CHAPTER 10—ANCIENT ENMITY

[LucianG]

Lucian

It was now late in Second Shift. Commander Sheba rose from her bed after another of her infamous short naps, saying, “Lights, low.” She called for a quick update on the situation in the damaged engine compartment.

“Lieutenant Titon, what is the situation there? Is there damage to any primary systems, and if so, how long will it take to repair? And what about secondary systems?”

“Commander, we’re quite lucky on the primary. We’ve replaced a couple of power couplings, and the primary system is fine; however, it’s going to take several cycles to rebuild the secondary work damaged by the blast. That includes the upper range of system speed control. It’s just that it’s going to take a while to fix, and after we come out of this jump, our speed is going to be limited to about half of maximum until we’ve got it fixed. The Shop’s going to be fabricating some pretty intricate stuff, but they’ve done similar work in the past, so they’ll get it. With our recent Q.C. problems, though, I recommend that a Warrior monitor the work. With Captain Brie’s permission, I was thinking of asking Lieutenant Skyler to monitor the fabrication work. Also, considering the recent trouble with the Black Shir—excuse me, Ma’am—Fleet Security, you never know if a few of the Shop Techs might be siding with them and try something stupid. Skyler’s got a good bit of experience as a Tech himself, so he’ll know what’s involved. I understand that the duridium we mined on Shonada Delta has been processed, so we’ve got the raw materials needed.

“Check with Brie, and get it approved. Let’s get this repaired yesterday. Sheba out.”

When she contacted Captain Urdea, he sounded extremely tired. His team was still tracing the source of the blast. Based on the blast location, it was definitely not a system failure. A bomb of an as-yet unknown type had been used. In a lower voice, he reported that there had been some increased friction between the Security Officers and the Warriors over who was responsible. Each side seemed to be blaming the other party’s agent for causing the explosion, and the tenseness of the situation seemed to be increasing. He had sent away all but a couple of his most trusted aides to try to cut down on this. He promised to call her as soon as more information was available.

Next, she called the MedLab for an update on Lieutenant Amy. A bleary eyed Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis appeared on the viewscreen a moment later. Doc BKJ and the rest of the MedLab staff were working feverishly to save Lieutenant Amy. She was still in extremely critical condition, but the Doc had hopes of saving her. As she signed off with the Lieutenant Colonel, she hoped that he would be okay almost as much as she held out get well wishes for the injured Lieutenant.

After a few sips of coffee, she began typing in a few characters at her keyboard. She accessed full scope personnel files, and quickly found the file of the Warrior she sought. He had approached her privately regarding a potential mission recently. Now, she wondered, would he be interested in going through with it on her terms?

* * *

Captain Lazant tossed in his bunk, unable to sleep. His blind ambition was eating at him. He rose, seated himself at his computer terminal, and began accessing personnel records using his command code as head of the Callisto’s Training Academy.

It didn’t take long for the gnawing to turn into full-fledged fury. Those rumors he’d heard were evidently true. To think that a civilian ship’s first officer could be streamlined into military as a Colonial Warrior based on some watered-down training that he’d been given by a washed-up former-Warrior-turned-private captain burned him up immensely. Then, to top it all off, this—this—CIVILIAN—somehow succeeds in getting himself promoted past himself and the senior squadron captain! “Hmmm…I’ll need to talk to her about that,” he said softly to himself.

There was definitely a problem aboard ship, and it was that bastard’s fault. He had no business being Squadron Leader when there were other, more qualified personnel aboard. Of course, those young Black Squadron Warriors, and especially that Ensign Kris, had made great strides using the slightly modified training programs that Rostammer and Lucian had developed over the yahrens as they searched for the fleet. They’d probably just gotten lucky, and probably, he thought, could have done even better if they’d used the standard training programs. With proper guidance, those young Warriors could develop into really first class Warriors someday.

Frack! That sneak had to have planned it all! If he’d just known what Lucian was planning, things sure would have been different. He’d wasted all that time going after Charybdis on questionable charges (that had almost worked!), when he’d probably have better spent his time watching and more actively opposing Lucian. The guy just didn’t seem that devious. He’d obviously underestimated him. Of course, Lazant decided, now that he knew that, he’d have to watch that bastard very carefully, and at the first sign he was screwing things up for Black Squadron or for those youngsters….

* * *

At about the same time, Major Lucian was preparing for the Black Squadron meeting. It was going to be the first time he’d been able to address the whole squadron since being elected. He made a few modifications to his notes, picked up the folder, and made his way to the Rec Hall where the meeting would be held. On his way, he stopped by Randrius’s bunk and checked on the slightly groggy Warrior who was now preparing for the staff meeting and his duty shift.

“If you’re ready, let’s walk together, and you can tell me of your little adventure,” said Lucian, wondering how he was going to have to deal with the situation.

<Note: Many thanks to Astraea for collecting the remainder of this chapter from its original location on the SciFi Board. Due to SciFi’s board management, a few posts were lost between the paragraphs above and those following. >

EnsignWendy

On standby waiting to hear whether Black Squadron would be needed, Lt Wendy was hovering around her bunk waiting anxiuosly to get back into her cockpit, her last encounter and flying away from that Hades Hole of a Planet made her nerves frayed, she questioned why she ever became a warrior in the first place, but hse never could find an answer to that same old question, she knew in her heart that is what she had always ever wanted to do, alway on reflection of her outbursts, she felt stupid and this time around she was pleased that nobody had noticed in her voice her upsets and in the launching bay nobody had noticed her tear stained face.
on hearing Gold squadrons orders to get out there she was itching to get out there herself.
On the other side of the room she noticed that the Ensigns had started a game of pyramids so out of curiosity she went over to watch the game and to even maybe, learn how to play it herself.

Lucian

Lucian made his morning "rounds." They weren't exactly the usual "rounds" since he'd only been on the job in his new role for a couple of cycles. Still, he needed to get into the routine, and see how efficient he could make the work.

First, after checking the assignment board to make sure no one was sick or newly injured, he swung by the MedLab. He had been there just a few centars before, but had been unable to talk to Doc since she and Nurse Holodoc were operating on Lieutenant Amy. While technically, she was a member of the other squadron, Lucian felt somewhat close to her (in a fatherly sort of way, since after all, he was twice her age) after there work together some time back on the barracks project. This time, when he entered, he saw Doc in her office. He waved to Anubis and MaraJade, then knocked on Doc's door.

"Doc, do you have a moment?" he asked.

"Come in, Major. I'll give you a moment if you'll help me first. What can you tell me about explosives?" she asked. "I removed this residue from Lieutenant Amy, and under the scope, I can't determine what it is. Now, I'm going in to do an autopsy on the Security Officer, and I have no idea what caused the explosion. Think you can help?"

"Doc, that's a pretty weak area for me. Other than fashioning a standard solonite charge, I won't be much help. You might see if you can get a good sample from the body and send it to Dr. CureMode or Science Officer Solon. One of them might be able to help," Lucian replied. "Now, what can you tell me about Ensign Anubis and Lieutenant Amy?"

On his way out, he stopped by to see Ensign Anubis. "Feeling any better?" he asked. "Doc said you were sure looking better, and that she didn't think she'd be able to keep you in here much longer IF you'll get some rest."

A short time later, he was on his way to check in with the stand-by crew. This was a relatively young crew, and they probably wouldn't be used to sitting, or pacing, around, waiting for something to happen. Chances always were that nothing would, but every now and then...one never knew.

As he walked, he passed a couple of groups of crewmen who saluted good-naturedly. He couldn't help overhearing the whispered comment from one as he walked away, though. He'd make it a point to go see the Lieutenant Colonel about this later today.

[LucianG]

Lucian

Major Lucian had spent some time in the pilots’ ready room. He’d gone over some procedures with the standby pilots, and afterwards, had put up with some good natured ribbing from Lieutenant Stadia. He was glad, if nothing else, that he’d been able to provide some comic relief to the Warriors. Standby duty was about as stressful as anything short of actual combat, and many of the more experienced Warriors dreaded it even more than battling the Cylons at four to one odds. Stadia and Lucian had talked privately for a few centons after he was done, and he’d stopped by each of the others to give them words of encouragement as well. By his words and actions, he hoped that he was correctly instilling confidence in his Squadron members. These were Warriors, who would, often in less than a micron, be making life and death decisions in combat, so there was absolutely no room for “babying.” He thanked them and ordered them to stay vigilant, then headed to the bridge to see Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis.

Brie

As Captain Brie sat in her quarters trying to figure out what to do about Lt. Hawke, the buzzer went off, indicating that someone was outside. "Come in," she called, expecting to see Lt. Col. Charybdis. She thought that he would want to talk about the situation with Hawke and the problems that were growing with Fleet Security. She was surprised when Captain Lazant entered.

"Captain," he said cautiously. "May I have a moment of your time?"

Brie was surprised. She didn't know Lazant well, and hadn't formed an opinion of him until the tribunal. She knew that the whole tribunal fiasco had been because of personal problems that Lazant had with Charybdis and unfortunately a lot of people were hurt in the fallout. Still, Brie was curious. "What can I do for you, Captain?" she asked. "Please, have a seat."

Captain Lazant took the seat opposite Brie at her desk. "Brie," he said in a friendly manner, "have you ever thought about your future? In the military, that is."

Something about his voice made Brie's skin crawl. "Captain," she said, making sure that she kept things official, "of course I think about my future. We all do."

