Chapter Four: Best Laid Plans

Interstate 79, Amarna:

Eric Burrell made sure he kept pace with the car in front of him. A nervous sweat lined his head as he followed closely enough to keep up but not so close that it was noticeable. His mission was simple; to sabotage the person's car once the opportunity was presented.

His mobile phone rang and he picked it up, "Hello."

"Tell me you have good news to report," Armand Lee said.

"We're both on I-79 now, I'm waiting for the right moment to make my move," Burrell said defensively as he struggled to hold the phone and the steering wheel at the same time.

"Of course you are, now remember it's important that he not make it to the warehouse docks. You are not to kill him, but make sure his car is not able to start back up," Lee said as he emphasized the part about not killing the target. This was not a simple job due to the nature of who Burrell was following. Causing the death of Rear Admiral Scott Tolan would not enhance his career opportunities with the Basileus or his prospects for seeing another day.

"Understood Mr. Lee, I'm on it!" Burrell exclaimed as he put the phone down on the passenger seat of his car.

He looked down a moment to make sure the phone would not slide into the floor and when he looked up he could saw that Tolan's car had just exited the interstate. He began to try to move over when he realized that traffic was slowing down…really slowing down. As the situation began to dawn on him, it became clear what had happened. There had been a wreck and now traffic had come to a standstill, Tolan must have sensed it and got off the interstate to continue his drive towards the warehouse docks at Olwin Beach. Burrell slammed his fist into the dashboard and let out a string of curses, he'd have to get out of this traffic jam as quickly as he could and hope he could catch up to Tolan in time. Otherwise, Armand Lee would not be pleased with him.

SS Chantrell, Marius Sea, Canceron:

The Marius Sea had become peaceful; there was no land in sight just yet. The sun had risen and now the Marius Sea reflected the rays in a manner that struck her as majestic. Even though this was a mission where so much could go wrong, Galit Malka felt at peace even if it would only last a brief moment she was nevertheless grateful for it.

"How are you feeling Major?" Dr. Monica Astrid asked as she walked to where Malka was standing on the starboard wing of the bridge.

"I'm feeling better, I just had to force myself to work through the aftereffects of taking my injection," Malka admitted.

Astrid nodded, "It's unfortunate, but it's the only way to keep those old internal wounds of yours from opening back up. I don't think I need to tell you what would happen then."

"Are you sure it wouldn't have been preferable if I had died?" Malka asked. She had read the report on what the Ministry of Intelligence had done to her and she knew the medication she took was definitely not for the wounds she had received back on the SLA base.

"That's a terrible thing to say Major, think of all the good you've done since you were given this new mission by the higher-ups back in Gray," Astrid admonished her. She of course knew more of why Galit Malka needed the Avelin and it had nothing to do with the wounds she had received three years ago during the mission to rescue President Adar's sister and niece from the Sagitarron Liberation Army.

"Perhaps, but will the lives I've taken so far be worth it?"

"Ultimately yes," said Astrid feeling like she was walking in egg shells. "You know the MoI specifically selected you for this mission and so far the reports I've read show that you have exceeded their expectations."

"At least in this case I don't have to worry too much about if I'm doing the right thing," Malka finally said after a long silence.

"Drake and Caelie Tolan represent the type of evil we have to stamp out if we ever want this colony freed of the Basileus, and if we can take out Armand Lee that would go a long way to helping. Not to mention if we can finally eliminate Scott Tolan, I know that mission on Picon weighs heavily on your mind. You saw the after-action report and it cleared you, this is a chance to redeem yourself," Astrid said as she placed a reassuring hand on Malka's shoulder and walked away.

"Redeem myself," Malka said bitterly followed by a laugh that was just as bitter.

She turned away from the bridge wing and headed back for the wheelhouse, she may not be able to change the past and the anger she felt over what had happened but she could unleash that anger in a positive way by shutting down the smuggling ring of Drake and Caelie Tolan.

Cygnus Medical Center:

"My heroes," Melissa Saunders said with a smile as Lacey Tolan and J.D. Livingston entered the room.

"Let's not make too much out of it, I was just glad to be there to help," Lacey said as she tried to downplay her role in getting Melissa to the hospital.

"She may be modest about it, but I gladly take pride in playing the role of the hero," Livingston said as he walked over to Melissa's bed.

"You played it well, thank you for the flowers you sent. That really meant a lot to me," Melissa said as she took hold of Livingston's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Just doing my part," Livingston said beaming with a self appraisal.

"I'm going to go find Arthur and get a bite to eat, would you two mind staying here with Melissa?" Louise Saunders asked.

"Not a problem Mrs. Saunders, we'll be here until you come back," Lacey said as she moved out of the way so the door to the room would be cleared.

Lacey heard her mobile phone began to vibrate in her pocket; she fished it out and saw a familiar name on the display. She pressed the button to accept the call, "Hey Scott, what's up?"

"How's our friend doing?" he asked, there was the sound of a car engine in the background.

"She woke up not too long ago," she said as she looked and realized she might want more privacy. She mouthed the words 'Be right back' and left the room, "I'm back, had to leave the room so I could have some privacy."

"That's fine. I'm glad she's doing alright, how are things with her friend?"

Lacey let out a sigh, "Things are fine for the most part. He's an interesting one to say the least."

