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Chapter 53: From the Darkness Comes Light (Part 7 of 7)
Colonial Sphere, Scorpia orbit, Cylon baseship Wildfire
Dozens of scented candles flickered and cast a warm glow around the room as the woman in the large tub leaned back and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath. She was attractive in a girl next door all grown up sort of way, with facial features that would blossom with a little makeup and highlighting and hair that was long enough to be put up in a seductive style but still short enough to remain manageable.
And now, claiming a few hours for herself, ‘me time’ she called it, she relaxed in the scented and rejuvenating waters. Her mind went back to key events over the past few years and the more she thought with what her own eyes told her, what she had experienced, and discounted what she was told to think or believe, the more annoyed she became. A slender arm lifted the wine glass to her lips before she downed the crimson contents in several sips.
She had heard rumors that Daniel was back from the dead, which in and of itself was a miracle, but like anything that went against the narrative driven by the Ones, it was suppressed and labeled heresy. She was human, she knew that fact every time she took a breath or cried out in ecstasy, those were things no machine could ever feel or understand. And as a human she thought, pondered, and evaluated what she knew and suspected.
Why then was the truth, or discussion of the truth, now branded as heresy?
She asked questions because she wanted answers. She wasn’t a blind follower; it just wasn’t who she was or how she developed. If someone couldn’t answer her questions or provide the satisfaction she required, she sought out someone who could; this pissed off the Ones to no end.
The beeping intercom drew her attention back to the present and soured her mood; she had left instructions that she wasn’t to be disturbed for at least another hour. “Yes!” she shouted to the empty room.
“I have a priority transmission from Conflagration, for you specifically,” Bess, her XO, stated. “Shall I put it through?”
“Yes…go ahead,” she groused. “Can’t even have some me-time without those assholes disturbing me,” she muttered sotto-voce.
“Here it is,” Bess replied.
There was another beep and she sighed. What sort of bullshit was going to come from the tyrant and the perv over on Conflagration? “Celeste City Morgue, you stab ‘em, we slab ‘em!” she said by way of greeting.
“How clever, Karen,” Chad’s voice echoed in her sanctum. “Did you pick that up while you were terrorizing retail managers in Celeste before we nuked it into oblivion?”
“No, I came up with that one all on my little old lonesome,” Karen replied sarcastically. “Now, what the frak do you want…I’m busy.”
“Oh…testy and feisty!” Chad replied flirtatiously.
“Don’t even think about it, Chad…I don’t do boring,” Karen snapped back. It wasn’t that the Fives were ugly, but damn, you’d think they’d at least dress differently. Some designer won a hell of a contract to provide the same suit and shirt design in a variety of colors that were between lounge lizard and two seasons old.
“Well, so much for small talk,” Chad chuckled. “Jonathan wants to you take the 46th Division and depart immediately for Acadie in the Islands Cluster and once there confront Inferno and Pandemonium where you’ll demand to talk with both Ismail and Albany to find out why they didn’t take part in the attack and why they aren’t answering when we hail them.”
Karen swished the water around and thought that Chad would probably getting some ‘me-time’ in a corner if he saw her right now. “That was one hell of a sentence, and you got it out in one breath. The Language Arts teacher in me is damned impressed. It should have been broken into several smaller sentences, but I get the point. So…the head perv made this decision? Did Lucien or John sign off on it? What you’re asking me to do is pretty far out there.”
“This was Jonathan’s decision…he can do that, you know…” Chad said and posed the last part as both a statement and question.
“Yes…but I want something sent over so that when this blows up in my face, I can point to the Diddler…hmm…that would make a cool super villain…the Diddler!” Karen said dramatically before chuckling. “Anyway, you send me that and I’ll go out to the middle of nowhere and track down the wayward boys and see why they’re playing hooky.”
“The orders have been sent,” Chad stated. “We expect you to leave within the half hour.”
“Ok…ok…don’t get your boy shorts in a bunch,” Karen said and stood in the tub and felt the water sluice off her body.
“What’s that noise?” Chad asked. “It sounded like water.”
Karen smirked. “Why yes…it was water, Chad. I’ve been taking a bath this whole time. I’ll leave you with that image for whatever uses you might find it fit for…toodles!” she said before she reached over and hit the intercom button that ended the transmission. You are so easy to frak with, she thought as she dried herself and prepared to carry out her orders.
*+*+*+*+*
Beyond the Colonial Sphere, Colonial battlestar Galactica, BS-1075
“We’re one jump out and we’re taking a three hour pause before we jump to Acadie,” Admiral Rupert Gath stated. “What can we expect to find?”
Ismail looked at Albany before he spoke. “Since I’m the one with the fondness for the Cluster, I guess this is my question to field. You have the data on the system; planet locations, moons, belts, etc., nothing has changed on that front. There aren’t any new orbital structures, and those that remained are all in pretty bad condition and unused. Normally there isn’t any presence in the system, though prior to the past few weeks, a baseship or two would sweep through the system every month or three to keep an eye on what might be happening on the surface.”
“What about your forces? Just the two baseships?” Aphie asked.
“Correct; my own Inferno and Albany’s Pandemonium should be the only ships in the system,” Ismail explained. “When John issued the full recall after the Hub was attacked, every Cylon ship should have jumped to support it. Even though the all-clear has been sent out, I know John and Lucien, and the last thing either want is to lose the Hub, so they’ll be keeping it tucked away safe and sound. Couple that with trying to garrison the Colonies and keeping a guard at the Colony, I don’t think either one would send a baseship out to sweep the Cluster…it just isn’t a wise use of resources.”
