The night was dark and silent.  The grass was only illuminated by the stars and an almost full moon.  There were no street lights or busy city noises.  The valley was calm and stretched as far as the eye could see, finally sloping up to meet the night sky at the top of the hill that bordered the west side of the quiet meadow.

Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed out of nowhere, rippling the grass and breaking the silence of the night.  A wormhole was forming, lighting the valley with its red-orange glow.  Finally, the vortex swirled to its full size, and a single slider fell from it.  She got up off the ground and brushed off the knees of her faded jeans.  She ran her hand through her shoulder-length brown hair, attempting to straighten it and push it from her eyes.  She tucked a stray strand behind her ear as she looked around.  The meadow was all she noticed before her vortex closed and the valley became dark once more.

The air was cold and sharp, so she pulled her shirt from around her waste and slipped it over her tank-top and began to button it up the front.  But her hands stopped when she was only halfway done.  Her eyes quickly scanned the area as she tried to make them adjust faster to darkness.  She turned to the west and stared at the hill, wondering what lay beyond it.

There was an eerie chill to the air that she knew wasn't all from the cold.  She became alert, all her senses were suddenly sharp and ready for anything.  She felt a terrifying fear creep through her.  She couldn't be here.  Not again.  She ran up the hill as fast as she could, and was panting and out of breath by the time she reached the top.  What she saw from there horrified her, and she sunk to the ground and just stared at the city that lay before her off in the distance.  San Francisco.  She looked across the city and searched above the buildings.  It was there as she'd dreaded, confirming her fears.  Breaking above the other buildings, and shattering the darkness of the night sky with it lights, stood the San Francisco Tower.  She just stared nervously at it, afraid and scared of what it meant.

The tower itself wasn't her problem.  Its presence was.  The tower was the main power source for the whole city.  It was actually rather remarkable.  But she had only seen one in her lifetime, and it was on the one world that she never wanted to see again.  She frantically tore at her sleeve, trying to see her left wrist.  *Maybe it's a different world,* she told herself.  *Lots of worlds could have towers.*  But when she saw her timer, her deepest fears were confirmed.

She couldn't believe she'd been foolish enough to come here again.  She'd erased this world from her timer; she knew she'd never return.  She'd escaped, gotten away with her life, and she was supposed to be free from this nightmare that haunted her dreams every night.  But now she was back.  And it was all his fault.  She'd followed him here, tracked him through countless worlds, her need to find him finally bringing her back to this world that held a fate worse than death for her.

She looked at the blank readout on her timer.  She wanted to tear it from her arm, smash it, destroy it.  It couldn't take her from this world, and it would help them find her.  They'd be there soon.  She curled up on the ground and started whimpering like a small, helpless child.

She glanced over at the tower once more, then stared up at the sky.  "Wherever you are, they'll find you too!" she yelled, still crying.  "You're stuck here forever, Quinn Mallory!  You can never go home!"  Tears were now streaming down her face and her voice was wavering and frightened, all its anger gone now.  "They'll find you and kill everything that makes you who you are...."  Logan wrapped her arms tightly around her knees.  *Just like they did to me.*
 

*****

What if there were alternate realities of Earth?  Same planet, different dimension.
A world where the internet is a way of life?
Or where the Russians rule America?
Or where your worst enemy is your own self?
Worlds where your dreams can come true, or your nightmares can haunt you...
These places do exist.  My friends and I have found the gateway to reach them!
Now the only problem is... finding a way back home....

Sliders - Infinite Slides
Based on the TV series 'Sliders'
created by Tracy Torme and Robert K. Weiss

*****
 

*Stay calm, stay focused, keep your head down, walk normally.*  Logan repeated that over and over in her mind as she walked.  *They won't find you.  If they're tracking you, they'd have you already.*  She was trying to convince herself of that.  But everything inside her screamed at her to run.

*This is stupid.  I'm walking through the middle of town.  I should be going the other way.  Away from here!*  She stopped walking and turned around.  *I can still leave, I can try to run.  Maybe if I just get out of California...*

*NO!* she scolded herself fiercely but silently.  *You can't run.  You know that!  You've got nowhere to hide and you can't leave.  Fixing the timer is your only hope.*

Logan turned back around and kept walking down the street.  She had to get to an electronics store.  She needed to reprogram her timer before they found her.  Sliding was her only chance.  *Maybe not.  Maybe I can find Quinn.  I can ask him for help.*

*Are you crazy?* she asked herself.  *They would have already captured him and the others.  And why would he help you?  You've tried to kill him and his friends.*

*But I don't want to hurt him anymore.  I just want to leave.*

*And he'll believe you?* she countered.  *Yeah right!*

Logan spotted a pay phone and walked over to it.  She'd just call her own number.  Her doubles had helped her in the past.  She stopped herself almost instantly.  She knew who her double was on this world.  He was the one after her!  She was too nervous.  She wasn't thinking straight.  She picked up the receiver and dialed the number of Dominion Hotel.  "Quinn Mallory's room, please," she asked when the phone was answered.

*Here goes nothing,* Logan thought as she was switched over.  She heard the phone ring a few times and then she noticed a clicking sound on the line.  She listened for a second then quickly hung up.  She walked away, trying to look natural and not stand out.  Although being out alone after 11:30pm looking for an open Radio Shack was pretty weird already.

*Bad idea with the phone call!  They'll find me now.  They know where I am!!*

*Paranoia, paranoia!  Everybody's coming to get you!* she scolded herself silently in a sing-song tone.  *Chill out already!*

She put her hand to her head for a second, trying to relieve her tension.  She was just jumpy and on edge.  She was safe for the time being.  She forced herself to breath regularly and calm down.  But she subconsciously held her right upper-arm with her hand as she walked, even though her sleeve covered it.

-----

Logan shook the door and tried to get it to open.  This was the third store she'd found that might have what she needed, but it was closed like the others.  Nowhere was open at that time of night.  She considered breaking in and just stealing what she needed, but she finally decided against it.  The last thing she needed was to draw the police's attention.  And how did she know if she could even fix her timer enough to get off this world?  It was just standard, mission class, plain and simple, yet it could track a wormhole through three worlds.  She'd only been able to track one straight from the world she was on.  This timer was too advanced.  She probably couldn't override its programming.  This whole damn world was too advanced - at least the parts of it that Quinn had made.

*And why wouldn't it be advanced?* she asked herself.  *The Quinn Mallory of this world has all the money and power he could ever need.*  She sighed hopelessly and turned to leave.  She needed a place to hide for the rest of the night.

"Going somewhere?" a familiar voice asked from behind her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw several people a short ways down the street.  She spun and ran as fast as she could.

"Stop her!" the man yelled, and she heard footsteps coming after her.

Logan ducked into an alley and crouched behind some old boxes.  She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for help.  Then she peeked out and watched as a dark figure entered the alley.  Her heart almost stopped.  It was Quinn Mallory - Quinn 1.  He'd found her.

"Come out!" he called.  "I know you're here, 9.  You've got nowhere to run."

She tried to silence her breathing.  She didn't want him to find her.

"You're tracker is still working," Quinn 1 said as he walked in her direction, followed by his men.  "You activated it just by landing on this world.  Sorry it took so long to find you, though.  We had other sliders to attend to.  Quite similar slide trails to yours, by the way.  Friends perhaps?"

So, they'd found the others.  Logan knew they would.  Now Quinn and his companions were in the same horrible mess that they'd thrown her into so long ago.  But she didn't care about sweet revenge anymore.  She just wanted her freedom.

Quinn 1 stared kicking boxes.  "Hiding is stupid, 9.  Make it easier on yourself and just come out."

She stood up slowly.  She'd have to try to bluff her way out of this one.  "I'm not the person you think I am," she lied.

"Oh really?"  His voice teased her.  He knew exactly who she was.

"I have powerful friends following my slides.  They'll be here shortly, and I guarantee that you don't want to mess with them," she said boldly.  It was a lie, but she prayed she could play it off.  "Let me go now, and we can forget this whole, unfortunate, little mistake."

"Don't play me for a fool," Quinn 1 stated.  He turned to his men.  "Grab her and put cuffs on her."

She started to run, but her arm was caught by one of the men.  "Let me go!" she yelled as her hands were cuffed tightly behind her back.  "I'm not who you think I am!"

Quinn 1 grabbed her arm forcefully and pulled her shirt down over her shoulder.  She stared into his eyes.  "See, it's as I said.  Nothing there.  Now let me go."

"I don't think so."  He'd seen part of the timer on her wrist when she'd been cuffed.  He smiled and then laughed as he rubbed her arm until the make-up smeared enough for him to see the number 9 clearly on her shoulder.  "Welcome back, Logan 9."

-----

"Come on, Quinn," Wade said softly to him.  "Wake up."  It had been over half an hour since she and the others had all waken up there.  Quinn was the only one of them that was still unconscious.  They were all together in some sort of cell.  There was no way out, and none of them remembered how they'd gotten there.  They'd tried calling out, but nobody had answered.

Rembrandt walked over to Wade and put a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up at him.  "He's still out cold," she told him.

He sat down next to her on the floor, and looked at Quinn.  "He'll probably wake up soon," he said reassuringly.

Maggie got up from where she was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall.  She started to pace and rubbed her arms.  "Anyone else think it's frigid in here?"

Wade looked over at her.  "What's that?"

"Frigid means cold," Maggie stated in frustration.  "Don't they have that word on your world?"

Wade stood and walked over to her.  "I meant your arm," she explained, noticing a dark blue spot that Maggie had revealed when she'd rubbed her arms.  She had the shortest sleeves of the group.

Arturo and Rembrandt both joined them.  "It looks like some kind of tattoo," Arturo remarked, studying it, "but I'm not sure if this is ink.  It appears to be under the skin."

"What is it?" Maggie asked, trying to see around their hands and finally just shoving them aside.

"Looks like the number 6 to me," commented Wade.  "I wonder why it's there."

Maggie rubbed at it fiercely.  "Well, it won't come off," she huffed.

Rembrandt started rolling up his sleeve.  The others looked at him.  "Tell me your not curious as to whether or not we've got them too?" he asked Wade and Arturo.  They both quickly began rolling their sleeves up as well.

Wade's shirt had full-length tight sleeves and she couldn't get it up past her elbow.  She tried pulling the collar down far enough to see her upper-arm.  "I've got one also," she informed the others.  "Can't make out the number, though."  She pulled her shirt all the way over her head.  She was wearing a black sports bra, so she didn't really feel embarrassed about taking her shirt off in front of the others.  "13."

"I'm a 4," Rembrandt said.

"16."  Arturo rolled his shirt back into place.  "I guess we all have them."

Wade hurried over to Quinn.  "Why aren't any of them the same?  Or at least in order?"  She pushed up his sleeve to get a look at his arm.  She sighed.  "19.  All different."

"Well, I assume that there is no pattern to them," Arturo figured.  "But there must be some purpose to them.  Perhaps--"

He was cut off by the door of their cell opening.  Quinn 1 stepped inside.  Wade quickly started to pull her shirt back on.  "Oh, don't let me interrupt," Quinn 1 said, eyeing Wade.  "Looks like you were in the middle of stripping."  He looked Wade up and down, then grinned.  "Please continue."

Wade finished pulling her shirt back on.  This other Quinn made her uncomfortable.  "I was just finished," she said icily.

He shrugged.  "None the matter.  I've seen everything already."  He smirked at Wade who was now fuming.  "You don't think that number put itself on your shoulder right through your shirt, do you?"

"Well, why are we numbered?" Maggie asked, getting straight to the point.  "And why are you keeping us here?"

"And why is Quinn still unconscious?" Wade added angrily.

Quinn 1 walked over to his double and stared down at him.  "I'd hate to have to explain things twice," he said and then kicked Quinn in the side.  "Rise and shine.  I want you awake."

Quinn remained motionless, but Wade stepped between him and his double.  "Don't ever kick him again," she warned.

"Well, aren't you bold?" he laughed slightly at Wade.  "You don't seem to understand who is in charge here."  He pulled a syringe from his pocket and bent over Quinn.

