Chapter 6 - Dreams Turn To Nightmares
It was gone four in the morning when the party finally broke up and the final farewells were exchanged with hugs all round and even an, admittedly rather drunken but completely sincere, Rimmer salute from the three Titanicers for Rimmer himself which he did his best to return.
As he watched the three Dwarfers stagger back to their ship still singing Broad Lic Nic, Flacco had a sudden sense that something was horribly wrong and, knowing that his three wouldn't miss him, darted into an empty hall before using his kill switch to immediately exit the dream.
And not a moment too soon as mere moments after coming to he saw sparks erupting from the machinery around Tim's bed. Desperately he worked to contain the failure but it was no good and to his horror he saw Tim's eyes flicker open. He slowly turned his head towards Flacco and gave him a decidedly manic grin.
"Tim?" whispered Flacco, clutching at straws.
"I'm Bob and I'm back," came the cold reply before he sat up and swung his legs off the bed tearing away the leads and IV.
Bob was having some trouble coordinating his movements after so long unconscious, but Flacco knew that would be only a temporary problem as he backed away until he hit the main console. He manipulated the controls without looking behind him, if he could wake the others maybe they could escape to the other ship. But in order to give them that chance he would have to act as bait. He continued to back away as Bob kept advancing, toying with him. They both knew that even in his current condition Bob could have killed him a dozen times by now.
"Waking them won't help you," the softness of his voice only managed to accentuate the menace; "they'll get their turn. But the thrill of the chase is much more satisfying don't you think?"
Flacco knew what he had to do then, although he hated to leave the others, he turned and ran. He could only hope that Bob hadn't been lying, but the steady, unhurried footfalls he heard behind him were oddly reassuring. This would only end one way for him but if he made interesting enough sport the others might yet live. He jinked down a side corridor; he did have the advantage that he knew the new layout of the place without the clutter to provide landmarks. He kept running.
The three Dwarfers awoke coughing; the acrid smoke of burning electrics hitting the back of their throats. Slowly they became aware of their surroundings and the first thing they noticed was that Flacco was nowhere to be found. The second was that in the middle bed there was an ominously empty space.
They were startled from this horrifying realisation by groaning noises from the occupants of the other two.
"What happened," complained Richard. "Who put out the lights?"
Paul and Richard slowly opened their eyes waiting for the blurred images to coalesce into something more tangible. They were groggily surprised to see Lister and Rimmer looking down at them with panic in their eyes.
"Tim's gone!" exclaimed Rimmer.
"As has Flacco," added Lister, "we've got to find him and get to the Starbug."
"Look Lister, he's probably gone to draw him off let's just get out of here while we can."
"I'm afraid Rimmer may be right," put in Paul as Lister opened his mouth to object, "we will help him if we can but we mustn't throw away this chance he's given us; he wouldn't want us to."
Hurriedly they removed the leads and IVs and Paul and Richard tried to stand up. Their legs shook but held their weight. Paul attempted a couple of steps and would have fallen if Lister hadn't caught him. His head was swimming with the remaining effects of the drugs in his system, but he knew they hadn't the time to wait for them to recover.
"No, wait, I'm alright," he could feel the strength returning. It was just like pins and needles really. He tried again and got most of the way across the room before collapsing into the console.
They didn't really have much choice.
"Rimmer, you help Richard, I'll help Paul," instructed Lister.
"Hey, Lister! Catch," called Richard snatching up his guitar from its stand by the bed and tossing it across to Lister who caught it effortlessly. "I want you to have it, keep it safe for me, eh?" Lister wasn't encouraged; they obviously didn't think they were coming out of this alive. Nonetheless he slung the guitar over his shoulder before stooping to help Paul.
He saw Rimmer hesitate as he pulled Paul's arm over his shoulder and put his other round his waist, "we can't just leave them behind!"
"If it makes things any easier Rimmer," Richard murmured in his ear, "it's not just us he's after, Bob will go for anyone but if we're with you we may be able to distract him."
They made steady progress through the empty corridors with Paul and Richard gaining confidence with every step they took until eventually they could jog along unaided. Suddenly they turned the last corner and immediately wished they hadn't.
Flacco lay at an unnatural angle, rag-doll like, in a pool of blood, bright red stains against his torn white ruffled shirt. His neck clearly broken. His eyes were open, defiant to the end.
Rimmer and the Cat hurried past to the airlock and frantically inputted the codes to unlock the door. Nothing happened. They tried again and again but it remained stubbornly shut.
"We're trapped!" cried Rimmer, desperately trying to move the door manually to no avail.
Behind them Paul and Richard knelt grief-stricken beside the body unaware of the figure of Bob creeping up on them.
"Look out!" yelled Lister and they looked up to see their old friend advancing upon them with nothing but malevolence in his eyes and a knife in his hand.
