Chapter 10
The next year held many accomplishments for the new Soviet Space Navy (Sovetskiy kosmicheskiy flot, or just SKF for short) team at Bilyarsk. The MiG31 project became a shadow of what it would have been. Now it was a maskirovka, a deception, to hide the real development work at Bilyarsk. What the MiG31 project would eventually produce was an updated MiG25 interceptor. Starbuck's Viper was both repaired and then partially disassembled. Now, it only had two of its three engines. The Viper sat in an unoccupied corner of the Bilyarsk Air Base's high security hanger. It could still fly and fight, in the extremely unlikely event of a Cylon fighter entering the Solar System, but in a much-reduced capability.
The primary occupant of the hanger was a highly modified Tu-154 airliner. All the passenger windows openings had been covered with more hull material. The structure of the pressurized volume was reinforced for space operations and life support and a more capable communications system were added. The Viper's scanner, top engine, energizer/Tylium reactor, and new Tylium fuel tanks were installed, the engine in the number 2 location. Additionally, Kerosene-liquid oxygen and Hydrazine rocket engines and fuel tanks were installed for reaction control and vertical landing. No special heat shield was needed as re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere was much milder with the ability to control both speed and entry angle completely with the Viper's engine.
The SKF team were well aware of the American's efforts to make a reusable space shuttle. Modifying the Tupolev was the quickest way to make a space capable ship to fly to the moon. It was also a maskirovka. The West would never suspect that it was more than just a typical airliner. They felt it was imperative to quickly find and reopen the moon base that Starbuck had identified on his approach to the Earth. The SKF plan was to base most of their manufacturing and space vehicle development efforts there, away from the prying eyes of the West.
Starbuck continued to meet for meals at the Baranovich's home. Many times Anastasia would return home from the Moscow State Institute of Physics and Technology where she was studying aerospace engineering to visit her family and her new friend. Often times Dr. Maxim Ilich Semelovsky and his wife would join them. The Bilyarsk Synagogue was reopened in a quiet, but joyful celebration.
0
8 September 1980
The converted Tu-154 was a bizarre sight as it descended tail first towards the surface of the Moon after a flight of just a few hours from the Earth. The modified airliner had flown flawlessly, decelerating and breaking in lunar orbit smoothly. Starbuck sat in the pilot's seat monitoring the descent on his instruments and video monitors as he could not directly see the ground the ship was approaching. He brought the ship to a hover a hundred meters above the surface then used the thrusters to pitch the nose forward, toward the ground. Once the ship was at a level attitude he lowered the landing gear and reduced thrust to the landing rockets. A moment later the converted airliner was resting on the lunar surface.
"Nice landing," Lt. Colonel Yuriy Voskov, the mission commander, commented from the co-pilot's seat. "Welcome to Mare Undarum." Starbuck had met his fellow pilot while participating in the base's pilot's exercise program. He had impressed Starbuck with his physical fitness, highly professional conduct, and skills as a pilot. His ability to drink Vodka was also impressive. He had learned that Voskov was a test pilot and was slated to fly the Mig-31 once it was developed. Now, he was Starbuck's copilot in the effort to reach the base the Thirteenth Tribe had left on the moon. Behind the two men the Tupolev was stuffed full of equipment and personnel. The Krechet space suits developed for the Soviet Moon race had been copied for the explorers. Elements of the Lunokhods were also used to develop a lunar tractor and trailer to haul equipment around the lunar surface. All the development work was done locally at Bilyarsk with the KGB providing the needed materials, plans, and (temporary) examples from the Soviet space program storage facilities.
A short while after the landing a large door swung up on the port side of the Tupolev and two booms were extended out the opening. Several suited figures worked at the boom, using it to lower the electric powered tractor to the surface, a lot like how a lifeboat is lowered from a cruise ship. A ladder was then lowered from the opening and several suited figures descended to the surface. Voskov became the first Russian to walk on the surface of the Moon. He climbed aboard the tractor to move it out of the way while the trailer, loaded with equipment, was also lowered.
