REPORTER
Yes, Charlie. I'm here at the former home of Quinn Mallory, a man who died four years ago in a lab accident. Now, a man who meets the description of Mr. Mallory is holding Wade Welles, an employee at a local computer store, hostage. He is demanding the nation's best scientist in the field of theoretical physics. Now, of course, we will stay here at the crime scene, and update you as information comes in. Back to you in the studio.

The sliders were inside Quinn's double's house. Quinn thought that they could do better work on the timer in a familiar situation. His double was on vacation, but Quinn convinced the housekeeper that he had come home early. They were about to make the slide.

ARTURO
I can't do it. Leave me here!

QUINN
Come on, Professor! You only have a small fever.

ARTURO
It's not the fever I'm concerned about, its the slide! This world is nice.

WADE
Stop fighting! We've got to go, Professor; you're delirious. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Wade opened the vortex, and jumped in. Remmy followed, as Quinn pulled Arturo toward the vortex. Arturo reluctantly jumped in, followed by Quinn.

In Quinn's house, the vortex opened. Wade, Rembrandt, Arturo, and Quinn flew out. Arturo got up, and ran to the bathroom. Quinn laughed, as he looked outside. He got worried when he saw all of the police cars outside. Wade opened the door to see what was happening, and two policemen grabbed her before Quinn could do anything.

POLICEMAN
All right, we've got the hostage, but we still have a man inside with a bomb, so we have to work with caution.

Quinn took Rembrandt downstairs to avoid getting "caught". Going to the basement, Quinn was met by his double.

ALT-QUINN
Don't move! I'll kill her!

REMBRANDT
Hold on, buddy. Whatever's going on here, we're not involved.

ALT-QUINN
You are now, 'buddy.' Wait, are you this Earth's Quinn? I thought he was dead...

QUINN
No, I'm not. Sorry to disappoint you. I'm just a traveler. I take it you're a slider too?

ALT-QUINN
Good guess.

The phone rang. Alt-Quinn picked it up, and wondered what was happening. The police were refusing to follow his demands.

ALT-QUINN
I have a hostage! I'll kill her!

A terrified Alt-Wade was in the corner, curled up in a ball. Rembrandt went to the corner to comfort her.

At the police barricade, the police were baffled. Their kidnapper was still demanding his scientist, despite the fact that his hostage was gone. Police chief, Rembrandt Brown, came to interrogate Wade.

CHIEF BROWN
Ms. Welles, why would Quinn say that he still has hostages?

Wade was frightened, but caught on fast.

WADE
That's because he does. He kidnapped me and my sister, Wade. I'm Kelly Welles.

Wade didn't know whether she had a sister on this world, but it was worth a shot.

BROWN
I wasn't aware that Ms. Welles had a sister. This is getting stranger and stranger. What is going on here?

WADE
Sir, I can't explain it, but I feel I must rejoin my sister.

BROWN
Then, why did you leave?

WADE (stammering)
I... don't know.

Chief Brown was confused. This was the most bizarre case he had worked on to date.

ALT-QUINN
Well, my timer burned out on re-entry. Even my fail-safe device was destroyed. And, well, my current situation doesn't allow me to find components or a physics lab, so I built a bomb, and demanded a scientist.

QUINN
And you kidnapped an innocent girl to get away with it?!

ALT-QUINN
Oh, no. I took Wade, here, because I need a companion. You see, my Wade was my wife. She died a couple slides ago, and I was crushed.

REMBRANDT
But you took this Wade against her will.

ALT-QUINN
It's for the best! I tried sliding alone. A few weeks later I'd been driven half-insane. Sliding is completely different without your friends along to ground you. Trust me, Wade is getting the chance of a lifetime.

Rembrandt was disgusted. He started talking to Wade, trying to comfort her, while the two Quinns conversed.

Alt-Quinn looked at his damaged timer.

ALT-QUINN
Well, there's no need for this anymore. We'll just hitch a ride with you.

QUINN
It's not that simple, bud. We've got a six-hour wait. Let's work on your timer. Plus, we've got missing friends ourselves. My Wade was caught by the police, and I don't even know where the Professor is. Remmy, when did you last see him?

REMBRANDT
Well, he went to the bathroom. He's probably still there.

QUINN
Well, we've got to get him. If the cops rush in here, we won't have much time.

