SL4: I was here first, Rover! <takes off shirt>

================

The wind blew lazily through the outdoor cafe. Patron and employee alike were definitely enjoying the warm Nova Albion afternoon - they don't come around very often.

Under one of the canopies, two people sat silently working through their lunch when the man, a well-groomed chap with short hair and deeply sensitive eyes, put down his fork and knife and looked at his companion until she did the same.

"Anna, I have something I need to tell you."

Anna's eyes widened as she sipped her ice tea. Her boyfriend's face was deadly serious. She winced inwardly and prepared for the worst.

"We've been together for five years," he began, holding her hand tightly. "And I know I don't exactly have the safest job in the world. But I do know that I love you, and most importantly, I want you to be my wife."

The man smiled as he pulled a ring out from beneath his jacket and produced a small black box. The pop of the box's hinge startled a tear-filled look from Anna. Inside was a small, beautiful... four leaf clover?

While Anna jumped from her seat, clutching the clover in her hand while sobbing "I do!" over and over from her trembling mouth, two others sat at a nearby table. The man twirled his fettuccini absent-mindedly. Beneath his long curly hair and sunglasses, he was a mirror image of the man who'd just become engaged - minus the sensitivity.

"Honestly, Connie, why do you insist on eating in this dive on every parallel world?" the woman asked curtly between sips of iced tea. "Are you hoping to meet a double of you that *doesn't* end up with the girl?"

Conrad Bennish, Jr. didn't even look up from the plate when he answered. "Yes, Caitlin, because somewhere out there is someone as miserable as me."

Bennish stood and tossed some purple money on the table. "Come on, let's get out of here. We've got work to do."

The two worked their way down the bustling streets of what they would call San Francisco. However, on this world, it appeared that Francis Drake's name for the Bay Area had stuck over the wishes of the papacy. Between that and the lack of a diamond during a marriage proposal, they hadn't seen much of a difference.

Caitlin took in every sight she could; as an anthropologist, a new, unique society was a new challenge. For Bennish, however, it was merely boring.

800 worlds had come and gone since his abrupt recruitment into the ranks of the FBI. His first partner, Jennifer McComb, had died a year back and this new woman just wasn't the same... she was too... perky.

They wandered the streets, pausing every now and then to collect things like a phone book, CD-ROM encyclopedia, a few pieces of literature, a newspaper or two. By the end of the slide they'd assembled their typical duffel bag of parallel paraphenalia, and moved towards the alley near Geary and Montague to leave.

"How much time is left before we're retrieved?" Caitlin asked, expecting to be ignored.

"Three minutes," Bennish answered.

A minute of uncomfortable silence.

"Can I ask you a question?" Caitlin asked.

"Shoot," Bennish replied.

"If you hate this project so much, why do you stick around?"

Bennish looked at her with a hint of emotion in his eyes that she recognized in his double at the restaurant. "I stay because I'm hoping, one day, I'll find my friends."

"You mean..." she started before Bennish shot her a look asking her to back off.

"Can I ask about Jennifer?"

"No." And he turned away and slung the duffel bag onto his shoulder.

Before another word could be said, a gorgeous fluid aperture in space/time opened in front of them, it's gravometric shear sucking them in without a yell or complaint.

---

The klaxons inside the VM Chamber died down as the wormhole slithered away into nothingness. Bennish stood up and helped Caitlin to her feet. The padding the FBI had installed on the ground barely help, as Caitlin rubbed her knees for good measure.

Larry Erickkson, a large, dour man, stumbled into the room. Despite the numerous "No Smoking" signs in the building, he sat chomping on a large Cuban cigar.

"Isn't that contraband?" Bennish asked with a weak smile.

"I thought you picked up this fine specimen on a world where there is no embargo with Cuba?" Erickkson asked with gruffish glee.

"Yeah, but you confiscated the weed I bought on that world where it was legal."

Erickkson laughed and took a few long, drawn puffs before continuing. "Anything fascinating to report or just the same usual boring crap?"

"Same usual boring crap I'm afraid, Cap'n," Bennish said as he held up the duffel bag. "We're gonna go catalog this, toss the encyclopedia in the Archive and then I'm going to head home and pray that my already tenuous relationship with my girlfriend hasn't completely disappeared."

"You run into another happy couple?" Erickkson asked.

"Seventh this month, Cap'n," Bennish said as he began to walk away.

That was when something odd happened. The klaxons began to sound again.

"What the hell?" Erickkson yelled, spitting out his prized cigar. "Alert the guards! Alert the guards!"

No one needed to. Guards poured out from the hallways connecting the VM Chamber to the rest of the complex. Within seconds, the sounds of M-16s loading were all that were heard.

Suddenly, a wormhole began to open. It was sickly... not bluish-clear, but bluish-black, and it wasn't spherical either - more oblong. With a deafening sound that succeeded a bright flash of light, three people shot from the gateway to the ground. The wormhole closed with a loud snap.

A voice came from the center of the huddle. It was a woman's, and she was comforting a small girl who was crying. "It's okay, Melissa, our emergency sliding device got us away from the Slavers. We're..." she trailed off as she was able to look up and see her surroundings.

"Anna," the woman said sharply. "This isn't our Earth. The emergency sliding device didn't bring us home."

Bennish's eyes bulged along with Erickkson's. It was Jennifer McComb.

"How do you know?" the third woman asked as she raised her face. Conrad's eyes widened, but not nearly as wide as Anna's.

"Because Conrad's alive," Jennifer McComb said as she stood.

[to be continued by Britslider...]

- ST

I'm off to go make out with Yves. ;)

And with that, Brit began to write.......

--------------------

Jennifer stared up at the Conrad standing before her. It had been a year since she saw her husband killed right in front of her by the Slavers. It was almost too much to bear.

Bennish approached her slowly. He had never spoken to anyone about Jennifer since that fateful mission, and yet here she was in the flesh. "Jennifer? Is that really you?"

"Conrad?" Deep in her heart she knew that this wasn't her Conrad. How could it be; she had seen him die. But it was all she could do not to rush into his arms and feel his embrace once more.

Erickkson wasn't ready for any kind of emotional reunion just yet. "Does someone want to tell what in the Sam Hell is going on here? Exactly who are you people?"

Jennifer stood proud in front of him. "My name is Jennifer McComb." She pointed to the other two: "These are Anna and Melissa, we were trying to escape from the Slavers on our world, and landed here instead of where we were supposed to."

Bennish knew that he had to do whatever he could to help this Jennifer, whether she was a double or not. "You'll be safe here; we'll offer you whatever help you need."

"Now just hold on a minute there Bennish!" Said Erickkson. "These people are going to be confined to the holding cells until we've had time for a Psych Team to evaluate them properly."

"You can't do that!" Exploded Bennish. "They need our help, we can't treat them like criminals!"

Erickkson gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm not sure you're the most objective person in the room right now Conrad. Why don't you go to the debriefing room and we'll talk about it there."

"He's right Connie," said Caitlin. "Come on, let's get our kit squared away. You'll have plenty of time to talk to them later."

With an agreeing nod from Erickkson, Bennish allowed Caitlin to gently lead him from the room. Erickkson turned to face the new arrivals. "Now, if your story checks out then you'll have the resources of this base at your disposal to help you get where you need to go. But right now, I need to know what kind of threat those Slavers you spoke of pose. Will they be hunting for you? Could they follow your quantum signature to this world?"

Jennifer stuttered as a thousand thoughts raced through her head. She knew that she should get Anna and Melissa to safety, but the thought of being on a world with a live Conrad was too much to hope for; especially when she had seen the look in his eyes when he saw her. It was more than just recognition. Much more than that. "I don't think so. They shouldn't be able to track us with the technology they have; but I've learned not to underestimate them, that can be fatal." A tear welled in each eye, and she fought it back as best she could.

Erickkson seemed satisfied with the answer for the moment. "Very well. But I'm going to have to keep you here until our Pysch Teams have had the chance to talk to you."

"I understand," said Jennifer. "We'd be more than happy to co-operate."

Erickkson lead the three of them out of the VM Chamber, making sure to increase the standing guard there just in case of any unwanted visitors. This was turning out to be a very interesting day.....

-------------------------

Brit stood up and walked away from the desk. Time to head to the bar and get one of TM's cocktails. ST rushed over to the writing desk to make sure that Brit hadn't done anything bad to his story.

TM: What'll it be Brit?

Brit: Something cold and smooth I think.

ST: Hey, thanks for not screwing up the story Brit.

Brit: Oh believe me I was tempted; especially when I saw what a blatant "SG-1" rip-off it was!

ST: It's not a rip-off! It's a homage, honest!

Tigs: Well, you know what they say; 'A rose by any other name...'

HK: At least that part's done now, so it's up to Sarah to carry on the good work.

As with the torch, Sarah ignores him. Suddenly she lets out an exclamation and starts scribbling frantically.

-----

The psych team still hadn’t arrived.

The holding cells weren’t small, but neither were they large. The three women had been separated and each time Jennifer had tried to call out to her friends, a bulky guard had appeared in the window and glared at her. Thankfully, the tiny barred window was not the only light for it allowed little. There was an electric light on the ceiling, but it was far to high for Jennifer to utilise in any way.

But she wasn’t really thinking about escape. As she sat on the cold, metal bench provided, her thoughts were focused entirely on Conrad. She had loved everything about him. Well, not this Conrad, but her Conrad. He was her world and they had fought the Slavers bravely. And then in one final desparate act, he had given his life to save hers when they had been captured. That image would haunt her for the rest of her life.

The anguished look she had seen in his eyes at that moment, was the exact same one she had seen in the Conrad of this world. It was like he had picked up where her Conrad had left off, except that this one was very much alive. She thought quickly. As she had thought at the time, his look had been more than recognition. It was pain and love combined, as she had seen before.

