CHAPTER 7

Makaria Sector-36 light-years from Sol system

Designate: Colonial Star Station-CSS Makaria

Size: Six miles

Compliments- Seven Battlestar fleets-five battlestars per fleet

Purpose-repurpose: Protect Colonial assets, protect security of planets Pontu-Nika, New Picon and Makaria Prime

"I look worse than I thought," Rear Admiral Karris Mettlar said to herself as she looked at the reflection in the mirror. Her hair was definitely grey in areas where it used to be a beautiful brown. The bags under her eyes were expanding much to her chagrin and although he kept her body in good shape, constant exercising to maintain her fitness, certain area were sagging where they hadn't sagged before. "I'm getting old now," she whispered. The latest challenges of the job was stressing her out. Of course she knew I would eventually, not she never expected it to happen so quickly.

The station's primary mission was all but abandoned and in its place was a mission that was of much greater importance. Makaria was envisioned as the tip of the spear, a vanguard directed against Apellai aggression. She was primarily a station built for war, an easily winnable one or so the experts had thought an eternity ago. It was built to support Colonial forces that would eventually quell the rebellious Thirteenth Colony that so recklessly protected the Cylon remnant without knowing what they were truly doing.

That didn't work out as planned, she thought ruefully. Then someone came up with the bright idea that Makaria would form the bedrock of a new long-term plan to surround and eventually smother Earth with sheer numbers by colonizing the surrounding worlds near the Apellai (she liked that name better than Terran even though it was politically incorrect these days). It might have even worked in seventy or eighty years, if the Apellai didn't wise up sooner and have the strength to do something about that bomb the Colonies into the Stone Age.

Gods, what an embarrassment…

That plan had so many holes in it that it wasn't even funny. Whoever thought of that grand plan must have been sniffing ambrosia up their collective noses. Plus, who thought of using those lizard aliens as foot soldiers to attack and pacify the wild Thirteeners? Wild Apellai, ignorant Thirteeners, country primitives, with no real clues about the galaxy and the truth about their real origins; that's what everyone thought about them. Lonely souls in search of family, protecting the machines that plotted to kill them all.

"How foolish we were," she mused. There were so many things that hadn't been taken account of. The first and most glaring mistake was vastly and continually underestimating the Tau'ri military power and technology. The Earthers kept coming up with new and impossible things to confound the Colonial military. The next nightmare scenario to slap the Colonials in the face as that Earth wasn't alone, having allies that were as advanced if not more so than it was. And, what they knew about the galaxy compared to her own people made the Colonials look like infants trying to lift their heads high enough to peer over the rails of the baby bed to sneak a peek of the world around them.

Then there was the arrogant assumption that Earth didn't know about the Race, preferring to leave them alone instead of conquering them. And before that was the revelation of alien life in the first place. Three type of lizard aliens living with thirty light years of Earth, and the Apellai had left the alone not feeling threatened by their presence. If she were honest, the thought of alien life so close to the Colonies would have frightened her to no end. Who knows what they might have done and how bad a war might have been? It might have been worse than the Cylon war if they were advanced enough. But, as her people had discovered, the galaxy made the empire of the Race look petty in comparison.

For example, there were the Tollanians, the Apellai wildcard colony accountable to no one but respecting the Earthers although they were somewhat more advanced. And they weren't the only ones out there showing some type of love fest with Earth. All previous plans for Earth had to be scrapped. Now the station was repurposed once again. Now she was the vanguard of the new worlds the Colonials were in possession of. The planet Makaria Prime where Makaria orbited would remain a military based installation for the foreseeable future. It was a beautiful world and ripe for future colonization; however, the planets Pontu-Nika and New Picon were the targets of the new colonization by the Colonies of Kobol. And, coming they were. All three worlds were as rich as or richer than Caprica or Picon. The native life was compatible with humanity and it was almost as though the planets been kobolformed just for humanity's comfort. However, getting here from the Colonies was a long and dangerous trek. Obviously there was money to be made in bulk travel these days and more than a few ships being built were rejected by government inspectors who had their work cut out for them. Even so, a few uncertified transports slipped through the cracks and a two ships filled with civilians coming to the new worlds suffered catastrophic implosions due to metal fatigue and shoddy workmanship. That was the reason why her precious medical transports and their escorts were not in the sector.