Quinn looked at the timer - way over 5 hours - and thought, "Actually, we'd have quite a while." He also considered the risks. He hadn't said anything about this, and thanks to the Professor's illness, nobody could contradict him. The six hour limit had been his hypothesis, and in fact, a simple theory. Opening the timer at the predicted limit could actually reset the timer. But in a fix, they would have to get out fast. First things first, though.

QUINN
Remmy, do you think you could run up and get the professor?

ALT-QUINN
Yeah, right, buddy. And then, you could run and tell the cops about me. No, you all are staying right here.

REMBRANDT
No. I've had enough of this. I have nothing to gain by police protection. I want off this world ASAP.

Rembrandt slowly went up the stairs to the first floor. He crawled to the bathroom, and entered it. The Professor had fallen asleep by the toilet.

REMBRANDT
Hey, Professor. Wake up, man!

Arturo woke up slowly. He was exhausted, and he didn't want to get up, let alone crawl to the basement.

REMBRANDT
Look, Professor, we have to get you to the basement.

Arturo forced himself up, and propped himself onto Rembrandt's shoulders. They walked slowly to the basement, and Rembrandt put Arturo down.

ALT-QUINN
Did they see you?

REMBRANDT
I wouldn't be surprised.

ALT-QUINN
Well, that's just great!

REMBRANDT
Hey, look here, "buddy"! I had to lug the Professor half the way around this house, Wade is in a police barricade, and you've got Quinn working as hard as he can, because you got lonely and fried your equipment. If you knew Wade, or any of her doubles, you'd know she hates people that act like you! Look at her, man! She's scared stiff. Let her go!

Alt-Wade was sitting in the corner, crying. She was afraid, and didn't know what to do.

ALT-QUINN
No way. I didn't go to all this trouble to give up.

ALT-QUINN (on phone)
Hello.

CHIEF BROWN (on phone)
Yes, Mr. Mallory. This is Chief of Police Rembrandt Brown. That scientist you wanted is here. Sorry about the delay, but he was hard to track down. Now, we will send him alone, and all of our officers will stand back until you've come to the door and safely left.

ALT-QUINN
Yeah, right. The door is open, he can just walk in, but don't try any funny stuff. Wade is at gunpoint.

BROWN
Okay. He'll be at the door shortly.

At the barricade, Chief Brown was talking to another officer.

OFFICER
Chief, we have a problem. We checked the files. There is no Kelly Welles. She has to be lying.

BROWN
Why would she do that? That makes no sense.

OFFICER
Yes, and she has also requested to return to the house with the professor.

BROWN
I know this sounds crazy, but let her go. But give the professor a weapon. If this is a trick, he should have some protection.

Chief Brown called Alt-Quinn again. He alerted her that "Kelly" was going to rejoin him so that she could help with the solution. Alt-Quinn didn't understand until he realized that Wade was coming, and that the scientist sent was Professor Maximillian Arturo. They walked through the open door, and went down to the basement.

ALT-QUINN
Professor Arturo, what a pleasant surprise.

ALT-ARTURO
Do I know you, my boy?

Alt-Quinn realized that his double on this Earth must not have pursued science before he died.

ALT-QUINN
I've heard of you, that's all. I understand that you are the best in your field. Now, you must know a great deal about theoretical physics...

ALT-ARTURO
Of course I do, you blistering idiot!

Rembrandt, Quinn, Alt-Quinn, and Wade laughed. Alt-Wade didn't understand the joke, and the Professor was asleep. Immediately, the three scientists went to work, fixing the timer. Wade and Rembrandt helped the Professor, as he gained some of his strength back.
Later, Quinn examined the timer. 10 minutes until the theoretical limit. But things were going well. Maybe they wouldn't have to test his theory today.

In the corner of the basement, Arturo talked to Rembrandt.

ARTURO
Rembrandt, our current condition doesn't allow us to investigate this world. If Quinn's here, I don't think we'll find him.

REMBRANDT
I know, but while I was talking to Wade's double, she mentioned that she had never heard of Slidology. I don't think Quinn's here. But we do have another problem.
Arturo was curious. Not another one.

REMBRANDT
Well, my friends and I slid in LA. Now, its great to be back home in San Francisco, but I don't think we can find Quinn as easily here. We've got to get to LA.