Tears began to roll silently down her cheeks. How she wanted to just hold him in her arms one more time! She had seen him one more time, but had not been allowed to touch him, or even really speak to him. It no longer mattered to her that he was a double. She wanted to be rid of the sense of loss she still felt.

Drawing her knees to her chest, she lay her head down and began to sob harder than she had since the day he had died.

* * *

Conrad sat in his usual chair in the debriefing room, with Caitlin on his left. They were silent, for all Caitlin’s efforts to start some kind of conversation had been in vain. Jennifer was all that was on Conrad’s mind and as ever, he was unwilling to discuss her.

Caitlin had never known Jennifer personally. She had not worked in the same section as the pair before she was drafted in following Jennifer’s death. Stunned, Caitlin realised she did not even know how Jennifer had died. At the time, it had seemed distasteful to ask, and now she tried to avoid the subject completely, for Conrad’s sake.

Eventually, they were joined by Erickkson, who took his seat at the head of the table. He was quickly followed by Niall Ochia, Andrew Seaman, Rachel Phillips and two others, who Conrad and Caitlin had never had any dealings with outside of the debriefing room and so did not know their names.

Erickkson began to speak, his tone purposely mundane. “Conrad and Caitlin brought back their usual paraphernalia from their last trip and I'’ sure they can go through their visual..."”

“Stop it!” screeched Bennish in a pained voice he hadn’t known he was capable of. “How can you talk about as pointless a thing as that when theirs more important things at stake!” In an unexpected mirror of Jennifer, alone in her cell, he also began to cry, not caring that it was not considered manly. The wounds left by Jennifer’s death had reopened with her double’s appearance.

“We need to run through things in order, it’s the way it’s done here,” said one of the unknowns opposite him.

“Then it needs to be changed!” he shouted.

Caitlin placed her hand on his arm with a soothing, “Connie,” to accompany t, but he shook it off forcefully.

“We need to talk about… Jennifer.”

Erickkson spread his hands out in front of him. “We would have got to it soon, but since you feel so strongly…” he didn’t get around to ending the sentence.

This time, Ochia chimed in. Everyone had heard what happened, so no explanation was necessary. “There was something I found curious.” He paused briefly. “It sounded like they had two home worlds, which we know is not possible.

“What do you mean by this?” asked Caitlin.

“Well, they said they were not taken to their world as they should have been to escape the Slavers, but later they said that the Slavers were on their world.”

“Perhaps they are not all of the same world,” offered Phillips.

“I don’t think so.”

Bennish sniffed and rubbed his eyes. “I might know.” All eyes were turned expectantly to him. “It is theoretically possible to bend the wormhole so that you arrive at a different place on the same planet.”

If anything, Erickkson looked angry. “Why have you not mentioned this before. It could be extremely useful here.”

Shrugging, Bennish replied, “Because I have no clue how to do it and Quinn never got as far as to investigate it. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from another emotional outburst. The loss of his friend did not reduce him to tears, merely making him miserable, but that compounded with Jennifer could manage it.

Erickkson still looked less than satisfied. “Since we are still waiting on the psych team, there is really little else we can do until then, but I will go to speak to their leader…” Out of respect for Conrad he did not say her name, “…and will ask her about their system. If they are truly peaceful, they should have no qualms assisting us. We shall reconvene after the psych report.”

Bennish jumped to his feet. “Is that all?” he demanded and the others also stood up, but instead to leave.

“For the moment, yes. You appear in no state to discuss anything further.” This was practically an order, and Conrad had to back down, however reluctantly. “Let me go with you.”

“What?”

“You’ll need a scientist to help you understand. I should go too.”

“Very well then,” Erickkson answered, though he obviously wasn’t happy about it.

* * *

Anna sat in the cell which was virtually identical to the ones in which her companions sat. Like Jennifer, she also reflected on the death of Conrad Bennish in her world.

There was something she had never told Jennifer, despite their length of time together. Anna had loved Conrad from the day she saw him, and was certain that had Jennifer arrived on the scene, he would have given way and would have loved her as she did him. She still did love him, and even this replica of Conrad seemed to have loved Jennifer. Anna harboured deep resentment for her.

She had not acted upon this at the time, she could not risk hurting Conrad in any way. She did not want to, and she knew that if she hurt Jennifer in any way, he would never go near here, so she had to be subtle. The death of Conrad had been a shock to her, just as it had been to Jennifer. Anna knew that Conrad had died to save Jennifer. He shouldn’t have. She wasn’t worthy of his life. For that matter, Anna didn’t think herself worthy either, but he hadn’t given his life for her.

Anna could no longer bring herself to work with Jennifer. She had to satisfy herself with the fact that she was secretly working against them. It had been a hard decision to make, but it had been the right one. So far, it had already saved her life several times and now it had brought her to her Conrad. She just have to make sure the Slavers did not kill Conrad this time.

She did feel a small amount of guilt, for risking Melissa, who was still a child. But as she thought about it, she found a way out. She was one of the Slavers’ best agents, they would reward her and she could ask for the girl to be saved, if it came to that, if necessary.

Anna could not hear Melissa’s cries, no matter how hard she tried to listen.From the distance, she could hear footsteps. Two sets if she was not mistaken. Gradually, as the footsteps came closer, she heard voices accompanying them. One was talking excitedly about the prospect of using Sliding to stay on the same world, but to go to a different point. She smiled. Some worlds thought they were so advanced, but really weren’t.

Then the other voice spoke. Immediately, Anna rushed to the tiny window and tried to peer out of it. That was Bennish’s voice! she’d know it anywhere. She must have missed him going the other way. He took no notice of her cell, for his eyes were on the floor. She sighed. He was within her grasp again.

And at that moment, the klaxons sounded again and there was a flurry of panicked activity.

----

Sarah: Phew! That took me rather longer than expected!

Tigs: Can we read it now?

Sarah: Yup!!! Who’s next?

Torch: Get on with it!

***
Jennifer was wiping away tears when the door burst open. It was like a miracle. Her Conrad standing in front of her. He hugged her tightly. They could enjoy their embrace for only a few moments. "We've got to get moving if we want to stay together," Conrad told her.

"What do we do?" Jennifer asked, not normally the defer-to-someone-else's-judgment type, but willing to do so because a. he was Conrad and b. it wasn't her world.

"Slide out of here. Just like old times." Conrad led her out of her cell quickly. He produced an odd-looking timer from his pocket and pointed it in the air. "It's a random destination. They'll be able to track us so we need to get out of sight quickly."

"You got it," Jennifer smiled back at him. She could disappear better than anybody else Conrad had ever known. Or at least his Jennifer had been able to. He quickly pushed that thought into the back of his mind. She was Jennifer. That was enough.

Some more guards entered the room, spoiling the moment. The two jumped through the vortex hand in hand. As if they had planned it that way, the void closed behind them.

***
Caitlin had a difficult time coming to. She didn't know where she was, she had a splitting headache and there were all these alarms going off. At first she thought she was waking up with another hangover again, but since when was her bed this hard? As her eyes got less blurry, she saw she was still at HQ. Then she remembered...

"Conrad." She hoped he hadn't done anything stupid, but then realized that he must have. He wouldn't have just knocked her out for no reason. Caitlin then realized she would have to report soon. She dreaded it. There would have to be a retrieval team sent (there was no doubt in her mind that Conrad Bennish, Jr. was no longer on this world nor that he had taken Jennifer with him) and those could get messy.

One thing was for sure, she was going to be on it. Or they'd have her resignation before the day was up.

***
Maximilian Arturo gave another not-particularly-exciting lecture to a group of even-less-enthusiastic-than-you -would-expect students. It was days like this he missed sliding, or regretted deeply leaving Azure Gate Bridge World where he could at least continue research on interdimensional travel in peace.

But the FBI didn't need any more scientists and they didn't want an independent operative horning in on their action. Bennish and his young partner (a young attractive woman who he seemed quite smitten with, as he recalled) had wanted him to become a special field agent, but that request was denied. To keep him from experimenting with sliding, the FBI ransacked his apartment and office every week or so, looking for notes. So far they hadn't found them.

The Professor didn't notice that it was time to end class until some of the students began unceremoniously putting their things together, making a racket that it would have been impossible for the dead not to hear. Arturo dismissed the class brusquely and hurried back to his office. The phone rang (the secretary here was so incompetent that everyone took their own calls) and Arturo picked it up.

"Hello," he answered disinterestedly, not wanting to know what excuse some poor schlub had come up with this time to explain why they weren't there for a test.

"Agent Johnson, FBI," barked the voice on the other end.

Arturo was momentarily stunned. The FBI had never called him at the University before. He quickly regained his composure however and quipped, "What's the matter? Did one of your agents lose his watch in my apartment?"

Johnson ignored the barb. "Meet us at the old familiar place. We'll discuss your situation as well as a new situation of ours we may need your help with." The phone went dead on the other end. Maximilian Arturo didn't know whether to be delighted or frightened. After thinking about it a while, he chose a combination of the two.

***
Casablinca was a place that simply sparkled elegance. The decor and the clothing looked as though they were straight from the 40s. An African-American plunked away at the piano. At the bar, a cleancut boy with slicked-back hair wiped a glass with a rag.

It was a slow day, Al, the man at the piano, thought to himself. Oh well. Fewer tips meant he could play the less commercial stuff. Which brought him to his next number.

"Please die Ana" echoed throughout the Casablinca, carried by Al's smooth, soft voice. "For as long as you're here, we're not."

Conrad and Jennifer slid in and slammed into a table. It drew everyone at Casablinca's attention...for only a few moments, and then they turned back to their drinks and conversation.

