Voyage to Earth
by AJ Marks
Recruits
Aaron shifted slightly in the shuttle seat. It seemed like the ride over to the Rising sun took forever. He and his twin sister, Rhea, had finally managed to get tickets to the entertainment ship, one of a few in the fleet. Despite other ships, the Rising Star was the best. He looked at the monitor in front of him again, watching as it repeated what shows were available. It repeated ever few centons and he had seen it already.
“Wonder what’s taking so long?’ he said, looking over at his sister.
“Probably a lot of shuttles going to and from the liner,” she replied back to him. “It’s one the busiest ships in the fleet, except for the Galactica.”
“You’re probably right,” Aaron said, accepting Rhea’s explanation, after all she was one of the flight controllers aboard their ship. She dealt with any shuttles going to and from the ship. She had managed to get a couple of days off for this thanks to the captain.
“You know I am, but things would be much more exciting if I could get onto the Galactica,” Rhea said, surprising him slightly. He never heard her say anything about the military. “But they already have several flight operators.”
He understood, as he had inquired about joining the military as well. When he asked they were not accepting at the moment. The person told him they already had enough people, and they could not handle any more people.
He turned his attention back to the monitor, which repeated another feature of the Rising Star.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the stewardess announced over the intercom. “We are next to land aboard the Rising Star, we hope you enjoy your stay on board.”
“Finally,” he thought, wanting to get on board and having some sun at last.
The shuttle finally landed and the twins managed to get though the unloading procedures and into the Rising Star for a much needed break from the doldrums of fleet life. They were staying on board for a night, so they had some time to enjoy the shows. They looked over the shows, then went to get their room for the night before heading off in different directions to explore the ship. The agreed to meet for dinner. Aaron headed off to see the gambling area, he saved up some credits for this purpose, and wanted to try it out for himself.
Rhea made her ways towards the shows. Currently they had a romantic thriller showing that people seemed to like, and her friends said was great. She calculated she could watch the show and still have plenty of time before having to meet her brother. She had a feeling he probably would be gambling, as he talked about it a bit with his friends before they ever left. She found the theater and walked in to enjoy the show.
Half an hour later Aaron walked away from one of the card tables looking for something to drink. He passed a well-dress, and very pretty, young lady and thought of a way he might be able to meet her. He turned the corner when something else caught his attention. The monitor was showing pictures of the Galactica, with cut shots to personal on the ship, from bridge crew, flight crews to viper pilots. A centon later the message passed on the screen that they were signing up for new warriors of all areas. A group would be on the Rising Star tomorrow.
Yes, he thought to himself about the news. He would not wait to tell Rhea about this. He finally had a good chance to become a warrior, and maybe one day get some revenge against the Cylons for what they did.
He grabbed his drink and headed back to the tables, not seeing the pretty woman, but decided to keep an eye out.
Later on he met his sister for dinner and could not help the grin on his face causing her to ask what happened.
“The military is taking applications on all levels,” he said, watching her look back at him in disbelief.
“I thought they weren’t taking any applications at the moment?” Rhea replied confused.
“I know,” Aaron replied excitedly. “I saw a commercial for it while taking a break not long ago. They’ll have a recruiting station here tomorrow.”
“I’ll know where you’ll be then,” she replied back to him, thinking about the news. “I can try too, but I won’t get my hopes up,” Rhea said, getting up to refill her plate leaving Aaron alone with his thoughts.
He understood her reluctance to get excited. Bridge positions were even harder to come by on the Galactica than a warrior. She had flight experience which he figured would help out if she tried to enlist.
He watched her return with dessert on her plate. “Where’d you find that chocolate cake?” he asked. “I looked for something like that.”
She smiled a bit before answering. “They just put it out, I got the first piece,” she said, taking a bite of the cake, savoring the flavor. Dessert was a rarity in the fleet, but frequently served on board the luxury liners.
“That looks great,” Aaron said, standing up. “Be right back.” He quickly headed off to the serving area to claim a piece.
