MSR: Oh dear.

“About time. Get on with it!” Torch exclaimed as MSR took up the pen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Do you want to come?” asked Wade as she pulled out the developing Polaroid from the camera before throwing it into the hole. She pocketed the drying picture.

“No, thanks. I’ve also said that my responsibility doesn’t stop at the door, but always goes wherever I go. Good luck and use my gift wisely. Go before the vortex closes,” Kathy replied as she watched in awe of the spectacle in front of her.

“Thank you.” Wade dove through the hole in the fabric of the universe at the last second, never to return to this world.

Waving good bye, Kathy’s blond hair rushed around her as the wind finally died down. She walked to the edge of the rocky cliff and enjoyed the view of San Francisco. From her vantage point on Yerba Buena Island, she watched the fog roll into the bay, covering the Golden Gate, the city, Alcatraz Island and finally the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge below her.

Kathy closed her eyes just as the tidal wave hit.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tau, delta and beta gone dark
Dual bar levels now at omega
Dial silent at the twelve o’clock position
The gateway home closed forever

Wade pulled out her diary and shoved the now dried Polaroid between the last pages of her book and retrieved her one and only picture that she cherished. She stared at the modified Motorola flip phone, Quinn’s timer. She stared at both before flinging the timer several feet away. Disgust filled her at its very presence, mocking her with thoughts of home.

“I wish that infernal machine was never invented. It has cause me nothing but pain and heartache.”

Taking Kathy’s gift into her trembling hands and placing it gently onto the ground next to her, she looked at the picture and smiled at the memories.

Fingering the images one by one, remembering every detail to the fullest, she lovingly whispered, “Quinn, you and I were the best buds though I wanted more. That kiss we shared when we thought we were all going to die from the asteroid should have told you that. You have a gift and you shared it with us. Well, Remmy unwittingly went for the ride and you have tried to smooth things between you and him for the most part. The burden on you to getting us home has weighed heavily on your mind and soul and we have tried to help you lighten your yoke.” She smiled as she traced his wind-blown hair and smiling face before moving to the next image.

“Professor, under that thick British exterior lies a soft-hearted man, the father of our group. Well, you didn’t exactly like Henry. He was just a puppy. You’ve helped us in the difficult times, me especially, when I’ve missed home. I can hear you now in your soft voice, “Now, now, Miss Welles, brighten up. We *will* get home. We are your family now.” Yes, we’ve all grown together as a family.”

She chuckled at the memory of Quinn teaching her the proper use of a fulcrum and lever on a previous world. The expression on the Professor’s face was priceless. They all needed to laugh to release some of the pent-up tension.

She moved to the next image and she grew somber once again. “Remmy you compared me to the old oak tree, sheltering all three of you from the storms. You said that I was the one that provided the support for everyone. The truth is that all of you are the roots. Without roots, even the strongest oak tree, will fall in the slightest breeze. You said that home is where your heart is. Remmy, it’s time for me to go home and join my family.”

She picked up Kathy’s gift and placed it against her heart.

A racer’s start
Echoing through the forest
Her only way home
A distress signal for two joggers
Attracting them like moths
Upon closer inspection
Nothing but heartache

"She's dead, Jim. The bullet shredded her aorta. She died within seconds."

The second jogger saw something near him. "She killed herself over a cell phone? Jeez, Mark, what has this world come to?"

"No, Jim. I think she did it over this picture in her hand."

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn't tell me why she did it. She's got a diary."

"Suicide note?" as he walked over to Mark and Wade.

"Take a look at this photo so I can take a look at the last page.”

Jim scrutinized the photo then thought for a few seconds.

“It reads: ‘I'm the one responsible for their deaths. It's all my fault. They should never have come back to find me.’ That’s it.”

"From what I see, she's practicing the ancient custom for atonement."

"Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor not an anthropologist. Do I look like Indiana Jones to you?"

Jim rolled his eyes before answering, "Mark, he's an archeologist for the thousandth time. I'm an anthropologist."

Mark smiled. " I know, I like to piss you off. Now explain this to me."

"Okay, see that cell phone. She's thrown away something of hers. The picture. That's who's she's wrong. Then the picture of their graves. She's done something to them that lead to their deaths. That’s what I’m thinking."

"Yeah, right. You know she just could have easily been driving and talking on the cell phone then got into an accident that killed her friends. She’s probably the only survivor… well was the only survivor. The three tombstones have today’s date."

“Damn. She’s so young. She looks familiar. I can’t place where I’ve seen here before.”

4 days earlier…

Bill watched her typing up a DNA sequence and muttered, “Kathy give it a rest. You’ve been typing, losing track and erasing for the last two hours. You really shouldn’t be here.”

He put down his Blue Angels coffee mug and walked over to computer station four.

“Captain, permission to abandon ship,” he quipped trying to get her attention.

“Denied. Get back to your post, Bill and quit trying to be funny. I’ve got too much work to screw around. This should have been done last week,” Kathy rebuked, typing without missing a beat.

“That’s what you always say. Look at me, Kathy, please. Will you please give me a few minutes?”

Kathy swiveled the chair to face her friend. She rubbed her tired eyes then pulled back her shoulder length blond hair into a makeshift ponytail. “Okay, spit it out so I can get back to work. You’ve got two minutes.”

“The brass called and I told them that I don’t want your job.”

She sat straight up in her chair and stared at Bill. “What? Who asked you? I bet it was…”

“Doesn’t matter who. I told them to give you a little more time to get your life in order. They gave you a month.”

She sighed. “We live in a different world now. If you had told me ten years ago that you didn’t have to join the military to get into the science field, I would have thought you were crazy. Now, it’s a reality. Everyone and their mother want to get into this field, but they don’t have the strict training or adequate facilities. We used to have breakthroughs every day. Now we barely get one a month. Politicians, what do they know? Not much. What they’ve always wanted is power and now they have it. They forced so many of us to choose. There’s no such thing as a military scientist anymore.”

“Yes, we did have a choice. Either work down here on the ocean floor 10 miles off San Francisco and do what we love or go up there and make do with what we could find which is barely anything or go to another country and be accused of stealing military secrets and branded a traitor.”

“Or end up worse. I give up. I’ll take a few days off. That’ll take the heat away from you by the brass. Change the passwords again, Bill. Why not 21-44-92-92?” Kathy closed out the program without saving what she was working on.

Bill checked the plastic periodical chart on the wall. “Let’s see 21 is Sc, scandium’s atomic number. That's ruthenium, Ru, at 44. Uranuim, U, at 92 then again at 92. Jeez, is this comment directed to me?” Bill asked with feigned hurt. “Um… that’s screw you you? I think you need these days off more than you think. How about 83-43-1?”

Kathy checked the chart noting that bismuth, Bi, was 83, technetium, Tc, was 43 and hydrogen, H, was 1.

“So that’s directed to me eh? Ha ha ha. Not enough numbers, Bill. Try again and no obscenities. Five numbers as a password is too easy to crack.”

Bill thought for a few seconds, scouring the chart. “How about this? 5-53-52-101?”

“B for boron, I for iodine, Te for tellurium and Md for Mendelevium. Bite Md? What’s that? A vet?”

“Supposed to be bite me. Damn, close enough. That’s 8. What do you think?”

“Make it so. Change them all to that combination. Tell the brass I’m taking a few days off. Need to know basis only.”

“What, you *aren’t* going to fire off an e-mail or memo to them?” Surprise filled his face.

“I know you can run this place. You’ve done it for the last three months. Thank you for covering for me.”

“No, problem. You’ve set up it up so this lab can run itself. That took a lot of hard work, teamwork and pulling strings. For someone who says she doesn’t know the dance, you do it well.”

Kathy’s famous smile made its appearance. “While everyone’s doing the tango, I’m doing the waltz… watching, listening and learning. But sometimes, you got to step in line and dance with everyone else. Finding a trusty dance partner is the hard part.”

“That it is.”