They stood awkwardly. "They don't seem too surprised," Jennifer commented. A few moments later, although it could have been the next second so far as the duo cared, a waiter came up to them.

"Hi, there," he said. "Party of two, or will there be another wormhole joining you?"

"What?!" Bennish asked incredulously.

"Just two, then," he said, chuckling slightly. As the two sat, they quickly became lost in each other's eyes again. "What will you be having to drink?" They didn't respond.

The waiter sighed. "Ooook. Most expensive bottle of champagne we have, because somebody wasn't paying attention to their waiter." The man moved across the room to the bar.

Watching from a distance was a shadowy figure. "Ah, young love."

His assistant was too busy writing on a piece of notepad. He did most of the bookwork to keep this place running and got none of the credit.

"It will be almost sad when I kill them. I may cry." He looked at his assistant, and a sadistic smile came to his face. "Make a note, Hinkley. Have my tear ducts removed."

"Yes, sir," he replied with no emotion at all.

***
Torch-passing! My favorite activity!

"You must Recall this
A 317 is just a 317
A good fanfic writer is just a good fanfic writer
Let's hope he can get us out of...this mess..."

ThomasMalthus

Part the Second
====================

Trevor Wing ran his pen through his hair one more time as he waited for the meeting to start. Conrad Bennish had done some mighty stupid things in his time, but going AWOL with sensitive government technology was the dumbest yet. And as always, Wing was equally screwed thanks to his good buddy. Once again, it would be partially his job to clean up the mess.

Wing had given up on physics shortly after Professor Maximillian Arturo and Quinn Mallory disappeared, opting for the law schooling his father had always wanted him to do. When he came out of university, he imemdiately became ensnared with his old pal Bennish. When Bennish let him in on what he was working on, Wing jumped at the chance to participate. So here he was: Trevor Wing, FBI lawyer.

He looked over at Bennish's partner, Caitlin, who was nursing a sore head with an icepack. Erikkson just stared straight into space. Finally, the man they had been waiting for arrived: Maximillian Arturo.

The professor had returned from oblivion some two years earlier. But instead of a hero's welcome, he found himself immediately ostracized. This had imbittered him, and his contempt for his government knew no limits. Getting him to help them now was going to be a bitch.

"Mr. Wing?"

"Professor," replied Wing.

"What the devil are you doing here? It's bad enough they're sending useless anthropology majors into the void, now they're tossing in lawyers?"

"He's not here for the mission, Professor," groused Erikkson. "He's here to make sure our interests are protected. Please sit down."

Arturo complied. Erikkson continued. "A few hours ago our top agent defected from this unit. He attacked his own colleagues and broke a rogue slider from a parallel earth out of confinement. Using an unauthrorized sliding device, he and the rogue escaped. Needless to say, it is imperative that we retrieve him."

"Let me guess...Bennish."

Erikkson nodded. "I want to you go to after him and bring him back."

"Why me? You have plenty of other little whelps you can send in after."

"Bennish has a timer that's not preset to return. He could be out there for a long time. Unfortunately, I can't afford to tie up my best men and women on what could be a long and fruitless mission. You, I can afford to lose," said Erikkson, cutting right to the chase. "This is your chance to get back in on the project, Professor. Retrieve Bennish, and I will get you approved to handle sliding technology. No more weekend ransackings, no more pointless lectures. Just get me Bennish."

Arturo mulled it over. He did not like the idea of working for this oaf, but the prospect of sliding again was too tempting. He knew he had to accept the offer, but he wanted a few more reassurances.

"I'll do it..." he said. Wing let out a sigh of relief. All Arturo would have to do was sign the forms he had brought and he could be on his way. "...on one condition."

Uh-oh. The catch.

"I want to select my partner."

Caitlin interjected, "I'm your partner."

"You? You're in no shape to slide in your present condition. Besides, I do not want to be teamed by someone so easily knocked out by the likes of Bennish."

"What did you have in mind, Professor?" sighed Erikkson.

"I want Mr. Wing."

"ME?!?!? What do you want me for?" exclaimed Wing.

"You were not my best student of all time, but you were certainly capable."

"But I've only slid twice in my life! On my birthdays when Bennish took me to this world of scantily clad...well, never mind, the point is, I don't know anything about this!"

"Which is precisely why I want you. No preset notions. You'll do things my way. What do you say, Erikkson? Do we have a deal?" asked Arturo.

Wing looked at Erikkson terrified. "Deal," Erikkson replied.

"But...but..."interjected both Wing and Caitlin.

"Those are my orders. Deal with them," said Erikkson, standing up to depart.

"Come along, Mr. Wing! Adventure awaits us!" declared the professor. Wing shuffled out behind him, wondering what he had done to deserve this.

"If I'm not part of this mission, I will resign," declared Caitlin to Erikkson.

"Relax, the professor's right. You suffered a concussion. I can't send you out there in good conscience. But you're far from being removed from this mission. We've still got two sliders in captivity. From now on, they're your assignment. Find out everything they know about these Slavers and whether Bennish is involved," said Erikkson.

"Involved? How can you say that?"

"Well he did just bolt on us, agent! I can't just dismiss the circumstances,"said Erikkson. Then his expression changed from anger to solemnity. "There's more. Bennish never returned with the body of Agent McComb. I took him at his word that she was dead. Maybe I'm not so sure anymore...If there's a conspiracy going on, I want it rooted out now. Debrief the double of Bennish's girlfriend. I want answers. Now."

--------

"OK, I guess we all saw THAT coming," said dellyone. "Man, what is your obsession with freakin' Wing!"

"Wing is a man of mystery. He has that 'je ne sais quoi' about him. He just exudes this raw vitality that says ' I must be written about!'", gushed R317.

Dellyone just stared at him.

"He's a good comic straight man. Happy?" muttered R317.

"Yes."

"Gee, not much skit in this thing at all," said HurriKain. "That's unusual for you."

"You feeling OK?"asked Tigs.

"Eh, I just didn't have much original in my head right now, and I'm not one to resort to stereotypes."

"CRACKtacular!" declared Blinker at the bar, tended by ThomasMalthus, while SL4ever ate a pie.

R317

MFSRTMSRNFMSR

"The Torch? Being Polite? Geez. You go away for 3 weeks, you come back and Torches are being nice to you." Jenn said Sacastically.

_____

"So, Who was I on your world?" Jennifer asked of Conrad. She was so fascinated about these issues. Ya know, If she had turned right instead of Left, would her life be any different? And if those damned slavers hadn't forced themselves into her world, would her Conrad still be alive? Would they still be married? The very thought drove her to tears. But she was sitting here with this Conrad. He was good enough for her.

"You were my Partner. We worked for the FBI. Specifically the Sliding Division. You see, My college friend, Quinn Mallory, invented sliding here and when he disappeared, mysteriously, They recruited me to test out his equipment, see what I could make of it. You and I, Well, Your double and I, slid to different worlds to see what we could learn. Don't tell anyone, but I would look for my buddy on every world we visited. When you died, Your double, sorry. When your double died, I felt like someone had reached into my chest, pulled out my heart and served it to me on a silver platter." Conrad explained. Jennifer sat back and laughed. So much like her Conrad. Funny, Good Looking,(:-p) and oh so Charming.

"Well At least it was silver." Jennifer joked. Conrad had to smile at this. The same old Jennifer he had loved years ago. "When Conrad died it was the Hardest thing I'd ever had to go through. The slavers, they raped our world. They just came over and forced themselves onto our planet. When we rebelled, Conrad and I were captured. They were gonna send us into slave labor. Hence the name Slaver. Anyway, Conrad said No. He said that if they'd let me go, They could kill him. Of course they excepted the offer." Jennifer paused. Her tears were surfacing and she started to choke on her words. "They tied him to a wooden pole and shot the hell outta him. I still remember what he said to me right before he died. He said 'Jennifer, Don't be scared. I'll always be with you. I love you honey.' And you know, When they had finished executing him, they put me in slave labor." Jennifer went from being solely interested in this Conrad to remembering her Conrad. She brought her arms around herself and clenched her eyes shut. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was in her own little world.

"Jenn, I'm so sorry. But I'm here for you now." Conrad Consoled. He tried to grab her hand. She swiftly pulled it away from him.

"Ya know, Maybe this wasn't the best idea. The wounds of losing Conrad were brutally ripped open when I saw you. And I'm sure the feeling is mutal." Jennifer whimpered.

"Where are you gonna go?" Conrad questioned. They were suddenly interrupted by the Professer who had just arrived.

"Mr. Bennish? I'm afraid you must be returning with us now." The Professer shouted. Bennish reached into his pocket and pulled out the timer. He activated it and a blue void opened in front of them.

"God Damn Timer." Conrad shouted.

"What's wrong?" Jennifer Yelled.

"It's not working." He answered.

"If that's not your Vortex Mr. Bennish, Then whose is it?" The Professer Questioned. The 4 of them stopped and looked at the Bright Blue circle swirling in front of them. Conrad knew he had not activated it. The Button muct have gottan jammed or something. The Professer could not have activated it. He hadn't had a chance to investigate his new timer yet. Whose Vortex was this?

_____

"Well that's it. I don't know what to write." Jenn said.

"Thank you!" Tigs answered. "Now Move."

"Sorrrrrrrrry!!" Jenn shouted. She walked up to the bar, sat down and had a drink.

She finally began to write as the Torch's voice echoed, "Will you get on with it?"

øøøøøøøø

Hinkley provided covering fire which ripped through Melissa who had been piloting a small Kromagg hover bike through the wormhole; Caitlin fell off the back next to a live Bennish and bullet riddled Jennifer.

