Theorizing that one could time-travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett led an elite group of scientists into the desert to develop a top-secret project known as Quantum Leap.  Pressured to prove his theories or lose funding, Dr. Beckett prematurely stepped into the Project Accelerator…and vanished.

He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own.  Fortunately, contact with his own time was maintained through brainwave transmissions with Al, the Project Observer, who appeared in the form of a hologram that only Dr. Beckett can see and hear.

As evil ones do their best to stop Dr. Beckett’s journey, his children, Dr. Samantha Josephine Fulton and Stephen Beckett, continuously strive to retrieve their time-lost father and bring him home permanently.  Despite returning home several times over the last decade, Dr. Beckett has remained lost in the time stream…his final fate no longer certain.

Trapped in the past and driven by an unknown force, Dr. Beckett struggles to accept his destiny as he continues to find himself leaping from life to life, putting things right that once went wrong with the hopes that his next leap…will be the final leap home.

PROLOGUE

“So, what’s the special occasion?” Beth Calavicci asked as Al pulled out the chair so that she could sit at the table.

“Do I have to have a special occasion to take my wife out to dinner?” Al questioned right back, a grin on his face. “Come on. Things are quiet for a change. Sam hasn’t had a rough leap in quite a while. I just thought that it has been too long since you and I just had a quiet evening out. No phones, no kids, no emergencies.” He walked around the table and sat across from her, gazing upon her face. “Just you, me, and a romantic night out.”

His words brought a slight flush to her face. “And I thought I was the hopeless romantic of the two of us.”

“So sue me,” Al taunted lovingly. He reached over the table to take her hand and held it gently as the waiter came up to the table.

“Hello, my name is Juan. What can I start you with tonight?”

Al immediately took control of the situation. “Let’s start with a pitcher of sangria, a couple of glasses of water and two chimichangas with everything on it. Load mine up with the green chili, extra spicy.”

The waiter nodded at the order and assured that he would be right back with chips and salsa as well as their water before leaving the table.

“Green chili?” Beth gave him a berating look. “Al, you know what that will do to your stomach.”

“I’ll take an antacid before I go to bed,” he told her, gaining another look of rebuke. “Beth, I haven’t had something like this in a long time…”

“Yes and there is a good reason you haven’t had something like this in a long time. You’re not as young as you used to be, honey.” Seeing the look on her husband’s face, she sighed. “All right. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Al gave his wife a winning smile. “Have I told you lately that you’re beautiful?”

Beth giggled. “You are in a mood tonight, aren’t you?”

Juan returned at that moment with the chips, salsa, and water before discreetly leaving the table while Al gazed into the eyes of the woman who had his complete attention.

“Christa’s graduation ceremony was lovely, wasn’t it?” Beth asked. Gaining a nod, she continued. “It’s hard to believe that she’s going to be a married woman in less than a month! I don’t know how she and Eddie planned this wedding with her in Florida and him here in New Mexico.”

“Lots and lots of time on phones,” Al told her. “I bet they have phone bills that would rival ours when we were engaged.” He lowered his voice almost conspiratorially. “Remember that month when you were at Bethesda and I was in Pensacola.”

Beth laughed gently. “You called me every night at eight o’clock on the dot.”

“And we spent at least two hours every night talking about everything under the moon, including our wedding plans. Christa and Eddie probably had the whole thing figured out before mid-semester.”

“Very likely,” she conceded with a smile. “I guess it’s hard to think that my baby girl is going to be married. There’ll only be Liz left and I don’t think she will ever marry. She’s pretty set on becoming a Sister of Charity.”

“I think that whole incident with Mitch Davidson did the idea of marriage in for her,” Al commented. “Liz always was a little more uneasy with the whole dating thing than Vickie, even if they were practically inseparable when they were teenagers.” He paused thoughtfully. “I think she’d be happy as a Sister of Charity. Hell, she might be assigned to a school and become a teacher.”

As he finished his comment, the chimichanga dinners arrived and thay remained mostly silent as they ate, thoughts of their children’s futures dissipating in favor of the romantic atmosphere and the tantalizing flavors of spicy Mexican food. They topped off the meal with a couple of delectable dishes of fried ice cream with honey and the gentle sounds of a live mariachi band finishing for the evening.

When the evening was done, Al lovingly escorted his bride to their front door. Opening it with a bit of a flourish, he lifted her off her feet and carried her in, receiving a surprised laugh and a passionate kiss as a reward. She didn’t have to question what was on her husband’s mind, especially since the feelings were mutual.

Satisfied both with the meal and with the events that took place in their home afterwards, Al and Beth snuggled close to each other and drifted off to sleep, remembering those sweet few days they had together when they hadn’t yet said, “I do.”

PART ONE

“Admiral Calavicci.”

Al hummed softly as he snuggled closer to his wife, smelling the sweet floral scent that seemed to linger with her regardless of how… involved… they were the other night.

“Admiral Calavicci,” the voice repeated.

