"Thanks for the soft landing Maggie," joked Remmy as he complied.

Quinn and Colin rolled into a heap together. "Please get your foot out of my back, brother."

"As long as you get your knee out of my..ohh man that hurt!" grumbled Quinn.

Standing up, they all looked around. Everything was in ruin. Some buildings were on fire. There was not very pleasant sounds in the air. They were all in a small alleyway which opened up to the south. Walking towards the opening they came to a street which ran east and west. More destruction and fire awaited them in both directions. Then from the air came a great whooshing sound, and from behind a tall building on fire, a kromagg air ship.

"Get down," Maggie whispered harshly. The friends ducked down behind some trash cans and watched it fly by.

"Well, I guess our luck finally ran out," said Remmy in his accept-it-and-get-on-with-life voice, "I think it is get-back-to-business time with the Maggs."

"Yeah, well, it's not my cup of tea. The less time we spend with the Kromaggs the better. How much time do we have, Quinn?" Maggie sounded her usual self.

"Are you ready for some bad news?" Quinn did not sound happy. The three breathed deep and waited, as Quinn pulled out bits and pieces of broken plastic, metal, and twisted wire.

"Ohh, man," they exclaimed in pure disappointment.

"What now?" Colin wondered out loud. Clearly he was stupefied.

"We find a safe place to hide. Then we see what comes next."

***

After about a week of slinking around from one abandoned building to another, the friends finally found a safe house with some refugees left over from the Kromagg invasion. The world was just like a dozen others that had been invaded. The women were taken, the resources too. The humans were also forbidden to have sliding tehnology as well as forbidden to have any material that could be used for the building of such devices. Quinn had a hell of a time trying to search out left-over parts that survived fire and rain. Finally after a week, he gave up.

"Well, I need 256 megs of edosd RAM with 5-nanosecond seek rate. There is no possible way we can find that in old burned-out buildings."

"Well, unless your DNA suddenly changes to Kromagg you'll never be able to get it," Remmy said jokingly.

Quinn got a look of genius on his face. "It might not work but we will give it a try.

***

"Brother, I don't think this is a good idea." Colin looked at his brother with concern. Maggie had done a bang-up job with make-up. Quinn really looked like a Kromagg.

"I never thought to see you like this Quinn," said Maggie.

"Well, it has to be done. Believe me, I don't like it either."

"Well, here I go..."

Quinn gulped. It was bad enough he knew nothing about the posturings and way a Kromagg went about his business, but now the guard was asking him a question telepathically.

"I fought a league of humans, and the survivor ripped it off the front of my shirt," Quinn said, remembering where Kromanus had the green indicator on Earth 147. "One of them had a translocator on them."

"A trans...?!" the Kromagg began. "Must we converse in this primitive tongue?"

"I'm, uh, still learning it," Quinn answered.

"Can you at least provide me with the password for gate access?" the Kromagg asked.

"Certainly," Quinn said. "'Eyeballs are yummy.'"

The Kromagg frowned, then let out a boisterous laugh that made the other guards in the vicinity turn. "I like your sense of humor. Enter." He moved and Quinn strode into the compound.

Looking around, Quinn grimaced at the fetid stench and conditions of the compound. Times had not been good for the Kromaggs. When a Kromagg came around the corner, Quinn would salute and continue.

* * *

Rembrandt, Maggie and Colin sat in the bombed out Dominion hotel. Colin was poring over the newspapers they'd found. "Guys," he said, "on this world, sliding had just been invented by a man named Nikola Tesla when the Kromaggs first invaded."

"Tesla?" Maggie had heard the name before when she was talking with her husband. "Let me see that." Maggie read the paper. Sure enough, Tesla was still alive... at least at the time the paper was written. That was three months ago. "How can Tesla still be alive? He died on my world in the mid-1940s."

Rembrandt picked up the next section of the newspaper and held it up. "This is how," he said. Colin and Maggie glanced at the paper, and gasped.

"How could a man live to be 184 years old?" Colin asked as he read an obituary.

"I don't know," Rembrandt said. "But if the Kromaggs find out, this isn't the only world that's gonna be screwed."

* * *

Quinn dug through a "burned out" bin. The Kromaggs sure didn't use the same type of electronic system, Quinn noted. Making his way into an antechamber, Quinn was surprised to see a fully functioning sliding machine. It was enormous, far more powerful than his basement equipment. He looked around. No one was there. He walked up to the machine. Quinn immediately recognized the symbols the Kromaggs used for sliding and began to punch some buttons. A few seconds later, a drawer opened in the machinery, and Quinn grabbed what was inside. A Kromagg Sliding Device (KSD)! Quinn looked at it. It had a small readout to display memory core information and current coordinates for that particular parallel earth.

