Several birds were sitting peacefully in the grass. Suddenly agitated, they flew away. A second later a hole formed, ripping apart the fabric of space. The hole was the exit end of a space vortex which allowed its passengers to travel from one world to the next. The force the vortex propelled them at was hard to fight against and they usually ended up landing on top of each other. The first person through the vortex was a tall youth in his early 20’s. He hit the ground and rolled, he was accustomed to this by now. Following him was large man, large in every sense of the word. His closest friend was likely to be a jelly doughnut rather than a carrot stick. He landed quickly, rolled once then came to a stop. He knew two more were coming out of the wormhole and he wanted to be ready to avoid them as best as possible. The next one was a young lady, she came out flying faster than the other two, but more agile and landed on her feet, though tripping over the large mans legs. Finally, the last member exited the wormhole and he landed on one foot, tripped and hit the larger man in his stomach as he rolled over and onto the ground. The vortex behind them quickly closed as they picked themselves up.“Mr. Mallory! One day, on one world we must seriously sit down and think of a better way for us to travel through the slide. I’m getting too old for this. It’s getting rough.”
“Well Professor, maybe if you took better care of yourself it wouldn’t be so bad.” This was the dry wit of Rembrandt Brown. He was always teasing the Professor about his weight. Professor Arturo knew it was Rembrandt's way of dealing with the sliding, but he didn't care for it.
“Remmy, cut him some slack.” Wade Wells scolded him. “Haven’t we got enough to deal with without insulting each other?”
Rembrandt’s smile faded as he picked himself up and then helped Professor Maximilian Arturo to his feet as well, “Sorry.”
Quinn Mallory ignored everyone as he looked around. They were in a clearing surround by a few trees. In the distance was a single building and a dense group of trees. “What do you guys make of that?” Quinn asked the group. This was Quinn’s diplomatic way of getting everyone to work together instead of against each other.
Rembrandt took a look around, “Seems the only place of civilization. I suppose we should head for it.”
“What if they’re not friendly?” Wade asked skeptically. They had landed on many alternate Earth's where trouble arose from their very arrival.
Rembrandt replied, “And what if they are? Come on Professor, maybe they have doughnuts.” He laughed at his joke while the rest of the group began to follow.
“How long do we have?” Quinn asked, Arturo was holding a timer which displayed when the next wormhole would open and suck them into the next world.
“Only three hours. Maybe we should hold back and rest till the next slide.” Professor Arturo was not looking forward to the half-mile walk to the building.“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Quinn replied as he rushed to catch up with Wade and Rembrandt.
“I’m still waiting for it to catch up with me.”
The walk to the house was quiet; everyone in their own thoughts. It wasn’t often they had time to themselves; usually they were being chased by crazed drug-lords, tyrannical wizard impersonators, or dinosaurs, depending on which world they landed on. The house was plain, not much in the way of decoration either on the lawn, or the house itself. Rembrandt knocked on the door.
“Notice anything out of order?” Arturo asked.
Rembrandt didn’t notice anything unusual except for the sparseness of the decor. He shook his head.
Wade spoke, “No doorbell.” She looked again to see if anything else was unusual “and no locks.”
“Precisely Miss Wells. And that means?”
Quinn laughed to himself. Maximilian Arturo loved to play professor. Wade and Rembrandt were always happy to oblige.
“They are not expecting anyone to show up.”
“Or this is a open and friendly society.” Rembrandt added.
“Or they welcome all visitors.” Wade shot back.
“So perhaps we should walk right in.” Arturo opened the door and walked in, calling out 'Hello'. The building inside was as barren as it was outside, even furniture.There was a moments pause as the group listened for a response. “I guess no one’s home.” Rembrandt offered up.
“Professor, check this out.” Quinn called out. He was investigating more of the house and was now in the kitchen. A few pieces of furniture were within. A table, chairs, and as Quinn opened one of the cupboards, it was full of food. Wade walked over and opened another cupboard, stacked with dishes.
“How very odd indeed,” Arturo said. He opened the refrigerator, for a second regretted it as he looked to see if Rembrandt was going to tease him. He didn’t. “Meats, cheeses, milk. All look fresh.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t be in here?” Wade nervously added.
“Nonsense, if they didn’t want people inside, they would have….” Arturo was cut off by Quinn shushing him.
“Does anyone else hear that?” Everyone stopped and listened. They heard a humming noise coming from beneath them. Quinn walked over to a door at the far end of the kitchen and opened it. A flight of stairs led to a basement. “Hello?” Quinn shouted down the steps. There was no reply. He took a cautious step down. He listened, trying to hear other people. He shouted out ‘hello’ once more as he continued down the steps. Rembrandt followed him down with Wade and the Professor behind.
“Would you look at that?” Quinn said as he finished walking down the steps. He moved further into the room allowing the others to see what he was looking at. At the far wall was a desk with a sole computer on it, left on despite no one in the room. Yet, that wasn’t nearly as odd as the giant vortex, open in the center of the room.
Next: Legion of Super Heroes, "Against All Odds"
*This is part 4 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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