Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 23: Enemy Sighted
Bri rested as the Hermes went through space between Centari One and Earth. She and Troy were finally going to be going on their vacation that they had planned almost two months earlier. Last time they had almost been ready to go when the attack on Centari One had occurred. A lot had happened since then.
The most notable change had been who was controlling the operation. Before the attack Ares had allied himself with one of the more prominent Earth governments. Now everyone involved was questioning that wisdom. It was fairly obvious that there were some in the government who did not what them around for whatever reason. The reason that had been given to those who had actually carried out the attacks was they were here to take over Earth.
Troy had seemed even more hushed over who he thought was really behind it than usual. The only thing that Bri was able to get out of him was that he had to wait and see. She was not sure if she liked that answer of not. She was sure that he knew more than he was telling her.
Bri was shaken out of her musing by the announcement that the ship had arrived at Earth. At last her vacation would begin. She was excited by the prospect of going on a cruise where she was taken care of and would not have to do anything.
“Come on, we better go,” Troy said to her as they picked up their bags and made their way to the hanger. The hanger had a couple of Earth shuttles in case they were seen by anyone. They would land on some property that the new company owned. The shuttle was also covered in the new stealth metal to avoid detection once they left the Earth’s atmosphere.
“I’m so ready for this vacation,” Bri said. She had been talking to a few others who had taken a cruise or some other sort of vacation. The last time they had taken any sort of time off was after their wedding. They really had not done much sightseeing.
The two of them boarded the shuttle which quickly left after everyone was brought on board. There was little that they had to do now except relax and enjoy their vacation.
*****
Ares sat down at his desk in his office to look over the recent reports about how the Tiger was coming along. Right now Nall and Jax were helping to train the ship’s fighter squadron. The Tiger could only hold fourteen vipers which was about normal. The ship’s real mission was to engage the Cylons baseships. The battlestars carried the fighters.
The report stated that the pilots were adapting quickly to space combat. Ares was glad about that. He read over what the crew was doing as well. They seemed to be adapting quickly to their new jobs. For the moment Pratt would be the commander of the Tiger, at least until the next ship was done. Ares had been thinking that he might put Pratt in charge of training of the crews of the ships. That was something he would have to talk to Pratt about.
The next report was about the senator that Mike had reported to. Ever since the attack on Centari One he wanted to know what they were up to. So far the senator, Frank Kastle, had not been too busy. Ares had the feeling that he mostly bought into Mike’s story about how the attack went down. Mike was now working as basically a double spy. He was still working for them but kept reports to the senator, some truthful others stretched the truth quite a bit. Mike no longer really believed that they were there to conquer Earth.
Ares flipped to the next page and frowned a bit. The senator had arranged a meeting with the company that had taken over the space agency of the government. Ares had also learned that the senator was the majority stalk holder of the company. That meant that the man had a direct control over the exploration of space and the exploration of the sea. What had him frowning was what happened after the meeting.
The moon base which was thriving had its budget cut almost in half. That seemed a bit strange. Along with that a large cut in personnel also occurred. Ares scanned though the list of personnel and wondered how they would keep the base operational. Currently it was operating at only half of its abilities. Now it was severely limited on what it was able to do.
The senator justified it by saying that recent polls indicated that no one was interested in exploring space. Ares was not sure but something about everything made him uneasy about what was going on with this. If this kept up then the moon base would be abandoned before it could even reach its full potential. That would be a sad event if such a thing were to happen.
The next report he turned to was the supplies that were coming from the planet. The metals on the planet were quite plentiful. The fuel was transported by the Hermes until the tanker transport would be completed. It was currently under construction at the second dock. The first dock was now building a new destroyer class ship while a third dock was under construction.
The third dock would be big enough to build a battlestar. The three docks would make up the majority of the building of ships. The base at Centari One had been completely repaired and the base was undergoing expansion again. He was glad that things were once again on track with the building again.
The last report was from the Colonies. There really was nothing much to read. So far the Colonies were still fighting the Cylons. The war did not seem to be favoring either side right now. Ares knew that would eventually change and he just hoped that he could build up a force quickly to help change the course of war back home.
The crew of the Argo had now been gone almost two yehrens. It really was not that long of a time now that they had a planet they could go to and Earth nearby to break the boredom of being on a warship. The only problem was friends were no longer here and homes were a long ways away. Ares tried not to dwell on those facts as he thought about everything that was going on. As long as the Colonies survived they would someday be back.
*****
Nall walked though the hallways of the newly completed Tiger. The ship had not taken that long to complete. The design was actually quite simple to make and the ship itself was not as large as a battlestar. It had greater firepower than a battlestar but not as many fighters. A small hanger was located under the ship which would launch and recover the fighters. He had heard that destroyer class ship would be the next one to be built.
