Author's Notes: Many thanks to gymmom for providing a response on the critical question posted in the previous chapter. I would love to have any other thoughts on the matter; please see the question in the Author's Notes at the beginning of Chapter 8: Lingering Legacies. Also, like the previous chapter, this one briefly touches on an adult theme in what is believed to be a teenager-friendly way. Just in case there might be more sensitive readers following the story, reader discretion is advised. As always, thanks for reading!
Chapter 9: Capricious Calm
Reese had finished up at the arson fire crime scene and returned to the Fleet Security "office," a large tent with a few chairs at the front, a number of tables, and a few crates. There were even a few cots in the back, with two currently occupied by sleeping children in the care of officers whose duty shift would be ending shortly. While sleeping children in the security office wouldn't normally be permitted, the situation on the planet was very relaxed due to the generally low crime rate that was expected on the planet, ever changing shift staffing needs, and the desire to keep families together to the extent possible to enjoy the planetary experience. Finally, there were a couple of connected interview "rooms," and another tent containing a temporary holding cell.
Since Reese was in charge of Second Watch, he checked in with the desk officer, a young man named Whitcher who'd broken his leg a couple of cycles earlier. Officer Whitcher had ended up with a simple fracture when he stepped in a small animal burrow a short distance outside of town while exploring with his young nephew, one of the two kids sleeping on the cots. Whitcher had no emergencies to report, so Reese took a seat at the Watch Commander's desk, which was really a pair of tables placed in the shape of an 'L', and logged into the computer terminal on the desk. Scanning the New Hope precinct log, he saw a couple of fights that appeared to involve a combination of alcohol and attempts to attract members of the opposite sex, and a couple of cases of reportedly stolen bags that he suspected, based on recent experiences, might have just been placed in the wrong tents. Hopefully, they would turn up the next day like the earlier bags. Scanning on down, there was nothing of any real interest until he noticed the last item on the log: an unnamed Warrior had reportedly beaten up an unidentified civilian. An off-duty officer had stepped into the grill for a drink a few centons after the event and had been told about it by one of the patrons at the bar, but the man didn't know the names of either of the parties involved and felt that the civilian had done something to the Warrior's date. Thinking of the location with respect to where they'd spoken, he briefly wondered if Starbuck might have been involved. He smiled at the thought, but quickly dismissed it as he started logging his arson case.
He'd found one witness who saw the arsonist apparently spraying something toward the tent and then setting it ablaze, but he couldn't provide a real description beyond male, medium height, and possibly stocky but not too heavyset. Reese wasn't sure how helpful that would be since it described any number of the current inhabitants of New Hope. However, the witness had also confirmed what Reese saw only moments later, that the fire had spread quickly in a certain pattern that approximated a spray area, and then seemed to have a hard time spreading beyond that point. The witness said he'd seen the perpetrator run away in the direction where Reese had found the empty bottle of accellerant. Reese hoped that the Fleet Security Lab aboard the Galactica would be able get fingerprints and identify the prankster. Granted, that he was a prankster was an assumption since the tent was unoccupied for that night, but setting fire to an empty tent didn't seem to make sense otherwise. Two adjacent tents had minor fire damage, but both could be repaired tomorrow using unburned portions of the destroyed tent. As there was no other property damage, Reese considered dumping the bottle into recycling rather than doing the paperwork and ordering the labwork all the way on the Galactica, but he ended up following through just in case the arsonist struck again.
"Hey, Lieutenant," called Whitcher, "we just got a comm call from Officer Voleron. He said he's received reports from two people on the northwest side of town that they saw a large animal on the edge of town. Voleron said that it sounds like one of those shaggy horned bovinoid creatures that we've been harvesting for those yummy beaststeaks."
Reese frowned and asked, "Are they sure that's what the creature is, and if so, can't they just run the stupid creature out of town?"
Whitcher, started to reply but was interrupted by a sleepy-looking little boy of nine or ten yahrens who was standing next to him in oversized, hand-me-down pajamas holding a cup of water from the nearby cooler. The boy said, yawning, "Uncle Whitcher, we studied about the shaggy bovinoids in school a couple of cycles ago. They're herd animals, like great big herds, with lots 'n lots of 'em. Teacher said they live on the higher plains where it's cooler and drier than here, but our science guys don't know for sure if they don't have migranes. If there's a shaggy bovinoid here, I betcha there's a bunch of 'em that have found us and they're going to stampede through town."