Medical ships with military escorts were cruising the space routes waiting to offer assistance as needed. Not only pirates but there were suspicions of increasingly desperate bands of the Lucian Alliance attacking convoys. The Apellai and Tollanian forces hurt them badly almost three years earlier and between the Goa'uld and the Apellai forces they were in desperate straits. The various factions of the Alliance feared their old slave masters the Goa'uld (who were, thank the gods, far away) and they hated Earth for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the Terrans acted like some type of self-proclaimed police force. The Lucians would never ask for help from the Terrans and the Rear Admiral worried about them finding the Colonies. Their attitudes and ships would create an explosion of piracy all around Colonial territory. So it was very likely that the Alliance was prowling around Makaria sector planning to take an unwary convoy moving across the travel routes if they could. This probability forced her to split three of her seven battlestar groups to order them on long-distance patrols in order to protect her space lane legs of the journey. The others were guarding the new worlds. And that would have left her effectively shorthanded if it wasn't for Petre's battlestar squadrons left from the Race debacle. More battlestar squadrons were coming but they weren't there yet. And if Earth didn't like it, they could choke on it, she ruefully thought. If nothing else the Colonial military protected their own.

The survivors of Admiral Westergyne's fleet after tangling with the Tollanians remained in Makaria sector. Their continued presence in the sector was actually a form of punishment instituted and pushed through by hardliners of the Quorum of their failure to acquire the worlds of the Race and for showing weakness in when faced with the Tollanian aggression. There were many hardliners who wanted his head as he shouldered the blame in what was considered yet another embarrassing encounter with the Apellai. So his career was ruined with him being relegated to this post near the Apellai. It wasn't his fault and President Goesel knew it. Westergyne could have only gotten the men and women under his command, slaughtered by the Tollanians. Goesel kept him from losing his command but his political rivals were screaming at the time and someone had to shoulder the blame. Goesel, now seasoned, did keep him from losing his command and kept him out of sight in Makaria sector.

Personally, Mettlar was glad he was here. His professionalism, knowledge and his help was invaluable and served to help keep a lid on things politically. A case in point was the latest potential disaster laying right on her doorstep. Terran United Flight 107 had just received permission to leave Makaria station. What the Colonials wasn't aware of was that Terran craft and several of their allies were permitted on Makaria on an increasing numbers. Terran civilian craft were allowed to travel to station just as civilian Colonial and courier ships were allowed to travel to the Apellai or Terran system–with permission as a small but vital way of improving the lines of communication between the two nations. Flight 107 had permission to enter Colonial space long ago but that permission didn't resolve a continuing issue that threated to start destroying everything both sides had worked for.

Iblison.

Someone was going to have to do something about that man. He was a menace and a dangerous one at that because he had power. Some very powerful political forces convinced the current Colonial President to allow Iblison to ascend to Govern-General of New Picon. As a High Priest, one of the Twelve, he was wildly popular and widely accepted. However, the honeymoon lasted only about three months. Soon the complaints began and Mettlar had to order Westergyne to act as an intermediary between Military Command and Iblison. The Priest had far too much influence among several battlestar commanders, one of which earlier locked onto the civilian liner. Flight 107 had stopped as per standard traffic control commands. That's when the battlestar Synara closed to weapon's range and locked on to the liner with the Vice President still onboard.

Mettlar was absolutely furious the moment she found out. The Synara claimed that it detected a radiation spike onboard the ship and DRADIS interpreted the spike as an active nuclear weapon preparing to launch. Never mind that no one else had detected any such nuclear activity, the commander was about to fire on the liner without warning with intent to destroy. The repaired Galactica and two other battlestars literally locked onto the renegade Colonial battlestar and threatened to blow it to hades and back if they didn't immediately stand down. The Synara's commander quickly backed down insisting that DRADIS was faulty, that the malfunctioning system had burned out, and obviously given him bad data. However, he insisted that he had acted according to rules of engagement against ships exhibiting hostile intentions which he interpreted as an imminent attack on the station.

