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Post by Amy81 on Dec 29, 2008 11:28:43 GMT -6
Back on the planet, Dolet had been ushered into a security area to be questioned. Now he sat alone in the interrogation room as the two who had questioned him thought about his answers as they looked at him through a one-way glass window.
"What do you make of it" one of the men asked.
The other shook his head. "It doesn't add up. It should, but for some reason there are things that don't make sense."
The other nodded. "Like his viper."
"Exactly. It should be brand new but it's been modified and so badly worn out, no wonder it was identified as alien."
"It looks like it's had 30 yahrens of use on it too."
"Yes. Why send a viper like that when a new one wouldn't have raised an eyebrow? And his uniform. At a glance it seems right, but look at this jacket." He handed Dolet's jacket to the other man, who looked it over inside and out.
"Manufactured all right, but not to specs" the man concluded.
"Exactly. Now why send a warrior with a uniform that won't pass close inspection? And that battlestar he named. Callisto. Why name a ship that doesn't exist in any of the known fleets?"
"Who do you think is behind it? Another attempt by the colonies? We had an agreement with them, but this wouldn't be their first try to see how the experiments are going."
"I don't know. I don't like it though. Send a message, right to the president this time."
"You sure you don't want the council of the 12? You might just get his aide Baltar if you try for the president's office."
"No matter. Send the message. Tell him about this Dolet, see if he knows anything about it. We had an arrangement. We agreed to their funding if they left us alone to complete the experiment. If that agreement isn't going to hold, I want the president to know about it."
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Post by Amy81 on Dec 30, 2008 9:56:09 GMT -6
The one man left to send the message, and the other stood there staring at Dolet. The supposed warrior seemed more like a kid than anything else, just another in the line of things that didn't add up.
The man walked to a control panel and flipped off the camera that had recorded the questioning so far. With a rising temper he opened the door and advanced on Dolet.
"Okay" he said in a rising tone, "It's just you and me now, kid. What do you know about the experiments, and who sent you?"
Dolet flinched and half-stood in a defensive pose. The man had made references to experiments, but how could he think Dolet had any knowledge of any of it?
The man grabbed Dolet by the collar. "Talk! You here to spy? To steal? You after the time displacement tech? Talk!" He flung Dolet against the wall.
Dolet tried to think. "Time displacement...?" he managed to ask before the man was on him again.
"Yes!" the man thundered. "Don't play stupid! Your story has so many holes it's not funny! You think we are idiots here?" He again grabbed Dolet and flung him to the floor.
It was all Dolet could do to restrain himself. He thought of his training, and how he could disable this man in a split-micron, but something told him not to. He tried to put what he knew together. The changes he'd seen in the planet, the strange something he'd passed through... It suddenly made sense, and no sense at all: had he passed through some rift in time?
The man pulled Dolet to his feet, about to strike again when the door opened behind him.
"No!" the second man said as he returned to the room. "Wait!" He was out of breath. "I-- I sent the message....to the colonies... but there's more! Two more ships... like this guy's 'viper'.... they just appeared in orbit...!
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 11, 2009 15:54:47 GMT -6
"How many?" Bulk-up asked, his thumb hovering over the turbo button on his viper's joystick as he watched the interceptors rise up through the planets atmosphere.
"Does it matter?" Janey replied. "Whoever they are they'll be here in a split millicenton."
"None of this makes sense" Bulk-up said, the strain showing in his voice.
"Lots of things don't make sense to you" Janey said, "so don't go all comtemplative on me now. Incoming!" She rolled her viper just in time to avoid the shot that was fired. "Maybe we should have answered their hails?"
"Frack!" Bulk-up snapped. "Kicking in turbos. We need space."
"Space for what?" Janey asked. "These hostiles are asking for it! She flipped on her attack computer, and her jaw dropped as she looked at what the screen showed. "Bulk-up....?"
"You see it too Ho-down?" Bulk-up barked. "These are colonial interceptors!" He hit his turbos and headed for a higher orbit.
"But we're talking 30 yahren-old interceptors..." Janey said as she read the screen. She took Bulk-ups lead and hit her turbos too.
