Disclaimer of dubious wording and ironclad legality: the principle Colonial and Cylon characters aren't mine. I'm writing this story expressly for fun and not to make a material profit. Please don't bother suing; I'm one of the 4 million working poor living in NYC.
Things are going to get a little intense here, both emotionally and maybe physically. The meeting(s) everyone has been demanding will be occurring soon, so get ready for it.
More notes at the end of this chapter.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
THE LONG ROAD HOME
Book III: Exodus Ends
Part One
202.5 Million Kilometers from Earth
Terran Battlestar Olympus
CIC
Arrival of Colonial Fleet +01:02:38
(Richards)
"Two Raptors inbound, Sirs," someone reported somewhere in the background. While that information was already evident on the AEGIS displays, it was obscured by how the CIC was unusually crowded than normal, what with the visiting Colonials, Starbuck, Taylor, and several more Marines than the usual guards all milling about.
I was the only one not looking at it. "How many escorts?" I asked, the small stack of papers I was slowly paging through atop the planning desk holding my whole attention right then.
"Uh, three from Nemesis...looks like Raiders, and six from Galactica. Vipers."
"And in the air?"
"Sixteen Vipers, Sir. All of them flying along the projected patrol patterns."
Commodore Avery-Hunter gave a quiet snort. I was keenly aware neither he nor the rest of the command staff had been happy with the 'arrangement' I'd quickly negotiated over the wireless after finishing my opening message barely an hour earlier.
+00:05:28
"Welcome home."
I couldn't help but wince as I said the words. They sounded at once inane and inadequate to the circumstances. Lt. Commander Callisto handed me a note, reporting Starbuck was returning to the Barn as previously ordered. I nodded quickly in acceptance and returned attention to the comms.
Adama, or whoever was on the other end, was taking his sweet time responding, probably trying to swallow the bombshell I had just dropped. AEGIS was reporting they were being bombarded with sensory hits, likely DRADIS pulses. None of the Colonial ships had moved or made an independent contact attempt; in all our debriefs, Starbuck had put the likelihood one of them trying it at 80-20 chance against.
Adama had apparently found his voice again. "I…apologize, Mr. Secretary. I…we…weren't expecting to ever be greeted so…directly." It was an honest admission, but there was clearly more to it. As a career linguist, I could hear everything that wasn't being said. I could pick out precisely how much hope the Admiral was swallowing right then, and could hear equally well the threat that was sure to come next.
The Admiral likely had his ship at Condition One the second it had caught sight of our Vipers; and a 'friendly-fire' incident was a distinct possibility now, especially if Galactica started getting bombarded with calls Adama couldn't answer right then.
I need more information, if only so I could figure out my next move. I waved for Athena and Carroq, who had been standing on the margins of the CIC right then, to come forward and take up their own headsets. They did so as I said "Admiral, we have a couple of your people from the Nemesis here."
"Captain Agathon here, Sir," Athena stated into her set's mike. The civilian engineer needed an extra nod of encouragement to identify himself.
"Uh, Iolus Carroq speaking, Admiral. I'm with, um, construction in Little Delphi."
"I see," was Adama's only immediate comment. "Did Commander Tigh approve of this?"
"He did, Sir," Athena confirmed. "You should know Admiral Rice volunteered first, and placed no conditions upon the exchange. He is presently aboard Nemesis with two enlisted ratings."
"Hmph. Are you confident this is on the level?"
"Very, Sir."
"Have you…have you been to the planet?"
"Uh, no. No, Sir. We haven't moved from our current position in the last 30 hours." Athena stole a quick look in my direction. A couple upraised brows were all I could return. "They have rather…compelling evidence to back up their claim."
"Hmph." I couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly. Obviously, I should have taken Thrace at her word about Adama being one of few words.
"Admiral? If I may?"
"Go ahead, Mr. Secretary."
"I imagine you're concerned about the security of your fleet, yes?
"Of course."
"Then I'd like to propose the following as a show of good faith. We will land our planes, allowing yours to take over CAP."
I'm sure I heard a pin drop somewhere in the silence that resulted. It seemed prudent to keep my eyes forward and down on the planning desk right then, if only to avoid the dozen-plus eyes I felt boring into my skull. True, I knew every officer present and been an active part of the building the TDF over the last decade...well, this was the first time I'd actually exercised the command authority of his position.
I wondered, somewhat idly, why my hands weren't shaking in the slightest.
Adama's voice was no less steady when it returned. "And after that?"
"I'm prepared to fly over to Galactica and meet with you directly. Or here aboard Olympus." I felt a small trickle of panic when no answer was immediately forthcoming. He chuckled despite himself. "I'm sure we could even rig up something where we could meet in space if you want."
That got a response, though not the one I'd expected. "I'll need to confer with my people aboard Nemesis and with our civilian government on that one." Gods help him, it sounded like Adama was actually considering it. "But we'll take you up on the first part."
I nodded on instinct, too internally shaken do anything more. "As you wish, Admiral. I'm issuing the recall order now. We'll wait to hear your decision. Olympus clear." Lowering the handset, I looked up for the first time. "Commodore, direct our birds to land."
"Aye, Sir," Avery-Hunter acknowledged tonelessly, then glanced over his shoulder. "See to it, XO. And get Engineering working on the Secretary's…other suggestion." Callisto simply nodded and moved to the nearest wall-mounted phone.
I quickly turned to Athena and asked "Any ideas what Admiral Adama will decide, Captain?"
"No, Sir. He could go either way."
"Launches from Galactica," one of the specialists called out.