Lazant smiled cunningly. In his mind he thought that maybe Brie was an ally in the making. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Looking over your service record, I'm surprised that you're not a major by now."

Although Brie thought that it was none of his business, if he had read her record he would already know what she was about to say. "I was offered a promotion to major half a yarhen ago, along with a move to the bridge. I wanted to stay squadron leader, so I turned it down."

"But now there's a squadron leader that IS a major," Lazant said.

So that's what this was about! Lucian! If Brie had been momentarily jealous of Lucian's promotion, she could just imagine what a power hungry manipulator like Lazant would feel. Although Brie didn't know Lucian well, she knew that he was more than capable to lead Black Squadron. Because she wondered what Lazant had in mind, she decided to play along with him, at least for the moment. "I know." Carefully picking her words, Brie continued, "I was......surprised." Short and sweet.

"As was I," Lazant said slyly. "I've never heard of a lieutenant skipping over captain and becoming a major. Especially to lead the smaller, less qualified squadron."

Lazant was good, Brie would give him that. He obviously knew about the long standing, mostly unspoken competition between Gold and Black Squadrons. Gold Squadron did have more members and more experience, but that didn't make Black Squadron any less qualified. "I'm sure that Major Lucian will do his best."

"Did you know that he's a civilian?" The question surprised Brie, and it must have shown on her face. "Well, not anymore," Lazant explained. "He was a civilian ship's first officer not too long ago, and now he outranks both of us. How does that make you feel?"

"As I said, I was surprised." Brie decided to try to bait him a little bit. "I do my job, day in and day out, try to do my best. I have to admit that it would be nice to be rewarded for that, instead of being overlooked."

Once again, Lazant smiled. "I know exactly what you mean." He stood up and walked towards the door. "Thank you for speaking with me, Captain. It has been most enjoyable." As Brie closed the door behind him, she decided that she should talk with Lucian. She didn't know what Lazant was planning, but it was obvious who his target was.

Brie

Brie scanned the room as she entered the mess hall. Since it was an off-hour it was almost empty. There were a group of techs sitting in the corner, either talking shop or talking about women, neither conversation interested Brie. There were a few other people there, but no one that Brie really knew all that well. She had some material that Doc Bkj had given her about the upcoming training that the warriors would be required to do, so Brie decided to sit by herself and do some reading. She was still on her first cup of coffee when she heard a voice. "Mind if I join you?"

Brie looked up, knowing that it was Captain Lazant. Twice in one day, she hoped that this wouldn't become a habit. She didn't like Lazant, but did her best to cover it. "That would be fine, Captain," she said as pleasantly as she could. She hoped that she didn't overdo it. "I'm just looking over some medical information. It can wait."

Lazant took a seat opposite Brie. "I need to apologize to you," he said. "About the tribunal. I know that you and the Lieutenant Colonel are close, and I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

Obviously Lazant was full of surprises. "Then why did you bring the charges?" Brie asked.

"I honestly believed that Charybdis was wrong," Lazant explained. "But then when the new information came out, I realized that I was the one who was wrong. I hope that you can forgive me. Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis has."

"We all do what we think is best for the survival of the human race," Brie said. If she was going to find out what Lazant was up to, she was going to have to get him to trust her. "As far as I'm concerned, the whole thing is forgotten."

"Good," Lazant said. He smiled. "Tell me about yourself. Which colony are you from?"

"My family was from Caprica, I never lived on a planet," Brie told him. If he had read her service record he would know all this. "I was born on the Columbia. My parents were both warriors, and they had living arrangements for families there."

"It must have been exciting being a child living on a battlestar," Lazant observed.

"I don't remember too much about it," Brie said. "I was orphaned when I was three. I grew up on an orphan ship."

"Civilian or military?" Lazant asked slowly.

"Military," Brie said. She now knew where the conversation was going.

"So you spent your life training for the Colonial Service."

"Yes," Brie replied. "I always knew that I would be a warrior. No other thought ever even entered my mind."

"Nor mine," Lazant said. "All I've ever wanted, as you said before, was to do what was best for the survival of the human race."

It was Brie's turn to smile. "Some people might say that you have a strange way of showing that, Lazant." It was the first time that she referred to him without using his title.

Lazant smiled back. "I know. We've all made our mistakes. But I've always worked hard. I've given my life's work in service."

"You asked me before," Brie said, "so it's my turn. How do YOU feel when someone is promoted ahead of you? Especially when it comes as a surprise?"

Lazant took his time answering. He was starting to trust Brie a little bit, but her friendship with Charybdis concerned him. Still, she had left immediately after the tribunal had ended, and he had heard that she had been very upset with her so-called 'good friend.' Maybe the tribunal had done some good after all! "It hurts. No one likes to be overlooked. You give your heart and soul and nobody notices. I'm sure that you know how that feels."

"I guess," Brie said. "I had never really thought about it all that much until..."

"Lucian's promotion," Lazant interupted. "I still can't believe that he's been promoted to major, while you're still just a captain. No one deserves a promotion more than you do."

"Thank you." Brie was touched, even though she knew that she was being played. "What about you? I'm sure that you're probably overdue for a promotion as well."

Lazant smiled again. "I guess we're just kindred spirits." He stood up. "I'll let you get back to your reading, Brie. I'm sure we'll be speaking again soon."

Brie looked at her food, but she had lost her appetite. Kindred spirits! The thought made her shiver. She knew that she would have to speak with Lucian as soon as possible, he needed to be warned. She realized that she was setting herself up as a target for Lazant as well. She was trying to gain his trust, only to break it. Someone like Lazant wouldn't take that lightly.

[LucianG]

Charybdis

I had just a short rest before I was due back on the bridge to monitor the patrols that had just launched. A nice little nap invigorated me as I sat at my desk in my quarters after getting dressed.

I checked the duty monitors to see if everyone was supposed to be where they were supposed to be. Everything seemed alright.

A quick thought of my family entered my mind. I missed my parents. I hoped they were OK back with the fleet. A smile crossed my face as I realized that I was rather lucky to still have my parents with me. So many of my friends lost their whole families. We had escaped together from Caprica that horrible night 22 yahrens ago. Father was now a researcher who dealt with extracting materials from the plants and trees on the agro ship to turn them into medicinal supplements. THat was a far cry from the position he held at one of the Caprican space docks before the holocaust came! He loves his work and it is a very important job at that. Without manufacturing new medicines, many people would have died from the diseases known to man and some unknown that we have come across. My mother is assigned to one of the ships which teaches the youngsters. She had always been a teacher and she still loves it too. Now, her main role is letting all the children born in space realize where they came from. A heritage should never be lost.

Taj...he was my older brother. We lost him that night when the Cylons attacked. He was blown to bits by the bomb that hit our home. We lost Arien too. My little sister...only 7 yahrens old. Children deserve to live their lives, dammit!! Why was I spared? Why did I live and they didn't? Stupid keepsakes!!! If they never would have gone to get something to take with them when we left for the space port, they would have lived. They would have been with us. I immediately ran for the door when my father told us to leave. But they went to their rooms to gather one or two treasured belongings. That's when the bomb hit. I was taken by my parents and I have never seen Taj or Arien again. My whole career has been dedicated to them. I carry on for them...

I clicked the button on the microphone and turned the machine off. Not now, I don't want to go through this again. I went to the turboflush to get ready for my duty on the bridge...

Expatkiwi

While Ensign Kiwi was playing his latest tunes in the virtually empty o-club at a rather low volume so as to keep his compostions confidential(see the posts for "Still Off-Duty after the Jump"), he did not know that a prankster had decided to "immortalize" Kiwi's singing in a rather unique way!
Unknown to Kiwi, there was placed under the synthesiser a small audio pickup. It was keyed to activate ONLY to Kiwi's voice, so that when he started playing and singing, the pickup activated.
This audio pickup was tied into various portions of the CALLISTO's PA system, so when Kiwi was quietly singing his songs, they were amplified and sent out through the PA to the Bridge, The Ready Rooms of all three squadrons, Life Station, and the Landing Bays!
Personnel in all of those locations stopped and listened to this music coming over the PA. Some jaws dropped, others started laughing! On the Bridge, Commander Sheba stopped and listened, her own jaw dropping as well.
Turning to an aide, she said "Find out who our maestro is, and I want to know NOW!"
Blissfully unaware of what had happened, Kiwi continued with his compositions.

