Commander Garrett and Colonel Johnson both stood at the dradis console in the middle of Orion's large CIC. Bojay waited for the Commander's reaction. She looked at him and put the clipboard she had been reading down.
"I really cannot believe that with the amount of space we're covering there is no tyllium out there at all." Vanessa said.
"I hate to say it but we're getting very close to having to make the choice we've not wanted to talk about." Bojay replied.
"I know," she said, "I hate the thought of settling on any planet while the toasters are still out there."
"If they find us with no fuel, they'll just be able to swoop in and wipe us all out and all we'll be able to do is watch." Bojay replied.
"We've got four days till we get to rubicon, there is still time." Vanessa said.
Raptor 1 jumped into massive planetary system. The system held seventeen planets which all orbited a giant blue sun.
"Beginning dradis sweep," Ensign Tommy "Hardcore" Turner, the Raptor's ECO said.
"Let's hope we finally catch a break." Captain Jessica "Hydra" Anders replied.
She looked at the beautiful sun, she'd only ever seen pictures of a blue one before. She remembered Bria telling her about the one she'd seen and how breathtaking it had been. Hydra couldn't believe how much more impressive it was than she could have ever imagined.
"You ever seen a blue sun before?" Hardcore asked.
"No, it's another first for me," Hydra replied, "I think I'm going to take a few pictures."
"Scan of the first sector has come up negative." Hardcore replied.
"Okay let's move deeper in. Keep the FTL spooled up, I don't want to get caught with our pants down." Hydra said.
"I hear that." Hardcore replied.
Hydra flew towards a gas giant which was bigger than any planet either pilot had ever seen before. The purples and yellows of the planet were stunning to look at.
"What the frak is that?" Hydra said.
"What do you see?" Hardcore asked.
"I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it isn't coming up on dradis," she replied, "It looks like there's something in an orbit around the third moon. I'm taking us in closer."
Hydra flew the raptor closer.
"Holy shit!" Hydra exclaimed.
"What? What is it?"
"It's some kind of space station, it looks like it's been made out of an old Battlestar."
Hardcore came up to the cockpit.
"My gods." he said.
The old Battlestar looked like it had a giant thorn through the middle of it making the bastardised "space station" massive.
"Open a channel." Hydra said.
Hardcore quickly moved back through to his station and opened a channel.
"Channel open." he said.
"Unidentified station this is Battlestar Orion raptor 1. My name is Captain Jessica Anders, please respond."
They waited for a reply but none came.
"I don't think anyone's home," Hardcore replied, "I'm not picking up any power readings."
"It was the Battlestar Lexington." Hydra said.
"Why the hell is it out here?"
"I've no idea but we need to head back to the fleet. Prepare to jump us back."
"Yes ma'am." Hardcore replied.
"Commander, Hydra and Hardcore just jumped in. Hydra wants to speak to you." Lieutenant Phillips said.
"Put her through down here." Garrett replied.
"Let's hope this is good news." Bojay said as they both picked up their handsets.
"Hydra this is Orion Actual, please go ahead." Vanessa said.
"Actual we've found something. In the system we just jumped to, we found the Battlestar Lexington, but it's been converted into some kind of space station."
"Are you sure?" Vanessa asked.
"Yes ma'am. There is no sign of anyone aboard, but who knows what kind of supplies could be onboard." Hydra said.
"Hydra I want you to send us the exact co-ordinates and come back to the barn."
"Aye aye Commander."
"Mister Phillips I want you to distribute the co-ordinates throughout the fleet and prepare to jump. Please instruct the Aries to wait behind for the Medlia and our other raptors to return."
"Yes ma'am." Phillips replied.
"What the frak would a junked old Battlestar done up as a space station be doing out here?" Bojay said.
"I've no idea, get Archangel up here." Vanessa said.
The next few minutes seemed to drag as all the other ships of the fleet checked in. Moments later Archangel walked onto the CIC.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"We've found something. Hydra just reported back, they've found the Battlestar Lexington, but it appears to have been converted into a space station." Vanessa said.
"My gods are you serious?" Archangel replied.
