Chapter Two
Aboard the Breaker Castle
One light hour from Caprica City
The Breaker Castle floated only a few hundred meters from a massive asteroid that was itself only sixty light minutes away from Caprica City. A pretty fair distance when you converted that to kilometers, however everyone on-board was perfectly happy to keep some distance with the larger ship. Sven Robbins, Adrian McElroy and Bill Johns sat at the console of Raptor 522 Tango Bravo, snuggly tucked in the belly of the Breaker Castle. Johns sat at the electronic warfare officer's seat in the tiny warplane's cabin, his fingers dancing over the keys of the ECO control panel, painfully aware of the impatient stares of his companions.
"It's just not there, Mr. Robbins." He said nervously. "Even at this distance, we ought to be able to hear cop cars, delivery trucks, even radio hobbyists just like we were in downtown. I checked all of the aeronautical and marine distress channels, both civil and military, but they just aren't there…the whole wireless spectrum is nothing but white noise, Sir…"
Robbins put his hand on the technician's shoulder and gave him a tight squeeze. He didn't know what to expect either, but when all he got was a headset full of static, well, it was a terrifying emptiness in the pit of his stomach that he hoped no one else in the tiny cabin could detect. He leaned back against the bulkhead for a moment tried to size up the faces of the rest of the team. He paused for a moment, and then pulled the headset mic on his face a bit closer, as if the extra quarter inch was going to make all the difference in the world to the person on the other end.
"Jahlee…We're going to take 'er down for a closer look" Sven paused for a second as if rethinking his words. "There's nothing on wireless…not even commercial stuff. The only way we're gonna know for sure is to get some video. You ready to cut us loose?"
Jahlee Rohs was in the flight cockpit but she wasn't in her seat. She'd taken the science station seat that was behind the pilot-in-command's station and had Caprica lined up in the small telescope from the observation dome. It was unusual as she had rolled the ship so that Caprica was at an almost 45 degree angle above the nose of the BeeCee. Odd for the flight crew under normal circumstances, perhaps, but perfect for the telescope and forward scanners. She reined in her umbilical line and found the intercom button dangling from it.
"OK, Sven, if you're sure that's how you want to do it. You sure you don't want me to drop you in from low orbit?"
"Yeah…Let's keep it simple and hope a single Raptor doesn't wave any red flags in their faces going in" Robbins replied quickly. "I'd kinda like to make it back out. Menno's not much of a vacation spot, but it's kinda growing on me, if you know what I mean…."
Rohs stifled a brief grin. Yeah, she knew what he meant, but the months of living in a rock instead of in her condo had only brought the reality of what the Cylons had done to them to a head. She wasn't scared anymore. She was mad. Pissing hot rocks mad, as a matter of fact.
"If you're all buttoned up down there, we're ready to depressurize the drop bay" she said into her headset. Robbins came back quickly and Rohs hit the required buttons. The drop bay emptied its atmosphere to space, and the Raptor was free to head for the surface of Caprica, jewel of the colonies…or once was, anyway. Sven Robbins then nudged the thrusters ever-so-gently to start the Raptor on its way to Caprica. The BeeCee shuddered ever-so-slightly as the Raptor cleared its mooring. Jahlee watched with satisfaction as the Raptor slid forward from underneath the BeeCee, almost as if her ship had just given birth.
As the Raptor dropped below the belly of the BeeCee, Robbins could see the smooth underside of the ship, albeit faintly, as the asteroid shadowed the ship from Caprica's sun, and the ship was hugging the asteroid pretty closely. He deftly tapped the thrusters to nudge the Raptor out from under the great freighter, and as he did, he came up along the left side of the cockpit. He caught Jahlee Rohs' attention, gave her a thumb's up, then pushed forward on the stick. "Here we go boys and girls. Strap 'em down tight."
McElroy and Johns sank slightly in their seats momentarily as the Raptor thrusted forward. It wasn't gravity, but at least they had the momentary sensation of weight.
Sven banked around the edge of the asteroid, and there in the distance was the warm yellow glow of Caprica's sun. It would be half an hour before Caprica itself became visible to the naked eye, but they knew it was there. Home. Or what was left of it. Robbins gave the Raptor a full burn for sixty seconds, then shut down the engines. They'd coast in as far as they could. No use spreading their energy footprint for the Cylon's to see. He punched in the coordinates for Caprica City, and then sat back as the ship took over the flying duties. Just a ride in the park, he thought. And he hoped just a peaceful. Time would tell.