Chapter 22.
SERENITY – PLANET KOBOL – VICINITY OF PEST SURVEY SHIP JERUSALEM
River quickly brought Serenity in for a landing. As the converted freighter touched down, she immediately opened up the forward cargo bay hatch. The Tondolayo APC quickly drove into the bay.
"Right, Girl", Mal said, "get down there now. Those TAD's are set to detonate in less than fifteen minutes".
River nodded, jumped out of the seat, then headed down to the bay. Simon followed her down.
"You going to lift off, Sir?" Zoe asked as Mal got into the pilot's seat.
"We wouldn't have time to get clear if those TAD's do end up detonating", Mal pointed out, "and we can't use the FTL here on the surface or in atmosphere. We're committed. I'm sitting here just in case".
River quickly got down to the cargo bay and ran up to the hatch. The hatch opened revealing Lieutenant Holcomb. He reached out his hand – which River took – and pulled her in. Holcomb led her over to where Manna was located.
"This is the man?" River asked as he looked at the bound-and-gagged visage of the Jerusalem's commander. Holcomb nodded.
"How long do we have?" River asked next. Holcomb looked at his chronometer.
"Fourteen minutes, twelve seconds", He replied, "There's no one else alive to interrogate: either here or at the Icarus".
Taking a deep breath, River nodded, then placed both hands on Manna's forehead…
PEST Survey Ship ICARUS – PLANET KOBOL.
"Six", Corporal McGruder reported to Captain Puller from the General Ike 's APC's communications console, "All of our people at the TAD sites have confirmed that all of them have been deep-drill secured to the surface. There's no hope of getting them cut free and airlifted off-planet in time. All are displaying flashing red lights indicating countdown under way".
The four raptors from the Amethyst had landed at the TAD sites and secured the areas. All four of the Templar technicians that had placed and primed the TAD's had decided to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner. Puller – who was up on the Icarus' bridge – was listening to McGruder over his comm-link. He was keeping in touch with the raptors as well as with Holcomb.
"No hope of disabling them either?", Puller communicated next, though he already knew the answer.
"The actual detonator is buried deep in the guts of the thing, and nothing short of a large-yield nuke would destroy it as it's too well-armored", McGruder replied, "those Templars did smash up the detonation primer control circuits on the outside of the TAD's, but as the command console here interfaces directly with the actual detonator, that won't be a problem once we send out the code to stop the countdown. It was fortunate that the Templars here didn't have time to destroy the console".
"Well, I hope Five gets that code or there is going to be a very loud bang, to say the very least", Puller said.
DEEP WITHIN KOBOL
"Interesting", one intellect commented as he took in the view of the efforts of the marines. Unknown to the humans on Kobol, they were being watched – and listened to…
"That is certainly putting it mildly", a second intellect replied, "I think that if those who had developed the original plan had been witnessing this, they might have reconsidered their course of action".
"Our own course of action is clear though, depending on what happens in the next few minutes", the first intellect pointed out, "The others have been informed".
SERENITY – APC IN CARGO BAY
The others were looking intently as River kept her hands placed on Manna's forehead. Holcomb was looking intently at the chronometer as it clicked down. Simon was watching River intently. She had gone very pale, but her gaze was locked on Manna's eyes. Manna was sweating a lot – probably from his efforts to resist River's probing of his mind.
"I'm worried about River", Simon whispered sotto voce to Holcomb, "I've not seen her this pale. This guy Manna must be very stong-willed".
"I'd be more worried about what will be happening to this planet if she does not get the TAD deactivation code", Holcomb hissed back, "we're down to four minutes".
The marine acting as communications technician in the APC was keeping an open channel to both Captain Puller – who was at the TAD control console on the Icarus – and Admiral Truly on the Amethyst.
Just then, River pulled away and staggered. Manna shuddered and went unconscious. Simon went to steady River.
"Are you all right, River?" Simon asked. River looked at her older brother and nodded.
"Do you have the code?" Holcomb demanded, "we're almost out of time!"
River nodded, saying weakly: "Inform whoever is at the control console that the code to suspend the countdown is Three-Three, Four-Two, Five One".
As Holcomb directed the marine communicator to send the code to Puller, Simon passed River a glass of water. Gratefully, she grabbed it and drank it down.
"He was fighting me all the way, but I got the information. Unfortunately, he didn't have the full abort code – that code was only known by Forrest - but he did have the code to suspend the countdown. And I got more than the code, in fact", she said.
"Let's get confirmation that the code works first", Simon said.
PEST SURVEY SHIP ICARUS – BRIDGE
After getting the signal from Holcomb, Puller went straight to the console and punched in the six numbers, then hit SEND.
"Code punched in", Puller said, "awaiting confirmation, so keep your fingers crossed".
The lights on the console – which were flashing red indicating that the detonation sequence was under way – started to flash orange, indicating that the code was being transmitted out to the TAD's. Looking at the chronometer, he hoped that the code was correct because there would be very little time remaining to punch in the correct code in case it was wrong. After several seconds, the flashing orange light turned to flashing green-orange. The TAD's countdown to detonation had been suspended, according to the console.
