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Post by Amy81 on Apr 21, 2005 6:28:13 GMT -6
The blood trail was getting thicker, and finally the man with the cutting tool signaled the others to stop.
"She's up ahead" he said. "Not far."
"We all can see that" Jeb whispered angrily. "Don't take no genius to..."
"No" the man interrupted. "I used to hunt back in the colonies. I know. I can smell it. Smell her."
Star began to smile. "And what's so special about a nose that we all can't see with our eyes? She's bleeding bad, or someone is. We'll catch her soon enough. And then..."
"For Amy" someone whispered.
"The poor darlin'" another added.
The man with the cutting tool shook his head. "You people give farmers a bad name. Do you want her or not? She's up ahead, and if we can quit reminding ourselves of what a sweet kid Amy was, we can split up, go around up ahead, and pin her in between."
"Daggit sandwich" someone whispered. The man with the cutting tool rolled his eyes.
Jeb nodded. "Okay. Sounds good." Star nodded as well.
"Half of you" the man with the tool said, "follow me. Star, you stay here with the rest. Give us 3 millicentons, then move forward. Make a little noise. Not much, just enough to distract them."
Star nodded.
"Remember" the man continued, "she's probably armed, so be careful. But she's probably hurt as well. We know someone up ahead there is. If we do this right, we'll have the daggit at last."
"Gonna make her beg" someone whispered.
"Confess too!" someone added.
"And then..." A farmer held up his pitchfork, the sharpened spikes glinting in the light of the hallway.
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Post by JustinB on Apr 22, 2005 1:14:33 GMT -6
Finally we made it too the bridge. I could see the anticipation on the faces on the farmers. Ange tried to input his code but nothing happened. I banged on the bridge door as hard as I could.
“What do you want?” Captain Suttir yelled from inside thinking maybe the workers had returned.
“This is Major JustinB of the Battlestar Callisto and I order you to open the door."
“Is Ange with you?” Suttir asked.
“Yes I am Suttir, what about it?" Ange replied.
With a whoosh the door opened. The farmers which were with us barged past us. They scouted the entire bridge. "Where is she? Where are you hiding the murderer of our beloved Amy?"
"She has left to track down Major Pierce and disarm the bomb." Suttir replied. With that all the workers agreed to scour the agro ship to find Brie. As they left, Suttir sealed the door to the bridge. Suttir then gave me a brief rundown on what had transpired.
"Captain, I need you to jam all internal communications. Also I need to communicate with the Callisto fast." After a few microns I had a connection to the Callisto. Commander Sheba was on the bridge.
"Commander, Major JustinB here on the Agro ship. I have managed to reach the bridge of the Agro ship Captain Suttir has informed me that Pierce has wounded Brie severely, but she lives. Pierce somehow has escaped the Bridge and is somewhere on the ship. Unfortunately, some of the planters have taken it upon themselves to recapture Major Brie and punish her. Also, there is a bomb which needs to be defused. I am planning to find the bomb unless you have some other orders for me." I waited for a response from the Commander.
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Post by Brie on Apr 22, 2005 11:50:03 GMT -6
Commander Sheba sat at a terminal on the Callisto, shaking her head. “What the frack was that?” she asked.
“Static,” Lieutenant Finky replied. “It’s coming from the Agro Ship. Obviously they’re trying to restore communications.”
“I hope they don’t expect an answer,” Sheba said. “But at least it proves that someone there is still alive. Keep trying to contact them. And try to contact Major JustinB’s viper. His ship and Ensign Dolet’s might be the only chance we have to speak with anyone on board the Agro Ship for a while.”
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Post by Brie on Apr 22, 2005 11:51:16 GMT -6
As Pierce neared his destination, he noticed a sound coming from the comm unit that he was carrying. Someone was trying to jam the signal. Pierce smiled, and counted to ten. The jamming stopped. “Bless you, Comeek,” he said quietly, “for setting up the automatic override. And setting it in a hidden location, where no one will be able to find it. It’s too bad that soon you’re going to have to die, along with everyone else. Oh well.”
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Post by Brie on Apr 23, 2005 8:25:38 GMT -6
Note-This was actually written by Amy
***
Brie once again stopped, looking behind her. "Hold up Logan" she whispered. "I think I heard something again."
"Yeah" she replied, "I think someone's been following us."
Just then a farmer came around the bend and into view. He looked menacing, with his pitchfork pointed toward them.
Brie and Logan trained their blasters on him. They had both set for stun. "Hold it right there," Brie said, trying to sound forceful even as her strength continued to slip.
