Back to the Sorority House

[Dbz77]

Sammy Jo Fuller had worked on the first project for five years before it was shut down. Decades later, she is summoned by the new project when she is informed Ben leaped into her in 1988. She takes the opportunity to save the life of a beloved mentor.


Chapter 1​

November 16, 2007

In a high school gymnasium in Orlando, Florida, high school basketball players play basketball during a Friday evening, less than a week before Thanksgiving. They players call upon weeks of grueling training and practice to get the ball to the basket and preventing the other team from doing the same. There are cheers every time a home team basket is scored.

One of the spectators is Dr. Ben Song, a quantum physicist. He dresses in jeans and a shirt, like most of the men here. However, he is unique among the spectators here, for he is not of this time. He is a leaper from the future, possessing the body of someone in this time.

"It is almost time, Ben," says Addison Augustine.

"Right," he says, glancing around, with most of the people concentrating on the game. None of them were using smart phones either to record the game or just surf the World Wide Web, as smart phones would not be available until a few years after this time. There are a few people recording with digital cameras which were certainly available in 2007.

He looks at Addison, a woman with light brown hair, wearing a jacket and trousers. He is the only one who can see and hear her, as she is not really here. She is the observer from Project Quantum leap, projected via brainwave transmissions from the Imaging Chamber to this high school gymnasium nearly twenty years before their time.

Ben takes out a cellular telephone, the kind that still has physical buttons, and dials a number.

"911," says a voice.

"Listen," says the leaper from the future, "a kid just collapsed right here in the gym. You've gotta send an ambulance. Her might have a heart problem."

"Stay on the line please."

Addison's heart beats. Ziggy, the supercomputer AI that runs project quantum leap, calculating that the best odds of success is to summon an ambulance from the Orlando Fire Department, but there is always unavoidable uncertainty.

"So where are you again, sir?"

Ben repeats his location.

"We have an ambulance dispatched."

Ben looks around. He is still here.

"Looks like we have to see this through," says the observer.

Ben goes back to the bleachers, sitting on a wooden bench. Ben tries to enjoy the game, even though he has knowledge of a probable future that the others in this high school gymnasium do not.

And then, it happens.

One of the players lies on his back, collapsed, lying on his stomach on the varnished hardwood floor.

The timer on the display is stopped.

Ben looks around.

He and Addison glance at each other.

And then, paramedics from the Orlando Fire Department rush in, going to the teenage boy. One of then uses a defibrillator

They try once more.

And then they place the basketball player on a stretcher and take him away.

Ben and the others in the crowd looks on.

The next few seconds seem slow.

Addison takes out a circular electronic device known as a handlink, which serves a remote terminal for Ziggy.

"He'll make it," she says. "He has to give up basketball and his chance at the pros, but in our time he's making an honest living and already started a family.

Not a bad accomplishment for a burner phone dealer."

"I wish I could have visited Disney World," says Ben.

"So do I."

A blue glow surrounds the leaper, and he quantum leaps out of this Orlando high school gymnasium in 2007.

It took so long, but I treasure now
The love you gave to me
And when you smile
It warms my heart in me
Oh, baby, can't you see
I, I'd like to feel the passion
To the point of no return
Oh, baby, I will be in full reaction
I wanna take you in my arms

Ben Song finds himself in another time, another place, another person.

You're taking me to the point of no return (to the point of no return)
(Oh-oh, oh)
You're taking me to the point of no return (hey, hey, hey, yeah)
(Oh-oh, oh)



The first thing the leaper notices is that he hears a classic song playing.

It is also dark. There are dozens of other people here.

I wanna be with you, baby (whoa, whoa)
I wanna be by your side (by your side)
I wanna be with you, baby (whoa, whoa)
I'm gonna love you every evening
You're taking me to the point of no return (hey, hey, hey)
(Oh-oh, oh)(hey, hey, hey, hey)
You're taking me to the point of no return
(Come on and take me to the point, come on and take me to the point)
(Oh-oh, oh)
You're taking me to the point of no return
(No holding back, no, no holding back)(oh-oh, oh)

And he is holding a plastic cup. From the smell, it is beer.

The people around him are all in their late teens to early twenties.

He feels a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," says a young man with blond hair, looking like he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. "Would you like to dance?"

"Uh, no," Ben says instinctively, before wondering if he was supposed to say yes.

He looks around. He sees the letters TKB on a wall, indicating this is a fraternity house of the Tau Kappa beta fraternity. Trying to look at his surroundings, he sees a plaque, dedicated to a young man named "Wild Thing", or at least this "Wild Thing" had been a young man back in 1968.

"TKB is a life for me!" yells a man with a sweatshirt with the TKB letters on it.

"I heard he was one of the legends," says a young woman with blond hair. She wears a shirt with the greek letters for alpha and omega.

"He was one of the legends, ladies," says a young man. "He actually spoke at a frat event during my plebe year in '86. He's in a wheelchair from getting multiple sclerosis a few years ago."

"is there a bathroom?" asks Ben.

"Over there," says the frat brother, pointing.

He opens the door and enters a bathroom, noticing the toilet, shower, sink, and mirror. Looking in the mirror, he sees a young woman in her early twenties, with dark brown big hair, a hairstyle popular in this time. The woman wears a T-shirt with the Alpha Omega letters.

He smiles. He had been to frat parties before, but never as a girl.

Quantum leaping always brings new experiences.

Oooooooo

The Project Quantum Leap control room is a control room for time itself, staffed by various professional. The room, with all sorts of advanced computer equipment, is where these professionals track Ben Song during his leaps through his lifetime, and occasionally beyond.

The director of this project is a retired Navy admiral named Herbert Williams, also known as Magic. He looks at the latest information, and takes interest in the identity of ben's current leapee.

"We are going to need her," he says, looking at the control room's main monitor screen. "I'll make the phone call myself. Just keep an eye on Ben."

"Got it," replies Addison.

Minutes later, Magic is on the phone.

"Yes, he's leaped into you in 1988," he says.

Oooooooo

Your heart's been aching, but you're too shy to say it (to say it)
Inside, we both know what's been going on (going on)
We know the game and we're gonna play it
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

"All right, boys and girls," says one of the TKB leaders. "Party time is over. "I know most of the Meeks College student body has to study hard for tests next week, so let's get some sleep. Or party somewhere else, but you can't stay here."

Ben leaves with his leapee's friend even as the other Tau Kappa Beta guests leave.

"I'll let you take point," Ben says to the sorority girl.

"Sure," replies the woman. Ben follows her. He had rebuffed advances from others during his time at the party, and he wonders if he aborted a marriage that happened originally.

He also wonders if his leapee was originally murdered by one of the guests that she ended up marrying. If that was a reason he leaped into an '80's sorority girl, there must be a another reason as he is still a sorority girl in this time.

Soon, they walk down another street, lined with two-story houses that all have greek letters. It is less than half a minute, than Ben sees a two-story house, with the Alpha Omega letters. He follows the other girl into the house. It is dark, except for a dim light in the kitchen. He sees a page of a newspaper, looking at the boxes.

"Still need to read the classifieds?" asks the sorority sister.

"Classifieds?" Ben squints and sees the boxes with little paragraphs advertising services or jobs for hire. "I haven;'t seen these in years."

"I'd better get some sleep. And you better get some sleep. You have work tomorrow."

Ben looks at the corner of a paper for a date. The date on the paper is October 8, 1988.

"Uh, where's my room?" he asks.

"You must have had more to drink than I saw. We're roomies!"

"Yeah."

Soon, Ben is dressed in a nightgown, and goes to sleep.

Ooooooooooo

Addison walks along with Magic and the visitor.

"I'm surprised we had the first project in the desert at all."

"We have learned," replies the project director.

Addison looks at their visitor, a woman appearing to be in her late fifties to early sixties, with streaks of gray hair in her dark brown hair. The visitor wears a sweatshirt with the Greek letters alpha and omega.

The visitor looks around, seeing all of the terminals, as well and the people working at them. It looks far more advanced than when she worked on the old project.

