Chapter 12 of The Phoenix and The Wolverine
LXXVIII
Anders left the CIC; still dazed. He stood in the corridor for several moments trying to understand what had just happened.
He had been given charge of interrogating the prisoners and also promoted.
This had to be some sort of mad dream.
"Junior Lieutenant Anders." He turned to face President Roslin and Tory Foster.
"Ma'am, what can I do for you?"
"I am uneasy that you are in charge...but with Tory to help you; I'm sure you will not disappoint the Fleet."
Anders felt his face go still at the unspoken warning.
"I'll do my best ma'am."
She looked at the PA; then walked away leaving Tory with the pilot.
Both of them stared at each other for a while.
"Well? Shouldn't we get started?"
Anders turned away from the PA. " There's something I need to do first."
She did not hesitate to follow him. "Where are you going?"
"To the medical bay."
She frowned but wisely kept silent.
Anders was assailed by the 'hospital' smell that he hated; it did not take him long to find Billy; however he was surrounded by some familiar faces.
"Hey Anders ! What's going on? Buck is refusing to tell us anything !"
It was Ensign Sara Calter; the last time he saw her she had been lying still on a stretcher. Now she was bright eyed and pain free; having a rough splint attached to both legs.
"You okay Calter ?"
She grinned back at him. " Yeah ! Whatever that kid did worked wonders ! I gotta meet him; where is he ?"
"Yeah; where's Q and Laura?" asked Sergent Tyler who was standing beside the ensign.
Anders saw Billy give him a grave look.
"They...they are been briefed by the Admiral; I'm sure you will see them soon."
"Is it true?" Anders turned to see one of the female nurses looking at him with hope in her eyes. "You found the Thirteenth Tribe?"
Anders suddenly noticed the medical bay was silent and a lot of people were looking at him; patients and medical staff eagerly awaiting his answer.
"What are you all doing out of bed and not working?" bellowed a familiar voice.
Anders sighed with relief when Dr Cottle ordered everyone to get back to whatever they were doing; then the doctor turned to face the pilot.
"Are you also injured?"
"No sir; just wanted to check up on Billy."
"I'm okay," answered the Ensign "whereas the guy who did this is still asleep," he inclined his head towards where a marine lay unconscious.
Dr Cottle chuckled dryly. "I would love to meet the person who punched his lights out; come to think of it...Ensign Rogers you didn't tell me who did that?"
Billy looked at Anders.
"Doc...you'll have to take that up with the CAG," said Anders in a low voice that only the doctor could hear.
"Hmmm...well that will just have to wait; anyway Ensign Rogers here sustained an undisplaced fracture of the mid-shaft of both the left radius and ulna with no complications.
He will be able to fly again...in about 6 to 8 weeks..."
"What?" asked Billy in shock.
"Unless; someone is going to duplicate what was done to Ensign Calter's legs and to the injuries of everybody you brought back ?" asked the doc with a glint in his eyes as he looked at the 3 people before him.
No one answered.
"Let me guess; I have to talk to Commander Lee again."
Anders nodded.
The doctor sighed. "Fine, now if you two have no further business here ; get lost. Rogers has a splint waiting for him."
The two turned to leave.
"Are they okay?"
Billy's question stopped Anders in his tracks.
"I...I'm going to see them now."
The ECO stared at him; there was a fleeting expression of rage before his face assumed a blank look. "Tell me how it goes...if you can."
"Sure," said Anders before leaving.
Tory waited until they were out of the medical bay. "You didn't tell them of your promotion."
"It's didn't seem that important at the time."
"Ensign Buck seems pretty upset; I wonder if it's due to our visitors or because of the XO?"
Andes stopped walking and turned to face her. "I had no idea that you were also tasked with interrogating me as well."
Tory's eyes widened. "I was asking a simple question..."
"With you; nothing is ever simple," cut in Anders before walking off.
She was prevented from answering when she heard someone shout the pilot's name. Anders turned to see Galen Tyrol and Karl Agathon walking towards him with determined looks on their faces.
The pilot sighed inwardly; this time they would not take no for an answer.
If he was in their shoes; he wouldn't either.
LXXIX
The three men walked quickly to Galen and Cally's quarters; which was the closet; Tory tagged along.
"This is not what we are supposed to be doing," hissed the PA as she ran after the 3 colonial officers.
"You heard the Admiral; he ordered me to update the Chief and Captain Agathon about their wives," said Anders without looking at her.
"And you had to pick this time to tell them ?" asked Tory sharply.
Anders turned to glare at her.
"Miss Foster; if you wish to start interrogating without me present; please do so. Just remember that any threat to the girl will put Q on the war path," said Anders coldly.
"Wow, who is been interrogated and who is...Q?" asked Karl in a worried voice.
Tory looked up and down the corridor with alarm; there were quite a few people present. "This is not the place to talk and these two do not need to know!"
Anders looked at Galen; they had reached his quarters.
"Let's do this inside," said the Chief. Tory could be heard muttering expletives as she followed the three men into the quarters.
"Alright; what happened ?" asked Galen without wasting any time.