Rhea thought about what her brother said about the recruitment tomorrow. It would be wonderful to be accepted. She had been told by several people she had the skills to be a flight operator on board a battlestar, the problem was the Galactica already had its flight officers. The only way she would get in was if one of them suddenly decided to retire, or a new battlestar was found. She snorted at that thought. She knew Aaron might get in, but she had no hope of making it into the military.
Aaron returned with his cake and they ate in silence as they both enjoyed the cake.
“So, what’s wrong sis?” Aaron asked, as they walked back to their room.
“We both know that I won’t be making into the military. A flight controller isn’t in high demand on the Galactica. I’ve heard nothing about any of them retiring,” Rhea said finally, sighing a bit at the thought. “It would take a miracle.”
“The ad didn’t say they were not. I would try anyways,” he said, hoping to provide some encouragement to her. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.” He walked into their room to change for the evenings activities.
“Okay,” she said. They each went back out for an evening of fun before coming back to retire for the night unsure about what might happen tomorrow.
*****
The twins made their way to the area of recruitment. A line had already formed causing them to wonder if they might even get a chance to fill out a form. Despite their doubts, they stood in line, watching a few get in line, and others walk away with the same thought they probably had.
The line actually moved quickly. They could see the front and saw two warriors behind a table, with a few tables off to the side where people were writing, and another warrior off to the side. Finally reaching the table Aaron got a better look at the two warriors at the table. One was a bit overweight and the other a woman, both with dark hair.
“My name’s Jolly,” the man said, shaking Aaron’s hand. “Need you to fill this out, then give it to Athena beside me.”
“Thank you,” Aaron replied, taking the form over to a table. He quickly filled out the form, as did his sister, who stood beside him filling out the form. “What do you think sis?” he asked her.
“I don’t know, part of me thinks well make it, the other part, the realistic part of me, no way,” she said, finishing up her form as they headed to where the Athena sat collecting the forms.
Aaron handed in his completed form hearing Athena thank him, and giving the form a quick glance over before Rhea did the same. He noticed Athena pause and look up at her.
“So, you’re Rhea,” Athena said. “Heard a lot about you from the shuttle pilots, they say you’re quite good, and Rigel says she talks to you.”
“Um, yes, thank you,” Rhea said, blushing a bit at the compliment.
“Are you two related?” Athena asked, looking down at the forms for a second.
“She’s my twin sister,” Aaron said, giving Rhea a nudge watching as she still had a slight blush from the compliment. He knew she was good at her job, and it felt good for someone else to tell her that.
“Take this,” Athena said. She handed Aaron a green piece of paper and Rhea a blue piece of paper. “Head through those door next to the lieutenant there,” she said, pointing to a warrior who motioned them forward.
They walked into the next room where a lot of people were already standing. Aaron knew the same thoughts went though both of them. With so many, what was going on? They sat down and he noticed a few with green pieces of paper, the most common one, followed by orange, a few browns, but his sister had the only blue color. He wondered what that might mean.
They looked around as a few more people walked in before a man walked into the room with dark hair.
“Welcome everyone, you’ve passed the first round of invitations to the military,” the man said. “There is a good chance that many of you will become warriors, serving on board our warships to protect the fleet.”
Aaron felt the change in the room at the mention of warships. Had he meant what he said, that there were more than two warships?
“Now, I realize that many of you have other jobs within the fleet and will require a bit of time to get your life rearranged to the military. How many can start right away?” he asked, seeing a couple of people raise their hands, including Aaron. “Those of you who need some time to straighten out your jobs, family or other things, please talk to Athena in the next room. Those who can stay, please remain.”
“See you later,” Rhea said. He was not surprised at the fact she did not stay. She was a flight controller on board their ship and would have to work. He also saw the slight hope she had disappear, as they might not take her. He gave her a smile, a hug and watched as she disappeared through the door.
Aaron waited as the room cleared a bit, leaving those left who could start right away. He had a sense of urgency in their actions by being so quick.
“If any of you need to call your family, or roommates to let them know what’s going on, do so. We’ll be meeting back here in thirty centons, from here we’ll be heading towards the Galactica to begin your training. You all have a color coded piece of paper that will be important for when we arrive. It shows what area of the ship you will be working, and what training you need. Dismissed.”
