Chapter 27: Six Centar Scramble

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Lucian

Since Colonel Charybdis was still recovering from his injuries and had been involved in the planning, Major Joey was leading the staff meeting under Commander Sheba’s watchful eyes. She said, “We arrive in the Darjeelene system in eight centars. The fleet is to make maximum possible speed to the jump point to Quarra system. Our calculations show that we should have a six hour period prior to the earliest possible arrival of Cylon forces following us. If we take longer, they will most likely be following us to Quarro and our Fleet will continue to be in critical danger. Bronze Squadron,” she said using the new name of the former Silver Spar contingent, “will be have two Vipers on long range recon, just in case there are any Cylons or other dangers ahead of us in this system. We’re not expecting anything since Commander Apollo had it scouted out a few sectons ago, but we will be on alert, just in case there are any changes or surprises. Gold Squadron will have two Vipers in rear guard. There will be no furlons granted and no ship to ship travel in the system—”

Commander Sheba interrupted, “Except as already approved. Major.”

Joey nodded and continued, “If all is expected when we arrive in the Quarra system, we’ll resume regular furlons and ship to ship visits. For now, Captain Hawke remains at large, repairs are still underway, and we’re short staffed due to the deaths and injuries sustained at Pangara. Warriors will continue to assist as assigned for now. Questions?”

Major BatGal asked, “Joey, is there any chance they'll be able to track us if we get out in the window you've described?”

Joey looked to Captain Lucian and said, “Lucian, can you take that?”

“At Pangara, we lost our right engine, suffered severe damage to the center, and minor damage to the left. Ordinarily, our engines in system mode operate at over 99.9% efficiency, and leave minimum residue from the expended tylium for anyone to detect. The traces that remain dissipate rapidly as they travel outward and disperse into the relative emptiness of space. Unfortunately, with our engine efficiency now much lower due to the damage, we're putting out a lot more of this stuff, so it may be possible for the Cylons to detect the increased residue. We believe, and have to hope, this is unlikely, but we just don't know for sure."

“Captain,” said Sheba, “please give us an update on the repair effort for the engines.”

“Yes, Commander,” replied Lucian. “Projections show that Engine One should operate at normal efficiency. Engine Two will be off-line since we had to cannibalize parts of it to repair Engine Three. Redundant systems are off-line, too. Three should be operating at approximately 85% efficiency, so we’ll be burning fuel much more rapidly than normal. We’re going to try to get some parts delivered while in the system, but it’s likely they’ll have to be fabricated and loaded for delivery upon arrival at Quarro.”

“Thank you, Captain. Continue making improvements as quickly as you can. We don’t know when we’ll be finding another source of tylium. Captain Urdea, what is the status of the search for Hawke?”

“There’s been no sign of him in the last couple of cycles, but we’ve discovered what may be the controller for that cloak contraption. Lieutenant Proteus and Science Officer Solon are experimenting with it to try to figure out how it operates so we can disable it or at least detect it. We’ve placed infrared detectors near security cameras at a few critical locations around the ship, but as you know, we don’t have many cameras, and we’ve got even fewer IR detectors.”

“We have shortages of most equipment, Urdea. Do your best with what you’ve got.”

The meeting continued for a short time, and then broke up. Everyone got up to begin their final preparations for the Darjeelene system, and Commander Sheba said, "Six centars, everyone. We must be out of this system in six centars."

* * *

Brie

"Brie, you can hurt me as much as you want. It won't change how I feel about you right now." Brie looked away, as she did so Justin ran the back of his hand across her face and through her messed up hair.

Instead of pushing Justin away Brie just sat there for several microns. The grog was causing all of her thoughts to blur together. Justin wasn’t helping her to think any more clearly. Some of the things he said seemed very strange for someone who barely knew her. “I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t know why I’m acting like this. I’m just so sick of it, you know? Everything. I never chose this life, it was chosen for me when I was three yarhens old, and sometimes I really resent that fact. I just wish that I could have a centar or two away from it all. Just a centar or two where I didn’t have to be in charge, didn’t have to think about the fracking war or the fracking Cylons. A centar or two where I didn’t have to think at all.”

“I think we’ve all wished for that from time to time,” Justin commented.

Brie grinned slightly. “There, I’ve opened my soul to you. You’ve helped. NOW will you leave me alone?”

Justin shook his head, returning a bigger smile. “No.”

“I didn’t think so.” Brie leaned back, not sure of what to do next. She really did want to just be left alone. Justin was sitting so close to her that she was sure she’d be able to feel his heart beating if she tried. Why he had taken this sudden interest in her she didn’t understand. More importantly, how could she get him to go away? An idea came to Brie, something so unlike her that it would be sure to send Justin running. She shifted her weight and moved even closer. Without saying a word she pulled Justin into a kiss.

She never expected him to respond. Nor did she expect to enjoy it.

JustinB

I could see that Brie wanted me to leave her alone, but I just couldn’t leave her this way. I could see that see was deep in thought. Brie then shifted closer which surprised me.
Without warning she pulled me closer and kissed me. It took me by surprise at first, but it felt so good. It was hard to believe that centons earlier we were almost trying to kill each other. I didn’t know what to do. I just let myself melt into the kiss and took Brie into my arms and drew her closer.
Feeling no resistance I continued with the kiss and the embrace. I had never felt like this before and for once I thought I had something real.

Brie

It was uncharacteristic, impulsive, and incredibly passionate. Brie didn’t know which was more intoxicating, the grog or Justin’s kiss. It had been meant as an act to drive him away, but now she didn’t want for it to ever stop. In a strange way she was getting just what she had asked for, a chance to not think for a few centons. Everything else was blocked from her mind and for one of the few times in her life, she just lived in the moment. Nothing else mattered at that micron. Not the mission, not the Callisto, not her friends, not Gold Squadron, not even Turner. Nothing.

Justin B

I drew Brie closer as I kissed her so passionatley. It seemed as we were in a world of our own. I felt like I was flying in the clouds. Just when I thought I could hear some commotion outside the door, Brie pulled me closer.
It was a feeling I had never felt before. I never even felt this good with Rose. How could I forget her so easily. Brie's lips that were against mine made me forget her once again. I hoped this would last forever. Before I knew it, my battle jacket was off and we were kissing even more passionately.

Brie

Brie was acting more on instinct than anything. She knew what she was doing but was not thinking about it. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that if they didn’t stop soon they would end up regretting it, but she purposely blocked that thought out. She was having too good of a time to even think about stopping.

Without even realizing what she was doing, she helped Justin remove his flight jacket. She hadn’t been wearing one. He didn’t resist, and somehow the desire grew even stronger. She hadn’t felt like this in yarhens. It was so new, so fresh, so wonderful.

In some ways Brie had never felt so free. There were no expectations and no commitment. No one was asking anything of her, in fact neither she nor Justin had spoken a word since the embrace began. She was using him and she knew that, but she was sure that Justin didn’t mind. For the first time in a long time she felt like she mattered, not because of her skills as a warrior or as a squadron leader, but because of who she was deep down inside.

The only sound she could hear was her own heart pumping faster than it had in a long time. She didn’t hear anything that was going on outside in the hall.

Everything was as close to perfect as possible. Brie was overwhelmed by the sheer pleasure of the moment, the pain in her injured right elbow long forgotten. Neither she nor Justin seemed to be in a hurry, it was like they were both savoring every micron. Soon Justin’s shirt was off and they were both on the floor, rolling, kissing, holding each other as close as possible. The desire was incredible, and they thought they had all night.

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JustinB

The floor was ice cold as my bare back made contact with it. I had no idea how all this started. One moment we were fighting, centons later here I was half naked on the floor. I had a small niggle in the back of my brain. What would it look like if someone walked in? Answer, I didn't care a bit.
Lost in the passion, I held Brie closer and kissed her again. I pinched myself to make sure it wasn't a dream. Nope, I was awake alright. As quick as thought came of Rose, it left just as quickly. Brie stopped then looked into my eyes. At that point of time I wondered what she was thinking.

