Chapter 6:
The portal opened onto the new world and the three sliders fell out onto the grass in Golden Gate Park.
"What are we doing here?" Rebecca asked, brushing herself off.
"The Center was probably where Golden Gate Park is in other universes." Sam said.
"Yeah, and we have about twelve hours here." Michael said looking at the timer.
"Is this your universe?" Rebecca asked.
"Probably not. It wouldn't be this easy to find..." Michael replied.
"Let's look around, do we have money to get food? I'm hungry!" Sam said and started walking toward the street.
"I didn't grab my purse before we left my earth." Rebecca said smirking at Michael.
"I have about $100, I'll buy lunch this time." Michael said.
"Where do we want to go?" Sam asked.
"I didn't live in San Francisco for that long on our earth, where are the good places to eat?" Michael asked.
"There's the diner on 49th street." Rebecca suggested.
"Oh yeah! I love that place, they have the best fries!" Sam added.
"Let's go there, then." Michael said and they started walking down the street.
The trio walked toward the diner and walked in to sit down and eat. They sat with the menus as they debated on what to get.
"I'm getting the pizza burger with fries." Sam said to the waitress.
"I'll have the grilled cheese." Rebecca said.
"And I'll have the spaghetti." Michael said.
"All right, that'll be coming along soon." the waitress said as she walked away.
"This totally beats that Nutrameal stuff." Sam said.
"Definitely." Rebecca said.
"So, do you think we should search our duplicates on this world? See if they might know how to fix the timer?" Michael asked.
"Not sure, they might think we're nuts." Rebecca said.
"I still think we should check out the Mallory house though. Just to see if this world's Quinn had different notes than our Quinn." Michael said.
"Fair enough." Rebecca said.
"Did you say Mallory House?" a young man in the booth next to them asked.
"Yeah. Why?" Michael asked.
"Dude! That place is haunted!"the young man replied.
"Really? How do you know?" Sam asked.
"Because, almost twenty years ago Quinn, the guy that lived there disappeared." the young man responded.
"I heard about that. That was with his girlfriend, the college professor and the singer right?" Michael asked.
"Yeah! You know about that?" the young man asked.
"I just heard about it from a friend." Michael replied. "I'm Michael by the way."
"Oh, I'm Conrad Bennish, The Third." the young man said. "And be careful by the Mallory house. My dad was friends with Quinn. Got invited in by the FBI after Quinn disappeared. They couldn't figure out what happened though."
"We'll be careful." Michael said as the waitress came to their table with the food.
They ate their food, and talked over the meal. They finished and Michael paid the bill and they started walking to the Mallory House. They reached the house and saw the same abandoned house that was on Earth Prime.
"Looks just like our universe. But can it be ours?" Sam asked.
"I know how to make sure." Michael said and ran into the yard past the squeaky gate and into the basement window. He climbed out a minute later shaking his head. "Nope! All the notes that I took from the house in our universe are still here!"
"Damn it! I was hoping it was home!" Sam said.
"And what would you do with me when you got there?" Rebecca asked.
"Give you the timer and let you find your own world?" Michael asked.
"You're an ass." Rebecca replied.
"It's true!" Michael rebutted.
"Hmph!" Rebecca pouted and turned away from Michael.
"How much time left?" Sam asked.
"Ten hours." Michael replied.
"Want to go check out Cal U and see if your duplicate invented sliding?" Sam asked.
"Why not?" Michael said and they walked to a bus stop and got on the bus. They got off at Cal U and walked inside the campus.
"Let's check the dorm registry so we can see if our duplicates are in the same place." Sam said.
"Good idea." Michael said and he walked to the dorms and checked the registry on the door. It displayed his name with his room number. "Let's go check it out."
The trio walked to the floor that Michael's dorm was on, and Michael took out his key and put it into the lock. It opened into an empty room cluttered with papers.
"Looks like your room!" Sam said patting his friend on the back.
"Yeah, but no timer, no sliding, no nothing." Michael said. "What's this?" he picked up a photo by the bed that wasn't in his universe. It was a picture of him, Sam and Rebecca together in front of the school.
"The hell?" Sam asked. "What is Rebecca doing in this picture?"
"Like I'd of ever hung out with you guys!" Rebecca said as the doorknob shook.
"Who is it?" Michael shouted.
"Me, silly!" a female voice replied.
"Hide!" Sam whispered to Rebecca as she ran into the closet.
The door opened to reveal Rebecca, and Michael and Sam had a bout of deja vu from the shock wave universe.
"Hey, honey!" Rebecca said and immediately hugged Michael.
"Uh, hi, Rebecca..." Michael said while making a confused face to Sam, who shrugged.
"I thought you weren't going to be back until tomorrow, but Dan said that he saw you come up here. Why are you back early?" Rebecca's double asked.
"Uh... I finished up early. And I wanted to surprise you?" Michael said unsure.
"That's so sweet! I had a dinner date planned for tomorrow, but we can do it tonight!" Rebecca's double said.
"Why don't we save it for tomorrow, I kind of want to rest." Michael said.
"Come on! You've been gone for two months!" Rebecca's double pleaded.
"Let me rest and I'll get back to you." Michael insisted.
"Fine... I'll see you later for your special surprise..." Rebecca's double said eyeing Michael up and down.
"See you later." Michael said opening the door for Rebecca's double as she left and closed the door.
"Oh, gag me!" Rebecca shouted emerging from the closet.
"What?" Michael asked.
"Me and you? In what universe?" Rebecca asked.
"Apparently this one..." Sam replied grinning.
"We need to figure out where I was in this universe. Just in case I get roped into that dinner." Michael said.
"Check the computer." Rebecca said.
