The Milsian Princess
By AJ Marks
Part 2
Mark glanced in at the doctor who looked on at a patient, a small woman with red hair. He glanced over at the medical chart indicating the damage the woman had taken. He had to admit he did not expect to see a woman pilot.
“Ah, captain, glad you made it,” the doctor said.
“Tommy, how’s our patient doing?” Mark asked.
“Quite well actually,” Tommy replied. “Aside from a few bruises I’m very surprised. It appears she hit her head knocking her out, quite possibly saving her from even more serious injuries.”
“I see,” Mark stated. He hoped maybe he could gain some information from the woman about why the Milsian Empire again attacked the Alliance. He thought that the last treaty ten years ago would finally hold. “Any idea of when she’ll awaken?”
“Not really, could be anywhere from now to tomorrow. It’s still hard to tell with head injuries,” Tommy replied.
“I understand,” Mark said, as they both glanced back down at the patient. Mark noticed a slight flexing of her hand. “Is that normal?” he asked, pointing to the hand.
“It could be an indication she is about to wake up,” Tommy said.
Mark went to say more when he suddenly found himself on the ground followed quickly by the doctor. Two guards rushed into the room weapons drawn.
“Freeze!”
“Don’t move!”
Mark glanced at the woman who seemed to struggle to stay balanced to the two guards. He made sure Tommy appeared uninjured before taking control of the situation.
“It’s all right,” he said to the guards. “Wait outside, that’s an order.”
Mark watched the guards hesitate for several seconds. The order from the captain warring with their training as they glanced from the woman to the captain before finally backing out of the room.
Mark waited a few seconds for the woman to focus on him after the guards left the room. “May I get up now?’ he asked her.
When she didn’t answer or move he slowly stood up motioning for Tommy to do so as well. Mark watched Tommy then motioned him to back away as he pulled up a chair and sat down. The woman had not moved nor had she taken her eyes off either of them. He could tell from her stance and previous moves she knew how to fight. Her small stature would be an advantage in the small space.
“Well, that’s quite some reflexes you’ve got there,” Mark said finally. He watched the woman still say nothing. “I’m Captain Mark Cave of the battle-cruiser Nevada.”
He waited calmly watching her until she finally answered back.
“Alliance ship?” she asked.
“Yes,” Mark replied. “You attacked my ship, it seems the Milsian Empire is once more attacking the Alliance after ten years of peace. I had hoped we could finally have peace.”
“Liberation is needed,” Mark thought he heard the woman say. He frowned at the words, ‘liberation’ and wondered what that meant.
He watched her sway slightly before finally passing out. He quickly caught her before she could hit the ground and placed her back on the bed. He was amazed at how light she felt to him, then again she had to be at most five foot two.
Tommy came over quickly checking her out. “Still needs rest,” he said, taking some blood.
“Thought you already took some, you know, part of the normal procedure?” Mark stated, half asking.
“Yeah, it came back with some unusual chemicals, running it though again this time only for that. If it’s what the computer says, it’s a memory drug, used to alter memories,” Tommy said.
Mark’s eyebrows rose at that. “All right, keep me informed, we’ll be arriving at Pacifica shortly,” Mark said.
“I will,” Tommy replied.
Mark walked off wondering more and more what was going on. A drugged pilot, talk of liberation, and who knows what else. He only hoped a full-scale war was not coming.
*****
Adama listened to what Starbuck said about the short meeting he had with this Admiral Jurez. Adama felt a bit uneasy at the mention of the Alliance, and the fact that when Earth had been brought up Jurez suggested the leaders get together.
“So, you think they might know something about Earth?” Adama asked Starbuck.
“Well, he got real quiet and a lot more interested,” Starbuck said.
“And what do you think about them?” Adama asked.
“Sounds like we are dropping in on a war, I have no idea though if they think we can help them or not,” Starbuck stated.
Adama nodded thinking the same thing. If the Alliance was fighting this group it’s unsure if they even know who they are attacking.
“Sorry father, but the Eastern Alliance out here, it sounds a bit strange. Their ships were not that well equipped for long distance travel,” Apollo said, speaking up.
“I know Apollo,” Adama stated. “They are also the only Alliance we know of and are hostile towards us. We must proceed with caution, and meet with this Admiral Jurez to gain more information.”
“He said to return any time and how to communicate,” Starbuck said.
“I suggest only I go, with two pilots to minimize the risk of capture,” Adama finally said.
“And an escort,” Apollo said speaking up. Adama glanced over at his son seeing the look in his eyes. “Very well, an escort.”
I suggest we get ready then, I have a council to address and update,” Adama said. He already planned how to approach the council with the information he had. He also felt sure at least one would want to come. Adama had to convince them it was better if they did not go in case something did go wrong. Adama knew they were not military people, and while age had dulled his reflexes a bit, he was still a trained warrior.
