�Well, how come you�re not trying it?� an
annoyed voice floated into his
consciousness.
Samuel Becket'ts consciousness slowly
pulled itself from the field of blue,
coalescing and filling in his current
form. It was a reluctant journey, but one
he rarely had control over. Besides, the
voice sounded more than a little annoyed�
�Huh?� he queried, getting a feel for the
atmosphere of the room and the tone of the
new voice.
�Don�t just sit like a stone. I really
think I got it this time.� Beckett raised
his eyes and met with those of a young
woman. Her eyes seemed�odd, too large
almost. He shrugged it off mentally as
images and names began to fall into place
from the mind of his host. Then he became
aware of the smell.
It was a pungent aroma, something that in
all his years he had never had the
occasion to meet. His memory was a good
one, at least what wasn�t Swiss cheesed�
and he couldn�t place the smell at all. He
looked for the source and found it in a
spoon before him. The girl looked at him
expectantly, hopefully, �Here goes.� He
said and put the spoon into his mouth.
�OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH BOY!� he exclaimed as
the food entered his mouth.
*Theorizing that time travel within ones
own lifetime was possible, Doctor Samuel
Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap
accelerator-and vanished.*
*He awoke to find himself trapped in the
past, facing mirror images that were not
his own and driven by an unknown force to
change history for the better.*
*His only guide on this journey is Al, an
Observer from his own time who appears in
the form of a Hologram that only Sam can
see and hear.*
And so, Doctor Beckett finds himself
Leaping from life to life, striving to put
right what once went wrong�*
And hoping each time that the next
Leap�will be the Leap home.*
Samuel Beckett had faced a lot of
challenges as he Leaped from time to time
and life to life, but, at the moment, none
of that mattered. All that mattered was
getting whatever was in his mouth the heck
out of there. He spat harshly, sending he
food flying from his mouth like a golf
ball hit by Tiger Woods. He desperately
groped along the table, blinded by the
tears pouring from his eyes as the
spiciness of whatever�food�he had just
eaten seared across his tongue.
When he finally managed to recover, he
realized that the girl who had wanted him
to eat the food was staring at him. And
NOT looking the least bit sorry for having
disabled half of his tongue, possibly
scaring it for life. She looked
positively, incredibly, ticked off.
�It�s just a little bit too�hot?� he
tried, watching for some kind of reaction.
Oh boy was there a reaction. The girls
left eye twitched�
�Too hot, you say? Maybe you need to cool
down then!� the girl grabbed a glass of
water and flung it at him. Sam stared at
her, his bangs dripping.
�Aw jeez, whydja hav� to go and do that?�
he demanded, not really knowing why he
said it that way.
The girl fumed and continued to fix him
with a look that had it been a fire, it
surely would have left him as little more
than ashes, �Fine Ranma, I�ll just go and
find Ryoga he likes my cooking.�
�Ryoga?�
�Honestly!� the mystery girl exclaimed.
With a pivot on her heel, she stomped out
of her the room and out of Sam�s sight.
With the girl gone, Sam had an
opportunity to get a bearing on his
surroundings. He was seated on the floor
at what was obviously a large dining table
with very short legs. So, he was in a
Japanese home. Not really an issue for the
Leaper: he had seen much worse. The table
was rectangular, so it was probably used
for a larger group, a member of which he
and the girl who had just left were
obviously a part of. He looked around for
something he could use to see his
reflection.
�Are you and Akane done now, Ranma?� A
taller girl with long brown hair entered
and moved to take the bowl, still filled
with the concoction that Sam had�tested,
from the table, �Would you like me to
fetch the kettle?�
*She sees me dripping with water and
wants to know if I�d like some tea?* Sam
wondered aloud to himself, �Uh, sure.� If
nothing else, the kettle would show him
his reflection. And now he knew something
more: the girl who had just left was
Akane.
The new girl re-entered carrying a metal
tea kettle but no mugs or tea bags. Sam
reached out for the kettle and took it by
its wire handle. He stared intently at the
reflective surface. Blazing red hair and
blue eyes stared back at him. No sign of
make up, but the face was very feminine
anyway. No worry lines or anything like
that, so he was probably in his late
teens, the same as the Akane girl. Now he
had a face to go with his name, Ranma.
�Um, what about cups?� He asked, looking
around to see how he could help in
preparing the tea.
�Whatever for, Ranma-kun?� the girl
asked, sounding just a little too blank.
�For the tea�� Sam said, �Is there any
way I can help?�
�Tea? So, you are planning on staying
that way for the rest of the day, or are
you going to use the furo?�
�Uh, the furo, actually. For now, all I
want is some tea.� He said.
The girl disappeared back into what Sam
assumed was the kitchen and was back
moments later with a cup of tea. Sam
sipped lightly at it and stared at the
small pond in the backyard of the home.
One of his first instincts was to find out
what his purpose in each leap was, but so
far he hadn�t even a clue as to what it
was he was trying to fix. Unless it
was�Akane�s cooking. If that was his goal,
Sam realized, he might very well be stuck
in the Leap for the rest of his life.
�Ranma, if you are going to use the furo,
I think you should go ahead and do it now,
as I�d like to get to cleaning it.� The
tall girl came in and motioned in what Sam
hoped was the direction of the furo.
Sam stood and followed the direction.
Somewhere in his multi-lingual, if rather
holey, memory he recognized that the furo
would be a sort of washroom. If there was
a wash room, Sam realized, then there
would be a mirror. He could get a look at
Ranma and see who he was. If he was even a
he. It wouldn�t be the first time that Sam
had leapt into a woman.
�Uh uh, wrong door Sam, that one leads to
the dojo. The room you�re looking for is
over there.� The voice of Al suddenly came
from behind him.
�Geez Al, you almost gave me a heart
attack.� Sam gasped, looking at the
hologram. Al was dressed only in a white
undershirt and boxer shorts, �Why are you
dressed like that? Casual Friday at the
office?�
�No, a minor emergency. Nothing for you to
worry about.� Al said, pulling up his hand
link, �But I�m afraid Ziggy hasn�t got
much information for you to use just yet.
She�s being�temperamental.�
�About what?�
�This Leap has her in a frazzle. The only
reason I know where this �furo� thing is
that I�ve already wandered around the
house. The dojo is there, and there are
bedrooms, the kitchen, and all those
pleasant little domestic things. Oh yeah,
you�re in Japan too.� Al took a draw from
his cigar. It was then that Sam noticed
Al�s rather drawn out face. It didn�t look
like he�d been sleeping.
�So you don�t know anything about this
�Ranma� yet?�
�I know that Ranma is engaged to Akane,
that cute little number you royally ticked
off earlier. I know that the tall brunette
is Kasumi, her elder sister and her other
sister is Nabiki, but I haven�t seen if
she�s as�luscious as the others.� He
grinned widely and drew again on the
cigar.
Leave it to Al to look for the cute women
first.
�And that your father is Genma Saotome,
presumably making you Ranma Saotome.� Al
tapped on the hand-link. It protested
shrilly and, if possible, sounded as if it
were glaring at him, �And that is all that
Ziggy will tell me for the moment.� He
smacked the hand link once again.
�Well, I�m not wearing a bra or anything,
so we can say that Ranma is male.� Sam
said as he opened the door into the furo.
He removed the red silk shirt he had been
wearing and slid out of the black pants.
He turned on the hot water tap and
followed along the walls of the room,
looking for a mirror.
And came face to face with a red haired
young woman. She was well developed and
stared back at him in shock, the steam
from the bath rising behind her as she
stared, transfixed, at her/himself in the
mirror. �Damn Sam, you�re gorgeous.�
�Why in heaven�s name wouldn�t a woman
this�developed, not wear support?� Sam
said, more to himself than to Al. He
*knew* what the holograms reply would be,
and he wasn�t particularly in the mood for
Al�s moments. Where Sam�s mind was Swiss
cheese, Al�s was more cheesecake. He
grabbed a towel and threw it over the
mirror, hooking it on a corner.
Without another word, Sam slid into the
hot water of the furo. He luxuriated for a
long while in the hot water, allowing his
mind to wander and for what he had of
Ranma�s personality to finish establishing
himself. He could tell by what memories he
had, not to mention by the fine tone of
the reflection he had seen, that Ranma
kept herself in shape. �You wouldn�t
believe how weird this kid�s life has been
Sam.� Al popped into existence next to
Sam.
�Al, I leap from time to time and body to
body. This can�t be much stranger than
that.� Sam replied, luxuriating in the
heated water.
�I don�t know about that, Sam, he gives
even Leaping a run for its money. Ziggy�s
got him with three Fianc�es, Martial Arts
Abilities that are through the roof
and�corrupted data by invalid parameters?
What the hell?�
�It means that Ziggy has run across
something that isn�t possible, yet is
being fed to her by the variable inducers.
Give her a few minutes and she�ll figure
out what was corrupted.� Sam said, trying
to focus on luxuriating in the bath.
�Sam�I can�t remember Ziggy *ever* not
being able to process *any* variable.� Al
was concerned, particularly at the calm
attitude that Sam was adopting. Ziggy
malfunctioning in any way was a bad thing.
Gooshie may have been a tech, but he was
nothing compared to Sam. Al knew that both
he and Gooshie feared what would happen if
something manage to cause Ziggy to crash
completely.
�You say that I�m a Martial Artist? Do I
practice any particular styles?�
�Sorry Sam, Ziggy�s sounding like she�s
gonna have kids over whatever this
corrupted data is. I�m betting that
Gooshie�s gonna want me back in the
Control Room. I�ll get back as soon as I
can Sam.� Al whacked the hand link against
his palm, �Hopefully with something you
can use.� There was a brief whoosh as the
door opened behind Al. He stepped into the
glowing portal and closed the link behind
him.
�It�s about time.� Sam said to himself.
He liked having Al around, and valued his
help, but until Al had something useful he
was more nuisance than help. He sighed and
leaned back into the water, content to
just luxuriate in the warmth.
�Aiya! Ranma!� A woman suddenly popped
out of the water next to Sam. She dripped
with warm water and was very�naked. Her
lavender colored (lavender?) hair damply
clung against Sam�s body as she embraced
him in a grip that was not unlike an
octopus on steroids.
As Sam�s brain tied to focus on this new
girl there was a cry of inarticulate rage
from the furo door. He had just enough
time to see Akane come striding in, a
massive hammer in her hands ready to deal
death to someone. Judging from the path,
Sam knew it was him. �Oh boy��
----
Al grimaced as he exited the door from
the Imaging Chamber into Project Quantum
Leap�s command center. Gooshie was
frantically tapping at the multi-colored
lighted tiles that housed Ziggy�s central
core, trying to get the whirl of blinking
lights to stop. Judging by the cascade of
swirls, he wasn�t doing very well.
�Gooshie, what the hell is wrong with
Ziggy?�
�I don�t know Admiral. She�s locked into
some kind of feedback loop, running the
same data over and over again��
�You mean she�s frozen? Like a p.o.s
everyday desktop?� Al demanded his voice
angry with pretty much everything at the
moment. In the Project it was three in the
morning.
�No, Admiral. She�s not, err, frozen,
she�s using every drop of her system
resources on this data. That�s the
problem. Every single result she seems to
be getting from the same variables is
different. It�s like she�s adding two and
two to get five, then six, the twelve.�
Gooshie continued his work, glancing up at
the Admiral only occasionally as he spoke.
�Gooshie, Sam designed Ziggy to have the
ability to process cascade variables like
that. She should be able to predict and
still give us data. What�s so unique about
this Ranma Saotome that Ziggy can�t
process her data?�
�Here�s the print out, Admiral. As you
can see, it doesn�t make any sense at
all.� Gooshie handed him a piece of paper
with printed text on it.
�First by one, then another within cursed
form. Training grounds Junsenkyo. Variable
data, present state, modified state.
Physical altercation-human development.
Exceeds human variables.�
�Gooshie, what does that mean?�
�It means that somehow, Ranma Saotome
cannot be human.�
�Waitaminute�.� Al�s memory suddenly
flared up. This Saotome was engaged to
three women�yet she, and that had clearly
been a female in the mirror that Sam had
leapt into, not to mention Japanese
culture wouldn�t allow female-female
marriages, �Gooshie, open the Wating Room.
I need to talk to Ranma Saotome.�
�Tina�s in there right now, Admiral.�
Gooshie warned. Al dismissed the warning
with a flick of his hand and Gooshie keyed
in a code to Ziggy�s console. �Sorry
Admiral, all of Ziggy�s primary systems
are being taken up with this Saotome
person�s variables. I�ll have to key you
in at the door.�
�Then let�s go, Gushman.� Al stated,
heading for the Waiting Room.
It didn�t take long for Gooshie to key in
the access code for the Waiting Room and
the door opened with barely even a hiss.