"Tim," Richard pleaded rising with Paul in a vain attempt to hold him back, "Please, it's Richard, your mate, remember. We were once more than just mates, you remember? The long walks along the beach, simple games of Scrabble, cuddles in front of the fire." It wasn't working; in desperation he tried a different tack. "Alright, remember the idiot who followed you to the Titanic, who shared that dream world with you for years, the one who'd fall for all those stupid pranks you played on me. Like when you told me to squeeze those lemons in my eye and I really did it, or when you cooked my pet cat. I don't care about any of it, Tim, you have to be in there somewhere, please just remember me!"
"Richard?"
There was a brief flash of hope across the young man's face; that had been Tim's voice.
"Yes, yes it's me, I'm here. Oh, Timmy."
But it didn't last long as Tim's face contorted into a contemptuous sneer.
"I remember. I remember how you helped conspire to imprison me,"
Richard shook his head. "No, no, please."
"Trapped me in the mind of that narcissistic imbecile for years, well not anymore, the genie is out of the bottle now." He laughed cruelly as the knife flashed in his hand and Richard fell, blood bubbling from his lips as he choked and breathed his last.
"Tim! Look what you've done! He loved you, and you've killed him!" exclaimed Paul as he struggled with his friend. His eyes flickered fleetingly to Richard's body before once more focusing on the situation at hand; there would be time to mourn later if he got out of this alive.
There was another flash of what might have been recognition across Tim's handsome face before Bob reasserted control, once more twisting his features into a horrifying parody of the man Paul knew and loved.
"And you're next," he snarled, before seeming to notice the Dwarf crew for the first time, helplessly backed against the door and changed his mind, turning toward them.
He shoved Paul aside. "Nah, I've got a better idea, maybe I'll kill your new friends first; make you watch." He raised the dripping blade to strike again, whereupon Paul sprang between them without hesitation, wrapping his body about his killer and calmly reached up and whispered something in his ear. The knife fell then, but as it did a visible change came upon the one who wielded it. It was immediately evident that it was no longer Bob but Tim standing before them, suddenly finding himself holding the lifeless body of one of his closest friends in his arms.
He gazed down at the rapidly paling face and lowered the two of them carefully to the ground before looking up at the three Dwarfers who stood horror-struck in the doorway to Starbug.
He looked down at the knife he still clutched in his hand, stained as it was with the blood of his best mates and threw it with unerring accuracy at the door controls which exploded into a shower of sparks, causing the airlock door to roll back with barely a squeak.
"Go! Go back to your ship, you have no more to fear from Bob, I will keep him here 'til… 'til the end." He gathered Richard to his other side, gently closing his sightless eyes. "Please, go…" tears tracked his cheeks as he looked from one mate to the other, softly planting a kiss to each forehead. "It was always going to end this way… sooner or later." Tearfully, he started to sing, quietly, one of Paul's favourite songs as he carded a hand through Richard's hair. "I will come for you at night-time; I will raise you from your sleep…"
Rimmer and the Cat beat a hasty retreat towards Starbug but Lister couldn't help but hesitate. But what could he say? He hadn't the words. To his great regret he could only turn his back on the tragic scene before him and move on, leaving that haunting melody to echo down silent corridors.
The atmosphere on the Red Dwarf was subdued as they watched the explosion from a safe distance.
"Sirs," Kryten said hesitantly, "before Mr Flacco left he made a recording to be played in case…"
"Play it," said Lister wearily.
Flacco's face materialised on the central viewscreen, at first far too big, before he stepped back self-consciously as he tried to work the unfamiliar equipment. "Is this thing on? Testing, testing." He grinned at the camera before marshalling his features into a more sombre expression. "If you're watching this…" he broke off and the grin returned, "too trite? Seriously though folks, I am recording this as a last farewell in the eventuality that Bob does escape. I must first stress that whatever it was that went wrong whether by neglect or simple accident or even by the intervention of Bob himself the responsibility is mine and mine alone. There was nothing you could have done to save us, I only hope that all of you are watching this now and my recklessness hasn't cost any of you your lives along with ours.
I can't begin to express my gratitude for your extremely generous hospitality and your help. You have given me and my friends the chance for a few months of life rather than mere existence and we wouldn't have traded it for anything. As a small token of my thanks I have taken the liberty of giving your charming computer the navigational charts for our flight path. Now unfortunately I can make no guarantees but if you follow our course back you may hit the same worm-hole that stranded us out here in the first place and by entering from the other direction might speed your voyage back to Earth. I wish you well on your journey and hope you make it home someday. Goodbye my friends."
The screen went back to displaying only the vast expanse of space leaving the crew to sit in despondent silence. Such a kind, generous man didn't deserve the death he'd been given; none of them had. And even now he offered them the chance for a ticket home.
"Holly, plot in Flacco's course," said Lister eventually, his tone flat and quiet, before slowly rising to his feet with a sigh. "Come on, lets go down to the bar, I don't know about you but I could do with a drink."
Wordlessly the others followed him from the cockpit as The Red Dwarf altered its heading and continued its flight, once more alone among the silent stars.