Chapter XI

Book II

'Storm Waves Crashing'

UCW Territory

Basestar V718

"Abomination," Samnar, a second Leoben model whispered softly, unknowingly echoing his brother as he too tried to understand what he was seeing. He was convinced his eyes were lying to him, or so his brain insisted. Aliens. It wasn't logical. "It has got to be a fake transmission, a trick of some kind," he said louder this time. "Maybe the Earthers are playing the Colonials to see how they will respond to something completely outside of their experience."

"Well, they picked the wrong thing to test them on," Caspian said. "Colonials are trigger happy and I'm surprised they haven't shot at that ship yet." The others were continuing to glare at the unusual sight, more or less ignoring him. He saw the uncertainly in their faces and wasn't pleased. "It's a fake," he insisted.

"But I'll admit, it's a good one," said Ravinia. "It does look real. But what if it isn't?"

"Doing an analysis of the transmission now. Transmission is in the clear. Checking for any transmission overlays. No secondaries," Anita gasped as she didn't quite believe the readings herself. "It's clean! This is real."

Catherine shook her head. This couldn't be happening, not right now. "Question, what do we do in light of this new data?"

"Worst case scenario is that the Colonials will make friends with these aliens and turn them against us," Ravinia muttered. "Then we'll have new enemies to deal with.

"For all we know, there may not be an Earth to find," said Denise Three. "If there are real aliens out here, then Earth may already be destroyed. We all know how humans react to things that are different from them. Maybe they did the job for us."

"Listen, you twit," Gregor snapped causing Denise to glare at him. "That's not what they're saying. Look at Cunningham's face. He's at the edge of having a breakdown and we all know what happens then. He'll fire on that ship because his personality psychological profile suggests that he follows his impulse and will hoot first/"

"It also means that he believes they are real aliens and he's ruining this contact." Catherine said gleefully. "At the very least, he's made a bad impression and might permanently ruin relations, that is if they don't start shooting at each other first. See how Cunningham is acting? Look at his face!"

"There's no such thing as aliens," Caspian said. ""

"We're looking at them right now! You can't deny what you are seeing!" huffed Anita.

"We're missing something. There has to be a logical explanation," countered the Two.

"Yes, they're aliens," the Eight said. "That's the logical explanation. We're not alone in the universe."

Anita looked annoyed at the interruption. She hated it when people interrupted her before she could finish. "They keep insisting they're associated with Earth and this UCW that they keep mentioning. This suggests something that we haven't yet considered" she said. "Could it be that these so-called aliens are Earth's versions of the Cylons?" she asked, getting excited about her train of thought. "Maybe Earth, instead of making mechanical creations focused on creating biological constructs instead."

"Yes, yes," Gregor said as thought about what Anita was suggesting. "Neither we nor the Colonials ever encountered any other form of intelligent alien life until now. "As you religious fanatics keep saying, God doesn't make mistakes," he finished as he got his digs on the digs at his fellow humaniforms, those who continued to insist that God was real, a belief he didn't hold to. "The only life out here in the universe is human and Cylon. I refuse to believe that there are other forms of life out here until we have more definitive proof."

"You believe Earth somehow biologically engineered these creatures to be what, servants? Their drone soldiers of some type?" asked Ravinia. Anita Six shrugged. "That is illogical."

"That's the only possible explanation that fits what we've seen," Caspian said while his counterpart readily agreed. "Fake imaging or engineered creations. It has to be the answer."

"You're implying that the Earthers are more advanced in biological engineering then we are," Randall said. "I find it hard to believe that they're more advanced to the point that they can create lizard creatures intelligent enough to be able to fly space ships! It doesn't make sense! They're using standard, primitive, I might add, radio signals to talk. That does not suggest that they have the technology to create such creatures," Catherine insisted.

"That explanation sounds better than accepting the existence of aliens!" Samnar countered. "Either way, whether real or engineered. They are an abomination. Randall, you were right about the Thirteenth tribe needing to be obliterated. I can easily see them spreading this filth around the galaxy."

