Quinn, Maggie and Colin entered the bar, seeing 8 other people: A couple of bartenders, a waitress, a rich couple, A raver, and newlyweds.
"I guess these people are 'castaways' too." Maggie joked.
"Yeah, and with two days on this world, we'll leave this 'desert isle of luxury'." Quinn said.
"Yeah, but this one serves beer." Colin remarked.
As the three approached the bar, they saw one of the bartenders, while drying a glass, was watching the Weather Channel. The three sliders took a stool and looked up at the tube.

"... It's looks like a bad day for Southern California. Because Hurricane Eevee has set it's sights on the region after leaving a path of destruction and despair along the Gulf of Mexico, Honduras, and parts of Mexico before finally hitting the Pacific Ocean. It was supposed to continue it's western track to weaken, but an unexpected low pressure front has made it change direction. For a while it's been strengthening, and started heading towards the coast as a Category 5 Hurricane. This is the future track for the storm... Here, it had just grazed LA, but the city has reported taking serious damage from passing wind and rain. We predict that it is going to make landfall at San Francisco and will weaken to a Tropical Storm at the middle of California. We'll have more later as it breaks. Here is the official press release from the mayor...

"Whoa, Category 5... that don't sound too good." Remmy said, he had just sat down during the report.
"Yeah." Maggie agreed, a little shaken. "Do you think this place could survive this?"
"Ms. Chandler said this hotel been through worse," the bartender said. "Oh, sorry I cut into your conversation. The name's Ed. Ms. Chandler said that this hotel had survived Hurricane Iris a couple of years ago."
"Oh, really?" Quinn said. "Why didn't you leave?"
"Well, it was a couple of hours ago that the mayor made the announcement, so take the long drive to my home and pack, then take another long drive out, it would be too late to evacuate. So staying here was my only choice."
"Yeah, we went to the bay area for a vacation." said the newlywed wife. "We overslept and we didn't know about the hurricane till later. My name's Clara, and that man over there is my husband Bill."
Bill waved as she mentoned him.
The raver approached them, wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a loud shirt, "Hey, the name's Ray. I was here to perform at the Electronica Festival here, until it got canceled by that damn hurricane. All my equipment, turntables, and lights made it out of town, it's a bummer I had to stay."
"Yeah, looks like everyone's got a story here," Remmy remarked, then yawned. "Man, I'm beat. If you need me I'll be up at the suite."
As Remmy waved good-bye, he crashed into someone on the way out without looking.
"Why, would you watch where you're going." answered a snobbish voice.
"Look, mister, I'm very sorry..." Remmy apologized.
"Marx! Mr. Richard Marx! If I would have broken something thanks to your incompetence, I would have sued you for every cent you have! Right after I sue this horrid establishment for keeping me here!"
"Look, Marx, I said I was sorry, but you don't have a right to have an attitude." Remmy fumed.
"Richard!" said an old female that was dressed extravagantly. "Come now. Don't worry about that street trash, and eat your supper. I'm already mad this place doesn't carry a decent spoon and fork."
"Coming Abigail," R. Marx said and went to his wife.
The waitress, having witnessed the whole account, stopped and helped Remmy up.
"Don't worry, you're not the only person he yelled at at the past 10 minutes. Once they step in here, they think they own everything."
"Yeah, I see what you mean." Remmy agreed. "Thanks, uh..."
"Linda. And thats all you'll know." The waitress said with a smirk.
Remmy did nothing but smile as she walked away. He yawned again and started to walk up the stairs. And as he approached the suite, he caught a glimpse of Richard Marx walking to his room. They both exchanged angry glances, and went in.

"So... car trouble huh?" Ray said, "well, welcome to the party."
"Yeah, thanks," Colin said.
"So what's up with the rich couple?" Maggie asked, pointing to the old woman sitting by herself.
"Oh, her..." The other bartender said, "Ms. Abigail and her husband were at a convention. Since their chaffeur couldn't get their limousine in order, they were stuck here."
"Oh..." Maggie looked at the ritzy woman as she checked her compact and started up the stairway.
"I've always loathed the rich. They're such snobs," Quinn remarked.
Soon the crowed dispersed and Colin was able to pick up a private conversation.
"So... tell me about the world with the tidal wave?" he asked.
Quinn was about to tell the story, when they all heard a scream. Everyone stopped and ran up the steps...