"Imaging chamber is there," says Addison, pointing at the door. She gives the visitor a handlink.

"I've subbed as the hologram before," says the visitor. She glances at Addison and Magic and the rest of the staff, and then she walks into the large room, which had dark orange walls.

The door closes.

Lights come out of the walls, and then she feels as if the lights and sounds are piercing into her skull.

And then she finds herself in the bedroom. She knows she is not really in the bedroom, but her hologram is being projected nearly forty years into the past. It looks like a typical bedroom, with two beds, a bookcase and a desk and a dresser with a mirror.

She sees Ben Song, sleeping in a bed.

Which had been her bed in October of 1988.

She waves her hand through him.

"Wake up," she says.

Ben looks up and sees a woman much older than the sorority girls in the Alpha Omega house.

The woman puts her hand through him, instantly alerting the leaper that she is an observer from the future.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"Samantha Josephine Fuller," she says. "People call me Sammy Jo. You leaped into me,."

The other girl starts to wake up.

"I haven't seen her in decades," continues Sammy Jo.

Ben sees a phone on a stand with a lamp, and picks up the handset. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

"You went for a phone. This is '88, so it will be a bit more difficult for you to talk to me without sounding like a crazy man. Not everyone and their dog had a cell phone back then."

"The project doesn't usually invite guests into the chamber."

"I was part of the first project. I started working for them back in '97. Gooshie- he was the one who compiled Ziggy- he recruited me from the NSA. I actually first met him here in Meeks College, during a career fair this very year!"

"So you are familiar with Ziggy."

"Yes, Gooshie taught me everything that wasn't in the books. He forgot more about computing than most people ever knew. I can show you a picture."

Sammy Jo pulls out an Apple iPhone, and shows the screen to the leaper. Ben sees a man with brown hair, a bald top, and a thick brown moustache. The man wears a blue shirt, red necktie, and a white coat. "So that's Gooshie," says Ben. "I don't remember him."

"You never met him," says the substitute observer. "He died of melanoma- that's cancer- in 2001. April of 2001."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. He fought melanoma for almost three years, while trying to figure out how to bring Sam Beckett home. His wife- widow- Tina, she called me the morning after he died. I couldn't stop crying that day. I've always saved pictures on my phone." She shows Ben another picture of Gooshie, with a woman and some children. "His widow, Tina, and two kids." She shows another picture, of aa clearly older Tina with the children nearly-grown, with one of them wearing a cap and gown typical of graduates. "His son got his master's degree at MIT last year. Gooshie should have been there with them, to see his son get his master's degree." Memories once again flood her mind, the memory of that day when she received that phone call, that Gooshie's life came to end. "Gooshie....Gooshie will be there. Gooshie will have been there."

"What do you mean?" asks the leaper.

"It's why you're here, Ben," says Sammy Jo. "You're here to save Gooshie. "We- you and I- we will bring Gooshie home!"

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 2​

October 9, 1988

'Cause making love to you might drive me crazy
I know you think that love is the way you make it
So I don't want to be there when you decide to break it
No


Mary Ellen Gilday, also known as Meg, wakes up in the bedroom she shares with Sammy Jo Fuller, the song by Def Leppard playing on the Panasonic clock radio with the flipping digit display. She looks at her roommate-or at least unbeknownst to her, a leaper from the future who looks like her roommate.

"I'm going to get breakfast," she says.

"Uh sure," replies Ben Song. He then looks at the substitute observer and then picks up the telephone. "Okay, so I'm here to save Gooshie. Isn't that a little early, like thirteen years early?"

Love bites, love bleeds
It's bringing me to my knees
Love lives, love dies
It's no surprise
Love begs, love pleads
It's what I need

"Ever since I got that phone call from your boss, I've been thinking about this," says Sammy Jo. "The best way to beat cancer is to detect it early, before it spreads."

"Yeah, I heard about that."

"Gooshie started treatment in June of '98. That was already too late. The cancer had already taken a foothold throughout his body. We have to get him to start treatment at the right time. Too late and he dies, too early and he never starts treatment."

"Yeah, but we can't call Gooshie now and warn him. He didn't know you back in '88."

"One thing I remember from my sorority days is that I kept a diary," says the substitute observer. "I would write in it most days. It should be in the nightstand."

Ben opens a drawer right below the telephone. He sees a small book and pulls it out. "this it?" he asks.

"Yes!" exclaims Sammy Jo. "I haven't seen that thing in a long time! Don't read it. Just turn the page to the October 9, 1988 page"

Ben flips through the pages, glancing at the black ink handwriting. "Here it is," the leaper says, looking at the blank page.

"I will dictate what you need to write to me, my younger self," she says. Sammy Jo takes a deep breath. "Sammy Jo, this is a message from your older self in the future. You will meet a beloved mentor. His name is Gooshie. He will be like a father to you. He will die of melanoma in April of 2001. You need to get him to start treatment by February of 1998. That will destroy the cancer early before it spreads and save his life."

"Looks good?" asks Ben, showing the substitute observer what he had written.

"Yes! Wait, you need to write more." Ben takes a Bic pen to the page. "Make multiple copies of this message. Copy and save it on a disk, and wherever you can store it. Do not forget. Gooshie's life depends on this. Oh, and invest your savings in Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google."

"Seriously?" asks Ben.

"Yes, seriously," answers Sammy Jo.

"All right." He then shows her the diary.

"Perfect."
Ben places the diary back in the nightstand. He then goes to look at the younger Sammy Jo in the mirror. "I;'m still here," he says. "I'm still you."

"Well, sometimes there's more than one wrong to be righted during a leap," says the substitute observer. "Sam Beckett went through this more than once."

"I guess."

"Well, let's take a trip back through memory lane."

"Well, we can start with breakfast."

Sammy Jo smiles as she sees the kitchen of her old sorority house. Even though it had been nearly four decades ago, she can still remember the layout, the refrigerator and sink and the table. She watches as Ben pours himself a bowl of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. The leaper eats his breakfast.

"Wait a minute," says the substitute observer. "After you're done with breakfast, you gotta go back to my room."

"For what?" whispers Bn.

"I had a job, at Circuit City, back in the fall of '88."

After the leaper finishes breakfast, he goes to Sammy Jo's old room. Checking the nightstand=-drawer, he finds a personal organizer and turns the page.

"You have to show up at Circuit City today," says Sammy Jo. "You only have a fifteen minute walk."

"I'd better get dressed," says Ben. He opens the closet. "What should I wear?"

"I know we had an outfit."

Ben continues taking substitute observer's clothes out of the closet. He looks through all sorts of clothes, from very casual clothes to dresses.

"this must be it," says Ben, holding a gray shirt with the Circuit City logo, though it looks different than from what the leaper can remember. He quickly dresses in the shirt and trousers. Picking up the younger Sammy Jo's purse, he walks downstairs and leaves the Alpha Omega house.

He can see Sorority Row in the daytime. The houses are all set back maybe twenty feet from the street, with concrete walkways reading to the front door. A woman not even twenty years old jogs on the sidewalk in the opposite direction; she wears headphones connected to a Sony Walkman playing some music by Edward Van Halen.

"Good morning," she says to the leaper appearing to be a sorority girl.

Ben continues walking along the tree-lined streets, noting that the cars date from the 1980's, with a few dating back to the 1970's.

It is not long before Ben reaches a mi n road. There is a fair amount of traffic.

"There," points out the substitute observer.

Ben sees a shopping center. The parking lot has a few cars, and some tall lampposts rise from the concrete surface. The building has a Raley's supermarket and some small businesses from coffee shops to sandwich shops to laundromats to clothing stores.

And Ben can see the Circuit City store, the logo the same as the gray shirt he is wearing. He waits at a signalized intersection before the WALK sign is lit and he walks across the street, and then across the parking lot to the huge electronics store. Going to the glass door, it is locked.

"You are part of the opening team," says Sammy Jo. "Employee entrance is in the back; I'm starting to remember."

Ben goes around to the back of the building and reaches the red door. He opens it.

