Battlestar Galactica

Past, Present, Future

Chapter Eighteen

Reunited

The shuttle landed at the Scorpion aerodrome on the outskirts of a large city with an almost unperceivable thud. Once the engines were shutdown, the hatch opened allowing the passengers to exit the craft. To the surprise of the Galactica officers, a thunderous applause began from the hundreds of people that were waiting to greet the new arrivals. They waved to the crowd as they made their way toward a large, wheeled vehicle not too far from the shuttle.

"What's all this about Commander?" Apollo asked, indicating the throngs of people surrounding the landing area and lining the walkways of the nearby buildings.

"The people rejoice at your arrival Commander!" Dieanicas said happily. "They have been in celebration since they learned of your coming."

"Why is that Commander?" Apollo asked.

"Because Commander, for the first time in nearly four centuries we meet people from the colonies. Now we will be able to find out what news of the colonies and the war!" Dieanicas told him. "We have been on our own for so long, it is good to see people outside of our own system."

Apollo nodded at this, knowing what the Commander was saying.

"Meeting up with you and your people has given a great spark of exuberance to our people. It will be good to return to the home worlds of our ancestors!" Dieanicas told him. "Our people have dreamed of little else but to return to the Colonies."

"I see." Apollo said softly. "Of course you know that the Colonies are in the hands of the Cylons now!"

"That may be true for now Commander, but my Lord King Leonitus has no intentions of letting things stay that way." Dieanicas said with great emotion.

"What do you mean by that Commander?"

Dieanicas turned to Apollo with what appeared to be an expression of anger on his face, his patience at being questioned by this "Colonial" wearing thin, then he smiled and said to Apollo, "I'm sure my Lord King Leonitus will explain everything to you ….. Commander! Will you excuse me for a moment?"

Without waiting for a response, Dieanicas marched off to speak with one of his officers.

Apollo said nothing more. He cast a glance over to where Boomer and Starbuck were standing, waiting to board the strange looking conveyance, and knew they had heard the conversation between Commander Dieanicas and himself. They stepped over to where he was.

"What was that all about?" Boomer asked.

"I think I know what our Scorpion friends want from us!" Apollo said quietly. "The Commander kind of let the felis out of the bag and let it slip that they want to return to the Colonies."

"Is he serious?" Starbuck exclaimed. "Doesn't he realize the Colonies are under Cylon control?"

"He knows Starbuck, but I think that these people have it in mind to try and take the Colonies back!" Apollo said.

"That's crazy!" Starbuck said, his voice rising slightly. "They'll get themselves killed!"

"I know, but what can we do? We have no authority to stop them."

Just then Commander Dieanicas called to the three senior Warriors and asked them to board the transport. Apollo waved a hand and began walking over, telling Boomer and Starbuck to keep their conversation secret.

Once they were on board the transport, it began rolling away at a surprisingly rapid pace toward the center of the city. The Galactica's officers were amazed at what they saw as they approached the city. There were agro fields that stretched off to the horizon with crops and livestock aplenty. It reminded Apollo of the agro communities he use to see on Caprica and Pisceria.

As they neared the city, the landscape changed from one of green fields to a more urban setting. Large groups of houses were everywhere, with wide lanes running in all directions. It wasn't long before the housing communities gave way to the city proper. The Galacticans were speechless as they came within sight of the full city.

Huge buildings seemed to have sprouted up out of the very ground and rise to unimaginable heights as they came up over a small rise of hills and entered a wide valley. As far as the eye could see, there were buildings of every size and shape bisected by wide lanes of traffic. Vehicles of many types sped by the one they were in, heading to and from the city. Something that caught all the Galacticans attention was that all the vehicles were riding on wheels! They hadn't realized it till then, but they had not seen a single hovermobile or flyer since arriving.

The ride was a quiet one, no one saying much as the Galacticans marveled at the wondrous city until their vehicle pulled into a plaza in front of a group of gigantic, cylindrical buildings that made up a vast complex. Apollo strained his neck trying to see the top of the centermost tower, but was unable to see it from his seat.

"Do you believe this place?" Starbuck whispered. "These buildings are taller then the ones on Caprica!"

"Yeah, looks like our hosts have made a pretty good life for themselves here over the past four centuries!" Boomer remarked.