“Still…” Gath said and sat back in his highbacked chair before steepling his fingers on his chest, “We’re going to go in as if it’s an opposed jump against a numerically superior opponent. We can’t risk a recon sweep before we go in, so if it isn’t tagged as one of yours, it’ll get one chance to stand down before we send it to hell.”
“Fair enough,” Albany said. “I would doubt that any of the others who share our sentiments would trek out here for tea and crumpets.”
“No…but anything is possible,” Aphie pointed out. “Once we have established communications, we’ll send transports over to recover Admiral Montcalm and his staff. When they return here, Captain Miller and Captain Harris will confirm their identities.”
Gath nodded. “Correct. Not only will they have to pass through the glyphs, but then we’ll do the face-to-face test with Miller and Harris.”
“Ah…if I might add something?” Colonel Brock Carlsbad asked. “Maybe I’ve seen too many techno thrillers, but I’d like to see everyone scanned for explosives before they board.”
“Were I in your place,” Ismail calmly said, “I would do no less. Trust must be earned, it can’t be demanded or expected. And we have a lot to make up for.”
The conference lasted another fifteen minutes before it broke up and Ismail, Albany, and the Communion officers returned to their quarters. “What do you think?” Gath asked those who remained at the table.
“They’re saying the right things,” Commander Michael Costello replied. “And they’re eager to build trust. Normally, I’d be skeptical and walk away from it, but…”
“But?” Aphie asked her XO.
“But then I have to factor culture into it,” Costello explained. “The Cylons, for the most part, have been human for what, 40 years? In a human society, people who are 40 have had kids and those kids are probably in middle or high school. That isn’t a lot of time to develop interpersonal skills, especially when you don’t have role models who have lived life, made mistakes, and learned from them.”
“That’s a great observation, Michael,” Aphie said. “One I haven’t heard before and I think we need to consider. They’re trying to be accepted, to be trusted, much like a youth or early teen would strive for the same things with his elder peers.”
“Does it change anything, though?” Lieutenant Bethany Gath asked. “I mean, we know this now, we take it into consideration when we interact with them – after all, it could be considered a motivation, but does it change what we’re going to do in a few hours?”
Gath looked at Aphie, then to Carlsbad, and finally to Costello. “Thoughts?”
“I think it’s one of those things that are filed under, ‘forewarned is forearmed’,” Carlsbad said. “It helps give us context and perhaps why they are how they are, but what we’re essentially going to do is offer a demand, if it isn’t met or is met with force, we’re going to stay just long enough to hit the jump button and get out.”
“Well put, Brock,” Aphie said. “I’m not sure what I could add.”
“Nor I,” Costello offered.
“Ok…then I think we know what we’re going to do in,” Gath looked at the chronometer, “about two hours.”
“If there’s nothing else?” Carlsbad said and pushed back from the conference table. “I’m going to head back to the CIC.”
“And I’m going to return to Guerriere,” Costello added.
“I have notes to file,” Bethany added and soon Gath and Aphie were left in the conference room.
“Subtle, aren’t they?” Gath chuckled.
“I prefer calling it respectful and accommodating,” Aphie smiled. “Buy a girl lunch before the big date?”
“My pleasure,” Gath replied and offered his hand to help her stand.
*+*+*+*+*
“Jump complete and all ships are in formation,” Captain Juliette St. James announced from the navigation station. “I have dradis contacts…two at 10,000 km and seven more within 100km of them. All have active fire control dradis and all are launching fighters!”
“What the hell?” Admiral Rupert Gath swore as he studied the dradis. “Ismail? Albany?”
“They’re not coming after us,” Ismail replied and pointed at the dradis. “They’re closing on each other…”
“What’s your take?” Gath asked Colonel Brock Carlsbad.
“Normally I’d say let them fight it out, but since it’s likely that we’ll lose the VIPs we came all this way to collect, perhaps we should lend a hand?”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Gath chuckled. “Ezra, please contact Aphrodite on Guerriere.”
“Already have her on the line,” Petty Officer Ezra Kaufman replied.
“Thank you,” Gath said and picked up the handset. “Aphie…feel like running out the guns?”
“Oh yeah,” Aphie replied. “We may disappear from dradis for a bit, but we’re still here and will stay in formation.”
“Ok,” Gath replied, resolved to ask about it when there was more time. “Have you identified the friendlies?”
“We have…I’ve sent the telemetry over to Captain St. James for confirmation,” Aphie answered. “Do we give them a chance to strike their colors?”
“It wouldn’t hurt, though it would certainly draw their attention,” Gath stated. “Still…I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have Ismail or Albany reach out to them.”
“We’ll wait to pull our disappearing act until that’s resolved,” Aphie told Gath. “Blessings be with you, Rupert,” she added.
“And to you, too, Aphie,” Gath replied and looked over at Ismail and Albany. “Do either of you want to reach out and see if we can settle this non-kinetically?”
“At the least it will let us know who is over there,” Ismail replied and reached for a handset. “On Guard, please.”
Gath turned to Kaufman and nodded. “On Guard, Admiral,” the communications specialist said a moment later.
Ismail picked up the handset and put it to his ear, “This is Ismail, secure from combat operations and stand down.”
The answer was almost immediate. “Ismail, I have been sent to ascertain your situation and why you haven’t responded to the recall or other hails, and why you didn’t take part in the general attack on the Colonies.”
“Six baseships have changed course and are moving to intercept us,” St. James reported.
“Keep an eye on them, please. Mr. Sakai, please coordinate target selection with Guerriere. Mr. Hale, please do the same with the airwing,” Gath ordered.
