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Chapter 12

Nemos Sector
System 23117
Planet 4
Chiron CIC

With the Prolmar and Bacrita Sectors scouted and no remaining Colonial presence could be found they had moved to the even less used Nemos Sector. There were no Territories and only a few mining outposts that been destroyed by the Cylons. However what this Sector did have was 4 planet system numbered 23117. As the lack of name would suggest is that there is nothing of value here but planet 4 was a gas giant that created a type of radiation similar to Ragnar's. And Ragnar's radiation had been found to interfere with Cylon systems.

So when the decision had been made that while Colonel Marton and his three ships were exploring the Cyrannus System that the remaining ships would do some maintenance and work on training. Planet 4 of System 23117 seemed like a good spot to do this at. The training program was working. Or at least the people who were too stupid or lazy to learn had been dealt with by Captain (Reserve) Kristis in a fairly brutal fashion. He used a "if you can't get your shit together you are no longer an officer" method that you could tell he was glad to finally be able to use after 20 years of being a civilian.

With the Atlis and other ships having departed a few hours ago and being gone for an estimated 6 more days the hope was the new pilot trainees could get some training to hopefully take the load off of the pilots. Wishbone was not exactly impressed with the pilot volunteers but at least they were shuttle qualified so understood the basics.

Becoming the XO showed that Command had a lot more going on than she expected. Being the "mean XO" and dealing with issues before the Commander has to deal with them (or officially notice) is her job. In the whole 20 hours since her promotion things had been going alright.

"Commander we just got a priority message from the Respite. Apparently a member of their security went crazy and killed 3 people before he was killed" said LT Stevenson.

'Frak' thought Anders. Is one day without any issues too much to ask?

"Major I want you to go over there and see if you can figure out what happened" said Commander Jasper.

Maxon's Respite

Looking over the video and talking to the witnesses the number two security officer of the Respite named Justin Agios had appeared to be getting sick. People said he looked like a dust addict going through withdrawals with his suddenly sweaty and waxy skin. In one hour Agios went from normal to looking like he was dying from some tropical disease or something. Noticing that he looked unwell he was removed from duty and Agios requested to go to his quarters.

However things then went very weird. Agios instead of going to his quarters he tried to go the shuttle bay. Before he got there he was stopped by his fellow security officers who wanted to lead their apparently very sick coworker to medical. This set Agios off who killed the 2 security officers and another crewmember. However this caused a delay which allowed more security (armed this time) to get there before getting to the shuttle bay. When Agios refused to be detained and attempted to attack this armed security group they shot him several times killing him.

"Sir I think we might have a problem here. While it is unlikely there is a possibility that Security Officer Agios might be a Cylon" said Major Anders on the secure channel. What good a shuttle might have done who knows but the video evidence shows that Agios was very fast and very strong and according the Sgt. Becker a not particularly skilled fighter. Saying he was almost inhuman would not be incorrect.

"We are jumping to a new spot then" said Commander Jasper. "Major I want you and the Marines to scour Agios' quarters and go over the ship. Look for bombs, trackers, or anything unusual."

"Yes sir" said Major Anders.

Chiron Commander's Office

"Sir while we are still checking there doesn't appear to be anything dangerous on the Respite left by Agios that we can find. Agios' quarters and office had turned up nothing of interest and the toxicology report that came back and no drugs had been in his system or diseases. Other than a slightly high level of silica in his system nothing was unusual" said Major Anders.

That there was no obvious reason for Agios to do what he did gave the Cylon theory more credence. That a Cylon could look and for months pass as a human was very worrisome. "For now Major we are keeping this a Command level secret" said Commander Jasper. "Did we have any other reports of any crewmembers anywhere getting sick when at the last gas giant?"

"No sir but if someone was off duty it might have been missed" replied Major Anders.

Currently the fleet was in the Oort Cloud of yet another system that just had a number. Water is if not low is not full so the Limni was mining some comets. "We need to find another gas giant with that type of radiation" said Commander Jasper. The last one is too obvious to go back to in case the Cylons are somehow aware of where they were. "When we find one we will have all people on all ships in public areas. Anyone who gets sick will be detained." Possibly not Cylons but no risks can be taken with as far as they know them being the largest group of humans still alive. "I will explain to the Governor why we are doing this after another planet is found."

Checking over the charts they found around 20 likely gas giants in the "local" area. Picking randomly they sent Juno to check it out. This planet had a similar radiation signature. Time to call the Governor.

"Commander Jasper you are saying there is a possibility of human looking Cylons on board this fleet" asked Governor Maxon. That such a thing was someone she knew and an officer on her ship was concerning to say the least.

"Yes Governor. We can't be sure but as you can understand the risk can not be ignored" replied Commander Jasper. "We will jump there and have the ships do nothing. We will say it's to test the jump officers skills getting as close as they can to a planet in formation. We also need all people on all ships without exception to be outside their quarters for at least six hours. We are going to have a service for the lost people during the Cylon attacks on the Chiron. We can make it fleet wide. Just allow people to mingle and talk about their friends and family. If anyone appears to be sick contact me and I will send my Marines to detain them."

