Chapter 15

Captain Berg looked at the scanner and saw that the Raiders were still in pursuit. It seemed that the Olympus' transition to Faster than Light had bought them some time, but the Raiders seemed to have made the same transition. Even the Viper that Kiko Rodriguez was in was still leading them at faster than light speeds.. Worse, the baseships were keeping up as well. Captain Berg realized that having gone to this speed, the Kongo would not know where to find them.

"Hail Lieutenant Rodriguez," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," responded Ensign Gravelson.

"Rodriguez here," came across the comm system.

"Lieutenant, where are we going?" asked the Captain.

"We need help. We had to travel between the stars," was her short answer.

"Lieutenant, what does that mean? Who are we getting help from? What does 'Travel between the Start' mean? How do you know this?" The captain did not want to barrage the helmswoman with questions but time was limited.

"Well the help comes from…we need to be between the stars because…I-I don't know sir. I know I am right. I am not sure," the pilot was obviously flummoxed as she tried to explain herself.

"Alright Lieutenant. Can you get onboard? When the Raiders catch up us, you are going to be a tempting target."

"I think I should stay sir. It seems the right thing to do. I can't explain it."

"Understood," answered the captain to everyone's surprise. He began to suspect there was more going on than they understood, maybe than they would ever understand.

"Theories," asked the Captain. "I am glad that we are now able to go faster than light but less enthusiastic that we don't know how." Gerhardt looked to his Chief Engineer and Science Officer for an answer.

"There is no technology on this ship that can propel as light speed," said Lieutenant Commander DeSoto. "Right now, the engines are operating exactly the same they did before the transition. It makes no sense."

"I agree captain. There is also no time dilation which is shocking." Scogaska was lost in thought. At the same time, they were all keeping on eye on the scanner that showed the Raiders getting closer.

"How are they keeping up with us?" Captain Berg asked," we don't have warp engines that can support such a small ship. I know there are prototypes out there but we have seen no indication that their technology is superior to ours."

"Again, no idea sir," answered the Chief Engineer.

"Captain if I may," spoke up Ensign Gravelson. Captain Berg had noted with approval that she had gained considerable confidence since she had been onboard the Olympus. "There was an indicator on the helm that was labeled as multiplier. It has been going up ever since we went faster than light."

"Chief?" asked the Captain.

"I know she is talking about sir. But there is no control associated with it."

"I think I saw something like it on the navigation charts. Let me show you."

She walked to the back of the control room where the navigation charts were displayed. The had gone through them before but they did not make a lot of sense. Stars were shown but routes seemed to be widely inefficient and there were calculations that they had not yet figured out. The pulled out one that seemed to represent the area they were in.

"If you look here," she pointed to the chart, "we currently between the two nearest stars on this area. We were originally offset from that line but Kiko brought us directly into it. If you look here at this figure, these seems to show a path between the two stars. There is also a number here that we have never been able to figure out. That figure matches the number that is showing up on the multiplier display on the helm."

The senior staff sat silently for a moment. "That is interesting Ensign but what does it mean?" asked Scogaska.

"Science Office, I would ask you the same question," responded the Captain. He looked at the path again. "You know if we were plotting a course between the two systems, we would offset the path. The Subspace eddies would get in the way." Subspace eddies formed between stars that were relatively close. They were navigational nuisances that tended to throw off warp navigational computations. The quick and easy fix was to just get outside of them and avoid them. It very little impact on distance and time computations and tended to not even be thought about beyond first year navigational training at the academy; however, the Olympus was right in the middle of one.

"Metallurgy," said the Andorian suddenly.

"Excuse me," responded the Chief Engineer.

"Metallurgy. We have always noted that the alloys in this ship's hull had an unusual property that seemed to interact with subspace. We found the same thing in the Raider. I can only assume the baseships are the same way. Subspace eddies are a nuisance because they get in the way we do warp drive. I think these ships operates completely differently. The metal in the hull resonates in subspace and causes an acceleration. I guess you could call it a multiplier effect. The battlestar, viper or other would operate pretty much the same as they do in sublight which is why we don't seem individual systems. Warp drive does fight against subspace to achieve light speed. This ship seems to work with it. I can't imagine it is as effective as warp drive but it would let them engage in interstellar travel," the Andorian hesitated. "It's just a theory but it would explain several things. I can begin to run some tests."

"So, they travel between the stars," he said quietly. "Let's wait until we don't have three baseships trying to blow us out of space."

"Yes sir. Very wise," the Andorian's antennae quivered a bit but he returned to his post.

"Time to intercept," asked Captain Berg. He was running out of ideas and was in unchartered territory. He knew how to fight on the bridge of the Kongo but he only just now starting to understand how the Olympus worked. One thing he knew was the the Cylons knew how to fight battlestars.

"Five minutes sir," answered the Science Officer.

"Alright, let's bring the primary weapon on line and get ready to turn. I still think our friendly Supreme Commander is the baseship that is lagging. I have no idea what their command and control looks like but I have to imagine that taking out leadership has to have some effect."

"Sir," said Scogaska, "it's a suicide run. We'll never make it through the Raiders."

"You have a better idea? Even at this speed, we are hours away from the nearest system and I don't even know what we would do when we got there. If we keep running, they are just going to pick us apart," rebuffed the Captain.

