Battlestar Galactica
Nightmare?
Chapter Five
On the bridge of the Galactica, a very stoic Commander Adama stared at the monitors as the three squadrons of vipers streaked off to do battle against a far superior Cylon force. Though he would never say it, he knew deep down that it was highly unlikely that they would prevail. There were just too many Cylons this time. All he could hope to do is give the fleet a chance to escape while the Galactica when forth to face whatever fate the gods had laid out for them. Adama turned to his executive officer, Colonel Tigh, and gave him the order to change course.
"Colonel, I want to change course to Sigma one seven immediately. Hold that course for 10 centons, and then come to course Theta zero six, ahead flank. Also, I want you to send a message to the fleet. Have them hold at the rendezvous point for no more then one secton. After that they are to proceed as best they can along our Epsilon twenty two heading."
"Aye commander." Tigh replied as he passed the orders along.
The commander could feel the giant battlestar begin to accelerate as it turned to its new course. By changing course, hoped to come in on the approaching baseships from an unlikely direction, perhaps stay on their flanks so they wouldn't be able to surround them. It might also confuse them as to which direction the fleet had gone off in. He could only hope.
"Message to the fleet has been sent and acknowledged commander." Tigh informed his C.O.
"Thank you Colonel. Hopefully, we'll be there to join them shortly." Adama said without much conviction.
"Commander!" Omega's voice interrupted. "Captain Apollo reports Jolly and Greenbean have made it to them and are on their way back to the Galactica with Ensign Colla as escort."
Adama felt a slight relief at this news. He immediately ordered Tigh to send Colla course instructions to rendezvous with them via the secured viper frequency. The message was sent and acknowledged.
"Good! Have med techs standing by in Alpha landing bay to take care of Jolly and Greenbean, and have someone go down to the life center and see if they can get anymore information about this Cylon attack force we're facing." Adama said to Omega, who passed the orders on.
After a few centons, Lieutenant Athena at the long range scanner station began picking up Jolly's group heading in. Adama watched as the three small craft approached slowly. Then Athena began to pick up a signal from Colla.
"Colla to Galactica, I'm in route with Jolly and Greenbean. Both ships are badly damaged and the pilots injured. Request med teams and Crash and Rescue stand by."
"Everything is in position." Athena said "You're cleared to land in Alpha landing bay. Good luck!"
"Thanks! I'll have Jolly come in first, and then Greenbean since his viper is in worse shape. I'll follow once they're down." Colla said.
"Roger that!" Athena confirmed.
Colla waved over at Jolly to get his attention. Using hand signals, he let Jolly know he was to go first. So Jolly accelerated ahead of the other two and made his approach. He was beginning to feel dizzy and a bit light headed from shock and the loss of blood. His approach was a little shaky, but he was able to put his viper on the deck without crashing and stopped just before he reached the safety barrier. Jolly had just enough alertness left to pop his canopy and shut down his engines before he lost conciseness. The med techs were climbing onto the ship even before the canopy was fully open. After a quick check of Jolly's vital signs, the tech stood aside so the landing bay crew could pull him from his ship and load him into a biobed. The tech then accompanied Jolly to the life center.
As all that was going on, Colla had indicated to Greenbean that he would be landing next. Greenbean was in much worse shape then anyone could tell just from looking at him. Not only was his left hand burnt beyond use, but the electrical shock he took from restarting his remaining engine had done immeasurable damage to his internal organs. His heart had suffered severe damage, and his liver had literally been "cooked" inside him. He was in such agony, it was a miracle that he was still alive, let alone flying his viper in for a landing. He began his approach, drifting first to the right, then to the left, his reactions were very sluggish. He was finally able to get lined up with the centerline and make his final approach. His vision was very blurry and he began to sweat profusely. Just as his viper crossed the threshold of the landing bay, Greenbean cut the power to his overworked engine and glided onto the runway. His viper slammed down hard on the deck, bounced, hit again, this time collapsing the front landing gear and began sliding the length of the bay toward the safety barricade. Sparks flew in every direction as the broken and battered ship slide to a stop less then a metron from the barricade.
