Mining Base Delta Seven was one of ten deep space tylium mines built by the colonies, owned by HunterCorp. Delta Seven was the furthest out into space, placed on a small moon that was in orbit of a long dead world, it was the most prolific in its production. Its small crew of six were coming to the end of their two-year rotation.

The small base which spanned four miles across the surface was largely self serving, run by state of the art computers making life far easier for its crew. While some of its technology was the most advanced available, it skirted closely to what was illegal.

Jessie Anders was the stations commanding officer. At twenty seven years old she was the youngest person in charge of any of the facilities. The young woman was a former Raptor ECO, she had to leave the service after an accident had left her with terrible injuries. Her Raptor had been caught in a mid air collision and she had lost both her arms. In the months that followed she was offered a life changing procedure by the Vergis Corporation, which had seen her receive two cybernetic arms, which once they had been attached looked no different to normal ones. It had been viewed as being very controversial at the time but she didn't care, it had given her a normal life again. Most of the crew called her by her old call sign, Hydra.

She walked into the large control centre and the lights flickered to life. As usual she was the first one on duty. She had gotten used to that fact a long time ago and if she was honest, she enjoyed the quiet time first thing in the morning to get her head together, the rest of the crew always made up for any lost time so she didn't mind.

"Good morning Hydra." the base's computer said.

"Good morning Delta, anything to report?" Hydra replied.

"Baskets eight through twelve were all filled to maximum over night. I sent them to the bin to be emptied and recommence filling."

"Thank you," Hydra replied taking a sip from her morning coffee.

"Only five more days and your tour is over, are you looking forward to returning home to Tauron?" Delta asked.

"I sure am, but I'm trying not to think about it just yet, replacement crews for these bases are notorious for getting here late." Hydra answered.

"I'm sure on this occasion, they will be on time." Delta replied.

"We'll see." Hydra replied.

Simon Given, the bases engineer finally decided to get out of bed. He had hit snooze on his alarm clock five times now and knew he wouldn't be able to get away with a sixth. If Delta saw he was still in bed, she would take it upon herself to make sure he was awake. The twenty four year old had long black hair and a stubble goatee. He looked more like the lead singer from a metal band than an engineer. His quarters were plastered in movie and sports posters, as well as pictures of his favourite bands and models. Even though he had finished student life years before, he still lived like one. He guzzled down the remains of a glass of water he had by the side of his bed before standing and stretching. He looked at his watch, there was no way he had time for a shower, so he pulled on his clothes and headed out. The large base was like a maze. The grey walls and walkways were all uninspiring, if you weren't paying attention, you could get lost, very, very easily. It had happened to him many times when he first started. He hummed to himself as he walked down the long corridor that ran from the living habitat into the main control area of the base. Before getting to the control centre he walked into the mess and walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a large mug.

"Hey Delta are there any more of those pastries left?" he asked the computer.

"Yes Simon there is, they are in cupboard 4C."

"Thank you Delta." He said as he walked over to the cupboard. He smiled as he saw a new box of his favourite breakfast food. None of the other crew liked them, which was fine by him, they were one of the best pastries he had ever tasted.

"Nice, strawberry." He said as he took three out of the box.

Kal Bright, the bases drill mechanic and demolitions expert walked in as Simon took a big bite out of the pastry.

"I've told you before kid, those things will kill you." He said in his gruff voice.

"And the amount of cigarettes you smoke won't?" he replied.

"Very funny, now get to work." He said.

Kal was unlike any of Simon's other friends. The 6ft 7" giant looked as broad as he was tall. Before being stationed here he had worked on some of the mining platforms of Aquaria. In his time he had worked on some of the most inhospitable and inhabitable places in the colonies. The man had taken Simon under his wing and had treated him like an adult where a lot of people didn't, because of how young he was. They were always making fun of each other and pulling practical jokes, some of which Simon knew for a fact if anyone else had done them would have landed them in hospital.

As Simon walked onto the control centre the smiling face of Hydra greeted him.

"Good morning, this must be a record, I didn't have to send Delta to get your ass out of bed." Hydra said.

"Good morning Jess," he replied, he had always preferred to call her by her name instead of her old call sign, "Thought as there is only a few days left I had better make more of an effort. So is there anything for me to fix today?"

"Actually no, everything seems to be working." Hydra replied.

"Typical, we have to fix nearly everything as we go along and the next crew will get it all in perfect working order." Simon grunted.

"Them's the breaks." Hydra replied, "Just try to look busy and don't play your games too loud."

Simon smiled. Days like this were few and far between, most days he was out at some remote point of the base fixing something else that had broken overnight. Hydra always let him relax when these days came round. He may be late for duty most days but she forgave him because of how much work he usually had and because of just how good he was at his job.

"Dana Shelby, Medical officers log. Thankfully we've had a quiet month, Simon seems to have passed through his phase of injuring himself. It's given me enough time to run inventory for whoever is coming to replace me. We're doing well on supplies, all items we need a restock for was sent in a message to give enough time to bring it all out with our replacements. On a personal note I'm glad our tour is nearly over, I miss home. It seems so long ago that I saw Caprica and I never thought I'd miss it so much. When the last messages arrived there was a job offer from Caprica City General offering me a position as head of their ER, which I have accepted. It seems like forever since I last worked in a hospital I can't wait to get back to helping people every day. More than anything I can't wait to meet my niece. My brother Andrew keeps sending me pictures and videos of her. She's getting so big now, as long as our replacements are on time, I should be home in time for her first birthday. He also told me about Michael, my ex, apparently he's started drinking again and keeps asking when I will be back. There is something I can do without. He only ever seems to want to talk to me when he's drinking, when he's at his most needy and dangerous. I was hoping rehab would have helped him but it only seems to have been a stopgap. I may have to rethink that restraining order against him. Anyway I better go show my face, make sure everyone's okay. End log."

Dana sighed as she signed off. She had made more of these logs than anyone else. She had watched a few of them back recently from when she first arrived at the station, when she was still excited about being out this far into space. The novelty had worn off quickly and now she hated being here. If it weren't for the six figure salary waiting for her when she got home she would have found it all very depressing. She tied her shoulder length red hair into a ponytail and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't always recognise herself any more. While she would never have said it out loud she had always thought she was quite attractive, but now she wondered if the last two years had taken their toll on her looks. Simon hit on her most days, as annoying as he could be, it was still flattering and other than when they had got very drunk on Colonial day last year, she never indulged him in his urges. He had taken the hint quite quickly that that night had been a one off and there would be no repeat performance.

