AN: I had hoped to get this up a couple of weekends ago but real life had other plans. Anyway, hope the wait for this chapter was worth it. Feel free to drop me a line in the form of a review!
Phoenix had long ago stopped trying to make small talk with Kel Lawerence. The young pilot had answered her questions as though he was being interrogated. In fact, she had no doubt that Bard was still trying to ascertain whether or not he had answered the question correctly or not.
~Now I understand how Quad was feeling when we got here, ~ Phoenix thought, as her eyes once again made a sweep of the quiet sensors. Other than their other ships on long range scans, the system was quiet.
If it weren't for Colonel Cruise's order to maintain radio silence except to relay important information, Phoenix would have opened a line with one of the other raptors currently patrolling the border of this star system. Anything to break up the monotony. However, the order was in place. Even if radio transmissions couldn't be deciphered by ships outside of their fleet due to the security protocols based off those developed for the RECT system, Colonel Cruise wanted to keep chatter to a minimum. The fewer transmissions meant the lesser the chance of someone discovering they were in the system at all.
Despite understanding the colonel's reasoning, that understanding did little to alleviate her boredom.
Glancing down at the time display, Phoenix noted that they were only three hours into their twelve-hour patrol. There was no way she was going to make it through another nine hours of listening to nothing but the random electronic beeps of the raptor's instruments. As her fellow pilot didn't seem to be interesting in carrying on a conversation, she decided she was going to fill the silence her own way - she started humming.
When she got to the end of the song, Bard said the first words to her that weren't in response to something she had said.
"What song was that? It didn't sound familiar."
Rebecca smiled. "No reason that it should," she replied, looking from the console in front of her to the pilot at the front of the cabin. "It's something I wrote myself in my free time."
"You're a songwriter?" Bard asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"I guess you could call it that," Rebecca replied, her gaze drifting back to the instruments. "It's been a hobby of mine since about eighth grade. That was about the time I started to get decent at the guitar my parents had bought me three years earlier for a birthday present. I've only ever played for family and friends though. Nowadays, it's something to keep Laura Jean entertained with or lull her to sleep after a nightmare."
Silence fell over the cabin after Rebecca Lynn's comment. Casting a glance toward the front of the cabin, Phoenix found Bard staring out at the stars. Apparently the brief talkative spell that had come over the young pilot had passed and he was now once again back to being silent. Or so she thought.
"I'm sorry," Kel Lawrence said softly.
The apology surprised Phoenix as much as hearing her fellow pilot speak again did.
"For what?" Phoenix asked, hoping the young pilot would elaborate on his words.
"I always thought you were one of the lucky ones, having your daughter with you and all. I guess I was a bit resentful of that, what with being alone out here and all. I can't really even claim to have friends, as I'm kind of an outsider even with the other trainees, though that's partially my fault. I've never exactly been an open person. But even though, you're daughter is here, you've lost family and friends to, just like the rest of us. I can't even imagine how hard it must be on someone as young as your daughter to comprehend that her father isn't coming home. I had a hard time comprehending that when my father was killed when I was eight."
"You don't need to apologize for that, Kel," Phoenix said, choosing to use the young man's first name to make the conversation more personal. She fought the urge to move up to sit beside him. As much as they wanted this to be a routine patrol they couldn't afford to take the risk of being caught off guard. "I'm sure you're not the only one that thought that way and I do count myself lucky to at least have Laura Jean but I still miss Lee and the rest of my family, just like the rest of you. That ache is even harder when Laura Jean wakes up from a nightmare where her father has left her. The last thing I want is for her to grow up thinking that her daddy chose not to come back to her. Or when she talks about finding him someday and I can't join in on her hopeful fantasy. So yeah, no matter what our particular situation is, we're all in the same boat out here and that means we need one another more than ever."
"And all I'm doing is letting everybody down," Kel said as if he was finishing her sentence. The young pilot kept his gaze focused on the stars outside their small craft.
"I never said that nor was I trying to imply it."
"Others do though and they're probably right. Nobody else panicked during the attack. Everybody else is doing their job like they're supposed to. That's why you're out in a Raptor isn't it? In case I panic again."
