When two Tribes go to war...(Part 12)
"Fracking bitch!" Starbuck stalked along the corridor leading from Andromeda's landing bay to the rooms assigned to the Colonials, "Jumped-up transport pilot thinks she can tell ME what to do?"
"With all respect Sir, you were a little rude to her." Boxey followed behind, somewhat distracted, "All she did was ask what the cargo was."
"When I want your opinion, kid, I'll give it to you!" Starbuck snapped, then instantly regretted it, "I'm sorry: I'm worried about Shannon too."
"I just wish they'd let me see her…"
"Yeah, me too kid, me too." Starbuck stopped as they rounded a corner and found Commander Adama and Dylan deep in conversation. "Sir." She came to attention, "I've retrieved Dr Baltar's Cylon detector, as instructed."
"I trust you had no trouble with the flight?" Dylan asked.
"In all my years as a pilot, I have never come across someone as unnecessarily reckless as the woman who piloted that bucket of junk you call a transport." Starbuck look genuinely angry, "I know I'm not perfect, but I at lest…" She stopped when she saw someone walking along the corridor, "Talk of the devil."
"Oh boy." Dylan winched, "Commander Adama, may I introduce you to my executive officer, Captain Rebecca Valentine. Beka, this is Commander William Adama of the Battlestar Galactica, and I believe you've met Lieutenant Thrace."
"We met." Beka glared at the other woman, "The Lieutenant had some interesting and colorful suggestions about what I could do with the Maru."
"That was probably a mistake, Lieutenant: the Eureka Maru is Captain Valentine's personal property, and she is very defensive of what is a surprisingly capable ship." Dylan looked for a way to defuse the situation, "Beka, I want you to take a squadron of slip-fighters and escort Tyr and Harper back: I don't want them running into anything excepted."
"Can do." Beka nodded, "What about Rommie? Are we going to go after her?"
"I think Rommie can take care of herself…"
Cain stood in shocked silence for a minuet.
"What's the matter Commander, cat got your tongue?" Rommie asked, "I had such high hopes: Adama is at least capable of talking to me…"
"Where the frack are you?" Cain hissed, looking around the C.I.C for any clues.
"Temper, temper! Is that anyway to talk to a guest?"
"We destroyed your ship: you have no escape!"
"I have more than ten thousand years of military history and experience to call on, Commander: escaping from this museum piece you call a WarShip would hardly be a challenge."
"What do you want, Cylon?"
"Now why is it you Colonials always assume I'm a Cylon? This extreme paranoia of yours can't be good for you. No, I'm not a Cylon, although I am an A.I."
"So you admit it!"
"Commander, I proclaim it!" Rommie laughed, "I allowed you to destroy the Pillars of Hercules: it was too badly damaged to be fully repaired, and would probably have been scrapped as it is."
"You will never get off this ship alive!"
"Commander, I am the A.I. Avatar of a High Guard Heavy Cruiser that could rip this little Battlestar to pieces in under a minuet. I have faced fleets that number in the thousands and decimated them. I can render a planet uninhabitable in eight minuets and destroy entire star systems in even less. Whatever internal defences you have, even those supplied by your Genite friends, will be little more than an annoyance to me. We'll talk more later."
The line went dead.
"Set condition one throughout the ship!" Cain bellowed, a vain on her forehead throbbing visibly, "We have an intruder, and I want them DEAD!"
"It's good to see you Boss." Harper smiled as Beka brought her slip-fighter in alongside his own, "I've had intermittent contacts on the edge of my sensor systems all the way."
"The Colonials from the Pegasus are following us." Tyr growled over the open link, "We have two prisoners, pilots from a pair of Vipers that attacked us. I suggest we question them before handing them over to Adama and his people: their ships were fitted with pulse-lasers rather than Gauss cannons. Defiantly not Colonial technology."
"That will be Dylan's call." Beka checked her sensors, "We're still twenty minuets out from the Andromeda. Let's pick up the pace a little, shall we?"
The other pilots acknowledged, pushing their fighters to the limit.
"We need to head off Commander Cain before she reaches our location." Dylan looked at the display showing the entire system, including the estimated location of the Pegasus and her escorts, "Any ideas?"
"I think we can agree that sending another one of your ships is a mistake." Adama looked at the map, "The Galactica could intercept the Pegasus far enough away from the Cylons to stop Sheba from restarting a shooting war. But I'd want your personal assurance that you will protect my fleet from the Cylons."
"You have it: we already have an edge in firepower, and another destroyer squadron should joining us soon. Captain Ryan tells me that President Roslin is almost well enough to leave medical on the Achilles, and Ambassador Conners has requested that she replace Councilman Zarek as soon as possible: he feels that Mr Zarek is to confrontational to continue as your representative during the peace talks."
"You think the Cylons are willing to talk? Don't forget, they signed an armistice, and then attacked us without provocation."
"The Ambassador has requested that we refer to it as a 'pre-emptive strike'."
"Semitics."
"Diplomacy: it keeps the Cylons at the conference table and away from the gun-sights."
"I'll leave that to the President. I'll get back to the Galatica and deal with Cain."
"I'd like Captain Valentine and her squadron to join you on-rout: they have two capture pilots from the Pegasus, and you might need any information they have."
