FicWad

Chapter Five: Calm Before A Storm



Cylon Basestar

Twenty Light Years From Colonial Fleet

The model five humanoid Cylon - that colonials would recognise as being Aaron Doral - sat deep in thought, contemplating what their next move should be. The other two basestars in his three ship battle group had rendezvoused with his own ship ready to pounce on the Colonials that they knew were nearby. But they hadn't moved yet, a new variable had been added to the equation, a dangerous new variable that made them cautious. Cautious enough to summon additional ships, two more basestars were on course to this area and would be here soon.

The new variable was the unknown but powerful new Human vessel that the Scimitars Doral himself had dispatched to delay the colonials had encountered. Analysis of scan data from the surviving Scimitars had him worried; the new ship was armed with powerful energy weapons and if that wasn't bad enough the ship had the supposedly scientifically impossible energy force shields. Shields that Doral knew to be immensely strong as evidenced by the fact that the ship had been hit by enough nukes to destroy a hundred battlestars and not sustained any damage at all. He was not at all convinced that three basestars alone would be enough to breach its defences and destroy it.

But the thing that worried Doral the most about the new ship was the way it had seemed to be impervious to the powerful Cylon cyber attack and could retaliate in the same way, with devastating results. Analysis of the few surviving code fragments from the computer virus the Humans had used on the Scimitars had shown that the virus was very complex and based on a programming language that the Cylons could not really understand without more information. For the first time the Cylons were implementing complex firewalls on all vessels but it was taking time to fit them and the whole collective consciousness of the Cylon race was not at all sure that they would hold against a determined cyber attack from these new Humans - wherever they had come from as there technology was centuries ahead of that of both Cylons and Colonials. Though he didn't really want to believe it Doral knew of only one thing that could really explain where these new Humans had come from and why they were so different.

The thirteenth colony of Kobol, Earth, was real.

For Doral and his fellow Cylons that revelation was deeply worrying, especially considering the observed power of these new Humans. They had known it was a possibility that Earth was real; Commander Adama's bold statement after the Remnant had escaped them at Ragnar Anchorage had convinced them of that. It was the only reason why the Remnant hadn't been destroyed already; the Cylons had wanted the last of the Colonials to lead them there so they could destroy the Human race once and for all. Still somehow the Cylons hadn't reckoned on Earth being technologically more powerful than them, they had arrogantly assumed that Earth would be the same as any of the twelve colonies. The implication that this unknown Human warship implied - that Earth was much more powerful - was very worrying as it could mean for the first time they would be facing an uphill battle in there sacred quest to wipe the Human stain from the face of the universe.

A slight bleeping sound in his mind alerted Doral to new contacts on the ships dradis screens. He moved over to one of the screens and noticed that the two reinforcement basestars had just jumped in thirty thousand kilometres away and were moving into formation. About time, he thought even as he connected his mind to the wireless network that linked all the ships together. He joined in the data exchange between all the ships, bringing the other two ships up to speed.

Once that was done they could plan their attack on the Remnant as well as devise a means of capturing the new ship so they could learn the location of Earth and how to overcome whatever it had in the way of defences.

***

Battlestar Galactica

A Short Time Later

Commander William Adama stood besides President Laura Roslin in the control room for the Galactica's portside flight pod and watched as a battered and battle-scarred Viper made its final approach to the /Galactica/.

The initial communication with the Avalon hadn't gone too badly. William had found Captain Ramirez a pleasant enough conversationalist - at least over the comm - and the Terran officer had been very patient, so patient that William was willing to bet that the Terrans had had first contact situations in the past. At one point Lee had come on the line and William had struggled to keep his emotional control when he had heard his sons voice he'd managed it just but internally he'd wanted to break down and cry in relief.

