Sliding Into Antar

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Windows To The Soul

Chapter 33

XXXIII

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"Well, this looks familiar," Rembrandt said, sitting down at the table in the same seat he had occupied several months back.

Liz smiled. "Yeah, this is our dining room. No choice of restaurants here. Sorry we can't offer more variety, Remmy."

Rembrandt shook his head vigorously. "Don't be! It was a compliment. For us, seeing anything familiar again is practically an orgasm."

Michael coughed and snorted his drink, a mix of Cherry Cola, Snapple, and Tabasco, up his nose, which set him to sneezing, and Tess and Maria began to giggle. Liz smiled sheepishly, and her eyebrows went up just a bit, and Max just grinned silently.

"Well, that's… definitely… good, I guess," Alex said, as Isabel tried hard to suppress a laugh.

Professor Arturo took a short sip of his drink to 'clear his throat…' "Well, Mister Brown, that is not precisely how I would have put it, but I believe you may have adequately captured the essence of our ongoing dilemma."

"Napkins…? Are there any more napkins?" Michael stammered, doing his best not to sneeze again and having to dab tears from his eyes for his effort…

"I've got a frikkin' news flash: Tabasco does not have the same pleasant qualities when consumed through the nose."

"I thought you liked it any way you could get it," Kyle said, not making any effort to hide his glee.

"Tabasco, Kyle! We're talking about Tabasco! Get your mind back on track, Valenti!"

"I WAS talking about Tabasco."

"You were? Oh… yeah, well… alright then."

"This conversation definitely took a detour on the fast track," Jim said, grinning.

"You're drinking Tabasco?" Maggie Beckett asked, in an incredulous tone.

"They like it," Quinn said, "It's an alien thing."

Maggie scrunched up her nose but smiled.

"Well, it's mixed with Orange Snapple and Cherry Cola," Michael said unapologetically.

"But you do like it straight," Alex insisted, "I've seen you drink it right out of the bottle many times."

Michael shrugged. "Yeah, so? So do Max and Isabel… and Varec… and Rayylar. I've seen Tess take a toke straight from the bottle, too… when she doesn't think anyone's looking."

"Like Quinn said," Alex retorted, "It's an alien thing."

"Yeah, well, this is an Antarian ship," Michael pointed out factually, "You're the aliens, not us."

"He's right!" Quinn agreed, nodding with a chuckle.

Wade looked at Quinn and grinned.

"Speaking of your 'ongoing dilemma,'" Varec interjected, changing the subject, "What made you determine that you had not returned to your earth after I sent you back?"

"It's a long story," Quinn replied, shaking his head slowly, "Some things just weren't right."

"There was this guy that Quinn knew on our earth who had lost one of his thumbs," Remmy said, "But on the earth you sent us to, he had both thumbs. I don't know about you guys, but we don't grow new thumbs."

"Can't your doctors reattach a thumb," Varec asked, trying to think of some plausible explanation.

"Maybe… if it's done right away and they have the thumb to sew back on… and if it's not too damaged," Quinn replied, "But not this long after it was lost."

"Maybe your medical science has improved while you were gone," Varec suggested.

Quinn shook his head.

"Well, the decisive factor for me," Professor Arturo stated flatly, "Was seeing Mister Bennish. The Conrad Bennish I know is a mutant… a dangerous pathogen infecting the very essence of our universe. The Mister Bennish I saw on this earth was a polite, respectful, decent young man… not at all our Mister Bennish."

"People cannot change on your planet?" Varec asked, incredulous.

"They can… They do…" Professor Arturo agreed, nodding, "But the day Conrad Bennish turns into what I saw back there will be the day I will eat… those hideous harem pants that Mister Brown is wearing."

"Not my harem pants," Remmy exclaimed, "Where would I ever find another pair like these?"

"The question is, Mister Brown, why would you want to?" Professor Arturo shot back unsympathetically.

"Well, I don't know," Quinn mused, "I would be willing to let the professor eat them. It would be interesting entertainment."

"Barbarians," Remmy exclaimed, making a show of protecting his new pants, as the girls giggled.

"Well, it seems to me," Varec said thoughtfully, "That these are things that could have had a reasonable explanation. Sometimes the most difficult things to believe are true nevertheless."

