Chapter 1 : Meet the Richardson's
The stocky man with the long black hair pulled back into a ponytail looked over the rolling, radioactive grasslands before him with sadness in his dark brown eyes. A long time ago, this planet had been his home. Now, plants such as grasses and small brush had come back and were coping with the radiation. So far, they had not encountered any animals except for the most hearty insects: ants, cockroaches and a few forms of beetles.
Every decade, the radiation levels slowly dropped. The Earth was healing, but it was going to take a long time before it was once again habitable. Hopefully, he would see it recover.
The landscape was quiet and devoid of any mark of modern technology except for the scattered remains of the space freighter that descended into the atmosphere and strewn it's remains over three miles of ground. He and Tabitha had collected as many of the hardened containers from the freighter as they could. Some were just too large for the two of them to move.
"Hey!" Tabitha called from their makeshift home of escape pods surrounded by the food containers they had pulled from the wreckage.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning to the android. Tabitha was indeed sexy. The pretty red head that kept her long hair in a pony tail as he was accustomed to doing stood just chin high to him, had a curvy figure and ample swell to her chest. Tabitha was also a great asset when it came to information and unlike him, she could exit a craft in space without a suit. She also had a few extras in that pretty head of hers. The com link chips they shared were good for him to contact her over long distances, but she could use hers to listen in on anything being broadcast. She was also good at ECM, and if he gave her a blade of grass, he swore she could make a lethal weapon out of it. The AI at her core was the most advanced, working off the principals of how the human brain worked, and not off any pre-written programs.
For all effective purposes, Tabitha was truly an artificial human. She was also mounted on an armored combat frame that protected all her vital components.
"I picked up chatter from orbit. The colonials are here," Tabitha said, pointing up.
He nodded and walked toward her. With a sigh, he said, "Time to get to work. Let's go over everything one more time before they find us."
...
After years of searching and harrowing experiences, they had finally found Earth. The shining hope of the colonial fleet of refugees, recently joined by a refugee base star, had made it. There were cheers of happiness and joy, the eagerness to see their salvation, along with the relief that the long, agonizing journey was at last over.
Then they landed on the nuclear wasteland of a planet.
On the raptor cruising a mile over the blasted planet below, Karl (Helo) Agathon sat at the sensors, desperately searching for anything living on the surface below. In the pilot seat, his wife, Athena, studied the ruins of an ancient city to their left as they flew by. Hit hard by the disappointment of what they found, neither spoke as they searched for signs of life.
Helo perked up as he watched his screen. "I have an energy reading, ten degrees right! Distance unsure," he said excitedly.
"What kind?" Athena asked.
"I don't recognize it, but it is a power source," he said, focusing on his instruments. "Get us closer."
Athena turned to the heading as she reported. "Galactica, raptor five, we have picked up an unknown energy source, investigating." Now studying the ground in front of them, she dropped lower to the surface.
"We're coming up on it, we should get a visual soon," Helo announced.
"It's a debris field," Athena said, her oriental looking eyes scrutinizing the ground ahead of them. she then reported over the radio, "Galactica, raptor five, We have found a crash site, fairly large and fairly recent. Pieces of craft and burnt vegetation. This didn't happen too long ago."
"We're passing over it," Helo said as Athena saw the glowing remains of what once may have been a ship's engine.
Raptor five, Galactica, investigate the wreckage. Help is coming."
Athena was about to respond, then heard in her headphones a female voice call, "Hola! Nosotros recuperar por favor!"
"What was that?" Helo asked as he scrunched his face up.
"No language I know of," Athena said. Over the radio, she replied, "Would you repeat your transmission in Colonial Standard?"
"Estamos bajo la llamarada."
"Galactica, raptor five, Did you hear that? ... I see a flare from the ground, roughly a click ahead," Athena said excitedly. The bright red flare rose directly in their path near the end of the debris field.
"Raptor five, Galactica, we are monitoring. Investigate and make contact. We are on our way."