No one said anything after that for a bit. They watched the smaller contacts from our Colonial counterpart spreading outward and taking over the patrol perimeter. I had an uncomfortable feeling there and then, one which only got worse when Starbuck marched into sight, the others parting way for her automatically. "Colonel Thrace," I nodded, noting how she was still in her flight suit and looking more than a little irritated. Likely, she'd heard the recall order for their planes, going by the look to her right then, which was giving me serious flashbacks to her waking up in Nellis two years ago.
I couldn't blame her in the slightest, but damned if she was going to vent her self-righteousness on me then and there. Our non-relationship aside, I was still plenty pissed with her own recent antics myself. Well, at least now I had seniority for a change and was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.
"Mister Secretary," the Colonel replied with commendable gravity.
I returned my attention to the planning desk. Seniority didn't mean he was suicidal. "What can we expect of Admiral Adama?"
"If he's confident of the fleet's security here, he'd be likely fly to over here himself." She glanced over to the AEGIS board and added "And since our planes are being recalled, well, I think he'll feel pretty reassured..."
"Reassured enough to actually talk to us?"
"Here's hoping," was her answer with a barely a shrug. After that, she had eyes only for the AEGIS. If matters weren't so impossibly serious, I'd have actually felt snubbed. Blasted woman.
Since none of us could do anything further for the moment, I just concentrated on paging through and reviewing the information packet we'd put together in anticipation of this day. I had written most the damned thing, so all I was doing was reviewing the Colonial syntax.
Word by word. Stuff like this always gave me a headache.
I had a bloody migraine by the time someone broke the silence. "Colonial contacts in established perimeter," reported the specialist. His name was Sorrenson, if I recalled correctly. I don't know why that was important in my mind right then; odd little things hit me at the oddest moments.
The words and pictures before me faded to nothing as I tried to plan what would come next. I didn't actually buy Agathon's uncertainty, but Starbuck at least now gave me some notion of what lay ahead. Above all else, I needed Adama and his staff to trust me...us. Whether that was even within the bounds of possibility at this point, even with the rather bold move I'd made, was really beyond me right then.
Part of me wished they would just jump away and not come back for a century or three or ten. That same part of me also wished I'd never laid eyes on that blonde hellion they'd dragged out of a burning Viper in the desert.
Thoughts like those resided alongside my rather voluminous insecurities, which I normally kept under lock and key and away from conscious consideration. Sadly, someone must have slipped them a lock pick that day.
What the hell was doing here? I wasn't a diplomat by either inclination or training. At best, I was a moderately capable linguist who had made a lucky guess concerning a strange language that had been found aboard a buried hulk in Alaska. How that translated into my being qualified to stand there and open negotiations with these people, Kara's people, escaped me. My head was pounding like a drum and all I could think about was my thin resume.
Well, however I'd gotten there; I was there. Future history wasn't my concern; the 32 ships that had just appeared on our screens were. Whatever my misgivings, I had other things to concern myself with. Strangely, that small decision relieved my headache completely.
"Colonel Thrace," I called out. Starbuck deigned me with another annoyed look but came over after another look at AEGIS. Clearly, she was badly distracted right then, which I understood perfectly. I gave her an equally pointed look and asked, "Best guess as to what's going on over there?"
She snorted. "What d'you think? Probably scrambling every pilot and nugget available. Arming up the guns and training them all on us."
"Fine," I nodded, keeping my voice low as I dared. "Fine. But will all that be enough to get him talking to us?"
"Let's hope so." She swallowed whatever emotions she was feeling right then and added, "A few prayers to the Lords wouldn't hurt."
I was tempted to point out I was a Lay Wiccan and so was not inclined to pray to any deity. Theology had long been a touchy subject between us anyway; second touchiest, truth be told, not that we ever discussed the first-touchiest either. A now-familiar voice came over the comms however. "Olympus, this is Galactica Actual."
I yanked the handset out of its cradle and cleared my throat. "Go ahead, Galactica."
"We accept your offer to meet...aboard the Olympus."
I felt like cheering, crying, and outright screaming at this. A glance at Starbuck confirmed that she was feeling the same way.
"Very well, Admiral," I heard myself saying, letting out a slow breath. "We expect any delegation to include both civilian and military representatives."
"Of course."
"Of course," I echoed, biting my tongue against further words. I judged it better to let the other side take the lead right now.
"We will signal you when our...delegation...is ready to depart. Please stand by. Galactica clear." The connection was cut, but I kept the handset close for a beat longer, and then replaced it.
"Commodore?"
"Sir?"
"Better put the coffee on. We've got company coming."
Neither Avery-Hunter, nor anyone else present, so much as cracked a grin. Levity had never really been my forte, in any language.
+01:03:16
"Time to landing?" I asked the CIC, not knowing or really caring who answered.
"Five minutes out, Sir."
"Everything ready?" I asked the Commodore, who looked like he was ready to spit nails. At machine-gun rate. At me.
"Starboard flight pod has been set up for reception, Mr. Secretary."
"Good, fine, great." I drummed my fingers on the console beside me. "Guess we should head down there, yes?"
"We're just waiting on you, Sir." I truly admired the Commodore's ability to sneer without actually curving or curling his lips in the slightest.
"Fine, great," I muttered, then pushed myself upright. Looking beyond the others at the AEGIS board, I wondering what they saw before them right then. I wondered at how little I actually cared, but only for a single moment.
"Okay, let's go."
De Author Seez: Okay, so I'm trying something different here to keep the momentum going. These will be relatively short parts (I'm shooting for 2000+ words each), each from different POV. I plan to have updates ready every Monday and Wednesday, possibly squeezing in one on Friday as well.
Please keep in mind this is a truly momentous event taking place for both the Colonials and Terrans. If things seem a tad slow at points, I urge you to stick with it 'cause – like Ron & David – I have a plan!(insert nefarious laugh here)
See you Wednesday.