Knox was annoyed. Not only did this Space Fonzie or whatever he was ruin what was going to be a nice, slow day, but the boss had deployed her anti-humor shields. Again. She wouldn’t even let him sit on the motorcycle and sing “Greased Lightning.” But then again, she wasn’t looking at the moment ...
"Hands off the chrome, sonny." Knox turned around to see his reflection in the biggest sunglasses this side of a CHiPS re-run. This was what all the fuss was about? He’d show this guy! If he wasn’t bigger than me. Or stronger. Then he wouldn’t have a chance, he thought.
Instead he stepped aside as Ace adjusted the rear-view mirror back to his preferred spot. "Didn’t mess with it, did you?” Rimmer asked the young lab tech. Fred fielded that question.
“He didn’t touch it, and he’s sorry for even trying to,” she said, walking back through the lab. She stopped between both men and looked at Knox. “Aren’t you, Knox?”
“Yes, sir, ma’am,” he grumbled like a schoolchild. “I’m sorry, Spaceman.”
“That’s Mister Spaceman to you, kiddo,” Ace said, standing up. Suddenly Knox remembered something he had to do, leaving the scientist and the Space Corpsman alone.
“There’s something sneaky about that one,” Rimmer said as he walked away. “Better keep an eye on him.”
“He’s harmless,” Fred answered. “He’s just a former ... Well, just Former. But, the good news is, you should be able to get back to your home dimension now and do your Guardian thing. I couldn’t imagine doing that sort of thing all alone.”
“But I’m not.”
“Not what?”
“Alone,” Ace said. “There’s all sorts of Ace Rimmers everywhere. There may be one here, in fact, just waiting for the chance to be Guardian of the Universe. So I’m never really alone. A little lonely, sure, but the fans help make up for that.”
“That would be nice – fans, I mean,” Fred said, smiling almost to herself.
“I think you have one, and I think you know who it is,” Ace said, climbing aboard his bike for the final time. “Maybe he should hear that from you, though.”
It took a couple of seconds for Fred to realize what he meant. Then her smile grew.
Ace switched his chopper on and felt the tug of the dimensional walls. As Fred held on to the nearest wall, he turned back to her.
“Smoke me a Kipper, Winifred,” he yelled. “I’ll be back for breakfast!” And he disappeared into the portal, leaving a mess of papers and flasks in his wake.
So much for a slow day, Fred thought. But there was still that Harmony thing …. She turned and walked up the stairs out of the lab.
“Um, shouldn’t we all be cleaning this up?” Knox asked.
“You’re the trashman today, sonny,” Fred replied. “The pretty girls are in charge in this dimension.”
Epilogue:
Inside the huge W&H lunchroom, the two young men were frustrated. Another slow day. What they wouldn’t give for some excitement – like the strange goings-on this morning in the lobby.
" ... And then BAM! He just shows up out of nowhere! I tell ya, it was somethin’ else!” Dave Lister recounted for his increasingly annoyed friend.
“I know, I know! I was there, remember?! Now would you please keep quiet? I need to study for the senior repairman’s exam.”
“Arnold, I can’t believe you. Didn’t you even want to get a look at him? I know I did.”
“I got enough of him just hearing his voice,” Arnold Rimmer answered in a huff. “He sounded like a smug, self-satisfied git!”
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