Chapter Four
The Fugitive Fleet
"Fleeing the Cylon tyranny, the last battlestar, Galactica
leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet, on a lonely quest.
A shining planet, known as Earth."
Battlestar Galactica ending monologue 1978-79
Though William Bracken had discounted the possibility out of hand – at least in front of the Cylons - every outpost of humankind had responded to the Galactica's signal. The Aries, the Gemons, the Virgos, the Scorpios, the Picons, the Saggitarans et al abandoned the worlds of their ancestors and took to space in every size, type and class of ship that had space to carry them. A new exodus, not unlike the one the Lords of Kobol had made millennia ago. Like their long ago progenitors, they too had little idea of where they were headed, only that death awaited any who remained behind.
In all, two hundred and twenty vessels rendezvoused with the Galactica very near the coordinates from which their ancestors from Kobol had first entered the sector over eight thousand years before, past the broken, twisted wrecks of what had once been the mighty battlestars of the Colonial Navy. When it was clear that no other ships would be coming, the refugee flotilla quickly departed the system that had been humanity's home for generations, never to return.
The human race had bought themselves the chance to live another day, but these fifty thousand souls would still have to survive the cold vacuum of deep space and whatever dark, sinister threats that lay ahead, both from without and from within.
Galactica's main audience room
Commander Victoria Gates stood at a dais, flanked by Colonel Montgomery, Richard Castle and Kate Beckett overlooking the men and women representing the fleet's two hundred and twenty ships, most wearing the shabby casual clothes and duty coveralls that constituted the only things they had left. As the acting President of the Council of Twelve, it was her job to provide direction and a sense of purpose to the bedraggled mass of humanity gathered before her.
She'd known that passing so close to the remains of the wrecked colonial fleet had been a risk, but a necessary one for all to see the folly in remaining and silencing the dissenters who wanted to fight to retake their homes. She hadn't realized how badly she'd needed to see it for herself, however. To silence the doubts in her own mind that she was taking the only thin thread of hope the galaxy had to offer the decimated human race. That following the course their ancestors had taken may lead them to the one place the human race might once again call home.
Gates took a deep, cleansing breath before addressing the group of ship captains assembled before her.
"We gather here as the last survivors of the colonies of Kobol to answer the question that all of you have been asking yourselves since we departed Colonial Space. Where will we go?"
Everyone nodded in agreement amongst themselves before turning their eyes imploringly back at her.
"When I was a young girl, my Gemonese grandmother wanted me to join the priesthood. To that end, I had been encouraged to read the most ancient of our people's texts, many of them predating the Exodus from Kobol. At the time I had not paid them much concern, as - sooner than my grandmother would have liked - I ended my studies, followed my father's example and answered the call to war against the Cylons."
"As we all learned in primary school, our earliest history scrolls tell us that we descended from a mother civilization on the planet Kobol. A race that went out into the stars to establish colonies when the ecosystem there declined. Those of us assembled here represent the only known surviving colonies of that mother race... save one."
Gates paused for a moment for emphasis, looking out amongst the assembled representatives and ship captains to note that every eye was upon her, waiting to hear what she had to say so she continued on.
"There is a sister world, another human colony, far from the planets our ancestors had come to call home. This colony is remembered to us only in the most ancient of our writings from the fall. I have pored over the copies of those writings in my possession since we departed the colonies. I intend to seek out this last remaining outpost of humanity in order to find a new home far from Cylon oppression."
"Commander Gates?" Jim Beckett asked. Johanna had also considered the Priesthood of Kobol before the Colonial Academy, so what Gates had articulated sounded vaguely familiar to him. "This other world, this lost colony you speak of. Where is it? What is it called?"
Kate had barely been able to contain her joy at the sight of her father when he'd first entered the room. Only military protocol and iron discipline had kept her standing her post beside Castle - who seemed to be holding his rigid posture with great effort, but for a much different reason - He still looked rather haggard, his eyes haunted by a melancholy he couldn't seem to shake running counterpoint to her joy at the knowledge that her father survived. Even in the midst of her joy, her heart bled for her exec who was so sure his own family - the one he had nearly destroyed his military career to get back to - was gone.
"I wish that I could tell you precisely where it is," Gates replied, "but I can't. Many of the ancient writings were incomplete, either damaged in the great exodus, or poor archival storage over the millennia. However, I do know that this colony lies far beyond our star system in a galaxy very much like our own on a planet called… Earth. It is my hope that by retracing the course our ancestors took, we might recover the knowledge of where the Thirteenth Tribe of humanity went."
