ROUND ROBIN OF 1996 Premise Commander Adama was in his office dictating another section of his personal log. "A few centars ago, we entered a system. There have been no signs of cylons for quite some time. It appears we have eluded them, at least temporarily. The fleet is low on fuel. It's only a matter of sectons before we'll be at a dead stop in space. The food status is not critical yet, but the agro ships do need new seed before the current supply is depleted. We are scanning and using recon patrols on the planets in this system in the hopes of finding food and fuel, allowing us to continue our voyage to Earth. "Preliminary scans show no sign of spacefaring craft. We can only hope to either find an uninhabited planet or an intelligent race of beings open for trade without jeopardizing a war. Should this not prove to be the case, we shall take all the precautions necessary in obtaining just enough to travel to the next star system. "If we do find the resources we need, I intend on using teams mostly of civilian specialists in the areas needed to aid in the collection. Doing so, I hope to accelerate the resource collecting and allow them to spend some time on a planet once again before continuing our voyage. My only concern would be for those who want to make a home on the planet regardless of whatever dangers there may be." On the bridge of the Battlestar Galactica, Colonel Tigh picked up the comm unit, pressed a few buttons, and began to speak into it. "Commander. You should come to the bridge. Reports from the recon patrols are beginning to come in." He hung the comm unit back on its wall holder. It only took Adama a centon to leave his office and be up on the rotating command center on the bridge. "News, Colonel?" Tigh handed Adama a printout of a report from the scanners. "Recon Patrol 2 reports planet 2 in their section has an acceptable atmosphere and traces of Tylium." Tigh pointed out readings displayed on two monitors. "Who's in Patrol 2?" Adama asked. "Sergeants Jolly and Greenbean, sir." "Once all the patrols are back on board, select a suitable landing party of ten to do preliminary surface surveillance. Have two vipers provide escort to the shuttle and remain with it at all times. I want to see Jolly and Greenbean in my office as soon as they land. If this planet proves to be beneficial for us, we'll set up various teams to begin the collection." Tigh acknowledged, "Yes, sir." Adama began a journey around to the various bridge stations examining the data on the system and collecting reports to take to his office. Boomer and Deitra were selected as the shuttle pilots for the first surface recon. Starbuck and Bree would provide the viper escort while Jolly and Greenbean reported to Commander Adama's office for debriefing. Colonel Tigh remained on the bridge to coordinate the various activities. He wouldn't allow anything to go wrong. Once on the planet, the scientists who were on board the shuttle, disembarked to collect various samples and readings, trying to determine which areas would best suit their needs. Boomer and Deitra protected the scientists from any surface dangers. Animal life was everywhere albeit very hesitant to approach the newcomers at first. Starbuck and Bree patrolled the skies doing more scanner sweeps in the process. Only twenty percent of the planet's surface contained water; hardly enough to support all the animal and plant life on the planet. Later scans showed a large supply of water under the surface - underground lakes and rivers. After much shuttle hopping around the planet, three areas were selected, each one was far from the other two. One had a very rich supply of Tylium ore. The other two were selected for the large variety of trees and plants that would provide food and medicine for the fleet. All of the members of the Council of Twelve were very impatient with Adama. They believed he was not only wasting time with all this preliminary work, but also withholding information. They wanted the teams to be down on the planet NOW, not later. Adama tried to explain to them the dangers on the planet, but the Council didn't want to hear of it. They insisted at least one Council member, if not two, would be with each team. If it's safe for civilians, it's safe for Council members. Adama finally agreed, but under heavy protest. He didn't have to abide by the Council wishes, but did so out of courtesy. Besides, he would have at least a half dozen warriors with each landing party for obvious safety reasons. Apollo would be in charge of the Tylium party. Starbuck and Boomer would be in charge of one of the food and mineral collecting teams. Sheba and Bojay were in charge of the third. What dangers will the landing teams encounter? (Some huge, flying creature dives like an eagle, picks up someone and take to its home for dinner unless the person can be rescued or escapes on her/his own? :) What will be found above and below the ground? Anything is possible. What kind of animal/plant/tree life will there be? Any packs of animals threatening any of the landing parties? Poisonous plants or tree leaves unknowingly consumed since scanners said they weren't poisonous? What about the council members who are down on the surface? *********** Part 1 by Robert Hanczyk It took an entire centar for the three Tylium mining stations to be setup. They were stationed between a hundred to a hundred-fifty metrons away from the base of a very long and very high mountain range. Twenty workers were assigned to each station. Because of the dangers of mining Tylium, regardless of all the safety measures taken, a team of two doctors and eight med techs were on stand by. Ten Colonial Warriors were on station to protect the perimeter of the campsite and mining stations. Captain Apollo, Strike Commander of the Battlestar Galactica, certainly had his hands full trying to keep everything under control with eighty people working under him. After each site was erected, Apollo executed a comprehensive safety check on the structure. He climbed all the beams. Tested all the bolts. Ran various stress tests on the support. It didn't matter how light or dark it was. He would not rest until everything was deemed safe and operable by him. The lives of all the people he would be working with the next two or three octons (weeks) were his primary concern. That's the way it always was when it came to protecting the lives of all the people in the fleet of 220 ships. Apollo had five shuttles at his disposal. Four of them were for transporting the ore once it was collected. The fifth shuttle was assigned for medical transport in the event an injured person had to be taken to the Galactica. Along with the shuttles, Apollo also had two vipers parked outside of camp for use in blasting when it would be more practical than using solonite. The next morning, the work crews began their mining for the Tylium ore. The warriors started to fan out from camp to patrol the area and be on the look out for any possible dangers. Hiren and Joels journeyed out to the base of the mountains. "Holy Frack. Can you imagine trying to scale these?" Hiren asked his partner. "They certainly didn't look this bad from the air. Which way should we go?" Hiren looked as far as he could going down both sides of the mountain base. There was no telling where they may end. The one side was pretty plain. There were some boulders thinly spread among the sparse wooded areas. The other way had many outcroppings, piles of fallen rock, fractures along the face, and a few alcoves another twenty or so metrons down. "Let's go that way. See if there's anything hiding amongst all the jumble." Both men started jogging. Once they arrived, they began cautiously walking around the fallen rock. Much of it was a deep red in color. Some pieces had a black, worn down side. Joels picked up one small rock. Not only was it red and black, but squeezed in the middle was a yellow line. He was so amazed by it, he slipped it into his pants pocket as a souvenir. "Hey, Joels," Hiren shouted at him. "Come over here quickly." Joels saw Hiren standing atop a mammoth boulder. It easily dwarfed a shuttle in comparison. Something certainly had his attention. Joels couldn't see what it may have been from where he was, so he ran over to the big boulder. On the one side, he was able to climb up high enough to grab onto the top surface of the boulder and pull himself up. "Look over there." Joels looked down to where Hiren was pointing. On this side of the boulder, the ground dropped down pretty far. In an area, surrounded on three sides by the mountain was an opening in the mountain face. Joels curiosity had the best of him. "Let's go explore it," he said eagerly. "No telling what might be in there. I think we better secure the area." He made up any excuse he could to go there. He always explored caves on Sagitara when he was a kid. They were always places where the neatest creatures lived. Hiren motioned for him start climbing down. "I'll be there in a centon after I call it into Apollo." "I'll be waiting," Joels exclaimed as he began his descent. Hiren pulled the communicator out of his pocket. "Jr. Lt. Hiren to Captain Apollo." He waited for the response on Apollo's open end of the line. "Hiren, what's your status?" Apollo asked. "We found an entrance in to the mountain, sir. Normally, I would dismiss it, but this one seems very peculiar. Cadet Joels and I would like permission to investigate it." "Permission granted. However, you are not to enter it until Giles and Kape join you. Understood?" "Yes, sir," Hiren acknowledged. "Good. I'll inform them of your situation. They should be joining you in ten centons. Activate your communicator beacon." "Thank you, sir. We'll be waiting for them." Hiren closed down his end, activated the beacon, and put the communicator in his pocket. He began climbing down to the opening. Joels was already there shining his light inside. By the time Hiren joined Joels, Giles and Kape arrived coming down the other side. "Find anything here yet?" Kape asked. Joels kept straining his eyes trying to see into the darkness. "Nope. I'm ready to go in." Hiren spoke up. "I'll go in first. Joels you follow me. Kape, would you follow next? And Giles, you watch our backs?" "Sounds good to me," Giles told Hiren, "especially since you found it." Giles extended his arm, opening his hand, showing Hiren the way. He was not exactly thrilled to be entering a mountain. Hiren activated his portable light and entered the cave. Joels eagerly entered followed by Kape and Giles. They had to duck in the entrance. It sure was dark in there. With all four lights on, they were not able to see how far the low ceiling extended down the tunnel. The walls were smooth and dry, possibly the result of water flowing through here into the ground depression outside forming a small lake thousands of yahrens ago. All four men walked very slowly through the tunnel even though there wasn't much to see. Joels wanted to get around Hiren and speed up the pace, but the tunnel was too narrow for passing. Besides, he was the lowest ranking officer here. He didn't have much of a choice. Five centons after entering the opening, which seemed very far away, it was only as big as Giles' hand. No subtunnels in sight in front of them as far as he could tell. He turned his attention back to the others. Rumble. Rumble. Rumble. Crack. Thud. He quickly turned around. The entrance was closed. "Hiren..." "I heard." "Oh no," Kape said as he placed his open hand on his forehead. "No problem guys. Let's go back and blast our way out," Joels suggested. "I'll go clear the way and be back with you." "No Joels," Giles said sternly. "You forget survival training classes? Survival Rule 32: Never fire a blaster in any underground area. Doing so may cause a cave-in killing all people in the area." "Oh yea." Suggestion number two from Joels. "Well, let's go push it." "No. That was a pretty loud rumble," Kape interjected. "I'd say all four of us wouldn't make it budge." Hiren had his communicator out. Nothing but static. "Communicator is out of the question. Must be something in this mountain interfering. Giles, why don't you activate your beacon and place it at the entrance. Put it in emergency mode. Maybe somebody outside will pick it up. Apollo knows where we are. I'm sure he'll come searching for us. In the meantime, let's continue our search. We'll keep only one light on at a time to conserve battery power." They all nodded in agreement. Giles walked back to the entrance rather briskly, placed his communicator on the ground with the beacon activated and returned to the group. Joels and Kape turned off their lights as did Giles when he was with them. Hiren led the way deeper into the tunnel. It was very dense forest. Trees with leaves of many different colors, sizes and textures. Trees so close together, their branches were wrapped around each other. Tress with so many leaves and branches, the floor of the forest could not be seen from the air. Starbuck was piloting one shuttle over this forest while Boomer flew the other in front. "Boomer, do you see any possible place to land?" Starbuck asked over the microphone. "Not yet. Scanners show nothing but trees." "If we don't find someplace soon, I may just be tempted to do the first ever tree-top shuttle landing." Boomer let out a laugh. No reason to hold it back. "I'm sure you would. Look Starbuck, you should be happy. This could be Arcta." "Funny, Boomer." Starbuck was not laughing at the joke. "Sir? I think we have something," Cadet Aphrodite in Boomer's shuttle spoke out. "Five hundred metrons ahead, off to the left is large clearing. It may be our best place to land." "Hear that, Starbuck?" Boomer asked. "Sure did. Rolan, adjust scanner three degrees positive." "Aye, sir," Rolan acknowledged as he carried out his order. He was another cadet learning all the ins and outs of shuttle flying. "Found it, sir." There was a cheer from the scientists on board Starbuck's shuttle. Boomer had only one other person on board the shuttle with him. The rest was all the shelters and equipment necessary for analyzing the wildlife here in their search for seed, food, and medicine. Ten centons later, the shuttles were on the ground, engines shut down and hatches opening. The seven scientist were the first ones out. They wasted no time walking into the forest and doing a preliminary survey of the area. The three med techs exited the shuttle next and breathed in the country air. Four warriors followed. They knew where they had to go - Boomer's shuttle for unloading of the shelters and all the heavy equipment. Starbuck and Rolan were the last to exit. They also joined Boomer and Aphrodite. She was a very beautiful cadet. Starbuck envied Boomer. When the training assignments were distributed, Boomer was the lucky one to have the prettiest woman in the class under his tutelage. Starbuck's hands were kept too full with the two cadets he was training to allow him time to mingle with her. Busy. Busy. Busy. Cassiopea was almost more than he could handle. There were too many times when being a Colonial Warrior had no mercy. Starbuck really had no complaints though. Flying through space in his viper. Passing on his experiences to other people. All the adventures he had. It was worth it. They began unloading the shelters and setting them up. The shelters were simple poles supporting a cover. If need be, it was a simple and quick job to add on walls. Equipment was next. The one piece was so heavy, it required four people to unload it and place it on the movable cart. Once everything was unloaded, the eight warriors and three med techs had to wait for the scientists to return from their preliminary survey and tell them where to set up the equipment. They didn't have to wait long. Some bizarre sound startled them all. It was nothing any of them had ever heard before. Starbuck and Boomer looked at each other and shrugged. "What was that?" Boomer asked. "You got me. I don't like it," Starbuck replied. A voice came from the trees. "Starbuck! Boomer! Help!" It was low at first, growing in volume quickly. "Starbuck! Boomer! We need help! Come quickly." Starbuck and Boomer broke into a run once they saw the scientist emerge from the trees. The others followed. They met the scientist at the mid way point and followed him into the forest. Everyone had to slow their pace to weave through the trees. They arrived where the other scientists, all looking up, were huddled together in such a small space, everyone was shoulder to shoulder. Starbuck and Boomer looked up and saw what was making the sound they kept hearing. They also saw what the problem was. Up in the sky, a large, green flying creature was circling around over them. It had three heads, three feet with sharp claws on the ends, and two wings. One wing alone was longer than any of the people were higher. The tail wing was a very acute triangle. Whenever the creature did a sharp turn or climb, the tail fanned out into a semicircle and did its own flapping, independent of the side wings. The creature's body seemed to be a rough, scaling substance. "Boomer..." Starbuck said in an awe struck manner. "I don't believe it." "Believe it. Trelle's trapped up there. He had to see what was on top of this tree and that...that thing suddenly appeared," one of the scientist said. Boomer looked around them. "At least we know something is living here." Starbuck pulled his blaster out of its holster and checked it setting. It was on stun. "I'm going to try and scare it away." "You may anger it, buddy," Boomer told him. "If it comes to that, we may have no choice but to shoot it down. I'd hate to do it, but..." Starbuck did not need to finish his thought. If he shot it down, the falling creature may collide with Trelle and knock him out of the tree. The creature was flying in such a tight circle, there was not much room for error. He shot a blast to the side of it. The creature screamed in response. Starbuck shot another blast to the other side of it. It screamed even louder and longer this time. In the distance, another creature's screaming was heard. "Oh, no," Starbuck awed. "Now we're in trouble. Shoot it down and at least one other will be coming," Boomer said. "No telling how many there may be." "We have to get Trelle out of the tree," another scientists yelled. The second creature appeared, slightly higher than the first one. They began screaming in unison, circling even faster. Trelle had his arms wrapped around the tree, holding on for dear life, praying he was not going to be dinner. He was too scared to even think of trying to climb down. Sheba and Bojay landed their shuttles down in a field next to one of the few pockets of water found on the planet. It was the largest of the pockets, 346 metrons across at its widest point. Only three scientists were found in the fleet who dealt with aquatic sciences. One was a student at the time of the Peace Conference. Not one of them had been of any scientific use since the destruction. Eight other people were found in the fleet who were experienced with working underwater. The field was made up of a yellow colored grass. Various colored flowers were sprinkled throughout the field. Some trees were growing next to the water pocket. One's roots were clearly seen extending from the base of the tree into and down along the side of the water pocket. The science station was inside the shuttle Bojay flew. In the back storage area of the shuttle were three large containers to collect water from different depths of the pocket. Other water containment areas were for storing any living material found in the pocket. Flexible pipes were connected to portable pumps set up directly outside the shuttle to fill the storage areas with water. Bojay led the first team of divers into the pocket. The oxygen tanks were the ones used out in space. They were suitable for underwater diving. "Holy Frack!!!!!" Bojay yelled as his body went underwater. "Problem?" Sheba asked with a mischievous smile. "Yes, there's a problem. This water is almost as cold as space. We may need our space suits if it becomes any colder." Bojay was losing some skin color as his body was trying to adjust to the water temperature. Mops and Centri jumped in with no complaints. They did a few dives to feel the water before they positioned the oxygen tanks on their backs. Bojay already was suited up with his tank. He checked his light, the type also used out in space. It was sealed tight and worked perfectly underwater. When everyone was ready, he signaled them and dove under. The natural light penetrated only the top two metrons of water. After that, it was up to portable lights. The divers scanned the sides and picked up samples of rock and plants. Around the three men's waists were belts containing small shovels, empty collection pouches, emergency air tank good for five centons should something happen to the main tank. Each person had a basket to put the samples in. When the basket was full, the people on the surface would pull the basket up and take it into the shuttle for examination, cataloging and storage of its contents. An empty basket would be connected to the ropes and lowered back into the murky depths. The three divers had to use hand signals when close to each other. They did not have any type of radios with them for underwater use. They also stayed within the limited sight range of each other for protection and to help one another. Mops swam over to Bojay to request help in digging out a very large plant. He had pried some large rock out from beside it which happened to expose the root. The plant above the dirt was deceiving small. Not much larger than a forearm. The root however was the opposite. It was in a cylindrical shape, a half metron thick. From there, many offshoots were anchored deeper under the ground surface, each being thicker than a human hand. Bojay followed Mops over to the plant. They had to carefully use their knives to cut through the offshoots before they could bring it to the surface. "Sheba!" Bojay yelled after surfacing. Sheba, who was closest to them, was just emerging from the shuttle as he and Mops surfaced with the large plant. The other workers were further down the pocket collecting samples of the soil and small plant growth around the pocket, with the exception of Poller. She was helping Sheba in the retrieval of water baskets. "Tell Dr. Mirand to come out here. She'll be very interested in this one." When Sheba and Dr. Mirand came over to see what Mops and Bojay had brought up from the depths, Mops explained just what he saw and how the root structure spread out from the cutoff points of the offshoots. "Wonderful. This is quite a specimen. Don't go back under yet." She ran back into the shuttle and came back with a scanner. "Take this to the area where you cut the plant," Dr. Mirand instructed Mops. "You want to scan as far as you can following the root structure and if there are any other growths off the roots." "Yes, ma'am." Mops took the scanner from her hands and dove back under. Bojay opted to stay on the surface a few more centons. He and Sheba carried the plant into the shuttle. They placed it on the only examination table for Dr. Mirand. They no sooner let go of the plant when the scientist was there to start scraping off samples from it. Sheba and Bojay quietly exited the shuttle and returned to the side of the pocket. "Think you can handle more cold water, Mr. Hot Viper Pilot?" "Of course I can. But what about..." He picked her up very quickly and threw her in the water before finishing his question, "you?" Sheba screamed after she surfaced. Her eyes were burning with fire. "You're going to regret that." "Really?" Bojay asked. He jumped in beside her. "What are you going to do about it?" "You'll know after it happens." Sheba punched his arm before they both started laughing. "With your permission," Bojay requested, "I'm going to dive again." "Permission granted." Before Bojay went under and Sheba could climb out, Mops surfaced, breathing heavily. He tried to say something, but couldn't quite get it out. Bojay swam over to his side followed by Sheba. "Breath slowly and deeply," Sheba ordered Mops as she took his arm to support him. Bojay took the scanner from Mops' hand. "I was...following...the root...the scanner...it went crazy." He stopped talking to take in a few more deep breaths. "I adjusted the scanner...and traced again. Same place...it went crazy..." A few more breaths. "I changed the settings for deeper level scanning and went backwards along the path." More breathing. "There is something down at the bottom of this water pocket. It's not a natural substance. It's too deep for us to dive. It's also too big to move by hand. We need something to bring it up." Bojay repeated what Mops reported just to confirm it. "A large, unnatural object at the bottom of the pocket?" "Yes, sir." Sheba did climbed out of the water. She adjusted the scanner and did some of her own scans. She did detect something under the water, deep down. It was extremely large and would require some special equipment. Sheba would have to use the other shuttle to return to the Galactica and bring down the needed equipment. "Dr. Mirand?" she said as she entered the shuttle. "Yes, Sheba." "We just discovered something large at the bottom of this water pocket." She handed over the scanner to the scientist. "Lords of Kobol," Dr. Mirand exclaimed as she saw the scanner data. "We must make this a priority and bring it up." She told Sheba what and who to bring back from the Galactica. Sheba dried off and changed clothes. "Bojay?" He was sitting on the side of the pocket with Mops and Centri, who had surfaced to take a break. "Continue collecting samples. As soon as I come back, we're bringing that thing up. Don't tell anyone until I return." "As you wish," he told Sheba to her back as she ran to the other shuttle. The engines fired up and it was off into the sky. The others watched and returned to the work not thinking much of it. It was expected several trips would be made back to the Galactica. Mops and Bojay finished their talk with Centri, telling what they found and returned to the water for more collecting. They were all anxious to see just what was down there. Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 19:40:01 +1300 From: Jocelyn Edith Parker Subject: Round Robin part 2 I hope you all get it this time Please send me feedback (good or bad) ROUND ROBIN 96 THE STORY SO FAR: The Fleet has found a planet and has send survey parties down to explore for Tylium on the surface of the planet. As the parties are divided in to three groups each with 20 workers, a team of two doctors and eight med techs as well as ten warriors to grand them all. In charge of them all was Captain Apollo, Strike Leader of the Battlestar Galactica. However it did not take long for them to get into trouble. Team 1 at base Camp run into trouble when Hiren and Joels checked out a cave near the base and ended up lost in a cave-in with Giles and Kape, with no communication with the outside world. Second problem came when a patrol lead by Starbuck and Boomer in a shuttle landed on the surface and ran into some strange green flying creatures with three heads and three feet. Third problem came when Sheba and Bojay landed their shuttle in the water and went diving and found something in the bottom of the lake So that's where we left everyone so to speak: NOW ROUND ROBIN 96 part 2 by Jocelyn Parker It had been several centars(hours) since Apollo had last heard from Giles and his group so he had decided check around the area where they had reported in from. As he climbed closer to the spot of their last transmission, he to noticed the strange coloured stones and boulders ,when he picked up one of the stone it quickly changed it colours from red and black to scarlet and blue. He then noticed that some of the boulder where also changing colours, but others were still red and black. As Apollo moved closer to the Mountain, he called to the missing warriors, he even tried his communicator. "Hiren, Joels are you receiving me? Giles , Kape respond please." All Apollo got was static, as he moved close he noticed that there had been what appeared to be a landslide. "Sure hope they weren't under that," Apollo thought as he continued on his journey pass the landslide. The more time that pass the more worried Apollo got, he decided to return to the camp and organize a search party. On the other side of the landslide Giles and the other warriors were exploring the cave looking for a way out, when they came across what appeared to be a group of large round eggs about the size of a daggit. "Well, at least we will not go starve" Giles stated jokely "Oh yea! How are we going to cook them Giles?" asked Joels "Hey you guys!. Just think about the size of their mother, and hope she's not around" replied Kape, slow putting his hand on his weapon, this made the others do the same. While looking around the cave Giles stopped what appeared to be a opening just large enough for a man to go though. "Looks like we found our way out of the cave at least. Let's go you guys, last one out reports to Captain Apollo" with that he made for the opening, slowly they all climbed out of the mountain. As they looked around they realized that they were in an area which had not been explored so far. "Great anyone got an idea where we are?" Kape asked. The landscape had changed and they were beside a lake with a waterfall running into it. However the water was a bright red (the colour of blood). "I tell you Starbuck, we had better think of a plan to get Trelle down from that tree before that things decides to pick him off it" Boomer stated as he watched the two large creatures circled the space above the trees. "Yea, well I'm out of good ideas right now, but your right Boomer. If only we could get to a Viper, we could blast those things to Hades." Starbuck replied, looking around for something to use against the creatures. "Boomer, if you and the other scientists could get their attention I'll try and get back to the shuttle". Starbuck replied with a rather sheep's look in his eyes. "Then what buddy! What is going on in that mind of yours?" Boomer asked not really wanting to know the answer to the question, but knowing he had to ask. "Trust me Boom-Boom, Once those things start to chase the shuttle, you get Trelle down and head for cover. OK!" "OK but who's fool enough to be piloting the shuttle?" Even as Boomer said it he knew the answer "I know you will be piloting it, just be careful OK". "No problem, Boom-Boom. You know I'm a careful kind of guy" Starbuck yelled as he run to the clearing where the shuttle landed, in a few centon(minutes) he was airborne and heading towards the first of the creatures. As Starbuck began his attack on the first of the creatures, one of the creatures moved towards the shuttle, then with a flutter of its wings it jumped onto the shuttles roof, and started to peck at the roof, then the other creature decide to join it. So you had one shuttle against two birds (so to speak) you can guess who would win. While Bojay waited for Sheba returned from the Galactica with the necessary equipment to bring up whatever was down there, he decided to dive down and take a good look at the thing in the bottom of the pocket. As he dove closer he got the feeling that something was watching him in the deep shadow, slowly but surely he glazed around him and there was a large creature like a eel look at him. As he watched, the creature opened his large month and showed off his sharp teeth. The only thing Bojay could do was head for the nearest underwater cave and sit it out until the thing left. "I think this guy wants a meal , and he thinks I'm it," Bojay said to no one in particular , trying to decide what to do about this latest danger to the mission. If he moved to quickly the eel might attack but Bojay knew he had to return to the surface soon for air or he would die. Great, if the creature doesn't get me, I'll die of lack of oxygen or if I'm really luck the freeze, Hades of a choose. Bojay thought. Just then the eel seemed to turn around and start to move off away from Bojay. "Bless the Lords of Kobol for small miracles" Bojay said As slowly he moved up towards the surface "I wonder what caused it to give up and leave". As he got closer to the surface he saw a second driver coming towards him. He realized it was Sheba. On the surface Bojay told Sheba and the others what had happened and how suddenly the eel had just left him alone. "Maybe it had a better place to be" Sheba stated. Drying her hair with a towel. "Sheba, you made good time back" "It's just as well I did. When I got back Mops told me that you had gone down to checkout that object and that no one had heard from you for a while, so I decided to see if you were ok. as I swam down I saw that thing moving around near a cave and guess you were in the cave, so we started a division to take is mind off you for a meal" "Thanks Sheba I own you one!" "Any time Bojay. Now lets get the equipment we need to explore that thing at the bottom of the gap." Ok Joe it's up to you now. Well I'm going to leave it there and let someone else take over now. I hope you all enjoy reading this part and please excuse any spelling mistake there may be. Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 20:34:16 -0400 (EDT) From: No One Important Starbuck was inside the shuttle, piloting it. He tried to shake the two thingies that were on the roof of his shuttle, but they hung on tightly with their three claws (talons?). If only this shuttle was as fast & maneuverable as a viper... thought Starbuck. Or anything like CORA. The pecking from the total of four heads was making a racket that made Starbuck wish that he had an extra two hands to put over his ears, as well as a fifth hand to draw & fire his pistol if they broke their way in. That was very improbable, being that the shuttles have been realigned with armor made from a ferrous (iron; I'm not sure if I have its Latin version spelled right.) alloy, able to withstand a few detonations of laser torpedoes. As noisy as it was, Starbuck realized that they were pecking at the shuttle to make the nagging noise, not to break their way into it. When the creature in front was pecking with two of its heads, the one on the back was not, & then vice versa. Furthermore, they were pecking at the shuttle with irregular patterns, very similar to Earth's Morse code. From outside, the two creatures were on the shuttle, followed by the rest of the flock. One creature was drumming away a sequence while the other's nine eyes were looking at it, & then vice versa. The two creatures took one look at each other. One drummed on the shuttle with two of its head again, & they both let out howls. Boomer climbed the tree to get to Trelle. He got onto another tree branch where he could just reach him. However, Trelle's coordination was off. Instead of letting go as he took Boomer's hand, he tightened his hold on the branch that he was stuck on, & pulled Boomer off balance. From the weight of both men, there was a loud CRACK & a creaking sound that everyone on the surface heard. Tensions were high as everyone moaned & muttered & murmured. Boomer looked down. It was a long way down; no one could leap from that distance & land without breaking a bone or so. However, the other branches below could probably break the free-fall to the ground, but at minimum, it would leave the person with bumps and bruises as well as a few cuts: open wounds for whatever unknown diseases were on that planet. Dietra climbed the tree, but did not go out onto the branch. She had one arm wrapped around the tree's trunk, & held the other hand out to Boomer. Boomer took it, & let off of Trelle's hand. He swung towards Dietra, as she held onto him, his belly landing right into the branch. From there, Boomer climbed onto the tree branch. Then they both attempted to get Trelle off the tree branch. "Take my hand, Trelle," said Boomer. The branch creaked again. "Just do what I did." "Please, Lieutenant... Find another way to get me of this," begged Trelle. "Hurry! Before the branch breaks," yelled Dietra. "I have another way," said Boomer. He went into his holster & pulled out his laser pistol. "NO!!" cried Trelle. "Boomer?!" exclaimed Dietra. "Don't you DARE!" Boomer looked back at Dietra & winked. Boomer yelled to Trelle, "It's the only other way. YOU decide, Trelle." Trelle held a hand out to Boomer. As soon as they had a grip on each other, the branch broke. Boomer lost his footage as a result to Trelle. Dietra held onto Boomer's hand, & hugged the tree trunk for dear life. Trelle grabbed Boomer's waist with his free hand, & climbed over him onto the tree branch. Then he grabbed Dietra, & from there, the tree trunk, & began climbing down. Boomer climbed back onto the tree branch, & followed Trelle's actions. Then Dietra herself followed them down. Starbuck saw glimpses of the three making their way back to the ground. He landed the shuttle, but then, the creatures surrounded it, & began pecking at it. It got very loud in there. Since he no longer needed his hands to pilot the shuttle, he was able to cover his ears & block out the loud thumping noises of the pecking creatures. However, there was no way out of the shuttle with the creatures there. Also, there was no way into it. ***** Hiren tried modifying his comm unit, & tried again. "Apollo, do you read me? Apollo, please come in." After a few microns of static, he said to Giles, Joel, & Kape, "It's no use, guys." In the cavern that they wandered into, there were four routes that they could take, & Giles, Joel, Hiren, & Kape were arguing, trying to decode which route they should take. The blood-red waterfall was that color for only a centon. After that, it cleared up. A centon later, they heard what sounded like hooves galloping towards them. "What is that?" asked Giles. "Well, I don't want to find out. We've better go where I said to avoid whatever that is." Kape took the lead as they headed towards the direction that Kape recommended. The creatures that were galloping caught up. There were two of them; with a human body from head down to its abdomen, connected to the body of an Earth horse. One was apparently a male, & the other, female. The male was behind the female, carrying a green creature with three heads, three legs & wings. It had a stick sticking out of its belly, as if it was impaled into it. They muttered some happily sounding gibberish to each other. The male was carrying a three-legged, three headed green creature on its back, & the female was carrying a bundle of foliage. The female muttered out some gibberish, expressed as a question. Everyone on the tylium party looked at each other, wondering what she asked. The female put a hand to her chest, & said, "Ashta." She repeated herself. Then she gestured towards the male behind her, & said, "Veele." The male let one hand go from holding the prey on his back, put it on his chest & said, "Veele." That everyone understood. Apparently, they were identifying themselves. Giles stepped up, put a hand on his chest, & said, "Giles." Kape followed suit. He then gestured to the female alien & asked "Ashta?" She nodded to him, smiling. She then gestured that they follow them, the way they came, back to where they were locked in by the cave-in. Hiren was the first to follow them. They alien couple took one look at him, & both cried out in harmony, "Hiren!" They both bowed to him. How could they have both known my name? wondered Hiren. They all followed the couple back the way they came. Then they noticed the drawings & strange writings on the cavern walls. Among those drawings, there was one of Captain Apollo's face! There was also one of Athena, & later, there was also one of Hiren as well. Rather than stop & examine them further, they continued to follow the couple. They got back to the place with the large eggs. The male of this alien species, named Veele, moved one of the rocks, & pulled out two clay cups, a large clay bowl, & a clay ladle. He took one of the eggs, & placed it in the bowl. Then he used the rock, & smashed it into the egg, leaving a long crack. He & his mate separated the egg shell, leaving a green yolk floating in a clear oily fluid. After the female named Ashta shook each egg shell of what remained stuck inside of them, she then took the two pieces of the egg shell away as Veele used the ladle to break the yolk & stir the contents in the bowl around. After it was well mixed, he used the ladle & spooned some of the egg contents into a cup, until it was full. He then took a drink. He sighed with pleasure. Ashta came back, & took a drink out of her mate's cup. She filled up another cup. That cup, she passed to Hiren, who took a drink. He passed the cup to Giles. "It tastes sweet," said Hiren. "It's delicious." Giles took a drink. Then Veele & his wife each broke pieces of its legs off, as well as the wings. She removed the feathers, broke the wings further by separating the joints & ripping the meat apart, & passed the pieces around to the Colonial party. They all ate happily, although the meat was uncooked. OK, Neeeeext! Go for it! I could not decide what to do with Sheba's & Bojay's team. Will Starbuck get out of the shuttle? Will the team ever be able to get into the shuttle? Or will Starbuck be trapped in the shuttle forever, with the rest of the team all be stranded on that planet with the creatures? Keep in mind that the way those two were pecking at the shuttle, I intended that to be their language, & the howls that they let out was their form of laughter. (They're intelligent life.) Were the two cave inhabitants really as hospitable & kind as they seemed? Or will the tylium team be intended victims for some secret agenda between the couple? Let's see what other creative minds dream up. ********************************************************* Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 21:58:20 -0500 From: Cathy (CMS21000@aol.com) Subject: Round Robin Sheba turned for what seemed to be the hundredth time and tried To relax. No matter what she did, it seemed that sleep was determined to remain a stranger. She was nervous about leaving the site, but she knew that Bojay, Poller, and Dr. Mirand were able to handle any problem that came their way. Sighing heavily, she propped herself up on her elbow and looked out at the workers. One of the decisions they had made was that there would be no water diving while it was dark, since if a diver got into trouble their chances of rescue were slim. Those who were still up and about were investigating the surrounding flora and fauna of the planet. "Sheba?" Bojay's voice interrupted her thoughts and startled her, causing her to turn suddenly to face him. Sheba squinted to see her friend in the dark. "Yes, Bojay. Is something wrong?" Although she couldn't put her finger on it, there was something about his appearance that Sheba didn't like. Bojay's normally friendly face and mischievous eyes now looked pale and drawn. His voice came out monotone. "Nothing, just thinking about that eel incident from today..." his voice trailed off as he made an uncertain gesture with his hands. "Look, you shouldn't have taken the risk you did, but no one can fault you for the way you got out of it." Sheba smiled, trying to make a joke out of the whole incident. Ever since she had known Bojay, he had always been very proud. Being embarrassed like that was bound to bother him a great deal. Sheba almost chuckled when she remembered that Poller was there. She was convinced that Bojay had designs on the young Lieutenant, and that probably added to his chagrin. "Look, all I'm saying it that I think we're in over our heads. There's something..." He paused, trying to find the right word. "There's something 'wrong' about this place." Sheba looked at him oddly. "Well, wrong or not it has the supplies we need," she said quickly, rising from her sleep mat. Standing, she began to notice the uncertain way in which Bojay was standing. "Bojay!" she cried out as her friend fell, and she tried to support him. "Dr. Mirand! Poller!" Sheba's cry brought the two women running. Quickly, they lowered Bojay onto the sleep mat and Dr. Mirand began to take his vitals. "He's been poisoned!" she gasped, checking the scan results again to make sure they were true. Sheba and Poller exchanged looks. "How?" Poller asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "We've all eaten the same food, drank the same water. I don't see..." she was silenced by an impatient wave of Dr. Mirand's hand. "We'll find out soon enough. Now, help me get him to the life station." ********************************************** Giles and Hiren smiled contentedly, watching Ashta and Veele clean up after their dinner. Although the two had human torsos, Hiren felt that they seemed to be more animal-like in mannerisms. Their language was, with the apparent exception of their nomenclature, a series of squeals and whinnies that sounded more like a scanner in need of repair than an actual language. Still, they were friendly, and it was nice to be treated hospitably on this crazy planet. "Neeyha.." Ashta said loudly, motioning to the assembled crew to gather around her and Veele. In her hand she held a tablet, and in it were engraved several different symbols that were unrecognizable from a distance. Veele stepped in front of her, and in their own method of sign language indicated to the crew that they wanted them to take a closer look at the tablets. Hiren was about to go over when he remembered. "Starbuck!" he said loudly, slapping his forehead with his hand. Ashta and Veele looked at him quizzically. Hiren smiled briefly to himself. "I guess to them I sound like a broken scanner." "Listen," he said loudly , trying to mime his words in order to make them understand, "My friend is trapped. I must go get him." Ashta furrowed her brows, and then gave a wide smile showing that she understood. Watching her turn to Veele, Hiren assumed that she was translating. Veele nodded to his mate and then ran into another room of the cavern. When he emerged, he had with him a rod and a shovel. "Yeehnya halla," he said, gesturing to the two tools. Hiren nodded, both too tired to fight and knowing that he couldn't explain to the two creatures even if he did. When they arrived at the site, Hiren was glad that Veele had come along. Even though he had no idea what the creature was going to do with the rod and scepter, he had provided a useful means of transportation. Quickly, Hiren walked over and indicated the spot. Veele trotted over and regarded the flying creatures cautiously, whinnying to himself and nodding thoughtfully. Reaching into his satchel, he took out a book and began flipping through the pages. Finally, he put the book down and starting moving the rod and scepter in a rhythmic pattern. What followed Hiren could never accurately explain. Veele's words changed from the unrecognizable whinnying to a rhythmic chant, almost like the older Gemonese some of the people aboard the civilian ships would speak. It was as if every word had a purpose that fell in line with the hand motions that Veele performed with them. In some corner of his mind, Hiren understood that Veele was summoning the nature around him to do what he wanted, and miraculously it obeyed. The creatures angrily squawked their objections, but then took flight away from the shuttle. When the coast was clear, Hiren walked over to the shuttle and knocked on the portal. "Time to come out and do some real work," Hiren said, sing- songing his words. The look of shock on the normally suave lieutenants face told Hiren that Starbuck was just as shocked. He looked around and saw no trace of the flying birds. Then he turned and noticed Veele. Finally, Veele put his arms down and dropped the rod and scepter. "By the Lords of Kobol, what is going on here?" Starbuck demanded, taking in the sight of this half-human/ half-horse creature. Hiren smiled to himself, noticing how Starbuck stuttered out the last couple of words. "Whatever it was, it saved your hotshot asteroid," Hiren retorted, chuckling. "You should see his mate. Probably the only female we don't have to worry about you trying to pick up," he added, patting Starbuck on the shoulder. Starbuck made an uncertain step towards Veele. "Thank you," he said loudly, trying to make himself understood. "Starbuck," he said in the same loud voice, pointing to himself. "Veele," the creature responded, smiling broadly. *************************************************** Apollo looked at his transmitter again, muttering to himself. There had been no word from either party for quite awhile, and he couldn't get rid of the feeling that something had gone massively wrong. Suddenly, he heard a crackling over the comlink. "Captain Apollo, please respond. Lt. Sheba reporting in." Sighing with relief, Apollo responded. "What's the situation Lieutenant?" "We've got a problem Apollo." Sheba's voice went from the formal military command tone to the more personal tone she used when she was nervous. "It seems the water here poisoned Bojay. He's being sent back to the Galactica now." Apollo paused a moment, letting the full impact of what she said hit him. "Poisoned? How can that be? Dr, Wilker..." "I don't care what Dr. Wilker told you," Sheba snapped, "It seems that the poison is not transmitted primarily by ingestion. It's from bodily contact." Apollo's widened, "Who else had contact with that water?" "We all did, but only Bojay went in without his diving suit." "Okay. For the time being, stop all dives into that water until I get there. I am going to try to get a full report on Bojay's condition from the Galactica." He shut off the comlink and walked over to the shuttle. If this water is poison, he thought rapidly, then one of the main purposes of this mission is in danger. He thought momentarily of Boxey, his young son by adoption. How many times had his son asked for water only to be told that they had to conserve their resources. Now how would he feel having to tell him that they had none left? A sinking feeling came over Apollo as he turned towards the shuttle. ************************************************************** Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 17:55:59 -0600 (CST) From: Seanchaidh Round Robin Part 5 by Seanchaidh with Nicole De Roo Lieutenant Starbuck and the other warriors brought Veele back to the camp. The half-human creature interrupted the half-hearted attempt at communication with Lieutenant Giles to look at the Tylium equipment with a mixture of curiosity and awe. The warriors laughed as they came into the area designated as the landing area. They approached the shuttle, but their laughter died down as Captain Apollo came out of one of the three shuttles, a serious expression on his face that each warrior recognized. "Uh-oh," Starbuck muttered as he went to his friend's side. "What's wrong?" "There's been an emergency," Apollo replied, crossing his arms across his chest in what appeared to Starbuck as worry. "There's something in the water, and it's poisoned Bojay." "How?" Giles asked, then nodded as Apollo explained everything he knew. "I see." "He's on his way to the Galactica as we speak," the captain continued, "but I don't think the prognosis is good." Veele, apparently picking up Apollo's agitation, moved up to face him. Starbuck watched as Apollo's face transformed from worry to shock to