Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 15: Political Allies
Robert sat as his desk watching the dust particles float though the sunbeam that was near his computer. He had listened to Nall and Becca talk while they were waiting for this mysterious message. Robert was not sure if anything would come or not. Robert kind of liked this young man and really hoped that what he said was true. Another part of him thought the guy was loony.
A sudden beeping sound from his computer caught his attention. He quickly got ride of the screen saver that had been on the screen replacing it with the program which he quickly scanned. His eyebrows would have gone to his hairline if he had had one.
“What is it,” Rebecca asked from where she was getting up from her computer to see what was going on.
“It seems our friend here is right,” Robert replied. “We’re getting a weak signal on this wavelength. I’m going to start recording it,” he stated as he clicked a few keys on his keyboard and began to study the signal. “Becca, give me a distance point.”
Rebecca quickly sat down and swiveled to her computer and began to run the program that was designed for just a thing. It took a few minutes until the computer spit out the answer for her.
“Oh my goodness,” Rebecca said as the answer appeared on her screen.
“What is it,” Robert said as he quickly walked over to her computer. He stared at the screen for several seconds before finally regaining his speech ability. “That can’t be right!”
“I’m running it though the computer again just in case,” Rebecca said. A moment later the computer gave the same answer as it had before.
Robert turned to look at Nall. “You were telling the truth weren’t you,” he said a bit amazed at what he had just seen.
“Yep,” Nall replied.
“Then this just might save us,” Robert said sitting down in his chair. He also realized that if everything Nall had told them was true then they could be in danger as well. He needed to call his representative that oversaw his division.
*****
Ares and Pratt were waiting to see what type of answers they would receive once Nall had finished talking with Rebecca’s boss. She was quite optimistic about the entire thing something that Ares was not too sure about right now. There were still too many things that could go wrong with this.
Renee looked up from her station and informed Ares that a communication was coming through from Lieutenant Nall. Ares said to put it up to his station and waited to hear Nall’s voice.
“Commander Ares,” Nall’s voice said over the intercom.
“What have you found out lieutenant,” Ares asked wondering what the man would say.
“I had a good meeting with Rebecca’s boss, Robert. He and Rebecca make up the entire division along with the help of some volunteers. They were able to pick up the signal from the colonies which is great for us,” Nall said.
Ares agreed. Even now there were a lot of people that were flocking to the news room to see what was going on back at the colonies.
“Anyway, Robert is setting up a meeting with someone from the local government. I was wondering if you wanted to come,” Nall asked. He had gotten a first step into the door and now was wondering if this was good enough to begin the meeting process.
Ares thought about this for a few more minutes. He was going to have to get involved sooner or later. The question was how soon did he want to get involved. He realized that if he wanted to make sure that things were done right then he would have to be involved in the process as soon as possible.
“All right, I’ll be down for the meeting. Come on back to the Argo and then you can go back,” Ares said to him.
“Yes sir,” Nall replied then hung up.
“Colonel Pratt, you have command of the ship until I return from the planet,” Ares said to his friend.
“Yes sir,” Pratt said watching as Ares left to get ready.
*****
Nall walked into the room behind Robert who he had been following down the hallway. Nall was not sure what type of person they would be meeting but talking with Rebecca the person seemed to be a scoundrel that she did not want anything to do with. Nall figured that the person had to be a politician. He was a bit glad to hear that somethings did not change.
Nall looked around the room and noticed that there were three other people in the room. Each man was an older man with graying hair and one was bald as well on top but kept his hair cut short so it did not look bad. Robert sat down across the table from the three men and Nall sat down next to him.
“All right let’s begin, I don’t have all day to spend with this wasted project,” the balding man said sounding a bit impatient to Nall.
“I thought we were to meet with three people, I see only two,” another man said.
“The third one is delayed a bit,” Robert replied. “I told you that the time for the meeting was too tight for the third one to meet us.”
“Whatever,” the bald man said. “Let’s get to business then. What is it that you want?”
“I’ve come across a new discovery,” Robert said sliding a picture across the table.
The three men looked at the picture then back at Robert. “And what is this supposed to prove. We all know what technology can do these days.”
“That is a picture taken by the Leo probe,” Robert said. “And the picture was not doctored at all. That is a true picture of two ships.”
“Bah, what a waste of time. I should have known that you would do anything to keep you division alive,” the bald man said.
“He’s telling the truth,” Nall said. “What you’re looking at is viper class fighter.”
“Now your getting actors to help you out,” the man on the right said.
“He’s no actor,” Robert said already tiring of the politics of everything.
“Yeah right,” the bald man said.
“He is telling the truth, I am Lieutenant Nall of the Battlestar Argo, from the colony Gemini,” Nall said to the three men.
“Yeah right, and I’m Gumby from Triton,” the bald man said again.
