The morning sunlight streamed through one of the two windows ahead, slowly awakening Quinn. It looked out on dry plains, but there were some fresh and green trees a short distance away. Each of them were packed down and rooted manually, judging by the mismatch between the color of the soil around them and the drier, more brown color of the natural ground. Beyond them, he could only see distant mountains.
He was lying on a white bed without a blanket. His left arm was tied to the bed by its metal post with a pair of handcuffs, but he still had a pillow to lie back on. Mallory and Diana were to his right, also cuffed, and they too, began to slowly awaken. They were still wearing all black.
"We're alive," Quinn said. Diana slowly looked around. "What happened?" she asked. "Weren't we on the Manta?" Mallory groaned in response, then looked at their simple beds. "I dunno, this is pretty pedestrian for heaven," he muttered.
A door to their right opened, and two people entered. The man was fair-skinned and had short brownish-grey hair, a round face, and a short nose, and the woman was fair-skinned and stronger jawed, with long curly brown hair and a similarly short nose. Both were wearing matching uniforms of shimmering white-grey, long-sleeved shirts with black rectangular tags over their left breast, the same colored long slacks, and black shoes. There was no mistaking it: it was Michael and Elizabeth Mallory, Quinn's estranged parents.
"Mom? Dad?" Quinn asked.
Elizabeth stopped between the two windows and hugged her elbows over her belly, watching intently. Michael approached Quinn's bedside on the left, giving everyone a view of what happened next: taking a small scanner consisting of a plastic frame and a small display from his pocket, Michael held it to Quinn's cuffed hand. There were a few beeps and squawks from the device as the seconds passed. Finally, the device let out a single beep, before it fell silent.
Quinn watched in silence as a single tear fell from the man's left eye. He slowly smiled, nodded at Elizabeth, then the two rushed forward to hug their son.
"I can't believe it, after all these years..." Elizabeth said, flooding Quinn's forehead with kisses. Michael made his way around her to put a key to his handcuffs and let him loose, and the three shared a strong hug.
Quinn smiled. "I'm really home?" he asked. Michael and Elizabeth pulled away, and while Elizabeth choked back a smiling sob, Michael ran a hand through his boy's hair. "Yes, son," he answered. He turned to his wife. "They were right, it really was him." She nodded, but Quinn simply looked between them, confused. "Who was right, dad?" he asked.
"Us, Mr. Mallory," came a voice from the far door to his right. His parents backed away. It was a voice he hadn't heard in years, one he never thought he would ever hear again. Time seemed to slow as he turned his head to look, and four figures entered like they had come straight out of a dream. His head spun in questioning confusion, as the first, Professor Maximilian Arturo, former Regents Professor of Cosmology and Ontology at the University of California, came to stand at his left side, dressed well in a white dress shirt, red tie, tan slacks, and black shoes.
"I... knew it," Quinn whispered. The Professor smiled and reached down to hug his former student. "It's been entirely too long, my boy," he said. Quinn wasn't able to say a word, didn't even know what to say. An apology for leaving him behind? Questions of how he was doing? Asking how he got here? In the end, the Professor made the decision for him. Backing up, the next person came to stand at Quinn's right.
It was Colin. He was wearing blue jeans and a tan short-sleeved shirt, and there was a small bulge poking out from his solar plexus. "It's good to see you, brother," he said with a smile, taking Quinn's right hand in his and clasping tightly.
Quinn stammered out words as best he could as Colin came in for a man hug. "How...?" he started. "Who...?" Colin leaned back and stood tall and proud. "After I found my way back to the Slidecage, the Professor grounded me there," he explained. "He and the girls helped us all escape, after Wade kept me going with her nursing." He reached an arm around to put it around her shoulders, squeezed in thanks, then gently nudged her forward.
Quinn's voice failed him. She was dressed in an oversized blue plaid overshirt with a red baseball cap, short white shorts, and black sneakers. She took off the cap to best reveal her face and dispel all doubt. It was her: Wade Welles. After all the false leads, dead ends, failures, and setbacks...
"You're..." he stammered, tears falling from his eyes, "From the beginning, we...?" She put her hand in his, squeezed, and smiled. "Yes, the same," she answered.