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Colonel Marton and his now 6 ships had reached the rendezvous point to rejoin the Chiron and the rest of the fleet. The Raptor was there as planned. After greeting Captain Shayla Tonis (Juno) she sent a set of orders over to all Captains and XOs of the ships.

"These orders are nondiscretionary. All ships are to report to the following location and spend 6 hours there. All crew on all ships are not allowed to be in their quarters and must be in public spaces the entire 6 hours. If the Captain refuses to jump to this spot they are to be immediately placed under custody by their XO with the above orders followed. Any ships that do not jump to the location will be assumed lost and will not be looked for by any Colonial assets" signed by Commander Jasper of the Chiron.

'Well shit" thought Marton. Something happened to get the Old Lady riled up but the orders are clear enough so time to follow them. Jumping to the gas giant there appears to be the Oliver here as well. Why a cargo ship is here just adds to the weirdness.

"Sir we have got a second bunch of orders from Juno" said Captain Talbot.

"If anyone on board the ship appears to get sick within the next 6 hours contact the Oliver and the Marines on board will be sent over to that ship to detain them." Signed Commander Jasper of the Chiron.

'Again weird but easy enough' thought Marton. "Attention all crew report to the galley if not on duty. Again report to the galley if not on duty." Time to go over the ship. "Captain I am going to walk the ship looking for people who are sick. You keep an eye out here."

Walking the ship the crew seemed confused by being told to do light maintenance and not being allowed in their quarters but everyone seemed healthy. Talking to the other 5 ship Captains they all reported the same thing. Well hurry up and wait I guess.

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Maxon's Respite
Council Chambers

Carl was glad to be back on the Respite. His mother had been glad to see him and he was able to have a quick talk with his wife. They were both annoyed at him for risking himself but the Vega and the Badger crew definitely showed it was worth the risk.

That meeting room B the smaller but slightly nicer staff meeting room is now called the Council Chambers is kind of funny to Carl but I guess it gives slightly more gravitas to this whole "Governor" thing. And this is what government they had. He had let his mom know that he was resigning from the council as Captain Klass not only represented the second largest group but is vastly better qualified to be in charge of fleet maintenance (his old council job). This also kept the numbers fairer and removed the bosses son from any appearances of nepotism.

"Alright everyone now that the greetings are over let's get down to business" said Governor Maxon. "First I can not go over the reasoning for having to spend 6 hours before joining the fleet at this time. Second I would like to thank Captain Klass and Captain Boban for their support."

"That the military is doing weird things is something that we can all agree happens" replied Anika Klass. "Also while this doesn't actually need to be said I want to officially announce that as now head of Illumini Shipping that all debts to Illumini Shipping by Maxon Mining is paid in full and all ships are now owned in full by Maxon Mining."

Carl had talked about this with Anika during the loading supplies off the Badger. The legality of this would be very questionable in court but most likely she was the highest ranking employee and with her and the other crew members of the Badger being stock holders (if in very small percentages) she also owned the most stocks as far as they could tell. This removes a minor but possible point of contention with his more than at times prickly mother.

"Second I discussed with Colonel Marton some upgrades that might be beneficial to the fleet. He needs to run them past his Commander but we should be able to do any lingering maintenance or replace basic parts that need them in the next month. Send me a list within the next few days" said Anika.

Again Carl when he talked to the Badger crew quickly learned the difference between a dedicated construction team and the "keep it from breaking," engineering crew that ships used. Selling some of these ideas to his Commander is Marton's job not his.

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Chiron Officer Wardroom

Colonel Marton was glad to be back. That the Colonies had been confirmed to be destroyed and Cylons there in overwhelming force and no further Colonial Military presence found was disappointing (to say the least) but finding 3 ships with a lot of supplies and a dedicated repair ships fixed one of their biggest issues.

"I am sorry for the secrecy but now that I have you all here I can over why you got the odd orders you did" said Commander Jasper. Currently all the Captains and above were in the meeting room. These 7 people were the official chain of Command. If they all died at once but the fleet survived then LT Tymes (or whoever after her) would be in command and there were written orders in that unlikely scenario regarding this issue. "We have reasons to suspect there are human looking Cylons. This is not to leave this room but a type of radiation put out by certain gas giants appears to interfere with their systems. This is why we had everyone spend 6 hours waiting. From our one time observation it appears to happen very quickly with obvious symptoms but we can not confirm it will happen that fast or that even Mr. Agios was a Cylon. However until we can confirm he was not we are going to proceed with the theory he was a Cylon. Now we don't want to cause a panic so we are not divulging this to the remaining crew. Only Governor Maxon has been informed and she agreed to keep this secret."

Marton could see why keeping this theory secret would a good idea. Otherwise that guy that only showers once a month would be a Cylon instead of just a smelly weirdo. Especially since other than Agios no one else had shown any symptoms he had.

"Reading over what you brought back I must say good job to the crew of the Atlis and Epsiki" said Commander Jasper. "Having some actual punch in case we run into a Baseship is nice and the other ammunition we found puts us at over 250% of our combat load. Also there some former military in the Badger's crew that are up to rejoin."

