Underground
by Nigel G. Mitchell

(c) Copyright May 1996 by Nigel G. Mitchell

The following story is intended for entertainment purposes only. This document can be freely distributed with the condition that no part of the text is modified, and this notice is included with all copies. This document cannot be sold or translated into any other form without written permission from the author. Some characters and elements of this story are the property of St. Clare Entertainment, used without authorization. The author receives no compensation from the distribution of this work. Any comments or criticism would be welcome at zikzak23@usa.pipeline.com.

Author's Note: The following story takes place sometime during the second season between "In Dino Veritas" and "Post-Traumatic Slide Syndrome."

PART ONE

Quinn crawled along the grass of Golden Gate Park, his face inches away from the soil. He couldn't find what he was looking for, but he knew it was there. He could see other people in the park out of the corner of his eye, staring at him, but Quinn ignored them. He focused only on the ground beneath him. It had to be there. It had to...

Then he saw it. A small stone about the size of a bead. Though it was unpolished, it still gleamed softly in the sunlight.

Quinn carefully dug it up with his finger. After brushing off some of the grains still clinging to its surface, Quinn slipped the pebble into the small leather pouch at his belt. He listened to the satisfying click of the stone bouncing against the others already inside his bag, then went back to his hunting. There were more. There always were.

He crawled up to the trunk of a nearby tree, a bird chirping in the branches above his head. When his head banged into something, he thought it was the tree, but he looked up into the wide eyes of a young woman.

"Hey, Quinn," the woman said, "watch where you're going, huh?"

Quinn grinned sheepishly. "Right. Sorry, Wade."

Wade gave him a smile as she plucked a stone out from under a thick root of the tree. "That's okay. It is kinda hard to keep your mind on things when there's diamonds underfoot."

Quinn nodded as he got to his feet. They were all feeling the excitement of being in a world where diamonds were as common as rocks. It was just what they needed; a way to replenish their rapidly diminishing funds.

Sliding was a surprisingly expensive activity. They couldn't carry clothes, food, or other supplies with them through the wormhole, let alone a house or a car. So they ended up renting rooms at the Dominion Hotel and taking taxi cabs in most of the worlds they went to. And they rarely stayed in worlds long enough to get jobs, so their funds shrank quickly. But thankfully, they managed to slide into the occasional world where they could get money again.

They only had a few minutes on this world, so the plan had been to get as many diamonds as possible as quickly as possible to sell in the next world. Quinn had been on his hands and knees for the last half-hour, gathering diamonds. As he stood, his back protested its enforced position with a twinge of pain, and he groaned as he kneaded his muscles back to life.

"How much did you get?" Quinn asked.

Wade stood, brushing dirt off her jeans, then sifted through her paper bag. "I dunno. About twenty. I've been going for the big ones. I figure, why load myself down with little ones when the heavy rocks are worth more."

Quinn grinned as he shook his pouch, listening to the soft clatter. "Not me. The big ones are too hard to find. I say, go for what you can get."

Wade smirked up at him. "That's my Quinn, always taking the easy way out."

Rembrandt came up from behind a hill, laughing as he held his hands up in the air. "We're rich, guys. Rich, I tell you! I ain't seen so many stones since Liberace played with me and the Topps in '79!"

Wade laughed as he approached. "How much you get?"

"Enough to set me up for life, that's how much." Rembrandt let the diamonds in one hand spill out of his fingers into his other palm. "Man, this world is the best. Diamonds everywhere you look. I figure I can buy my own recording studio, produce my own records, get myself back on top. And have plenty left over for a new Caddie."

Rembrandt grabbed Quinn, wrapping his arm around Quinn's neck. "I take back everything I said about you, Q-Ball. Sliding is the best thing that ever happened to me."

He let go of Quinn to press his diamonds against his lips in a loud kiss.

"Glad you're happy." Quinn pulled the timing device out of his pocket, flipping it open with a practiced movement. He read the blinking red display that counted down numbers slowly. "Remmy, have you seen the professor?"

Rembrandt was stuffing diamonds into his pockets as he shook his head. "Naw, man, haven't seen him in a while. We were working the other side of the park when he muttered somethin' about diggin' for truffles, and took off."

Quinn shaded his eyes against the sun to look around them. "Well, he'd better get here soon. We only have a few minutes before we slide."

Wade pointed at the footpath that ran beneath the nearby stone bridge. "Wait. There he is."

And he was. Professor Arturo was striding calmly down the cobblestone path to join the others. He had a bemused look on his face that Quinn recognized. It was the look the professor used when he was feeling smug.

"Well," Arturo said, "good afternoon, lady and gentlemen. I take it your little scavenger hunt went well?"

Wade held up her paper bag. "Sure did. How'd you do?"

Arturo's smile cranked up a notch as he drew a plastic bag out of his pocket. "Quite well, actually. While the rest of you spent your time on this world digging in the dirt like pigs digging for truffles, I discovered a simpler and more efficient way of acquiring the necessary stones."

Arturo held up the bag, allowing the others to inspect its contents. The plastic bag was filled with diamonds that sparkled in the light. They were all perfectly shaped into small rounded beads, casting speckled light onto Wade's astonished face.

"You had your stones shaped and polished?" she asked.

