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Rembrandt looks somewhat apologetically at the agents. �You�ll have to excuse him. In our�line of work, cooperating with the local authorities hasn�t always exactly been in our best interest.�

�What exactly is your �line of work�?� Mulder asks.

Seeing no other alternative, Rembrandt tells the agents the whole story of what happened that day back in September of 1994 and of everything that had happened since, including the loss of Wade and Quinn and the addition of Logan to the group. ��So, in short, we are not the guys you�re looking for. We�re their doubles from a parallel earth, and I�d guess that the same thing that happened to us happened to them. They got sucked into the vortex and couldn�t get back home.�

Once Rembrandt is done talking, it is clear from the look on her face that Scully isn�t buying it. Mulder�s face is difficult to read. Scully says, �Well, Mr. Brown. I must applaud your creativity. I think that�s the most elaborate and unusual cover story I�ve ever heard. Suffice it to say, I don�t believe a word of it. Rembrandt Brown, Maximillian Arturo, you�re under arrest for the murders of Quinn Mallory and Wade Wells. And I believe I have little choice but to place you, Ms. St. Claire, under arrest as an accomplice. Mulder, hand me your cuffs.�

�Actually, Scully, if I could just talk to you a moment��

Scully is reluctant, but she seems to have known this was coming and follows him to the opposite end of the room. Talking quietly, she says, �Don�t tell me you�re buying that story, Mulder. An open mind is one thing, but if you�re willing to believe that� Don�t you think that was a bit convoluted�like he was making it up as he went? And wasn�t it surprising that it included that theory interdimensional travel that you so helpfully informed them of?�

�First of all, the very fact that it was so convoluted makes it all the more believable. If he was going to lie, why didn�t he just say they both died on some plague-ridden world instead of coming up with such elaborate cover stories? But that�s beside the point. To be honest, I�m not entirely sure I believe what they�re saying either, but we might as well give them a chance to prove it before we lock �em up and throw away the key.�

�So�you�re suggesting we just let them go, that we just send them on their merry little ways to continue their so-called �transdimensional trek�?�

�Actually, I was going to suggest that we wait until their gizmo reaches zero and then see if a big blue hole in the space-time continuum actually appears. If not, we can arrest them; if so, we can follow them through. They said they had the ability to backtrack. If we actually end up in another dimension, we can just have them come back here to drop us off before they continue on their way.�

�And if something actually does appear, how do we know it�s not just going to vaporize us while they look on and laugh?�

�We send a couple of them through first.�

�Okay� Well, Mulder, even assuming that they�ve actually found a way to create a wormhole, how are we going to know if it�s interdimensional? What if it�s intradimensional and we end up on this earth but somewhere in Russia?�

�Then we�ll confiscate their �timer� and use it to come back here�or something. We�ll figure it out, Scully. It�s not like this is the first crazy thing we�ve done in search of the truth. And if we end up on what seems like a parallel world, and we still want proof, we can�we can find a way to contact our doubles on that world�or locate one of theirs, or just find a landmark or something out of place. But if we find ourselves in downtown Fresno, and everyone speaks German, we�ll know we�ve made it.�

�Fine, Mulder. If that�s what it�s going to take, then by all means let�s wait it out and see what happens.�

The agents inform the Sliders of their proposed plan and the Sliders accept it wholeheartedly. The remaining three hours pass slowly, with the Professor and Logan trying to persuade Scully with mathematic equations and the such and Rembrandt telling Mulder more about his adventures. Eventually, the three hours are up and the vortex is opened. Scully is surprised that it actually appeared, but she�s still not convinced that it is what they claim it is. Rembrandt and Logan are sent through first, Mulder and Scully follow, and the Professor takes up the rear.

On the next world, the agents are quickly convinced of the validity of the Sliders� story when Agents CGB Spender and Rembrandt Brown arrive to question Mulder (thinking that he is his double) about his father. You see, on this world, Mulder�s dad has the job that CGB Spender (a.k.a. the Cigarette-Smoking Man or Cancer Man) does on Earth X (the world of The X-Files), and this world�s Mulder acts as a Deep Throat to FBI X-File Agents Spender and Brown. Mulder and Scully try to explain to the agents what is going on, but these agents do not believe them any more than they initially believed the Sliders. Before the situation can be resolved, the timer runs out, and Mulder, Scully, and the three Sliders (using the timer�s coordinate-memory) slide back to Earth X, leaving Agents Spender and Brown to simply conclude that what they�ve been through is somehow part of the �great conspiracy� and to move on to the next case.

Upon returning to Earth X, Mulder and Scully drop all charges against the Sliders and decide to let this case remain an X-File because if the Sliding technology was revealed this world�s CGB Spender and others like him, they would no doubt find a way to improperly use it. The agents return to Washington, and the Sliders are left with a several days to relax before the arrival of the next window�until the Lone Gunmen arrive and want to hear the story for themselves. The Sliders groan about having to tell the story yet again, but after continual hounding from the Gunmen, they eventually comply. The story ends two weeks later (long after the Sliders have left) with the Gunmen putting out the latest issue of The Lone Gunmen with the main headline reading: �They Came From a Parallel Universe!!�

THE END

Note: Though this episode airs after David Duchovney�s departure from The X-Files, it takes place nearly a year before it; that is why Mulder was here instead of Doggett. On another note, this was technically a crossover with The Lone Gunmen as well, but also technically that show doesn�t exist until after Sliders has gone off the air, so at this point the Gunmen are only X-Files characters guest-starring in an X-Files crossover. And don�t even bother asking how we got the stars of a hit Fox show to guest-star as their characters from that show on a show on the Sci-Fi Channel, which has no ties to Fox. Let�s just say that it happened and leave it at that.