The Saratoga settled to the ground on a recently excavated site on the north slope of the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation. The asthetics of the mountain were now heavily scarred by the construction that had taken place over the past few days. The drone of continuing work rattled the forests around, as Colonial construction vehicles pushed back the jungle revealing the rubber of other collapsed structures and ancient roads. Unflattering cement and metal landing pads were located on the other slopes of the mountain as well, host to raptors, shuttles and ships from the small civilian fleet that had followed Adam's forces. The east face hosted a Cylon landing pad, kept separate from the Colonial forces, and sporting a tower under construction. Against of this, the simple dirt field dotted with running lights and a single starfleet shuttle wasn't much to look at.
A ramp extended from the ship as the figures of Lara and Naomi stepped out of a recessed doorway in the mountain. Ro strode down the gangway followed by six diminutive figures with purple skin and prominent foreheads.
"I've never met binars before." Naomi said, "I wonder if the mirror universe ones will be like the ones I've read about."
"I find it fascinating that your timeline has encountered this 'mirror universe' enough to name it as such." Lara commented, "Generally speaking, most races don't experiment with time travel or alternate universes, or higher dimensions as much as your federation seems to."
"True, but they don't experiment with making friends as much either." Naomi replied, "Other races do experiment from time to time, and when you are part of a cooporative society you share your experiences. The facility we are attached to, was built by humans who spent millennia in a time dilation field after being transported through a spatial anomaly built by a race that ascended to a higher dimension." Lara looked at her startled and then nodded.
"A fair point." She conceded, "and while my people are considerably more advanced technologically, I must admit that compared to the histories of your federation members, ours is quite stagnant."
"Our new friends here have expressed an interest in helping Icheb with the Doctor." Ro declared as she neared, "Is the outpost online?"
"Starbase Kobol is open for business!" Wildman announced. Ro grimaced. "Nope, too late, I already named it."
"The Monroe was able to transport the prefab modules down before she left and we have brought our own power systems online. " Lara explained, "We are connected to the facility via the Picon access point. This section of the facility was never fully developed before it was abandoned because it was largely solid rock. It was easy enough to tunnel through with a phaser." They turned towards the entry way, "Commander Marcus was able to transport the outpost modules directly into the rock face, there is an exposed solar array beneath the primary shield projectors, for tertiary power, and Maltz has established an independent geothermal tap."
"If Lore tries to attack, we'll have to rely on the defenses Maltz established for the colonial base." Ro noted, "But we'll need to be sure that the base has temporal shielding, too." She paused and turned back to look at the Saratoga now that she was far enough away.
"She looks like she's been through a lot." Naomi commented, and indeed, seen from the naked eye, scorch marks and burns were visible, The hull was scarred, particularly a long the starboard wing, and mismatched plating covered the lower hull. "What does she look inside?"
"Pretty banged up." Ro admitted, "But she's similar enough to my old ship, and we had just about managed to get her back in shape, so with a few days work, and hopefully a little help from our allies here, I think she'll do fine."
"So this was originally a..Terran ship?" Lara asked. Ro nodded. Lara shook her head. "These timelines and universes are getting confusing. "
"In that universe, my understanding is the humans are more aggressive, more brutal." Ro explained. "Instead of a Federation, or colonies, they built an empire. The Empire fell after attempts at reform led to some kind of infighting, and somehow the Bajorans partnered with the Klingons and the.. Cardaassians…" Ro nearly choked on the last part. "According to Captain Crusher, a few scattered remanants of the Imperial fleet remained, mostly on the run, but enough of them that they could establish a few hidden bases. They would have had to scale their ships down with the resources and manpower they had, much like the Maquis in my universe."
"70 meters long, three decks, she's actually got some pretty aggressive weapons, shields, and a top speed of warp 9." Ro stated, "But we'll want to upgrade the sensors, and the EPS conduits are a complete mess. Their version of Picard was trying to integrate the warp core for a Defiant class ship from plans stolen from the Federation on our side."
"The ship that came here?" Lara asked. Ro nodded.
"It doesn't look like they were successful " Ro said turning away, "She's operating at maybe a quarter output and it's still tricky to fly, but I think between Maltz, Icheb and my own experiences we can sort it out."
"Presumably we can also make the necessary modifications to the shields." Lara commented as the binars followed them inside, "But what about those not located at this base? The outposts and encampments set up by the colonies? The Cylon defenses above?"
"The captain authorized us to share limited shield technology, should the need arise, but it's just not practical to run temporal shielding all the time." Ro told her, "Our defenses are as much to discourage the cylons or the colonials from temptation, and given the tense relationship between them, we don't want to arm either side with anything they can use to resume fighting." She paused, "He left the disposition of Khan to me. I have already received a reccommendation from the doctor that Lieutenant Macgivers receive prenatal care from the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation once the holographic system is stabilized."
