{"id":1374,"date":"2016-03-26T07:28:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T12:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2016-03-30T07:21:33","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T12:21:33","slug":"black-alpha-one-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=1374","title":{"rendered":"Black Alpha One – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black Alpha One<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

by AJ Marks<\/span><\/p>\n

Part 1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Adama looked around at the frim face of the council staring back at him after they went over the latest numbers. Supplies were running far too low and ships were beginning to show signs of breaking down from their long journey.\u00a0 Even one of the argo ships was suffering despite the priority of repairs to it.\u00a0 He knew, as did the others, if it failed food in the fleet would fall below survivable rates.\u00a0 Even fuel was limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf news of this gets out, there\u2019ll be panic and riots,\u201d Uri, one of the councilmen said quietly. Adama noticed his grim expression seemed more dire than normal.\u00a0 Morale among the civilians was already at an all-time low.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre there any solar system coming up which might have supplies?\u201d another councilman asked, as they all looked towards Adama. He felt the weight of the meeting upon his shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve investigated every potential system which looks like it might have some potential. However, recently the systems have been barren of anything, making resupply difficult, and any resources there were would have required a lot of effort to mine,\u201d Adama stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might not have much choice next time,\u201d Uri stated, something they all realized was a possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might have to stop,\u201d Adama said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about the patrols?\u201d another senator asked. \u201cWe know some patrols are still maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrols from behind, the area where its most logical Cylons might approach us from. Any patrols to systems are towards ones with the most potential, we don\u2019t waste fuel on leads which are deemed to have a low probability for life or supplies,\u201d Adama said to them.\u00a0 He knew what they wanted and it was true they had not spotted any Cylons for a while.\u00a0 He was not willing to believe they had completely escaped their threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had no contact with them in almost a year now,\u201d one of the members said just as Adama predicted in his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure they are not behind us,\u201d Adama said to him, beginning a familiar argument. \u201cI cannot take that chance.\u00a0 I cannot be wrong, we won\u2019t survive a mistake like that.\u00a0 Knowing where they are allows us the ability to avoid them if possible.\u00a0 Any attack now would destroy many of our ships easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand commander,\u201d Uri sad, looking in the direction of the others who wanted to say more. Adama had some allies on the Council, but understood that in this situation Uri had become one of them.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re tired, cramped and scared, worried and fearful of the future, but we cannot let our emotions override our decisions.\u00a0 We must act cautiously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy warriors will defend us to the end, that is the only thing I can guarantee,\u201d Adama stated to the group. He knew they all would give up their lives to protect everyone on board, but he would not throw away such courage in a hopeless situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pray we receive some good news then, and soon,\u201d Uri said, as the others agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been nothing on the latest planets?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Adama replied, the lack of anything had started to worry him tremendously. He hoped for anything, from air to a bit of food, or even someplace they might settle.\u00a0 Such a thought was a last resort to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cPotential systems?\u201d Uri asked, as they all leaned in closer to hear what Adama said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur scientists have picked out two, but we\u2019re waiting until we get a bit closer before sending out a patrol, to conserve as much fuel as possible,\u201d Adama said to them.<\/p>\n

They all nodded in agreement as the meeting ended and they went back to their quarters, or where ever else they could go on board a warship and still have some privacy. There was little they could do about the supplies if nothing appeared in the systems.\u00a0 They faced a hard reality and one which they could not afford many mistakes.<\/p>\n

Adama sat back in his chair hoping they made the right decision. Leading so many out here might have been a mistake.\u00a0 Looking at the numbers he noticed one which concerned him the most.\u00a0 The lack of children being born, and he hoped it wasn\u2019t due to the fact people had given up hope for the future.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Admiral Ryan Anders stood on the bridge of the battlestar Seydlitz, his flagship. They were going to patrol the \u2018Black Zone\u2019, a group of sectors which they still patrolled.\u00a0 A few others, the Red, White, Blue and Orange were all patrolled to a lesser degree, but the Black zone was the only which had two battle-groups patrolling it at all times.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmiral, Captain Chin of the Kiev is on the line,\u201d Captain Otto said, he was the captain of the Seydlitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut him through,\u201d Ryan said, watching as Chin\u2019s face appeared on the screen, someone he had worked with several times.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmiral, wanted to let you know the Kiev battle group is ready to go,\u201d Chin said to him, the point as usual for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, we\u2019re waiting on the final shuttles and passengers to board,\u201d Ryan stated, knowing exactly who they were waiting for even though few people did. He looked over at a console on board all battlestars, but rarely used.\u00a0 Many expressed a desire to remove it for other systems but each time it was blocked by high command.\u00a0 Ryan understood the reason, but felt torn knowing that if it was ever used, everything they knew would be changed by it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmiral, hanger reports that the last shuttle has landed, Ensign Conner is reporting as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, have the ensign report to the bridge,\u201d Ryan stated as the order was relayed back and looked back at Chin on the screen. \u201cWe\u2019re ready to move out, prepare to move out in twenty minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstood admiral,\u201d both Chin and Otto said.<\/p>\n

