XX
At almost the very moment that Kara was laying down to sleep, Brindy Malcolm was in her quarters with Gregorious, again going over the photographs and information on the commanders of this UED. Gregorious was helping her, pointing out little things in the dossiers that might be of assistance.
"Have you made up your mind if you will go to Caprica City, or if you'll look for targets in the hills?" He was a big man, no doubt about it. But the years of labor in the camp and decimated his knees and his back. He was still able to take care of himself, but he wasn't the same man who had been taken a decade ago.
"I believe, Greg", she said with his shorthand name, "that I should start in the foothills and work my way up or in." There was so much more cover below than near the camp. There was a smaller forest just south of the Command Center for the enemy. It would provide cover, but not like on the mountain, where rocks, boulders, and now downed trees littered the area. There were also many small caves and crevices in which to hid, and Nick Bond had found out two years earlier.
"I think that is a good idea, Brin", he nodded his head. "Will The Crown send the scouts back down to the city?"
She nodded. "Yeah, Caleb let me know they will depart again in a few hours and scout some more. I haven't seen the Boss all day. But I'm hearing he's in a pissy mood today."
"So what's news", he joked. "I have heard something happened when he met the representative of this UED this morning, something that was unexpected. He advised the guards not to say anything, but they did anyway. They do not know what happened, but said it was a strange meeting."
"Hmm", she pondered, "that's interesting. Wonder what it means?"
"I don't care", he said with a spit in his voice. "As long as he holds up his end of the bargain if we get through this, that's all I care about."
She kept leafing through the photographs. "I believe I'll go to the southern end of the range, and see if I can locate the General in charge of that wing, or maybe some Colonels. That's where they have momentum, so maybe I can slow it down?"
"When do you plan to leave?"
"I plan to leave about 0200 and slowly make my way to the southwest. I'm glad I kept these night vision goggles from when I trained so long ago."
"There may be snipers on the other side as well", Gregorious said with concern, "that's one thing I worry about."
She smiled at him with affection. "I will be careful. I know how to camouflage, and I am the most patient soul in the Universe-I waited ten years to get you back, after all."
Gregorious rolled his eyes. "I think I got the better of that wait, Brindy." They both chuckled.
A few hours later, Brindy set out. She had camouflaged her face. The rest of her body was covered with cammo military garments, which would be invisible at night, and make her blend into the forest during the day. She had broken down her sniper rifle into three parts, which would easily fit in the small backpack she carried. She had only some water, ammo and a few small snacks. She knew quite well how to live and eat off the land.
She moved around the eastern face of the mountain at a slow pace, figuring she would reach the southern part of the front by midday. It was a long trek, and, at least for now, she was in no hurry.
2300, The Battlestar William Adama
Lee Adama called the meeting to order. In the room were Governor Ingrid Kwok, General Kendrick Grayson, General Seth Trevor, Admiral Caprica Baltar, and the CAG of the Laura Roslin, Cory Mathers.
The subject would be the information gleaned by Kara that morning, and to set H-hour for the resumption of offensive operations.
Lee had sent them all an advanced copy of the answer Kara had received from The Crown, as well as an advance on Kara's temporary removal as Commander of the Roslin, as well as a brief summary that the removal had to do with the fact that Kara had learned that The Crown was someone that she had had "personal interactions with" years ago before The Holocaust.
It had shaken everyone, and the brass was no exception.
"The plans for the second stage of the offensive were worked out a long time ago. Before Kara met with The Crown, I was leaning toward starting the offensive back up tomorrow morning. I have decided, with the approval of Governor Kwok, to postpone H-Hour until o300 the following morning. That could change", he advised them, "but as of now, that is the plan."
Grayson spoke up. "I assume the delay has to do entirely with the...events of the morning?"
There was no accusation in Grayson's voice. He didn't know exactly what had happened to Admiral Thrace-Bond, but he knew immediately it had to be major. When the information about why she had been removed had reached him, he could guess, as they all could what was meant by "personal interactions", with this nut on the mountain.
"It did, Ken", Lee freely admitted. "My first concern was Kara. Obviously, The Fleet comes first, and it will-that's why I removed Kara. But we just don't let someone flail in the wind, either. I felt it was worth a twenty-four-hour delay to not only take care of Kara but to make sure Admiral Baltar is fully up to speed on our timetable."
He turned the meeting over for a moment to the Governor. "I certainly can't and won't overrule Admiral Adama on this, but I wanted to stress that this will be the largest part of our operation so far. Commander Mathers", she said, turning to Sundown, "I know you're here because Commander Bond is with his family right now, but tomorrow our air units take on the largest role to date in this offensive. Can you summarize for me the Op Plan for the Raptors and Falcons?"
Cory hadn't been expected to be put on the spot, but she was a pro, and she recovered quickly. "Governor Kwok, the Op Plan is to have the Raptors in use up and down the line, in all sectors, from the base of the mountain and up to their town, or village or whatever they call it." She took a quick sip of water. "The main encampment is pretty well covered by the forest, but we know where it is through the infrared images from the Battlestars, and the large concentration of people in a relatively small area. Our success in penetrating the forest canopy has been limited, but we expect to raise some hell with them."