Just beyond the airlock that lead outside, there was a small transporter pad to one side of the corridor and a gear storage room across it. Just past it was operations, which they entered. She climbed five steps up to a hexagonal platform with several consoles. Including the one she had just left, there were six entrances, but only two stairs up to the platform. Beneath the operations center was the power center, and in the ceiling above, a number of large displays were hung, including a larger primary one, which currently tracked in system activity, mostly the Cylons and their space colony, but a small cluster of colonial ships near the wormhole. Sylvester sat at a console while Angela stood behind him, in her full security armor beside La'as.
"New friends?" Ro asked, nodding at the display. Sylvester operated the console and an image of a Battlestar appeared.
"Looks like a Valkyrie class Battlestar, but modified from what we have in our database." Sylvester answered. "Take a look at this." He enhanced the image. Four glowing blue pylons spanned the inside edges of the flight pods, rotating the image, he highlighted what looked like a deflector dish mounted under the bow.
"Quite a fracking set up you've got here." They turned as Major Shaw strode through the doorway with the fish over it, Billy Keikeya was with her "Not quite as functional as the main Combat Information Center, but you've made yourself quite at home." Billy grimaced, but Ro chuckled tightly.
"It's standard procedure for federation explorers to carry materials to construct outposts." She replied, "and both Admiral Adama and the A.T.H.E.N.A. complex approved our installation."
"Right, so you can manage our fancy shields if that crazy android attacks." Kendra climbed the stairs. Angela moved to intercept her but Ro intervened. "But just so that we are clear, I am the commander of this base."
"You have full authority over the military defense of this facility, just as the Cylons are coordinating it's orbital defense." Ro acknowledged, "Maltz still needs to finalize the defensive systems, Icheb is working on restoring the facility's AI system and Lara was restoring the medical bay. As soon as we are able, my focus will be on leading an expedition through the wormhole."
"Good riddance to the fracking ghost Cylon I say." Kendra said, earning a shocked look from Billy.
"She's a repository of your actual history." Ro raised an eyebrow, "I'd think a living witness to the founding of your civilization might be something to keep around."
"Not if it turns out whole civilization on its head. Apparently we've been praying to nothing? How do you think people will respond to that." Kendra grumped. At that moment the Binars entered chattering to each other, accompanied by a bemused Naomi. "Gods." Kendra said before she could stop herself, earning a smirk from Billy, sheq as shook her head, " and what are they?"
"Who are they." Billy quickly interjected, "a new race of people?"
" Apparently the Saratoga was carrying prisoners before Crusher staged a mutiny." Ro explained, " I've only spoken to them briefly, but apparently they were enslaved by the remnant of the Terran empire. Crusher and his people will be accompanying the Monroe, so they left their ship behind, because it's too big dock, too slow to keep up, and much better suited to our expedition."
" I've got an order here for my engineers to build you a shuttle bay?" Kendra asked," Why do you need a shuttle if you have that."
"If the Saratoga goes through the wormhole it will be accross the galaxy in moments." Lara pointed out, " the people left here will need transportation or in an emergency, evacuation "
" I don't like it." Kendra stated flatly, " The shuttles carried by the Defiant had weapons that were a match for a battle star. The two deployed here helped take on Lore's ship. Your little contingent seems awfully overpowered for a small scale outpost." She nodded at the ship parked outside, displayed on a screen, "And what can that thing do?"
"Quite a bit." Ro acknowledged, " she's a bit more heavily armed than the ship I used to command, even if she's a bit less sophisticated. She's not quite on the level of the Defiant, or the Monroe, but she could probably hold her own against anything short of the Hirogen." Ro pointed to the new ship. "So we've shown our hand, we acknowledge your concerns, now you show yours. Who is that?"
"That's who I am concerned about." Kendra said with a sigh. "That's the president of the 12 colonies."
. *. *.
"Stand down from jump." Admiral Adama's voice echoed over the comms. "All ships conduct status review and forward to my command. Next Jump will be in two hours, Mark."
"Lieutenant Commander Yar please began standard sensor scans of our area. Lieutenant Hansen, please re-establish probe links." Saavik ordered.
"Engineering, report." Kirk ordered from his seat, "How'd we do, Sam?"
"Looks like we held up just fine, Captain." Marcus reported, "although my stomach didn't do half as well, Kim is gonna need a clean up on his monitor station." Kirk frowned.
"Some of us are taking it better than others." Castille grumbled. He was definitely looking pale.
"Security reports no concerns." Yar said standing beside Mogh behind Kirk and Saavik's station. Kirk noticed she looked a little grey as well. "No hostile contacts detected, all tactical systems operational."
"Helm is ready for another ride." Octavia said with a malicious grin at Richard beside her.
"I have re-established probe links." Hansen reported. "No significant changes detected since our jump, however I am preparing an update to relay to Vesta."