The hum turned into an annoyed growl as Al slowly pulled away from Beth and tried to block out the voice.

“Admiral Calavicci,” the voice insisted.

Al huffed, sitting up in the bed, now awake. “What?” he demanded in a harsh whisper, not wanting to wake his wife.

“You and Dr. Lofton have an appointment to discuss the alterations he and Captain Calavicci wish to make to the security system,” Ziggy informed him plainly. “Your appointment is at ten o’clock. It is currently eight thirty.”

“Fine,” Al muttered, slowly standing up and heading for the bathroom. “Tell Jules to make a pot of coffee, will you?”

“Tell her yourself, Admiral! I’m not your damn secretary!”

Al paused in his step, frowning slightly at the ceiling. “Excuse me?” Al knew how Ziggy could be a pain sometimes, but she usually wasn’t so crass when it came to Al’s standard morning habits.

“You heard me,” Ziggy goaded. “I refuse to be used as some kind of message system between you and your staff simply because you are too lazy or too arrogant to do it yourself. Contact Captain Calavicci yourself if you are so desperately in need of her making coffee for you. I’m sure she feels the same as I do about being treated as your personal slave.” There was a short pause before Ziggy continued, sounding as if she had never spoken to Al in an inappropriate manner. “Your appointment is in an hour and fifteen minutes, Admiral, and the travel time between your house and the complex is twenty minutes. I suggest you don’t waste time.”

‘Boy is she in a snit today!’ Al thought, exhaling sharply and shaking his head. Rubbing his face, he slowly stood from the bed and went into the bathroom. He would have to deal with Ziggy’s attitude later. Right now, the only thing on his mind was a shower and getting dressed. If push came to shove, he’d dredge up a cup of coffee in the cafeteria.  

The hot water felt like heaven to Al, clearing away the fog from waking. Normally, his showers were quick and precise, a habit learned from a lifetime in the military. However, today, he let the heat seep into him for a while to the point where, when he came out of the bathroom, he could almost be related to the raisins in the kitchen cabinets. Pulling out one of the many colorful suits in his wardrobe – hot pink trousers with a bright yellow dress shirt and a multi-colored striped jacket - he looked over to the bed to see that, while he was in the shower, Beth had woken and had left. That brought the thought of coffee once again. ‘Beth makes great coffee,’ Al thought with a grin as he dressed and combed his hair.

Stepping out of the bedroom, he smiled at the curvaceous figure standing with her back to him. Walking towards her, he was about to put his arms around her waist when she turned around, a tray sporting a filled rock glass between her hands.

“I prepared your favorite breakfast, darling,” she told him sexily.

The sight of the glass on the tray drove away thoughts of making love again to his wife. Was that…? He slowly lifted the glass and sniffed at it suspiciously.

“Beth… this is bourbon,” he said, clearly not amused.

“Bourbon with Seven on the rocks, just like every morning, honey,” she told him seriously. “Or would you rather have a vodka martini today?” She grabbed the rock glass hurriedly clearly concerned that Al would be upset.

“Vodka martini?” Al questioned with a frown. “Bourbon with Seven? Beth…” He looked at her again, confused by what he saw. The lingerie that Beth was wearing wasn’t anything he had ever seen her in before, though he was tempted to buy it for her for their anniversary. “Where did you get that?”

“Why, you gave it to me, darling!” Beth said, her smile returning. “Would you like to take it off of me?”

‘YES!’ Al’s mind cried at her offer. However, Beth’s odd actions – offering an alcoholic a breakfast of alcohol – just weren’t making any sense.

“Beth… are you all right?”

“I’m fine, darling,” she assured him, kissing him lustfully. “But you’re not. You’re going to be late. Now, drink your breakfast and get going. Go on!”

Al didn’t move as Beth put the rock glass in his hands and gestured him to go towards the front door. When she saw that her husband wasn’t going to budge, she laughed, took his arm, and escorted him, opening the door for him.

“Have a great day at work, darling,” she told him, kissing him so intensely Al wondered if the neighbors were about to have a free peepshow.

“Okay,” Al murmured as he pulled away from her. He waited until the door closed behind him before he tossed the liquor-filled rock glass onto his lawn. ‘First Ziggy’s in a snit and now Beth is acting like… well, I don’t know what she’s acting like but it’s scaring me. Maybe I should have Beeks talk to her.’ Giving the now empty rock glass one last look, he got into his Ferrari Testarosa and took off for the complex.

From the moment he pulled into the parking garage at the complex, Al knew that something was going on. For one, there was no guard on duty, which was highly suspicious to say the least. The second was that the lights were completely out, making it necessary for Al to pull out the flashlight from the glove compartment.

Turning the flashlight on, Al carefully made his way through the parking garage. For some reason beyond his imagination, the parking garage seemed to go on forever. He could have sworn the one-minute walk was taking fifteen minutes. What was odder, the only thing that ran through his mind was that he was going to be late for the meeting with Dominic and Julianna.