"I see…am I going to have to send some of my people after him to make him behave?" Tolan asked with a hint of mischief in his voice.

"Gods no, I don't think he can handle having both of my uncles scaring the living daylights out of him!" Lacey exclaimed, she knew that if you put them together and gave them a good enough reason Artimus Bowman and Tyrone Carter could easily scare a drunk to go sober.

"If you only knew how much people love watching them do their 'bad cop/worse cop' act, it's a hit at all of the officer dinner parties," Tolan said followed by a laugh.

"I'll be fine Scott, I know what I'm doing," Lacey said with as much conviction as she could muster.

"I'm heading to the Olwin Beach docks, so I'll get back in touch with you as soon as I can."

"Why are you going there?" she asked though she was afraid she knew the answer.

"Our other new friends have more than likely done something stupid and I'm getting them out of it," Tolan said with a weary sigh.

"Well you can't say you didn't warn them. Alright, I'll talk to you when you get done there."

"That's the plan, Love you Lace!" Tolan said.

"Love you too Scott," Lacey said as she ended the call.

"Who was that?" Livingston asked.

"Sneaking up on me now?" Lacey asked in a teasing manner.

"You know how those stalker tendencies of mine are," he said as he held up his hands in mock surrender.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lacey said before getting back to his question, "Scott called me, he wanted an update on Melissa."

"That's nice of him, how are my friends doing?" he asked but he caught a look on her face that disappeared quickly, it did not help him to feel comfortable.

"I can't put this politely, so I'm just going come out and tell you that your friends are idiots," Lacey said and she saw the defensive look on Livingston's face," they went off on their own and now Scott is trying to find them before the Basileus gets their hands on them."

"Why would they do that?" Livingston finally asked.

"A group of rich tourists on the beach at night, they're easy targets," Lacey said.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" he asked as he began to genuinely feel worried.

"We'll see, at least with Scott there they should be fine, so how's Melissa?" she asked as she tried to change the subject.

"She's weak and her body is sore, but other than that she's fine. She really appreciates what all we did to get her here, especially everything you and your cousin did."

"It wasn't that big of a deal, she was sick and needed medical attention," she said as she once again downplayed her role.

"You only used your family connections to get her taken care of quickly and used other benefits that come from being a member of the Tolan family."

"When you put it like that I sound like a walking violation of the Honor Code at the Academy," Lacey said with a laugh.

"I know there's more to you than the straight-laced Academy cadet, just a matter of seeing you when you're not trying to be this model officer-in-training," Livingston said and hoped he was not being too out-of-line.

"Thank you for that, but until things stop being so crazy this may have to do. Did I thank you for the flowers?" she suddenly could not remember if she had done that or not.

"You're welcome once again; the important thing is that you liked them. I hope you don't hold the card against me."

"Are you sure that was an accident?" Lacey asked

"Of course it was," Livingston said quickly, "why wouldn't there be?"

Lacey decided to let him off the hook for now, "Just a feeling I had," she explained diplomatically, "and I like to think I have good intuitive skills. Let's go back and see how Melissa is feeling, I don't want to leave her there by herself."

The two started walking back to Melissa's room when Livingston's phone began to go off.

"It's my parents, I'll be back when I get done talking to them," he said as he pressed the button to accept the call and took off down the corridor.

"I'll just go in there alone," Lacey said.

She walked in and saw that Melissa had adjusted the bed so she could watch something on the television.

"Where's J.D.?" Melissa asked when she saw Lacey.

"His parents called him on his mobile phone, he said he'd be here whenever he was done," she looked at the television, "Anything good on?"

"I'm watching a Neveah Ratliff movie, 'Bad Blood', I think this is one of the ones I haven't seen," Melissa said as she adjusted the volume.

"I've seen that one before; it's one of her more dramatic roles. She plays the part of a police officer really well. I have an honorary uncle who got me her autograph for my birthday," Lacey said as she remembered two years ago when Artimus Bowman had served as a liaison to the crew filming the movie 'Noble Causes' on the battlestar Cerberus.

"You have quite the uncle," Melissa said and then she decided to take advantage of the situation, "I know you haven't made a big deal of it, but I want to thank you for everything you did for me."

"Anybody would have done it," Lacey said.

"Perhaps, but you had no reason to do it for me. My friends were complete frakkers to you and your cousin. You could have just left me there to suffer on the beach and the truth is," Melissa's voice wondered off for a moment before she found what she wanted to say, "I would not have blamed you in the least for it. Most people I know wouldn't have done it under the circumstances."

"That's the advantage of being around strangers," Lacey said in a deadpan manner.

"One day you'll have to come stay at our house near Caprica City, it overlooks this lake and it's a great place to relax at," Melissa said.

"I don't know, your parents seemed a bit leery of having me here. It's the thing about my family," Lacey said knowing that the image of the Basileus was one that would follow her everywhere she went.

"It's my way of thanking you for saving my life; I promise you won't regret it. You can get away from school and just feel normal," Melissa insisted.

"Alright, my next break from the Academy I'll come visit. Scott's battle group might even be back from deployment."

"Your cousin is military, right?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah, he's the flag officer of Battlestar Group 66 and they're one of the groups tasked with defending Caprica."

