CHAPTER 7:

LEAVING

Lister sat in the cockpit of Starbug, a hot cup of coffee in his hand, and peered out the viewport window. Outside, the world was a dense fog of churning, ochre-coloured sand. Lister was extremely relieved to be out of it. He took a sip of hot coffee that burned its way pleasantly down his throat.

"Take her up, Cat."

"Taking her up," the Cat replied, concentrating on the controls. Behind him, Kryten and Rimmer sat in their usual seats looking nervous.

"You sure you can guide us through those mines, Holly?" Rimmer asked.

"Course I'm sure. Piece o' cake. I've guided ships at light speed before, I think I can manage to avoid a few mines."

Rimmer rolled his eyes, shook his head, and watched the navicomp screen.

Starbug rose slowly and gracefully into the air. The wind buffeted it slightly, but it continued to rise up at an even speed. As they ascended, Lister caught a glimpse of the city rearing out of the storm like an island. Its tallest buildings poked up into the sky like skeletal fingers, reaching for freedom.

Lister craned around to look at Kryten. "You still got Miranda's disk?" Kryten nodded.

They began to rise through thick cloud. For a few long minutes the world was white, then they emerged above the cloud to be greeted with a glorious, deep blue sky, darkening to black.

"Looks so peaceful from up here," Lister said quietly.

Everyone was silent and tense as Starbug continued its ascent, nose pointing up towards the heavens. Finally they left the planet's outer atmosphere and cruised gracefully, unharmed, into space.

"We're out of range of the mines," Holly said calmly.

Lister's face broke out in a grin. "Brutal!" He yelled gleefully. "We're goin' home!" He slapped the Cat a high-five. Rimmer smiled and stood up.

"Well done, everyone," he said. "Not exactly the most pleasant experience of my life.. or, in this case, death... but at least we all got out of it in one piece. And the moral of the story is: never allow Lister to drive without supervision, because he's likely to completely cock it up and put everyone's life in danger." With a smug grin, he jogged down to the mid-section.

Lister shook his head, still smiling, and leaned back in his chair.

"Aren't you all forgetting someone?" Holly said.

Lister looked up. "Who?"

"Well, me, of course," she said, irate. "It's muggins 'ere who guided you out through those mines. You'd still be stuck on that planet if it wasn't for me."

"You're right, Hol. Cheers," he said through his grin, and toasted her with his coffee cup before taking another swig.

The Cat stood up. "Well if you'll excuse me, I have some serious preening to do. I've got sand some places I didn't even think was possible, and I haven't combed my hair in almost two days now!" He sauntered out of the cockpit, leaving Kryten and Lister alone.

Lister drank his coffee in silence, and then asked, "so still no idea on what those things were, Kryt?"

"No sir. But one thing is certain; they didn't show up on the heat scanner, so they weren't organic."

"So they really were ghosts?" He looked out at the ocean of blackness filling Starbug's window and frowned.

"That seems to be the only explanation. I believe Miss Miranda jumped to the assumption that they were attracted by blood because she herself was not attacked during her months on the ship."

"Yeah. That's something I still don't understand."

"Well, we might find out the answer one day, sir. Perhaps when we restore her we can find out a bit more about what happened after the ship crashed."

"Yeah," Lister said quietly, staring out into the black. Kryten noticed his morose expression.

"We will find a way, Mr Lister."

"Yeah. I know."

Red Dwarf cruised across the deep, glittering black ocean of deep space. It glided silently, a ship the size of a city, the light from its thousands of portholes winking like tiny stars.

Somewhere within it, Lister walked into Red Dwarf's sleeping quarters, where Rimmer was sitting at a table with his feet up on it, reading a book. A glass of amber-coloured liquid stood on the table next to his foot. He glanced up in a disinterested way as Lister entered, then went on reading. Lister slumped against the doorway, one hand shoved in his pocket, the other scratching his head the way he did when he was anxious.

Rimmer looked up again. "Something bothering you?"

"There's something I wanted to ask you."

"Oh yeah?" Rimmer said dully, closing his book. "What is it?"

"It's about Miranda."

Rimmer chewed his bottom lip and nodded. "You want to turn her back on."

"Only for a few minutes," Lister said, immediately defensive. "I just wanted to say a proper goodbye, you know? I'd turn you back on straight away."

"It's alright, Lister. I understand." He stared poignantly into his glass. "I just wish I could say goodbye properly. I never really got a chance to."

Lister nodded, and walked over and leaned on the table. "I'll tell her for you, if you want," he said softly.

There was a long silence. Finally Rimmer raised his head and looked doubtfully at Lister. "And you'd turn me back on?"

"'Course I would!"

Another pause. "Just a few minutes?"

"Just a few minutes. That's all."

Rimmer nodded gloomily. "Alright. Just give me a bit to get ready, ok?"

"Sure." Lister smiled and backed out of the room. "And thanks, man. This'll mean a lot to her."

Rimmer walked slowly into the Hologram Projection Unit, where Lister was swivelling around in circles in a chair, looking preoccupied. He jumped up as Rimmer entered. There was an uncomfortable pause.

"I really appreciate this, y'know," Lister said, a trifle awkwardly. Rimmer just nodded, his face unreadable. He was still wearing his hard-light uniform.

"Where's everyone else? They didn't want to be here?"

"Nah. They thought it might be easier if they weren't. If it was just me."

"Ah."

The silence stretched out between them. "So... you ready?"

"Go ahead," Rimmer said, and gestured towards the control panel. Lister gave him a nod, and tapped a series of commands into the computer. Rimmer's image zipped out of existence and his light bee fell, with a metallic clatter, to the floor. Lister picked it up and sat it on the console beside the keyboard. Then he pulled a flat, square disk out of his pocket and inserted it into the Projector's drive.