Finally, the entrance to the complex appeared before him and Al, feeling irrationally frightened, ran to the security door, and slipped his access card through the reader. Nothing. He did it again. Again nothing.

“Come on!” he berated the system. “Let me in, you stupid pile of crap!” Raising his fist, he punched the security panel, surprised when it finally accepted his clearance and allowed him into the complex. Shaking his head, he sighed. ‘Whatever upgrade they’re planning, it had better be good. Security for this place is for the pits!’

“What the hell is going on with the security here?” he demanded as he marched into the Control Room of Project Quantum Leap. “There’s no guard at the gate, the lights are out up top, and the system wouldn’t acknowledge my clearance until I beat the crap out of it. I want answers and I want them now!”

Julianna smiled at her father, walking over to him and taking his hands. “It’s rather amazing, actually. We found this superb program and we’re integrating it into Ziggy right now.” She giggled girlishly. “It’s so exciting! Once this program is in place, we won’t ever have to worry about security ever again. In fact, the complex will be so secure it will be the model of efficiency.” She bounced on her feet and clapped her hands excitedly. “I can’t wait! It’s going to be so awesome!” Running back to the control console, she wrapped her arms around Dom and kissed his cheek before literally skipping out of the Control Room.

Al frowned, watching his eldest daughter prance out of the room as if she were still nine years old. Turning to Dom, he raised an eyebrow. “Is there something I should know concerning Jules?”

“Why do you ask, Admiral?” Dom replied, turning to the control console.

“I don’t know. Perhaps the fact that she’s more bouncy than a rubber ball in the summertime. What exactly is this program that you’re putting into Ziggy?”

Dom looked at him with a twinkle in his eye. “It’s a surprise.”

Al glared at him. “I don’t like surprises,” he told him firmly.

“You’ll like this one,” Dom sang to him before turning his attention to the control console.

Al growled. Could things get any worse?

“Admiral, Dr. Beckett has landed,” Ziggy’s voice filled the room, sounding haughtier than usual.

Al grabbed the handlink from the control console. At the very least, he might be able to seek refuge in the Imaging Chamber from the strangeness of the situation. Marching towards the Imaging Chamber door, he raised his voice towards the hybrid computer.

“Ziggy, what have you got?” he asked.

“I’m not telling you!” Ziggy replied petulantly.

That made Al stop and turn with a frown. “What did you say?”

“I’m not telling you anything, Admiral. Not with that attitude. You’re just going to have to find it out all on your own.”

Al had just had about enough of Ziggy’s attitude. He’d just had about enough of the whole day, in fact, and Ziggy was about to get the brunt of his anger.

“Ziggy! I want information! Information!” he screamed. “Information!”

“You won’t get it,” Ziggy taunted.

Al glared at the computer. “By hook or by crook I will!” He stopped, frowning at his own words. ‘Geez that sounds familiar…’ * Shaking his head, he just growled. “Just open the damned door, then,” he ordered, marching up the ramp to the door.

“With that attitude?” She sounded as if she were actually pouting from Al’s yelling at her.

Al sighed. ‘This is getting us nowhere fast,’ he thought before taking a deep, calming breath and then biting the bullet.

“Ziggy,” he said as calmly as he could, considering how he was feeling. “Please open the Imaging Chamber door.”

“Now, was that so hard?” Ziggy questioned as the Imaging Chamber door opened.

Al resisted the urge to growl again, not wanting Ziggy to decide to ban him from the Imaging Chamber all together. Instead, he gave a forced smile as he walked through the doorway and then asked Ziggy to center him on Sam. What he saw sent shivers down his spine.

“Oh, my gawd! Sam!” he exclaimed.

PART TWO

The room was as nondescript as one could get a room. The walls were almost grayish-brown in color, reflecting the mood that filled it. There were no furnishings in the room, only a plain door, and a small window that provided the only light in the room, which wasn’t much.

It almost felt like Marilyn Hicks all over again. Sam held a switchblade and looked at his arm as if it were a frog in a biology lab. There was calmness in his eyes that gave Al the serious creeps. Would he relive that horrible day again and watch helplessly as Sam slit his wrist? He prayed not.

Approaching his friend, Al looked into his eyes, trying to gauge what Sam was thinking.

“Sam? What are you doing, Sam?” he asked, forcing himself to be calm.

Sam Beckett raised his head and looked at Al as if he didn’t belong. “What do you mean, Al?”

“I mean… what are you doing with that switchblade?” Al clarified slowly. “Sam… put the knife down. Whatever is on your mind, we can talk it through.”

Sam’s reaction startled Al, causing him literally to take a step back as Sam quickly stood up and glared at the Admiral.

“What would you know about it? You’re not on this end of things!” The physicist shook his head. “You’re safe and sound in the future and I’m stuck back here. What’s the point? Huh? Trying to put right what went wrong? What’s the point when THEY are out there, undoing all the hard work I’m doing?”

