May 15, 1997
The blue BMW approaches the gate at Yerba Buena Island in the San Francisco Bay. Rembrandt depresses the brake pedal and the car comes to a stop.
"I'm sure Q-Ball won't mind if I borrow his wheels," he had said. "After all, my car is still stuck on that ice world."
"Excuse me," says the Marine Corps military police sergeant at the gate. "Are you an expected visitor?"
"I'm Rembrandt Brown and this is Wade Welles," says Rembrandt. "We are guests of Captain Maggie Beckett."
"Let me check," says the sergeant. He makes a phone call. "Okay, come through."
The gate arm is raised and Rembrandt drives the BMW through. He soon parks the BMW at the Vistor Parking Lot.
"Okay, Remmy," says Wade. "Let's see what Maggie has invited us to."
The two of them approach the building where Maggie took them yesterday. The building was labeled "U.S. MARINE CORPS RESEARCH CENTER". They go through the front doors into the first floor lobby.
Captain Maggie Beckett is sitting in the lobby, wearing her Marine Corps dress uniform, waiting for them. "Hello, Mr. Brown and Miss Welles," she says. "Come with me."
The three of them enter the elevator and the marine captain presses the button for Sub-Level 1. "As I stated over dinner last night, we do research of sliding, or quantum translocation as the scientists call it." The elevator starts moving. "We did research here since 1995, when Congress appropriated the funds."
The elevator doors open, and Maggie leads Rembrandt and Wade into Sub-Level 1. They enter the same conference room where they answered Maggie's questions yesterday.
Wade and Rembrandt notice seven people in the room. They recognize Colonel Rickman; there are five other people in white lab coats with badges clipped to the coats, one of whom is in a wheelchair, and a marine with two stars on each shoulder.
"Sirs," says Maggie, "I wish to introduce to you Wade Welles and Rembrandt Brown. They were two of the four people who went missing in October of 1994 which led to this project of ours."
"Hello," says the Marine general. "I am Major General Alexander Hunt, program director of this facility. And you know Colonel Angus Rickman here."
"We've met," says Rembrandt.
"I suggest the staff here introduce themselves."
"Hello," says man with brown dreadlocks. "My name is Conrad Bennish, Jr. I was the one who actually caused this to happen, man. I was a classmate of Quinn's."
"My name is Wing," says a Chinese man. "I was also Quinn's classmate."
"My name is Diana Davis," says a black woman. "I was recruited by the Pentagon two years ago."
"My name is Vladmir Jariabek," says a middle-aged man with a Russian accent. "I knew Professor Arturo. I defected from the Soviet Union over ten years ago."
"My name is Steven Jensen," says a brown-haired man in a wheelchair. "I was a quantum physics researcher and I received an offer from the government and I accepted."
"Nice to meet you all," says Wade.
"Allow me to explain how this all got started," says General Hunt. "It started when some people called and saw a whirlpool swallow up a red car. Rembrandt Brown didn't make it to the World Series as he intended. It turned out that four people went missing. The FBI questioned Bennish here, who was a classmate of Quinn Mallory. He told them what Quinn had been working on. Soon he led the four FBI agents to the basement of Mallory's house, and down there was the equipment and all the video tapes made by Mr. Mallory.
"Mr. Bennish was soon summoned to Washington to confer with the President and the National Security Council, along with the President's science advisors. I was there, by the way. The President decided that research into sliding was worthwhile. So he went to Congress to get funding. Mr. Bennish spoke before a Senate committee, as did Mr. Wing. Congress passed the appropriations bill on March 2, 1995, and the President signed it into law. The funding was placed under the Department of Defense, and provided for the construction of a military facility. The Secretary of Defense chose Yerba Buena Island near San Francisco as the site of the sliding research facility. The reason that site was chosen was because Bennish and Wing resided in San Francisco, and there were two major universities in the local area. The government recruited quantum physicists to assist Bennish and Wing, and the U.S. Marine Corps provided security and other contingencies. We had two goals-learning more about the nature of parallel universes and to locate the four missing people."
"How much did this cost?" asks Rembrandt.
