Jeff had dozed off at Scott's bedside. Something disturbed him, and he woke up with a start.
It was Brains, with a mug of coffee.
"How's it going?" Jeff asked him. Brains and Tin-Tin had been working on their own antitode for the poison.
"Not too bad." Brains replied. "The poison very similar to the venom found in snakes. But there's something else in it, and I haven't yet been able to figure out what it is."
"OK, Brains, keep at it."
"Yessir."
Jeff looked back at Scott.
"Hold on, son." He told him. "We're nearly there."
Virgil staggered down a corridor in the complex. He felt sick; Sick with grieve for Alan, and sick with nerves at the thought of having to tell Gordon, and Jeff, and Scott, and John. The Cat followed behind him. Now two of his crew were dead, too. But he was OK, and that was all that mattered.
Just then, Virgils' watch beeped. He took a breath before replying.
"Go ahead." He said, at length.
"Virgil? I found Kryten. How are you and The Cat."
"We're OK, Gordon." Virgil replied. "Where are you? I have some bad news."
"We're in an open area. In some storage bay."
"OK." Virgil said, "we'll get to you as soon as we can."
He produced a hand held homing device that Brains had designed for occasions like this. He pressed a button on the side of it, and the device lit up.
Soon, they had found the storage bay, and Kryten and Gordon were waiting for them.
Virgil went to Gordon.
"Gordon." He said. "It's Alan. He's…." But he couldn't go on.
"You're going to tell me that he's dead." Gordon said.
Virgil swallowed, and nodded.
"I thought so." Gordon said braverly. He bowed his head, and stayed silent for a few moments.
"We have to find the simulant." Virgil said. "At least we can still save Scott."
"How did.." Gordon began, "How did he die? Was it quick?"
Virgil looked at him.
"Yes." He said. "It was quick."
Gordon took a shaky breathe.
"What happened?"
"It's best that you don't know."
"He was my brother," Gordon insisted. "What happened?"
"Well," Virgil said, "It looks like he was stabbed in the eyes."
"Shit." Gordon whispered.
"Yeah." Virgil agreed.
"Begging you pardons, sirs." Kryten interrupted, "We should get a move on."
They began to walk to the other side of the huge storage bay, and this time they stuck together. They walked in silence for a while, listening out for any sign that the simulant was near.
"Hey." Gordon said as they neared the other side of the storage bay. "If we take Alans body home, we can play intellectual games with him, and it won't be any different from when he was alive!"
"You can make jokes, can you?" Kryen asked, coldly.
"Yes, I can," Gordon said, with enormous dignity. "One of my brothers dying. In fact, he may be dead by now; we don't know. And my other brother has just been killed on the most awful way you could imagine. I can make jokes because if I couldn't, I'd have lost my mind a long time ago. That's what humans do, Kryten. It's a little survival tactic to keep themselves sane; When something hurts so much you can't even breathe, then you laugh."
"Guys," Virgil interrupted. "I heard something."
They all listened. He was right, somebody was approaching, and it was the simulant. He stalked up to The Cat, and swung his fist into his jaw, sending him flying into some crates, and knocking him out cold. The simulant turned to Virgil and Gordon.
"So, you found your brother." He said. "I think you would like to know that he went out fighting."
Virgil charged toward the simulant, to attack him, but the simulant was too quick for him, and he seized Virgil by the throat.
This time, Gordon tried to rush the simulant, but he swung his hand back and sent Gordon flying across the storage bay. He slid across the floor for a few feet, and collided with a pile of crates, that fell on top of him.
"Mr. Tracy, sir." Kryten called. "Hang on."
Kryten crept round behind the simulant and found an iron bar that was on the floor. He swung it round and hit the simulant on the back as hard as he could. The simulant was completely unharmed, but he let Virgil go. Virgil coughed and rubbed his throat.
Kryten swung the bar again, but the simulant caught it and twisted it out of his hands, and smiled at Kryten.
"Now then." He mused. "Which of you shall be next?"
He swung the bar around, and hit Kryten in the side, There was a loud cracking noise, and Kryten fell over.
Then the simulant approached Virgil. Virgil drew his gun from his holster and fired at simulant. The bullet pinged off him.
The simulant began to walk towards Virgil, who fired again, and again the bullet just bounced off the simulant, and he kept coming towards Virgil.
Virgil backed up against some crates.
"Nowhere to go," The simulant taunted.
Vrigil tried to dive past him, but the simulant caught him, and threw him to the floor. He sat astride Virgil and wrapped his hands around his throat, and squeezed. Virgils hand desperately searched the floor for something to grab holds of, but there was nothing. He choked and coughed, but the simulant was unrelenting. He tried to claw at the simulants finger, but they were like a vice. His head felt like it was filling with blood, and his vision was becoming blurry. His made one last attempt to grab hold of something to hit the simulant with, but still there was nothing. He was about to give up hope when suddenly, the simulant seemed to jerk, and release his grip. His faced was twisted in shock and pain, and he just sat there, shuddering.