Arturo pulled back the bag to look at it. "Not at all. It was done for me. You see, we know that diamonds here are very common, as common as, say, quartz on our world. As a result, they are virtually worthless here. But I speculated that diamonds would still be used for various purposes, like drilling or for ornamental purpose..."

"Come on, professor," Rembrandt said. "Cut the song and dance, will ya? Where'd you get the rocks?"

Arturo's smile fell as he regarded Rembrandt with a glare. "Very well, Rembrandt, since you insist on degrading any dramatic content I might impart on this moment. I simply went to a nearby petstore. It's aquarium gravel. Cost me three dollars, and I would say it's worth, oh, fifteen million at the going rate when we left our world."

Rembrandt threw up his hands, walking away from the group a few feet. "Great. Just great. And you couldn't have shared that with us before we finished crawling around the park like idiots?"

Arturo tucked the bag into his pocket. "Well, I would have, but you seemed to be enjoying yourselves."

"Enjoying ourselves? Come on, professor, if I'da known you could get this stuff off the shelf, I wouldn'tve..."

Quinn was the first to hear the familiar beeping of his timer that signaled the time was up. He flipped it open, watching the numbers dance on the display as it reached zero.

"Here we go, guys," he interrupted, then pressed the activation button.

Rembrandt and Arturo stopped arguing to watch as Quinn aimed the timer at an empty space. Even after the number of slides they had been through, none of them ever lost the feeling of awe from watching the wormhole form.

The blast of air came first, carrying with it the tang of ozone. Then a patch of the world seemed to collapse, sinking into a round hole that was suspended in midair. The hole expanded to about six feet around, light flowing into it, like water pouring down a drain.

The Sliders stood there, bathed in the dancing light of the wormhole for a moment, then looked at each other.

"I go first," Arturo said.

"No way, man," Rembrandt said. "You went first last time. It's Wade's turn."

"Great," Wade murmured, then turned herself to face the wormhole.

She clenched her fists against her sides, then ran forward at full-speed towards the portal. At the last moment, she jumped, leaping into the portal like she was leaping off a cliff. She dissolved into a pattern of light on the wormhole's surface.

Arturo followed her, plunging into the roaring depths of hyperspace. Rembrandt cast one more look at the park, then threw himself into the wormhole. Quinn was the last to go, leaving their world behind for the unknown.

*

"Oof!"

"Hey! Who hit me!"

"It's me. Quinn. Sorry, I dropped out of the wormhole. Didn't see you standing there. Didn't see anything, actually..."

"That you, Q-Ball?"

"Yeah, Remmy. Wade, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had the wind knocked out of me, that's all. Where are we?"

"I dunno. It's dark. Can't see a thing, can you?"

"Not me. I think I feel something, though. Feels like cloth..."

"That is me, Miss Welles, and I would appreciate if you did not manhandle my coat."

"Well, sor-ry, professor."

"Ow! Hey, there's somethin' on the ceiling, hit me in the head. Feels like a stick or somethin'. Can't move it..."

"Hey, guys...I feel a wall, but it feels weird. Rough..."

"A moment, Miss Welles. I happen to have my lighter with me. It should provide adequate illumination...there."

A flame snapped into existence. Its flickering light cast Arturo into sharp relief, surrounded by darkness. He moved the lighter out farther to shed light onto the others, all gathered around him. Quinn saw he was standing next to Rembrandt, who was rubbing his forehead, wincing in pain.

"There," Arturo said, "now, let's see if we can determine where we've found ourselves this time. Miss Welles?"

Wade's voice came from behind Quinn. "Over here, professor."

Arturo moved forward, thrusting his lighter ahead of himself to pierce the darkness. Its small sphere of light cast onto Wade. She was standing against the uneven surface of a wall, running her hands over its surface.

"I think it's stone," Wade said.

Arturo squinted at the wall. "Yes. Limestone, I believe."

"Hey, guys," Rembrandt said.

Quinn's attention was drawn to Rembrandt, who was pointing at an elongated cone protruding from above them.

"I found what hit me," Rembrandt said.

"A stalagmite?" Wade asked.

"Stalactite," Quinn said. "Stalagmites are on the ground."

Arturo moved his lighter around the chamber they were in, breaking away the shadows that danced around them. "I believe we're in some sort of cave."

"A cave," Wade said. "We slid into a cave?"

"Indeed." Arturo took a few steps forward, his light falling onto another wall of stone. "Quite a small one, it seems. I say...I seem to be having trouble locating an exit."

Quinn walked away from him, into the darkness with his hands in front of him. "Everybody spread out, see if you can find it."

He stepped further into the murky depths of the caves, the light closing itself behind him. Quinn could hear the shuffling footsteps of his companions as they did the same. His breathing seemed to be growing louder.

Then his hands came in contact with rock. Quinn ran his fingers over it, letting its grainy texture slither under his palm as he shifted to one side, then the other.

"Nothing on this side," he said.

"Same here," Wade called out.

Rembrandt's voice echoed as he said, "Ditto."

There was a pause before Professor Arturo said, "I... I must admit the same."

Quinn felt a chill run through him as a thought came to his mind. He tried to force it out as he walked back to the others, back into the light of Arturo's lighter. The smell of butane grew as he approached the professor, who looked back at him with a grim expression.

"People," Arturo said, "I think we have a problem here."

