Quantum Leap1989

[Al has just told Sam that he has to fly an experimental aircraft in order to leap]

Sam:
There's got to be another way.

Al:
The next one's only got a 52% chance of working.

Sam:
I'll take it!

Al:
It requires you to be at ground zero during an atomic detonation. [Sam frowns] You asked.

Sam:
What else have you got?

Al:
This isn't a shopping list, you know. [consults handlink] The odds drop into the low teens after that. Your best shot is freezing the brain until all electrical activity has ceased.

Sam:
That's called *death*.

Al:
I never said it would be easy. You want a sure thing? I got it for you. You don't do anything, you just live. Barring accidental death or a fatal disease, you'll be back in forty years. That's your safest option.

Sam:
And Tom Stratton?

Al:
He'll go on living forward from where he's at now. Technically, he could end up the oldest man alive.

Sam:
Well, what about Peg and Mikey? I don't want to hurt them, but I can't go on pretending I'm Tom.

Al:
Hey, they were going to lose him on Monday anyway. Of course, if you bust Mach 3 and survive, they could have him around for another thirty or forty years.

Sam:
I can't fly!

Al:
I'll be your co-pilot.

Sam:
You're a hologram.

Al:
I'm also an ex-astronaut. The hardest part about flying is taking off and landing. The B-50 does the first part of that for you. After that, you just fire a couple of rockets, hang onto the stick and ka-za-zoom! Mach 3.

Sam:
And the second part?

Al:
Landing? [shakes head] You could *never* land the X-2, not even with my help. So, you don't.

Sam:
I eject.

Al:
[nods] X-2 does a crash and burn. You float back to earth on a pillow silk. The moment you touch down, you leap forward, Tom leaps back and the broad and I are gone to Las Vegas!

Sam:
It could work.

Al:
Of course it will work.

Sam:
A minute ago, you said it was crap.

Al:
That was before I thought it out.