Battlestar Galactica
A meticulously organized mahogany desk was laid out before Daniel. His quarters were spacious, and yet cozy; the best that the Galactica had to offer. 5 years ago, when he first signed on into Starfleet, he had imagined that someday he would be in command of his own ship, that he would have the best quarters on the ship, and that he would be distinguished throughout the fleet. He had that all now on the Galactica.
But he would gladly give that all up to have his home, his family, and his friends back.
The shakedown cruise of the newly resurrected Galactica was supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, and Daniel had taken it gladly. He had viewed the discovery of the battlestar as a blessing; but now he viewed it as a curse.
If those archaeologists had just left the Galactica alone, he thought furiously, then none of this would ever have happened.
Leaning back in his chair, Daniel's looked at the blank computer screen that rested on his desk. He had opened it up to the log entries section, and run through the different entries that had been recorded by Commander Adama, the Galactica's original commanding officer. The logs were extensive, dating back to the time Adama first took command, all the way through to the time that the Galactica was finally able to rest on the planet earth.
Now, the last entry had finished playing, and the database was awaiting an entry from him. Even so, Daniel couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't deserve the Galactica. He shouldn't have even been alive.
Daniel lost track of time as he sat there, drumming his fingers against the hearty wood of his desk. He didn't know if it was five minutes or five hours before he finally reached forward and flipped on the recorder.
"Admiral's log, April 15, 2226. I don't even know what I'm doing here. My planet's been shot to pieces, what's left of my people is crammed into a rag-tag fugitive fleet, and all that we have to protect us is a lone Battlestar. I don't know what we're going to do now. But, since I am in command of the Galactica, I should at least try to make a proper log entry containing the events that have happened within the last few days. So, here goes nothing."
Daniel's pulse pounded in his ears. He was walking into the office of Admiral Jeffrey Jacobs. He had been asked to his office for some important news.
For several months now, Daniel had been hoping for a promotion to captain, and now he was hopeful. When he came in, Admiral Jacobs was looking over a file, and Daniel could see that it was his.
Jacobs looked up to see Daniel still standing. "Ah, Commander. Please, have a seat." Daniel sat as ordered, and waited for the admiral to finish looking over the file. When he finally did look up, he had a small grin on his face. "Well, commander. I must say that your file is very impressive. I'm not going to mince words, though. I've invited you here to give you a command."
Daniel didn't really know what to say. He had waited so long for a promotion, and here it was. "Before you get too excited, this is only a temporary command. It's a way for Starfleet to see how well you handle a command."
"If I may, sir, what ship will I be commanding."
Now, Jacobs got a small smile on his face. "The newly refitted Galactica."
"The Galactica? Really?"
"She's in orbit with a full crew awaiting your arrival. Now get to it, Captain."
"Yes, sir."
How could Daniel have been so stupid. Of course the Cylons would pick today to attack. The day that the Galactica was on her shakedown cruise.
Grabbing the microphone hanging above his head, Daniel spoke to the entire crew.
"Attention. This is Captain Daniel Johnson. Moments ago, this ship received word that the Cylon attack against our homeworld is underway. We do not know the size or the disposition or the strength of the enemy forces. How? Why? It doesn't really matter now. What does matter is that as of this moment... we are at war."
Daniel paused, and let the words sink into the hearts of his crew. Most of them were inexperienced, newly posted because this was supposed to be a simple shakedown. But they were all Starfleet officers. They had all been trained for situations like this. If the Cylons wanted a fight, then they were going to get one.
"Everyone to your battle stations. Let's get this ship into the fight."
Daniel's heart pounded in his chest, and his blood boiled with an unrivaled rage against the Cylons. His family, his friends, his loved ones, all gone; killed in one fell swoop by the Cylons. The planet was nothing more than a ball of radioactive slag, unfit for any kind of life. Daniel wasn't sure if any cockroaches could have survived the constant bombardment of the planet. But if they had, they didn't have much left to them.
Cities had been leveled, people butchered in their homes and cars. Those that weren't killed in the initial bombings were killed by the strafing runs that the Cylons made. And if you were lucky enough to have survived that, then you would have gotten killed by the foot soldiers that marched in the streets, making sure that everyone was dead.
All they had was a small remnant of humanity crammed into a handful of spaceworthy ships. What were they going to do? Humans were now an endangered species.
As much pain as Daniel felt, he could only imagine how the people on those ships felt. They had actually seen all of the carnage and brutality as the Cylons methodically killed their families. And now, there they were; trailing behind the Galactica like sheep following a shepherd. Unfortunately, that was all too true. The ships that contained humanity's last hope were all civilian ships, and therefore unarmed. Galactica was the only ship in the entire fleet that could actually put up a fight.
Taking the microphone in his hand, he looked to his comm officer. "Patch me through to the fleet." A moment of typing at his station, and the officer nodded at Daniel.
Taking a deep breath, Daniel tried to steady himself. What could he say? They had all jumped out of the solar system before the Cylons decided to come back to admire their handiwork. The only world any of them had known was shot to bits and now millions of miles behind them. What could he say to these people that could possibly comfort them?
"People of the fleet," he started, "this is Captain Daniel Johnson of the Battlestar Galactica. I know that every one of you has lost a loved one." With each word he spoke, his boldness grew. "And now, we've jumped way beyond the red line into uncharted space. Limited supplies, limited fuel, no allies, but we still have hope.
