(The sequel to Doubles, Troubles And Rescue Attempts .  If you haven't  read it do so now!)

Seven weeks had passed since Quinn had been merged with his double. In that time, Mallory, as he was now called, and Diana, the female scientist had joined Maggie and Rembrandt. They had become friends. Maybe even family. But Remmy was hiding something. He hid the fact that he felt alone. Lost in a realm of infinite dimensions. A realm that he couldn't escape from.
He was the last remaining slider. The only one who belonged on Earth Prime. Maggie and the others were good people, but they couldn't know what he felt like. He'd lost two and three quarters of his friends. That last remaining quarter of Quinn didn't even know him.
During is career, Remmy had been known as "The Cryin' Man". Now, the name held more relevance to him. He sat in the dark hotel room at the Chandler. A tear rolled down his cheek.
Maggie, Mallory and Diana were out at a movie.
"Alone." he said silently.
Every sad song that he knew was playing at the same time in his head. He was numb.
Quinn had once told him that no matter what happened, the sliders would always be together in their hearts. That time, and distance could never truly separate them. And as Rembrandt sat in the hotel room, he reached into his soul and searched for his missing friends. But they were gone.
The door opened. Maggie and the others were back from the movie. They were smiling, and having fun. Then they saw Remmy.
"Remmy, are you okay?" Maggie asked.
Remmy smiled and pushed his emotions back, "I'm fine. Just tired, that's all."
"You would not believe the movies on this world." Diana told him.
"I didn't know that humans were capable of bending over that far." Mallory joked.
Remmy looked at Mallory. He remembered what the boy was like seven weeks ago. Confused. Child like in some ways. But today he was just about as normal as anyone.
"Yea. Too bad we had to cut out in the middle." Maggie said, opening a desk drawer, and pulling out the timer, "Oh, and five minutes to spare."
They talked for the five minutes. Small talk. Remmy didn't really pay attention. Then it was time for the slide. Maggie opened the vortex, and everyone jumped in.
The inside of the vortex had changed again. Diana had made modifications to the timer when the accident happened. Now the inside of the vortex looked like what Remmy imagined the inside of a whirlpool would look like. It was blue, and fluid-like. There were reflections of light on the walls that seemed like sun light.
The overwhelming sensation of joy and relaxation that sliding caused was as strong as ever.
They were thrown out into a vast desert. As far as Rembrandt could see, the sky was limitless. Then he turned around to watch the vortex close. He watched the wormhole close, and listened to the whistle of the tunnel falling in on itself. But what Remmy didn't expect to see was something behind the vortex. In the old days, the vortex had been somewhat transparent, but in recent months it had taken on a more solid look. And when this one closed, Remmy could see a huge Kromagg ship in the distance.
"What the hell is that?" Diana asked, coming up next to him.
Maggie and Mallory turned around.
"Is that what I think it is?" Mallory asked.
"A Kromagg ship." Maggie said.
They were silent for a moment. They looked at the crashed vessel, and thought to themselves.
"If that thing's as abandoned as it looks, and we can get it working, we just might have one heck of a weapon against the Kromaggs." Maggie said.
They began to walk toward it.

In the past seven weeks, Quinn's life had totally turned around. He went from having lost the Professor and Wade, to losing Rembrandt, Maggie, and Colin. He missed the others. He wished that he could track them down, and reunite. But all the attempts to track them failed. Something about an energy surge that happened while Quinn was being pulled to Wade and Arturo. But he knew that Rembrandt and Maggie were looking for him. And with two groups working for the same goal, they were bound to meet.
They had managed to stay alive on this medieval Earth for nearly seven weeks. Finally he would be able to start his search in a matter of minutes.
Wade led the way through the forest. They were all on horseback, trying to escape from Gareth, the man who'd been chasing them.
"Faster! He's catching up!" Arturo yelled.
"Stop, or I'll shoot!" yelled Dargan from behind them.
Although this world followed the old ways, they had developed several modern pieces of technology.
"Where' do I know him from?" Arturo asked himself.
"I'll do it!" Dargan yelled, pulling out his weapon.
"Keep going!" Quinn yelled to Wade.
Dargan stopped his horse, and aimed his weapon. He fires two blue bolts of light.
A light went off in Arturo's head, "The security guard." he said with a chuckle.
The blue bolts stopped mid-air, and sprung back at Dargan. They wrapped around him and jolted him with electricity.
Wade and Arturo laughed. Quinn figured that it was an in-joke, and ignored it.
"Thirteen seconds!" Wade yelled, but didn't stop riding.
After thirteen seconds, she pointed the timer, and opened the vortex. The vortex bubbled into existence, but it failed to move with the sliders.
"Since when doesn't that work?" Wade asked.
They rode back to the vortex and steered their horses into it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rembrandt led the way into the Kromagg ship. It was bigger than any other that he'd ever seen. The halls were quiet. A chill ran down Remmy's spine.
"We should get to their control center." Maggie said.
Everyone agreed silently. They kept walking. The walls were covered with mold and what looked like vines. Drops of moisture covered the glass ceiling. Lights flickered.
"This place has been empty for a long time." Diana said in that tone of hers.
As they made their way through the halls, Remmy suddenly stopped and covered his mouth. Maggie walked up next to him, and looked at the ground. There was a badly decomposed Kromagg body on the ground. It's face was a crumbling black, and it's cheeks were gone, exposing it's pointed teeth. The smell filled everyone's lungs. It felt thicker than mud. It crept it's way into their minds, and they could no longer remember what clean air smelled like.
"It's been dead for a while." Maggie said, "Whatever happened probably happened fast."
"Either that or the 'Maggs are really bad at keeping their rooms clean." Diana said.
Rembrandt leaned down and examined the body. He noticed a bracelet on the Kromagg's wrist. He ripped it off and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Just incase." Remmy said, looking back at Maggie.
They continued walking down the halls. They had to climb several ladders before reaching the control center.
The room was dark. Flashing red lights were the only lights. Computer screens flickered. In the center of the room, there was a large computer with clear plastic looking data cards in it. Dozens of them.
"Quinn and the Professor found these on the first ship we found." Remmy said.
Each of them went in their own direction, exploring their own area of the room. Diana and Mallory each went to computers to try to get them working. Maggie and Remmy looked around the huge room.
Diana punched a few buttons on the computer. Suddenly a light went on, and the screen lit up.
"Over here." she said.
Remmy and Maggie walked to where she was. Mallory kept working at his own computer.
Writing appeared on the computer screen in front of Diana. They couldn't read it. It was written in Kromagg.
"Can you translate it?" Remmy asked.
"Hold on. Let me figure this thing out." Diana said, fiddling with the console.
The writing suddenly changed into English.
"It's the history of the Kromaggs." Maggie said.
Remmy read some of it, "This isn't the story I heard."
"Over here." Mallory called.
Rembrandt and Maggie went to him. They silently told Diana to keep reading the history.
"What is it?" Maggie asked Mallory.
Mallory pointed, "It's the logs from their last mission."
With the press of a button, Mallory managed to get a video playback of the final mission of the Kromagg ship. Rembrandt was expecting a captain's log, like on tv, but this was just a video of the command center from their last mission.
"Are the prisoners secure?" asked the commander of the Kromagg ship on the playback.
"There was a minor disturbance in the holing cells, but it's been taken care of." his first officer replied.
There were no seats in the command center, so the commander just stood in the middle of the room.
"That Welles girl again?" asked the commander?
"Yes." came the reply
The commander smiled, "I can't wait to get her to the camps. That will take the smirk off her face."
"Wade?" Rembrandt asked himself.
On the video, a loud crash caused the picture to blink. When it came back on, the room was filled with fire. Kromagg soldiers tries frantically to resolve the problem.
"The interdimensional postern is collapsing!" yelled the first officer.
"How?" the commander shot back.
"Someone's tampered with it!" the first officer shouted above the sounds of explosions.
"Can we land?" the commander said calmly.
The first officer worked his controls for a moment, "We're leaving the portal now! We're going to crash!"
"What Earth are we on?" the commander asked.
"I'm not sure. I don't think it's one of ours." the first officer told him.
The audio of the playback was cut off. The sliders watched at the command canter filled with fire and explosions. Finally, she ship crashed. The Kromaggs were thrown forward into the wall, each dead on impact. Rembrandt looked over to that wall, and just then noticed the bodies.
"If Wade was here, we have to find her." Remmy said.
Maggie put her hand on his shoulder, "We will."
Remmy ran from the command center. He didn't know where to go, but the sound of Maggie's voice seemed like she meant that they'd look later. Remmy wouldn't wait. He was going now.
"Remmy, wait! We don't know what's in here!" Maggie called from behind him.

Remmy searched for hours. Maggie and the others had left him alone for the most part. This was his duty. They didn't even know her.
"Wade!?" he yelled incase she could somehow hear him.
Of course, there was no answer. He moved pieces of fallen walls, and scraps of organic metal out of his way. As he moved one piece, he noticed a door behind it. He quickly cleared the way, but the door had no handle. It was the kind that would open when someone stepped in front of it, only this one was missing a working sensor. Remmy pushed the door open, and walked into the small room. It was filled with what looked like jail cells. They were small, and could only fit one person. The invisible energy fields had been inoperable for a long time. Remmy noticed a pile of bodies against the forward wall. Human bodies. Females. He quickly ran to them. His heard pounded. He couldn't stand the sight, but he couldn't even notice the smell anymore. Some of them were missing eyes. He figured that the Kromaggs had gotten a little hungry on their way to the breeding camps.
"Maggots." He said to himself as he sifted through the bodies.
He didn't recognize any of the bodies, but he wasn't relieved. These were human beings. People who had been taken by the Kromaggs, and had been killed because of them. But a part of him got hope. Maybe Wade had escaped.