Crash and Rescue personal moved in immediately, spraying fire suppressant foam onto the smoking wreckage of Greenbean's viper. Another pair of rescue workers dressed in silver "HOT SUITS" made their way to the cockpit. They had to pry the canopy open and then cut the safety harness off the unconscious pilot. As gently as they could, they lifted the badly injured man out of the cockpit and passed him down to several other members of the rescue team, who in turn carried him over to the waiting med tech. After a quick check of Greenbean's vital signs, the med tech and his assistants rolled Greenbean out of the bay and straight to the Life Center.
Ensign Colla was diverted to land in Beta landing bay while work crews worked to remove the wreckage from Greenbean's viper and the firefighting equipment. He was immediately ordered to the bridge to report on the status of the two pilots and what they faced as far as the Cylons were concerned. As he entered the bridge, Colonel Tigh waved him over to the star chart where he and Commander Adama were looking over the situation.
"How are Jolly and Greenbean doing Ensign?" Tigh asked the young man.
"Not good sir! Jolly was covered in blood from facial wounds and Greenbean looked to be in pretty bad shape too." Colla reported. "I couldn't tell what kind of injuries he had, but he was slumped over to his left side the whole time. His viper was shot to Hades!"
Tigh looked at Adama, who stood listening to the young pilots report. Then Tigh ask about the Cylons.
"What can you tell us about the Cylon attack force? Could you confirm how many baseships they had or what course they were on?"
"No sir, I never picked up the baseships on my scanner. I was at the rear of the formation so I never came within range of them. I did scan close to a thousand fighters on a Lambda 18 course." Colla said.
Adama turned his attention to the star chart on the huge glass board where they stood; running his finger over the chart till he reached the position Ensign Colla had given. He ran his finger back along the course Colla said they were on and then circled an area a short distance away.
"I think the Cylon baseships will be in this area somewhere Colonel." Adama stated. "Cylons rarely fly anything other then a straight line course."
"If that's the case, then with the course change you ordered, we could very well come in behind them." Tigh said, a slight smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
"My plan exactly! The Cylon baseships should be running with all of their scanners facing forward, not behind them." Adama said, now grinning slightly himself. "With a bit of luck, we should be able to take out one, maybe even two of them before they have a chance to counterattack."
"And with all their fighters off engaging our squadrons, they won't be able to defend themselves." Tigh added.
"Well, that's not entirely true Colonel!" Adama said. "They still have their pulsars and missiles. No, they are far from helpless. But they are beatable! Remember that baseship we destroyed ten sectars ago."
"True Adama, but remember, that was a single baseship." Tigh said. "They had no idea we were anywhere around, and we had to send Apollo and Starbuck aboard the baseship to destroy their scanners just so we could get the first strike. We won't have those things working for us this time."
Adama slowly nodded his head as he thought about what his friend had just said. Then he said to the Colonel, "That is very true Colonel, but I believe that the Cylons will be focused on looking for us here," he said pointing at a spot on the star chart "not coming in from here," pointing at a place behind where he thought the Cylon baseships were "at light speed."
"Light speed! Are you sure about that Adama? We haven't run at that speed for quite some time now. It could be dangerous."
Adama smiled at his exec and said, "Fighting Cylons is always risky business. I think the risk is well worth it if the results are there. We have little choice Colonel. We need to come in at light speed, drop to attack speed just before we come into range for an all out missile attack, then immediately go to light speed again."
Tigh folded his arms across his chest, tilted his head slightly to on side, and with a small, knowing smile asked, "Have you been reading those tactical books of Cain's again Commander?"
Adama returned the smile and said, "There is a great deal of wisdom to be found in books other then the Book of the Word Tigh. I only pray that we can pull it off. If we fail, the human race may be doomed."
"Excuse me sirs, what do you want me to do?" Ensign Colla asked somewhat shyly.
Adama and Tigh turned around together to see the young warrior still standing there behind them. They had both totally forgot he was there.
"I must be getting forgetful in my old age!" Adama thought to himself. "What orders did Captain Apollo give you?"
