Hi again! Here's Part II (lightly edited. This whole story is a first draft, after all). Please let me know what you think! :)
Chapter Twenty-Four: Part II
The heavy airlock door slid open and Lister stepped into the landing bay. Ace Rimmer's sporty red ship gleamed in the artificial light, skillfully squeezed in behind the GELFs' much larger stolen scout vessel. It didn't pass Lister's notice that Ace had positioned his ship to leave Starbug first…almost as if he couldn't wait to break away…
A sharp pain jabbed Lister's palms and he opened his fists to see his nails had dug little crescents into his hands. He rubbed them against his trousers and glared up at the Wildfire.
"Yo! Computer," he called out, his voice echoing a bit in the cavernous space. "Seems you got what you came for, yeah? He's done it. That jammy smegger. He's actually pulled it off. Became Ace. Jus' like you said he would."
"So he has," the Wildfire computer responded in her low, sultry voice. "Our Arnie has done exceptionally well. But, it's not over yet, Dave. Ace still needs your support. He needs you, and the rest of his friends."
"That's a laugh," Lister grumbled. "Ace doesn't need anyone. That's the point, isn't it? Interdimensional space hero, always on the move?"
"That's been true of most Aces I've known," the Wildfire admitted. "But this Ace is different. He's more of a—"
"A smeghead?" Lister suggested.
"I was going to say a doubter," the Wildfire said. "A brooder. Not unlike my original Ace."
"Two stems from the same seed…" Lister muttered, turning his gaze aside. "Isn't that what you said?"
"I also said the pair of them were inverse copies," the Wildfire reminded him. "My Ace truly was a loner, inside. That's why he agreed to take an assignment that almost guaranteed he'd be cut off from his home dimension. But, as you well know, your dimension's Rimmer only accepted Ace's mantel after you encouraged him to do so. And even now he—"
"I found the spare Heisenberg Compensator where you said and installed it in Starbug's secondary transport pad," Frank called out, barging into the landing bay like Bigfoot into a campground. "Wasn't easy with these damned ape paws, but I managed it. I can give you the link-up code whenever you're—"
He frowned at Lister and immediately changed tracks.
"What are you doing here?" the hulking GELF demanded. "Aren't you supposed to be helping my brother corral those miner reps?"
Lister raised his eyebrows.
"So, now he's your brother?" he snarked.
"Don't start with me," Frank grunted, and hoisted himself heavily up the ladder to the Wildfire's cockpit.
"How come you're not the one greetin' those GELFs?" Lister pressed. "What are you doing in here, anyway?"
"Initiating Phase Two. Or, weren't you listening when Ace laid out the plan?"
Lister scowled, unwilling to admit he actually hadn't paid much attention…mostly because Rimmer hadn't given him a specific role to play. He did recall something about Frank using his insider knowledge to hack the dome's security system…initiate repairs...control all surveillance equipment...set up a remote link with the remaining GELF ships to relay a live-stream transmission through Jupiter's radiation field straight to Mars…
But, none of that had to do with him. Kochanski, Kryten, even the Cat had been given some task - in Cat's case, keeping his nostrils on peak alert. With Lister, though, Ace had just clapped his shoulder and said, "Stay close, Skipper." Like he was some kid to be kept out of trouble.
"Say, Lister," Frank called down from the cockpit. "How long have you and Ace been mates?"
"Me an' 'Ace'?" Lister repeated, and scowled at the Wildfire. "Not so long..."
"Hm," Frank grunted. "Sounded to me like you two were pretty close."
"What's it to you?"
"I'm just curious about him, you know? What he's like where you're from. In the future. He's changed so much..."
"Tell me about it."
"I never could have faced this without him," Frank admitted, staring grimly at the warped reflection he saw in the polished paneling. "Ace. I don't know what it is. But there's something about the way he looks at you, the way he listens that makes you think..."
"Yeah," Lister said, and sniffed sharply, kicking at the floor with his boots. "I know."
