Earth at Last
by AJ Marks
Part 2
Starbuck walked back to his quarters, where his wife, Cassiopeia and his four month old daughter, Alieva, were waiting. In a way, he felt relieved that he did not have to tell Boxey that Apollo was missing. Commander Adama said he would do that, something he felt he had to do. Opening the door he walked in, seeing Cassiopeia sitting by the baby bed.
“You look down,” Cassiopeia said.
“The last patrol didn’t go well,” Starbuck said, going over the patrol with her. “I feel that I should have been able to do something. I allowed myself to be distracted and they were able to grab Apollo as a result.
“Starbuck?” Cassie said, causing Starbuck to look up.
“Hmm?” he asked, seeing the serious look on her face.
“Is our situation really that bad with fuel and supplies? The rumors going around are getting bad,” she asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. Commander Adama told us that we don’t find fuel soon we’ll be out soon. That’s why there is so much focused on finding systems that have not only fuel, but also able to support life,” Starbuck said to her. “We also found something else out while we on the patrol, we think we found Earth.”
“What, that’s great news. Why isn’t the commander announcing it?” Cassie asked, excited about the news.
“Because, it looked like the Colonies after the Cylons had destroyed them. If that was to get out, it would bring moral down even more than it is,” Starbuck replied. “Commander Aadama decided to move the fleet into the system and look more for supplies.”
“Isn’t that dangerous, especially after what happened,” Cassie replied. “There is no knowledge of who attack you and Apollo.”
“The commander knows that, and I’m sure he’s taken that into account,” Starbuck replied, putting his hands on her shoulders. “But if we run out of fuel, he wants to be next to a habitable planet instead of deep space.”
He watched her think about that for a while before relaxing into him. He looked in on his daughter, seeing her asleep and wondered what the future for her was.
Beyond the scanning range of the Galactica, a large ship slowly moved in the direction the battlestar. The shape was distinctive of a Cylon warship, but of a new design. Instead of the normal two circular sections, this one had three, the center being larger than the top and bottom.
Inside, a large circular room a robed figure sat on a chair on a raised platform. His superior intelligence and experience made him the commander of the latest basestar. The door to the room opened allowing a new model centurion to enter. These were completely black instead of the shiny metal of earlier models. The single red eye remained present.
“By your command,” the centurion said.
“Speak centurion,” the Cylon commander said, his voice echoing in the room.
“Our patrols have found the battlestar Galactica,” the centurion said. “It is approaching a nearby solar system.”
“When can we be in range to intercept?’ the commander asked.
“About one day,” the centurion replied.
“Excellent, move us into striking range and notify the Imperious Leader,” the commander said.
“By your command,” the centurion said, turning and left the room to carry out its orders.
Commander Adama looked down at the scanner seeing the fleet, and the planet ‘Earth’, or so it had been called in a book returned by Starbuck. Adama had flipped through it, especially the end, but it made no mention of what might have happened.
He looked over at Tigh, knowing he was looking at scans for any sign of fuel, or something they might be able to use. If the fleet had to stop, it was only a matter of time before the Cylons caught up with them.
“What do you think Adama?” Tigh asked, breaking his musing.
“Honestly, I pray that I haven’t lead us to our deaths,” Adama said to him, watching the slightly surprised expression appear on Tigh’s face. “If this is Earth, then I don’t think we’ll be able to stay. Something, or someone destroyed that civilization, and they might still be around.”
“Then we have two priorities, fuel and finding out who attacked the planet, and hoping they are not Cylons,” Tigh said.
“Commander Adama, we’re within range, we can start sending down patrols whenever you’re ready,” Omega said.
“Go ahead, make sure all patrols are armed and to stay in constant communications with each other,” Adama said. He did not need another group to be caught unawares.
Apollo followed behind the two guards in front of him. He still had no idea who they were, but from their outfits they did not appear to be merely survivors. Their uniforms were too clean, and the hallways were neat. The one thing he felt for sure, they were not Cylons. They entered a small room with a table, a couple of chairs and a man who stood with his back turned from him.
Apollo looked over the man. He wore black pants, and a white shirt with a gold strip down the sleeve. An uncomfortable silence settled in the room, as the guards walked outside. The man turned and Apollo knew the man was human.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
“Strike Captain Apollo of the battlestar Galactica,” Apollo answered, wondering what he meant.
“Where do you come from?” the next question, something Apollo had almost expected, but still did not have a good answer.
“The Twelve Colonies, who are you?” Apollo answered and asked. He hoped to gain some information from the man.
“That is not important right now, you look human, are you?” the man asked, brushing off Apollo’s question.
“Um, yes I am,” Apollo answered, a bit perturbed his question had not been answered.
“Impossible,” the man said, slamming a hand down on the table, startling Apollo.
“I told you, the Twelve Colonies,” Apollo replied, keeping his own anger in check.
“That cannot be, there were no colonies, let alone twelve,” the man replied. “Who are you?”
“I told you, Captain Apollo, of the battlestar Galactica,” Apollo answered back, not backing down from the man’s anger.
“Guards, take him away,’ the man said. The two guards re-entered the room, as the man walked out, anger in his stride.
Apollo let his own anger abate while following the guards. He felt more confused than ever before.
Adama watched Omega walk over to where he sat. “Commander, the patrols have found nothing so far, and the landing parties are ready as well,” he said to him.
