PRELUDE

Depending on the situation and the person I leap into, I never know when or in what condition I would be confronted with.  Each leap is full of their own idiosyncrasies. But, I’m finding out that as the leaps become more difficult that more and more surprises seem to pop up.

    Once the sensation of falling had receded and the tingling sensation ebbed away from his extremities, he found himself looking out of a massive mask. The mask was top heavy making the face of it sag if he didn’t tilt his head back a little. From what he could see of the mask itself, it was poorly made; the stuffed lining inside the mask was peeling away from the mold. He wondered exactly what the mold was, and the thought of taking off the massive thing was on the edge of his mind.
    The sounds around him caught his attention, and the thought of taking off the mask dissipated. Beaty music was being played over a loud speaker that was muffled inside the mask, but he was still aware of it being played. He felt as if he had on some kind of costume. Inside of the mask, Sam frowned. He was becoming increasingly aware of how hot he was becoming. He began to fan at himself knowing that fanning wasn’t going to help much.
    Wondering what was going on, he tilted his head back so that he could peer out of the massive mask through the hole at the end. He was beginning to wonder if it was Halloween but quickly put that aside when he saw at least a dozen girls in orange and white cheerleading outfits with the letters HMS stamped on their tops. Using a hand to aid him holding up the mask, he was able to ascertain that he was in a gymnasium. He quickly scanned the gymnasium risers, which were void of people at the moment. He quickly looked back at the girls, not aware of one of the cheerleading sponsors coming over to his side.
    "Nova." The woman called to Sam. "Nova!" She yelled again and this time Sam’s head turned to see the woman standing before him. She was a very attractive woman. Her long auburn hair was swept back over her shoulders and Sam could see the warm caring look in her sky blue eyes. "Are you okay, Nova? You aren’t practicing your routine."
    "Routine?" Sam questioned, his words muffled from the mask.
    "I know that you said that you didn’t want to ice packs for the pep rallies, but are you sure? Aren’t you hot, hon?"
    Sam nodded, the massive mask making an obvious bounce as he nodded. "Getting there. I’ll be okay."
    "Okay." She turned away from him and walked back in front of the girls and clapped her hands after she turned off the music. "All right girls, we need to work on one cheer and then the dance routine." Sam watched as the cheerleaders lined themselves up to get ready for the dance routine that they had practiced on. "Nova!" Sam looked back at the sponsor his eyes raised in curiosity. "Why don’t you go and cool down for a moment while the girls finish before the pep rally?"
    Sam nodded again letting the massive mask answer for him. Knowing that he needed air, he took the mask off of his head. It was now that he noticed that it was kept on his head by a cowboy hat inside the mask itself. He turned the mask around and saw the figure that he was suppose to be, just as the girls started the chant, clapping as they said it and moving their hips side to side at the appropriate times.
    Sam’s face fell. "Oh boy." He took a deep breath and made a face as he looked up at the top of the gymnasium. He ran his hand over his face, wiping at the sweat that was beginning to accumulate there. He had leapt into many things in the past five years -- a priest, a boxer, and a chimpanzee for heavens sake, but now, now he was a Hippo.

