Chapter 44:
Quinn finished screwing together a small device and laid it on the table. Michael walked over and looked over the table.
"This is the stuff we need to take down the Kromaggs?" Michael asked.
"Not quite. It's the stuff we need to get the stuff we need. In order to create the device we want, we'll need to go back to a few places that we visited throughout our journey, the problem is, we need people who were there. Maggie's here, but I also need Colin and Remmy." Quinn said. "And I don't want to drag Remmy away from home yet again."
"He'll understand." Michael said.
"Anyway, where's Maggie and James, I want to apprise them of out status." Quinn said.
"They're in the command station. Let's go talk to them." Michael said.
They walked into the command station where Maggie was re-arranging figures on a screen as James watched intently.
"Captain Beckett, you know, for a pilot, you are an amazingly good strategist." James said.
"My dad was a general. Some of it rubbed off on me." Maggie said.
"Troops look good, I assume?" Quinn asked.
"Naturally." Maggie said. "Made any headway?"
"Actually, yes. That's why we're here. I've devised a list of worlds we'll need to grab tech from." Quinn said. "All of them worlds we've previously visited. You'll recognize all of them."
"What's the list? I can grab coordinates of essentially anywhere the Kromaggs know about." James said.
"The first is the Slidecage around Kromagg Prime, that one should be easy. The other two should be in the timer somewhere, one is a world where a double of mine slid everyone off the world during his first test, and the other is Oberon Geiger's world." Quinn said.
"Geiger's world? What for?" Maggie asked.
"We need a scientist well versed in sliding, your friend Dr. Davis fits the bill." Quinn replied. "And of course my double from the other world would have the equipment to send a slidewave over an entire world."
"Let's see a preliminary scan, ah, here we are, Kromagg Prime, Earth K2804, world where entire population disappeared for around three years and suddenly were returned, and Earth E0801, where Oberon Geiger was conducting sliding experiments, which the Kromaggs used to separate Quinn and Colin Mallory from their group." James said. "Cross referencing with your timer shows that those coordinates are worlds you have traveled to, so I'd assume those are correct."
"Perfect!" Quinn said. "Come look at the equipment."
Quinn led the group to his makeshift lab, which looked like his basement lab back on Earth Prime.
"Here's what we're going to use. These three devices, are temporary timers. They have two uses, get someone to a predetermined world and return them to the world they came from and can be activated at any time, no time limits." Quinn said as he showed off three timer sized devices.
"What's this?" Michael asked, picking up a larger box.
"That is a Slidecage dampening field. See, the Slidecage disables the timer, but with that, it will allow the timer to open a portal within a 1 mile radius of the device." Quinn said.
"So, who's going to what world?" Maggie asked.
"I want you to go onto the world with my double, since I know he'll listen to you. I'll need to go grab Colin and send him to the Slidecage, since he'll know exactly what I'll need, and I hate to say this, but I need Remmy to go to Geiger's world." Quinn said.
"That's provided we have the coordinates of Earth Prime to use." Maggie said.
"Already taken care of. I extrapolated those from the timer as soon as I hooked it up. It's ready to go whenever you need it." James said.
"He'll never go for it." Maggie said.
"Hey, you never know." Michael said, hopeful.
"Let's move out." Quinn said. "Maggie, you stay here. I'm taking a recall device to bring myself back with Rembrandt and Colin. Michael, your job is done here, you're coming with me."
"Got it." Michael said.
"Okay, the inter-dimensional portal generator is ready. We can open a portal at nearly any location on your Earth. Any preferences?" James asked.
"Actually, yes." Quinn said.
A portal opened in the basement of Quinn Mallory's basement, just as it had almost twenty years prior. Two figures emerged from the portal before it closed.
"Okay, if everything is exactly how I left it, there should be a switch... here!" Quinn said as he pushed a switch on the wall and the room was illuminated. Quinn looked around the room, smiling.
"So this is where it all began?" Michael asked.
"Haven't you been in here already?" Quinn replied.
"Yeah, but not with the lights on. This place is like... the Command Center from Power Rangers!" Michael shouted.
"We definitely are from different eras." Quinn said. "Though, there is one weird thing."
"What?" Michael asked.
"If the FBI got involved and investigated this place, wouldn't they have confiscated and taken everything to Washington?" Quinn replied.
"Oh, they did. But once I got involved on the case I had them put everything back." a voice said from the top of the stairs. The owner of the voice walked down stairs, revealing himself.
"Bennish, nice to see you again." Quinn said.
"Likewise." Conrad Bennish Jr. said as he stepped off the stairs. "Once the others got home I figured you weren't that far behind, and so I've kept a scanner looking for portals in this general area, since out of all the places, this is where you'd most likely be."
"You were right." Quinn said.
"What brings you back? Wade and the Professor said that you were trying to raise an army to fight the Mags." Bennish said.
"I need to talk with Rembrandt and Colin. I need their help with that... But first, there's someone very important I need to talk to." Quinn said.
"She's upstairs. When she found out that Arturo and Wade had come home, she insisted on being here when you came back." Bennish said.
Quinn walked upstairs and saw that the house, while not quite lived in, still exuded the feeling of home that he had missed over the last two decades. He walked into the living room and an older woman sitting on the couch stood up and ran over to him faster than a woman of that age should be able to.
"Is it really you?" she asked.
"It's really me, mom." Quinn said as he embraced her in a hug. Quinn and Mrs. Mallory both smiled as their eyes began to slightly tear up.
