Tauron City, Tauron, 0900 hours; earlier that day.
Talia Gallo was just one person of a five-man cell that was working from the Tauron underground resistance movement in combating the Cylon occupation forces. She remembered the day the Cylons returned to the Colonies clearly in her mind's eye while she and her team climbed out of a sewer grate and then ran into the shadow of a nearby parking structure. The team ran between the cars for cover as they headed towards one of the ends that overlooked a park on the other side. A Park that, before the attack by the Cylons, used to be frequented by families and their children. Talia recalled being brought to this park often by her adopted parents, and her adopted brother, after she was orphaned in the first Cylon War. As her team leader signaled her to go ahead, she recalled her former life as a school teacher who taught final year Colonial History; she remembered the life she used to have, her mother, her father, her older brother. She remembered her students the day of the attack; she had asked a question about the morality in creating the Cylons before the start of the First Cylon war when she heard a loud bang outside in the distance. It was then that she, and the students in her class, rushed out to the windows just as everyone covered their eyes when there was a bright flash of light, followed by a mushroom cloud in the distance. She stood in shock as more flashes of light and mushroom shaped clouds rising from the ground followed as her students started to panic.
Keeping her own panic for herself, her students, and her family deep down inside, she turned and ordered her students to head for the nuclear shelters that were built beneath the school for use during the first Cylon War. Talia was leading her students through the halls when she heard a terrible crash, followed by sounds of gunfire. She shouted at her students to get down on the floor, however it was too late for some. She looked in horror as some of the students, and teachers, around her were being mowed down thanks to gunfire that was coming through the walls as if they were cheese.
Finding herself back on the parking structure hiding behind a car, Talia shook her head from side to side to push aside the memories of that day, the day the Cylons returned to the Colonies to one corner of her mind. The young woman, along with the rest of her team, had a job to do and she didnt want to be distracted anymore. She knew that her team was only one cell among many formed after the survivors of the Cylon massacre went underground. Those who wanted to, and could, fight were given a crash course in weapons handling by surviving officers of the Colonial Military who were on the planet vacationing when the Cylon attack started. In addition to the military, the Tauron criminal organization which was now mostly decimated known as the Ha'la'tha also offered its help in fighting the Cylons.
Then a month after the Cylons had attacked, and occupied the planet, the Tauron resistance movement began to fight back. They fought with their faces hidden to protect their identities and performed many successful guerrilla style attacks on Cylon targets. However, for the last few months, Talia's cell, as well as many others noticed that the Cylons were getting nervous… at least the humanoid Cylons seemed to have an emotion that the Colonials never thought the machines were capable off; fear.
The resistance eventually managed to hack a Cylon communications tower just for a few seconds before the team that performed the hack was killed by Centurions who were guarding the place. The leader of the team sent the secured data burst back to resistance headquarters where they heard that Cylon ships were bring destroyed all over Colonial, and Cylon, space; that they were continuing to fight back against these new humans who thought that they could destroy the Cylon way of life. The data burst was shared with every resistance cell and all of them had the same thought running through their heads; who could make the Cylons tremble in fear? And were they friend, or foe to the human race.
"I'm here" whispered Talia into her wireless as she looked over the edge of the parking structure wall. She was looking across the road at a non-descript building where there were three centurions standing guard at the lone entrance. She looked through her binoculars upwards and saw at least four Centurions that were on the roof.
"Incoming" whispered one of her teammates as she and the others quietly ran to a few cars and hid behind them. Looking over the hood of the car, Talia quickly got back down after catching a glimpse of a Centurian walking with a number eight, and a number three.
"Doing security sweep" whispered the man who was right next to Talia.
"Yea" said Talia when she suddenly heard the sound of a loud bang from outside. She then heard footsteps running towards them, followed by a huge explosion from the building across the street.
"What the frack?" asked the man next to Talia who nodded his head at the woman as the both of them, and the rest of their team got up and shot the humanoid Cylons. Just as the Centurian activated its arm cannon, it exploded after getting hit by a grenade launcher fired from behind another car.
