Chapter 8

Lieutenant Commander DeSoto examined the damaged Cylon Raider. He noted that the design was significantly different than what they had found on the Olympus. He reviewed his tricorder readings and saw that the power signature was similar, but not identical, to Colonial technology. The ship was circular with an oval shape and downward turned tips. The form of the craft hinted that the ship was able to fly atmospherically as well as in space. Like the Battlestar, he found no signs of warp signatures but some tachyon displacement was evident. No FTL capability was not surprising as even for the Federation, this would be a very small warp capable vessel but it remained a mystery how this ship along with the Olympus was so far from a solar system.

Next to him was the Andorian Science Officer Scogaska. DeSoto did not fully understand why he was there as this was an obvious engineering problem but Commander Hasan insisted. The Andorian was taking his own readings. His analysis showed that there were characteristics to the metal in the hull that he had not seen before other than in the Olympus itself. Somehow it seemed to be influenced by sub-space but not in a way he could explain. Scogaska did not understand why the Engineer was here since this was an obvious science problem but Commander Hasan had insisted.

Next to him was the security guard Bill Newman. He was carrying a phaser II and was there as a precaution since they had brought an alien ship onboard. Bill thought there was some irony in that since they were also the aliens on the Olympus as well. The security guards were well trained though thanks to Commander Hasan's influence, and he understood the requirement.

DeSoto looked up from his tricorder when he heard his communicator chirp. "DeSoto here," he responded.

"Status," came the inquiry from Commander Hasan. The captain had asked him to lead the investigation into the strange ship.

"Small craft that would be capable of carrying 2 to 4 humanoids. No life signs including any indication of a deceases crew. This is powered by a very volatile substance similar to the fuel for the Olympus. That section of this battlestar is heavily shielded. For a ship of this size, it would be almost impossible to provide that type of protection. Most likely the other two raiders were destroyed in a good sized explosion. Looks like this one got clipped and the shot missed the fuel source."

"Do you think that this is a fighter craft of some sort? I know we were attacked but are they actually small craft attacks on capital ships? (A/N I will get specific about why this would shock the commander)

"Looks that way. Gives us some insight into battel strategies. One other thing sir. There seems to be some type of independently powered system onboard. I would like to take a look and see if it can give us some insights."

"Very well," responded the commander, "maybe it's their equivalent of a blackbox. Please coordinate with the security staff and take all precautions. Oh, I asked Ensign Gravelson and Mr. Clarkson to join you. Samantha may be able to help with any markings and Mr. Clarkson studies may come in handy."

Scogaska and DeSoto looked at each other. Scogaska interjected, "sir, I know Mr. Clarkson's studies may have peripheral value but perhaps that could wait until…"

"Scogaska I get it. I am not asking you babysit. I am hoping he can find a place with some value. Maybe at least the complaints from the female crew will subside a bit."

"So to that end you are sending Samantha Gravelson here as well?"

"I know, she is a trained officer and can take care of herself. Keep me updated."

On board the Cylon Raider, the flight commander continued to assess the situation. It had determined that all of its onboard systems were functioning as expected. The Raider was severely damaged, possibly beyond repair. It has been brought onto a Battlestar which was not consistent with Imperial Reports about the destruction of the colonies. It knew that the Galactica had escaped and was being pursued. There were also reports that the Pegasus had been spotted but there had been no reports about the Olympus for almost 2 Yahrens. It had located its laser rifle and had determined that no action would simply lead to its discovery and destruction. With that inevitability, it followed its directive to cause much damage as possible and "Kill the Humans". It stood up and walked down towards the hatch.

"Ensign Gravelson reporting as ordered sir," the young linguistic surprised the Chief Engineer who had been intent on finalizing the energy signature before attempting to open it. Scogaska had naturally heard her approaching long before.

"Ben Clarkson here as well,"

"Okay," said DeSoto, "Ensign do you see anything?"

