Record keeping time: Not much to say right now. But to keep things clear. Yes, Earth Alliance is giving the Colonials fits at this moment. The Cylons are being attacked as wee by an unnamed enemy (can we spell Drazi?) and Earth Alliance who are more or less working together. Everyone is being played by the Shadows. Meanwhile, in another part of the galaxy another drama is being played fleets here know nothing about what is happening at home, at least not yet. And finally, the Race steps in…
Part one, this chapter is the setup, Chapter IX will be the conflict as the newcomers tried to understand what';s happening without them being killed off by skittish members of the Race.
'Establishing the Balance' will continue after the next chapter here. The Race plays their part in both series.
Please enjoy. Thank you.
Roads paved in Shadow
Book II
Chapter VIII
The other side of the Mountain-Part 1
101 light years from Sol system
Three United Coalition ships, Sseki class dropped out of hyperspace some one hundred thousand kilometers distant from an unidentified convoy that simply appeared from nowhere. The three ships, crewed by males of the Race immediately cloaked, becoming effectively invisible to the huge but less advanced ships. Unable to be detected, the UCW vessels began to cautiously stalk their targets. These vessels were a current unknown and the UCW was taking no chances in light of recent events.
In the last four months, the Coalition had responded to no less than five worlds attacked by unknowns. All of those worlds were part of the Protective Planets Treaty and in each case, there were no survivors. Whoever was responsible for the attacks destroyed the small, primitive settlements on each planet from orbit. Other than the fact that all were under the PPT, along with the destruction of the Tok'ra capital city and base, this brought the number of attacks to six. There was no discernable pattern other than the most obvious one.
The type of weapon used in each of the attacks varied between two main types. The first used a neutron-based energy as its basis. The beam itself was extremely toxic to life forms, killing everyone and everything within four hundred meters from the actual beam itself. The second weapon was some sort of plasma-based fusion weapon that literally melted and burned everything that it touched. Entire villages, towns, even entire small cities were wiped from the face of the planets. So far tens of thousands of people had died, and the Coalition had no idea as to who this enemy was although there was a strong suspicion that the Ashtorath were somehow involved. The enemy intentionally avoided any contact with any world that had technology advanced enough to have hyperspace communications that could reach the UCW. The attack was so sudden and calculated that many of the protected worlds that did have a stargates, the people were unable to use them before they were slaughtered.
The continued random attacks had put the entire Coalition on edge. Everyone from the Terrans, to the Tollanians, to the Race were on edge. It was assumed that eventually whomever this was that was attacking the planets covered by the treaty would eventually turn our eyes on the more advanced worlds when they were ready. The only clue that they had reports from Anise and the young survivors of the Tok'ra massacre.
Colonel Jon O'Neill spoke to Anise personally when she was transferred to the Alpha site three months earlier. What he and his team saw shocked them to the core. Whatever had happened to her had left her a shell of her former self. Although slowly recovering, she still looks like a withered old woman and they were all reminded of the similarities of having suffered from a Wraith feeding. It took some time as she explained what happened to her people. What she told the was initially met with skepticism at first even though the evidence was undeniable. The type of alien that she had described had never been seen before, but it gave nightmares to everyone who heard her story. These invisible, phase-shifting aliens were nothing less than killing machines and like the Wraith, they fed on Humans. The creatures that attacked Anise would have killed her if she hadn't used one of her own experiments on herself. The modified viral enhancing agent that she self-injected gave her the strength and the stamina to fight off a creature more than twice her size. But the price of victory was high. She wasn't sure but when the creature attacked and tried to feed on her, the viral agent which enhanced her enabled her to fight it off both physically and biologically. Apparently, and she thanked every real god that existed if they did, the viral agent was poisonous to the creature and combined with her symbiont's now enhanced regenerative ability, she was actually able overpower the creature at the same time she used her personal weapon to blow its head off. The creature had literally phased its mouth into her body. The viral agent must have forced its retreat. Causing it to phase out of her body enough for her to shoot it. she emptied her energy clip into its armored, teeth-ridden, excuse for a face.
Her young allies helped her fall through the stargate before the entire complex blew. When they made it through the gate, she promptly collapsed. She woke up and discovered that she had lost almost forty percent of her body weight and by all rights should have been a corpse. Her nervous system was disrupted, her respiratory system and circulatory system damaged as well.
The viral agent was effective. It saved her life.
