Chapter 12:
Tyllium Freighter 918, Pallas Orbit
45 Years, 66 Days Before the Fall
(7 Years into the First Cylon War)
With a hiss and a clunk, the airlock was attached to the Raptor's gulwing door and it began to swing open. John, now back in his blue duty uniform was the first out of the Raptor and through the airlock into the cold, metal plated halls of the civilian freighter, one of the many they had saved from a Cylon ambush hours earlier.
As had been the case throughout the war, down-time on the ship was usually almost impossible to find, even for the higher-ranking officers; something John now was, as Themis' new CAG. And in his new duties as CAG, he was leading the team collecting inventories of cargo and passengers on each of the ships they had rescued.
They had gone through a number of ships now - though John had lost touch how many a couple of ships ago - and while many had been pure cargo ships just days ago, since the ambush on Pallas they had all been filled up with countless passengers that John and the other Raptor teams had to document.
This tyllium transport was one of those vessels and her captain had been ordered by Admiral Winter to count every soul on the ship and give it to Major Jenkins when he arrived. Like most of the other ships John and his team had visited however, the captain had not done that and was in the middle of it when they arrived.
Cutting through the mass of refugees in one of the empty cargo areas, John saw the Captain and two of his aides trying to do some sort of head count using Gods know what tools he could get his hands on. As John moved to intercept the Captain through the crowd, a hand reached out and grabbed him from the crowd around him.
Spinning round quickly, John instinctively dropped his free hand to the weapon holster on his hip, but lowered when he set his eyes on who had just grabbed him. A short woman with black hair and dark skin stared up at him, her eyes ghostly and tired and a newborn baby cradled in her free arm.
"Excuse me ma'am," John said, trying to keep his eyes above the crowd so he could see where the Captain was.
"Are you from the Battlestar Themis?" The woman asked, her eyes catching a glimpse of the ship patch on John's left shoulder.
"We are. Why do you ask madam?"
"My husband works on that ship, I had our son during the battle," The woman explained, holding up the baby for John to see.
"Congratulations," John said, his attention temporarily diverted from the ship's captain. "If you give me your name I'll let him know as soon as I get back,"
"I'm Iranni Moore. I believe you pilots know him as Kilo," As Iranni gave John her name, his stomach plummeted and the blood drained from his face. He couldn't muster up any words and stood trying to formulate what he was going to say completely frozen.
"Mrs Moore... I think it would be best if you came with me..." John eventually managed to say, albeit shakily and indicating to the side of the crowded room.
Unable to look Iranni in the eye until they got to the other side of the room, away from the worst of the hubbub. "Is there something wrong sir?" Iranni asked, her voice slightly cracking with apprehension.
"Mrs Moore... I'm Major John Jenkins, I've been close to your husband since I transferred back to the Themis,"
"Busman?" Iranni asked, confirming to John she was following on.
"The very same. I was flying with your husband in the battle today and..." John paused to collect himself before continuing. "A Cylon squadron broke off from the main group and Kilo... Jeffrey and I pursued them as they headed for the civvies... the civilian transports like this one. We managed to hold out for a time but... your husband, he... he sacrificed himself to stop a missile barrage after his guns failed." John squeezed his hands into fists so hard they hurt as she spoke, trying to keep himself together. Iranni nodded as John spoke and he could she too was trying to hold herself together but broke down into tears after John finished. "I want to know he died a hero... and a friend to all of us on the ship... I'm so sorry."
"T-Thank you... John," Iranni said between gasps for air as she sobbed. John reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder and drew her into a hug, as much for his benefit as for hers. After a few moments of mourning, John and Iranni separated and she held her son close to her and rocked him around. "Jeffrey always spoke highly of you John. I just hope Jeffrey Jr will too one day,"
From inside her arms, the baby Jeffrey Jr girgled happily. "That's quite the legacy he has to live up to with that name," John said as he placed his hand softly on the babe's head.
"It is. But any other name now would him and his father a disservice."
"Where will you go now?" John asked after a few more moments of silence between the two.
"We'll go and live with my sister on Picon, I think."
"If you ever need anything... please don't hesitate," John told her as he remembered what he had come to the freighter for in the first place.
"I won't John. And again, thank you," Iranni told him before putting her free arm around him in a half-hug and heading back into the throng.
Raptor 128, En Route to Battlestar Draconis, Outer Draconis Star Cluster
Day 16, 04:51 PFT
Though she had got plenty of experience back in training, Emily never got used to seeing the stars first hand. Crow, their pilot on the Raptor flight over to the Draconis, called her up to the front seat with him so she could see their new allies up close.
The Admiral - who was seated in the back speaking to Hera and Spinner - hadn't told her much of how or why the Draconis had either found them nor how they survived the attack on the colonies in the first place. One thing the Admiral had made clear more in what he didn't say than what he did, was that their meeting was no accident and was the reason they had been out here for so long with no apparent reason.