amazement. "You!" Apollo exclaimed, his green eyes widening. Seeing the shocked expressions on the other warriors' faces, Hiren recalled the paintings on the wall of Veele's home. "You recognize him, don't you, Captain?" he asked. "But how? I'd never seen them before in my life, but they had paintings of me, you and your sister." Apollo shook his head. "That doesn't matter right now. We have to get him up to the Galactica. I know that he can help Bojay." Dr. Salik had placed Bojay in a maximum life support pod. A monitor placed in the side of the pod displayed his vital signs, and even to Sheba's untrained eye, she could tell that they were dropping a few points every centon. She placed her fingertips on the transparent covering of the pod, looking down at the pale face of her friend. He was the only thing that connected her to her past on the Pegasus and to her father. She dreaded the thought of losing him. Cassiopia came up to the lifepod, checking the low of oxygen, nutrition and other vital systems that were being pumped into Bojay's dying body. The medtech's blue eyes were shadowed with fatigue as she sighed loudly, then looked up sharply as she realized that Sheba was standing there. "Has Salik figured out what the poison is?" she asked. "I'm sorry," Cass replied, "but the decon department has been working non-stop for the past two centaurs. All they've reported is that they know that it can't ingested because stomach acid kills it, and that it seems to bond itself to the oxygen that feeds the body's cells." "Oh." Disappointed, Sheba looked back down at Bojay. She thought that Cass had left when she felt a hand touch her shoulder lightly. "Sheba, they'll figure out what it is." Cassiopia's voice was firm. "Just pray and have confidence, all right?" Touched by her former enemy's kind words, Sheba nodded, trying not to let the tears of worry and frustration show, even though she desperately wanted to shed them. A commotion outside the Life Center, loud enough to come through the thick ferrous walls, drew Sheba's attention away from Bojay. Curiously, she went to the door and opened. She was greeted by the sight of Apollo, Starbuck, Adama, Hiren and a creature that she had never seen before in her life. Apollo and his father were shouting at each other, while Starbuck and the creature looked at them with irritation. "...and what do you hope to accomplish?" Adama was saying, his voice much louder than his usual command tone. "I'll be getting complaints from the decon personnel in the landing bay for sectons after this!" "Veele can help Bojay!" Apollo replied, his tone matching Adama's exactly. "How do you know that?" "Because I do!" "How?" Adama gave his son a pointed expression. "I don't know!" came the almost shouted reply. "Look, Father, you'll see when it's done!" Adama sighed. "I repeat myself, Apollo. How can this creature help Bojay? What are its intentions?" "His," Starbuck interjected. "His intentions." "Thank you, Lieutenant," Adama told him sharply, then focused his attention back on Apollo. "How do you know that he isn't working with Baltar and the Cylons? Or the Eastern Alliance? Can he really do anything at all?" Attracted by the noise, Cassiopia came behind Sheba. "Commander," she snapped, her voice cutting across the men's argument. "Captain. We have patients in here, so if you don't mind, keep quiet." "Trust me," Apollo pleaded, lowering his voice. "Father, please." "Trust you for what?" Cassiopia demanded, crossing her arms. "Look, if I'm not told what's going on in the next ten microns, I'll have all of you removed from the area." "Apollo feels that Veele here can help Bojay," Starbuck explained. "Adama disagrees." "I'd tend to agree with the Commander," Cassiopia replied, "but Salik and I are ready to try anything. Bojay only has a few centaurs, at the most, before the poison completely overwhelms his body." Reluctantly, Adama nodded. Triumphantly, Apollo pushed past the two women into the Life Center followed by the creature, then the other three men. Sheba and Cassiopia exchanged shocked expressions, then followed them in. The first thing that Veele, whose actions were translated by Hiren, wanted was that Bojay be moved to a separate room. Cassiopia ordered that the lifepod be transferred to one of the private rooms at the back of the Life Center. Then the cover of the pod was removed, as were the life support instruments. With solemn expressions on their faces, Salik, Cassiopia and Veele encircled the lifepod and the dying warrior. Keeping a fair distance away from the activity, Sheba let Apollo put his arm around her shoulders. She wished that his gesture of concern was given under different circumstances, but she appreciated the display of affection nonetheless. The strange creature studied Bojay's body as he reached into the bag that he was carrying. Taking out a few brightly colored stones and what appeared to be bones, he placed them at various locations on the lifepod and on Bojay himself. Sheba noticed that the pattern the objects created reminded her of a star. Placing his hands on Bojay's head, Veele lowered his own as he closed his eyes and began to hum softly. It was slightly flat, but not unpleasantly so. Cassiopia joined in, adding a fifth to the note that turned it into a pleasant harmony. Sheba wondered if Cass knew what she was doing. Abruptly finishing his chanting after thirty microns, Veele motioned for Cass to do the same as he removed a small sack from his bag. Pulling out a few leafy plants, he placed one on Bojay's forehead, one on his throat, and a third on his chest. Clapping his hands three times, he stood back and waited. Silence filled the room, then Sheba heard a voice that was behind her mutter, "Mumbo jumbo." She knew that it was Adama, but she ignored it. Apollo held onto her, his grip slightly more tight that before. Across the room, Starbuck's gaze never left the body. Hiren looked on patiently, and Cass stood slightly behind Veele, her blue eyes intense. Salik, looking -- and undoubtedly feeling -- useless, kept his eye on the scanner he held. He was muttering something under his breath, but Sheba saw his lips forming the words, "Waste of time." Breaking the silence, Veele seemed to shout something in his language. As soon as the words left his lips, Bojay's body jerked. Salik was immediately at the warrior's side, checking his vital signs. "Sweet Kobol," he said, running the scanner down the length of Bojay's body. "The toxin's gone." "What?" Adama asked, his face incredulous. "How?" The doctor shook his head, his eyes wide with amazement. "Somehow, Veele was able to collect all the poison and transfer it into the leaves." "The nehay plant, when activated by the proper energy, can pull anything out of the body," a new voice said. The assembled humans looked down to see that Bojay was conscious and speaking of knowledge he could not have possibly obtained. "Nehay is Veele's equivalent word to leechon." Sheba shivered at the mention of the blood-thirsty invertebrate that had been used for medicinal purposes during various eras both in the Colonies and on Kobol. Pushing the image from her mind, she detached herself from Apollo's grasp as she went to her friend. "How'd you know that?" she asked, smiling at him. "Welcome back. You had us really scared there." Instead of his grin being weak, Bojay appeared to be full of strength. "I guess that this is the last I'm going to procrastinate with any kind of tests before I use whatever it is." Laughing, Sheba gave him a mock punch on the arm, while the other warriors -- especially Adama and his son -- shook their heads in disapproval. "Well, I had no problems in deciding what to put on your deathstone," she retorted. "How's, 'Joker to the end.'?" "Very funny. No, the reason I know about the plant is because Veele is speaking to me telepathically." "Huh?" Starbuck asked, uncrossing his arms and coming to stand next to Bojay. "What did you say?" "Telepathically," Bojay repeated. "I understand his thoughts, and he understands mine." Adama and Apollo exchanged concerned glances, then Adama spoke to Bojay, but looked at Veele. "Thank you," he began, "for saving the life of this warrior. We are deeply in your debt, and if you are ready, Starbuck and Apollo will return you to your home on the planet." Veele smiled slightly, then Bojay spoke. "Actually, Commander," the captain began, looking first at Veele in shock, then at Adama with surprise. "Veele has a way for you to repay him." "Yes?" Adama was getting nervous at Bojay's expression. "Bojay, what does he want?" "He wants Hiren, Athena and Apollo." Boomer tried to shut out the excited murmurs of the scientific team as he spoke into the comunit. He wished that the scientists would just shut up, and that the Galactica would finally answer. "Come on," he muttered. "I don't have all cycle. Answer, for Sagan's sake!" "Colonel Tigh, here," came a response a few centons later. At the sound of the colonel's voice, the scientists lowered their volume. Boomer raised his eyes in thanks to the mystical Sagan, who was more of mythological figure than a deity, as he spoke. "Colonel, you're going to want to hear this," he reported, his voice grave as he spoke. "I just received from the scientists who are exploring the body of water that Sheba's team was exploring. Apparently, the toxin that poisoned Bojay is no longer present in the water." "What?" Tigh asked, incredulous. "Completely gone?" "Well, it's still in the samples that they took earlier, but every sample they're currently taking is nil." "Holy frack," Tigh whispered. "Do they know why?" "No." Boomer paused. "But that's not all, sir." "Not all? Then go on, Lieutenant." "Earlier, they detected an inorganic substance at the bottom of the body of water. They were unable to do further tests because of Bojay's illness, but apparently, the readings are growing." "Growing? Lieutenant, what are you getting at?" "Sir, the substance appears to be rising to the surface of the water. The scientists are estimating that it will be at the surface in two centaurs, and in the meantime, they're making readings on what it is." There was a pause as Tigh thought about the information. "Thank you for the report, Lieutenant. I'll give it to Commander Adama immediately." "Understood. Boomer, out." Pocketing the comunit, Boomer turned to go to the banks of the water. He peered down into the murky depths, wishing that it were daylight so that he could see deeper into the water. The scanner screens were all unable to come up with an accurate picture, and even the dimensions of the objects were sketchy. He heard footsteps running through the gravel towards him. Boomer turned and spotted the aide of a senior scientist slowing to halt in front of him. "Lieutenant!" she gasped, her round face pale. "We have an update." "And it is...?" "It's speed has changed. It'll break the surface in less than two centons." Boomer felt himself staring at the aide. "What? How?" She shook her head. "We don't know, but you might want to step back." He did as she suggested as he heard the scientists shouting again.. "One centon!" "Any ideas of what it is yet?" Boomer asked, not taking his eyes off the water. "Fifty microns!" "No, Lieutenant. It's emitting something that is messing up the scanners, and it's getting worse as it comes closer." "Forty!" "Is it dangerous?" "I don't know, but we'll be finding out in --" "Thirty!" "-- Microns," she finished. The surface began to bubble slightly, creating small waves that lapped over the area where Boomer had been standing earlier. "Twenty!" The disturbance increased, as did the size of the waves. A strange odor began to waft around, and Boomer found his nose wrinkling at the stench. He nervously put his hand on his laser holster, wishing that he weren't the only warrior present at this location. "Ten!" "Kobol be with us," the aide whispered, as she stepped back as a wave almost hit her boot. Boomer did the same as she. He noticed that the scientists were gathered behind them, silent as they counted the last few microns. "Zero!" Three somethings shot out of the water, landing in the shallow end as a fourth object surfaced, floating like a large cetaceanon basking in Caprican sunlight. The waves and splashes created by the emergence hit the scientists and the single warrior as all but Boomer screamed and avoided the water. "Oh, my God," Boomer whispered, as the aide shone a light on the objects as they stopped their violent bobbing. The fourth object was a Cylon Raider, floating upside down so that its hatch faced the sky. The three smaller ones were centurions, each one face-first in the water, obviously deactivated. The most unusual aspect about each of the Cylon creations was that instead of their usually grey/silver colour, they were all a strange green colour, reminding Boomer of rotting vegetation. "What in..." the aide began, but was unable to continue as her free hand covered her mouth and nostrils. "That stench!" It was overpowering now, and Boomer had to fight the urge to bend over and retch. He gritted his teeth as he began giving orders to recover the bodies. Upon the announcement of Veele's price, Adama had ordered that they move the conversation into his quarters. Bojay quickly changed back into his flight uniform, then met the others in Adama's chambers a few centons later. "Absolutely not!" Adama fumed as he glared at the creature. "I will not give them to you!" Bojay heard Veele's calm voice in his head, then repeated them out loud. "If his price is not met, he has the power to reverse what he has done." Bojay swallowed heavily. "Please, Commander, I don't want to die." "I understand how you feel, Bojay, but I cannot sacrifice three people for this." Adama's sorrowful expression also added the unspoken fact that he definitely would not give up his two surviving children. "Veele, surely there is something else that we can give you. Information? Supplies? Anything?" Veele firmly shook his head and pointed at Hiren and Apollo. The two men cringed at the motion, their eyes shifting back from the creature to Adama. "Commander..." Hiren pleaded. "Father, don't let him take us." Apollo's voice was frightened, even though he was struggling not to show it. "I have a pretty good idea of what he wants us for." Starbuck frowned. "How do you know that?" "I've had dreams about him. Mostly nightmares, though." "Since when?" "For the past sectar, at least." Hiren's grey eyes widened. "I think that I have, too! I'm remembering them now." Apollo nodded. "We've been chosen, but the purpose was never clear to me, even in the dreams. All I know is that he needs us for something." Adama cleared his throat. "Veele, I am sorry, but I cannot fulfill your request. However, you are welcome to our computers and to the data we've collected both from our travels as well as your planet." "Return me to my home," Bojay said, looking at Veele. "I come here to help, but I am being shunned as I ask for my due." "Veele --" The creature, instead of speaking through Bojay, shouted something in a pitch that hurt the humans' ears. He stalked out of the chamber, his tail raised in indignation. "What did he say?" Sheba asked Bojay, her hands up to her ears. "The polite translation was, 'Beware.'" The stench had died down a few centons later, but Boomer could still smell it. He continually grimaced as he and the scientists fished the Cylons out of the water. "The metal of their outer shell has become organic," a scientist observed, grimacing at the soft and slimy feeling of the Cylon. "Amazing." "Yeah, tell me another one. The Raider is the same story?" "Pretty much." "I suggest we pull it out in the morning," Boomer decided, looking back the ship's hull. It was gently tilting from side to side with the breeze. "Any idea what the stench is?" the aide asked, her hand still up to her face which was almost the same colour as the Cylons. "Haven't you ever smelt rotting vegetables?" asked another scientist as she and a third scientist turned a Cylon onto its back. "Though this smells decidedly worse." Letting the scientists continue with their observations and bantering, Boomer turned and headed back to the camp. He was to use the same tent that Sheba had been using before she went up to the Galactica with Bojay. A warm sleeping bag awaited him, and after the events of the cycle, he desperately needed sleep. No sooner did he pull the top of the bag over his head, he heard a muffled thud, following by more rhythmic poundings. Shaking the thought of sleep from his mind, Boomer realized that he recognized the sounds. It was the same creatures who had attacked his previous team. This time, however, he heard screams as the poundings suddenly stopped. They were followed by the sound of air being cut with large wings, then he, too, screamed as the tent was suddenly pulled off the ground as he went flying through the air. Agitated, Sheba entered the female warriors barracks on Iota deck, wondering if she would be able to get any sleep -- if she would be able to fall asleep. Kobol knew she hadn't had much sleep in the past few cycles, and she would need all the rest she could possibly get to face the possibilities of the next few cycles. "I almost lost one of my closest friends," she muttered, changing into her pajamas quietly so she wouldn't disturb the others. "Now I might lose my love." Her lips set into an angry, thin line, Sheba sat on her bunk. Looking up, she saw that the bunk-light was on where Athena normally slept. Suddenly wanting to talk to her friend, she got up and walked over to her. "Hey, 'Thena," she greeted. There was no response. Surprised, Sheba saw that the light illuminated an unmade bed. The wrinkled sheets almost covered a set of pajamas, which had been worn. She stared at the bed, slowly becoming aware of red writing on the mattress. "What in Hades'?" she wondered, looking at the words. In shaky handwriting, was written "VO." The ink was smeared slightly, and as Sheba touched it, she realized that it was blood. Horrified, she stepped back and bumped into her bunk. Dietra, who slept above her, was jarred awake. "Sheba?" she asked, her voice blurred with sleep. "What are you doing?" "Athena's gone!" On Sheba's right, Brie bolted upwards. "What?" "She's not here!" Dietra shook her head. "But she went to bed the same time we did." The image of Bojay's healing and Veele's demands came into Sheba's mind. She gasped as she realized something. "Apollo!" she cried. "I'm going to check Apollo's quarters! You two go to Beta deck and check on Hiren!" "Do you think that Veele's collected his demands?" Brie questioned as she pulled on a robe. "I hope not!" Sheba shouted as she ran from the room. Adama paced in front of the window in his quarters as he looked at the assembled warriors. Most of them were in their pajamas and robes, and some appeared to have been dragged out of bed. Starbuck rubbed his eyes in fatigue while Sheba continually shifted her weight from foot to foot. "They're all missing?" he asked, his entire body feeling heavy as he looked at the stars and at the planet that slowly orbited beneath them. "All three of them," reported Sheba, her voice angry. Clenching his fist, Adama recalled the scene with Apollo outside of the Life Center. He had just known that the creature should not have been allowed inside to "help" Bojay, but Apollo, as usual, had managed to convince Adama otherwise. Why did he have to inherit that from Ila? "Why did Apollo allow him to come aboard the Galactica if he knew what Veele was all about?" Starbuck wondered, echoing Adama's thoughts. "I don't know. I wish I did, though," Adama sighed, turning to face the warriors. "Where's Bojay?" "Taking Veele back down to the planet," Tigh informed them, his arms crossed. "They launched around the time the three went missing. By this time, Bojay should be heading over to Boomer's camp to help investigate that thing in the water." "All right, then. Starbuck and Sheba, I want you two to organize search parties. One should cover the Galactica, just in case someone saw something, while the other will go to the same co-ordinates that Hiren's team earlier reported was Veele's home." Adama went to his desk, and he caught his breath as he saw the pictures of his missing children. He looked up to met the two warriors' eyes. "Find them. Please." Bojay stood in the doorway of the shuttle, watching at Veele headed towards his home. He waved to the creature, hearing Veele's farewell in his mind as he turned back to the cockpit. As he prepped the shuttle for launch, he remembered what he had seen earlier. Out of the corner of his eye, Bojay saw Veele fingering three crystals in his hands. The crystals caught the artificial illumination from the overhead lighting, making them sparkle dully. Their individual shades of blue, green and grey cast reflections on the bare skin of Veele's chest. Bojay winced as he put his attention back to piloting. Ever since he had left the Galactica with his passenger, he had been developing a headache that promised to be a migraine before the cycle was over. He found it to be very unusual, since he rarely developed headaches. He closed his eyes momentarily, and found that the memory of the three crystals was imprinted on his memory. In the darkness behind his eyelids, the crystals turned into the silhouettes of the warriors named by Veele. Surprised, Bojay watched them, listening intently to their thoughts and emotions. All of them were disorientated and frightened, isolated from the rest of the Galactica and each other. Athena was crying slightly, as was Hiren. Apollo, however, was trying to break free of what was holding him. Confused, Bojay shook his head and reopened his eyes. The minds of the three were connected to him, and he wasn't sure why. As though he knew why he was connected to Veele in the first place. Double-checking the control panel, Bojay saw that everything was green, so he pressed the launch button on the joystick, feeling the thrust pushing him back into the seat. As the shuttle left the area, he felt the pressure and voices in his head lessen to the point where he felt lightheaded. Astounded by this, Bojay circled the shuttle over the site of Veele's home, and found that the mental noise and pain had returned, this time almost overwhelming. He quickly banked the shuttle and headed away, towards the site of the water mission as he wondered what the crystals were, and why he was receiving the thoughts and emotions of the three warriors. --------------------------------- Okay, that's my bit. It's taken about 2 weeks, but thanks for being patient. We brain-stormed towards the end, and hopefully this will take the story into the surrealistic or bizarre areas it seemed destined to take. Good luck to the next writer(s)! Sanna w. Nicole *********************************************** Battlestar Galactica: Round Robin 96 Part 6 - by Paul W. Schultz Sometime during the night, it awakened. Like a slumbering giant it was gradual as it became more aware of its surroundings. This was an entirely new sensation, being aware. It sensed four other objects close by like itself, but their beings had been violated in some way and because of that were struggling to achieve their cognizant state. Its essence rippled at that thought, and it was not a pleasant sensation. In its emerging consciousness it knew it had the ability to quicken this process for its brethren, and it began doing just that with a single-minded purpose. "Our original mission to procure fuel is still vital, as is the need to replenish our food seed," Adama directed at Jolly and Dietra. The two officers stood at rapt attention in the commander's quarters. Adama looked both of them in the eyes at length from behind his desk before continuing. "That is why I've chosen each of you to lead the missions to mine tylium and for food and mineral collection. As you know, Starbuck is putting together a team as we speak to initiate a planet-wide search for our missing warriors and Sheba is continuing the investigation aboard the Galactica. You are both exceptional warriors and I am confident in your abilities to complete these missions successfully." Jolly entered the barracks to retrieve items that would be needed on the mission. Sergeant Greenbean seemed to be loitering around his locker as Jolly approached. Jolly was just about to utter a greeting when Greenbean ended all further thought of small talk. "Why were you chosen to lead this mission?" Greenbean asked as he blocked Jolly's path to his locker. "C'mon, buddy. Commander's orders." Jolly replied as he came to a halt directly in front of Greenbean. "I'm just as capable as you are to lead a mission," Greenbean continued. "Doesn't the commander see that?" "I agree. You are just as capable as me. But the commander makes the decisions and I trust his judgment. As the highest ranking Flight Sergeant onboard, he'll need you here to make sure Starbuck's search party launches successfully and that everything is in order on the landing bays. There's no glory in the mission I'm leading. I'm just going to collect fuel for the fleet. Besides, you know I have more experience in tylium mines than you have. The commander's just playing to our strengths." Jolly reached out and grabbed Greenbean's arm for emphasis. "You're not any less a warrior in the commander's eyes just because you're remaining onboard, doing what you do best." "But how I am going to get experience when the commander won't give me the chance?" Greenbean countered, after absorbing what Jolly had said for a micron. "You know as well as I do that the warrior ranks are spread pretty thin. The commander doesn't have the luxury of cross-training when there are still so many inexperienced new warriors." Greenbean