Man and Machine 10
"I haven't been out here since I first came to this century," Buck said.
"But should you really be helping us like this?" Apollo asked.
"You guys aren't the only ones looking for answers out here," Buck answered, "I still don't know the whole story about what happened to the world I came from."
"What do you mean?" Cassiopeia asked.
"When I went into space, the Cold War was on everybody's mind," Buck explained. "Each side would mount operations to undermine the other. I was even part of a few of them. I guess, sometime after I was lost in space, the balance finally tipped one way or the other. I still don't know exactly what happened to the people I loved. Only that my family was buried together not far from here."
"What sort of war are you talking about?" Apollo asked.
"A cold war," Buck said. "Hostilities on all sides, but the threat of nuclear war was just enough to keep the two sides from going to all out war."
"I'm not picking up any radion levels," Cassiopeia said, checking her medical instrument, "I doubt any nuclear device detonated close to here in the past 500 yharens.
"It should be safe to go further out then," Buck prompted. The rest of them followed him deeper into the ruined city. Just as the first time Buck entered the city, the sound of knocking echoed around them. Pipes and wooden sticks were being struck against wooden window sills or whatever else was convenient to the shadowy figures that watched the explorers from a distance.
At the sound, Starbuck had his blaster out in his hand.
"What is making that noise?" Apollo asked.
"Theo," Buck said, "Or rather, Dr. Theopolis said there were mutants living out here. He made it sound like they were sub-human, but then he said they weren't interested in me, but him and Twiki. Mostly so they could sell their parts on the black market."
"If they have some form of black market, they must have some level of civilization," Apollo said.
"Yeah, if they are just animals, we would be all out of luck," Starbuck added.
"Lets get going," Buck said.
"With luck, maybe we will meet some of them," Cassiopeia said
"Would that be good luck or bad?" Starbuck asked.
"Anyway," Buck said, "My folks are buried over there, so this is as far out as I got before Wilma and the cavalry shot me and took me back to the city."
"Would you like to take a moment to visit their grave again?" Cassiopeia asked.
"No," Buck insisted, "Lets press on. I want to see what else is out here."
"Good," Apollo agreed, "so do I."
-oOo-
"So who exactly programs the computers on your council?" Adama asked.
"Well, they program each other," Dr. Huer answered. "History has proven that are untrustworthy when it comes to political matters."
"Well, given our own personal history, I cannot argue that point," Adama said, "But who programmed the first council computers?"
"I don't know," Huer said, looking confused, as if it had never before occurred to him to even wonder. "It is just the way it has always been, ever since we began to regain our civilization."
-o0o-
"What is that?" Starbuck asked.
They were beyond the ruins of the city now, and the pounding of metal and wood had long since faded away. Before them was an unusually large shrub, a mass of vines that was entwined all over itself as well as something underneath. Moving aside some of the thick vines they could see the remains of some sort of war machine. The metal was shiny chrome, despite its obvious age and looked to be half buried in what was a crater, worn away by hundreds of years worth of erosion. It took some work, but they cleared enough of the foliage away for a clearer look at the machine.
"I have never seen anything even remotely like it before," Buck Rogers said.
"It has obviously been here a long time," Apollo said, "but the metal still looks shiny and new."
Apollo, Buck and Cassiopeia all moved closer for a more detailed look. Starbuck kept his distance, performing his own search.
"It's too small to have a cockpit," Cassiopeia observed.
"Look at these holes, and this scaring," Apollo said, "it was definitely in a fight."
"Must have been some sort of unmanned drone," Buck surmised, "but I don't recognize its configuration, and there are no nationality markings on it either. Could it be alien?"
"We would have to take a sample back to the ship for testing to see if it was made here on Earth," Apollo said.
"No, we can't, Apollo," Cassiopeia said. "We don't have a sample of what native materials are like on this world to compare them with."
"Dr. Huer could test for that," Buck said, "Although I would prefer it if Dr. Goodfellow ran any tests. The local historians are… Not very accurate."
"Apollo," Starbuck called, "take a look at this."
In his hands, covered with dirt, Starbuck held a mechanical skull made from the same shiny metal as the combat drone.
"It is not Cylon," Starbuck said, "but it sure is close."
-oOo-
"We both share a problem," Adama said to Dr. Huer. "The two of us, we understand the complexities of uniting our two peoples into one, but not the people we must answer to. Your Computer Council thinks we should just toe their line, and do what they say just because your people have. To them it is only logical, because they can only think in logical terms. Me? I have the Council of Twelve who assume we can just pull up another chair so your colony can be represented under our own well established government. In reality, for this to work, we will need to discover a middle ground to make both our peoples happy."
"You are quite correct," Dr. Huer said, "Although I don't think you are giving our Computer Council a fair assessment. If you should spend time with Dr. Theopolis, you will find him to be full of emotion. He has a very poetic mind. Of course, Atol and some of the other council members can be even harsher than you describe."
"I suppose I should become acquainted with your Council while I am here," Adama said.
"And when your ship arrives," Dr. Huer said, "I should meet with your Council of the Twelve."
"Agreed," Adama said.
A chime sounded on Dr. Huer's desk.
"Yes, what is it?" He said.
"We are picking up an alert in the wastelands," a voice said, "Atol demands that the Warriors from the Galactica be held accountable for entering the forbidden zone."