Wade looked at him, then took a step back. "You're saying there's no way out?"

"I'm afraid so," Arturo said. "We seem to have slid into a rather small cave devoid of an exit."

Rembrandt nudged Quinn with his elbow. "How much time we got before the next slide?"

Quinn remembered his timer and pulled it out. "Good thinking. Bring that light over here, professor."

Arturo obliged, leaning closer. The others all huddled around the tiny flame that cast a yellowish glow upon the timer's blinking display.

They all read it at the same time. Quinn knew this because they all inhaled, sharply, in one breath.

According to the timer, their next slide was eight days away.

Rembrandt backed away from the timer in Quinn's hand, as if it was an evil talisman. "No. No, that...that can't be right. Tell me that don't say eight days."

Quinn swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat as he gazed at the display by the light of Arturo's lighter. "Yeah, Rembrandt. It's...it's eight days."

"Eight days?" Rembrandt yelled. "We're gonna be stuck in this cave for eight days? I'll go stir-crazy!"

"I'm afraid we have more pressing concerns, Rembrandt," Arturo said. "In this cave, we have no food or water. Without food, we might last the week. But without water...we cannot last more than two days, three at the most. Five days short of our next slide."

Rembrandt charged towards the others again. "Forget about that. How much air you think we got in here?"

Arturo's eyes widened as he looked around them at the walls, alive with shadows. "Good heavens. I hadn't thought of that. I...wouldn't guess that we have more than an hours' worth of air in here. Possibly less."

Quinn closed his eyes and groaned. The walls seemed to be closing in him, crushing him not with stone, but with reality, squeezing him as tightly as a fist.

"An hour," Rembrandt said. "Okay. That's it. Q-Ball, turn on that timer and get us outta here, right now."

Quinn suppressed the urge to shout as he faced Rembrandt. "Rembrandt, I have explained this to you a billion times. I can't open another Bridge until the time is up. We have to wait for another dimension to align itself with ours. And according to the timer, that won't happen for another eight days. You might as well ask me to part the Red Sea. It just ain't gonna happen."

Rembrandt let his hands fall to his sides. "So you're sayin' we're trapped in here? Trapped in here for eight days, choosin' between starvin' or suffocatin'?"

Quinn swallowed. The lump wouldn't go down. "Yeah. That's about it."

Rembrandt cradled his head in his hands as Wade began running her hands over the walls again. "How'd this happen. That's all I wanna know. How did this happen? What kinda world is this?"

Arturo brought the lighter over to a wall to inspect it, the flame rippling in response. "Well, I am hardly in a position to make an educated guess, but I would theorize that we are in a world where a landmass occupies the space we last left. It could be a hill. Or perhaps a mountain. I suppose it could have been worse. A few feet to the left or right, and we might have slid into who-knows-what. Perhaps solid rock."

Wade slapped the wall of the cave with a palm. "Okay, we gotta get out of here. Help! Help!" She rapped on the cave's wall with a fist.

"What're you doing?" Quinn asked.

Wade glared at him over her shoulder. "I'm calling for help. What's it look like? Help!" She banged on the stone again.

Arturo approached her with the light. "Wade, there is no guarantee that there is anyone out there to hear us. And even if there were, there could be hundreds of feet of rock to block our voices. To spend our time in here screaming would only waste air and energy."

Wade pushed away from the wall, spinning herself to glare up at Arturo. "All right, professor, you got a better idea?"

Arturo raised himself up slightly, looking down at her. "Certainly. We shall dig our way out."

"Dig?" Wade thrust a finger at the ceiling. "You're the one who said there's hundreds of feet of rock out there."

"Correction. I said there _could_ be hundreds or there could be three. We have no way of knowing if we do not try. We had best get ourselves out of this situation without depending on imaginary people to do it for us."

Wade folded her arms, tilting her head to one side. "Okay, smart guy, try this one. Which direction should we dig? Huh? How do we know which way is closest to the surface? Up, down, left, right, what?"

Quinn felt the tremble beneath his feet before the rumble came. It started low, then gradually increased. The others looked around at the walls, pebbles breaking loose to clatter to the ground. The rumble swelled into a roar. Quinn pressed his hands over his ears, struggling to keep out the noise. Just as it reached an unbearable peak, the noise began to fade into silence once again.

The others had their ears covered as well. Wade pulled away her hands as she looked around herself.

"What was that?" Wade whispered.

"What'd it feel like?" Rembrandt asked. "It was an earthquake. That's just beautiful. Bad enough we're trapped in here with no food or air without worryin' about the roof cavin' in on us."

"Exactly my point, Rembrandt," Arturo said. "If we are to get out of here, we must do so as quickly as possible. Digging seems to be our only solution."

Quinn considered their options. He didn't have to think long before nodding. "Yeah. Okay. I guess we don't have a choice. But Wade's right. Which way do we dig?"

Arturo faced a wall with his lighter, spreading a hand towards it. "This way seems to be as good as any."

Quinn took a deep breath, inhaling the thick scent of butane that was filling the cave. "Okay, let's do it."

The four of them gathered in front of the portion of the wall Arturo lit with his lighter. Quinn pressed his hand against the rock, grunting with effort. It didn't budge.

"There's no way we can dig through that with our bare hands," he said.

