Voyage to Earth
by AJ Marks
Movement of the Giants
Tigh looked out across the bridge of his newly appointed command, the Agamemnon. Everyone worked hard at getting the ship up and running. Despite it being complete, they had to move in personal supplies, food, and people on board. Aside from some things, the ship was fully ready to go, complete with fuel and ammo.
Currently the crew was working to get the ship moving so it could move out of the Yestyi’s way. The engineers had tested the engines making sure they would work properly. People on the bridge were having to get used to color screens, something they were not used to. Even the scanner display, situated in the middle of the room and of a three-dimensional layout to give a better view of what was going on. Scientists had developed such a things towards the end of the war, and was even scheduled to be installed on the battlestars after the peace treaty.
From his seat he could look out the viewport and see the battlestar Hyperion, which had dozens of robots flying around constructing it. The black armor of the ship gave it a very unique appearance compared with the Agamemnon. It looked like a hunter.
He turned back around and lost himself in thought for a few seconds, never imagining he would be in command of a battlestar, at least a battlestar other than the Galactica. He always assumed he would take over when Adama retired.
“Commander, reports from the engine room,” Tigh’s second in command, Solon said.
Tigh nodded, looking down at the report. The engineers gave everything a green light. They had worked hard the past two days for this moment.
“All right, begin start up sequence for the main engines,” Tigh said.
He watched as the orders were relayed. People suddenly stopped what they were doing and worked on that. Navigation sat by waiting for any orders if everything went as planned. The high-pitched whine of the idol engines was replaced by the hum of the main engines as the powered up.
“Engines on line, power ten percent.”
“Tell them to push it up to one hundred percent,” Tigh said.
“Yes sir,” the reply came back.
Tigh waited as the report came in, the engines going past twenty-five percent, then fifty, seventy, eighty, ninety, and finally one hundred percent. He looked over at the crew who were monitoring the engines.
“Everything’s in normal parameters,” Solon said.
“Signal that we want the doors opened,” Tigh said.
He watched Solon open the communications and relay that request to the shipyard.
“Navigation, prepare a course to the fleet,” Tigh said, feeling excited. His ship was about to leave its lair.
A few people looked up to see a huge portion of the asteroid open up and swing out. Slowly the huge doors revealed the exit for the battlestar.
“Course set sir,” navigation stated.
“Ahead slow, take us out,” Tigh said, watching the viewport.
The battlestar’s thrusters glowed as they came to life, pushing the massive ship slowly forward. It crept its way out of the asteroid as many of the crew took a moment to look up and watch as the ship cleared the doorway.
Once it exited the asteroid it had to navigate through the asteroid field. Navigators kept a close eye on the asteroids, but they followed the path giving by the shipyard for large ships. It took a while for them to clear the asteroids but they finally were in the clear.
“Inform the captain of the Yestyi to head in, and tell Silver Spar they have clearance to land,” Tigh said.
“Yes sir,” Solon said, as the crew went about their duties.
*****
“Commander, incoming message from the Agamemnon,” Omega said, standing at his new post.
“Put it though,’ Adama said, turning to the monitor and hoping for some good news.
“Wanted to let you know, we’ve cleared the asteroid belt and are on our way to join the fleet,” Tigh said.
“Excellent,” Adama said, mentally calculating how long that would take. “The fleet will be under your command when you get here. The Galactica will be leaving shortly to the yard. The council is preparing to transfer to the Agamemnon.”
He wanted to give the tanker time to fill up before another large ship arrived. The path to the asteroid was small and only one large ship could be in it at a time.
“We’ll be ready sir,” Tigh said.
“Good,” Adama said, signing off. He gave the order to prepare to head to the asteroid.
He watched as Rigel gave instructions to another shuttle, which would head to either the Agamemnon or the asteroid.
“You’ve got the bridge,” he said to Omega.
“Yes sir.”
Adama headed out to get something to eat. He had some time before the Agamemnon arrived.