øøøøøøøø

"You can't do that," Jenn's shrieks shattered the two empty bottles that Recall had just put to the side.

"Damn," he whistled appreciatively handing Tigs a fresh bottle.

"Mhhhmmmm," she agreed.

Bennish leaned back in his swivel chair and let out a yawn that sounded like a bear just starting to meet Spring. Professor Arturo entered the control room and scowled at his former student.

"Mr. Bennish, your manners are barbaric and your sleeping habits are atrocious! It boggles my mind that a nation like the United States would hire *you* as an intelligence agent. I surely hope the irony of your employment situation isn't lost to you," Arturo berated as he moved to stand beside the young man's chair. "The British had James Bond," the Englishman said with pride, then dripped with sarcasm as he continued, "The Americans have… James Bong."

Bennish rubbed his eyes and slouched back in the chair, "Take it easy, man…I can't think straight enough to defend myself so early in the morning."

"So early in the morning?! Mr. Bennish, it is 10:00 o'clock! Practically the afternoon!"

"Exactly! Why do they schedule these slides so freakin' early?!"

Muttering under his breath, Arturo rolled his eyes as he moved forward to look out the tilted window. He was shaking his head still as he marveled over the sliding equipment in the room below. His incriminations were cut short as other agents entered the room. If Arturo was anything, he prided himself on his professionalism.

"Good to see you all bright-eyed and busy-tailed so early in the morning," smiling, Caitlin ribbed Conrad as she entered the room alongside a scowling Ericksson.

"I'd rather be faded and sleeping it off, but hey, I'll take what I can get," Bennish weakly smiled, winking at Caitlin.

Struggling almost unsuccessfully to ignore that remark, Ericksson gripped the table in the center of the room. After several seconds, he finally sat down in a very controlled and calculating manner. Taking her seat, Caitlin sighed at her boss' temper and at the professor's gentlemanly manners, as Arturo pushed her chair forward . Arturo then seated himself and turned to Ericksson, still wondering why the chief hadn't said more to Bennish.

Ericksson was deep in thought. It had been six months since the discovery of the Slavers. Six months since the arrival of the three off-worlders. Six months since Bennish went AWOL and ran off with a double of his first partner - and got her killed by a new sentient race. "Kromaggs" Arturo called them, having encountered them once on a prior adventure. Six months since his superiors had decided to keep Bennish on the leash, and let the professor stay on staff. He wasn't exactly pleased with the way things had unfolded, and the problems they now faced. However, he was pleased to have solved one problem in particular. That person was now the focus of the conversation.

"I believe Anna has fully adjusted to her training and I'm expanding her responsibilities," Ericksson informed the group… it was met with mixed reception.

"I don't understand why we even put her through the program, even an accelerated program at that!" Caitlin protested. "She is a detriment to the mission! She doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut. She doesn't know how to adjust to the local customs. On both of the prior missions she almost blew our cover AND almost got me killed!"

"Now, now Ms. Caitlin. Those were accidents. Anna has learned her lesson. Also, I seem to recall a certain musician who happened upon sliding and has survived quite well without prior training," Arturo defended. He really wasn't sure if Remmbrant was alright, but for both his and Bennish's sake, he spoke it with confidence.

Caitlin "hmphed" and sat back in her seat. Unconvinced and angry, she supposed she could chalk those accidents to Rookie luck, but….

Bennish added his two cents to the discussion, "I really didn't agree initially with the decision to train Anna as an FBI Agent, but what could you do? Can't send her back to be a slave; she is the only source of information we have on these Slavers. Nor can we just let her out in public because she has a double that's my girlfriend… well ex-girlfriend by now." Bennish turned toward Ericksson as he uttered that last remark. He wasn't really upset by the order to not contact his Anna since this all began six months ago, the relationship was on the rocks before that anyway… he just liked making Ericksson feel responsible. Bennish turned back to Caitlin, "She showed herself to be a competent agent on her first two slides… as competent as a rookie can be anyway. I think it would be fine to make her a full agent."

Caitlin threw up her hands in disgust, "Fine! Whatever…" She stood up quickly and straightened her jacket. "I'll see you on the Portal Pad in 30 minutes," she huffed and stormed out of the room.

Ericksson grimaced. Tempermental Agents. Bet it was PMS. He stood and collected his notes, "I'm informing Anna of her new assignment" Sighing, he said, "Perhaps some damage control with Agent Caitlin first…" He didn't seem to hurry out the door in Bennish's opinion.

Arturo opened his briefcase and proceeded to pull out the findings of the investigation of the most recent slide. He loved studying the different cultures in his spare time. Sliding was a passion, but not his only passion.

Bennish pushed his wheeled chair over to the control panel below the overlooking window. Routine as clockwork, he started the entering of computer data to prep the equipment for the next slide, and tried very hard to filter out Arturo's voice.

After a couple minutes, Bennish suddenly realized Arturo had ceased talking. He looked up from where his monitors and spun in his chair… causing his heart to skip a beat. There standing against the doorway was Anna. She was dressed in tight white vinyl pants, white mid-heeled boots, and a white leather coat Anna caught Bennish's eyes with hers, then slowly flipped her shoulder-length blonde hair back from her face.

Bennish barely noticed Arturo collect up his stuff and mumbled something about professional dress or some other garbage like that, leaving the room.

Anna sashayed over to Bennish and leaned against the control panel, almost pressing in a couple keys with her bottom. She placed her hands on either side of her and held the edge of the panel.

"I just wanted to stop by and say thanks for sticking up for me in the meeting back there. I know I haven't been too useful on the missions yet, but I'm glad you guys think I'm ready for more responsibility." Almost absently and innocently, she pushed his bangs back with a featherlight touch. Her musky perfume invaded his nostrils and his toes.

Bennish finally remembered he was supposed to respond, "Um… Y…Yeah. It was no… nothing… rea… really." Bennish fidgeted, admiting to himself that he found her very attractive, but he knew he wasn't ready for *anything* resembling a relationship… having lost a number of girlfriends and partners and doubles in the last year. "Really, nothing."

Anna flashed him a smile that seemed to reveal things he could only hope she was thinking. Bennish cleared his throat and came back to his senses. Anna laughed, "We need to be getting down to the Ready Room. Walk me there?"

Bennish nodded quickly and spun his chair away from the keyboard. He thought he saw her arm move out of the corner of his eye as his back turned to her but he quickly dismissed it as a figment of his imagination. He walked midway across the room toward the door (walking as upright as Bennishly possible) before he noticed she hadn't moved from her seat. She had her head turned and was looking down at the monitors. She turned back to Bennish and smiled at him, sighing, "I still have no idea how this stuff works."

==========

The three Sliders: Bennish, Caitlin, and Anna, stood ready on the Gateway pad. They had checked their equipment just prior, even being sure to secure their issued firearms. Bennish and Caitlin had never found a reason to use them, nor liked carrying them, but the FBI required them to bring them along. Anna was almost giddy to have been given a firearm as per her new responsibilities, but had quickly recovered when Caitlin shot her a look.

Bennish turned around to look up into the Control to see Arturo seated as usual with Ericksson standing right beside him. Bennish was always so amused that something as routine as these portal openings always had so much "procedure" behind them. "Government…" Bennish sighed as he gave the thumbs up.

Arturo pressed the Activate button. Bennish turned toward the gateway and met the vortex's wave of wind and light. The three began walking into the portal. All the sudden the vortex shuddered and contracted, causing the Sliders to take a step back. As quickly as it started, the vortex expanded again to it's original size.

Ericksson looked down at the control panel, "Professor, what just happened?"

"I…I… don't know," Arturo scanned the monitors quickly, "I've never seen it do that before." He checked the integrity data. "It looks perfectly safe now. Perhaps a bump in the Multiverse?"

"You'd better hope it was only a bump…"

Bennish's voice came over the Control Room loud speaker, "Uh… Professor??"

Arturo looked up to Ericksson who nodded. He reached over and keyed the comm, "Yes, Mr. Bennish. Everything appears to be okay. You may proceed."

Bennish noticed that Arturo looked worried through the glass. He shrugged it off, already coming to the realization long ago that sliding, at least for them, is not a perfect science. He waved "let's go" to his teammates. Caitlin hesitated to go, but Anna appeared eager as ever.

"Here we go guys."

==========

Bennish was the first out, doing a nice tuck and roll maneuver that was taught in training and landed on one knee and a foot. Caitlin was next, executing the exact same move. Anna brought up the lead, her roll less than stellar but acceptable all the same.

Something immediately dawned on Bennish, they were still indoors. Bennish slowly raised to stand, taking in the rather small room they were in. "Where are we?" he breathed slowly.

Caitlin too, was collecting visual data. The room had two doors, a very primitive slide machine (even Quinn had done better on his first try), and a powered up "gateway" (if you could call it that) which they apparently exited from.

Bennish quickly pulled the timer from a loop in his belt. "Caitlin! We have a problem!"

"What is it?!" Caitlin hurried next to him.

"The timer… it's throwing up random numbers." Bennish showed her the timer display as it cycled through a random pattern.

From behind the close doors, gunfire broke out between two separate parties. Shouts of "Dupre, watch our f'n flank!" and "Shamino, give me cover fire now!" reverbated through the farthest door.

Anna stood apart from the partners with her weapon drawn and aimed at Caitlin, "Yeah, you guys have a problem alright."

"WHAT?!" Shocked, Bennish jumped to shield Caitlin, who moved to find cover. Anna scowled and readjusted her aim to track Caitlin. At that moment the door behind them burst open!

A handful of men in black fighting garb spilled into the room. Bennish used the distraction to rush the stunned Anna. He had his arms around her middle, tackling her, when the gun went off next to his head! He could hear Caitlin scream out in pain as he hit the ground with Anna.

