Location: Ouranos Asteroid Belt, Helios Beta System
The Raptor appeared suddenly. "No nearby DRADIS contacts." Lieutenant Fletcher watched her screens for Cylon raiders. "No contacts out to 90 million metrics," he said aloud for the benefit of the pilot.
"There are a lot of asteroids out there, plenty of places to hide." Lieutenant Cadmus hunched slightly to look through the forward window. He had always been tall but his bulk kept him out of competitive pyramid. "A few Colonials may still be out there."
A cyan-dotted sphere expanded outwards on Lieutenant Fletcher's screens denoting the range at which a Colonial or Cylon ship would detect the Raptor's presence. By a quirk of physics, Fletcher could observe objects before they could observe him; a Cylon raider would cast a silhouette against background stars but could only see the Raptor when it began casting a silhouette by jumping into nearby space.
"We'll sit tight for a few more minutes, give the engines time to spin up." Cadmus tapped his finger across the console quickly checking all systems. He tapped the white torpedo indicator light twice just to be sure. At the first sign of trouble, he'd slip the switch and the indicator light would turn red to show they were armed and ready. "Still no DRADIS contacts?"
"Nothing definitive. Wait. I'm picking up a Colonial transponder." The co-pilot perked up. "It's a tap code. I..." It had been some time since she heard a tap code message. It was required learning in at College, something every pilot learned, but she had never heard it in the field. "It's a distress call."
"Copy me on the channel. We need to triangulate the source, see if it's a legitimate call for help. It's unusual to use a tap code. It could be the Cylons fifty years out of date." Lieutenant Cadmus grimaced as he took over flight control.
"Still nothing. The sky is clear. Jump engine is primed if you need it."
"Thank you, Semele." Lieutenant Cadmus moved the ship forward, keeping an eye on the distress. The source vector barely changed, they were heading towards the source. Maintaining the heading would minimize the Raptor's silhouette in case it was a trap. Approaching the source from an oblique angle would give he and Lieutenant Fletcher a firm point of origin. Jump engines had time to spin up since their jump near the asteroid belt; they could jump away in a pinch. "I'm going to fix the source. Changing heading positive ten gradians by zero."
"Acknowledged. The sky is still clear." Lieutenant Fletcher watched her screens diligently.
"There is a lot of rock between us and the source of the distress call. A Cylon raider could fit into a lot of those nooks." Cadmus tried to see the asteroids through the forward window but they were still specks in the distance reflecting the weak orange light of the star.
"The asteroids are creating some blind spots. That can't be helped. Active DRADIS scanning would be announcing our presence loud and clear to every Cylon out there." Fletcher started to receive telemetry from the asteroids, their vector and rotation. A small ship like a Colonial Raptor or Cylon Raider would be too small to shift the larger asteroids but either would affect the magnetic and gravitational fields of small asteroids.
"Adjusting heading positive ten gradians by positive fifteen gradians, negative ten pitch." The Raptor moved wider of the asteroid field under the controls of the heavy-set pilot.
The two marines shifted in their seats. Neither seemed to enjoy the prospect of sidding idle as the Raptor moved slowly forward.
"No perturbations in the asteroid field. Go ahead. No change in the signal, either."
"We should respond, let them know there is a friendly nearby." Cadmus loaded a translation program to tap out a response. "I'll send the Bucs' starting lineup." Despite all that happened, the lieutenant was still a loyal fan of the Caprica City Bucaneers.
"It may be automated, no one alive to turn it off. Keep the response signal on a tight band. Let's see how this plays out."
"Contact!" Lieutenant Fletcher gave the system a second to identify the red icon that appeared on her screen at the edge of a large asteroid. "It lines up with the incoming signal. The signal is stronger. We must have heard it reflecting off some of the metallic asteroids. I'm not hearing any distortion, now."
"I don't hear a change in the signal. It must be automated." A more shocking realization hit Lieutenant Cadmus. "Or, by Hades' mercy, they hate the beautiful game of pyramid. No, that's not possible. I'm plotting a straightline course for the source of the signa. Anything else on DRADIS?"
"It's the only contact. Distance is 300 million metrics."
"We should see some visual detail, even at this distance." The orange light of Helios Beta flooded the interior as the Raptor turned towards the source of the signal."
