Battlestar Columbia
Unlike Commander Vinn, who was remarkably calm considering the situation, Athena found herself looking at the chrono counting down for the FTL jump. Five centons. Normally she could easily breeze through that allotted time without realizing it. Now, it felt like an eternity.
She had to stop herself from using the hand-held radio to contact Chief Engineer Ojbo every other centon as if it would do anything else but annoy the man. While Vinn stood there patiently, the others in the CIC were anxious but attempted to hide it. No one wanted failure, which meant utter destruction and death.
Athena looked at the chrono once more, pulling at her collar as if it had gotten tighter. Four centons. The raven-haired Caprican went over to ops, looking at one of the working monitors displaying power output. 4,590,000 ergons. She smiled with a reassured hope. If the power held, they would be able to jump.
Three centons.
"Commander, a basestar is moving into firing position." It was Lieutenant Jahn Vega, the ops officer. His voice betrayed his anxiety. What the sensors could not tell him, because of continued glitches in the system, was how soon they would be within firing range and whether raiders would join in. He didn't have to look at the hull integrity index to know they would never survive a frontal attack.
Athena's blue eyes glanced toward her CO. 6,300 people, not counting the unknown number of fatalities thus far, had their lives in the old man's hands.
Vinn, hands clasped behind him, looked at the chrono. "Jettison the refuse. Give the Cylon warheads an alternative target but do so when they open fire." I'm left with fighting them with garbage. May the Lords of Kobol protect us. He looked up at the information display tower and grimaced as he remembered it was not working.
Two centons.
The two opposing warships were nearly within weapons range accept only the massive basestar was capable of offensive action. It appeared that the raiders themselves would not be involved. Cylon tactical subroutines targeted the Columbia but with a controlled rate of fire, reasoning only a few warheads would be required to destroy her. Debris from the Acropolis, caught by Caprica's gravitational pull, tumbled between the ships. One piece missed the battlestar by only a few feet.
One centon.
The debris field was soon burning up in Caprica's atmosphere, allowing for an unobstructed target. Basestar 2490 did nanosecond recalibration then began firing five warheads targeting five weakened positions on the Columbia. Lucifer had logically assumed it was a waste of resources for a massive strike of hundreds of warheads on what was nothing more than a derelict.
Some of the Cylon missiles did strike the refuse and detonated short of its intended target. The shockwave was still felt on the crippled Columbia as two missiles were still on course.
It was now a matter of physics and time.
The Dradis Console showed just how close it would be, a fraction of a micron.
Vinn looked at the chrono for the last time. 00:00. "Now Lieutenant!"
The Columbia burrowed through the fabric of space, via an artificial wormhole and in a very short period, reemerged within the Void. A magnetic emptiness that very few would even attempt to transgress - those that would have traveled so far from home.
There was a great deal of relief on the deck of the CIC, having momentarily brushed aside possible destruction. Vinn knew it was temporary and grabbed the hand-held radio. "Major Ojbo, what's the status of our engines?"
"I'll be honest, Commander, excuse my Arilon, but it's a fraking mess." Came the crackled voice of the chief engineer. "It's not just Vega's precious computers that are freaking out my engines. I don't know what I can do without a space dock."
Vinn and Athena exchanged looks. Certainly not the first time and the way things were going, not the last either.
Shortly after, the senior officers had assembled in the Situation Room. No one spoke as if the recent tragedy was still too hard for them to digest.
Vinn nodded to Major Sorrel Antos, chief medical officer, to begin. She was an attractive black woman in her early fifties. Her dark hair was laced with white strands and it was unsure whether it was from aging or stress. She had served with Vinn the longest but was not particularly close.
"We lost 750 people. 1,200 are wounded…30 of those in critical condition."
Again, the room went silent. Everyone was saddened by the losses but knew it could have been worse.
Major Enriq Ojbo, a stocky redheaded man sporting a trimmed beard like the commander, spoke next. "We're going to need a space dock." He said matter-of-factly.