"Good morning," says another employee, a young man with blond hair.

"Uh, hi," says Ben.

"Good morning," says another man, wearing slacks, a white shirt, and a black necktie.

"Mr. Patel," says Sammy Jo. "I so totally forgot you! It's been over thirty years!"

"Good morning," Ben says to Mr. Patel.

"Almost 9:30," he says.

"Break room," says Sammy Jo. Leading the leaper to a small room with a sink and a refrigerator and a table. A poster reads, "IF YOU HAVE TIME TO LEAN, YOU HAVE TIME TO CLEAN"

"You have to clock in," she says

"How?" asks Ben.

Sammy Jo points at a metal box on the wall. Benn approaches it.

"How do I do this?" he asks.

"Yeah, it's Flintstones technology, but you taker the paper card with my name and punch it in."

Ben looks at this metal sleeve mounted on the wall with several cards He looks through them until he finds the card for Sammy Jo Fuller.

"Okay, insert it into the slot," says the substitute observer.

Ben inserts the card into the device, and it makes this punching sound. Ben looks and sees something stamped on it. He places the card back into the sleeve.

"Primitive," eh whispers.

"All right, Sammy Jo," says Mr. Patel, holding a spray bottle. "We got to wipe the counters before our customers arrive."

"Sure," replies the leaper, taking the spray bottle.

"I'm sure you know what to do," says Sammy Jo.

She goes out to the main floor of Circuit City, looking at the latest in electronics in 1988. She sees Apple Macintosh SE's and Apple ImageWriter and a Hewlett-Packard DeskJet printer. She walks to another section and sees Magnavox and Toshiba televisions for sale, all with the cathode-ray-tube equipment jutting out from behind the screen, unlike the flatscreens that are near universal in the 2020's. Walking to another aisle in the store, the substitute observer sees Motorola cell phones for sale- much larger than iPhones or Samsung Galaxies, with far less capability, and a price that would be equivalent to five digits in the dollars of her time.

She walks over to where Ben is, who is cleaning a glass display case, wiping it with a paper towel soaked in a cleaning solvent.

"How are you doing?" she asks.

"You owe me for doing your work," replies the leaper. He walks along the aisles.

"Rob," says Sammy Jo.

"Who?' asks Ben.

"Look."

The leaper looks at a box on the shelf containing a Nintendo Entertainment System Deluxe Set, featuring the Robotic Operating Buddy.

"Nintendo had that?" asks Ben.

"You would have been a baby when R.O.B. came out. Enough chit chat. Don't want you to lose my job."

Ben smiles.

Oooooooo

"I do remember you now," says Jenn, sitting at a table in the Project Quantum Leap cafeteria. "You were at Al's funeral."

"Yes, all of us from the first project went," replies Sammy Jo, slicing a piece of salisbury steak. "It has been so long. Al did miss Gooshie."

They and a few others eat in a large cafeteria, where the staff of the project can eat lunch, Various food items are offered, from various sandwiches and pizzas to entrees.

"So you were a substitute observer?" asks Ian, who is essentially Gooshie's successor

"Gooshie was the substitute observer," says Sammy Jo. "After he died, Al had to train me to be a substitute observer. I first took up hologram duty when Al and Beth were at their oldest daughter's wedding. Sam Beckett had leaped into Philadephia in 1985 to help someone. The image was fuzzy at first, but Ziggy quickly fixed everything so he can see and hear me clearly. After fixing thing,s, Sam got to go the the Live Aid concert- his host was a security guard at the stadium- and saw the opening act just before he leaped.

"I really am glad this project is going again. Ben will do a lot of good before we bring him home-with Gooshie's help."

"Al did talk a lot about Gooshie," says Magic, sticking a fork into some steamed broccoli drenched in molten butter. "What was he like?"

"Dedicated," says Sammy Jo. "He was an integral part of the first team. He'd do anything for Sam, for us. We were all diminished with his passing. And..I won't spoil anymore. When Ben and I are done, you'll have known Gooshie for the past few years."

"I look forward to having known Gooshie for the past ten years," says Addison Augustine, smiling. "I know you and Ben can bring him home."

ooooooo

Sammy Jo re-enters the Imaging Chamber to check on Ben. The substitute observer is projected into her old bedroom in the Alpha Omega sorority house in 1988. She sees the leaper looking at a photo album.

"Great pictures," Ben says to her.

"Let me see," replies Sammy Jo.

She sees pictures of her college life, from her and her friends on campus to sorority events and a ski trip to Lake Tahoe and even a picture of her at spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in April of 1988, with she and her friends wearing two-piece bikinis, looking happy.

"It wasn't exactly my college experience," says Ben. "I did have a classmate at CalTech who was in the fraternity scene, though,. I even attended a few parties and went to spring break at the Colorado River."

"You know, Sam Beckett changed my mother's life in three leaps. In a literal sense, it was because of Sam Beckett that I was even born. I could be a considered child of the Project..

And now this child will bring one of the Project's fathers home. Sam changed my mother's life for the better, and now you leaped into her daughter, so you can work with her to bring one of Sam's closest friends home to his friends and family."

"That's great," says the leaper.

"There is a secondary reason. Ziggy figured it out. I actually remember it. Mary Ellen Gilday, also known as Meg, she was my roommate."

"I saw her," says Ben. "She was at that frat party when I first leaped here. She led me back to this house."

"She was expelled for cheating, three weeks from now."

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 3​

October 9, 1988

It feels like it's forever
No reason for emptiness
The time just runs away (Time runs away)
No more day by day
You dream again, it seems in vain
When seasons change

(I want you)
I want to feel you by my side
(I need you)
Don't you know I need you, baby?

Ben Song sits down on the bed inside the sorority house for a while, as the song by Expose plays on a Panasonic clock radio. "Is that so?" he asks.

"We were told this once," says Sammy Jo Fuller, "and we were sworn never to tell of it again while we were here. Of course, now I can say that to you. I do remember the investigation. I myself was even questioned by the Academic Dean. Meg kept denying it, of course. Later this month, Meg packed- will pack- her bags and never return."

Seasons change
Feelings change
It's been so long since I've found you
Yet it seems like yesterday
Seasons change
People change
I'll sacrifice tomorrow
Just to have you here today

Keeping an eye on the bedroom door, Ben picks up the telephone in case Meg or another sorority sister walks in. "Obviously, I'm not here to cover it up," says the leaper. "And if she is already habitual cheater in this time, then her fate's practically sealed.

"But if it was an act of desperation due to extreme stress, then all she might need is a helping hand, and I'm in the perfect position to offer it."

"Do your best," says Sammy Jo.

The door squeaks, and both Ben and Sammy Jo see a young woman with light brown hair walk in, wearing a sleeveless blouse and shorts, recognizing here as Mary Ellen Gilday, dba Meg.

"Who're you talking on the phone with?" asks Meg.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was talking to my older self from decades in the future?" asks the leaper.

"You're such a kidder, Sammy Jo."

Ben glances at Sammy Jo, and then at Meg. "How's schoolwork?"

"Everything's fine," she says.

"There're are tests coming up."

"Yeah, I know. The sorority's cut back on social events."

Ben places his hand on the girl's shoulder. "If you need help, I'm here for you."

"Thanks."

"That reminds me," says Sammy Jo. "I remember this. Monday mornings, 9:30, I have a class with Meg on computer science. Professor Gemcity. Smart guy. Not as smart as Gooshie, but he taught me the foundations of information technology!"

Sammy Jo spends her time in the Imaging Chamber, reliving one of her sorority nights. This had been one of the perks of being an observer, ever since subbing for Al Calavicci twice.

She then looks at a television in the living room. It is blinking gray. Attached to the Magnavox Tv is a Nintendo Entertainment System control deck

"Sammy Jo," calls out a girl whom the substitute observer remembers as Casey.

"Uh, what?" asks Ben.

"We were trying to play Contra," says the girl with the blond hair. "I heard you can fix it."

"Let me see," says Ben.

"I know what to do," says Sammy Jo. "Take the cartridge out."