The years they had been separated drifted away, and Quinn felt the feeling of truly being home, and Mrs. Mallory remembered the weeks after his disappearance and when she had seen the news report of Quinn's friend and professor returning, knowing that he wasn't far behind.
"I'm so sorry." Quinn said. "I let you believe for twenty years that I was gone, probably dead! It must have been hell for you."
"None of that matters anymore. Now that you're home. For good, right?"
"Not quite good. There are still a few loose ends, but once those are done, I will be home for good. This time, I mean it."
Rembrandt Brown put his head in his hands and started laughing. Quinn and Colin looked at him with worried faces.
"You can't be serious, Q-Ball! You send me home, get me to where I belong, and want to send me sliding again? This is too much, it's a good joke." Rembrandt laughed.
"It's not a joke. You spent more time on that world than I did, you'd know how to find Dr. Davis." Quinn said.
"Why me? Why not Maggie?" he asked.
"He already has her and I going to two other worlds." Colin said.
"I can't just send anyone. I need people who know these worlds." Quinn said.
"Q-Ball, I swear, if I go, I am going to get home and then I'm retiring from sliding, permanently." Rembrandt said.
"I promise." Quinn said. "One last slide."
"I'll do it." Rembrandt said.
Sam and Rebecca walked down the hallway in Cal-U's dorms.
"How lucky is it that your double decided to go on vacation this week? Makes it a lot easier for you, huh?" Sam asked.
"Yep." Rebecca said. "Any luck with the timer?"
"No luck, Quinn's notes are way too dense for me and Michael's notes are way too messy." Sam said.
They walked up to Michael's dorm room and opened the door. There was a figure sitting in Michael's chair.
"I've been expecting you." it said as the chair slowly rotated towards them, revealing Michael, grinning at them.
"Hi guys!" Michael said.
"Michael! You're back!" Rebecca shouted.
"What happened? I thought you were going with Quinn to stop Logan!" Sam said.
"I was, and thanks to Rebecca, we've figured out how to do it. Did Rebecca tell you what world she was on before she landed in Logan's holodeck?" Michael asked.
"No, it never really came up." Sam said.
"It was James' homeworld. When we landed, he helped us get set up, got us an army, and helped Quinn figure out what he needs to stop the Mags. It's a doozy of the plan, too." Michael said. "Long story short, he needed Colin and Rembrandt, and so he was coming back here and there was nothing for me to do over there, so I came back!"
"That's great!" Rebecca said.
"Yeah!" Sam said. "Wait, didn't you say you thought you were being tracked by the Kromaggs?"
"I thought I was, but it turns out I wasn't. James would have been the one to oversee that and he told me it was just the tracker in the timer." Michael said.
"Good. So you can help us fix the timer then." Sam said.
"Yeah, we don't need to." Michael said.
"Yes we do, so Rebecca can get home." Sam said.
"You're right, but we don't need the old timer. Cause James gave me this." Michael said, sliding the other timer out of his pocket.
"A new timer?" Sam asked.
"Nope. It's a quantum duplicate of the old one. I don't really get the science behind it, but James modified it to be back to original capabilities, plus all the stuff we've added into it." Michael said.
"Wow! That's great, right Rebecca?" Sam said.
"Yeah... I guess." Rebecca said.
"What's wrong? We can finally get you home without worrying about what we'd do for the rest of the time before the slide!" Michael said.
"I... I don't want to go home!" Rebecca shouted.
"What?" Michael asked.
"I... it's stupid and cliché, but... when we started sliding, I hated you two and wanted to just get home and forget about it, but... sliding is... fun! And you two are important to me, and I don't want to lose you." Rebecca said. "If I go home, we'll never see each-other again."
"I... had no idea you felt that way." Michael said.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." Rebecca said as she ran out of the room.
"Huh..." Sam said. "Does this mean that we have two Rebeccas on this world for good now?"
Quinn stood with Colin, Rembrandt and Maggie in the middle of James' lab. Rembrandt hesitantly held the recall device in his hand. He looked to the others for reassurance as Quinn went over the plan.
"After you get the tech you need, you simply re-activate the device and you'll generate a portal that will bring you back to this lab." Quinn said. "Any questions?"
No one said anything as they looked at each-other, waiting for one of them to ask a question.
"Let's go." Quinn said. "Activate the machine."
"Activating the machine." James said. "Sending Captain Beckett to World K2804."
"It'll be fine. Just find my double and get his notes." Quinn said.
"Can't be harder than chasing Rickman was, right?" Maggie asked.
"Exactly." Quinn replied.
A portal opened and Maggie looked at Quinn, who smiled at her. She smiled back and ran into the portal. It closed behind her. James typed in more coordinates into the computer.
"Sending Rembrandt Brown to World E0801"
"Q-Ball, you better be sure about this. Cause if I don't make it back..." Rembrandt started.
"You'll make it back. If my device doesn't work, I'm sure Dr. Davis will be able to help you like she did before." Quinn said.
"You know, you never really knew her, but that's probably right." Rembrandt said.
Another portal opened and Rembrandt clutched his recall device and walked into the portal. It closed behind him.
"Ready, Colin?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah." Colin said.
"Good luck." Quinn said.
"Sending Colin Mallory to Kromagg Prime, where he should be intercepted by the Slidecage." James said.
A final portal opened and Colin slung the dampening field generator over his shoulder and clipped his recall device to his belt. Colin rushed into the portal and it closed behind him.
"The computers indicate that they've arrived at their intended destinations. Now we can only wait for their return." James said.
"I hope they find what we need." Quinn said.
To Be Continued...