Date: 05/26/2001
From: SouthernSlider

Good morning all, and happy weekend. All is well on this end. Just extreeeeeeeeemely busy trying to get #1 son married off next weekend, plus a multitude of other events to keep me crazy.

But I did find a few minutes to get here this morning to continue the story. Let's see what's going on.
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Chapter Ten

Maggie stomped down the street with no destination in mind. She just had to get out of that hotel room. Kicking herself with every step, she mentally cursed at the words
she had hurled at Remmy. They were stupid, self-pitying words; words she had no business even thinking, much less voicing.

“You’re an idiot, Beckett.”

The short bald-headed man approaching her frowned when he heard her words.

<<No, I’m not talking to you, hairless.>> She had to bite her tongue to keep those words to herself. When he was out of earshot she continued her monologue.

“Why not just speak your mind to everyone, Beckett . . . and have the whole world hate your guts.” Taking a few more steps, she muttered some unintelligible words and
received a few more stares.

Her mind was spinning with disgust for herself, and ways to rectify the situation. Remmy was never going to forgive her. If she could only take her words back. She
stopped dead in her tracks as that thought crossed her mind.

“Damn!” More stares from passersby, but this time she was oblivious. “Of course. The solution is so easy. Just go back in time, you idiot. Yes! And by going back
for only a few minutes, I can test the time travel on this world. Surely a few minutes won’t have any earth-shattering effects.” She started walking again, with purpose. “I’ll have to find someone who knows something about this time stuff, but maybe that won’t be . . .” She jerked to a stop, halting her progress once more. “Ask and ye shall receive.”

Maggie gazed at the shambled building with its glowing arrow pointing at the door. The words "Time in a Bottle" blinked in a steady rhythm with the movement of the
arrow.

“Surely, it can’t be that easy. I can’t believe they just sell time in the stores like . . . like a bottle of water, or something. And to think how worried Quinn was.”

She strode across the street, never once thinking about the traffic. A horn blew; words accosted her that would make the General blush. Hand gestures accompanied them. She return the sign with fervor, then headed on her way. Taking a deep breath at the threshold, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, wondering momentarily if she
would immediately be transported back in time.

“Too late to have that thought now, Beckett,” she said as the bell tinkled above her head and the door closed soundly.

The place was old and almost musty smelling. A slightly overweight man behind the counter waited on the only customer in the store. Everything looked like it was
plucked out of another era. <<Oh, shit. Maybe I did go back in time.>> A feeling of apprehension rushed through her veins.

“May I help you, young lady?”

Maggie nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to see the clerk standing right in her face.

“I, uh . . . I’m not sure.” She hesitated. <<Now what? You sound like the idiot you are.>> “Is this a place where you can go back in time?” She winced at how stupid she
sounded.

“Well, it’s certainly the place to get you on your way. Of course, the Timeline Enterprises Complex is where you actually have to go. I just make the transactions here.”

He smiled, putting Maggie just a little bit at ease. At least, he didn’t laugh at her, or look down at her for being so in the dark about things, and maybe she was still in her own time.

“What time are you thinking about? As you can see,” he swept his arm across the shelves full of bottles adorning the three walls, “we have ‘em all. Here is the past
decade, there are the twenty years before that, and on the other wall we have all the way back to 1955. If you want to go further, which of course, I’m sure you couldn’t, but if your parents wanted to, they’re behind the counter.” He pointed to each place as he talked about the different times. “Have to keep those times a little more secure, you
understand.”

Maggie absent-mindedly shook her head in the affirmative, although she had no idea what he meant by that. She was more than overwhelmed by what she was hearing. He spoke as if time traveling were as common as going to the movies. But why should that be so awesome to her? She was a slider; a traveler to other worlds. She could stun
him ten times more than he was stunning her.

“Uh, what about just for a few minutes?” she asked.

He frowned. “Excuse me?”

“A few minutes. I just want to go back in time for, say, fifteen, twenty minutes. Is that possible?”

The man stared at her, his brows knitted together in a stiff frown. The hair on the back of her neck prickled. She was sure she had said the wrong thing. Another open
mouth, insert foot moment. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut? Remmy hated her, and now she was going to get into trouble on this world.

“Uh, never mind. It was just a thought.” She turned to leave before the man even acknowledged her words, but she wasn’t quick enough. A rough hand clamped down on her upper arm before she reached the door.

“Just a minute, young lady. I think we need to talk.” His sudden change from sunny servant for the public to manhandling ogre told Maggie she was in trouble.

She bit her lower lip. What the hell was she going to do now? She wasn’t sure any of her military training could get her away from this burly man. And no one knew
where she was -- not that anyone would care. Certainly not Remmy; and Quinn’s mind was on getting Wade back. This man could send her back to some obscure time to get rid
of her, and no one would be the wiser. <<Well, Beckett, this is certainly a fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into.>>

“Why don’t we step into my office in the back and have a conversation.”

The man’s voice pulled her from her morbid thoughts. “Why don’t I just leave and we forget we ever had 'this' conversation,” Maggie said.

“I don’t think so,” he answered, and pulled her with him toward the back of the store.
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That will have to keep you satisfied for a few days. I won't be back until Tuesday evening. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

SS

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/1095/3412
Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz