Chapter 53.
The 25 degree converging pattern provided an exceptional range of motion with consistent torque at the well-worn joint. The gymnasium aboard Pegasus provided a vast array of fitness and weight equipment for the crew, and this morning a group of Marines were patiently awaiting the current user to finish up his set on the incline press machine. Lee's upper pectoral muscles screamed at the punishment he was subjecting them to, his inner rage was barely self contained as he finished the last repetition of his set.
The weight was substantial, especially for a viper pilot. Normally, viper pilots were of medium height and build to fit within the snug confine of a cockpit. Several of the marines were visually impressed at the former Galactica CAG's workout. The routine was one that many of them used, but with far greater weight involved. Viper pilots weren't expected to be hands-on fighters, many weren't and were viewed as overpaid glory hounds safe from the death and dirty work of ground fighting that most Colonial Marines faced.
"You expectin to make a lateral transfer over to the Marines, or what lieutenant?" asked a corporal. Lee wiped the sweat from his face and pulled on a pair of weighted gloves to work the heavy bag.
"Negative corporal, knock a viper out of the sky and the pilot now becomes infantry. No excuse not to be prepared for the possibility." All but one of the marines were impressed with the reply, a tall black marine who went by the name Lucas let out a laugh as he dropped down into the seat of the incline press that Lee just vacated.
"What makes you so sure you'd even measure up to infantry standards, flyboy?" queried the marine, throwing all respect for the commissioned officer aside. If Lee Adama even noticed the flagrant disrespect to an officer from an enlisted man he didn't show it, the gymnasium was unofficially free of rank.
"Never heard of lowly viper jocks breaking the neck joints of hardened centurions during the first Cylon War?" shot back Lee throwing out a stiff left-handed jab to the heavy bag. "Guess you skipped the class back in high school history that mentioned the Brenik boarding by a squad of toasters in the second year of the war." Lee had thrown a few hard combinations at the hanging bag, while almost a foot shorter than the smallest marine present, it was clear that this viper pilot was no light weight when it came to dishing out punishment.
"Those were some pretty old models if I remember correctly, don't think you could pop the neck on one of the newer ones, especially with their heads encased in the armor itself, what then?"
Breathing heavily, Lee stopped and turned to reply. "If you're good with your weapons, then there's no need to ever get that close, but if so, jam your K-Bar in deep wherever you can find an opening and pray to the gods. Any other questions, marine?" said Lee, more statement than actual question. The senior marine recognizing Lee's obvious hint decided to get their rotating workout started.
"Alright, enough with the jawboning Lucas, we're workin out chest muscles, not tongue muscles, let's get this weight up already." Lee spent another fifteen minutes on the bag before the chronometer on the wall indicated he had thirty minutes to grab a shower, dress and report for duty. He took the towel off the hook and wiped the sweat from his face and neck as he strode out the gymnasium.
"Frakin daddy's boy!" snorted Lucas. "Cain busting him down to lieutenant, and shipping him off to a raptor brought him back down a peg or two."
"Tone it down Lucas, he's not your standard pretty boy viper jock. That look in his eye," paused the corporal, "pure, repressed rage. That man snaps, I guarantee he'll hurt whatever, or whoever is in his path."
"Well he ain't no marine!" argued Lucas, then again, I ain't so sure that the marines they got aboard Galactica deserve the title." The corporal just shook his head. Bad enough this man would disrespect a fellow member of the military, officer aside, it was reprehensible he would so callously disrespect his fellow Colonial Marines. There was a growing divide between crew members of the Galactica and Pegasus, and no good could come from that.
CAG's Quarters – Battlestar Pegasus
"Sorry I'm late, you wanted to see me." said Lee standing outside the open hatchway. Kara looked up at the chronometer with annoyance.
"Fifteen seconds late? Be sorry and ready with a fumarello when you're fifteen minutes late Lee!" said Kara kicking out a chair she had her feet on in order for Lee to sit down. "This punctuality felgercarb is grating on my nerves."
"Heavy is the uniform that holds the CAG's rank, isn't it?" mocked Lee all in good humor. Kara gestured to the door, and Lee tipped back on the rear legs of the chair to reach over and slam the hatch shut.
"Lee, she's going ahead with a raid on that outpost!"
"What! The element of surprise is gone, the Cylons will be waiting for us the moment we clear that asteroid field, those of us that actually survive it." said Lee angrily. "Has my father weighed in on the matter?"
