Randy Heim rounded the corner in a sweat.  He looked at the timer.  Just a
little longer...
  Melissa Clark and Richard Hall was right behind Randy.  Melissa glared at
Richard.
  "This is all your fault!" Melissa barked.
  "Don't blame me cuz I"m sexy," Richard said.  "How was I to know we would
slide to a world with sex-crazed women?"
  Melissa stopped running.  She looked back.  "Where's Brown?"
  Randy stopped.  He aimed the timer.  Lightning shot from the timer.  the
air started to dissolve in front of the trio.  The wind started to pick up
and a circle of blue light formed.
  "Melissa, go!" Randy shouted.
  "But Brown--" Melissa said.
  "GO!" Randy shouted.
  "See you two on the other side!" Richard yelled.  then he ran for the
wormhole and jumped into it.  the whir sounded off.
  Melissa looked at Randy.  His eyes told her everything.  He would not
leave Brown there.  She smiled and jumped into the wormhole.
  Randy looked back the way he came.  The women had attached them almost
immediately.  It seem most of the men had been wiped out long ago.
  THey had run away, but the Professor...
  ...turned the corner and headed right for Randy.  A feet away, women were
turning the corner.  they were right at professor Brown's heels.
  "Jump!" Brown yelled.
  Randy jumped into the wormhole.  he looked over his shoulder and saw Brown
jump into the wormhole.

  "Ahh!"
  Richard landed on the sand.  He stood up and dusted his tuxedo off. He
really hated sliding.
  Melissa landed next and got a face full of sand.  She brushed the sand off
her face and the white gown she had on.
  "Having fun?" Richard asked over the wind.
  "Shut up!" Melissa said.  "Where's Randy?"
  As if to answer Melissa's question, Randy fell out of the vortex and hit
the sand.  Brown landed right on him.  The wormhole closed behind them.
  "Well, it's about time!" Richard said as he looked at Randy and Brown.
  "I am so sorry," Brown said as he stood and helped Randy up.
  "It's okay, Professor," Randy said.  He looked around at their
surroundings.  "It looks like the beach is closer in land than home."
  "So we're not home," Richard said.
  "We're get there," Melissa said.
  "How long are we here, Mr. Heim?"  Brown asked.
  "A little under a week," Randy answered.  "Let's head to the motel."
  Randy noticed a few people on the beach watching them.  It was not
uncommon since sliding was a breathtaking sight.
  He looked at the timer.  He had created this device to travel to different
dimensions.  It was new.  It was fresh.  Eventually, he would have knocked
out the glitches and be remembered for some worthwhile thing.  Then Richard
tried to steal it for some still unknown reason and they (along with Melissa
and Professor Brown) landed on a world where San Francisco was a prison.
Messing with the timer there resulted in them landing on random worlds that
range from a world where the Indians ran the United States to a world where
cons were enmass.  it did not seem like they would ever get home.
  "The stores look beautiful," Melissa commented to Richard a little way
ahead of him.
  "I though you two would be talking by now," Brown said beside Randy.
  "We decided to stay friends," Randy said.  "After a runin with a double of
Ben on Rebecca's world, it's not going to happen."
  "I am sorry, Mr. Heim," Brown said.
  "I just think we better get home before she hooks up with Richard," Randy
replied.
  "Then I suggest we put our brains together and figure out a way to restore
the coordinates for our Earth," Brown said.
  Randy looked at Melissa laughing with Richard.  "That's a good idea."

WHAT IF YOU DISCOVERED NEW WORLDS?  WHAT IF YOU COULD FIND THESE WORLDS
WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR EARTH?  YOU'RE THE SAME PERSON AND IT'S THE SAME YEAR,
BUT EVERYTHING AROUND YOU IS DIFFERENT?  I FOUND A WAY TO TRAVEL TO PARALLEL
WORLDS!!!

   SLIDERS: ALTERNATE SPIN
   EPISODE 5-SPLITTING DOUBLE TAKE
   (first part)

