The Milsian Princess
by AJ Marks
Part 5
Adama looked over at Tigh with the decision of the council made he had to move forward. They wanted to see how powerful the human fleet was. If it might be strong enough they would settle down and help. Adama also knew time was critical in making the decision to stay or not.
“I have Captain Apollo on the line,” Rigel said.
Adama looked down at his screen seeing Apollo’s face. Adama also knew that they were listening in on the conversation. Adama did not want to say anything that might be threatening or viewed that there was no trust.
“Commander,” Apollo stated. They he kept it secret that they were father-son. If that information came out it might harm relations later on or be used against them.
“I spoke with the council, they want some sort of indication of how large the fleet is. Not full numbers, but if they have more than five battlestars or equivalent type ships,” Adama said.
“Well,” Apollo said, looking slightly flustered with digging that information out. “I can ask, there is no guarantee that they will answer. They are after all at war and they could view us as a threat from them.”
“If they are at war, then the enemy would already have an estimate of their strength. We only know of the two large ships they have at that planet right there,” Adama said. He waited a few microns before Jurez joined the conversation.
“I do not have the authority to divulge that information. I’ll inform my higher up to see what they say,” Jurez said.
“Then I await your answer,” Adama said. The answer would put their course of action into motion. Adama had the feeling they had more than just a couple of large warships. He would be surprised if the answer came back with less than five. He fully expected them to have more than ten.
The conversation ended as Adama sat back in the chair.
“Do you think they have the strength?” Tigh asked.
“Yes, but how much is the question. They will not tell us the full fleet strength, but will make it appear either greater or much less. The question is how do they feel about us? Do they want to intermediate us or help us?” Adama said.
Adama glanced over at Tigh seeing his friend in the same pondering mood that he felt himself in. Now he had to wait and hope.
*****
Mark sighed in annoyance as once more Senators Vicess and Agnot would be aboard the Nevada. This time they were official greeters of the government to Baltar and the Cylons. Mark wondered what else would happen.
He watched the shuttle land on the hangar and he straightened up preparing his official duty. The shuttle doors opened allowing the senators to walk off.
“Senator Agnot, Vicess, welcome back aboard the Nevada,” Mark said to them. He got the same dour look from Agnot that he usually did. Vicess appeared rather more excited about everything. Mark gathered it had to do with the fact they were meeting another group of humans.
“So when shall we expect to meet this Baltar?” Agnot said.
“The bridge informed me his ship would be landing in a few minutes. The main conference room is already prepared, your aides were in there as I came down here,” Mark said.
“This should be very interesting,” Vicess said. Mark thought he heard excitement in the man’s voice.
“Interesting, bah, we have more important things to be worrying about,’ Agnot said.
Mark rolled his eyes before turning back to the senator. “I hope you are more respectful when you meet Baltar.”
Agnot did not reply and Mark had a bad feeling about it all. He hoped he only felt the bad mood Agnot appeared to be in.
“Captain, we just cleared Baltar’s ship for landing,” Kim’s voice said.
“Understood,” Mark said. They watched the disk shaped fighter craft land in the hangar. A second later the hatch opened under the ship and Baltar climbed down a ladder before walking towards them.
“Commander Baltar, welcome back aboard the Nevada,” Mark said greeting the man. “I want to introduce you to Senator Vicess and Senator Agnot.”
Mark watched the reaction of both senators. Vicess appeared like Mark thought, excited. Agnot appeared more dour than usual even sporting a slight sneer-smile for Baltar. Mark glanced back seeing Baltar’s reaction to the man. He thought he saw a brief narrowing of the man’s eyes at a perceived threat before it was replaced with a charming smile.
“Well, I’m glad to meet both of you,” Baltar said finally.
“It is an honor to meet you,” Vicess replied. “Let us head up to the meeting room where we can be comfortable.”
“Sounds great,” Baltar said.
Mark led them off the bridge down a hallway seeing John and Crystal walk by. He felt slightly relieved when he saw no guards. Both were dressed as pilots so they would go without any problem.
The finally reached the meeting room and Mark sat down to listen to the meeting and what might happen next.
“So, what exactly are you doing here?” Agnot asked. Mark glanced over at Baltar to see what type of answer he would give.
“I’m after some rogue rebels who stirred up trouble in our area of space. We feel they have come this direction. If they have they will use all types of lies to divide you even saying we are threatening the eliminate them,” Baltar said.
“And do you always make it a habit of interfering on peace talks?” Agnot said.