"Hello, everyone," he said. "My name is Professor Maximillian P. Arturo. I was upstairs sleeping when I heard a commotion and a scream. When everything died down, I decided to come down and see what was going on". He cast a glance at Quinn, with a look of recognition on his face. Everyone else was thinking the same thing - that this guy could be the killer. "So, does anyone care to fill me in?"
There was a pause that seemed like an eternity as everyone stared at him, afraid to speak. Finally Quinn spoke up. "Uh, Professor Arturo?"
"Actually, my boy," Arturo said, "people call me by my middle name - Plum. You can call me Professor Plum. Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Yes, you probably do." Quinn replied, bringing the conversation down to whisper level. "I'm Quinn Mallory, one of your physics students from San Francisco. This is Maggie Beckett, Colin Mallory (my long lost brother), and Rembrandt Brown."

"Ah, yes, Mr. Mallory!" Arturo said. "I thought I'd never see you after you disappeared four years ago with Mr. Bennish and Mr. Wing. You know the F.B.I. even came to me for questioning about your disappearance. Whatever happened to you?"

"Well, that's a long story, Professor." Quinn said. "Do you want to know that first, or do you want to know what happened upstairs?"

"Both eventually," Arturo replied. "But what happened upstairs has more of a bearing on our current situation, so tell me that."

"Okay," Quinn said, "You see that lady over there behind you? Don't look yet - play it cool."

"Cool it shall be, Mr. Mallory." he said. He slowly turned his head around to where he could see her, and scratched his neck to play it off. "Ah yes, Mrs. Marx." he said.

"Okay, that was who you heard scream." Quinn said. "Her husband was murdered upstairs, and we don't know who did it.

"You mean Richard Marx?" Arturo asked. "He's...dead?"

"Yeah, you know him?" Rembrandt joined in.

"We studied together in graduate school." Arturo said. "He was always trying to steal the credit for my research. All my cosmic wormhole theories were credited to that blistering idiot, until I set the record straight. It was during graduate school that he met Abigail, the rich snob. Together they were to me an unbearable pair, and running into them while here in Los Angeles was nothing more than a cruel twist of fate. So, Mr. Mallory, what happened to you, and why should fate bring you here also, on this most dreadful of nights?"

Quinn was about to tell him about how he is merely a double of his Quinn from a parallel Earth, but they were interrupted by Ray the handyman's loud, piercing voice. "THAT'S IT!" he said as he slapped the bar. "I CAN'T KEEP SILENT ANY LONGER WHEN I KNOW WHO THE MURDERER IS! ISN'T IT OBVIOUS? PROFESSOR PLUM DID IT IN THE BEDROOM WITH THE KNIFE!" A series of gasps filled the room as every eye settled on the Professor.

~ The torch now gracefully flies across the cave to our old pal BritSlider. ~

Oh well, I'd better get this started before the torch goes out, it's already starting to splutter a bit.......

The room was filled with a stunned silence. The Professor seemed unperturbed by the gaze of all the other guests. Remmy was the first one to speak: "Did he just say what I think he just said?"

"Yeah, I think he did", replied Quinn, suppressing a grin.

Arturo, however, was slightly less than amused. "You blithering idiot! What do you think this is, a game of Cluedo? How dare you accuse me of being a murderer, are you completely insane?"

Ray started to look a little less than sure of himself. He had never met this Professor before, but he suddenly decided that maybe he should have kept his thoughts to himself. Everyone was looking at him now, waiting for him to speak, but it was Holly who got in first. "He has a point Ray, I mean first of all you accuse Mrs. Marx of murdering her husband for his money, and now it's the Professor. Do you intend to accuse all of us at some point this evening?" She couldn't actually remember having seen the Professor check in, or taking a reservation from him, but in the heat of the moment this thought fluttered out of her mind.

Abigail, who hadn't heard Ray's original theory looked somewhat taken aback. "You think I...murdered...my husband....for money?" She looked visibly shaken, "Richard didn't have any money, he used to sponge off me all the time. I don't know what happened to him, I had just stepped out of the room to get some drinks from the bar when I heard a strange sound from inside. It was like a sudden rush of wind, followed by a noise like someone dropping something on the floor. Then Richard said 'what are you doing here?', there was another loud thump, and then the sound of the wind again. I entered the room to see what had happened, and saw...my poor little Richard...lying there..covered in blood." The strain of telling the tale obviously proved too much for Abigail, and she slumped to the floor in a dead faint.

