Thanks to all of you for the lovely reviews. Shout outs to the new followers as well as old. Andy001z (you didn't sign in so I couldn't drop you a thank you email), A Tye (love the name), Garfieldodie (Holy Ship!), Bitterknitter (#Copacabana..#), MaxEvelyn (gun porn, hehe), RagingRambo2006 (you love my cliffhangers really...) and of course the lovely Psychobikerjunkiewhore, who keeps me entertained via facebook when I'm at work. Thanks chick.
Right...not sure how this is going to go down but here we go. For the next two chapters I'll be upping the rating to M for violent themes. So close your eyes for the scary bits.
Reviews always appreciated. Thank you.
Lister, Kryten and the Cat sat in an uneven semi-circle on the floor of the Cargo Bay, the trio flanked by simulants with guns trained to the back of their heads. No words were spoken; instead the odd, comforting glance exchanged silently between them through a mask of fear and dread.
Lister bit the tip of his thumbnail as he stared off towards the stacks of wooden crates at the back of the Cargo Bay, unseeing. It must have been at least an hour since Rimmer had been frog-marched away, and his brain now ran riot with all of the unspeakable tortures the simulants had most likely inflicted on who they thought to be the captured Ace Rimmer. That was if they had decided to keep him alive. If they'd called Rimmer's bluff, he had a horrible feeling that it wouldn't end well for him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the Cat sit up slightly straighter, his attention suddenly turning to the Cargo Bay doors. The Cat had an impeccable sense of hearing as well as smell, and had clearly picked up something that neither the simulants nor he himself had heard.
As not to attract any unwanted attention, Lister's eyes flitted up to the ceiling as he strained to hear what his feline companion had cottoned onto. Against the deep hum of the engines and the occassional dripping from the water tank, Lister could distantly make out a faint beeping noise. He stiffened visibly. Perhaps Rimmer had returned with the simulant and was keying in the security code to the Cargo Bay doors.
But the beeping continued to pulse far longer than the usual 12 digit security code. In fact – his eyes narrowed in concentration – the bleeping seemed to be getting faster, growing rapidly in pitch and urgency. He chanced a look at the Cat, who returned his stare with an equal look of confusion. If he didn't know better, he'd say that the bleeping was coming from a –
The explosion was deafening as the Cargo Bay doors blasted towards them, shards of metal flying in all directions. Almost immediately the smoky air erupted with gunfire; the trio ducking down instinctively as the simulants flanking them were thundered with bullets, falling twitching to the ground before shutting down completely.
In the resulting chaos, Pizzak desperately snatched at the one remaining line of defence he had, grabbing Lister by the scruff of the neck and grasping him tightly before him. He snarled angrily, a sharp row of metal teeth sparkling. He'd been half-expecting this backlash, and there was no way in Silicon Hell he was going back to the Orion empty-handed. He felt the human struggle against his grasp, but his arm pinned him tightly against his chestplate.
As the echo of the explosion died away, two sets of booted footsteps cut through the silence. Lister's chest racked with coughs as he blinked the dust from his eyes, straining to focus. As the smoke slowly curled back to reveal an all too familiar figure, his mouth slackened in disbelief.
"Smeggin' hell," he breathed.
His face hadn't changed an iota in the ten years since he'd last seen him; the blonde wisps of his wig hanging over his dark eyes that scowled openly towards them. His guns were trained on the pair as he stalked slowly and steadily closer, not breaking his concentration for a single moment.
"Pizzak!" he called out angrily, his voice echoing around the dank, metal walls. "Drop him. You don't know where he's been."
Lister blinked in surprise. If this was indeed his Rimmer, he'd mastered the smooth, dulcit tones of his alter ego perfectly. He felt the rumble against his back as the simulant growled.
"Mr Rimmer, I would strongly suggest that you put down your weapons before I take the pleasure of crushing this puny human until he snaps."
The simulant made good his threat as Lister felt Pizzak tighten his vice-like grasp across his chest, an involuntary wheeze spluttering from his lips. He watched as Rimmer's hardened face retreated visibly, concern tugging at his features.
Rimmer's eyes flitted right to the Cat and Kryten who were still crouched on the floor, staring at him with a mixture of shock and fear, and then back to the simulant before him. There was no way he could get a clear shot at Pizzak without the risk of hitting Lister. He closed his eyes momentarily with a pained frown, as with a reluctant sigh his arms sank to his sides and he dropped his guns to the floor. Pizzak gestured with his free hand and a less than subtle cough. Catching the meaning with a frustrated growl, Rimmer kicked over the guns so that they skittered across the floor towards the simulant's feet.