Quinn and the others walked down the street. The town looked normal. Well, normal in the sense that there were no hovering cars, or Kromaggs in sight. But the people were far from normal. It looked like there was a riot going on. People shooting each other for no reason. Others throwing trash cans through store windows.
"Where are the police?" Wade asked.
"Maybe there aren't any on this world." Quinn answered.
They walked farther down the street. Quinn noticed a man beating a small boy.
"Hey!" Quinn yelled, running to the boy's aid.
"I had forgotten about this part." Arturo said to Wade, as they followed Quinn.
Quinn grabbed the man who was beating the child, and threw him back against the wall of a building.
"What do you think you're doing?" the man asked.
"I'm saving that kid's life." Quinn said.
"You should keep out of other people's business." the man said making a fist.
"What could that kid have done that was so bad?" Wade asked looking for the boy.
He was nowhere to be seen, "Where's he go?" Wade asked.
"I'll tell ya what he did. He just killed my dog." the man said.
"And that is why you were beating him?" Arturo asked.
"No." The man started, "Hey, listen, I'm as old fashioned as anyone. I just wanted an apology. I ask the kid for one, and the next thing I know, he's pointin' a gun in my face. I hit it out of his hand, and he jumps on me. Starts beating my head in with a wine bottle." the man said.
As the man was describing what had happened, a police car rolled up. From inside the car, a police officer yelled to them, "Hey, what's goin' on here." the cop asked, looking at the bloody man.
The man who'd been talking to the sliders looked at them, then back to the cop, "Nothing. I slipped."
Arturo stepped forward, "Good God, man. A child points a gun in your face, and you let it go?"
"What'd you say?" the cop asked.
"He said that a kid was pointing a gun in this man's face." Wade said, "Don't you people have gun control laws?"
The cop stepped out of the car, and walked to Arturo.
"I'm gonna have to ask you to put your hands on your head, sir." the cop said to him.
"Why?" Quinn asked, stepping forward.
"Your friend here broke the law." the cop said, "Public display of religion is punishable by three years in prison."
"You're crazy." Wade said.
The cop slapped hand cuffs on Arturo, and read him his rights.
"We'll get you out of this, Professor." Quinn told him as he was put into the back seat of the police car.
The car drove off. The bloody man next to them tapped Quinn on the shoulder.
"What'd your friend mean by gun control laws?" asked the man.
Quinn ignored him, and started walking in the direction of the police car.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

 Remmy was still searching. It had been hours since he started. Maggie, Diana and Mallory had come to help for a while, but had decided to find a place to sleep for the night. Remmy couldn't give up.
The halls of this ship were hard to walk through. At times, he would have to spend a half hour clearing out just enough space to walk. From the outside of the ship, this thing looked huge, but once inside, it seemed even bigger.
His eyes were growing heavy. Remmy could barely stay awake. Every muscle in his body hurt. He decided to take a short break. If Wade were here, it didn't seem likely that she'd be going anywhere. He hated that thought.
"Girl, I hope you got off of this ship." Remmy said as he slid down the wall onto the floor.
When he finally got seated, a piece of metal was poking him in the back. He reached back, and moved it. When he did, he noticed something. He moved another piece. Now he knew he saw something. A hand. A woman's hand. He kept digging. He uncovered an arm, then, finally, the head.
The woman had short red hair. That was all Remmy could see. He turned her head to get a better look. As he did that, the head almost broke off in his hands. The face stared at him. Her eyes were wide. Her face was badly decomposed. Her skin almost fell apart in Remmy's hands. He almost threw up.
"Wade." he said.
He began to cry. His looked at his dead friend and hated himself for not helping her.
"No!" he shouted.
His crying voice was carried throughout the entire ship.
"No." he said again, silently.
Wade was dead. After all this time of hoping. Of searching for her. Of thinking that she was in some Kromagg breeding camp. Wade was dead.

Remmy and Mallory stood outside of the Kromagg ship. In front of them was a fresh grave. Remmy sang a good-bye to his old friend. Mallory just stared at the grave. He didn't remember Wade that much, but what little he could remember was all good. He figured that Quinn would want to be here, and if he was ever separated, Quinn would want to remember this.
This grave was the first of many to come. Maggie knew that as she watched from the door of the ship. She wanted to be there for Remmy. She wanted to comfort him, but he didn't want her there. He knew that Wade and Maggie never got along, and thought that it would be disrespectful. Maggie understood. She didn't like the fact that Wade was dead. It made her mad. Even though she wasn't friends with her, she had gotten to know her. She might have even liked her deep down. She regretted never having the chance to tell her that.
Inside the Kromagg ship, Diana sat in front of one of the computer screens. She had made a chair out of some pieces of wall that had fallen down. She decided not to go to Wade's funeral. She never knew Wade, and although she wanted to be there for Remmy, she never felt right about going to funerals of people she didn't know. She read through the file names, skimming through the files that she thought could be of some use. After a while, Maggie decided to join her.
"How's it going?" Maggie asked.
Diana kept her eyes on the files, "This computer has all of the Kromagg files as far as I can tell. Invasion reports, history files, mission logs."
"Anything interesting?" Maggie asked, pulling up a piece of wall to sit on.
"Well, as far as I can tell, these are the same group of Kromaggs that you've been dealing with for the past year, but the history is totally different than what you told me." Diana explained.
"Like what's different"
"Well, they weren't exactly evolutionary cousins of humans. Their homeworld had advanced technology thousands of years ago. They were some kind of pre-historic genetic test subjects. Designed for the service of humans." Diana read.
"A cross between apes and humans. Smart enough to do what they were told, but not smart enough to think for themselves." Maggie filled in.
"Or so they thought." Diana said, "Until a huge disaster sent their technology back hundreds of years. The Kromaggs were freed by some Kromagg rights activists, and were eventually able to develop along side the humans of that world."
"Sounds like 'Planet of the Apes' meets the lost island of Atlantis." Maggie told her.
"Yea, but the humans never like being around the Kromaggs. They forced them onto separate continents, never let them join human society. Kromaggs got mad. They started the war. The humans developed the weapon, and kicked them off of their Earth." Diana continued.
"But how can we be sure that these are the same Kromaggs? I mean, we've landed on another world that had nice Kromaggs." Maggie asked.
"I guess we can't know." Diana said.
Something on the computer caught Diana's eye.
"There could be thousands of different worlds with Kromaggs. Each world could have different histories for them. There could be thousands of ways that Kromaggs could have evolved, or been created. However, if these are the same, then I just found that Rickman guy's story." Diana said leaning closer.
Maggie leaned closer too, "What is it?"
Diana read for a second, then told Maggie, "He was the lead officer in a plan to bring Quinn Mallory to Earth 362, where he would meet a woman claiming to be his mother."
"So what was he doing on my world?" Maggie asked.
Diana looked at Maggie with soft eyes, "He used Kromagg technology to destroy your world. He used you to keep Quinn on his tail until the 'Maggs were ready to set the plan into motion. He put the coordinates of Earth 362 into his timer, and eventually let you catch him. They would have killed you too if the plan had been ready on time. They would have just let Quinn find Earth 362 when you and he originally slid there, but it wasn't ready." Diana said.
Maggie's eyes watered, "All of my people died so the Kromaggs could make Quinn open the damned slidecage?"
Diana just looked at the ground.
"We have two weeks until the slide. I want this ship up and running in one week." Maggie said, taking charge, "We're going to make them suffer."

A day had passed since the Professor has been taken by the police. And one day remained until they were to slide off of this world. Arturo looked around the prison that he was in. Around him, men sat on their bunks reading, or playing checkers with others. These were hardly criminals. Man in leather jackets, and chains hanging off of their belts and… well just about anywhere else chains could hang off of, knelt on the floor praying. Arturo couldn't believe that a world could possibly be so foolish as to punish these men, yet let the streets be taken over by common thugs, and bullies. He could see a newspaper sitting on a desk just outside of the cell with the headline, BLOODY SKULLS TAKE SENATE. This world was mad.
"What are you in for?" came a voice behind him.
Arturo turned around and saw a woman who looked just like the woman from the computer store a few weeks back. Mary, or something like that.
"I'm not sure, really. Me, along with two of my friends stopped a fight on the street, and in the mix of things, I used the word 'God'. Next thing I knew, I was thrown into this poor excuse for a prison." he replied.
Mary nodded, "Judging from your accent, you not from around here." Mary said.
Arturo just then realized that this woman had no accent like the other woman did. He smiled.
"You have no idea." he told her.
"In America, any public reference to religion of any kind is illegal." she filled him in.
"If you'll forgive me, I must say that that is rather… pig headed." Arturo said politely.
Mary smiled, "A lot of us feel the same way. But, hey, don't blame us, blame the Pilgrims."
"Maximillion… Arthuro?" came another voice.
Arturo spun around, and saw a police man at the cell door. Quinn was standing next to him.
"Close enough, I suppose." he said, starting for the door.
Before he got too far, he turned around to say good-bye to his new friend. But when he turned, she was nowhere to be seen. He stood in confusion for a moment, then figured that she must have gotten lost in the mix of prisoners here.
"Sorry I took so long." Quinn said as Arturo arrived at the door, "We were five bucks short for the bail."
Arturo walked out of the cell, "No problem, my boy. Nothing is a pleasant as a night in jail."

Wade had stayed at the hotel. It was a wreck of a place, but it was all they could afford. She had managed to get her hands on a laptop computer, and was reading this world's history on the internet. It was fascinating.
Suddenly, the rattle of the door knob broke the silence. Wade jumped. It had happened twice before in the last hour. It gave her the willies. She reached over to the night stand, and grabbed the only thing she could find. Unfortunately, it was a piece of pizza from the night before. She frowned as the sauce dripped down her hand, but soon remembered why she had picked it up.
The knob rattled again. A new noise came from the key hole. Either someone was picking the lock, or Quinn was back. Either way, she hoped they'd just come in. The pizza was starting to make her hand tingle.
The door opened. A black boot came through. Then an arm. Then the head.
"Professor!" Wade yelled, happy to see her old friend.
She had just managed to get Quinn back, it would have been a shame to lose another friend now.
She jumped from the bed, and wrapped her arms around him. It would have been a touching moment if she had remembered to put the pizza down.
"Thanks you, Ms. Welles, but my coat just ate." Arturo said jokingly.
"Sorry." Wade replied, backing off.
Quinn smiled, and walked to the computer, "What'd you find?"
Wade's face turned into full info-mode.
"This world is odd." she started, "When the early settlers came here, they were trying to escape England's strict laws on religion. They came here so they could have the freedom to believe what they wanted. A few years passed. Slowly, religion became rare. People started blaming religion for all of the world's problems. So, religion was outlawed. From there on, everything went crazy. The constitution was totally different. Almost the exact opposite of ours. Freedom of speech, even the right to own guns was different." she finished.
"And without a stable foundation, America was unable to become a strong country. I suppose that's what you get for holding a grudge." Arturo said, wiping off his coat.
"Guess that's what the guy on the street meant when he asked what you were talking about." Quinn said, reading information for himself.
"We slide in one day. I suggest that we lay low until then. We don't need more trouble." Arturo said.
The others agreed. Then Quinn smiled.
"Look at this. 'George Washington, father of modern narcotics.'" he said, reading the computer information.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Remmy tried to sleep. He had been up all night burying bodies of human prisoners, and now he needed rest. It was the middle of the day, but it was impossible to tell on this ship. Maggie, Mallory, and Diana were trying to clean up the ship. Maggie planned to use it to wage a war against the Kromaggs. Remmy was all for that. He wanted to destroy the maggots more than anyone. They destroyed his life. Took over his home. Killed Wade, and now he learned that they killed Arturo too. He only hoped that he could see the look on their faces as the Kromaggs were destroyed forever.
His eyes were closed, but his mind was filled with too much thought to allow sleep. He thought about his revenge on the Kromaggs, and about Wade. She could always make him smile. She was the sweetest woman he'd ever met. At one point, he thought he had a crush on her. But their bond was beyond love. They were connected. The punch-line to each other's joke. He didn't love her like Quinn did.
"Rembrandt?" came a soft whisper that echoed through the room.
Remmy jumped. His eyes flew open. He looked around, but no one was there.
"Remmy…" the voice said.
A chill ran down his spine.
"Wade?" he asked.
"It's me, Remmy. I'm alive. I'm with you now." Wade said.
"Where? I can't see you." Remmy said out of breath.
"I'm stuck, Remmy. Help me." she said.
"Remmy. I'm here too. We all are." Quinn's voice cut in.
Remmy spun around and saw Quinn standing across the room.
"Q-ball?" he said.
The room blurred. Remmy's heart pounded. His breath became shallow.
"We're here." Quinn's voice said.
"Help us, Mr. Brown." Arturo's voice echoed, "Help us…"
"I'll find a way." Remmy said to Quinn.
"Remmy!" Wade's voice came, but half way through the word, it turned into Maggie's.
"Maggie?" Remmy said, a tear in his eye.
"Remmy, who are you talking to?" Maggie asked, now standing in front of him.
"Maggie, they're here. They're stuck. They need our help." Remmy told her.
"Who?" Maggie asked.
"Wade. Quinn. The Professor. They're here. I heard them." Remmy explained.
Maggie looked into his eyes, "Remmy, there's nobody here. You were dreaming."
"I wasn't!" Remmy yelled.
Mallory and Diana ran into the room.
"What's going on?" Mallory asked.
Maggie looked back at them, "We have a problem."