Lab rat turned to lab director
Once, a runner in the maze
Now, the creator of mazes
Once, ease of mind and rest
Now, burnout is imminent

Kathy unlocked her office door and rolled her eyes at the mounds of paperwork. She walked past several paper-burdened tables and a leather couch in the corner.

“I’m never going to have time to read all of it,” she muttered as she got to her tidy desk.

“Glad I moved them off my desk. I couldn’t see…” Her eyes caught sight of their wedding picture next to her name plate inscribed with Katherine Williams, Director of Operations. “… us. I miss you so much.”

Kathy opened the drawer she hadn’t opened in three months and stared at the lone occupant. A smile came over her face as she remembered.

Three months earlier…

Quiet ambience broken by hushed whispers
Red and white candles dancing in the breeze
Decadent and mouthwatering dishes served
Everyone dressed in finery

“Scott, honey, I think I picked the wrong place for our romantic dinner.” Kathy pushed around the cold string beans on her plate.

“Sweetheart, I told you earlier that we should have gone somewhere else. The service here is terrible. You deserve better. You got all dressed up and pulled so many strings to finish your work on time.”

“Everyone says that this is a fine restaurant. We just got a bad waiter.” She gave up and pushed her plate away from her, looking at the stray white hairs peeking under Scott’s blond hair.

“Let me take care of this.” Scott went for his wallet.

“No, it’s my turn. Besides I’ve got a few words for our waiter. He’s not ignoring me this time.”

Scott grinned at her. It wasn’t often when Kathy complained about service, but when she did, it was for a good reason and he always enjoyed the show.

“Okay, but remember we might want to come back her later. Here he comes.”

The teenager stood to the left of Kathy as he did twice before.

“Sir, would you or your wife want something else? Dessert?” directing his question squarely at Scott, ignoring her once again.

“Your behavior is inappropriate toward your female customers,” Kathy said sharply.

The waiter’s head snapped toward her. “Excuse me? Inappropriate?” Turning to Scott, he silently asked him the same question.

“You heard her. Don’t look at me, boy.”

“You’ve ignored everything I’ve told you. I’ve been patient. I’ve been calm. You continue to defer to my husband when I can speak for myself. You continue to ignore me every time you come to this table. You *are* a disgrace to this establishment.” Kathy saw some eyes watching their exchange.

“Look, lady, don’t you talk to me like that. What’s the matter with you? Time of the month.” The waiter chuckled as he saw Kathy’s calm face momentarily switched to anger before turning calm again.

Scott saw Kathy’s hand disappear behind the table. His eyes asked what the hell are you doing?

Her eyes replied I know what I’m doing.

A bright orange square plastic package landed at the center of the table causing Scott to smile and look away to calm down.

“What the hell does that mean?” asked the dumbfounded teenager, raising his voice.

Another waiter saw the commotion going on and went to find the proprietor.

“That’s a warning,” Scott deadpanned.

“A warning, my ass. We all know who wears the pants and that’s not you, man.”

Scott grinned at the impudent boy. “We take turns. It’s her turn tonight.” Kathy smiled back.

“I’m the boss’ son. You can’t do anything to me. I’ll get you both thrown out and barred from here.”

“So that gives you the right to treat anyone like this?” demanded Kathy.

“Damn, right.”

Suddenly the waiter in yelped in pain and began to fall to the floor. Kathy slammed his face onto the edge of the table before he went down.

Kathy grinned when Scott flicked the package at the waiter. “I think you need this more than she does.”

“That’s it! Both you leave at once,” came the angry voice of the proprietor. “You’re banned from here. Leave quietly or security will escort you out.”

Turning to his son, “Are you okay?”

“What’s it look like!” he exclaimed as blood rushed over his mouth.

“Your son needs to be banned from waiting on paying customers. His disrespectful attitude toward women is reprehensible. It must come from his upbringing,” accused Kathy.

“That’s it! You *dare* talk to me in my place. Security!”

“Your son could have avoided all of this with a simple apology,” added Scott as two burly officers made their way toward their table.

Kathy smirked at the teenager, angering him more.

“Sir, ma’am. We need to see your identification,” said the officer next to Kathy. “You can’t start a disturbance at this establishment.”

“IDS, eh, if we have to. You’ve got yours right honey?” asked Kathy sweetly.

“Sure do, sweetheart.”

The officer standing next to Scott warned, “Do it slowly and show them to us.”

They did what was asked and waited for their reactions. Both officers checked the other side of the cards and silently conferred.

“Ma’am, sir, we’re sorry for this. Our deepest apologies. Let’s go.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You can’t let them get away with this. Throw them out!” demanded the proprietor.

“Take a look.” Both officers handed the red cards to the proprietor. “They are legit.”

The blood rushed out of the his face as he recognized them. “I owe you my deepest apology. Everything’s on the house. Tell them you’re sorry,” he urged his son.

“I’m not.” Defiance in his eyes.

“Do it! They’re both captains! They’ve got the authority to shut us down.”

“Told you we share the pants,” remarked Scott.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kathy’s smile faded as she remembered the rest of that night. “Dammit, Scott, you didn’t have to be a hero.”

She found her Polaroid camera under a pile of paperwork and threw it into her purse next to her military ID. She haphazardly straightened out her desk, disregarding the various memos requiring her immediate attention.

As she reached her office door, she snapped her fingers. “Gotta change the password before I go.”

Quickly she inputted “1015rocket” into the alphanumeric pad next to the door then clicked onto “Change password.” She entered “1592dragon” then exited the system and hit “door”. She grabbed a slightly damp towelette located on the shelf and wiped the keypad clean before exiting.

“Good night, Bill. I’ll be back in four days.” She threw the towelette into the biohazard container. “Remember to change the password. You’re in charge.”

“Thank you oh great one. Enjoy your days off. Where you going anyway?” asked Bill, looking up from the computer.

“I was thinking Napa. I’ll go home and grab some things. Take care of my baby. I don’t want to find her in pieces when I come back.”

“Will do boss. Good bye.”

After going through the maze of hallways, she entered elevator 2 and pressed the button for floor 1. She began to sing to pass the time away.

o/` The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else’s lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things around you
What more is you lookin’ for?
A good man for one thing

Under the sea, under the sea
Darling, it’s better
Down where it’s wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away o/`

The blinking of the elevator lights and three dings caught her attention. She reached under her jacket and pulled out her 9mm. Methodically, she went through the contingency plans as she inspected her weapon. Scott always joked about her being overly cautious, but she saw it as being always prepared.

"Choose your ground, choose your weapon, and face what is to come," she muttered as the elevator made it’s way up to the surface of the ocean.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Imperfect kaleidoscope
Roughly depositing the sliders
Tumbling out one after another
Onto a sandy playground

“How much time Q-Ball?” inquired Remmy, shaking the sand out of his mustache.

Quinn shook the sand off the timer’s face. “4 days and 10 hours.”

“For a second there, I thought I saw the vortex shrink before I came out,” remarked Wade, who was the third one out. She shook her head to get rid of the sand.

“And I thought that was my imagination,” added the Professor, shaking the sand from his jacket. “Mr. Mallory, we’ll have to take a look at the timer. I think it needs another tune up.”

“What we need is our home coordinates. To get that we need time and equipment. Both of which we don’t have.”

“Quinn, you’ll get us home. We all trust you.” Wade put her hand on his shoulder.

A few seconds of uneasy silence went by.

“Well, I’m going to check out where we are.” Remmy toward the tall thin slice of Swiss cheese structure near the edge of the sandy playground.

Quinn put away the timer. “Race ya to the swings, Wade.”

She took off before he said, “Go.”

“Hey, that’s not fair.”

“My boy, nothing’s fair in life. It’s how we deal with them. Last one’s the rotten egg.” The Professor threw a couple of handfuls of sand at Quinn before taking off to the swings himself.