"Trust me, I am not saying that I'm wrong about the humans. But I think that you are jumping to conclusions here," Ravinia said. "The experience we've had with humans may be hindering us in seeing this situation in a different light. The initial evidence suggests that these are intelligent aliens whatever their origin. You may be wrong assuming that these creatures are a threat to us just because they exist."

"No, I'm not. God does not make mistakes, only humans do."

"Do you know how insane you sound?" Gregor said, looking at both Leobens. "And I thought I was hard-core."

"Oh, this is rich! We're arguing about aliens and God's plan of the universe, right at the point of our victory." Denise Three shook her head in dismay. "We're hypocrites, laughing at Cunningham and assuming that we're better. People, we're acting the same way as the Colonials." The woman literally stamped her feet on the floor to gain everyone's attention. "Things have changed! What do we do? "We have so many questions to answer, it's not even funny. Do we continue shadowing the Colonial fleet now and possibly run into a trap? Or, do we stay here and covertly try to discover the source of those subspace transmissions on our own? We have to reach a consensus quickly on how we should proceed."

"Considering the circumstances, I vote for the latter," the One said. "Logic says we have to be close to Earth. A mistake here could ruin the entire mission."

Ravinia looked at them. "And what if we find the alien home world instead?" "What are we going to do then?" She paused for a moment to allow her arguments to set in. "Face it, we have to change our plans. Maybe we should talk to these aliens ourselves."

The two Leobens looked at her. "There's no such thing as aliens!" both of them said in perfect unison. "We won't find a home world for aliens. What we will find is that these humans are creating abominations, an affront to God."

"Okay, it's official," Ravinia said. "The number Twos are going off the grid."

"Listen to me!" The first Leoben growled. "We have a visual of the so-called alien ship. It's an eighty-nine percent match for the Earth ship that was encountered by the Colonials. It's most likely that ship was designed by Earth, therefore whatever they are, they have a connection to Earth. I believe that they were biologically engineered. They could possibly be aliens, but I don't think so. But it doesn't matter because whether they are Earth's version of Cylons, or true aliens, they are abominations. Those things are fouler than the humans that created them and they should be destroyed. War with the Thirteenth is inevitable. What we've seen proves it."

"You're advocating war for no other reason than the fact that they're aliens," Randall yelled loud enough for everyone in the control room to hear. "This line of thought is stupid in the extreme. It's wasteful, ignorant, and I, for one, pun intended, will not agree to it." He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. For the sake of argument, if they are engineered creatures, then they have the same rights as we do."

Ravinia looked at him in shock. "I can't believe you're arguing for the preservation of aliens that may or may not be associated with Earth, and I can't believe that I find myself agreeing with the Colonials. We don't know if these aliens are telling the truth. I don't like humans, but that doesn't mean that my contempt for them extends to other life forms. And maybe these humans are different? We're under the assumption that the Plan is everything. The Plan is shredded. The point is we don't know."

"Those creatures are abominations," the Samnar growled. "Can't you see that?"

"No, I don't agree with you," Denise responded. "I can't believe I am agreeing with Randall on this, but I'm not going to make assumptions about these, whatever they are, until I have more information. I'm not about to start a war just because they're lizards, whatever their origins may be."

The Doral present in the center started laughing. "It's amazing how rigid we are in our thinking. Look at us," he said between breaths. "We really are acting like the humans we imitate. I don't know whether to be impressed by our success or feel pathetic because of it."

"It still doesn't answer what we're going to do, because this changes everything," Ravinia argued. "Do we even want to continue our search for Earth with the intentions of crippling or destroying it depending on their power and…allies in light of this new information?"

Leoben looked at his fellow Cylons as if they were insane, because to him, they were. "You can't see what's going on, can you?" he started/ his face was flushed, his eyes wide. "Whether they are Earth's version of Cylons, or if they are really aliens, which I cannot accept, it doesn't matter! They're connected to those humans and they need to be destroyed. We must prepare ourselves to deal with these creatures as well as the humans. We need to reach a consensus quickly before they become aware of our presence.""