"Yeah," Rembrandt said, "but didn't the professor say somethin' about diamonds bein' used for drilling?"

Arturo looked at him, nodding slowly. "Of course. An excellent idea. Diamonds are one of the hardest substances on Earth. It could easily break through this rock."

"Only problem is," Quinn murmured, "none of us has diamonds big enough. Except..."

He focused his grin on Wade, who clutched at the paper bag in her hands.

"Oh, come on," Wade said. "I spent an hour getting these babies."

"Wade..."

Wade sighed, waving him off. "I know, I know. We don't have much choice. Just wish we didn't have to use my nest-egg as a means of escape."

She opened the bag, its rustling filling the cave as she pulled out four diamonds. Wade passed them around to the others. Rembrandt looked at his, the size of a small egg, and whistled.

"Man oh man," he said. "This beauty's gonna bring a tidy sum on the market."

Arturo hefted his stone. "True. If we ever get the chance to sell it. I suggest we begin. On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"

They all struck the cave-wall with their diamonds. Pieces of rock went flying, splintering, as holes formed. Rembrandt laughed and attacked the wall with vigor. It yielded to his attack, loosening large chunks that clattered to the floor.

"Hey, this could work, after all," Wade said. "Good thinking, professor. You too, Rembrandt."

Arturo smiled at her. "As always, Miss Welles."

Quinn struck the rockface again and again, his diamond trembling with each blow in his hand. The crack and thump of the others digging was the only sound.

"Well," Rembrandt said, "this could get kinda borin' after a while."

Wade paused her diamond in midair, then brought it down with a loud bang. "Hey, we could play a game to pass the time. Like, um, twenty questions. Okay, I'm thinking of something. What is it?"

"Is it a mineral?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah."

"Limestone."

Wade looked up at him. "Yeah. How'd you guess?"

Quinn looked up at the ceiling of the cave, stalactites hanging down like swords suspended over their heads. "It's all I can think about, too."

*

Quinn's hand ached as he struck the wall over and over again. Rocks and soil were piled at his feet, covering his shoes in some places. He looked at the progress they were making. It wasn't enough.

Arturo struck the cave again, digging out a thick block of stone. "You know, it strikes me that this is similar to a predicament found in H.G. Wells' 'Time Machine.' It seems that during his journey through time, the protagonist found himself encased in a mountain with no way out."

"How'd he get out?" Wade asked.

"He set his time machine to send him forward in time until the mountain broke apart by erosion."

"Well, there's an idea," Rembrandt said. "Think you can pull that off, Quinn?"

Quinn shook his head, wiping sweat off his forehead, gritty from smeared dirt. "I wish I could, but the sliding machine's not a time machine."

Rembrandt sighed, resting against the wall. "Say, is it gettin' hot in here?"

"Yes," Arturo said. "It would seem our body heat and breathing are warming the air in the cave."

"Air." Rembrandt ran his fingers over his throat. "I ain't suffocated yet, so I guess we have enough, huh? How'll we know when we run out?"

Wade slumped against the wall, breathing heavy. "Well, I went scuba diving once, and they explained hypoxia to me. They said it starts where you feel kinda drowsy, drunk. You get clumsy, but still feel good. By the end, you know you need oxygen, but you don't care. You just...fall asleep and never wake up."

Rembrandt nodded and gave the wall a half-hearted strike with his diamond. "Sounds almost...peaceful. Guess there are worse ways to go."

Quinn couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, can we knock off the negative talk? We're gonna get out of here, no question."

"No sense denyin' the truth, Q-Ball." Rembrandt let his hand fall, his face flickering in the uneven light. "How long we been at this?"

Arturo seemed only too happy to stop digging and look at his watch. "Roughly fifteen minutes."

Rembrandt dropped his diamond. "This ain't gonna work. Fifteen minutes, and we've barely made a dent in this thing."

Arturo glared at him. "Well, we've got to try."

Rembrandt's face seemed to darken. "Why, because you say so?"

"No, because it's our only recourse."

"That's what you say, but there's gotta be somethin' else we can do. Somethin'. Anything."

Arturo brushed a trickle of sweat off his face. "Mr. Brown, there is no other way. We just have to do the best we can."

Rembrandt charged towards him. "Hey, I am gettin' a little sick o' your..."

A stone came loose from the ceiling. It crashed to the ground between Rembrandt and Arturo. Then more pebbles fell as the rumble came again. The gravel fell like hail onto them as the growl of the Earth swelled. Quinn pressed himself against the wall of the cave, flattening his hands against it, as if to hold it up.

But he could not succeed. A larger chunk fell from the top of the cave, bringing with it a storm of loose soil.

Wade huddled against the opposite wall of the cave. "Another earthquake!"

"Oh, no," Arturo whispered. "The cave. It's collapsing."

Rembrandt ducked as more rocks showered down on them from the roof of the cave. "It's gettin' worse!"

"What'll we do?" Wade yelled over the roar of the quake.

"Hope for the best, Miss Welles," Arturo called back. "It's all we can do!"

Arturo' dropped the lighter that illuminated the cave. It hit the floor, and the flame went out. The cave was plunged into darkness again.

Quinn closed his eyes. He felt the earth tremble beneath him, vibrating in a steady rhythm. The roar increased, even louder this time, filling the cave. To Quinn, it seemed like the cave itself was crying out, the roar of a lion about to devour them in an avalanche of soil and rock.

