The group found themselves in an alley, Xander and Arturo coming through the vortex last on a big air mattress.
"My God, Mr. Harris!" the large Professor crowed with joy, "That is the only decent landing I've experienced in I don't know how long!"
"Mmrph, mmmrph."
"Did you hear something Mister Harris? I mean Alexander," Arturo said getting up.
"No but maybe Remy did," Xander smirked, pointing down under the air mattress they were getting off of.
"Why Mister Brown," the Professor smiled disingenuously, "However did you get under there?"
"Ha. Ha," the musician responded, "I guess the tables are finally turned, huh?"
"I certainly hope so," the academician replied with a superior smile.
Meanwhile, Quinn had managed to land on a couch being carried away by two college-aged men as general chaos seemed to reign in the area.
"Nothing like a little civil unrest to bring out the looters, huh?" Quinn quipped, startling the two into dropping their load and running off. Getting up he rendezvoused with the others for a moment to gain their bearings.
"Well, at least we're all here in one piece," Wade commented, helping the rest of the girls our of a big rubber life raft Xander had appropriated, "And if we can shrink it back up again, this air-landing could be really nice."
"I agree, Miss Wells," Arturo smirked with a twinkle in his eye, "Nothing like a soft landing to improve one's mood." They looked up as a car screeched and crashed nearby, a distraught man getting out and running in their general direction as military vehicles came around the corner from down the other street.
"That's Doctor Jariabek," Arturo declares, moving to help the man as Xander and the others draw zats traded by the SGC and Dawn's ribbon device.
As the military men start aiming weapons, Dawn releases a pulse into the middle of the troop, slamming back several soldiers as Jariabek recognizes Arturo and scrambles over. As the remaining airmen and soldiers attempt to regroup, Xander and Doyle fire zats and stun them, a lithe twenty-something female officer the last to fall.
"Professor, find out what's going on from your friend," Xander directed, "Doyle you cover the girls. Joyce, you and the others help me with our sleeping beauties."
Ten minutes later, the vehicles had been parked, weapons and useable assets stripped and military personnel secured, the tenacious officer slowly coming to as Jariabek reached the point in his explanation that mattered most.
"So as I was saying, this Rickman has purposely not told the president or others that we've reached the testing stages, claiming that sending politicians through would keep everybody worth saving from going," Jariabek continued, "But I think it's just so that he and those he chooses will go through to a place of his decision."
"Hmm, but why not simply send out the information on the Internet and have everyone who can get parts assemble one and leave," Wade asked, "That way more will survive this asteroid swarm you're talking about."
"Rickman is unbalanced, that's why I left," the physicist emphasized, "Why else would he have given orders to murder me?"
"Because you're a traitor?" Major Margaret Beckett retorted, "You don't follow orders, and you broke security on a classified project?"
"Then capturing an unarmed man isn't enough?" Quinn interrupted, "And we already have sliding technology and will make it available to your people." His fellows looked at him questioningly. "Alright, guys?" he added, receiving nods in confirmation. Beckett stared at him with distaste.
"Now, Major," Arturo addressed the woman, "We are going to tell you how our last few weeks have gone, and you will listen. The schematics for sliding will be downloaded, and copies sent to the White House and newspapers while we talk. You may ask questions afterward to fill in gaps we might have missed. But first, your proof." He nodded at Quinn, who took a timer from Xander and activated a wormhole back to the SGC Earth. Xander picked up Beckett and jumped through, the timer set for one hour.
Beckett arrived back in her own world, a bit overwhelmed but recovering, with three working timers Sam had finished putting together over the last day, and one hundred rendezvous points in the US and Canada that could be jumped to without being shot as invaders, pretty much all of them military bases to ensure that the SGC's public learned nothing before resettling folks on Earth, Caprica or with off-world SGC allies.
In the meantime, Rickman had sent out another, larger, force which between zats and blasters had been subdued, unfortunately four airmen wounded, but no fatalities. Beckett called in to the base and explained to Colonel Rickman the situation in full, and he ordered them to come in. As the information was already sent out, and as his e-mail and Steven's have copies, he would let things pass.
Arrival at the base was a very tentative and deliberate experience, the Sliders and Company being escorted to the labs where Beckett's husband Dr. Steven Jensen awaited their arrival with Colonel Rickman, who while displeased and just off the phone with the President himself, was civil.
"The President requests your assistance in working with Dr. Jensen here," Rickman addressed them, "And as possible exchange information so we can transport as many people as possible to your friends' world." And with that he left the room.
The next three days were a whirlwind, as across the country, the population was told that an SDI test of the limited deployed system would be put into effect, that schools, military, defense and police would stage evacuations over a three day period ending by the fourth day, to see just how many could be saved in an emergency. Quick military interventions had silenced most of the emails of timers and such sent out by the sliders, and a few key people bought off by being brought in.
The eggheads got together and improved the timers and capabilities, and techs at the various bases were able to get working units by the end of the day as the first vehicle-crammed unknowing refugees with food and clothes began leaving for the SGC world that began to panic at President North's ambitious refugee attempt. Fortunately, the Colony Worlds offered to make room for all who could make it through the Stargate, and even as they mobilized for renewed war with the Cylons, opened themselves to a peaceful invasion by the children of the Thirteenth Colony.
Much of this massive attempt wasn't made known to the Sliders, as they'd grouped together and began exploring in short half-hour increments, other possible worlds in case the numbers became too great for the SGC.
It was after the sixth such world, on the second day, that Xander and Quinn were taken aside by an arrived Jack O'Neill.
"Just how many folks did you say were going to evacuate?" he asked with tired humor, "We've had to move the Gate to the surface, for crying out loud, just to keep up with all the folks driving through."