The men then attached the trailer to the tractor. After a brief flag planting ceremony Starbuck and Voskov and two others boarded the tractor and drove toward the rocky escarpment that made up the outer wall of the Thirteenth Tribes's lunar base. During the approach to the site, Starbuck had made as detailed a scan as he could of the base using the Viper's scanner. A quick review of the readings showed that an access tunnel was located in the cliff before them.
"Bozhe moy!" said Voskov, looking up at the now-dirty, dusty covering over the crater. "The dome is…is it glass?"
"Probably transparent Tylinium," said Starbuck. "More than double the tensile strength of your best steel."
"Bozhe moy!" said Voskov, again, transfixed.
"Well, shall we?" said Starbuck.
Starbuck stopped the tractor a dozen meters from the outer wall of the crater. The outer wall of the roofed over crater that contained the 13th Tribe's moon base varied between a field of boulders that gradually tapered up to the height of several hundred meters or a sheer cliff wall where the geological materials better withstood the ancient meteor impact. They could see from the tractor the small cave like opening in the cliff wall.
The four men dismounted the tractor and began setting up high powered lights near the opening to illuminate the interior of the passage. Video cameras were also set up. Starbuck and Voskov slowly approached the entrance to the passage, aiming smaller portable lights into the opening ahead of them. Looking inside they saw that the ceiling, walls, and floor were metallic. A small layer of dust covered the floor near the opening. Ten meters or so from the opening they could see the far end of the passage.
"Do you think it is safe," Voskov asked.
Starbuck raised a gloved fist and struck the wall nearest to him. "It's safe enough for me, but since we're here, it doesn't really matter," Starbuck replied when nothing obvious happened after the impact. He then stepped into the passage and slowly walked toward the far wall, carefully examining the wall, ceiling, and floor as he went. Voskov followed and likewise closely examined the passage as he went. The two men soon found themselves at the far end of the passage, shining their flashlights all over the wall. They quickly came upon a circular symbol about shoulder height from the floor. Starbuck fingered the symbol, dislodging a minute sprinkle of dust.
"That's the symbol of the Lords of Kobol," Starbuck announced.
"The who?" Voskov asked.
"The Lords of Kobol," Starbuck confirmed. "They were the rulers of the planet Kobol. We found Kobol during our flight from the Colonies after the Holocaust. Kobol was a dying planet. The thirteen tribes evacuated Kobol. Twelve tribes founded the Colonies and the Thirteenth came to Earth."
"Ah, yes," Voskov replied, understanding filling his voice. "From the briefing materials. So, how do we get in?"
"Well, Commander Adama was a member of the Council of the Twelve. When we found the 9th Lord of Kobol's tomb, he used his Council medallion as a key to enter the tomb. Obviously, a descendant of the Lords of Kobol led the 13th Tribe to Earth and established this base."
"Then I'll take lots of pictures," Voskov announced while raising his camera. "Perhaps we can make a duplicate." He then began taking a series of pictures of the symbol on the wall at various angles and exposures. Starbuck pulled a ruler out of one of his pressure suit's pockets and held it up next to the symbol while Voskov continued to take pictures. Voskov lowered his camera when he had shot the entire roll of film.
"That's all we can do for now," Starbuck said. "I recall that there were several traps laid for robbers in the 9th Lord's tomb. I don't want to force this door open without the key."
"Ok," Voskov replied. The two men exited the cave, joined the others, and drove the tractor back to their makeshift shuttle.