"Well, maybe, Wheran, and I think you may mean that they migrate instead of having headaches," replied Whitcher to his young nephew, his ward, who'd come down to the planet for a couple of sectons to spend time with his uncle shortly before Whitcher's accident forced some changes in their plans. Wheran was a troubled child following the loss both of his parents to the Cylons, so Whitcher did his best to care for the boy. "But it could just be one that got separated from the herd. Shaggy horned bovines on our homeworlds did that sometime, particularly when they were old or sick, and the bovinoids from here appear to be pretty similar."
Young Wheran nodded, "Yep, I'll bet that's it! It's sick! It's probably got some type of disease that's driving it crazy and it'll try to trample everybody!"
Whitcher was nodding and agreeing with the boy that it just might possibly be the case as he sent the boy back to the cot while Reese controlled his desire to laugh. As he thought about it, though, he realized that the young man might accidentally be partially right. Glancing at his chrono, he saw that his shift would be over in a little over a centar, but he wanted to get this resolved before he went off duty. "Okay, that boy's going to have me thinking of stampeding bovinoids all night, but better safe than sorry." Unlocking one of the crates, he pulled out a Mark 4 plasma rifle and then opened another for a handful of flares which might be useful in diverting the creature or its massive herd away from town. "Whitcher, get all of the on-duty officers not dealing with immediate issues to the outer perimeter and start patrolling it looking for this creature. When the next shift officers arrive, if we haven't already found it, have them join us out on north west side to help, too."
'***
The shuttle landed at the spaceport outside of New Hope, and Warrior Trainee Squad Alpha-Three disembarked at about the same time Reese was organizing the shaggy horned bovinoid hunt at Fleet Security. Jolly placed Ensign Jenena in charge, with orders for them to make their way to New Hope, check in at the main reception tent for their quarters assignments, and then have fun. With his trainee squad officially on leave, he reboarded the shuttle for a trip home to the Galactica.
Picking up their duffels and weapons, the six young people started hiking toward the town using the moon's light to guide their footsteps and the lights of the town in the distance to guide their direction. They were all tired from their long day, but most were looking forward to reaching town and finding a bar and some fun. The one who wasn't was missing a certain young ensign...
'***
Lieutenant Reese had six officers searching near the edge of town in the northwest quadrant of town where the bovinoid-like creature was spotted, and several others in each of the other quadrants. They'd been searching for over 30 centons, and so far, they'd seen no bovinoid creatures, no tracks, and, most imporantly for their boots, no bovinoid patties. Having found nothing along the perimeter, the large searchlight mounted on the back of a land-ram was now splaying outward in search of anything on the plain beyond the temporary town. As the land-ram reached the northern point of its circle and was about to turn back to the south, the light suddenly caught movement in the distance.
"There! Focus there!" said Reese to the spotlight operator on the land-ram. The wide beam suddenly narrowed to a point, which revealed several people facing the town with their hands and arms in front of their faces. A male voice was heard to shout, "Holy felgercarb! That's fracking bright!" so Reese quickly had the beam readjusted to keep from blinding them. Reese jumped on the land-ram, which headed toward the group.
A few moments later as the land-ram came to a stop, Reese saw a group of Warrior trainees, three men and three women, dropping their duffels. He noticed that the group was prepared, with a couple carrying plasma rifles in hand, and others appearing ready to have them out in a moment. Reese called, "Warrior trainees? Welcome to New Hope."
That brought smiles, but wariness remained. Reese continued, "I'm Lieutenant Reese, Fleet Security. Are you guys coming from the spaceport?" On seeing nods, he continued, "We had a report of what's believed to be a shaggy horned bovinoid-like creature out here, but we don't have enough searchers and haven't had any luck finding it so far. Did you see anything on your way here?"
One of the young women spoke up, "I'm Ensign Jenena, and this is Warrior Trainee Squad Alpha-Three." She quickly introduced the trainees. "We're coming to New Hope for a couple of cycles of leave, but we didn't see anything on our way here. Where do you think this steak on hoofs is? I think if you can buy us a couple rounds of drinks, we'll help you look for it, right?" she asked, looking to the trainees, most of whom were nodding enthusiastically.
"Deal!" agreed Reese. "Throw your duffel bags here in the back of the land-ram. We'll be able to extend our line and continue our sweep to the east for a little way, and then reverse and do a better sweep back to the southwest. Keep your weapons at ready in case we come across it and it charges, but the goal is to drive it out of town to keep from hurting anyone rather than killing it since we don't have butchering facilities here in town."
