The Uneasy Alliance
by AJ Marks
Part 20
Adama turned to see Doctor Wilker walking towards him. The man appeared to have a plan going on and Adama wondered if he wanted to hear the plan this time. The entire fleet was in danger to this threat and the Glactica could not defend against more than one basestar, and even to do that he needed time to maneuver. He could not stand against the entire war machine of the Cylon Empire.
“What do you mean doctor?” Adama asked, hoping they could get this over quickly and get back to the fleet. The quicker things were set up the better.
“Commander, I have an idea, and talked to DE while you were gone about it and he agreed. I think we should stay,” Wilker said much to Adama’s surprise.
“We can’t afford to stay, it would mean suicide for us all,” Apollo stated before Adama could say anything.
“Perhaps if I showed you rather than tell you, you might understand,” Wilker said motioning for them to follow. “It will only take a micron.”
Adama looked over at the others before relenting to see what the doctor had in mind, otherwise he might never stop walking about it. He walked over and followed Wilker down several hallways along with the others. Machines were all over the place making Adama wonder what they were up to.
Hey found themselves looking out over an immense rectangular hole. Inside was a vague looking shape taking form and it looked very familiar to Adama. He was sure the others also recognized the shape as well, and even as he looked on machines were hovering in spots all over.
“What’s this?” Adama asked, even though he recognized the shape in front of him.
“A battlestar, from my new designs,” Wilker said.
*****
Morpheus glanced around and sighed in relief when it appeared the battle was now over. It lasted for a while and he was starting to feel strained from all the fighting. He knew, as did the others, the fighting was far from over even though they had won the battle. He looked over to see Neil touch down not far from them.
“Morpheus,” Neil said greeting on old friend.
“Its good to see you, but I thought you were killed?” Morpheus asked not sure he fully understood what was going on.
“In a way I am, to the outside world. Our bodies are damaged beyond repair, but the machines keep us alive as long as we remained hooked up to them, and we’re allowed to live within the Matrix, a retirement if you like,” Neil said.
“What do you know of this invaders?” Trinity asked, focusing back on what happened.
“They are not from this world,” another voice said, one Morpheus expected to talk to when he arrived, not fight a battle. He looked over to see the Oracle and Seraph nearby.
“She’s right,” Morpheus said to them knowing he probably knew more than anyone else. “From what’s I’ve been told they are a race called Cylons, a machine race which defeated their creators and have fought a war against humanity in a different part of the galaxy. For the last thousand years they have fought this war, though how they managed to infiltrate the Matrix I’m not sure. But whatever happened her also effected the entire Machine society.”
“That’s because we are all in some way interconnected with each other. With such a massive disruption within resources were diverted to prevent the attacks. That is why a virus didn’t work on us during the war,” the Oracle said.
“This isn’t a virus,” Neil stated.
“No, it’s a living machine entity from another world,” she replied back to him.
“Do you know where it is?” Neil asked.
“We think we do, its located on the moon. We felt some power fluctuations there but no conformation about it,” she said to him.
“And we can’t breathe in outer space,” Morpheus said.
“That would be true, if this was the real world,” the Oracle said looking over at Neil.
Morpheus waited a few seconds as a silent communications went on between the Oracle and Neil who suddenly seemed to realize something.
“I understand,” Neil said. “But what I don’t understand is why don’t you, or the agents, go.”
“We were programmed with limitations,” she replied back. “Agent Smith was unusual in that he was able to go beyond his programming.”
Morpheus watched as Neil thought about it for several seconds. The final transformation fell away for his friend and suddenly Neil shot straight up towards the sky and into space. He realized that despite the speed Neil left with, nothing around him was disturbed, not even the air. Neil had gone beyond the physics of the Matrix.
“I only hope its enough, he will be alone in this fight,” the Oracle said.
Morpheus wasn’t sure what she meant, but knew he would have to wait to find out.
*****
Adama stood by the others as they looked on in a bit of shock before them as they realized what it was they were looking at. If it was indeed a new battlestar, it looked like they had been constructing it for a while now. Everyone was quiet for several microns and were shocked when the machines suddenly began to move again. It surprised them to see how fast they were moving.
They watched as the machines moved quickly and efficiently all around the ship fabricating materials and parts. Adama calculated there must be hundreds of construction robots each performing a duty. He could almost see the ship taking form before him.
“Are you telling me this machines have constructed all of this since I’ve been gone?” Adama asked, unsure about what he was seeing.
“Its incredible,” Wilker said from beside him. “I’ve been watching them since they’ve started. Its like watching something being built in fast forward. They have it all timed, ready to go when they need it. Simply incredible.”
“I can understand that,” Apollo stated from he stood watching the robots as well.
“Incredible, but who is operating it?” Starbuck asked, the question which Adama had not thought of yet and looked over at Wilker.
“It also needs fuel,” Wilker said to them. “This planet has no Trylium on it, and without it the ship is worthless.”
“One of the moons has a supply on it, I recall seeing it on the scanners when we were scouting the system earlier,” Jolly stated. “The surface was cold, but the deposits were not hard to dig up.”
