Episode 2: "Viral Agent" Part II.
Maggie stayed completely still, hidden in the dark shadows of the alleyway, as she watched the figures slowly walk by. They looked from left to right, trying to find what they were looking for, trying to find the location of the Sliders. She waited until their voices trailed off into the distance and then carefully looking ahead she continued her run back to the abandoned church. She tightened her grip on the bag that she carried and picked up the pace. It was not long before she made it back. She squeezed herself into the half open door and then turned to help close it shut.
"You ok?" Asked Mallory.
Maggie nodded her head. "I managed to slip past their patrols without incident but more are more are joining the search." She turned to the others. "We can't stay here forever. Sooner or later they are going to find us."
"So what did you get?"
Maggie led Mallory to the front of the church and emptied the contents of the bag onto the altar. Diana looked up from her work and went over. She ignored the food and pushing them to one side concentrated on the electrical equipment. She finally picked up a few pieces of electronics and then went back to work.
Maggie saw her focused but worried expression. "How's Diana been?"
"She's been working hard…"
"But?"
Mallory shook his head. "She's given up a couple of times. I know that she can do this, she's smart. But she doubts herself, doesn't think that she will be able to get us out of here…" Sighing he went over and started talking to Mrs Mallory.
Maggie continued to watch Diana as her expression turned from being focused to worry to frustration. "I can't do this." She tossed the equipment to one side. "I just can't do this."
"Come on Diana." Maggie urged her. "You can do this."
"I've never had to build a timer from scratch before!" She shook her head. "And even if I could, this equipment is too unsuitable."
"Just tell me what you need and I'll find it."
Diana closed her eyes for a moment and then looked up. "Sorry. I … I just need a break I guess."
Maggie placed her hand around her shoulders. "We all believe in you Diana. You can do this. We'll get what you need and together we will get out of this place … and find Remmy."
They all turned as a loud shout suddenly sounded from outside and the door was banged hard against. The group got up to make a run for it but a few seconds later the door gave away. It opened up wide to reveal Claire, grinning seductively, followed by her guards that quickly surrounded them. They were trapped.
What if you found a portal to a parallel universe?
What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds?
Where it's the same year
And you're the same person
But everything else is different
And what if you can't find your way home…
Starring: Cleavent Derricks as Rembrandt Brown
Kari Wuhrer as Maggie Beckett
Robert Floyd as Mallory
And Tembi Locke as Diana Davis
… Sliders!
Rembrandt watched the different expressions that passed through many people's faces as they all waited in silence and hope as the needle was inserted into his arm. He flinched slightly as the blood was drawn out of him and then the needlepoint was pulled out from under his skin. The Resistance Member went over to his equipment and squirted a small amount of the blood onto a slide. He placed the slide under his microscope and looked in.
Calen emerged from out of a side room and brought with him another slide. "How's it looking Reg?"
"There is definitely an anomaly in the composition of his bloodstream." He looked up and placed in the other slide. "Now, let's just hope that this works."
"What is on the other slide?" Asked Rembrandt.
"Kromagg blood." Reg turned and looked into the scope. He slowly sucked up the blood off Rembrandt's slide and added it to the Kromaggs. "… Uh … amazing!"
"What is it?" Asked Calen in hope.
"Take a look for yourself."
Calen stepped up and peered into the microscope. He gasped in awe as he witnessed Rembrandt's blood cells attack the Kromagg's until only Remmy's remained. He looked up and turned to the group. "This is what we have been waiting for! The way to finally defeat the Kromaggs!"
A loud cheer rang through the group.
Rembrandt smiled. "How fast can you synthesise this virus?"
"Well from the looks of things." Said Reg. "It is very fast acting. The transition from liquid to gas state would take no time at all. We could make this thing airborne. From then on it should absorb itself into the atmosphere permanently. I'll need to study it for proper analysis but I theorise that it could take a week to circulate around the entire planet."
Calen patted Remmy on the shoulder. "Thank you…"
"It wasn't me. You'd need to thank those you created the virus on another earth." His thoughts suddenly returned to his friends. In the back of his mind he knew that they were ok. He just hoped that they stayed that way.
"Either way you brought it here and we're thankful!" He turned. "Well what are you all waiting for? We've got a virus to synthesise!"
"She's never going to let us go."
Maggie paced up and down the room that they were locked in. It was big, luxurious, and had everything they wanted … because they would not be leaving any time soon. Outside the shouts and screams of fans was almost deafening. They waved banners and screamed at even a glimpse of the Sliders in the window. Their faith would keep them there all through the rest of the day … and even through the night.
"This is ridiculous!" Maggie was beginning to get impatient. "She is just going to keep us locked in here forever?! She must know that we are not going to co-operate in her plan in any way!"
