CHAPTER 6 OF THE PHOENIX AND THE WOLVERINE.
XXI
"Sharon."
The pilot turned and her gasp caught in her throat as she stared at the figure that approached from out of the fog and darkness.
D'anna was walking very unsteadily; for her kneecaps had been shot to pieces. But she somehow managed to walk towards Sharon who was now frozen in place.
"Hera is alive; she's with us...don't you want to come home and hold her ?"
Then in a distance; they both heard a child cry in fear.
"NO!" screamed Sharon as she unfroze, then reached for her gun and shot D'anna in the face.
The nightmare ended as she woke up screaming when Helo tried to wake her.
It took several moments before she stopped shaking.
"W...what time is it ?" she asked when she could trust herself to speak.
Helo looked at the timepiece by the bed.
"Too early to be up yet love...what did you dream about?"
She was silent for so long that he almost asked the question a second time.
"I heard a baby cry...I saw D'anna again."
Her husband closed his eyes at her words and his right fist tightened in anger.
"She was only messing with your head...she can never hurt you again."
Sharon shuddered and looked at her husband with empty, wet eyes. "You weren't there...it was like she knew what to say...how to hurt me without touching me.
I...I almost believed her...I wanted to believe her."
Helo held her gently as she wept; it had been difficult to get over Hera's death.
There was nothing anyone could say to parents who had lost their child.
"Sharon; come back to bed. We will get through this; just try and sleep...please."
She nodded shakily and went back to bed; sleep eluded both of them for the remaining of their rest period.
XXII
Battlestar Galactica; Flight deck.
As usual the deck was a hive of activity. It had been exactly 4 weeks since they fled from the hellhole; known as 'New Caprica.,
However a lot of ships and vipers had taken serious damage in the escape. The engineering crew was pulling double shifts in-order to keep their flying defence working.
"So Cal; how's my girl; will she fly?" yelled Lieutenant Brendan 'Hotdog' Constanza as he stared at the oily overall covered legs that stuck out from under a viper's belly.
There was a long drawn out sigh before the impatient viper pilot got an answer.
"You asked me that 5 minutes ago Lieutenant; the answer is the same as last time...it's way too early to tell."
"Hey; you don't have to sound too upset about it...I'm just worried about my baby !" complained Hotdog.
"You ain't the only one," muttered Specialist Cally Tyrol to herself as she resumed her work.
Hotdog was about to say something else when he saw someone come into the flight deck. He grinned and went towards the newcomer.
"Hey Sharon; how are you doing ?"
Underneath the viper; Cally went very still.
When she got back to the Galactic; she heard about who had been instrumental in their people escaping.
Many viewed Lieutenant Sharon Agathon as a 'real hero'; Cally knew her for what she really was; a Cyclon; who could never be trusted and was better off dead.
"Not bad Hotdog," replied Sharon with a small smile " I hear we may be visiting some more planets for food and water supplies.
"About frakking time," said a familiar voice.
The two pilots turned to face Lieutenant Kara 'Starbuck' Trace; as usual she looked angry and tired.
"I'm getting really tired of eating algae; wish we could find a decent planet with some decent fruit and veg."
"Hmm; throw in a couple of beef burgers and beer to that list while you're at it Starbuck," remarked Commander Lee 'Apollo' Adama.
"Sir!" said the three lieutenants with varying levels of seriousness as they acknowledged their senior officer.
Once again as usual; Starbuck was the most causal of the three; Lee just decided to ignore her barely-there disrespect.
"Lieutenant Sharon Agathon; Hotdog and Starbuck; and Specialist Cally Tyrol."
Cally froze once more; not sure she had heard correctly.
The commander bent down. " Cally, get your butt out here," he ordered in a mild tone.
She scrambled out and just missed hitting her head on the belly of the viper.
Lee waited until all 4 four facing him. "You are to report to Admiral Adama in the CIC in the next 25 minutes; dismissed."
He turned and left.
The four looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
"Why's Cally coming along ?" Hot Dog asked the question they were all thinking.
"I don't know; I guess we wait until we hear what the Admiral has to say," said Sharon.
At the sound of her voice; Cally gripped her wrench tighter; she wanted to throw it at her face but reason won in the end.
"I've got to get back to work," mumbled the specialist as she dived back under the viper without waiting for a reply.
Sharon's eyes narrowed. She alone had noticed the tight, angry look that had appeared on Cally's face for a brief moment.