"I wondered if you may have heard of anything like this?" Vanessa asked.
"A couple of years before the attack I was drinking with Admiral Negala. He told me after the war the admiralty decided to make a series of deep space stations. They were supposed to be there in case the Cylons ever came back. They took the old Battlestar's that were at the end of their lives to be turned into them." Archangel replied.
"Why wasn't this common knowledge? Under the circumstances it would have been helpful." Bojay said.
"At first the commander's knew about them. The Admiral told me, the longer the Cylons stayed away, the more they were forgotten about. I never said anything because I had no idea where they were or if they were even really out here. I don't even know if the Admiral knew where they were. I know the details would have been at fleet headquarters."
"What should we expect to find there?" Vanessa asked.
"Everything," Archangel replied, "Fuel, food, water, medical supplies, fighters etc."
"This is a miracle." Bojay said.
"It is, as long as no one else has already been there." Archangel replied.
"Could the Cylons have been there?" Bojay asked, "They could have booby trapped it?"
"No they were all built with a self destruct fail safe. Unless any ships that docked with it has a verifiable colonial transponder, kaboom!" Archangel replied.
"Commander, all ships report ready to jump." Phillips said.
"Give the order Mr Phillips." Vanessa said.
"Aye aye ma'am. All ships this is the Battlestar Orion, prepare to jump on my mark. Jumping in 5..4..3..2..1..jump."
Orion and the rest of the fleet all vanished in a group of bright flashes and re-appeared by the moon.
"Jump complete," Phillips said, "Just as Hydra said, nothing is coming up on dradis."
"Tell Hydra to launch and dock with the station." Vanessa said.
"Hydra this is Phillips, you are clear to launch."
"Phillips this is Hydra, we're on our way." she replied.
"Mr Phillips, please put Hydra over the speakers." Vanessa said.
Raptor 1 had been waiting on the flightpod, ready to launch on the other side of the jump. Hydra effortlessly flew the small craft straight out of the flight pod and towards the station.
"Orion this is Hydra, one of the Lexington's flight pods is still there, I'm going to put us down inside."
"Hydra this is Actual. Archangel said you'll need to log in with your transponder or the station will self destruct." Vanessa replied.
"Actual scratch my last then, I'll use one of the airlocks on the outside of the pod as it will make it easier to connect."
"Hydra, Actual, which ever is easier for you, it's your call Captain."
"Did she say self destruct?" Hardcore asked.
"Yes she did," Hydra replied, "We'll be fine Hardcore, just sit back and relax, we'll be fine!"
Hydra chose the nearest airlock and the closer she got she cut the engines and manoeuvred the craft into position with thrusters. Moments later they had docked.
"We have a hard seal." Hardcore said.
Moments later the raptors systems kicked into overdrive.
"Holy shit. Actual, the Lexington has powered to life and they've linked in with us." Hydra said.
"Please don't explode, please don't explode." Hardcore repeated quietly under his breath.
Suddenly the link stopped and the Lexington powered to life.
"Actual, this is Hydra, we are a go."
"Hydra, Actual, thank you."
"Actual do you want us to head inside?"
"Hydra you can do. We will be with you shortly." Vanessa replied.
"I honestly can't tell you the last time I was this excited!" Archangel said.
"Mr Phillips please inform the President that we will meet him on board as soon as we have docked the ship."
"Sorry did you just say dock the ship?" Bojay asked.
"I certainly did." Vanessa replied.
"I don't mean to sound like I'm questioning your orders, but do you think it's wise to dock the ship with something so small in comparison?" Bojay said pointing to dradis.
"It will make things easier to transfer the supplies. Mr Phillips, please dock Orion with the Lexington." Vanessa said.
"Yes ma'am." Phillips replied.
"Colonel, Major, would you like to see the inside of the Lexington?" Vanessa asked with a smile.
"Hell yes." Bojay replied.
"After you Commander." Archangel said.
"Mr Phillips, please ask Chief Nelson to meet us with a deck crew by airlock seven."
"Yes ma'am."
"You have the deck Lieutenant."