Anders stared at the engineer and the obviously anxious viper pilot before him; out of the corner of his eye he could see Tory sulking in the corner.
He had fought alongside the chief as they escaped from New Caprica; both of them had been heavily involved in the Resistance and the Chief had helped him pull himself together when Kara was taken from him and thrown into detention.
Karl Agathon had come for them after his wife, a cylon had risked her life to sneak onto New Caprica to initiate the first parts of the rescue.
He owned these men a lot; he had to tell them what was going on.
In short concise words; he described what had happened; right up to when the Admiral promoted him.
"Gods above Anders ! Are you trying to get yourself court-martialled!? You just got promoted!" yelled Tory.
Karl gave him a surprised look. " Promoted?"
"Oh yeah; Junior Lieutenant," said Anders dryly.
"Congratulations; but why would he...? That son of a bitch," said Galen softly. The other three looked up to see him shaking his head.
"What is it? " asked Karl.
"He gives you permission to tell us; then promotes you and also gives you the responsibility to speak to the two prisoners. This was a classic Adama Tactic.
You'll be so grateful you were not court-martialled and thus will concentrate completely on getting useful information from our guests which will prevent you from trying to do something on your own."
"Like going back to the planet to look for Kara," finished off Anders with an angry look on his face. Even Tory looked thoughtful.
"I guess; that's why he's the Admiral," said Karl with reluctant admiration "but the question is what do we do now?"
The three men looked at Tory.
"What are you looking at me for?" asked the PA with a bit of anxiety in her voice.
"Tory's going to...assist me in the interrogation; I'll speak to the Admiral and ask if you two can be included."
Tory's jaw dropped. "You cannot be serious."
The other two men ignored her and concentrated on the viper pilot.
"Once there's a rescue op; we both want in," said Kyle. He was so sure there that there was going to be a rescue mission.
"Wait; you don't have all the facts; what makes you think our two guests are going to co-operate ? They could be cylons !" said Tory.
"I don't think they are," said Anders stubbornly "anyway; we better get going before anyone wonders where we are. Gentlemen; I would appreciate if you kept what I told you under wraps."
Karl nodded. "You don't have to tell us Anders; we know what is at risk."
A few minutes after Anders and Tory left; Galen turned to Karl.
"Do you think they...actually found the Thirteenth Tribe?"
The pilot sighed. "I don't know; I just pray they all get back in one piece."
Galen looked at the door. "Amen to that brother."
LXXX
Commander Lee Adama barely acknowledged the greetings passed his way as he hurried back to the CIC. Anyone watching him closely would have noticed the way he tightly clutched a mini-epad.
They would appreciate his anxiety; if they had seen what was on the small handheld laptop.
For it contained what had occurred in a certain airlock.
Due to the obvious fact that the Galactica was not networked. Different parts of the battlestar were independent from the main computers in the CIC; thus each airlock had its own individual video monitoring system.
This was essential especially in case of accidents or during maintenance work.
After seeing Q's hand sink into the floor; he had hurried to the airlock to check the video. To his relief; the repair crews were yet to turn it on to see what happened. He had demanded for the memory disk to their surprise and anxiety.
However; they had given it to him without asking a single question.
Lee had walked down the corridor as he slid the small disc into his handheld e-pad and pressed the play symbol.
He had stopped in his tracks when he witnessed Q Junior phase through the airlock blast doors ; throw well built and veteran marines about as if they were sacks of grain and get shot three times in the chest without going down.
The CAG swallowed hard. His father had to see this.
Yesterday.
LXXXI
Commander Lee got to his father's office quickly.
As he lifted his hand to knock; he realised there were raised voices coming from within. He recognised all three voices.
He knocked and was not surprised when no one acknowledged him.
What he had could not wait.
He opened the door and walked in to find the Admiral in the midst of a three way argument between President Roslin and Vice President Zarek.
The three fell quiet when they noticed he was in the room.
"President Roslin; Vice president. I thought you were on Colonial One."
Unbeknownst to the CAG; the two leaders of 12 colonies had each decided to confront the Admiral over his most recent decisions concerning the two prisoners.
The real reason for this was because both knew that the rest of the Quorum would hear of the airlock incident soon and that was bound to cause all sorts of problems.
"Well; we're not," stated Zarek sharply "leave us for we have a few things to discuss with the Admiral."
Lee narrowed his eyes at the tone of the ex-con.
"I'm afraid; what I have got cannot wait. Admiral; you need to see this," he pressed the play symbol and turned the monitor round so that the three people before him could watch.
There was silence as the short video played out; then Roslin gasped softly when Q went through the wall.
Admiral Adama lips were pressed in a straight line as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
"We should try spacing them a second time."
Everyone stared at Zarek in shock.
"It may work the second time."
"You suggested it the first time to the XO didn't you?" stated Lee bluntly.
Zarek smiled coldly at him. " I didn't say a word."
"But you didn't try to stop Tigh either," pointed out Roslin.
"What can I say? Great minds think alike," added Zarek with smirk.
"No one is getting spaced," said Admiral Adama in a firm voice "where's Anders and Tory ?"