Hydra sat reading through the reports on the area around them. To most people they would have been utter gibberish but she enjoyed reading about any random radiation spikes or passing by comets.

"Delta how accurate is this about a comet shower in three days?" Hydra asked.

"100%," came the reply, "They will be visible and should be very visually pleasing. The observation deck should prove an excellent place for you to watch them."

Hydra smiled to herself, it would be a nice way to end their tour. She would suggest to the others at lunchtime that they should all watch the shower together. She could hear the gunshots from the game being played at Simon's console.

"You have become quite adept at killing Cylon centurions on your game." Delta said to Simon.

"Only on the easy setting," Simon replied, "Delta are you anyway related to Cylons?"

"No Simon, I am not. The Cylons were created by Graystone Industries I come from a subsidiary company of the Vergis Corporation. None of my internal systems are in any way related."

Dash Cole walked along the long work platform that overlooked the bin. The bin was where all the mined minerals were stored ready to be taken to refineries back on the Colonies. The massive bin stored nearly 5 million tons before it was full. Every three months, giant container ships would come by and empty it. This was Dash's third rotation in a row, he had done six years straight and now was finally getting ready to head home. He had no family to speak of back on the colonies and a history filled with crime and short stays in prison. After he had last been released from jail he had worked a job at one of the tylium refinery plants on Virgon, working his way up from the bottom till he could be accepted for this position on Delta Seven. Now he had managed to spend eleven years escaping his past he was going to go home take every cubit he had earned over the last six years and hadn't been able to spend and live a life of luxury. Every team he had worked with until this one, had made sly digs at him about his past, he had never spoken of it with them but they all knew anyway. This team had never even mentioned it. He had only told them when they had started and were getting to know each other and it had never been brought up since. He counted them as the only real friends he had ever had and decided that when it was time to leave he would go with them. Since he had gone straight he had become a huge fan of pyramid and had every televised game sent to him every week of the season for the whole six years he had been here. He had one game left to watch before he went back to the Colonies and everyone had agreed to watch it with him on one of the last nights. He always watched the game with Simon and Kal but now the others had agreed too. Jessie had always avoided them but had never said why to the rest of the crew, they had speculated that she was in some way related to the Bucks captain, Sam Anders, but no one had ever had enough courage to ask her, it was something he intended to bring up. As Dash sent the last of the baskets back out to collect the mined tylium and bring it back, he turned and began the long walk back to the airlock that would lead him back inside. The first thing Dash had begun to enjoy when he arrived from the base were the views he got being outside. The stars that twinkled in the sky, the views of the dead world the moon orbited every day, amongst others were some of the most calming views he had ever seen. As he walked inside and the airlock pressurised he took of his helmet and began to take the space suit off. This part of the base was always so quiet, he was the only one who ever came down here. There were rumours that it was haunted but in his six years he hadn't seen anything that he could put down to being "supernatural". Nearly twelve years previously a group of Tauron pirates had broken into the base to steal the mined tylium, there had been an explosion and two members of the base and three of the pirates had been killed. If anything he found it very peaceful to be here. His work outside was over for the day, the next basket wouldn't be back for two days so all he needed to do was monitor them from the control centre. He hadn't seen anyone else for nearly three days because of the hours he had to work due to when the baskets would be coming in. He loved the quiet but also needed some company once in a while, so today was a good day.

By the time lunchtime came around, Jason Davis was the last crewmember to join the table, he sat down to his spaghetti and meatballs and took a quick sip from his drink of water, "The shuttle bay is all ready for the relief crew to arrive." He said.

"Good, thanks Jason." Hydra replied.

Everyone was eating their food and Hydra decided she would bring up the topic of the comet shower.

"You know as it's our last few days together, I was hoping you guys would be interested in watching a comet shower with me on the observation deck. It's quite a rare thing to happen out here and it should be quite spectacular as they pass between us and the planet." She said.

"Sounds good to me," Simon replied, "I've been sitting on a few bottles of ambrosia for our last week together, should be a good time to break them out."

Everyone agreed to come and watch it with her, she smiled as she turned her attention back to her food.

"Jessie I have something to ask you, I've been wondering for quite a while now and as we don't have much time left here I thought I'd bring it up now." Dash said.

"Sounds ominous." She replied with a laugh.

"This pyramid game we're all going to watch, what is it with you and the sport why do you hate it so much?" Dash asked.

This was a topic she often avoided talking about, "I don't hate pyramid." She replied.

"Then may I ask why you never come watch it with is? We've been thinking maybe it's something to do with your name, you related to Sam Anders?" He asked.

She sighed, swallowed her food and took a sip from her water before she replied, "If you must know, no I am not related to him," she sighed again, "He's my ex-husband."

No one knew whether or not she was being serious and they didn't know how to take it, "Seriously?" Dash asked.

"Yeah, seriously." She replied going back to her food.

"Oh no no no, you can't just reveal something like that and then say nothing else?" Dash replied.

Everyone else's eyes were now on her, "When I was taking physical therapy to get used to my new arms he was there as well, he was recovering from a spinal injury. We got talking, got to know each other, started to see each other outside of the hospital and the next thing you know it's two months later and we're married."

"Holy frak Hydra, this is incredible." Dana replied.

"Things were crazy, he'd just signed to the Buccaneers even though he was injured and he was the man who was going to bring success back to them. Late night parties, the A list lifestyle and ten months later both of us realised we didn't even really love each other. We both got on brilliantly, we were great friends and I cared for him a lot but we wanted very different things from life. He was on the face of every newspaper and magazine, a lifestyle that most people dream of and all I wanted to do was go and get a job. My arms were working, the military wouldn't have me back all I wanted to do was find something new in my life. We decided that it would be best if we divorced and we stayed friends, next thing I knew I was a shuttle jockey and the rest is history."

"Holy shit! Sam fraking Anders." Dash said with a stupid laugh, "This is fraking awesome."