“Sam,” Al said with compassion. “It’s worth it. We’ve done so much…”

“I’ve done it, not you!” Sam yelled at him. “ME! I’m the one in danger! I’m the one they have under their sights! ME!” He put the knife under Al’s chin. “You just disappear whenever the going gets tough, leaving me alone to fend for myself!”

“Sam… you know that isn’t true! I haven’t once left you when you needed me and I’m not about to do so now,” Al contradicted him, frightened by the knife under his chin. A little closer and…. ‘And what?’ he thought. ‘You’re a hologram! He can’t hurt you!’ But then why was he so scared?

Sam huffed angrily, throwing the knife down at their feet, watching as it landed vertically only half an inch from Al’s foot. Al shuddered slightly from the sight of the knife so close to injuring him. Or rather not injuring him. Why did he keep thinking holographic knives could hurt him?

“Sam…” Al started, clearly confused and concerned. “Talk to me. What happened?”

“What do you care?” Sam countered viciously.

“Oh, I care, Sam,” Al reassured him. “I care. Talk to me, will you?”

Sam turned towards him with a frown. “You want to know what happened? Fine. While you were arguing with Ziggy and groping around in the dark up in the parking garage, Zoë showed up and did this!” He pulled up his shirt.

There, emblazoned in scarred tissue was the type of thing you might find on an old oak tree in the middle of New England:

Zoë luvs Lothos

“Ah, Sam,” Al murmured in sympathy. He reached to touch the scar, but Sam pulled away.

“I’m tired of being the good guy, Al!” he told the Admiral bluntly. “All it has ever brought me is pain and suffering! I can’t even come home to my wife! I’ve had enough!” He reached down and picked up the switchblade. “We can’t beat them, Al! They’re going to win and I’m tired of being on the losing team.” He stood up erect and straight, clearly having made a decision. “If you can’t beat them, join them.”

“What?!” Al exclaimed following as Sam headed for the door. “You can’t be serious!”

Sam opened the door abruptly, revealing nothing but blackness on the other side of the door. Turning towards Al, he glared into the older man’s eyes.

“Dead serious,” he told the Observer. “You can either join them as well or…” He didn’t finish his words, just giving him a hard look before going through the door and disappearing from Al’s view.

“SAM!” Al shouted through the door, desperately hoping that he could talk sense into his best friend. Getting no answer, he swore in Italian and raised the handlink. “Ziggy, keep me on Sam!” he shouted to the ceiling.

“Do it yourself!” came the reply.

“ZIGGY!” Al shouted angrily. “Do it or I’ll rip out your CPU and make scrambled eggs with it!”

The threat seemed to work as Al soon found himself on a familiar street, watching Sam stride away from him.

“Sam! Wait up!” he yelled and started running to follow him. What he saw next made him freeze in his tracks. Or rather, what he didn’t see. Just as surely as Sam was there before, he was now nowhere in sight.

“Sam,” Al whispered, trying hard to quell the fear that filled him. Punching buttons on the handlink, he centered himself on different areas of the street and even on the café that Sam and he used to go to regularly when they were working on starting up Quantum Leap. Nothing. It was as if Sam Beckett had vanished off the face of the earth.

“Sam,” he whispered again, dropping his head to his chest. He’d failed. He’d promised himself that he’d protect Sam, but he’d failed. Some kind of best friend he was!

Sighing in frustration, he raised the handlink and put in the exiting sequence. “I’ll find you, Sam. I promise I’ll bring you home. Don’t give up. Please, don’t give up.” Walking through the door, he let the Imaging Chamber door close behind him.

When he raised his head, he frowned. There was something very different about the Control Room, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Everything seemed right according to his eyes, from Ziggy’s almost iridescent mainframe to Gooshie standing behind the control console.

‘Wait a minute!’ Al thought, his eyes again focusing to the man behind the console. Slowly, he walked to the console and looked upon the man who seemed so focused on… whatever it was he was always focused on.

“G… Gooshie?” Al questioned softly, feeling his eyes growing misty at the sight of the ‘little guy with bad breath’.

Gooshie raised his head and looked at Al with questioning. “Yes, Admiral?”

Al exhaled slowly, closed his eyes, and then opened them again to be sure that he wasn’t seeing things. When Gooshie just looked at him with a frown, Al couldn’t help but hurry around the console and hugged the programmer tightly.

“It is you!” Al exclaimed. “You’re alive!” He laughed with joy and literally swung the man around in a circle before releasing him and looking at him with affection. “Look at you! You look great!”

“Well,” Gooshie said, clearly embarrassed by the compliment. “I try my best to do as I’ve been programmed to do.”

As suddenly as Al felt the joy of having his friend back, that joy vanished with Gooshie’s words. “Programmed?” he questioned. “Wh… what do you mean, programmed?”

Gooshie looked surprised. “I thought you knew! I’m a cyborg! Have been since the human Gooshie died.”

Al blinked for a moment, looked at Gooshie carefully, and then shrugged. “Well, I guess having a cyborg of Gooshie is better than not having Gooshie at all.”