News of the Lexington's discovery had spread through the ship quickly and the crew seemed to be going about their duties with an extra spring in their step, at least that was how it seemed to the Commander.
"I still can't believe how lucky we've been with this." Bojay said.
"It's almost as if someone is watching out for us!" Vanessa replied.
"Please tell me you're not turning to religion as well," Archangel said, "Religion seems to be spreading through the fleet quicker than Tauron flu would."
"No I'm not turning to religion, but let's face it, it's better than despair." Vanessa replied.
Hydra and Hardcore walked down the hanger deck aboard the Lexington. It felt strange, they must have been the first people there in a very long time.
"My gods look at this, it's like a museum." Hardcore said.
"I can't remember the last time I saw vipers this old." Hydra replied.
The fighter bays were full of Mk2 and 3 Vipers. Despite being fighters built during and just after the first war, they looked brand new.
There was something almost emotional about where they were. The ship had history, it had served in, fought in and survived the first Cylon war. If it had a voice the ship itself would have it's fill of stories to tell. Their silence was broken by the opening of one of the air locks close by. In walked the Commander, followed by the others.
"Wow." The Commander said.
"Oh my, look at all these fighters," Archangel said, "I've always wanted to fly a Mk 2."
"Looks like now you'll get your chance," Vanessa said, "How does it feel for you two to be the first people in here for gods knows how long?"
"It was quite an honour, thank you Commander." Hydra said.
"You two found it, I thought you should be the first ones on board."
"Thank you." Hydra replied.
"Chief, Colonel, Major, if you come with me we'll find the control room. If the rest of you can take a look down here and see what we've got?"
As they walked through the ship, more lights flickered on ahead of them. The air smelled a little stale, but the longer they were on the station and the air filtration system was in use, the quicker the smell would go.
As they reached where the CIC had once been, there were several elevators instead.
"Well I didn't expect this." Bojay said.
"Me either, the control room must be further up in the tower." Archangel replied.
"Are we supposed to guess which level?" Bojay said.
"This may take a while." Archangel replied.
"Not as long as you may think." Vanessa replied.
They turned to see her tapping her finger on a map of the station, which had been posted on the wall.
"I swear to gods, sometimes I wonder how you guys even manage to function." Vanessa replied with a laugh, "It's on level seventy three."
Moments later the elevator pinged open and they stepped inside. A couple of minutes later the doors reopened and they walked out onto the massive control room.
"Oh wow." Vanessa said.
The control room was twice the size of Orion's CIC. Work stations and computer systems all came to life. The entire control room had massive windows all the way round and the view was spectacular. Orion's massive structure could be seen on one side along with the fleet. To their left the moon the station was in orbit of and coming up behind the moon, the massive gas giant was beginning to come into view.
"This is breathtaking," The Chief said as he sat at one of the stations, "I'm going to try and pull up an inventory."
"I've seen some impressive sights down the years but this tops them all." Vanessa said.
Archangel walked to the front of the room and just stood silently looking out into space. He had always found the sight of it so peaceful, but at time, utterly terrifying.
"Breathtaking view isn't it?" Vanessa said as she came and stood next to him.
"Sure is." Archangel quietly replied.
"When did you first get bitten by the bug?" she asked.
"I remember I was 14. I went camping in the mountains with Skeeter, Danny and some of the other guys. Skeeter had managed to score some alcohol and some green. That first night we all lay around the fire, we could barely move and I remember looking up at the stars and I couldn't take my eyes off them. Even after the other guys had either fallen asleep or in Skeeter's case, passed out, I kept looking at them for hours. From that moment all I wanted to do was go into space, even if it was only on a shuttle or some kind of liner, I just knew. What about you?" Archangel replied.
"It wasn't until I'd joined up. The first time I did a space walk. You know what it's like, nothing between you and the stars. It's so addictive." she replied.
"Holy frak." they heard the Chief say.
"Is that a good holy frak Chief or a we're heading back to Haven holy frak?" Vanessa asked.
"Oh it's a very very good holy frak Commander. We've got enough fuel to keep the fleet running for years, refined and unrefined, water, food, medical supplies, fighters, raptors, shuttles we hit the mother load!" he replied clapping his hands together.
