Disclaimer: BSG belongs to Glen Larson and the corporations respectively. Sorry I am uncertain who owns which rights at this time unfortunately it is not me. No infringement is intended and this is just a fan fiction for the author amusement and to hopefully entertain others.
Chapter 8: Act of Sabotage?
Battlestar Orpheus – Flag Officers Quarters.
The old wooden desk was covered in paperwork as Admiral Kronus, Commander Benedict, Commander Fredericks and Major Haines discussed the re-organisation of the fleet as the resupply operation continued uninterrupted. With eight more ships that would need to be converted from their original purpose to something more useful, the logistics were a nightmare to arrange. Already, half the ships in the fleet had been refuelled and the first of the tankers was being escorted to the surface to take on more tylium and the first deliveries of vipers were being made.
"Admiral, we have one construction yard available right now so we can use a couple of shuttles to tow one of those Super tankers into the yard and have the yard crew start on the conversion straight away. The Commander of the Aegis reports that the pocket Battlestar in the yard is nearly complete, she can be launched and her completion can be carried out as we go. That then frees up another yard. As for the other ships, we'll just have to get them space ready for now and convert them on the move." Commander Fredericks insisted.
"Very well Commander, we'll go with that plan." Admiral Kronus conceded.
The Admiral slowly got up from his chair and walked across the room to the shelf beside the door and took down a bottle and four glasses. Pouring the amber coloured liquid into the glasses he called back over his shoulder "There are two other matters that I wish to cover today. The first being to re-establish our forces into a coherent military force and the other is our 'guests' down in life station." He picked up the glasses and hand one to each of the men in the room.
"Admiral, I'm not sure what you mean about our forces" Major Haines admitted.
"Major, currently there are two distinct divisions in the fleet militarily. We have the survivors from the Colonial Fleet, such as your Marines and we have the ex-fleet personnel that I employed at Militech. I want to integrate the personnel and assign the ships into Battlestar Groups to give our people the security that the Colonial Fleet has not been completely destroyed. It will certainly increase moral."
"I understand Admiral but..."
A loud explosion cut Major Haines off midsentence and knocking Admiral Kronus off his feet.
"Admiral Kronus please CIC, Admiral Kronus to CIC" came over the ships public address system.
Kronus quickly stood up and stalked across the room to the handset beside his desk.
"This is the Admiral. What's the situation up there?" he asked.
"Sir, we've had an explosion in the auxiliary control room. DC parties report that the room is completely destroyed. Colonel Omega has taken control of the DC teams directly and requests that you meet him on site." Captain Pearce answered. The shock evident in his voice.
Kronus replaced the handset and turned to the Senior Officers in his office "Gentlemen, we'll continue this discussion later."
Battlestar Orpheus – Corridor Outside Auxiliary Control.
The damage control teams had just finished extinguishing the flames and were in the process of rolling up their hoses when Admiral Kronus arrived at the location of the explosion. He looked inside the compartment to assess the damage.
Control panels that once stood proudly in their designated position, were now molten slags of metal on the floor. The walls were clearly scorched and buckled, the paint blistering off the metal surfaces. The glass in the window to the connecting corridor had been blown out by the force of the blast and now lay in a million shattered pieces on the floor.
Colonel Omega was walking around the remains of the room, occasionally stopping to pick up a piece of the debris, examining it before throwing it back amongst the mess accumulated on the deck. Shaking his head, he made his way over towards the hatchway.
"It's a real mess Admiral. The whole place is going to have to be gutted and replaced."
"Any clues as to what happened?" Kronus asked.
Colonel Omega was thoughtful for a moment, before giving a subtle nod of his hid in the direction of the adjoining compartment. The two men entered the room and closed the hatch, so as not to be overheard.
"The explosion was caused by plastic explosives. I found the remains of a G4 detonator near the auxiliary helm controls. Someone clearly wanted to disable the ship. The security cameras in the area have all been disabled as well. Whoever it was, knew what they were doing. Admiral, we have a saboteur on board."
Admiral Kronus let out a sigh, "that probably means we have at least one more cylon in the fleet. We're going to have to be very careful how we handle this. For the moment, have Marines stationed at all critical areas of the ship and advise the other ships to do the same. As for the civilian's, contact Major Haines and have him send some personnel to the civilian ships undercover, we do not want to start any riots."
"What do mean more Cylons? How could one of those chrome toasters hide aboard a Battlestar?"
"Karl, the Cylons have evolved. They now have the ability to appear human. Doctor Cutter has six of them in life station at the moment; so far we have no way of knowing how many different models they have."
Carillon Orbital Hub – Slipway Three.
Master Chief Petty Officer William Lampkin was standing beside the large door for the airlock connecting the Orbital Hub to the Supertanker, moored outside. His usual coveralls were smothered with grease stains and the stubble on his face indicating that he hadn't shaved in at least a day.
"Chief Lampkin, how are things coming along?" Commander Fredericks asked.
William Lampkin was the senior enlisted man on the Battlestar Minotaur and had been set the task of reactivating the Supertankers the fleet had found. "Well, so far Commander, we have managed to get the sublights on two of these buckets going and have moved the first one into Concordia for her refit. You know, I don't think these ships have been used much going on the condition we have found them in, so conversion should be relatively easy."
"How soon do you think it will be before the other ships can be moved?"
The Chief pulled a half smoked cigar out of the breast pocket of his coveralls, chomped down on it "Well if they are all in the same condition as the first two" he paused as he lit the cigar, "I reckon it should only be a couple more hours. But we will need personnel to crew them before they can be moved."
"Well, that's good news; I have Captain Thomas going round the civilian ships rounding up anyone who has any experience flying ships so we should be able to find you some crews soon. Fredericks replied as he screwed up his nose.
"What the matter, sir?" Chief Lampkin asked with a smile. "Don't like anyone smoking?"
"It's not that Chief. I was just wondering which smells worse - all that grease and lube on your coveralls or that damned cigar."
Chief Lampkin roared with laughter at that comment before adding "In that case, I'll be back once I've had a chance to wash up."
"Please do Chief." Fredericks said as the chief made his way down the corridor to the small washroom he had found when he first walked around the station.
Cloud 7 – Patriots Bar
Captain Paul Thomas sat at the bar on the Recreation Ship, nursing a glass of ambrosia. The last four hours had been spent shuttling between ships trying to find enough people to crew the new additions to the growing fleet outside the dome where he now sat. Now that his task had been completed and he was off duty, Captain Thomas had decided to stop off at the bar to relax for a couple of hours before heading home to the Minotaur.
A tall, seductive, blond entered the bar and slowly made her way across the room to the stool beside Captain Thomas. He looked up at the vision of beauty standing beside him, slowly taking in her red flowing, flesh-baring dress which was used to great effect to emphasize her trim figure.
"You look in need of some company, Captain" she addressed him sensuously.
Captain Thomas gestured for her to take a seat on the stool next to him.
The blond beauty slipped onto the seat, crossing her legs seductively. "What has you thinking so hard?"
"I was just wondering how the gods could have allowed something like all this? " he replied.
Signalling the bartender over, she ordered a drink. Taking a small sip from the glass he placed in from of her, she turned her attention back towards her companion and gave him an ambiguous smile.
"Maybe, the Gods have their own plans for humanity. Maybe, they have found another race to be more worthy"