“But the Cylons are waiting for us out there somewhere, that poses a problem,” Adama said, unsure how they could start mining operations.
They looked on at the ship even as a thought came to Adama.
“Somehow we need to get fuel and supplies here, the Galactica has been crowded for far too long now, and there are a lot of crewmembers from the Pegasus on board,” Adama said, knowing that many areas on the Galactica had twice as many crewmembers as normal. He could use that to form the nucleus of a new crew for this ship. It was ironic that because Cain had transferred as many members of his ship as possible it would allow him to man two battlestars quickly. The legendary commander was helping them even now and he probably never knew. The question was he didn’t want to bring the fleet too close without knowing where the Cylons were.
“Father, I have an idea,” Apollo said, causing Adama to turn.
“I’m listening,” Adama said, knowing his son might have strange ideas, but many times it was worth listening to.
“The ship needs fuel and a crew, right?” Apollo said looking around at everyone, a few people nodded their heads. “What if we take one of the tankers and bring it here with enough people to man the ship,” Apollo said waving his hand in the direction of the ship.
Adama paused thinking about the idea. “That might work,” he finally said.
“You might be able to provide fuel for the ship?” a voice said from behind them. They turned around to see DE floating towards them.
“I think we should be able to. The biggest problem isn’t fuel, but skilled personal to man the ship,” Adama said knowing that even if the crew from the Pegasus transferred over, it was still lacking in many skilled areas.
“The crew is around five hundred people, plus a wing compliment of about another hundred or so,” DE said to them.
“Give or take a hundred or so, but sounds about right,” Adama said wondering what the machine was thinking.
“The Matrix can afford to lose so many, enough to man several ships provided loses are not too high from another attack,” DE said to them.
“And they will be skilled?” Starbuck said.
“Yes, we can provide them with the skills by downloading it straight into their brains,” DE replied giving Adama something to think about.
“I guess we have a plan then” Adama stated.
“It will take a while for the right humans to be selected for such a mission, and then they have to undergo muscle strengthening before they will be able to help,” DE said to them.
“Why would they need that?” Sheba asked.
“They have been lying down their entire lives without movement. Their muscles are not accustomed to moving around,” DE answered for them.
“I see, but if you can get a few, we can provide the rest,” Adama said.
“If we are to do this, then we should get moving before the Cylons return,” Apollo said.
“Yes, they’ve already had their longest break between attacks, I calculate they are planning something,” DE said.
“I’ll stay here, there are still some things I want to talk about with DE here,” Wilker said.
“Fine,” Adama said, as he and a few of the others turned and walked back to the shuttles leaving Doctor Wilker there.
*****
Niobe watched the screen wondering what was going on. The only good news she had was the fact Morpheus was still alive and it appeared the Matrix seemed to be slowly returning to normal after what happened. The ringing phone startling her for a second and hoped it was Morpheus.
“Operator,” Niobe answered out of habit.
“Niobe,” Morpheus replied as she felt some relief at the fact he was safe even as he continued. “It’ll be a bit longer until I’m ready to leave, but it seems our friends, the Cylons, have managed to infiltrate the Matrix. The agents, myself and some old friends were able to defeat them this time. Neo is going after them at their base on the moon.”
“All right, let me know what happens next,” Niobe replied before realizing what Morpheus said and who he had mentioned. “Wait a second, what do you mean Neo? He’s alive?”
“He and Trinity have been living in the Matrix since the battle. She says they were seriously injured and are only kept alive hooked up to the machines,” Morpheus replied. “They appeared happy.”
Niobe was silent for several seconds taking in what Morpheus told her before returning to the situation at hand. “How did the Cylons infiltrate the Matrix?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but how are the machines doing now?”
“Let me take a look outside, be right back,” Niobe said,
Niobe put her headset down and quickly walked outside hoping to see what might have happened, if anything at all. A quick glance around confirmed things had changed. The machines were all moving around as they had been before so whatever had happened had passed. She looked over to see Commander Adama walking towards her along with DE and headed over to see what was going on.
“How is everything out here?” she asked, seeing that everything appeared normal.
“We are doing better,” DE said hovering nearby alongside the group before turning to Niobe. “Neo and Trinity led the counter attack which saved us.”
“Mopheus said something about that, but he doesn’t know how Cylons managed to get into the Matrix,” Niobe stated.
“We are all interconnected, I was always aware when you were in the Matrix, it was why things were so tense towards the end of the war a year ago,’ De replied to her.
Its admission shocked Niobe a bit, never completely understanding that they were all interconnected. It was a wonder they hadn’t lost the war when they thought they were being so sneaky. It would be like every human have mental telepathy and connected. She then noticed Adama and some his group climbing back aboard a shuttle.
“We’re returning to our fleet to gather supplies which are needed,” Adama said.
“I’ll tell Morpheus, I need to get back to him anyways,” Niobe said knowing he was waiting to hear if it worked. “I hope to meet you again.”
“I hope so as well,” Adama replied as she headed back into the Hammer to inform Morpheus.
End part 20