I'm introducing a game that I created within this story. To prove ownership of the game, I sent a copy of the description of the game and the game rules to myself by registered mail. (A.K.A a poor man's copyright.)
THE GENETIC DUPLICATE—Day 8 Part 1
On Earth 08:55 A.M. local time, Beth and her classmates were leaving their classroom. Beth was carrying her book bag and purse over her shoulder. When Beth stepped out she saw Brandon waiting in the hallway. Brandon was in his police uniform and holding a newspaper. The paper was folded to a particular story. Everyone who walked by Brandon looked at him in a curious and nervous manner.
Beth walked up to Brandon and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Branded raised the newspaper and said, "Read this."
Beth took the newspaper and read aloud, "Computers belonging to the US military, the UK Royal military, the French military, the Chinese military along with militaries across the globe have been hack into twice within the past two days; however, the guilty party didn't steal military secrets that a person would think. Instead the person responsible for hacking into the military computers had implanted what could be considered military secrets. The scientists from the US and their allies all agree that the information given could thrust our technology decades into the future in a single year. The only clue that the authorities know of who is giving out the military secrets is from the signature, 'A friendly voice from the twelve colonies of Kobol.' On Capital Hill, no one can come to agreement on how to handle the situation." Beth stopped reading. "Brandon, why are you showing me this?"
"Beth, I know you are the friendly voice," said Brandon.
Beth said in amused manner, "You think I'm the friendly voice who is giving out military secrets. I have been accused of a few things by mom, but never of anything of this magnitude."
"Stopped the pretense with me," said Brandon. "Although, I wasn't taking you seriously about your clone and a battlestar, I still recall the conversation we had about it,"
"Brandon, are you here as a cop or are you here as my brother?" asked Beth.'
"At the moment, I'm here as your brother, but you are putting me in a difficult position," said Brandon. "So tell me the truth about that article."
"Even if I'm not guilty you have already made up your mind that I am, so telling you that I'm not guilty would be a waste of my breathe," said Beth.
"Beth, you can't lie to me or anyone else…" said Brandon.
"Actually I can, I just choose not to," said Beth.
"Well, I can tell when you lie, so if you can say the words, 'I have nothing to do with the spread of any military secrets,' in a sincere and believable manner, I will believe you," said Brandon. Beth just stared at Brandon. "Yes or no; did you have anything to do with the spread of that information?"
"I think I want a lawyer," said Beth.
"I'm not arresting you, Beth," said Brandon.
"If I answer yes to that question, would you arrest me then?" asked Beth.
"For God sakes, Beth, this is serious," exclaimed Brandon.
"What is serious is when the Cylons find us and we have no way to defend ourselves," said Beth. "The answer to your question is yes. I got the information from Dr. Atkins from the Battlestar Galactica and I gave the information to someone I know. He then spread that information to each military indicated in the paper."
"You are still claiming that your clone and the fleet from the twelve colonies of Kobol are real?"
Beth re-read a section of the newspaper, "The scientists from the US and their allies all agree that the information given could thrust our technology decades into the future in a single year." Beth stopped reading. "Brandon, for that paragraph to be printed the scientists must had agreed that the information given is genuine, and since I'm not well verse in physics, how am I coming up with those formulas if I'm not in contact with someone from the Galactica?'
"I don't know, but listen to yourself," said Brandon. "You are saying Cylons, a robotic race… a clone of you, but your clone is fourteen and a colony of humans who are from Kobol are real."
"I know they're real," Beth demanded. "Brandon, ten years ago you believed me when I first started getting visions while mom thought I was going delusional. You stood up to mom in my behalf. I need you to trust me again."
"I believed in your visions only after I witnessed them coming true before my eyes," said Brandon.
"Well, you believe my visions now just on my word," said Beth. "Why can't you treat the knowledge of the colonies of Kobol and the Cylons as a vision?"
"This is totally different than a vision and you know it," said Brandon.
"Brandon, wouldn't it be better to prepare for the Cylon and it doesn't happen than not to prepare for it at all and it does happen?" asked Beth.
"Beth, this coming June, you will be graduating medical school at the very top of your class," said Brandon. "Becoming a medical doctor is your life dream. Since you were twelve you would tell people with absolute certainty in your voice that you will become a doctor. Now you are telling me that you believe in this crusade so much that you are willing to throw away your life dream?"
Beth said in a convincing manner, "Becoming a doctor won't mean squat if the population of Earth is reduced to zero in a few years."
"Even if you're right and the Cylons are coming, we don't even know how far away they are," said Brandon.