"Take the cartridge out," Ben repeats, and Casey reaches into the control deck and hands Ben a plastic rectanguloid, a bit bigger than a 2020's smart phone.The leaper sees the label for the Contra video game, published by Konami and ported to the NES in 1988.

"Blow into the cartridge," says the substitute observer.

"Blow into it?" asks Ben.

"Yeah, I did see one of the girls do that before," says Casey. "How could I forget. I think the cartridge is dirty so you blow the dirt out."

"I actually grew up with the Atari 2600," says Sammy Jo.

Ben looks at the cartridge and blows into it as hard as he can. He blows for maybe a quarter of a minute.

He hands it to Casey, who inserts the cartridge and presses a button on the console. Soon, the title screen for Contra replaces the blinking gray on the TV.

"You can play," says Casey, handing Ben the controller.

Soon, the familiar game music of Contra is broadcast from the Magnavox's speakers. Ben smiles as he starts controlling the character of Lance. Sammy Jo smiles too as they, and then some other girls, play the game.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, Ben," says Sammy Jo before she leaves the Imaging Chamber.

oooooo

October 10, 1988

Ben is wearing an Alpha Omega T-shirt and shorts, having finished breakfast at the Alpha Omega kitchen. Many of the girls, including Meg, are preparing for class. After eating breakfast, the leaper heads up to Sammy Jo's room.

"You'd better grab some of the textbooks," says Sammy Jo.

Ben takes one of the textbooks. It is a hardcover. It is Advanced Computing Theory, by Hannah Carson.

"I actually met Hannah Carson," says Ben. "Changed her life."

He looks at the younger Sammy Jo in the mirror before heading out of the sorority house and to the Meeks College campus. As Ben walks along the tree-lined streets, he notices most of the other people also walking on the concrete sidewalk are people from their late teens and early twenties, most of them wearing backpacks like the leaper is.

It is not too long before Ben sees brick buildings in the distance.

"There it is," says the substitute observer. "Meeks College."

Ben crosses a street at a crosswalk along with other students and soon reaches the college campus, with concreter walkways and large trees amidst the brick buildings. Sammy Jo looks around, with decades-old memories surfacing.

She is reliving this again.

She guides the leaper along the concrete pathways of the college campus. She savors the scene, wishing she could taste and smell the air.

"Over there," says the substitute observer, pointing towards a door; many Meeks students are entering. Ben enters and sees a lecture hall with chairs set up like an auditorium.

He then takes a seat. He looks to his right and Meg takes the seat next to him.

"Hi," says the girl.

"She had this class with me Monday mornings," says Sammy Jo.

Ben, meg, and the other students all take seats, waiting for the professor to arrive.

"There he is," says Sammy Jo. "Professor Gemcity."

A man in a tweed jacket steps to the back of the lecture hall, sitting behind a varnished wooden table. He has brown hair and a short-cropped crown beard.

"Good morning, class," says Professor Gemcity. "Happy Monday."

"Uh, happy Monday," says Ben.

And so the computer science professor starts his lecture and Sammy Jo listens carefully as do some of the students in 1988. Old memories surface, of the good times she had as a college student and sorority sister.

Ben takes an interest. While he is not as experienced in computer programming as Sammy Jo is, or Gooshie was, he had known enough to create a program that allowed him to leap through time in the first place.

At 10:15 AM, Professor Gemcity ends the lecture.

"Have I told you how great it is to be a hologram in the past?" asks Sammy Jo.

"I'm sure it Is," replies Ben even as he stands up to leave the lecture hall.

"Well, on Mondays I didn't have another class until 12:30. Tell you what, at 11:45 this time, I'll show you where us girls usually ate for lunch."

Ben smiles before leaving the lecture hall.

Oooooooo

Over an hour later, Ben leaves the library, holding Sammy Jo's purse. He had read a book on quantum physics, written in 1984 by Sam Beckett, the first leaper. He walks along the concrete pathway, passing other students.

"There they are!" exclaims Sammy Jo.

Ben looks and sees an outdoor patio section of a campus restaurant. Umbrellas stick out through holes in the circular plastic tables. Many students are sitting there for their lunch before they go to class. He approaches two tables pulled together where women in their late teens and early twenties sit, many of them sporting the Alpha Omega letters.

"Sammy Jo!" calls out one of them, a young woman with blond hair who clearly lived a privileged life.

Both Ben and Sammy Jo react.

"Lexi," says Sammy Jo. "the sorority president in the fall '88-spring '89 year." She smiles, looking at her sorority sisters as they did in 1988. "Diana! I forgot how young you looked back then!"

"I'm hungry," Ben says to Lexi and Diana and the other girls. He walks towards the door and into the interior of the restaurant. Several people line up behind the counter. As Ben glimpses at the menu hanging on the wall behind the counter, his eyes widen.

"Wow!" he exclaims. "What a low price!"

"These are 1988 prices, Ben," comments Sammy Jo, still smiling at the sight of her old college. "I must wonder what prices here are like today."

Soon, Ben reaches the front. The cashier looks as if she recognizes him- or rather, Sammy Jo Fuller circa 1988. The leaper orders a slice of pepperoni pizza and a Coke. Soon, Ben has his lunch in hand, and he heads out the door and to the tables where the Alpha Omegas are sitting. He sits down and bites into the slice, feeling the gooey mozzarella cheese in his mouth. The other girls either have pizza or sandwiches.

Sammy Jo listens in as the sorority girls- and Ben- have their conversations. Much of it is about the upcoming exams most of their teachers have scheduled.

"Oh, hi there," says Meg, joining the other ladies.

"Hi, Meg," says the dark-haired lady known as Diana.

Ben turns his head and sees Sammy Jo's roommate.

He also sees a young man with short-cropped red hair, standing about six foot two.

"Hi there," he says.

"You're Sammy Jo, isn't it?" asks the young man.

"That's what people these days call me," Ben answers truthfully.

"Yeah, from Louisiana, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," says Sammy Jo.

"Right," Ben repeats.

"I remember him. He was in ROTC, commissioned in the Army after graduation. He was dating Meg when she was expelled."

"You in ROTC?" asks the leaper.

"That's right," replies the college student. "Army ROTC. The name's Billy."

Meg puts down a tray; there is a chicken sandwich and French fries and a Coke in a tall paper cup with a plastic lid on top.

"How are things going?" asks Ben.

"Fine," replies Meg.

"You need any help with schoolwork?"

"Nah, I'm fine."

"I'm here to help if you need it," says the leaper. "there's nothing wrong with asking for help."

"We stick together," says Lexi. "We Alpha Omegas even have a few tricks up our sleeves."

"So you have a class with Sammy Jo?" asks Diana.

"It has to do with computers," answers Meg. "The professor was discussing the rise of the Internet."

"The what?"

"Internet. A network connecting computers all over the country, so you can access files on other computers across the country, send electronic mail, post messages on electronic bulletin boards."

"That makes sense," says the sorority president, having just swallowed a bite of cheese pizza. "I mean, if you're a national or international business, you would want all the computers connected so people can work together easier."

"I think the Army has something like that," says Billy. "Computers from different bases connected to each other."

The leaper sips some Coke, tasting the sweetness. "Imagine home Internet access."

"Why would anyone want that?" asks Lexi. "I mean, you'd have your work follow you home. Who'd want that? Homework's hard enough."

"Well, imagine connecting a Nintendo or Sega to the Internet and playing with someone on the other side of the country?"

"Yeah, but you'd need to make sure you're using the same cartridge," says Diana.

"Too bad you have to wait fifteen years to find out how right Ben is," says Sammy Jo.

"Excuse me," Ben says to Meg and the other ladies sitting at the tables. "I need to make a phone call."

"I wonder if Sammy Jo has a new man in her life," says Diana.

The leaper walks towards the building, where there is a public pay telephone located right by the door. Ben picks up the handset. Sammy Jo knows that a leaper is trying to talk to his hologram without sounding crazy.

"Notice something?" asks the substitute observer.

"What?" asks Ben.

"Look around."

