The Milsian Princess
by AJ Marks
Part 7
“Captain, Cylon forces retreating,” Kim said.
Mark saw that in the scanner as well. He quickly scanned the preliminary damage report noticing the shields had held for most of the battle.
He looked around for the Galactica quickly spotting it. The Cylon basestar no longer appeared on the scanner and Mark wondered if it had retreated or been destroyed.
“Incoming message from the Galactica,” Hans said.
“Put it though,” Mark said.
“Do you require assistance?” Adama’s voice replied.
“No, we came though quite all right,” Mark replied. “I think we need to talk again though.”
“I think we should as well, our ship took some damage to our hangers though,” Adama said. “It will take some time for us to repair them enough for your shuttle to land.”
“I extend the invitation for you to come over to our ship then,” Mark said. He had the feeling that they might very well be fighting the Cylons together very soon again.
“Once I have gone over the damage to the Galactica I’ll be over,” Adama said.
“Then I look forward to seeing you,” Mark said. He turned to Yvette and Kim after the communications ended. “Losses?”
“We lost seven fighters,” Kim replied. “But, well, the big thing, the Milsian pilot, her kills.”
Mark wondered what Kim meant and glanced down at the kill board. Crystal’s had destroyed almost twenty-eight fighters, and had only stopped because she ran low on fuel. He glanced through the rest of the pilots noticing that John had eight kills, the next highest.
“Kim, set up the reports and I’ll be in my office. If Commander Adama calls transfer it to my office,” Mark stated.
“All right, but why were we defending ourselves against the Cylons? I thought they were our allies?” Kim finally asked.
“It seems that our friendly Baltar lied to us,” Mark said, watching Kim roll her eyes at that.
“Shall I send a message to HQ?” Kim asked.
Mark thought that one over before finally replying. “No, I want to have more information when I talk to them.”
Kim nodded as Mark turned to head off the bridge. He wondered what would happen next.
*****
Adama walked on board the battle-cruiser Nevada. Standing nearby the captain, Mark Cave along with a few others Adama did not recognize. Starbuck and Boomer stepped out of the shuttle along with him. Apollo stayed on board the Galactica to command the fighter squadrons.
“Welcome aboard Commander Adama,” Mark said greeting him. “This is my second in command, Colonel Kim Geros, and you know Lieutenant John, Skull leader.”
“It is good to be aboard,” Adama replied. “And we thank you for your help.”
“Well, actually, we only helped because the Cylons attacked us,” Mark replied. Adama felt a bit surprised by the honesty of the captain. “Shall we go sit down and continue this discussion.”
“Sounds great,” Adama said. He walked with Mark observing the rest of the crew. He noticed the complete lack of tension on board the Nevada that he had when on board the Kitakkim. People who walked around did so with purpose. Adama had gotten used to people wondering around hallways for fun, exercise, and no purpose in mind.
“Tell me more about this Baltar fellow?” Mark asked as they got on board the elevator.
Adama again felt slightly off-balance with the question but decided nothing to lose by answering it. “Well, he was part of the council, and got into the President’s good side. You might have called him a top advisor at the end. It was him who advised the President not to launch fighters to help my son. It was Baltar who helped sabotage the Colony’s defenses, and through him we were completely defenseless when the Cylons attacked.”
“Helped your son? What happened?” Mark asked.
Adama walked down the corridor and into the meeting room before answering that question. “My two sons were patrolling nearby, routine stuff and spotted the Cylon attack fleet. One had his viper damaged. He was destroyed just as he made it back to the fleet.”
Adama could still feel the loss and complete look of utter shock on the President’s face at that moment. They both knew something had gone wrong. Adama had understood the Cylons were attacking while the President called out for Baltar who had already fled the Atlantia.
“Sorry to hear that,” Mark replied. “So your opinion is not to trust Baltar.”
“No,” Adama said. “And especially not the Cylons. They have destroyed at least two races, including their own race.”
“Their own race?” Mark asked.
“The Cylons were once a reptilian race who were overthrown by their own creations. Since then they have a dislike for all organic races,” Adama replied.