0
14 October 1980
A month later Starbuck piloted the Tu-154 shuttle back to the Moon, again landing near the entrance they had earlier found to the 13th Tribe's moon base. During the previous weeks multiple copies of Adama's medallion were created, each of a slightly different size in the hope that one of them would fit the receptacle enough to open the door to the 13th Tribe's moon base. Again Starbuck and Voskov drove the tractor from the Tu-154 shuttle to the entrance of the cave. Again the two other set up the lights. Starbuck and Voskov then made their way to the far wall of the passage, activating the cameras on their helmets. Starbuck reached into a pocket on his suit and produced the medallion reproduction. Unlike Adama's jewel encrusted medallion, Starbuck's was just bare metal.
"Let's see if this one works," Starbuck said as he placed the medallion into the opening and wiggled it around to see how the fit was. Voskov was standing by with a video camera recording the operation. The fit was a little loose, so Starbuck replaced the first medallion and reached for a different pocket holding a slightly larger medallion. He tried the fit again and it was much better.
"Well," Starbuck began, "How about this one." Starbuck then turned the medallion clockwise until it stopped then stepped back. There was no immediate reaction.
"No power perhaps?" ventured Voskov.
"After all this time, maybe," said Starbuck. "Maybe…" Suddenly, there was vibration under their feet, then a moment later a sprinkle of dust fell as the door slid sideways into the wall revealing a blank wall two meters further in. They walked in and found two more medallion receptacles. One near the just opened door and one near the wall opposite the opening they had just walked through.
"So, it still functions. This appears to be an airlock," Voskov announced to the others in the expedition. "We're going to try to penetrate to the interior. We'll try to maintain radio contact. If you lose radio reception from us for more than thirty minutes then you are to return to the Tupolev and continue to wait another thirty minutes. If contact has not been reestablished then you are to return to Bilyarsk. Understood?"
"Yes, Comrade Colonel," one of the two men at the tractor replied. Voskov turned back to examine the airlock with Starbuck. "What do you think?"
"I think this lock should close the outer hatch," Starbuck said while pointing at one of the medallion receptacle nearest the door they had just stepped through.
"And this one should open the inner one," Voskov concluded."It makes sense to me," Starbuck replied. "Here goes," Starbuck said while placing the medallion into the receptacle nearest the door they had just entered and turning it. As they thought, the outer door closed and a weak light turned on in the closed chamber.
"That was interesting," Voskov said not expecting a light to be turned on for them. "This is Voskov, radio check."
"We're still reading you," one of the men outside replied. "There is only a slight signal degradation. Visual okay."
"Very well," Voskov replied. "We're going to open the inner lock now."
"And now the other one," Starbuck said while loping to the opposite end of the chamber. He again used the medallion in the other receptacle. Immediately the two men could hear a faint rushing sound that grew louder then suddenly ended. A moment later the inner door opened. The two men could see that the tunnel continued on for a short distance before suddenly widening. Weak lights shined at intervals along the tunnel. For a moment the two men stared down the tunnel then Starbuck checked the pressure meter on the arm of his suit.
"We've penetrated to the interior of the base," Voskov announced for those outside. "Stand by."
"Standing by."
"I'm reading a normal atmospheric pressure and temperature," Starbuck announced. Voskov reached for an electronic device hanging from his belt.
"Normal? I read it as almost seven percent greater than Earth sea level pressure."
"Normal for back home, Colonel. Atmospheric pressure on Kobol and in the Colonies was somewhat heavier."
"I'll check the spectroscope," Voskov said as he activated the device. "I'm reading strong Nitrogen and Oxygen lines," he announced a moment later.
"I'm going to crack my seal," Starbuck announced while reaching for his helmet.
"I'll watch your face," Voskov announced. "If I feel you are suffering anoxia then I'll seal you back up." Starbuck nodded as he lifted his face plate and took a breath. He continued to breathe for another minute.
"No signs of anoxia," Starbuck said. Voskov reached for and cracked his own helmet seals and lifted his face plate. Both men then shut off the airflows to their suits to preserve their supplies for when they would return to their shuttle. Then they slowly made their way down the tunnel. As they walked, they hear the soft whir of fans starting up, which blew fresh air into the hall and the rest of the station. They would later find out that the base was preserved in a one hundred percent Nitrogen atmosphere and just now, with Voskov and Starbuck's entrance was Oxygen being reintroduced to the air mixture.