"Hydra hunny you and I are going to talk later!" Dana said with a very dirty laugh.

"How the frak did we not know about this? Why wasn't it across the media?" Simon asked.

"Because we kept it quiet, I always went to parties and events by myself and met up with him there. The coach had banned him from girlfriends while he was in rehab and to be honest we kind of liked sneaking around, it was fun." Hydra replied.

Before Dash could say anything else Kal spoke, "Okay let's leave Hydra alone, you asked she told you."

"Thank you Kal." Hydra replied with a wink.

No one argued once Kal said something like that, he was protective of everyone of the crew but Simon and Hydra the most.

"Hydra there is a message for you from Virgon." Delta said.

"Thank you," she replied standing up and picking up her drink, "I'll see you guys later."

As Hydra sat down at her station on her monitor read, "Received Message". She pressed the open button on the screen and a video of her boss Amanda Reece appeared in front of her.

"Hello Jessie. I hope everything on the station is still going well. We have received all your messages with the restock requests, all the supplies will be sent on the relief ship. The ship is scheduled for take off in two days time meaning by the time you receive this message they will be five days away, if there have been any problems with their launch, more messages will follow. On a personal note I just wanted to say well done for all your hard work, your crew has mined more Tylium than any other team in the stations history. You've done me proud and the company has decided to give you all a 100,000 cubit bonus each to repay your hard work. See you soon Jessie." The screen went blank and she smiled, everything was going as she had hoped, it was about time things went right. She would tell them before they watched the game later on, it would be a nice surprise for them, she was looking forward to the game, and she always liked watching the Bucks. None of the others knew, but she had watched every game since she had been here. She knew how she reacted when she saw Sam on the TV and she knew that she wouldn't be able to hide it from them, now they knew, she wouldn't have to hide the smile she always had the first time the camera cut to him.

Dash walked from his quarters with disk of the game griped tightly in his hand, the other carried a bottle of Arilon cider. As he entered the rec room everyone was waiting for him, all with alcohol and snacks for during the game.

"About fraking time." Kal said as Dash slid the disk into the side of the massive vid screen.

"Hey I'm here at the time we all agreed on, it's not my fault if you were early or can't tell the time." Dash replied. He ducked as Kal threw a handful of popcorn at him.

"Before we start I have something I need to tell you guys," Hydra said, "The message from home base said that everything was running on time, so our relief should be here on time. If anything goes wrong we will probably get a message over the next couple of days. Also the boss wanted me to tell you guys that we have mined more Tylium than any other team who has worked here before. The company is so pleased with us all that we are all getting a bonus of 100,000 cubits, each."

Everyone was pleased with the news and it opened the night on a high. The build up for the Caprica Buccaneers versus Picon Panthers began to play. Dana turned to Hydra, "So it must have been a nice divorce settlement?!" She said with a smile.

"Dana!" Hydra exclaimed, "It was all very amicable."

"I'm sure it was." She replied with a little laugh.

Everyone enjoyed the interviews and then the game. By the end of the game the Buccaneers had won by 4 points, the winning goal being scored by, Anders.

The next couple of days went without incident, most of the crew had taken the time to pack their gear ready for the move back home. There had been no more messages, no news was good news, at least that's what Hydra had been telling everyone. She lay on the ground of the observation deck. The comets were not expected to start for another hour but she had decided to go there early. She was very relaxed, moments later the other came in led by Simon who cradled his three bottles of ambrosia and six glasses in his arms.

"Time to get drunk people." Simon said putting the glasses and bottles onto a table. He poured everyone a glass and handed them around, "I just wanted to say that despite the fact that I can't wait to get home, I'm really gonna miss you guys and even though we come from all over the colonies we need to stay in touch and meet up when we can."

"Here here." Kal said which everyone else echoed before they downed their drinks.

The comets were amazing. As they passed in between the small moon and the dead world they left streaks that bled into the night sky leaving a brief scar behind. They went on for hours and everyone stayed and watched everything. By the end of the evening everyone was very drunk and once again found themselves having a good time.

"Start log. Jessica Anders station commanding officer. We had the best time last night. The comets were beautiful, some of them came so close it almost felt like I could reach out and touch them. Tomorrow is the big day, fingers crossed that is. So far no more messages from home. I'm dreading having to tell the guys there has been a delay, the feeling here is so good I wouldn't want to be the one who had to spoil it. I never could have expected how well we would all be getting along by this stage. I expected there to be rows and people not talking to each other, I'm very glad that I was wrong. Not doing this everyday is something I'm going to have to get used to again. I never thought I would actually enjoy doing these logs when I first got here, they aren't even for anyone else to see. I'm going to have to make copies when I get home, I think they could make for some interesting viewing. Everyone seems to know what they're doing when they get home, Dash is going to move somewhere hot and enjoy the money. Dana is going to work at Caprica hospital etcetera etcetera. If I'm honest I have no idea whatsoever what I am going to do. I'd like to see Sam, see how he is, but I can't see that happening. I suppose I'll go to see my mom, I know she is looking forward to me coming home. The Vergis Corporation have been on the horn again, they want to upgrade my arms. Apparently they have a new version of my arms that are even better than these. I don't think I'm interested, there are nothing wrong with these ones. They said they'd last the rest of my life. Anyway they told me at the time that if they ever had to replace them for any reason it would be extremely painful as my body has grown into them now. This log may be the most random one I've done so far, there is so much buzzing through my brain right now. I still have a job to do until I go tomorrow and maybe longer if they send a message, gods please do let them send a message." She sighed to herself, "I'm never doing anything like this again, and whatever I do it won't keep me away from my home for this amount of time. I miss my car, I miss my cat," she laughed, "Frak me my cat isn't going to even know who I am any more. She's lived with my mom for so long now she probably won't even remember who I am. I think I'll leave her, it's the kinder thing to do, maybe I'll get a dog, and I've always wanted a golden Labrador. I may even buy myself a sports car."

