Battlestar Galactica

Past, Present, Future.

Chapter Four

Welcome to Phantom Base

The journey to the new shipyard was much longer then anyone could have imagined. It took the fleet of transports, tankers, freighters, supply and industrial ships over eleven sectars to reach their destination. For the first part of the trip, the people of the fleet were able to keep apprised of events back in the colonies via sub space transmissions they intercepted, but these soon ended once they were out of range of the farthest relay stations of the colonies. From that point on, they were totally isolated. This was something that some people were not prepared for.

"Commander, I have another report of trouble aboard one of the transports. Seems they had another fight that turned ugly, two dead and three others injured. The ships master reports his security has the instigators in custody but has no place to hold them. He's asking to use the brig on the Titan until they can face tribuneral."

Commander Verga shook his head in disgust; this was the third incident of this nature in the past secton. Unfortunately, it was not the first to end with fatalities either. Four other fights had escalated into terminations since the fleet lost contact with the colonies. If they didn't reach their destination soon, they could end up with full scale anarchy in the fleet.

"Very well, have Captain Alyea take a security detail over to the transport and bring the prisoners back. We'll add them to the list of cases to face tribuneral once we arrive at the shipyard."

Looking to his exec, Verga asked, "How many does that make now Colonel?"

Colonel Sachs looked up from his work and said with a grim expression, "I believe we're up to seventeen cases so far including four for unlawful terminations. I think it's going to get a lot worse if we don't get our people off these ships soon sir. These civilian are just not use to being in space for this length of time like warriors are."

Verga nodded his head in agreement. "You're right Colonel, but we don't really have much choice in the matter. Until we arrive at the………."

Just then the Titan began to slow down. All personnel on the bridge began checking their stations for any malfunctions or other indications of trouble. When all stations reported that all systems were normal, Verga asked for confirmation on the fleet's position. Ensign Jax made a quick scan of the fleet and reported that all ships had answered the computer's command to come to slow speed.

"Very well, Lieutenant Barba, begin scanning for the homing beacon on the frequency you were given." Verga ordered.

"Yes sir, I'm already on it." the young woman said as she worked her instruments. After a few moments, she smiled and said, "I have it sir, bearing straight ahead."

"Excellent! Helm, continue on this course, ahead half speed. Colonel, pass the word to all ships to follow us." Verga ordered.

"Sir, I'm picking up a signal on fleet comm line Beta." Called Barba. "It's coming from the same direction as the homing signal."

Verga and Sachs looked at one another in astonishment. Who could have known that they were there?

"Can you identify who the signal is coming from Lieutenant?" Verga asked.

"Negative sir, there is no identification code with the signal, but it is a Colonial signal and it seems to be directed right at us! It has a very narrow beam." Barba told him.

Verga pondered this for a moment. Obviously, whoever this was knew they were there and was able to use restricted military communication frequencies. Could it be their first contact with the new shipyard? If so, who would be there sending them a message? And how did they know exactly where and when to transmit such a tight beam? All very good questions and only one way to find the answers.

Verga went to his station and put his head set on. He motioned for Colonel Sachs to do the same.

"Lieutenant, pass the word to the Phoenix, Hyperion, and Guardian to tap in to this signal, I may want their input." Verga ordered.

Once Barba had done so and all those requested were online, Verga told Barba to open the channel. What was heard would amaze them all.

"Phantom control to Titan, come in please. Titan this is Phantom control, do you copy? I know you're out there, please respond."

A voice called, somewhat casually.

Verga looked at Sachs and shrugged in confusion.

"Phantom control, this is the Colonial Gunstar Titan, Commander Verga speaking. To whom am I addressing? Please identify yourself." Verga challenged.

There was a moment's pause before another voice was heard.

"Phantom control to Titan, this is Colonel Leon, commanding officer of the Fifth Construction Division and current commander of this facility. We've been expecting you Commander." came the reply.

"Have you now? Am I to assume that "Phantom" is the designation for this facility?" Verga asked.

"That's the name Cain gave us to use Commander. I'm not sure why, but it seems to work alright!" Colonel Leon said rather jovially.

"I see, and what is the status of the base there? Is it operational?" Verga asked.

"Yes sir. Everything is ready for your people to start building. We're just putting the finishing touches on a few things. We should have those done within a sectar." Leon said.

"What sort of things are you putting these "touches" on Colonel?" Verga asked.

"Oh, nothing too important really, we need to finish off Dock number five, and there's a couple of things in the propulsion assembly building that need to be done, and a couple of the housing compounds need finishing."

"Sounds like you have quite a bit to do before we can start building Colonel. What about the other facilities? The refinery and the Viper production plant?"

"The refinery is right on schedule sir. All systems were tested just this morning and everything checked out fine. The first phase of storage tanks are done and the second and third are almost there, should have them ready in about a secton. As for the Viper plant, she's all set; all four lines are ready to go. You should be able to turn out at least a thousand of each type of fighter within a secton." Colonel Leon told him. "Oh, and the missile plant is ready to roll too!"

"What missile plant?" Verga asked, not remembering anything about a missile plant in the plans he had.

"It's where their going to be building Solinite missiles for the Battlestars sir. It was in the plans anyway." Colonel Leon said, sounding a bit confused.

"I don't remember seeing any plans for a missile plant Colonel, where exactly is this plant?" Verga asked.