Expatkiwi

Ensign Kiwi finished up his playing and after quickly draining his glass, left the o-club, intending to hit the arboretum. It was obvious to him that Jarrynn would not be in the o-club anytime soon, so rather than play himself out, to sit in the zero-gee node for a while.
Kiwi had just walked a couple of paces down the hall when the PA clicked into life, "Ensign Kiwi, report to the bridge, Repeat, Ensign Kiwi, report to the bridge".
Why would he be needed there, he thought. Ah well, I'm not supposed to speculate about orders, just obey them. He chanded direction and headed up to the CALLISTO's bridge.
After about five centons, he emerged onto the battlestar's massive bridge. All of a sudded, the bridge crew turned in their seats and began applauding him! To say he was taken aback was an understatement!
Flight Officer Solon came up to Kiwi, "You're to report to the Commander in the briefing alcove".
Kiwi, conscious that he was still in civilian clothes, headed into the alcove to see Commander Sheba.
"Well, Well, Well, if it isn't the Music Man", Sheba greeted Kiwi when he entered the alcove.
Kiwi just looked at her with a mystified expression on his face.
"Just what is the big idea singing songs about this battlestar and her crew over the PA, Ensign?", Sheba demanded, "Not that such things aren't good for morale, but when we're on alert.....!".
"Commander", Kiwi stammered, I don't know what you mean, "I was playing on the synthesiser in the o-club, but with the volume level way down".
"Then how would you explain what the entire bridge crew heard, Ensign?", she responded.
Kiwi shrugged helplessly while Sheba filled him in on the songs that she had heard. Kiwi first blushed, then went dead pale.
Sheba noticed Kiwi's demeanor. From his expression, it was clear that Kiwi had no idea what was going on. She turned and punched in a comm line to the o-club, requesting to the bartender who answered the line to check the synthesiser.
After about a centon of holding the comm line, Sheba listened to what the bartender had to say when he came back from checking the instrument, "Commander, I found a small voice-activated audio pickup placed underneath the chair at the synthesiser. It has a message attached to it".
"What does it say?", Sheba inquired.
"It reads 'Fame at Last, Ensign Kiwi. Compliments of The Phantom'".
"Have someone bring that pickup to Flight Officer Solon", Sheba ordered, hanging up the commline.
"Well, Ensign Kiwi", Sheba said, "It looks like you have been the victom of a practical joke. Someone who is calling him or herself 'The Phantom' placed an audio pickup tuned into the PA under your chair. Evidentally it activated when you started playing and singing". Sheba tried to maintain a straight face, but then started laughing.
Kiwi reddened at the sight of the Commander laughing. He would surely like to know who set him up like that!
After Sheba had calmed down, she said, "Okay, Ensign. I'll inform Captain Brie and the other persons you so 'honored' with your songs about what happened. It looks like the Prankster has now got competition! Dismissed".
Kiwi, his face still red, left the alcove and hurriedly left the bridge. He was going to go back to his room and stay out of sight for a while!

Lt_Skyler

Skyler left the med lab and went to see Brie. He had been ordered to oversee the techs. Again his time in the Infantry working on Land Rams gets him another ship board job. To work on Rams required a great deal of mechanical ability. The Ram Operators were expected to work on their own equipment, with some help from the techs. The techs would help if you could not fix it, but you had better try before you asked. The techs considered their time to valuable to waste in Land Rams, that's what Grunts were for, and with the Viper being the number one defense for the Fleet, the techs were not bothered to much. This meant that anything done to a Ram, the Grunts did it, and sometimes, it included long hours in the shops fabricating replacement parts. Guess his service record won't let him be just a Pilot now...

LucianG

In the Shop, new parts were being milled and fabricated. It was a hot, sweaty job, but Technician Gruber liked it. He wondered about the Warrior who was watching the process. He’d heard from a friend who’d heard from one of the flight Techs that Lieutenant Skyler had actually done some MechTech work at one time, so if he had to be monitored by someone, he was glad it was someone who might be a kindred spirit in at least a small part.

“Ey, Loot’nant, com’on lookit this,” Gruber said, pointing to the nearly complete valve assembly. “Let see what ya tank, kay? Loot’nant Titon say we got to get this show movin!”

Gruber knew it was going to be a very long cycle. He just hoped that this fly-boy was really up to it. If he'd done what Gruber had heard, Gruber suspected that he just might make it.

Lt_Skyler

Skyler was in the shop watching some techs work. One Tech, named Gruber called him over to look at his work.

"looks good Gruber. Real top notch work. Nothing like I used to turn out. I am sure stuff I frabacated is still bolted to those land rams, but it is second rate junk compared to your skills and workmanship. Keep it up"

Gruber smiled as Skyler looked over his shoulder. Pride filled his entire body and Skyler noticed him stiffen up, like a Warrior being awarded a medal. A kind word did more for morale than a hundred medals. Truth is, this Gruber did great work. They all were doing great work, and if you went by the tech manuals, were turning out the parts right on schedule. Maybe this wasn't such a bad assignment, but it still wasn't a Viper.....

[LucianG]

LucianG

It hadn’t taken Gruber long to realize that Skyler was indeed “pretty sharp.” He’d already presented Skyler with a couple of simple tests to see if he was just a figurehead, or if there were actually some brains in that head as his friend’s friend had suggested. Skyler knocked those out pretty quickly, and had been very complementary of the team’s efforts, so Gruber had decided to take a real problem. The Techs had been having trouble getting another valve to seat properly when they’d taken it to Gruber for help. Gruber had examined it for a few microns and decided that ‘Loot’nant’ Skyler looked to be just the person to solve it.

Skyler had looked over the situation, pulled out the calipers and taken some measurements. Then, he compared those to the specifications on the monitor. It took him a few microns longer than it had Gruber to find, but still, if he could solve a problem like that, he wasn’t just a pretty flyboy looking down on the Techs. Gruber slapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Loot’nant, I tank ye got it! Hey, Nalyon, com’ shave off 0.22 mm on this side, and 0.15 mm on the ot’er, an’ I tank it be right.”

Skyler knew at that point that he’d been “had,” since he’d never given Gruber the exact numbers he’d just quoted to Nalyon. He cracked a little smile, thinking about what it sometimes took to do one’s job and to be accepted aboard the Battlestar Callisto. After that, Skyler did note an air of joviality and friendliness in the Shop that had been missing before as the crewmen went about their jobs, doing their best to rebuild their ship with their new buddy, the Warrior.

LucianG

There had been a continuous bustle of activity in the Security Office since just after the explosion. According to Urdea’s chrono, that had been almost 14 centars earlier, almost seven eighths of a Colonial Standard Cycle. He and his trusted officers were tired, but he wasn’t about to bring any of the Security Officers into the center of the investigation, since he wasn’t sure which might have been wrapped up in this mess. The remnants of lunch still sat on the counter along with a bottle of the anti-drowsiness tablets. Still, despite him having taken several, Sergeant Whitcher appeared to be at the point of collapse.

Urdea still sat at the table where he had been reviewing the analysis of the computer records produced by Lieutenant Proteus and Sergeant Whitcher. Someone somewhere on board the Callisto had fired off the mole virus to overwrite the records, which they succeeded in doing. Proteus’ efforts had controlled the program before it was 100 percent complete, but Urdea suspected that the major damage had already been done. Proteus had succeeded in discovering the affected records by doing a sift comparison of the overwritten main records with those on the backup, and now Urdea was perplexed.

The modified main record indicated that Security Officer Adrian had probably been a bad apple for some time. There were gaps in his reporting that corresponded to a number of minor incidents aboard the Callisto in recent sectars. There were several unauthorized transmissions broadcast to the fleet shortly before the Callisto had been separated from the rest in the Shonada system, and again, it appeared that Adrian had been the source. Finally, on his last leave away from the Callisto, he’d not been given a proper security check on his return. The reason stated in the record was that he’d complained that he was a Security Officer, too, and that there was no reason to check him. The officer on duty at the time had reportedly let him pass, with a large package in addition to his small trip bag. Urdea suspected that that might have been when the bomb had been brought aboard the ship.

Now, the original record appeared just as interesting, but different. Much of the information about Adrian was the same, with some exceptions. The most obvious was that there was no mention of the large package being brought aboard. However, in this record, Adrian had reported several private conversations with an unknown person known only as “A” at various locations around the Callisto in recent sectons. Urdea had compared these locations to the Callisto’s schematics, and was quickly able to confirm that all of these locations had no security camera coverage anywhere nearby. Adrian had not recorded anything of what was said or discussed, but two records grabbed Urdea’s attention. First, there was one mention of “meeting with her” in direct context with a meeting with “A.” Second, in Adrian’s final entry in the main record, from earlier in First Shift yesterday, he had reported, “Meeting with ‘A’ at 03:00—finalize plans.” This was well after Lieutenant Amy’s reported disappearance. Could the mysterious “A” have been the Lieutenant?

LucianG

It hadn’t taken Proteus long to access Adrian’s private journal entries. Urdea had smiled and thought, “Even on no sleep, the man is a computer genius! I better check the encryption on my own journal!” The record showed that Adrian had pined for Cadet Amy for a long time after she rejected him. Several times in the journal, he had referred to her as simply “A.” Late in the journal, there were several references to anticipating meeting with “A,” and excitement about seeing “her” again after the meeting, but no information was provided.

So “A” appeared to be Lieutenant Amy, but Urdea didn’t buy it. He’d asked Proteus to check whether Adrian’s journal had been modified, to which Proteus responded a short time later, after some intensive work at the terminal, “Sir, I can’t find any evidence of tampering or modifications, beyond a couple of small corrections made by Adrian himself. The last of these was several sectons ago.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Now, do a comparison of those times and dates, and see if you can place Lieutenant Amy anywhere else—”

“Already done, Sir. At the reported times, she was always on the Callisto, and always off duty,” responded Lieutenant Proteus, handing Urdea the printout.

Urdea rose and stretched. His leg needed rest, as did the rest of his body and those of his officers. He went over to the scanning scope, where Whitcher was doggedly analyzing the samples removed from the scene of the explosion. Yawning, he said, “Sir, I can’t find it. This is a veritable soup of compounds, most of which are usually resident in the engine compartment anyway. Whoever planned this really knew what he or she was doing when this was planned. It’s beyond our capability. The Science guys will need to look at this to make anything out of it.”

