Date: 08/16/2001
From: SouthernSlider

Finally, another chapter. I'll try to be more consistent -- honest.
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Chapter Twenty-one

When Remmy heard the creak of the opening door, his breath caught in his throat. He stopped the movement for several seconds, then slowly continued. No more sound. Opening the door just wide enough, he poked his head out. The halls were clear.

<I have to find a time card. I’ve made the decision, and I’m not going to back out now.> His heart banged loudly against his ribs; his silent words echoed through his mind
as he tip-toed down the hall. Seeing another door as he moved ahead, he wondered if this was where Quinn and the others had come. Loud voices. Quinn’s angry shouts about
Maggie. <The poor boy isn’t going to find her until I take action.>

Remmy passed the door and continued down the hallway. Another door loomed ahead on the left. As the shouts faded in the distance, his owned loud heartbeat returned to his ears. He couldn’t remember a time in all his sliding days when he had been so anxious . . . well, maybe when he first lost Wade, but all that would be in the past very soon. Things were going to change as soon as he got his hands on a time card.

“Halt right where you are!”

Remmy froze. Damn!

“Who are you? This zone is for authorized personnel only!” The voice boomed down the corridor as it closed in on Remmy’s ears. He turned slowly, scrambling for an
explanation that would satisfy the ominous voice. The man was in his face by the time he completed that turn.

“I . . . I came in with Professor Arturo. I was looking for a restroom.” Remmy mentally kicked himself for such a lame explanation.

“This is not Professor Arturo’s jurisdiction. He resides in the scientific wing.” A hideous weapon rose to greet Remmy’s face. A vice-grip of fingers clamped down on his
arm. “Come with me! You are unauthorized, and in restricted territory.”

“I promise you. I came in with Professor Arturo!” Remmy pleaded for understanding as the man forcefully pulled him along. He could feel the cold steel of the gun in his rib cage. “He came to see a man named Jim Austin. They work together . . . sort of.”

The man halted. “Jim Austin? We’ll see about that.” His fingers dug deeper into Remmy’s arm as he propelled him toward a door down the hallway. Remmy knew it was the one where he had heard the voices. He was doomed if this goon took him back to Quinn and the professor. He would never be able to go back in time. He had to get away.

Remmy let himself be dragged along without any resistance for several seconds. When they stopped at the door, he suddenly turned on the man, praying he could get the
upper hand before the man’s trigger finger could do any damage. It worked. The man was caught off-guard. As Remmy’s fist connected, the man’s grip loosened on the gun,
and it went skittering across the hall floor. Remmy saw the look of surprise and took advantage of it before the man could recover. A right jab to the ribs and a left hook to the jaw felled the man before he had a chance to retaliate. He went down. Down for the count. A half-smile formed on Remmy’s lips seconds before he caught himself. There would be time for smugness later. He wasn’t out of the woods yet.

Remmy grabbed the gun, looking back to see if the scuffle had alerted anyone on the other side of the door. It remained closed, but Remmy could hear nothing from inside. They must be talking to that Austin fellow. A glint caught his eye.

On the floor, a bright plastic card on a chain drew his attention. He glanced at the sleeping guard, then picked up the card for examination. One side held tiny, dotted
indentations. Some kind of code. He turned it over. A mass of small print: A -- 90’s, B -- 80’s, C -- 70’s, D -- 60’s, X -- beyond. Remmy flipped it over to the indented side, then back again.

“Could this be a time card?” he whispered. No time to think about it. Remmy jerked the card, chain and all, from the guard’s belt. He heard voices coming from beyond the door again. They were further away this time, maybe in a different room, but he could tell there were loud, angry words.

Not wanting to take any more chances, he didn’t wait around to try to listen to the conversation. He made a bee-line, with the card and gun, back to the room he had ducked
into earlier. He was going back in time and fix things once and for all. If he was fated to live this crazy life, he was going to have a little something to say about what line it would take. He hadn’t been able to do that since driving his caddy into that wormhole.

***

“Quinn, Maggie!” Colin interrupted their lambasting toward each other with a louder-than-normal voice. It was enough to bring the shouting to a halt and draw strange looks from both of them. “We need to find Remmy. There will time enough later to continue this.” His voice had returned to the more sedate level, but Quinn could hear the urgency in the words.

“You’re right,” He glared at Maggie with a promise that the conversation was far from over, but turned away with no chance for her to reciprocate the evil-eye. Besides,
Colin’s words had alarmed her.

“What do you mean, ‘we need to find Remmy?’” Where is he?”

Quinn spun around, his angry glare still in tact. “Well, if we knew that, we wouldn’t have to find him, would we?”

“Ooooooooo . . .”

But she never got the chance to expound on that sentiment. Quinn whirled around again, with Colin and the professor on his heels. She sped after them, not wanting to be alone for another second with the crazy man who had kidnapped her, and his twin goons.
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Have a nice day!

SS

I can't believe my eyes.

Date: 08/16/2001
From: DieselMickeyDolenz

It's an honest to goodness chapter of "Time in a Bottle" :-P Glad to see you haven't given up on it (or us). Personally, I hope Remmy makes it. :-D

DMD

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/1095/3543
Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz