James Van Der Beek sat at the foot of the bed in the Waiting Room. He was now at Stallion's Gate, New Mexico, at the heart of the top secret Project Quantum Leap facilities. "Okay. Let me get this straight. I am no longer in Wilmington, North Carolina. I am here because of some 'quantum leap' experiment, and your name is Al."
"Correct," Al said as he stood a few feet in front of James. "I can't tell you much more than I already have. It's all part of a top secret government project."
"Yeah okay," James said, not buying it. "Josh sure went all out for this practical joke and he got me pretty good! Can I go now? I've been here all night and I'm due to be on the set soon, I'm sure of it."
"I can't let you go right now. I have to find out if you have anything planned for Rachael Leigh Cook, your guest star on this week's episode of 'Dawson's Creek'," Al said, puffing on the cigar he just lit. "Her life may be in danger."
"MY life may be in danger," James corrected. "Cigar smoke is worse than cigarette smoke."
Al shrugged. He knew that the Waiting Room was well-ventilated.
"I don't think I planned anything yet," James said. "Why can't I remember how I got here?"
"Your memory is kind of like swiss cheese. There are certain things you might not remember," Al informed as he punched a few keys on the hand-link he had with him.
"Then please tell me what I need to know," James requested.
Al said, "Your name is James Van Der Beek. This is the Waiting Room in a top secret project, which I just told you a moment ago..."
"And we're at Stallion's Gate, New Mexico," James said, knowingly. Realizing Al had not told him this already, James asked, "Wait, how did I know that, Al?"
Al did not feel like explaining why for the millionth time, so he simply said, "That's the way the experiment works. Anyway, take a look at this mirror over here."
In the center of the Waiting Room was a white table that was approximately two feet long, five feet wide, and over two feet high. There was a mirror in the middle of the table. The mirror was two feet by two feet. James walked over to the table and looked down into the mirror. He did not see his own reflection in the mirror.
"What's going on? Who is that on the other side of the glass?"
"Calm down," Al said, noticing that James was beginning to realize that this was not all part of a practical joke. "This is hard to believe, but you are now embodied inside someone else."
James found this impossible to comprehend. "What? Are you crazy?"
"Look again," Al instructed. James did and Al continued. "The face you see reflected in the mirror is of a quantum physicist named Doctor Samuel Beckett. He is currently embodied in your physical body. I know that is difficult to understand..."
James asked, "What are you talking about? Why would he do that?"
"To put something right that once went wrong," Al answered. "Or at least, what is supposed to go wrong, Jimmy."
"James. Please call me James," he said, correcting Al. "I do remember that I am a serious actor who wants to be taken seriously."
"Oh," Al replied. "Kind of like James Dean, huh?"
James nodded.
"So, it is vitally important that you remember everything you can about Rachael Leigh Cook. It just might save her life."
"All right, I'll try," James said, still astonished and shocked that the reflection in the mirror was not his own.
"I'll be back in a bit. There's a shower and restroom around the corner of the north wall. If you need anything else, my friend Gooshie can hear you through the new intercom we just finished installing this morning. He'll try to help you any way he can," Al said as he turned to leave.
After Al left, James said to himself out loud, "'Gooshie'? And I thought 'Pacey' was an odd name." Pausing a moment, James realized that Gooshie might have heard him say that, so James added, "Whoops! Sorry, Gooshie. I didn't mean that as an insult."
"That's all right, Mr. Van Der Beek," Gooshie replied over the intercom. "I get that all the time. Don't worry about it."
The two of them laughed and James turned his mind to the task of trying to remember anything that would help at saving Rachael Leigh Cook.
the mirrored table in
the Waiting Room
Sam went to James' trailer to finish breakfast. After a brief visit from James' publicist, and a quick hello and goodbye from both Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes, Sam spent most of the next hour looking through James' belongings. Sam found James' personal journal and briefly read a few pages, reluctantly out of respect for James' privacy. After making sure everything had been put back where it belonged, Sam went outside. As everyone was getting all ready for the day's shoot, Sam began to recognize all his co-stars:
Katie Holmes, who portrays Joey Potter on the show, had just gone into the wardrobe trailer; Joshua Jackson was over by one of the actor's trailers talking to Kevin Williamson; Michelle Williams, the young lady he had met earlier in the snack trailer, was talking with the director over by the cameras which were still where they were from the night before; Rachael Leigh Cook was just arriving; and the two cast members he had not met yet, Kerr Smith and Meredith Monroe, were both emerging from the snack trailer. Both Kerr and Meredith approached Sam as he finished off the last of his apple cider. Sam motioned for them to join him.
"Hey, James," Meredith said. "You left this morning before I did again. Am I ever going to beat you to the set? Maybe I should eat breakfast here instead of at home?"
Sam smiled. "Maybe. Good morning, you two."
"G'morning," Kerr said, a bit distracted. "Have you seen Kevin around?"
Sam asked, "What's the matter?"
Meredith replied, "Kerr's worried about next week's script. Have you read it yet?"
"No," Sam said, still wondering why Kerr was upset. "What is it about?"
"You don't want to know," Kerr said. "They got me reading a poem, then..."
"Let's just concentrate on today, all righty? We've got a lot to do," Meredith suggested.
"Yeah okay," Kerr said, still looking glum. "I'll see Kevin later."