“Take samples to Science Officer Solon. Make sure he knows they are coming, and report in when he has them. Burtano, go with him. You guys watch each other’s backs. Then, you’re both to go get some sleep. The rest of us will be right behind you,” the Captain said, and then added, “and thank you both for your work.”

Turning, he said to the rest of the group, “Leucia, Proteus, thank you for your efforts as well. Let’s all go get some sleep and reconvene at 10:00 tonight. Dismissed!” The weary officers left the office, and returned to their barracks. Urdea stayed behind for a few moments to send a report to Commander Sheba. Finally, he placed a call to Doc Bkj.

“Doc, how is she, and how soon will I be able to talk to her?” he asked.

* * *

Major Lucian visited the bridge to check on the progress of the Gold Squadron Flights and, hopefully, to see Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis. He saw Major Joey in her maternity uniform sitting in a chair at a console where various bridge officers were reporting to her, so he stopped by to say hello. Since she’d just been assigned to the bridge after her promotion, her new duties hadn’t been fully established at the time of the blast. Therefore, she became the bridge officer coordinating ship’s repairs with Lieutenant Titon and Engineering. Lucian got a quick update on the status of the effort, which seemed to be going well, but not nearly as fast as the Commander wanted. He felt bad in a way about not being able to help, since much of the work being done was his specialty, but his Squadron duties precluded that now.

After a smile and a goodbye, he moved on across the bridge to Dr. CureMode, who was looking at the continuously updated system maps. The flights should be over two thirds of the way to their objective by this point, but, on comm silence, there was now no way to effectively track them.

“Any word on Silver Spar’ patrol?” Lucian asked.

“Yes, they’re shadowing us, and so far have found nothing. Is your standby flight getting plenty of rest?” CureMode asked.

“I’ll verify that,” Lucian replied. “Are they—”

“At shift change in just under two centars,” CureMode said. “They’ll be out for an eight centar patrol. Tell them to get some sleep if they haven’t been. Silver Spar gets the next standby flight while your group is out.”

“Yes, Sir,” Lucian said, making a quick dash for the exit. His talk with Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis would have to wait a little while. He put in a quick call to the Black Squadron ready room, contacting Lieutenant Stadia.

“Lieutenant, new orders. Your flight is a ‘GO’ at shift change, 08:00. Your crew will cover second shift, and will be pulled in first thing tomorrow after Silver Spar launches a group to take your place. Make sure everyone gets some rest between now and launch. I’ll be by shortly.”

After another short visit with the standby crew, he checked in on a number of Black Squadron Warriors currently doing other assignments.

He made a quick detour to the MedLab to check up on Anubis before he headed to the O-Club for a quick supper. Also, he wanted to make sure Doc had cleared Randrius for flight status after his unexplained amnesia. If they could pass the medical muster, they’d be on the standby crew in eight centars. In addition, he wondered how Lieutenant Amy was doing.

[LucianG]

Lucian

Lieutenant Resonat was looking forward to seeing Ensign Kris after his shift ended in just a few centons. He’d heard that her standby flight hadn’t launched, so he was hoping that they’d have a little time alone tonight. He still had so much to find out about her, and so much to tell. If only he could figure out how to do it and not violate orders.

He didn’t find out until a few centons later that the launch order had been given, and Ensign Kris was already in her Viper, patrolling near the Callisto.

MedievalSong

Lieutenant Resonat was looking forward to seeing Ensign Kris after his shift ended in just a few centons. He’d heard that her standby flight hadn’t launched, so he was hoping that they’d have a little time alone tonight. He still had so much to find out about her, and so much to tell. If only he could figure out how to do it and not violate orders.
He didn’t find out until a few centons later that the launch order had been given, and Ensign Kris was already in her Viper, patrolling near the Callisto.
*****************************************************
Ensign Kris sat in the viper thinking. She thought of Nat and that she really didn't get much time to be with him this time around. ****
I was getting to the point I missed him. I hated not being able to talk to him, but thus the life of being a warrior at times. I had hoped to spend more time with him, but here I am in my viper again. Oh wait! If I am out now maybe I will get a good reception again! as I reflect on that great welcome back I got from him. That would be good to get again, but I am sure he is extremely busy. He seems to be that of late. Sighing as I focus back on keeping patrol.

LucianG

Commander Sheba was growing slightly impatient. She'd not received an update on the status of the two Gold Squadron Viper flights surveying the system. Although she knew the Warriors were on on comm silence, there should still be some word about where they were from the Calliso's scanners.

"Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis, can you check on this please? Where are they now? Also, the latest report was that the battle we were monitoring earlier has ended, and that the fighters separated and returned to their ships or bases in the vicinity of the, what?, fifth planet?"

"Yes, Ma'am, Frodar Epsilon. Due to the distance and the low strength scans, we couldn't tell where they went. We're hoping the survey crew will locate them," he replied.

"Good. Keep me informed." I don't think I like this system very much, she thought.

Randrius3473

Randrius wandered around the ship aimlessly, completely lost in his thoughts.
For some reason his wandering led him to med-lab. He saw Amy lying on the bed, asleep. The fact that his amnesia had occured during the time of Lt. Amy "incident" was no coincidence, that he was sure of. That would mean that his condition had been artifically induced. When he found who it was, there would be hell to pay.
He walked over to Amy and sighed as he watched her motionless form, "I wish I could remember what happened. I'm sorry Amy but I just can't remember."

Amy81

Blackness. Peaceful nothingless. How long have I been here? What... what was that? A voice? I could hear... a voice! I tried to open my eyes....

Bright! Too bright! I shut them again. But who had spoken to me? Where was I? I tried to open my eyes again, just a squint at first. That's much better! A little at a time...

The light was much more tolerable now. It was still harsh, a lot harsher than that other light, that pure, soft, gentle light from.... from where? All I could remember is a warm, peaceful feeling, and soft, pure white light. Where had I seen it?

There was a figure standing near me. My heart leaped a moment. Danger! I remember... danger. I tried to focus on who it was. I could make out... a uniform! Not a dark one, though, this one was friendly....a... warrior! A colonial warrior! And why did I fear dark uniforms, I wondered?

I looked up to focus on his face. I know him! I remember meeting him when he first came aboard... in the barracks. I remember offering my hand... Randrius! I remember now! His name is Randrius!

I tried to speak, but something was stopping me. What was it? Something in my mouth, covering my nose. Where was I? What happened to me? I could hear sounds, like breathing, and beeps. Machines beeping at regular intervals. Beep! Beep!

I reached out, trying to lift my hand up to his. To Randrius. I wanted to let him know I knew he was there. Thank you, I wanted to say. Thank you for being here. I think my hand was up, reaching out, offered just like before...

Nice to meet you, my name is Amy. I could remember that meeting like it was yesterday. But what happened to me now? Why am I here?

MaraJadeJedi

Mara Jade sat in the bed impatiently. She really hated being here instead of out where the rest of my squad mates are. Trying not to move too much so she won't get dizzy again and plus she doesn't want them to know that her side still hurt. Mara was worried about Amy since they brought her in. She had talked to Jarrynn who was asleep at her desk as she got up and tiptoed as best as she could in her condition to see Amy.
She saw Randrius there with Amy, so Mara stayed back a bit. She would give him time with her, plus she would get another chance to see her, Mara thought. It didn't look like she was going anywhere soon and that went double for Amy. Mara felt guilty since she hadn't been able to talk to Amy since that confrontation in the locker room when she tried to convince Amy not to quit.
"Come on Amy you can pull thru this. You are tougher than this. Then once you are better we can get back to kicking some tin can tail. Just get better." Mara said as she used the wall to brace herself up. A hand on her shoulder got her attention. It was Jarrynn! Looking like a little kid who got caught with the cookie, Mara headed back to her own bed.

Randrius3473

For a moment he wasn't sure what she was talking about, then he remember when he had first met her in the barracks.
He smiled, "As do I. Now as for your question, you were badly injured in a blast near the engine compartment, no one knows what happened yet."
I probably know, he thought bitterly.
"So, how do you feel?"

Amy81

"I feel like I got launched down the tube without a viper" I replied. I found that I could get words out, it was just difficult with a breather on my face. I wanted to add a smile, but it would have taken too much effort.

I looked at Randrius fondly. It was sure nice to have someone by my side. I felt pretty scared. My memory was sketchy, but my mind was clearing pretty fast. Randrius.... what would bring him by to visit? He was a good warrior, but we hadn't spent much time getting to know each other much.... Who cares, really. Does a guy need a reason to be kind? Still, he had a look, like something was up.

"My brain's a little slow, Randrius" I began. "What happened to me? Do you know?" I paused for a deep breath. A face flashed across my memory. "Has Adrian been by? He's a security officer. For some reason I've been thinking of him. Thought maybe he came by while I was under or something. Funny I'd think of him. I haven't seen him in.." I stopped with a sudden intake of breath.

I had seen him recently! Come on brain, put it together! I looked at Randrius for any answers he might have.

Randius3473

Randrius was struggling to keep up with her questions.
"Well, nobody knows exactly what happened, we were kind of hoping you could tell us. Can you remember anything?"
She shook her head, "My brain still kind of fuzzy."
At her question of Adrian, he groaned inwardly, "I'm sorry Amy, but he...uh...was killed in the blast."
He sighed, "I'm sorry."

[LucianG]

Amy81

I fell silent as Randrius told me about the death of Adrian. Suddenly, things began to pop into my mind from all sides.

