Battlestar Galactica

Past, Present, Future.

Chapter Three

Project Genesis

The vastness of space seemed to stretch on forever. Time also seemed to go on indefinitely. This is the part Cain hated.

The waiting.

He wanted to have the battle start as soon as he finished his planning; he wanted to watch as everything unfolded before him just as he had drawn it up. To see victory achieved swiftly and completely. That was the way he wanted it, but it was not to be. The journey to Molocay would take all of five sectars at fleet normal speed. Even if he could run the distance at light speed, it would still take two to three sectons. All he could do was wait.

They were only one sectar into the journey when Colonel Tolan walked up to Cain as he sat at the command console, going over some fuel consumption reports.

"Excuse me commander, but it's almost time sir." Tolan said.

Cain leaned back from the stack of reports, rubbing his eyes.

"Time? Time for what Colonel?" Cain said, somewhat confused as to what Tolan was referring to.

Tolan looked around for a moment, then leaned down, and in a voice only Cain could hear and said, "Genesis"

Cain looked at his first officer, comprehension registering.

"Thank you Colonel, I'd almost forgotten." Cain said as he restacked the numerous reports laid out before him. "I'll be in my quarters Colonel, you have the bridge!"

"Yes sir." Tolan replied as Cain picked up the reports and left the bridge.

Cain arrived at his quarters a few centons later. He punched in the security code and the door swished open. Cain entered quickly, tossing the reports into a tray on the corner of his desk. He went to the shelves behind the desk and pressed two well hidden buttons. These released a door that covered a wall safe. Cain entered a code on the touch pad, and a series of clicks told him that the safe was unlocked. Cain swung open the door of the safe and removed a black folder and a small metal box. He closed the safe door and the hidden door, making sure both were secure, then he took the two items from the safe and placed them on the desk. He then took his seat, glancing at the chronometer on the opposite wall.

Still a few centons to go.

Cain opened the black folder and thumbed thru a few of the pages. He found the one he was looking for and looked it over carefully. He checked the chronometer again. It seemed for a moment that the thing had stopped, but it was still counting down the microns. He looked back to the file again. This was one of only three hard copies of the entire Genesis Project. The page he consulted now was a timetable of every event and important happening dealing with the project. Looking down the page, Cain found the place on the schedule that dealt with this particular time. Confirming that he was on schedule, Cain replaced the time schedule in the black folder and looked at the chronometer once more. There were only a few microns left. Cain switched on his comm system and entered his security code. After a moment, the secured link between the Pegasus and the three Gunstars was locked in and the faces of Verga, Bannon, and Raylac filled the screen.

"Greetings gentlemen, right on time I see." Cain said cheerily.

"Did you expect anything else sir?" Bannon joked.

Cain smiled at the small jest, but then he became serious as important matters needed to be taken care of.

"Gentlemen, it's time for us to part company. In twenty centons, you will make your departure and start out on a heading of three two four beta by one five one iota. You'll stay on that heading for exactly four centars, then you'll engage the computer navigation system and let it take control. It will take you where you need to go."

"And where might that be Commander?" Raylac asked.

Cain looked at the young Commander for a moment. He really needed to become more disciplined. In time he would Cain guessed.

"You'll be given that information when the time is right Commander." Cain said somewhat scolding. "As for now, you need to prepare for your breakaway from the fleet. I wish I could give you more information, but you'll learn everything you need to know in due time. Now, get going, and may the Lords of Kobol watch over you. Good luck gentlemen, I'll see you soon."

With that, Cain cut the transmission. They were on there own now. He had the utmost confidence in his men's ability to carry out this most critical mission, but for some unknown reason, Cain felt that he would never see any of them again.

As the time on the chronometer ticked off, Commander Verga began to pace slowly about the bridge. Normally, he was a picture of calm, but for some reason, he felt very edgy now.

"Just having to wait so long." He thought to himself.

Verga was about to sit down in his command chair when his communications officer called to him.

"Commander, I have an incoming message from the Pegasus." The young woman said.

Finally Verga thought. "I'll take it here." He said as he reached her position. She pressed a few buttons and the face of Commander Cain filled the screen.

"Commander Verga, we've picked up some unusual readings from a star cluster bearing three two four beta by one five one iota. I'd like you to take two ships from the rear guard and investigate."