Brie

After several extraordinary centons Brie pulled away and looked directly into Justin’s eyes. She realized that she didn’t know him well enough to be able to read him at all. She waited for a micron, then spoke for the first time since the first kiss. “Are you okay with all of this?”

Justin seemed surprised. “Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know,” Brie replied. “It felt like I lost you for half a centon.”

“I was just thinking about how wonderful this has been.”

“Not ‘has been,’” Brie corrected. “Is. And don’t ‘think,’ Justin. Feel. There’s nothing that matters at the micron. Just you and me and this...” She kissed him again.

For the second time Brie pulled away. “You want to move this up there?” she asked, glancing at the small bed. She was amazed by her forwardness. Moments later they were off of the cold, hard floor, the warmth of the blanket replacing the floor’s chill. “Just one more micron,” she said. She pulled off one boot and threw it, hitting the door with a loud bang. She repeated with the other boot. “That’s better. Now, where were we?”

“Right here,” Justin said, taking her into his arms again. Soon there were more clothes thrown everywhere.

* * *

Brie

Major Pierce was extremely upset with the two cadets. One of them had stopped quickly in front of the door, the other hadn’t been paying attention and walked right into the first, knocking them both against the door with a loud bang. He didn’t yet know either of their names, but if they had messed this up for him they would both be going on report.

Outside the door Pierce, the two cadets, and three blackshirts listened quietly for several centons. There was no noise coming from inside, no arguing, nothing breaking. Pierce was sure that the cadets had gotten their story wrong, there was no one inside, but they had seemed so positive. Maybe they weren’t wrong, maybe Brie and Justin had killed each other after all. He hoped not, he had a plan of his own that would finally go into effect once the Galactica rejoined the fleet and he needed Brie to be alive to finally make things right.

Suddenly a noise came from inside the room, something had hit the door with great force. A micron later it happened again. There WAS something happening in there, something bad, and Pierce intended to intervene. With the image-taker in one hand, Pierce made sure that no one with him was looking as he started to key in his overriding security code...

The door made no noise as it slid open. The first sounds that Brie heard were several clicks, followed by a very loud, “Whoa baby!” It was painfully obvious that she and Justin were no longer alone.

Grateful that the blanket was covering them, Brie threw it over their heads. “I’d suggest that you leave,” she said from underneath, “or I’m going to call security.”

“I would suggest that you get dressed immediately.” Their clothes landed on top of the blanket. “I’ll be back in here in exactly one centon. And don’t worry about calling security, because I brought them with me.”

This time Brie heard the door open and close. She looked out from under the blanket and glanced around the room. It was a mess; food, papers, and broken glass were everywhere. The small bureau had somehow been knocked over. Still using the blanket as cover, Brie quickly got dressed. She avoided eye contact with Justin as he did the same.

After thirty microns Justin broke the silence. “Major Pierce, I take it?”

Brie nodded as she struggled to put the sling back on. Her elbow was suddenly hurting again. Justin saw the problem and helped her fasten it in the back. “Yup,” she said solemnly, “that’s Major Pierce.”

Outside the room the two cadets were laughing. “I can’t believe you couldn’t keep quiet,” one of them said.

“I couldn’t help it,” the other replied. He was laughing so hard that he snorted. “I thought they were killing each other. THAT was the last thing I expected to see. Wait until the guys back in the barracks hear about this!”

Major Pierce was furious. The blackshirts, more familiar with Pierce and his reputation, remained quiet, but one of them did crack a small smile. “Will you shut the frack up?” he yelled at the cadets. He had to think. He had been hoping that he would have Justin on his side, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen. He suddenly remembered the image-taker in his hand. A smile crossed his face. Maybe this could work in his favor after all.

Slowly and deliberately, Pierce turned to face the five men with him. “None of you are to breathe a word of what you saw. If I find out that anyone else has found out, all five of you will be in the brig within a centar. This is a case for Military Affairs.”

“It looked like it already IS a military affair,” the first cadet said. He and his friend both started laughing again.

“You’ll keep your d**n mouths shut,” Pierce informed them again, “or you’ll face so many charges that you’ll never get off the prison barge. You won’t even talk about this amongst yourselves. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” they replied in unison.

“Good,” Pierce replied. “Now you five may go. I can handle this myself from here on out.” Pierce watched the two cadets and three blackshirts turn the corner before he typed in his security code for a second time.

It seemed like an extremely long centon. The effects of the grog appeared to have diminished, Brie no longer felt inebriated at all. All she felt was anger. She didn’t like Pierce and he didn’t like her, but that gave him no right to burst into her assigned quarters. As she picked up her boots to put them back on she noticed Skyler’s bronze cluster on the floor. She slipped it into her pocket, it certainly hadn’t brought her good luck.

When the door finally did open again Brie spoke before Pierce was even in the room. “Who the frack do you think that you are? Ever hear of knocking?”

Pierce remained annoyingly calm. “We had a report of a disturbance.”

“The only disturbance,” Brie said, “was when you came in. I realize that we’re guests on the Galactica, but does that mean we give up our right to privacy?”

Pierce glanced around the messed up room. “I apologize.”

Brie didn’t believe him for a micron. She noticed that Pierce was now looking straight at Justin, she realized that the two of them had never met. She figured that she might as well. “Justin, this is Major Pierce. Pierce, this is Major JustinB, leader of Black Squadron back on the Callisto.” The two men shook hands. The whole situation was awkward, to say the least.

“I didn’t know that you two were...” Pierce purposely didn’t finish his sentence. “How long has this been going on?”

“What we are, or aren’t, is none of your fracking business,” Brie informed him loudly. “If there’s anything that anyone should know it would be our CO that we tell, not you.”

“There’s no reason to get upset,” Pierce said. “I was just surprised, that’s all.” He walked to the door, opened it, and stood in the doorway. “Oh, Major Brie, I almost forgot. You’ve got a psychological examination scheduled for tomorrow morning, 09:00. Don’t be late. It was nice meeting you, Major. Carry on.” He stepped through the door and it closed behind him.

“He’s up to something,” Justin said as soon as he was sure that Pierce was gone. “He was obviously upset when he came in the first time, people don’t calm down that easily.”

“The nerve of him!” Brie said, steaming. There were very few times in her life when she had ever been quite so upset. “Bursting in here like that, on two people who are on the verge of making...” Brie put her good hand over her mouth and gasped, the reality of the situation hitting her for the first time. “Oh holy frack. Justin, I am so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I never before......I don’t......I’m not......I’m sorry.” She hurried to the door, opened it, and ran down the hall as fast as she could.

As Brie ran down the hallway she heard Justin calling after her. She just kept running, he was the last person on the Galactica that she wanted to see. Several centons and several corridors later she was still running. As she rounded a corner she ran right into Captain Rose, almost knocking her down. “Sorry, Captain,” Brie said breathlessly. “I didn’t see you.”

“Major Brie!” Rose said almost too cheerfully. “Have you seen Major JustinB? He was assigned quarters somewhere around here...”

The mention of Justin’s name caused the tears that she had been holding back to silently start to fall. “Justin? He was on the bridge earlier.” She blinked back more tears. How she hated for anyone to see her cry!

“Major, are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Brie said. “I gotta go.” She took off at a run again, hoping that Rose didn’t see where she was headed.

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JustinB

As Brie ran out of the door as fast as she could, I got up to follow her. "Brie," I shouted after her, "Wait for me." Obviously she didn't want to talk. I scoured the different compartments for a centar.

"Frack" I yelled out loud. I needed to find her and let her know it was alright. As I rounded a corner I bumped into Rose.

"JustinB, I have been wondering where you have been. What have you been up too, because I have missed you so much," she said as she gave me a hug and a kiss. Strangely enough, I felt guilty. Not about cheating on Rose, but the fact I felt something for Brie. Well I wasn't going to tell her the truth.