Ever since the rescue; she had been acting odd. Sharon knew Cally had every reason to hate her; afterall one of her sisters had almost killed Admiral Adama.
Many still remembered that.
"You need a call sign," said Hot-dog interrupting her thoughts.
"Huh?" asked Sharon in confusion.
"Hey, what about Tin-Tin or Titanium?" added in one of the pilots who was standing nearby.
"Nope...too inflexible," joked Lieutenant Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmondson "how about Boomer like before ?"
Sharon shook her head before the other pilot finished talking.
"That was a different person...that was not me."
Yeah right thought Cally as she used the wrench to forcefully remove a large screw.
For the next few minutes technicians and pilots started throwing in some suggestions; many were outrageous until Hot-dog called out a name.
"Athena."
Everyone stared at him; even Cally came out to peek at him.
"Goddess of War; patron of heroes."
Cally looked round and was shocked to see many people including Starbuck nodding in approval.
"You're serious?" asked Sharon in surprise.
"Lieutenant Sharon Agathon, call sign Athena, do you accept ?" asked Hot-dog in a rare solemn manner.
Sharon stared at him and the others; they looked at her as if she was one of them. She felt herself stand up straighter with pride.
" I accept."
XXIII
Battlestar Galactica; the CIC.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Anastasia 'Dee' Dualla frowned as she monitored the communication between the surviving ships.
Out of more than 200 that had escaped from the 12 colonies; only 163 had escaped from New Caprica; thus they had 41,413 survivors cramped in the remaining ships.
And they were not happy.
The radio chatter over the past week was increasingly on the dwindling food and water supplies; the soaring crime and disease rate.
They were also talking about 'Earth'.
Many were beginning to believe it did not exist.
Dee knew how they felt; for she didn't believe in 'Earth ' either; but she was smart enough to keep her opinions to herself.
She heard a familiar voice and looked up to see her husband enter the CIC; he stopped to speak to the marines posted at the entrance.
Commander Lee's handsome face was lined with tiredness; but he managed to exude a sense of strength; her heart ached as she thought of the tough decisions he had to make day by day.
As if he could hear her thoughts; he turned and looked at her; he smiled a little then walked to the conference room where Admiral Adama, Commander Tigh, Felix Gaeta ,President Roslin and Vice President Zadek had entered earlier.
Dee stared at the door for several moments; she turned back to her monitor with a small nervous smile of her own.
Somehow they were going to make it; she had to believe in that.
XXIV
Conference of the CIC ; Battlestar Galactica.
The five people in the room looked up as Lee came into the room.
"Sir," he nodded to his commanding officer "madam president and vice president; the pilots and crew are on the way."
Zarek narrowed his eyes. "Who exactly did we pick for this job ?"
Lee looked at him calmly. "Quite a number; I have a list of people..."
"I'm especially interested in the pilots" interrupted the vice president rudely.
Lee was silent for a while. " Lieutenant Constanza, Lieutenant Thrace and Lieutenant Agathon."
"You mean Karl Agathon ?" asked President Roslin
"No; his wife."
Zarek and Roslin stared at him in shock; while a rarely sober Tigh was muttering under his breath. Felix wisely kept silent.
Lee thought he heard Tigh say. "Frakking bad idea."
"You're not serious ! It's bad enough we are entrusting this mission to an obviously insane Lieutenant Starbuck; but you want to include a Cylon as well !" exclaimed Zarek.
"Oh yes we are," stepped in Admiral Adama " don't forget Lieutenant Agathon saved this fleet more than once; I think she's shown that we can trust her."
Zarek glared at him. " Oh really ? I seem to remember that when we were on New Caprica; her 'brethen' tortured and executed some of us.
You were not there 'Admiral' when the president and I were lined up with others in front of a Cylon firing squad ! So please; understand when I state I only trust dead skinjobs!"
"She saved your lives that day Mr Vice President," said Lee coldly " or have you conveniently forgotten that ?"
Zarek turned his cold eyes on the commander. "Oh I have not forgotten; so yes she did save us...but the question remains; for what ? So that we could lead the Cylons to Earth ? How stupid are you people ?"
Roslin sighed and spoke up before a fight broke out.
"Gentlemen; I understand you each have valid reasons to be in opposing camps; but people this is not the time for it."
She looked at the Admiral. "We know you trust her and since you have not failed us; we will trust your judgement; just try to understand that it will take some of us a long time to believe the way you do."
Admiral Adama looked at her for a long time. "Fair enough; Mrs President."