Diana and Mrs Mallory were sitting down on the couch, resting. Mallory was trying to pick the lock of the door with some tools found in the room but was not getting any luck.
"Calm down Maggie." He said smiling. "At least we have all the food and stuff we want."
She gave him a look. "Of course, she can't exactly starve the most important people on the planet!"
Mallory suddenly stood up. "That gives me an idea." He went over to the window and the screams increased. "What if we got one of them to help us? I'm sure they would do anything to please us, they think we are like Gods. We could tell them everything about Claire holding us against our will!"
Maggie smiled. "It could work." She turned to the table and began writing down a message onto a piece of paper. She passed the note to Mallory and he slipped it out of the small gap that the window would only open to.
They watched as the message slowly floated down to the ground. A little girl picked up the message and looked at it. They saw the gasp that she made as she passed it to her mother, the mother passed it on to the crowd, and it quickly circulated. Soon a new chant sounded out: "Free the Sliders! Free the Sliders!"
Hearing the new commotion that was outside Claire came out of the building flanked with two of her guards. "What is the meaning of this? The Sliders are free, they are happy to stay here for a very long time…"
"They are being held against their will!" A middle aged man shouted out.
"You are keeping them from the right path!" Another continued.
"Please, I assure you…" Claire started, but it was too late, the crowd began to push back the barriers and advanced to the building. Additional security quickly arrived from the building but there was no holding back the crowd, they quickly broke through.
"Yes!" Maggie and Mallory high-fived.
It was not long before footsteps drifted up from the corridor outside and the sound of a key was fitted into the lock. The door swung open to reveal several men and women.
Mallory put on a mock serious tone. "We will never forget this." Holding onto the shoulders of a pretty woman he gave her a kiss to her cheek. Maggie rolled her eyes in her head and pushed him along as the woman screamed and almost fainted with happiness. Diana and Mrs Mallory quickly followed right behind.
The group made it to the front atrium and watched as Claire was still struggling with the crowd. They turned to slip out of the back entrance. A group of their rescuers led them down a side alley until they were out of sight.
"Thank you." Maggie said to them.
"What now?" Asked Mallory. "We still need to rebuild the timer."
"We can do better than that." They turned to a man. "Claire still holds a lot of Kromagg technology kept from the war…"
"Like the device that capped the wormhole…" Inquired Diana.
He nodded. "There is still a chance that she has a Kromagg sliding device locked up."
"Then lead on."
Rembrandt stared out of the mist-covered window, silently watching the rain fall outside. It had been three days since he had arrived back on his world and the Resistance HQ had been teaming with activity. Work on synthesising the virus was being done 24 hours a day and they almost had enough to start heating up into the atmosphere.
At times like this when he was all alone his thoughts returned to his friends. He missed them a lot. And even though he was home it just did not feel that way anymore, not without them. Thoughts also turned to the friends that were lost. Quinn, Wade, Colin … they just had to be a way of getting them back. He would not be able to be at peace with himself until they were.
"I can't believe we have had to wait this long." Moaned Mallory.
"They needed the time to get the access codes to the lab." Diana replied. "Word of what Claire has done has spread. Even some of her own agents have turned on her."
"Which is better for us." Smiled Maggie. "Look, he's here, let's go."
Maggie, Mallory, Diana, and Mrs Mallory made their way over to one of the guards from the lab who was on their side and together they made their way over to the back entrance. The guard inputted a set of codes and the door opened. They walked down the long corridor.
"What about the alarms?" Asked Mallory.
"They've been disabled." Said the guard. "Follow me."
They made their way down many corridors, taking lefts and rights, until they finally reached a door with Claire's name on it. The guard took out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. They went through. The room looked like an ordinary office, there was a desk in the corner with a computer on it, a bookcase lined the wall, and another door was on the other wall. He went over to the side door, which was large and silver, and then picked up his cell phone.
After speaking to the other person on the end of the line he inputted the code that was relayed to him. The lock released and the door opened wide. The group quickly went inside and looked around. The lab was small but wide. Computers lined the wall and several objects were in glass containers in the centre of the room.
Mallory spotted something and went over to a table. He picked it up and studied the strange material in his hands. "It's part of a Kromagg glider."
"I found it!" Called Diana.
The group rushed over to her and saw the container with the trans-dimensional facilitator inside of it. Mallory passed the Kromagg piece to Maggie and she used it to shatter the glass that it was contained in. She reached in and then passed it over to Diana. "Think you can make it work?"
Diana sat down at the table and began to study it for a moment. The device was small and a silver colour, there was an LCD display at the top of the timer with a keypad directly underneath it, and four grooves were on the left side of it, allowing easier grip with fingers. Diana pressed what looked like the power button and it flashed into life.