"Sorry Rose. I have been busy with the Commander and the Colonel. You know command type stuff." My eyes rolled back hoping this would satisfy Rose.

"That's alright JustinB. I tell you what though. I think you better go and find Major Brie?

This comment took me by surprise. "Why do you so that Rose?"

"Well, about a centar ago I finally found out where your quarters were and I was going to surprise you. Not far from there as I was making my way to there, Major Brie cam barrelling around the corner with tears in her eyes and nearly knocked my over. Since there is a little scuttlebutt around that she is about to be charged or something, maybe that's what her problem is. You should find her and talk to her."

I was a little dumbfounded for a micron or two. "Yes. Yes you are right. I should find her and see what is wrong." Frack if she only knew. Maybe Major Pierce's interruption served a purpose after all. Ok, how about I meet you in the O'Club in a Centar? That should give me enough time to find Brie and talk to her." The Lords knew I needed to.

Rose pulled me close and gave me another hug and kiss. I returned it to not raise any suspicion. Felgercarb, how did I get myself into this mess? I have a partner which I haven't seen much lately and I make out with another woman who I now have some feelings for. I had to find Brie and sought this out. Then I remembered the cadets and the Black Shirts. I hoped they kept their mouths shut or I am in deep trouble.

Brie

Around the corner from JustinB and Rose, unseen but seeing everything, was a very happy Major Pierce. He noticed the way that Rose looked at Justin and was pretty sure that Justin wouldn't want her to see the pictures currently in his image-taker. The second kiss made Pierce even happier. He was sure he had Justin right where he wanted him.

* * *

CaptStadia

Captain Stadia was glad to be away from all the doctors in medbay. Their poking and prodding was driving her nuts although most days she would say they didnt have for to drive her.

Stadia took a bite of her lunch and looked up at the assembled crowd in the mess. She started wondering what they would find in the next system. She had a nagging feeling that even though they would only be in the system a short time trouble would find them.

She finished her lunch and stood up. She decided she would go to the bridge and see what they needed done. She was going to stay busy and not think about the feeling that was nawing at her gut.

A short time later she entered the bridge. Lookiing around she didnt see any of the officers so she just stood out of the way and waited.

Stadia decided she was absolutely bored to tears so she snuk off the bridge and headed down to alpha landing bay.

Entering the bay, she noticed an empty cargo transport. She laughed to herself as she climbed aboard and started it moving to the door. She heard someone hollar so she pushed the speed up on the transport and headed out the door.

When she made it out the door, she pushed the transport as fast as it would go.

Brie

Once she was sure that Rose hadn’t followed, Brie returned to her secret place aboard the Galactica. She checked to make sure no one saw her as she entered the storage closet. She moved a ladder into the far right corner, climbed to the ceiling and removed the loose tile. She pulled herself into the empty compartment and replaced the tile once again. Instinctively she turned on the lantern that she had kept there when she used to spend time in this spot with Turner. Oh how she missed him!

The tears had stopped, replaced by a heavy weight on her heart. Brie didn’t know what had happened, but somehow things had gone from terrible to worse. Her life was falling apart before her. She tried to figure out what had gone wrong. It had started with the mission. It had been a success, better than anyone had ever expected. If even a few had survived it would have been considered a miracle, but Brie returned with most of her team. Although such things didn’t matter to her she should have returned a hero. The unraveling, she supposed, started when they discovered the Pylos. Corporal Peterson died from a freak oversight, he died in Brie’s arms. Then there was Amy. Leaving Amy, Lazant and Deke behind was the hardest decision that Brie had ever had to make. She had condemned her best friend to death, possibly a slow, painful, torturous death at the hands of the Cylons. Living with that thought would be next to impossible, trying to explain it to Charybdis would be even harder. She and Charybdis seemed to always do this to each other. First he told her about Turner, then Brie had filled the mission that led to Astraea’s death, and now Amy.

The events on the Galactica confused her even more. There were obviously people from her own team who didn’t agree with her decision to leave, others who backed her whole-heartedly. Then there was Justin. If Pierce hadn’t walked in...she had never thought that she would be grateful to Pierce for anything. She could still feel Justin’s lips against hers, his skin against her own skin. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought about it. She shook her head. It had been a very stupid thing to do to begin with, made worse by the fact that she was sure that Justin had just taken pity on her. She had to admit, since landing on the Galactica she had been pathetic.

She thought for a moment about her friends back on the Callisto. What would they think when they found out about Amy? Would they still trust her? Would her squadron? Would Skyler? Obviously Skyler didn’t trust her as much as she had thought, or else he wouldn’t have hidden from her the information in Logan’s file. For over a yarhen Brie had thought that if she were again to show affection to anyone it would be Skyler, she had even kissed him before the mission. She had been sure about her feelings for him back then, but now she wasn’t sure of anything. No, she was sure of one thing. She was sure that she was going to do her best to avoid Justin.

Brie lied down on the floor and curled up into a ball. She reached over and turned off the lantern. She had a psychological exam in just 6 centars. She didn’t really give it much thought, she had been faking her way through those exams since Turner died. She closed her eyes, hoping that she would find a dreamless sleep.


Lucian

On the Galactica, Commander Apollo was breathing a sigh of relief. The Galactica had dashed through the decoy system, and was now entering the jump to Quarro. He ardently hoped that they would find the Callisto and the Fleet upon arrival there. Returning to his war room, he picked up Captain Pierce’s report.

Charybdis

We were almost out of the jump! The Darjeleene system. With my injuries, I had not had the time nor the disposition to familiarize myself with the current system to which we were heading. And since we were only scheduled to be there about 6 centars, not much effort was needed.

Besides, my first mission was to get onto a shuttle and fly over to the Caprican Questar, the ship where my sister was stationed. With all that had gone on, with all of the Gold squadron team destroyed on the mission, I needed someone who could just be with me and understand. Arien, my sister was that one peson who could do that for me...

The scrambled comm report came in. It was for senior officers on a need to know basis. It contained all the goings on from the recent command meeting.

All ship to ship travel had been suspended, with the exception of my trip to the CQ and other important supply transports. I sort of felt bad, given the fact that I really did not need to go, but emotional health was just as important as physical health.

Eight more centars...

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Brie

“Commander, please!”

Commander Sheba shook her head. “Captain Brie, how long has it been since you had any sleep? You returned from your last patrol, which was long range if I'm not mistaken, then were called to the bridge for the debriefing on the derelict ship that’s been discovered. You’re not going on this mission!”

Brie was on the bridge of the Callisto. “But Ma’am, I’m fine. I’m not even tired.”

“How long?” Sheba repeated.

Brie looked down. “I’m not sure, several cycles.”

“Brie,” Sheba said, softening her tone, “I know you’re new to this but part of being a squadron leader is understanding that you can’t go on every single mission. I realize that this one is exciting, but it’s for someone else, not you. You’re to make your assignments and then go straight to bed. I’ll have Doc Bkj sedate you if I need to. Understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Mission assignments, Brie had discovered, were the most difficult part of her new job. She was still getting used to being the new leader of Gold Squadron, and Major Charybdis was a hard act to follow. This mission was different, an abandoned ship had been discovered orbiting a small planet. Speculation was that it was from the 13th tribe. It didn’t seem like a dangerous assignment, but two yarhens earlier her husband, Turner, had disappeared on a routine patrol, making Brie take each mission a little more seriously. She glanced over at Captain Joey, her roommate and the newly elected leader of Black Squadron. “Do you think it ever gets any easier?” Brie asked her friend.

Joey smiled. She smiled a lot these days. She and her husband had just found out that they were expecting a baby. Commander Sheba had promised that the housing situation would change soon, the squadron leaders would no longer have to share quarters. Brie hoped that it would be before Joey left on maternity leave, Lieutenant Titon would then be running Black Squadron and there was no way she was sharing quarters with him! “Easier? No.”

