Chapter 16 of the Phoenix and The Wolverine
The Galactica, the CIC...
Admiral Adama read the reports that had been given to him by one of the Junior Lieutenants.
They had been in their present location for the past 4 hours and 12 minutes; and there was still no sign of the Xavier. The president had left the Galactica more than 3 hours ago and had immediately been summoned to a meeting with the Quorum of 12.
Admiral Adama had been asked to...no make that ordered to attend and he had almost told them to go to Hades.
Instead he had explained in chilly polite tones that he needed to oversee the re-distribution of Tylium and also assess the readiness of the fleet to flee or fight. That had satisfied them for now; but he knew that it would not be long before the pack started baying for his blood once again.
As he glanced at the reports; a recent memory began to replay in his mind.
Adama had been able to complete the debriefing with the CAG, the Agathons; Anders; Kara and Hotdog but this time without the President.
The CAG had been present of course.
At the end of the very formal report; he had asked Helo and Sharon to remain behind.
For several seconds the three of them had stared at each other in silence.
Then Adama spoke first; he apologized for what both of them had gone through and stated he had not known what had been done with Hera.
"Sir," interrupted Helo softly " with all due respect...we were just assessed by Dr Cottle...I asked him point blank why he had done what he did," the colonial officer took a deep breath.
"He did not deny it and he also apologized; however he explained that you had no knowledge of it sir."
That news should have made him relieved but instead it made his heart sink even lower. "I appreciate that Captain, Lieutenant...you may go now."
The two saluted and left the office. It was after they had gone that he realized they had not demanded that they start a search for Hera.
It was days like this that really made him hate his job.
Adama shook his head. He had to concentrate on more immediate problems.
"Gaeta; what's the fuel status for all ships?"
"Deliveries have been made and all are ready to jump at your command sir."
The Admiral nodded. He looked at the DRADIS screen once more.
"There's nothing sir," said Gaeta softly.
I can understand why; thought Adama to himself.
"Fine; inform the other ships..."
"Admiral !" yelled one of the other junior lieutenant ; Adama looked at her " DRADIS contact! I think it's the...the Xavier!"
Adama felt his heart-rate pick up as murmurs of excitement and hope spread through the CIC.
"Put them on the viewscreen and magnify; any energy build-up?"
The Admiral waited tensely; praying and hoping the Xavier was not coming back to blow his fleet to pieces.
"Sir...our scans cannot really penetrate their hull...they are coming in really slow."
A non-attack vector then; thought Adama with some of his anxiety reducing; maybe things are looking up.
"Sir!" Adama turned to face his daughter-in-law , Dee " we're been hailed!"
The volume of the voices in the CIC dropped as most of the personnel turned to face the Admiral. He knew that if he looked at them; one emotion would stand out most of all.
Hope.
There was no doubt in his mind that most had already heard what had happened on the flight deck and what had led to it.
"Let's hear it," said Adama in a firm voice as he dreaded what the crew of the Xavier had to say.
Moments which seemed like hours passed before he heard a familiar voice which almost sounded Caprican.
"This is Captain Logan on the Xavier...we accept your apology and wish to talk. How do you want to proceed ?"
There was silence for several seconds then a wild whoop caused the entire CIC to erupt in heartfelt cheering.
On the Xavier main bridge; Logan exchanged a worried look with Jean, Laura and Q Junior.
"What is that racket?" said Logan.
"It's my...our people rejoicing Captain," promptly answered Adama.
Logan turned red when he realized he had forgotten the radio had been on when he asked the question. Jean looked amused; while Laura hid a smile and Q Junior coughed discreetly into his hand to cover up a laugh.
"I, Admiral Adama welcome you aboard the Galactica what time frame would suit you?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sharon woke up to the doorbell beeping incessantly.
Soon after the debriefing; her husband convinced her to take a short nap as she had been through a lot. He had gone back to his duties.
It had taken forever before she could fallen asleep and when she looked at her chronometer; it seemed like she had only managed 32 minutes of rest. She still felt extremely exhausted.
The pilot stood up and looked through the keyhole to see an anxious looking Starbuck. She opened the door.
"W...what's going on?" she asked sleepily.
"They are here...the Xavier came back!"
Immediately the sleep fled from her eyes as her brain finally realized what the pilot had said.
"Give me a moment to change."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX
The Galactica, Main Flight deck ; 2 hours later...
Commander Lee Adama tried to keep himself calm as he waited beside his father on the deck.
There were a good number of marines present; a lot less than last time and Lee had picked the most cool headed ones that he could find.
The Admiral had stated firmly that he did not want a repeat of what happened last time.
Lee did not know what to expect; he had been sceptical when he got the call that the Xavier was back and that the Captain wanted to speak with the Admiral.
He found it hard to believe that all was forgiven.
For if their roles were reversed; his first instinct would have been to nuke the offending party.
Maybe that was why the old man was admiral and he was just a plain commander.
