The good natured man laughed casually. "I couldn't help it! William Shatner? Winner of 6 Best Actor Academy Awards? I lost it. I'm sorry. I couldn't stop laughing!"

"We noticed, Remmy." Quinn put in.

"And so did the hundreds of rabid fans waiting for him to make an appearance from his hotel. Was it necessary to laugh in the woman's face when she said he was the greatest actor ever?" Colin wanted to know.

Maggie was still irritated, "Look, I know he's lame, but never invite rabid fans to lynch you!"

He was still cackling. "We know that Trekkies are not in the greatest shape, we outran them easily. We were never in any real danger!"

The others could not stay irritated with him. One by one, a smile broke the severe look on their faces. Lunch came, and Quinn dismissed the conversation with a final comment, "At least we're off that world now. If I heard one more person say how great Shatner was in Joe's Apartment I was going to throw up."

The others agreed. Even Colin, who had to be told how lame Shatner was when this first happened.

Remmy, perhaps to deflect any further harassment, asked Quinn, "when do we Slide?" They had arrived at this world late last night, just in time to check in and go to sleep. They had spent the morning watching TV and reading the morning paper to see if they could discover anything they needed to watch for when they ventured out. This habit had saved them a few times by revealing certain taboos that would have gotten them in major trouble.

Quinn peeked into his jacket to check the timer, having learned his lesson some time ago about flashing his timer in public. He started to say something, then his expression changed to horror as he double-checked the instrument. "Uh-oh, guys. Something is wrong!"

That statement in referral to their timer always brought a chill to the Sliders' blood. It was something that none of them ever wanted to hear him say.

"When I checked it last night, we had about 36 hours left to go. Now we have 46 hours to go!"

Remmy and Maggie exchanged glances. Neither of them remembered this kind of malfunction happening before. Then Remmy thought he might, after all, remember something. "Is it counting up? I seem to remember that happening once."

"No, it's counting down as usual. But sometime while we slept the timer jumped back ten hours. Maybe more."

Colin thought for a moment. "That would be a 24 hour jump, wouldn't it? 14 hours ago there were 10 less hours on the timer."

Quinn's eyes narrowed. "He's right. But maybe it counted up for a while, then counted back down again. Maybe there is some kind of temporal flux on this world that changes when a vortex can appear for us. But that would mean we might never get close enough to the time it can appear to actually make the jump! We could be trapped here."

The others did not have an answer for him. They ate their food in silence.

At the next table three guys were having a boisterous conversation. "My agent sucks, I tell you! He is hideous. He can't pitch my story ideas to anyone! He couldn't pitch the idea of a refrigerator to a man on Mercury! He - is - hideous!"

"I'll tell you who I want," one of his companions jumped in. "I want the guy, whoever he was, who pitched the idea of Hogan's Heroes! Can you imagine pitching a *comedy* about Nazi prison camps to conservative producers in the early 60's? That wasn't even 20 years after the war! They wouldn't even show a married couple in bed together, and this genius sold the idea of a Nazi prison camp comedy to them! I want THAT guy to represent me, if he's still alive!"

His friends laughed goodnaturedly.

Quinn sighed and rose. "Let's go see if we can figure out what is going on."

***

They spent the day nervously looking at the timer, which counted down normally. By eleven that night, when the timer was down to 34 hours, past the point where Quinn had checked it the night before. Filled with nervous energy, the Sliders nevertheless managed to get to sleep.

The Sliders slept late, so when Quinn finally woke the next morning, it was already 10 o'clock, roughly the same time they had waked the previous day. He immediately checked the timer. It read, in unforgiving red numbers, 47 hours and some change. The back jump had happened again.

By the time the others had calmed and were feeling hungry, it was a little later than they had started out for lunch the day before. The four decided to eat at the same place they had yesterday, and walked slowly the two blocks to the restaurant. They were at a loss, uncertain of where to turn or how to fix the malfunctioning timer. They arrived at the restaurant roughly a half hour later than they had the previous day.

Before they could be seated, Remmy grabbed the others. "Listen!"

"-couldn't pitch the idea of a refrigerator to a man on Mercury! He - is - hideous!"

