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Rembrandt Brown and Maggie Beckett walked down the streets of Los Angeles. The sun shined down on them as they made their way to a small cubicle housing an ATM.

"You actually think this is going to work?" Maggie looked at Rembrandt with a sly grin. Almost as if she was trying to say, "This will never work."

Rembrandt cracked his usual grin before he spoke, "I can't count the number of worlds this thing has worked on. Besides we spent every dime we had on the last world and we're not here long enough for jobs. We'll probably need some cash, figured I'd give it a shot." Rembrandt inserted his card and entered his pin number. The ATM accepted it and he pulled up an account statement. "WOW! Let me tell you, my double is loaded! Just take a couple of hundred, he won't miss it."

Maggie shook her head and spoke, "I'd hate to see what your account looks like back home. No telling how many sliding Rembrandt Brown doubles have raided your account."

Remmy chuckled, "Girl, if you had any idea how broke I was back home, you wouldn't wish that on my doubles. Poor guys couldn't even afford to feed their sliding buddies."

"C'mon Remmy. Let's go track down Autumn and Bennish before the slide. They'll be happy to know we have funds."

As Rembrandt and Maggie walked away from the ATM, Rembrandt accidentally grazed up against the shoulder of someone passing him. "I'm sorry man." He said. "No problem." The voice replied. If Rembrandt had only looked or listened closer he would have realized the voice was his own.

Mallory turned to Rembrandt and spoke, "Remmy, I think that guy was you."

Rembrandt shook his head, "Nah Fogboy, you're imagining things."

"Think this will work?" Mallory asked.

"It had better, we used all of our money up on that last world. We don't have long till the slide and we need some cash." Rembrandt inserted his card and entered his PIN number. The ATM accepted it and he pulled up an account statement. "WOW! This guy is loaded! Wonder how many hit records he's put out? Sure he won't miss a couple of hundred dollars."

"You know your luck's gonna run out one of these days Remmy." Mallory cracked a smile.

Rembrandt cracked his usual grin, "Just not anytime soon. C'mon we've only got about 5 minutes left on this world, better hook up with Maggie and Diana."

Rembrandt and Mallory walked away from the ATM and headed to meet the others. As they walked away, another Rembrandt Brown turned the corner behind them and walked up to the ATM. "here goes nothing," he said. He inserted his card, punched in his PIN number and the ATM accepted it. He pulled up an account statement and spoke, "Whoa! My double is loaded! Sure he won't miss a couple of hundred. And to think Qball, Wade and the Professor told me not to try it on this world." Rembrandt cracked a large grin. "You gotta love sliding!"
What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds, where it's the same year and you're the same person, but everything else is different? And what if you can't find your way home?

Starring:
Cleavant Derricks as Rembrandt Brown
Kari Wuhrer as Maggie Beckett
Robert Floyd as Mallory
Tembi Locke as Diana Davis




by Chaser9
Based on concepts by Blinker
Produced by Q-Ball79 and Chaser9

The swirling blue vortex opened and four figures were thrown from it. Maggie Beckett was the first to hit the hard ground with a loud THUD. Diana Davis soon followed. Rembrandt Brown barreled towards the ground screaming, not in pain or fear, but in fun. He honestly had grown to love sliding in these last few years, yes there had been pain and loss, but nothing was quite like the ride through the vortex. He smiled as he hit the ground. Mallory came barreling out of the vortex last as it slowly began to collapse.

"What a ride!" He screamed.

His companions began to lift themselves from the ground. Rembrandt brushed his clothes off and turned to Diana. "How long do we have here?"

Diana lifted the timer and spoke, "15 minutes."

"15 minutes? We only had 20 on the last world. That's barely enough time to grab some food." Mallory turned to his companions. "So, we going to eat or what?"

"Typical man, always thinking with your stomach, Mal." Maggie cracked a sly grin.