Hydra found herself standing in front of the stations only raptor. She had only had reason to take it out once over the last two years. It had been strange, being the pilot of the craft was something she'd never done before. Yeah she was a pilot and had flown numerous other craft but never a raptor since she graduated flight school. She had been an ECO and a damn good one at that. She wasn't sure if she would ever get to see a Raptor again, the military wouldn't have her back, they had made that quite clear. She could always get a job flying them on medical runs though. The Battlestar Solaria had given this particular one to them and it had been an old one. A lot of work had gone into it to make it suitable for flying. She ran her hand over the canopy, flying in these things had been one of the better times she could remember.

Simon couldn't sleep, he had packed all his things and he was ready to go. He felt like he had when he was a kid the night before his birthday, excited because in the morning he would have lots of presents to open. He walked over to the camera on his desk and pressed record.

"Start log. Simon Given, station engineer. I can't sleep so I thought I'd record what could hopefully be the last of these logs that I ever have to make. I don't even know what to say. I was hoping having a chat to you guys would tire me out a little bit. The transport, if it is on time should be here by twelve hundred hours tomorrow. There are still eight hours before I have to get up so I should be able to drift off eventually. I wonder what the bunks will be like on this transport, the ones on the way out here weren't bad. But three weeks is going to be hard but I've been here for two years so it shouldn't be too bad. Why they feel the need to send a sublight out is beyond me, but once again we get paid all the way home, the clock doesn't stop ticking until we step foot onto that runway. Dana was telling me that if we don't get picked up on time then we get three times our daily wage until they get here so that's not too bad."

The following morning everyone was in the control centre on time, which is something that hadn't happened in a month, everything was running smoothly. There had been no messages from home so they were all confident that their ride home would be here soon.

"What time is it?" Simon asked.

"I thought you owned a watch?" Kal replied.

"I do, but I packed it by accident." Simon said.

"It's 11.56am." Kal replied after glancing down at his watch.

They all sat in silence, each of them as nervous as each other.

"It is now twelve hundred hours." Delta said.

No one replied, all eyes turned to the dradis console, nothing happened. Minutes came and went and still no one spoke. After an hour still nothing. Hydra stood up and stretched.

"I'm going for a coffee, anyone want one?" she asked. No one did, she left the room and the sinking feeling she had been keeping at bay hit her hard, "Frak." She whispered very quietly. The walked into the mess and poured herself the last of the coffee in the jar. She slowly walked back to the control room where people were still waiting in silence. She put the full coffee cup onto her desk.

"Okay there's no point in waiting around here all day, we still have jobs to do guys. We'll all know the second the transport gets here, I've asked Delta to tell us over the con straight away." Hydra said.

Two weeks later and there was still no sign of their replacements or a message telling them what had happened. The mining facility had been stopped, the bin had been full for a week now. Tensions had frayed a little, no work meant they had to spend more time together and it appeared the hours they all worked alone had gone some way as to keep these tensions low. They all met in the mess for their lunch.

"I've been thinking about taking the raptor and making my way back to the shipping route that's a couple of days away from here. Make sure there hasn't been an accident or something." Hydra said.

"Do you think that could be what happened?" Simon asked.

"I have no idea. What worries me is the lack of a message. If they were delayed even by a day we should have had a message by now. Even if there had been an accident enough time has passed for them to tell us about it." Hydra said.

"What if we all get in the raptor and just go home in that?" Dash asked.

"Because it takes three weeks in a sublight, we can't carry enough fuel to make that journey, if we did it with making jumps then we would need even more fuel. I can poke my head as far as I can and see what I can see, hopefully I'll come across a larger ship and they will be able to help us out." Hydra replied.

"What would we do in the eventuality of the transport coming while you're out there?" Kal asked.

"Then either wait for me to come back or I'll give you the coordinates I'm going to take including where I will be jumping too and from so you can come find me." Hydra answered.

"It does sound like a good plan." Kal said.

"One of us should go with you." Dana said.

"It's going to be cramped for one with the amount of time I'm going to be spending out there. Plus as far as I'm aware none of you know how to work any of the ships systems. No offence but it'll be quicker if I go myself." Hydra said.

"No offence taken." Kal replied, everyone agreed.

"I'll get the raptor fully fuelled and ready to go this afternoon." Hydra said, "Kal, I'm going to leave you in charge till I get back. All I ask is that you try not to kill each other."

"Don't worry everyone will behave." Kal replied.

Hydra loaded the last of her supplies onto the raptor. She was all ready in her flight suit. Kal walked up to her.

"You sure you wanna do this on your own?" he asked.

Hydra nodded her head, "Yeah I'll be fine."

The days after Hydra left passed without incident. The crew were starting to interact with each other less and less.

"Start Log," Dana said as she switched the camera on, "This is the third day since Jessie left, she should be nearing the shipping lanes soon. It's my nieces birthday in three days," she sighed to herself, "Why haven't they sent us a message yet? I've been over the records and this has never happened before. Despite the record being nearly two months before a crews replacements came, there were messages sent everyday with updates. I can't help but feel as though something is really wrong. Surely even if there had been an accident with the transport ship enough time has passed for them to let us know. What I'm about to say sounds insane but the thought has crossed my mind that something apocalyptic has happened. They can't just not be coming for us, so many people know we're here. At the same time I can't help but think that nothing is wrong and there is just some kind of communications problem." As she stopped talking she sighed before running her hands through her hair, "I think I'm going to go for a run."

Hydra came out of her last jump before she arrived at the shipping lanes. Despite all of the flying she had done over the past three days she had really enjoyed the journey. To fly through space once again in a raptor was something she hadn't expected to happen. She isolated all the colonial channels and began to broadcast a message, "This is Jessie Anders from the mining station Delta Seven, is there anybody out there who can hear me?" after she broadcast the message she set it onto repeat. She had enough fuel to fly around for up to a couple of days before she had to head back to the station. She turned the raptor and began to fly into the lane. The back of the raptor had been transformed into a living area with a hammock pinned up, the cramped quarters had suited her fine, and it reminded her of being in the service. After she had been travelling for twenty minutes she found herself flying into wreckage. Something had happened, but what? The further she went the more wreckage she found. This was part of one of the busiest shipping lanes leading back into the colonies. Whatever had happened it wasn't located to one area. She kept getting traces of nuclear fallout as she passed through, "What the frak." She whispered to herself. These weren't military vessels, they were civilian and transports. The COM unit started to buzz. She pressed the receive button.