Wade grabbed his wrist as the others rushed over protectively also.  "What's in that?" Rembrandt asked.

"Just something to bring him around," Quinn 1 explained.  "It won't kill him or anything like that."

Wade reluctantly let him go and he injected the contents of the syringe into Quinn's arm.  She sat down next to Quinn and lifted his head into her lap.  She caringly brushed some hair from his forehead.  "How long until he'll wake up?" she asked.

Quinn 1 grabbed her arm tightly and forced her to get up.  She winced in pain at his rough treatment of her arm.  "He'll come around in a minute.  He doesn't need any special care from you.  You only work for me now, Wade 13."

"I work for no one," Wade snapped back.  "Least of all you!"

He hit her hard across her face, causing her to stumble backwards.  The others stepped next to her and glared at him.  "Don't even think about starting a fight with me," he warned.  "If you do, I can have you eliminated."

Wade put her hand to her face and rubbed her cheek.  She started to open her mouth to protest, but Rembrandt put his hand on her arm and gave her a look that told her to back down.  She decided to say nothing.

Quinn moaned a bit, and Wade started to go over to him.  "Leave him alone," his double warned.

"Make me," Wade mumbled and continued walking over to Quinn.

"Oh, I dare you to take another step."  He gave her a very threatening look.

Wade just looked back at him, then defiantly went over to Quinn.  He was waking up and she tried to help him sit.  He coughed a bit and put his hand to his side and held his ribs where he'd been kicked.  "What happened?" he asked Wade, then looked around.  "Where are we?"

"Let's just say that you're my guest."  Quinn noticed his double for the first time as he spoke.  "Try to make yourself at home.  You're going to be here for a very long time."

"How long is that?" Quinn inquired.

Quinn 1 pulled their timer from his pocket and held it up for them to see.  The display read one minute and three seconds, and the numbers were counting up.

-----

Quinn got up and lunged at his double.  He'd deliberately let them miss their slide!  Quinn 1 pressed a button that was on his belt, and the cell door opened and three men burst in before Quinn had a chance to strike him.  Two of them pinned Quinn roughly against a wall, holding his arms.  The other man pointed a gun at the others.

They all were taken by surprise.  One of the men was a duplicate of Rembrandt, the other was another Quinn, and the one with the gun wasn't familiar but he bore a striking resemblance to Quinn.  They were all wearing black pants and dark gray tank-tops.  They were also all numbered.

Rembrandt 2 punched Quinn several times in the stomach.  Quinn 1 held up his hand.  "That's enough."  Rembrandt 2 ceased beating Quinn.

Maggie started to take a step, but stopped.  She knew they wouldn't stand a chance in a fight.  She looked at the man who had his gun trained on her.  She stood still.  "We don't want any trouble."

"Then you'll do as you're instructed," he told her.

"Look, um..." Wade didn't know what to call him.

"Colin 4," he told her.

Quinn stared at him.  "Colin."  He knew that name.  "You're my brother."

"And I'm you," Quinn 8 said, releasing Quinn's arm.  "But that changes nothing."

"Well, look, Colin, you can put the gun away," Wade said.  "We're obviously not going anywhere.  Just tell us why we're here."

"That's simple," Quinn 1 said.  "You're here to help me."

"Help you how?" Quinn asked.

Quinn 1 smiled.  "However I want, for as long as I want.  You'll be trained with what you need to know, and assigned to positions where you'll work best.  Although I can't guarantee you'll be working together.  Or that I'll even keep all of you."

"Keep us?" Maggie asked, very annoyed.  "What the hell is that suppose to mean?  And who are you?  Stop with all the power trip stuff and give us some straight answers!"

"I'm what you might call a terrorist," explained Quinn 1.  "I rule this world, albeit the public are unaware.  And I take what I want from other dimensions also.  Just do as you're told and you can have nice lives here."

"And if we don't want to be here?" inquired Arturo.

"You'll be eliminated."

"You said that before," commented Rembrandt.  "What's it mean?"

Quinn 1 stated simply, "It means that I'll have you killed."

Maggie would stand for no more of this.  "We won't do a damn thing you say!  You can't force us to obey your orders!"

Quinn 1 motioned to Colin 4.  He walked over to Maggie pointed his gun at her.  But he didn't shoot her.  Instead he hit her across the face with it.  She fell down and put her hand to her face.  When she removed it, it was smeared with her blood.  "You still have no control over me.  And you can't get away with this."

"You won't be missed by anyone on the outside," Rembrandt 2 said.  "Nobody would care if you die.  Nobody will stop us."

Quinn thought he understood.  "Everyone here is a slider."  His double was using people from other worlds.  His plan seemed flawless.  To everyone on this world, they didn't even exist.

Maggie realized what was going on also.  She spit some blood from her mouth, then looked up.  "Then go ahead and kill us.  We're not terrorists and we won't cooperate."

"You all feel this way?" Quinn 1 asked.

None of them said a word, but the expressions on their faces told him that they stood in agreement.  Colin 4 kicked Maggie in the ribs.  "We can cause you great pain."

She shook her head.  "I'm not that easy."

Quinn 1 laughed.  "So none of you care about your own pain.  I actually like that."  He motioned for Quinn 8 to get Wade.  "Take 13.  Hurt her."

Wade was grasped by Quinn 8.  He twisted her arm behind her back.  She thought for a second that he looked sorry to do it, but he continued to force her arm in a painful position until she cried out.

"How about if I torture your friends?" Quinn 1 asked.  He looked from Maggie to Quinn.  They were the ones who appeared to be the leaders of this group - he wondered which one of them it actually was.  Maggie was glaring at him, still in defiance.  Yet Quinn, he seemed worried for the girl, more than the others.  He'd found a weakness.  "Break her arm," he instructed Quinn 8.

Maggie grimaced as Wade screamed in pain.  She didn't want to see her friends hurt.

"Stop," Quinn 1 said before Wade's arm was actually broken.  He looked at all the others.  They wouldn't be defiant very much longer.  However, he decided to get things done quickly.  He didn't feel like dragging this out.  He'd put them all in their place right now.

Wade was breathing heavily.  She wondered why Quinn 1 had ordered a stop.  He was looking directly at her now.  This frightened her.  And then she knew why she was so afraid.  "Kill her," Quinn 1 instructed.

"No!" Quinn screamed.  "If you think you need to kill one of us as some sick example of how you're in control, then fine.  But kill me instead.  Leave Wade alone."

Quinn 1 signaled for her to be let go.  He no longer needed to kill her.  He'd accomplished his goal.  He'd found their leader.  It was Quinn as he'd suspected.  He was willing to give his life to save a friend.  He was the one responsible for them all.

This part of the game was over.  He'd continue with them later, but for now he had other things to do.  "Get the doctor in here," he said.  He motioned to Maggie.  "Her jaw might be broken."  He started to leave but turned back.  "And when she's done, tell her to take them all down to Med Section and have them evaluated.  But bring Quinn 19 to Interrogation Room One first.  I'm not done with him yet for today."

-----

Logan 7 pressed the button beside the door to Quinn 8's room.  The chime sounded inside, and after a moment he opened the door.  She walked into the room.  "9 is back," she stated immediately.

Quinn 8 stared at her in surprise.  "Logan is here?  At Base?"

Logan 7 nodded.  "She was just brought in.  They're taking her to Int Room One now.  I'd go there, but I've been ordered to check the new group."

"I can't believe this," Quinn 8 stammered.  He ran his hands through his hair and started pacing.  Then he stopped and turned to face Logan 7.  "I'm going to try get on that interrogation team."

-----

The sliders were alone again as the door to their room was opened once more.  Logan 7 stepped inside.  They all immediately were on the defensive.

"Let me see your jaw," she requested of Maggie.

"It's fine," Maggie said sourly.

Logan 7 could feel their hostility towards her.  "I'm not your enemy.  I'm the same as you.  I'd like it if you'd let me help you."

"So you're his doctor?" Quinn said.  "You work willingly for him?"

Logan 7 looked down.  "If you mean Quinn 1, then yes, I do."

Quinn shook his head at her.  "We don't want your help."

"Not everyone here is bad," Logan 7 told them.  "At least what I do here is good.  As a doctor, I can help people.  So I am here willingly.  I wouldn't leave if I could.  I take care of the people Quinn 1 hurts."

Wade looked at her.  She seemed to be telling the truth.  But from what she knew of this place, she was fighting a hopeless battle.  What little she could do seemed like nothing.  However, a friend in a situation like this could prove a useful ally.

Logan 7 noticed Wade's gaze was on her.  She didn't appear as upset anymore.  "Is your arm okay?" she asked.  "Quinn 8 told me what happened."

"Is everyone here just a number to you?" Maggie snapped.

"No," answered Logan 7.  "But Base is huge.  With so many doubles, things get confusing."

Quinn noticed Logan 7 hadn't gotten mad and was still speaking kindly.  He decided to trust her for the time being.  He gave the others a look that told them his decision.  After all, she wasn't the Logan they knew.  Her wrist didn't have a timer and there was no scar.  He looked from her to Wade.  "Her arm was recently broken," he said about Wade, his voice normal again.  "Will you take a look at it?"

"Sure," replied Logan 7.  "I'll get an x-ray on it when she's evaluated.  I'll need to take you all to Med Section."  She pulled a communicator from her belt and spoke into it.  "Quinn 8, I'm with the new ones.  Can you come back here please?"  She reconnected it to her belt.

Arturo stepped forward.  "What are these evaluations you spoke of?"

"You'll each be put through a series of tests - medical, physical, and mental.  They'll determine if there's a place for you here, and whether or not you're to be eliminated."  Logan 7 was uncomfortable as she spoke.  "You want a green stripe.  That means you'll live.  Blue is a stand by.  Red means that you'll be eliminated."

The others didn't have a chance to reply before the door was opened once more.  Quinn 8 walked in, giving Logan 7 a slight nod as he did so.  Wade recognized him from earlier.  "I'm sorry about hurting you," he said to her.  "I'd like to consider myself a good guy, but I do what I have to in order to stay alive.  You'll all learn how the system works around here."

"You would have done anything Quinn 1 asked?"  Wade wanted to know.

"I would have broken your arm," he answered truthfully.  "But I couldn't have killed you, Wade."

Logan 7 interrupted them.  "You need to take Quinn down to Int Room One," she said to Quinn 8, knowing from his nod that he'd be present at the interrogation.

"I know," he responded.

"Make sure he isn't hurt," Logan 7 requested.  "He knows Logan.  Quinn 1 will want to get information out of him."

"I'll do what I can."  Quinn 8 turned to Quinn.  "You have to come with me."  He entered a code on the security pad by the door.  It unlocked and he opened it.  He motioned for Quinn to exit.

-----

The room was solid white and brightly lit.  Quinn looked at it.  There were two chairs.  In one sat Logan.  A double of Maggie stood next to her.  Quinn 1 was also in the room.  Quinn 8 led him over to the chair and made him sit.  Quinn's wrists were then strapped to the chair.

"Hello, Mallory," Logan said.

Quinn stared at her.  Her eyes had a slightly strange look.  He decided that she'd been drugged.  But what caught his attention was her arm.  There was a timer in her wrist, and wires ran back to her neck.  He also got a feeling from her - a sense that she was the person he knew.

Her next words confirmed it.  "You wondered how this happened to me," she said.  "Now you know.  Welcome to hell, Quinn."

This world had done that to her arm?  Quinn didn't say anything, just kept looking at her.  He'd assumed that had been her own doing, and that it had backfired on her.  But was this world responsible?  She'd told Wade that it was his fault.  Was that true?  He didn't let the feeling of guilt enter him.  He didn't care what had become of her.  He'd stranded her, but she had been evil before that.  And that wasn't his doing.

When she spoke again, Quinn was stunned.  Her words were, "I'm sorry."  What shocked him was the sincerity in her voice.  He didn't know what she was apologizing for, but she meant it.

