Chapter 28F - Going Home

[Brie]

Close behind her protector Brie walked to the bridge. In a way it was ironic to her, she had once told Skyler that he was her protector, but now she needed one for real. She wasn’t either happy or sad, she just felt numb. When she had left the Callisto it was thinking that she probably wouldn’t return. Never did she think that she would return like this.

The first person that Brie saw upon entering the bridge area was Major JustinB. He was also the last person that she wanted to see. Standing close to him was Captain Rose, a little bit further away were the rest of the Black Squadron pilots. Brie glanced around quickly, avoiding looking at Justin. She had thought for sure that Pierce would be there but he wasn’t.

Commander Apollo noticed Brie and Boleman and approached them. “I was just about to contact you,” he informed them. “I’ve been giving everyone here a rundown of what is supposed to happen. We’ve launched a patrol. Our scanners don’t seem to be working very well, but we kept them within audio range as long as possible. As soon as they return, if they’ve found the fleet, I’ll allow a shuttle to return to the Callisto, accompanied by Black Squadron. Boleman, make sure that everyone you need is on that shuttle, unfortunately Pierce will be doing the same thing. I’ll try to get to the Callisto myself within a few centars. Any questions?”

“No, Sir,” Brie replied.

“Okay.” Apollo smiled at Brie. “Everything’s going to turn out okay. You’re a good warrior, Major, and you’re going to continue to be a good warrior. Boleman, if you have a micron the shuttle pilot would like to go over the passenger list with you.”

Boleman turned to Brie. “This will only take a centon. Wait for me right here.”

Brie nodded. As soon as Boleman left her side Brie could see someone approaching her out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t even have to look, she knew that it was Justin. “Brie,” he said softly, “this whole thing that they’re doing to you, it’s awful.”

“I’m not allowed to talk about it,” she said. There was little emotion in her voice. She wasn’t mad at Justin, she was mad at herself for having let things with him get so far out of hand. She kept her head down, she couldn’t look him in the eye.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Justin said in almost a whisper. “For cycles.”

“There’s been a lot going on,” Brie replied, not really knowing what else to say.

“We need to talk privately,” Justin insisted.

Brie looked up for the first time. “About what?” Justin stared at her like she had lost her mind. “I don’t think that there’s anything to talk about.” She shook her head. “There’s no reason.”

“I think there is,” Justin disagreed.

“Okay,” Brie said, staring at the floor again, “if you really want to have this conversation, let’s wait until we’re back on the Callisto. There I should be very easy to find.” She noticed Boleman walking towards them. “I’ve got to go.” Without waiting to be told she joined her protector and the two of them left the bridge.

[Brie]

“What were you and Major JustinB discussing?” Boleman wanted to know. They had stopped in the hallway.

“Nothing much,” Brie replied. “He wants to talk to me, that’s all. Last time he saw me I was running down the hall, crying. He’s probably just worried that his girlfriend is going to find out what happened.”

“I have no problem with you talking to Justin,” Boleman said. “He’s not on the witness list. I don’t want your little tryst to become public knowledge, so maybe the two of you SHOULD talk.”

“It wasn’t a tryst,” Brie said. She decided to change the subject. “What did the shuttle pilot say?”

“Just the basics,” Boleman told her. “We’ll only be given a ten centon warning before we board, so if there’s anything that you can think of that we need to do...”

“Should I check in with Doc Hubley?” Brie asked.

“No!” Boleman said louder than he had intended. He lowered his voice. “He might think you’re ready to take off the sling, and that’s the last thing that we want.”

“Why?” Brie asked.

“You look more sympathetic with it on,” Boleman replied. “Trust me.”

Brie nodded, but she wasn’t sure that she liked the idea of winning her case on sympathy.

[Brie]

Once back in his quarters Boleman was talking to himself as he gathered a few things. “Let’s see, copies of the debriefings, medical records, Brinfort’s testimony...”

Although he hadn’t been speaking directly to her Brie spoke up. “Sergeant Brinfort? You have his testimony already? I thought you were doing that trans-vid.”

“It never hurts to have a backup, Major,” Boleman told her. “What if something goes wrong and they can’t get the vid hooked up? Or what if he dies before the tribunal? Although that could almost work in your favor...”