"I'll tell you who I want," one of his companions jumped in. "I want the guy, whoever he was, who pitched the idea of Hogan's Heroes! Can you imagine pitching a *comedy* about Nazi prison camps to conservative producers in the early 60's? That wasn't even 20 years after the war! They wouldn't even-."

"Oh my god." Maggie muttered.

Quinn could barely move his mouth. "But if we are aware that this day is repeating, we may have caused it somehow by Sliding in here! Obviously no one else is aware!"

"Even worse," Remmy put in, "if this day is repeating, how do we ever get to the time to Slide out of here?"

<"Hey Blink! Catch THIS!!" :-D (the torch, I mean)>

***

April 27, 1998 (version 3.0)
11:52 a.m.
===

"So, can we agree that everything that came through the vortex with us is outside the loop?" Quinn tried to take charge of the discussion.

"What about the timer?" Remmy's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "It seems to be repeating the day just like everything else."

"I don't think so." Quinn smiled. "See my watch? It's moved ahead to the twenty-ninth. I think the timer's working perfectly: it's indicating the time until the next window under the helix system. Which, of course, keeps jumping back."

"But that's a bad thing," Maggie interjected. "It means we can't fix the timer - we have to fix the friggin' *universe*!"

Those unfamiliar with Colin tended to think of him as s-l-o-o-o-w, especially in contrast to his quick-witted brother. In fact, Colin was merely turning over every facet of a situation in his mind before voicing an opinion. He presently arrived at a conclusion and spoke up.

"I think we should eat these hamburgers before rot sets in. From what I understand, we have all the time in the world to arrive at a solution?" The last was directed at Quinn in a questioning tone.

"Not so sure. I read a paper once on beta-tachyon decay in closed timelike curves, and believe me it does not bode well for us. If we live to over a thousand, anyway."

Maggie rolled her eyes and tore into her burger. The others followed suit, Remmy pondering whether any of the people who had bashed "Life Is Beautiful" for finding humour amidst the Holocaust had ever commented on "Hogan's Heroes".

6:34 p.m.
===

Back at the hotel (it was called the Shandler, and guests were handed berets and towel pix upon checking in), Colin was absently surfing the channels. It was an ongoing topic of debate between Rembrandt and Quinn whether one could learn more about a world from its tube or its literature, and today's singularly undemanding fare was racking up points for Quinn's side.

"This is crazy," muttered the Cryin' Man. "Are we going to have to sign in here every day as though we just arrived?"

"Can't hurt," offered Maggie. "They won't charge us a cent until we try to leave."

The door swung open to admit Quinn, back from a gruelling afternoon at the public library. "Well, everything on thermodynamics and relativity checks out."

Colin pulled himself away from the antics on 'Me And The Chimp: The Next Generation.' "If the laws of physics are the same, what factor unique to this universe has reacted to our slide?"

"I don't think we're going to find out today. Let's leave it to the next few post - uh, I mean, let's go have dinner."

"There has got to be a way to swing this so we can use the same money every day," Rembrandt mused.

11:53 p.m.
===

The other sliders had retired to bed long ago. Remmy was especially content, having deduced that he could rob his double's bank account daily without ramifications. Colin, however, was determined to stay up until he'd observed this day folding in on itself.

"Suit yourself, Colin," Maggie had yawned. "Tell us what it looks like." Colin could only describe longtime slider Maggie as 'jaded'.

Colin waited.

At 11:54 p.m. - the time they'd arrived two days ago - the light show began. It was as though the spectrum of colours had been phased apart and then jammed back together improperly. Colin watched in gap-mouthed awe - but nothing could have prepared him for what came next...

***

Blinker 7:-)

"I got chiii-ills, they're multiplying/And I'm loooo-sing my griii-ip.../'Cause the plaaank space, you're supplying/

- Rose, I think I'm dying!"

***

A wormhole opens up. Colin sees himself and his friends as though they have completed another slide. Colin wonders silently to himself (If I just saw me coming through the wormhole, how can I be here and not see my double?) Colin lays down in bed and slowly drifts off to sleep wondering why he hasn't seen another of himself.

As Colin wakes up, he discovers Remmy to be the only person left in the hotel room.

"Remmy, where did the others go?"

"Q-Ball and Maggie went to the library to do some more research."

"Does Quinn know exactly what he's supposed to be looking for?"

