Part 2
Quinn and Rembrandt walked into the cafe where they were to meet the other sliders. There were stone tables and chairs everywhere and nothing was indoors. Quinn could hear the persistent grind of the electric cars which looked like a weird mix of trolley and golf cart. It was an unusually warm day, but neither slider minded. The last two worlds had been tough to get through, and they enjoyed the peace and quiet.
Quinn and Remmy sat down to a table which was far away from anyone else, in case they had to discuss the slide. Promptly, a waitress arrived, deposited a plate full of pastries on their table, then left without a word.
"Guess this world's not too big on menus," Quinn quipped.
"Oh, who cares? I'm so hungry, anything looks good. Even..." Rembrandt paused to pick up a random pastry and take a big bite. "scones."
Their server then came back with a big pitcher of a brownish-green liquid with steam coming out of it. She set the pitcher and two glasses down on the table and then left before either one of them could voice a protest.
"What is this?" Rembrandt asked, a note of disgust clearly audible in his voice.
"Looks like some kind of tea. Want some?" Quinn didn't look like he relished the thought of drinking it either.
"No thanks." Rembrandt had never been good at small talk, and so he moved quickly to what had been on his mind. "So what's keeping Maggie and farmboy?"
"Probably still checking out the sight seeing on this world. Can't say I blame them. Anyway, they've still got three minutes until they were supposed to meet us, and fifteen minutes until we slide."
"You're probably right." Rembrandt put on one of his casual grins. "I just hate it when we cut it close. So much could go wrong in so little time, you know?"
Quinn did know. He'd seen it happen too many times and found himself regretting letting Colin have the timer. It was a new responsibility for him, and he wasn't sure if his brother was up to it. Quinn attempted to reassure himself and Rembrandt that they would be here on time. It became harder and harder to do so, however, as the minutes passed by. By the time they had finished breakfast, Colin and Maggie were five minutes late.
"Q-Ball, I'm gettin' really worried about them. Something might have happened."
Quinn nodded. "Let's get out of here, see if they're somewhere near by."
As they got up from their table and began to scan the area, the two were stopped dead in their tracks by none other than their waitress. She cleared her throat and extended her palm.
"Oh, right," Quinn said sheepishly. He slipped a five into her palm, hoping it was enough.
"What? What is this, counterfeit money?? I'm calling the security forces." The woman acted as though counterfeiting were the most serious crime in the world and now Quinn was really worried. Could things get any worse?
"I'm terribly sorry, madam," bellowed a familiar voice from behind the umbrella of the next table. He walked out into view and gave teh waitress a gold and orange coated coin. "Will this suffice to pay for their meal?"
"Yes. Yes, this will do quite nicely." She said, ogling the coin, clearly worth several times more than what their meal cost. She walked off, but not before giving Quinn a dirty look.
"Just exactly what did you think you were doing, Mr. Mallory? I've warned you that this world's monetary system is different from ours."
Quinn now felt queasy. A double of Professor Maximilian Arturo stood before them, and as if that wasn't enough, he believed the two of them were his sliding companions. Before he could do or say anything, Arturo continued.
"As to why we are late, Miss Wells insisted on stopping to acquire a souvenir from this world. She should be along any moment, my boy." Noticing the peculiar expressions on the faces of the other two men, the Professor threw in. "No need to panic. We still have nearly an hour before we slide."
Quinn took a glance at Rembrandt and saw his desperate and disbelieving look as well. How were they ever going to get out of this one?
End Part 2