"I saw a lot of this when I was in the military. Remmy's seeing or hearing his dead, or lost friends. His mind can't handle their deaths." Maggie said to Diana and Mallory.
Remmy was asleep, finally, in the next room.
"Are you saying that he's insane?" Diana asked.
"No. I'm just saying that he's having trouble dealing with Wade's death." Maggie replied.
Mallory shook his head, "But what if it's true? What id, somehow, Wade and Arturo are here. Maybe their doubles. We've seen too much to just dismiss this." he said in defense of Remmy.
"You can't possibly believe that Quinn, who, by the way, is in you, along with a couple more of Remmy's dead friends are stuck on this ship, but can only be seen by him." Maggie said back.
Mallory walked across the room thinking, "I remember something about Quinn being stuck n an astral plain. Maybe there's something like that going on."
"If that were true, how could he hear them?" Diana asked.
"I don't know. I just know that I've…" Mallory stopped short, "Quinn knew Remmy well enough to know that he isn't insane."
"He doesn't want them to be dead, Mallory. His mind is making a way for him to escape from he facts." Diana said.
They sat in silence for a second. Them Maggie stood up.
"Look. We can keep an eye on Remmy, but we still have a job to do. We have a few days to get this ship up and running. If we can't do it now, we may never be able to." Maggie ordered.

"I can't believe how messed up this world is." Wade said, still staring at the computer.
"Well, we slide in an hour. Just forget it." Quinn replied, putting his boots on.
Wade looked at him, "In the old days, you'd be the first on to jump on the 'we gotta help' wagon."
Quinn just looked at her. He knew she was right. Over the past few years he had changed. Maybe sliding had some adverse effect on him. It used to be where he'd regret having to pick up a gun. Now, he was always ready to jump into a battle with the Kromaggs. He hadn't realized how little he had decided to just stand up for what he thought was right. Without weapons.
"Well, I'm not letting it go." Wade said.
She started typing.
"What are you doing?" the Professor asked.
"I'm posting some helpful hints on a bulletin board." Wade replied.
"What kind of hints?" Arturo asked, walking to her in a not-too-happy manner.
"Constitution. Commandments. The basic laws of decency." she replied.
"Ms. Welles, we have no right to force out views down other people's throats." Arturo replied.
Quinn stood up, "Let her do it Professor."
Arturo looked at him.
"This world needs help. We can give it to them." Quinn continued.
"I agree, but do we have the right to alter their path?" Arturo shot back.
"C'mon, Professor. It's been ages since we gave a world the constitution." Wade said, "Besides, it's too late."
Arturo looked at the screen, "Article posted." he read.

A half hour had passed since Wade had made the post. She was happy with herself. Others who had replied had shown great interest. Then again, most of them were from other countries.
"Ten minutes till the slide." Quinn said, looking at the alien timer.
"See, Professor, the world didn't end when I hit the post button." Wade said, slipping on her yellow leather jacket.
"Yes, we'll see about that." Arturo replied as he watched out the window, "I counted ten men in black suits on their way up here."
"They're fast on this world." Wade said.
"Fire escape?" Quinn asked.
"Fire escape." Arturo agreed, opening the window.
They climbed out the window as quickly as possible, and practically jumped down the fire escape. They had all done it so many times by then, that it had become second nature.
They ran down the street a fast as they could.
"Hey, stop!" yelled on of the men in black.
"Now, do cops actually think that'll make us stop?" Wade asked as they ran.
"Were you always this sarcastic?" Quinn asked her.
Arturo shot him a smile.
As they rounded the corner, they saw about twenty more men coming in black cars.
"Other way!" Arturo yelled, changing directions.
They ran down the other way, turning down several other streets, until, finally, it was time to slide.
"Three, two, one…" Quinn said, pointing the timer.
The bright red vortex opened. It's liquid like texture made Quinn think of blood. Knowing the Kromaggs, that was probably the purpose.
"Ladies first!" Arturo yelled to Wade over the loud whoosh of the vortex.
Wade curtsied and jumped in. Quinn followed, and then the Professor.
After they jumped in, the street was totally empty. The only sound around was that of the vortex.
Seconds later, Quinn ran around the corner. He ran as fast as he could, trying to escape the men who were chasing him.
"Wait!" he yelled to the vortex.
The men behind him fired their guns, narrowly missing their target.
Quinn approached the vortex just as it was closing, and jumped in head first. As he flew through the deep red tunnel, his body changed into millions of tiny gold particles. The walls around him were closing in fast. If he didn't get out fast, he'd be crushed.
At the end of the tunnel, a bright light approached fast. Soon, he was thrown from the tunnel, and onto a hard cement parking lot.
He stood up, and looked around. He noticed a woman at the other side of the parking lot looking back at him. Two other men stood next o her.
"Quinn?" she said either in the horror of seeing him, or asking the other Quinn next to her what was going on.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Have I said thank you for the lift?" the second Quinn asked.
"No." replied the first Quinn.
The four of them walked down the street. This world looked pretty normal. People walking, shopping, and doing everything else that people do on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Only a half hour had passed since they had gotten to this world, and Wade already knew that this was going to be interesting. Not the world so much as the second Quinn.
"So. You say you knew about sliding?" Wade asked the stranger.
The second Quinn looked around the new world, "Yea." He said, then looked at Wade, "See, my father was working on an anti-gravity machine about eight years ago. At the same time, my world was undergoing massive global cooling. Cities were freezing. People froze to death if they sat outside for more than a few hours. We were all dying." he picked up a quarter that was on the ground, then continued, "Then we discovered that my father actually built a sliding machine. Of course, we didn't know what it was back then. We only had time for one test. Tornadoes were destroying everything around us. After we figured out what it did, we decided to use it to escape our world. That's when we slid."
"And how did you get stuck on that world that we just left?" Arturo asked.
"Slow down. I'm getting to that." the second Quinn said in a fun tone, "We slid for a while. But none of the worlds were right for my family. We even slid home once, but the only thing left of our neighborhood was a red Caddy. Thing wasn't even scratched."
Wade thought about that for a second. Could that have been the first world that she slid to? If so, and the car wasn't even scratched…
"Then we found that Earth. It wasn't good either. We were gonna leave, but we had to try to help them. We published a copy of the Constitution, and stuff like that. Big mistake. The feds broke down our door, wrecked our timer, and killed my family. I managed to escape. And I've been running ever since." Quinn 2 finished.
"Then you saw our vortex, and decided to hitch a ride. Never occurred to you that you might have destabilized our vortex, and killed us all." our Quinn replied.
Quinn 2 looked at him, "Look, I'm no scientist. I saw a way to save my life, and I used it. Now, if that sounds selfish, sorry. But I risked everything I had to try to save that world, and ended up losing everything. I wasn't going to stay there any longer than I had to."
Quinn ignored him.
"Fine. Don't worry about it. I won't bug you any more." Quinn 2 said, and started in another direction.
Wade stopped walking, and looked at Quinn. Quinn and Arturo stopped walking, and Quinn looked back.
"You're not letting him leave, are you?" Wade asked.
Quinn looked at her, "What he did was stupid." he said, "Besides, he'll be fine here."
Wade looked at him with a piercing gaze. Then shook her head.
"I can't believe you. You have changed." she said, then turned to follow the other Quinn.
"Wade!" Quinn called out to stop her.
She ignored him, and kept walking. Quinn looked at Arturo.
"Don't look at me." Arturo said to him.
They watched Wade catch up to the other Quinn, and disappear into the crowd.

Mallory worked on repairing a hole in the ships hull. That was just about all that he could do around here. He could figure out computer systems. And modern person could. But, repairing this technology was far beyond anything he was capable of doing.
As he patched a hole, the room started to go dark around him. It felt like he had gotten up out of a chair too fast. He was dizzy and felt pressure building up in the back of his eyes. Then the darkness faded. Only, he wasn't on the ship anymore. He was waling down a street. Only, he wasn't walking. He could still feel the wall of the Kromagg ship on his hands. Then he say a familiar figure. A heavy set man, with a beard. And then it was gone. He was back in the Kromagg ship.

"We've been working on the ship for three days straight. We need a break." Diana said.
"Look, things could have been a lot worse. We're almost done. Another day or two, and we'll be ready to take this thing into battle." Maggie replied.
"We still have to learn how to use this thing. That could take days… maybe weeks." Diana responded.
Maggie looked at Diana, "We don't have weeks. We're using this ship's sliding machine to open the vortex in three days tops." Maggie told her.
"We can't just hop into the control seat, and wish really hard that this thing works." Diana started, "Look, we got lucky when most of the equipment in here wasn't damaged. We can chalk that one up to good design by the Kromaggs. But there's no way we can expect to learn everything about this ship in two days." Maggie looked at the ceiling, then back to Diana, "Maybe you're right. But we have to try."
"You know we will." Diana said, putting her hand on Maggie's shoulder.
A tear formed in Maggie's eye, "You know, I could live with my world being destroyed by a natural disaster. 'Meant to be', and all that, right? But knowing that the Kromaggs had something to do with it. That it was all done because o bad planning on their part. Knowing that I could have done something…" Maggie stopped talking. The message had gotten across. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else. Knowing that the Kromaggs had done all of that just to get Quinn on the path to that one Earth was unbearable. That Rickman, the man who she thought was an honorable man, had been in on it all along.
Then it occurred to her, "How could an English guy be a Colonel in the U.S. military?" she asked herself.
He mind was clearing. All of the holes that were in Rickman's story. All of the things that were wrong with the explanation of her Earth's destruction. All of it was making sense… or stopped making sense.