ARTURO
And I suppose you have a solution, Mr. Brown?

REMBRANDT
Yeah. Quinn, while we were with your double, met a scientist working on sliding. She put some kind of "geographic stabilizer" in the timer. If we get one of those, we could slide into Los Angeles.

ARTURO
It's not that easy, Rembrandt. Yes, that would be a good idea, but it would take time. And even if we did it, we wouldn't be sure to land in LA every time.

REMBRANDT
But you picked me up in LA. On the Kromagg Earth...

ARTURO
That's different. The machine we built is a centralized position that could create wormholes all over the country if necessary. We'd have to go back to the lab. But we could....

REMBRANDT
What?

ARTURO
Move from the sliding radius, and simply slide. It's a debatable concept. Either the vortex wouldn't open, we would land in our original radius, or a new radius would be created. I think it could work out well.

ALT-QUINN
Yes! That should do it. We're done. Come on Wade, we're going for a ride.

Alt-Arturo, realizing what Quinn was about to do, grabbed the gun he was given and held it out at Alt-Quinn.

ALT-QUINN
I can't allow you to do that, Mr. Mallory. Now come with me.

Alt-Quinn turned around to the table, appearing to grab the timer, but actually snatching his own gun. He turned around and shot Alt-Arturo in the leg. Arturo went down in pain, firing his gun towards the ceiling.

Alt-Quinn was angry and grabbed a box, holding his bomb. Alt-Quinn set the bomb for five minutes. Then, he opened the vortex.

ALT-QUINN
I hope that you have time, because you're sure as hell not coming with us. Come on Wade.

Rembrandt grabbed the gun from the area around the Professor. He held it out at Alt-Quinn.

REMBRANDT
No! You can't have her.

Rembrandt was furious. He hated this Quinn. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use the weapon, though.

Alt-Quinn pointed his gun at Remmy and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't fire. Quinn had spent all his ammunition firing at the policemen.

ALT-QUINN
No! Come on Wade!

Alt-Wade spoke out loud for the first time since the sliders arrived.

ALT-WADE
No!

Alt-Quinn saw the vortex, beginning to implode. Without any other options, he abandoned his "companion".

ALT-QUINN (looking at the bomb)
Fine. Have fun for the next couple of minutes.

Alt-Quinn laughed as he jumped into the vortex.

The sliders looked around tensely as Arturo slowly rose and walked toward the bomb. Quinn joined him there.

WADE
Can you stop it?

QUINN
I don't know.

Quinn motioned towards the bomb, but stopped as he heard a beeping noise. It was the timer.

QUINN
Yes! Its time to go. We have to take this with us.

They had to risk it. The bomb read 3 minutes, 45 seconds. Quinn grabbed the bomb, knowing that if he left it, many more could die. He didn't care about the risks for the sliders, or the risks he was creating on the next world. The four sliders dove into the vortex, as Alt-Arturo and Alt-Wade watched on. Alt-Wade helped with Alt-Arturo's injuries, as police flooded the room.

Quinn flew out of the vortex, and started to work on the bomb. As the others came out, he screamed at them, noticing that they were still in Quinn's house.

QUINN
Get everyone out of the house! I can do this.

Rembrandt helped Arturo up the stairs, as Wade searched the house, finding no one. The three sliders went to the street, waiting for Quinn. After a couple of minutes, Rembrandt got restless.

REMBRANDT
I can't stand this! I'm going back for him!

ARTURO
No, Mr. Brown. We can't risk it.

Arturo's face went cold, as he realized Quinn had the timer.

A couple minutes later, Quinn walked out of the house, holding the timer in his hand.

WADE
You defused it!

QUINN
Not exactly. That Quinn thought he was so smart. He could build a timer, but he couldn't assemble a simple bomb.

Just then, the sliders heard a small explosion. The bomb had detonated, but had no effect on the stability of the house.

QUINN
Or not...

Quinn realized how close he came to dying. But his attention soon turned to the timer. He checked the coordinates, and they were still there. The timer still read 2 days. He had never been more relieved.

REMBRANDT
Maybe we should call the fire department.

ARTURO
Yes, Mr. Brown. Maybe you should do that, as Quinn and I start on that little problem you've presented to us.

Quinn was confused but tired, as Rembrandt searched for help.