"Will do Commander. I'll take the Hyperion and the Phoenix with me." Verga replied, playing along.

"Excellent! Report back to me as soon as you find anything. Pegasus out!"

As the screen went blank, Verga told the young communications officer to contact the Hyperion and Phoenix and have them fall in on the Titan. The message was soon passed along and acknowledged and just like clock work, twenty centons after Cain contacted them the first time, the three Gunstars at the trailing end of the fleet peeled off from the main body and began their trek across the heavens to an as yet unknown destination.

For the next four centars, the three ships sailed on at fleet normal speed as per the instructions they were given. As the time neared for them to turn over navigation and helm control to the computer, Verga signaled the other two ships.

"I don't know if we'll be able to contact each other once we turn things over to the computers, so I wanted to give you all one last call. This is the last chance we have to turn back, so if either of you has any doubts about this, now's the time to say something."

Raylac chimed in right away, "I don't have any problem with this. I'm looking forward to it."

"How about you Bannon? Any thoughts about calling it quits?" Verga asked.

"No, I think Raylac's right. This will change the whole balance of power in this war. We have to go thru with this. How about you?"

Verga thought about it for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I have some doubts, but I'm a warrior and I'll do my duty to the best of my ability. Besides, if we can pull this thing together and make it work, it could mean the difference between winning and losing the war. So I'm in."

The others nodded their approval, understanding exactly what he meant.

"Alright then, it's settled." Bannon said. "Let's do this."

"Agreed!" Verga said. "Switch over to computer control in two centons. Good luck gentlemen."

"You too Commander." Raylac said and signed off.

Bannon just gave Verga a quick nod and said, "See ya soon Commander." And was gone.

Verga got up from his seat and went over to the main computer control station on the bridge, he pulled on his head set and flipped the switch to the ships comm system, where he let the crew of the Titan know what was about to happen.

"Attention all hands. This is Commander Verga. In one centon I will be turning over helm and navigational control of the Titan to the computer per Commander Cain's orders. From this point, all communications with the colonies and the fleet will be severed. We will be on our own! The mission we have undertaken could quite possibly make the difference whether we win or lose the war with the Cylons. At this time, I can't tell you any more then that. At this time I need the helm and navigation stations to switch over from manual control to computer control. I'll pass along any new information as is allowed. Carry on!"

When he received confirmation that all helm and navigation systems had been switched over, Verga watched the ship chronometer click off the microns. When the chronometer hit the appointed time, Verga hit the switch to initiate the computer program Cain had given him.

Immediately, the ship heeled over to starboard slightly and increased speed to full. Verga was not sure where they were headed, be he knew they were going to be getting there as fast as was possible.

Even at top speed, it took the three Gunstars over four sectars before they reached the point in space they were intended. During the journey, all three ship commanders had ample time to listen to and study all the information on the infodisks they had been given by Commander Cain. Verga had to admit, Cain HAD pretty much thought of everything. There were sections dealing with every facet of the project and the operation of the facilities, Schedules for production and supply, he even had a complete list of personnel that would be assigned there to build the ships and operate the refinery. It truly was a logistical masterpiece.

Verga was sitting in his usual place on the bridge, at the command console, when the ship finally began to slow down. Everyone on the bridge noticed this immediately and went to work checking their stations for any kind of malfunction. Verga looked at the chronometer and knew that this was a part of the computer program and that they would find the next piece of the puzzle very soon.

"Helmsmen, I believe you'll find that you now have full control of the ship now." Verga addressed the man at the helm. The officer checked his instruments and confirmed that he did indeed have helm control.

Verga smiled slightly and then ordered, "Continue along this course at fleet normal speed. Ensign Jax, begin scanning along this heading, I believe before long we'll have company."

Ensign Jax acknowledged the order and began her scanning. It wasn't long before she picked up something at extreme range.

"Commander, I have multiple contacts dead ahead. They're at extreme range so identification is not as yet possible."

"Should we alert the other ships and launch a squadron to investigate sir?" asked Colonel Sachs, the Titan's executive officer.

"No Colonel, I'm sure Bannon and Raylac are aware of them." Verga said with a smile. "We've been expecting them"

Colonel Sachs looked at his commanding officer a bit perplexed, but accepted this as true. He had served as exec of the Titan for three yahren now and had learned to trust Commander Verga.

