SquidgeWorld Archive

No man had ever been as unlucky as Sam Beckett.

He sat still, staring peacefully at the backs of his hands. It was over. All the leaping, all the repairs to history, all the fixing of lives, love and liberty -- was over, and now he was trapped in this alternate universe with no place left to go. He called it Purgatory, but he was certain it was something else, something far less temporary. If this was heaven or hell, there were some serious mistakes in the in his childhood teachings.

"You want something to drink?" asked his new friend, a man he called Al, but wasn't really Al. The real Al was in his own universe, back where life wasn't quite so screwed up. Back where he belonged, making love with his beautiful wife rather than desperately chasing after Sam in his random leaps.

The man had been dedicated, that was certain. He had never failed to show up, had never once shirked in his duties as a guide. In Sam's opinion, he had gone high above and far beyond in the job and in the friendship.

No one had ever been so close to him, and so far away.

Al was his best friend, his most loyal companion, the man he cared most aboutâ€"and he hadn't been able to touch him because, for the last few years, he was a hologram. And Sam had needed touch. He had felt the need for physical consolation many times during those crazy leaps back and forth through history, and he suspected that Al had felt the need, too.

He bit off a sob as he reached for the mug his new companion set on the table. "Thanks, Al."

He needed a hug now. Not just any hug. A hug from Alâ€"the real Al.

"Is there something I can do to help?" asked his new friend.

"I don't think so." Sam faced him with a half-smile. "Not unless you can send me home."

"Sorry, kid."

"I didn't think so."

"Well, it's up to you."

Sam stared at him. "Huh?"

"You choose. But let me tell you the facts first, okay? Then you make the choice of where you want to go."

"You mean..."

"You get one more leap. I know, I told you that before and you got Al and his wife back together. The leaping committee was impressed by your selflessness. So they got together and decided to give you one more."

"You're serious?" Sam didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He did both.

"I'm serious. But first, let me give you the lowdown on a couple of people in the time you'll be leaping into, which is your own present." The man who might or might not be God seated himself at the table and began. "Okay, your lovely wife back at the project..."

"How is she?" Sam interrupted.

"She's great. She's found somebody else, Sam."

Sam looked down.

"She waited and waited. She tried to be faithful."

Anguished, Sam asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you have several choices, and going back to her is one of them. She would probably stop seeing this new guy if you reappeared. You could make things like they were before the project. With her, I mean."

Sam drew in a shaky breath. "Tell me my other choices."

"You could choose a person who's destined to die and leap into their life."

"So I can die in their place?"

"No, if you leaped in, it would save them. I'm not talking about cancer or anything. These are people who are about to get hit by a train or get shot in a drive-by. If you leaped in, you could stop the accident from happening."

"And I can only save one?"

"Yeah. Sorry, you can't split up and be more than one person." Al grinned and patted his arm. "You want the list?"

"There's a list?"

"Yeah. And you know them all."

"People I know?" Sam didn't know if his already frazzled nerves could take any more. He downed his drink. "Okay. Who?"

"I'll let you know right up front that one of them is Beth."

Sam thought for a moment that he would lose his drink. "Beth? Al's wife, Beth?"

"Yeah."

"But...what..."

"She and Al are going to be in a car accident tomorrow on the way to the theater. Al will lose both his legs and suffer massive brain damage. He'll spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. Beth will die on impact."

"Oh, my god!" Sam covered his face with his hands. "Al. How could that happen to Al?"

"It could happen to anyone."

"How can I fix it?"

"Okay, time for some straight talk." His alternative Al rubbed his shoulder as he spoke. "I know how much you love Al. And I'm not telling you what to do, but if it was me in your place, I would use my last chance to leap into Beth."

"I could live the rest of my life..."

"No, you'll live the rest of *her* life. But you'll be with Al."

"I'll be Al's *wife*."

"Yeah, you will."

"Is that okay? Would that really be acceptable with you and the 'leaping committee'?"

"I think you'd be our favorite leaper if you did that." Al reassured him with a smile.

Sam didn't ask how many other leapers were out there. He simply nodded.

"I'll give you a few minutes to think about it." Al said.

"Let me do it." Sam said.

"You realize that if you become Beth, you will be female. You'll have all the female parts, be involved in all the female things, and you'll be expected to submit to your husband in a totally female way. Can you do that without hesitation?"

Sam laughed. "I've learned a lot in the last few years, Al, the most important being that what matters most is love. And you already know I love him."

"Yeah, and I know he loves you, too."

"Yeah. I know. I can do it."

"So, you ready?"

"I'm more than ready." Sam sat straight, waiting with a smile.

No man had ever been as lucky as Sam Beckett.