"I was at the detention block a few minutes ago; they had not got there yet," answered Lee.
The Admiral was silent for a few moments. "How's the girl ?"
Lee took a deep breath. "She's still alive...in fact; if I had not been there when she was pulled out; I wouldn't think she was the same person."
"What are you saying?" asked Roslin in worried voice.
"She looks...pretty well for someone who was almost spaced...too well."
All three stared at him; their expressions of alarm mirroring his own.
"I want to see them," said Roslin.
"No, that is too dangerous..."began Adama.
"I'm seeing them Bill, whether you like it or not," said Roslin as she walked out of the room. The three men quickly followed her.
LXXXII
Detention Block 22...
Anders watched the two teenagers through the glass in the observation booth as Tory questioned Lieutenant Lackey.
To his surprise; the girl looked well...in fact too well; apart from that the two young people did not look scared. Anders could always tell when someone was pretending...but these two looked like they were...waiting for something.
For what?
"So; you're just going to stare at them all day?"
Anders glanced at Tory. "What have you found out?"
"Apparently; they are speaking a language that Ann does not recognise; they could be planning our demise for all we know. Apart from that they haven't moved from their respective locations."
The pilot watched the two for a few more moments. "I'm going in to speak to them."
"Hold up ! I thought you said they were dangerous!" said Tory not noticing the scared look that appeared on Ann's face.
Anders left the booth and walked to the entrance to the cell. He nodded at the marines standing guard. " I need to speak to them."
Inside the cell; the two teens stopped talking when the doors slid open to reveal Anders and a pretty young woman with dressed in a dark purple shirt and a knee length slim black skirt.
Laura let the blanket hang loose and gently flexed her wrists.
Of the two; Anders seemed the typical soldier but her training and recent experience warned her not to take anyone for granted. She smiled inwardly with approval when Q stood up and leaned causally by leaning on the wall.
That's it Q; make them concentrate on you.
The two teens said nothing and kept staring at the two colonials.
Anders cleared his throat as he gazed at her in surprise. "Y...you look better Laura."
She tilted her head to one side. " I guess I have you and Q to thank for that...where's your XO?"
Something in her eyes made the viper pilot chose his words carefully. "He's been called on his actions."
Q folded his arms. "Really? An overdue appointment with a shooting squad perhaps ?" Anders stared at the young teen and could see he was deadly serious.
"Can you tell me where your people may have taken the colonials who landed on the planet?"
The two teens shifted their attention to the woman by Ander's.
"And you are?" asked Q.
"Tory Foster."
The two teens looked at each other. "No rank to follow that name," stated Q.
"Civilian," said Laura in a bland tone. This lack of interest caused Tory's eyes to narrow.
"Are you the Thirteenth Tribe?" asked Tory sharply.
In the observation booth; Lieutenant Lackey stared at the monitor in shock.
There was silence for a few moments; then Laura brought her two hands together and rested her chin on the semi-flexed knuckles.
"Who is the Thirteenth Tribe?" she asked softly.
Tory and Anders looked at each other in shock.
"B...but you said, you were from Earth, the home of the Thirteenth Tribe !" said Anders as his heart beat rapidly.
Lieutenant Lackey leaned forward straining to catch every word and thus failed to hear the door open behind her.
Laura stared at the two colonials before her for several seconds.
"Earth is our home; but it has never been described as the home of the Thirteenth Tribe; so I ask again; who the hell is the Thirteenth Tribe ?" she continued in a soft calm voice.
"Lieutenant Lackey."
The young officer shot out of her chair when she heard the voice behind her. She turned to face Admiral Adama; the CAG; the President and the Vice President.
"Admiral! Sirs, I'm sorry! I did not hear you come in!"
"At ease; Lieutenant and please turn up the volume," said Admiral Adama as he stared at the large monitor showing the smallish girl sitting cross-legged on the bed and the tall slim boy leaning casually on the wall.
He had no idea who was the most dangerous.
"You claim to be from Earth; yet know nothing of the Tribes of Kobol ?! " asked Tory incredulously.
"Then enlighten us," said Q with an intent look in his eyes.
Anders stared at him in surprise; he had no idea where to start. He was finding it hard to believe that the two before him had no idea of the Tribes of Kobol. Had so much been lost in the journey from Kobol to Earth that the descendents knew nothing of the Great Exodus ?
However, Tory had reached another conclusion.
"You're not from Earth; you're not the Thirteenth Tribe. You're cylons !"
Anders felt the temperature in the cell plummet when the expressions on the faces of the two teens went from calm and easy going to stone cold and deadly.
"Now, that was exactly what your XO said before trying to kill us," said Laura in a calm voice.
Oh frak thought Anders; we are so dead.
"Tory; not another word; we have to go," he stated quickly when he realized she was about to say something else.
She glared at him; unaware of the change in the attitude of the two teenagers before her.
"Get them out of there," ordered Admiral Adama. He had also been watching and had seen the change in the stance of the two teenagers. They were on the edge of a trigger and the wrong word or move could spell disaster for a lot of people.
Lee turned to go when the klaxons started blaring.
