The vortex didn’t close; A factor which didn’t escape the notice of Quinn or Arturo.“How is the rift being maintained without overloading the system?” Quinn asked Arturo.
“My boy, if you don’t know how would I? Not till closer inspection of the equipment any way.” The Professor walked over to the computer desk and shifted through a few papers.
“What’s the problem Q-Ball?” Rembrandt asked.
“The vortex is supposed to close. It takes a great amount of power to open the rift. Whoever is keeping it open must have an unlimited amount of power.”
“And are very irresponsible.” Arturo added.
“What do you mean?” Wade asked.
“Can you imagine what would happen Miss Wells if every world we slid from, left a vortex behind?”
Wade’s face revealed the shock as the problem dawned on her.
“Still,” Quinn continued. “Maintaining a stable wormhole means not having to rely on a timer. Simply slide back when finished exploring.
“If still alive,” The Professor added. Again stressing how dangerous the stable wormhole was.
“So are the people who slid from this vortex still alive on the other side?”
“And when are they coming back?” Wade added.
“And are they dangerous?” Rembrandt added.
Quinn walked over to the computer desk with Professor Arturo and began examining the contents of the desk. The pair continued shuffling through paperwork as Wade checked the computer.
“I guess I’ll just stand here and look pretty.” Rembrandt said, he always felt the odd one out, never really a part of the group. Quinn and Arturo were the brains and Wade had her computer skills to fall back on. All Remmy could provide was a song if needed, in most situations a skill not required. He decided to check the other side of the room for any other bits of information. Remembering back to when he was a child in his basement he always found items of interest stacked under the basement stairs so decided to search there first.“These equations are all wrong.” Quinn told the Professor who also noticed the same thing.
“What do you mean?” Wade asked, looking up from the computer.
“It looks like they were trying to do something entirely different.”
Arturo glanced over Quinn’s shoulder. “I’ve seen this before. These are the equations used when shifting protons milliseconds into the future.”
“For what?” Rembrandt said, standing up from his examination. As he stood, the vortex sudden shifted. A man flew out towards Rembrandt who instinctively caught him. He wore tattered clothes, as if they were ripped apart by some unknown force. His face was red with blood and the rest of his body was not much better. He clutched a bundle of cloths tucked in between his hands; the bundle seemed to be moving as if something was alive inside. Rembrandt almost dropped the man from shear revulsion. The others ran over as Rembrandt set the man down easily. He was gasping for breath, and apparently blind. The vortex suddenly closed behind him.
“It was,... another failure.” He said to Rembrandt. “Something is still wrong. We... we still don’t have the proper equations.” The man gasped out his last breath and suddenly went limp. Wade covered her mouth and turned away. As the man died, the bundle he was holding dropped to the ground. Breaking free of the minimal protection was a bird. An odd looking bird to be sure, one not seen on Earth in a long time.
“Mr. Mallory, I do believe that’s a dodo bird.”
Next - Legion of Super Heroes; Against All Odds - Part 2
*This is part 9 of the 20 part 'Time And Alternate Dimension In Space'.
A Doctor Who, Quantum leap, Writers Block, Sliders & Legion of Super Heroes crossover.
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