“Copy,” Captain Maria Sakai replied from where she sat at the primary fire control station.
“Copy,” Captain Troy Hale echoed a moment later from Flight Operations.
“Karen, I hope you’re not one of the foolish ones who have decided to approach us,” Ismail calmly stated. “We didn’t take part in the attack because we have decided that ‘The Plan’ is both flawed and illegitimate. John, Lucien, and many of the other Ones changed it without fair and legitimate review. And…I’ve met Daniel.”
“What?” Karen said, her voice a mix of surprise and fear. “We aren’t allowed to say that name.”
“Odd, that, isn’t it?” Ismail replied laconically. “Stand down, Karen. Stand down and we can work this out like rational beings. If you don’t, then you will be destroyed and if you think you’re going to download and resurrect then I think you’re deluding yourself. You’ll be boxed for failure. You know I’m right if you’re honest with yourself.”
There were several long seconds of silence only broken by the sweep and pinging from the dradis. “Cylon baseships are within 7,000…Raider formations are deployed,” St. James offered from the navigation station.
“Ismail?” Gath asked and looked at the Cylon.
“Karen…call off the dogs or they’re going to get smoked,” Ismail said into the handset.
“They aren’t responding to my commands,” Karen replied. “I told them to stand down, but they ignored the order.”
“Fair enough,” Ismail replied. “Please hold your position, recall your Raiders, and take no offensive actions. If you don’t, I will end you.”
“I understand,” Karen replied.
“Admiral, I believe it is time to draw swords,” Ismail said. “I’ve known Karen for many years and while she can be quite the annoying and demanding bitch, she doesn’t lie. I believe that we will need to destroy those ships that did not follow her orders.”
“You did your best,” Gath told the Cylon. “Aphie?” he said into his handset.
“Still here, Rupert,” Aphie replied. “You want the three on your side and I’ll take the three on mine?”
“I think that would be a good deal. Watch out for the Raiders, each one could be carrying several nukes,” Gath warned.
“Understood,” Aphie replied. “Guerriere Actual, out.”
“Galactica Actual, out,” Gath said and replaced the handset. “Ok people, time to go hunting.”
*+*+*+*+*
“Jesse, do we have valid fire control solutions on baseship’s Four, Five, and Six?” Aphie asked the weapons officer.
“Aye,” Captain Jesse Pajari replied. “I’ve directed the starboard primaries and mains against baseship Four, which appears to already have some damage, and the port primaries and mains against baseship Six. Bow guns and spinal weapons are targeted on baseship Five.”
“Thank you, Jesse. Please overcharge our capacitors for the first shots, after that, normal fire rate is acceptable. Michael?” Aphie turned and asked the man standing on the other side of the plotting table.
“If this was Othrys, I’d say we smoke the center one and give the others two a chance to surrender, but not after what they’ve done. Take ‘em all down hard,” Commander Michael Costello said. “Staghound, Wolfhound, and Boarhound can handle the fighters and launched ordnance with flak, point defense, and Rockshots.”
“I concur,” Aphie stated and turned to the Flight Operations officer. “Venla, coordinate with our airwing to engage the Raiders after our first salvos against them.”
“Copy, the airwing is to move forward and engage the Raiders after we’ve fired our first salvos against them,” Captain Venla Lahti replied.
“Excellent,” Aphie said. “Now we wait until they get a little closer. Anna-Liisa, please prepare the plasma veil for activation.”
“Preparing the plasma veil for activation, aye,” Captain Anna-Liisa Saari replied and prepared perhaps the most unique of the special technology Guerriere possessed.
Aphie watched the dradis as her fighters took positions ahead of Guerriere. Her three escorts were in a rough triangular shape with Staghound being seven kilometers above and ten kilometers ahead, with Wolfhound and Boarhound each about seven kilometers below Guerriere’s path and several kilometers to each side, forming a rough equilateral triangle with Staghound at its apex.
Galactica had a similar formation, though Seax and Misericorde were each a few kilometers above and to the right or a few kilometers below and to the left of Galactica’s course. This was the worst part of the battle, Aphie thought to herself. Despite taking command in every conflict since Olympus had been created, the anticipation never went away, the anxiety was never conquered. That was a good thing, she decided, because when it became routine then she realized that it was something she was looking forward to and that was not something she ever wanted to happen.
“We’re almost within range,” Pajari stated.
“Prepare to fire all batteries and mounts that bear,” Aphie directed. “Aatos, please let the airwing know that we’re about to fire the spinals.”
“Copy, alert the airwing that we’re about to fire the spinals,” Petty Officer Aatos Kulmala replied from the communications station.
The chronometer ticked down the seconds and then, “We’re within range,” Pajari said.
Aphie didn’t hesitate to give the order, “Fire!”
“All batteries that bear are firing now…” Pajari replied and the Aphie felt the barest tremor as the eight spinal mounts that ran the length of the ship fired and unleashed hell upon baseship Five. The spinal mounts were special particle accelerators that accelerated a focused particle beam to almost the speed of light which gave the normally almost weightless particles incredible mass and energy.
To an outside observer it appeared as if Guerriere and the baseship were connected by brilliant bolts of lightning for a split second as the eight beams spent themselves in baseship and then punched completely through the ship’s center spine. A brace of heartbeats later, the graceful ship rippled, glowed from the inside as if a new star were being born, and then exploded in a ball of golden fire.
“Splash one baseship,” Pajari announced dispassionately. “Kinetics should be arriving on target in six…five…four…three…two…one…now!” Both baseship Four and Six seemed to slow on the dradis and then several sweeps later, began to break up. “Splash two more baseships,” she said as if it was as routine as ordering dinner at a restaurant.