“Peace talks?” Baltar replied one eyebrow rising. Mark shrugged when Baltar looked his direction. “What I saw did not resemble peace talks. Or at least any peace talks I know of.”
“We were attempting to establish contact with the Milsian fleet, at least until you opened fire admiral,” Agnot said.
“And we had already come under attack senator, they fired first,” Mark replied, clinching his fists. He wondered again exactly how stupid this senator could be.
“Actually I think the Cylons helped prevent any further bloodshed in this ‘misunderstanding’. After all if they had not come in causing the Milsian fleet to retreat the losses could have been worse,” Vicess said.
“That may be, but I suggest the Cylon Empire stay out of our political dealings with the Milsian Empire,” Agnot said.
Mark did not say anything but he knew the military could not fight a two front war. Especially with the fact the government continued to cut military budget. He waited a bit longer to see what Baltar would say.
“If the Milsian Empire makes the mistake of attacking one of our ships, they will return fire, make sure you understand that,” Baltar said. Mark noticed no friendly humor, or tone, only a warning. “I suggest if you have any contact with them you tell them that.”
Mark shook his head at the fact the senator had now pushed way a potential ally against the Milsian Empire. Mark did understand that while the Alliance could not fight a two front war, neither could the Milsian Empire. He thought about how to have the Cylons help the Alliance without the government’s help. He would contact Admiral Pappas and see if he had an idea.
*****
Tony glanced over the latest intel about the Cylons. It seemed the Colonials, as they called themselves, had gathered quite a bit of information about the race.
There were detailed reports of weaknesses and strengths that the Cylons processed. He wondered slightly how a race of machines could not easily eliminate another race. They seemed to have greater weaknesses than the Colonials thought, or they had never probed into the thoughts that machines had programming and as a result a psychological profile that could be used against them.
“The Cylons, they put a kink in your plans,” a girl’s voice said floating over to him. Tony glanced over to see his daughter, Sara, standing there.
“No, nothing major, and I have their weakness,” Tony replied.
“If you say so, but there is information you are missing at the moment,” she replied, before disappearing again.
Tony growled for a second before stopping. How had she known about the Cylons? That thought disturbed him slightly. Did someone tell her? Could she hack into the computer system? Or did she have that same knack of overhearing conversations so much like the real person her DNA had been taken from, Crystal. That girl overheard too many conversations, of which he was glad she had finally been eliminated. He made a mental note to try and figure that out how Sara knew, now he had a more pressing concern. Would the Cylons interfere in his plans?
“Emperor,” an aide said walking into the office, bowing to Tony. “This report just came in from our spies.”
Tony read through it before rereading it once more. He slightly smiled at the news. He now had a way to divert the attention of the Cylons while he conquered the Alliance. And once he completed that he could focus his attention on the Cylons.
“Get Admiral Jurez on the line at once. We have work to do,” Tony replied, smiling.
“Sire, another message came in,” Another aide said, walking in bowing to Tony.
Tony took the new message and felt the rage envelope him. They had failed to eliminate Crystal, and now she was alive on an Alliance warship. He knew once the drugs wore completely off she would remember real events. He could only hope that she felt confused enough to think the Alliance was messing with her mind. He would need a back-up plan.
“Emperor,” Jurez’s voice said. Tony glanced down at the monitor at the admiral’s face. He motioned the two aides out of the office before saying anything.
“Admiral, we have a problem, and some new information on the Colonials,” Tony said.
“I await your orders emperor,” Jurez replied.
*****
Baltar walked to the Cylon raider after an interesting meeting with the Alliance politicians. He felt hostility almost right away from Senator Agnot, but Vicess seemed to want to talk. He smiled slightly at what he had learned and how so many either did not see or were not willing to see. The admiral next to him apparently did not recognize the signs. Baltar thought he could recognize the signs simply by the fact he had been in a similar situation.
“An interesting group of politicians,” Baltar finally said to the admiral.
“Interesting, more like insulting,” Mark replied.
“Maybe, but I’ve dealt with worse,” Baltar replied. “He seems to think if he ignores war it will go away.”
“Yeah, even when staring him in the face he will continue to ignore it,” Mark said. Baltar heard the tone and realized the admiral did not like the senator at all.
“You two have had a run in before,” Baltar stated.
“You might say that,” Mark replied. Baltar waited a few microns but nothing else came forth.
“Well, I’ve had my own dealings with his type, if you need any help the Cylon Empire will be there for you,” Baltar said.