A whine. A remember that now. A high-pitched whine. Way too high. Impossibly high, and getting louder. I remember trying to get up, but the noise was too great! I lay there, curled up with my hands over my ears, screaming yet not hearing my voice above the whine!

I remember a door opening, and someone coming in. Arms around me, trying to raise me up. I caught a glimpse. Just a glimpse. It was Adrian! I remember shouting for him to hurry! I couldn't take the noise any more! And then the room got brighter. Something from somewhere was glowing with a brightness that hurt the eyes. It was like someone was welding, but the whole room was lit like that.

And then, nothing. Next I knew, I was here, in this bed, looking up at Randrius. He was studying my face, maybe wondering what I was thinking of or remembering. I wanted to tell him, but wasn't so sure myself of what my memories were or what it all meant. All I knew was that Adrian was gone.

"So young, Randrius" I said. "He was so young." After a pause, I continued. "A blast, you said. What kind of blast? Is the ship in danger? Are you alright?"

Randrius3473

He was again trying to keep up with her questions.
"Well, there was no real critical damage and no one else was injured. The cause of the blast is still under investigation."
"Can you remember anything? Anything you could tell us could help to figure out what happened and who's responsible."
And who did this to my mind, he added silently.
He finally decided to tell her of his presence in this mess.
"The wierd thing is, I have no memory of the period of time in which the blast occurred. I think that I found out something that whoever did this doesn't want anyone to know. But I don't know what it is."

Amy81

I looked hard at Randrius's face. I studied it closely, trying to link it to any of the bits of memory I had about what had happened to me. I came up empty, and told him so. "I'm sorry Randrius, but I don't have any memory of you in the little I remember of what happened. Sorry." I was saw his look of disappointment. He had been leaning on me as much as I had on him, trying to piece together a lost piece of our lives.

"It seems we both have a missing piece" I told him with a slight smile. "What do you remember, Randrius? Do you think it has something to do with what happened to me?"

Randrius3473

Randrius smiled sadly, "The only thing I remember is a fist coming out of nowhere and nailing me." He rubbed a bruise on his temple. "Nothing after that, sorry."

Najinn

Najinn had only one thought, retribution.

He stormed into the Security area on the upper decks and right into Urdea's office.

"Security Chief Urdea, I want answers, and I would like them now."

A very startled Urdea, replied,

"And you are?"

"I'm Lt Najinn, a good friend and crewmate of Lt Amy."

"Okay, Lt Najinn, I don't take kindly to your tone, or your manner. If you mean to cause trouble then I can not allow that. I am aware tensions are running high, and I will investigate the incident and arrest the criminals and justice will be done."

"Well, Sir, I am just letting you know that I am also investigating this matter and when I find the bastards who attacked Lt Amy, well I am going to make sure they pay the full price for their actions. Justice will be done."

"Lt, I advise you to be careful, threats are not helpful, a good investigation and the appropriate channels are the only way to deal with this situation. I will not tolerate any vigilanty behaviour."

"Understood, and you understand I will not stand by and allow warriors I care about nearly murdered by cowards. I will find them and I will deal with them."

At that Najin stormed out of Urdea's office, he had said all he wanted and got the answer he thought he would, that bureaucracy and process would slow up the whole investigation and probably allow the bastards to escape. Najin couldn't tell if Urdea was deliberatly holding things up or not, but he was not going to help the situation.

Najin headed towards the security barracks. He approached carefully, so not to alert anyone to his presence. He peered in and saw several security officers standing around their lockers. He looked for any weapons lying around and spotted the potential points for ambush and crossfire. He carefully entered the room.

He drew his weapon and pointed at a locker in between a group of security officers. He loosed of one shot. The locker crumpled under the blasters fire. And Oh Boy!, did he get the attention of the security officers, as the alarms sounded.

"Right, listen up and listen good. I am hunting down anyone who had anything to do with the attack on Lt Amy, and if any of you were involved then take this message back to your masters, Lt Najin is on the war path, I am going to bring you down, every last one of you, I am going to ride over your little set up and avenge the attack on Lt Amy, so you tell your cowardly bosses that their time is up, I will find them and when I do, well you guess the rest. You got that, good, now don't do anything stupid I'd hate to start putting holes in people!"

Najin backed out of the barracks and headed off down the corridor. He had delivered his messages, he had cleared his mind and his goal was clear, he was going to sort the bastards out, once and for all he would sort them out.

Najin walked down the corridor his mind awash with anger, he returned to decks below, gradually feeling less furious, gradually finding his equalibrium.

As he headed back to med bay, he grew calmer. He was relieved to get the anger out of his system. He approached med bay and entered to see Randrius sat with Amy, he walked up to Randrius and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, how you doing mate. On the mend I hope."

He moved around the bed and he sat by Amy and held her hand,

"Amy, I am so pleased you are conscious. I thought I had lost you for a moment. Hey, you daft warrior, next time, take some of us with you, 10 to 1, I know you are good, but hey even I couldn't take on that many!"

He smiled, he caressed her hand and he looked deep into her eyes.

"I love you, I don't know what I would do without you. You mean the universe to me."

He leant over and kissed her cheek. She winced, he drew back,

"Sorry."

He laughed, she laughed, Randrius laughed. His emotions were all over the place, but he couldn't hide his relief, she was with him and alive. His anger had left him for now, but he was an honourable warrior. Honour demanded that Amy be avenged, justice had to be done. The only force stronger than his loyalty to his duty, was his loyalty to Amy, his sense she deserved the bastards hauled up and dealt with for their cowardly attack on her. For Najin it was black and white, very clear.

But right now he was happy just to sit and hold her hand, to see she was alive, to be with her, to know he could still look into those eyes and be captivated. Whatever spell she had cast over him was powerful.

LucianG

Urdea had just finished his discussion with Doc when Najin had entered and done his little theatrics. Urdea suspected that Najin was probably Lieutenant Amy's boyfriend. Great, he thought, another loose laser cannon in the glass gallery. He started to rise, but instead, put in a call to Captain Brie. Maybe she could stop Najin before he started down a path that lead to more destruction, and that would leave Urdea to do his job.

He located Brie after a couple of centons, and spoke to her on a private channel.

"Captain," he said, "I think you should be aware that one of your Warriors may try pulling something that all of us may regret. If you would, please talk to Lieutenant Najin and impress upon him the importance of calm calculated reasoning and investigation. That is what I and my investigation team are doing, and any vigilante actions that he might perform would be a setback to our investigation and the spirit of cooperation the two of us have been trying to foster. I'll be glad to meet with you in a few centars, or in the morning, if you'd like, to discuss our progress, and to get some additional information from you. Believe me, Captain, when I say, I will find out who is behind this, and I WILL bring them to justice."

Brie looked closely at the Security Chief's image on her monitor. She could tell he took this case quite personally for some reason, although she thought, maybe he's like that with every case. Still, she trusted that he meant what he said, and that if Urdea could do anything about it, the truth would not be swept out an open airlock.

"All right Captain," she began.

A couple of centons later, he rose again. He wanted to go check on Amy before getting some rest, but as he was leaving the Security Office, a call came. There had been a disturbance in the Security Barracks. Visiting Amy, it seemed, would have to wait.

[LucianG]

Charybdis

The fireteam's report arrived on the bridge detailing the small efforts at putting out the burning locker in the Security Area. Not much damage, but the Callisto was down one locker. It belonged to Security Sgt. Monahan.

The Systems Analyst handed me the printout and everything looked to be under control. What the frack was someone doing discharging a blaster in the barracks? Was this something to do with all the problems associated with the Fleet Security? I didn't like the answer to that question.

The next thing that came through was a short report as to the incident. It appeared that Lt. Najinn had burst into the security barracks yelling and screaming and blasted the locker with his pistol. My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard what he had done!

Doesn't he have any brains in that head of his? With tension this high between the two groups, drawing a weapon and firing it in the barracks?

I put in a quick call to Cpt. Brie. Her face came on the screen and she already did not look happy.

"Brie, I'm sure you've heard about Lt. Najinn's escapade by now." She closed her eyes and nodded as if to say 'yes.'

"Keep the lid on Najinn and get him to calm down. The last thing we need is some half-crazed Warrior blasting everything in sight!! And if he so much as lifts an eyebrow at another Security officer, he'll have to deal with ME!!!!"

I flipped the switch and turned off the monitor before Brie could say anything. I realized exactly what Najinn had done. It was because of Amy. But it was also his reaction in the security barracks that was going to get him thrown out of the service and worse yet, land some time in the brig. We were supposed to be fighting the Cylons, not each other!!!

I just hope that Brie could talk some sense into him. I began to feel that Najinn might be letting his heart get the better of him. Warriors aren't much good if that happens.

LucianG

Captain Urdea stood in the doorway of Security Barracks B, acting as a bastion against the tide that threatened to spill out into the corridors of the Battlestar Callisto.

Due to the impertinence of one love-struck and blinded Warrior, Urdea was now fighting to prevent an outright war on the Callisto between the services. He’d succeeded in calming his men down only a little. He sure hoped that Captain Brie and Commander Sheba would back him up on this when they learned the circumstances of what had happened.