“What are the fighters doing?” Aphie asked.
“They’ve lost some of their coordination, but they’re pressing the attack and launching ordnance,” Costello stated. “Rockshots are launched…” he added. “Deploying…some of them made it through; point defense has been allocated.”
“Thank you,” Aphie said and checked the dradis to see how Galactica was faring. Two of the baseships were already drifting and both airwings were mixing it up in a giant dogfight between the battlestar and the baseships. So long as the Raiders were occupied by the Vipers they wouldn’t be launching ordnance that would threaten the battlestar, so hopefully the fight continued so Galactica could tend to the baseships.
*+*+*+*+*
“Holy shit!” Colonel Brock Carlsbad exclaimed when Guerriere fired her spinal mounts. “What the frak was that? Guerriere just slagged a baseship at extreme range with one shot.”
“I don’t know…” Admiral Rupert Gath replied, “I’m just glad she’s on our side!”
“Ditto!” Carlsbad chuckled. “We’ve got hits on One and Three; using flak rounds set to detonate after impact seems to be causing holy hell over there.”
“Glass jaws,” Gath observed. It was a similar outcome when they fought the Cylons at Armistice Station on the opening day of the war. The standard kinetics just smashed through the Cylon warship and caused incredible damage, but adding flak rounds into the mix ensured that there would be internal explosions as well. The only thing that would be better would be to somehow swap a flak round’s payload for a nuclear warhead. That’s going in the AAR, he thought to himself.
“How are our Vipers doing?” Gath asked.
“Exceptionally well, we’ve taken losses, but well below what we projected pre-war,” Captain Troy Hale replied from the Flight Ops station. “The new EW birds are really proving their worth.”
“Small favors,” Gath said and looked at the dradis. “Focus all batteries that bear on baseship Two…we need to end this now.”
“Copy, all batteries are focusing on baseship Two…” Captain Maria Sakai echoed from the weapons station.
*+*+*+*+*
“Break left, Snake!” Captain Brian Rowan said over the squadron frequency as he pulled his Mk VIIF Viper into a near blackout inducing climb and then pushed it into a nose over tail maneuver to get a firing solution on the Raider that was barely 250 meters behind him. The tracers showed the 30mm kinetic rounds quickly close the distance and punch into the Cylon’s unitary hull and a moment later Rowan was rewarded by flying through the Raider’s death pyre.
“Anyone skosh on ammo?” Rowan asked over the wireless.
“Bread is skosh,” Lieutenant Brenda ‘Bread’ Rye answered. Of all the Blue Diamonds, Bread was the one he expected to be skosh, though not for wasting her ammunition; she was the most proficient person he had ever seen when it came to air-to-air gunnery. He was sure that she made more of the ammunition she expended than even he did.
“Anyone else?” Rowan pressed now that there was a slight lull in the fighting as the Raiders appeared to be trying to regroup.
“Bear is skosh,” Lieutenant Theodora ‘Bear’ Davies replied. “I’ve also taken a round in my top engine.”
“Ok, Bread, Bear, head back to the barn and get rearmed and patched up,” Rowan directed. “The rest of us, we have Cylons to kill…let’s make another sweep before they get their shit together.” And with that, VF-1634 was back in the fray.
The new Raiders weren’t anything like the Raiders that Fleet Intelligence projected the Cylons would field. They lacked the cockpits of the original and appeared to be a unitary machine; that is, the craft was the Cylon and not a standalone vehicle like the original Raiders were. They were extremely maneuverable and pulled more G’s than expected, and while they were smart and had a good grasp of fighter tactics, they still lacked the creative thinking that a human pilot added to the equation.
“Hold still…” Rowan muttered as he brought the Viper in behind a Raider. He felt his finger caress the trigger as the aiming point projected by his HUD floated onto the Cylon. He felt more than heard the four 30mm cannons buried in the wings fire and watched the tracers punch holes into the Raider’s after engineering section a moment before it exploded.
He thought he’d feel something more when he made ace in one engagement, but all he felt was the satisfaction of facing an equal foe and coming out alive. As Rowan searched his dradis and outside the cockpit for the next target, he noticed several silvery flashes; someone was jumping out.
“Galactica to all chicks, Raiders are bugging out,” Captain Troy Hale’s voice announced over the wireless. “The following squadrons will return to Galactica for rearming and refueling…” he said and named off several squadrons, the Blue Diamonds not among them, and then added, “All other squadrons re-form and assume defensive posture.”
“Ok, Diamonds,” Rowan said over the squadron frequency, “you heard Flight; form up on me and pretty soon it will be our turn to rotate back.”
*+*+*+*+*
Admiral Rupert Gath rubbed his eyes looked at the cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of him. The first thing they had done after the six baseships and their airwings had been dispatched was recover their own airwings and perform SAR, then jump for deep space. From what he knew about the Cylons, jumping probably wouldn’t matter given as how they were all tied together in some sort of network, but it made him feel better putting some space between them and the killing grounds.
Once they were in deep space, shuttles were dispatched to collect Admiral Montcalm and his staff. That was almost anticlimactic, Gath thought. The shuttles went to Inferno, were there for about twenty minutes, then returned to Galactica. None of Montcalm’s staff, or the man himself, had been compromised by the Equals and none were rigged as suicide bombers. All in all, it was almost boringly routine.
And then there was Karen.
Ismail had said Karen was an annoying and demanding bitch. Gath thought he was rather understating the woman’s abrasiveness. Everything he or Aphie said was questioned and even the answers were questioned. She could have given any frustrated Pyramid mom in Caprica City a run for their money. It wasn’t until a Heavy Raider arrived from Inferno that she settled down, listened, and seemed to turn a page.
