When the attack came not all chose to flee. Some decided to make a stand. On the battlestar Perseus there are 1617 survivors fighting to regain what they have lost…
"I told you I'm not working for the cylons!" said brother Cavil. This earned him another punch to the face from Captain Allia Domas, former CAG of the battlestar Lernia.
"Give it up, we found what by all indications was a cylon homing beacon in your baggage and our boys saw someone very much like you working with the toasters on Sagittaron," said Frank Hathaway. They were in one of the cells of the Perseus brig. Cavil was tied to a chair in the middle of the room with Captain Domas circling him like a shark. Hathaway sat on the cell's bed and Commander Thea Brammel stood a few feet in front of Cavil near the door of the cell. The cell was a large one with unpleasantly bright lights designed for interrogations such as this. The man claiming to be a priest had been questioned off and on since the landing party had returned from Sagittaron over twenty-four hours ago. Since late this morning they had resorted to more extreme methods; as a result Cavil was covered in bruises and had a bleeding nose. It was now the evening and the commander displayed no indication of showing mercy anytime soon. Hathaway had felt a bit uncomfortable beating the man for answers, but there was information they needed and he honestly couldn't muster much sympathy for the unpleasant little man who had clearly sold out his race to the cylons.
"I demand to see a lawyer!" snarled Cavil.
Brammel gave a slight smile with nothing resembling warmth in it, "As soon as we find a living one I'll send them to you. Now I will ask you again, why are you working with the cylons?"
"I'm not!" he yelled. The commander nodded to Captain Domas and she hit Cavil with a hard backhanded blow to the cheek. "I have not betrayed anyone to the cylons. I am a priest, nothing more. You trusted me before Thea; trust me now. There's no need for this," said Cavil.
"You're right, I did trust you before. I'm not making that mistake twice," responded Brammel. Her words were followed by a series of punches from Captain Domas. I've never seen her like this, she's been angry, but this burning hatred is something new to me. Religious people trust priests so fully it must be a real violation to have him turn out to be an impostor. I wonder what secrets she's confessed to him? When Captain Domas finished Cavil spit blood and looked up at the commander with a rage to equal her own.
"You bitch! You call yourself a holy fighter and here you beating an old man for information."
"In the service of good all actions are sanctioned by the gods," she replied coldly. Cavil received a kick on the shin for his troubles. Brammel took Domas aside and gave her instructions just quiet enough that Cavil wouldn't hear. "Keep going for another hour or so; don't hurt him too badly or he won't be able to answer questions. Then give him water let him sleep for awhile." The captain nodded and Commander Brammel gestured for Hathaway to follow her as she left. He fell into step behind her as they walked to CIC.
"What news on the wounded from Sagittaron?" she asked.
"The doctor says we aren't likely to lose anymore but most won't be combat ready for at least two weeks," said Hathaway. Brammel nodded.
"How are we for supplies?" inquired the commander.
"I got a report from the quartermaster today, we've got enough food and water for the foreseeable future, spare parts are about as good as can be expected under the circumstances and we have ammo for a few more months if fighting isn't too heavy. But we do have a problem when it comes to fuel; we only have enough tillium to last for about two weeks, three at most."
The commander considered as they entered the command center. CIC was still being repaired after the pounding the ship had taken waiting for the landing party to return from Sagittaron. Brammel moved to Lieutenant Anna Erikson who was at her usual position at the ship's operations console. "Check the star charts; see if there are any emergency fuel depots or outlying tillium refineries near here we can raid for fuel."
"Yes commander," she said and pulled out a sheet of charts. A petty officer handed Hathaway a report on the repairs, he looked it up and down then handed it back to the man with a thank you.
"How bad is it?" asked Brammel.
"Bad, but no worse than you would expect."
They spent the next few minutes overseeing the repairs and running the ship. Then Lieutenant Erikson walked over with her charts and placed them on the table in front of them. She leaned over the chart and pointed to a star system not far from their current position.
"Our best bet is probably the mining complex on Uria Four. It's the closest. The planet's orbit gives it brutally cold winters and it is abandoned between summers. Spring is just starting there now, so there wouldn't have been any people or power signatures to draw a cylon attack," said the lieutenant as she brushed a few stray strands of blonde hair from her face.
"If it gets abandoned wouldn't they take the tillium with them?" asked Hathaway.
"Often the winter comes earlier than expected and the miners to leave in a hurry. In that case they would leave things behind."
"Must be some fierce winter," observed Hathaway.
"Our records show standard highs of minus eighty during the day. Makes home seem like a Canceron vacation spa," said Erikson; her home colony of Libron had been the coldest of the colonies.
"How can we be sure that they left in a hurry?" asked the commander. Erikson smiled.
"My brother invested in the company and lost a lot of money when the season ended early a few months ago. I had to give him a loan." She lost her smile. "He never got a chance to pay me back."
"Good work lieutenant. It's late, turn in and plot the jump in the morning," said Commander Brammel. Lieutenant Erikson nodded and left.