Vanessa smiled and let out the breath she had been holding in. Bojay laughed and cheered.
"Thank frak we don't have go back to that planet!" Bojay exclaimed.
"I'll get to work transferring everything to Orion and the fuel refineries etc." the Chief said.
"That would be fantastic, thank you." Vanessa replied patting him on the shoulder.
Archangel watched and smiled to himself. It had been so long since he had seen Bojay and in particular Vanessa this happy.
One of the lifts opened behind them and out walked the President and Skeeter.
"This is quite a find your pilots made," Milo said, "How's the news?"
"Very good Mr President, better than we ever could have imagined. We've got everything we need and more besides." Vanessa said.
"This is always was a lucky ship." Milo replied, "Survived everything the Cylons threw at her first time round, kept her crew safe and alive and now all this time later, she's doing the same again for us."
Jawbreaker had been working out in the gym for an hour when the Commander walked in to join him.
"Good morning Commander, I was beginning to wonder if you'd stood me up." He said with a smile.
"Busy day, I wasn't going to miss today for the world." Vanessa replied.
"How's the shoulder?"
"All better, no pain, no tightness, no nothing, it feels as good as new."
"You know what that means then? Your final exam." he said with a chuckle.
"Can we carry on with this? In amongst all this madness this is about the only thing that feels normal."
"We sure can, it's been nice to have someone to spar with." Jawbreaker replied.
"I thought you usually did your workout with Wedge?"
"Yeah, not so much any more."
"Ah I see." Vanessa replied.
"Anyway Vanessa you ready?"
She nodded her head in reply.
"So then, knock me on my ass." Jawbreaker replied.
They suddenly realised that everyone in the gym had turned their attention to them and were watching in complete silence.
Vanessa calmed herself and without thinking about it threw a punch exactly how Jawbreaker had been showing her. She connected with his jaw perfectly and the man with the hardest jaw in the fleet went down. As he hit the deck everyone in the gym cheered.
"Holy frak I did it!" Vanessa exclaimed, "You didn't take a dive did you? I really did it didn't I?" she asked with a huge smile across her face as she helped him up.
As he got to his feet he shook his head and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
"Congratulations Vanessa you're the first person to ever put me on my ass." he said giving her a hug, "Now if you'll excuse me I need to head off."
"Are you okay?" she asked.
He reached into his mouth and pulled out on of his molars which had been knocked out complete with the root.
"Oh my gods I'm so sorry." she said.
Jawbreaker smiled, "Don't be at all. Here a memento." he said handing her his tooth.
She smiled to herself as she looked down at the bloody tooth in her hand.
Archangel stood on the hanger deck staring at one of the MK2 vipers. He walked up to it and ran his hand down the nose of the plane.
"We need to make a deal," Archangel said, "I have been wanting to fly a plane like you since I started viper training. Now the Chief tells me that you're okay to fly, all the others have been so far in transferring them over. You've been sat here for gods know how long, so I'm going to fly you, all I want in return is for you not to blow up on me. Okay? Because that's really not how I want to go out."
He looked at the viper for a moment before he realised someone was standing behind him. He turned around and saw the President standing there in a Jock Smock.
"Major I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, it's been a long time," Milo said, "I hope I haven't forgetting anything?" he added with a chuckle.
"You know the old saying sir, it's like riding a bike."
"I certainly hope so." Milo replied.
"Your callsign, if I'm not mistaken it was Breakneck?"
"Yes it was."
"Well then Breakneck, let's fly." Archangel replied smiling.
The Commander walked onto the CIC after showering after her gym session. She smiled when she saw Bojay standing drinking a mug of tea.
"So is it true?" Bojay asked.
"Depends on what 'it' is?" she replied.
"Did you put Jawbreaker on his ass?" Bojay asked with a huge smile across his face.
Vanessa reached into her pocket took out the molar and held it between her finger and thumb to show him.
"No fraking way?! Is that what I think it is?" Bojay asked.
Vanessa nodded, "It sure is."
"You want to keep hold of that, if the stories are true you're the only person ever to do that."
