BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
TIME TROUBLE PART 1
BASED ON BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
CREATED BY GLEN LARSON
WRITTEN BY DANIEL G. ALLAN AND STUART C. RANSOM
There are those who believe that life here began out there, far
across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the
forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. They may
have been the architects of the great pyramids, or the lost civilizations
of Lemura, or Atlantis. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of
man who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the heavens...
As consciousness returned, he could remember the deafening blast,
the flash of explosions, and the shrapnel from his cruiser. The mission
he had been assigned to was to locate, assess, and repair a solium leak.
What could have gone wrong? One second everything was fine, the next...a
terrible explosion.
'Why wasn't I killed?'
His eyes began to focus. A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes
looked down upon him as he lay in bed. She checked his vital signs and
recorded the data in a hand held electronic device. This was a medical
facility of some sort but was unlike anything he had seen before. He
glanced up at the woman.
"Where am I?" he heard himself ask, but the voice sounded like that
of someone else.
"You are in the life station on board the Battlestar Galactica," the
woman replied.
"On board the what? Who are you? What's going on?!"
"Don't be alarmed," the woman said soothingly. "You are safe here.
The commander will explain everything to you later. For now, you need to
rest. You've been through a traumatic experience."
Sergeant Rigel sat at her work station on the bridge of the
Galactica observing the readouts from the scanning computer. Many sectons
had passed without anything to report. The job had become very mundane.
Many times Rigel dreamed of being the first one to detect Earth. The
excitement it would create, the celebration....could it happen?
Perhaps....
BLIP
The computer's alarm pulled Rigel from her thoughts. A large object
appeared on the scanner. It seemed to be a ship of some kind. Rigel began
a computer search for anything known to match it's description. The
object disappeared from the scanner as she pushed in the commands.
"Colonel Athena!" Rigel called out.
Athena was finishing up with the deck log when Rigel called to her.
She was expecting Commander Apollo to arrive on the bridge at any moment
to relieve her.
"Yes, Sergeant Rigel," Athena replied hurrying over to Sergeant
Rigel's station. "What is it?"
"Colonel, there seems to something wrong with the scanning computer.
It was picking up a large object only a moment ago and then it suddenly
disappeared."
Athena sighed. "I remember when I used to work this station. It
seemed I always had to tinker with this old thing just to get it to work
properly. Materials to make spare parts are hard to come by. Here, let me
take a look at it."
Rigel rose from her chair and let Athena sit at the computer. As she
punched in a few keys, Athena kept a steady gaze on the scanners screen.
A few moments passed. She pressed a few more keys.
"Well I don't see anything," Athena said looking up at Rigel who was
beginning to feel a bit embarrassed. "Check the maintenance schedule. I
think it's about time to overhaul this piece of...."
BLIP
"There it is!" Rigel yelled pointing at the scanner. Athena was
midway out of the chair when the object reappeared. She promptly sat back
down only to watch it disappear once again.
"That's odd, "Athena said with a puzzled expression. "We did get a
good scan on it, however. I'll run a check on..." Athena quickly
interrupted herself. As natural as it felt for her to be at that station
and take care of the details, running the bridge was now her job. She
rose from the seat.
"Sergeant Rigel, check the ship's files and see if it matches
anything known to us."
"Yes, Colonel."
Moments passed as Rigel checked the files. She looked up at Athena
rather perplexed.
"Colonel, it doesn't match anything known to our files, however the
scan log shows that it's at least as big as a battlestar."
"Lieutenant Russell!" Athena called out.
"Yes, ma'am!" Russell responded.
"We've discovered a mysterious ship on our scanners. Until we know
more about it put the fleet on alert. Recall all warriors to the
Galactica and put all squadrons on ready ten."
As Russell left to carry out the order Athena turned to Rigel.
"Good work, Sergeant."
It wasn't long before Apollo walked onto the bridge. He still
couldn't get used to the image of the bridge without his father, Adama,
at the command station guiding the great battlestar and it's rag tag
fleet. This ship had always been and always would be Adama's ship.
Sometimes he still wondered with awe at how his father had always been so
calm and completely in control even in the most desperate situations. He
always seemed to know the answers to the questions.
"Commander, you need to look at this," Athena said from down at the
scanning station.
"What is it, Colonel?" Apollo asked walking rapidly towards Athena.
"Well, sir, we just scanned a ship a few centons ago. It keeps
disappearing and then materializing every few microns."
"Does it match anything we know of?" Apollo asked. He felt a bit
foolish for asking that question. He knew Athena was very efficient and
thorough and would have told him the type of ship if she had known.
Apollo, still slightly uncomfortable with having command, knew that
without Athena he probably couldn't do this job
effectively.
"No sir, it doesn't match anything known to us," Athena responded.
"I did, however, put the fleet on alert and all squadrons are at ready
ten."
"Good," Apollo said. "I am ready to relieve you, Colonel."
"I'm ready to be relieved. Helm is in auto. Speed is sub-light.
All stations are properly manned."
