Sliders: The Ghost in the Slide

by

Eloy Brightdreamer/Melody Kellogg

If you haven't read my story Sliders at Sea, you probably should go back and read it before you read this one.

CHAPTER 1

Quinn lifted his head and looked around before sitting up with a groan. "My stomach's still telling me that I'm on that boat, but I'll be okay now that I'm on solid ground." He grinned. "I don't think I've ever been so happy to see trees."

"Well, Q-Ball, at least your face doesn't match the leaves anymore," Rembrandt laughed, standing up and brushing the dirt off his clothes. He glanced at their surroundings. "I wonder where we are? Do you think we might be home?"

"I don't think so," Maggie said. "I'm not having trouble breathing." Sitting down on a log, she looked at Logan's timer, which they had stolen on the last world. "We have about five days here, I think. But since we lost our timer on the last world, we can't track Rickman anymore." She slammed her hand into the soft wood. "Dammit! Now we'll never find him."

Quinn stood up and took the timer from Maggie. "She's right about the time." He looked closer at it. "Hey, it's tracking a wormhole!"

"What?" Wade stepped closer. "Whose?"

"I'm not sure," Quinn stared at the blinking numbers for a moment, then exclaimed, "Hey, I think I know what happened. This timer was set to go back to the last world where Logan was."

"But why is it tracking another wormhole?" Rembrandt asked.

"I'm guessing that it's set to trace any vortex that opens on the world that it's on. This must have begun right before we left the last world."

Wade spoke up. "But I thought she was tracking us? Shouldn't it be set to trace ours?"

Quinn studied the timer for a minute. "She may not have known which one was ours, and set it to track any that opened, so she could follow us. But it wasn't set to automatically follow that wormhole."

"So, what does that mean?" Maggie asked.

"It means that it's tracing the vortex of the person who just slid off the last world we were on," Quinn looked at Maggie meaningfully. "The person that we followed there."

Maggie sighed in relief. "Rickman. At least we haven't lost him."

Quinn smiled. "We can follow him off this world in a few days. Nothing to worry about." He glanced up at the darkening sky. "Except finding a place to stay for the night."

"Well, I don't see a hotel around here anywhere," Wade commented. "I think we should look for some sign of civilization, or at least somewhere that we can rest safely."

"Let's get going, then," Maggie said, heading off into the forest.

As they trekked through the trees, Wade stepped up next to Quinn and took his arm. "It's so beautiful here," she said. "So peaceful. I could..."

EEEEIIIIIIOOOOOEEEEE!!! She was interrupted by a inhuman shrieking wail that echoed through the forest.

"What the hell was that?" Rembrandt asked nervously, looking around.

"It sounded like it came from behind us," Quinn answered, his face white.

"Guys, I'm scared," Wade said, shaking and clutching Quinn's arm. "I-I don't want to find out what made that noise."

Quinn opened his mouth to reassure her when another wail answered the first, this time from in front of them. The three friends stood still, terrified. They nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard a rustling in the bushes next to them. They were relieved to see Maggie emerge. "Hey guys, I found a cave," she said. "Back here."

"M-Maggie?" Wade stammered. "Did you hear that sound?"

"Yeah, I heard it. Pretty freaky, huh?"

"That's the understatement of the year," Rembrandt grumbled.

Maggie glared at him. "What do you want me to do, flip out?"

"Hey, hey, no arguing," Quinn intervened. "Let's get to shelter, okay?"

The Sliders checked out the cave that Maggie had found. It was small, but there was enough room for all of them to fit comfortably. Remmy spoke up. "Hey, not bad, Maggie."

Everyone jumped when another shriek came from outside. This one sounded further away, though.

Quinn shivered. "I think we'd better start a fire. Whatever that animal is, it'll probably stay away from the flames," He added under his breath, "If it is an animal."

CHAPTER 2

"I thought I saw something," Quinn answered.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. It was at the edge of my view." He stared into the nearly-dark woods. While looking straight ahead, he again saw something move, off to his right. It seemed to glow faintly. He turned, but there was again nothing. At the same time, Rembrandt turned the opposite direction.

"Whoa, Q-Ball, I just saw something too. It disappeared when I looked at it."

Quinn shuddered. "Let's get back to the cave."

They turned back toward the shelter. Suddenly, the horrible shrieks started again, all around them. They looked around, but could see nothing. "Run!" Quinn yelled.