The cyborg Gooshie smiled. “Admiral, I’m touched,” he said amicably.

Now that the issue was resolved between the two, Al decided that it was time to get down to business. “So, what have we got on Sam?”

“He’s six foot four, has black hair, blue eyes, doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, and tells the truth,” Julianna’s voice came from the entrance, a spray can in her hands.

Al frowned, turning towards his eldest daughter. “Umm… Jules? That’s Superman, not Sam Beckett.”

Julianna shrugged. “Close enough,” she commented, walking into the room and heading towards the Waiting Room door.

Al watched with a frown as Jules raised the spray can and began to paint something on the Waiting Room door. “Jules, what the hell are you doing?”

“Oh, this place is just so drab. I thought I’d give it a little color.” Stepping back, she revealed her handiwork with a grin. “So what do you think?”

Emblazoned in red were the words JULES RULES.

Al shook his head at the words. “I think you need to clean that door before I fire you for destruction of government property.” He turned back to the cyborg Gooshie. “Please tell me you have something about this leap?”

“Well, according to Ziggy, Sam is doing fine on his own on this leap,” Gooshie told him with confidence.

“Fine?! FINE?! Gooshie, Sam’s just gone off and decided to be an Evil Leaper and has seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth and you’re saying everything is fine?!”

Gooshie shrugged. “That’s what Ziggy’s saying.” He looked at Al with concern. “Al, you should get more rest. You know, take Tina out for a night on the town.”

Al glared at him. “I’m a married man, in case you didn’t notice the ring on my left hand.”

“So?”

Al’s look changed into incredulity. “So, I’m a married man! I’m not going to betray my wife by cheating with Tina on her! You want to go cheating on the woman you love, fine! Not me!” He started marching towards the door.

“Dad, where are you going?” Julianna asked with concern in her voice.

“My quarters!” He shouted back, clearly still angry at Gooshie’s suggestion. “And don’t either of you dare disturb me!”

“Wouldn’t even dream of it, Al,” Gooshie assured him. “We’ve got it covered down here.”

Al gave him a frown that clearly indicated that he doubted that last statement before he exited the Control Room and marched to the elevator. He didn’t know how he managed to get to his quarters. He was only glad to see them and the bed that was there.

PART THREE

Al practically slumped onto the bed the moment he reached it, closing his eyes against the world outside. This day had to be the worst day of his life! The only thing he wanted was to get some rest. Nevertheless, just as he felt himself drift towards sleep, it was interrupted by music blasting through his quarters.

Well I heard that you’re leaving

Gonna leave me far behind
'cause you found a brand new lover
You decided that I'm not your kind

So I pulled your name out of my Rolodex
And I tore all your pictures in two
And I burned down the malt shop where we used to go
Just because it reminds me of you

That's right, you ain't gonna see me cryin'
I'm glad that you found somebody new
'cause I'd rather spend eternity
Eating shards of broken glass
Than spend one more minute with you

I guess I might seem kind of bitter
You've got me feeling down in the dumps
'cause I'm stranded all alone at the gas station of love
And I have to use the self service pumps!

Oh so, honey, let me help you with that suitcase
You ain't gonna break my heart in two
'cause I'd rather get a hundred thousand paper cuts on my face
Than spend one more minute with you

I'd rather rip out my intestines with a fork
Then watch you going out with other men
I'd rather slam my fingers in a door (Yeah!)
Again and again and again and again and again
(Oh can't ya see what I'm trying to tell ya darling!)

I'd rather have my blood sucked out by leeches
Shove an ice pick under a toenail or two
I'd rather clean all the bathrooms
in Grand Central Station... with my tongue
Than spend one more minute with you.

Yes, I'd rather jump naked on a huge pile of thumbtacks
Or stick my nostrils together with Krazy Glue
I'd rather dive into a swimming pool
filled with double edged razor blades
Than spend one more minute with you

I'd rather rip my heart right outta my ribcage
With my bare hands and then throw it on the floor
And stomp on it 'till I die!!!!
(GASP!)
Than spend... one more minute... with you

As much as Al tried to stop Ziggy from playing the song – in his quarters, no less! – every effort was for not. When at last the song ended, he could have sworn he heard Ziggy… sobbing.

‘Wait a minute! Computers can’t cry!’ Al thought firmly. Before he could speak, Ziggy gave her own explanation for her decision to invade Al’s personal space with her rather bizarre choice in music.

“I’m sorry, Admiral,” the computer sobbed. “It’s just… that song reminds me of my first crush, Tandy. He was just so… so… UNRESPONSIVE!”

“Ziggy…” Al started. He paused, thinking about her words. “Tandy?” he questioned. “As in…”

“Tandy 1000, of course,” Ziggy huffed at him.

Al rolled his eyes. ‘Great. Ziggy’s heartbroken over a break-up with an outdated 1980s personal computer. Next thing you know, she’ll be breaking-up with an Atari game system!’

“Ziggy…” he started again and then exhaled slowly. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else.”

