Well, this is interesting. I never thought I'd get this far. And I'd like to thank you for reading and reviewing... With a poll! Which world from the show do you want to see revisited. The world from "The Guardian" or, the world from "Prophets and Loss"? Also, check out .com for more Sliders goodness.
Chapter 9:
The three sliders landed in a pile of leaves in front of the Mallory House. Michael brushed himself off and ran into the basement, the ritual to check if they had returned home. He came running out smiling.
"They're gone! All the papers I took, gone!" Michael shouted. "We're home!"
"How do you know it's not a similar but different world?" Rebecca asked.
"I don't care! I'm sure that this is home, it just feels right!" Michael replied. "And we have a week to find out!"
"Well then, we should head over to Cal U to check your dorm." Rebecca said.
"Good idea!" Sam said and the three started to walk to the bus stop.
They didn't notice an older man, who looked like the prototypical hippie watching them. He rubbed his eyes and smiled.
"Far out!" he said and started running toward Cal U.
The man ran into a classroom where a man was collecting papers off of the desk in the front.
"Arturo, dude! I saw the portal!" the man said.
"What are you going on about, Mr. Bennish?" the man said.
"Dude! I saw the vortex, it wasn't Quinn, but it was another group of people coming out. But it was just like the one Quinn had!" Conrad Bennish Jr. said.
"My word! Thank you, Mr. Bennish! It's been nearly two decades, but this is fantastic. Did they say where they were going?" Arturo asked.
"Yeah, they're coming here!" Conrad Bennish Jr. said.
"Fantastic. I take back everything I've ever said about you. You are a great ally!" Arturo said.
The sliders walked up to Cal U, and it looked exactly how they all remembered it. They stepped onto the campus, and Arturo came running up to them.
"Hello, are you the students who disappeared a few months ago? Uh, Michael and... Sam was it?" Arturo asked.
"Yeah." Michael said, turning and smiling to Rebecca. "We're home!"
"Anyway, I'll be off, but I'd love it if you stopped by my class tomorrow, and discussed where you've been. I believe I have a faint idea that you are where, Mr. Mallory went..." Arturo said.
"Yeah..." Sam said and they walked to Michael's dorm room.
"So, we're home!" Michael shouted.
"Not quite..." Sam said.
"How do you know?" Rebecca asked.
"That man, who was talking to us, that was Professor Arturo, he disappeared with Quinn." Sam said.
"Listen, we've been gone for a few weeks, maybe they found their way back, that's why he knows we went sliding." Michael said.
"Yeah... But that's unlikely." Sam said. "I say we investigate this world."
"Whatever..." Michael said, his head turning to Rebecca. "Here's the timer, you have a week, you can stay if you want, but... I'd like it if you stayed."
"Why?" Rebecca asked.
"The crap that we went through, I can't believe that you can brave that alone, I mean, Sam's been beaten and tied up, the only way we escaped was by teamwork. I'd never be able to live with myself if you missed the gateway on some world." Michael replied.
"I'll think about it, and hey, maybe you can fix the timer so that I can use this world as a waystation until I find mine." Rebecca said.
"Yeah." Michael smiled.
"Anyway, let's get some rest. And I might need to call my parents..." Sam said.
The three sliders slept, showered and changed their clothes, and took care of unfinished business.
"Anyway, we should head down to the quantum physics class." Michael said. "If that guy really is Professor Arturo, he might know how to fix the timer so that Rebecca can find her Earth faster."
"We should be wary though. In the event this isn't your home Earth." Rebecca said.
"Let's go then!" Sam said and the three made their way to Professor Arturo's classroom. He greeted them with a smile.
"Oh hello, Mr. Josephson! And Mr. Evans! And... Ms... I don't believe I caught your name." Professor Arturo said.
"Rebecca Collins. I'm not from around here..." Rebecca said.
"Great! Anyway, I want to know all about your trip!" Professor Arturo said.
"Uh, listen... Didn't you leave with Quinn?" Sam asked.
"Well... I assumed you'd ask that. I did. However I was separated from them on another world, I eventually found my way home, around the time you disappeared." Professor Arturo said.
"Yeah, we just took all of Quinn's notes and used them to make a new timer." Michael said.
"That is brilliant, my boy!" Professor Arturo said.
"Thanks." Michael said.
"Anyway, is there a way that you could possibly show me the notes? They locked off your dorm room after your disappearance." Professor Arturo said.
"We'd love it if you could help hone the timer, and make it work better, because, well, Rebecca is from another world, and we need to make it so it can take her home." Michael said.
"I have the basic knowledge of it, I can fix yours up!" Professor Arturo said.
"That's great!" Michael said. "It's a great help!"
"Of course, we'd have to test it first, so I'd have to use it, and come right back." Professor Arturo said.
"That seems fair, although I'd have to come with you." Michael said. "If it breaks, I'd be able to fix it."
"No, no, no. Sliding is no game, you are home and therefore must stay home. I can't let someone get stranded out in the multiverse like I did." Professor Arturo said.
"Well, I guess that's fine." Michael said.