*****
Mark glanced up at the sound of his office door opening. He sighed mentally seeing Agnot walk in.
“Senator, what can I do for you?” Mark said. He had hoped the last encounter on the bridge would have been his last encounter until the senator left the ship.
“I wanted to give you a chance to explain your actions one last time before I finish my report,” Agnot said.
“I’m not sure what there is to explain,” Mark said, rubbing his temple. “You were on the bridge, what aggressive actions did I take?”
“Raising of shields could be considered a hostile action,” Agnot replied.
“And launching a full complement of fighters is not?” Mark countered.
“That is beside the point,” the senator replied, his tone angry.
“And when they started shooting us they would have destroyed our engines rather quickly. Which would you rather be senator, dead, floating in space, or alive to argue with me about it?” Mark said growing angry himself.
“It should have been left to a diplomat and a channel opened, that’s what!”
“Well, next time we’re in that situation I’ll send you out in a shuttle so you can talk to them. My responsibility is to keep everyone on board this ship safe,” Mark replied back.
“Well, I can see the training of the military now. That will have to change,” Agnot said, leaving the office.
Mark closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair letting the anger fade away.
“That sounded exciting,” a familiar voice said.
Mark opened his eyes to see John standing there. “It was, wanna trade spots?” Mark asked.
“Um, no,” John replied smiling. “I would have ended up throwing something at him.”
“Yeah, you would have,” Mark replied knowing his friend. “How are the pilots doing? Did we lose anyone in the fighting?”
“We lost seven in the hanger,” John said. “And somehow the pilot survived? When did they start taking up suicide attacks?”
“You might be interested to know that the Milsians shot her down themselves,” Mark said.
“What?!”
“See for yourself,” Mark replied, pulling the scanner logs for John to see. Mark watched his friend’s face at the scanner report until it finally ended.
“I don’t get it, why?” John finally said. “That was deliberate, no doubt about it. You said she? Is she conscious?”
“Not yet, doctor said she’s drugged on some memory modifier,” Mark replied. “Tell everyone to keep this quiet. The last thing we need is for the senator’s to find out about this.”
“No problem there, they find out about her and we won’t know anything about what happened, or why they tried to shoot her down,” John said.
“I know,” Mark replied. “I can only hope we figure out what’s going on before the politicians sign our surrender.”
“That bad?” John asked.
“Eh, probably not, but it sure feels like it,” Mark replied. “I don’t know, I’ll wait to see what the old man says.”
“If Admiral Pappas hears that…”
“He’d say it was funny,” Mark said. “Who do you think I got it from!”
“Okay, let me know what else comes up. Are we going to get any replacements?” John asked.
“I don’t know, last time I looked the replacement pool was dangerously low,” Mark said. “For now, don’t count on it.”
“Great,” John replied.
“Budget cuts,” Mark stated. “Well, organize it as best you can, I trust your abilities.”
Mark heard John turn then walked back out. Seven pilots actually was a serious blow to the operational functionality of the ship. He would worry about that later after talking to the Admiral. He hoped HQ had some information.
*****
Adama walked off the shuttle onto the ship noticing the hanger and the familiarity of it all. Even on another warship hangers all seemed to operate the same. He glanced over to see a tall bald man walk towards him. Adama glanced over at Starbuck no nodded. Adama straightened waiting as the man stopped in front of him.
“Welcome aboard the Kitakkim, I’m Admiral Jurez,” the man said.
“I’m Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica,” Adama replied.
“Lieutenant Starbuck good to see you again,” Jurez said.
“You too,” Starbuck said.
“Let us get comfortable,” Jurez said.
Adama walked along with the admiral sensing an underlying current of tension in the air. At first he thought the tension directed at him and his crew but it seemed more fear of the admiral than anything else. That intrigued him a bit. The group finally reached an office room and Adama sat down looking around. The technology in the room impressed him, large screens all over the place in rich color.
Adama watched the admiral order drink from an aide who hurried off quickly bringing back several glasses placing them on the table in front of everyone. With one more glance at the admiral the aide left leaving the admiral, and two other men along with Adama, and his three warriors, Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer.
“Commander Adama, I’m afraid that you have me at a disadvantage here. You know of Earth, but we have no records of your group? Perhaps you might enlighten us,” Jurez stated.
“Well, actually we only have mention of Earth through our legends and myths,” Adama stated, watching Jurez’s face show confusion on it.
“Your myths and legends, but you knew it existed? How long ago did you leave?” Jurez asked.
“Actually according to our legends Earth is the thirteenth tribe of humanity. When humanity left Kobal twelve settled on the twelve Colonies,” Adama said. He could see by the confusion in the man’s face he had never heard of anything Adama said. “The thirteenth tribe left and settled on Earth.”
