Control

by Jules8

Sequel to Dark

CONTROL

by Jules Reynolds

Copyright May 1996

Authors note:-

When I wrote Dark I had not intended to do a sequel but I had several requests to continue the slide into the next world. I therefore decided to write this sequel, Control.

I hope that readers will find that although this is the sequel to Dark, Control can equally be enjoyed as a story in its own right.

Julia

All comments and criticisms are welcome.

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The following story is intended for entertainment purposes only. This document can be freely distributed with the condition that no part of the text is modified, and this notice is included with all copies.

This document cannot be sold or translated into any other form without written permission from the author. Some characters and elements of this story are the property of St Clare Entertainment, used without authorization. No copyright infringement is intended. The author receives no compensation from the distribution of this work. Any comments or criticism would be welcome.

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PART ONE

It took a lot to throw Quinn Mallory off balance. He was possessed of a quiet self control which usually mastered most situations but this time all his instincts told him that here was a no-win situation. The demons of doubt flooded through his entire system until he felt sick to the stomach.

Wade's voice seemed to float across through the hot air towards him and filter through his thoughts, pushing into his consciousness. It was urgent, pleading with him. "Quinn! Do something!"

Do what? He didn't like to admit it but the chances of him getting to Wade before the beast from hell made it first were pretty slim at best, and if he moved, his guess was that the creature would strike anyway. If it meant risking his own life to save hers then he was ready to give it but his deep instincts told him that it wouldn't get to that. The great black head rose slowly upwards, it's tail arching in readiness. Quinn thought he heard the screech of triumph as it prepared to lunge, but his ears were tuned only to Wade's terrified scream. As his muscles tightened in readiness, his arteries started to pump the blood required for the speed he knew he'd need. He rose to his knee to go for the long shot anyway and take a chance on pushing Wade from the monster's path.

*

The object whistled past his head, so close to his ear that he swore he could feel its burning heat, and ended filling the air with a cacophany of sound unlike anything Quinn had ever heard and ever cared to again. As the loud sound of exploding carcass and the terrified screams of a creature in its death throes filled the desert air and threatened to engulf them all, Quinn moved.

Wade was already rolling sideways to avoid being crushed by the falling creature and needed no urging as she scrambled to her feet and was half dragged to safety. "God what was *that*?" she breathed, leaning against Quinn, her heart thumping wildly with a combination of fright and exertion. Then she moved to sit down heavily on the sand. She felt suddenly exhausted.

"That,my dear child, was the largest scorpion I have ever seen, and ever want to again in my life" Arturo answered slowly, his eyes wide open, staring at the creature which lay silent, spreadeagled in the sand in front of them.

"Please don't tell me we've got long on this world" Rembrandt pleaded, his eyes reflecting terror at what he'd just witnessed. He turned to stare at the timer in Quinn's hand.

Quinn didn't answer him, staring instead at the shining metal of the weapon which Rembrandt let dangle down by his side, seeming not to notice he was holding it.

"Where did you get *that?*" he asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Picked it up from that damn cop - just before we slid - great huh? Certainly came in useful" he grinned triumphantly, gazing in the direction of the dead scorpion, its black glistening shell no longer a threat to the Sliders.

Quinn swallowed hard. He'd felt the bullet skim his ear. Rembrandt was either a real good shot or Quinn was the luckiest guy on the planet. He looked from the gun to the scorpion and then his eyes moved across to Wade.

She threw her arms around Rembrandt's neck and planted a large kiss on his cheek. Rembrandt grinned and hugged her back. "It's my pleasure sweetheart" he murmured with pleasure at her display of gratitude. "Just as well I know how to handle a gun - eh Q-Ball?" He smiled with amusement at his young friend's horror struck face. "Surely you didn't doubt the Crying Man, did you?" he added looking down at the shining metal in his hand.

Quinn raised his eyebrows and forced a smile to crawl across his tight lips. "Now would I do that?" he joked sarcastically and turned to look at the Professor.

Arturo was moving closer to the beast now and crouched down just near enough to its head to view it properly without going too close. "Nasty beast" he observed quietly as he felt his student crouch by his side.

"I don't like to think about it but any guess as to the reason for its size, Professor?" Quinn asked quietly.

"None,my boy. Never was much for natural history. My suspicions tell me that this creature is not a native though - at least not at this size" Arturo opined.

"How so?"

"Just a guess, dear boy, just a guess" he smiled at his young student.

"Since when have you "guessed" anything?" Quinn laughed sarcastically and his Professor's face creased into a wider grin.

"Ah well. I don't like to give scientific opinion until I know what I'm talking about and frankly - I don't know a thing about scorpions" Arturo offered as he rose to his feet and slapped Quinn on the back.

Wade was sitting on a sandbank, one boot in her hand tapping fine white grains of sand from the interior.

"Yuk" she exclaimed as she tipped it up.

"Yes, it's going to be hard walking anywhere in this." Arturo offered as he put his hand to his forehead and gazed through the shafts of light into the distance. The sand stretched in every direction, though large mounds prevented them from seeing too far over the horizon. There was nothing to suggest where the sand ceased and civilization began, if it did at all.

The sun was unbearably hot, hanging directly overhead the small group.

"This can't be Frisco, man" Rembrandt exclaimed as he moved towards Quinn who was tapping the timer hard with one hand and shaking his head.

"What's up Q-ball?" he enquired.

"I can't get the timer display to work" he announced, worry etched across his handsome face.

Wade manhandled her boot fast onto her foot and scooted across to his side.

"What do you mean, it doesn't work?" she exclaimed, pushing past Rembrandt and elbowing into Quinn's side under his arm. Sometimes it paid to be small.

"It's dead!" he announced flatly and shook it for good measure.

"Give it to me" Arturo joined them and snatched it from Quinn's hand.

Wade folded her arms and moved silently from their side. No matter what Arturo was doing it didn't change matters one bit. The timer was dead.

"Great" she muttered to herself and proceeded to sit down on the sand bank once more to shake the sand from her other boot.

"Man! Stranded here? This is a joke isn't it?" Rembrandt grabbed Quinn's shoulders and proceeded to shake him.

"Tell me it's a sick joke Q-Ball. I mean - you're just trying to scare us right? You're mad about the gun and you're playing with my mind........."

Rembrandt looked terrified. Quinn could almost smell the fear on his friend. He knew the truth was painful but he couldn't change matters - they were stranded. If he couldn't fix the timer, they might miss the slide - hell they might have missed it already. The timer had been pretty cranky lately.

As the unsavoury thought flicked across Quinn's mind he tightened his lips and glanced at Wade. She was too silent for her own good - he realised with some trepidation, a sure sign of trouble brewing. Arturo sat down heavily on the sand below him.

"We don't have any tools my boy" he observed quietly, gazing at Quinn with a troubled expression.

"I know" Quinn agreed quietly, glancing at the device in the Professor's hands and moving across to Wade.

"I can't believe we escaped from that world to this" she muttered as she shook her boot fiercely. It was free from sand now but she continued to shake it angrily as if it would do some good for their situation.

"Would you have wanted to stay?" Quinn asked steadily.

"That's a stupid question, Quinn." she answered crossly turning to look at him, her dark eyes burning.

"Of course I wouldn't have wanted to stay there but if I'd known we were sliding into Hell hole world I might have thought being a Tannie was a luxury" she offered, her dark eyes reflecting the chasms of fear which were opening up inside her.

"We didn't know" he offered, his voice subdued. Her barbed comments only reflected her fear, Quinn knew that. She was upset and he knew it but he had no comfort to offer her at the moment.

"I know we didn't." she answered bitterly. "We never do, do we Quinn? I mean, when do we decide to stop, give up completely and stay somewhere? When do we forget sliding and trying to get home and .....oh I don't know....."her voice trailed off for a minute.

Before Quinn could answer she added "Just forget it, okay. It doesn't matter does it? I mean we're probably stuck here anyway. And we've got no tools. We don't stand a chance so what's the point?". She shook her head and went back to her boot.

Quinn had no words for her. He felt pretty desperate himself. He was responsible for the slide, and he felt responsible for them all. She was beating up on him and she was right - it was his fault.

"How many bullets left?" he asked Rembrandt as he moved to his side.

"I dunno - three maybe four" Rembrandt replied shaking his head and examining the gun, stroking it gently as though it were their last hope.

"Well save them" Quinn muttered as he moved to sit with Arturo who was staring silently at the inert timer. He moved his sweater over his head in one swift movement and dropped it on the sand. The heat was overpowering.