"It's a Rhino." Fletcher identifying the unique design. "Still to far to see it's markings but the silhouette is definitely an old Rhino."
"You think it's been out here all this time? That model hasn't been manufactured in fifty years." Cadmus had a coffee table book with schematics of some of the more famous ships of the Colonial Fleet. That was the era of the Spitfire and the Viper. "It couldn't possibly have been broadcasting this whole time. It would have been picked up by mining or salvage ships."
"Maybe it moved recently, picked up sunlight enough to charge batteries. Maybe the Cylon attack triggered something. It must have been a picket ship in the Cylon War." Fletcher was curious to know more.
Cadmus nodded. "The crew of that ship died with the Cylon threat hanging over their heads like the Sword of Damacles. You, I, all of us are witnesses to the sword's fall."
"I'm going aboard to take a look." The excitement in Lieutenant Fletcher's voice was audible. "If it's in good condition, we'll fly it back to Talaria."
"If that Rhino has been sitting idle for fifty years, it's FTL has long been scrammed." Cadmus would otherwise jump at the opportunity to board a classic ship. He didn't want Semele onthe Rhino if a Cylon raider jumped nearby.
"Even if I can copy it's DRADIS log, it'll be valuable intelligence." Deep down, Fletcher just wanted to explore. It was a potentially useful source of intelligence, it carried supplies that could be salvaged, weaponry the Convoy sorely needed. A single escort and a pair of Raptor's wouldn't put up much of a fight against a coordinated Cylon attack. She hoped it's FTL could still spin up.
"I'll take us in as close as possible." The pilot maneouvred closer. "DRADIS is still clear?"
"It's still clear. Not even a stray wireless signal." Fletcher checked each of the half-dozen screens at her station in the Raptor's cabin.
"I'll take you within arms reach." stated the pilot.
"Thanks Moari. When we're close enough, I'll make the jump."
"The Corporal will go over first. We don't know what to expect aboard the Rhino. It could be a trap." Cadmus supressed his male desire to face the danger ahead of his female co-pilot. He knew she was tough as nails and could face whatever happened over there. Still, they carried to marines for a reason. If it was a trap, a Marine Corporal would have the training to deal with it.
"You really think there are Cylons aboard?"
"Maybe. They find a museum relic, set up a distress call, lure Colonial ships in and spring the trap. Or, this is a trap for the Cylons set fifty years ago. Cylons go aboard looking for military secrets and spring the trap." Cadmus was an officer and he was putting an enlisted crewman ahead of a fellow officer.
The corporal nodded to the pilots. "We'll go aboard, clear it if necessary and signal you to come aboard Lieutenant."
"Thank you Corporal. Fair enough?"
"Fair enough." A double-beep took her attention away from the forward window back to her console. "I can make out the registry number as Constellation-Apollo-Five-One-Nine-Orion. There might be a listing in Talaria's records."
"We'll add the entry if it's not there." The Raptor moved laterally the last few metrons. "Corporal, you're up."
All four personnel in the Raptor checked the seals on their suits and signalled with a thumbs up.
"Evacuating air from the cabin in three, two, one." Fletcher flipped the switch to shut off the air circulation and suction air from the cockpit, cabin and hold. She looked around to make sure her pilot and the two marines maintained a thumbs up. "The air is as thin as it's going to get.
The two Marines stood by the port-side hatch, pulled safety cables down from the ceiling and secured them to eachother's loop behind the shoulder blades. A double-tap on the helmet signalled the two were securely fastened to the Raptor. Cadmus and Fletcher secured the safety cables to their own chests. When the hatch was open, they would be exposed to open space.
"I'm ready, Lieutenants." stated the lead marine.
"You are clear to proceed, Corporal." Lieutenant Cadmus confirmed the Raptor was at a complete stop.
Fletcher acknowledged the safety warning on her screen and released the mechanical lock on the hatch. It opened less than an inch and the remaining air rushed out. The vacuum meant their helmets would no longer conduct sound. They would hear eachother via short-range wireless. She acknowledged a second safety warning and the hatch opened slowly upwards.
Fletcher felt the heat suck out of the Raptor as the last of the air evacuated to space. "You're clear corporal."