"Good idea!" Michael said and turned to the computer and put in the password and opened up his email program. "Let's see, ah, big trip! Big trip to... England? For a scientific convention?"
"Wow! Nice!" Sam said.
"Okay, science convention for two months... Interesting..." Michael said.
"This universe doesn't have a conflict, that worries me." Sam said.
"Yeah..." Rebecca said.
"Whatever, I might have a hot date tonight. If I can figure out how to pretend to me by double of course." Michael said.
"We'll need to keep you hidden though," Sam said to Rebecca.
"Yeah, since there can't be two Rebeccas running around. And god knows, one is enough" Michael said.
"So, I'm just supposed to sit around and do nothing while you gallivant around this universe?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes. Unless you want to screw with the natural order of this universe." Michael said.
"So, Rebecca you stay here, and Michael will keep the other Rebecca away from here. I'll be the link between you two so that we can all communicate." Sam said.
"Sounds like a plan." Michael and Rebecca said in unison.
Michael spent the next few hours preparing for his dinner date with Rebecca's double and Sam planned out the night. They had all changed into actual clothes, with Michael finding one of Rebecca's double's outfits in the dorm room.
"So, we'll slide around midnight. All we have to do is make sure that the date ends around 11:50, so we have enough time to group and then we slide." Sam said.
"And I'll stay here, and Sam, you should guard the door in case someone tries to get in." Rebecca said.
"How do I look?" Michael asked turning around from the mirror, wearing a black blazer and a charcoal button down shirt.
"What does my double see in you?" Rebecca asked.
"You look fine. Just go on the date, so there's no suspicion and we'll be good." Sam said.
"I'm off then. Does this change your mind about me Rebecca? Knowing that another you finds me attractive?" Michael asked brushing his hand through his hair.
"Nope." Rebecca smiled.
Michael left the room and made his way to Rebecca's dorm. He knocked and she opened the door, wearing a sexy dress.
"Hello, beautiful..." Michael said.
"You don't look half bad yourself." Rebecca said.
"Where did you plan the dinner to be?" Michael asked.
"Your favorite place." Rebecca replied smiling.
"I have a lot of favorite places..." Michael said.
"I'm not playing games tonight, we have reservations at Versailles Bistro in ten minutes." Rebecca said.
"Ah, let's go then." he said extending his hand. She grabbed it and they walked down to the parking lot. Rebecca stopped in front of the passenger door of a car.
"Ahem." she said.
"Yeah?" Michael asked.
"Did you forget your keys again?" Rebecca asked. "I can't believe you." she fished a set of car keys out of her purse and threw them to him.
"Right... The car..." Michael said and opened the doors and they sat down. Michael started the car up and started to drive.
"Are you alright? You look like you've never driven this car before." Rebecca asked.
"Yeah, two months away from it has made me forget how to drive it..." Michael said feigning a laugh.
They arrived at the bistro and sat down for dinner. Meanwhile, a few hours passed in the dorm room for Rebecca and Sam. Sam stood up and walked toward the door.
"I'm going to the bathroom, be right back." Sam said.
"Got it." Rebecca said.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Michael walked in. Rebecca could tell it wasn't Michael, because of the clothes, which were not the blazer he left in. He thew his bag on the bed and turned to see Rebecca.
"Hey, Rebecca." he said with a crooked smile. "Sam told you I'd be back early and you wanted to surprise me?"
"Uh... Yeah." Rebecca said unsure.
"So, let's get down to business." Michael's double said as he started to unzip his pants.
"What are you doing?" Rebecca said as her eyes widened.
"When I left, you said I'd get a special surprise when I got back. What else could it be?" he asked.
"Listen, I'm not really up to it right now..." Rebecca said.
"Come on, I'm sure I can convince you..." he said as he sat on the bed next to her and grabbed her.
Just then, Sam burst into the room and looked at Michael's double and to Rebecca, and back to Michael's double.
"Rebecca! There's something really important that you need to help me with!" Sam shouted.
"Dude! Cockblock!" Michael's double said standing up and zipping his pants back up.
"Phew..." Rebecca sighed in relief.
"I'll be right back, I need to take a piss." Michael's double said as he walked out of the room.
"Listen, we need to get to that restaurant right now." Sam said. "It's 11:30, we slide in a half hour."
"Let's go then!" Rebecca said and they ran out to the parking lot and hailed a cab.
They arrived at the restaurant and ran inside. Rebecca sat in the waiting area and Sam went up to the hostess.
"Hey, is there a Collins party for two here?" Sam asked.
"Yes, right at that table in the back." the hostess replied pointing to the table that Michael and Rebecca's double were at.
"Thanks." Sam said running to the back of the restaurant. He checked his watch, it was 11:55, they slid in five minutes. He ran to the table to see Michael and Rebecca's double laughing.
"Hey dude! Did you know the drinking age is eighteen on this world?" Michael asked.
"Michael, I need to talk to you for a minute." Sam said. "Excuse us." Sam led Michael to the front of the restaurant.
"What's up man?" Michael asked, obviously drunk.
"We slide in five minutes, that's whats up." Sam replied.
"That's like... an hour from now, we're fine." Michael said.
"God dammit." Sam said.
"Let's get him out back..." Rebecca said and they led Michael to the alley behind the restaurant. As they did it, Michael's double pulled up in a cab.
"Rebecca! What the hell was that? You ditched me!" Michael's double asked.
"The surprise was reservations here! Go inside to the table in the back, and you'll get the next part." Rebecca said seductively.
"Oh... I like where this is going..." Michael's double said walking into the bistro.
"We slide in three... two... one!" Sam said as the timer went off and the portal opened. They pushed Michael into the portal and leaped in behind him.
To Be Continued...