Verga watched the forward view port as they approached the unidentified ships. Ensign Jax broke the silence again.

"Sir, I've been able to identify those contacts. They're Colonial.

Mostly large cargo transports and tankers, good Lords of Kobol but there's a lot of them!" The young officer said. "Looks like they have military escorts, I count about two score escort destroyers, Defender class."

Verga leaned forward in his seat; he hadn't expected so many vessels to be with the supply convoy.

"Comms, try and contact the lead ship. Let them know were here." Verga ordered.

"I believe they already know sir." Said the communications officer, Lieutenant Barba, "They're contacting us."

"Very well Lieutenant, put them thru to my station." Verga said.

Almost immediately, the face of dark skinned man appeared on the monitor. He was an older man, though not as old as Verga, but still of middle yahren. His hair was black with a slight peppering of white beginning to encroach here and there. Wide set, brown eyes and a rugged, square jaw made him quite an imposing figure. Verga knew the man's face, but could not put a name with it.

"This is Colonel Eller of the Colonial Destroyer Guardian. Identify yourself and state your purpose please."

Verga was still unsure where he had meet this "Colonel Eller", he only knew that he had meet him somewhere before. He assumed he would remember in time.

"Colonel Eller, this is Commander Verga of the Gunstar Titan. I believe you've been expecting us."

The face on the screen did not change expression, but the challenging tone did soften somewhat.

"Commander Verga, nice to see you again sir, it's been a long time." Eller said. "I wasn't told it would be you I was rendezvousing with."

"Yes, Cain was a little stingy with the information. He didn't mention that there would be so many ships in this convoy, nor a whole squadron of Destroyers escorting them either." Verga replied, still not knowing from where he knew this man.

"With your permission sir, I'd like to shuttle over to your ship and go over my orders and the transfer of this convoy." Eller said.

"By all means Colonel, I look forward to meeting you. I'll have the Commanders of the other two ships join us here on the Titan, say in forty centons!" Verga said.

A strange expression passed over Eller's face, only for a micron, then it was gone.

"Yes sir, forty centons, I'll be there. Guardian out!"

The face on the monitor faded. Verga sat quietly for a moment staring at the blank screen. "Where have I seen that man before?" he asked himself. Nothing rung a bell.

Verga turned to the communications officer and told her to contact both Bannon and Raylac and have them join him and Colonel Eller aboard the Titan in thirty centons.

Forty centons later, the small shuttlecraft landed in the bay aboard the Titan. It came to a halt a dozen metrons from where Colonel Sachs stood waiting. The hatch slid open and out came two people. The first was a rather tall, muscular man with dark skin in the command uniform of a Colonel carrying a small case. The other was a tall blond haired woman in the brown and tan uniform of a Viper pilot. They approached Sachs, stopping several steps from him. Both officers came to attention and saluted. Sachs returned the salute and then stepped forward to clasp wrists with Colonel Eller.

"Colonel Eller, I'm Colonel Sachs, exec aboard the Titan. I'll be escorting you to the Commanders quarters." Sachs said. He turned to the female warrior and asked, "And you are…."

The woman glanced at Colonel Eller, who nodded, then back to Sachs.

"My name is Major Hawley. I'm the exec aboard the Guardian."

"I see, I wasn't aware you would be joining the Colonel." Sachs said.

"Is that a problem Colonel?" Eller asked.

"I'm not sure, that's something you'll have to ask the Commander." Sachs said looking at Colonel Hawley.

Eller and Hawley exchanged a quick look. Colonel Sachs asked the pair to follow him to the Commanders quarters.

As they entered Commander Verga's Quarters, all eyes quickly fell on the Major. It was obvious her presence was not expected. Colonel Eller and Major Hawley came to attention in front of Commander Verga and saluted. After a slight hesitation, he returned the salute. He looked from Eller to Hawley and then asked, "I don't recall asking anyone except for yourself to attend this meeting Colonel. Would you mind explaining who this young women is and why she's here."

"My apologies Commander, I didn't realize this would be a closed meeting. This is my executive officer, Major Hawley.

Verga leaned back in his chair and nodded, contemplating this.

"I guess there's no harm in her being here." Verga said. "You do understand that what is said here is to be kept totally confidential, don't you Major!"

"I am well aware of standard security protocols sir." Hawley said, somewhat defensively.

Verga expression darkened slightly at her tone, but said nothing, instead turning back to Colonel Eller.