"Eleven billion dollars was spent on this project," replies the general.
"Quinn managed to open the wormhole with only a few thousand dollars' worth of equipment," says Wade.
"We've improved on the technology," says Hunt. "Allow us to give you a guided tour."
General Hunt leads everyone to a huge, cavernous room. There are lights overhead and there is all sorts of electrical equipment, including a tightly-wound coil. Marines stand guard with M-16 rifles.
"This is the sliding generator," says General Hunt. "this is where the vortex to other worlds are opened. See that window over there?" The general points to a window. "That is where the control room is. It has the equipment to control the sliding generator."
"What do you do here?" asks Rembrandt.
"We send teams of explorers to scout parallel worlds," says Hunt. "We've scouted over a hundred worlds, and we have outposts on some of them. One of our purposes is to gather new technology our counterparts in other worlds developed."
"I guess you can track wormholes and open a wormhole to a specific world," says Wade.
"That's right," says Hunt. "We did not send anyone through until we developed the technology necessary to open vortices to a specific world. At first we sent probes. When we developed a way to send a wormhole to a specific dimension, we sent our first interdimensional explorer in."
"Who was that?"
"It was me," says Maggie. "I had the privilege of being the first person from this world since the two of you to take the plunge into the vortex and explore these parallel worlds. It wasn't a long trip-it was only fifteen minutes- but I certainly found out that things were different on the other side."
"Let us now go into the control room," says General Hunt. He leads them out into the hallway and into the small adjoining room. Inside the room is a control panel and four Cray XMP supercomputers.
"This is where we open wormholes," says Hunt. "The first thing we do when we send someone on an off-world trip is to select the coordinates. Sometimes we want to go to a specific world, sometimes we choose a random world. We send a proble which comes back to us after one minute. The probe comes back with environmental data. If Colonel Rickman or I approve, then we send an exploration team. The timer is set and given to the team leader and the wormhole is opened. We wait until their appointed time to return. See these computers? They store the coordinates of the worlds we have visited as well as a log of every trip."
"Amazing," says Rembrandt. "Are you doing any more basic research?"
"Yes," says Steven Jensen. "Aside from learning about other worlds, we're still doing research on the structure of the universe. Currently we are developing methods of interdimensional communication, as well as techologies to lock a local area from an incoming wormhole. I mean, imagine if a thief were to open a wormhole into a bank vault. Or if an assassin opens a wormhole into the Oval Office."
"Well, I have this timer here," says Rembrandt, showing everyone the timer they acquired from one of Colonel Rickman's duplicates. "It has the coordinates for the world where we left Quinn behind."
"Perhaps we can download the coordinates into our computers," says Diana Davis. "If Quinn is still on that world, we might be able to find him. Will you give us the timer?"
"You're in a better position to find Quinn than we are," says Rembrandt, handing Davis the timer.
"You know," says Wing, "we should have lunch together."
"I'm fine with that," says Wade.
"I'd like to join you guys for lunch," says Steven Jensen. "Diana, why not join us?"
"I have work to do, Steve," she replies.
"You always have work, Diana. At least relax once in a while."
Wade and Rembrandt have lunch in a cafeteria located on the first floor of the U.S. Marine Corps Research Center. They decide to have roasted chicken and Coca-cola.
"You know, two weeks ago we found this new world," says Jensen.
"What's exciting about it?" asks Rembrandt.
"Well, they have a cure for spinal injuries. You see, I was paralyzed in a skiing accident in Aspen eight years ago. On that world, they have cybernetic implants along the spinal cord. From what I have read, it is a successful treatment. I could walk again."
"I hope it turns out okay," says Wade. "You gonna go there and get the treatment?"
"What we're gonna do is take back all the information we can about that and other things and report it to the Pentagon," says Jensen. "DARPA is working on new technologies we acquired from parallel Earths. Just think, in a few months we'll have treatments for spinal injuries."
"Well, Steve," says Maggie. "Congratulations. I'd like to see you on your feet."
Wade and Rembrandt look at each other. They both remember that one of Maggie's duplicates was married to one of Jensen's duplicates, and that Jensen's duplicate was murdered by one of Colonel Rickman's duplicates. They wonder how their Maggie Beckett would feel if she got here.
