In the cold vacuum of space two Vipers, piloted by Apollo and Starbuck exit from the Galactica's launch tubes. Just moments before that, Lt. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson departed from Galactica with Helo in her Colonial Raptor. From behind the Raptor as it headed toward the unknown object the two Vipers approached from each side.
"Racetrack, this is Apollo. Starbuck and I have your six. Approach the object in question with caution. At the first sign of trouble I want you to high tale it back to Galactica. We'll take over from there."
"Roger that Apollo." Racetrack replied over the wireless.
As the Raptor crawled closer to the unknown object under the protection of the two Vipers, Apollo stared out at the stars ahead, hoping to get a visual. With only stars in his sight he recalled back, just only a year ago when Galactica finally reached the Lagoon Nebula. It was a welcome sight and even further proof that humanity was edging closer to Earth. The thought of this brought back memories of when the realization of the importance of this nebula was discovered back on Kobol, inside the tomb of Athena. At the time, Adama had remarked how far away the Nebula was to their current position. He couldn't have been more right as it had taken six years to travel to. That was a year ago, and the excitement of their arrival near the nebula had simmered quite a bit since then. Only the discovery of Earth could bring back such a sense of excitement. In a few hours Apollo will discover he couldn't be more wrong.
Laura Roslin had only been in the cargo hold of the Diomedes for a few seconds before the smell of rotting flesh caused her to become ill. The handkerchief over her nose and mouth gave her little relief from the unsettling scent. The only thing keeping her from turning back around and running to the main hallway outside the cargo hold to vomit was the small alien transport ship that stood before her. It resembled nothing she had ever seen. It neither shared resemblance to Colonial or Cylon design. It was sleek, with a smooth surface. It was twice the size of a Raptor in comparison. It had no windows, except for the front where the cockpit was located. The cockpit in size had enough space to seat two adult humans.
Roslin accompanied President Zarek and a pair of Presidential aids as they were escorted closer to the ship by the Diomedes captain.
"I apologize for the smell. It appears this transport ship lost all source of power, preventing the cryogenic system from operating. Looks like they never woke up, the poor bastards." The Diomedes ship hand remarked, quickly giving an apologetic smile to the group due to his harsh language.
Zarek gave an alarming stare at Roslin. "Are you saying the three humans aboard are dead, Captain?" Zarek replied, his sleeve serving as the only deterrent from the horrific smell.
The Captain of the Diomedes pulled down a latch on what appeared to be a door on the side of the ship. With a gush of air and an even more potent odor, the door opened down to the floor revealing steps to the other side of the door.
"See for yourself." The captain said in response to Zarek's question with a gesture to enter the ship.
The smell was putrid, but once again the curiosity and amazement of the situation took precedence over the debilitating odor. Within the ship, three glass-encased canisters large enough to hold adult human life were positioned horizontally along the walls. To Roslin they looked like glass-encased caskets now, as all three passengers, the captain had informed had perished amongst the ships power failure. Two of the three canisters were located to the Starboard side of the ship and the third was located on the port side. Roslin approached the two canisters on the starboard side. Roslin stood between the two canisters now. Inside the two adult rotting corpses appeared. The bodies decayed beyond recognition of what they might have once looked like. Human in form, but that was the only lasting resemblance to humanity these bodies shared to their current onlookers.
"By the gods. I don't believe it" Zarek said behind Roslin with his attention on the lone bed to the port side.
By the Gods is right, she thought as she looked down on one of the adults. The question of why these passengers aboard this alien ship were even out here alone didn't even register yet amongst any of them. It was bitter sweet, Roslin felt. Where did they come from? Are they from Earth? It was a question she first asked her self the second she was told of their discovery. That question now will never be answered. Roslin soon turned to Zarek, to ask what their next move would be. Before she could ask, she noticed something that was different from the prior two canisters that were void of power. The lone bed that Zarek stood next to had a console that was beaming of life. Lights that she had no idea of their purpose flashed sporadically. The console was beaming with life, she soon wondered if the body of the child that lay within that glass-encased bed did the same.
Racetrack had enabled the Raptor's floodlight once it appeared they where in visual range of the object. She had been working the light for several minutes without finding object in question. "Where the frak is it, Helo?" she said in frustration.
In the aft of the Raptor, Helo sat in front of his Dradis display with a look of puzzlement. He continued to tap keys in front of him. He appeared to not get the response he was looking for from the display. "I don't get it, it should be right here."
"Run another sweep." Apollo's voice buzzed through the wireless.
Helo did just that. Two minutes later the results started filtering through. It took him just a few minutes more to decipher what the computer was spitting out onto the screen before him.
"I found it. It's actually right above us." Helo announced.
With a pull of the Raptors controls Racetrack headed in the direction directly above their current position. Within moments Racetrack could see something off in the distance. "I have a visual."
"Copy that, Racetrack." Starbuck said as she too could see something appear from the void of space.
With the floodlight blazing, Racetrack moved in on the object floating aimlessly in space. The closer they became to the object it started to take shape, it appeared to have a large central mass with two extended pieces reaching out on each side of the object like robotic arms. This characteristic brought an alarmed sense of terror through their wary bodies. That sense seemed to dissipate as the three ships closed in. The closer they were to the object it began to resemble a similar object they where all familiar with. This fact, gave them an uneasy sense, as it was the last thing they expected.
Racetrack had slowed the raptor to a stop as it stood at a standstill in front of the object. With the floodlight now flashed upon the object they could confirm their ongoing speculation. At the top of the central mass of the object was a dish lying on its back pointing in a vertical direction with an antenna coming out from its center with another smaller dish at the antenna's end. The robotic like arms that brought the uneasiness, appeared to not be robotic at all but extensions that carried surveillance equipment and other smaller antennas. It appeared to be voided of life. Left to drift endlessly in space.
"It's a satellite. A Fraking satellite." Starbuck said, confirming the others speculation.
"But, from where?" Apollo asked.
Helo now up front with Racetrack looked over the satellite. "It sure as hell can't be Colonial."
"Well, someone built it." Apollo said, with his mind on Earth. "Let's bring it into Galactica. We can get a closer look at it then. Maybe we'll find some markers or something." Apollo ordered.
To Roslin the child appeared to be no older then seven or eight years old. She had golden blond hair and slept with a peaceful look upon her face, unaware of the two deaths that had occurred. So young and yet she could have answers to so many questions. Roslin wiped away some of the condensation on the glass to get a clearer look of the girl, but her effort ended in a nullifying result.
"I thought you said the ship lost all power?" Zarek asked, turning the captain of the Diomedes.
The captain scratched his head, thinking of an answer to give. "It did. But, it appears who ever built these cryo-beds, set up a secondary power supply just to this bed. All ship wide systems failed a long time ago. If we didn't find this ship when we did, my guess is she would have been a goner in about a day or two."
"Well, that does not appear to be the case. When do you think we can remove her from this thing?" Roslin asked with a swift pace to her words.
The captain stuttered his answer. "I don't have a clue about this cryogenics stuff, never mind the fact I don't know what the damn I'm looking at with this console."
Silence gave company to the odor that was still apparent as they stood beside the cryogenically frozen young girl. They all thought the obvious to bring Doctor Cottle to the Diomedes, but he was aboard the Galactica at the time of the Cylon attack. This was a matter of science. Only those familiar with this aspect could help this girl.
Roslin pondered every possibility. There was nothing that came to mind other then sending out a blind request to the fleet. "We can send something out to the fleet. With any luck someone will have some knowledge about this."
Zarek eyes lit up. "We might not have to."