Aaron walked out heading out of the room towards the communicators, seeing Rhea standing there.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Giving us thirty centons to call anyone we need to inform them of what’s going on. What about you?” he asked, hoping for the best.
“We have half a day to get our affairs in order if we’re serious, I’m on my way to contact Captain Tibon and inform him of my decision to join,” Rhea said.
“What me to let Fran know?” he asked, indicating the older woman who had acted like a mom to them after the destruction of the colonies.
“No, I’ll inform her,” Rhea said.
“Okay, I’m going to inform Brett though,” he said, indicating the roommate he had, an older gentleman who he shared a room with.
They made their way to the communications center, and had to wait a bit for an open line. He finally got a seat and contacted Brett, who seemed confused at his communications.
“Out of money?” he asked with a smile.
“Actually, no,” Aaron said, wondering how to break the news. “Actually I’m breaking even there.”
“The plan didn’t work?” Brett said.
“Not really,” Aaron answered, before continuing on. “Actually, something else came up.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I saw an ad for recruitment to the military,” Aarons aid, watching Brett nod.
“You’ve been accepted at last?” the man said, seemingly already knowing the news.
“Yeah,” Aaron said. “I’ll be heading over to the Galactica in about thirty centons.”
“So I can finally bring a lady friend over, eh?” he asked, grinning.
“That happened once, and you never mentioned anything about it,” Aaron said, recalling when he walked into the room and caught Brett and a woman friend in bed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your stuff until you come over to get it, or I get a chance to send it to you,” Brett said.
“Thanks, I’ll be in touch,” Aaron said, hearing Brett answer before ending the call and allowing someone else to use it. He walked out seeing Rhea standing there. “Did you talk to Fran?”
“Yeah, waiting now for the captain,” Rhea said. “I might be done really quick and head over with you.”
Aaron was surprised at that.
“Fran seemed to think something big had happened,” Rhea said.
“Yeah, has to be, they are rushing us into training, don’t suppose the Cylons have found us?” Aaron said keeping his voice down.
“I hope not,” Rhea replied, even as she waited for the communications to open up. He made his way back to the room to wait.
*****
“Status of the personal and supplies?” Adama asked stepping onto the bridge. He had come from another council meeting, and now looked over at Omega for an update. He would have to get used to a larger command of at least two battlestars, or perhaps three if things went well. The fleet had slowed down a bit and the technicians had scanned every inch of the Agamemnon for anything unusual. The report that came back was completely clean. Tigh had taken off to take command of the battlestar, with Apollo in temporary charge until Tigh arrived.
“We have personal ready to leave, and one tanker which is about to arrive at the yard,” Omega replied.
“And recruitment?”
“Athena states that is ahead of schedule,” Omega said. “She also had a flight controller lined up from the freighter Tomai. She can start almost right away, that’ll give us some experience personal ready to go on the bridge of one of the ships.”
“Good,” Adama answered. He felt glad that another experienced flight operator would be on board one of the ships.
“The first of the personal shuttles are about to head out, should arrive at the Agamemnon shortly,” Omega said. Adama nodded at the news, which actually was better than he hoped for. The quicker the Agamemnon arrived, the quicker the Galactica could leave for a refit.
“Commander, Colonel Tigh is on the com for you,” Rigel said.
“Put it up here,” Adama said, watching as Tigh’s face appeared on the screen. “How are things going?”
“Looking good, the technicians double-checked everything, it all looks fine and ready to go,” Tigh said. “When can I expect the first of the crew to arrive?” Tigh asked.
“They’re on their way now,” Adama replied, knowing Tigh was anxious to being the operation. “The first of the tankers should be arriving soon, so first chance you get move the Agamemnon out of the way.”
“Already being considered,” Tigh said.
“And did you talk with our builder?” Adama asked.
“Yes, it was a shock, talking to a robot,” Tigh said. “It’s, well, different.”
“How?” Adama asked, wondering if he should be concerned.
“It’s like talking to someone who is losing their memory,” Tigh said. “I have to agree with Apollo’s assessment, it seems genuine, and ready to help. Its also very advanced, more so than the Cylons are.”
Adama felt relieved at that. If this robot was more advanced than the Cylons then they could not have built it. It was no trap.
