Original subtitles

I know it's not fair,

but I personally blame Mallory for this.

What did I do now?

Ever since you joined us, we've vortexed into toxic world,

and Kromagg world,

and a couple of war worlds,

and a world of corporate giants.

Literally.

Yeah. Those guys were big.

And now this.

You know, the ecosystem of Southern California

is actually a desert.

It accounts for the temperature extremes between night and day.

You know, I once read

that every tree in the San Fernando valley is imported.

And now, for our final game of double jeopardy

where the questions are even tougher...

Oh, man!

Well, if it had to be a desert,

why not a desert resort? Golf course, swimming pool,

drinks inside of coconuts, hot and cold running maids.

I get the feeling somebody's watching us.

From what? A satellite?

I thought I saw somebody up on the top of that hillside there.

That ridge, a few moments ago.

How much longer have we got here?

Three days.

Well if we don't find water soon,

we won't make it one day.

Hey, there's a camp down there. Look.

Hey!

Hey, can you help us?

Thank you. Thank you. You saved our lives.

What are you people doing out here without water?

It's this bozo's fault.

I told you we needed more water when we left the hotel.

Well, who said this was just a short hike and we didn't need a map?

We were out exploring, and then suddenly we were lost.

This is a very dangerous place to be taking a hike.

Well, uh, we don't have a caravan

moving out of the zone for at least another week.

You're welcome to stay here if you're prepared to work.

- What kind of work? - I'm Jack Bigelow.

Forensic paleontologist. I'm from the University of Yukon.

This is my dig.

And we can always use a few more volunteers.

Well, I'm Rembrandt Brown, this is Maggie, Mallory and Diana.

I'm afraid we don't know much about paleontology.

You know how to use a shovel?

Well, I've dug my share of ditches.

Well I haven't. Uh, I'm a physicist by trade.

Doctor. Doctor Diana Davis.

Ah, well, then I'm sure you're going to be very interested in our research, Doctor.

We've uncovered what we think is an ancient

but, apparently, a very advanced civilization.

You care to have a look?

- Why not? - Huh? All right, this way.

This is Gwen Palmer.

One of my best students, sort of a head wrangler on this dig.

I don't think the natives are all that friendly.

Who are they mad at? Us or the diggers?

Funding on a project like this is always tough,

the locals cost a fortune,

and you can't get volunteers to work in the badlands.

Ah. I like it already. Must be 20 degrees cooler in here.

We think this was some kind of communal gathering place,

perhaps even some kind of religious shrine, a meeting place.

Is this what I think it is?

Yeah, I think so.

The Chandler Hotel.

What if you found a portal to a parallel universe?

What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds

where it's the same year and you're the same person

but everything else is different?

And what if you can't find your way home?

Sliders.

Think we should tell the professor the only religion

practiced around here involved a lot of scotch and soda?

I don't know if he's ready for that.

I guess something really radical must have happened to the climate on this world.

Yeah, like the poles swapping places.

North went south, so to speak.

Can they do that?

Well, they've done it. Several times.

And that can cause oceans and deserts to be in different places?

More like some kind of axial shifting.

That was my thinking.

So, Doctor Bigelow is certain

that this is not just part of an isolated building.

He thinks we may be on the periphery of a vast city

that was here before the cataclysm.

Interesting theory.

Careful, don't break it.

What is it?

Wow!

I think it's some kind of ceremonial goblet.

Probably used in rituals conducted in this very room.

Probably late renaissance.

Good work. Bag it, make an entry.

Late renaissance. You mean 16th century?

Be my guess. They weren't making those glass handles

until after 1590 when the big glass plants went into production in West Virginia.

Somehow the technology on this world is a lot like our own.

But it happened 400 years ago.

Okay, guys, why don't you come with me and we'll find you some equipment

and uh, show you where to dig.

Great. Dig.

Guys, can I ask you something?

Sure.

Uh, you said you left the hotel to go for a hike.

That's right.

Well, the nearest hotel is in Seattle and that's about four days away.

Maggie, I guess you ought to tell her the truth.

Well, um...

We're on a secret mission.

A government project. Very classified.

Oh.

We weren't sure if we could trust you when we first got here.

But now we think you're okay.

Yeah we're from, um, Mexico.

You eat well, I'll give you that.

Doctor Bigelow insists on that.

These digs are hard enough as it is.

Especially out here in the badlands.

What is with that guy?

He's staring at me off and on all day.

Maybe he's a fan.

The packers are natives from the fringe area of the badlands.

It's about the only part of the zone that's habitable.

Doctor Bigelow doesn't really trust them, he says they just want money.

They seem okay to me, though.