The vehicle came to a stop in front of one of the buildings where a huge door slid open, allowing them to drive inside to a large parking area. The vehicle came to a smooth stop near a bank of what appeared to be turbolifts.

"Commander, if you and your officers will follow me I'll take you to my Lord King's office." Dieanicas said, his good natured smile firmly back in place.

The Galactican officers followed Dieanicas to the turbolifts and boarded the car once the door opened. The doors then slid shut and the turbolift began to ascend at a fearfully high rate of speed. Several of the Galacticans, Apollo included were a bit nauseated by the quick trip. Dieanicas cast a sideways glance at Apollo and quietly smiled and laughed to himself thinking, "These Colonies bred people are so soft, they would never make it as Scorpion Warriors!"

After what seemed like a secton to Apollo and the others, the lift slowed to a stop. The doors slid open and Dieanicas stepped out into a long, wide alcove with banks of turbolifts on three walls and an open area facing onto a central atrium.

"Come this way." Dieanicas said gruffly as he led the group from the turbolift and out onto the walk way that circled the inner core of the building. Apollo and Starbuck walked over to the railing and looked down. They couldn't believe how high up they were!

"I'd hate to take a wrong step from up here!" Starbuck whispered.

"You'd only do it once buddy!" Apollo said with a slap on Starbuck's shoulder, then the two Warriors hustled along to catch up with the rest of the group.

Dieanicas led them to a pair of large, ornate doors that depicted what Apollo believed was some great victory from the Scorpion past. The doors swung slowly open as Dieanicas approached, revealing a large, high ceilinged hall. The group entered the hall, their footsteps echoing as they went, heading for another set of doors at the far end. This door was guarded by a pair of sentries wearing old style Scorpion uniforms and carrying a variety of weapons.

Dieanicas stop several metrons from the sentries and told the Apollo and his officers to wait there for a moment while he announced their arrival. He then proceeded forward, exchanging a few words with the sentries before passing thru the doors. Apollo and the others stood silently, waiting for their escort return.

They looked about the hall, admiring the beautiful architecture and the large number of old style "paintings" that adorned the walls. Most showed scenes of great battles or war ships sailing in formation above unknown planets. There was one in particular that showed what could only have been the capital city of Scorpius, Lacedaemon. It had a profound effect on the Galactican Warriors. It was at that moment that Dieanicas returned and bid them to follow him into the next room.

When they entered the room, they found a lushly appointed office with plush carpets and hand carved furnishing. Dozens of exquisite tapestries hung from the walls and the ceiling had a mural painted on it that was of the quality and grandeur of those seen in great houses of worship on Caprica. The whole office was awe-inspiring!

Apollo took all this in before his gaze feel upon the man seated behind the desk at the far end of the room, a man he recognized from his previous conversation.

He was busy talking to another man that Apollo did not recognize, but assumed from his attire that he was a high ranking civilian. As they approached, the pair concluded their talk and swung their attention to the newcomers.

"My lord king," Dieanicas began, "I present to you Commander Apollo of the Colonial Battlestar Galactica. Commander Apollo, I present to you, his royal highness, King Leonitus."

Apollo took several steps forward, then bowed his head, saying, "Greetings Lord King, On behalf of the people of the Galactican fleet, I greet you as a brother of Kobol."

Leonitus rose from his seat and made his way around the desk to stand face to face with Apollo. He was half a head shorter then Apollo and perhaps thirty yahren his senior, but the power of this mans presence was undeniable. Apollo felt as if he were a raw cadet called before the commandant of the Caprican Military Academy, the man exuded such presence.

Leonitus stopped directly in front of Apollo and stared him in the eyes for a moment, his face an unreadable mask. After what seemed an eternity to Apollo, he extended his hand and clasped Apollo's arm in the customary greeting of the Colonial Warrior.

"Greetings Commander, and welcome to Scorpius." He said in somewhat heavily accented Colonial standard. "I have been looking forward to this meeting since we came across your Commander Bojay!"

"Speaking of Bojay, where is he?" Starbuck whispered to Boomer.

Leonitus turned to Starbuck and said, "I have already sent for your friend Commander…..?"

"Allow me to introduce my senior staff." Apollo said quickly before Starbuck could say anything else.

"This is Commander Starbuck, commander of the Battlestar Carpathia." Apollo said indicating Starbuck.