As they ran, they could see ghostly shapes in the woods, circling. But, try as they might, they could not get a clear view of what was stalking them. Luckily, the two men were fairly close to the cave where Maggie and Wade waited. As Quinn and Rembrandt approached the shelter, the shrieking suddenly stopped, and the figures that had been following them vanished. They didn't stop to wonder at this, and burst into the cave. When Quinn entered, he was greeted by a scared-lookin Wade throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oh, Quinn, we were so worried," she cried. "When those noises started like that, I was afraid something had happened to you."

Quinn dropped the firewood and hugged Wade back. "Hey, it's okay," he said. "We're fine." He smiled down at her.

Maggie took the branches that Rembrandt carried and placed some of them on the small fire that she had already started. "We should be okay here for the night," she said.

The Sliders huddled around the fire, both for warmth and security. They sat in silence for awhile, then Rembrandt spoke up. "Man, I'm hungry. I wish we had something to eat."

"You want to go out there and try to find a McDonald's?" Wade asked. Her sentence was punctuated by a shriek from outside. Smiling, Remmy shook his head.

"I think the best thing for us to do is go to sleep," Maggie said. "Of course, someone will have to stay awake and stand guard against whatever's out there."

"I'll do it," Quinn volunteered. "I'm wide awake."

Maggie nodded. "Wake me up in a few hours and I'll take over for you." She looked at her watch. "It's about 10:30 now. Get me at, oh, 2:30 or so."

"Then I'll go next," Rembrandt said.

With the matter of standing guard arranged, the Sliders all settled into the cramped space. Wade snuggled up to Quinn, who put his arm around her. As the others drifted off to sleep, Quinn stared at the fire's hypnotic dancing. The flames looked like ghosts, twisting and writhing and crackling.

Hours later, Quinn awoke with a start. He hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep. Quickly, he looked at the others. Wade was sound asleep on his chest, and Rembrandt was snoring away at the back of the cave. Then, he looked at Maggie, and his heart nearly stopped. At first, his half-awake mind thought that the fire had gotten much bigger and was coming toward her. Then, he realized that the nearly seven-foot-tall apparition floating above her was totally separate from the fire. It had a faintly humanoid shape, with a "head" at the top, then a "body," if one could call it that. The thing possessed no legs; it simply tapered down to a dull point that hovered a few inches off the ground. It was a light yellowish color, and seemed to glow. Quinn could faintly see the wall of the cave through it. As Quinn watched, it reached out a feathery extension (arm? tentacle?) and brushed it against Maggie's chest. She moaned, and her face grew pale. The thing appeared to glow brighter. Quinn jumped up, waking Wade. "Get away from her!" he yelled, waking Rembrandt also.

The apparition turned toward Quinn, pulling away from the unmoving Maggie. It had glowing red "eyes." It seemed to consider him for a minute, then went back to Maggie. Again, it put it's "arm" against her, with the same results. She was turning a ghostly white color. The other three Sliders stared in astonishment, unsure of what to do. Quinn yelled again, "I said, GET AWAY FROM HER!!" He threw himself at the creature. As he came into contact with it, he had the sensation of being plunged into liquid ice that burned. His body passed completely through the ghostly figure and fell against the far wall. Unable to move, Quinn slid to the floor, coming to rest face down. He felt frozen. It was an extreme effort to breathe. He tried to will his arms and legs to move, but to no avail.

Rembrandt jumped up, grabbing a flaming branch from the fire. "Stay back, Wade!" he yelled. Taking a step toward the entity, he swung the firebrand at-no, through it. The flame immediately extinguished. Rembrandt stared at the branch in disbelief. He touched the part that had been on fire and found that it was ice-cold. He backed away, pulling Wade with him. Suddenly, the being emitted a shrieking wail like what they had heard earlier, only much louder. Wade and Rembrandt crouched down, holding their ears. The apparition turned away from them, back toward the still forms of Maggie and Quinn. The other two Sliders looked at each other, helpless. They had no idea how to fight this creature.

CHAPTER 3

"I'm Commander Quinn Mallory," the soldier said. "What are..." he stopped abruptly as, looking down, he saw Maggie on the ground. His face turned pale as he fell to his knees beside her. "Oh, my God. Maggie! How could this be you?"