"Here it comes," he heard one of the marines mutter.
Once again the sleek strange 'shuttle' crept onto the flight deck. Despite seeing it before; this time it looked meaner and more mysterious.
Lee refused to believe that Dr Grey had 'lifted' the guns and knives with her mind. This was Kara's view thanks to the experience of her crew on board the Xavier.
There had to be some 'powerful' weapon attached to the shuttle which carried out that function. Lee found himself trying to take in every detail of the shuttle. He so wanted to take a look at its engines but he had a funny feeling that there was a very slim chance of that happening.
Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the ship came to a complete stop.
Inside the ship; Logan looked at the pilot beside him.
"You ready for this?"
Q Junior let out an uneasy breath. " Not really."
The captain stretched his neck side to side and the movement produced an audible metallic chink sound.
"Well; let's face the music."
Once they had decided on coming after the Colonial Fleet; Q had tried to give a quick summary of what they may be facing.
Most of it was difficult for Logan to take in and only 'telephatic' reassurances from Jean stopped him from snorting in disbelief.
At the end of Q's analysis of the cylons and colonials; Logan swore to himself that he was going to get the male teen to write up a damn report in a language he could understand.
Then they concentrated on who would have the first official meeting with the colonials; Logan stated firmly it would be him and Q Junior.
To his surprise; the two female crew members agreed without much fuss.
The next thing of importance that Jean and Laura started talking about was about making the right impression.
Logan and Q Junior had agreed with them until the two females fully explained what they had meant.
Clothes.
"Excuse me?" asked Logan when he finally found his voice.
Jean had gone on to state that he could not show up in threatening attire and suggested a neutral look.
"I'm not exactly joining them for tea...let's not forget that some of them did put Laura and Q Junior in an airlock," pointed out Logan through gritted teeth.
Jean and Laura had exchanged a tired look.
"Look; old man. I get what Jean is trying to say. You go in looking mean and bad and someone is going to try and use you for target practice.
You need to wear something like a light pink..." Logan raised an eyebrow at the suggested colour "jean shirt with rolled up sleeves and maybe black jeans; the combat boots are okay but the leather jacket stays off so that they will think you're not carrying any weapons."
For emphasis she popped her claws and retracted them in less than 6 seconds.
Logan found himself nodding. " Nice idea; but it'll be a blue shirt; thank you."
Laura grinned mischievously at him. " Where's the fun in that ?"
"What about me?" asked Q Junior nervously. The other three looked at him for a while.
"Q; you said you were an ensign onboard the Voyager ?" asked Logan.
"Yeah; and...,"his face cleared as he suddenly realized what they wanted " you want me back in uniform ?"
"You were never discharged from duty; were you ?" asked Laura.
"No...I wasn't."
"Good then that's settled...if this next contact goes well; we need to contact Starfleet and alert them on what is coming their way...Q what's wrong?" asked Logan when he saw the teen's face go pale.
"Em...about contacting Starfleet...we might have a problem there," said Q Junior.
"In what way?" asked Jean.
Q Junior closed his eyes for a brief moment and explained. "At the start of this intervention...the plan was that if you agreed to help the colonials...I would transport myself using my Q powers to Starfleet headquarters and inform my godmother that the Colonial Fleet was heading to Earth.
However; in my current form I have to wait for us to get close enough to Earth; before sending a message."
"You're telling me; we can't send a message from this distance?" asked Logan in disbelief " what of when you were stuck in the Delta Quadrant and had to communicate with Starfleet through an obscure satellite ?"
Q Junior rubbed his forehead; he could feel a migraine coming on. "It's not that simple...we could send the message but it might be intercepted by the cylons thus giving away our location whichthey may be able to trace back to us.
Though we have a more technologically advanced ship; they have the numbers which could destroy this ship and also attack the Colonial Fleet."
This was met by silence. Logan glanced at the doctor.
"He has a point," said Jean softly. He's also telling the truth. She added on telepathically.
Logan rubbed his face wearily. "Let's find the Galactica and then afterwards we can worry about getting hold of Starfleet."
The Captain's mind returned to the present as he walked down the ramp with Q Junior not far behind.
He had dressed in a blue jean shirt with rolled up sleeves exposing his thickly muscled forearms with black jeans and his black combat boots. The metallic 'X' emblem was over his left breast area.
Q Junior on the other hand was in smart looking black slacks with a red jumper uniform which had the Starfleet emblem on his left breast area.
The ensign button was on the right collar; while his holo-emitter was over his left shoulder
After a few hurried tests; they had reached the conclusion that he did not need it to move outside the ship after-all; but Logan had advised him to wear it.
Just in case.
The young male teenager also carried what looked like a leather folder.
Quite a number of marines felt their heart rates pick up when they saw the innocuous looking folder.
After what happened last time; one could hardly blame them for suspecting it of being a weapon of some sort.