He looked at his son. " Get the star charts."
20 minutes later.
A marine came into the room to inform them that the three pilots and one specialist had arrived.
Sharon knew something big was underway when she saw the 6 people in the room; however she could barely suppress a shiver when she noticed Zarek's flat stare in her direction.
President Roslin completely ignored her; Felix gave her a nervous nod; while Colonel Tigh stared at her balefully with his remaining eye.
A daily reminder of what the cylons had done to him on New Caprica.
"Sirs" chorused the pilots and one specialist as they faced the a few of the most powerful people in the fleet.
"At ease," said Admiral Adama.
He looked at each of them for a few minutes.
"The four of you are gathered her because you 4 are the best that we can spare for what needs to be done," he paused.
"It's no secret that now we are trying to find the Thirteenth Tribe. Our analysts have had little significant data to go on; however we may have gotten a break.
The star charts in this area are identical to ones found in a copy of the Kobol Scrolls; it indicates there is a planet 4 jumps away which may contain a star-map leading to Earth."
He nodded at Lieutenant Thrace. " Lieutenant you found it yesterday when you scouted the last star system which you gave the designation 'Corona system'."
Everyone looked at Starbuck; she was just as stunned as the others. The day before ; she and other pilots had scouted the nearby solar systems for food and water; she had found one planet that looked like it would have what the fleet had been barely surviving on.
Edible algae.
"Yes sir; it had 4 planets; only one was an Algae planet sir."
Admiral Adama looked at Felix. "Please explain the rest."
The former tactical officer cleared his throat. " Admiral Adama is right; the Ancient scrolls contain a star chart; which we did not notice until recently and it is identical to the Corona System.
The words on the chart are in ancient kobolian and it states 'when the 3 moons lie in one path with Apollo; one who knows of the a path to the home of the thirteenth will be in the temple of Hera; but fair warning to all who come...
Sharon felt herself go pale when she heard the name she had given her daughter.
...on this day the temple will be destroyed."
There was silence for several moments.
"What the frak does that mean ?" the angry question came from Zarek.
Felix took a nervous breath before answering. "From the data Lieutenant Thrace brought back; there will be an alignment of the 3 moons with the sun; hence the 'Apollo 'reference. This will cause a perfect total solar eclipse.
From our calculations this happens once every 3000 years and will occur in the next 4 hours and 22 minutes.
There will be a particular area on the surface of the planet where this total eclipse can be seen; so that will reduce the area we need to search."
"What about the rest of it ? Especially about someone being in the temple for the last 3 millennia and also about it been destroyed ?" demanded Zarek
Felix looked at the ex-convict. "I...I don't know sir."
The vice president looked like he wanted to murder the former tactical officer.
"Maybe it's a warning."
Everyone looked at Lieutenant Constanza with surprise.
"Maybe the thirteenth tribe left clues to Earth...like a recording but also left a self destruct mechanism that would be triggered off once the path was discovered," he shrugged "I would do the same if I didn't want too many people to know where I was going, sir."
Adama nodded. "Perhaps; but we have a bigger problem. Baltar has a copy of the scrolls and he will figure this out and most likely tell the Cylons." He looked at each of the four in front of him.
"We need to get there first; collect the data we need and if there is no self destruct device; we destroy the temple."
Most of the people in the room flinched; what he was proposing was sacrilege; now they knew why the Quorum was not aware of this meeting.
Adama had not finished. "This is where you come in Cally; you're now our bomb expert. Specialist Galen Tyrol will be working on another project."
He fixed each of them with a steely glare. " I do not have to tell you how important it is that this mission stays secret; if this goes according to plan then you would have done the fleet a tremendous service.
May the Gods go with you."
"So say we all," added Roslin softly as she turned cold eyes on Sharon.
The cylon found herself swallowing nervously.
XXV
A Cylon Basestar.
Caprica Six placed her forehead against the bars as she stared at the man sleeping within the cell.
She could tell from his rapid eye movements that he was dreaming; she doubted it was a nice dream he was having.
D'Anna had almost killed him during the interrogation; she closed her eyes as she tried in vain to block out the memory of his screams and the blood.
And for what ?
A way to Earth.
2 weeks after they took him from New Caprica; Cavil had been demanding they have a solid reason for leaving Baltar alive.
It had come down to a vote and luckily for Baltar; Caprica Six had been in his corner.
However Cavil had demanded he be 'interrogated' for the route to Earth.