"On the memories of those loved ones we have lost, we of the Galactica will fight to our last breath to keep you safe. So say we all!"
"So say we all," the bridge crew repeated.
"So say we all," Daniel shouted, this time a bit louder.
"So say we all!" Daniel couldn't see or hear it, but now, the entire crew of the Galactica joined in the vow to the fleet.
"So say we all!"
"So say we all!"
Daniel walked into the Galactica's sick bay, and immediately, his heart sunk. The sight of so many wounded and dying tore his heart in two. But the worst sight of all was Admiral Jacobs, the last admiral of Starfleet.
His ship had taken on the Cylons from every side. Admiral Jacobs had made sure that he and his ship did their best to keep earth safe, or die trying. That order had cost the lives of 400 Starfleet officers.
Jacobs was in a bad way. He was covered in third degree burns, and almost every bone in his body was broken. While Daniel was working on the bridge, he received word that the dying admiral wanted to see him.
Daniel strode over to his bed, and looked into the pained eyes of Admiral Jacobs. He remembered the day that Johnson had given him command of the Galactica. The nurse attending him looked at Daniel. "His vocal cords were badly damaged. He can't really speak. And, Captain, I'm sorry but he only has moments left."
Daniel felt a hand on his arm and looked back down to see that the admiral was trying to get his attention. With a weak finger, he beckoned that Daniel lean towards him. Daniel obeyed, and Admiral Johnson lifted the pins off of Daniel's uniform that identified him as a captain and put on pins that belonged to an admiral.
Johnson then rasped out, "You have to get these people to safety. The fate of mankind is in your hands now, Admiral." With that, Starfleet Admiral Jeffrey Johnson passed on.
The council room was long and bland. It carried the colors of the different governments from earth that were represented that day in the meeting. Admiral Johnson didn't like politicians. In his experience, they only really cared about themselves, not the people they had been chosen to represent. Of course, he had grown up in America where democracy was the form of government, whereas most other nations leaned more towards communism, socialism, and even dictatorialism.
Taking his place at the end of the table, he found himself staring into the face of the President of Great Britain: Rose Jackson. She was one of the council members that was fond of a system in which the government decided what was best for the people.
"Thank you for coming, Admiral," she said. "Congratulations on your promotion. Now, let's get down to business. I have called this meeting to determine who should lead our people to safety."
The people seated around the table exploded into bickering. Finally, President Jackson slammed a small mallet on the table. "This kind of bickering will get us nowhere. It is perfectly obvious that I am the best choice for the fleet." The whole chamber exploded again until Jackson silenced it again. "I have the most experience in government, therefore, I am the logical choice."
"We should put it to a vote," Admiral Johnson said. Everyone looked at him as if to say, "What is this vote that you speak of?"
"We appreciate your opinion, Admiral," Jackson said, folding her hands on the table. "But may I remind you that you have been invited to this meeting only as a courtesy."
"I may not be a politician like you," he replied. "But I do know that the people need directions, not dictations.
"Let them vote on who leads them, that way, they can know that they really are still humans; not specimens of an endangered species."
Silence dominated the meeting chamber for moments that seemed like hours. "Your idea has merit, Admiral. Very well. We will distribute ballots throughout the fleet and we will hold an election. And, Admiral..." Rose leaned forward and stared intently at Daniel. "You would do well to remember your place. You may be the highest ranking military officer in this fleet, but that means nothing in the realm of civilians. Let us worry about the people of the fleet. You worry about your silly little battlestar."
Now it was Daniel's turn to lean forward stare at Rose. "And you, Madame President, would do well to remember who you're dealing with. I dare you to find an officer in the whole fleet who can command a battlestar and that you can push around, 'cause it sure isn't going to be me. You can do your thing with civilians, but you will treat me and my crew with respect."
With that, Daniel got up and left the chamber.
The votes had been tallied. It was a landslide majority. And it was all in the favor of Admiral Daniel Johnson.
Daniel had been as surprised as the rest of the council members when the results were brought in. His name hadn't even been on the ballots, but everyone in the fleet wanted him so bad that they wrote his name down and handed the ballots in.
Every member of the council was furious. Who was Daniel to be leading? He was a part of the military, not the government.
"He actually took the time to tell us that he cared," some had said.
"Admiral Johnson promised he would keep us safe," others put in.
The council had adjourned, and now it was just Daniel and Rose sitting across from each other. They both hated each other's guts, and they were perfectly fine with that.
"So, Admiral," Rose began. "What is your plan? Where do you intend to take this fleet?"
"Caprica."
"Caprica? Are you insane?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. But the coordinates are in the Galactica's database. According to the logs of Commander Adama, Caprica wasn't nuked like earth was. If we can make our way there, then we can repopulate Caprica and the other planets of the Cyranus system.
"If all goes according to plan, then we can beat the Cylons there and hopefully not attract too much attention before we can get a battle fleet built."
President Jackson couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Now I know that you're insane. You're talking about continuing this war with the Cylons?"
"They won't stop coming after us until either they've destroyed us, or we've destroyed them; it's that simple."
Rose paused before she spoke, taking a moment to choose the right words. "The human race is about to be wiped out. We have 50,000 people left, and that's it. The war is over."
Daniel looked unblinkingly into her eyes. "It hasn't begun yet."