They all continue eating their lunch.
"What is it?" asks General Hunt as he neters the control room.
"I've just finished downloading the data from the timer Mr. Brown gave us," says Diana Davis. "It contains a list of all sorts of worlds, most of which we've never been to."
"Presumably, those worlds would be habitable by humans," says Colonel Rickman.
"Yes. But it is best if we check with the probe." Davis then clicks with the mouse on the computer terminal. "This is the timer's log. Whoever built this intended for the timer to store coordinates. Each log contains the dimensional coordinates for the world as well as the spatial coordinates for the wormhole and the duration until the next sliding window.." Diana scrolls the window to the bottom. "These are the coordinates for our world. Above that is the last world, with its dimensional and geographic coordinates as well as the duration. This means that we can open a wormhole not only to the right world, but to the exact spot where Miss Welles ands Mr. Brown left."
"I get it," says a Rembrandt. "If Quinn is still there, he could not have gotten far."
"and we can bring Mr. Mallory home," says General Hunt. He faces Colonel Rickman. "Rickman, you will lead a rescue team to that other world and find Mr. Mallory."
"I don't think it is a good idea," says Wade. "Colonel Rickman looks and sounds exactly like the man who murdered the professor. Quinn might attack him."
"I agree, sir," says Rickman.
"I volunteer to lead the mission, sir," says Maggie.
"Okay," says Hunt. "We'll send the probe through. Captain Beckett, assemble your team and suit up."
Rembrandt and Maggie watch as technicians carry a shiony silvery ball into the embarkation room.
"Coordinates are set," says Steven Jensen. "Opening the wormhole."
the vortex is opened; it looks like the same vortex that the sliders were used to when they used the original timer. One of the white-coated technicians throws the probe inside.
One minute later, the wormhole spits the probe out. Jensen and Davis leave to examine the probe.
Two minutes later, they return to the control room. "Target world status A," says Jensen. "Temperature is seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit, air pressure at 1.2 atmospheres, and radiation levels safe, and atmosphere safe."
"Okay, Beckett," says General Hunt. "It's a go."
"Yes, sir," says Maggie, holding her M-16.
Steven Jensen calibrates a timer. "It is set for four hours," he says. "If Quinn Mallory is still in the area, he probably did not get far."
Maggie and her team of marines leave the control room and enter the embarkation room.
"Opening wormhole to the same coordinates," says Jensen. The wormhole opens, and soon Maggie and the marines go through.
"Come back," whispers Wade. "Come back with Quinn."
Captain Maggie Beckett flies through the tunnel of light. She had done this a couple of times before. She reaches the end of the tunnel and lands on the ground.
She sees the other three marines come out of the vortex. Then the vortex closes.
"We have four hours to find Quinn Mallory," she says, looking at the timer. she checks her surroundings. She is at the edge of a forest. A few feet away is a cliff and below the cliff is the Pacific Ocean. "We are on an island. Intel reports it is not a huge island. We will search the island first."
And so the team of marines moves out, trodding along the forest ground.
"Quinn Mallory!" shouts Maggie. "We are from your home world! Come with us!"
Then there is a noise. "I hear something, ma'am," says a Marine corporal.
"Who is there?" yells Maggie. "We have no hostile intent. Identify yourself!"
"Hello," a female voice says. She then reveals herself.
The marines point their M-16's at her.
"Hold your fire!" shouts Maggie. She looks at the thing that spoke to her. She has the shape of a woman, and yet has bestial features. Could this be another species of people who originated on another version of Earth? "I am Captain Maggie Beckett of the United States Marine Corps! We have no hostile intent."
"My name is Alisandra," says the creature. "Why are you trespassing?"
"We are here to find a man named Quinn Mallory. Is he here?"
"I've seen you before. You were here yesterday."
Now Maggie is confused. "You did? With whom?"
"With another human. A male. Perhaps he is this Quinn Mallory you are looking for."