Thus had begun one week of brutal psychological and physical torture; which had stopped when he kept screaming on and on about the ancient Scrolls.
It had taken a lot of arguments to get Cavil to agree that the Scrolls may hold the key. She and the other models had studied the scrolls extensively with a frightened Baltar guiding them and they soon identified the star map.
Who would have thought that part of the map had been in the scrolls for the past 3000 years ?
It took a week of torturing a frightened man to discover it.
She sighed and turned away from the cell. " See that he is comfortable."
The centurion based at his cell door; nodded once.
She walked away in blessed silence; she had gone several feet when she got a message in her cerebral micro-communication chip.
"Caprica Six; please report to the resurrection chamber."
She frowned and picked up speed; she recognised the voice. It was Boomer.
In a few minutes she reached the chamber and before she entered she heard a baby crying. It was Hera; the 5 month old cylon-human hybrid.
She was very restless and irritable and was pushing Boomer's hands away.
D'anna was in the corner watching the scene with distress on her face.
"What's wrong?" asked Caprica Six as she walked up to the bed and tried to comfort the little one; the baby kept crying.
Boomer looked frustrated. "Something is not right; she been crying a lot; but I can't tell what is wrong."
Six looked at the Eight in shock. "Has she eaten; maybe she's thirsty ?"
"It's not that Six," said D'anna " she's not keen to eat as much as she used to; however she's still drinking and she has a low temperature."
Caprica Six took the baby in her arms and tried to calm her down. The child screamed louder.
The three female cylons were so preoccupied with the child; that they did not notice when someone else entered the room.
"What in hades is that racket ?"
The three turned to face a Cavil, a number One.
"I think she's ill..." started Six.
"And so ?" he asked coldly " do shut her up or I will do it for you."
D'anna moved and placed herself in-front of Caprica Six and the screaming baby. "Over my dead body."
Cavil smiled coldly at her. "Please; don't tempt me."
He winced when Hera's screaming got even louder.
"Frak! I can't hear myself think! Boomer; D'anna come with me." He moved to go and noticed they were not following.
He sighed. " Fine, I promise not to harm your little poor excuse of a living experiment; now will you please come with me ? I will only ask nicely this once."
Boomer and D'anna looked at each other; then at Caprica Six.
The six nodded at them. " Go, we will be fine."
Cavil's smile returned when the two female cylons followed him out of the resurrection room.
"What's this all about ?" asked an irritated D'anna when they had walked for a bit.
"Our search paid off; we found the star system drawn in the Ancient Scrolls."
D'anna and Boomer shared an excited look; their animosity towards Cavil forgotten.
"How far away are we ?" asked Boomer.
"3 jumps away; however something tells me we better be the first there."
D'anna gave him a puzzled look. "You're worried about that strange passage of the temple been destroyed aren't you ?"
Cavil snorted. "Not that, you idiot; what do you think the humans will do if they get there first ?"
" They will destroy it," said Boomer realizing what he meant.
"Praise the Non-existent Gods of Kobol; you do have a brain!" said Cavil sarcastically.
XXVI
The Xavier, en-route to Earth.
Deck 1, The Bridge.
Jean leaned back in her seat as she watched Q Junior and Laura take turns in piloting the ship. She could not help but smile as EMEH corrected Laura who mock-glared at him before turning back to what she had been doing.
It was just 3 of them on the bridge; 2 hours ago, Wolverine had gone to the holodeck on Deck two for ' a run through a recreation of Grand Central Park of New York City of 2292.'
She had been in there a few times and though it looked real; she knew it wasn't.
It had been exactly one week since her meltdown in the Astrophysic's lab; then she slept for 24hrs and came out the next day to see Q Junior, Laura and Logan camped outside her door.
After Q Junior checked the engines he had joined Laura and Logan; they had spent the whole day in the corridor.
That had touched her and the Phoenix.
'It was awfully sweet of them," remarked the other part of her in a soft sincere voice.
"Glad you appreciate it," Jean thought back to the Phoenix.
It had been an odd week; Jean had negotiated with the Phoenix and laid down a few rules.
Do not read any mind without their permission; as expected the Phoenix had laughed at this; then stated she would give it a try.
Don't try and kill anyone; the Phoenix had been quiet for a long time before stating that Jean had got to be joking.
Dr Grey had counted softly to 20 when she noticed things trembling a little around her; then the Phoenix had added the following.
' Well...if no one tries to kill me...I won't kill them, happy now ma'am?'