As the group joined the line and started moving forward, Mooks, the relatively heavyset young man, replied, "Sir, we've been eating yucky prepack meals in the mountains for over a secton. If we have to kill it, I think we'd eat it raw at this point, so butchering it really won't be a problem!"
'***
It was a little after midnight local time when a bright light from toward town briefly lit up their location and kept going. Cassiopeia was dozing lightly, snuggled up against Starbuck, who was looking up at the heavens admiring the myriad of stars. As far as he was concerned, he was already in heaven with Cassie in his arms. Seeing the spotlight, he nudged her gently and they quickly dressed, staying low to the ground, before the spotlight swept back across them.
"Do they do this every night?" asked Starbuck with a chuckle, "or is is a special occasion just for us?"
Cassie didn't know, so with the light still some distance away, Starbuck helped her up and they started walking back toward town. Soon, the light crossed them again, and this time it stayed for a moment before being diverted, for the most part, from their eyes.
"Well, I'll be! It's Starbuck...again!" said Reese's voice as Starbuck groaned. "I thought Colonial Warriors were supposed to have a pretty good sense of direction, but you two must have gotten really lost to end up out here." Seeing Cassie's wrinkled dress, despite her best efforts, he chuckled knowingly.
"Can it, Reese. What's happening? You're not looking for us."
"No, Starbuck. We have a report of what may be a shaggy horned bovinoid creature, so we're trying to find it so it doesn't get into town and hurt someone. Want to help? We've already got some of your Blue Squadron trainees helping. Maybe you can show them how it's done." He pointed toward Ensign Jenena and her trainees.
"Hi, Lieutenant," called Jenena, smiling, and the others who were just coming up.
Starbuck waved to the group and then shook his head, "Not now, Reese, I'm not leaving Cassie out here by herself to go chasing overgrown beaststeaks. I'll get her back to town safely, and then come back and help."
Reese pointed to a pair of approaching headlights and said, "No need, Starbuck. We've got a backup land-ram on the way bringing a few more Security officers. Since he can't join us on foot right now, I'll have Officer Whitcher drive her back to town. He's going off duty to take his nephew home, so he won't be staying."
Cassie agreed before Starbuck could object, and then whispered for him to be careful before kissing him goodbye. As soon as the blackshirts climbed from the land-ram, Starbuck helped her up into the seat beside Whitcher. With a final kiss played to several whistles, they were off. Watching them go, Starbuck whispered to himself, "I'm one lucky guy!" Unfortunately, it must have been a little louder than he intended because Reese and several of the others quickly agreed!
'***
A short time later, Cassie thanked Officer Whitcher for the ride, and she entered the Life Station tent. There was no one inside so the alarm chime was set up on the front counter where it could be used to attract staff attention if any emergencies came in overnight. Cassie made her way to her connected tent in the back to wait for Starbuck.
It was about ninety centons later when he finally arrived. They'd done another sweep and found no sign of any bovinoids or anything else, so Lieutenant Reese had finally cancelled the search. He sent the rest of the blackshirts on their various ways and took the young Warrior trainees to the late-night bar on the south side of town to buy them a couple of rounds of drinks as promised. Reese had thanked Starbuck, but didn't offer him a ride, so Starbuck found his way back to the Life Station complex on his own. On entering, he saw the "Ring Chime in the Event of Emergency" sign on the counter, and made his way to the rear. Nearing the back, he called, "Cassie?" at slightly more than a whisper, and she opened a flap at a connecting tent a moment later.
"Starbuck!" she exclaimed at a whisper as she waved for him to come. She pulled the flap up in front of her as he entered, and then whispered as he turned toward her, "I got into something more comfortable. Do you like?"
His eyes and his smile widened as he saw what she really wasn't wearing, and then he took her into his arms again.
'***
It was a short time later and both lovers were drifting off into a very contented sleep when a loud chime sounded from the front of the Life Station complex. Cassie immediately sat up, clutching the light sheet to her chest while stifling a yawn. Starbuck, also awakened and a now a bit more rested, lightly ran a finger down her spine, and was starting his way back up again when she patted his hand to stop. He followed with light kisses, which drew a whispered but giggled, "Starbuck! Stop it!" Hearing something out front and the chime stop, she breathed a sigh of relief and then rolled back toward her lover, pressing her breasts and her lips against him as he started to draw her tight. They'd barely made contact though, when, from the front of the Life Station complex, a piercing scream interrupted the night!
'***