To Stop Running
by AJ Marks
Part 1
Commander Tigh’s Log:
“It’s been several yahrens since our last encounter with the Cylons. I fear they are still somewhere behind us, looking for us, chasing us. I don’t think they have stopped despite seeing no contact with them for so long.
“It is difficult to constantly argue that they might be right behind us. The longer we go without contact the more the call to settle down becomes. The Council hounds me with questions, and while I rejoice being free from the Cylons, like Commander Adama, I fear their return.
“I can only hope we are united with Earth soon. I fear it’s our only hope for survival.”
Tigh paused in his musings to think about the past bit. He had a feeling he would never know of the planet Earth, like Adama. He had passed away two yehrens ago, and three yehrens after he retired.
The fleet had managed to be lucky. They had run across the damaged Pegasus. Technicians worked hard to bring the battlestar back up into working condition. Now with two battlestars, they were better able to protect the fleet. The only sad part had been to learn the death of Commander Cain in the battle.
However, some systems on the Pegasus like scanners had taken a long time to repair, parts had to be manufactured, which was slow. The ship now had functioning scanners, allowing it to scan the rear of the fleet.
The other part that worried Tigh even more than the Cylons, they had found several settlements completely destroyed, the planets stripped of its resources. They found some signs of a struggle, but nothing was certain. Was there a group as bad, or worse than, the Cylons out there? Tigh hoped not.
“Commander Tigh, report to the bridge.”
He stood and made his way out of the office and towards the bridge. He wondered what might have been spotted, and hoped it was not Cylons.
Alarm lights flashed on the bridge as the commander stepped up.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking around at the chaos going on. “Someone talk to me!”
“Three unknown contact approaching Neptune’s listening post sir,” the reply finally came back.
“Dam, okay, red alert,” Commander Johnson said, watching people move into action. “Tell Neptune listening post that the cruiser Koisa is fifteen minutes away. Any identification yet?”
“Negative.”
“Inform all station to be alert,” Johnson replied. He hoped to avoid any trouble, but one never knew what might happen.
He paced back and forth several times, nervous about what might happen next. The last time humanity had an encounter with another race was twenty years ago. That encounter almost destroyed them. They were lucky to have survived the encounter alive.
After the victory scientists quickly explored the wreckage of the starships and quickly adapted the technology. It had amazed them to learn that their computer systems had ignored the idea of a virus, something every human computer tech was aware of.
“Contact the Pacifica and notify the admiral of our situation here. Any news from Neptune” Johnson said, waiting for any new report.
“No sir, wait a second,” the communications officer said, pausing as he listened in on something. “Hold on, I think I’m hearing them say they are under attack.”
Johnson waited as the officer tried a few times to raise the outpost before looking up helpless.
“I can’t raise the outpost anymore.”
The statement silenced the bridge.
“Notify Earth Central Command that hostile forces have entered the system,” Johnson said, wishing it was not true. “Is the Koisa still on the way?”
“Yes sir.”
“Tell its captain to stay in contact, and report in on the situation of the station,” Johnson stated. He wondered what happened, and who had attacked them. The time went by slowly as they waited for news from the cruiser.
“Sir, I have the captain of the Koisa,” the communications officer said.
“Put it through,” Johnson said. “Any sigh of the outpost?”
“Negative commander, all we can see is a twisted pile of rubble. We have no signs of life,” the captain replied back to him.
“Any sign of the enemy who did this?” Johnson asked.
“No sir, nothing on our scanners,” the captain replied back to him.
That scared Johnson. Either their enemy was incredibly fast, or had a way to make themselves invisible. Either one of those gave them a tremendous advantage in a battle.
“Okay, make a report back to command, scan the area and be careful,” Johnson ordered, wondering how his superiors would take this news.
“Hey Starbuck,” the voice said over the intercom of the viper.
“Yeah Boxey, what’s up kiddo?” Starbuck replied to his wingmate.
“Take a listen to frequency .135 mHz,” he said, reminding Starbuck a bit of both Boomer and Apollo in his tinkering of frequencies.
Starbuck switched over, surprised at the voices on the frequencies. What more, they did not originate from the fleet nor were they Cylon. The mystery deepened as he listened hearing nothing that would be military.
“Almost sounds civilian,” Starbuck stated. “Let’s see if we can determine where the source is.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Boxey replied.
“Patrol alpha to the Pegasus,” Starbuck said, reporting in to the battlestar.
“Pegasus, go ahead,” he heard the controller’s voice say back.
“Tell the commander we’ve encountered a signal and we’re going to investigate, it’s not Cylon, and sounds civilian,” Starbuck replied.
“Copy patrol, Commander Apollo says to be careful,” she replied back.
“Hey, I’m always careful,” Starbuck replied.
