The Journey's Trek

By Michael Weyer

"Damn, I hate this thing," Leonard McCoy groused as he tugged at the collar of his dress uniform. "Almost as much as I hate shuttle rides." He was seated at the rear of one of the Federation shuttles, heading toward the fleet.

"I thought you did not like being beamed about, Doctor," Spock noted, looking comfortable in his own dress uniform.

"I dislike being so close to space more," McCoy snapped. "You know the accident rate on these things as well as I do."

"Actually, Doctor, you are more likely to be killed by a bolt of lightning on Earth than by shuttle accident."

"Spare me, Spock."

Kirk smiled, used by now to the banter between his two friends. He was standing at the front of the shuttle as Chief Montgomery Scott sat nearby, studying images the Enterprise had taken of the fleet on a data pad. "This canna be," the Scottish engineer murmured. "No warp signatures at all…It's like they just appeared out of nowhere."

"Any ideas, Mr. Scott? Kirk asked.

Scotty rubbed his chin in thought. "Hard to tell from this, Captain but if I had to hazard a guess…I think they may have folded space."

"Folded space?" Kirk frowned. "I read of attempts to do that in the past but they decided it was impossible. That a living crew couldn't survive the reversion process."

Scotty nodded. "Aye, sir. But I canna see another possibility. At least until I can study those engines myself."

"First things first, Mr. Scott," Kirk noted as he glanced forward to see the large ship coming closer. "These may be humans but if they are refugees, we may be getting in the middle of a complicated situation."

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"Gods, I hate this thing," Tigh groused as he pulled at his dress uniform. He stood at the head of the large grouping inside the hanger deck. Adama was next to him, also clad in his dress uniform as various pilots stood in dress. Behind them were soldiers in battle armor, rifles at the ready just in case. Various deckhands were scattered about, a couple still working on a Viper but most simply watching the sure to be eventful moment.

"Can't believe we got the frakking press here," Tigh said, glancing to the balcony overlooking the hanger. He could see several cameras aimed at the deck and Deanna Biers speaking into one.

"The whole fleet should know what happens here, Colonel," President Laura Roslin said. He seemed to be recovering well from the blood transfusion that treated her cancer. She wore her best professional suit, her beautiful face framed by her trademark glasses, every inch the leader. "Whether they're friend or foe, we need to have this recorded for posterity."

Tigh shook his head. "Still prefer to keep it tighter, better security."

"This is an important moment, Saul," Adama noted. "It figures it takes the destruction of the colonies to get us to finally meet an alien race."

"Assuming it's not a fancy Cylon trick," Tigh muttered.

"We're about to find out," Adama said as an alarm blared, indicating the hanger bay doors were being shut and space vented out. After a pause, the doors leading to the closed area were opened and a box-shaped craft flew inward. It slowly landed, settling down and tension gripped the entire area.

From his place next to Roslin, Dr. Gaius Baltar, pushed his glasses up on his nose, his suit as rumpled as his dark hair. He was peering with interest at the oncoming shuttle, his mind whirling with the possibilities before him.

"This must be so disconcerting, Gaius" purred that familiar seductive voice. Baltar didn't bother looking as the gorgeous blonde woman in a slinky red dress leaned on his shoulder. Baltar did his best to ignore her, knowing only he could see her. "Proof there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe and you can't brag to the worlds about it."

"We'll just see how intelligent they truly are," Baltar murmured. "Aren't you concerned that they may prove stronger than the Cylons?"

"God is on our side, Gaius," Six smiled at him. "His will can overcome all."

After a pause, one side of craft broke apart in sections, one part raised up while the other formed a staircase. A trio of men came forward, all clad in red shirts and black pants with an arrow-shaped insignia on their chests. Two came down the steps while one hung back. The soldiers in the bay tensed but on orders did not raise their rifles. Two of the newcomers scanned the area before taking places on either side of the stairs, confirming Adama's suspicion they were some sort of security detail. Satisfied, the man at the top moved to the side to allow the shuttle passengers to exit.

In the lead was a man younger than Adama expected but carrying himself with the boldness of command. He had light brown hair, clad in black pants and a green shirt with gold tinges. Behind him were two men in matching blue shirts, one's face craggy and ill at ease, the other quite calm and…

"Pointed ears," Tigh muttered. "He's got frakking pointed ears, Bill."

Adama gave him a sharp look as a final man stepped out in a red shirt, a light smile on his face. The lead man stepped before Adama and nodded. "Commander Adama? Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise. On behalf of the United Federation of Planets, I greet you in peace and welcome you to our space."

"Thank you, Captain," Adama said. He nodded to the woman beside him. "May I present President Laura Roslin."

Kirk extended a hand. "Madam President."