PART ONE

October 14, 1999
Hutto, Texas

    Sam sighed. A hippo. How a school district came up with a hippo as a mascot was beyond him. He sat in the stands looking at the cheerleaders as they did their dance and tried to guess at how it came to pass, yet he couldn’t come up with anything. He saw the sponsor call him down from the stands with just a wave and he replaced the Hippo’s head back on his head. He came down the stands and met her at the railing. 
    "Now, Nova, I really want you to pump it up when the pep rally starts. Just give it your all hun, okay? Do anything that you think will be humorous. Trust your instincts. Ready?" Again, the hippo’s head bopped up and down. "Great!"
    Sam heard a faint bell ringing, and turned around to see students begin to file into the gymnasium. The use of his hand aided in raising the head of the hippo up so that he could look upon the students entering. They were just as young as the cheerleaders that were standing on the floor. He realized then that he must be in middle school, a junior high of some kind. 
    When all of the students had filed into the gymnasium, the band, which had been setting up the corner for the last ten minutes, began to play. He supposed that this was his cue to get the pep rally going. He tried to make sure that everyone was up on their feet clapping to the fight song. He skipped and jumped down the length of the gymnasium trying to keep a spirit up for the kids in front of him. 
    As he did this, he felt extremely embarrassed. He wasn’t used to getting up in front of people and acting something up to the hilt. That wasn’t his nature. His nature was getting up in front of people and explaining the composite parts of an atom; this was a far cry from his natural duties as a scientist. 
    As he continued to act out the part of a crazed, excited teen in a hippo suit, he was unaware of the principal coming over from the sidelines of the gymnasium. Sam turned the head quickly going into a version of John Travolta in Staying Alive, fitting the tune being played by the band. He realized that the head had collided with someone and his hands automatically went to the hippo’s mouth. He quickly looked down and saw a suited figure on the ground. Sam grimaced.
    "I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you, sir!" he said loudly so that he would hear him over the music and the muffling of the mask. 
    The man grinned good-naturedly as he stood, and brushed off his suit as he shook his head. "An over excited hippo is good. Keep up the good work, Nova."
    Sam lightly nodded causing the hippo mask to bounce yet again to acknowledge his answer. It was easier than yelling. However, inside the mask, he was red from embarrassment and the heat that was about to become overbearing. He walked over to the sidelines of the gymnasium to try to get his breath for a moment when a little boy and girl came over to him. Sam could barely see them through the eyeholes, they were so little. They looked to be about six years old and looked fascinated and scared at the same time. The little blonde girl finally said quietly, "Can I get a hug from you Hippo?"
    Sam smiled and nodded lightly. He knelt down on one knee and opened his arms wide. The little girl embraced him boldly and kissed the mask. Sam hammed it up for her as he acted embarrassed for the kiss. She giggled in response. Sam then turned to the young man beside her. He sophisticatedly held out his hand to the little boy and gave him a hearty handshake, then saluted them both. After having a small break from jumping up and down, he went back out into the cheerleaders.
    As he moved around the cheerleaders he bumped into a few of them with the hippo mask and apologized again as he helped them up from the floor. It was then that the sponsor said, "The hippo must be raring to get those Eagles this week. She can’t seem to stop from knocking the others down!" 
    With that the crowd cheered and the band started to play the fight song once again. Again, Sam began his flight of jumping up and down and trying to make sure that every student was up on his or her feet, clapping their hands and cheering for their team – the Hippos, of course. By the time the fight song ended Sam was feeling limp from the heat of the suit he was in. He couldn’t wait to take the head off. He could feel the cool air as it hit his neck, but beyond that point, he was extremely hot. The principal came up after the end of the fight song and dismissed the student body. The students filed energetically out of the gymnasium knowing that school was over for the day. The pep rally was at the end of the school day. 
    Sam took off the mask and held it in his arms. The sweat was cascading down his face and he wiped it away, only for more to come rolling down from his hairline. The sponsor came over to him and frowned. "Nova, you will not be allowed to do that again. I could probably bake something on your forehead right now if I wanted to. Your face is extremely red. Follow the girls to the changing room and shower off to cool yourself down."
    "No ma’am, that won’t be necessary. I’m okay." Sam protested, the idea of entering into the girls changing room causing panic. He could wait for a cool shower when he got home, wherever home was. 
    "All right, Nova, but this will not be allowed again. Understand?"
    "I understand."
    Sam went over to a chair and sat down, noticing a huge bag sitting beside him. He reached down and opened the bag and found clothes and a purse. Curiosity overwhelmed him as well as a sense that these materials belonged to Nova. The student I.D. in the purse proved it did belong to Nova. He gathered the hippo head and the bag together and headed toward the gymnasium door. 
    He was beginning to wonder were Al was. It had to have been at least half an hour since he had arrived in – where was he? He looked at the signs that were hung in the gymnasium as he was leaving and finally found a sign that indicated that this gymnasium belonged to the fighting Hutto Hippos. Sam ran the words through his head. Hutto Hippos. Hutto Hippos. He grinned and shook his head. It did have a nice ring to it.
    He stepped outside of the gymnasium and let the bag sag to the ground. He didn’t know where to go from here. He didn’t know where Nova lived, and he couldn’t just wander around until he found the house. So, he stood there with the Hippo head under his arm and took a deep breath just as he heard the Imaging Chamber door open behind him.
    He turned around to find Al dressed in dark green slacks, a brilliant yellow shirt, a pink tie, and a star talisman fastened to the lapel of the shirt. On top of his head he wore a red fedora. Sam shook his head as he gazed at his friend. "Where have you been?" he snapped.
    "What is it, Halloween? Why are you dressed in that getup?"
    "I was about to ask you the same thing," Sam replied under his breath.
    "What?"
    "I said, you didn’t answer my question. Where were you?" Sam asked again shaking his head at the clothes that Admiral Albert Calavicci was wearing. Even though Sam knew of Al’s quirky sense of humor, he was still amazed at the combination of clothes that Al had on today. 
    Al rocked on the balls of his feet and pulled the handlink out of his front pants pocket. "Well, Bena had a problem with this teen you’ve leaped into. She was terrified when she came into the waiting room! She began to cry hysterically and her eyes, whoa, her eyes looked like she had just seen Freddie Krueger."
    "Who?" Sam asked with a frown.
    "Freddie Kru … oh, never mind," Al said as he remembered how the leaping caused Sam to have a Swiss cheese effect in his memory; large gaps of forgotten things. "She was scared. Then Ziggy had a massive complaint of how no one feeds her documents. It was like she was having a temper tantrum. She almost refused to find information on Novatalia."
    "Who?" Sam asked as his head dipped to the side in confusion.
    "What are you an owl or something? Haven’t you been listening to me? Novatalia. Novatalia Chamberlain. Her friends call her Nova." 
    "Oh!" Sam replied finally understanding that he was talking about the young lady he had leapt into. "So …" Sam started to ask another question, but the door of the gymnasium crashed opened behind him and the voices of several young ladies spilled out into the courtyard. Sam looked their way as Nova’s name was called out and he waved at them, then shifted the head to his other arm.
    Al’s attention drifted from Sam and the handlink to that of the young ladies who were still dressed in their cheerleading outfits. Al stepped back from Sam and tilted his head to watch the sway of their skirts as they began to walked away from the gymnasium. "What I wouldn’t give to be young again, and here!" Al leered as he drew in some air through his teeth.
    "Al, you’re old enough to be one of their fathers!" Sam rolled his eyes and stepped in front of the Observer, trying to cut off his line of vision. "So, what year is this and what am I supposed to do?" he asked as an additional distraction.
    "Hmm? Oh… yeah." Al consulted the handlink in his hand and rattled off the information there. "Your name is Novatalia Chamberlain. You’re an eighth grader at Hutto Middle School in Texas. It’s October 15, 1999. And we have no idea why you’re here. Ziggy said that she found all the information in the archives here in Hutto. She said that nothing happens to Nova or her parents or to anyone in the town of Hutto in 1999. The only intense thing that happens around this area in Texas, happens a couple of months from now at College Station. That’s when the A&M bonfire fell over and killed a dozen people." Al stuck the handlink back into his pocket and looked down at the hippo head tucked under Sam’s arm. "So, what’s the deal with the Hippo head?"
    "I’m the mascot." Sam responded automatically as his mind pondered what Al had said. He couldn’t understand why God, Time, Fate, Whatever would send him here if there wasn’t something here to fix. 
    "A hippo? The mascot is a hippo?" Al chuckled. "What will they think up next? A walrus?" He whisked out the handlink once more and entered a question. "According to legend around here, there was a circus that came to town here in 1912. One of their main attractions, a hippo, escaped and took refuge in the town river after running down the main street. Then when the town established a school, they thought the hippo would be a classic mascot." Again, Al began to laugh. "They were right there! It is a classic!"
    "Al." Sam groaned.
    Al tried to cast aside his laughter, but it was difficult to do. He flattened out his lips trying to be serious, but a grin continued to show through and he lightly coughed to hide it. "I’m sorry, Sam. It tickled me. Okay, listen, I’ll go back and try to get Ziggy to find more information on Novatalia. Wow, what a name. And you can go home."
    Sam got the directions from Al and began his short walk home wondering how he was going to help anyone when he had no clue as to why he was in the small town of Hutto, Texas.