"Hello is someone there?" a female voice said over the crackling con.

"Yes, my name is Jessie Anders from the mining station Delta Seven." She replied.

"We need help, please help us."

"Can you send me your co-ordinates?" Hydra asked.

"Yes, I'm sending them now."

They appeared on the screen in front of her.

"I'm on my way, I'll be there in three minutes."

"Thank the gods." Came the reply.

Hydra had a sense of urgency she hadn't felt in years. She turned her old raptor around and began to head to the survivors. Minutes later she saw the battered old transport. She could tell from the damage the ship had been hit by weapons fire but nothing nuclear, whatever happened these people were lucky. She saw the name Journey's End printed onto the side.

"Journey's End this is Jessie Anders come in." she said.

"This is Journey's End." The woman's voice replied.

"Is it safe for me to dock with you?" Hydra asked.

"Yes airlock three is still useable." Came the reply.

"I'll be with you in a moment."

Hydra moved the raptor into position and docked with the battered ship. She moved to the back of the raptor and opened the hatch on the bottom of the hull, which led into Journey's End's airlock. The woman she had been speaking too who introduced herself as Kelly Winchester met her.

Hydra was taken into another part of the ship where some other people had been trying to make the best of the situation.

"Where did you come from?" Kelly asked.

"There is a deep space mining base about three days from here," Hydra replied, "We have been waiting for someone to come and take us home, but there's been no word for weeks, our replacements are long overdue so I decided to come out and see if I could find anyone. What happened out here?"

"Cylons," an older man named John replied, "They have annihilated everyone. We ran from the colonies only to find ourselves stuck here."

"What? Cylons are you sure? Surely the fleet would have been able to fight them off."

"From what we've seen and heard some fraked up things have been going on. It seems that there must have been other humans working with them," Mary said, "There used to be a couple more ships with us, one of them said they saw our fleet just floating in space before they were attacked like someone had just turned off a switch."

"What happened to the other ships?" Hydra asked.

"The Cylons found us, they destroyed the other ships before they could react, we managed to jump away, just in time." John replied.

"How badly damaged is your ship?" Hydra asked.

"Our jump drive is gone," Mary replied, "We're more or less flying blind. Systems are beginning to close down."

"Okay if we tie the ships Nav systems into my Raptors, I can get us back to the mining base." Hydra replied.

As Hydra began to head back with the transport it all hit her hard and she burst into tears, everyone was dead, everyone she had ever loved or cared for. What were they going to do now? Maybe Kal and Dash could fix up the transport and they could try to make a run for it.

Onboard the transport the six "survivors" sat on the small bridge.

"Do you think she suspects?" Kelly asked.

"No 6 I don't." John aka 1 replied.

The six Cylons had fooled their human saviour.

"So what is our next step?" 5 asked.

"I think we should hold out with the humans for a while," 1 replied, "See if one of the surviving Battlestars comes this way. Both Pegasus and Orion have been seen in this area."

"Till then we should cause mistrust within the humans at this mine, have some fun turning them against each other." 3 said.

"If we can get picked up by one of the surviving human fleets then we could make things even more interesting," 1 said, "We start to sew the seeds of doubt about any other survivors. If we can convince these people that the only other surviving humans out there must have been working with the "Cylons" then we can start to turn human against human on a larger scale."

"Now that's a good idea." 6 said.

The raptor sat on autopilot as it led the battered transport closer to the mine. Hydra sat in the back in front of her camera.

"…I've had a while with my thoughts. The feeling of despair has subsided. The more I think of it we're not totally doomed. We have somewhere to live. We now have a transport that can be fixed, this Raptor and a lot of fuel and supplies. We cannot be the only ones left, we just can't there has to be more people out there. The Colonies may not be as badly destroyed as the others made out, after all they did only hear reports over the wireless, they didn't see it with their own eyes, that gives me some hope. I should be back within radio range of the mine in the next hour or so, I don't know whether or not to tell them straight away or not? I probably should."

Kal was on his own in the gym. He had been on the treadmill for a while now. Being in the gym helped him to vent any pent up aggression that he felt build up.

"Kal you've just hit the ten mile mark." Delta said.

"Thank you Delta." He replied.

He had been keeping himself as busy as possible. He tried as hard as he could not to think of his girlfriend and son on Picon. Simon had been the only other crewmember he had really spoken too in the last twenty-four hours. He had never told Simon but he reminded him of his little brother who had died nearly fifteen years ago. As he moved over to the punch bags Delta spoke again, "Kal, I'm receiving an incoming message from Hydra."

"Thank you Delta I'm heading to the control centre now." He said picking up his towel and jogged the short distance. As he reached the control centre he dropped down into his chair and hit the receive button. Hydra appeared in front of him, he knew immediately something was wrong.

"You okay?" Kal asked.

"Better than I had been." She replied, "I have news but I should probably tell you all together."

"Do you want me to get everyone?" Kal asked.

Hydra nodded her head in reply.

"It's bad isn't it?" he asked.

She nodded her head again, "Very."

Minutes later everyone sat in silence in the control room, "Okay I found some survivors." Hydra said.

"What do you mean survivors?" Dash asked.

"Okay the reason why we haven't heard anything or had our replacements arrive yet, is because the Cylons attacked the Colonies the day before they were supposed to pick us up. The people I found told me that they nuked the Colonies." Hydra said wiping a tear from her cheek.

"And are you sure they're telling the truth?" Simon asked.

Hydra nodded her head, "When I reached the shipping lanes they were scattered with wreckage from Colonial ships, there were radiation signals from every direction."

"So what do we do?" Dana asked.

"The ship I'm bringing in, it's damaged but it's fixable. Right now we have a place to lay low with food, supplies, fuel etcetera and no one really knows where we are. We fix up the ship and we head back towards the Colonies, see if we can find anyone else." She replied.

"That's a good idea, me, Simon and Dash can fix anything that needs repairing." Kal said.

"I'm sorry it's not better news guys. We're going to have to stay put for a while longer. I'll be back in about seven hours, if you guys can get some quarters together for our guests that would be great." Hydra said.

Over the next few hours the base began to take shape for the new guests, it gave the crew something to focus on.

