Asylum

With only two minutes before the slide, Quinn, Maggie, Rembrandt and Colin are stuck being airlifted out of Southern California. When the plane is struck by gunfire, Quinn goes to grab parachutes but is severely injured in the explosion. Rembrandt also receives a concussion. Using rush judgment, Maggie tells Colin to grab his brother while she grabs Rembrandt. Maggie then opens the vortex outside the plane and the four skydive into the wormhole.

Arriving on the next world, Maggie checks Quinn’s vitals and tells Colin to go get help, or he could die. Colin runs down the hillside and enlists the aid of a man in a buggy. In town, Colin finds a beautiful doctor, Grace Venable, in a clinic, and she agrees to help bring Quinn and Rembrandt into town for treatment. When the ambulance returns and unloads Quinn and Rembrandt into the hospital, a series of photographs of the Sliders are taken by a mysterious man.

Inside the hospital, the team learns that California has become its own country after the Kromagg invasion and that the president is Charlton Heston. They also learn that Rembrandt’s wounds are not serious and will only be held for observation. Quinn’s status, however, is not so positive: hemorrhaging in his skull could kill him if he isn’t skillfully attended to. Maggie and Colin visit Rembrandt and tell him they have three days until they slide, and visit Quinn to see his status for themselves.

At the Chandler, Maggie and Colin are discussing the politics of this earth when the man who took photos of them earlier introduces himself as Ralph Hackett, an investor. When Colin reveals the seriousness of his brother’s injuries to Hackett, he cheerfully tells them that he knows of some clinics up by San Francisco that could help Quinn in his recovery. Maggie thanks him and she and Colin head to their room to rest.

The next day, Rembrandt is about to be released when Dr. Venable comes in to check on him. Rembrandt charms himself into a dinner with the doctor. Maggie calls from the Chandler and Rembrandt tells her that he’s being released. Colin decides to go to the library to try and figure out what has happened on this world with the Kromaggs.

Hackett is seen in his room briefing some British intelligence operatives about apprehending a suspect.

Rembrandt and Grace have dinner at her beach house. Rembrandt performs a song for Grace while they discuss the culinary delights of this particular earth. At the same time, Maggie and Hackett dine at Miguel San, a Japanese-Mexican hybrid restaurant. Maggie lies about her involvement in the Kromagg war and Hackett talks about some clinics in Palo Alto that would be beneficial to Quinn.

Colin finds out that when the Kromaggs entered this dimension, they were here not on a conquest, but to resupply their dwindling natural resources. Great Britain, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, signed a non-aggression pact with the Kromaggs to prevent an invasion of England. Now that the Kromaggs have left, the British government wants to hunt down any Kromagg sympathizers from the UK, many of whom have fled to the nation of California for sanctuary.

Walking down the beach, Rembrandt admits to Grace that they are Sliders, a fact that surprises Grace, as she thought that only Kromaggs had such sophisticated technology. Rembrandt talks about his frustrations with sliding and how he doesn’t even know why he’s sliding anymore. He also tells Grace that if Quinn can’t leave when they need to slide, he’s going to stay behind and help his friend, and that Grace was a factor in that decision. She asks if she can accompany them to the next world if she can heal Quinn. Apparently, Grace learned a Kromagg healing technique that she could use on Quinn. Rembrandt cheerfully agrees.

In the Chandler, Maggie and Hackett go back to his room so that he can get the addresses of the clinics in Northern California. Maggie rummages through some of his stuff and discovers four passports and the photographs he told. Confronted with the evidence, Hackett admits he is from British secret service and that he is trying to extradite a Helen Donovan, who served the Kromagg High Commander during the occupation, and who is currently under the alias of Grace Venable. Hackett asks Maggie to aid him in confirming her identity and in giving her whereabouts.

The next day, Rembrandt and Grace are enjoying brunch while overlooking the ocean when Hackett and his operatives attack them, capturing Grace and leaving Rembrandt on the patio. Rembrandt rushes to purchases some weapons and returns to the Chandler, telling Maggie and Colin what has happened. Maggie tells Rembrandt that she knows, since she helped Hackett capture her. Rembrandt, understandably upset, demands to know why. Colin presents Rembrandt with the evidence that Grace is a Kromagg sympathizer, and Rembrandt tells them they need to get her to use the Kromagg healing technique on Quinn before she is flown to London for trial. They travel to the airport and Rembrandt convinces Grace to heal Quinn.

At the hospital, Grace heals Quinn, and pleads with Rembrandt to help her escape. Rembrandt asks her if she was forced to help the Kromaggs. She tearfully says no. They hug, and she is taken by Hackett. Quinn and Rembrandt walk outside for the slide while Rembrandt and Maggie console each other over the decisions they made.

Worlds Visited

	Secession World Southern California is seceding from Northern California. Commence obligatory aerial bombardment.
	Former Kromagg Outpost 112 A Kromagg supply raid has decimated this earth, leaving its citizenry intact but without natural resources. California has formed its own nation in the aftermath.