"Blake, report on jump." Kirk said. Octavia answered immediately as she tapped her console.
"We have travelled 14.84 light years in.. no discernible passage of time." Octavia reported. She looked at Richard.
"Confirmed. Jump number 3." Richard announced, he turned to Kirk. " It seems like there's no travel time involved at all, just the time to spin up their FTL engines and then.. to recover…"
"Captain the complexity of plotting a jump seems contingent on anticipating gravitational effects on spatial positioning, and based on the power utilization rates and jump drive capabilities detected, the existing jump capabilities of the Colonial vessels is underutilized. We could most likely provide calculations to complete this journey in a single jump." Hansen stated. "Additionally despite a limited ability to obtain data during transit, we are traversing through an international domain in which time either does not progress, or does so at an immeasurable rate."
"Which suggests we leave our space time continuum whenever we jump." Kirk murmured, with a glance at Raven, "Something Ben was pretty concerned about."
"Emperor Lore could conceivably make alterations to the timeline any number of ways, which we could unknowingly return to unaware of." Saavik noted, "It would be wise to better understand the precise nature of the jump drive, but it appears that while the Colonials have established the mathematical framework and engineering principles of the technology, they have not truly explored it's applications." Hansen spoke up
"The crew of the Defiant noted many similarities between the design of colonial jump engines, and conventional warp technology." Hansen noted, "Yet the manner of transition beats a greater resemblance, in fact, to the transwarp drive that brought this vessel to this space time. It should be possible to gather more data if specialized scanning equipment were developed but it would likely take us some time."
"Let's table that for now Lieutenant." Kirk told her. He rubbed his eyes. Commander, why don't you relay this information to the Vesta with an offer to calculate a final jump. See if you can raise Admiral Adama on a private channel, I'll be in the ready room."
"Understood Captain." Saavik replied. "Lieutenant Castille, in the meantime please consult with Sickbay regarding observable effects on the crew." She raised an eye brow at Kirk as he left and then turned to Hansen. She caught Saavik's look and nodded.
"I have noticed it too." Hansen said, "The jump engine seems particularly problematic for those of you who are not native to our universe."
"We'd better check on Captain Crusher and his party." Saavik said.
. *. *.
Adama sat heavily at the ready room desk. Unlike Galactica, The Vesta had an office for him that overlooked both the strategic operations room and CIC.
"Admiral, we are receiving from Monroe Actual, secure channel." Announced CIC. Adama grabbed the phone and said
"Put him through-" and after a moment, "This is the Admiral."
"Admiral Adama, our ship is secure, Saavik is forwarding our status, and offer to calculate a final jump."
"Final Jump." Adama said wryly, and then shook his head, "Final jump, to Earth."
"Bill." Said Kirk carefully, "are you doing alright?"
"It's these memories, Captain." Bill said taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. "I remember everything, everyone, as though I was there."
"Clear as day." Kirk prodded. Adama paused and then sighed.
"Clear as mud." He admitted, "like every other memory when you get old, but this stirs things up."
"With each jump closer to Earth, you've sounded almost… mad about it." Kirk pointed out.
"Because we're almost cracking there." Adama growled, "When I think about how much time it took us, what it cost us, in that other life…" he shook his head. "I'm surrounded by fracking ghosts." He chuckled at the absurdity of it.
"I'm sorry." Kirk said to him forcefully, "I really am. I saw my friends, my ship mates, fighting their final battle and I wasn't there."
"This is all so fracking unreal." Adama rumbled. "Parallel universes, alternate realities, altered timelines, it's all nonsense but now I remember spending years looking for a planet that should have been months, if not weeks away."
"I hear you." Kirk said, "There were times out there, during my mission when godlike beings would treat me and my crew like their play things… I asked myself where is the real thing? Who watches over this all, who let's fate be so damn cruel?"
"I take it no one answered." Adama said sourly.
"Actually more than few tried to claim they HAD answers." Kirk said wryly, "But I've come to believe there aren't any to be had. Life has to happen to us and we have to live it. Our triumphs, our pains, our wisdom and our ignorance, they all make us who we are, and if there IS a higher power, call it what you will, then I wouldn't want them to take away who I am."
"Certainly not a cracked up Cylon." Said Adama.
"Android." Kirk corrected, "but the point stands, and those memories are a burden, but a gift, from someone that you meant very much to."
"Kara." Adama said, "It's hard to square her with the Kara I know today, but I remember what she's been through.. at least a fraction of it.."
"And that's your advantage." Kirk told Adama, "You know what's a stake, you'll fight for these people, and for the memories of who they might have been. You're a soldier, Bill. We're at war with history, and we've got to win."
"You're fracking right we will." Adama replied. "Hell of a pep talk Kirk." Kirk paused and nodded, accepting the thanks.
"Thank you Admiral." He said, "We're in this together. Save Earth, save your son, stop Lore."