Thus they had reached some sort of agreement.
Jean's thoughts were interrupted when she heard the turbolift swish open.
Laura looked back briefly before turning back to her flying.
Logan smiled at Jean before taking the Captain's chair; she could see from his wet hair that he had recently showered. He looked refreshed.
She smiled back at him. " How was the run ?"
He shrugged. " It was okay; though I know it's not real. I wish we could go planet side soon; I get a bit restless cooped up in small spaces."
Jean grinned. The Xavier was huge but she understood what he meant; and she was glad he had mentioned it for she was having a bit of 'cabin fever' herself.
"Ah ha! I know what you want to do!" teased the Phoenix.
Jean mentally rolled her eyes. "Captain; how about we go planet side...for real ?"
Logan stared at her in surprise; none of them noticed Laura turning round to stare as well. Q Junior sighed and took over control of her's console before they crashed into a nearby star.
Jean looked at the ceiling. " Xavier; is there a star system nearby which we could visit safely without suits ?"
"There is one Dr Grey; however we just passed it; would you like me to reverse our course ?"
Jean thought about it and was about to say no when Logan replied.
"Yes, Xavier please reverse our course; I would like to see this system as well."
She looked at Logan and could see a wide grin on his face.
Even Laura had a small smile on her face.
"About time," muttered Q Junior in a very low voice.
XXVII
15 minutes later.
The Xavier moved towards a small blue and green planet which was in orbit around a star which had rings around it. The four crew member stared at the viewscreen as the ship's computer explained it was a Class M planet with three moons and a Class G sun.
"It's beautiful," said Jean in awe.
Logan nodded but he wanted to know certain facts. " Any indigenous people , Xavier ?"
"No, however there is life; non-sentient feline like creatures. Also; the star is giving off intermittent strong electromagnetic pulses which could disrupt transportation and communication between the surface and the ship.
But I have detected what may be artificial structures...and what may be a radio signal"
Q Junior looked up at surprise at the last part of the sentence.
"Come again ?" asked Logan.
"He means ruins and someone left their radio on," interpreted Laura .
"Yes Laura," added the computer " I am unable to ascertain the age of these structures; close inspection would be needed and the radio signals is of poor quality; it may be due to the sun's EMP."
Logan frowned; wondering how safe this would be.
"Anything else we should know?"
"In exactly 59.6 minutes; the 3 moons will align with the sun to create a total solar eclipse; from my calculations this occurs every 3000 years and will last for exactly 6 minutes and 19 seconds," answered Xavier.
The captain looked at Jean. " You still want to go ?"
Jean stared at the planet for several moments. "Yes I do; it is uninhabited. I can't sense any minds apart from those on this ship."
She turned to them with barely contained excitement. " Just imagine; ruins, a radio signal on an uninhabited planet and a total solar eclipse on another planet ? I definitely want to take a look.
10 minutes later on the way to the shuttle bay, deck 3...
"You just want you two to go ?" asked Q Junior in surprise.
"Yes; we'll be fine," said Logan for the third time "and by the by you're in command while we're gone."
The EMEH nodded with an anxious look on his face.
"Why can't we come?" asked Laura with a suspicious expression on her face.
Jean sighed. "Laura I know you have been studying the Starfleet Safety Ship Protocols. What does it say about away missions?"
"We're not Starfleet," pointed out Laura.
"Please humour me."
The female teen pouted. "On away missions a minimal number of crew is advised to remain behind in order to render assistance to the away team if needed."
"Exactly," said Jean " we're going to a planet where tele-communications may be affected and also where transportation is not advisable."
"Yeah...about that; how about having transporter com-badges just in case its needed ?" asked Q Junior with a worried look on his face.
Logan was already shaking his head. "I don't like using that transporter thing; and we've got radios on us. So try not to worry."
He missed the concerned look that the two teens shared.
In a few minutes they reached shuttle-bay one where the Delta Flyer Alpha and Beta were. Logan stared at the two and took the 2nd one.
"We had some bad luck with the Alpha," said the captain when he saw the identical puzzled looks on his crew members.
He didn't have to recount what had occurred when Laura took off her helmet on a hazardous planet.
"Who's the pilot ?" asked Laura still not happy they were going without her and Q Junior.
Logan smirked. " You're not the only one who took flying lessons Laura."
She stared at him then turned to Jean. " You better have the Auto pilot on."
Jean smiled. " It will be alright; we'll only be gone for a short time."