Athena soon saw a makeshift dwelling with two people outside waving red flags on poles over their heads. As Athena set the raptor down, they laid the poles down and walked towards the craft.
Getting ready to exit the raptor, Helo laid a hand on Athena's arm. "Be careful," he cautioned.
Athena cast him a smirk. "They are not Cylons, and they are not armed. Careful yes, let's not get paranoid," she said, then opened the door to see the pair smiling at them.
"Bueno verte!" the red haired woman said as she smiled and waved.
"Can you speak Colonial?" Helo asked as he waved back.
The pair looked at each other. "Comprendre le français?" the dark haired man asked.
"Quid Latine?" the red haired woman asked.
Athena held up a hand. To Helo, she asked, "Have you heard anything like that before?"
"Never. Think they might be part of the Thirteenth Tribe?"
"Hey! komm, bitte," the woman said, looking at Athena as she motioned her closer.
Athena moved toward her. The woman raised her hand up. She made a few reassuring sounds as she went to put her hand on Athena's head.
"Hon?" Helo asked.
"It's OK," Athena assured him. Athena and the woman were the same height. She stood still as the woman put her hand on Athena's head and closed her eyes.
After a moment of silence, the women removed her hand, opened her eyes and cast Athena a smile as she said, "We are the Richardson's. I am Tabitha, this is Johnathan. We crashed here."
Athena gapped at her. "You learned our language from reading my mind?" she asked cautiously.
"No, from reading your files," Tabitha said. "I stayed out of your mental processes and personal memories. It would be rude to access those without your permission," she explained.
"You're a Cylon?" Helo asked. He couldn't help but glance down at her chest. Those things were huge!
Tabitha eyed him. Tentatively, she said, "I am an artificial intelligence with a mechanical body." Glancing at Athena, she asked, "Is she one of these Cylons?"
"I am a model eight," Athena replied.
"A cyborg," Tabitha concluded as she nodded in understanding. "A being with a mix of mechanical and biological components." She then talked to Johnathan in one of their strange languages.
Johnathan nodded and waved to them. He then asked something and jerked a thumb toward the sky.
Tabitha pursed her lips. Turning to Helo, she said, "John and I, would like to know if you could get us off this god-forsaken rock. We'll pay you with the cargo we can salvage from our wreck."
"What happened?" Helo asked.
"Mis-jump. We were making a cargo run to an outpost and for some reason, the navigation screwed up," Tabitha said with a huff. "So, here we are, stranded in the middle of nowhere. We are really happy to see you."
"Where are you from?" Athena asked.
"Epsilon five. Well, that is where the ship was registered. We constantly run cargo between planets so we really don't call anywhere home," Tabitha said. Looking out at the wreckage, she added, "At least, we did."
"You know where inhabited planets are then," Athena concluded.
Tabitha winced and said, "Well, we kind of relied on the ship's star maps. Neither of us really studied interstellar navigation."
A pair of vipers roared past overhead. Tabitha and Johnathan watched them go by. Johnathan pointed to them and said something to Tabitha.
In her headphones, Athena heard, "Raptor five, this is Galactica actual, we are en-route. Report your situation."
Athena reported. "Galactica actual, raptor five, we found two survivors of the crash. They are not of colonial origin. I repeat, they are not of colonial origin."
Soon, many raptors and shuttle craft were gathered at the freighter's crash site.
...
Tabitha held John's head in her hands as she 'transfered' their language to him. 'John' already knew colonial as Tabitha did, but every part of their dilemma had to look authentic.
Once she was finished, Johnathan smiled at the pockmark faced Admiral and extended his hand. "Johnathan Richardson, pleased to see you, Admiral. Really pleased. I though we'd be stuck here. I take it Tabitha already introduced herself?"
Admiral Adama smiled briefly, not looking at Tabitha. "Yes. You were hauling cargo when your freighter crashed as I understand?"
Johnathan nodded. "We came out of hyperspace and alarms went off all over the place. We were right on top of this planet, and freighters aren't that maneuverable. Tabitha did her best to get us at least slowed down and into a reentry position while I readied our escape pods. We punched out right before the ship hit the atmosphere. Didn't see exactly what happened, but the ship didn't survive reentry. We
gathered what we could and made a camp. Been here, what ... seven, eight days locally?"