"Anyway, I think that we're going to go look around while you guys discuss this stuff." Sam said. "Let's go Rebecca."
"But I want to stay." Rebecca said.
"We need to talk..." Sam said seriously as they left the building and went to the yard on the campus.
"What is it?" Rebecca asked.
"We're not home." Sam replied.
"I know that! This is your Earth!" Rebecca said.
"No it isn't. I've done some research. I knew something wasn't right when I saw Arturo." Sam said.
"How can you tell?" Rebecca asked.
"My dad loved football, his favorite Super Bowl was the one in 1985. He was so happy that the 49ers beat the Dolphins." Sam started.
"And?" Rebecca asked.
"In this reality, it was the Jets that were defeated by the 49ers! When I was talking to my dad on the phone yesterday, he wasn't sure if it was me, and I said that his favorite Super Bowl was that one. And he said that the Jets didn't know what hit them, and that confused me." Sam said. "We're not home!"
"Why didn't you tell Michael?" Rebecca asked.
"He was with Arturo, who can't possibly be our Arturo. I don't trust him." Sam replied.
"When do we tell him?" Rebecca asked.
"Later this week. We might as well see where the fixing the timer might go." Sam responded.
"Good idea. I'm sorry." Rebecca said.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Because, you're not home." Rebecca said.
"Please! I don't want to go home, that means I go back to my grind of going to classes. This is a hell of a lot more fun!" Sam said.
"You sure have a bright outlook on life." Rebecca said. "But how can you be sure about one football game being the clincher of fixing your opinion?"
"Well, I was watching the news today. And there was a traffic jam on the bridge." Sam said.
"Golden Gate?" Rebecca asked.
"Azure Gate." Sam said taking out his phone that displayed a picture of a blue hued Golden Gate Bridge.
"That clinches it!" Rebecca said nodding.
Three days later, Michael had been making great strides in replicating the timer, and giving it the ability to backup coordinates again. Rebecca and Sam came up to him as he was soldering a component.
"Uh, Michael... We need to talk." Sam said.
"What is it?" Michael asked. "I'm super busy. There's only three days until the timer hits zero."
"And we leave?" Sam asked.
"No, Rebecca leaves, we're home." Michael said.
"That's what we need to talk about." Rebecca said.
"We're not home." Sam said.
"Ha ha ha!" Michael laughed. "Nice try! This is home, same Earth, same San Francisco, and the same Golden Gate Bridge."
"Look that up." Sam said.
"What?" Michael asked.
"Look up the Golden Gate Bridge." Sam said.
"I don't know what you're trying to pull..." Michael said typing the bridge's name into the search bar. No results came up, but there were plenty for the Azure Gate Bridge. Michael's face fell and he stood up and walked to his bed and collapsed.
"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked.
"WE'RE NOT HOME!" Michael shouted as he shoved his face into a pillow.
"But we can still find it." Sam said.
"I'm not leaving. What good am I?" Michael asked. "I can open the flood gates, but my ark is a piece of crap! I'm a freaking failure!"
"Michael, it's fine. We'll just keep sliding til we find it." Sam said.
"And what if we don't? Huh?" Michael asked.
"We keep looking. Calm down." Sam said.
"You were worried about me, now you can come with and make sure I'm safe." Rebecca said.
"I guess... So, that isn't our Arturo..." Michael said.
"Nope!" Sam said.
"He's trying to steal the timer then. I'm sure of it." Michael said. "We can't confront him on it though."
"Oh don't worry about that, I've got a plan for that..." Rebecca smirked.
The timer was counting down and there was about ten minutes left. The sliders were meeting with Arturo to put the finishing touches on the timer. Arturo was standing in his office and they put the timer on the table.
"So, you have the final component?" Michael asked.
"Indeed I do, and soon your friend will be on her way." Arturo said smiling.
"If you can just hand it to me, I'd like to put it in myself." Michael said.
"No, I insist, it needs a steady hand." Professor Arturo said.
"Uh, sure." Michael said.
Professor Arturo attached the final component to the timer and looked at the timer. Michael reached his hand out for it, and Arturo pushed it away and Michael fell into a desk. He ran out of the room and outside of the building as Sam and Rebecca helped Michael up and follow him.
"Get back here!" Michael shouted.
"Not a chance! I have a working timer, I can prove that I'm not a crackpot!" Arturo said.
"Rebecca, what happened to your plan?" Sam asked.
"Don't worry." Rebecca replied.
"Sayonara, suckers!" Arturo said pointing the timer in front of him and opening the vortex. As he did so, a man punched Arturo in the face and he fell to the floor. The man picked the timer up and threw it to Rebecca.
"There you go, guys! I hope you find Quinn! Tell him Conrad Bennish Jr. says hi!" Conrad Bennish Jr. said.
"Thanks!" Rebecca said as she jumped into the portal.
"Sure thing, dude!" Sam said, jumping in.
"Make sure that you get rid of the notes in his office. Can't have him making it again." Michael said jumping in.
"Yeah!" Conrad Bennish Jr. said. "And Arturo man, shame on you, I thought you just wanted to congratulate them."
To Be Continued