"I've got tears in my 'fro, cause I'm standing on my head over you…" Remmy sang.
He had been feeling better. The voices were gone for the moment, and while he still believed that he wasn't insane, and his friends were in need of help, he knew that the only way of helping them would be to get this ship running. If they were on the astral plain, then maybe opening this ship's vortex would get them unstuck. It worked before.
"What's that?" Mallory asked from across the room.
"What?" Remmy replied.
"That song. What was it?" Mallory filled in.
Remmy smiled, "Oh. 'Tears in my Fro'. A song of mine. Depending on which world you're on, it either make my career, or ruined it."
Mallory nodded, "Oh. It sounds familiar."
"Yea. It's one of Q-Ball's favorites." Remmy told him with a look that told Mallory that he was remembering something nice.
They were working on cleaning out one of the engine rooms. After this, only two more, and then they'd be done. Then they'd take this ship, and make the Kromaggs suffer for what they did to Remmy's Earth. He knew he sounded insane when he said stuff like that, but unless you knew the pain that he was going through, you couldn't possibly understand.
Everything that Remmy knew was gone. His childhood home. The park where he had his first kiss. The bar where he sang his first gig. All gone. Now they belonged to the Kromaggs. For some reason, his mind went back to the day before he first slid. He was walking down the street, and a woman recognized him. Not a very common occurrence. She asked him to sign her baby's blanket. The sweetest looking baby he'd ever seen.
Then he was forced to face reality. Today, that sweet child was under Kromagg rule. In some camp, or, possibly dead. And doubt that Remmy had about wiping out the Kromaggs was flushed from his head. He couldn't let them destroy any more worlds.
"So what do you think about the history that Diana found?" Mallory asked, making conversation.
Remmy took a second to think about it, "Like they said, there could be a million different Kromagg histories." he said, "Actually, I think it explains a lot. The Kromaggs looked a lot different the second time we met them."
"So you think it's only type of Kromaggs that was created by man?" Mallory asked.
"Maybe." Remmy replied.
Either way, the Kromaggs would pay for the murders of all those billions of people. Remmy didn't care what they looked like. He was an equal opportunity kind of guy.

"I still can't believe that Quinn would act like that." Wade said.
The second Quinn and her had gotten a room at the Motel 12. The Professor, and the usual Quinn were at the Dominion. Quinn 2 was sitting on his bed, looking at Wade. Wade was sitting on her bed looking back. It had been a full day since they had seen the others. The slide was in a week, give or take a couple days.
"Don't worry. I can be a pain sometimes." Quinn 2 said with a smile.
"He wasn't always like this, you know." Wade said, "When we started sliding, his attitude was a lot better. I think it's just gotten to him. He's been through a lot."
"I know the feeling." Quinn 2 replied.
Wade looked him in the eyes, "What was it like?"
"Imagine a world ruled by Hitler. Everyone filled with hate. Fighting constantly. Children walking around the street crying, looking for their parents. Bodies laying in the street clutching to their babies. It was hell. And I lost my whole life to it." Quinn 2 said.
Wade looked at her feet, "I'm sorry."
Quinn 2 smiled, "Don't worry. I learned to hide my emotions behind humor. Not due to explode for another three years."
"How can you joke about it? I mean… I'd be insane." Wade asked.
"Part of me feels glad that my sister didn't have to live on that world. That my parents didn't have to see me kill people in self defense. It would have killed them to see that horror. Especially after seeing their world was destroyed." Quinn 2 said, "Besides, I believe that they're happy now."
They sat silent for a moment, then Quinn 2 spoke, "What about you?"
"What about me?" Wade replied.
"You have any friends or family waiting for you?" Quinn 2 asked.
Wade looked down, "My family probably thinks I'm dead." she said, "But I have a friend, Remmy who wouldn't give up on me that easily."
"And Quinn? You guys a… thing?" Quinn 2 asked.
Wade smiled at him, "No." then her smile faded, "Not officially."

The room was filled with smoke. Darkness filled every corner. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Sounds of water dripping for the past two weeks had almost cause Colin to go crazy.
He was strapped down to a metal chair, and a bright blue laser shot into his left eye. This was some sort of Kromagg brainwashing lab, he figured.
"But, it's not." came the sound of Mary's voice.
But this wasn't the same Mary. This one sounded sweeter. She, unlike the other one that he married, seemed to care about humans. That's why he had to watch out for her more than any other Mary.
"Your mind is being cleared of all programming that the Kromaggs did before your mission. You are being freed from assigned personality. You will resort to your true self." Mary said.
Colin pulled on the straps, "No! I'm not one of you!" he yelled into the air, not knowing where Mary was.
"But, you are." Mary said calmly.
"My name is Colin Mallory. My brother, Quinn, and I are looking for our homeworld. I am not evil!" he told himself as much as he told her.
His mind was draining. He could literally feel memories being cleaned from his brain. His childhood. His family. His life. All draining. He couldn't let that happen.
"And, you know what?" he yelled, "I got tears in my 'fro…" he began to sing.
He sang the song over and over for the next hour. Mary's voice never returned, but he could still feel the memories being cleaned.
"I got tears in my 'fro, cause I'm crying like a man, on my pillow!" he sang, not knowing that he was singing it wrong.
He mind went blank. Nothing remained. He was nobody. He stopped singing.
Then the laser turned red. His mind was filled with memories. Old ones. A whole different life. A life of murder, and trickery. His real life.
"Colin," May's voice came, "Your mid has returned. How do you feel?"
The straps released Colin, and he stood up, "I feel like a new man… or should I say, an old one?" he said.
He rubbed his wrists, and walked into the darkness of the room. He knew this place. He was home.

"Is it true? Have I changed?" Quinn asked Arturo.
The Professor walked to his young friend, and sat next to him on the bed, "You know, Quinn, that I think of you as I do my own flesh and blood, right?" Arturo started.
"No, I didn't. But, thanks." Quinn cut in.
Arturo ignored him, and continued, "Well, keep that in mind when I say what I'm about to say." he looked Quinn in the eyes. "You, my boy, are acting like an utter idiot. You seem to have your mind elsewhere. You no loner care about helping people in need, and you seem to have given up all hopes of reaching Mr. Brown, and Earth Prime."
Quinn looked back at him. His heart broke when he heard this. The Professor would never lie to him. And if he were to lie, he would be sugar-coating his feelings right now. Somehow, without noticing, Quinn had changed. He did stop caring. He was a different man.
Without saying a word, Quinn picked up his jacket, and left the room. Arturo said nothing. He knew what Quinn had to do. And he had four days to figure everything out before the slide.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Wade and Quinn 2 walked down the street. Wade held a flower in her hand, and had her arm wrapped around his. In the past few days, she and Quinn 2 had gotten to know each other, and had grown close. He was a totally different person than the Quinn she knew. He was more of a clown.
"So. Where do you wanna eat?" Quinn 2 asked her.
Wade smiled, "Surprise me."
"Okay." he replied, "Boo!" he yelled into her ear.
Wade jumped, and let out a slight yelp.
"So, where do you wanna eat?" Quinn 2 asked again.
Wade smiled at him. Then she turned her head to look for a diner. That's when she saw Quinn. He Quinn. The one that she'd known for years, walking toward them.
"You should talk to him." Quinn 2 told her.
"After the way he treated you? I don't think so." she replied.
Quinn 2 stopped walking and turned to her, "Wade, I appreciate you standing up for me, but I don't want to be the guy who breaks up your friendship. What I did was stupid. He's right."
"No. He's not. He knows that we could handle more people. We've driven a van through those things. He was just trying to make you feel bad." Wade told him.
"Wade. You didn't spend all that time looking for him just to give it all up now." Quinn 2 said, "Besides, it's either now, or when you slide."
Wade looked at him, shocked, "You're coming too." she ordered, "What wouldn't you come?"
"We'll talk later. Right now, you need to be over there." Quinn 2 said, pointing to Quinn.
Wade looked at him, and gave a quick smile. Then she walked to her Quinn. They started talking. Wade's arms flew as she yelled at him.
Quinn 2 watched for a moment, then turned around to walk back to the motel. He would be gone by the time Wade got back. He didn't want to be sliding with people who didn't want him there. He didn't want to be the wedge between Quinn and Wade. And most of all, he didn't want to look at Wade fall…
"Quinn!" Wade's voice yelled desperately.
Quinn 2 spun around quickly to see what the problem was. When he did, he saw Wade, and the other Quinn being thrown into a black van.
"Quinn! Help!" Wade yelled again.
Quinn 2 ran as fast as he could toward the van. But it was too late. The van drove off before he could reach them. Wade and Quinn were gone.

"Ignition in 10…9…8…" Mallory counted down in typical NASA fashion.
It had taken a lot of work, and a little sleep to get the job done. But it was done. The ship was about to go on it's first test spin.
"3…2…1, blast-off." Mallory said, "I've always wanted to say that."
The ship filled with the hum of the engines powering up.
"All systems check out." Diana said from her computer.
"Remmy, keep an eye on the stabilizers. We really don't need to be sea sick right now." Maggie ordered.
She had the most experience with things like this, so they unofficially made her the captain. Remmy didn't mind. For the past few days, he'd been feeling good. He was starting to think that the voices he heard were just in his mind.
"Stabilizers are goo for go." he reported.
"Then let's see what she can do." Maggie said from the pilot's seat.
With the push of a few buttons, the ship lifted off of the ground. And within seconds, it was flying around the sky… although a bit sideways. Maggie quickly pressed another button, and straightened the ship out.
"Sorry. I'm still getting used to this." Maggie said.
For the next hour or so they tested the ship. They only had a day until the slide, and if this thing failed, they didn't want to be stuck on a desert world.
After the tests, Maggie turned around in her chair. She looked at each of her friends.
"We ready?" she asked.
"We should test it on a small target first." Diana said.
"No time. We slide tomorrow night." Maggie said.
"Yea. As the song says, 'It's now or never'." Remmy told her.
"So we're really doing this." Mallory said to himself.
Everyone took a deep breath.
"Let's go." Maggie said.
"Remmy?" came Wade's voice.
Remmy looked up, "Wade?"
Everyone looked at him.
"Remmy, what's going on?" Maggie asked.
"She's here. I hear her." Remmy told her.
"Remmy, we need help." Quinn's voice said in a spooky whisper.
"We're on the astral plain, Mr. Brown." The Professor's voice said.
"Remmy, they're not here. It's all in your mind." Diana said to him.
"No! They need our help." Remmy said.
"Remmy, they're Kromaggs. All of them." Quinn told him.
"What?" Remmy asked.
"Kill them, Mr. Brown. It's the only way to save us." Arturo said.
Remmy stood up, and walked toward Maggie, "You're a 'Maggot."
Maggie looked at him. She could see hatred in his eyes.
"Remmy," Mallory said, also seeing the hate.
"You killed Wade." Remmy said.
Remmy picked Maggie up with one arm, and made a fist with the other, "Kromagg."
"Remmy, no!" Mallory said, grabbing Remmy just before he could hit Maggie.
"I trusted you!" Remmy yelled, on the verge of tears.
"We don't have time for this." Maggie said, "I'm sorry."
With that said, she made a fist, and slammed it into Remmy's face.
"Take him to a holding cell. We'll deal with him later." Maggie said.
She didn't like putting Remmy into a Kromagg jail cell, but she had no choice. Either they could destroy the Kromaggs once and for all, or they could stay here, and treat Remmy until the slide. She couldn't put his sanity before the lives of millions. She hated it, but she couldn't.
After they put Remmy into the cell, they returned to the bridge. And within minutes, they disappeared into a blood-red, Kromagg vortex.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Arturo was in the middle of a particularly scary chapter of the book he was reading. He usually kept to the more adult books… but not the x-rated kind. Stuff like "Emma" and "To Kill a Mocking Bird" filled the shelves of his book case at home. That is, if he still had a home. After five years, he was sure that his house would have been sold by now. Most of his things were probably split between his brother and his son. He didn't know which was scarier, the book, or the thought of his brother fingering his first editions. His mind drifted from the book. He thought of his fathers wedding to his step mother. He remembered the day that his new brother moved in. His brother, Jacob, wasn't totally unlike Max. As a matter of fact, they were equally as bright, and stuffy. But, Jacob never appreciated the first editions. To him they were just books. Meant to be read. To have the oils of the skin poisoning the delicate paper. The spine of the books wearing. The thought of his step-brother licking his thumb, and turning the page. Arturo's heart raced. This thought was worse than and part of the book he was reading. He would never admit it to anyone, but he hated when people played around with collectibles. Damaging them. Making them useless for future generations to enjoy. The thought of the book surviving a hundred years, only to me killed… or destroyed by foolish idiots. It killed him to that very day to watch people handle any book like a rag doll. Who knows, today's new Koontz novel could be tomorrows museum piece.
Then a knock on the door. Arturo jumped. He must have gotten a foot off of the chair. The shock made him think his heart was going to jump out of his chest like in those cartoons that Ms. Welles forced him to watch.
"Yes, yes. I'm coming." he said, walking to the door.
When he opened it, he was shocked to see Quinn standing there out of breath, and leaning against the door for support.
"Why didn't you just come in, my boy? The door was unlocked." Arturo asked.
Quinn walked into the room, and started talking faster than Arturo could understand, "They're gone. Wade was talking to Quinn, and a van took them. I chased them, but couldn't find 'em. They're gone."
"Slow down. What are you talking about, Quinn?" Arturo said, only having caught a few words here and there.
"I'm not Quinn. I mean, I am Quinn, but I'm not your Quinn." Quinn 2 said.
"You're the double." Arturo caught on, "What did you do to them?"
Quinn 2 looked at him, half shocked, "I didn't do anything. I was walking with Wade to get some food. We saw Quinn. I told her to talk to him. She did. As I was leaving, she screamed. I turned in time to see a van pull off with them. I tried to catch it, but I wasn't fast enough."
Arturo rubbed his beard, "We have to find them."
Quinn 2 gave him a 'duh' look, and said, "Are you just catching on, or something?"
"Stay calm, my boy. I mean… This happens more than you'd believe. Did you get the license plate number?" Arturo asked.
"Yea. It's PG7-I39." Quinn 2 answered.
"Good. Now, if I only knew how to hack into the police records, we could track them down." Arturo said, looking at Quinn 2 to see if he could do it.
"Don't look at me. That's Wade's job." Quinn 2 replied to the unasked question.
"Then I guess we're doing it the old fashioned way." Arturo said.