Colin rushed over to help get her into a chair, aided by Ed the barman. Maggie just looked at her in disgust, and Quinn could have sworn that he heard her mutter "wimp" under her breath. There was something eerily familiar about Abigail's description of the sounds though, if only he could put his finger on it.

Arturo brought a glass of water over to the stricken woman, and as he did so, Quinn noticed a familiar looking shape bulging out of Arturo's jacket pocket. He could swear that it looked like a timer! He was just about to say something when there was a loud crash, as a piece of heavy debris from outside came flying through one of the windows that had been boarded up.

"Jesus! Help me get this secure!" shouted Slater, the handyman. "I thought this place was all battened down, if we don't get this window boarded up again then Eevee will have us all for breakfast!" He ran to the window with his toolbox as Colin started to snap the legs off one of the smaller tables.

"We can use this to block the window," he said handing the piece of wood to Slater.

"Hey that's good thinking, you're pretty smart, kid."

"Oh it's nothing," said Colin, blushing slightly, "I had to do something similar one time on my farm back home."

Colin and Quinn held the wood in place as Slater nailed it firmly to the frame. "There, that should hold it," he said, admiring his own handywork.

Quinn turned to talk to Arturo about that timer in his pocket, but whn he looked around the bar, the Professor had gone!........

"The Professor! He's gone!" Quinn exclaimed. Quinn was now sure that Arturo was a slider. "And did you see that thing in his pocket? It looked like a timer!"

"A what?" Ray asked. Quinn was trying to think of a lame excuse when someone new to the eyes of almost everyone in the hotel walked in. He had light brown hair, wore thin spectacles and he appeared to be in his early forties. He was most obviously English.

"I say, what's this I'm hearing about a mysterious murder? You know I can't resist a good murder!" All the other guests looked at him strangely. Holly approached him with a warm smile, however, and greeted him.

"Now, Mr. Stewart, you know that murder mystery writer's convention is tomorrow and you need your beauty rest after that long flight from England!" The other guests looked more relieved, but the sliders all decided to keep an eye on the new man.

"Oh, pish posh. I'm going to examine this case and figure out who the murderer is, and nobody's going to stop me! Now you don't want to end up on my prime suspect list, do you, Holly, my dear?" Holly giggled and nodded her head no.

"Wait a minute," Colin piped up. "Where were you during the murder? And what qualifies you to try and solve it?"

"My dear lad," Mr. Stewart responded. "I am the great author of British murder mysteries, Sir Anthony H. Stewart. Perhaps you've read some of my books? 'Murder in the Library'? 'Watching in Silence'? 'The Calendar Girl Murders'?" Colin shook his head negatively on all three. Mr. Stewart was exasperated. "I was solving cases that baffled Scotland Yard while you were still in diapers! So do not dare to question me!" Mr. Stewart walked over to the crime scene to take a look at the body. Holly walked over to Colin.

"Don't mind Mr. Stewart. He's a bit of an eccentric. But he really likes the Chandler and he comes to L.A. a lot, so we humor him."

"And you're sure he's not..."

"I happen to know for a fact that he was in his bedroom sleeping at the time."

Colin left Holly and walked over to where his friends were discussing the disappearance of Arturo and the newcomer to the mystery.

"I still don't trust him. Nobody knows what he might have been doing during the time of the murder." Maggie was always the least trusting of the group.

"Holly says she knows Mr. Stewart was sleeping at the time," Colin commented.

"How could she know that?" Quinn asked. "She wasn't there with him."

"This is bad," Rembrandt said. "We don't know who we can trust, or if we can trust anybody at all."

"This never would've happened if we had stayed in a different hotel for a change," Maggie added snidely.

"We've always stayed at the Chandler," Quinn said.

Rembrandt gave Quinn a weird look. "Your memory must be going soft, Q-Ball. We've stayed at the Motel 12, the Dominion Hotel, the Royal Chancellor..."

Professor Maximilian Plum Arturo entered the room from the kitchen with a ham sandwich in his hand. Quinn immediately noticed his entrance and walked over to him. "And just where were you, Professor A. Plum?"

"In the kitchen, fixing myself a sandwich, what does it look like, you blistering idiot???" Professor Plum spouted.

"Oh, yeah?" Quinn asked. "Then what's this?" Quinn quickly reached into the pocket he had seen the timer in and pulled out...

"That, Mr. Mallory, is the latest in slide rule technology. It can calculate any equation you attempt within thirty seconds. And I would thank you to keep your hands off of it, if you please?"