Ben looks around as students walk around, many with plastic trays with lunch from this dining place.

"I see college kids and college buildings. It's not CalTech, but I recognize things for what they are."

"No phones!" exclaims Sammy Jo. "No one has an iPhone or an Android. In my time, I'm so used to half of the people in public looking at their phones that it's like an alien sight, like a train without tracks. Well, anyway, what do you want to tell me?"

"Meg couldn't have cheated without help," answers Ben. "Someone from the sorority must have helped her."

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 4​

October 10, 1988

"What do you mean?" asks Sammy Jo Fuller. "Until Meg, there hasn't been a cheater since the Meeks chapter of Alpha Omega was founded!"

"She had to had help," says Ben Song.

"I knew the girls; they wouldn't do this."

"I don't know them."

The substitute observer stays silent, knowing that the leaper has a point. "Okay, what?" she asks.

"Have Ziggy run a background check on them. Find out if any of them were investigated for fraud or something similar."

"Sure. I'll have Ziggy take a look at Diana the Greek and the others; you met her at the tables earlier. I still have semi-regular contact with her. I last saw her two years ago when she visited me, and ..she even sent a condolence card to Gooshie's family after he died. Well, that's not going to be true anymore once we're done here. She'll have sent Christmas cards and birthday cards to them. Just go to classes and help Meg with her studies."

Sammy Jo then leaves the Imaging Chamber, and Ben hangs up the telephone.

The leaper looks towards the tables and the sorority girls are already leaving.

oooooo

"They're clean as whistles," Ian says to Sammy Jo.

The two of them are in a break room in Project Quantum Leap. There is a three meter long counter, as well as several tables and chairs and a long leather-lined bench along one wall. There are machines for dispensing filtered water and coffee.

The substitute observer puts a paper cup inside the coffee dispenser, and uses the touch screen to get a latte. Soon, the machine pours the latte into the cup, and Sammy Jo takes it. "You know, the old break room I had in Circuit City back in '88; it was just a small kitchen. We had to pour our coffee from a pot. The water from the water fountain wasn't cold. Not to mention what was considered state-of-the-art electronics back then. I mean, cell phones were thousand-dollar bricks which only enabled voice chat. Makes you appreciate modern tech sometimes"

"Yeah, that's what observers do," says Ian. "Though this facility gets two billion a year, so we get the good stuff. Anyway, as I was saying, none of the girls have ever been investigated for fraud between 1988 and today. If they cheated, they hid it real well."

"Except for Meg, none of them did cheat."

"There is another thing I wanted to discuss. Gooshie. Gooshie's not home yet."

"Ziggy figured it out," says Ian. "Your plan involves you- your younger self- warning Gooshie in 1998. Ben hasn't leaped out yet. For you to be able to do your part and save Gooshie's life, Ben has to leap out of you, so your younger self can live her life and warn Gooshie ten years after she- you- returned."

"Gooshie can't come home until Ben moves on," says Sammy Jo, sipping the coffee. "I get it."

"I can't wait to know what Gooshie would have taught me," says Ian, smiling.


Ooooooo

How can I explain when there are few words I can choose
How can I explain when words get broken
Do you remember there was a time, ahaha
When people on the street
We're walking hand in hand in hand
They used to talk about the weather
Making plans together
Days would last forever
Come to me, cover me, hold me
Together we'll break these chains of love
Don't give up, don't give up
Together with me and my baby
Break the chains of love

Mary Ellen Gilday looks at the pre-calculus textbook as she lies down on the carpet in her bedroom in the Alpha Omega sorority house, with the song by Erasure playing on the radio. She has precalculus on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and knows that there is an upcoming test next week.

"I know this stuff," says the sorority girl. "i aced algebra in junior high."

"You may think you know this stuff," says Ben, appearing as her sorority sister Samantha Josephine Fuller.

Meg holds another textbook. "How are you doing, Sammy Jo?" she asks, holding a textbook on the subject of Integral Calculus.

"I understand calculus," replies the leaper. "It has so many applications, including in quantum physics. It was useful in studying...excited temporal states."

"Now you're just making stuff up."

"I read about it by this guy named Sam Beckett. It's similar to how electrons can be promoted to higher orbitals if they gain enough energy.":

"I remember reading about that.," says Meg. "about the whole energy levels of electrons. I did skim your calculus book. Integration is done by doing the inverse of derivatives. It's the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus."

And so they both read through Integral Calculus. Ben finds out Meg has a basic understanding. Not as much as a quantum physicist from the early 21st century, but more than most of the Alpha Omegas.

"you know that computer class we're taking?" asks Ben. "The professor has a study session Tuesday at 4:30. You might be able to sign up tomorrow morning."

"I'm already signed up," says Meg. "I guess we'll be there tomorrow at 4:30."

"I see," says Ben. "But we'd better review your pre-calculus."

"Yeah," says Meg.

Ooooooo

October 11, 1988

"You're Meg's roommate at the sorority house right?" asks Billy, as he stops Ben, currently dba as Sammy Jo, just right at the door to the classroom.

"I remember," says Ben. "ROTC, eh?"

Billy wears a green jacket, green trousers, light green collared-shirt, and back necktie that had been part of the United States Army. On the left shoulder is a yellow emblem with the words LEADERSHIP and EXCELLENCE.

"Tuesday's our uniform day," answers the Army ROTC cadet. "We also come here early mornings for PT. But for this week and the next, we're scaling back on training to focus on our studies."

"Yeah, I saw a couple of other students in uniform. They must be focused on studies. So, how's Meg doing in her studies?"

Billy and Ben walks out tot hallway of the building. "We've only chatted for a minute or two each day. She has to study, and so do I. Smart gal."

"Any trouble with her studies?"

"Absolutely not. She said she has a pack of girls backing her up. I guess that would include you."

"And a few extra helpers."

Ben looks and sees Sammy Jo- the one from his time- appear. He quickly rummages through the younger Sammy Jo's purse.

"You lookin' for something?"

"My phone. I need to make a call."

"There's a phone outside the building," says Billy. "By the way, that Internet thing you mentioned yesterday was interesting."

"Primitive times, Ben," says the substitute observer. "Primitive times."

"Yeah, I actually have a study group with Meg and our computer professor," says the leaper"

"Gemcity," says tSammy Jo. "Todd Gemcity."

"Professor Gemcity." Ben looks at the watch on his wrist. "Got forty-five minutes."

"See you around."

Ben walks around to the outside of the building. He sees a pair of public telephones mounted on the exterior brick wall of the building, one of which is being used by a male student with dark hair, the other empty.

The leaper walks up and picks up the handset to appear to be using the phone, while talking to a substitute observer from the 21st century.

"How are things going with helping Meg?" asks Sammy Jo.

"Well, actually," replies Ben,. "A little too well. She really knows her stuff. She understood calculus, and she's only taking pre-calculus because she has to take it to be able to take calculus. What I don't understand is why she would feel the need to cheat. She doesn't feel frustrated about the material."

Sammy Jo places her hand on her chin. "Maybe she was a perfectionist," she says. "Couldn't be content with a B, content with only summa cum laude. We might have gone about it wrong. Maybe you need to reassure her that is okay to fall a little bit short of perfect."

"Wait, that girl," says ben, looking at a student with blond hair.

"The sorority's president Lexi," says the substitute observer. "Ziggy checked records on her. She's clean. So were Diana the Greek and the other girls.

"Listen, Ben, Gooshie's not home yet. Ziggy said I-- my younger self- has to come back to warn him. And she can;'t do that until you leap out. And you need to help Meg so you can leap out, my younger self leaps back in, and Gooshie can come home. Right now, you have that study session with Professor Gemcity in thirty minutes. Get ready."

"All right," says Ben, hanging up the telephone handset on its cradle.

Oooooo

The conference room is not like the lecture hall that Professor Todd Gemcity uses to teach his classes. Instead, he uses it to review material with students.

Sammy Jo Fuller is there, along with Ben Song who appears to be Sammy Jo Fuller. Mary Ellen Gilday is also there, along with many other students from Meeks College, going over the material, including a stuff on TCP/IP protocols.