Since that initial contact the Avalon had come alongside the Galactica and its six hundred meter length made it look small when compared to the one thousand three hundred meter long battlestar. A number of officers from the Avalon including Captain Ramirez would be shuttling over to the Galactica later for a face to face meeting with Commander Adama, President Roslin and the Quorum of the Twelve. Ramirez wanted to meet them face to face before giving them a course that would take the fleet into Terran controlled space, he wanted to determine there intentions a reasoning that both Adama and Roslin could understand and even agreed with. Had it been the Terrans discovering the twelve colonies Colonial Fleet would have done the same. In fact given the technology they had so far seen the Terrans have they would have been even more cautious about letting them approach the colonies.

Now though before they actually dealt with the Terrans directly Lee was returning to the Galactica for a thorough debrief and to given them his opinions on the Terrans. A debrief that would be conducted solely by Commander Adama and President Roslin. It was certainly going to be an interesting debrief but first things first William wanted Lee to be examined by Galactica's own medical personnel as well as tested by Dr Baltar. Just to make sure that this wasn't some elaborate Cylon plot. He hoped that it wasn't a trick, William didn't know what he would do if Lee wasn't really Lee but a new model humanoid Cylon.

The Viper came in to land and looking at it as it set down on the flight deck William grimaced at seeing all the carbon scoring over the outside. If it was that damaged on the outside he hated to think what the insides would be like. True all military electronics were hardened against EMP impact but even that protection could be overwhelmed and there were other systems like hydraulic lines which could be damaged by the impact. Tyrol's going to have a fit when he sees the damage, William thought. It was a miracle that it was still flying and a testament to his son's skill as a pilot that he was able to fly the damaged Viper. Below the lift activated and the Viper began to be lowered to the main hanger on the level below.

Silently he turned to leave the room to go down to the hanger to meet up with his son. President Roslin silently turned as well and followed.

***

Viper Cockpit

Captain Lee Adama was nervous as his battered Viper was lowered to the hanger deck below. He was nervous about meeting up with his father again though he knew that his father would be over the moon at seeing him alive and well. Still he was worried about how he'd react, especially when he told him about the nanites.

The lift came to a stop with a familiar thud and Lee shook his head. No matter how Tyrol tried he couldn't get the gambol locks to work properly. The maintenance chief had long since given up trying to fix them. Especially now that they had a perennial shortage of spare parts - but even before the attack spare parts for old Columbia-class battlestars like Galactica had been in short supply. A tractor came forward and locked a probe into a docking slot on the underside of the Vipers nose and began to pull the Viper forward to its docked position.

After a moment or two the Viper came to a stop and a hanger crew rushed up with a ladder and began locking the Viper down. Lee powered open the canopy before taking his helmet off. One of the ground crew took it from him before unlocking the docking collar around his neck and removing that as well. Once the crewman was clear Lee stood up and carefully climbed out the Viper - not that he was in danger of being hurt by a fall from the Viper anymore. Due to the augmentation provided by the nanites it would take much more than a simple fall to do him any harm, plus any minor injury the nanites would repair almost instantly.

He climbed down the ladder more from instinct than conscious thought his conscious mind was working on keeping his hearing under control as the sounds of the hanger deck were striking his ears with almost painful intensity. He was trying desperately to get his auditory perception down to normal. After a few moments he finally managed it and hid a sigh of relief as the sounds of the hanger deck dropped down to normal.

"Captain what did you do to my Viper?" Chief Tyrol asked from behind him. Lee spun around and saw an almost pained look on Tyrol's face as he examined the damage to the Viper with an expert eye. Without waiting for Lee to answer Tyrol began walking around the Viper assessing how much damage had been done and muttering to himself. And you didn't have to have nanite-enhanced hearing to know Tyrol was complaining to himself about careless pilots who didn't look after there machines properly.

Hiding a grin Lee started across the hanger deck towards the pilot's ready room where he could get out of his flight clothes and into his normal uniform. But before that he was going to have a shower.

He didn't get there.

Just as he was about to reach the ready room the doors to the lift from the control room on the deck above opened and his father came through followed closely by President Roslin and flanked by two ships security personnel. Lee sighed to himself. Here we go, he thought.

As they approached him Lee brought himself to attention. His father approached much closer than he normally would when they faced each other as superior officer to junior officer and he realised that at this moment he was not just facing his commanding officer but he was also facing a very relieved father.

