Chapter 2.

The Game is Afoot

Commander Adama looked around the briefing room.

To his right sat Colonel Tigh, Lee and Kara.

To his left sat Lieutenant Gaeta, Chief Tyrol and Lieutenant Valeri.

Directly opposite him sat Dr Baltar and next to him sat The President.

'Before we get started, I would like to explain to the President the reason I have asked her here to this military briefing. As she is aware I have called the fleet to a complete halt. This is due to something that Apollo and Starbuck found and returned to the Galactica. It was found just four hours ahead of the fleet. What they found will no doubt become common news around the fleet and start a large amount of rumour and speculation. This madam president, you will have to deal with'

'Ok Commander'. What have they found? What's going to cause me all these problems?'

'What they have found Madam President is a Viper from the Battlestar Pegasus'

Laura Roslin stared at Adama in disbelief and mouthed just one word......'Cain!'

'Yes the Pegasus was Cain's Ship. Now let's get this right.

We found a Viper from the Pegasus we haven't found the Pegasus! BUT that ship had to get out here somehow'

'OK Commander, what are you proposing?'

'What I'd like to do is review all the data we have.

Tyrol, you stated that the Viper appeared to have been disabled by an EMP burst.

Has that been confirmed?'

'Yes Commander, my Tech crew have gone over the fighter. The only two things we can find wrong with it are that the motherboard has been fried and it's run out of oxygen.

I can confirm that it has a full fuel load and there is evidence that the motherboard had been changed once before.

I've already had a tech crew put a new board in and the ship is already passing diagnostics.

Obviously it needs to be fully overhauled before I will let it fly but like I said before, the Galactica has got a new Viper'

'Thank you Chief, Colonel Tigh, any idea who the pilot is yet?'

'We've got an ID Commander and this just keeps getting better and better!

The pilot was Colonel John Tolen'

'Tolen, that's the exec of the Pegasus, what the hell was he doing in a viper, he was a fair pilot, but there's no way Cain would let him fly a viper unless something was very very wrong.'

'Father, it sounds like you knew Tolen and Cain, you didn't serve on the Pegasus, so how did you know them.' Lee looked into his father's eyes and waited for a response.

'Well Lee, I did serve on the Pegasus, for 6 months, but Cain transferred me off of the ship 3 weeks before she was lost.'

'You never talked about serving on the Pegasus, Why not?'

' It was a long time ago, Lee, it's not important, what is, is what happened to the Pegasus'.

' Ok Commander what do you plan to do next'

'Well Madam President, My plan is as follows, we move the fleet to the point were the viper was found. We then launch a probe of 2 vipers and a raptor and have them move ahead of the fleet and see what we can find'

' Captain Adama, I want you to lead the probe '

'Yes commander'.

'Ok everyone, if no one has anything else to say, we'll move the fleet in 2 hours'

As the meeting broke up, colonel Tigh moved over to speak to Commander Adama.

'Are you Ok Bill?'

'Yes I'm fine Saul, it just, it's been a long time.'

'She could be alive, is that what you're thinking?'

'I know there's no way, I gave her up 40 years ago, but ...'

'I know old friend, but hope is all we have these days.'

CIC – Battlestar Galactica.

'Colonel Tigh, please confirm the fleet is at a complete stop.'

'Confirmed Commander, alpha probe is ready to launch.

'Ok old friend, lets see if we can find ourselves a battlestar'

'Yes Sir, Alpha probe you are clear to launch.

Down on the launch bay 2 vipers rowed out of their launch tubes, on the main deck the galactica's raptor also launched.

Deep space. One hour ahead of the fleet.

'Captain, I have a large planet on the scanners, it's orbiting a pulsar star, '

'Thanks Boomer, could this star be the source of the EM pulse which disabled the viper'

'It looks that way sir, also from all the information we got from that viper, it could have taken 40 years to drift to where you found it from here.'

'Ok let's move in closer to the planet and see what we can see'

With this the 3 ships moved towards the large planet. It was a gas giant with a large number of moons.

As the ships moved into orbit a large dark shape drifted out from behind one of the moons.

'Lee there's a ship moving out from behind that moon ahead, it could be a Battlestar'

'I see it Kara, there's something not right with the shape, running a check with the war book'.

As the ship moved into view it became very clear that it was not a Battlestar. The ship was shaped like 2 round plates placed on top of each other, a shape that was very familiar to the pilots flying towards it.

'Hell, it's a Cylon Basestar, break, break, break' yelled Apollo.

With those words the 2 vipers broke to the right, the raptor went to the left.

'Boomer, do what you can to jam that ship and see if you can get the Galactica on the line, they need to know what's so close.'

'Captain, there's nothing to jam, there's nothing coming from the Basestar, it's dead, no signs of life'

'Well, it looks like whatever happened to Tolan, must have hit the cylons too'. As Lee spoke those words a new shape followed the Cylon Basestar out from behind the moon, as if it were moving in for the kill the large ship followed the cylon ship into clear view'

"Lee do you see it '

'Yes Starbuck, I see it, Boomer inform the Galactica, we have found the Pegasus'

End of chapter two