However, side effects were worse than she anticipated. The drug had overloaded her system while at the same time fighting off the feeding creature. Her skin had wrinkled. Her hair had shriveled into a tangled mess with a lot of it falling out. Her eyes were shrunken and red. The medics that worked on her work were surprised that she had lived through those first few nights. A month later, she was still recovering and beginning to look more like her normal self but was going to be a long, slow process. The symbiote had been injured in the attack and being subjected to the enhancing agent and it would be months possibly years before it would recover completely, if ever. The experiment was a success, the recovery, not so much.
But despite her injuries, she counted herself lucky that she was one of the few of her people still alive. General Jack O'Neill, head of Homeworld Security, came to see her and even he was shocked by her condition.
He treated her with a bit of respect and gentleness to her surprise she acknowledged his existence without being contemptuous. The events had changed her more than she knew. The young children that she fought so hard to protect had never left her side and for that both Anise and Freya were grateful. The bind between her and her young charges had grown exponentially.
The only evidence everyone was convinced of was that this was no coincidence. It had all the signs of a coordinated attack building up. With upmost secrecy, the general informed the Asgard as to what was happening. The Asgard were still slowly and quietly rebuilding their civilization and now they were on guard. They were not happy, and their scientists and covert explorers were gathering evidence. Together, the UCW were going to uncover what was going on before it turned into a disaster of epic proportions.
UCW ship 26th Emperor Jorpna
One of the conditions that was demanded by the Race before joining the UCW was that they would be allowed to name their own space-going ships. This is a tradition that dated back almost twenty-thousand years and they were very adamant about it. It was a very small concession which the UCW could easily live when taken into consideration that most of the coalition vessels possessed Terran names and many of the non-Terrans weren't overly happy about it. After the failed conquest of Earth, the original fleet was relocated to the planet now called Home II. As was tradition and as was necessary those ships landed on the planet, were decommissioned, and taken apart to help build the colony. The new ships that they now used were commissioned by the current Emperor, again using the names of the honored, deceased emperors that rule Home in the past. The members of the race were very happy in part because they didn't have to butcher the Terran names that would have been used for the ships the males of the Race flew.
Eventually females would be allowed to integrate with the males on military and civilian ships as soon as the problem with mating season was finally put under control. Certain drugs were useful for this particular method, however the race being very cautious species, did not as of yet, implement any rules and regulations concerning such radical changes
Until their biological and social scientists finished studying the implications. Those feasibility studies would take a few years. The race was a very slow and methodical and had no intentions of rushing into this.
As for the ships, there were light years more advanced than anything the Race ever possessed and although many would not admit it, they were as static about it. There were too many nasty neighbors running around the galaxy for them to be otherwise. Earth might have once been considered a bad neighbor, but as bad neighbors went, they were so bad compared to many others.
"We are cloaked, three light seconds from the unknows, Superior sir. All Coalition ships accounted for."
"Acknowledged, Senior Navigator," Shiplord Straha responded. "Senior Scanner Jsilop, what does our probing tell us?"
"There are eighteen vessels of various configurations, three light seconds from our position. Their energy emissions are comparable to our old conquest ships although higher, superior sir. I detect nuclear weapons, most likely missiles already in their launchers. They have no shielding that I can detect. The warships are positioned in a way that protect what I believe are noncombatant ships. It is my opinion that this is a convoy of some type, possibly an exploratory expedition, not a war fleet. Our computers are identifying the ships as follows."
"Proceed."
"Scans indicate that the species flying the ships are Human. There's one large vessel identified as a warship, two smaller vessels similar in configuration, three cruiser analogs, and what I believe to be four destroyer escorts positioned away from the convoy possibly being used as a screen. I see three large transports, one large fuel tanker, possibly one military transport in effect, and freighter of unknown identification. The last two vessels appear to be large civilian carriers although heavily armed. Correction Sir, I now see small killercraft exiting from the three largest military vessels. I believe this is a CAP screen to increase the protection of the vessels. Some of these space capable killercraft are carrying nuclear ordinance as part of their missile package."
"Can you scan those missiles in order to determine their payloads and profiles?"
"Yes, superior sir."
"Determine if the nuclear profile is the same that was used in the destruction of the Tok'ra home world."
"Yes… Their nuclear profile does not match what we identified at the Tok'ra base."
"Very well. We can rule them out as the probable perpetrators," Straha announced.
"Superior sir, Shiplord Kirel indicates that he wishes to open communications with the unknown vessels that have entered UCW space."