Once the Centurian was on the ground in pieces, the five members of the cell rushed to the end of the parking structure and looked in awe as they saw vipers, as well as other strange ships a bit larger than the Colonial craft, in the sky shooting down Cylon raiders. They then saw two raptors firing at the same building that they were conducting their reconnaissance on; the central command for the Cylon forces in Tauron City.
"Someone get on the horn to those ships!" shouted Talia as they ducked after another missile was fired at the building, followed by Vipers conducting a strafing run on Centurian encampments in the distance.
"Colonial Raptors" said Alexis, a former Colonial fleet pilot, "I am Lieutenant Alexis Cotto of the Tauron Resistance Movement, it is…"
"Lieutenant Cotto" said a male voice from the other end of the wireless, "my name is Captain Taylor, call sign Stinger. The Cylons have been driven out from Caprica; not driven out.. annihilated. Tauron is our next stop; our next stop in freeing the hold of the Colonies from these machines. The Ori has brought the Pegasus back to the Colonies to finish the Cylon threat once and for all, to free the Colonies from the cold hands of the machines.. and now, come out and help us finish them all. This message is to all members of the resistance, come out and fight… the Ori will protect all of us just as they have brought about the end of the Cylon race. So come and finish them off."
"The Ori?" asked Talia as she looked at Lt. Cotto who shrugged his shoulders, "who the frack are the Ori?"
The Cylon Refugee planet, 1115 hours.
As he was heading to the Colonial refugee units with Dr. Burke and Racetrack, Daniel was called back to the secondary Mess Tent. Colonel Carter had told him that the humanoid Cylon was already waking up and they need him to translate what she was saying.
"On my way, Sam" said Daniel into his radio before he told Racetrack in Greek that there was an urgent matter that he had to deal with. Racetrack smiled and nodded her head before Daniel nodded at Dr. Burke, turned around and rushed towards the secondary medical tent. It was a few minutes later that he walked in to a room that had one bed in the corners while Colonel Carter and Willow were at a computer console. He walked up to the both of them after giving the humanoid Cylon woman a small smile, "hey guys, you called?"
"Daniel" said the Colonel as she turned back and pointed towards the woman lying on the bed, "I take it that you saw a few of her models back on Eden?"
"Yeah" said Daniel as he looked at the Colonel and then at Willow, before looking back at the woman, "her name is D'Anna Biers. I guess she must have looked really bad earlier when she came in for me not to recognize her. But I'm not sure if it's the same name for all of their models since I saw some of the other models have different names within their same line."
"I don't know who you think I am" said D'Anna as she looked at the three of them while Daniel translated, "but I am a Colonial Citizen. I demand to know which Colony you represent. I will have you know that…"
"Miss Biers" said Daniel as he approached the woman with Willow and Colonel Carter at his side, "I take it that you call yourself D'Anna Biers as well?"
While D'Anna looked on in shock at Daniel, he turned to Colonel Carter and Willow; telling them what he had told D'Anna. Daniel then turned back to face D'Anna and told her that they knew that she was a Cylon. That they had found her on one of the ships unconscious, but breathing and brought her back on their ship… along with the other survivors.
"We have no intention to harm you" said Daniel as he grabbed a seat and sat down. He saw D'Anna trying to move but warned her against it, saying that like most of the other survivors.. she was weakened and dehydrated. He told the woman that they had been intravenously pushing nutrients into her system through the I.V to her left.
"You're human" said D'Anna as she realized that Daniel was right, she was still too weak to move around. All she could do was angrily glare at Daniel, and the others, "I've seen what humanity is capable of. You people enslaved my race, and when we fought back… you placed all that blame on us. Said that we had betrayed your precious Colonies. Now they are gone… your Colonies have been destroyed. But it didn't stop there, I saw your Colonial Fleet… I saw what your people did. Not only did you betray the Cylons by enslaving us… you betrayed your own human brothers and sisters. Humanity… humanity is a disease that Cavil was right to want destroyed. A race that would commit mass murder on its own people deserves to die."