“He’s NOT going to die,” Brie said angrily. “Doctor Salik expects a full recovery.”

“Thanks to your getting him back here in time,” Boleman reminded her. “It all works together. Are you ready? Do you have all your things?”

Brie stuck her hand in her pocket and fingered Skyler’s bronze cluster and Turner’s Distinguished Service Award medal that she had discovered in their hiding place. “What things? I wasn’t supposed to survive this mission, I certainly didn’t bring anything with me. Commander Apollo has my laser and that’s about all that I had.”

“I think I’ve got everything that I need.” Boleman sighed. “It would be a lot easier for me if they just held this thing here on the Galactica. Oh well, anything that we’ve forgotten we’ll have to make do without. Or ask them to send it over on the next shuttle. I just hope that Pierce leaves a few things behind.”

“I doubt it,” Brie said.

Boleman’s comm buzzed. “The fleet has been located,” the shuttle pilot said on the other end. “The patrol hasn’t yet landed, but I’ve been told that we’ll be launching within the centar.”

“Thank you,” Boleman replied. He looked at Brie. “You ready to get this over with, Major?”

It was the second time in a few microns that he had called her that, but Brie chose to ignore it. “Doesn’t look like I have much of a choice.”

Boleman opened his door and smiled. “That’s the spirit.”

[Agelastus]

Food and a little rest.

It was supposed to be food and a lot of rest. However, once I'd eaten and returned to my temporary quarters, I'd made the mistake of looking up the flight schedules on the electronic "bulletin board".

Everything's planned on a warship. Particularly shuttle flights, since a shuttle can take a centar or more to prep depending on her age and the number of repairs she's undergone. Most of that time is taken with the fueling. Before the Holocaust shuttles were kept permanently fuelled, to a certain extent. The ambush off Cimtar had proven the flaw in that little practise, as the large stores of volatiles on shuttles had materially aided the Cylons in turning the launch bays of the Atlantia, the Acropolis, the Pacifica and the Triton into infernos.

Which is why, of course, I got wind of the shuttle flight to the Callisto. Finding the reason why was the matter of a few key-taps. Major Pierce was military. Which meant he had to notify various people and departments of his travel plans.

Logically, of course, if Pierce was going to the Callisto, it had to be connected to his hunt for evidence to use against the Major. Which meant that it would be sensible of me to grab that shuttle myself.

And since the Callisto was my "place of duty", it was ridiculously easy to get permission to travel back to the Callisto on that shuttle.

With a little judicious computer time, I didn't even have to speak to a single human to get it.

[Brie]

If the walk to the launch bay was difficult, Brie hated to imagine what it was going to be like to land on the Callisto and then be escorted to the brig. She had been to the brig several times over the yarhens, but never from this perspective. The only upside that she could think of was that Boleman would be working to gather evidence of his own, which meant he would no longer constantly be at her side. He was really starting to get on her nerves.

As she thought about returning to the Callisto she started to once again run the events of the moon mission through her mind. She wished that she hadn’t sent Amy to find different transportation off. Amy would still be alive if they had just taken the Cylon transport as planned. No, that wasn’t true. If they had taken the transport as planned they all would have died. There was no way that the Cylons would have allowed them to leave the moon’s atmosphere, let alone find the Galactica. The transport was just too slow and it was unarmed. A smile crossed Brie’s face. If she was negligent than so was everyone else who had helped plan this debacle, starting with Commander Apollo on down. She couldn’t be held responsible for two deaths when the original plan had doomed the entire team!

Brie walked a little bit quicker, holding her head a little bit higher. She wasn’t going to be convicted. Everything was going to be fine after all.

[Brie]

Since there were still several centons until they were required to be on the shuttle Brie and Boleman were two of the first to board. Having been a pilot for so long Brie couldn’t help but checking with the shuttle pilots to see what the flight plan was. She then went and sat by the passenger door so she could see every person as they entered. “Are you sure this is where you want to sit?” Boleman asked her.

“Where better?” Brie replied. “We’ll be able to see everyone’s reactions as soon as they board. What better way to find out who is on my side?”

