At the end of their tale, Rachel sat there, processing all of the information. 3 million years and some change into deep space and it was likely that she and Lister were the only human beings alive – save for possibly Kochanski, who was somewhere on her own.
"I suppose I should probably tell you what happened with my ship," She said to the pair, knowing she owed them that much after they'd shared so much with her.
"Y'owwwwww!" Cat said as he boogied into the room. "What's happenin' Buds?"
"Rachel was just about to tell us what happened to her ship," Lister explained, motioning for him to take a seat.
"Yes, anyway… so Arnie and I were-"
"Ma'am!" Kryten interrupted as he entered the room pushing a cart that had several trays on it. "There you are! You weren't in your quarters. I have breakfast for you and Mister Lister and the Cat as well as some medications and another vitamin booster," He explained.
"She was just about to tell us what happened to her ship, you smegging metal gimboid," Rimmer said with a frown.
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry for interrupting, Ma'am!" Kryten said, looking distressed. "I didn't mean to interrupt your story. Please, forgive me."
"It's quite alright," Rachel assured him with a kind smile.
"But I interrupted you!" Kryten whined, his voice getting higher and higher.
"Oh, pull it together man," Rimmer snapped at him. "Just give her the vitamin booster and sit down so she can get on with her story."
"Yes, of course, Mr. Rimmer, Sir," Kryten said, moving to do just that. He administered the vitamin booster shot and doled out the breakfasts and medication. Once all of that business was finished, Rachel was finally able to continue.
"Arnie and I were getting ready for planet leave. Dave had gotten us a cat as a wedding present – Arnie had wanted to name her Napoleon, but we settled on Bonaparte, so that I could call her Bonnie," She admitted. "Dave said that we should have her as sort of practice. He said that if Arn could handle raising a cat without screwing it up, he'd someday be able to raise a family," She said with a smirk. "Well… he said something along those lines at least." Lister's words might have been a little more colorful, but the gist was there all the same.
"Wait, you're telling me that the Holy Mother was named Bonaparte?" Cat asked with a frown. "And that she was yours and goal-post head's?" He shuddered at the thought.
"Just think… in her universe, you're probably running around wearing military uniforms and your god was probably Rye-mirror the Smeg-head," Lister said with a chuckle.
"I would think it'd be a step up from Cloister the Stupid," Rimmer commented.
Lister rolled his eyes. "So what then? Did you get stuck in stasis for hiding the cat?" Lister asked her, figuring they'd ought to get the story back on track.
"No, actually. The Captain found out about Bonnie and Dave hid her and took the blame and got placed in stasis," She admitted. "We were going to smuggle her off the ship while we were on planet leave. We were going to get one of my friends back on Callisto to take care of her and her kittens while we completed the rest of the mission. I was finishing packing up Starbug. Holly was going to autopilot us to Callisto and we'd be back after a week, you see. I had asked Arnie to go fetch Bonnie from where Lister had hid her in the cargo hold," She admitted. "He said he'd be back lickety split," She looked away at that, trying to keep her composure.
"On his way to the hold, Todhunter found him and requested that he repair a broken drive plate before he went on his leave. Arnie was never one to turn down an opportunity to try to impress a commanding officer, so of course he jumped at the chance. Holly told me that he might be a little while longer so I was waiting inside Starbug. It was nearly an hour later and the emergency doors suddenly closed off to the bay and Holly brought up the live feed from the Captain's office. Arnie was there, being reprimanded for the drive plate failure all the while the radiation leak was about to kill them. I watched them die. I watched them all die," Rachel said softly, a few tears falling from her eyes. "And there was nothing I could do. Arnie's last words were 'gazpacho soup' and I knew it was his way of telling me that he loved me one last time.
"Holly had sealed me in and he'd gotten the cargo hold sealed off as well before the radiation hit the rest of the ship. For two days I just sat there in shock. Finally Holly took action. He knew I couldn't stay there. I didn't have enough supplies on board Starbug or there in the landing bay. I begged him to just let me die with the rest of them, but he was having none of it.