Wade and Remmy rushed over to their Quinn, who was beginning to move weakly. He groaned as his friends helped him to sit up. Wade brushed a bit of dirt off of his face. "Quinn, are you all right?"

"I don't know," he replied, struggling to keep his eyes open. "I feel like I've just run a marathon. I've got no energy."

Commander Mallory looked up and saw Quinn. "What the..."

He was interrupted by a chorus of shrieks from outside. Gathering Maggie up in his arms, he stood up, carrying her as if she were a baby. "Come on," he said. "There'll be more coming. We'll be safe once we get to the compound." He walked quickly out into the woods.

Wade and Rembrandt helped Quinn to his feet, then followed the commander outside, supporting Quinn between them. The two soldiers at the door exited behind them.

"Where is this compound of yours?" Rembrandt asked.

"Just over this hill," Commander Mallory answered, heading in the opposite direction than Quinn and Rembrandt had gone before. The small group rushed through the trees, while ghostly lights flickered around them. As they reached the top of the hill, a large military base came into view. It looked like a normal base, except for the dome of hazy blackness over it. When the group reached the fence surrounding the compound, one of the two soldiers pulled out a walkie-talkie and shouted what sounded like a code into it. The haze disappeared, and the gate opened. As soon as everyone had entered, the blackness reappeared. Commander Mallory motioned with his head for the Sliders to follow him. "We've got to get these two to the medical facility."

Upon entering a building that sported a red cross over the door, the commander laid Maggie down on a gurney. He spoke to a nearby nurse. "She's been mostly drained. Get her to rehab, now!" A group of nurses and doctors rushed Maggie through a set of double doors.

"What about him?" Wade asked, indicating Quinn. "He looks pretty bad."

Another nurse helped Wade and Remmy lay the semi-conscious Quinn down on another bed. "He'll be all right," she said. "He just needs some rest." She looked at the doors through which Maggie had gone. "I wish I could say the same for your other friend, though."

Rembrandt grabbed Commander Mallory's arm, who was still staring after Maggie. "You gonna tell us what's going on here?" he said.

The commander seemed to come out of a daze. "What? Oh, yeah." He looked at Quinn. "I'd expect that we have a lot to discuss." Gesturing toward the door, he said, "If you'll follow me?"

"You go, Remmy," Wade said. "I'd like to stay here." She knelt by Quinn's bed.

Rembrandt nodded and followed the Commander outside.

* * * * *

"Quinn? Quinn, wake up." The voice penetrated the haze in Quinn's brain and dragged him upward toward consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and eventually focused on Wade's smiling face, haloed by the light above her. To Quinn, she was the most beautiful sight in the world. "Hey, he's awake," she called. Looking around, Quinn saw that he was in a curtained-off cubicle, lying in a bed with the head slightly raised. He was wearing a standard hospital gown. An IV above him slowly dripped a fluid into his arm.

"Where am I?" he croaked through dry lips as a nurse pushed aside the curtain and entered the room.

Wade helped him to sit up further and handed him a glass of water, which he gulped down greedily. "You're in the San Francisco military base hospital. You've been asleep for nearly two days."

Quinn rubbed his eyes. "Two days..." Suddenly, he sat bolt upright. "Maggie! Is she okay? What happened to her? What were those things? I've gotta..." He jumped out of the bed, then the room started spinning and he sat back down quickly.

Wade and the nurse gently pushed him back onto the pillow. "Hey, take it easy!" Wade exclaimed. "Rembrandt and your double are with Maggie. She's...recovering. You can see her when you get your strength back"

Quinn took a few deep breaths. "I'm okay. What happened back there?"

"It's kind of hard to explain," Wade began. Just then, Rembrandt entered the cubicle.

"Hey, Q-Ball," Rembrandt said, walking over to Quinn's bed. "It's good to see you in the land of the living again! How're you feeling?"

"Not too bad," Quinn replied as the nurse removed the IV needle from his arm. "Now, will someone please tell me what's going on? How's Maggie? Can I see her?"

Wade glanced over at Rembrandt, who nodded slightly and said, "Sure, you can see her. How about you get dressed and we'll tell you everything on the way over."

A few minutes later, Quinn, Rembrandt and Wade were walking down the hospital corridor. "Those glowing things were beings made of pure energy," Wade said. "They call them 'Ghosts' here, partly from the way they look and partly from that screaming sound they make."

