Half an hour later, Sam was placed under arrest and sent to an interrogation
room. He tried to explain himself to the two FBI agnates, but they either
didn't believe him or they weren't very interested. As he waited for the
person that would further question him, Al got out his control mouse and
told Sam as much as he could.
"You already know who you are, so I won't bother you with that, but
it's May 24, 1998 and you're in Washington D.C. Those two who arrested
you are Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, and they work for the
government on something called the X-Files; that branch deals with trying
to explain paranormal activities." The hand link made some noise and Al
hit it lightly. "Ziggy doesn't have nay information on who that was you
found in the alley, but Tina is working on it."
Sam nodded his head. "Why am I here?"
Al continued to read from the mouse. "Un"--he hit the device again--"Unknown,
but there's a 96.4 percent chance it has to do with that guy in the alley."
Robert, who had remained quiet throughout the entire arrest, finally
spoke up. "It does."
"So what am I going to tell them?" Sam asked of Robert. "How am I going
to prove I have nothing to do with that guy?"
Robert responded, "Don't worry; Mulder will believe you."
Just then the door to the room opened and the two FBI agents stepped
through; Scully carried a manilla file.
As they both took seats before him, the one named Mulder said, "Mr.
Beckett? We'd like to ask you a few questions."
Scully opened the file and removed a driver's license; the one Robert
had been kind enough to give him that he knew nothing about. "According
to your license, your name is Samuel Beckett. What puzzles me is that it
states you were born in 1953; if you were born then, you would be forty-four
years old, and since you appear to be in your sixties, I'll just assume
this is a fraudulent document."
Sam moved his eyes to look at Robert, who gave a placid face and waved
him off. Sam figured that, since this was supposedly his last leap, he
could say anything he wanted; but he doubted that Mulder would believe
him.
"Actually, Ms. Scully, it's not. I am Sam Beckett."
She looked at him skeptically. "How is that?"
Sam took a deep breath. He knew the woman wouldn't believe him; that
was apparent in her eyes. So, instead, he turned to Mulder. "I'm a time
traveler."
Sam had expected the response to come from Mulder, but got it from his
partner instead. "A time traveler? Look, Mr. Beckett, I've heard a lot
of excuses, but that has got to be the dumbest I've ever heard."
"Let's hear him out," Mulder said. "I'm interested in what he has to
say."
Sam continued. "I have developed a way to travel through time, and I've
been at it for..." He ever so slightly turned to Al, who gave him the appropriate
number. "...twenty-five years. It's called quantum leaping."
Mulder sat erect in his chair. "I remember reading a few papers on that.
It's where a person jumps within his own lifetime to whatever point he
wants."
Sam nodded. "That's basically it."
Scully closed the file in front of her and asked, "Mulder, can I see
you for a moment?"
Once they stepped out into the hall, Scully turned to Mulder and said,
"Don't tell me you're buying this?"
Mulder replied, "You have the information."
"I have lots of information. Mulder, the background check I made says
that Sam Beckett was a child genius that got many doctorates and can speak
a variety of foreign languages. But it also says that Sam Beckett is forty-four;
that man in there is at least sixty."
Mulder looked at his partner. They had worked together for many years,
and so Mulder had felt that he knew many things about Scully; including
when she was withholding information.
"There's something you're not telling me."
Scully shook her head. "It's nothing."
"I think it is. What is it?"
Scully tried to deny again, but Mulder gave her a look that said he
wasn't going to buy it, so she took a deep breath and said, "The report
goes on to say that Sam Beckett undertook a top secret government project
in 1995 and he was never heard from again."
"What was the project?"
"The report doesn't say." Scully noticed something in Mulder's eye;
he had a look that said he had an idea. "Mulder, this is not an X-File.
Whoever that guy is in the interrogation room is, he's not Sam Beckett."
Mulder said nothing and returned to the room. Sam looked up at him,
but Mulder continued with his silence until he picked up the folder and
took out a picture. He then turned it around and asked, "Is this you, Mr.
Beckett?"
Sam looked at the photo. It was a picture of him accepting his Nobel
prize. He had won that award when he was younger, but his photographic
memory recalls every detail of his young face. "It is," he said.
"Can you get someone who can confirm that?"
Suddenly there was a flash of light in the room. Mulder threw his arms
up in defense, and when the light cleared, there were two more people in
the room, one teen-ager, one adult. Mulder looked from one to the other,
then looked at Scully to get her reaction, and she looked pretty shocked.
"We both could," the boy said. Al looked over at him and Robert continued,
"I took the liberty of making you visible to them."
"Who are you?" Scully shouted.
Robert bowed, an odd movement to be seen in an interrogation room. "We
are friends of Sam's."
Scully asked with equal force, "What are you doing here?"
Al beat on his hand link furiously, but Robert answered, "We are here
to help you with your X-File."
"How did you do that?" Mulder asked.
"Does it matter?" Robert walked the length of the room. "You have an
X-File, and we're here to help; that's all that really matters."
Scully said defiantly, "We'll be the judges of that."
Robert smiled. "I'm sure you will. Tell us about your case, if you'll
be so kind."
Scully opened her mouth to protest, but Mulder grabbed her arm and pulled
her down into her chair. He leaned sideways into her ear and whispered,
"I'm going to follow my instinct, here. I have a feeling they'll be very
helpful."
"Don't you dare," Scully whispered back, but by the look in Mulder's
eyes, she knew she couldn't stop him.
Mulder pulled out a second file underneath the first one and opened
it up. He then pulled out another picture and gave it to Sam to look at.
Al leaned over his shoulder to eagerly look at the photo while Robert was
contempt with himself. "That is Barry Hayes. Three weeks ago he robbed
a bank. When the police opened fire on him, he was hit multiple times,
but got away. The reports say that he was bleeding from the chest and back,
but the only thing of him they found was a trail of blood that ended at
the back of a dead-end alley. One week ago, he robbed another bank. When
he threatened to use the bomb he had with him, and used it, everyone inside
was killed. The police believed he was killed as well, but he showed up
three days ago robbing another bank. Each time this guy should have been
killed, and each time he walked away."
Sam stared at the report, and Al studied it with much interest. Sam
asked, "How is that possible?"
"I believe that Barry Hayes is an elasomorph."
Sam jerked his head up at that. "A shapeshifter?"
Mulder shrugged. "If you prefer that term."
"Impossible!" Al shouted. "There are no such things as shapeshifters.
Vampires, werewolves, aliens, sure--but not shapeshifters."
"That's where we differ, mister...?"
Al looked up from the file again. "Calavicci. Rear Admiral Albert Calavicci."
Mulder looked at Robert, who said, "Robert Underwood; I'm a being of
higher power."
Scully said skeptically, "I'll bet you are."
Robert returned the skepticism. "You don't believe me? After all the
things you've seen? You were the one who was abducted by the government
under the guise of aliens and infected with that cancer of yours. You were
the one that discovered a Siamese twin that could part from his brother;
don't tell me you don't believe in time travel and angels?"
"You're an angel?"
Robert folded his arms, but didn't take on a threatening manner. "No;
just a being of higher power, like Deadman or the Specter."
Sam decided to intervene before everything got out of hand. "Look. I'm
here, and it looks like I'm here to help you solve your case. Let me help."
"And then...?" Scully asked.
"And then I'm out of your life."
Scully pulled Mulder aside. This was going to take a while.