"Be advised that there is a breathable atmosphere inside the base," Voskov called to the others. "Slightly different from our own. Oxygen…twenty-three percent. Nitrogen…seventy-five. The rest are trace gasses. Carbon dioxide, xenon, argon."
"Understood."
Ten meters in the tunnel widened into a room. Starbuck and Voskov saw a bench on one side of the room and several wire mesh doors on the other. The tunnel continued on beyond the opposite wall. Behind each door the men could see a pressure suit hanging on a rack. It was blue in color. The one next to it was red, another green. "Color-coded by rank?" the Russian wondered aloud. Voskov took a couple pictures of the room, obviously a changing room, and the two men walked further down the tunnel.
Quickly they came upon two doors, one on either side of the passage. One of them had an image of the medallion on it. Starbuck opened one door and saw it was a private studio style apartment with living, kitchen, and sleep areas. Spartan, it was as neat and clean as if the owner had just left, and would return at any moment. Commander's Quarters both men thought simultaneously. Across the passage was a very similar, yet apparently unused, room. Starbuck and Voskov closed the doors and continued their walk.
A couple meters further on they arrived at an intersection with corridors leading to the right and to the left. No lights shown down them. In front of them was another door. Large Kobolian script was written on it. To Starbuck they appeared to be the same as the examples of Kobolian writing that he was taught in school during his yahrens in the orphanage. Surprisingly, he realized that he could read the ancient writing with full understanding. He momentarily shook his head realizing it was another gift from those who sent him ahead of the Fleet to Earth.
"What does it say?" Voskov asked.
"I'm not sure," Starbuck lied while opening the door. During his visits with the Baranoviches and others he had learned many things about the Soviet Union's past actions: the ruthlessness of Stalin and the purges he conducted against his own citizens because of his own paranoia; the excesses of those who ran the Gulags and the NKVD and its successor the KGB; and the suppression of uprisings in Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. This had all led him to believe that perhaps he should not fully cooperate with the Soviets. "The script has changed a lot, over the millennia. Some of our academicians might have been able to get it. But…" He shook his head.
"Perhaps our linguists can make something of it," said Voskov, as they passed on through, into the next chamber.
They entered to find a large room, nearly the size of the Galactica's bridge. The lights came on dimly within, as they crossed the threshold. The floor sloped from the right down to the left. Several rows of stations were laid out on the floor. The far left wall was covered, presumably with a large view screen, now dark.
"Like Mission Control, only…" The Russian shook his head, trying to take it all in. "Is any of this familiar to you, Starbuck?"
"Kind of. It reminds me of the Galactica's bridge," Starbuck said, "except sideways."
"Yes, this must be the operation's center," Voskov summarized. "Did you receive that?" he called to those still outside.
"Yes, Comrade Colonel," came the reply. The signal was further weakened from the distance, but it was still clear enough for understanding.
To the far right, on the highest level was a small control station with a single chair sitting behind it. The backrest of the chair had the Lords of Kobol symbol embossed on it. The far wall at that level held a large window. Starbuck immediately made his way to it. Nothing could be seen through the window. The two men stopped together before the control station. Starbuck began an examination of the controls and symbols on the console.
"I can't read this either," Starbuck again lied. "Give me a minute to figure this out. "Let's try this," he said a moment later while flipping a switch. He quickly stepped over to the glass wall to see lights coming on in the interior of the roofed over crater revealing scores of ships resting on their landing gear. Closer to the observation window hundreds of smaller ships with delta-wings were arrayed near the crater wall.
"Well, look at that," Starbuck remarked.
"Yeah," Voskov said as he took in the view out the window. "Now, it's time to get to work."
"Lords of Kobol," whispered Starbuck. "Where to start?"