She took it, shaking strongly. "Captain. This is our Vice President Gaius Baltar." The nervous looking man next to her quickly shook Kirk's hand with some vigor. "And this is Colonel Saul Tigh, Commander Adama's second in command."

Kirk shook the man's hand before motioning to the men around him. "This is my first officer, Commander Spock."

The pointed-ear man held up his right hand, the fingers spread out. "Greetings and long life."

Positive attempting to duplicate the salute would break her nerves, Roslin simply nodded back as Kirk continued. "My chief medical officer, Dr. Leonard McCoy. And my chief engineer, Montgomery Scott." Both men nodded respectfully.

"You seem able to speak our language quite well, Captain," Adama calmly addressed the question.

"Actually, we are not speaking it," Spock stated. "Our technology merely translates your language into our own and vice versa." He noted how that seemed to make these people uncomfortable and guessed they had some issues with technology.

Adama made a motion with his hand. "If you'll follow us, we have our main conference room ready for our meeting." Kirk and his men followed, leaving the flight deck murmuring with conversation.

"What do you think?" Starbuck asked Apollo as they moved closer, each gazing after the group. "Friend or foe?"

"Hoping for friend," Lee replied. "Because I don't like the idea of tackling that big ship of theirs."

"Ah, doesn't look that tough."

"You're insane, your opinion doesn't count for much."

"That's why you all love me," Starbuck smirked as they moved off.

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The conference room was a bit tense as the group settled down. The trio of red-shirted men stood by the wall behind Kirk, arms crossed and fixing steady gazes at the rifle-toting soldiers standing behind the Galactica crew. They too were hard-faced, rifles lowered but clearly ready to use them if something went wrong.

Adama stared at the group before him before speaking. "Just what is this Federation?"

Kirk was calm as he took in the question. "I assume you have never met an alien civilization before?"

"We have not," Adama confirmed.

Kirk nodded. "The United Federation of Planets is a peaceful organization of worlds spread throughout several star systems. Our ship is part of a mission exploring new worlds and meeting alien cultures in hopes to continue peaceful relations." He paused. "You identified yourself as being from Kobol. I have to confess that there is no record in the Federation databases for such a world. May I ask more of your planet and why you are here?"

Adama glanced at Roslin, who leaned forward, prepared. "Captain…what you see in this fleet is all that is left of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

Kirk was surprised but kept himself calm as Roslin went on, obviously not happy to be relating this. "We were once over twenty billion souls spread among twelve planets."

"Twelve inhabitable planets in one system?" Spock asked, one eyebrow raised. "An unusual occurrence although not unheard of."

Roslin continued. "It was difficult at times but for the most part, we managed to live in peace. About fifty years ago, our scientists developed a form of machine life called the Cylons. We used them as a work force even as evidence came that they were developing self-awareness. They finally rebelled and began a war against the Colonies."

"Colonel Tigh and myself served in that war," Adama inserted. "The Cylons had us on the ropes but we finally managed to fight them off enough to make an armistice. They retreated to deep space and for forty years, we never heard from them again."

"And they came back," Kirk realized.

Adama nodded. "A year ago. They attacked with no warning at all, unleashed some sort of computer virus that rendered our defense systems useless. We lost three quarters of the fleet in minutes. Galactica was spared because she was an older ship from the first war and was about to be retired into a museum so our systems were offline. They also launched massive nuclear strikes on each colony."

"President Adar offered unconditional surrender after they destroyed Picon," Roslin gravely said. "They just kept bombing. What few survivors gathered together here and we've been on the run from them ever since."

Kirk mused on that. He'd heard tales of genocide before and had seen the remains of planets but this was still striking him hard. McCoy was shaking his head and muttering. "Damn, always knew giving machines so much power was bad."

"Bones…"

"Come on, Jim, this is the M5 taken to the tenth level!"

Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the colonists, Kirk explained. "A while ago, a Federation scientist attempted to hook our ship up to a computer system intended to improve our reaction times. It got out of hand, caused severe damage before it was finally shut off."

Thigh sniffed. "Never mess with that crap, always gets you into trouble."

"So you've been running without any direction?" Kirk asked.

Roslin sighed. "Not quite. Thousands of years ago, a 13th tribe left the rest of Kobol behind. Our sacred texts say they traveled to a distant world, to settle on a planet called Earth."

All the Starfleet officers jerked in surprise at that. Even Spock appeared a bit taken aback. "Earth?" Kirk repeated. "You're certain?"

Roslin frowned. "You…know of Earth?"

"It's real?" Baltar exclaimed.

Kirk smiled. "I should hope it is. I was born on Earth. So was Doctor McCoy and Mr. Scott and Mr. Spock's mother was from Earth as well."