"We built it on a separate asteroid, well away from the other facilities just in case there was a……… a problem." Leon told him.

Verga was not aware of this new development. Perhaps it was something that Cain had wanted to build and decided against later, but forgot to tell his construction people, after all, they had been out there for over three yahren.

"I see, well I guess we'll deal with that when we arrive, thou I must admit, I have no idea as to when that will be." Verga said.

"We have your position as being approximately two sectons out at present speed Commander." Colonel Leon said.

Verga was astonished. How could they know that? Not even the scanners of the Planetary Defense Command on Caprica had that kind of range.

"Tell me Colonel, how is it you knew we were here and how far away we are?" Verga asked.

There was a slight laugh on the line, then Leon spoke, "That sir is classified, but it'll be explained to you when you arrive."

"I'm looking forward to it. Titan out!" Verga said, a bit more harshly then he intended.

"Sounds like we don't have as much information about this project as we thought." Bannon said on the commlink.

"It would seem not Commander!" Verga said. "Evidently, Cain didn't want to put all his mushies in one basket. Looks like he gave each person just enough of the puzzle to do their part until everyone was together, then all the puzzle parts could be put together to form the full picture."

"So what do we do now Commander?" asked Raylac.

"We follow along this course until we reach our destination." Verga said with a heavy sigh. "Until then gentlemen, we procede as we have. I'll make an announcement to the fleet letting them know that the end of this journey is now in sight. Maybe that will calm things down and alleviate some of the violence we've been having."

"Sounds like a good plan to me. I for one am looking forward to getting off this ship for awhile." said Bannon.

"As are we all Commander, as are we all." Verga said.

With that, all the ship commanders signed off.

For the next two sectons, the fleet proceeded along the course of the homing beacon. Tensions in the fleet greatly decreased with the knowledge that their journeys end was now in site. Preparations for disembarking and unloading all the various equipment and cargo were underway on every ship.

On the Titan, Commander Verga was going over some of the never-ending stream of reports that were forwarded to him from every ship in the fleet. It was one of his least favorite duties, but a necessary one….. or so he continued to tell himself. It was then that a call from the scanner officer mercifully called him away from this tedious job.

"Commander, I have a ship on long range scanners." Ensign Jax said.

"Identify." Verga ordered.

Jax worked her controls to try and get a confirmed identification from the ships "War Book" data base. After a moment, she was able to get a positive ID.

"Sir, the War Book has it as a Colonial Frigate, Intrepid class."

"Must be an escort sir." Colonel Sachs said as he walked over to the Commanders position.

Verga nodded his head in agreement. To his communications officer he said, "Lieutenant Barba, open a channel to that ship for me."

Barba did so as Verga placed his headset on. Once the channel was open, Verga tried to contact the ship.

"This is Commander Verga of the Colonial Gunstar Titan. Please identify yourself and state your intentions!" he challenged.

After a moment, he received an answer.

"This is Major Orozo, commanding the Colonial Frigate Avian." The voice of a man said, almost happily. "I bid you greetings Commander. I've been sent to escort you and your fleet through the asteroid field to your staging area. Once there, your people will be able to disembark and begin off loading their equipment to the proper areas of the facilities."

"How long before we reach this staging area Major?" Verga asked.

"With a convoy of this size, it'll take awhile. It takes fifteen centars to make the trip thru the asteroid belt when you know the safe route and can run at one quarter speed, but with this many ships and the different size's and maneuvering abilities of each, it could take each ship over twenty centars to complete the trip." Orozo said.

Verga thought on this for a moment. To have all these ships sitting idle in space for so long was not something he wanted, especially after all the violence they had to deal with so far amongst the space weary civilians. He wanted to get them off these ships as soon as possible.

"Is there a faster way to reach this staging area Major?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not sir. This path was made like this intentionally for defensive reasons. It's meant to provide protection from any quick attacks from any undetected sources. If a ship tried to approach the base from any other direction, they would be destroyed by our defense systems." Orozo told him.

"How do you navigate the asteroid field Major? Is there some kind of beacon we follow?" Verga asked.

"No sir, each one of our patrol ships is downloaded with a copy of the pathway in its navigation computers. The computer is what takes us thru the asteroid belt." Orozo said, adding quickly, "and before you ask Commander, we can't download the program into your ships. The computer has a safeguard system that will alter the program if anyone try's to access it in any way other then the intended interface. From what I was told, the alteration will take a ship to the nearest defense system laser unit and it's destroyed."

Verga nodded his head, appreciating the safety systems employed around the new base. It would take a massive force to even reach the new shipyard, let alone attack and destroy it. But the question that needed answering now was how to get all these ships thru without taking a yahren to do it?

Then an idea came to him!

"Major, what if I was to follow you thru the asteroid field, keeping exact readings on the route we follow, then transmit them back to one of the other Gunstars via a secured frequency, then have each ship use that to transit the asteroid field? Do you think that would work?"

There were a few moments of silence as the Major thought about it. Then he came back on the line.

"I think it might work, but you'd have to make sure that your readings were extremely accurate as far as time traveled and rate of speed so no miscalculation could happen. You'd also have to account for the different sizes and maneuvering abilities of each ship so they didn't drift too far off the pathway or turn too soon or too late." Orozo said thoughtfully.

"We can make a base map of the route and have our computer make the necessary adjustments needed to work for each type of ship in the fleet." Verga speculated.