“I didn’t think so.” Brie had one more name to add to her list. The choice was obvious, although the woman didn’t have much field experience. “Charybdis isn’t going to like this,” she said, adding the name.

Amy

The fighters came out of the basestar two at a time as Amy and Lazant momentarily froze in the face of such rotten luck. “Of all the fracking places to find a basestar…” Lazant muttered.

“I’m beginning to think the universe isn’t as big as I was told” Amy replied. “What do we do? We can’t take them all on.” Even as she said this she was activating the cannons.

“Can we jump again?” Lazant asked hopefully.

“Yeah” Amy answered as she checked the instruments, “in about a centon. I can’t turn the engines around that quickly.”

Lazant was looking intently out the window. “What in hades are they doing?” he asked, referring to the cylon fighters. They weren’t assuming attack vectors.
They were approaching in a casual manner. Then he realized: “They think we’re a cylon envoy!”

Amy laughed. “Only problem is that they’ll find out we’re not one soon enough.”

“If only I’d kept that cylon head…” Lazant said. He turned to look for it, remembering that it had landed near Baltar when he’d pulled his little surprise on the traitor.

Amy laughed again. “How many times is that gonna work…” she started to say, then stopped. “I’m getting a message.” She flipped a switch and let it come over the speakers. It was totally alien to them, unlike any cylon language they had heard before.

“What kind of language is that?” Lazant asked.

Amy shrugged. “There’s a lot we don’t know about cylons.”

Lazant shook his head. “Arm the cannons. I don’t like how this is playing out.”

“Already armed”, Amy replied. “But they don’t seem to be ready to attack. It looks like they want to escort us in.”

Lazant sighed. “Well captain, you wanted to be an equal. What do you think? We go down fighting, or join the list of the captured?”

“Just because we get escorted in doesn’t mean we’re captured. Surprise would still be on our side. Trying to fight them out here would be suicide.”

“Just like it said on the sign up sheet?” Lazant asked with a smile.

“Yeah” Amy said, “I forgot. But at least if we go in we’re still alive. We start shooting now and we are done.” She smiled slightly. “We can always do the suicide thing later. I’m for staying alive right now.”

“Long term it looks like lose-lose to me”, Lazant said heavily. “Strange though. These fighters might be on some sort of automated flight. They might think we’re
an Imperious Leader or something!” The fighters began a ceremonious loop and came up along on the sides of the cruiser, an unmistakable gesture for the cruiser
to start following them in. Amy started up the engines and began to follow the escort.

“I can’t believe we have to deal with this feldgercarb again”, Amy said. “It’s got to be you Lazant. You and all your bad karma.”

It was Lazant’s turn to laugh, but there wasn’t much heart behind it as the basestar grew bigger and bigger before them.

Lazant and Amy sat in silence as the basestar filled the front window of the cruiser. A helpless feeling crept in on both of them as they looked at the massive cylon ship. The odds had been stacked against them the entire mission, but now it seemed like no one would bother to rate their chances anymore. Two against a basestar? It had been done before, but Apollo and Starbuck had planned on it, and were prepared for what to do. They weren’t suddenly just sucked in by one, and certainly not by one that they thought housed the Imperious Leader.

“Something wants to take control” Amy said suddenly. “I can hold it off if I keep the override button pressed, but if I let it go, something else takes over.”

Lazant shrugged. “Better let it then, I guess. Might be some kind of standard procedure thing. Maybe.”

Amy just looked at him. “You’re almost tolerable when you show a little uncertainty, you know that?” She could have sworn Lazant was blushing slightly.

“Well” he replied, “whatever. Of all times, now is not the time for uncertainty. But I just don’t know what to do.”

“There you go again” Amy said, smiling. “It’s almost charming, if I didn’t know you better.” She took her finger off the override. “Well, we’re going where ever it is they want us to.”

“You know, you’re almost tolerable when you aren’t screaming to be heard or whatever the cause of the moment is”, Lazant said in a thoughtful tone.

Amy just laughed. “It’s got to be the pressure. We’re cracking up!”

“Yeah, well hold it together a little longer. We’re coming to a stop.”

The fighter escort had peeled off and came around to form two rows as they came to a rest, and the cruiser landed at one end, facing down the corridor that the fighters had formed. All by remote control, the cruiser’s systems shut down and the door began to open, surprising them both.

Lazant grabbed the rifle, fearing that they were being boarded, and Amy jumped up and pressed herself against the wall next to the door, ready to jump the first centurion through. But no one was there. After a moment, Lazant let out a sigh and lowered his weapon. He looked over at Amy, and laughed.

“Just what in hades were you going to do?” he asked.

Amy thought for a moment, and smiled. “Not sure. Kick him in the main circuits or something?” They both laughed for a moment.

“Must have been part of the automation” Lazant said, referring to the door opening. He peered cautiously out the doorway, then went back to the front window, looking out. “Well, if we were hoping to be forgotten about, it didn’t happen.”

“What?” Amy asked, still next to the doorway.

“There’s got to be 100 centurions out there, and one big gold one.”

“Some sort of red carpet thing? For the Imperious Leader?” Amy asked.

“It’s more purple, but yeah. If we don’t go out, I’m sure they’ll come in, eventually.” Lazant sighed, sat down, and slammed his rifle against the control panel in disgust. He sat in silence, and Amy stood against the wall staring blankly at the floor, lost in thought.

It seemed they’d reached the end of the line.

[BSC RPG]

Lucian

Eight centars later, the Callisto’s jump “engines” shut down at the prescribed time. The same event occurred simultaneously on all the other ships of the fleet, and they emerged into the Darjeelene system. Since the jump “engines” were actually quantum field generators that folded space to allow the star engines to propel the ships across vast distances in short periods, change was marked by a drop in hum that was generally detectable only by those listening for the change. A few others looking out viewports around the ship noted the event by a sudden change in relative speed of movement of the distant lights that were distant stars.

* * *

On the Bridge, the order was immediately given for launch of the two long-range recon Vipers from Bronze Squadron. Moments later, the order was given for launch of the two Gold Squadron rear guard Vipers. Sheba asked, “Who’s flying those two? There are no assignments listed.”

Major BatGal said, “I’ll check, Commander.” She turned activated a comm connection to contact Major Skyler. “Bridge to Major Skyler, Bridge to Major Skyler.”

“Status of the Fleet?” asked Commander Sheba. There was a sort of collective holding of breath as everyone waited for the response. At least two ships had been lost in jump space over the yahrens, with many souls on each. No one knew what had happened to them in either case.

Major Joey looked up from the monitor she was studying. “All ships are present and accounted for,” she said.

A shouted “Hurray!” swept the Bridge. Even Commander Sheba looked partially relieved. It had been yahrens since the Callisto had emerged from a jump with the fleet, so the news that all had survived the trip was welcome news. Now, if they could escape this system quickly and rejoin the Galactica. She ordered, “Notice to all ships of the Fleet, maximum possible speed to the jump point. We have less than six centars.”

* * *

Charybdis

I stopped by the bridge to confer with Commander Sheba about my trip to the CQ. She gave me her final permission to go but only for about 3 centars. We did need to get moving out of this system very quickly after all...

I made my way down to the launch bay and checked in with my shuttle. Within microns, we launched and were out in open space.

I had forgotten how the fleet looked. It had been several yahrens since we last left to attend to the Cylon rear guard action. All the ships carrying what was left of humanity looked beautiful, in a way, but also very fragile. We were all that was left, for the most part. Except for some distant outposts which have eluded Cylon detection.

And of course, except for Earth, the 13th tribe which was the goal for all these yahrens. We were still trying to find our lost brothers in space.

The trip to the CQ would only take about 30 centons since she was posted relatively near the Callisto. I looked forward to seeing my sister.