-----

Maggie picked up the gun.  She held it up and practiced aiming.  She had already had a thorough exam, which she'd passed in excellent health.  Now she dressed in the familiar pants and tank-top that everyone else was also wearing.  And she was readying herself for the next part of her testing.  She'd decided to perform to the best of her abilities.  She may not agree with anything about this world, but the longer she stayed alive, all the better.

A target popped up and she shot it, then another.  Colin 6 and Bennish 5 were watching her.  "You're slow, 4," he called to her.

Maggie spun around and shot him.  Her movement was faster than the blink of an eye.  Bennish 5 just stood there for a moment, then looked down at his shirt.  There was a red paint-ball splatter on his chest, right where his heart would be.

Maggie looked across her gun at him.  He turned to Colin 6.  "Green stripe her."

-----

The needle stung as it was jabbed into his already swore arm.  This was the third time Quinn had been drugged.  Maggie 2 stepped back, and Quinn 1 approached him once more.  "How did Logan 9 escape us?" he asked again.

"I told you already.  I don't know," Quinn said.  He tried to focus his eyes on his double, but his vision was blurry and his head was swimming.  He then looked over at Logan.  Her hair was wet with sweat, she was breathing heavily, and she was in a completely drugged state.  Quinn knew she had a lot more drugs in her system than he did.  He wondered how they were affecting her.  But she still hadn't told them how she'd gotten away before.

"I did it alone," Logan repeated.  "Quinn had nothing to do with it.  I was alone."

Quinn had been able to piece together some of what he figured had happen.  Logan had slid into this trap years ago.  It must have been a world he and the others had passed through on a short slide.  She tracked them here.  But she hadn't been as lucky and was captured.  They'd done that to her arm.  There was also an implant in the back of her neck.  She'd somehow managed to disconnect part of it, and that's the only reason she was able to keep from talking now.  But she still showed great resistance to this interrogation.

Quinn 1 was trying to get her to tell him how she'd gotten away from him before.  Quinn also wanted to know how she'd done it.  Perhaps they could use that same way for them to get off this world.  But he didn't want her to tell Quinn 1.  That would destroy their hope of it working again.  He wondered how long she could hold out.

"We know that he is your ally," Quinn 1 stated.

Logan almost laughed.  "He'd rather see me dead than lift a finger to help me."

Quinn knew she really felt that way.  He regretted that now.  He honestly didn't know anything, but she'd been trying to protect him throughout this whole interrogation.  What he didn't know was why.

"Your slide trails are almost identical," continued Quinn 1.

"Coincidence," Logan lied.  "We met once, didn't exactly get along.  That was the end of it.  He knows nothing about this."

That wasn't the whole truth.  Quinn did know about her implant.

Logan smiled.  "You know, I used to think it was too late for me.  I thought you'd killed everything good inside me, made me into somebody who'd do your bidding.  But I left here once.  And for a while, yeah, it was hell.  But then I got part of your damn implants taken out!  And you know what, I'm not full of hate anymore.  And no matter what you do to me now, I know that I can fight it.  You can't control me."

*What did she mean by that?* Quinn wondered.  She had always been overcome with hate.  No, not when they'd first met.  It wasn't in her eyes then.  But they knew she was bad already at that time.  She'd turned on them even then.  He was so confused.  He let his head loll to the side and rest on his shoulder, sick from the drugs.  He couldn't think.

Quinn 1 marched over to Logan.  He lifted her head and looked straight into her eyes.  Quinn thought he was going to strike her, but he didn't.  "Drug her again," he told Maggie 2.

"It won't do any good," Quinn 8 interjected.  She was already sick.  He couldn't let her be given any more drugs.

"He's right," Logan said.  "You yourself taught me not to talk."

Quinn 1 was angry.  "Tell Rembrandt 2 to take her.  Tell him to make her want to talk.  And take Quinn 19 to Med Section.  Have him begin evaluation.  He can at least be checked for medical problems while in this condition.  When the drugs wear off, he can continue."

Quinn 8 nodded and unstrapped Quinn's wrists.  He helped lift him from the chair.  Quinn put his arm over his double's shoulder.  He couldn't stand very well on his own.  The room was still spinning.

-----

The device made a strange noise, and her hand tingled, but Wade waited for Logan 7 to tell her to take her hand out before removing it.  When she did, there was a green stripe on the back of it, starting at the base of her thumb and going across to the bottom of her little finger.  It meant that she'd live.  She'd been approved for mission status, whatever that meant.

"You'll be taken back to your cell now," Logan 7 told her.  "I've asked that you be given a real room soon.  You know, with furniture and all.  But I think you're stuck sleeping on the floor for at least another day."

Wade nodded.  She was actually starting to like Logan 7.  She wasn't so bad.  "I've also suggested in your profile that you shouldn't be drugged.  I've written you up as being under control and not aggressive," Logan 7 continued.

"Thanks," Wade replied.  She'd learned that most people here were kept on drugs.  She appreciated Logan 7 trying to help her.

"However," added Logan 7, "I want to put you on birth-control.  Just for your own safety."

"What?" asked Wade.  "Why would I need--"

"The higher level men in Base, they get whatever they want," Logan 7 cut her off.  She frowned.  "You don't want to get pregnant in a place like this.  You'd either be eliminated, or the baby aborted."

Wade just closed her eyes for a moment and nodded slightly.  "Okay."

-----

When Wade got back to their room, Maggie, Rembrandt, and Arturo were all already there.  She joined them in sitting on floor, leaning against the wall.  She held out her hand.  "Green."

"Same here," said Maggie.  "They said I was excellent for field work."

"Did Logan put you on--" Wade asked.

"Yeah," Maggie replied, knowing what Wade meant.  It had upset her also.  "She also has me on some other drug.  I paint-balled somebody and got evaluated as an excellent marksman, but too aggressive."

Wade looked to the others.  "How about you two?"

Rembrandt held out his hand.  It was also striped with green.  "I'm on field missions also."

"Blue," said Arturo.  "They said that I am too old and out of shape for field missions, and that they'll have to evaluate me more to see if I'll be of any use on the technical side of things.  The blistering idiots!"

"It's okay, Professor," Wade said.  "You're great when it comes to science."  She prayed that they'd decide he was useful.

-----

The table was cold against Quinn's back.  He was lying in Medical Section of Base.  He'd been being examined for the past hour.  However, the effects of the drug he'd been given still hadn't worn off.  His vision remained a bit blurry, and the room still spun slightly.  He looked over at Logan 7.  "When do I get my clothes back?" he asked.  He wasn't very comfortable being there in just his underwear.

Morgan 3 walked over to him and handed him pants and a tank-top.  She was Logan 7's assistant.  She was also a Mallory.  Quinn had found out the there were quite a few Mallorys here.  There were actually just three of them, but each had a double of the opposite sex.  There were Quinns and Logans, Colins and Morgans, and Davids and Rachaels.

"You guys ever notice the funny thing about our names?" he asked, trying to talk to them.  He didn't like the silence.  "The guys end in 'in' and the girls in 'an.'  Well, except for Rachael and David, but they don't match each other either."

Morgan 3 smiled at him.  She'd never noticed that before.  "David and Rachael are both biblical names," she commented.  "Although I doubt that was planned."

Quinn got a thoughtful expression.  She was right.  Those names did match each other.  He put the new clothes on as Morgan left.  "You're not talking," he said to Logan 7 who was still there.  "What's on your mind?"

"Just your test results," she answered.

"So, do I get a clean bill of health?" Quinn asked.

She looked at him, her expression troubled.  "Not exactly."

Before he could ask her to explain, Quinn 8 entered Med Section.  He was carrying Logan.  She was unconscious.  He laid her gently on a table.  Quinn noticed the bruises on her body.  She'd been beaten.

Logan 7 rushed over to them.  She glanced at Quinn 8.  "What happened?"

"She wouldn't talk," he replied.  "There was nothing I could do.  Quinn 1 has ordered that her implant be fixed when she's recovered enough for the operation."  He looked at his injured friend.  "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah," Logan 7 told him.  "She'll be okay.  I'm going to give her a few days down time."

"You put that implant in her?" Quinn questioned.

Logan 7 returned her gaze to Quinn.  "Yes."

"I thought you were one of the good guys," accused Quinn.

"All the mission status operatives get implants," she explained.  "I don't have a choice."

"I'm sure you don't," he said.  She couldn't tell if he meant it or not.

-----

Quinn 8 took Quinn back to his cell.  "I need to head back to Med Section," he told Quinn when they got there.  Quinn nodded.  He wanted to get back to Logan.  He left Quinn and exited the room.

Quinn sank to his knees, then laid down on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.  "How'd your evals go?" he asked the others without even looking at them.

"Max got blue," Maggie told him.  "The rest of us are green."

Rembrandt noticed that Quinn seemed dazed.  "What about you, Q-ball?"

"Fine," he replied, his voice dull and devoid of emotion, like he was bored.  "Just fine."  He raised his arm, showing the others his hand, then let it drop back to the floor.

Wade got up and walked over to him, uncertain of what she'd seen.  She picked up Quinn's hand and looked at it.  There was a scarlet red stripe across it.  "Oh my god..  It's red," Wade said.  She didn't understand.

Quinn sat up and stared at his hand in Wade's.  "Well, at least our colors go nicely together."  He lay back down.  "Hey, Max, with your blue we'll have quite the rainbow."  He laughed.  "Why are there so many songs about rainbows..."

Maggie joined Wade next to Quinn who now was singing.  He was acting as if drunk.  Or in complete denial over what had happened.  She spotted the bruise on his arm.  She bent down and looked at his eyes.  "He's been drugged," she announced with an 'isn't this just great' sarcastic tone in her voice.  She stood back up and waved her hand in a sign of defeat.  She returned to leaning against the wall.  It would be useless to try talking to him now.

"Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection..." Quinn continued.  He knew he was making a fool of himself.  At the moment, he didn't care.  He was just grateful for the sedative Logan 7 had given him so that he could sleep off the other drugs.  He didn't want to face the world right now - didn't want to have to face his friends.  He lifted his head into Wade's lap, then curled up into a comfortable position and let himself fall asleep.

-----

Waking in Med Section, Logan realized that she was still heavily drugged, but that didn't matter to her.  She'd learned how to fight its affects.  She looked around the familiar room.  "Home sweet home," she mumbled.

Quinn 8 smiled at her.  "Why do you have such a knack for ending up in here, Logan?"  She knew the medical section like the back of her hand.  "I thought you'd have learned your lesson by now."

"I did learn it," she replied.  "The lesson is never to talk, and to live with the pain."

Quinn 8 shook his head at her.  "You always have been a stubborn one."  He was surprised she'd fared so well here.  "I'd say welcome back, but I'm actually unhappy that you've returned."

"Yeah, so am I."  Logan sat up and flexed her arms and legs.  "Has 7 got me all patched up?"

"As well as can be expected."  He looked at her.  "Logan, what happened?  When you disappeared, I prayed that I'd never see you again."  He was afraid that now that she was back, they'd finally get to her.  He knew she'd liked the power this place had given her.  She'd moved up in status quickly.  He didn't want her to fall back into that life again.  "The people you were looking for are here.  You apparently found them.  Why aren't you home?"

Logan sighed.  "Let's just say that my search for those coordinates turned into a hunt for revenge."  She touched the back of her neck.  "I made a few mistakes.  I tried to kill them."

"Oh god, Logan..."

"With this thing in me, can you blame me?" she asked sharply.  "And they are responsible for it all.  They did this to me!"  Her voice lowered and became quiet.  "It's so hard sliding alone."

Quinn 8 rubbed her arm comfortingly.  "I know.  I don't blame you."

"But they do," she said.  "And the worst part is, I need them if I ever want to leave here again."

"So you do want to go?" Quinn 8 asked her.

Logan was stunned by his question.  "Of course, I do!  I didn't come back here on purpose, ya know!"

"I was surprised when you left," he admitted to her.  "I thought they already controlled you."

Logan looked down at her hands.  "Nothing's stronger than the need to get home."  That mission had become her crusade.  It occupied her every thought.  "But I shouldn't have gone without you.  I'm sorry, Quinn."

"Don't be," he quickly told her.  "We were in different sections, different missions.  You had a chance and you took it.  I'm glad you did."

