Quantum Leap: The Almost Paradox

Chapter Four

"Problem?" Albert asked Sam.

Yes, but there was no way that Sam could explain this to the Al of the past, who knew nothing about Quantum Leap.

"Uh, no." Sam answered. "It's just the cold. Travelling all the time and still not used to different weathers."

"Oh." Albert busied himself packing up some equipment that he had stored in the back of the cave. "I hear you get used to it," he called back, "but I don't believe it."

"Yeah. Don't know if I will ever get used to all this lea..." Sam paused. Wrong Al. This one didn't know about leaping. "Weather changes." He finished weakly.

"Lea-?" Al asked inquisitively.

"Um... Leaves falling and flying so suddenly." Sam invented. "It's an inside joke."

"I see." Albert said. He seemed resigned to the fact that Sam was never going to make any sense. "Well," he said, hoisting his bag of equipment, "you should come back to my camp. We have a fire and a warm tent."

"Alright."

"Where's your camp? We can pick up some of your supplies."

"Um..." Al never told him where his camp was. "It's pretty far from here."

"That's ok, we can walk."

"Um. No. It's not walking distance. It's REALLY far." Then Sam grimaced, realizing that Albert would probably ask him how he got here if it wasn't walking distance, and Sam didn't have a decent answer. But Al just gave up the argument.

"Ok fine," he said, "let's go to my camp now then."

As they walked through the deep snow, the seemingly revolving imaging chamber door opened once again. Great. Sam wasn't sure if he could deal with two Al's right now.

"Sam," Al said softly, "don't do this."

This was getting frustrating. "Al!" Sam said through gritted teeth.

Up ahead, Albert stopped and turning back to Sam, said "Yeah?"

"Um... cold again. Why not?" He asked Al. But it was Albert who responded again.

"Why not what?"

"Why not try to get used to the cold." Sam said wildly. Albert shrugged and trudged on.

"Sam, don't go there." Al told him. "The atomic bomb option is better." He was referring to the possibility that, if Sam were to stand at point zero of an atomic bomb detonation, he might leap home. However, the cold was impacting Sam's thoughts, and he spoke before thinking.

"What bomb?" This caused the Al of the past to whirl around in front of him, and Sam nearly walked into him.

"Bomb!!?" Albert yelled, eyes wide.

"Standing at the point zero of an atomic bomb detonation." Al explained.

"Um.........." Sam still could not remember what he was talking about. "Atomic bomb detonation?!?!?!? Point zero?!?!?"

"Dude what are you talking about?!!?" Albert grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Dude shut up!" Al exclaimed. All this yelling was giving him a headache. "Both of you!"

"He can't hear you." Sam told Al. "Shut up." He added, this time speaking to Albert. He frowned. "Double conversations are too complicated."

Albert released the breath he had been holding. "You are getting weird, buddy. Either stop talking to your imaginary friend or I'm outta here." He turned and continued on the long hike to camp.

"Tell me you have to... you know what... so we can talk privately." Al said to Sam.

"Hey Al, um, where exactly.... does one go to the bathroom around here?"

"Find a cave, I guess." Al called back. "We have a long walk ahead of us if you want to wait, but there's a cave up there, see?"

"Oh. Ok. Um..." The cave would be a good spot to talk privately. "I'll take the cave."

Albert set down his bag. "I'll wait here."

"Ok."

Sam walked into the cave and Al appeared beside him. He put the cigar he was holding into his mouth, and pressed a few buttons on the handlink. Then he sighed and looked at Sam.

"Sam. You can't go there."

"Go where? To the cave? I'm kind of already here."

"No, to the camp. With me, er, him, uh, us, WHATEVER!" Al considered the proper phrasing of this sentence for a moment before shaking his head. "Just don't go."

"Why not? What'll happen if I do go?"

"We can find your camp." Al rambled. "With help from Ziggy, we can find it. If you go, you'll see..."

"See what?"

Al heaved a big sigh. "See a mistake."

"Mistake? What mistake? Whose mistake?"

"Sam," Al explained, "when we were up here, my partner and I, we met an Eskimo who saved our lives at the cost of his own. My partner..." Here Al paused before continuing. "...he, he, couldn't handle it. He was always upset that he didn't save the Eskimo's life. It was his biggest mistake."

Sam thought he could see what Al was getting at, and started to panic. "Al! If I go, then that'll create a paradox! You'll die, so then PQL is never created, then I wouldn't have gone back to change it, then you wouldn't have died-"

Al cut him off. "Stop for a minute. Sam."

"What wait a minute?"

"If I die, you will still make PQL. Sure, I won't be here, but you will be. But that doesn't matter. Ziggy says there is a way to save the Eskimo - at the cost of my partner. He will fall off the cliff instead but," Al read the handlink, "most likely live. 98.3% chance of living."

"Those are pretty good chances." Sam thought about it. "But will he be injured in a way that he would rather be dead?"

"If he lives he will be in terrible pain - broken leg. Passed out too."

"But will he be fine?"

"After a while, yes. If..." Al paused.

Sam sighed. It had been too perfect. "If?"

"Well, you being a doctor, you could help him. Otherwise he might freeze to death. Before we could get him to a doc. But... You and him are kind of close."

"Close?" One of his friends at the project? Someone he had met on a leap? Perhaps someone he had even forgotten about entirely?

"Close." Al confirmed. "Could you operate on him?"

Sam considered this. "How close?"

"Sam..."

"Yes?"

"We're best friends..."

"Yeah..."

Al sucked in a breath and continued. "So, of course, YOU went with me to the arctic that month in '83."