Diana tried not to laugh and spoke, "Actually Maggie, I have to agree with him. I could go for some food."

"Rem?" Maggie turned to Rembrandt.

"Well, I've got the cash thanks to this baby." Rembrandt flashed his ATM card. "So let's find us someplace to eat."

"Think we'll have enough time?" Diana asked.

"Well, if we don't we'll eat on the next world. Beats just standing around waiting for the slide." Mallory turned from the others and began walking away.

"Wait up, Mal!" Maggie screamed.

The four walked through the city, realizing time was short. A group of high school students walked by the group and began staring at Rembrandt.

"Remmy, I think those kids are staring at you." Mallory said.

"Think you're getting paranoid Fogboy."

As if by cue, the kids began to rush towards Rembrandt screaming, "Es ist der Schluchzende Mann! Es ist der Schluchzende Mann!"

"What are they saying?" Maggie asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's German." Diana replied.

"Whatever language it is, run for it! We don't know anything about this world!" Rembrandt screamed.

The four turned a corner and Mallory ran right into a woman, knocking her down.

He helped her up and spoke, "I'm sorry . . ." Once he saw the woman's face he was unable to continue. Rembrandt recognized her immediately, but he was too busy as the high school students had reached him and were bombarding him with pads and pens screaming, ""Es ist der Schluchzende Mann! Es ist der Schluchzende Mann!"

"Quinn Mallory? Is that you?" The woman said.

"Daelin? What are you doing here?" Mallory replied.

"Well, these students are mine. I teach at a high school not to far from where we used to live backing San Francisco. They're exchange students from Germany. We came up for the weekend so they could see L.A. And I see they recognized your friend. Hello Mr. Brown. Feel privileged, The Cryin' Man is bigger than David Hasselhoff in Germany."

Rembrandt continued signing autographs. "Thanks, nice to know."

Maggie and Diana couldn't help but notice how distracted Mallory seemed as Daelin spoke. Maggie whispered to Diana, "Old girlfriend?" Diana shrugged her shoulders.

"So, are you living here now?" Daelin asked.

"No, we're just passing through." he replied.

"Oh, how long are you here for?" she asked.

"Not very long, unfortunately. We're on our way out of town right now," Mallory's head sank as he spoke those words.

"That's too bad. It would have been nice to discuss old times."

"Yeah. So you're still in San Francisco right?" he asked.

"That's right, if you ever make it back that way look me up." She flashed a smile and approached her students. "Come on gang. I think you've troubled "Schluchzende Mann" enough."

One of the students looked to Daelin and spoke, "We're sorry Miss Richards. Thank you Schluchzende Mann."

"You're welcome!" Remmy cracked a smile.

"It was great to see you again Quinn," Daelin said as she walked away.

"Yeah, it was great to see you again too." Mallory's head sank.

The familiar beeping sound of the timer began to sound.

"So much for food," Maggie said.

Diana raised the timer and opened the swirling blue vortex. She was the first in followed by Maggie. Rembrandt looked to Mallory. He was still staring at the spot Daelin had just left. "Fogboy! Come on!"

Mallory shook his head a bit and dove into the vortex, Rembrandt followed and the vortex slowly vanished.


Another slide, yet another parallel world. How many had they traveled to over the years? They had each lost track. The vortex opened and spat four figures out of it. They landed in almost the exact same spot they had left on the last world.

"400 mile radius and we land in nearly the same spot. Freaky." Rembrandt brushed himself off and turned to the others. "How much time Diana?"

Diana raised the timer and spoke, "10 minutes."

"This is too weird, it seems like our slides keep getting shorter and shorter," Rembrandt's face became concerned.

"Could it be some of the parts we used to rebuild the timer?" Maggie asked.

"I'm not sure. I need to be able to take a good look at the timer and I don't dare do that with such a small window."

Rembrandt turned to Mallory and spoke, "You okay Mallory? You seem kind of down."