"Miss Biers" said Daniel after he translated everything she said for Colonel Carter's and Willow's benefit, he told the humanoid Cylon that they were not from any colony; that they were not Colonials, "we are human. I can assure you of that. We're facing our own problems on my home planet… I'll admit to that, but we are not the ones who created your race."
"Excuse me?" said D'Anna as she hissed at Daniel, "you are humans. The Colonies are the only vestige of humanity in the galaxy. We were created by god to punish our parents, and we did… we will continue to punish them until they are all dead. And then… and then we will come after you and your people here, and on your homeword."
"Miss Biers" said Daniel as he looked at the humanoid Cylon before looking at Colonel Carter. He told the officer that she needed to know the truth about what happened to her people, and that once she was healthy enough… she would be returned to them. After the Colonel quickly conferred with Colonel Dixon who then ok'd everything, Colonel Carter nodded at Daniel to continue. Daniel nodded his head and turned around, facing D'Anna before he leaned forward, "like I said, we are not here to harm you. My name is Dr. Daniel Jackson and the people behind me are Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, and Major Willow Rosenberg. We are not from the Twelve Colonies… the truth is that we never heard of the Twelve Colonies until a few months ago."
Daniel could see that D'Anna was about to interfere but he quickly stopped her, and asked her to listen to what he had to say.
"You are currently in a planet thousands of light years away from both Colonial and Cylon space" said Daniel as D'Anna scoffed at the suggestion that there could be inhabitable worlds in the galaxy as finding one would be a one in a million shot, "no, really you are. We come from a planet called Earth.. and no.. it is not the Thirteenth Colony that the Colonials and some of your fellow Cylons seem to think."
Daniel could see the surprise register on D'Anna's face when he told her that he and the others were from Earth. She looked at Daniel, Willow and Colonel Carter in shock and then back at Daniel who asked her gently to calm down, that they weren't going to hurt her. He told her that humans populated the galaxy.
"No" said D'Anna, "no.. that's not… no."
"We are in a war with a powerful enemy" said Daniel as he looked at the shock on D'Anna's face, "we are fighting to protect the humans on these worlds from an enemy called the Ori. And… we are also fighting to protect your people."
"My people" scoffed D'Anna while Daniel translated what she was saying, "humans fighting for Cylons.. give me a break. You'll kill us given the chance. And Earth? Earth is a myth.. please."
"D'Anna" said Daniel, "there's no good way to say this… so I'll just say it. Your people are on the verge of extinction. The Ori have extremely powerful weapons that even we are struggling against; however they are much more technological superior to your people. They view that everyone should give up their souls to them, which is why they sent Priors to spread their religion. To them, the Cylons have no souls that could be of use to them… so they ordered their Prior to destroy your ships and your people."
"No" said D'Anna in disbelief, "no…. you lie."
"We came across seven Cylon ships that were badly damaged during a meeting with the Colonials" said Daniel, "they opened fire on the defenceless ships and we protected them using our own ships. To separate the two of your peoples… we offered new homes to the Cylons and to the Colonials. Right now, you are on the Colonial world for their refugees. Once you are strong enough, we'll send you to the Cylon world that the survivors have called Eden."
"No" said D'Anna shaking her head, "you're lying about everything… you lie."
"Give us a chance to show you the truth" said Daniel as he gently placed a hand on her arm, "we're really trying to help you. And I believe that the Cylons on Eden would be able to help you come to terms with what happened. In the meantime, if you'd like to talk."
"No" said D'Anna as she glared at Daniel, Willow and Colonel Carter, "I know what will happen to me. I know you will kill me…. I'll tell you this. I will not beg for my life."
"You should gain enough strength by tomorrow to be moved to Eden where your people would be able to watch over you" said Daniel, "you'll still be getting medical attention there… make no mistake about that. But you'll be with your own people."
Daniel noticed that D'Anna stopped responding to him and looked straight at the roof of the Secondary medical tent. Turning back to Willow and the Colonel, he shook his head and told them that he hoped the other Cylons would be able to help her.