His reassuring words didn't ease her guilt.  She was surprised she could even feel guilt again.  That would be taken care of when they repaired her implant.  She dreaded that moment.  "But I didn't even try to get you out."

"Hey," he said firmly.  "You made the right choice, Logan.  I don't know how you did it, but I do know that you probably would have never gotten another opportunity to run.  You did the right thing by leaving."

-----

Quinn's head was clear when he woke up a few hours later.  He rubbed his face, then ran his hands through his hair.

"Good to see you back to normal," Maggie remarked.

He looked at his hand.  "Actually, I think I liked La-La Land better."

"Was there a little frog there?" teased Maggie.  She grinned at Quinn.

He put his hand to his head and sighed.  "How big of an idiot did I make of myself?"

Wade also looked at his hand again.  "How is it possible for you to be marked red?"

"Yes, Mr. Mallory," Arturo agreed.  "Out of the lot of us, you should have been the most likely to be of interest to our captors."

"I don't get it either, man," added Rembrandt.  "You can certainly hit a target as well as Wade.  And you can run faster, and fight better.  No offense, sweetheart."

Quinn sighed.  And here was the moment of truth.  "Actually, I didn't make it past round one."

"The health exam?" Maggie queried.  "Okay, Quinn, I'm really not getting this.  You're healthy as a horse..."

Shaking his head, Quinn interrupted her.  "No, Maggie, I'm not.  Not for what they need anyway."  The others waited for an explanation and he figured that one was in order.  He owed them the truth.  "Logan is here.  This place made her the bionic women.  They do it to all their mission status operatives, or at least I think they do.  Logan seems to be a special case somehow.  But anyway, they can't do it to me.  And missions were the only interest they had in me."

"Why can't they?" Maggie asked him.  "If they're going to kill you, we deserve to know why."

"Because I never recovered from what happened a few worlds ago.  And I never will," he told them.  "I was evaluated as being high risk for getting an implant.  Logan 7 said that if she tried it, I'd most likely fall into a permanent coma... or die on the table before she even finished the operation."

He laughed at the irony.  "They'd rather just kill me now than take a chance on me dying later."  It was a money issue.  Quinn 1 had all the money he could need, yet he didn't want to waste a couple dollars on Quinn if the operation failed.  Every implant cost over a few thousand dollars, and Quinn's life just wasn't worth it.

"You knew about your condition and purposefully didn't tell us," Maggie said, not believing that he'd lied to them.

"I'm sorry," apologized Quinn.  "I should have told you."

Wade stood up and paced angrily.  The only reason he'd hide something like that would be to avoid hurting one of them.  "Why the hell didn't you let us know?" she yelled at him.  But she knew why.  She could tell by the way he was looking at her.  "It's my fault, isn't it?  You have a problem caused by what you had to do to get me out of jail!  Everything comes back to the choices we made on that world.  A life for a life.  God, I was so stupid to think that we'd cheated fate!  Damn you for having to make to last move, Quinn!  You should have let them kill me...."

Quinn watched her lean back against the wall again.  She put her face in her hands, and from her slight shaking, he guessed that she was crying.  He started to go over to her, but Maggie stopped him.  "How bad?" she asked.

"It almost completely destroyed my immune system," Quinn answered.  "And it weakened my heart."

He knew that Maggie would have something to say, but he didn't listen.  He moved over next to Wade, and lifted her face so that he could look at her.  He was concerned.  "This isn't your fault."

She looked back at him through tear-filled eyes.  "Yes, it is."

"Wade, I'm still alive," he told her, brushing away her tears with his thumb.  "Them wanting to kill me here on this world is totally separate from what you did on that other world.  Back there you saved my life, and that's all that matters.  I should have died back there.  God, my brain was practically jell-o.  But somehow you saved me.  And I owe you so much for that."

His eyes were staring straight into hers, and she could see the sincerity there, but she didn't care.  "They're going to kill you, Quinn."

"Hey, don't give up on me yet," Quinn said softly, pushing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.  He left his hand on her face.  "We've gotten out of worse things than this.  We're going to escape, you hear me.  I want you to believe that.  You're so special the way you always have hope.  Don't lose that.  It's what I love about you."  He kissed her briefly on the lips.  "Thank you."

Wade watched as he got up and walked over to the door.  She touched her hand to her lips.  Quinn had actually kissed her.  And in front of the others.  She felt herself blush slightly as she smiled at him.

Quinn returned her smile, not paying any attention to the looks they were getting from the others, then he turned and pounded on the door.  "Hey, I need to use the restroom," he shouted.  He looked back at the others.  "I'm going to try and find a way out of here.  Maybe grab a timer."

Maggie nodded.  Wade added a, "Be careful, Quinn."  And then the door was opened and he was escorted out.

-----

Five minutes after Quinn had gone, the door was opened again.  Colin 4 entered.  "Where's 19?" he asked.

"Bathroom," Maggie replied casually.

He nodded, then looked at Wade.  "13, come with me."

"Why?" Rembrandt inquired.

Colin 4 glanced at Rembrandt, then he grabbed Wade's arm and took her from the room.  The door was locked again behind them.

-----

The corridor was long and empty, so Logan just stared at the floor as they walked.  She'd seen it all before anyway.  But when they turned a few more times, she stopped walking and looked at Quinn 8.  "You're taking me to Section 11?"

"Yeah," he answered.  Then continued leading her down a hall.  He stopped upon reaching a door labeled 'Logan 9.'

She looked from the door to him, then back to the door.  "They kept my room?" she said in disbelief.

Quinn 8 punched in a security code on the pad next to the door.  It slid open.  "You were still on recall status.  They hadn't let you go yet, Logan."

She entered her room.  Everything was as she'd left it all that time ago.  She picked up a book from her desk -- H.G. Wells.  It had been her favorite as a child.  Base had let her have it when she'd reached level 3 mission status.  It was her most valued possession.  She ran her fingers over the leather cover, then slung it across the room angrily.  "No, that's not possible!  I can't still be in the computers!"

She sunk to the floor and started crying.  Quinn 8 sat down next to her.  "With a tracking device in you, they'd have found you had a team ever been sent to a world that you were on.  And since this room was never needed..."

"So what are they going to do with me, Quinn?" Logan asked him.

"I don't know," he replied.  "You'll probably be restarted at level 1, maybe 2 - I doubt they'll put you back into training.  But your privileges of level 3 will be gone for sure."

She tried to keep herself from crying.  Although a part of her liked to be able to cry again.  She'd never cried after getting the implants.  She wiped her eyes.  "I'll be on missions again?"

"Once they know that you can be controlled, yes."  He patted her arm comfortingly.  "Why don't you get some sleep?  The night's over, and the morning is pretty much already gone too."

As he left, she looked at her clock.  It was almost noon.  She walked over to her door again, then typed in her access code.  It wouldn't open.  She hadn't expected it to.  She was locked in.

Sighing, she picked up her book and placed it back on her desk.  Then she entered her bathroom and leaned on the counter.  She started the water and splashed some on her face, then just stared at her reflection in the mirror.  Her cheek was slightly bruised, but she'd seen plenty of bruises during her time here in the past.

Her eyes focused on the small wires that ran down her arm, partially welded into her skin.  There weren't as many as before; she'd been able to get a lot removed.  In fact, they didn't even stand out that much - just a couple black strings from the back of her neck down to the timer imbedded in her wrist.  But to her, they were the ugliest things she'd ever seen.  She figured they'd probably be there for the rest of her life.

-----

Wade was taken to Interrogation Room Two.  It was dark and full of things like chains.  Colin 4 cuffed her hands, then shoved her over to the center of the room.  He placed the chain of her handcuffs over a hook that hung from the ceiling.  Her feet just barely reached the floor, causing her arms to ache from the strain.  "What do you want from me?" she questioned.

Colin 4 flipped on a bright light that blinded her temporarily.  She squinted against it.  "What's you connection to Logan 9?" he asked her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Wade replied.

He walked across the room and picked up a whip off the table.  Then he returned to her.  "I have instructions to make you talk."

"Why me?" asked Wade.  "I don't know anything about sliding or whatever."

Colin 4 pushed up the back of her tank-top, then he lashed her bare skin.  "Somebody in your group will eventually talk.  You are the smallest, and most likely to break under this kind of torture."

Wade grimaced in pain and clenched her teeth to hold back a scream.  "I still don't know what you expect from me."

"Your slide trail is practically identical to Logan 9's," he explained.  "We believe that you are friends and that you helped her escape from here."

Wade almost laughed.  "She's anything but a friend.  She wants to kill us.  We'd never help her," she said with conviction, feeling her past hatred towards Logan.

"Then why do your trails match?"

"Like I said, she wants to kill us."  Wade groaned.  "I guess she's been tracking us a lot.  We done yet?"

Wade's back was whipped again.  This time she did scream, but she closed her eyes tightly.  She wouldn't let him see her cry.

"Don't get wise with me," he warned.  "What kind of sliding technology do you have?"

"Just our timer," Wade told him.

"Do you have access to any other equipment?  Do you know of any advanced devices?"

Wade glared at him in defiance.  "If I did, I wouldn't tell you."

-----

Surveying the restroom, Quinn didn't see any exits other than the way he'd come in.  He looked over at David 2 who'd come in with him.  Quinn entered a stall, noting which one was under the air vent.

As he shut the door, Quinn glanced up at it.  He could probably fit, and it wouldn't be too hard to remove the cover.  He started to step onto the toilet lid so that he could reach it, but then David 2 leaned against the other side of the door.  "I hate my job," he mumbled.

Quinn frowned.  With him right there, his escape idea was foiled.  He quickly tried to come up with another.  They were near the center of Base, so of course there weren't any windows.  He had to think of something.  Looking back at the stall door again, one idea came to mind.

*I can't believe I'm doing this,* Quinn thought to himself as he sat on the toilet seat.  He braced his hands against the walls, then pulled back his feet.  *One, two, three...*  He kicked hard on the door, sending it flying open.  David 2 stumbled across the room and hit against the counter.

Quinn ran up behind him and slammed him into the mirror.  David 2 managed to recover quickly and punched Quinn.  *Oh yeah, this idea is swell, Mallory,* he scolded himself as he was kicked.

David 2 hit Quinn again, then ran towards the wall.  Quinn spotted the panel that he was headed for.  He was going to set off an alarm!  Thinking fast, Quinn grabbed the paper towel dispenser and pulled it free of the wall, then he threw it at his alternate little brother.  It hit the back of his head and he fell to the floor.

Quinn walked over and looked down at him.  He was unconscious.  Quinn just shrugged, then bent over and hit him again, making sure he'd be out for a while.  "Sorry about that."  He dragged him into a stall, then carefully slipped out of the restroom.

-----

"We have trouble," Quinn 8 told Logan, entering her room.

She sat up and looked inquiringly at him.  She hadn't been able to sleep anyway.  "What is it?"

"Quinn 19 is gone."  He began to pace across her room.  "He was with David 2.  I found him knocked out in the bathroom.  I don't know where Quinn is."

Logan became worried.  "Does anyone else know about this?"

"No," Quinn 8 answered.  "Only me.  But if he's caught--"

"Our plan fails, I know," she interrupted.

He stopped pacing and stared at Logan.  "They will kill him now because of this."

"I know, I know."  Now she started pacing, trying to think.  "We'll have to adjust things for this.  We leave tonight; it's the only way.  But nothing has to change, it's still simple, just get to Quinn before they kill him.  Make sure he's taken back to his cell."  She ran her hands through her hair.  "We'll have to act when they take him later to be eliminated - just pray that they wait until tonight.  We go then."

Quinn 8 nodded, then left her room, leaving her door unlocked.

-----

Wade's hands were still cuffed and she was still chained to the hook on the ceiling.  She figured it had been about three hours since she'd been left like that.  Colin 4 had left her when he'd gotten nowhere with his interrogation.  Not like she knew anything anyway.

She let her head droop and rest against her chest.  Her back burned fiercely, and she was tired and exhausted.  She hadn't been able to get any sleep since her arrival at Base.  When she started to drift off, the door was opened and Quinn 1 entered.  He walked over to her and she looked up at him.

"Like my interrogation room?" he asked her casually.

Wade looked around again at all the chains, ropes, and torture devices.  "Lovely," she replied sarcastically.

He noticed how she'd taken in the room.  He could tell that it made her uncomfortable.  "Hopefully I won't have to use any of that stuff on you," he said, gesturing to the miscellaneous objects on the other side of room.  Wade didn't even know what they were, but she knew it would probably be worse than the whip she'd already felt.  "It would be a shame to damage something as pretty as you," he continued.

Quinn 1 stepped closer to her and reached around her.  He placed his hands on her hips and slowly worked his way up the edges her back, avoiding her wounds, yet taking pleasure in how just his touch made her shudder.  When he got to her arms, he reached up and slipped her chain off the hook.

Her legs were unsteady and Quinn 1 wrapped his arm around her to hold her up.  She shook him off and stood shakily on her own, trying to get the circulation back in her arms and legs.

Quinn 1 grabbed her hands and unlocked her cuffs.  "You are going to be good for me, right?" he asked, dropping her handcuffs on the floor.

"Go to hell," retorted Wade.

Quinn 1 smacked her.  He was already angry from Logan's defiance.  She'd been his special project, and now she refused to obey him.  He wanted to feel in control again.  "Now was that any way to talk to me?"

Wade didn't reply.  She just stared defiantly at him.

"Hey, haven't I been kind to you?"

"You don't know what kindness is," replied Wade.

Quinn 1 became frustrated with her.  "You need to learn a little respect.  I own you now.  I could have killed you."

"Nobody owns me," Wade snapped at him.  "I won't do anything for you!"

Quinn 1 smiled.  "Yes, you will.  I'm putting you into the program.  You'll be moved tonight and your treatments will start in the morning.  You'll learn to do as you're told."

"What about my friends?"  Wade wanted to know his plans for them.

"That doesn't concern you," he answered.  "But my double and the old one will probably be killed.  The other two will be placed in the mission program shortly."

"You can't do that!"

"I have no use for another professor, and he's too old and out of shape to be of any use on missions.  As for my double, his past injuries could cause trouble; it's easier to simply eliminate him," Quinn 1 told her.

Wade burned with hatred towards him.  Killing meant nothing to him - he'd take lives without a second thought.  "If you hurt them, you'll regret it."

Quinn 1 laughed.  "You are threatening me?"  She glared at him with a fiery seriousness, and his expression changed to one of annoyance.  "I think it's time for your first lesson - a bit of respect is in order."  He grabbed her arm roughly.  "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.  Your choice."

Wade kicked him and tried to run away.  Quinn 1 grabbed the handcuffs off the floor and threw them at her.  The metal stung fiercely as it hit her lower back.  "I hoped you'd choose that way," Quinn 1 said.  He was in the mood to hurt somebody.  He grabbed her wrist, swung her around, then tossed her to the floor.

Wade scuffed her hands and knees as she tried to catch herself.  A kick from Quinn 1 sent her the rest of the way to the floor.  While she was down, he fetched a rope from a table that was in the large room.  He tried to tie her wrists.  "Enjoying the foreplay?" he snickered.

Wade kicked him off of her, then scratched his face.  He wiped the blood from his cheek as she ran over to the table in hopes of getting a weapon of some kind.  He caught her before she got there and smacked her hard.  Wade's head hit the table as she fell and she thought for a second that she was going to lose consciousness, but she forced herself to stay awake.

Quinn 1 shoved her to the floor again and pinned her with his body weight, happy that she hadn't passed out from the blow she'd just taken.  Wade attempted to yank away.  Her shirt ripped, but he kept her down.  He tied her hands tightly behind her back, then rolled her over and regained his position on top of her.

With her hands pinned beneath her back, Wade felt helpless.  Quinn 1 was holding her down and he was twice as strong as her.  "Somebody help me!" she cried, even though she knew it was useless.

He clasped a hand over her mouth, silencing her screams.  He enjoyed the fear that was in her eyes now.  "I'm going to have fun breaking you," he remarked menacingly.  "Let's see how defiant you are when I'm done with you."

Wade bit his hand and he jerked it away.  He reached for the table and managed to get something out of one of its drawers.  Wade didn't have a chance to wonder what it was before the needle was stabbed into her arm.  He injected her with the full contents of the syringe, without even checking how much was in it, then tossed it aside.

Wade cried out again, but her scream turned into a muted whisper.  Her throat felt tight and she was starting to feel incredibly strange and numb.  "Let's see you try to scream now," Quinn 1 said.  "You won't be calling for help for quite a while."

Panic filled Wade as he pulled her shirt up.  He ran his hands over her bare skin and began moving upward.  She couldn't fight him.  Whatever drug he'd given her was acting extremely fast, and making her weak and dizzy.  She had trouble moving at all and felt paralyzed.

Quinn 1 moved his hands up under her shirt and across her bra.  Wade forced all of her strength into one final kick.  He wasn't hurt by it, but he struck her face hard with the back of his hand anyway.  Wade saw her blood on his hand, then she closed her eyes and let her tears fall freely as he hit her again.  She knew that she was helpless to prevent what he was going to do to her.  She only prayed that he'd stop before he killed her.

-----

An alarm sounded throughout Base.  "Damn it," cursed Quinn.  They knew where he was now.  He quickly headed for the door.

As he reached it, Quinn 8 entered, blocking his path.  He looked at Quinn for a brief moment, then hurriedly ran over to the computer and input his access code to shut off the alarm.  "Too late, they're coming."  He spun back around to face his double, and spotted the timer in his hand.  "Nice work.  I still don't know how you managed to avoid detection for over three hours."

"You knew I was out?"

"Yes," he replied.  "And I kept anyone else from finding out while I tried to locate you.  When I tracked you here, I disabled all the secondary security, but you shouldn't have taken that timer."

Quinn didn't understand.  "You're helping me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Quinn 8 took the timer and slipped it in his jacket pocket.  "Because Logan needs you.  We're escaping tonight and taking you guys with us.  I can shut down the system power so that they won't be able to track us.  We'll be working with three timers.  One that I'll steal," he patted his pocket, "yours, and Logan's."

"But neither mine nor Logan's work," countered Quinn.

"That's where this one comes in," Quinn 8 rushed to explain.  "I can set it for a new countdown whenever I want.  Yours will get us past the slide shield.  It hasn't been reprogram yet and still has an un-trackable signal.  As for Logan's, with those implants in her arm, she can hook up the timers through hers.  She has a way of making them talk to each other.  Combined, the vortex will be impossible to trace.  But we need to slide in the window when the main power is down."

Quinn thought for a second.  "How do you plan on connecting the timers?"

"Look, I don't have time to explain," he told Quinn.  "Just trust me that Logan knows how.  She can do it."

Quinn glanced at the door then back at his double.  "But Base has our timer.  Why do you need us?"

"Whatever she did to you, she's trying to make amends.  Let her."  He paused.  "Also, odds are we won't all make it out of here alive.  She'll need help with the timers after the initial slide."

The door opened then and David 2 entered with Colin 3.  Quinn 8 grabbed Quinn's hands and cuffed them behind his back.  "I found him in here.  What do you want me to do with him?"

David 2 walked over to Quinn and looked him in the eye, then looked at the red stripe on his hand.  "Kill him."

Quinn 8 nodded, then typed in a code for the wall panel, opened it, and removed gun.  Quinn heard it click behind his head.  His breathing quickened.  *He's going to kill me?!* he thought.  *I should've known not to put any faith into anything involving Logan.*

Quinn 8 looked back to David 2.  "You sure about that?  As I recall, Quinn 1 wasn't through with him yet."

David 2 seemed to consider that, then motioned for him to put away his gun.  "Take him to Quinn 1 for interrogation.  He might want to know how he managed to stay loose for so long."

-----

Quinn 1 and Colin 4 took Wade back to her cell.  She was only half conscious and the drug was still heavily affecting her.  Quinn 1 pulled her aside when they reached the door.  "I always finish what I start," he whispered harshly in her ear, then he left.

Colin 4 opened the cell door and dragged Wade inside.  He let her go and she collapsed to the floor.  Rembrandt, Maggie, and Arturo rushed over to her, and Rembrandt knelt by her side.  "Hey, sweetheart, are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"Don't waste your time," Colin 4 told Rembrandt.  "She can't speak.  Probably doesn't even know who you are."

Rembrandt looked at Wade and carefully touched her bloody face.  She winced but that was all.  She'd gone into shock from the amount of the drug that Quinn 1 had given her.  He hadn't even cared that he'd over-dosed her.  "What the hell have you done to her?" Rembrandt asked angrily.

Colin 4 didn't respond and left the cell.

-----

The door was opened an hour later and Quinn was shoved into the cell.  He fell hard on his shoulder, and winced in pain.  He moaned slightly when his back touched the floor.  He also had to gasp for air.

"I take it your plan failed," Maggie remarked, getting up and walking over to him.  She noticed his difficulty breathing.  "Quinn, you okay?"

"I'm fine," he snapped back at her.  "Just got the wind knocked out of me."

It was more than that and Maggie knew it.  She regarded him carefully.  He wasn't just catching his breath, he was laboring to breathe.  "Quinn..."

He fought to get his breathing under control before looking up at her.  He'd been living with his condition for months; he didn't need her pity now.  She placed her hand gently on his arm, calmly waiting.  It wasn't a gesture of sympathy, but one of support.  Quinn cast her a appreciative glance.  Maybe the others knowing wasn't such a bad thing.

Maggie tossed him a quick smile.  He was too proud to admit needing help, but he was grateful.  She became serious as she spotted the red welt on the back of his shoulder.  He grimaced when she pushed aside his tank-top slightly to get a better look.  "What happened?"

This time, Quinn shrugged off her hand.  "We have a couple new friends."  He'd been lashed for not giving them up.  Quinn 1 had suspected he'd had help avoiding security, but Quinn had denied it well enough that he hadn't bothered to drug him in order to get the truth.  Instead, he'd just had Quinn lashed ten times, re-handcuffed, and then taken back to their cell.  Quinn was just thankful that he hadn't been killed.

Maggie decided to not press the issue.  She inspected his handcuffs.  "I can't get these off," she told him.

Arturo also decided to have a look.  "It might be possible to pick them, but the lock appears to be complicated."

Quinn sighed.  Having his arms stuck behind his back wasn't very comfortable.  "Maybe Wade can give it a try; she's good with handcuffs."

"Quinn..." Maggie said, looking over at Wade and Rembrandt.  His eyes followed her gaze.  Rembrandt was sitting, leaning against the wall.  He was holding Wade in his lap.  She was looking at him, but she still seemed dazed.  Her face was bruised and her shirt torn.  "We don't know what they did to her," explained Maggie.

Quinn struggled to pull his hands past his feet to get the cuffs in front of him, then he pushed himself up and went over to Rembrandt and Wade.  Her eyes stayed fixed on Quinn.  "Wade," he said, touching her face gently, looking at her bruise.  She flinched at his touch.  "Are you okay?" he asked with concern, placing his hand on her arm.

"Leave me alone."  She pulled away from him and moved to the other side of Rembrandt, putting him between herself and Quinn.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Quinn asked softly.

Wade stumbled over to the corner of the cell, the drug still affecting her movement.  Quinn started to follow, but she just pressed herself tighter into the corner and curled up, wrapping her arms around her knees.  She was crying.

Quinn turned to Rembrandt.  "What's wrong with her?" he asked, very worried.  "She seems scared of me."

Rembrandt looked at Wade.  There was fear in her eyes.  He shook his head.  "I dunno, man.  She hasn't talked to any of us."  He walked over to her and sat down.  She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shirt.  He stroked her hair comfortingly.

-----

About twenty minutes later, Wade had fallen asleep.  Rembrandt slipped her out of his lap and walked over to stand by the others.

"It's quite apparent that she's been heavily drugged," Arturo said about Wade.  "But this looks like more than that."