Colonel Hathaway yawned and said, "If it's alright with you commander, I think I'll hand things over to the night-watch and go to bed." She sighed.
"I think I'll head to my quarters for some rest too."
The mess hall's lights dimmed as the night power saving protocols engaged. Jack barely noticed and took another swig of whiskey. Jack had been sitting in the mess hall for somewhere between two and four hours. He couldn't really remember. He had spent the time drinking from the bottle of whiskey he'd bought at Marathon station the day before the attack and was now quite drunk. Let Hathaway throw me in the brig; I don't care. He took another drink. Somebody walked into the room; he didn't bother to look over.
"Jack?" said the person.
"What?" he said with a slurred voice. The whiskey was making his Airlon accent even thicker than normal. The person walked over and he could see it was Gunner.
"What are you doing? I've been looking for you," she asked.
"What does it look like? I'm getting drunk."
"If the XO finds out he'll through you off flight status," said his old friend as she sat down at the table.
"Let 'em. If he doesn't I will. I can't take this anymore." He took another long drink.
"You want to quit being CAG?" she said.
"I'm not cut out for it Jen." She was surprised at the use of her given name. "I'm terrified of fighting. I can't take watching my friends get picked off one at a time. I never thought I'd do any fighting; when I joined I just wanted money. There are a lot of better people for the job; I'm not cut out for this."
"Do you think I thought I'd be putting my life on the line when I joined? For frack's sake Jack, I joined because my parents said the military was for the lower classes!"
"But at least you are a good soldier; you don't crack under the pressure. I should hand things over to Captain Domas."
"I'm scared when we go to fight too Jack, we all are. Anyone who goes into battle against hundreds of machines designed to annihilate humanity who isn't terrified is crazy." Jack was about to take another swig when she grabbed the bottle from him. "Give me that. Now listen to me Jack, there's a reason Captain Domas hasn't taken over yet. She lets her emotions control her. All she has in her is anger and bitterness about losing her ship. You may get scared going into battle but you do it anyway. You don't let it rule you. That's why you're the best man on the ship to be CAG. Look at what happened on Sagittaron, Bobby was hurt and you didn't hesitate. You pulled him to safety and started patching him up even though it put you at risk should a centurion have come by."
"But there's so much pressure, I can't handle it," he said.
"There's pressure on everyone Jack, if we fail it's the end of our race. You aren't alone. The pilots need a leader and you are the best we have, if you give up more people are going to die because Domas is only out for revenge."
"I've never felt like a leader," said Jack.
"But you are, and maybe it's not the best situation but we have to make do. Come on; let's get you into bed. You'll feel better. Trust me, don't give up and things'll work out." She helped him to his feet and supported him as he made his way back to the pilot's quarters.
"Now we just hope to hell Hathaway doesn't find out about this," said Gunner.
"You're a good friend Jen," said a semiconscious Jack Tiryn.
The sound of footfalls made his head hurt. Jack was walking to the sickbay with Jim, Gunner and Marcus to visit Bobby. He had a fierce hangover but attempted to cope with it in the hopes that no one would tell the XO. The improvement in mood he had received from Gunner's pep talk had been negated by the misery of his physical state. My head feels like someone's taking a jackhammer to it. They entered the sickbay and were met by the doctor, a brown haired woman with glasses named Celia Devarro.
"Can I help you?" she asked with poorly concealed impatience. The sickbay was still busy treating those wounded on Sagittaron and in the attack the cylons had launched on the Perseus at the same time.
"We're here to visit lieutenant Davenport," said Gunner.
"Down there on your right." said Doctor Devarro.
They thanked her and walked off. Sickbay was a T-shaped room with the entrance and examination equipment in the bottom part and the beds for patients in the branches of the T. Rooms for surgery and rarer examinations were attached at various points. Sickbay was much brighter and better lit then most other sections of the ship but unfortunately all that meant right now was Jack's eyes hurt. They reached Bobby's bed and found him doing what he always did in his spare time, drawing.
"Whatcha drawing?" asked Jim as they pulled up chairs. Bobby looked up from his sketch; he hadn't heard them coming.
"Hello," he said. "didn't expect any visitors."
"We had nothing better to do," said Marcus with a mischievous grin.
"Gods Jack, you look awful," Bobby observed.
"I've been better," said Jack as he rubbed his stubble which was even messier then usual.
"Had a bit of that whiskey I got at Marathon last night and I guess things got out of hand. But anyway what are you doing saying I look bad when you're the one who got mowed down by a centurion?"
Bobby shrugged, "I don't feel all that bad for someone who got shot, doc says I was lucky. No major arteries or organs hit and they got me on enough painkillers that I don't feel much of anything. Not much to do but draw."
"Sounds nice, I'll have to remember to get shot next battle," Jack said.
Jim spoke up, "You never answered my question, what are you drawing?"