Quinn nodded and sighed. "I know… maybe one coincidence… but two coincidences? And like Remmy said, humans don't grow new thumbs."

"It should not be impossible," Varec insisted, "From what I have seen, the human body is capable of it."

"He's right," Maggie said, "The human body does have regenerative capabilities, though we still don't know what triggers them in most cases. Our fingernails, toenails, hair, and skin regularly regenerate. Children grow new teeth, but adults rarely do… and limbs never regrow… well, almost never."

"Almost never?" Varec asked.

"I know what you're thinking," Quinn said, holding up his hand, "Almost doesn't mean never. But… trust me, it's just not likely."

"Did you eliminate all the possible explanations… even the ones that did not seem likely?" Varec asked, "That would be the first duty of a scientist."

Quinn actually reddened somewhat. He had, of course, not delved very deeply for possible explanations… certainly not in a systematic and scientific way; and now, under relentless fire from Varec, he had to admit that that had been a mistake. It did not in any way change his opinion that the world they had gone to had not been their own world; but from a scientific viewpoint, Varec was entirely correct, and Quinn, the consummate scientist that he was, knew it only too well… embarrassingly well…

"If I had been conducting a scientific experiment, I would have looked for every possible explanation… and catalogued each one properly… then I would have double checked each answer and looked for conflicts and found a way to explain those as well. But I was not doing a scientific experiment."

Varec smiled. "Life is a scientific experiment, Quinn Mallory. Everything must be considered with that in mind… especially if it is important to us."

Quinn sighed. He definitely was not going to win this one, and he knew it from the beginning. But worse than that, some annoying little gremlin in his own mind kept telling him that Varec was right. Whatever he might personally believe about the world Varec had sent them to, Quinn had allowed himself to make a final determination, one affecting all their lives, based on a mere feeling… Well… a bit more than a feeling… There was evidence that had seemed convincing at the time… on the surface… But what if there WAS an explanation? The idea burned at Quinn's mind. He wished he had given more thought to possible explanations now, even seemingly implausible or ridiculous ones. At least he would be able to look Varec in the eyes right now and not feel lower than a high school science flunkee. It was a very unpleasant feeling for one with Quinn Mallory's brilliant mind for science.

"Well… don't be concerned about it now," Varec said, sensing Quinn's discomfort. "The information is still in your timer. We can examine it together after dinner. The worst that could have happened would be that you saw a few more alternate worlds and had a few more experiences to learn something new from."

"Yeah, Cue Ball!" Remmy added, "Everybody here depends on you, and you've never let us down. If we didn't have you, we'd be lost for real!"

Quinn chuckled. "Only if someone else as arrogant and single-minded as me put you out there to start with, Remmy. Don't forget, it's my fault we slid in the first place."

"Yeah, but you'll get us back, Cue Ball. We believe in you."

Wade smiled at Remmy and nodded. "I believe in you, Quinn. I've always believed in you."

Seated next to Quinn, Maggie Beckett put her arm through Quinn's and looked into his eyes… "I believe in you, too."

Quinn looked at Maggie and smiled, and she kissed him lightly, almost teasingly, on the forehead.

Wade smiled, too… at least, her lips did. That was what Quinn saw when he looked at her. What Quinn did not see was the smile in Wade's eyes. But how could he have? It had been replaced… by a deeper sadness in her heart. That was something that Quinn did not see.

But someone did.

8888888888

The knock on Wade's bedroom door was soft, almost tenuous, and at first she thought she might have imagined it. Then she heard it again. This time it was just a bit louder. Wade looked up from her bed and closed the paperback novel Maria had loaned her to read after dinner…

"Who is it?"

"It's Alex. Are you decent?"

Wade smiled and opened the door. "I've still got all my clothes on. Does that qualify?"

Alex smiled. "That's what I meant."

Wade laughed. "Are you the official welcoming committee, Alex? Where's my basket of fruit?"

Alex shrugged and smiled. "I can get you some."

Wade took Alex by the arm and sat him down in the easy chair beside her bed, then she sat down on the bed beside him. "Don't be silly. I was only kidding. I was teasing you."