“I see,” Mark said. “It’s a problem here, as we have already met the Cylons, and talked with Baltar.”
Adama felt shock at that statement. He had not expected to hear that.
“He made it sound like you and this fleet were outcasts of the Cylon Empire,” Mark said.
“What a bunch of felbercarb,” Starbuck said. Adama looked over to see both Starbuck and Boomer outraged at the idea. Adama had to admit, he did not like the idea either.
“Well, it makes sense to us, as that’s the history we have. The Milsian Empire are outcasts of our own civilization. A civil war that ended with the ousting of a ruthless dictator. Instead of executing him, like we should have done, they put him and his followers in ships and told him to get lost,” Mark said. “Now we’ve had constant war with them for a hundred years. So this aspect of you being an outcast isn’t that farfetched with me.”
“And yet that is something similar that we were given by the Milsians, they were trying to defend themselves against you,” Adama said. He thought everything seemed very confusing and he wondered who exactly to trust.
Adama also understood that the captain sitting across from him had the same problem. The big difference, Adama had several thousand people sitting in ships hoping he made the right decisions.
“Hmm, an interesting dilemma,” Mark finally replied.
“I will admit, it is indeed, and finding out who to trust is difficult,” Adama stated.
“Captain,” the communicator chimed in interrupting anything else either of them might say.
“What’s going on?” Mark replied.
“Incoming message for you from HQ.”
“All right, I’ll take it in my office, be there in a second,” Mark replied.
“Yes sir.”
“If you’ll excuse me for a second,” Mark said.
“Of course,” Adama replied knowing that command never seemed to cooperate. There would always be something to interfere.
*****
Mark sat down at his desk wondering what HQ wanted. He still had another hour till his report would be due. He activated the screen watching as Admiral Corey Pappas appeared.
“Admiral,” Mark said waiting to see what Corey said.
“Captain, you attacked Cylon forces?” Corey asked. Mark frowned slightly before realizing that of course Baltar would not hesitate to inform the Alliance of the Nevada’s actions.
“After they attacked us admiral,” Mark said. “It was only self-defense.”
“And Senator Agnot is screaming that we’re trying to get into a war against another group. He’s making a very good case against the military and why it needs to be disbanded,” Corey said.
Mark sat there in shock at what he heard. “Admiral, we might as well turn ourselves over to the Milsians then kill ourselves as that’s what the Cylons want from us.”
“Kill us, we’ve never even met them?”
“I’ve spoken with the commander of the Colonials, the so-called rebels of the Cylons. If what they say is true then reality is quite different and potentially disastrous for all of us,” Mark said. He hoped the admiral listened to reason about the Cylons. They could not afford to pick the wrong side.
“And you have to listen to this politically. We’re in danger of being shut down,” Corey said. “I’m relieving you of command, and you will have to turn over the Milsian pilot. The Senate is screaming over that one as well.”
“And if you’re wrong admiral, you’ve doom us all,” Mark said. He felt forces at play trying to destroy them from the inside and outside.
“Look, my hands are tied, when all this calms down we’ll sit down and discuss this rationally,” Corey said, rubbing his forehead. “I’ve already sent the order to your second in command. They will take over until the Nevada returns to base.”
“And if the Milsians attack, and we have no military, then you’ll call upon our new allies the Cylons who will help us, and then they will be part of our defenses and when they turn on us we’ll have no defense,” Mark said. “They are a robot race, they do not care about rules admiral!”
Mark watched Corey think about that before answering. “I’m sorry captain, you have your orders,” the screen went dark with that.
Mark slammed a fist down on the table with that. He had a large problem of turning over Crystal as well. Her performance had been exceptional and putting her in an intelligence office asking her question would do nothing. He still had some dignitaries on board. The door chimed before Kim walked into the office.
“I take it you’re here to take command of the Nevada,” Mark asked.
“What’s going on?”she asked, confusion in her voice.
“Seems Baltar talked with Senator Agnot and the senator is convinced the military is trying to start another war. We’re to return to dock and then turn over the Milsian pilot. He did not even listen to reason the Cylons might not be trusted,” Mark said.
“It’s a dangerous situation either way captain. What if this is part of the plan to divide us up like Baltar said they would do,” Kim said.
