Battlestar Argo
by AJ Marks
Part 38: New Encounter
Ares sat at the desk with General Pakrov across from him. Since the first meeting with the General their working relationship had gotten easier. With the election of President Harvey to the Earth government the military was enjoying the freedom that it required to fight this war. Right now they were going over the results of what had been discovered in the debris of the Arbus base.
“In short there was not much left commander,” Pakrov said. Ares could hear the disappointment in the man’s voice.
“Well that was to be expected with the force of the explosion. I was hoping that we might be able to discover something about our attackers,” Ares said to him.
“You and me both,” Pakrov said. “I hear that the newest ship is about to be completed.”
“Yes, the Sprint, a scout ship. It will help the Puma with scouting duties,” Ares said. “I was thinking about having Renee command the ship. She has had some command experience already with the Argo.”
“If you think she can handle it,” Pakrov said. “I’m the ground forces commander not the fleet commander.”
“I know, I was just checking to see if there was anyone that you could think of,” Ares said.
“Well there is Colonel Ramses but he is still new,” Pakrov said.
“Yes, he does look promising, but I want him to gain experience with the Puma and Captain Ben before I promote him,” Ares said. “We’re going to have a lot of rapid promotions and with that problems are going to arise.”
“Ex-navy people would be the best for this situation but most of the naval personal were killed in the invasion,” Pakrov said.
“It was a loss,” Ares said. “There is still a lot more than most people know as well.”
“I keep hearing rumors about who built the Argo. Tell me the truth,” Pakrov asked knowing that he had been told some of it by some but he wanted the full truth now.
“The truth, all right,” Ares said having worked with the man long enough. “We’re not from Earth, those rumors are a bit true. We’re from twelve worlds called the Colonies. There were thirteen which set out from the world of Kobal a long time ago. A thousand of your years ago we entered into a war to help out one of our neighbors against a race of machines called the Cylons.”
“Cylons,” Pakrov asked. It was the name that Sam had given him and now had conformation about it.
“Yes, they were created by the organic Cylons and turned on them killing all the organic Cylons. Now they view all organic life forms as hostile to them,” Ares said. “We have fought them for about a thousand of your years. We still get some reports from the Colonies to keep us up to date. Last we heard the fighting was still going on.”
“So why are you here,” Pakrov asked wanting to know.
“We’re slowly losing the war,” Ares said. “The council is reluctant to do anything to help the war effort despite the growing concerns of Commander Adama who is on the council. There is also a growing movement on the planets for peace. I don’t think that peace with the Cylons will ever be possible.”
“I can see where a civilization at war for so long would be tired of it,” Pakrov said. “The longest war I can think of on Earth was about a hundred years.”
“Yeah, our mission was to get Earth ready for two things. One was in case the Colonies fell for you to defend yourself. The other was to see if you could help,” Ares said. “It was just a strange twist of fate that we arrived just before the Arbus did.”
“I see, so then everything that President Harvey told me is correct,” Pakrov asked watching as Ares nodded his head. “Are the Cylons really that much of a threat?”
“More than you can imagine,” Ares said.
*****
Renee walked onto the bridge of the Sprint for the first time since she arrived. It was a bit daunting for her. Commander Ares had called her into his office to tell her about her next assignment. She had not imagined that she would be given her own ship. Now she was in charge of the crew. Part of her hoped that she would be able to live up to the expectations that Ares saw in her.
“Captain on the bridge,” she heard someone say. For a brief second she almost turned to see who was coming on the bridge.
“Everyone at ease,” Renee finally said walking over to the command chair of the Sprint.
“Captain, everything checks out and is ready,” the second in command said. Renee had to think for a second until she could remember the man’s name.
“Brett, thank you,” Renee said. “We’ll be heading to help out the Puma in recon. This will also be our shakedown cruise.”
The Sprint headed out to begin its first mission. There would be a lot that would have to be tested for this cruise. It also gave the fleet four ships now. A battlestar, a gunstar, a destroyer and now a scout ship. The second dock was now underway. It would be large enough to build either one battlestar or two destroyers or a gunstar and a scout ship. A vast improvement over the other shipyard. It could only build one ship at a time.
Renee reported that the Sprint was now headed to the patrol zone to relieve the Puma that was currently on patrol. Everyone on board knew that the Arbus would return but did not know when or how many ships they would have.
*****
Captain Reliy watched on the screen as the captain of the Sprint came on the screen. He had heard that Renee had taken command of the ship but was not sure until just now.
“Captain Reliy, what’s the situation,” Renee asked wanting to know if anything had been going on since she had last heard anything.
“Everything is still normal. We haven’t intercepted anything since the raid on Earth,” Reliy said. “Everything has also been quiet, something I’m not sure I like or not.”