“You’re saying that humanity did not originate on Earth?” Jurez said.
“Yes,” Adama replied. He watched the man glance over at a couple of other people knowing they found his story preposterous. Adama wondered what type of history they had on Earth, and if they even still knew about Kobal. Being isolated the people of Earth might have forgotten all about them. A possibility he knew about from the moment they left the colonies.
“And you’re here to reunite to long lost brothers, or something like that?” Jurez asked.
“Not exactly, more like humanity’s last hope for survival,” Adama said. “You see for the past thousand yahrens we have been at war with a race called the Cylons.”
“Yahrens and Cylons?” Jurez said.
“Yes, yahrens a measurement of our time,” Adama said, wondering if he would ever get through an explanation without the man interrupting him. “And Cylons, a race of robots who want nothing else but to destroy all of humanity.”
“A race of robots?” Jurez said.
“Yes, they are after us, and if they find you, they will attack. There will be no negotiations, talking, or anything else. They will attack and destroy you,” Adama stated.
“You make them sound heartless,” Jurez said.
“They are, their only goal with the human race is extermination, nothing else,” Adama said, looking at Jurez trying to gage his reactions. The man showed nothing only slight interest. Adama wondered if the man even grasped the concept of one race completely destroying another one.
“So, these Cylons, they are that dangerous? And what about your fleet?” Jurez replied.
“Destroyed, the people who survived the destruction of our world are now in ships fleeing from the Cylons protected by what’s left of our military,” Adama stated. “They destroyed our fleet under the deception of wanting peace.”
“So they do not negotiate in trust,” Jurez replied.
“No,” Adama answered. He watched Jurez glance over at the others before saying anything else.
“Then we must quickly consolidate power to present a united front for when the Cylons arrive,” Jurez stated.
Adama had to agree, a fractured group would fall quickly if the Cylons decided to attack.
*****
Apollo headed to a small office along with his father, Starbuck and Boomer. So far they had been quiet, feeling out the other group. Relaxing into the seat of the office he glanced over at his father before saying anything.
“So, what do you think?” Apollo finally asked.
“They are very guarded,” Boomer finally said. “But they do have some advanced electronics.”
“Yes, they seemed guarded, almost too guarded,” Adama said. Apollo could see his father’s mind working on this subject already.
“Well, if they are at war, then it’s only logical for them to be cautious, even of our story,” Starbuck said.
“Hmm, you’re right, it’s very logical,” Adama said. “We might have met someone who is guarded anyways,”
“Do you think he understands the threat the Cylons pose?” Apollo asked. He looked at all three no one spoke up for a moment.
“I don’t know,” Adama finally said. “If they are so engrossed in their war then no. It might only cause them to fight harder for dominance over the other.”
“And it looks like we’re getting caught up in another war with the Alliance,” Starbuck said.
*****
Mark glanced up at the knock on his door. It opened to reveal Admiral Corey Pappas.
“Admiral,” Mark said, standing giving a salute and walking over to the man. “I wasn’t informed you had come aboard.”
“Officially I’m not here,” Corey said motioning for him to have a seat.
“Um, why do I have a bad feeling when you say that,” Mark said leaning back in his chair.
“Because there is a reason for it,” Corey replied. “I have some strange news for you. Did either senator act strange to you?”
“You mean other than not wanting us to defend ourselves, nope, normal politicians,” Mark replied not sure what the admiral meant.
“They are taking an unusual stance against the military especially considering Serria,” Corey stated. “Right now the people are not sure, and the Senate’s approval rating is going down rather fast. Something is going on behind the scene and I don’t like it.”
“Will this affect us,” Mark asked.
“I have no idea,” Corey stated.
“Then I wonder if I should have told them about the Milsian pilot that survived,” Mark stated, seeing the confused face on Corey. “One Milsian fighter opened up on another one causing it to crash into our hangar. We lost seven pilots and somehow that pilot survived.”
“Interesting, I haven’t heard of them doing that before. And he is on board this ship?” Corey stated.
“She, and yes, she’s on board,” Mark replied.
“Hmm, transferring her might be dangerous, and getting me up here took quite a lot of effort,” Corey said, glancing at his watch. “I don’t have much time left. For now keep her on board, and keep it quiet. I want to know what the Milsian goal is this time.”
“I’ll keep her in med-lab and try to keep it quiet. I’ll question her personally,” Mark said.
“Good, I’ll try and get up to talk to you in person at a later date. For now be careful,” Corey said, standing up.
“I’ll try, and you be careful as well. I have a feeling we’re fighting a two front battle, one enemy is the Milsian military, the other our own politicians,” Mark stated.
“That might be the truth,” Corey said.
