Chapter Six
Just one big happy Starfleet

To Apollo, President Adama, Commander Sheba, Sire Forsen, and
Dr. Chia, Beaming from the Galactica to Conference Room Two of
the Enterprise-E, using their disintegration, re-integration
transportation device with less than a three percent chance of
error - and why did they have to add that - was simply the bravest
thing they'd ever done. They expected disorientation. There
was none. They expected to see something during transport.
They probably didn't. However, one thing was secretly acknowledged
by all of them. They'd try to avoid this experience from ever
happening it again. These people took it for granted. To the
Colonials, it was simply terrifying.

But it didn't really matter at this point. These people claimed
to be from Earth! Once that news hit, the entire fleet was
overjoyed at the confirmations; but the loss of almost four
thousand people on the eve of this discovery muted the celebration.
In addition, over seven thousand inhabitants suffered burns, the
result of radiation exposure, electrical shortages and fire.
Broken bones, blood loss, and blunt force trauma added itself
to the mix along with three confirmed cases of stress-related
breakdowns. Memorials had to be prepared and the many injured
needed care from every source available. The Starfleet medical
corps and facilities onboard these starships were excellent and
many who would have otherwise have died survived their injuries.
Plus the medics performed standard diagnostics that caught several
conditions that would have become serious problems in the future.

Moments after they materialized, Captain Jean-Luc Picard greeted
each one warmly. Small food trays were place strategically in
the conference room, as there was no time for a formal dinner
and reception. Several Federation Captains, Captain Kagth,
Commander Riker, Consoler Deanna Troi and Lieutenant Commanders
Geordie LaForge and Data were also present. Communications had
been set up so that the Colonial Council of Twelve, the Klingon
contingent and the other Captains could participate as necessary.

"I wish this could a celebration instead of a conference towards a
possible prelude to war," Picard began, "however our situation
dictates that we deal with this now instead of allowing it to
continue to fester. A Federation ship and its crew have been
attacked by an unknown force that may also be responsible for
the conflict that is now occupying the Romulan forces. We need
to know more about these Cylons and their intentions. So, Mr.
President I will ask you to start."

President Adama looked around, his eyes finally resting on Picard
trying to evaluate him. This Captain was a competent professional
of that Adama had no doubt. There was maturity about this man, he
thought. But there was also a hint to sorrow, of pain. And the
younger woman with the beautiful, dark eyes constantly by his side,
Deanna he had called her, had a presence about her that caused him
to suspect that she could read him as well as he could read her
Captain. He'd also felt her gentle touches in his mind, which
he permitted. He could have blocked those mind-probes; military
training from long ago had prepared him to be able to do this and
more, but he decided against it, allowing her to scan freely.
Besides he liked her.

Adama looked around and there were tears in his eyes, which he
wiped Away quickly as he began. "Over twenty yahrens ago, our
civilization was destroyed by a race called the Cylons. These
beings were originally a lizard species, which created robot
servants in humanoid form because they saw that our form was more
efficient than theirs. They created these robots stronger and larger
than us and soon became completely dependent upon their creations.
Now, I realize that this is a somewhat simplistic answer," he stated
quickly, "but details will be forthcoming later. For some
reason that has never been made clear, these servants turned
on their masters and killed them all many thousands of yahrens
ago. Eventually their machine aggression spread and they attempted
to subjugate a people called the Hasaris. Our Government
elected to support the Hasaris and this precipitated a thousand
yahren war with these Cylons because we dared to defy them.
They could never beat us and eventually in our arrogance we
believed we were unbeatable. But we were also tired of this
unending war and when the Cylons presented the peace treaty to
Commander Baltar, most of us jumped at the chance. We didn't know
that Baltar was a traitor and our Battlestar fleet was caught
unawares on the eve of peace."

"All but one, the Galactica. Our ship tried to defend the
twelve colonies once we determined that they too would soon
be under attack. We were too late. Defenseless, all twelve
our planets and our related colonies were destroyed. We consisted
of over forty billion people before the Cylon slaughter. We
escaped with only two hundred and three ships filled to capacity
with refugees, about three hundred thousand souls. We found the
Battlestar Pegasus and a few others along the way, but have been
running ever since looking for the thirteenth colony, called Earth."

"The Cylons programming imperative is simple 'kill all humans'.
To them that was the entire point of the war and we failed to
understand that simple fact. Now that we have found you, so
have they. We've led them right to your doorstep."

