SLIDERS
THE WAY IT SHOULD AND WILL BE....part two: BABY MAKES NINE
The door smacked open. A baby started crying. The old shack shook and in came the African American man. "Wade! Wade! You in here?" Rembrandt Brown broke into the room with other men. Pavel Kurlienko, Conrad Bennish, Gomez Callhoun, Mike Hurley, Elston Diggs, and Mrs Mallory's handyman. "Wade! Wade Welles?"
The group of men were well armed with guns, rifles, even a machine gun. Kromagg bodies were on the floor, some men, some women. "There's an upper level," Conrad said and pointed his rifle.
Rembrandt ran up to the upper level of the wooden shack, a cross between a shack, a farmhouse, and a former vacation lodge. "Wade, you up here? It can't be!" He saw a bed in a corner of a room adjoining the hallway and ran in. Wade Welles was in it. On the floor was a Kromagg coughing. The crying baby was in a baby carriage. Rembrandt looked in at it and saw that the baby, while looking mostly human, was also bearing some signs of being partly Kromagg. "Oh my God!" Rembrandt turned from it to the Wade in the bed, "Wade!!!"
Wade opened her eyes, "Rembrandt! Is that you? Is that really you?"
"Wade? Did you take a drug?" Rembrandt went over to her and held her in his arms, sitting her up.
"We tried to, to stop the disease from killing him."
"He's not dead yet, and he's a Magg, why save him?"
Wade stared, "Remmie, it's so good to see you!" She hugged him tightly. "Do you have a way to save him?"
"No, he's got to get off this Earth or he's gonna die like the others," Remmie said, "But why..." Rembrandt looked at the baby carriage.
Wade sprang up and picked the baby up and it stopped crying. "Rembrandt, do you have a way off for him?"
Rembrandt leveled his pistol, "I sure do..."
"Rembrandt!" Wade gasped and pulled the baby closer to herself. It was a boy baby. "Remmie! I've asked you not to."
"Is he....is he...did he?"
"No!" Wade yelled, "The baby is his but..."
Rembrandt waved the pistol in the Kromagg's face, "Magg!"
"NO! He didn't. It was his. They did rape some of us. But I wasn't. They used some new experiment on me..."
"We know. We saw the telepathic you. How'd you escape the explosion that....you held back for us to get away?"
"Rembrandt, I don't know what you're talking about."
Rembrandt sighed. "I guess it was just another Magg lie. That Wade was probably some other Wade from some other dimension."
"I can tell you, I am not though," Wade said, "I'm your's..."
Rem's high brows went up.
"I mean, your Wade. I know it. The Kromagg, his name is Portal. He helped me get here."
"How? We've been trying for almost six years."
"He's another experiment. His own body was made to interact with the vortex from when he was a baby."
Portal coughed, "And now I must use that ability to save myself. Take care of my son, Wade. I will never forget you."
"You can go?" Wade asked him.
"Yes."
"Then go! Now, before you die. I won't forget how you saved me. Got me and my baby out of there. Wouldn't let any of the others rape or even touch me. How you almost got yourself killed...it's true, Rembrandt, this one, Portal, saved me."
"I hear ya."
"Goodbye Slider Wade. It was good to have known you. I will not be back. Perhaps my son will be able to find me again however..." He vanished into an open vortex that seemed like a part of himself.
Wade gasped, "Rembrandt. The drug I took, it's not dangerous. It'll wear off. Just made me tired."
"Wade, are you, were you....I mean did you...?"
"Rem, I wasn't in love with him, if that's what you're asking. I...I owe him my life, and my honor and my baby. I take it the Kromaggs are all gone?"
"Dead or...left by spaceships or vortexes."
"How'd you find us?"
"You left quite a computer trail behind before you got here. And this was the only place from the stop and shop you stopped and shopped at," Rem came closer to her and rubbed her hair. And Kissed her cheeks. "I'm' so happy to see you."
"Me too," Wade smiled and kissed Remmie's lips.
"Mee too," a voice from the past said as a man that used to work with Wade came up the steps. Her former boss.
"Mr. Hurley!!!????? So you tracked me on the computer?"
"Of course."
"What? Why?
Rem said, "Wade, when the Kromaggs took over, these guys got together with others, a resistance was formed. And they did some fine work against the Kromaggs."
"But it wasn't...." Conrad came up behind the computer boss, "Until your friend here, showed up, right out of the blue..."
"The vortex was blue? I didn't notice." Rem smiled and broke from Wade.
