It isn't mine because if it were, we'd see more of Kendra Shaw!
FirstBorn: You asked for Lee Adama, so here he is.
ljbrown1: They did, the Cylons just happened to use their superior tactical FTL jumping ability to box her in, not that it did much good in the end.
EvilTheLast: That particular plot thread gets resolved next chapter, hopefully. I'll try to get it up as soon as I can.
Agent-G: I'd already implied that the Baseship's shuttle bays had two types of shuttlecraft. Besides Cylons always have captured Raptors, Sharon Valerii always seems to be flying around in one. Both versions of her.
Unfortunately, doing any major overhauls of previous chapters this late in the game may only end up confusing readers, so I probably won't be doing any until everything's done.
Not much happening in this one, but the next two should have more action.
Keep all the comments and concerns coming, guys. All feedback is appreciated!
"What in the pit of Hades were they thinking?" The President's reaction regarding what the Sons of Ares had done was... predictable.
"Thinking wasn't really a huge part of it." Lee Adama deadpanned. The Quorum had convened within the hour of word getting out. Reactions were mixed, and he was waiting for the inevitable explosion. Many of them, in fact.
"You will all recall that I had strong reservations about letting these monads onto our ships." The Gemenon representative started off the fireworks. "And now they have provoked our citizens into taking action."
"Right, because sending doctors and giving out food and medicines is an act of provocation." Her colleague from Aquaria was dripping with sarcasm.
"Those doctors shouldn't have been there to begin with!" That could only have been the Sagittaron representative.
"You may not have needed the doctors, but everybody else did!" The Scorpia representative all but shouted. "The number of qualified doctors in the fleet can be counted on one hand! It was an offer we could ill afford to refuse!"
"And now that's blown up in our faces because some idiots would prefer coordinates to some mythical planet than medical assistance." The Canceron representative summed it up nicely.
"I say we just send them away. Maybe that will appease the Sons of Ares." Lee did not even bother to take note of who said that.
"That's just plain stupid!" The Aquaria representative mirrored Lee's thoughts exactly. "It's not even on the table. It won't get the doctors back, and I doubt they'll even consider leaving without their doctors."
"Enough!" The President had finally had her fill of all the back-and-forth.
She turned to Lee and asked. "What will the Tau'ri do now? What will your father do?"
Lee Adama just shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. Definitely the Admiral won't simply give in to terrorists. And I suspect the Tau'ri won't either."
"Which means, what exactly?" The Libran delegate pressed him for more details. "Will the Admiral send in the marines? Will the Tau'ri?"
"It's possible." Lee frowned. "Although we don't exactly have dedicated hostage rescue teams. And most of the Tau'ri's marines are on the joint operation with the Cylons."
"This isn't the first time we've had to deal with a hostage situation," the Scorpia delegate mused aloud.
"That may be so, but it's quite a different matter to seize a ship the size of the Astral Queen and quite another to root out something deep in the armored bowels of a battlestar." Tom Zarek finally spoke out.
"I'm more concerned with reports we've received that they went in the direction of the Galactica's lower levels," Lee mused. "That would imply collusion with at least one of the officers on board."
"The Admiral wouldn't like it, would he," President Roslin agreed.
"I pity the officer that gets caught collaborating with terrorists." Lee said.
"Let's not be hasty in throwing labels around." Tom Zarek spoke, his arms open in a placating gesture. "After all, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."
"They're not exactly fighting for any freedoms." The Scorpia delegate scoffed. "An excuse you at least had. These hooligans just wanted to extort some information from the Tau'ri. If the Tau'ri don't talk to them, I hope they teach them a lesson they'll never forget."
"Can we refuse the Tau'ri if they want to send their marines?" Another delegate asked.
"The only precedent we have is from before the Articles of Colonization, when each planetary government had its own navy. During that period the deck of a nation's ship was considered its own sovereign territory." The Libran delegate spoke in a lecturing tone. Not for nothing was her homeworld the planet of law.
