7 Points
By Chaoseternus
MTB02, Cerberus
Tappin sighed, wearily wiping the sweat from his brow with one hand, once again…
"Sir" he started, then cleared his throat as he realized only a croak had come out, "Sir, no contact, and no indications"
Wearily, and unsurprised, Drew nodded, "One last system to check, then its home plate for tea and bed, take us out Bonner"
Bonner quirked an eyebrow, amused "Should I wait for you to say engage sir?"
"Not really, I don't like you that much Bonner and I am already married thank you" Drew shot back, his fatigue momentarily displaced by the chance for some banter.
He sat back, victorious as Bonner blushed, his face hidden as he ducked down to the console, tapping the new jump co-ordinates swiftly into the console.
They reappeared with a flash in the last system of their search pattern, and Tappin growled with frustration, banging his console with both hands at the obvious signs on his sensors, "They just left, they just fg left!"
"What!" Drew shouted, rising from his seat angrily, his fatigue totally dispelled.
"They've left, within the last minute" Tappin replied, annoyed, banging at his console angrily.
"Anyway of knowing which way they went?" Bonner asked, nervously.
"No, which is a bloody shame" Tappin cursed, sullenly.
"All right, they aren't here, lets go back to home plate and report" Drew sighed, a weary frown on his face.
Del Shakka Mel
It was a weary but defiant council of war that convened aboard the Del Shakka Mel the next day, Harris of the Blastboat, Drew of the Cerberus, Crowe of the Teltac Esso, and Enerina's First Prime Enerist. Enerina herself still being unavailable and her host wasn't coming out of their quarters.
"Well, I'm almost tapped out" Crowe started, "whatever happens, I'll be heading back to Thundersdawn to re-supply and very soon"
"Well, they are really going to love the reports you are going to be taking with you" Harris commented sardonically, "Probably think we have been watching way too many Terminator movies, with machine enemies who look human and all"
"You'll need an escort though, and I'm afraid I am going to have to 'volunteer' Cerberus for that, we seem to have a problem with the environmental controls, and it is one of the really awkward ones that requires a full environmental shut down to deal with"
Grimaces were exchanged amongst the Tau'ri, fun.
"What's the latest on Enerina and Boomer?" Drew continued.
Enerist shook her head unhappily, "As far as we can tell, Enerina should 'wake up' at any time now, it is just a case of waiting. As for Boomer, we noticed that over the day since the operation, some of the mechanism has started to reattach so we hit it with EMP again, but we cant do that too often, it risks brain damage, especially with a jury-rigged generator.
And it will be several days before Enerina is strong enough to complete the operation, and we will need a Brain Doctor? Is that the phrase? Here by then"
"Neurosurgeon, but yes we know what you mean" Crowe replied, "Okay, so we need to ask for a neurosurgeon plus their equipment, cant take Boomer back with us, neither of our ships are in any way equipped for it"
"Agreed, now does the SGC or the RSS have a neurosurgeon on the rolls?" Drew asked.
Harris nodded, "Yes, part of the MASH unit they are setting up just in case, got a bunch of guys who were at Korea teaching the new Doc's about 'meatball' surgery"
Xander chuckled, breaking into a fond smile, "Bunch of nut-jobs but damn good at what they do"
Enerist raised an eyebrow, " You consider them nut jobs?"
"Be afraid, be very afraid" Drew commented, solemnly.
BSG-75 Galactica
Adama looked up shocked and disturbed as the full impact of what he had been reading sank in.
Kobol was a traitor! He was a traitor to his people, leading the humans under his dominion to safety from the other system lords.
Kobol was a traitor.
Kobol had betrayed his people.
Stunned, Adama turned back to the small section of aged papyrus he had found hidden within the wooden ends of the ancient scroll; it told what appeared to be the full unvarnished truth in small crabbed script.
Kobol had been a system lord, but he had treated his people with compassion and cared for them, that unfortunately that made him look weak in the eyes of the other system lords, they had sent wave after wave of attacks against Kobol, accusing him of conspiring to bring the system lords down.
Whether that was true or not, the author didn't know, but in order to preserve the people of his thirteen remaining worlds, he had given them a choice, come with him to a secret location he had managed to find without the knowledge of the other system lords or try to hide amongst the millions of humans of the first world.
Twelve worlds had collectively chosen to go with Kobol, the thirteenth had gone to Earth.
And Kobol had led them to the Colonies, giving his life in the process, most of his Jaffa dieing with him, desperately trying to preserve the secret of the colonies, of where the Jaffa's families were.
Kobol's people, the families of his Jaffa had been delivered to safety, and the ships they came on destroyed.
Their saviour was a traitor.
There was a certain irony in that, he was sure. He was just having a hard time seeing it.