Al had almost half a moment of reaction
time as a fist sprang from the confines of
the door and toward his middle. He sucked
in his gut and leapt backward. Years of
military self defense training came to
life as he reached out and pulled his
opponent into a grappling throw. There was
a thud as his assailant collided with one
of the Projects walls. Al watched as Sam
Beckett's body slumped against the wall
hard. He wasn�t out yet, but he was
stunned.
After pausing to check on Tina (she was
out cold), Al turned his attentions to the
current inhabitant of Sam Beckett. He went
over and knelt next to Sam�s body, �He,
Saotome, you with me?�
�Ugh�yeah, I�m here. What�s it to you and
what did you do to me?� Sam�s voice
demanded.
�Not much, kiddo, we just pulled your
spirit out of the past and into the
future, as well as another body, so that
my buddy Sam can stay in your body and fix
something that went wrong in the past.� Al
replied. That reply was usually enough to
cause a guest to faint. Saotome Ranma,
however, was not a normal guest.
He began to laugh. A long, hearty,
slightly cynical laugh. When it was
finally over, he looked at the confused
Al, �Your buddy has no idea what he just
got himself into.�
�No, and neither does his super powered
computer, which has me and the others at
the project scared shitless. Now, unless
you want to keep up this combat, Saotome,
I suggest that both you and I wait until
tomorrow, and then I�ll have questions.�
Al pulled out one of his good Cigars and
offered it to his guest. Saotome declined,
�Which I will expect you to answer. Not to
mention an apology to Tina.�
�All right�.�Saotome paused, �What do I
call you?�
�Admiral.� Al led Saotome back to the
Waiting Room and picked up Tina, �And
don�t go knocking out more of our staff,
OK?�
Ranma nodded. It wasn�t like he had a
choice.
And Al really needed a drink.
Sam woke up to find the concerned face of
Kasumi looking at him, �My goodness,
Ranma. I am sorry for Akane�s violent
reaction. She really has been over
sensitive lately. And bathing with Shampoo
was not the wisest action.�
�I�I didn�t know she was there.� Sam
replied, massaging the back of his head
where a lump was covered by a thick layer
of bandages.
�That still does not forgive you for
taking a bath with her, Ranma-kun. A young
gentleman such as you should not be
carousing in the bath of his guests.� She
said sternly, but not unkindly. She
smiled, �What would you like for supper?�
�How about a bottle of Aspirin and some
Chicken Soup?� Sam joked, already feeling
better.
�If you are well enough to make such a
weak joke, then you will be fine to eat, I
am sure. I will see you at dinnertime,
Ranma-kun.�
�All right, Kasumi.� Ranma replied.
Kasumi left Ranma�s room feeling slightly
concerned. He had been acting strangely
all day, and now he was being even more
out of character. Something was wrong with
Ranma, and she had to figure out what.
Unfortunately such a diagnosis was beyond
her abilities, but she knew who to call.
The phone rang only twice before Doctor
Tofu picked up. He managed to stammer off
a reply that he would be �right over�
before he hung up.
Sam felt the blood in his head throb
where the welt on the back was slowly
begging to heal. Ranma had remarkable
injury recovery ability, he mused. A blow
like that probably would have
incapacitated a lesser woman for a week at
least. Her martial arts training must have
given her a higher than average tolerance
for physical injury.
�Wait�Akane�fianc�e.� Sam�s thoughts
finally were beginning to come together.
Something here was drastically wrong to
make two women in Japan engaged. Chances
are, that was what he was here to fix. The
door opened and Ranma half expected to see
Kasumi enter once more. Instead it was a
man with glasses and a medical coat.
�I called Doctor Tofu, Ranma-kun.� Kasumi
said cheerfully. The doctor was staring
transfixed at Sam.
�Kasumi, could you leave Ranma and me
alone for a few minutes. Make sure we
aren�t interrupted, please.� Tofu showed
unnatural control around Kasumi, his gaze
still fixed on Sam.
�All right, Tofu-san.� Kasumi said,
closing the door as she left.
�All right, who are you and where is
Ranma Saotome?� Tofu said as he approached
Sam.
-----
End Draft of Chapter One. Disclaimer- Ranma 1/2 and Quantum Leap are not owned by me,
and I claim no rights to them. Rumiko Takahashi was the original creator of Ranma 1/2
and I only know that USA aired Quantum Leap. Knowlege of QL may have some things from
the book series based on the show, and I will give references to them if I need it
if I remember. Any comments and criticism would be appreciated.
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