Logan scanned the group waiting for them; this time no one was pointing weapons. He suppressed a smirk as he recalled what had happened the first time. It was not long before he saw who was waiting for them at the front of the colonials.
He glanced at Q Junior beside him; who took a deep breath and nodded.
The boy's body language radiated anxiety; he was trying hard to hide it.
Logan could not help but feel sorry for the young man.
"Relax kid; after what you're been through; this is just a stroll in the pack," whispered Logan reassuringly.
"Yes, captain," answered Q Junior as he tried to inject confidence into his voice.
Logan nodded and started walking towards the colonials.
Admiral Adama stood straight as Captain Logan and the boy called Q Junior walked towards them.
From Kara's and Ander's debriefing; Captain Logan and Dr Grey were the guardians of the young male teenager. He wondered if the boy was an orphan and what his role was aboard the ship.
He noticed the neutral outfit of the captain and the almost military outfit of the young teen. At the moment there weren't any obvious weapons but all that could change at the wrong word or action.
Beside him; he could feel President Roslin and Vice President Zarek straighten up as the two members of the Thirteenth Tribe approached.
He had advised the two to wait aboard Colonial One while he met with the two visitors for the first time.
As he expected; they ignored his advice. Adama hoped and prayed no one did anything stupid.
Second chances were exceedingly rare in life.
Captain Logan and the young boy stopped approximately 7 feet from the Admiral and the two leaders of the 12 Colonies.
Now that they were standing face to face; Adama could see the hard grey eyes of the man called Logan and the nervous eyes of the young male teenager.
"Admiral Adama," started Logan in a slow drawl " permission to come aboard?"
The question surprised and pleased everyone who heard it.
Adama inclined his head.
" Permission granted captain ," said the Admiral with a small smile.
Logan nodded. " You already know me," he turned to the boy beside him "this is Ensign Q Junior; a member of Starfleet. He's our Engineer."
Admiral Adama had numerous questions already.
Starfleet ? How did such a young boy become an engineer? And why bring him to a very important meeting?
Instead he turned towards the President. "This is President Roslin and Vice President Zarek," he paused " you're already met my son Commander Lee Adama."
Logan nodded at the President and Vice President; then looked at Lee.
"Yes; I definitely remember the Commander."
Lee compressed his lips in a tight line; clearly he was still worried about the AI aboard the Xavier.
Logan wondered how he would react when he found out what Q Junior was.
"If you would please accompany us to a conference room...however I would ask if you would please leave all weapons behind," said Admiral Adama.
Logan and Q looked at each other.
"Admiral; all large weapons are in the Delta Flyer," Logan pointed at the shuttle " however; I'm a soldier first and second and thus still 'practically' a weapon. Does that mean the meeting will not be possible ?"
Adama sensed the unrest the latter words caused among the marines nearby.
"No...do I have your word that the meeting will take place peacefully?"
Logan looked at him for several moments.
"You have my word...as long as no one tries to harm my crew or I."
Adama nodded and looked at the president and vice president.
"You have our word," said Roslin firmly.
The Captain looked at her for several moments.
"Then we accept the meeting."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX
Logan kept his hands loose and free as he walked with Q Junior in the midst of an honour guard of four marines.
More like human 'watchdogs' who carried what was suspiciously similar to a FN P90 submachine gun of 21st century Earth.
Their weapons were clearly 200 years behind to Starfleet's current hand-held weapons.
They followed the Admiral , Commander Adama ( had to be a relative; the resemblance was uncanny), President Roslin and Vice President Zarek to a sizable room.
There were two people waiting in the room as well. A man in colonial uniform and a young woman in a blue silk blouse and black skirt.
"This is Lieutenant Gaeta and the Presidents PA; Tory Foster."
The woman looked nervously at Q Junior whose expression went blank when her name was mentioned.
Logan glanced at Gaeta then moved his attention to the PA.
He had heard about when a colonial officer called Anders and a woman called 'Tory Foster' had tried to interrogate Laura and Q.
The Captain nodded his head; taking note of the woman.
However despite him keeping his expression as blank as possible; the woman seemed even more nervous when she noticed him looking at her.
Logan smelt numbing fear.
Oh wonderful; we haven't even started talking yet; thought Wolverine wearily.
"Please be seated," said President Roslin in a pleasant manner.
It took only a few moments for everyone to get seated. Logan and Q Junior sat beside each other and ended up facing Admiral Adama; President Roslin and her Vice president and Commander Adama.
Lieutenant Gaeta and Ms Foster were behind the colonials with what looked like notepads and lab tops.
Meanwhile two marines were stationed behind Logan and Q Junior while the other two were on either side of Lieutenant Gaeta and the PA.
They remained standing.
So as to give them a clear view of fire in case this meeting goes south; thought Wolverine.
For a few seconds the two groups stared at each other.
The President Roslin looked at the Admiral who nodded.
She turned back to Logan.
"Captain...it's obvious that we started off on the wrong foot..."