For a long moment neither of them spoke. Not quiet sure exactly what to say to each other or how to say it. Fortunately they were both spared from speaking because President Roslin came up and noticing the uncertainty between them decided to do something about it.

"Report please captain. What happened out there with your patrol?" Roslin said making it an order much to the relief of both Adama men.

"We were ambushed madam president," Lee replied formally. "Reaper and I were passing through the planetary system that lies directly along the fleet's current course. A pair of Cylon Scimitars jumped us. They used the magnetic field of one of the gas giants to mask their approach from our scanners. Reaper was blown out of the sky before we could react. I managed to avoid the initial barrage meant to destroy me as well and gunned down one raider in the process. The other raider kept chasing me. When it couldn't nail me with its rail guns it fired a nuclear missile at me. Since theirs no missile countermeasure system on a Mark-III Viper there was only one thing I could do."

"I get it," William said. "You waited until the missile was locked onto the heat emissions from your thrusters then dove at the raider."

"Exactly. I pulled up at the last possible moment and the missile wasn't able to change course quickly enough and hit the raider and immediately exploded. I caught the edge of the blast wave. I got knocked unconscious and got a very nasty dose of radiation. Fortunately the nuclear blast showed up on the Avalon's long range scanners and caught their interest. They came to investigate and took me on board. From what there doctor told me I was really, really sick when they took me onboard."

"How sick," William asked nervously.

"Put it this way if they hadn't come along I wouldn't be here now," Lee replied and noticed his father shiver slightly as he said that. "Thankfully the radiation poisoning wasn't beyond the capabilities of Terran medical technology, which is far beyond our own, to heal. Thanks to them I'm as fit as fiddle."

"We'll let Doctor Salik be the judge of that," William said in his commander's tone. "Report to the sickbay for a thorough examination."

Lee drew himself to attention again. "Yes sir," he responded. He looked over at Roslin. "With your leave madam president?"

"That will not be necessary," Roslin said smiling slightly. "We will be going with you." Lee nodded his understanding. It would be better if they were present when he told Dr Salik about the nanites anyway - it would save him explaining it all twice. Though he was still nervous as to how his father would react when he heard about the nanites.

"Let's go," William ordered before turning around and heading back to the entrance to the hanger level and beyond that the corridor that ran along one of the arms that connected the hanger pod to the rest of the ship. Lee followed with the president bringing up the rear.

***

Sickbay

A Short Time Later

The trip to the sickbay was a short one but to Lee worried as he was by how everyone would react once the learned about the nanites when they learned about them it felt like a marathon.

The Galactica's chief medical officer Dr Pauline Salik was waiting for them along with a pair of orderlies. That was expected what was not expected was the fact that Dr Gaius Baltar was also present in the main treatment room; his right hand was covered by a bandage.

"Dr Baltar I'm surprised to see you here," Roslin said noticing the doctor.

"I hurt my hand earlier," Baltar replied. "I came here to get it treated." He silently prayed to the Lords of Kobol - however odd that was for someone who generally didn't believe in religion - that Roslin wouldn't ask how he'd injured his hand that would be awkward since no one here knew or even suspected that he had a Cylon biosynthetic chip in his head put there by a certain model six Cylon who he alternatively loved and hated in equal measure.

Fortunately he was spared the awkward question for at that moment Dr Salik asked Commander Adama what they were doing here. Quickly William answered her explaining that he wanted her to give Lee a thorough physical examination to determine if he was as alright as he said he was.

"I see that's no problem," Salik said. "If you'll come over here captain." Lee followed her over to the diagnostic bed. He climbed on and lay down flat.

"Before we do this I need to tell you something," Lee said.

"Whatever it is can wait captain," Salik replied starting up her diagnostic bed. Lee sighed in resignation as the diagnostic arch began to slowly scan along his body. "Everything looks o... what in the world," Salik said.

"What is it?" President Roslin asked.


"The diagnostic scan is picking up something very odd," Salik replied. "Anonymous activity in Captain Adama's cells and bloodstream. It almost looks like a virus; let me narrow the scan field."