"The Carpathia?" Leonitus said, casting a glance at Commander Dieanicas. "That was the ship your great Grandsire commanded Commander Dieanicas.

"Yes lord king." He said with a bow, then to Starbuck he said, "I would appreciate the opportunity to visit the Carpathia Commander."

"Anytime you like Commander." Starbuck said with a slight smile.

Apollo continued down the line of officers, introducing each of them to Leonitus, who seemed very interested in each of their backgrounds and expertise as Warriors. Once the introductions were finished, Leonitus asked the Galactica officers to follow him into a conference room where they could sit down and talk at length about the many topics that were going thru the minds of both groups.

The conference room they entered looking more like the "War room" aboard the Galactica then a conference room. It was much larger then the Galactica's and was manned by a large number of Warriors who were monitoring stations in a huge gallery on the other side of a glass wall. The Galactica officers were amazed at the intricate design and functionality of the Scorpion command center with its huge display monitors and three dimensional maps of the star system from which they could keep track all the ships in their space.

As Leonitus made his way to the head of the table, he touched a small panel on the wall next to the glass wall causing it to slowly change from transparent to opaque, thus blocking the view of the command center.

Leonitus waved Apollo and the others to be seated as he sat down in his seat. A few moments later, the door to the room opened and several officers and civilians walked in, among them, Bojay.

The new arrivals moved to the seats on the opposite side of the table from the Galactican officers. They all stood there for a moment, turned toward Leonitus and bowed. Leonitus returned the gesture and waved them to be seated. They quickly took their seats. Leonitus turned to Apollo.

"Commander Apollo, allow me to introduce the members of my council. This is Commander Dieanicas, whom you've already meet. He is my second in command and Commander of the Warstar Alewndrina, the ship that brought you here. Next to him is my chief advisor, First Minister Solon. Next are my senior military advisors, Commanders Alexois, Atreus, Ptolemy and Teris. They command the various divisions of our military. Next to them is my Minister of Justice, Demokritos and the large fellow on the end is my chief of staff, Makedon."

The officers nodded to their Colonial counterparts as they were introduced.

"And of course you know your own Commander Bojay!" he added jokingly.

Everyone laughed as Bojay greeted his comrades and then took his seat.

Leonitus began to speak.

"Commander, I know you must have a thousand questions you'd like to ask of us, as we do you. But before we get down to such serious matters as that, I'd like to invite you and all your people to join us in celebration as we celebrate the reunification of our two great peoples. After nearly four hundred yahren, we Scorpions have been on our own with no contact with our brothers, but now, we will finally be rejoined with the sons of Kobol."

Apollo looked down the table at the rest of his comrades then back to Leonitus.

"We would be honored to join you and your people sir." Apollo told him. "It's been nearly twenty yahren since our people have had an opportunity to get off their ships and truly relax and enjoy themselves."

"Excellent! Once all of your ships have been transported here we can set up a rotation of relief crews for your vessels."

"With all due respect Lord King, I'd feel better if I had my own people stand the watches aboard our ships." Apollo said, quickly adding, "They're more familiar with the systems."

Leonitus's face darkened somewhat at this, but he said nothing, only nodding his assent, then he moved on to another subject.

"So tell us Commander, what is this place you and your people are heading for? Commander Bojay could not tell us much about your destination, only that it was called "Earth". What is this "Earth"?"

"Well Commander, according to the Book of the Word, Earth is the name of the planet that the thirteenth tribe of Kobol colonized during the exodus from Kobol. My father believed that if we could find the thirteenth tribe, they might be able to assist us in our fight with the Cylons. Unfortunately, he didn't live to see that happen."

Leonitus nodded his head slowly, understanding what Apollo was feeling, then he said, "I remember this story now, but I always thought that was a just a legend, is not the thirteenth tribe of Kobol a myth?"

"My father believed it was real. He spent a good part of his life reading thru the old tombs and scrolls on Caprica before the holocaust looking for information as to the existence of the thirteenth tribe and its location. When the Cylons destroyed our worlds, he believed in it strongly enough to try and find them."

"I see, so have you an idea as to where they are?" Leonitus asked.

"We have a good idea of what course they traveled, you see, twenty three yahren ago we encountered a race of advanced beings that gave us information about the thirteenth tribe and a general course to follow. Since that time, we've found trace's of human presence having traveled along that course in the distant past, but we still don't know for sure if it was the thirteenth tribe or just some long forgotten expedition. Whatever the case, we knew we couldn't go back to the Colonies, not with the Cylons there."