"I'll be fine Rem." Mallory turned away from the others and began to walk away.

"You two stay put, I think he could use someone to talk too." Rembrandt walked away from Maggie and Diana. As he moved towards Mallory, Rembrandt noticed the small group of young adults from the last world. Expecting to be accosted by them Rembrandt braced himself for a repeat of the last world. The students simply walked right past Rembrandt all repeating the same thing, "Blinkers Version war nicht so schlecht, wie er dachte." Rembrandt assumed that in this universe he wasn't as big in Germany as he was on the last. He walked up behind Mallory and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Lemme guess, it was Daelin, wasn't it?"

Mallory looked at Remmy with a surprised look on his face. "How?"

"Did I know?" Rembrandt replied. "Qball knew her. We had a run in with a few of her doubles almost four years ago. I take it you two were close?"

Mallory seemed hesitant to answer. "Remmy, she should have been the one. She was an incredible woman who I had known when I was younger. She walked back into my life exactly when I needed her. We became inseparable."

"And she moved away." Rembrandt added.

"Huh? No. Why do you say that?"

"Oh, that's what happened with her and Quinn. She moved away. He never got over her."

Mallory shook his head, "He had it lucky then."

Rembrandt looked closely at his friend and spoke, "Mallory . . . Quinn, I'm here if you need me."

Mallory knew Rembrandt was sincere. He also knew how hard it was for him to refer to him as 'Quinn'. It may have been over a year since the accident that merged Mallory with Rembrandt's Quinn, but the subject of name was still touchy. "I lost her Remmy. I pushed her away. She loved me, tolerated every one of my quirks and kept trying to get me to walk the straight and narrow. She wanted to be with me regardless Rem and I pushed her away!"

"What happened?" Rembrandt could see the pain emanating from his friend. He wished he could ease it in some way.

"We had talked about getting married, but as my disease got worse and I lost the use of my legs, I became angry, bitter. I waded around in my own self-pity. I took it out on her. She finally couldn't take anymore. And I let her go. Broke my heart into a thousand pieces, but I was no good for her. After Dr.Geiger cured me, I tried to find her. She had married some guy named Dennis McMillan. They had a son. She had a wonderful life that I had no right to interfere with. After that, I swore I'd never open myself up to anyone again. Haven't you ever wondered why I'm like I am with women? Do you honestly believe I enjoy that? That it brings me some kind of joy? Seeing Daelin's double, talking to her, it brought all the old feelings back."

Rembrandt hugged his friend and spoke, "Listen to me Fogboy, there are an infinite number of Daelins out there in the multiverse, what's say once you find one on a world you like, you settle down and live happily ever after?"

Mallory tried to smile. "Only after we get you home Cryin' Man."

"C'mon, we've only got a few minutes before the slide."


Bob Tracy was on the verge of breaking. His tedious job as a welcomer at Value-Mart was more than his mind could bear, couple that with his recent loss of his wife to his best friend, a 5% pay cut and those annoying German exchange students who he was being forced to train. His mind could not fathom the reasoning behind Value-Mart Central's decision to import workers from Germany . . . especially these non-English speaking high School students.

"Thank You for Shopping Value-Mart. Have a Nice Day." The words burned as they left his throat. He wasn't sure he could speak them again, let alone hear those words once again.

The automatic doors swung open. There was a brilliant flash of light as four figures came flying through the door and landed upon the ground. Bob was in shock. He could only stare at the four figures on the floor.

Mallory raised himself from the floor. He looked around at all of the people staring at him and the others and spoke, "Watch out for that first step!"

Rembrandt, Maggie and Diana stood up and joined Mallory.

"Well, that's the first time we've ever done that." Maggie said.

Diana raised the timer and looked at the readout. "Five minutes? There must be something wrong with this thing. And I don't have nearly enough time to examine it."

Bob Tracy approached the sliders. He had to force himself to speak, "Welcome To Value-Mart. Is that a return?"