Pizzak's face split into a metallic grin. "Much better," he sang. "Perhaps now we could conduct this transaction without the pathetic bravado?"
"Let him go, Pizzak," he replied through gritted teeth, enunciating each word with enough venom to kill a herd of cattle.
The simulant nodded gently in a condescending manner that made Rimmer's blood boil. "All in good time," he reassured slowly. "You have the Jadestone?"
Without breaking his locked stare with the simulant, Rimmer angled his head back to address his nano self who was still shielded behind him. "Show it to him," he said flatly.
Swallowing audibly, nano Rimmer edged his way cautiously around his predecessor and unfurled his fingers to reveal the gemstone. When his eyes gathered the courage to meet with Pizzak's, he noticed with a sickening sensation that the simulant seemed far less interested in what lay in his hand, but more intent on staring at him intently. He watched transfixed as the red glow of his eye flitted between him, his predecessor, and back to him again.
The grip on Lister tightened defensively. "There are two of you," Pizzak stated, the electronic feedback to his voice registering a hint of wariness.
A small smile pulled at the corner of Rimmer's mouth. If he didn't know better, he'd say that Pizzak was almost afraid.
"Can you imagine my embarassment when I turn up to the party wearing the same face?" he replied smoothly.
And then Pizzak did something that Rimmer was not wholly expecting. An ugly, twisted smile spread across his face, amused giggles bubbling from his lips before they opened into a self-absorbed riotous laughter.
"How can something that appears so complex turn out to be so very, very simple?" he asked eventually, almost weeping with laughter. "The oh-so-dangerous Ace Rimmer!" he mocked openly. "The undefeatable hero who, as it turns out, is oh-so very mortal. The legendary human that has survived the tests of time for hundreds of years is nothing better than a trick of mirrors!"
Rimmer shook his head firmly. "You're wrong. We're all Ace Rimmer. All those who came before me and all those who are yet to come. No matter what you try and do, we'll always be here to stop you, don't you worry."
Pizzak's eyes locked with the man behind him. "And what about him? Is he your little protege?"
Rimmer's face hardened once more as his nano self shrank further behind him. "I'm only going to say this one more time, Pizzak 'Rapp. Let him go."
"Oh come on, Mr Rimmer, indulge me for a moment," Pizzak chided, his oily grey tongue snaking out to lick his lips. "In the love of all that's putrid, please tell me that it was you who was squirming and writhing so deliciously on my torture table all those years ago?"
Rimmer froze as Lister's shocked eyes met his own, suddenly feeling incredibly sick. His mind's eye flashed with images of his electronic torture during his first ever encounter with Pizzak, whilst he was still the caterpillar of his former self. He remembered how much pain and fear it had inflicted. What it had left behind in its wake. The horrible, black thing that burned inside him, longing to release its destructive power on that gordforsaken simulant and all those around him. His fingers curled into tight fists as he struggled to keep control.
Pizzak's grin spread to the farther reaches of his face. "I knew it," he announced triumphantly. "I can see it in the way you look at me, Mr Rimmer. How much you truly hate me."
Lister regarded his old crewmate sadly, not recognising the strange look in his eye. He'd always fought off his sense of guilt for pushing Rimmer to become his hated alter ego with the knowledge that he'd be making himself a happier, more confident person. But after ten years of his struggle, Lister wasn't entirely sure whether the man who had returned was necessarily the better for it. What seemed to have emerged from the furnace was someone forged into something harder, yet more troubled than he'd ever been before.
Pizzak bathed in Rimmer's stunned silence, the cogs in his mind turning almost audibly. "Oh dear, Mr Rimmer. The eloquence and effectiveness of your negotiation skills has never been your strongest point, has it?" he mocked. The simulant's eyes narrowed from behind the safety of Lister's face. "I bet the people on Galactic Bazaar haven't quite forgiven you for that, have they?"
Rimmer began to shake with a mixture of fear and rage, the edges of his vision trembling. He could feel everyone's questioning eyes boring into him silently from all sides.
The simulant pursed his lips. "Only just decided to crawl out of your pathetic, self-absorbed hiding place, have you?" Pizzak tutted. "Or have you only just got it through your thick skull that you made the wrong decision? If you'd have simply given me the Jadestone the first time we met, this would never have happened, would it?"