"I think we should take care of the transfer of command first Colonel, do you have the transfer orders with you?" Verga said.

Colonel Eller pulled a group of papers from the case he was carrying and handed them to Commander Verga. Verga thumbed thru these for a moment then handed them to Commander Bannon, who sat in a chair in front of Verga's desk. He looked back to Eller and asked, "From what I saw in those orders, you and your squadron have been placed under my command as well, is that right Colonel?"

"Yes sir, after turning over control of this convoy to you, I and my destroyer squadron are to accompany you to your destination and once there, we are to begin sentry and patrol duties as you see fit till we are relieved." Eller told him.

"This convoy, what all does it consist of Colonel?" asked Bannon.

Eller turned to face Bannon and began to describe the makeup of the convoy.

"As it say's there in the orders sir, we are to transfer control of this convoy over to Commander Verga's command. The convoy itself consists of in part of; two hundred seventy cargo freighters of various types and cargos, thirty of the "Traveler" class personnel transports, sixty solium tankers, one hundred thirty water tankers, forty agroships, thirty four livestock ships, fifty five industrial ships and of course, the twenty four Destroyers of my squadron. All together, six hundred forty three ships and one hundred fourteen thousand personnel." Eller finished.

Verga leaned forward in his chair, a look of surprise on his face. Bannon almost dropped the papers he was reading. Raylac shook his head in disbelief.

"You mean to tell me you have over six hundred ships and a hundred thousand people in that convoy?" Raylac said, not truly comprehending the enormity of it.

"That would be correct sir." Eller said.

"Where in Hades did they all come from…." Raylac continued. "and what are they all doing here?'

"They're the people who are going to build those Battlestars sir." Eller said somewhat amused by the senior officer's attitude. "Commander Cain and those associated with this project have been recruiting people for over two yahren."

"I see you're already aware of what it is we're doing here Colonel." Commander Bannon said.

"Yes sir, Commander Cain gave me several infodisks that basically explained the mission, at least up to this point and time." Eller told him. "The rest he said would be explained by you sir." He said to Commander Verga.

Verga nodded his head. "So you have no idea as to where were heading Colonel?" he asked.

"No sir, the infodisks make no reference as to where this base is or in which direction to proceed. They only gave us directions to this rendezvous point and a general overview of the project and our responsibilities once we reach the base."

Verga nodded his head again. "I see! Well Colonel, it would seem that Cain wanted to keep this base, shipyard, or whatever you want to call it as secret as possible since I have no directions either."

Colonel Eller looked at him with a confused look on his face, the first real emotion he had shown since his arrival.

"How are we suppose to find this base if there are no directions to it sir?" Eller asked.

Verga smiled at the slight show of emotion by Colonel Eller. The man had been stony faced since he arrived.

"Not to fear Colonel, Cain has left us directions to the new shipyard. It's in an encrypted disk that has been navigating the Titan since we left the Fifth Fleet. Once we re-engage the computer system, it will take us to the shipyard. You and the rest of the convoy ships will simply follow us."

"I see. And when will we be resuming the journey sir." Eller asked.

Verga looked over to Commander Bannon, who simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Everything seems in order as far as the paperwork is concerned. I see no reason to delay our departure Commander."

Verga nodded and looked back to Eller.

"How soon before you can have the convoy ready to move?"

Eller thought for a micron, then said, "I can have all ships prepared to move out in a centar or less. I'll just need enough time to let all the ship masters know what's going on and do their systems checks."

"Good! Then let's get this journey started." Verga said "Colonel, inform the ships of the convoy we move out in one centar. Report to me as soon as you get conformations from all ships. I also want one of those tankers to top off the fuel cells of our Gunstars as well as any other ships that need refueling."

"All the ships in the convoy have already been topped off sir, and we have a tanker standing by to refuel your ships, just awaiting your approval." Eller said.

Verga was impressed; Eller had already taken care of the refueling operations. Once that was completed, they would be on their way.

"Very good Colonel, commence refueling of the Gunstars immediately. That shouldn't take too long."

"I'll take care of it right away sir." Eller said as he came to attention and saluted. As he and the Major began to leave, Commander Verga asked Eller to stay a moment. He then turned to Bannon and Raylac, "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse us, I'd like to speak with the Colonel alone for a moment."