Quinn laughed nervously. "Uh, sure. My mistake."

Professor "Plum" walked off in a huff. Mr. Stewart was still examining the body when all of a sudden, he turned and faced the crowd around him. "Ladies and gentleman, I know the identity of the killer!" At this statement, he now had everyone in the hotel's attention. "I, Sir Anthony H. Stewart, based on overwhelming evidence gathered from the crime scene, proclaim the murderer to be: Quinn Mallory!"

Warning, puns full speed ahead...

***

"I knew it!" shouted Ray. "It's always the silent ones!"
There was an abrupt silence as everyone but a few turned to Quinn Mallory. Quinn Mallory, physics and mathematician extraordinaire, went blank. So he said the only thing he could think of. "What?"
"Oh, don't pretend to be so shocked, you know how it happened. You walked up, and shot him in cold blood. Everyone else has a motive, you conveniently don't."
Now it was Abigail's turn to be confused as the sliders stood there incredulously. "Wait a minute, Richard wasn't shot." She wiped her eyes. "What on earth are you talking about?"
At that moment, Holly smothered a small snicker. The stonefaced Mr. Stewart burst out laughing. Holly decided to explain to the irritated crowd. "I said he's a mystery writer, not a detective."
"Oh, but the best of us are, my dear." said Mr. Stewart, drying his well of laughter. He put his hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Well, at least we know who's not the murderer. Sorry, my boy, just a little test." He walked off, pausing at Ray, who was thoroughly embarrassed. He just continued walking.
"This is preposterous!" exclaimed the agitated Plum. "I for one am going for a drink. Anyone care to join me?" Several persons got up to follow him, leaving Holly, Ray, and the sliders. Holly continued to arrange the hotel records.
"I think we should throw that Mr. Stewart guy out! He's a menace!"
"Uhuh," replied Holly, ignoring him.
The sliders huddled together. Quinn especially.
"Look, guys, I think I may know what's happening, but I need more info."
"Split up and search the bedrooms?" asked Maggie. It was more of a command.
"Split up?" Colin balked. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Farmboy's right." said Rembrandt. "If we're splitting, we're going in twos."
"Ok, Remmy, you're with me, Maggie, Colin." Quinn and Remmy left before Maggie could catch him with one of her murderous looks. Suddenly, there was a loud boom and the boarded windows vibrated with the force. A flash of blue light soon followed.
"Since when was this a thunderstorm?" asked Maggie aloud.

"So, where do we start?" Remmy wasn't too thrilled to be out of the safety of a group, but someone had to get to the bottom of this. He was just hoping that this time, it wasn't them. But oh well...
"Let's start with the Marxes'. We might have missed something."
15 minutes later...
"Nothing, Q-Ball," said Rembrandt. He looked at Quinn, who was deep in thought. He seemed to be mouthing something to himself. "What's up?"
Quinn whispered it out loud. "EeVee..." but then shook his head and said "The professor's room sounds good."
Rembrandt nodded and they left the bare room and headed to Plum's.

Maggie and Colin were checking the basement, which Maggie was not particularly proud of.
"So you joined them pretty late in the game, huh?" Colin had asked about the tidal wave world and received Maggie's blank stare.
"Yup" said Maggie dismissively. She wasn't feeling particularly talkative at the moment.
Colin didn't notice. "So what happened with Wade?"
Maggie froze. "Dammit, Colin..." In turning around, her jacket caught on a metal stoker and something fell behind her, making a loud crashing sound. Due to the circumstances, there was a loud shrill scream, when an old skeleton came falling out of the closet-like opening in the wall. She stopped as thunder cracked and lightning flashed.
"Did I just do that?" she half-asked to herself. Colin nodded, suppressing a smile.
She kicked the half-clothed skeleton, which was laying prone on the floor.
"Talk about skeletons in the closet." she ad-libbed.

Quinn was getting nowhere fast in the professor's desk drawers. Rembrandt stopped as his hand touched plastic. "Hey, what's this?" he said, pulling out a case that looked very familiar.
Quinn didn't look that surprised. "It's a timer." He looked for the time left, but the display didn't seem to be working. "Hmm..." Quickly, he hit it against the desk, causing the case to split in two. Nothing fell out.
"There's nothing in here?!" said Quinn incredulously. "That blows out my theory." He shook his head and was about to put the case back down when their was a boom of thunder, shattering the windows and causing a rush of wind into the room, followed by variating blue light. Rembrandt rushed over to shutter the opening, and the noise and light stopped. Quinn hadn't been paying attention to the sight. "Or maybe not..."