A short time later - after a rapid-fire question and answer session - the crowd began to disperse. No sooner had she been dismissed, Kate practically flew down the steps and leaped into her fathers arms, only to have their joyful reunion momentarily interrupted by the approach of Commander Gates.
"Commander," Jim addressed carefully, causing Kate to startle slightly, so little attention was she paying to the scene around her. He had once been in Victoria Gates' shoes, had the fate of thousands in his hands. He did not envy her the crushing additional weight of their entire species on her slender shoulders
"Mr. Beckett," Gates replied almost formally, "it is my hope to keep any interruption of your family reunion brief. I…I know there are very few moments of joy to be had under the circumstances."
Gates took a few moments to collect herself. Her husband had been lost with the Columbia - he'd given up his seat on the last escape shuttle for the wounded from his command center - her son obliterated in the Cylon attack and her daughter – a fighter pilot aboard the Pegasus - missing but presumed dead, her own family was for all intents and purposes gone.
Montgomery had disappeared shortly after the meeting had broken up, having received word that his wife and teenage daughters were aboard one of the two tylium refinery ships that had joined the fleet. She'd given him permission to see to their quartering on the Galactica and allotted the now unused VIP quarters to house them. She did not begrudge any of her officers and crew the solace of finding their loved ones, even though that solace had been denied her. She simply locked her crushing grief away behind her stoic facade and pressed forward. She had a mission and that would have to be enough for now.
"If I recall correctly, you Commanded the Battlestar Rikon ten yahrens ago."
"Yes, but I… retired from active service after she was destroyed at Proxima… my wife had been killed and I hadn't taken it well," Jim replied carefully. "I spent the last five years working for the Colonial Fleet Museum restoring the Celestra, an old fleet tender. I was at the Picon Fleet Shipyards where the final fitting out was being done. We managed to get most of the civilian dry-dock workers from our section out before we were forced to withdraw."
"Is your ship fully operational?" Gates inquired.
"Yes, Commander," Jim noted with no small amount of pride in his restoration crew, many of whom had never seen combat. "Our restoration was given priority after the peace negotiations were announced. Celestra was slated to take part in a flyby to celebrate the… armistice. Spaceport personnel had found us some old sixth millennium fighters and restored them for us, but we pushed them out into the spaceport… to make room for refugees. Celestra's sensor suite is state of the art. Her point defense system is fully functional and her landing bay is empty, but also operational."
"Every available ship capable of fleet defense is needed, as are experienced personnel" Gates stated formally. "To that end, under my authority as acting President of the Council of Twelve, consider your commission reinstated, Commander, effective immediately."
She handed Jim a small black box. When he opened it, a set of Commander's collar pins was inside.
"Though we had to cannibalize the more heavily damaged vipers for parts, we retrieved more fighters from the Cylon attack than Galactica can launch effectively," Gates continued. "Your orders, Commander are to transfer your refugees to the Rising Star and get your landing bay in order for flight ops. Celestra will take possession of a flight of five vipers and serve as the fleet's rear guard. I will leave it up to you to set a patrol schedule once you are on station."
"Yes Madam President," he replied, straightening to his full height to salute her.
Kate practically beamed, but Jim looked down at the rank insignia he hadn't worn since after they'd buried Johanna's empty coffin, unsure of how he felt about wearing them and his blue uniform again.
Blue Squadron Barracks
A short time later
Kate Becket had just stepped out of the showers wrapped in a towel, a clean uniform spread out on her bunk so she could join her father for dinner before he returned to the Celestra for what was likely going to be a very demanding work schedule.
She'd dimmed the lights, not wanting to spend too much time looking around at all of the empty bunks, many of whose occupants would not be returning. The wardroom would be abuzz with activity soon enough when the pilots they'd inherited from Columbia and Valkyrie were routed to fill the empty bunks in the morning.
"Anyone here?" a voice called out, just after she dropped the towel.
"Castle!" she hissed after yanking open a closet door to cover her modesty.
Castle turned at the sound of his name, then covered his eyes and turned his back to her as if burned.
"Sorry," he apologized, his voice sounding much more melancholy than Kate was used to. "I've been looking for you since the meeting. I wanted to apologize for how I treated you the other day. It's just - I was in command out there... saw so many of our people, most of them barely out of the academy... kids really… just... burned up. They were all depending on me and I feel like… I feel like I failed them. I... I guess what I wanted to say was... of all the people I could have taken that out on... I wish it hadn't been you. I'm sorry."