"His orders were to report to you after escorting Jolly and Greenbean back for further instructions, sir"
Adama nodded his head, and then said to the young pilot, "Report to Beta landing bay and find Lieutenant Kolbe of Green Squadron. Tell him you've been assigned to his group until further notice."
"Yes sir!" Colla said as he snapped to attention, then turned and departed.
Tigh and Adama both smiled and shook their heads.
"Were we ever that young Adama?" Tigh asked.
"No my friend, we weren't! We were younger!" Adama said.
With that, the two men turned back to the star chart and continued their planning.
Deep in the bowels of the great battlestar, the Life Center was a hive of activity. Med techs and doctors moved around in a chaotic dance, getting everything ready for the many casualties that always accompanied a battle with the Cylons. In the middle of the chaos, giving directions to the many staff members was Dr. Salik, the chief medical officer of the Galactica. Standing next to him was his senior med tech, Cassiopeia. They were awaiting the arrival of the two viper pilots that had just landed. From the initial reports from the landing bay med techs, both were in serious condition. Dr. Salik knew that these two would only be the first of many this day.
At that moment, the Life Center door swished open and three men pushing a biobed rolled in at a near dead run. One of the men was riding on a side rail on the biobed performing CPR on the beds occupant. Dr. Salik ordered them into one of the treatment cubicles and he and Cassiopeia followed. The bed was rolled into position and the wheels were magnetically locked in place to keep it from rolling around by one of the techs while another tech connected a cable to the bed from the floor to provide power to the scanning instruments of the bed. The med tech doing CPR stepped away as the bed automatically took over the life support for Jolly.
"What are his vitals?" Salik called to Cassie.
"Pulse sixty, respirations twelve, blood pressure eighty-two over fifty-six, brainwave activity minus two." She reported.
Dr. Salik picked up an old style bladed scalpel and cut away Jolly's uniform jacket and shirt. The med techs had already removed his helmet, revealing a score of ugly cuts and gashes all over his face and neck, most of which had stopped bleeding. As the doctor cut away the uniform, more and more wounds were uncovered, including a large one to the left side of his chest.
"Give me a laser scalpel and forceps." Salik ordered.
Cassiopeia handed the doctor the requested items while another med tech administered an anesthetic to Jolly. With a steady hand, the doctor used the laser scalpel to open the large chest wound up.
"Retract that for me." He said to Cassiopeia.
Cassie opened the wound wider with a small retractor, giving the doctor a better view of the wound. Using the forceps, Salik removed a shard of glass the size of a child's hand from the wound. Doctor Salik looked at the medical scanner on the biobed. Satisfied that Jolly was out of immediate danger; he detailed Doctor Paye to finish cleaning and closing the wound and tending to the lesser wounds on Jolly's face and neck.
As he finished with Jolly, another biobed was rolled in, this on carried Greenbean. It was immediately apparent the he was in critical condition. He was bleeding from a number of cuts received in his crash landing only centons before. Both his legs seemed to be lying at unnatural angles, the result of the crash or perhaps the rescue, it was hard to tell. Doctor Salik looked at the medical scanner and what it showed was frightful. Greenbean was showing greatly diminished breathing, heart arrhythmia, multiple seizures, and very erratic brain activity. His left hand was nothing more then a charred lump, three of the fingers were burned completely away. Doctor Salik was surprised he was still alive considering the extent of his injuries. He had the med techs wheel him into the quarantine area of the Life Center where they could work on him out of sight of any other patients that came in.
Cassiopeia looked at the sad expression of the doctors face and asked, "What should we do for him doctor"
Doctor Salik stuck his hands into the pockets of his smock and shook his head slowly. "There's nothing we can do Cassiopeia. His injuries are far too severe for any treatment to heal. All we can hope to do for him is make him as comfortable as possible and keep him sedated."
Cassie nodded her head and placed a hand on the doctor's arm. "You can't save everyone doctor. Sometimes people are going to die, no matter how hard we try to keep that from happening." She told him, trying to console her friend and mentor.
He grimaced a bit and patted her hand. "Your right, but it doesn't mean I have to like it, or that I'm not going to try and save them all."
"And I'll be there all the way." She said with a smile. Then she turned and left the doctor to his own thoughts.