*****
Aaron sat in the pilot’s seat of the shuttle, beside Jolly. They were learning how to fly the shuttles, as part of the training to fly vipers. They were all helping out with the shuttles as personal moved from the Galactica to the Agamemnon. They had not learned what ship they would be on, but the past two days had been very busy.
They were in almost constant training, and yesterday they spent the entire day in the simulators. Those who showed promise were moved on quickly, others stayed behind for more training even as more joined them as recruits.
Aaron felt glad to be part of that first group. He had managed to learn the systems rather quickly, and the simulators had been fun. A couple of them did not do well, and were back in the instructions re-learning it all again. They did not discourage anyone, but stated they were learning in a couple of days what took weeks or more.
“Shuttle Alpha, this is Galactica command, you are cleared for launch,” he heard over the communications.
“Roger Galactica control,” Jolly replied, turning to Aaron who watched everything Jolly did. “Ready, won’t be long and you’ll be doing this by yourself.”
Aaron nodded, excited and terrified by that prospect.
“The shuttle is the easiest of the machines to fly. Flip this switch to power up the engines after you’ve been given clearance to launch. Look out the windows at the flight crew,” they looked to see a man in yellow giving them raised arm. “That means we’re good to go,” he said, replying with a salute. “And after that, push this button, informs the passengers you’re about to launch so they can prepare themselves. Then push the thrusters.”
Aaron felt himself pushed into his seat from the acceleration.
“This isn’t much compared to a viper, that’ll push you into your seat,” Jolly said. “Always a kick that first time.”
Aaron watched as Jolly laughed a bit. Aaron looked at him, then back out the window as they were flying.
“Want to take the stick?”
“Sure,” Aaron said, feeling Jolly release his. Now all he had to do was keep the shuttle on course and follow the scanner to the Agamemnon.
*****
Jason walked around the hangar of the Agamemnon, getting used to the layout of a battlestar. He noticed a few differences between it and the Galactica, but he could make his way around. He flew over to the Agamemnon with Boomer. They had made the trip a few times now, the last time he had been in command.
He felt slightly nervous about it, but Boomer said he did well. It seemed that a few had picked things up rather quickly. The hardest part of the entire flight had been landing. You had to watch the speed the most. The shuttle was large and the last thing he wanted to do, was hit a flight deck crew member.
He wondered around looking around at things, hearing voices he started towards them then stopped as he could hear better.
“It’ll look natural,” Jason heard a male voice say.
“You better, or else you’ll pay,” a second voice said, his voice deeper than the first.
“You worry too much, Ithian is untraceable and looks like a normal heart attack.”
“Remember, your man better not get caught.”
“No need, if he is, he’ll be dead before he can say anything.”
“He better be, or else you’ll be with him.”
Jason swallowed then quickly, and quietly, eased himself away from the area, unable to figure out what he had heard. It seemed they were planning to kill someone, but who? Should he tell someone?
“Hey, you ready to return to the Galactica?” Boomer asked as Jason entered a more crowded area.
“Um, yeah,” Jason said, taking a quick peek around but saw no one who might be leaving the area.
“Don’t worry, everyone is nervous when they are about to face their first solo,” Boomer said, giving Jason a slap to the back.
*****
Commander Adama looked around as the shuttle landed on the shipyard asteroid. He took a slight detour here before heading to the Agamemnon to maintain command of the fleet. First off he wanted to talk to the head construction robot.
“Commander, welcome,” Wilker said, having been working with the robots, probably learning everything he could.
He was led to a small area where an interesting looking robot was waiting, unlike anything he had ever seen.
“Meet Helix,” Wilker said.
“Helix?” Adama repeated, looking at Wilker then at the robot.
“It’s an eaiser name to pronounce for your race,” Helix said, speaking up. “I am strange to you, I’m sure. Doctor Wilker had told me much of your current history, it is unfortunate and sad.”
The words of compassion seemed strange to Adama, but he tried to make no outward appearance that anything was wrong.
“You have questions for me, yes,” Helix asked.
“Um, yes, like who built you?” Adama said, seeing that now it was not a Cylon, and he doubted a Cylon could have built it.
“I was constructed to build warships for the war,” Helix replied.