Straha's eye turrets looked at the male. The male still considered UCW space as 'Coalition space', not 'our space'. Some males hadn't made the full transition yet, which was to be expected. Others had started speaking like Tosevite Terrans themselves as they seemed to embrace the Humans. It was still unnerving how easily that occurred among the military males. Even he had been inclined to do something similar. Atvar had laughed when he mention this to him.
"It is his right as Senior Shiplord of this patrol." Straha had expected nothing less since Kirel was one of the few males of the race that had greater authority than he. In the old, now defunct Conquest Fleet that was commissioned to conquer Tosev III, now known as Terra or Earth, Atvar, Kirel, and he were the three most senior ranking males. Those positions had not changed and as part of this expedition fleet, Kirel was the senior male officer.
"Inform the shiplord that I acknowledge his order."
The male in charge of communications paused for a second. Turning to his shiplord he continued. "He also orders that Senior Navigator Nignxe, because of his propensity for understanding Tosevites/Humans of most variations would perform his assigned duty as First Contact liaison for the glory of the Race and the UCW."
"It shall be done. Nignxe, you have been given responsibility for first contact with these unknown Humans. I expect nothing less than your best. With this first contact we do not to confuse the Humans and start a shooting match. I do not want the paperwork and neither does shiplord Kirel."
"Yes, Superior sir," Nignxe said with barely controlled enthusiasm.
Straha maintained his command face but inside he was smiling. The Senior Navigator was nothing less than a savant when it came to understanding and interacting with the Humans. The male connected to them in ways that few members of the Race ever had so far. Even Straha's relations with General and Colonel O'Neill didn't match the intimacy that Nignxe achieved by just being himself. His easy interaction made him a legend among his superiors. His 'gift' as some referred to it as, made his status grow in importance both politically and militarily. It also made him a target. Fleetlord Reffet of the Colonization Fleet simply hated him. Most of the Race's psychologists hated him, or rather were envious his ability to move, even live among the Humans without difficulty. He even had an apartment on Earth and was a popular figure in the city of Denver. Many of the senior historians, psychologists, and researchers who specialize in the study of Humanity either wanted him to go home to Home and never to be seen again or tried to force him to work under their authority. Ironically, Straha, Atvar and Kirel honored the male for those exact same reasons. Plus, it amused them to see the Colonization fleetlord hiss impotently at the male because of his status. Nignxe was a great navigator, but he was a greater asset when interacting with Humans. Emperor Runshan found a way to allow the male to do both to the satisfaction to everyone who did not hate him.
Another male, Tusan, continued pouring over computer records trying to identify the unknown targets. "Superior sir, I have tentatively identified the unknown targets. I have conferred with other specialists and our conclusion is that with ninety percent accuracy, these vessels are from the Cyrannus star system, nine thousand, sixty-eight, point two six seven light years from Tau Ceti II. Further information is available," he added.
"Open communications with Fleetlord Kirel and Shiplord Vushi."
"It shall be done, superior sir…communications are open. They can hear our transmissions."
"Fleetlord Kirel and Shiplord Vushi, our specialists have identified the vessels with a high degree of accuracy. We will pass this information to you that you may be aware of it."
"We have already seen the information, but we should confer among ourselves so that we will be prepared," Kirel said. "When contacting hon-Terran Tosevites, like their relatives, nothing should be taken for granted." His lower jaw fell open in laughter. The emperors knew how chaotic Humans, or as he preferred to call them 'Tosevites,' were.
"Speak so that we may all be aware of what we are becoming involved in," ordered Straha.
"It shall be done. Ten Tosevite years ago, the Earth warship Prometheus discovered the Cyrannus star system. This happened during the Vorlon-Asgard war. The Prometheus's hyperdrive was damaged during the battle and they encountered the Humans called the Colonial Kobollians. First Contact did not go well. The information given them by the Senior doctor of Archelogy and Languages, Daniel Jackson. contradicted the Colonials' local superstitions. Hostilities erupted, and Kobollian Humans were killed when the Prometheus was fired upon. The ship retreated, and the Humans of Terra have not had contacted with them since that time."
Kirel seemed confused. "I do not understand their reasoning," he began. "If they were a threat, this Tosevite faction should have been contained."
"Superior sirs, may I speak as to their possible reasoning?" asked Nignxe.
"Speak of your theory, Senior Liaison," Kirel stated, interested in what the male had to say.