PART TWO

Stallions Gate, New Mexico
March 1, 2003

    Al walked out of the Imaging Chamber still chuckling over the information about the small town in Texas. As he caught sight of the ball in the ceiling of the Control Room, his laughter slowly died. He ran his hand over his face wondering how he was going to approach Ziggy without her having a tantrum. "Ziggy?" he asked cautiously.
    "Yes?" The feminine voice of the neural hybrid computer drawled.
    "You have accessed Hutto’s archives, correct?"
    "Yes, Admiral. I have covered all the information given during the present time that Dr. Beckett is there."
    "Hmmm." Al tapped his chin with the handlink as he thought about what he needed to get accomplished. "Okay, the football team; what did they place in 1999?"
    "Hutto placed 10th in their league, Admiral. How is that information going to help Dr. Beckett?"
    "It doesn’t, Ziggy. There isn’t any listing of people getting hurt or anything in the archives, is there?"
    "No, Admiral. Have we not been over this information recently? It’s only been fifteen minutes and 45 seconds since I last relayed that information." The Barbara Streisand ego kicked in as it always did, causing Al to grimace, as Ziggy became too over-factual.
    Al sighed and rolled his eyes. He placed the handlink on the hybrid’s motherboard and headed toward the Waiting Room, thoughtfully chewing at his bottom lip. There was a reason why Sam was put in Hippo-town and the only person at the moment that may know is the little girl in the next room. He put his hand on the circuitry box outside of the room and the door slid upward, drawn up like a guillotine blade. 
    Inside he found the figure of Dr. Samuel Beckett lying on his side, curled up in a fetal position on the bed that they had provided for their guests. Inside of that figure was an eighth grade girl, frightened out of her mind. Why? Was it that the experience of leaping had scared her? That’s happened before with other guests, but eventually they were able to overcome their fear and were able to talk and be helpful. Or was it something else that had her totally spooked? Al recalled how she had looked when she first leaped in. The look in her eyes told him that something had really scared her. What had happened? Why was she so terrified? 
    Al approached Novatalia with his hands at his back, trying to be as non-confrontive as possible. He put on his best puppy dogface, the one that always made Beth give in to his wishes. "Nova, honey? Can we talk?"
    Nova opened her eyes and looked up into Al’s face. He looked kind, but to her anyone in this room could not be trusted. She didn’t know them from Adam and she wasn’t about to say anything that would get her into more trouble than she already thought she was in. Trying to be evasive, all she did was nod. 
    Al took a seat on the floor far enough from the bed that he didn’t have to look up to see her eyes and making sure he wasn’t in her personal space. "I’m Al. I’m one of the guys that run this, ahm, hospital that you’re in. And I need some help from you. Do you think that you could try to help me, Nova?" Again, she nodded. "Okay, thanks, that’s good. Do you know what you were doing before you came here? What you last remember doing?"
    Nova’s chin began to quiver and she looked as if she was about to cry. "All I did was put on the Hippo head. Then I showed up here. I want to go home. Please don’t hurt me. I won’t mess with it anymore. Just please send me home." Suddenly, an emotional wall flew up in front of her and she began to sob. 
    Al was startled by the reaction that he got from her and was completely thrown off-guard. He didn’t know whether to get up and hold her, or just leave her alone and let her get it out of her system. What was she talking about? Leave what alone?
    He saw a figure out of his peripheral vision coming toward them. It was Dr. Samantha Josephine Fuller who began to whisper sympathetic murmurs to Nova. She placed her hand on Nova’s arm, only for Nova to jump.

    "Nova, what did you say? You won’t mess with what anymore? I don’t understand," Al said over Sammy Jo’s murmurs causing Nova to quickly look at him as she wiped her tears away. 
    "The board!" she cried. "I won’t ever mess with that freaky board again! I won’t look at it, won’t say it, won’t even be near one again. Please. Just send me home. I want to go home." She started to cry again.
    "Board?" Al stopped and thought about what she said again. What kind of freaky board was she talking about? Suddenly though, it came to him. "Are you talking about a Ouija board?"
    Al noticed as a shiver passed through Nova’s body as she went from a healthy glow to a terrified shade of pale. Although Al knew that he had his answer, he needed to be sure. He asked her again as he looked directly into her eyes and finally she nodded. Al returned the nod and thanked Nova as he stood up. "Listen, Nova, we are going to do our best to get you home as quick as possible, but I need you to do something for me first. It will help get there quicker. If I come in here to ask you something about home, could you answer it for me?"
    Nova nodded in response hoping that her cooperation with this man would expedite her getting home. It appeared that he was the one in charge of this place.

    Al made it back to his room and lay down on the bed, trying to soak in what he had just found out from Nova. She had messed around with a Ouija board. A Ouija board was suppose to answer questions that you asked it. He himself had never messed with one and didn’t think it was necessary to play with things that you weren’t sure were real. Being the superstitious person that he was, he didn’t walk under ladders, cross a black cat’s path, and definitely believed in all the weird things that went on out in the world. 
    He grinned as he remembered the leap when Sam had leapt into an eccentric handyman who he had thought to be a vampire. He remembered wearing the garlic around his neck to ward off any evil doing as well as keep the blood sucker away from him (even though they weren’t in the same time era.)
    And Sam had proven that there wasn’t such a thing as a vampire, hadn’t he? So, he was able to believe that if she had played around with the board and thought that the board had sent her here, it might just have. 
    A chill ran down his spine. That was too freaky and too much of an odd thing to happen, but he had seen odder – there was the cage that he had stayed in during Vietnam for those five long years. Having been there, he was certain that there was a Devil and he was certain that ‘weird’ things did happen.
    The door to his quarters opened and Beth popped her head inside. "Honey, I’m home." She called lightly.
    Al opened his arms up when their eyes met. Beth put her purse and the sacks that she carried down, and went into his arms. She gave him a kiss and a long hug. "What’s going on here, fly-boy?"
    "Oh, not much. Sam has leapt into Hippo-land where a young lady has been playing with a Ouija board and Ziggy has no idea as to why Sam is there. ‘There’ being Hutto, Texas," He summed up neatly.
    "Hippo-land? Hutto? Ouija?" Beth grimaced. "Al, you aren’t going to get weird on me again, are you? No more garlic, baby, you smelled bad the last time that you tried to ward off evil spirits." Beth laid her head on his shoulder. Her hand lightly played with the buttons on his shirt as she talked. "Plus, you act so oddly when things like this happen. You tend to be a little flippant and crazed."
    Al grinned and patted his wife’s hand on his chest. "I know I do, hon. But you have to remember that I know that things can happen. I’ve lived through some of the worse times there could be, and believe me, it was evil that put me there. And as I told you, it was you that kept me alive and going." He hugged her tightly to him and laid his head against her head. "I guess I should get up and go tell Sam what I’ve learned, but I’d hoped to get so much more before I went back to talk to him."
    Beth raised her head and looked at Al. "Why do I feel a ‘but’ in there somewhere?"
    "Not a ‘but’, a ‘however’. I want to go, however, there’s not a lot to tell him other than that Nova had been messing with a Ouija board, and that something freaky is happening. And I’d like to know what it is before it happens."

