Thirteen

Chapter Sixty-One

The New and Improved

Galen Tyrol was amazed at how fast the refit of the twelve Colonial battlestars had gone. He knew that President Hollifield had gone overboard to get this done as quickly as possible, sending technicians from Earth and all over the Alliance to the station to get the job completed as quickly as possible. He had thought that it was not possible, but the Earthers had worked tirelessly to get the job done.

Now the twelve battlestars, along with Galactica, were ready for anything the Cylons and the Drakh could throw at them. The battlestars were decked out with pulse laser batteries, as well as twin heavy particle beam cannons on their bows. They also had missile silos attached onto them, where they could launch volleys of large and small batteries of missiles at the enemy. Various anti-fighter batteries also bristled the ship, which would make it difficult for Cylon raiders to come close enough to attack.

Another defensive addition to the battlestars was a huge upgrade: the Vorlon Defense System. The VDS, as it as called, served as a shield against the energy of an impacting beam, leaving only the physical impact to damage the hull, which, given the thick plating the battlestars had, would give them the ability to take a major pounding and still be in the fight.

The Cylons could no longer rely on the computer virus to work for them, as each of the battlestars now had a system of firewall layers that made breaching them next to impossible. The Alliance had also developed a way to broadcast static interference to block the virus from being spread in the first place.

Eight battlestars were to head to Earth for the coming fight: Pacifica, Alexandria, Andromeda, Olympus, Solaria, Cerberus, Poseiden, and Galactica. They would be escorted to Earth by the Thirteenth Fleet of Earthforce, along with elements from the Minbari and Centauri forces. Iscandaria, Prometheus, Acropolis, Triton, and Athena would stay behind to help in the protection of the station should the enemy attack here as well.

Tyrol packed his bag and prepared to head out when Fabby intercepted him on the way out of his quarters. "Hey, baby! I'm glad to see you before I leave!"

Fabby was crying and said, "Me too. I'm sorry I'm not able to go with you. I just wanted to wish you well before you left, and to give you something."

She slipped a hand into her uniform pocket and pulled out some red beads. "These were my grandmother's rosary beads. I want you to take them with you to Earth. I hope they will give you strength, and I also hope that they'll remind you of me. I'll be praying for you to come back every chance I get!"

Tyrol wrapped his arms around his fiancée and kissed her lips passionately. He desperately didn't want to leave her embrace, but he knew he had to. Both their eyes were filled with tears as they looked into each other's eyes. "See you soon!" Tyrol said.

"You too!" Fabby said. Tyrol slowly began to walk away backwards, not wanting to take his eyes off the first woman he had come to love since the version of Sharon "Boomer" Valerii had died at the hands of Cally. He still couldn't believe that Cally had turned out to be a Cylon as well, but that was in the past. His old crew, augmented with some Earth techs, was waiting for him on Galactica, and they needed him to help lead them through the coming tough times. He turned away from her and began to walk faster towards his shuttle, but couldn't help but to turn back and look for Fabby, who was still standing there, watching him walk away.

When the shuttle arrived on Galactica, Tyrol was met by one of the Earthforce techs sent from Earth, Brad Lee. He was from a state in the American Consortium called Tennessee, and he always wore and orange hat with a big 'T' on it, indicative of the University of Tennessee, of which Lee was a graduate. "Afternoon, Chief! Glad to finally meet you!" Lee said, as he introduced himself.

"So how are things?" Tyrol asked.

"Goin' good, Chief. Deck Crew 5 is working hard, just like you trained them. I'm to be your second, according to the old man. I can see why everybody likes him. Reminds me of my old man back in Memphis." Lee said.

"What does your father do there?" Tyrol asked.

"He's a rassler." Lee said in his southern twang.

Tyrol looked at him as if he'd spoken in a different language. "Rassler? I don't quite understand what that is." Tyrol said hesitantly.

Lee chuckled and said, "He's a professional wrestler, and a darn good one too. My brothers went into it, and they own the promotion in Memphis these days. It's been around forever, since the days of Jerry Jarrett and King Jerry Lawler."

"King Lawler? I thought the United States wasn't a monarchy!" Tyrol said, still confused.