knew he was right, but still didn't like it. Jolly sensed his resignation to the facts and slapped him on the shoulder. "C'mon, the first ale's on me when I get back." "You drive a hard bargain, Jolly," Greenbean broke into a smile and slid aside to let Jolly access his locker. "Hurry up, Giles, or you'll miss the shuttle down to the planet," Joels called over his shoulder as he grabbed his gear and headed into the hallway. "I'll be right there," Giles replied unenthusiastically as he slowly placed items into his gear bag. He had been prolonging his preparation for this mission for many centons, but this escaped the youthful eagerness of the cadet Joels. Kape came out of the turboflush and quickly snatched his gear off his bunk. He made his way to the door but stopped in his tracks when he saw Giles with his head down silently pondering his gear bag. "What's the hold-up? Jolly is waiting," Kape inquired. "I--" Giles began, then lowered his head again. Finally, he lifted his head and set back his shoulders in a manner that told Kape that Giles was about to get right to the point. "I just have a bad feeling about this mission, Kape." "It's nothing we haven't been through before," Kape tried to make light of the situation. "But that's just it. We don't know what we're getting ourselves into. It's not every centar that three people simply vanish. Remember the last time someone disappeared? When those white lights appeared and that Count Iblis showed up. Remember the chaos he caused? What if his hand is in these events?" "Don't be ridiculous, Giles. Iblis is long gone, remember? I'm concerned about those that are missing, too, but let's not jump to conclusions. That's why we have to go down there to find out what's going on." "You're right, of course. I don't know what's the matter with me. I've never been so reluctant about a mission before." Giles paused, as if to shake off an errant thought. "Let's go," he said as he stood up and purposefully lead Kape out of the barracks. "This time we know we're in a hostile environment," Dietra instructed her group, "so everybody moves together in a group--no matter how curious you might be about some part of the habitat," Dietra's eyes came to rest on Trelle in a meaningful way. "Yes, Lieutenant," Trelle replied, as a reprimanded schoolboy would. "What if those winged creatures return?" asked Cadet Aphrodite. "We will confront them as a group. That is why we all need to stay together as we're foraging for food and minerals. But I have a feeling we won't be seeing any more trouble from those creatures..." Bojay passed the water camp fifty metrons above the surface of the planet. His distracted mind immediately came into focus at the amazing sight before him. Forty winged creatures filled the sky with the entire water mission team clenched in mighty claws beneath them. Deft maneuvering prevented disaster as the winged creatures made little way for the shuttle bearing down on them. Once he had cleared the crowd, Bojay turned around to follow at a discreet distance, not knowing what to do. "Shuttle One to Galactica," Bojay opened a channel as it finally occurred to him to get help. "Something's happening down here." As Bojay explained the situation, he was quickly patched through to Commander Adama. "Where do those creatures appear to be headed?" Adama asked. "They seem to be heading right toward where I just came from," Bojay extrapolated. "Veele's home." Adama quickly filled in Bojay on the disappearance of Apollo, Athena and Hiren. "Commander," Bojay swallowed hard before continuing, "I think I know where they are." He explained to the commander what he had seen in his mind's eye while preparing to leave after returning Veele to the surface. "Starbuck has just left with a search party. I will redirect them to give you assistance. In the meantime, keep a prudent distance between yourself and those creatures, but do not lose sight of them." Mops yelled as loud as he dared to get Centri's attention. Centri was struggling frantically nearby beneath a huge pair of wings. When it finally looked as if Centri's had acknowledged his presence Mops lowered his voice to a more placid level. "Don't fight it, Centri." Centri was still trying to free himself from the unmoving claws surrounding him, but he fixed his eyes on Mops. "Look below you, " Mops calmly explained. "We're probably a good fifty metrons up in the air. Even if you did manage to get free, where do you think you'd go? If you think I'm collecting your remains after you've splattered yourself over half that forest down there, you've got another thing coming!" Centri seemed to get the message and the wild panic in his eyes dissipated. He visibly relaxed as Mops broke out in a nervous smile. "Enjoy the view." ******* Round Robin 96 - PART 7 Robert The darkness sent chills down her spine. Or was it the water was too cold for her body? Had to be the latter even though she wore her water suit. She had been down in the water pocket grotto for too long, much too long. At least it seemed like the wait lasted an eternity especially with the lack of light. Vicelt did not even know how much air was left in her tanks. How safe was it for her to turn on her portable light to check the tank gauges? Were the flying creatures gone? That was the most important question in Vicelt's mind. When she found out the computer picked her to be a member of the water team, no one in the fleet could have been any happier. Vicelt jumped up and down, ran all around the old food processing/ dehydration ship, yelling and cheering. Most of the other passengers wanted nothing to do with her. Council Security simply dismissed her as another person gone mad. They did not want to be bothered for anything. If any excuse was plausible for not doing work, the guards used it. Even after Vicelt exhausted every muscle in her body, her adrenaline was still on a rush. The excitement of being able to dive again kept her on a high. She eagerly volunteered to shuttle over to the Galactica and prepare everything needed for the water excursion. Her muscles had a secton of rest before she was on the mighty battlestar though. Once there, she burst into action and tried to do everything herself. Everyone was in awe at the volume of energy Vicelt exhibited. Then the secton finally came to shuttle down to the planet. On the trip down, Vicelt briefed everyone on the diving equipment. She helped Bojay and Mops prepare for their initial dive. Vicelt was a bit disappointed when Sheba told her she would be in the second round of dives, but that was when the real collecting of specimens would begin. Vicelt was permitted to dive as much as she wanted and expected to find more strange and unusual specimens than anyone else. A challenge she gladly accepted. Mops yelled out, "Vicelt, don't go back in the water!!!!" "What? Why?" "Bojay's been poisoned in there." "By what?" "We don't know. We're getting ready to take him up to the Galactica to find that out." Vicelt watched as Mops jogged away. She went around asking about Bojay and soon found out he dived in without his suit. Bojay was poisoned. Why in the world he dived without his protective suit was beyond Vicelt. She shook her head in disbelief. Another long wait ensued. She paced around the water pocket, took scanner readings, double and triple checked the diving gear, reviewed all safety checks for diving on this planet with unknown dangers... Finally, the word came. It was safe to dive. Faster than a laser blast, Vicelt was suited up and in the water. It could not have happened a centon sooner. Vicelt was underwater for a good centar. Her body's motions were as graceful as a ballerina's on stage. With practiced ease, Vicelt held herself in place while digging and collecting. She found the most peculiar water specimens in her search. Nothing like them existed on her home colony, Pisces. The colors, the curves, the feel in the strange and wild environment was simply fascinating. Was there going to be adequate room in the shuttle for all the specimens gathered during their stay? Vicelt filled another collection basket. She tugged on the line so it would be taken to the surface and an empty basket lowered back in to the water pocket. Vicelt went about to collect more samples. When she returned to the baskets, the filled one had not moved. She tugged on the line again. This time Vicelt waited for a response. Nothing. Where was Poller? She was a very dependable worker, especially now with Sheba gone. Vicelt decided she had better take the filled basket to the surface and see what happened to Poller. When Vicelt's head broke the water surface, she gasped in horror. Three headed, flying creatures attacked the camp site. Tents were ripped out of the ground. Equipment destroyed by incessant pecking of beaks. Some creatures made a deadly dive to the ground to attack the people. A few of the warriors fired shots at the creatures to no avail. One by one, the three-headed flying creatures each picked up a person in their talons, carried them high into the sky and headed away from camp. Vicelt dove back underwater praying the beasts could not reach her. She found the small opening she had been working at and hid in there. Vicelt could not stay in the grotto forever. Even with controlled breathing, her oxygen would run out eventually. She had no choice but to activate the portable light, if only for a micron, to check the gauges. What if one creature was still out there? Would it see the light? No matter. If a creature did not snatch her, deprivation of oxygen would. Vicelt pulled the portable light of its belt loop and held it in one hand. With her free hand, she grabbed the floating gauges attached to her air tanks. She paused for another micron. Her finger trembled as it activated the on-off switch. As soon as she saw the gauge reading, she quickly turned the light off. There were less the five centons of air left in her tanks. Vicelt had no option but to surface. "For the Lords of Kobol..." The camp was in ruins except for the shuttle with all the science equipment still in it. It did have some minor dents but was fully operational. Vicelt climbed out of the pocket, shed her air tanks and other diving equipment, and walked around what was left of the camp. There were plenty of human blood stains on the ground and fallen tents. One piece of machinery had small patches of green scales. Dried, green blood was splattered on the machine. Did one of the creatures not pull up in time after a steep dive or did someone valiantly fight the creature? That was a question that may never be answered. What it did do was provide a sample from the creatures. Vicelt noted to herself to collect it for later analysis. If there was any chance they may have to fight the flying creatures, the sample may prove helpful if there was anyone left who did such analysis. Vicelt walked over to the shuttle to see how much of the inside was still in tact. She stood outside the doorway. Not much was visible from that angle. Vicelt hoped she would gain some idea of the interior conditions before entering. Like it or not, she had to enter. Each step she took was carefully placed. "Hello? Anybody in here?" There was no response. She took another step. "Hello?" The inside of the shuttle did not appear to be in too much disarray. There were some broken beakers on the floor. Miscellaneous tools littered the area. But for the most part, everything seemed to survive whatever the big birds, if they can be called that, did outside. At least the three large water containers at the rear of the shuttle had not cracked. Vicelt weaved her way around the small inside of the shuttle up to the cockpit area. Dr. Mirand was slouched over the pilot's controls. She was not a pilot. Vicelt would have to ask the doctor some questions, but first she had to revive the scientist. Vicelt grabbed med kit from under the co-pilot seat. There was no blood around Dr. Mirand, a good sign. Her breathing was shallow though. Vicelt knew she better do something real quick. She turned back to the med kit, fumbled with the clasps to open the box and went straight for the smelling scents. One whiff from the open bottle and Vicelt thought she would faint. That was some strong stuff. She did not have to even put the bottle under Dr. Mirand's nose. The female scientist popped to alertness in a snap. It took her a centon to orientate herself and shake the fuzziness from her mind. "Dr. Mirand? Dr. Mirand. Are you okay? Can you hear me?" "Huh? Oh, yeah." Dr. Mirand suddenly grabbed her head with her hands. "Ow, my head hurts." Vicelt closed up the med kit and returned it to its original location under the co-pilot's seat. She waited until it seemed Dr. Mirand was stable enough. "What happened? And why are you sitting up here?" "It's a long story," Dr. Mirand said. "We seem to have plenty of time." Vicelt sat down in the co-pilot's seat to listen to Dr. Mirand's story. However, Vicelt totally forgot about the mystery at the bottom of the water pocket. Now that the old Cylon Raider had risen from the depths, and the flying creatures had taken almost all of the people from the water pocket camp, the real danger still lurking in the depths of the water pocket was about to emerge. Boomer asked no one in particular, especially since he was the only one in the tent, who did not know how high up off the ground he was, was under the mercy of the three-headed, three-talon flying creature, where only the creature knew the destination, "Why is it every mission I'm ever on, there are always problems? ALWAYS! Just once, I'd like everything to be plain and simple." Boomer could not exactly do much in his predicament. Since the tent had no hard flooring, his body weight pulled the tent bottom as far away from the talons as possible. He was basically stuck there until the pressure was relieved. How long would the tent hold his weight? The strain on the tent began to show in the seams. They were designed to hold the tent together on the ground, not in the air. They were strong enough to stand the tent up against the weather of a warm climate, not hold a man's weight in the air for a prolonged period of time. The creature was oblivious to the strain on the tent. It followed the flight of the rest of the pack towards its master's home. One advantage Boomer had when he fell asleep was doing so in his uniform. He had been too exhausted to change into any lighter attire for sleeping. The blaster, in its holster, pressed against his right upper arm. When he was free of this, wherever that might be, at least he had his weapon for protection. "E-OW!!!!!!" Boomer let out a yell of pain. Something outside smashed into his left side. The creature stopped its flight when it noticed its cargo had been caught. It released the tent and landed on a nearby tree. Boomer's weight pulled himself and the tent down through tree branches until the tent became too entangled in the tree branches to drop any further. The creature bent over on the tree tops and used its three heads to try and pull the tent free. Tree tops fiercely swayed back and forth under the mighty pull of the creature. Boomer was jostled up and down in the process, slamming against the tree. Ignoring all the pain, all the bruises and any fractured bones he may have, Boomer worked frantically to free himself of the tent and save himself from being the flying beast's dinner. Trying to escape from the tent and tree branches was similar to an insect stuck in a crawl-on's web. For the insect, only a miracle prevented impending doom by the crawl-on. In Boomer's case, he may have needed more than a miracle. To Boomer's surprise, it only took a centon for him to unzipper the tent "door" with all the chaos caused by the creature's incessant pulling at the tent and tree tops. The top of the tent began rip from the rest of the tent as one of the creature's heads yanked back. Boomer saw his target outside the tent. He had to time it just right if he were to escape. Waiting for the right micron, Boomer grabbed the big branch beside the tent and heaved himself out of it. He held on to the branch for dear life as the swaying of the trees could have easily knocked him off balance where he would fall to the ground many, many metrons below. The creature failed to notice Boomer's escape. It continued to pull the tent and tree tops apart. Boomer noticed some branches below him were close enough for him to place more distance between the three-headed flying creature and himself. With the precision he used to free himself from the tent, Boomer carefully climbed down. The swaying of the tree forced Boomer to stop a few times until he placed himself in a stable position for further progress. Six centons passed. Boomer was unable to lower himself any further due to distance between branches. The trees closest to him offered a possible way down, but not until the creature left. Boomer waited and waited and waited. There was not much left of the tent within the flying creature's reach. Shreds of the tent laid amongst the tree leaves at various heights. Boomer did have his laser blaster, but it did him no good. When Starbuck had fired a shot near the creature, it brought another to the area where Trelle was trapped. Boomer did not want to risk any more trouble flying his way. This creature was certainly resolute at reclaiming its cargo. It continued to rip away tree branches until it could reach no further down. Finally, the creature flew away. It had not been soon enough for Boomer. With the creature gone, at least for the time being, and the swaying stopped, Boomer had to not only find a way out of the tree to place himself on the ground far below, but also had to figure out how he was going to return from camp. He knew not where he was or which direction any of the camps laid. Boomer had only his blaster and what was left of the tent to use as tools for saving himself. The odds were not in his favor. The only thing going for him besides the creature flying away was his ability to devise the most bizarre schemes to get him out of sticky situations. Hot-wiring all those hover mobiles when Boomer was young back on Caprica certainly had its long term affects. "I don't envy you one bit," Boreas said to Jolly as they walked towards the HQ Tent. "How bad is it?" Jolly asked. "For me, it is pretty bad. I can lead a small group of miners, not an entire camp of multiple groups. Drives me insane!!" "That's why I'm here. Until Captain Apollo is located, Commander Adama trusts me to run this place." "Like I said, I don't envy you one bit. Now see, I did keep in touch with all the groups, including my own, and talked mining with them. Everything's been going fine. And we're keeping right on schedule. But..." They were at the front of the HQ Tent. When Boreas pulled back the opening flap for Jolly, it was apparent what needed to be finished first. On the main table, were stacks of progress and incident reports, topography maps, worker schedules, instructions from the Galactica, and other miscellaneous forms to be completed. Jolly rolled his eyes. "It's all yours now," Boreas said as he patted Jolly on the back. "I must get back to my team." Boreas hurried away like the North Wind before the effect wore off of Jolly. Had Apollo really been gone that long? No, it was not more than two sectons. Eighty people, over half of whom did not have to report in to Apollo, could not have possibly produced this much work in such little time. Jolly shrugged to himself. The sooner he started, the sooner he would finish. But first, he had to find some good food to keep his tummy happy through all the centars of work. Cadet Joels stood high atop the large boulder where Hiren and himself first observed the opening into the mountain near the Tylium Camp. Now it was blocked by the boulder and other small rocks as a result of a landslide that had originally trapped Hiren, Kape, Giles and himself inside the massive mountain. It seemed to have happened such a long time ago. Kape and Giles were back at the Tylium Camp guarding against any more unwanted visitors. Joels was supposed to be working with them. However, he felt responsible for Hiren's disappearance. Joel's eagerness and impulsivity triggered the exploration trek into the mountain. One thing lead to another. And not only Hiren was missing, but so were Apollo and Athena. Joels had to find them. He felt it was the only way to redeem himself from his earlier mistakes. Reaching into his pocket, Joels withdrew the red and black rock he collected the first time around. The yellow line down center was as bright as ever. Joels rolled it over and over in his palm hoping to spawn ideas for a favorable search. Veele saved the four of them from being trapped inside the mountain. Veele also saved Bojay of dying from poison. Although Joels and Hiren should have stayed on the planet, they went to the Galactica as did Veele. What happened? Hiren was gone. Frack!! Joels had to clear his mind of the past and think about the future. The laser blaster sat in its holster securely attached to Joels thigh. It had the power to blast away the landslide and allow Joels to enter the mountain again. He was certain he would find Veele's abode. It was near the cavern with the waterfall of red water. That was where the answer would be found. At least that was what Joels believed. He yanked the blaster free. Its power setting was on full. Quickly Joels raised it and fired. A split micron later, the large rocks blocking the mountain entrance blew apart, spraying debris in all directions. Joels shielded his face from the backlash. As soon as the dust settled, he saw there was a hole big enough from him to crawl through. He double-timed his way to the dark hole on his mission to rescue Hiren and the others. He never thought of what other dangers laid in wait for not only him, but every other human on the planet. He attempted to move, but did not feel motion. He wanted to open his eyes, but could not see. He breathed, yet there was no air. All Apollo was capable of doing was thinking. He knew not where he was, only that he was almost totally helpless. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his bunk on the Galactica. Was this all a dream? Far from it. Apollo's awareness was too acute. It really bothered him to have no control. There was a camp of now over eighty people for whom he was responsible. He had to protect them and the fleet. The Tylium was vital to the fleet's journey. Apollo had to find to escape from where he was trapped. He had to discover why Veele needed him, Athena and Hiren. What was going to happen? When would he be free? "Enter." Sheba pressed the door release to enter Commander Adama's office. As she walked around his desk, she noticed how calm he was in the midst of this crisis, especially with his only two surviving children being held prisoners. How did he do it? Sheba's nerves were almost frayed from all that had transpired. She sat down on the edge of the padded chair. Her body stiffened as she waited for Adama to address her. It took only a few microns, but it seemed longer than that. "What are the results from your search?" Nothing like the Commander getting straight to the point. Sheba bit her lip before replying. "We have found some other clues aside from the VO on the pillows. The final reports from each of my teams are being compiled now and will be on your desk in a centon." "Sheba, what DID you learn?" "I'm not really sure. The one substance we found on the bunks is being tested and analyzed as we speak. Those results will be in the reports," Sheba replied almost impatiently. "Sir, I request permission to return to the surface to search for the missing warriors beginning at the water pocket camp where I was originally stationed." "Do you not wish to see the reports before I read them?" Adama asked out of curiosity. After all, it was Sheba's duty to review the reports for completeness and accuracy before the were placed in the Commander's hands. "Commander, the sooner I am in my viper to doing low flight scans, for which I have ample experience on Gamorray, the sooner we can find Athena, Hiren, and .............. Apollo." Sheba almost broke apart when she said Apollo's name. "Are you sure you are in condition to fly?" Adama asked. She sure did not look like she was. "I will be the centon I am in my viper,.... Sir." "Hmmmm." Adama sat back. After a centon of silence, he smiled, but only briefly. "Permission granted on the condition that you land your viper at the first sign when you do not have 100% control over yourself. Greenbean will back you up." "But sir...." Adama held up his hand to silence her. "Greenbean's scanners will be set differently from your own and he will fly at a higher altitude, clear of your maneuvers. He is your wingman for the duration of the viper scans." Adama did not say Greenbean was also there to keep an eye on Sheba. One of the burdens of leadership was determining the lesser of two evils. If he kept Sheba on board the Galactica, she might very well suffer from a nervous breakdown. If he let her fly, it was possible she might crash. It was also apparent her valuable skills were needed. With Greenbean as backup, Adama hoped Sheba's mental health would be okay until the warriors were found. "Yes, Sir," Sheba said. "Good." Adama stood up and walked around his desk to her. Sheba stood to meet him. He placed his hands on her shoulders for comfort. "I have my full faith in you. We shall find them." They embraced in a long hug. Sheba let out her feelings so when the hug was over, she would be a little more relaxed, her mind clear, and her nerves possibly a little steady. Adama let go of her. "Greenbean's waiting for you in the launch bay. Now go." Sheba nodded and hurried out the door. After the door closed behind her, Adama whispered, "May the Lords of Kobol watch over you and guide you." His stomach rumbled again. Jolly laid down a report signed by Apollo and took a bite of his sandwich. Apparently, Apollo had seen many of the reports, but did not file them before he left for the Galactica. As a result, all the new reports were thrown on top of the old ones causing one heck of a mess for Jolly to sort through. From the looks of it, he would be up to date with the reports in a centar or two. RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!! That was not his stomach. RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!! RUMBLE!! Jolly ran out of the HQ tent to see what was happening. From his vantage point, he saw nothing except for a man running hysterically towards him. "Sir. Sir. Cave-In. Collapse. Workers sucked in. Deep. Sink." "Hold it. I can't understand a word you are saying. Try again." Jolly's hunger was forgotten as he tried to figure out what this lunatic said. "Ground Collapse. Come." The man ran back in the direction he came from. Jolly followed as best he could. When they reached Pit 2, Jolly's mouth almost dropped to the ground. The ground underneath the mining area gave way sinking a good twenty metrons deep. Three people were tapped. One of the two men was almost dead. Only his back was visible and there was no sign of breathing. The right arm of the second man was pulled out of his shoulder joint. He winced in pain any time he touched it with his left hand. The third person was a woman. Her leg appeared to be broken. No one on top could see it, but a piece of leg bone was pushing through her uniform. "What happened?" Jolly asked to anyone who was listening. Another worker stepped over to him to answer. "We were settin' them solonite charges when the ground sinked. We not blast to charges. I clawed me-self away as did Beckto. But those three not so good." The doctors rushed up to Jolly side. Jolly ordered, "Can you get to them." The one doctor shook his head. "They have to be brought up here." "Well then, do it." Jolly's voice was stern. "Get the safety harnesses and strong men to pull them up." The doctor stood there. Jolly pushed him to reinforce his orders. "Don't stand there. Get them." The doctors started running into each other while figuring out who was going to do what. Jolly simply shook his head and barked out orders to others to begin the rescue operation for which they were trained to handle. As everyone scurried around and did not really notice the slight rumbles continuing to go through the ground. Perhaps an aftershock or two. Perhaps not. Bojay guided his shuttle in on final approach to the water pocket camp. It was deserted as far as he could tell. The creatures captured everyone. The crystals. The three missing warriors. The voices inside his head. The chaos caused by all the mental anguish. Bojay's body started shaking slightly. The shuttle made contact with the ground a little harder than normal. The jolt sent waves of shock through Bojay's body. He had to concentrate very hard on the shuttle boards in order to shut down the engines. With difficulty, Bojay stood up and began walking towards the back of the shuttle. He stumbled over equipment on the floor. The clang of it being scattered increased the magnitude of chaos in his mind. He could not take it much longer. As he approached the rear wall, Bojay turned and slammed his back against it, pressing the turbo wash door release button with his rear-end. The door opened and Bojay fell back onto the Turbo wash. As the door slid shut, he grabbed his head with both his hands and screamed bloody murder. It was never heard by Dr. Mirand and Vicelt in the other shuttle half a camp away. Violently, he bashed up against the walls in a last endeavor to escape the turmoil. It was to no avail. In a few centons, his body collapsed over the turbo flush, trapping him there. ***************** D.J. McMurry Battlestar Galactica, Round Robin '96 Part 8 "Anything?" Commander Adama was concerned as he paced the length of the raised command dias that overlooked the bridge of the battlestar Galactica. The Commander stopped behind Flight Officer Omega, resting his hand on the back of the communications officer's seat. "No, sir. Negative response on all known bandwidths. Flight telemetry from all Vipers and shuttles are inactive. It's as if the entire landing group has simply disappeared." Omega tapped several more commands into the console before him, hoping beyond all hope that something would be displayed, some sign. "Colonel," Adama ordered, "until further notice, no one is to go down to the planet's surface." "But Adama," Tigh replied, "what of the teams already on the surface?" "They are on their own. I will not risk anymore lives by sending more personnel into a blind situation." "But Apollo and the others.." Tigh protested. "I trust my son, Tigh. If anyone can get them out of their present predicament, it's Apollo." Adama smiled, then left the bridge. "I hope your right," Tigh whispered. Adama rested in his quarters, the day's strain was taking its toll. When the party first landed the reports looked promising. Food, water, fuel, everything they could have hoped for, but now two sectons had passed, and no word. But what really bothered Adama, was the last several communications received from the surface; strange stories about cave-ins, attacks by giant flying animals, half-human half-horse creatures, it all sounded like something out of Kobolian Mythology. Then the final report, Bojay had been poisoned and they were shuttling him to the life station here on the Galactica, but the shuttle had never arrived, and no word had been received since then. The Commander tossed on his bunk. He had told Tigh that his trust in Apollo was high, and it was. Apollo, and Starbuck for that matter, had managed to get themselves in and out of trouble the full length of the galaxy, from encounters with the Borellian Nomen to the Eastern Alliance, they had managed to seemingly single-handily not only rescue themselves, but the Fleet as well on several occasions. But what if that luck had run out? True it had seemed that both Starbuck and Apollo had more lives than a Caprican Flat Cat, but Adama knew that Apollo must replace him as Commander of the Galactica one secton, or the search for the lost thirteenth tribe, and earth, would end in vain. Adama, unable to clear his mind of clutter, began to use one of the ancient relaxation techniques he had learned through the old writings, teachings recorded by the Lords Of Kobol. As his mind drifted, he sensed a great presence. And for a moment Adama found himself at the bottom of a pool a murky, cold, water, then the image cleared. It was as if he was looking through someone else's eyes. "Well that wasn't entirely true," Adama thought. Whatever he was sensing, and whatever creature he was sensing it through, Adama knew it bore no resemblance to any kind of creature Adama or humankind for that matter had ever encountered. Adama floated (for lack of a better word) over the Galactica's three campsites. He could make out the features of most of the personnel scattered in various positions around the camps. Each face held a vastly different expression. Some appeared in great pain, others with great contentment, but all appeared to be healthily, though unconscious. "Who are you?" Adama demanded. "By what right do you hold my people?" "By what right do you invade my home?" The answer thundered through Adama's mind. "We meant no harm," Adama answered. "We are on a pilgrimage, and are only looking for substances to maintain our lives among the stars." "Your people will continue to be tested." The mind linked with Adama's responded. "After that, I shall determine what is to be done...." "But what of their health? Will they die?" Adama asked, and hoped. "They will live for now..." Came the ominous response. "After the test is complete...we shall see." Adama woke with a start. A glance at the chronometer on his desk showed him that his sleep period was nearly over. A cold sweat trickled down the commander's back as he rose from the bed and made his way to the wall mounted communicator. "Tigh," Adama whispered. "Commander what is it?" Tigh could hear the strain in Adama's voice. "Have the Fleet go immediately to red alert. There's more to this situation than meets the eye." And with that Adama cut the link to the bridge, turned to get dressed, and thought. "May the Lords of Kobol be with you, my son." ********* Part 9 Written by Robert Hanczyk Boomer slowly lowered himself down from the last branch of the mighty tall tree to a hanging position. He let go and dropped the last metron and a half to the ground. It was a long and very cautious descent down the tree for him. He was glad to finally be on the ground. A few minor scratches and a splinter were added on to Boomer's injury list. His Colonial Warrior uniform was a bit tattered and ripped. It had certainly seen better sectons. On top of that, Boomer was not exactly equipped for a nature hike through the woods, but that was not to stop him from his quest - to find out where he was and make it back to camp or be rescued. Boomer looked all around him and saw nothing but trees. He was somewhere in a dense forest. "Where in the forest" was the question. No maps had been made of the various sections of the planet. Everything looked the same more or less from where he stood. It was hard to see more than a couple metrons in any direction due to the density of the forest. Even the top of the tree with the tent remains was not visible from ground level. He had his weapon, but that would do nothing other than start a fire and was his defense. His, or rather Sheba's tent, what was left of it, was high in the tree tops. There was no way Boomer was going to climb the tree just for the tent scraps. He had to rely on his best judgement to determine which way he came from. One problem made two. Even if Boomer was able to determine which direction the three headed flying creature was headed when Boomer slammed into the tree top, there was no way of telling how many turns the creature may have made while flying. Boomer had to figure out another way to solve the direction problem. It was time to remember survival training from his yahrens at the academy. In the absence of a compass, one had to rely on the planet's primary star movement. If it was night, it was the position of the stars in the sky. Boomer was lucky the planet only had one primary star. He had to walk around some to be able to see the star through the dense foliage. When he found it, Boomer estimated the star was thirty degrees from ground level, give or take a degree. Considering he fell asleep when it was dark, it had to be early morning. At least Boomer knew he had a full secton of light ahead of him. But which way did the star rise and which way did it set? Amazing how such an occurrence went unnoticed. What he did finally notice was the call of the animals. Up in the tree, Boomer's concentration was 100 percent dedicated to reaching the ground. Now that he was on the ground, Boomer heard a chorus of animals. Above him, in the tree, a blue bird with shades of green at its wingtips chirped as loud as it could to break through the dense foliage to other birds. Another bird in a nearby tree joined the call of this one. A third one was added. Soon, it reached deep into the forest beyond Boomer's hearing. Clearly, this was an effective form of communication. Not all the creatures of the forest were noisy. One animal, brown shiny skin, no larger than a fumerello, clutched the tree with the claws on its six legs. It waited for its morning meal. A three metron long, slithery, green and dark brown slider unwrapped two- thirds of itself from one branch. It swung back and forth, each time increasing the length of the swing until it was able to reach the branch in the nearby tree. As it anchored itself on the new branch, it unwrapped its body from where it originally was and reeled up around the new branch. Its body blended well in to its environment. Boomer was awestruck. Maybe, one yahren, when they finally find Earth, when his viper sectons were over, he would build himself a house in the country to really learn how to appreciate the natural wonders. Even when everything returned back to normal on this planet, there would be enough time for Boomer to relax and absorb nature. This was not the time. He had to knock himself back into reality and deal with the situation at hand. Boomer knew where the star was at in the sky. Which way was it back towards camp? Was there anyone back at camp? Were others pulled off the ground like he was? Was it better to find out where the three-headed flying creature was taking him? Boomer listened again in the morning air for any sounds of vipers or shuttles. Nothing. The clicking noise was close to Boomer. He looked around, but seemed unable to locate it. "Hello? Is anybody there?" Boomer looked up in the trees. If something was there, it was well hidden. If someone was there, Boomer hoped that someone was friendly. Just in case, Boomer unsnapped the strap holding his laser pistol in its holster. "Hello?!?" A small, fury animal scurried out from behind one of the trees. Its fur was medium gray. No neck was visible as the body lead straight to the head. The forehead, if it could be called that, was out further than the rest of the face. The solid black eyes were set back without any evident eyelids. Its nose was a round, flat area on the face with the mouth directly connected to it. Below the mouth, the area was set in the deepest. It smoothly led into the fur of the main body. The animal stopped at Boomer's feet and looked up at him with the most innocent look Boomer had ever seen in an animal. It wrapped itself into a ball, rolled around Boomer and opened up as if it was trying to either show off or not sure what to do around the stranger. "Hi, little fellow. What are you be doing here?" The animal may look innocent, but Boomer knew better. He made a fist and slowly lowered it down to the ground away from the animal. It cautiously approached Boomer's hand and hopped back at any sound. Boomer held himself in place waiting for anything that might happen. The animal made another guarded approach sniffing the ground as it went along. Very calm, very gentle, in a whisper, Boomer said, "Don't worry. I won't hurt you." The animal looked up at Boomer's face, down at his hand, and back up to Boomer. It did not move another step. "Let's be friends. You can trust me." The animal's fur changed from gray to green. It walked towards Boomer's hand again. With every step it took, it looked all around paying close attention to Boomer. He was tempted to pet the animal, but patiently waited until it knew it could trust him. Only a few steps away from Boomer's hand, the animal exhaustively sniffed the ground. It sensed the calm in Boomer and became acquainted with his scent. Suddenly, the animal wrapped itself into a ball and quickly rolled in circles around Boomer. It popped open and rubbed up against Boomer's arm click its heart away. "See? I told you you can trust me." Boomer allowed himself to pet the animal now. The clicking grew louder and the animal abounded with energy. Boomer gained a new friend. "I don't suppose you can tell me where we are." The animal simply rolled and clicked itself away around Boomer. He had to find out where he was. Slowly he stood up. The animal stopped rolling but kept on clicking. It looked up to Boomer to see what he was going to do. Boomer was not really sure. ******* It had been a very long journey for those caught in the three headed flying creatures' talons. Many of the people from the water pocket camp were tired. They had long since given up on trying to force their way to freedom. Even if any of them were strong enough to pry themselves from the mighty talon, there was nowhere to go. The creatures flew high in the air where any drop to the ground meant death to a person. Others from the camp had grown numb from the pressure exerted on their body from the talon. Some had even given up hope. Words were few and far between. Finally, on the other side of the planet, the flock of three headed flying creatures took turns releasing their capture into a deep, dark, wide pit. The pit was wide enough for the creatures to swoop in, drop the person and fly back out. Most of the people landed on their feet and rolled. A few had some bruises or scratches, but no one suffered from fractures or broken bones. All in all, forty people were trapped with room to move around but nowhere to go. "I told you. I told you," Trelle said very quickly. He was in a state of panic. "If you left me in the tree and didn't scare them, we'd be okay. But NOOOOOOOO. You had to fire shots, make them mad and now we're their dinner. I don't like it. I want to go back to my science lab. Never should have left it in the first place." Trelle's blood pressure was already too high and continued to rise. He would no doubt suffer a nervous breakdown if he continued his current frenzy. It was bad enough they shuttled him from camp to camp to find a place where he felt safe to work. It was too bad Trelle was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Put me on a ship. Any ship is better than this. How can we possibly fight these things? They'll eat us up like crumbs. They're five, ten, no twenty times our size. Why didn't they squish us in their claws?" "Anyone got a sedative?" Menelaus asked impatiently. "Sorry, I left it back at camp. The creature did not give me time to grab my kit." Dr. Neera remained calm. She had no choice if she were to help those in medical need. Not to mention, the last thing they needed in the confined area was a group wide panic. "Well, this will have to do." Menelaus chopped the back of Trelle's neck and knocked him unconscious, not that it was good. Dr. Neera rushed over to make sure blood continued to flow to Trelle's brain. "Now why did you do that?" Dr. Neera asked in a most disturbed way. She knelt down to check out Trelle. "He was going crazy! If I didn't knock him out, he'd go berserk." "There's a difference?" Coronis asked with his smart mouth. "Yes, there is," Dr. Neera replied. She did not look up from Trelle. His heart beat and breathing were okay, but he was still out cold. Dr. Neera had to snap him out of it. Coronis snorted. "You could've fooled me." Dr. Neera wanted to tell the Council Security guard that he was a fool, but that was beneath her. Instead she asked, "Does anyone know if Dr. Salmo or Dr. Mirand are here?" Murmurs started going through the crowd as one asked another and others looked around. That at least kept them busy while Dr. Neera tended to Trelle. She patted him lightly on the cheeks and called out his name in a very soothing, calm voice. Trelle's eyes flickered open. It took a few more microns for his mind to clear enough to speak. "Holy Frack. What hit me?" He held his head in pain. Dr. Neera hesitated at first. She did not want to have any more problems than need be. However, the truth would come out one way or the other. It was best she not delay the inevitable. "Menelaus did." "Why you....." Trelle tried to stand up, but Dr. Neera held him down. It did not take much to do it. Trelle stood too fast, swayed on his feet and fell back on to ground. "You must sit and be calm." The way Dr. Neera said it made it quite clear it was an order not to be questioned. "I think you're right. It sure is cold." "You have a mild concussion. You may experience a little dizziness or a slight headache. The shivering is just a reaction to the blow. I can't do anything about that." Trelle asked, "How long will I shiver?" "A couple centars. It won't go away until your body calms down." Before Trelle could say another word, someone else yelled out, "How are we going to get out of here?!?" "Yeah. We have to free ourselves," someone else said. Yet a third person replied, "I don't see any way out of here." Coronis had to throw in his two cubits worth. "Flap your arms and fly. That'll get you out." "Go stuff it. Anyone got a communicator?" That was Tralure. She had enough of Council Security attitude in the past to last her the rest of her life.....and then some. "I have mine, but it's squished," Deark yelled from half way back in the pit. Tralure looked back. "Can you fix it?" "Not without tools." Deark shook his head in frustration. "We could make a ladder?" Belon was normally a quiet one, but this time he had to speak out. "Out of what? Rocks?" Coronis shot back. "No, you worthless piece of squiddish. We can form a human ladder." Menelaus' face lit up. "That's a good idea." "Not if you're on the bottom." Coronis had a point for once. Small conversations began again to figure a way out. The walls of the pit were too smooth to climb out. They were also too high to really form a human ladder. That suggestion did turn minds into thinking machines. Someone was going to suggest something that just might work. Then question was, "When?" Trelle sat up against the one wall. His teeth were chattering. He was in no condition to think of a way out, only to warm his bones. Coronis paced around with his arms crossed. He'd be damned if he would waste his brain on a hopeless cause. Deark and Tralure stood together exchanging ideas no matter how crazy they were. Others followed. Hand gestures flew about as people explained what might work. Optimism began to fill the air. This was going to work. Or so they thought. A troop of individuals from Veele's tribe began to line up along the rim of the pit. They had spears and other weapons ready for defense or attack, whatever was necessary. No one in the pit looked up in the night sky. Within a couple centons, the whole pit was lined with over sixty of them. One who was decorated paints and rocks on ropes began a chant. The others followed in chorus. Menelaus looked up when he heard the chant. He yelled in as calm manner as possible, "I think we're in trouble." "Huh?" Menelaus pointed upwards. As if it were a chain reaction, heads bent back to see what he meant. A wave of awe passed through the crowd as they all stared at the new threat. They were certainly at a disadvantage not only by numbers but also by position. ******** Joels crawled through the small opening into the cavern where he and the other three had been. When they first entered, the water had been red. It changed to clear for some time, but now it was blood red again. Perhaps it was a pattern in the water or maybe a sign of something. Joels did not notice the color or flow. The water rushed over the fall at a faster rate than it had since the first, involuntary exploration. Wherever the water was drained in the depths of the cavern pond did not allow the water to empty out quick enough. It was slowly rising and soon would begin to cover the floor of the cavern. "HELLO?" Joels shouted. 'Low' Joels was puzzled. He yelled again in a louder voice, "HELLO!!!!" 'Low' 'low' He was ready to knock himself upside the head. It was an echo. That made sense since he was in an enclosed cavern. The few exits nor the water hampered the sound vibrations to bounce off the walls. Joels walked around in no particular pattern to examine what was there. He hoped some positive sign was somewhere to guide him in the right direction. Rocks were found in different colors. He pulled the one out of his pocket. It was black and red with yellow squeezed in the middle. When he first picked it up long ago, the yellow was dull. Now it glowed with a fierce brightness. There was no other change in the rock itself other than the color. Joels started tossing it up and down in wonder. "Which way?" he softly asked himself. "Which way do I go?" Joels paced around, examined every exit. He paid no heed to the water, only tossed the rock in rhythm to his movement. In fact, the rushing sound went in one ear and out the other. It wasn't until his boots sloshed in a puddle that he finally noticed what was happening. "Holy Frack!!!!!" Joels dropped the rock he was holding as he ran for opening where he entered the cavern. It clashed with a rock navy blue in color and abruptly exploded on impact. The black and red halves flew in opposite directions. The red half hit the pond surface, skipped once, and sunk deep in the blood red natatorium. Nothing was left of the yellow substance previously between the two halves. The blue rock did not even have a mark on it. The blood red water gushed over the falls three times as fast as it had when Joels first entered. Were it not for the exits, the cavern would have quickly filled with no chance to escape except underwater. Joels booked out of the tunnel and climbed atop the huge boulder where he and Hiren first stood. He watched as the water flowed out of the tunnel into the ground depression. It mystified him, puzzled him. There was a beauty to it as well as danger. Ten centons later, there was a red lake beside the mountain. The ground began to shake knocking Joels off the boulder opposite the small lake. As had happened once already, a landslide of rocks originating from high in the mountain crashed down and blocked the cave entrance. Joels did not stick around any longer. He got to his feet and ran to the camp. It was fortunate for him to do so. The water did not cease flowing through the cave tunnel. The pressure built up behind the rock covered entrance until there was enough to burst away the blockage. Nothing was to stop the water from filling the depression and reaching out across the land. ****** The rescue operation was not a total success. The man who was half buried did not survive. The other man along with the woman were stabilized and shuttled up to the Galactica. Dr. Salik had a medical team ready in the landing bay to take those two straight to the operating room. A med tech reported the two of them would be fine. That still did not help Jolly. It was bad enough to lose a copilot in battle. It was even worse to lose your wingman. Jolly did not care how tough they were trained. Whenever the battle was over, the pilots felt the loss of their comrades. At least Jolly never had to inform family members of the loss. That job was performed by Commander Adama, Colonel Tigh, or sometimes Captain Apollo depending on the situation. Unfortunately, Jolly was in charge of the camp. That meant not only did he have to do the paperwork, but he had to find out if the man had any family, pass along his condolences, and receive whatever blame existing family members placed on him. The death was not really Jolly's fault. He was not a superhuman who was able to hold up the planet. In the various reports he already read, Apollo made sure all the safety checks were satisfied and even added some of his own. Where the mining sites were built, the ground was tested and deemed stable. So why was there now a sink hole? Jolly had an uncanny feeling something was wrong. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE Jolly dove for the floor and rolled under the table. Outside, some people screamed. Others yelled out orders or directions. He was unable to see outside with the flap down over the opening. There was not much he could do but wait it out. The quake was short and did not cause the tent to collapse. Jolly waited a few more microns before crawling out. "Sir? Sir? Are you alright in there?" "I'm fine," Jolly yelled out. Cadet Cree opened the flap and looked in. "What are we to do?" "Right now, carry out your normal tasks." "I don't have any," Cree responded. "Oh." Jolly had to think about what to do. Cree was mostly there to fly a viper when needed and protect the other workers from indigenous planet animals or people. He did the right thing checking in on Jolly. That's it. "Check for wounded people. You may have to help the med techs carry stretchers or take severely wounded up to the Galactica. Other than that, do a systems check on the vipers and the shuttles to make sure they weren't damaged. If so, report back to me immediately." "Yes, sir." Cree turned and left the tent. He scanned the area and broke into a run to help those who were still lying on the ground. Another cadet ran into the tent and almost collided with Jolly. "Slow down, boy." "The mountain's leaking?" Jolly was puzzled. His stomach let out a reminding growl of needing food. It had to wait a few more centons. The last time Jolly ate was before the ground collapse. Jolly's stomach growled louder. The boy stepped back a bit when he heard it. Jolly identified the boy. "Say that again, Joels." "The mountain's leaking...Sir." "What do you mean, `The mountain is leaking?'" Joels thought about his words before responding. "I went into the cave, through the tunnel, and into the cavern where Hiren, Kape, Giles and I were stuck. There's a water flow in there. It started flooding the cavern." Joels' spoke faster. "I ran out with the water chasing me." He spoke even faster. "I barely made it out before the water filled the deep hole. It kept coming. The ground shook. I fell and left before the water got me. It's still coming out of the mountain." "Calm down." Jolly walked over to take a seat. He had to. "How fast is the water flowing?" "Fast enough," Cree answered hastily. "Fast enough for what?" "To fill the hole quickly." "How deep was the hole?" "Ten metrons. Maybe more." Cree guessed. He did not pay much attention to it. When Hiren and himself were first there, Joels wanted to explore the mountain cave. When he was alone, Joels watched the water, not the hole being filled. "How far is the hole?" "I ran here from that area at top speed in a couple centons." "Is there a way for the water to flow towards here?" "I don't know." Jolly had a feeling this was all the information he could retrieve from Joels. He made plans to send someone else out to check on the mountain water. It was also best to send Joels elsewhere. "Okay, go to Site 2 and see if they need any help." "But what about the water leak?!?" Joels asked impatiently. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Now go to Site 2." "Okay." Joels moped out of the tent without saying another word. Jolly's stomach, however, had something to say. It growled again. "Quiet down. Sheesh." The tray of food sitting beside the desk all morning was knocked over when the ground shook. There was nothing salvageable from it. Jolly looked around for other morsels of food. He saw the storage locker. It remained undamaged. Inside were yummy emergency food rations. He grimaced at the thought of eating one, but it would quiet his stomach until he made it to the mess tent on the other side of camp. Of all places for it to be, didn't the crew know to place the mess tent near the C.O. tent? That was where it belonged. Jolly sat down, opened up the ration and was about to take a bite. "Lieutenant Jolly? Where are you?" Jolly rolled his eyes. At this rate, he was never going to get a decent bite to eat. He quickly bit off and swallowed a piece of the ration. A scientist whose name Jolly did not recall ran into the tent. Jolly put his tasty ration down on the locker and looked up at the man. He stomach gave another warning; it was not satisfied yet. Jolly knew that. "What is it?" he asked the scientist. "According to the ground meter at the mountain base, that quake we had was a preview of what is to come. From the looks of it, the mountain range is unstable on its resting plates deep underground. It is highly possible for another quake to happen at any micron and cause rocks and boulders to shake loose. All we need is for one large one to fall off the mountain and conceivably roll right through camp." Jolly rolled his eyes. What else could possibly go wrong? This was not a good secton for him. He asked, "What are the chances of that happening?" "Slim, but slim enough to worry about it if we don't take action to protect the camp." "Okay. Monitor the readings closely and update me every five centons, more if need be." "Understood." "Dismissed." Jolly waved his hand for the scientist to go. He still did not know the man's name. The ration laid in wait to be eaten. Quickly, Jolly took another bite before his belly took a temper tantrum for food. It sure lacked taste. How was a man supposed to survive on such... on such meager items. Sure, the rations fulfilled all the daily nutritional requirements for survival, but at least the creators could have added a taste. Jolly threw down the ration and walked out of the tent. Next stop was the mess tent. Surprisingly, his stomach remained quiet. The planet did not. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE The blood of the planet flowed underground. If it did not find an easy way out soon, it would make one. There was nothing to stop the main flow of molten rock. Everything in its path melted away. There was no mercy, only heat, and lots of it. Pressure forced the magma to rise. There was a channel leading upwards. And so the red lava flowed until it came to the top where it was blocked. The perpetual pressure pushed against the mountain top until the cork popped. The mountain blew its top. Jolly saw the explosion with lava spewed into the air. His hunger pains disappeared. Time was of the essence. If that lava made contact with the tylium in the mining areas, the planet would have one mighty big hole in it. They needed a trench, a deep one, to channel the lava away from the camp. There was not enough time to plant solonite explosives, although they could use that as a secondary line of defense. The vipers were the only way to blast away a trench. People at camp were running around looking for a way to escape. There were only three shuttles available for evacuation, not that it mattered. If the planet blew, the Galactica would be hit and probably destroyed. But if these people weren't brought under control, a few more deaths may be at Jolly's hands. The man who turned command over to Jolly was nearby. "Boreas!! BOREAS!!" "Yes?" "Get your men together and bring everyone under control. Get them lined up at the shuttles in an orderly fashion and prepare for evacuation. They are to leave all items behind. Got it?" Boreas protested. "My men aren't trained for that." "Well, they have to learn fast. Now do it!!" "Aye." Boreas left to gather his men. The vipers were parked outside of camp away from the shuttles. Jolly started to jog in their direction hoping Cree was still around in one piece. People bumped into him as he went along. He also had to avoid a few obstacles in his path. There was no time for him to help anyone; he had a more important task. The leg cramps started. Jolly had to push on and get to the vipers. Every step stretched out. It became a battle between mind and body. The nerves in his body screamed at him. His brain had to ignore every single one. Sweat poured over Jolly's red face. He gasped for breath. Muscles continued to tense. But at last he was there. It was not until then when Jolly looked around for Cree. He was huddled under the viper engines. Jolly shook his head. The landing gear was strong enough to hold the viper in place, but if the ground gave underneath... Well, it was better not to think about it. "Cree, get in that viper and prepare to launch!" Jolly had to take a few deep breaths of air his body desperately needed. "Sir?" "Just do it. I'll tell you what to do once we're up." "Yes, sir." Cree climbed out from underneath and up into the cockpit. Jolly climbed into the other viper with some difficulty. His body was still stiff from the run. His lungs begged for air. His head spun in endless circles. Jolly shook his head hoping to clear it and think straight. Cree had been awful quick to launch. The cockpit had only closed on Jolly's viper when Cree was up in the air. Thank goodness the vipers were on stand-by readiness. No warm-up was required. Jolly flipped the engine switches in succession, then activated the three turbo buttons. Two microns later, he launched. "Cree, come in." `I read you.' "Good. First off, don't fly close to the mountains. Steer clear of the lava spray. Fall in behind me and prepare to do strafing runs. We need to blast a trench between the mountains and the camp to divert the flowing lava. You will follow the line I start. Only start firing when you can see the line and not before. Be sure I am clear of the trench. Tune your scanner to pick up Tylium deposits near the surface. For the Lords of Kobol, do not hit them. Copy?" `I understand sir. We're blasting a trench. Don't hit tylium. Don't fire until you are clear. Use the scanners. I'm falling into position behind you now.' "Let's pray this works." Jolly looked high in the sky for a micron hoping the Galactica knew what was happening and backed away. This was going to be a close one. ********* Starbuck dropped off the last of the search teams at the midpoint between the Tylium camp and its far neighbor, the forest camp where Starbuck and Boomer were originally stationed. He did not actually shuttle to any of the camps thus far because he was receiving different directions every five centons from the Galactica. They could not make up his mind on where to go. Starbuck had heard about the water camp people being abducted by the flying creatures. At first, the instructions were to assist Bojay and follow the creatures. They were soon changed to go to the Water Camp to look for clues. Starbuck no sooner changed course for that camp when orders came through to head to the Tylium Camp. It was something about a sink hole and the need for another medical shuttle. When word was given that another shuttle was not needed at the Tylium Camp as originally believed, Starbuck was given new coordinates to place the search teams. At that point, he turned off the communicator and deposited the search teams as per instruction. That was in between all three camps, which happened to be so far apart, it would take the search teams well over a couple sectons to reach the nearest camp if they journeyed non-stop through light and dark. Each team had a supply of camping gear, food and radio communication with the Galactica. Finally, Starbuck was alone and could rest his mind. Well, rest was not really possible with all the problems they had. However, he was not about to reactivate communications until he had some rest and pieced things together so he knew what to do besides fly in circles. Starbuck had not heard from Bojay in between all the flight changes. However, Bojay was a big boy and could take care of himself. Starbuck figured he would contact Bojay when he knew what to do. The shuttle was on final approach to the Forest Camp. Starbuck's tent was still up for when he returned, but he also heard a pretty young cadet was using it in his absence. When was the last time he camped out with a woman? Starbuck did not recall precisely, but knew it had been too long. The clearing for landing came into view. Skid marks from previous shuttle arrivals and departures stuck out like a sore thumb. Starbuck switched the shuttle into landing mode and touched down as softly as a feather. He flipped more switches, turned knobs, and pressed buttons to place the shuttle into stand-by mode and made his way out. "Starbuck, it's nice to see you're back." "Ah, Sire Aber, it's ah nice to see you too." Starbuck extended his arm for the Colonial Handshake. "Any news from the others?" Sire Aber was confused. "News? What news? I've been out here in the trees cataloging leaves for medicinal purposes. Why I haven't heard from anyone in quite a few centars. Although I must say the ground has been a bit shaky." "Shaky?" Starbuck asked. "Why yes. I felt some very minor..." He stressed the two words in an extended voice. "...very minor trembles. It was probably nothing, nothing at all." Starbuck did not wish to upset the elderly sire who seemed very calm under the circumstances. "You're right. It's probably nothing. Tell you what. I'm going to head into camp to let them know I'm here. If you need anything, anything at all, promise to contact me." "Yes, yes. I'll call you, young man, if I need you." "Good. I better get going." Starbuck turned and hastily jogged off to the main camp area. "My, my. Young people are in such a rush anymore." Sire Aber turned around and headed back into the tree to collect leaves. "Yes, such a rush. Why, back when I was young..." It only took Starbuck a couple of centons to make it to the main camp area. He figured Sire Aber must have been in his own little world to be so close, yet so far from camp not to have heard about any of the problems. There were only a few people scattered about the area. Most of the scientists were probably off doing their searching and analysis for seed and food to take back to the fleet. Starbuck headed directly for the main tent. He was quite shocked to see who was sitting there. "Dietra? Where's the C.O.?" "I'm in charge here," she replied rather defiantly. "By whose orders?" "Commander Adama's." Dietra was rather happy to say that. Starbuck had to do some quick thinking. Dietra was in no position to lead this camp. She had enough trouble leading a couple vipers in a Cylon ambush. This was a lady of action, not thinking. It was scary to think she was much like Starbuck in his younger yahrens. "What have you heard from the other camps?" he asked. "There was no response from the water camp." "Bojay is supposed to be there." "He hasn't called us if he is." Dietra continued what she started before Starbuck's interruption. "I checked with Omega and he hasn't heard anything either." "Felgercarb. Something's not right." Starbuck sat down on the desk in front of Dietra. "Try to contact him. Okay?" "Do you want the rest of my report?" Dietra asked rather impatiently, but kept her tone nice. "Okay. What else?" "There are some mixed up messages from the Tylium Camp. Something about the ground shaking, mountains blowing and a strafing run. Personally, I think someone is confused about the strafing runs. There's no enemy here." "Yes, there is. That Veele character may be our enemy. Did you talk to Jolly?" "No." "Well, call him too. Get me some reliable information. I'll be back in a centon." "Yes, sir," Dietra said with a bite in her words. Starbuck walked outside and pulled out his last fumerello. Cassiopea had urged him a few times to stop smoking them. She even threatened to not be in the Life Center when he was brought in with lung problems. Breaking a habit was indeed a hard thing to do. Perhaps, one secton, Starbuck would quit. Two vipers flew overhead. Starbuck knew they were coming in to land based on their trajectory, altitude and engine noise. It was about time. Shuttles were too slow for him. He'd send someone else up in the shuttle to aid in the search while he used a viper. Starbuck said to no one in particular, "Ah well. Better enjoy this while I can." The shuttles were too far off to hear them land or the canopies open. Starbuck simply waited for the pilots to come to him. He still did not know what he was going to do about Apollo, Athena and Hiren. More information was needed from Jolly and Bojay before Starbuck dared to think about those areas. He hoped Dietra made contact with someone to sift through the information. Starbuck took a deep puff of his fumerello and slowly breathed it out. It certainly helped to sooth him for a centon. Dietra's voice came through the tent. She had made contact with someone. That left Starbuck only a few centons to enjoy his smoke. Maybe not. The two pilots came into view. Greenbean and Sheba walked quickly towards him. By the time they made it to where Starbuck was standing, he had only finished a small part of his fumerello. "Any news?" he asked. Sheba shook her head. "We did low level scans of this area. Everything is okay as far as our machines are concerned." She sounded real tired. "We did wide sweeps in various directions from here." "I'm surprised I didn't see you when I was dropping off the search parties." "This is a big planet," Greenbean said. "We basically have all the area in between the camps checked out. No signs of missing people, flying creatures, nothing. Sheba suggested we come take a break before heading over to the water pocket itself and leafing out from there." "Bojay's supposed to be there. Did you see him or hear from him?" Starbuck asked. A deep look of concern crossed Sheba's face. "No. Is he okay?" "I don't know. I lost track of him when they had me jumping around everywhere." "Starbuck," Dietra yelled. "Starbuck!" He went into the tent followed by Sheba and Greenbean. "There is still nothing from the water camp, not even a beacon from a viper or shuttle. It seems to be abandoned. But the Tylium Camp is in trouble." Dietra was tense. It reflected in her voice. "The mountains erupted. Lava is still coming out. Jolly and Cree used their vipers to dig a trench and divert the lava. Explains the strafing run." Starbuck jumped. His face turned white as a ghost. "We'd better get over there and help them." Dietra shook her head. "Jolly said they have everything under control so far. The lava shooting up from the mountains is not spreading out far enough to hit the Tylium deposits directly. The trench is deep enough and long enough to send it off elsewhere. However, they are evacuating the area." "What are they going to do about the Tylium?" Greenbean asked. "They are shuttling what they have up to the fleet," Dietra answered. "All the equipment is left behind so when the mountains settle down, they can return to the mining. The scientists calculate it will be four or five sectons until it is safe to return." "Does anybody know anything about Apollo?" Sheba was very downcast. She fought off her feelings while in flight and was precise as ever in her maneuvers. Now, the hurt caught up with her. She allowed it to vent out for soon she'd be up in her viper again. Dietra shook her head without saying a word. "Not a clue?" "Nothing." "Frack!" Starbuck scratched his head. They had to get back up flying and searching. No one was going to rest until Apollo, Athena and Hiren were found along with all the people from the water camp. "Starbuck?" "Yeah, Sheba?" She stood tall. Chased every bad feeling out of her body. The adrenaline surged through every part of her being. "Let's find them!" The fight was in her bones as it always was in her father. "We'll get them," Greenbean said with assuredness. Starbuck informed them, "I only have a shuttle." "Can't you get a viper from the Galactica?" Greenbean asked. "Dietra, ask Colonel Tigh to send me a viper. Have him meet me at the water pocket. Also, keep in contact with the search parties. Let us know when they find something." Starbuck gritted his teeth. The weight of command bore down hard on him. "Sheba. Greenbean." Starbuck paused in thought. "We're going to have to split up. In fact, Dietra, ask Colonel Tigh to send more vipers out for searching. We have to cover this planet faster than we are. I, um, going to go to the pocket and get my viper when it comes. You two, search where you left off. I'll call you as soon as I'm up in my ship." "Let's move it!!!! We got work to do," Greenbean shouted. ********* 12-12-97 High up on a mountain, the air was thin and chilly. The skies were clear for the time being. There were no trees, plants or animals of any kind. It was all stone. The only positive aspect was the rocks of different colors. Most were brown, but there were a few navy blue rocks, red stones, and some similar to the one Joels had been carrying in his pocket, the one nobody but himself knew about. There was a flat area in one portion on the large mountain top. On it were three large, brown stone slabs. They were longer in length than any person in the Galactica fleet was in height. Worse than that, they were dense, too heavy for any team of people to move, and a match for shuttles if one were to ever see which fell faster: a shuttle or a huge stone slab. Securely bound to the three slabs were three people. Apollo opened his eyes, dazed and confused, and saw nothing but the color of the sky. It felt like someone whapped him upside his head with a brick. It was a few centons until his vision came into focus and his mind was in a state to think. Only when he tried to sit up did Apollo realize he was tied to that on which he was laying. Wrestling with his binds was a futile gesture. They were not going to give. He turned his head and saw his sister. "Athena?" A few microns passed. "Athena?" She stirred a little bit, but did not respond. Apollo turned his head the other way to see Hiren. "Hiren?" Again Apollo allowed a few microns to pass before calling, "Hiren?" "Huh? Oh wow. Did anyone catch who was flying the shuttle that hit me?" Hiren tried to move about and noticed he was stuck. He turned his head towards Apollo. "What happened? Where are we?" "No. I don't know and I don't know in that order." "Yeah. Would you explain what you said, sir?" Apollo winced at the throbbing in his head. Regardless of how much he tried to, wanted to, wished to ignore it, the pain was there to stay. "No, you were not hit by a shuttle. I don't know what happened. The last thing I remember was sleeping up on the ship. I thought I had a bad dream, but obviously not. And I don't know where we are other than presumably on the same planet we've been on." "Oh." "Let me go," Athena pleaded. "Get me out of here." Apollo looked over at his sister. "We're all stuck. Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine except for some pain," Athena said in frustration. "I want to go." Apollo tried to comfort her. "We all do." "Sir, are you having trouble breathing?" Hiren asked. "Yes. It does seem the air is thin. We must be pretty high up." "Listen," Athena said. A chant was heard in the distance. Neither Apollo, Athena, nor Hiren were able to see the source, but they heard it and knew it was coming closer. The chant made no sense as it was not in their tongue. Apollo was pretty sure he knew who it was. He waited to see if his thoughts were true. The three of them laid quiet until the source of the chanting appeared. "VEELE! Release us," Apollo ordered. Veele was accompanied by four other beings from his race. One was Ashta. Hiren recognized her from earlier. Two acted like guards even though they had no visible weapons. Apollo was going to keep an extra eye on them just in case. The fourth being with Veele was highly decorated. He was only half the height of the others, but appeared to wield great influence over the others. It was uncertain whether he was a leader, a high priest or some other kind of powerful character in their tribe. "Veele no leas." Veele pointed at all three prisoners. "Need." It was obvious from his speech Veele knew little outside of his native tongue. Whatever link he had with Bojay must not have been enough to communicate with the off-worlders with words. "What do you need us for? Release us and we will help. Don't keep us prisoner!" The decorated one began a chant different from the one they first heard. Veele and Ashta joined in with a counter chant. Each one stood at the feet of the prisoners. The two "guards" remained motionless and quiet at the sides, not fazed in the least with the event. The chanting became increasingly louder. "Apollo!!!!!!!" Athena cried out. "Stay calm. They're not going to hurt us. We'll get out of here soon enough." Under his breath, Apollo muttered, "I hope." Hiren heard it. "I do to, sir. Is there nothing you can do?" The three chanters each held up a crystal. The same ones Apollo, Athena, and Hiren were trapped inside of. The crystals began to glow with an intense brightness. Ashta smoothly changed her chant to one different from the decorated one and Veele's. It was very discordant with the other two, but perfect in tune with itself. The three of them moved from the prisoners' feet to three points apart from each other with the stone slabs in between them. The three prisoners winced at the noise. Apollo's headache grew three times worse than when he first woke up. The decorated one stopped his chant and yelled out something over the other chants. Suddenly, a beam of light shot between the three magic crystals forming a perfect, equilateral triangle. Apollo, Athena and Hiren were totally surrounded by the light triangle. Veele and Ashta ceased their chanting. All was quiet. Without warning, the three stone slabs, too heavy for any team of humans to even budge, rose three metrons in the air. "Captain, what are we going to do?" Hiren yelled out. Athena screamed, "APOLLO!