“All right, inform Starbuck and Apollo to head back to the Galactica, we’ll need them here to start training of the new recruits.”
“I’ll let them know.”
Adama ended the conversation, feeling slightly better than before. He would still talk to the robot himself when he arrived at the shipyard, and see for himself.
*****
“You know, I’ve never been aboard a new battlestar before, the Galactica was my first, and she was already five hundred yahrens old,” Starbuck said, as they looked around the ship.
“Know what you mean,” Apollo said, also looking around, seeing everything so clean, and new. “But you know, if I was stationed here, I’d miss the Galactica.”
“I know, I don’t think your father will transfer the fleet flag from the Galactica after its refit. He’s too well attached to the ship to leave,” Starbuck said, giving Apollo something to think about.
“Apollo, Starbuck,” they heard Tigh yell. Turning they saw the colonel walking towards them. “Commander Adama wants you two to report back to the Galactica as soon as possible.”
“Ah, okay, anything wrong?” Starbuck said.
“Probably wants us to help with the new recruits, training,” Apollo replied to his friend, watching him groan.
“Not sure I’m ready for all of this,” Starbuck stated honestly, as they started heading towards the hangar. “I mean, I don’t know if I’m ready for this responsibility, we haven’t trained this many recruits before. Last time we only had to do a few pilots.”
“You’ll both do fine,” Tigh said to them. “Wouldn’t be surprised if you both don’t get your own commands when we decide to retire.”
“I guess,” Apollo said, as they reached the hangar. Several people were disembarking, looking around before heading off into the ship. Apollo and Starbuck said bye to Tigh before entering the shuttle and heading back to the Galactica.
*****
Aaron watched as Rhea walked into the room. He was a bit surprised by that, but figured she got everything straightened out quickly. Another person walked into the room leading them to the shuttle that would take them over to the Galactica.
They sat down in the shuttle along with several others. He took the opportunity to look around at the others. Sitting next to him, a tall young man with short black hair. On the other side of them, a shorter guy with blonde hair.
“You two related,” the guy next to Aaron said, pointing to him and his sister.
“Yeah, twin sister,” Aaron replied. “I’m Aaron, that’s Rhea.’
“Jason,” the guy replied, shaking Aaron’s hand. “What are you signed up for? I’m hoping to be a viper pilot.”
“Same here,” Aaron answered, noticing they both had green papers. So that probably meant they were part of the pilot program, or something like that.
“What’s your sister? She doesn’t have a color I recognize,” Jason said.
“Flight control on the bridge,” Aaron replied, slightly proud of his sister.
“A bridge job eh,” Jason said, sounding impressed with the area. “Any experience?”
“She was the flight controller of our ship, the Tomai,” Aaron replied, looking over at Rhea, who appeared in conversation with the guy next to her.
“She’s cute,” Jason said, leaning closer to whisper that to him.
Aaron looked over at his sister, before shrugging. “I guess so, she is my sister,” he replied, never having looked that close at her.
“I understand, have three sisters, all younger than me,” Jason replied nodding in understanding.
On the other side of Aaron, Rhea had struck up a conversation with the blonde. She learned his name was Cronus, and hoped to be a viper pilot as well. He also had a green piece of paper, but felt his size might hinder his acceptance into the program. She thought they would not, if they thought he was too small they would have given him a different piece of paper.
“So, what are you hoping to do, you were the only one with a blue piece of paper,” Cronus said, looking away quickly then back at her.
“Be part of the bridge flight controllers,” Rhea replied.
“Wow, going for a bridge job, I’ve heard Rigel is one of the best. Do you have any experience?” Cronus asked her.
“Some, I’m the senior flight officer on the freighter Tomai,” Rhea replied shyly. She rarely talked about her experience, it somehow seemed to be looking down on others in the freighter.
Cronus was quiet for a few seconds before speaking up again. “Is that your brother?”
“Yeah, actually twin brother,” Rhea replied.
“Hey, there’s the Galactica,” someone else said, causing everyone to look out the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of the battlestar. Rhea shifted slightly to get a view even as she felt the shuttle turn slightly.