"Already, I have been able to use FidoNet to communicate with professors from MIT and CalTech and Ohio State. I actually picked up some new ideas. Maybe in a few years, I could deliver lectures to students all over the world!"

"That's great," says a male student sporting a Tau Beta Kappa shirt.

"And computers are getting smaller," says Ben. "We have these new portable computers, battery powered. And soon, maybe we will have handheld computers that can fit on your pocket or purse link through a wireless network, using radio signals."

"Who's want to take work home?" asks a female student.

"Maybe play games on the like, like on the Switch or the PlayStation Portable?"

"What?" asks the frat boy.

"Uh, Game Boy?" Ben quickly remembers that handheld consoles were not widespread in 1988. "Just thinking of what's possible, sir."

"Your kids will be addicted to phones even when they're older than you are now," says Sammy Jo.

And so they continue their discussion. The substitute observer listens to Meg.

She is able to answer questions.

"I know you're a smart girl," says the professor. "But perhaps the other students need to test their knowledge."

"Uh sure."

After about seven more minutes, the study session ends.

"I hope that you all listened very carefully," says Gemcity. "I love your ideas."

"Thanks," says the frat boy. "I mean, I have a better understanding of how my Sega works."

"You all have exams in my class next week, and most of you have exams in other classes. Hit those books."

Meg stands up, preparing to leave the room.

"Hey Meg," says the professor. "Gonna study?"

"We have a girls' night tonight," she replies. "Nothing really special, just a little break from the books."

"Sometimes ideas about computers come up when we're not thinking about it."

"I understand," says Ben,. "Some ideas...well, I solved puzzles while just doing other things."

"Wait a minute!" exclaims the substitute observer. "I remember tonight!"

"What about tonight?" asks Ben.

"I'll never forget. And I'll get to live it again!"

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 5
​

October 11, 1988

The final image of the limousine leaving a scene full of police cars, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles fade to black, and soon, the end credits roll. Darkness consumes the place, before dim lights are turned on.

Ben Song, Mary Ellen Gilday, and some other girls from the Alpha Omega sorority walks towards the front of the theater to the exit that leads directly outside to the parking lot of the shopping center where the AMC theater is located. Sammy Jo Fuller, holographically projected by the Imaging Chamber to this theater in 1988, follows them.

"What is a time travel jaunt to 1988 without seeing Die Hard in a movie theater?" says the substitute observer.

Ben smiles as he goes out the door. He looks back and sees the lady that Sammy Jo knew as Diana the Greek. She wears a polo shirt and black trousers. "Thanks," he says.

"Treating my girls is a privilege," replies the sorority girl, "along with four dollars an hour. I'd better close up shop here. I'll see you ladies at the house later."

"I should talk about this night the next time we see each other," Sammy Jo says to her, though of course Diana like the other people of this time can neither see nor hear the hologram.

They walk across the parking lot; Sorority Row is only maybe a ten minute walk. There is little traffic on the streets, with most people being home. They all chat as they make their walk.

In just ten minutes of walking at night, through the chilly air, Ben and the others reach the Alpha Omega House, with the Greek letters still visible, even at night.

"Okay, Ben," says Sammy Jo. "Get some rest. Help Meg with her studies if you can. Tomorrow, I'll focus on shadowing Meg. I can get a lock on her; maybe I'll find out who helped her cheat."

The leaper looks at Sammy Jo, and then at the sorority girls. "I guess I;'ll see you all tomorrow morning," he says.

"Let's get some sleep," says Meg.

Oooooo

October 12, 1988

Once again, Sammy Jo Fuller is inside the lecture hall where Professor Todd Gemcity teaches, albeit as a hologram being projected by an Imaging chamber in the 2020's. She does not feel it is a waste of time, as occasionally it is refreshing to rehear the basics.

"All right, class," says Professor Todd Gemcity. "Next week is the exam. Make sure to read the books and the summary sheets. And I do have a study session for Friday if you need to refresh your memory."

Ben and Meg and the other students stand up and leave the lecture hall, with the substitute observer following the leaper.

Hours later, Ben and Meg go to the student union, sitting at the plastic tables just outside the grill with some of the Alpha Omega sorority girls. All of them have textbooks out, reading even as they eat lunch. Ben gets to hear more about Sammy Jo's life in the fall of 1988.

Ben finally finishes the Coke he had bought from the grill, the familiar sound of the last fluid being slurped up from a plastic straw.

"I'd better get going," says Meg, looking at her wristwatch.

"Yeah, I do have class soon," says Ben, remembering Sammy Jo's schedule.

"I'll walk back to the house to study before I go on to my work," says Diana.

"Remember, you have to work in Circuit City late this afternoon," the substitute observer says to Ben. "I'll watch over Meg."

"Got it," replies the leaper as he stands up and leaves the student union.

"Okay, Ian," calls out Sammy Jo. "Center me on Meg!"

And so she follows her old roommate as she walks along the concrete walkways of the Meeks College campus, passing by other students. For a moment, the substitute observer wishes she could smell the air, or taste and eat the pepperoni pizza at the Student Union.

She looks and sees a tall-three-story brick building. It is a building housing the offices of the professors. Sammy Jo briefly recalls an internship she did in the spring of '89, helping a math professor.

She sees Meg walks into the building. Pressing buttons on the handlink, the Chamber projects her inside. Meg walks up an staircase, and the substitute observer is projected into the second floor. She looks and Meg walks into one of the offices.

She looks and sees Professor Gemcity.

"Hi, professor," says Meg.

"How's my favorite sorority girl?"

"Doing great,. Just the usual, had lunch. Have another class."

"That's right," says Sammy Jo. "You were at this charity event we held here last month- September '88," says the substitute observer.

"Have to look over my lessons for my classes," says Gemcity. "Then I will have to grade the exams."

"Yeah, that's a lot of work."

"We can use a refresher for the stresses ahead."

Alarm bells ring in Sammy Jo's head.

The professor approaches Meg, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know if I should do this," she says.

"You've said yes before," says Gemcity.

The substitute observer just watches silently.

"There's this guy I like," she says.

The professor stands back about a foot from Meg. "Are you exclusive?" he asks. "Did you foresake other boys?"

"Well, no, I haven;t decided. He's good, and he looks good, but...

Gemcity leans in closer. "Nothing should stop us."

Meg reaches for the top button of her blue blouse and unbuttons it.

Gemcity starts unbuttoning his white shirt.

"Ian!" calls out Sammy Jo. "Center me on Ben!"

The Imaging chamber projects the substitute observer into a classroom. Many students are there, and the professor is giving a lecture, writing on a chalkboard with white chalk. Most of the students write notes in their notebooks.

"Ben!" she calls out.

The leaper turns his head and sees Sammy Jo.

"We need to have a phone call now."

Ben knows that he has to pretend to be on the phone to speak with a hologram projected from the future. He stands up.

"Miss Fuller?" asks the professor.

"Uh, I have to make a phone call, ma'am," he replies. "It's an emergency."

"There's still more I will teach that will be in next week's exam," she says.

"Please excuse me."

The leaper leaves the classroom and walks along the hallway to the exterior of the building Looking around, he sees a pay telephone mounted on the side of a red-bricked building. Walking to the phones, he picks up a handset to pretend to be talking to someone in this time.

"What is it?' he asks. "I don't want to mess up your academic career. It could prevent you from joining the first Project."

"I know how it happened," says the substitute observer. "Listen, Meg is in a sexual relationship with Professor Gemcity. He's giving her good grades in exchange. It was never about stopping Meg from getting expelled. She was already a cheater in this time."

"Okay," replies Ben, holding the handset. "It can't be about Meg. What happened to the professor? Was he exposed?"

"he was still a professor when I graduated," answers Sammy Jo. She presses buttons on the handlink. "He retired with a comfortable pension in 2000. Still does consulting work"

"Then my mission is to somehow expose Professor Gemcity."

"I still can;t believe it."