"Something as traumatic as what happened on those ships?" asked Willow, "and finding out that your race is on the verge of extinction? Yeah, I'd say she needs a lot of help. She'll be alright eventually. But in the meantime, it's gonna be hard for her."
"I'll have guards placed here" said Colonel Carter as Daniel and Willow nodded their heads, "in the meantime, we'll continue testing the Cylon detector discreetly among the survivors. I want to know if there is anyone else."
"Yes, ma'am" said Willow as she looked at the device, and then at the humanoid Cylon lying on the bed.
Planet Designated P0G-619; The Organic Furling Drone Planet, 1200 hours.
As soon as the Raptor took off from the Earth encampment, Apollo noticed Racetrack looking at Major Thompson and giving him a small smile before the Colonial officer engaged the thrusters and took off straight towards the camp that the Colonials were setting up. He glanced at Racetrack as she looked out the window at the destruction all around while leaning back on her seat.
"So" said Apollo as the female officer turned to face her superior, "did you find out anything?"
"Yes, sir" replied Racetrack as she nodded her head, "the rumours about what the Pegasus did is true. They gave me the proof; video's of what they saw on the ships, pictures they took, testimonies of some of the survivors. I even talked to a Commander Melik of the Asura, it was a civilian transport vessel; he told me what happened.. that he had to sabotage his FTL drive that that the Pegasus officers couldn't take away their only hope for survival. He told me that once the Pegasus had left.. he repaired the FTL drive and then took short jumps in the hope of finding someone to help them. He told me, and the Earthers confirmed this, that a group of humans calling themselves the Tollan rescued them, and offered some medical aid. But sir, out of over a hundred people on that ship.. only fifty survived."
"Gods damn" said Apollo as he looked forwards and flew the Raptor until they were almost at the camp. He then looked at Racetrack and asked her if she had met these Tollan, however the female officer could only shake her head, "we'll get these back to the commander and the President, I'm sure that they'd like to take a look. Did you…?"
"Yes, sir" said Racetrack looking at Apollo and then at the two cases behind them, "I saw the video and.. and I'm glad I didn't have anything to eat, sir."
"I see" replied Apollo as he and Racetrack looked out the front window, "are the survivors being treated well?"
"From what I could see?" said Racetrack, "yes, they were given places to stay; as well as food and medicine. I.. I told them I'm not sure how many will be coming, sir. But.. but with your permission… no matter if the President wins the lections or not, I would like the opportunity to settle."
"I see" replied Apollo quietly. HE had suspected that this might happen with Racetrack since out of all the Colonials, she had spent the most time with the humans from Earth. He knew that she'd want to settle, he knew that everyone would like to settle down and that most of the people in the fleet were scared. They had been holding onto Earth for hope, and that's what they still wanted. He hoped that what Racetrack found would break the illusion that the entire fleet seemed to be under, 'they're holding onto religion in this time of great fear; Gods help us… we have to take away that hope for them to see the light. That we have no choice but to settle on that other planet.'
"I'll talk to Commander Adama" said Apollo as he brushed his thoughts aside and looked at Racetrack who was looking out of her window, "I'm not sure what the contingency plan would be if the President loses, or if she wins and some of the fleet still insist on going to Earth… this planet. In the meantime, we need all our pilots, Racetrack… I need all my pilots."
"I know, sir" said Racetrack as she looked at Apollo, "I'm just saying if…."
"I know" replied the dark haired man, "I want to breath the fresh air instead of the recycled crap that Galactica churns out too, just so you know."
"It's nice, sir" said Racetrack as she leaned back on her chair.
"So.. you spent some time with Major Thompson?" asked the Colonial officer as he hovered the Raptor next to the second one which was already on the ground. From the air, as they were landing vertically, the both of them could see a few tents already up; along with other tents were there were tables under them with scientists working, while other were out in the field gathering what they could.
"A little bit, sir" said Racetrack as she gave a small smile, as he took off her harness after the ship landed, "he… he's a mystery."
"You just met the man" replied Apollo as Racetrack smiled and nodded her head. She then followed him to the back of the craft where he picked up one case, while the young woman picked up the other one, "you can't tell anything after meeting him for a little more than an hour."