Daniel was a most unique person, Gath thought. He stepped off the Cylon transport and looked more like an accountant dressed for a day at the country club than the most disruptive force within Cylon culture. And what made it worse, was that he was a genuinely nice person. But…nice or not, he managed Karen without raising his voice or offering an insult or threat, but rather won her through reasoned persuasion, explanation of the facts, and pointing out how the Cylons were figuratively the frog that was being boiled alive by first being put in a pot of cold water and having heat slowly added until the water reached a boil.
In a lot of ways, Daniel reminded Gath of another person he had recently met, also from a foreign culture. President Patrick Windsor had the same quiet, strong, leadership gravitas and for the first time he thought that there might be a chance for the Cylons.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Aphie asked from where she sat next to Gath at the table.
“Just thinking about what’s happened and hoping that Daniel is the real deal and not an act,” Gath replied and looked at the woman who had thawed his heart.
“I think he is,” Aphie replied as her fork picked at her salad. “The Cylons are coming to grips with the fact that they’ve been lied to, deceived, and worse…used. It’s going to take a lot to overcome the anger and guilt, but I think they can do it.”
“You have faith in them?” Gath asked.
Aphie nodded. “I do. They want to be like us; you and me. But unlike us, they didn’t have loving parents to raise them, schools to go to where they could socialize and learn effective interaction and have confused lust for love so when they feel real emotions that aren’t anger or hate, they’re confused.”
Gath thought for a moment about what Aphie just said and slowly nodded. “I hadn’t looked at it from that perspective,” he confessed. “So…we’re going to essentially have to be their big brothers and sisters?”
“No,” Aphie chuckled and smiled. “More like cousins, I’d think…”
“I think I can work with that,” Gath laughed. “Do we make a run for Joyeuse?”
“We should try,” Aphie stated. “At the very least we should try and land the personnel and some of the transports that we brought for them.”
“Good,” Gath agreed and nodded. “That was my thinking, but I wanted to get a second opinion. Should we get things started?”
“I suspect we should,” Aphie said as Gath stood and moved her chair so she could stand. “I’m looking forward to getting back to Saga so we can…debrief…” she smiled, and half closed her eyes.
Gath took the hint and leaned forward, took Aphie in his arms, and kissed her. Despite only knowing her for a handful of days, he felt as comfortable with her as he ever had with Tallie; did he dare think he had a second chance for happiness?
*+*+*+*+*
Beyond Colonial Space, orbit of Ripley’s Star, structure known as Olympus
Commander Victor Kailo was still in awe of the massive structure that was Olympus. It redefined the term ‘megastructure’ and it was fitting that it was the home of the gods. After meeting with Admiral Thomas Crane aboard Lexington and the tearful reunion between the Admiral and Ceska, and the odd hint about Tuck, the rest of the meal had been rather normal. The food was, as Crane stated, excellent, and despite being representatives of the gods, they seemed as human as anyone he had ever met.
After they arrived at Olympus, he and Ceska were taken to Olympus and from there the surprises were kicked up several magnitudes. First, he met Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Thor, and Uranus. Together, along with Crane, the eight of them discussed current events and some past events. They confirmed that Admiral Chase had found them, and that there were also two other civilizations with her. That sounded like Sera, he thought, if anyone would go out searching for a legend and find not one but three of them, it was her.
Kailo despaired when he heard what happened to Earth and how their creations rose up against them just as the Cylons had done to the Colonies. Anger flooded him when he heard how the Equals were so intimately involved in everything that was happening, but it was when Ceska started talking that he realized that he was in the middle of a long game, a very long game. He had come to terms with knowing Prometheus was out there, but it was still a shock to hear how he was suspected of pulling strings even now.
All of those were shocks. Given where Kailo was, they were to be expected. However, the last shock and perhaps the most emotional one, happened earlier today just after lunch. Uranus, he still had trouble calling him Robert, it seemed undignified to call a god Robert, had asked to meet with him and Ceska privately as there was something he wanted to discuss with them. When they met him in one of the many gardens at Zeus’ palace, Kailo had stopped short. “What is he doing here?” he asked.
“Commander, there is a lot you need to know, things you need to be aware of so that you can look for them, too,” Uranus began. “By knowing this, you will understand why Richard committed the actions that he did,” the old god calmly explained.
Kailo felt Ceska put a comforting hand on his arm and he nodded. “Ok…I’ll listen…I don’t know how much I’ll believe; I was there when everything went down during Golden Sword.”
“I understand,” Uranus said and gestured for everyone to be seated. Richard Szabo took a seat next to an attractive, younger woman, who seemed very protective of him. “Just so everyone knows who everyone is,” Uranus started, “this is Richard Szabo and Sasha Gillette, and this is Victor Kailo and Ceska Eventine.”
It wasn’t lost on Kailo that Uranus had omitted any titles or rank. That put everyone on an equal level, he thought to himself. “It’s been a long time, Richard.”
“It has, Victor, and I want to offer my apologies for my actions; I wasn’t myself, but I am still haunted by what I did,” Szabo replied sincerely. “I must ask, before we start, Ceska…do you know someone named Gemina? She looked a lot like you do.”
Ceska narrowed her eyes and Kailo could feel her tense. “Yes…I know Gemina.”
The tip of Szabo’s tongue licked his upper lip and Kailo could see conflicting emotions behind the wanted man’s eyes. “Is she a good person?”