She looked at Alex and smiled, waiting for him to say why he had come… and Alex felt an uncomfortable feeling. Funny, he thought, that he hadn't given the little matter of what to say any consideration before coming here and putting himself on the line this way. It had just been something he had felt compelled to do, and here he was.

"I was… I was… wondering…"

"Yes?"

Alex took a deep breath… "Well, I've been noticing that… that… you don't seem to be particularly thrilled about the presence of your new traveling companion, Maggie Beckett." (There! He had said it!)

Wade looked at Alex for a moment then began to laugh. "Is that what this is about? You think I'm jealous of Maggie! Oh, Alex, you couldn't be more wrong! Quinn and I are buds. We've been buds forever. We'll always be buds. Quinn's in love with Maggie. That's a whole different kind of relationship."

Alex groaned. "I know that… I mean, the different kind of relationship stuff. It's just that sometimes I see things that others don't seem to see."

Wade looked at Alex for a moment, just for a moment, seriously, but then she smiled again… "What are you… empathic… a mind reader… psychic?"

Alex shook his head. "None of the above. I just notice things that sometimes go unnoticed… like… when Maggie Beckett kissed Quinn, you smiled."

"See! I told you! I'm happy for them."

Alex shook his head. "No. You're not."

Taken aback by Alex's seeming certainty and brashness, Wade stared at him curiously, but Alex continued…

"Everybody else was looking at your lips, Wade, and your lips were smiling, but I look at the eyes…"

Wade looked down at the floor for a moment then became serious again… "The eyes… windows to the soul and all that, right?"

Alex nodded. "They tell a different story, you know."

Noticing that Wade's eyes had begun misting up, Alex started to get up… "I'm… I'm sorry! I shouldn't have bothered you! I'll leave if you want me to."

"Sit down, Alex!"

Obediently, Alex sat back down.

"You wouldn't understand, Alex."

"Try me."

Wade thought about it, then she opened up her heart…

"Quinn and I have known each other like forever. We've been friends… buds, you know? We don't know how to be anything else with each other. Maggie, though… she's different. She's what he needs. She's not just his friend, she's… more."

"Don't you think you can be more to him, Wade? You want to be! I really think you do, otherwise I wouldn't have come here."

"It doesn't matter, Alex. You wouldn't understand."

"You said that before. So tell me why I wouldn't understand."

"Quinn is… Quinn is… so far above me. I'm not right for him. I could never be right for him. Being a buddy, his lifetime friend, is the closest I could ever hope to come to having him. I don't want to lose that. He deserves someone like Maggie… someone elegant and… right for him… someone marriageable. I told you you wouldn't understand."

Alex started laughing, and Wade looked at him, flustered… "Well, it's not funny. I'm sitting here baring my soul to you… admitting that I'm not good enough for some guy, and that's how you try to make me feel better… by laughing at me?" She picked up a pillow off the bed and threw it at Alex, and he caught it and laid it back on the bed with a smile. Then he sat down beside her and wiped a tear off of her cheek…

"You don't know how well I DO understand, Wade. You couldn't possibly know. You know that beautiful, blonde, angelic… bombshell that I'm married to?"

Wade smiled and laughed, sniffing. "Isabel? Yeah, she is beautiful! See, Alex, I could never look like that!"

"You're missing the point," Alex said insistently, "What I'm trying to tell you is that for the longest time when we were growing up I knew for a fact that Isabel would never ever ever in a million years want someone like me. I wasn't good enough for her. She was so far above me that I couldn't even reach that high or think that high. Well, think maybe, but thoughts don't get you much. She was on a whole different level on the evolutionary scale… or something… She was an angel that God had made special for some Adonis, not for a nothing little geek like me."

Wade laughed and shook her head. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Alex. You're special. Isabel did get her Adonis. Trust me on that. A girl knows these things."

Alex reddened a little bit and smiled. "Well, see, that's the thing, Wade, that's what the rest of us all think about you. You're totally good enough for Quinn. And I think he would be the first one to say so."

"You think so?"

Alex nodded. "I know so. Trust me on this. A guy knows these things."

Wade smiled and gave Alex a scolding look for using her own words back on her. Then she hugged him.

Outside Wade's door, a few minutes later, Alex took a deep breath and smiled. "Now to talk to Quinn."

End of Chapter 33

tbc…