"The four hours are up," says Diana Davis, looking at the monitor. "They should be coming back any second."
then the wormhole opens inside the embarkation room, and the team of marines returns. Rembrandt and Wade peer through the window.
Quinn Mallory is not there.
Maggie and her team return to the control room. "Mission failed, sir," she says to General Hunt. "Quinn Mallory was not in the vicinity."
"Is he still alive?" asks Wade.
"One of the inhabitants of the island had seen him about two days ago. One of my duplicates was apparently with him. We searched the island. Itr is unlikely Mr. Mallory would hide from us. We can only conclude that he left the island."
"He must be somewhere on that world," says Rembrandt. "The reason he hasn't returned home was because he missed the slide; his timer was set up to track the one we got from Rickman."
"We won't stop searching for him," says Maggie.
"Well, there's no point hanging around here," says Wade. "It's not up to us to look for Quinn. We can't just hang out here until he comes."
Rembrandt takes another bite from the beef stroganoff. "Thank you for the dinner, Mrs. Mallory," says the R & B singer.
"I'm just so glad to have you for company, Mr. Brown," says Elizabeth Mallory. "I've often spent nights alone here for over two years. At least the Welles were nice enough to invite me over for Christmas."
"I am glad I was able to stay with you these past two days. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to start looking for a job. After three months, I'm gonna get my own apartment."
"You seem to be optimistic."
"I kept going on for more than two years. I made it back; I'm home. I'm gonna keep in touch with you, Mrs. Mallory. Will you promise to call me if Quinn comes back after I move out?"
"Of course."
then the telephone rings. The two of them look at each other. Quinn could be calling. Mrs. Mallory picks up the phone.
"Hello," she says, anticipating her son. "Hi, Captain Beckett.....What?.....I can make it......Sure, Mr. Brown is here."
Rembrandt picks up the phone. "Hello," he says.
"This is Captain Maggie Beckett," says Maggie.
Rembrandt immeidately knows this is his world's Maggie, not his Maggie. "Hi," he says. "do you have any word of Quinn?"
"No, I do not. But I am calling to inform you that the President wants to meet you."
"The President? Of the United States?"
"Of course."
The blue BMW approaches the gate at Yerba Buena Island in the San Francisco Bay. Rembrandt depresses the brake pedal and the car comes to a stop.
"I'm sure Q-Ball won't mind if I borrow his wheels," he had said. "After all, my car is still stuck on that ice world."
"Excuse me," says the Marine Corps military police sergeant at the gate. "Are you an expected visitor?"
"I'm Rembrandt Brown and this is Wade Welles," says Rembrandt. "We are guests of Captain Maggie Beckett."
"Let me check," says the sergeant. He makes a phone call. "Okay, come through."
The gate arm is raised and Rembrandt drives the BMW through. He soon parks the BMW at the Vistor Parking Lot.
"Okay, Remmy," says Wade. "Let's see what Maggie has invited us to."
The two of them approach the building where Maggie took them yesterday. The building was labeled "U.S. MARINE CORPS RESEARCH CENTER". They go through the front doors into the first floor lobby.
Captain Maggie Beckett is sitting in the lobby, wearing her Marine Corps dress uniform, waiting for them. "Hello, Mr. Brown and Miss Welles," she says. "Come with me."
The three of them enter the elevator and the marine captain presses the button for Sub-Level 1. "As I stated over dinner last night, we do research of sliding, or quantum translocation as the scientists call it." The elevator starts moving. "We did research here since 1995, when Congress appropriated the funds."
The elevator doors open, and Maggie leads Rembrandt and Wade into Sub-Level 1. They enter the same conference room where they answered Maggie's questions yesterday.
Wade and Rembrandt notice seven people in the room. They recognize Colonel Rickman; there are five other people in white lab coats with badges clipped to the coats, one of whom is in a wheelchair, and a marine with two stars on each shoulder.
"Sirs," says Maggie, "I wish to introduce to you Wade Welles and Rembrandt Brown. They were two of the four people who went missing in October of 1994 which led to this project of ours."
"Hello," says the Marine general. "I am Major General Alexander Hunt, program director of this facility. And you know Colonel Angus Rickman here."
