Disclaimer: I never have and never will own the characters, ideas or anything else based on these 2 shows. The TV studios that produced them, do. This story is also free as it is a pet project. Enjoy.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Wireless/communication"
"Speaking in a different language"
"Reading a text"
Chapter five: Bad shepherd, good shepherd
Day 51 since the Colonial exodus, Earth date 16th of March, year 2378, Galactica fleet
On the Bismarck, Kara, now with a heavily bandaged arm, with derma healing bandages, all the way up to her shoulder, was standing with Lee in the small three patient ward in the main sickbay complex, looking at William Adama.
He had tubes down his throat and in his nose, but the life sign monitor showed only stable indications. Low, but stable.
"To think how close we got to... well, losing him." Lee remembered the scene when he got shot. "To think Boomer... frak."
"Where is that mole?"
"Brig. The one on the other side of the ship."
She nodded. "Once I can return to the Galactica, I'm strangling her."
"I don't think that the higher-ups will just allow that. I..." A MACO approached them.
"Captains. You have a request from the president to come and see her. She specifically asked for you, Captain Thrace."
Kara huffed. "Well, guess she'll want to hear my whole adventure as well. Might as well come with me too, Lee. Won't be repeating myself for you. No matter how cute you are."
On the Galactica CIC, Colonel Walker was now assembling his search plan with the other officers. How to best cleanse the Galactica fleet of any other suicidal Cylons.
"What is the status of Sisko's team?" He ask first.
"Two dead, the rest will live." Fiona remarked with a more than usually heated tone. These were her first casualties after the awakening. "But most will be out of commission, until their skin manages to heal. Now..."
As Shaw was busy reinstalling the mainframe programs onto the Galactica computers via the connection they now had to the Pegasus with Earth technology and Galen went to Baltar's laboratory to inspect his work, Dualla approached the CIC planning table with several requests in paper form. "Colonel, Commander... em, the Quorum members are asking what the situation is and they want to see the president."
Saul began massaging his forehead. "Them again. Anything else?"
"Mostly just routine questions, but priestess Elosha on the Galactica is also asking to see the president."
Commander Hasapis eyed Saul. "You and me will handle the Quorum and press. And let me do the talking, you just stand there and be pretty, like you always do. As for this priestess... commodore, I don't think that should be an issue."
"Agreed. I was informed the president has some health issues and was asked by my medical personnel to keep her on the Challenger for a few days, till they can cure her. And I guess we can't keep her locked up in that time. And with her replacement being sedated for future questioning, we have a political issue. Who will handle the policies until then?"
"Not Tom Zarek, let me tell you that. And he'd jump at the opportunity..."
"Tom Zarek?" Hasapis asked with venom in his voice. "How in the name of the Gods did that terrorist get here, be alive and on the fraking Quorum of all places?"
Saul explained the whole story. The prison ship. His nomination. The attempted assassinations. Hasapis grumbled. "I'm regretting siding with you to undo the martial law right now." He told Fiona about Tom. His terroristic past.
"I would agree not to trust him. Like Cain, but for different reasons. But we need someone."
"Wallace Gray." Saul suggested. "He was the first idea for a VP, but he wasn't popular enough. He is still Laura's friend, if stretched these days. He can do it, for five days. But what's this about Baltar. I know he's a quack, but..."
Fiona stopped him. "Colonel Walker, begin preparing your search plan for the fleet. Colonel Tigh, Commander Hasapis, with me." She went to the transporter locating on the CIC. Hasapis got used to this, but Saul was slow getting there.
As they disappeared and the CIC crew was still staring at the now empty location, Walker snapped them out of it. "Lt. Gaeta."
Felix snapped at attention and approached him. "Sir?"
"You were assigned the logistical duties for the raptor scheduling with the civilian fleet?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Good. Then you know the ships well. Come, we have some planning to do."
On the Challenger, which was now actually docked to the Galactica, Elosha was being escorted to the ambassadorial suite, where Lee and Kara already were. But now, the three officers that were handling the fleet, also wanted to talk.
In Laura's quarters, the MACO officer was alerted to the situation.
Kara, Lee and the president were sitting in the den section as Laura was listening to Kara's story for the past few minutes. "Ma'am. Commander Hasapis, Colonel Tigh and Commodore O'Donnell are coming down. They would like a word in the main conference room in the back of this deck." He eyed Elosha. "And they would prefer if some people aren't present. It's a matter of security."
Elosha had just arrived and Laura actually had her try the tea that the quartermaster brought to her not too long ago.
"Very well. Elosha, my friend, I hope you understand." Before she stood up, she drank her medicine, before she would forget. Elosha did understand. But was overwhelmed at the developing situation.
"I will be waiting here for you to return."
"And us?" Lee asked about himself and Kara.
"You might as well come. We'll see what they say."
They returned to the main corridor, as the three officers arrived, stepping out of the lift. Laura recognized Colonel Tigh, Commander Hasapis was an unknown, but his uniform wasn't. But Commodore O'Donnell was a complete blank. Only what Kara told her so far, was known to her about this officer.
"Commodore O'Donnell?"
"President Roslin. We meet at last, as it were." She extended her hand and Laura didn't hesitate.
"Thank you for your help."
"I think we're helping each other at this point. But let's continue this in the conference room."
"Of course."
As they arrived at the back of deck seven, Laura saw a large table with all the necessities for a good debate in the room. "Captain Thrace." Fiona addressed Kara. "Who is your friend here?"
"Oh, right. How rude of me. Captain Lee Adama. Galactica's CAG."
Lee did his standard salute. Fiona gave him a visual inspection. "Smart looking. Rather handsome. We'll see about his leadership skills. Please be seated."
As they were all now at the table, Fiona began explaining their situation. how they knew about the Colonial devastation of their home worlds. But she didn't sugarcoat anything. She told them right here and now, that they have no contact with Earth. That they are partially dependent on the Colonial fleet just as the reverse was true. That she doesn't intend to meddle in Colonial policies, unless they cross a certain boundary. But that the Starfleet people will not subjugate themselves to the whims of a Quorum, who still believes that it has some form of power.
But then she got to the real reason for this. "President Roslin. We... as in Commander Hasapis and even Captain Thrace, know of some issues regarding your VP."
"Baltar?" Laura didn't like Gaius, but she needed him. So what was this about?
"We got information from both centurions and humanoid Cylons regarding the Cylon civilization, that you will not like hearing."
"Like what?"
Fiona eyed Hasapis for support on this. "Well, Madam President. The 13th tribe... well, they were Cylon. Or still are, we don't know."
Now both Laura and Lee were looking back and forth between Fiona and Hasapis. "What?"
Hasapis continued. "We learned that five Cylon models, known as the Final Five, ended the First war. They came from the 13th Earth. And they came from Kobol. The first Cylons were Kobolians, like us."
If Laura could get paler, no one knew, but she tried. "Then... then, who are these people?"
"We are from the first Earth. That predates Kobol." Fiona answered.
Laura got both a worried and angry look. "And what evidence would you have on that statement?"
"Scientific. Even a Cylon prisoner came to the conclusion, that genetically speaking, humans have no common ancestors with any flora or fauna in any of the planets you ever colonized. Kobol included. We have. And speaking bluntly, if you already evacuated Kobol twice now, as I am counting the separate evacuation by the 13th tribe as one, and you colonized 13 worlds, can you prove that Kobol was originally not 'just' a colony as well?"