"I doubt she even bothered to consult him. She's like a woman possessed, she won't stop til she gets what she wants." explained Kara. "I'm to come up with a plan for her, and for the first time in my life I have no idea where to begin. It's suicide of course! Like you said, the element of surprise is gone, we have to traverse an asteroid field to get there, and the field is a challenge to the best pilots, never mind the nuggets."
"And by now they outpost commander is sure to have called in even more reinforcements than the Baseships they already have on station." offered Lee.
Kara just buried her head in the palms of her hand and replied, "this just keeps getting better and better."
Admiral Cain's quarters
"Look Jack, I'm tired of dealing with this issue. Find which civilian ship has the items we need and just send a retrieval team over there." said Cain bluntly.
"There's bound to be push back." replied Fisk. Cain angrily slammed down the pen she was writing with and looked up.
"I don't give a frak what a bunch of civilians like or dislike, the Battlestars are priority needs, anyone has a problem with it, lock em up, or put em up against a bulkhead. Enough with this felgercarb!" shouted Cain loud enough for the marine detail outside her door to clearly hear. "Now, what have you got from Sarnex?"
"He reports that security has been beefed up around Adama all of a sudden. He thinks that Adama feels his position is threatened, and that you may try to forcibly relieve him from command."
"Good, let him be paranoid. I'll deal with him as it suits my pleasure. Keep Sarnex sniffing about, tell him I want names of those who could be considered friendly or hostile to a command change."
"You're going forward with "Case Orange" then?" asked Fisk, referring to the operational code name for the removal of William Adama from command.
"In due time, Jack. Adama is obviously paranoid if he's increasing his private security. Let him worry about when the blade will fall for the time being. I'll take him out at the right moment, now... if you have nothing further..." this wasn't a question, this was Cain signaling the end of the discussion. Jack Fisk exited her quarters.
Cylon Basestar
Cavil was seething with barely contained rage. Two Battlestars well within his grasp, yet they both escaped, along with the civilian fleet. He had been tracking the Pegasus for weeks now, as the Mercury class Battlestar and its bold commander wreaked havoc on Cylon supply lines. Cain had been staging guerrilla strikes on fuel and supply convoys across half a dozen sectors. The loss in Cylon assets were staggering by this lone ship, and he wanted it. He wanted it, and its commander badly. The bulk of the Cylon fleet had been spread out throughout the galaxy, in search of the elderly Galactica and her rag tag fugitive fleet, and just two days ago, they were all within his grasp. Since first encountering the Pegasus and her raiding tactics weeks after the destruction of the colonies, this particular Cavil had one mission, to engage the Pegasus and destroy her and let the other Basestars go after the remaining humans, they would eventually be found and exterminated. He had dispatched dozens of heavy raiders to jump into nearby sectors in search of the humans, none had discovered them yet.
"The last of the heavy raiders have reported in Cavil, none have had success locating the human fleet." reported Doral as he withdrew his hands from the data stream.
"We had them in our grasp!" hissed Cavil. "Both Pegasus and Galactica...ours for the mutilating, and what happens? They get away, all of them."
"How they even discovered our outpost is a relevant query." stated Simon flatly. "That outpost was well-hidden, and logic would dictate that the humans will try to attack it again. The tylium supplies are too tempting a target for them to ignore."
"I don't really give a flying frak how they discovered our outpost, as I am about why our superior forces couldn't destroy them." rebuked Cavil.
"Perhaps you'd like to register a complaint with the Imperious Leader, Cavil." said a female of the three series sarcastically.
"I'm heartened by your capacity for humor Three, but unfortunately the escape of the fugitives ultimately will endanger us all. I doubt you'll be so flippant when they stretch your pretty little neck someday in the future after they regroup, rebuild their fleets and find away to defeat our resurrection ability. However I must agree with four's assessment, the fleet will no doubt return for the tylium at our outpost," said the One series humanoid Cylon. "I mean it's not like there's a Colonial fueling station this far out from the colonies."
Command Center - Freighter Gemeni
On the far side of the fleet, the freighter Gemeni prepares to receive two Raptors from the flagship of the fleet. One Raptor is empty, save for the pilot and ECO, the other holds a dozen heavily-armed Pegasus Marines. With the raptors on final approach, the mood in the command center is tense.
"What do they want now?" asked the second-in-command.
"The Gods only know," replied the exasperated captain. "You'd think Cain would have been content with the two cases of Scorpion Mash Genuine that she commandeered the last time she visited. Alright, no sense in getting ourselves worked up about this... let's just get it over with."
"Why don't you go to the Quorum, or the President, even?" whispered the second in command.