"And after that.. I have two lifetimes to put back together." Adama replied, "Funny that just a few years ago, I was looking at retirement." Kirk chuckled at that.
"Same here." Said Kirk, "But when the situation is grim, and the odds are against us…"
"You roll the hard six." Adama replied, and then explains, "you turn around and face what's chasing you head on, no matter how hard it is."
"After all this is said and done, " Kirk said gamely, "What's your next move Bill."
"There's someone… I have to have a long conversation with." Adama replied. "Put some ghosts to rest."
. *. *.
"Now arriving, President of the 12 colonies of Kobol, Laura Roslin." announced Commander Garner. He stood at attention flanked by an honor guard of Marines lining the small hallway beside the transporter pad. Icheb tapped a control, and two figures shimmered into being. President Laura Roslin, and a young woman carrying a briefcase.
"Oh my." Roslin said blinking, "that's not my first time transporting, but it's an equally memorable experience." She glanced around, suddenly self conscious, then she spotted Billy and smiled.
"Madame president, Commander Gardner had announced your arrival just before you.. materialized.
"Oh. I'm sorry." She said. "We'll have to work out the protocol for that, I'm used to being able to hear it announced." She stepped out of the alcove and took Billy's hand. "Major Shaw, is it? Maya?" She turned to her assistant who pulled a bottle of ambrosia out of the brief case, "congratulations on your promotion and I believe this is customary for a new base?"
Ro and Icheb exchanged glances, and Roslin greeted the people gathered, and then finally noticed them.
"Oh, at ease." She said, "all of you, at ease." She looked at the Marines. None of them shifted, she turned to Ro and Icheb. "At ease?"
"I believe there is some confusion." Icheb said cautiously, looking at Ro.
"This is just how we stand, Madam president." Ro explained forcing her hands to her sides. "He's a borg, they sleep standing up and I'm just.." she paused searching for the word.
"Alien?" Offered Roslin, her face seeming to freeze somewhat
"Formal." Icheb supplied.
"Ah." Roslin answered, "I apologize." She chuckled uneasily, "You bear a striking resemblance to Commander Cain. These are Marines from the Pegasus expedition. The entire room is watching you out of the corner of their eyes. It must be terribly uncomfortable."
"It's certainly an experience." Ro confirmed.
"Well thank you for saving me the ride down." Roslin told her "I'm very much looking forward to touring the tomb of Athena." They began to walk and she looked at the cooridors around them. "To be honest I am a bit.. unsettled that Admiral Adama approved your modification of such a sacred, historical space."
"Madame President, I think you will find that the Colonial Warriors have significantly altered the site, as well, out of practical necessity." Billy offered quickly from behind Roslin, "to say nothing of the extensive nature of the facility. There was nothing in our history to even suggest it's existence."
"Yes, I'd noted that." Roslin said, in a somewhat flat manner. "Now the reports say that you created this facility out of solid rock?" They reached Operations.
"No, Madame President, not the facility, just this outpost. Ro clarified, "and it wasn't out of solid rock, we used an unfinished passageway but installed this outpost from supplies on the Monroe."
"I see." Roslin said glancing up at the operations platform as they walked around to the far side. Ro paused at her tone of voice, and the procession kept moving past her.
"The A.T.H.E.N.A. installation was here before the Monroe arrived." Billy told her, "We took shelter after the Pegasus was attacked."
"Of course." Laura said warmly as they continued down the hall. Ro stopped Icheb as they allowed the party of Marines to continue past. Garner stopped beside them as well.
"Are we.. going to have a problem?" Ro asked, "I don't think I like the sound of this."
"I was there, Captain." Garner told her. "I know Gods damned well your people weren't involved in the attack."
"It is conceivable that President Roslin is struggling to equate what she believes to be true from her sacred scrolls with the evidence that Kobol was not occupied by the beings she imagined." Icheb observed. "
"Commander, you're a good man, and a good soldier." Ro told Garner, "why don't you catch up to the President and I'll join you in a moment." Garner nodded setting his face.
"Icheb, I think the new power core might experience some technical difficulties." Ro told Icheb, "metaphasic radiation maybe? We'd have to evacuate all human personell and seal it off for the time being." Icheb nodded.
"In the meantime, President Roslin will have find a different way back to Colonial one, it seems this transporter will be off line, Angela?" The host came down the stairs, "Coordinate with La'as to set up a security check point, keep an eye on the access corridor until further notice."
. *. *.
Deanna Troi, and Reginald Barclay were not well. Captain Crusher, on the other hand, seemed fine. Antaak was in the process of scanning him thoroughly when Kirk entered, Levitt was adjusting the readouts on the wall display while Jordan assisted him.
"So.. you have some of the same resonant energy that Raven shows…" Leavitt was saying, "We studied something like it in the statues we found of species that failed the final test."