"How?" he asked. Wade looked to the others. "Mary helped get me in contact with the Professor, then he and Maggie got me out," she explained. Quinn looked to them with blurry, tear-flecked vision, smiled, then pulled Wade in for a tight hug. She laughed, took his kiss on her forehead, then hugged him tightly once more.
After she pulled away, he looked between them all. "Where's Maggie?" he asked. "Is she ok?" The Professor nodded soothingly, allowing Quinn to relax before he spoke. "She was a double of your Miss Beckett," he explained. "She perished in my, Miss Welles', and Lady Mary's defense. Of yours, I'm afraid we have no current information."
Quinn nodded in understanding, then turned to Mary, wearing a white long-sleeved sweater, black slacks, and black shoes. "And you..." he started, "you were alive?"
She nodded. "Yes, it was a deception ordered by my former masters," she answered. "I'm sorry for everything you've been through." Quinn shook his head in response. "No," he said. "You were the start of all this, right? I can't thank you enough." He put his right hand out to take hers, and when she squeezed back with a smile, he put his left on the other side of her and and squeezed back.
"Um, not to break up this little reunion of yours," Mallory spoke up from the right, "but do you think you can let us loose?" The other seven looked to him with embarrassed smiles, then Michael walked over, pausing at Diana's side. "Who are they, son?" he asked Quinn, who smiled widely at the two. "Good friends, best friends," he spoke out confidently. "If Mallory didn't carry me for so long, and Diana wasn't at our backs separating us, I wouldn't be here now," he added.
Satisfied, Michael unlocked the handcuffs on the two, and rubbing their wrists, the two stood to meet the others as Quinn rose and joined them. Colin approached and reached a hand out to Mallory. "I'm Colin," he introduced himself, "Quinn's brother." Mallory took his and shook back strongly. "Guess that kinda makes two of us," he said back with a sly smile, then made a strange face. "What's that on your chest?" he asked. Colin looked down with a smile. "Something to keep me grounded," he explained. "In a few weeks, my quantum matrix will be grounded to physical reality, and I'll be back to normal." Mallory nodded without understanding. "Sounds like fun," he joked, to which Colin laughed.
Wade waved to Diana as she approached, and Diana looked to her with slight embarrassment. "We were right there," she said softly. "I'm sorry we couldn't get you out of that facility." Wade shook her head, then reached out to hug her. Diana looked around in shy confusion, but managed to pat her on the back a few times. Wade pulled away, then spoke. "You tried your best, and you took care of Remmy, right?" she answered. Diana smiled humbly. "More the other way around, but I tried," she admitted.
Wade nodded, then gave her a more serious and inquisitive look. "Is he ok?" she asked. Diana took a breath before answering. "Last I knew, he was heading back to Earth with a virus to drive the Kromaggs away, and they're gone from your Earth now," she answered. The Professor, Wade, Colin, and Mary all shared a hopeful look. Diana nodded. "Knowing him, I'm sure he's ok," she finished.
The Professor approached next. "Diana, is it?" he asked. She nodded. "Dr. Diana Davis," she answered with a smile, "but Diana is just fine." He reached his hand out to take hers. "We'll have much to discuss of sliding and its related concepts," he said, shaking hers, then releasing, "but for now, I simply wish to express my gratitude for caring for the others in my absence." She nodded, then he looked to Mallory.
"Mr. Mallory," he started, looking to Quinn and Colin with a slight smile, "third of three, I take it you're responsible for Quinn's survival?" He approached to take Mallory's hand and shake vigorously. Mallory shrugged. "He needed a place to stay, so I let him crash a while," he explained oddly, pointing to his head. The Professor smiled nonetheless. "It seems we all have much to discuss," he added.
"So mom, dad, there's something I don't get," Quinn spoke up. His parents looked to him. "When we came in on the Manta, why didn't you shoot us down? Was our world that damaged by the Voraton device?"
They looked at one another strangely. "Well, it's been a monumental task to try and get our world back on its feet," Michael explained, "but that's not the reason we didn't shoot the Manta."
Elizabeth reached into her pocket and pulled out a small display device with a screen and buttons. Touching a few, she pulled up an odd picture and showed everyone: it was a bottom view of the Manta, but the lights underneath were shaped like a smiley face. Quinn and Mallory looked to Diana and grinned widely. "Way to go, Diana!" Quinn exclaimed. He and Mallory raised two hands and high fived her, and she looked down shyly with a wide smile. "I couldn't find the controls for voice or flight, so I had to improvise," she said shyly.