"She has notes." They turned to Mrs Mallory who had been looking through some files. "On the timer. She had worked out what most of the controls and symbols does."
"Does it have a tracking device?" Asked Maggie.
Diana looked over the notes then smiled. "It does! We should be able to pick up the photon trail of the vortex Rembrandt went through and follow him." Using the notes and her own experience as a guide, she pressed a few of the buttons on the timer. "It's locked onto it. We can slide at any time now."
"Breaking and entering is a very serious crime…" They turned to see Claire stride into the office angrily with two armed officers.
"Put your hands upon your heads." One of the officers demanded, raising a handgun.
The Sliders stopped in their tracks, unsure of what to do now. Suddenly Mrs Mallory ran forward and knocked into one of the officers, causing Claire and the other officer to fall down with her. "Go!" She shouted.
"I'm not leaving you here!" Mallory countered.
Diana pressed a button and a stream of energy flowed out from the timer and at the area of space directly in front of it. The vortex slowly formed into a large circle, a silvery blue colour, creating a wind which blew the pieces of paper around the room. Diana turned to the others and seeing the nod from Maggie she jumped in, a flash of light signalling her entry into the vortex.
Mallory turned. "Mum…"
"I love you, Quinn. Both of you…"
Maggie placed her hand onto his shoulder and then together they turned and jumped into the howling vortex in a flash of light. By the time that Claire and the officers had got up the vortex was beginning to close and with a final howl the wind died down as it disappeared.
Diana stood on the other end of the vortex and waited for her friends to appear. She looked around her and at the deserted streets, the war that was taking place here obvious. A flash of light emitted and she turned to see Maggie and Mallory fall out from the vortex together. They hit the cold hard ground with a groan and the vortex slowly closed. Diana went over and helped her friends up.
"Are we? …" Maggie turned to her.
Diana nodded. "We followed the photon trail. This is the Earth that Rembrandt slid into."
Maggie went to comfort Mallory. "It's better this way. And they wouldn't dare harm her. She'll be ok."
Mallory nodded. He got up from off of the floor and looked around. "So, how are we going to find Remmy?"
"Well, ruling out the prospect that the Kromaggs have got him, I just about remember the Resistance HQ from the last time that Quinn and I … when we were here."
He nodded. "We should check there then."
The three of them quickly left the street that they were in and once again stuck to the dark shadows and side alleys. The longer they travelled the better Maggie's memory improved and her steps became more confident. It was almost an hour later when they arrived at another deserted street with a row of houses on them.
"This is it." Maggie pointed to the third house on the left.
They approached the old and worn Victorian style home and entered it.
Calen and Rembrandt looked up as they heard footsteps from upstairs. "Someone's here…"
"Could be Maggs." Calen turned to his team and they quickly gathered up their weapons and aimed it at the door that led down into the basement. The tension grew until it almost became unbearable. The door opened and three figures appeared.
"Don't move!"
"Woah! Hold on, we're human!" Maggie shouted, putting her hands up into the air.
Rembrandt smiled. "I know that voice anywhere! Maggie!"
"Remmy!" Maggie ran down the stairs, ignoring the guns, and the two grabbed each other into a tight hug.
"Girl I missed you."
"Same here."
"Don't leave us out." Laughed Mallory.
"Mallory, Diana…" Rembrandt went over and hugged the two. "But how did you?"
Diana held up the new timer. "A gift from the Kromaggs." She turned serious. "The virus?"
He smiled. "We have just finished synthesising the last batch. The Kromaggs will be cleared from my world in a week." The group smiled and laughed, happy to be together again. "Is it? …" He looked to the timer.
"We're not on a countdown. We can leave whenever we want."
Rembrandt turned as Calen spoke. "Thank you, Remmy. You've brought hope to our world. Soon we will be clear of the Maggs and will have to start the task of building our world back to what it was. And though I know you want to stay and help you've got people who need you." He turned to Maggie, Mallory, and Diana. "And you need to bring this same hope to other infested worlds."
Remmy smiled and nodded. He walked up and shaked hands with Calen. Mallory then stepped forward. "So where to now?"
"To find a way to bring this virus to all Kromagg infested worlds, to find a way to separate our two Quinns, to search for the answers of what has happened to Wade, and if we will ever see Colin again." Rembrandt turned. "We still have a lot to do."
Diana smiled and then browsed through the co-ordinates that were stored in the timer. She then activated the gateway and the vortex opened. "Sounds good to me."
"Me too." With that Mallory was the first to jump into the swirling vortex in a flash of light. Diana followed right behind.
"Think we can do it?" Smiled Maggie.
"We will." Rembrandt answered. Hand in hand the two jumped into the vortex and the wind slowly died down. "We will…" The vortex closed.
End.