"And," Conrad finished, "In his blood where he put it, was a virus that killed most of the Kromaggs and made the others sick."
"The baby's...he's...kinda cute and beautiful..."
"Yes, I know." Wade looked down at the baby, smiling, "As soon as Portal saw him...it..well, I think it changed him somehow."
"He seems to be immune," Rem said. "How did they....they, well, you know... ?"
"Artificially. Insemination. Machines."
"Thank God."
Wade made a stunned yet happy face. "Really? Wanna go through it?"
"No," Remmie shook his head and laughed, "But the alternative to it...to think of you being..."
"Shh," Wade said, "It didn't happen that way so it's alright. And yeah, thank God."
"And Mike there." Rem said, putting his gun in a holster under his brown jacket.
"But...but you didn't even like me..."
"Ahh, I did like you, Miss Welles--- it was Quinn I didn't like."
"Remmie, Quinn, where is he?"
"That is a long story," Rembrandt said. It was a sunny day outside and he took her down the steps, following his new friends and outside. He began to tell her the long story. They walked along a former farm land's side street. There were fields on both sides. The others followed.
Later, Wade asked, "So do you think there is no way to get back to the others?"
"If so I don't know how," Rem took out the timer, "This thing is gone beyond repair. I doubt even cue ball..."
A warp opened up in front of them, startling them, even though they've seen hundreds of these. Two figures came sliding out and they moved back. The two figures landed on the ground. "Sliders!" Wade gasped.
"Sliders?" Rembrandt said, "It can't be. Who the hell are they?"
"Remmie, it's us!" Quinn stood up. "You do remember me?" Quinn laughed. "You know, cue ball?"
"It's you, cue ball right on...right on ...cue...but how? Your atoms were stuck inside that other you...that Mallory guy I've been traveling with for so long...we thought you were un retrievable, gone forever..."
"As you can see that was erroneous thinking, my good man! It really is us," a chubby man stood up. "Remember me? The Professor? It is the real me from your Earth...."
Wide eyed, Wade and Rembrandt looked at each other, and they had the same idea about who or what this person who looked like the Professor was. Together they turned to him and said at the exact same time, "Naw...."
To be continued...
SLIDERS: THE WAY IT WAS AND THE WAY IT SHOULD BE part three
THE WAY IT SHOULD AND WILL BE....part two: BABY MAKES NINE
The door smacked open. A baby started crying. The old shack shook and in came the African American man. "Wade! Wade! You in here?" Rembrandt Brown broke into the room with other men. Pavel Kurlienko, Conrad Bennish, Gomez Callhoun, Mike Hurley, Elston Diggs, and Mrs Mallory's handyman. "Wade! Wade Welles?"
The group of men were well armed with guns, rifles, even a machine gun. Kromagg bodies were on the floor, some men, some women. "There's an upper level," Conrad said and pointed his rifle.
Rembrandt ran up to the upper level of the wooden shack, a cross between a shack, a farmhouse, and a former vacation lodge. "Wade, you up here? It can't be!" He saw a bed in a corner of a room adjoining the hallway and ran in. Wade Welles was in it. On the floor was a Kromagg coughing. The crying baby was in a baby carriage. Rembrandt looked in at it and saw that the baby, while looking mostly human, was also bearing some signs of being partly Kromagg. "Oh my God!" Rembrandt turned from it to the Wade in the bed, "Wade!!!"
Wade opened her eyes, "Rembrandt! Is that you? Is that really you?"
"Wade? Did you take a drug?" Rembrandt went over to her and held her in his arms, sitting her up.
"We tried to, to stop the disease from killing him."
"He's not dead yet, and he's a Magg, why save him?"
Wade stared, "Remmie, it's so good to see you!" She hugged him tightly. "Do you have a way to save him?"
"No, he's got to get off this Earth or he's gonna die like the others," Remmie said, "But why..." Rembrandt looked at the baby carriage.
Wade sprang up and picked the baby up and it stopped crying. "Rembrandt, do you have a way off for him?"
Rembrandt leveled his pistol, "I sure do..."
"Rembrandt!" Wade gasped and pulled the baby closer to herself. It was a boy baby. "Remmie! I've asked you not to."
"Is he....is he...did he?"
"No!" Wade yelled, "The baby is his but..."
Rembrandt waved the pistol in the Kromagg's face, "Magg!"
"NO! He didn't. It was his. They did rape some of us. But I wasn't. They used some new experiment on me..."
"We know. We saw the telepathic you. How'd you escape the explosion that....you held back for us to get away?"