“That’s an odd question,” Ceska replied and nodded slightly, “but yes, she is. She’s an extremely talented and compassionate doctor.”
“If…if you see her,” Szabo started as tears welled in his eyes, “if you see her, would you tell her that I forgive her and don’t hold what she did against her?”
“Certainly…” Ceska said and looked at Uranus. “What happened?” she asked, her voice strong and commanding causing even the old god to sit back a bit.
“You are familiar with wetware?” Uranus asked.
“Yes…” Ceska’s answer was barely above a whisper.
It was then that Uranus told what happened to Szabo and for the first time since he was a child, Kailo felt a deep, bone chilling, irrational fear. What had been done to Szabo was a violation of every law of common decency, every medical ethic, and basic morality, and rather than feeling anger or even hatred of the man, he felt pity.
“Richard…I didn’t know…” Kailo finally said.
“No one did, Victor…so there’s nothing for you or anyone to apologize for. For most of my life I was someone else’s pawn; someone else directed who I loved, who l hated, what I did. About the only thing I’ve been able to truly figure out is why I was so focused on Sera Chase…my sister had blonde hair and was named Sarah. To me, she was my world and after the Cylons captured us, all we had was each other…until they took her from me.”
Now that they knew about the wetware chip, Kailo realized that it was one more avenue that their enemy would use to attack them. How many people were already compromised, he thought, and how many had survived?
“Will you do me a favor, Victor?” Szabo had asked before they had all gone their separate ways.
“If I can,” Kailo replied.
Szabo handed him an envelope with a familiar name written on it, ‘Sera Chase’. “Please see that Sera gets this letter. I hope to be able to tell her in person, but this way I know she’ll at least know why.”
Kailo slowly nodded. “I will…I promise.”
“You look deep in thought,” Uranus said and sat down next to Kailo, snapping him back to the present.
“I was thinking back over what we discussed earlier,” Kailo said. “Ceska went with Richard and Sasha to discuss Gemina and I figured it would be a good chance to just sit and collect my thoughts. I watched the death of my world and I’m having trouble reconciling that it was because of some sort of cosmic power play.”
Uranus nodded twice. “A long time ago, before the Colonies, before Kobol, before the Earth Union or Meropian Communion, before Othrys…I watched humanity’s homeworld die…twice.” He stared up at the massive dome and the distant planet near Olympus. “The first time, we were able to save humanity and the homeworld. A massive plague swept the planet and killed…well, it killed enough to send everyone into a very barbaric way of life. It was insidious and had originally been tailored to attack people with specific racial traits. Along the way it mutated, because that’s what they do, and it soon affected everyone.
“We came back from the brink that time, and then we had a sort of golden age. We did things we shouldn’t have and from that the chimeras were born,” Uranus explained and Kailo nodded along, mostly lost but completely intrigued with what he was being told. “We made the decision to end the chimeras and that caused some friction among us. Prometheus was their leader and in the wake of his failed coup and uprising, he took his followers to the stars and disappeared.
“It wasn’t until the day after he fled that we realized how close to home he had attacked. Admiral Crane’s sister, Grace, had been the target of Prometheus’ amorous attention. She didn’t want anything to do with him and…well, you’ve met Gavin, Hannah, and Grace, as well as Thomas and Corrine…can you imagine how they reacted?”
Kailo nodded and remembered meeting the people Uranus mentioned. It was scary how in tune Gavin, Hannah, Thomas, and Corrine were with each other; it was almost as if they were one mind split among four people, they were so close. Strongly suspecting what happened to Gavin and Hannah’s daughter, Grace, he could only imagine the anger and anguish they had.
“It wasn’t until later, when we started sifting through Prometheus’ labs that we found the other…how he wronged, violated, and hurt Hecate. That isn’t my story to tell, that’s Hecate’s, should she ever decide to tell it,” Uranus explained and sounded very grandfatherly and wise. “After that, we renewed our efforts to work together and build a better world on the ruins of the old. For a while…for a long while, that worked. Then we did what you did, what the Earth Union did, and ultimately what was done in the Communion; we created life to serve us and shoulder some of the burden so humanity could live a better life.”
“The Cylons, Equals, and drones?” Kailo asked.
“Correct. We called them CyMechs, Cybernetic Mechanicals, and like all life tends to do, they sought self-determination and violently revolted against us. That’s when the homeworld was finally laid to waste,” Uranus said sadly. “Everything that humanity had ever created, all the memories, all the achievements, everything…if it wasn’t in an evacuation ship that wasn’t infected, was lost. The destruction was so complete that the surface was razed. I doubt there’s anything left other than some of the eternal monuments, but now, after all these years, even those might be gone.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Kailo asked. “Not that I’m not interested, this is fascinating, but why now?”
Uranus turned on the bench so he could look Kailo in the eyes, “Because this cycle must end. Pythia said, ‘all this has happened before, and all this will happen again’, and the time has come to end that. She wasn’t telling you what to do, she was warning you; warning that if humanity didn’t learn from its mistakes that it was bound to repeat them. The problem was that humanity didn’t have the history…it didn’t know what had happened before. There were myths or legends, but they were given the same credence as a child claiming there was an evil monkey living in his closet.
“Now you know…when you rebuild, you must incorporate this history into your own…I’ll help, but I can’t do it for you…you must do it for it to matter,” Uranus explained. “Can you do this?”
Kailo sat for a moment trying to process everything he had been told. “I can do my best.”
Uranus smiled and put his arm around Kailo’s shoulders. “That’s all any of us can do, and if enough of us do that, then we can succeed.”
