Rimmer's Decision


Lister sat back in his chair in the cockpit and watched the stars go by with a sigh. Back in the mid-section he could hear Kryten and Kochanski squabbling about something; it sounded like the bloody salad cream again.

Rimmer had been gone for about eighteen months now and although they'd settled into a new routine on Starbug to compensate for his loss, there were still occasions when Lister found himself wishing things were back the way they'd been. It was wonderful to have Kriss around again, even if nothing had come of it - not yet at least, he still hadn't given up hope on that front - but Rimmer had been his last connection to life before the radiation leak. They had shared a past and memories about things that Kryten and the Cat couldn't understand and Kriss, from a different dimension, simply had no knowledge of.

As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Lister did still miss Rimmer quite a lot.

A complicated beeping sound behind him made him look round. There were some lights flashing on the scan. he called, Scan's acting up again. She jogged up the steps and peered over at it, with Kryten following her. ...Do you have an extensive program built in to cover all culinary matters, ma'am? Kryten asked, I doubt it somehow. And my program clearly sates that salad cream should...
Kryten, shut up and that's an order. she snarled, dropping into her seat. Kryten made a small hmph' and sat down in his own seat.

What is it? Lister asked her, Just a malfunction? Kriss stared at the screen in front of her,
she said slowly, As far as I can gather, this seems to be genuine. Lister picked up on the tone of her voice and turned to face her, What's it found? She looked up at him, her eyes huge and round. Human life. She said softly. They stared at each other in silence for a second before anyone spoke. Lister asked, a tremor in his voice.
It appears that Miss Kochanski is correct, sir. Kryten replied, somewhat grudgingly. Although there are some other life signs as well that ae not so clear. I would suggest caution.
Where's it coming from? Lister asked.
A small planetoid just ahead. Kriss reported. She looked up at him, What do we do? Lister paused. Go and wake the Cat. he told her finally. We're going down.