Oh, look, they're back.

And I think they've found something. Excuse me.

I thought you said you were a ditch digger.

I didn't use a spoon.

Well, an archeological dig is a very fragile place. You can't use a shovel.

Well,

From what I was able to gather in bits and pieces over the day,

it's just like you said,

the temperate zones on this world

are up in Canada and down in South America.

Pretty much everything that's south of Montana is a desert like this one.

Apparently something they call the cataclysm

caused some kind of ecological disaster.

The technology on this world developed several hundred years before ours.

Over-developed, in fact.

And how exactly the Chandler Hotel got caught in this time warp,

I haven't figured out yet.

Yeah, Gwen told me that they weren't just looking for artifacts.

They think they're gonna learn something about the technology of the culture

that was here before the cataclysm.

So this is low-tech world.

It is now.

Well, that explains the mules.

Mr. Brown, Doctor. Here, come have a look at this.

We've been having a little discussion about what this might have been.

I believe it's made of iron, and the base appears to be concrete.

Which leads me to believe that it's meant to be upright.

And it has a slot under the window.

Now, Gwen believes it's for coins of some kind.

But did they go in or do they come out of the slot?

Well, it says right here "limit two hours."

Curious. Now would "limit" be a noun or a verb?

And... And why only two hours?

I mean, what would happen once that time ran out?

Uh, I'm only guessing here, but I think when you insert a coin

you buy a certain amount of time.

Uh, that's what the other numbers in the window indicate.

- Buy time? - To what end?

Oh, maybe it's some kind of a bond that you have to post to do something.

Like shop?

Okay. What are we gonna call it?

How about "Meter"?

No, I... It's too inexact.

I mean, that could really mean anything.

Until I can take it apart and examine the mechanism,

let's call it the "Coin Operated Time Dispenser."

And again, I would say it is late renaissance.

Or late Rodeo Drive.

She's a real kidder.

All they would tell me

was that they were from some secret government program in Mexico.

The authorities there are well aware of what I'm doing out here.

I have all the necessary permits.

I think these people are from somewhere else.

But what do they want with us?

And how did they get all the way out here on foot?

No mule train.

I don't know.

But as long as they don't cause any trouble,

they're just four extra sets of hands for my dig.

And if we get through the north wall of the temple tomorrow we'll need them.

You know, I saw the tall one talking to one of the packers tonight.

What on Earth about?

I couldn't hear.

But, I think it might have been some kind of joke.

He told a joke to a packer?

That's very strange.

Stay close to them tomorrow.

If you overhear anything, let me know.

This is starting not to be fun anymore.

As opposed to when it was?

It's silly to do all this work.

We already know where we are and what this stuff is.

Why don't we just tell them?

Ah, look, they're already suspicious of us.

You don't think they bought the government project story, do you?

We just keep our heads down for one more day and we can slide out of here.

Hey, guys, look at this.

What is it?

Looks like a timer.

Not a timer. Our timer.

What does that mean?

That we were here before.

Or somebody a lot like us.

Well, it sure looks like our timer.

Well, I won't be able to tell until I can take it apart

and I can't do that here.

So, are you suggesting that our duplicates on this world are sliders?

Were sliders.

And if I'm right about the parallel development

of this world being temporally off-set,

then our duplicates were here...

Four hundred years ago.

I just had a warm and fuzzy thought.

It would take something pretty cataclysmic

for us to just leave our timer lying in the dust.

What if our duplicates died here?

Well, it's certainly possible.

Or more to the point, what's gonna happen this go-round?

We're through!

I think it's the tomb.

I think you should go first.

There were legends that the Tolucans who lived here

had a great hoard of gold treasure

and the Spanish conquistadores were after it,

but they never found it.

My theory is they were buried with it.

My theory is we should close this up and go far away.

We have encountered some of these booby traps before.

Very primitive.

Professor, what is it?

Amazing.

Looks like some kind of suspended animation.

Maybe frozen.

Are you familiar with this technology?

I've read about it but I've never seen anything like this before.

This is a technology that was lost in the cataclysm.

There are hints in the Saga of the Tolucans about a frozen deity,

but it was always considered mythical.

This is no myth.

That guy's over 400 years old?

And someone very special to have been so carefully preserved.

I think, we may be in the presence of royalty.

Now, aren't you jumping to conclusions?

This is probably just some rich guy who

wanted to be thawed out after they found a cure to whatever killed him.

You and your friends stumble out of the badlands

with some flimsy story about getting lost.

You push a wheelbarrow around for an afternoon

and now you're an authority on archeology.

She doesn't mean to crowd you.

It's just that you might be over-reacting to some of this stuff.