Details

• The door to the hospital reads:Van Nuys Hospital
  An HMO Care
  Facility From
  Your Friends At
  TRICOMM
• The address of the hospital is 278 [obscured].
• The doctor on the intercom needs a neonatonist in Five West.
• Another doctor on the intercom asks that a cardio tech report to Four Northwest.
• The license plate on the ambulance is 3MDA636.
• Doctor Venable sends Rembrandt to #5 with mild shock.
• Doctor Venable sends Quinn to ICU with skull hemorrhaging.
• Charlton Heston spoke to the Santa Cruz Bazooka Club about gun control.
• The Kromagg battles ended in 1995 on this world.
• Canadian MI-5 lets Hackett borrow a plane out of Vancouver and it will arrive at Agua Dulce airport.
• Articles that Colin reads include:
  • “Thatcher Signs Non-Aggression Pact”
  • “Thatchers Flee to U.S.”
  • “Secret Service Tracking Thatchers”
  • “Kromagg Invasion”
  • “Kromagg Collaborator Believed in Southern California”
• Hackett has UK, Danish and German passports.
• Helen Donovan was at the Kromagg Evacuation Center in Belgium.

Character Information

• Colin can use computers, as evidenced by his research in the Van Nuys library. Must be a fast learner.
• Rembrandt’s belief in God is apparent in his discussion of the multiverse with Grace.
• Colin’s knowledge of pistols is obvious. Check out the move he makes on the wagon at the airport.

Money Matters

• Maggie and Colin have enough money to pay for a room at the Chandler for three days and for any meals during that time, including Colin’s side trip to Miguel San before hitting the library.
• It’s assumed that Quinn and company skipped out on the hospital bill.

Cultural References

• Ralph Hackett’s comment about death “to those who give them comfort” concerning the Thatchers is a reference to Senator Edmund Muskie, a presidential candidate running against Nixon in 1972. In one of his televised speeches, Muskie described critics of President Nixon’s Vietnam policy as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”

Dining at Miguel San

“Where Ranchero Cooking meets the Pacific Rim”

The restaurant itself is a hybrid of Japanese and Mexican cultures. After the Kromagg invasion, many multicultural restaurants as this popped up. There is a fajita bar that closely resemble a wok style cooking setting, and hosts wear kimonos and sombreros.

Items for sale include:

• Seas urchin tacos
• Tempura with green salsa
• Tokyo rolls: crab, avocado and cucumber in a flour tortilla

Each dish comes with complimentary nachos and agave tea. Miguel San is also stocked with the finest in sake or tequila.

Notable Quotes

• “What, are you tired of me already?” — Grace, to Rembrandt, after he tells her he feels like he’s known her for a very long time.
• “No matter what world we land on — the heavens and the stars are always the same. Big Dipper, Orion, north star. And nature it’s always working the same way. It’s got gravity, light, motion. Two and two always turn out to be four. I’ve thought about it a lot.”
  “And what do you think it means?”
  “I think it means that the same God is in all these worlds.” — heartfelt conversation between Rembrandt and Grace.
• “Well now, what’s your pleasure? I’ve been with dinosaurs, zombies, androids, dragons, wizards. One particular worlds we went to the polar ice caps had melted and everyone had a boat. On another world I was a famous opera singer.” — Rembrandt, after Grace asks about some of the crazier worlds he’s been to.
• “I guess I overslept.” — Quinn, after waking up from his coma.
• “I can’t.” — Grace, to Rembrandt after he asks her if she was forced by the Kromaggs to help them.
• “It’s a long story, and it doesn’t have a happy ending.” — Colin, to Quinn, after he asks what’s happened during his sickness.

Nitpicks/Errors

• Hackett’s UK passport has BP7855683 written on the outside, but BP7855681 written on the inside.
• Rembrandt’s speech about God is very stirring, but it’s wrong with concern to the physical constancy of nature. In The Last of Eden and in Slidecage, the Earth had more natural satellites. In The Exodus, a stellar fragment headed straight for Earth. In As Time Goes By, time flows in the opposite direction. In The Guardian, time flows at a slightly slower pace. In Dragonslide, physics are different enough to allow for magic. With State of the Art, the light was different because of a difference in the refractive qualities of the atmosphere. The list goes on.
• For a Brit, Grace’s accent isn’t very noticeable.
• If you look at the icons of the encyclopedia program Colin is running, you’ll realize that they don’t make any sense.
• If California is its own country now, why does the CD-ROM have a U.S. symbol on it?

Asylum

Neatpicks

• California president Charlton Heston is in favor of gun control. On Earth Prime, Charlton Heston is a rabid gun proponent and president of the National Rifle Association.
• Did you see Boss Hogg walking by in the Chandler Hotel?
• Rembrandt’s quote about some of the worlds he’s visited is a virtual Who’s Who of bad third season episodes. He casually references In Dino Veritas, Dinoslide, Sole Survivors, State of the Art and Dragonslide. I’m assuming the polar ice cap world he talks about is a throwaway line about the water world at the beginning of Prince of Wails, and the opera singer crack is meant to reference a deleted scene from World Killer.

Guest Stars

• Valarie Pettiford as Doctor Grace Venable
• Thorsten Kaye as Ralph Hackett
• Roger Hewlett as Driver
• Larry McCormick¹ as TV Anchor
• Scott Kloes² as Man
• Marilyn Randall as Nurse

1. Larry McCormick was a news anchor for KTLA Channel 5, Los Angeles. He also plays anchor Paul Leonard in The Unstuck Man.
2. Scott plays Hal the Bartender in Lipschitz Live and The Unstuck Man.