The Captain kept quiet.
"...once again I wish to express regret for the earlier events and please understand that we are looking into it."
Logan looked at each of them.
"The XO, Colonel Saul Tigh is under investigation?"
He noticed the barely there flicker of expression on the lined face of the Admiral. The XO was either his very close friend or a very troublesome enemy.
"Yes...but he has been under a lot of stress lately," said Roslin.
Logan looked at the table then looked up and nodded. "I see."
In reality; he did not see at all.
However he felt it was time he laid out some facts.
"Well...I have a couple of things to tell you. We're going to be quite honest with you."
The Admiral frowned at Logan's choice of words.
"My crew on the Xavier is currently listening in on this conversation."
Roslin and Zarek exchanged an uneasy glance; while the Admiral's eyes narrowed.
"Is that necessary?" asked Zarek.
Logan's answering smile did not have any warmth in it. "Oh yes; just as necessary as it is for you to have an entire room of marines next door who just happen to be watching and listening to this very conversation."
Next door Lieutenant Ann Lackay gasped as she watched the wide screen monitor. She turned to look at the roomful of heavily armed marines who also looked stunned.
"How did he know?" asked one of the marines.
"It doesn't matter; just keep quiet and listen," everyone looked at Captain Agathon. Beside him was Lieutenant Anders and a anxious looking Ensign Buck Rogers.
The Admiral had placed the three of them in charge of the listeners next door.
"Yes sir," said the marine who had asked the question.
In the conference room; the Admiral was speaking.
"Captain Logan...this type of contact was not something any of us was prepared for...mistakes have been made...fortunately no lives have been lost.
However; we cannot let go of caution because we have contacted the Thirteenth Tribe; our distant brothers and sister."
Logan sighed. "I'm sure by now your Lieutenant Starbuck has explained that Earth is not known as the Thirteenth Colony of Kobol."
Adama opened his mouth to speak; but Roslin beat him to it.
"But how is that possible? Was the Ancient Kobol Lore lost during the Great Exodus ? That was only 4000 years ago!"
The Captain grimaced. "Mrs President; forgive me when I say this...but I have no idea what you're talking about.
According to our scientists; historians and even most religious leaders state..." their expressions seemed to change at the word 'religion' "...that human life originated on Earth and not out here."
His words were met by silence.
In the room next door; a few of the marines began to mutter words such as 'that's sacrilege!".
"Quiet!" barked Helo; then there was silence.
Logan watched as the President tried to regain her composure. His words had left her quite shaken.
"You mentioned religion...what faith do you follow?" asked Zarek.
Logan raised an eyebrow. I should have seen this coming.
Before coming to the Galactica; he , Jean and Laura had argued about what to tell the colonials. Strangely enough; Q Junior had stood by as the argument raged on. Then he finally added his own advice when he got tired of listening.
"Tell them the truth."
They had stared at him.
"Look...I didn't explain what I really was and that got us all in a whole lot of trouble...tell them the truth and it's up to them to accept it or not.
Because; if they truly want to get to Earth; they are going to have to get ready to accept many strange things."
Wolverine's mind returned to the present.
"We're going to bring religion into this ? Why are you asking me that question?"
Zarek's eyes narrowed. " You didn't answer the question..."
"And I chose not to answer it because I'm pretty sure that whatever answer I give you is bound to make you utter some useless command that will end up with someone seriously hurt or worse !" said Logan coldly.
The ex-convict found himself backing down from the fury in the captain's eyes.
Logan was not done. "Wars have been fought on Earth over religion...countless lives have died for it; so understand me when I state I am not in a hurry to start another one."
Admiral Adama held up a placating hand.
"We have valid reasons for these questions Captain."
Logan looked at him with a suspicious light in his eyes.
"Oh really? Well here's mine. Why do you seek Earth?"
Adama looked at the President; after several seconds she nodded for him to continue.
The Admiral took a deep breath. " 60 years ago; the scientists of the 12 colonies of Kobol created the Cybernectic Lifeform nodes; a.k.a cylons. They were useful as cannon fodder for handling terrorists attacks and rebellions. Then we began to use them for menial jobs etc.
What we did not realize was how smart they were becoming; they gradually began to resent how we treated them as slaves and this led to a revolution.
6 years later; we had the 1st cylon war; it lasted 12 and a half years; at end of it the official tally was 41 million dead, hundreds of thousands missing.
The war ended suddenly; neither side a winner; but we drew up the Cimtar Peace Accord," he paused " we built a space station to which we would send a representative each year to maintain diplomatic relations."
He looked at Logan " We sent someone each time; but the cylons never showed...then 2 years ago; our defensive system which was networked was infiltrated by a virus. We lost defense of the skies and the 12 colonies was bombarded from orbit with nukes.
20 billion lives were lost."
Silence followed his words.
"At the time the number of survivors was less than 60,000...now two years on after numerous engagements with the cylons... we have less than 43,000 survivors remaining.