"We have to get out of here," Maggie said.

"I know," Quinn sighed.  "But we still need to find out what's wrong with Wade.  I'd like to know what happened to her before we leave.  Did any of you check her back?"

Rembrandt nodded.  "Yeah, she's got about five welts."

Quinn ran his still-cuffed hands through his hair.  "Damn it.  They interrogated her."  He paused to think.  "But why would they use such a strong drug?  They couldn't get anything out of her in that condition."

Arturo frowned and lowered his voice further as he spoke.  "Judging from her torn clothes and bruises, and also her reaction to you," he indicated Quinn, "I think that it is entirely possible that Miss Wells might have been beaten and raped by your double."

Quinn looked over at Wade.  She was curled up in the corner and seemed to still be sleeping.  She looked scared and helpless and sick; he thought she might even be running a fever.  "Oh, God," he sighed, running his hands through his hair again.  He rubbed his face then turned away from the others.  The thought of what Arturo had said filled his mind.  Wade's behavior did show all the signs of it being true.  "How could..." Quinn choked on his own words.  There was a huge lump in his throat.

Rembrandt looked at his friend, and stepped so that he could see his face.  He appeared to be in shock and his expression showed anguish.  "Quinn..."  He didn't know what to say.

"How could my own double..."  He shook his head sadly.  He felt so horrible inside.  Just thinking about it hurt.  "How could he do that to her?"

"Quinn," Maggie said, "we don't know that he did.  Maybe..."  She didn't finish either.  They all seemed at a loss for words.  They knew what this world was like.

Quinn looked like he was going to cry as he gazed over at Wade.  He felt so responsible for her.  But he hadn't been there to help her.  His heart was breaking for her.  "If he did that," Quinn said with pain and anger both in his voice, "if my double raped her... I swear to God, I'll kill him."

-----

Quinn was holding Wade's head in his lap.  Her sleep had become restless.  He was trying to comfort her.  He brushed her damp hair from her face and looked at her.  He was so angry that they'd ODed her.

When she woke up, Wade felt safe.  She was being held and cared for by somebody she trusted.  But that feeling of security was brief and passed quickly.  She fully woke and pulled hurriedly away from Quinn.

"Hey, Wade, it's okay," he said.  "It's me.  I'm not going to hurt you.  You're safe."

She put her face in her hands.  "I know," she said, her words slightly slurred.  But she was trembling.  Why was she so afraid?  She looked over at Quinn.

He moved closer to her.  She tensed up and he stopped.  But after a moment, he moved close enough to touch her.  He held her hands in his to stop their shaking.  "You're still drugged," he explained.

She nodded.  She didn't feel normal.  The others were sitting on the opposite side of the room, and she looked from them to Quinn.  They were leaving her alone with him, and she wondered why.  "What's going on?"

"I need to talk to you," Quinn told her.  "I want to know what my double did to you, Wade."

"He sure gave me one hell of a hang-over," she replied, putting her hand to her head and trying to change the subject.  She didn't want to talk about what had happened.  Especially not with Quinn.

"Wade," he said again, "what else did he do to you?"

She looked away.  "Nothing."

Quinn touched her chin and turned her face so that she had to look at him.  "I need to know."

"He didn't do anything," she replied.  But he could tell from her eyes that she wasn't telling him the whole truth.  He saw her fear.

He looked intently at her, trying to read her thoughts.  He could tell that she was hurting.  "Wade, did he rape you?"  The question had been painful, but it had needed asking.  "Did he try to force you to..."  Quinn couldn't finish, but it was clear what he was asking.

"Yes."  Her reply was so soft and quiet that he wasn't sure he'd heard it, but he knew he had.  Her eyes were so full of sadness, pain, and fear.

"Oh god, Wade, I'm so sorry."  He tried to touch her and comfort her, but she pulled away.

"Please don't," she asked shakily.

Quinn took his hand away.  It hurt him to see her so afraid of him.  "I would never hurt you, Wade.  You know that."

Wade looked at him.  She knew she was hurting him, but she couldn't help it.  She couldn't trust him.  Not right now.  She started crying.  Quinn instinctively reached out to wipe away her tears.  She flinched at his touch.  "Please, just go away.  Leave me alone, Quinn."  She didn't want to turn away her friend, but at the moment, she just couldn't handle him touching her.

"Okay," he said slowly.  He stood up and walked across the cell.

-----

Wade saw Quinn exchange a few words with the others as he sat next to them.  Rembrandt got up and came over to her.  "Hey, sweetheart," he said softly.  "Are you alright?"

Wade kept watching Quinn, then turned her focus back to Rembrandt.  "I just turned away my best friend.  What's wrong with me?"  She wiped a tear from her face.

"Hey," Rembrandt soothed.  "Nothing is wrong with you, sweetheart."

"But I feel so stupid," she countered.  "I flinched when he touched me, Remmy.  We're suppose to be friends.  He must hate me."

Rembrandt put a finger under her chin and tilted her face towards him.  "I'm sure Quinn understands.  His double hurt you.  It'll take time for you to get over that."

"But he didn't do anything, Remmy," Wade said.  "So why am I like this?  I mean, he was going to, he tried....  But he didn't.  Quinn setting off that alarm saved me... and I couldn't even look at him.  Why am I afraid to have him near me when he's the person I trust most in the world?"

-----

The air felt extremely cold to Wade a half hour later, and she started rubbing her arms to warm up.  Arturo noticed her shivering.  "Miss Wells, are you alright?" he asked her.

"It's so cold in here," replied Wade.  "The temperature must have dropped 10 degrees over the last half hour."

This worried Arturo.  The room was still cold, but he didn't think the temperature had gone down any since they'd arrived.

Overhearing their conversation, Quinn joined them.  He looked carefully at Wade.  "You're sweating again," he told her.  He put his hand to her damp forehead, then he shook his head and looked nervously at the others.  "There's definitely a fever - probably around 101.  Wade, you shouldn't be cold."

"I think I need to lie down for a while," she commented.

Rembrandt was also watching her with a concerned expression.  She seemed pale.  "Sweetheart, are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"Not really," mumbled Wade, putting her head on the floor.  She didn't know what was wrong with her.  She thought she might be losing consciousness.

Maggie started pounding on the cell door.  "We need a doctor in here!" she yelled.  By now it was quite obvious that Wade wasn't okay.

-----

By the time Logan 7 arrived, Wade had already passed out.  She was still shivering, but her fever had grown worse.  "Sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Logan 7 apologized.  "What's wrong with Wade?"

Quinn had his hand on her face again.  "She's running about 104, the best I can guess anyway, and still going up.  She's unconscious."

"I know what drug she was given," Logan 7 said.  "I found the empty syringe.  If it was full when he gave it to her, we have a problem."

"How serious is it?" asked Rembrandt.

"What she went through before," Logan 7 told them, "was just the affect of the drug.  Now that it's wearing off, she's going into a strong withdrawal.  She'll get much worse before she gets better."

Quinn looked at her.  "How much worse?" he wanted to know.

"I don't think that she could die from it, but..." Logan 7 trailed off for a second.  "She'll probably get close to that point if I don't intervene."

"Please help her," Quinn pleaded.

Logan 7 nodded.  "I'll try to get Wade moved to Med Section as soon as possible.  I can reintroduce the drug to her system, then ease her off it slowly.  That should help with her pain."

"Thank you," Quinn said, his concern for Wade clearly showing.

-----

When the IV was hooked up to Wade's arm, Logan 7 started a steady drip.  It helped with her trembling almost immediately.

"Take her off of that," Quinn 1 said, entering Medical Section.

Logan 7 looked from Wade to him.  "You can't be serious."

"I am," he said.  "She's being taken out of the program."

"But she hasn't even started yet."  Logan 7 didn't understand.

"I'm having her changed to a red stripe," explained Quinn 1.  "She won't need your treatments any longer.  Have her taken back to her cell."

Logan 7 couldn't believe what he'd just said.  "What kind of sick bastard are you?" she exclaimed.  "First you abduct her, then beat her, rape her, drug her, decide to kill her, and then leave her to suffer!  Why don't you at least have me kill her now so she won't be in any pain?!"

"Did I not make myself clear?" Quinn 1 asked firmly.

"I'm sorry," Logan 7 said quickly, realizing what he could have done to her over that uncalled for remark.  She unhooked Wade's IV.  "I'll see that she's taken back to her cell immediately," she added submissively.

-----

Quinn brushed Wade's damp hair from her face again.  He was trying to make her as comfortable as possible.  She moaned at his touch.  It had been several hours and she was still suffering.  He closed his eyes and sighed.  "I can't believe they'd leave her like this," he said.

"She'll be okay, Q-ball," Rembrandt remarked reassuringly.

However, Quinn didn't share his optimism.  He felt like he was watching his best friend die.  It was clear that she was in pain.  Logan 7's giving her more of the drug had helped for a while, but since she wasn't being eased off properly, it had only hurt her worse in the long run.  "Hang in there, Wade," he said softly to her.  Then he looked at the others.  "I can't wait for Logan and my double, I mean, other double - Quinn 8," he relented that the numbers were actually helpful, "to act.  I'm going to try to get us out of here."

Quinn got up and walked over to the security pad by the door.  Rembrandt took his place at Wade's side.  Quinn crouched and twisted his head, trying to get the light to hit the pad at the right angle.  "What are you doing?" Maggie asked him.

"Whatever buttons they're hitting must have finger prints on them, right?" Quinn commented.  He started hitting buttons.  "There's only five digits in the code.  And four keys have prints - one's a double."  He kept hitting buttons, trying to guess the correct order.

Wade moaned again as she came to.  She tried to open her eyes, but only saw a gray fuzz and gave up.  "What's going on?" she managed to ask.

"Take it easy, sweetheart," Rembrandt told her.  "You're pretty sick right now."

"Yeah."  She weakly nodded.

"Q-ball is trying to figure out the order of the code to get us out of here," he filled her in.

Wade thought back to when she'd seen the combination be entered.  "Top, down, something on the right, top, top."

Quinn pressed the print on the top left, bottom center, then the middle right, top right, and top right again.  The light flashed from red to green.  "Wade, I love you!" he exclaimed.

"Good work, Miss Wells," Arturo added.

"Not bad," remarked Maggie.

Wade just sighed, too sick to get excited over it.  Quinn glanced worriedly at her, then focused his attention back on the door.  He slipped it open a crack, then hurriedly shut it again.  "Somebody's coming this direction."

Half a minute later, their cell was entered by Quinn 8 and Rachael 3.  "19, 16, come with us," Rachael 3 said.

"Where?" asked Quinn, a bit off guard seeing his alternate little sister.

"A place where the red stripes go and don't come back from," Rachael 3 told him.

Quinn looked at Arturo.  His stripe was blue.  "He isn't red."

Rachael 3 just shrugged.  "We have our orders."

"And what about Wade?" Quinn inquired.  She was also now red.

Quinn 8 answered this time.  "I think Quinn 1 is hoping she'll die on her own.  I'm sorry."

"He just might get his wish," said Wade, her breathing slightly labored.

"Hey, you'll be okay," Quinn told her, worried but trying not to show it.  Then he leaned close to Maggie and whispered, "18633."

Maggie watched as he and Arturo were taken out.  He'd given her the code to the door.  She knew she'd probably have to use it.

-----

Quinn was shoved backwards into a chair by Rachael 3.  She and Quinn 8 had escorted him here; Arturo had been taken to a separate room.  He'd watched Rachael 3 the whole time, and he couldn't help but notice the way she'd been watching him.  He'd also noticed the way she walked and talked.  So different from the Rachael he knew.

"Don't you know it's not polite to stare," chided Rachael 3 to Quinn who simply sat there, looking intently at her.  She grinned as she strapped his wrists to the arms of the chair.

*God, she's enjoying this,* Quinn realized silently.  She was playing with him.

Rachael 3 put a knee on each side of his legs, now sharing his chair.  She stared straight into his eyes.  Then she pulled a gun from her waistband and aimed it at Quinn's head.

"Rachael, you don't have to do this," Quinn quickly said.