"Uhm no, it's not." Rembrandt said.

"Oh.Well, if you're going to bring it in here I need to put a sticker on it." Bob replied.

"Okay . . ." Diana replied. Bob placed a smiley face sticker on the timer and the four sliders walked away from him.

"Quinn? Quinn Mallory?" Mallory turned to see Daelin Richards standing behind him.

"Daelin!" Daelin walked up to Mallory, punched him in the stomach and kicked him. Mallory fell to the ground in pain.

"What?" Mallory's voice was groggy.

"That's for walking out on me and your daughter! You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here, especially after all you've done to me and her!"

Mallory shook his head. How could his double have done this to this wonderful woman? "I know it doesn't mean anything, but I am sorry."

Daelin slapped Mallory across the face, "Go to hell Quinn!" She stormed away and Maggie and Rembrandt helped Mallory up. The timer began to beep as the time expired.

"Time to go, " Diana raised the timer and fired. The vortex opened. Its shape was distorted and its color scheme was different. "Something's wrong with the vortex."

"Don't care, I just want off this world." Mallory spoke as he dove into the vortex.

Rembrandt looked to Maggie and Diana. "Well, we either follow him or spend 29 years here." The three looked at each other and dove for the vortex.

As the vortex began to collapse one of the exchange students spoke, "Thank you . . for shopping Value-Mart . . . have a nice . . day."

Bob Tracy could only scream, as he wrapped his hands around the student's neck.


The distorted vortex opened. It's color scheme shifted from blue to red to gold and finally to black. Three figures came barreling out of the vortex and landed on the ground.

Maggie Beckett was the first to rise. "Where's Mallory?"

Diana Davis looked around, as did Rembrandt Brown.

"He should have been the first one out." Diana said.

"Mallory!" Rembrandt screamed.

As the black vortex began to close, a limp figure was thrown from it and landed on the hard ground.

"Mallory!" Maggie screamed.

The three sliders rushed to their fallen comrade's side. Mallory looked bruised and battered. He was convulsing and his words made no sense. Small unintelligible groans where the only thing his companions could decipher.

"What's wrong with him?" Maggie asked.

"I'm not sure." Diana replied.

"We need to get him some help. How much time?" Rembrandt asked.

Diana removed the PDL from her back pocket and lifted the timer. "No time. The timer reads zero." Diana tried to open a vortex. "Nothing."

Rembrandt shook his head. "We'll worry about that later. We have to help Mallory."

Diana knelt over Mallory's form and scanned him with the PDL. Her eyes widened as she spoke, "His recombinant DNA is in flux . . . no wait, that's not right." Diana's eyes continued to widen.

"What is it? "Maggie asked.

"He's gone . . ." Diana replied.

"What are you talking about? Mallory's okay isn't he?" Rembrandt was becoming agitated.

"If we get him to a hospital he should be, but Quinn is gone. Your Quinn is gone. His DNA is no longer combined with Mallory's."

"How is that possible?" Maggie asked. In her mind she knew what this meant.

"It must have been the fluctuations in the exotic matter of the wormhole. It must have ripped them apart."

"If Mallory's still alive, then . . ." Maggie couldn't bring herself to say what she knew must be true.

Rembrandt placed his arm around Maggie and spoke, "Don't even think that girl."

"But Geiger said . . ."

Rembrandt quickly cut Maggie off. "Geiger also said he had Earth Prime's coordinates. He was wrong then, he's wrong now. He's okay. He has to be."

Diana spoke with resolve in her voice. "Listen, both of you, I understand what you're thinking . . . and feeling, but we have to get Mallory to a hospital. The timer and everything else can wait."

Rembrandt looked to Maggie and spoke, "She's right. We have to help Mallory . . . everything else can wait."


It had been about an hour since Mallory had been admitted to the hospital. Rembrandt, Diana and Maggie waited patiently for any word on their friend.

