Chapter 13:

While the crew of the Dwarf made their way back to the ship, Sam waited for what he thought was enough time for him to do what he needed to do before sending the guys back into space.

He moved back to his stasis pod, reached in and pulled out a light bee. He turned it on, threw it in the air and scant micro-seconds later, second technician Arnold Judas Rimmer was standing in front of him.

"Did you do it? Did you tell them, Sam?" said Rimmer, looking quite different to the Rimmer who had just left, dressed in camouflaged combat fatigues and sporting a goatee.

"I did Arnold, they all seemed quite chuffed about their futures" said the dragon.

"But you didn't tell them about me, or what was going to happen to the other me, did you?"

"No Arnold, all the other you knows is that he takes the ship the Cat's gave you and flies off to become a spacer adventurer."

"What a joke" said the Rimmer with no 'H' on his forehead thanks to a light bee remote he had acquired "Was I so arrogant and blind that I thought I could actually make a difference in this universe?"

"I guess you were Arnold" said Sam.

"So you didn't tell them about the black hole I flew into, destroying the ship?"

"No Arnold."

"And you didn't tell them that I came out of the white hole at the other end in the 24th century, ended up on Earth and joined the Space Corps again, never letting on that I was a hard-light hologram?"

"No Arnold."

"And you didn't tell them that despite flying around the cosmos for how-ever-many-years we did that I still only knew enough to make second tech again?"

"No Arnold" said Sam, getting really impatient with its friend.

"So did you tell them that the techie that screwed up and crashed the Red Dwarf III was me?"

"No Arnold, I didn't."

"So they don't know that I was the one the crew tied to the tractor beam machine, went down with the ship, let you out of stasis when my light bee eventually reset itself and then told you everything about what had ever happened to us on out travels?"

"They haven't got a clue!"

"And they believed all that pre-cog smeg?"

"Yes Arnold, but it's not all smeg you know."

"It isn't, which bit did you really see?"

"I saw our deaths."

"You mean you're death don't you Sam?"

"I'm afraid I'm don't, Arnold" said Sam, as it began to walk to the tractor beam room.

Rimmer followed him and as Sam began to lift the Red Dwarf out of the crater Rimmer said "But I don't want to die, Sam. I'm not smegging ready!"

Up in Red Dwarf Holly told them they were go to start the engines and leave. They all took one last look at the moon and then turned the vid screen off and departed, knowing they at least had a future to fly off into.

Back on the moon, Sam turned to Rimmer and just before the whole thing exploded like a huge pimple he said "I know you don't want to die Arnold, neither do I. But let's face it; you really died when the first Red Dwarf got nuked, didn't you?"

Rimmer smiled, clicked his fingers and pointed at Sam.

"Good point."

THE END

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