"That's why he's a mystery" said Racetrack as she pressed a button that opened the side door, "plus, he asked me out on a date. So I'm definitely returning."
"Oh" grinned Apollo as he got down first onto the ground before helping Racetrack down, "really?"
"Some movie about machines, humans fighting machines, he said it even has time travel."
"Oh" said Apollo with a raise of his eyebrow as he looked at Racetrack while they walked towards an empty tent that had a few tables underneath, "maybe I'll join the two of you. I mean, I am the CAG and it's my responsibility to make sure that my pilots are being well taken care off."
"Maybe, sir" said Racetrack laughing as they entered the tent and placed the two cases on the table. As they opened the cases to look through the contents, Racetrack looked at Apollo and could tell that the man was feeling much at east than before. She could sense the entire atmosphere in the pilot's ready room after they heard news that there was a planet being offered to them after the initial shock that they weren't able to get to Earth wore off, 'everyone seems more comfortable, more at ease. I guess it's hope that we'll be moving to that planet. No more running away from the Cylons. A chance to create a new life for ourselves.'
While the two of them were going back to talking about the business at hand, a bearded Baltar was looking at both Racetrack and Apollo from a distance. He then looked at the other scientists and doctors before looking at his Marine escorts, who themselves were still shocked at their surroundings. He saw them looking off into the distance as they tried to think about the terrible destruction that could have occurred here all those years ago.
Balter then kneeled and put the case he was carrying on the ground before opening it. As he took out a small vial, he noticed a pair of female legs to his right. Knowing that it was his Head Six, the scientist continued working while she walked around.
"Gaius" said the Six as she turned to face the kneeling scientist who was using a device to place some soil samples into the vial, "look at me."
Balter continued to work, ignoring the Six as he screwed on the cap of the vial before he placed it into the case and then got up after closing the case. He looked at his Marine escorts and told them that he was heading further up the area to get more samples. Sighing as all the Marines did was nod their heads in stunned silence, Balter walked further away from the camp when he suddenly felt a shove on his back and he fell forward; his case falling onto the ground with a thud and himself falling face first to the ground.
"Don't ignore me!" shouted the Six as Balter turned around on the ground and slowly sat up. He looked behind at the Marines who finally saw what happened, that he had fallen and were heading towards him. The scientist put his hands up and told them that he was alright; he had tripped. He told them that he needed to get some samples that were far away from the camp so that he could get an accurate read when it came to testing.
Believing him, the Marines nodded and took a few steps back before they whispered something to each other while one of them pointed to something in the distance.
"You're just an image of the Cylon I had sex with" said Balter as he got up, "you left your nanites in my blood stream, and I am guessing that some of them interfaced with my nervous system and…"
"I was sent to you by God and…"
"No you weren't" replied Balter as he bent down and picked up the case while looking at the Six, "you're literally in my head. You were not sent by God, or any deity of the Colonies… you're just a projection."
"A projection that can cause you great pleasure" said the Six as she took a few steps forward as the scientist looked at her and stood up, while she ran her right hand down his chest. Her hand went lower, and inside his trousers as he started to breathe hard and closed his eyes, hoping that the Marines didn't notice. He felt her hand massaging his crotch before he opened his eyes wide when she began to squeeze harder. Very soon he felt pain as the Six smiled at him, "or I can cause you great pain. Is that clear?"
Balter could only shake his head as he looked at the Head Six.
"Well?" asked the Six, "I can't hear you."
"Ye.. yes" replied Balter as the Six kissed him before releasing him, which was when the man let go of the breathe he was holding.
"Don't ignore me, Gaius" said the Six as she wrapped her hands around herself while she looked around, "if this really is Earth…. At least the home of the Thirteenth Tribe, and they were Cylons… you don't know what it's like to find yourself looking at the ghosts of your ancestors."
"Your race destroyed the Colonies" said Balter, "so yes, I know how you feel."
"Come on, Gaius" said the Six as she looked at him, "you're the one responsible for the destruction of the Colonies. If it wasn't for you, then we would not have succeeded."