Never mind that he almost killed the Vice-President, his staff and the rest of the mostly Colonial passengers and might have started a war. The admiral was going to have his head. The Terrans never knew how close they were to be blown into perdition, something she would have been forced to explain and she had no idea how they would have responded. The Apellai were humans but they thought differently than Colonials. The incident might have started a war or it might have simply further isolated the two nations from one another. She didn't know and didn't want to find out how they would respond to the destruction of a civilian liner under her protection. But it was more than just a possible conflict with Earth. The incident crystalized a problem that she had only suspected earlier. The military wasn't unified. Iblison had too much influence. The loyalty of several battlestar commanders were questionable and needed to be weeded out.

She strongly suspected the priest trying to precipitate a war or at least trying to destroy any budding relationship between Earth and the Colonies for some gods-forsaken reason and that meant in order for that to work, she and people loyal to the Colonies had to be rendered ineffective and his own people put in place. She wasn't going anywhere and she had enough clout to keep her position. But now she was forced to tread carefully to keep from being stabbed in the back by her own people.

She was thankful that Flight 107 was safely on its way without incident, the Vice-President was still alive and a certain commander and his command staff were about to be skinned alive when she finished with them. A straight court martial was only the beginning of their grief. On crisis averted another to keep from blowing up.

It was a five minute walk from her quarters to the command center of Makaria. But she only made it halfway before she ran into Admiral Westergyne.

"Admiral," Petre greeted. "You look like death warmed over. Are you sure you want to keep this job for another two years?"

"Admiral," she replied briskly. "Thank you the comment," she added dryly. "And yes, just as I said yesterday, I'll keep the job unless you want it."

"Not a chance. Give me a ship to command any day," he mused as they began walking together towards the Command Center. For the first couple of minutes, the couple walked in comfortable silence.

"Governor Iblison tried again to get you removed from your post," Mettlar said. "He claims you're unreliable and a possible treat to the security of the new colonies."

Westergyne's face tightened. "It's a hobby of his these days," he hissed. "I don't answer to him and I won't let one of his cronies take over my position."

"Glad to hear it but that's not the point, or his objective," she said. "It's me he ultimately wants removed. You support of me means that he needs to have you removed as well. As you know I've been blocking him from whatever objective he's pursuing. Are you aware of the Terran flight incident?"

"Yes. I hope you burn that commander."

"Don't worry about that," she answered viciously. But as soon as the Vice-President arrived, he hand delivered me a sealed top priority letter before going back to his transport. He's back on Flight 107 continuing to Earth. I read the letter and the Terran liner had some difficulties with Colonial authorities." Westergyne shook his head viciously as she nodded knowing. "Yes, there was an unauthorized Quorum attempt no less to 'inspect' the Terran star liner as soon as it landed on Picon. It was an overt and clumsy attempt to acquire information and technological data on that ship. The perpetrators were caught before they could get to the ship, but it was very well organized and could have led to an incident of disastrous proportions. This was funded by the Doassan-Striken Space Corporation. Everyone involved has been or is being apprehended. But that company is a subsidiary of Morning Star Enterprises."

"Which everyone knows is owned by the Iblison family," he finished. "This latest incident is not a coincidence. They're behind these acts and we need to prove it on our end before we can do anything about it. I'll look into it on my end," he promised. "But you have to maintain your discretion."

She glared at him. "Our feelings concerning each another are well known by everybody. We hate each other."

"Yes, I understand, but..."

"There are no buts, Admiral. The man almost got everyone killed by opening his mouth," she growled referring to the near catastrophe the day he arrived at the station. Because of him, Earth came close to wiping the station from existence because of his provocative actions." That incident happened over two years ago and she was still livid. "I've done everything I could to improve relations with Earth and as you know, they've reciprocated. Hope station is still in business and both sides protect it like our lives depend on it. That's where I get my Terran coffee from," she mumbled. "Costs me an arm and a leg but it is worth it compared to that freeze dried crap they send from home. Its two parts Kona and one part Colombia blend and if anyone, especially him, screws up my supply source by trying to start an incident or gods forbid a war, I will personally space him before I die."

"I don't think…" Petre began.

"Yes, I would in a heartbeat. He may not be on the Colonies physically but you know his hands are all over this. But why would he want to kill the Vice-President and ruin the positive relationships we've developed with the Apellai?"

