam could tell because of its cylindrical shape. Also, there was a plaque beside the entrance. To her right though resided the most interesting room of all, the Imaging Chamber. This room had a light steel door going in, and inside it was completely white and devoid of any furnishings (to ensure no accidents during observation.) "And the best part about all of this is that we don't have to use those damned handlinks anymore!" added Al with a chuckle. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a cigar. "Are you still smoking those, Daddy?" "Old men never learn," stated a voice from the hallway. Sam Beckett appeared from the entrance and walked over to Pam to greet her. "So, what do you think?" "It's...interesting. Not quite as unusual as New Mexico, though. I see you kept the Rubiks Cube thing." "Ah yes, the control banks. Though all they do now is run stuff. Here's what's really going to keep the project going." As if on cue, Alice Jackson walked in from the hallway. She looked the same to Pam, with her slim athletic body and long straight auburn hair. She looked up, and Pam saw no differnce at all, not even in her eyes. "Pam!" Alice cried, seeing her best friend for the first time in several years, "O God, I just can't believe this is happening! Did they tell you about my memory? I can't even believe that myself, but when they ask me something, I always know the answer. It's really freaky. I feel like I'm possessed or something." "You are. By Ziggy!" said Al, raising his hands in typical horror fashion. "Stop it, Al," said Sam, "She'll get used to her new abilities, and soon after she'll be able to optimize them to their peaks." "So where is everybody else, dad?" asked Pam. "Most of them are still gathering equipment from wherever. It's obvious we aren't quite finished here. But we have all the essentials. Gooshie and Tina are still in New Mexico waiting for Dr. Fuller to leap into somebody. As soon as she does, they'll bring that person here, and we'll be rolling again." A phone rang from the one of the offices. Sam ran out of the Control Room to get it. He returned a few seconds later. "Speak of the devil," he exclaimed, "that was Gooshie. A young college professor just appeared in the old Waiting Room. They're leaving right now." "Well, here you go kid," Al said to Alice, "Your first assignment." Pam and Alice exchanged worried glances, and then asked "What is the professor's name?" "Gooshie said that her name was Dr. Jill Handras, a professor at Statesville College, an all-male school in Pennsylvania. She's from the year 1975." Alice sat for a moment, Ziggy's memory banks fiddling through all the information. She relayed the information quickly and clearly, much like Ziggy used to. "Dr. Fuller's mission is to prevent a relationship between Dr. Handras and a pupil named Jim Watson. The affair is reported by another student and Dr. Handras career is destroyed. Mr. Watson apparently didn't take the news well either. He committed suicide on October 12, 1975." "Very good Alice," commented Sam, "Are you ready to visit Sammie Jo?" "Why not?" asked Miss Jackson, now sounding like herself again, "How will I recognize her?" "Uh Al, you can probably better explain this one," said Sam, who had only observed once. "You'll know which one's her. She's the only one who will be able to you, unless children or animals are present. Don't worry, kiddo. You'll get the hang of it," explained the Admiral, "I'll go with you the first time." Al and Alice stepped into the new Imaging Chamber, closing the steel door behind them. Through the window Pam could see a strange glow as the hologram was fired up. She watched in awe. Part 4 coming soon... ***************************************************************** Brian Willard | "Revenge is mine, thus sayeth the hologram!" UNC-Asheville | Sam Beckett - "The Leap Back" *****************************************************************