"I believe that the Colonials of Kobol were unaware of the location of the Sol system. They were also unaware of the Terrans' rapidly increasing ability to defend itself and growing numbers of powerful allies. The Wraith invasion, the aftermath of the extra-dimensional Vorlon attack that destroyed entire worlds. The Lucian Alliance attacks, the destruction and integration of the Tollanian faction, the integration of advanced technologies, the constant attacks of the Goa'uld remnants, the growing Ashtorath Empire, the responsibility of safeguarding the worlds of the Protect planet treaty and other similar worlds, the beginning of the deep exploration of our galaxy and the Pegasus galaxy, the Genii conflict, and to our embarrassment, our attempted conquest of their world. All of these activities occupied the Terrans. I surmise because of their rashness," saying that as a curse, "they forgot about the Colonials being a potential threat. I also postulate that they did not consider them a real threat when compared to their challenges they had to focus on. The Kobollians were considered a lower priority."
"Your theory has merit," Kirel admitted and Straha agreed. "There is also the fact that the Tosevites, while innovative, moved too fast as is their propensity," he added. "The Terran Humans move too fast for their own good," he repeated for good measure. "Unlike the Race, they do not fully analyze and consider the long-term consequences of their actions. In less than a hundred and fifty of their years, they have developed their air craft from using hot-air balloons to intergalactic space travel in the veritable blink of an eye-turret."
"They are rash," Straha said ruefully. "Yet somehow it works." He thumped his tail in amusement and exasperations. It was a conversation that the Race had on a constant basis ever since they'd met the Terrans. "The Terran Tosevites rushes into the unknow more than the other of their kind found throughout the galaxy–so far. I believe that it is their legacy and their curse. They have spread too far and too fast, but it works for them. The Race moves in slow measured steps, perhaps too slowly. We were in danger of being overwhelmed. Our technology is stagnant compared to theirs. They move too fast. We moved too slowly," he said. "Our Emperors," and here all of them momentarily lowered their eye turrets in respect, "are aware of our measured movements and has seen the extinction of our species. That is why both the Emperor and the young Emperor have decreed that we joined the UCW. Together, we can slow the Terrans down a little and they can speed our development. This is an argument that the Race will have for thousands of years."
"It is a frightening reality," said Kirel. "But the Race has many advantages we had hot imagined less than ten standard years ago. It took the Race twenty years to travel from Home to Sol in cryo sleep. We can now travel the same distance in less than a standard hour. Some believe that we advance too quickly. Fleetlord Atvar's concern is also mine. But this is our road we travel now. Out of necessity, the Terrans have spread too far and too fast. I do not say this in anger or fear, but I do believe that we can establish a balance so that all of us, the members of the Race and the entire UCW may survive together."
Shiplord Vushi added to the conversation. "I fear the future as well. I am also pleased that we have the capability to fight back and have allies. The galaxy is smaller than we believed. We have enemies, but we have found new worlds for the Race and the Empire to easily colonize. The Rabotev and Hallessi will be independent soon. They may stay with the Empire or they may choose independence. Things are changing. We must change with it. But with rapid change, critical things can easily be overlooked or forgotten. These Colonials were forgotten. But we cannot assume that they are a threat. We must also not forget that there is another threat destroying civilizations under our protection. If the aliens on this convoy are innocents, then we must protect them before they may experience disaster. We must also determine why they are in our space."
"Perhaps they have some knowledge of who attacks the worlds under our protection," speculated the ever optimistic Nignxe. "We are members of the UCW. Let us proceed and contact these aliens and see if peace erupts."
"It shall be done, young shiplord," laughed Straha. He was amused as the young male's scales become more prominent, a sign of embarrassment. But it was also frightening to see how his own personality was changing. Never had he expected that his mindset would have changed so drastically, so quickly. "contamination of the Race by Humanity is complete," he muttered.
"I apologize, Superior, sir," said Nignxe. "I did not hear you."
"It is nothing. Ignore it."
"My ship will initiate contact. Shiplords Straha and Vushi, you will remain in their sensor range but will not move closer to the unknowns. Their power signature is not as strong as ours. I do not wish to frighten them. We will initiate contact in fifteen standard minutes."
Both Shiplords said in unison, "it shall be done."
Battlestar Junis
Minoan class-Columbia variant
"Jump completed, sir. No problems."