"Lonewolf thought it would be best to pair you up with a veteran, yes," Phoenix admitted, not about to lie to the young pilot. "But you are out here doing your job to the best of your abilities, Bard. It's not like you're refusing to follow orders. That's what is important not that you panicked in your first real battle. You're not the first pilot to do it and you won't be the last. You and your classmates were thrown into a tough situation before you were ready and you all performed well under pressure, even you, because you very well could have refused to ever get in a cockpit again after that first Cylon attack. You haven't. Instead, you're out here, facing your fear and with time you'll start gaining confidence in yourself and your abilities."
Bard glanced back over his shoulder. "You really think so?"
"I know so. I've already seen an improvement between today and yesterday," Phoenix told him. She was going to elaborate on that statement but an alarm sounded before she could.
Looking toward the instrument panel, Phoenix quickly located the source of the alarm. "I've got multiple contacts on DRADIS," she announced.
"Cylon Raiders?" Bard asked, his voice steady though a bit higher in pitch than usual.
"They're not reading as Raiders. However spin up the FTL drive and be prepared to jump. This many ships, if they're not friendly we don't stand a chance against them," Phoenix instructed her pilot even as the sensors started to show the ships as colonial contacts. She wasn't about to take anything for granted however. "This is Raptor 218, callsign Phoenix, to incoming ships. Please identify yourself."
As she waited for a response, Phoenix kept her eyes on the blips on her DRADIS screen. To her relief, they were slowing their approach to the system and their Raptor. While it was no guarantee that they weren't still hostile, it was still a good sign. Hopefully whoever was out there was willing to talk first instead of just starting a fight.
"Shouldn't we just return to Galactica?" Kat asked, as Helo ordered a full stop to all the Raptors in the survey mission.
Though Kat wasn't looking at him, Helo shook his head as he replied. "Let's not be too hasty. It's one ship and it's coming up as a colonial signal. Let's find out what we're dealing with first," Helo told her, preparing to hail the vessel they had stumbled upon. He had been admonished not to take risks and he didn't view this as a risk. Still, he knew he had to be careful in case the Cylons were using a captured Colonial ship to lure them into a trap.
Before he got a chance though a call from the other ship came over the comm system.
"This is Raptor 218, callsign Phoenix, to incoming ships. Please identify yourself."
The hail sounded to be a routine hail, but that still didn't mean much. The Cylons could have easily picked that up from monitoring communications though. He also didn't recall any pilot with the callsign Phoenix, despite the voice on the radio sounding familiar. As Kat looked back at him though he was reminded that didn't mean much. They'd had to train some pilots quickly since the attack on the Colonies, as had the Pegasus. If another Colonial battlestar had managed to evade the Cylons for this long, they could have very well have trained new pilots themselves.
"Raptor 218, this is Raptor 712, callsign Helo. We were sent to survey this solar system for possible supplies."
There was a moment of silence on the radio. Helo took advantage of it to send an encrypted message to Cable to relay the current situation back to Galactica. Of course if the raptor really was colonial, then it wouldn't take them long to break the encryption, not that it would matter in that case.
"Karl? Is that really you?"
The two questions were not the response that he expected to hear. Even so, he still couldn't quite place the voice.
"Do you recognize her?" Kat asked, still looking back at him from the pilot seat. The confused and skeptical tone of her voice was mirrored in her expression.
"I'm not sure," Helo answered her honestly. "The voice sounds familiar but I don't recognize the callsign," he told her.
Keying the comm channel open again, Helo addressed the other raptor. "This is Lt. Karl Argathon," he confirmed, not seeing any harm in making the admission. After all, when the Cylons had attacked, they had accessed the colonial computers and thus, all that information was available to them anyway. "I must admit though, you have me at a disadvantage as I don't recall ever meeting a pilot with the callsign Phoenix."
A soft chuckle came over the open link. That sound gave him the answer he was seeking even before the person on the other raptor spoke again. "That doesn't surprise me. When we flew together, I went by the callsign of Artemis."
Despite the tenseness of the situation Karl let a smile come to his face. "I thought you had turned in your wings."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," was the reply he received.
From the pilot seat, Kat signaled for him to close the open radio channel. Helo complied before addressing his fellow pilot.
"What is it, Kat?"
"The other raptor is sending an encrypted signal, presumably to their home ship."
"And? I had Cable do the same thing. It's standard procedure in a situation like this."
"I know that. The problem is, their signal isn't being encrypted by any standard colonial encryption method. The computer cannot decipher the message being sent," Kat informed him.