They both looked at the battlestar, and the activity which seemed to be going on around it. Shuttles were launching out of the hangar, and several other shuttles were lined up to land. Rhea thought it was probably regular activity going to and from the ship to other ships in the fleet.
The shuttle lined up next and made a landing, before moving around to a spot on the hangar floor. The doors opened allowing them all to exit. Twenty-five people walked out, nineteen men and six women, all holding color cards waiting to see what might happen next. A warrior walked up to them.
“Welcome to the Galactica, I’m Bojay, and I might be one of your instructors, depending on the group,” he said. “Follow me we’ll get off the hangar deck, somewhere more comfortable.”
He led them off the hangar, pointing out places all around before finally leading them into a room with several seats and they were instructed to sit down. Several other warriors were standing in the room already.
“Okay, we’ll collect your paperwork and get you settled,” Bojay said.
Everyone sat down, while a few of the warriors collected the cards from them and arranged them into groups. Aaron sat down with a group of others who had green cards. Rhea was directed to a seat near the front and was by herself. One of the warriors with dark-hair stood up in the front when everything had been collected.
“I’m Captain Apollo, this is Lieutenant Starbuck,” he said, pointing to the blonde next to him. “Everyone here has an excellent chance of becoming a warrior in the fleet. As you may, or may not know, we are looking for people in all areas, from pilots to bridge crew.”
Rhea finally found herself excited by what he said, but also curious about why so many openings were available.
“We’ve kept this news quiet, but there is no mass retiring, or anything like that. Many of you will be serving aboard either the battlestar Agamemnon or Hyperion,” Apollo said, everyone in the room sitting stunned at that announcement. No one had heard of either of those two ships. People looked around at each other in shock, wondering if they heard correctly before Apollo continued. “I realize this is a chock to many of you, but there have been some very interesting developments lately, including the finding of these two battlestars. The Hyperion is almost complete, and its important that we are able to protect the fleet at all times. The Galactica will be heading to the dock for a quick refit.”
Aaron looked over to see his sister, who also appeared in shock at the news. He realized she would be at work rather quickly.
“Now, we’ll sending you off with the proper people to begin a rush course to get you on board the ship as quick as possible,” Apollo said.
A person in blue walked up to Rhea, and led her out of the room. Aaron remained seated as other groups were taken away leaving a group of ten in the room. He realized they were the ones who had green cards, seven men and three women.
“All right guys and gals, you have stated you’d like to train to be viper pilots. This group will be reporting directly to either Starbuck or myself,” Apollo said.
Aaron looked at the group, seeing Jason still there and the guy who his sister was talking to.
“Now, follow me, we’ll get you settled for the moment, the Galactica will be your home for the next couple of days until we feel you’re ready for flight training and then you’ll be transferred to your squadron and ship,” Apollo said, as another warrior joined them.
“Ladies follow me,” she said. The rest followed Starbuck and Apollo.
Aaron looked around and quickly grabbed a bunk with Jason.
*****
“You wanted to speak with me?” a figure in the shadows said to the man sitting down.
“Yes I did,” the sitting figure replied, not looking up. “I need a favor, Adama is becoming too powerful, he needs to be removed.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Here,” the sitting man said, sliding a piece of paper across the table. The man in the shadows quickly picked up the document and scanned through it, taking his time to read through it.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course, everything’s been planned out, the rest will be taken care of,” the sitting man said taking the paper back.
“I’m taking an awfully large risk for you.”
“And it’ll be worth it,” the sitting man said, watching as the other man finally nodded, then left the room. A smile crossed the man’s face after the man disappeared. Finally the one sticking piece to his plan would be eliminated, and when that happened, he would be there to take over. He left the room to carry out the rest of his plan.
*****
Aaron stowed his gear into the small closet beside the bed, grabbing it before anyone else could take it. They had a few centons before their training started.
“Hey, anyone want to play a round of pyramid before we start training,” Jason asked the group, holding up some cards.
“Sure,” Aaron said, sitting down at the table joined by a couple of others, one was Cronus, who introduced himself to Aaron after they grabbed their beds. They were joined by one other.
“So, what are the rules going to be?” the fourth one asked. “By the way, I’m Galax.”
