Battlestar Galactica

Past, Present, Future

Chapter 14

A Voice from The Past

Everyone fell silent as Starbuck held the small, silver disc for all to see. It was several microns before any of them could regain their voices. It was Apollo that was first to speak.

"Commander Dienekes, are you sure?" He asked in a hushed tone.

Starbuck almost laughed at the expressions on the faces of those that sat around the table in the "war room", but instead he just kept smiling and nodded his head. He handed the disk over to Apollo, who looked at it in awe. Then Starbuck told them how he and Sabo had found the small disk in the folder on the former Commanders desk, leaving out the part about Sabo nearly having a heart attack when he saw the "dead" Cylon in the cabinet behind the desk, a fact that the young Cadet was very grateful for.

"So what does the disk say?" asked Sheba as she watched Apollo examine it.

"I don't know, I didn't play it." Starbuck said. "I thought it would be best if Apollo and Boomer were present when it was played for the first time. You never know what kinds of top secret information might be on that thing."

"You were right not to play it without Commander Apollo being here Colonel" Siress Tinia said. "I also think that perhaps the council should be here as well, just in case there are any issues that arise from this log that they should have a need to know about."

"Since the Carpathia was a war ship Siress, I would have to disagree with you on that point." Apollo said to the councilperson. "The information recorded on this disk could be of a very sensitive nature and not for those outside the highest levels of the Warrior service."

Then to the President he said, "Mister President, I think the log disk should be heard by the senior Warrior staff first, then, if there is anything of strictly military significances, we can delete it from the disk and copy the rest for the council to hear."

Tigh thought about this for a moment then slowly nodded his head and replied, "I agree with Apollo. We will limit access to the information on the disk to the senior staff, myself, and Siress Tinia for now."

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude to the Siress, but why do you wish to include her in this?" Apollo asked.

"I feel we should include Siress Tinia because as you well know, the Second Fleet was made up primarily of Warriors from the planet Scorpia, including Commander Dienekes, and as the council representative from Scorpia, I think it is only right that she be in attendance when we first listen to this record."

Apollo exchanged a glance with Boomer then nodded his head.

"Agreed sir."

Then to the rest of those in attendance, Apollo said, "At this time I'd like to thank you all for your reports and all the hard work you've done in getting the Carpathia out of the cloud. I don't need to remind any of you that everything you've heard here is not to be discussed outside this room. At this time I ask that the senior staff stand fast while the rest of you are dismissed."

With that, all those present, except the members of the senior staff and the two council members departed. After the doors to the chamber closed and were secured, Apollo placed the small infodisk into the disk player built into the table. A moment later, the image of a man sitting behind a desk appeared on the large screen on the wall. Starbuck immediately recognized the room as the Commanders quarters.

He was perhaps fifty or so yahren of age with long, black hair and piercing black eyes. He also wore a beard and mustache that were equally as dark as his hair. His face was cold and stern and the uniform he wore was of the ancient Scorpion design, not that of the Colonial Service. Thou it was hard to tell from the view provided, he appeared to be somewhat shorter then the average Colonial Warrior of the present day, but was extremely well built with very thick arms, which were bare from the shoulder down.

He sat very rigidly, as if what he was doing was uncomfortable for him or he didn't want to do it at all. A voice from some unseen person could faintly be heard, causing the cold black eyes to flare to life with an angry fire. It was only there for a micron, but there was no mistaking the fact that it had been there. Then after another brief moment, the man behind the desk began to speak in heavily accented Colonial standard.

"I am Commander Dienekes, commanding officer of the Colonial Battlestar Carpathia and vice-commander of the Colonial Second Fleet. I sit here before these witnesses to record my final log entry as commander of this great vessel and to leave a record of why it is we now leave the bulk of our battle fleet hidden away in this strange cloud of dust."

"The reason for this drastic measure is quite simple …… we do not have the resources to continue operating a fleet of this size. Without a viable supply of tylium, we have less then a sectars worth of fuel. By leaving the bulk of our battle fleet behind, keeping only the Battlestars Spartica and Arcadia along with our support ships, it is our hope that we will be able to stretch the remaining fuel we have in our tankers long enough to find a planet with enough tylium so we can return and reclaim them."

"At this time, Commander Leonides has ordered that all fuel, all Scarab and Cobra fighters, all solinite missiles, and all food supplies be transferred from those ships being left behind to the Spartica and Arcadia, as well as those tankers, support and supply ships that will continue on with us during the search for our home worlds. Once this has been accomplished, we will move the fleet into the cloud where it is our hope that they will remain undetected until our return."

"Those ships being left behind are the Battlestars Carpathia, Corinthia and Octavia, Gunstars Chimaera, Chiron, Chrysaor, Echidna, and Typhoeus, Battle Cruisers Aegis, Egidon, Grungir, Istvan, and Mjollnir, Star Carriers Daemon and Kaj, Destroyers Antiphates, Cetus, Charon, Cottus, Gyes, Kirkor, Kratos and Runihura, Frigates Athanasius, Corydon, Endre, Kolya, Obiareus, Peledon and Zetas, and the Brigantines Alyosha, Colum, Elek, Gregos, Klassr, Leski and Oles."

"As for where we are heading, that is a matter of security that I am not at liberty to divulge. What I can tell you is this, if you are from the Colonies, you should look for us along the course you would take if you were going to Primaria from Scorpia during the Festival of Kobol. If you know of that which I refer, then you will be able to follow our trail and you will also know how to retrieve the logs from this vessels computer banks and learn how we came to be here."

Dienekes leaned forward and in a very stern voice, he made a most chilling statement.

"If you are not a member of the Second Fleet or from the Colonies, then let it be known that you are trespassing on Colonial property. The attempted theft of any of these vessels will be met with the direst of consequences."

This last statement was said in a tone that left no doubt that the speaker was dead serious. Then Dienekes leaned back in his seat and continued.

"It is my profound hope that someday, in the very near future, I will be able to return to this place and reclaim the Carpathia, but for now, it is in the best interest of the fleet that we leave her and the rest of these vessels behind until such time as we are able to return. But know this; he who sits upon the throne of Scorpia survives, as does the Second Colonial Fleet! End recording."

The lights automatically brightened in the room as the screen went dark, the message having ended. The twelve people that had sat and watched the short recording sat in silence, each involved in their own thoughts. Apollo looked around the table, not knowing quite what to say. The recording answered some of their questions, but it also raised a good deal more of them.

"Well Apollo, what now?" asked President Tigh.

Apollo thought about it for a moment then replied in a very low, measured voice.

"First thing we do is pull those ships out of that dust cloud and get them operational."

"And then?"

"Then we go looking for the rest of the Second Fleet!"