    Sam found that Nova’s house was an old Victorian that wasn’t too far from the school itself. He entered the house and had already explored it to find out which room was Nova’s, then got settled in and began to familiarize himself with Nova. 
    He finally got to see her reflection in the mirror. Nova was absolutely beautiful. She had long auburn hair, and very light freckles were sprinkled along her nose and her cheeks. She had a straight nose and full lips. Her eyes were blue-green with a hint of gray close to the iris. 
    Knowing that he should have homework to do, he searched through Nova’s backpack and found a Biology book and a World History book. He found a daily planner and glanced through it to find out what assignments were supposed to be done for this evening. Without picking up the books, he wrote down the answers to her homework. To him it was very easy. 
    That completed, he found a pile of dirty laundry in her room and collected the rest of the dirty clothes from around the house then took them to the laundry room. He started a load of colored clothes. Without thinking about it, he also hand-washed the dishes in the kitchen sink even though there was a dishwasher, and put them away.
    He was so engrossed with the dishes he didn't hear the front door open. "I’m home," a woman’s voice announced. 
    Sam turned to the door and smiled as he heard the feminine voice. He met Nova’s mother in the living room and saw her juggling with a briefcase, a purse and a boxed pizza. "Let me help you there, mom." Sam took the pizza from her and set it down on the kitchen table.
    Nova’s mother looked around the straightened up living room and kitchen knowing that she had left it in a mess that morning. "Looks like someone’s been busy." Once disposed of her purse and briefcase, she looked at Sam squarely and asked, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"
    Sam’s eyes grew wide. Could Nova’s mom see him as he really was? That had happened in some previous leap, he recalled. He didn’t want this to be one of those times. "Huh?" He queried, fishing for more information.
    "Oh come on, Nova. You must really want something bad. What is it? Money?" 
    Sam felt relieved. He knew where she was coming from now. "No, ma’am. I don’t want any money from you. I just decided to help out today." He grinned good-naturedly as he got down two plates. He then pulled out two Cokes from the refrigerator and placed them on the table with the pizza box. "So, how was work?" 
    "Oh, work was okay. The case that I’m working on brings up issues that I had with your father." She pinched her forehead, feigning a headache. "Divorce is such a messy thing. I’m sorry that we had to drive you through it, Nova. I’m just glad that you aren’t bitter with either one of us." She went to Sam and embraced him in a warm hug. "Can you ever forgive me for putting you through it?"
    "I forgave you both a long time ago," Sam said hoping that that was the case. He hugged her back knowing that whatever emotions the case brought up in her, that she needed the hug as much as he did.
    The phone rang cutting off the embrace. Sam grabbed the phone and answered, "Hello?"
    "Nova?"
    "Yes?"
    "This is Mrs. Navatora, I need the Hippo to be at a Pep Rally at the high school tomorrow afternoon. Do you think that you can get out of your classes to come and pep up the high schoolers for us?"
    "I’d be glad to, Mrs. Navatora." 
    After saying a few other pleasantries with Mrs. Navatora and hanging up, they sat down to eat a few moments later and devoured the large pepperoni pizza. Sam cleared the table and preparing to wash the dishes when he heard the Imaging Chamber door open. 
    Al stepped through only after cautiously peering around both sides of the door. "Hey, Sam." Al looked spooked as he took in the kitchen arrangement, not wanting to be caught off guard in the case of a surprise.

    "Ahm," Sam said as he slightly laughed at Al. "Is there something that you know that you’re not telling me? Why are you looking around the room as if a ghost could pop out and scare the woozy out of you?" Sam leaned against the kitchen countertop with an amused expression on his face.
    "Well, it just might happen. You never know." Al gave Sam a serious look then pocketed the handlink in his coat pocket. 
    "So, what did you find out?"
    "Well, I’ve found out that our friend, Nova, here, has been messing around with a Ouija board."
    "A what board?" 
    "A Ouija board. It’s a board that you ask questions about the future and it’s supposed to answer them. There are a few people out there that have conjured up some good demons with those boards. I just don’t happen to be one of those that find them, that’s all."
    "Oh, come on, Al. You’ve got to be joking. You can’t believe that stuff. There’s are no such things as ghosts!"
    Al rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure what to tell Sam. "Well, Nova is back at the Project, freaking out and saying that she won’t mess with that quote, ‘Freaky board again,’ unquote. She thinks that the board sent her to the Project. Obviously, she’s had experiences with the board that make her believe that it sent her."
    "Al, that’s preposterous." Sam turned back to the dishes that awaited him in the sink. He put his hands in the water just as the phone rang. Picking up the towel beside him, he growled, "There isn’t such a thing that could happen with a board. Don’t be ridiculous."
    The ring was cut off as Nova’s mother picked up the phone. Sam heard her one-sided conversation. "Hello. Yes, just a moment. Nova, it’s for you. It’s Jessica." 
    "Thanks, mom." Sam went to the phone and raised the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"
    "Hey odd one. Can you come over tonight? We have everything all set up and everyone is coming to the, ahm, house tonight. Ask your mom, ‘k?"
    Jessica sounded very evasive and Sam knew something was up. Even though he knew that he wasn’t there to stop Nova from playing with a Ouija board, he knew that there was something in this girl’s life that needed to be changed. And since Ziggy wasn’t telling him what it was, he was going to try to figure it out on his own.
    "Okay. Hold on." Sam held a hand over the receiver of the phone and looked at Nova’s mom. "Ahm, mom, can I go over to Jessica’s for a little while?"
    "Sure, honey. Make sure that you are back home by 9:30." She replied as she turned her attention back to the television sitcom that was on.
    Sam told Jessica that he would be there in a little bit and hung up the phone. He motioned to Al to come with him as he went to get his shoes on. 
    "Sam, I’m telling you that something hokey is going on here." Al shivered as a cold spot went through him. 
    "Al," Sam hissed through his teeth as he bent over to put on his right shoe. "There is nothing ‘hokey’ going on here. You’re imaging things because of your over-active imagination. Your imagination is almost as bad as you libido."
    "Hey!" Al exclaimed. "I resent that."
    Sam rolled his eyes. "Look, until Ziggy gives you more information as to why I might be here, and who I’m here to help, keep your ‘hokeyness’ and your imagination back at the Project." Sam stood as he finished tying his shoes and headed toward the door leaving Al to stand there with his mouth open and his feelings hurt as he opened the Imaging Chamber door.
    "I know something is up," he said to an empty room then he stepped through the door which shut behind him.