The blood-red vortex opened, and the Kromagg ship flew out. Maggie was glad to finally be out of the Kromagg tunnel. It looked like the inside of a living animal. Like you were traveling through the internal organs or something. It gave the creeps in a big way. Not that the world that they exited onto was any better. The sky was red. She figured that they liked the color or something. The clouds were black. The buildings were all the same in looks. Like they were living tissue, but somehow metal at the same time. She could have sworn that she could see them breathing.
This was the Kromagg homeworld. Or, at least the world that they had made into their base of operations. This world controlled everything. Sliding machines. Troop placement. Everything that was needed to take over multiple dimensions was here.
"I still don't get it. I thought Kromagg ships had their own sliding machines built in." Mallory said from his computer.
"They do. They just need the machines on this world to stay in contact with. If they lose that contact, their machines will have no base to work from. They'd be sent into random sliding." Diana explained.
"And that's our objective." Maggie said, "If we send them sliding randomly, their troops will be spread thin. It would be impossible for them to maintain the hold on all of these worlds. Especially since they wouldn't know that there was a problem until it's too late."
"What if they rebuild on some other world?" Mallory asked.
"They'll have no way to coordinate their effort. They'll fall to the humans on whatever world they land on." Maggie told him.
"This is the Kromagg command," came a voice over the speakers… wherever they were, "We have identified you as P715583.6. Is this information correct?" the Kromagg asked.
Both of the women in the ship looked at Mallory.
"Why you looking at me?" Mallory whispered.
"You're the only man. Tell him that the information is correct, and we're coming in to dock." Maggie ordered.
Mallory sat up straight in his char, and moved his mouth around in circles, trying to find the right face for his new role, "You're information is correct. We are coming in for docking." He said in his best Klingon voice.
They waited. The air was silent. His heart pounded. Then the voice came back.
"You are clear for docking on pod four. Where have you been for the past year?" the voice asked.
"It is a long story." Mallory said.
The communications line went off.
"What was that?" Diana asked.
"What?" Mallory replied.
"You sounded like Lieutenant Commander Worf, from Star Trek." Diana told him.
"I didn't see you doing better." Mallory said.
They sat in silence for a moment.
"It was so sad to see Deep Space Nine end. I cried." Mallory continued, misting up.

"P715583.6 has returned." the Kromagg, Rickman reported to his boss.
His boss held an eye ball in his hand, studying the different dots, and lines on it.
"The transport. Missing for two years, suddenly returning?" Arturo's Kromagg double replied.
"Yes. Remarkable, isn't it?" Rickman sarcastically added.
The Kromagg ruler popped the eyeball in his hand, then tossed it into his mouth, "Do you know why we eat these?" he asked.
Rickman looked at a bowl filled with eyes, "Because their magically delicious?"
The evil Arturo stood up, and looked at Rickman, "I have the feeling that you are getting too comfortable with your position."
"No, sire." Rickman backed down.
"You are making jokes in my presence. Interrupting me as I speak. And I saw you take the last green eye." Arturo said in a threatening tone, "Have you forgotten how I got here? How I worked my way into this position? Have you forgotten what I can to you if I feel that you have forgotten?"
"No, master. I won't joke any more. I thought you enjoyed my jokes. I only wish to please you, sire." Rickman said in a tone that was new to even himself. He practically begged for his life.
The Kromagg Arturo's mind pushed it's way into Rickman's. Rickman could feel him wrapping his thoughts around his brain. His heart pounded in his chest. A pain in his head. Then the feeling of warmth in it. At any second, Arturo could kill him. Any second that he wished, he could make sure that Rickman would never be able to think for himself again. Then it was gone. Arturo backed out of his mind.
"No." Arturo said, "We eat them to remind us of our power. To fill the humans with fear. To make them have nightmares of us eating them straight from the socket. So that we will never forget where we come from. All Kromaggs. The Genetics, the ones with those… pointy little heads. All of us. Hated by the humans of our worlds for so long. Forced to leave. To wonder the many universes aimlessly. Little did they know that we would find each other. That we could built an empire of Kromagg forces. And little did they know that we'd return to take our revenge."
Rickman watched his master. The psychotic tone in his voice. The ruthlessness in his eyes. The greed. The deception. And he knew why he was the leader. He was the best man for the job.
"But come to think of it…" Arturo said, popping another eye into his mouth, "They do taste good. And, I love that tingle that they leave behind."
________________________________________________________________________________________________

 "P715583.6? That disappeared just before I left. How could they have stayed missing for so long? Where have they been?" Colin yelled.
"Calm down, my love. They will explain it all." Mary said.
"And if they're humans? Seeking revenge for what we did…" Colin said calmly.
Another Colin walked past. Colin watched him. He felt like he'd never seen one before.
"Then we'll kill them. It's not like we don't have enough troops here." Rickman said from behind them.
"I have a feeling about this ship." Colin said, "Wasn't there a Wade on it? The always give us trouble."
Rickman walked past them, and pressed a button on a computer console. On a giant screen in front of them, the image of P715583.6 flashed on. It's damages hull was sparking in some places. It was waving around like a piece of paper in the wind.
"It looks like it went through hell to get here. Maybe they landed on a rebel world by mistake." Mary said.
The ship hit the side of a building, but no damage was done to either.
"It looks like the thrusters are malfunctioning too." Colin said, "My stomach has a weird feeling about this ship."

"Sorry! Sorry." Maggie said to the others as they crashed into the wall, "I'm still getting used to this thing."
"Well, look at the bright side. If you keep it up, we won't have to use the weapons on this place. You'll do the job for them." Diana said.
"What's the plan?" Mallory asked, "We never talked about docking."
Maggie moved the ship away from the building slowly, "We go in close, and shoot the main building, I guess. They'll have to let us through whatever shields they have in order to dock."
"And how do we escape?" Diana asked, "We don't slide for another day. And, if their equipment is destroys, how can we get back to the last world before the slide?"
"I guess we'll have to slide from here then. We can hide out like usual." Maggie said.
Diana looked at her PDL for a second without actually doing any work on it, then turned back to Maggie, "I don't think it's that simple. The timer's counting down to the next window for the last world. The timing is totally different here. We have no way of telling when to open the vortex."
"Can't you scan this world with the paddle, and figure out when the window is?" Mallory asked.
Diana looked at her PDL again, "I'd have to make some adjustments to it. I don't know if we'll make it in time for the window." she said, "But I might be able to give the timer enough power to open the vortex when it's done counting down. The timer might be fried, but we can get off of this world."
"Make it so." Mallory said.
Diana looked at him, "You really have to give up Star Trek."

"Let me out of here!" Rembrandt called from his cell.
He couldn't believe that he had fallen for another Kromagg trick. His friends were trapped on the astral plain, and he was trapped in a Kromagg jail cell.
"You Kromaggots. Let me out!" he called.
"Remmy, we need our help." Wade called to him.
"I can't get out of here. How can I help?" Remmy replied to the voice.
"You have to escape. You have to stop them from destroying this world." Quinn told him.
"Why? This is the Kromagg homeworld." Remmy replied.
"It's not, Mr. Brown. You are on a human run Earth. You have to stop them from destroying it." came another voice.
"How do I do that?" Remmy asked.
There was a pause.
"Kill them." Quinn's voice finally said.
"Who?" Remmy responded, shocked.
"Maggie. Mallory. Diana. Kill them all. It's the only way. It's the only way to help us, Remmy." Wade's voice told him.
"How can I do that from in here?" Remmy asked.
"Kill them." Quinn's voice said, fading into nothingness.
Remmy looked around, trying to find a way to escape the cell. He finally decided on a plan. He picked up his bed, and threw it at the invisible wall that held him in. A flash of light blinded him as the bed hit it. When he finally got his sight back, he slowly made his way to the force field. He slowly lifted his hand, and slowly moved it toward the barrier. Another flash. This time met with extreme pain that filled his arm.
"How do I do this?" he asked himself.
He looked around again. Then he saw a light on the ceiling. He remembered a trick that Quinn used once to escape another force field. He looked around some more, and saw a small access panel on the wall nearest to the force field.
"Okay." he said.
He used the smoking bed to get up to the light, then used one of the springs from the mattress to open the light's covering. He grabbed a bundle of wires from the light's fixture, and pulled out as much as he could. Then he went to the access panel, and tried to pry it open with the spring. But there was another force field around the panel. This one was stronger. It melted the spring.
"Damn." Remmy said, trying to think of another plan.
"Just like a Kromagg to tease their prisoners." he said to himself.
He looked around some more, and tried to find a way out. That's when he saw it. A small coin. Half of it was inside the force field, and half was outside. One of the others must have dropped it when they were putting him in the cell.
"Yes." he said, moving toward the coin, the wires still in his hand.
He stripped the wired of much as he could, leaving about three inched of wire exposed. Then he touched one of the wires to the coin. Nothing happened.
"It's not made of a conductive metal." he told himself.
Then he had another idea. He slowly pushed the coin out of the force field, using the wire to move it. As the coin was pushed out, the force field wrapped itself around the wire. There was another flash. This one was different. It was yellow. An explosion. The force field was overloaded. It flickered out of existence, and Remmy walked out of the cell.
"Time to save my friends." he said, walking out of the room.