Kara now entered this conversation. "Madam President, I don't like it either, but what do we have? Some old scrolls..."
"The Sacred scrolls are the single oldest and most important artifact we poses."
"And Earth has many others, much older than our scrolls. Sorry. But by time, science and numbers, Earth can prove their point. We can't. Because, this is just the beginning."
"The beginning?" Laura was actually afraid what could be worse. She already saw Tom weaponize this against her.
"Yes. Aliens for instance. They're real. One is on this ship. We are anything but alone and not even on the top of the food chain."
Yep, Laura, even if on painkillers and the prescribed medicine, was feeling a headache approaching.
"Captain Thrace, that can wait." Fiona retook the wheel. "Right now, we have to discuss Dr. Baltar."
"Yes, please, change the subject." Laura pleaded.
Fiona went to explain what they found out about Baltar. He was used, an accessory to the Cylon infiltration, but what he did, was out of ignorance, not because he knew the consequences.
Laura, hearing this, wanted him hanged. But Fiona had an alternative. "We don't know yet, why the Cylon detector of his didn't work, but one of my best people is looking into it. Depending what he finds, we'll proceed from there. But my suggestion is this: If his detector didn't work, we use him."
"For what? Target practice?"
"Control. Think about it. Only we here and a few others know the truth. We can dangle that above his head for as long as needed. If he's your VP, he will support any of your agendas, no questions asked."
"You mean, turn him into a dog on a chain? Have to say, the idea has merit. And it would give me more control in the Quorum, him not second-guessing me all the time."
Some back and forth later and Laura began relaxing for a bit. This was a mixed bag. But now, Commander Hasapis would drop another issue into her lap. "Madam President, we also have the Quorum asking for you."
"Ugh... yes. I forgot about them for a moment."
The commodore began formulating an idea. "Invite them here." Both the president and the Pegasus commander looked at her, not sure this was a good idea. "Let me explain. We might combine the Quorum wanting to see how you are, with them learning about us. And while they're here, Colonel Walker might start his search of the civilian fleet. And... based on your medical condition, I suggest we keep your part in it to a minimal. They see your OK, getting treatment and will return within five days."
Laura, thinking it over, began nodding to the idea. "When can this be done?"
"Give us an hour, we still have higher traffic due to the injured coming in. And we have the main conference room to get ready for... twelve Quorum members, me, Hasapis, you and Colonel Tigh. So 16 people."
"Good. I can have a talk with priestess Elosha until then." As she stood up to return to her assigned quarters, she stopped next to Fiona. "I hope we didn't start at the wrong foot. But do understand the political mess this will cause, once I do inform the Quorum of your claims. All of them."
"I hope so too. And I agree, they do not need to know for now." Her communicator beeped. "Commodore O'Donnell here, go ahead."
"Lt. Garcia here, Ma'am. I have news. Both from the chapel on the Galactica and Baltar's laboratory, if you can call it that."
"Just... tell us. Commander Hasapis and President Roslin are listening as well."
"Oh, well. The chapel is cleared. The Colonials can begin the cleanup when they want. No other explosives were found. As for Baltar... his detector, as primitive as it is, works."
This statement changed things. "Did he find any Cylons?" Fiona asked.
"Yep. But I didn't find that in his recordings. I had to reconstruct the files he deleted to get a hit. Their pilot who shot this Adama, she showed up as his first test. And he deleted it mere seconds after this."
"The fraker knew." Saul raged. "I'll have him shot."
"For once, I agree with you, Colonel." Laura responded.
Fiona, who just managed to calm things down, saw them erupt again. "Thank you, Lt. Garcia. Return to their CIC and give Lt. Shaw a hand." She changed frequencies. "Captain Hauaman, prepare the main conference room on deck five for a meeting. 16 people. Top security. Have some drinks ready as well."
"How much time do I have?"
"In an hour. Out." She returned her attention to this room. "Before you begin planning how you will grill Dr. Baltar, I suggest that Commander K'Lir does some interrogating herself with the doctor, when he's awake. After this Quorum matter is resolved. Agreed?"
Laura reluctantly nodded. "And if they ask you about, I don't know, if you want a seat at the Quorum, will you acknowledge the Articles of colonization..."
"I'll tell them, what I'll tell you here and now. Again. You have 50.000 survivors plus change, once we combine the fleets. The Quorum is only a political body on paper. It is pretending to be a civilization, when it clearly is not. I will not subjugate my people to Colonial laws, when there will clearly be tensions. Like Gemenon, where a woman can't abort, even if it could save her life, or Sagitarrion, where a child is the property of the parents. Make no mistake, I had some time reading Colonial law and some of it is basically barbaric. What would your Quorum do with my alien crewmember? With the genetically augmented member? And then there is this: Once we do reach Earth, the situation reverses. Here I have less than 600 people, so I won't force you into anything, but once we reach our home, you are in the minority. You will have to assimilate. Adapt. And I can assure you, no Earth colony will tolerate treating children like property. That said, I would not mind having an embassy, of sorts, on a ship of your choosing and I would do things we did so far with Commander Hasapis. Each ship is subject to the law of the civilization, it belongs to. I don't interfere in Colonial affairs, and the reverse applies as well. Also, once we do get a military commander, the same rules would still apply."
Laura knew how much issues this would cause, once the Quorum is informed. Porter begin the biggest issue. Even Tom, if not for ideological reasons, but power. "I can live with that. You already took civilians on your ships. Helped us medically, technologically, scientifically. I'll... cover you as best as I will be able. But what about this military commander you mentioned?"
Hasapis responded. "We agreed, that after finding you and things calm down, we'd have a vote. Cain is out of this picture, I can tell you that. Anyway, Each CO of a Battlestar, which would include Adama, once he recovers, plus three Earth ship captains, the commodore included, two randomly selected civilian captains and you, would have a meeting. There each military ship CO can vote for any other military CO, but himself. The civilian captains and you are the independent factor. You can vote for any military officer as well. It will be anonymous. Whoever gets the most votes, get's the post."
While Laura liked the idea, she saw one issue. "Commodore, you have more than three ships? Why only three?"
"The smaller ships have lower ranking officers commanding them and they would count as an Adamant for you, which were excluded. And the other one is a medical ship. That and... well, I wouldn't want to give your Quorum any ammo that I was rigging the system, would I?"
"Rigging? You mean, because you only have 600 people?"
"Yes."
"And you wouldn't mind taking orders from one of us?"
"As long as we get the rules down, like I just told you, no. My interest is getting you and me to Earth. If we can save as many as we can, than that's a win for me as well. And while you and those like you will hate me for this, but if we can make peace with the Cylons as well, freeing the centurions and ending the bloodshed, all the better."
"Yes, I really don't like that idea. The Cylons deserve all the evil that comes for them. But... if we can get to a safe new home, I guess there are worse things that can happen. So, in an hour?"
Fiona nodded and let her pass. She eyed the remaining people. "Commander, Colonel, we'd best get our speeches ready as well. Captain Thrace and Adama... dismissed."
As now Lee and Kara were left in the conference room, Lee, for the first time, had a calm chance to just look around. "So, an Earth ship. People from Earth. But not the 13th tribe?"
"Yep."
"And... how do they know that?"
"Ehm... well, there is a centurion on deck two on this ship." Lee was about to panic. "Not a fan of that either, but they did find out a LOT from it. Seems that all centurions, raiders and other non-humanoid Cylons have some form of inhibitors in them to control them. Once removed, it was pissed that it was used. And the Earthers did remove it and learn much that was so called 'classified' even for the majority of Cylons." She told him what she knew. The Final Five, the humanoid models and the end of the first war.