PART THREE

Stallions Gate, New Mexico

    Instead of talking to Ziggy about what should or shouldn’t be happening, Al went directly to the Waiting Room. This time, he found Nova sitting up, but instead of sitting in a chair, she was sitting underneath the bed. He understood that feeling. It was a need for security. Crawl into the smallest hole there was and hope that nothing tries to get you. He’d been there.
    He approached and sat down in front of her with his legs crossed, Indian-style. "Hello Nova."
    "Hi, Al." Nova watched him warily and even backed up a little into the bottom half of the headboard. 
    "I need to ask you something that you might not want to answer." He watched her reaction. He was expecting her to cringe at even a suggestion of answering questions for someone that she didn’t know. Instead he saw her lean forward, interested in what he might be asking. "Could you tell me what you were asking the Ouija board about?" 
    Nova’s eyes widened and she backed up again to try to get away from him. "I don’t want to talk about that,"she stated promptly. 
    Al saw the look in her eyes and realized that he had hit the source of the problem – probably the questions that they were asking the Ouija board.
    "I’m sorry, hon, but you have to talk about it so that we can try to get you home. Can you please help me out here?"
    "Home?" she asked longingly.
    Al nodded. "Can you help me out, Nova?"
    "We were trying to see how to get rid of the curse of the Hippo mascot."
    "What?" Al asked totally thrown off guard.
    "The mascot. You know, the Hippo? Well, we figured that it had a curse on it. Every time someone put on the mask, things would happen to the person who wore it."
    "Like?" Al prodded.
    "Ahm," Nova looked away from Al and looked down at the floor trying to remember what had happened. "I . . . I can’t remember. I’m sorry, Al. I wish that I could remember more."
    "That’s okay. I think that’s enough. Thank you, Nova." Nova nodded to Al and watched him as he quickly walked out of the room.
    He headed back into main control. "Gooshie." Gooshie automatically knew that he was to set the Imaging Chamber for Al to go back to talk to Sam. 