The farmer stopped, but a smile began to spread across his face. Just then Trula screamed out in agony and fell, having been knocked out by a shovel to her head. Both Brie and Logan spun as Kyla cried out "they're over here too!"
Once their backs were turned to the first farmer, though even for only the slightest of microns, he took advantage and let his pitchfork fly, striking Logan in her shooting shoulder. Her gun flew from her grip as she tried to reach around to pull the pitchfork out.
Suddenly farmers charged from both sides. Brie fired a warning blast, knew as soon as she did so that it wouldn't help, and then started aiming at the rushing mob. Several took stunning blows to the chest, but Kyla, and Brie in her weakened state could not ward off the attackers.
One knocked the gun from Brie and slammed the bleeding warrior up against the wall. Another roughly knocked Logan to the ground, held her there with a foot, and yanked out the pitchfork while she screamed. Kyla held up her arms to surrender but was sent flying into the wall next to Brie.
"What in the fracking name of the Lords is all this?" Brie demanded angrily.
Star and Jeb worked their way to the front of the pack. "We're fixing to have us a retrial" she said.
"You'll regret the centon you tried to take over our ship" Jeb said.
"And treated Amy like a bag of fertilizer!" a third said. The crowd cheered at the mention of Amy's name. "You're mad!" Kyla screamed out, staring at the variety of sharp, pointy farming tools that were aimed at her.
"Frack yeah!" Star replied loudly. "Mad as hades, and not going to take it anymore!" She made a poking gesture at Kyla, and enjoyed watching the woman flinch.
Logan was picked up, and flung against the wall next to Brie. Brie looked over at her with concern. "You okay?"
"My fracking shoulder is on fire," she replied. "But the moment we get the chance, it's clobberin' time."
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Post by Brie on Apr 23, 2005 10:57:45 GMT -6
“No,” Brie said to Logan. “These people have been through enough already.” Brie looked the crowd over quickly, and realized immediately who the leaders were. “Your problem is with me. Let them go.”
Star laughed. “What, so they can shoot us in the back?”
“You have their weapons,” Brie reminded her. “And there happens to be a bomb on this ship. If it’s not disarmed soon, we’re all going to die.”
“Some sooner than others,” Jeb said.
“Let them go,” Brie repeated. “Then you can do whatever you want to me, I don’t give a frack anymore. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” Standing in the back of the crowd, Brie noticed that Turner had appeared again.
Star glanced at one of the workers, who was now holding Pierce’s former laser. She nodded. Logan and Kyla were released and given a spot to sit down over on the side, the man holding the weapon was pointing it directly at them. “Tell us first about how you’re working with Pierce,” Star instructed.
From where she had fallen Trula could be heard groaning.
“I’m not working with Pierce,” Brie replied defiantly. “I could never work with a daggit like that.”
“Liar!” Star screamed.
The man who was pinning Brie against the wall shoved her harder, knocking her head against it. Turner stood in the back of the crowd, continuing to smile. “Pierce killed my husband!” Brie shouted back. “He cost me my job, my freedom, my reputation, I could NEVER work with a daggit like that.”
“Turner, the Great Traitor,” Trula could be heard mumbling.
“You had the whole thing planned,” Star continued. “You and Pierce pretended to be adversaries, but you were actually planning the fleet’s downfall together.”
Trula made a slight laugh and continued to mumble. “The Widow of the Great Traitor, working with the greatest man who ever lived? That’s blasphemy.” Jeb stepped forward. “I don’t give a frack about Pierce,” he said. “What she needs to pay for is what she did to our darlin’ Amy.”
“For Amy!”
“I didn’t do anything to Amy,” Brie said. “Unless you want to count befriending her, listening to her when she needed to talk, believing in her when no one else would.”
“You were convicted of trying to kill her,” Jeb pointed out.
“That’s not what I was convicted of,” Brie corrected. “Didn’t you hear anything about the Tribunal?” Several people shook their heads no. “I was convicted because I gave Amy a chance, responsibility that some people didn’t think that she was ready for. That’s all.”
“You left her behind,” Star reminded.
“Yes, I did,” Brie said sadly. “If we hadn’t left when we did, two dozen more people would have died. Amy as well. I had to make a choice. And they stated at the Tribunal that there wasn’t anything else that I could have done. It was the hardest decision that I ever had to make. Amy and I were such good friends, I couldn’t imagine life without her.”
“You liar!” Star repeated. “You never cared about Amy!”
“Never cared? All I’ve ever done is watch over her and try to protect her.”