Rembrandt chimed in, "Yeah, they feed on energy too. Whatever touches them has its energy drained. You and Maggie were lucky."

Quinn was confused. "What do you mean, drained?"

"Well, the way your double explained it, they take any kind of energy: chemical, like in our bodies, heat, or electrical, and use it to make themselves stronger," Wade replied. "Those weapons the soldiers had use anti-energy. I guess it's kind of like anti-matter on our world. They've also got a shield of it over this base."

"Actually, he really didn't tell us a whole lot," Rembrandt commented. "He said he wanted to talk to you."

"Did you tell him about Sliding?" Quinn asked.

"Well, yeah. He seemed pretty interested in that, but...oh, here we are." Remmy pushed open a door leading into a small room. Inside, Maggie lay on a bed surrounded by beeping machines. A tangle of wires and tubes trailed from her body to the various apparatuses clustered around her. She had electrodes taped to her head and arms. Commander Mallory sat on a metal chair beside the bed, gently holding her right hand. He was speaking softly to her.

Come on, Maggie, pull through," he whispered, stroking her hand. "I can't lose you again."

Quinn walked slowly up beside him. "How is she?" he asked softly.

His double looked up with a start. "Oh, you're finally up?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. Is she gonna be okay?"

The commander stood up and turned to face Quinn. He had dark circles under his eyes. "I don't know. We're doing all that we know to do. Intravenous nutrients, mild electroshock. . . it only works about 40% of the time." He looked down at the still, almost lifeless form on the bed. "It didn't work for her the first time."

"You knew her double?" Quinn asked.

"Captain Maggie Beckett was my wife." He swallowed hard and continued. "She was one of the first of many casualties when the Ghosts came a few years ago. This base is all that's left of the population of California."

"How did the Ghosts get here?"

Commander Mallory sighed. "They're interdimensional travelers. That's why I think you can help us. Would you come down to the lab with me?"

Quinn nodded and the group left the hospital. As they walked outside, the hazy black shield that they had seen earlier became even more visible in the daytime. The Commander noticed the Sliders looking up at it. "It's an anti-energy shield," he said. "Any Ghost that comes in contact with it is destroyed."

"So we're pretty safe here, huh?" Wade commented.

"Well, not exactly."

Rembrandt stared at the Commander. "What do you mean, 'not exactly?'"

"We can only put out a certain amount of anti-energy at a time." he replied. "If all the Ghosts attack, they could overload the shield. So far, only a few have charged the base at one time, but if they figure out its weakness..." his voice trailed off.

"What?" Wade prompted.

"Then we're all dead. Just like everyone else in California."

CHAPTER 4

"Hey, dudes!" he exclaimed. "Welcome to the dungeon!"

"This is Lieutenant Conrad Bennish," Commander Mallory said. "He's in charge of the interdimensional defense research here."

As introductions were made, Quinn smiled, remembering the many doubles of Bennish that they had encountered. This one didn't seem to be any different. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant."

"Dude, call me Conrad," Bennish said, grasping Quinn's hand in a firm handshake. "Hey, let me show you what we've been working on..." his voice trailed off as he led Quinn toward the myriad machines.

As the two young geniuses walked away, Remmy turned to the Commander. "Seems like your military discipline is a little relaxed, huh? That guy didn't even salute you."

Commander Mallory shook his head. "Bennish is a little different, I guess. The 'lieutenant' is actually honorary...he was a grad student before the Ghosts' attack." He smiled for the first time since the Sliders had met him. "Guess he couldn't get used to the military way of life. Come on, I'll show you guys the rest of the base while the two brains talk things over."

While the Commander led Wade and Rembrandt out of the building, Quinn and Bennish conversed excitedly by one of the machines.

"So you've discovered how to track other wormholes?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, man, how do you think they found you way out in the forest? We noticed you as soon as you came. There was another one that opened up a few hours before yours, but that person left before we could get to them."

Quinn nodded. "Logan...we stole her timer and came here." He looked around. "But since you can track wormholes, why can't you just follow the Ghosts' and destroy them when they arrive?

Bennish shook his head. "Because they don't use a vortex. Dude, it's awesome! They can just slip from one dimension to the next, without any sort of machine at all!"

"So that's why they kept disappearing in the forest."

"Yeah."

"And how come they can't just slide into the base?"