Mark saluted then watched Corey quickly leave the room. He sat back down reviewing the conversation. He had a gut feeling things were about to get worse.
*****
Crystal groaned feeling light-headed and dizzy. She tried sitting up but fell over on her side on the bed. She heard beeps and smelled the distinct aroma of a cleaners and sterile air. Opening her eyes she spotted a contraption next to the bed which she did not recognize.
“Ah, I see our patient is awake again,” a voice said.
Again? Patient? Neither made any sense to her. Images came back from her strange dreams. Her mother before she died making conflicting statements, and even an image of the emperor visiting their home when she was young. She had visions of the same scene of the emperor and her mother arguing about her father which mingled with how great a plot she would be and how her mother agreed.
“Lie still for a second,” the voice said again. Crystal managed to focus on the voice seeing a middle aged man, slightly over-weight checking out the machine next to the bed. “Good, good, very good,” he said. “Well, I’m proud to say you’re one lucky woman.”
Crystal so far did not think so. She glanced at the uniform and the badge he wore finally got through her fog-muddled brain. Alliance! She was on board an Alliance ship. She had no idea how that had happened.
She tried to think about the last thing that happened but only fuzzy images of fighters came to her mind. She finally put it from her mind. Whatever the doctor had given her seemed to mess with her mind. She would wait and try to conserve her strength and try for an escape.
“You are healing quite well, you might be a bit disoriented, due to you going through detox for some drug that was in your system. Were you on anything that I should know about?” he asked her.
“Only what you gave me,” Crystal managed to say through her dry lips.
“My dear, I’m not about to put my patients on anything dangerous such as a mind altering drug, and the one you had in your system is one I’m unfamiliar with,” the doctor said.
Crystal rolled her eyes closing them knowing the Alliance would say anything to fool her. She would get the last laugh, of that she was sure.
“Oh well, suit yourself,” the doctor said, humming along as he worked. Crystal found the tune slightly annoying and figured this to be part of the torture technique the Alliance used. She would survive this.
*****
Jurez sat back as they took a break. He reviewed everything that he had been told. Commander Adama told quite a tale of lost colonies and a robotic enemy called Cylons. Jurez would have laughed story and wondered briefly if the Alliance had staged all this to make the Milsian military look the other way.
“Admiral, incoming message.”
“Put it through,” Jurez said, knowing who would be on the other end. He was not surprised when Emperor Tony’s face appeared.
“Admiral, what have you learned?” Tony asked.
“Well, it’s a bit of an unbelievable tale to tell you the truth,” Jurez said. “Commander Adama states he is leading the remnants of a grouped called the Colonials. He states that humanity came from a planet called Kobal.”
“Never heard of it,” Tony said. “Continue.”
“Yes sir, anyways there were thirteen tribes on Kobal who left, I assume but I was never told why. Anyways, twelve tribes settled down close to each other, the thirteenth settled on Earth,” Jurez said.
“Hmm, an unlikely story with no proof to back that up,” Tony said.
“No sir,” Jurez said, feeling the same way. “There is more, it seems that these Colonials, the twelve tribes, fought a war against another race, of machines, called the Cylons.”
“That would require the belief that there are other intelligent species which we all know do not exist,” Tony said.
“I know sir, but they seem very adamant about this. They say the Cylons will do anything to eliminate the human race,” Jurez said.
“Hmm, could be an Alliance military experiment gone wrong,” Tony said. “Yes, that sounds more appropriate.”
Jurez didn’t have to say anything to agree with the Emperor. It sounded like something the Alliance would do. He however had a problem then, what to do with Commander Adama and his group.
“I trust you went along with what they said,” Tony stated.
“Of course, it was easy, they were eager for me to accept their story,” Jurez said.
“Then tell them we’ll help, and let them go, then concentrate on phase two of the plan,” Tony said.
“It will be done,” Jurez replied.
The conversation ended and he wondered how they would react to the knowledge that the attempt of trickery had failed. He paged the captain waiting only a moment before a knock on the door occurred. The captain, Diern, walked into the office.
“Admiral?” the captain asked.
“Prepare the ship for phase two,” Jurez said.
“The hyper-jump engines will be waiting,” Diern said.
“Good, we’ll begin once our visitors have left the ship,” Jurez said. He glanced around realizing that very soon the Milsian Empire would finally conquer the Alliance.
*****
The centurion entered the command room waiting until the chair swiveled around to reveal the commander.
“Speak!”
“By your command,” the centurion replied. “Our scouts have reported increased communications and some long range patrols have uncovered planets inhabited with a large population of humans,” the centurion said.
“How many planets?”
“Unknown commander,” the centurion said. “We have also picked up a few Colonial signals.”
“Set course for the nearest planet, and prepare my ship.”
“By your command Baltar.”
End Part 2
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