Nall wanted to punch the man for what he was saying. He had spent his entire live proud of his position and now it was being mocked by a person who did not even understand. He was about to say something when a knock at the door interrupted them.
Rebecca stuck her head into the room to see what was going on. Nall was sure glad to see her. Not only did he like her but it also meant that his commander would be here now.
“Ah Becca, is our other guest here then,” Robert said.
“Yes,” she replied opening to the door to allow a new person to walk into the room. He was wearing a blue uniform that no one in the room had ever seen before. For the three men it was not the uniform but the man’s presence that took them by surprise. The bald man narrowed his eyes a bit at the man in blue. This man was not one to take lightly that was for sure and it could ruin his plans.
“Hello, my name is Commander Ares, and I am the commander of the Battlestar Argo,” Ares said not waiting to be asked to sit down. He glanced at the three men with a critical eye. The one in the middle, the bald man was the one that concerned him the most. He looked to be career politician much like the one on the right. The other one was sitting there quietly and was harder to judge. Ares would wait to see what his game was.
“Commander Ares is that the best you could do Robert,” the bald man said turning to look at Robert.
“It’s a traditional family name, and what is your man sir,” Ares said crisply but with authority that came from his yehrens of leadership.
“As if you don’t know,” the man sniffed. “I am Senator Trillia. Let’s get this meeting over with. I have an important meeting with the UWCC in one hour.”
Ares frowned a bit not knowing what time increment that was for him but turned his attention back to the man. “So the destruction of your entire planet would not mean anything to you then,” Ares said to the man.
“Listen, I don’t know how much Robert here is paying you but I’ll double it just to get this over with,” the senator said. “I don’t like anyone wasting my time.”
“Neither do I,” Ares said his voice dropping to an ice pitch. “And I don’t like being called a liar either.”
“Whatever, name your price,” the senator replied.
“Are all people on Earth this stupid,” Ares said turning to Robert who just shrugged.
“I can make it that you will never work in North America again,” the senator said.
“Go ahead, I’m not from Earth. That and I’ve already got a job that I take very seriously, do you,” Ares said leaning forward to challenge the senator.
“Yes I do and this is just a mockery. I am still canceling your funding,” the senator said standing up and walking out of the room. The man on the right hesitated for a second before he too left leaving just one man left.
“I’m Senator Jack Williams,” the man said speaking up for the first time. “You just made an enemy out of Trillia.”
“He seems to be a piece of felbercarp,” Ares said. John watched Ares for a second. The way Ares had said it was just like the way anyone else would have said something that they were comfortable with even though Jack had never heard the phrase.
“Well he’s got a lot to gain in this,” Jack said.
“Yeah,” Robert replied. “I can’t believe that no one in the government is looking into this. He controls the majority interest in the company that would be taking the contract for what I do.”
“We’ve been over this Robert,” Jack said with patience. He had tried to get people to look into this but no one wanted to go against the senator.
“If you don’t do something you might regret it later,” Ares said.
“What do you mean,” Jack asked.
“I’m from a group of twelve worlds that are quite a distance away. I command a warship called the Argo and we are fighting for our survival against a race of machines called the Cylons,” Ares said.
Jack silently watched the man while he talked. He had thought himself a good judge of character. Right now he liked this man who was sitting across from him. “Is there anyway you can back up your claims.”
“I can take you to the Argo and give you a tour,” Ares said. He was sensing an ally here with this man. If might be good if the man did go the Argo.
“All right, how long will it take,” Jack asked.
“About three of your hours, perhaps more,” Nall replied. He was going by what Rebecca had told him.
“Very well, let me clear my schedule,” Jack said.
*****
Bri made her way around the hallways looking for one person. She spotted the familiar figure standing by a window looking out into the vacuum of space.
“Hey,” she said gently as she got near him.
“Huh, oh sorry Bri,” Troy said looking down into the green eyes of his wing mate, friend and person who he loved very much.
“So what’s going on in that mind of yours,” she said giving him a nudge with her hip.
“Nothing much,” he replied. “What did you think of Rebecca,” he asked her.
“She seemed to be nice, I guess I like her,” Bri said wondering why Troy was bringing that up.
“Me too,” Troy said and was about to say something else when movement into the room caught his eye. He spotted the commander along with someone else who he had never seen before.
“I wonder who that is,” Bri said.
“Let’s go find out,” Troy said giving her a nudge as they walked over to greet their commander.
*****
“I must say that I was a bit skeptical about this but now the more I see the more I’m convinced that it’s real,” Jack said as he continued to look around. It was the little things that were making up his mind about all that he was seeing. The people who looked at him strangely and their reactions could not be faked very well.
The other thing was what the people were doing. They actually looked like they knew what was going on and not just there for fluff. Then there were the people who were just standing around. He asked Ares about it and was told that they were off duty.