"It just might work Commander." Orozo said. "Of course it will still take us about fifteen centars to make the journey thru the asteroid field, so the sooner we get started the sooner we can try it out."

"Right you are Major. Let me explain what were going to do to my second in command and then we can be on our way." Verga told him.

"Alright Commander, I'll stand by for your signal. Avian out!"

After a brief explanation of his plan to Commanders Bannon and Raylac, Verga signaled Major Orozo on the Avian to lead the way. Slowly, the two ships entered the seemingly impenetrable wall of floating rocks, some the size of a large moon, and within a few microns, they had disappeared from sight. Commander Bannon had his scanner operator keep track of the two ships as best she could, but after less the ten centons, she had lost all contact with them. It was now up to Commander Verga to send back the information needed to get them all thru.

The way thru the asteroid field was one that would be extremely difficult to navigate even if one didn't have to worry about the defense systems that Major Orozo had told of. The path thru the asteroids was maintained by some kind of magnetic field, generated by small, yet very powerful electromagnetic generators placed in precise position by the Colonial engineers that had been working on this project for over three yahren. These generators were held in position by the electromagnetic fields they produced. They formed what was basically a tunnel thru the asteroid field. This was all according to Major Orozo.

Major Orozo himself had been at the base for over five yahren, first as part of the group of ships assigned to protect a group of scientist and surveyors that came here on some kind of "secret mission" for the Colonial Admiralty. Then he and the rest of their group were placed under the command of Colonel Leon and given the job of patrolling the asteroid belt and monitoring the space near there. It had been nearly six yahren since he had been home to Aeriana, but he hoped that once the base personnel finally arrived and took charge of the base, he and his group would be cut loose so as to return home for some much needed rest. But for now, he had a duty to perform and that was what he would do.

It took over sixteen centars, but finally the two ships emerged from the asteroid field into open space. Verga ordered his scanner operators to begin formatting the scans they had taken during the long and tedious voyage into a program that Commander Bannon could take and use to bring the rest of the fleet thru the asteroid field. He then had Lieutenant Jax begin a scan of the space around them. As the information from the scanners began to come in, a very interesting picture began to unfold. What seemed to be open space was in fact a relatively small area that was far less congested surrounded on all sides by the asteroid field. It was like being inside a triad sphere, solid all around and hollow inside. Verga wondered what could have caused such a thing. The only thing he could figure was that at some far distant time in the past, the asteroid field had once been a giant planet or star that had exploded and now formed this amazing area. As Jax continued her scans, Orozo lead them toward what Verga believed would be the center of the "sphere". Jax began picking up a large number of extremely large asteroids directly ahead. Verga looked at the scans and noticed that there were high power output readings coming from several of them. He began to smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have arrived!"

There were several cheers from the bridge crew and more then a few sighs of relief. Thru the celebrations, a voice came to Commander Verga's ears.

"Sir, incoming message. It's from the asteroid cluster ahead." Barba said.

Things quieted down on the bridge as Verga placed his headset back on. Barba switched the signal over to the Commanders station.

"Phantom control to Titan, do you read?" came the voice of Colonel Leon.

"This is Titan, nice to hear from you Colonel." Verga replied.

"Nice to see you made it thru sir. Welcome to Phantom Base and Shipyard Commander. I hope you'll find it to your liking." Leon said.

"I'm sure I will Colonel, but first I have to get the rest of my fleet thru the asteroid field so they can start unloading. According to Major Orozo, it's going to take a while." Verga said.

Colonel Leon gave a little laugh and said, "Well Commander, under normal circumstances it would take a very long time, but we had a little surprise set up for just this occasion. If you would care to shuttle down to the base commander center, I'd be happy to show you what it is I'm talking about."

"Very well Colonel, I'll be there in one centar." Verga said, curious as to what he had in mind. He turned to Colonel Sachs, "As soon as they finish with those scans, go ahead and send them to Commander Bannon. He'll need some time to do the modifications for the different ships before they can start moving thru the asteroid field."

"Yes sir, I'll take care of it. What do you think this Colonel Leon has in mind Commander?" Sachs asked.

Verga shook his head slightly and said, "I don't know Colonel, but I spent some time looking over the mans personnel record. He's a damn fine officer and a great innovator. He has made a career of doing the impossible. Why he commands a construction battalion is beyond me."

With that, Verga turned and left the bridge. After a short stop in his quarters to change uniforms and gather a few things he might need, Verga made his way to the launch bay. Colonel Sachs had already ordered the Commanders shuttle readied for launch and a Viper escort. All the ships launched and headed for the coordinates they had been given for the base landing area. The trip was a short one, but one with a great deal to be seen. The shuttle and her six escorting Vipers passed by huge asteroids, some as large as a dozen Battlestars. They continued on until they were meet by a squadron of Vipers from the base.

"Titan shuttle, this is Phantom Gold leader, we've been assigned to escort you to the aerodrome. Please maintain formation and follow us." A female voice said.

"Phantom Gold Leader this is Titan shuttle, we copy and are following your lead." said the shuttle pilot, Captain Gellis, the squadron leader from the Titan.

The shuttle and its escorting Vipers were surrounded by a group of Vipers, the likes of which none of them had ever seen. They all looked to be the normal Mark VIII Vipers that were used on every capital ship in the Colonial fleet for the past ninety yahren, but unlike those of the fleet, these were painted with streaks of black, gray, purple, red, and blue. They were barely visible against the dark background of space.