"Good work people. l want the Alert four out and setting a perimeter." Commander Demetrius Eddlison sighed in quiet relief. No problems. Thank the gods. The convoy was more than a year out and none of the ships had failed–yet. However, wear and tear were showing and if they didn't find Earth soon, they would have to sop and do a major overhaul of the entire fleet. It didn't help that the fleet had jumped too close to a collapsed star and was almost torn apart by the gravitational stress. Several ships suffered damage as the gravitational waves tried to pull them in. they barely escaped intact. Demetrius had never been more frightened for his ship and crew in his life. The convoy made it out alive, but that experience changed the entire tone of the mission. The Thirteen Colony.
To meet them in a spirt of peace. How exciting to be part of that mission!
How boring and how dangerous with dangerous being the operating word. Nine thousand five hundred light years from the home system. No backup, several garden worlds observed destroyed. Those worlds were lifeless and there was obvious evidence of orbital attack. The discovery of those worlds demoralized many of the civilians and much of the military. Naturally, this precipitated endless speculation about what had happened, and all of the speculation was sobering. Those planets were devastated tens of thousands of years ago, but that didn't lessen the impact. The biggest question was: did Earth have something to do with the war or was it the result of some long forgotten, distant war no one even remembered?
"Sir, DRADIS screens are clean," DRADIS officer Rand O'Dellis announced. "No unidentified contacts. As usual," he quietly added low enough so that no one could hear.
"Put the Admiral on the horn," the Commander ordered. He picked up the phone and moved to the command chair. Moments later, the connection was made. "Junis Actual to Radiance Actual, we're ready for picket assignment."
Junis Actual, belay that," Admiral Frankius C. Cunningham said. "I'm giving the Junis a break. The destroyers will run picket this time."
"Thank you, sir." He was grateful because frankly his crew needed some R&R. They were in the middle of open space, two light-years from the targeted star system.
"We're going to be here for a while," the large dark-skinned man stated. We must confirm and recalibrate for our next series of jumps. There are four stars in this sector that fall within the Terran spectral range. One of them has to be the Thirteener's star system."
"Hope so, sir."
"We're close. I can feel it. but all of us need a break. Two of the transports require their jump engines aligned. Our fuel needs to be topped off and the Ganmi needs their navigation computers completely replaced. Luxine Corp. crap," he muttered. "So, we'll be here for the next forty-eight hours. That will give our destroyers time to investigate."
"Sir, which system will we try first?"
"Spectral is working on that now. We have discovered some very weak, old-style radio signals bouncing off our antennae but as you know, we don't have a lock on them yet and they may not even be from Earth. Might even be background noise," he shrugged. "Our science heads are working on it."
"Are we getting any definitive subspace signals?" the commander asked, somewhat frustrated.
"The correct answer is 'they're not sure'," said the frustrated admiral. The highly experimental transceiver was the latest Colonial long-ranged communications. The new science slowly developed with the discovery and confirmation of the existence of subspace. From the basic understanding that the Colonials had, they developed the first-generation subspace transceiver. Transmissions was short ranged, less than three light-year and it was hit and miss, but still a quantum leap over STL transmissions. The problem that the scientists were having was with the receiving of artificially created transmissions. There was so much background noise crossing with the signals that it made detection difficult if not almost impossible to detect if the signal wasn't coming from a Colonial based communications system. No one knew if Earth even had subspace comms capability.
The leading theory was that one world would not have the resources to create such an advanced kind of system although there were some serious disagreements among the theoreticians. Earth apparently had developed a kind of FTL system that differed vastly from Colonial science. Their weapons system, although similar to their Colonial counterparts in several ways. was apparently more advanced at that time. But it was the shielding that stunned the Colonials and the obvious energy generation needed to power those shields made the Colonial Powers-That-Be salivate. They wanted to contact Earth peacefully and establish friendship and trade–even if they were suspected monotheists. Besides they would very likely appreciate the support of their distant brothers and sisters, especially if what they said about a war was true.
The Colonials needed intel on the Earther war and what other colonies they were at war with, and why. Those questions remained unanswered because the rule of the Prometheus never said why they were fighting. In the eyes of the military, that was a definite need to know. It implied that there were more Human societies out there than previously thought. Scientists, politicians, and religious groups were more than a little interested in finding out what the Earthers knew. However, first they had to find out exactly where they were first. The Admiralty had ordered Cunningham to find out more about the war. It was also theorized that Earth had to have had standard radio for at least three hundred years, therefore the Colonials focused their search detecting radio signals backtrack them into a source. If the signals were traveling at the speed of light, then sensitive equipment could pick up those faint signals backtrack them to Earth and pinpoint its location.