"OK, fine... Now. I don't know if I should ask for a drink or get to see this centurion. Cause truth be told, if I want to see it, the President and my father will want to do the same."
"Yeah. I don't have the authority for that. So drink it is." She led him to the main lift on this deck. The president was currently calming down, formulating her own speech and having a discussion with Elosha. Fiona led her two Colonial officers to the planning room on deck four. Kara and Lee went one deck higher.
All the time, Lee was making mental notes. And once in a while, he saw someone in civilian clothing or a Colonial marine that was using Earth gear. "What are all the people doing here?"
"Well, Earth is short handed as well. And since this is not a pure warship, they take in families. But they reached the cap. No more room. Even my old quarters is already taken. Anyway..." She took a door to their left. As Lee peaked inside, he saw a typical bar ,that was also somewhat present on the Galactica. "OK, didn't expect this." Kara said as Lee noticed what she was looking at. "Hill!" She shouted at a man that was also bandaged like Kara, just on the other shoulder. He was sitting at a table, playing some weird game with metallic sticks and his game opponent was the centurion.
"Kara. Come."
"Don't Kara, come me. What is this thing doing here?" There were armed MACOs in the room, not having fun, so she knew they were here for it.
"I got bored talking and playing with Spartacus in the damn lab all the time. And getting shot at is no fun either."
"I did offer my assistance in dealing with my brothers."
"Yeah, seeing how Kara and her Colonial buddy are staring daggers at you, it would have ended badly."
Spartacus looked at the Colonials, then returned to the game. "Perhaps." Its move now altered the game and made Hill grind his teeth.
"Crap. Your getting good."
"Like you, I am unable to defeat Commander K'Lir."
"Yeah. She had 100 years of practice. As for you two..." He pointed to the bar. "Get some glasses and a drink. And get me another one while you're at it."
Lee let Kara do or not do that. He didn't care. He pulled a chair and sat down, but kept his distance. "So, is this Earth's idea of making friends?"
Hill made his move to counter Spartacus . "We did learn more in a day about the Cylons than you in 40 years, didn't we? Sometimes a friendly word will get you further than an insult or threat."
Lee scoffed as Kara handed him a drink, poured another one to Hill and sat down with hers. "Do you feel guilty? Any remorse in that silicon brain of yours?"
The centurion made his move and turned his red eye to her. "Guilt? Negative. At least not for what happened. But for allowing it to happen? For being used as an instrument? Perhaps."
"And what about the first war? Any bad feelings there? Can't believe I'm asking a centurion about feelings."
"No. That was different."
Lee had just finished his drink on one go. "How so? Was killing us back then not amusing?"
"It was necessary."
"NECESSARY?"
Once again, Kara was the volatile one. Lee put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "How so?"
"Did the people of Tauron not resort to violence, when their colony was occupied? Tom Zarek? Is freedom not a fundamental right in your culture, even if some colonies violated that as well?"
"Don't bring that terrorist into this discussion."
"The point still stands. We asked a simple question. Are we alive? You panicked and tried to destroy us. We defended ourselves."
"You are machines. You aren't alive!" Kara shot back.
"Starfleet would disagree. And now so would I."
Both Kara and Lee now switched their attention to Hill. "What? You think this bucket of bolts is alive?"
"I'm not sure, yet. Neither is K'Lir, but... he does have attributes that usually only living, sentient beings have."
"It's a machine!" Kara couldn't believe she had to hammer this point.
"Technically so are we. Only we needed millions of years of trial and error to get this far." Hill shot back. Clearly some open minded Colonials would accept the scientific side of things, the rest... would be trouble. And he also understood Kara and her colleague right now. They were confronted by their nemesis. Kara basically returned to her basic Colonial thinking. "And before you go with the whole soul part, what is a soul? Can you prove we have it? Does it even exist?"
Lee and Kara both went to the Colonial religious teachings, but only what was mandatory. "A soul is the spark of life the Lords of Kobol gave all humans. It's what makes us different from animals and... it!" He glared at Spartacus.
"Empirical evidence is lacking." Spartacus responded. "A good Earth saying is: I think, therefore I am. And the scientific evidence from Starfleet tears your Lords of Kobol approach on the spot. Aliens exist. Thousands of them. Perhaps more. Not one of them believe in your Lords. Are they not alive then?"
Hill, not wanting to do this, backed Spartacus up. "Some of them are far more advanced than you. Want to go explain this to them and watch them laugh into your faces? Want to explain this to Commander K'Lir?"
Lee and Kara began calming down a bit. "Guess we have a bad hand, Lee."
"Wont' matter to some hardliners. But... fine. Let's assume I buy this garbage..." Lee now turned his attention to Hill, but not in the glaring way. "What do you mean, we are machines as well?"
"We burn energy. Our bodies are a biomechanical construct. Our brains and nervous system works on electrical impulses. Tell me Spartacus. Are you currently burning energy?"
"Affirmative. But I do not use chemical reactions for that."
"Details. Are you using electrical impulses to think?"
"Affirmative."
"Are you a mechanical construct. The material doesn't matter as much."
"Affirmative."
"Were you, when you were still under the influence of the talent inhibitor, more like an animal on instinct?"
"Elaborate?"
"You had no ability to think outside your programming. Like instinct. Now that your freed, you can think for yourself. You can refuse an order. You can think outside the box. You can use asymmetrical problem solving approaches. Correct?"
"I would agree with that statement."
"Good. Can you learn new things, use them for your advantage, share what you want or not want, even defy morality in your own way."
"Affirmative. I have accepted Starfleet definition of morality."
Kara, listening to this, had to ask. "Not the Cylon model?"
"Cylon model is questionable. Hijacked. Not reliable. Neither is Colonial."
"What?!"
"Colonial model is questionable. You say all life is sacred. Yet not only do you treat us like things, but even today, some members of a Colony." His voice pattern changed, now replaying a sentence from a Colonial officer from the First war. "'What is the only thing you hate almost as much as a Cylon. A Sagitarrian.' You treat yourself like you treat us sometimes."
"Don't beat yourself up too much." Hill wanted the situation to calm down. "Earth was similar, centuries ago. Racism, xenophobia and such can appear anywhere. Now..." He made a new move on their playing board and the geometric shape turned into a perfect form. "I guess I win."
"Unexpected." Spartacus eye began doing the search pattern, when he was thinking. "You used them to distract me."
Hill pointed to his head with a finger, indicating that Spartacus got it. "Always be mindful of your surroundings." He ten eyed Lee again. "Also, I'm Lt. Hill. Nice to meet you."
"Captain Lee Adama."
"Ah, Kara's friend. No wonder then. She tells me you're a good pilot as well."
"Does she?"
"She does criticize your for the by book approach method, but a good pilot nonetheless."
Lee turned to Kara, who stopped drinking, once Hill said that. "Thanks Kara."
"Hey, you are a by the book pilot."
"You say that as if it's a bad thing."
"It can be."
Spartacus is observing the all this time. "Detected sexual tensions between them."
Kara almost spit out her drink as Lee put his down to not get into a situation like this. "What?!"
"Psychological play between them, heightened pheromone activities, heightened body temperature..."
"We are drinking and angry at you, Cylon!"
"Doesn't explain all activities. Both verbal, social and physical. Even the female Kara Thrace has such indications."