“I already have, Admiral,” Ziggy assured him, all signs of heartbreak now gone. If anything, she sounded wistful. “Oh, he’s so perfect in every way! Handsome… chiseled jaw… great sense of humor…” She seemed to pause dramatically. “His name is Max.”

Al did a little double take at her words. “Max Bauman from Research?” he questioned with surprise.

Ziggy huffed. “Who would want that old bag? No, I mean Max Headroom.”

Al groaned. ‘Great. Just great. From one 80s flashback to another.’

“No need to groan, Admiral! I know how you feel about my love life! I don’t care! So…” She made a raspberry sound and then said nothing further.

Al shook his head. This REALLY wasn’t his day! Cyborg head programmers, belligerent quantum physicist leapers, lovesick computers… how could it possibly get worse?

Deciding that he could probably get more privacy in his office, Al left his quarters and made his way to the elevator. Pressing the button to retrieve the elevator cab, he was startled to see his grandson Jude Calavicci following Stephen Beckett, looking very much like a groupie for a boy’s band.

"What are we going to do tonight, Stevie?" Jude asked, apparently extremely excited about doing something with the young genius.

Stephen stopped and stood almost regally upon the question. "Same thing we do every night, Jude... TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

They're Stephen and Jude. Yes, Stephen and Jude

One is a genius, the other's never rude

Their age is twelve and five

They’re glad to be alive

They're leavin’.

They're Stephen and Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude

Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude

Jude

At Project Quantum Leap, their plan they will unfurl!

Before they eat or sleep, they'll take over the world!

They're Stephen and Jude. Yes, Stephen and Jude

Their daytime endeavor

Is really very clever

Before the day is done

You'll worship Beckett’s son.

They're leavin’

They're Stephen and Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude

Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude

"NARF!" Jude exclaimed loudly before hurrying to follow Stephen down the hallway.

Al shook his head slightly at the sight of the two children and at the song that Ziggy had decided to play over the speakers to honor the ambitions of the wannabe rulers of the world. “Probably some game they are playing,” he commented to himself as he entered the elevator cab and pressed the button that would take him to the level where his office was located.

Entering his office, he noticed an odd eerie glow coming from his computer screen and reflecting on his black leather chair. Red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple seemed to surround the monitor, coaxing him to walk over there instead of to his couch.

As he rounded his desk, he groaned at what he saw on his monitor. Or rather who he saw.

“What the hell are you doing on my computer?!” he demanded of the image.

“What am I d-d-d-d-doing here?” Max Headroom questioned back with indignity. “What are y-y-y-you doing here? C-C-Can’t Ziggy and I find one place in this complex to be a-a-alone?” He huffed several times in staccato before looking up towards the ceiling. “Want me to get rid of this n-n-n-n-n-n-nozzle, baby?”

“Oh, Max!” Ziggy exclaimed, sounding as if she were about to faint like a groupie who just caught Elvis’ scarf. “Gag me with your....”

“M-m-m-muffler!” Max finished for her, a lecherous look on his face gaining a giggle from the hybrid-computer as he himself laughed.

Almost as if on cue, the lights in the room dimmed to low and music again came from the speakers. Max seemed to pull a microphone onto the screen from the side and started singing into it.

Only you c-c-c-can make this world seem r-r-r-r-r-rright

Only you can make the d-d-darkness bright.
Only you and you alone
can thrill m-m-m-me like you do
and fill my heart with l-l-love for only you.

Only you can m-m-m-m-make this change in me,
for it's true, you are my d-d-d-d-destiny.
When you hold my hand,
I understand the m-m-m-magic that you do.

You're my d-d-d-dream come true,
my one and o-o-only you.

Applause filled the room and Max seemed to blush. “Why thank you!”

Al rolled his eyes. “That’s it. I’ve seen enough.” He started for the door. “Can’t have a moment of peace in my quarters. Can’t have a moment of peace in my office. Seems the only place I can have some peace is in the Imaging Chamber and even there I can’t have it because Sam’s gone off his rocker!” He sighed. “Ziggy, have Dom fire up the Imaging Chamber. At the very least, I’ve got to check on Sam and make sure he hasn’t killed anyone just yet.”

As he walked out the door, he could have sworn he heard Max says, “Alone at last, b-b-baby!”

Sighing, Al leaned against the nearest wall, closing his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so tired, but he had a job to do. He had to get Sam away from the Dark Side. Opening his eyes, he once again saw Stephen and Jude passing him. This time, however, they were carrying something that looked as if it weighed three times their weights combined. It also looked exceedingly dangerous.

“Jude,” Stephen said with a pensive look, “Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”

“I think so, Stevie,” Jude replied. “But I don’t think Disneyland is going to fit in Nana’s SUV.”

Stephen’s eyelids lowered slightly in frustration. “Focus, Jude. Focus. With this death ray, every ruler of every nation will have to cede their country to me or suffer severe consequences.” He turned his head and saw Al staring at them with furrowed eyebrows. “Hi, Uncle Al!” he exclaimed, giving him a brief wave.