"I'm sorry to say, dear boy, that this time I think we've got quite a problem." Arturo offered pessimistically.

"I know, Professor." Quinn mumbled in agreement and put his head into his hands to think.

The silence of the desert was all around them. The sun bore down with an intensity the Sliders had forgotten could exist, its heat reflected from the hot surface of the sands to radiate all around them. In every conceivable direction the sand stretched for mile upon mile, unremitting and unforgiving.

There was no escape - no small oasis of shade in which they could find rest. Nothing. There had to be a way out - a place where they could start to work on the timer, find water and shade.

Quinn fiddled nervously with the device, its blank, deadened display offering no comfort that it might spin into life and give them a gateway out of this bleak environment. He had to think. Had to work out what they should do. He was responsible for them all. It had to be his decision.

He rose slowly to his feet and gazed at his three companions. Rembrandt was toying with the gun, turning it over and over in his hands, his head bowed low over it. Quinn couldn't see his face or the expression thereon.

Arturo gazed blankly into the distance, one hand tucked into his waistcoat, the other stroking his chin trying to work out in which direction they should start to look.

Quinn turned to look at the last member of the group.

Wade sat sullenly, picking up handfuls of sand and letting the grains drop slowly in a brilliant white cascade to the bank on which she was seated. Her expression betrayed nothing. Her head was too bowed for him to see her eyes. Eyes which were usually the mirrors which reflected Wade's every mood and the indicators for Quinn when he wasn't sure what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. But for now he was at a loss though he could take a very good guess as to her mood and light wasn't the word for it. "Look guys, we can't just stay here. We've got to take action and look for a way to fix the timer. If nothing else for the moment we've got to find some water and some shade" Quinn commented swinging to look at each of them in turn.

They raised their eyes one by one to look at him, hope beginning to glimmer in the words of their friend and leader. Doing something positive would do them all good and Quinn knew it.

Suddenly his eye caught the carcass of the dead scorpion and he stared at it for a second. He covered the distance between the group and the dead creature at speed and crouched down behind it.

"Guys! Come and look at this!" his voice carried easily and lightly across the sultry, still air and he was joined within seconds by the rest of the Sliders.

"What? What is it?" Wade asked skidding to a halt beside him as he knelt fingering the edge of something, her eyes peering curiously at the area in front of him.

"We didn't see this now did we?" he muttered lightly as he brushed yet more sand away from the object he was trying to uncover.

"Damn animal's in the way" Arturo panted as he tried to push the dead carcass away from its resting place. The exertion and heat was making him perspire madly, rivulets of sweat starting to pour from his forehead.

Wade shuddered as she looked down into its dead eyes, still open and staring at her but devoid of life.

"We can't shift it" Quinn admitted after several attempts helping the Professor and Rembrandt, and he flopped down finally on his back and stretched his arms above his head.

"Oh great!" Wade exclaimed kicking the soles of his boots in frustration.

"You can't give up now!" she urged as he moved each leg away in turn until she nearly knocked herself off balance. "Fine. Lie down on the job then. I'll do it myself!" she thundered at him and gave him one last kick for good measure.

"Women" groaned Quinn as Rembrandt grinned at Wade's antics. Quinn closed his eyes to think. He needed to rest for a few minutes before trying to clear more sand from the edge of what had looked like a concrete slab.

* "Oh - guys!". Wade's voice pushed past the tiredness into his consciousness and Quinn sat up.

"Found something?" he asked sleepily. He'd dozed fitfully for some ten minutes but the heat was getting to him finally, his lips seemed parched and dry and he pushed his tongue across them to give them moisture. His throat was tight. He could kill for a drink.

"Come and see" she invited playfully.

"Miss Welles. I hope this is worth getting up for." the Professor grumbled as he hauled himself to his feet and joined the others at the side of the dead Scorpion. Their outer clothing lay in an untidy heap in the white sand. If anything the heat seemed to be intensifying.

"How did you do that?" Rembrandt asked incredulously, peering at the object at Wade's feet.

"With a bit of ingenuity" she answered proudly and pulled a triumphant face at Quinn who was looking surprised and delighted all at once.

As she stood back and held a hand towards her "find" Arturo sucked in a breath.

"So it is San Francisco!" Quinn breathed, his eyes open wide.

"Sure looks like it Q-ball" Rembrandt agreed happily.

"Well, of course it's San Francisco" Arturo thundered and patted Wade on the back. "Well done child! Of course if we're being technical about this we should say "was" San Francisco as there doesn't seem to be much left" he added.

"There's no need to be patronising" Wade muttered under her breath.

"I can assure you that I'm not....."

"Can it guys" Quinn interrupted and put his hand in the air.

"Can anyone hear anything?"

The sliders stood silently, listening. The low rumble seemed to come from far in the distance but vibrated through their feet and up into their bodies.

They looked at one another in alarm.

Just as suddenly as it had begun - it stopped.

"What was *that*?" Rembrandt asked the air. He suspected that none of his group would have an answer but fielding the question gave him a sense of weird satisfaction.

"I wouldn't care to hazard even a guess" the Professor muttered and turned back to the object in front of him.

"Well it's gone now." Wade said dismissively. "See I managed to clear some sand from the writing" she announced proudly to Quinn and he smiled appreciatively. She seemed in a better frame of mind.

"How did you know it was buried in this direction, away from the scorpion, Wade?" Quinn asked as he fingered the stone.

"I didn't" she replied and laughed.

"Do you wanna know the truth?" she asked, cocking her head on one side and smiling at him. He noticed her eyes seemed less troubled, but he doubted it would last long. When the euphoria had died down about their find they would still be stuck on what Wade quaintly referred to as Hell hole world. Nothing could change that sad fact - only a mended timer!

"You're dying to tell me" Quinn observed and grinned, grateful for her change in mood.

"Well, we couldn't move the scorpion so I just thought I'd take a look to see if the rest of the slab lay in the opposite direction. You assumed that the monster had fallen and knocked the stone underneath itself. I took a guess that it hadn't done that".

"And you were quite right, Miss Welles. It looks as though it had been buried long before our rather large friend came along" Arturo added.

"I wonder how long?" Quinn murmured.

"We'd need to find more remains of San Francisco for that, wouldn't we Professor?" Wade looked enquiringly at Arturo.

"Quite so" Arturo agreed.

"Well, it's good to see you Mr Lincoln" Rembrandt grinned and bowed at the remains of the head and shoulders which Wade had partially uncovered. A smaller fragment of rock lay next to it, the writing partially visible.

"United States of..........that's all you could find?" Quinn turned to look enquiringly at Wade.

"It's more than you found" she retorted smartly. "I can't find any more pieces - just the head and that small piece.....but I'm sure there's more. Let's look" she enthused.

"I see little point in wasting our energy in this heat." Arturo shook his head.

"Whilst it's obviously possible that this statue could be from somewhere else, from our past experience of sliding it is highly indicative that we are in some version of San Franciso - though God only knows what happened to it" he mused thoughtfully.

Quinn stood up and brushed the sand from his trousers. Wade did the same. Her face was turning a lovely shade of pink with her exertion and the rays of an unremitting sun. She was so hot now that she wished she had a cool pair of shorts to wear, but they had to make do with what they had on and that was that.

"I vote we don't just stand here and wait for something to happen. Let's go and find some shelter and water. We might even find something I could use to work on the timer" he offered cheerfully. He'd felt better just seeing the statue. For the first time since they'd arrived on this world he felt optimism rising. At least San Francisco had existed here. Maybe the rest lay unscathed in the distance. Maybe his house was in better shape. Maybe the basement would still be...............

"Q-Ball, we've got trouble" Rembrandt's voice sounded anxious.

"Oh, sure like we're not in enough..........."Wade didn't finish the sarcastic remark. It fled her lips before she could.

The sight of twenty robed figures silently pointing their weapons at them, kind of took any sort of conversation out of the picture.

Quinn swallowed hard and looked at the visitors.

"We're looking for water and......"he started to explain but was cut off in mid-sentence.

The loudspeaker which came from behind the figures bellowed in their direction, its words sucking the breath from their four bodies.

"VIOLATION OF THE CODE. SLIDERS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO RETURN - THE SENTENCE IS DEATH!"

---

PART TWOa

Quinn felt Wade grip his arm with such intensity he felt his circulation start to cut off. But that sensation was as nothing compared to the giant chasm he felt was his stomach. Most of it was in his mouth, the rest descended to the depths of his soul.

He didn't dare to look at his companions. In all honesty he didn't have to, he knew that each would have an expression mirrored on their faces of both horror and uncertainty at the words which had come from the loudspeaker.