  "So what's up with you two?"
  Melissa stopped staring out the window of the restaurant and turned to
Richard.
  "What?" Melissa said in total confusion.
  "I said what's with you and Egghead," Richard said.  "You two were hot and
heavy on that last world.  Now you're on the skids.  What I miss?"
  Melissa looked down at her hands.  It seem like she was turning more to
Richard now.  Randy and she seem to be growing farther and farther apart.
  "I...we saw a double of Ben," Melissa explained.  "Right before that,
Randy had asked me on a date."
  "Oh," Richard said.  "That's why he was being Mr. Overprotective on the
last world.  You'll better off without him."
  "Yeah," Melissa said weakly.  She looked out the window again.  She
wondered if she truly had made the right decision.
  "You!"
  Melissa and Richard turned to see an old man running toward them.  he
grabbed Richard on the arm.  Melissa saw how crazed the man looked.
  "You have to get out of here!" the man yelled.
  "Hey!" Richard yelled. "Let go of me!"
  "Listen to me!" the old man shouted.  "They know about you.  They know--"
  A group of men dressed in gray suits walked over and grabbed the old man.
Melissa noticed that the men had blank looks on their faces.
  "Now, Mr. Hughes," the leader, a blonde-haired man said, "what have I told
you? Deanimation is a part of our cycle.  YOu will be well taken--"
  "No!" the old man said.  "You can't deanimate me! You--"
  "Take Mr. Hughes to the van," the blonde man said.
  The other man nod.  then they took the old man away.  he continued to
struggle, but it was useless.  the blonde man looked at Melissa and grinned.
  "Sorry for the trouble, you two," the blonde man said calmly.  "Enjoy your
meal."
  Melissa watched the blonde man leave.  then she turned to Richard.  he was
looking at her puzzled.
  "Maybe we should head for the motel," Melissa said.
  "Good thought," Richard said.

  "The timer did not originally count down," Randy said to Professor Brown.
"However when...I...got us out of that world with Crazy Ben early, it messed
up the coordinates and almost fried the timer.  I set the timer to count
down then."
  "What would have happened if we had not made it on time?" Brown asked.
  "We would have been stuck there...for...I believe...29.7 years," Randy
answered.
  "What? How?"
  "The timer is set to open a vortex when two parallel Earths are close
enough for it to.  It doesn't happen all the time like people think.  If we
missed it, the next time..."
  "...two Earths would have been close was the time that you said," Brown
finished.  "I understand.  I wish you had come to me earlier, Mr. Heim.
Perhaps we could have worked on this.  This is part of my theory after all."
  "I know, but I wanted to surprise you."
  "What now?"
  "I thought that maybe we could find a way to track wormholes," Randy said.
  "Thanks to Anya's society, we know there are other sliders out there.  I
need to think of a way--"
  "Mr. Heim, shut up."
  Randy stopped talking. He saw Brown looking at him.
  "Did I--" Randy said.
  "Maybe...I should have never studied the theories of my day," Brown said.
"Then I would not be here because you would not have done this. How could
you be so reckless?"
  "Where is this coming from?" Randy asked. "I thought--"
  Brown stood up.  "No, you did not think.  However, I would have.'
  Randy stared at Brown.  "Oh...that's it!  You're jealous!"
  "Hardly."
  Randy stood up from his table.  "Yes, you are.  I took your theories and
did something you couldn't do."
  Brown folded his arms.  "I could have done it.  I was just much too busy."
  "Yeah, Professor.  I believe you."
  "How dare you take that tone with me? I am your teacher."
  "Not anymore."
  "You still have a lot to learn, Mr. Heim.  I just hope you are not killed
before you learn it."
  Before Randy could respond, Brown stormed off of the balcony they were on.
  Randy sat down and frowned.
  "Great work, Randy," Randy said to himself.  "Insult your teacher while
bruising his ego.  Great."
  "Randall Heim?"
  Randy turned to see a blonde man walk up to him.
  "You did not think you would escape, did you?" the blonde man asked.
  "Do I know you?" Randy asked.
  "You made us," the blonde man said.  "Now you will be deanimated."
  Several men in gray suits walked onto the balcony.  They approached Randy.
  He backed away, but found nowhere to go.

  "Will you stop looking out the window?" Richard asked.  "The Geniuses will
show up."
  "I know," Melissa said as she looked out the window yet again.  the old
man's yells were in her mind.  He warned them about people watching them.
Nothing seem out of the ordinary.
  "Brown!" Melissa said.  She ran to the door and opened it.
  "Where's Egghead?" Richard asked.
  "I do not care where the arrogant so and so is!" Brown exclaimed.  "He can
rot."
  Brown stormed into the bathroom.  Melissa looked at Richard.
  "Looks like something went down," Richard said.
  "You take care of Brown," Melissa said.  "I'll look for Randy."
  Melissa grabbed her jacket and headed out the room.
  Richard walked to the bathroom door.  He wasn't good at male bonding
thing.  This was new.
  Richard knocked.
  "Go away," Brown's voice came from the bathroom.
  "Now, now, Proper," Richard said.  "You can't be getting mad at Egghead.
He gets into those trances all the time."
  The door swung open and Richard saw the Professor's angry face.
  "How shallow are you?" Brown snapped.  "This is not a trivial thing! To
think that the greatest discovery in ages were found by an arrogant,
idealistic loner idiot!"
  "How...trivial, Proper," Richard said.  "Mad Egghead did it before you?"
  The look Richard got said it all.
  "Just when I thought you're not...human...you surprise me," Richard said.
  "I guess so," Brown said.
  "My advice...GET OVER IT.  We have other issues."
  Brown looked at Richard.  "Oh?"

