Postscript: The Beginning

"Honey, look," Janine Rimmer said, tapping at her comm device. "Amy and Adam Larkin just sent us a picture. Ooh, wait, make that a few pictures."

"Oh?" her husband said distractedly, his dark eyes scanning the busy space port. Their teenaged children, Cinthy and Jamey, stood by his side, scanning the crowds along with him.

"Frank, love, it's so sweet!" Janine enthused, holding out the device's screen. "It's a photo from their honeymoon on Earth. There they are in front of Victoria Falls – and here's another from Niagara! Isn't it a shame they felt they had to wait so long…"

Frank took a moment's break from his staring search to focus on the images his wife had shoved in front of him. "Yes thanks, Jani, they're quite lovely."

Unlike many of their people, who had refused to put their trust in Earth's good will, Adam and Amy had decided to take advantage of the treatments that had been developed over the years to correct the damage done by the GESS serum. To tackle a problem so fundamental and complex, the treatments came piecemeal and worked in stages. Like Frank, the couple smiling so happily in the photographs looked almost completely human. There was something a little off about their shape: the bone structure of their faces seemed somewhat warped, their shoulders hulked and their knees and legs seemed oddly bent and bowed. But the fur had gone, along with most of the excess bulk. In fact, the dramatic effects of the treatments had so far surpassed anyone's expectations. A few more years, the experts said, and it was expected their genetic codes would be as good as new.

"They look so happy!" Cinthy exclaimed. "Oh, Mother, it all looks so romantic!"

"That waterfall is pretty epic," Jamey noted. "Dad, can we go to Earth someday?"

"I don't see why not. You kids are certainly old enough now," Frank said, and smiled at Janine. "We'll have to talk it over. Plan a real family holiday."

The kids cheered, and Frank resumed his scan of the area while Janine used her comm device to send their best wishes to the Larkins. After a few minutes, Frank straightened with a jerk and almost began cheering himself.

"That's him!" he said. "That's Arnold, over there!"

"You mean Uncle Ace?" Jamey said excitedly. "Ace Rimmer is really here?"

"Well, he won't be Ace just yet," Frank said. "Remember what we talked about. Your Uncle Ace came to us from the future. This man here, is the man Ace used to be. In this time and place, poor old Arnie's never so much as heard of Ace Rimmer. That's why the news reporters could never track him down, and government leaders had to throw that parade without Ace actually being there to receive his peace medal."

"But you looked so wonderful accepting it in his place, love," Janine said, smiling proudly at her husband. "And you gave such a thoughtful speech!"

"It's so weird," Cinthy said, squinting through the crowds bustling between them and her uncle. "He looks so much younger than I remember!"

"That's because he is younger, thickie," Jamey scorned. "Didn't Dad just say Uncle Ace came from the future?"

"Now, now kids, no insults," Janine warned.

"All right, I see where he's heading," Frank said, tracking his brother's quick stride across the busy platform. "It's a shuttle, heading for the JMC ship, Red Dwarf."

Turning to face his family, he said, "Let's do this like we discussed. Remember, he knows nothing of any of this. We don't want to give away his future, and we don't want to spook him. So stay here, and I'll be right back."

"Right, Dad," Jamey said, his wry tone only barely masking his disappointment. "We'll smoke you a kipper."

Frank patted his son's shoulder and set off through the crowd, making as straight a line as he could towards the large queue gathering to board the shuttle. As he bobbed and wove and dodged around the passersby, his mind went back to the day of his transformation…the day his brother, Ace, had saved his life, and his marriage.

Frank recalled how Ace had found him, how he'd bucked up his spirits and gave him a cause. He remembered his brother's example, how Ace had set their mother in a trap and forced her to admit what she'd done, not only to Frank, but to those Kuiper Belt miners. Clips from the infamous Corbin Expose still ran on vid-channels across the system, detailing the now-famous confrontation:

…I do have authority here, Mother. More than that, I have a duty to put you both on report. Not only to the Space Corps and your deep pocket investors... Oh, no. I'm reporting you all to the cruelest, most unforgiving authority of them all. The court of public opinion…

Frank knew that Arnold, who had been serving as a maintenance tech aboard deep space mining vessels for the past dozen or so years, would have been cut off from most of the Ace Rimmer hype that had swept across the Inner System. He wouldn't be aware of the Report Movement Ace had sparked among the people, the courage his example had inspired as corruption was called out and a sweeping host of much needed, though previously much delayed, reforms were finally implemented on Earth and beyond. It seemed rather a shame, the need to keep his brother ignorant of the success and esteem his future self would earn. But, if Arnold ever learned of his fame, of the adoring women and the high-ranking officials who longed to be seen shaking his hand… If Arnold ever knew his father would one day look to the stars and say of his youngest son, "What a guy!"

If Arnold were to discover any of this, Frank knew he might not leave for Red Dwarf. And, if Arnold didn't board Red Dwarf, if he didn't start this particular tour of duty…

Ace Rimmer would not exist.

"Arnold!" Frank called, picking up his pace as he grew close enough to see the scowl on his younger brother's face. "Arnold Rimmer! Arnie, old man!"

Second Tech Rimmer turned and wrinkled his nose, as if he'd just detected a particularly offensive odor.

"Frank?" He pretended to busy himself with his luggage bag. "What the smeg do you want? Can't you see they're getting ready to board?"

Frank took in his brother from head to toe, a broad, affectionate smile spreading across his face.

"Of course, Arnie," he said. "I won't take up your time. But, before you head out to your ship, I just wanted to tell you…"

Arnold regarded him, his eyes narrow with suspicion.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say…"

"What?"

Frank's throat had choked itself up, so he gave up on words and engulfed his enormously startled and rather put out little brother in a fierce bear hug. The hug went on far longer than Arnold found comfortable, then stretched on for a few more eternities after that. Finally, when Arnold was starting to fear he'd run out of air, Frank gave him a few hearty slaps on the back, then stepped back to let him go.

"Gah!" Rimmer gasped for breath. "What the smeg was that!"

"That's for you, Arn, from all of us," Frank said and smiled, his voice rough with unshed tears. "Before you head into the big black, I want you to know we love you, and we all think you're quite a guy."

"Pshaw," Arnold snorted, reaching around to try to feel the back of his uniform. "What are you really up to? Did you paste some kind of sign on my back? Did John put you up to this? Are he and Howard out there snickering right now?"

"Nothing of the kind," Frank said, his dark eyes deep with warm affection his brother could neither recognize, nor accept. "See you around, Ace."

Arnold watched him go, his nostrils flared in angry befuddlement.

"'Ace'. Typical," he sneered. "All that hug nonsense was probably meant to unsettle me. Just what I need before starting a new tour."

He shook his head, shuffling ahead with the rest of the slow-moving queue.

"At least this time, I'll be heading my own shift," he mused, the thought of his newly granted authority making the wiry tech's shoulders and back straighten of their own accord. "Z-Shift. My first real taste of command! At last, I'll be on my way - up the ziggurat, lickety-split!"

Back at the entryway, Frank Rimmer embraced his wife and children, then cast a final look over his shoulder.

"There goes my brother. Arnold Rimmer," he said to his kids. "What a guy!"

~Fin~

References Include - Red Dwarf: Better Than Life

And that's really the end. I hope you enjoyed my story. Please Review! :D