"What do we do?" Maggie asked.

"We wait," Rembrandt replied.

"I'm talking about the timer, Rem." Maggie knew how callous her words seemed, but she was a realist. They had to fix the timer.

Diana spoke, "I'll go check into The Chandler. I can take the timer apart and give it the once over. Hopefully I can find whatever is causing the problem."

"Sounds like a plan. Maggie, you go with her. I'll call as soon as I hear something on Mallory."

Diana and Maggie left for the Chandler. While Rembrandt patiently awaited news on his friend. Time passed. Rembrandt could barely stay awake, and still no word on Mallory's condition. As Rembrandt began to nod off, a doctor approached him.

"Mr. Brown?"

Rembrandt looked up and was face to face with the Value-Mart welcomer from the last world. He tried not to stare. "I'm Rembrandt Brown. How's my friend?"

"Mr. Brown, I'm Dr. Robert Tracy. Your friend suffered some bruises and contusions. He had some minor internal injuries, but I think he's going to be okay now. His wife is with him."

"Wife?" Rembrandt assumed there had been a mistake, that the doctor was confused.

"Yes, it's standard hospital policy to contact the closest relative of the patient. Everyone knows that."

On this world, maybe, Rembrandt thought.

"Anyway, we contacted Mr. Mallory's wife after running a check on him. She was very anxious to see him. It seems he's been missing for over a year. Would you care to tell me where he's been?"

Rembrandt knew he had to think fast. He had to come up with something or else the police would become involved, and how would he explain this wasn't this world's Mallory? As if by magic, the words rolled off his tongue. "I'm not real sure. We met in San Francisco a few months back. He was looking for work. I hired him as a roadie; see I'm a musician. He didn't talk much about his past, figured he had something to hide, just knew he was a good worker and a good friend. He got jumped by some folks trying to steal some of our equipment. They roughed him up pretty bad."

"I see. You say you're a musician. Weren't you in the Spinning Topps?"

Rembrandt cracked a smile, "The Cryin' Man, that's me."

Dr. Tracy smiled, "I always liked you better than Maurice. You can go see Mr. Mallory whenever you're ready."

"Thanks." Rembrandt replied. Rembrandt walked down the halls of the hospital and headed towards Mallory's room. As he approached the door to Mallory's room, he heard a female voice. It must have been the voice of Mallory's wife on this world.

"Quinn, I don't know where you've been, but I'm so glad you've made it back to me. Never leave me again."

Rembrandt peeked in the door and saw the woman sitting next to Mallory's bed. He should have been surprised as to the person's identity, but he wasn't. Rembrandt knocked on the door of the room and stepped inside. He woman looked up from her chair and Rembrandt spoke, "Sorry to bother you. I'm a friend of his."

"Oh, it's no bother. I'm his wife. Daelin, Daelin Mallory."

"Rembrandt Brown at your service ma'm"

"Nice to meet you Mr. Brown. How do you know my Quinn?" Daelin asked.

"Please, call me Rembrandt. We've been traveling together for a while."

"Ah, I see. It's funny, I've been waiting for this day for a long time and now that he's finally back, I'm not sure what to say or do."

There was a low murmur from Mallory as he began to stir.

"He's waking up." Rembrandt said.

Daelin rushed to Mallory's side and spoke, "Quinn, honey, can you hear me?"

Mallory's eyes slowly focused. He could see the beautiful face in front of him. "Daelin?"

Daelin wrapped her arms around Mallory and spoke, "Welcome home."

"Owww, I was going to ask if I'd died and this was heaven, but I think that sharp pain just nixed that idea." Mallory lay back on the bed and noticed Rembrandt standing behind Daelin.

"Hey Fogboy. How you holding up?"

"I feel like I got hit by a truck. Where are Diana and Maggie?"

"Who?" Daelin asked.

Rembrandt quickly replied, "My wife and daughter. Mallory's been traveling with us."