"I don't know Colin. I'm afraid this time Q-ball doesn't have the answer to this one! This is one time I was the Professor was here."

"Listen Rembrandt, last night after you guys went to sleep, I stayed up to try and figure out why the timer keeps jumping backwards."

"Well, what did you figure?"

"Well it seems that every night at the exact moment when we entered this earth, we reenter this earth. So, we've been here 2 nights plus our first intial slide. So either there's a possibility of our doubles or triples of us walking around on this earth."

"If there's doubles and triples of us why haven't we run into ourselves yet?"

"That's the part I don't understand. I wonder if Quinn would know the answer."

Colin and Remmy make their way down to the lobby, only to discover Quinn and Maggie waiting to take the elevator up.

"So bro what did you find out?"

"Okay, here's the story........I have no clue!!"

"Well guys let's go get something to eat." Maggie demands.

Once again the sliders go back to the same restaurant that they ate at before. Upon sitting down Colin begins to tell Quinn and Maggie of what he saw last night.

"Of course that's it!!!!! I can't believe I didn't get it before!" Quinn exclaims.

"What Quinn? What is it?" The look on Maggie's face is priceless as she states this.

The look on the other sliders' faces is just as quizzical as Maggie's as they wait upon Quinn's answer.

***

"RavageKnight, come get your torch now!!!!!!"

***

Quinn was excited at the idea, but it also gave him a sense of despair. "Don't you understand!?" Remmy was almost cynical. "No. Explain!" Quinn began the explanation. "Every time another day begins, time folds back and begins again. Our doubles slide in at the same time, and eventually, the whole planet will be ridden with Sliders doubles!!" Maggie was still curious about one fact. "Why does time keep looping?" Remmy, however, finally understood. "Because that's the way time works on this world because we're not part of this world! For people that actually live on this world time just continues normally, at a slightly faster pace!" Quinn was fearful, for it finally dawned on him. "If we interact with any of our doubles, all of us will cease to exist, creating a temporal rip that'll destroy all of this reality! Eventually, if we don't escape this loop, we'll end up colliding with our doubles in some way or another..."

Back at the hotel, Quinn was busy tinkering with the timer. It was now 10:30 PM and the table was already overflowing with styrofoam cups filled with droplets of coffee. Colin, as usual, was watching TV, Maggie was reading, and Remmy was writing down some melodies that popped up in his head. "Hey Q-Ball," Remmy asked, "any luck with the remote?"
"I'm still working on it. It's not like the one that I built 5 years ago." Quinn said, then grabbed a small screwdriver.
"I hope you do something soon," Maggie spoke up, "because I don't want to live the rest of my life on the same day. I mean, that conversation about "Hogan's Heroes" back at the restaurant isn't annoying enough."
Everyone chuckled, and went through their routine.

11:15

When an infomercial came on, Colin immediately turned the tube off. After all the infomercials he'd seen on every world, he still doesn't know why they want to sell useless items that doesn't satisfy a basic need.
"Hey," Colin spoke, "I'm going down for some more coffee, you guys want any?"
Only Quinn and Rembrandt raised their hands, Maggie was laying on the sofa asleep with her book on her breast.
"OK, be back in a minute."
As Colin walked down the hall, he turned a corner and saw something. His first reaction was to run back to the hall and peek around the corner. Colin couldn't believe his eyes. It was his double, wearing the exact same clothes, getting some ice from the machine. Colin hoped that he didn't see him; after what Quinn said back at the restaurant, this wasn't the exact time to get noticed...

OK, Slider_Sarah, ur up.
<Passes torch to her>

***

Colin returned to the room without the coffee. "Quinn?"

"Just put the coffee on the table could you," Quinn replied without looking up.

"Er...Quinn?"

This time Quinn looked up. "Uh-huh?"

"I saw my double in the hall." Colin delivered the news nervously, unsure of just what the complications could be.

"You did what?"

Colin started to repeat what he had said, but Rembrandt butted in. "It was a rhetorical question, Colin." Colin stopped mid-sentence and Quinn was left to say something.

"Then we don't have enough time left. We're gonna have to go to another hotel."

Rembrandt thought he understood, but wanted to be sure. "What do you mean exactly?"