"On our ship, George McIntyre was a hologram. Holly turned him off at his request shortly after the radiation leak. I could have brought someone back. Holly kept offering to bring back Arnie, but I couldn't do that to him. I wouldn't have been able to sustain him for long after we left Red Dwarf and I… I just couldn't lose him again," She said softly.
"Hey, we've tried to lose him plenty of times," Cat told her. "Somehow he just keeps coming back."
Rimmer shot him a look across the table, but the comment did make Rachel smile a little.
"Well, that's something to take comfort in then," Rachel said, placing a hand on Rimmer's. Surprisingly, the hologram didn't pull away from her touch or seem too uncomfortable with it. She was quiet for a few moments before carrying on with her tale. "On the third day after the radiation leak, Holly piloted Starbug away from Red Dwarf. He was supposed to get me to the nearest planet, which was another three days away, but there was something wrong. It was like this… thing just appeared out of nowhere, sucking us in," She told them.
"Was it a kind of yellow whirly thing?" Cat questioned. "Or a white whirly thing? Or maybe-"
"It was probably a dimension rift," Rimmer said, cutting off what he thought was certainly going to be another riveting description. He'd familiarized himself with a few things during his time as Ace. All four of them turned their gaze to him, surprised that he was so certain of what she'd encountered. "I'm sorry, do I need to explain? It's the white whirly thing," He said slowly, so that they could understand. Still, the other four were quiet. "What? I know things," Rimmer insisted with a huff.
Lister shook his head. "How long were you out there before the simulants found you?" He asked Rachel.
"About a week, I think," She admitted. "Holly would have the exact day. I wasn't really in the best state of mind then. I was so angry with Holly for not allowing me to die in the radiation leak that he decided to change his appearance so that I might talk to him again," She told them.
"Of course!" Kryten stated. "That's why the Holly we found on your ship was a female. Ours went through a similar change for a time," He explained to her.
"It did the trick. I was able to at least talk to her for a bit before the simulants lured us into docking on their ship," She told them. "And that's where I was until you lot found me. All in all, I'd say if I had to guess, it's been several months since the radiation leak. It's all still very fresh and raw," She knew that the simulants had kept her for quite a while.
"Well, you've got us now," Rimmer told her, keeping hold of her hand. "You're welcome to make this your home and in return, we'll ensure your safety. We won't allow those simulant scum to harm you again."
"And just what are you gonna do to protect her, non-bud?" Cat asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You gonna show her all your hiding places?"
Rimmer's patience was wearing thin and he was getting more annoyed by the Cat with every word. "Should it ever come to it, we'll protect her," He stated again, this time through gritted teeth. No, he didn't have a clue as to how, but they'd give it a shot.
"I'm staying," Rachel told them all. "So long as you'll have me. I don't think I could bear to be out there alone."
"Then it's settled," Lister said to her. He got up and went over to his fridge, pulling out cans of lager. He took them over to the table and handed them out to each of them.
"Lager with breakfast?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah, bud… this can clashes with my suit. You got anything in violet or maroon?" Cat asked him, staring disdainfully at the can before him.
"Just drink it. A toast with our toast," Lister insisted, popping the top on his lager. "To our latest crew member Rachel," He said, holding up the can. "Now you're one of us," He said.
"Really? That was your big speech?" Rimmer criticized.
"Just shut up and drink it, will ya?" The Scouser insisted with an eyeroll. The group clinked their cans together and each drank some of their lager with breakfast. Rimmer kept stealing glances over to Rachel during the meal, wanting to be sure she was eating enough and not guzzling the lager, especially with whatever medications Kryten had her on. He was worried about her, especially after all she had told them. He was beginning to really believe her feelings for him – or at least for her Arnold J. Rimmer were genuine.