Adama went over that information. The scanners had come up empty of any human lifeforms on the planet. But if the survivors of whatever had happened found a way to hide from such scans then it would be rendered useless. The patrols had gone over the areas of most interest, and found nothing there.
“What do you think Tigh?” Adama asked, wanting his second-in-command’s imput.
“Someone took Apollo, and they are probably still there,” Tigh said. “Despite that we need the supplies, I say go but keep a guard up at all times.”
Adama nodded, it was what he had thought as well. Not an easy decision but one he had to make.
“Start rotating the patrols, send down the groups,” Adama told Omega. “Keep the Galactica on yellow alert and place blue squadron on alert. I don’t want any surprises.”
“Yes sir, I’ll get everything going,” Omega said. “They should know if there is anything on the surface by the end of the day.”
Adama nodded, knowing that if they did not find anything, they might be stuck there even if he wanted to move on. The only thing he could do now was wait.
The decent of shuttles and vipers did not go unnoticed by the observers they watched as the fleet closed in, counting the ships and the number of people now on the surface of the planet. They knew something was up, but also the fleet did not match anything they ever had encountered.
“Bring me some more of these invaders,” the leader said, looking over the reports. His talk with one of them had not gone as he hoped. In fact if only left him more confused.
“Yes sir,” the aide replied, giving a salute and walking out of the room.
He looked over the information once more, and the idea of twelve colonies made no sense to him. They had not developed any colonies, at least, none that he was aware of. Perhaps it was a ploy by their capture, others should have different excuses.
Jolly flew along his patrol partner, Ehilla, drove the surface along what appeared to be a road. So far they had encountered nothing worthy of reporting in. The scanners found nothing, either fuel or lifesigns. A few others had found small supplies and one had a small deposit of fuel.
“Jolly, heads up, take a look on the scanner,” Ehilla’s excited voice said, pointing at the screen. He looked over seeing a large supply of fuel up ahead. He felt a bit of excitement at the find, it was what they wanted to find.
“Galactica, this is patrol five,” Jolly said, knowing he had to report this in quickly.
“Galactica here,” the reply came back.
“Galactica, our scanners indicate there might be some fuel nearby, we’re going to check it out,” Jolly said.
“Roger patrol five, maintain radio contact with the Galactica.”
Jolly and Ehilla carefully maneuvered the rover closer, stopping in front of a warehouse. Taking a look around the area Jolly stopped the rover in front after going around the building. The scans were coming from inside.
“Stay alert,” Jolly said, resting his hand on his blaster, and approaching the door while keeping an eye on the surrounding area. Neither of them spotted anything out of the ordinary, and Jolly made his way inside. He spotted several barrels and realized that they were probably the fuel. “Put away your blaster, or you’ll blast us back to the Galactica the hard way.”
He watched Ehilla holster his blaster as he entered the warehouse. Jolly nudged one of the barrels, finding it full.
“All of these are full of fuel?” Ehilla said, walking around a bit.
“Yeah, not enough for the fleet, but more than what we probably were hoping for,” Jolly said. “Let’s radio back to the Galactica.”
Jolly made his way out to the rover and made his report.
“Roger patrol five, remain at the site until a tanker lands,” the reply came back.
“Understood, patrol five out,” Jollyl said, sitting in the rover. He would remain on alert. Whoever took Apollo was still out there, and they had no idea who that was.
“Patrol five, this is patrol three, have you heard from patrol four?” Greenbean’s voice said over the intercom. “They were headed your way last time they reported in.”
“Um, no, no signs of patrol four,” Jolly replied back, uneasy by the report.
“They should have been there by now,” Greenbean said, obviously worried about the situation. Jolly had to agree, the fact that a patrol now was missing, and no reports of where they were, worried him as well.
“Patrol five, stay where you are, patrol six and two, will you head to the last location of patrol four,” Athena said.
Jolly heard the acknowledgements and he and Ehilla remained on high alert.
Adama listened to the reports on the bridge. Anotehr two missing. Who was down there and what did they want? He needed more answers than what his intelligence could give him right now.
“Why don’t you get some rest,” Tigh said, standing next to Adama.
“No Tigh, I can’t,’ Adama said.
“Sir, you’ve been up for hours, you need rest, I just finished took a nap, on your orders, so now I’m doing the same for you,” Tigh said back to him.
Adama looked into Tigh’s eyes, realizing he would not win this battle. “Okay, but keep me informed if anything happens,” Adama said finally.
“You’ll be the first to know,” Tigh replied back.
Adama made his way to his quarters, surprised when he saw Sheba and Boxey inside. They appeared to have been deep in conversation and not expecting him.
“Any new?” Sheba asked upon seeing him.
“No, sorry,” Adama said.
“Whoever’s doing this is real good,” Boxey said, and Adama had to agree. “When is my dad going to come back?”
“I don’t know, but we’re looking for all those who are missing,” Adama said, seeing Sheba react to that news. She had not heard more were missing.
“They’ll find him,” Sheba said. “Why don’t we get some rest, maybe there’ll be some good news when we wake up.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Adama said.
The Cylon commander swiveled in his chair to face the two centurions who walked in.
“Speak centurion,” the commander said, his voice echoing. He hoped they had good news to repot.
“We have entered striking range of the Galactica and the human fleet,” the centurion said.
“Then let the attack begin.”
Scanners detected the impeding attack, and watched as even more ships closed in. no alert sounded. They would wait and see what happened next.
End Part 2
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