"After training with him for so long, I'm inclined to believe the stories." Vanessa replied.
Bojay chuckled again.
"So how goes the transferring of supplies?"
"The Shuttles and the Raptors have all been distributed through the military ships. We've got most of the other supplies as well. Any of the fleets ships needing water have already been topped up, the rest will be done over the next few days. All the water for now has been put aboard Orion and the Starburst. A rota is being drawn up for the ships to replenish. All the ships have been fully fuelled and the unrefined ore has been sent to the refineries. Everything else should be off the station by 0900 hours tomorrow according to the Chief." Bojay replied.
"Excellent." Vanessa replied with a smile. She was feeling good, better than she had felt in a very long time.
"Commander, Colonel, I thought I'd let you know, Archangel and the President have just launched." Lt Phillips said from his station.
"Put their chatter over the speakers please." Vanessa said.
"You okay over there Breakneck?" Archangel asked.
Milo couldn't help but smile to himself, it had all come back to him, "Oh yes Major." he simply replied.
"Fancy taking them for a spin?" Archangel replied.
"I was hoping you'd say that." Milo replied.
"Okay how about we take them to the last planet in the system and back to the blue sun?"
"Last one back buys the drinks?" Milo asked.
"You sure you want to make that bet?" Archangel replied smiling.
"Son I was racing viper's before you were even a thought your parent's had." Milo replied laughing.
"Well then Breakneck, game on." Archangel replied as both men engaged the engines to maximum.
Both men weaved through the civilian ships and out the other side into open space.
"You still with me Archangel?" Milo asked.
"Not even broken a sweat yet! Hahaha!"
Both men were pushing their vipers hard and were neck and neck. Archangel had to admit for a man who hadn't flown a plane in over thirty years he was still one hell of a pilot. He couldn't help but wonder how good he must have been in his prime.
In front of them, in the distance blue flashes started to appear, the blue flashes that indicated ships jumping into the system.
"Dradis contact." Archangel said, "Mr President we have to turn back now, form up with me, we're heading back to Orion. Orion this is Archangel please respond."
"DRADIS CONTACT." Phillips yelled.
"Report?" Bojay said.
"Multiple dradis contacts with more continuing to jump in, no confirmation on what they are yet." Phillips replied.
"Order the fleet to prepare to jump away," Vanessa said, "Launch all attack squadrons. Recall all personnel from the station at once and then prepare to detach us. Inform the Gunstars to form in along side us to give us some more time."
"Yes ma'am." Bojay replied.
"Commander, I have Archangel on the horn, he and the President are on full burn heading back to us."
"Inform the Major to join the rest of the attack squadron's and take charge out there." Vanessa replied.
"Yes ma'am."
"Okay Mr President as soon as we get back I want you to head to the port flightpod and land." Archangel said.
"That's a lot of contacts behind us Major, I'm sticking to your six." Milo replied.
"Breakneck don't make me order you, I'm in command out here. You're too important to be killed ."
"I'm a soldier, like you and I'm staying out here with you."
"You're not going to take no for an answer are you?"
"Major someone has to watch your back, I still have a wager to win." Milo replied.
Moments later both planes joined the rest of the attack wing.
"Commander, we're receiving colonial transponders." Lt Phillips shouted.
"Verify that." Bojay yelled.
"I have sir, they're colonials."
Vanessa and Bojay both looked at each other.
"Challenge hostile ID." Vanessa replied.
"Unidentified vessel this is the Battlestar Orion. Please verify your identity or we will destroy you." Phillips replied.
The next few seconds passed in silence.
"Commander we're receiving a call." Phillips replied.
Vanessa picked up her handset and took a deep breath.
"This is Commander Vanessa Garrett of the Battlestar Orion, please identify yourself." she said, her voice full of authority.
There was a pause before the reply came through on the speakers, "Vanessa? Is that really you?"
She knew instantly who it was, her heart sank but she didn't let her voice waver, "This is Commander Vanessa Garrett, I repeat please identify yourself."
"It's me Admiral Lionel Garrett of the Battlestar Icarus." came the reply.
"Hello father." She replied.