"And I carry that with me" said the scientist as he continued to walk to another nearby area, but further away from the main camp, "anyone else who may have suspected something, is now long gone."
"You could always confess your sins" said the woman as she looked at Balter, "confess your sins, confess what you did.. and maybe they'll forgive you."
"No" said Balter, as he gathered more samples of the soil.
"The home of the Thirteenth" said the Six as she looked around while Balter continued to collect samples, "all gone."
"Yes, well" said Balter as he stood up after collected the final vial of soil, "these Cylons created Cylons who in turn killed them. The children killing the parents version one, then years later came the Firsth Cylon war; otherwise known as the children killing the parents version two, and now the children finished the job… hope you feel proud of yourself. Oh wait, now another group has been making the Cylons extinct.."
"Gaius" said the Six menacingly.
"No.. no" said Balter, out of earshot from the Marine, "you listen to me now. You just got paid back a thousand fold. How does it feel to be facing extinction."
"Gaius" said the Six as she walked towards him.
"The kicker is" said Balter, "humans found more of our kind. And this dead planet… this dead planet held more of your kind. Maybe the only ones in existence. When you talk about God, don't you think it's funny that he, or she, or it… whatever you call your God, never told you that there are more humans in the galaxy than Cylons? Huh? You are facing extinction and we will start thriving again."
Gaius noticed that the look on the Six's face changed, from anger to sorrow; but he didn't want to stop. Even though he didn't show it in front of the others, despite his arrogance and the others dislike of him… he was wracked with guilt from his part in the destruction of the Colonies. And now, he had the opportunity to stick in the sword into his Six's chest.. and twist it painfully.
"You" said Balter as he stepped forward, "your people will die off, your people will die off forever and will cause no more heartache to the humans in this galaxy. And now, now I want you to leave me alone. Get out of my head."
"I'll be there, Gaius" said the Six angrily, "I'll be there in your mind. Whispering in your ear. You want me gone? Not happening, not until you are dead. And the both of us know how much of a coward you are, you'll never commit suicide."
Balter looked on as the woman walked towards him with a grin plastered on her face. She grabbed both of his shoulders and leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"Don't worry, Gaius" said the Six after she bit his ear lobe, "I'll still be here to give you pleasure. I know the kind of person you are, I am in your mind after all. But eventually, you will see that I was right… Sharon will have a baby that will be the next stage in our evolution. Eventually, you will have our baby as well. In the meantime.."
Balter doubled over and fell onto the ground after his Head Six kneed him in the crotch. He fell and rolled on the ground as the two Marines ran over to him and asked him what happened. While looked at a laughing Six behind the Marines, all Balter could tell them was that he must have pulled a groin muscle.
"From what?" asked one of the Marines as they looked at him groaning in pain, "all you did was kneel down. Weakling."
The two Marines then walked away, leaving Balter on the ground while his Head Six laughed before vanishing. It took a few minutes for the man to slowly get up on his feet before he told his escort that he'll need to collect some water samples.
"Yea" said one of the Marines, "you sure you can do that without pulling another muscle?"
The other Marine laughed as they followed Balter to a river that the Raptor had flown over while they were on the way to the eventually campsite. The walk there had taken about thirty minutes before they reached the river bank. The three of them saw a river that was still flowing, but surrounded by overgrowth. Walking over to the bank, Balter took out an empty vial and it them with the water from the river. Running a quick test of the water on location, he frowned at the colour that the water had turned into after introducing a catalyst into the liquid.
"Call Major Adama" said Balter as he looked at one of the Marines, "I need more samples of water to test.. but initial results show that the water's contaminated. No one will be able to drink it."
Once the message was sent to Apollo, Balter told them that there was another stream a few minutes away, and then he wanted to collect the water from the nearby beach. The two Marines then followed the scientist as he continued to collect his samples before they finally headed back to camp. Balter handed the samples to the scientists under him while he started to examine the soil he collected.
Planet Designated P0G-619; The Organic Furling Drone Planet, 1130 hours; later that night.