"It is sub molecular resonance found when beings are exposed to extra dimensional particles." Antaak stated flatly. "We first encountered it in a species called the Organians."
"They sound familiar." Said Kirk. He turned to Antaak.
"All who are not native to this universe." She confirmed, "Except Crusher."
"When I joined the travellers, they unlocked some latent abilities in my physiology." Crusher admitted, "When I gave that all up I thought… well never mind that, I obviously kept some resistance to being 'out of place ' if you will."
"If we are unable to determine how he is shielded, this may present a problem, Captain." Antaak told Kirk, " There is a cumulative resonance building in all of us and colonial FTL seems to agitate it."
"Did the crew of the defiant experience, anything like that?" Kirk asked dubiously, "I've been here for months."
" They did not report anything, but they were here for only a few days and we have been here for far longer. " Antaak pointed out "You yourself arrived in a different manner than all of us. We should study this further and contact Lara as well. Her understanding of bioscience is formidable."
.*.*.
"Their calculations look right." Doctor Graystone told Adama, sliding clipboard over to him. Tamara and Jenna entered CIC and Adama beckoned.
"Doctor." McGavin greeted, "Admiral."
"Admiral, Doctor." Tamara echoed.
"Admiral Adama, Commander, Adama, Commander Mc-"
"Enough." Adama interrupted, "I see you're all becoming fast friends." He turned to Tamara, "Is Zack going to be alright on the Monroe? I'd feel better having him here."
"He wouldn't, though." Tamara pointed out, "But they've already got him catching up on starship operations and damage control, and he's digging it. All he'd be able to do here, is fly a viper, and he's not very good at that either, if I'm being honest." Adama frowned. "If we make this jump, it moves our time table up, the fleet is only at about 60 percent readiness with the new equipment and we should take some time to train on it, before jumping that close to hostile forces."
"The Monroe picked up an inhabitable world in that nearby nebula, and they want to scout it." Adama tapped a chart on the table before them, "and they are receiving telemetry in near- real time from the solar system, so we can spare a few hours, but I want to make the rendezvous as planned. Commander Cronus has been on her own long enough."
"Is that foliage? Tree cover?" Graystone squinted at the image, "That could be invaluable, Admiral, all the planets you have access to have been nuked at one point or another, even with the federation clean technology, the 12 colonies might need a bread basket."
"Have our pilots fly surveys to get a little practice in." Adama ordered.
"You know Monroe's got a hell of a simulator set up over there." Tamara pointed out, "One of their Lieutenants was talking about all the upgrade ideas he had but it's still miles ahead of us, you think Kirk would let some of our people run simulations while we're here?"
"Couldn't hurt to ask." Adama mused, he turned to the communications station in the corner, "Hail the Monroe."
"Actually Admiral, they are hailing us."
.*.*.
"This is the situation as I understand it." Ro announced. She stood at the operations table, accompanied by Naomi, Maltz, the six binars, Icheb, La'as, Lara, Angela, and Sylvester. "Roslin tried to enter the wormhole, and for some reason, Sisko wasn't buying it. They went through to the other side just fine but after six transitions, it was clear that they could not access the celestial temple. She's mad, and she's taking it out on us."
"Admiral Adama authorized the installation of this outpost." Icheb objected.
"And Roslin is his boss, more than just President, her people see her as a kind of Oracle, because Sisko was speaking to her right up until the Captain took a shuttle through the wormhole."
"Which was just yesterday, how could so much have changed?" Lara asked. Ro shrugged.
"She was already on her way in Colonial One because it was the only ship they had fast enough to get here in the Admiral's absence." Ro explained, "Angela was given a memo at the Picon access way." She tossed the form down. "It is an advisory that our status as an embassy was not formally approved, and our continued presence is under review by the President. We have been asked to subject to further inspection tomorrow morning."
"So they aren't quite ready to storm in, but they are considering eviction." Sylvester grumbled.
"The presence of the Saratoga and the shuttle are likely of concern to them, should a confrontation escalate." Icheb noted.
"We also installed a security field at both the Picon door, and the external airlock but neither would hold back a dedicated military assault." Ro noted, "and we are detecting life signs positioned around the landing field."
"We don't have to go outside to access the ship, we have the transporter." Sylvester protested.
"We gave them jamming technology to protect against Lore." Ro said with a sigh. "We can probably defeat it, if we try, but that means the jig is up. She'll know we know she's considering action and if my impression of Roslin is correct, she'll come in with force. She has the disposition of the Pegasus expedition and crew as well as her Battlestar, and we're a paper tiger unless we want to slaughter them outright, and I don't know about any of you, but that's not what I signed up for."
"Wouldn't the Cylons intervene if we asked them to?" Sylvester asked.