"You're advocating and expansion of the war," Ravinia said to him. "We haven't found Earth yet, much less confirmed if these creatures know where Earth actually is located and you're advocating a third front? I don't think this is a wise conclusion, but I do agree that we do have questions we need to answer and answered quickly. If you haven't noticed, we're in their territory and they could find us at any time. In other words, the longer we stay the probability of us being detected increases, our stealth systems notwithstanding."

"Ravin1a, stop stating the obvious! I think we should attack the Colonial fleet now, wipe out Colonials and the abominations," Caspian responded. His voice was slow and steady as he tried to will the others to accept his point of view. "If we do that, we cut our losses, we go home, build up our forces and come back and wipe out everything including those abominations."

Now it was Gregor's turn to laugh. "We do have a long way to go, don't we? Our ultimate goal is to win the war and get rid of the humans so that they will never be a threat to us again. The extermination of the life form known as Man. That mandate does not include killing every strange alien, and yes, I said alien, we come across. We are alone out here. Everything we expected about this section of space is wrong. Our enemies are talking not shooting yet. Earth may be closer than we think or farther than we can imagine. Talking won't hurt us if it comes to that. Maybe we can score a few points. It's not as good as killing Colonials but if we don't have to get our hands dirty, then it's all for the good."

"humans lie. They all do."

"So do we and we're better at it, but we can tell if they are," Gregor said. "If this UCW is real and trustworthy then maybe we can accomplish our mission and screw the Colonials at the same time. It's not perfect but it beats a running battle trying to return home, if we lose."

"They need to be destroyed," Caspian fumed.

"Caspian, Samnar, why are you so afraid of these lizard creatures?" asked Anita. By her tone, it was clear that she was indeed curious. His fear seemed irrational to her. Both Leoben had already designated them the enemy without any real reason. "If they are Earth-made Cylons, which seems highly unlikely, Leoben, then by your arguments, we have something in common with them. Therefore, we should make contact and talk to them first before we start shooting. If they are real aliens, then it's something that we've never seen before. We should at least find out more about them. It may help us in the long run."

Caspian didn't answer her, instead turning to another fellow Cylon. "Doral, do you agree that, if these creatures are indeed associated with Earth, then they are, by default our enemies?" asked the Leoben.

Doral reluctantly nodded his agreement. The man turned to Gregor Cavil. "So far what we've heard indicates that these creatures are, in some form associated with Earth. Number One, would you consider this to be a greater overall threat to the Cylon race, enough that these creatures be eliminated by any means possible, as soon as possible?"

The One in question didn't answer for several moments. It was obvious that he was in deep thought and somewhat conflicted about the situation that they were in. "If I follow your argument, then these aliens would be servants of the humans of Earth. If they are, they need to be liberated, provided that it can be done safely. If not, they will have to be exterminated. It's regretful but it may be necessary. But we don't have the resources to do that at this point as we are far from home. If anything happens to the resurrection ship, we are all dead because we are, and listen to this everyone, we are too far from our home system for our download to safely make the transfer! What I do agree with is that we should find Earth, get more information and then, make a decision before a decision is made for us! Everyone here knows that I hate humans as much as anybody here, but I'm not a fool, either, so I think caution is advised." He held up his hands to forestall an argument. "It is our responsibility to find Earth and possibly not get blown to oblivion while blaming the Colonials for any screwups. However, if these are allies of Earth whether they are the result of bioengineering or not, then it changes the entire equation. Rushing into this without thinking will get us all killed, and possibly start a war which we are not prepared for. Both Earth and the Colonials together can overwhelm us and that is the last thing we want. So, I vote we continue observing what happens. Besides, the Colonials, by the sound of things are twitching and might do the job for us, as I keep saying."