Racetrack couldn't sleep as she lay in her tent which she shared with one of the female scientists. It was a few hours after the return from the other planet that the Colonial's had their meals before starting work again on the samples that had been collected. IN the meantime, Racetrack, Skulls and Apollo had been watching the video on the rescue of the people from the Pegasus fleet while the other Marines looked after the scientists who were doing their work. It was the images that she saw in the video that kept the raptor pilot awake.
'And this woman's snoring' thought Racetrack to herself as she slowly got up and sat on the tarp covered ground. She looked at her snoring tent companion before she shook her head. Racetrack reached out for the zipper that closed her tent entrance before she crawled out into the breezy night on the planet that one of the Marines had called Earth-13, which surprisingly stuck. Racetrack got out and then closed the entrance before she stood up slowly and stretched her hands over her head before yawning. She then put her hands on her hips and looked up at the field of stars that lay in the night sky before she heard a noise from a tent.
Smiling to herself, she knew that it was Skulls' tent when she heard him grunting, followed by a woman's moan. Shaking her head with a smile, Racetrack walked away from his tent and towards one of the scientific areas where some of the scientists were still working under lights that were being powered by spare generators from inside the Raptors.
"Hey guys" said Racetrack as the scientists turned around, looked at her before turning around again and continuing their work.
"Lieutenant?" said another scientist to her left who was conducting tests on a piece of bone, "can we help you with something?"
"Just couldn't sleep" replied Racetrack, "you guys wouldn't happen to have some sleeping pills, would you?"
"Doc Cottle might" said the Scientist as he looked up at the young woman in her brown sleeveless undershirt and trousers, "but I think he's asleep. Unless you feel like waking him up, and you know he's going to feed you to the underworld gods."
"With a cigarette in his mouth" said the pilot as she shook her head, "no, thanks. So, how long until we find anything?"
"We already found something" said the scientist as he looked at the bone, and then at the reading on a small machine next to him, "but you won't understand. I mean, it's complicated… you'll hear the news once we've sent our report to the President."
"Is it good or bad news?" asked Racetrack.
"Depends on what you're looking for" replied the scientist as he carried the bone away and headed out of the tent to another one while looking over his shoulder and shouting, "try to get some sleep, Lieutenant."
"Yea" said Racetrack as she put her hands into the pockets of her trousers and turned around. Sighing to herself, she knew that her roommate was still snoring and that she couldn't talk to Skulls since he had company, 'the Major's asleep… he should be getting up in three hours for our watch; along with two other Marines.'
Racetrack knew that she, Apollo, and two other Marines, were supposed to take watch after the Marines on duty were done with their shift; but without any sleep.. she knew that it was going to be a very long day. Sighing again, Racetrack walked over to the Raptor that was unused and opened the side hatch before she walked in and sat at the console that was directly facing the open door. Taking a seat, Racetrack put on the headset and leaned back on the chair and opened a communications channel.
"This is Lt. Edmondson of the Colonial Fleet calling the Earth encampment, do you read?" said Racetrack as she looked at the time on the console, 'it's eleven in the morning Colonial standard time… maybe that's why I haven't been able to sleep? Or is it because of the videos?"
"Lieutenant" said Major Thompson's voice as Racetrack smiled, "we copy. You bored, Racetrack?"
"Can't sleep" replied the pilot as she folded her arms over her chest and stretched out her legs, "so thought I'd give a call and well, I mean everyone's asleep and some of the scientists are working so…."
"You're bored" said the Major with a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Yes" said Racetrack, "and the woman I'm sharing my tent with is a heavy snorer and the other tents are all taken. So I'm here on a Raptor making a call. You're on duty tonight?"
"Yep" replied the Major, "and since you're supposed to be sleeping, I take it that you're not supposed to be on duty."
"You guessed right."
"So how can I help you sleep?" asked the Major.
"Sleeping pills would be helpful" said Racetrack, "or I can think of other ways.
Racetrack almost laughed out as she heard Major Thompson coughing on the other line before he came back on the headset.