"Start log," Dana said, "I don't know what to do or to think. If this is true and they nuked the planets most people will be dead. My gods my brother and my niece. They live in Caprica City, there's no way they wouldn't nuke the capitol. They must be dead. What the frak am I going to do? They were the only family I have left," tears streamed down her face, "Jessie should be back soon," she wiped the tears from her face, "We're fraked."

A mixture of emotions filled Hydra as she saw Delta Seven. Sadness that this could now be her home filled her. Anger that the Cylons had probably killed everyone she had ever known or loved. Finally despair that these people were going to look to her for leadership and what they should do next. She had no idea whether or not she would be able to hold it together.

"Journey's End, this is Hydra, please respond."

"Hydra this is Kelly." came the reply.

"I'm going to give you control of your ship back. If you follow me I'll take you to the landing bay, it's going to be all hands on though." Hydra said.

"That's not a problem," Kelly replied, "We'll follow you in."

The old Raptor led Journey's End towards the small moon and over the mining complex until they reached the landing bay. Both ships touched down filling the small bay.

The crew of Delta Seven and the group of survivors sat in the mess hall.

"First things first, I've instructed Delta to keep her eyes and ears on all the communications channels as well as dradis, she will let us know as soon as she hears or sees anything." Kal said.

"Sorry, who is Delta?" John asked.

"The computer that monitors the base." Kal replied.

"So tell us what happened out there?" Dana asked, "How did you survive?"

"We had just left Aquaria before it happened. We were working on one of the platforms." John said.

"Which one?" Kal asked.

"Does it matter?" he replied.

"I've worked on nearly every rig on that planet and it'll go some way to me believing you." Kal replied.

"We were on the Brnal platform by the western volcanoes." John said, Kal nodded and didn't say any more, "We were heading back to Tauron where we would all head to our homes when the attack happened. The wireless was crazy with messages, Battlestars being switched off as they went into the attack. We found a group of civilian vessels that had escaped. We all decided to head out of the Colonies and try and find somewhere to hide. The Cylons found us a few days ago pretty much where Hydra found us today, all the other ships were destroyed almost immediately. We were caught in one of the blasts and they must have thought we had been destroyed as well, as they left."

"That's brutal." Dash said.

"We were the lucky ones I suppose." Simon/4 said.

"So were there no signs of anyone else?" Hydra asked.

"We heard brief chatter but very rarely. One of the other ships captains said he saw a Battlestar jump away from the fight over Scorpia, we guessed that if they could survive and every other Battlestar was destroyed surely they must have been in league with the Cylons." Mary/3 said.

"That's insane," Kal said, "Why would anyone help those monsters to commit genocide?"

"This kind of talk isn't going to get us anywhere right now. We have to figure out what we're going to do." Hydra said.

"I've had a quick look over the transport and we can definitely fix it, anything we could want we can get from the station." Simon said, "Me, Kal and Dash should start work on it straight away."

"Okay that's good, any of you guys who have engineering experience should help," Hydra said, "Meanwhile we should start getting supplies ready, we have enough food and water to last a long time never mind fuel."

"Please excuse me but where the frak are we going to go?" Dana asked, "If the Colonies have been nuked then we're pretty screwed."

"We go see if anyone else has survived and find somewhere else we can live. This station is fine for now but without supplies we can't live here indefinitely. Right now just get to work it'll help to keep our minds occupied." Hydra said.

Dana sat alone in the infirmary looking at a photo of her brother and niece, tears rolling down her face. She picked up the open bottle of whiskey on the desk next to her and drank a quarter of the bottle in one go before sitting it down. Her mind was a mess, she couldn't think straight, she knew the alcohol wouldn't help with that, she thought it might numb the pain a little, it had certainly helped to dull her senses. She had thought about the people she was here with, they had been good friends but really did she want to spend the rest of her life with them?

Delta flickered to life next to her, "Hello Dana, you appear to be in distress, is there anything I can do to help?"

"No thank you Delta." Dana replied taking another long swig of the whiskey bottle.

"You have consumed a great deal of whiskey do you think you have had enough?" Delta asked.

"No Delta I don't." she said drinking even more. The sheer amount of alcohol she had consumed in such a short space of time was beginning to hit her hard.

"Should I go and get Hydra? I have noticed that when humans are upset it can sometimes help to speak to other humans?" Delta asked.

"No Delta I don't want anyone, what the frak would we say to each other anyway? We're both feeling the same way, everyone we know, everyone we have ever met is dead."

"I'm sorry for your pain." Delta replied.

Dana laughed before finishing the bottle. She tried to stand up but fell to the floor still laughing to herself.

"Are you okay?" Delta asked.

Dana nodded, still laughing, "Yes, a machine, sorry for my pain. When it was machines who killed my people."

"I am in no way related to Cylons, I could in no way harm or condone harm upon a human." Delta replied.

"That's good because you're going to have to make sure no one hurts themselves now." She replied.

"What do you mean?" Delta replied.

Dana opened her desk draw, took out a small revolver, put it to the side of her head and pulled the trigger, killing herself instantly.

"All hands this is Delta, please report to the infirmary, Dana has shot herself." Delta said over the com.

Hydra ran at full pelt down the winding corridors, she had heard the shot run out. She stopped dead in her tracks and burst into tears when she looked into the infirmary. She walked over to her friend and checked for a pulse but couldn't find one.

"No no no no no." Hydra said.

The number 4 was the first into the room, "Let me see, I'm a medic I may be able to help."

Hydra got to her feet and looked on as 4 tried to help her. Kal was the next to enter the room, he immediately held Hydra in his big bear like arms. 4 looked up and shook his head, "I'm sorry, she's dead."

"Come on let's get out of here," Kal said, "Can you look after her?"

4 nodded in reply.

As they left the infirmary the others arrived. Kal shook his head, everyone remained silent, and the news hit them all like a sledgehammer. Kal took Hydra to the mess and poured her a glass of whiskey, "Drink this." He said handing it to her. She took it from him, her hands trembling as she took a sip.

"What the frak are we going to do?" she whispered to him.

"I don't know." He replied, "If we stick together we'll be okay." He said kissing her on the forehead.

"Please promise me you won't do anything stupid, you'll stay with me." Hydra begged.