"Mallory? I thought you hated it when people called you by your last name Quinn?" Daelin looked into Mallory's eyes as she spoke. It nearly shook him to the center of his being.

"Not as much as I use to." Mallory's mind was reeling. Right in front of him was the woman he had once loved more than anything. How could he tell her he wasn't who she thought he was? How could he break her heart again?

"Look, I'm going to give you two some time alone. I'm gonna check on Diana and Maggie." Rembrandt wasn't comfortable with leaving Mallory alone with Daelin. He knew how Mallory felt about Daelin, even if she was a double. He didn't have much choice though. He needed to know what kind of shape the timer was in and what their chances of getting off this world were.


Diana pried the back of the timer off and began inspecting the parts, while Maggie relaxed on the couch and tried to watch TV.

Maggie threw down the remote and spoke, "It's hopeless, I'll never find out who the father of Hope's baby is. The last world I got to watch it on, they thought it was John, but on this world, they think it's Lucas? Where do they come up with this stuff?"

Diana pried herself away from her work long enough to speak, "Don't forget the world before that where they had that weird vampire character, what was his name? Barnabas something or other."

"Yeah, who would have ever thought of putting a vampire on a soap opera? Figure out the problem?"

Diana lifted up the power chip and spoke, "This. After all the trouble we went through to get it and it's faulty. That's why our slide windows kept getting shorter and shorter."

"Can it be fixed?"

"If I can find a new power chip. Maybe they'll have what I need at one of the local electronic stores on this world."

Diana stood up and headed for the door. The phone began to ring. Maggie answered it. "Hello." Maggie turned to Diana, "It's Remmy. Mallory's awake. What? His who? Get this, Mallory's double's wife thinks Mallory's her Quinn. Yeah. It's the power chip. Diana's going to try to find one. Okay. Yeah, see you then." Maggie hung up the phone and spoke, "Remmy said he's going to drop back by Mallory's room one more time and then head here."

Diana spoke, "I'm going to go see if I can find a power chip. Have fun with your soaps."

Maggie picked up the remote and began flipping through the channels once again. "You're kidding me! Patch is alive? Who writes this stuff?!"


Rembrandt approached the door to Mallory's room. He could hear voices.

"What happened, Quinn? Why did you run away? I mean one second you're on your way to help Andrew with his 'project' and then you're gone. It was almost as if you vanished off the face of the earth."

Mallory wasn't sure how to reply. He wasn't her Quinn. He could see the pain in her eyes, yet at the same time he could see the renewed hope there as well. Rembrandt had said there were an infinite number of Daelins in the multiverse. Could this be his chance for happiness? "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm back now and I know what's important."

Daelin hugged Mallory and spoke, "I knew you wouldn't leave me."

Rembrandt slowly entered the room. "Hey there you two."

"Hello Mr. Brown," Daelin said.

"Remmy. Daelin could you let me and Remmy talk alone for a minute?"

Daelin stood up and spoke, "Sure thing. I'm going to grab something to eat."

Daelin left the room and Rembrandt spoke, "How you feeling?"

Mallory spoke, "Better. A little bruised and slightly out of it, but beyond that, I'm okay. What happened?"

"We're not exactly sure. You dove into the vortex first. You came out last. Diana ran some scans on you. Quinn . . . my Quinn . . . is gone. You're not merged anymore." Rembrandt still didn't want to think about the ramifications of those words.

"That can't be. I still remember the first time he met you. I remember Ice World, where you lost your caddy. The world where you lost the Professor . . . Wade . . . " Mallory stopped. He looked around baffled. "Remmy, I have his memories. I can remember his life. That can't be. . . something's wrong I shouldn't be able to remember his life."

Rembrandt's eyes widened. "Diana needs to take a look at you. Which means I've got to get you out of here."