"Just a doodle." He showed them his "doodle"; a striking sketch of a centurion standing before flames and brandishing its talons. Jack thought it was brilliant if a bit disturbing.
"Have I missed anything good? I heard after what we saw on the planet Cavil got arrested."
"He did, Jack radioed to tell the commander to do it when we were landing. That was after you passed out. I heard they found a bomb or something in his quarters and Hathaway had to airlock it. He's been in the brig being interrogated ever since," explained Gunner.
"Are we even allowed to arrest people?" asked Bobby.
"Well we're all that's left of humanity and we're a military ship so I guess that kinda makes Commander Brammel supreme leader of our race," said Marcus.
"I never thought of it like that," said Jim.
"Me neither. We don't really have a government anymore do we?" said Gunner.
"I guess we should be glad she isn't the power hungry sort," said Bobby.
"Other than that nothing much has happened since you were hurt, we're jumping in about an hour to some old mining complex to look for fuel," said Jack.
"Sounds fun," Bobby said sarcastically.
"I'd rather have a boring mission than what we just went through on Sagittaron," said Jack.
"True enough, I'd rather do boring runs around Libron for the rest of my life than get shot by a centurion again,"
Jim looked at his watch, "You know speaking of the jump, you should probably start getting ready to brief the pilots Jack," he said.
Jack sighed, "Yeah, commander wants us ready for anything." They got up to leave.
"Get well soon Bobby," said Jim.
Nothing like jumping with a hangover. Gods, don't let there be any cylons at Uria.
"Spinning up FTL," said Lieutenant Erikson. It was late the next morning and Hathaway stood at his position in CIC awaiting the jump to Uria. Captain Domas had reported there was no progress with Cavil and the interrogation had been halted for the time being. There was a tense feeling in CIC as everyone worried about what they might find after the jump. The ship was still badly damaged and if they were attacked now they might begin to lose critical systems. Had this been a normal war they would have put into dry-dock for repairs.
"FTL ready."
"Execute jump," ordered Hathaway. A wave of distortion passed through the battlestar as it made its faster than light jump.
"Jump complete, now in the Uria system," reported Erikson.
"Initiate DRADIS scan," said Commander Brammel.
"DRADIS shows clear. Wait scratch that, I have a DRADIS contact."
"Cylons?" asked the commander anxiously.
"I can't tell, they're just at the edge of DRADIS range; I can barely pick them up over the standard EM interference, whoever they are they don't seem to have noticed us."
"Should we launch the alert vipers?" Hathaway asked Brammel.
"No, put them in the tubes but keep them there. Helmsman, take us to that DRADIS contact at three quarters maximum speed. Gun control, stand ready." The deck hummed as the engines kicked in. As they got closer Erikson began to report more details.
"Looks like there's more than one contact. Confirmed there are at least four. They still aren't making any move."
"Are we detecting any power signatures from them?" Hathaway asked.
"Yes, but they're faint, now able to confirm the numbers: We have eight DRADIS contacts of varying sizes," said Lieutenant Erikson.
"Receiving colonial transponders," reported Reggie Fallows the communications officer.
"Confirm that!" ordered the commander.
"Confirmed sir, we have eight colonial ships here."
"Helmsman take us to the fleet and hold there," Hathaway instructed.
"We're receiving transmissions from several of the ships," said Fallows.
"Put them through," said Brammel.
"Which one?"
"Whichever called first."
"Yes commander, that would be the captain of the Caprican Wanderer. Its ID code shows it as a commercial passenger liner. Putting him on speaker phone." A man's voice came over the wireless, he sounded frightened and very apprehensive.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"This is commander Thea Brammel of the battlestar Perseus. Are you in need of assistance?"
"The Perseus? Thank the gods we're here, you have to help us!"
"What happened? What are you doing out here?" asked Brammel.
"After the attack we managed to avoid the cylons for two days, then we were found by a battlestar; the Pegasus. They already had a few ships under their protection and they took us in. We wandered around for awhile finding ships until we had this fleet put together. But the cylons kept attacking and the Pegasus was getting really beat up defending us. After a few weeks like that we jumped here to get fuel from the mining complex. Admiral Cain; she's the one in charge on the Pegasus,"
"I know of her," said Commander Brammel.
"Anyway, once we jumped she said that it was no longer a viable option for them to protect us. They were losing too many vipers protecting us or something and we needed to make sacrifices. She sent marines to every ship and started stripping them of anything she could use, including people. Anyone useful she ordered conscripted and if they didn't comply she said she'd have their families killed. They took everything we had and left us here. None of us have FTLs anymore. We've been here for nine days and things are getting really desperate here. You have to help us, please." The CIC was silent for a moment. Everyone in the room had the same expression of utter shock.
"Lords of Kobol," muttered Commander Brammel. Hathaway's mind raced. What the frack is wrong with Cain?! The military exists to protect the people of the twelve colonies. There can't be a worse violation of our oath. Conscription at gunpoint is in direct desecration of the rights proscribed in the articles of colonization. Frack. The commander shook her head and gathered her wits.