"I promise." He replied.

The others began to walk in.

"What the frak happened?" Dash asked as he walked in.

"I tried to ask her if she would let me help." Delta replied as the console fired to life, "She had ingested an entire bottle of whiskey in under ten minutes. She was clearly depressed, I am sorry I should have come to get one of you, it is my fault."

"It's not your fault." Hydra replied, "You didn't do this." She got to her feet and finished the rest of the glass, "All of you listen to me, if anyone else is planning on doing anything like this do it now, get it fraking over with cos I can't handle this again tomorrow or in a few days or weeks."

Everyone remained quiet. Hydra walked out of the room. The walk back to her quarters felt as though she was walking through water. She had been intimate with death before in the raptor crash all those years ago, but she had never seen the body of a friend before. She had been out cold when her accident had happened so she never saw what had happened to the pilot. As she staggered into her quarters she went into the bathroom and threw up. She dragged herself to the sink and gargled with some water before looking at herself in the mirror. Her forehead was covered in Dana's blood, which she quickly washed off before she started to cry again. Hydra dragged herself to her bed and curled up in a ball sobbing. She woke up several hours later with a start. It took a few moments for everything to come back to her and she then realised she had been awoken by the buzzer on her door. Hydra rubbed her eyes and stretched, "Come in." she said.

The door slid open and 1 stood on the other side.

"Hello, I apologise for the intrusion, I thought I might offer my services, my full title is Brother John Cavil and I thought you may want to talk."

"They had a brother on a deep sea mining rig?" Hydra replied.

"Yes, everyone is entitled to a little religion if they want it, but that's not why I'm here, no religion, no preaching, I'm just here to listen and offer you any advice you may need." 1 replied.

"Well then you better come in." she replied, "Please sit, can I get you a drink?"

"Normally I would refuse," he said as he took a seat on the small sofa by her messy coffee table, "But after the incidents of the past day and weeks, I think I could use one."

"Whiskey?" she asked already pouring him a glass.

"Yes of course."

She handed him the glass and sat down in the chair opposite him. They both took a sip from the drink and sat in silence for a few moments.

"We're you and Dana close?" 1 asked.

Hydra nodded her head, "Yeah after two years I'm close with everyone on here, now it looks like this motley crew will be the last people I ever do see."

"It's in times like these that closeness helps people to grieve and brings them together."

"Or drives them apart. My ex husband used to sing this song, well I say song it was just the same few lines over and over again, something from his childhood and I can't get the first line out of my head." Hydra said.

"Are they relevant to now?" 1 asked.

"I suppose so, there must be some kind of way out of here." she replied before sniffing and wiping her eyes again.

1 hoped his surprise wasn't evident when he heard those words come out of her mouth. That was the song one of the five had always sang.

"They certainly do apply," he said trying to keep his composure, "Tell me about your ex husband?"

"Sam? What is there I can say about Sam Anders that the whole of the Colonies doesn't already know, captain of the Bucks, superstar of the Colonies, most expensive player in Pyramid history." Hydra said.

His thoughts had been confirmed, this was truly the last thing he had expected, "That's how everyone else knew him, how did you know him?"

"Is that relevant to now?" Hydra asked.

"Do you miss him?" 1 retorted.

Hydra was a little taken aback, "Yeah I suppose I do. He was kind, a lot more intelligent than people gave him credit for. He always said he wanted to be part of something perfect, something that gave his life meaning. He always felt like an old soul to me. I can't believe I'm never going to see him again." She took another sip from her drink.

"We're all feeling those emotions, the loss of brothers and sisters, parents, friends, we have to take those feelings and turn them into something useful." 1 said.

"Useful like what? You know all Dana wanted was to get home to see her brother and her baby niece. I'd like to turn it into revenge, those fraking Cylons killed her when they dropped those bombs. They killed her will to live." Hydra said coldly.

"And how's yours?" 1 asked.

"My what?"

"Will to live?" 1 asked.

Hydra thought for a few moments, "Strong."

"Good because those people look up to you. As hard as this may sound you should be strong for them." 1 said.

"You said before about people who survived, they must have been working with the Cylons, surely you don't believe that?" Hydra asked.

"I understand how you all survived, you're out here in the middle of nowhere, and the Cylons probably didn't even know you were here, but how does one Battlestar escape from all the destruction of Scorpia without help? As hard as it is to think about it does make some kind of sense." 1 said.

"Then what do we do? How do we know who to trust if we find anyone else?" Hyrda asked.

"Should we find any kind of salvation, we all stick together, how ever friendly people may seem at first, any trickery or lies will become apparent." 1 said.

Two weeks later and Journey's End was nearly ready for launch. Kal walked out of the small transport ships engine room, happy that everything in there was ready. While fixing the little ship up, he had actually become quite fond of it. It really was nothing special, it had seen much better days, but it had character. It was big enough for them all to live comfortably, at least for a while. He had also managed to fit a docking clamp onto the airlock so that their raptor could be attached. Everyone had done their bit since Dana had taken her own life, Hydra had stepped up and turned into a real leader and he had made sure she had his support. He still found himself unsure about the new comers. There was something about John in particular, he couldn't quite put his finger on it but he didn't quite trust him. As he walked onto the small bridge he stopped and turned around. Simon and Kelly had become quite intimate over the last week and he had just walked in on them. He was happy his friend had found someone, but he was getting sick of walking in on them all over the ship and the station.

"Simon, how many times? There is a time and a place." Kal said as he turned away from them. Both of them grabbed their clothes and quickly got themselves dressed.

"Sorry Kal, we got caught up in the moment." Simon said.

"Was that the moment you were supposed to be checking the power converters?" Kal replied.

"Checked and working big buddy, it's all good." Simon replied with a grin.

As Kelly made a swift exit, Kal stepped towards his friend and spoke quietly, "Listen pull you head out of your pants when you're supposed to be working okay?" Kal said.

Simon nodded.

"We have unidentified contacts appeared on dradis." Delta said over the COM.

Hydra dropped into her seat in the control centre and looked at the monitor in front of her. On the dradis three large blips had appeared in red, with "Unknown Contact" written beneath them.

"Delta do you have any idea what these contacts are?" Hydra asked.