The four people in the cell froze as the noise started.
"What's going on ?" asked Tory anxiously.
Before anyone could say a word; they heard an announcement.
"Red alert ! red alert! Cylons sighted ! This is not a drill!"
Anders was watching the teenagers when the alarm went on and he was stunned to see the calm look change to an anxious one between the two teenagers.
Tory was the first to leave the cell, Anders turned to the teenagers. " You'll be much safer here; please do not leave!"
Then he ran off.
Laura looked at Q. "Where the hell are they?"
"Give them time; they will be here soon."
Basestar One, CIC...
"It worked," said Boomer with a smile as the Galactica grew bigger in the view screen.
"Indeed; my dear, now do not jam the communications. I want everyone on that pathetic fleet to hear this," ordered Cavil as his fleet of 2 basestars and approached the Colonials. He had sent the 3rd on back to the main base; after all two filled to the brim with raiders was more than enough.
"Any sighting of the Xavier ?"
"No," said D'Anna.
"Then where are they ?" asked a Leoben Conoy, a Number Two. Today all the cylons had a representative in the CIC; for this could be the moment they would get a path to Earth.
Simon O'Neill, a Number Four and Aaron Doral, a Number Five were monitoring the sensors with D'Anna.
"Maybe if we ask really nicely; we'll find them" suggested Caprica mockingly.
"Is this a joke to you?" snarled Cavil.
"Oh of cause not, dear leader. It was just a simple suggestion," said Caprica with an insincere smile.
Cavil took a few calming breathes and turned back to the transmitter before him.
"Start broadcasting."
The Galactica, CIC...
The Admiral , President and Vice president and Tory Foster ran to the CIC; while Lee and Anders went to organise the viper pilots for defending the fleet.
"How the frak did they find us?!" yelled Zarek " There has got to be a tracking device on one or both of our prisoners!"
"I'm beginning to agree with him," said Roslin as she tried to catch her breath.
"Ms President, Zarek; both of you should be on Colonial One and jumping out of here right now," Adama walked to the nearest console as Dualla ran up to him with the latest reports.
He was a little surprised to see Saul there; and he looked halfway sober. The admiral nodded at his old friend.
"Lieutenant report."
"2 basestars sir; they haven't started jamming the radio signals yet and no raiders have been launched either."
"The fleet?"
"Jump protocol initiated sir; half have already gone..." she looked at the president and vice president "including Colonial One; but a good number of the remaining ships cannot jump until their engines power up. We need approximately 15 minutes."
Adama stared at her. "How many?"
"81 ships; their fuel reserves are pretty low."
They had left New Caprica with only 163 ships.
"We're not leaving them behind," stated Roslin firmly.
"I agree..."began Adama.
"Sir! We're getting a transmission broadcast on all frequencies! It's coming from one of the basestars !" reported Gaeta worryingly.
Admiral Adama looked at the Lieutenant. "Put it on."
"Hello Galactica; this is Cavil speaking. Now I know you have two members of the Thirteenth Tribe as your guests. Hand them and their ship over and I will not pursue your fleet. You have 3 minutes to decide."
There were gasps of dismay and shock as Adama took a long deep breath.
"And if I don't hand them over ?"
There was silence for a long time.
"So many of your ships haven't jumped yet. I count 81; how about I destroy one for every minute you make me wait ?"
At that moment; Adama wished he could wring Cavil's neck.
"Launch vipers; we need to buy those ships as much time as..."
"DRADIS contact! " yelled Lieutenant Gaeta.
Detention block 22...
Q was talking to Laura in Japanese when she raised a hand; then smiled.
"Jean's here."
LXXXIII
20 minutes earlier, on board the Xavier...
Jean came out of her connection with Laura to see Logan standing and watching her with a worried look on his face.
Once he got back from the medical bay; the telepath had not wasted any moment in using the CMS.
"They're okay...but we need to get there quickly."
Logan frowned. "Has anything happened ?"
Jean sighed. "I...I don't know; I could tell Laura was hiding something from me..." she paused when she saw the look on Logan's face " and no I don't think she has killed anybody. I think something happened to both of them."
She started pressing symbols on the computer. "Xavier; I'm inputting the co-ordinates; how long will it take to get there."
"26minutes and 23 seconds at warp 9 which will be reduced to 18 minutes and 45 seconds at max warp 9.4"
"Then go faster," ordered Logan.
"Yes Captain."
"I'm going to check on our guests; can I bring them to the bridge?"
"What?! No way!" exclaimed Logan " I don't trust them...just keep them in the medbay until we get to their people."
"If you say so Captain; in the meantime they will need some food."
Logan snorted. "Good luck feeding them; I'll bet they'll think it's poisoned."
LXXXIV
Medical bay...
Sharon was staring at the floor while Kara discussed with the others on how to escape from the ship. She was not paying attention ; for her mind was on Hera.
Her dead daughter.
What if she wasn't dead? What if everyone lied to her and Karl ?
Several times now Hera's existence had been brought up; what was going on?
"Lieutenant Sharon 'Athena' Agathon, are you with us?" asked Kara loudly. Sharon brought herself back to reality.
