Sliders: Have a Nice Day (1 of 6)

What is Sliders?

by Nigel G. Mitchell

The following story is part of the Fifth Slider serial, a Sliders fanfiction series created by David Pesqueira that introduces a fifth slider to the group. The events described take place a little before and immediately after the end of the first FS story, "Silent Voices." If you haven't read that story, I'd recommend that you do before reading this one.

There's also a major spoiler of "Double Cross" in this part of the story, so if you haven't seen that episode, be warned.

As usual, Maximillian Arturo struggled with a bout of nausea as he sailed through the Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky Bridge that connected alternate dimensions. The walls of the wormhole twisted and bounced him through the endless void. Colors, the likes of which no rainbow had ever shown, flowed around him in a river of light.

The scientist in him was always thrilled by sliding - the wonder of discovery, the rush of knowing that he was doing something only a handful of people had ever done. But the human in him sang with terror at the prospect of what lay at the end of their journey.

Just as he was getting into a rhythm, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Literally. It rushed towards him at incredible speed until he was violently thrust back into the real world.

Arturo exploded out of the roaring blue mouth of the tunnel. He only had time to register that Rembrandt was standing in front of him before the two of them collided and went down in a heap on the grass.

Arturo sat up, groaning, as the wormhole spat out two more travelers; Quinn and Wade. He dove out of their way to allow them to land on soft soil. Then Arturo looked up to watch the wormhole explode once again with a crackling puff. This time, it launched a sixteen-year-old boy out of its depths.

Arturo felt a twinge of regret at the sight of the boy. They had taken others with them before, but never on a permanent basis, only by accident or emergency. In their next world, they had always ensured that their new passenger (or passengers in some cases) was all right, then slide off again as four.

But now they had a new member of their group, one who planned to slide with them until they reached home. Arturo wondered if it was a good idea to agree to it after all. Then he checked himself. In this case, David Mallory was definitely better off with them.

Arturo stepped forward as Rembrandt helped the boy up. They all laughed as David dusted leaves and dirt off his T-shirt. Wade smiled as she held up her hands in front of David to gesture in sign language. Arturo wasn't sure what she was saying, but he assumed she was asking what he thought of the slide.

David responded by nodding vigorously, his eyes wide and shining with enthusiasm. His hands flew over his face and body to respond in kind. Once again, Arturo heaved a silent sigh of relief that one of them knew sign language. It would have been difficult to communicate with the boy otherwise. Arturo made a mental note to take lessons as soon as possible.

Wade smiled up at the others. "He says he liked it."

Quinn clapped David on the arm, speaking slowly to ensure that he could read his lips. "Glad you liked it, bro."

Arturo couldn't help grinning along with the others. Quinn was completely taken by their new fellow journeyman. He supposed it was because Quinn had always been an only child, and now he had an instant family. Sliding was difficult, even with friends. Surely having a family member along was a comfort to Quinn.

David looked around at the trees and grass that now dominated their surroundings. He gestured again, which Wade translated as, "So, what is this world?"

She answered him by signing while speaking aloud so the others could follow her. As she shrugged, Wade said, "We don't know yet. But we'll find out."

David's grin broadened as he signed, "Oh. Let's find out, shall we?"

Wade nodded after she translated. Quinn put his arm around David's shoulder and they headed off across the grass. Arturo followed, walking alongside Rembrandt, who was nursing his shoulder.

"Hey, professor," Rembrandt said, "how many times've I gotta ask you to slide before I do? The Cryin' Man's bones can only take so many o' your crash landings."

"I have braced your fall many times, Mister Brown," Arturo said. "I could only expect you to return the favor occasionally. How long before the next slide, Mister Mallory?"

Quinn checked the timer that he drew from his pocket. "A few hours. We'll slide in the morning."

His attention was drawn to David, who was signing quickly at Wade. Arturo spoke up. "I say, what is Mister Mallory saying?"

Quinn turned his head to smile over his shoulder at Arturo. "Hey, I thought I was Mister Mallory."

"An excellent point," Arturo said. "I believe I shall have to adopt a new mode of address for the young lad to avoid confusion."

Wade made broad gestures at David, who responded quickly. She finally called out, "He's asking why we ended up in this park instead of outside his house where we slid. Dave thought we'd only move across dimensions, not in space or time."

"Tell him it's a long story," Quinn said. "Our spatial coordinates got screwed up a few slides ago. Now, we end up landing all over California."

He squinted up at the blue skies above them. "We're just lucky we ended up in Golden Gate Park. We could've ended up in the Pacific Ocean."

Wade was busy translating for David. When she was finished, David nodded, then signed back for Wade, who said, "So our spatial coordinates vary from world to world. He's asking if we travel in time as well as space."

"Not so far," Quinn said. "But nothing's impossible."

David nodded.

"Man," Rembrandt said. "And I thought I felt stupid before with you two brainiacs along. Now we got a kid who's younger than some o' my socks back home, and he knows more about this tech stuff than I do. We're outnumbered, Wade."

Wade grinned, her hands still signing for David to follow the conversation. "Don't worry, Rembrandt. Maybe we'll pick up some normal person and balance things out again."

"Absolutely not," Arturo said. "The young lad managed to increase the power of the sliding machine to accommodate a fifth passenger, but I fear attempting that again. From now on, we must be very careful about bringing aboard extra weight on our slides, even more than usual."

"You're right, professor," Quinn said. "And thanks. Thanks to everybody for letting me do this."

David tapped his own chest, which Arturo didn't need translated to mean "Me, too."

Wade nodded. "Just remember to be careful, Dave. Remember, we're not in a deaf world anymore."

"In fact," Arturo said, "I should mention yours is the only one we have seen in all our sliding, meaning that it's highly unlikely that we'll see one again. From now on, my boy, you'll be in the world of the hearing."

David signed again. Wade translated, saying, "He says he's looking forward to it. And wants to know what we do now."

Wade signed as she responded, "Well, usually the first thing we do is look around to see if anything's different from our own world. If so, then we know we're not home. If not, well, we keep looking. We have to be really sure that we're home. We've been burned by that before."

Arturo became aware of a voice yelling in the distance that grew louder as they approached a statue of Abraham Lincoln that the Sliders had grown to know well. The owner of the voice came into view.

He was an old man, standing on a park bench beside the statue, roaring at the top of his lungs. His ragged clothes betrayed him as a street person, and his message betrayed him as mentally unstable. He was all too familiar to Arturo.

"Beware," the man was yelling. "Beware the Powers That Be! They are all around us, corrupting our minds, subverting our will to theirs! Mind control, ladies and gentlemen! I speak of mind control! They have the power to bend us to their will! Beware the Powers That Be!"

As the five visitors walked past, the old man focused his attention on them, much to Arturo's regret. "Beware, you people! They can control the young and the old! The male and the female of the species! Repent of your gluttony or forever shall you fall under their evil spell! They're controlling your minds! Controlling your minds!"

"Uh, yeah," Rembrandt said. "We'll keep that in mind, pops."

They walked away to a safe distance, then burst into laughter. David looked from one person to another, his brow wrinkled in confusion. He began to sign, which Wade translated as "What's going on? Who's that guy?"

Wade replied. "That's Crazy Kenny, a homeless guy on our Earth."

"In my world," Quinn said, "he was a communist, but in a Russian-dominated world, he was a politician. He was nuts in our world, and it looks like he's not much better here. Although the message has changed, so maybe this isn't our world, after all."

Rembrandt braced his shoulders as they approached the street. "Well, let's find out for sure. Here we go, gang. Let's keep our eyes peeled, huh?"

Home | Next