"Kim is fourteen, so the Cylons can't be more than ten years away," said Beth. "And if the alien ship that Kim was found on was simply drifting for ten years then I would go out on a limb and say that the Cylons are considerably closer to us than ten years. Brandon, I know I'm asking a lot, but I need you on my side."
Brandon slightly laughed. He then asked, "You do know that you just asked me to jeopardize my career on faith that you are not crazier than what I think already?'
Beth grinned and said, "I do actually."
Brandon looked at Beth in a skeptical manner. He blurted out, "I have to have my head examine."
Beth slightly grinned and asked, "Does that mean that you are on my side?"
"You got me, little sister," said Brandon.
Beth gave Brandon a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She then said, "Thank you."
"Well, now that you have convinced me, I'm kind of looking forward to see our baby sister Kimberly-two," said Brandon.
Beth grinned and said, "Kim said that you would call us Kim-one and Kim-two." She then looked at her watch. "Well, I better get going. I promised a five-year-old boy at the hospital that I would read to him."
"You will never outgrow that will you?" asked Brandon.
Beth looked at Brandon in a curious manner and asked, "Outgrow what?"
"You have always loved reading to young kids or kids that can't read," said Brandon.
"And is that a bad thing?" asked Beth.
"No-no," said Brandon. "It is very much a good thing. I think you will make an excellent mom one day."
Beth grinned and said, "Thanks for saying that."
"You're welcome," said Brandon. "Well, I'll walk out with you, so I can get back out on patrol." He and Beth walked towards the exit.
On board the Solar Flare, in the mess hall, Kyra and Kim were joining Seth at his table. Kyra sat next to Seth and Kim sat across from them. Kim's hair was in braids.
When Seth saw Kim's hair he said, "Kim, I like your hair."
"Thanks," said Kim. "Mom did it after we got up." Kim then saw Adonis and Casimir walking towards them with their food rations. Kyra turned to see what Kim was looking at.
When Casimir and Adonis stepped up, Casimir asked, "Kyra; Seth, do you mine if Adonis and I join you?"
Kyra looked at Seth in an inquisitive manner. Seth noticed the look and said, "I don't mine if they join us."
Kyra looked at Casimir and said, "Have a seat." Adonis sat down next to Kim and Casimir sat next to Adonis.
Before Adonis took a bite of food he lightly pulled on Kim's braid and said, "You look good with your hair braided."
Kim smiled at Adonis and said, "Thanks."
"So Kim, can you go to the recreation center after breakfast?" asked Adonis.
"Actually, mom gave be permission to go back to the computer room when I leave here," said Kim. "There are a few things I would like to look up."
"What kind of things?" asked Adonis.
"I want to learn more about Kobol and I'm curious to know what kind of entertainment Kobol had," said Kim.
"Ms. Lockwood, may I go with Kim to the computer room?" asked Adonis.
"You can, but if Kim doesn't start eating, she won't have time to go before class starts," said Kyra.
Kim grinned and took a bite.
Aboard the Galactica a crew of a raptor was returning with information on a solar system three light years away with eight planets. The second planet of the solar system, although barely large enough to be considered a planet, was found to be an oxygen based planet. Fifty percent of the land mass was covered with two shallow oceans, many large lakes, rivers and ponds. Ruins of a large city were found on the planet. The city found was comparable to any city in the colonies before the Cylon attacked. After Cmdr. Adama received the report on the planet, he sent Apollo, Starbuck, Denton Loren, Ben Silvis, Gordon Cole and Hallie Kane to examine the ruin more closely.
Fifteen minutes later as the pilot of the raptor was flying over large prairie land at a low altitude, everyone noticed wild horses stampeding away from the raptor. As Starbuck was looking at the horses, she said, "There's a sight I never expected to see."
"The sight of those horses might be a good sign that we are going in the right direction to find Earth," said Apollo.
Minutes later, the pilot of the raptor was landing close to the city. As everyone was walking away from the raptor, Apollo saw an animal's footprints.
When Apollo pointed out the tracks, Starbuck said, "That looks a lot like footprints from a large breed dog."
"I was thinking the same thing," said Apollo. Apollo looked at his group. "Okay everyone, be alert. There's a possibility that there are wild dogs in this area." The group continued to walk towards the city.
On board the Solar Flare, in the computer room, Kim stopped at the game tarkon, a card game that was once played on Kobol. The cards in the deck were hexagon shaped.