Suddenly, a man in the same uniform as the Mallorys burst in. He had short black hair and a round face, and his fair-skinned face was red with strain. "Pardon, but there's something happening in the control room, Mr. and Mrs. Mallory," he said breathlessly. "You have to see this."
All ten of them jogged through metal hallways and past several doors and confused people in the same uniforms before they reached a room filled with monitors and a large control panel below them. The black-haired technician sat at the console, then flicked a switch. A rhythm started playing out through beeps, showing a shift in a distant power source: beepbeepbeep, beep-beep-beep, beepbeepbeep. It played once more, then again, before the seven sliders looked to one another in knowing.
"What is that?" Elizabeth asked. Quinn turned to her with a smile. "Distress call," he explained, then turned to the technician. "Where is that coming from?" he asked. The man pointed to a display in the corner. "The moon," he said simply. Michael and Elizabeth looked at one another. "The old base?" she asked. Michael shook his head, not knowing what to say.
"Do you have cameras?" Quinn asked. The technician nodded. "Yes, but I don't know if they're still..." he started, before pushing a few buttons. A monitor suddenly lit up. The sight before them brought brightness across all their faces, and suddenly, the room was full of shouts from half a dozen people at once.
"Remmy!" "Maggie!" "Mr. Brown!" the chorus yelled out. Quinn pointed to the woman in the power room, standing next to an odd machine whose gears slowly turned amid the flickering lights in the area. "She's there too..." he started, then pointed his finger at another in the room. "Bennish?!" he exclaimed. The Professor came up next to him and exhaled. "The thorn has returned to my side," he joked, clapping Quinn on the shoulder.
Remmy was wearing a grey T-shirt and blue jeans, Maggie a jean mini-jacket over a long-sleeved black shirt and jean shorts over black stockings, and Bennish his sunglasses, white undershirt, aloha overshirt, and black shorts. Maggie and Bennish were wrapped in blankets and sitting, while Remmy was at a console with a blanket around him, fiddling with something. All were barefoot.
"How are they in the moon base?" Michael asked. "The Slidecage cloak should have extended to the moon as well." Quinn shrugged, looking to them. "Maybe it had something to do with me messing with the controls two years ago?" he wondered, then turned to the technician. "Is there a speaker?" he asked. The technician hit a few buttons, then pointed to Quinn. "One way," he said softly.
"Remmy!" he shouted. The three on the monitor jumped, then looked around for the source of the voice. "It's me, man! It's Quinn!" Looking around, Bennish finally seemed to notice something, then pointed directly into the screen. The others followed his eyes and waved. Remmy clearly mouthed "Q-Ball?", but the mouth movements and the words of the others were far faster and difficult to make out.
"Yeah, it's me!" Quinn called back. "We can't hear you, but we can see you. What's going on?" Maggie and Bennish closed their mouths and looked to one another. Remmy put his hands to his throat then shook his head, then hopped out of the room for a short while. Maggie and Bennish nodded after him, then held up a single finger each, waiting for him to return. Shortly after, Remmy returned with a white spacesuit, held it up to point at it, held up three fingers, pointed at the others, then gave a thumbs up.
"Got it," Quinn spoke back. "Just sit still and conserve everything you have. We'll find a way to get to you." The three nodded, then gathered up the suit and blankets to leave the power room.
"Is there some way to get to the moon?" Colin asked his parents. Michael shook his head. "We abandoned the base years ago," he answered. "We're still reeling from the effects of the Voraton device, and focusing on rebuilding the Earth." Elizabeth nodded. "The world's still a wasteland," she added. "We're just barely coming out of sustenance levels."
Diana smiled, then took a few steps forward to stand before everyone. "Lucky for us, we have a spaceship," she said confidently.
Quinn looked up in hope, then to his parents. "Dad, we need all the tech specialists you have: engineers, programmers, construction, maintenance, repair... anyone you can bring here as fast as possible," he said. Michael nodded. "We already had people working on it after the soldiers got you out," he answered. "But everything's going to be in Kromagg. How are you going to fly it?"