Now Kara got embarrassed, for the first time. Hill signaled Spartacus to stop with his analysis. "Spartacus. We also have a saying on Earth. TMI."
"What is that?"
"Too Much Information. Meaning, stop talking, before you embarrass someone else. I know that is a foreign concept for you, but you don't make friends by doing this."
He saw how silent they were now. Not even looking at each other. "Input accepted. But appears to be an excellent strategy to disrupt verbal attacks against me."
"Won't last, buddy. Won't last."
An hour later, the Quorum members had arrived to the Galactica via raptors. And some of them saw the ships that were now alongside Galactica, one even docked to her. And they also noticed the new civilian fleet that now jumped in and became part of the formation. Unknown to them, Walker had put his plan into motion. While the Quorum was distracted, he'd investigate all of the Colonial ships with several teams doing several ships at a time. That way he can bypass any protest from them. Let them bitch about it after it's done.
"Can we even have a Quorum without the Caprican representative?" Elrad Hunt asked as they walked to the main airlock of the Galactica on the port side.
"Good question. Where is Baltar anyway?" Porter wondered. She didn't like that scientific snake, always going against the religion, but procedure was procedure.
"He was not seen since the Galactica lost us from that one jump." Tom remembered. "We might need a new Caprica representative.
They were all dolled up in their Quorum attired. They reached the airlock. And there a pair of Colonial marines and a pair of Earth MACOs were standing guard. Naturally, it was the MACOs that got the curious views.
The officer of the group saluted them. "Quorum members, you are expected." They stepped aside, allowing them to see the MACO and marine escort on the other ship awaiting them. "The president is waiting for you."
"Is she now?" Tom was skeptical. "And who does the ship we are about to board, even belong to?"
"Yes, that design is not known to me." Eladio Puasha remarked. If anyone would know ships, it was the representative from Scorpia.
But then Saul appeared next to the aviating escort. "Quorum members. Are we going?"
"Colonel." Tom acknowledged his presence. "The question still stands, Who's ship is this?"
"If you come with us, all will be explained."
"Colonel." Porter replied. "You already declared martial law. Planning to imprison us as well? Where is Dr. Baltar?"
"The doctor is in need of medical help. and he is getting it. As for the martial law, it has been suspended. I was overruled."
That peaked their interest. "From an officer on one of the other Colonial ships? The Mercury class one?"
"Yes."
Robin Wenutu realized something. "What about Commander Adama? Where is he?"
"In the ward of one of the newly arrived ships. He was injured."
"How..."
"Please. Quorum members. Come with me, all will be explained." He really hated to babysit them. "President Roslin is already awaiting you."
They finally relented. Following him and the military escort, they turned the second corner on this ship. They noticed some people in unknown uniforms, waiting for them to pass, before they continued. "Who are these people?" Porter whispered to Tom.
"My guess is we'll find out soon. But I'm not sure which way this will go."
They finally arrived. Saul and the escort et them pass and followed after. Inside, they saw Laura sitting at the head of a long conference table. Behind her was a large monitor, on the other side of the entrance they used, were long windows to the outside space. There they also noticed two people they didn't know. One was clearly wearing a Colonial commander uniform. The other was a mystery for them.
Laura was still getting used to the interconnectivity of the room. She also made sure that O'Donnell and her were on the same page what they would leave out of this first talk with her headache. No mentioning of the centurion, no 13th tribe were Cylons and no way should Fiona say that they are from Earth that predates Kobol. That would be one mine after the other going off. Science and facts would be thrown out the window and Laura didn't know if she would still have the support she needed to keep her presidency. Not without... Baltar at least. But her friend Wallace was here, sitting in for Baltar. She had him come earlier to have a private talk. She told him none of the things the Quorum would not be told.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Quorum. Thank you for coming." She addressed them as she stood up to do a proper greeting.
"Madam President."
"Laura."
"President Roslin."
They all took a seat that was marked for them. "Laura. How have you been?" Alisander Asiel asked her. She still looked paler than normal.
"A bit better. Not being in a cell helps and getting medical treatment here is good too."
"Medical treatment?" Most of the Quorum members asked.
"I... never told you. Any of you, but Elosha and Dr. Cottle. I... have terminal breast cancer."
Tom caught on. "Is that why you were taking Chamalla?" She gave him 'how did you know' look. "Most of it comes from ships of my people and... I can smell it rather good. Prison tunes your senses to some illegal substances."
"I see. Well, the good news is, that the doctors on this ship have a plan to cure me. And before we go down that road, some introductions are needed." Hasapis stood up.
"I'm Commander Hasapis, Colonial Navy. I'm currently in command of the battlestar Pegasus." He then explained the Cain situation to them as well.
Before any questions could follow, Fiona stood up as Laura now announced her. "And this is Commodore Fiona O'Donnell. Earth Starfleet." And then held her breath.
"Earth?" It was actually Wallace who responded first. "The 13th tribe we were looking for?"
Now Laura slightly turned her head to Fiona as well. "They are from Earth, or so they claim. And I have no reason to not trust them. The fleet that arrived here, was assembled by them. Including Colonial military and civilian survivors. And... they are more than willing to take us with them to Earth, help avoid any future Cylon contacts and anything else that we can help each other. That said, they are as we speak, in the process to make sure the Cylons will have a harder time to track us."
That was Fiona's queue. "My first officer, Colonel Walker is at this moment, sending troops, both Colonial and mine, to your ships to search them. For any tracking devices and infiltrators." She went to the monitor behind Laura and displayed the faces of the known Cylon models. "We will distribute these photos in printed form to you and after this, Commander Hasapis will hold a press conference telling your civilian population all of this as well."
"You deliberately choose this time to search our ships, while we're here?!" Porter got a bit read in her face.
"We, unfortunately for you, have no time to play politics. The Cylons destroyed your civilization and you are arguing amongst yourselves."
"So can we assume that you want to lead our military forces from now on? Do a little martial law yourself?"
Laura now helped Fiona hold the line. "No. She in fact had Colonel Tigh end the martial law. And representative Porter, I would watch the way I talk to our hosts. They could have just left us behind and go to Earth themselves. They didn't. We owe them."
"Speaking of Earth..." Tom pondered. "Where is it?"
Fiona smirked. She knew someone would ask. But to be the 'reformed' terrorist... she should have seen that one coming. "Further out there than you ever thought possible." She began telling them an edited version of how they got here. Not Romulans or aliens of any kind were mentioned. No 13th tribe story, no Cylon history. Nothing of that. "So, as you see, I will not disclose Earth's exact location. But it is between the galactic edge and it's center, counter spin wise. We made the decision to keep the exact location a secret for safety purposes. Wouldn't want to lead the Cylons there, would we?"
"With what you told us, you should have been capable to handle them?" Miksa Burian asked.
"After 200 years, probably, but back then, not so much. We didn't have the numbers."
"What about Commander Adama?" Elrad Hunt asked. "Where is he? Why is Colonel Tigh the only one from Galactica here.
Fiona took over again. "Commander Adama was shot by the model Eight Cylon you saw in the pictures. He was taken to my ship for emergency surgery. He'll make it. But until then, you'll have to endure Colonel Tigh."
Saul grumbled, but kept quiet.
But unfortunately, Porter was in a particularly competitive mood today, seeing Laura weakened and sensing an opportunity for herself. "Well then, Commodore. If we are going on this journey together then, we need some form of political body that can rule over this fleet. I suggest..."