That's why we need to find the 13th Colony; Earth. We're done with running."
Logan looked at him in shock for several seconds.
Q Junior had told him briefly of the massive genocide but hearing it from the Admiral made it a lot worse and more real.
Even when he had walked down the corridor with the guards; he had noticed the sunken cheeks and thin frames but that did not hide the light of hope in their eyes.
Logan sighed. " You guys have been through hell...I can see that...but the cylons also want Earth...why is that?"
"We're not entirely sure...we think they may just want to wipe out all mankind," said Roslin.
"Ma'am... if that is the case; then taking you there is going to lead them straight to our homeworld."
The Admiral sighed inwardly. He had known this would be a problem.
"But...your weapons can handle it," said Zarek.
Logan stared at him. "Maybe...but what are the numbers of the cylons? How many ships do they have ? That's the data that one needs if you aim to win a war."
"We don't know what their fleet capability is" answered Admiral Adama.
Wolverine nodded; he had suspected as much but he had to ask.
"Are you in the military captain?" asked the CAG.
Logan looked at him; he was wondering when the young commander was going to talk.
"Not at the moment; however Ensign Q Junior is a member of Starfleet."
Everyone's attention was now drawn to the young male teenager who had kept quiet during the talking.
"Starfleet ?" asked Roslin " please explain."
Logan nodded for the teenager to compile.
"It's a deep space exploratory; peacekeeping and military armada maintained by Earth ; which is in turn a member of the United Federation of Planets."
"United Federation of Planets? Those are your colonies I expect? How many are there?" asked Zarek with interest.
Q Junior exchanged an uneasy look with Logan.
"Mr Vice president; the members of the Federations are not its colonies...but its alien allies which number more than 180 planets."
The colonials stared at Q Junior in shock.
"Aliens?" asked Commander Adama in a voice filled with disbelief.
"Yes commander; most have been members of the Federation for more than 100 years..."
"Is this some type of joke?" interrupted Zarek harshly.
Logan glared at him. "This is certainly not a joke; Mr Vice President.
Earth has not been completely alone for the past 300 years; they did find life out there ."
"But; our ships never found any other life-form," protested Commander Adama.
"Maybe they were looking in the wrong place," said Q Junior " I have with me paper documents about the different aliens who are Earth's allies and those who are their enemies."
He opened the folder while ignoring the tense forms of the marines behind him. Logan on the other hand looked at the marines with a small smile of his face.
They stared back at him expressionless; Logan was not bothered by that.
He was simply assessing how dangerous they could be if someone started shooting.
Once again he thanked God that Jean and Laura had agreed to stay on the Xavier.
Q Junior passed on the sqaure shaped documents to the colonials in-front of him.
"Also there is something else that you should be aware of...though the people of Earth may be related to you...4000 years has brought some changes to their general physique."
Admiral Adama looked sharply at him. " In what way?"
"Mutants," the answer came from Logan.
"Millennia ago; people with special abilities were either destroyed or ...thought quite highly of..." he had been about to say worshipped then he realized some hot head fanatics may be listening.
"However mutants began to increase in number due to an evolutionary change that was taking part and also due to man's use of radioactive materials for nuclear reactors and tactical weapons etc...this caused the evolution to speed up."
Roslin adjusted her glasses. "I don't understand."
Logan sighed inwardly. I'm going to get a bullet for sure.
"Mrs President; I'm a mutant and human."
Adama watched him closely. He could tell the captain was about to tell them something very important.
"Contrary to what you may believe...those weapons floating in the flight bay was due to Dr Grey's mental abilities of telekinesis."
They looked blankly at him.
"Fine...please watch my hands."
Logan put both elbows on the table with the hands pointing upwards towards the ceiling. "Please do not be alarmed."
Then he slowly began to clench his fists as the adamantium blades slid free.
"Good Gods!" muttered Roslin in shock. Ms Tory Foster cried in alarm while Gaeta went deathly pale.
Q Junior turned round as he heard the marines grip their weapons.
Admiral Adama sat still; as his son stared open mouthed at Logan. Zarek was equally speechless.
In the adjacent room; the marines swore and some gripped their weapons tightly. One of them turned to Helo.
"Sir! We need to go in there now...!"
"No," said Anders firmly " see how calm the captain is; if he had meant to do something he would not be sitting that still!"
"But sir..."began one of the other marines.
"He's right," agreed Ensign Rogers but his face was quite pale " we wait. The Admiral's orders were for us to go in if he was been threatened... and it does not look like that to me."
"Stand down people," stated Helo; his attention fixed on the wide-screen monitor.
In the conference room; Logan stared at their shocked expressions.
"I was born with bone claws...but the military I was enlisted in...decided to make me a better soldier...so I had metal bond to my skeletal frame," he quickly retracted the claws before the thin female president had a heart attack. He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair; ignoring the smell of terror from the marines behind him.