"No, I do not. They do not have Colonial transponders." Delta replied.

"So the Cylons could have found us?" she said to herself.

"That is likely. Whatever they are, they're launching smaller contacts." Delta said.

Hydra activated the stations COM, "Everyone head to the transport. We are being approached by unknown contacts, it's time to get out of here." She ordered. As she finished speaking she turned to another monitor, "Delta open me a channel."

"Channel open Hydra." Came the reply.

"Unidentified contacts this is Jessie Anders from the mining base Delta Seven, we are unarmed. Please respond." Hydra said.

She was met by silence. Kal came charging through, "Come on we should be getting out of here." He said.

"Delta if you get a response, please let me know." Hydra said.

"Of course Hydra." Delta replied.

She got to her feet and headed over to the door, "And Delta."

"Yes Hydra?" the AI replied

"Thanks for keeping us alive this last couple of years." She said with genuine affection in her voice.

"You are very welcome." Delta replied.

Simon sat on the small bridge of the transport looking out of the window, trying to make out what the contacts in the distance were.

"Bridge, this is Dash the Raptor is in place." he said over the COM.

"That's great, the others are still on their way." Simon replied.

Hydra and Kal moved through the bases long winding corridors on the way to the shuttle bay. They hadn't seen anyone else, the other must be onboard or nearly there Hydra thought to herself.

"Jessie hang on a minute." Kal said stopping by one of the equipment rooms.

"Kal we really haven't got time." Hydra replied nervously, looking back down the corridor.

"This will be worth it." He replied walking inside.

Inside the room was full of tools and repair equipment, it looked like an absolute mess.

"What are you looking for?" Hydra asked.

"These." Kal replied picking up one of the high powered bolt guns, "We use these to bolt thick metal together, if we end up face to face with any bad guys, I want to be able to fight back." He said handing her one of the large guns. He picked up a large back full of extra bolts before picking up his new weapon. As they began to pick up the pace again, Delta came over the COM.

"Hydra, it would appear that the contacts are indeed Cylon. They have launched what I can only assume are troop carriers and are trying to gain access via airlocks, 4 through 10."

"Can you hold them off?" Hydra replied.

"I have locked out the airlock controls, but I do not know if that will stop them. There is something else you should know they are trying to take over my systems." Delta replied.

"Can you stop them?" Kal asked.

"So far so good Kal, luckily their technology appears different to mine, so I should be able to stop them." Delta replied.

As Delta finished speaking there was a large explosion behind them, which knocked both Hydra and Kal to the ground.

"Cylon centurions have entered the base at airlock five, I suggest you both run." Delta said, "I will try and slow them down."

"Come on." Kal said picking up Hydra, "If we can get to frame seven I've planted a little surprise in case this happened."

They both began to run as fast as they could. Airlock 5 wasn't far from them at all.

Everyone except for Kal and Hydra were now onboard Journey's End.

"How long are they going to take?" 1 asked as he walked onto the bridge, "We should be leaving."

"No, either we leave together or we don't leave at all." Simon replied.

1 looked at the young human with surprise, "And who put you in charge?" he asked.

Simon stood up from the helm, "Well as I just locked out the helm controls, I did, and it's staying locked until Hydra and Kal get here." He replied.

"Simon are you sure this is a good idea?" Kelly asked.

"NO ONE LEAVES TILL THEY GET HERE." He yelled, "We already lost Dana, I will not leave them to the Cylons."

Frame seven was in sight. Kal felt the bullet before he heard it. It hit him in the shoulder and sent the large man crashing to the ground. Hydra turned and saw a centurion behind them. It was massive, unlike any other Cylon she had seen in a museum or history books. She fired one of the high power bolts hitting the cylon in the head, the power of the bolt tore the metal in two. Hydra turned and dragged Kal to his feet, much like he had done for her.

"Thanks." He said.

"Come on." She replied.

As they passed through the door to frame seven, Kal sealed it behind them. He looked through the small window to see half a dozen more centurions rushing towards them. He took out a small device from his pocket and smiled as he pressed the button on top of it. The explosions were massive, but frame seven protected them and began to act as the disaster area it had been designed to be in an emergency.

"Let's see those frakers chase us now." He said with a chuckle.

"Delta how far away are Hydra and Kal?" Dash asked, they had all heard the explosion.

"Less than fifty metres from the ship." Delta replied, "However I must warn you there are Cylons trying to get into the hanger bay from the outside."

"Frak." Simon replied, "Delta is there anything at all you can do?"

"Not without endangering you." Delta replied.

"We're onboard," Hydra's voice said from over the com, "Get the ship started, I'm on my way to the bridge."

Simon smiled as he unlocked the systems and brought the engines online. Minutes later Hydra and Kal appeared on the bridge.

"We're ready to go." Simon said.

"Sorry it took so long we ran into company." Hydra replied.

"Are you okay?" 4 asked Kal.

"Yeah, one of the frakers shot me in the shoulder." He replied.

"Let me take a look at that for you." 4 said.

The large hanger doors began to open and Journey's End began to move into space.

"Simon punch in those jump coordinates I gave you." Hydra ordered.

As they left the battered station the sky was full of enemy contacts which all turned in the direction of the small ship.

"How are we coming with the jump?" Hydra asked.

"Hang on, the NAV computer isn't taking the coordinates." Simon replied.

"Frak." Hydra replied.

Through the windows of the bridge everyone could see raiders heading towards them, closing in on their kill. As they reached their target the raiders began to explode. Everyone looked confused until seconds later, Colonial Vipers flew past.

"Colonial transport this is Commander Heinrick Johannsen of the Battlestar Orion, please respond?" The voice came over the COM.

"Battlestar Orion this is Jessie Anders of the mining station Delta Seven are we pleased to see you." She replied relieved.

"Our port landing bay has been cleared for you to land, our Vipers will escort you." He replied.

"Thank you Commander." She replied.

As they flew they watched as the massive Battlestar engage the multiple Cylon Base Ships causing massive damage.

"We escape from the fire and go into the lion's den." 1 said as he watched.

"They just saved us." Dash replied.

"So it would appear, all I ask is that everyone be vigilant, these people could still be our enemy." 1 said.