It was a dream come true and a nightmare all rolled into one. A world where Sliders were known about! A world where death was a penalty if you returned. Returning! Did that mean that they'd learned how to control sliding? Was there a way home from this world? Confused thoughts of unimaginable proportions echoed through his mind, each trying to find their place, trying to be understood. But still his soul rejected them out of hand. The possibility that this world accepted Sliding as normal both excited and disturbed him and he wasn't sure which emotion would win.

Quinn reached his hand slowly to his side and unpinned Wades's fingers one by one. They seemed fixed to his arm by glue, reluctant to let go. When he'd rubbed the spot where she'd pinched his skin hard he felt her hand reach into his and hold it tightly.

He squeezed it reassuringly. But he didn't look at her. He didn't want to have to show her his expression. She would look to him to give her some indication as to the state of their predicament. What would he respond with? Enthusiasm? Anxiety? No - he couldn't decide yet. They'd all have to wait until they knew more about this. That's if they were given that long. That's if they weren't killed first. The bulk of the timer lay heavy in his pocket. He didn't reach to touch it. He didn't want anyone to know he had it. Not for now anyway. If it suited him later then maybe, but not for now! He just prayed he wouldn't be frisked.

"You have violated the Sliding Code. I am commanded to read to you the Code. May the last words you hear before you die be the rule which you have broken. May God have mercy on your souls".

The sombre robed figure read from a rolled manuscript. They couldn't see his eyes or his face. The voice seemed to be disembodied somehow, floating out from the hooded apparition.

It all appeared very gothic. If it weren't for the presence of the state of the art weapons the Sliders would have felt themselves transported back to the middleages. Wade's hand tightened.

"At least they believe in God" she whispered. Her voice sounded small and insignificant.

Quinn squeezed her fingers harder. To his knowledge, history had never shown religious fervor to be a precursor to compassion. Her words were of little comfort.

"My dear young fellow do we not get a chance....................................."

"SILENCE! Do not interrupt the sentry" the words were deafening, stopping Arturo's protest in its tracks. The loudspeaker buzzed as the words abated from within it.

"The Sliding Code states that any Slider who shall return to the zone, having been afforded the privilege of sliding from the wasteland shall be sentenced to death. The punishment shall be carried out in the zone at the sight of the slide."

The words would have been interesting to the small group had they felt inclined to concentrate and weren't seconds away from a death sentence. Only Quinn let them sink in and digested them carefully. Arturo wiped the sweat from his brow and swallowed. He faced death with the dignity he'd always hoped he would have in his last moments and raised his head proudly.

Rembrandt seemed transfixed on the white robed figures in front of him. He was motionless and his eyes, unflickering, stared straight ahead.

As the figures before them raised the large weapons to their shoulders and took aim, Quinn moved his arm up instinctively to cover Wade's face. If they were going to die she shouldn't have to witness any of it. Best she didn't see it coming. He felt her body tense as he moved.

"Sentries prepare to carry out the sentence" the voice boomed across the hot sultry air of the desert.

"Sentries take aim..............................."

"STOP!"

Quinn felt the collective sigh of relief ripple across the heat and explode the tension which had roped them all together. He felt Wade relax next to him and he watched as the Professor and Rembrandt sank to the sand in unison - the heat and the terror combining in a heady cocktail of complete exhaustion.

Wade grinned with relief, her shoulders sagging, the tension draining away momentarily.

The sliders waited to see the face of their saviour.

The sentries stood silently, their weapons still trained on the small group waiting for further orders. They seemed confused. Their faces were indistinguishable beneath the hoods of their robes, their eyes revealing nothing but Quinn noticed they seemed restless now, with one or two shifting their weapons from their shoulders to their waists. Trained troops wouldn't be moving at all , he noted mentally as he watched them. They were obviously not a professional squad.

The tall figure was dressed in a long black robe, in stark contrast to the bank of white robed sentries. The robe's length swept the sand along with it as he strode and he parted the ranks with his presence and approached them slowly and with purpose.

There seemed to Quinn to be an almost awed hush settle on the men or women who faced them - the robes made it impossible to be sure of their gender. Whoever he was, this tall and imposing figure held sway and respect.

"You!" he blasted as he approached the group, his finger pointing at them. It moved slowly from one face to the other, his eyes flickering momentarily with interest at Wade and then moving swiftly onwards until it rested finally on Rembrandt.

"Me?" Rembrandt replied, his mouth dropping slightly to reveal his teeth, his eyes wide as he watched the figure move closer.

Wade went to move towards Rembrandt, terrified that he was destined for some dire end but Quinn held her arm firmly.

She tried to shake him off.

"What're you doing? Let go Quinn. He's going to kill him" she whispered angrily.

"I don't think so. Just wait Wade" he whispered back firmly. Quinn doubted the sentries would have let Wade move anyway, one blast from their weapons and she'd be history, but then try explaining that to her when she was all fired up to go.

There really was no reasoning with Wade when she had her mind made up. Pulling a sullen face Wade acquiesced to his wishes and stopped trying to shake him off. He maintained his grip though - there was no telling what she'd do if she felt so inclined.

---

PART TWOb

"Your face is familiar. Do you have a name?" the dark stranger demanded of Rembrandt.

The usually confident Crying man nodded his head and gulped hard. He wasn't frightened. But he'd seen his end coming and now he was being given a second chance. Somehow he'd known there would be a price to pay for that, there always was and he was beginning to wish he didn't have to find out what it was.

"Rembrandt Brown" came the reply. Rembrandt didn't like the cold dark hooded apparition in front of him, it reminded him of something from one of those old B movies he used to see when he took girlfriends to the Drive In back in the sixties.

"This sir is the famous Crying..........."Arturo started to introduce his friend, his relief at being saved at the last minute flying completely to his head and in the wave of euphoria which he felt, he'd forgotten his own safety completely. Good sense was in short supply at that moment, Quinn noted with some discomfort as he tightened his grip on Wade again.

The rebuff was swift and painful as Arturo doubled up under the blow to his ample stomach. He sank to his knees with a low grunt and gripped his stomach tightly. His breaths came swift and hard as he gasped to catch the air back into his winded lungs.

Something inside Quinn snapped.

As he made to cover the distance between himself and Arturo, forgetting completely his own instructions to Wade not to interfere, he felt tight fingers grip his elbow and pull. The pain from the pressure on his ulnar nerve snapped him back to the reality of the situation and grimacing he turned to Wade and prised her fingers off.

"Idiot" she whispered fiercely.

"Damn it Wade, did you have to do *that*?" he mumbled, aghast at the precision of her grip.

"Sorry, lucky strike I guess" she replied quietly, pulling a contrite face.

"Anyway you should follow your own instructions Quinn Mallory" she added with less decorum.

Her voice carried slowly across the sand to the ears of Black Robe and he wheeled around violently, his hood thrown back suddenly. As he advanced on the pair, Wade swallowed. Quinn moved himself between the approaching stranger and the diminutive figure next to him.

"Stand back!" the stranger barked angrily as he stood in front of them.

When he didn't move, Quinn's face set in a hard line, he repeated.

"Stand back or I'll *make* you stand back".

"Move Quinn" Wade ordered as she pushed her protector from in front of her and faced the stranger full on.

Wade found strength in situations where others might falter. She raised her head proudly and stared at him defiantly.

"Going to hit me too?" she questioned slowly, her eyes sparking with fire.

"Wade!" Quinn pleaded in a whisper. She was heading for a fall - he could feel it.

"No Quinn. He's a coward, look at him. Surrounded by all these .....these......geeks. He's a bully and a coward."

The silence stretched into eternity. To the Sliders, the heat of the sun was finally starting to get to them, it's intensity unbearable. Dark Robe didn't move. He didn't waver as he stared at the young woman until she felt she could bear it no longer. But she didn't move.

Just when Quinn felt they would surely all pass out from heat exhaustion the stranger turned to face him, his eyes unlocking slowly from Wade's.

"Quinn Mallory. Well this is a surprise. You do look different. But then I never met you in person did I? I suppose I was lucky I never had that dubious pleasure. Come back to answer for your actions, have you? I must say you've got guts, all of you. Sliding back here to see what happened after you left, Mallory?" The stranger's eyes glinted as he said the words.

"It's easy to return now its all over, isn't it? Always the coward Mallory."

Quinn smarted at the inference.

