Man and Machine 3

Everything was white. His uniform, the walls, floor, ceiling, even the ghostly apparitions who were speaking with him were all white. His two companions were to either side of him. Starbuck was on one side, and Sheba was on the other.

Apollo spent and extra uncomfortable moment looking at Sheba as a wave of sadness and longing overcame him.

"Are we dreaming?" Starbuck asked.

"Yes," a faceless voice said.

"What do you want of us?" Sheba asked.

"It is what you want of us," the voice answered.

"I don't understand," Apollo said.

"Now that the Cylons again track you, you worry about your friends on Terra and Paradeen," the voice said to Starbuck. "That hidden enclave of humanity shall be hidden for a time. The Cylons will not discover them until such a time as they are able to defend themselves."

"You worry about your companions that your spirit has never abandoned," the voice said to Sheba, "we will do what we can, but we may not interfere."

"And me?" Apollo asked.

"You want an end to your long journey, to at last bring the remnants of the twelve colonies of the second exodus from Kobol to Earth," the voice said.

"And?" Apollo demanded, his anxiety rising.

-o-

Apollo woke in his viper to the sound of an alert klaxon. He wiped a tear from his eye.

"How long was I on sleep period?" he asked.

"No time for that," Starbuck answered, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "I'm reading two targets up ahead. Still too far out for life signs. War book can't identify them."

"Didn't they update the war book after our last hostile contact?"

"Yes they did, and still no match."

Apollo checked his scopes. He could see Starbuck up ahead of him, but nothing else was on the scanner. "I'm coming up alongside you," he said then kicked in his turbos.

At the press of a button, blue flame erupted from the back of Apollo's three winged Viper, propelling him forward.

"I had another one of those weird dreams," Apollo said.

"Yeah, me too," Starbuck said, "still, with each new contact, it makes you think, maybe this is the one."

Once he was closer, the two ships appeared on his own scanners too. He did his own scans of the ships. They were probably fighters, based on their speed and size. Each ship was of a completely different design from the other, and they weren't fighting each other. Life signs… one unidentified humanoid, the other was… human.

Don't get excited. Don't get your expectations too high or it could blow up like it did near Paradeen. What should he say to them? Should he mention where he was from? If he did, and they turned out to be allies of the Cylons, then the Cylons would be able to find the fleet. "I'm switching to Unicom. Attention unidentified ships. This is Strike Captain Apollo, please identify yourselves."

There was a pause before finally, "This is Captain William 'Buck' Rogers of the… "an unexpected pause, "Of the Protectorate ship Searcher. Would you mind identifying your species and planet of origin?"

Apollo could hear Starbuck's objections and urging of caution without the lieutenant ever saying anything. Or was Starbuck silently urging him recklessly forward. "Human from the planet Caprica. What is your planet of origin, Captain Rogers."

"I am Hawk, from the planet Throm," came another deeper sounding voice. "I have never heard of a world called Caprica."

"Caprica, was one of 12 inhabitable worlds in our home system, a galaxy away from here. It is little wonder if you have not heard of it. What about you, Captain Rogers? Are you from Throm too?"

"No, Strike Captain Apollo. I'm from planet Earth."

"At last," Apollo whispered to himself.

"Did you hear that, Apollo!" said an overjoyed Starbuck.

"Stay calm, Starbuck. There is still a lot we don't know," Apollo cautioned.

"Are you still there, Strike Captain Apollo?" Buck Rogers said.

"Yes! Yes, Captain. Can we set down somewhere to talk. You may be the link we need to something we have been searching for, for a very long time."

"Likewise, Captain, likewise. Form up and follow us back to our ship."

Author's Note:

Finally! Just a few more formalities to clear through, then the story will start to get interesting.