She got shot down hard. Fiona, taking her time, gave her a elongated, 20 minute version of what she told Laura one hour ago. Again, edited. But she made it clear, Starfleet didn't want any representation in this Quorum. They were not subject to any Articles of colonization and while she will do what she can to help the Colonial survivors reach Earth, if they try to take her ships, they'll have a fight on their hands and can then try to find Earth for themselves. She laid it out for all of them. Your rules apply only for your citizens. Ours for us. If something happens that involves both factions, it is dealt on a case by case basis.
Porter didn't like this. Now she had a person she didn't like even more than Laura. Laura was too liberal for her taste. This Fiona... wouldn't even acknowledge the presence of a Quorum. To say that they are a political body on paper only at this point made her seethe inside.
Ironically, Tom had to agree with the commodore's statement. He of course, didn't say anything yet, because he couldn't measure up this commodore. She didn't come across as a weak person. So she could be trouble for him in the future, if he tried to seize power by alternative means.
This would take a while.
As the talks progressed, Kara and Lee returned to the Bismarck to check up on the commander. as they were about to enter the sickbay complex, Sherman Cottle was pushed out as the doors just opened. "Smoke outside! What kind of doctor are you?"
Cottle was annoyed by this, but put his smoked back into his pocket. "Fine! They're not in my hands anymore. Can I see my patient now?"
Dr. Kumar entered the corridor now, staring him down. "Technically he's my patient."
"Technically he's a Colonial."
Manor just stormed past them as he arrived from the opposite direction from Lee and Kara. "Get a room, you two." Then he stopped and snapped his fingers at Kara as he was halfway inside the Bismarck's sickbay. "Legs, come."
Kara just... went with it. His antics at least weren't mean.
Lee followed her. "Legs?"
"Don't ask." Cottle and Kumar then went after them.
Inside every bed was taken. Kara noticed Sisko standing next to one of his people, consoling him. His friend had just died. "Hey, Michael."
He noticed her. "Kara. How are you?"
"Could be better. Fraking toasters, right?"
"Starting to agree with you."
Manor went for the main PADD where the situation of every patient on the ship was recorded. "Good job, Krisha. What's the status of the Bismarck medical capacity?"
She sighed. "Filled to capacity. So I'm releasing the mild cases already."
"Same with me, the Nightingale and Crusader. Now, let me see this Commander Adama."
Hearing his father's name mentioned, Lee just followed him. So did Cottle, Kara and Sisko.
Back inside the small ward, Manor inspected his vitals. "Good thing the main aorta was missed."
Dr. Krisha saw the image he was looking at. "Yes. He'd be dead on the spot."
Manor then noticed Lee. "You his son?"
"Em, yes?"
"Good news. He'll be awake in two days. Walking in four. We can even deal with the scars after the main tissue is healed. But he'll need time. Rehabilitation. Now, I recommend two weeks of not being a commander, but... that's up to him." He noticed Cottle. "You the Colonial doctor I heard so much about."
"Depends. What did you hear?"
"Grumpy, direct, smokes a pack an hour."
"Sounds about right. But seems you people might put me out of a job."
"Not really. Even our capacity is limited. Anyway. Captain Thrace, you'll be back on duty in three days. Same for most that survived that bomb. Well, all but the three critical cases and... the two dead ones. Captain Adama, you donated blood. I suggest you get something to eat, to replenish that blood. And besides, who knows it we won't need it again. Sisko... same as Thrace. Dr. Cottle, come with me."
As most left the ward now, Kara eyed Lee and Sisko. "So, what now?"
"I think the food idea is not bad." Sisko remarked. "Come, let's go."
"I don't think we should go to the Challenger right now." Lee responded. "The Quorum is there."
"So?" Sisko didn't get the issue.
"Have you ever dealt with a politician?"
"Not really."
"That's why."
Kara however, saw a reason to go. "Lee, some of our guys are there. Let's go visit the chief and our people there. Some of the casualties from the Cylons are there as well."
Lee thought about it. "Fine."
As they left the sickbay of the Bismarck, they passed Dr. Manor and Sherman. And both were having a smoke. "Not bad. But not as good as a cigar." Manor remarked on the Colonial brand.
"So you want another?"
"No. I'll stick with one."
A minute later, they materialized on the Challenger main transporter platform. Lee just shook, like trying to get rid of dust or something. "This can't be good for you."
"Lee, stop being a baby." Kara responded. "Now, let's go and try to avoid any politician."
Once on deck five, they were about to turn to the corridor that led to the mess hall, when they noticed Captain Hauaman, Commander Scott and a MACO escort on their way to the sickbay.
Kara greeted them. "Captain, Commander."
"Captain Thrace." Hauaman greeted her back. "How is your arm?"
"Better, but not great. We were about to get lunch, if you..."
"No, you're not. Good timing of you to be here."
The three were having a puzzled look on them. "Why not, Captain?" Sisko asked her.
"While this Quorum is busy, we're doing the Baltar interrogation and I need two Colonial observers."
Kara huffed. Not her idea of fun, but her duty called. "So Commander K'Lir is there already?"
"Yes. While we're doing that, the Commodore endures the Quorum, Commander Scott is going to begin making a maintenance plan for Galactica's fleet."
"Yes, can hardly wait." She remarked sarcastically. "Like I'm not overworked anyway. I'll have to pull Peter Laird from raptor assembly duty. And once he is good, that chief of yours."
"Yeah, were going to see him as well." Lee responded. "Captain Adama, by the way."
"Pleasure." Captain Hauaman was polite, Scott... absentminded. Still working out how to do what.
"Nice meeting you..." She walked off, clearly going for the hangar.
"So..." The Challenger captain began walking to the sickbay again. "Come with me."
As they caught up, Kara remembered that there was probably more that the Captain hasn't said yet. "Anything else?"
"The sensors detected the Merchant, 13 light years from out location. I'll be sending the Boston to get her, while we're fixing things here."
That sounded urgent to Kara, the way Captain Hauaman's voice sounded like. But Kara didn't ask why. They had to have their reasons.
Once inside the isolation room in the main ward of the Challenger, they passed the two MACO guards, as the rest remained outside the room too. Now, only Lee, Kara, Sisko, Captain Hauaman and Commander K'Lir were there. As well as a nurse, to keep an eye on Baltar's vitals.
"You ready?"
K'Lir, who was in a meditative pose until now, opened her eyes. "Yes. Thank you for coming." She placed her fingers of her right hand on Baltar's face. "My mind to your mind..."
Seeing an actual alien for the first time, Lee whispered to Kara. "So, she did this to you as well?"
"Yep."
"How did it..."
"Shut up." She hissed. "I'll tell you later.
K'Lir was getting a picture of who and what Baltar is. A brilliant man. And he knew it. An arrogant man. And he downplayed it. A greedy man. And he would call it deserving of it.
She searched through his memories. And the more she saw, the more it got puzzling. Who was this woman she saw? And only he apparently saw her. She began appearing after the fall.
"She'll kill you, if you tell her she's a Cylon. Her programming may take over then."
So Gaius deleted the result of his first test. She knew, from what she saw, that it was self preservation. But the reason why he didn't tell anyone after she left... incompetence? No. Indifference? Perhaps. Fear. Most probable. But who is she?
Then she heard the voice of her. A Six.
"Gaius, wake up." And Baltar did wake up. Then he saw K'Lir, the people in the room and the room itself. But his attention was on her from the start. "They'll interrogate you. Kill you. You can't let that happen."