Slowly, Quinn, the Professor, Wade, and Colin turned to look at Mary. She smiled and waved.
There was little to repair or fix in the Manta. Most of the work on the inside was hauling out unneeded materials, sweeping, and scanning for any hidden Kromaggs, with the bulk of the effort coming from the outside: there were suits and supplies for the trip and chairs were brought in to be bolted to the ground in the bridge, where the majority of the planning and calculation took place.
Mary sat at the head of the bridge in front of the flight controls, and working together with Diana's translation program, the two set up terminals and commands in English all around the bridge to get the ship ready for transport. Quinn and the Professor sat to their left and right, getting the system ready and their destination calculated, while Wade, Colin, and Mallory got a quick tutorial from some of the techs on how to use the spacesuits and other equipment.
Every minute they spent was another minute risking Remmy, Maggie, and Bennish to the freezing cold or hypoxia, so everyone, volunteers from Michael and Elizabeth's lab as well as others who were close enough to be called in, worked double time.
When they were finished, there was a semi-circle bridge console with seven bolted down chairs and terminals set up: Mary in the center, Quinn and the Professor next to her, then Colin and Mallory on the left, with Diana and Wade on the right. Four more chairs with buckles were bolted to the back wall next to the door, two to the left, and two to the right.
With preparations complete, the volunteers left the ship to take positions in the lab, where they would monitor progress. The sliders strapped themselves into their designated spots, and Mary hit the power.
The Manta thrummed to life, and without the need to open a portal, they were off the ground in seconds. The dead tree line in front of them soon dropped out of view to reveal distant brown mountains, and shortly after, the Manta was high enough to launch forward. The ground passed by slowly at first, then faster and faster. Finally, Mary tilted the ship up, and they were heading straight for the cloudy sky.
"Hull and fuel's still green," Diana called out. Mallory turned his head to the others. "Wings are stable," he said. Looking to the console, Quinn nodded. "No broken seals, speed's good, I think we're gonna make it!" he called out.
In moments, they were above the cloudline and through to the blue, and just seconds later, the skies faded into the dark and star-dotted sight of space. The Manta hummed as Mary slowly pitched the great ship down, and little by little, the ship angled itself to come parallel with the Earth. Soon, they were blasting into the dark, and in no time, the sight of the distant moon appeared over the horizon of the Earth, so all that was left to do was wait.
The next hour passed business-like and focused as the seven checked statistics, coordinated space movements, went over what-ifs, and triple checked translations just for peace of mind's sake. Aside from Mallory getting a little too into his role as co-pilot and caretaker of the wings, their minds were focused on the rescue. Before they knew it, the moon loomed large before them.
When they were ten minutes out, Wade, Colin, and Mallory suited themselves up, cutting an impressive figure in their white spacesuits and clear visors. Quinn turned to them and smiled at the inspiring sight, but focused especially on Colin. "I'd ask for your help on the science, bro, but there's three people in there," he said. Colin smiled behind his helmet and gave a thumbs up. "It's my pleasure brother," his muffled voice answered.
Mallory slapped him across the chest with the back of his hand. "So you gonna get Remmy, or that aloha guy?" he asked. Colin smiled. "If it's all the same, I feel in a crying mood today," he answered. Mallory shrugged and conceded, then pointed to Wade. "You've got Maggie, of course," he added. Wade smiled and posed with a peace sign. "Absolutely!" she stated strongly.
In moments, they were over the moon and fast approaching the base. Mary turned the Manta slowly around as Colin, Wade, and Mallory made their way to the back of the Manta, right outside the door to the Cyberiad room.
"Clear," Colin said into his helmet, and seconds later, two airtight doors slammed down in either hallway, leaving them staring at the closed back hatch of the ship. Hovering very carefully down just outside the moon base, the Manta rocked as they finally touched down on the surface. Wade took a look at each of the displays on their spacesuits, then spoke. "Green," she spoke, and shortly after, the back of the Manta opened, sucking all of the air out and leaving the three to hop to the entrance of the base.
Approaching the outer door to the airlock of the moon base, Mallory removed a small controller from his front pocket. Pushing a button, the outer door clicked and hissed open, giving them a full view of the dust-covered airlock inside. Once they had all hopped inside and were clear, Mallory pushed the same button once more to lock the outer door with a hissing, clicking close, throwing them into darkness, then pushed another to open the inner door.
