• • •

The 4 sliders exit the gym, heading into the parking lot. Joe looks to the others, "I guess those people were a bit shocked to see us come out of no where"

"Well lets just hope we aren't followed or forced to go on a news program to explain sliding"

"Well if they did professor, you could hide, since us three don't understand well enough to explain to the public"

"So how long until the slide?" the professor asks, clasping his hands together.

Laura looks at the lit up device, "A little over 2 weeks, just enough for a vacation"

- With being on a world for a long period of time, the sliders split up to enjoy themselves. Quinn and Laura head to San Francisco, while Joe and Arturo stay in Los Angeles. Shortly after Quinn and Laura arrive through the San Francisco National Airport, they learn that on this world, drugs are legal and everyone is using them. The 2 hope they can stay away from anyone who may be dangerous.

"Well what should we do in drug country, join in and become high?"

"Laura, don't make jokes, we're surrounded by this stuff, and anyone could be whacked out, and even kill us"

"So what do you want to do, return to Los Angeles and give Joe and Arturo a hard time?"

"No, lets just explore, maybe something good will come of this place"

As Laura pulls the timer out of her jacket pocket, she plans to give it to Quinn, but a punk kid, riding by on his skate board, steals the timer and grabs a hold of a moving truck, leaving the 2 sliders unsure of what to do and a thief they know little about.

"This is just great, now we have to go on a hunt to find the timer, thanks a lot!"

"Quinn, why blame me, you wanted to explore, remember? I should have waited until I got in a taxi, before taking it out!"

A man in raggedy clothes comes up to them, "I know who stole your device. He's a junkie, stealing whatever to get high. I can help, but I need your assistance first"

"What would that be, do we have to give you money?"

"just calm down miss" he tells the sliders his name is Rex, and he wanted them to help get a shipment of supplies; they agree, and follow him back to an alley, where some other homeless people appear, all of them looking huge. Laura starts to get a little nervous when one of the men walks up to her, and tries touching her, but Rex pushes the man back and then another man named Hill, takes out a cigarette and tells Quinn to smoke it. Quinn denies the off, but then a gun is shoved into Laura's ear, "I suggest you consider it now"

Quinn agrees, figuring that smoking one cigarette wouldn't kill him, and even Rex tells him it will make him feel better. After a few puffs, Quinn tells Laura its good, and that she should try it as well. Laura refuses, stating she has yet to take drugs, and doesn't plan on it. Rex tells Laura that he may change her mind within the near future.

Back in Los Angeles later that night, Joe is bartending at a night club, and Arturo is enjoying his drink. An attractive woman walks by, then Joe calls out to her, "Hey, can I buy you a drink?"

The woman turns around, looks at Joe up and down, then takes a seat at the bar, "Sure, and I'll give you something for it, how about some pot?"

"Ah, never mind, I don't have the money, I guess you'll have to find someone else to buy you a drink" the woman grabs Joe's jaw, telling him that he should treat a lady more nicer, and Joe agrees, apologizing for what he said. The woman gets off the stool, and walks away.

Joe looks at Arturo, "What did I say? I be that lady wa high on pot herself, and probably wanted a partner"

"Mr. LaFountain, I suggest you keep your mouth shut until we slide out, you might encourage violence during your time here"

"I hope Quinn and Laura are doing better in San Francisco, and staying away from the drug lords ruling this country, including President Bush"

Back in San Francisco, in a warehouse, Rex, along with the sliders meet Liam, the one who stole the timer earlier in the day.

"So your the people I stole this device from, how much you want for it?" Quinn heads to the man, "We just need it back if you don't mind"

Rex interrupts Quinn, "How about giving us $5000 worth of drugs, and you can keep that machine? How about it Quinn, Laura?"

"Whatever you say is right man" Laura hits Quinn in the chest, "Its not for sale, we need it back, so hand it over"

Liam walks over to Laura, about to rub up against her, when she knees him in the crotch and gets the timer back. Liam stands up, grabbing Laura's arm, "Don't you ever do that to me again bitch.I think I'll take that device now" Laura continues to refuse, but then Liam starts to bend her arm, and Laura must give in, handing over the timer.

Liam looks over the device, "How does it work?"