“Understand,” Renee said knowing that if everything was quiet that usually meant a calm before the storm.
The screen went dead and Reliy ordered the Puma to head back to Earth to rearm and refuel. The crew was actually getting used to the routine, at least as much as one could. Reliy knew that he really needed to give his men a break from the constant stress of combat patrol he had already talked it over with Commander Ares. They would be getting more time off as more ships came into the fleet.
“Set course for Jupiter,” Reliy said as that was where the refueling base was at the moment. Until such time as a tanker ship would be built they had to make do with the one supply base.
“Yes sir,” the reply came as the Puma began to head out as the Sprint arrived in the area.
*****
Troy looked at the report one more time. It was the conclusion of the debris of the Arbus base. There had not been much left that was for sure.
“What did they find,” Bri asked as she sat down next to him.
“Not a whole lot,” Troy said. “Most of the base was destroyed in the explosion. This war is getting to be a real mystery. Who are they and what did they want?
“That doesn’t solve any of our questions,” Bri said.
“No, it just raises even more,” Troy said. They really wanted to understand the enemy a bit more. If they knew what the enemy was after then it would help out to determine the course of the war.
“So what’s the next step,” Bri asked wondering if there was any other plan.
“Don’t have one,” Troy said. “Right now they have a lot more information than we have. Though I bet the appearance of the Argo caused quite a bit of problems for them.”
“Is that why Ares stopped talking about where we are from,” Bri asked.
“Yeah, he felt that it gave us a bit of an advantage with that type of knowledge. And it looks like it has worked out,” Troy said.
“There is a lot of things that can still happen,” Bri said. “But I think we have given them a lot of pause in this war.”
“I think you’re right,” Troy said. He just wished that they had more of an idea as to what was going on in this war.
*****
Commander Pratt listened to the normal chatter of the bridge of the Tiger. It was a lot like the Argo with everything that was going on. The flight officers were maintaining and launching combat patrols to make sure that they were not surprised by the Arbus. The Spirit and Puma were making patrols but they did not have proof that the Arbus homeworld was in that direction.
“Commander, incoming message from one of the patrols,” his flight officer said.
“Put it though,” Pratt said wondering what was going on.
“Commander, we’ve just encountered a mysterious contact on our scanners,” the pilot said. “The direction is different than the direction that the other Arbus ships have come in from.
“Interesting,” Pratt said. “I’ll contact the Argo and see what Commander Ares and General Pakrov have to say. Keep an eye on the ship and let me know if anything changes.”
“Yes sir,” the pilot replied.
Pratt turned to contact Ares which did not take very long. The man quickly asked what was going on. Pratt sometimes wondered if the man had already knew what was going on.
“Our patrol has encountered a ship of unknown origin,” Pratt said. “The direction that the ship is coming from is different than the direction that the Arbus usually come from.”
“Interesting,” Ares said. “Keep an eye on it and I’ll talk with the others to see if they know anything.”
“Understood commander,” Pratt said as the line when dead. He then ordered yellow alert just in case the incoming ship became hostile.
*****
Troy and Bri walked into the briefing room wondering what was going on. Also in the room was now senator Robert, and General Pakrov. Troy could tell that the President was also listening in on the meeting. Whatever this was was important.
“Everyone is here, good,” Ares said. “I’ve just received word from the Tiger that their patrols are tracking an unknown ship near Centari One. So far we’re not sure if the ship is an Arbus ship or not. It might be a new type of ship trying to go around our defenses.”
“It might be someone else,” Troy said. “It could be an ally of some sort?”
“I’ve thought about that as well. We are keeping constant communications with Centari One just in case the ship is an Arbus attack ship,” Ares told the group.
“We should also remember that the Arbus are capable of creating clones,” Bri said. “So even if the crew of this ship does not appear to be Arbusians they could be clones working for them.”
“Good point Bri,” Ares said. It was a point he had missed.
“Or they could be exactly what they appear to be,” Pakrov stated. “We don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to lose any potential allies either.”
“That’s why I have called you all together. If this is a potential ally then I would like for Captain Troy and lieutenant Bri to head up a delegation to meet with them,” Ares told the group.
“I’ll give them my support,” Sam said. He knew that the two were trust worthy even though they were not from Earth. They might have also encountered this race before.
“No one has any objections,” Ares asked.
“None here,” Robert said.
“Good, Troy get your team together then report to the Hermes to head to Centari One,” Ares said.
*****
Renee received a report from the command headquarters that an unknown ship was approaching Centari One. She knew that they would have to be on a higher alert just in case this was a diversion.
The report also stated that the Puma was on its way to Centari One to back up the Tiger. Her ship was to back up the Argo just in case.