The order was relayed to the other ships even as the door opened allowing a small blonde onto the bridge. Few understood her importance on patrols into the Black Zone.\u00a0 People with her specialization were far and few, in fact she was considered the top expert in her field, one he hoped they never used.\u00a0 The door to the bridge opened allowing a small blonde to enter the bridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnsign Conner reporting as ordered sir,\u201d she said, saluting him. He knew she might be young, but she was also the senior person of her group, having been trained for ten years for this mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cArriving a bit late?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry sir, but there was an update to the computer that Captain Koehn requested,\u201d she replied, mentioning her superior.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery well, wish he would have informed me first so I would have known,\u201d Ryan said watching as the ensign shuffled her feet uncomfortably. They both knew it wasn\u2019t her fault if Koehn hadn\u2019t said anything.\u00a0 \u201cGo ahead and get to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes sir,\u201d she said heading over to the rarely used console and got to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaptain Koehn seems to do that a lot, gets in trouble with Admiral Cave over it as well,\u201d Otto said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he was the one who discovered how it all worked,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n

He thought back to the \u2018event\u2019 and the reason why they patrolled the Black Zone. Few knew about the reason, and even most in government didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 Many senior staff knew, as did the group the ensign worked with, but the official reason why so many ships patrolled this sector was a signal had been discovered.\u00a0 Several computer wizards had manufactured the signal to justify it, but there were many conspiracy theories which argued against it.<\/p>\n

A few of the conspiracies even mentioned the real reason, the asteroid which had crashed was not an asteroid at all, but a space ship. The group demanded the truth and made up all types of reasons why the government was lying about it.<\/p>\n

The patrol itself had become a running joke in the military, people calling it a waste, and the far left radicals catching on saying it was a waste of money and why the military should be decommissioned now. They stated humanity was at a point where they didn\u2019t need a military<\/p>\n

Ryan always felt shock at hearing such words. He knew if the real truth ever got out many would never accept the truth which was why they decided to keep it a secret.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, here we go again,\u201d Otto said to them as the engines powered up and the fleet moved out.<\/p>\n

\u201cYep, and personally I hope we find nothing,\u201d Ryan whispered back to him. Others might want to find proof that aliens existed, but he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He knew better than to doubt.\u00a0 Out there among the stars waited a race which wanted to destroy all of humanity.\u00a0 And out there a group of humans were fighting them.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Boomer walked along the corridor of the ship along with a crewmember of the ship looking at everything. The commander wanted a report of the argo ship right away and he and Jolly were sent to check it out.\u00a0 Surprisingly the corridor was fairly empty compared to other ships which were packed with people.\u00a0 He thought the argo ships might have more people on board than this.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the biggest problem is one of the recyclers,\u201d the crewmember stated surprising Boomer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with it?\u201d Boomer asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s leaking,\u201d the crewmember said. \u201cif we can\u2019t get it fixed it will ruin the entire machine, and if that happens, we could be looking at the inability to retill the soil for the next harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boomer didn\u2019t have to know much to know that wasn\u2019t good news. If they lost one of the argo ships their food supply would become critical.\u00a0 He looked over at Jolly who seemed to understand the same problem.\u00a0 Things were looking bleak if they didn\u2019t find materials to repair the machine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe techs are working on a way to fix it, but each time the problem gets worse,\u201d the crewmember said to them. \u201cWe\u2019re trying everything we can, but that\u2019s only one of many things failing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds like every other ship in the fleet,\u201d Jolly said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard,\u201d the crewmember said, as they walked into a room where the captain waited.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, so glad the commander is taking this seriously,\u201d the captain said as Boomer and Jolly walked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe takes everything seriously,\u201d Boomer replied. \u201cHe\u2019s under tremendous pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, of course,\u201d the captain said. \u201cI\u2019m afraid what I have to tell you won\u2019t ease that pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Boomer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have one more growing season, after that I\u2019m afraid the soil won\u2019t be fertile enough to grown anything,\u201d the captain said. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked to the other argo ships, we might be able to transfer some soil back and forth, but I doubt the fleet has the fuel for such things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIts an option I will give the commander,\u201d Boomer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven then the strain on the machines would be tremendous,\u201d the captain said. \u201cBut that\u2019s not all, the ship has a deteriorating hull, I\u2019m not sure how much longer it will be structurally safe.\u00a0 It\u2019s a flaw of all argo ships, the other two will eventually succumb to such problems as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boomer knew that bit of information, as did the commander but everyone hoped the ships would last longer before showing signs of problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long?\u201d Jolly asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might fail this season, I don\u2019t know,\u201d the captain said. \u201cI have my crew working in shift to limit exposure to areas which are the weakest to limit any causalities when it does happen.\u00a0 Everyone on board is a specialist, we really can\u2019t afford to lose any of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boomer wanted to say something, but knew in their reduced numbers the people who knew such information was limited. They could not afford to lose anyone, or any ship right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were back at the colonies, things would be easy, we\u2019d just do into dock and replace the failing sections,\u201d the captain said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have the supplies to even manufacture replacement hull parts,\u201d Boomer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

An uncomfortable silence hung between them as they each understood the problem at hand.<\/p>\n

End part 1<\/p>\n

Continued in part 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black Alpha One by AJ Marks Part 1 Adama looked around at the frim face of the council staring back at him after they went over the latest numbers. Supplies were running far too low and ships were beginning to show signs of breaking down from their long journey.\u00a0 Even one of the argo ships […]
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