Kim read loud enough for Adonis to hear, "To play tarkon one standard deck of cards with four suits and hexagon shaped token for each player are needed. Each player is dealt five cards. Each player will then choose the direction he or she will play by setting the hexagon shaped token that each player has next to him or her. Four of the sides of the token represent the four suits. The fifth side represents the weak kingdom, which will be explained later. The sixth side represents the tarkon, which will also be explained later. After setting the token each player will discard any cards he or she does not want. Each player will then be given replacement cards. The players are allowed to discard twice and receive replacement cards twice, but before replacement cards are dealt, the cards that are not kept are reshuffled. To win after setting the token on one of the suits that player must build his or her house in that suit. A house is three to five cards in one suit not in sequence. A three-card house is called a weak house. A four-card house is called a house. A five-card house is called a strong house. A five-card house in sequence is called a kingdom. The highest hand of a kingdom is called a fortress. Once a player chooses a suit to build his or her house that player may change suits only if the player is able to create a kingdom or a fortress in the other suit. This is called overthrowing the house. If a player fails to overthrow his or her house successfully with a kingdom or a fortress that player will lose the hand if the player's house is in a suit other than what was chosen on the token. When a player chooses a suit on the token that player cannot win with a supreme tarkon, high tarkon, weak tarkon or a weak kingdom. A high tarkon is four of a kind. A supreme tarkon is the highest possible hand of a high tarkon. A weak tarkon is three of a kind. If the player sets the token on the tarkon the player must either get a weak tarkon, high tarkon or the supreme tarkon to win. The player that chooses the tarkon cannot win with a house, weak kingdom, kingdom or a fortress. A weak kingdom is five sequential cards not of the same suit. Also a weak kingdom cannot consist of three or more cards of the same suit, since three or more cards of the same suit is a house. If the player set the token on the weak kingdom the player must get the weak kingdom to win. The player that chooses the weak kingdom cannot win with a house, kingdom, fortress or a tarkon."
Adonis interrupted "That is an unusual game."
"The rules continue with how to win from best to worst," said Kim. "Supreme tarkon will beat any hand, even though a supreme tarkon will never appear at the same time with a fortress. Fortress from a chosen suit is after the supreme tarkon, followed by a fortress from an overthrown house. Kingdom or a high tarkon will be the next winning hand depending on the ranking card. For an example, if the kingdom consists of 5-6-7-8-9 of the same suit and the high tarkon consist of 10-10-10-10 then the high tarkon will win. But if the high tarkon would have consisted of 4-4-4-4 then the kingdom will win. The next in order will be a kingdom from an overthrown house. A kingdom from a chosen suit or a high tarkon will always win against a kingdom from an overthrown house regardless if the kingdom of the overthrown house has the ranking card. A weak kingdom or a weak tarkon will be the next winning hand. A weak kingdom with the ranking card will win against a weak tarkon, but if the weak tarkon has the ranking card then the weak tarkon wins. Also if the weak kingdom and the weak tarkon have the same ranking card then the weak tarkon wins. A strong house wins against a house and a house wins against a weak house."
"That game doesn't sound too complicated to play," said Adonis.
"If we hand the tarkon tokens I wouldn't mind attempting to play it," said Kim. "Well, let see what else we can find." Kim then clicked on the next subject.
On the planet, Apollo and the other found and entered a government-researched center. The entrance to the building was made of glass; however, filth that collected over the passing millenniums had crusted over the glass, which made it impossible to see out of. The floors, counters and equipment were also crusted over with filth and dust. After walking through corridors for several minutes, they came upon a room with bookcases stuffed with books. In the center of the room was an airtight glass case covered in filth and dust. Starbuck stepped up to one of the bookcases and tried to pull a book from the shelf, but the book crumbled like ashes in her hand. Starbuck just gave Apollo an uncertain look.
Denton walked up to the glass case and brushed off the filth. When enough filth was removed, documents could be seen. He then called out, "Capt. Adama, I have something over here."
As Apollo walked towards Denton, he asked, "What do you have?"
"There are documents sealed in this case," said Denton.
Starbuck walked towards the case and said, "Most likely those are the important documents."
"Since those documents are encased, I wonder how brittle they are," said Gordon.
"There's one way to find out," said Apollo. Apollo pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the case. "Okay, everyone behind me in case my fire would ricochet."
After everyone was behind Apollo, Apollo fired his gun. The glass cracked, but didn't shatter. As Apollo fired again, Starbuck pulled out her gun and fired also on the case. After firing six rounds the glass broke. Shattered glass fell on the documents and the documents held up.
Apollo reached in and as he picked up the document, he said, "It looks like the case protected the documents. Now let's see what we have here." Apollo then looked at the documents. The documents were only a few pages long. "And if I know my scriptures correctly this is written in the ancient writing before the armistice of the thirteen tribes."
"Who's in the fleet who could translate the ancient writings?" asked Hallie.