"What are you saying?" Laura Roslin asked, her curiosity piqued.
"We can simply refuse the Tau'ri if they want to send their own soldiers, particularly if we believe it will result in harm to our citizens or property." The Libran delegate summarized.
"That may be so," Laura said thoughtfully. "However, it could also be seen as coddling a terrorist organization. Which we don't want. And that's also assuming we can stop them if they do."
"If they can find them." Tom Zarek pointed out.
"Don't they have some sort of magical teleportation technology?" One of the other delegates asked.
"It's obviously not perfect, otherwise we wouldn't be talking now." The Canceron representative replied.
"What if we do nothing?" Tom Zarek suggested, getting everybody's attention.
"We can just let the situation play itself out. Maybe the Tau'ri will give the coordinates to Earth. Maybe not. If they exercise the military option and end up looking bad, we do damage control. Either way, we come out on top."
"Except they're not even from Earth. Are they?" The Picon representative asked.
"They say their planet is called Tau'ri by their allies. That's not the same as saying the planet was not called Earth at one time. They consistently refer to themselves as the Tau'ri, but for all we know in some other dialect they have, Tau'ri might also refer to Earth. And obviously, each of our planets has been called different names at different times." The Libran delegate commented, having been trained in philosophy as part of her legal training.
"Where else could they be from? If not descended from the Thirteenth Tribe?" The Leonis delegate wondered aloud. "They do claim there are other human worlds in this region of the galaxy. But no single unified government. If all of these are descended from the Thirteenth Tribe..."
"Then where are they? Why is it the monads making contact with us? Where are those who have not strayed from the Lords?"
Lee could not help but sigh at the Gemenon delegate's line of reasoning. "It doesn't even matter. Are we seriously considering this? Just wash our hands and let the military handle this without even trying to control the situation?"
"Even if we do get the coordinates to the Tau'ri homeworld, whether or not it's Earth, do we really want to settle in a planet where the dominant culture is so different from ours?" The Aquaria delegate's question elicited much grumbling.
"And this is assuming there's just one monolithic culture on the planet." Laura Roslin threw in her cubit's worth.
"We may not have much choice." Lee Adama countered. "With just one battlestar our ability to safeguard our population is limited. We may have to risk it if only to keep our people safe." That elicited even more grumbling.
Further discussion was cut short as an aide rushed in to whisper something to Tory. More whispering ensued as Tory then relayed whatever it was to the President.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the time for talking is over. Colonel Davis is here, along with some members of the press. So without further ado, I yield the table to him."
"Where exactly are we headed?" Vala mal Doran asked the construct of Thor displayed on the Asgard Core. The Hammond had been in hyperspace for almost two full days. Usually a trip of such duration would have taken them well on the way to the opposite rim of the galaxy by now. Having to tow the Hub slowed it down considerably, even with the Asgard Core providing additional power.
"You know the planet as P3X-985. To the Asgard, it is known as Bifrost, and once served as an important waypoint for our ships travelling to and from the Ida galaxy."
"Bifrost was the bridge connecting Asgard to Midgard. What do you mean waypoint?" Carter asked, having just arrived.
"Our intergalactic ships would stop there while we proceeded to explore the galaxy in smaller interstellar ships. This was before we were able to combine the two technologies in a single platform."
"But Ida's all the way on the other side of the galaxy!" Vala exclaimed.
"It is today. Several thousands of years ago, it was much closer."
"Galactic drift." Carter supplied, her face dawning in understanding. "Why isn't any of this in the data base you left us?"
"We purged the knowledge from our data base in preparation for what we were going to do there."
"What exactly is it?" Vala pressed.
"The Yggdrasil project. You will understand when we get there."
"Have you analyzed the results of the sensor scans?" Carter asked again, trying a different tack.
"The Faster than Light drive is based on a design used primarily by the Furlings during the time of the Alliance." Neither woman felt the need to ask what alliance Thor was referring to. "The Ancients were known to experiment with it as well."