Marton was happy to find more deck crew. They were all enlisted but that a place that repaired so many (and upgraded to sometimes questionable legal levels) shuttles were deck crew wasn't a surprise. What was a very pleasant bonus was that they had a former Raptor pilot there. Reggie Donaldson had left after his 6 year tour realizing that the military wasn't for him and that he could make cubits doing less work in civilian life but with his family murdered rejoining was something he was very interested in doing. His flight check status should be pretty quick unlike the trainees. It was also nice being able to hand all the former military personnel jackets to Major Anders as personnel is the XO's job.

"Thank you Commander. There are some issues I need to bring up. The crew of the Vega and Lippet might be good at repairs but they suck as ship crew. They rarely left the Badger and hadn't left Helios Alpha in many years. Also Miss Klass and Mr. Boban are far too valuable to be used as ship captains" said Colonel Marton. "The XO of the Herse doesn't want to become military and Captain Lindon of the CeeMart 264 would be able to take command of those ships." The 264 was a grocery hauler and was definitely not going to be able to make a long journey without wasteful and ongoing repairs. Better to put it in storage with the 3 scrap ships they had from the Badger. "Also the 264 while having crap sensors even by civilian standards did pick up the Pegasus jumping out. So there are at least 2 Battlestars that we have strong reason to suspect are still active."

The plan is to turn the Herse into a "super Raptor". Looking for planets or ships is something a Raptor could do but long term surveys in a Raptor suck. They had a glorified outhouse as a bathroom and sleeping is always an afterthought. The Herse had real crew quarters, galley, and a bathroom. The Atlis was going to be provide Raptors when needed. With the sensor system salvaged from the Aglaea the Atlis could be brought up to close to military standards (the Herse had good sensors already). This would let them do long distance surveying and then close in with a Raptor as needed and let the Chiron protect the fleet.

Next the discussion turned in to whether to add missiles to the civilian ships that could (hopefully) shoot down a Raider or two. This was not popular for many reasons but approved. With only at best 9 Vipers and 5 Raptors and maybe if those 5 Danger class shuttles were being used that gave 19 craft to defend 23 civilian ships. And with a Basestar appearing to have 200 Raiders as it's complement stopping all of them seems unlikely. This will add a lot more work for the Reservists but should be worth it.

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Major Anders was glad to have more former and now reactive personnel. The Atlis and Herse need around 60 people which is a good percentage of her limited personnel. The personnel jackets of "what did you do, what ship were you on where were you stationed, who was your Commander" are dull but an important part of fitting out the various roles. This will let her put a Raptor repair crew on the Atlis without having to take too many from the Chiron and the already stressed out LT Gavin. Hmm that's kind of odd. I should run it by Colonel Marton to make sure I am not seeing things.

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"Sir I don't know if I would have caught it but I agree with Major Anders. That we have 8 personnel who served on 5 ships that were all Mercury class Battlestars that all had Admirals as the Commanding officers stationed at what appears to be a nowhere sector is weird. Major Limaki you said you did your first tour on board the Mercury and were stationed in the Omega Sector. What do you remember about the Omega Sector."

"Sir not much. I was a new pilot. We had a lot of new pilots. We trained up as a squadron. Did some general making sure the Cylons didn't show up there. That sector is not on the border but the nearest sector is. We also did some looking for pirates. You know the usual crap" replied Major Limaki. "That the Mercury, Bellerophon, Aeneas, Hector, and Medusa were all there at different times though is weird."

Usually a nowhere sector might have a Valkyrie there at best. While a Mercury usually has an Admiral in command it also usually has a Battlestar Group. These were all single Battlestars without any other ships. A Mercury is pretty expensive to just be doing the stuff mentioned by Limaki. That was the same general mission that the Kestrel was doing before it's demise. And that it happened 5 times they could see shows that it wasn't a one of type thing.

"When I got my training as a Commander the scuttlebutt was that the most likely bad scenario involving the Cylons is that they would show up with a massive force and that the outer parts of the Cyrannus System would have to be abandoned. When we discussed what the ships outside the Cyrannus System would do there was no clear answer on that. Always having an Admiral outside the System for the various ships to report to does make a certain amount of sense" said Commander Jasper. "Now whether this is true or not this is another spot that might have a Battlestar or other ships. Also it's possible Admiral Cain might go there. Certainly worth a shot. Let's make the Omega Sector our next location to explore."

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Author's Notes

I decided that instead of 3 short chapters to make 1 longer chapter. The Atlis returned. The general outline of what they are doing is explained. The upgrades of ships needed will happen.
Also Helios Beta (Virgon and Picon) was explored. Everyone was dead and nothing of value was found. Didn't feel the need to add that.
Not sure the Herse would really have crew quarters, a decent bathroom, and a galley but then I thought "it's the government so why not." Adding .2% to cost (or whatever) for some unlikely need well government and cost saving aren't identical twins.
That the Omega Sector always had a Battlestar there well if you read my previous version you can guess what ship that will be. I need the Chiron to move a certain direction and this gives a hopefully logical reason for them to move that way.

Thank everyone for reading! Any questions or comments are appreciated.