"It's not a virus, or should I say there not a virus," Lee said.

"What do you mean Lee?" Commander Adama asked as Doctor Salik ran another scan on a much more sensitive setting. Immediately recoiling in surprise at what she saw.


"Commander you should see this," she said. "It's not a virus, there are machines billions of them swarming through Captain Adama's body. There integrated with every system, skin, bones, muscles, organs, even hair, everywhere. I've never seen anything like this, not even in the bodies of the humanoid Cylons I've examined."

"Let me have a look," Baltar said moving over and looking at the screens himself and his eyes widened in surprise. "What are these things? If I didn't know any better I'd say that its nanotechnology, but that's impossible."

"Not for the Terrans," Lee answered. "This is what I was trying to tell you. When they rescued me the Terrans injected me with a form of technology called nanites. It was the only way they could save me from death. The only drawback being the nanites integrated themselves with me, just like they do in the body of a Terran."

"Even if nanotech was possible I don't think anything like that would be possible," Baltar said. "That's the stuff of bad science fiction."

"Doctor Baltar, Terran technology is far beyond ours," Lee pointed out. "Just because something was impossible on the colonies doesn't mean its universally impossible."

"Will someone tell me is this Cylon technology or is it Terran technology?" Commander Adama asked, hiding his emotions behind an iron mask. He wanted to believe what Lee was saying that it was Terran technology, even though the very idea of microscopic machines that could go inside a human and alter them filled him with profound apprehension. But at the same time he couldn't discount the possibility that it was Cylon technology.

"No," Baltar replied, shaking his head. "This is way beyond Cylon technology. There is no silica components of any kind or any of the other hallmarks universal to Cylon technology. It's alien."

"And very interesting alien technology at that Gaius," a familiar, seductive female voice said in his ear, even as a phantom sensation of breath on his skin made the hairs on his skin. A moments glance down showed Six's arm around him. Baltar resisted the impulse to sigh, Six did on half pick her moments to make her presence known.

"So it could well be Terran," Salik said.

"It's possible," Baltar admitted reluctantly. "If the Terrans have cracked the problem and developed this technology then it would be fascinating to find out how they did it."

"Indeed it would be Gaius," Six said seductively. "The secrets of nanotechnology would be of great benefit to us."

"This is fascinating but can you tell what the effects of this technology are Dr Salik," Roslin asked.

"I already know madam president," Lee said. "The nanites that are in me can't affect anyone else, they are locked onto my DNA and my DNA alone. I know the effects of the nanites on the human body, the Terrans told me and have offered to help me adapt to all the changes."

"And what are the changes Lee," Commander Adama asked.

"The nanites provide a number of health and physiological benefits," Lee replied.

"What kind of benefits," Dr Salik asked interested.

"Enhanced senses, slowed aging once maturity has been reached, speed and strength that's almost superhuman. Near perfect general health and they can repair the Human body far more efficiently than the body can on its own."

"Fascinating," Salik replied. "Can the nanites be removed?"

"They cannot. From what they said I gather that once nanites are a part of you you are dependent on them to stay alive. They can change one kind of nanite for another but removing them is impossible. From the tone of the Terran doctors voice when he said that you can infer that even attempting to remove nanites from a person is tantamount to attempting to commit murder."

"I'm sure I like the sound of that," Roslin said.

"Tell you the truth madam president I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of having billions of tiny machines inside me for the rest of my life but there their and I'm going to have to learn to live with them and control all the new abilities that have suddenly been dumped in my lap," Lee replied.

"What kind of abilities are you talking about," William asked.

Before Lee could answer the harsh wail of the general quarters klaxon filled the air.

"Now what," Roslin wondered aloud. William for his part was already diving for a comm panel on the wall. He called CIC.

"Commander to CIC what is going on," he demanded.

"Will we've got a big problem," Tigh's voice responded.


"What kind of problem," William asked, feeling a sudden chill run down his spine. Something told him this was not going to be good news.

"We've got five Cylon basestars coming right at us."