"Rembrandt, I don't know what you're talking about."
Rembrandt sighed. "I guess it was just another Magg lie. That Wade was probably some other Wade from some other dimension."
"I can tell you, I am not though," Wade said, "I'm your's..."
Rem's high brows went up.
"I mean, your Wade. I know it. The Kromagg, his name is Portal. He helped me get here."
"How? We've been trying for almost six years."
"He's another experiment. His own body was made to interact with the vortex from when he was a baby."
Portal coughed, "And now I must use that ability to save myself. Take care of my son, Wade. I will never forget you."
"You can go?" Wade asked him.
"Yes."
"Then go! Now, before you die. I won't forget how you saved me. Got me and my baby out of there. Wouldn't let any of the others rape or even touch me. How you almost got yourself killed...it's true, Rembrandt, this one, Portal, saved me."
"I hear ya."
"Goodbye Slider Wade. It was good to have known you. I will not be back. Perhaps my son will be able to find me again however..." He vanished into an open vortex that seemed like a part of himself.
Wade gasped, "Rembrandt. The drug I took, it's not dangerous. It'll wear off. Just made me tired."
"Wade, are you, were you....I mean did you...?"
"Rem, I wasn't in love with him, if that's what you're asking. I...I owe him my life, and my honor and my baby. I take it the Kromaggs are all gone?"
"Dead or...left by spaceships or vortexes."
"How'd you find us?"
"You left quite a computer trail behind before you got here. And this was the only place from the stop and shop you stopped and shopped at," Rem came closer to her and rubbed her hair. And Kissed her cheeks. "I'm' so happy to see you."
"Me too," Wade smiled and kissed Remmie's lips.
"Mee too," a voice from the past said as a man that used to work with Wade came up the steps. Her former boss.
"Mr. Hurley!!!????? So you tracked me on the computer?"
"Of course."
"What? Why?
Rem said, "Wade, when the Kromaggs took over, these guys got together with others, a resistance was formed. And they did some fine work against the Kromaggs."
"But it wasn't...." Conrad came up behind the computer boss, "Until your friend here, showed up, right out of the blue..."
"The vortex was blue? I didn't notice." Rem smiled and broke from Wade.
"And," Conrad finished, "In his blood where he put it, was a virus that killed most of the Kromaggs and made the others sick."
"The baby's...he's...kinda cute and beautiful..."
"Yes, I know." Wade looked down at the baby, smiling, "As soon as Portal saw him...it..well, I think it changed him somehow."
"He seems to be immune," Rem said. "How did they....they, well, you know... ?"
"Artificially. Insemination. Machines."
"Thank God."
Wade made a stunned yet happy face. "Really? Wanna go through it?"
"No," Remmie shook his head and laughed, "But the alternative to it...to think of you being..."
"Shh," Wade said, "It didn't happen that way so it's alright. And yeah, thank God."
"And Mike there." Rem said, putting his gun in a holster under his brown jacket.
"But...but you didn't even like me..."
"Ahh, I did like you, Miss Welles--- it was Quinn I didn't like."
"Remmie, Quinn, where is he?"
"That is a long story," Rembrandt said. It was a sunny day outside and he took her down the steps, following his new friends and outside. He began to tell her the long story. They walked along a former farm land's side street. There were fields on both sides. The others followed.
Later, Wade asked, "So do you think there is no way to get back to the others?"
"If so I don't know how," Rem took out the timer, "This thing is gone beyond repair. I doubt even cue ball..."
A warp opened up in front of them, startling them, even though they've seen hundreds of these. Two figures came sliding out and they moved back. The two figures landed on the ground. "Sliders!" Wade gasped.
"Sliders?" Rembrandt said, "It can't be. Who the hell are they?"
"Remmie, it's us!" Quinn stood up. "You do remember me?" Quinn laughed. "You know, cue ball?"
"It's you, cue ball right on...right on ...cue...but how? Your atoms were stuck inside that other you...that Mallory guy I've been traveling with for so long...we thought you were un retrievable, gone forever..."
"As you can see that was erroneous thinking, my good man! It really is us," a chubby man stood up. "Remember me? The Professor? It is the real me from your Earth...."
Wide eyed, Wade and Rembrandt looked at each other, and they had the same idea about who or what this person who looked like the Professor was. Together they turned to him and said at the exact same time, "Naw...."
To be continued...
SLIDERS: THE WAY IT WAS AND THE WAY IT SHOULD BE part three