Nall reached the door to the meeting room to debrief the pilots and it slid open to allow him in. The technology was the one thing that he had to learn. The computers and other electronics were more advanced than anything he had ever seen. The Earthers and Colonials had worked very hard together to make sure that the Cylons could not infiltrate the computers of the ship. To do that the ship was divided into many subcategories. It meant that the ship would require more people to man the stations on the bridge but less likely that if one system went down then the others would be infected as well.
Nall walked into the room seeing that Jax was already in there. They were still waiting on a few more pilots then they would be able to begin their reports. So far the pilots had done very well. They had taken Jax and him by surprise by how quickly they had adapted. The hardest part that they had was the fact that there was no up or down in space like there was in the atmosphere of a planet. That really was hardest when they went to land.
“All right,” Nall said when the last of the group came in and sat down. “First of all I wish to tell everyone that you’re doing great,” he told them which was greeted with a few smiles by the group.
“There’s still a lot of training left to work on. Remember that we still have yet to introduce you to combat techniques,” Jax said. “Combat will be different than just normal flying. “We want you to gain as much experience in flying and getting comfortable with flying before introducing combat.”
“Small mistakes you make in normal flying could cost you your life when flying in combat,” Nall said. “Take it from us, we’ve fought the enemy and know. I’ve seen it happen to people who were better normal pilots than I was.”
“Then what happened to them,” one of the pilots asked.
“He thought he was too good and made a mistake, the Cylon didn’t,” Nall replied. “Just remember this, don’t think that you’re perfect, that’s when you’re dead.”
Several heads nodded that they would remember that. Nall and Jax hoped that they would not have to repeat themselves about that.
“Are we going to be engaging these Cylons for real,” one pilot asked.
“Eventually you probably will,” Nall said. “The one thing I don’t know is if it will be because you’re fighting for Earth or not.”
“I thought that the Cylons were the Colonies’ enemy,” the same pilot said.
“At the moment yes, but the Cylons don’t like all of humankind, not just the Colonies,” Nall answered. “This was is really to the death. There is no surrender or peace treaty with them.”
“Why don’t you just try to reprogram them,” another pilot asked.
“You’re talking about reprogramming hundreds of thousands of separate computers. Each Cylon operates independently. At one time they were linked together but that was actually a weakness rather than a strength. Early in the war the Cylons were linked together and we used that to our advantage. They adapted to it,” Nall said. “Remember that just because something looks like a strength doesn’t mean it is.”
“All right, now here is the results of your latest flights,” Jax said getting back to the reason why they were there.
They spent the rest of the time working on who need what type of training. Overall Nall and Jax were pleased with everyone.
*****
The Hermes loaded its passengers on board ready to make its return trip to Centari One. The ship had unloaded several people and now it had recovered its shuttles and now it was ready to leave. The ship slowly moved out of the southern pole of the planet. It was a place that was not heavily observed so they could be there a bit longer.
The scanner operator looked at his screen to make sure that the path was clear. The last thing they really needed was to encounter a stray shuttle that was running late. It had almost happened a few times. Fortunately the shuttle had been spotted early enough to where the ship could move out of the way.
Today the operator did not see anything that would likely indeed their voyage. There were a few shuttles but they all appeared to be on time. The Hermes was also outside of detection range. They had tested extensively the detection range of the shuttles to see how close the Hermes could come before they were detected.
The captain ordered the ship to full speed. They quickly made their way out of Earth space and headed towards Centari One. Just before leaving the scanner operator thought that he noticed a blip on the edge of his scanner’s range. He checked it again but whatever it was they were already out of scanning range. He figured that it was probably some space debris but he would go on ahead and tell his captain about it.
*****
Bri stood at the dock where a large passenger ship was docked. She really did not have anything to compare it to except for the battlestars which were very large. With Troy following right behind her they made their way down the line as it moved along. Their luggage had already been taken on board the ship and would be waiting for them in their cabin. They finally were on their way to board the ship.
They were greeted as they came on board by several young men and woman. The person in charge looked at their room and another person led them to their room. When the door to their room was opened Troy was a bit relieved to see that their luggage had arrived safely.
“Is there anything else I can do right now,” the steward asked.
“No thanks,” Troy replied as the steward walked away back to the main deck to help other passengers.
“Well, finally a room to ourselves and a comfortable bed,” Bri said as she laid back on the bed.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit hungry,” Troy said. “Come on, they said that the lunch was still going on for another hour.”
They walked out of the cabin and headed to the café. Bri wondered about what she had been told about a cruise being just a twenty-four hour feast and party. Glancing though the list of events she could see why she had been told that. It seemed like that something was going on at almost all times of the day.
Bri was a bit surprised at the amount of food that was available when they arrived at the café. People were laughing and having a good time. They got a plate and some food then wondered around looking for a place to sit. Another couple motioned for them to join them.