"I imagine politicians on Canceron would love to have his endorsement," Melissa said, even though she was not interested in politics she knew enough from the talks her parents had that a military officer could usually help a campaign.

Lacey shrugged her shoulders, "Scott has always said that because he's an officer in the Colonial military that he has to be apolitical. Someone didn't tell James Garratty about that."

"What's the story behind that?"

Lacey leaned in, "James Garratty was a politician from the city of Noa here on Canceron, and he was running for Noa's seat in the Senate. He had heard that Scott was going to be filming a Colonial Fleet recruiting commercial and he made sure he visited the set during filming. He had his own film crew there and without Scott knowing it they filmed the two of them talking and used it to make a campaign commercial."

"I bet he was livid when he found out," Melissa said.

Lacey nodded, "He told our Aunt Lydia that he was going to go and exercise one of his rights as a Colonial citizen."

Melissa's eyes grew wide, "I hope it wasn't the one about the right to bear arms."

Lacey laughed, "I think his bare hands would have been enough. Besides there were some behind the scenes work done and he dropped the ad and issued a personal apology."

"Wonder what changed his mind," Melissa wondered.

"That was easy to do; Aunt Lydia had some of her people visit Garratty and 'persuaded' him to change his mind."

The door opened and in walked Livingston. Throwing his arms open as if expecting to be bombarded by embraces from all, he declared, "Hello Ladies, did you miss me?"

"Sure I did," Melissa said with a smile.

"As much as you hoped I missed you," Lacey added with a laugh.

The door opened again and this time a nurse entered, "Excuse me but visiting hours are over, Dr. Wales had assigned you a room for the night. If you'd please go ahead and leave that would be appreciated."

"Sorry Melissa, enjoy the movie and we'll be by in the morning to check on you," Lacey said as she got out of her seat and walked towards the door.

"Goodnight Melissa, if the nurses aren't looking you might find that I can deliver breakfast in bed," Livingston said as he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodnight you two, I'll see you in the morning!" Melissa said as she turned her attention back to the Neveah Ratliff movie.

"I guess this means we get to sleep together," Livingston said as they walked down the corridor towards the elevators.

"Not unless you put a ring on a very important finger and say some vows," Lacey said.

"I meant we get to share a bed in the hotel room," Livingston said as he gave her a mischievous look.

"Of course you did and that too is not going to happen," Lacey said with an extra emphasis on the word 'not'.

"If the doctor thinks we're dating he's probably picked a room with only one bed so therefore we have to share it," Livingston said as though he was reaching the end of a chain of logic that made perfect sense to him.

"You are going to show just how much a gentleman you are either going to take the floor or just use a rollout bed," Lacey said and gave him a look that would let him know it was unwise to argue.

"You win; I shall be the gentleman and take the floor. I hope you appreciate this, Lace."

"You'll get brownie points for it, no doubt about it."

SS Chantrell, Marius Sea:

"Major, we're about an hour away from the Parnell Strait," James Jarvis announced from the helm of the Chantrell. In order to keep a passing ship from wondering if something was amiss with the freighter, Malka had the crew change into sailor attire and roam the decks looking as though they were working. The sun had begun to rise, and the Chantrell needed to be as inconspicuous as possible. Malka had worked out a plan to slow the ship down by claiming to have engine trouble, this would mean that they would arrive after it was dark and they could then use the cover of darkness to put their planned assault of the Basileus' warehouse base into action.

"Very good, make sure the computer keeps our course. The last thing we need is for it to deviate and put us on the rocks," Malka said as she scanned the horizon for any incoming ships.

"Major, can I have a word with you?" Keene Barron asked as he walked in from the charthouse.

"Of course, Captain, head back into the charthouse and we'll talk in there," Malka said as she put her binoculars down and walked into the charthouse where Barron had retreated back into.

When she closed and locked the door she asked, "Is there something on your mind Keene?"

"It's this plan you gave me. You're telling me that you want to use non-lethal force of Drake and Caelie Tolan?" Barron asked as he laid down the paper she had written her plan on. "Come on now Galit, I've known you long enough to know that's not really your style…unless you got something else planned?"

"I've thought about it and I believe it's the best course of action. You saw the same report I did before this mission began, Carson did not survive the last 'intelligence gathering' so we need new sources of intel," Malka said in reference to what had happened to the high-ranking member of the Basileus that they had captured. Bruce Carson had been a top lieutenant of Lydia Zeresi's, and he had proven to be an intelligence goldmine. It was the intel he provided that laid the groundwork for the failed assassination attempt of Zeresi.

"I had a feeling Bwye was going push him too hard," Barron said in disgust. Warren Bwye was perhaps one of the MoI's best interrogators but he also had on occasion caused the death of an individual due to his tactics. As one of the Directors once remarked; Malka was a scalpel, Bwye was a mallet.

"When we capture them we'll take them onboard the Eurylade and transport them to Campion," Malka said, Campion was the city on Leonis where the MoI kept its Psychological Research Center at. This facility was also where all of the MoI's prisoners were kept for interrogation.

"I still wonder if this is a good idea," Barron said stubbornly as he clung to the idea that this was an ill-advised move.

"Does this mean that if I'm right I can't tell you that I told you so?" Malka said as she switched to a more playful tone of voice.