Bennish quickly looked back to see Caitlin on the floor of the room, clutching at a spot in front of her right shoulder. His thoughts were interrupted by Anna's shriek. "Rebels! Here?!"

The men Anna called Rebels still hadn't paid them much attention, they were preoccupied with gunfire that began riddling the doorway. "Iolo! We found the nexus!", one of them shouted.

"The Slavers are going to pin us!" one of them shouted. "We've got to fall back!"

"Dupre, we are so close! We can't!" another yelled back.

"That's an order Shamino! Move!"

Bennish couldn't make sense of any of this. He pushed himself up off of Anna and hurried toward Caitlin who was lying just behind the Rebels. Before he could reach her, the other door opened on the opposite side of the room, next to the prone Anna. Red and black clad soldiers pushed into the room.

"Slavers behind us! Sh-!" Iolo yelled spinning and firing quickly. The first of the Slaver guards crumpled from the gunfire.

Pointing frantically from Caitlin to Bennish as she struggled up from the floor, Anna yelled, "Don't let them get away! They have Slide Tech!"

Shamino picked up on that instantly. He turned and saw the wounded woman. He bent over and scooped up the fallen Caitlin and hurried for the door. The Slavers fired on him, with rounds of weapon fire grazing off his shoulder armor. "Get the other one!" Shamino called as he slipped out. Dupre fired off a volley to keep the Slavers' heads down and waved for Bennish to "come on!".

Bennish, realizing that at least this side wasn't actually shooting at him at that moment, started to run with his head down toward the frantic man… but he didn't get there.

All Bennish remembered as he lay on the floor looking at the cracks in the tile was that their was a bright flash and his muscles wanted to protest any kind of action like a hippie at Haight-Ashbury. "This is gonna suck…"

======

"Tag, you're in Y", SE smiled, getting up from the desk.

"I'm on it!" Y jumped onto the vacant stool.

In the immortal words and voice of Mills Lane, the Torch declared, "LET'S GETTIT ON!"

SE nudged Y, and she began writing.

*******

Caitlin woke slowly, stifling a groan. Disjointed voices drifted around her. Sickly abrasive anesthetic smells filled the room. Fire inside her shoulder…

*I've been shot* the thought penetrated her FBI honed mind. Still and working to breathe slowly, she struggled to listen in on the conversation.

"…Anna …."

"…Nexus…"

"…better be worth it…"

"…portable … tech, not…"

"…flesh wound…"

"…4 died, 2 wounded critically, but…"

"…estimated ….dead slavers…"

"She's awake."

The rustling of papers and scraping of chairs, followed by weight added to the side of her mattress, helped Caitlin focus better on her surroundings.

"Ma'am? Ma'am? Can you tell us your name?" One baritoned-voice cut thru her foggy brain.

"We rescued you, and gave you medical attention. You'll be fine. Ma'am?" a tenor voice added.

"Gentlemen, give her a moment, she's still recovering!" Jana, the nurse, admonished. After getting glaring looks in her direction, she sighed, closed the clipboard, and clamped her mouth together.

"I'm Caitlin… I think." Caitlin stalled. "Who are you and where am I?"

The men exchanged looks, and the first man spoke, "You were shot by the slavers, in hostile territory. We rescued you because we believe you have information that could be vital to our cause."

Caitlin looked around, noting the men had fatigues on still, and carrying sidearms. "You are the military?"

"We are Patriots. Our military no longer exists. Where you are is not important, and if you leave is our decision."

"If?" Caitlin stared, her mind whirling with Escape! Escape!

"Why were you at that Nexus? It's not a slave area."

"I…. I don't know…" Caitlin didn't think she convinced them with that lame lie. She had to buy herself some time… she had to escape and find Bennish! *How much time had passed? Why did Anna try to shoot me!? Caitlin mentally shook herself from her musings as the questions continued. First things first.

All at once, the rebels began opening up with questions.

"Where are you from?"

"From? Canada… I'm from Canada."

"Who was that with you?"

"Why were you at the Nexus?"

"Do you know about dimensional traveling?"

"Why don't you have a slave ID?"

"How did you bypass the Nexus security?"

"Why were you with that Slaver Agent?"

Caitlin clutched her head in her hands. Too many questions…

"HEY!" the one called Dupre yelled to silence the room. The others drew back.

After regaining her composure, Caitlin began to answer what she could. "I'm an anthropologist, I study people. I don't know how we got to… what do you call it… the Nexus?"

The others murmured amongst themselves.

"I don't know what you mean by Slaver Agent, I was only with my partners Conrad Bennish and Anna… I… I… don't even know Anna's last name…"

Shamino tapped a few keys at a dirty computer monitor and up popped a picture of a familiar blonde. "Is this the woman you refer to as Anna?"

Puzzled, Caitlin nodded yes.

Dupre looked stern, "Add the name 'Anna' to her aliases, Sham." He then turned back to Caitlin, "She is a highly trained agent of the Slavers and a specialist in infiltration. Her purpose has been to go undercover, join in on the various resistance factions and betray them from the inside."

Caitlin let her head fall. She was ashamed at herself for falling for Anna's cover. She was more upset that Bennish had to be the one to suffer for that folly. “I should’ve known. I should’ve… can you tell me where my partner is? I need to rescue him. He won’t know about Anna. I...”

Bustling through the door, Iolo clutched an armload of papers and blue prints. Gasping for air he let them fall, save one which he allowed to unroll downward as he grasped the top.

"What do you know about creating portable Nexus devices?"

Bennish paced his accommodations warily. The 20x 30 room was as efficient as a studio apartment, but it was still a prison as far as he was concerned. The windows were small with bars, and the steel door was locked from the outside.

He was worried, so many things had happened at once. Anna shot Caitlin! Rebels took Caitlin! THEN someone else captured him and Anna!

He rattled the door for the umpteenth time. * How much time had passed? Where were Caitlin and Anna? Were they all right? Did Caitlin survive? Where was the timer? How could he escape? Why capture him? Portable Sliding Tech… he remembered Anna hollered that, and Caitlin didn’t get taken by the same people they did… but why would Anna try to kill Caitlin, then try to save her too? Nothing Made Sense! *

Voices outside the door alerted Bennish to his visitors. He turned in time to see Anna escorted in the room, with the door locked behind her.

“Stay outside till I request you.” Anna ordered.

&#61623; Anna ordered? * Bennish puzzled.

Anna was now dressed in a black sleeveless mini dress, high heels, hose, hair swept up becomingly, light makeup and perfume. Bennish dumbfoundedly thought she was dressed like she was going on a date!

“Connie, sweetheart, are you okay?” Anna purred as she glided over to Bennish. “Isn’t your room just divine?”

Bennish frowned. What was this minx up to? “I’m fine. The prison is fine as prisons go. Why did you shoot Caitlin?”

“Honey, don’t worry about her. Worry about us.”

“Us?!” Bennish stepped back. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. “There is no ‘us’ Anna, and there can’t be since you shot Caitlin.”

Anna kept coming closer, close enough to touch Bennish’s collarbone with her right hand. Bennish closed his hand over hers as she attempted to sweep her fingers across his neck.

“Oh Honey, don’t be that way. Be my husband, and I’ll give you the world.” Anna purred, pursing her lips towards him waiting for a kiss of acceptance. “Just think my sweet Connie, no more worrying about anyone else except us. No more working for that FBI. Our subjects catering to our every desire.” Pausing for another breath for effect, Anna lowered her voice even more seductively, “Rule beside me Connie, I love you.”

Bennish pushed her away. What she offered here was tempting, but at the same time… repulsive. “No Anna. No.”

“What?” Anna was taken back. * He was refusing her? How dare he!? * “Why Connie? Why not?”

“Anna, how can you possibly think I would accept?” Bennish was exasperated, but his analytical mind took over, searching for clues to help him. “How can you rule a world we just landed on?

“This is my homeworld Connie” Anna looked him in the eyes, smiling. “While I may not rule, I do have some power. And once you show our superiors your Sliding Technology, I, um, we will be given command of our own state.”

“Anna!” Bennish barked. “NO!”

Almost an hour passed with Anna trying to seduce him into seeing things her way. He was getting quite angry, and was physically restraining himself from shaking some sense into this madwoman. “For the ABSOLUTE LAST TIME, you power-hungry WITCH… . I…. SAID…. NO!” He shouted, rattling the windows.

Anna’s face turned purple as she slapped him as hard as she could. Then she slapped him again. “YES Connie. You WILL”. * How dare he! * “You will… or you will DIE.”

*************

Tigs plopped up on the writing desk, new lime in hand. "Cool hun. Wanna lime?"

Blinker was almost pushing Y out of her seat as she stood up. "Me Me Me!"

"Nice job! Love the U6 references btw, let's go get something to eat." SE winked as he ushered Y to the buffet.

"NEXT" Torch cried... then saw Blinker already waiting.

HURRIKAIN <shaking Blinker furiously> GET... UP.... YOU.... >:-#~~~~~~...... oh, the hell with him. <hands Torch off to Jimmy Bond, who's still hanging around like a lost puppy> Here! Go with it!

=====

It was night. And dark. Bennish (note to self: he's cool) sat in the room. Anna (she's nasty!) had gone. She might have gone to get some tools of hurting people. Bennish was scared. Kinda.

=====

"Portable nexus devices?" asked Caitlin. "Yeah" said Iolo.

"Well gee, I don't know a lot about that sorta thing." Caitlin thought, using her brain. "I just use the timer machine, and go to other worlds. It lets me slide."

"Oh okay." Dupre said. "We'll talk later, I'll explain it more"

"So how 'bout them Slavers?" asked Caitlin. "How much do you know about what they do and stuff."