"That's a good way to rekindle hostilities with them, and I don't think Roslin or most of the Colonials are particularly opposed to that." La'as snorted, "it's a common sentiment that the Cylons were able to massacre billions because they took the colonials by surprise. With a half dozen base stars and the colony in system, it would seem fool hardy on the surface to risk a confrontation here, but this is the President of the 12 colonies. Any direct action involving her is an irreversible act. "
Maltz spoke at last
"She has a Battlestar with warp capabilities, an operational deflector shield, and impressive armaments. She would be supported by a fortified installation that we just provided advanced defenses for."
"Oops " Sylvester said.
"So do we abandon the base and run?" La'as asked, "Call the Monroe back?" Ro looked at Icheb.
"We had been waiting for the Monroe to reach a suitable distance before testing the Doctor's program transfer system." Icheb told them, "Now that he is off site, we can explain why."
"I haven't seen him all morning." Naomi realized, "Not since we brought systems online and the Monroe left."
"We suspect he was compromised by Kurros, or possibly Lore." Ro announced. " The Binars have already confirmed Lieutenant Hansen's suspicions and Icheb's findings, but we think we kept the Doctor off balance long enough that he didn't catch on." Icheb held up the holographic mobile emitter. " Icheb was able to successfully relay his program to the Monroe once Daniels and Hanson repaired one of the damaged mobile emitters she savaged from Lore."
"Transmitting him let you examine his code!" Sylvester exclaimed. Ro nodded.
"We were hoping he was distracted by the possibility of having access to the full A.T.H.E.N.A. installation, something we certainly couldn't allow until his programming was reviewed." She said.
"What about the facilities native hologram, can she help us?" La'an asked. Ro shook her head.
"I don't fully understand how, but apparently the hologram was a personality image of one of the original Lords of Kobol using a technology called a mind drive. When Lieutenant Dehner woke she somehow accessed the facility's power systems and used them to transport herself to the wormhole." Ro told them, "according to Ensign Reyes, the personality in the mind drive was able to undergo the same process that Raven and her people experienced briefly."
"What does that mean?" Sylvester asked, Ro shook her head.
"I haven't the faintest idea." She admitted. "Reyes and the Captain were unclear as to whether the personality matrix would continue transition to a higher plane or existence or simply return here to the facility."
"There may not even be a mechanism for such a return." Icheb said thoughtfully, "We will not necessarily be able to install the Doctor's program either, I have encountered a secondary program activated in the absence of the original. If you have a moment Sylvester I'd like you to look at it, given your experience with artificial intelligence."
"Felix was always better at that than me." Sylvester told him. "It's probably better just to put the original program back."
"I am not certain that if her program now resides in the wormhole, there is even a mechanism to do that." Icheb said slowly, "Perhaps we should offer to aid president Roslin in contacting the realm of the prophets, and Captain Sisko. If we were to bring the Saratoga to the wormhole we could attempt to use the doctor's mobile emitter to transport the original hologram back to the base, and perhaps Captain Sisko will persuade President Roslin to reconsider her aggressive plans."
"That's the general idea we've conveyed to the Captain." Ro confirmed. " The doctor was given a mission to relay our predicament, unaware that his code would be checked in the process, by Lieutenant Hansen, and Lee and Felix."
"How long before we can expect an answer?" La'as asked. He nodded to one of the screens above them which showed a part of Marines standing guard outside the other side of the Picon passage way. "What if the Colonials get restless."
"They gave us until morning." Ro noted, "but we had best be prepared for a ruse. I want everyone to arm themselves and carry comm badges at all times. Icheb I want you to rig a transporter protocol that can evacuate us all to the Saratoga at a moment's notice."
"The Saratoga is in need of quite a bit of repair." Icheb pointed out "and we have only just brought essential base functions online."
"Even the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation is in need of repair." Lara pointed out, "We were doing important work out there."
"Well I don't want to risk leaving the outpost tonight, considering how volatile this situation could be." Said Ro.
" Yet, our access to those systems could prove an advantage as well." Icheb pointed out. Ro turned to La'as.
"Do you think you can get to the Saratoga undetected?"
La'as nodded. She turned to Icheb.
"I know a Maquis trick for linking transporters directly that can get around jamming and is nearly undetectable." She told him. "If La'as can get back onto the Saratoga, Icheb and the Binars can get her ready. We can keep up appearances here if anyone comes looking."
"What about us?" Naomi indicated herself and Malt.
"Figure out a way to take down the A.T.H.E.N.A.'s power systems." Ro decided, "Then work out a plan for disabling Colonial One if we have to."
As they began to break up, La'as approached Ro.
"I'm aware we have work to do, Captain, but if I may speak to you privately for a moment?" Ro noticed Lara watching them and nodded. She motioned La'as to follow her. While the northmost corridor extended to the airlock, the transporter pad and a mission storage room, and the southern corridor lead to what would be a conference room and a security station, there were two other sets of corridors to either side of operations. The western set contained living quarters and a small lounge, the eastern contained a science lab, a med Bay and more storage rooms. Ro lead La'as to the entrance of one, from which she could still see the southern corridor that Angela had returned to guarding. She waited until Maltz and Naomi descended down the stairs leading to the power core beneath the operations platform.