Brie

“If you keep sitting there reading, you’ll never have time to get ready.” Brie was in the women’s barrack, looking for Lieutenant Astraea. It hadn’t been difficult to find her, this was how Astraea spent a lot of her spare time.

“Really?” Astraea asked, putting the book down. “I’m on the team?”

“I just posted the assignments,” Brie told her. “You’re to meet Commander Sheba on the bridge in 30 centons for your briefing. I won’t be there, my orders are to get some sleep, and let me tell you that’s one command that I will readily accept.”

Astraea’s smile turned into a slight frown. “What about Charybdis? He already told me that he doesn’t think I’m ready for this type of mission.”

“That’s why he’s no longer running Gold Squadron,” Brie said. She understood Charybdis’ concerns, Astraea was a good pilot but didn’t have much ground experience. Since joining the military she had spent a lot of time in a viper and not much time elsewhere. “I’ll handle Charybdis. I’m sure he’s looking for me by now, the assignment has been posted for a good 15 microns.”

Astraea stood. “Thank you for believing in me, Captain.”

“You’ll do fine,” Brie said. “Just keep close to the other team members, and do what they say.” The two women shook hands. “For the glory of Gold Squadron!”

“And the Battlestar Callisto!” Astraea added.

"And the human race!" both women said together.

Lucian

In the main engine control room, Captain Lucian noted the change as he monitored the efficiency of the star drive engines. Since a single engine on the Callisto would allow the ship to match the prevailing speed of the fleet, the majority of the jump had been made on Engine Number One while parts of Two were cannibalized to allow Three to be rebuilt. Since Two was linked to both One and Three, it was possible to gain partial power from the engine, even with some portions dismantled. With the rebuilding, both engines were operating as expected. He cycled through all the readouts over the next few centons. Reasonably pleased with the result, he contacted Fallel.

Winnie and Saul had visited with two of the three communications officers prior to the end of the jump, but, despite their best efforts, they’d gotten nothing useful from either of them. This left them hoping that the third, Comm Officer Miri, would be the person they were seeking, but when they’d caught up with her, later than originally planned due to the search of Hawke’s quarters, she’d been late for duty and had told them to come see her later. To the Security Officers, this was understandable; however, in two follow-up attempts, the excuses seemed somewhat stilted and possibly even disingenuous. As a result, though, they’d never gotten to question her before the end of the jump. Almost expecting another problem as they sought her out again, Winnie had checked the schedule with Major Joey this time to make sure there would be no excuse to put them off again.

Miri was in her mid-thirties, had a pretty face and figure, and was in very good physical condition. Her dark hair was long in the back with brow length bangs in the front, but it was clipped over the ears, most likely, Winnie thought, to prevent interference with her headphones. When Winnie approached her to talk for the fourth time, Miri had rolled her eyes slightly as if she had better things to do. She even asked, “I’m sorry, but do we have to do this. I’m really ver-ry busy, if you know what I mean.”

Winnie, in exasperation said, “Sorry, but we’ll either do this here and now, or we’ll do it later in the brig, IF YOU know what I mean.”

Another eye roll, this one exaggerated, followed, but Miri listened to the questions and answered each while standing in the entrance to her quarters, preventing the others form enterring. She claimed to have remembered nothing about a call from Major Lucian on the cycle in question, and was not helpful with any of the related issues either. Finally, she said, “I’m sorry, but I really don’t remember anything that’s going to help you, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way. If I recall anything that might help you, I’ll call you.” She retreated into her quarters and closed the door behind her.

As they walked away, Saul said to Winnie, “I don’t know what or why, but she’s hiding something.”

Winnie nodded and replied, “My thoughts exactly. Let’s do a deeper background check on Comm Officer Miri.”

* * *

Brie

“Captain, wait up!” Major Charybdis was running down the hall. Brie stopped, she was dreading this conversation. “I just saw the mission assignments.”

Brie knew exactly where this was headed. “Charybdis, Astraea has to go. This assignment is perfect for her. We need her expertise, there’s no one on the Callisto with her knowledge of the ancient writings. Probably no one in the fleet. ”

“She has so little experience off-ship,” Charybdis reminded her.

“And how exactly is she supposed to GET experience?” Brie asked. “Remember, Charybdis, you promised me when I took over the squadron that you wouldn’t give me advice unless I asked for it. Did you hear me asking?” Brie wouldn’t normally say something like that to a superior officer, but she and Charybdis had been friends for a long time. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Did you see the rest of the names? I put a couple of people in there who are almost over-qualified. They’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

Although still worried, Charybdis nodded. “Okay.”

“And just so you know, Major, if you act like this every time I assign Astraea to a mission, I’m going to request that she be transferred back to the Galactica.” She left Charybdis wondering whether or not she was serious.

[BSC RPG]

Lucian

Miri closed her eyes tightly as she put her palms to her temples and shook her head in disgust. She’d handled that far more poorly than she’d imagined possible, despite her training in her earlier yahrens. Training that isn’t used and can’t be continued is often lost, she thought. Now, she broke her training again. Though it wasn’t time to make contact, she decided that she needed direction more than she needed to follow protocol.

He had sounded slightly upset with her for contacting him unexpectedly, but he had said he understood after hearing her concern. He’d paused only momentarily before responding to her question. “You’ve thought about it considerably, and you have recalled something. Tell them what you’ve told me, but no more. You’re sketchy enough on the details and the date that they’ll understand you not remembering more. Properly relayed with an excuse of a headache, it would even explain your earlier, possibly suspicious behavior. Be friendly and apologetic this time. Work out a good excuse in advance, and don’t embellish it too much. Give them what they want and, hopefully, they’ll go away and leave you alone. Just remember that having black shirts after you doesn’t do you or us any good.”

He’d broken the connection unexpectedly, so she’d returned to her quarters. She deliberately took two minor painkiller tablets from her locker, and swallowed them in case either of her two sleeping roommates might have been awake watching her. She climbed into her bunk and went to sleep. She figured she'd speak with Security again prior to her next shift.

* * *

Lucian

About two centars into the dash across the Darjeelene system to the pre-planned jump point....

On the bridge, Major Joey had a near grimace on her face as she approached Commander Sheba and said, “Commander, we’ve received a message from the Rising Star. Siress Nyeeta has announced plans to visit the Callisto. The message is that she is set to arrive shortly. The message didn’t state the purpose of the visit, but I’ve instructed the Captain of the Rising Star to restrict traffic as previously commanded. Visits will have to wait until we arrive in the Quarro system.”

“Thank you, Major. Siress Nyeeta is one of the newer Council members, so she’s probably wanting to come over to get an up close look. She’s entitled to do that, WHEN we’re in a somewhat safer position than we are now.” Sheba turned back to reviewing the report, but as she did, she saw Captain Urdea enter the Bridge. Catching her glance, he nodded slightly as he walked toward a station.

"Commander, incoming message from Forge Ship Alpha," said Geenie. "Some of the supplies requested by Captain Lucian are ready. They don't have a shuttle available to bring them to us though. If we want the stuff, they said come and get it."

"We've moved back in the fleet, Commander, so we don't have time to prep a shuttle and get it there and back before the jump without burning a lot of fuel," said Major Joey. "I hate to say it but Colonel Charybdis's shuttle is much closer. If he could swing by on his way back, we'd save a good bit of fuel."

"It's going to take them a good bit of time to load it," said Sheba, "so it doesn't shift on takeoff and landing. We've got to get started." She looked at the chrono verifying the time and said, "The Colonel's had at least a short visit with his sister on the CQ. Let's hope he made it a good one. Contact him and get him over to that Forge Ship for those supplies, immediately."

[BSC RPG]

Charybdis

The shuttle docked with the CQ's docking ring. She was not large enough to have an internal bay that could fit a Colonial Shuttle, only smaller single seat craft and probes.

As I climbed through the docking port, there were several of the senior officers there to greet me, and standing in the back, my sister, Arien.