“Yes, that is true, but then why did the Cylons attack us? Why did they state we attacked them to the senator? No, I think something else is going on here,” Mark said.
“Captain?”
“Think about this, nothing makes any sense. Add in the fact we have a potential key weapon to fight the Milsian empire and suddenly, hold on, how did the Senate find out about Crystal?” Mark said suddenly remembering what Corey said. “They are up in arms because we’re keeping her a secret, yet no one leaked that information.”
He looked at Kim who seemed perplexed as well.
“Did any of the senators see her?” Kim finally asked.
“Senator Agnot, but how would he recognize a Milsian pilot in Alliance clothing?” Mark said. “What if she’s the weapon?”
“A pilot?” Kim said confused.
“Maybe, bring her to the conference room, we have a lot of talking to do,” Mark said.
“The orders?” Kim asked.
“I’m risking everything here colonel, you would too, in disobeying these orders,” Mark said. “I’m trusting the Colonials, and a strange e-mail that so far has been correct in everything it said.”
“If what they say is right, the Cylon pose a greater threat to everyone than the Milsians ever will. And we need to take that threat seriously,” Kim said. “I’m with you. What about the rest of the crew?”
“If they don’t know then they are not in danger,” Mark said. “We’ll continue along without scouting report.”
“Yes sir! I’ll inform Markus to bring Crystal to the conference room,” Kim said.
*****
Adama watched as Mark and Kim walked back into the room. Something had definitely changed. He knew that the moment Kim had left the room after reading an order.
“Sorry for that commander,” Mark said sitting back down.
“No problem, I’m used to it. When you have a fleet of old ships that shouldn’t be operational anymore interruptions is your life,” Adama said.
“I see, well it seems we have a problem,” Mark said. “It appears Baltar had already contacted our Senate and we’ve been ordered to retreat and I’ve been removed from command. That’s only the tip of the iceberg as they say.”
Adama was not familiar with that phrase but the news Mark said held nothing good. Adama wondered what that meant for them now. He watched the door open again as another man walked in escorting a young woman with blonde hair into the room.
“Captain,” the man said.
“It’s all right, both of you have a seat,” Mark said. “Commander, this is Markus, my head of security and the woman is Crystal, actually a Milsian pilot.”
Adama noticed the woman seemed to show no emotion at all. She gave off the appearance of someone bent on a mission and nothing else mattered to her.
“Crystal, would you have any reason why someone would say you are possibly the greatest threat to the Milsian Empire?’ Mark finally asked.
Adama thought this unusual but the answer surprised him even more.
“No, but Admiral Jurez would know,” Crystal said.
“There is no way to ask him,” Mark said.
Adama had a reckless thought, one that might actually give him a greater understanding of everything. “But we know him.”
He watched Crystal’s head snap over to him. The look of hunger apparent in her eyes. He recognized the look of revenge burning in her eyes. He had seen it in many of his own warriors and wondered exactly what had happened to this woman.
“I can’t ask you to help us out in this,” Mark said.
“No, bring him here,” Crystal said. “I’ll make him talk.”
The growl that accompanied Crystal’s voice made Adama hesitate for a second. “He won’t come here, too far away for your ships, but the Galactica can go there. And it will help me trust you even more.”
“Commander, are you sure about this?” he heard Starbuck’s voice say.
“Yes, we’ll leave gold and silver spar squadrons here in the fleet,” Adama said.
“And with the Nevada helping protect the fleet it will be safe,” Mark said. “If you’re going to help us the least we can do is help you.”
“It appears we have a plan,” Adama finally said.
*****
Baltar sat on the command chair smiling to himself. Yes he had guessed correctly about the senator.
“What is it Lucifer?” Baltar finally said to the presence of the Cylon.
“I am confused Baltar. Why do we not just destroy them now? Their guard is down,” Lucifer said. “And we have an additional basestars arriving in another two cectars.”