Mallory shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere Rem." "What do you mean?" "I mean I'm not leaving this room . . . or this world. You told me there were an infinite number of Daelin's out there in the multiverse. This one needs me."

Rembrandt shook his head. "This Daelin needs the man she married. We don't even know what happened to him."

"He left her, that's all I need to know. He ran out on her and never looked back. She loved him, she waited for him and has he come back to her? NO, he hasn't. She needs me Remmy. With Quinn gone from me, there's no reason for me to be sliding anymore."

Rembrandt was quiet. He knew not to argue with Mallory. "If you've made up your mind. Although I think you're making a mistake."

"It's my life Rem." Mallory spoke with certainty and determination in his voice. For the first time in years, he had his head together.

Rembrandt seemed hesitant, but finally spoke. "Then I wish you nothing but luck, Mallory."


Diana slammed the door of the hotel room and immediately plopped down in the chair.

"Problems?" Maggie asked.

"No electronic store in the state has anything even resembling the power chip. We are stuck here." Diana placed the timer and PDL on the table and tried to relax.

Rembrandt came through the door and spoke. "We've got a problem."

"I know, no power chip," Maggie replied.

"Huh?" Rembrandt looked around. "Wonder-freakin-ful! Something else we have to worry about!"

Diana looked to Maggie.

"What's wrong Rem?" Maggie asked.

"Mallory says he's staying, but the strangest part is this . . . he's got Q-Ball's memories. He was telling me stuff that happened when Qball was still with us."

Diana shook her head, "It's possible that because they had been merged for so long, subatomic fragments of your Quinn are still a part of Mallory. Likewise, minute parts of Mallory may be gone too." Rembrandt and Maggie looked to Diana strangely. "Okay, imagine you bought a magazine at the store. The magazine has a price sticker on it, so you rip it off. In the process, part of the magazine cover comes off on the sticker, while adhesive from the sticker remains on the magazine." Maggie and Remmy nodded, showing they understood her analogy.

"So he's going to stay? Because that woman thinks he's her husband? What's gotten into him?" Maggie was becoming agitated, maybe it was simply the overwhelming feeling of stir craziness that was boiling inside of her, or maybe it was just that Mallory was shocking her more and more everyday.

"Well, it is his life," Diana replied.

"Yeah, but what if there are other after effects of the split? Think anyone can handle it better than you?" Rembrandt asked.

"You have a point Remmy. We should talk to him."

"Good idea." Maggie replied. The three sliders began to leave the room. Diana stopped, grabbed the timer and PDL and followed Rembrandt and Maggie out the door.


Daelin sat by Mallory's side. She was overjoyed her husband had returned. Little did she realize that joy would soon be undone.

Rembrandt, Maggie and Diana entered the room.

"Hey guys," Mallory said.

"We need to talk, Fogboy," Maggie replied.

"It doesn't matter what you say, I've made up my mind." Mallory replied.

"You haven't considered the ramifications have you?" Diana said.

Daelin looked to Diana, Maggie and Rembrandt and spoke, "What are you people talking about?"

"I need to run some tests, Mallory" Diana reached for the PDL and as she pulled it from her pocket, the timer fell to the ground.

Daelin picked up the timer and spoke, "What is this? I've seen something like this before."

Mallory's eyes widened.

"Andrew was always showing something like this off right before the two of you disappeared."

"So Andrew is missing too?" Rembrandt asked.

Daelin's eyes lit up. "Yes. He disappeared at the same time Quinn did. Where is he Quinn? And why won't you tell me where you were?"

Mallory didn't answer. Rembrandt approached Daelin and spoke, "I think you should sit down."


"Are you sure she can help us?" Maggie asked.

Daelin Mallory was quiet at first, almost hesitant. The truth about these people had jarred her, dashed her hopes. "She's kept all of Andrew's things exactly as he left them. Hasn't touched anything since he disappeared."

The door to the house opened and Rembrandt took two steps back.

"Remmy, what's wrong?" Diana asked.