"The Slavers' military government makes extensive use of subservient client races for manual labour at home and as soldiers abroad. Workers are gathered thousands at a time in blitzkrieg attacks, usually for sale to unscrupulous mid-technology Earths. Though certain client races are often employed as soldiers, the Slavers have no reluctance to fight."

Caitlin nodded "Okay cool"

=====

It was still night. Not as dark though.

Anna (badbad) was still thinking of bedding <scratched out> bending Conrad to her will. She pressed a button. The button was red, and circle-shaped. It was also green.

=====

Bennish was trying to bed <angrily scratched out> BEND the bars of the... cage... room. Then he smelled something. Namely a smell. He smelled it more and got worried.

Bennish (he's the good guy, remember) felt light-headed. (HK is saying how I'm the expert on that! Hee hee) The smell was doing something to him. Rearranging his mind, all topsy-turvy like. He didn't pass out though, but his jaw became more slack and his eyes were all vacant, however. (Quiet HK, I'm trying to write)

(Okay, I'm done)

=====

JIMMY <grinning blandly>: Take it away, SweetOne! But not too far. You have to bring it back when you're done.

TIGS: I haven't seen this many bizarre, off-format segs since #17...

SWEETONE: >:-# !!!!!!

- Jimmy (| :-)~~~
http://slidersweb.net/blinker

DMD growled, but couldn't refuse.

~~~~~~~

Ericcson paced the confines of the VM chamber. He stopped to loosen the collar of his shirt, he checked his wrist watch for the umpteenth time.
Then he resumed pacing. Max Arturo checked and rechecked the computers.
Ericcson raged into the room. "What the hell happened? We've tried to retrieve the crew 3 times. I want an explaination, and I want it NOW!"

"All I know is it was deliberate, someone tampered with the data input. I'm searching for the co-ordinates now." Professor Arturo calmly stated. "Well get it done Asap. We can't afford to have out two most valuable agents held captive, or sliding randomly through the universe. By God I won't have it." Ericcson was mad as fire, shouting at the top of his lungs. As if that could make the rescue or return of his agents
come about more quickly.

~~~~~~~~

The effects of the airborne drug had taken over Conrad's mind and body.

Filling him with the wonderful sense of euphoria. Anna entered his prison to begin the art of seduction at which she was so talented. She slid one perfectly manicured red fingernail down the open V of his shirt. Stepped close enough to feel his breath fan her loose hair, then wrapped one long leg around him, "Honey," she purred. "I hope you've come to your senses. There's no need to fight me. I get what I want, and I want you," she nipped his bottom lip. "I've wanted you for a very long time. Now are you going to be a good boy and obey?"

"Baby, what's in it for me?" He ran his hands through her hair. "If I promise to be a very good boy, that is."

She thought a minute "What would you like?"

"I want out of here. We could go to your place," he winked.

After serious thought she decided her place would be more comfortable after all. And with the amount of drugs coursing through him he wouldn't pose a threat tonight. By the morning she'd have him exactally where she always wanted him. "Let's go." A satisfied smile curled over her face.