Barron smiled at her and said, "Yes Galit, if you're right, you can say you told me so. When you do tell me I know you will do it in that special way that makes us all love you so."

Olwin Beach Warehouse:

The four vehicles stopped outside of what officially known as the Colbourne Furniture Warehouse. Four men wearing the familiar black attire of chauffeurs stepped out and opened a back door of their respective vehicles. Out stepped the four men involved in the transaction that was to take place. Edmund Brewster, Bladen Dulany, Claude Bufford, and Phillip Nazro had come here to make the payments necessary to aquire the prisoners they had been promised were ready for transport. Nazro had a briefcase containing two million cubits worth of notes; he was there to buy the women being held here. The other three would make due bidding each other for the right to buy the men the Basileus were holding here.

"Welcome gentlemen," a voice called out from the entrance to the building.

"Mr. Lee, I thank you for the chance to do business with your people," Edmund Brewster said with an acknowledging nod of his head.

"I agree, you are helping my company to save money as well as commence valuable research," Claude Bufford said.

"You do me the honor by being here to bid your money for our fine goods," Lee said as he opened the door and motioned for the men to come inside, "please come in and make yourselves comfortable. Also bring your people in with you; the last thing we want is to draw suspicion."

Once the group had entered the building, where one of the Tolans suit-clad 'associates' led three of them to a waiting area, Lee pulled Nazro to the side.

"Mr. Nazro, your cargo is in the process of being loaded onto a shipping container for transport back to Scorpia. We'll just need to count your money and make sure it's all there and useable," Lee said and he recognized the offended look on the man's face, "a few months ago we had some 'issues' with a buyer who used counterfeit currency to make a deal and we got burned on it. No offense to you, of course, but we want to make sure all is well. Please go join the other three and I will let you know when you can take your cargo."

"I should send my bodyguard after you for such an insult," Nazro said in disgust.

"I see," Lee said as he drew a handgun out of a holster under the jacket of his business suit, "This gun was handcrafted to my specifications and I rarely draw it unless I mean to use it. Would you care for a demonstration?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Nazro said as he walked away from Lee and towards the waiting area where the other three men were seated at for the auction.

"A very wise choice," Lee said as he returned his gun to its holster.

Bagley Street, Amarna, Canceron:

Scott Tolan looked at the gas gauge and saw that it was inching closer and closer to 'Empty', and as much as he hoped he would be able to make it to the Olwin Beach docks.

'Better to play it safe,' he thought to himself as he scanned the street for a place where he could fill his car up at.

His eyes found a sign for a Super Caprimart store, and the signage on the road noted that there was a gas station on the premises. He pulled into the station, and was thankful to see that it was one of the ones that did not close at night.

He swiped his credit card and soon had gas flowing into the car; he set the switch to stay on 'pump' so that he could walk away from the car and make a phone call. He searched the memory and found the number he was looking for. As he went to press the button he took out a sheet of paper with an address written on it. It was the location of Drake and Caelie's warehouse base; he wanted to call Aunt Lydia to confirm that he had the right one.

It was then that he noticed three teenagers coming towards him, two men and one woman who looked like they were out looking to cause trouble. They locked eyes and in that moment Tolan had his suspicions confirmed, the three began to advance towards him and if they got close enough there could was a good chance that things could get ugly fast. He dropped the paper to the ground and gave the impression that he was going to pick it up; instead he quickly drew a pistol from his ankle holster and leveled it at the three.

"Let's not do this tonight," he said as he released the safety.

The three held up their hands and one of the men said, "Hey it's cool, we'll just be going."

"Good idea," Tolan said as they retreated and he put his gun back in its holster. He was in Basileus territory looking like he was a tourist, not how he envisioned a relaxing week back home with his cousin.

Cygnus Medical Center Hospital Room C -24:

"How do you think she's doing?" Livingston asked. He was now lying on a rollout bed while Lacey had the only bed in the room.

"She seemed to be feeling better, we'll know more tomorrow more than likely," Lacey said as she stretched and tried to get into a comfortable position.

"You do realize this floor is hard don't you?" Livingston asked.

"This bed isn't much better," Lacey countered.

"In that case you can come over here and join me. It might make this rollout bed much more comfortable," Livingston said as he patted the space beside him.

"Nice try but it's not happening," Lacey said as she laughed slightly.

"What's so funny?"

Lacey got her laughing under control, "I'm here in a hotel room with a guy that I'm not married to or even dating. I keep thinking about what my various relatives would have to say about that. In some of their eyes I might already be a fallen woman."

"If that's the case you can always live up to that, besides it might influence the outcome of that talk we had not too long ago."

"Once again J.D., nice try but it's not going to happen. Goodnight," Lacey said as she finally found a position that was somewhat comfortable and closed her eyes.

"Goodnight Lacey," Livingston said as he sat up and watched her sleeping. There was a part of him that could see the two of them possibly being together, but his practical side told him that his parents would never allow it. Melissa was the daughter of a banker and a socialite, members of the upper class of Caprican society. Lacey was from a crime family, and while she may not have been involved in any of the activities of the Basileus it did not change the fact that there was a stain on the family name that would follow her wherever she went.

SS Chantrell,

"We've passed through the Parnell Strait," Jarvis announced.

"Excellent, how much do we have until we dock?" Malka asked.