"They may be old but they fly like brand new" Bulk-up said. "Frack!" He rolled to avoid fire. "We have to engage or run!"
"Or stand down" Janey said quietly. "Like they requested. I don't know what's goin' on, but we've stumbled upon a colonial outpost. A well-armed one...."
"But this far out?" Bulk-up asked. "It doesn't make any..."
"Sense!" Janey interrupted, rolling her viper again evasively. "I know! Nothing makes sense since we passed through that.... whatever it was."
"Frack!" Bulk-up yelled yet again as he tried his comlink back to the fleet, getting nothing but static. "We need to get back to the fleet and report! We can't stand down."
"These are friendlies!" Janey yelled back. "They just don't know it ye...."
Her comlink suddenly went silent, and from the corner of his eye Bulk-up could see a blinding light as an explosion close by rocked his viper...
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 12, 2009 18:22:04 GMT -6
Bulk-up weaved and rolled to avoid the explosions all around him, and when it had cleared he looked around frantically for Janey's ship. He spotted it, streaming through the lower atmosphere, thick smoke trailing behind it.
"Janey!" he shouted just before more fire rained in on him. "Frack!" he yelled, kicking in the turbos and heading into space. "Janey" he tried again, but her comlink was nothing but static. "Janey, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going for help. I'll be back!" He didn't know if she'd heard him, or even if she was still alive, but he didn't want her to think he was running away. "Janey!" he yelled one last time, to no reply but static.
He sped away at top speed, pulling up his navagation screen. He entered the information, and the screen plotted the exact reverse of the path they'd taken since emerging from whatever it was they'd passed through. He knew his only chance was to pass back through it again, and try to contact the fleet.
Explosions close by reminded him that the interceptors were close behind still, chasing after him. He floored the turbos, but he'd already maxed out his speed. Numerous indicators began to turn red as his engines reached points of extreme heat. "Frack!" he yelled once more, then softer he said "Janey...." the image of her flaming viper scorched into his mind.
"Come on" he muttered, "come on...." The nav screen showed the position where they'd emerged as being only a small distance away. Now almost on top of it, he counted down "3.... 2.... 1....." Then nothing.
"It isn't there?" he groaned. "It isn't there....." More explosions rained in on him. "Where is it....?" He checked his position, sure that he was where he was supposed to be. More explosions, closer this time. "Patrol to fleet!" he yelled into the comlink, "patrol to fleet!" But only static replied. "Patrol to fleet, I need help!"
He didn't feel the end come, only dimly aware of the bright light and heat before his ship broke into pieces. Behind him, the lead interceptor pilot calmly reported in. "Target two destroyed. Returning to base."
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 13, 2009 10:11:13 GMT -6
In the interrogation room the message cackled over the comlink: "Target two destroyed. Returning to base." Dolet just sat there staring at the floor. He didn't know who the dead pilots were, only that they had to be from the Callisto.
"Deadly force?" the one man asked the other. "Are you sure that was wise?"
"I believe it was justified" the other replied. "Besides, I'm convinced that these ships aren't from the colonies."
"How can you be sure?" the man asked.
"They supplied us with interceptors. They knew we'd use them. Sending these... these vipers, and what obviously are not warriors... no, we're dealing with spies, pirates maybe."
"What do we do now?" the other man wondered.
"Well now, that depends on our friend here, doesn't it?" He stared at Dolet, who kept his eyes on the floor. "After the bloody nose we just gave his friends, I'd have to think that...."
The comlink suddenly came alive again: "Target one has disintegrated above base five. We see a chute. Repeat, pilot has ejected. Shall we pursue?"
Dolet's head suddenly shot up. "No!" he shouted.
The man stared back at him. "You ready to co-operate? No more stories?"
Dolet nodded but said nothing further.
After an agonizing pause, the man finally spoke into the com. "Negative on pursuit. If that pilot survives, bring him here to base one."
"Roger that. Out."
"Now then" the man spoke to Dolet, "perhaps you'd like to tell me who you really are."