"Here we go." Maggie said as she lowered the ship onto the docking pad.
The Kromaggs had only let down their defense shield as they were about to hit it.
"Mal, get the weapons ready. We only have a few seconds." Diana said, her voice shaky.
Mallory ran to the other side of the bridge, and sat at the weapons console. He'd never worked these controls before.
"Which one's fire?" he asked to no specific person.
"The middle one." Maggie replied, "Fire in 5…4…3…2…1"
Mallory pressed the button. He was lucky that Diana had already aimed it for him, he had no idea what he was doing.
The ship released a bright red stream of light that was unlike anything Mallory… or Quinn had ever seen before. The light ripped through the air with a whistle, and burst through the Kromagg building.
Without delay, the Kromaggs fired back, hitting the weapons, and rendering them useless.
"Damn! We need to secure the ship before they get in here!" Maggie yelled over the explosions around her.
"Wait. We can still do this." Diana said back.
"How?" Mallory asked.
"There's a bot of explosive charges on the cargo hold. If we can get to their power generator, we can shut down their defenses.
"Again, I ask how?" Mallory replied.

"We've taken severe damage to our outer structure." a Kromagg officer reported to Rickman, Mary, and Colin.
"Send a boarding team. I want them alive." Colin ordered.
"Why?" Mary asked.
Colin looked at her, "Do you know how many times I had to pump gas for those people? I a little payback's in order." he grinned.
"Send squads four, five and six to retrieve them." Rickman said, "Oh, and where are those pizzas? I think someone's eating free tonight."
The officer nodded, and ran off to do his job.
"What have I told you about your joking, Mr. Rickman?" came a voice from behind them.
All three turned together, and saw that the evil Arturo double was standing at the room's entrance.
Mary and Colin immediately fell to their knees and bowed their heads. Only the humans did so. The Kromaggs just stood at attention. Rickman just walked to his side.
"I'm sorry, master. I've spent too many hours among the humans." Rickman said.
"I believe someone's beginning to soften." Arturo said, "And I can't have that, now can I?"
Rickman swallowed hard, "N…no, sir."
"I'm glad you agree." Arturo said, "Stand."
Rickman stood. His legs trembled. His heart pounded. His mind went totally blank.
"You're becoming human, Mr. Rickman. And, if that is what you are, you should look like one." Arturo said.
Rickman's face turned from it's Kromagg form into it's human. No Kromagg except Arturo had the power to make another change looks. Kromaggs all around gasped.
"This look fits you, Rickman. And this is how you will die." Arturo told him.
Rickman felt his master's mind wrapping around his. The power pushing into his very thought. A pressure began to build in Rickman. He tried to resist. Tried to push Arturo out, but he couldn't. The pressure grew. A warm tingle filled Rickman's head. His limbs went numb. The only thing that kept him standing was Arturo. His eyes rolled into his head. And Arturo finally released him. His body fell to the ground, and blood dripped from his ear. Rickman was dead. And this time, there was nobody to save him.
Arturo closed his eyes, and felt around the room, "Let's see." he said, feeling around for the most loyal mind.
Then he opened his eyes, "You." he said to the owner of the mind, "You're in charge now."
He began to walk out.
"It's about time we had some change." Arturo said.
As he reached the door, he turned around and saw his officers looking at Rickman's body with fear in their eyes, and confusion.
"I'm having a bad day." he said to his officers, "Found a fly in my eyes."
With that said, he turned and walked out of the room.
Colin and Mary stood up in shock. Mary looked at Colin.
"What are your orders, sir?" she said to her new boss.
Colin was still shocked, but had a job to do, "Secure the ship. That's our first priority. And get rid of Rickman. He's bleeding all over the new carpet."
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Maggie and Mallory slipped out of the ship through the cargo hold. Diana was left behind to watch Remmy, and work on the timer. As soon as they were gone, Diana activated the defense shield. Now the only way for the Kromaggs to get in would be to use weapons that would, in return, destroy their own base.
"Be careful, I don't want those charges going off while they're still in your backpack." Maggie said to Mallory.
"I know. Don't worry, they're not armed yet." Mallory returned.
They quietly slipped into the base through an old sewer pipe, and ended up in the basement of the building.
"Maggie Beckett, this is your life." she told herself in a game show voice, while she tried cleaning the… stuff off of her boots.
The quietly made their way to the basement door. The room was dark, lit only be a red light that was flashing. Maggie figured that it was some kind of alarm. They climbed up a ladder that led to the door. The ladder was covered in some type of slime, or grease that made it hard to climb. Mallory found himself wondering if this was on purpose, or if the sewer was a favorite entrance among the Kromaggs, and this slime was the result.
"We're almost there." Maggie told him.
They climbed onto a ledge and walked to the door. Maggie and Mallory each put their hands on their rifles, and pulled them up to firing height. Each took a deep breath, and then Maggie pushed the door open.
They charged out, each turning a different direction so that they could clear their path.
Around them, sirens screamed, and lights flashed, but there were no Kromaggs.
"Somehow, I expected more." Mallory said.
"Must all be trying to get into the ship." Maggie replied.
"Hope Di's alright." Mallory said as he led the way down the hall.
He held a small computer in his hand that had a map of the building on it. He followed it to the power generator's room. As they were nearing the room, Mallory noticed a small group of Kromagg soldiers running their way.
"Company." he told Maggie.
Maggie looked around for a hiding place. She found none. The Kromaggs ran closer.
"Quick, kiss me." Mallory told her.
"What?" Maggie asked.
The Kromaggs were almost there. Mallory pulled Maggie close, and kissed her, making it look like they were a young couple in love.
The Kromagg soldiers stopped as they got to the couple.
"Hey!" one of the Kromaggs yelled.
Mallory broke off the kiss, and fired his weapon at the Kromaggs. None of them had time to react in the cramped hallway. Maggie turned around and helped finish them off… okay, they sunned them.
After the problem was dealt with, Maggie turned around and looked at Mallory with angered eyes.
Mallory grinned, "It works in the movies."
Maggie made a fist, and punched him square in the jaw.

Diana was working hard on the timer. She was trying to link it with the PDL to get more power.
The loud banging of Kromagg soldiers on the outside of the ship was distracting. She knew that they couldn't get in, but that didn't stop her nerves from reacting.
The Kromagg torch that she was using to solder the wires together was sparking, and was rather loud. No matter what she did to escape the smoke from the solder, it always seemed to find her.
"Why is it that no matter what I do, the smoke always manages to get to me?" she asked herself as her head began to ache from the fumes.
"Professor used to have the same problem." Remmy said from the entry way.
Diana jumped up with pure fright. When she saw who it was, she was relieved.
"Remmy." she said, taking a deep breath.
"He was always complaining about the smoke getting in his eyes." Remmy continued, "One time be accidentally touched the soldering iron, and burned his hand. Now that man knew how to yell."
"Remmy, how are you feeling?" Diana said, slightly nervous.
Remmy started walking toward her slowly, "Quinn always covered his nose with his shirt. He hated the smell. Says… Said it made him lightheaded."
"Remmy?" Diana said, getting off of her makeshift chair.
"Wade never really used one of those things, but always left the room when they were being used. We'd go get drinks, or go to a movie." Remmy said, "Do you know how many times we saw the Star Wars special edition? And, each time it was different. Her favorite was the one where Han turned out to be Babba Fett."
By now Diana was backing away from him, "Remmy, what's wrong with you?"
Remmy pushed the chair out of his way, and continued walking toward her.
"Did you get a kick out of killing them?" he asked.
"What are you talking about?" Diana replied.
"Don't play with me, you 'Maggot." Remmy said.
"Remmy, I'm not a Kromagg." Diana said, "Look, we're trying to stop them."
She pointed at one of the monitors. Remmy ignored her. His eyes were blank, like there was nobody inside of him. Diana knew that this wasn't Remmy talking. Something was happening to him. And whatever it was, it had something to do with this ship.
Remmy grabbed her, and threw her to the ground. As she fell, she hit her head on one of the consoles, and was knocked out.
Remmy started signing "Cry Like a Man" as he grabbed her legs.

Maggie and Mallory quietly crept into the generator room. The room was filled with pointy-headed Kromaggs that Maggie had never seen before. They were all standing around the huge generator.
The generator was made of a very reflective metal. A blinding beam of energy was passing from the top part of the generator to the bottom. There was nothing containing it that Maggie could see. The top of the generator looked like an extremely big birthday candle turned upside down with fire made of metal. And the bottom was a lopsided contraption that kinda looked like the gas tank of a Harley Davidson.
"How do we get those guys away from the generator?" Mallory asked.
Maggie looked around. She noticed an emergency oxygen tank sitting next to the eye wash. She had a feeling that this thing was even more dangerous than she thought.
"Go hide." she told Mallory, "I'll shoot the oxygen tank. These 'Maggs don't look like the fighting type. Maybe the explosion will get 'em running."
"And if it doesn't?" Mallory asked, looking for his hiding place.
"If it doesn't, the room will be filled with angry Kromaggs, and more on the way. Either way, we're setting the charges. I don't care if I have to sit with them until they explode." Maggie said.
Mallory nodded, and went off to hide. If the Kromaggs did run, they'd be running out this door, and Mallory didn't want fifteen Kromaggs chasing him.
As he was climbing into an air duct, he turned to face Maggie, "If you had to sit with them, you wouldn't really need me, would you?" he said jokingly.
Maggie smiled, and ordered him into the duct. When he was secure, and ready for her to jump in, she lifted her rifle. She carefully aimed, and took a deep breath, holding it in. Then she fired. A beam of red light screeched through the air, and hit the tank. Without hesitation, it exploded. The pointy-headed Kromaggs scattered around the room picking up as much equipment as hey could, then started running out of the room.
By the time they got to the door, Maggie was long gone. They hurried down the hallway.
As soon as they were gone, Maggie and Mallory climbed out of the duct.
"We don't have much time." Maggie said.
They rushed into the room, and ran to the generator. Mallory set the bag down on one of the computer consoles, and took out a charge. As he was about to set it on the console, he noticed something.
"Um…Maggie?" he said, swallowing hard.
"What?" Maggie said, guarding the door.
"I think you should see this." he said.
Maggie walked away from the door. As she did, it began to close. She tried to catch it, but there was nothing she could do. It closed to fast. She had no choice but to see what Mallory found.
She walked to him, "What?" she asked.
Mallory pointed to the computer screen. Everything was in Kromagg, but Maggie did see something. Two of the symbols were changing every constantly.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I don't read Kromagg, but that looks a lot like a human countdown." Mallory said.
"A countdown to what?" Maggie asked him.
"Let's see… A big explosion, a bunch of running Kromaggs, really thick metal doors sealing the room." Mallory said, letting her catch on.
Maggie just looked at him as she caught on, "Oops." she finally said.
The symbols changed from two to one. They looked at each other.
"Run!" they both yelled.
Maggie saw another duct, and blasted it with her rifle. They dove in, and started climbing through it.
Seconds later, a loud bang was heard. Instead of the expected explosion, a blue shock wave ripped through the air. It was blue, and reminded Mallory of the nexus from Star Trek Generations.
The shock wave roared through the duct destroying everything in it's path.
"Go! Go! Go!" Maggie yelled from behind Mallory.
They raced through the duct, but weren't fast enough. The shock wave reached them. Both stopped, and closed their eyes. When Mallory finally got up enough strength to open them, he found himself being carried by the shock wave through the duct. Everything behind them was being destroyed by it, Mallory had no idea why they were being carried. No that he minded.
"Kinda like surfing." Maggie said, now next to him.
"What's surfing?" Mallory asked.
Before the answer came, they were thrown from the duct and into another room. This room was dark. The only light came from a flashing red light near the far wall.
"Where are we?" Mallory asked.
"You are in what we call 'The Dark Room'." Came a male voice.
"I wonder why?" Mallory said in a semi-tough voice.
The red light flashed.
"Colin." Maggie said behind Mallory.
Mallory turned, not having seen him, "Where?"
"Over here." Colin said.
"Colin you have to help us escape." Maggie said, running to him.
She got to Colin, and grabbed his arm. He didn't move.
"Colin?" Maggie asked.
"I think there's something you should know." Colin said, "See, I'm not the man I used to be. I have seen the light. I have found my true calling."
"You wanna be a pizza guy too?" Mallory asked sarcastically.
The light flashed. This time Maggie saw Colin's eyes.
"Oh, God." she said, trying to back away.
"I don't think so." Colin said, smiling.
He grabbed her, and pulled her close.
"Maggie!" Mallory yelled.
Colin put his arm around Maggie's head, and grabbed her chin, ready to snap her neck.
The light flashed.
"No!" Mallory yelled.
Colin squinted a little, and looked in Mallory's direction, "My, you are familiar looking."
Maggie jammed her elbow into Colin's stomach, and grabbed his arm. She flipped him over her shoulder, and he crashed to the ground.
"We gotta get outa here." she said to Mallory.
"Where's the door? I can't see it." Mallory asked.
The two both lost track of Colin. The darkness hid everything.
"Where is he?" Maggie asked.
The light flashed.
"I can't see him." Mallory said.
Suddenly Maggie was hit on the back of the head. She stumbled forward, and fell onto the chair in the middle of the room. As she fell, she accidentally hit a control panel which activated the colored lasers.
The room was filled with light. It switched from green to red as the lasers changed color.
Maggie was out cold, and it was up to Mallory to fight this guy.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