Helo found that information a bit unsettling. Looking down at his console, he verified what Kat had said. It wasn't that he doubted her assessment but more that he had to see it for himself.
"It also doesn't look to be any of the Cylon encryption codes we've come across either," Helo observed, feeling a little more at ease because of that fact.
"Maybe it's just one we haven't seen before now. In any case, we haven't broken any of the previous ones. We don't know what kind of exchange is going on between that raptor and it's home ship."
Helo knew that he couldn't dismiss Kat's concerns. They were vulnerable out here, so far away from Galactica. At the same time, he was hesitant to give the order to jump away. While the jump couldn't be traced, if this wasn't some elaborate Cylon trap they would miss out on the chance to gain more allies.
"Phoenix to Helo? You still out there?"
"Yeah, I'm still here," Karl replied, reopening the channel with the other raptor. "Just having a conversation with my pilot. The same as you seem to be having with your base ship."
"Standard procedure, just like when you contacted Galactica," came the immediate and easy reply from the pilot onboard the other raptor.
"A message that I'm sure you or the other pilot onboard your raptor has already been able to decipher. We can't exactly do the same thing on this end," Helo replied, deciding that there was no use in trying to be evasive in this situation. "What kind of encryption code are you guys using?"
"It's one I developed for the RECT system I was developing," came Phoenix's reply. "We've had to upgrade security since the attack on the colonies." There was a slight pause before Phoenix spoke again. "Helo, please be advised that Colonel Cruise has requested that your raptor group does not enter the system at this time and that the Viper squadron has been put on alert until we can verify for certain that you are who you say you are."
"Understood," Helo confirmed. If they had indeed stumbled upon more Colonial survivors, then he needed to do everything possible to ensure the two groups joined up. They needed one another out here. The uneasiness exhibited by the other raptor's base ship definitely fell into a behavior pattern of survivors on the run. He could imagine Admiral Adama giving the same exact orders.
"Kat, tell the other raptors that they are to maintain their current position until instructed otherwise."
"Yes, sir," Kat replied, turning to face the console to pass along the order.
"So, Phoenix, how do you propose we convince one another we are who we say we are?" Helo asked while Kat relayed his orders to the rest of the survey group.
"I've been authorized by Colonel Cruise to accompany you back to Galactica and to give Commander Adama the coordinates of the Pisus if I deem it's safe to do so."
One raptor and two pilots were hardly a threat to Galactica's safety, unless the Cylons were tracking the raptor.
"It's actually Admiral Adama now," Helo replied, even as he mulled the situation over in his head. Though he could use his own discretion, and lead the other raptor back to Galactica, Helo wasn't sure he wanted that responsibility on his shoulders. This was definitely a situation that none of them had anticipated. "Give me a few minutes while I check with Galactica for instructions."
"Understood. We'll be awaiting your reply," came Phoenix's immediate response.
Despite the high likelihood that the encrypted message would be deciphered by the other raptor, Helo still contacted Galactica using one of the Colonial standard encryptions. If nothing else, at least he was following procedure.
"Prepare to jump to the coordinates Helo has provided," Phoenix informed Bard, even as another raptor from Pisus appeared in space on their starboard side.
Immediately, Phoenix contacted the raptor that was there to take their place in patrol of the system while they were gone. This gave Bard time to contemplate what was taken place.
The two of them were about to make a jump based on someone claiming to be an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Yes, the raptor checked out as Colonial on the Dradis. Yes, Phoenix apparently recognized the voice of the pilot onboard the other raptor. Yes, the encryption used to speak to their base ship had been a standard Colonial encryption code. Finally, they did know that Galactica, which was the ship the raptors had been talking to, had survived the initial Cylon attack.
Everything seemed to add up. If this all worked out, they would no longer be four ships wandering through space alone. Bard knew he should be excited about that prospect, but he wasn't. All he could think about was that if this all wasn't on the up and up, then he and Phoenix would be on their own.
Really though, who was he to question the judgement of Colonel Cruise and Phoenix. Both of them had more experience than he had. If they thought following the newcomers back to their base ship was the best course of action, than who was he to argue otherwise. Civilian or not, in the few months he had known her, Phoenix had proven her skills as a pilot and as well as in hand-to-hand combat, having won quit a few sparring matches since the attack.
As uneasy as he was, his duty was to follow the orders of his superiors and that's just what he planned on doing.