"I don't know how well he knows it, but I do know that Casimir Spike knows a little," said Starbuck.
"Let's hope he knows enough to translate these documents," said Apollo.
"We should checkout the rest of the building before we go," said Starbuck. "There might me other things here that are of interest."
"We should pair up and search that way," said Apollo.
Outside the researched center, two large dogs were sniffing the door that Apollo and his group entered.
Inside the researched center, Apollo and his group broke into three groups to search the building.
They search the center for a few minutes when Hallie and Gordon walked into a room with a computer that was being operated by functioning nuclear power source. A reflective glass cube covered in filth sat in the center of the room. Each side was eight feet wide. The height was from the floor to the ceiling. When Hallie stepped five feet from the glass cube, a distorted sound of a man's voice was heard that came from the cube. When Hallie faced the cube she was barely able to make out an image through the filth.
As Hallie was attempting to clean the glass, Gordon stepped up and said, "What did you do to start that?"
"I didn't do anything," said Hallie. "Help me clean this off though, so we can see want we have."
As Hallie and Gordon were cleaning, they were able to make out from the computer voice, "…mega center… (garble) …question." The computer switched language. The words were still distorted and garbled."
As Gordon continued to clean the glass, he commented, "I wonder if this computer can go back to the language before. At least then I caught a word here and there."
The computer switched back to the language. "Comply to… (garble) …what is your question?"
"This thing responds to verbal commands," said Gordon.
As Hallie continued to clean the glass, she asked, "Let's try something. Computer, what happened to the people on this planet?"
The computer said in a distorted manner, "Insufficient data."
The computer image was an image of a human man from head to toe. When the head and shoulders were able to be seen clearly Hallie and Gordon stopped cleaning. Gordon then asked, "Computer, for how long have the people been gone?"
"Insufficient data," said the computer.
"Computer, when was the last time you were activated?" asked Hallie.
"(garble) …thousands years," said the computers.
"Computer, repeat the number of years?" asked Gordon.
"(garble) …thousands years," said the computers.
"I don't think we're going to get a clear answer from how garbled the response is," said Hallie.
"Well, I'm going to find Apollo and tell him of what we found," said Gordon.
"Okay, I will stay here and try to get clean answers from this thing," said Hallie.
"Okay," said Gordon. He then turned to walk away.
As Gordon was leaving the room, Hallie asked, "Computer, is there any information on Kobol?"
In a distorted manner and with periodic garbled words, the computer responded with the answer Hallie was hoping to hear.
On board the Solar Flare, in the classroom, all the students were in their seats, and before Kyra was able to start the class, Alec and Diamond walked in.
Kyra looked at Alec in a curious manner and asked, "Mr. Smithers, why are you and Diamond here?"
"Sophia needs to complete her education," said Alec.
"Class, just sit quietly for a few minutes," said Kyra. "Mr. Smithers, I would like to talk to you and Diamond in the corridor." As Alec and Diamond were walking into the corridor Kyra followed.
When the classroom door closed Alec asked, "Ms. Lockwood, is there a problem?"
"There is Mr. Smithers," said Kyra. "Diamond was permanently expelled from my classroom seven months ago."
"You will deny Sophia her right to an education?" asked Alec.
"Mr. Smithers, even when Sophia was allowed in my class, she spent more time threatening the other students than doing her work," said Kyra. "My first concern is to the safety of my students."
"Ms. Lockwood, even criminals get the chance to prove that they are able to live among every day citizen again after a certain amount time," said Alec. "I'm asking for that same kind of chance with Sophia."
"I gave Sophia more chances than what I should have during the four years she was in my class," said Kyra. "Why should I give her another chance?"
"Ms. Lockwood, I can get a particular job when I turned sixteen in a few weeks, but one of the requirements to get this job is that I have to continue with my education," said Diamond.
"I'll give you the assignment papers and you can go to the computer room to do them," said Kyra.
"Ms. Lockwood, I was hoping to get your help with my assignments when I need it," said Diamond. "Please let me back in your class. I'll behave myself and follow the class rules."
Kyra looked at Diamond in a skeptical manner. She then said, "Diamond, I strongly feel that letting you back in my class would be a mistake;—" Diamond looked at Alec in a disappointed manner. "—however, I will give you one chance to prove me wrong." Diamond and Alec looked at Kyra in an interested manner. "And not only will you obey my classroom rules, you will also obey the rules of this ship. If I hear of you breaking the rules or bullying anyone, you will be out. Am I clear?"
"Yes Ms. Lockwood," said Diamond.
"I want Kimberly O'Brian to stay away from Sophia," said Alec.
"I also want Kim to stay away from Sophia, Mr. Smithers," said Kyra.