Leonitus nodded.

"Then we found the ships left behind by the Second Colonial Fleet. When we found the directions left behind by Commander Dienekes, we followed them until we found you."

"Advanced beings you say?" Leonitus asked skeptically. "Are you sure you can trust these "advanced beings"? They may have sent you off on a wild avian chase!"

Apollo smiled slightly as he cast a glance toward Starbuck, who was also smiling and said, "I think the people that gave us this information can be trusted."

Leonitus nodded his head slowly, not sure what to think about these "advanced beings" the Galactica's Commander was speaking of. Then he continued.

"You said you found the ships left by our ancestors? Where did you find them?"

"We found them in a giant cloud of space dust some six sectars travel from here at light speed." Apollo told him.

Leonitus's face lost some of its color at hearing this. He quickly turned to Dieanicas and said something in a hushed tone, then turned back to Apollo.

"This dust cloud you speak of, does its span seem to go on forever in all directions, as if a curtain had been pulled across space?"

Apollo nodded his head.

"Indeed it does. As a matter of fact, even with our advanced scanners, we were unable to find the edges of it!"

Leonitus nodded his head, saying, "We know of this dust cloud. We have sent a number of expeditions into this cloud to see what was there and beyond. Unfortunately most of them never returned."

"What happened to them?" Starbuck asked.

"We don't know, they were never seen or heard from again, not even a piece of wreckage was found." Leonitus told him. "Since the last expedition was lost some hundred yahren ago, we've not sent anymore. The cost in ships and Warriors was too great!"

A moment of silence followed that statement as each Warrior thought about all the brave men and women that had disappeared on those ill fated missions. Then Leonitus continued.

"How many ships of the Second Fleet did you find Commander?"

"We found a total of thirty seven ships, though we were only able to salvage eleven of them. The rest were either too badly damaged to be salvaged or were blocked in by other ships, we felt it would be unwise to try and move them."

Leonitus nodded his head slowly then asked, "Do you have a list of the ships you found and of those ships you were able to salvage Commander?"

Apollo nodded as Ensign Sabo handed him a small folder.

"This is a complete listing of all the ships we found and their condition. We sent teams aboard each ship to evaluate wither they could be salvaged and to gather up what personal effects we could of the former crews, just in case we were able to find you. We thought your people would appreciate having them for their "Chains"."

Each member of the Scorpion contingent sat up straight in their chairs with looks of astonishment on their faces! They could not believe what Apollo had just said.

"You know about the "Chains" Commander?" Leonitus asked somewhat shaken.

"Yes sir we do, thanks to Ensign Sabo here." Apollo said, indicating the young officer seated behind him. "He's the one that told us about the Scorpion "Chains of Life"."

All eyes turned to the young man Apollo had indicated. Leonitus rose slowly from his seat, followed by the other members of the Scorpion delegation. Then they all came to attention and saluted the junior officer. This brought some confused looks from the other Galactica officers.

"Ensign Sabo, Commander Apollo, you honor us with this act of extreme thoughtfulness!" Leonitus said. "Few people outside of the Scorpion culture could understand what this gesture means to us."

Sabo blushed slightly and muttered a simple "You're welcome sir."

Leonitus saw the questioning looks on the faces of the Galactican officers so he began to explain.

"I see that you are confused by this gentlemen, let me try and explain." He began. "We of Scorpion decent believe that there is an unbroken chain that runs thru each of us. It connects us to every member of our family stretching back to the days of Kobol and beyond. This chain we call the "Chain of Life" and it is represented by a personal item, usually a weapon or piece of jewelry that are passed down from one generation to the next."

The Galactica officers were beginning to understand.

"When our forefathers were forced to abandon most of their ships, they had to leave behind nearly every personal item they had, including their "chains". This was a most difficult decision for my great grandsire, King Leonidas to make, but it was unavoidable. In truth, it is my belief that he had always intended on returning to reclaim those ships and their treasures."

"Why do you suppose he didn't?" Apollo asked.

Leonitus shrugged his broad shoulders and said, "Who can say? There are no records of my great grandsire ever sending out any expeditions to retrieve them. It's as if he forgot they were out there."