They hopped through the complex, and in no time, found the center control room where the three had made camp. With the oxygen levels beginning to dip and the temperature dropping, all three were huddled together under blankets and only barely responsive. Colin and Mallory picked up Remmy and Bennish and began strapping them into the spacesuits.
Wade reached down to do the same with Maggie. The lady soldier slowly opened her eyes, not believing what she was seeing. She had expected a tech team, Quinn, anyone but the one looking down at her now. Her mouth opened, and she barely managed to get out one thing.
"Wade?" she asked in disbelief. Wade smiled and nodded, reaching down to pull her to her feet, then when she stumbled, caught her in an embrace. "We're getting you out of here," she promised, then turned to help her into her suit.
In the warmth of the suits and with the reserve air kicking in, Remmy and Bennish became more responsive. "Farm Boy!" Remmy exclaimed, hugging Colin as best he could between the two suits. "I thought I'd never see you again!" Colin squeezed, pushed away, then held his covered hand out to grasp Remmy's and give him the strongest man hug he could. Mallory and Bennish looked at the scene, shared glances with one another, then held up their hands in mock surrender.
Moments later, they had all hopped back into the Manta, gotten atmosphere back into the tail section, then stumbled to the bridge to strip their suits off in the warmth and comparatively fresh air of the bridge section.
Quinn rose to embrace a running Maggie in the strongest, tear-filled hug ever, and they shared a deep kiss. Wade and Colin smiled at the scene, looked to one another, then turned to hug a surprised Remmy.
"Wade!" he exclaimed, kissing her on the forehead and looking into her eyes. "How? Is it you? How did...?" She quieted him with a laugh, then pointed to the Professor and Mary. "They got me out, just a short while after I sent you away," she answered, then smiled, looking into his eyes. "I told you I'd always be with you."
Remmy's eyes darted back and forth between Wade in his arms, and the Professor. Remmy pointed at him in shock, mouth moving, but nothing came out. The Professor rose, hands upturned and palms forward, to slowly approach. "Blue bridges, Mr. Brown," he explained simply.
Remmy's face flashed quickly between confusion, understanding, then regret, but the Professor was having none of it, embracing the two strongly. "We'll have time to sort things out later," he said, looking between the two. "But for now, let's consider leaving this place and returning home." Remmy exhaled sharply in happy disbelief, then smiled a bright smile. His eyes met Mary's, and with confusion across his face, they shared a happy wave.
Maggie reluctantly pushed away from Quinn to jump into Colin's arms, laughing together while he spun her, while Mallory and Diana stood up and approached Remmy. "You scared the crap out of us jumping through that portal," Diana said, sharing a smile and a hug with him. He squeezed back tight, then pulled away to give Mallory a man hug. "I couldn't let you guys go through that thing, you heard what the Seer saw," he answered.
He pulled away once more, then put a hand on each of their shoulders with a great smile. "But the 'Maggs are gone," he said happily. "The virus worked."
Mallory nodded. "Yeah, we just came from there," he explained, patting him on the shoulder. "Love what you did with the place." Remmy laughed his trademark laugh, then brought them both in for one more hug.
Mallory and Diana turned to Maggie, who gave them another strong hug. "You don't even need to tell me," she said, pulling away. "You two got Quinn back." Without waiting for another word, she brought Diana in for a strong, one-armed embrace, then simultaneously kissed Mallory on the lips. When she pulled away, his eyes were still rolling. Maggie laughed, then turned to strap herself into one of the back seats.
Quinn approached Remmy and gave him a man hug. "I knew you'd find a way to get us back, Q-Ball," Remmy said. Quinn pushed away and shook his head. "It was a team effort all the way..." he started, then lifted his black sleeve up to show the mark on his upper left bicep, "...blood brother." Remmy smiled and laughed his trademark laugh, taking Quinn's left hand in his own. "They never stood a chance!" he exclaimed, hugging him once more.
Bennish reached his hand out to slap Quinn's as he passed by, sharing a grin, and then the ten took their seats: Bennish took Wade's seat to check the terminal, and Remmy, Wade, and Maggie took three of the four back seats. With a shaking rumble, the Manta began to rise from the surface of the moon, then slowly turn to face a distant wide ocean and some brown landmass of the Earth before them. The bridge was abuzz for several minutes with the sound of excited conversation, ship confirmations, and status updates.