There was a store-elevator behind the wall. What it was doing there, they couldn't tell. Colin and Maggie could barely fit on the rotting board, but they had already agreed that they were both going up. Neither of them admitted why.
"Strange for a dead skeleton to be stored in an elevator." said Colin matter-of-factly.
"Just turn the wheel." said Maggie, wanting to be out of there. "Get us moving."
Colin complied and they started squeaking slowly up the shaft. Colin noted the gearwork of the elevator with its track, but didn't think Maggie would be interested.
5 squeaky minutes later...
Maggie: "This is really annoying."
Colin: "Uh-huh"
2 squeaky minutes later...
Maggie:"Is that Tomb Raider II music playing in the background?"
Colin: "What?"
Maggie:"Never mind"

Quinn and Rembrandt burst into the room to see a very familiar form lying on a bed.
Quinn was the first to speak. "Logan St. Clare, I should have known." Logan lifted her arm, revealing the mechanized ravaging of the accident. Remmy pushed Quinn back. "Look out Quinn!"
Logan just punched some keys on the pad, and held it up for them to see. Quinn dared a look and read slowly, keeping one eye on her.
"Where's....my....husband...what were....those..noises..."
"Huh?" Quinn said, confused.
Mr. Stewart burst into the room. "What the? How dare you two disturb my wife?!" He came over and adjusted the IV next to her bed. "She needs her medicine. And rest! That's what that machine on her arm does, if you were wondering!" He glared at the two of them angrily.
Rembrandt said "Oohhhhh..."
Quinn looked apologetic. "We're sorry, Mrs. Stewart, we mistook you for someone else..." Then they got out of there.

1 squeaky minute later...
Colin managed to break the moldy wood that was boarding up the exit to the room beyond. Maggie walked out, followed by Colin. "Whoa" he said. And he meant it. They were in the center of a large circular room, lit only by light tinted by a dark skyroof.
"There's something very wrong here..." said Maggie. She stopped. "Did I just say that?"
Colin nodded once again. "Must be the atmosphere."
"Hmph." She took a step forward. "I just think it's straaaaaaaaaaiiiiiii!!!!!!!!"
"Maggie!" shouted Colin as he saw Maggie fall through the floor. He rushed over to the hole in the floor and peered through, only to see the guys at the bar peering back up.
"What on earth's name are you two doing up there?!" shouted the professor.
Maggie got up and dusted herself off. "Whaa?"
Slater suddenly noticed who Maggie was standing on. "Oh my god!" he exclaimed. "They killed..."

***

<Slider142 laughs and lightning cracks outside the cave.>
Tf: Wait a minute, sound waves can't travel in this medium, and since when does the passage of electrons make a sound...besides the equation lambda*frequency=velocity predicts that...
Slider142: Umm, Tf, we're in Cyberspace.
Tf: Oh, right
<Slider142 hands the torch to RDarr106, who looks at Tf with wonder.>
Slider142: Uh-huh, and he's a Sliders fan too!
<Slider142 welcomes RDarr106 and leaves a Post-it ® note for Arturo6 on the torch.>
Slider142: Here you go, dude, make us proud.

<This is not going to be 100,000 words long this time, because there are 6 more people! :'-( >

***

Meanwhile, Quinn and Remmy were deciding where they could search and get into trouble next. "How about the murder scene? Has anyone really looked at it?"

Quinn considered that. "Hmmm. Good idea. I think someone took Mrs. Marx to another room to lie down."

As they walked down the hall and turned towards the corridor leading to the room where the heinous dead was done, Remmy suddenly grabbed Quinn's arm. "Did you hear something?"

They looked around. "What did it sound like?"

Remmy scratched his head. "Well, it was either a jack booted murderer carrying a spike studded baseball bat and dragging the heavy chain he is going to drape around us before he throws our multilated corpses into the lake behind the house ... or it is just the house creaking."

Quinn gave his friend a good natured push. "Did you really hear something?"

The other man shrugged. "I don't know. I thought it was someone following us, but no one came around the corner."

They continued on. Marx's room was vacant. Quinn switched on the lights and the two scanned the floor. Remmy checked under the bed while Quinn glanced in the bathroom. "Hello! Check this out!"