Once the formalities were over with, she came up to me and gave me big hug. "Well, it's about time you came to see us poor souls," she said kidding with a smile. It was good to see her.

We walked down the corridors to her quarters, which was a very small room set with a small table, a dresser and a bed. Very spartan. She didn't have very many possessions. All that she had was the clothes on her back for the most part. All those years running from the Cylons pretty much eliminates the need to collect things.

She shut the door and we sat down. She could tell I had been through a rough time. It was the first she had heard of my injuries. My eye was still under the patch, but the doctor had said it was due to come off any cycle now. My arm, on the other hand, still had a ways to go before it would be out of the sling. The tendon damage needed time to heal.

"How are you really doing, Charybdis?" she asked. She could tell something was bothering me. "I heard about the Gold squadron mission."

I looked at her and then let my eyes drop to the floor. "They were all good people. Each one gave their lives so we could all escape."

Arien was not sure how to respond or how to bring up the next topic. "I'm...sorry to hear about Amy."

She knew about my relationship with Amy. If anyone knew how to deal with suffering and loss, it was Arien. She had seen so many of her friends die at the hands of the Cylons over the yahrens, before we found them and the CQ.

"You know," I responded, "you seem to get used to the killing and dying, but all of a sudden, it hits you right between the eyes. Just pulls the rug out from under you."

Arien reached out and took my right hand. She squeezed it. She wanted to let me know that I was not alone. She was there for me and it felt good to know that...

I patted her hand on mine. I said, "It never gets any easier. Even the second time around."

"Second time?" Arien responed taken by what I had said.

"You don't know. Of course you weren't around then," I said.

"I had been elected leader of the new Gold squadron aboard the Callisto when we found her. I had been stationed aboard the Galactica at the time, as most of our other Warriors were. I had grown close to a woman. She was a...book reader. Not your typical Warrior. She loved history and the arts and our rich Colonial heritage. Anyway, when I was transferred to the Callisto, we spoke, I wanted her to come along and be a part of the squadron." I got up and stepped over to the dresser as the memories came flooding back.

I continued, "She transferred over and was named squadron and Callisto Historian due to her journalistic abilities and all those history scans she had. She knew more about the Colonies than anyone else did aboard the ship.

Well, one thing led to another and we became... an item. It didn't cause much concern at first, but when contact with the Cylons was reestablished, well, some of the problems did surface with being involved with your commanding officer. I didn't want that to get in the way of us. So at the end of the first yarhen of command, I stepped aside and was transferred to the bridge so we could continue our relationship. Major Brie was elected in my place..."

Arien was hearing all of this for the first time. "Well, it seemed to work out for you pretty well," she said. "I mean, you're a Colonel now and second in command of the battlestar."

I half smiled, "yes, pretty well for me. But not for her."

I stepped back toward the bed and sat down. Arien could tell this was nerve wracking. Detailing the loss of a love was hard, but I was her brother. She needed to know as well...

I continued, "During the first yahren of Brie's command, we happened across a derelict ship found floating in orbit around a small planet in a system very far from their sun. Very much like the CQ here.

Initial scans revealed an ancient design, possibly Colonial. Rumors spread through the fleet that it might have been a ship from the 13th tribe.

Four Warriors were sent aboard a shuttle to check it out escorted by two pilots in vipers. She was one of the Warriors in the shuttle, given her knowlege of the ancient writings and old Colonial history... I didn't want her to go because she had little practical experience in the field, but she wanted to go since it was exciting. I couldn't do anything to stop her. It was Major Brie's decision.

Well anyway, the shuttle docked with the ship and they boarded and began scanning it.

And then it happened... a Cylon surpise attack. I don't know whether the ship was a plant or what, but they were ready for us it seemed. The Callisto escaped from the battle but there was no word from the mission team.

One of the viper pilots that was with the shuttle managed to land back onboard the Callisto but he reported that his wingman was killed in the battle when the Cylons attacked the derelict ship. He stayed to protect it and the shuttle but his report said that he
saw the shuttle detach from the ship and was immediately destroyed." I turned my head away from Arien and stared at the wall.

I went on, "The last thing he saw before leaving the area was the derelict ship taking some hits and falling out of orbit into the planet’s atmosphere where it was destroyed..." There was a long pause. "Amazing how history repeats itself."

Arien had a tear in her eye. She could feel my pain, not only for that time in the past, but for what I must be going through right now with the loss of Amy.

"Charybdis, I'm so sorry," she said as she hugged me.

"Well, you learn to live with these things if not forget them eventually, which you never really do."

She lifted her head and asked, "Charybdis, what was her name?"

I turned to her and said, "Astraea."

Arien just lowered her head onto my shoulder. Family. It was good to have her here after all those wasted yahrens. And it was going to be really great getting to introducer her to my parents!! Boy, are they going to be shocked!!

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to travel to other ships, for the most part, so that was going to have to wait a little while longer.

Suddenly, the comm beeped in Arien's room. The flight officer for the Caprican Questar was on the line, "Excuse, Arien, Colonel, but we have received a communique from Commander Sheba. She requests that Col. Charybdis take his shuttle to Forge Ship Alpha to pick up supplies."

Supplies? THis was not part of my trip over to the CQ.

I responded, "My shuttle? I thought they were sending other ships to get that stuff?"

"Apparently no other traffic is allowed, sir. Your shuttle is the closest, so Commander Sheba ordered your ship to make the trip, sir."

"Notify the pilot. I'll be at the shuttle in a couple of centons."

I turned to Arien. "Well, it seems duty calls. I'm glad I got to come over here. We should do this more often."

Arien smiled, "I know."

I chided her, "And you know that offer to come stay aboard the Callisto is always open."

"I know," she said. "I'll have to see what I want to do. Especially once I meet mom and dad."

She seemed happy. She made me happy. I guess that's what family is all about, even through all the troubled times...

"Well, I'd better go. You take care of yourself. I'll be in touch." I kissed her on the forehead.

"You too," she responded.

I left her quarters and headed for the docking port. In a few centons we had launched and were headed for Forge Ship Alpha.

This was good for me. It had been some time since I visited other ships in the fleet. It allowed me time to get away and sort things out...

[BSC RPG]

Brie

Captain Brie was alone in her quarters, finally about to go to sleep. Joey was gone, her husband had private quarters so she wasn’t much of a roommate most of the time. Brie still didn’t feel overly tired, she was as excited about the derelict ship as anyone else. She thought about Charybdis and how Astraea had changed his life. She had never seen him so much in love before! She hoped that she and Turner hadn’t been that embarrassing when they first got together but then again when you feel like that you don’t care who knows. Brie kept Turner’s picture next to her bed, he was always the last thing she saw as she drifted off to sleep. It had been almost two yarhens, but she refused to allow them to declare him dead, so his official status was missing in action. Brie was sure that he was still alive, she had been studying long-range communications hoping to someday receive a message. She had a bottle of ambrosia locked away in her safe, waiting to share with him when he returned.

She closed her eyes to sleep, only to be awakened by the alert.

There was a party-like atmosphere in the Gold Squadron Ready Room. Everyone knew the seriousness of the situation, but they had all resolved themselves to the fact that this mission would probably be their last. Major Brie had just said her last goodbye to her oldest friend, Colonel Charybdis. They had been through so much together over the yarhens, Brie couldn’t help but wondering how he would get along without her. As she was approached by Captain Amy, Brie couldn’t help but notice the smiles and glances that Amy and Charybdis were sharing. “Frack,” Brie thought, “they did it again.”

Amy continued to smile. "So" she asked, "is this party catered?"

Brie looked at Amy. She was way too young to be going to her death, she had too much to live for. "Sorry, Amy, but you're off the mission."

Amy looked over at Brie in surprise, and then she started to smile. "Good one, Major" Amy said, "you had me going there for a micron."