"We've met," says Rembrandt.
"I suggest the staff here introduce themselves."
"Hello," says man with brown dreadlocks. "My name is Conrad Bennish, Jr. I was the one who actually caused this to happen, man. I was a classmate of Quinn's."
"My name is Wing," says a Chinese man. "I was also Quinn's classmate."
"My name is Diana Davis," says a black woman. "I was recruited by the Pentagon two years ago."
"My name is Vladmir Jariabek," says a middle-aged man with a Russian accent. "I knew Professor Arturo. I defected from the Soviet Union over ten years ago."
"My name is Steven Jensen," says a brown-haired man in a wheelchair. "I was a quantum physics researcher and I received an offer from the government and I accepted."
"Nice to meet you all," says Wade.
"Allow me to explain how this all got started," says General Hunt. "It started when some people called and saw a whirlpool swallow up a red car. Rembrandt Brown didn't make it to the World Series as he intended. It turned out that four people went missing. The FBI questioned Bennish here, who was a classmate of Quinn Mallory. He told them what Quinn had been working on. Soon he led the four FBI agents to the basement of Mallory's house, and down there was the equipment and all the video tapes made by Mr. Mallory.
"Mr. Bennish was soon summoned to Washington to confer with the President and the National Security Council, along with the President's science advisors. I was there, by the way. The President decided that research into sliding was worthwhile. So he went to Congress to get funding. Mr. Bennish spoke before a Senate committee, as did Mr. Wing. Congress passed the appropriations bill on March 2, 1995, and the President signed it into law. The funding was placed under the Department of Defense, and provided for the construction of a military facility. The Secretary of Defense chose Yerba Buena Island near San Francisco as the site of the sliding research facility. The reason that site was chosen was because Bennish and Wing resided in San Francisco, and there were two major universities in the local area. The government recruited quantum physicists to assist Bennish and Wing, and the U.S. Marine Corps provided security and other contingencies. We had two goals-learning more about the nature of parallel universes and to locate the four missing people."
"How much did this cost?" asks Rembrandt.
"Eleven billion dollars was spent on this project," replies the general.
"Quinn managed to open the wormhole with only a few thousand dollars' worth of equipment," says Wade.
"We've improved on the technology," says Hunt. "Allow us to give you a guided tour."
General Hunt leads everyone to a huge, cavernous room. There are lights overhead and there is all sorts of electrical equipment, including a tightly-wound coil. Marines stand guard with M-16 rifles.
"This is the sliding generator," says General Hunt. "this is where the vortex to other worlds are opened. See that window over there?" The general points to a window. "That is where the control room is. It has the equipment to control the sliding generator."
"What do you do here?" asks Rembrandt.
"We send teams of explorers to scout parallel worlds," says Hunt. "We've scouted over a hundred worlds, and we have outposts on some of them. One of our purposes is to gather new technology our counterparts in other worlds developed."
"I guess you can track wormholes and open a wormhole to a specific world," says Wade.
"That's right," says Hunt. "We did not send anyone through until we developed the technology necessary to open vortices to a specific world. At first we sent probes. When we developed a way to send a wormhole to a specific dimension, we sent our first interdimensional explorer in."
"Who was that?"
"It was me," says Maggie. "I had the privilege of being the first person from this world since the two of you to take the plunge into the vortex and explore these parallel worlds. It wasn't a long trip-it was only fifteen minutes- but I certainly found out that things were different on the other side."
"Let us now go into the control room," says General Hunt. He leads them out into the hallway and into the small adjoining room. Inside the room is a control panel and four Cray XMP supercomputers.
"This is where we open wormholes," says Hunt. "The first thing we do when we send someone on an off-world trip is to select the coordinates. Sometimes we want to go to a specific world, sometimes we choose a random world. We send a proble which comes back to us after one minute. The probe comes back with environmental data. If Colonel Rickman or I approve, then we send an exploration team. The timer is set and given to the team leader and the wormhole is opened. We wait until their appointed time to return. See these computers? They store the coordinates of the worlds we have visited as well as a log of every trip."
"Amazing," says Rembrandt. "Are you doing any more basic research?"