"What are you talking about Jack?" Quinn asked in confusion, "How many people are relocating?"
"So far it looks like the school systems including colleges, the military, police and defense-related industries." he replied, "probably seventy million if nothing really breaks before this world gets slammed tomorrow."
"Seventy million!" Arturo choked as he joined them, "How the bloody hell can they jump with that many?"
"Sixty miles per hour and packed tightly in buses, semis, trucks and such into a wormhole," O'Neill grimaced, "at least they're sending the children and the best-skilled, we might just make it, and luckily it's the beginning of planting seasons in the northern hemisphere so we've already put in orders for maximum production."
"Seventy million…" Xander repeated, "And does your public know?"
"Only those who know about the SGC," O'Neill replied, "Everybody else thinks we're experiencing a burst of 'unequaled prosperity brought on by a sudden optimism in the economy' and a few in the petroleum and food industries have been quietly let in on things and are concentrating their distribution networks toward restocking the increased Interstate Highway traffic."
"Uhm, sorry?" Xander embarrassingly responded, "We had no idea…"
"Yeah, well, I was sent here to personally tell you not to do this again, we just aren't able to handle this," Jack sighed, "But on another note, when we revealed it all to Canada and our Security Council counterparts, they seemed to believe our good intentions when their consul officers started following the resettlement convoys to Colorado."
"So it balances out?" Arturo asked.
"Yeah, just…no repeats, it could take a year to resettle them somewhere," O'Neill continued wearily, then smiled, "But on a happy note, Daniel went to Cimmeria and found his wife again. They'll stay there or the Alpha site until we have time to cycle them back. Right now priority is given to deploying more teams into the field in the minute or so gaps we have between sending folks to Caprica. I think the Colonials consider you guys Saints now." Xander rolled his eyes, "So, been anyplace interesting lately?"
"Well, found a dinosaur world with Indian-like guys running around," Xander replied giving Quinn a look.
"What!" Quinn said, "I meant a couple hundred years behind us in development, not hundred thousand. I misspoke."
"Just stick to the physics, Mr. Mallory," Xander replied in a barely passable Arturo imitation, "And leave the messier sciences to the rest of us."
"Anyway Jack," Xander continued, "That was the best so far, but without MALP units and such, who knows what we're dealing with beyond line-of-sight. There was a world that seemed gigantic compared to us; I don't know if we were shrunk somehow in the accessing of that dimension, or what. Also, Quinn might have found his home dimension already, but Major Beckett wasn't able to breathe the atmosphere for some reason, so we're not sure."
"Could it still be your home, Quinn?" the colonel asked.
"Maybe, I just didn't have the time to get to know for sure," the young genius replied.
"I'll miss you guys," Xander told Quinn, "And we just got started."
"You could use our world as a base of operations," Quinn considered, "And if the timer broke or needed resetting, I could help with that."
"Hey, now," Jack interrupted, "I think the SGC would make an even better base, especially if those maggot-guys show up."
"Yeah, but Jack, are you guys willing to set up a base in California?" Xander replied, "After all, that's the only way my group can tell if it's home."
"I'll run it by Hammond," Jack promised, "Having you as a go-between with the Colonials when you're around would help us make sure nobody offends too many of the others."
"Cue-Ball?" Rembrandt asked, "Why didn't we ever build a second timer and do a base thing?"
"The parts for the timer cost about five grand unless you've raided the science labs and old electronics thrown out by stores," Quinn remarked, "And the few times we had the money…were the times we really needed the rest more…"
"Okay," Remy replied, "But it's something to consider. If we do get back home, we should have a timer that lets us escape back to the colonel's world if anything like these asteroids show up."
"That's a good idea, Remmy," Xander added, "And ya know, colonel, if your NID guys get hold of a couple timers after the evacuations are complete, and assuming the other-coordinates disabling burn-out program we designed into them doesn't work, they could concentrate on raiding the dimensions where Earth is ruled by aliens, techno-demons or whatevers and that way they'd actually be good guys."
"You rigged the designs?" O'Neill asked, "That's…interesting."
"At the time, it didn't seem like a good idea to let people jump all over the dimensions causing trouble," Quinn added, "And it made the chips used just a little simpler."
"Here, Colonel," Xander said, handing over a regular timer, "This one's for the SGC to know about and use but nobody else, okay? When you need to get around a guarded gate, find a world with stargates, jump to the world not expecting you, then use the timer to surprise 'em."
"I see holes in your assumptions," Jack pointed out, "But it might work some times. Do the Colonials having real ones too."
"They're a united people that won't war on each other, Colonel O'Neill," Arturo contributed to the conversation, "And would use it to survive. Can you say the same for the leaders on your planet?"
"We're working on it," Jack replied a little defensively.
"I know, Colonel," Arturo assured him, "We probably wouldn't give it to ours either except in an emergency."
"So, you guys almost done here?" Wade asked as she walked up, "Steven says you're all pretty much done with whatever it is you were doing."
"Yeah, I guess we are, Wade," Quinn replied, nodding at Colonel O'Neill, "Jack, the timer Xander handed you has about a dozen sets of coordinates, not the giant world, so you can tell if the Kromaggs are running around after us."
"Your home on here, too?" O'Neill asked Quinn, 'In case we need help?"
"No, but the piece of paper rubber-banded to it has it on there if you do need to get us," Quinn remarked, "We kept it separate in case the NID got it they wouldn't get us."
The rest of the Slayerettes and Sliders had readied themselves, Arturo smiling with his air mattress in hand.
"I insist, Mr. Brown, after you…"