“The Warrior will be found. He will pay for what he did, and you may rest assured he will be punished. Captain Brie and I will see to that,” Urdea said. “Everyone is upset at the moment over what happened yesterday, including this Warrior. Remember that a friend of his is in the MedLab fighting for her life right now—”

“Yeah! The one that set the bomb that killed poor Adrian! It’s all her fault. Let’s go get he—”

“You’re not going to get anyone,” Urdea said as calmly as he could. “We’re going to figure this out, and you guys are going to help. You are to—”

“What? Go fix it so these Warriors can walk all over us?” asked Wheran. “Listen, Captain,” stressing the title, “we’re thinking about ending this once and for all right now. We’re going to take out Miss Troublemaker and her new boyfriend, and there’s nothing an old crippled ex-Warrior like you can do to stop us,” he growled, now only inches from the Urdea’s face. The spittle flew as he said, “These Warriors think they can get away with anything these days, ever since the Lieutenant Colonel got off scot-free. Well, we’re not going to take it any more. Now, get the frack out of our way, Captain Cripple, so we can go take care of some business, or I’ll beat the living—”

Urdea disliked using violence as a means to an end, but he was stuck in the middle of a violent profession. Sometimes, when threatened with violence, there’s just no better way.

Wheran never saw the blow. Urdea may have been pushing fifty yahrens, but the hook that he sent crashing into Wheran dropped him like a rock.

“Anyone else?” he asked. The brief flash of violence brought everyone else in the room back to reality, and the hot tempers cooled somewhat. “Now, gentlemen, here is what you’re going to do. You’re going to clean up that mess, and do an inventory of exactly what was destroyed. You’re going to document it in writing and by picture. You’re going to stay calm and you’re going to go about your rounds like nothing has happened. If you see a Warrior, you’re going to stay polite, and you’re going to keep your hands to yourselves and your tongues in your mouths. If you can’t say anything polite, you’re to say nothing at all.

“You’re going to watch what’s happening on this ship. If you see anything suspicious being done, be that by crewman, Warrior, or fellow Security Officer, you’re going to report it. This situation stops here, and you’re going to let me deal with it. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Yeah, why?” asked one of the officers in the back. “Why are we letting him get away with this?”

“That’s just it,” said Urdea, “we’re not. We’re going to work the system the way it’s supposed to be worked. Just like the event yesterday. We still don’t know what happened, but you can be darn sure I’m going to find out…about all of it!”

Urdea just hoped he could back up his big words with big actions. He wanted badly to see Lieutenant Amy, but for now, it was time to talk to Captain Brie, and fast. He knew his window of opportunity would not stay open for long. He felt sorry in a way for Lieutenant Najinn, who he guessed was a lovesick Warrior nearing the end of his rope.

Brie

After being told not once but twice about Najinn's actions, Brie realized that everything else needed to be put on hold. She quickly headed to the sick bay. Najinn was sitting with Amy, holding her hand. Brie's anger subsided temporarily on seeing how much better she looked. "Amy, glad to see that you're back with us. Maybe next time you'll listen when I give you advice." Amy smiled, but she was obviously very weak. "We'll talk when you feel up to it. Right now, I need to talk to Najinn." He seemed reluctant to let go of Amy's hand. "NOW, Lieutenant."

As Brie and Najinn left Amy's room, Najinn was silent. He knew exactly what was wrong, and knew better than to make excuses. Brie was silent as well. After what seemed like a centar, Najinn spoke. "I don't regret what I did."

"I'm not surprised," Brie said. "I can almost, ALMOST understand why you did it. I know you love Amy. But the violence has got to stop. We need to let Captain Urdea do his job."

"I don't trust Captain Urdea," Najinn said matter-of-factly. "He's one of them."

"He's one of us," Brie informed him. "He was a warrior until he was injured. And it doesn't matter if you trust him or not. I do. I'm beginning to think that he's the only one who will be able to bring an end to all this nonsense. Now, until I find out if anyone is going to press charges, you're on suspension. And you'll need to surrender your weapon."

Najinn slowly handed his blaster to Brie. "What happens now?" he asked.

"Good question. You haven't been released by Doc, so I guess you'll still stay here. Take care of Amy." She lowered her voice. "I can't guarantee that there won't be serious consequences because of your actions, but I'll do my best to keep you out of the brig." With that, Brie left.

Amy81

I looked out of the doorway with concern. I could see Najinn talking with Brie. I saw Najinn hand over his blaster. What had happened? Was it as I had feared? Did I cost Najinn his promotion, and more, by that stupid idea to sneak out of medlab? My head hurt, trying to piece together all the details.

[LucianG]

LucianG

Captain Brie had contacted him just a few centons before, so Urdea made his best time to the MedLab. He wanted badly to see Lieutenant Amy, who was reportedly weak but finally conscious, but also to talk to Lieutenant Najinn before any of the other Security Officers arrived.

On entering, he saw both a few meters away. He walked up, clearing his throat to try to keep from startling Lieutenant Najinn, who was now an unknown uantity. “Excuse me, Lieutenant. I think we need to talk,” he said to Najinn. “Lieutenant Amy, it is very good to see you awake. I’d like to talk to you after I speak to your friend.” No need to let her know more than absolutely necessary in her current condition, he thought.


“Well, Lieutenant,” he said when they were alone, “I’ve witnessed some pretty stupid things in my day, including some awfully dumb ones when I was a Warrior, but you’re little antics today may take the cake. Do you realize what you’ve done, son?”

Najinn just stared at him, as if being insulted to be called “son” and as if even more insulted to be spoken to by a Black Shirt, even one who claimed to have been a Warrior at one time. He held his tongue, waiting for his chance to strike back.

“Listen, if there was anyone in Fleet Security who would have talked to shed light on this situation with Lieutenant Amy, they’ve gone to ground now. They’re in their little hidey holes tighter than an Arcturian sand snake it its burrow. We’re going to have to dig a lot harder to get to
the bottom of this because of your little display.”

“You’re not a Warrior,” Najinn replied. “You don’t have any desire to catch your own men. You’re just going to let--"

“Lieutenant, I became a Warrior about the time you were born. I’d still be one if I’d been just a tad bit further to the left once upon a time. Now, to me, there’s no Warrior or no Black Shirt as you’d call us. There are only humans and those who would hunt us down and kill us. When our own people turn against us, I’m the guy standing there to make sure they don’t get away with it. I’m going to find who did this to that poor girl, despite your best efforts to foul everything up.”

“Poor girl? You don’t even know her. You don’t care a thing about her. She’s just a job to you,” Najinn said.

Before he could go on, Urdea raised a hand. “Lieutenant Najinn, I care about her more than you could ever imagine. I care about every person on this ship. There aren’t enough humans out here these days to let us waste a single one. Yes, her situation represents a job that needs badly to be done, but I’ll be the one to do it, not you.

“For now,” he continued, “you are confined to the MedLab, as Captain Brie has instructed. There will be a couple of Fleet Security Officers outside. I do not want them to see your face tonight. In the morning, I’ll be back to take you for a talk with Commander Sheba. If you cooperate, I’ll put in a good word for you, and your punishment will be
relatively light. In addition, you’ll be helping my investigation by staying out of the way. If by some chance you’re not here, Lieutenant, it will mean the end of your career, understood?”

Najinn nodded, and Urdea wasn't sure if he would listen or not. When he stepped back over to see Lieutenant Amy, she had slipped back into a soft sleep, and Doc said to let her be for now. Urdea agreed, spoke to her briefly about the ongoing autopsy of Officer Adrian, then stepped outside to talk to the officers posted just outside the entrance. They weren't his first choices, but both had been reasonably dependable in the past, and he was sure they would at least call him if trouble started. He then returned to his room for a few centars of much needed sleep.

Walksallroads

Holodoc was still lightly tracing Anubis' lips with one of her fingers when she starts to remember how they had kissed in th eObservation Lounge Area and she smiles at the memory.

Anubis, since the first time that I have met you, my feelings for you have grown each day. I feel so alive when I am with you & every moment we are not together I miss you with every beat of my heart.

I don't know what I would of done if you hadn't of come back to me alive. For I worried about you the whole time you were away and I could not rest well until I knew you were back. I know that I probaly shouldn't of worried as much as I did, but I couldn't help it. For I always worry about the ones that I care dearly for and I care about what happens to you Anubis.

Holodoc couldn't resist any longer. She leaned forward & started kissing Anubis lightly on his lips.

============================================================

"And as I have told you, you make me feel more and more human." He accepts Holodoc's kiss, and holds her gently. This is plenty of reason to heal. His feelings for her catch him less and less off guard, as he is better able to deal with them, in this case, to let them flow, and to experience it to it's fullest. Suddenly, though, his ribs remind him that he is still an injured man, and he can't help but to react to the pain.

Holodoc2000

Holodoc blushes slightly when Anubis tells her that she makes him feel more & more human. Holodoc loved the feel of having Anubis' arms around her. Holodoc wanted to stay in Anubis' arms & keep him in her arms for as long as possible.

The next thing Holodoc knows is that she felt Anubis tense up a little or at least she thought he did. Holodoc looks up quickly with concern on her face. "Anubis, are you alright? Are you in pain & need something for the pain?"

BatGal

Lt. BatGal appears in the doorway. "Hi Anubis, Holodoc."

Holodoc stands up a little too quickly and pretends to be checking Anubis's pulse.

BatGal laughs. "It's just me, guys."

She is carrying a huge "GET WELL SOON" basket full of goodies. On top is a dish with the words "THANKS" spelled out in mushies.