"When it hits zero, just open it by pushing the flashing red button, and it opens a portal leading to another world, have fun"

Liam tells Rex that he will lead them to the supplies, which are right outside. Rex, Quinn, and a forced Laura head outside to a loading truck, and Liam opens the back, showing the shipment, "I thought you may ask for 5 grand, so I brought extra that you can have"

Rex shakes Liam's hand, thanking him and telling him to get lost. Liam disappears on his skateboard, and Laura is getting nervous, fearing for her life, since Quinn would no longer help her out of this problem.

Later on, back at the Concord Hotel, Joe enters, tired as ever, and taking a seat on the sofa. Arturo exits the bathroom, seeing his friend was about to fall asleep and takes a seat beside him, "See, I told you that getting a job at a night club would be trouble"

"Lay off it professor. Besides, I've done this type of stuff before, back on my world"

"Well, I'm going to the opera tomorrow and possibly the rest of the week, so do you what you want with your life. Just don't get high or drunk, making me chase you all over town"

"Don't worry, I've had my days of drugs and they were fun. I still will never forget that time I attacked an elderly man, stealing his cash and car. I wish I could go back and do something about it"

"Mr. LaFountain, I suggest you just look to the future, and hope one day you will return home, and get out of our lives"

"Do you really hate me that much professor. From where I see it, I saved your lives on that boat"

"But we would have been fine if you didn't involve yourself with our situation. But you had to steal the timer, to get cash!"

"Calm it professor. I've done my apologizing since I joined you guys"

"I guess I shouldn't be too mad. You do know that you and Quinn are alike, by doing spontaneous things, without thinking of the reactions you'll get"

Joe pats Arturo on the shoulder, "I guess when it comes down to it, your just a big softy. I would almost consider the idea of calling you dad, but your more like a friend, who is going to help us survive the next few years of this journey" Arturo gets up, mumbles something, and walks into an adjacent room, leaving Joe with a smile on his face.

In San Francisco the following day at the warehouse, Rex had forced Laura into taking a joint, and smoking it, after he placed a gun into her mouth. After a few moments, Laura was under control of the drug, wanting more, which would be more like succumbing to an addiction. Laura had been sent to meet a drug dealer for supplies, and Rex had other plans for the dealer. Laura meets a dealer at the marina, offering a huge man named Billy, money for heroine. When Billy gives up the supplies, a list of other suppliers, Laura pulls a pistol, shooting Billy 5 times, and then takes his car, driving off. Later in the day, Laura stops a tatoo parlor, and when she is about to enter, she see's an older woman, that looks very rich; Laura goes up to the woman, tells her to give up her purse and when the old lady refuses, Laura takes out her gun, and hits the old woman on the head, causing it to bleed. The woman falls the pavement on the sidewalk, with Laura taking the purse and decides to take off, quickly exiting the area.

As days go by, Quinn and Laura soon become outlaws, and enjoy every minute of it, including the fun of hurting people. During one night of the first week, as the sliders make a deal, cops enter the building, only to catch the dealer as the others make a getaway. A woman detective enters the scene, looking around, and then at an officer, "Did you catch the others?"

"They must have taken off,we didn't get a lead" the woman detective becomes frustrated, using her radio to contact an officer outside, asking of any location of the suspects, but with no luck, the detective has a new plan to catch the outlaws.

Back in Los Angeles in the early morning only 3 days before the slide, Joe collects his money that he made bartending, and soon he and Arturo head to San Francisco by plane. After landing, they head to the Dominion Hotel, to find Quinn and Laura, but they never checked in, so Joe decides to get a room, hoping they can find them before the slide.

Over in the area of the hide-out, Laura finds Liam in an alley smoking a cigarette and tells him of a party that was going on later at night. Liam agrees to the idea, since they could get to know each other, but Laura reveals of a new project she was going to do next to the club. Liam asks of what project and Laura reveals that she was going into a bank to steal cash from the vault. Liam tells Laura that he was more interested in her and feels an attraction toward her, which he asks if it was possible for a little action under the sheets later; Laura tells Liam to just keep his head in the game and they both could walk away wealthy. Laura returns to hide-out, which was an abandoned warehouse, and heads to a room inside. Laura finds Quinn sleeping on a bed, and throws a pillow at him, telling him to get up. Laura takes a seat on the bed, snorting some crank to pass the time, but she soon passes out, laying beside Quinn.