“War?” Adama asked.
“Yes, at the height of construction this shipyard would have been able to construct a ship the size of your battlestar in two days. It was a dangerous time in the galaxy,” Helix replied. “But who the enemy was, I’m afraid that information has been lost.”
“And how long have you been here?” Adama asked.
“Long time commander, for one entire rotation of the universe at least,” Helix said.
Adama paused thinking about that.
“He means what he says, a galactic year,” Wilker said.
Adama knew then that there was no way the Cylons could have built it. “Have you seen the Cylons?” Adama finally asked.
“Hmm, according to your databanks, no I have not,” Helix said. “If what I’m told, they go against my programming. Organic life is our ally, I do hope they understand that one day.”
“And the Galactica, can you repair it?” Adama asked.
“I am gathering up more supplies, but I should be able to repair the ship, how long depends on how extensive the repairs will be,” Helix said.
“And the people aboard?” Adama asked.
“We can work with organic life,” Helix replied.
“It’s amazing, the complexity of the mechanics is amazing,” Wilker said.
“Thank you doctor, I find organics festinating as well. Their ability to overcome their limited programing, it’s beautiful,” Helix said.
Adama would have said more, when his pilot approached.
“Sir, the Agamemnon has reached the fleet, the Galactica is on its way here,” he said to Adama.
“Very well, I wish we had more time,” Adama said. “But duties call me.”
“Pleasure Commander Adama, I do think I like humans,” helix said, causing Adama to look at him then over at Wilker before saying good-bye and heading back to the shuttle.
*****
Tigh waited patiently as Adama’s shuttle maneuvered over to allow its passengers off. Commander Adama walked to the door and looked over at Tigh.
“Permission to come aboard,” Adama said, making his way over.
“Granted,” Tigh said, thrown slightly by the statement, but recovered quickly.
“This is your ship, you are a commander now,” Adama said. “I’m going to remain with the Galactica. Being here is temporary.”
“Takes some getting used to,” Tigh replied, knowing that Adama was right. He still had yet to really use his new rank, commander. The new people used it, but the old crewmembers of the Galactica still called him colonel, like a good nickname.
“I need to talk to you, about what I learned, and who you think might do well with the Hyperion,” Adama said.
“I take it you have a coupel of people in mind,” Tigh asked.
“Of course,” Adama said.
They walked off the bridge heading to the commander’s office to talk.
*****
Jason watched from the flight deck as Aaron made his first landing. The instructors were rushing them through their training, and it was intense. They understood the why, a lot of vacancies to fill up with two additional battlestars. They would be flying patrols while going through simulators.
Jason gave that some thought, flying a viper. He tried a few times to get into the military, and almost made it in last time. Apollo and the others were looking at this group to see who might provide the leadership for the incoming recruits after them. Already they had seen others in the training rooms, but with so few viper pilots already, the ability to train was limited.
Jason found he liked a few of the veterans, like Starbuck. Of course their shared passion of gambling helped. Jason also worked hard to learn the viper, he did not want to be pampered in battle when their lives were on the line.
“Hey Jason, how’s the flying going?” a voice said behind him. He turned to see Starbuck walking towards him. “Told you that you’d make it.”
“Yeah, not quite as I expected, that much is for sure,” Jason replied.
“So, you been practicing? I’ve got a new plan.”
“Oh, you think so?” Jason said, accepting the challenge, they would have to have another pyramid game.
“Great, but I was looking for you, I’ll be your partner for the first couple of patrols,” Starbuck said to him.
“Can’t wait,” Jason said, and he felt it as the truth. The excitement of being in a viper and not a shuttle. Things were going along quickly, and he would try his best.
*****
Commander Adama walked into the office watching Tigh for a few seconds before Adama gently pushed him behind the desk. It was the proper area for him here. It was not the Galactica.
The room still lacked any personal items, but that came with time. Tigh would mold the ship and crew in his image, as Adama had done with the Galactica when he took command.
“So, how’s the chair,” Adama asked, sitting down across from the desk. An odd feeling, one he had not had since Cimtar.