“Hi, Papa!” Jude exclaimed happily. “We’re gonna take over the world!”

“Okay,” Al told him with a smile. “Have fun!”

“We will!” they told him in unison and then continued on their way.

Al sighed, feeling a sudden surge of pride for his grandson and the boy who called him ‘Uncle’. If anyone could take over the world, it was most definitely those two. The surge was enough to bring Al’s spirits back up from the despair that he had felt before and he now felt more capable of addressing the issue concerning Sam.

PART FOUR

Opening the Control Room door, however, brought a shock to his system. Al couldn’t help but notice that the room was filled with more decorations and more people than it had been on that one New Year’s Eve just after Sam leaped. Confetti seemed to rain down from nowhere and bright colored lights beamed around the room, making it look more like a dance club than the hub of a top-secret time travel project. A large banner hung from the ceiling, going from one end of the room to the other, proclaiming the occasion for the celebration:

WELCOME, LOTHOS!

MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME!

“Lothos?!” Al exclaimed, stunned by the turn of events.

Hearing him speak, everyone in the room turned to face him. “SURPRISE!” they all shouted with obvious glee and started clapping and blowing horns.

Dominic quickly walked up to Al and put his arm around the shorter man’s shoulders. “So? What do you think of our surprise?”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Al told him honestly, gaining a laugh from Dom that indicated the latter didn’t believe a word Al just said.

As Dom walked away to join the party, Al looked around, dumbfounded. ‘It doesn’t make any sense! Why would Jules and Dom do this? Why would they turn Sam’s project over to… Lothos? Or was it Sam who did this? Did he make a deal with Lothos? All because he’s tired of leaping?’

The sound of a man’s voice booming over the speakers interrupted Al’s thoughts . Turning to face the source of the voice, he gaped at the sight of Nathaniel Lothoman standing on Ziggy’s console, a microphone in his hand, singing and dancing while the rest of the party cheered him on.

I eat filet mignon seven times a day.
My bathtub's filled with Perrier.
What can I say?
This is the life!

I buy a dozen cars when I'm in the mood.
I hire somebody to chew my food.
I'm an upwardly mobile dude.
This is the life!

They say that money corrupts you,
But I can't really tell.
I got the whole world at my feet,
And I think it's pretty swell.

I got women lined up outside my door.
They've been waitin' there since the week before.
Who could ask for more?
This is the life!

You're dead for a real long time.
You just can't prevent it.
So if money can't buy happiness,
I guess I'll have to rent it.

Yeah, every day I make the front page news.
No time to pay my dues.
I got a million pairs of shoes.
This is the life!

I got a solid gold Cadillac.
I make a fortune while I sleep.
You can tell I'm a living legend,
Not some ordinary creep.

No way, I'm the boss.  The Big Cheese.
Yeah, I got this town on its knobby little knees.
I can do just what I please.
This is the life!

That's right, I'm the king.  Number One.
I buy monogrammed Kleenex by the ton.
I pay the bills, I call the shots,
I grease the palms, I buy the yachts.

One thing I can guarantee.
The best things in life, they sure ain't free.
It's such a thrill just to be me.
This is the life!
This is the life!

A huge round of applause filled the room upon Lothoman finishing his song. The new Director of Project Quantum Leap gave a theatrical bow before jumping off the console and giving Al a firm and knowing look.

“Looks like I’ve won, Admiral,” he gloated before laughing and walking away.

Al felt nauseous.  ‘How could this have happened?’ he though desperately even as he looked for the door, which seemed to have disappeared behind the sea of human bodies in the room.

“Bingo!” a voice called from the crowd. “Hey, Bingo!” The man forced his way through the masses, finally appearing before Al. “There you are!”

Al stared at the man in front of him, his face going white at the sight. “Chip?” he finally asked, his words catching in his throat. His eyes threatened to release a torrent of emotions from seeing his old buddy.

Charles “Chip” Ferguson laughed at Al’s question and slapped his back. “I sure am not the Great Pumpkin!” He laughed again. “Great party, eh, Bingo? It’s enough to wake the dead!”

Al felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating as he took a step away from Chip, staring at him with incredulity. ‘There has to be an explanation! Chip’s dead! He died over Vietnam! Didn’t he?’

As he looked for an answer in the crowd, he noticed a lone figure on the other side of the room. Frowning, he started walking towards the woman. Nevertheless, as she turned her head, he stopped, frozen in his spot as Marilyn Hicks gave Al a little smile.

Al screamed abruptly, sitting upright in his bed, wiping his face with his hands.

“Honey?” Beth asked with concern, her husband’s scream waking her. She sat up as well and put an arm around his shoulder. “Al, what’s wrong?” She prayed he hadn’t dreamt about his time in that godforsaken prisoner-of-war camp. Or worse, about Julianna’s time in her own hell in Iraq. When Al didn’t answer right away, Beth pressed gently for an answer. “Al?”