"I'll send an evacuation team over shortly, tell your people to get ready to leave." The beleaguered captain thanked her and she closed the line. She turned to petty officer Fallows,
"Pull the vipers out of the launch tubes and tell Captain Tiryn to prepare raptors to evacuate the fleet."
He nodded and said, "We still have several ships waiting on the line, what should I do with them?"
"Tell them we'll be getting them out shortly - and listen to what they have to say. I want to hear more about this business with the Pegasus.
"Yes ma'am." Commander Brammel sighed and leaned over her DRADIS console.
"Not how we wanted to find out we aren't the only ship left in the fleet," said Hathaway.
"Lords no. What could Cain have been thinking?" she said.
"I've never heard of anyone in the military doing something that desperate, hell, that cruel. At least not in the last few centuries. If I had been her XO I think I would have mutinied." That surprised Brammel, few were more dedicated to military rules and regulations than Colonel Hathaway.
"Commander! Something you ought to hear," said Fallows. Hathaway and the commander turned towards him. "According to the captain of the science ship Oracle, part of Cain's reason for abandoning the fleet was that they had discovered a cylon agent aboard the Pegasus. It was able to perfectly replicate human appearance and behavior and they were concerned the fleet contained more cylons."
"Are you saying it was a cylon that looked like a human? People couldn't tell it was a machine?" inquired Hathaway. I have a very bad feeling about this.
"According to the Oracle, yes sir."
"Oh my gods, I have the terrible feeling…" muttered the commander. She turned to Hathaway and said, "Colonel come with me." She began to walk to the door of CIC and Hathaway followed. I think I know where we're heading. Sure enough his instinct was correct and soon they were entering the brig. Cavil lay on his bed in one of the cells staring at the ceiling, his face was bruised and swollen and his shirt was stained with blood. Brammel ordered the guard to open his cell and she stepped in with Hathaway just behind her. The guard came and stood at her side with his rifle pointed at Cavil. Cavil sat up and looked at them.
"What?" he said irritably.
"Are you a cylon?" she asked. Cavil stared blankly for a moment and then his face was split with as big a grin as his injuries allowed.
"So you finally cracked the big secret did you? I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever summon the brainpower to figure it out. Yes I'm a cylon. Why do you think the attack was so effective? We've been manipulating you for years now. Cylon agents were planted on every battlestar and every colony. The quartermaster of Marathon station was a cylon, that's how the centurions got in your hold. The people who hijacked the Lernia were cylons. The resistance on Sagittaron were all cylons. The Jewel of Tauron was allowed to escape to put me here. You can't win, we're everywhere."
Hathaway stood in shock. For a moment he thought Cavil was trying to trick them or was delusional but it all made perfect, terrifying sense. The man who had confessed to being a machine sat smugly for a moment then without warning the commander leapt forward and hit him so hard he was flung to the floor and blood splattered the bars of the cell. Brammel grabbed his shirt and hauled his face to within and inch of hers. "I should kill you right now! I don't know what kind of fracked up machine you are but I do know you can bleed!" she roared. Still stunned Cavil was able to choke out a reply.
"Go ahead, I'll just wake up in download city in a body that feels a lot better than this one. You can't kill me."
"I don't believe you," Brammel hissed dangerously. Hathaway was simply stunned. He had never seen the commander act like this before.
"If you don't believe me then go ahead and kill me. I could use a change of scene," Cavil said with disturbing confidence. The commander threw Cavil to the floor and kicked him in the chest. She turned and walked out of the cell, Hathaway and the guard following her. The guard locked the door as Commander Brammel regained her composure.
"Double the guard around him and send for Doctor Devarro, I want her to give him a full examination, find out what he is," ordered Brammel. She left the brig and Hathaway followed her.
Half an hour later they sat around the table in the strategy room along with Captain Tiryn and Lieutenant Erikson. Captain Tiryn looked like he had the flu; Hathaway wondered why. Brammel (who was now acting normal again) had ordered a meeting to discuss how to act on what had happened in the last hour.
She spoke, "First off everyone we have just discovered something with huge ramifications; brother Cavil is a cylon. He was planted here as a spy."
"A cylon? How is that possible?" said Jack.
"We don't know at this point but he has confessed to being a cylon. He says that cylon agents were planted throughout the fleet and the colonies prior to the attack to undermine our defenses. Which would explain a great deal," said Commander Brammel.
"The Lernia," said Jack.
Brammel nodded and said, "Yes, it seems much of what has befallen us during and after the attack has been the result of cylon infiltration. He also claims that if we kill him he will download into a new body somewhere else but I'm not entirely convinced that he's not bluffing. The question now is: What do we do with him?"
"If he can download into another body what's stopping him from downloading our position to the cylons?" said Hathaway.
"Perhaps he can't do it unless he knows our position?" suggested Erikson.
Hathaway nodded, "That's possible."