Roslin was looking at him in horror. " Your military ? Starfleet ?"
Logan shook his head. "Oh no; not Starfleet. The military that did this is dead and gone...for a good reason."
"Your daughter has similar...weapons; you let them do that to her?" asked Zarek in a choked voice.
The Captain looked at him with cold eyes. "What makes you think that I agreed to the procedures ?"
In the other room; Anders and Helo looked at each other in horror.
How old had Laura been when she had undergone the procedure ? How painful had it been?
The Admiral kept staring at Logan. This was a very angry man; who could also be quite dangerous. He had heard the controlled rage in the man's voice. He could bet that the people who had done the enhancement on Logan and his daughter were dead.
He wondered how they had met their end.
"What else can you tell us of the mutants?" asked Admiral Adama in a calm voice.
Ah. He's trying to analyse a potential threat, thought Logan.
"I'll give you a brief history...early in the 20th century; governments around Earth began to notice that more mutants were been born day by day. Their scientists soon realized it was linked to radiation.
Despite this; we used nukes in the 2nd World War on one country which continued to suffer the impact of such a weapon long after the war ended.
Then we had reactors; some had unfortunate accidents..."
The colonials grimaced at the word.
"...while others kept working but this was steadily increasing the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere.
Soon came along the mutant registration act fiasco...at the time of 2006; there were over 30 million mutants in a population of 6 billion people on Earth," he paused.
"The government in the country I was in was trying to push this act through while also trying to sell a 'mutant cure.'"
Admiral Adama sat up; in his mind he wished he had got Dr Cottle to sit in with them.
Logan continued. " However this cure was temporary...then things got really hairy when another war broke out in 2012. The Eugenics War.
The governments had been creating human sentinels to solve the mutant problem. These 'sentinels' turned on their creators and decided both non-mutants and mutants were beneath them.
The war lasted 4 years and 37 million lives were lost."
He paused. "The outcome was that the sentinels lost and the mutant registration act was thrown out.
Fast-forward to 2049 and we had the Third World war.
The companies that ran the countries went to war against each other using nukes and chemical warfare on the surface of Earth.
Death toll was 600 million with countless others affected by radiation poisoning. Those that survived had children and now in the year of 2382AD; 8 out of every 10 humans is a mutant."
Q Junior could not help but look at Logan in amazement. It looked like the Captain had been doing a lot of reading.
Lee Adama could not help but rub his forehead. This was just too much to take in. Part of him wanted to yell and ask the Captain if he thought they were idiots for falling for such lies but another part of him warned him to listen.
For if half of what the man before him said was true...then the fleet on a whole had to tread very carefully.
There was silence as the colonials tried to absorb what had just been said.
"What I just told you...is a drop in the bucket of information about Earth; then we have the other races...the Vulcans; the Klingons; the Andorians; the Romulans and so many others.
Coming to Earth will bring you in contact with a lot of different cultures...as well as expose our world to the Cylons.
Do you still want go to Earth ?" stated Logan plainly.
Admiral Adama stared at the man before him.
It was true that there was lot of information to process; part of him was amazed that the Captain had even told them of some of Earth's significant wars and injustices. In his mind he compared the human 'sentinels' to the 'cylons'.
Yet the second part of him wondered at what else they had not been told about.
"Captain...you know why we're here...this far from our former homes.
Why are you and your ship in this place and at this time?" asked Roslin.
Logan looked at her and gave an approving small smile; clearly acknowledging the intelligence of the woman before him.
Not a puppet then; thought the mutant.
"A valid question Madam President...Dr Grey; my daughter and I are on our way back to home ...to Earth...we're been away for far too long."
"For how long exactly ?" asked Zarek as he pounced on the last few words.
Logan seemed to relax in his seat as he gave his answer in a calm voice.
"Three hundred and seventy two years."
One could have heard a pin drop; then one of the marines cursed.
"There is a logic explanation for that!" yelled Q Junior as he stood up quickly and held out a placating hand to the marines behind him who were about to shoot.
"Marines stand down," growled Admiral Adama without taking his eyes from Captain Logan who continued to sit calmly with his forearms crossed across his chest. He looked so calm and relaxed as if he was simply taking in the view.
Of a small group of frightened colonials before him.
The marines slowly relaxed their fingers over the triggers.
In the other room; a stunned Rogers looked at a pale Anders. "What the frak did he just say?"
Helo was simply ordering the marines to back down; his gut instinct was telling him that there was no danger but his heart was hammering in fear.
"Ensign Q; you can sit down now," said Logan in a calm voice.
The boy glared at him and sat down.
"Admiral; Madam President; what Captain Logan neglected to explain is that three of them were put in cryosleep and stored in stasis pods in 2006."
Everyone stared at him.
"They were taken from Earth. I retrieved them and woke them up 4 weeks ago."