She traced the edge of his cheek with the tip of the gun.  "Oh really?"  Her voice held a tone of both amusement and sarcasm at the same time.

"We can leave here," Quinn told her.  "Together."

Rachael 3 laughed.  "What makes you think I'd want to leave?"  Her grin broadened.  "I like it here."

"Damn it, Rachael," Quinn cursed, "this isn't a game!  People die!"

"Mm hmm," she replied.  "I'm aware."

Quinn was about to say something in response when she teasingly ran her gun down his nose.  Then she leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Shame in your case, though.  I like you."  She kissed the edge Quinn's ear.

He was taken a back.  "God, Rachael, I'm your brother!"

She made an expression that he knew was the equivalent of a nonchalant shrug.  "Not on my world."

"Let's get this over with," Quinn 8 said from his position leaning casually against the wall.

Rachael 3 turned to look at him in annoyance.  "Oh alright," she replied poutingly.  She slid off the chair and took a few steps back.  "Who's on Clean-Up today?  Can I make a mess?"  Her smile returned as she played with her gun, then trained it upon Quinn again.

Quinn closed his eyes.  *I'm going to die by the hand of my own sister.*  He waited for everything to be over.

Then came the click of the gun.  Then nothing.  Quinn opened his eyes again.  Why was he still alive?

Quinn 8 reached into his pocket and withdrew a few bullets.  Rachael 3 immediately realized what he'd done and lunged at him.  However, her attack had been expected and she was quickly held tight.

Taking the gun from her, Quinn 8 loaded it again.  Then he pushed Rachael 3 away from himself and aimed it at her.  "I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Wait!" Quinn called from where he sat, still bound to the chair.  "Don't hurt her."

After a slight hesitation, Quinn 8 nodded.  He released Quinn and put Rachael 3 in his place.

"Okay," Quinn headed for the door, "now let's get out of here."

Quinn 8 nodded.  "This way."

They soon entered Quinn 8's room, and he grabbed a jacket and threw it to Quinn.  "Put that on; it'll cover your number.  We don't want anyone knowing who we are."

Quinn obeyed, seeing his reasoning.  It would be best if they kept their identities hidden.  "What now?  Do we go after the professor?"

"He's already dead," Quinn 8 told him.  "I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd be taken separately... and I could only save you."

Quinn ran his hands through his hair, but said nothing.

Quinn 8 watched him for a second, then continued.  "We'll have to get moving," he said, not wanting to be insensitive but knowing that they didn't have much time.  He retrieved two timers from his drawer.  He handed one to Quinn.

Quinn looked at it, his eyes not wanting to focus.  He pushed his thoughts of Arturo aside and tried to concentrate.  The timer in his hands was his.  "Don't we have some power to shut down or something?" he managed to say.

-----

Checking her clock again, Logan got up.  She walked over to her closet and pulled out a jacket that Quinn 8 had given her such a long time ago.  She sighed, patting the bulky spot of the light-weight material.

It was time to leave this place again.  She headed for the door of her room as she slipped on the jacket.

-----

"Not again," David 2 mumbled as he fell to the floor.  He'd just been hit across the back of his head from behind.

Arturo looked over to see Logan 7 standing there.  She quickly bent over and injected David 2 with a sedative before he could get up.  She couldn't afford to be seen - it would cost her her life.

"Good show, Miss St. Clair," Arturo congratulated her, thankful for the rescue.

She nodded briefly.  "God, if he recognized me..."  She shook that thought aside, then looked back to Arturo.  "I can't go with you, but I wish you luck.  Your friends should be on their way out by now."

"Is there anything I can say to change your mind?" asked Arturo.

"No, my place is here."  She pulled another syringe from her pocket and handed it to Arturo.  "Incase Wade--"

"I understand," he said, pocketing the syringe.  With Wade in her condition, there was little chance they'd be able to make good their escape.

"It's not the same drug she was given before," continued Logan 7.  "It'll trick her system and stop her from suffering withdrawal, but it won't paralyze her.  However, you're taking a serious risk if you give it to her.  If you don't find help on the next world, she'll probably die."

-----

"This is taking too long," Maggie thought aloud, then checked her watch and cursed silently.  "I keep forgetting that this thing stopped."

"At least they let you keep your watch," Rembrandt remarked.  "They took mine."

"Well, a hell of a lot of good mine does us.  Probably only left it as a stupid joke."  She sighed as she turned to Rembrandt and Wade.  "Guys, I think we're on our own for getting out of here."

Rembrandt looked from Wade, who was barely conscious, to Maggie, his expression speaking for him.  "I think we should wait."

"Remmy--" Maggie began, but was cut off by Wade.

"It's okay," she said, getting annoyed at their behavior.  "I can make it.  Just give me a hand up."

"Wade, you're in no condition--" Rembrandt protested.

"In no condition to what?"  Wade tried to sit.  "We either stay here and let them kill us, or we try to run.  I think I'd rather take my chances on the latter."  At that moment, she started having a coughing fit, but quickly attempted to quell it and keep her gaze firm.

Eventually, Rembrandt nodded.  "Okay," he put his arm around Wade and helped her up, supporting her, "let's go find the others and get out of here."

Maggie entered the door code, then signaled the all-clear.  She slipped into the hallway.  When Wade took a step to follow, she immediately became lightheaded, but she simply held on to Rembrandt and forced herself to continue.

As they turned into another corridor, they practically ran into Logan.  Maggie did an about face, but Logan quickly called for them to stop.  "It's me!" she hissed at them, trying to keep her voice down.  "I thought you guys were supposed to wait for me."

"What can I say, we're impatient," Maggie replied icily, still not liking the idea of depending on Logan.

Rembrandt decided that their options were very limited.  "What's your plan?" he asked Logan, knowing that they'd need her to help them find Quinn and Arturo.

"Quinn - my Quinn - knows what to do.  He'll take care of your friends," Logan replied.  "I just want to get you out."  She ran her hands through her hair.  "I was hoping we could just walk out, but..."

"I can try," Wade said, catching Logan's glance at her.

She nodded.  "Alright."

"Hang on," Maggie interrupted.  "We just walk out?  That's it, that's your plan?"

"Yeah."

"Um, are you nuts?" Maggie stepped in front of her, stopping her from going anywhere.

Logan sighed.  "Look, there's a door that leads to the wash behind the building.  It'll be open to us once the main power goes down."

Wade didn't trust that.  "It's too easy."

"The police have files on all of us," Logan explained in frustration, hating to have to detail everything before they could go.  "If we leave here, we're hunted as murderers.  Simple frame jobs on all our doubles.  Nobody tries to run."  She paused.  "And it ain't easy.  Now, let's move!"

Maggie finally relented and nodded in agreement.  She motioned for Logan to lead the way, then quickly followed.

After a few steps, Wade's vision began to go black.  She tried to push the darkness away, and then just clung tighter to Rembrandt when she lost her sight completely.  She was on the verge of passing out and she knew it.  Then, as she'd feared, her knees buckled and her legs gave out beneath her.

"Shit," she mumbled as she collapsed.

-----

Quinn looked at his double as they walked down a hall that would lead them to where they needed to be in order to shut down the main system.  "Is there any way we can set one of the timers with coordinates?" he asked.  "I want to be sure we slide to a world with a hospital."

Quinn 8 frowned.  "We've got to go random in order to avoid a trace."

"What if we risk a trace?"  Quinn knew that would be suicide but he'd had to ask.

"I'm sorry, we can't."  He paused for a moment, halting their quick pace.  "But I'll cross my fingers for a good world.  Wade will be alright," he added reassuringly, knowing why Quinn was concerned.

He nodded.  "Yeah, yeah I know she will."  She had to be.  He tried to focus again on the task at hand as they rounded a corner and entered a large room, bringing them face to face with Quinn 1.

Seeing the two Quinns, his eyes instantly caught on the red stripe across Quinn's hand.  "You!" he said, pulling his gun on Quinn.

Quinn 8 ran at him, going for the gun.  But a single shot rang out before he had a chance to tackle him and hit the gun away.

Quinn fell to the ground from the impact of the bullet to his chest.

 -----

Arturo knelt beside Wade after having joined again with the others.  She was just starting to wake up from having fainted.  He quickly cut off his conversation with Rembrandt, Maggie, and Logan.

"What is it?" Wade asked, having heard their conversation abruptly cease as she came around.  "If it's about me, I think I'm entitled to know."

"We were just trying to think of a way to get you out of here, sweetheart," Rembrandt told her.

"What else?" Wade inquired, knowing there was more he wasn't saying.

Logan spoke up, knowing that the others wouldn't.  "Max has a drug that can help us get you to the outside."

"But we're not giving it to you," Rembrandt protested, angry at Logan for having told Wade of it.  "It's not safe."

"I'm not going anywhere if I can't even walk," replied Wade.

Logan nodded.  "Then it's settled.  We give her the drug and we walk out of this hell."  Wade dittoed her nod.

"Wade, I will carry you if I have to," Rembrandt said.

"You don't have to," Wade responded firmly.  "We stand a much better chance if I'm not--" she broke into another coughing fit that finished her sentence for her.

"Miss Wells, it is extremely dangerous to your--" Arturo started.

"It's my choice," Wade interrupted when her coughing subsided.  Arturo reluctantly handed her the syringe.  "Thank you," she said as she injected herself with a small part of it.

Feeling somewhat better almost instantly, Wade was tempted to give herself more of the drug, but she knew the risk and pocketed it instead.  She waited for her head to clear.

Maggie pushed herself away from the wall that she'd been leaning on - it was time to start moving again.  She looked to Logan.  "Get them outside as soon as the power is down.  I'm going to go try to find Quinn... and Quinn."  She paused.  "We'll meet in the wash behind Base for the slide."

Logan nodded slightly as she started ushering the others down a hall, then she turned back.  "Hey, Maggie," she called and Maggie stopped.  "Um, good luck."

Maggie hesitated a moment before replying.  "You too."

-----

Hitting the ground knocked the wind out of him, and Quinn just lay there for a moment, then he felt his chest.  His fingers found where the bullet had hit its mark - right over his heart.  But he wasn't in any pain.  Further inspection proved the bullet was securely lodged in the jacket, never having even touched his skin.  "Bullet proof?" Quinn mumbled, realizing that he was perfectly fine other than that he'd probably be sore in the morning.

"Yeah, state of the art improvement I made," Quinn 8 told the stunned Quinn while still struggling with their double.  "Um, you gonna just sit there?"

Quinn quickly got up to help his double.

"I'll handle this," Quinn 8 called to him.  "You go shut down the power.  I've told you everything you need to know."

"I don't think so," Quinn interjected, trying to give aid and only getting decked across the side of his face by Quinn 1 for his efforts.  "You go; I'll be fine.  I can take this guy--"  Quinn was sent stumbling backwards from another hit, then Quinn 1 pulled free a knife that had been strapped to his ankle.

"Well, one of us needs to go," Quinn 8 agreed.  "We're running out of time!"

-----

Logan fidgeted as she waited.  "What's taking so long?" she asked nobody in particular.  Then her patience was rewarded by lights going out all over Base, only to replaced by the dim glow of the backup power generator.  She smiled.

"Ninety percent of Base has been shut down," Logan informed Rembrandt, Arturo, and Wade.  "Show time."

-----

Maggie rounded a corner and saw two Quinns fighting.  One had a knife - he also had the number one on his shoulder.  "Oh shit," Maggie groaned, rushing across the large room towards them.

She pulled out her gun, which she'd acquired by surprising a few operatives, but Quinn 1 stabbed the other Quinn before she could fire.  Maggie's bullet hit her target too late.  "Quinn," she called.  "Are you alright?"

He just stood there, his hands on the knife that had cut into his stomach.  He pulled it out, then let it drop to the floor.  He started to collapse.

Maggie was immediately by his side and grabbed him.  She put her arm around him, holding him up.  "We've got to get out of here," she told him.  "Can you walk?"

He nodded weakly.  "Yeah.  Yeah, it's just a scratch.  Let's go."