Corporal McGruder was listening to the communications channels from the four raptors. A few seconds after the flashing green-orange lights came on, he got signals from the raptor crews at the TAD's that confirmed that the countdown had been halted.
"Six", McGruder communicated to Puller, "All sites report TAD countdown stopped. We're safe for the time being".
"Inform both Sunray, and Chesty Five", Puller ordered, "then have the raptor crews start work on removing those devices. If we can't do a full shutdown, we need to get them off-planet in case someone finds a way to resume the countdown".
"Plus a countdown suspension won't stay suspended indefinitely, Six", McGruder said, "so you'll need to be ready to immediately punch in that code again when the countdown does resume".
Puller nodded. Given that it took twenty seconds to suspend the countdown after entering the code, that meant every time it resumed, they would be losing more time. Given that the detonation countdown clock was suspended at three minutes and ten seconds, he hoped that the suspension time was not going to be too short…
BATTLESTAR AMETHYST – COMMAND INFORMATION CENTER
"That was a close one", Commandant Lee remarked after reading the message from Captain Puller. Truly nodded and gestured to the Helm officer to suspend countdown for FTL-activation. Truly was going to have the Amethyst FTL-jump away from Kobol if the countdown reached ten seconds, but now that Puller had informed him about the countdown being halted...
"A suspension of countdown is not a full abort and it could resume at any time. I'll feel better once we get those TAD's off-planet", Truly replied, "and in any case as long as there is a Templar threat to this mission, I can't afford to take it easy, so be prepared to either jump out, or fight".
"The Annapolis, you mean?" Lee asked. Truly nodded. Just then, Comms came up.
"We've got a message from Serenity, Admiral", Comms said, "Miss River Tam wants to speak with you".
Nodding, Truly went over to Comms and took the headset that he had been holding out. Putting it on, he communicated: "This is Sunray. Good work, River".
"Thank you, Admiral", River communicated back, "but I think you need to know that when I got the code from the prisoner, he did not know how long that the countdown would be suspended for. Also, there is other information that I got from his mind that you need to know about".
"Go ahead", Truly said.
"The Annapolis is definitely close by and there are two Templars there: the commandant and the comm-scan officer. They are standing by to assist their comrades on-planet if called upon. Evidently they have kept the rest of the crew in the dark as to why they are in the Kobol System".
"So Commandant Ford is a Templar, and if his Comms is in cahoots, no wonder the rest of the crew are unaware", Truly stated, "Well, we'll have to deal with that, won't we?"
"Not a good idea to do so directly, Admiral", River said, "If he finds out what happened, Ford could relay an immediate resumption-of-countdown code to the TAD's and if he sees either the Amethyst or the Pensacola closing in on the Annapolis , he would probably have his Comms – a person named Richter – send out the signal. The countdown would resume from where it left off, and that signal could also scramble the suspension code that we do have".
"You're telling me that he has that capability? If so, why hasn't he done so already?" Truly demanded.
"He's not aware of all that has transpired down-planet, so he's probably awaiting further information from his friends. Using Manna's knowledge, I had Holcomb's marines on board the Jerusalem send out a coded 'ALL WELL' signal to the Annapolis. That should hold things for a while – unless he breaks wireless silence and tries to directly contact his friends".
"Any idea where the Annapolis is precisely, River?" Truly asked next.
"From what I could find out from Manna, the Annapolis is positioned at the edge of the system where you cannot directly see him on your sensors – most likely the planet is blocking your view. He was getting his messages relayed to the Annapolis by means of a small satellite that the Icarus had deployed before landing", River explained, "and he did send them a message about the peregrines heading in earlier".
"Are there any Templar agents on board either the Amethyst or the Pensacola?" Truly asked next.
"If there are any, then Manna doesn't know who they are", River replied, "but as he was the number-two man on this 'quest' to destroy Kobol, it is logical that he would be knowledgeable about such things".
"Unless Forrest decided to keep such things for himself, like what he did with the full abort code", Truly added, "Very well, let me think about this. Tell Chesty Five to stand by and have him relay that order to Chesty Six. While we're at it, have Six send that same ALL CLEAR signal from the Icarus as well, along with some plausible explanation for it".
BATTLESTAR ANNAPOLIS – COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER
"You're sure about this?" Ford asked Richter quietly. Richter nodded.
"I have the confirmation of the ALL WELL code – sent from the Jerusalem", she replied, "no question about it".
"But not from the Icarus", Ford mused, "and this after the code saying that there were hostiles closing in was sent. And no follow-up code elaborating why things are all well".
Just then, a light flashed on Richter's console. Richter tapped in a code number and the text: ALL WELL: STAND BY FOR FURTHER INFORMATION – ICARUS, came up on the screen.
"What's going on down there?" Ford mused, "if they were under imminent threat of attack earlier, then why did they send this signal? Could the code have been compromised?"
"Both Forrest and Manna are totally dedicated. Of all the people we sent on those two survey ships, only they know this code and it was committed to memory. They would not have talked. They would have died first", Richter assured him.