“It can get crowded here in a hurry,” the man said to them. “I’m John and this is my wife, Helen.”
“I’m Bri and this is my husband Troy,” Bri replied before Troy could say anything.
“Nice to meet you, so where are you from,” John asked.
“Here and there,” Troy replied not really sure how to reply to that question.
“Surely you have a place that you call home,” Helen asked. Everyone had at least one place to call home.
“Well, our jobs require that we move around a lot,” Bri said. “Right now we’re stationed in Yellowjack.”
“Never heard of it,” John said making Bri and Troy feel a bit better.
“What about you,” Bri asked.
“We’re from the Los Angeles area,” Helen said. It was a place that Bri and Troy had both heard of.
“Look dear, the Prothemeus,” John said pointing to a ship out in the harbor that was slowly steaming away from the harbor.
“Oh, that would be exciting to be on,” Helen replied to her husband.
“The Prothemeus,” Bri said not sure she really knew what that ship was.
“Only the most advanced ocean surveyor in the world,” John said. “My company helped build it. It will look for new places on the bottom of the ocean to mine, farm and live.”
“What about space,” Bri asked.
“Space that’s so archaic,” Helen said like she had just tasted something bitter.
“Space is dead and worthless,” John said.
“I think you’d be surprised,” Troy said.
“We all know that science has finally proven that there is no life in outer space,” Helen said confidently. “I’m glad that they are finally going to be shutting down the moon base. It’s been nothing but trouble and a waste of money.”
Bri opened her mouth to say something when she received a poke to the ribs. She turned to glance at Troy with a silent question.
“What about metals that might be found and could be mined,” Troy asked.
“Too expensive to undertake,” John said. “It’s better to remain here than anywhere else. I take it you don’t agree.”
“No, not really. I’ve always thought that we could do both,” Troy said as they finished up their meal. “Well there’s a large ship to explore if we don’t want to get lost,” he said to Bri. “If you’ll excuse us.”
“Of course,” John said as Troy and Bri got up.
“That was different, a bit arrogant if you ask me,” Bri said.
“Perhaps,” Troy said. They would meet John and his wife again. He was sure about that.
*****
Nall knocked on the door to the office waiting for Commander Ares to grant him permission to enter. The door slid open along with the command to enter. Nall walked over to a seat and sat down waiting for the commander to tell him why he was there.
“The past two trips that the Hermes has made they’ve encountered a strange blip on the scanner. I want you to go on the next trip,” Ares said. “I want you to take Jax with you along with your vipers.”
“Trouble,” Nall asked not sure that he like this. “Do you think that the Cylons followed us here.”
“I don’t think it’s the Cylons,” Ares said. “Shortly after the attack on Centari One Troy came to me. He had another vision while defending the Hermes against the attackers.”
Nall’s eyebrows rose at this piece of information. “I didn’t know,” Nall said not sure that he like this.
“We decided to keep it quiet. There are probably spies among the Earthers but we don’t know which ones we can trust,” Ares said. “The least amount of people who knew about it the better chance that we had of having an advantage.”
“Any idea as to what we’re to be on the lookout for,” Nall asked knowing that it would be a good thing to know what to look for.
“Not really. Just something out of the ordinary,” Ares said not really able to provide more information.
“I’ll keep our eye open for anything that seems strange then,” Nall said.
Nall got up then walked out of the room looking for Jax. They would be on the Hermes on the next run. On the positive side he would be there to greet Troy and Bri on their return from their vacation. He just hoped that they did not return to a new war. He just hoped that they enjoyed their vacation as much as he had enjoyed his.
*****
Bri and Troy waited for the call for them to disembark the ship. The cruise had been wonderful. The sights they had seen were beautiful. They had also seen much wildlife of the planet Earth. A group of whales had been seen when they went into Glacier Bay. During one of their land trips they had seen a large bear and a couple of deer. Bri would take their word that you don’t want to encounter a bear by yourself.
“Numbers eight and twelve,” the intercom said. Troy looked down to see that their number had finally been called.
“That’s us, let’s go,” Troy said as the two of them got up to exit the ship.
“Ah, Mr. Troy,” a voice said from behind them. “How did you and your wife enjoy the cruise?”
They both turned to see John and his wife Helen walking towards them. They had not seen them since that first day on board the boat.
“We enjoyed it quite a bit, how about you,” Troy asked the man.
“It was enlightening,” John said. “I saw quite a bit how about you?”
“Yes, I saw quite a bit of things that I normally would not have seen,” Troy said.
“Well I’m sure that we’ll see each other again someday,” John said.
“Count on it,” Troy replied. Bri had remained quiet while Troy and John talked. To her it seemed that more was going on with the verbal exchange than the words that were being spoken. She was looking forward to when they were alone to ask him what had just happened.
The two of them walked down the plank way and though the building. Waiting for them was one person who would take them back to their departure point. Troy was still thinking about John when Bri spoke up.
