The Star Before Me

Chapter 1: Some Time in the Past

Being a crew member of the mining ship the Red Dwarf wasn't exactly how you'd fully expected your life to go.

Down on your luck after a few jobs went awry, your friend had sent you a flyer advertising for 'entertainment officers' for a trip through space.
Not too many voyages had happened up there at this point in time, it was an amazing opportunity, even if you'd be doing what you were already doing down on earth. Needing the money and anticipating a large, exciting adventure through the stars, you had signed up.

After a week or so, you'd almost forgotten about it, until an email popped up on your phone.
You supposed you were just as qualified as other people, but you would be lying if you said you weren't shocked to be accepted. Something about this job being off-world had made you think you wouldn't get it above other people.

Looking back at that time, you wondered just how different your life would have been if you'd not seen the flyer; if you hadn't applied or hadn't been accepted.

How you would have stayed on earth, maybe eventually found someone you felt a genuine connection with - though you'd always had doubt about that from previous experience - settle down, get a simple bar job or maybe become a travelling entertainer abroad somewhere way too sunny for yourself, get married, grow old with your partner because kids had never been on your radar and you didn't exactly see that changing.
You'd have lived a perfectly ordinary, uneventful life. You'd have died without knowing what happened to the crew of the Red Dwarf. Without meeting people who would become some of your closest - and eventually only - friends.

You didn't enjoy looking back, because it wasn't exactly fun. But sometimes, on quiet, star-filled nights, you found yourself simply wondering. The choices made effected the outcome, one difference and everything could have been different...

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It had been your first time being in charge of an entertainment venture, and safe to say; you were bricking it.

True, you know what you were doing, you enjoyed your work even if people didn't exactly see it as a 'proper job', whatever that meant.
These entertainment ventures were simple excursions to other ships in the system, where you'd do your usual job. Serve drinks, work the bar, sometimes sing and dance on the disco hall stage, the same as usual except you would venture in the Starbug to wherever you needed to go instead of simply nipping down to the disco hall on the dwarf.

You weren't a higher-up, so being asked to command your first outing was a big deal for you - not that you let it show.
It was only because the leading officers had gotten ill somehow, and you'd been offered a chance to show your worth. Though you'd been anxious, you'd agreed because you you were happy to try and prove yourself. You know you were good at your job, you had a lot of experience after all, but you'd never been given the opportunity to rise through the ranks. Not that that was important to you really, you liked your job, but it might be nice to try being management or something.

It was always cheesy when people would say 'it happened so quickly', but you understood it after the incident.
A quick trip into stasis while on the journey to the other ship, and suddenly, it happened so quickly, and everything had changed.

"Holly?" You asked, looking around at the now empty Starbug, piles of dusk covering the floor and some of the seats, including the piloting chairs.
It took a moment, but Holly's face appeared on the screen, smiling at you. He greeted you with his usual tone. "Hi Y/N."
"What's going on? Where is everyone, Hol?" You turned on the spot, as if the crew would suddenly appear behind you or something. All the other entertainment officers, the pilots, anyone really. You just hoped this wouldn't be some cruel trick.