Chapter 46
The Rhodian

"The Rhodian was fastest most efficient ship of it's time. Legend has it that it was captained by Hannibal himself years before he and his troops camped outside of the Capital itself. The Romans finally captured this amazingly swift craft and based their entire fleet on it's design. I thought the name only fitting."

"There's one minor flaw in your plan Black Heart. There isn't a fleet of them, only the one."

"Not yet there isn't. You see I don't really plan on settling down and ruling Cat World, I have a much larger scope on things." Looking off into something unseen. "One might even say a multi dimensional scope."
He knew that since the villain was explaining, in gruesome detail, his plan for conquest, Rimmer was in fact doomed.

"The only thing these mad crazed alternative evil versions of your selves like more than killing helpless prisoners is the sound of their own voice." Rimmer had to keep him talking.

The only question that now remained in his mind was, what was less
painful; drawn out torture by way of his alternative self hacking into the hologramatic simulation suite's computers and when he bores of that destroying his light bee while his conscience reside it. Like dying all over again. Or continuing to listen to the rantings and ravings of a madman and knowingly help him destroy everyone one who gets in his evil twisted way.
Including his friends. His cowardliness won out. As always.

"Please go on Mr. Black Hearts sir. I find your genius only slightly more
admirable than the very sound or your voice." OK. Maybe that was laying it on a bit thick, Rimmer thought. But so was Ace when it came to matters of his own ego. It was like that to Rimmer himself he reasoned. It had to be with this Ace. Hadn't it?

When the evil Ace breached the security days earlier and kidnapped the boys, Holly's mainframe was added to. By the intruder himself. The virus
program he force fed Holly would later render Ace and his craft invisible
to Holly's monitors, even with Spanners upgrades. Allowing him to come and go as he pleased.

Rimmer had intended to allow his captor to ramble on inexhaustible
until he was somehow liberated. He had hoped that it wasn't his female
counterpart who personally rescued him. But as time went by, and his captor's continued berating and irritating voice was getting to him. So much
in fact that even the prospect of being saved by his female alternative self was looking good. As well as good looking.

"Why did you come back?" Rimmer asked truly befuddled. "What's in it for you."

"Come on maggot, don't you have any brains at all? Isn't it obvious?"
Rimmer slowly shook his head left to right and answered. "No, it isn't."

"Well try this on for size my moronic counterpart. I let your shipmates
escape. You see it seems her Spanners was one up on mine. Mine didn't set me up with a light bee, as a just in case precautionary measure. If I buy the proverbial farm, there is no free ball." He paused. "Like the ones you two received."
It took Rimmer all of thirty seconds to start to grasp his meaning. When
he did he looked up at at his evil twin with a slightly mad glare in his left eye.

"You want her light bee." Said Rimmer as though he was answering a rhetorical question.

"So, your not as dumb as you seem. Now tell me why I want hers and yours just won't do."

"Well aside from the obvious," Rimmer started. "Hers is more," he hesitated,

"more flexible?"
"Not exactly the word I would have used, but it can be used to fit the bill.
Hard was the word I was looking for. You see when I stumbled on her last time she almost had it. With the aid of your robot." The evil Ace turned away from his captive.

"It makes sense now, really. Even if you did conquer a galaxy or two you'd have only so long as his luck and health held out. But with a hard light bee, you would become virtually immortal, without the drawbacks of a soft light bee. And with a fleet of dimension jumping sleds, and a planet of Cat men to pilot them at your disposal."

Ace chimed in "Coupled with an inter dimension calculating device that I've been fiddling with, which would allow the pilots to navigate their way into a specific dimension and return home with scouting information. Where I would eventually attack and conquer the most plentiful."

Rimmer spoke as if he were alone; "You'd become unstoppable." Then looked up at his twin. Who smiled back at him.

"God your pathetic." Said the evil bastard. "It took me less time to plan this inter dimensional conquering party than it did for you to grasp it."

"I do so hate to rant and run my alternative goit, but I have from you what I want, and there is yet one more version of myself that I have to collect
things from. But before I leave I'd like to give you a parting gift."

"That's really not necessary. I didn't get you anything."

"Oh but I insist," said the black hearted fiend, and dropped a small
device in Rimmer's lap then headed for the door. He turned before he was completely through the doorway.

"If you're wondering what that little piece of machinery is, it's a Cylibirion electrofish."
With that the creature came to life and started crawling up the back of the holo-chair that Rimmer was tied to. With very strong holo-rope.

"I understand that I may not fully enjoy the answer to this question but I will ask it none the less;"
Ace answered the question before it was asked. "It eats power," he finished. Smiled an evil smile and walked out of the room.

Rimmer looked down and squinted through his hologramatic chest to see his light bee hovering stationary at his center. About three inches from the back of his chair on which the creature was still climbing upward.
Quite suddenly the green caterpillar like creature produced a small horn and

shot a web at Rimmer's light bee. Which he discovered with shock and dismay that effects of the holorope also included his bee. When the creature
started ascending it's strand of webbing, Rimmer said, "oh smeg," and blacked out.