Chapter 50
“Come on… come on…” Al tapped impatiently on the steering wheel as he waited in a traffic gridlock. He’d gone what he thought was the shorter route, but it was only shorter in miles. He had neglected to account for traffic, and for 8:30pm on a Saturday, it was unusually slow-moving. “What the hell’s the holdup?”
Sammy Jo craned her neck, attempting to look ahead past the truck in front of them. “Can’t see anything,” she said, a resigned expression on her face. “We’re boxed in.”
Al bit his lip. It may have technically been Ben Song in the trunk of that car, but it was Janis whose life was hanging in the balance. His youngest daughter, his flesh and blood. How could he just sit here and let that nasty witch do whatever awful thing she was about to do?
“Please, please let us get through,” he muttered, half praying and half just trying to keep calm.
An electronic buzz behind him signalled that a hologram had just arrived in the back seat, and he looked around at the version of Sam he realised he’d never be able to see again, because he wouldn’t be around to see it.
“Sam, you gotta get me out of this jam.” He looked pleadingly at his friend. “Look at this, it’s bumper-to-bumper on all sides!”
“Oh Al, you shouldn’t have come this way,” Sam said, grimacing as he looked at his handlink. “There’s an accident up ahead. Traffic’s gonna be at a standstill for two miles. You won’t make it in time. I’m sorry.”
Al pounded his forehead on the steering wheel. “No. This is my daughter we’re talkin’ about! Her life’s on the line, Sam!” He gave Sam a desperate look. “At least tell me the others are gonna get there…”
“Ziggy gives it a 66.2 percent.” Sam looked up from the handlink. “That’s the best we’ve got.”
“That’s not good enough,” Al snapped. “Isn’t there anything we can do from here?”
“Donna’s place is closer, isn’t it?” Sammy Jo piped up. “We could call her.”
“Sam’s got her car,” Al moaned.
“True, but…” Sam looked pensive. “Tom does have a hire car.”
Sammy Jo sent Sam a questioning look.
“Sam’s brother,” Al explained. “Your uncle, I guess.”
“Oh…” Sammy Jo brought a finger to her lip. “Addie mentioned meeting her Great Uncle, and that he knew about Ben. You think he would help?”
“Well, he hated my guts last I heard,” Al said, “but I’m sure he wants to help save a life as much as anybody. Worth a shot.”
“Yeah, he’s coming around on everything he’s learned today,” Sam said. “I remember that much. Only problem is I’m not tuned in to Donna or Tom. I wouldn’t be able to direct them where they need to go.”
“You think we could do that… that thing again?” Sammy Jo suggested.
“Thing? What thing?”
“Earlier, Janis made me promise to put my neural data into Ziggy sometime in the future, so that she could tune into my brainwaves in her present. And voila, it worked like a charm.” She shrugged. “Guess the photographic memory helped out there, huh? Made it a hundred percent likelihood as soon as I pledged to do it.”
“Is that what happened?” Sam looked impressed. “Well, yeah. If you would be so kind.”
“Okay.” Sammy Jo rubbed her temples dramatically. “Resolving to tell Sam to register more brainwaves into the Imaging Chamber. Donna and… Uncle… Uncle…?” She glanced up, waiting for someone to give her his name.
“Tom Beckett,” Al supplied.
“Tom Beckett. Right.” She gave a thumbs up. “Done—in the ol’ memory banks.”
“Wait, did you say tell me to do it?” Sam asked, frowning.
“Well, it’s your project. You’d be doing it, right?”
“Uh, I wouldn’t count on me to do it…” Sam rubbed his chin nervously. “Because there’s a chance I won’t be around to.”
Al whipped his head around. “What’s that supposed to mean, Sam? You’re right there, aren’t you?”
Sam shook his head. “I… might not be come Monday. Look, don’t worry about it. Just, make sure you resolve to do it yourself, Sammy Jo. Please.”
Puzzled, Sammy Jo nodded. “Okay… Dad. I promise.”
With that, the handlink chimed. “Thanks—that did the trick,” Sam said. “We’re gonna save Janis, Al. Okay? And Ben. Leave it to me. And… the other me. And Addison. And the other Addison. You know what I mean.”