Leoben glared daggers at the One and then at the rest. "We might as well turn around and go home and wait to die," he muttered.

"I didn't know you were so scared," Denise snarked. "Have you considered that these lizards if they are alien and are an alien empire might have hundreds maybe thousands of ships? What if they have ships as powerful as the Earther ship that visited the Colonials? And where is your belief in God's will? Your faith seems kind of weak to me as you constantly harp about going home every time you open your mouth?"

"If anyone is interested, the aliens are giving a condensed history of their empire," Ravinia's dry voice cut in. "It sounds like they are an independent group now allied with the humans. They're saying that they've contacted Earth so that they can speak to an Earth rep directly."

"Frack."

Samnar hadn't even heard her. "You're right, I am afraid. I can see the writing on the paper, and I am angry that you, all of you, can't."

A Simon took this moment to ask a question. "We always assume that Earth is our enemy? Maybe we should contact Earth and these lizard creatures and explain our side of the conflict before the Colonials do." He looked at both Leobens. "What do you think?" he asked, smiling and was suitably rewarded with a muffled scream from both men. "I take that as a no?"

"Simon, you fool, this is serious!"

"Yes, it is. That is why I'm asking this question in light of everything that is happening right now."

A sudden high-pitch wailing alert cut of further conversation.

"Oh, gods, we have a contact!" Ravinia all but screamed. "Full alert! All basestars, set to Condition One."

"We even use human tactical connotations," Leoben grumbled. "Get our raiders out there and prepare to destroy the target as soon as we get a lock!"

"No," yelled Gregor. "Defensive screen only. No firing until I say so!"

The entire humanoid-Cylon collective froze. They were equally split between wanting to eliminate the threat and opening a dialogue. Scores of raiders began exiting their basestars in preparation for battle. Weapons systems powered up and missile were shunted into their chambers and the hatches opened. The collective was caught flat-footed and unprepared for this situation.

"Contact is stopping thirty kilometers from our position. it is now stationary. No active targeting emissions are detected but they are scanning us. Power emissions are very high."

"So much for the element of surprise!" Gregor was about to issue orders when, the communications board lit up.

"We are being hailed in Caprican standard!"

Weapons to active, missiles silos and tubes, ready. DRADIS going active. Raiders prepared to disembark and set a defensive perimeter around all ships. Resurrection ship is preparing to jump to emergency coordinates the moment hostilities break out. Current locations three point five light years holding at last jump point. All weapons are active but not tracking…"

Gregor scramble to relay orders to the fleet. "All ships! Hold fire. Basestars V718, V722 and V114 remain on station. All other ships jump to our previous position and hold for orders."

Catherine, a model Three, was practically demanding to take over. "Our covert mission is irrevocably ruined. The Colonials will confirm that we're here and start spreading their propaganda and lies before we can say a word and the Earth people's opinion will be contaminated, if they're even willing to listen. Any attempt to attack Earth now would be useless now that they know we're here. With the Colonials helping them, anything we could do to them would be at best pyric. We have to speak to the aliens and Earth before we wind up with another confirmed enemy on our backs."

"As if we already don't?" sneered Anita who was continuing to monitor the Colonial and alien conversation some ten light-minutes away. She gave a quick confirmation as the other vessels jumped to safety. "The others are clear."

We're at the edge," declared Catherine. "We can still savage it if we act now." Both Leobens and several other models were about to begin arguing when she cut them off. "Force won't get us out of this now. If we destroy the ship out there, we'll have to abort our primary mission and then people we will have started a war with unknows with resources we know nothing about." There were dubious looks thrown her way by some of her brothers and sisters, but many more looked thoughtful, or uncertain. "Look at the data. We're stealth mode and they saw us. Right now, they most certainly have more ships incoming, so our choices are simple: either we talk or run."

"Open a channel," Randall slowly said. Catherine was right. "I didn't come all this way to start fighting lizards for no reason. There's nothing else we can do now. Let's hear what they have to say."