“And that’s what worries me,” Apollo’s voice said, indicating he had been listening in.
“Yeah, got it, come on Boxey, let’s see what king of trouble we can find,” Starbuck said, turning his viper towards the signal. Both vipers headed off towards the signals unsure what they might find.
On board the Pegasus, Apollo looked down at the scanners watching as the two vipers headed away from the fleet. He hoped they might find something, some helpful civilization. He thought about what might be going on before he came to a decision.
“Did Captain Starbuck give us the direction of the signal?” Apollo asked.
“Yes sir,” one of the bridge members stated.
“Colonel Zonci, get me Commander Tigh,” Apollo said, watching as the colonel quickly opened a communications with the Galactica.
“Apollo, is there anything wrong?” Tigh asked.
“Don’t’ think so, but one of my patrols is investigating some signals. I might need to take the Pegasus into the area depending on what they find,” Apollo stated. “I have a feeling, almost as if something drastic is about to happen.”
“Adama used to say that,” Tigh said. “Keep me informed in case you do.”
“I will, Pegasus out,” Apollo stated, looking out the bridge and out at the fleet. What was the uneasiness of the feeling he felt. “Helm, prepare a course to follow the patrol.”
“Yes sir,” the reply came back.
Apollo hoped he did not have to order it to be engaged.
The twentieth anniversary celebration of the defeat of the aliens was underway. The government declared it a nationwide holiday, and this celebration’s planning had been underway for almost three years. A planetwide celebration that the survivors could rejoice over.
Music groups were set, ready to perform from the President’s Palace. A festival atmosphere prevailed, something they wanted every event to feel. People arrived at the ground early, ready to celebrate. Invited guests would start to arrive in thirty minutes.
President Hiller looked over at his wife, Jasmine. He was in his first year as President, having won the presidency based upon his war record and working to rebuild the planet. People still viewed him as the pilot who flew the alien craft into the mother ship, destroying it. He had not gone into politics at first, but relented after being begged by thousands of people all over the world.
Jasmine still looked beautiful to him, even all these years later, and now two kids. He wondered if she ever thought she might one day be the first lady of the President of the world. He knew he never expected t.
“It’s going to be a wonder celebration,” she said, giving him a hug.
“You getting in the mood?” he asked.
“You still think you’re all that?” she replied.
“Yep,” he stated back to her, full of ego from his days of flying.
“So much has changed,” she said, as they looked out at the city of Denver, the capital of the world. One of the few large cities to have survived the attack. It would have been destroyed if not for the saucer diverting to Area 51. That luck had seen it climb as the top city, even though other cities were now being rebuilt.
Many had come here, and it took a while to sort things out as the city was not ready for such a large influx of people. Now, many of the other cities had been cleared, new towns were springing up.
He looked over as an aide walked in looking grim. He noticed the look wondering what might have happened. The aide handed him a note, which he read, then looked at the aide and back at eth note. Impossible!
“What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked, her voice now worried.
“We’ve lost contact with our outpost near Neptune,” Steven said, worried himself.
“An asteroid?” she asked, hoping to easily dismiss the problem.
“No, one of the cruisers reported having contact with three unknown ships,” Steven said, now unsure about what might have happened Were they under attack?
He knew the same question went through everyone’s mind. Were the aliens back? He always assumed they only had the one ship, and when it was destroyed, so they went. He had been haunted by that fact, he killed billions of beings, eliminated an entire race.
“Inform all commands,” he finally said, before turning back to Jasmine. “Well, we have a celebration to attend, let’s be happy.”
“Commander Johnson to the bridge, Commander Johnson to the bridge,” the intercom stated, heard all over the ship. Johnson looked up at the intercom speaker then down to his food. He had sat down to eat, and with a sigh put the fork down and walked over the intercom to answer.
“Johnson here, what’s the situation?” He asked the bridge.
“Commander, scanners indicate two fast moving contact approaching our sector,” the reply came back to him. He froze hearing the news.
“ETA to contact?” he asked.
“Approximately ten minutes.”
He thought about everything, and what had happened recently. Were these ships the same as the ones which attacked the outpost? He could not take any chances.
“Put VF 105 standby and go to red alert,” he ordered.
“Yes sir, the reply came back.
Johnson looked at his food, then moved to the door as the ship went to red alert. He ran to the bridge, avoiding others as they ran to their battlestations. Upon entering the bridge he noticed the complete organized chaos going on, as people went about their duties.
“All stations report,” he said, reaching the command chair, strapping in.
“All stations are reporting ready commander.”
“Sir,” he heard a shaky voice say. “You might want to see this!”
He looked down at the scanner to see what she saw, only to stop his mental thoughts.
“Get me fleet command now!”
End Part 1
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