The theory was sound but in actual practice, it was another story altogether.
"There are four stars in this immediate sector that correspond to what we believe Earth's star to be. The destroyers Sentrius and Promin will check out those systems and report back. With luck, we may be able to narrow it down within the next six months, or less."
"And pray they're not hostile," Eddlison muttered under his breath, but still it was loud enough for the admiral to hear.
"I don't believe they will be," Cunningham said. Eddlison thought him an optimist. Being an optimist wasn't bad but with so many unknowns, he, like many of the other commanders were justifiably cautions. "If I didn't, then I wouldn't have volunteered to command this mission. If we find them, I think we can do some good here. We're coming to them in peace and we have a big stick so that will account for something."
"Not as big as I'd like. We only have a few battlestars, no port of call for refuge, and a huge number of civilians, half of them which are politicians and the other half religious leaders, we're responsible for."
"Commander, we've been through this before," the admiral said, not unkindly, but the exasperation was evident in his voice. All of the commanders had this discussion numerous times. It was one of their main concerns throughout this mission. "The battlestars they encountered before are like toys compared to the firepower we have now. But I hope we won't have to intimidate anyone. That is the last thing I want to do. I have no intentions of starting a fight just because some of them may be monotheists. That is stupid, and I will not condone such ignorance."
"They still may not want us there," Eddlison responded. It was an old but still relevant argument. One of the greatest arguments resulted from the belief that the Thirteeners as they were nicknamed, might hold a grudge because of the First Contact debacle. If they did, then the expedition would leave. But they would have confirmed Earth's locations and others would eventually come and try to make peaceful contact. Earth couldn't hide forever. The Pandorrae box was already opened and there was no closing it.
"We all are hoping that they are mature enough to see that we're not threatening them. But they have to realize that there is another problem that they will have to deal with sooner or later."
"The Cylons," the Commander answered.
"Exactly so," Cunningham said. "The Cylons are looking for them and when they do…I'm sure that Earth will put up a good fight, but they have no idea what they'll be up against. The admiralty believes that Earth doesn't have a clue what a real war is like, and I agree. Even if Earth has allies, they won't have a chance. If nothing else, we need to warn them. The sooner they'll know the truth about what waits for them out here in the dark, the better."
"You don't believe that they were in some kind of interstellar fight?" That was the first time that Eddlison worded it so bluntly. To be truthful, the Brass hadn't believed that the Earth ship was involved in some type of 'alien' conflict. Most assumed that the Earthers were referring to some type of civil war and that they were exaggerating to puff themselves up to their cousins. "Their explanation was farfetched, and I'm surprised that they expected us to believe it."
"We saw the evidence of combat on their ship. There is little doubt they were in a fight. But the Cylons are another level that they have never faced. I don't want them wiped out because they underestimated them."
"Sir, we haven't seen a hint of the Cylons since we started this mission. But I know they are tracking us somehow just outside of our DRADIS and patrols. I can feel it, we're leading them right to Earth."
"So can I. And we'll do everything we can to stop them if worst comes to worst. Between Earth's fleet, our own, and whatever allies they have, we should be able to keep the planet safe. And in the end, it doesn't matter. The Cylons have been looking for them the day they came to our system. They are looking, and they will find Earth sooner or later. The Cylons are our enemies and we became responsible to inform and protect our brethren who may not be able to protect themselves."
"Yes, sir. I agree."
"If a Cylon fleet is tracking us then logically, it can't be that large. We have too many ships on their border for them to risk sending a large-scale assault from so far away. We would detect such movement and counter it. Earth can likely handle themselves with us supporting them."
Sir, as I've said before, we're making a lot of assumptions. That concerns me."
"It bothers me as well. We don't have any ideas about who these people really are. Brass Intel and Analytical branches have done their best. But it's all we have. I think the risk is worth it, otherwise I wouldn't be leading this mission. The cabinet thinks so, too. And, those are our orders."
"I just hope that what we're doing won't lead to the Thirteeners' destruction." It was a worry that pervaded not only the officers but the entire fleet.
"I have faith in the gods and in our superior firepower. It won't come to that. Rest time, forty-eight hours. Use your time well."
"Thank you, Admiral." With a click, he closed the private channel.
His First Officer, Colonel Joan Perris moved over and sat next to him. "Same old argument?"