Then the roar faded. Quinn felt his muscles loosen as the noise faded into a distant rumble. Then the tremors faded into nothingness. He opened his eyes.

He could see nothing. The interior of the cave was still dark, darker than the inside of his eyes. It was silent with the tremor past. Then the rustling of his friends getting to their feet came.

"Is everyone okay?" Quinn asked.

After a few soft clicks, Arturo's lighter flared to life again, casting light on the inside of the small cave. He was holding it, using it to illuminate Wade and Rembrandt, who still clung to the walls.

"I believe so," Arturo said.

Wade rose, then gasped, wincing as she clutched her shoulder. "Ah. Ouch. A rock hit me."

Quinn moved over to where she was lying as Arturo leaned closer with his lighter. The light was dim, but he could make out a brownish-red stain forming on Wade's shirt. He delicately pulled the cloth aside to expose a huge gash on her shoulderblade, oozing trickles of blood.

"Oh, man," Quinn said. "Don't move, Wade. It cut you."

"We must disinfect it," Arturo said. "I doubt this cave is very sanitary."

"Disinfect it with what, professor?" Rembrandt asked. "This ain't exactly Walgreen's down here."

Quinn ignored them, focusing on the injury. He was trying to remember his first-aid training in health class. The wound was bleeding a lot. That meant he needed to stop the blood. With pressure. That was it.

Quinn tore off the sleeve of his shirt. There was some dirt and pebbles in the cut. Quinn used the cloth to gently brush out as much of the debris as he could, then pressed the cloth onto the wound. Wade winced and tried to pull away.

"No," Quinn said. "Keep up the pressure. It'll stop the bleeding long enough to get you some real bandages when we get out."

Wade smiled up at him. Quinn tried not to notice her pale skin. "Don't you mean 'if' we get out?'"

"Don't talk like that. We're gonna get out of here."

"And we must do so quickly," Arturo said. "This world seems to have a considerable amount of tremors. If they continue, there is a good chance they will trigger a cave-in. We'll be buried alive."

Wade sighed. "Then we better get back to work. Somebody..."

She pushed herself into a sitting position, but dropped back down again into Quinn's arms. She grimaced, her breathing coming in short gasps. He could smell the sweat that was forming on her skin from the exertion.

"I told you not to move," Quinn said. "You're hurt bad. You won't be digging anymore."

Wade opened her eyes slightly, looking up at him with slightly unfocused eyes. "But...then there'll only...be three of you digging. We'll never make it..."

Quinn tightened his grip on her, pulling her close. "That doesn't matter. Just rest. We can pull this off by ourselves, right, guys?"

He looked up at Arturo and Rembrandt, who stood over Wade. They looked at each other, their faces twisted in skeptical expressions, but Rembrandt forced a smile.

"Yeah, sure," Rembrandt said. "We'll be outta here in no time."

"Uh, yes, of course," Arturo said. "Quicker than you can say Pythagorean Theorem."

"Right." Quinn gently lowered Wade back onto the ground, lying prone on the rocky soil. "Just relax, and we'll do the rest."

"Okay," Wade sighed. "I am...kinda tired."

Rembrandt pressed a hand to his forehead. Quinn watched him sway a little from side to side. Or at least, Quinn thought he was swaying.

"Hey, yeah," Rembrandt said. "I'm feelin'...kinda tired, too. Dizzy..."

Arturo took a deep breath, then said, "The air. We're running out of air."

Quinn got to his feet. He was surprised at how hard it was to remain standing. His body seemed to be pulling him to one side, dragging him back down.

"We gotta get back to work," he said. "Back to... work. Gotta get out."

He staggered over to the portion of the rockface they had been working on. It wasn't there. No, it was there, but it had been filled in by gravel and loose soil. The tremors must have caved it in.

"Terrific," Rembrandt said. "We gotta...start all over again?"

Quinn speech seemed slurred to him as he dug his fingers into the debris. "Yeah. We gotta keep digging. Gotta get out. Gimme a...a hand."

Arturo and Rembrandt moved to his side. They joined Quinn in clearing the hole again. The crackle of the rocks against rocks seemed unbearably loud to Quinn, but he ignored it, forcing himself to work.

Then the hole was clear again, the limestone exposed. Quinn dug the diamond he had been using as a shovel up from the ground. He raised it high above his head. His arm seemed frozen there, unable to move. Then his arm seemed to break loose, crashing down on the wall again, the impact shaking his arm.

A small piece of the limestone came loose, flying off into a corner.

"Let's go, guys," Quinn said, but wondered if he was saying it to the others or himself.

Arturo and Rembrandt began to dig, their diamonds cracking against the rockface in a steady rhythm. Quinn worked, his arm growing heavier with each blow. The cave seemed to be fading in and out, blurring before his eyes. For a moment, Quinn wondered why he was doing this, then remembered he was trapped in a cave with his friends. They had to get out. Had to dig their way out. Break the rock and free themselves. Had to...

"Ow!" Rembrandt lunged away from the wall, clutching his hand. "You hit me, professor! You hit me!"

Arturo looked down at the diamond in his hand as if he had never seen it before. "Oh...I'm...I'm sorry, Rembrandt. I seem to be having...trouble... seeing what I'm doing."