"Andrew's wife . . . it's Wade's sister." Rembrandt whispered. It was taking every iota of Rembrandts strength to hold back the tears.

"Hi Daelin. These are the people you told me about? Hi, I'm Kelly Summers. Don't mind the mess, didn't have time to straighten things up."

Daelin walked into the house. Rembrandt, Maggie and Diana followed. Maggie whispered to Rembrandt, "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah . . . I'll be fine." Or so he wanted her to believe. Rembrandt had still not come to grips with the loss of his friends.

The five made their way to the basement. Dust was thick in the air. Diana, Rembrandt and Maggie began looking throughout the basement for spare parts.

"Look here!" Rembrandt screamed. He held up a large bulky contraption with a dial on it.

Diana looked the device over. "It appears to be the prototype for a timer. . . . but it's so big. Must have been before he refined the design."

Kelly Summers spoke, "So let me get this straight, you three and Quinn . . . Mallory, whatever you call him, are 'Sliders'. You can travel from parallel earth to parallel earth. So Andrew's theories were right."

Diana pried the back off the large device and spoke, "Yes, Mrs. Summers. And if my theory is correct, that's what happened to your husband and Daelin's Quinn." Diana pulled a chip from the large device and spoke, "I think this will work. It must have been your husband's original power chip."

"Will it work in our timer?" Maggie asked. Diana looked at the chip and to the timer. "It's the right size and Andrew's design seems almost identical to ours."

Kelly Summers was becoming agitated. "So that's it, you take the chip and our husbands are still lost out in the multiverse?"

"She has a point Diana. We should at least try to help them." Rembrandt knew it would be almost impossible to retrieve Andrew and Mallory's double if they were sliding randomly, they could only hope their next slide would bring them back home.

Diana looked around the basement and spoke. "I have an idea. I may be able to construct a 'homing beacon'. If they're sliding through the interdim, the signal might draw their slide here. Let me see what I can do."


It was several hours later when Diana finished her work. "Here's how this will work, I'll turn the beacon on and hopefully, the next time your husbands slide, the beacon will draw the timer back to this equipment, thus allowing them to return home."

"At least we have hope now," Kelly said. "And some idea of what happened to them."

Rembrandt turned to Diana and Maggie and spoke, "We should go, we need to get back to the hospital, so we can install the chip. I'd hate for Mallory to miss the slide."

Daelin spoke, "I'll go back with you. I have a few things I'd like to say to Mallory."


Daelin walked into Mallory's room and spoke, "You weren't going to tell me where you? You where going to let me believe you were my husband. Why?"

Mallory was hesitant, "I lost 'my' Daelin, and I'd give anything to have another chance with her."

"Even lie to another version of her? There's a part of me that wonders how you could have become this. My Quinn would never pull something like this. How could you two be so different in that regard?"

Mallory remained silent.

Daelin spoke, "I just wanted you to realize that if you ever want a second chance with a Daelin, you're going to have to change. There's a little something called honesty . . . maybe you should try it some time."

Daelin left the room and Mallory spoke, "I'm sorry." Maggie, Rembrandt and Diana entered the room.

"C'mon Fogboy, get some clothes on, we're about to slide." Remmy said.

Mallory began to put his clothes on and Diana pulled the timer from her pocket. She inserted the power chip and the display lit up. "We've got 30 seconds."

Mallory quickly dressed as Diana opened the vortex. The four figures dove in leaving yet another world behind.

Another world, the vortex opened and four figures were thrown from it. Rembrandt Brown quickly raised himself from the ground and spoke, "Diana, how much time?"

Diana raised the timer and spoke, "3 days 12 hours 15 minutes."

"Looks like the timer's fixed," Maggie replied.

Mallory took a few steps away from the group. Rembrandt saw this and spoke, "You okay Mal?"

Mallory hesitated for the moment, "No Remmy, but all in good time."

The End

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