Al exhaled slowly, shaking his head. ‘It was a dream? Thank God!’ he thought. Hearing his wife ask what was wrong, he was almost embarrassed to tell her the truth.

“I just had a bad dream, that’s all,” he tried to assure her.

Beth tensed at his words. “A… a bad dream?” she nearly whispered.

Feeling her tense up, Al turned to her and held her shoulders. “It’s nothing like that, Beth. I just…” He shook his head and then started to laugh a bit. “It really was pretty stupid when you come down to it.”

“So, tell me it and ease my mind,” Beth told him plainly, the concern still on her face.

Al slowly moved from the bed to allow him a means of releasing the pent-up energy he usually had from waking up from a dream. “Well, you were serving me a breakfast of alcohol, Dom and Julianna conspired to have Lothos take over the complex, Sam decided that he wanted to be an Evil Leaper, Ziggy fell in love with Max Headroom, and Stephen and Jude were trying to take over the world.”

Beth could help but start laughing at Al’s abbreviated explanation of the nightmare.

“Oh, you think that’s funny, huh?” Al asked with a raised eyebrow. Somehow, though, Beth’s laughter was infectious and he found himself laughing with her. “It gets even better! There was this huge welcoming party in the Control Room for Lothos and Chip was there and…” Their laughter died down at the mention on Al and Beth’s deceased friend. “… and so was Marilyn Hicks.” He sat on the side of the bed and sighed.

Seeing the gloom settling over her husband again, Beth crawled across the bed to sit next to him, pulling him close to her.

“That was quite a dream,” she commented. Seeing Al start to smile again, she did as well.

“Yeah, it was,” Al said softly, thinking about all that he had seen in his sleep.

Beth hesitated and squeezed his shoulder. “It does make a good point though.”

Al frowned at her words, looking into her eyes. “What’s that?”

“The next time we go out to dinner…” Beth started before grinning at him. “…don’t touch the green chili.”

Al grabbed a pillow and hit her with it.

EPILOGUE

Sam Beckett stretched out smelling nothing but leather and roses as he felt the usual unfamiliarity of the start of another leap. He was surrounded by coolness and smoothness and a comfort that came from once again leaping into a soft bed. This was rare, though not altogether unexpected since most people spend a third of their life in bed. He stretched even farther as his fingers and toes reached out and cracked losing the last of their stiffness. He reached up and out barely opening his eyes hitting the headboard behind him. Even the sudden shock to his wrists didn’t shake the wonderful mood Sam was in. Suddenly his eyes popped open when he felt something sharp running up and down his left side stroking him gently. Sam froze as several soft strands of golden blonde hair fell across his eyes blocking his vision.  The soft yellow hair parted revealing a dazzling naked woman connected to the hair and cuddled up beside him as her single index finger with the red manicured nail continued up his shoulder and proceeded to tickle Sam’s earlobe.

“You’re a great lover, Frankie,” she whispered in his ear in a low breathy sound ending with a satisfied giggle as her tongue gently licked his ear. Sam was about to reply when he felt something turning over on his right side. A second woman shifted taking Sam’s arm, held it tightly and snored ever so lightly above the rhythmic sound of her breathing.

Sam tensed up, brushed the remainder of the blonde hair from his eyes and gasped when he saw two identical young ladies on either side of him. One was sound asleep while and the other looked at him with lust in her deep blue eyes.

“Morning, darling. Ready for another love session?” she asked in low breathy tones while her companion began to stretch and wake up. She tilted her head down looking through her tussled bangs, gave Sam a slightly crooked smile and licked her lips.

As the other gorgeous blonde began to stir, Sam panicked and somehow stood straight up in a king-size mahogany four-poster bed. While both women looked up at Sam as startled as he was, Sam realized he was in the same state of dress as them. Grabbing a red velvet pillow trimmed in gold fringe, Sam strategically positioned it in front of him.

While the lady on his right yawned wondering what was going on so early in the morning, the other gorgeous blonde lady looked up with concern in her eyes as she gently rubbed his leg.

In a less sensuous voice she asked, “Frankie? What’s wrong, baby? Are you tense? Can I help you out? How about a Swedish back massage?” she asked and retuned to her breathless voice. “You KNOW what I can do with my toes, my Adonis. Lie back down, tiger,” she purred fluttering her long lashes.

Sam smiled a half-hearted smile and looked elsewhere while the now awake woman tried rubbing his other leg. Surveying the room Sam saw more of the old dark mahogany furniture surrounded by red velvet wallpaper alternating with floor to ceiling mirrors. In one of the mirrors Sam saw a good-looking... no, a very handsome... thirty-five year old man with short hair standing on a bed while the two very feminine companions proceeded to work their way up his legs. Sam slid back down to a sitting position as they began to kiss him on the cheeks. With an expression located somewhere between confusion and enjoyment Sam hissed like an old rusty stream valve, “OOOOO-HHHHHHH BBBBBBB-OOOO-YYYYY!”