Jack thought about that. If they really were on a ship then there would be no place they could go that would be off the ship then. It made sense to him. He looked up as he spotted two crewmembers walking towards him. They were dressed in brown and had a pistol belt on.
“Ah, Captain Troy and Lieutenant Gabrielle,” Ares said as two of his best pilots walked up to him. “This is Senator Jack Williams of Earth.”
“Pleasure to meet you sir,” Bri said as she extended her hand which the man took.
“Well I must say I was not expecting to see such lovely ladies on board a warship,” Jack said.
“She’s one of the better pilots on board the Argo,” Troy said before Bri could say anything.
“I meant no insult, but on Earth such beauties usually try and get into the movie business, not the military,” Jack said. “Our military is completely open to anyone, but when you’ve been at peace for so long people usually head into the business sector.”
“Well when you’ve been at war as long as we have everyone joins the military at one time or another,” Bri replied warily. She was not sure what to make of the man.
Jack thoughtfully regarded that statement that Gabrielle had made. If they had been at war for a long time like they were saying they had what would have happened to their society. He could only guess that it would be the main focus of everything. It really would be a total war where every resource would be directed at the war.
“How long have you been at war,” Jack finally asked.
“For almost a thousand yehrens,” Ares said. “Or a thousand of your years I believe you call them.”
Jack’s eyes widened in surprise at that answer. He was not expecting that long of a war. He was thinking that their war had been going on for a few years, maybe a couple of decades but not a thousand years. He could only wonder at the type of advances that had made over the years.
“That’s a long time to be at war,” Jack said.
“With the Cylons there can only be one winner,” Troy said.
“Tell me about these Cylons,” Jack asked.
“They are a race of machines,” Ares replied. “They were created by another race called the Cylons. Their creations rose against them and destroyed them. In that war the machine Cylons learned to distrust any organic creatures. They went on a rampage and attacked one of our neighbors. We went to their aid to try and help them. Now we’re still at war with them.”
“So its either destroy or be destroyed,” Jack replied. “What about a computer virus?”
“The Cylons are no longer linked together. That was one weakness we exploited early in the war. As a result they now operate much like we do,” Ares answered.
“So all you would be doing is infecting one part of many,” Jack said.
“Right,” Ares responded. “It’s come down to an old fashion war. And they have the greater resources right now. We can’t replace our loses as quickly as they can but we still have an advantage in being smarter than they are still.”
“I would have thought the machines would be smarter than any of us by now,” Jack answered.
“Well, in a way that’s true, but their typical grunt soldier isn’t that smart. They figure why waste the resources on something that will end up being destroyed,” Troy said jumping into the conversation.
“Right, just give it enough to perform its duty,” Jack said with a nod of his head.
The door opened and Robert walked in along with Colonel Pratt. They had taken a different tour of the ship but Robert looked like he was having fun
“This ship is amazing,” Robert said as he walked up to the group. “What do you think senator?”
“We have a tough time ahead of us,” Jack said thinking about that. “Tell you what, leg me see what I can do.”
“Just remember, your people could be the ones that tip the scale of the war,” Ares said.
“I’ll remember that, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to tell my colleagues that, but I have a plan,” Jack said returning his gaze to Robert.
They found Rebecca and Nall so that the group could head back to Earth. John was given a communicator so that he could contact Commander Ares when he finalized what he was thinking about. John had to talk with a few other senators and people before he could see if his plan would work. There was a lot of technology here and he was one who believed that they should prepare. Ares had told him that if the colonies should fall then the Cylons would end up in their space.
The group boarded the shuttle along with Nall who would go back with them. The shuttle left the Argo and headed back to Earth where John would begin his work.
*****
Ares walked along the bridge waiting to see what would happen next. He had done his part for right now. He had made contact with someone on the planet and now he would have to place his trust in another man.
“What do you think,” Pratt asked coming up next to him.
“I think Senator Williams is a very intelligent man. He asked several good questions when he was on board. He was making sure this was not some sort of hoax,” Ares replied.
“I got that feeling from Robert. They want to believe but there is a great deal of skepticism that they are working through,” Pratt replied.
“Yes, but the senator did say that he was one not to wait until things were too late before doing something about it. I think we found the person who might be able to help us with this,” Ares said.
“I think so too,” Pratt said.
“Did Robert say anything to you about what he thought,” Ares asked Pratt.
“Nothing too much, only that he was amazed at all the technology that we had. Our computers were a bit more ancient than theirs he was saying but that would not make much of a difference,” Pratt said. “He seemed to want to work with us.”
“Yes, that was the impression I got,” Ares said. “Get Weaver, Troy, and Gunther in my office as soon as possible, you too. I think we should discuss some sort of plan for the next step in this mission.”