"Yeah right," chorused the teens in unison.
Jean shook her head and followed Logan into the shuttle she had no idea who created Q Junior's program; he sounded almost human.
"Uh huh," said the Phoenix with a laugh.
Jean had no time to pounder on that cryptic expression because she was busy strapping herself in. She had never seen Logan fly a plane or craft so some part of her was a bit worried.
XXVIII
The Xavier, Deck 1; the Bridge.
After watching the Captain's slightly shaky takeoff; the two remaining crew members returned to the bridge.
"How long do you think they will be on the surface ?" asked Laura.
Q Junior shrugged. " Depends on what they find; if the ruins are that exciting they could be there for hours."
She looked at the viewscreen as it showed the planet Logan and Jean were flying to.
"I wonder who built those ruins; how long ago and what happened to them ?"
Q Junior rubbed his jaw a bit nervously. " Who knows ? Maybe the captain and Dr Grey may find the answers down there ."
The EMEH knew who built the ruins; after-all it was his father who first showed him the destruction of the 12 colonies; then took him back in time to watch the 13th tribe travel through this current solar system.
What concerned him was who had left the radio signal; it had not been there the last time he and his father visited the system 3 millennia ago.
"A very good question," said a familiar voice beside Q Junior; he turned with mounting dread to face a Q; one that he hoped to never see again.
XXIX
Enroute to the Corona System; ETA 15 minutes 32 seconds.
Lieutenant Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace checked the DRADIS one more time; so far so good. But she knew it would not last long.
She could bet her viper that the Cylons were already on their way to Hera's planet.
That was the name she had decided to give the planet; only 4 people in the team of 42 people knew what the real mission was.
"Hey Lieutenant Starbuck you there ?"
Kara swore under her breath. "Ensign Longshot; you were told to maintain radio silence until 14 minutes to our destination."
In is viper; Samuel T 'Longshot Anders' grinned. "Yes ma'am ; however its exactly 14mins and 5 seconds to go; so what's another 5 seconds ?"
Kara sighed. "What is it now ?"
Ander's smile slipped at the continuing irritation in his wife's voice.
When he was also picked to assist in getting 'edible algae' and found out he would be working closely with Kara; he had been excited.
Since New Caprica; she had been withdrawn; angry and very irritable. It had been made worse when the 'secret trials' of cylon collaborators started 2 weeks after the escape.
He had lost his taste for vengeance and quit the Circle; only to be replaced by his wife who still wanted payback.
Anders had found out about how Felix Gaeta narrowly avoided been spaced when Galen Tyrol realized that the former tactical officer had been secretly helping the resistance during the occupation.
"I just wanted to know when you were going to tell us about why we're really here."
There was silence for several seconds. " Who have you been talking to ?" asked Kara.
"No one; I recognized the signs between you and the cylon."
"She has a name and rank Ensign," said Kara through gritted teeth.
Anders chewed his lower lip as he looked out his window to see his wife glaring at him from her cockpit.
"And since you're so keen to find out Ensign; try to be patient while I inform you and the rest of the team."
She switched on the other radio transmitters which were connected to each of the other small ships travelling with her.
"Attention all hands; this is Lieutenant Kara Thrace; there was a reason for radio silence until this point. In exactly 13.4 minutes we will be entering the Corona System to obtain food and water.
However there is another reason why we are coming with only the ships we have," she paused "we have an additional mission to search this planet for a way to the Thirteenth Tribe."
Anders stared at her viper in shock.
"That mission is very important; and it's most likely that the Cylons also know of it; the first one who gets there obtains the way to Earth. Your orders are as follows; once we enter the system a select group will head for the where the map may be hidden; the rest of you are to obtain food and if the cylons appear...retreat back to the Galactica."
There was silence for several seconds.
"Are there any questions ?"
"Lieutenant, why can't we all go together?" asked Racetrack.
"Because I'm sure the cylons will be there and I need you to be the backup plan when it all fraks up."
Anders saw Starbuck turn her head to face him and even from a distance he could see the tiredness and fear on her face.
"We won't disappoint you Lieutenant," said Anders solemnly.
There a long silence before she replied.
"Thank you," said Kara softly.
Hi everyone; thanks for reading; hope you like the above chapter.
Dur'id The Druid: thanks for your comments; it's given me a few more ideas I am trying to work into the story. Sorry about the long wait ; I wish we had more hours in the day! Have a great week and enjoy the above. Please read and review.
