Author's note: Hi everyone, sorry about the delay, MAJOR coursework problems (but they'll be over after by Easter - YES!). R&R&E…

Lister sat back in his chair and watched the stars zoom past at warp speed as Ace prepared to dimension jump.
"Skipper, can you calibrate the main conduits to lock with the transponders on Alpha Delta IV?"
"Er…what?"
Ace pointed at a blue button, "Press that twice." Lister did so with a nervous grin.
"I can't believe you let me do that!" He said.
"Why?" Ace asked.
Lister snorted, "No one, and by that I mean Rimmer, would never have trusted me with something like that. He wouldn't let me replace rivets when we were technicians," he began to impersonate the hologram in question, "'If you do it wrong, laddo, it's my career that's on the line.' Honestly, you have no idea how glad I am to be away from that."
"You might want to buckle up for this," Ace warned.
"Oh, please, I have a very high threshold for…ARGH!" he screamed as Ace hit the big red button labelled 'DJ'.

Ace steadied the ship and stuck it on autopilot before picking Lister up from off the floor.
"Thanks," Lister smiled weakly, gingerly fingering the bruises on the back of his neck. Ace smiled back.
"I wanted to ask you something before we jumped dimensions," Ace said, "When you said you were glad to be away…did you really mean that?"
Lister stared up at him, "Of course! This is what I've always dreamed of!" He indicated the space around him, "To be with the people at the forefront. To be of use to someone. Back there I was forced to be content with a life filled with nothingness. I was forced to lead this…this pointless, slobby existence. When I was first let out of stasis I would get so angry. I remember one incident in particular, where Rimmer got smegged off 'cos I'd used one of his miniature toy soldiers as a toothpick, and I got smegged off 'cos he got smegged off, so he got even more smegged off, and…you see where I'm going."
Ace smiled one of his famous smiles and nodded.
"Well, anyway, the argument got a little heated and I threatened to switch off his hologram. Then Holly got annoyed 'cos we'd interrupted her doing something-or-other, so then Rimmer got pissed with her, so she got more annoyed. So I jumped in and defended Hol, but she said that she could take care of herself, so then Rimmer got all gloaty, and we ended up having this huge three-way conversation. If it hadn't been for Kryten interrupting, I swear I would have crushed Rimmer's light-bee and smashed in Holly's screen."
Ace slowly shook his head; he'd known things were edgy on Red Dwarf, but he hadn't known the full extent. Then and there he decided never to mention Dave's past life again.

Over the next week, Lister learned a range of new skills. He could do all the things you were supposed to do on a ship: piloting, salvaging, general maintenance. But he found his true talent was navigation. He was good at judging distances against times, which helped Ace enormously as it cut down on time. Often Lister wondered what his life would have been like if he'd realised his aptitude for astronavigation. He might even have had a career. It made Lister laugh to think about it! But maybe it wasn't such an insane idea. In fact, maybe he could still have that career. After all, his past life with all the distractions and limitations holding him back was no more. He had a fresh new life. And even if he screwed it up in the way he usually did, well, at least he would have tried.
"Ace?" Lister mused whilst tapping his finger rhythmically on the scanner one uneventful afternoon, "D'you think I could be a Navigation Officer?"
Ace looked at him with soft eyes, "Davey boy, if you think you can do it, then you can do it better than anyone."
Lister nodded and turned back to the scanner. He could do it.

Author's note: I rather liked this chapter. Not sure why. Anyway, if anyone happens to be at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 13th March, look out for the titch clarinetist with the sprained wrist…cos it's ME!
If you're not gonna be there (shock horror!) then wish me luck!