“Hey, guys I know where we are,” called Remmy from the top of the cheese. “We’re on Treasure Island and there’s someone coming. Professor, you better not get on those swings.”

“Folks please get out of the exhibit,” came a voice over a bullhorn. He was in a large golf cart headed toward them.

“Quinn’s a looooser!” Wade remarked.

“Cheaters.”

“Only losers say that.” The Professor smiled along with Wade.

Remmy greeted the familiar man while the others walked to them. “Sorry, man, we just got carried away there. Reminds us so much about our youth.”

“Yep. I’ve done my share on those swings. The name’s Pavel and welcome to the Treasure Island Historical Landmark.”

“Nice meeting you. My friends and I just got into town and we wanted to see the sights.”

“Sorry,” Wade, Quinn and Arturo chimed in.

“No problem. Do you need a ride to the scenic view? The next cart coming this way will be in a couple of hours.”

“Let’s roll,” said Remmy seeing the nods of the others.

“Shotgun!” Wade yelled making her way to the front of the cart.

“You rode shotgun the last time,” complained Quinn.

“Loser!”

Remmy and Arturo smiled as they took climbed into the cart, pushing Quinn near the front seat.

Pavel started the cart and began his tour pointing to the houses around them. “About ten years ago, Treasure Island used to be the home to hundreds of military scientists and their families. It was then when the politicians decided that science and the military needed to be separated. They felt that everyone should have the opportunity to get into the scientific field without going into the military.”

“What of the scientists? Did they go into the private sector like uh… those in England?” asked the Professor which got faces from the others.

“Sorry, I don’t know. It’s all been hush hush. Can’t get a straight answer from the military. Rumors are that they went overseas since our country had inadequate and ill-funded facilities. Like I said rumors. Sad that so many of them had to leave. You should have seen the children. Very ugly scene at the end.”

“So what’s up there?” asked Remmy, pointing to Yerba Buena Island, that connected Treasure Island to the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge.

“Cemetery. That’s all that’s been told us. End of the line folks. How’s this for a scenic view?”

“Let’s take a picture guys. Oh come one, something to remember this moment.” She climbed out and urged them to stand around her. “Look the fog’s rolling in. This shot is going to be so cool.”

“Okay everyone say strawberries!” Pavel said pulling out a Polaroid camera.

“Strawberries!”

“ 3…2…1” The flash went off.

“Thank you. How much kind sir?” asked the Professor.

“It’s free. Here you go little lady. You all have a nice day.” He handed the Polaroid to Wade then left.

“So, where do you want to go?” she asked as she carefully held the developing pictures.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tigs looked up from her book to check if MSR had finally finished writing. She saw MSR face down on the papers, sleeping once again.

“Oh man, she’s going to slobber all over the sheets. We won’t be able to read it.” Tigs ran to the desk.

Recall threw down his writing notebook, exclaiming, “I’m not waiting any longer. I could have finished two stories by this time.”

Tigs grabbed the sheets while Recall moved MSR’s head out of the way.

“Rebecca!” a sleepy MSR cried out.

“Rebecca?” Tigs and Recall asked together.

MSR rubbed her eyes, “I was having this weird dream… hey do you smell smoke?”

“FIRE!” was the heard echoing in the cave.

Recall rushed to the door. “Oh man, we’ve got to save the archived story games. Where are they Tigs?”

“Follow me,” she replied leaving the papers on a table behind MSR.

Through one eye, MSR watched the duo exit the room. “I’ll catch up with you two later. I need some… ” she muttered before falling asleep.

MSR

Tigs <puts down finished tome>: Ok

***

"I'll be back shortly," Wade tossed back at the boys as she ran out of the small suite at Motel 13. She fingered the cash in her pocket from one of Remmy's ATM raids on the last world and sauntered out of the polyester and plastic lobby. She looked around at the smog laced afternoon sky, the light traffic, and the gaudy advertisements before choosing a direction at random. She window shopped looking for something really wonderful to wear for the next slide when she bumped into a troubled looking tall blond. "I'm sorry," Wade offered.

"Whatever," Kathy was prepared to push past the young woman until she took a good look at her. "Lords and Ladies," she uttered completely in shock. "How are you here? I don't understand."

"Excuse me?" Wade let her totally confusion show.

"Wade. Wade Welles, right?" Kathy fumbled through her purse until she found her wallet. As she talked she pulled it out, "I thought you had tried to make it to England, to your husband's in-laws. The Arturos." She pulled out a picture with two smiling couples lifting glasses of wine. One of the women was Wade, she was standing next to a tall thin man remeniscent of Professor Maximillion Arturo. The other woman was the one showing Wade the picture, one arm was wrapped around her handsome husband.

"I don't understand," Wade looked at the woman. "I'm Wade Welles, but this--I don't understand."

***

MSR: That's it?

Tigs: Yup.

MSR: You can't leave it like that.

Tigs: Hey, it's more than a line.

DMD <popped his head into the writing room>: Will you let that go already?

Tigs: Wasn't talking to you.

DMD <pulling his head out of the writing room>: Whatever.

Tigs: Who's next?

MSR: SL4Handles.

Tigs: Cool.

The girls wander out of the cave.

MSR: You’re due for more of the same if you don’t get your >:-# in the Story Cave NOW!!!

****

“This is fantastic work, Bill.” General Pike complimented, sounding warm for the first time Bill could remember. “A completely clean destructive force. We can wipe out any coastal city or installation we wish, and it even cleans up its mess by sucking it all back into the ocean.”

Bill beamed. “Thank you, I’ve put a lot of secret time into this project. It was necessary, since you insisted Kelly know nothing of this.”

“My daughter is a lot of things, and is brilliant in her own way, but she’d never go along with this.” Pike’s thoughts returned to the fateful night he been forced to order Scott murdered. Scott had been too close to discovering their little side project. It didn’t go smoothly, but Kelly’s husband was dead and she didn’t suspect a thing. He forced his thoughts back to the present. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. You’ve down it. This test proves it.” He tapped the monitor with one finger.

On the monitor they could see the shattered remains of mockup city on an isolated island. The tidal wave, only a ten footer for this test, had shattered the city and the lost of life would have been catastrophic had this been a real city. General Pike grinned openly. A clean destructive force. He imagined the secret deployment of the Typhoon boxes in the earth 10-20 meters offshore in front of every coastal enemy city. They would never see it coming until the great destroying waves blocked out the sun as they hurtled towards the defenseless cities.

“How many more Typhoon boxes have been produced so far?” General Pike wanted to know.

Pike’s personal assistant, Colonel Adams, replied this time. “We have over a hundred in a warehouse near Pier 39.”

General Pike smiled grimly at his attractive red haired assistant. “Storing a hundred water magnets right in the harbor? Wouldn’t THAT be ironic if those all went off at once?”

Bill mentally rolled his eyes. “They are not attached to a power source, plus they have to spaced apart precisely and be a specific number to create the effect we want. You could really screw up the weather and wave patterns but you don’t create a tidal wave by just turning the Typhoon boxes on. It has to be preplanned precisely, taking into account the part of the world, the shape and depth of the continental shelf, -“

“I was teasing for Chrissakes. Lighten up, man! You’ve done it! After all these years of planning, of running off any scientists who might have objected to this and my other projects, after all I’ve had to do, we finally have breakthrough!”

Bill frowned. “There are other secret projects?”

“Of course. Who knew which one of these would succeed first? We’re losing the Cold War, Bill. Surely you realize that? It was time for drastic measures. Yours is the second to succeed.”

“What was the first?”

General Pike chuckled without humor. “I’ve already said too much. Go out! Celebrate! You’re going to go down in history as the savior of the American Empire!”

After he was gone, Adams’ expression changed from subservient to enraged. “Much more blabbing and I would have killed both of you. Are you insane?”

Pike sighed. “Your paranoia is reaching new heights. I know that you’re in charge of security for this project but I STILL outrank you.”