"What would that accomplish, other than pissing off Cain! It's becoming pretty obvious that she's of a different mold than Adama. To think that I'd get pissed off with the road blocks that Adama occasionally threw in our side operation's path. Compared to Cain, Adama is a delight to deal with." replied the captain. "You have the deck, I'll go greet our visitors." The Libran captain exited the command center and descended the four decks to the hanger bay. Behind a twelve inch thick piece of shatter-proof glass, he watched as the raptors maneuvered into the small bay. Within minutes, the hanger was re-pressurized, and he walked over to the hatch leading below. Colonel Jack Fisk stepped off the raptor, followed by the Marine detail. He immediately recognized the freighter's captain, and walked over to where he was standing.
"Good afternoon captain, thank you for seeing us on such short notice." said Fisk entirely without any hint of cordiality.
"Colonel Fisk, always a pleasure. What can Gemeni do for you?" replied the captain nervously, as he offered his hand to the military officer before him. Fisk merely glanced down at the offered hand, and then spoke up.
"Our records indicate that you have four model 218- Alpha energizers in your inventory." said Fisk flatly.
"Why... yes, that is correct."
"They, along with the six you have concealed, and off your inventory list, are to be transferred to the Pegasus immediately."
"Colonel...I assure you, we have only the four energizers in stock, and those are of vital importance to the operation of this vessel." argued the freighter's captain.
"Where is your executive officer, captain?" demanded Fisk.
"Why...he's in the command center of course." stammered the captain. Fisk turned to the senior marine and nodded. The large lieutenant pushed the much smaller civilian captain against a bulkhead and proceeded to place him is restraints. "What are you doing?" he yelled, his shrill voice echoing off the small walls of the hanger bay. "You can't arrest me, I'm the captain of this ship!"
"Captain Mandell, you are hereby relieved of command of the Gemeni." announced Fisk. "You are under arrest for illegally conspiring to conceal vital goods in time of war, and failure to comply with a command from the Admiral of this fleet. Your executive officer will assume command of this vessel, and you will be transferred to the detention center aboard the flagship until your hearing."
"I demand to talk to Adama!"
"Commander Adama is not in command of this fleet, and it is in your best interest to demand nothing at this time." replied Fisk sharply. Two marines escorted the former captain back aboard the raptor, and Fisk turned towards his marine lieutenant. "Lieutenant, get up to the command center with these six marines and inform the new captain of the situation." Fisk counted off six marines. "I want all of those energizers, and if he gives you any felgercarb about there being only four, than remind him where his former captain now sits, and that the same will happen to him."
"Aye aye, Colonel." replied the officer with a salute. Fisk turned towards the two junior marines and ordered them to post at the entrance to the hanger. That left two specific marines left. "Corporal Thomas and Clarke, why don't you two take a walk and see what else might strike our fancy," said Fisk with a slight smile. "The Gemeni freightermay not be the Prometheus, but she's got some serious goods making the rounds here." said Fisk referring to the freighter Prometheus that was a black market haven. Within a week of Pegasus' arrival, Jack Fisk made his presence known to the hierarchy of the fleet's illegal black market, a dangerous man named Phelan. He had already procured numerous goods and services that he used to bribe officials in high places. Clarke and Thomas were his eyes and ears, and more importantly, his muscle.
Within the hour, ten Caprican-made 218- Alpha energizers were being loaded into Pegasus Raptor 4, along with the former captain of the Gemeni freighter who sat quietly, and manacled between two large marines. Clarke and Thomas' scouting mission produced a case of extremely rare Folioles, a brand of cigars that had been 'confiscated' from the former captain's personal stateroom. Also forcibly obtained under the guise of security, was a twelve inch dagger crafted on the colony Leonis. An intricate carving of the father of the gods, Zeus himself, adorned the handle, which was made from the tusk of an animal long extinct even before the Cylons wiped out the colonies. Prior to the destruction of the colonies, such a rare weapon would have fetched a price of nearly 80,000 cubits. The owner of the dagger was unwilling to part with his prized possession, at least not until the business end of the marine's assault weapon was roughly forced into the man's mouth and a countdown to firing had begun.
"Not a bad haul men," remarked Fisk quietly. "I'll keep two boxes of the Folioles and the dagger, and you two can split the remainder of the Folioles amongst yourselves." The case had contained twelve individual boxes of twenty cigars, so that left each marine five cartons apiece. They would no doubt barter those treasures off for other rare items that caught their fancy. Jack Fisk was ambitious and greedy, but knew to keep his two pet marines happy whenever the score was big.