The group continued on until the voice of the dark Vipers came in over the comm unit.

"Titan shuttle, continue on this heading. You'll see the aerodrome in just a few microns. Happy landings and welcome to Phantom Base."

That having been said, the dark Vipers peeled off and in a blink, were gone from sight, swallowed up by the black of space. Before they could continue to search for them, the lights of the aerodrome came into sight.

It was a mammoth structure, easily large enough to hold a dozen Battlestars. It had a huge, domed roof that opened on one end to allow ships to leave and enter. There was a much smaller opening at the other end of the structure where it seemed smaller craft, such as their shuttle and Vipers could enter and land. This is the spot that Captain Gellis headed for.

"Titan shuttle, this is Phantom approach control." came a female voice over the comm unit. "You are on course and cleared to land. Upon landing, please follow the green control lights to your staging area. Welcome to Phantom Base."

"Acknowledged" Gellis said, somewhat confused by everything he was seeing. This base, from what he could see, was huge!

Gellis guided the shuttle down and thru the opening of the aerodrome with no problem. The aerodrome was even bigger on the inside then it appeared from above. The roof covered a facility that looked to have been dug deep into the asteroid, perhaps five hundred metrons or more.

As soon as the landing gear touched down, a series of green lights came on, creating a pathway leading off into the distance. Doing as he was instructed, Gellis followed the green lights. After several centons of following the green lights, they were meet by a vehicle with several men standing by it. One of the men, wearing a headset, began speaking to them on their frequency.

"Titan shuttle, this is Sergeant Cade, I'm your landing control officer. If you'd please shut down your engines, my crew and I will hook you up to our craft control vehicle and move you to your final staging area."

Following the instructions, Gellis shutdown the engines. The crewmen next to the vehicle ran forward to attach a control bar to the shuttle. Once this was accomplished, Sergeant Cade came back on the headset.

"Titan shuttle, this is Sergeant Cade. We'll be moving you to your final staging area now. Just sit back and relax."

A moment later, the shuttle began to move. They were being towed toward a large door, which slide aside as they approached. Once they had cleared the door, it slid back in place. The area they had entered was not like any landing bay any of them had seen before. Gellis, Verga, and the co-pilot, Lieutenant Retana, stared in amazement at the place. The shuttle came to a stop right in front of a large, red carpet that ran up to a sliding door. As the shuttle came to a stop, the door slid open and a group of Colonial Warriors marched out and took up positions on either side of the red carpet.

An honor guard.

"Well folks, looks like their going all out here." Verga said with a slight chuckle. "I guess it would only be polite if we were to go out and join them."

"I guess you're right Commander!" Gellis said.

The three of them moved to the hatchway where Lieutenant Retana pressed the release for the hatch to open. The inner hatch slid to the side while the outer hatch began to lift up and away. A short set of steps flipped down from the shuttle, providing easier egress from the shuttle. As the outer hatch locked into its fully open position, Commander Verga emerged from the shuttle, followed by Captain Gellis and Lieutenant Retana.

As if on some unheard signal, the two ranks of warriors lining the red carpet came to full military attention and gave a very snappy salute.

Verga was very impressed, if not somewhat surprised by the full military reception. He had not expected anything like this. He moved down the carpet between the two ranks, returning the salute as he went. At the head of the carpet, stood a group of Colonial Warriors and civilians, the warriors stood at full attention while the civilians did their best to emulate them. Verga and his officers approached the group at the end of the carpet and stopped several paces from them. The warriors amongst the group snapped off proper military salutes while the civilians bowed their heads slightly. An officer wearing the insignia of a Colonial Colonel stepped forward and spoke.

"Commander Verga, I am Colonel Leon. I bid you greetings and welcome you and your officers to Phantom Base and Shipyards."

Verga was impressed with the man that stood before him. Leon was perhaps fifty yahren of age. He had a head full of fire red hair and a beard to match. Though not very tall, he was built similar to the large barrels that Virgon ale was aged in, but there was not a bit of fat on Colonel Leon. With one look at the massive arms and shoulders on the Colonel, Verga would have liked to see Leon and Raylac have a try at arm wrestling.

"My thanks to you Colonel and to your staff and crew, from what I've seen so far, this could be the finest facility in all the cosmos." Verga replied, returning the salute.

"You haven't seen anything yet Commander!" Leon said with a bit of humor and pride in his voice. "Wait till morning comes, then you'll see what we've been up to out here. May I present my executive officer, Colonel Dyson, operations officer, Colonel Swires, chief engineer, Doctor Grego, and the man who designed most of this facility, Doctor Haley.

"Gentlemen, it's an honor to make your acquaintance. I hope to get to know each of you in the sectons to come. I'm sure I'll have a good many questions for each of you." Verga said to the assembled group.

"I'm sure that we'll be able to answer any questions you might have Commander." Colonel Leon said. "Now, if you will follow me sir, I assume you'd like to see the command center and prepare for the change of command."

"Yes Colonel, I think I would like to see the command center. Please, lead on." Verga said.

Colonel Leon turned and led the Commander and the rest the senior staff thru a sliding glass door to a large platform. Sitting at the platform was a two car transport tram. The doors of the two cars slid open and the group entered the lead car. It was very spacious, providing seating for up to thirty people. Once everyone was seated, the tram started moving slowly away from the platform. Once it was clear, it rapidly picked up speed.