“Aaron,” he replied, as everyone introduced themselves.
“Let’s just keep it simple, normal rules, nothing special,” Cronus said, shuffling the cards and dealing them out with such a fluid movement Aaron figured he had done this before.
“Let’s play for fun right now, we can get serious later,” Cronus said, looking at the others.
“Don’t see why not, unless anyone has any objections,” Galax replied.
Aaron watched as Cronus and Galax looked at each other, sizing each other up. Aaron had the feeling that he was in over his head and glad they were not going to be serious. If they decided to get serious he would need to watch himself. They played a few hands, and Aaron had yet to even win one hand, or be dealt a hand he could play.
“So, is everyone warmed up?” Galax asked after a few hands. Everyone nodded yes. “Good, let’s do it for some credits now.”
“Been ready for a while,” Cronus replied. Aaron shared a look with Jason, both knowing who the real serious players were. He would have to play wisely with his credits.
After several hands Aaron had yet to win anything, Jason managed to win a good hand but Cronus and Galax seemed to be playing each other, trying to gain an upper hand. They were in the middle of a serious hand between Cronus sand Galax when Starbuck and Apollo walked into the room.
“Hey, a pyramid game,” Starbuck said, walking over. “Can anyone join?”
“Sure,” Galax said, not objecting to a new player.
“You can have my seat,” Aaron said, gathering his credits. “I know when I’m licked.”
Starbuck sat down in the seat vacated by Aaron and placed some credits on the table before looking around. “So, what type of rules are we playing by?” he asked grinning.
Aaron walked over to sit down watching the game. Apollo sat down next to him. The group seemed to be having fun, and it was apparent that Starbuck was a card player as well by his moves and playing. He did nothing the first couple of hands, and Aaron realized, as the others did as well, he was observing the group. Finally a thought occurred to him.
“Ah, captain, do you mind if I ask you a question?” Aaron asked, looking over at the captain.
“Go ahead,” Apollo replied.
“Why are you here?” Aaron finally asked.
“To get to know the recruits better,” Apollo replied. “By doing this it allows us to get an idea of what type of pilots you’ll be. Doesn’t always work, but it can give us an idea.”
Aaron thought about that for a few microns before replying. “So, what do you think about us?”
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Apollo replied a bit vague. Aaron sat back to think about that.
*****
“Commander, Colonel Tigh is on the line for you,” Athena said, turning to Adama.
“Put it though,” Adama said, watching as Tigh’s face appeared on the screen.
“Adama, wanted to give you and update on the Agamemnon,” Tigh said.
“Good, when can you get moving?” Adama asked.
“We’re slowly getting a working crew on board, should be another day or so,” Tigh said.
Adama wanted to push faster, but knew there were only a limited number of people who could operate a battlestar, and they were training people as well making everything confusing.
“Okay, we’ve put the fleet as slow as the council will allow,” Adama said, he hoped it was slow enough. By the time the Agamemnon reached the fleet they would be nearing the asteroid. Of course they altered course slightly to pass closer to the asteroid.
“The tanker Yestyi is waiting for us to move out of the way,” Tigh said.
Adama nodded, having heard that from the ship’s captain. “What personal do you lack?”
“Everything, but really some engineers for the engines,” Tigh said. When we start moving we’ll need a few more people, sitting idle the few we have are fine.”
“All right, I’ll be sure to round up a few more, if we can spare them,” Adama said. He hoped they could spare enough of them, they worked hard keeping the Galactica’s engines running.
“Good, I’ll let you know when we can move,” Tigh said.
“I’ll send over Silver Spar as well, they can test out the launch systems on board after you get moving,” Adama told him.
“Better to get the kinks out now,” Tigh replied, already making a note of it. There was a lot to do, a small shakedown cruise on the way to the fleet. They both hoped nothing went wrong. “I’ll keep you informed.”
The communications ended as Adama looked at the bridge of the Galactica. Some people were missing, having gone over to the Agamemnon. He had the feeling the ship would be a lot less crowded in the future.
“I’ll be in my ready room if anything happens,’ Adama said to Omega, who nodded.
End of Recruits