He pressed a button, and disappeared.
Al looked to Sammy Jo, bewildered. “What do you think Sam meant, he might not be around come Monday?”
At this prompt, the wristlink on Sammy Jo’s arm suddenly lit up, which in turn activated the computer terminal Al had built into his dashboard.
“I know the answer to that, Admiral,” Ziggy announced with glee from the stereo speakers. “And I’m simply dying to tell someone.”
* * *
Sam sped down the street. This was a little more convoluted a route than Al was taking, but it was more quiet, and as such he could really put his foot down.
Beside him, Addison gripped the sides of her seat tightly.
“You okay?” he asked, giving her a quick glance to make sure she wasn’t panicking. Her expression was unreadable, however.
She took a moment to reply. “Gramps, when you’re really keyed up, do you ever get this weird sense of like… almost calm? Like everything in your life has been leading up to this moment?”
A smile tickled at Sam’s lips. “Yeah. Happens to me a lot.”
“Well I guess it’s hereditary,” Addison remarked, holding up a steady hand. “I should be shaking, right? My heart’s not even racing.”
“Well, that makes one of us,” Sam said. “But that’s good. It means you’re calm under pressure. It’s a great quality to have; incredibly valuable in an emergency.”
“Huh.” She stared out the window at the blur of streetlights. “Do you think I could someday do what you did? I know I grow up to be a hologram, but—”
“I’m sure you’ll do amazing things, whatever you choose to do,” Sam said warmly. “Whether or not you follow in my footsteps, well—I guess that’s your choice. It’s a tough job. You never know whose shoes you’ll end up in.”
Addison nodded thoughtfully. “I guess I should brush up on all kinds of skills, if that’s my potential future. What kinds of skills would you recommend?”
Sam considered this for a moment. Well, she already had the martial arts background. That was a pretty valuable tool in the proverbial kit for the more dangerous situations.
“Well, it’s always useful to know first aid, CPR, and other basic medical procedures. Including using older technology.”
“Field medic stuff?”
“Yeah,” Sam said with a nod. “But honestly, I think the number one skill you need is empathy.”
“Empathy?”
“It’s not all racing around and saving lives. Sometimes you just have to be able to give someone emotional support. To give advice, and understand things from another’s perspective. Sometimes kindness is the best gift you can give somebody.” He shifted gears, and gestured with the hand no longer resting on the steering wheel. “Leaping is all about leading by example. If you help someone, they’re more likely to go on to help someone too. And in that way, a ripple goes through the quantum field from your point of change, affecting the ultimate position of quarks all the way out.”
“Of whats?”
“Uh, never mind. My point is, a leaper isn’t a superhero, or a superspy, or anything else with the word super attached. A leaper is somebody who uses their humanity in the best way they can, and just tries to make the world a tiny bit better than it was before. It’s tough work, but… it’s so rewarding, Addison.”
Addison was looking at him wordlessly, absorbing what he’d said. Perhaps seeing him with new eyes, he thought.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” came the slightly rougher voice of his older self, who had quietly appeared in the back seat. “And there are so many people out there who could still use someone like that. Just waiting.” He looked pointedly into Sam’s eyes.
“How are Al and Sammy Jo doing?” Sam asked, ignoring his implication and cutting to the chase.
“They won’t make it.”
“Oh boy. Why not?”
“They’re stuck in traffic. But I got Donna and Tom heading there on their behalf. You’ll have backup, as long as you get a move on.”
“I’m already five over the limit,” Sam said, gritting his teeth.
“Make it fifteen and your chances of getting there in time go up to ninety-two percent. I’ll scan for police and hazards, and tell you if and when to slow down.”
Sam glanced at Addison. “Listen, it’s my duty as a grandparent to tell you never to speed, okay? You won’t have a hologram from the future to guide you away from potential crashes.”
Addison giggled. “I know, Gramps. I know. Now kick this junker into gear, would ya?”
“My pleasure.” Sam slammed his foot down on the accelerator, and the two of them were thrust back against their seats as the car sped into the night.