"This is one of our transport trams Commander. We have over eleven hundred kilometrons of tracks laid so far and plans to expand that to fifteen hundred are already in the works." Leon told Verga. "Each line has the ability to take you to almost every corner of the facility in less then fifty centons."

"This is amazing! How many of these trams do you have here?" Verga asked.

"As of this moment, we have one hundred twenty in service. They range in size from the executive trams like this one that can carry up to sixty people, to the heavy duty trams that haul objects up to five hundred thousand kilons." Leon explained. "Most are what we call "people movers" though; they run on a regular schedule along the main lines and stop at a variety of locations. It's the most popular form of transport within the facility, though we do have moving walkways in most areas too."

It took only a few centons to travel from the aerodrome to the command center platform. When the tram came to a halt and the doors slid open, everyone disembarked. The platform was not as large as the one they had boarded the tram from and had only one apparent exit. Colonel Leon went over to the large doorway and slid a small card he had taken from his pocket and slid it into a slot in the wall. A small panel slid away to reveal a computer keyboard and screen. A voice was then heard from a small speaker next to the screen.

"Please place your left hand on the scanner plate and look into the optical scanner."

Colonel Leon placed his hand on a glass plate next to the keyboard and leaned closer to what looked like a small camera. A green light came from the camera and fanned over the Colonels eye while a similar light ran over his hand thru the glass. The voice spoke again.

"Thank you. Identification confirmed. Welcome to the command center Colonel Leon."

The sliding door opened to reveal a large elevator. After everyone had entered, Colonel Leon pressed a button next to the door. The door then slid shut and the elevator began to rise.

Leon turned to Commander Verga and said, "I'll never get use to that damn retinal scanner."

"That's a very impressive security procedure Colonel; do you have to go thru it every time you enter the command center?" Verga asked.

"Yes sir, that's why I only leave the command center if I have too. I even had my personal quarters built as part of the command center so I could avoid that thing. But, it is a necessary evil I guess." Leon said laughing.

Verga chuckled at that. He might well have done the same thing in Leon's situation. Just then the elevator slowed to a stop. As the doors opened, Colonel Leon looked at Commander Verga and said, "Commander Verga, Welcome to Phantom Base Command Central."

The Commander stepped out of the elevator onto a raised walkway that ran off to both sides of the elevator. From this vantage point, Verga was looking over a large room with row upon row of computer terminals and large color screens. Hundreds of people, both warriors and civilians, could be seen working at their various tasks. Above them, was a massive transparent dome that gave one the sense of sitting in the middle of space. There were several extremely large monitors at the front of the room where a variety of different areas of the base were being watched. Verga was overwhelmed.

"Fantastic!" was all he could manage at that moment.

"I thought you'd like it Commander!" Leon said with huge grin. "From here you can monitor and control nearly everything that goes on at this base. There are similar command centers at both of the other production plants and the refinery, only not quit as elaborate as this. The biggest difference is that you can operate from here as if you were at any of the other facilities. Would you like to take a closer look Commander?"

"You bet your ass I do." Verga said with a wide grin.

"Then follow me." Leon said as he led them to a set of stairs that descended to another level were there were several large consoles and screens. Near the center of the area was a large chair flanked by control panels. It reminded him a little of the bridge of the Titan.

"This is the command level sir, your new home. From here, you control everything that goes on in this base." Leon explained as he placed his hands on the back of the large chair. "From this seat, you can access any information you want about anything you want. You have the largest computer mainframe outside of the Caprican Central Computer Archive in existence here, all at your command; three hundred trillion megons of data are stored here."

Verga looked at the colonel in total disbelief.

Colonel Leon just nodded his head, answering Verga's unvoiced question. Pointing to the far left side of the command center, Leon began running over the functions of each. Verga was amazed. To think that all this had not only been built in just over three yahren, but was don't without the funding or even the knowledge of the Council of the Twelve. Colonel Leon and his people were simply amazing!

"Now Commander, if you'll step over here, I have something that will truly amaze you." Leon said, motioning to one of the large consoles at the front of the command level. After he and the rest of those with them made there way over, Colonel Leon began to lay out what was in store.

"Commander, as you know, the route into this facility is a very long and tedious one. The electromagnetic generators that form the "pathway" thru the asteroid belt was designed to make it impossible for a ship to get thru without our permission. But as you noticed, it becomes a determent when it becomes necessary to move large numbers of vessels thru in a hurry. I wanted to do something about this, and with the assistance of Doctor Grego and Doctor Haley, we've been able to overcome this problem."

Looking at Commander Verga, Colonel Leon asked, "Commander, with your permission?"

Verga nodded is head in consent and Leon turned to the console and began pressing controls. He then pulled on a headset and flipped another switch. Then he spoke into the mic.

"Phantom Base to Phoenix, come in please. This is Phantom Base calling the Gunstar Phoenix, please respond."

After a slight delay, the voice of Commander Bannon was heard on the speakers on the console.

"Phantom Base, this is Phoenix. I copy your transmission."

"Phoenix, this is Colonel Leon. I've been given permission to speak to you by Commander Verga. I have your position as being ten thousand metrons distant from the point that the Titan entered the asteroid belt, is this correct sir?" he asked.

On the bridge of the Phoenix, Commander Bannon exchanged looks with his exec, Colonel Andrea, who looked as confused as he was.