"I'm sorry; I had ...a lot on my mind, nothing important."
Starbuck gave her an odd look. "Okayyy; if you say so...we need you to talk to the ship."
Sharon stared at her and the others. "Excuse me?"
"You know like when you helped us against the basestar? Could you kind of ...convince this one to let us go?" whispered Hotdog.
The cylon's eyes widened. "Are you are of your frakking minds?! This is not cylon technology. I doubt I can interact with it!"
"At least try," said Kara with a pleading look in her eyes.
Sharon maintained eye contact for several moments. "Fine...I'll try."
She stood up and looked around. " I...need some sort of interface...but we're behind a shield." She looked at the roof; too far away.
Then she turned her gaze on the floor. She knelt down and tried to find a panel but the floor was so smooth that she could barely make out the lines.
"What are you doing?"
All five jumped up at the calm electronic voice.
"Erh...just admiring the smooth floor," said Sharon in a high pitched voice. There was silence. " Eh...hello...Xavier ?"
"Yes, can I help you ?"
"Oh boy; that's just weird," said Cally.
For Sharon; she would describe it differently. She had been on basestars; this computer seemed more aware then the Hybrids which were the core of all basestars.
"Do you know what I am ?"
"Yes; a highly advanced humanoid with cybernectic micro- components; a cylon who also wished to access the interface of this ship. That will not be possible as your program is not compatible with mine."
Kara blinked in shock. "Wow...that's just not...right."
"Remarkable," whispered Sharon whilst ignoring the scared looks of her fellow colonials. "Why is my ...program not compatible?"
"You lack authorization."
Sharon laughed drily as she considered another line of attack. "But; I'm a ...robot...AI; like you."
"You're 97.2 percent human...thus essentially human." Sharon was a little taken aback that a ship's computer had indirectly told her that they were nothing alike.
"Now this is freaking me out" muttered Nails.
"What of your captain and the doctor? Are they human too ?" asked Kara.
Cally stared at her in surprise. Did she think this computer would tell them the truth ?
"The Captain and Dr Grey are as human as you are Lieutenant Thrace."
"Did you detect the half –cylon child on the base star ?"
Kara stared at Sharon in dismay.
"Dr Grey will be arriving here shortly. I will inform her that you asked."
"No! Don't !" cried Kara but there was no reply. She turned to Sharon.
"Way to go Athena! What was that for?"
The cylon looked at her. " Someone has been lying to me about Hera. I know it and I intend to find out."
"Reality check sister; in case you haven't noticed we are prisoners on board a weird ship in the middle of frak-knows-where !
We need to get our priorities straight! Once we escape from here I promise I will help you search for the answers you are so desperate for !"
Sharon looked at her for a long time. "I will hold you to that promise."
"Whatever!"
The soft sliding of doors behind them revealed Dr Grey entering the lab; she was pushing a trolley which was laden with what looked like honest-to-Gods fruit; bread; cheese and clean clear water.
"I thought you may be hungry," she brought the trolley closer to the forcefield.
Kara eyed the food. "You expect us to eat that? You must know what I am thinking."
Jean sighed wearily. "How can I prove it's not poisoned?" She took a red apple and bit into it and ignored how they watched her every move.
"Well; that still doesn't prove anything...Sharon ! What the frak?!" started Cally as Sharon reached out ; grabbed a pear and started eating while keeping an eye on Jean.
Jean shook her head as the others stared at Sharon in shock.
"Have it your way people; soon we'll be with the Galactica and you can return home," the doctor turned to go.
"What do you know of the half-cylon child?" called out Sharon after swallowing the sweet fruit quickly. She ignored the sounds of protest from the other colonials.
Jean turned back to the 5 colonials. "Xavier informed me you were interested in a very young child we detected on board one of the basestars. A female child."
Sharon felt like passing back. "C...can we go back ? Please she may be my child."
"Athena don't!" warned Kara.
Jean looked at the cylon with sadness in her eyes. "I'm afraid...I did not search hard enough for all the facts of this child...we can't go back...we need to get our crew back."
"Then afterwards will you help us...help me please ?" pleaded Sharon as tears began to flow " she was our world!"
Jean opened her mouth to reply; but before she could say a word klaxons began to sound.
"Red alert; we will exit from hyperspace in 45 seconds; cylon and colonial ships in the vicinity."
"On my way," the doctor looked at them briefly and ran from the medical bay.
There was silence for several moments.
"Is this real?" asked Cally with anxiously.
Kara suddenly felt very nervous. "I don't know."
LXXXV
The Galactica , CIC...
"DRADIS contact!" yelled Gaeta.
"It's got to be more cylons," said Saul out loud.
"It's..." the Lieutenant Junior Grade's voice trailed off "I don't know what it is...wait I'm getting a transmission from Junior Lieutenant Anders."
Admiral nodded for it to be patched through.
"Admiral it's them...I swear it's Q's people...the Thirteenth Tribe!"
"That remains to be seen," muttered Zarek in the background " Gods help us if they prove to be cylons all this time."
