Chapter 40:
The trio emerged from the portal, in front of Cal-U. Rebecca looked at the campus and smiled nervously.
"Well, you're home." Michael said. "It only took thirty eight or so tries to find it."
"If I'm here, where will you go?" Rebecca asked.
"Well, since Tiberius mentioned on that last world that the invasion failed, we can go home now. We have our world and you have yours. We just have to wait until the timer times out again so we can cycle our world's coordinates back up." Michael replied, handing the timer to Rebecca.
"Oh..." Rebecca said as she put the timer in her pocket.
"Let's get you back and settled. Me and Sam are here for couple days, might help to have us around to explain your disappearance." Michael said.
"Cool." Rebecca said, as they walked onto the campus.
They walked through the campus when a girl started to look at them quizzically. She ran up to Rebecca and grabbed her.
"Rebecca! You're back! Oh my god, there was so much going on, people were worried, I was worried, they said you were kidnapped!" the girl said.
"Oh, hey Melanie." Rebecca said. "Guys, this is my friend, Mel. Mel, these are Michael and Sam."
"Those are... oh my god." Mel started, as she covered her mouth.
"What?" Michael asked. "Are we famous?"
"Not exactly..." Mel said.
"Mel, what's wrong?" Rebecca asked.
Suddenly two large police officers came up behind the group, grabbed Michael and Sam and began to handcuff them.
"What's the big idea?" Michael asked.
"You two are under arrest for the kidnapping of Rebecca Collins. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you." The officer replied.
"Kidnapping? We didn't kidnap anyone!" Sam shouted as the cops began to drag them away.
"Stop!" Rebecca shouted.
"We'll need you to come in for questioning to tell us what went on during the kidnapping, so expect a visit later." the cop said.
Michael and Sam sat in an interrogation room as two cops sat in front of them.
"Okay, we're going to ask you again. Why did you kidnap Ms. Collins?" the cop asked.
"We didn't kidnap her." Michael said.
"Okay, why don't we start with this, this is a photo of you taken from the campus' security cameras, about ten minutes prior to a electromagnetic pulse caused by a meteor entering the atmosphere that knocked out all electronic devices. Just long enough for you to escape with her during the chaos." the cop said.
"Listen, you wouldn't believe us even if we told you the truth. Just trust us, we didn't kidnap her, and she'll tell you the same thing." Sam said. "We were... traveling together, all willingly."
"We're going to take a little break. Be ready to talk when we get back." the cop said as he walked out of the room.
"We have to tell him something." Sam said.
"Yeah, and when we tell him, he'll send us to a loony bin, talking about parallel universes and all that." Michael said.
"Wonder if Rebecca's faring better than us." Sam pondered.
Rebecca sat in her dorm room as a knock came from the door. She opened it and two adults, a man and a woman ran in and hugged her.
"Mom! Dad!" Rebecca exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"What are we doing? You disappear for eleven months and you think we aren't going to come when they find you?" her father asked.
"I wasn't kidnapped." Rebecca replied.
"That's just what the cops told us, said they arrested the two men who did it." her mother said.
"We were worried sick about you. What did they do to you?" her father asked.
"Nothing! We were traveling that's all." Rebecca replied.
"So, what, you backpack across Europe for eleven months with two guys who sneaked onto the campus?" her mother asked.
"Not exactly." Rebecca said.
"What was it, exactly?" her father asked.
"I can't tell you, you'd never believe me." Rebecca replied.
The cop sat at his desk staring at the files he had compiled on the two men waiting in the interrogation room.
"Hey, Detective Ramirez, I got the info you wanted on those kids." another cop said, walking up to his desk.
"Thanks, MacLeod." Ramirez said, as he took the files from his colleague. "Well, this can't be right."
"What's wrong?" MacLeod asked.
"These guys, kidnapped the girl, but they both have sound alibis. They were seen in two different places across the country, at the same time they were at the scene of the crime." Ramirez said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Michael Josephson was in New York when it happened. There's surveillance footage of him at a college there. Time-stamped the exact same times and dates as the one I have from here. That Sam Evans kid, does live in San Francisco, but he goes to UCLA."
"And there's footage of him too?"
"Yeah. It just doesn't make any sense. How can they be in two places at once?"
"Good luck, I gotta get back on my cases."
Ramirez walked into the interrogation room and sat in front of the two sliders. He put down his file and looked them up and down, placing screenshots of the conflicting video footage on the table.
"Okay, we've looked you up. Mind telling us how you can be in two places at once?" Ramirez asked.
Michael looked at Sam, who looked back at him. They turned to the detective, silently.
"Come on, boys. If you tell us, we can get through this and maybe we can cut a deal." Ramirez said.
"All I can tell you, is we did not kidnap Rebecca Collins. She is unharmed, and we did nothing to her." Michael said.
"You know I can't believe that, when there's video proof that you were in the college at the same time that she disappeared." Ramirez said.
"But there's also video proof of us not at the college." Sam said.
"That's what we can't figure out. How you did it, plus you two have solid alibis for the past eleven months, whereas Ms. Collins dropped off the face of the Earth." Ramirez said.
"We have a solid alibi, as you said and no evidence against us except for impossible video footage. You can't keep us here." Michael said.
"Until we figure out how you were at the scene and also across the country, you aren't going anywhere." Ramirez said.
The next day, Rebecca sat at her desk and looked over the timer. She sighed as she considered ways to help Michael and Sam.
