by Chaoseternus Fourteen
"Three more jumps, and we're at earth" I commented, into the deep leaden silence that had fallen over the room.
"Our people need food, water, supplies, we should go straight on" Tigh responded.
"No, our three visitors from earth were quite specific; we will not receive supplies from Earth straight away. It entirely possible we won't ever receive any help, we need to resupply before we reach Earth"
"Agreed, we also need to find out who is running around in the Excelsior, if those are cylons they need to be destroyed, if Colonials we need to try and persuade them to join forces" Adama's words caused nods to form across the room, but it was my Exec who commented next, a rare event at these meetings.
"Either way, we need to know exactly what they are doing this close to where we believe earth to be, and why so close to the direct line between the old Colonies and Earth"
"He's right" Tigh commented, "It's too perfect to be a coincidence"
"Could they have attacked us because they don't know about the destruction of the Colonies and are merely following orders to keep Earth's existence and location a secret?"
"Unlikely, you were right on that, her commander has most likely been briefed" Adama responded.
"Commander?"
Roslin's tone made us look up a little wary, we were all used to that tone by now, it was her I have made an executive decision tone and you will listen tone' It usually meant trouble.
"Between them, the Mailman and the Transporter can protect the fleet can they not?"
I exchanged a look with Adama, and carefully replied, "Yes"
"Then Galactica should look for the Excelsior whilst the Mailman and the Transporter cover the fleet. If they are Colonial, they are less likely to fire upon another Battlestar and if they aren't, Galactica will not be encumbered by a civilian fleet to protect, yet the fleet will still be covered"
Our eyebrows shot up a little surprised; this was sound military thinking from Roslin?
"Works for me" Tigh commented at last.
"We'll need to arrange new rendezvous points and identification signals, just in case the fleet is forced to move"
"Okay, so let's pull out the star charts..."
Elsewhere
The Commander drummed his fingers agitatedly on his chair and wished, not for the first time, that his old mentor Cain had survived Armageddon and that he and his Pegasus was at his side.
But of Pegasus, and therefore of Cain, there was no sign, though there was hope, forlorn though it might be. Pegasus was not on the confirmed killed list, just on the highly probable destroyed list.
Damn it, he could really use another Battlestar right about now, especially one with an old war daggit like Cain in command, but as they say, if wishes were battlestars, then everyone would be Commanders. Even those, he thought darkly, thinking of a certain supposed genius, who certainly had no right to be.
Still, something needed to be done.
"Sheba" he called across to this wife, "have the Raptors prepped, I want a picket in the Sol and Alpha Centauri systems to make contact should Mailman be heading for Earth, we will maintain position here"
Sheba nodded, "should I have the third Raptor patrol several of the nearby systems?"
"Yes, but keep the fourth home, we may have need of her"
I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a twinge of apprehension as Galactica vanished off the tactical display, Mailman had never been left alone in charge of such a large fleet before. Okay, so yes we had Transporter with us too, but I was always conscious of the fact that the Transporter of the Books was, at its core, a converted merchantman, not a dedicated warship. That much of her crew was civilian, and that truth be told, she was of little use against a hostile capital ship of any type, she was an anti-fighter platform. And okay, so the bulk of the Civilian ships, with one or two exceptions, mounted at least two railguns each side so they were no longer totally defenceless, but still, the primary responsibility for the defence of the fleet was in Mailman's hands.
Still, we had not seen Cylons for long enough for people to start feeling safe again but that meant little. They would follow as soon as they felt secure in doing so, and we were in uncharted space, who knew what else or who else could be hiding in these depths?
But if worst came to worst, I knew everyone would do their duty, I prayed that was enough.