"And your Avatar on the Pegasus?"
"Rommie is experienced at dealing with hostile environments: she'll be fine."
"Hold it right there!" The Marine sergeant pointed his gun at Rommie's back, "Hands where I can see them!"
"As you wish…" Rommie raised her hands above her head.
The forcelance in her right hand extended to its full two-meter length in the blink of an eye, slamming into the Marine's helmet with enough force to knock him out. Rommie was already moving, swing her weapon round to spoil the aim of the second Colonial soldier. Placing the end of the forcelance against the deck, Rommie jumped vertically into the air, grabbing an overhead pipe for support.
Her finger hit the controls again, and the weapons capacitor discharged, electrifying the metal deck plating. The remaining Marines danced as they lost motor control before falling to the deck.
"Are they dead?" Helo asked.
"No, only unconscious." Rommie collapsed her forcelance and re-holstered it before she started to drag the first Marine into a side room, "Hopefully one of these will have a uniform that fits me…"
"Ok people, new orders from the Andromeda: We're to rendezvous with the Galactica." Beka sat at the controls of her slip-fighter, "Dylan wants us to keep the Pegasus from starting a fight."
"They already have." One of the pilots responded, "They destroyed one of our ship!"
"Yeah." Another voice agreed, "I say we go kick their ass!"
"Newsflash boys and girls: we have friendly on the Pegasus, so until we hear otherwise, she's off limits. You all got that?"
"Yes sir." The pilots responded.
"Ok, now I want a textbook landing." Beka looked up to see the Galatica appear on the edge of her sensor screen, "Let's show these amateurs how real pilots fly!"
"Can you tell me anything about how your physical body was created?" Trance asked number six as she sat at her desk on Andromeda's medical deck, "Anything at all?"
"No." The holographic Cylon shook her head, "It was never considered necessary for us to know anything about it. It is something that only the highest levels of the Alliance and scientists know."
"Pity: it would help me understand Lieutenant Valerii's condition."
"How is Gaius doing?"
"Physically, he's recovered from the operation, but mentally is another thing entirely. The doctors on the Achilles tell me he suffered a near complete nervous breakdown. Years of stress, and the knowledge that he is largely responsible for the destruction of the Twelve Colonies have taken their toll."
"Can you help him get better?"
"It's difficult to say: physical injuries can be treated anyone one of a number of ways, but the human mind is a lot more complex…" Trance look closely at the screen, dialling up the magnification of the sample she was examining. She looked at it intently for a minuet, and then said something in a strange and complex laughing.
"Excuse me?" Six looked confused.
"This is not right!" Trance blinked, "They couldn't be so callus?"
"Who?"
"Long story." Trance stood and ran for the door, "I need to see Dylan…"
"Galactica control, this is Captain Valentine: requesting approach and landing vector." Beka brought her fighter in round behind the Battlestar.
"Captain Valentine, this is Galactica control." The ships air-boss responded, "Throttle back and approach port landing bay for hands-on landing."
"Confirmed, Galactica control: we are inbound." Beka switched to her squadron frequency, "Ok people; don't screw this up. Nice and simple."
One by one, the sleek slip-fighters glided into the open expanse of the Galactica's landing bay.
"Admiral, you have read the report from our probe?"
"Indeed I have your highness: it is most, disturbing. I was always under the impression that the experiment had been cancelled."
"So did I: it just proves what you get when you put a male in change of these things. But we must not feel guilty for the actions of our ancestors. Do you have any suggestions as to what we should do next?"
"I would like permission to move a strike force into a position to intercede, if needs be."
"You have it, but remember this Admiral: we can not risk our own security, not even for someone as important as Dylan Hunt. Observe, but don't get involved unless absolutely necessary."
"And if I have to intervene, what should I tell them?"
"Tell them, everything..."
"Dylan." Trance ran into command, "I need to talk to you, in private. NOW!"
"Ok." Dylan nodded, "My office."
The two of them walked the short distance down the corridor to Dylan's private office and stepped inside.
"Andromeda, engage privacy mode." Trance waited for the AI to confirm the order before continuing, "Dylan, I found something when I was going over a sample I took from Lieutenant Valerii. Something, disturbing."
"What?"
"There was the same DNA marker as the doctors on the Achilles found in the Colonials, but there was a second marker, and I've seen it before."
"Where?"
Trance was silent.
"Where?" Dylan asked again, "I don't have time for guessing games right now: I need to know what's going on."
"The second marker is evidence of interference by my people." Trance looked stricken, "They're the ones responsible for the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, for the death of billions of innocent people."
To Be Continued…
rankokun alpha: I hope this answered most of your questions
Reikson: This from someone with no published stories? Yeah, I know I don't finish every story I start, but that is normally because I lose my way and think that it is better to take a brake than carry on and screw it up.
Agent G: The Boomer on Caprica told Helo she was pregnant, and he apparently believed her. That said, I came up with this plot line before seeing season one.
Grayangle: Trust me, I've already worked out how Rommie is getting off the Pegasus.
Dark Alliance: I contemplated bring in Stark and the Templar's, but I've decided against it. Things are going to be even stranger than that…