  Melissa had walked across the campus for a while.  there was no sign of
Randy.  It felt like he had vanished off the face of the world.
  The wind picked up a little.  melissa felt blessed that she and Richard
had found clothes in the apartment.  Her gown would not have been able to
take any chill.
  Melissa felt her forehead.  that last world had been a strain on her
friendship with Randy.  She hoped that she hadn't lost him now.
  She passed by an alley.  She noticed that it was the science building.  A
lot bigger on this world than it was back home.  The word seem distant in
Melissa's mind.
  A noise to her right made Melissa look into the alley.  A figure rose from
the trash cans.  he stumbled toward Melissa.
  Melissa backed away from the figure.  His eyes were wild.  Melissa could
barely see them through the brown hair that covered his face like...
  "Randy?" Melissa muttered.
  "Do I...know...you?" the figure asked.  He fell to the ground.
  "Randy!"

  Melissa sat in the bathroom with Richard.  She  had managed to get Randy
back to the motel.  there Professor Brown had looked over Randy. Richard had
brought Melissa to the bathroom so she would not freak out.
  The door opened.  Professor Brown walked in and shut the door.  Melissa
saw the somber look and stood up.
  "How is he?" Melissa asked.
  "Physically, all he needs is a good night sleep," Brown said.  "However,
there is a bigger issue."
  Melissa held onto the sink.  "What?"
  "He...does not know us," Brown said.  "He has no memory of any of the last
few weeks."
  "Nothing at all?" Richard asked.
  "Nothing, Mr. Hall?"
  "How are we going to get home if Egghead doesn't even remember how his
stuff works?"
  "Is that all you can think about?" Melissa snapped at Richard.
  She turned to Brown.  "And YOU!  He wouldn't have been out if you hadn't
gotten into some petty argument!"
  Melissa pushed past Brown and walked out of the bathroom.

  Professor Brown sat with Randy.  This had become a route for them over the
last three days.  Melissa would show Randy around San Francisco.  Richard
would get him acquainted with pop culture. Finally, Brown would familiarize
Randy with the library and his various theories.
  Brown studied Randy as he read a book called "Hyperspace."  Randy seem
deep in thought.  He didn't even notice that his brown hair covered his
forehead, a habit that Melissa had pointed out.  To think that one of the
smartest minds around now could not even remember his intelligence.  If
Brown haven't let his jealousy get the better of...
  "Hmmm," Randy muttered.
  Brown felt a spark of hope.  "Did you remember something, Mr. Heim?"
  Randy looked up at the mention of his name.  "Wha?  Oh,...uh...no.  This
is just an...interesting book, Mr. Brown."
  The hope died in Brown.  "Oh?"
  "So I really invented a device to travel between dimensions?"
  "Yes," Brown said.  "Well, actually we travel to parallel worlds."
  "Oh," Randy said.  "And Melissa and Richard are my friends?"
  "Correct, Mr. Heim."
  "And you are a teacher...my professor?  Hmmm.  So my ideas came from you
and other scientists.  That is...cool."
  "You spend too much time with Mr. Hall."
  "Perhaps," Randy said with a grin.  "What is the alternative, Mr. Brown?
You said that I know you, but I do not remember a thing."
  Randy got up.  "In any case, these are some interesting theories.  I will
have to test them out."

  Richard grinned at the irony.  When Randy had his memory, he hated
Richard.  Now Randy liked him.  Melissa had thought it would be a good idea
not to mention that he tried to steal Randy's machine.
  A man bumped into Richard.  He remembered that he was carrying groceries
back to the motel.  He had managed to sneak some money from the last world.
  Richard turned a corner.  He saw a group of men in gray suits walking
through the busy sidewalk.  He had seen them twice over the last few days.
It made him uncomfortable.
  "Richard Hall?" the blonde leader said to Richard.
  Richard tensed up.  "Is there a problem, Sir?"
  "There will not be," the blonde leader said, "if you do not resist.
Deanimation is a part of our cycle."
  Richard felt a grin cover his face.  "You're used to saying that, huh?"
  Before the blonde leader could say anything, Richard threw the grocery bag
at the blonde leader.  He headed back through the crowd.  Richard looked
over his shoulder to see the gray-suited men hot on his trail.
  He turned the corner and ran right into more gray-suited men.  Richard
started to dodge them.  He made it pass them.  A hand grabbed his shoulder.
It was followed by arms restraining him.
  "Stop!  Help!" Richard yelled.
  The citizens just kept walking by the commotion.  Richard continued to
struggle, but it was no use.
  "Take him to the lab for deanimation," the blonde leader instructed.