Just when they had left the moon well behind, the viewing window before the bridge suddenly lit up with the face of a Kromagg. He was almost human in his appearance, with a smaller protruding brow ridge and piercing dark eyes, along with the grey collar and shoulders of his uniform. There were two red patches on the collar before his throat, each of which bore a black circle with the curved golden symbol of the Kromagg Dynasty upon it. But the pointed teeth he bared when he spoke removed all doubt as to his identity and nature.
"We've finally got you, humans," he said in a voice both gruff and terrifying.
There was a sudden explosion from the back of the Manta, which rocked the entire ship. The Professor and Bennish typed into their consoles quickly to shut down two nearby airlock doors, but they both knew it was just a temporary reprieve.
Diana typed into both her PDL and the terminal in front of her as fast as she could. "I think I can block any more sabotage, but we have big problems!" she shouted. "The engine's down!" Mary spoke up next. "Fuel leaks, fires in both corridors," she started, "if we don't get this under control, there may be secondary explosions!"
Wade and Maggie unbuckled and stood immediately. "On it!" Wade and Maggie called out together. Remmy unbuckled and stood with them. "Let's go!" he shouted. Together, the three left through the bridge door.
Mary turned back to her terminal and began typing. Each of the sliders' terminals lit up one by one with jobs to take care of. Fuel calculations, power shunting, energy redistribution, and even wing control to Mallory, who looked to the 3D model on his terminal in earnest. "Just like back with Fletch," he muttered.
Remmy moved ahead of the girls to the back section through the right corridor, reporting damage into a handheld radio. Wade and Maggie gathered up two fire extinguishers and went the other way, and were soon face to face with a roaring inferno ahead. They nodded to one another, then blasted the flames with a thick powdery mist, driving it back in no time.
"Just like that dinosaur, huh Wade?" Maggie said with a smile. Wade smiled back. "You still remember that?" she asked. Maggie chuckled as Wade turned back to the fire. "I just hope nothing explodes this time," she added.
Switching directions with Remmy, the girls took out the other flames while Remmy reported more damage, until the Manta's situation was clear. With the information in hand, everyone but Maggie strapped in once more to work, while the lady soldier stood behind Quinn and rubbed his shoulders in support. They were still heading back to Earth. Mary very gently brought the center of the screen to a brown landmass next to the ocean, which seemed to be the west coast of America.
Their fingers flew over their terminals as they manually rerouted power, shut down fuel valves, and kept the unstable wings from twisting too far one way and breaking off. As they did so, the Earth grew bigger by the minute, until they could start to make out mountain ranges, then wide deserts.
The bridge was a wild mix of warnings, terminals popping up new problems as Mary sent them from slider to slider, and fixed issues with more on the way. Remmy and Wade held hands in the two seats to the left of the door, while Maggie stood behind Quinn and kept a hand on the back of his chair to steady herself.
The Earth drew closer, almost enough to fill the viewing window ahead. Seeing their approach, Quinn turned his head up, kissed Maggie quickly on the lips, then returned to his work. Getting the clue, she patted his left shoulder twice, then quickly ran back to her seat, strapping in just as the Manta began to start shaking.
"It's too fast, I need more thruster control!" Mary shouted out.
"Ok!" Diana and Bennish shouted together, and in seconds, the ship pulled up ever so slightly.
"And some more, Lady Mary!" the Professor shouted out, typing into his terminal. The Manta pulled up more, and seemed to slow.
"I can spare a little!" Quinn shouted out, and with some typing, Colin followed. "Same here!" he added.
The Manta pulled up more, level enough to be almost parallel with the ground. Mallory carefully worked on the wings, enough to bring the ship exactly where it needed to be.
"Hang on!" Mary shouted. The desert ahead was large, yellowish-orange, and hot, and after they flew over a large sand dune, there seemed to be an area flat enough to make landing.
"5, 4, 3..." she counted. The Manta slowed, but not by much, as the sand rose up to meet them.
"2, 1..." she continued. There was a rumble. Sand kicked up in front of the viewing window. The bridge went dark.