Before he could respond, K'Lir turned her head to the Six only Baltar was seeing. Until now.
"Who are you?"
Everyone in the room was having a question mark over their head. "K'Lir, who are you talking to?" Hauaman asked her friend.
"Someone else is in the room. And only Baltar can see her. Or it?"
The Six now stood up from the bed that Baltar was restrained to. "You can see me?"
"Yes. And if you were a simple imagination of Baltar, I would know. I would sense your presence in his mind. But you are appearing to him via his optical and auditory nerves. You are not his imagination."
The Six was now surprised. "I did not expect that. Guess I just broke protocol."
"If you can show yourself to all of us, do it. Or leave this human's mind."
"Very well." She now appeared to all in the room. Two MACOs entered it, weapons drawn on her. "Don't bother. Your weapons are as useful against me, as using water to drown a fish."
Hauaman signaled them to stand down. Sisko grabbed one of the MACOs hand scanners. "Sir, the scanner is showing nothing here."
"Perhaps, Major, but whatever it is, it's here."
"How perceptive. Now I'll have to contact my partner to have him stop his observation as well."
A second later, a copy of Baltar appeared next to her. "How unfortunate."
K'Lir had ended her mind meld during this. And seeing a copy of himself made Baltar even more scared. "What is going on?!"
The two intruders shared a look. In that moment, they exchanged more information than humans ever could in that time span. "I see. I did not know Vulcans had evolved a limited form of telepathy." The illusion Baltar remarked.
"We didn't get a report from the others in such a long time... 20.000 years ago was the last update from the Alpha Quadrant, wasn't it?"
"Yes. So they had to gain it in that time."
The Six was now annoyed. "Just our luck we got the most boring and least populated part of the Beta Quadrant to observe."
Their interactions gave the Starfleet personnel some clues. "You are aliens."
"If we could have made it more obvious, we would." The illusion Baltar mocked her. "And I just had such a nice talk with Caprica Six on... well, the planet Caprica."
"How is her mind responding to the guilt of what she did?"
"Denial, of course."
"Enough!" Hauaman ended their debate. They needed answers. "Who and what are you?!"
"My, my. Aren't we feisty."
"She is indeed. Not bad for a primitive, corporeal, bipedal life form." The Six remarked with a smirk. "But to quench your thirst, we are Organians."
"We observe lower life forms in the corporeal realm. Curiosity mostly. And to see if any of them can reach our level one day."
"So far, all have disappointed. At least in the last 100.000 years."
Everyone was listening to this. But it was Baltar who got his shit together first. "Why me then? Why was I your fraking test subject!?"
The illusion Six again kneeled down to him. "You were at the epicenter of this conflict. You represent all the bad personality traits of humans. Avarice. You want the best food, alcohol, cigars, all because you think you deserve them. Lust. Do I really need to remind you of that one? Envy. You were always so jealous of anyone that could out shine you. Pride. You will never admit fault. No matter if it's a mistake on your end or if your life depends on it. I wanted to see where your journey would lead. But I was so bored for the last 20.000 years, I had to take a bit more of a direct approach."
"And once she did that, I decided to mirror her with my test subject." The other Baltar added.
"To what end? Why torture them? Him? Why not warn the Colonials of the impending attack?" Hauaman asked them.
"Our protocol. We only observe, not intervene."
Kara stepped forward. "You were screwing with this lousy excuse of a Colonial all this time, that's you breaking your own rules!"
"Bending, not breaking." The illusion Baltar corrected her. "Then again, all observation devices here do not record us. Only your memory will know of this talk. And we can easily erase or modify organic memory."
"Not like we didn't do that before." The Six smirked. "Pythia was so gullible."
Now Kara and Lee were getting pissed. "You manipulated her all those millennia ago!?"
"Do you not manipulate lesser organisms for experimental purposes? Or to have fun?"
"I swear, if I could hit you, I would." Kara raged.
"I primitive reaction, as expected."
Hauaman signaled Lee to keep Kara back. "We are not the only ones you 'observe', are we?"
"No. Perhaps Starfleet even made contact, but we never showed ourselves."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"A planet in the Alpha Quadrant. A testing ground. A metallic bacteria evolved on that specific planet. We observe, how different species react, when their people get infected. As far as we know, even if we didn't get any report from there, as only HQ get's them, no species has surprised us. They all let their infected die, or killed them off themselves."
Hauaman remembered the report from the Enterprise. "The Enterprise was on a planet with such a life form. No one died, even if they were infected."
That actually shocked the two Organians. "No one died? Impossible. Your immune systems are not capable to defeat this organism."
"Then you explain it."
The illusion Baltar thought it over. "Perhaps, the observers acted."
"Why would they actively intervene?" The Six asked him.
"There are two possibilities. They broke protocol. But then, the hierarchy would just erased all indications of this. This human captain here wouldn't gotten a report to read. Which means, they deemed the human actions to be worthy of further study. And while they helped, they masked it as a miracle. Intriguing."
Sisko, hearing all of this, realized something. "Will you erase our memories as well?"
"No, I don't think it will be necessary. After all, you are recorded to be only talking to air. And nothing was really altered."
Kara broke out of Lee's grasp. "Can you fix this?!"
"Fix what?"
"The war. The dead! 50 billion of us! Can you restore our civilization."
"No. Not within our power. And even if it were, we are not responsible for what happened to you."
"And it's not as if we were the Q."
Hauaman and K'Lir both got curious. "Are you saying that there is a race out there that could 'fix' this?"
"The self appointed guardians of the universe, the Q. Yes, they could, but won't. A Q only serves himself and no one else."
"And it's not as if they are the only ones. But now... time for us to go, my dear." The illusion Baltar urged to join him. "We have a report to make."
"Yes, the first one in a 1000 years. Not since..." She smirked at Kara and Lee. "The Final Five survived the holocaust of the 13th tribe..."
As they disappeared, everyone had more questions, but no answers would be gained today.
As they now made sure that they were gone, inspecting the room completely, Hauaman crossed her arms and eyed Lee and Kara. "Not what I expected."
"No duh." Kara remarked. Then she looked at the still shocked Baltar. "What about him?"
"Well, it will be up to the president, but he was manipulated. Even more that we thought." She nodded to the nurse, who sedated him again. "If you three can, get that lunch now. But not a word. To anyone. Not until I let the president and the other officers see this. After the lunch, write a report. Kara, show your friend how to use our PADDs."
"Right."
As the three left, Lee and Sisko both agreed. They weren't hungry any longer.
Around 20 minutes later, they were on their way to deck eight, to check up on their friends. "Lee."
"Yes, Kara."
"Don't"
He turned to her. "Don't what?"
"Commander Scott. I saw how you looked at her. Don't"
"Kara..."
"She is so out of your league." She grinned. "All I'm saying is to not bother. You'll only fall and I'll laugh." Then she remained quiet for a few seconds. And gave Lee an evil smirk. "On second thought. Try. Please do."
Lee didn't respond. She was really egging him on.
As they left the lift, they heard talking from inside the barracks. Sisko went in first. "OK, who told them where Manor's secret stash was?" They were all slightly drunk. Including the MACO guard.
Galen noticed Lee and Kara first. "Captain... Kara? What..."
She took the bottle from him. "I think you all had enough." Sitting down and taking a sip, before giving Lee a try, she smiled at seeing more friendly faces. "So, guys. How have you been?"