She took one quick look at the alien vessel, "sir, I actually reviewed some of the images we took. There are limited markings on the craft. None of them are of Earth origin that I can see. They actually remind me of the Gorn language but it is completely unknown."

DeSoto began, "well, let's look at getting inside. Maybe there will be something more interesting."

Suddenly there was a clank as the bottom hatch of the Raider opened. Everybody turned in that direction with a start only to see a humanoid figure simply drop out of the bottom of the craft and land on the Landing Bay deck with a large thud. It was wearing some type of silver armor and had what appeared to be a rifle type weapon in its hand. It also appeared to be wearing a visor with red oscillating center that moved in a rhythmic pattern. Bill Newman grabbed his phaser and took a shot at the intruder that seemed to have no impact. The phaser had been set to stun and appeared to have no effect. Newman assumed that the armor had protected the alien and reached down to change the settings on weapon when he felt a searing pain in his abdomen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright flash and looked up to see the rifle pointed at him. The world around him began to go black. I have to protect them, was last thought before he fell to the ground.

The Flight Leader, now in ground centurion mode, noted that one human had been eliminated. The weapon he had used did not register with the Cylon. The human had made a direct hit but the discharge had been minimal. He automatically logged the new device as potentially dangerous and looked for other humans with such a device. He did not find one so he turned to the next target. Its initial analysis registered it as human based on shape and size but when the Cylon's targeting system activated, the more detailed analysis did not meet requirements. The color was wrong and there were two antennae protruding from the head. Cylon's were committed to the destruction of humanity but did maintain some relations with other races. The Cylon had no record of this species but it was not armed so it moved on to the next target. A human female.

Samantha Gravelson looked on in horror at the fallen body of Bill Newman. She did know him well but he had always been nice to her especially once they got into their current situation. The armored alien seemed momentarily stunned by the phaser blast but had recovered quickly and simply shot the security guard with his rifle. The discharge had been a blast that tore right through the would-be protecter. The alien now had trained his weapon on Scogaska but hesitated. She then realized that he had turned the weapon on her. She froze as she imagined her fate when she heard a "No!" and felt someone tackle her just as the Cylon Energy weapon discharged again. She fell to the ground and saw Ben Clarkson lying on top of her. Her first incongruent thought was "I bet he loves this," She had been one of the unfortunate recipients of some unwanted attention. She then realized that he was writhing in pain and had been hit in the leg.

"Gravelson get out of there!" It was DeSoto who had found cover behind some cargo containers. Scogaska was looking for the fallen phaser only to see that it had been destroyed in the blast. The Andorian wasn't sure why he wasn't a target but was trying to take advantage of it. He was yelling at the invader but the Cylon had no interest in him. Samantha realized that she did not have cover and Ben would not be able to run. She took off her tricorder and threw it at the Cylon and begin to run. They were near the entrance to the Landing Bay and she was close to one of the first launch tubes they had encountered early on. They had not done a complete inspection of these tubes yet as they seemed a lower priority to other items such as propulsion, food, etc. She began to run towards the nearest blast door. It turned out; this was a tube they had not yet explored.

The Centurion reacted to the attack and took off in pursuit. Cylons are not nimble but can move quickly in a straight line. Samantha raced to get to the door and pushed what she thought was the combination to open it. Nothing happened. Suddenly to her immediate right she saw a flash where the Cylon had shot at her. "Blue, Blue, Red!" she heard DeSoto yell at her. She typed that in quickly and the door opened. She ran into what she had assumed would be an empty tube and was surprised to find a vessel inside. It was smaller than a Federation Shuttlecraft and almost looked like an earth air vehicle from a couple of hundred years ago. It had three wings and a very different, sleek appearance than the Cylon Raider. She briefly noted that there was an open panel on the side of the engines. She ran in looking for a hiding place knowing she had very little time before the attacker would be upon her. In moment of inspiration, she thought about how the Mattuba and the other shuttlecrafts carried a cache of weapons. This ship was obviously built for war so it seemed likely that it would have a backup as well.