    It was Sam who was totally thrown off guard when he walked into Jessica’s bedroom to find five other young girls in the room with a board between them. They were all dressed in subdued colors, and in the corners of the room burned four rather large candles. He turned to look at Jessica, about to ask what was going on, when he heard one of the girls say, "It’s about time, Nova. We were fixing to start asking Ouija questions without you."
    Sam blew out a breath and wondered why they thought it was so awfully important to ask questions to a board that didn’t know the answers anyway. 
    Jessica closed the door and then turned off the light. She lit another candle to bring close to the board and sat down Indian style close to the two girls that were to touch the moving piece of the board. Jessica handed a worn notebook to the girl on her right. "Here, Monica. You monitor the letters." Monica nodded. Jessica then looked at each of the girls that were in the room. "Alright, ladies. We must clear our minds and open up so the spirits in the room will answer our questions."
    Sam watched as each person slowly took in a deep breath and closed their eyes. He did the same. They slowly opened their eyes and looked down at the board. Jessica had called on two other ladies, Heather and Yvonne, to place their hands on the piece as she did – using only the tips of their first three fingers.
    "Spirits that are always around, please help us in aiding our friends. Please come and answer our questions." The girls stared intently at the piece that rested on the board. After a few moments, the piece slowly began to move in the pattern of a figure eight. "To whom are we talking to?"
    Slowly the piece went to several letters on the board. Once it began its figure eight movement again, Monica read the name on the paper that she had written down. "David."
    Jessica smiled. "Hello, David. Thank you for coming to help us tonight." The movement kept going ever so slowly. "How old are you, David?"
    The piece went to two numbers: one….three…thirteen!
    The Imaging Chamber door opened to reveal Al. The hologram stepped out of the bright light and had to blink several times to adjust his eyes to the darkness around him. He found Sam looking at the board on the small footrest between three young ladies. "Ah, Sam, I don’t think that you need to be doing this with these girls."
    "David," Jessica said watching the piece move in its natural figure eight, waiting for a question to be asked. "Do you know who Nova is?"
    "Yes." Monica answered as it went to the ‘yes’ marked on the board.
    "Is Nova among us?"
    "No." The girls looked around at each other then they looked at Sam.
    "Guess you can’t believe everything that that board says." Sam joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I’m right here!"
    "No. Not Nova." The board spelled out.
    "Sam this isn’t good!" Al said worriedly as he stepped back from the group of girls. "Perhaps we should leave."
    Both Sam and Al stood, transfixed, as the finger piece began to move more quickly. Monica scribbled the words down on the paper. She was pale when she read, "Those who consider themselves pure and worthwhile of the goodness that is around them, shouldn’t be messing with an evil better left alone. You know what they say: those that dance with the devil are bound to get scorched."
    Sam’s mouth dropped open. He had heard those words only once before, and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience when he heard it the first time, either. It recalled a dream where he had actually been ‘dancing’ with the devil, playing a game he didn’t think he was capable of winning. Sam looked at Al, who had his hand over his mouth, pointing at the board with his eyes wide in awe. The girls themselves looked about them and wondered just what was going on. "Even if that means to find what needs to be done?" Sam asked quiet.
    The finger piece shot around the board with such force that the girls couldn’t keep up with it. It was moving back and forth, indicating letters quicker and quicker. "The needs of the many have overshadowed the one to the point of not meeting their own needs or wants. What needs to be done will be done whether you are there or not." 
    "And whose deeds will be met? The one of the good or the one of the evil? And when will the deed occur?" Sam asked intently.
    "What’s time to old scratch?" The board spelled out. "Yesterday’s tomorrow for him. Mark the words – there is only one thing He’s selling and that’s . . ." 
    Again, the words that he had heard before were being thrown up into his face.
    "Souls," Al finished. "He sells souls." Al was the color of a white sheet. The handlink’s blinking colors were the only thing that cast any light onto his face. 
    Sam looked at Al, then at the girls that were in the room. The girls looked as if they were in some sort of trance; they didn’t appear to be hearing them as they talked. Sam felt as if he was being put to some sort of test. He felt that he was being lured into a game that he couldn’t win. Again. Looking deep down into his heart for the words that his parents had taught him, he in his own mind rebuked the spirit that was in the room with them. 
    Sam quickly stood and went to the door and flipped on the lights. The girls began to blink, trying to accustom their eyes to the new light source in the room. "Why are we stopping? We barely got started! We haven’t even found out why the costume is cursed!"
    Sam looked at them confused. 
    Al popped over to where Monica sat with the book in her hands. "Sam, I think that you need to take a look at these notes." 
    Sam moved over to Monica and was amazed at what he saw. Monica had been writing down both the questions and answers that they had been asking since they started. Everything was right, up to the part when they asked about Nova. To the question of ‘Is Nova here among us?’, she had written down ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’. Then the questions had stayed along the topic of the curse of the costume: the who, what, when, where and why. They had found out that the people who had been the monitors of the costume before had all been low on the totem pole as far as popularity had gone. Since this was the case, they had tried to make up for that by acting crazy in the costume, and that by doing so, had always caused things to happen to the person in the costume. Broken bones, twisted ankles, wrists, minor injuries that would occur to a normal football player. 
    The one question popped up on the paper to Sam was: ‘Since Nova is popular, will the same fate happen to her?’ The board hadn’t had time to answer, because that’s when Sam had flipped lights on. Sam sighed. He wasn’t sure what had just happened here, but he was ready to get out of this house. He excused himself from the meeting with the explanation that Nova’s mom wanted her home by 8:30 instead of 9:30. 
    Once he got out of the house and into the evening air that was brisk and cool, he took a deep breath. Al popped in beside him making him jump. "Al, what just happened in there? Why did we seem to have a totally different conversation than they had?"
    "Perhaps little David had something that he wanted just us to hear. See, Sam, I told you! Things like that board shouldn’t be messed with. Weird things happen and you can’t explain them – just like this." Al shivered as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. "Hokey. I told you things were getting hokey."
    Sam nodded at what Al was implying. He had to admit that this was just a little too odd. "Al, check to see if there is anything that happens at the pep rally tomorrow that’s being held at the high school. I got a call earlier about having the Hippo at the high school tomorrow. Does anything happen to Nova then?"
    Al consulted the handlink and beat on it a few times when it jammed up on him. It squealed in response, but gave him some information. "Ziggy says that nothing happens at the game tomorrow. She says that she doesn’t know what needs to be done, and to stop asking her about it. We’ll be the first to know when she has it."
    "Does she know and just doesn’t want to tell us, or it is that she really, honestly doesn’t know anything?"
    "Don’t ask me, Sam. I don’t know anything anymore."


PART FOUR

October 15, 1999

    After a breakfast consisting of cereal and toast, Sam headed off to the school hoping that the day ahead of him would lend itself in a way that he would be able to find out why he was here. He took in the clean, crisp morning air to clear his mind and help him focus. It didn’t seem to help, so he drudged onward to school.
    As he walked, a young man fell in step with him. "Hey Nova." 
    Sam noticed the look in the young man’s eyes. He obviously had a crush on Nova. Sam smiled at him without showing any teeth. "Good morning."
    "Ah, I, ah, wanted to ask you about something." 
    Sam noticed the name on the side of the book that read, Thane Fajkus.
    "And what would that be, Thane?"
    "Well, ahm." He scratched his neck in hesitation. "I know how your busy and all, but, ahm, do you think that there is a way that you could tutor me in Algebra? I just don’t get it. The teacher could explain it to me all day and I’d still be confused. You seem to understand it so much better. I’ll understand if you can’t."
    Sam understood why Thane was already trying to shoot himself down before she could. He didn’t know what kinds of plans that Nova had after school, so he answered, "I’ll have to check with my mom about it. But you know how I can forget things, so remind me in a few days. Okay?"
    Thane brightened. "Alright." Thane seemed to physically relax after asking his question. "So, you’re going to be the Hippo this afternoon at the high school?"
    "Good news travels fast, I see."
    "Are you serious? In this small town, you couldn’t sneeze at one end and not have someone on the other end bless you." Thane grinned at Sam as he elbowed him at his joke.
    Sam laughed lightly. That was true, too, for Elk Ridge Indiana where he grew up. Sam was surprised when another person joined their small troupe to school. 
    "Good morning. Welcome to another day of higher education."
    "Hello Chad," Sam said spying his name sewn on just above the jacket pocket. "How are you?"
    "Not bad, considering that I’m going to that dump." Chad pointed to the building one block up.
    Sam grinned. He looked down at his watch and saw that he didn’t have much time to put up the Hippo costume in the girl's locker room before class began. He picked up his pace. "I’m sorry guys, I have to get to school to put this stuff up."
    Chad caught a hold of Thane’s arm and stopped him from moving away from him as Sam walked away. Chad clicked his tongue and tilted his head at the same time. "Hmmm. Hot. Dangerous. Don’t know if we are ready for that or not, huh, Thane?" he asked softly to Thane. 
    Thane grinned at Chad’s remark as he looked at Nova. 
    Chad then yelled out to Sam as Sam hit the school grounds. "Nova, may we admire you again, today?"
    Sam shook his head softly at the comment and opened the school door. Upon entering, he went to the girls’ locker room hoping to put up the Hippo costume until this afternoon. Luckily enough, the room was empty. Sighing, he placed the bag up on top of the lockers.
    It was when he turned to leave that he suddenly didn’t feel alone anymore. An eerie feeling crept up his spine, like eyes were staring at him. He turned slowly in a circle, inspecting the room more carefully.
    The room was full of lockers and benches. There wasn’t anywhere for a nemesis to hide. The only other door in the room was at the other end. He approached the door cautiously, trying to figure out what triggered this feeling. He opened the door quickly, and found no one there.
    Shaking his head at the odd feeling, he left the locker room, looking back to see if anyone followed him out. He didn’t understand why he felt watched, and it was the one thing that seemed to be present since last night’s episode. He dismissed those odd feelings and headed toward Nova’s first period class, Biology.
    As Sam went through Nova’s daily routine, he found that Nova was pretty popular. Students from all grades in the middle school came up to him during class breaks, talking to him about anything that was on their mind. It made him feel crowded. Sure, he was used to the fame of being a Nobel Prize winning scientist, but this was different. This was a different kind of pressure that he hadn’t felt before. He felt 
suffocated.
    He had made it through the morning classes and was about to go to lunch when the girls from last night crowded around him in front of the cafeteria. "Come on, Nova, we need to talk." 
    "Now?" Sam asked as his stomach began to growl with thought of the food he was missing.