Holodoc takes the basket and Anubis manages to smile.

At least I THINK he's smiling, thought BatGal.

Walksallroads

So caught up with Holodoc that even Anubis didn't pick up on BatGal's approach, and Holodoc's sudden movement caused a sharp, stabbing pain ripping through his injured ribs. He barely managed to retain control, and as a result, never actually heard what BatGal had to say. After she left, Holoodoc had to give Anubis some aid in getting back to his bunk, and she could see the pain in his eyes. She decided to give him a local, to ease the pain without dulling Anubis' senses, as when in a drugged sleep, he tends to fits as frightening visions come to him unbidden.

Expatkiwi

Ensign Kiwi left the bridge with the intention of going back to his room and staying there until his leave was completed. Whoever "The Phantom" was, had just made his compositions known to all!
He noticed that a lot of crewmmbers who passed him were smiling and giving him thumbs up (which he tried to ignore). The people he sang about.....what were they going to think? Especially Jarrynn! While he enjoyed composing that little tune about the medical staff, it wasn't meant to be broadcast over the PA system!
He finally got back to his room where the kitten Turbo was still asleep on his bed. Kiwi sat down on a chair and just watched Turbo as he slept. He had a empty feeling that the Phantom had just terminated his relationship with Jarrynn.

Jarrynn

Jarrynn was still a bit flustered with the events of the day. First there was just being with Kiwi, then Amy coming in all banged up, now to hear those songs!! Man!! I swear I am going to have a permanent shade of red on my face she thought. Still thinking of their time together, Jarrynn just smiled. She couldn't wait to talk to him again. Things were quiet right now so she slipped out of the sickbay since Holodoc was up and with Anubis, but I am sure she will take of things or atleast page me if she needs me! Stopping by to freshen up and look presentable, Jarrynn headed out to see Kiwi. She stopped off in the OC nothing! Observation deck, nope! Arboretum still nope. Stopping outside his room, Jarrynn hoped he was there. She buzzed his com to see if he was there. Silently she waited outside the door hoping he was there. If not then she would head back. Jarrynn started to feel guilty for becoming so busy, she didn't mean to neglect Kiwi. He was far to special to her.

[LucianG]

Expatkiwi

Kiwi heard the knocking on the door. He called out "Who is it?"
"It's me, Kiwi", Jarrynn called back, "Are you all right?"
Kiwi got up and opened the door. He was looking down at the floor.
"Can I come in, please?", Jarrynn asked quietly.
Kiwi stepped back and gestured for her to enter.
Jarrynn looked around at his quarters. A single bed, a chair and desk, a safe, a bedstand and lamp, and an ablution alcove. No pictures at all. Quite spartan. Jarrynn went and sat down on the chair while Kiwi sat down on the edge of the bed, being careful not to startle Turbo.
"I guess you want to talk to me about those songs", Kiwi quietly enquired, not looking Jarrynn in the eye.
"Actually, yes", Jarrynn answered. "First off, The bridge contacted Life Station and told us that someone had set you up by planting that audio pickup".
Kiwi looked up at her. Jarrynn had a flush on her cheeks, but he realized that her anger wasn't directed at him.
"Your songwriting abilities are wonderful, though I must admit that your tune about Holodoc and myself was rather unexpected!". She paused, then continued, "If I ever catch this 'phantom' though......", her voice trailed off.
Jarrynn stood and beckoned Kiwi to do likewise. Kiwi did so, then Jarrynn went over to him and hugged him.
"Don't feel ashamed, Kiwi", she whispered into his ear, "After all, it's nice to be immortalized and it's not every day that me and my job gets mentioned like that!"
Kiwi looked into her eyes and said "I thought you'd be so angry at me".
"It was unexpected, I grant you, plus the patients and other med bay staff had a good laugh, but the Bridge set things straight. Don't worry".
Kiwi breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"So, had dinner yet?", Jarrynn asked Kiwi.
"No, not yet", Kiwi replied.
"Okay, so let's go to the mess hall then", she suggested.
Both hugged and kissed, then arm in arm, left the room. Turbo was still sound asleep, oblivious to all that had occured.

Jarrynn

Jarrynn couldn't help but notice he was still a bit embarrassed. She walked with him and just smiled as she leaned into him as she held his arm. She hoped he truly believed her that she was ok with it all. Jarrynn loved his songs.
"Kiwi as for your songs, don't stop! I love them! Even if they do tease us, but still they are great! Plus I enjoy every moment I get with you!" Jarrynn started to blush. She did enjoy every moment she had with him.
They talked and laughed about the songs during dinner. Jarrynn just loved watching him smile and the way it lights up his eyes.

Expatkiwi

Kiwi asked Jarrynn about how her day went (the songs nonwithstanding). Jarrynn replied about Amy being brought in and Mara being out of bed, and Najinn taking things rather badly. Kiwi nodded, not interrrupting.
Kiwi liked Najinn and hoped that his little antic didn't get him busted back down to Ensign again. Not that those little fracks in Security didn't have it coming. Like most warriors, Kiwi didn't care for Security Officers. Not that he ever tried to pick a fight, but THEY don't show that kind of restraint. If someone in Security was trying to murder Amy, the flegercarb was going to hit the fan!
Jarrynn noticed the demeanour Kiwi had when Amy was mentioned, so to change the subject, she told Kiwi how Mara chuckled over the song Kiwi wrote about her. Kiwi fervently hoped Sklyer would be in a similar mood over that one!
After finishing the meal, Kiwi stood up and took Jarrynn by the hand, helping her up from her chair. Armed linked, they both exited the mess and head over to the observation lounge. After letting Jarrynn sit first, Kiwi sat beside her. Jarrynn leaned over so that her head was resting on Kiwi's left shoulder and in that position, both watched the awesome spectacle of the starfield.
"Well, Jarrynn", Kiwi quietly said, "Tomorrow, I'm back on duty".
She sighed, "Yes, I know. But we're both off duty now and we still have a lot of time to kill".
She looked into his eyes. Kiwi got the message loud and clear.
Standing up, he held out his hand for her. Once Jarrynn stood, they hugged and kissed, then both of them went back to Kiwi's Room. Turbo was gently picked up from the bed and placed in the kitty basket on the floor. Both of them embraced and kissed passionately, then kiwi gently broke the embrace and turned out the light....

The light had just been switched off and both Kiwi and Jarrynn were locked in a passionate embrace when Kiwi's commlink activated. Brie's voice came on the line.
"Ensign Kiwi, This is Captain Brie. Respond immediately, this is an emergencey".
Kiwi regretfully broke the embrace, turned on the light, and then clicked on his comm.
"Kiwi here, Ma'am", what's up?", he replied.
"I need you to report to me ASAP. Wear your FULL uniform, do you understand?"
Kiwi caught what she meant. Dressed and armed. Before Kiwi could reply, Brie's voice came back on again.
"Is Nurse Jarrynn with you, Ensign?", she asked.
Jarynn reached over and took the comm, "This is Jarrynn, Captain. What's happening?".
"I'd like to to accompany Ensign Kiwi to my office, I'll explain then. Sorry about this you two, but this is something that can't be discussed over the comm".
Brie clicked off the commlink. Kiwi stood up and sighed.
"Well, my dear, it seems like duty calls for both of us".
Jarrynn nodded. She watched while Kiwi quickly changed into his uniform and took his sidearm from the safe. She smiled as Kiwi also made sure the charm she gave him was still there around his neck. Tucking it into his battlesuit jacket, He went over and helped Jarrynn up. She quickly checked that her med uniform was in order, then quickly went over to Kiwi and kised him.
"That's a little taste of things to come when we both get some more uninterrupted time together", she whispered.
Kiwi blushed, then said "Well, we'd better report to the Captain".
Jarrynn nodded. Both professionals now, the Warrior and the Nurse left Kiwi's quarters, heading for Brie's office. Turbo, the little kitten, watched all of what had occured with dispassionate interest, then curled up and went back to sleep again.

Jarrynn

As Kiwi and Jarrynn made sure that they were set to go, Jarrynn looked back at would have been something great. Sighing as she headed out to catch up to Kiwi. She grabbed his hand and smiled at him. She was so close again but it was just a major case of bad timing! And she really wished they were back but this was an emergancy so it sounded like. As they rounded the corner near they sickbay, Jarrynn stopped. She knew that if she went back there, that who knows how long it would be before she gets the chance to be with him again. Sensing her aprehension Kiwi pulled Jarrynn near to him. Framing her face in one of his hands Jarrynn just smiled at him. She loved every second she could get with him.
"Kiwi, I love you." with having said that she started to walk towards the sickbay. Man talk about bad timing!!