"Looking back on it," Kate replied, wishing she wasn't having this conversation covered only by a closet door so she could look him in the eye, "I can see where you were coming from, I think we all had a lot to be upset about."
"I'm sorry about Zac, too," Castle offered. "He was a good kid, I wish I could have known him better. I'm... glad that your dad made it out though."
"Castle," Kate replied, "you don't have to say anything."
"I know," Rick offered solemnly, "but, this ship... you... the others who made it, you're all I have left… now."
"For what it's worth, Castle," Kate added, "your family... sorry doesn't seem like enough. If we'd gotten to Caprica sooner..."
"If you'd gotten there sooner," Castle interrupted, his voice sounding even more somber, "we'd probably all be dead, Kate. It's not your fault."
Before Kate could come up with anything to say to Castle's slumped shoulders, he had left the room.
Two days later
On approach to Freighter Gemini
The fleet that had fled the colonies of Kobol were a hodgepodge of ships, their capacity to hold more than a few people the sole criteria for their selection under conditions that had been less than ideal. Some were nearly state of the art, others had seen better days and some had been destined for the scrapyard. Freighters, tankers, aging transport ships of nearly every description, even a bulk freighter bearing the legend "Colonial Movers" on its bow and the advertising slogan "We move anywhere" on the container pods retrofitted to her stern.
What all of these vessels had in common, was that they had left the colonies in a hurry many under fire. All would need to be inspected for damage or long term stability. Those that could not be kept serviceable would have to be depopulated, stripped for parts and jettisoned where the Cylons could never find them. A task for which the civilian dockworkers recovered by the Celestra were uniquely suited.
Those warriors who could be spared from the constant patrols searching for Cylon pursuit had been sent to perform more minor inspections, partially to show the flag while they took an accurate headcount of the refugees of humanity who hailed from nearly every segment of colonial society.
"Freighter Gemini, this is Galactica Shuttle Alpha," Castle stated from the pilot's seat of a shuttle on one such mission, "approaching for damage and supply survey. Prepare to receive."
He expertly maneuvered the shuttle in line with the small freighter's equally small landing bay and brought it in for a smart landing. There was little of his usual flair in his flying, however simply performing the task by rote, as if on autopilot and even less small talk on the short trip from the Galactica to the Gemini.
Neither Ryan nor Esposito could figure out a way to get him talking about more than their immediate assignment. Nothing they could think of sounded like the right way to help the man who had become their friend move forward since the Colonies had been lost. Nor did he seem particularly talkative when they began their survey of the ship and its stores, which had been minimal.
"Look at it this way, Espo," Ryan offered when his partner had complained about the assignment, "this isn't the worst duty in the fleet, shaking hands, asking people a lot of questions. I hear they're sending some poor bastards from Beta Section crawling around the outside of some of these old hulks looking for solium leaks."
"Hmm," Espo replied, "I wonder how Beckett managed to miss us for that detail."
The last person they had expected to run into on the aging cargo transport barge had been Captain Beckett, intently studying the readout on the tablet she carried and the earpiece of her headset.
"Excuse me," Castle offered, he had done a pretty good job of avoiding her since their rather awkward conversation in the squad bay. Though the awkward nature of it had barely registered in his mind. As selfish as it was, he simply couldn't bear to witness joyful family reunions when his own was likely burned to cinders. He didn't begrudge her joy at finding her father alive and well, nor did he wish to intrude upon it, so he'd stayed away. But they worked together, so he'd known it couldn't last forever.
"Shh," came her only reply, stretching her hand behind her with a finger up to forestall further comment, so intent was she on her work.
"I thought this ship was on our duty roster," Castle pointed out. "Would you mind telling me what you're looking for?"
"Solium leaks," Kate replied without looking up.
"Bye!" both Ryan and Esposito sang out in unison before turning for the door.
"Halt!" Kate commanded, stopping both of them in their tracks before they could flee.
"Beckett," Ryan complained, then tried again when her body language didn't soften. "Captain, that stuff is dangerous. I mean most of these older ships shouldn't even be flying. This one alone was headed for the scrapyard according to her logs."
"There really wasn't much choice, was there?" Kate noted harshly, pinning each of them with a glare that made them shrink back in turn when it was leveled on them. "How many people did we have to leave behind due to lack of ships? Unless the two of you are willing to volunteer for permanent assignment on this wreck, you two will help assess each and every ship in the fleet for damage… or I just might be tempted to loan you two out to Beta Section."