It was a muddy footprint, so distinct that they could see the logo and writing that must be on the bottom of the print maker's foot. From the arrangement, it was obvious that the print maker had stepped from the bathroom window onto the tile floor. From there he must have stepped on the mat and dried his shoes. But he, or she, had forgotten to check under the window.

Remmy bent down and peered closely at the print. "It is some guy standing or jumping or something. It looks like he is kicking a ball or something. I'll try to make out the words ... 'Air Pelé'? That's what it says, 'Air Pelé.'" Remmy shook his head.

"So now we just have to find a soccer fan, and we have our killer."

Just then both of them could hear the sound of the bedroom door slamming shut, followed by the distinct thumping of a hammer.

Racing to the bedroom door, they could see it shaking as someone on the other side continued to nail the door shut with materials left over from the storm containment effort. With the storm raging outside, there was little chance that anyone could hear this but the trapped Sliders.

As the unknown person on the other side started nailing another board, Remmy ducked down and looked under the door. "Yep. Air Pelés, Qball. I wish I had looked at people's feet earlier!" He exclaimed, wiping a tear from his cheek.

===

"...Kenny! You bastards!"

Maggie looked down. She was indeed standing on a stuffed effigy of Kenny McCormack from South Park. Maggie couldn't stand South Park on any world she'd been to, and took some small gratification from applying her Marine's hand-to-hand combat training on the remains of the doll.

Slater stepped over some of the down that had served to pad Kenny's head. He seemed quite put out. "What'd you do that for? Ever since the Sci-Fi Channel canceled South Park its merchandise has been worth a fortune! Holly must have stashed this behind the fake wall for a rainy day."

Maggie muttered something indecent but unintelligible in a Kennyish manner.

***

"Of course!" Quinn exclaimed.

Remmy grabbed Quinn by the shirt, on the verge of panic. "You've got a way out? Great, then I'm all for it!"

Quinn shook his head irritably. "No, no, I just figured something out. Either Arturo - or Logan - HAS to be a Slider!"

Remmy shook his head. "What?"

"When the professor introduced himself he recognized me as his old student. Think about it! The same world can't have a Quinn AND a Logan!"

"Yeah, that's all fine and dandy, Q-Ball. Now how are we getting out?!"

Quinn's answer was cut short...

...as is this post 'cause I've gotta go! See y'all later!
Blinker 7:-D

"Will you please be quiet? Some of us are trying to watch the game!" complains Ray, silencing Maggie's cursing. Maggie looks up at the TV, and sees a soccer game in process. Ray the raver, Ed the bartender, and Linda the waitress are gathered around the bar watching the game intently. "We're in the middle of a hurricane, and you're watching a soccer game!?" she exclaims. Then, out of nowhere, Colin's voice is heard. "What's going on down there?" They had completely forgotten he was still up there. "Jump down, Colin!" Maggie replies, momentarily forgetting about his lack of normal motor skills. (Oh well, hopefully he can jump.) Colin jumps, and everyone runs for cover from his flailing limbs. Coincidentally, he lands directly on Arturo (reminiscent of Remmy landing on the Professor coming out of the vortex in those old reruns of Sliders....) "Get off me, you blistering idiot!" yells the Professor. "Sorry," Colin replies apologetically. "It's not like I was aiming or anything...." "Well be more careful next time," says Arturo, picking himself up off the floor. "Give me a hand, will you?" He waves his hand in Maggie's face, so she takes it and pulls him up. Just then, something falls out of Arturo's pocket. Maggie sees it, and, realizing what it is, gasps, pointing at Arturo. "You," she whispers. "You're a...." Just then, there is a flash of lightning, a crash of thunder, and the lights go out....

<Robin14334 finishes writing and tries to relight the damn torch. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she douses it in kerosene and strikes a match. It erupts into flame and she throws it at Arturo6.
Robin14334: Watch out!!
Arturo6 hears this too late, and begins howling in pain.
Robin14334: Oops. Should've learned from last time....
She sneaks out of the cave, hoping she didn't do too much damage.

***

Unexpectedly, as the lights go out, the toilet in the washroom that Remmy and Quinn were in exploded, showering the Slider duo with cold, wet water!

