Chapter 25

The Crash

The dilapidated ship to surface vehicle that housed most of Slate's
people, and The Cat, was currently smoking and consequently breaking through Cat World's atmosphere at a speed much greater than was
considered safe in the craft's owners' guide. The pilot was calm as he wrestled to keep the craft from spinning out of control. You see the pilot had read the owner's manual and knew just what this baby could take.

The Cat who was locked in his makeshift cabin had not read the owner's
manual was convinced he was going to die, his eyes tearing, presumably from the smoke. Currently he was laying on his back in his bunk and holding tenaciously to it's metal frame screaming incoherentcies. Pebbles was with him.

Unaffected by the lights and sirens and with expert maneuvering Slate
brought his craft as level as possible, skidded for several feet and came to a grinding halt. Directly in the center of Cat City three hundred meters from the Great Tower itself. Internally and externally fire, foam and air bags
spewed and exploded from convenient places and inconvenient places.

Kitty Cat Carlyle was first on the spot even before the press, but only slightly. After hitting the Big Red Button he had started racing down the tower stairs. He stood just far enough outside the craft's airlock as not to be splattered by the fire foam. The sirens and lights blaring in the background didn't exist for Kitty Cat Carlyle, a whole new world was being shaped around him, and all he could do was stand there and watch it happen.

As the media arrived they started filming the crashed ship, making found-less speculations and interviewing Carlyle. This broadcast blasted into every
home in the city and outlying areas. It was also broadcast on the great public outdoor amphitheater, which usually played the Flintstones on weekends.

The door crashed opened so suddenly that some of the cameras
missed it, and they begged him to do it again. Slate walked out of the craft
his silver gray hair glistening with the fires behind him. His patched eye,
his leather chest plate and chaps all went over quite well with the fashion media. When the cameras were all ready he started;

"I am Slate." He announced "We have landed here overjoyed and
against all odds. Only the Holy Mother herself could have guided my craft here after so long."

Kitty Lane, news reporter asked; "Where have you come from Slate, what
is your mission here?"

"I was chosen to guard and return the last royal family member back to his race, so he could once again be with his people. And rule them into a new golden age." More than a murmur came from the huge crowd that had now gathered.

As news spread across the Cat World more and more flocked to the inner city. It seemed like every eye on was on this ship one way or the other. As Slate began to tell his heart warming tale to the population of Cat World, approximately fifteen thousand miles due upwards the Ace of Black Hearts Rimmer was single handily attempting to take over Red Dwarf
as per his sinister plan.