The corporal swung himself onto the wing of the Raptor, crouched, pointed his arm at the Rhino and pushed off. On reaching the Rhino, he grabbed a handle next to it's own hatch. "I'll try the manual release." Pulling hard on the handle, the Rhino's door opened a half inch. "Hatch is open. No air seapage, the interior is vacuum."
"I'm not reading any change in the distress call. Enter if you think it's safe, corporal." Fletcher was anxious to board. She understood the precaution of sending a trained Marine aboard first but she wanted to board it, see what secrets it held.
"I'm going in." The corporal poked his head in the open hatch. "I have two bodies. The pilots died at their posts."
Fletcher took a deep breath. It wasn't a trap. For one reason or another the Rhino hid amongst the asteroids and the crew stayed aboard.
"They died from shrapnel puncturing their flight suits." The corporal's voice dropped. "I can see pinpoints of light from Helios Beta through the decking."
"The pilots died watching for a Cylon attack that didn't happen for fifty years after they passed. Search-and-rescue never found them." To Lieutenant Cadmus, as a Raptor pilot, it was always a possibility to be lost in deep space. He was trained to venture apart from all support of a ship-of-the-line. He had always returned home. The two pilots aboard the aging Rhino never returned home. Since the Fall, none would return to home soil.
"It's possible. Soldiers wouldn't leave them here like this. We need to bring the bodies with us, give them a proper funeral." The corporal examined the two no further. He whispered a quiet prayer: 'Give them into the charge of swift messengers to carry them, of Hypnos and of Thanatos, and lay them down within the rich countryside of broad Lycia.'
"There is no change to the distress call, no new signals on the wireless. If this is a trap, it's not set to explode from proximity. We've been in the system a short time and DRADIS is clear." Fletcher stood and walked to the hatch to see the Rhino directly.
"Lieutenant Fletcher makes a strong point. There is nothing to indicate this is other than a Rhino in deep space the victim of at attack or meteor shower and not found for fifty years." The corporal had surveyed the entire cabin and found nothing further.
"Semele... go ahead." Cadmus was the ranking officer and the call was his.
"Thank you, Moari." Fletcher attached a safety line from the hatch and released the line that bound her to her console. She stepped out quickly, lined up her trajectory and pushed off.
The corporal waited at the Rhino's open hatch but Fletcher floated across perfectly.
Once inside, Fletcher noted the same pinpoints of golden light. The corporal had already moved the bodies to the rear of the cabin, leaving the workstations clear.
"The systems must be running on residual power." Fletcher sat at the co-pilot station in the cockpit. She tapped several buttons stiff from the extreme cold of half a century. "It looks like solar panels have been absorbing enough light to keep the computer core functional. The distress call is on an automated loop."
"Leave it running. If we turn it off now, it'll be obvious a Colonial ship was here. It's been running for some time and has become background noise. The Cylons will note it suddenly stopping and come to investigate."
"It's your call, Lieutenant." Fletcher was looking through other system displays to see what remained functional.
"Leave a calling card for the next Colonials to answer the call." Cadmus hoped there were other Colonial ships somewhere out there evading Cylons as they were. If they came to this Rhino, they'd know other survived.
"Yes, sir. I'll leave a note in the system for the next soldiers that board her. We'll take the bodies, download the memory core, leave the ship. From the schematics, the engine core is cold. This ship may have chemical thursters but definitely no FTL capability. The fissable material has degraded into a block of lead."
"Corporal, return the bodies to the Raptor. Fletcher, access the computer core and upload to the Raptor."
"Will do." Fletcher opened a wireless link to the Raptor to copy the Rhino's memory.
The marines carried the bodies through the hatch carefully. They pushed off back to the Raptor. Once aboard, they'd be secured pending a proper passage to the afterlife.
"DRADIS contact! It's close. Fletcher, get your ass back here." Cadmus waited anxiously for the unknown contact to resolve into a friend or foe. "Cylon raider! All weapons hot."
Cadmus had a firm lock on the Cylon ship bearing down on their positions. It was still a few minutes outside of optimal firing range. "You only have a minute."
Lieutenant Fletcher hesitated. The wireless link kept dropping off as power levels dipped. "I'm coming back." She started to pull herself out of her seat. The Raptor's FTL was spun up and escaping a Cylon raider was more important than copying the memory of a 50-year-old craft. She wanted to know why the craft was here, how it remained unnoticed for so long.