"About an hour or so," he said as he examined the readings on the monitors.

"Good, this is the part where it gets exciting," Malka said as she walked over to the ships intercom system and picked up the receiver, "Attention all hands we have an hour to go until we reach out destination. In half an hour I shall address all of you."

"Got a big speech planned?" Barron asked as he walked up to where she stood.

"This is an important mission Keene, the last thing we need to do is go about it like it's an ordinary job. Taking out Drake and Caelie Tolan will be a coup for us, as well as capturing them for interrogation."

Half an hour later she picked up the receiver and pressed the buttons to patch her through to the small crew she had on the ship, "To the crew of the Eurylade…this is Major Malka…I speak to you today because…we have embarked on a mission that is central to completing of our goal…a goal that is nothing less than the complete and total destruction of the Basileus. Today we will eliminate Drake, Caelie,…and Scott Tolan. While this will be another nail in the coffin, however it will not be the final nail in the coffin…we will continue to hit and hit them hard until the day arrives that Basileus can only found in the history books…and on that day we will have a round of drinks in celebration to our victory…our great achievement after this long struggle…to those who have been lost because of the Basileus…and those who gave their lives in the war that we are fighting against the Basileus…so say we all…so say we all…"

Olwin Beach Warehouse:

Tolan pulled the car up to the warehouse and noticed the four luxury vehicles parked outside, something told him that whoever they belonged to was not here for a tour.

"Who goes there?" an armed security guard asked as he spotted Tolan.

"I'm here to see Drake and Caelie," Tolan said as he walked up where the guard stood.

The guard raised his weapon, "You dropped the wrong name, now tell me why I shouldn't shoot you were you stand."

"Shooting me would be a mistake, just tell them that Scott is here to see them."

The guard flicked a switch and a red targeting beam found its way to the spot on Tolan's chest where his heart was at, "Nice try there pal, but if you don't mind I'll just believe you're trying to pull a fast one."

Tolan stood there not making a move, making the most of his cool exterior. Instead he said, "You can check my wallet and you'll see that I'm Scott Tolan, or you can explain to Mrs. Zeresi why you're pointing a gun at me."

The guard fished Tolan's wallet out of his back pocket and looked over his identification cards, both civilian and military, before deftly putting the wallet back into the back pocket.

"Mr. Tolan I'm sorry I pointed a gun at you. The bosses are nervous about operatives around here. Do you still want inside the facility?"

"Yes, don't worry about announcing me to my cousin. He'll know that I'm here soon enough," Tolan said as the guard walked with him to the door and buzzed him in.

"Could I ask you a favor?" the guard asked.

"You can ask, just not sure if I can grant it," Tolan said as he wondered what the guard had in mind.

"My son is graduating from high school next year and I was wondering if you have the influence to get him into the Fleet Academy."

"I might, what's your son's name and yours?"

"My name is Joe Brannon; my son's name is Kyle. He's a senior at Northcrest High School and he's going to graduate shortly. He was hoping to get into Theron Payne College. He's a good kid; I just don't want him to get mixed up with the Basileus like me."

Tolan thought about it before he finally said, "You and the guards help me with what I need here and I can guarantee Kyle will be attending the Fleet Academy."

Brannon called over his radio for the guards to join him at the warehouse entrance, it took a couple of minutes but there were eight other guards at the entrance.

"Who's the tourist?" one of them asked as he eyed Tolan.

"This man is Scott Tolan, show some respect!" Brannon snapped at the man who quickly lost his menacing demeanor.

"Sorry sir, I didn't know," the man asked.

"Who are you?" Tolan asked.

"Me sir, I'm Eugen Pedersen," the man said.

"Pedersen, you and Brannon are going to escort me into there along with the rest of these guards," Tolan said to Brannon and Pederson.

"What about Drake and Caelie?" one of the guards asked.

"Now listen," Tolan began, "this is one of those cases where are you either loyal to my cousins or you're loyal to me. I happen to have more of a claim to the leadership of the Basileus than Drake could hope to. Think of how much weight my word carries with Lydia Zeresi, and then figure where your loyalties lie."

The guards seemed to have had little trouble deciding which side they were on. A few moments later Brannon turned to Tolan, "We're on your side Mr. Tolan, we have your back in there."

Olwin Beach Docks:

The Chantrell slid into its berth with no problems; the workers who moored the vessel into place were not normal dockworkers. Instead they were handpicked MoI agents who were here to cover the arrival and departure of Malka's team.

Galit Malka was the first one down the ramp that had been attached to the main deck from the dock.

"Lieutenant Salvatore Zavatta from the Amarna office, I trust you ran into no problems on the way here," he said.

"Everything went well Mr. Zavatta, are your people in position?"

Zavatta nodded, "We're in position to get you and your people out of here as quickly as possible. We've also been in contact with Lt. Gravina and he has the Eurylade in position to retrieve both you and your prisoners."

"Good, get in position and my people will begin their assault," Malka said as she motioned to Barron to get the rest of the group off the ship.

Olwin Beach Warehouse, Loading Dock:

"Drake, Caelie, it's been a while since we last talked," Tolan said as he walked into the loading dock where two containers were sitting with the doors locked.

"Who are you?" Nazro asked at the sight of the man who looked as though he were dressed as a tourist.