***

Arturo made his way up the stairs as best he could in pitch darkness. Then he remembered that his new timer, the Sliderman Ultra 1000, was equipped with a built-in flashlight. Arturo turned it on and continued up the stairs. When finally he came to the corridor where Logan was, he came to the door and opened it slowly, for it was dark and hard to see. Arturo entered into the room and saw his beloved Logan lying seductively (heehee!) on her side, saying, "Is it working? Have the dumb farmer-slider and his companion cought on to our plan yet?" Arturo said, reluctantly, "The one who is called Maggie saw the timer fall out of my pocket. We must slide now, before any of them find us." "And my double, and his singer friend? Are they injured because of the bomb we rigged?" "Maybe, I'm not sure. Look, Logan, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling guilty about the whole murder/robbery thing." "Max, are you going soft on me here?! You can't back out now! You can't! We've been through too much together! It would break my heart to see you leave me!!" Max (Arturo) at first harbored the still-guilty look on his face, but it was soon replaced by a look of determination. With renewed love for his lifetime companion, he said "Darling, we'd better get going before they arrive. Logan smiled happily, then looked skeptical at the sound of voices coming closer and closer to them. "Are you sure you saw Dr. Arturo with a timer in his pocket?" "Yes! There's no way that could be some newfangled computer remote control!" she said, in a high-pitched voice. "I could see the telltale blinking lights."

***

Meanwhile, Remmy and Quinn escaped the confines of the smoking room. Quinn had broken his arm, and Remmy was lending him a hand, and the shirt off his back as a sling around his arm. "You're gonna be okay, my man, just hold on, hold on!" Quinn replied, "Thanks Remmy, I owe you one." To this Remmy replied "Think nothin--------" Remmy stopped in midsentence as he heard Maggie and Colin coming up the stairs. Maggie saw the duo and exclaimed "Oh my God! Quinn! Are you okay?! Where were you guys?! What happened?!" Remmy said "It's a long story." (Hey, so it is!)

***

As this conversation went back and forth, Maximillian Arturo and Logan St. Clare stood panic-stricken in the room. What to do? Stay here, kill the other Sliders, then slide with the money they had stolen from Marx, or slide now, take the money, and hope the Sliders didn't follow them? The latter seemed wiser. The next vortex opened by the timer would give them the privilege of travelling through time as well as space, so they would have no trouble eluding their fellow Sliders. Max Arturo opened the vortex. "Take my hand, and don't let go of it or the BilliCard!" They had the BilliCard, a more advanced form of a credit card, inside Logan's purse. They jumped through the vortex. However, they forgot to close it behind them and when Maggie, Quinn, Remmy and Colin ran into the room, Maddie (ooops, I meant to type Maggie, but I'm not going to erase it because it looks funny) exclaimed, "See, I told you he was a Slider, I told you!" They all jumped in after the couple, and the vortex closed unexpectedly. The landing was hard but it looked very familiar. They looked up and saw Logan St. Clare and Dr. Maximillian Arturo being hauled away by police. The officers apprehended the Slider quartet, and, much to their surprise, made another police cruiser appear out of a capsule, pushing the button and dropping the capsule onto the ground. "Allright, Suspenders, get in the cruiser or I might have to cuff you!" Colin stopped admiring the vehicle in wonder and got into the cruiser. During their ride (or rather, flight) to the station Remmy said to Maggie "Did you notice something about that vortex?" "What?" "It closed after we came out, but not before. It must be the timer he has that programs all the vortexes it opens to stay open until all timers have left the wormhole. That would also explain why our timer is going on the fritz. It's still slideable, but I don't know-----"Maggie interrupted his speech by saying "Remmy, you're really starting to sound like 'Q-Ball'"! Maggie almost saw a look of shame pass across Remmy's face, but it was quickly replaced by a look of sincerity. (I don't know, don't bother asking)

***

After their police interrogation, the Sliders figured that now was as good a time as any to look at the timer. They found that they had only a few minutes left to the slide, and only a few seconds when they arrived in that world to slide to the next world!! "We must have travelled several days ahead in time as well as space," Maggie deduced. This new function in the timer, as Quinn discovered, existed because of their slide through Arturo and Logan's vortex, and would disappear as soon as they left this world. So, they slid to the world in which they had been before, opened a vortex almost at the same time, and slid to the next (random) world. After a few moments of adjustment, Rembrandt said "Quinn and Logan I could believe. But Logan and Arturo????? Man, that's crazy!!" To this Maggie replied "Quinn and Logan? You said it, Remmy, that's crazy... Maybe you should write a book, Quinn - call it "Dating Your Double From Another Dimension: The Strategy Guide!"

THE END