Quinn looked for a timer countdown and remembered that the Kromaggs weren't working on a Helix system. He pocketed the timer and made a hasty exit to the compound.

"Quinn?" He shuddered as someone called out his name. He turned around. It was Mary, his interrogator from Earth 113!

Ripping off his disguise, Quinn activated the KSD, looked around, and jumped into the shimmering red vortex.

He looked at the KSD, but couldn't tell how much time till the next slide, because it was in the Kromagg numeral system. "Look what a mess you've gotten into this time, Mallory", Quinn mumbled to himself.

Quinn took a careful look around. It looked to be about two or three in the afternoon, with few people moving about. He then saw why nobody was moving, everyone seemed mesmerized by the TV screen.

"And, so, my fellow Americans, we face our greatest threat from the Soviets today. An invasion fleet of Soviet Pravda-1 Level Bombers has been launched from Havana. A counter-attack will be underway at 1600 hours. That is all."

The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Quinn couldn't place it. He didn't have to, however, as an old man quickly spouted out "Oh, President Presley's just trying to grandstand so he can get a sixth term in 2000. We all know the Soviets haven't been a threat to us in thirty years!"

The way people were looking at him, Quinn would have thought the man committed murder or something equally heinous. Before Quinn could even ask what was going on, two men in trenchcoats dragged the old man away.

"Better be careful what I say on this world," Quinn commented.

***

Colin thought this was probably the most boring world he'd ever been to. Sitting around an abandoned Dominion Hotel was not anyone's idea of fun. Not to mention he was losing terribly at this game Rembrandt called "poker".

"Farmboy, you're not even holding the cards right," Rembrandt said, exasperated. "The side of the cards with the numbers and the suits faces you!"

"Yes, but who are these strange women on the back of them?" Colin was curious to know.

Just as Rembrandt and Maggie were about to make equally snide remarks, they heard someone or something moving around the hotel.

"I guess that ends this game," Rembrandt said quickly putting the cards away and crouching down.

"You think it might be Kromaggs?" Colin asked.

"Well, I don't think it's the Welcome Wagon," Maggie remarked.

Colin nodded, despite not knowing what a Welcome Wagon was.

"I have been thinking," Colin said. "Perhaps not all humans have given up fighting the Kromaggs." Colin indicated the paper that they had been looking at earlier with the headline 'President Thurmond Prepares to Meet Invading Alien Threat'. "We could join them and be safer than we are here."

"You mean join up with resistance fighters so we can help to overthrow the evil government and get the timer back?" Maggie asked.

Rembrandt rolled his eyes. "Gee, we've never done that before."

<I pass the torch...>

Someone had found their hideout. Maggie, Remmy, and Colin snuck out into the alley behind the hotel. They heard someone following and, thinking it was Kromaggs, tried to run for it but were headed off at the alley entrance. That's when they discovered they were not being chased by Kromaggs at all.

"Who are you?" Remmy asked the humans that stood before him. Maybe they wouldn't have to find the rebellion: it seemed the rebellion had found them.

"Who are *you*?" their leader replied.

"We're... from Canada," Colin told them. Maggie rolled her eyes.

"I didn't think there was anyone left in Canada. The Kromaggs killed just about everyone up there or so I'd heard," said the leader.

The sliders looked at each other nervously. Just then, someone in the group yelled, "They're not from Canada! They're Kromagg supporters! Kill them all!"

***

Quinn checked into the Dominion Hotel, them sat down to figure out the KSD. It seemed that he could just slide back to the Kromagg world when the slide window opened, but he had no idea when that would be. Finally, he decided all he could do was wait, so he turned on the TV, all the while hoping he'd be able to tell when the timer reached zero. He started watching some sports news show that looked interesting. Just as he heard the news anchor say, "Good evening, I'm Casey McCall, alongside Dan Rydell, and you're watching Sports Night," someone started banging on his door.

<passes on virtual torch and beret>

"Who's there?" Quinn said cautiously.

"Housekeeping, you need towels?!?" It was only the housekeeper.

"Uh, no thanks." Quinn said sheepishly. Then the KSD was flashing and beeping. Quinn still hadn't deciphered the Kromagg letters, but out of curiosity, he pressed the activation button. And to his amazement, another red vortex appeared. The housekeeper opened the door and was amazed at the sight. Quinn jumped in with a flash of light.