Adams returned her stiletto back into its waist holster. She had slipped into her hand when Pike began wandering. “If you had uttered one word about the time machine I would have gutted both of you.”

General Pike chuckled dryly again. “What difference does it make? We’re too terrified to use it anyway.”

Adams ignored that, her thoughts returning to an earlier part of the conversation. “Bill sounded so sure of himself about the Typhoon boxes. But he only used 6 to destroy our mock town. The most he estimates needing for a hard to reach city is 15. I think if you fired out 100 of them it wouldn’t matter how they were spaced out.”

General Pike frowned. “I wonder about you sometimes, Colonel Adams.”

Her smile was the only answer she gave him.

****

SL4: Ahhhh. This is shaping up to be a fantastic start! Good job so far, MSR and Tigs! This was very ambitious, Missy, and I’m glad you went for it.

IHK: That’s IT? That’s all you’re writing after making us wait five days????

SL4: Well, I didn’t know it was my turn for the first two days, and then it took me two more days to read it all. So yeah.

IHK: Sarah! You’re next!

SL4: Ironically, that’s the next thing I’m going to do. I need to write her. :-P I’ll ask her to bring her A Game to this story. This is a good one.

IHK: Are you still here? You’re dismissed.

DEXGOD: Very well, back to conquering the world. <mimicking Zod> To rule! Finally, to rule...

Torch <voice of Sabrina Lloyd> Nevermind that, WIL LYOU GET ON WITH IT!

----

Kathy looked at Wade, even more confused than before. “Wade, are you okay? Have they done something to you?”

“Have who done something to me?”

Grabbing Wade’s arm, Kathy pulled her gently along the street. “Come with me. We can’t talk here.

* * *

Wade looked around at the place Kathy had taken her too. It was a medium size flat, but it was so tidy it barely looked as though someone lived here. There was nothing left out that shouldn’t have been, not even a coffee cup, and there wasn’t a single stain. There was, however, a layer of dust on the tables and other surfaces, indicating that no-one had live here for a while.

Pulling out a photo album from the shelf, Kathy said, “Sorry about all the dust. I haven’t been here in a while,” thus confirming Wade’s suspicions.

She invited Wade to sit with her on the floral patterned sofa and opened the large album. Kathy flicked over a few pages until she got to the one she wanted. “Look, this is our at your hen night, then there’s the one from your wedding.” The first depicted a group of women in party hats looking extremely drunk and the second was of the same four people in the one Wade had already been shown, except she was in a bride’s dress and Kathy appeared to be her maid of honour.

Kathy turned the page again, then reached behind a picture of the wedding reception to pull out another one, hidden from general view. “This is us at our workplace. I’m not supposed to have a picture of this, but they never caught me.” She looked at Wade with imploring eyes. “Please tell me you remember all of this! Please tell me they haven’t destroyed your memory!”

Wade was at a loss. What could she tell the woman except the truth? There was no way she could lie since she had no information, and she couldn’t pretend that ‘they’ had done something to her either as it could set this woman on a crusade of some kind. With no other choice, Wade proceeded to tell the wide-eyed blonde about Sliding.

* * *

Amazed at Wade’s story, Kathy could to little but sit back and stare. She was taken aback at the story, but as a scientist knew it was possible. “So you invented this ‘Sliding’ device? Wow. Parallel universes must be fascinating.”

“Oh, I didn’t invent it,” Wade corrected hurriedly. “That was my friend Quinn Mallory. He’s a science genius. I couldn’t do even half what he did!”

“But… but… here you were a geius! One of the best of your generation! Along with your Robert of course.”

Wade smiled. “That’s the thing about parallel universes; things can often be very different. Why, once we found a world where professor Arturo was in charge of a Communist prison!”

“You’re not on first name terms with him in your world then?”

For a moment Wade was confused. “The professor? No, he things of us like his students most of the time. If we called him Max I think he’d explode on the spot!” She giggled a little in spite of herself.

“Max? You mean Maximillian P. Arturo? Not his son Robert?”

“Robert? Who’s he?” Then Wade remembered what Kathy had said earlier: ‘Your in-laws, the Arturos.’ Evidently in this world she had known and loved the professor’s son. Ooh, that sent shivers down her spine! Imagine having him as a father in-law! “I don’t think we met in our world.” To be honest, she wasn’t sure if Arturo’s son in her world had even been called Robert, but saying that would have served no purpose. “What happened to make us try to leave?”

“When the military and science sectors split, we were left with little choice. Keep out of science, or keep out of the military. A few of us were to be allowed both. You were invited to be a part of both, but Robert was not, so you refused, naturally. Then you became a risk to them so you tried to flee to England. I never heard from you again. I hoped you’d made it, but there was no way of finding out.” She sighed.

There were still questions that Wade felt needed answering. “Why would they try to… wipe my memory or whatever?”

Kathy tried not to look at her directly. “It’s something they developed a while back. I heard rumours that it had been used, but never saw any proof. And…

“And what?” Wade tried to press her, but Kathy was not going to spit it out any quicker. She started wringing a loose piece of paper between her hands.

“Earlier… I was coming out of the elevator from… where I work,” she only just stopped herself revealing that aspect, “when I heard a noise. I readied myself, and as the door opened, there were two huge men facing me. They… they tried to take me, but I came off better since I had my weapon ready. Just before I ran away, one of them whispered ‘you’re going down like your husband.’ I recognised one of them. He worked for my father’s security at the installation. Oh, Wade, I’m afraid they’re trying to kill me and I don’t know why!”

Kathy suddenly burst into tears and buried her face in Wade’s shoulder. Wade tried to comfort her, but knew it was little use. This girl needed answers and Wade resolved she would do everything in her power to help her.

To be continued…. (by me!)

Sarah: <pauses smashing a moment> I'm not. It's not my computer. It's my parents. The evil bastard computer thing decided to break down and so I haven't been able to post this earlier.

-----

The two girls left Kathy's home and began to make their way back to the hotel. As Wade tried to appear confident as they traversed the streets, Kathy persistantly spoiled it all by peering back over her shoulder every couple of minutes.

"Do you have to do that?" Wade whispered to her companion discreetly.

KAthy looked around again before answering. "I think there's someone following us."

* * *

Stepping out of the shower, wrapped only in a thick, white, hotel-issue towel, Quinn asked, "Where's Wade?

"She went out," said Remmy from where he sat on the couch, feet up on the coffee table flciking through the channels and not finding anything decent on any of them.

"When? I didn't hear her!"

The professor, who was also on a counch, gestured for Rembrandt to go back to a science programme, but his friend ignored him. "I believe you were still asleep, Mr. Mallory. The early bird catches the worm, you know!"

"How long ago was this?"

"Couple of hours maybe?"

"Don't you think we should look for her?"

"Probably," was the disinterested answer.

"Do you have anything else better to do?"

"Not really."

"Well, we might as well go then. I'll just get dressed and then we can leave." Quinn walked towards the bedroom decisively.

Once outside, the three guys stood still. "Where now, Mr. Mallory," queried Arturo. "She could be anywhere."

"There she is! Wade!" Quinn ran across the street, dodgy angry taxis as he did so.

But before he could reach Wade and the person she was talking to, and unmarked white van pulled up in front of her, and when it moved off incredibly aggresively, Wade was no-where to be seen. For some reason, whether voluntarily or not, she was in the van going to who knows where.

-----

DEXGOD: How could you do that! That's so tacky! That happened in California Reich! And that's not something to be especially proud of.

Sarah: Well, I was stuck. And I felt I should write something soon. Who's next? Mwahahahahahaha. It's you Blinky Blink. No running away!

Jenn: You just saw a Little green Gnome come running by right?

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

Quinn got confused for a second and then realized that Wade was no longer standing in front of him. He looked at the License plate and tried to memorize the Letters. MLTYINTL.

"M-L-T-Y-I-N-T-L?" Quin asked. The letters didn't seem to make sense.

"Military Intel. Or Intellegence." The professer answered.