Adama's eyes widened at the revelation; cryosleep was something colonial scientists had researched and experimented with long before the Holocaust. All attempts had been unsuccessful; it was hard to believe that the Thirteenth Tribe had succeeded where their brethren had failed.
Then he remembered how a single missile from the Xavier had destroyed a basestar.
Maybe it was not so impossible afterall.
"And why were they put in cyrosleep? Who put them in cyrosleep ?" demanded Zarek; firmly in his interrogator role.
Q Junior looked at him; the man's tone was beginning to annoy him.
"Sir; that information is classified," said the teen in a firm voice.
Starfleet had something to do with their retrieval; thought the Admiral.
For what purpose ?
Adama's eyes moved to the mutant who was still calmly observing them.
And why had the Captain been so ready to tell them what he was and the fact that he had been in cyro sleep ?
This is a test, realized Adama suddenly.
A test of tolerance.
If we refuse to accept them or work with them...how do we expect to work with the people of the Federation who may be aliens ?
Adama did not know what to make of the thought of real life aliens but his gut instinct was telling him that Captain Logan and Q Junior were not lying.
He wondered which other surprises were yet to be revealed.
The Admiral's mind came back to the present as Zarek verbally attacked the teenager in what had to be a Starfleet uniform.
"And you have access to this so called classified information ? A child such as you?"
Q Junior glared at the vice president and for one brief moment; Adama saw that this mere boy was more that he appeared to be.
"First of all sir; let me properly introduce myself," stated Junior in a chilly mature tone.
Excellent; here it comes; thought Logan amusingly.
"I'm not human; I'm a hologram."
That got everybody's attention.
The two marines behind him seemed to tense up at the last words.
"Oh frak," muttered Lieutenant Ann Mackey as she covered her mouth in shock.
Adama looked at the Captain who had an amused look on his face.
"I did say we were going to be quite honest with you."
"A hologram," breathed Roslin in shock.
Q Junior swung his gaze her way. "Yes Madam President."
Then his form flickered for a few seconds so that everyone could see through him.
This caused most of the marines to gasp in dismay and disbelief.
"Marines hold!" ordered Adama in a firm voice; he did not have to turn round to see them reaching for their guns.
Q Junior continued unperturbed by their expressions. "A holographic computer program. My form is of course fully sentient."
Logan could not help but smile at the coolness in the teen's voice.
"You should not have brought that...abomination here!" snapped Zarek; his face red with anger.
The smile disappeared from Logan's face as he turned to face the irate vice president.
"And why?" he asked calmly.
Zarek pointed at Q Junior. "That thing put one of our marines in the medical bay; it took him four hours to wake up!"
"The reason he ended up in the medbay in the first place was because your XO tricked us into an airlock which was then exposed to space," countered Q Junior in a calm cold voice "and I recall that I only knocked him out. He did not sustain any serious injury."
Logan turned to the teen beside him. " You put only one marine in hospital ?"
Q Junior opened his mouth to protest that he was only defending himself and Laura when he realized Logan was indirectly scolding him for a different reason.
"Wait...wait; you're upset because I didn't put more of them in hospital?!"
The Colonials joined Q Junior in staring at the captain in shock.
"Kid; if it had been me...I would have had a lot less restraint."
Then Logan turned to look at the Vice President with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
"I also seem to recall that when my daughter and Q Junior were put in that airlock; you were present and did not lift a single finger to stop the XO.
Now; why did that happen ? Is it colonial policy to put all visitors in an airlock and expose them to the harshness of space ?"
"I...no," said Zarek lamely as he retreated from the barely masked fury in Captain Logan's eyes.
The Admiral saw the anger in the Captain's eyes and found himself thanking the Lords of Kobol that they had met the teenagers first.
This meeting has to end now before someone gets hurt; thought Admiral Adama.
"People...we have covered a lot in the last...hour." Adama hid the surprise he felt at the amount of time that had passed.
"I think; it's time we called it a day...and met again in about 12 hours time ?"
He looked at the President who nodded in agreement; Zarek and Lee Adama also seemed to be in agreement.
Logan sighed. " I guess that's a good idea...just one more thing."
Adama braced himself for any more shocking revelations.
"Where's the phaser; tricorder and subdermal replicator that was taken from Q Junior ? We would like them back."
The Admiral blinked. He had not expected that.
He looked at the Captain; he appeared very calm and was definitely not going to take no for an answer.
"We can arrange for the equipment to be delivered to you in the flight deck before you depart."
He knew that Anders who was next door would be working towards retrieving the mentioned objects immediately from Tyrol and his crew.
Logan stared at him for several moments. "Fair enough."
Q Junior could not hide the relief on his face.
"I'll prepare more notes for the next meeting...was there anything in particular that you wanted to know more of ?"
Oh lots ; thought Admiral Adama; like what your ship is truly capable of.
"Yes...we would appreciate more information on your religions and political system," said Roslin as she tried to maintain a calm expression.
Q Junior looked at the captain who nodded. "I'll get that for the next meeting."