"True, but I'd feel better if I knew precisely what was happening down there", Ford said, "Was the attack aborted? Did our brothers down there defeat them? Why have the TAD's not yet been detonated?"
"Unless you want us to risk revealing our position to either the Amethyst or Pensacola, we can't communicate with them", Richter reminded him, "are you thinking of remote-firing the TAD's from here?"
Ford thought about it, but then another light flashed. Richter looked at the code numbers, then decoded the message.
"All right, Commandant", Richter said, "the message is reading that the initial ATTACK IMMINENT message they had sent was mistakenly sent out because they had overreacted to what they had initially thought was an attack, but turned out to be two raptors sent out from the Amethyst to provide additional high altitude cover. Looks like Truly is none the wiser".
"In that case, send out the code acknowledging the signal", Ford ordered.
"What about the Pensacola? We still don't know where that battlestar is", Richter pointed out.
'It's a very brief code burst and will more than likely not be picked up, so I think we can take the risk. Make it so", Ford ordered.
BATTLESTAR PENSACOLA – KOBOL SYSTEM - COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER
"Comms reports that our 'silent visitor' sent out a very quick message burst. It lasted less than a tenth of a second, but our CAP shadowing it clearly heard it", Sims said to Hunter.
"Has the intruder made a move from its position?" Hunter asked. Sims shook his head. Just then, Comms called Hunter over.
"We've got a code transmission from Sunray on your special code, Commandant", Comms reported, "sending it to your screen now".
Nodding, Hunter looked at his screen as the following message appeared:
FLASH SUNRAY TO YANKEE ACTUAL STOP TAD COUNTDOWN PAUSED THOUGH NOT ABLE TO BE FULLY ABORTED FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL MARINE ATTACK ON PEST SHIPS STOP IN PROCESS OF REMOVING TADS FROM PLANET STOP HAVE INFORMATION CONFIRMING ACADEMY IN KOBOL SYSTEM STOP ACADEMY ACTUAL AND COMMS BOTH TEMPLAR AGENTS STOP TAD COUNTDOWN COULD BE RESUMED BY ACADEMY AT ANY TIME IF THEY BECOME AWARE OF SITUATION SO TAKE NO PROVOCATIVE ACTION IF ACADEMY SIGHTED BY YOU STOP REPEAT DO NOT ENGAGE ACADEMY UNLESS ORDERED TO DO SO STOP NO EVIDENCE OF TEMPLAR PRESENCE ON BOARD EITHER YANKEE OR GEMSTONE BUT ACT AT DISCRETION STOP DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE STOP MESSAGE ENDS.
"Captain Mansch", Hunter called out. The Pensacola's ordinance officer walked up to him.
"Yes, Commandant?" Mansch said as he saluted.
Returning the salute, Hunter asked: "What is the difference between a countdown abort and a countdown suspension on a TAD?"
Mansch quickly filled him in on how the TAD detonation cycle could be – if set for delayed detonation – suspended for a time".
"Can the countdown be suspended indefinitely?" Hunter asked.
"A suspension of countdown is finite, Commandant. The duration of the suspension depends on how the TAD detonation console was programmed", Mansch explained.
"So we're not out of the woods yet", Sims commented after Mansch was dismissed.
"Let's hope that Sunray comes up with an idea", Hunter said, "because I've been given a clear order not to interfere unless he tells me otherwise".
BATTLESTAR ANNAPOLIS – COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER
Richter did pick up the message that was sent to Hunter from Truly, but of course she could not decode it. The fact that this message – like the last one she intercepted - was not acknowledged was also concerning her. What was Truly doing, she thought. The dradis console was showing no indication of any contacts, though with the Annapolis using only its passive sensors while in silent running mode, their ability to clearly ascertain any close-by presence was rather limited. If those signals were indeed being sent to a specific location – a CAP or even the Pensacola itself – she would not be able to pinpoint it unless an acknowledgement was sent out, and given that the code was not in her database, it made for more for her to worry over. It could be a ploy to try and flush out any listeners, but it could be something else that could threaten the Holy mission. Also, she was aware of Vice-Commandant Duren looking suspiciously at her. How long would she and Ford be able to keep the crew in the dark? Judging from Duren's look, not for much longer…
BATTLESTAR AMETHYST – COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER
"Chesty Six reports that the TAD's are being unsecured from their foundations, Admiral, and that they should have them loaded on board those raptors to take them off-planet within an hour", Comms reported, "He's standing by the TAD detonation console on board the Icarus in case the countdown resumes".
"Good thing that those Templar fanatics didn't have the time to place booby traps on them. I want the raptors set on remote auto-pilot once those things are on board. We'll program them for an FTL-jump into Kobol's sun once they are out of the atmosphere", Truly said, "Serenity can pick up the raptor crews".
"What about the Annapolis, Admiral?" Comms asked.
"Well, I was just thinking about that", Truly said, "You know, Comms, I had recently read an ancient Earth-That-Was story called The Iliad. With those PEST ships still flyable, maybe we can make use of that book in order to deal with our traitorous pair of Templars.