 "Remmy, look at me." Diana said from the structural support that she was tied to.
At least, she thought it was a support. Though, it was getting kinda warm.
"Do I look like a Kromagg?" she asked.
"Don't listen, Remmy. She's trying to get you to let her go." Wade's voice said.
"You have to shut off the shield." Quinn said.
"Remmy, this ship is effecting you. It's playing with your mind." Diana tried to tell him.
"She's lying. Don't listen." Wade said.
"I don't know, guys. She doesn't seem like a Kromagg." Remmy said.
"She is using mind tricks, Mr. Brown." Arturo told him.
"Something about this just isn't right." Remmy told the voices.
"Use your judgment, Remmy. Don't let anyone tell you what to think." Diana said.
"Remmy, we need your help getting out of here. Who do you trust more, us or them?" Quinn asked.
Remmy sat down on the cold floor, "I don't know anymore."
"Remmy, kill her. It's the only way." Wade told him.
"What?" Remmy asked.
"Kill her. For me." Wade said again.
Remmy stood up, "Wade would never say something like that." he told himself.
"Remmy, the Kromaggs must have done something to you when you were captured. This ship is playing with your mind. Making you hear things." Diana said, "It's trying to make you help the Kromaggs, Remmy." Diana said.
"Remmy, you have to stop them. They're trying to take over another Earth." Quinn said.
"Remmy, let me go. Let me help you find whatever's causing this." Diana pleaded.
"Don't do it, Remmy." Arturo said.
"If you are really Quinn, then tell me something that only you would know." Remmy said.
Diana knew that if these things were all in his head, they would know everything. They could tell him anything. But she didn't say anything. She hoped that his doubt in them would cause the system to weaken. Maybe it would make a mistake. If now, she would die.
"You have a friend from Maggie's world named Malcolm, you can read Kromagg writing, you were thought to be a god on one of the first worlds that we slid to." Quinn told him.
Remmy was silent.
"What did he say?" Diana asked.
Remmy looked at her, then looked back into thin air, "I was only pretending to read Kromagg." he whispered.

Mallory punched Colin in the jaw, sending him into the wall. Colin quickly recovered, and dove at Mallory.
"Give up now, and we'll only take your eyes." Colin said.
He hit Mallory, and slammed hit to the ground.
"How 'bout not." Mallory said, trying not to hit Maggie as they fought.
"You'll never win." Colin said.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Mallory returned.
They fought for a few more minutes. Each throwing punches, and receiving them.
"I think it's time to end this game." Colin said.
"Okay." Mallory said, throwing the hardest punch he could muster.
Colin caught his fist mid-air, and stopped the punch. But the force behind it sent Colin back into the chair.
Mallory stood back and watched as the different colored lasers flashed in Colin's eyes. Colin yelled as loud as he could, unable to move.
Mallory ran to Maggie and slapped her gently to wake her up. After a few seconds, she finally started to wake up.
"Maggie, get up." Mallory ordered.
Maggie opened her eyes, and jumped up as though she hadn't been asleep for the past ten minutes.
"What happened?" Maggie asked.
Then she notices the different colors on the wall, and turned to see what was causing them. She saw Colin caught in the lasers. He was awake, but didn't move.
"Colin," Maggie said.
"We have to leave." Mallory said.
"I can't leave him." Maggie replied.
"Maggs, he just tried to kill us both." Mallory told her.
"I know, but he wasn't himself. Maybe we could change him back." she tried to reason.
"Maggie… Captain Beckett, he is the enemy. A Kromagg soldier. No matter who he was, that's gone now." Mallory said to her in a military voice.
Maggie watched the lasers flashing. A tear ran down her cheek. Then she turned to leave.
"Let's go." she said.
They walked to the door, and Mallory turned the knob. Just as they were walking out, Maggie heard something.
"Tears in my 'fro." Came Colin's voice in a quiet whisper.
Maggie twirled around, and went back into the room.
Colin was sitting in the chair. The lasers had stopped. The lights all over the building went out. Maggie guessed that the power was finally failing. She walked to Colin.
"Colin?" she asked.
He opened his eyes, and looked at her, "Maggie. There's so many things in my head right now." he said.
Maggie smiled, "Well, sort it out later. We have to get out of here. We can set the charges on the sliding machine now."
Colin stood up, "No."
"What?" Maggie asked.
"You have to leave. I'll set the charges." Colin said.
"What are you talking about?" Maggie asked.
"The machine is heavily guarded. You'd never make it in there." Colin told her.
"Colin, I'm not leaving without you. We lost Quinn, I'm not losing you too." Maggie said.
"Quinn?" Colin said, then remembered something, "He wasn't my brother."
Maggie was shocked by what she heard.
"Guys, we have company." Mallory said at just the wrong time.
Colin and Maggie ran to the door, ant looked out.
"Go. Turn left, then take the second hall on your right. It'll lead you to the machine." Colin said.
Maggie started down the hall. Mallory was getting ready to follow her when Colin stopped him.
"Give me the bag." Colin said.
Mallory looked at him in the eyes, "That's not the way to the machine, is it?"
Colin just looked at him, then took the bag off of his back.
"Good luck." Mallory said, "We'll be on the ship until tomorrow. Come with us if you make it out of here."
Then Mallory ran after Maggie. The two ran down the halls, and finally came to the end.
"This way." Mallory said, leading her through the exit.
Maggie looked at him, "Where's Colin?"
Mallory looked at the ground. Maggie saw his expression, and started walking back down the hall.
"I'm going to help him." she said.
"No." Mallory said, grabbing her arm.
"Let me go." Maggie said.
"I can't do that." Mallory told her.
Maggie tried to fight Mallory, but he held onto her. Another tear formed in her eye, and she finally gave in.
They pushed through the exit, and onto the landing pod. They were met by about twenty Kromaggs. Less than expected due to the power outage.
"Freeze!" yelled the Kromagg in command.
Mallory nodded, and smiled, "Likely." He said as he and Maggie dove behind some crates.
The Kromaggs fires at them. They hit the crates, and the beams went right through them. Mallory and Maggie saw how easily they did that, and decided to get as close to the ground as possible.
"There goes my idea." Mallory said.
"What idea?" Maggie asked.
"Living." Mallory returned.
They could still hear the Kromaggs firing, but they weren't hitting the crates.
"Now, either their aim just got really bad, or someone's on our side." Mallory said.
They stood up slowly, and saw that Remmy and Diana were standing on the top of the ship, firing at the Kromaggs. They looked at each other, and decided to join the fight. The Kromaggs had nowhere to go, and soon lost the fight. Most had retreated into the sewer and were never heard from again.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Colin entered the room where the sliding machine was. It was a massive machine that served as the home base for nearly all of the Kromagg ships. It would take every last one of the charges that Colin had to blow this thing up.
He took a deep breath, and reached into the bag. He pulled out one of the charges, and put it on the machine at the far end of the room.
"Five minutes should be enough time." he said to himself, setting the charge.
He reached back into the bag, and pulled out another charge. He set the time, and put it a few feet away from the other one. Then he reached back into the bag, and pulled out a hand full of maggots. He quickly dropped them, and jumped back.
"I had a feeling that this would happen." came the voice of the Kromagg leader.
"Master Kroturo," Colin said blankly.
The Arturo double walked slowly toward Colin, "I knew that I shouldn't trust a human. But something told me that you would be loyal. What happened?"
Colin smiled, "I've seen the light." he said sarcastically, "And in about four minutes, you'll be seeing a rather bright one too."
"Really?" the evil Arturo said.
The set charges began to shake.
"I was hoping you'd try that." Colin said, "I needed the distraction."
Colin dashed at Arturo, and jumped on him. They rolled on the floor in a storm of punches and hair pulling on the Arturo's part. Then they stood up. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Arturo dove at him. Colin moved out of the way, and kneed him in the stomach.
"Not I know why Rickman was so quick to kill your double." Colin said, "You're just a big pain in the a…"
Arturo hit him with a fist, and sent him to the ground. He quickly recovered, and tripped Arturo. Arturo fell, and Colin stood back up. Arturo got up. Again, they looked each other in the eye.
"Colin, you disappoint me." Arturo said.
"Guess I'm not the son you always imagined, am I? That's what you get for taking me from my real parents." Colin replied.
"I raised you as my own, and this is my thanks?" Arturo shot at him.
"If only you'd gotten me that puppy." Colin said sarcastically.
Colin couldn't explain his sudden sense of humor. Something must have happened when the lasers altered his personality. Odd thing was, he hated jokes.
Arturo jumped at him. Colin just grabbed his arm, and bent it behind his back to keep him still.
"Three… two… one…" Colin said.
As though on order, the charges wet off. The room shook, and electric jolts shot through the machine.
Around them, red vortexes opened, and closed quickly. Every time they closed, they shot flames into the air. Other room filled with red light. Each rime one vortex closed, another would open. The room was filled with them.
"What have you done?" Arturo asked in a very angry tone.
Colin reached into his bag and grabbed another charge. He held it out where Arturo could see it, and set the time for thirty seconds. Then he dropped it back into the bag, and tossed it to the other side of the room.
"No!" Arturo yelled.
Colin smiled, and let him go.
"It's over, daddy." he said.
Colin tried to run out the door, but a vortex opened in front of him, and shot flames into the air. Large metal doors sealed the room. He was stuck.
His heart pounded in his chest. His mind worked overtime trying to figure something out. There was no escape in sight.
Arturo smiled, "At least you're coming with me."
The world slowed down in Colin's mind. He could hear his heart. He could even hear Arturo's.
His breath began to burn in his lungs because of the heat. Then he saw it.
One stable vortex formed in the air. Arturo saw it too. They both races for it. By Colin's count, there were five seconds remaining. Both men jumped for it.
Only one got in.