  "Gillian, how is Subject 115?" the man asked.
  "Deanimation successfully completely, Sir," Gillian answered.
  "Subject 116?"
  "Also successful, Sir," Gillian answered.
  "The status of Subject 117?"
  Gillian hesitated.  The last aide had told Dr. Franks about the status of
Subject 117.  She became Subject 251.
  "Uh...his template is in suspended animation.  The subject is still at
large...Sir."
  Dr. Franks turned to Gillian.  His face was blank.  She backed away.
  "I am sorry, Sir," Gillian said.  "People are still looking..."
  "I...hoped that when I took over from my predecessor, Darnell Brown, that
this sloppiness would stop.  Obviously, it has not."
  Dr. Franks stared at Gillian intensely.  Gillian started to shake.  A
moment later, Dr. Franks turned and continued their walk.
  "Gillian," Dr. Franks said, "you are one of the few...normals here.  Be
grateful that I choose not to put you through deanimation...like the creator
of this place.  Let us continue the tour."
  Gillian looked over at Subject 117.  He had been brought in days ago.
However, something went wrong in the deanimation process and the subject
escaped.
  The template was frozen in the tube.  He wore only boxers.  His face
looked sad.
  "Gillian?"
  Gillian turned back to Dr. Franks.  He walked back over to her and
observed the template.
  "How the mighty have fallen," Dr. Franks said.  "To think we have Randall
Heim to thank for the purity of our race."
  "We will find the subject, Sir," Gillian said encouragingly.
  "Yes, we will," Dr. Franks continued back on his tour.  Gillian followed
along and avoided Randall's closed eyes.

  "Why don't we stun him?" the red-haired guy asked the blonde leader.
  "It is not our way," the blonde leader said.
  "We should change it," the red-haired guy said.
  "Maybe you should take it up with Dr. Franks," the blonde leader
suggested.
  "Maybe you could just let me go?" Richard suggested.
  The men stopped talking and stared at Richard.
  He shrugged.
  "Or not," Richard said.
  The van stopped.
  "We're here," the red-haired guy announced.
  "Bring him along," the blonde leader ordered.
  "I can't wait to get the girl in for deanimation," the red-haired guy
said.  "She's hot!"
  Richard broke away from the gray-suited men.  He pushed the red-haired guy
out of the van.  He felt to the ground as Richard grabbed his neck.  He
tightened his grip.
  "Don't even think it, buddy!"  Richard threatened.  "Melissa's way
classier than you."
  "Get him," the blonde leader ordered.
  Richard felt the arms on his own.  They pulled him away from the
red-haired guy and held him against the wall.  The blonde leader picked up
his comrade.
  "How are you?" the blonde leader asked.
  "I will be fine," the red-haired guy answered, "once I shoot him."
  "You know Dr. Franks will frown on that," the blonde leader said.  "Stand
down."
  Richard noticed the traces of anger on the red-haired guy's face.  the
blonde leader blocked the way then.  There was silence for a moment.
  "Let us go," the red-haired guy said.
  "Be careful," the blonde leader suggested.  "One might think you were like
our predecessors."
  "Scary thought."
  "I don't think so."
  Richard and the men turned toward the sound of the new voice.  A man
stared to approach.
  "You!" the blonde leader said.
  Richard gasped when the man was close enough.
  "Egghead?"
  "Yes, ME, your creator...and your destroyer," Randall said.
  He pulled out a lighter.  He flipped the button.  A loud sound like a
banshee's scream came from it.
  Richard covered his ears to drown out the sound.  The gray-suited men did
the same.  Then they fell to the ground.  Richard saw that their skin was
tearing.  They shook like people having seizures.
  Randall stopped the banshee lighter and put it away.
  "Come on," Randall said.
  Richard looked at this Randy in front of him.  He was more muscled than
Egghead.  He also had no hair on his head and wore his black clothes like a
cloak.  Richard also noticed his right fist was like iron.
  "I said come on!" Randall barked.  "Are you wanting to get us killed?"
  "But...them..." Richard pointed at the gray-suited men.
  "Them," Randall said, "weren't human at all.  THEM were just expendable
clones."
 

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