"We need a Computer." Remmy added.

"No Shit!" Quinn Blurted out.

Suddenly, out of the sky, A Vortex appeared. 5 seconds later, a figure flew out of it. It stood up and the crew was stunned at who the figure turned out to be. It was non other than their old Friend...

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

Brit: That's all you're going to write?

Jenn: That's all I have time for.

Brit: Well then you should have let me do it in the first place.

Jenn: It's your turn Brit.

Brit: So I have to decide who the crew meets?

Jenn: Guess so.

Jenn turns to leave the Cave.

Jenn: Oh. And sorry about that whole "Her" thing. It really was a typo.

Jenn Leaves.

HK: I'm writing now. don't burn me.

"Oh, God no..." Quinn uddered as he stared at the new arrival.

"This has got to be the worse example of bad timing in the history of the multiverse." Arturo said.

Logan stood up and look around to survey her surroundings. A smile grew on her face as she caught the sight of the three Sliders.

"Well... surprise, surprise." Logan said as her right hands reached behind her. I didn't know vortices had their conveniences."

"Uh... heh heh... me neither..." Quinn uttered as he's been sweating bullets.

"Hey, isn't it that psycho woman that almost killed Wade back at that Jamaican bar?"

Suddenly, Logan whipped out a gun from ehind her back and pointed it at Remmy.

"Watch who you are calling psycho."

"I take that as a 'yes'."

She then focuses het sights and her aim at Quinn.

"As for you, Mallory. I"ve been waiting a long time to do this..."

--

"Last one, sir." a soldier yelled while placing a box on taop of a large stack.

"OK, lets load them up on the USS Gorecki." The general said. "They're destined for the Pacific now.

Soon, some soldiers returned with forklifts to carry out the general's order. Curious, one of the soldier addressed the general with a salute.

"Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Granted."

"What are these things?"

"That type of information is classified, son. Any more questions like that then I'll-"

Suddenly the floor started to rumbling which soon evolved into violent shaking.

"Earthquake!" several soldier cried out.

"Everyone to the emegency shelter!" the general ordered.

--

"Say Good--" Logan was interupted by the sudden rumbling and tried to regain her compusure against it all. So did the Sliders.

"I think this will probably be a good time to escape, huh Q-Ball?" Remmy yelled.

"If we can run at all." Quinn replied and soon, the three men tried their best to rush away from the scene and hopefully away fro Logan.

Seeing her targets trying to flee, Logan pointed her gun a fired four shots, but due to the shaking, all of them went wild.

-

HK: I can't write much more! This is >:-#! Pure, unadulturated >:-#!

Torch: Oh, quite whining! I read Lounge Banshee and there's no possible way you can write any worse than THAT tripe. KEEP GOING!

--

She then started to give chase, but due to the constant shaking, she could barely keep her feet on the ground. Suddenly a Toyata Matrix come carrening from a corner, its silver bluish mask facing the psychotic slider. She screamed loudly at the headlight approached quickly but the vehicle stopped just inches from her body.

--

HK: Please, I implore you. Just let me stop here. I've already commited crimes against probability and continuity.

Torch: I'll call the Probabilty Police on you later. Just few more words!

--

After several minutes the shaking stopped and the general ordered his men out of the shelter.

"I want the whole area surveyed. Make sure that everything is still accounted for." he yelled.

"Yes sir!" his company yelled and then scrambled into random directions.

"Sir! Sir!" A soldier yelled as he rushed towards his superior.

"What is it private?"

"Sir... One... the first group of boxes... We were loading them on the ship when the quake started... The cable snapped... they're in the water..."

"WHAT?!?!?! How many was in that group?"

"... 10.... maybe 12..."

"Jesus..." the general uddered as he looked for the nearest phone.

--

HK: NOW can I go???

Torch: Alright, Alright.

HK: Yay! Robin your up!

SS: Yes, now shut up!

-----

Logan jerked open the driver's side door and shot the driver point blank in the skull. Pulling him out with a yank she jumped behind the wheel, looked at his limp form on the pavement, and sped off with an evil laugh permeating the air.

She swerved down the road in the direction her nemeses had run, dodging cracks and crevices left by the sudden quake. When she spotted them ducking around the corner up ahead, she mashed the gas pedal through the firewall in an effort to catch up to them. They weren't going to get away from her that easy.

Quinn, Remmy and the professor ran for their lives, but small tremors were occuring again and impeding their progress. As Quinn looked over his shoulder he saw the speeding car headed right for them. Up ahead the road was blocked with military vehicles strewn around like matchbox cars. There would no getting through them. Their only hope was to climb over the mess. Turning back, Quinn saw the car closing the distance at lightening speed.

"Quick, men," said the professor. "We have to get out of that maniac's way. Come!"

Quinn and Remmy saw the professor try to scale the overturned truck. His foot slipped. He tumbled to the ground and rolled. They ran to him quickly and helped him to his feet.

"I can't walk. I've hurt my ankle. Save yourselves," the professor yelled; his eye on the speeding bullet just ahead.

"No, Professor!" Quinn yelled. He heard the screech of tires and the squeal of brakes. He looked up just in time to see the grill of the car in his face.

-----

SS jumped up from the chair and spun around. "Okay, back off with that orange paint. If I see one hair on that dawg's body with even a hint of orange, I'll have the entire Dawg Nation storm this place. There won't be a stone left. The entire cave will be ground into dust.

A collective gasp went out through the cave and all its corridors. Innocent sleeping bodies awoke at the wails let out by the culprits in this little blackmail scheme. They all trembled at the fierce scowl on SS's face. They knew she wasn't throught with them by a long shot.

As she disappeared into the dark corridor back to her sweet Baboo, they released their collective breath and wondered . . . .

-----

Okay, SO, get us out of this predicament.

Pen in hand SweetOne began....

*******

The professor shoved Quinn with all his strength. "Run!" was all he said before the world went black.

The earth rumbled and shook with violence. The ground raised upward causing the heavy truck to come crashing down on top of the on coming car. The sickening sound of metal against metal vibrated in the air. The front of the car was crumpled.

Logan lay slumped over the steering wheel. Blood gushed from a long cut in her head. There was glass everywhere, from the broken windshield.

"No" Quinn roared. Remmy helped him to his feet. Both men stumbled to the wreckage looking for their friend. Arturo's body was curled (as tightly as possible for a man of his size) under the truck.

"Let's move Q-ball, we've got to get him out." Remmy shouted.

Quinn ran a shaking hand through his hair, "Yeah" he made his way around the debris looking for a way to get the professor free.

They could hear the Professor moaning. At least he was still alive.

Remmy looked toward the car, "You wanna see if she's still breathing?"

~~~~~~

The van came to a screeching halt on the docks. "Did you find her?" General Pike asked.

"Yes sir, and I think you'll really like the surprise we have for you," the young officer smiled gleefully. He swung the van door back and jerked a bound and gagged Kathy forward. She was momentarily glad to see her father. Until she noticed the cold gleam in his eye.

"And this sir is your surprise," he reached once more into the van and dragged and kicking Wade, also tied at the wrists and gagged from the van.

"Well, well daughter dear, so you've been hiding Mrs. Arturo all this time. I thought for sure she had been taken care of long ago." General Pike bowed to Wade. "Gentlemen bring our guests to holding." with his orders issued he returned to his other problem. How to retrieve all the tidal wave boxes.

~~~~~~

Bill didn't like not being in on the other secrets, after several hours at his computer terminal he had uncovered 6 different top secret projects underway. The only other project completed was Time travel. It took Bill several attempts to slide through all the firewalls, but he managed to get in undetected. He quickly made a copy of the information, so he could get out before the breech was discovered.

~~~~~

SweetOne looked over her shoulder to where DMD was reading, "Well?" when he didn't answer right away,

"At least you can get your part done before you get much older," she laughed and stood up. "Sit down, baby, I'll rub your shoulders while you decide where to go from here."

DMD: >:-#

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

Remmy looked toward the car, "You wanna see if she's still breathing?"

"Not while the professor's trapped," fumed Quinn, looking for something he could use to pry the truck up enough to remove his mentor.

Remmy looked shocked. "Q-Ball, she could die."

Quinn grabbed a steel truss that had fallen in the quake, "Yeah. Give me a hand over here."

Between the two of them, they managed to move the wrecked truck just enough to remove the professor. He was only half-conscious, and clearly bruised, but he was alive.

"We've got to get him some help, grab his other arm." Quinn said as he attempted to lift Arturo.

Remmy nodded toward the smashed car. "You're not just going to leave her there, are you?"

Reluctantly, Quinn walked to the car, reached inside and felt Logan's neck before walking back to Arturo. "There's nothing that we can do for her anyway."

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

All: WHAT?!? You can't just kill Logan!

DMD: Watch me.

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

The guards deposited Kathy and Wade into a windowless cell, removed the ladies’ bonds and left.

Wade turned to Kelly, "that was your father?"

"He was," Kathy spat. "After what he did to Scott… well… I don’t have a father."

Trying the door and bars on the cell, Wade asked, "where the Hell are we?"

"Welcome to Yerba Buena Island," Kathy responded with a wry smile.

Wade shook her head, "I was told that all that was left here was a cemetery."

"That’s the popular story," replied Kathy. "We had to do something to keep people from snooping around the installation. And with I-80 coming through the place, that’s not easy to do."

"I’m sorry for dragging you into all this Wade. We’ve got to get you out of here."

"Me?" asked Wade. "I thought you were the one they were after. Why would they want to keep me?"

"Because you’re a traitor in their eyes," sighed Kathy. "You tried to take off to England with top secret material. And they probably think you know something about the projects they’ve been working on. They’ll do everything they can to find out what you know and who you’ve told about it."

"And what happens when they find out I don’t know anything?"

"They’ll never buy that. They’ll get the information they want, or kill you trying."

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

Back at the Motel 13, Arturo lowered himself onto one of the beds. "Good heavens. I believe I've bruised places I didn't even know I had."

Remmy raised his eyebrows, "Professor, you're lucky to even be alive. Who'd have thought an earthquake could cause a truck to fall on you, killing a maniac driver that was feet from running you down, and you'd escape with a few scratches and bruises? And no one at the clinic even asked what happened to you. It's almost like a bad episode of some science fiction show."

<a few moments of uncomfortable silence pass>

Quinn started pacing the room. "Not that I'm not glad you're all right, Professor, but we're farther from finding Wade now than we were when she got grabbed. We've got to do something."

Arturo did his best to sit up on the bed. "In the morning lad. We've got a license plate number, but no one will be able to help us trace it until morning. And we haven't a clue where to start looking."

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

Bill was finishing up his shift when news of Wade and Kathy's capture reached him. He'd had a crush on Wade from her days in the lab. Too bad she'd been hooked up with that English guy. If she'd been found with Kathy, she must not have made it to England, so she could be alone now. Still, his source had mentioned that there were three males that tired to get to her as she was being grabbed. Could one of them be her Robert?

When he'd finished his work for the day, Bill discretely slipped his data chip into his pocket and headed for the elevator, taking the details of the secret projects with him. Upon reaching the surface, he made his way to his car and looked across a grassy field to the small structure surrounded by barbed wire and a single guard shack. That's where they'd be. He was sure that Wade could understand how the time machine might work, but he'd have to get her out of here first. Maybe he'd have to find her three companions in the morning.

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

Robin: You're stopping there?

DMD: I am.

Robin: And where do you propose I head with this?

DMD: Well, MSR has already written the end, you've just got to figure out how to move the story in that direction.

Robin: Bunnyfeathers.

Let’s just get right into it….

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

Bill hadn’t gotten far when his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Bill?” Colonel Adams’s voice filled his ear. “The General wants you back immediately.”

Bill felt panic creeping over him. His first thought was that General Pike had somehow found out about his snooping. But Adams continued, “There was an accident at the pier and he needs you to assess the damage.” Bill understood that the project was top secret and Adams couldn’t say anymore on an open line, but he wondered what sort of accident had occurred. It had to involve the typhoon boxes. None of the scenarios he conjured up were very comforting. They all tended to conclude with the destruction of San Francisco.

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

“I’ve got friends out there, Kathy. They’ll come to rescue me. They always find a way.” Wade didn’t sound as convincing as she hoped. Then again, she wasn’t all that convinced herself. The boys were pretty good at getting out of scrapes like this, but she had an uneasy feeling she couldn’t shake. When would their luck run out?

“Wade, your friends have no idea what they’d be getting themselves into by helping us escape,” Kathy replied ruefully. “If they were smart, they’d, whadyacallit, slide without you.”

Her dejected attitude discouraged Wade even further, but still she maintained her outer air of confidence. “You don’t know my friends like I do. They’ll do anything, whatever it takes.” That part was true. They didn’t seem to be coming in the next few minutes though, and Wade was worn out from all the excitement. As she lay on the cell floor, her last thoughts before she drifted off into an uneasy sleep were of her double and Robert and what had become of them.

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

A panicked General Pike greeted Bill when he arrived at Pier 39. “What’s going on?” Bill inquired, surveying the area. Chaos reigned.

“The earthquake,” the general replied. “We were in the process of loading the typhoon boxes onto the ship when it hit. The first load went into the water, 10 or 12 boxes. Now the whole pier is in danger of collapsing, and the rest of the boxes are still in the warehouse.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bill advised. “Like I said before, the boxes have to be hooked up to a power source. And they’re not aligned properly. Just fish them out of the water and you’ll be fine.” A thought crossed his mind. Perhaps he should mention… no, what were the chances of that happening? “Finish loading them onto the ship, and don’t worry about them going off,” he repeated.

The general nodded and turned to give his orders. Bill assumed his job here was done, and turned to go. He had decided maybe he needed to find Wade’s friends right away. If, as he suspected, they were going to have to get far away from San Francisco, there wasn’t any time to waste. A tidal wave like that would be on top of them without warning….

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

Robin: Well that wasn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated. You know, the good stories are always the hardest, because you want to maintain the caliber of writing… the crummy stories, no one can really blame you for mucking it up a little more.

HK: Excuses, excuses. At least you wrote something this time.

Robin: I thought it might be bad manners to be skipped twice in one game.

DMD: Wise choice.

Robin: Now’s who’s after me? Yeontoo! Your turn!

Torch: Yeah, get on with it!… I need a new line. :-#

~Robin
"Who says Hamlet wasn't intended to be a penguin? It's not in any of the stage directions!” – Mr. Flibble

Torch sighed. "Just get on with it!"

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

Day 2

Ted Koppel wanders the halls of St. Mary’s Hospital of Mercy in search of a story. His assignment was vague – human interest, and he was not amused.

“…lory, Wade Welles, Max Arturo! TRAITOROUS Body! You will ALL DIE!” caught Koppel’s attention as he got off the elevator. *WELLES and ARTURO?! * he thought, *What a SCOOP! *

As he listened in on the ravings, he also skimmed the chart hanging on her door. It listed her name as alias Logan St. Claire (real name unknown), accident victim, critical condition. Koppel called his editor, and the news story of the Traitor Wade Welles was put out over the Global News Wire.