As Quinn exited, he found himself back in the lab. Standing up beside him was Mary. "I knew you'd be back," she said with a cold expression.

Quinn stood up, looking amazed at her.

"Come now. You have a meeting with the dynasty..."

OK, done. I pass the unofficial torch on.

***

"I can't hold this any longer!" shouted Rembrandt leaning against the door. Colin looked for some avenue of escape from the small alcove they had found themselves whilst the rebel humans pounded on the door being held shut by Remmy and Maggie. "Come on, farmboy, do something!"

Colin started sweating as he looked around. He grabbed a mop.

"No!" shouted Maggie.

"Uh, right." He let it go and looked around, confused and stressed.

"It's gonna blow!" said Rembrandt as the door was bolted off its hinges by the incoming surge.

He felt his arm grabbed and struck out with his left as he heard Maggie thwock someone with the mop. "Colin!" called Maggie. Now both Rembrandt's arms were tied up in the crowd. He couldn't even see the humans' angry faces. He could hear Colin saying something about them being human on the other side as a knife was flashed before his eyes.

"Stop this!" Two gunshots pierced the sounds of the struggle like a metal grinder.

All activity suddenly stopped. The rebels cleared a way as a dark shrouded figure made his way towards the sliders. Now clear of bodies, Remmy could see that Maggie and Colin were bruised but all right. Maggie shook off the hand of one of the rebels angrily. "Get off me"

The alley was silent. The figure spoke.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Allies are few and far between." It reached its hand out to Colin, who tentatively pulled himself up.

Rembrandt stalked up to him. "Inconvenience!? I have a good mind to..."

The stranger held up his/her hand peaceably and spoke again. "You have all rights to be angry. Apologies later. We are not safe here. The gunshots will be tracked."

With that he walked off, followed by the rebels. The sliders had no choice but to reluctantly follow suit.

***

Quinn stared at Mary as they walked through the echoing dynasty hall. She was walking strangely, zombielike, almost. How had she come to be like this? He was about to say something when they came up to a panel. Mary touched something and part of the wall slid up, revealing a small enclosure. She turned to him.

"Get in, they're waiting."

Quinn, puzzled, obediently walked to the elevator and, taking a last look at Mary, stepped in. The acceleration was awe-inducing. Or vomit-inducing, either one. When it finally decelerated at the bottom of the shaft, he felt like if he was going to fall into himself. The wall retracted and he stumbled out into a chamber that slightly resembled a dark room. There was no-one in the chamber with him.

"What is this?" he thought. A cone of light projected itself on one of the walls, and he watched as the colors slowly materialized. The first image was a Kromagg dynasty symbol. Then the video followed...

***

Slider142 finishes scribbling and, seeing the rejected beret lying on the side, puts it on. He takes the torch and runs into the darkness. HurriKain runs into the room, notices the writing, and runs after Slider142. "Uh oh" thinks Slider142. He has an idea. Blinker runs up.
"Here, take this!" says Slider142, shoving torch into Blinker's hands.
Blinker: "What the?"
Hurrikain: "Give that back!"
Blinker: "Uh oh"
Slider142: "Run! Run like hell!"

The torch goes on...:-)

***

The first scene on the video surprised Quinn. It showed a Kromagg assisting a human. Then it cut to Humans and Kromaggs relaxing together. The commentary accompanying it suggested that Kromaggs and Humans should not be enemies.

A woman who looked vaguely familiar and very pregnant appeared on the screen "...This child was not concieved out of hate in one of the fictional breeding camps," she said, "It was concieved out of love." A Kromagg commander joined her on screen and put his arm around her, smiling, as well as a Kromagg could smile, and behaving almost like the family man.

Quinn's first reaction was, "I wonder how they forced her to do that, poor girl," but it quickly changed. As the film went on, he found himself thinking, "Perhaps we have misjudged them. Maybe we should have just accepted the help they gave us instead of hurting them at every turn."

The video finally ended and Mary opened the entrance and beckoned him out.

When Quinn was out of the room, Quinn turned to Mary and said, "I regret the ways in which I have hurt the Dynasty. Please, I have much information I can give. Let me make amends."

Mary nodded in agreement. "The Dynasty knew you would finally see the folly of your ways. I will take you to a place where you can help others understand that which you now do.

Together, they walked zombie-like towards a large labortory-type room where they met a Kromagg at the door.

"You have done well, Mary," he sneered as he greeted her. "Welcome, Quinn Mallory, to the Dynasty. You will find you can do a lot of good here."

Quinn found himself agreeing. He saw no reason why he shouldn't.