“Why would you do that?” Mark asked.
“It is part of who we are,” Baltar replied reaching his ship. “I hope to deal with you some more.”
“We’ll see,” Mark replied. “I hope you have a safe journey back to your ship.”
“I’m sure it will be,” Baltar replied, then climbed up into the raider where the two centurions were waiting. “Head back to the basestar.”
“By your command.”
*****
Apollo turned to see Jurez walk back into the room. Apollo thought there might have been a problem because the admiral had been gone so long.
“I apologize for the delay captain,” Jurez said. “We had some difficulty relaying the information to our homeworld.”
“It’s not Earth?” Apollo asked, confused at that.
“Ah, Earth was devastated several hundred years ago by war. I’m afraid it’s surface is now a wasteland,” Jurez said.
Apollo digested that news wondering what type of war they had been involved in. And the bigger question had been who were they involved against. “Who were you fighting then?”
“The precursor to the Alliance, the Confederation,” Jurez replied easily.
“So you defeated them back then?” Apollo asked, hoping to gain more information.
“They drove us out,” Jurez said, his voice filled with hate. “They told lies about us.”
Apollo wondered a bit more about the Milsian empire and here had had some information about it. “How many legends of Earth survived?”
“I’m afraid not many,” Jurez said. “That could be why, what did you call it, Kobol, is not known to us.”
“It is a possibility,” Apollo replied. “Over the many generations it could easily have passed into legend and myth before finally being forgotten. Our own records were incomplete for a long time. I’ve been to Kobol now though.”
“Why did you not stay there?” Jures asked.
“It suffered a dramatic climate change due to its orbiting sun,” Apollo replied.
“I see,” Jurez said. “Either leave or go extent.”
“Something like that,” Apollo replied. “All I know is there was sand everywhere, and we managed to discover several pyramids.”
“Hmm, never heard of anything like that, what purpose would a pyramid serve?”
“A tomb, and a way to record the past,” Apollo replied. “It worked, at least until the Cylons attacked and destroyed it.”
“Awful waste, but I do have another bit of information for you. An estimate of our fleet is three large warships, and about twenty smaller warships used for planetary defense,” Jurez said.
“I see,” Apollo said. He had no way to tell if the admiral told the truth or not. Either way the fleet numbers were small. He felt unsure if his father would even recommend staying now.
“I’ve taken up too much of your time, I’ll allow you to head back to your home now,” Jurez said “And I thank you for the information you gave us.”
“Our pleasure, I’m sure we’ll talk again,” Apollo said.
“I do have some things to attend to so my aide will take you back to your ship,” Jurez said. A younger man stood nearby and saluted.
Apollo nodded following the young man out of the room. They walked in silence and Apollo noticed the tension lessen quite a bit. He thought maybe it was that way because of how Jurez wielding command of the ship.
“So, would you consider Jurez a good commander,” Apollo asked, hoping to make some small talk.
“Yes,” the man said.
Apollo waited a few microns but nothing else came as they entered the hangar. Off to one side Apollo noticed the mechanics working on the fighters. Something he would see even on the Galactica and almost any time of the day.
“Idiot Gammas,” Apollo heard the aide mumble.
He wondered exactly what that meant but said nothing at the moment. He reached his viper and climbed up watching as the aide already walked away. He Put on his helmet when he heard shouting.
“Can’t you Gammas do anything right? The admiral will hear of this!” the aide yelled then stormed off.
Apollo frowned but caught drifting comments of conversation from the workers.
“Betas.” “Power hungry.” “Alpha complex.”
Apollo had no idea what that meant, but decided to leave while he still had clearance off the ship. Once he had finally left he felt slightly better, and wished he had more information about what seemed to be going on.
*****
Mark sat back down in his chair. The reports were stacking up but he ignored it for the moment. He called down to HQ waiting for Admiral Pappas to reply. He scanned through his e-mail stopping at one in particular. It had no address but simply said Rear-Admiral Mark Cave. Mark opened it quickly scanning through it before rereading it again.
Admiral,
You were told the Cylons are chasing a group, calling themselves Colonials. Baltar said they were rebels, while this may be true, it might also be true that the Colonials are on the run because the Cylons wish to destroy all of humanity.
Who is right, only when both sides are listened to can you find the truth.
You also have in your possession the one thing the Emperor fears the most.
Check it out for yourself,
Mark scanned it again then realized at the bottom it showed a map and a location near Serria.