Rembrandt brought his hand close to the lighter's flame. "Oh, great. It's bleedin'. Probably infected, too."

"I said I was sorry," Arturo murmured. He raised his diamond to strike the wall again.

Rembrandt grabbed him by the lapels. He slammed Arturo against the wall, leaning close to his face.

"You're sorry!" Rembrandt yelled. "Is that all you can say? You nearly bust my hand wide open, and all you can say is sorry?"

Quinn reached out a hand to calm Rembrandt. His hand missed Rembrandt's shoulder somehow, grasping at air.

"Hey," Quinn said, "Remmy, come on. Calm down. It was an accident. Forget about it."

"It's not an accident!" Rembrandt yelled. "He's always lookin' out for himself! Never the rest of us! Just like in the park!"

Arturo struggled to break Rembrandt's grip. "Mr. Brown, please..."

"Don't gimme that Mr. Brown crap! My name's Rembrandt! And it's always the same, isn't it, you always gotta be better than everyone else! You always gotta be lookin' out for yourself! Like in Prison World! You were gonna leave us behind!"

"Rembrandt," Quinn started, but couldn't finish.

"What are you talking about?" Arturo asked. "That was a trick, a ruse to exit the cell..."

"Yeah, that's what you say. But that speech you gave...that's wasn't all part of the plan. Some of it was improv. It was true, wasn't it? If you got the chance, you'd drop us all in a heartbeat. Admit it!"

Quinn finally managed to get his hands on Rembrandt. He pulled with all his strength, hauling him away from Professor Arturo. Rembrandt seemed to be as weak as Quinn, because his hands slid off Arturo's coat easily.

"Stop it!" Quinn yelled. "You're delirious, Remmy, you dunno what you're saying! Now, let's get back to work..."

Rembrandt ran his fingers through his shortly-cropped hair. "Aw, man, this ain't work. It's suicide. We're not gonna dig our way outta here. You know it, I know it, the professor knows it."

Rembrandt let his arms fall to his sides. "We're dead, man. We're dead, and you won't even admit it."

Quinn closed his eyes, the words stinging him somewhere inside. "No. No, that's...that's not true..."

He felt a soft hand close around his. It was Wade, looking up at him with a face as pale as a cloud.

"Come on, Quinn," she whispered. "He's right. You know it. We're just working ourselves to death over nothing. This is it. We're gonna die."

Quinn pulled himself out of her grip, throwing himself at the wall. "No. No, you're all crazy. Delirious. We can do this. Right, professor? We can do this!"

Arturo was looking at him, dark circles forming under his reddening eyes. "No, my boy. I'm afraid I must agree with the others on this one. My plan...is an exercise in futility. We are going to die."

"No." Quinn pressed himself at the wall of the cave. He forced his fingers deeper into the rock, feeling jagged edges cutting into his skin. But he kept going, trying to claw away the stone with his nails, his bones, his very soul. He felt tears burning his eyes until they burst free, running down his cheeks.

"No!" he screamed. "We're not gonna die! It can't end! Not like this! Not...not like this, please! Don't let us die like this..."

The hand closed around his jacket again. Quinn allowed himself to be pulled down next to Wade. He felt her soft lips touch his, kissing him deeply. Her warm hands wiped away the tears on his cheeks.

"Please, Quinn," Wade whispered. "Don't let us die like this. Struggling to fix something we can't change. Let's die together. At peace."

Quinn opened his eyes, looking into hers. He tore himself away from her to look up at Rembrandt and Arturo standing over him. They looked down at him, Rembrandt's eyebrows raised.

"Please," Wade whispered.

Quinn closed his eyes. "Okay. Okay, I give up. You win. It's over."

Somehow Quinn felt more at peace once the words were out of his mouth. He said it again. "It's over. I give up." And the peace grew. For some reason.

Wade smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her cool cheek against his. "Thank you, Quinn. Thank you."

Rembrant sat down, leaning against the opposite wall of the cave. Arturo dropped next to him with a sigh. They lay there for a moment, bathed in the dancing light of the professor's lighter.

"You know," Arturo said, "Edgar Allen Poe's greatest fear was that he would be buried alive."

Rembrandt nodded. "You know...it's not so bad. It's like Wade was sayin'. I know we're runnin' outta air, but...I don't feel that bad. Feels pretty good, actually."

"Yes," Arturo murmured. "There is a slight buzzing in my head that is not unpleasant. Facing death...it's surprising how it affects you. I find myself thinking of a few papers I had meant to write on the subject of superspatial boundries. Now, I won't get the chance."

"Science's loss, professor," Quinn said.

Rembrandt put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, me... I'll never get my career back off the ground. I had a few songs bouncin' around in my head. Bet there was a hit single in one of 'em. How 'bout you, Wade?"

Wade smiled up at Quinn, pulling him closer into her arms. "I only have one regret. That me and Quinn never got a chance to have a real go at a family. You know, marriage, kids...that whole white-picket fence thing."

Quinn brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I'll say this now, Wade. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I...didn't see the signs earlier. Didn't see you for who you were. For the beautiful, wonderful woman you are. We could've made something great out there, instead of...ending it here."

Wade leaned her head against his chest. "It's okay, Quinn. You're here now, and to be able to spend my last few minutes with you is better than nothing."