“She was nothing to you,” Star yelled.
“Nothing?” Brie shouted in return. “How can you say that? Amy is my daughter!”
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Post by Brie on Apr 24, 2005 7:22:42 GMT -6
The man who had pinned Brie to the wall dropped her, stunned. She fell to the ground. Another man, enraged by what he had just heard, hit Brie hard in her head with his shovel, and then kicked her in her midsection. “You fake!” he yelled. “Take back what you just said.”
“No wait,” Star said, holding up one hand. “Let her speak.”
Brie tried to take in a deep breath, but it hurt too much. She knew from experience that the kick had broken some ribs. “I was seventeen, in a special pre-Academy program. I was planning on entering the Academy within a yahren. And I...I was raped. A sectar later I discovered that I was pregnant. Part of me was thrilled, my terrible experience had produced a miracle. But I knew that it was my destiny to become a warrior. That had been drilled into my brain for as long as I could remember.”
“So you just threw your child away?” Star spat out the words. “Never gave her any thought?”
Brie shook her head. “No, not at all. I was orphaned at three yahrens old when my warrior parents died, and I couldn’t do that to my child. I wouldn’t. So I went to one of my instructors. She told me about a couple that she knew on the Agro Ship who wanted desperately to have a child, but had been unable to conceive. The Agro Ship seemed like the best place in the fleet to raise a child, the closest thing possible to living on a planet...”
“Wait a centon,” one of the workers said. “I’ve known Elmer and Abby forever. I remember when Abby was pregnant.”
“That was part of the plan,” Brie said. “Amy was never to know that she was adopted. Abby pretended to be pregnant so everyone would think that the baby was biologically theirs. We transferred my medical records into Abby’s file. When I grew a little bit bigger Abby would wear more stuffing. And then two sectons before I was to deliver I shuttled over here and stayed with them. The midwife delivered Amy and placed her right into Abby’s arms. I returned to my ship a few cycles later, and then after three more sectars I entered the Academy. My heart was broken, but I knew it was the only way to give Amy a decent life. It was my hope that she would stay here, as far away from the war as is possible. I never saw her again until she was assigned to Gold Squadron.”
“They would place your daughter in your squadron?” Jeb asked. He seemed skeptical of Brie’s story.
“It’s not in my file that I ever even had a child,” Brie said. “As I said, all of my records became Abby’s. So no one knew NOT to place her in my squadron. And I couldn’t say anything. Elmer and Abby ARE Amy’s parents, but I gave birth to her. When we met, Amy and I connected immediately, in a way that she never understood. But I did.”
“Why should we believe any of this?” Star asked. “What proof do you have?”
“Why do you think that Elmer and Abby never had any more children? Elmer couldn’t. Something about a low sperm count. It wasn’t exactly the type of thing that he wanted broadcast on IFB.” Some of the people seemed to be starting to believe what Brie was saying, but a lot still doubted. Turner, in the back of the crowd and seen only by Brie, seemed to be laughing. “Did anybody here ever change Amy’s wrappings when she was a baby?” Several people acknowledged that they had. “She has a birthmark, on her left...” The nods from the same people told Brie she didn’t have to say any more about the location of Amy’s birthmark. “It’s almost shaped like a flower. I knew right then that the Agro Ship was where she was supposed to grow up.”
“Hold on a centon,” Star said. She turned and huddled with the other workers, although one still kept a weapon pointed at Logan and Kyla. After speaking in hushed tones for several microns, Star turned back around. “Okay, you can live...for now, but if we find out that you’re lying to us...”
“What’s the easiest way to the Boiler Room?” Brie interrupted. “I’ve been trying to tell you that Pierce placed a bomb there, and if I don’t diffuse it we’re all going to die. Unless one of you has experience diffusing bombs.”
“This way,” Jeb said.
Brie, Logan and Kyla (along with the seen-only-by-Brie Turner) followed the less angry but more confused Agro Ship workers in a slightly different direction. They left the injured Trula lying on the ground, her hands still tied behind her. Brie would have felt sorry for her if she hadn’t admitted her part in Turner’s murder. Neither Logan nor Kyla seemed too badly injured. As they hurried along Brie decided that it wasn’t a good idea to tell the workers that she had never diffused a bomb either.
