While working in his basement, Quinn Mallory opens the gateway to parallel worlds. For a test run, Quinn invites co-worker Wade Welles and his teacher, Professor Arturo, along. Upon opening the vortex, Quinn uses too much power, which causes the vortex to suck them in along with Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown, who happened to be driving by Quinn's house. The four arrive on a world that experienced an ecological disaster and will have to survive until the timer hits zero.

The Sliders arrive in the British States of America, where Arturo's double is plotting to assassinate a prince and take the throne. When the Sliders inadvertently foil the plot, they come into contact with a group of rebels trying to bring freedom to America.

Wade witnesses a murder just before the slide, but as the Sliders land on the next world, the same murder is about to occur. This time, Wade intervenes and this gets the Sliders involved with a disgraced federal judge and a United States under martial law.