Alec held out a computer disc and said, "Ms. Lockwood, here is Sophia's school record."
Kyra took the computer disc and said, "Thank you." Kyra then gestured towards the door. "After you, Diamond." As Kyra followed Diamond into the room, Alec walked away. Kyra stepped to the front of the class and looked over the room for a second. Diamond stood next to Kyra. "Class, Sophia Diamond is returning to this classroom; however, given Diamond and Kim's recent altercation I do not want Kim and Diamond sitting next to each other. I would like one of you who are not sitting by Kim to change seats and sit next to her." Adonis turned on his light. Kyra looked at Adonis. "Adonis, I know better to put you next to Kim, so turn off your light." When Adonis turned off his light, Tiara tuned on her light. "Okay, Tiara. Take one of the two seats next to Kim. Diamond, once Tiara has moved, you can take that seat."
"Yes, Ms. Lockwood," said Diamond.
As Kyra was taking her seat Tiara was walking to her new seat. Kyra was adjusting the seating arrangements, when Diamond sat down. When Kyra was done with the seating arrangements, she copied Diamond's records onto her computer. She then started everyone's assignments.
As the students were reading their history lesson, Kyra passed out the assignments for the day.
When Kim received more assignments than usual, she asked, "Mom, why am I getting so much homework?"
Diamond and a few other classmates were listening to what Kim and Kyra were saying.
"Because I know you can handle it," said Kyra. "For now on that is how much you will be getting each day.
"Well, with how much you gave me I will be working on my homework for three hours or more each day after you dismiss the class," said Kim. "I don't think that's fair."
Kyra looked in Kerim's direction and called out, "Kerim."
Kerim looked at Kyra and said, "Yes, Ms. Lockwood."
"How long does it take you to do your assignments?" asked Kyra.
"I work on it for three hours in here with you after normal class is over, and when you close the classroom, I go to the computer room for another two hours," said Kerim.
"So it takes you five hours to do your assignments each day," said Kyra.
"Yes, Ma'am," said Kerim.
Kyra looked at Kim and said, "Kim, I'm giving you twice the number of assignments than what I'm giving everyone else, and you will still be done with your assignments before Kerim complete his normal amount of work. For most students, three hours of working outside the classroom is normal. Now, do you still think that I'm not being fair?"
"I'm not going to win on this, am I?" asked Kim.
Kyra grinned and said, "I'm afraid not."
"Well, I'll do it, but I still think it's not fair that I have to do twice the homework just because I'm able to get done long before anyone else," said Kim.
"Kim, I know I'm giving you a lot of work, and if you trust me on this, you can become a doctor like you want before your twenty-second birthday," said Kyra.
Kim smiled and said, "That I would like."
"Good," said Kyra. "Now you better get started on your reading."
"Yes, Mom," said Kim.
When Kim focused on her history, Kyra walked away to finish passing out the students' assignments.
On the planet, Apollo and his group left the researched center. They were a hundred feet away from the entrance when Ben heard a noise that came from behind him. When he turned he saw a dog walking in a stalking manner about fifty feet from the group. Ben pulled out his gun and said, "Capt. Adama, we have a dog behind us."
As the others turned to look, they pulled out their guns. As the dog continued to walk closer, Starbuck look around and saw another dog that was approaching from a different angle. Without hesitation Starbuck shot the dog. The dog was wounded at the shoulder and fell to the ground yelping. As the first dog got closer, Apollo fired and killed the dog.
Starbuck walked towards the second dog with her gun pointed at the dog. Hallie quickly followed Starbuck, and just before Starbuck was able to shoot the dog, Hallie exclaimed, "Lt. Thrace, don't killed the dog."
"The dog is half dead, so I need to finish," said Starbuck.
Hallie faced Apollo and said, "Capt. Apollo, taking the dog back to the Galactica alive, will benefit us."
"Hallie, this dog is a dangerous wild animal and the only thing that is more dangerous than a wild animal is an injured animal," said Starbuck.
"Hallie, Starbuck is right," said Apollo. "Starbuck, finish the dog off."
As Starbuck was readying her gun to shoot the dog, Hallie said, "Capt. Adama, during the past five years I have heard many people comment on how if we had dogs to help stand guard during harvesting and mining operations, things would go a lot smoother."
"Starbuck, kill the dog," said Apollo.
As Starbuck killed the dog Hallie exclaimed, "Captain…"
"Hallie, I'm hearing what you are saying, and I agree with you," said Apollo. "Before we leave this planet, we will hunt and tranquilize a dog or two." Apollo then called out, "Okay let's get to the raptor and grab the tranquilizer guns."