"Can I speak to the Commander please?" Bannon asked.

"Of course sir." Leon said as he handed a headset to the Commander.

"Commander Bannon, this is Verga. The Colonel has some new program he wants to demonstrate. Go ahead and comply with his request."

"Understood sir. Our position is ten thousand metrons from the point of entry." Bannon confirmed.

"Thank you sir, please hold that position and stand by." Leon said.

"Standing by." Bannon acknowledged.

With that done, Leon worked his controls once more. This brought up a three dimensional map of the asteroid belt where the "pathway" was located.

"Gentlemen, this is a map of the "pathway" as it is at this moment." Leon began. "The red dots on the map are the electromagnetic generators that form the pathway. The larger yellow dots are the defense lasers. What I'm about to do is to alter the pattern of the generators and lasers so as to make a direct route from where your fleet is Commander, to the base staging area."

Verga was nodding his head slowly. He wouldn't think it possible to do that, but then he wouldn't believe this base was possible before he had arrived either.

Colonel Leon continued, "By adjusting the outputs of the electromagnetic generators, we've been able to move them into a different configuration, thus changing the shape of the "pathway" from a narrow, winding one to a much larger, straight path. Grego, Haley and I have been working on this program for the past five sectars. We've run dozens of tests on it and they have all been successful. Now, with your permission sir, I'd like to open up what we call "the gateway."

Verga thought about this proposal for a moment. He wasn't sure if he wanted to risk the fleet on this experimental program or not.

"Are you sure this will work Colonel? I don't want this thing to collapse on my ships half way thru."

"Commander, we've run dozens of tests on it, I'm convinced it will work." Leon said.

Verga still had some small doubt about it, but he didn't want his ships sitting out there waiting to transit the narrow, winding path that the Titan had endured. After a moments thought, he finally gave his consent.

Colonel Leon smiled widely and opened the channel to the Phoenix.

"Phoenix, this Colonel Leon again, sorry for the delay Commander but I wanted to explain to Commander Verga what we were going to do."

"Would you mind filling me in on what this is all about Colonel?" Bannon said more then a little confused.

"Certainly sir, if you'll direct your scanners to the area were the Titan entered the asteroid belt; we're about to open up the front door for you." Leon said.

With that, Colonel Leon opened a panel on the console, reveling a computer unit very much like the one at the elevator entry. Leon punched in a code on the key pad. The computerized voice that they heard before came from the speaker on the console.

"Please place your left hand on the scanner plate and look into the optical scanner."

Leon placed his hand on the plate and leaned forward, mumbling under his breath, "I hate this thing!"

This brought some chuckles from those who heard the Colonels earlier comments about the security system.

After his identity had been confirmed, Colonel Leon accessed the voice interface of the computer.

"Computer, this is Colonel Leon. Initiate program "Gateway Alpha One"

"Initiate Program Gateway Alpha One confirmed. Program Gateway Alpha One initiated." The computer voice read.

On the bridge of the Phoenix, Commander Bannon stood watching over the shoulder of his scanner officer, Lieutenant Luby, wondering what he was suppose to see and what Colonel Leon meant by "opening the front door." So far, there was nothing there to see.

"Anything yet Lieutenant?" he asked for the tenth time.

"No change as yet sir. Everything reads as it has for the past….."

Luby's voice trailed off as she leaned forward, looking intently at her scanner readouts.

"Commander, I think we have something." She started. "It looks like there's movement within the asteroid field. It's as if there was an opening forming."

Bannon leaned in closer to Luby's screen, watching as the asteroids in the field before them suddenly seemed to come to life and begin moving, forming what looked like a huge tunnel.

"Phoenix to Phantom Base, do you copy?" Bannon said in awe of what he was seeing.

"This is Phantom Base Phoenix, go ahead." Leon replied, smiling at the tone of Bannon's voice.

"The asteroid field just shifted into what looks like a huge tunnel right before our eyes. Is that what you meant by opening the front door Colonel?" Bannon asked.

"That would be correct sir." Leon said smugly. "I think you'll find that your scanners can now reach all the way to the inner section of the asteroid belt. You should be able to bring the entire fleet thru the gateway without any problems sir. I would however advise that you maintain a speed of no more then half of fleet normal and that all ships stay a minimum of one hundred metrons from the sides of the gateway to prevent any accidental damage to them."

"Agreed, Commander Verga, with your permission, I'd like to begin sending our ships thru." Bannon said.

Verga was beside himself. He had never even dreamed that such things were possible, yet here it was. He was seeing it right before his eyes.

"Commander, you may begin sending the fleet thru immediately. Have Commander Raylac take the point. I'd like you to stand by and keep a rear guard until all the other ships have entered the tunnel, then bring up the rear."

"Yes sir, I'll pass the word along to Raylac. Phoenix out!" Bannon said and closed the channel.

And so it began, the final leg of their journey. Commander Raylac brought the Hyperion around to the lead position of the fleet and without hesitation, headed right down the center of the gateway. The other ships of the fleet soon began to make their way into the massive entryway, being careful to keep a safe interval between themselves and the other ships of the fleet. They had been told that this direct route would take less then two centars to reach their staging area, far better then the fifteen to twenty they would have had to endure had they used the old, winding route. The size of the gateway was also much larger, over a hundred times larger then before. A dozen Battlestars in formation could easily go thru the gateway, it was that big. Even though it was so large, Bannon had issued orders to all ship masters to keep a minimum of two hundred metrons from the outer edges of the gateway and five hundred metrons between ships. The speed thru the tunnel was also restricted to no more then half of fleet normal to avoid any collisions in the limited area of the gateway.