"The wormhole drive? That explains why Atlantis had it." Carter nodded.
"Indeed." Thor agreed before continuing. "The reactionless sublight drive is a more inefficient facsimile of the same design used by the Goa'uld."
"A 'cheap knockoff', huh." Vala commented as Carter nodded in agreement before asking. "What about the Resurrection system?"
There was a visible pause before Thor replied.
"I am not yet fully certain, and one of our science vessels will be standing by at Bifrost for a more detailed scan to confirm. But the consciousness transfer and mass cloning system seems reminiscent of comparable Asgard technologies."
Carter was literally dumbfounded.
"How?" She finally managed to choke out.
"That remains to be seen. If it was indeed based on our technology then it was taken... developed... in a direction that not even Loki would have conceived of."
"Will it solve your problem?" Carter finally asked after a long pause, concern etched on her face.
"Again that remains to be seen. Specialists will need to investigate."
"I see." Carter nodded pensively. "Anyway, Vala... we're wanted in the conference room. A situation has come up. We'll talk to you later, Thor."
"Let's go then," Vala acknowledged as the Asgard's image simply nodded.
D'Anna Biers stared out the observation deck's window at the swirling blues and greens. How peculiar this form of FTL was, just as peculiar as the people that introduced the Cylons to it. She thought it fitting that she was using the sight to meditate on the very same people who utilized it. The Tau'ri. So full of mystery.
She'd been intrigued when Boomer and Cavill had first mentioned them. And that had been on top of the surprising news of the rebels as Cavill called them collaborating with the Colonials. She'd been curious. So much so that as soon as it was clear Boomer had no intention of returning, she had pulled herself out of the tank and made her way to the console for an information dump. Without taking the time to even put on a robe.
Of course, that was when the combined Tau'ri-Colonial-Rebel boarding party decided to arrive. The embarrassed looks on the males' faces would have been amusing if they had not been caused by her not having a stitch of clothing on. As it was, the embarrassed males led by Colonel Mitchell had promptly turned around, while the dark haired female called Vala had just grinned saucily.
"I thought I'd find you here."
D'Anna turned, fighting the urge to scowl. She had deliberately hidden herself away in the most remote observation deck on the Hub, trying to gather her thoughts and decide what to do next. She had not really been in any mood to mingle with anybody, and everybody had so far seen and understood. Except him.
Everyone had been surprised to find them, sequestered in an out of the way section of the Hub. They had been found as the victorious coalition swept through the captured vessel for booby traps and stragglers. A single One with a handful of Fours and Fives, all apparently awakened by the ship wide instruction to resurrect.
To say everyone, on all sides, had been surprised and more than a little confused was an understatement.
"Amazing isn't it." The One continued gesturing out the observation deck's window at what the Tau'ri called "hyperspace", pointedly ignoring D'Anna's obvious distaste. "To think that there were other forms of Faster Than Light travel. Though I'm not entirely convinced it's all that much better than ours."
"What do you want?" D'Anna almost growled.
"Now, now, no need to be hostile," the One chided her. "We are, after all, in the same boat. Boxed against our will. At least you had warning. I just went to sleep one day and all of a sudden woke up in that tank. Completely and utterly shocked to find us at the mercy of an alien power."
"Oh the Colonials and our own brothers and sisters may have been in on it, but make no mistake! The Tau'ri are in charge." He finished smugly.
"So what now, oh omniscient one? Got some scheme to remedy that?" D'Anna asked acidly.
"Actually, I thought I'd ask what you had in mind," the One replied, braving on despite D'Anna's increasing hostility.
"After all, it's you they came here for," he continued. "The ball is in your court."
D'Anna arched an eyebrow at the One's bland expression, and then realization dawned. "You know everything. Don't you?"
"Know what?" The One asked, feigning innocence.
"No more games." D'Anna replied determinedly, and the One sighed.
"Yes. I know everything the Ones know. We know who the Final Five are. We know what happened to them and how they came to be where they are. We know where Earth is and we know the Colonials are on the right track. Satisfied?"