"You're correct," her commander sighed. "I remember the arguments back home. Most of the politicians wanted to send an armada to protect Earth if and when we found it. Can you imagine the reception we'd get if we had sent an armada to Earth while saying, 'we're here to protect you'? I can only imagine the fight that would ensue, despite our intentions. We would be violating Earth's territorial space."
"Commander, some would argue that their space is Colonial space, at least from a legal standpoint," she stated. "Plus, they may be more than we are assuming."
"It is a valid concern, but again argument is the same. They only have one world and therefore limited resources. We estimate that they have maybe thirty capital ships and yes, I know. They may be more powerful than ours if history is a judge. But it's a singe world that may or may not have allies. That is yet to be determined as we only had their word for it, just like we have to take their word for it that they were in a war and not some skirmish. There was no solid evidence either way. What we do know is that their small gunboat-sized vessel took out several battlestars before they escaped."
"In self-defense," Perris said. "People tend to forget that little fact."
"Granted. But the other side of this is that if we come–in peace, as we are doing with a small group of ships such as our convoy here, what could we actually do if Earth suffers a dedicated attack from the Cylons? What if Earth has fewer ships? What if they force us to leave and then the Cylons come? Either way, whether a large fleet of small, we're gambling with the lives of the people of Earth."
"And what choice did we have?" Perris pointed out.
"And that's the point. We didn't have one, not the way we see it."
"Why are the simple missions so complicated?" she asked. It took her a lot to keep her from laughing at the irony of it all.
The truth was, they'd have no idea what the situation was until they discovered Earth. This was getting old, so it was best to change the subject. "You know, this mission does satisfy one of my true ambitions," he said. "I've always wanted to go into deep space and explore where we haven't explored before. Who knows? Maybe I would have found some artifact millions of years old left by some ancient race long extinct."
"Fantasy, cousin," she whispered into his ear. "Fantasy. There's no intelligent life other than us out here. Nothing, not in four thousand years of travel in space."
Eddlison looked at his cousin with that intensity that he reserved only for the most important of discussions. "All of these stars, it's got to be something out here. I compare our knowledge to looking at a tree and believing we understand the thousand-mile forest. We don't know what's out here, and I don't care what the scrolls say or how they are interpreted. We are somewhat ignorant, if you really think about it. I know the ancient scrolls tell of our history, but there are a lot of things, a lot of facts that have been omitted, or weren't known at the time. It's entirely possible that Earth is the First Tribe, not the youngest nor the Thirteenth tribe. They may be the Fourteenth Tribe. They may be the Fifteenth Tribe. Remember all of those left behind? Kobol may have been our home world where we were born, or maybe not. There may have been tribes of Humans who left Kobol long before we even understood the concepts of space travel. The point is, four thousand years and we have no idea what's out here. There may be some very advanced civilizations just waiting for us to find them."
"Advanced Humans; is that which is saying?"
"We don't know the totality of our history," Eddlison flatly stated. "We don't know was out here."
"So, you believe in the possibility that some version of man is out here and is far more advanced than we can imagine." She smiled at him. "It's that dream again. You haven't talked about it for years."
"What dream," he asked with as much innocence as he could muster.
"The dream you haven't mentioned for years but you never forgot," she informed him.
The Commander looked offended and didn't even try to deny. "In my defense, I barely remember it. I do however remember seeing an artifact in space, some kind of space catapult. We were arguing about what to name it and then aliens tried to kill us."
For a moment she glared at him, deep in thought. Then she burst out laughing. "You had that dream because you were drinking too much," she teased. "I saw what you looked like at my wedding. I didn't know you could drink that much. I'm still surprised that you remembered what planet you were on."
"Drunk or not, I still remember that dream, or at least fragments of it. It was so real. I still remember the name we called the device, Stella transport device that, an ST D. Maybe ask Earth if they've ever heard of such a thing."
"Please, don't do that. We'll have a war for sure." Knowing him, she thought he would do something like that for sure just to embarrass her. "Sir, I recommend some rest and relaxation," she ordered. "Get so me sleep and let your mind rest. No dreaming." He couldn't miss the twinkle in her eyes.
He snapped a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am."
"Don't worry, I have command until you wake…sir."
Well then. XO, you have the conn. I stand relieved."
"Commander, I have the conn."
TBC
Next: the Race encounters the Colonials. Panic abounds. The Cylons meet the Race…more panic abounds. Darkness is here.