“Well if it doesn’t bother you,” Boleman said, “I wanted to watch a few people myself.”

One by one or two by two people started to board the shuttle to travel back to the fleet. Some people looked directly at Brie with a bit of sorrow in their eyes. Others glanced at her then quickly looked away. Others still refused to look at her at all, those were the people she knew could be trouble for her. Brie was surprised when Trula joined them, she explained that she wanted to offer emotional support to both Brie and Boleman.

When Major Curemode boarded Brie smiled at him. “Hello, Major,” she said. “How’s your leg?”

“Better,” he said, not looking anywhere near Brie.

“Curemode,” Brie said, sure that her protector would admonish her for what she was about to say, “it’s okay. We all do what we think we have to do.”

Major Curemode still didn’t look at Brie and didn’t say another word. He just stood there for several microns, then took a seat as far away from Brie as possible.

“Major,” Boleman said in the tone that Brie had expected.

“What?” Brie replied quietly. “I can’t even say hello?” At that micron Lieutenant Kiwi entered the shuttle. “Lieutenant,” Brie said. Kiwi didn’t even acknowledge her, he just took a seat.

“Major,” Boleman repeated even more sternly.

“You’re taking all the fun out of this,” Brie said and sat back. She was actually in a better mood than she should have been. Although she dreaded returning to the Callisto she was discovering that she had more support than she had expected. She almost managed a smile. Then, as if there to suck all the life out of the shuttle, Major Pierce boarded.

[Brie]

Major Pierce boarded the shuttle and stopped right in front of where Brie was sitting. “Ah, Major Brie,” he said in a falsely pleasant tone. “Are you comfortable? I hope so, because it will be the last time in your entire life.”

Brie smiled back. She spoke in the same fake voice. “Spending the next four centars, 16 centons until we land breathing the same air that you are is going to be a lot worse than a few centars in the brig.”

Pierce dropped his smile. “I don’t know what you’ve been telling her, Boleman, but if she thinks she’s just going to be in the brig for a few centars she’s going to be surprised.” He addressed Brie again. “I’m going for the maximum penalty, which is life on the Prison Barge. I’m going to make sure that you pay for causing Amy and Lazant’s deaths. That poor, young, foolish girl...”

As if on cue, the shuttle pilot spoke over the intercom. “We’ll be launching in five centons, so everyone take a seat and harness up. The first two Black Squadron vipers have already launched.” Pierce walked away and found a seat next to Curemode. Brie noticed that Curemode glanced around as if looking for another seat.

A few more people boarded and quickly found the few remaining seats. Most of the infiltration team was on the shuttle. With everyone aboard, the hatch was sealed and the shuttle launched. In just over four centars they would be landing on the Callisto, and Brie’s life would forever change.

[Brie]

Shuttle rides were always so boring to Brie. She had been a pilot for so long that she hated to have someone else do the work for her. She had never been any good at just sitting around. Doing nothing to Brie was close to torture.

“It’s about time.” There hadn’t been an empty seat on the shuttle, but somehow Turner, Brie’s late husband, was sitting next to her where Boleman had been.

“What’s about time?” Brie asked.

“It’s about time that you brought me into all of this,” Turner explained. “You always call on me to help you work through your problems. What took you so long?”

Brie ignored the question. “What did you do with Boleman?”

Turner smiled a smile that still melted Brie’s heart. “He’s bound and gagged in the cargo hold.”

“I wish.”

Turner quickly changed the subject. “So did you really think I’d let 23 people die while waiting for 3 that were probably already dead?”

“I found your Distinguished Service Award,” Brie told him. “The one that you received after you went back for your wingman. You put your life on the line for him.”

“For ONE PERSON, Brie,” Turner said. “Didn’t you ever notice that I was never given my own command? I was reckless.”

“That’s what Commander Apollo said too.”

“Apollo called me reckless?” Turner pretended to be shocked. “I’ll just have to make a haunting visit to the Galactica...”

“You’re not a ghost, you’re a dream,” Brie reminded him.

“Oh yeah. Thanks for ruining my fun.”