"You said there were several expeditions sent into the cloud. If Leonidas didn't send them, who did?"

"My grandsire, Leonardus sent the first. That was about two hundred thirty yahren ago, shortly after King Leonidas died in a shuttle accident."

"Two hundred thirty yahren ago? How old was Leonidas? I mean if he was around fifty when they left the Colonies……" Starbuck blurted out before he could stop himself. He glanced around at the others and found them staring at him with looks that ranged from anger and disgust to totally amused. The normally brash Starbuck sank back in his seat and mumbled a simple, "Sorry!"

Apollo was furious with his friend's lack of protocol. He was about to admonish him when he heard Leonitus chuckling. Apollo turned to see Leonitus looking at Starbuck with the same amused look one gives a child that says something totally unexpected at the worse possible moment.

"Your are a most impetuous man Commander Starbuck! You remind me much of one of my own commanders, Commander Polinikes. He too has trouble restraining himself." Leonitus said with a bit of a bite. "But no matter, in answer to your question Commander, my great grandsire was two hundred and twelve yahrens old when he crashed his shuttle. From what we were able to piece together, the stabilizing gyro failed just as he was landing. His ship crashed. There were no survivors."

"I'm sorry for your loss Lord King." Apollo said softly, then added, "You said "HE" crashed his shuttle? You mean King Leonidas was piloting the shuttle?"

"That's right Commander, King Leonidas would never allow anyone else to fly a ship he was on. He always had to be at the controls."

Wasn't that somewhat risky, I mean, at his age, was it wise to let him keep flying?" Apollo asked.

"In most cases, we would insist that a Warrior be taken off flight status once they reach the age of one hundred and fifty yahren, but in King Leonidas's case, the records showed that even at the age of two hundred and twelve, he scored amongst the top of all our Warriors in both shuttles and fighters. That was only three sectons before the crash. He even would take on regular patrols from time to time. So you see Commander, there was no need for him not to fly. The crash that killed him was caused by a mechanical failure, not pilot error."

"I'm curious, how is it that your people came to be so far from the colonies?" asked Apollo.

"That Commander is a tale worth the telling." Leonitus said and thus began telling the tale of the Second Fleet. "It all started about a yahren before the Second Fleet departed, when word came to my great grandsire that the Cylons were getting ready to invade the sector known as Thermopylae. Thermopylae was as you know a very important strategic sector as it was a prime source of Tylium."

Starbuck leaned over to Apollo and whispered, "Should we tell him that Thermopylae has been in Cylon hands for the past three hundred and eighty yahren?"

Apollo gave Starbuck a sideways glance and shook his head slightly as he listened to Leonitus's story.

"The fleet set sail from Scorpia with over seven hundred ships, including twelve "Olympia" class Battlestars, which were the top of the line in those days and another score of the older "Alexandria" class Battlestars in support. It was said that my great grandsire did not like the "Olympia" class Battlestars because they were "too" modern and didn't "feel" like true war ships. That was why he and most of his senior Commanders kept their old "Alexandria" class ships."

This brought smiles and a few chuckles from the assembled officers. Leonitus continued.

"They set course for the Pythios Nebula in the hopes of heading off the Cylon invasion fleet before they could establish a toe-hold in Thermopylae. The plan was, as I have read in the records of the battle, to set up an ambush in the nebula and then send a small force out to bring the Cylons to it."

Apollo nodded his head, understanding the genius of the plan.

"The nebula would mask their ships from the Cylon scanners."

Leonitus smiled and nodded to Apollo as he continued.

"That's correct Commander, unfortunately the Cylons had already thought of that. You see, when the Second fleet arrived at the nebula, they spotted a small fleet of Cylon ships, perhaps a hundred or so, that had made their way thru the nebula and was heading toward them. When the Cylons picked up our fleet on their scanners, they turned back as if to flee, but it was a ruse. They were the bait to a Cylon ambush!"

The members of the Galactica contingent all sat up straight in their seats at hearing this. Starbuck again spoke out before Apollo could say anything.

"They did what King Leonidas was going to do!"

Leonitus cast a glance at Starbuck and said, "Yes, they did exactly what we were going to do to them. Unfortunatley for us they arrived at the nebula first."

Leonitus gave a heavy sigh and went on, the sadness in his voice heavy.

