Rimmer had the dog's milk flushed out into space to make room for the two hundred thousand gallons in the Nova 5's massive fridge. The salvage operation took a little longer than a month, but they managed to transfer plenty of supplies in the various transporter ships. It was difficult, as the Cat only helped sporadically, and Kryten was something of a gibbering mess, but he was happy to help out on Red Dwarf. The skutters did there best under Kochanski's supervision, but Rimmer was pretty much on his own.

One thing he thought was interesting in the back of the ship. It was a hologram simulation suite! Curious, he went the ten discs that made up the crew of the Nova 5, and he tried inserting them into the drive, but they were all corrupted in some way due to damages sustained in the crash. None of them were useable.

Still, the suite was still serviceable, so he added it to the list of things to be salvaged. With an extra suite running, it would be possible for Red Dwarf to activate a second hologram. He didn't know who they would get, but he figured if there were ever an emergency where they needed a specific crewmember, they would have the option of nabbing the necessary disc and booting them up. Pocketing a plastic bag full of light bees, he carried on his way, whistling jauntily.

Finally, forty-two days after being rescued, Kryten was beginning to settle in. He found he enjoyed his new home, and cleaning it was something he found he received orgasmic pleasure from. The whole place hadn't been cleaned in millennia, so he had his work cut out for him. He went about his business, happy and cheerful, preparing meals and looking after the tedious jobs that not even the skutters could bear to do.

The salvage operation was completed, and they put everything they didn't need immediately in the cargo hold while the food stocks were replenished.

Kochanski collapsed into her hologrammatic bed with a happy sigh. The job was done. She was just going to sleep when she noticed the lights dimming momentarily, and then they came back on again. She sighed heavily and sat up. "Holly? What was that?"

Holly's face appeared in her mirror. "Rimmer and Kryten are hooking up the new hologram simulation suite. We had to use the Nova 5's power source to do it, but the conversion to hydrogen power was pretty straightforward. The hard part was deciding what color to paint the sign."

Kochanski stared at the computer in surprise. "Wait, what? Really?"

"Oh, yeah. I said it should be a calm soothing ocean gray, but Rimmer insisted on military gray."

"No, no, no, I mean – we've got a second hologram projector?"

"Brought it up from the Nova 5. It's a beauty. They're just finishing hooking everything up."

In an instant, Kochanski was legging it furiously to the lift. She spent the whole trip up tapping her foot soundlessly on the floor and unaware of anything, save for the changing numbers as she passed through each floor.

At last, she was leaping out of the doors and running all the way down, eventually passing several skutters who were all working in some way – some of them even wearing miniature hard hats. They whistled and chirped at her respectfully as they went, carrying tools, pieces of plastic or metal in their little claws.

She found Rimmer and Kryten in the main room. To her surprise, it looked good. She couldn't believe it. The hologram simulation suite was in excellent condition, set up perfectly with the large platform in the middle and all the various screens hooked up. Kryten was up on a stepladder, seeing to some cables running through the ceiling, and Rimmer was using a sonic screwdriver on some metal plating that covered the control panel.

"Rimmer…?" she asked slowly.

He looked up at his name. He promptly stood to attention and gave her the Full Rimmer salute – five hand rotations. "Miss Kochanski, ma'am!" he said eagerly, looking like a six-year-old boy who'd been building a lego set for his parents to see. "Just hard at work on the simulator – aren't we, Kryten?"

"Indeed we are, ma'am," Kryten agreed. "We should be done in time for me to prepare supper."

Kochanski couldn't fight the gigantic smile that threatened to split her face. "I can't believe it… We can upload a second hologram! This is great!"

Rimmer nodded as he resumed putting the control panel together. "Yes, ma'am. I thought it'd be a handy thing to have during emergencies and we need someone to help us and…"

"I can get him back."

Rimmer and Kryten looked up from their work in confusion. "Get who back?"

Kochanski realized she's said that out loud, and she looked momentarily embarrassed. "Oh, just… someone…"

"Who?"