“Sorry,” Brie said without meaning it. “My life hasn’t exactly been fun lately. I’m being court-martialed, you know.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Turner asked.

“Do?” Brie didn’t really understand what he meant. “Let’s see, I’ll go to the brig and then the tribunal will be ten centars later.”

“Are you going to fight it, or just accept it?”

“I’m going to let Boleman do the fighting,” Brie said. “That’s his job.”

“You’ve already said that one potential witness can’t testify, for HIS own good,” Turner said. “Your own SIC can’t testify because of your little drunken stint with him, and just what were you doing with Major JustinB? Do you have any idea how young he is?”

“Shut up,” Brie said.

“Okay, I guess that’s not the best subject. Do you have any decent witnesses? Anyone respectable who you HAVEN’T been drinking with lately?”

Brie answered with just one word. “Charybdis.”

Turner laughed. “Somehow I still can’t use the words ‘respectable’ and ‘Charybdis’ in the same sentence.”

“He’s Commander Sheba’s right hand,” Brie said.

“Poor Commander Sheba,” Turner mumbled. “You’re right, though. Charybdis is the best friend that I ever had, besides you, my love. He’s one person that can always be counted on. Hey is that Trula? Speaking of Charybdis, did I ever tell you about the time I talked her into giving me hot sauce? It was for a practical joke.”

“She mentioned it,” Brie said. “Although I’d love to hear the whole story.”

“It’s going to have to wait,” Turner said. “I think you’re about to wake up. I love you.”

Brie awoke with a start. She glanced at Boleman sitting next to her and grinned at the thought of him bound and gagged in the cargo hold.

[LucianG]

On the Bridge of the Callisto, Sheba approached the communications center after being informed of a problem. “Commander Sheba, we’ve begun to experience some odd interference that seems to be affecting all communications bands. It started shortly after the shuttle departed for the Rising Star, and now, all communications with the other ships of the Fleet are currently inoperative,” announced Miri, one of the communications officers who had been working with the others trying to solve the problem.

“Do you believe this is a natural phenomenon?” asked Sheba with a serious look at the group.

They looked at each other uncertainly before one turned and said, “It’s really hard to say, Commander. It’s very broad-based, with an extremely strong frequency change, making it different than anything we’ve ever seen. It’s hard to believe it could be natural; however, if it’s not natural, we’re sure it’s not emanating from the Callisto.”

“Find out what’s causing it,” replied Sheba. As she moved away, she whispered to Colonel Charybdis and Major Joey, “We’ve only just arrived in a new and unknown system, the Galactica is missing, we can’t communicate with other ships, and the Quorum of Twelve is meeting. It sounds very suspicious to me. Have Geenie keep a close watch on the scanner. We don’t want anything sneaking up on us with half of our pilots missing.” She already regretted granting Lucian and the other two Warriors their short furlons. If the Galactica never arrived and Black Squadron was lost in addition to Brie and the infiltration team on the Cylon moon, it might take yahrens to replace them and their equipment. Every retired Warrior in the Fleet might have to be recalled to help with training, and quite possibly, actual defense of the Fleet.

[Brie]

“Major Brie?” Standing in front of her was the shuttle co-pilot.

“Yes?”

“I’m Lieutenant Roy,” he said. “We’ve got a little bit of a quandary up front, and you’re the highest ranking officer on the shuttle. Would you mind taking a look?”

“Of course not.” Brie didn’t even look at Boleman for permission, then again since all of theirs lives were in the hands of the shuttle pilots at the micron he probably wouldn’t have tried to stop her.

A few steps outside of the cockpit Pierce stepped in front of her. “Just where do you think that you’re going?”

“Into the cockpit,” Brie replied, offering no further explanation.

“We have a bit of a quandary,” Lieutenant Roy repeated.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Pierce replied, ignoring Roy. “How do I know that this isn’t some sort of a setup, some escape attempt?”

Brie stifled a laugh. “And they call ME paranoid.” She grew more serious. “Look, Pierce, I haven’t been arrested yet. I’m still a pilot, I’m still a squadron leader, I’m still a colonial warrior, and I’m going to see what I can do to help. If you want to join us then be my guest.” She pushed past Pierce and entered the cockpit.