Kryten had come to, and had driven the iron bar straight though the simulant.
The simulant jumped to his feet and began to spin around and around. Sparks flew off him, and he fizzed and crackled and he collided with piles of crates, knocking them down. He grasped the bar, and tried to yank it out of himself, but he couldn't.
Kryten helped Virgil to his feet, and The Cat and Gordon had come to as well.
"We have to go." Kryten said, pulling Virgil by the arm.
"Not until he's finished." Virgil said.
The simulant continued to spin and sparks continued to fly. But then, he stopped spinning, and looked at them. He was still fizzing and crackling, but he stared at them, smiling, almost satisfactorily.
"RUUUN!" Virgil shouted.
They all ran for the door, but they knew they were not going to make it. They all dived behind crates as the simulant exploded in huge fireball. Bits of him rained down on them, and then there was silence.
Gordon and Virgil got Alans body into Thunderbird Three. Then they went over to Star-Bug to see how Kryten and The Cat were doing.
Virgil collapsed into the pilot seat, and bowed his head and rested his eyes.
"What happened?" Holly asked.
"The simulant killed Alan and Rimmer." Virgil replied, without looking up. "But we killed him."
"I'm sorry." Holly said.
"Now I have to tell everyone at home." Virgil said gravely. "And find out if Scott is OK."
Gordon gave his shoulder a squeeze. And Virgil laid his hand on top of Gordons. They were both physically and mentally exhausted, and they just wanted to get home.
"We'll both tell them." Gordon said. Virgil gave him a smile.
"Hey look," Holly said. "While you were away, I've been playing with this time-drive thingy. And if my calculations are correct, it will undo everything the simulant did."
Slowly, Virgil stood up.
"Undo everything the simulant did? What, ever?"
"No." Holly replied, "just since we met him."
"How?" Kryten asked, approaching the time drive.
"You need to put in the following code," Holly said. "57468754/68"
Kryten punched the numbers into the time drive. They all waited for something to happen. They waited and waited, but after four whole minutes, nothing had happened.
"It hasn't worked." Virgil said. Tears stung his eyes.
Everyone seemed to deflate. Kryten looked at Virgil, and gave him an apologetic look. Gordon looked miserably at the floor, and The Cat, didn't know what to do. But then, Gordon said,
"Look!"
The time-drive seemed to glow, and the air inside Star-Bug became distorted, and rippled
The rippling separated into three different parts, then they all took on a human shape. Rimmer materialised first, then Alan, and finally, Lister.
Virgils neck had stopped hurting, where the simulant had tried to strangle him, and the dent that the bar had left in Krytens side had gone.
Virgil and Gordon rushed over to Alan, and held him between them, then they sat Alan in one or the pilot seats, and crouched in front of him, talking to him and telling him what had happened to the simulant,a dn asking him how he felt
Rimmer felt himself all over, and he was fine.
"Welcome back." Holly said.
Kryten stepped up to Lister.
"Oh sir!" He cried.
He threw his arms around Lister, and hugged him, bruising him all over. Lister winced, but he didn't pull away.
"We'd better get back." Virgil said. He turned to the Red Dwarf crew, together again. "Do you want to come back with us? I'm sure dad will want to thank you."
"No." Lister said, letting go of Kryten. "We'll come back to 'thank you' to you. And I won't mind saying goodbye to Scott."
"Of course." Gordon said. "Scott will be OK now, won't he? Now that we undid everything the simulant did."
"You're right." Kryten agreed. "Come on, sirs let's go home."
Alan, Gordon and Virgil went to Thunderbird Three, and started her engines. Both of the craft lifted off and flew off into space. Then Star-Bug enganged the wormhole generator, and both ships flew into the hole torn in time.
Virgil could picture Scott clearly as they approached Tracy Island; sprawled out on the couch, in his check shirt, sipping Scotch and reading a magazine.
Thunderbird Three touched-down into her silo, and Star-Bug landed on a patch of grass, near the house. They climbed out of their respective craft, and gathered around the pool.
"Ready?" Virgil said. He was so excited he had to catch his breath.
He opened the door and went in. Everyone followed him. It was quiet.
Horribly quiet.
There was no sign of anybody in the lounge. He went to kitchen, no one there, either.
"Er, Bud." The Cat said. "I think he's still sick."
Wordlessly, Virgil headed to the sickbay. The Cat was right, Scott was still in the bed, still unconscious, and wired to the heart monitor. Jeff and Kyrano were sat next to the bed.
"We're back." Gordon said.
"Just in time." Jeff said, and they all knew, from the tone of his voice, what he was insinuating. You're just in time, because Scott's not got long left.
"I don't get it." Virgil said. "We undid everything the simulant did to us."
Suddenly, Lister stared at him.
"The simualant didn't hurt Scott." He said, quickly "His friend did."
"So what do we do now?" Gordon asked.
