Update! I'm terribly sorry for taking so long (again) but I think I've finally got this story unstuck! Here's:
Chapter Fourteen
Rimmer sucked in his cheeks and gave his head a shake, his ears still ringing from his brother's terrible howls.
"Well," he said dryly, "if that doesn't attract attention—"
"Get out!" Frank roared, saliva dripping from his fangs as he surged to his Yeti-like feet and advanced, his orangutan-like arms swinging wildly. "Get the hell away from me! I don't want anyone looking at me!"
Rimmer glared, the hot, molten anger roiling in his gut blocking any inclination to cringe or back away. This building outrage demanded confrontation, and he'd dealt with enough lumbering GELF warriors in his time as Ace to know their general weaknesses. And, in his current emotional state, Frank was particularly clumsy.
"What are you going to do, you muscle-bound gorilla?" he taunted, keeping well out of range of those long, sweeping arms. "You can't very well stay locked away in the toilet for the rest of your life! And, what about Janine?"
Frank fisted his hands, and let out another tortured, throaty roar.
"Ah, so you remember her," Rimmer sneered, rubbing at his ears. "She and the children are waiting out there now, for a husband and father they've barely seen for – how long is it, Frank? A day? A month? Or has the neglect gone on longer than that?"
"What do you care?" Frank howled. "What business is it of yours!"
"Read the nametag, laddie," he said, primly tapping the sticker with his finger. "You laughed when I wrote this. But, it may just offer up a clue."
The hulking GELF squinted his beady eyes as he slowly read: "Arnold J.—"
He snarled and stepped back, looking the older man up and down.
"Impossible," he snapped.
"More impossible than a decorated commander in the Space Corps Special Service transforming into a hideously hirsute genetically warped monstrosity right here, on the Italian marble floor?" Rimmer challenged, and crossed his arms.
"But— But, Arnold…! He's a… While you—"
Rimmer arched his nostrils and clenched his jaw, his boiling anger lowering back to a simmering seethe.
"You don't have to believe me," he said haughtily, "any more than those partygoers outside have to believe you when you try to explain who you are. That doesn't change the fact that we grew up together. You, John, Howard and me. Brothers, if not in practice, then at least in name and, at the very least, a shared upbringing and heredity."
Frank growled.
"It doesn't matter if I believe you or not," he grumbled, awkwardly wrapping his towel around his thick, furry gut and turning to face the mirror. "The Project is classified. I'm sworn not to speak a word. To anyone."
Rimmer's thin lips tightened, and he moved closer, reaching out a hand to touch his brother's hulking shoulder.
"Listen to me, Frank," he said. "I'm in the Space Corps, same as you. I know the rules and regulations we're sworn to live by. But, unlike you, I've seen where this 'project' of yours will lead."
"What do you mean?" Frank rumbled dangerously.
"I mean I've been around, my lad," Rimmer told him. "I've traveled well beyond our solar system, met all manner of Genetically Engineered Life Forms from this reality and dozens of others. I've traded with them, fought with them. A friend of mine once even married one. But, I never would have imagined the GELF race had its start here in the past – with my own big brother!"
"The past?" Frank frowned down at him. "Then…you've—"
"Come back from the future?" Rimmer said, and snorted a little laugh. "Quite right. And I want to help you, brother. You and your family. If you'll let me."
Frank's warped features grew deeply wary.
"If you are that bonehe—" He snuffled a cough, then tried again. "That is, if you are, indeed, our dear Arnold, all grown up… Why the smeg would you want to help me? We never got on as children. Hell, none of the Family has so much as seen you since you took Mother and Dad to court at fourteen to sue for your emancipation!"
"Successfully, I might add," Rimmer said archly. "The courts ruled in my favor. Even then, it took literally millennia before I was able to acknowledge, let alone confront, the grievous psychological damage you lot inflicted on me as a child. I won't say I'm over it, because I'm not, but I do know this."
He took a breath, and fixed his brother's gaze with his own.
"I've been trained to spot injustice, and to challenge it whenever and wherever I can," he said. "It wasn't my choice, really. I was recruited to play the role against my will. But, I've been doing this hero lark for a while, now. And, after seeing what this family of ours has done to you – to Janine and the kids…"
He shook his head and turned away, his eyes falling on his reflection in the mirror. His, and Frank's. The boy who'd run, and the boy who'd stayed…who'd followed every order without question, who'd climbed the ziggurat as they'd all been coached…
But, at what cost…?
"Can it be that I was the lucky one?" he whispered. "To break away, to blunder along my own path out there in deep space… While you, Janine, and all the rest – you're still trapped under this dome, locked up in Mother's hateful little world of pomp and prejudice…"
Rimmer swallowed, his mind whirling with difficult, conflicting realizations.
"These damn feelings…" he croaked. "They're inside me now. They've become part of…of who I am. Smeg knows, I've tried to fight it, even to deny it—"
His voice steadied, and he stared back at his brother, his dark eyes intense with renewed purpose.