"It was at that time that King Leonidas made one of the few mistakes of his career for he sent the fleet headlong in pursuit of the Cylons and directly into their trap. Before he knew it, they were surrounded by over a thousand Cylon warships including over a hundred of the Cylons top of the line Baseships. They came out of the nebula, each one launching hundreds of their newest fighter craft, fighters that had twice the speed and firepower of our Scarab and Asp fighters. Add to that the hundreds of support craft, well; needless to say, the tide of battle quickly went against our forces."

"What did they do?" Starbuck asked like a child listening to his father's telling of a great tale.

"Well, thou it pained him to do so, King Leonidas was forced to pull back his forces, lest they be annihilated."

Leonitus leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling, as if seeing the events of the past as he continued his tale.

"So the call went out for the fleet to fall back and regroup near Rimas Prime, one of the major planets in the Thermopylae sector. There King Leonidas hoped to organize a counterattack and turn the tides back in his favor, but the Cylons pursued them relentlessly, never giving them the chance to regroup. After several centars of fierce fighting, it was obvious that the Second Fleet was doomed and that the only way for any of them to survive was for Leonidas to order all ships into a full retreat, a thing that no Scorpion commander had ever done!"

This last part he added with great sadness, then he continued.

"And so, he ordered the fleet to take whatever actions they needed to to evade their merciless enemies and make their way back to Colonial space. He then took what was left of his battle group, five Battlestars and about sixty support ships in all, and in an attempt to pull the main force of Cylons away from the rest of the fleet, he attacked the command Baseship."

"Sixty five ships against a command Baseship! Those things usually have an escort of around two hundred ships!" Apollo said, the surprise in his voice quiet evident.

Leonitus nodded and said, "Indeed Commander, but even with the odds so out of balance, King Leonidas knew that if he did not try and divert the Cylons attention away from the fleet, they would all perish. So, without hesitation, they flew straight into the maw of the beast!"

The Galactican Warriors shook their heads in amazement at the audacity and courage of the Second Fleet's commander and crews. Leonitus continued.

"The attack by our forces caught the Cylons totally unaware as they had expected our fleet to break and run. When the Spartica and the other ships under King Leonidas's command came about and surged forward, the Cylon command Baseship did not open fire, but simply sat motionless in space, as if the fleet commander did not realize its ship was coming under attack. That delay ended up costing them greatly."

Leonitus stood up and began pacing around the room as he spoke.

"King Leonidas and Commander Dienekes struck the command Baseship with a barrage of missiles and laser fire that ripped the giant ship to pieces. The protective screen of Baseships and Battlecruisers attempted to protect the command ship but they too had been caught off guard and were unable to put up an adequate defense. The Destroyers under King Leonidas command opened a huge gape in the defensive perimeter allowing the Spartica and the Carpathia to slip thru and destroy the command ship."

"Glorious!" Sabo said softly from behind Apollo, not realizing that he had spoken aloud.

Apollo and Starbuck both turned in their seats and looked at the young man.

"Indeed it was my young friend." Leonitus said with an approving smile. Then he turned back to Apollo and continued.

"After they had successfully destroyed the command Baseship, King Leonidas gave orders for all ships to proceed at light speed to the Pythios Nebula where he hoped to lose the Cylon pursuit. But they never made it to the Nebula!" Leonitus said with a soft tone to his voice. "As they tried to make good their escape, something very strange happened."

Leonitus stopped speaking at this point, staring out one of the windows, but not seeing the view. He was seeing the events of that day oh so long ago being played out before his eyes. After several moments of silence, Apollo spoke.

"Are you alright Lord King?"

Apollo's voice brought Leonitus's thoughts back to the present and he continued.

"My apologize gentlemen, I find that when I think too hard about the stories of our past, my mind has taken to the habit of taking me there with remarkably clear and vivid recollections."

"Totally understandable Lord King!" Dieanicas said, glancing around at the others with a look that warned all that they should say nothing. Then to Leonitus he said, "Please sire, continue with the tale."

Leonitus nodded and continued.

"As the ships of the Second Fleet sped away with the Cylon fleet in full pursuit, King Leonidas wrote in his report that "The maw of space opened wide before us, and a great whirlpool appeared. We were unable to avoid the opening as it appeared so suddenly before us, and as we entered the swirling tunnel, time and space seemed to converge upon us and in the blink of an eye, we were away."