The Governor had learned a lot in the past two weeks. "Their SAM capability?"
"Ma'am", Cory continued, "General Grayson's Intel teams estimates they have about fifteen, perhaps twenty, hand-held SAM launchers. We do not know how many actual missiles they might have. And, as we all know, with what happened to Nick two years back, they can bring down our ships."
The Governor turned to General Grayson. "General, can you summarize the Operation for me?"
"Yes, Madam Governor", he said crisply. "We will commit about twelve thousand of our seventeen thousand troops to the assault. The forces will be split about fifty/fifty this time. The smaller, field artillery, the Muskets, will continue to move forward with the southern offensive. Again, south to north, the forest is less dense until you reach about twelve miles from their town. It's damn dense after that, and the Muskets won't be as effective. When we reach that line, that's when we bring in our reserve forces."
"Thank you, General", the Governor said evenly. "I went over the plan with Admiral Adama earlier tonight, but I like to hear it from those that will be on the scene. I've signed off on this. Does anyone have an idea what to call this part of the operation?"
They all looked at each other and sheepishly grinned, knowing that was the last thing on their mind. Finally, Caprica spoke up.
"If I may, Madam Governor?"
"Go ahead, Admiral Baltar."
"Maybe this sounds a little sentimental, but I believe Operation Starbuck would be appropriate, and to make sure tomorrow morning she's made aware of it. I think that might lift her spirits."
She expected a tepid response to it. General Grayson responded.
"I think that's a damned good name for it, Caprica", he said with a warm smile. "I think letting Kara know that we are thinking about her will help her recover. I can't think of a better pick-me-up for her than that.
There was unanimous and enthusiastic approval from the assembled.
"Very well", Lee said with a smile, thinking again that they were truly all family. "Operation Starbuck" it is. I will have the orders drafted and out to you by 0400, and ready for you to distribute to your field commanders. I ask that we meet again tomorrow at 1800 to go over final plans and to make any adjustments at that time."
The all nodded their assent.
Governor Kwok looked around the room with confidence at her military leaders. "If there's nothing more, ladies and gentlemen, you are dismissed." She stood and they followed, saluting her before turning to leave.
As expected, Justin Bond and his wife Judy were in no mood at the moment to sleep. It had just turned to 2400 in the twenty-nine hour day. They had only been in bed for thirty minutes, but it felt like an eternity.
Justin always had his computer turned on, and ready to notify him of any important news. A quiet alarm would sound, and a red light would flash several times. In the dark room, the light flooded the whole room when it lit up. He got up, Judith looking at him. She knew the drill on this one.
He flipped on the desk light in the bedroom and opened the file containing whatever the information was. He sat down and began to read. An unsteady smile crossed his face, piquing Judy's curiosity.
"What is it, babe", she asked gently.
He looked at her, and she could see water in his eyes, but the smile remained. He turned the computer screen toward her.
Attention all military commands: H-Hour for the resumption of the offensive will be 0300 Wednesday morning. Operation Starbuck will commence at that time. More information to follow in the morning. Admiral Lee Adama
Judith put a hand to her mouth, and cried, but with a smile also on her face. Justin got up and hugged her gently. "We're gonna get through this, Judith. Kara's got the whole fleet behind her."
Judith didn't speak again, but just closed her eyes and felt the warmth of her husband's embrace.
After a few minutes, she broke the hug. "Justin, why don't we go back to bed? I think I might be able to sleep now?"
He chuckled. "My hug did it, right?"
She smacked him lightly on the chest. "You have a big ego, you know that?"
They gently kissed and crawled back into bed, both of them asleep within minutes.
0800 The Next Morning, North of Fromm Peak
Brindy Malcolm had slowed down with the coming of the sunlight. She hadn't seen a soul on the east side of the mountain range since setting out some six hours earlier. The enemy had Night Vision gear, making her vulnerable. Yet the scouting by The Crown's men had insisted to him and to anyone else that UED was not covering the back door. Even Clevin Monteith had commented that if roles were reversed, he wouldn't cover the east end either. It was just too confined.
She was now about five miles north of Fromm Peak, about two thousand yards down the eastern slope. There were plenty of trees, underbrush rocks and crevices to take occasional breaks in. She thought she might be a little ahead of schedule to get to the southern front of the battlefield, which was still blessedly quiet. Knowing that the enemy would strike and strike soon, Brindy would hunker down in a secluded area until the fighting resumed. Caleb Ridge had informed her before she left that their artillery could not reach where the enemy currently was to the south, so she was not in danger from "friendly fire", which Brindy thought was questionable, to begin with. This was definitely a marriage of convenience for both of them.
She would scan the sky every once in a while, just in case a Raptor flew overhead. She had seen one or two, but well off in the distance through the night, and one had come fairly close to where she was thirty minutes earlier. Yet the forest provided excellent cover for her, let alone that her cammo helped her to blend in nicely.
By 1200 she had turned southwest and had worked around the pathways inside Fromm Peak and began slowly to descend to the other side. By 1300, she had found a spot with an abandoned cave just north of the treeline. After dark, she would slowly pick her way back to the north to look for prey.