"there might be a way we can solve this, so I can leap out and you can warn Gooshie ten years after this time. I need to confront Meg."

"All right," says the substitute observer. "I'll lead you to where she is. Ziggy still has a lock on her."

Ben hangs up the telephone handset on its cradle.

He starts walking along the campus; Sammy Jo had told him that Meg had left the office building. He walks along the concrete walkways, passing by brick buildings and tall trees providing shade.

Soon, he reaches the student union. He can see Sammy Jo, still guiding him. He steps inside to an indoor lounge where some students are hanging out, some of them listening to music from tape cassettes played by Sony Walkmen.

"Meg!" he calls out.

The sorority girl turns around. "Sammy Jo?" she asks. "What's up?"

"I know about you and Professor Gemcity," says the leaper.

"How.. were you following me?"

"Damn right I was!" exclaims Sammy Jo.

"It's wrong. What's he giving you in exchange?"

"I..well, I enjoy it."

"And you enjoy those good grades he gives you," says Sammy Jo.

"There's no excuse," says Ben.

"Let's not talk about it."

"You;d better talk about it!" yells the substitute observer.

"We are going to see both the Dean and the president of the sorority," says Ben. "You will come forward with what you did, and I will hear it. If you do no do so by Monday at 9 AM, I will report this. Understand."

"I..I don't know," Meg says softly.

"Monday at 9:00."

"I'm getting out of here," Sammy Jo says, before pressing a button, and her hologram disappears.

Ooooooo

An hour later, Sammy Jo sits in a conference room inside Project Quantum Leap in Los Angeles. Inside the conference rom is a long table with several charts. There are outlets on the table allowing laptop computers to be plugged in.

"I just find it so hard to believe," says Sammy Jo. "I mean, I looked up to Professor Gemcity. Went to the study sessions with Meg and the others. He was helping Meg cheat in exchange for sexual favors."

"Meg might not have been the only one," says Addison Augustine, sipping a cup of coffee while sitting down. "It makes sense that Ben has to take him down."

"But Ziggy still says that Ben has to keep meg from getting expelled. I mean..it doesn't make sense."

"How?"

"I kept track of Sam;'s leaps after Gooshie brought me onboard in '97. He never covered up anyone's wrongdoing. I remember some leaps where exposing someone convinced them to change their lives for the better. Meg traded sexual favors for good grades. Expulsion is what she deserved, and Ben needs to expose the professor. But how can Ben's mission be to cover up what Meg did?"

"I don't know what Ziggy's thinking," says Addison. "In West Point, we had the honor code. A cadet shall not lie, cheat, or steal,nor tolerate those among us who do. There's n way Ben would leap into West Point to help a cheater get away with it."

"I still can;t believe. Everything I knew about the professor these past few decades was upended."

"Ian, what's up?" asks Addison.

Sammy Jo and sees Ian, wearing a black jacket and black trousers and a blue shirt.

"History's changed," they say. "Meg doesn't get expelled; she graduated.And the professor wasn't teaching when she and you graduated."

"So Ben leaped out?" asks Sammy Jo. "Is Gooshie home?"

"Not yet. It has to do with the reason why Todd Gemcity wasn't a professor when you graduated."

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 6​

October 12, 1988

The Circuit City store is closed, the doors locked. Ben Song, dba Sammy Jo Fuller, wearing the gray shirt with the Circuit City logo, had checked out the last customer who wanted to buy a Nintendo Entertainment System.

"Wait until you hear about the Super Nintendo," Ben had said, referring to a game system that would be released in the United States in 1990.

Now he is doing the final cleaning, to make sure the store is ready for customers tomorrow morning. Steel shutters have already been closed.

Sammy Jo appears. "Ben," she calls out.

"I had a busy shift here," says the leaper. There were customers all the way until closing."

"Meg doesn't get expelled anymore; she graduated," says the substitute observer. "and our lecherous professor wasn't teaching when Meg and I graduated."

"Okay," says Ben, wiping a display case packed with digital watches of various brands like Seiko. "Why have I not leaped?"

"Todd Gemcity was murdered tomorrow morning. Billy was his killer."

"Billy?"

"The ROTC cadet."

Ben remembers the young man who had worn the Army green uniform yesterday. "he did?"

"Yes. Meg witnessed it. It happened in the professor's office. Billy was imprisoned for second degree murder for twenty years."

"That's not his original fate." Satisfied with his job, he walks over to the break room where the punch card machine is. He takes the card with Sammy Jo's name and places it.

After that, he goes out, locking the rear door with his keys. He goes out into the night.

"Thank for working my shift," says the substitute observer. "Listen, I'll write a cashier's check for the wages you earned, plus interest,. When you leap home, you can treat Addison to...In-N-Out, I guess."

"We need a game plan," says Ben, walking across a parking lot nearly empty of cars. "We need an approximate time of when Billy confronted the professor. Have Ziggy download all case files."

"It may be difficult. You're a few years shy of the digital age. The local papers probably have digitized archives, and maybe the police scanned their old case files."

Sammy Jo leaves the Chamber, and in ten minutes, Ben makes it back to the Alpha Omega house. It was dark and quiet; most of the sorority sisters are likely studying.

He walks into the bedroom. Mary Ellen Gilday, dba Meg, is already there.

"How was work?" she asks.

"Busy," answers Sammy Jo. "I have a lot on my mind, with school and stuff."

Ben undressed and puts on Sammy Jo's nightgown. He then looks at his leapee in the mirror, seeing the young woman with dark brown hair. "We all have to make choices that affect the course of our lives," he says. "And other people's lives."

"Are we going to talk about that? Listen, I have it handled."

"Remember, I will go see the dean on Monday morning if you don't," the leaper says quietly. "You have a chance, a chance to mitigate this situation."

"See you tomorrow morning," says Meg, going under the covers of her bed.

Oooooo

October 13, 1988

Ben wakes up and has breakfast in the kitchen downstairs. After drinking orange juice, he goes back upstairs and get dressed.

"Good morning, Ben," says Sammy Jo, projected into her old bedroom.

"It's a good morning," says Ben, trying to not sound like he is talking to a hologram from the 2020's.

"best bet is to intercept Billy at Gemcity's office," says Sammy Jo. "Don't try to keep Meg away. If we change things too soon, there's a forty percent chance Billy will kill the professor some other time, and we won't be able to tell when until it;'s too late."

Ben puts on a short-sleeve blouse and a skirt. "I wonder how I look."

"You look great," replies the substitute observer. "You don't even have to look in the mirror for me."

Ben takes a Jansport backpack and a purse and some books and walks towards the campus, barely noticing the other students nor the cars driving along the streets nor the lampposts and trees lining the street. He is focused. He has to save the lecherous professor, as well as the ROTC cadet.

And he knows he must do this so that Sammy Jo can resume her life in 1988 and warn Gooshie ten years from this time.

It is a typical campus day, with students either walking to class, or talking to friends. There are booths set up, and a flier advertising a job fair.

These students will soon hear about the killing of Professor Gemcity, unless Ben does something to stop it.


The leaper soon stands by the side of a building next to the building housing Gemcity's office. There is little foot traffic around.

"We have less than twenty minutes," says the substitute observer. "I'll stand watch and be on the lookout for Meg or Billy. Stay out of sight. If they see you, Billy might change the time which he confront s the professor and all bets will be off."

"Right," says Ben.

Sammy Jo presses a button on the handlink, and she ends up near the entrance to the building. A middle-aged woman walks right through her hologram and goes inside building. She checks her watch, and then looks at a hologram projected by the handlink.

"Meg's close by," she says. "Ian, center me on Meg!"

She then appears, and sees her old sorority roommate, wearing acid-washed jeans and a green blouse, walking alongside the young ROTc cadet named Billy, who wears blue jeans and a T-shirt with the Meeks College logo instead of an Army uniform. Sammy Jo continues to follow them.

Billy opens a door into the office building, and Meg passes through, and Billy follows her. The substitute observer presses a button on the handlink and is reprojected right in front of Ben.