In the ship, Maggie and the others waited for Colin. Remmy was sitting in the corner, rocking. Even though he knew that they were fake, the voices still sang in his head. He'd have to stand it for another day. After that, they'd be off of this planet.
"Where is he?" Maggie asked.
"He'll be here." Mallory said, comforting her.
A loud bang rocked the ship. On the view screens in front of them, they saw vortexes formin all over the city, shooting fire as they closed.
"He set the charges. He should be out by now." Maggie said.
"He will come out those doors any minute. You just wait." Mallory told her.
"There! I finished." Diana yelled.
She had just finished work on the timer. They'd be able to slide without a problem.
Then Diana noticed something, "I'm picking up a vortex." she said.
"Colin?" Maggie asked.
"There's no way to tell. But it's tracking." Diana reported, "It'll just take another second."
Just then, a loud explosion roared through the air. The Kromagg building collapsed. Around the city, a buildings began to explode.
"Wasn't expecting that." Mallory said.
"But he made it, right?" Maggie said, crying.
"Of course." Mallory replied wrapping his arms around her.
As he hugged her, he and Diana looked at each other. Both knew that there was no way of knowing where Colin was when the place exploded. Diana frowned.
"I lost the track." she said.
Maggie looked at her for a moment, then started crying harder. She almost fell to the ground.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Quinn 2 and Arturo walked up to the building. They'd spent the better part of the past few days tracking down the van. It belonged to a company that specialized in sliding technology. Arturo figured that they wanted information from Quinn and Wade. And he knew that they'd never talk.
"Can I help you?" asked a security Guard.
Quinn 2 walked up to the door where he was standing, "Yea, hi. I'm here to pick up a friend of mine."
"Name?" the guard asked.
Quinn 2 looked around for a name that would get him in. He saw a board on the wall that listed employees of the building. He picked one and went for it, "Howard Fletcher."
"Your name?" the guard asked.
Quinn 2 looked around quickly. He saw the guard's partner eating donuts and dipping them into his coffee.
"Dunking… in! Duncan. Mallory." he told the guard.
The guard looked at Arturo and indicated that he thought Duncan was a little crazy. Arturo nodded, and smiled. Quinn 2 looked back at Arturo.
"Duncan Mallory." he said as though proud to have thought of it.
The guard checked with someone on his radio. Then he looked back to Quinn 2.
"Mr. Fletcher is waiting for you. Go right up." he said.
Quinn 2 shot Arturo a confused look, but went with it anyway, and entered the building.
"Where do we go now?" Quinn 2 asked.
"I suppose we should go to Mr. Fletcher's office." Arturo said.
Quinn 2 looked at him like he was insane, "It doesn't take a professor to figure out that this is a trap."
"I never said that we were using the door, now did I, Mr. Mallory?" Arturo smiled.
They looked around the lobby, and finally saw what they were looking for.
"This way." Arturo said, leading the way to the service elevator.
Next to the elevator was another board with the employee listings. They found the floor and office of Howard Fletcher, and pressed the button.
"What do we do now?" Mallory asked as the elevator doors closed.
Arturo smiled, and put his hand on the low ceiling. He pushed as hard as he could to get the top to open, but nothing happened.
"But there's always a way to get on the top of the elevator." Arturo said rather dismayed.
"Don't worry, Max, I have an idea." Quinn 2 said.
Arturo looked at him, happy that someone had a plan. Quinn 2 didn't move.
"Well, what is it?" Arturo asked in his angry sounding, sarcastic voice.
"Oh yea." Quinn 2 said, having forgotten what his plan was.
He reached his arm out as far as he could reach from the back of the elevator, and pressed the button to go up.
"They'll never suspect the service elevator." Quinn 2 said with a smile.
Arturo just put his hand on his head, and came to realize that this person was in no way the same man he had known for the past few years.
"Nobody ever suspects the service elevator." Quinn 2 said in an I'm-so-cool tone.
The elevator stopped on the level that they wanted, and the doors slid open. As Quinn 2 started walking out, he noticed a gun sticking in his face.
"Or possibly they do." he said, "Why do they do?" he asked Arturo.
Arturo pointed up at a security camera in the elevator, "It was activated when you pushed the button."
"Let's go." the man with the gun said.
The man was in a black suit, and had his hair cut short to his head. He was in his early thirties, and one could tell just by looking at him that he wasn't a very happy person.
"Gulp." Quinn 2 said as they walked.

"I know!" Quinn yelled at Wade.
They were alone in an office. A nice office with all leather furniture. They were comfortable, and each had a drink on one of the tables. They weren't exactly here against their will, but they weren't exactly prisoners.
Dr. Fletcher told them that their government didn't want the civilians learning about sliding. So, as a result, they had to take every slider that they detected into custody. They were free to slide out when the timer counted down, but they had to talk to the scientists about the sliding experience. It seemed that they knew how to slide, they were just too scared to try it.
The room was very tense at the moment. Wade had taken their time alone to discuss their little spat. They'd been talking for hours. Emotions were running high. There were sentimental moments, and angry moments. Right now was not one of the sentimental ones.
"I can't believe that you'd just let him walk off like that!" Wade yelled back, "You've changed, Quinn. Not just since we were reunited either. I saw this coming since before the Professor died."
Even though they were mad at the other Arturo, they couldn't hate him. He'd made a mistake or two, but in the end he gave his life for the sliders. They couldn't forget that.
"I know." Quinn replied, "It's just that… Ever since we started sliding, I've had this feeling in my stomach that wouldn't go away. I can't forget that I'm the one that got you all into this."
"Don't use that with me, Quinn. You can't play the poor suffering man every time you act like an ass." Wade told him.
Quinn took a deep breath, "The pressure started getting to me after we met the 'Maggs. After learning about all of the worlds they'd taken. All of the lives that were lost… I couldn't handle it. Life seemed to gloss over. Like everything was fake somehow. Then the Professor's disease, and when he died, I snapped. I just started blocking out emotions."
Wade could have sworn that she saw a tear in Quinn's eye.
"Then I lost you. Two of the three people that I'd gotten into this mess were gone, probably dead. I just stopped caring about everything. I couldn't stand the pain of losing you…" he said looking into her eyes, then looked away, "And the Professor."
Wade couldn't say anything. She knew what it was like to lose friends, but she never thought even thought that Quinn and Remmy were dead. She wouldn't mind having to deal with Maggie if it meant getting Remmy back now.
The office doors opened. Quinn 2 and the Professor were thrown into the room. Then the doors were shut.
"Wade, you okay?" Quinn 2 asked, walking to his friend.
"I'm fine." Wade said.
Quinn smiled, as Arturo put his hand on his shoulder.
"So, how do we get out of here?" Quinn 2 asked.
"We don't, actually." Wade siad.
Arturo and Quinn 2 looked at her.
"Long story." she told them.
The group spent the next ten hours talking. It was almost time for the slide. Dr. Fletcher had given his good-bye about an hour earlier.
"I should go." Quinn 2 said to Wade, and Arturo.
He hadn't really talked to Quinn at all. Wade tried, but both of them felt odd about making the first move.
"What?" Wade asked.
"Wade, I told you. There's no room for me with you. I mean, if you found your friends, the vortex would fail. It's better to leave now… Before I get too attached." Quinn 2 explained.
"Well, I am attached." Wade said, "We can deal with the vortex later. You're coming."
Quinn 2 scratched his neck, and looked at Quinn, "Wade, I don't think it'd be smart." He started, then he leaned in and whispered, "Incase you haven't noticed, you're Quinn doesn't like me."
"To hell with him. He'll work through it." Wade said strongly.
"Mr. Mallory, I think we'd all like you to come." Arturo said, indicating to Quinn who was looking at the ground.
Everyone looked at Quinn. Quinn just pulled out the timer, and watched the countdown. He was thinking of ways to say he was sorry, but both Quinns knew that those words never came easy. Finally Quinn just nodded.
Wade smiled, "So you coming?"
Quinn 2 looked around. He didn't want to stomp another man's ground. Then again, this world wasn't exactly his dream home. Finally he just nodded, not realizing that he was doing the same thing as Quinn.
"Now that that's settled, I think we have another problem." Wade said, "It'll be kinda weird having two Quinns. I mean name wise. What do we do?"
Everyone thought for a second. Finally the Professor jumped up.
"Might I suggest the name Duncan?" he said.
Wade smiled, as did Quinn 2.
"I like it." Wade said.
Quinn 2 smiled, "Then Duncan it is. Duncan Mallory."
Everyone smiled, including Quinn who tried to hide it. He pointed the vortex and opened it.
After happy looks, Wade and Arturo jumped in. Quinn stopped Duncan before he could jump.
"Seems like my family keeps growing." Quinn said.
Duncan just looked at him without a word.
"But dye your hair, or something. This could get confusing." Quinn said, then jumped into the vortex.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

The bright blue vortex opened. Maggie, Diana, Remmy, and finally, Mallory flew out. Mallory landed on the edge of the bridge that they landed on. He almost fell over, but caught his balance in time.
"How long on this world?" Mallory asked Diana.
"'Bout a week." Di replied.
They walked off of the bridge, and down the street.
"It's good to have my mind back." Remmy said, though not in his normal, upbeat tone.
Maggie was still upset, "We will find him." she said to herself.
"C'mon. Let's get to the Chandler." Mallory said as they turned the corner.
After they left, a blood-red vortex opened in the same place as theirs. This time, Arturo fell out first. He fell to the ground, and rolled away from the vortex. Wade flew out next. Arturo lost track of where she landed when Duncan and Quinn flew out.
They recovered, and dusted the dirt off of their clothes.
"How long do we have here?" Duncan asked Quinn.
Quinn looked at the timer, "A day and a half."
"Where's Wade?" Arturo said in a very concerned tone.
"She was just in front of us." Duncan replied.
They all searched frantically. Then Quinn looked over the side of the bridge.
"Oh, God." He said softly, tears running down his cheeks.
"No." Duncan said.
Wade was on the ground below the bridge. She had fallen a good twenty or thirty feet.
"Quinn?" she said, dazed, "Quinn, I can't move my legs."
They rushed down to her. As they neared her, Quinn noticed that her head was resting on a rock, and blood was dripping down the side of it. Wade was awake, but there was no way of knowing what was wrong.
"Wade, don't die on me!" Quinn yelled to her.
Then Wade slipped from consciousness.
 

THE END.

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