"We don't have enough time to finish the alterations to the timer before another lot of us slides in (plus there are several more posters to go) so we'll have to go to another hotel to buy ourselves some time." Quinn noticed that no one was moving. "Come on guys, we don't have much time"

Rembrandt shook Maggie awake while Quinn and Colin collected the items strewn around the room. There were protests from Maggie, but Rembrandt explained the circumstances to her simply and even
she understood.

***

11:32 PM

The Sliders, having crept out of the hotel trying to avoid any doubles, were making their way through the area's night life to find another hotel.

"Y'know something," announced Quinn.

The others looked at him with curiousity.

"There's no reason why we should be the first Sliders." After noticing the blank faces of his companions, he elaborated. "Let's say we were the first to slide in here. Since then, as the day folds back on ourselves, duplicates of ourselves have been created. It is highly unlikely that these duplicates think of themselves as duplicates and it seems logical that they would follow the same trains of thought that we do. Their days may well, therefore, follow exactly the same patterns ours have up till now. Or possibly anyway."

Surprisingly, Colin seemed to grasp what Quinn was trying to say. "And in that case, we could be just duplicates of the original sliders and we could be just following what they did before us."

"But what does this mean?" whined Maggie, not really understanding any of it.

"That we may not be real."

Maggie was not happy with the answer. "Oh, great(!) That would just be perfect, wouldn't it?"

Rembrandt's question was more intelligent. "Does this have any relevance to us?"

"I don't know," mused Quinn, "It might. If we're following ourselves or our duplicates are following us, we would know if we saw our doubles and interected with them, but that's where the problem arises. It's the paradox of happening and not happening that would pull this universe to little pieces."

"Whatever you say, genius-boy." Maggie had now given up completely trying to understand the details, but Rembrandt seemed to have a slightly better understanding.

11:49

The sliders found another hotel far enough away to be usable without running into any of their duplicates. In Quinn's mind, that was a good thing.

"Right then, we can book in and I can get some sleep." The last part of Maggie's question was directed at poor Remmy who had just happened to be the one who woke her up before.

Rembrandt himself suppressed a chuckle. "Actually, we can't quite yet because they'll have forgotton us very soon, so we may as well wait until after time has folded back.

The lone female slider shot Rembrandt a glare for making her look stupid.

***

Slider_Sarah: Did I come across as sounding very confused? Sorry.
<passes BritSlider the torch>
Your turn, BritSlider!

'Imagine yourself on a journey, not just of sight and sound, but of mind and body. There's a roadsign up ahead, you've just entered; The BritSlider Zone':

***

01:43am, that night

Quinn figured it was safe to leave their room in the Dominican Hotel, and go down the hall to the ice machine. With bucket in hand he casually strolled down the corridor, wondering how on earth they were ever going to get out of this world. He placed the bucket under the machine, and started to fill it with ice as his mind wandered the possibilities that lay ahead. He was so engrossed in his thinking that he failed to notice the bucket overflowing, until a familiar voice brought him back to earth.

"Hey buddy, watch what you're doing with that thing! You're spilling it all over the floor!"

Quinn froze. He knew that he should walk away, not looking back, but curiosity had got the better of him, and he had to see for sure. He slowly turned around, and; as he had suspected, came face to face with one of his doubles. "Sorry," he said, "I guess I just got a little distracted."

The look of shock on his double's face was straight out of a comic book. "Oh my God, you're....you're me! How can this be?" Quinn was a little taken aback that this double hadn't been able to figure out the same things that he had, but decided to let it pass. After all, maybe this Quinn hadn't been around long enough to see what was happening

< rip >

"You see," he began, "we're all stuck in some kind of temporal loop, where every day is the same here, it just keeps repeating itself. The only thing is, we are all part of the loop now, and every night at 11:54, a new group of sliders find their way here. How long ago did you get in?"

"Uh..we...we got here about two hours ago. So I guess that would make us the latest ones to slide in here."

< rip >

Quinn held up his hand for silence as he tried to listen more intently to the corridor around him. "Did you hear something?" he asked his double in a whisper.

"Nothing. What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, I just thought I heard something. I have a feeling that something very bad is about to happen."

< rriipp >

"There!" exclaimed Quinn. "There it was again! I knew that I had heard something!"

His double was looking troubled now. "Yeah, I heard it that time too. What do you think it could be?"

< RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPP >

Quinn and his double abruptly stopped talking, and just stared in amazment. Between them, a barely imperceptable line had risen from the gound to the ceiling. Around the edge of the line it appeared to be slightly shimmering. Quinn went very pale. "This is bad. This is very bad indeed! I think...." He could hardly bring himself to say the words. "I think what we have here is an actual tear in the fabric of Space-Time itself!"

His double blanched. "Dear God! What have we done? The fact that we have met each other is the cause of all this, isn't it? We have to think of a way to repair the rip!"

Quinn, however, refused to panic. There had to be a way out of this. "I think it would be best if you just went back to your room and stayed there." His double opened his mouth to argue, but was cut off by a curt wave of Quinns hand. "We can't take the risk of any of our doubles meeting again. This rip is only small, and I have an idea about how to fix it. Just go back to your room, get comfortable, and hopefully I'll have this all sorted before the next group are due to slide in, if indeed they still can."

Quinn's double slowly nodded his head in agreement, and walked back to his room. Quinn wondered how he was going to explain this to the others, and then decided that the blunt approach would be best. He opened the door to their room, and turned on the lights.

"Wha...hey! Q-Ball! What are you doing man? I was just getting some shut-eye then!" Remmy seemed less than pleased at being woken. Colin was just coming round as Quinn was banging hard on Maggie's door to wake her up. When they were all assembled, Quinn told them about meeting his double, and the tear in the fabric of Space-Time. At first the others could not believe it, but Quinn took them out of the room, and into the corridor where the rip was.

"Nice one Mallory", said Maggie. "All this warning about us not meeting our doubles, and the dire consequences of what would happen if we did, and then you go and do this!"

"This is indeed strange, brother." Colin, as ever, was the master of the understatement. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"Yeah Q-Ball, any ideas?"

Quinn smiled at his friends. "I say we investigate." He knew the looks that would follow before he said that, and he was not wrong.

"Are you insane!" Maggie exploded. "This is a tear in the fabric of our very universe, and you want to 'investigate'!"

"I am not so sure about this brother," chimed in Colin, "this might be dangerous." Remmy said nothing.

Quinn stepped closer to the tear. "It might be dangerous, but I don't think we have a choice any longer." And with that he placed a hand on either side of the tear, and slowly pulled it wider. The corridor was filled with a bright, white light. With a cry of; "Last one in's a Kromagg" Quinn went through the tear.

***

He found himself in the corridor of the Dominican Hotel, but he seemed to be alone. Then, a light filled the corridor, and Maggie appeared next to him, obviously having come through the tear.

"Well," she said, "I didn't want you getting into any trouble here on your own Mallory. The others are just coming." As if on cue, Colin, and then Remmy came through the tear as well.

"You know, Q-Ball. If I didn't know better then I would swear that we haven't moved at all!" The sliders looked around. It was true, everything did appear to be exactly the same, although a little paler than before.

Following Quinn, they slowly walked down to the hotel lobby, which appeared to be deserted. However, the sight that greated them when they went out into the street was far from what they had expected. For a start, considering it was nearly two o'clock in the morning, the sky seemed rather lighter than it should be. In fact, it was the sort of grey that you get on a cloudy day. But that wasn't the main thing. All throughout the street were dozens upon dozens of people, all apparently working, as they wore identical 'boiler suits'. Quinn noticed the corporate logo on the back of their uniforms. It read; 'Space-Time Inc.' One man was giving instructions through a loud-hailer, so Quinn decided that he was the person to speak to.

As they appraoched him, the man noticed them, and a puzzled look came across his face. "Where are your uniforms?" He asked. "What are your assigned areas? We have to get this day ready, you know how busy we are at the moment."

Quinn thought it best that he take the lead. "We're...well...you see. We seem to be lost. We came through a rip in the fabric of Space-Time, and now we're trying to find out how to get back to our own time."

The man's face reddened when he heard this. "You ripped a hole in the fabric of Space-Time? Do you have any idea how long it's going to take to sew that back up!!" He turned to one of the men near him and bellowed orders for a needle and thread. "I've been preparing days for the last two hundred years, and never, never has anyone ripped a hole on my shift before. I hope you realise how much paperwork is going to be involved in sorting this out?"