"I'm perfectly serious, Captain," Brie replied. She didn't pull rank on her friends often, but it seemed necessary at the micron. "When you volunteered it was under the understanding that you no longer had any attachments. I know you both well enough to realize that on some level you and Charybdis have, um, re-attached. I'd rather be one person short than bring along someone who's distracted, someone who might have something to live for after all."

"Now wait a minute, Major" Amy said, her voice shaking slightly as she tried to keep a lid on her sudden anger. "You know me. You know what I've been through trying to gain respect as a female warrior. You can't dismiss me from this mission on the basis of what I had or might have with Charybdis. My relationship with him has been one of my biggest hurdles- don't use it to kick me off!! If you used these requirements each time a mission was planned, there isn't one warrior that you'd be able to send. Each mission can be a last one, and each person on board, even the orphaned ones, have attachments of some kind, and we all have something to live for. I became a warrior to defend our people in any situation that comes up, don't tell me now that I'm unfit because I dare to have a life in the face of what the Cylons are trying to do to us. I'd..." she stopped and lowered her voice, which had been sort of rising,"...I'd have to rethink a lot of things if I'm unable to go on the mission for the reasons you are giving me."

Brie pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. "’Major,’" she read, "’I'd like to volunteer for the mission. You might argue that I have too much to lose, but you are wrong. The fleet has been found, and my family is safe. I know this, and would not be left wondering. With the death of Artus, my personal life is in order. I've ended things with Najinn, and frankly I do not think there is anything left with Charybdis that is worth keeping me off the mission. I haven't had any indications to make me think otherwise. I took an oath to defend the fleet and it's people, and that is what I truly want to do, and it would be an honor to do so at your side, whatever the outcome may be. signed, Captain Amy.’" Brie looked at Amy. "Your situation has changed," she explained. "And don't give me that felgercarb about all missions being dangerous, I already know that. But this is the one that we're NOT coming back from. No matter how much we all say otherwise, I'm going to be dead in a few centars, and you will be too if you come along. Don't convince me, think about it yourself. Things have changed for you, do you really want to throw your life down the turboflush?"

"Major" Amy replied, "It will all be down the flush if I DON'T go. Don't you see? If there's anything left between Charybdis and I, my not going will end it for sure. If my relationship with him is going to keep me from this mission, then I know for sure that I cannot have that relationship and still be a warrior. It's only by going, and trying like Hades to make it back, that anything I have in my life will be worth anything to me."

"If you leave me off this mission, either my days as a warrior or my relationship with Charybdis will be over. Please don't make me have to make that choice. My place now is at your side. It's where I want to be. It's where I have to be."

It was an exciting time for the Colonial Military. The Battlestar Callisto was nearing completion. Lieutenant Brie had been called to the bridge of the Galactica. When she arrived she saw that Lieutenant Charybdis was speaking with Commander Adama. Charybdis was almost certain to be promoted to Captain once the Callisto was commissioned. Brie would miss him, but she and Turner were both assigned to the Galactica and even though they were in different squadrons they would remain on the Galactica to stay on the same vessel.

Charybdis noticed Brie and approached her. She could tell immediately that something was wrong, she had never seen him cry before. “Brie, I’m so sorry,” he started slowly. “Considering how we were all such close friends, I asked for permission to tell you.”

Brie stared ahead, knowing what was coming. “Tell me what?” Friend or no friend, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

“Turner’s patrol was destroyed,” he said solemnly.

Brie shook her head defiantly. “No it wasn’t.”

“Brie, listen to me. There were Cylons in the area. There was a scream, and then he disappeared off the screen. I was here on the bridge, I saw it in the monitors. Ensign Cal, his wingman, is gone as well. Blue Squadron took care of the Cylons, but there was no sign of either of them. I’m sorry, Brie, but Turner’s dead.”

“No he’s not,” Brie said calmly. Not wanting to hear anymore of this nonsense Brie walked away. As she entered the hallway a klaxon sounded, but Brie ignored it.

Brie awoke with a start, almost as if the klaxon had been real. For a micron she wasn’t sure where she was. Astraea, Amy, Turner, Charybdis, it had all been a dream. In the pitch black she felt around and her hand landed on the lantern. She turned it on, her eyes taking a micron or two to adjust to the light. She wasn’t sure which was the worst, the pain in her head, the pain in her elbow, or the pain in her heart. The events of the last few centars slowly came back to her. The mission, losing Amy, Justin, Pierce. Justin. “Frack,” she said loudly. She pulled out the bottle of pain medicine that Doctor Hubley had given her and took two pills. She glanced at her wrist chrono, 08:00. She had a centar until her psychological examination. She removed the ceiling tile and climbed down, wondering why she had combined so much loss into one dream.

Lucian

Major BatGal was looking over the shoulder of the Tech, checking on the progress of Bronze Squadron’s forward scouts. By linking to the long range scanners of the forward ships of the Fleet, the Callisto, bringing up the rear, was able to detect the two Vipers in the distance. Nothing else was detected in that area.

A flash suddenly caught her eye. Focusing on it, she saw that it was represented a shuttle launch. She smiled and said, “Colonel Charybdis must have been getting on the shuttle as Commander Sheba sent that order for them to have launched that quickly. The shuttle pilot must have been almost through the preflight checklist, too.”

“Major, I don’t think that’s the Colonel’s shuttle, since he was supposed to be going to Forge Ship Alpha, ” replied the Tech. A moment later, he nodded, then pressed a few keys. He said, “It’s not him. This one launched from the Rising Star...and according to the flight plan just transmitted, it's in route to the Callisto.”

"It's confirmed, Commander. That unauthorized shuttle is headed to the Callisto. Do we allow it to land?"

"Unfortunately, with our tight time frame in this system, turning it away might endanger our schedule," replied Sheba. She'd wanted to avoid this situation, but now it was too late. "Major Skyler's message was that he had a couple of people available for duty. I'm sure it's not what he had in mind, but send word, by voice and messenger, to get a couple of Warriors to Alpha landing bay. I want the people on that shuttle taken to a securable holding room in Alpha Bay until we know who they are and why they violated the restrictions on intership travel in this system."

Major Joey nodded and asked, "Commander, what if it's Siress Nyeeta? She'd requested authorization to travel just a short time before. If it's her, confining her against her will could be trouble."

"Yes, Major, unfortunately, that could be...."

[BSC RPG]

Skyler

"Major Skyler, we have a unauthorized shuttle inbound. Have a couple of Warriors detain any travelers on that shuttle and see that they stay in a secure holding room." Major Joey relayed the orders from Sheba.

"Understood, and just for clarification, you mean ANY travelers...." Skyler asked....

"Thats correct Major..." came Sheba's voice over the comm link "I don't care if its President Tigh, you hold him until you receive further orders from me to do otherwise."

"Yes ma'am, understood."

Skyler switched off his comm link, went into the Pilots waiting room and looked over the Warriors assembled. Some were worse for wear, signs of injuries from the previous battles everywhere.

"I need a couple of volunteers to go with me to head off some uninvited guests when they land on the Callisto.... Well speak up..."

Amy

“Okay” Lazant said after a few microns had passed. “We can’t stay in here.”

“Well” Amy replied, “we can’t go out there either! I was thinking though, this might be the one-way part of the mission they were talking about. If it comes down to it, I’d rather take out this basestar than be captured.”

“How could we do that?” Lazant asked, his voice strangely wavering.

“What would the effects of activating jump drive inside this bay be?” Amy asked.

Lazant let out a long, low whistle, then sat silently. After a moment, he spoke. “I can’t do it” he replied. “All the information I’ve found… we just have to make it back.”

“Not everything has to turn out in your favor, Lazant. Believe me, I know. Just face it. We are done. The best we can hope for is to leave the universe with one less basestar when we go.”

Lazant stared at Amy. “You’re suicidal! You want to kill yourself! Why didn’t you just walk into the nearest airlock and… Lords! You did walk into an airlock! What in hades is wrong with you?”