Dolet thought carefully. If he'd really somehow gone back in time, he'd have to be very careful what he told these men. He'd tried to stay vague before to protect the fleet, but now he felt the weight of the universe bearing down on him. It was too much for him to process. He needed more time to think. He was in way way over his head.
"I--- I...." He bowed his head again and stared at the floor.
"Get him out of here" the man said in disgust. "Put him in detention. Maybe we'll have better luck with his friend, if he survives...."
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 13, 2009 12:47:43 GMT -6
At planet dawn, when he'd received no word on the condition of the pilot who'd parachuted down, the project commander went to the main base's medbay for answers. His first surprise was when he stepped into the lab and got a look at the man.
"A woman!" he observed.
"Yes" said the doctor distractedly. "A very interesting woman."
"Has she been conscious at all?" the commander inquired.
The doctor shook his head. "Only long enough to be sedated. She was quite agitated. Also suffered a sprained knee, broken left forearm, and various bumps and bruises. She's lucky she didn't suffer worse."
"It was a nasty way to reach land" the commander agreed.
"Oh no, it's not that" the doctor corrected him. "As I say, a very interesting woman. It's why I haven't reported to you yet. I'm not finished with her. Not nearly finished."
The doctor lapsed into silence, which the commander interrupted loudly at last. "What?" he shouted. "What is so interesting?"
"Where do I start?" the doctor replied, raising a hand to stop another loud interruption. "There's her skin pigmentation for one. She hasn't been in natural sunlight in a long time, perhaps ever. Then there seems to be a lack of bone mass and unusual muscle development. Preliminary of course, but this woman seems to have spent a large portion of her life in space. Perhaps all of it. Any gravity she has experienced is certainly artificial."
"How do you account for that?" the commander asked, staring at the motionless woman as she lay on the gurney.
"I don't" he replied. "Blood work is also curious. Preliminary of course, but she seems to have a very strange diet. Some natural foods but mostly synthetics of quite strange design. Vitamin levels are quite high though. She also seems to have been exposed to an unusual amount of solium. Not dangerous to her yet, but over time it would be if not discontinued."
"Is she a clone? A synthetic?" the commander asked.
"Nothing so far seems to indicate that" the doctor replied. "Though everything is quite preliminary, I would say that aside from the abnormalities, this is a reasonably healthy young woman."
"Who has spent her entire life in space, eating lords knows what, poking around in solium." He sighed heavily.
"Problems, commander?" the doctor asked.
"Just more things that don't add up" he said, scratching the back of his head. "The clothes, the ships.... those 'vipers' they fly. This woman here.... Mysteries, questions, and no answers."
"The answers are here, commander" the doctor pointed out. "Perhaps it's your questions that don't fit?"
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 14, 2009 16:04:10 GMT -6
The smell of the food hit Dolet even before the door opened. He looked up from his bunk to find the man who had questioned him walking in, holding a tray of food that sent his mouth watering. He sat up, trying to keep himself calm and not give the man the impression that the food was having an impact on him.
"Yes" the project commander said. "Real food. Stuff I'd have to say that based on what we've learned from your pilot friend, you've never tasted before. Have you?"
Dolet tried to keep his voice even. "The other pilot.... he's alive then?"
The commander nodded. "Yes, she's alive."
She? A number of faces flashed through Dolet's mind. Logan's stayed there. Was it Logan? Whoever it was, he was relieved to learn that the pilot survived. Unlike the other one.... "Why did you shoot them down?" he asked, again trying to stay on an even keel.
"They both were given the same orders as you" the commander replied. "Now you know what would have happened had you not stood down as you were ordered to."
Dolet nodded once, but said nothing more. The food was starting to drive him crazy.
The commander put the plate of food aside on a table near Dolet's bunk. "Your lady friend, she seems to have had an unusual life. No natural sunlight, unusual bone and muscle growth. I get the feeling if we examined you, we'd find the same thing. Am I right?"
"Go frack yourself" Dolet replied as gruffly as he could manage.
