EarthMan
By ChaosEternus
Thanks to everyone who toke the time to review:
Scott: heh, as you will see, the Sol system is exactly defenceless...
Darklight: crossover? strange as it may seem, this is one of my rare non-crossover fictions
sati james: heh, being proud of our country is no crime... but
if you havent checked out my Thundersdawn / Dawn of thunder saga
(stargate based multiverse) i suggest you do so. you might like it
Chapter 24
The very next day, the two Battlestars headed out of the Sol System for the rendezvous with the Mailman and our civilian fleet. Considering the time we were away, it was not a surprise to find that the fleet had moved, though many felt it was disappointing. Not Adama or I, or even Hercules for that matter, the fleet had been ordered to move and they had done so, it just showed common sense and the ability for follow orders on their part.
Adama, wily old git that he is, gets Mailman's new location on his first guess and it isn't long before the fleet is reunited, indeed, grows larger then before with the more then welcome addition of Excelsior. Of course, we had to put up with being sole coverage for the fleet for a day, the Colonel on the Mailman took his two warships out of the rotation as soon as we arrived for rest and repair. Nobody complained or commented, with two Battlestars fleet coverage was easy and we knew if the shit hit the fan, Mailman and the Transporter of the Books would be right there with us.
Now, at this point I was under the impression that our next task was contact with Earth and preparing her people for the inevitable arrival of the Cylons as best we could.
However, Commander Hercules had a few more surprises up his sleeve, which he was nice' enough to reveal during a strategy meeting.
"Frak me..." was Tigh's heartfelt and softly whispered comment as Hercules words began to sink in, "how many ships do you have here?"
Hercules shrugged, "I think it would be best if I gave some back story on this system."
"The Bureau of Exploration and Evaluation might have been one of the most back-burnered departments in the Colonial Government but that didn't stop them having five custom built E&E vessels and ten converted Battlestars roaming around, charting, evaluating and such. None of their vessels been refitted yet, so they were free from the CNP, though negotiations were under way with the primary Batttlestar yards over Caprica for them to carry out that work."
"Four years ago, the E&E Adventurer , one of the custom builds, picked up an anomaly, a curious signal which had been warped and amplified during its transit through space but still clearly showed artificial origin."
"It wasn't Colonial or Cylon though. Puzzled, they sent couriers to the other E&E ships, one of which, the Seeker, had also recorded the signal. They reported this back to HQ and decided to investigate, sending the Adventurer to back trace the signal."
"Two years ago, the Adventurer discovered Earth"
Hercules glanced up at me, smiling, "the rest as they say is history, Adventurer sent word to E&E and maintained station in the system. Pathfinder and Wayfinder were sent to confirm the Adventurer's report, which they did. Pathfinder began an evaluation of the surrounding systems, Wayfinder started exploring the systems in-between from Earth to the Colonies, whilst Seeker started from the Red Line and headed to meet Wayfinder halfway."
"Within a month, every ship in E&E knew, but they see port so rarely that it never got out except as classified reports to the Council. Adar ordered that the Colonial Military make a separate evaluation a year and a half ago and the Battlestar Pegasus was sent. They came, saw, made a few recommendations and vanished again."
"But because of their recommendations, the bulk of the Blockade Runner fleet was suddenly, ahem, scraped"
Mailman's Commander looked up startled at that, "the others survived?"
"A few, there were being used to ferry supplies and personnel from Colonial space, a task they proved themselves to be perfectly suited for. Two Battlestars were also sent to defend the Colonial personnel and equipment, Gemon Enforcer and Valiant Shield, both of which are still here"
Hercules sighed, leaning back in his seat, "When Admirals Cain and Nagala briefed you he was glancing straight at the Colonel of the Mailman now, they didn't know, but I did, Adar had already briefed me, hoping that if worst came to worst, I could at least flee here with my command and have a chance of survival"
"Adar knew?" the uncertain note in Roslin's voice made me glance across, to see it mirrored perfectly in her worn, weary features.
"He Knew" Hercules confirmed.
"He knew... I never noticed, I always though he was so easy to read if he knew him and I never spotted that he was hiding something so big"
Hercules started, as if about to say something but frowned, and shook his head as if saying no, "most of E&E made it here, along with the couriers and they dragged several other ships, both civilian and military behind them"
Hercules hesitated, "but at least two ships known to know of this location have not appeared, the Battlestar Pegasus and the E&E Seeker"
"Then this location is compromised" Adama commented, sourly.
Hercules nodded, "odds are that they were destroyed, either by the Cylons or by their own crew, according to Commander Lee of the Adventurer, they had specific orders to avoid letting this location fall into the cylons hands in case of war and E&E ships have Self-destructs built in"
I snorted "from what I have heard, if Cain and Pegasus are still out there then they are fighting, he would return here unless he knew the Cylons were on their way"
Adama nodded," I tend to agree, Cain would fight to the last to get his revenge and force the Cylons to divert resources to weaken any search for survivors. He would also make sure he and his command weren't taken alive"
"That" I pointed out "leaves Seeker"
"Therein lies the problem" Hercules commented, his face showing real worry now, "her Commander is either a dead ringer for your Boomer, or..."
"She's another cylon" Roslin finished off, unamused.