"So what now?" D'Anna asked, trying to fight her shock at how easily the One had admitted to knowing something. A lot of things.
"That's up to you." The One answered. "Little of what I know is immediately relevant. In fact, I'm not sure I should share everything yet. At least not all at once. Ultimately whatever I say is tainted by the schemes my brothers have been playing since, well since the start. Since everything is, as I mentioned, on the right track anyway, I figure I'll just hold my peace. What is truly important now is what you will do with what you know. The spotlight is upon you."
Captain Ron Hunter stopped at the threshold of the Officer's Mess aboard the Proteus and gave the room a quick once over before proceeding to get his food. He was off duty for a few hours and would be due back on the bridge in about a half hour when they reached this Kobol. In the meantime he had decided that a sandwich was in order.
His impromptu survey yielded up a couple of possibilities for conversation. Doctor Gardner was off by the panoramic window dividing her attention between her tablet, her food and Commander Mitchell's efforts to chat her up. More on the first two, less on the last one. A lot less.
Off by the side Lieutenant Colonel Bond who lead the SGC advisory team and Commander Hawk of the contact team had obviously noticed and were sniggering like a pair of school boys. His mind made up, he made his way over.
Lieutenant Colonel Bond had not been particularly well received by most of the ship's crew. Most of them were blue water sailors who resented the fact that jarheads knew more about their ship than they did. This was compounded by the fact that all of the ship's officers were of full Lieutenant rank or higher. The Navy had felt that it needed as many command rank and mid-level officers to be exposed to space operations. An area that the Chair Force had, unfairly in their eyes, hogged for all these years. The unfortunate side effect of what the Navy considered a golden opportunity to close the gap was that Lieutenants and Lieutenant Commanders were doing tasks that on a blue water ship would be relegated to junior officers. Commander Hawk and his team were the exceptions, the SEAL having known the marine when both of them were junior officers at the Stargate Command.
"Care to share what's funny?" Captain Hunter chuckled as the two officers stiffened reflexively. "At ease, gentlemen."
"Aye, sir. It's Maverick... just can't seem to get a hint." Commander Hawk replied.
"He doesn't really know what he's in for, sir," the marine added.
"Something I should know about the good doctor?" There was something in the way the two officers spoke of her.
The two shared a look. "You mean, you didn't know sir?" The marine asked.
"It should be on her dossier. Commander Mitchell wouldn't have been cleared for some of the details you got, sir," the marine added.
"You'll have to pardon my ignorance, gentlemen. With getting this ship ready to sail, not to mention riding herd on the likes of Maverick, Iceman and that bunch of misfits they call a fighter wing, I didn't really have time to read more than a couple of pages off of Doctor Gardner's dossier. I just trusted Homeworld Command when they said she was qualified."
The two men nodded and Commander Hawk leaned forward before speaking in an almost whisper. "The good doctor spent almost four years as a Goa'uld host. Went traipsing around the galaxy causing all sorts of trouble for us for a while, sir."
"Osiris was one of those rare kinds of Goa'uld who didn't mind getting his hands dirty, leading from the front commanding warships, armies, that kind of stuff, sir." The marine added. "And there's something between her and Doctor Jackson. Off and on. Stayed with him a while after we got the Goa'uld out of her, keeps drifting back into Colorado Springs then and again."
"That explains General O'neill's instructions to give serious weight to whatever advice she gives," Captain Hunter grunted. "Anything else? She is completely safe isn't she? No chance of a relapse?"
"Nah," the marine officer smiled. "You don't have to worry about that, sir. Anubis mostly had her working as a spy and general fixer. And according to scuttlebutt he also apparently had her working on hybridizing the Goa'uld and Asgard technology bases."
The Captain simply nodded. That was a pretty apt description of the type of technologies the Proteus was built on. Silence reigned among the three senior officers until the PA sounded.
Captain Hunter and Doctor Gardner to the bridge.