The hood was back now revealing the full impact of the stranger's face. The strong dark features contrasted with his explosive eyes. Their dark intensity reflected in the light from the sun glistening on an ebony skin. A scar ran from the side of one eye to his chin. It was jagged and rough and looked to Quinn as though it hadn't been sutured up well at all. Maybe medicine in this world wasn't as advanced as their own. The stranger's black domed head was shiny and smooth and lent an air of mystery to the figure which stood before them. In one ear only sat a single gold stud.

Quinn drank in the words which the stranger spoke but couldn't reassemble them from what had appeared to be an incoherent jumble. My brains must be scrambled, he thought, as he shook his head to attempt to clear the muddle. The heat was unbearable and Quinn's throat began to feel like the great expanse of the Sahara Desert.

"As for you, young woman. Count yourself lucky that I'm feeling generous today. There are few women who could speak to me like that......and live." the stranger continued, turning his attention to Wade and shaking his head, his voice rising with his temper. He raised his hand as though he were going to strike her, his eyes glinting. Quinn caught his arm steadily and held it tight. They locked eyes for what seemed to Wade like an eternity, then his arm dropped and he moved back, a sneer across his lips.

Wade caught Quinn's eye in a gesture of gratitude and he raised an eyebrow in return. They were both confused now. Wade felt sick. The heat was unbearable now. The ringing noise in her ears was getting louder and she felt dizzy. She couldn't take much more of this.

"I can't believe you'd risk coming into the Zone with this..." the man stabbed a finger in Quinn's face. "You're lucky the Scorpions didn't get you" he added solemnly.

"They sure tried" Quinn answered in a quiet voice, disturbed by what he was hearing.

"So I see" the man replied turning his gaze to the carcass, and tightened his lips. "You will pay for the death of that one Mallory, mark my words" he added threateningly.

"Life may be cheap to you but here in the Wasteland we treat all life with respect".

He scratched his chin and looked from one Slider to another.

"Well now, what shall we do with you all, I wonder?"

"Let us go" Rembrandt offered hopefully.

The loud, somewhat sarcastic laughter which echoed from behind them caused the group to turn round sharply.

She wore the badge of anarchy and she wore it with pride. A large semi- automatic was draped across slender shoulders. Belted around her hips lay several blades of differing shapes and sizes. Her hair was cropped as short as it could be without being shaved completely. The small leather jacket slung across her shoulders revealing a white cropped top and cut denim shorts. In her nostrils nestled a small gold ring. The sneer on her lips sat comfortably as she drank in the small group before her, her hands on her hips, legs astride, planted firmly in the soft sand at her feet.

"Well well, I knew it would happen one day. Quinn told me the chances were pretty high. Well young lady, you're a sad sight!" she declared as she moved slowly towards Wade, fingering the knives at her hip.

Wade felt the flush of heat rush to her head, the ringing in her ears now an orchestra playing totally out of tune. As she looked into the mirror and saw the future her world went dark.

Quinn grabbed at her as Wade slipped silently to the sand below.

---

PART THREE

A foggy mist cleared slowly from Wade's vision as she sat up and clutched at her pounding head. It sure felt like someone had been playing baseball with her and had forgotten to screw her head back onto her shoulders properly after they'd finished using it as a ball.

"You okay?" Quinn's voice was warm and full of concern as he took her hand and helped her swing her feet over the side of the bed she'd been lying on.

"Yeah. If you don't count the little guy taking a swing at my brain every few seconds, I feel great" she answered sarcastically, her toes curling in meek protest as they came into contact with the cold surface of the floor.

"Hurts huh?"

"Yeah, Quinn. It hurts." she rubbed at her forehead fiercely. The pounding didn't stop.

"What happened? One minute I'm looking at creature features, the next minute I'm here?" Wade turned her eyes to gaze on the troubled face of her friend.

"Yeah. She takes a little getting used to doesn't she?" he agreed, a grim smile playing on his lips.

"Heat got to you and a touch of radiation poisoning, that's all" he offered as he saw the puzzled look on her face.

"We were all dehydrated as well - so the doc said" he added and moved away from her bed to a small table in the corner.

"Here" He handed her a small cup of water which she sipped eagerly.

"Not too fast Wade. It'll make you sick" he advised gently as he watched her hands shake slightly while she drank.

"Radiation poisoning - are you serious?" Wade exclaimed, aghast as she looked worriedly at Quinn. "You die from radiation poisoning - are we going to die?" Her dark eyes scanned Quinn's face for signs that he was worried. Apparently he didn't seem to be.

"No, don't worry. The doc fixed us up with some sort of serum. Seems like they found a cure of sorts for the radiation if you get treated fast" he explained as he refilled her cup.

"Who's the doc?" she asked as she lay back down to try to ease the headache.

Quinn sat down heavily beside her and ran his fingers through his hair. "Just their medic. He's alright actually. He patched up the Professor's cracked rib anyway".

"They broke the Professor's ribs?" Wade echoed incredulously, sitting up and taking a further sip from the cup. She'd forgotten how thirsty she was.

"Just one" Quinn stated calmly.

"One's enough" Wade observed tightly and falling back to the pillow she closed her eyes. The pain was easing now.

"Quinn"

"Yep"

"Maybe this is a stupid question but ....where are we? I mean I know we didn't see any buildings or anything out in that desert, right?" Wade turned her eyes to study her friend's face and then glanced round the small room. It was sparsely furnished with two camp beds and a table in the corner. There were no windows and the air smelt damp.

"We're under the desert."

"Underneath it?" Wade sounded like an echo across the dim interior of the room.

"Yep. They've taken over the old nuclear shelters."

"What nuclear shelters?" Wade looked puzzled.

"Apparently they built them decades ago and they'd been empty ever since." Quinn looked thoughtful and then added. "Wade, I'm sure on our world we've got them too, somewhere. But as usual, only some people knew about them so vast numbers of the people died. Mostly everyone lives in them now though." Quinn seemed mesmerized by his own thoughts, as dark and unsettling as they were.

"Quinn you're making no sense. Explain to me why everyone died." At his silent composure Wade felt a panic start to well up.

"Tell me they didn't have a nuclear war! Promise me they didn't." Wade's eyes stared wildly at him, pleading with him to tell her a lie. Anything but not let her remember her last encounter with a post-nuclear world.

He knew what she was thinking. He knew the dark memories of her encounter on the post-apocalyptic world would surface now. But he couldn't lie - wouldn't lie. This time though it was his demons which were about to flood out and not hers. He held them in check. What he'd learned about his alter-ego on this world didn't need to surface here and now. He wanted more facts, not just mumbled inconsistencies he'd picked up from the whispers of the sentries outside of their door.

"I'm sorry Wade." he mumbled and lowered his eyes. He couldn't face the horror of her expression.

"Oh God!" she choked the words out and swallowed the threat of a lump which rose to her throat. She blinked fiercely and rubbed at her eyes with such intensity Quinn thought she would go blind. He reached out and wrenched her hands away from her face, gripping her wrists hard and forcing her eyes to lock with his.

"Stop it Wade. You've already met your Wade on this world. You've seen her. She isn't remotely like you. So stop it." Quinn's voice was strong, commanding.

"Oh yeah. Like she's a real sweetheart. Thanks Quinn but it doesn't make me feel any better that I've already met her." Wade replied miserably, shaking him off.

"Wade, you've got to be stronger on this world that you've ever been. We've all got to be." He reached across again and took her hand in his.

"Why stronger? What have you found out?" Wade fired the questions at him and studied his face. She hadn't seen him this troubled in a long time. As her headache subsided she gathered her thoughts together. Quinn was holding back on her, of that she was certain. His eyes were troubled and he needed her. He'd been there for her on last world and she knew she'd be here for him now. She squeezed his hand supportively.

"Quinn, tell me what you know. You're right. We'll be strong. We'll handle it together." she urged gently and he looked at her with surprised eyes. The quiet command in her voice was back. She looked self-assured and in control and he marvelled suddenly at her strength.

"Sometimes, you surprise me." he offered as he smiled and leant across to kiss her on the forehead.

"Sometimes I surprise myself" she replied as she hugged him.

***

Professor Maximillian Arturo lay on his rather inadequate bed, rubbing his sore chest and stomach. The pain was subsiding now but he still felt as though he'd been kicked by a large horse.

"You okay, Professor" Rembrandt's voice wafted across the small room to him. His concern was genuine.

"Well of course I'm not okay" the Professor grumbled bitterly. "How do you think I feel, Mr Brown?" he added sarcastically.

"Just trying to get along, Professor. Just trying to get along" Rembrandt muttered slowly. He had hoped that the Professor's mood would be lighter now that he'd been patched up by the doctor and was resting but he guessed Arturo was still mad.