A sinister smurk curved over his. He was high, man that was some good $*&( but he wasn't that high).

~~~~~~~~~

SweetOne dropped then pen on top of the jumble of papers.: Come on honey, my feet are itchin' to dance.

DMD: But I've got a seg to write.

SO: I just bought you 3 days. Come on. Please.

The party was in full swing when DMD and SO returned.

Recall and Brit were playing a game of pool. Brit was complaining about Spaz119 at each mention of her name

Recall would down another drink. At this rate he would be drunk in no time.

Blinker twirled Tigs away from the crowd. Looking for a quiet place to talk. No such luck.

Yeontoo brought out a game of twister.

Legs and arms entwined, balance was lost, the group of players landed in a heap. SweetOne took the opportunity to sneak a kiss from DMD. Tigs was squished by Blinker, (who didn't mind).

MSR was surprised to find herself on the bottom of the heap, with SweetOne, DMD and SL4 on top of her. "Get off me!"

to be continued.

DMD: "Tempting, but I'll get skipped if I don't finish this soon."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna took Bennish by the arm and guided him through the Slaver's compound. Perhaps 'guided' is a bit misleading. Bennish could barely walk on his own and was clearly in no condition to resist. As he stumbled through the halls he managed to take in his surroundings, though he was pretty sure the midget that had climbed a stack of Michael Bolton albums and mooned him wasn't real. Anna led him past holding cells for several other prisioners. Most were wearing the same black garb that he'd seen on the gunmen when he'd first arrived with Anna and Caitlin. How long ago had that been? Most were wounded, some seriously.

Bennish had to look twice at the guests in the last two cells. These cells were guarded much more closely. Inside were creatures that made the midget look normal. Strange ape creatures were strapped to cots and apparently sedated. "Damn, those must be the Kromaggs the Prof was talking about," he thought through his haze. If they had managed to conquer the Kromaggs, the Slavers were a threat indeed. But the equipment in that room was so low-tech, what the hell was going on here?

After clearing several checkpoints ("Whoever this Anna is, she must have one hell of a clearance"), Anna helped Bennish into her quarters. ("I was so hoping she lived outside the complex") As Anna eased Bennish onto a couch, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "now don't you go anywhere. I'm going to slip into something a little.... less." As soon as she was out of the room, Bennish started taking in the room and looking for anything he could use to aide his escape.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You've got something?" asked Erikkson, entering the room with his usual bluster.

"Good God, man. Would a simple 'hello' before interrogating me be too much to ask?" huffed Professor Arturo. "Yes, I've found something. The reason we haven't been able to retrieve our team is that we never sent them anywhere."

"What in blazes are you talking about? and 'hello.'"

"I've finally managed to trace what happened in the VM chamber. Minutes before the slide, the controls were changed, so that the destination coordinates were not the coordinates of the dimension we wished to chart," started the professor.

"That much I know. We've tried opening a retrieval vortex both on the original world AND on the world where we think we sent them." Erikkson was getting annoyed.

"Let me finish," replied Artuo. "According to my calculations, there IS no world at these coordinates. Therefore a true wormhole never formed, and THEREFORE we never sent them anywhere. That was why the vortex blinked out before reforming. Our vortex collapsed when no anchor could be formed on another world. ANOTHER vortex then open in it's place."

"Another vortex? In exactly the spot ours was operating? How is that possible? As much as we know about sliding, we've still got a 200-yard sliding radius. We could never open one up on a dime like that," reasoned Erikkson. "Sure we can open up a retrieval vortex with that precision, but only because it follows the same path as the original slide."

"True, true," agreed the Professor. "I believe that whoever created that wormhole used our initial vortex as a beacon to guide their own."

"Then our people aren't just missing, they were kidnapped. But by whom?"

Arturo took a deep breath before explaining, "the only person in this complex that might have contacts with people on another Earth would be Anna. She and Bennish were the last two in this room before the slide, and we know the people on her world have sliding technology."

"Can we track her?"

"Yes, using the quantum signature we registered for her and the telemetry from the vortex she used to arrive."

Erikkson picked up one of the many phones built into the control consoles. "This is Erikkson. Assemble a recovery team.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caitlin was confused. "I thought you guys had sliding technology."

"Why would you think that?" Iolo asked.

Caitlin: "Well, six months ago, three people landed on our Earth, claiming to be fleeing from the Slavers. Anna was one of those three. They said they'd used an emergency sliding device. I assumed that they were from this Earth, since you're fighting the Slavers."

Dupre asked, "who were the other two?"

"A woman named Jennifer and a young girl they called Melissa. Not long after they arrived Jennifer was killed and Melissa nearly killed me before disappearing," replied Caitlin.

Shamino chimed in, "I don't know about the girl, but I remember hearing about a Jennifer in another resistance cell. She someone else..... Conny or something... had supposedly stolen some tech from the Slavers. Maybe she's who you knew?"

Caitlin sighed, "If she was with a Conny, that would have to be her."

"If so, it's too bad she's dead," interjected Dupre. "I'd love to know how she got her hands on that tech. The Slavers may use it to invade other worlds, but they don't seem to have much of it, and they keep what they do have under pretty close guard. It took months of planning for us to get as close as we did to their equipment."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the command center of the Slaver compound, Colin St. Clair was livid. "She's taken him where?!?"

"To her quarters, sir." replied Michele. What fluke of evolution had produced that little gnome was beyond Colin, but he'd picked her up on one of the first Earths his organization had visited. The diminutive shape shifter had proven invaluable despite her inexplicable infatuation with Michael Bolton.

"I've worked too hard to bring someone here that knows more about sliding than we do," fumed Colin. The fact was, they hadn't conquered the Kromaggs at all. Colin happened to see a manta ship crash and had been just smart enough to steal their sliding equipment for himself. Their attempts at creating equipment of their own had been less than stellar. "She was supposed to go in, get the tech and get out. Instead, what does she bring back? No tech and a hippie that she claims knows everything there is to know about sliding. Dispatch a team to her quarters. I'd like to speak to this Bennish myself."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DMD put down the pen and pushed himself away from the writing desk. He managed to find SweetOne standing behind the bar.

DMD: Sorry about that. I'm finished now.

SO <cooly>: Really?

DMD: Mmmmm hmmm. Any chance you've still got something sweet for me? <grins innocently>

SO: Sure, right here. <slams banana cream pie in DMD's face>

SL4 <contractual appearance>: Hey! Don't waste good PIE like that!

DMD <wipes PIE from his eyes>: SouthernSlider, you're up!

SS hurries to the writing desk, dodging bits of banana cream pie flying through the air.
-----

Anna had Bennish mesmerized. He couldn't seem to think straight with her attempts to seduce him. Just when he felt himself sinking in her arms, the door slid open.

"Anna, you've been summoned to headquarters. Mr. St. Clair wants both of you."

"Not now, Michele. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Not good enough, Anna. He wants you there now. Don't make me do something I don't want to do"

Anna let out a disgusted sigh. Damn Colin and his obsession with sliding tech. Now she would have to wait.

"Come on, Bennish. Let's see what the tyrant wants."

Michele's cohorts grabbed Bennish by the arms and dragged him out of the room. In his stupor, he was barely able to put one foot in front of the other. Michele and Anna followed.

*****

Colin fumed in his office. He was getting close to his goal, and he didn't want any snafus now. If Anna had messed up he was going to ship her off to Logan. She would see to it the girl was punished.

He drummed his fingers on the desk, and had second thoughts. Knowing Logan's temperment, she would probably blame him for the fiasco. Best not to involve her until he could squarely lay the blame on someone else.

The doors opened. Colin twirled around in his chair ready to lambast Anna. To his shock, it wasn't her.

"Colin, dear brother. I think we have a problem here."

He fumbled around for an intelligent response, but nothing was forth coming."

-----

SS: Maybe that will work. I wonder if DMD is still covered with pie.

CoolSlder, you're up! she yells as she goes in search of more banana cream.

SS

Rainman: Can you pick me up some underwear?

***

“Put the neekid spider monkey down and come out with your hands up,” Trudy ordered.

“Ah man, ‘Lady and Tramp’ just started!” Mike Hunt whined. “I told you before how much I love that movie!”

“We’re busted!” The Foxtrot twins groaned. “Now we’ll never get to the Shining Sea!”

“And the Golden Bible will remain in the hands of the Tome Raider, Zolcroft.” Barky, the talking dog, sighed. “I’ll be in my doghouse sulking.”

MSR sighed and started removing her dress. “There’s only one way to distract Captain Bligh now-.”

****

IHK: What the >:-#?

Slider_Sarah: You didn’t read the other parts, did you?

SL4: Um, no. I haven’t had time! I don’t have the last part so I figured that I could wing it and the Incredible Hurrikain could tie up the loose ends.

Blinker <drawing his phaser and pointing it at the apple PIE cooling on the kitchen counter.> : Dude, you’re not even CLOSE! Try again or the PIE gets it!

SL4: What the smeg is wrong with what I have so far?

SabreEdge: “Barky” ?????

BritSlider: Tome Raider? That’s worse than “Emotional Blackmail”

MSR: And what the >:-# am *I* doing in it???

Blinker <setting his phaser to “eat” > : Last chance, buddy.

SL4: All right, all right. I’ll actually read the story and do my bit tomorrow, I promise. Of course, since it’s 4:30am EST when I’m posting this, that means it’s already Friday, so “tomorrow” means by Saturday night! :-P~~~~~~~~~~~

To be continued ...

I'm going to be making some life changes pretty soon. Life is too short to spend all your time working or being so drained from work that you don't feel like doing anything. <<<<<

Bennish waited for Colin St. Clair to see him. As time passed he recovered somewhat from his stupor and began to get bored so he looked around for something to read. The waiting room magazines were a bit lacking. There was a current issue of “People” and an issue of “Life” so old that the headline read, “The TV debate. Will TVs catch on? Will people really want movie theaters in their living rooms?” With a sour expression Bennish chose the lessor of two evils and picked up the “Life” and settled back unhappily to read. Four tedious articles later the door finally opened and Colin beckoned him in.

“I thought you wanted me to reveal the secrets of Sliding? Why keep me waiting so long?” Bennish snapped.

Colin raised his hands in resignation. “Even I have certain people I must answer to. Have a seat.”

Bennish peered around the room, noting suspiciously that the door behind Colin’s desk was minutely ajar. A quick look in the trash can revealed an empty bottle of spring water, an empty box of chocolates, a diet tea bag, several gnawed carrots and celery sticks, and a used Kleenex. Colin had just finished entertaining a woman because no self respecting man would use or consume any of those items. Bennish had a good idea who the guest had been.

Anna and Michele had followed Conrad in and now stood behind him with their arms crossed and very different expressions on their faces. Apprehension for Anna and hostility for Michele.

“I no longer have time to play with you, Flower Child.” Colin began. “I’ve just received word that our time here is very short. I need answers on how to build Sliding technology and I need those answers now.”

This mendicant actually thinks I can sit here in an office chair and tell him how create an entire branch of technology from the ground up, Conrad giggled to himself. Apparently he wasn’t as over the chemicals in his system as he had thought. It was all he could do to keep from laughing in the foolish tin pan man’s face.

“If I don’t get the answers I want ... well, let’s just say that we may be backwards in some areas but we make up for it in our ability to punish those who in enrage us. Do you know what ‘Nerve Stapling’ is? Have you ever encountered a world where the people have cultivated that practice?”

Bennish shook his head, not trusting himself to speak lest he erupt in braying laughter.

“If you don’t cooperate immediately I’ll have no choice but to Nerve Staple you.” He offered a file.

Bennish accepted it reluctantly and opened it. The schematics, pictures, test results, and specifications described the gruesome torture device.

“Check out the testimonials in the back,” Colin suggested proudly.

The other man turned to the back section of the folder.

“Best torture device EVER! I confessed my Austin Powers addiction in record time!” -Sidney Wetpocket, Hairfalls, PA

“Ever more effective than being trapped in an elevator with Gilbert Godfrey!” –Jeremy Sidesnatch, Widow’s Peak, WI

“Four stars! I told EVERYTHING, baby. I told them about my cabbage experimentation back in high school! If you absolutely positively have to know something by the next day, try Nerve Stapling!” -Amanda Lik

Bennish set the folder aside. “Well, you’ve got me convinced. I’ll talk.”

Colin raced to his desk and sat down. He grabbed a miniature notebook and a pencil. “Shoot.”

“Um, you’re going to need something bigger than that tiny smegging paper.”

“Will there be a lot to write down?” Colin asked, rubbing his writing hand subconsiously.

“Do you have any billboard paper?” Bennish asked.

Colin rubbed his temples, obviously annoyed. “Time is a luxury we don’t have, pot licker. So start talking.”

“Okay, well, why don’t we start with what materials you’ll need to assemble in order to build a timer.”

“Good, good.” Colin murmured, his pencil poised over the paper.

Bennish glanced behind him. “You know, I’m really thirsty. Can I have a Strawberry Crème soda?”

Michele’s lip twisted. “You can have a strawberry sized hole in your head, for all I care.”

“Well, I was just thinking, that with all the talking I’m going to be doing ... but okay. Whatever.” He paused to clear his throat, then continued in a gasping, dry voice. “Okay, you’ll need six yards of Wal-Mart brand black plastic, exactly 1/64th of an inch thick ...” his voice broke and he coughed painfully. He tried to speak and his next word came out as a parched squeak. “Next ... you’ll ...” he coughed aridly again.

Colin’s eyes were piercing lasers. “Oh for crying out loud! Get the man a drink!”

“Thanks.” Bennish croaked painfully.

Anna caressed his hair a moment and started to move but Michele moved first. She went to the bar and poured something into a glass. She returned and handed it to their prisoner.

Bennish smacked his lips in anticipation and drained half the glass. His face twisted in disgust and he spit out everything he had just drank.

Face stony, Colin got up. He removed his sweater and tossed it in the trash. His tee shirt was soaked as well so that followed. His skin was also drenched so he grabbed a towel from his office bathroom and dried his skin and hair. Finally, he returned to his desk, tossed the sodden notebook in the trash, found another one, and spoke at last. “Why did you do that?” His voice was more impassive than his face, if that was possible.

“What did you give me?” Bennish asked Michele, his lip twisted into a disgusted sneer.

“Tab, of course.”

With the look of someone holding dolphin excrement, Bennish hastily set the glass on Colin’s desk to get it away from him. Unfortunately, he placed the glass on a pencil. Unbalanced, it fell over and its remaining contents splashed onto Colin’s new notebook, soaking it. Moving like a puppet whose master is in the midst of an epileptic seizure, Colin picked up the notebook and threw it into the trash. He opened his drawer again and found another notebook, this one with a pink cover.

“Wow.” Bennish gasped. “That’s really pink. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any problem with someone in your position possessing a vividly pink notebook-.”

Colin’s jaw muscles appeared to be locked tight, so when he spoke it was without moving his jaw. “Start over. NOW!” That last was a hiss so low it was almost inaudible.

“No problem!” Bennish said enthusiastically. “Now, as I said, you’ll need six yards of Wal-Mart brand black plastic. You’ll need one 6 x 4, and inch thick-.”

“Wait a minute,” Michele interrupted. “That’s not what he said before.”

“Yes it is.” The object of her ire stated innocently.

“No, it isn’t. You said we’ll need six yards of Wal-Mart brand black plastic, exactly 1/64th of an inch thick.” She insisted.

“I’m sorry you misheard me, but I know what I said.”

Michele’s face flushed with outrage. “You’re full of Spider Monkey pee! I heard exactly what you said, you’re standing 12 inches in front of me!”

Anna tried to be the peacemaker. “Does it have to be Wal-Mart, Conrad? Can it be K-Mart brand instead?”

Bennish shrugged. “If you want to pay twice as much and get cussed at by the employees, be my guest.”

Michele was not to be distracted. “That’s another thing. Wal-Mart doesn’t sell 6 x 4’s! Nor do they sell yards of black plastic.”

“I know that, judging by your clothes, you’re the Wal-Mart expert, but you’re wrong.” He countered. “It’s in the Sliding Aisle.”

“There’s no Sliding Aisle at Wal-Mart!” Michele insisted. “You guys wait here, I’m going to get my Wal-Mart catalog!”

Colin slapped the table. His jaw muscles had tightened so much they bulged noticeably. He looked like a chipmunk walking out of Jimmy Carter’s pantry. Apparently they had tightened so much he couldn’t speak. Instead he had written a note he now held up. It read:

“Bennish: Will you get on with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Michele: Shut the” [the next word had been written with such force that only a hole remained where it had been written, out of which protruded the front half of a broken pencil. The shattered fragments of the bottom half of the pencil littered Colin’s desk where they soaked up spilled Tab. The rest of the sentence had been written with a new pencil.] “up this instant or I’ll have you Nerve, Skin, Brain, Hair - and anything else I think of - Stapled!”

“No problem!” Bennish reported eagerly. He opened his mouth to start again when there was a knock on the door leading to the waiting room.

The sound of teeth shattering came from Colin’s mouth. His jaw muscles bulged further. He managed to lift one frustration paralyzed hand to indicate one of the girls should answer it. Anna moved first this time. She opened the door.

“YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She screamed.

TBC…

SL4ever: I guess it’s my time to go back to MSTing, see ya next game.

The Professor looked at the captors confused. Shortly after he and Wing arrived, they were separated after landing in the middle of an active warzone. After crawling several yard through debris and rubble, he eventually found himself to what appears to be the Slavers’ base. Thanks to the various battles currently raging elsewhere, security was thin, and the rotund slider ad no trouble getting in. Shortly afterwards he stumbled inside a security checkpoint, but was met with shocked faces and drooling expressions. Immediately he deduced that his double must be some sort of ruler and used that fact to find Bennish and Caitlin.

--

SL4ever: So it took you a month to write a blatantly described flashback?

HK: Just shut-up and let me finish the story!

--

“Your grace, I never expected you to be here so soon.” Anna said, her voice shaking.

“Yes, <ahem>, “Arturo said, trying to adjust himself to the proper presence. “Well, I heard that you have captured a world jumper. That fact alone requires my full attention.”

--

Wing frantically crawled through the flaming piles of wreckage and debris until he saw a group of people walking out of a nearby shack. Though most of them looked more like soldiers, wearing ragged riot gear and flak jackets, one person in the group gradually struck out, wearing much cleaner attire as though she was not fighting at all. Wing realized how odd it was until he saw her face.

“Caitlin?” he wondered as he recalled seeing in mug shots during the briefing. Finally, he has found his ticket out of this hellhole. Shortly, he would be back to his office, with a personalized coffeemaker. He mentally started celebrating until he realized that the Professor had the timer. He remained hidden behind the of metal and trash as the group walked past it.

“Why won’t you help be rescue Bennish?” Caitlin asked urgently.

“We are very low on resources and men to carry out such a rescue operation.” Dupre answered, gritting his teeth. “And we just have our hands full fighting the Slaver forces out here.”

“Then let me go get him myself.”

“No.”

“What the hell is up with you people. All I want is to find my partnet and go home. Is that too much to ask?”

“Apparently it is. So sit tight and maybe we’ll thing of something.”

“I am not that patient.” Caitlin fumed.

Wing listened intently at the war of words between Caitlin and the soldier, but felt something pressed up against the back of his neck.

“Don’t move.”

--

“I’m glad to see that you have made it here.” Colin said, almost smiling. “Even though y0ou probably had a hard time getting through the fold. I was just about to interrogate our g-.”

“There’s no need for that, dear fellow.” The professor interrupted him. “Because I intend to drag the truth from him myself.”

Bennish looks up at Arturo, still woozy and disoriented from the drug. As he watched, the pink notebook that he has been scribbling on fell to the floor from his lap. Soon, after, Bennish laid his head back, followed by a slight chuckle.

“Pardon my objection, sir, but I already have everything under control here.”

“I know that, but this man has delicate information. So delicate that it can make or break this empire. And judging from the yelling I heard from the hallway, I seemed to me that you were having trouble with this medicant.”

“Yes, I might have lost my cool here, but after 2 minutes I would have had his FULL cooperation.”

“Look, I do not have any doubts in your torture methods and abilities. But this matter must be handled with the best of care. For I am taking him to main HQ for a personal debriefing.”

“Personal debriefing?” Anna said, slightly chuckling.

“Yes, madam. Did you heard me correctly?”

“Yes I did.” And with that Anna pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the professor’s forehead. “And you are not going anywhere.”

--

HK was slumped over the desk, head in hands willing the massive headache to go the *&^& away. He heard footsteps and gritted his teeth. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his jaw tightened and clinched. "What do you want?" he demanded.

She was standing behind him looking over his shoulder, "I was just curious how much you've done. I mean you really should have finished this days ago."

HK seemed to be growing larger, the sound of clothes ripping could be heard.