Like the parking meter.

Parking meter?

So have you seen one before?

Well...

Um, my friends and I were

discussing the artifact last night,

and I remembered reading an article about

a time in Canada when real estate, even small pieces,

used for horses or wagons, were taxed by the state.

And the taxes were enforced by uniformed thugs

who would cite you if you stayed even a minute longer than the contracted time.

Well...

Whoever he was, this is the most important find of the dig so far.

I need to make a thorough examination of the body.

- You mean an autopsy? - Yes.

First, the body has to be brought out of suspension.

We can perform a topical examination at the time,

followed by a dissection.

You're qualified to do that?

Well he's a forensic paleontologist.

Look you just can't start carving on somebody.

I mean, don't you need permission?

From whom?

The government, his family, somebody.

Doesn't he have any rights?

He has been dead for a very long time.

Did the people who found the mummies in Egypt

need permission to open them up?

Look, I don't know, Professor, but I'm sure they removed the body

into a fully equipped lab supervised by the government.

Don't you want to keep him preserved until you can do the same?

The nearest lab is 600 miles away

and even if we had something large enough to transport it,

how would we keep the system going?

Wait a minute.

You don't know what kind of technology was involved here.

What if he isn't dead? Dissecting him could be murder.

Let me remind you,

you are here at my pleasure.

This is my dig

I make the decisions here.

Pardon me, sir.

Yeah.

Forgive me for disturbing your eminence.

My name is Escobar.

I'm Rembrandt.

And I'm not "your eminence." I'm just a guy like you.

The elders said that you would say that.

Fine. So what's on your mind?

These lands are the domain of the spirits

of those caught in a great storm a long time ago.

We call it the cataclysm.

So I've heard.

Professor Bigelow and his people,

they're making these spirits very angry.

Yeah, well, he's not making me very happy either.

There have been others who came seeking treasure.

No one ever found anything.

And many didn't live to return home.

Bigelow mentioned something about a lost tribe

that lives here somewhere.

Now could these be the descendants of the people who built all of this?

The people who once lived here before the cataclysm?

If Professor Bigelow destroys the guardian,

he will be destroyed.

You are the only one who can stop him.

By morning it should be thawed enough to begin my examination.

Escobar, take your people to the surface.

I don't want anyone down here while this body is being examined.

Shall we have dinner and discuss the day's great find?

"By morning it should be thawed enough."

He's talking like it's nothing but a Thanksgiving turkey.

Well, this is a pretty big find for him.

Whatever. It just doesn't seem right.

You know, one of those packers mentioned that

there's going to be some serious trouble if Bigelow cuts this body open.

I don't know about you but,

I wouldn't want my grandmother

dug up and shown as a museum exhibit.

Well would you have rather have left the mummies in the tomb?

What if we're next?

What if our duplicates are somewhere frozen in another chamber?

You want to watch Bigelow carve them up too?

Look, we don't know what happened to our duplicates, okay?

And maybe we never will.

Well, if something were to happen,

I would only hope that a courageous group

of sliders would come along and save us.

Look, these people took us in, they gave us food and water.

Where would we be right now if they hadn't?

I think we ought to let them mind their business

and we mind our own.

We lay low and slide out when the time comes.

This isn't our world.

Well, that packer also said that the professor was

disturbing the spirits that live here in the chamber.

Do you believe that?

Doesn't matter if I do.

Only matters that they do. Come on.

Mr. Brown and friends, I, uh...

I want to apologize for my behavior earlier today.

In the excitement of the discovery,

I'm afraid, I was a very poor host.

So, you'll reconsider the autopsy?

Oh, no, no, no, no.

I have respect for your concerns for propriety,

but I'm afraid, in this instance, the, uh,

circumstances, that, uh,

the scientific interest must, uh, prevail.

But I assure you that all formal diagnostic, uh, protocols will be observed.

Well, I'm sure the family will appreciate that.

So, you've, uh, seen our work up close for the last couple of days.

What about your work?

What do you mean?

Well, you told me that

you were part of a secret government project.

The professor and I would just like to know

a little bit more about that.

Well, uh, like we said, it's secret.

Well, that really won't do, Mr. Mallory.

Uh, four strangers come out of the desert,

hundreds of miles from any speck of civilization,

saying that they've been lost on a hike.

And then claiming to be part

of some secret government project.

From Mexico, yet.

Who are you really? What are you doing here?

Well, I suppose we owe you that.

Be careful.

We are part of an advanced experiment

in trans-dimensional quantum travel.

- Diana. - Beg your pardon?

Our movements are enabled by a particle accelerator

that allows us to travel from one dimension to another

via wormholes.