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Post by Brie on Apr 25, 2005 16:11:36 GMT -6
Special thanks to Lucian and Skyler for their help with the following. ** Jeb led the group quickly to the Boiler Room, a little too quickly for Brie. She was having trouble keeping up. There wasn’t a spot on her body that didn’t ache. She pushed on with a determination that she didn’t even realize that she still had. If the bomb exploded it would mean not only numerous deaths aboard the Agro Ship, but possibly mass starvation throughout the fleet. Brie knew that even though she was no longer a warrior, this was her most important mission ever. Once they reached their destination they spread out to look for the bomb. No one really knew what they were looking for, but nothing seemed out of place. “Frack,” Brie said, the truth of the situation dawning on her. “Pierce ‘slipped’ to let me know that this was where he had left the bomb. How could I have been so stupid? It was never here at all! He set me up!” “Are you saying that there’s no bomb?” Star asked. Brie shook her head. “I have no doubt that there’s a bomb somewhere. Kyla, did you by any chance see the thing?” Kyla thought for a micron. “There was a crate brought onto the shuttle,” she replied. “I don’t know if that was it or not. It took two men to carry it.” She spread her hands as far apart as she could. “It was about this big. Pierce didn’t tell anyone anything, Brie, especially the women. He thought all we were good for was...” She visibly shuddered. Brie patted Kyla on the shoulder. “That information helps. What we need to figure out it where it would do the most damage. I’m not all that familiar with the operations here. Does anyone have any suggestions?” “The Tylium tanks would cause a huge explosion,” the man who had kicked Brie earlier said. “But someone would have to place the bomb outside the ship to do the most damage,” Jeb pointed out. “If they just brought it this cycle there wouldn’t have been ‘nuff time.” Star got a faraway look in her eyes. “The main recirculator pump,” she said. “Excuse me?” was Brie’s reply. “The water used in the hydroponics process flows slowly through the hydroponics tanks,” Star explained, “and eventually is recirculated for cleaning or re-enrichment, or to be used for irrigation in the fields. A bomb in the main recirculator pump would cause a LOT of damage. It could destroy multiple pipes and lead to massive pressure in the pipes, causing many pipes in the system to break, destroying many of the hydroponics tanks in the process.” “The hydro crops wouldn't receive nourishment replenishment, causing huge crop losses before repairs could be completed,” another worker added. “It would also cause problems with the irrigation system for the crops in the field,” Jeb said. “Then there’s also the fertilizer tanks,” Star pointed out. Brie looked at her, confused. “Don’t they teach you warriors anything? We use fertilizer for the hydroponics tanks and in the fields. We have an onboard plant producing the fertilizers from recycled materials and from raw materials obtained from time to time in various systems. There’s a large storage tank for each fertilizer.” “Some of that stuff is damn explosive,” Jeb said. “A bomb near the right tank could destroy the fertilizer storage, the fertilizer plant, and a good portion of the rest of the ship.” “Let’s spread out,” Brie suggested. “Half goes to the main reactor pump, the other half to the fertilizer tanks.” “Which one are you going to?” Star asked. Brie realized that Star was a very smart woman, smarter than she had at first let on. “Which one is closer?” “The fertilizer tanks,” Star replied. “Then that’s where I’m headed,” Brie told her. “I’m going with you,” Star replied. “I still don’t trust you, and I’m not gonna to let you outta my sight.”
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 25, 2005 16:21:44 GMT -6
Dolet watched nervously as the farm workers stormed off the bridge to join in the hunt. He wondered if he should say anything, and quietly worked on getting up the nerve.
JustinB and the captain were concentrating on the speaker as it continued to give back static. "I thought I could make something out" JustinB said, "but then..."
"I'm not sure our message even got out" Captain Suttir said, pointing to the fried communication gear. "We've tried to make some jury-rig repairs, but what it really needs is full replacement..."
"Internal jamming is failing too" a bridge officer reported. "Must be an override somewhere. Interference keeps clearing after a millicenton."
"Major" Dolet finally said aloud.
"Yes ensign?" JustinB replied without turning around.
"I'm not sure it's smart to let those farmers go running around loose. I mean, we barely convinced them not to hunt down Brie. Without us to keep them in check..."
"Good point" JustinB admitted without hesitation, much to Dolet's relief. "Go after them. Let's keep from having two mobs after Brie."
"Two mobs?" Captain Suttir asked.
"Don't ask" JustinB replied. "Keep at that communications gear. And keep trying to jam internal communications. I'd better get after those farmers myself. Ange, let's go."
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Post by Brie on Apr 26, 2005 12:37:11 GMT -6
Having finally made it to his destination, Pierce pulled out his comm. A small part of him was sad, there were so many good workers among his followers, but he wouldn't let himself think too much about it. He turned on the unit. This was it.
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