"With all due respect Captain, we were expecting to travel through the wormhole to search for my people and Lara's." La'as began "The only reason we are on this planet was to coordinate with the Colonials."
"I understand your frustration." Ro told him, "We've all got more pressing concerns than this, but the danger is very real. We need to guard against both an attack by Lord, and the foolhardy actions of the President, and the Saratoga isn't in any shape to explore the Gamma Quadrant."
"Then can we not just use the shuttle?" La'as asked, "Saratoga is at least space worthy, you confirmed that yourself this morning, and staying here is increasingly dangerousm Captain, we'd be much better off passing through the wormhole and beginning the mission we signed up for, instead of getting caught up in all of this." Ro sighed.
"Many of the people on the Monroe would like to find their own people." She admitted, "Myself included. This isn't my universe. This is my time, and this is a pale shadow of the world that still needs me back where I come from."
"Yet we've been caught up in events since we first escaped the Hirogen." La'as argued, "I appreciate Captain Kirk's leadership and we owe him for getting us out of there…" He crossed his arms, "And I admit that Lore is a threat to the existence of us all." He trailed off.
"You know we need to you so this." Ro told him, "And you know I have every intention of going through that wormhole and searching for your people La'as." She reached out and patted his arm.."How about you look over the Saratoga yourself when you get on board. Get a lock on the equipment and spare parts we beamed down here." She features to the storage room. "If we end up having to evacuate, then we'll need it to get the Saratoga's replicators back online."
"And while I am there I can assess the ship's status and work on it as well." La'as sighed, "I'm not half the engineer that Maltz or Icheb are, or even Lara for that matter, but it will give me something that feels like it will get me closer to home." Ro nodded. "Very well Captain, I will try to be patient, I simply wanted to be sure we weren't being sidelined again."
"Captain, can you hear me?" Sylvester's voice sounded from her communicator, "can you come up here, something is happening in orbit."
.*.*
"What are our options Admiral?" Kirk asked over the wireless, "Do we split our forces, or return to Kobol together."
"To be honest I don't like either option." Adama grumbled, "Laura can be stubborn, hardheaded, but she is the elected head of our government."
"But she knows you, and you know the truth." Kirk reminded him, "If she makes a move on my people, it may result in bloodshed. You've got to make her see reason." Adama thought to himself quietly as Graystone, Tamara and Jenna looked at him.
"She's enough trouble for two lifetimes." He growled. "Can I trust you to finish the mission for me Kirk?"
"Count on it." Kirk said. Adama set his expression.
"Then I'll requisition a raptor and return to Kobol." He decided. "No sense in sending back a whole Battlestar, and Galactica may need the support." He sighed. "You think your egg heads can work out the coordinates so I can make it back in one jump?"
"I'll get Hansen on it now." Kirk told him. "I see your fighters are almost all collected, do you want us to send your people back?"
"Yes." Adama told Kirk, "I hope your simulations prepare them for the real thing tomorrow." He looked at McGavin. "You'll be in command of the fleet." He told her, "I'll write up orders for Cronus before I go, Tamara, you advise her, you too Doctor. We'll need your insight into the Cylons." He paused and looked at Jenna, "And if that Android shows up, you hit him with everything you've got."
"Sorry Bill." Tamara told him. "I know you wanted to see this through."
"Just find Lee, and Kara." He told her, "as long as they are together, they should be fine, and do your best to get Saul out of whatever he's gotten himself into this time." Tamara chucked.
"He's the same in my timeline." She told Adama. "Sort of the opposite of Lee and Kara. As long Ellen isn't near him, he'll be fine."
.*.*.
"Madame president are you receiving me?" Ro asked, the lights flashed red around her.
"I read you Captain. This is not an efficient way to handle a crisis." Roslin's voice was irritated. "You should be in CIC."
"Given the nature of the document we received, I don't think it is prudent to leave the compound at this time." Ro told her, and the continued "We have better information here, and we can relay it to you.
Long range sensors are probes and sensor relays deployed at range, relaying information back to us.
What you're looking at, is a Hirogen hunter ship, approaching this system at warp speed. It is heavily armed, more so even than the Emperor, and there may be more on the way, they hunt in packs." She looked at Lara who nodded.
"How far away, no never mind, how long do we have until it arrives.?" Roslin demanded.
"At its top know. speed, less than an hour, but it is slowing, and it is circling. It's projected course gives us a few hours, half a day at most." Ro warned. "It does not appear to be aware that we have detected it, but it is definitely heading for this system."
"These are the aliens that captured your crewmates." Roslin stated, "You brought them here."