Then the Captain and the hologram stood up.
Admiral Adama stood as well. "Captain...this is a difficult time for us all; however we each have taken the first steps. Thanks for your honesty."
Then to the shock of everyone; Admiral Adama stuck out his right hand.
Logan stared at it for a while then slowly reached out his right hand to shake the Admiral's hand. The grip was firm and neither man tried to crush each other's hand in order to express their masculinity.
"Maybe...we will be able to work together Admiral," said Logan with grudging respect for a leader who had the courage to shake a man with adamantium blades.
The tension in the room seemed to reduce significantly as the men shook hands.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Galactica; Main flight deck...
Lee Adama released a sigh of relief as he watched the shuttle leave with Captain Logan and Q Junior.
"Well; that went well," drawled a familiar voice.
Lee looked at his father in surprise. "Went well !?," he looked around to check no one was listening.
"Sir; with all due respect; were you at the same meeting we just had ?!" He asked in a whisper.
Admiral Adama did not answer for a long time as he watched the sleek alien ship leave. "No shots were fired despite all we heard...no one got hurt..despite what happened to his daughter..." Lee winced at the not-so subtle reminder.
"Trust me son...it went a lot better than I expected."
Lee found himself nodding reluctantly.
"What now ?"
"We send them the next jump co-ordinates and have the second meeting in 12 hours; which gives us more than enough time to go over the documents the ensign left us."
Lee swallowed nervously as he thought of the hologram who looked so much like a human child.
Who could also move through walls and throw veteran marines who were twice his size and apparent age.
Then his surly captain with surgically implanted blades of sharp steel in his forearms. A man who had apparently been just woken from cryo sleep.
The CAG was not sure who to be scared of more.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Delta Flyer Beta...
"Well that went well," said Logan with a sigh of relief as Q Junior flew the shuttle back to the Xavier.
The boy snorted. " Went well? Yeah right! It's a miracle they didn't try to use us for target practice !
What were you thinking ?! That it would be a good idea to piss them off!?"
Logan raised an eyebrow. The boy sounded truly ticked off.
"Is that why you didn't tell them you're a Q?" he asked sceptically.
Q Junior glared at him as he piloted the craft. "Obviously; considering the fact that you were doing all you could to make them mad!"
Logan laughed coldly. " Trust me kid; if I had been trying to get them upset...I would have gone hunting for Colonel Tigh."
Q Junior gave him a worried look. " For one second I thought you were going after the Vice President."
The captain was silent for a while as he thought of the snide expression on Zarek's face. "I was sorely tempted to...we need to keep an eye on him.
His anger is troubling and he's not going to play fair."
"Now you sound like a Betazoid," commented Q Junior drily.
"You mean those telepaths and empaths ? Wonder what they would make of these colonials," Logan sighed as the view of the Xavier came closer.
"This journey is not going to be easy."
"I know," said Q Junior quietly with a disturbed look on his face.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Galactica, Crew quarters...
"That did not go as I expected," said Helo as he and Anders walked towards the Agathons' quarters.
Anders laughed drily. " Ya think? I almost crapped in my pants when his..." he looked around, there was no one following them "...claws slid out."
He shook his head. " And the boy is...I can't even say it. No wonder he went ballistic when Laura got hurt."
Helo nodded. A lot of things now made sense.
If what they heard was true; then Ensign Q Junior was the protector of the three 'mutants' and maybe his mission was to get them back to Earth.
But why put them to sleep for more than 300 years; what had they been woken up for ?
Helo was worried the fleet had stumbled upon a black ops mission of the Thirteenth Tribe. What he was constantly amazed by was that the 3 members of the Thirteenth Tribe and the...hologram were ready to help the fleet despite been on a high level mission.
The two men stopped before the Agathons' quarters.
Both men looked at each other nervously.
Behind that door were their two very angry wives.
Earlier on when the Xavier had re-established contact; Sharon and Kara had wanted to be part of the team that met the delegation from the ship.
Commander Lee Adama who had been in charge of the security for the flight bay had refused and threatened to throw both women in the brig if they appeared on the flight deck.
Helo and Anders had taken their wives aside and hastily convinced them to stay out of sight until the first crucial meeting was over.
The two women had agreed on one condition.
"We're going to have to tell them everything," said Anders quietly.
"We could get court-martialled," said Helo.
They shared a look. They both knew they did not have a choice.
Helo rang the door bleep system; after answering he and Anders walked in.
Inside; Sharon moved back from the door; while Kara stood up from the chair she was sitting.
"What happened ?" asked Starbuck in a manner which also stated they better not leave anything out.
Helo rubbed his aching forehead. "I think we're all going to need something to drink first."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX
Hi everyone; thanks for your reviews and advice.
Wow! I did not realize it would be so hard to put to paper how the colonials would react to mutants ! However there are more shocks to come for everyone involved!
Please read and enjoy!