We are in this dimension for a short time and then we move on.

You're telling me that you came out of nowhere?

Well, from your point of view, I'm sure it seems like that.

But we did come from somewhere, another world in the multiverse.

And soon we'll be moving on to the next one.

Well, I find this, uh, explanation even less credible than your first one.

Well, you asked for it.

It would have been better if we just left it a secret.

Well, tomorrow is going to be a very busy day and

I don't have time for your fantasies now

any more than I have time for the fantasies of the workers

who think that I have somehow interfered with the spirits here.

Mmm.

Well, you're a busy man.

So you can stay the night, but tomorrow you're leaving.

And whether you go to another world, or back into the desert,

I frankly don't care.

I will be spending the night in the chamber guarding the body.

From what?

From anyone who doesn't agree with my agenda.

Uh, I think I'll, uh... I'll join him. Excuse me.

Excuse us.

Why'd you have to go and tell him that?

Well he wasn't gonna believe anything we said anyway.

It's easier to tell the truth than make up some big lie.

Besides, we're leaving tomorrow,

let him wonder about it for the rest of his life.

Well, I was hoping to check out a few more of those burial chambers.

Rembrandt, you're obsessing.

I have it on the highest authority

you'll meet your demise at the hands of a hundred

out of control "Crying Man" fans.

It's a horrible way to go

but we all gotta go sometime.

Right on. Right on.

You know, the packer said, um,

uh, something about spirits around here.

Yeah.

You think?

No.

The packers are gone.

Hey! Hey!

What's going on?

All the packers have left and they've taken the mules.

What's that?

Look what they left?

They left us a little food and water.

Very little.

We've gotta tell the professor.

Professor.

What happened?

Where do you want me to start?

The workers left and they took the transportation.

- What? - There's more.

Your big experiment is gone.

No.

You did this.

- You took it, didn't you? - No!

Wait a minute. Take it easy, Professor.

I didn't take it.

I don't disagree with whoever did,

but it wasn't me.

Professor, we have a lot more to worry about right now.

They left us with very little food and water.

We've got to go after them.

Your workers did not take him.

Yeah, they were afraid of him last night.

Well, they got unafraid. Who else would have done this?

Well, maybe the spirits of the Tolucans came and got him.

Don't be ridiculous.

Hey, I found him!

He's in the container.

Thank god, thank god. But who?

Why ask? Just be happy.

I think it'd be a good idea

if you forget about your plans for him, and just leave him there.

Just let the poor guy freeze in peace.

Are you insane?

I almost lost the opportunity, but now I've got it back.

Well, have you given any thought to how he might have gotten here?

It's like finding a turtle on top of a fence post.

You know he had help getting up there.

How do we know he isn't alive and he didn't get back in there all by himself?

Well, there were talk about spirits and those howls.

Look, I don't care how it happened.

I've got him back.

You should care about it.

Somebody, maybe the packers, obviously wants him back in there.

Yeah, bad enough to put a lump on your head.

Yeah. Why not just leave well enough alone before somebody gets hurt,

or even worse?

Maybe they're right, Professor.

You too?

Look, whatever happened last night was not what I bargained for on this trip.

Frightens me.

Go up and get the rest of the students.

If I have to continue alone I will.

What if we don't let you?

I think you should.

Well, this is crazy.

You're willing to shoot people over an experiment?

This is the greatest discovery of the century.

I am not going to just walk away from this.

Believe him.

Look, this has happened before. People have died.

Remember Egypt? And remember what my mentor,

Doctor Geiger, was prepared to do.

Gwen, go bring the rest of them.

I am going to go ahead with this project.

And to make sure that you don't interfere with us,

I think all four of you should remain in here while we continue our work.

Hold on.

You're just gonna leave us here without food or water?

You will be no worse off than you were before you found us.

Go. Bring them.

Hey, everyone!

It's useless.

Bigelow must have put something really heavy over the entrance.

Well, this thing is useless now, of course,

but I'm convinced it is our timer.

I just want to keep from being shot by that guy until we slide.

- How much time? - Fourteen hours.

Man, I hope this thing doesn't cave in.

Guys, I found something over here.

Hope it's not another parking meter. Forget it.

This isn't part of our hotel.

Must be one of the buildings next door.

Well, they had some pretty advanced technology.

On my world this didn't work.

You couldn't re-animate tissue once it was dead.

Hey, is there a number on that tube?

Uh, yeah.

It's HAF-99435.

99435...

Here it is. Let's see...

Well, our member of royalty turns out to be a Luther Bates McCorkin.

Aged 54, congestive heart failure.

And there's a lot of other charts and notes and...

Well, that would be a guide to the doctors

once they found a cure for heart disease.