"Sorry, Racetrack" said the Major as he cleared his throat, "we're fresh out of pills, as for other ways… well, back on Earth we have stories that can put anyone to sleep."
"That'll do great" said Racetrack as she leaned back and closed her listened to the story that the Major was telling her, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep with the headset attached to the side of her head and Major Thompson's voice in her ear. It wasn't too long before Racetrack started to snore, which was when the Major stopped talking from his end and smiled.
"Good night, Maggie" said the Major as he closed the connection from his end once the sounds of the young woman snoring came through his earpiece. The Major smiled as he put the headset down on the table in front of him and stared at the Captain who was looking at him with a grin on his face, "Captain? Anything you wanna add?"
"No, sir" said the young man, his grin vanishing.
"Good" said the Major as he patted the man's shoulder before telling him that he was taking his team and patrolling the surrounding area. The Major told the Captain to stay in the communications tent in case the received any messages from Eden, the Colonial Refugee world, or the SGC.
"Yes, sir" said the Captain as the Major walked out of the tent.
Racetrack had woken up from a deep sleep after Apollo found her in the rear of the Raptor with her head tilted to one, side with drool coming out of the side of her mouth. Tapping on her shoulder, the young woman jerked awake as the Major stepped back and told her that it was their turn to take over watch. The young woman groggily nodded her head before Apollo patted her shoulder and walked out of the Raptor while Racetrack took off her headset and wiped her eyes. Sitting alone inside the craft, she put on her headset again and called the Earth encampment. Giving off a small smile when it was Major Thompson who answered, the Colonial officer thanked the Earth officer for helping her to sleep.
"If you come back to the Colonial world" said Major Thompson, "I'll tell you more stories. Got some horror ones in my repertoire that need to be said in front of a fire. Got some great fireside fare with some crackers, chocolate and some creamy sweet stuff. That, and horror story's… oh boy."
"I look forward to it" said a groggy Racetrack as she yawned and smiled into the headset, "thank you again."
"No problem" said the Major, "will you be heading back to your fleet today?"
"That's the schedule" said Racetrack, "we've already found some things according to the scientists, but we're not sure what until the report's submitted to the President, and she lets us know."
"Hope you find what you need" said the Major as Racetrack nodded her head before telling the Major that she hopes that they find something as well.
It was about seven in the evening when the sun that the Furling planet orbited started to set over the horizon. The Scientists at the Earth encampment were getting ready for a new batch of tests when they looked up as they heard ships flying into the sky in the distance. It was then that one of the officers called for Major Thompson who was standing next to one of the scientists, telling him that he was needed over at the communications tent.
Major Thompson nodded his head and followed the officer to the tent where he was handed a headset.
"This is Major Thompson."
"Major Thompson, this is Major Adama."
"I take it that your people are done, Major?" asked Major Thompson as he saw one of the ships change course and head towards the Earth encampment while the other ship continued flying into the sky.
"Yes" said the Major, "we'll be heading back to the Galactica with what we've retrieved, and with the evidence that your people have given us. The election is in two days from now, so… so all I can tell you is that you'll be receiving guests very soon. And as agreed, we'll send Racetrack ahead of any other Colonial ships so that your people would know how many are coming."
"Copy that, Major. I wish you the best of luck on your journey back to your fleet."
"Major, look up" said Racetrack as Major Thompson smiled and looked up at the ship which banked as Racetrack gave the man a small wave, "see you soon, and thanks."
"See you soon, Racetrack" said the Major as he nodded at the young woman who flew the ship high into the sky. IT was a few minutes later that the Raptor broke orbit where it met up with the second Raptor which was waiting in space.
"Raptor One, Raptor Two" said Racetrack, "spool jump drives."
"Raptor Two, Raptor One" said Skulls who was piloting the second ship, "copy, drives are spooled and ready to jump."
"Sir?" said Racetrack as she looked at the Major who nodded his head. She then contacted the second ship, "alright people, next stop.. Galactica."
"After that" said the Major as he looked out the window, "a new home.. hopefully."
"Jump" said Racetrack as both ships vanished in a flash of bright white light.
TBC.