Strangely, Castle had remained silent during this entire exchange. The Castle they'd known less than a week before would have complained just as loudly about their assignment (if not more so), something all three of them – especially Beckett – were keenly aware of.
"Come on," Kate muttered before opening the hatch into the next compartment the first containing refugees, "let's get to work… oh.."
Kate was stopped in her tracks by the mass of humanity crowding the cargo bay. She'd been so intent on her work she hadn't left the engineering deck. Her train of thought stopped dead by the sheer misery permeating the space.
"Kate," Castle whispered, forgetting military convention, moved at the sight of the wall of misery.
"Yeah, I see it," Kate replied, equally appalled at the living conditions of the refugees.
"Please," a woman cried out to her, "we need food!"
"Everything will be taken care of," Kate replied, taking the woman's hands in hers, her face awash with sympathy. "Please… be patient."
"What about water?" another refugee called out. "We haven't had any water in nearly two days!"
"We will do everything we can," Kate promised.
"We haven't heard from anyone in days," another refugee cried out, "are we going to be left behind?"
"No," Kate replied, "I promise you, no one is being abandoned."
"It's a sin to starve us," another refugee chimed in, "while the wealthy lounge in luxury in their private sanctuaries."
"Nobody is living in luxury," Kate replied, "that I can promise you."
"You're lying," the man replied, "I saw it with my own eyes aboard the Rising Star. Before I was sent here with these refugees for speaking out about it."
Kate snapped her head to Ryan, who tapped the earpiece on his headset and began muttering quietly into it, though he didn't seem to like the reply he'd gotten in return.
"Core control is aware of the problem," Ryan offered.
"Then I can tell these people that food and water is on the way?" Kate asked hopefully.
"They are… aware of the problem,." Ryan offered with a shrug, but no further information seemed to be forthcoming.
"What are you saying?" the man interrupted "There's something you're not telling us!"
"Relief is on the way," Kate promised. "You have my word as a colonial warrior that I will get to the bottom of this."
Castle kept walking, his eyes drawn to one hungry, bedraggled soul after another, losing himself deeper and deeper into the refugees' suffering and misery until Kate - who was equally moved - gently took his arm and they returned back the way they came.
"I can't blame them for resenting us, they lost everything," Castle muttered softly after they returned to the shuttle and he set about the pre-flight checklist. "They have to blame somebody."
"I'm gonna get to the bottom of what's going on," Kate replied angrily, determination settling like a ramrod into her spine as she keyed her headset to the shuttle's comm system. "Core command, this is Captain Beckett aboard shuttle alpha, requesting status of food and water dispersal."
"Core command to shuttle alpha," Tory replied almost immediately, "No information is available at this time."
"What do you mean, no information available?" Kate snapped back "I just left a ship filled with starving people. What's going on?"
Back on the Galactica, Montgomery was standing directly over Tory's shoulder. She looked up at him questioningly, but he offered nothing but a light tap to her shoulder and a flick of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Shuttle Alpha," Tory replied, keeping her voice carefully neutral, "Core command has no information available at this time."
No sooner had Tory closed the channel, Montgomery walked away from Tory's station to pick up a handset and keyed in his authorization code.
"Commander," he muttered sotto voce, "this is Montgomery. It's starting."
Back on the shuttle, Kate was clearly not happy about the lack of information she'd received.
"Something's wrong," she muttered, then turned to Ryan. "What did they tell you when you called in about the food shortage problem?"
"Same thing they told you," Ryan replied with a shrug. "A vague acknowledgment of the problem but no further information was available."
"I have a really bad feeling about this," Kate replied to no one in particular.
"Core command, this is shuttle Alpha," Kate stated onto the comms. "Changing course to rendezvous with Passenger Liner Rising Star."
"Captain," Castle asked as he initiated the launch sequence, "what are you up to, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm going to find out what's at the bottom of this conspiracy of silence," Kate stated without further explanation. Set a course to intercept the Rising Star."
"Passenger Liner Rising Star, this is shuttle Alpha on Fleet damage and supply survey. Prepare to receive." Castle offered into the comms as his only reply.
**Author's note** Though this was more of a filler chapter than anything I wanted to get something up before Halloween. I'm gonns try to rush something into being before end of day tomorrow, but no promises.
