Chapter 33
Problems
At first the plan was simple. Then it got complicated. Finally it was in the stages which could only be described as difficult. Three ships had launched within minutes of each other from Red Dwarf. Spanners and Rimmer piloted White Midget, Kryten piloted Starbug Two, while Ace was in the cockpit of his recently rebuilt test ship Wildflower two, with "A few added
surprises" as Spanners put it.
The difficulties began even before they left where as Dave Lister, not Spanners, was originally to man White MIdget. Allowing Spanners to travel with Kryten. Fortunately the piloting software had already been downloaded
into Kryten, before Ace and Spanners disconnected him prematurely from Ace's makeshift download.
"I'm picking up major energy surges from the planet below."
Rimmer's voice crackled through the tinny speaker on Ace's console.
"Krytis old friend can you give me a cross reference and confirmation
on that?" Ace's undisturbed voice cooed across the radio waves and into
Kryten's audio receivers. "Just running it now mum." Kryten
depressed several illuminated buttons and a readout started scrolling up his scanner monitor.
"Just coming now mum." Kryten paused to run the information through his data banks before passing it along to the others.
"Yes, I'm getting them also. It looks like smaller schirmishes through out the outer regions." He looked towards Ace's image on the Star Bug Two's monitor. "Outside of Cat City."
"Is it localized Kryten?" Asked Spanners across the frequency.
"No Mr. Spanners Sir, is doesn't seem to be that way. Throughout the major Cat regions there seems to be as many as a half dozen in all. Best guess, Cat City is about to face their first civil war."
"That bastard Ace of Black hearts must be behind this!" Boomed Ace.
"We have to get down there, and fast. Wouldn't want a thing like losing Davie boy plus two and the added bonus of the destruction of all life on Cat World on our conscience would we now lads?"
"I could live with it." Stated Rimmer flatly.
Spanners looked away shaking his head left to right.
The delegation team was Spanners and Kryten. Ace had thought that
her choices were difficult from the start. The best out of the crew were a semi mad toilet attendant, who reminded Ace of her Admiral Bongo for some odd reason. An alternative version of a damn fine mechanic she used to know. And a frighteningly twisted alternative version of herself.
There mission had been to contact the leaders of Cat World, presumably the Red Hats. Explain to them how their comrade had gone missing during a search and rescue operation. Give them some notion that their mate was a few cats short of a swarm, and persuade them to help locate the Cat.
Now the plan had changed, drastically. According to the monitoring of local transmissions, the Cat has somehow been duped into representing the rebel forces. Apparently since the Cat People left Red Dwarf, roughly seventy five years ago, their race had multiplied greatly. It was also apparent they had adapted a sort of society made up of a ruling class and a servant class.
The Cat was being played up as some sort of found lost leader for the down trodden.