Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading and for your amazing reviews! Sorry for breaking this chapter up, but I suffered a terrible cluster migraine attack and it's really set me back with my work. I still have to take it easy looking at screens, but I'm starting to feel better now and I am determined to get this story finished. So, instead of embarking on one long finale chapter (plus epilogue) that I probably wouldn't be able to post until December, I'm chopping the last chapter into a few smaller bits so I can (hopefully!) make a series of quicker posts. I've done that for a few other stories and it worked out OK, so here we go again: Part 1 of Chapter 24. I hope you enjoy it! :)
Chapter Twenty-Four: Part I
Lister watched Ace Rimmer lead the representatives from the GELF ships into Starbug's common room, his arms crossed and his chin tucked low behind the collar of his leather jacket.
He had cheered with the others when Ace had called down from his ship with the news he'd actually gotten through to the GELFs, that the danger to the energy shield had been averted and he was guiding three reps down to the 'Bug. But, as the call had gone on and Ace had started detailing his plan and handing out tasks, the glowing pride in Lister's chest had dimmed, sinking like a weight through his bowels…
There was no denying it. The Rimmer he'd known wasn't Rimmer anymore. Like a pupating caterpillar, he'd crawled out of his wormy skin and stood up as a competent person – a leader able to give orders while making each teammate feel important and needed. Before their eyes, he'd proven himself a genuine Ace, capable of diffusing crisis after crisis with no weapons other than his wits and his ship's onboard computer. And now...
Now, it seemed he'd shifted fully into hero-mode, selflessly throwing his support behind the beleaguered GELFs despite the towering odds: the legendary Ace Rimmer, appearing where needed just in time to save the day.
And when it was over, he'd go. He'd hop aboard his sleek red ship and DJ off to some other dimension in need of a hero.
Just like before…
The homey piles of empty cans, used food containers, and cast-off clothing had been cleared from Starbug's common room; the familiar, lived-in odor of stale lager and coagulated curries overpowered by Kryten's strongest air fresheners and heavy GELF musk. Frank had gone off somewhere on Ace's orders. Kryten minced happily in and out of the busy space, directing a small staff of commandeered kitchen droids as they made the rounds with trays of hors d'oeuvres, tiny pastries, and flutes of pink champagne pinched from the Rimmer mansion. The Cat stalked after them, piling his plate high with smoked salmon bites, then curling up on the battered sofa, baring his fangs with a defensive hiss whenever one of the droids came too near his food.
Lister watched it all, but his gaze kept fixing in on Ace and Kochanski. The two of them stood near the center of the room talking with the newcomers: the GELF leader, Captain Larkin; a rather scruffy, tired-looking human called Grant; and a towering female GELF with a broad smile and an unsettlingly deep voice who'd told them all to please call her Amy. As they exchanged introductions, Lister peered closer, searching his former bunkmate for any remaining sign of the weaselly, trumped-up coward Holly had long ago tasked with keeping him sane. His eyes made stops at Rimmer's old maintenance tech uniform, his thin neck and toilet-brush hair, the leg that kept jiggling as if anxious to be somewhere else…
But, it was Ace he saw, nibbling cheese puffs and sipping champagne. The real Ace. A little less polished, perhaps. A little clumsier with the charm. But even without the silver flight suit and stylish hair, there was no mistaking that confident posture, that firm gaze, that warm little smirk.
Something lurched in Lister's gut. Something thick and cold with long, lonely tendrils that stung his eyes…stopped up his throat…
"What the smeg is wrong with me…?"
Lister scrubbed a hand over his face and turned away, the clank of his boots on the floor grates barely registering as he strode through the sliding doors into the corridor.
Rimmer heard the doors open and lifted his head just in time to see Lister's departing back. He turned to Kochanski, a question on his face, but before she could respond, Captain Larkin stepped between them.
"You talk a big game, Ace Rimmer," the hulking GELF slurred through his overlarge teeth, clumsily snatching a handful of tiny cucumber sandwiches from a passing droid's tray. "And you're clever – clever enough to disable our weapons systems without firing a shot. But, after all that's been done to us, I want a guarantee that this isn't all another trap. How can we trust this plan of yours will work?"
Grant grunted, downed a third glass of champagne, and immediately reached for a fourth.
"We can't," the scruffy man said. "We can't! Project leaders like Metzeler and that damned Admiral have pretty near carte blanche when it comes to R&D. If something does go wrong, Space Corps SOP is to deny knowledge and move on, leaving those lower down the ladder to cast appropriate scapegoats and napalm the remaining evidence. The whole damn system is smegged - set up solely to protect the arses of the Corps' elite donors while leaving the rest of us Nehbs and settlers hanging out to dry. If this Rimmer…Ace…man…here honestly hopes to force any sort of admission of accountability from those two – let alone an admission of guilt…"
He broke into harsh, half-choked laughter, then downed the rest of his drink.
"Damn, man. You should have let us pop these privileged green pustules," he said, gesturing widely to indicate Io's domes. "Trust me, the whole solar system would be better for it."
"You may be right," Ace admitted, and the two GELFs grunted in surprise. "No, I mean it. Growing up in this stifling greenhouse, there were times I too longed to blow up these domes. But, turning Mother and her cronies into streaks of red paste isn't going to stop the research, or the lies, they used to exploit and harm your people. Not if the Corps sees any value in it."
"He makes a good point, Adam," Amy said, taking Larkin's arm.
"Ace knows what he's talking about," Kochanski said. "This ship - all of us - we came here from the future. We know what's ahead – a galaxy of Simulants, GELFs, Polymorphs, Psirens… You can believe me, their dream of a Genetically Engineered Super Soldier won't die with Metzeler. Or Rimmer's mum."
"Then, why the smeg did you bring us here?" Larkin demanded. "If we can't fight them—"
"Ah, but we can," Ace said.
"So, you do have lasers, then? Plasma weapons?" Grant asked, his blood-shot eyes seeming to glow.
Ace laughed. "Not at all," he said, and his expression turned dead serious. "I told you, turning yourselves into terrorists won't get you the justice you want. We can't fight these people by making ourselves open targets for Metzeler's spin campaigns. We need to be smarter than that."
"How?" Grant demanded.
"We have to take the most devastating weapons from Mother's arsenal and turn them against her," Ace said. "This will be emotional warfare."
Gotta stop here. Head still hurts. But, Part II is in the works. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading! :D