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!" "I wish I could." Apollo's head felt like it was going to explode. They were powerless against their captors. He was not sure if anything could be done. Bojay was still trapped inside the shuttle's turbo flush at the Water Pocket Camp. He screamed at the top of his lungs until he blacked out. ******* Part 10 by Robert Hanczyk 12-15-97 "Do you think they'll send someone back to get us?" Vicelt asked Dr. Mirand. "I hope so. We had a hard enough time acquiring this shuttle. I don't believe they'll leave it behind." "Feeling up to moving?" Dr. Mirand stood and took a few steps away from the shuttle cockpit. "Sure. Let's go survey the camp," she replied while stretching her leg muscles. Vicelt trailed the scientist's wake watching her step. Dr. Mirand proceeded outside only to be greeted by a ground quake. She lost her balance and fell into the dirt. Vicelt, not thinking, grabbed on to the shuttle hatch opening. She was lucky the shuttle hatch did not slam shut and whack her out into Dr. Mirand. The quake only lasted a few microns, hardly enough time for Dr. Mirand to crawl back in the dirt to the shuttle, but it certainly was a heavy shaker. More science equipment had fallen to the floor inside the shuttle and broke. Tubes came out of containers. One of the large storage tanks of water sprang a small leak. "Are you okay, Doctor?" Vicelt ran out to give Dr. Mirand a hand. "I'm slightly shook, but otherwise I'm fine. Thank you." "LOOK!!!" Vicelt pointed over to the water pocket. The female scientist stood and brushed herself off. She was amazed by what she saw happen at the water pocket. The water began to bubble. It was light at first, but grew in intensity. At the bottom, the water turned bright red and slowly rose to the surface. By the time it made it to the top, bubbles rose slightly above the water surface and popped. The surface of the water began to emit visible steam into the air. "Amazing!!!" Dr. Mirand exclaimed. Vicelt was not amazed in the least bit. She was certainly happy she came out of the pocket when she did. Otherwise, she might have been a boiled flopper by now. "Amazing?!? I think we're in trouble." "No. I need to know why this is happening. I've never seen anything like it." Vicelt urgently said, "Doctor, I really think we should get inside the shuttle, close the hatch and call for help." Vicelt waited for a reaction from Dr. Mirand, but saw none. "Come on!!!" The water bubbled very violently. The surface level rose up over the edges of the pocket. Steam was expelled into the air in heavy volumes. There was no sign that this was going to stop. Vicelt ran out to the scientist and grabbed her arm. Dr. Mirand was too fascinated by the spectacle to hear Vicelt's urge. "Please!!" Vicelt pleaded, "Go inside the shuttle. For your own safety." A water geyser shot high into the air. That was enough to snap Dr. Mirand into the reality of the situation. "I think you're right. Let's go," she said. Vicelt followed the scientist as they both ran into the shuttle. She closed the hatch and ran up to the cockpit, hopping over the broken containers scattered on what little floor space there was. Neither of them noticed the one water storage container leaked. Vicelt sat down in one seat and Dr. Mirand took the one she was in when Vicelt first found her. "Where's the radio control?" Vicelt asked. "Right here. Do you see a headset?" "Yeah. Here it is." Vicelt picked it up off the floor near the shuttle pedals and put it on. "Help!! Help!! This is science shuttle at Camp 3. We need help!!!" "Wait until I turn it on." "Oh," Vicelt responded softly. Dr. Mirand fidgeted with the radio controls. She left it on the frequency it was set at. "Now try." "Help! Emergency! Galactica, come in. This is science shuttle at Camp 3. HELP!!" They waited for a centon. Dr. Mirand adjusted the volume control but they received nothing other than static. Vicelt called out again. "Help!! Camp 3 Science Shuttle. We need Help!! Can anybody hear me?" The scientist shook her head. "It appears to be broken." "What are we going to do? We can't fly this thing. Look outside. The water is almost here. We can't go out in it without frying ourselves." "There are so many lights, buttons, switches, and knobs. I don't even know where to begin." Dr. Mirand tried to remain calm. It was not an easy task. She'd last longer than the younger diver, but probably not by much. "Let's try something. Anything." Vicelt dropped the headset and began to quickly scan over the instrument panel. "Is there a power button anywhere? Maybe that will turn on the radio." "Power button. Hmm." Dr. Mirand looked on her half of the panel. "Power button. Here's one." She pushed it and it lit, but nothing else apparently happened. "Do you have one on your side?" Vicelt looked over to where the power button was on Dr. Mirand's side. She looked in a similar area on her side. There it was. "Got it." Vicelt pushed it. The power button lit up along with the entire instrument panel. Other buttons lit up. Little red lights chased after one another. The monitors came to life. The was an electrical hum in the air. Vicelt picked up her headset and tried again. "Science Shuttle to Galactica. Science Shuttle to anyone. HELP!!!" They still heard nothing but static. "If I knew a frequency, I would switch the radio to it. From these frequency dials, we could be here all secton long trying to find one. Wait. Don't these ships have distress beacons?" Vicelt shrugged. "I really don't know." She set the headset in her lap. "I think they do. Let's look for something like that." They went to it. Dr. Mirand searched in an orderly fashion while Vicelt glanced everywhere. The diver spotted two DISPLAY SELECT switches. She flipped the first one. The radar display lit up with a territorial land grid. In a few microns, it switched over to an area section map. The border of the water camp section blinked in the pretty green of the monitor. The computer zoomed in on the section with two asterisks. One was steady, the other blinked. Two microns passed before the Ship Identifier Program took over the screen. Various known ships flashed on and off until a shuttle outline appeared in the center. The screen switched to a side and front shuttle view on the right. On the left were statistics about the shuttle. At the bottom, it flashed: "LIFEFORMS PRESENT - ONE" "Did you catch all that, Doctor?" "Yes. Yes, I did. There's another shuttle near us." Dr. Mirand gazed out the shuttle's window. Vicelt joined in. "Is it close by?" "I think so." They stretched their necks to look as far down the sides as possible from the front windows, which were the only windows in this shuttle. It took them a few centons of bobbing and stretching their heads until Dr. Mirand spotted something. "That's it!" "Where?!?" Vicelt hurried over to Dr. Mirand's side to look out the window. She stretched until she was able to see it. "The water didn't get to it yet." "If you make it over there fast, you can see who's aboard." "Me? Why me?" Vicelt asked. "And why didn't that person come over here? Surely the pilot had to see us." "Not necessarily. He or she may have seen the shuttle, but did not know we were in it. Now hurry and go to it." "One micron. I go outside and my feet will burn. My shoes are over at my tent." Dr. Mirand looked around the interior of the shuttle. She saw nothing but science equipment everywhere. "There has to be a pair of boots somewhere. Let's look around." Frantically, they moved through the various areas of the shuttle, around the science equipment, over the broken items on the floor. It wasn't until Dr. Mirand made it to the back of the shuttle when she spotted the leak. "Oh, Frack," she said to herself. The scientist did not say a word to Vicelt. It was better to leave her searching for boots. Dr. Mirand grabbed the equipment repair kit from behind the desk where she had worked. Quickly and efficiently she sealed the leak, but could not do anything about the water on the floor. She left the kit there and began to go through wall lockers above and beside the containers. Inside one was a complete spacesuit. "I found one." "You did?" Vicelt asked. "Here. Catch." Dr. Mirand threw the boots over to Vicelt. She caught them and put them on. The scientist went over to the hatch and opened it. The hot water was halfway up to the bottom of the hatch opening. "Hurry!" Vicelt made her way over to the hatch not watching her step this time. She looked funny in her swim suit with big gray space boots. Dr. Mirand stifled a laugh. They had more urgent matters at hand. Before Vicelt stepped out, she turned and asked, "What are you going to do?" "Salvage as much of this as I can. Now go." Dr. Mirand motioned for Vicelt to leave. "I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Vicelt hurried out. Dr. Mirand wasted no time closing the hatch. She turned and took one long look at the shuttle interior. She had a big salvaging and cleaning operation ahead of her. There was not much concern for the shuttle being covered in the hot water. Too much open land prevented that. From the looks over the water level outside around the area, it would not raise much higher. The first thing, Dr. Mirand had to do was clean up the water. It was not of much use anymore because it was considered contaminated. She knew it was best to clean it up before anything else was ruined. Vicelt took large steps outside keeping her feet out of the hot water as much as possible. The hot drops that hit her bare legs stung. She tried to ignore the pain and focus on making it to the other shuttle. There was a depression Vicelt stepped into and almost lost her footing. Fortunately, she recovered her balance in time. Second and third degrees burns were not welcome on her body. When she made it to dry land, Vicelt broke into a run. She was greeted with a closed shuttle hatch. "Hello in there. Can you hear me?" No response. It figured. Vicelt looked around the shuttle hatch area for anything to open it. On the right, above her head, was a cover. She worked the cover open and saw three switches: red, green and blue. The water seeped its way toward Vicelt. It gave her a few centons to figure out how to open the hatch. "Do I close my eyes and pick one? What happens if I pick the wrong one? Which one?" Her finger hovered over each switch. Vicelt's brain gave no hint as to which was correct. She never had to open a shuttle hatch on her own before from the outside. Time was running out. One of the switches opened the door. Maybe more than one did. Randomly, Vicelt flipped the green one. The pressure hissed out and made Vicelt jump back. Slowly, the shuttle hatch opened inward. She whispered to no one, "Thank you." When there was enough room to squeeze through, Vicelt wasted no time in entering. She closed the door as soon as she could and took off her hot boots. "Hello? Where are you? I know there's someone here." No one answered. "Come on out. We need to fly out of here." All was quiet in the shuttle. Vicelt first walked up to the cockpit. Looked the same as the other one with no one there. Was there anyplace to hide? Not really. This was a passenger shuttle. Unless the seats lifted, there was nowhere Vicelt could see for someone to hide. "HELLO?!?!?!?!?" Her body answered her. It gave the warning signal it needed to be relieved of liquid. This shuttle was easy to walk through. Vicelt made it back to the turbo flush area. She opened the door and saw a man's body slumped over the flush. "Holy.." When she turned over the body, Vicelt recognized him instantly. "Bojay! Wake up! Hey you!! It's not time to sleep. Wake up." She slapped him lightly on the face a few times and shook his shoulders. "Bojay. Red alert." Bojay slowly started to leave his world of unconscious insanity and enter the world of reality. "Copub Laqp." "What?!? Bojay, you made no sense." Vicelt helped him to the sitting position. She rubbed his shoulders in hopes to restore lost circulation. "Come on, Bojay. You're a big boy. Are you in there?" He grimaced in pain as the bruises on his body reported to his brain. Bojay felt his head spinning and tried to pull himself together. "Wha...What happened?" "I don't know. You were out cold." "Cold? Yeah, I'm cold to the bone." Bojay opened his eyes to see who was there. He recognized the voice, but could not place it. His vision was unfocused at first, but when it cleared, Bojay recognized Vicelt. "Help me up." Vicelt stood and held Bojay steady as he stood. "It's about time. You have two shuttles here. Hot water is coming out of the pocket towards us. We have to fly out of here." Bojay was still a bit dazed. "Two shuttles? Water coming out?" "Yes. This shuttle and the science shuttle. Dr. Mirand is there. Remember her?" Vicelt helped Bojay sit down in a passenger seat and sat down beside him. "I remember Mirad." "That's Mirand, Dr. Mirand. Now snap to it. We have to fly out of here." "Fly. Right. It's cold in here." Bojay rubbed his arms through his flight jacket to warm them up. Vicelt grew frustrated. Every micron counted. How was she going to snap Bojay out of his daze. She snapped her fingers when the idea hit her. "Bojay! There are Cylons outside! They're attacking us!" "Cylons? Frack!" Bojay stood up rather quickly. He swayed a little bit while he unholstered his weapon. "Where are they?" "It's okay. There aren't any Cylons." She smiled and tried not to laugh. She had to admit, Bojay's change from daze to alert was funny. "Then why..." "Look. No time to explain. There are two shuttles here. You have to fly one of them and get you, me and Dr. Mirand out of here. Do you understand?" Bojay rubbed his head. His hair was a mess. He would not notice until he looked in a mirror. "Yeah. I hear you. We can rig the other shuttle on slave circuits. You can fly it from here." "What? I don't know how to fly." Vicelt crossed her arms and stood her ground. "You're the pilot!" "I'll teach you. Where are we flying to?" "Away from the water pocket. Come here." Vicelt grabbed Bojay's arm, took him to the one corner of the shuttle, pulled him up onto a seat and pointed out the window. "See that red water? It is boiling hot. I had to wear space boots to get over here. Now can you fly us out before we're melted?" Bojay started to feel like himself again. "Yeah. Let's get up to the cockpit." He stepped down and led the way. "You're going to sit in the co-pilot seat. Call Dr. Mirad." "Mirand!!!" They sat down in the cockpit seats. "Mirand. Call her and tell her what we're going to do. I'll rig the slave circuits. Then you copy my every move on your side. We'll launch these together?" It was Vicelt's turn to be a little confused. "How can I fly the other shuttle from here when I can't see where it's going?" Bojay began flipping switches. "Don't worry about that. The other shuttle has enough space to launch. Now call her." "The radio is out." "What do you mean?" Bojay asked while connecting two wires under a side panel. "We tried calling the Galactica. All we heard was static." "Oh." Bojay pressed the UNICOM button underneath the communications panel. "Now try." "Dr. Mirand. Can you hear me? Dr. Mirand?" Vicelt waited a centon for a response. "Dr. Mirand? Vicelt to Dr. Mirand. Come in, Doctor." She allowed another centon to creep by. Vicelt turned to Bojay. "It's no use. She isn't wearing a headset." "Oh well. Mirad is in for a surprise." "Mirand. Mirand! Mirand!!! Repeat after me. Dr. Mirand." "Yeah, yeah...Mirand." Bojay was not in the mood to be reprimanded by a younger lady who was not even an officer. He already had enough problems. "Now listen to me. We have to ignite the engines, the oxygen supply, and a few other minor things. Watch me." Bojay flipped the switches to activate the engine. Pushed a button to open the oxygen tanks in the shuttle. Turned a dial to seal and pressurize the shuttle. Tested the cyclic and put on his own headset. "Your turn," he said. Vicelt copied his actions. Over in the Science Shuttle, Dr. Mirand was carefully organizing uncontaminated specimen containers. Each container fit precisely into a space on the specimen tray. Once the tray was filled, Dr. Mirand had to seal the top cover and place the tray in secure storage. There were three empty container places. She sorted through some of the recently filled containers to determine where they belonged. That was when the engines came to life. "How did that happen?" The scientist set the containers on the small examination counter and worked her way up to the cockpit. More lights blinked and some went from off to on, but she did not really know the difference from before except for the engines. The pilot headset sat in the pilot seat. Dr. Mirand bent over to retrieve it and put it on. `My side is ready.' That was Vicelt's voice she heard. "Vicelt, this is Dr. Mirand. Do you read me?" `Yes, I read you. Get ready to launch.' "What? How?" She sat down in the pilot's seat. `No time for questions. Strap yourself in. We launch in twenty- five microns.' "Oh my." Dr. Mirand strapped herself in the pilots seat and reached for the shuttle controls. She pulled back since she really did not know what to do. `Twenty microns.' "What do I do?" `Sit and wait. Don't touch anything.' Off to the side, one monitor displayed a series of numbers. Dr. Mirand reviewed them and did not know what they meant. The engines continued to warm up. The vibration in the shuttle became noticeable. `Ten microns.' `Grab the cyclic with your left hand. On the left is a yellow button. Prepare to press it down. Hold it for five microns and release. Three...two...one...NOW' Dr. Mirand felt the G-Force slap her back into the pilot seat. She also heard the specimen tray crash onto the floor. In front of the shuttle, there were a couple trees off to the one side. She prayed the shuttle would be airborne before passing them. The shuttle shook as it shot over the bumpy ground. In Bojay's shuttle, Vicelt gritted her teeth. She had to keep a steady eye on Bojay and be ready for his next command although she couldn't help but look out the front window. "Pull back the stick halfway on three. Three...two...one... Pull." Vicelt pulled back and glanced over to see how far Bojay pulled his. She had pulled hers a little more than halfway. Dr. Mirand felt the heavy climb of the shuttle. Vicelt eased her pull on the cyclic to match the angle of Bojay's. The pressure on the scientist in the other shuttle decreased, by not by much. In forty microns, both shuttles were high enough to clear anything in the area. Bojay said, "Level out gently." Vicelt followed his order. The shuttles flew horizontal to the ground and gained speed. The G-force lightened up and was hardly felt in either shuttle. "Dr. Mirand, are you okay?" Vicelt asked. `I'm still alive. Did you have to be so rough?' "Ask the ground next time you're standing on it." The scientist let out a laugh. She was really glad to be up in the air. As for the specimen containers, the scientist hoped they did not break. `What are we doing now?' "Once we gain enough speed, we'll climb out of the atmosphere," Bojay responded. "I'm going to contact the Galactica. They'll take over control of your shuttle and bring you in. Once I release control to them, we're heading back down." `Thanks to both of you.' "It's not over yet." "Where are we going to go on the planet?" Vicelt asked. "I'll know once I talk to our ship. You did well, girl. Ever think of becoming a viper pilot?" " Nope. I'll stick to diving." ******** Part 11 by Robert Hanczyk, January 28, 1998 Veele's troop marched around the pit switching directions at no specific set of intervals. They raised their weapons high above their heads and called out loudly to the heavens. At other times, every other member of the troop turned to confront the individual behind him or her or it. They mimicked precise battle movements. They bowed to one another. They even juggled weapons back and forth. "What are they doing?" Menelaus asked in astonishment. Even though the troop had shown no aggressive motions towards those in the pit, they stood alert just in case. The chanting was very unnerving. "What's it matter? It's all a bunch of felgercarb if you ask me," Coronis said with a very smart mouth. "No one asked you," Tralure snipped at him. Coronis did not reply other than to stick out his tongue at her. Dr. Neera tried to bring order. "Children! We have to find a way out. Quit bickering and start thinking!!!" "Who left you in charge?" Coronis could not keep his mouth shut. "I happen to be the senior medical officer here..." "So?" Coronis interrupted. "So that means, to keep all of you in order and not ruin your health, I'm in charge." "Not to me!" Coronis crossed his arms and walked off to the far side of the pit. "Hey!!! There's someone coming?" Menelaus yelled as he saw some of Veele's people break the ritual. "...Where?..." "...Who?..." "...What are you talking about?..." "...Move, I can't see past you..." "...Don't push..." "...I don't see anything..." "...OH!!!!..." The whole troop scattered for cover yelling something in their native tongue. One ran back, looked into the pit, hollered something shaking his weapon and ran away. There were a few growls, weapon clashes, a scream, but nothing in sight. For three long centons, the people had to wait in anticipation, listening to what was happening, hoping to see the answers to all their questions. Three dark figures approached the rim of the pit. Each had two heads and six legs with a bending joint in between the three sets of legs. The closest they came to an animal from the colonies was a single head, four leg lupus. The lupus was a nocturnal wild animal which attacked herds of domestic animals and people who interfered with the night catch. The three animals at the pit rim were ten times worse. If it was living, it was food. Inside the pit was a bounty of food waiting to be devoured. The carnivores studied their prey in the pit trying to figure out how they would reach it. Even for these mighty beasts, the pit was a major obstacle. The animals sensed the depth was dangerous to jump. The walls were too smooth to scale down. There was nothing at all to use to reach their dinner and they refused to abandon it. "Holy Frack!" Deark's jaw dropped to the ground. Trelle's face turned white. "We're doomed. Those beasts are going to tear us apart alive. What did I do to deserve this? I'm a good man. I help others. I help science. All I did was leave the ship. Leave my safe lab. Stay in the lab. That was fine. But to leave? Is it a sin?" "Trelle, calm down. We're not dead yet." Dr. Neera tried to be as calm as possible. Trelle had not reacted much to the chant party. But when the three lupus like creatures appeared, he started to panic. Dr. Neere figured Trelle was deathly afraid of wild creatures that he could not control. That was true for most of them actually. The determination of the group and sticking together kept them strong. Trelle panicked too easily. It could have been something from his childhood or the flight to the pit in the talon of the three headed flying creature that pushed him over the edge. Whatever it was, Dr. Neera had to keep Trelle calm before he lost it or others followed. "Trelle. Trelle? Do you hear me? We're safe down here." "No," he whispered. "NO!!!" he yelled out as if death stood in front of him. "We're not!" he said in a more sullen tone as if they were his final words. "The Prince of Darkness is out there. He's going to get me. He'll get all of us." Trelle's tone of voice grew to one of anguish. "There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He'll find us. He'll take us and torture us for all eternity. No one can save us now." Trelle's head hung low. He closed out everyone and everything except the impending doom. One of the black animals grew impatient. He wanted his dinner and was going to do everything he could to obtain it. Its bi-digestive system, unlike any animal's in the colonies, demanded satisfaction. And if it didn't get any satisfaction.... Well, what was worse than being torn apart limb from limb and stay alive long to endure bones being pulled off one by one for later gnawing? With this creature's species, the drive for food slowly dwindled the thought process on acquiring the meal. That was happening to this one. His form of common sense, what little there was of it, had almost disappeared. This black, hungry carnivore stood up high on his hind legs and let out a menacing growl. He slammed down onto the ground with the middle legs keeping his front legs in the air. At the edge of the pit, the animal anchored his middle and back legs into the ground and laid down with his front section over the open pit. He reached down as far as he could not