"As you have no doubt heard," Picard responded, "all our studies
indicate that humans originated on Earth. We have also confirmed
that you are humans with different antibodies and genetic
characteristics that are very unusual as compared our norms, but
those unusual characteristics aren't that usual.

"This is true," Data added. "And your case is not that all unusual.
There have been several instances in which humans have been found
outside the planet Earth." The Colonials were stunned at the news.
As they quieted down, Data continued.

"Captain James T. Kirk found several planets which contained humans
transplanted from Earth by a species we refer to as the Preservers.
In fact there have been two planets in this galaxy that have been
found to be almost identical to Earth. Those humans there were
also transplanted, but the planets were in essence terra-formed
by some force we have not yet encountered. There may indeed be
several more 'Earths' that we have not discovered yet. Why these
planets were designed to mimic Earth-Prime is unclear at this time.
But the indigenous people found there were clearly human, another
example of a transplanted people."

"I can't agree," Apollo countered. "Our twelve planets weren't
even located in this galaxy. Kobol was found in this galaxy in
the area that you call the Beta quadrant."

"You claim to be from another galaxy?" Riker was shocked and a
more than a little skeptical.

"I believe that our translators are not yet fully translating
properly," Data answered. "Their word 'galaxy,' in the context
in which they are using, it may not be interpreted correctly. If
we present a map of were they have traveled we may have a better
understanding of their use of the word."

"Very good. Make it so."

A three dimensional map, being generated from stellar
cartography, appeared of the Beta quadrant. Adama pointed
immediately to the very tip of the arm, which contained
approximately one hundred thousand stars. "That's where our
worlds were," he said. "Then we moved to there through the
Great Expanse some twenty thousand light yahrens distant and
found the planet Kobol."

"Twenty-thousand light years," Picard whispered, impressed.
"I believe I understand."

"And how long did it take to get there?" Picard asked.

"About three sectons," Starbuck said. "Give or take."

"Three weeks!" Captain Kagth shocked, smiled even more,
filled with admiration with these human warriors. "How?" he
stammered.

"We normally use our light speed engines for FLT but for long
distance travel, we utilize the tunnel-shift drive engines. We
can detect what we call wave-space pockets which allows us entry
into what we call transport tunnels in non-normal space. With
this we can travel great distances but our accuracy is not as
good as we would like. We can only travel in a general
straight line direction that we choice before the jump."

"It is a form of transwarp drive," Data stated flatly even as
Geordie nodded his head in agreement. "They have developed the
ability to access transwarp vectors, which, in essence are residue
or by-products of transwarp conduits, even though they have never
developed warp drive pass the rudimentary sciences, as of yet."

"But each time they use it," Geordie continued, "they undergo
temporal as well as spatial distortions. We found out that the
Borg generate a chronometric particle field in front of their
ships to keep time distortions to a minimum. Colonial technology
doesn't include this protective field, so in essence they've been
traveling a lot longer than twenty years."

"Yes, that's true. But, Who are the Borg?"

"We'll discuss them later, Mr. President," Picard said preferring
to hold off on that particular subject that for the future.
"Please take a look at your point of origin on the star map.
Your planetary system is here, isolated from the rest of the
Beta arm cluster by this dark area here," he continued pointing
at the three-Dimensional map. "What do you call this area?"

"That is our home galaxy," Starbuck announced.

"This is where the mistranslation occurs. You're calling that
pocket of stars a galaxy." It was a statement.

"Correct. We also use the name galaxy for the entire galactic
star cluster. It depends on how and in what context the word
is used," he said as though it was the most natural thing in
the world.

"You, your planets and indeed the entire stellar cluster were
completely isolated from the rest of the galactic arm. You had
to get past the Dark Expanse to reconnect to the main
the rest of the galaxy. The only other area that you could have
traveled to would have been here, which is in the center of that
dark expanse," he said pointing to the dark region imposed on the
three dimensional map.

"Yes."

"And the Cylons came from the relative same area that your
colony worlds resided?" Riker asked, confirming what most
already suspected.

"In our region of the galaxy, again yes."

"And they've chased you all this time?"

"Yes. They're kind of one track minded on this, something to
do with their programming," Starbuck said, somewhat sarcastically.
"Look we need your help. We're running on empty fumes here. And
they're your enemies as well as ours."

"That remains to be determined," Picard said evenly.

"Ah, Captain Picard," Captain Duvalier said coolly. "These
Cylons attacked and killed a significant number of the crew
of the Okada. In fact, I think they laid a trap specifically
to disable and capture the Okada. We monitored the conversations
between the Okada and the Cylons. They understood Federation
standard and understood exactly what they intended to accomplish.
The conversation was extremely provocative on their part. And
even more so with us. The Cylon base ship...?"