Joe and Arturo check the streets near the hotel, but realize it wasn't safe to be in the neighborhood, since many people were high off drugs. As Arturo and Joe head down an alley, a group of teens on bikes surround them, telling them to give up their cash and drugs, or they would die.

"I think you kids should be in school, istead of killing us for no reason"

A large black male gets off his bike, walking up to Arturo, and he punches him in the stomach, knocking Arturo down to the ground. Joe tries to the fight off the man himself, but he is hit in the stomach by a kid with a metal pole. 5 kids start hitting and kicking Arturo, and the black male, along with 5 more kids attack Joe. A police car drives by, and the officers soon notice what was going on. The driver exits the car, along with his partner, quickly heading to the attack to stop it. Arturo is unconscious, while Joe is partially awake, only to be bleeding from his face and chest. An ambulance shows up minutes later, taking the 2 to the hospital.

Detective Juanita Cooper shows up at the hospital, entering Joe's room, finding him awake, but bandaged nearly all over his body.

"Excuse me, are you Joe LaFountain?"

"Yes, can I help you with something?"

"Yes, I'm Detective Juanita Cooper. I'm here to investigate your attack. I have a few questions to ask"

"Go ahead"

The detective takes out a pad of paper and pen, "What actually happened to you and your friend?"

"We were trying to locate 2 friends when those kids and that guy showed up, nearly killing us"

"You didn't happen to notice if these people were near you?" The detective pulls out photos taken of Quinn and Laura, and Joe is a bit surprised, "So, you do know these people?"

"Yeah, those are the friends we were searching for"

"Well your friends have joined a drug cult, lead by this man" the detective hands Joe a folder, where Rex is pictured from a prison photo, and a long list of criminal acts.

"So what can I do to get them back?"

"We've located them in a few locations, but we feel that they may be too drugged up, where they may be harmful to everyone, including you and your friend"

"But they would know us at least, right?"

"Not exactly. Most of the members to this cult take a drug that causes memory loss and they may be leading a different life"

"If they are captured, can they be saved?"

"Likely, but they would go through a difficult withdrawal, since they're addicted to any drug they can get their hands on" the detective gets up from the seat she was in, "Look, I can't lie to you. This is a risky situation, and we may have to take out your friends, if they resist"

"Well do what you can, just make sure they stay alive" The detective is given the folder back, and exits the room, leaving Joe uncomfortable and fearing for the lives of his friends.

At an unknown location, Quinn joins Rex for some pot and sniff some crack, "So, where is your lady friend?"

"She went with that guy who we sold that timer to. I think she will hate the fact that she will have to kill him to get the timer back"

"Well Quinn, soon we can leave this planet, and tackle a brand new world, to get more exciting and different drugs"

Shortly after breaking into the bank, Liam helps Laura get into the vault, with using a stethoscope to hear the numbers. After a quick entry, they get over a million dollars, and as they soon exit the building through the roof, they return to the ground and get into a car. Seconds later, cops surround them, telling them to get out of the car, and put their hands up. Laura looks to Liam, "I thought you said that you can get through the alarm system to shut it off"

"I thought I detacted all the wires, but I musn't have"

"You stupid ass, now we've been captured" Laura and Liam exit the car and place their hands on the car, with officers approaching them carefully. Before Laura is about to be handcuffed, Laura pulls a gun and shoots the officer. Laura takes off running, with no one able to catch her. Another officer gets to the shot officer and yells for an ambulance.

Detective Cooper heads to Liam, "Nice work kid. You might one day make the force proud"

"Don't let this situation cause you to look down on me"

"Well, at least we can follow her, I mean you did plant a bug on her, right?"

"Of coarse I did"

"Fine, get in the back of the car, we need to pursue her, and the others before they take off again"

Laura arrives back at the warehouse, walking in pissed off, "The cops showed, I nearly got captured"

"What about that punk kid?"