They headed for the east side of Base at a run.  Time was something they didn't have much of.  "I think I should let you know that we're probably being followed," Maggie remarked.  "I took out a few guards in some pretty main areas while I was looking for you.  They weren't a problem, but it won't be long before everyone figures out what's going on."

"Are the others safe?" he asked, and then coughed a few times.

"They should be outside by now," she replied.  "But are you okay?"

"It doesn't matter.  Just keep running."

She could tell that he was out of breath already, and his stride was unsteady.  He was hurt a lot worse than he was letting on.

-----

Once out of Base, the others made their way towards the gravely wash.  Logan had done a fancy wiring job to get them past the lock on the door.  The others didn't even attempt to understand how she'd done it - they were just thankful to be free.

The only trouble they'd hit had been another operative who'd spotted them.  Logan had been casual and composed as she pretended to also be looking for the cause of the power going offline.  And since everyone in Base looked alike, he hadn't even suspected them until Rembrandt knocked him unconscious, at which point his suspicions were pretty irrelevant.  Logan had *borrowed* his gun and still had it with her.

She'd have been given a gun like it had she stayed and reached level 4 status.  She quickly shook that thought aside.

Wade was lagging behind as they hurried to get away from the immediate perimeter of the building.  Rembrandt turned back and put his arm around her for support, then practically carried her to where the others were.

A small bit of water ran through the wash, and Logan tried to catch enough in her hands to wash her face with.  When she was finished, she sat down on a large rock.  "I guess now we play the waiting game."

"I suggest we stay low just in case--"  Arturo was cut off by large spotlights coming on and starting to pan the wash.

"The main power?" Wade asked nervously.

Logan shook her head.  "No, those are just search lights.  They're on a battery.  But they know we're out here.  We've got to move!"

-----

"Quinn?" Maggie said, looking over at him.  He began to stumble more as they ran.

He glanced down at his hand that he was holding tightly against his wound; it was completely covered with blood.  "You know when I said it was just a scratch?" he asked with pain.  "I lied."  He tried to catch his breath.  "I can't go anymore.  You're going to have to leave me."  He stopped running, unable to continue.

Maggie shifted so that she supported more of his weight.  "Don't quit on me now, Quinn.  I am not leaving you here.  Just keep going, okay?"

His whole head was swimming with dizziness, and he felt the wetness in his boot from the blood that had made it's way down his leg.  "I'm losing too much blood," he said as he collapsed to the floor, bringing Maggie down next to him.  He pulled a timer from his pocket, then reached for the other one, but he stopped and moaned with pain.  "I'm just slowing you down, and I'm not going to make it anyway.  Take the timers and go," he ordered Maggie.

Maggie slipped both timers into her pocket, then tried to pull him back up.  "Quinn, come on, try to get up.  I can't carry you!"

"I won't be conscious much longer," he said, his voice now clearly showing his pain.  "You have to get the timers to Logan, and my double if he made it, and you all have to slide before the system power is fixed.  If you don't slide out soon, they'll be able to track you."

Maggie could tell that his breathing had become labored, and his eyes had a strange, glazed look.  She quickly unzipped his jacket, her hands already thoroughly smeared with blood as she pushed his shirt up so that she could look at his cut.  It was very deep and he was bleeding extensively.  He hadn't just been stabbed - the knife had sliced into him for a fairly long stretch.  "Oh god, this is serious.  You're going into shock!  We've got to get you to a hospital now, or you might die!"

"I know."  He struggled to breathe and his face contorted with pain.  "But I'm not going to make the slide, Maggie.  You have to leave me."

She refused to accept that.  "No.  We've been through worse than this.  Look, there are medical facilities and doctors here.  They can save your life.  We just won't slide."

"Maggie, don't argue with me.  Now leave!"

"But if I don't take you to a doctor right now, Quinn, you'll die."  She could tell that in a few minutes it would be too late for him.

He felt himself losing consciousness.  "We all die if you stay.  Get Logan and the others off this world," he managed to say.  "Don't let my death be for nothing."  He gave Maggie a final look before passing out.

She smoothed his hair back from his sweaty face and looked at him.  "Quinn, just hang on," she told him.  "Come on, stay with me.  You're not going to die."

He didn't wake and she started to run back down the hall to get help.  She felt the timers in her jacket as she ran.  If she didn't take them to the others right now, they'd all be stuck here forever.  This was their one chance to escape.  She stopped and considered her options.  Quinn was willing to die in order for them to be able to slide.  If she got a doctor and tried to save his life instead of escaping, they would all be captured again, and probably punished severely - if not killed.  And their lives would all be over even if they weren't killed.  But if she left Quinn now without trying to get help, it would mean freedom for herself, Wade, Rembrandt, Arturo, Logan, and maybe the other Quinn.  That was an acceptable price to pay, she tried to convince herself.

Maggie turned around and headed back the opposite way.  "Quinn," she said when she reached him again.  He was still unconscious and she knelt beside him.  His breathing was very shallow and his pulse weak.  He'd be dead in a matter of minutes.  "I'm sorry," she said, even though she knew he couldn't hear her.

She continued on her way out of the base.  She had to meet the others before the system was operational again.

-----

A light fixed on the group and then other lights joined it, covering all of them in the bright glow.

"Go!" Logan shouted, starting to run as the first bullet ricocheted off a nearby rock.  No one argued with her and they all took off up the hill on the far side of the wash as fast as they could.

A few more bullets sparked against the surrounding rocks, then Rembrandt let out a cry and Wade saw him fall.  She tripped as she tried to run to him, her fever worse again.  She pulled the syringe from her pocket, then hesitated slightly about using it.  But as she looked at her shaking hand, she knew she didn't have many options.  She steadied her hand, then injected herself with the remains of the drug.

Instantly, she headed for Rembrandt again, still feeling sick but needing to get to him.  He was lying face-down in the shallow water that ran through the wash.  She quickly pulled him out of the water and tried to wake him.  Then the noise of shattering glass echoed around her.

Logan aimed at the next light and took it out also.  She proceeded to hit all the lights without missing once.  Then she targeted the shooter and took him out also.  She was a perfect marksman - a skill she'd learned here of all places.

Wade glanced over at Logan, glad for the help and yet frightened by her surprising talent at the same time.  She returned her focus to Rembrandt.  "Come on, Remmy, wake up," she said, slapping his face gently a few times.

He came around and looked up at her.  "You okay?" she asked him worriedly.

He sat up and inspected his leg.  "Yeah, I'm fine, it's only a flesh wound," he told her.  "I must have hit my head when I tripped."

By then, the others had gathered around also.  Logan tucked her gun into the waistband of her pants.  "I guess now we wait for Quinn," she said, starting to mess with her timer.  "And your Quinn and Maggie," she added, noting the look the others were giving her.

-----

Maggie ran up to Wade, Rembrandt, Arturo, and Logan, who were waiting for her at the top of the hill across the wash, and yelled for them to slide.

"What's going on?" Rembrandt asked.  "What happened?"

Maggie tried to catch her breath as she talked.  "We have to go now!  They're coming after us!  If we don't leave right now, we probably never will!"  She handed the two timers to Logan.  "Open the gateway.  We don't have much time before they get here.  All the systems will only be out for a few minutes.  Once the main system is back online, they'll be able to track our wormhole."

Logan worked on connecting the three timers while Maggie talked.  She noticed that there was blood on the one that belonged to them, and also on Maggie's clothes, but she didn't have time to dwell on that.  Connecting the timers so that they could slide was her main priority.  She didn't have any trouble with it, and soon she was able to open the vortex.  Its bright red color lit the night sky, then orange swirled through it only to be replaced by blue as it fully formed, finally holding its shape and keeping a purple color.  "I can only hold it open for about three minutes," she told them.

Maggie spotted the beams from flashlights at the bottom of the hill.  The vortex was like a beacon, signaling their location for all to see.  "Can you collapse it early?  We can't let them follow us, and they'll be up the hill soon!"

"Yes," Logan answered.  "But what about Quinn?"

"I don't have time to explain.  Just slide!" Maggie yelled, glancing back at their pursuers.  They must have found Quinn's body and were now following her.  She couldn't let them all be captured.

Logan stepped toward the vortex and hit a few buttons on the timers.  "20 seconds!" she called before jumping into it.

The others just stood there.  "GO!" Maggie yelled again.

Arturo and Rembrandt decide they best obey and leapt into the vortex.  Wade didn't.  "What about our Quinn?" she screamed over the sound of the vortex that Maggie was trying to force her into.

"Wade, just slide!  The wormhole is going to close in a few seconds!"  She tugged at Wade's arm as the first gun shot rang out.

Wade looked back towards the hill as more shots were fired.  "We can't leave without Quinn!"

Maggie had lost all her patience.  A bullet just missed her arm.  It was time to go.  "Slide now, or you will be with Quinn!"  She got a firm grip on Wade's arm, then lunged backwards into the vortex, pulling Wade along with her.  It spiraled shut right after they disappeared.

-----

Logan got up off the ground and quickly looked around.  Seeing no danger, she turned and helped the others up.  Then she checked the timers.  One was fried, the others flickering.  She knew she'd need help on them or they wouldn't last more than a few slides.  And she couldn't disconnect the two.  She could physically unhook the second one, but she'd have to reconnect it in order to open the vortex.  She frowned, then looked at her new slidemates.  They were stuck together for the time being.

When they were all standing and had made sure that no one was injured, Logan decided that it was time to get some answers from Maggie.  "Where's Quinn?  He and your Quinn were supposed to slide with us.  And how did you get these other timers when they had them?"

Maggie looked at Logan.  "I don't know what happened to your Quinn.  He was probably captured.  Quinn told me that they had some trouble and had to split up, so I can't say for sure."

"Damn it!" Logan cursed.  She needed his help with the timers.  And she'd lost a friend.  Base would probably kill him now.

Wade gazed at Maggie.  "What about our Quinn?  If he was with you, then where is he?  We have to go back for him!"

"She's right," added Rembrandt.  "We can't just leave Q-ball there."

Maggie tried to stay calm and composed as she prepared to tell them the sad news.  She was military; this shouldn't have been so hard for her.  She opened her mouth to speak, but it took a long while before any words came, and she was crying when she finally spoke.  "He's dead."

"What?" gasped Wade, not believing what she'd heard.  "Quinn can't be dead!"

Rembrandt looked at the blood on Maggie's clothes and the pained expression on her face.  She was crying.  Maggie never cried.  "What happened?" he asked, knowing that what she'd just said was true, but not wanting to accept it, and at least needing to know how he'd died.

"He was stabbed in a fight with Quinn 1," explained Maggie over the lump in her throat that was choking her.  "But he saved our lives; he got us free.  At least he died for a reason."

"No," Wade cried.  "There had to have been something, or he, I mean, you were there and there was nothing that..."  She knew she wasn't making any sense and gave up on trying to talk.  She leaned against Arturo who put his arm around her, and she started sobbing.

"Wade, I'm sorry.  He was bleeding so badly..." Maggie cried softly as if trying to defend her actions.  "There was no way he could have survived.  There was nothing I could do.  I couldn't...."  She trailed off, unable to keep talking.  She just cried, a feeling of guilt and sorrow overwhelming her.

-----

Quinn 1 woke up and found himself in a bed in the medical section of Base.  Logan 7 was there with him.  "What happened?" he asked her.

"You were shot," Logan 7 explained.  "But the bullet missed all the major organs; you'll make a full recovery."

"And who all tried to escape?  I want to know everyone involved in it."

"The new group of sliders, Logan 9, and Quinn 8," replied Logan 7.

Quinn 1 tried to sit up, and she helped him.  "Where are they now?"

Logan 7 bit her lip nervously.  "They all escaped but the two Quinns, sir."  She paused to judge his reaction, then continued.  "One of them was captured and is now restrained in Section 4, undergoing interrogation as to how the others managed to escape and if it is possible for us to track them - he isn't talking.  And the other one you critically wounded.  I tried to operate on him, but..."

She was angry at herself for not having been able to help him.  If she'd only gotten to him fifteen minutes sooner, she might have been able to save his life.  "He died."
 

THE END