"Boot her up, Holly."

There was a slight fzzt, and Miranda appeared beside the Projector. She looked around as if startled, saw Lister, and blinked in shock.

"What..."

"Look, this is gonna sound really awful... but I can only leave you on for a few minutes. I promised Rimmer. I just wanted to say goodbye properly."

"Oh." She frowned, and then smiled.

"And I just wanted to let you know... we're gonna do everything we can to bring you back. A while ago, we encountered a Holoship. It was entirely a hologram, all the crew and everything. I know the chances aren't good that we'll find it again, but... It's something to hope for." He sighed. "Sure, they were all complete smeggy pompous gits, but I guess that's a small price to pay, huh?"

She laughed and nodded. Lister scratched his head again. "I mean... there's gotta be more out there like it. And if there isn't, or we don't find one... well... we'll find something else."

She looked at him for a long time. "I really am grateful. Anything is better than being trapped on that planet. Anything is better than that dark." Her voice grew husky and her eyes clouded over, and Lister had to look away. She sniffed and seemed to bring herself under control. Then she walked over to him and hugged him. Lister hugged her back, gently.

"Everyone else says goodbye. Rimmer too. He's sorry he couldn't be here."

She let him go and stood back. "That's alright. Tell him goodbye for me."

"Yeah."

They stood in silence for a long time. Then Miranda raised her head and asked, "have you still got my photo?"

Lister reached into his leather jacket and pulled it out. Miranda had passed the picture to him after her encounter with the Eater in the bunkroom. She hadn't said anything, just pressed it silently into his hand. He had understood. It was creased and badly blackened, but still in one piece. She looked at it and smiled. "Thanks for keeping it safe for me."

"Sure."

She took a deep breath, stared across the room, looking dreamily out the viewport window, and then said, "well, I guess you should turn me off now."

"Yeah," Lister mumbled, turning back to the Projector.

"You're all really good guys, you know that?"

He just nodded, unable to look at her.

"Tell everyone 'bye for me."

"Yeah. Hey... You really like Rimmer, don't you?" He asked quietly.

He couldn't see, but sensed her smile. "Yeah."

"Figures."

"Hey Dave?"

"Yeah?" He paused with his finger over the 'shut down' button. He was dismayed to see that it shook slightly.

"You really remind me of my brother. You would've liked him, I think."

"Mm."

She paused for a few beats and then said, "See you later."

Lister glanced back at her over his shoulder, and offered her a smile that was genuine and heart-wrenchingly sad. "'Bye."

He turned away and pressed the button. When he looked back, she was gone. Her disk slid out of the Projector's drive and fell into Lister's hand.

He realized his eyes were starting to sting and wiped them quickly, not wanting Rimmer to think he'd been crying, and reinstalled Rimmer's data into the HPU. Then he sat the light bee on the floor where it had been before, and tapped some commands into the computer.

Rimmer blinked on again. He jerked, as if being startled awake from a deep sleep, and looked over at Lister. The two of them looked at each other, neither spoke. Rimmer raised his head questioningly and Lister nodded. She's gone.

Rimmer crossed his arms and slowly walked to the other side of the room, then stopped and looked at Lister, frowning. Carefully, he said, "You could have left her on. If you'd wanted. Why didn't you?"

Lister breathed deeply and stared out the oblong porthole at the tranquil darkness. "The thought crossed my mind," he said quietly, not looking at Rimmer. "I mean, she has every right to be here, as much as you do. She deserves a life too. I didn't ask her though. And she would have said no. She kinda liked you. It's hard to believe, I know." He smiled and shook his head, amused.

"But you admit you thought about it," Rimmer said defensively.

"Of course I did. Who wouldn't have?" He replied. "But I wouldn't have gone through with it."

Rimmer stared at him. "Why not?"

Lister laughed again, disbelievingly. "Get real, Rimmer."

"Well, why not?"

Lister sighed and his face became serious again. "Because you're one of the crew, man. You're one of us. We've been through a lot. I wasn't about to just switch you off and say, 'sayonara Rimmer, it's been fun, but this Miranda girl's a lot better looking than you and I bet she doesn't keep her underpants on coat hangers'. I couldn't do that. I'm not a complete lowlife." He shook his head and stared, downcast, out the window.

Rimmer nodded mutely, looking at the floor. Finally he said, awkwardly, "Thanks, Lister."

There was a long, companionable silence. Finally Lister pushed himself off the table and headed for the door. As he reached it he paused, and turned back. "Don't get me wrong, though. You're still a smeg 'ead." With a grin, he left.

Rimmer stared at the space he had just vacated, and after a moment a small, wry smile touched his face. He looked down at the object lying next to the computer console. It was Miranda's holo-disk. He picked up the disk, took down a small metal case from a shelf and slipped the disk inside. Then he slid it back onto the shelf, among the thousands of others lined up there. Each one contained the data for every member of the Dwarf crew. He looked at the little label that had been carefully stuck onto the side.

'BELL, MIRANDA C.'

He turned and headed towards the door, and as he did a disconnected snatch of song drifted through his head. That's what she was singing, he thought, touching his lower lip thoughtfully, and walked out.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high

There's a land that I've heard of

Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow

Skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true

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THE END

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. Thank you everyone for your lovely comments, they mean so much, and I'm grateful for your advice and encouragement, it reminds me why I'm writing these stories in the first place. Mostly because it's fun, but more importantly so someone reads them and gets some enjoyment out of them :) As long as you keep reading, I'll keep writing! And don't worry there's a sequel in the works... I won't give too much away, but Miranda will be back, so don't feel too bad for her! Thank you Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and everyone involved in Red Dwarf, for bringing us the best TV show ever :)