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

"What?!" DMD took Y's pen. "I killed her off... wait... I just left her in an accident" He sheepishly gave the pen back.

"Sorry" Y started writing again. SE fed her a strawberry rescued from Jennx.

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

Day 2

“I want to see that!” Quinn whispered excitedly beside the man that had come to them so early this morning, pulling them out of their motel room to the all night diner they were now in. “Bill, I have got to see the prototype!”

“Easy Qball, after we rescue Wade” Remmy sat a warm coke on the Diner’s table. “Ew, how can a world mess up Coke so easily”

“Wade still has to agree she is your Wade and not mine from this earth” Bill grumbled, sadly. “If I had known what you three were going to tell me, I might not have…”

“Perish the thought young man. Wade does not deserve to be executed like some criminal.” The professor flushed angrily. “As for your scientists believing in Time Travel… well….”

“I would’ve thought that about multiverses too Professor Arturo.” Bill grimly defended his compatriots. To Quinn, “You can have access of my computer while I try my best to locate which room the ladies are held in. ”

Meanwhile…

“Sir, Report Ready Sir” the special operations MIA stood at attention.

“Report SO” Pike drummed his fingers impatiently. Details, there were always details.

“Sir, Quarantine operational. Floor 7 of St. Mary’s Hospital of Mercy has been cleaned, as has any record of a Logan Mallory alias Logan St. Claire. Editors of both Worldly News and Boston Globe have met with explainable accidents. Sir, all as you ordered Sir.”

“That reporter that found Mallory?”

“Questioned and executed Sir. No new information.”

“Excellent. Dismissed SO.” Pike stood up, “Wait, SO, bring your kit to Holding Area 8.”

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

"Hey Y?" Brit called from the barside. "You might want to speed things up a bit. You still have 2 days to write about!"

"I agree. Y do this." SE whispers in her ear. Her face brightens as she starts writing again.

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

Day 2

Kathy paces their holding cell, every few minutes she tries the keyed access panel.

“Why do you keep doing that?” Wade was feeling very pessimistic about their survival chances. Not only were they underwater, underground, in a non-existant government science facility, but this world’s Wade was considered a traitor.

When Kathy didn’t answer, Wade tried a different tactic. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, I’m doing fine.” Kathy gritted her teeth in determination. “Its not everyday you find out that your beloved father had your husband killed, tried to have you killed, and then declares you a byblow of your mothers affair and not his child afterall.” This last was said in rising hysteria.

Wade touched Kathy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I…’

“No!” Tears that had been threatening to well up were squashed in anger. “Do NOT feel sorry for me.” At that, Kathy tried the panel again.

“Why do you keep doing that?” Wade changed the subject.

Kathy shook her head, and paced the room.

“OoooKaaayyeeee… How ‘bout you tell me about those typhoon boxes. It’s gotta be something bad for you to give the failsafe code even while we are locked up.” Wade could no longer contain her curiousity. If she was to die here, she might as well know everything.

Kathy took a deep breath, tried the panel again. “It’s a massively destructive weapon that I specifically vetoed for this base. It creates a wave.”

“Vetoed? But you knew about it?” Wade squenched her face. “And you let it go? …a WAVE?!”

“Look, I don’t know about your world, but here, the military can do what it wants. There are quite a few secret projects here that I’m not officially suppose to know about. I do know and the big brass knows I know. The only input I had was the failsafe, and that was all computerized.” Kathy looked deeply into Wade’s eyes. “I had zero control of the project, so I did what I thought was best. I’ve been taught to be prepared.”

Wade clamped her mouth shut on comments on being prepared right to the brig.

Kathy tried the panel again, and this time the door silently swished open. The surprised guard was quickly knocked out by a kick to the chin. She motioned for the other woman to be quiet and come, and they both started grabbing their belongings from the table there.

Kathy gagged and tied up the guard, and motioned for Wade to follow her. After about 20 meters, Kathy whispered. “I was taught to be prepared for any eventuality. The code was my personal failsafe to turn off the interior alarms and get out of the base. That particular one should shut down the boxes too, but it may not work. ”

“My friends!” Wade was horrified. “They are…”

“…safer than we are.” Kathy stooped to open a small ventilation shaft door, retrieving a small laser. “ Prepared. Lets go.” She led the way.

“Why would your Wade sell information to the British and… and…. “ she snickered, “…and the Polynesians!?”

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

"Y!" Tigs started rolling in the floor. "Polynesians?! You've got to be kidding!!"

"Well?!"

SL4ever handed Tigs a petition.

"Whats this for?" Tigs asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's...er... nothing.... but maybe... er... a ... er... statement that ...oh, just sign!"

SE had been reading the upside down document while Tigs and SL4ever were talking.

"You want us to proclaim you our King so we can be your civilization... for CIII?!"

"Well?!

"Get on with it!" Torch cried.

***********************8

Day 2

“That was too easy” Bill closed the door swiftly behind him. He looked at the Professor, “That was almost like they let us in.”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Find Wade.” Remmy was nervous. It had been too easy, but still.

Quinn sat down at the computer terminal, “Find out where she is, we’ll get her back. I’ll be done here in a few minutes.” As Bill left the office, Quinn started inputting the codes and sequences in just as Bill had written down.

In two minutes flat, Quinn was in. “Wow, Professor, Look! Sliding!” Remmy was standing guard at the door, just in case it wasn’t Bill who entered. Arturo bent down to get a closer look.

“It does appear that way.” Arturo pointed to a small number at the top. “That room number should be right down the hallway too.”

“I’m going, coming Professor?” Quinn paused as Remmy declined, then left with the Professor.

“This is the room number, but it says ‘Supplies’ on the door…” Quinn raised his brows.

“My boy, would it say ‘Secret Sliding Lab’ instead?” Arturo chuckled softly as he opened the door. No alarm sounded when the code hadn’t been entered.

“Let’s hurry Mr. Mallory.”

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

"Supplies? Y, that's kinda weak." Hurrikan critiqued.

"Shush! and let an artist work!" Y blushed.

"Artist? Where?!" SE winked at Y. "Tell me you didn't sign that proclaimation of SL's"

"I signed a petition to help widows and orphans...."

"Uh oh"

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

Day 2

Bill enters the room, carrying Wade over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

“What did they do to her!” Remmy exclaimed.

“SShhhhhhhh… they didn’t, I did. She wouldn’t come with me, and I didn’t have time to argue.” Bill gave her over to Remmy to carry. “Where are the other… nevermind, here they are.”

“Where were you, and whats in the bag?” Bill was uncomfortable with them taking equipment from his base. Had he been had? Were they actually Polynesian Spies afterall? He shook his head. This Wade had obviously not recognized him, and they seemed very legit… but still.

“This isn’t a time machine they were building, it opens the vortex for the multiverse… I want to study the components and get it into my timer!” Quinn hurriedly whispered. “Is she alright? Didn’t you say there were two ladies?”

“She’s fine. No sign of Kathy. Something big is going on, and we have got to go.” Bill led the way out

*********

Y stands, her back popping. "Jiminy Crickets! This is too long."

MSR had been laying on a couch nearby, polishing up a character for a game. "You better not write more than I did, or the next time I'll really write alot."

"Next time?" Slider Sarah said as she stole a pie from the bar. "Next time!! You wrote an encyclopedia THIS time!"

"This is an edited version." MSR smirked.

Y's face fell. "I will endeavor to leave the long post title to you my dear."

MSR laughted. "Finish the story!"

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

Day 2, ending

Wade wakes up a half-mile from the base, demanding to be taken back or put down immediately. Remmy almost drops her in alarm as he sets her on her feet.

“That’s not Wade.” Quinn states the obvious. The four gentlemen stand wide-eyed as this decoy is arresting them for her abduction. Her red ID badge doesn’t faze the sliders, but Bill is visibly shaken.

“We’ve got to go back!” Remmy also plays Captain Obvious. “and Miss Decoy here CANNOT go with us!”

“No. By now the base is alerted to her disappearance. I knew it was too easy.” Bill stood in his guilt. He’d not rescued anybody, and now he was a kidnapper. What a mess of his life he had made.

“You keep her here with you then, we are going back.” Quinn took off with Arturo and Remmy in his wake, back to the base, back to their Wade.

Decoy Wade tried to follow, but Bill grabbed her arm. “You get to stay here with me. I’m sorry. I really am.”

“You are going to be in the stockade a few long time. If you live that long.” Decoy Wade ground out.

As prophetic as that that statement was, another huge earthquake hit once again.

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

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh" SE whispered to JennX. "Y fell asleep on the desk."

"EW" Jennx whispered back. "She's got a black ink line on her face!"

part 2 tomorrow.

Do I finish it?

TM grumblingly acquiesces then writes the story.

Kathy and Wade made record time through the hallways of the top secret facility that the general public naively believed was a cemetary. "We've got to get to the room marked 'Supplies'."

"OK," Wade answered her. Then she looked confused. "Why?"

A slight grin came over her face. "Remember those secret projects I was telling you about? Well, I have one too."

After what seemed like a lifetime with claxons going off and the ever-present threat of tidal waves crushing them to death and sentencing them to an eternal watery grave, the two of them finally made it to the room marked "Supplies".

Kathy swore when she looked inside the room. There were already agents working for her father inside, fooling around with her equipment. "What is it, Kathy?" Wade asked her.

She gritted her teeth. "Those goons have their paws all over my experiment."

Wade put her hand on Kathy's arm. "And what exactly is this experiment?"

"It's a machine for sliding," she answered her with a grin.

"And you were planning on telling me that you had this..." Wade inquired with a smirk.

"Exactly now," she answered with mild amusement. She then turned her attention back to the men inside. "We've got to find a way to lure them away from it." At that moment, a large shockwave hit the building. There were no open portals to the outside when it hit, but the damage left fissures in the building's structure and water began pouring through them.

"That should do it," Wade remarked. Sure enough, as they hid behind the door, the soldiers began pouring out. When they looked in, only one man remained. He continued to fool with the dials and buttons of the large piece of machinery in front of him, realizing it was quite possibly his last hope of survival.

Kathy and Wade didn't have time for this. The two of them attacked the man and managed to render him unconscious. "What now?" Wade wondered.

"Now we slide," she told her matter-of-factly.

"Wait," Wade complained. "What about my friends?"

"We can't save them," she said simply. "There just isn't time."

Wade was loathe to accept that, but after seeing the rushing water crush an officer to death outside, she agreed with Kathy. They had to get out of there.

Kathy activated the vortex. "Normally I wouldn't take the timing device with me, especially after hearing your story, but there may not even be a functioning sliding machine here when we get back." To that end, Wade closed the door so that no more water could get in.

"Will it take us back here?" Wade asked with fear.

"Of course," she answered with some irritation in her voice. "Now let's go."

"Wait," Wade said, nearly drawing the total wrath of Kathy. "I need to leave a message for my friends. I need to let them know I'm OK." Kathy nodded impatiently as Wade wrote the words 'We've Gone' on a chalk board next to the sliding machine. Trying to find a way to personalize it, she took some nearby Scotch tape and taped the photographed she'd taken after their slide in next to the message. Kathy then opened the vortex and she and Wade jumped through.

Wade spent the night tossing and turning. The world they'd landed on was a good one to waste away their 'day trip' (it was like a beach resort without all the tourists), but Wade couldn't make herself enjoy it. She was too worried about her friends, the men who no doubt risked their lives for her. She couldn't even bring herself to close her eyes, as she pictured their horrible fates everytime she did so.

In the morning she was ready to return. The four hours until the slide seemed an eternity. Wade often had to stop herself from crying, as she tried to hold on to the hope that they were still alive. They had to be, though. Wade couldn't live without them.

Wade and Kathy were indeed returned to the scientist's secret lab. The place was in shambles, the walls were torn down and some men in protective suits wandered about the place. "Civilians," one said to another as he pointed out the two women.

Wade noticed them, but Kathy didn't. She was too busy looking at her sliding machine. The device wouldn't be useful as scrap metal at this point. She was clearly distraught about her work being destroyed this way, and who could blame her?

The individuals that were apparently a part of some kind of damage control mission promptly escorted them out of the devastated building, but not before Wade could retrieve the photograph, now damaged and faded and nearly buried in pieces of broken blackboard.

When Wade expressed her desire to find her friends, the two of them were taken to the morgue. Wade still held onto hope even as they were led into the gray, sterile building. She only let one tear fall as she viewed their bodies, and that was when she viewed Quinn's body.

The mortician led her to where they had collected the three's personal belongings. Wade took a few things to remember them by, a few personal items and trinkets they'd picked up on their travels that wouldn't be worthy anything to anybody on this world. Then she came upon the timer, still working perfectly and ticking away...and that was when she collapsed, her sobs shaking her body too horribly for her to continue to stand.

A day passed where not much was said between Wade and Kathy. The two of them had only known each other a few days and Wade had just lost people she felt she'd known and loved her entire life. The monotony was ended when Wade came to a decision: she would end her own life.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Kathy asked Wade, in a tone that she hoped might give the woman second thoughts. Wade shook her head yes anyway.

"Just remember everything I told you," Kathy said several moments before Wade left for another universe.

Wade looked at the picture she had saved from the wreckage. There were others in her pocket that Kathy had taken, of the tombstones of her friends. She chose not to look at those.

As she geared up her determination, she started to use the gift Kathy had given her...but then decided to wait a while. There was a piece of advice Kathy had given her.

"There may be others following you," her voice said in her head. "Not at first, maybe, but you need to leave something behind. Something that'll make them stop looking for you."

In another dimension, Rembrandt Brown looked in frustration at the traffic that was piled up before him. 'Damn,' he thought. 'I'll never make the game in time at this rate.' Rembrandt Brown's singing had become a fixture at Giants games. Some called him the Harry Cary of San Francisco. He had taken it as a compliment.

"I'm surprised at you, Mr. Mallory," Professor Maximilian Arturo. "This is what you've been working on for seven years? What you've based your doctoral thesis on? This is pure nonsense!"

Rembrandt seemed to recall that there was a scenic route he had taken the first time he'd went to the ballpark. He looked at the endless line of cars and decided he'd take it again. He checked his watch. 'Definitely gonna be late.'

"I think you'll see what I mean, Professor," Quinn insisted as he pushed a button on the device that open a portal to a parallel universe.

Rembrandt remembered why this drive had been so memorable. This was some of the most beautiful scenery he'd seen in San Francisco. 'Might have to get myself a home around here someday.'

"You still don't know if it's safe, do you?" Arturo bellowed. "You may have unleashed untold chaos on the universe!"

Rembrandt wasn't paying much attention, just enjoying the view around him. Suddenly he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll show you," Wade Mallory said with assurance. Before Quinn could stop her, she grabbed the timer, set it for fifteen minutes and jumped through the wormhole.

'Stupid dog,' Rembrandt groused as he drove past the Mallory house without incident.

Wade stood at the cliffside, not knowing quite what to do. It was then that a portal opened, and another her popped out.

What happened next was a bit of a blur. Wade tried to convince her double to take the time travel device Kathy had given her and go back to warn her friends about the events of the last few days, as she had planned to do herself. She seemed OK with that, until she found out her double was going to kill herself once the newer-to-sliding Wade was gone. There was a struggle for the gun, in the end it went off and Wade ended up looking at her own dead body lying there in the dirt.

She left the pictures with the body and used the time travel device to return to several days before. She then used the timer to return to the dimension she had just left.

She saw her friends and herself swinging on a swingset. She managed a warning, cryptic in nature, but hopefully it did the trick. She couldn't do much hoping, however, as she faded away into nothingness quickly.

"Tidal Waves Devastate San Francisco," Wade read from the newspaper. "Freaky."

Quinn nodded. "Good thing we decided to stay in Oakland after Wade's insane, possibly ghostly, double told us to get out of there."

Professor Arturo also assented. "Agreed. Anyone else for pizza?"

"Sounds good to me." Rembrandt said.

The End.

<complete silence>

SL4ever does a spit take. "What the hell was THAT, TM?"

TM looks sheepish.

"You call that a story ending???" Yeontoo asked incredulously. "My Part 2 was a brilliant masterpiece compared to this!"

TM runs like hell.

ThomasMalthus