"We'll go prepare for the refueling sir." Bannon said. With that, Verga and Eller were left alone in the room.

"Colonel, I've been trying to remember where it is we've meet before, but I can't seem to think of it. We have met before, haven't we?"

Eller's face softened into a slight smile.

"Yes sir, we've met before. A long time ago. We served together on the Octavia sir." Eller told him.

"The Octavia! That was a long time ago." Verga said.

"Yes sir, I had just been assigned there, fresh out of the academy, just before the Octavia left for the Ta' Prea system. You were Captain of Silver Saber Squadron and you made me your wingmate for that patrol. You left the Octavia as soon as we returned to Caprica and I never saw you again. My condolences on the loss of your family sir." Eller said, the last with deep regret in his voice.

Verga's face had lost some of its color. It all suddenly came rushing back to him. His old friend and longtime wingmate, Salas, leaving for his new assignment as wing commander aboard the Battlestar Prometheus, the fresh faced kid reporting aboard for his first assignment, it all came back.

"I'll be damned, I remember you now! Lords, whats it been, twenty five, thirty yahren?"

"Thirty three sir!" Eller said.

Verga shook his head, thirty three yahren. Where had all the time gone?

"And here you are, a Destroyer squadron commander. I thought you would have tried for a Battlestar command, not a Destroyer."

"I thought about it for awhile, but my father was a Destroyer commander, as was my grandfather, and his father before him. My family has always served aboard Destroyers so it just seemed natural for me to follow suit." Eller told him. "I even have three sons and a daughter serving on Destroyers."

"Are any of them with you on this mission? Verga asked.

"No sir, two of my boys are with Commander Cain, the third is an instructor at the academy and my daughters on a ship in the First Fleet." Eller said.

"Well Colonel, once we get this program up and running, there's going to be a lot of opportunities for Battlestar commands, maybe you'll get one."

"Eller laughed a bit and said, "I guess anything is possible Commander."

Verga chuckled too. Then he got back to business.

"Well Colonel, it's good to have you here. We'll have to get together after we get this shipyard up and running to discuss the Octavia, but right now, we have work to do. Go inform the ship masters what will be happening and when we'll be departing. We'll talk again soon."

"Yes sir." Eller said as Verga reached out to clasp wrists with his old comrade. With that Eller departed to take care of his business.

Good to his word, Colonel Eller reported all ships ready to get underway in less then a centar. Commander Verga smiled at the man's punctuality. Verga then checked in with Commanders Bannon and Raylac. Both reported that their ships fuel cells had been topped off by a tanker from the convoy and were ready to go. After checking with his own crew, everything was ready. Verga put on his headset and switched on the prearranged frequency for this "fleet" of ships and began to speak.

"Attention in the fleet, this is Commander Verga. We are about to resume our journey. All ships should at this time be tied in to the Titan's navigation controls and will automatically follow along with us to our final destination. If you experience any trouble from this point, contact the Titan immediately. Commander Bannon and the Phoenix will be bringing up the rear of the fleet and will assist all those who need it. I don't know how long our journey will be, nor do I know where we are heading. I can only tell you that this mission can and most likely will determine the outcome of the war with the Cylons. If there are no questions, then let us continue the journey."

Verga switched off the comm unit and ordered the helmsman to take them out on their previous course at slow speed until all ships were in position and standby to engage the navigation computer. The Titan began moving forward slowly, taking position at the head of the fleet of freighters, tankers, transports, and other ships. The twenty four Destroyers of Colonel Eller's squadron took up positions on all sides of the fleet. The Hyperion settled into a position in the center of the fleet while the Phoenix took its place at the rear of the massive formation. Once all ships had reported that they were in position and their links to the Titan's navigation computer were active, Verga gave the order to engage the computer. The helmsman switched over the helm to the computer and almost immediately, the entire fleet began to accelerate. The speed leveled off at about two thirds and held steady.

Verga looked around the bridge, satisfied that everything was running properly, he sat back in his command chair and watched the stars go by.

After six centars on the same course, the Titan began a turn to starboard. Verga asked the scanner operator to check on the fleet, making sure all ships were still in position and that the uplink was functioning properly. Ensign Jax reported that all ships had made the course correction and that the link was still intact with all ships.

Staring out at the stars as they passed by, Verga wondered how long it would be before they reached their destination. Only time would tell.