"Would you like a drink, Professor?" he offered as he swung his legs from his own bed and stretched his arms above his head.

"That would be most pleasant, sir. Thank you" Arturo groaned as he tried to sit up and pain spiked swiftly through his rib cage. "You'd think they'd have given me something for the pain, damn it" he thundered angrily and taking the cup from Rembrandt slaked his thirst.

"Guess they ran out" Rembrandt offered quietly. He knew from the doctor that they had very few supplies of drugs. Arturo wasn't considered a bad case and so he wasn't given anything, except for the anti-radiation drug. Selective control seemed to work for this world, Rembrant realised disconcertedly. He'd gleaned a few things from the Doc when he'd been patching a rather groggy Arturo up. What he'd found out he didn't like, especially with regard to the Quinn of this world. The sliding thing was pretty much off the menu as discussion though. Rembrandt hoped Q-ball and Wade would find out more.

The door opened slowly and Arturo's eyes turned to view the impending visitor. "Feeling better, Professor Arturo?" the dark robed figure gazed down at the glaring face.

"Oh yes. - of course I'm better, my dear fellow. I've had no drugs and little doctoring. Of course I'm not feeling better you blistering idiot". Arturo thundered aggressively.

"My friend's still in pain" Rembrandt explained hopefully.

"He's not bad enough for treatment. We've got worse" the man stated bluntly. "Anyway, your sentence hasn't been decided. I'm not sanctioning drugs being given to a man under a death threat - it would be a reckless waste. You only got the radiation serum because Leader Welles insisted. Left to me - you'd have gone without".

"Death threat? Oh,man I thought we'd been through all that" Rembrandt groaned.

"Your fate rests with Leader Welles. If she decides you die then you will. The choice is hers."

"Why hers man? You got the collar." Rembrandt suggested.

"It's simple really. You slid into her Zone. A death sentence is up to her. I'm only her second in command. But I promise you this, if she wants you dead then I'll kill you myself" he stated as he moved to open the door.

"Wait. Why d'ya come here now? It sure ain't a social visit now is it?" Rembrandt offered, laughing nervously. The eyes of their captor betrayed no warmth, only cold, clinical observation of the two men.

"Because, when the Professor can manage to stand you're both summoned to a meeting with Leader Welles."

"And until then?" Arturo enquired quietly from the bed.

"You stay here. Sooner or later you'd be better to see her though. And the mood she's in - sooner might be advisable." the stranger added.

"Not a good mood huh. Sounds like somone we know, eh Professor?" Rembrandt observed softly and caught Arturo's eye. The Professor raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement.

"I shouldn't keep her waiting too long gentlemen. She's likely to order your deaths before she speaks to you if you keep her long" he advised and reached up to finger his scar momentarily.

Rembrandt couldn't help wondering whether the scar had been inflicted by the Wade of this world and he shuddered.

"I think I'm feeling a lot better, Mr Brown" Arturo commented as he eased himself upright and hesitated then he moved painfully from the side of the bed into a standing position and groaned.

"Perhaps not" he added, grimacing.

"Alright, Professor?" Rembrandt asked sympathetically and took the Professor by the elbow.

"It's alright. I'll be alright." Arturo muttered quietly as he straightened up to his full height and grabbed at his chest to support himself.

"You don't have to treat me like an invalid, man" he shook Rembrandt's arm off angrily. Rembrandt grinned and couldn't help notice a thin smile grace the lips of their captor.

"Shall we pay Miss Welles a visit then?" Arturo suggested as the man opened their door and indicated them to follow him.

"Man I hope she's not too bad tempered." Rembrandt prayed as he walked alongside the Professor.

"Quite so. Imagine our own Wade in a bad mood only with attitude."

Arturo commented sighing. "Yeah. And with guns and knives" Rembrandt agreed and shivered. He wasn't looking forward to this at all.

***

The room was wide, and more airy than the one Arturo and Rembrandt had been in, but that wasn't too difficult since Rembrandt had remarked that he'd known rabbits with bigger hutches.

As they moved into the doorway they could see their two friends seated opposite the intimidating yet tiny frame of one Wade Welles - anarchist.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Rembrandt asked as he put an arm round their own Wade's shoulder and kissed her lightly on the top of the head.

"You gave us quite a fright out there."

Wade smiled up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks Remmy."

"How's the ribs Professor?" Quinn enquired as the Professor moved slowly towards them, in obvious discomfort, his face contorted into a mask of pain.

"Quite obviously, Mr Mallory they are not as good as they should be" the Professor snapped, breathing hard as he sat down heavily on the chair next to his student. He looked sideways at Quinn.

"But thank you for your concern, my boy. There seems to be a distinct lack of it around here". He added sardonically and let out a breath of relief that he could sit without moving.

Rembrandt and Wade exchanged knowing looks.

"This display of nauseating compassion for each other is quite enough. I feel quite sick" the leader declared as she got up from her chair and stood gazing from face to face.

"You can go now Drayton" she ordered her second in command as he hovered by the door. "And take these cretins with you".

She waved a hand at the two sentries beside her.

"It's alright I'll be quite safe" she added seeing his reluctant look and still hesitating figure.

"They're dangerous Leader Welles" Drayton muttered slowly eyeing Quinn and Rembrandt suspiciously.

"Oh and what are they going to do with me?" she barbed and put her head on one side.

"I just think you should be more careful" the dark man said confidently, his eyes moving to lock with hers in a mental challenge.

"Do you think I'm incapable of protecting myself, Drayton?" she answered, her eyes glinting as she fingered the knives at her hips.

"Not at all.....it's just that......."

"Enough. I suggest you take a good look in the mirror before you have any doubts as to my ability to take care of myself." she blasted at him, dark eyes flashing dangerously as she spoke.

The tall man ran a finger softly along his scar and his eyes reflected some horror which the feel of it brought.

"As you please, Leader" he bowed his head and motioned for the two sentries to leave.

As the door closed behind them, the anarchist moved slowly to the small window which seemed to look out onto some sort of passageway beyond. She turned and stared at them. Wade shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like her counterpart one bit.

"I called you to me now because you must leave here tonight". Quinn's mouth dropped visibly. Wade just gaped.

"I can see that you don't fully understand what I'm saying. Would I be right in understanding that you don't want to stay on this world?" she looked at Quinn and he saw his own reflection in the darkness of her eyes.

"You could say that" he answered and swallowed. He couldn't guess what was coming. The young woman in front of him revealed nothing yet was full of surprises.

"Very well" she nodded slowly.

"Despite your opinion of me I am not as harsh as you would imagine." she said quietly and Wade thought she caught a tinge of regret with the words.

"Drayton wouldn't agree with that" Rembrandt muttered under his breath but the words were caught by the young woman and digested.

"What I do with the men under my command is necessary. You wouldn't understand that." she retorted.

"She would though"she added and pointed at Wade. Wade felt the eyes of the three men rest on her. She felt distinctly uncomfortable.

"I don't understand brutality" Wade interjected quietly. "You know nothing of this world. Of the harsh realities of survival. You would do the same as me, I know it" the young soldier continued.

"I doubt it" Wade answered, the spectres of her nightmare rising in rebellion to her thoughts.

"We are sisters. You would do as I do, and I as you. You cannot escape that fact Wade." The men shifted uncomfortably. Quinn in particular felt for Wade. From all he knew about his own double on this world he felt no easier than she, in fact worse. Whether any of them could or would become like their doubles was something they would never know, perhaps until it was too late.

All Wade's instincts told her to reject what was being laid at her door. Quinn had told her on the last world that they were what they were. She'd held onto those words. They weren't mirror images destined to become as their counterparts did. She couldn't believe that inherent in her was this dark side which could and would come to the front to swallow all the goodness up. She shook her head and lowered her eyes.

"Don't you think I was like you once? Well, I was. Quinn and I had great plans together. We were going to travel through those parallel universes you've probably seen - together. Then the government messed with us." The young anarchist shook her head, her eyes wearing a far off expression. She looked suddenly tired. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette. As she lit it and blew the smoke into the air, it's blue tinge reaching the ceiling and fanning out above them, she sighed.

"Yes, I know - I smoke. Well I didn't. You take what you can get in the way of luxury now. This is as good as it is going to get on this world. I can't kid anyone least of all myself. But you, you don't deserve to stay here. You don't belong here." She found Wade's eyes and locked with them. Somewhere within her Wade felt the connection.

"Tell us about your Quinn" Wade almost pleaded, she couldn't shake herself away from the strange mirror which stood in front of her. She couldn't help it, and every part of her cried out in protest urging her not to, but she almost felt that she was starting to like her.