"They're in the building!" she exclaims. "Hurry! Office is in the second floor"

The leaper runs towards the office building as fast as he can. He can feel the burn in his- or rather Sammy Jo's- legs.

Sammy Jo is projected again, this time to the hallway of the office building. A student intern walks right through her.

She sees Meg walking towards her, with Billy following less than a foot behind.

She looks and goes right to Professor Gemcity's office. There, she sees Todd Gemcity, sitting behind his desk, operating an Apple Macintosh II.

Sammy Jo looks at a clock mounted on the wall. The professor will be shot within the next five minutes

Her heart races.

Meg then enters the office, followed by Billy.

"Oh, hi there," says Professor Gemcity, looking away from the Apple monitor. "May I help you?"

Billy pulls out a Colt Single Army Action revolver.

The professor can see this, and his eyes widen.

"What are you doing?" exclaims Meg. "We were just coming up here to talk."

"We are talking," says the Army ROTC cadet.

"So you're the jealous boyfriend," says the professor.

"no, I'm a gentleman with honor," replies Billy. "You've been taking advantage of students. I have to stop you."

"Don;t kill him," protests Meg.

"You are a disgrace," says Billy, still aiming the revolver.

Sammy Jo goes out to the hallway and sees Ben in the distance.

"Ben!" she calls out.

The leaper runs along the hallway.

Sammy Jo runs back into the office.

Billy is still aiming the revolver, and Meg standing to his left.

"Don't do this," she says.

Ben runs inside the office.

"Don;'t do this, Billy!" exclaims Ben.

"Sammy Jo," says the ROTC cadet, looking at the leaper appearing to be an Alpha Omega sorority sister. "I just wanted to talk."

"With bullets?" asks Ben. "Listen, he's scum. But you don't want to throw away your own future, your college graduation, your service in the Army. If you kill him.."

"Even before I joined ROTC, I knew people better than me gave up their lives for what was right," says Billy. "Giving up a career in the Army isn't as bad a deal."

"But you don;'t have to do this. Let's make a deal. Put that gun down, we all walk away and pretend this never happened. No one has to know."

"I will have to report you, Billy," says Gemcity. "I will press charges." he reaches for the handset on his office phone.

"Don't," says Billy.

"If I call the police, maybe you'll be expelled and spend a few months in jail at most. After that, you can go on with our life. If you shoot me, you could face the death penalty."

"It doesn't go that far," says Sammy Jo, her heart still racing. "But you'll still do hard time if you shoot him."

"Billy," says Ben.

"I have a better idea," says Meg. "You announce your resignation. Say you can no longer serve as a professor for personal reasons, thank the university for the opportunity they gave you, and wish the faculty and students well. And you say nothing of what happened here."

"Why would I do that?" asks the professor.

"Because then I'll tell everything, every little detail. And I know the little details"

"You do that, and I could get you and your boyfriend here expelled, and he can go to jail for threatening me with a deadly weapon."
"Mutually assured destruction," says Meg. "A term I learned in world history, about how NATO and the Warsaw Pact would launch a nuclear strike in retaliation for a first strike. This is what it is. If you don't resign by the end of the day, or if you report what happened here, I tell everything, and Billy, me, and you will all go down together."

Billy puts his revolver inside his jacket.

"It's best if you all leave my office," says the professor.

Ben, Meg, and Billy quickly leave the office and then leave the building less than a minute later.

"What now?" asks Meg.

Sammy Jo pushes buttons on the handlink. "The professor here did resign from Meeks College on Friday," she says. "he eventually became a professor at Chico State in 1990. But get this, in 1991, his extracurricular activities were exposed and he was shown the door in disgrace."

"I know one thing that's not next, Meg," says Billy. ""Talking to you again."

He then walks off.

"I understand," Meg says softly, looking at the young man who had tickled her heart, feeling a bit sad.

"Meg graduates," says Sammy Jo. "She becomes a software engineer, and she runs her own firm. And get this, her firm is one of the subcontractors for the Project! She clearly learned her lesson. And Billy, his future's back on track; he graduates and gets his commission in the Army."

"I have to get to class,"Meg says to Ben. "See you at the house."

"Maybe," says Ben. He then looks at the substitute observer. "I should leap out."

"Wait a minute," says Sammy Jo. "There is one more thing. Today, today was actually the day I met Gooshie for the first time. He's here on campus, at the career fair."

"Yeah, I saw the booths," says Ben.

"You need to meet Gooshie."

Ben walks along the campus. Signs for the career fair had been planted into the grass. Walking along the concrete walkways, it takes three minutes for Ben to reach the career fair area, where dozens of booths line the walkway. Students speak to recruiters, some of them handing over resumes that they typed.

Sammy Jo looks around. She sees a booth with the American flag printed on it.

Memories arise.

She walks over and looks at the man behind the booth. He has slightly-curled brown hair and a brown moustache, appearing to be in his mid-thirties. He wears a black jacket over a white shirt. A black necktie hangs from the collar.

"Gooshie," says Sammy Jo. "You're alive. Of course you're alive; it's 1988. You're here."

The substitute observer reaches out to touch him; her hand passes through him.

"We're bringing you home, Gooshie," she says. "We're bringing you home to Tina and your children! You're coming home."

Ben walks towards the booth, seeing Sammy Jo. He then walks towards the booth, looking at the man whom he figured out is Gooshie, who, in a few years, would be part of a time travel project.

"Are you interested in a job in computer programming, Miss?" asks Gooshie.

"Why yes," replies Ben, smiling. He notices that Gooshie's breath smells of breath mints, as if the man who would compile Ziggy ate a full package.

"Call me Gooshie," he says.

Sammy Jo sees a blue glow surround Ben, and then the leaper leaps out of her past life.

Gooshie, as well as the Meeks College campus, disappears, replaced with a large room surrounded by dark orange walls.

Sammy Jo immediately heads out to the Project's control room. It looks pretty much the same, with the project staff looking at the readouts on the monitors to track Ben Song through time.

"Ian!" she calls out. "Check if Gooshie's home."

"I'll send a query to Ziggy," replies Ian. They type on a keyboard on their terminal, and Sammy Jo looks at the monitor.

She sees the message received from Ziggy.

Her feeling of excitement, of exhilaration disappears.

Other memories arise, sad memories.

Gooshie died of melanoma in April of 2001.

She feels shattered.

For a minute, she stands silent. Ian, Addison, Magic, and the others look at her, knowing something is wrong.

"I'm sorry I couldn't bring you home," she whispers.

 

[Dbz77]

Chapter 7​

I didn't think you'd understand me
How could you ever even try?
I don't wanna tiptoe, but I don't wanna hide
But I don't wanna feed this monstrous fire
Just wanna let this story die
And I'll be alright
We can't be friends
But I'd like to just pretend
You cling to your papers and pens
Wait until you like me again


The song by Ariana Grande plays on a TouchTunes jukebox inside a bar and grill in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. It is not terribly crowded, unlike a Saturday night when all the barstools and the wooden tables are occupied.

Ian Wright quickly spots Samantha Josephine Fuller, who is sitting at a small circular table. She wears a simple white striped blouse and a skirt reaching just below her knees. On the table is a dark beer and a basket full of seasoned French fries.

"Thanks for coming," Sammy Jo says to Project Quantum leap's head computer technician.

"Parking was a little hard to find around here," they reply. "How are you doing?"

"Still trying to sort over my feelings," she says. "It was like Gooshie died all over again. I mean, we work at a project that changes history."

"Not even we can rewrite history as we see fit."

Sammy Jo sips the dark beer. "I guess I should have known. Sam and Al couldn't rewrite history as they saw fit either. They would have given anything to bring Gooshie home. Anyway, how is Ben?"

"He leaped into another life, to put right what once went wrong."

"A noble venture. Gooshie was proud to be a part of it, and I'm proud to carry on his legacy. And you are carrying on his legacy too. Maybe we will never bring Gooshie home, but I am sure you can bring Ben home."

Sammy Jo smiles. "Would you like to know more about Gooshie?" she continues.

"Sure," replies Ian.