Rumours had continued to run rampant over the last few days and confidence in the Admiral had even been starting to wane. However, from the couple of conversations Emily had had with her fellow crewmates on her way down to the hangar after the Battlestar Draconis' arrival, the mood of the crew had been massively improved by the arrival of more people and more ships and John's decision making was no longer questioned as much as it was becoming.
All this had flooded through Emily's mind as they exited the Hyperion's flight pod and once they got outside and the scale of the fleet in front of her really hit Emily, halting her train of thought as she took in the power of the ships around her. The Hyperion with her array of cannons covered by overhangs of armour from both the flight pods and the alligator head, the Themis with her somewhat stripped down armour and the twins Eos and Theia, much more diminished in size than Hyperion and Themis, but no less in terms of firepower; with more guns than Emily could count covering their hulls all over.
While these ships were certainly mighty, it was the new ships that grabbed Emily's attention, both civilian and military. The strange assortment of civilian craft was in stark contrast to the orderly state of the military ships of the fleet and the Battlestar Sirius that sat behind the civilians in a defensive position seemed like a mixture of all the other Battlestars in the fleet. The four support ships that were a part of what was BSG-53 sat both with the Sirius and in amongst the fleet.
The largest support craft, the Defender Zeus - an old pre-First War design that was similar to the original Artemis-class Battlestars - was almost the length of the Themis, but its hull was much skinnier and its twin engine pods were separated from both each other and the main part of the hull that was made in an arrowhead shape that somewhat resembled the alligator head of a Battlestar.
Next to it hung a much newer Titan III-class Gunstar that was an evolution of the same design but styled more in light of the Mercury-class Battlestars like the Hyperion and was just over half the Zeus' size. On the underside of the gunstar was half a sized-down flight pod and just above it on the hull read the name Horatio.
As their Raptor passed underneath the Hyperion, Emily noted the few battle scars that the Cylons had left in a number of places across the ship, but soon saw that they had fared a lot better than the Draconis and her comrades. While none of the marks on their hulls seemed particularly major, Emily did note that they must had to put up quite the fight to escape the Cylons back in the 12 colonies.
"Battlestar Draconis, this is Raptor 128 from the Battlestar Hyperion carrying Hyperion Actual: requesting permission to land." Crow said as the approached the second cluster of ships. There was no reply immediately, but through her headset Emily heard official sounding chatter before a voice responded.
"Raptor 128 this is Draconis. Permission granted for dorsal-port pod." A stern-sounding man's voice told them. "Welcome aboard Admiral, enjoy your stay."
"Copy Draconis. Thank you," Crow replied somewhat robotically, as the Raptor landing procedure was the same for every ship in the fleet and had been completed and rehearsed by every pilot hundreds of times.
Their Raptor approached from the stern of the Draconis and as they lined up on the flight pod's inner landing strip, Emily noted that one of the engines at the rear of the ship seemed to be flickering on and off sporadically. That view disappeared quickly along with the stars around them as they entered the well-lit flight pod and settled down on the magnetic panel-elevator that pulled them down into the airlock and brought them into the Draconis' hangar.
Battlestar Draconis Hangar Bay, Outer-Draconis Star Cluster
Day 16, 04:54 PFT
John was sat a couple of seats back from the door as the pressure seals clicked and hissed before the door could swing open. As the Raptor was pulled into the hangar proper, John could just make out the shape of crew-members heads scurrying past the front of the Raptor to line up outside the door and as it swung open the bright white lights of the hangar briefly blinded John and the other passengers as they stood up and adjusted their uniforms.
As his eyes adjusted to the new light, John saw the entire hangar crew along with a number of the pilots and command crew were lined up in two rows either side of the Raptor that led up to the ship's CO and XO flanked by two guards at the end. One of Hyperion's marines was the first out and was followed by Hera and Anastasia Bell, as well as second followed out the first to prepare a flank for John as he too stepped out of the Raptor.
When John stepped from the Raptor's wing and touched onto the deck the Draconis' XO shouted "All hands: Sa-lute!" Every member of the crew that lined the Admiral's path stomped into a perfect salute, including Rear Admiral Rowan Moore and his XO at the end. As the rest of his crew stepped out from the Raptor behind him, John surveyed the two row deep lines of crew from all across the Draconis' various departments, with deckhands and pilots standing shoulder to shoulder with marines and command staff.
Though the lines created to greet John and the Hyperion delegation weren't actually that long, it seemed like an eternity as John and his marine escort walked past and gave some sort of recognition to each of them; be it a nod or short salute in reply.
As they finally reached Admiral Moore and his delegation about 10 metres from where they stepped off their Raptor, the XO stood forward and faced his men. "At-ease!" He shouted, his booming voice echoing around the hangar. John flinched back slightly from the noise and took his place opposite the much younger Rear Admiral, for whom John was 23 years his senior.
The two Admirals regarded each other for a minute and John could see that Admiral Moore had been suffering from the stresses of war just as much as him, with the younger Admiral having large bags under his dark eyes and a thin layer of stubble on his chin. After a few seconds John stomped down his right leg and snapped his arm into a proper formal salute, a move that Admiral Moore quickly copied.
