Ongoing thanks to Zimu Yang for beta-reading.
The Final Five are something RDM came up with at the last moment to fill a gaping plot-hole,
and as such I have chosen to ignore them as they don't fit my story as I have it mapped out.
This is Fan-Fiction: I'm allowed to do things like that.
Red In Tooth And Claw
Chapter 37: Rubicon
"Silat?" The Master Chief asked from the doorway of the small gym he had set up in a disused maintenance bay.
"It's more of a fusion of Silat and Krav Maga. You'd be surprised at some of the things they programmed me with that I decided to keep." Cortana explained as she executed a perfect spinning kick against the heavy punching bag, rattling the chains that secured it to the ceiling and deck, "Anyway, I think it's good for a girl to know how to defend herself: if word ever got out about what I really am, then you can bet that there'd be no shortage of people in this fleet who'd want to come after me."
"You're just being paranoid." The Spartan smirked slightly as he made his way across the room, the hatch swing shut behind him, "Anyone who came after you would have to get past me." He paused slightly, "And the others."
"Thanks, but you're not always around." Cortana lay into the punch-bag with a series of lightning fast jabs, followed by a sharp elbow and knee combo that would have disabled any human attacker, "Anyway, I'm human, well, human-like now: I need to stay in shape."
"If your mother's work up on your metabolism is anything to go by, that shouldn't be a problem." The Master Chief gripped the bag tightly and held it in place, "And good against a bag is one thing. Good against an attacker is another."
"Really?" Cortana looked at him with a sly smile, then sent a right jab directly at his face.
The Spartan reactions were as fast as ever, but he managed to restrain himself, and pulled her round into a secure hold that pressed her back up against his chest rather without doing any damage. Cortana gasped, then narrowed her eyes as she pulled her left arm as far forward as she could. Her elbow shot backwards into his solar plexus like a piston while her foot was already stamping down on the inside of the Chief's left foot as hard as she could. It was an old and well known series of moves, and by the time her left fist came racing up towards his nose, the Chief was ready for her. Grabbing her wrist with his free hand, he deftly side-stepped to avoid her next attack and dropped down onto one knee. Caught off balance, Cortana fell backwards, landing on the padded deck with a loud thump.
"SING: Solar-plexus, Instep, Nose and Groin." His face was only inches from hers, and he could feel the warmth of her body against his own, "I would have thought you'd be more original than that."
"I still got in two good hits." Cortana panted, trying to get her breath back as she looked up into his deep, icy-blue eyes, "And it's not like I ever really stood a chance against you: Cylon or not, I'm nowhere near as fast as a Spartan. I suppose I should be glad you pulled your punches."
"I would never hurt you." The words were out of the Chief's mouth before he realised that he meant them on more than one level. Lowering his head the last few, crucial inches, he kissed her deeply on the lips as he let go of her hands.
Cortana's eyes went wide with shock, then rolled back in her head as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close.
"How in the hell did it get so bad without anyone noticing?" Adama asked, looking at the ultrasound images on his desk; each one showed a section of the Galactica that had become riddled with small cracks and fissures caused by stress and fatigue over her long and somewhat eventful life.
"It was deep in her bones; they must have cut a few corners when they built her." Tyrol shook his head, "We're just lucky they found it in time. As it is, I don't understand how they found it, let alone fixed it on a molecular level."
"They're Huragok; it's what they do, what they were created for." Halsey sat in a chair to one side of the Admiral's desk with a smile on her face, "Show them something that's broken, and they want to take it apart and fix it. Show them something they've never seen before, and they take it apart to see how it works, then put it back together again, exactly as it was. They can also recreate anything they've ever examined, right down to the smallest imperfection."
"I thought you were keeping them under observation?" Adama asked, "I never said anything about giving them free reign over my ship."
"They're naturally curios and you can't argue with what they've done." The scientist laughed, "From what you yourself have told me, this ship is in better condition now than it has been for years." She cocked her head to one side, "Anyway, I thought it best to keep them occupied." She looked at Tyrol, "How many Huragok are working on your flight deck?"
"Six, last time I looked." the crew-chief blinked, "Why?"
"Because we only brought seven up from the Algae Planet, and there are three working on repairing damage in the CIC, with others working across the ship." Adama's eyes narrowed "They're breeding?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes; they are reproducing." Halsey took off her glasses and started to clean the lenses on the sleeve of her lab coat, "From what I understand of their, well, biology is the closest word, if there are sufficient raw materials, two or more Huragok can build a new one from scratch. The offspring has all the knowledge of its parents, but develop their own personalities. If I had to guess, I'd say they saw the amount of work that needed doing and decided they needed help."
"I..." The Admiral started to say something then remembered that Tyrol was in the room. As loyal and trustworthy as he had proven to be since the first Cylon attack, he wasn't cleared to know the 'truth', "Doctor, if you would be so kind as to ask them to avoid further, additions to their number, at least for the time being? Some of my people are finding it hard enough to deal with the concept of non-human intelligent life without feeling like the ship is about to be over run by floating gas-bags with tentacles. Cottle has reported an increase in people requesting sleeping pills because they're suffering from nightmares."