    "Come on," Jessica insisted, pulling Sam’s arm and taking lead of the pack of girls who were headed to locker room. 
    Again, as Sam neared the locker room he felt the odd sensation again of being watched. A chill ran down his spine and he looked at the girls around him. Why did they need to talk to him so badly? Finally he asked, "What? What is it?"
    Before anyone could respond to his question Monica pulled out the Ouija board from one of the lockers and set it down on the bench in front of her. "We need to find out how to rid the costume of the curse. You know it needs to be done, or something might happen to you." Monica explained as she sat motioned for Sam to sit down next to the board.
    The Imaging Chamber door opened and Al stepped out, his face all a glow and filled with joy. As soon as he saw the board set up with the girls around it and Sam so close to it, he cringed. "Oh no, not again!" He lightly ran his hand down his face stopping at his mouth. 
    "Ladies, what are you doing in here?" An authoritative male voice filled the room. 
    Sam, sensing his chance to keep the others from being in trouble, grabbed the board and put it around his back as he leaned up against the lockers. "Just talking!" Jessica replied seeing Sam taking the initiative to hide the board.
    "Come on out ladies." With a grumble, they walked out of the locker room. Sam held back, wanting to put the board away so that he wouldn’t get in trouble, either.
    Al visibly relaxed now that the scene from last night would not be played out again.
    "Nova? Come on," the voice called. Whoever it was calling them, he knew the group of girls all to well.
    "I, ahm, need to use the little girls’ room! Be right out!" Sam heard the door close and let out a sigh. He brought the board out from behind him and looked at it skeptically. After a few seconds, he set it down on the bench and sat beside it.
    "Sam what are you doing?"
    "Proving to myself that last night was a figment of our imaginations."
    "Huh?"
    Sam placed the piece on the board and placed his fingertips just as the other girls had. He had to prove that it had only been some sort of trick played on them. He waited a few moments and when nothing happened, he looked to Al, his fingers still on the piece. "There. Nothing happened. It was a fig . . ." The sentence ended much to soon as the piece of the Ouija board began to move very slowly in a figure eight. 
    "Sam, stop it. That’s not funny."
    "I’m not moving it, Al." Sam stated as he looked at Al once more. He looked back down at the board. "David?"
    The board piece went to the word: ‘yes’.
    "I’m not liking this at all, Sam. Please don’t."
    "What am I here to do? Who am I here to save?"
    The board piece began to move faster and Sam kept the letters in his mind forming the words and saying them aloud, "So many questions and not enough time to meddle in lives, right, Sam?"
    "Sam," Al groaned at his buddy to stop.
    "Your partner’s not impressed," the board stated. Al turned white at the comment and moaned.
    "You didn’t answer my question," Sam challenged.
    "You’ll find out soon enough." With that, the board piece planted itself in the middle and didn’t move again.
    "Okay, okay. This is just too hinkey for me. I’m outta here." Al used the handlink to open up the door. "I’ll be back for the pep rally. I need some time alone to, ah, think about this." With that said, he was gone.
    Sam put the board up in the locker from where it came, blew out a un-even breath, then headed to the lunchroom. The only thing that he knew for sure was that he’d suddenly lost his appetite.