"He's promised to help sort things with Janine and the kids," Frank said. "Says he has some device that may ease the introduction, as it were. God...!" He sighed, and fixed his eyes back on his work. "It's hard to acknowledge how weak I've been these past years, how selfish and afraid." He swallowed. "How can Ace think I'm worth fighting for, knowing what I am?"
"What, a GELF?" Lister wrinkled his brow. "That's not your fault. You were conned, jus' like them miners up there. There's nothing to beat yourself up about."
"No. No!" Frank snarled. "I'm a coward, don't you understand? A failure! I've failed to protect my wife, my family...and now..."
"Oh, that," Lister said. "Yeah, well...Rimmer's always been kind of our expert on cowardice. He probably understands better than you think."
"Hard to believe," Frank grumbled, and for a while the two men fell silent.
"So, this plan, then," Lister said, listening to Frank's grunts of discomfort as he struggled to work in such a narrow space. "You really think there's a chance it'll work?"
Frank paused and glanced down at him.
"I think it may be the only chance," he said. "It's not easy to get Mother to listen. It's even harder to get her to admit to anything that's…shall we say…less than flattering. And this…"
He stared down at his mutated hands.
"It's going to be tough," Frank said seriously. "On all of us. There's a real chance the Family will not recover from this blow. But, in a way... I think I'm rather looking forward to it. If Ace can pull this off, if he can get them to admit what they've done and consider a cure... I just..."
He shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face.
"Thing is, Mother is good at keeping secrets. As close as I was to the Project...as close as I thought I was... I never really had a clue as to the true details of what she and Metzeler had been cooking up, or what their so-called 'vitamin regimen' might to do. I'm still not sure why Ace seems so convinced confronting her with the threat of public scrutiny will be enough to make her fold...or, at least, feel she's been outbid. Then again, the only times I can recall Mother becoming truly rattled was when she had to deal with Arnie and his antics at school."
"Yeah?" Lister raised his brows.
"Oh, yes," Frank confirmed, a small smile touching his lips. "The worst I remember it getting was that time Io House threatened to hold the little bonehead back a year."
"What happened?" Lister asked curiously.
"Mother went ballistic," Frank recalled. "Throwing tantrums, blaming others... Absolutely beside herself. She tried everything, pulled every string she could think of to keep rumors of Arnie's 'near disgrace' from spreading through her precious 'social circle'. It all seemed to smooth itself out in the end but, thinking on it now... Yes. That is the only time I can remember Mother seeming genuinely frightened. Terrified that she actually might lose for a change."
"What if I told you she did lose," Lister said.
Frank squinted at him.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"She did lose," Lister repeated. "In another reality. Rimmer told you about the first Ace, right? How the legend got started?"
"You mean the Dimension Jumping...being just one link in a vast chain of interdimensional heroes...?"
"Yeah, that," Lister said. "Well, the first Ace - the one who got that whole chain started... The main difference that set him an' his universe apart from the Rimmer we know was his mum failed to get that school to advance him with his class. Our Arnie moved up, but Ace was held back a year. From what he told me, when her scheme to advance him blew up in her face, his mum took it hard. She never got over the fact that she'd failed, an' that everyone knew it. The shame of it kept her from becoming such a crushing force in Ace's life. Maybe Rimmer figures if it worked once..."
"It might just work again," Frank finished thoughtfully. "And well past time, if you ask me."
He snorted grimly, and glanced around the Wildfire's cockpit.
"Who would have thought, eh? Arn was such an insufferable bonehead growing up. Yet, out of all of us, he turned out to be the only one with guts enough to stand up to Mother. To hold her to account, once and for all. Ace Rimmer," he said, and shook his head. "What a guy."
"Yeah," Lister said, the clouds fading from his expression as he straightened and cleared his throat. "So, Frank, what can I do to help?"
References include - Red Dwarf: Stoke Me A Clipper; Heisenberg Compensator borrowed from Star Trek.
I'm aiming to get Part III finished and posted by the end of the weekend. Stay tuned, and please review! :D