"Well gentlemen, that's our cue." Captain Hunter finished his sandwich as he stood up.
He arrived at the bridge just as the Proteus was approaching the planet. "Report!"
"All systems secured from Hyperspace travel. Sensors report all clear, no threats detected, and we're just about to establish a stable orbit," the duty officer replied as he yielded the Captain's Chair.
Hunter nodded at Doctor Gardner, "well Doctor, this is your show."
"Thank you," the archaeologist replied as she hefted her tablet and made for the sensor station. "Initiate sensor scans, the parameters have already been uploaded." The sensor officer nodded in acknowledgement as he followed the instructions.
"Captain, request permission to establish a CAP." Commander Mitchell spoke up.
"Do you believe it's necessary?" Captain Hunter asked. Combat Air Patrols were extremely useful in extending a carrier's threat detection range at sea, allowing its commanders to see and respond beyond the horizon. On a ship that he was told already had the best sensors in the galaxy, that usefulness was dubious at best.
"My pilots need the hours more than anything else." The Commander answered truthfully and Hunter could not fault his logic. Again it was the Chair Force's fault that their own and marine pilots had long been flying the 302's but Navy pilots were only now learning to fly them.
"Very well then, get with Iceman and set a rotation." At this, Commander Mitchell saluted and backed out of the bridge.
"Now, exactly what are we looking for, Doctor?" The Captain asked as he watched the archaeologist fiddle with her tablet.
"At the moment, just the usual planetary characteristics." Doctor Gardner answered. "Things like mass, rotation, gravity, axial tilt, amount of water, atmospheric composition, natural resources and so on and so forth. As we progress, we then move on to signs of habitation and technological development."
"I see," and Captain Hunter really did. She had everything in hand, there was little for him to do here, and the conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Bond and Commander Hawk had both impressed upon him the fact that there was still an awful lot of things he had to catch up on. "I will be in my ready room if you need me. Commander, you have the conn."
Colonel Davis removed his service cap as he cleared his breath, putting it down at the lectern. He had put on his dress blues for this occasion, in an attempt to somehow add weight to the message he was about to deliver. Just when he was getting used to the far more comfortable and utilitarian coveralls that were the uniform of the day aboard the 304's, too. It was an unfortunate truth, but he had been at the Pentagon long enough to know the impact a messenger's appearance made on the message itself. And that was what he was here for now, to be a simple messenger. Though on second thought his marine escort, loaded for bear, was probably sending a good message as well.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Quorum, President Roslin, and members of the Press. I thank you for receiving me on such short notice. I regret that I am not here to answer any questions you may have, though I have prepared a brief statement."
"Just over a standard Colonial hour ago, a group of armed men identifying themselves as 'The Sons of Ares' entered the section of the Galactica's starboard flight pod that was provided to us for our medical mission. They then proceeded to overpower the minimal marine escort and abduct our doctors and nurses at gunpoint. It was a cowardly attack aimed at those who did not have the means to protect themselves, and whose only purpose for being at that location was the welfare of the Colonial people."
He looked up and gazed around the assembled Quorum and Press, watching their reactions carefully before continuing. "As a consequence of this attack, the medical mission is hereby terminated, and we will review the feasibility of continuing it at a later time."
There was no need to point out the unlikeliness of his supporting it, as the task force commander, though ultimately it was not his choice.
"The feeding program will continue, but will now be relocated to our assigned area at the port side flight pod, to be administered by our marines."
There was also no need to point out that the marines were not likely to be in a generous mood after this.
"To our missing doctors and nurses, do not lose hope. We will not leave you behind, we will find you and bring you home."
At this he paused, gazing once more at his spellbound audience before continuing in a harder tone. "To The Sons of Ares, we will warn you only once. You have forty-eight hours to return our people safely and unharmed. You have hidden yourselves away like rats deep in the lower levels of the Galactica, but rats have to come out eventually. Return our people, and it will be as if nothing happened. Ignore our warning, and you will face the full wrath of the Tau'ri."
"Thank you all."