Adama ignored him. "Anders; stay focused; don't get too close; we don't know who these people are."
"But sir; they may have Kara..."
"Junior Lieutenant," barked Adama " " I repeat stay focused; you can't help her if you're dead; can you?" Then a worrying thought crossed his mind.
"Where's Captain Agathon?"
Anders looked at the second viper flying beside him.
"He's here sir...beside me."
Adama resisted the strong urge to swear. "Don't do anything stupid."
"Yes sir."
Adama turned to Dualla "What are the basestars doing?"
"The foremost one has deployed small and heavy raiders...they are going for the new ship sir."
"Admiral; we're getting a transmission...from the new ship!"
Adama and Roslin shared a worrying look. "Let's hear it."
"This is Captain Logan of the Xavier calling the Galactica; do you read ?" Adama raised his eyebrow at the calm slightly rough voice; he almost sounded caprican.
"This is Admiral Adama...which colony do you represent ?"
There was a sigh from the other side. "Ah in case you haven't noticed Admiral; a full scale space battle is about to occur and... Adama frowned when the voice trailed off. It sounded like the captain was speaking to someone else in the background.
"Hang on a sec Admiral..."
LXXXVI
The Xavier, the Bridge; deck 1...
With the computer's warning still on his mind; Logan tried to prepare himself for what they would meet when they emerged from warp. He glanced at Jean where she sat at the comms. She looked a bit worried.
He tried to give her a reassuring smile then turned back to the viewscreen.
All too soon the view of streaking stars was replaced by a scene of many ships of various sizes.
Instantly he recognized the huge basestars ; this time there were only two.
Right in-front of them was a large group of ships of varying sizes. As he watched a good number started disappearing in flashes of light. To his surprise no one was shooting at each other.
Yet.
"Xavier; what can you tell me about the 'basestars'?"
"Each are heavily armoured; have 220 turret launchers and carrying 864 raiders. There is no existence of shielding technology."
"I see," Logan smiled grimly then looked at Jean " can you connect me to the Galactica ?"
Jean did so; then nodded at the captain.
"This is Captain Logan of the Xavier calling the Galactica; do you read ?"
A few seconds passed before there was a reply.
"This is Admiral Adama...which colony do you represent ?"
Logan glanced at Jean as he sighed. "Ah in case you haven't noticed Admiral; a full scale space battle is about to occur and..."
"Captain; the lead-ship is hailing us as well as sending a viral attack load on the same frequency." Interrupted Xavier.
"He really wants the ship and us...intact," said Jean softly.
"Xavier; can you disable the package as well as enable us speak to the cylons ?" asked Logan.
"The package has been disabled; you can now communicate with the cylons safely."
"Thanks bud. This is Captain Logan of the Xavier..."
A harsh angry voice cut him off. "I am Cavil; leader of the cylons ! You will surrender your ship and crew to the Cylon Nation. Resist and you will be destroyed along with the rest of the 12 Colonies!"
Logan signalled to Jean to cut the transmission. "Get back the Galactica."
LXXXVII
Adama didn't have long to wait to resume communication; however this time Captain Logan sounded well and truly ticked off.
"I just spoke to a man called Cavil; who is demanding I hand over my ship and my crew to him; is he a friend of yours ?"
Adama's frown deepened. "No."
"Nice to know that. By the way; we've got some of your people.
Lieutenant Starbuck; Lieutenant Agathon; a guy named Nails; Cally and Lieutenant Hotdog with us. I also know you've got two kids of ours; Laura and Q."
How did they know? wondered the Admiral.
"Captain; this is not the ideal place for an exchange or discussion..." started the Admiral.
"Yeah, don't I know it; anyway 'Cavil' has just issued an ultimatum...why haven't you gone to warp yet?"
Adama was puzzled at the word 'warp.'
"Warp?"
"You know...a form of faster-than-light travel?"
"We do 'jumps' not 'warps'..."
"Fine, fine; just do it already...this Cavil means business."
Adama watched the on view screen as the strange ship came closer; it looked like something out of a holo-vid. He could clearly read the name of Xavier on the side of it. However he was certain there was no way it could stand against a single basestar.
"We can't go," he found himself answering "we need the other ships to jump."
There was silence for several seconds as Captain Logan tried to make sense of what the Admiral had just said.
"Oh shit! You're sitting ducks!"
Once again Adama was puzzled by the reference but he got the idea.
"Admiral; whatever you're planning on doing; start doing it. We'll keep Cavil busy ...just take care of mine and I will bring yours to you."
As he watched; the strange ship swung right in a fast fluid move and headed straight for the 2 basestars and the dozens of heavy and light raiders. One of the heavy raiders fired first.; it seemed to hit the ship but it appeared undamaged.
"Is he...?" started Zarek unable to say the words.
Then from the front of the ship shot out multiple short bursts of white light which spread out and hit raiders left, right and centre.
Each one that was touched blew up at once.
"Yes; he's buying us time," said Adama as he watched the cylons battle the small ship. "Dualla how many more of our ships remaining ?"
"32 sir," answered the stunned lieutenant.