"We don't have to worry about him Rex, he's been arrested. We need to move. I found a bug planted on me, I tossed it outside, so if they do arrive, no one will be here. But we better move, they could be here in seconds"

"Fine, did you get the timer?" Quinn asks in a hurried manner.

"Right here, just 65 hours until we exit. But until then, we can hide out in Canada"

"Quinn, get the car, I need to pack a few things. I'll meet you both outside"

The 2 agree, exiting the warehouse and Rex heading into a dark room, turns on a light, and opens a suitcase to pile his stash in. Rex then loads his gun, placing it in his pants, so he could use it in any situation, including the man to kill Quinn and Laura, and then head off world to get away.

Detective Cooper and Liam arrive at the warehouse, and when entering the building, no one is around. Other police officers check around, but nothing is found, except a few packs of drugs in the closet. Detective Cooper uses her radio to contact another police vehicle nearby to see if they can check the area. A loud noise is heard through her radio and another officer comes on, stating an officer is down and needed help on Marrett Street. Detective Cooper and Liam take off, realizing where their killers were located.

While speeding through the area, the 2 officers don't notice any vehicles racing, but suddenly, a car speeds out of an alley, and they chase after the car, which speeds through a red light, nearly hitting another car. Liam pulls out his gun, aiming for the tires, but he misses and reloads with the car moving in different directions, making it hard to aim correctly. Liam finally the left rear tire, but the driver continues on. Detective Cooper suggests the car was a decoy, since she only saw one person in the car. The pursued car soon hits a fire-hydren and smashes into a coffee shop, with the car stopping a few seconds later. Detective Cooper and Liam exit their car, heading for the other carefully. They find the driver unconscious and it happened to be Quinn, one of few suspects they needed to find. Liam uses a powder substance to awaken Quinn, and he does quickly. Detective Cooper asks of the location for Rex and Laura; Quinn replies, stating they were dropped off and headed to a car dealership nearby, so they can escape. Detective Cooper tells Liam to remain with Quinn and radio for backup, since she was going after their criminal.

Rex and Laura enter a car dealership and find a black Ford pickup. Rex smashes in the drivers side window, so he could get inside to start the vehicle. Laura asks Rex to open the passenger side door, so she could get in, but Rex takes his suitcase and fires a couple of bullets into Laura's stomach, knocking her to the pavement. Rex starts the engine, taking off with the timer and heading for Canada. Detective Cooper soon catches up to Rex, but radios that Laura was down, and needed an ambulance at the address she gives. Rex realizes he had company, so he steps on it, taking off on the highway. The detective soon follows, and starts firing her weapon, trying to take out the tires. 4 police vehicles join in the pursuit, and soon box in the truck, with it stopping seconds later. Rex exits the vehicle, firing his weapon at officers. Detective Cooper soon arrives, aiming her gun at Rex, but he realizes her action, and he fires his weapon, hitting her in the shoulder and she falls down. Rex heads for a fence on the other side of the highway with his suitcase which is thrown over. Rex jumps towards the fence, but it electrocutes him, knocking him the ground. Police officers head to Rex, and one officer sees the timer on the ground, picking it up and holding it, while the others tend to criminal, taking him back across to one of the police cars.

2 days later, the sliders are exiting the hospital, with Arturo on crutches and Joe using a cane. Quinn and Laura follow behind, with Quinn planning to catch a taxi.

"So Quinn, where do you think we should start the search for the timer?"

"Well Joe, I looked in the phone book and there are about 24 police stations in the area, so it will be quite a task"

A police car soon shows up, pulling up near the sliders and Detective Cooper exiting from the passenger side. She puts her hand in her jacket pocket, pulling out the timer, handing it to Joe, "I thought you might like this back, since I do believe this was yours"

"Thanks, but how did you know it was ours?"

"Lets just say that I knew you guys weren't from around here"

"That's a good enough reason for me"

"I just wanted to thank you both, who were forced to be drug addicts, to find one of the top ten most wanted killers in San Francisco"

Quinn and Laura look at each other, smiling, then Quinn looks back at the detective, "No problem. But I know I plan to stay away from any drug lords from now on"

The detective laughs a bit and decides to take off, since she had other work to do; she says good-bye to the sliders with them doing the same.