There was a small ladder leading up to the cockpit. She quickly climbed up and saw a release that opened the canopy. She climbed in and thought about closing it but did not immediately see how to do that. She reached around the cockpit as she heard the heavy metal footprints getting close. On the right side was a compartment that she hoped to God was right. She pulled on the front and it popped off immediately. Inside she found what she was looking for. It was a large hand weapon, much bigger than a type II phaser. The operation seemed simple enough, point at the bad guy and pull the trigger. The Cylon entered the larger chamber and she tried to do just that. With no result. Nothing happened. She quickly looked at the weapon and saw a switch that could be set to red or blue. It was currently on red so she moved it to blue and tried again.

The Cylon entered the Viper Launch tube and saw the human woman sitting behind the controls of a Colonial Viper. She was also aiming a blaster at it. This weapon it could identify, and it know that a Blaster could severely damage and destroy the Centurion. The Cylon did not fear death but it did have some basic self-protection sub routines to avoid needless destruction of a war unit. As that kicked in, it realized that the woman had not fired yet. She was inspecting the blaster when the Cylon took aim. She pointed at the Cylon again and this time the Blaster did fire. The Flight Leader registered a hit to its upper torso. This did not immediately deactivate it but its ability to aim and fire was gone. A second shot destroyed its power supply. As the residual power drained out of its system, the Cylon did register that it killed one human and injured another at the cost of one Centurion. That was considered a glorious success for the empire.

"Gravelson, you there?!" The voice was that of Commander Hasan. He ran into the launch tube with 5 security guards in tow. Two of them had phaser rifles and all had their phasers set to disintegrate.

"I am here," she called from the cockpit. She was starting to shake and was not sure she could get down from the cockpit by herself. She thought she might cry but found she was too stunned to do so.

"Ensign, what happened?" She was still sitting in the cockpit not sure what do to. Commander Hasan went to the ladder and climbed up it. "Samantha, what is in your hand?" Samantha realized she was still holding the foreign weapon. "Why don't you give it to me?" She handed over the weapon and quickly made a note that they commander may now know about the safety.

"Commander, there is a safety there. It was on when I found it."

"Ensign that was quick thinking and you probably saved a few lives. Not bad for your first outing."

"Bill?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"I am sorry. We are all caught off guard. It looks like that thing is a robot of some sort. That's why there were no life forms. It is also very unusual to have a machine run another machine. Now that we know, we'll take better precautions. Ben will be okay by the way. It doesn't make the loss of Ben other better but it is something."

"Okay. They both saved my life. I couldn't' save Bill's…I think I should get down from here."

"Yeah you made an interesting discovery here. Looks like this ship was under maintenance when the Olympus was abandoned. You need a hand?"

Her nerves had calmed and she did not want to appear frail. She stood up and forced her arms and legs to make the proper motions to move down the stairs. By the time she got down, Lieutenant Rodriguez had joined them. She saw in the landing bay that a medical crew had covered Bill Newman 's body. Ben Clarkson had already been taken away for treatment. Security staff was stationed around the Raider armed with Phaser Rifles. Kiko gave her a pat in the shoulder and went to look at the new ship.

"It's a Viper," said Kiko. "We found a simulator on the lower deck that looks just like this. I think we can fix it. I believe it's the Colonial answer to these Raiders," Even with the recent tragedy, the officers of the Kongo knew they had to keep their head in the game. They would honor their fallen comrade soon enough.

Commander Hasan was standing there in silence for a moment when his communicator chirped. "Hasan here."

"Hasan, Berg. We have another problem. Lieutenant Weiler is dead." Hasan was shocked. Weiler was one of the environmental engineers who wasn't anywhere near the action.

"What happened?" He asked

"Regner's syndrome. Apparently, this ship is infected with it."