"Sir!" Adama turned to see Gaeta; the junior officer's face was pale.
"Two of our vipers went after the Xavier and the CAG has gone to bring them back !"
Adama knew who was in the first two before Gaeta told him.
Junior Lieutenant Anders and Captain Agathon.
If the cylons didn't kill them; he would do so himself.
LXXXVII
The Xavier, the Bridge...
Once Logan terminated the transmission to the Galactica; he asked Jean to open up one to the cylons.
"Hey Cavil; I've got no fight with you. However; if you attack us; we will defend ourselves."
The reply came in the form of a barrage from the nearest cylon raider; Xavier's shield held.
"My turn," muttered Logan softly as he targeted the raiders and began to take them out with multiple phaser shots.
"Captain; we're got 3 small ships which have come away from the immediate vicinity of the Galactica, they are hailing us."
"Put them on speaker." ordered Logan as he tried to focus on his targeting.
"This is Junior Lieutenant Anders and Captain Agathon...we wish to help."
"This is CAG Lee Adama! Anders and Agathon! You idiots will return to the fleet now!"
Logan could not help but raise an eyebrow; fortunately that did not spoil his aim as he shot down another raider.
The doctor saved Logan from answering the hail."This is Dr Jean Grey of the Xavier...what's the problem ?"
The ship rocked a little when it got hit by multiple barrages from half a dozen surviving heavy raiders.
"Commander Lee, our wives are on the Xavier; we're not going back until they are safe!"
It was Jean's turn to raise an eyebrow at the angry yell. She had to do something before the three pilots got themselves killed.
"Anders; Agathon and Lee Adama.
Forgive me if I forget your ranks. We are in the middle of a firefight so for God's sake act professional."
There was stunned silence.
"Yes ma'am" chorused the 3 males. The three viper pilots began to fly in formation and assisted in picking off smaller raiders.
Logan checked his sensors once more as he heard Jean instruct the ship to extend shields over the 3 vipers.
The number of raiders pouring out of the basestars was increasing his anxiety levels. "Xavier; shield status ?"
"Shields at 98 percent and holding."
"What are the most vulnerable parts of a basestar ?" asked Logan.
A holographic image of the miniature basestar suddenly appeared on the desk as the ship identified the main generators and weapon's array. The icing on the cake was the non-existence of shield.
Logan's finger hovered over the symbol for phase torpedoes.
"No!" yelled Jean "not that one...there's a child there. Go for the second one further away." Logan looked at her and nodded.
Jean's instincts had not been wrong so far.
He readjusted the targeting and fired off one photon torpedo.
LXXXVIII
Deck 2, The medical bay...
Kara felt the ship shake a little.
"What was that ?" asked concerned Nails.
Sharon looked at the ceiling. "Xavier; what's going on ?"
"The cylons have fired on us."
Everyone stared up in shock.
"Are you...is that true ?" asked Kara ; she found it hard to believe an AI would tell them the truth. Sharon on the other hand was terrified.
"What...please get the captain or Dr Grey! We can help !"
"I'm afraid that is impossible; the captain and Dr Grey are otherwise occupied."
"Doing what?" shrieked Cally.
"Defending the ship," they all turned to face Hotdog as the ship shook again "they are the only ones on the ship, aren't they ? We haven't seen any other crew," continued the pilot with a worried look on his face.
Kara felt her heart rate pick up. "Xavier...I need to know what your captain is facing...we know more about cylons than he does."
There was silence for a while.
"I will relay your request to them, please wait."
Kara wanted to tell it to hurry the frak up; but she controlled herself.
The Galactica, CIC...
"Sir; the Xavier has fired what appears to be a ...missile towards the basestars!"
Everyone looked up at the monitor.
"Dee; how many ?" asked Adama; his mind still on the remaining ships and the 3 viper pilots with the strange ship. One of them his only surviving child.
"6 ships will be ready to jump in 3 minutes sir."
"Only one missile ? The raiders will sacrifice themselves for it..." Saul's voice trailed off when the missile dodged 8 raiders in quick succession and impacted into a particular section of the basestar. The fusion generators.
"Dear Gods in heaven," exclaimed the XO softly when the ignition started; in seconds there was a chain reaction that reached the stored nukes and armoury thus resulting in a spectacular explosion of the huge cylon warship.
The CIC erupted in cheers that were so loud that Dee had to yell to inform him that the last civilian ships had jumped.
"Everyone settle down !" roared Adama " we're still got one more basestar to deal with!"
The CIC quickly settled down as personnel moved about with a bounce in their steps; now confident that their brothers and sisters of the Thirteenth Tribe had found them.
And by the Gods they packed impressive firepower!
"Felix; get a line to the CAG and the other vipers with him; they are to return so that we can jump!" The junior lieutenant nodded.
LXXXIX
"Good Gods! Did you see that ?" yelled Anders when one of the basestars exploded.
"They just used one missile," said Karl in a stunned voice.
Before Lee could contribute to the conversation; he noticed something odd.
"Hold on guys; the remaining raiders are retreating rapidly."
XC
Basestar One, the CIC...