"I get the feeling if he could transmit our position he would have. It seems that device we found in his quarters was a homing beacon and if that's the case he definitely can't give away our position on his own," said Brammel.
"I say we blow him out the airlock now, a cylon on board could be very dangerous," advised Jack.
"I think we should keep him around; I think if he could do something to harm us while imprisoned he would have and he could give us useful information on the cylons," said Lieutenant Erikson.
"I'm inclined to agree, we'll keep him for the moment," Brammel said.
"If cylons can imitate humans than anyone could be a cylon agent, I think we need to announce this finding immediately. If anyone is acting suspicious or shows any indication of being a cylon we need to know," Hathaway recommended.
"I agree, people need to know what we're up against," said Commander Brammel. Everyone agreed.
"How do we know none of us are cylons?" asked Jack indicating the rest of the group.
"We don't. But we need to trust someone or nothing will get done," said the commander frankly, Jack nodded and she spoke again, "Next we need to decide what to do about this fleet - we have eight ships abandoned and stripped of all they're worth by the battlestar Pegasus. Lieutenant Erikson, would you give your report."
"As you said, a total of eight ships. The Caprican Wanderer, a civilian transport liner, the Cavalier, a lightly armed police vessel; they have not responded to attempts at communication, the Prince of Delphi, a cargo hauler, the Oracle, a research vessel, the Silver Arrow, a small luxury yacht, the Trojan pathfinder, an interplanetary shuttle, the Shining Comet, a salvage ship and mining survey craft formerly employed to the Virgon mining corporation. All have had their FTL drives or significant portions thereof removed rendering them unable to jump. Two have had their communications systems removed: the Prince of Delphi and the survey craft. We estimate the fleet has a total population of between two and three hundred people."
"My pilots are ready to start the evacuation as soon as you order it commander," said Jack.
"Good. See if any of the ships have any fuel left while you're at it, we need all we can get."
"I hate to be the one to say this, but is it wise to be welcoming another three hundred people on board? Aside from the logistical difficulties of housing much more than this ship was designed for, there's also the possibility some of these people could be cylon agents," said Hathaway hesitantly.
"Valid points colonel but I left millions of people behind on Libron, I don't wish to leave anyone else behind. We'll keep them in cargo bays and in the quarters of the crewmembers that have been killed. If need be we'll clean out the small arms lockers and put them in there. As far as security, we'll post marines around sensitive areas and limit their access," said the commander.
"The captain of the Caprican Wanderer said the Pegasus came here to acquire tillium from the mining complex on Uria Four just as we did, what will we do if they took it all?" asked Lieutenant Erikson.
"I don't know lieutenant, I don't know," responded Commander Brammel. She sighed and spoke again, "There's also the problem with the Pegasus, regulations dictate we seek out the ship and receive orders from Admiral Cain seeing as she is the highest ranking officer still alive that we know of. But I'm not sure I'd be willing to take her orders after she left the people on these ships to die. Especially after those reports of holding families hostage in order to conscript people."
Jack's eyes widened, "I didn't know about that. Gods…" He shook his head for a moment and said, "I wouldn't take orders from her, that's monstrous. We can't let someone like that dictate the future of humanity."
"Believe it or not I agree. To hell with regulations, we won't need cylons if our leader is our own worst enemy," said Hathaway. Everyone in the room looked somewhat surprised by that remark. Rules are important but what Cain's done makes me sick to my stomach.
"There's also the practical difficulties," said Brammel. She looked at Lieutenant Erikson, "What are the odds of finding the Pegasus without knowing where they jumped to?"
"Virtually nil." she responded.
"Very well, that decides it; we will not pursue the Pegasus," declared the commander. Everyone looked relieved. "Anything else?" asked Brammel. No one said anything, so she dismissed the meeting. She and Hathaway returned to CIC. Once at their positions the commander picked up her phone and hit the button for a ship wide announcement, "Attention all hands. All hands your attention please. This is the commander. We have just learned of a disturbing new threat. The cylons have somehow gained the capacity to create infiltrators that perfectly resemble humans, right down to our blood. Brother Cavil who came onboard from the Jewel of Tauron has been identified as a cylon agent and has been imprisoned. As of yet we have no means of telling cylon from human, so if you notice anyone acting in a suspicious manner or carrying unusual devices you can't identify, notify a high-ranking officer such as Major Phillips, Captain Tiryn or Lieutenant Erikson immediately. Do not panic, the situation is under control. That is all." She hung up.
The raptor departed the landing pod. Jack sat across from a marine corporal named Gerry Calvin, a stocky Virgonite with a well-trimmed beard. Jack still didn't feel well but his headache was improving. They were flying to the Prince of Delphi; they would evacuate whatever was left of the crew and ascertain what (if any) fuel it had left. The fuel would later be removed by an engineering crew. Due to the ship's communications array being removed by the Pegasus there had been no contact with the ship and they didn't know what to expect. It was possible the crew had no idea the Perseus had arrived. Corporal Calvin muttered something to himself.