It took only two centars to get all of the ships of the fleet into the tunnel. Before the last ships even entered the gateway, the Hyperion was already emerging from the other end. She was met their by a small control craft that was sent to guide them to their staging area.

"Hyperion, this is Phantom control ship two, how do you read me?" a voice came over the open channel.

"This is Hyperion, Commander Raylac speaking; we read you loud and clear." Raylac said into his headset mic.

"Acknowledged, welcome to Phantom Base Commander. If you'll follow me please, I'll lead you to your staging area." the voice said.

"Acknowledged ship two, lead the way!" Raylac said. "Helm, follow that ship."

The small ship weaved its way past several large asteroids the size of small moons, then it came to a large area of open space. There were several extremely large asteroids farther on and the small craft seemed to be headed for the largest of them. As they approached, Raylac began to see lights coming from several of the asteroids and the scanner officer reported energy out puts on those and several others. A little farther along, Raylac spotted the Titan sitting near the largest asteroid. The control craft lead them to a place next to the Titan and began to slow.

"Hyperion, this control ship two, please cut your engines and take position one hundred metrons to port of the Titan. A shuttle will be made available to you shortly. Once again, welcome to Phantom Base!"

With that, the small ship spun around and headed back the way it had just come from. Raylac was at a loss as to what to do next. Was he supposed to wait there for further instructions? Was he to board this shuttle that was supposed to be arriving and go to the base? He didn't know.

"Ensign Todd, try and contact Commander Verga. Let's find out what he wants us to do now that we're here." Raylac said.

Several moments later Commander Verga was on the com line.

"My apologizes Commander, I was going to contact you. I need you to inform all ships to set in port watch sections as soon as they reach the staging area and have secured their engines. Then have all senior officers from each ship shuttle over to the base. Colonel Leon has scheduled an informal gathering for the officers, a sort of "get to know each other" sort of affair. Regular duty uniforms are acceptable."

Raylac was a bit confused, but acknowledged the orders. When Verga was gone, Raylac turned to his communications officer, Ensign Todd, and told him to pass along the orders to all military vessels as they cleared the gateway and reached their staging area.

In the command center of the base, Colonel Leon continued to run thru the many aspects of the command center and the base. He explained that the ship building facility would have been finished long ago except that a rouge asteroid had crashed thru Dock Five, causing a great deal of damage but luckily, no injuries. It was being repaired as they spoke and would be up and running in no time.

He also showed Verga the Missile building plant. He told him that it was a part of the original plans, but that Cain wasn't sure if he could find anyone to operate it since the only people with the technical skills to build them were all under Colonial Government contracts and would be almost impossible to get. Leon said that since Cain had not canceled the plant, he went ahead and built it.

Colonel Leon was interrupted by one of the people at the communications station.

"Excuse me Colonel, the last few ships of the fleet are entering the gateway." the young man said.

Leon turned to the man and said, "Thank you Corporeal." Then to Commander Verga he said, "Commander, now that the last few ships have entered the gateway, you get to see the rest of the show."

Verga looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean "The rest of the show?"

Leon smiled at the Commander and said, "Well first we "opened the front door", Now that their inside, it's time to close the door behind them."

As Verga looked on, Leon worked a few controls on the panel that controlled the electromagnetic generators. Then he asked the Commander to watch the three dimensional graphic of the gateway that he had showed them before.

"As you can see Commander, the Phoenix has already entered the gateway, as represented by the blue dot." Colonel Leon explained. "Once a ship clears the outer rim of the asteroid belt and is well within the gateway, I merely punch in the proper commands and……"

With that, the three dimensional graphic began to change, as the tunnel looked as if it was collapsing behind the blue dot representing the Phoenix, closing the outer opening.

Commander Verga was astounded. The space behind the Phoenix was being filled in by the asteroids, cutting off any chance an enemy would have of following.

"The asteroids will continue to return to their original places as the computer releases the electromagnetic generators and reconfigures the defense field. The whole process will take about two centars. We have run tests where we've been able to collapse the entire gateway in less then a centon."

"That would come in quite handy if you ever had to evacuate the base in a hurry." Verga said.

"I suppose it would at that sir, but I don't see where we'd ever have a need for that." Colonel Leon said. "But we would have plenty of warning in the event of an attack."

"How much advance notice could you have Colonel? Our scanners on the Titan couldn't penetrate the asteroid field from outside the field, so I'm sure it would be nearly impossible to get a very good scan from inside." Verga said.

Colonel Leon smiled and said, "Normally Commander, that would be true, but we have a little system that makes it possible to scan out nearly a quarter light yahren."

Verga couldn't believe what he had just heard. "A quarter light yahren, that's not possible! Not even the Planetary Defense Command on Caprica has that kind of range."

Leon smiled and nodded his head as he walked over to a set of shelves along one wall, where he picked up a small sphere and returned with it.

"You're right Commander, the PDC doesn't have that kind of range, but that's because they don't have these."

Leon held out the sphere to Commander Verga, who took the strange object, looking it over carefully.