“Comfortable,” Tigh said, causing Adama to smile.
“Maybe I can get mine replaced,” Adama said causing Tigh to chuckle at that.
“Going to go through with the refit?”
“Yeah, after talking to it, it’s not Cylon, and much older than the Cylon Empire. It claims to be a galactic cycle old,” Adama said, watching Tigh’s mouth fall open in surprise.
“Just sitting there, looking,” Tigh said. “Very strange it decided to help us.”
“Yes, but as Wilker said, it’s acting strange, so we might have passed by at the perfect time, its programming to stay hidden might have been damaged,” Adama said, though the reason sounded a bit strange to him. Whatever the reason he was fine with the results. “Now, down to business.”
They settled in to discuss the commander of the Hyperion.
*****
Rhea walked around taking in the immense size of a battlestar. She wanted to get used to the feel of the larger ship, especially considering the last ship she had been on was much smaller. She knew where the bridge was, and seen who the commander would be, Tigh. She heard about him from others, and understood him to be loyal to Adama.
Rhea had managed to speak to Rigel while on board the Galactica, and done some shuttle launching and patrols with the vipers. She told Rhea to stay calm and do the job as she always did, one step at a time.
Rhea’s experience already meant that she knew a lot about the launching procedures, though the vipers were a bit more complex, the procedures were almost the same. At the moment the commanders were still trying to figure out where to place her, which meant she had some free time. She used that time to look around the ship, wondering if she might be stationed on board the same ship as her brother.
She wanted to work on the Agamemnon, but she noticed a lot of the Galactica’s crew coming over, along with many of the trainees. She last heard that Aaron would be coming over as well, and wondered how his training was going.
“Are you Ensign Rhea?” an officer asked, approaching her.
“Yes,” she replied.
“You’re to report to the bridge at once,” the officer said to her. She acknowledged and made her way towards the elevator which would take her to the bridge.
Arriving at the bridge she made her way to the commanding officer.
“You have some experience in flight control?” he asked her.
“Yes sir,” she replied, relieved she was not in trouble over anything before relaying that it had been her last job. He then told her they needed another person on duty, as they would have no one coming from the Galactica until later on in the day. He led her over to a console and she went to work as he walked back to his position.
“Don’t worry about him, he’s always in a bad mood,” Jessica said, another person Rhea had met. “You should see him in a bad mood, ugh,” she said shuddering. “Anyways, its normal shuttle traffic. I’m doing alpha bay, can you cover beta?”
“Sure,” Rhea replied, looking at the screen and taking a moment to familiarize herself with the current situation. “How many shuttles?”
“Um, three in beta I think, ready to go, and we have another six incoming,” Jessica said.
“Okay,” Rhea replied, turning to take care of her position and the incoming shuttles.
*****
Aaron and Jason ran through the pre-flight check list. The shuttle was empty except for two passengers, Starbuck and Boomer, who were flying back to the Galactica, but they sat in the back watching and not saying anything.
“So, how’s working with Starbuck,” Aaron asked, looking over at Jason, then back at the passengers.
“Just fine, said I remind him of him when he was younger,” Jason said. “Personally I think he wants to go back to see Cassiopeia. I flew your sister over on a previous flight, quite a looker.”
Aaron looked up from the controls and over at Jason, before shrugging.
“Oh, right, that sister thing,” Jason said.
“Hey you two, enough gossiping,” they heard Boomer say from behind them.
“Yes sir,” they both quickly replied, as Jason asked for permission to launch. Aaron heard Rhea reply and permission to launch along with vectors to head over to the Galactica. Aaron pursed the alert launch for the passengers before they launched out of the hangar and into space.
They looked out the windows seeing the Agamemnon on one side, and on the other the Galactica.
“Ever think you’d see that again?” Boomer asked.
“Not after the Pegasus,” Starbuck replied.
Jason and Aaron piloted the shuttle around the Agamemnon and towards the Galactica’s alpha landing bay. Lining up they made the landing on the Galactica hangar.