So what did he do?

Let's see.

He was an aluminum siding salesman. And a Shriner.

Well, that's sort of royalty.

It really makes me wonder about all those things

that the scientists find in the ground on my world,

and he jumped to these wild conclusions about what the people were like.

Yeah. Like the, uh, parking meter.

Yeah, or the ceremonial goblet.

You know, Remmy, there's one thing I love about you.

Here we are, trapped with no food, no water,

there's a mad scientist with a gun out there,

and you still find something to laugh about.

Gotta hang in there until we slide, right?

Without water?

I don't know, I think Fog Boy's right.

I think there might be another way outta here.

Okay.

Ah! Hey, guys, help me with this.

Might be a way out.

Or away into something worse.

It's not like we have many choices.

Hey, I think we made it.

Now, we just have to get back to the camp and find that water supply.

Uh... guys...

Hello.

We mean you no harm.

Maybe they don't speak English.

He is The Voice.

He is The Voice.

We're with him.

When I first saw you in the camp, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Your story has come down through generations.

Some believed you were coming back. Some didn't.

Then, when the professor broke through into the burial chamber

and desecrated the tomb of the guardian,

it became clear that you had been sent back to us

to help us restore it and preserve the sanctity of the shrine.

Look, there's been some kind of misunderstanding.

I told you before, I'm just a guy like you.

You are The Voice, the one who sang of the old time,

the harbinger of the new times, the return of the land to health.

Pretty good billing.

If I were you, I'd go for it.

My friends and I are lost.

The professor and his people, they took us in

and in return we helped them with their work,

until we found out what that work really was.

When we tried to stop him,

he locked us in this, what you call this burial chamber.

The violation of the tomb of the guardian is only the beginning for the professor.

I know he intends to go on to the chamber of the shrine.

This must not be allowed to happen.

You will lead us.

Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute now.

I don't have intend to lead anybody anywhere.

You've got the wrong guy.

Do I?

Feed them, give them water...

Then The Voice will lead us into the chamber

to defeat the desecrators.

Well, obviously your alternate was once a big man in this town.

Four hundred years ago?

How can that be?

Well, on the Earth that I know,

it has sustained some form of life for maybe 4 billion years.

Humans have been there for maybe the last 50,000.

Over the course of time, any variation in the rotation of the Earth

would account for hundreds of years of slippage in time, one way or the other.

So, even though we don't travel through time

this Earth may have?

Yeah. And over eons, 400 years is barely a hiccup,

and it could account for the different technological development.

I been thinking about that timer.

Maybe we were all here before.

I mean, our alternates.

Well, it's possible, we may have been,

but obviously Remmy was the star of the show.

Yeah. They didn't care too much about us.

How much time before the slide?

Uh, still more than three hours.

Okay, well, look,

I don't want to be The Voice for these people.

I don't want to lead some kind of attack on Bigelow and those students.

But I gotta tell you, I don't know how to get out of it.

I think you should do it.

What?

These people actually worship you.

They'll listen to anything you say.

So, you take them down to the hotel and you tell Bigelow

that you'll turn them loose on him unless he stops the dig.

He's got a gun.

We've obviously been in situations like this before,

Remmy, I don't think you have any other choice.

It's just as I thought.

The professor has found the chamber of the guardians.

We must hurry.

These people have asked me to be their voice.

Now I'm here to warn you not to enter the chamber

and to return the guardian back to his tomb.

The guardian?

What have these people been telling you?

This place is holy to them.

They tell me that they are normally a peaceable people,

but if you continue with this dig,

your life, and the life of your people, are in danger.

These people are superstitious savages.

Doctor Davis,

where would we be if we let people like this stop the course of science?

If I were you I'd think about this.

Right now, Remmy can have these people do anything he wants

and at the moment he doesn't want to hurt you,

but that could change.

Is it permitted?

Anything is permitted to The Voice.

You guys want to see what all this trouble was for?

There wouldn't be any, uh...

It's safe.

Onslaught Records.

That sounds right.

Wow.

This is like the Hard Rock Cafe, literally.

Was this your ride?

His alternate's ride.

Come on, guys,

let's let the man have a few moments alone with an old friend.

You know I'll be back. Next time with a bigger expedition.

You can't stop science.

Well, something on this world did once.

These people will still be here.

And we will too.

Or people just like us.

All right, let's go.

Well...

Could use a tune-up, and a good detail job,

but otherwise...

I guess you really have to run it more often than once every 400 years.

It's time to go, people.

We really gonna do it here? In front of them?

Why not?

It might make their faith in The Voice even stronger.

Well, everybody needs something to believe in.