Chapter 18

Cat meets Ace

Even before the Cat opened his eyes he was sure he was in a dream.
But couldn't recall why or how, but the what was most obvious.
It was the smell. There were familiar sounds too, but once they were filtered into the Cat's semi awake head, they were interwoven in the dream.

The dream was an uncommon one for the Cat. He was a child. Hardly more than a kitten really. He was playing a familiar game with some friends in a vast chamber. Something between a castle and a power plant. He couldn't recall the game but he loved it as a child. And there were other Cat people there in his dream. Forgotten friends from his childhood.

Then he was alone. Standing in a vast hauntingly giant steel prison,
while all his friends have left. But left for where?
Why did they leave him?

Before he opened his eyes he was awake. Motionlessly, he inhaled in ever
so slightly, then stopped suddenly. He listened. Undetected his ears each moved a fraction of an inch. The sounds were like that of his dream, but they were too clear, not the jumbled mass of background murmurs from his dream. His left eye opened to a slit and let in the world around it.

He was no longer on the surface of the planet but surrounded by the gun metal gray of the familiar interior of a transport vessel. He was alive, and laying on a bunk that had no sheets, covers or pillow. There was an occupied bunk across from his. The occupants scent was familiar yet strange. The occupants face was the same, familiar yet strange.
The Cat felt comfortable enough to announce to the world that he was awake now. With that he arched his back, opened his eyes, and looked straight into the eyes of Arnold Ace Rimmer.

"Who the Hell are you?" Was how the Cat started his introductions,
and continued with "And where the hell are we? I do not recognize this part of the ship."

"Easy now lad, we don't want too give to much away to our captors.
No sense telling them you're awake just yet. Maybe we could help each other out."
"Captors." The Cat rolled the word around in his mouth and decided he didn't like the taste of it, and spit it out again. "Captors?"

"I'm as much in the dark as you are old friend. But one thing I do know
is that we have to help out one another in this pickle jar, or it's
loss of breathing privileges for the pair of us."
The Cat just stared. "Who the hell did you say you were."

"Sorry, dreadful situation, almost forgot my manners;
The name is Rimmer, Commander Arnold Rimmer. Friends call me Ace. I come from another dimension, no time to go into long explanations."
"Hey I get it, you're the other monkey. The one who flew through the magic door in space. The one who got shot down. You know we came looking for you. That's how I came to be stranded on that planet to begin with."

"So what do they call you matie?

"Cat." The Cat replied, still unsure about what was going on.
One thing was for sure his nose was picking up smells. Smells that were familiar and yet unfamiliar. Could he still be dreaming he wondered.

"You wouldn't be any kin to the Cat folk who locked us up
would you?" Ace cautiously questioned.
The Cat eyed him dubiously. Then pinched himself. "Ouch!"

"What was that all about old glub?" Ace asked.

"Just making sure," said the Cat. "Now what other Cat people
are you talking about?"

"Rimmer pointed to the small barred window that was in the center to the only door in their room. Cautiously the Cat stood up, walked to the portal, and looked beyond.

Staring out of the view port for a full minute, and absorbing the
grandeur of it all, he turned, looked at Ace and said, "It wasn't a dream."
Then conveniently fainted.

"The sight was evidently too much for him for the poor git. Ah well,
I'll give it another go in an hour or so."