*+*+*+*+*
Commander Victor Kailo entered his quarters on Siren and immediately knew he wasn’t alone. The Marines were still on duty outside, so he was fairly certain who was waiting for him. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said as he walked into the lounge.
Several candles lit the lounge and gave it a warm, intimate feel and revealed the person standing next to the sofa. Every time he saw her, Ceska took his breath away. Tonight, she was wearing a white silk kimono and her hair was held up by a pair of lacquered sticks. “I will be here tonight,” Ceska said as she took a step towards Kailo, “and every night thereafter if you’ll have me.”
“Why?” Kailo asked and found himself drawn to her. “Why tonight?”
“Because I’ve decided that I must live my life for me, not for someone else. I can no longer live my life trying to do what someone else wants, what I think they’d want me to do, or to make them happy,” Ceska explained and took another step towards Kailo. “I want to chose who I live for, who I want to make happy, who I want to please by doing what they want.”
“Me?” Kailo asked, his heart beating that such an exquisite creature would choose him.
“You,” Ceska said. “My eyes have been opened and I believe that you will need me as much as I will need you in the coming days, weeks, and years. Will you have me?” she asked slowly, her voice almost a whisper.
Kailo closed the last step between them, “Yes…but it goes two ways…”
Ceska smiled and Kailo felt her arms go around his shoulders, “Yes…”
*+*+*+*+*
Outside the Colonial Sphere, orbit of Thrush, Becca’lia system, Colonial battlestar Atropos, BS-35
“Jump complete, we are in Thrush’s far orbit,” Lieutenant Harry Richardson announced from the navigation station.
“Secure from Jump Conditions, launch the CAP,” Commander Devan Lubeck said to the CIC. “Good work, Harry,” he added, congratulating the navigator on the jump. “Did Angelos beat us here?”
“Doesn’t look like it…” Richardson replied. “Wait one…dradis contacts, two large ships in orbit…transponders identify them as Iolanthe and Xanadu, as well as a standard CAP.”
“I guess we should be neighborly and hail them,” Lubeck said. “But…to be on the safe said, launch the Alert 5 to join the CAP.”
“You think they aren’t legit?” Colonel Taylor Nixon asked from her position on the other side of the plotting table.
“After finding out they can look like us?” Lubeck arched an eyebrow and looked at the attractive brunette, “I’m being exceptionally cautious.” He turned to communications specialist Bruce Babbage, “Buck, how about we ring them up? I believe Wolf Travers has Iolanthe now.”
“Copy…contacting Iolanthe and Xanadu,” Babbage replied. “Attention Colonial battlestar Iolanthe, this is the battlestar Atropos, please respond.”
“Atropos, Iolanthe,” a female voice replied, “please confirm identity by sending your encoded credentials.”
“Iolanthe, Atropos,” Babbage said, “credentials are sent and yours have been received and verified. “It’s good to see a friendly face.”
“Confirm, Atropos,” the female voice answered. “I have Iolanthe Actual; is Atropos Actual available?”
Lubeck picked up the handset, “This is Atropos Actual, is that you Wolf?”
“Atropos Actual, Iolanthe Actual, the one and only. I’m glad you made it out, Devan,” Commander Wolf Travers’ voice said over the handset.
“Same from me to you,” Lubeck replied. “What is your status?”
“We were knocked around a bit when the Cylons attacked but have since repaired the damage and are looking for a place to go to ground,” Travers answered. “How are the students?”
Lubeck chuckled, “They’re all good…I would have, and have, gone to war with them and they all performed magnificently! Is this the first place you’ve gone since you left the homeworlds?”
“They had good teachers, Devan,” Travers told him. “This was our first stop after we left the Oort Cloud where we went to ground to fix the damage.”
“Ah, good…then you can come back to the party with us,” Lubeck stated. “A lot has happened since the attack and even though I saw it with my own eyes, I still have trouble believing all of it. We have a rally point at Thule, around Saga. We were sent out to find stragglers and survivors and guide them back.”
“Saga?” Travers asked. “We can’t live there…”
“Best kept secret, old friend,” Lubeck told him. “How soon can you be ready…”
“Dradis contacts!” Richardson announced just as the dradis started pinging off new contacts. “I have thirty-six contacts! Multiple battlestar sized contacts…wait one…Sir…thirty-two are transmitting Earth Union IDs, one of them is Angelos, three are Colonial, and…my gods…one claims to be Pathfinder.”
“Wolf, we appear to have some party crashers…hold the line while I reach out to them…” Lubeck said and motioned for Babbage to contact them.
“I have Arke Actual and Medusa Actual on the line,” Babbage said several moments later.
“This is Commander Devan Lubeck of the battlestar Atropos,” Lubeck announced over the wireless. “Arke Actual, you brought some friends with you…”
“Atropos Actual, Arke Actual, Devan, you old warhorse,” Commodore Andre Musk’s voice stated from the handset. “Colonel Savoy said you might be here when we arrived.”
“That was the plan, but you know plans and first contact,” Lubeck replied. “You found some friends and a missing ship…” he said and let the thought trail off.
“I did,” Musk replied. “Or rather, we found Pathfinder and Commander Kaylen’s group found and saved us from a Cylon attack. Commander Kaylen, I’d like to introduce you to Commander Devan Lubeck. Devan, Commander Feleena Kaylen of the Earth Union.”
“Pleased to meet you Commander Lubeck,” Kaylen’s voice said over the wireless. “We have all come a long way to find you.”
“The pleasure is mine, Commander,” Lubeck replied. “Until a few days ago, I thought you were a legend.”
“So I’ve been told,” Kaylen replied and Lubeck could hear the smile in her voice. “Colonel Savoy and her team have given us a lot of hope.”