"The Colonies are under attack. We don't have the luxury of a space dock." Stated Vinn.
"The damage is too extensive to repair on my own, Sir." Insisted the chief engineer. He knew the others wanted to hear differently; that repairs would take only a few centars so they could save the billions back home.
"What about the colonies? We can't just sit here and do nothing." Athena exclaimed. Even with the senior rank she possessed, she simply couldn't look upon the attacks as collateral damage.
"Indeed, what is being done, Commander?" All eyes turned to see Sire Felip Gellar enter the room. The white-haired man was Virgon's representative on the Quorum of Twelve, possibly the only survivor of President Adar's high council.
Gellar was aboard more as a publicity stunt as the Columbia had been one of the original twelve battlestars and she was built by and represented Virgon. As a tribute to that historic legacy, Virgon's colonial flag was draped around a staff in the corner, opposite the federal flag of the Twelve Colonies.
Vinn, being a Virgon native, gave Gellar quite a bit of latitude but he was prepared to go only so far for the man. The time for politics was over.
"The Columbia is in no shape to fight the Cylons." The Commander answered. He was being practical though the death screams of billions of people were clearly being heard and felt by him. He looked to his operations officer. "What went wrong, Lieutenant?"
Vega set his palms on the table. "I'm not sure exactly. If the malfunctions only happened to us... but it occurred across the ships we were in contact: The Atlantia, Rycon, Solaria, Triton and Acropolis that we know of. The only conclusion I have is that the ships were infected by a corrupted file or program, possibly delivered by the Command Navigation Program. Right now it is only thing that makes any sense."
No one liked that possibility, that the Fleet was compromised by a faulty link with headquarters. A computer error having destroyed their civilization.
"The Command Navigation Program is also used by the vipers." Added Jolly. "Blue Squadron was all but stopped in their tracks and destroyed…Shutdown like the battlestars. That bastard Gaius Baltar designed the damn thing."
"That's enough, Captain. Grant you, the CNP looks like the best suspect we have but let's not jump to conclusions."
"Shouldn't we contact Fleet Headquarters on Picon, Sir? Request orders and see what's happening?" Asked the newly named Chief of Security.
"Fleet Headquarters is gone and Admiral Nagala was lost with his flagship. We don't know how extensive our losses are and we'll have to be content with that at this moment. Any communications we attempt to make will only be used by the Cylons to track us."
This did not placate Sire Gellar. "I order you to contact President Adar immediately!"
Vinn, out of visible frustration, rubbed his eyes. It had been a long day; definitely the most tragic he had ever experienced. Everyone he knew back on Virgon and elsewhere were possibly dead. Command & Control was severely compromised but he didn't want to believe the Columbia was the sole survivor.
"Sire Gellar…" The Commander paused so as not to lose control. "Please return to your quarters. Ensign Rigellian, escort the Councilor and see to it that he arrives."
Gellar was going to protest but agreed grudgingly to leave uttering, "This isn't over."
When Gellar was finally gone, Jolly muttered. "Politics."
"Our situation is grave. We need a repair facility but for obvious reasons, can't return home. Any suggestions?" Vinn asked his officers.
"There is a space dock here…" Ojbo passed over a starchart to Vinn.
"It could also be crawling with Cylons." Jolly added.
Vinn looked at the star chart. "I can't take the chance that the Cylons could be waiting for us. Not in our current state. We'll send a raptor ahead to check it out. Colonel Adama, I want you and Captain Seth on this."
"With all due respect, Sir, I should be here helping with repairs." Athena commented.
"I need you on this mission. It'll require a diplomatic touch." Vinn smiled.
"Commander, I like permission to return to Sickbay." Requested Sorrel, returning seriousness to the discussion.
Vinn nodded. "Of course Doctor." No one said anything as she stood up and left the room. Some of the wounded were known by those around the table.