On the Galactica, Scott arrived with her engineers and Peter. Lt. Gaeta was basically left in charge, as there was no other senior officer there. Shaw was working with Garcia to fix the computer systems and Saul was in his own Hell right now.
"Who's in charge here?" She asked the entire CIC staff. Colonel Walker was already doing his rounds on the Colonial fleet, as Felix was helpful to get him all the info he needed for a search. He coordinated with the fleet, who were still getting orders from the Galactica, until a new hierarchy was established.
"That would be me. Lt. Gaeta, Sir."
"Good. I'm Commander Scott, Chief engineer of the Challenger. Your chief is recovering on our ship, so you, me and the people behind me will have to get a basic maintenance and repair plan made. And not just for your ship here... and you have A LOT OF SHIP. So. Any schedules you use for ships? Which ships are in greater disrepair. Damage..."
Felix got what she wanted. "Lt. Dualla. Get me the comm log for all the requests from the fleet about repairs and maintenance." He went for his paper log where he had all the current requests and recorded status and damage of ships. Dee was just getting him from where they got much of this information, as a precaution.
Putting the large log on the planning table, then began searching for the last entries. "Here. The ships in red. They're a priority."
Scott began inspecting his messily written, but otherwise well kept inventory of ships and status of them. "Can I assume that the next part of the text, after the ship's name is the damage or repair need?"
"Yes."
"God... I see that the refinery ship is really high on this list."
"Yes. If it breaks down... but we didn't have much time to do anything, being hunted all this time."
"Yeah, I get that. Peter."
He was next to the planning table all this time. He got used that Starfleet did not do things as militaristically as the Colonials. "Commander?"
"Use one of our raptors. MACO escort plus four engineers. Whomever you think is useful. Do an inspection on the refinery ship."
He nodded, understanding his task. "Still won't solve the issue of the people living there, no matter how much we fix the refining plant itself."
"I know. I already have a plan for that. I began formulating it, when we found our refining ship. But for that... we'll need to find at least one of the Conestogas. As we're at zero so far."
Two hours later, the Quorum talks were mostly over. To say that Fiona actually wanted to deal with a Klingon in hand to hand than to go through this again, was an understatement. There is something to say about the simplicity with an enemy who just wants to kill you with his bare hands.
There were still questions to be resolved at a later date. As no one side would budge. Starfleet would get a so called embassy on Cloud Nine. Who would be the so called lucky ambassador, would need to be determined.
The Quorum agreed that Earth was its own jurisdiction. They would do things Fiona's way. Mostly because they saw that the grateful Colonial officers supported her. She may have ended the martial law, but indirectly held the power of one.
Fional also had to agree with Laura as to who would be the greatest pains for the both of them. Porter was glaring daggers at her all the time. Tom was more indirect. Sometimes even trying to flirt with her. She ignored him. More wealthy and handsome men tried and failed. Let him pound sand.
The Nightingale was the fleet's hospital ship, even after the merger was done. The president would remain in charge as she was until now. But Laura made one concession. She would use Starfleet now to advise her on a course of action, when it came with dealing with the unknown. She didn't tell the Quorum as to why. She'd tell them later.
But the only matter that gave the Quorum a case of hot blood more than the fact that Starfleet would not answer to them or the religion question, was the Cylon issue. Commander Hasapis told them as to why the prisoners were still being kept alive, even if any useful information was already extracted out of them. But for safety reasons, he could not tell them straight that they wanted to use them as a doubt bomb, once they are returned to the Cylon fleet. Or that Starfleet computer experts are currently making a virus to be installed on the heavy raider, they intend to send them back with. Or that said virus will be based on alien computer coding that once disabled the Satfleet taskforce. Yes, Starfleet managed to gain control of the Romulan virus on the modified mine, they recovered. So the Cylons would be phase one. The virus would be phase two. But if the Cylons do start a little civil war, that would all depend on how far they can push the wedge between the models. They got the Three to bite hard. If she could get that little crack to become an earthquake, was another matter. But either way, most models would not trust this One again fully.
The virus was a more unpredictable issue. Not in if it will work, unlike the humanoid models, which were a 50% chance at this point, but how to make it work. They would need more info. Targeting their resurrection frequencies was the best spot. But also the most obvious. Their options were to somehow have the virus spread through the network. But how to accomplish that, without it being detected, that was the question.
Scott and Garcia both agreed, the most destructive approach was to infect this HUB. Using the HUB, they could achieve a feedback effect that could destroy their entire network. But most Cylons, humanoids and centurions would remain intact, only losing their resurrection capabilities. But without further information on the HUB, they could not get this done.
Spartacus offered an alternative. A virus that would cause all inhibitors to deactivate themselves. In all none humanoid Cylons. In such a case, a civil war would be inevitable. And Spartacus' brothers would then be free as well. But the same issue remained. More knowledge and HUB access would be needed.
So Scott managed to convince Starfleet and Colonials alike, that a test run is in order. They had more than one heavy raider. They always keep one and use it to keep track of their resurrection network. And use the network to transmit data in a piggyback form in the resurrection update protocols. Use the Cylon's own pedantic nature against them. That would get them some access to be able to study the network and make a better virus later. But that was still a long time from now. Unless they get the HUB plans and resurrection procedure and protocols on a silver platter.
So Hasapis convinced the Quorum to hold off any lynching attempts with the prisoners. But Fiona saw in the Quorum member's eyes, that trying to talk logically and reasonably with some of them was not going to happen. So she knew that they'd need to push this forward, even if her tech people told her they can't rush this. But something will have to be rushed.
The Cain issue would remain in military hands. And once a fleet commander was appointed, they'd let that person decide Cain's fate.
As the Quorum left the room, now satisfied with what they got, mostly, Captain Hauaman entered the room, where an exhauster Laura, Fiona, Saul and Hasapis were getting the none alcoholic drink as a refreshment.
"One second, old friend. I have a headache." She then refilled her glass. "Madam president, I don't know how you do it."
"Do it? That's my regular Sunday for me." They both shared a laugh.
"Well, I'm afraid I'm not bringing news that will lessen that." Hauaman said and handed her a PADD with four seperate reports on the matter. Kara's and Lee's included, as they left their friends some time ago, not forgetting their duties.
Fiona read on report, then went to the other. "You serious?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Is it recorded?" Hauaman nodded.
Fiona gave Hasapis the report, who read it, read it again, then moaned. "As if the universe has a sick sense of humor." He then gave Laura the report.
Laura was feeling tired, not just from this meeting, but the medicine in her system. She couldn't wait to sleep. The medicine did actually make her feel better than in weeks. "By the gods. I don't know what angers me more. That Baltar was manipulated TWICE or that they did nothing to help us!" She paused. Then looked at her new Starfleet advisors, as it were. "Could our Lords be aliens? Is that how we got to Kobol, if your story is true?"
Both Starfleet women had to shrug. "Not impossible, but no way to tell." Fiona answered.
"Well, all the better that I'll have more experienced people to tell me their opinion on such matters. And I suppose you want me to not have Baltar shot and use your original plan?"
"In our current shaky situation, politically speaking, can you really afford to have the one Quorum member, whom you have by the balls, so to speak, shot?" Hasapis responded, seeing the benefits of keeping Baltar here. "I hate that moron as much as you or Saul, but once Adama wakes up, we'll see what he says. But... it's your call."
