Storm Signs
Author's Foreword
Or
What You Should Probably Read Before You Read This
Story
"Theorizing
that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped
into the quantum leap accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself
trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by
an unknown force to change history for the better. His only companion on this
journey is Al, an observer from his own time who appears in the form of a hologram
that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself Leaping from
life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, hoping each time that
his next Leap will be the Leap home".
Quantum Leap was my
favorite fandom for a very long time, and one of the most challenging ones I've
ever found to slash. How do you get together two men who can't touch
because one is in the Past and the other is only a holographic observer? But
slash it I did, blithely ignoring that last, heart-wrenching episode that ended
with the (for me) totally unacceptable, "Sam Beckett never Leaped
home."
"In all
tribal cultures every village had a Sentinel. Now, a sentinel is chosen because
of a genetic advantage, a sensory awareness that can be developed beyond normal
humans. Your time spent in Peru has got to be connected with what's happening
to you now. I've got hundreds of documented cases of one or two hyperactive
senses, but not one single subject with all five. You could be the real
thing."
Then I caught the premier
of a show called The Sentinel, not too impressed with it at first, but slowly
and surely getting drawn into it. I knew I was hooked when I had an image of
Detective James Ellison, the sentinel with five heightened senses, his guide
and partner, Blair Sandburg, and their best friend and boss, Captain Simon
Banks, sitting around a table with a note that I knew was from Sam Beckett.
The image haunted
me without any story to go with it for the better part of two years, while I
wrote Sentinel story after Sentinel story and devoured all I could from zines
and the Internet. Then I read a set of stories, written by the very capable
saraid, called The Panther Tales.
In them, for
reasons unknown and undiscoverable, Jim and Blair were tormented and tortured
until they were transformed, much against their will, into ruthless, violent
mercenaries who killed when necessary, hiding who and what they really were
from everyone except a trusted few. These are not stories for the weak-hearted;
saraid clearly paints this agonized future history with absorbing, painstaking
care that makes you bleed for the Jim and Blair that were, and the Chief and
Panther they became.
They also told me
beyond any shadow of a doubt what the note from Sam said, what the 'right that
had gone wrong' was. I wrote her almost immediately and asked for permission to
use her characters, outlining what I wanted to do. She very graciously agreed,
proofread me as I went, and gave me encouragement and endless ideas. I publicly
and loudly thank her for letting me play in her universe. Thanks saraid!!!!!!
This is the
finished product, and, truthfully, it was one of the easiest things I've ever
written. I've had twice as much trouble with stories a third as long. The whole
thing flowed out of me, allowing me to 'right my own wrong' by explaining, to
my own satisfaction, what happened to Sam Becket and Al Calavicci after the
last episode where Sam Leaped as himself, giving Al's first wife, Beth, back to
him. It also allowed me to give Jim and Blair a life filled with joy despite
their transformation into Panther and Chief.
It helped
considerably that I had the help of the world's best alpha reader - my spouse
of 20+ years - and some of the best beta's I've ever had the pleasure to work
with. I'm especially grateful to my Ozzie friend, Bron, who so patiently picked
on all my Americanisms, and to my very understanding New England Gather friends
for their endless encouragement. Thank you each and every one, but especially
my husband. "Thou are beautiful and I love thee."
One Last Note: I
have chosen to use the fictitious name ARM (Aboriginal Rights Movement) created
in the movie Thunderheart in place of the actual AIM (American Indian Movement)
because this is a work of fiction not intended to reflect historical fact.
J/B, S/A, NC-17.
For disclaimers and warnings, please see Owlet's Standard
Warning and Disclaimer. Or email me here!
Part 1 -
Gathering Clouds
Part 2 - Rising
Winds
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Part 3 - Distant
Thunder
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue -
Lightning
Author's Notes:
When The Sentinel
was first canceled, fan protests of epic proportions were directed at the
powers that be, including an ad taken out in a major industry magazine, and a
letter writing campaign to end all letter writing campaigns.
One method used to
get as many letters as possible sent was a story auction. Various authors
promised to write specific stories that were then put up for bid with letters
to bring back The Sentinel used as the 'currency' of choice.
Though I offered a
'Final Exam' story as my auction item, Wolfling, who won that bid, had just
finished beta'ing 'Storm Signs' for me, and asked for a sequel to it instead.
Since I already had one floating in the back of my head, I agreed, and it was
subsequently printed in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
This time it's Jim
and Blair who are 'putting right what went wrong' for a very special person in
Sam's life.
Eye of the Storm
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
If you have any
requests, comments, suggestions, or criticisms, please send them to me here. Thank you!
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