“As soon as we’re finished here, we’re going to jump back to Saga…” Lubeck explained. “I’d be honored if we could escort your group as well as Commodore Musk’s group back with us.”
“I think that would be fine,” Musk agreed. “I see you have Travers’ Iolanthe and Xanadu with you…”
“Iolanthe was here with Xanadu when we arrived,” Lubeck explained. “We’ll all be going back to Saga in a couple hours.”
*+*+*+*+*
An hour later, ‘several hours’ was extended to ‘about a day’ as survivors had been found on Thrush’s surface. Commander Anabelle Isles sat next to Gillian McGovern on the Roc that was taking them to Eurypyle and an informal get together while the issues on the surface were worked out.
“What’s wrong, Bel?” McGovern asked and turned to look at her.
“I dunno…” Isles replied. “I’m just antsy, I guess.”
McGovern cocked her head and stared at her. “Bel…” she said and conveyed the tone that she wasn’t accepting the answer.
“I think it’s because we’re so close to the end and now we’re waiting a little longer,” Isles explained, though even to her own ears it didn’t sound convincing.
“It’s just another night,” McGovern told her and squeezed her hand.
“I know…Isles agreed. Deep down she wondered if this was how her sister, Feleena Kaylen, felt when she had one of her visions. The difference was that Kaylen actually saw things, this…this was just a feeling.
Half an hour later, Isles stood in the Oyster Bay Gardens, named after a picturesque bay on old Earth, under the massive dome on the back of Eurypyle. The mixer wasn’t just for top brass, but also junior officers and senior enlisted that had recently gone above and beyond for one reason or another. She and McGovern were introduced to Commander Devan Lubeck and Major Thaddeus Collins of Atropos.
“You’re essentially a school ship?” Isles asked after the introductions were completed.
“Part advanced academy for high school age students and part living history exhibit,” Lubeck explained. “We’re a fully functional battlestar, but our role was to give students a taste of what it would be like to be in the Fleet while they also attended their studies and learned how a ship like that worked.”
“Let me introduce you to two of my finest students,” Collins said, the pride in his voice evident to Isles. He motioned forward two teens, neither of which looked more than 18 or 19, “Commander, Gillian, I’d like to introduce you to Ensign Sir Penn Chambers and Ensign Lady Anat Giliad.”
“Hello, Commander,” Chambers said as both he and Giliad came to attention.
“Good evening, Ensigns,” Isles replied. “If I may, you both seem to be a little young for your rank, though I’m not one to talk.”
Chambers and Giliad both looked to Collins. “It’s your story to tell,” he told them.
Chambers began with Giliad adding details here and there about what happened on Olympia a few months earlier. “And that’s how we both are ensigns and were knighted.”
“Simply amazing,” McGovern was first to speak after the story. “You are both amazing young adults.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Giliad replied and Isles saw the girl give Chambers’ hand a quick squeeze. “We have good teachers who made sure we were ready for what happened and then stood behind us when we were questioned about our actions.”
“Now you’re going to make us blush, Anat,” Lubeck chuckled. “I just wish you could all have had a normal graduation and time at the Academy…”
“Several of the original Atropos’ crew were in our shoes, sir,” Chambers stated. “I like to think we’re carrying on the tradition.”
“That we are, son, that we are,” Collins said and gave his shoulder a quick fatherly squeeze.
Before anyone said anything else, another Colonial officer approached. Isles noted that he looked surprised and uncertain. “Erin?” he asked when he was at their group.
“Excuse me?” Isles asked and studied the man, a Colonial captain if she read the rank correct.
“I…I’m sorry, Commander…” he said. “I thought you were someone I met recently. You…you look exactly like her.”
“Commander Anabelle Isles,” Isles said and offered her hand. “Until a few days ago, I had never met someone from the Colonies.”
“Yes…I see that…” he replied and took her hand. “Please forgive my manners, I’m Captain Jeff Clark from Iolanthe. Here…” he said and pulled out a small communications unit. He thumbed through several screens before he showed her what was displayed. The picture showed a slightly younger version of herself with Clark. Both wore dress uniforms, though ‘hers’ was slightly different.
“That is me…” Isles mumbled. “Gill…look…” she added.
“It is…right down to the hair color and cut,” McGovern stated, and Isles felt a cold chill, the same chill she felt when Kaylen told her about meeting herself in a forest on Virgon.
“Do you have any other pictures?” Isles asked and glanced up to look for her sisters.
“Yes…only two others on this, though,” Clark explained. “I archived them to may main computer. Here…” he thumbed to the next picture. “Just thumb to the right and you’ll see the other one.”
Isles took the device and looked at it. This time the picture showed her and Clark dancing some sort of slow dance, still in their dress uniforms. “When was this?”
“Seven months ago,” Clark explained. “We were members of the wedding party for some mutual friends when we met.”
Isles thumbed the image to the right and almost dropped the device. “Gill…what the frak is going on here?” she whispered as she saw a group picture; an unknown man and woman, obviously the bride and groom were in the center, another couple stood to the groom’s right that she didn’t recognize, but the other three couples in the picture…of the men, she only recognized Clark standing next to the woman who looked like her, ‘Erin’, but the other two…she saw her sisters Feleena Kaylen and Jessica Raynes wearing uniforms they had never worn before.
_________________ Kurt Click the link to read Lady Hecate off line in PDF, .epub, or Kindle formats: http://www.bsg94.org/downloads/index.htmlClick here for the Colonial Warbook for Lady H: http://www.photobucket.com/colonial_warbook
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