Arturo folded his hands over his stomach. "How... how about you, my boy? What's your...regret?"

Quinn's tongue seemed to be swollen in his mouth as he tried to speak. For a moment, he found it hard to remember what they had been talking about, then he caught the thread again.

"I...I wish I could've been able to fix the sliding machine," Quinn whispered.

"Doesn't matter now," Arturo said.

Quinn looked up at him. The professor seemed to be growing blurry. "No. It does. I'll never know if...I was good enough to fix it. I never solved that problem on the blackboard. My double did. And my first slide ended...like this. I'll never know if I could...have done it. Maybe...I wasn't...smart enough... after all."

Silence.

Quinn squinted into the darkness. It seemed to be growing thicker. He could barely see anything now. "Professor?"

Arturo didn't move.

"Professor? Guys, the professor...I think...I think he's...guys? Rembrandt?"

Rembrandt didn't move. He was a small blur leaning against a larger grey blur. Quinn could hear the wheeze of labored breathing filling the cave. It was breaking up.

"Wade?" Quinn looked down at the blur in his arms. Wade. That was her name. The woman he loved. But she wasn't moving, either. She was either asleep or...asleep. She must be asleep. She had to be asleep. She couldn't be...no. Not yet.

But Quinn felt something pulling him down, away from the cave. It was so peaceful and quiet here. So relaxing. His skin was tingling lightly, pleasantly, and a dull ache was in his skull. It wasn't an uncomfortable pain.

More like a pain that let him know he was alive. But not for long. He didn't care. He was with his friends. He was at peace. And he was so tired. He would just take a quick nap. When he woke up, he would feel so much better.

Then Quinn remembered the cave. Rembrandt. Arturo. Wade. All asleep, perhaps dead. All because of something. Oh, yes, he remembered. The sliding machine. And the cave.

Quinn focused on the rock-wall next to him. It still bore the marks of their attempts to break through it. So useless. He wondered why he had bothered. Sleep was all he wanted now.

Yet something drove him to reach towards it. To touch it. Just to feel something. Quinn's fingers tingled as he stretched out a hand. He reached the rock. It was cold against him, cold like ice, but not ice, rock. So sleepy. So sleepy.

He closed his eyes. So tired. A dream. Something blue galloping out of a blazing sun. The light was so bright, he could feel its warmth. The warmth of a sun. A light. So bright. So bright.

It wasn't a dream.

Quinn forced himself to focus on the light that was on his hand. It meant something. Yes. It wasn't the light of Arturo's lighter. It was stronger. Like electric light. A small circle of light on his hand.

Quinn followed it up to a bright spot on the wall. A hole. The light was coming from a hole in the wall.

"I see light," Quinn murmured.

Then it was sinking in. "I see light."

It sank in. His voice grew stronger. "Yes. I see light. I see...light!"

Quinn tried to get up. His legs were like Jell-O, fighting to keep from moving. He forced them to respond. Quinn shook Wade as he rose. She was murmuring to him, alive, whispering something about an alarm clock.

"Guys," Quinn said, "get up. It's light. From outside."

Wade opened an eye. Her pupil rolled around in the socket, unfocused. "Mm?"

Quinn was standing. But not for long. He fell forward, towards the hole. He hit the ground, and began to dig away at the hole with his hands. Rocks and soil broke loose. The hole grew wider. And air was flowing in from it, sweet air that made Quinn's head hurt, but he kept on breathing it in. It was a pain that let him know he was alive. Light was flowing over him from the hole, but he couldn't see a source.

Quinn realized his eyes were clearing. He could see again. He looked back at the others. Wade was lying on the ground where he had left her. Quinn crawled over to her, shaking her. She murmured protests.

"Come on, Wade," he said. "You gotta wake up. We're free. We're free!"

He dragged her limp body over to the hole, propping her head near the opening so she could breathe the fresh air. Wade inhaled sharply, then opened her eyes.

"Wha?" she murmured. "Wh'oppen?"

Quinn ran back into the cave to where Rembrandt and Arturo lay. After breathing in fresh air, the air in the cave was almost choking him. Thick with the stench of butane and sweat, hot and humid. But Quinn grabbed hold of Rembrandt and Arturo, pulling them towards the hole.

"We're free, guys," Quinn said. "Come on, we gotta get out of here."

Wade was at the hole. Her eyes were open, staring at the hole in disbelief.

"We're free?" she asked, then looked up at him. Her voice was strong as she yelled, "We're free!"

Wade began clawing at the hole, laughing, as she widened the gap in the rock. Quinn rested Rembrandt and Arturo near enough to breathe in fresh air, then joined Wade. The two of them tore away the stones and earth, creating an opening that flooded them with cool, dry air.

The first thing Quinn saw was more rock. Another cave. But not like the one they had been trapped in. This was lit by a white light, projected from an electric lamp mounted on the wall across from them.

Quinn stumbled forward into the second cave. It stretched far to the left and right. It wasn't a cave. It was a tunnel.

Arturo and Rembrandt staggered out of their new doorway, holding each other. Rembrandt clutched his head, groaning.

"What happened?" Rembrandt asked. "I thought we were goners."

Quinn couldn't hold back his laughter as he turned to face them. "We did it, guys! We dug our way out!"