“Yes sir,” Pratt replied then walked away to carry out his orders.
*****
Troy was the last person to walk into Commander Ares’ office. Of course he had also been on the hanger deck when the call came in for him to report to the office. He noticed that the rest were all ready seated. Part of Troy wondered what was going on but he would find out son enough.
“Thank you all for coming. I want your input on what the next step should be. I think we have an ally down on Earth but we must have a plan of what to do,” Ares said.
“We need to get them to begin building a warfleet,” Pratt said quickly. This was their primary mission.
“Yes, but how should we get this operation started. I don’t think they are quite there technologically to undertake such an operation,” Ares said.
“I should go down there and find out what I can about what they would need,” Weaver answered.
“Good, but we also need to understand if they are quite ready for this. I have listened to them at it seems that they are divided into several countries,” Ares said.
“One of the moons had a substantial quantity of fuel and another moon was full of metals we would need,” Troy said thinking out loud. “We could set up a construction base near them and use the two places for resources.”
“Yes, I remember that moon, there is a bit of fuel, but no enough for what we need,” Pratt said remembering what he had seen in the reports.
“What about that planet we passed not long ago and fueled up at. There were quite a lot of resources on that planet, and an atmosphere that we could breathe,” Gunther replied.
“It would be far enough away from Earth so they would not be detected,” Troy said.
“Hmm, it might work, we’ll have to see. But it just might work,” Ares said. “All right let’s go with that for now. We can use the Argo to transport people back and forth between the two planets.”
Ares dismissed the group feeling much better now that he had a general plan to use. He would have to wait to see what John could come up with next.
*****
Jack walked into the office where one of his friends was. He had to wait a second while the man finished his call but when he hung up he looked over to Jack with a smile on his face.
“Mr. Williams, to what to I owe the pleasure,” the man said getting up and giving the man a hand shake.
“Something big Sam,” Jack said to the man as he closed the door.
“Well this must be big,” Sam said as he sat back down waiting for what Jack had to say.
Jack sat down before saying anything but he did lean forward. “What if I was to tell you that space travel is not only possible but much closer to reality than ever before,” Jack said.
“John, we are already going to the moon, we have two research facilities up there already. There really isn’t much else to do up there right now,” Sam said resting his elbows on the table.
“Sam, we are about to get involved into something much bigger than anything we’ve ever seen,” Jack said. “I personally visited a spaceship, and not just a ship, but a warship.”
Sam’s eyebrow’s rose with that. He knew his friend was not one to talk lightly about such things. Now he was wondering what his friend was thinking about.
“At first I thought that it might be a joke that Robert was doing to keep his budget. But if it’s a joke it’s the most elaborate prank I’ve ever seen. There were details on that ship that most people would have never thought about. That and everyone seemed to know what they were doing,” Jack said to his friend. “That and they did not seem too familiar with our culture. To hire that many actors would be very difficult to pull off.”
“Hmm,” Sam said thinking about what his friend had said. “So we’re being visited by another race.”
“Not another race, they are humans with advanced technology. I don’t think even our military is this advanced yet,” Jack said.
“All right, let’s say they are real, then what,” Sam said.
“We have an opportunity to gain technology, and there is something else,” Jack said. “According to them there is a race out there, a machine race called the Cylons. They have been at war with each other for almost a hundred years now.”
“Now it’s beginning to sound like a Terminator or Matrix movie Jack,” Sam said.
“I know but it’s true,” Jack told him. “I believe them. And if what they say is true, we could be next.”
“Next,” Sam said his eyebrows rising at that.
“I get the feeling that the war isn’t going well anymore. I also think even if we do nothing we’ll become involved anyways,” Jack said to him. “It would be a waste if we don’t get some technology while we can. The only problem is we can’t tell others about it. I don’t think the general public is quite ready just yet.”
“I think you’re right about that. That would be quite a secret to keep you know,” Sam said but his mind was already thinking about the challenge.
“What do you think,” Jack asked finally after a few minutes of silence.
“It’s a challenge, and it will be hard to do,” Sam said before smiling. “Count me in.”
“Great,” Jack said.
*****
“Commander, incoming message from Earth,” Renee said turning to look at Ares.
“Put it up here,” Ares said turning to his console to find out what had happened.
“Commander Ares,” Nall said.
“What is the situation Lieutenant,” Ares asked.
“Senator Williams just called me, or I should say Rebecca with good news. He’s got some people together and they want to meet with you,” Nall replied.
“That’s good news, we’ve come up with a plan here as well. I can tell them about it and see what they think,” Ares said and after getting the information about the meeting they ended the communications.
“Well it was good news,” Ares said to Pratt. “Looks like you’re going to be in charge again for a while.”
“Hey, while you’re down there, do you think you can get something to eat for us,” Pratt said.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Ares said with a grin.
End Part 15