“Lazant, since we’re about to die anyway, I’d love to bare my soul to you. But I’m not going to. You think anything you want. But the only thing that makes sense is to take out this basestar.”

“No” Lazant replied. “We will not. Your inexperience is clouding whatever judgment you have left. You might be better at piloting cylon ships, but I know cylon behavior. I’ve been at this game a lot longer than you. We can still get out of this.”

“How?” Amy asked.

“Take the rifle. A symbol of strength.”

“And do what?”

“Nothing! Just stand behind me when we go out. We can make a deal. I know we can. This basestar is way off course. It might even be rogue. They’ll listen, believe me they will.”

“Dealing with the enemy? It violates every sense of decency a warrior possesses.” Amy said flatly.

“Not a deal! A ploy to buy time.”

“A ploy?” Amy questioned. “A millicenton ago you sounded like you were hoping to go partners with a rogue basestar.”

“See? You know I’m full of it yet you fell for it.”

Amy shook her head and laughed softly. She sat down in one of the plush seats in the passenger section of the cruiser. “Why should I even care if a basestar is taken out? Either way we aren’t getting out of this. Okay, fine. Your plan. It’s fitting in a way, go down for the last time following your ideas…”

Lazant didn’t reply as he sat there, his mind racing, plotting…

[BSC RPG]

Lucian

Urdea turned from his original task and approached Commander Sheba. He waited until she was free, and then asked, “Commander, I heard you assigning Colonial Warriors to meet that shuttle. Is that not a job for Fleet Security?”

Sheba shook her head and said, “Urdea, there are Warriors available, whereas I think most of our Security forces are pursuing other quarry. I’d rather them stay sharp, stay on task, and catch that raptor as quickly as possible rather than diverting them to pin a pigeon.”

“Understood, Commander. We’re working on it.”

Urdea nodded to her and turned back toward his task. He approached a station and said, “Flight Officer Hoxha, might I have a word with you? In private?”
Hoxha looked at Urdea and said dismissively, “I’m on duty now and don’t have time for foolishness.” Hoxha leaned toward Urdea and said in a lower, chiding voice, “If you think it’s truly important, come back and see me at the end of First Shift and I’ll see if I can make a couple of centons for you then.”

Urdea leaned in even closer and said in a low, steady voice of authority, “Flight Officer Hoxha, we’ll do this now, thank you, either in private here or in the Brig. The choice is yours. What will it be?”

Hoxha’s eyes widened slightly and only momentarily at the brazenness of the Security chief. He silently reminded himself that Urdea had been a Warrior once, before an accident took his lower left leg, and that he had always maintained his flight status since joining the Fleet during the Exodus. Urdea’s recent flight in the battle of Pangara might have even reawakened that peculiar keen edge usually felt by Warriors, if he’d ever lost it at all. Hoxha nodded, dropping his eyes with a look of defeat, then turned and approached Major BatGal and said, “Major, my presence is required elsewhere for a few moments. All duty stations are at ‘normal.’ With your leave, you have my duty until my return.”

“I have the duty,” said BatGal. Hoxha’s formality, while technically correct, was almost discomfiting to her at times. She returned to her duties as Hoxha and Urdea stepped off the Bridge into a small conference room.

Captain Urdea said, “Ten cycles ago, at about 03:00, can you tell me where you were and what were you doing?”

Hoxha smiled slightly and said, “Good question, Security chief.” He checked his chrono, considered for a moment, and then replied, “At that time, I would have been on the Bridge—doing my job.”

“In the course of your job, are you ever conveyed messages from the comm officers to be given to others?” asked Urdea.

“That happens on occasion,” replied Hoxha, nodding slightly, pausing and then saying, “On very rare occasions.”

“I’m interested in the contents of a message that might have been passed to you at the time in question. Do you remember receiving a message to be conveyed at that time?”

“Security chief, on the VERY rare occasion that I’m tasked to convey a message, I treat it as completely confidential. Nothing would be passed along to anyone other than the recipient,” said the indignant Hoxha, scowling at Urdea, “including, I’m afraid, you.”

“That’s as it should be,” agreed Urdea with a forced smile, “except when such messages have a bearing on the safety of this ship or any other ship in the fleet, OR when they are part of official investigations, such as in this case. I’m sure that confidentiality does not extend to the point of impeding an official investigation.”

“No, of course not,” said Hoxha, “but then again, I am asked to convey messages so rarely that it would likely never be a problem anyway.”

“Now,” continued Urdea, trying to coax as much information from the Flight Officer as possible, “back to the original question. On the cycle in question, were you asked to convey any messages for any of the comm officers?”

Hoxha rubbed his chin in thought. Long moments later, he replied, “No, I can’t recall any messages being passed that cycle. In fact, I can’t remember passing along any messages in the past couple of sectons. Like I said, it happens very rarely.”

Urdea stared at him for a moment then said, “No messages that you can recall. Might it be possible that you conveyed a message that you don’t recall?”

Turning somewhat red, Hoxha replied, “Security chief Urdea, my memory is extremely good and extremely long. I don’t forget things, at least important things anyway; however, if a message was officially passed to me for conveyance, I’m sure there would be a record of it in my files. Therefore, let me check my records since you’ve cast doubt on my memory.”

Hoxha accessed a terminal, keyed in his code, and then ran through the records. “As I thought, there’s nothing here. I believe, Captain, that my memory is vindicated. See for yourself if you’d like.”

“No thanks…but I will have Lieutenant Proteus take you up on that offer. He’s much better with computers and records than I am, so if anyone can certify them as clean, it’s Proteus. Anything we can do to get to the bottom of this mess is appreciated.”

Hoxha checked his chrono, then asked, “Time’s passing, Security chief. Now, are we done? Or are you going to tell me what this is all about and where are you going with it? I have duties.”

“Yes, we’ll be done shortly,” said Urdea. “Let me just ask a couple more follow-up questions. On the cycle in question, at around 03:00, did you receive a message being passed from Major Lucian to Commander Sheba?”

As Urdea asked the question, Hoxha looked away as if in thought, but he paused only a moment before looking back at Urdea and saying, “No, Security chief. I don’t recall such a message, and there’s no record of it. Therefore, I can state categorically that I did not receive such a message.”

Captain Urdea had been an observer of humanity, in Security and elsewhere, for long enough to usually know when someone was telling the truth. In this case, the little alarm bells were ringing in his head, but he had no proof. With the lack of evidence and the amount of time that had passed, he decided to take a chance since he knew it was unlikely he’d ever have more than the word of two officers against each other. He nodded slightly as if in agreement, allowing Hoxha a moment to relax, as he appeared to jot down a couple of notes which were actually only unintelligible squiggles. “Okay, Flight Officer Hoxha, I appreciate your cooperation. You’re free to return to your duty.”

Hoxha turned on his heel without a word and started to the door. As it slid open, Urdea said, “Oh! I forgot! There’s one more little thing I almost forgot.”

In frustration, Hoxha exclaimed, “What now? I really must return to duty.”

“I'm so sorry! I’ll be done in just another few microns,” said Urdea with an apologetic look. He looked at the Flight Officer and said, “I’m intrigued by something you said. No official record. You said that if a message was 'officially passed to me for conveyance' that you’d have a record. What if it wasn’t 'officially' passed to you? What if, hypothetically, it was passed to you informally by someone who just needed a quick favor so she could, say, hit the turboflush? Would there be a record in that case, Flight Officer Hoxha?”

The quick red flush passing Hoxha’s face was all the proof that Urdea knew he’d probably ever get. Hoxha recovered almost instantly as he replied, “That’s an interesting hypothetical situation, but I really wouldn’t know, Security chief, since nothing like that happened. I deal with real situations in an official capacity. Hypothetically, if someone else were to disregard proper protocol and not deal with things in the official manner as required, our command and control system would break down. In such a hypothetical case, it would be a shame, but without records, it would be like it had never happened. Now, if you will excuse me, Security Chief, I really must return to my work.”