“All right, what was that conversation back there,” Bri asked now that they were alone.
“He was in the vision I had. I’m not sure which side he was one but I do get the feeling that he is not on our side,” Troy said.
“So he might be behind whoever attacked us and is going to wage war on Earth,” Bri sadi.
“Maybe, this vision was strong yet very vague and confusing,” Troy said honestly.
“So this group is an unknown threat,” Bri asked.
“Yes,” Troy replied. “I wasn’t able to find a common theme to what they were doing.”
“Are they trying to take over Earth, or something else,” Bri asked wondering if it was something that they had not thought of.
“I think that they are trying to conquer Earth, but for what reason I don’t know,” Troy said. That was one thing in his visions that had not been answered.
“That’s going to put a damper on our plans,” Bri said as she thought about it.
“Yeah, it might put the entire war against the Cylons in jeopardy,” Troy said.
“As the Earthers say, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Troy said.
*****
Nall waited on the Hermes as the ship entered orbit around Earth. So far the scanners had not picked up anything unusual in the area that the contacts had normally been encountered. He was wondering how many trips it would take before they could tell what the contacts were. The first couple of shuttles had already begun their decent down to the planet’s surface.
Nall knew that Troy and Bri would be on their way us from the surface. He had the feeling that the two of them had a wonderful vacation. He went with Rebecca to another national park. This one had something called geysers and hot springs. The park was called Yellowstone and was one of the oldest on the planet.
Nall had to admit that he was impressed with the park. The geysers were quite impressive as he had seen Old Faithful, Riverside, Great Fountain, Grand, along with many others whose names he could not remember. There was also quite a few other thermal features that were impressive. He had also learned that when he was there he was standing in the middle of one of Earth’s largest volcanoes. He was not sure if that information helped him out or not.
He did not have to wait long until the shuttles were headed back on up to the Hermes. He went over to the hanger to talk to Troy and Bri. They would want to know the information about the scanner contacts.
“Hey Nall,” Bri said as they walked out of the shuttle. He was not the person they were expecting to see that was for sure.
“How was your vacation,” Nall asked.
“Very relaxing for the most part,” Bri said.
“Relaxing, you mean you slept at all,” Nall said with a grin.
“Pervert,” Bri said with a roll of her eyes. “But yes we did that as well,” she said watching as Nall’s eye lit up.
“Oh, do tell,” Nall said with a grin.
“So what brings you out here,” Troy asked. “I know it wasn’t for Bri’s sex life.”
“Okay, well aside from that the Hermes’ scanner operator has been picking up a few unexplained contacts,” Nall said.
“Interesting, you’re here just in case,” Troy said.
“Yep,” Nall said. “Come on I want to hear how you enjoyed the cruise.”
*****
The scanner operator watched along with a colonial warrior the screen as the Hermes began to leave Earth’s space. The colonial was there in case he did see something. She was tall with dark hair and he thought he had heard someone call her Jax but was not sure.
Part of him was a bit unnerved by the fact she was there but another part of him was glad. If she saw it then he was not just seeing things. He was about to say something to her when the blip appeared.
“That’s it,” the operator said.
Jax looked at the screen. It was definitely something but it could be a planet or moon or a large asteroid. But it could also be something else as well.
“Lieutenant Nall report to the bridge,” Jax said over the intercom. This is what they were there for.
Nall appeared along with Troy and Bri. For once she was glad that there all together.
“Did you find something,” Troy asked assuming command like he always did in these type of situations.
“Another blip on the scanner,” Jax replied.
“All right,” Troy said thinking about it for a second. “Bri and I will fly a shuttle out there and see what is going on.”
“A shuttle,” Nall said.
“Its plated with the stealth metal the vipers have not yet had that advantage put in place,” Troy said.
“All right, go on ahead, Jax and I will be waiting in our vipers just in case,” Nall said.
*****
Bri was a bit nervous as she and Troy piloted the shuttle closer to the contact point. Neither of them was sure what they were going to find. She was keeping a close eye on their scanners. There were a lot of other asteroids in the area so it could very well be nothing. Then again it was the perfect place to hide a ship or fleet of ships.
“Troy,” Bri suddenly said not sure she liked what she saw.
Troy glanced down to look at the scanners. There on the screen was a configuration of six ships in the middle of the asteroids along with a larger asteroid type base of operations.
“I think we better get back to the Hermes,” Bri said. “Two vipers against all that is not going to work.”
“Right,” Troy said as he turned the shuttle around. “Though it doesn’t look like they’ve seen us, that’s a plus.”
They quickly piloted the shuttle back to the Hermes to report on what they had found. He was sure that the Commander would not like what he had to report. Whoever the ships belonged to they were not Cylons but they did not know why they were there either. Troy hoped that they could find out quickly.
End of Enemy Sighted