"Hmm?" said Jack.
"Oh I was just saying how fracked up it is that cylons look like people now," said the marine.
"You can say that again, as if things weren't bad enough already," replied Jack.
"And now we're bringing on a whole mess of civilians with gods only know how many cylon agents among them. Hell, this could all be a trap by the cylons."
"I suppose you're right but there ain't much we can do about it, sure as frack can't leave 'em here to die," said Jack.
"I guess, but I can't stop feeling like we're opening up the door for them to pour right in," responded the corporal. The raptor pulled alongside the old cargo ship and sealed itself to the airlock.
"Docking complete," reported the pilot, a wiry man with the call sign Wild Cat. The hatch opened into an empty corridor. Jack stepped in followed closely by Calvin who had his rifle ready.
"You expecting to use that?" asked Jack nodding to Calvin's gun.
"You never know," he said. They continued down the corridor for several feet towards an intersection with another. The ship was old and not particularly clean. Aesthetics had clearly not been in the design plan. Everything was metal, most of which was well worn and battered and some of which had begun to rust. Just as Jack was entering the intersection gunshots rang out and three bullets bounced off the corner in front of Jack.
He ducked behind the corner and pulled his pistol as a man shouted, "Get off my ship!"
"Hold you fire, we're friendlies!" yelled Jack. Calvin ran and got against the wall next to Jack, ready to charge out and fight at any moment.
"I'm not falling for that! You're back for the rest of our equipment, but you aren't going to get it without a fight!" The man emphasized his point by firing another shot. Jack winced as the bullet ricocheted off the wall.
A different man shouted, "Tell Admiral Cain she can go frack herself!"
"We aren't from the Pegasus, we're here to evacuate you," said Jack.
"Oh no? Then who are you?" said the man.
"Captain Jack Tiryn, commander of the air group of the battlestar Perseus, BSG thirty-nine. And who might you be?"
"Captain Herb Zarus of the Prince of Delphi, member of the Caprican trading association."
"Hold your fire, I'm coming out." Jack gestured that Calvin should remain behind and slowly stepped around the corner with his hands up. On the other side was what appeared to be small storage room filled with about two dozen people, all were filthy and frightened and several had pistols aimed at him. There was a short man at the front who Jack took to be Captain Zarus.
"Drop your weapon," said Zarus. Jack slowly put his pistol on the ground in front of him.
"You say you're not from the Pegasus?" asked the captain of the cargo ship skeptically.
"No, see? Perseus air group." He pointed to a patch on the right arm of his flight suit baring the insignia of the air group.
"Fine then, you ain't from the Pegasus, how do we know you aren't here to take what's left of our supplies and abandon us like the Pegasus did?"
"Our commander has no intention of leaving you to the cylons; we are here to evacuate you to the Perseus along with the rest of the Pegasus fleet." Captain Zarus seemed to be letting his guard down a little.
"How do we know this isn't a trick to make us work on your ship?" he asked.
"Well I can only give you my word it isn't. Though to be honest, even if we did want to draft you it's only a matter of time before the cylons get here and when that happens working on a battlestar that can fight back will sound a lot better." Zarus seemed to consider this for a moment then looked at the rest of his crew, a decision seemed to be made and they lowered their guns.
"Alright we'll go, if only to get some food. Cain's men took everything edible on the ship." Jack shook his head at the heartlessness of Admiral Cain as Corporal Calvin stepped out and began to escort the crew remaining crew to the raptor. This'll probably take at least two trips.
"One more thing captain," said Jack.
"Yes?"
"How much tillium do you have left? I've been instructed to determine the amount of fuel left on each ship so later boarding parties can acquire it for the Perseus."
Zarus looked about to object then seemed to change his mind and said, "About eleven hundred litres." Jack nodded. He and Corporal Calvin returned to the raptor with Captain Zarus and several of the remaining crew. The ship disengaged from the airlock and headed back towards the Perseus. After landing Jack took the refugees to a cargo bay that was being modified to house civilians as had been done with the Jewel of Tauron. He spent the next few hours ferrying survivors from various ships to the Perseus. Finally he was bringing the last group, some passengers from the Silver Arrow to the cargo bay that held the evacuees from the Jewel of Tauron and a few other ships. He handed them over to the officer in charge of organizing things there and was about to leave when he heard a shout from the other end of the bay.
"Get away from me!" Jack turned and saw one of the Jewel of Tauron survivors in an argument with a refugee from the Shining Comet.
"Frack off I have to stay in this cargo bay too!" yelled the man from the Shining Comet.
Jack walked over and said, "What's goin' on here?"
"He refuses to share this cargo bay with me because he thinks I might be a cylon," said the man from the Comet.
The other man turned to Jack, "You heard what they said, cylons who look like people. Anyone of these newcomers could be a toaster. I'm not gonna live with cylon agents waiting for them to kill us all!"
