Chapter 44
The Short Plan

The Cat was to be dropped off first. This would give Slate and his followers enough time to set up the ceremony as planned and draw out Rimmer's alternative evil self.

"We'll wipe out all the evil with one mighty wave of our proverbial righteous palm," is the way Rimmer's female alternative self put it.

The coordinance were furnished by Spanners, who was familiar with the encampment due to his recent stay. He lead the Cat on foot as close as he dared, pointed the general direction, and left the Cat to wander in the woods and be discovered by Slate's men, while he high tailed it back to reconnoiter with Starbug and it's crew.

With civil unrest and fighting throughout the outer regions of Cat City
the coronation was to take place from a secret location. Once it was decided upon it was systematically leaked throughout Cat City's outer regions.
Word among the followers of Tabby spread like fire throughout the kingdom and Cats from far and wide came to see for themselves the crowning of

Tabby the Fifth. The Prince Regent returns.
If the Red Hats knew where the rebel base was they would pull troops from their current fortifications and launch a massive strike on their base. Stopping it at the core as it were. Their fear wasn't that the Cat would make such a great leader that the Red Hats themselves would be deposed. But
most could sense the evil in which the Slate and his human comrade represented. If this coronation went through it would be the end of Cat
World as they knew it. And they did not feel fine at all.

The Red Hats assumed they were still relatively safe for the time being. They controlled the airwaves and fed as much propaganda as they could through them. They could reach every Cat with these. The Outcats didn't,
so they couldn't attain the wide spread mass appeal they would need to
overthrow such a well established regimen overnight, as it were. At
least that's what the Red Hats believed. They wouldn't know how wrong they were until it was too late.

Lister and Kryten accompanied Ace in the Starbug and did some recon of their own while Spanners guided the Cat to his destiny. Soon after collecting Spanners the final kinks in the plan were worked out.

"I couldn't manage the location of the coronation. I thought I could get closer but the wind was against us. I had to leg it or someone would have picked up my scent." Spanners said. "Sorry I couldn't find out more."

"Nonsense my old lemon tart." Ace Smiled a sexy smile, "you did stupendous. Besides while you were busy risking life and limb me and the boys went joy riding. Kryten tell him what we won."

"Won ma'am?" Kryten asked confused.

"What we found man." Lister helped as Kryten was still in syntha-shock
from all his ordeals of late.

"Oh I understand now." Addressing Spanners now he said: "We discovered a energy source seventeen point three seven kilometers, due south by south west. Isn't that wonderful."

"Is it?" Asked Spanners.

"Not in itself it isn't." Said Lister. "But couple that with the flocking of scores of Cat people to the same place." Lister smiled at Kryten. "Then it's wonderful."

"Holly, anything on the local transmissions?"

"Nothing so far Dave. They seem to be doing a pretty good job of covering it up. At least on the telly."

"How long do you think we have Spanners?"

"It's hard to say. The plans I overheard were days ago. They might have been coded, or they might have changed them without the Cat present."

"No I don't think they would have. If this information isn't being spread
via their local Cat City controlled mediums we can assume two things.

One: Cat City hasn't been attacked yet. If it had been it would be impossible to not mention it at all. And two: The information must be being spread by mouth. Cat to cat, so it can't be changed." Ace finished. "And now that they have the centerpiece back there would be no reason for them to change their time table.

The words fell from Spanners mouth deadpan and emotionless. As if he was telling someone the time. "Then we have three hours before the
end of Cat World."

"Why's that Dave?"

"Because that's when the coronation is scheduled to take place."