"Rear Admiral Scott Tolan," Tolan looked around and saw that none of the people were too thrilled with his being there.

"Scott, what's the matter?" Lee asked as he walked up to where Tolan was standing.

"I came here to find a group of Caprican tourists who I think might have met my cousin and his wife," Tolan said as he motioned to where Drake and Caelie were standing.

"We haven't seen a group of tourists anywhere near here," Drake said.

"He's right Scott, you know we would never kidnap people," Caelie added quickly.

"Can you send him away so I can collect my merchandise?" Bufford asked impatiently.

"What's in the containers?" Tolan asked.

"Stuff," Caelie said.

"Nice technical term there, what kind of stuff?"

"No need to check it out, this really isn't something to concern you," Lee said.

"I think I'll be judge of that. Pedersen get some of the guards and open this container," Tolan said to Pedersen as he walked over to the container that had not been locked yet and opened it.

"He found the women I bought," Nazro said as he realized that Tolan had opened the container with the four girls for which he had paid a large sum of cubits.

Amarna Dockhouse, Upper Levels:

"Journeyman, this is Figure Head. Are you in position?" Keene Barron asked over his short-wave scrambled wireless.

"This is Journeyman, I'm setting the charges now," Duke Lorentson said, he was moving along the locked doors of the upper level of the warehouse setting his explosive charges. When the word was given he would detonate them and the team would charge in.

"This is Jaguar, I've infiltrated the base and am setting up the nest," Malka said from her position inside the warehouse. She could see that there was a deal going down and then someone she did not expect to see had arrived. She could see that Scott Tolan was there for some reason she could not understand.

"This is Vicar, my fire team is in position and ready to go," Robert Alistair said from his position near one of the doors that Lorentson had set to explode.

"This is Rancher, my team is in position as well and ready to engage," Lina Balaconis said from the opposite side of the warehouse.

"Remember with Fabian and Persephone use non lethal force, we want them taken alive. As for the rest, shoot to kill," Malka said as she sized up the group gathered on the loading dock.

"Charges are set, will detonate on your order," Lorentson said after putting the last of the charges in place.

"Go," Malka said as she waited for the charges to explode.

Warehouse Interior:

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the auction is off," Tolan said to the assembled group of businessmen.

"You do know a certain person has to approve that?" Caelie asked.

"Ah yes," Tolan said as he fished a piece of paper out of his pocket, "Drake, Caelie, and Armand I want the three of you to look at this and let it sink in. Lydia Zeresi herself has agreed to put an end to human trafficking effective immediately."

Before anyone could speak there was a series of deafening explosions on the upper levels.

"What the frak?" Lee said as he drew his custom handgun and ran to a nearby container for cover.

Tolan heard shots and thought he heard two rounds shoot past where he stood. He looked and saw both Drake and Caelie lying on the floor and they were not moving. His military training took over and he ran to the nearest position that provided cover.

"Decided to join me?" Lee asked.

"Don't get your hopes up too much Armand, it's only until I can make it to the exit," Tolan said as he heard more gunfire exchanged between the guards and the intruders who had just blasted various entrance points into the warehouse.

"Perhaps it would be best if we tried to make it out together," Lee said.

"Why do you suddenly care so much about what happens to me?" Tolan asked.

"Let's just say that our fates have become entwined together."

Galit Malka looked through the scope on her sniper rifle. She found one of the Basileus' lackeys clumsily trying to find cover. Putting his head into her crosshairs she squeezed the trigger and took out him and another one of the Basileus guards who were trying to make their way to where Drake and Caelie Tolan lay unconscious.

'This is too easy,' she thought as she took down her third guard.

"We're making our way down to the loading dock, remember our orders are to shoot to kill," Barron said over the wireless radio.

Loading Dock:

"Do you have a weapon?" Lee asked Tolan.

Tolan nodded and took the pistol he kept in an ankle holster, "Never leave home with out it."

"I'll make a run for it to the door and you cover me," Lee said and before Tolan could protest he sprinted for the door. There was the sound of a gunshot and Lee almost crumpled to the floor with a gunshot wound to his right leg. He managed to limp to the door, but instead of covering for Tolan he limped out the door and vanished into the night.

"That frakker," Tolan spat as he tried to make his way to the same exit. He looked and saw the black battle armor-clad soldiers beginning to storm the loading dock and were shooting anything that moved. One of them made eye contact with him and raised an assault rifle to fire. Tolan squeezed off a round and hit the person in the shoulder. The soldier went to the ground in pain. He ducked behind a stack of metal crates and hoped that would give him some cover. What he did not realize was that he was in the sights of Malka's sniper rifle.

"Hello Admiral Tolan," she said as she lined him up in her sights. This was it, a moment to take out the man the MoI considered as great of a threat as Lydia Zeresi. It felt as though there was something coursing through her body along with her blood, something that made her feel every bit the weapon she had been designed to be.

In her mind though a conversation from five years ago began to play and it was keeping her from pulling the trigger and ending Tolan's life.

"I know that I won't be coming back from this one so do me a favor would you? Tell Artimus to stop wallowing in self pity over that girl, Brooke." She had whispered that into Tolan's ear shortly before he left for the hangar bay back on the base of the Sagitarron Liberation Army. She had agreed to stay behind so that he and the others could live.