Rimmer blinked rapidly as though he were in freefall. Through his blurred vision, he could make out Lister's eyes flitting left and right as they searched his own, staring as if he no longer recognised him. His chest began to heave as his pants became faster and angrier, his features quivering as they hardened from mortified despair to a murderous scowl.
"The oh-so-heroic Ace Rimmer!" Pizzak pressed, delighting in the effect that he was having. He squeezed Lister once more, drawing another painful splutter from his unwilling lips. "Always willing to put everyone else's lives on the line apart from his own."
With a strangled, furious cry, Rimmer's hand flashed behind his back and quickly pulled out a gun strapped under his jacket; one of two spares that he always kept stashed for emergency situations, and thrust it unsteadily towards the pair. As the Cat and Kryten immediately leapt to their feet in an attempt to calm the situation, the simulant tightened his grip on Lister as he struggled to free himself.
His nano self grabbed his predecessor roughly by his free arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he cried angrily. "You're going to kill him!"
Rimmer shoved him away hard with a growl, not even turning to look at him. "That's the point, you idiot!" he snapped back in the same snidy tone.
Nano Rimmer shrank back, shocked by the severity of his outburst. They may have been genetically identical, but he didn't recognise the rage and desperation that burned in his predecessor's eyes. His focus was clearly on his nemesis and nothing else.
"There it is!" Pizzak cried with triumphant aggression as he stared back hard. "There's the murderer behind the saintly exterior. I'm sure the people of the Exodus didn't see that side of you, did they?"
"Don't you dare even speak their names, you disgusting, murderous piece of metal trash!" he spat, an onslaught of buried emotions wrestling for space on his contorted, red face. He felt like he was unravelling; coming apart at the seams.
Lister trembled with fear as he watched the gun now shaking visibly in Rimmer's outstretched hand. He certainly didn't look like he had any degree of self-control left to give.
"Not content with shattering their livelihoods and taking everything away from them they ever held dear, you come back to murder them all in cold blood," Rimmer sobbed angrily. "Why? Why did you do it?" When nothing was forthcoming, he loaded the gun forcefully with renewed rage, in the desperate hope to draw out the answer he'd needed to hear for the last eleven, miserable months. "Why?!" he demanded, tears of anger and bitterness balanced precariously in his line of vision.
Pizzak snorted in amusement, his crackled, electronic voice dropping to a low rumble.
"To see the look on your face," he said simply.
There was a brief moment when Rimmer's world seemed to slow to a stop, trapped in a sea of white noise. He could swear blind that he could hear something deep inside snap.
His other self had clearly heard it too, or read the dangerous warning signs that were etched on his face. With a primal growl that rumbled from deep within his chest, finding escape in the form of a furious yell, Rimmer pulled the trigger.
The bullet itself, however, had already veered way off course as his nano self made a grab for the gun, desperately wrenching his firing arm down towards the floor. The shot reverberated across the Cargo Bay, hitting Pizzak's leg in a shower of bright, white sparks as it severed through the servos and circuitry. The simulant immediately dropped Lister in shock, who quickly scrabbled to get a safe distance away as soon as he tumbled to the deck.
With a desperate snarl and no hostage, Pizzak snatched up Rimmer's abandoned gun from the floor. Rimmer caught sight of him in the corner of his eye and reloaded quickly, turning just in time to see the simulant squeeze off a final shot that fired at least a foot wide to his left. Thankful for the terrible aim, Rimmer returned fire with a vengeful snarl of his own. The bullet buzzed through the flare of blue light that Pizzak had become before squealing across the now empty Cargo Bay.
He cursed audibly as he panted for air that he didn't need. Pizzak had beamed out of Red Dwarf before he had a chance to finish him off.
"Rimmer!" Lister cried.
Rimmer's head whipped towards his old crewmate instinctively, but he quickly noticed that he hadn't been calling out to him. Lister's panicked eyes seemed to be looking beyond him, past him. Confused, Rimmer turned back, his face soon falling as realisation hit him hard. Pizzak hadn't been aiming for him at all.
"Oh no," he breathed.
The dark hazel eyes of his nano self were wide, still staring in shock at the spot where Pizzak had disappeared. His hands clutched desperately to his chest, he gave a pained, airless wheeze before collapsing backwards to the floor.
This took me several working hours, and many, many drafts to (hopefully) get this right. I'll be interested to hear your feedback, especially in regards to the end of this chapter...