"Look, I'll tell you everything but you've got to promise me something."

"What's that?" Wade returned apprehensively. She didn't like conditions.

"Have you met many other Wades?"

"You have no idea" Wade mumbled nodding her head slowly. The memories were tinged in some cases with regret and in others with sadness. The feelings were mixed and her double had just unknowingly opened the floodgates.

"Then I want you to tell me everything you can about the other Wades you've met. I have to know." she declared and for the first time since they'd met Wade understood.

"Of course" she replied and a faint smile crossed her lips as she nodded slowly. "Okay, ask your questions, but you must keep your voices down." the young woman proclaimed looking at the little group in front of her.

"We need to know about the Sliders - I mean how many people and how and..........." Quinn was so intent on gleaning everything that he could, he was on a rollercoaster with no end in sight.

She put her hands in the air to stop him.

"Hang on. I think it'll be easier if you let me tell you from the beginning - then if you've got questions I'll answer them but we've got to hurry. I can't allow Drayton to have any suspicions. He thinks I'm interrogating you before I order your deaths." she explained.

She took a last drag at the cigarette and throwing it to the floor, took a deep breath.

"My Quinn Mallory invented a sliding machine when he was still at school. He used to travel between worlds for fun and when I met him he was very good at it." She hesitated and cleared her throat. Quinn and Wade exchanged glances. So this Quinn had been an even younger inventor.

"He used to control the slides to perfection, arriving back here whenever he decided to. He couldn't control where he went - I don't think anyone can - but he sure controlled the duration of the slide." The young woman paused and regarded them thoughtfully.

"Funny, you're the first group who've come in from another world. We've sent loads out but no one returned. And we've never had visitors before. Except the scorpions of course........" She observed. Rembrandt's face reflected the horror her words had invoked in his soul.

"Hey hang on a minute, girl - you say those things came in from the vortex? Man oh man, I don't want to go to that world!" he shook his head in disbelief.

"Population control?" Arturo observed, his eyebrow raised.

"Kinda" she replied quietly but wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Everything was going fine. I was going to go on my first slide with him and Professor Arturo, his tutor." she glanced at Arturo as she spoke "but somehow the authorities found out about the machine. At first Quinn felt good about the government knowing. He honestly thought the machine could be harnessed for good, but things don't stay simple do they?" she commented and sighed.

"You got that right girl" Rembrandt muttered softly. She ignored him.

"The government wasn't intending to use the machine for good. They wanted to send their own sliders to other worlds to gain money, to gain knowledge. When the other world powers found out that we had such a powerful machine they wanted it and when they couldn't have it by fair means they decided to try foul." She hesitated and glanced at their faces. Each pair of eyes was fixed on her face, drinking in her words and digesting them slowly. Quinn's heart was sinking fast. His worst nightmare about sliding come true - that his invention be harnessed for evil purposes and not for pleasure.

The young woman cleared her throat and continued.

"When Quinn realised that they wanted to use it for evil means he stopped working with them and one night, about a month after the government first learned of sliding he left through the portal with Arturo and.............................."

The group saw the strong young woman rise suddenly and move away from them. Wade caught a glimpse of her hand pulling fiercely across her eyes and her heart went out to her.

"Sorry" the girl mumbled as she turned to them again.

"That's okay" Quinn offered quietly.

"Basically, I stayed behind to destroy the machine. I was the only person left who Quinn trusted, I knew I had to do it. Quinn reckoned that he and Arturo could build another one where-ever they ended up and then they'd come back for me. They even took tools and the other things they'd need through the void. I've waited for four years now. They never returned."

She walked across to Quinn and reached to touch his face, running the back of her hand down his cheek.

"When I saw you I couldn't let you die. I had to find out whether you were my Quinn".

"And when you found out I wasn't?" Quinn interjected, uncomfortable at the proximity of this alternate vision of Wade.

"I'm not totally heartless. I've never met another me. When I saw you two together I knew she had the same feelings for you as I had for my Quinn. How could I destroy that?"

Wade found herself coloring as she heard the simple truth stated so basically. To her surprise she glanced at Quinn and saw his eyes lower in embarassment.

"Miss Welles, would you tell us more about the Sliding which is going on now. If you destroyed the machine how is this possible?" Arturo queried quietly. There were several unanswered questions.

"Sorry, I got sidetracked." she admitted, tearing her eyes away from Quinn and looking at Arturo, then she continued.

"The sliding machine never did get destroyed. Some thugs from the government arrived the night Quinn and your double slid. I didn't have time to do anything except hide. They arrived in the dark, arrested Quinn's mother and trashed the basement and took the machine. I managed to hide out until they'd gone. There was nothing I could do."

"And San Francisco. How did it become such a wasteland?" Quinn added, disturbed by the thought of his alternate world mother being arrested and probably confused. He wondered how his own mother would react. A deep sense of sadness blanketed him momentarily then he shrugged it off. He didn't have time for the sentiment - not now.

"Oh, several world governments slugged it out over the machine. They didn't have Quinn but they had the precious machine. It didn't take long. Eventually the issue became too big for all of them. One thing led to another and eventually the sliding machine wasn't the issue anymore. World peace..something this world had had for one hundred years was shattered in a mere twelve months. Neither side would give in and bang......The Great War."

The statement was said with such blandness it's impact was doubled.

"What?" Quinn echoed astonished, his eyes widening in horror. He hadn't expected this. He knew his double had left before the nuclear confrontation but Sliding causing the end of civilisation as they knew it. His heart thumped.

The Professor whistled.

"The sliding machine caused the War?" Wade repeated and paled.

"If you want to put it like that sure, and the Government made it look like that, but in reality it was greed and nothing else. The sliding machine was just the catalyst. Maybe they'd have found some other excuse to fight in the long run. I dunno." The young woman shrugged then continued.

"Quinn was held up as a coward for leaving the authorities without a hope in hell of working the machine. Nobody ever realised he was only trying to destroy the thing which was becoming the centre of our government's greed. He sacrified his own life on this world for it. He sacrificed our relationship and I let him down."

She looked bitter and laughed ironically.

"I should have managed to destroy it but I didn't. When the war broke out - no one could work it. The original reason for the war was abandoned and eventually forgotten, ironic huh? But the damage was done, we were in the middle of annihiliation. When the war ended nobody remembered how it had started, or they chose to forget but I never forgot. I managed to get some people together and we salvaged it and I got some people working on making a bigger one from the prototype."

"But you said the government took everything. They must have been able to work it from Quinn's notes!" Wade blurted.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention that I kept the plans and the videos which Quinn made. They were my only record of him. I had to keep them and I did." she replied quietly.

"And the sliding machine?" Arturo prompted gently.

"We built a giant sliding machine. Quinn's notes were very comprehensive. You should see it. My Quinn would have been proud!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

"To do what?" Quinn asked curiously.

"Basically, we send people out of this wasteland with their families. The machine can take upto ten at a time. It's much bigger than the prototype. The only condition is that they never return. Hence the death penalty. They can't return anyway, at least that's the theory. None of them has a timer. We control the slide from here."

"Where do they go?" Rembrandt enquired, his heart thumping, memories of their own world flooding back. Perhaps they could go home from here.

"Dunno. You get no choice. No one's perfected that yet. If they end up somewhere they don't like then it's tough.!" she shrugged her shoulders and pulled a face.

Quinn and Wade exchanged knowing glances. Some of the worlds they'd been on would be a living death. Wade shuddered.

"Do you think I'm callous?" her mirror image asked, observing their exchange of looks.

Wade shrugged. She didn't really know.

"Look, if these people didn't leave they would die. Radiation sickness for the people who never had access to the serum, famine, drought, lack of basic medicine, you name it we got it. To most of them it's a ticket outta here. If Quinn's machine can be used for some good then this is it." she added.

"What about the psychozoids?" Rembrandt asked.

She looked confused and gazed questioningly at Wade.

"He means the scorpions" Wade prompted and grinned. She loved his nicknames.

"Like I said, they came in through the vortex. We experimented at the beginning with sending people through and then they would come back - my people of course, no one stayed they just returned. Then one day four of those things came back instead. We never let anything or anyone return now. Didn't kill them though. They're useful. I leave them running about the Zone. Stops intruders. Effective eh?" she laughed.

Quinn shuddered. It all seemed so well orchestrated. So controlled. Mass exodus seemed a good solution in theory, if they knew where they were going and could choose, but all those people - stranded where?