"I blame those Virgon-style animated films that were all the rage a few years back." Tyrol smiled and shook his head, "I don't know what it is about those guys and tentacles."
"I'll have Lucy talk to them." Halsey nodded, "I don't know why, maybe it's because she uses it herself, but she's picked up their sign-language faster and more fluently than any of us."
"Thank you." Adama looked at Tyrol, "That'll be all, Chief."
"Sir." The NCO nodded and left the cabin, shutting the hatch on his way out.
"I want you to talk to Silent Contemplation: he's supposed to be working on a way to improve the range and accuracy of our jump-drives." Adama turned to his one remaining guest once he was sure they couldn't be overheard, "But I've not heard anything new about it in weeks, and I want to know just what he's been up to."
"You could ask him yourself." Halsey suggested, "But then you'd have to get over your prejudice towards A.I.'s for all of five minutes..."
"I don't expect you to understand how we feel about A.I,'s: to you they've only ever been useful tools." The Admiral grunted, "Perhaps, if things had been different, we'd feel the same. But I've spent almost my entire life under the threat of attack by Cylons, and I will never fully trust them."
"Not even Lieutenant Agathon?" Halsey asked, "I would have thought that she would have proved herself to you by now?"
"My wife's father had a dog named Sam; an animal he'd raised from a pup. One day, out of the blue, the dog turned and bit him." Adama sat back his his chair, a thoughtful look on his face, "It wasn't anything serious, but he still took the dog to the vet and had it put down. Afterwards, I asked him why he'd gone to such extremes after something that he'd fixed with a sticking plaster. He looked me in the eye and said 'the trust was gone'. He loved that dog like it was one of the family, but once it had proven it could turn on him once, he knew he could never fully trust it again. Sharon turned on her own kind because of an emotional attachment to Helo." He frowned, "How do I know that, somewhere down the line, she won't change her mind and fall out of love with him?"
"One of Earth's greatest ever poets once wrote 'love makes fools of us all'." Halsey smiled, "I'm not going to claim to be an expert on love, as it's not something I've ever had much time for. For me, my work always came first. But as a woman, I can tell you this: Sharon Agathon will never do anything to hurt or endanger her daughter. While Hera is on this ship, you never have to worry about her mother's loyalty."
"John, wait!" Cortana pushed the Master Chief away and rolled over onto her side, "We just need to...to just slow down a little here and take a moment here."
The Spartan looked at her with a slightly confused look on his face.
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just..." Cortana blushed as she sat up and pulled her top back down, "I'd rather my first time wasn't on a musty old exercise mat in a room that reeks of disinfectant and sweat. I know you probably don't understand; I'm not sure I do myself, but I want it to be something more meaningful. I'm not asking for a four-poster bed and rose petals: just something a little more comfortable, and a little less public."
"I understand." The Master Chief smiled softly as he brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face, "We'll play it slow, if that's what you want."
"All ships in position and report ready to go." Commodore Kerensky's voiced echoed off of the armoured bulkheads, "Skies are clear of all other traffic."
"Attention all hands; we are a go for portal activation." Grant announced over the ships intercom, "Dr. Spencer, the floor is yours."
"Voi control reports ready to activate the portal." The scientist was sat at one of the main consoles, "Reverse coordinates set for last transition, so with any luck, we should come out in orbit of the planet the Colonial fleet was orbiting when Captain Thrace came through. We know their intended course, and roughly how far they could have gotten, so it shouldn't be too hard to track them down."
"You leave the navigation to me," The Admiral chuckled, "and I'll leave the science to you."
"Just what I've always wanted; promises of non-interference from the military." Spencer laughed, "Power now at optimum levels. The Shadow Of The Night reports ready for the initial transition, relay drone prepared for the return run." His hand moved across the controls with an ease born of years of practice, "Activating portal...Now!"
Far below the orbiting fleet, ancient systems came to life, and the massive structure, 100-km across, built under the cost of East Africa came to life. Massive towers rose up out of the ground as an electrical storm formed, stretching over Voi, New Mombasa and beyond. Lightning arched between the towers as they reached their zenith and locked into place then a pillar of blinding white light erupted from the very centre of the artefact. There was a bright flash, followed by a thunderclap that shattered windows hundreds of miles away as a glowing blue sphere of rippling energy formed in the air.
"We have a portal!" Spencer reported jubilantly, "All readings are in the Green: we are good to go.
"My compliments to Mr. Von Regenskirch." Grant sat back in her command chair, "He may proceed."
The Prowler Shadow Of The Night moved forward, cautiously at first, but with increasing speed. The surface of the sphere seemed to ripple as the ship passed through the portal. There was a period of tense silence on every ship in the assembled fleet, and on the planet below, as they awaited news from the scout ship. On the flag-bridge of the Dowding, all eyes were on Spencer.
"We have a contact." He reported, leaning over his screen, "It's the drone!" He jumped to his feet and punched the air excitedly, "We did it! The Shadow Of The Night has arrived at the intended coordinates and reports no contacts!"
"All hands, this is the Admiral: all are systems Go!" Grant's voice sounded out across every intercom in the fleet, "Next stop, the Sagittarius arm, and glory!"
To Be Continued...