The sliders were a little taken aback by all this. "Look man," Remmy said, "we just want to get out of this place, but it seems like we're stuck to repeat the same day over and over again. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

The man considered him for a moment, and then simply said, "Head office have screwed up." Quinn and the others waited for something a little more than this, but when it was obvious that none was forthcoming, he inquired further.

"What do you mean 'head office screwed up', and who is head office anyway?"

"I mean," the man said slowly, as if talking to a dimwit (or Colin), "the head office of Space-Time Incorporated. You must have seen the adverts; 'We can build a better universe for you'? They were supposed to send us the plans for April 28th a week ago, but they never arrived. So we've just had to recycle the 27th for the last few days. That's why everything seems to be the same."

Maggie looked less than pleased, just for once. "Are you saying that everything we do is preordained? That we have no free will apart from what you....create for us? How can that be?"

The man just smiled at her. "No, what I'm saying is that everyone in THIS world has no free will. It's obvious that you aren't from this world, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?"
Maggie could have sworn she heard him utter the words 'stupid cow' under his breath, but diplomacy got the better of her, and she decided not to kill him.

"But how can we get back to our world then, we need the days to go forward as normal so we can slide out of here," said Quinn.

"Simple," the man replied, "just get me the plans for April 28th, and we can build that day instead of this one over and over again."

"But where would we find the plans?" asked Remmy.

The man levelled a stare at him that would have frozen mercury. "Well if they never arrived here, then they obviously got lost, didn't they?" Remmy nodded in agreement. "So if they are lost," the man continued, "then you have to go to the Ministry Of Lost to find them, okay?"

"The Ministry Of Lost?" queried Quinn, incredulous at the least.

"That's what I said kid, it's the big building down on 54th Street. You can't miss it, it's got a big sign outside it saying 'Ministry Of Lost'."

"Excuse me for asking this," inquired Colin, "but if you know the plans are there, then why don't you get them yourself?"

With a smile that wasn't entirely mallicious, and yet was far from warm, he said; "Sorry pal, union rules. If head office screw up, they're the ones that have to fix it. I've filled out my form D35, that's all I can do for the moment."

"But if we get the plans," said Quinn, "then you'll be able to build the 28th, and we can get out of here?"

The man considered this for a moment, and turned to walk away, "That's what I'm saying kid, good luck!" And with that, he started shouting at the workers to get on with their jobs.....

***

I think that's ample enough confusion for everyone :) TM, I guess that torch is all yours now, old boy. Sorry it took so long, but I had a lot I wanted to get into this one :)

Cheers m'dears
BritSlider
< as he walks away with an evil grin. 'Let's see you rescue THIS one then TM', ha-ha! >

<ThomasMalthus: All right then.>

The sliders had fun exploring the city (or whatever this place was) where it seemed as though time and space were manufactured for the last world they were on. Idly, Quinn wondered why they were the first sliding team to go through a tear like this. Maybe this proved they were the originals. But then again maybe not.

After the foursome reached the place where the irate construction worker had told them to go, they entered. Sitting behind the main desk was a bespectacled balding man with a dark beard scratching away at a notepad who all immediately recognized as Professor Maximillian Arturo. Or a double of him anyway.

"It seems as though we're running into a lot of him lately," Colin commented.

Overhearing, the Professor spoke up. "You didn't think ThomasMalthus could write his part of the story without having me in it, did you?"

"What???" Maggie exclaimed. She felt as though there were a big cosmic joke going around and she wasn't getting the punch line.

"Never mind. What can I do for you?" the Professor asked smugly.

"We need the plans for April 28. It's very urgent." Quinn looked pleadingly at his old professor.

The Professor looked up from his desk. "Ah, yes. The twenty-eighth. There are still a few kinks in those plans I'm afraid. You'll have to visit our R & D department."

"And just where is that?" Rembrandt asked.

The Professor continued writing something down in his notepad. "Thirteenth floor. Next to Housewares."

"I don't suppose you have an elevator?" Quinn asked. The confused look on Arturo's face was all the answer he needed. "Alright, thanks anyway. C'mon, guys. The sooner we get this over with the better."

As the foursome ascended the stairwell, they all took longing looks at the plush building where the schematics of this world were worked out. As they finally reached the thirteenth floor, they were all out of breath. They came into the main office of the thirteenth floor, only to see another Maximillian Arturo sitting behind a desk. Several people got out of an elevator not five feet away from it.