Leonidas paused for a moment as he looked around the table. The faces of those present all held the same amazed and expectant expression. He continued.

"In less time then it takes to launch an Asp from the flight deck, we returned to normal space, only this was not the same space we had been in just microns before. The stars we gazed upon were not those we were so familiar with, but those of some alien system. There were no navigational signals from which to pick a course, no star geometrics to gain a bearing from ……. nothing that we could use to aid us in learning our whereabouts. Even the whirlpool that had brought us to this foreign universe had disappeared, closing in upon itself just as the last of our ships emerged, leaving not a single trace of its existence."

"That is how King Leonidas reported the incident that brought our people to this far distant corner of space." Leonitus told them.

"What did they do after they found themselves stranded here?" Starbuck asked.

"From what I've read of the records dealing with that time, they spent the first few days here searching for the whirlpool that had brought them to this sector of space, but were unable to find any trace of it. After nearly a secton of searching, King Leonidas decided that there was little hope of finding the phenomenon that had brought them here so he had the fleet make course back along the direction they had been on when they had entered the whirlpool in the hope that they might be able to retrace the route they had been taken on. But instead of finding their way back to familiar space, they came upon the dust cloud that you and your people found."

Apollo leaned forward and listened intently.

"The records tell us that King Leonidas followed the clouds perimeter for well over a sectar, sending several ships all directions along its perimeter in search of a way around it, but none was ever found. When no way around could be found, King Leonidas sent a task force of six ships, led by the Battlestar Andromeda into the cloud. They had been inside the cloud no more then a ten centons when all contact was lost. A destroyer was sent in to search for the missing ships, but it too disappeared. A third ship, the Gunstar Typhius was sent in and like those before, it too vanished without a trace. It was at that point that King Leonidas decided it would be foolish to send anymore ships into the cloud, so he abandoned trying to go thru the cloud and continued along its perimeter."

"Did you ever find out what happened to all those ships that went into the cloud?" Starbuck asked.

"No Commander, no trace of them was ever found." Leonitus stated flatly. Then he continued.

"After another sectar, a new problem arose in the fleet. Their fuel supply was beginning to run low. King Leonidas brought the fleet to a standstill and conferred with his senior staff as to what course of action they should take. After much discussion it was decided that a large portion of the fleet would have to be left behind."

A collective sigh was all that could be heard as Leonitus paused for a moment, then he went on.

"It was decided that only two Battlestar's, the Spartica and the Arcadia, along with one Gunstar would continue on along with all the fuel tankers and supply ships. They would transfer all of the fuel, weapons, spare parts and fighters, Asp's and Scarab's they could carry to the ships they were keeping and then seal and move those ships being left behind into the dust cloud where they could be retrieved at a later date. At least that was the plan. For some unknown reason however, they never went back to retrieve them. It is my belief that the location of the abandoned ships was lost somehow. After a time, I believe that King Leonidas simply forgot them."

The room was silent for several long moments, then before anyone could speak, a young officer entered the room from a door leading in from the command center they had seen earlier. The officer walked over to Leonitus, saluted and handed him a sheet of paper. Leonitus looked it over, nodded to the young man, who saluted and then departed. Leonitus turned to where Apollo sat and said, "It seems the rest of your fleet has arrived Commander. If you would like, you may return to your ships and make whatever preparations you need before we begin our celebrations."

Apollo stood and bowed, saying, "I think we should be getting back to our duties Lord King. There are a great many things that need to be done before the celebration tonight. With your permission Lord King?"

Leonitus stood up, prompting the others to stand as well, and walked around the table to grasp Apollo's wrist in a Warriors handshake.

"Then go my friend. Take care of your charges, and when you are ready, contact my aide and he will arrange your transportation to the Great Hall!"

Leonitus motioned to an officer that had stood silently at one end of the room during the meeting and he in turn motioned for the Galactican officers to follow him. As the Galactican officers followed the Scorpion officer out of the room, Dieanicas stepped closer to Leonitus and began to speak.

"Why did you not ask them, my lord?"

Leonitus turned to his friend and told him, "All in good time my friend, all in good time. First we must gain their trust. Once we have done that, then we will get that which we desire."

Leonitus slapped his friend on the shoulder and said, "For now, we make friends with these Colonials and learn as much as we can. Now go and ready yourself for the celebration. I believe this could be the most important night of our lives!