“Anything new on the scanner,” Renee asked hoping that there was not.
“No ma’am,” the reply came. That made Renee feel a bit better but she still wanted to maintain a high alert just in case. The last thing she wanted to do was make a mistake that would cost people their lives.
“All right,” she said addressing the crew. “As many of you now know a patrol has picked up an unknown ship nearing Centari One. This might be a diversion so everyone to maintain a high degree of alert just in case.”
The crew members nodded their heads as they listened to what she said. Several had the same thought as they listened to what she said. The Arbus had not been heard of in the last couple of weeks and this would be just something that they would do.
Renee could only hope that the situation at Centari One would have nothing to do with the current war against the Arbus. That would make the best of every situation.
*****
Pratt looked out over his bridge as he continued to monitor the situation. He had learned from Ares that the Hermes was heading back to Centari One with a delegation just in case this ship was an unknown race.
“All preparations are ready commander,” his second in command said.
“Good, engage engines at one half then,” Pratt said. They had decided to have the Tiger intercept the incoming ship before it could arrive at the base.
Pratt had to agree that the logic of not allowing the ship to know about the base was the best decision. Centari One had been a more secure base because there were few who could tell anyone where it was located. Most Earthers did not know where the base was. That and the trap that they had sprung against the Arbus had helped make the base more secure.
“Unknown ship now on our scanners sir,” the scanner operator said. “If their scanners are anything like ours then we are still invisible to them.”
“Let’s hope so,” Pratt said. They knew that the Arbus had scanners much like theirs in detection abilities. He just hoped that the ‘stealth’ metal would hide the Tiger from this ship until they had more information.
“Range is closing, still no movement from target,” the scanner operator said. That was a good thing to everyone. No movement usually meant that the ship had not detected them yet. The only problem was that the unknown ship would head straight to Centari One if the Tiger did not distract it.
Pratt resisted the urge to pace as the range came down. He was nervous about what was going to happen. There were a lot of different scenarios that were going though his mind. This group could be a lot of different things from an ally of the Arbus to a group with no contact at all with the Arbus.
“Target had changed speed,” the scanner operator said. “They are still on the same course.”
Pratt figured that the unknown ship had finally discovered the Tiger. “Open a hailing frequency,” he ordered. This was the next step. Would this group talk to them or open fire.
“Frequency open commander,” the reply came to him. Now the only thing he could do was wait for their reply. Pratt wondered how long it would take before there was a reply from the unknown ship.
“Receiving transmission,” the communications officer said.
Pratt quickly looked at his screen as he heard something that he did not think that he would hear.
“Earthers, we come in peace,” the voice said. “We ask for protection from the Arbus.”
“This is not what I was expecting,” Pratt said loud enough that the crew could over hear him before replying. “This is Commander Pratt of the Earth ship Tiger. Please stop and do not come any closer for now,” Pratt said more to by some time than anything else.
“Unknown ship has stopped commander,” the scanner operator said.
“Well it appears that Captain Troy will have something to do when he gets here after all,” Pratt said.
*****
“Captain, call for you laddie,” Captain Scott said to Troy.
“Thanks captain,” Troy said to the captain of the Hermes. Troy waited until Commander Pratt’s face appeared on the screen.
“Captain Troy, it appears that you will be needed after all,” Pratt said.
“I take it that contact has been made,” Troy said.
“Yea, and they are asking for protection,” Pratt said.
“From who,” Troy said thinking that he already knew who it was from.
“The Arbus,” Pratt replied. “This is going to be complex captain.”
“It already is,” Troy said knowing that there was a lot to do now. Could they even provide protection fro another group when they were stretched so thin just defending themselves. This is how they got involved in the war against the Cylons.
“Problem laddie,” Scott asked.
“Not yet,” Troy replied. “Just thinking about something else.”
“Raising more questions than it answered,” Scott asked him.
“Yeah, it also makes things a bit more complex. Why are they fleeing from the Arbus,” Troy said asking the question that he had been thinking about. This would be a delicate situation that was for sure.
*****
Pratt was told the moment that the Hermes was in range. A shuttle had been launched to head to the Tiger with Troy, Bri and Senator Robert. Those three would make up the diplomatic team that would be heading over to the unknown ship. They would be stopping on the Tiger to pick him up before heading on over.
“Commander, shuttle is landing in the bay right now,” he was told snapping him out of his deep thoughts. He had been standing there thinking the entire time the shuttle had taken to fly over to the Tiger.
“I’ll be right there,” Pratt replied before heading down to the landing bay. “Keep our alert status on yellow just in case. If attacked don’t hesitate to reply just because we’re over there.”
“Understood sir,” the reply came as Pratt walked off the bridge towards the hanger.