"So it worked," Rembrandt muttered. "Wasn't a waste of time, after all. If we'd just stuck with it for a few more seconds, we'd have been free. Huh. World's a funny place."

Arturo squinted at the walls around the. "Yes, but where are we? It looks like a tunnel of some sort."

Quinn took a step forward. His foot caught on something. He went sprawling onto the ground, his arms striking something hard and cold. It was metal.

Quinn sat up. He was lying on a set of metal tracks, like train tracks, but smaller.

"What..." Quinn asked.

Arturo let go of Rembrandt to stand on his own. "It would appear...to be some sort of mining shaft."

The rumble came from somewhere to their left. Quinn sat up as the tremor grew, swelling into a roar. Chunks of rock cascaded inside the cave that had been their former prison. The tremors increased, beyond the deafening level they had experienced before.

Arturo clapped his hands over his ears. "It's the worst yet! I think this is it!"

Quinn realized there was something different about this quake. It was more localized. In fact...

"Guys!" Quinn yelled. "If I didn't know better, I'd say the quake is coming from that way!"

Wade held out her hand towards him. "Quinn! Get over here! Now!"

Quinn stumbled over to her, stepping off the tracks. He took her hand. She pulled him close to her.

He looked back. The roar was getting closer, louder, deafening, piercing, and then...

Something came rattling down the tunnel. It was square, on wheels. It was filled with people screaming at the top of their lungs. And laughing.

Quinn watched as the mining car roared by them. It shrieked down the tracks, headed farther into the tunnel, away from them. Quinn leaned out to look at the back of the car. His jaw dropped.

Printed on the back of the car were the words "Disneyland Mining Madness Adventure."

*

The tremors had been too much for the cave. It had collapsed behind them, filled in with rocks and earth. Their prison was gone, as were the diamonds they had used to dig with. There was nowhere left to go but up.

Quinn trudged along beside Wade. Rembrandt and Professor Arturo were right behind them, picking their way along the slats of the tracks on the floor of the tunnel. Sunlight came into view as they approached the mouth of the tunnel at last.

They walked out into a scene of joy and fun. Rides and exotic buildings filled the uneven horizon. Children ran across the park, chased by their exhausted parents. A group of children were surrounding a Mickey Mouse impersonator, who mimed cheerfully for them.

"Disneyland?" Wade asked. "How'd we end up here?"

"Hey!"

Quinn looked up at an attendant standing on the bank of the platform beside the tracks, glaring down at them.

"What're you guys doin' down there?" the attendant yelled. "Get up here before the next car comes through! You wanna get killed?"

Arturo hurried to the ladder that connected the tracks to the platform. "Not at all, my friend. Not at all."

They all climbed up out of the tunnel. Quinn was helping Wade onto the platform when another car roared up alongside them. It came to a screeching halt. Passengers climbed out, laughing and chatting with each other.

Quinn looked up at the mountain that surrounded the tunnel they had left. Gigantic letters had been embedded in the mountainside that read "Disneyland Mining Madness Adventure. The Largest Roller Coaster In The World!"

"A roller coaster?" Wade asked. "We were in a roller coaster?"

Rembrandt took a flier from a stand nearby and flipped through it. "Hey, guys, check this out. 'Disneyland Mining Adventure. An actual mountain was hollowed out to form the world's largest indoor roller coaster. Ride through catacombs and passageways in mine shafts buried beneath hundreds of feet of rock.' Wild."

"But this is San Francisco," Wade said. "Isn't it?"

Rembrandt looked at the back of the flier. "Yeah. But I guess in this world, Disneyland is in San Francisco instead of Anaheim."

"So we're not home," Quinn said.

Arturo clapped a hand onto his back. "No, my boy, we are not home. But we are alive. And that, I believe, calls for a celebration."

Wade nodded, sliding her hand under Quinn's arm. "You're right, professor. We're here for eight more days. We've got money. We're in Disneyland. I say, we have ourselves some fun."

"An excellent suggestion. I believe I shall adjourn to the World of Tomorrow exhibit. It has always been my favorite."

Rembrandt pointed at a nearby hot dog stand. "I'm with you, professor. Right after I get myself somethin' to eat."

Wade ran over to him, headed for the stand. "Now there's an idea. Just lemme find the first-aid station to fix my shoulder."

Quinn looked back up at the mountain. A strange urge came over him, one that he felt compelled to obey. "You guys go on ahead. I'll be right there."

Wade slowed, looking back at him. "Quinn? Where you going?"

"I'm gonna ride this Mining Madness ride. For some reason, I feel like going through it again. Just for fun."

Wade shook her head, holding up a hand as she walked away. "Well, not me. I've had enough caves to last me a lifetime. See you when you get out."

"Right."

Quinn approached the line for the ride, which was unusually small. Quinn took his place inside a mining car that rolled up to the platform. When everyone was settled, the car lurched forward, headed for the dark mouth of the tunnel.

Quinn wondered why he was doing this. Then he realized it was because they had all taken something special away from the cave. They were all closer to each other, more aware of the dangers that awaited them. Life was more precious to Quinn now, and he assumed the others felt the same way. In many ways, the cave had been one of the best things that had ever happened to them.

And so, Quinn rolled back into the tunnel, back into the dark one last time.

THE END