* * *

Rembrandt, Maggie and Colin followed the resistance down many winding streets. Rembrandt had a suspicion that half the time they were actually going round in circles. Eventually, they came to a fortified building and they were led down a flight of steps into what appeared to be a control center.

"Welcome to Resistance Headquarters." The dark shrouded figure still did not reveal their identity or even gender. The dark shrouded figure then disappeared into an adjoining room and a middle-aged man took over.

"So you said you're from Canada?" The man walked back and forth in front of the three Sliders.

The Sliders said nothing, but Colin hung his head.

"Well if you are, you're lying in one of two ways. And I don't like liars. In fact, if we can't be sure of loyalty, we usually leave you out for the 'Maggs.

Maggie could stand it no longer. She wanted to be in on the Kromagg fight. Gettin even with 'Maggs was a bit of excitement she enjoyed. "Alright, we're not from Canada," she confessed, "We're Sliders."

The man actually seemed surprised by that. "Sliders, huh?"

"So what happened to Canada?" Colin could not help being curious.

"The Kromaggs used it as an example. Up there they pretty much laid waste to it. The only humans who survived we're the 'Magg collaborators."

"Woah." Colin was amazed. He couldn't imagine what it was like up there.

"You fought the 'Maggs before?" asked the man.

"Yeah, a few times," replied Maggie.

"Ever been caught?"

"Yeah, several times. But we escaped. Well, most of us." Rembrandt's tone was tinged with sadness. He was remembering Wade.

The man smiled sympathetically. "We've all lost friends. Perhaps you have information that could help us."

"Yeah, maybe."

"If you stay here and work with that woman over there, we can exchange info. You two," he pointed at Maggie and Colin, "Can come with us on our next excursion."

"Just wait one second," Maggie walked straight towards the man and looked him straight in the eye, "How come you're giving orders to us."

He drew himself up taller so he could look down on her even more. "You don't want us to kill you, you work with us. And our leader gives me control on who to take on missions and who not."

Maggie was not happy with the answer, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"So what's the mission?"

"The Kromaggs have a whole lot of newly recruited collaborators on the base. We're going to liberate them. If they won't join us, we kill them."

Maggie thought for a second. "Okay, show me the guns."

The room looked at her in disbelief. "You know how to handle weapons?"

Maggie gave her best 'hard girl' look, which wasn't that great, before saying, "Yeah." When the people in the room continued staring she continued, "I used to be a marine."

* * *

Maggie and Colin ran with the resistance fighters towards the 'Magg building. They had got past security, but they still had to be careful. Maggie carried a fairly powerful gun. Colin was only
given a small firearm, something which he was ashamed of, but as a big guy, he was expected to use his fists.

They all hid behind a heap on junk as another Kromagg vehicle entered the compound. Maggie really wished Remmy was here. It didn't seem right him having to stay behind. He had the most greivances against the 'Maggs. He should have been allowed to come. Then there would have been someone else to help her watch Colin. He still wasn't a particually good soldier, however hard he tried.

Maggie and Colin were crouching next to a window with a couple of others. On the signal, they all turned and discreetly looked inside. It was a laboratory filled with humans, Kromaggs and Hu-Maggs all working hard. The humans inside were the collaborators. A door opposite the window opened. It was lucky the room was partially underground and therefore the window was high otherwise they would have been seen.

"Oh my God," whispered Maggie as two figures entered. One was a dark-haired, small woman. The other was a tall man. "Quinn!"

"My brother would never become a collaborator," whispered back Colin, as always a staunch defender of his brother.

"That's not what it looks like," she replied. "I just hope he returns to our side when we storm the place. Otherwise..." She shook her head.

"We can't kill my brother!" Colin's voice raised a little, earning him glares from the rest of them.

"We may have to."

***

Slider_Sarah: Woah, it's a bit long. I'd better stop now before HurriKain catches me.
<She spots Blinker up ahead and approaches. She jams the beret on his head before handing him the torch>
Slider_Sarah: Here take this. It's back to you. Run.
<Blinker runs off with the torch, vainly trying to tear the beret off. Slider_Sarah takes a different route and heads back to BFA headquarters.>

"We're here. Then again, maybe we're not."

Slider_Sarah (she of the powder blue beret with lilac anti-nuclear symbol)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dreamworld/7247/index.html

On with the story...

It was Quinn who spotted them from the laboratory below. Maggie and Colin could see him point at the window, followed by the faint noise of an alarm shrieking somewhere inside the building.

Maggie gave Colin a look which expressed exactly what she now thought of his brother's loyalties.

Around them, the area was already becoming a battleground, and the Kromaggs were unquestionably winning. Humans were being cut down left and right by red stun beams, then carted into the building (presumably for reprogramming).

A smile touched Maggie's face. "That's where we go," she declared.

Colin followed her towards the entrance. So many humans were being herded through the doors that two more didn't attract much attention.

***

Meanwhile at Resistance HQ, Rembrandt was listening in on Magg radio communications and learning some shocking facts...

"Get away from me, you Kromaggit SOB."

The humans looked confused for a moment, but only a moment, for in the next they lay stunned on the woodplank floor. It had only taken one touch of the Kromagg's gloved hands. The Kromagg unhooded himself, revealing the facial abnormalities they had come to know so well. He grinned.

"You are not supposed to be here."

Remmy kept backing up. "Yeah, well, neither are you. I knew the Kromaggs would not leave any real resistance. At least any this strong and organized as these poor people thought they had."

The Kromagg's smile grew wider. "You understand little. Come, let me show you more."

The Kromagg hooded himself once again and maneuvered sideways so Remmy could see that he was letting him out. After some hesitation he went.

***

Maggie and Colin softly ran through the main hall, in the general direction of the room, they had seen Quinn in. The sound of the battle outside was drawing near.

Colin started. "I don't understand why..."

"Shhh" said Maggie, putting a finger to her lips. She was vaguely annoyed with him; the halls echoed and magnified the tiniest sounds. A loud grating noise made her push Colin into a side hall as the wall slid open. She lowered herself to ground level and surveyed the area. Quinn and some girl were headed right for them. She mentally readied herself to jump his companion just as they were grabbed from behind by two Kromagg guards.

"Hey!"

"What the?"

"Well, what do we have here?" sneered the first.

"Looks like some spies to me, sir." said the second, seemingly enjoying himself.

"Quinn!" Colin shouted. "Brother! Help!"

"Maybe we should take the 'ies' out of these spies, huh?"

Quinn and Mary walked across their field of vision and stopped. Quinn's eyes widened.

"Maggie, Colin, I knew you two would find me."

Maggie rolled her eyes and struggled against the grip of their captors. "Quinn? A little help?"

Quinn looked confused, and then laughed, realising his folly. They hadn't seen the video yet.

"Don't worry guys. You'll see." He winked and patted one Kromagg's shoulder. Mary took his arm. "Come on Quinn, let's go."

Quinn and Mary continued to walk down the hall, oblivious to Maggie and Colin's screams.

"Now let's see how fresh eyes really taste." said Maggie's guard, unsheathing his standard issue knife. Maggie stomped on his foot and tried to shake him off, but he held her even tighter.

"Don't touch her!" Colin said ineffectively.

***

Quinn and Mary walked past the columns, not hearing the struggle.

"Do you think my brother will understand?" asked Quinn conversationally.

"Yes, he will be fine." replied Mary. She smiled at him.

Suddenly the wall imploded onto them, burying them in rubble and sending the roof in as a replacement.

***

"What the hell was that?" asked one of the guards. Colin struggled, but only redirected the guard's attention.

"I'll go check it out." said Maggie's guard, pulling her with him. Suddenly a Kromagg Manta ship banked the main hall's corner and fired twin bursts aimed right as the guards heads. Their cries echoed in the halls as they dissolved into plasma.

Maggie fell to the floor and picked up the rifle the guard had dropped. The door creaked up and Remmy stepped out. Maggie had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. Come to think of it, neither had Colin.

***

They had revived Quinn and Mary and carried them onto the now stuffed Manta craft. Remmy tried to engage the hooded figure in conversation as the craft flew through the air above the battleground.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have enough time to enlighten you." He pulled out a small device and opened a red swirling vortex. "Let's just say I'm an abolitionist." He smiled and stepped in. It closed immediately after he left.

"Wait a minute." said Colin. "If he's gone, who's flying the craft?"

The craft suddenly made a sharp bank diagonally to the right. Rembrandt held onto the roof.

"I guess it's on auto!" They all screamed as it made a turn for the ground. Just before they were certain they were going to hit, a blue vortex opened and it flew in, the vortex closing right afterwards.

***

Remmy watched the craft gloop it's way to the bottom of the pond. "Well, that's the end of that joyride."

Quinn limped to him and put his arm on his shoulder. "Or hell ride." They laughed, the only thing they could think of.

Maggie called them from the cabana. "Come on guys, free food."

"Yeah, free food. Huh." said Rembrandt to himself. Quinn laughed again, for real this time.

THE END