knowing how to have his first bite. A few of the women shrieked in horror. People backed away to the wall of the pit opposite of the black animal. "What's the big deal? Geeze, you act like it's the end of the world. Can't you see it's too high up? Don't you think it would have jumped down by now?" Coronis was tired of all the commotion. Since no one else seemed brave enough, it was up to him, as always, to save the secton. Concealed inside his boot, Coronis had a mini laser he picked up on the black market ship. It came in handy more than once. That time had come again. Coronis reached down, pulled it out, unfolded it to activate it and fired a shot at the beast before anyone realized what he was doing. A wave of awe passed through the crowd along with some other not-so-nice remarks. The shot streaked by the side of the animal's head into the rim of the pit. Coronis turned and looked at everybody. "See?" Dr. Neera yelled, "Where in Hades did you acquire that?" "Does it matter?" "YES!" "I'm not telling." Coronis let an evil grin form on his face. "If you would have told us about that, we could have made holes in the walls for someone to climb out and get help." "Get help from where oh prominent leader pro tem? We don't know where we are?" The black beast was very angry at what had happened. He stood high on his hind legs and bellowed a ferocious growl. The other two joined in chorus. "See you what you did?" Dr. Neera yelled. "Now, the situation is ten times worse." "Hah. They're not going to get us. Some people are so paranoid. Watch this." Coronis fired a shot at the towering creature and hit its midsection. The black coat began to turn yellow around the wound. "NO match for the blaster. Another shot and it will be dead." He went to fire again. "STOP!!!!" Tralure yelled out. "Why? Afraid to kill? Huh? Don't want to see an animal in pain?" "It may fall in here and hit us," she answered. "So back away from that side. DUH!!!!!" Belon snuck up behind Coronis clasped him in a bear hug. Dr. Neera walked over to grab the blaster from Coronis' hand. "You don't have much when it comes to brains, do you?" Dr. Neera asked. "Wouldn't you be surprised?" Coronis flipped back. Yellow blood from the wounded animal oozed out of his body at a faster rate. The affect began to show as the two headed beast began to wobble on his hind legs enough to force it to drop onto all six of his legs. He let out a long howl of pain as if it were his last words. The other two seemed to become very angry as they jumped up and down on their hind legs and caused the ground to shake underneath. The ground vibrations began to cause rocks to drop down into the pit. The wounded animal went limp, his heads hung over the rim of the pit staring opened eyed to those below. "One down, two to go. Now let go of me you brute and give me back my weapon," Coronis cried out. Belon let out an evil laugh as he squeezed harder on Coronis. Comparing the two, Belon would be the last to stand. He hadn't even broken a sweat whereas Coronis' face was streaked with pain. In a very deep bass voice, Belon said, "You're not going anywhere." Dr. Neera had to let a sly smile show. "If I were you, I wouldn't make this man too mad. I don't think you would live to tell about it." Her smile disappeared into a look of concern. She looked at the last two black lupus-like creatures circling the pit, desperately trying to figure out how to reach their dinner. "I don't know what we're going to do about them." "Sh... ooo... em" Coronis gasped for breath in the mighty bear hug trying to spit out the words. "Shut up!" Dr. Neera ordered with a strong bite in her words. "Or else you might be the next victim of this blaster." She did not really mean it. Dr. Neera would never hurt anyone, but Coronis did not know that. "What is Kobol's name is that?" Poller asked. The two living animals stopped their jumping and dropped to be on all six legs. They looked in the direction of the noise, then at each other. One more look at the source was all it took to make them forget about dinner and high tail their way out. The clacks, the clicks, the clocks and the clucks became louder and louder, but were only heard by those in the pit. It sounded like a little stampede at ground level, but there was no shaking as there was when the black beasts were jumping. "My my. This thing doesn't look like he'll be much of a problem anymore." That voice was familiar to some in the pit. Before they could react, a man stood at the edge and peered down in. "I don't believe it." "BOOMER!!!!!" Mops yelled out. "Can you get us out of here?" Dr. Neera asked. "Yup. Give me a few centons." Boomer walked away and began scouting for vines. He heard the big cheer in the pit and was just as glad to see them as they were to see him. Dr. Neera stored the weapon at her pant's waist and looked over at Belon. "Let him go. And thanks." Belon dropped Coronis to the ground who choked for air on his hands and knees. "Forget about it, Ma'am. We're safe." "Yes we are." ********* Part 12 March 16, 1998 In the largest of water pockets deep underground, the barrier was removed. Freedom was but a tunnel swim away. The water titan knew it. It felt the mixing of water; the clear, cool water from the outside pocket mixing with the red, hot water of its lair where it been imprisoned yet protected for a very long time. That time was over. The water titan bolted through the tunnel into the water pocket, up to the surface and out of the water high into the air. The water titan looked all around and absorbed the differences from its last time of freedom. Most importantly was the feel of natural light, natural air, natural life. Imprisoned under the planet's surface was not so satisfying to the senses even though over half the time was spent in slumber. It was time to live. Far, far away, there was a call the water titan had to answer before its freedom was complete. This call could not be ignored in any way. The titan knew it. To disregard that which formed a bond meant death to all including itself. The sooner the call was answered, the sooner the water titan would begins its time of freedom. The titan of fire was released from its captivity. It soared high in the air and screamed out to let any living creature know this titan was a force not to be reckoned with. It wielded unimaginable power and anything that crossed its path would feel its wrath. It too had a call to answer. Even though it feared not what would happen if the called was ignored, the fire titan felt compelled to comply for unexplainable reasons. The titan of earth took on its freedom in good stride. The life that surrounded it existed in harmony. A rainbow of light was a reminder of the perpetual circle of life that existed on the planet since the dawn of time. A life that would continue to flourish and withstand the tests of time until there was no more time. The calling was long awaited. To feel the unity of all life was one of happiness, a reason to celebrate its continuance. With the light of the sun on its side, the titan of earth was eager to answer its calling. "Greenbean, you get anything yet?" Starbuck grew impatient. Their viper search was going nowhere. They were spread to the tips of each other's scanning range flying in a pattern to cover the most land in the least amount of time. Still, not a single sign of the missing people was detected. Starbuck's patience had reached its limits. "Please say you saw a speck of something." "I saw a speck of something," his wingmate replied. Starbuck asked quickly with some excitement, "You did? What is it?" "A small lifeform, probably no bigger than a baby. It didn't even register as one of Veele's kind." Starbuck sighed. That was not what he wanted to hear. "Do me a favor. Please, do me a favor." "What?" Greenbean asked. "Next time I ask if you found anything, pretend like you didn't hear me. Have radio problems. Something. Just don't answer unless you have good news?" "Like Gory's Gnews?" "Oh please. Not her. She's worse than Zara. She'll come right into the turbo wash and expose us to the whole fleet!!" Starbuck thought of all the problems Zara had caused. He even remembered the one time he had his revenge sending her down a river in a float. But Gory? She had to be Iblis' kid. There was no other explanation to all the twisted information she disclosed on IFB. "What's the matter? Afraid someone will see you in the buff? Over half the fleet sees you in Triad." Greenbean was loving every micron of this. It really lightened up the situation. "Yeah, well that's different." "How?" "At least I have a little something on." "Ah, Starbuck. I hate to tell you, but did you ever watch any replays of your games?" "No," Starbuck replied as if he wasn't sure if he should answer or not. "When we get back, sit down with your lady and watch a replay. I'm sure she'll tell you all that you don't know." "There's something I didn't know?" Starbuck broke out in a laugh. Greenbean joined him. It was a much need release of penned up frustration. "Sheba? Bojay? Why are you so quiet?" Bojay's original plans to bring Vicelt back to the planet in a shuttle were canned. He had instructions to land the shuttle and immediately launch in a viper to join Starbuck's team. Bojay was not going to argue. A viper was more power to him. "Why shouldn't we be? You're giving us all the entertainment we need," Bojay said with humor in his voice. "Blast to Hades with that felgercarb they give on IFB. You can have your own show." "Hey. I never thought about that. I could probably make more cubits with that than blasting Cylons." Sheba stepped in. "You know you'd hate it. If you left the service, you'd never fly a viper again. No more long range patrols with me or Apollo..." "Did you ever hear him chanting?" Starbuck asked. "No. Why?" Sheba's look turned serious. She was afraid Starbuck had some bad news. "I'm telling you, Apollo's chanting will drive you crazy. It's worse when you can't get away from it." "Starbuck, how could you say something like that about your best friend?" Sheba asked in an astonished tone. "Cause I'M Allowed," he stated matter-of-factly. "Wait until I tell him." "Go ahead," Starbuck dared Sheba. "He already knows it." "Frack. Both of you should go to the IFB studios and join up with Zara and Gory," Bojay shouted. Starbuck and Sheba answered in unison, "NO WAY!!!" Greenbean asked, "Are you sure you feeling all right Bo?" "Yeah. Why do you ask?" "I heard you hit your head pretty hard. With a bump on the head, you shouldn't be flying." "Where'd you hear that?" Bojay asked flabbergasted. "I'm not going to tell, sir." "I'll show you what I think of your sources. Wanna race?" "You're on." Greenbean and Bojay hit their turboes and left Sheba and Starbuck in their vapors. "HEY!!! Don't leave us!!!!" "Sheba, switch to secondary." Sheba changed her communicator frequencies. "I'm here, Starbuck. What is it?" "Do you think something IS wrong with Bojay?" There was concern in Starbuck's voice. He would not hide it from Sheba. "He seems a bit wilder than usual. Probably a short term effect of the poison and mind link with Veele. Why?" "I don't know. It's probably nothing. Let's go catch them before they hit our behinds." "Starbuck!! What would Cassiopea say?" Sheba did not wait for a response. She hit her turboes. "Wha.... Cassi say about what?" Starbuck replayed his last words in his mind. 'Hit our behinds.' He let out a groan to make sure Sheba heard it and sped after her. She was going to pay for that remark. A few centons later, they saw something worse than the three- headed flying creatures. It was so large, a viper was dwarfed in comparison. The creature was a very pale yellow. It only had two heads, but it had four arms. There were no apparent legs. It did have a long tail though, longer than its body. The tail constantly undulated through the air. As Starbuck and Sheba approached it well off to the side, they saw Greenbean's and Bojay's viper far enough ahead of it. The pilots did not seem to be in any danger yet. Starbuck switched back over to primary frequency. "Bojay! Greenbean! Do you know what's behind you?!?" "Besides you?" Bojay asked still laughing at whatever Greenbean had said. "Check rear scanners." "Checking." Greenbean saw the four vipers with one other bigger scanner blob. "What is it?" He was serious. Time for joking was over. "Big enough to knock down any or all of us," Sheba answered. "Divide and fly high. If it follows, we'll try to distract it." Bojay and Greenbean hit their turboes and arced away from the titan. Bojay turned ninety degrees from his previous heading and shot to the stars at a forty-five degree angle. Greenbean had turned around further before climbing at a lesser angle than Bojay. The titan of water howled loud enough that the pilots did not need their helmets to hear the noise. It took off after Greenbean's viper. Starbuck yelled, "Greenbean. Get out of there." "I'm trying. I'm trying." Bojay cut his turbo, leveled off the climb and arced around. Even though he was higher than everyone else, he pointed his viper and flew in the direction of the titan. The attack computer on Bojay's viper was primed and ready. All he had to do was dive and bring the titan to where X marked the spot. "Sheba, hit your turboes and fly to the right of it. I'll cut in between it and Greenbean." "Starbuck, that's suicide." "Not if I can help it." "I got you covered from the top. Say the word and I'll open fire," Bojay said with some enthusiasm. "We'll see if we can out fly it first," Starbuck said with memories flashing through his head. He drew saw his flight path and quickly flew interference. "Why?" Bojay asked. "Tell ya later." Greenbean continued to climb. Starbuck angled more away from the titan and pulled back into a steep dive. With any luck, he would fly right in between the titans line of vision and Greenbean's viper. Starbuck was a little off mark, but succeeded in the distraction. Since he was closer, the titan followed Starbuck's viper instead of Greenbean's. He continued his ascent into space. "Starbuck, I'm circling around." Sheba's viper was where the titan would have been had it not turned to follow Greenbean. "No! Get out of here! Everyone! Go!!!!" Once the vipers were out in space, the water titan ceased its pursuit and returned to proceed to the calling. It would stop at nothing to reach its destination. "Why didn't we shoot it?" Bojay asked Starbuck. "Last time I tried something like that, there was a flock of unfriendlies. I didn't want to go through that again." "Can't say I blame you now. We going to continue our search?" "I have to refuel first," Sheba said. "Me, too," Greenbean added. "Let's refuel and go back to searching." When the water titan was chasing the vipers, the anger it felt for the interference in the journey to its calling was felt inside Hiren. He did not know what was happening except for the pain searing through his body. Hiren opened his mouth to scream, but no sound emitted. The best he could do was grind his teeth and fight off the pain. It only lasted a few centons, but the pain left its signature inside of Hiren. "Pol..." "Hiren? Are you okay?" Apollo yelled above the howling winds. "Ain..." "Apollo?!?" Athena continued to wrestle with her binds. She did anything she could to try and free herself. "We'll be all right. Hiren, hang in there. Stay with me. We'll be all right," Apollo assured them. He really wished he believed his own words. Each of the three titans neared the calling. They saw the light glow high on the mountain. They also saw each other. The fire titan perceived the other two to be a threat. The earth titan was glad to be united with the two others. It did not feel the ferocity of the titan of fire. The water titan was a bit disturbed. It had to reach the calling and two opponents stood in its way. The fire titan screamed and made the first strike. Apollo felt the scream as if it came from his own lungs. He felt his blood boil as anger tore through his heart. Overall, Apollo was enraged at what was happening out of his control. It was infuriating. This was not something that should happen to him, his sister or Hiren. The titan of fire soared towards the water titan which was closest. A fireball erupted from its chest and headed straight for its target. Apollo felt his heart explode as the fireball left the titan of fire. The pain in his head disappeared to be replaced by severe pain through every cell in his body. The water titan absorbed the fireball in its one arm as if it was nothing. Before the titan of fire reached it, the water titan dropped to the ground to let the other fly over. When it hit the ground, the titan of water bounced off its tail and back into the air turning to see where the fire titan went. It began to sweat heavily until its body was covered with a sheet of water. Hiren's arm spasmed when the fireball hit the water titan. It went numb until the titan had bounced of its tail. Hiren felt the jolt from his tailbone into the small of his back. This time, he was able to scream out in pain. A mountain top three jumps, a couple hops and many many skips away erupted shooting lava high into the sky. Hiren began to perspire heavily, but he did not feel it over the pain in his behind. The titan or fire charged at the water titan again, but the water titan was prepared. It went for another bounce, sending more anguish through Hiren's mid section, and angled its way to the fire titan. They clashed in midair and bounced off each other like the positive ends of two magnets. The repercussion whapped both Apollo and Hiren. The titan of earth became grieved at the behavior of the other two titans. This was a time of happiness, not war. And from the looks of it, this battle was not promising happy endings. Reluctant to do so, the earth titan moved in to intervene between the two other titans. Athena experienced the sorrow and remorse of the earth titan. She was washed over by the death of her mother and brother, of all her dear friends on the colonies at the time of the Holocaust, the deaths of people in the fleet from starvation and irreparable injuries since the destruction. Her heart and soul bled for those who did not make it. As the water and fire titans made another charge at one another in the air, the earth titan jumped up only to be squished in between the other two. It lost all equilibrium and fell hard to the ground. Athena's whole body shook as the impact knocked the sense out of the earth titan. Her body spasmed against the restraints around the stone. There was a major planet quake. Mountain tops continued to erupt. Avalanches of rocks dropped off the mountains. Athena was not one to give up in the face of battle. She shook in defiance of the pain. Whatever it would take, Athena did to chase away the pain. What did she ever do to deserve this? Not a thing. Well... No, things like the steam purge on Starbuck was not an action deserving of this torture. If Athena stood against the Cylons in her viper, she was going to do that now. The pain increased, but so did her fury. As the battle ensued, Apollo was unsure of the end results. He fought with all that he was made of. It did not seem good enough, but he was never a quitter. He somehow knew, if he did not survive, the other two would also die. It was his duty to protect them in whatever way he could. Flashes of his past flew through Apollo's mind: the good times, the bad times, the ugly times, the best of times. He felt happy, sad, distraught, joyful. That was it! When the good feelings passed through him, even in the shortest of times, the pain subsided. Apollo tried again to think of a Triad victory, of play times with Boxey, of dinners in his father's quarters with his family and best of friends. The pain drained away as Apollo recalled good times in his life. The wind continued to howl. The chanting grew louder. The skies were dark and thundered the demise of the planet. Apollo took a deep breath and prepared his vocal cords for screaming above all the noise. "THINK GOOD THOUGHTS!! NOTHING BAD!! HEAR ME? GOOD THOUGHTS!! LIFE! LOVE! HAPPINESS!! HEAR ME?!?" "I ear eu!" Hiren struggled to say, but it was only a whisper. That did not matter. He recalled all the victorious battles he was in. The brave Commander Cain taking on three baseships to save the fleet. Even the valiant battle against the squadrons of Raiders to leave the Galactica go head to head with the Cylon Baseship left him feeling wonderful. Hiren almost had his tail shot off, but that he survived was an accomplishment to be proud of. A brief reminder of the Holocaust crossed his mind to which he was tormented with pain, but he quickly switched to sticking by his friend who had almost died. Hiren stayed by his side until he was sure his friend was going to pull through. Athena switched her family thinking to the strength that made them a family. The ambitions and zest of her younger brother, Zac brought waves of exultation through her being. Ila was so full of goodness and stood behind everything her family did. The strength of her older brother even after Zac's and Ila's death, for him to lead the pilots through mission after mission after mission was reason enough for them to be victorious here. And lest she not forget her father guiding a fleet of ships filled with people who had long given up hope. There was a brief time when Adama was overwhelmed by the vents of the destruction. It was when he sat in his quarters trying to drown his misery with ale. She went to comfort her father and remind him of just what he stood for, to give the human race from the twelve colonies another chance at life. Apollo reminisced of his adventures with Starbuck. They were crazy to sneak aboard a Cylon Baseship to knock out its sensors so the Galactica could have the first strike. The actions seemed to be okay at the time, but now it was always a laugh when that conversation was brought up in the O Club not to mention the part afterwards when he really embarrassed himself. He vaguely recalled the Ship of Lights. In fact, it was more a blur than anything, but he knew the goodness in it. Apollo did remember John and the events of Terra where it was up to them to stop a war that would destroy the whole planet just as what was about to happen here. Athena, Hiren and Apollo had to unite their feelings to help save the planet. Surprisingly, the titans grew weary of their clashes even though the were full of energy. Even the titan of fire no longer had the anger present when the battle began. Another ground quake and mountain eruption showed all three of them what was happening. If they were to ever meet again, the havoc shredding the planet had to be stopped. Each titan propelled itself into the sky. The one of fire screamed, but this time it was against the planet instead of living creatures. The water titan waved its tail back and forth to make it hop around in the sky. The titan of earth glowed in the unity it was feeling between the three. This was the way it was supposed to be. It led the way towards the closest mountain top spewing lava high into the air. The titan grabbed massive boulders and threw them down into the heart of the mountain to plug the fountain. The lava hitting against the titan of earth had no effect. The other two titans joined in the sealing of the first mountain. They continued to work their way around the immediate area repairing whatever worldly damage was present. Whenever the ground quaked, the three mighty titans stood tall in unison to hold the fault area together. It was going to take sectons for them to finish, but the planet was not going to be destroyed when its hot blood would have hit all the Tylium. Once they were finished, each titan would have plenty of time to enjoy life on that which they saved with the help from life forces of three special individuals. Up on the mountain top, the chanting ceased as the winds died down to an occasional gusting. The triangle of light brightened to a blinding glare and formed a solid plane of light between the three beams. The three stone slabs with the three humans slowly lowered back to where they once were. The bindings snapped. The light vanished. The leader began a pleasant chant and left without looking at Athena, Apollo and Hiren. The others followed save for Veele. He held up a communicator from the Galactica and placed it at Apollo's feet. Apollo struggled to sit up but was still recovering from the overwhelming experience. "Save," Veele said before he turned and left with the rest of the tribe. Apollo was not sure if Veele meant save for saved the communicator or saved the planet. It was probably both. "Hiren, Sis, are you okay?" "I'm still in one piece, sir. I don't think I'll sit for the next few sectons, but I'll be fine." Hiren was content to lie there and look up to the heavens where he knew the fleet still existed. The first person he wanted to visit upon return was his good friend. They lived to fight another day. "Sis? Apollo, did I hear you right?" Athena attempted to sit but only could prop herself on her elbows. "You haven't called me that since we were kids. You bet I'm fine. Whoa." She laid back down. "What happened?" Apollo asked with deep concern. "Only some dizziness. I'll be fine." "You'll always be dizzy." Apollo shook his head and laughed. When he had enough strength, Apollo reached for the communicator and activated the beacon. Hopefully someone was close by in a shuttle to pick them up. From the looks of it, all three of them had to find their way off the mountain to a place where the shuttle could indeeed pick them up. After what they went through, descending the mountain was probably a stroll on the agro ship. It would be no problem at all. --- FINALLY!!!!! The End --- RFH