Battlestar Galactica

Deep Space, January 18th 3050

Kerry had long since changed out of her formal uniform, and was once more wearing a rumpled jumpsuit. The rest of the delegation was back in the pair of small cabins that had been cleared for their use, but Kerry had always been able to operate on very little sleep, so she was already up and around while her seniors slept.

She and Racetrack were in the messhall, the petite linguist the center of attention of the breakfast crowd as she gamely ate the... allegedly nutricious substance masquerading as 'food' that was the contents of a Hegemony MRE. The Hegemony officers had decided that it would be wise to bring their own rations, mostly so that they did not draw down the rations needed by the rest of the fleet, and also to avoid any odd gastro-intestinal issues during the discussions.

"That certainly looks more appetizing than this." Racetrack commented wryly, while digging into her own rather bland looking meal.

"Looks are deceiving, I personally think that they should use these rations to threaten prisoners with." Kerry replied, although truth to tell, the MRE wasn't really all that bad. "I have to say it is rather amazing still, to be able to eat in space without worrying about spin or no gravity." she continued, smiling a little.

Racetrack nodded, a small smile quirking her lips. "I can imagine." she said, then sobered a little in thought.

A nearby crewman, who didn't look a day over fifteen, piped up, egged on by the others at his table. "Do you think you can fight the toasters?"

Kerry paused and turned, looking somewhat more serious. "I am not really a soldier, just an electronics and linguistics specialist, but I'll tell you this much. We've been fighting wars for thousands of years, we've fought them in every conceivable environment, for every conceivable reason, and we're still around to fight some more. If these Cylons decide to make war upon us for sheltering your people, then we shall see." her voice chilled a bit, her growing familiarity with the language still rendering it somewhat stilted, yet... it almost seemed right. "I say, after what the Cylons have already done... bring it on."

There was silence in the room for a moment, then an almost savage sound, as the others all nodded and growled out their agreement.

--

"Impressions so far?" van Hausen asked, inside the cramped compartment.

"They are in rather desperate circumstances, and we are looking at a major league violation of the Ares Convention here." Kerry said, perched in the corner. "Granted, neither the Colonials nor these 'Cylons' ever heard of that, let alone signed it, but that doesn't excuse us from taking that into consideration."

"True, but it also doesn't mean that we will go to war with the Cylons ourselves. Protect these people, certainly, but if the Cylons choose peaceful contact with us..." Pierson said, trailing off at the glances from the other three. "Look, can we really afford a war with an unknown enemy over this? We do not have any casus belli here, Brigadier, and applying the Ares Convention ex post facto is legally and morally wrong. Make clear our displeasure, yes, make clear our intentions vis-a-vis these Colonials, yes. But striking first? Out of the question."

"And the Home..." Kerry began, then stopped at van Hausen's raised hand.

"That's enough, Kerry. Mr Pierson, you are along solely to assist in determining the humanitarian needs and priorities of the Colonists for the Home Office, you are not representing the Foreign Office, nor are you in command of this mission. Am I clear, Sir?"

"But..." Pierson started, earning a poisonous look from PFC Stormfeather and Kerry. "You do not have the authority to initiate military actions on your own, Brigadier, nor do you have the power to commit the Hegemony to war because of your own bloodlust." he snapped, looking mulish.

"And what, precisely, within your brief gives you any qualifications to make that determination, Mr. Pierson?"

"I am the sole representative of the bcivilian/b government here, Brigadier, and you military types are bALWAYS/b subordinate to us." Pierson snapped in response. "And as the senior representative of the civil government..."

The bureaucrat broke off as van Hausen started laughing, looking furious.

"You obviously haven't read the mission brief, Mr. Pierson." the massive officer replied, "Or you would have read this..." he drew out a sheaf of papers, transmitted over HPG and verisigned for authenticity. Pierson looked sick as he looked upon the formal appointment as Envoy to the Refugee Government with Plenipotentiary Powers.

"You can't be..."

"Shut your mouth, Mr. Pierson." van Hausen cut him off, eyes flashing now, voice no longer casual and relaxed, but crisp and sharp. "You will perform your assigned duties, Mr. Pierson, and will confine your opinions and recommendations to them. Ms Sykes-Bannon, please continue."

"Yessir." Kerry replied, smiling once more. "I'm starting to get a full handle on their language, and hopefully we'll be able to gin up a translation program. I've got the rudiments of it already plotted out. They seem to think we are something called the 'Thirteenth Colony' and believe that we all come from someplace called 'Kobol', I got cornered by a few youngsters who were later identified to me as Sagitarrians who kept on talking about their religion, which appears to be very much centered on the Greek pantheon, with even the same names for the Gods and Goddesses, and some of the myths and stories they were bombarding me with sounded familiar with what I know of Greek mythology. I'd like permission to transmit this stuff back to the Uni for their classical studies people to look at."

"Granted. Anything else? Very well. Kerry already knows this, but Admiral Adama has stated that they are expecting several of their iRaptor/i's to be returning shortly with rescued resistance fighters from their destroyed capital world, and that due to 'politics' and an election, a decision as to whether or not this fleet will accept our offer of refuge will be made after the election, which is to be held in a week. We'll be here until that decision is made, and hopefully they will be coming to Hegemony space, I don't think I need to remind any of you of the importance of remaining civil and polite throughout our stay here, is that clear?" he said, looking directly at Pierson while he spoke.

Variations of 'Clear, Sir' filled the compartment, although Pierson looked rather... peeved.

--

"He's going to cause you trouble, Tank" Kerry said once the others had left, still perched in the corner.

"True, but he'll need to go through you to communicate with the Colonials." van Hausen replied.

"That's not what I mean, he's related to the Director-General, granted fairly removed but still, he's got pull back at Center."

"I know, Kerry, I've been fully informed." he replied, smiling then. "trust me."

"That always worries me." Kerry replied, hopping up from the corner and heading for the door. "Whenever you say that, I wind up dragged into yet another crazy idea that was NOT my idea and is NOT in my contract." she continued, grinning a little and winking as she went out the door.

--

Colonial One

"This is an opportunity we cannot pass by... I know, I know, they are ignorant of their true history, but that doesn't matter, they are from Earth. They think they can deal with the toasters, so... no, it's not our 'responsibility' to keep on going just to 'protect' them, they aren't school children... fine, fine."

A hand slams down the handset...

--

Center

New Geneva, Terran Hegemony in Exile

"And I still say you overstepped your bounds, Natalie!"

"I know you do, dear, but I had to. And you know why."

"So we're still living under his shadow, after all these years?"

"Yes... we are. We still haven't paid the debt, Michael, we owe it not only to his memory but to ourselves to do what is right, not merely what is expedient or comfortable. If my choice leads us into war, it will be a just one, for a war to defend the last surviving victims of genocide is always a noble undertaking."

"I know that, but we can't afford it! What if the Great Traitors' followers find us and bring down the full weight of our foes upon us?"

"That is a risk we must take, as our ancestors had to stand up and risk everything. We can do no less than they did. The traitors and fools destroyed the most noble experiment mankind ever embarked upon, and if not for the wisdom, sacrifice and foresight of our ancestors none of us would be free to carry on that legacy. They didn't sacrifice everything for us to be as short-sighted and cynical as the House Lords!"

"Very well, your orders, Director-General?"

"Dispatch TF 14 to reinforce Circe Base, bring all units to DEFCON-TWO and issue a possible war warning, and activate the hotline to the Republic, our cousins need to know about this."