Chapter 20
A black Ford Fiesta hatchback pulled up by the gates as Ben arrived. He’d had to think on his feet just to find the gate, but it hadn’t been as difficult as he’d been afraid of.
He had found the date in Janis’s cell phone—it was mid-May in 2003, apparently. And, from the incomplete and lazily done homework found in her backpack, Ben decided she was playing down her intellect, which he knew was formidable. He remembered doing that once when he was a kid.
A broad-shouldered teenage boy leaned out of the car window. “Ladies,” he said with a grin.
“Wassup, Brad?” Janis’s friend said, opening the back door. Ben still wasn’t sure of her name.
“Clouds,” Brad replied. “Now come on, get in before a teacher sees you!”
The girl got in, and scooched over to make room for Ben, who climbed in beside her. It was at that point he noticed another boy in the front passenger seat.
Please don’t tell me we’re on our way to some make-out point, he thought. That would be the last thing he wanted, to have to turn down the kiss—or worse—of some teenage boy.
“Where we headed?” Ben asked timidly.
Brad peeled away onto the street, glancing back in the rear view mirror at Ben.
“I’ll let you keep guessing. But here’s a hint: why do you think I took all your measurements, Jan?”
Ben raised an eyebrow. Measurements…?
“All you need to know is you two’ll be the cutest couple at prom,” the other boy said with a wink.
You two…? At that moment, it occurred to Ben that this girlfriend of Janis may have been, in fact, a girlfriend.
Which spelled just as much trouble for Ben as one of the boys being interested in Janis. Especially if this prom was… tonight?
Please tell me it’s not tonight. He offered a forced smile to the unnamed boy in the front seat.
“Well, that sounds… interesting,” he said.
“My god, it’s like our own personal Queer Eye,” the girl whispered into Ben’s ear. “I’m so glad these guys like you so much… we’re totally reaping the benefits of their loaded parents.”
“We’re gonna be living vicariously through you girls,” Brad said. “Me and Todd never got a prom together. But you have the chance to be the first openly gay couple. And that ‘Concerned Albuquerque Parents’ group can go eat shit about it.”
“No CAP,” Ben said, stifling a laugh at his own private joke.
“Damn straight,” said the boy whose name was apparently Todd, then reconsidered his choice of words. “Uh, forget I said that.”
The car erupted in laughter, and Ben took the moment to relax a little. Janis wasn’t just skipping school to be a delinquent. These teens had an activist goal.
“Speaking of that homophobic hate group,” Brad continued, “you up for the job I told you about? A crisp Benjamin in it for ya. And the continued open invite for more shroom fun. Any time you want.”
‘Shroom’ fun? Okay… pin in that. Ben licked his lips as he figured out how to pry out the information. “Can you walk me through the job one more time, Brad?”
“Okay,” Brad said, shrugging one shoulder. “I’d say it’s a lot easier than the last job I sent your way. All you need to do is get into their mailing list admin and delete everything you can. They lose their database of subscribers and it’ll be a big setback for ’em. If you make it look like some kind of computer error instead of an intentional hack, all the better.”
“I mean, assuming you don’t want them to know it was someone gunning for them,” added Todd. “You could leave some sort of calling card, so long as they don’t trace it back to you.”
“Oh, they wouldn’t,” the girl added. “Janis is a pro.”
That certainly wasn’t untrue. Janis was a pro. But Janis wasn’t here now.
Just as he was wondering what he could be here for, since all of these problems seemed like things Janis was perfectly capable of solving herself, the sound of a hologram buzzing into existence caught his attention. He couldn’t see Addison, or anybody else from the Project for that matter, but he had definitely heard something.
“I’m still thinking about it—ask me again a little later,” he told Brad, hoping that would end the conversation for now. He leaned back and turned his eyes to the window, where to his surprise, he found Addison outside the car, looking at him. Her hologram was keeping pace with the car, and she was lowered so that he was looking right at her face. He smiled at her.
Wait—was it her? Or Sam? He squinted, trying to figure it out.
“Hi, Ben,” she said, her voice wavering.
It was her. He just knew from the look in her eye. And something was wrong.
Mouthing “what’s wrong?”, he raised his eyebrows in anticipation.