*****
Troy and Bri landed the shuttle in the landing bay and waited for a second while they looked around. There was a group of figures standing at the far end of the bay. From what Troy could tell they were unarmed and seemed non-threatening.
“Well, guess its time to meet the locals,” Robert said from where he was sitting.
The group exited the shuttle and waited not really sure what to do. Bri and Troy were on their guard just in case something happened. Robert had a weapon but it was concealed underneath his jacket. He did not want anyone to really know that he was armed. Troy and Bri were in their normal uniforms with the gun belt on.
One of the figures stepped forward and Troy guessed that this was the leader of the group. The alien address them welcoming them on board.
“Welcome on board our vessel,” the alien said. “I am Keela,” he said. “We are also victim of the Arbus.”
“You speak our language,” Troy asked wondering about that.
“Yes, learned though contact then conflict with Arbus,” Keela replied. “Have war with them for many year. Been looking for ally to help in fight.”
“Perhaps, I am Captain Troy of the Battlestar Argo, this is Lieutenant Bri also of the Argo and Senator Robert Yukut of the Earth Senate,” Troy said introducing the group.
“Would you care to sit down, we have room where we may all sit and talk,” Keela stated.
“That would be most kind,” Robert replied for the group.
They walked down the hallway towards the room. Troy watched everyone to see if he could see anything that might cause him any reason to mistrust them. He wondered what their relationship with the Arbus was. He had not seen any Arbus so far or anything that he could tell was Arbus.
The room they were led to had normal height chairs for the aliens they were with. The aliens were a bit taller than normal humans so the chairs were a bit larger. Bri was not exactly happy with the fact that everything was larger than normal.
“Thank you Keela,” Troy said as they sat down. The larger chair and table made Bri seem like she was even younger than she was and he had to fight not to laugh. He turned his attention back to Keela.
“My rase is called the Skartian,” he said to them. “We have been spacefaring race for many year. Meet the Arbus one hundred of your year ago. They were friendly at first, then they attack us.”
“Any idea as to why,” Troy asked.
“No, only that they did, not sure why,” Keela replied.
“How did they attack you,” Troy asked thinking about it.
“They attack us with our own people, clone people,” Keela replied.
It made sense to Troy. The Arbus had probably been visiting Earth for a while placing clones in places of power to give them an advantage.
“Sounds familiar,” Bri mumbled from where she was sitting.
“We hear of you fighting our enemy, so we come and meet with you,” Keela said. “My people do not know what to do anymore. We live in ships running from them.”
“Can you tell us anything about their military, how many ships they might have or anything like that,” Troy asked. Such information might go a long way to finding out if they had damaged the Arbus military machine.
“Unknown,” Keela replied.
“Its all right,” Troy replied.
“Will you help us,” Keela finally asked looking at them.
“I don’t have authority to make any deals but I can start the process with our government,” Robert said.
Troy sat back while Keela and Robert talked. He would only interrupt if there was something that needed to be talked about some more. He had a good feeling about this meeting at the moment. He liked this group for now.
*****
Ares sat on the bridge worried about what was going on. There had been nothing from the Tiger except that the delegation had gone on board. He was hoping that nothing had happened to them. So far the aliens had done nothing other than sit there for right now. Part of Ares wished that he was there right now instead of here at Earth.
“Commander Ares, President Harvey wants an update with the current situation,” the communications officer said.
“Tell him that we still don’t have anything new yet,” Ares said. “But that there has been no hostile action taken.”
“Very well commander,” the officer said. No one was sure as to what was going to happen with this unknown ship. Several rumors were already going around but there was nothing solid yet.
“Incoming communication from the Tiger,” the officer said a few minutes later.
“Put it though up here,” Ares said waiting as Captain Troy’s face appeared on the screen. “Captain, what is the situation?”
“They are called Skartians, and their ambassador is Keela. It seems that they were attacked in the same way as we were. Clones were used to disrupt their government and military institutions,” Troy said. “They are asking for help from the Arbus. I would feel safer if they went to Earth than Centari One.”
“So would I,” Ares said. He wanted to keep the base as secret as he could.
“Senator Robert and Keela worked out a tentative working relationship for right now,” Troy said. “I have it here. You can relay it to the President for his review.”
“I will do that once we are done,” Ares said.
“Good, we will need to know their answer soon,” Troy said. “Any other news from the other sectors?”
“No, did the Skartians tell you anything about the Arbus military strength,” Ares asked.
“No, they did not know much. Only that they had been attacked by at least six ships,” Troy said.
“And we’ve destroyed at least ten of their ships by now,” Ares said. “All right, good work. We’ll decide what to do later on. Have you and Bri return to the Argo.”
“Yes sir,” Troy said.
End of part 38