"I'm not a cylon!" said the other man.
Jack tried to make his voice as diplomatic as possible, "The commander has ordered that we house everyone we can here, so you're just gonna have to learn to live with each other."
"Frack that!" said the one from Jewel of Tauron; he pushed the other man in the chest. Things got out of hand as other people began to join in the argument.
"Get your hands off me!"
"Don't push him!"
"I'm with you, leave 'em where we found 'em!"
"Heartless bastard!"
"Go frack yourself!"
Soon the nearly everyone in the cargo was screaming or trading insults. Jack looked at the officer in charge of the bay with a pleading expression. The officer just shrugged and looked frightened.
Caleb Prenian, the young student from Sagittaron, started yelling along with the rest, "Listen to me! There are no humanoid cylons! It's just a ploy so the military can institute marshal law and arrest whoever they want!" The situation got even more heated as some agreed with Caleb and others screamed that it was paranoid garbage. Jack began to make his way to the crowd and exited the cargo. He found the nearest phone and dialed CIC.
"CIC this is Captain Tiryn, I'm down at the cargo bay where the Jewel of Tauron refugees are kept. We got a major situation brewing, that announcement about the cylon infiltrators has sparked fear of outsiders among some and we're on the verge of a riot. I need someone down here who can restore order immediately." He hung up the phone and returned to the cargo bay, which was a scene of total chaos. I can barely hear myself think with all this screaming. Suddenly a punch was thrown and a brawl erupted. Jack threw himself into the melee in an attempt to break up the fight but only managed to get knocked to the floor by a stray punch. People began to trample him in the chaos. He kicked the feet out from under somebody next to him and managed to stand up. Jack started throwing punches and kicks so that he could escape the brawl. Somebody jumped on his back rapped an arm around his throat. He looked around and saw the face of Caleb Prenian. Skinny little bastard! I'm lucky he doesn't know what he's doing. Jack started punching him in the face but he didn't let go. The officer supposed to be running the bay came up behind Caleb and knocked him out with a heavy records book. He caught his breath and thanked the man. Jack was thinking of how he could get the situation under control when Colonel Hathaway burst into the bay flanked by two marines. Hathaway took one look around, pulled out his pistol and fired three times at the ceiling. The gunshots caused everyone to freeze.
"What is wrong with you people!" he shouted. "Are the cylons not enough!? Do we need to start fighting each other!?" He motioned for Jack to come over and he explained what happened. Hathaway shook his head. "Are we so paranoid? What makes us better than the cylons if we don't act like human beings? If we don't trust each other we don't stand a chance of survival. I don't want to hear anymore about this insanity and the first of one of you to start trouble again is going to get thrown in the brig so they can meet a real live cylon." That seemed to sufficiently cow the crowd to get them to maintain order, at least for the time being. Hathaway turned to one of the marines and told them to bring medics to care for the wounded.
They entered the atmosphere. It had been three hours since the riot and Jack was developing a very large bruise on his cheek where he had been punched. He was piloting a raptor containing Lieutenant Erikson, Major Phillips and two other marines down to Uria Four where they would see how much fuel was left in the refinery. The mission had originally been assigned to Gremlin but he had thought piloting a ship might help him relax after the stress of the day. Nothing like finding out anyone you see could be an enemy and getting ambushed by a Sagittaron to make your day. There were two other raptors flying slightly behind carrying Chief Petty Officer Campbell and a group of deck hands who would start preparations to remove any fuel they found. The ship was rattled by turbulence as they descended through the upper atmosphere. Within a few minutes they were touching down on the mining complex's landing field. The hatch was opened and Major Phillips and the marines stepped out, followed by Lieutenant Erikson and Jack. The air was very cold and a light snow fell. Jack didn't mind; the cold numbed the various aches he had accumulated from the riot and his hangover. The other two raptors landed shortly thereafter and once the deck hands had disembarked they headed for the mining complex. The complex was located atop a steep hill overlooking the landing field; a track had been dug into the hill to allow access. The world of Uria while normally barren and unpleasant to look at, was currently breathtaking due to the fact its small red sun was setting, causing everything to glow a deep red. The deck hands shivered in the cold and Campbell cursed under his breath while Lieutenant Erikson chuckled at a comment Phillips had made about the ability of non-Libronites to withstand cold, or lack thereof. They crested the hill and saw the mining complex. There was a large building with three tall smoke stacks about two dozen meters in front of them as well as several small buildings arrayed around it. Though large it was unusually small for a tillium mining complex, especially one with its own refinery; Jack said as much and Lieutenant Erikson explained that most of it was underground. They entered the main building and found themselves in a large dark antechamber with coat hooks and an unoccupied reception desk. Flashlights were handed out and they closed the outer door. With the building sealed it was not particularly cold. They left the antechamber and went deeper into the building. They soon came to a large communal meeting place whose exact purpose was not readily apparent. They found a map of the complex; as the lieutenant had said it was a great deal bigger beneath the ground. They saw a control room for power and Major Phillips sent a marine and two deckhands to activate the power systems while the rest of the group headed for the third underground level where the fuel was stored. Upon reaching the lifts down they realized they couldn't proceed downward until power was restored.