"Will do Galit, it's been an adventure," Tolan had said that shortly before she wrapped him in a huge hug.

"The pleasure's been mine Scott; I told you by the time this was over you'd like me." She had made peace that she was going to die that day, the last thing she expected was for her to survive and the Ministry of Intelligence to turn her into some sort of super-soldier designed to eliminate the Basileus.

Then a conversation from two years ago began playing in her mind, it was on Picon the day she tried to assassinate Tolan for the first time. She had arranged a car accident and when he was emerged from the wreckage she was waiting there for him with a gun. She had offered to end him quickly if only he would turn around and get on his knees so she would not have to look him in the eyes.

"Somewhere in there is the Galit Malka I served with three years ago on the SLA base. The one who willingly stayed behind so others could live, you're telling me that you're not her?"

"She's there; the MoI changed me into a weapon. I'm their instrument of war against the Basileus. I have to kill you Admiral," It was then that Malka felt her resolve began to waver.

"You're not a weapon Galit, you are a person and a good one at that." Could Tolan have sensed her losing her conviction?

"You're wrong." She had hoped that she believed her own words.

"In that case Galit," Tolan had said to her before quickly pressing his forehead to the gun, "Go ahead and kill me, end my life if that's how committed you are to this. You'll prove the Galit Malka I knew is dead and gone, but you will have to look me in the eyes and pull that trigger. If you're just some tool the MoI is using then go ahead and end me, take my life Galit!"

Her training kicked in and she pulled the trigger to send a round towards Scott Tolan, the result was a flesh wound on his right arm. It would have been a direct hit if one of the guards had not pushed Tolan out of the way at the last moment. Yes, she had pulled the trigger and shot him this time. Perhaps it was the result of the training she had undergone, that time on Picon was one of her first assignments after the MoI had finished her training under Project Lysippe. That day she had tried to kill him but could not bring herself to do it, this time she was able to fire at him without a moment's hesitation.

Tolan's right arm sizzled with pain, whoever had done that had injured him but not killed him. He sat up and saw that Brannon had pushed him out of the way. Another second and he would have been dead

"I owe you for that one," he said to Brannon who simply gave an acknowledging nod to show that he understood. Tolan looked around to see what he could do to escape. He saw an exit door and decided to take advantage of the confusion, he motioned for Brannon to follow him and the two men began to make their way towards the door that Lee had exited out of. He looked back and saw that the four businessmen and the guards had by now all been shot and were lying on the floor dead. If he did not want to join them he had better leave. He quietly moved to the door and got out before anyone noticed him.

"Jaguar, are there any more targets?" Keene Barron asked.

"Negative Figurehead, all targets are down," Malka said.

"What about Odysseus?" Barron asked, referring to the name the MoI had given Scott Tolan.

"I shot at him but he escaped before I could finish him off," Malka said.

"Right," Barron was quiet for a moment before he said, "Let's get Fabian and Persephone out of here, and we'll call the police before we leave. Also, Jarvis took a hit to the shoulder but his armor stopped the bullet from going through."

"Good, let's get out of here. I want the police to think this was a gang incident," Malka said as she began to disassemble the sniper rifle.

"Jaguar, my police scanner is picking up a call from Tolan. He's saying there's been a shootout involving the Basileus, we may not have much time to get out of here," Balaconis said.

"Out of here on the double," Malka called out.

"What about Tolan, if he's nearby we can finish him off," Barron said.

Malka shook her head, "No, we need to get out of here before our cover is blown."

Thirty-Seven Minutes Later, Olwin Beach Warehouse:

"Clean shot at least, I'll just stitch it up and you should be fine," the paramedic said as she examined the wound on Tolan's right arm.

"Thanks," Tolan said as he saw one of the uniformed Amarna Police Department officers come towards him.

"How bad is it?" he said as he gestured to the wound.

"I've had worse," Tolan said.

The officer offered a handshake, "Lieutenant Antonio Apolito, I'm in charge of the investigation."

Tolan accepted the handshake, "Rear Admiral Scott Tolan, I came across the scene and called it in."

"Care to explain to me what happened?" Apolito asked as he sat down on the left side of the ambulance bumper Tolan sat on.

"I was looking for a group of tourists I had warned to stay away from the docks, when I heard the gunfire coming from inside the warehouse."

Apolito nodded, "Interesting, now why is it that you were looking for this particular group of tourists?"

"My cousin and I were at the beach yesterday when we came across them; one of the girls got violently ill and threw up so my cousin and a friend took her to Cygnus."

"How is it that you got separated from the group?"

"I went and bought a change of clothes and when I came out they were gone," Tolan said as he wondered just what would have happened if they had actually listened to him.

"How did you know to look for them here?"

Tolan smirked, "I'm a Tolan, I know what connections to use to find information I'm looking for."

"So I gathered," Apolito turned to one of the EMTs, "Hey Gorseinon, how's that wound on the Admiral's arm?"

EMT Janelle Gorseinon replied after finishing her work on bandaging up Tolan's wound, "It's a flesh wound so it should heal up nicely. A slight difference of trajectory and it probably would have been different."

"You're a lucky man, Admiral Tolan," Apolito said as he turned and walked away.

