11
the flight over was uneventful.
At my own request, the shuttle pilot along with the escorting squadron of vipers from the Atlantis, did a scenic flight of the Galactica. The traces were visible to the naked eye. Despite some very rugged maintenance efforts, it seemed as if the battlestar looked like a sieve, with hull plating even piled on top of other previous repairs.
They had been through a lot, and now their journey was nearly complete.
The shuttle pilot reported that we had clearance to land. I instructed him to do so.
It wasn't unlike the landings on Atlantis. We passed through some sort of magnetic field and touched down. Then a member of the groundcrew signalled us with lights wants and marshalled the shuttle to the far end of the landingbay.
David Cain came over to my seat " Alright captain, let us go out first and asses the situation." I nodded. " Proceed, no flashbangs or other stuff though. And you don't have to present arms when I leave the shuttle." Cain turned around and went aft towards his men.
I looked at Karia who had been sitting beside me during the flight and had chattered about how glad she was to be back. And she was also glad she was rescued from the Cylons. Although the we hadn't really told her where we were from yet, I just smiled " All in a days work." Then I also went aft, to the exit.
David Cain was amongst the first of his men out of the shuttle. And he couldn't help but notice the smell of smoke still permeating the air. Cain and one of his men securely scanned their surroundings, weapons at the ready. The other two men scanned the people obviously in honor formation. When they found no threats they called clear.
" All clear, captain. A guy in blue up front looks like he's the top dog in here."
I nodded and put on my service cap. It was time.
There were a few hushed voices in the background, and a few looks from the Colonial personnel still working on repairing the damage. For a moment I thought I heard a gasp, or maybe even two.
I descended via the small boarding ramp that had been attached to the shuttle and came to a stop in front of the man Cain had described to me. I presented him a standard military salute. " Sir, Captain William Adams, commanding officer USS Atlantis."
My mentioning of the Atlantis caused even more frowns then my standard US Navy service uniform. Or for that matter, the SEALS and their equipment.
The blue clad figure remained at his form of attention and answered " Commander Apollo, commander of the Colonial battlestar Galactica and president of the council of the twelve of the colonies of man." He paused shortly " Or what's left of them."
I exhaled. So far so good.
" To bring you proof of our intentions, here's someone we rescued from the Cylon tylieum mine on that planet back there." At that, one of Cain's men disappeared back into the shuttle and came out with Karia.
Apollo's face told a thousand tales all at once. A father happy to see his daughter return safe and sound, a commander whose troubles had eased, somewhat. And loads more. There would be plenty time for that later though.
" Words can't describe my feeling at this moment." Apollo remarked as Karia finished telling her the story of her rescue.
" I know. Our scanners showed us more then we expected. Technology can be discussed at a later stage though. Right now I'm more interested in the fleet status, because the Cylons will be back to finish what they started."
It caused a few concerned looks amongst what I guessed to be staff officers.
" Perhaps we should adjourn to a conference room." At my agreement we trekked deeper into the ship.
I was amazed at the similarities in construction between the Galactica and the Atlantis. Atlantis looked older yet better maintained where as Galactica clearly showed signs of heavy use. I refocused on the matter at hand as we entered the conference room.
The disk with the combat data that had been collected aboard the Atantis was soon inside the data recorder of the conference room. On the screen it showed the Cylon positions as they withdrew from the area. I briefed the assembled officers personally, as Cain and a couple of men stood guard outside.
" This is the situation we currently face. The Cylons have at least four baseships still in the general area. Those ships should have more then enough fighters still remaining to wipe us out, twice over."
I let that sink in and then went on to propose my plan.
Apollo was the first to respond, commenting that he thought it quite sceptical that the Cylons would attack so soon after getting mauled like this. I answered that under the circumstances I would agree with him, but I felt the Cylons would soon have reinforcements on their way, and that we didn't want to be around when they got there.
Now the colonial commander was forced to agree with me. His next question was rather more pointed " Commander Adams, where is the rest of your fleet?"
" What fleet?"
" Your single battlestar, is that all there is of Earth's fleet?!" Apollo's look of disbelief is rather annoying but I figure I don't want to burst his bubble, yet.