"Basestar," Adama corrected.

"Basestar," she said revising the word before continuing,
"attacked the fleet then ignored the Galactica and the rest of
the fleet to attack our sister ship. They could have destroyed
the Pegasus but chose only to damage it so that the Okada would
have to intervene. They could have used transporters onboard the
Galactica and any other ship they wished and slaughtered everyone.
But they didn't, because
they didn't want to. What they wanted was the Okada, Federation
technology, data on our defenses, strategies, and territories.
You've seen our recordings and examined the Colonial records. I
believe that they really want us dead, simply because we're human."

"Captain," Picard began, "your points are well taken and I
understand what you're saying. But we have not declared war yet
on this new entity. If we simply attack, then we may be
exasperating the problem. I hoping to avoid another war," he
continued. We must try diplomacy before we began shooting at
them."

"With due respect," Captain Nashta of the Borallis chimed
in, "I don't agree with you." He was young Betazoid who achieved
his rank and considerable recognition during the Dominion wars.
He was brash and a good representative of a new breed of Federation
officer resulting from the war. "We may not have declared war
on the Cylon Empire but they have declared war on us."

Look at us," he continued. "We're still in a so-called
undeclared war with the Borg and we're keeping a serious eye
on the Romulan Empire. And if you believe that the Romulans and
the Federation are friends just because they came to help us
during the war, then you're mistaken. These Cylons have made
their intentions perfectly clear. The fact that we're here with
a small fleet says that we're taking them seriously and that if
we choose to negotiate, it will be from a position of strength.
Starfleet is tired of constantly being on the defensive, all the
time. Right now our situation is tense and our resources are
strained because of the last war. We cannot afford to simply
wait for the next attack and the next, and the next."

"Remember you were the one who initiated the coming together
of this fleet in the first place. You must have recognized the
threat," he said, finishing.

Picard hadn't expected this reaction and his anger was
visible. Why couldn't Nashta and probably several others,
judging from their expressions and Deanna's look of concern,
understand that war wasn't the answer if peace could be
maintained? More importantly was this wet-nosed kid lecturing
him on diplomacy and the Prime Directive? "We are not at
war with the Romulans and relations have been better with them
now than ever before," he growled. "Of course, I am aware of
what the Romulans are capable of, but we may have to help them
in order to help ourselves. It's called enlightened self-interest.
The Cylons are a new threat which needs to be dealt with, but non
-violently, if possible."

Captain Nashta was appeased in the slightest. "And what's going to
happen when they find out that the Cylons were violating their
territories to hunt Humans down?" He looked around answering
his own question. "They're going to blame the Federation and
our 'friendly' relations dill disappear like the wind, to say
the least." The anger in his voice was evident and everyone
could see the resentment plaster on his face.

"We will talk first to the Cylon representatives and then
respond accordingly." Picard said tartly. He didn't like
they way this conversation was going. This schism could
ultimately cause difficulties in the future. And he hated
being censured by this wet-behind-the-ears boy.

"I've read your records on your first contact with the Borg,
Captain," Nashta said evenly, his voice regaining some of the
control. "They sliced your ship up like cheese before you even
attempted to defend your ship. Your tried to disable that cube's
deflector array rather than think of the safety of your own crew."

"Captain!"

"What I'm saying," he continued, "is that I don't want my
crew placed in danger because of your need to over negotiate
with what may turn into a serious threat to the Federation. We are
the ones out here defending our people and I don't want to wind up
fighting another defensive war."

"Nashta," Duvalier snarled, "You're out of line. Starfleet
isn't a military organization. We're out here shooting at
other folks because we're defenders of Peace, not aggressors.
I have no compunctions about blowing the Cylons to hell and
back but if that can be avoided, we should for it. Picard's
experiences..."

Picard cut her off with a slash of his hand. "Captain Nashta,"
he began tartly, "Negotiations in peaceful contact with unknown
species is a core reason why we are out here. Contrary to your
assumptions, we're not the sum of this universe. Just because
we're out here doesn't mean that the values we have are
representative of everyone else. That point has been drilled
into all Starfleet cadets from the day one. The Klingons, the
Gorn, the Tholians, even the Cardassians are not simply
inconveniences for our Great and Glorious Federation. We all
share this galaxy. It's our responsibility to represent the best
of ourselves, to explore and learn from the marvelous opportunities
afforded us. We are not out here to shoot at everybody we don't
happen to like.