Expatkiwi

Kiwi let her statment of love sink in. Boy, he felt like he could fly without either the zero-gee node or his viper ship.
Squeezing her hand, they both entered Brie's office.
"Ah, Kiwi, and Hello, Jarrynn", Brie stated when they both knocked and entered.
At Brie's request, Kiwi closed the door, "What's up, Captain?", Kiwi asked.
"We are (as in all of Gold Squadron not on duty) going to have what is OBSTENSIVELY a surprise party for Amy in Life Station", Brie answered, keeping her voice low.
Both Kiwi and Jarrynn raised their eyebrows at this. Both had heard the rumors of a murder plot against her and if this means what either of them thought it meant.....
Brie nodded, correctly reading the expressions on their faces, "That's right. But unless something happens, We are not to let Amy know the real reason for the party".
Brie turned to Jarrynn, "Nurse, I know you're not part of Gold Squadron, but I trust you implicitly. You will need to allay any suspicions from any other members of medical, as well as the other patients".
Jarrynn nodded. It made excellent sense. Whoever is after Amy won't stop just because the last attempt didn't work.
Brie looked at them both, "I'm sorry about cutting short your off-time, both of you, but I wouldn't do this unless I thought it absolutely necessary".
Kiwi and Jarrynn both nodded. As a Captain, Brie did not need to explain her decisions and rationales to Ensigns, but for all that, Both Jarrynn and Kiwi were glad that Captain Brie had confided in them.
Kiwi unconsiously patted his sidearm holster. Whoever would want to take out a member of Gold Squadron just became his enemy too. They would have to kill him to get to her, Kiwi promised himself. And with Jarrynn in the vicinity too....
Jarrynn and Kiwi both came to attention and in unison exited Brie's office and headed toward Life Station.

[LucianG]

Hawke14

I hit my launch button. Damn it felt great to feel the G's again.

I group up with the others of my flight group. I find them & say "Ok Flight 2, follow me!" I hear over the speaker "Ummm Hawke, Brie put me in charge of this flight."
I tell her "No she didn't, I got command after the briefing." She tells me "She put me in charge LEIUTENANT. Something about a fight in the launch bay with a technician? What was that all about?" I told her "Cut the rank pulling Krissy.. We're both the same rank. As for the fight none of your business." "Regardless,Hawke I'm in command of this flight. Now get in formation & get on with the patrol." "Yes MA'AM!" I mutter under my breath "I hope a daggit bites your ankles." Krissy says "What was that Liutenant?" "Nothing." " I want to know what you said Hawke!" Back off Krissy, I'm warning you....." "We'll take care of this back at the Calisto.."

"Ok people," Krissy says. " Let's split up & do this. And remember, For Kobol's sake Stay close to your wingmen."

We hit the first planet: Frodar Lambda. An iron planet. I search for signs of Cylon life. Difficult to tell with all this iron around. Eventually scans return back negative. "Nothing here Krissy." "Ok let's go to the next one."

We move on to the second planet Frodar Kappa, a Mid-size reddish gas planet. Cylons certainly couldn't be there. No surface. But Krissy & I do the scans anyway. They return negative. Krissy says to me "Nothing here,Hawke. Let's get back with the others."

We move on to the third and final planet: Frodar Delta. It is a small grey planet. ResidentAlien & Kellyn do the scans and don't find anything.

We all regroup and head to meet up with flight one.

Charybdis

Good job, Gold Flight. Scans have been received by the Callisto and are being analyzed.

Keep monitoring the system and be careful.

Hawke14

As Flight 2 began regrouping I hear over the comm : "All wings in Flight 1 report in. Froder Nu secured." That would be SiressEden checking out the ice planet. "Froder Mu secured,SiressEden." That would be SunTea checking out the small gas planet. "Froder Iota secured." That would be Mossycat checking on another gas planet. "Froder Zeta secured Leiutenant." That would be the final peice of the puzzle, I thought to myself. And that would be Lt. Harley checking on the only hospitible planet in this whole blasted system so far.

"Let's move to Frodar Epsilon and regroup with Flight 2." I heard SiressEden tell her group.

============================================================


"We're coming up on Frodar Epsilon in 5 Centons Flight 1." I said into my comm. "Roger that Hawke. We'll be there in 3." "Hawke turn to ship to ship private channel 5." I heard Chrissy in my ear. I turned to the channel. "I'm here Chrissy." "Hawke what in Hades hole are you doing? Do you want to give our position to the Cylons? In case you forgot Leiutenant, we are to remain in radio silence." "Damn,Chrissy," I said. "I was just letting Flight 1 know we were coming in. Ease up." "Hawke, I know you just got on the Callisto and we have rules. I will review those rules after we get back. If you screw up one more time I'm going to report you to Brie. Is that understood?" I sat there for a bit without answering her. "Yeah."

4 Centons to Frodar Epsilon.

Brie

Brie returned to her quarters, wanting to look over Najinn's service record. She stared at Najinn's blaster that she now had in her possesion. She figured that she better lock it away, if charges were filed it would be needed as evidence. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Brie sat down on the floor and opened her small safe. The first thing she saw was Amy's blaster. "I feel like I'm collecting these things," she said out loud. There wasn't all that much in the safe, some important papers, the only photograph that she had of her parents, a couple of pictures of her husband. In the back was a bottle. Brie took it out and held it carefully. It was a bottle of Ambrosia. She had bought it right after Charybdis had told her that her husband's patrol had disappeared. No one knew that she had it. She planned on sharing it with her husband the day that he returned. She realized that it was probably the oldest bottle of Ambrosia on the Callisto. She also knew that it would continue to age. She gently returned it to it's place, and put everything else back into the safe. She sat down at her desk and started reading Najinn's record. She already knew everything that was there, his service on the Aggi, his time as a Cylon prisoner of war. Najinn had his demons, that much was sure. She was hoping to find something that she could use to explain his actions. The buzzer sounded, indicating that someone was there. Brie called, "Come in."

She was surprised to see that it was Captain Lazant. She had a quick picture in her head of Lazant as a bird of prey. "I won't keep you. I've heard about the trouble that you've had lately, and I just wanted to know if there's anything I can do to help."

Brie was NOT in the mood for this. The last thing that she wanted was a favor from someone like Lazant, she didn't want to owe him. "Thank you, but no," she said. "There's nothing that I can't handle."

"If you change your mind, I'm available," Lazant offered. "If you need help with any paperwork, looking up background information, legal precedence, anything, just let me know. Or if you just need someone to talk to who HASN'T been involved in Gold Squadron," Brie realized that was a dig towards Charybdis, "I'm your man. Kindred spirits, remember?"

Although she wanted to say that they WEREN'T kindred spirits, she just kindly said, "Thank you for the offer. I'll keep that in mind."

"Lieutenant Najinn must have been crazy to do what he did..." Lazant started, but Brie didn't hear all of what he said. One word stuck in her head, "crazy." Suddenly Brie wanted to talk to Doc Bkj immediately.

"I don't mean to be rude, Lazant," Brie interrupted, "but I need to head to the med lab. Thank you again for your offer, I'll keep it in mind."

Brie

Brie found Doc Bkj and asked for a moment alone. She knew that Doc wasn't happy about what was going on, especially with the Black Shirts standing guard outside. Brie would have preferred that warriors would be the guards, but she had left that up to Captain Urdea. He was in a unique situation, he was both a warrior and a Black Shirt, he would do what he thought was best for everyone.

"Come into my office," Doc said. She closed the door behind her. "What can I do for you?"

Brie had known Doc for a long time. They had a great amount of respect for each other. "I'm sorry about this whole mess with Najinn," Brie started. "I know that the last thing that you want is for this place to turn into a prison. I don't want that either. I'm also trying to understand what happened. I was wondering, could you do a complete psychological exam? I want to know exactly what was going on in his mind when he went on his rampage."

"Temporary insanity?" Doc asked.

"I don't know, but I want to find out," Brie said.

"Sounds like you're trying to buy time," Doc told her.

"Maybe I am," Brie agreed, "but I'm hoping that we can find out exactly what happened to Amy before any formal charges are filed against Najinn. Part of me understands what he did, frack, part of me wanted to do the same thing! If Najinn ends up in the brig and no Black Shirts are punished, it's just going to escalate the feelings for some of the warriors."

"But if Najinn isn't punished, it's going to escalte the feelings for the Black Shirts," Doc pointed out.

"That's why I'm trying to buy time," Brie explained. "This way, at least it looks like something is being done. What do you say, will you help me out?"

Bkj_99

"That's why I'm trying to buy time," Brie explained. "This way, at least it looks like something is being done. What do you say, will you help me out?"

"Okay, I'll speak with Najiin, but I'm not going to tell him that it is a psychological exam. You know, I've been giving hin some thought lately. He's been grounded for so long that that has to be part of the problem. I was seriously considering going over Jarryns' evaluation and trying to talk her into letting him get his wings back. Hanging around this place has to be the pits for him. He's been a real help around here whether he knows it or not. But he doesn't belong here. His heart is out there. He belongs on active duty in his viper! Now this confinement to Med Bay for a second time has to be driving him off the wall! And just between you and me, Brie. I'm not real thrilled about guards being posted at my door. Wouldn't matter if they were warriors either. Like you said this is a place were people come to heal, a place of peace, not a prison cell." Doc let the air out of her lungs. "Thanks for letting me get all of that off my chest,Brie. Hopefully, this will all be resolved soon and we can all get back to normal." She got up from the desk. "I'll talk with Najiin, though I'm pretty sure I know what his answers will be. Did you want me to fill out a formal report of my inquiries?
To pick up the tone of this conversation, have I told you how pleased I am with Amy's recovery? She has an amazing spirit. At the rate she is improving she will be out of here much sooner than I had expected. She's sitting up, eating on her own, requesting things like a comb & brush. I have not doubbt that she is going to be just fine." Doc walked over to the door and opened it.
"By the way the autopsy on Lt. Adrian is nearly complete. I shall have that information to you later today." "Great", Brie replied. "I'll talk with you then" Doc put on her gloves to finish the autopsy and watched Brie leave.