Tabitha nodded. "We were hoping someone would come by. This planet is radioactive, and Johnathan is vulnerable to radiation," she added.
"You're not?" Lee Adama asked.
Tabitha shook her head. "All my systems are hardened against radiation. John is a fully biological human, he is at risk," she explained.
"A frackin toaster," Starbuck spat as she looked at Tabitha.
"Excuse me?" Tabitha asked, eyeing Starbuck warily.
"Kara, enough," Lee said quietly. To Johnathan and Tabitha, he said, "I am Lee Adama, President of the twelve Colonies."
Johnathan ignored his hand, eyeing Starbuck. "What's this 'toaster' thing?" he asked.
"It's nothing," Lee offered.
With a fake smile, Tabitha said, "I'm sure the meat head didn't mean anything by her comment. Please to meet you, Mr. President."
"Meat head?" Starbuck asked, not looking happy.
Tabitha eyed her again. "It's nothing," she said with her fake smile. They stared at each other angrily.
Stepping between them, Lee said, "OK! let's remain civil, shall we? Mr. Richardson, we are lost, and need to find a habitable planet at the very least. Can you help us?"
"For a ride off this rock, we can certainly try," Johnathan replied with a boyish grin. "Look, we don't know interstellar navigation, the ship's AI took care of that. We can both pilot just about anything within a system, but finding our way around the stars ... we just haven't done it. The best we can do is let you know if we see or pick up something we're familiar with. That, and offer our cargo in exchange for a ride to the nearest civilized planet."
"Not all our cargo," Tabitha said, shifting her gaze to him.
"We can't move it, can we?" Johnathan asked.
"John," Tabitha said in a stressed/ false calm voice, "There is fifty million credits worth of cargo here. We're going to need a new ship and buy our next haul. We can't give away ALL our cargo for a ride."
"From what I heard from meat head over there," Johnathan said, pointing to Starbuck, "I'm not sure you'll be safe with these people. The extra is to ensure you stay safe. Mr. President, can you promise Tabitha's safety?"
"I'd rather stay, if it means we'll be broke when we DO get someplace," Tabitha said sternly.
"I'm not leaving you here."
"I'm not giving up my half of the cargo for a freakin ride," Tabitha retorted.
"Fine," Johnathan stated with a fling of his arms. To Lee, he asked, "Do you have a small ship you could sell us? We've got a bit of everything lying around here someplace. Fair trade, a ship for the equivalent value of goods."
Lee glanced at Tabitha, then John as he explained, "Our ships don't steer themselves. We also need every one we have."
Hands on her hips, Tabitha eyed John and asked, "Any other bright ideas?"
"Do you have any?" John asked in a challenge.
"Yes, transport for fuel. We have eight tons of purified Tillium around here in sealed containers, surely that will be enough to pay our way," Tabitha stated.
"It will," Lee said quickly. "And I promise both of you will be safe," he added.
"If I may," Admiral Adama asked as he stepped up. "We have need of many things. If the President allows, I'd like to inspect your cargo and buy whatever we need from you. We can settle up once we reach a civilized planet."
Johnathan's face brightened up. "Agreed! Provided Tabitha remains unmolested," he said, flicking his eyes at Starbuck.
"Shall we draw up the contract then?" Tabitha asked eagerly.
Letting out an irritated huff, Starbuck said, "I'm going to go find where that signal is coming from."
Tabitha flicked her eyes at Johnathan. "Oops," said to him mentally.
John wanted to look at her, but he was shaking hands on their deal. "What is Oops?" he thought in return.
"We never got rid of the body."
"Tabby!"
"Sorry! Can't a Shadow Cat come down and get it?"
"Not with all these scout ships around," John though as he shook President Adama's hand. "They can be picked up in the atmosphere, even cloaked."
"What do we do?"
"Deal with it as it comes."