“Simple Lucifer, their ships are heavily defended with a sort of deflector system. Colonial scientists toyed with it but never got it to work. They did which means they don’t get the same amount of damage as we do in a battle. We must position ourselves to attack with the greatest amount of destruction,” Baltar said. “Similar to what happened with the Colonies. If I had allowed the defenses to be active and alerted the warriors to your plan the Cylon Empire would have been finished.”
“Both sides were stretched thin at that time,” Lucifer said. “So you’re positioning ships for this attack.”
“Yes, and when the strike comes they will not be able to defend themselves. The current war with the Milsians helps us tremendously.
“I learn something every day,” Lucifer said.
“One being never underestimate humans, they will do what you do not expect when you least want them to,” Baltar said. Right now he had to play the Alliance Senate against the military and then add in the Milsians. With that mix he could very easily make the Cylons an ally of the alliance helping destroy the Milsians. Once that had been accomplished then he could destroy the Alliance. Commander Adama posed the biggest threat to his plans. Baltar hoped he could enact his plan before Adama could even do anything.
*****
“Admiral, incoming ship,” the scanner operator said.
Jurez glanced over at Captain Diern then walked over to the scanners to see what happened. The tone of the operator meant the ship was not an alliance warship. He glanced down not sure of the ship either. The scanners could not identify it, only that it was bigger than the Kitakkim, but not by much.
“Captain, incoming communications.”
Jurez turned to look at Captain Diern who merely glanced back at him.
“Who is it?” Diern asked.
“They say they are the Battlestar Galactica, and it’s Commander Adama wanting to talk to Admiral Jurez.”
“Put it through here,” Jurez said. He only had to wait a second before he had communications. “This is Admiral Jurez Commander Adama, you wanted to speak with me?”
“Ah, admiral, yes, I was hoping to talk to you again, sorry it’s unannounced but it could not wait,” Adama stated. “I was hoping this time to be the host.”
Jurez thought about that for a few seconds. True, heading over there would give him a first-hand look at the technology the Colonials used. That might come in handy later for when they became a threat to them.
“Very well commander, I’ll meet you over aboard your ship,” Jurez said.
“I look forward to see you again,” Adama said.
“And me too,” Jurez stated. He turned to Diern who followed Jurez off the bridge and into his office.
“Admiral?” Diern said.
“Make sure no communications goes out from the planet’s surface, and make sure that everything is ready,” Jurez said. “I doubt anything will happen, but you never can tell.”
“Very well admiral,” Diern said.
“Have a pilot ready to take me over,” Jurez said. “I’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”
“As you wish.”
Jurez watched the captain leave the office before switching the communicator and waited for the Emperor.
“This had better be good admiral,” Emperor Tony said a few minutes later.
“Commander Adama and the Galactica appeared on our scanners here at Serria,” Jurez said.
“What did they want?”
“I’m headed over to find out now Emperor,” Jurez said.
“I expect a full report when you return,” the Emperor stated.
“Of course Emperor, I would do no less,” Jurez said. The communications ended and Jurez rose wondering what would have caused Adama to bring his warship here, if it was a warship. That would be answered rather quickly as well.
*****
Amy pushed back a lock of brown hair watching the guards from where she sat. A young woman sat down in the chair next to her.
“Morning,” Amy said, taking a sip of the coffee then made a face. “Ugh, it’s getting worse.”
“It is Milsian coffee Amy, what do you expect,” the woman said.
“And it tastes terrible, no flavor at all,” Amy said. “Did you put any milk or sugar in it?”
“They were out, again.”
“Oh well, it’s all right Macy, it’s them I blame,” Amy said, motioning her head in their direction.
“Amy, you’ll get in trouble again,” Macy said.
“And they conquered us, or don’t you understand that,” Amy hissed back. Amy turned to look at the young red-head woman before smiling softly at her. “So, what did you find out?”
“Rumor, there is a visitor out there,” Macy said.
“And?” Amy asked suddenly excited.
“Rene says yes,” Macy said, now looking quite nervous.
“Excellent, tell Rene now,” Amy said. She took one more bitter taste of the coffee before tossing it out and standing. Normally she would have invited Macy with her, but today, well things were about to change on Serria and she would make sure about that. Her people were in place, now she had to move.
End Part 7
Comment below or send to AJMarks01@aol.com