Hutto High School

    Sam entered the high school gymnasium dressed in the Hippo’s body suit holding the head of the Hippo in his arms. They were still setting up for the pep rally and he didn’t want to put on the head just yet. He wasn’t ready for the heatstroke to hit him. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to stick in the ice packs that the sponsor wanted him to use; he was going to have to literally sweat this one out.
    Sam went to the risers in the gymnasium and sat down to watch the cheerleaders’ practice some of the lifts they planned to do during the pep rally. He watched as one of the smallest cheerleaders got up on the hands of two others and at a certain count, they would raise her up in the air. Having vertigo as bad as he did, he couldn’t understand how someone could do that without getting sick.
    "Nova?"
    Sam looked about for the person that called Nova’s name. On the floor was a muscular woman who was waving at her. "Come on down. The pep rally is about to begin."
    Sam stood up and went down the risers. As he came to the bottom step, he stepped on the baggy costume leg and fell face first onto the floor. "Oh boy." 
    The cheerleaders rushed over to him and several helped him to sit up as the others asked if he was OK. The high school sponsor, Mrs. Navatora, came over and began drilling Sam on his name, and seeing how many fingers that she was holding up. By the time that she was finished, the bell had rung to dismiss the teens to come to the pep rally. 
    Sam answered the questions gratefully, but when he heard the bell ring, he hurriedly put the Hippo mask on. This time he’d make a conscious effort to watch where he was going and not run into anyone.
    He sauntered over to the side of the gymnasium where some of the teens were walking in. He greeted some of them with a handshake and some with just a pat on the back. He was surprised though, when one of the guys reared back and popped him on the butt as he was walking off. "OW! What the . . .?" Sam began as he turned around.
    Several of the guys that were behind him held up their hands indicating that they hadn’t been the one to do it. As they watched Sam walk away, the one who had slapped Sam spoke, "You know, I’m a sensitive, sexually, potent kind of guy. I had to do it." The guys around him burst out laughing. He could almost hear Al saying that. Inside the mask, Sam said, "Oh, teenagers," and smiled.
    As the band began to play the fight song, Sam hammed it up again, being careful this time as to where his arms flew out so as not to hurt anyone. The pep rally seemed to be going rather well. The cheerleaders had a skit to perform. They showed the student body how they were going to decimate the Eagles by having a play fight with one of the football guys in an Eagle outfit. After decimating the Eagles, they went into a dance routine.
    Sam began to do is own little dance to the music that was being played. When the song finished, he went over to the band director, and by bowing to him asked him for the wand to direct the band. The director handed him the wand giving the band to the Hippo. Sam tapped the wand and then put his hands in the air. He then started to wave them and nothing happened. He tried again. He tapped the stand with the stick and raised his arms. When he began to swing his arms this time, the band blared out one note, which shocked him. He stumbled backwards and barely caught himself before he fell into some chairs. Handing back the wand, he bowed yet again.
    He wasn’t sure what it was that was making him do the silly things that he was doing, but he was having fun and if that is what a mascot is supposed to do, well, he was doing a grand job of it.
    One of the cheerleaders came to him and led him to the center of the gymnasium where they announced, "For her undying devotion to the team, we, the cheerleaders of Hutto High, make our Hippo the Queen of the Night!" They pinned a sash to the hippo’s costume which read Queen of the Night and Sam acted it up as well. He began to wave a cupped hand to those in the stands. He also pretended to wipe a fake tear from the Hippo’s eye. And he began his queenly walk up and down the gymnasium. All of the sudden, a song that he remembered began to play. It was ‘Queen of the Night’, by Whitney Houston. 
    He listened to the song that was being played and began to dance to the music, showing them how he was the Queen of the Night. When the chorus came on, singing, "I’ll bring you down to your knees," Sam fell to his knees and then began to walk on them. He waved his hands in the air and twirled around only to end the dance he was doing in a pose where his right arm was raised pointing his index finger and the other hand behind his tilted head. The crowd cheered for the Hippo but were stomping their feet and clapping their hands as directed by the cheerleaders.
    The cheerleaders then lined up to do their cheers including the lifts that they were practicing earlier. Sam was watching them as they sauntered into two groups. Music was playing loudly and the teens were all clapping and cheering. He watched as they counted for their lift. 
    Sam looked at the teenagers in the stands, just realizing how incredibly hot he was, and hoped that the pep rally would end soon. He was sure that with those ice packets that he would have been okay. He debated with himself about passing out when he heard the scream.
    Without thinking about it, and without knowing which group of girls it was, he raced to the back of the cheerleader pyramid. Al stepped from the Imaging Chamber at that same instant, ranting even before he could get out of the door. "Sam, history is changing! She’s falling!"
    He couldn’t see where the hologram was pointing with the Hippo head on, but he could still hear her scream and knew instantly that he was under her. Raising his arms up to catch her, he caught her in mid-air. The force of her coming down into his arms pitched both of them back onto the floor. Hugging her to his body, Sam fell backwards, letting his body take the major impact of the fall. When he slammed into the floor, Sam’s arms released the young lady and she rolled to the floor beside him unharmed.
    "Sam?" Al leaned over his friend and peeked inside of the Hippo head only to see Sam’s eyes closed. "Sam? Buddy? Wake up, huh? Oh, if I could touch you, I’d wiggle you." Al complained.
    There wasn’t a single noise in the gymnasium. Everyone had witnessed the catch and the fall. Stunned they stayed back from the downed Hippo. Mrs. Navatora quickly came over to Sam and kneeled beside him. "Nova?"
    "If he didn’t respond to me, honey, he isn’t going to respond to you," Al mumbled under his breath. He then began in on Sam again. "Sam, wake up. Come on. Wake up!" 
    "Nova, please talk to me." Mrs. Navatora looked up into the eyes of the principal as he came over to Sam. 
    "Is she okay?" he asked worriedly.
    "I don’t know. I think she was knocked out. At least the blow to the back of her head could have been worse. The padding from that head took a lot of the force."
    Sam groaned as he came to. "Did you happen to catch the number of the train that hit me?" 
    "Oh, Sam, I’m glad that you are awake! I think that David guy was sending a warning! I told you something bad would happen because of that board! Ziggy got the info on the fall just a minute ago. Come on, get up!"
    "Nova, are you okay?"
    "Yes ma’am. For better or for worse, I think I’m okay." He piped up so that she could hear him through the mask. 
    Mrs. Navatora’s demeanor relaxed. She held out her arm to Sam and Sam gladly took it. As he raised himself up, the teenagers in the crowd began cheering and hooting for their mascot.

    Sam walked over to the side of the gymnasium where Mrs. Navatora told him to stand and he took off the Hippo mask. He was burning up and if he didn’t take it off now, he knew that he would be down again on the floor. 
    Sam looked at Al. "You’re late." 
    Al glanced at his friend with a grin. "Well, ya know, marital duties have to come into play sometime."
    "Forget I said anything," Sam said as he rolled his eyes.
    Al held up the handlink that blinked many different colors indicating information being run through its circuitry. "Ziggy finally got information on this leap. Seems that a thirteen-year old named David Bierth had been a Hippo mascot approximately twenty years ago. He was involved with a freak accident when he was wearing the costume. On his way to the game, a car ran over him. People who helped him at the scene said that his last words were that anyone who wore this suit would be cursed."
    Sam listened to Al’s story and finally asked, "And that has what to do with me?"
    "You were here to break the curse," Al responded matter-of-factly.
    "I was here to stop that girl from falling and breaking an arm or leg."
    Al asked Ziggy the percentage of that happening. Surprised, he read, "Ziggy gave that a 90% accuracy. Hmmm. I still think that you were here to break the curse." Wondering what the percentage was, he asked that question to Ziggy and found that it wasn’t that far off either: 85%. "Well, then, why didn’t we find out about the fall before, then? I think the curse and the fall are related." Al obviously wasn’t convinced that curses didn’t exist.
    Sam shook his head and gave up. "Well, if I’ve done those two things, why haven’t I leaped yet?" Sam asked as he wiped at his face for the fourth time trying to keep the sweat from going into his eyes.
    "Ziggy says that we have to wait until your body temperature comes down a few more degrees. I wonder." Al pondered a question then typed it in. The handlink squealed back at him. He hit the side of it making it work right once more. "Well, well, well."