CHAPTER NINE: Deception for the Pursuers
Cyrannus Sysyem – Virgon Space Elevator
"So this is what you have found", the Supreme Leader said to the centurion who was in charge of investigating the loss of the Sentinel Post in the Anotian Sector.
"Affirmative", the centurion confirmed. The centurion had recently come on board a Cylon Shuttle from the Anotian Sector. What it had brought back was an interesting piece of intelligence.
The Supreme Leader, the centurion, and several other Humanoid Cylons were looking at the partially burned remains of a human body. It was decked out in a viper pilot's flight suit. It had been recovered in the wreckage of a destroyed viper that was floating with other debris - mostly Cylon - in the space over the destroyed sentinel post.
It had been two days since the sentinel post had failed to report in and the Base Star that went to check on its status did not expect to see it destroyed. A search of the area had determined that it had been destroyed by a human force and to judge by the devastation, it would have had to have been a battlestar. The base star was now searching the immediate area for more clues while awaiting orders
The Supreme Leader looked at the patch on the shoulder of the flight suit worn by the corpse. A lot of it was singed, but the word Galactica could still be made out. The Galactica did this, she thought?
"There have been no indications of the Galactica being in the Anotian Sector, yet the evidence points to the fact that the Galactica was responsible", the centurion said.
"Did the other human pilot corpses recovered bear the same insignia on their clothes as this one?" one of the Number Six humanoids asked the centurion.
"We found three other corpses. All were burned and all were in the wreckage of vipers. The insignia is the same", the centurion replied.
"Did the tail numbers on the destroyed vipers match that with the manifest of the Galactica's fighter compliment?" the Number Six then asked, referring to the stolen data from Picon Fleet Headquarters.
"All of the vipers found had their tail numbers obliterated", the Cylon answered.
"That doesn't mean a thing", one of the Number Four models spoke up, "because a number of vipers from destroyed battlestars did manage to find their way to the Galactica when it was at Ragnar".
"Drawing definite conclusions from this recent battle will not be easy", the Number Six commented.
"We have at least one definite fact. We know that a battlestar destroyed the sentinel post", the Supreme Leader finally said after thinking it over for a minute, "and it points to the Galactica, but since our latest reports had placed the Galactica several sectors away from the Anotian Sector, either our intelligence is faulty, or something else is very wrong here. In either case, Inform the Number Seven to continue his search of the Anotian Sector while the primary pursuit force continues to seek and locate the human convoy. If it was the Galactica that did this, then the human's ships are being left undefended. If it's not, then we need to continue the search for whoever it was".
"By Your Command", the other assembled Cylons acknowledged.
Battlestar Pegasus – Combat Information Center
The Pegasus was now safely away from the Anotian Sector, after FTL-jumping a fair distance after recovering the fighter wings, and having two raptors plant the disguised cadavers in the wreckage of the four destroyed vipers. The few damaged fighters were under repair and the memorial services for the dead pilots - their bodies had all been recovered during the cadaver planting - had been completed. Normal patrols had been resumed, and there were no reports of pursuit.
Cain was glad that a clear offensive victory had won. It was a valuable boost for morale and it served as a reminder that they were all military personnel on a warship, not survivors fleeing and hiding. True, the loss of the four pilots was regrettable, but their wrecked ships served to be the perfect receptacles for the cadavers so thoughtfully provided by Life Station. The cadavers had been picked up from a wrecked battlestar when the Pegasus had last been to Caprica. It was thought that the organs from these corpses would come in handy for transplants. Now they served to confuse the hell out of the Cylons. They might have gotten suspicious by the obliterated tail numbers - done in order not to trace them back to the Pegasus, but regardless, it would serve to confuse the enemy, and every advantage helped.
He reminded himself to thank Midshipman Gorde when he next saw him. It was his suggesting making it look like it was the Galactica's doing that enabled the quartermaster to fabricate Galactica patches which were then placed on the flight suits needed to dress the cadavers in. He was glad to have someone on board with imagination. All of it was done secretly. The Quartermaster made the patches by himself, Colonel Tolen had arranged the pickup of the corpses, and only the CAG's and the raptor crews had been told about switching bodies. The traitor was still somewhere on board and this little tactic needed to be kept quiet, in case it could be used again.
He looked out of the portal at the starfield. The Galactica was somewhere out there, he knew. And if he had to destroy half the Cylon fleet between here and there in order to meet up with her, then that's what he would do. And he would continue to feed the toasters misinformation in the process. If the Cylons wanted war, he would give it to them!
Battlestar Pegasus – Civilian Quarters
Down in one of the civilian cabins, the blonde woman smiled. She knew that there had been a battle and that a Cylon sentinel post had been destroyed, but she reasoned that the Pegasus would have had to reveal itself in the process. The minefield back in the Optus Sector had forced Cain to take a more aggressive course of action. That meant that her colleagues were now aware of their existence and thus, a definite effort to seek and destroy this battlestar would now be under way. But the quartermaster did not let on anything about the Galactica patches, and she did not know about the cadavers. If she had, she would not have felt so confident...
Battlestar Pegasus – Silver Spar Wing HQ
Captain Syke sat down in his office chair in order to try to relax. He had a bottle of water in one of the drawers on his desk and he was sipping at it while staring at the opposite wall. The just-held memorial service for the dead pilot was just as painful as the one he had held earlier for Lyle Blanke. His wing had done well in the battle, and they would be celebrating in the O-club this evening, but Syke felt more about the loss than the victory. He was still thinking about it when Tricia walked in.
"Want some company, Gene?", she asked.
"I'm fine", he replied, not very convincingly. Tricia knew that the loss of another pilot was the cause of his melancholy.
"Newguy just told me that the new rook Dundee did a great job as an RSO on the recent recon, and that it's time to award him a formal call-sign", Tricia said in order to distract Syke's attention from the loss of the pilot.
"Oh?" Syke replied, "and did Petty Officer Dundee have a preference?", he asked.
"Dundee liked using the sensors to poke around and snoop for clues, so he'd like to take the call-sign 'Snoopy'", she replied with a smile.
Syke laughed, saying, "Nice call-sign for an RSO. Okay, 'Snoopy' it is. Have Jet add it to the call-sign roster tomorrow. Thanks Tricia, I needed the laugh. The 'Two Jasons' will do just fine, I think".
"Let's you and me go up to the O-club", she suggested, "after all, the wing did well, and you have a right to celebrate too".
"CAG's fraternizing with the people they command is not exactly to be encouraged, you know", Syke replied, "It's a little thing called 'command distance requirements' and all that other military felgercarb that goes with the job".
"It's better than you sitting here alone sulking, Gene", she pointed out, "and frakk it, you need to let your hair down once in a while. Your wing respects you. They should see you as a human being as well as their commander once in a while, especially after our win".
Syke thought about what Tricia had said. She was right: he was human, and by the Lords of Kobol, it was something that he did want to do.
"Okay, Tricia", Syke said, standing up, "but you'll need to steer me away from card games. Let's go".
END OF BOOK THREE