"Because for some strange reason the anti-energy shield keeps them out."

"What can I do?" Quinn asked, pulling the timer out of his pocket and showing it to Bennish. "Here's what I've got. I don't know how it will help, but this opens up the interdimensional vortex. Maybe..."

"Dude, this is great!" Conrad exclaimed. "You've found a way to create a stable wormhole! Come on, let's get to work."

* * * * *

After working nearly all night, Quinn finally looked up from the workbench. "Hey, Conrad, I think I got it!" he yelled. Bennish rushed over to his side. "I think this will prevent the Ghosts from sliding in, and it might just send them all back to where they came from. I took the spectrum stabilizer from my timer and attached it to your anti-energy..."

"Dude, I think I see where this is going!" Bennish interjected. "This might just work! If you reverse..."

He was interrupted by the wailing of klaxon alarms outside. "What does that mean?" Quinn yelled over the noise.

Bennish stared at him, his face pale. "It's the moment we've all been dreading, dude. It means that the Ghosts have gotten through our shield!"

CHAPTER 5

"Dude, wait." he said. He darted to a rack on the wall and grabbed an anti-energy gun off of it. "I think you'll need one of these."

Nodding grimly, Quinn took the gun. "Can you handle the defense I worked out?" he asked.

"Sure thing. It'll just take me a few minutes to get set up."

Quinn nodded his head again and raced out of the building into the early morning sunlight. Outside, chaos reigned over the base. Human screams, the buzzing of the guns, and the wailing sirens all mingled with the Ghosts' shrieks to create a deafening cacophony. Soldiers and civilians alike dashed about, while Ghosts flickered around randomly. Several people lay on the ground, a few moving weakly, others deathly still. Rounding a corner, Quinn nearly ran into Wade, who was carrying a gun similar to his own.

"Where's Remmy?" Quinn asked.

"He's with Maggie," Wade replied. "He didn't want to leave her in this mess."

Quinn grabbed her hand. "Come on, we've got to find somewhere safe. I don't know how long it will take Bennish to get the defense working." As they raced through the pandemonium, a Ghost abruptly appeared directly in front of them. As one, Quinn and Wade raised their guns and prepared to fire. Suddenly, there was a sound of a vortex opening, and a black wormhole began to take shape behind the Ghost. With one final, shrill scream, the energy being was sucked into the portal. At the same time, this sound was repeated all over the base, creating a noise that could wake the dead. Dropping the guns, Quinn and Wade fell to the ground, covering their ears with their hands. Then, silence descended like a soft blanket. The two Sliders slowly got to their feel and looked around.

"It worked!" Quinn gasped, breaking the silence. "It actually worked!"

* * * * *

Later that day, Quinn, Wade and Rembrandt stood in Maggie's hospital room. Rembrandt shook his head. "Man, what are we gonna do if she doesn't come out of this?"

"We'd have to leave her here, I guess," Wade said. "She'd be safe here with Quinn's double." She looked at Quinn for support. He said nothing, but walked over to the bed and touched Maggie's face gently.

After a long moment, he whispered softly, "Come on, Maggie, fight! You can make it." Just then, Maggie's eyelids fluttered. She moaned softly, then opened her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked.

The other Sliders looked at each other with happy grins on their faces. "It's a long story..." Quinn replied.

* * * * *

Two days later, the time for the slide had come. The group walked around the back of a large building to prepare to leave this world. Maggie, still weak from the Ghost's effects, was supported on either side by Quinn and Commander Mallory. Quinn stopped and pulled the timer out of his pocket. "Ten seconds left. With the modifications I've made, we should be able to track Rickman automatically now," he said. With that he activated the timer and the interdimensional Einstein-Rosen-Podolski bridge formed, back to its familiar blue color. Wade took one last look around and leaped into the swirling vortex. Rembrandt followed close behind her. Commander Mallory slowly let go of Maggie. He looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"I know you're not my Maggie Beckett," he said. "But it's still hard to let you go again."

Maggie smiled and touched his shoulder. "I'd like to stay here with you," she replied. "But I've got some business with Rickman to take care of. Maybe I'll come back someday."

Quinn spoke up. "Or maybe you'll do some sliding of your own! Who knows, maybe you'll find happiness on another world."

With that, he and Maggie jumped through the portal, ready to face whatever new world awaited them.

THE END

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