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It was like a dream come true. The last time Daniel Reid had been in New York City was when he was a small boy, having been taken there on holiday by his parents. Now he was there again, thirty-three years in the past, and he wasn't able to touch anything.
Reid found himself standing outside an old blues club on 52nd Street, listening to someone screech away to a lone piano tune. Reid didn't recognize the singer, but he recognized the piano player.
Stepping inside, through a wall, he found a scene straight out of an old film. Outrageous clothes, awful drinks, and cannabis being passed around freely. A police officer would have had a field day arresting this lot, Reid thought to himself. But then again, there was probably one or two "coppers" enjoying the pot with the rest of them.
Reid looked up at the stage, and saw the screecher, belting out a tune written by Little Willie John, or some other black man with two first names. Next to him, playing an old beat-up looking piano, was Sam Beckett.
Reid smiled. He hadn't seen Beckett in years, and now he was here with him, thirty-three years in the past, and he was the only one in the room who could see Beckett in his true form.
The song was soon over, and the crowd began to show their appreciation, although Reid thought that the cannabis had clouded their tastes, because the singer was truly awful.
His set over, Beckett seemed glad to be leaving the stage. He doubted whether he could have taken much more of that man's screeching.
Soon, he was back in his dressing room. Taking a towel, he began to wipe the sweat from his brow. With the towel covering his face, he failed to notice that someone was in the room with him. And when he saw, it gave him the fright of his life.
Beckett let out a scream as Daniel Reid stood before him. After calming down, he began to speak.
"Daniel? Is that you? What are you doing here?"
"Is that any way for you to speak to an old friend, Sam?" Reid asked.
"What are you doing here?" Beckett asked again. "Where's Al?"
"For the past few days your signal has been getting weaker and weaker," Reid said. "Ziggy has been slowly losing track of you. Donna came over to Britain to see me, to get my help in getting you back."
"But if I can't see Al, how come I can see you?"
"To be honest, I don't know. Perhaps as ours was the first link, it hasn't worn out in some way. Perhaps your link with Al has been getting weaker with each leap. Who knows? All I know is that we have to get you back as soon as possible, before we lose you forever!"
Project Quantum Leap, Stallion's Gate, New Mexico, 2000
Alessi suddenly heard something she never had before, something she thought she would never hear.
"We are under attack," Ziggy reported.
"Under attack?" said Al. "From who?"
"Unidentified flying objects are approaching fast," Ziggy reported. "Massive energy surges detected."
"We're being attacked by UFO's?" said Alessi.
"Do you have pictures of them?" asked Watt.
The viewer suddenly came to life, and Watt looked at the approaching craft with great interest.
"They look familiar, but it couldn't be!"
"Be what?" asked Al. "What is it?"
"Imperial ships," Watt replied. "From the future."
Something suddenly snapped inside Watt's mind.
"Temporal energy is caused by time travel, isn't it, Doctor?" he asked.
"Yes. What are you getting at, Captain?"
"Could the energy caused by these ships from the future have something to do with Dr. Beckett's problems?"
Alessi snapped her fingers.
"That's it! I never considered that the problem could be from an outside source!"
"Is there any way you can contact Daniel?" asked Watt. "He'll need to know as soon as possible!"
High above Stallion's Gate, Magus flew. Looking down, he could see the small Imperial transports circling around Project Quantum Leap, as if they were about to swoop down upon the mountain like a swarm of vultures. He was about to try and stop them when he was attacked. Two phaser blasts suddenly ripped past him, one of them singeing the edges of his cape.
Magus watched as one of the Imperial transports began to climb skywards to his position.
"I want full power to all the defense systems," said Al. "Boy, I never thought we'd ever have to use these babies!"
"Neither did I," said Alessi. "The energy shield is in place."
Alessi looked on in horror as the energy shield was disabled by one phaser blast.
"I've never seen anything like it!" she said.
"Their technology is far more advanced than yours, Doctor," said Watt. "I've seen what it could do. They could swat us down like flies if they wanted to!"
New York City, 1967
For the first time in ages, Beckett had found someone he could talk to on an intellectual level. He was finding his talk with Reid most enjoyable, but he knew it couldn't last forever. They both had work to do.
"We'd better get down to business," said Beckett. "You can tell me about Anglo-Force once you get me out of here."
Beckett watched as Reid began to operate the controller, and was surprised when something odd happened.
"What's wrong?" asked Reid. "Why are you looking at me in that way?"
"Your image," said Beckett. "You began to fade out for a few seconds."
Beckett watched as Reid's image began to fade two more times.
"Something's wrong," said Reid, tapping the controller. "Ziggy, what's happening?"
"Project Quantum Leap is under attack," Ziggy reported. "A massive energy surge has entered the main computer system because of the attack. Dr. Beckett could leap at any moment."
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