A long silence went up at that. Without realizing it, both Baltar and Roslin removed their glasses in unison to stare at Kirk. Tigh's jaw was open while Adama simply sat dumbstruck. His mind whirled at that bombshell, latching onto a loose idea. "Um…what about…his father?"

"My father is from the planet Vulcan," Spock answered. "One of the oldest members of the Federation."

Roslin rubbed at her eyes. "You…are from Earth? You are from the 13th Tribe?"

"In actuality, there is no record of any Kobol in Earth's histories," Spock intoned. "Indeed, there is evidence civilizations on Earth existed as far as 20,000 of their years."

Kirk recognized the looks on the faces of the colonists. He'd been on first contact missions before and knew this was the hardest part: Having one's entire belief system completely overthrown by facts. He would have tried to put it with slightly more tact but sometimes Spock's blunt manners could be time-solving. "There are obviously differences in how races record time," he said. "We can go over that later. For now, there is the question of how to handle this situation."

"Can you take us to Earth?" Roslin pressed. "It…it's what we've been looking for all this time. We need this, Captain."

Kirk sighed. "Madam President, I can understand your feelings. However, there is a protocol for first contact missions. I have to assess the situation with your people and report my findings to Starfleet. They in turn will have to work with Federation branches to find a proper settlement for you all. While you say Earth is a colony of your people, the planet is home to several billion beings and we cannot allow you to simply settle there on your own."

Tigh snorted. "Great. Even the aliens have red tape bureaucracy."

"There is also the matter of the Prime Directive," Spock intoned. "The highest law of Starfleet. It prohibits us from directly interfering in the affairs or progress of other civilizations."

Roslin fixed him with a cool gaze, her lips turned up a bit in a mirthless smile. "Mr…Spock? Our civilization is what is on these ships. Believe me, any damage you can possibly do is nothing compared to what we have been through. We are low on supplies, on food, water, fuel, ammo and most of all, hope. Earth has been all that's been getting us through this, you cannot deny us that."

Kirk rubbed his chin. "Again, Madam President, the situation of your placement is out of my hands." He paused. "However…if you were to claim refugee status, then we would be bound to giving you some supplies such as food and water as well as protection within Federation space."

There was a pause as the Colonials looked to one another. "That's a generous offer, Captain," Roslin carefully began. "However, I will have to discuss this with the Quorum, our representative body."

"I understand," Kirk nodded to her.

"In the meantime," Roslin began, slowly rising up. "Perhaps you can take a tour of the Galactica?" Both Tigh and Adama instantly whipped their heads to her with wide eyes, telling Kirk this was not a planned proposal. Adama opened his mouth but Roslin went on. "If you are to help us, you should know the situation of the fleet first hand."

"It would be our pleasure, Madam President," Kirk said as they rose. "My chief engineer here has been interested in your method of warp travel."

"Warp?" Adama frowned, forgetting his anger. "You mean the jump drive?"

Scott nodded. "Aye. It seems quite different from ours, wanna get a close look at it."

Kirk saw the glowering on Adama's face and quickly spoke. "We can wait outside this room, Madam President. I need to contact my ship anyway in order to send a preliminary report to Starfleet."

"Thank you, Captain," Roslin said as the Enterprise officers stood and moved to the door. A trio of Marines followed them outside, the last one pulling the door shut. As soon as it was sealed, Tigh whirled on Roslin. "Are you out of your frakking mind?"

"Tigh is right," Adama said as he moved to her. "We just met these people and you want to give them access to our ship? Our weapons and technology?"

Rolsin's jaw was set as she refused to back down from the commander. "You saw that ship, Commander. You told me the early scans can't even crack their hull. We need to know more about them ourselves and the best way to do that is see how they interact with our ship."

"It's a huge risk," Adama argued.

"If they can take us to Earth, it's worth it." Roslin glanced toward Baltar, who was sitting in his chair, his head turned as if listening to something. "Mr. Vice-President?"

Baltar started and faced her. "Oh, yes, sorry. I was just thinking that, ah, perhaps as part of the tour, we should introduce them to Sharon."

Tigh's brow furrowed. "You want that Cylon loose?"

"We have to tell them about the Cylons looking human eventually," Baltar pointed out. "Better to get it out of the way now. Plus, if their technology is advanced as it seems, perhaps they can tell us more about the Cylon physiology. Which, in turn, can tell us how their own technology is."

Adama hated to admit it but he had to agree with the reasoning. "Get her transferred to Cottle," he ordered. He glanced to Roslin. "I still don't agree with this but fine. We'll give them a tour but keep it as tight as we can."

Tigh shook his head. "When this all ends in blood, don't be blaming me."

Six giggled into Baltar's head. "And you wonder why we are so victorious." Baltar did his best to ignore her as they left to return to their guests.