"Yes," says Steven Jensen. "Aside from learning about other worlds, we're still doing research on the structure of the universe. Currently we are developing methods of interdimensional communication, as well as techologies to lock a local area from an incoming wormhole. I mean, imagine if a thief were to open a wormhole into a bank vault. Or if an assassin opens a wormhole into the Oval Office."
"Well, I have this timer here," says Rembrandt, showing everyone the timer they acquired from one of Colonel Rickman's duplicates. "It has the coordinates for the world where we left Quinn behind."
"Perhaps we can download the coordinates into our computers," says Diana Davis. "If Quinn is still on that world, we might be able to find him. Will you give us the timer?"
"You're in a better position to find Quinn than we are," says Rembrandt, handing Davis the timer.
"You know," says Wing, "we should have lunch together."
"I'm fine with that," says Wade.
"I'd like to join you guys for lunch," says Steven Jensen. "Diana, why not join us?"
"I have work to do, Steve," she replies.
"You always have work, Diana. At least relax once in a while."
Wade and Rembrandt have lunch in a cafeteria located on the first floor of the U.S. Marine Corps Research Center. They decide to have roasted chicken and Coca-cola.
"You know, two weeks ago we found this new world," says Jensen.
"What's exciting about it?" asks Rembrandt.
"Well, they have a cure for spinal injuries. You see, I was paralyzed in a skiing accident in Aspen eight years ago. On that world, they have cybernetic implants along the spinal cord. From what I have read, it is a successful treatment. I could walk again."
"I hope it turns out okay," says Wade. "You gonna go there and get the treatment?"
"What we're gonna do is take back all the information we can about that and other things and report it to the Pentagon," says Jensen. "DARPA is working on new technologies we acquired from parallel Earths. Just think, in a few months we'll have treatments for spinal injuries."
"Well, Steve," says Maggie. "Congratulations. I'd like to see you on your feet."
Wade and Rembrandt look at each other. They both remember that one of Maggie's duplicates was married to one of Jensen's duplicates, and that Jensen's duplicate was murdered by one of Colonel Rickman's duplicates. They wonder how their Maggie Beckett would feel if she got here.
They all continue eating their lunch.
"What is it?" asks General Hunt as he neters the control room.
"I've just finished downloading the data from the timer Mr. Brown gave us," says Diana Davis. "It contains a list of all sorts of worlds, most of which we've never been to."
"Presumably, those worlds would be habitable by humans," says Colonel Rickman.
"Yes. But it is best if we check with the probe." Davis then clicks with the mouse on the computer terminal. "This is the timer's log. Whoever built this intended for the timer to store coordinates. Each log contains the dimensional coordinates for the world as well as the spatial coordinates for the wormhole and the duration until the next sliding window.." Diana scrolls the window to the bottom. "These are the coordinates for our world. Above that is the last world, with its dimensional and geographic coordinates as well as the duration. This means that we can open a wormhole not only to the right world, but to the exact spot where Miss Welles ands Mr. Brown left."
"I get it," says a Rembrandt. "If Quinn is still there, he could not have gotten far."
"and we can bring Mr. Mallory home," says General Hunt. He faces Colonel Rickman. "Rickman, you will lead a rescue team to that other world and find Mr. Mallory."
"I don't think it is a good idea," says Wade. "Colonel Rickman looks and sounds exactly like the man who murdered the professor. Quinn might attack him."
"I agree, sir," says Rickman.
"I volunteer to lead the mission, sir," says Maggie.
"Okay," says Hunt. "We'll send the probe through. Captain Beckett, assemble your team and suit up."
Rembrandt and Maggie watch as technicians carry a shiony silvery ball into the embarkation room.
"Coordinates are set," says Steven Jensen. "Opening the wormhole."
the vortex is opened; it looks like the same vortex that the sliders were used to when they used the original timer. One of the white-coated technicians throws the probe inside.
One minute later, the wormhole spits the probe out. Jensen and Davis leave to examine the probe.
Two minutes later, they return to the control room. "Target world status A," says Jensen. "Temperature is seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit, air pressure at 1.2 atmospheres, and radiation levels safe, and atmosphere safe."
