Part 0

Disclaimer: I do not own Sliders. The characters are owned by Universal and the Sci Fi channel. Please do not sue. This story is not for profit and the author receives no financial compensation. This story may be freely distributed with the condition that no parts of the texts are modified.

Author's notes: This is the sequel to my story Shadows of Consciousness. I highly suggest you read that one first or else this story isn't going to make much sense.

Colin Mallory couldn't remember much. There was the swirling vortex, familiar in it's strangeness. Pulsating colors of blue and white that called to him from their shimmering depths. It seememd like forever ago when he had actually called to companions within the hole in space time. Forever since he had had friends -- family -- at all. No. Colin Mallory had been alone for a long time. But his mind stretched forward as his body rapidly shimmmered between space time dimensions.

Colin Mallory had been unstuck in between for almost two years. So the day that he woke up on the the metal laboratory floor didn't surprise him that much. It was the fact that he didn't immediately shift into another dimension that surprised him. And the voice that greeted him by name.

"Welcome Mr. Mallory," said a paunchy overweight man with thinning grey hair. He sat in a wheelchair and his smile seemed to be more of satisfaction that genuine happiness.

Colin breathed, and he found it took effort to speak. "Who...who..."

"Am I?" answered the man with a slight smirk that Colin couldn't read correctly.

The man moved the wheelchair closer and Colin realized he was being contained in a cage of some sort. "I," continued the man, "am Dr. Oberon Geiger. And I am the answer to all your prayers."

Colin felt his tongue. It was unused to the exercise of talking. In fact his whole body felt numbed. "What prayers would that be?" he managed to stutter out.

"Why to anchor you my boy of course," said Geiger.

"Anchor?"

"You have been what we call...unstuck betweeen dimensions for a very long time Colin. Do you know what year it is?"

Colin shook his head. He didn't remember much. Just the endless stream of faces and places....

"Well my boy, it's been nearly two years since you've beeen unstuck."

"Unstuck?" The word wobbled on his tongue like a summons.

"Stranded in space time. Floating through dimensions. Unanchored."

Colin nodded. "He understoood finally what the blur had been for the past two years without his friends.....his friends...

"My friends?" he croaked out.

"All in due time my boy," Geiger responded.

Maggie Beckett wandered slowly around the bend of the curved street where she had gone for a short walk before the slide. She had liked this world. It reminded her of home -- without the violence. Here, WWIII had been averted in the nick of time by the peacemaking efforts of Jesse Jackson. On her world, Jackson had been killled...and the war had raged on....

She wondered if there was a Stephen on this world. She'd been wondering that a lot lately. Maggie didn't want to admit it, but she was lonely. Quinn had Wade...Diana had Mallory...and that didn't leave her and Remmy a lot of options. Sure they were all her friends, but it wasn't the same.

To be continued...