"Wait a minute," said Rembrandt to the Professor's double, "I thought you said there were no elevators."

"Hmm? Me?" He looked confused but then it wore off. "Oh, you mean my rascally double on the first floor. You should have asked him if there was a lift. Frightfully English, that fellow."

"Excuse me," Quinn cut in, "but we really need to get to the Research & Development Department. Can you tell us where that is?"

"Yes, second door past the third hall." The sliders thanked yet another version of the Professor and walked the hundred yards or so to the R & D deparment's office.

Kelly Welles sat behind a receptionist's desk. "Hello, may I help you?" she said as though it were the only words that ever came out of her mouth.

"Yes, we were interested in talking to ever's in charge of the R & D Department. We need plans for April 28." Quinn flashed her his best smile.

"I'm sorry, but the entire department's in a meeting on that very subject." As Quinn and the others tried to enter, Kelly stopped them. "No, no, I'm very sorry. This is a closed door meeting."

Thinking quickly, Rembrandt blurted out, "You know I hear they need a new anchor for that news program on the Sci-Fi Channel. They're auditioning right next door."

Kelly Welles got very excited. "Really??" She then got up from her desk and put out a sign that said "Out to Obtain Midday Sustenance". "If the Boss comes by, tell her that I went to "Fudrucker's"."

"Right." Quinn said. As Kelly walked away, Quinn whispered to Rembrandt, "Well, that was cruel."

"It worked, didn't it? Now, c'mon, we need to do some serious eavesdropping to find out what's going on here." Rembrandt led the way towards the conference room.

"Who do you think this Boss is?" Maggie asked.

"Who knows? We'll find out eventually." Quinn pushed his ear next to the door right along with the others.

*****

Conrad Bennish, Jr. looked very unhappy. And it wasn't just because they made him wear the suit and tie. "Look, I'm telling you people, she looked better as a blonde!"

"That's not the issue, Bennish, and you know it!" Gomez Calhoun responded. "Looks, looks, looks, that's all that matters to you!"

"Hey, pipe down you two! When the Boss shows up, she's gonna want a plan of action, and as of now we don't have one." Ryan always seemed to stick up for the Boss.

"How come you always gotta side with her, man?" Wing asked.

"I just know what side my bread is buttered on is all," Ryan defended himself.

"Look, I think we're all missing the point. She's become a nuisance and a liability to the group. We have to get rid of her!" Logan St. Clare, the outsider who had been recently drafted on the team exclaimed.

Bennish looked indignant. "Hey, no way, man! With the other two gone we're going to need her around. Besides, I think she's pretty hot!"

"Look, changes are gonna have to be made before we solve this, that's for sure." Ryan said.

"I guess we just have to decide where to start," Wing threw in.

Calhoun decided to propose his plan. "Well, we could maybe make her a little less abrasive, a little more likable. Maybe give her a pet?"

"Ooh, that's a good idea." Logan snorted. "It'll be dead within a week!"

"Hey, I didn't hear you come with anything better!" Calhoun shouted out.

The room erupted into impassioned arguments as the Boss walked in unannounced. She cleared her throat. The room stopped.

"No, gentleman. I'm afraid all that won't do. The solution is simple. Slider Maggie Beckett must die." All around the table had looks of fear in their eyes as Boss Wade Welles had the most sinister grin any of them had ever seen.

OK, passing the torch to Ann_Fredericks. Sorry I don't have time to check spelling.

ThomasMalthus

The Sliders looked at each other, pondering Colin's Great Idea. Well, some of them were pondering, Maggie was shaking her head. "What about the element of....SURPRISE!" she shouted crashing through the door. The sliders peered past her into the room. Quinn looked at the mass of people he knew and gasped. Remmy recognized Logan and gasped. Colin didn't recognize anybody, but he gasped too - well, everybody else was doing it! Maggie just glared at her old nemesis. The group inside collectivly grew bug-eyed and gasped... and disappeared? Now all the sliders were confused. Wade was only one left in the room. She smiled. She smoothed her dress. She reached towards the table and picked up something very strange...

Oh boy... what the hell is going on here?! My guess is this is not where you guys were going with the story, but I was feeling a little crazy... must be the seedless grapes. (Quinn!)

***

"Wade?!" Quinn exclaimed.

"Yes, Quinn, it's me," Wade replied, hiding whatever she had picked up behind her back. "I've missed you. I know you were trying so hard to find me, but you never did." She glared at Maggie. "Of course, there could be a reason for that."

"Wade, listen..." Quinn started. He knew there was something wrong with Wade, and he didn't want to get her upset... who knows what she might do?

"No, it's time for me to have my say," Wade said forcefully. "I have some issues that I need to take care of and I wouldn't want to have to get you... out of my way, if you see what I mean. Now," she continued, not quite as severely as before, "I have, along with all my colleagues, decided that there is a problem with the 'Sliders'. One in particular," she glared at Maggie again, "and something must be done." Then she revealed the thing she had hidden behind her back and pointed it in front of her. It was a timer. She pushed a button and a vortex opened up in front of her.

"During an unusual adventure on one of the slides," she shouted over the sound of the swirling wind (echoing the wishes of many fans... oops, you didn't hear that from me), "Maggie was *tragically* lost in a random vortex. But don't worry, Sliders fans! Wade has returned and will continue sliding with Quinn, Remmy, and Colin!" With that, she grabbed Maggie and tried to throw her into the vortex. Maggie fought back, and eventually, with the help of the other sliders, got Wade under control. The vortex closed.

"Let me go!" Wade screamed. "Maggie must die! The Sliders fans wish it!" (Oops, how did *that* get in there?)

"What?!" all the sliders said in unison.

"What are you talking about?" Colin asked, confused as usual. He didn't even really know who this woman was.

"Don't you know anything?" Wade shouted at him.

"Uh... no?" Colin replied.

Wade sighed aggravatedly. "Alright, listen," she explained slowly, in a tone you would use when talking to a very small child. "I am Wade Welles, the true love of your brother, and I have been made to suffer greatly because of this woman," she indicated Maggie, "but all wrongdoings will be avenged! I was left behind, when Maggie persuaded Quinn to leave me in the Kromagg prison camp. But I found a way out. And now I have come here, to this wacko world where Space-Time Inc. controls everything. I brought you to this world, so I could write Maggie's death. It was planned to be April 28th, but the Powers That Be seem to have a problem with killing her off. But that's ok, because I can just kill you now!" She reached for the timer again, but Quinn stopped her.

"No, Quinn! It's for the best," Wade cried. "We're meant to be together! Maggie is standing in the way of that! Can't you see? I've known we were perfect for each other ever since that world where the Professor and Wing built the atom bomb, and now I can make things right!"

"Wait a second!" Remmy said. "*Bennish* helped the Professor make the bomb! This isn't our Wade!" (Well, duh. What made you think it was in the first place?)

Everyone, including Wade, looked up at him in shock.

"But, but..." Wade sputtered.

"See?" Quinn said, brightening. "Now you can let us go, and we can get the plans for April 28th and we can go, and you can kill some other Maggie!"

While Wade was pondering this, Maggie knocked her out with a chair, and the sliders tied her up. Then they ransacked the room looking for the plans. Once they found them they left, and tried to figure out how to get out of the building. They eventually came to Arturo sitting at his desk.

"Excuse me," Quinn said, "but these are the plans for April 28th. We need them to get to that guy out there building days. And we also need to know how to get back to the real world."

"Give me the plans, I'll see that they get to where they're going. And as for going upworld, try the elevator," Arturo told them.

They left the plans on his desk and got in the elevator. They stood looking at the buttons.

"I guess we go up?" Colin said doubtfully.

"Try the button that says roof," Quinn suggested.

He did, and they went up. When the elevator doors opened, they were back in the hallway of the Dominican Hotel.

"Man that was an adventure," Remmy said, rather unnecessarily.

"Let's hope it worked," said Quinn.

(Of course it worked, you don't spend a whole freakin' story in La-La Land, excuse me, Space-Time Incorporated, to have it not work out! Do you really need me to finish the story?! Ok, they woke up and it was April 28th and they slid and they lived happily ever after. Well, as happy as you can be when you're constantly landing on worlds like *that*.)

Something tells me I'm not going to be last in the story game anymore.... ; )

~Robin