"Wait a minute." Jeff said. "Why is the fact that the simulant didn't hurt him important?"
"We used our time-drive to undo everything the simulant did." Kryten explained. "He killed Alan, and…"
"He killed Alan?" Jeff asked, looking at Alan.
"Yes." Virgil said. "But we got him back, and Rimmer, too. Oh, and Lister. But we all thought the simulant had hurt Scott."
"So we haven't saved him?" Alan said, miseraly.
As they were talking, the bip sound of the heart monitor began to slow down. Jeff stared at it for a few seconds, almost paralysed. Virgil took off out the door and tore down to Brains lab. Brians and Tin-Tin were pouring over some notes when he appeared at the door.
"Brains," Virgil gasped. " We need that antidote. NOW."
"It's not ready." Brains protested.
Virgil ran his hand through his hair, frantically trying to think of what to do next.
"We're just going to have to try it as it is." He said. "How far have you got with it?"
"We've found the antitode to two of the three components of the poison. But we still…."
"Fantastic. Let's go." Virgil dashed out the lab and headed back to the sickbay. Brains had no choice but to follow him with the incomplete antidote.
Brians, Virgil and Tin-Tin arrived back at the sickbay. Kryten was checking Scotts' vital signs.
"Pulse is weak, but it's still there, just." He was saying, "And he's still breathing on his own."
"Here," Brains said, and pushed his way toward Scott, passed Kryten. "I need something to tie round his arm."
"Have this," Lister said, handing Brains the belt from his trousers.
Brains thanked Lister and tied the belt around Scotts' arm, to raise a vein. Then he took a hypodermic needle from his lab coat pocket and removed the safety cap with his teeth. He attached a syringe filled with the antidote to the needle. and held it in the air. He depressed the syringe slightly, and a jet of clear liquid arced into the air, then landed on the floor.
He tapped the top of Scotts' elbow, then carefully inserted the needle into his vein, and gently squeezed the syringe
"OK." He breathed, to himself, rather than anybody else.
Without warning, the heart monitor began to slow down at an alarming rate, until there was a good five second pause between each bip.
"What is it?" Jeff said. "What's going on?"
"I don't know." Brains said, on the brink of panic
"Oh, God." Jeff said. "He's dying."
The heart monitor slowed down further, then it stopped.
"Scott?" Jeff said, quietly. "Scott?"
Still the heart monitor was silent, and Scott didn't answer. Kryten checked his signs again. Then he looked at Lister and shook his head. Everyone in the room was silent, immersed in grief and shock. Jeff sat on the bed, beside Scott. He out his head on his sons chest and wept. Virgil, Gordon and Alan huddled together and wept, too. Lister spun around and smashed his fist into the wall. And Kryten, Rimmer and The Cat stood in solemn silence. Jeff stood up to leave the, room, and go and tell Grandma and Kyrano.
But then, the heart monitor bipped. Just once. There was a pause of about five seconds and it bipped again. Gradually, the bipping got faster and faster, and stronger and stronger, until it was bipping at a healthy, regular speed. Jeff turned around and looked from Scott to Brains in amazement.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I think I know what happened." Kryten said. "The simulant didn't torture Scott. But he did design and create the poison. It just took a little longer to become undone. He must have created it a long time ago."
"So my antidote didn't work, then?" Brains asked.
"It would have done." Kryten said. "But this time, it was the time-drive."
Scott was sitting up now.
"Hey son," Jeff said to him. "How do you feel?"
"Heck. I feel fine." With that he pushed down the bed clothes and looked at his stomach. There was not a mark on it.
"Wow." Said Lister, "It really did undo everything."
"Listen." Said Jeff, turning to Lister, Rimmer, The Cat, and Kryten. "We owe you our greatest thanks."
"Yeah." Scott put in, "Thanks."
"It was nothing," Lister said.
"Not for you maybe." Rimmer chided him. He turned to Scott. "It was Kryten who destroyed the simulant in the end."
"Thank you, Kryten." Scott said, with a smile.
"And it was Holly who worked out how to program the time drive." Lister said.
"Uh-huh?" Scott said, and still smiling gently, he rested back on the pillow.
"Come on then Dad." John Tracy said, "I'll thrash you at a game of chess."
Jeff expected the challenge and got up from behim his desk. The Red Dwarf crew had been gone for a few weeks now. They had recreated the worm hole, disappeared into it. But not before Jeff had invited them for one last meal, prepared by Grandma and Kyrano.
Alan had just started his shift in Thunderbird 5, and since Lister et al had been gone, International Rescue had carried out two (simple) yet successful missions.
Jeff had told Lister to drop that he and his crew could drop in anytime. But they hadn't heard from them again. Not yet, anyway.
Jeff and John settled down on either side of the chess board, while Scott dozed in the arm chair.
Just then, Virgil came bounding in through the patio doors, brandishing two tennis rackets.
"Hey Scott." He said. "Are you up for a game?"
"Nah," Said Scott, without opening his eyes. "Maybe another time."