Chapter 11:

In the secondary chamber:

The vibrations and sounds of explosions were quite bad in the secondary chamber of the old tank, but the distance and series of turns helped dampen most of the explosive force. Some flames curled into and around the hatch in the main chamber, but the four Warriors in the secondary chamber didn't even see it. Three had successfully dropped down behind the divider wall, on the balls of their feet, tucked down and partially immersed ih the muck, just hoping to survive the shockwave that, fortunately, didn't come. Urdea, the last Warrior to enter the secondary chamber wasn't quite so lucky; in fact, on diving into the chamber he only had time to curl into a ball and grasp his helmet with his hands while still mostly immersed in the mucky liquid.

When the vibrations finally ended, Urdea carefully got his hands and knees under him once more and again stood up from the muck, thoroughly drenched and coated, giving his hands and arms a flick to get as much of the disgusting goop off of him as possible. Immediately, he was covered in dust, which, unlike the fire, had poured into the room following the explosion, filling the air like the sandstorm that Urdea had once witnessed on a training exercise in the Great Southern Desert of Taura. The other three were just rising as well, more than a little surprised that they'd lived through the event. As they did high hand clasps together, Urdea hoped that their celebration wasn't premature, or worse yet, entirely misplaced.

He said nothing to dampen their spirits as he carefully made his way to the rear wall. Peering into the circular hole for the second time, he was saying a silent prayer as he peered into the dusty turmoil. At first, it was hard to see anything in the hole, but as the dust ever-so-slowly settled and cleared, he was overjoyed to find that the shaft had not collapsed in the explosions, since, very vaguely through the dust, a very dim light could be seen at the far end, down a little slope, less than 20 metrons away.

Urdea motioned to the hole and said, "Gentlemen, when the Cylons arrived here, I suspect this old septic system used hundreds or even thousands of yahrens ago, probably by the miners or whatever they were that lived and worked here, was as dry as a bone, with an ancient sludge layer. When the Cylons started using it for their poor lab animals' waste and their carcass disposals, they didn't understand the system and didn't know how it worked or how to treat it, so it clogged pretty quickly. When it did, they didn't know what to do, so in typical Cylon fashion, they blasted a hole in that wall," he said, pointing to the divider wall between the chambers, "and then came right over here and drilled this hole out the side of mountain so it would drain out, treatment be damned. Now," pointing to the borehole and holding out a flare they'd use to be located, "it's going to be a tight fit and a really nasty crawl, but let's see if we can get out of here and catch a ride home. Who's first?"

'***

A couple of centons later, having accepted his companions nomination to continue as leader, an extremely tired and very filthy Urdea gingerly poked a helmeted head from the end of the Cylon bore, holding his blaster in front of him. As he had neared the end of the tunnel pipe, he noticed that the liquid was turning to ice. Looking around he couldn't see anything except the steep mountain and a small stream of frozen runoff trailing downward.

On the third call he finally got through on the Command channel. The excitement clearly carried through in Lieutenant Demeter's voice. "Urdea! Holy Lords! Thanks be! Where in Hades are you? We thought you were buried deep inside the building! If you'd been another centon or two later, we would have left you behind!"

"Oh, we were deep inside all right," replied Urdea, "but this place just seemed like too much of a fixer-upper, so we decided not to stay. Thanks for sticking around for us. We're now on the side of the mountain in a borehole, off to the left of the building and some way around the mountainside, I believe. I think it's that flow location we saw in the briefing, but I can't be sure. I'm getting ready to light a flare to help you locate us if you have someone who can pick us up. We have four for pickup making it a little crowded in here, so we would really appreciate not having to wait too long."

'***

With the outer portion of the building set with explosives, and the wounded, the bodies, and the seemingly undamaged piece of the alien equipment aboard, DS2 gathered up several of the troops and took off, and DS4 swooped in to pick up the rest of the assault team. At the same time, Lieutenant Demeter ordered that DS3 be diverted to the area Urdea had noted. The DS3 pilots quickly located the flare and settled the shuttlecraft into position a short distance above it. The weaponsmasters lowered a harness and picked up the four Warriors, hauling them from the bore hole one at a time. Moments later, all three drop ships were on their way up to join the Vipers drifting slowly a bit above the top of the thin layer of atmosphere to conserve fuel. As they departed, a group of flashes filled the sky behind them, and the rest of the building collapsed inward. A moment later, the pad exploded and crumpled down the side of the mountain.

Aboard DS3, with the ship sealed, pressurized, and air flowing, everyone removed their helmets…and promptly wished they hadn't. Between the smell and the dripping waste fluid, it was going to be a long decontamination and cleanup!

'***

On the lone Raider:

Due to the distance, there were slight communications delays between the Raider and the base ship circling the blue planet, but the gold Centurion took the required pauses to account for it. "Our Centurions on the ground at our bio-base succeeded in holding the Colonials for the required length of time. We were able to get to the planned position, and are now trailing far behind the remaining Vipers and their assault shuttlecraft. Unfortunately, our bioweapons facility appears to have been destroyed. Now, the Colonials are on course for the back side of the planet, as predicted, and will lead us right to their battlestar."

Several microns later, the response came back, "Yes, the group Commander has determined that our intelligence is solid based on all that has occurred thus far, so he has already taken his ship around the back of the blue gas giant. Therefore, he will not be in communications range for some time. We will continue on our course to rendezvous with his base ship in the approximate location our spy predicted as borne out by your findings. The rest of your wing is already nearing our location for refueling to allow them to be able to join in the final assault on the Colonial battlestar and its fleet. Well done, Centurion leader. Continue to follow the Colonials discreetly and let us know if there are any changes." That it would be a very good cycle for the Cylon Empire was left unsaid, but both Cylons understood what was inferred.

"By your command."

Several centons passed as the Raider trailed far behind the Colonial assault force. Suddenly the Cylon weapons officer said, "Centurion, the humans appear to be radically changing course." He read off the new course, which the gold Centurion quickly checked and confirmed.

The Cylon pilot spoke, "This is not logical. Why would they be turning there and why in that direction?"

The gold Centurion replied, "It is correct that there is nothing for them to gain by extending their flight…unless they suspect our presence. From this range with the moon directly behind us, the odds of them detecting us are extremely low, but perhaps by trying from a different angle, they are attempting to detect any pursuit."

With this seeming to be the most logical explanation, the gold centurion reported this to the moon-side base ship, whose commander replied, "You have done well in reducing speed to avoid detection. Begin pursuit again using the moon to obscure you after they make their turn back toward their rendezvous point."

The gold Centurion was about to acknowledge the command, but at that moment, the weapons officer spoke again, "Another possibility for the turn is so they can rendezvous with the battlestar and the other ships that just appeared behind it."

Turning quickly to see the long range scan, the weapons officer's comment was confirmed. The gold Centurion immediately activated the comm unit and again called to the base ship that was in range, "The Colonials appear to have made a flank speed swing around the planet and are now at the attached coordinates instead of on the back side of the planet as believed. Their assault force is landing now." However, with the slight transmit delays over the distances between the ships, the battlestar and the other ships were already accelerating away even before the Centurion received his orders, and moments later, the Colonials were gone, leaving the little moon, the blue gas giant, and the Cylons' planned ambush far behind them.

'***