"The Cylons..."

"Don't interrupt me, Captain," Picard snapped. This was getting
out of hand and now he exerted his authority to quell this
disagreement. "I'm aware of the threat the Cylons represent,
even more so than you. But I will not precipitate a war with
them until their actions dictate our course of action. We are
a defensive force and we will act accordingly."

"And that's the reason we're having problems with everybody
in the first place," he muttered as he looked at Picard, his
eyes hard. "After all we don't want to star an unnecessary war.
We need to talk to the Cylons." The man was defiant.

"Yes, we do."
***

The Colonial representatives were slightly startled at the
hostility with seemingly erupted from nowhere.

"These people are almost as bad as we are," Starbuck said almost
admiringly. "Haven't they seen what these new Cylons can do?
Don't they know how dangerous they are?"

"No. And that's exactly the point," Adama replied quietly.
"They're worse than ever but these people have their own
problems. So, as a result, they don't fully understand the
danger the Cylons represent. They seem more concerned about
their enemies, the Borg things or whatever they call them and
others in local space. This I can understand but I must impress
on them as to what they will be fighting against."

"Besides what did you expect when we reached Earth?" Sire
Forsen asked, jumping into the hushed conversation. "That these
people would be perfect and have all the answers solved, just
waiting for us?" Leaning over towards his delegation,
"personally, I find it refreshing that they have freedom of
expression. It shows that freedom is present here even in
their military. But it's also true that they may inadvertently
repeat history with the Cylons and this we must avoid at all cost."

"But how do we impress upon these people the danger they
represent?" Starbuck asked, "let the Cylons blow up one of their
worlds?"

"Look," Apollo stated, "if someone came to our systems running
away from enemies with the power of the Cylons, we would be
skeptical also and, we would be cautious about starting any
kind of conflict over a few thousand souls."

"The Cylons are their enemy as well."

"They don't know this yet," Adama replied.

"Well then," Apollo said, "let's clear this up right now." He
turned to Captain Picard. "Sir," he began, "the Cylons that
just attacked us are not the same beings that we have been
fighting and running from these past twenty yahrens. Even a
fleet of Basestars would have proven no match for one or two
of your starships. Your fleet assembled here could have overrun
the combined power of the entire Empire, its colonies and us also,
for good measure. But now, they're much more powerful than
anything we've encountered before. And this seems to be a recent
occurrence."

"If you look at the schematics," he continued, calling up a
diagram of a Cylon centurion, "this is what we've been
fighting." The diagram present indicated the internal
representation a standard centurion. "Notice that the main
computer processor is embarrassingly simplistic by your
standards. They beat us not by tactical superiority but by
force of numbers and our own foolish obsession for peace with
an untrustworthy enemy."

"But," he continued, "what we faced a few centars ago is a
different construct altogether. They're far smarter, and more
durable and their overall technology seems to have made a
quantum leap over our, what used to be, similar technologies.
They can now overwhelm us easily."

"Commander Apollo is correct." Data said. "We have a prisoner,
a survivor from one of the small raider fighter craft. It is in
a maximum-security cell under a level ten force field. We were
unable to de-activate its primary weapons system because it
regenerated its internal weaponry each time we removed them.
When it finally auto-reactivated we were unable to continue our
scans, but the data we did get is far more sophisticated than
what is represented in this diagram we are presently seeing."

Data switched three-dimensional image to the security brig.
The observers saw a Cylon warrior standing akimbo inside the
security cell guarded by three security personnel in heavy
armor, each carrying compression type-three phaser rifles.
It single eye rotated serenely, taking in everything,
revealing nothing.

"May I speak to it?" President Adam asked of Captain Picard.
Picard gave him an affirmative nod and Data opened a vid channel
directly to the cell. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.

The Cylon answered in its natural mechanical voice. "You are
President Adama, Commander of the Battlestar Galactica, leader
of the Council of Twelve of the rebel humans. You are to be
scheduled for termination."

"Hardly, Cylon," he responded dryly. "You have tried but you
haven't destroyed us yet."

"You and your humans would not be scheduled for termination
if you would have submitted to Cylon rule," it responded. "Now
that we are omnipotent we can afford to be generous. Surrender
to us and we will show you mercy. You and your leaders will be
executed, but the other humans will be allowed to live in
controlled areas subjected to the will of the Cylon Empire."

"And how would you guarantee the lives of the humans of the
Colonial fleet?" Picard asked. His eyes were dark and he was
unusually curt in his question.