~~~~

TM stood behind the bar mixing drinks for the cave dwellers. "Anybody hear that?" he asked.

Tigs sighed "I told her to leave him alone, she just never listens."

SpaceTime was leaning against the bar "hmmm, floor show."

TM "Somebody should go over there and get her out of the way." he looked at the others, no one seemed inclined to move. "Well?"

~~~~

IHK turned around, irritation clearly written on his face, "I'll be done, when I get done. I am after all the game master. Go Away!" the order was issued with a deadly calm.

"But that's what you said days ago," SweetOne reminded him.

IHK began moving in her direction, SweetOne at least had the intelligence to try to move away from him.

Torch <voice of Sabrina Lloyd): ABOUT >:-#ING TIME!!!

---

"Hey, Commander. Look at what I found snooping in the wreckage."

Dupre turned around to a see a soldier walking Wing to the group at gunpoint.

"Wing?" Caitlin said, a little shocked to see a familiar face under the circumstances.

"Yeah, it's me." Wind responded, giving a nervous chuckle.
--
SL4ever: Wait just a goodamn minute, first of all, Wing and Caitlin did meet. But in the last part, you said that Wing only saw her in ID photographs.

HK <looking sternly at SL4>: There are no plotholes.

SL4: There are no plotholes.

HK: Good.

---

The, Caitlin turned to Dupre. "It's OK, he's with me."

"But I caught him spying on us sir. He must be an operative for the Slavers. And maybe she is too."

"Whoa!" Wing yelled in objection. "Wait a second. I'm only her to get Caitlin and Bennish, and leave. That's it."

"He's right. All I want to do is to find my friend and go home." Caitlin said.

"Oh, really?" Dupre asked, giving a doubtful look.

"Oh hell. You don't mean to tell me that you are starting to beleive what this guy is saying."

"Well, he does have a point. We did have Slaver soldier pose as civilians before..."

"Crap." Wing said. "Look, we are not interested in your little war, OK? We just want to leave this dimension."

"'Little'?!" Dupre said, a flash of anger overcame him. "We have lost several men and women to the cause and you call that 'little'? You pissa-"

Suddenly, a bullet flew in the air, crashing into Dupre's cranium from the left side then exited from the right. The speed of the bullet made sure that the small metal cone didn't garner any attention from human perception. Only the abrupted silences of Dupre was the only sign of something gone amiss.

"Sir?" one soldier uttered.

Then the commander's body suddenly dropped to the ground, the two newly made wounds now visible. As the copse hit the ground, several figures pooped up from the numerous piles of wreckage.

"AMBUSH!"

As the soldier let out the cry, Wing and Caitlin suddenly dropped to the ground in fear. What followed was the sounds of assault rifles firing, yells in both pride and pain, and bullets bouncing off of mettal and tearing into flesh and cloth.

Caitling crawled towards Wind and grabbed him. "We need to move. NOW!" And both sliders managed to make there way behind a large pile of scrap nearby.

"I want to go home now!" Wing yelled.

--

"I think it's best to put that firearm away, madam." Professor said, still maintaining a sense of authority.

"Why should I?" Anna said. "You are not Transmodiar."

"What the hell is going on here?" Colin said, looking confused at Anna.

"Meet Professor Arturo, he appears to be a double of our Lord from an alternate Earth. I'm guessing he's here to take Connie away from us."

"What?" Colin uttered, satring at Arturo.

"That's preposturous." Arturo said, still trying to maintain his act.

"Cut the crap, Prof-"

*BOOOM*

Suddenly, the room shook from what seems like a nearby explosion and everyone in the room started to lose their footing. Anna slipped and fell, causing he to fire her gun prematurely, but it didn't hit any targets. Instead the bullet bounced off the nearby wall and crashed into Anna's right eye. Colin's legs also buckled during the violent shaking and slammed his head on the desktop, rendering him unconscious. Bennish, still intoxicated, slumped on the chair he was sitting on while the Prof. barely maintained himself on one knee. As the shaking stopped, Arturo looked around and saw that his two captors were out of comission.

"Mr. Bennish!" the professor yelled as he grabbed and shook his former student.

Bennish reply with an impish grin. "Hello... Trans...podiar... hehehe."

Arturo sighed and grabbed Bennish's arm and threw around his shoulder. "Let's go, my boy."

--

"So what the hell are you doing here?" Caitlin asked while crawling through the wreckage.

“Well-“

--

Blinker: Are you done YET?!?!?!?! Damn, if this is another attempt to break my record…

HK: You want the fast-forwarded version.

MSR, Tigs, SweetOne: YES!!!!!

HK: Ok.

--

The sliders reunite. They slide out. Wing quits his job to work with the FBI. Arturo is finally given clearance to handle sliding equipment. Bennish was given some indefinite “vacation time”, God knows when he’ll come back. Caitlin still remains at work.

THE END.

HK: OK, finished.

Tigs: Ahem!

HK: What?

Tigs sticks her hand out.

HK: What… Oh yeah.

HK hands Tigs his cop-out card.

So, who’s ready for another game? :-)