"But, I can't walk away from this, Frank, and just leave you to it. You need help. This smegging nightmare we call a family needs help, and I – I have to offer it. It's my duty, Frank. My duty as your brother, as current commander of the Wildfire, and yes…"
He straightened his shoulders and raised his chin, his entire profile seeming to change as the sunlight reflecting off of Jupiter made the window behind him glow with warm, unearthly light.
"It's my duty as Arnold J. Rimmer." He smiled. "'Ace' to you."
Frank stared wide-eyed at the man standing before him, the transformation he'd just witnessed as startling in its own way as Frank's yeti-like reflection.
"Come now," Ace said, leading his hulking brother to the plush chairs in the next room. "Sit down. I need you to tell me everything."
"What's taking so long?" Lister demanded as he, Kochanski and Kryten perched anxiously around their distant table, their eyes scanning the crowds for any sign of John or Howard. "Shouldn't the Wildfire have made contact with Rimmer by now?"
"Let me see," Kochanski said, reaching for Lister's comm unit. "Still getting that busy signal. Do you think he's all right?"
The little unit bleeped, and the Wildfire's sultry voice came through.
"Communications reestablished," she announced. "And I think we've made real progress! Arnie's had it out with his brother, Frank, and—"
Lister leaned over the table and snatched the comm unit from Kochanski's hand, speaking before she could protest.
"That's great an' all," he said, "but we've got a problem of our own! The other two brothers are on to us – and to Rimmer as well. They know who we are, and they're out to eject us. You gotta tell Rimmer: if he's gonna face his folks, he's got to do it now or never."
The comm unit crackled, and Rimmer's voice came through.
"I hear you loud and clear, Listy," he said. "Frank and I will be down momentarily. We have something of a surprise in store for Mother dear…and her friend, General Metzeler."
"Glad to hear it," Lister said, "but there's more. Kryten overheard that general woman talkin', an' it looks like there's some trouble brewin' in the Outer Rim. Seems the general's got this secret project goin', where they've been injectin' miners with this serum. Kryten thinks—"
"Don't tell me, Listy, I already know," Rimmer said grimly. "This is worse than I expected. And to think that Mother would volunteer her own son to—" He cut himself off. "Lister, where is General Metzeler now?"
"I think she's out lookin' for you," Lister said. "An' she's got John and Howard with her."
"Right, then," Rimmer said. "We'll have to act fast. Frank, when is the cake-cutting ceremony scheduled to take place?"
Instead of Frank's plummy voice, a low, rumbling, oddly slurred baritone responded, prompting the Dwarfers to share a bewildered look.
"In the next fifteen minutes," the heavy voice said.
"Tickety-boo," came Rimmer's reply, and Lister smirked. "Don't worry, lads, I've got a plan. The cover's coming off this scheme and, for once, Mother-dearest is going to be forced to face the consequences of her own cold-hearted bigotries. It's time we proved to her, and all those highly polished brass nobs out there stuffing their faces: genetic enhancement does not automatically equal superiority – not intellectually, and certainly not as a human being. But, enough of this rant. Save me a sandwich, I'll be down for coffee."
The comm channel closed, and Lister looked confusedly up at Kochanski and Kryten.
"Was that Rimmer?" he asked. "Or has Ace taken over again?"
"I may be wrong, sir," Kryten said, "but it sounds to me as if Mr. Rimmer is the one 'taking over,' as it were."
Lister raised his eyebrows.
"Well, if that's the case, then we have to help him," he said.
"How can we do that if we're stuck here, hiding from security?" Kochanski asked, shooting Lister a rather accusing glare.
"Easy enough," Lister said, returning her glare with a cheeky smile. "We quit this hiding, an' go on the offensive. I'm sick of bein' the mouse, anyway. If they want to play this game, better to be the hunter than the prey."
"I'm with you, buddy," the Cat said, striding up from the side with a huge, happy grin stretched across his face. "I don't know what you guys are talkin' about, but it's got the right theme. It's always better to be a cat than a mouse."
"Cat!" Lister greeted happily. "I thought you were off playin' celebrity."
"There's only so much of that kind of attention a Cat can take," Cat said. "So, I came to see what you monkeys were up to."
"Then, you're just in time," Lister said, gesturing for him to sit down. "There's a big scheme brewin'. Seems like Rimmer's mum the admiral an' this general friend of hers have hatched a plan to create these super soliders, right? They call the project GESS - Genetically Enhanced Super Soldiers, get it? But, they've been testin' the injections on miners out in the Outer Rim, an' now the mutatin' side-effects are makin' those miners start to rebel. Looks to me like we're witnessin' the very start of the GELFs."
"So?" Cat asked. "What's that got to do with me?"
"You're here to help us," Kochanski said. "And we're here to help Rimmer so Rimmer and his ship can help me get home."
Lister rolled his eyes, but a quick glare from Kochanski turned his smirk into a sigh.
"Now," she said, "Rimmer says he has a plan to confront his mother and the general about this GESS project. But, the general and Rimmer's brothers are after us. That's where you come in," she said to the Cat, and smiled. "A cat to catch three mice."
To Be Continued...
References include - Red Dwarf: Emohawk; Dimension Jump; Better Than Life; Polymorph; Camille.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading, for your reviews, and especially for your patience with my slowness. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D