"Just… someone special… Rimmer, you have to understand. I'm dead. I'm practically a ghost. Can't eat, can't touch, can't smell, can't even hold up a book without a skutter to hold it up for me. I'd like… a companion… Someone who understands…"

Rimmer had to admit, if he were in her position, he'd probably yearn for the same thing. He mulled it over for a moment, trying to think of the appropriate reply. "I think I understand…," he said at last.

"Do you?"

"You need someone to bonk."

Her face reddened. "Rimmer!"

Kryten finally spoke up. "Well, that's hardly unusual, ma'am. Even in a hologrammatic state, it's possible to feel all the strange hormonal yearnings you felt when you were alive. It's all down to those hologrammatic replicators copying every single brain pattern. Personally, I much prefer folding sheets."

Rimmer rolled his eyes. "So who's the lucky fella?" he asked dryly.

Kochanski's expression turned shy. "Well… I was thinking… my old boyfriend."

"Oh… Oh. Oh… Him… You mean…?"

"Yes, I do. I don't care what you think of him. I miss him, and I want to be with him again. This is my big chance to make it work."

Rimmer shook his head. "Okay, okay… We'll make it happen. But only because you outrank me."

She smiled triumphantly. "Good. Holly – prepare the hologram simulation disc of Catering Officer Timothy Duncan."

That brought Rimmer up short. He looked at her in surprise. "Timothy… Oh! Okay! Right, yes, of course! Sorry! I thought… Never mind!" And with great relief, Rimmer resumed work on the projection unit.

Kochanski regarded him strangely for a moment before realizing what he meant and looking a bit embarrassed herself. She turned and walked away, relieved that she had been specific in her request.

It all went as Kryten had predicted. The whole thing was done and over with before supper. Rimmer found the working on vending machines for years had done him well, and as a result, he recognized a lot of the circuitry that went into making this thing.

Supper came and went fairly uneventfully. The crew had come to enjoy Kryten's cooking, and Rimmer and Cat ate heartily while Kochanski watched, stewing with jealousy. Sure, she knew it couldn't be helped, but she had to just sit there and watch them chew. To make it worse, Rimmer and Cat didn't particularly like each other, so they ate in silence, so there was no conversation to latch onto to distract herself.

Finally, it was time to bring him back. Kryten took one of the light bees Rimmer had taken from the Nova 5 and set it down on the projection platform. "It's all set, ma'am," he announced. "Suggest we stand back and give him some room."

Rimmer and the Cat both took some cautious steps backwards, Kochanski stayed where she was. "I want to be the first thing he sees," she said eagerly, practically bouncing up and down.

Cat couldn't help but shake his head. "Man, you monkeys are so damn possessive when it comes to romance."

"I suppose with cats, it's different," Rimmer sneered.

"Damn right! You know how long a cat relationship lasts? Three minutes! First minute's great. Second minute, you're starting to feel trapped. Third minute, you can't remember what you saw in them and gotta get the hell outta there!"

Holly spoke up. "Right – hologram simulation in progress. Here he comes."

The light bee slowly floated unsteadily off the ground. Everyone watched in silent wonder as a cascade of multi-colored pixels spewed from it and curled around what appeared to be an invisible man, and once they had all bound themselves to the 3D structure, which took the shape of a human man. The clothing took form first – standard Space Corps khaki uniform – leaving a blank white body wearing them.

"That's him?" Cat asked, confounded. "He's got no face!"

"That's just how a hologram looks before the personality has been added," Holly explained. "Loading personality files now."

Bit by bit, the blank palate was replaced with a man's face. His eyes were shut, but his eyebrows twitched every so often, indicating the onslaught of memories pouring into his noggin.

"Upload complete," Holly announced. "Catering Officer Timothy Duncan is now online. Try not to walk through him."

With a harsh gasp, Tim's eyes sprang open. He looked around in startled wonder, before taking in the people before him. He saw Kochanski and looked terribly confused. "Kris? What…?"

"Hello, Tim," she said with a small smile.

As they continued to gaze at each other, they were oblivious to the fact that Rimmer, Cat, Kryten and Holly were all staring at them.

"I think he looked better without a face," Cat said with a shrug, "but that's just me."

Rimmer was inclined to agree, however. He recognized Tim.

Author's Notes: Did they ever give Tim's last name? I couldn't find it, so I made one up.