"Can *we* slide out then? Hey man, we could travel on from the next world." Rembrandt asked her finally, his face glowing with hope. The rest of the group looked up expectantly. This was what they were waiting for.

"Not from the main machine you can't." she shook her head. "You're not linked to this machine, your timer's linked to your home machine, just like my Quinn's was. If you slid only using our machine you'd just end up trapped on the next world with nowhere to slide. Unless that's what you want."

"Oh man." Rembrandt groaned loudly and sank his head into his hands. Was there no escape?

"Of course" Quinn's eyes narrowed as he thought, then he slapped his hand on his leg. "Damn. With the timer broken we can't slide out anyway" he admitted and set his mouth hard. Wade reached across and touched his hand sympathetically.

"Of course you can slide with your timer" the other Wade continued.

"But it's dead" Quinn stammered, his eyes narrowing.

"It didn't die, Quinn. The main machine here is set up to deactivate any foreign timers which come into the Zone area. I did that to make sure that if Quinn returns he wouldn't leave without me knowing he was here. It might appear dead but it's actually on hold - frozen now until it reactivates. When it does you'll have about one minute to slide because the portal will open almost immediately."

"So how do we reactivate it?" Wade breathed excitedly. At last a chance to leave under their own timer - at least if the world they landed on was gross they could leave, just as they had in the past.

"You leave for the next Zone tonite. The timer will work there."

Wade caught her mirror image's eye and the connection was complete. She knew in her heart she'd seen one possible future and it would be okay.

---

PART FOUR

He was standing on the top of a barren hill gazing across a white sea of nothingness. The hot sun bore down from a cloudless sky as he shielded his eyes with one hand. He could feel the heat, taste the desert air. The voices which floated towards him, caught on a nonexistent breeze and carried to his ears. The crying, tormented sound of souls cast adrift in worlds where they had no place. Some were crying in pain, others in fear. He couldn't decipher one clear voice, though he strained to hear them, to catch a word or a sound which he recognised and yet he knew what they were saying. They were asking to be brought back. To be allowed to return.

And then he saw the shapes, shifting dark shadows, their arms clawing outwards, trying to reach him. He recoiled in horror as their faces came into view and he saw how many there were. They advanced on him, their voices clearer now. They were saying one sentence over and over again until he could bear it no longer. He tried to cover his ears but the voices were in his head and he couldn't banish them so easily. As he shook his head in horror he felt one of the shadows reach up and pull at him, urging him to look at it, urging him to hear the sound.

"Quinn, bring us back. Quinn bring us back". He felt as though his whole head were bursting from the assault and sheer volume as each voice joined with the other until a single word was heard in his heart and in his mind and he felt his body shake from the feel of a hundred hands pulling at him, willing him to help them.

"Quinn..Quinn......................................"

He sat bolt upright, sweat pouring from his face, his heart racing until he thought it would truly burst from his chest in agony.

"Quinn come on......." the shaking hadn't stopped and he recoiled from the hand in horror, moving to the head of the bed, staring wildly at its owner.

"Quinn. What's wrong?" Wade's eyes swept across his face and knew.

"God. Oh, man. What a dream!" he said as he put his head into his hands in relief and let his shoulders hunch forward for a minute to calm his heart and his mind.

"Bad one, eh?" she answered sympathetically and moved forward to squeeze his hand.

"You have no idea." he replied shaking his head in abject horror.

"Want to share it?" Wade persisted as she sat down next to him.

"Phew." he pushed the hair from his eyes and locked with hers. "I don't think I'll go to sleep again on this world", he observed, his lips tightening.

Wade decided not to push it. He'd tell her if he wanted to. No need to raise it if it was painful.

"Leader Welles told us to be ready by midnight. It's a quarter to now, so I thought I'd wake you" she reminded him gently.

Quinn moved slowly from the bed and stretched his aching back. The camp bed was better than the floor but only just and he felt locked up in his whole spine.

As he pushed some water across his face to sweep the demons further away from his thoughts he turned to look at Wade.

"I wonder if you'd look good with cropped hair" he commented grinning.

"Don't push your luck, Quinn" Wade replied feigning outrage but smiled secretly to herself.

As the door opened softly they both turned. "Ready for the journey?" the voice said from beneath the hood. It wasn't the Leader's voice but it was female and for some reason Wade thought it was familiar. She couldn't put her finger on it but she was sure she'd heard it before. In fact she knew she'd heard it before.

The door swung open wider as Quinn and Wade joined a rather groggy Arturo and a more exuberant Rembrandt outside in the corridor. The hooded figure indicated a door to their right and they were ushered by two further hooded guards through to the outside.

The dark damp steps which seemed to lead in a neverending spiral to the surface was hard going for the Professor and his breaths came in short painful bursts. "Could we please find a world where I could rest without injury the next time, Mr Mallory" he hissed as the neared the top.

"Sure thing, Professor" Quinn replied in a whisper and grinned in the dark. Things sounded normal. The steps were carved from the stone base under the desert. Their dampness was in stark contrast to the world outside and Wade drank in the dank atmosphere as they climbed, knowing that the sand and air outside would be dry, devoid of moisture.

The torch flames in front of them, carried by their captors, cast strange shadows in the low roofed staircase. An eerie feeling swept across Quinn's mind as he observed the hooded capes and their shadows climb ahead of him. Something about the scene seemed to take him back to his dream and he shuddered momentarily. He already knew what he must do if ever he returned home. He knew what he had to do to his invention.

The desert air greeted the four Sliders as they emerged slowly from the staircase onto the sand wasteland. The heat had fled the surface for the night and the cold air was in stark contrast to their earlier encounter with the wasteland. The sky was pitch black, the only relief from its dark mantle, the stars laid out in their millions across the sombre cloak of night-time.

"The next zone is across the wasteland and beyond the perimeter markers. It will take us about three hours to get there......if we meet no opposition." the faceless figure in front of them started to walk ahead of them at a moderately fast pace.

"I wonder what she means by "opposition"" Wade observed grimly.

"We'll soon find out if we meet it" Quinn replied softly and smiled encouragingly at her.

His earlier despair was turning to optimism at the thought of their escape, something he hadn't had on the last world or this one so far.

He realised that they needed to rest up on the next world or they'd all be in trouble. Not physical rest. No. They'd had that here...of a sort anyway. What Quinn knew they all needed was a world where they weren't in any danger, or fleeing from the authorities at all. He lifted his eyes to the sky and prayed. He hoped the God from their world was observing these worlds as well. As he tried to get his brain around the concept of an omnipotent God regarding his flock through every parallel world, and realising he couldn't cope with it at all, he turned his attention to the tiny figure trotting beside him.

Wade's eyes were clearer than he'd seen them for some time and she seemed at peace somehow.

"You're happy" he commented as he strode alongside her.

"Yep." she replied and grinned.

"Going to tell me?" he persisted.

"I've finally come to terms with the alternate Wade bit" she muttered nonchalantly.

"That's good, Wade. Really good. Going to tell me why?"

"She made me realise we're all different but we're all linked somehow" Wade explained.

"Don't think I'm making sense am I?" she added and turned her dark eyes to meet his.

"Oh you are. You are." he replied and put his arm around her shoulders.

"When did this happen?" he asked quizzically.

"While you guys were asleep. I spent the time with her telling her all about the Wades I'd encountered and it blew her mind. Then I found myself defending them all, explaining why they'd done all the things they'd done and I realised that I actually understood them all. By explaining it to her I resolved it myself. Simple really" she laughed.

"Sometimes we're too close to something to see it. I just stood back and it all fitted into place."

"Know something?" Quinn returned as he hugged her shoulders.

"What?"

"You really are something special."

"Quinn Mallory, you say the nicest things sometimes" she retaliated and put her arm around his waist to hug him back.

The walk had seemed interminable. Stretches of sand with no relief in sight. Quinn was beginnng to doubt that they would ever reach their destination when the figure in front of them held her hand up and hesitated.

"Get down behind the dune all of you" she commanded in an urgent hiss.

Rembrandt ushered the Professor to the ground behind the dune and crouched down himself.

Quinn pushed Wade down beside them and they waited.

"What d'ya think's happening, Q-Ball?" Rembrandt hissed across at the young man.

"Dunno. Your guess is as good as mine Remmy" he replied in a whisper.

Quinn couldn't see the faces of his friends now. The flames had been extinguished momentarily but he could hear the Professor's heavy breathing, and Rembrandt.

Wade was crouched just below his arm and he could feel her breathing as she nestled against him.

The voices which were approaching were muted and low and Quinn couldn't make out the words but he knew that the three figures who had brought them this far were obviously worried about the impending visitors and if they were worried so was he.