"Another one of a thousand questions. But he may not want the VP speaking to the Terrans." His eyes glazed for a moment. "Where's Quorum Leader Minas now?"

"He went directly to another one of our problems."

"The talks," surmised Westergyne.

"Yes, to the talks. He didn't even wait to get his bags stowed away. "Having the Race meet here was difficult enough with that–that priest trying to force the talks to happen on New Picon where he could keep a close eye on it. But I stopped that of course," she smirked as they reached the Command and Control.

The first thing the both saw was a flash of the royal blue robes of the very person they were discussing.

"Admirals on deck!"

"Well, if it isn't the devil in blue dress," Rear Admiral Karris Mettlar said sweetly, then her attitude became a frozen mask. "You're a civilian in an unauthorized military center. Get out or I'll have you thrown out."

Iblison smiled right back but as per usual, it never reached his eyes. "I sense a bit of hostility from you Admiral. Are you well?"

"I was until I saw your face in my command center. Last time. Get out. Now."

"As you wish," he said as he slowly headed for the blast door. He stopped but didn't turn around. "But before I go, I wanted to speak to the Quorum Leader before he meets with the lizard animals, or should I say being politically correct, the members of the Race."

"He's already at the meeting."

"Unfortunate, but I'm sure we can talk there."

"You weren't invited to these talks, so your presence is not required."

"I'll see what he has to say about that."

"You won't be allowed in. I will make sure of that."

"That's his decision to make, not yours."

"Not on this station," she countered. "You may have some of my officers licking your toes but, step out of line here and I will have you tossed off of this station," she said loud enough for everyone trying not to listen to hear."

Iblison offered a fake sigh. "I see we won't become friends anytime soon, don't you agree?" he slowly said. Iblison turned towards her and she could see true anger bordering on hatred in his eyes directed at her. "The gods will punish you for you disrespect and insolence their true messenger."

The Rear Admiral dismissed the man, "Tell them to wait a bit until I get fully vested disrespecting you, Lord Priest."

Turning briskly he strolled through the door. "I'm sorry we couldn't come to an agreement. As always I wish you well. Stay heathy, Admiral Mettlar. You too, Admiral," he added before the door shut behind him.

Both admirals looked at on another.

"We're going to have to start wearing side-arms."

"And you mean you don't?" she whispered back in absolute seriousness. "I can't trust some of my own people." She eyed her counterpart knowingly. "Lieutenant, keep an eye on the Governor-General. Lieutenant, if he goes anywhere near the conference, I want him escorted off of this station immediately."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"One problem solved for now," she all but snarled. "On the next one. What's the status of our visitor?"

"Hasn't moved, Admiral. It's being a perfect guest."

At the moment the alien warship was being a model of diplomacy. "Good." She hadn't expected them to try anything rash.

"Have you identified it yet, Westergyne asked. "It's definitely based on the Plades class escort cruiser."

"We've identified it," she answered. "It is a Plades, or half of one; either the Icaron or Zisce. Both were lost in the battle at Earth, cut in half by those beam weapons before they could get out. They rebuilt a least one of them and added a few refinements."

"Plus the back half has been redesigned, I see," Westergyne added. "It's no secret that Earth gave their Lagaran tribe some of the ships. Some of their other tribes probably received some of the salvage, too." He smiled viciously. "Want to ask for it back?"

Ruefully, she returned her friend's smile. "Not at this time. It's theirs now. Besides, the Lagaran tribe has opened tentative talks and aren't overtly hostile towards us. The history between us isn't that bad. Plus, the ship is a diplomatic transport for the Race."

Westergyne nodded his agreement. "We need all of the friends we can get around here." Unspoken was the fact that if any attempt was made to reacquire the former Colonial vessel, doubtless, they'd put up a fight. The ship had shields and some type of rapid firing twin cannon swivel mounts which would no doubt ruin some battlestar's day if those weapons were anything like the Earther ones. And Earth support was literally minutes away if needed. So the order of the day was 'leave the Lagaran tribe's ship alone'. "Doesn't mean we can't scan it."

"ECM field," she smirked. "Quite impenetrable without us going fully active."

"Well…" he turned from looking at the screen. "Well open communications. Time to play nice. Let's see if they have some chocolate or something stronger to trade while they're here."

(updated 9/12/2016)