" Currently there is one other ship in the Earth fleet. I can't divulge its name, but I can tell you that her commander has temporarily replaced my executive officer. He couldn't make this meeting."
One of the other officers in the room, a major, made some comments in a colonial tongue that I couldn't quite understand. The question that followed however was far to clear not to understand. "From where did the Atlantis depart?"
No time like the present " Earth."
" So Earth is real then?" Apollo asked.
" As real as you and me." I answered. What Apollo said next however, surprised me " Since with your presence Earth is determined to be real, as president of the council of the twelve, the governing body of the twelve worlds of man I hereby request asylum on behalf of our people."
" I'm sorry sir, but that decision is not up to me. Such requests are usually handled by people higher up my chain of command."
Apollo's look of disbelief was worhty of a photograph to say the least. " You mean to tell me you're not even a sector commander?"
" No sir, my only responsebility was finding you. And once I did I was to get you to Earth in any which way possible, and that goes for the fleet of ships you're escorting as well. We're prepared to offer you sanctuary for the time being."
" You know about the Cylons?"
I nodded " We do."
" The Cylons aren't a concern unless we move quickly. " I felt we had more then one option to encourage the Cylons from not pursueing us any further, and " I also feel that we're wasting time here with talking to each other while we could be preparing a very hot reception for those Cylons that will come after us."
Apollo nodded. " Very well, how do you wish to proceed?"
I switched over to another part of the data that I brought with me and brought it up on the screen. " Like this." As Apollo and his command staff studied the data, they now found they had ample reason to smile again.
The tap on my shoulder came from David a few moments later. At nearly the same time, I heard a squawk from the Galactica pa system.
"What is it?"
" We just got a relay through the shuttle. A shuttle from the refugee fleet requested permission to land aboard Atlantis."
" You know the orders I gave, right?" Cain nodded " Yes sir. So does the XO. They told me what he did."
Cain whispered to me what had happened. The shock of it all apparently showed on my face, for Commander Apollo came over and asked what was wrong. I told him what Cain had told me.
The commander of the Galactica stepped over to the nearby com panel and spoke a few words which I didn't understand.
Not much later he told me that the problem had been temporarily solved although he also added that " The council will want to talk to you."
We returned our attention to the Cylon taskforce.
11b
In something that could rather described as a stroke of bad luck, Spectre and Baltar had managed to stay in communications range. There was one difference though, Baltar did the talking, and Spectre, was the one who listened. After he was through with him, the only thing Spectre responded with was the obligatory " By your command."
Then he closed the channel and the baseships were off again, in search of their prey. This time however, they operated together. Baltar making sure that he had full control of the operation. This time, nothing would stop him from destroying the Battlestar Galactica and her fleet.
With their fighters in the lead, the Cylon baseships moved in.
Only to find empty space!
Where only centons ago had been a fleet of ships, there was now only debris of the previous battle.
The Cylon fighters were promptly send to scout the debris field.
" Mistake number one." I silently muttered as we watched our screens in the far distance.
" Sequence one is a go."
The scanner screen lit up with the telltale sign of a detonation.
Hidden in the debris field, was a motley collection of nuclear warheads and a couple of basestar busters. The Cylon flight group had been close enough for me to order the remote detonation of one of the nukes.
I had to keep from laughing out loud as one of the basestar busters was poulled into a basestar with a tractor beam.
" Detonate number five please." Again that sign. " Alright, activate timers on all charges then get us back to rendezvous with the refugee fleet."
Within a five centon period, the basestars were unable to move, afraid that they would run into something that could well be fatal. From what we calculated, there would be no way the Cylons would be able to follow any kind of trail. And they'd be wary anyway, Atlantis already had three baseships on her killboard.
We got back to the fleet without any trouble.
The first message from the Galactica however spelled trouble. I read it with the command staff present " the presence of the Atlantis commanding officer and XO are requested before the next session of the council of the Twelve." The message went on to give a time and the location of the council chambers aboard the Galactica.
" Oh boy, now it really begins."