Tolan stood up and suddenly his body let him know that he was incredibly tired. He would go to the house he kept in Amarna and get some sleep, and then he would head over to Cygnus Medical and see how Lacey and the other two were.

Eurylade:

The shuttle docked with the faststar, and off stepped Malka. Waiting for her was Carlos Gravina.

"Welcome home Major," he said.

"Good to be back Mr. Gravina," Malka said as she looked around the small confines of the Eurylade.

The rest of her crew disembarked the shuttle, Lorentson and Balaconis were carrying the unconscious Drake and Caelie Tolan.

"Take them down the hold and make them 'comfortable' for the trip to Leonis," Malka said to the two who nodded and asked for help in getting the two Basileus higher-ups moved to the cargo storage area that served as an impromptu prison/interrogation center.

"How'd it go down there?" Gravina asked Malka and Barron.

"It went well I think," Barron said as he looked to Malka to gauge her reaction.

"We missed one of our targets but we got those two and that should count more than anything. Taking out Odysseus would have been a bonus," Malka said.

"There will be other opportunities," Barron said.

"Yes there will be, and we'll be ready for it," Malka said as her and Barron began to leave the room to make their way to the bridge of the faststar.

The Next Morning:

Lacey woke up and expected to see Livingston asleep on the rollout bed, instead the bed was empty. She looked towards the bathroom but the door was open. Wherever he was, he was anywhere but here in the room. She threw the covers back and got out of the bed. She went to the bathroom and locked the door; the last thing she wasted was to be walked in on while she was in the shower.

Twenty minutes later Lacey had showered and put her clothes on. She had a feeling that Livingston had gone to visit Melissa so she'd just stop by there and see how things were. She made her way through the corridors of the hospital until she reached Melissa's room. She opened it to see how Melissa was doing when she saw something that actually caught her slightly off guard.

Melissa was very much awake, and in the process of locking lips with J.D. Livingston. Her stomach felt like someone had punched her hard in it. Livingston had clearly made his choice, yet there was a strong feeling of disappointment coming over her. She simply turned and left the room with the door closing behind her.

"Did you hear that?" Melissa asked when she heard the door close.

"Yeah but I'm sure whoever was there isn't there anymore," Livingston said.

"Could you look for me, I don't want my parents to find us like this," she said.

"Alright, I'll go look and see if we were busted," Livingston said with a smile as he walked to the door and opened it. He looked down the left side of the corridor but saw nobody who looked familiar. It was when he looked down the right side of the corridor that he saw her. Lacey Tolan was walking away from the room, looking as though she was trying to put as much distance between her and Melissa's hospital room as possible.

He ran down and managed to catch up to her, but she showed no signs of stopping. He grabbed her elbow and she spun around and sent a knee to his groin. He fell against the wall and felt like his legs were going to give out on him.

"You should know better than to grab a person from behind, especially in a city like this," Lacey said as she watched to see if Livingston would fall to the ground or not.

"I take it you're not too happy with me," he finally said though his voice was barely a whisper.

"I won't say I'm not taking any pleasure in this, I'm wondering if you played me all this time," she said, still not yet reaching to help him.

"Wasn't like that, I didn't know what I was going to do…can you please help me up?"

Lacey walked up and helped him up, it seemed if she had not helped him up. Together they walked to a nearby bench and she helped him to sit down.

"You must really hate me right now," he finally said.

"I want to, I really want to, but I can't do it…in a way I should be proud of you J.D. because you made a choice. I am disappointed that it wasn't me," Lacey said, her anger starting to cool off some.

"I thought about it Lace, and truth is Melissa is a safer choice. Both of her parents are successful and highly-regarded members of Caprican society, and that's something I aspire to be a part of one day. Melissa and I make a good match on several levels. You're an exciting choice and all, but I just can't shake the fact is…well…with the exception of yourself and your cousin your family has a reputation that's pretty bloody and violent," Livingston said as he tried to phrase his words as well as he could.

"Nice to know how highly-regarded I am," Lacey said in a dead-pan voice.

"Listen, Melissa would like to spend time with you and I think she's sincere since you helped save her life and you're someone I want to be friends with as well," Livingston said.

"I'm not up to your standards of dating but I am ok as a friend," Lacey said.

"Let's not put it that way, but just give it some thought…I'm going back to Melissa, just take your time and if you are still interested in talking to me then by all means call me and we can go from there. Just don't snub Melissa because of this, I'd hate for her to get hurt by all this," Livingston said as he got up and walked away.

"Don't hurt Melissa's feelings, at least you're concerned about hers," Lacey thought with a trace of bitterness.

She fished her mobile phone out of her pocket and pressed the button to call Scott. A few rings later her cousin answered the phone.

"Hey Lace, what's going on?" he asked.

"Looks like our friend here is going to make a full recovery," she said.

"That's a relief, are you going to stay there for now?" he asked.

"Actually Scott, I was wondering if you'd come here and get me. For what it's worth I've had enough of hospitals to last me a while, I'd like to do something to enjoy the rest of my break before I go back to Picon," she said.

"I have some business to take care here at the docks and then I'll be there…" Scott said before pausing, "What do you say we leave Canceron and go to another colony, I think I've had enough with visiting the family to last me a lifetime."

"You read my mind," Lacey said as her mind started to think of other places they could go visit.