"Welcome back to the Fleet, Admiral Moore!" John said, trying but failing to hide a smile that began to appear in the corner of his mouth.
"Thank you, sir. This ship and her crew are at your service," Admiral Moore replied, his voice reflecting the wave of relief he clearly felt. The two dropped from their salute and John turned back to the lines of crew behind him.
"You don't need to keep them like that Jeffrey," John mused.
"Oh, yes... of course sir. Dismissed everyone!" Admiral Moore said quickly. "Sorry for the formality sir, I wasn't sure on war-time protocol. Colonel Marek here suggested this was the correct procedure."
"Indeed it is," John responded as the crew behind them began to disperse. "But a little unnecessary, wouldn't you say?"
"I suppose, Admiral. We've just been trying to manage since the attack as best we can, and proper protocol seemed the best way to go."
"That's alright, Admiral." John took Admiral Moore by the shoulder and began to lead him to the hangar exit. "Now come, we'd better get somewhere private and fill you in, shall we? With us, everyone." With that, the two Admirals headed for the exit and Emily, Hera and Anastasia were left briefly with Colonel Marek, who gave the three of them a stern look before following on behind the Admirals and so too did the three young women from the Hyperion.
Battlestar Draconis CO's Quarters, Outer-Draconis Star Cluster
Day 16, 05:01 PFT
Emily and Anastasia were the last two into Admiral Moore's quarters before the doors closing, with Hera just ahead of them. Admiral Moore walked behind the desk in the middle of the room and Colonel Marek wandered around the desk and stood behind the Admiral. Admiral Jenkins stood opposite the younger Admiral and the others from Hyperion stood just behind him.
John, seeing Emily and the others stand beside him turned round and gestured to them to step forwards. "Admiral Moore, I would like you to meet Lieutenant Colonel Jartell, our Tactical Officer; Captain Gemini - better known as Hera - leader of our Green Squadron; and Lieutenant Anastasia Bell, who is one of our Navigation staff who has kindly brought some of logs for you and your crew."
"Good to meet you all." Admiral Moore said courteously. "As you know, this is Colonel Marek. He's my XO and has been serving on this ship for far longer than me."
"So, Jeffrey," John said after no one else spoke for a few moments. "Shall we start with you? What do you know?"
Admiral Moore reached down below the desk and pulled out a log book, which he placed on the table, opened and began to read. He looked up at John after a few seconds and turned the book around. "Well sir, we left Scorpia four months ago and spent the last three searching the areas you recommended. About a months ago our scouts found what we believed to be Kobol. As per Admiral Corman's orders, I was supposed to bring back the Fleet to Picon but as we had encountered a number of unknown contacts during our search I decided it would be best to send just a pair of Raptors instead and solidify our position instead,"
"And those contacts were Cylons?" John asked, despite already knowing the answer.
"In hindsight, yes Admiral. But as we weren't sure and it was well past the Armistice line so we... I decided to try and not aggravate any possible situation." Admiral Moore explained. John stood still and scratched his chin as he looked over the Draconis' logs from their search for Kobol.
"So, you found it? Kobol's real?" Anastasia piped up suddenly. All the eyes in the room apart from John's shot over to her.
"Indeed Lieutenant, it seems that way," John said calmly as he continued to read. The room was silent again for a few moments before John stood upright again, a set of star-maps in his hand. "Is this the route then, Jeffrey?"
"It is sir. The red dot is Kobol's star."
"And the green dot?" John asked, an eyebrow raised.
"It's the system we used as a base. It has a small, habitable world we called Terra with tyllium rich rings." Admiral Moore explained, flipping over a few pages in the logbook.
John eyed up the logbook and read a few more lines. "Lieutenant," He said, beckoning over his shoulder.
"Sir?" Emily and Anastasia said in unison as they both stepped forward. Emily, realising John meant Lieutenant Bell, stepped back and let Anastasia approach the Admiral.
"Do you think you can plot us a course from here off of these maps?" He asked, not looking up from the logbook.
"Yes sir, as long as we have the log to go with it," Anastasia replied, placing their own logs on the desk beside the Draconis' log.
"It's all yours John," Admiral Moore said from across the desk.
"And ours yours," John said as he folded up the log and handed it to Anastasia. John walked over to Admiral Moore and held out his hand. "Thank you and well done, Admiral." John said as they shook hands. "It stills feels strange calling you that. Feels like yesterday you were running wild as my CAG on Columbia."
"It does indeed sir," Admiral Moore concurred as they separated.
"We'll be off then, thank you for your hospitality. Emily here will stay and make sure everything is in order before one of the resupply Raptors comes to get her," John walked towards the exit as he spoke and patted Emily on the shoulder as he past. "If you need anything I assure you she is more than capable."
Emily gave John a short salute as he, Hera and Anastasia left the room. Admiral Moore copied her salute and went back to his logs. After a few seconds in silence Emily headed over to the new Admiral and the two pulled up a chair to start going through Hyperion's logs as Colonel Marek walked past and left them in peace.