“Mark!”
Mark jumped looking at his communications screen seeing Admiral Pappas there.
“You all right?” Corey asked.
“Yeah, got a weird e-mail, no return address,” Mark said.
“Probably spam,” Corey stated. “How did the meeting go?”
“Awful, but I don’t think Baltar was insulted too much,” Mark said, his mind still on the e-mail. “Hey, listen to this. This ‘spam’ e-mail, is telling me of another story of the Cylons. They want to destroy humanity and the Colonials, the rebels, are the survivors of some previous destruction.”
“Interesting, but what does that prove. I’m sure, like Baltar stated, they would say anything to gain our trust,” Corey said.
“Yeah, but what if Baltar will say anything to gain our trust as well,” Mark said. Silence from Cory for several minutes before the older man spoke again.
“That is a good point, and one I do not have the answer to. Does the e-mail say who to trust?” Corey finally said.
“No, but I think they have given us the location of the Colonials,” Mark said.
“You want to contact them,” Corey said.
“Yes,” Mark replied. “A quick trip, call it recon to Serria.”
“All right, I’ll approve the Nevada for a quick trip, anything else?” Corey asked
“Yeah, it also states we have the key to scaring the crap out of Emperor Tony,” Mark said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“And just what could that be?” Corey replied. “We’ve developed no new weapons lately, no nothing in fact. I don’t know what we might have that could scare him.”
“I know, well I guess we’ll find out. When will I have permission to leave?” Mark asked.
“Give me a couple of hours to get everything together, including a cover story,” Corey said.
“All right, I’ll wait until we hear something from HQ, but I’ll prepare the ship,” Mark said.
The conversation ended leaving Mark feeling off-balance. He did not have the ability to scare the emperor. Their class system made conquering their planets difficult. The lower classes, the Gammas and Epsilons were easy to bring around. The Beta and Alpha classes were difficult to control. The last class, the Deltas were the most neutral. He guessed it all depended on how much power one wielded. Those in power did not like to give it up.
He could only wait and see if the coordinates left to him in this mysterious message panned out.
*****
Adama watched Apollo walk into his office. His son’s face appeared full of worry which caused Adama to wonder what happened.
“Something wrong?” Adama asked.
“Just some things that I saw while on board the Kitakkim,” Apollo said. “And some things that were said.”
“Like what?” Adama asked. Maybe his son had learned something about the tension everyone had felt while aboard the ship.
“I think there might be some sort of class system or something on board,” Apollo said. “An aide took me back to the ship and he seemed to comment about gammas or something. It was under his breath but obviously treated the hangar crew with almost hatred. And after he left the hangar crew talked about betas and the Alpha complex.”
“I see, could be what they call different groups on board, but it might also explain the tension between different people,” Adama said.
“And he mentioned something about the Alliance, that three hundred years ago they pushed the Milsians out of the Confederation which then formed the alliance,” Apollo said
Adama sat back after hearing that. The thrum of the engines reverberating in the office. “That is unusual, and different than what we thought.”
“I’m beginning to think this Alliance isn’t the same one as the Eastern Alliance,” Apollo said.
“You might be right,” Adama said.
“Commander Adama to the bridge,” Tigh’s voice said interrupting anything Adama might have said. He looked at Apollo before heading up to the bridge.
Adama walked onto the bridge quickly after Tigh summoned him up there. He noticed everyone seemed extremely tense.
“What’s going on?” Adama asked looking at Tigh.
“It appeared a moment ago and already closed in on the fleet,” Tigh said. Adama glanced at the scanner to see a ship close to the fleet. “The speed is amazing.”
“It does give then a slight advantage in when and where a battle will occur. Could we respond quickly enough?” Adama asked.
“We can launch vipers but where they finally slow down we would not know,” Tigh said.
“Put the Galactica on alert,” Adama said.
“Did Apollo talk to you,” Tigh asked.
“Yes,” Adama said. His talk with his son gave him many questions, the biggest being exactly who the Alliance was. They had been known as the Confederation and what information he had gathered from the Easter Alliance captain he did not think they had been spacefaring for more than a hundred yehrens. How long was a year though? If it was about as long as a yehren then it might be three hundred years.
“What do you think we should do?” Tigh asked, bringing Adama’s attention back to the present.
“Try and hail them,” Adama said. He did not want to make any new enemies. He needed allies if the Cylons were close by. He could only hope that what Apollo said, and his own gut proved right.
End Part 5
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