"Okay, Beckett," says General Hunt. "It's a go."
"Yes, sir," says Maggie, holding her M-16.
Steven Jensen calibrates a timer. "It is set for four hours," he says. "If Quinn Mallory is still in the area, he probably did not get far."
Maggie and her team of marines leave the control room and enter the embarkation room.
"Opening wormhole to the same coordinates," says Jensen. The wormhole opens, and soon Maggie and the marines go through.
"Come back," whispers Wade. "Come back with Quinn."
Captain Maggie Beckett flies through the tunnel of light. She had done this a couple of times before. She reaches the end of the tunnel and lands on the ground.
She sees the other three marines come out of the vortex. Then the vortex closes.
"We have four hours to find Quinn Mallory," she says, looking at the timer. she checks her surroundings. She is at the edge of a forest. A few feet away is a cliff and below the cliff is the Pacific Ocean. "We are on an island. Intel reports it is not a huge island. We will search the island first."
And so the team of marines moves out, trodding along the forest ground.
"Quinn Mallory!" shouts Maggie. "We are from your home world! Come with us!"
Then there is a noise. "I hear something, ma'am," says a Marine corporal.
"Who is there?" yells Maggie. "We have no hostile intent. Identify yourself!"
"Hello," a female voice says. She then reveals herself.
The marines point their M-16's at her.
"Hold your fire!" shouts Maggie. She looks at the thing that spoke to her. She has the shape of a woman, and yet has bestial features. Could this be another species of people who originated on another version of Earth? "I am Captain Maggie Beckett of the United States Marine Corps! We have no hostile intent."
"My name is Alisandra," says the creature. "Why are you trespassing?"
"We are here to find a man named Quinn Mallory. Is he here?"
"I've seen you before. You were here yesterday."
Now Maggie is confused. "You did? With whom?"
"With another human. A male. Perhaps he is this Quinn Mallory you are looking for."
"The four hours are up," says Diana Davis, looking at the monitor. "They should be coming back any second."
then the wormhole opens inside the embarkation room, and the team of marines returns. Rembrandt and Wade peer through the window.
Quinn Mallory is not there.
Maggie and her team return to the control room. "Mission failed, sir," she says to General Hunt. "Quinn Mallory was not in the vicinity."
"Is he still alive?" asks Wade.
"One of the inhabitants of the island had seen him about two days ago. One of my duplicates was apparently with him. We searched the island. Itr is unlikely Mr. Mallory would hide from us. We can only conclude that he left the island."
"He must be somewhere on that world," says Rembrandt. "The reason he hasn't returned home was because he missed the slide; his timer was set up to track the one we got from Rickman."
"We won't stop searching for him," says Maggie.
"Well, there's no point hanging around here," says Wade. "It's not up to us to look for Quinn. We can't just hang out here until he comes."
Rembrandt takes another bite from the beef stroganoff. "Thank you for the dinner, Mrs. Mallory," says the R & B singer.
"I'm just so glad to have you for company, Mr. Brown," says Elizabeth Mallory. "I've often spent nights alone here for over two years. At least the Welles were nice enough to invite me over for Christmas."
"I am glad I was able to stay with you these past two days. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to start looking for a job. After three months, I'm gonna get my own apartment."
"You seem to be optimistic."
"I kept going on for more than two years. I made it back; I'm home. I'm gonna keep in touch with you, Mrs. Mallory. Will you promise to call me if Quinn comes back after I move out?"
"Of course."
then the telephone rings. The two of them look at each other. Quinn could be calling. Mrs. Mallory picks up the phone.
"Hello," she says, anticipating her son. "Hi, Captain Beckett.....What?.....I can make it......Sure, Mr. Brown is here."
Rembrandt picks up the phone. "Hello," he says.
"This is Captain Maggie Beckett," says Maggie.
Rembrandt immeidately knows this is his world's Maggie, not his Maggie. "Hi," he says. "do you have any word of Quinn?"
"No, I do not. But I am calling to inform you that the President wants to meet you."
"The President? Of the United States?"
"Of course."