"The moon of Sepicor in the Beta quadrant will be terraformed
for the human colony where they can be monitored and cared for
by the Empire. All Colonial technology will be removed. They
will convert to an agricultural society for the benefit of all
concerned. This is the will of the Cylon Empire."

"And what if they choose to become something more than what you
want them to be?"

"They will be allowed to submit a request for change." The Cylon
completed the statement, said nothing more.

"Frack! You believe that? Starbuck yelled. "There's no way
we'd allow ourselves to submit to their rule. They're liars!
They want of all dead!"

"Indeed," Picard said. He activated his comm. "Mr. Angaa,
where is the location of the nearest Cylon Basestar?"

"Three point two light-years in the Romulan neutral zone.
It's the same ship that attacked the Okada. There are two
other similar ships supporting it."

"Good. Open communications with it." He turned towards
President Adama asking him to join him in this conference.

"Yes Sir," came Angaa's answer. "I..." he stopped almost
immediately. Sir, we have a general alert! A transwarp conduit
has just opened in sector zero-zero-one. All ships in the area
are converging. It's a Borg signature sir!"

Captain Picard and the other Federation officers hissed in
dismay. This was the worst of times to have them to contend
with. The problem here demanded immediate attention. But the
Borg...

"At maximum warp nine it would take at least three hours forty
two minutes to reach Earth," Data said. Then he added, "It seems
we have done this before."

"Mr. Angaa, put Starfleet frequency one-four-eight-six on audio
and pip it through to the conference room now."

"Aye, Sir."

"What's happening?" Sire Forsen asked Apollo, Starbuck and the
President.

"One micron, we're about to communicate with that Cylon
Basestar and the next, its like they've forgotten all about
us. Are the Borg that dangerous?"

"And if they are, should we even be here in this section of
space?" Starbuck added.

"I don't know," the president answered. "It's the enemy you
know verses the enemy you don't. There's so much we have to
take in consideration."

"Sir, another message," Mr. Angaa said quickly. "It's a Borg sphere...Federation ships have opened fire....the sphere is
still coming...wait something just happened to the sphere. It's
self-destructing. So is the conduit."

"Self destructing?" Riker said. "Did our ships manage...?"

"Sirs! Everyone!" the communications officer said excitedly.
"It's Voyager! She blew up the sphere. From the inside!
She's home!"

"Voyager destroyed the sphere? How?"

"It doesn't matter," Picard said smiling like everyone else.
He'd have to have a long, long talk with Captain Katherine
Janeway at the earliest available opportunity. But right now
he had another priority. "Mr. Angaa, will you please carry
out my last order now?"

"Ah, yes sir," he said flushing slightly. "Opening a channel
now." A few later he added, "they're responding."

An Image appeared. It was Spectre. "Yes," it said quaintly.
"How may I help you human?"

Picard looked at the Cylon image and his hackles rose. The
entity was completely robotic as he'd been told, but even he
could sense the coldness radiating from it.

"I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship
Enterprise. We are trying to seek a peaceful resolution to
this dispute that has recently occurred," he said putting on
his best diplomatic face.

"Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise?"
the mechanical being said sarcastically. "I see a pattern here
for a penchant for names, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the
Federation starship Enterprise. We too have an understanding
of the importance of names. I am called Lord Specter of the
Poison Mist, member of the great Cylon Imperial allegiance.
Why is it that you have attacked my peace-loving, exploration
ship, destroyed members of my crew and in general attempted to
provoke a war with the Cylon Empire?"

"It doesn't sound like a robot to me," Riker whispered to
Starbuck. "What kind of programming does this thing have?"

"We have no desire to provoke a war with your people,"
Picard continued. But you did attack our ship and killed
several members of the crew," he said in his best diplomatic
voice.

"We felt threatened," it replied smoothly. "Captain Roberta
Ikata demanded that we cease and desist in defending ourselves
against the cruel aggressions of the Battlestars Galactica and
Pegasus. We couldn't do that in all good conscience."

The creature was a liar, Picard realized. Deanna wasn't needed to
help him make this determination. His own gut feelings were
sufficient.

"Do you speak for your people?" he asked.

"Do you speak for your people, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the
Federation starship Enterprise?"

Picard sense that Spectre was enjoying trying to irritate him.
But he determined that it wouldn't work. "Yes I do."

"Well, I won't," Spectre replied ever so slowly. "But I will
have you speak to the Imperium Supreme and he will convey the
will of the Cylon people."

"Imperium Supreme? Not Imperious Leader?" Apollo said quietly
in the background. "What is going on here?"