"That's very unlikely." Ro answered immediately, "We left their space almost three weeks ago and there hasn't been a hint of pursuit from any of the dozens of probes we have established. While there are ways of following a warp trail, these ships, in fact, are coming from the direction of Earth."
"Your ship is travelling with our fleet to Earth." Roslin argued.
"The Monroe is not travelling at warp." Ro said evenly, "She is positioned beneath the Vesta to utilize your FTL system."
"What about Sisko?" Roslin challenged, "He went from Bajor yo Earth, didn't he, what if they are tracking the Defiant's course?"
"After over a year, that warp trail would be nearly impossible to detect " Ro gritted.
"You say so." The president replied. Ro sighed and looked at Icheb and Lara. Now Roslin moved on "Fine, we will discuss that later. Can we communicate with them?"
"I would certainly recommend that we try., thought not in the conventional sense of communication." Ro told her, "That ship is probably more than a match for the Saratoga, and possibly the base defenses. If there are more…"
"How do we do it?" Roslin cut her off, "light a camp fire?"
"The safest way would be to approach with the Saratoga." Ro suggested, "If it doesn't work her shields will buy time to withdraw."
"You shouldn't present weakness, and you shouldn't give them time to anticipate you." Lara spoke up. "They are hunters and they nust not see tou as prey, by the time they arrive. They are approaching slowly and they are some distance away, I think they could be testing your capabilities."
"We can dock your ship in Colonial One, and Jump over to them." Roslin considered.
"I wouldn't recommend putting Colonial One in the line of fire." Ro began, but Roslin cut her off.
"Forget it, forget I said anything, half the military personell in the room over here just started objecting." Roslin said testify. "What about the Cylons, they can take us, jump in, surprise them, impress them whatever, and open a dialogue."
"'Us' Madame President?" Ro asked.
"'Us' Captain." Roslin said flatly, "I'm coming with you, this system is under the control of the Colonial Government and I will be speaking on its behalf."
"That's not how your treaty with the Cylons describes it, and that's not what you agreed to with Captain Sisko." Ro argued.
"There have been a number of developements since then that were not part of the agreement, I am altering the agreement." Roslin told her, "Don't give me reason to alter it further, Captain."
"Madame President with all due respect, that's unacceptable." Ro snapped. "We're in the middle of a tactical situation here and if I can't trust you to respect us as allies and we are truly done here. You are a danger to the people I command. We will withdraw to the Saratoga, and remove our outpost, as requested."
"You will not remove any part of this facility." Roslin insisted. "You've made unauthorized alterations to this base, I forbid you to make any further alterations by removing them."
"You can certainly try to stop us, but I believe you are about to have your hands quite full." Ro noted.
"Fine, Major Shaw, contact Commander Torvald, order him to prepare an orbital strike on the Sara-"
That's Quite Enough.
Ro blinked as a voice broke in
I have protected this facility for 2000 years. I will not allow you to destroy it now, Laura Roslin.
"Captain, it seems the residual program in the base holomatrix has coalesced and activated, possibly in response to the intruder alert." Lara reported. Icheb standing beside her adjusted the readings on the situation table.
"Another section of the base appears to have come online as well." Icheb stated, "The Gemenon passage." He looked up "That section was collapsed, the Colonials were attempting to clear it."
"Whatever is down there, it's pulling a lot of power." Ro frowned, "And a considerable amount of computer resources."
"Who is this, identify yourself." Roslin ordered, "Captain is this some kind of trick?"
"There is some kind of defense system in the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation, it may have been installed before the hologram we encountered, or it might be a remnant from the war that destroyed this world." Ro replied, "Secure your systems madam president."
"Attempted intrusion detected." Icheb reported, he was quickly adjusting his settings again, I believe I can keep it out of our systems for now, but it is rapidly gaining access to the colonial systems." He looked up, "including the fire control systems for our defenses."
"Just more Cylon trash." Roslin snarled.
Imagine claiming to worship us as Gods, yet being too blind to accept us for who we are. The voice was amused. Very Well, we'll do this the hard way darling, allow me a moment to slip into something a bit more comfortable.
"Oh no." Said Sylvester. Ro looked up startled at his voice, the others were looking at him as well, as he explained "I know that voice."
"Who is it?" Ro asked, but before Sylvester could respond, the red alert sounded again, and Ro could hear distant sounds of gunfire. Icheb reported,
"Captain, we are recieving a visual."
"By the prophets.." Ro murmured.
Colonial marines were firing at white, unfinished robotic forms pouring out of the Gemanon passage on the far side of the base. even as clouds of gas began to issue from all of the base vents, the robots issued bolts of electric lightning. When struck, the already coughing marines collapsed instantly. As the robots rushed out of the frame, a woman strode into view. Still pulling on a robe of sorts, she was dark skinned and slick. She stopped for a moment and stared at the camera.
"That's Maeve." Sylveater said, resignation in his voice, "And if we don't leave right now, she will kill us all.