He fingered the timer nervously in his pocket. Good it was still there. Their only escape route once they were through the perimeter markers. Then he remembered Remmy's gun.

"Remmy. Have you got the gun?" he whispered across to the Crying Man.

"Sure thing Q-Ball" the reply floated back softly.

"They let you keep that thing?" Wade echoed in a whisper, incredulous that it hadn't been taken away.

"Nope. Your friend slipped it to me last night" Rembrandt explained gently.

Wade could hardly hear her friend but she got the gist and smiled secretly.

The sound of weapons firing took the four sliders by surprise and Wade shrieked as a jet of blue firepower shot past her shoulder and kicked up the sand behind her.

"Keep down" Quinn shouted as he pushed Wade's head downwards. "Man that was close."

The three hooded figures in front of them rose up as one and the return of fire filled the desert skyline with an electric blue display of death ridden lazers.

The small group huddled together and waited. Rembrandt fingered the gun anxiously. He'd killed the Scorpion alright and he knew how to handle a gun, sure, but he was no marksman. Aiming in the dark at a person was a different matter and he wasn't sure if Crying Man had it in him. He soon found out.

The figure appeared above the sand dune and pointed the weapon directly at Quinn. As Wade screamed a shot rang out and the figure dropped. Rembrandt looked from his gun to the dead figure draped across the sand close to Quinn and gulped.

"Wow Remmy!" Wade uttered in astonishment at his accuracy.

"Well done, Mr Brown" Arturo commented in admiration. "

Thanks Rembrandt" Quinn shook his head in amazement and swallowed.

"Yeah well, don't expect me to hit right every time" Rembrandt muttered as he looked in admiration at the gun sitting in his hand and shook his head.

A hooded figure rose above the dune and Rembrandt raised his gun again.

"If you shoot me you'll never get out of here" the figure said and Wade's sense of knowing kicked in again. That female voice...so familiar. She shook her head. She hated the feeling of not being sure. Rembrandt lowered the gun contritely.

"Sorry man" he muttered.

"Better put it away Remmy" Quinn advised and squeezed his shoulder.

"Yeah, man. Dangerous things these" Rembrandt replied and pushed the gun into his jacket pocket.

The cloaked figure started to lead them towards the perimeter markers.

As they passed the two other dead figures on the sand Quinn noticed that her two companions were also lying dead. He shuddered. He hated death and when it had happened just to get them out of the zone he felt responsible.

"I'm sorry about your friends" he offered to the back of the figure leading them.

"They knew what they were doing. The risks. Don't feel sympathy." the voice replied almost inaudibly.

Beside Quinn, Wade shivered.

"Cold?" He asked her sympathetically.

"A bit" she replied but didn't look at him.

"Where's your jacket?" he asked, suddenly realising that she was walking along clad only in a tee shirt, sweater and jeans while the rest of them had on their jackets.

"Gave it to her" she mumbled under her breath.

"You gave it to the other Wade?" he echoed softly and smiled.

"Yeah. Stupid I know. But she asked me for it. Said she'd never meet another Wade again or so she thought. What could I say, Quinn?" she turned her face upwards.

"You did the right thing" he agreed and peeling his jacket from his shoulders placed it around her as they walked.

She smiled gratefully and trudged silently at his side.

The perimeter fence wasn't a fence at all, at least not in the physical sense, and to the Sliders' surprise consisted of markers, which were large metal posts studded with senors.

These markers appeared to be set at about fifty yards distance from each other and relayed some form of detection field from one marker to the other. The lack of an actual physical barrier surprised Quinn.

"You must cross through the perimeter markers and make sure that you are at least 100 yards away from them before you slide." the voice explained as they stood and gazed at the vast wasteland beyond.

A low rumble began to grind along the surface of the sand and vibrate their bodies. It increased in its intensity and then subsided slowly until it had dissipated completely.

"That noise again" Wade commented and looked at Quinn. Quinn turned his eyes on their captor.

"The sliding machine" came the steady reply from the cloak. "A family just left the wasteland".

Quinn shuddered deep into his soul as the spectres from his dream rose up and became reality.

"Remember, the timer will activate as soon as you leave these perimeter posts. You must reach one hundred yards away and slide within one minute or you will be stranded here. Your vortex will close after one minute. Do you all understand.?"

They nodded silently and Quinn looked at Arturo apprehensively.

"Can you make it Professor?" he asked.

"Dear boy. If it's a choice between breaking the four minute mile and staying here I'd do it standing on my head" the Professor joked sarcastically, but he grimaced as he spoke.

"How do we go through the fence. Won't we get nuked or something?" Wade asked as she studied the posts apprehensively. She couldn't make out how they were a barrier but the sensors looked as though they held the clue.

"There's no danger. Just run through" came the reply.

"What's the point of them then?" Wade muttered slowly.

"Oh, the perimeter fence isn't to stop you getting out. It's to stop the other zoners getting in. The only thing it will react to is something coming through it into the zone or a timer going through."

"What about the timer then - we've got to take it through." Quinn was puzzled.

"I'm going to throw it over the top of one of the marker posts." came the reply. Quinn gulped. The posts were about thirty feet high. He could throw it probably but he looked at the small figure in front of him and doubted her ability to achieve the same accuracy.

"What happens if you miss?" he offered dubiously.

"It gets detected by the sensors and obliterated by a laser" she replied steadily.

Wade gripped his arm silently.

"I sincerely hope that you are accurate dear lady" Arturo observed ironically.

Quinn watched the figure in front of him standing silent and calm and he hesitated.

He withdrew the timer from his pocket and gazed at it. The display was still dead. It was no use to them in the zone and they couldn't take it through. If they did the person carrying it would be killed by a laser and the timer destroyed. He had no choice. He had to trust this figure in front of him. Yet he'd never met her before. How did he know she wouldn't keep the timer once they were through. They wouldn't be able to return - if they did they'd die.

He looked at each of his friends in turn. Arturo raised an eyebrow at him and Remmy shook his head unhelpfully.

He turned to Wade and his eyes locked with hers. She looked from his face to the timer and then to the figure in front of him. Suddenly she reached across and took the timer from his outstretched hand and striding to the hooded figure pressed it into her hands.

"Don't let us down" she whispered as she did so. The hood didn't move but a hand reached out and took Wade's, squeezing it tightly and pressing something small into her palm.

"I won't Wade" it replied quietly.

Wade gazed down to look at the object but the sounds of gun fire behind them distracted her and she flinched, closing her fingers tightly over the gift.

"Go, all of you. Go" the hooded figure urged fiercely.

The sound of vehicles moving swiftly in their direction caused the collective adrenaline rush in the four friends as they moved swiftly through the perimeter markers.

"Go, Remmy - take the Professor and run as fast as you can" Quinn thundered as he skidded to a halt on the other side and looked up at the post. Wade dropped to his side and stopped to turn.

Rembrandt moved the Professor as fast as he could in a direction to the south of the Perimeter and waited gazing back at the remaining two sliders who looked apprehensively at the figure on the other side of the posts.

"Catch it and go as quickly as you can. Remember one minute is all you have" the figure called as the vehicles neared her.

The firepower rang out as she raised her arm to throw, a cry of pain coming from beneath the hood as the timer launched into the air and sailed gently over the top of the post nearest to them.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion to Quinn as he watched the timer fall slowly to his outstretched hands, its display springing to life the moment it cleared the top. The minute countdown had started.

He watched the hooded figure on the other side of the perimeter markers fall and as the face was revealed, grief twisted across it, he heard the cry from Wade beside him. "Mother. Oh my God Quinn - it's my mother!" she cried, terror dragging at her throat as she watched the crumpled figure dying on the sands behind the fence. She moved to go to her. The lack of a physical barrier causing her to momentarily forget the lasers which would destroy her if she crossed back.

Quinn grabbed at her to stop her from running back to the figure and dragged her stumbling and crying as they neared their friends and their escape route out of the wasteland.

The vortex opened it's welcome exit and sucked the cold desert air into its void.

"Slide all of you slide" Quinn screamed as he watched Remmy push the Professor headlong through the entrance.

Wade had sunk to the sand in grief, tears streaming down her face as she gazed at the small locket held in her hand, a picture of her mother and father locked within.

"It wasn't your mother, Wade. She belonged on this world" Quinn shouted as he dragged her to the vortex and gripping her hand tightly leapt into its mouth.

As their exit closed behind them and they started the journey to their next destination he heard the heart breaking sound of Wade sobbing beside him.

THE END