“Well done,” Starbuck said, as they went through the shuttle shut down procedure. “Okay, you’re scheduled for another round trip, then head to the Agamemnon for some rest. Talk to Bojay about your quarters when you’re done.”
“Yes sir,” they replied again.
“If you have any problems just ask, Jolly and Greenbean are on standby in case there’s trouble,” Starbuck said.
With that Aaron watched as they exited the shuttle.
“Well, that was fun,” Jason replied. “Get to do that a few more times.”
“Yeah,” Aaron said, agreeing with his friend. Now the next couple of times they really were on their own. He almost felt like a real pilot at the moment.
*****
A sight many on board both battlestars lined up to witness, the passing of the ships. Many had given up on ever seeing such a sight ever again, now they were seeing it. Adama and Tigh watched from Tigh’s office.
“Reminds me of the first time I ever served on board a battlestars. Stationed on the Eurphis and watched the Atlantis go by on a mission. I wanted so badly to be on board the flagship and was almost disappointed when I learned I was to serve on the Galactica,” Tigh said. Adama understood, the Atlantis was the flagship of the fleet, and the one everyone wished to be a part of. It was destroyed first, and with it went the command of the fleet and the moral.
“The first battlestar I saw, ironically, was the Galactica returning from a patrol mission to Caperica. I was on my way to Omega station for training,” Adama said. “It was strange, it was like the ship had called out to me, gave me this burning desire to be the commander. While others wished to go to the Atlantis, I pushed for the Galactica.”
“I think a lot of people are glad it did,” Tigh said.
“So, what do you think about the commander of the Hyperion?” Adama asked.
“I think he’ll do just fine,” Tigh said, with some thought. “A bit green, but he’s been good.”
“I’ll let him know after we’ve seen what type of repairs can be given to the Galactica. Let’s get something to eat,” Adama said, standing up and heading out of the office along with Tigh. They never saw someone watching their every move.
*****
Jason and Aaron managed two independent trips without any problems, impressing Starbuck and Apollo. After they finished Apollo had called them in for a bit of a review. They went over things that they could do better, but overall got a passing grade from the instructors.
“Okay, your down now for the next eight hours, I suggest you get something to eat and some sleep,” Apollo said to them. “Come on, I’ll show you your new quarters on the Agamemnon.”
They followed Apollo out of the room and into the pilots’ quarters. It seemed a bit bigger than what was on the Galactica, but realized that most of the bunks in the room were still empty, so they had a chance to take the ones they wanted.
Quickly claiming their bed the two made their way to the cafeteria as Apollo had gone back to the hangar to look at some new recruits.
“Sounds like they’re busy,” Jason said.
“Yeah, gotta be tough with all the new recruits like us,” Aaron said.
“Yeah, can’t wait until we fly a viper for the first time,” Jason replied.
“Yeah,” Aaron said, both excited and terrified of that experience. He turned to head into the cafeteria and bumped into a large man making his way out of the room.
“What it runt,” the man grunted at Aaron, who did not know what to say. The big oaf had bumped into him not the other way around. “You got a problem?” the man asked Jason, who was staring at them.
“Ah, no, come on Aaron,’ Jason said, quickly pulling Aaron into the cafeteria. Aaron watched as the large man looked at them before continuing on his way.
Aaron straightened up and looked at Jason, who appeared slightly frazzled by the encounter, and wondered if they had met before somewhere. They grabbed something to eat and sat down, with Jason still quiet.
“So, what’s wrong?”
“Huh, oh, nothing much,” Jason replied, but the answer sounded a bit too evasive.
“Okay,” Aaron said, drawing out the word indicating he knew something was up. They sat there in silence indicating that Jason was thinking about something. Aaron would have to wait to see if Jason trusted him enough to speak of it.
“This seat taken?” a voice said, causing them to look up. Starbuck stood there along with a blonde woman. Aaron glanced at Jason who shrugged, and they motioned for them to have a seat.
“Thank you, I’m Cassiopeia,” the woman said, and now Aaron had a face to go with the name. “How are you two doing?”
“Fine, a lot of intensive training,” Aaron replied, happy he had someone to talk to, especially considering Jason appeared preoccupied with whatever he was thinking about.
Starbuck joined in the conversation indicating his viewpoint of the training, and how it was going, but mostly it was Cassiopeia and Aaron who did the talking. He found out they were both from the same planet, and started talking about when they were younger. He found out she had been a solicitor, and a bit surprised at the fact she was so open about it. She then mentioned she worked in the medical lab now.
“How has the infirmary been lately?” Jason suddenly asked.
“Quiet, mostly moving supplies around,” Cassiopeia replied, making everyone wonder where the question came from. They watched Jason look around a bit before leaning closer to them.
“I overheard something earlier, a bit disturbing,” he whispered. “Someone is planning to kill someone else, and they are going to use Ithian.”
The statement stunned them all.
“That would simulate a heart attack, and you’d need to administer the antidote before trying to restart the heart, or else the person will slowly die during the day, all looking like complications with the heart,” Cassiopeia said, thinking about the situation. “No one that I know of has come in complaining of chest pains lately.”
“Think you should let the doctor know about that,” Starbuck said to her. “But keep it quiet, if this is some sort of attempt on someone’s life, we can’t let them know we know.”
“What about Apollo and Adama?” Cassiopeia asked.
“We’ll wait, let them make the first move, and we don’t even know who the target is, could be introducing random danger needlessly,” Starbuck replied back to her.
They finished up and headed back. Cassiopeia back to the medical lab to warn the doctor, Starbuck back to training leaving the other two heading back to the pilots’ quarters to get some sleep.
*****
Tigh walked back onto the bridge, looking over everything. He spotted a few new people in the group and walked around the bridge checking on everyone. He spotted groups training other people and reached his two flight controllers, one for each landing bay. Both women appeared working with no problems.
He looked over, seeing Jessica working as usual, having come over from the Galactica, the other, a blonde he had not seen before.
“Everything all right?” he asked them.
“Just fine colonel, I mean commander,” Jessica replied, smiling at him. “This is Rhea, new recruit.”
That surprised Tigh, that she was working unsupervised. The blonde turned said hi to the commander then turned back to speak to a patrol.
“Anything to report?” Tigh asked.
“No sir,” they both replied.
He looked at them then continued on around the bridge. It appeared the flight controllers were just fine now. He hoped the rest came up to speed as quick. They would have to remain cautious to make sure the Cylons did not find them. He feared what might happen if they did amongst this confusion. That was one reason why they were working so hard to train everyone.
He sat down in the chair, looking around. This was his command now. A scary thought, but one he hoped he dealt with honorably.
*****
A small shuttle landed in the landing bay of the ship, going past the rows of fighters, waiting for their pilots and a mission. The shuttle landed easily on the hangar floor. Seconds later the door opened allowing a single, hooded figure to exit.
He looked around spotting the single person waiting and stepped down making his way towards the figure.
“Ah, Lucifer, it’s good to see you again,” the male voice said, removing the hood and revealing Baltar’s face.
“Balter, I never expected to see you again after you gave yourself up to the Galactica,” Lucifer said.
“Yes, times change, and it seems that the Galactica has escaped the mighty Cylon Empire once more,” Baltar said.
“Yes, I was called back to the capital, which is why I lost the fleet,” Lucifer said. “But I believe I’m close to finding them once more.”
“You were,” Baltar said, looking over at the Cylon for a second. “Yes, I think you were. Very well, let’s see what you were doing, I have some ideas myself.”
Baltar made his way into the interior of the basestar, happy to be home once more.
*****
Cassiopeia went over the reports from other ships looking for anything that might be from ithian poisoning, but came up empty. She felt slightly relieved, looking over at the doctor who looked back at her.
“Nothing?” he asked.
“No,” Cassiopeia replied.
“Hmm, well, it might not even happen, could only be a plan,” the doctor replied, though he also looked a bit worried about the situation. The figure at the door caused them both to look.
Cassiopeia froze at who it was, and where he seemed to be clutching.
End Movement of the Giants