As they waited Major Phillips moved over to Jack and asked, "How is the man of yours that was injured? Lieutenant Davenport?" Jack was surprised by the question.
"Good I suppose considering. The doctor says he'll make a full recovery in time." The marine commander nodded.
"It's a sad time that we have to send pilots to fight on the ground," said Phillips. Jack nodded. Within fives minutes they felt the floor hum as the generators came online. Suddenly every light was activated and they blinked in the sudden brightness. The group sent to turn on the power returned a few minutes later.
One of the deck hands, specialist Murphy spoke, "There are indications that someone was here recently; the generators didn't take as long to warm up as they should have. Looks like the Pegasus was already here." Lieutenant Erikson who was in charge of the mission nodded. They then entered the lift descended to the storage level. The lift exited in a large mezzanine where several reinforced rock tunnels leading to the various storage rooms met. Lieutenant Erikson and one marine stayed in the main mezzanine while the rest were sent to see how much fuel was left. They started searching the different rooms and cataloging what they found. Most of the rooms were empty and those that still had fuel generally had very little left. Cain's people had been thorough. After some time Jack was returning to Lieutenant Erikson to report on his latest foray.
"Find any?" she asked.
"Only three full barrels and one partially filled one." Erikson noted it down on her clipboard. Jack was about to leave to check another room when Major Phillips came jogging up. He wouldn't have hurried unless he had something important to say.
"Report," ordered the lieutenant.
"Nothing in the room I was searching lieutenant, but when I was coming back I found something. Come with me." Erikson followed him into a nearby tunnel and Jack accompanied out of curiosity. The walked down the dim corridor a short way and then Phillips motioned for them to stop. "Here." He pointed to a crack on the wall to their left.
"What is it?" asked Lieutenant Erikson. Phillips pulled out a flashlight and shined it into the crack. Erikson peered in.
"Gods," she muttered. She motioned for Jack to come over. "There's a room in there, look." Jack looked in and saw a small poorly illuminated room; it was covered in dust and seemed to have been carved from the natural rock. Jack stepped back.
"What do you suppose it is?" he asked the lieutenant.
"It must be some kind of ruins. Something built before the mine but it would have to be very old to be trapped in the rocks like this. I wonder what's in it?"
"I saw some charges for tunnel clearing in the last storage room, we could blast a way in and see what it is." suggested Jack. Lieutenant Erikson considered for a minute.
"Do it," she commanded. Jack started walking back to find the charges as Erikson and Phillips headed back to the mezzanine. A few minutes later the charge had been set and he was returning to the lieutenant with the detonator in his hand.
"It's ready," he said.
"Blow the charge," she commanded. Jack hit the detonator and a loud boom echoed up from the tunnel. They headed back down it to the hole they had blasted in the wall. The air was filled with dust and smoke, causing Jack to cough. They reached the hole; it was nearly a man's height but Jack and Major Phillips had to duck to get through it. It was dark inside and they produced flashlights. The room was not very big, smaller than the quarters of the higher-ranking officers on the Perseus, though it had an unusually high ceiling. It was seven sided, coming to a point across from the entrance. Nestled between the two sides forming the point was a triangular altar upon which rested a tarnished bronze sword. Every wall was engraved with some kind of writing. Jack walked to the nearest wall and examined it.
"What is it?" he wondered.
"It looks like the language of the gods, what they use in the old scriptures," said Lieutenant Erikson.
"It is, I recognize it," said Phillips.
"Can you tell what it says?" asked the lieutenant.
"No, I just know some of letters."
"Is there anyone on the ship who might be able to read it?" asked Jack.
"The commander probably, most Geminese children are taught it so they can read the scriptures in their original form," said Erikson.
"Well if this is a shrine or a temple of some sort the commander is going to want to see it. We should radio her about it," said Major Phillips. Lieutenant Erikson agreed and the two Libronites left to find a radio. Jack stayed behind and looked around the room. There was something compelling about the ruins. These must have been ancient when my grandparents where children.
He was still there a half hour later when Erikson and Phillips returned accompanied by Commander Brammel. The commander stepped into the room and swept her flashlight around, clearly in awe of the ancient place. Jack could hear her muttering a prayer. She walked to the altar and examined the sword for a moment; she then looked up at the walls and began studying them intently.
After several minutes of her scanning the walls Lieutenant Erikson asked. "Can you read it?"
"A little, I learned the sacred language when I was young but I haven't had much time to study it in the military. I can understand it a bit but a lot of it doesn't make much sense. Whoever built this calls themselves "the defeated victorious" which is a complete contradiction. There's some mention of the thirteenth tribe and a demigod. I'd say this was built around the time of the exodus from Kobol but beyond that I have no idea what this place is."
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