"Yes sir," responded the Andorian. Scogaska was a good office. He spoke up louder, "prepare main weapon. On my mark, 180 degree turn.

"Yes sir," he heard from across the control room. Everybody knew this an act of desperation but this was a desperate time. Rumor had it even Commander Spock once dumped and ignited the fuel supply of a shuttle to act as a distress beacon even when there was virtually no chance of success. That had worked out. Scogaska could only hope that this would work out as well.

"Sir," yelled Samantha Gravelson, "contact ahead."

"Now what" grumbled the captain. "More Raiders? "he asked. If the had managed to completely flank him, they were truly at a loss.

"I don't think so sir. I think they are Vipers. Coming at us fast."

"Hail them!" shouted the Captain.

Lieutenant Pan of Golden Star squadron was growing anxious as they got closer to the location of the Olympus. It had been a long time since they had left the battlestar he looked forward to seeing her again. The automated warning he received indicated that baseships had been detected. While the Cylons and Colonies were on a path to peace, they were still at skirmishes were still fought regularly and there were Colonial officers who had concerns about the Cylon's intentions. He was also worried that while they were past the theoretical time limit for Hades' Plague, they had not passed the safety margin. He had lost two good friends already and did not to lose any more.

Commander Abel had ordered them to intercept the Olympus and evaluate the situation. If needed, they could board her and they were also within their orders to protect the battlestar. Since they had not heard from Colonial command, the Olympus was their only chance to get home.

Suddenly his targeting system showed a contact ahead. They were still about a centar from the Olympus so this caught him off guard. He pulled up the ship identification on his targeting computer and it was identified as a Viper. What the Frack! He thought. He did remember that they had to leave one Viper behind because it was under repair and protocol called for everyone to get off the battlestar. He opened his comm system to his wing man.

"Mimas, are you seeing this," asked Pan. Mimas and Pan had fought many battles together and had lived to tell the tale.

"I am. Looks like someone stole a Viper," he responded. Then his targeting computer showed something else. A battlestar. The transponder quickly showed that it was the Olympus. It was heading their way at full speed and directly in the chartered path to the star system that had been on for so many sectons. But who was taking her home, he thought? The Cylons? As he envisioned the mechanical monstrosities at the controls of the majestic battestar he became angry. Something else bothered him. He had never heard of Cylons taking over a battlestar or any other ship for deception. The Cylons were not subtle and their victories came from their far superior production capabilities more than guile or strategy.

As he was considering his options, a signal came in on his comm system. It was from the Olympus! At first, he grew angry but decided to see if he could find out what was going on. As he was getting ready to answer he saw something that made his blood run cold. The Olympus was being pursued by a large swarm of Cylon Raiders. He recognized the pattern. They were in full attack mode. Feldercarp, what had been going on out here?

He flipped on the comm system to the Olympus. "This is Lieutenant Pan, flight leader of the Golden Star squadron from the battlestar Olympus. What are doing on our ship and what the frak is going on?"

There was a slight hesitation when voice come on. It reminded a bit of a languatron but seemed much more sophisticated. "My name is Captain Gerhardt Berg of the United Federation Starship Kongo. We are onboard and have control of the Colonial Battlestar Olympus. Lieutenant, I am assuming that this ship is yours. Why we are here and got to this situation is a long story. Unfortunately, I don't have time to go over all of it. We are being pursued by Cylon Raiders who are intent on destroying us. We have limited understanding of your battlestar and do not have a way to counter the Raiders. Can you assist?"

Pan thought about the message. He was very suspicious about what was going on but the Olympus was in grave danger of being destroyed. He quickly made a decision. He cut of communication with the foreign captain and opened a channel to the rest of his squadron.

"Golden Star squadron, engage the Cylon Raiders. Once the have been turned back, prepare to invade and capture the Olympus. I think we have some people that took advantage of our absence and got more than they bargained for."

The Vipers all engaged their turbos and headed towards the Raider swarm. As always, the colonial fighter skillfully outflew their Cylon counterparts. Yet they were badly outnumbered. The first volley saw several Raiders destroyed with one Viper not able to get out of the way and go up in a fireball. The Cylons won that one. Thought Pan knowing that the numbers favored the Cylons. Another Raider showed up on his display and he fired.

The Supreme Commander watched the results of the battle. The appearance of the Vipers it was not ready for and he had not planned for. He knew that the Cylons had far superior numbers but they had lost many battles to the Colonials with vastly superior numbers. His strategy had been based on the Olympus having no Viper support. His plan was not invalid. He knew they could still win but they had to change tactics.

"Recall the Raiders," he ordered of the Centurion standing close to him.

"By your command," it responded and make the communication.

Captain Berg looked in shock as the Raiders turned to retreat. Even with the Vipers joining the battle, he knew they were at a disadvantage. He held his breathe to make sure this was not a feint but theycontinued to the pursuing baseships.

"Open a channel to Lieutenant Pan," he ordered. "Captain Berg to Viper leader, we thank you for your assistance. We would like to have a discussion about what has transpired. Please respond."

There was no response. Captain Berg repeated the message with the same result.

"Captain, look," said Ensign Gravelson. "I think we are being boarded."

He looked at the scanner and saw the all of the colonial vipers were heading to the landing bays at full speed.

"All hands, we are being boarded. Report to the landing bays to repel boarders," even as he gave the order, he know it was not right.