Cavil and the other humanoid cylons had watched in growing horror as the single missile from the strange ship got closer to them; then it changed course; dodging 8 heavy raiders in order to get to its intended target.
The second basestar which it somehow managed to destroy.
"Oh my God," muttered Caprica Six in horror as they watched the sister ship explode.
There was stunned silence for several moments.
"Cavil; you need to pull the raiders back to form a defensive ring around us !" advised a frantic looking D'anna.
Cavil ignored her; as he kept looking at the Xavier with a stunned expression.
The Number Three turned to semi-liquid interface and input commands as rapidly as she could.
"Launch a nuclear strike against the Xavier."
D'anna looked at Aaron, a Number Five in shock.
"Not one of our missiles scratched it! And you want to nuke it when a basestar was destroyed by just one of their missiles!?"
Aaron glared at her. "Then I'll do it myself," he began to input the codes.
"You'll need a second person for that," said Caprica " and none of us are helping you."
The number five turned to the six with a murderous look on his face.
"I'll second the decision..." all looked at Cavil; he had a mad light in his eyes " nuke the bastards."
XCI
A few minutes earlier...
As Logan pressed the phase torpedo symbol; the ship's computer spoke.
"Captain; Dr Grey...the guests wish to help with the cylons."
Logan 's eyes narrowed. " They picked now to co-operate ? What the..."
"Xavier; transport them to the bridge," interrupted Jean "Logan; I promise I will keep an eye on them. Anything out of the ordinary and they are out for the count."
For a few seconds Logan glared at her; then he relented.
"Fine...bring them and if they try to take over the ship...send them to the brig," he turned back to continue shooting as the missile sped on it's way towards the second basestar.
"Yes Captain."
The next moment; five colums of light appeared which transformed into five very scared colonials in the middle of the bridge.
"Get seated and strapped in now," ordered Jean in an iron tone. Her voice and the fact that they could see two huge basestars and dozens of raiders on the viewscreen had them complying quickly without a word.
If any of you move out of line; you're all ending up in the brig; understood ?
As one; they turned to face a stern looking Dr Grey; for the first time all five believed without question that she had some sort of mind ability.
Especially when they had been surrounded by an odd light and deposited in what clearly looked to be another part of the ship.
And none of them cared for another demonstration.
They turned back to the viewscreen.
"What is going on?" asked Kara tentatively as she took in the startling view. All could see the Galactica and a small number of colonial ships.
"The cylons want the ship and us," stated Logan as his hands flew over the controls.
"Who is targeting the raiders?" asked Hotdog "wait...did you send only one missile to..." his voice trailed off when it hit the basestar and the ship exploded.
The five colonials were stuck speechless by the sight.
"Sir; one of the colonial pilots is hailing us."
Jean was keeping a close eye on the colonials and saw four of them flinch at the voice; only Sharon looked calm and curious. Strangely enough; none of them had thoughts of taking over the ship.
Yet.
"Captain Logan, something is happening, the raiders are pulling back."
Kara straightened up when she heard that voice. "Longshot! What the frak are you doing ? Where are you ?"
"Kara! Is that you? Are you okay?"
Logan's glare had her shutting up. "People; let's focus on the main issue here. Mr Anders; the raiders pulling back means what exactly ?"
"Oh no," muttered Jean in horror.
Everyone looked at her as Xavier spoke again.
"Energy build up detected on the weapons array; radiation levels rising. Nukes will be deployed in 95.9 seconds...target is this ship."
"He's right!" agreed the telepath.
"Anders, tell the Admiral to jump now. You flyboys can stick with us as we go to warp."
"But you have superior weapons !"
"No can do flyboy; there's a child on that basestar," replied Logan firmly.
Kara saw Sharon swing her head towards the solitary cylon warship.
Jean looked up at the ceiling. "Xavier; attach tractor beams to the 3 vipers. Adama, Anders , Agathon," Sharon turned to look at her in surprise "please do not be alarmed we are attaching you to us for your own safety.
XCII
The Galactica, the CIC...
"Sir!" Adama turned to face one of the colonial officers " we've detected energy build up in the weapons' array of the cylons," his pale face told the Admiral all he needed to know.
"They are deploying their nukes."
"Galactica come in! We have solid confirmation the cylons will use nukes; jump now. I repeat jump now. You have only 45 seconds."
Adama looked at the screen as Anders' announcement put the CIC into a state of panic. Meanwhile; the Xavier was turning away from the basestar as if trying to put some distance away from it. The three vipers went with it.
The much smaller ship was not going to make it.
Admiral; you must go now, we will keep them safe and we will find you.
This; I promise.
The strange soft feminine voice left his mind.
"Jump the fleet."
Gaeta took one look at the old warrior's face and did as he was told.
As the Colonial Battlestar jumped ; Adama thought he saw the Xavier and three vipers disappear in streaks of white light.
This happened at the same time the basestar released its nukes; they never reached their intended target for it was no where to be found.
Hi everyone; sorry for the wait; this week has been hectic and I am going to stop using roman letters to divide the sections. What should I use ?
Please read and review and have a great weekend people!