Lee laughed out loud and slapped the chief on the back, which startled him, as he hadn't expected the skinny man to be as strong as he was. "Never mind for now. Once this is over with and we get a chance to go down to Earth, I'll take you to Memphis and show you what it's all about!" Lee said as he walked him back towards the flight deck.

Tyrol nodded to Apollo as he passed him in the corridor, and Apollo acknowledged him and went about his business, preoccupied with checking out his Viper. Before he could get far, Apollo was intercepted by his father, who met up with him just as he was heading out into the bay. "How are things, son?" his dad asked.

"Good, I guess. I was coming by to check the fighter. I just came from the briefing room and wanted to look it over some more before getting in some rack time." Apollo said.

"Good, good. I just wanted to let you know that once we get into Earth space, you'll be leading the first patrol, along with the Starfuries assigned to the fleet." Adama said.

Apollo nodded, "Thanks for the information, sir. May I ask you something?"

"Anything, son!" Adama said, taking a lighter tone that Apollo still had trouble adjusting to even after all these months.

"If Dee hadn't been elected Sagittaron representative, would you really have allowed us to start seeing one another?"

Adama thought for a moment, then answered, "Yes, I would've, provided that you two kept it discreet as possible. Why?"

Apollo didn't want to ask it, but he had to know, "You weren't behind the write-in campaign that got her elected, were you?"

Adama laughed out loud and clapped his son on the back, saying, "Son, I'm good, but I'm not that good! No, that was the doing of the people from Sagittaron. Hell, even President Roslin had no idea what was going on until she heard what the caucus vote results were!"

"Do you think Zarek might be behind this?"

Adama shook his head and said, "I doubt it. Besides, the president and vice-president have been busy getting to know one another. Even though her cancer's gone, there's always the chance something could happen, so she wants him up to speed on what to do if the worst comes."

"And do you think he might bring that about?" Apollo asked.

"I doubt it. Besides, he's being watched." Adama said.

"Let me guess: the technomages."

Adama looked surprised briefly, then nodded, "You catch on quick! Yes, they have probes on him, all right. Hell, they may have probes on you and me for all I know!"

Apollo looked down at his uniform, as if to look for something. "Don't bother to look, son. They're microscopic." Adama said.

"Oh! So…do you think they…?" Apollo asked.

"Nah, I don't think so. Besides, I wouldn't worry about it, unless you and Dee…" Adama said.

Apollo blushed and said, "I'll remember to take a very good shower before that."

"That won't help, according to what I've heard."

Apollo still was blushing at the thought of possible technomage voyeurism when his father left. Lt. Louanna "Kat" Katraine walked up to him and said, "What was that about, Apollo?"

He hadn't seen her coming and jumped when she spoke. "Uh…nothing. Nothing I'd rather not get into." Apollo walked away, leaving Kat looking at him confused.

Adama made his way back to CIC and entered the command center, heading towards the map table where Captain John Matheson was looking over some reports. Matheson looked up and said, "Ah, good afternoon sir! Might I ask why you have a jovial smile on your face?"

"You noticed, eh? Just had a conversation with my son. Not everyday you can make him blush these days." Adama said.

Matheson shrugged it off and got down to business. "We'll be ready to jump with the fleet at 0800 hours tomorrow morning. It'll take us two days to get to Earth at best speed. When we get there, we'll be assigned out positions. From what Earthforce command has told me, they'll split us off and have us two-by-two in each semi-hemisphere."

Adama nodded and looked over the plans that had come in so far. Once done, he stood back up and said, "Better get some sack time on the way there. Let me know if anything develops, okay?"

"Aye aye, sir!" Matheson said, and Adama left CIC to head back to his quarters. Tomorrow, they would head off to Earth and prepare for a battle that he did not know if they could survive. Privately, he worried about his crew, especially his son, but he didn't worry himself about his own fate.

When he arrived back at his quarters, he took out a bottle of ambrosia and poured himself a drink, something he rarely did these days. This time, though, there was a special reason why. He sat down in the chair behind his desk, lifted his glass, and said, "This one's for you, Saul!" After toasting his late friend and former executive officer, he drank down the alcohol and sat the glass down on his desk, then went back to work looking over status reports from all stations aboard Galactica.