Someone to watch over me | A Red Dwarf story

Chapter 1: The T Tauri Star

"Aliens!" Rimmer chimed in with glee, which was met with disapproving looks from all three of his shipmates, Lister in particular, who had to listen to the hologram's rambling about aliens longer than the other two "Rimmer, it ain't aliens. It has never been aliens" "you don't know that" "well actually I kinda do-" "this could be the one time where we actually come into contact with extra terrestrial life Listy!" Rimmer said, completely cutting Lister off "Now you'd hate to miss that wouldn't you" Rimmer folded his arms and looked at his bunkmate with a smug smile. As much as he'd hate to admit it, Rimmer was right in his own sort of way, Lister wasn't exactly pulled by the idea that he may actually meet an alien, but by the thoughts that he might meet anything, every time they came across a ship, he was filled with this sense of curiosity and hope. "Well I say we go" Lister firmly tapped his hand against the computer and leaned back in his chair, taking a look at Rimmer's face and seeing that stupid smug smile plastered over it, clearly the smegger was extremely proud of himself.

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The sharp piece of metal made contact with the floor, a scratch marked in the surface as it was forced downward, leaving yet another mark to show for her time. She looked at the mark solemnly for a moment, really taking in what it meant, every day she had done it, every day for so long that anyone else would have given up on freedom, and yet she still held out hope that one day she would get out of here, that he'd come back and she could kiss this place goodbye. She was lost in thought for a moment before the door to her cell opened and out of shock she jumped and hit her head on the bars holding her mattress up, she rubbed the aching part of her head and slid into view "still insisting on that little collection of yours?" "Ah. Hello Warden" She stood up, brushing the dust off her grey uniform and giving the tall man an uneasy smile "I'm guessing you and your men are here for another round of questions?" She put her arms behind her back awaiting an answer, and when none came she let her head drop and offered her wrists. The warden strapped some form of handcuffs to her, which were specifically designed so they couldn't be taken off and led her out of her cell.

"Let's hope you've learned to cooperate this time Miss Julia"

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The group walked through the dimly lit corridor leading away from the landing bay, the whole ship felt dead and empty, like nothing had actually lived there for a long time. "Well Rimmer" Lister said turning to the hologram "Still think it's aliens" he teased, half expecting to earn a scoff, or at least a glare, but he got nothing. He looked closely at Rimmer's face, he saw a trace of unease on the hologram, his whole body stiff and defensive like he was protecting himself from something "Rimmer" Lister caught his attention this time, his eyes snapping towards him and a questioning hum left his lips "you alright man" Rimmer looked in-front for a moment before turning back and giving a stern nod. lister kept his eyes on Rimmer's face for a moment out of concern before returning to scanning the corridors for any signs of life, he couldn't exactly blame Rimmer if he felt a bit off about this place, if he was being honest he felt it too, something about it just felt odd, The Cat and Kryten, who were following behind the pair seemed to be fine, Cat seemed confident as ever, and Kryten didn't seem to hold more nervousness than he usually did, so he wasn't exactly sure what was going on.

They were walking a bit longer down the cramped space before they were suddenly greeted by a mechanoid, they seemed to jump out of nowhere with a wide smile just beaming on their face, they were as far from Kryten as possible, looking more human than mechanoid, even having what looked to be hair, but built to resemble that of an almost shaved head. They looked at the group with bright eyes, taking in each face at a time before they began speaking "Greetings, I am Meson, I am a 3000 series mechanoid and it is my task to welcome you to the facility known as T Tauri Star, and give you helpful insight into its history and inner workings, please follow me this way" the mechanoid then turned and set off further down the corridor. The group looked at each other nervously, other than Kryten who was thrilled at the idea of meeting another mechanoid, and one who was technically inferior to him at that, and the four men set off to follow their tour guide.