"Whoa. What the frack?" Cadmus' displays blinked out one at a time. The communications display was the last one. It flared into activity as each system failed. Every communications channel was bombarded, jammed. "I'm hacked. I'm losing all of my systems"
"I'm being bombarded with a jamming signal." The wireless display lit up in solid colour as a powerful signal hit the antenna. "No, it's a single channel. The amplitude is off the scale." Her earphone was silent. Her heads-up display also showed the incoming signal but no effect that she could detect. "Moari! Can you still hear me?"
"I can. The suits have an independant wireless transciever." Lieutenant Cadmus tapped at his blank screens. "Every system is down."
"Where is the Cylon raider?"
"The raider was at the edge of weapons range. Does the Rhino have any working systems?" The Raptor was dead in space. In a matter of seconds, the Cylons managed to hack and shut down every system. He'd had his back to the wall before. The thought of the two Rhino pilots killed and left in deep space crossed his mind. His end wouldn't be so peaceful. The raider was closing the distance for a kill shot. He and Semele wouldn't freeze, they'd burn. If the Rhino had any functional systems, they might have a chance.
"I... I have every system. The hack isn't having any effect." Fletcher looked around the fifty-year old cockpit. "The systems aboard are fifty years out of date. The Cylons are hacking the Raptor's modern system. The Rhino isn't affected. Get over here and we'll figure something out."
"I'm staying aboard the Raptor. At this point, the Cylon may not realize you're on the Rhino. If we jump from one to the other, it'll know for sure. That hesitation gives you extra time." Cadmus looked over this shoulder to the marines aboard. They may only have one minute of breath left in them, staying put might give Semele an extra minute.
Lieutenant Fletcher looked over the displays to see what she had to work with. The solar panels were collecting a trickle of the golden sunlight that filtered through the asteroid belt. The batteries were low, enough to transmit a distress call, power the displays dimly, not much else. She could fire flares to draw the incoming missiles away from their targets. No. It would buy them a few minutes but the Cylon Raider would fire volleys until the Rhino's store was depleted. "I'm going to fire the missiles I have aboard."
"You have tactical control?" Lieutenant Cadmus looked at the blank DRADIS console but the last image was etched in his mind: a sole Cylon contact.
Fletcher looked out the hatch for the moving silver dot in the sky. It was faint but noticeable against the starscape. Without a functional guidance system, the missiles would home on their own. From the faint silver dot, a pair of dots also appeared. The Cylon had fired missiles at the now-disabled Raptor. "Missile incoming."
"Semele." Cadmus felt some anxiety about his fate. He wasn't going to drift in the cold deep of space. He was target practice for a toaster. "You have tactical control?"
The Raider seemed to be on a straightline course. It made logical sense: the Raptor was disabled, the Rhino was disabled, a straight line was the fastest path to close the distance. Firing missiles directly at the Raider would close the distance twice as quickly. She reached the fire control and armed it. Most of the lights on the panel blinked green. "Frak. This thing is armed to the teeth. I have sixteen missiles primed and ready." She glanced through the hatch, the Raider was distinct against the sky. "I'm firing." She paused between pressing the button each time, giving a ten-second gap. The electric trigger drew very little current as the propellant pulled the missiles off their pylons. The missiles were too small to see after a few seconds in flight. The Cylon's own missiles were still too far away. If DRADIS was functional, it would show missile bearing down on the Raptor.
Lieutenant Cadmus saw the missiles launch from the far side of the Rhino at ten second delays. "Missiles away. Two or three minutes until impact." They drifted a distance before their propellant ignited and they shot forward leaving a thin trail in their wake. "Semele, do you any other systems active?"
"I don't have DRADIS." Without DRADIS, the missiles would guide themselves and their exploding warheads would be the only indication they landed their targets. Three minutes until they knew it was a hit or a miss. "I still have wireless. I'm still receiving a signal from the Cylon raider. It sounds like the original signal is repeating. The Cylon keeps starting their hacking signal over and over again." Lieutenant Fletcher turned up the gain on the Cylon signal. It was a series of high tones, a falling glissando and the high tones repeated. It was a machine following it's programming without any realization it's actions were futile. The Rhino was disabled from long years in deep space with pale golden starlight to keep it's distress call beckoning.