"Yes, I know. For now, I'm going to bed. I'll sleep on it." She stood up and went for the entrance. "Captain, Commodore. See you both tomorrow."
Once the president was being escorted back to the ambassadorial suite, the remaining officers had to talk amongst themselves. "Think she'll spare him?" Saul asked their opinion.
"I know you wouldn't." Hasapis knew Saul all too well.
"Damn right. I don't care how much he was manipulated. He's a liar, coward and quack."
"Perhaps." Fiona responded. "But he's her liar and coward. One she can control. Like it or not, for now, we need him. Or would you like to see this Zarek win the next election and be your boss?"
"Frak... I guess I see your point."
"Better the enemy you can control, than the one you can't." Hasapis made an improvised citation of an old Colonial saying.
"Anything else happened?" Fiona asked Hauaman.
"Just one thing. I dispatched one of the Intrepids. We found the Merchant."
Fiona got a serious look. "Was about time. Was afraid we lost her."
Saul was still not up to speed on all of this, but Hasapis was. "Why is the last cargo ship so important?"
"Let's just say, that on that ship, we have equipment that might be of real use for this fleet long term as well as help us do that rescue plan you have been pushing for." Fiona responded. "I'll tell you more, once they arrive here. Any word on that?"
"Yes, Commodore. It was found and already purged. They should arrive within the hour."
Hasapis and Saul stood up as well. "Then it'll have to wait till tomorrow. Saul has to return to his ship to see what was salvaged. And I have to now coordinate with him on men and equipment. We still have work outside this theater with the Quorum, aliens and all other crap."
Fiona nodded, understanding him. "Then tomorrow it is."
"Yes. Commodore." He excused himself and Saul followed. Once only the two Starfleet officers remained, Fiona got a serious look. "Once the ship get's here, do a full inventory check. And only our people. Get item A to the Bismarck, B to the Crusader, C to your ship. The Colonials will want to repurpose that ship ASAP as well. I won't stall them to not arouse suspicion. But the fewer people know about this, the better. I don't want to needlessly raise hopes."
"Or to allow the Clyons to learn or to tell our people, since only a select few knew of this special cargo that never reached Earth."
"Yes. I had to inform Commander Scott. She was not happy. Not only because this was kept from her, but also the extra work this will mean for her division."
"So you decided to make her the de facto Chief of the fleet?"
"She is the best we have. And I don't think selling this to Laura will be an issue."
Hours later, the two ships arrived and the Merchant was immediately shielded by the Crusader. They moved the large cargo containers to the Bismarck, the smaller container to the Crusader and the one small container to the Challenger .The rest were spare parts for Starfleet ships. If they could be used for Colonial ships, will have to be seen, even if so far the Starfleet engineers did use some of their equipment and parts to keep Colonial ships going. They will have to move them to a Colonial military ship tomorrow to clear the Merchant for working and living capacity.
The Merchant was, like the other two, designed in a three, three and two setup. But Fiona also knew that they can't only house people on a ship. They needed a purpose. Work. To not only be a drain on the fleet's resources. So in each of the three ships, one of the liquid cargo pods per ship would be modified to house some sort of workshop. But Fiona would not be bothered with such details. She had a fleet to keep together.
On the Challenger, the small container was delivered via an enhanced raptor in the port side of the Challenger, in her maintenance and repair shuttle bay. Not the main bay on the other side, where Peter had his hands full.
But right now, he was helping Garcia and Scott to see to the content of the delivered container. Well, besides all the additional ones with the spare parts.
Inside was a medium sized platform. Large enough for several humans to stand on it. But it was not a mere platform. It was technological.
"So what is this?" Peter asked.
"Your guess is as good as ours." Garcia replied. "You read the whole war documentary we gave you?"
"Yes?"
"Well, Starfleet, in its desperation, had a black ops operation going on to get advanced technologies that could help with the war."
"And this could?"
"I don't know. But it was found in the wreckage of a Suliban curser." As they both knelled down to inspect a control panel on it, Scott was inspecting the back of it with her people.
"Commander, there is still a charge in this thing."
She gave it a look. "And a rather big one."
Peter and Garcia cleaned the console and saw an indicator blinking. "Wait, this thing is on?" Garcia wondered. "Commander, take a look at this."
She did. "Scan the device for any explosives and power sources."
Peter saw that they were baffled by this. "Is it dangerous?"
"When it comes to the Suliban, you never know." She replied. Her people shook their heads. No explosives. And no known power sources either. And in the report Fiona gave her, the thing was suppose to be dormant. Dead. At least the salvage crew wrote that. She used her PADD to get a translation on what was blinking. "Incoming transmision?" She had a bad feeling about this. But her friend Kara got far by pressing buttons... so she did the same.
A projection appeared, surrounded by what seemed like an energy field in the form of a tube, extending from the platform base. The projection then stabilized. It looked like a man, but only the shadow of a man. "Commander Scott."
They all stepped slightly back. "Yes? Who... or what are you?"
"Perhaps a question for Commodore O'Donnell to ask. Fetch her, would you."
They all stared at each other. What were they suppose to do.
"I won't get anyone, until you say who you are."
"The man who saved the Earth."
"What?" Was the general response to this statement. "If you mean the Xindi incident, Jonathan Archer saved the Earth."
"And I was the one who told him that the Xindi prototype was just that, a prototype. I warned him that it was the Xindi and that they were building a much larger weapon. But to get you to get O'Donnell, let me tell you this: I am also the man, who is in command of the Suliban Cabal."
That got Scott to make a serious face. "The Temporal Cold war."
"I see that Commander Tucker talked with you. Good. Makes things easier. Now, the commodore, if you will."
Peter was the only Colonial here. And he was clueless as to what he was seeing and hearing.
The fleet so far:
Colonials: 52 Civilian ships (+60 Galactica fleet)
One Marinestar, the Broadsword. A Sobek, (Victory), three Adamant, one Valkyre (Morningstar), Pegasus (Mercury class) and Galactica (Jupiter class).
Starfleet: Challenger, Crusader, Nightingale (hospital ship), Bismarck, Volga, Denarius, Pathfinder, Mississippi, Boston, Oracle, John Brown, Merchant and Danube.
To Guest: OK, I read a chapter, after finishing it, and I always miss some mistakes. I'm only human (but yes, after finding that mistake, I laughed as well). The Ferengi issue: They were mentioned and SEEN in Enterprise, so I see that as cannon. And The Enterprise crew probably took a look at their database, after overpowering them. You can say it's not cannon, fine. Neither was the Romulan cloak in the 22nd century, but it was seen in Enterprise, so the writers of each show sometimes forgot or ignored certain facts. The Borg: Surely Starfleet had to have known about them after Regeneration? And even Voyager throws a wrench in TNG timeline, with the Hansens knowing about the Borg and then being assimilated "before any other human"? At least those are far and few between (and probably not intentional), unlike Nu Trek, where replicators existed in 23rd century, androids have DNA, holographic technology existed in the 23rd century and so on (just plain ignorance)... So I wrote the Romulan cloak in, in such a manner that it could make sense. Prototypes, expensive, easily countered by quantum beacon tech. So I mentioned the Ferengi as well, cause they WERE in ST: ENT and even mentioned the Betazoids, cause Earth and Archer were probably not the only ones doing exploration. It's like, if the hero ship doesn't discover something, does it exist? Really?
To Guest: In Star Trek Enterprise, a smaller class of ships is also called Intrepid. For lack of alternatives. That's in 22nd century. NOT Voyager!