"What is it? Verga asked as he studied the thing. It was about half the size of a Triad sphere. It was made of a material that he did not recognize and had what appeared to be scanner cells and small transmitter arrays all over its surface, and thou it was small, it was very heavy, perhaps weighting twenty kilons.

"That commander is what alerted us to your arrival. It's a miniature scanning satellite. It's something Doctor Grego introduced me to about two yahren ago."

"I see, so how does it work?" Verga asked.

"Well Commander, what we did was we place tens of thousands of these little beauties out in space, forming a kind of grid around the entire asteroid belt. There are two of these grids, the outer grid is approximately a quarter light yahren out, the inner grid is about half that distance. The satellites form an electronic web around the asteroid belt, and if an intruder passes thru that web, it's scanned by the satellites and that information is run thru our data base for identification. We can figure out where the intruder is by which satellites are set off."

"How much warning does this "grid" give you Colonel?" asked the Commander.

"We figure that a baseship, if traveling at top speed, we would have a full sectar from the time it passes thru the outer grid and a little over a sentar once it's thru the inner grid." Leon said "Then they would have to deal with the asteroid field, and the defense system."

"Wouldn't the Cylons be able to detect the satellites?" Verga asked.

"Did you detect them Commander?" Leon asked.

"No, we didn't. But we weren't looking for them." Verga said a bit defensively.

"True, and neither would the Cylons. The satellites are almost undetectable. A ship would have to literally run into one before they knew they were there, and each satellite has an avoidance program that keeps them from being hit by anything." Leon told him.

"Very impressive Colonel, it would seem that you have thought of just about everything." Verga said.

"Thank you Commander, that's most kind of you to say. Now sir, if you'd like, I'll have someone escort you to your new quarters so you can rest and get settled in while I attend to a few details concerning our get together later tonight." Leon continued.

"That would be fine Colonel, I'd like to rest up for a bit. You'll of course have quarters for the Captain and Lieutenant!" Verga said.

"Of course sir, it's already been arranged. Ensign Dawn will show you the way. Until later sir, enjoy!" Leon said as he saluted and then turned and made his way to the elevator.

Verga, Gellis and Retana exchanged glances as a young woman appeared from another elevator.

"Hello Commander, I'm Ensign Dawn. I've been assigned to show you to your quarters and answer any questions you might have."

Verga simply nodded and said, "Very well Ensign, lead the way."

With that, the four officers boarded the elevator and were gone.

Just over two centars passed from the time Commander Verga left the Command Center and the time the door chime rung. When he opened the hatch, he found Ensign Dawn standing outside at attention.

"Sir, I've been instructed to escort you to the main gathering hall for the party." She said.

"I see, have the other officers from the fleet arrived yet Ensign?" Verga asked.

"I believe that most of them have arrived and are waiting for you sir." She told the Commander.

"Well then, I guess we shouldn't keep them waiting. After you!" he said, gesturing for her to lead the way.

A few centons later, they had arrived at their destination. The main gathering hall was an enormous room, a full fifty metrons long and nearly as wide, it had the look of a room that could serve in a number of uses depending on the need. Tonight it would serve as a ball room for a gathering of the officers of the fleet and those of the base.

As the Commander entered the room, a large security officer standing near the door brought a whistle to his lips and began to sound a tune that brought everyone in the room to attention. When the officer finished, he announced in a loud, baritone voice, "Attention all hands! Stand too and welcome Phantom Base Commander, Commander Verga."

All those present saluted the Commander, who in proper military form returned their salute with one of his own.

"My thanks to you, one and all. And to Colonel Leon, I say thank you for all that you have done here. You have truly created a remarkable facility. I look forward to building a new future for the Colonial Fleet here in the yahren to come, but for now, enjoy the evening."

Verga made his way over to where Colonel Leon stood with Commander Bannon and Colonel Eller. The three raised their glasses of ambrosia in greeting to the Commander as a server handed a glass to Verga.

"Here's to a bright and industrious future here at Phantom Base." Colonel Leon said. "I wish you and your people the greatest success in the future sir."

"Thank you Colonel, I look forward to getting started." Verga said. "But tell me Colonel, what are you going to do once you turn over the base to us? What are your orders from then on?"

"Well Commander, according to the orders I was given by Commander Cain, after I turn over the base to you and you've had time to get acquainted with the operation of all the systems, my division and I are to return to Fifth Fleet Headquarters for an extended furlon. Doctor Grego and Doctor Haley will be staying on here to assist you with anything you need as far as the operation of the Base systems. They pretty much designed and built everything on this project so you couldn't have better to learn from."

"How long before you think you'll be leaving Colonel?" asked Commander Bannon.

Leon shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess that depends on how long it takes for your people to get the hang of this place. I figure we should be ready to head out about the same time we finish up all those last centon projects I mentioned to you before."

At that moment, a young officer walked up to the Colonel, his face ashen. He handed the Colonel a piece of paper and left. As he read the message, the color visibly began to drain away from his face. All eyes were on Colonel Leon as he looked about ready to pass out.

"What is it Colonel? What's wrong?" asked Commander Verga.

Leon looked at him with a blank stare. Then he handed Verga the message that he had just read. Verga took the message and read it himself. His mouth tightened as he closed his eyes in anguish.

"What is it Commander? What's happened?" Bannon asked.

Verga opened his eyes and turned to his friend, "It's a message from a ship that was with the Fifth Fleet. According to this, Cain and the entire Fifth Fleet have been destroyed at Molocay."