“Uh, well, there’s a lot to explain, and it might be better if you can get some alone time with me. But until you can—well, you’ve probably already figured out you’re Janis, right?” She was keeping a calculated poker face.
Ben sent her a subtle nod.
“Okay, well, that’s a start. She’s agreed to help out with the leap, so you may see her in here soon.” Addison looked away, grimacing. “Apparently, she’s my bestie now. We go way, way back.”
Ben furrowed his brow, giving her his best “what?” look.
Addison just shook her head. “Ben, what you did… it changed things. A lot of things.” She bit her lip. “So yeah, we have some things to discuss when you’re not surrounded by a car load of people. Okay? I’ll come back soon. Just… act like Janis would act, but younger. You’ll do fine.”
And with a tap at the handlink, she disappeared.
Ben glared at the empty spot where she had been. For her to drop a bomb like that and just not elaborate was… a choice.
What, exactly, had changed, and how? Was it something to do with Sam?
Surely I didn’t kill him?! he wondered, alarmed.
The heavy bass of Seven Nation Army filled his ears as the car hurtled down an Albuquerque highway, and he suddenly felt as though he were a teen again, going on some adventure with friends. Which, he supposed, was entirely the case, except he was a girl this time. Damn, his life was weird.
* * *
His physical complete, Sam gave Verbena a final squeeze of her hand before heading out into the familiar corridors of Project Quantum Leap, and towards Al’s office.
“Doctor B?” came an uncertain voice from the other direction.
Sam smiled as he recognised Tina’s voice. He spun around, smiling broadly. “Tina! I was wondering if you were still around.”
She approached him, a matching grin on her face. “I had a late start,” she explained. “I was gonna stay with Ziggy ’til she powered all the way down tonight, but looks like that’s been postponed, huh? Good thing too, because I was on the verge o’ tears. It’s like putting a pet dog to sleep!”
Sam glanced around, biting his lip. “I sure hope she didn’t hear that, Tina,” he said, stifling a laugh. He extended his arms, offering a hug, which she accepted.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she murmured into his ear. “Al was gettin’ obsessed with your retrieval. Beth told me he’s barely been home in months, and he wasn’t even the one writing the program.”
If that had intended to make him feel better, it didn’t work. Sam knew that his lack of contact after his decision was what had caused all this. And now all he wanted was to reassure everybody that he was back for good. Especially Donna.
As he let go of Tina and continued down the hall, he tried to ignore the gnawing thoughts of all the people his other self must have helped in the ensuing years, and the sinking feeling he had about it all possibly being erased.
He knocked on Al’s door, and it was barely a few seconds before it swung wide open.
“Alright buddy,” Al announced, jingling the keys to his beloved car. “Let’s go see Donna.”
“Where is she?” Sam said, his worries forgotten at the mention of her name.
“She’s out in Albuquerque with Beth. Hasn’t had the heart to set foot in here since we lost touch with you.”
Sam bit back the guilt. “Okay, well, I can’t wait to see her.”
“Oh yeah—Sammy Jo’s coming too,” Al added. “I’m, uh, getting her clear of the Accelerator, for her own sake. Plus she lives up that way too.”
“I’m glad she’s tagging along,” Sam said with a weak smile. “I wanted to talk to her.”
Or rather, he thought, he wanted to apologise to her. Hell, there were so many apologies owed by him that he might as well have sent out a memo to the whole complex consisting solely of the word ‘sorry.’
As Al grabbed Sam by the arm, he added: “Before we go, I just want to take a quick detour to the Control Room. Gotta say hello to Gooshie and pay my dues to Ziggy.”
“Oh yeah, she’d never let you live it down if you didn’t,” Al agreed. “Then again, she’s a little impaired right now. She might not have an opinion about it.”
At this, a booming feminine voice bounced off the walls of the corridor.
“Admiral, I am not that impaired,” she said. “I remind you that I can still process more data than your limited mind could hold in a lifetime.”
“I stand corrected,” Al said with a private grin toward Sam.
But Sam was looking to the end of the hall, where he had thought he’d seen someone. But… there was nobody there.
He rubbed his eyes, and turned away. Maybe it was nothing.