"They don't have that much time left..." Rebecca sighed. "A little over four hours before they're stranded."
Rebecca stood up and started pacing around the room. She began to consider going to the police.
"I could tell them the whole story, but they'd probably assume I was brainwashed..." Rebecca mused.
Suddenly a knock came on her door. She put the timer in a desk drawer and went to answer the door. She opened it and Mel walked in.
"Hey." Mel said.
"Hey, what's up?" Rebecca asked.
"The cops are wondering when you're going to want to talk to them. They're okay with waiting, but something tells me those two guys have been less than cooperative." Mel replied. "The detective seemed really irritated when he asked me to talk to you."
"I want to talk to them, but they'd never believe me. I wasn't kidnapped, I swear." Rebecca said.
"I believe you. But the question still stands, where were you?" Mel asked.
"It's a long story." Rebecca replied.
"Try me." Mel said.
"Oh come on!" Mel exclaimed. "Parallel universes? Get out of here!"
"It's true! I've been sliding around, that's what Michael calls it, the multiverse. There was a world where utopias ruled, a world where I was a guy instead of a girl, oh and the world where the Dutch colonized California, so San Francisco was Manhattan!" Rebecca said.
"I don't suppose you could prove it, could you?" Mel asked.
"Not really, except for the timer." Rebecca said, fishing it out of the drawer.
"That's an iPhone." Mel said.
"On the outside, on the inside it's a device that opens portals." Rebecca said. "If I knew how to open it to show you the circuitry I would."
"You've gotta admit, your story is a little tough to swallow."
"I know, I didn't even believe it at first. The whole reason I was dragged into it was because I wanted to see proof."
"So it takes you to parallel universes, and you have a timer on it, meaning that the next portal would open in what, does that say? Four hours?"
"Yeah. The sliding window only opens up when the timer hits zero."
"Well, I don't know if you're telling the truth or not, but what I do know, is you should speak with the cops. Cause they seem really insistent on talking to you some time soon."
"I will." Rebecca said as Mel walked out of the room. "But I need to get this to Michael and Sam first."
Rebecca walked into the police station, and to the front desk. She told the officer at the desk who she was and he pointed her to Detective Ramirez's desk.
"Oh, Ms. Collins!" Ramirez exclaimed. "Great to finally get you here for your statement."
"Yeah, but first I need to talk to Michael and Sam." Rebecca said.
"We can't let you do that. Victims can't talk to the perps, standard procedure."
"But I need to talk to them. It's pretty important."
"They did something to you, and we can't risk it happening again."
"Please. It's important. I can't give my statement until I confront them."
"...Fine." Ramirez said. "But we have to search you before letting you in there."
"No problem." Rebecca said.
After being patted down, Rebecca walked into the interrogation room and sat down in front of her friends.
"Rebecca! Thank god you're here." Michael said. "I was worried we'd be late."
"We almost were. Good thing I didn't get here five minutes from now." Rebecca said.
"What the hell are they saying?" Ramirez asked from behind the two-way mirror behind Rebecca.
"No idea. Is it some sort of code?" MacLeod replied.
"At this point I think we can drop the acts. Barricade the door." Michael said, as Rebecca grabbed her chair and jammed it under the knob.
"They're trying something! Get in there!" Ramirez shouted.
"Rebecca, I don't see how you're going to explain this to them after we leave." Michael said.
"Then I won't, I'll just come with you." Rebecca said.
"But you're home now! Why would you want to leave?" Sam asked.
"I don't know, I just don't feel right being home. I don't want to give up sliding yet. I don't want to stop being with you guys. I can't leave you two on your own anyway, you couldn't make it without me." Rebecca replied. "To tell you the truth, when The Doctor gave us the coordinates, I was sad. I wasn't overjoyed to be going home, I was sad that going home meant losing you two."
"Well, I hope you're okay with that decision. Cause we don't have much time left." Michael said.
Ramirez rammed his body into the door as an attempt to knock it down. Michael stared at the door and watched it begin to buckle. He ran to the door and stood against it, holding it closed.
"Let's get out of here!" Michael shouted as he aimed the timer and the portal opened. "Go!"
Rebecca and Sam hopped through the portal as the door opened, knocking the timer out of Michael's hands, hitting the ground with a thud. Ramirez stopped in the doorway, staring at the portal.
"What the hell is that?" he asked.
"Long story." Michael replied as he picked up the timer and hopped into the portal as it disappeared.
Rebecca and Sam emerged from the portal and landed on the grass in Golden Gate Park. They looked expectantly at the portal, as Michael slid out of it and landed on the grass in front of them.
"We made it!" Sam shouted.
"Yeah, but the timer is messed up." Michael said. "Got knocked out of my hands when Ramirez busted the door open."
"Is it damaged?" Rebecca asked.
"Not physically." Michael replied as he tapped on the screen. "Oh crap."
"What?" Sam asked.
"The coordinate selector won't respond. I can't click on any of the coordinates." Michael replied. "It looks like the list was randomized."
"Did we lose our home coordinates again?" Sam asked.
"No, they're still there, I just can't pick them. Looks like we can't pick where we go anymore." Michael replied.
"So we're lost in the multiverse, can't go to our own universes, and have no control over where we slide?" Rebecca asked.
"Why not? After all, that's how it all started." Michael laughed.
To Be Continued...