"I'm not stupid" the commander said. "More is going on here than there seems to be." He sat down next to Dolet, a move that caught Dolet by surprise. "All three of you appeared in space at the exact co-ordinates that we planned to use for our first experiment on the time displacement tech. Care to explain that? No one, absolutely no one knew those co-ordinates except me. And I don't believe in coincidence."
Dolet said nothing. The commander gave what he thought was enough time, then he stood up. "Eat the food. Just realize that I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."
He opened the door to leave, then stopped when Dolet asked, "Can I ask one thing?"
The commander turned slowly. "Certainly."
Dolet thought a moment. "These colonies I heard the other man mention. Would they be the 12 colonies? Virgo, Saggitara, Caprica...."
"Of course" the commander replied. "What else would he have been referring to?"
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 20, 2009 17:13:48 GMT -6
Dolet thought about this a moment. He'd suspected as much, but now it was confirmed. But exactly when was he? "Uh, another question?" he asked the commander.
The commander nodded, his hand still on the door knob.
"I know this might sound strange" Dolet began, "but can I see a calendar?"
The commander stepped back into the room, saying nothing. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his data planner. He set it on the table near the food.
Dolet picked it up, his throat going dry. The year.... According to the planner, the peace accord with the cylons was 4 weeks away. A week away was the first scheduled time displacement experiment.
He swallowed hard. What to say? Too much information and he'd be locked up for sure. Or detained. And once the cylons attacked, there would be no returning to the Callisto. He wanted to get back, yet he wanted to warn this commander of the sneak attack that would soon befall the colonies.
A thought struck him-- maybe one could serve the other. If he could get back, perhaps the Callisto could somehow help defend the colonies, or prevent the attack all together? It would be easy to argue with a lone pilot, or two counting the female pilot that was also here. But it would be difficult to argue with a Battlestar. Especially one that did not exist in this time.
He had to keep what he knew to himself, and at least try to get back to his own time first. But how?
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 23, 2009 9:00:24 GMT -6
Dolet decided to give it a try. To leave things as they were wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Suppose I told you" he began, "that I was from the future." His heart pounded and he began to sweat as the words came out. He just might never get home....
The commander was looking at him, but his eyes weren't really focused on Dolet. Silent still, he stepped back to the door and closed it. "Now" he said at last, "we are getting somewhere."
Dolet wasn't expecting this reaction. "What I say doesn't surprise you? You don't think I'm crazy?"
"No" the commander replied. "This is a facility experimenting in time displacement. Don't you think that every possiblity that could arise from such experiments wasn't considered? I'll admit that the likelihood of a visitor from the future coming through the portal would be slim, especially since we haven't activated it yet, but it was discussed. This is the unknown we are talking about."
Dolet nodded.
"Plus" the commander went on, "all the evidence gathered so far points to this as the only answer that makes sense. Granted much of this could have been faked, but not the co-ordinates of your entry. I take it from your appearance here, our experiments successfully opened a portal?"
Dolet nodded. He did not want to begin discussing what the future was like. "Tell me" he asked, "what do you do once you've opened the portal. What's the first step?"
"A robotic probe is sent through to gather information" the commander replied.
"Could a man be sent instead?" Dolet wanted to know.
"Of course" the commander replied. "But until a probe gathers data, such a mission would be considered too risky."
"It's not risky" Dolet replied. "In the future, your portal exists, and I've been through it. Commander, when you open your end here, I need to be on that probe."
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 26, 2009 14:31:00 GMT -6
The commander looked at Dolet, studying him for what seemed a very long time. "If all you say is true" he said at last, "understand that there are a lot of questions about the future I would like to ask."
Dolet tried to keep from squirming. "Understand too" he replied, "the dangers involved in my telling you too much."
They held each others gaze for the longest time. It was Dolet who broke the silence. "The pilot who survived. Would it be possible to see her?"
The commander finally replied. "I'll arrange it. Sit tight a moment." He got up, opened the door and shut it behind him once he was in the hallway. His assistant was there waiting for him.
"Well?" the man asked. "He say anything?"
"Give him back his jacket" the commander replied. "Bug it first. Then bring him to see the female pilot." He stared at the closed door. "I want to hear every word they say."
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