Chapter 4 "Ziggy! Ziggy, what the hell's going on here?! How and why did Sam leap from one Beckett into another one?!" Al impatiently stood as he waited for an answer. "Well?!" "Apparently we mis-calculated. The years 1992, 1996 and 2000 were leap years. The basic fact that the day of February 29th exists within these years has caused him to leap into one of them." "Oh, well that's odd. But that doesn't explain what caused him to become Tom's son, unless... wait a minute! While Sam was his brother, the kid saw me, and could see Sam himself. I'll almost bet it had something to do with the tweeking we did earlier to the Imaging Chamber!" "Ding ding ding! What do we have for him, Johnny?!" "Don't give me any lip you smart-aleck computer!! Thanks to you, Sam's still in the past!" "Admiral," Tom called, exiting the Waiting Room. "my son says he was in a tour bus coming home from his class trip in California with your daughter Chrissy. As I can vaguely remember, that was in 1996." "1996? That's amazing. Sam had begun leaping only a year before! I was here on February 29th, 1996 while Sam was in... uh, in... hey, I can't remember. Being in that damn booth all the time, watching Sam bouce back and forth like a yo-yo's given me time dyslexia!" Al said. "Atleast my brain's not swiss-cheesed." "I know. That's also the year Sally and I had the twins." A long pause swept across Al's face. "Twins? You never told me you had twins." "Of coarse I have. Infact, you helped deliver them!" Al sighed as he stepped back into the Imaging Chamber. "Well, I'm sure Sam would be proud." --- February 29, 1996 --- Sam had been sitting on a bus next to the leapee's best friend, who happened to be one of Al's daughters. "I hope they find a way to bring your uncle back." the girl said. "Huh?" "You know, Dr. Sam Beckett? My dad worked with him." "Oh, right. Hey, does he talk much about it, the project." "No, not much. Sometimes he comes home all disoriented, and he asks us what year it is. We tease him sometimes saying it's 1882 or something" "Yeah, and one time they said it was 1564 and it was the middle of the Renaissance!" the hologram said humorously. "Of coarse the joke's on her cause I know it was in the 1800s" Sam looked up and smiled at his friend. "So, uhh..." "That's Chrissy, my youngest." 'I knew that.' Sam said quietly. "And trust me Sam, they don't know anything. The only people who know everything about the project are you, me, Tom, Sally, Beth and..." Al hesitated to mention Sam's wife. "Donna." "Huh?" Chrissy asked. Al's mouth widened as the cigar dropped to the floor. "Sam, this is getting bizarre. There's no way you could remember her unless you leaped home or... close to it. My gosh, Sam that's it!" "M-my Aunt Donna. I was just thinking about praying for her." "Aww, that's sweet of you, Tommy!" Al made a funny grin. "Sam, I have a sheer hunch that you are returning home after this one." "What?" Sam asked. "I said that's sweet of you." Chrissy replied, thinking he was still talking to her. "It's best you don't look directly at me, Sam. This kid over here's starting to think you're retarded." Al said, pointing to a spike-haired kid on the other side of the bus. Sam sheepishly turned back to talk with Chrissy as Al continued to check his handlink. "I hope we get there soon. I think I have to go!" "But you just went." Chrissy said. "Don't worry Sam, it's just an hour or so until we get to New Mexico. But odds are you won't run into me because I'll be at the Project. The me and the project in 1996 I mean. In fact, I just wanted to check our old leap records to see if we could figure out who you had leaped into. It'll probably cause the Imaging Chamber to loose audio for just about..." Al voice was muted but his image continued to ramble on. 'Maybe now I can get some shut-eye' Sam said to himself as he dozed off.