"Very well. You are relieved, Colonel." Apollo then turned towards
the bridge. "Attention on the bridge! Commander Apollo now has the deck."
After all stations had acknowledged the change in watch, Apollo
turned to Athena.
"So what are your plans for tonight?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing much," Athena replied. "I did want to check in on our
guest at the life station and see how he is. Cassiopeia reported that he
is awake now."
"I really need to get down there and introduce myself also," Apollo
said. "I've been so busy with Andar checking out our visitor's ship."
"Has Andar learned much about the ship?" Athena asked inquisitively.
"He told me earlier that the technology is similar to our own, only
his is more advanced. And the fact that he's human raises some important
questions."
Athena's face brightened. "Do you suppose he could be from Earth?"
"We'll have to leave it up to him to tell us that," Apollo replied.
Athena paused for a moment. "Apollo, there is something about him
that seems strange. He looks so familiar, like I've met him before. But
yesterday was the first time I've seen him."
Looking at Athena, Apollo raised an eyebrow and cocked his head
slightly. "Really...that is interesting...." he said.
"Well anyway," Athena said, "I need to go below. Permission to leave
the bridge sir."
"Permission granted," answered Apollo. He then turned around and
went about his tasks. Apollo thought of his need to meet this new guest.
Could the fleet really be near the end of it's journey? These thoughts
stayed with Apollo the rest of the watch.
In the Officer's Club, at a table playing pyramid, Starbuck, as
usual, was winning and everyone else at the table was thinking about how
stupid they were for playing with him.
"You know," said Starbuck, "on payday you should all just give me
your cubits and save me the trouble of beating you out of them."
"One of these days you're going to lose, Starbuck," replied Jolly,
"and you can bet that I'll be right there to see it happen."
Greenbean looked up from his cards and glanced across the table
before returning his gaze upon his hand. "It's too bad Apollo couldn't be
here to play more often," he said. "He seems to be the only one who can
keep you in check, Starbuck. Remember, Jolly, when Starbuck talked him
into going over to the Rising Star?"
Everyone began to laugh except for Starbuck who pretended to look
bored.
"Yeah, Starbuck lost all of his cubits," said Jolly, still laughing.
Boomer, grinning widely, said, "Starbuck looked like he was about
to...."
Suddenly the claxon began sounding loudly, startling everyone at the
table.
"Let's go!" yelled Starbuck, feeling a bit relieved the conversation
was over. Everyone at the table jumped up at once and ran for the door.
Starbuck was the last to leave the room. With his pockets full of cubits
he bolted through the open door and ran quickly down the passageway
trying to catch up with the others. As he rounded a corner, he slammed
headlong into a woman coming from the opposite direction. Both fell to
the floor, groaning with pain.
"Why don't you watch where you're going you clumsy fool," the woman
remarked as they rose from the floor.
"I...uh..I'm sorry..." Starbuck muttered as he strained to get his
senses together. "I didn't..." Starbuck stopped himself mid-sentence when
he saw the woman he was speaking to. She was the most beautiful woman he
had ever seen. She had long black hair which looked like the finest
linens and grey eyes which seemed to penetrate into his innermost being.
She was tall with the body of a goddess.
"I didn't see you," he said. "Are you alright?"
The woman flashed Starbuck an angry stare, then softened it and
replied, "I'm fine. I guess I didn't see you either, I'm sorry." The
claxon returned the woman's attention to the alert. Brushing past
Starbuck, she ran off down a corridor.
"Well wait, what's your name?!" Starbuck called out only to see the
woman disappear around a bend.
"You sure do know the right words to say," he said to himself as he
headed off to the launch bay.
Walking into the life station, Elana, rubbing the bump on her head,
met with Cassiopeia.
"Elana, where have you been? The alarm sounded fifteen centons ago!"
"I'm sorry ma'am, but I got a bit delayed," Elana replied.
"You really need to find a new excuse!" Cassiopeia said angrily.
"You should have been here in half the time!"
Realizing that saying anything more would only make matters worse,
Elana just nodded and went about her business.
"Commander, all stations report ready," said Lieutenant Dess from
his station aboard the bridge.
"Excellent. How long did it take, Lieutenant?" asked Apollo.
"Twelve centons, sir."
"Dess, put me on the intercom ship wide," commanded Apollo.
Turning to his console, Dess activated the intercom, then nodded to
Apollo that it was on.
"To all stations, this is Commander Apollo. We have encountered what
appears to be the remains of a battlestar. After a thorough scan of the
debris, we are fairly certain that it was destroyed by Cylons. So, until
further notice I am upgrading our alert status to ready five. Apollo
out." Turning to Athena, Apollo said, "Colonel, ready a survey crew and
have them shuttle over to the wreckage. We need to know if there is
anything salvageable. I want a report by tomorrow. Also, contact the
council. I want to brief them as soon as we hear from the survey crews."
Standing somewhat at attention, Athena replied, "Yes, sir," and
turned and walked away.
Elana, looking down at the mysterious guest on the bed, was thinking
that maybe she could one day become more professional like Cassiopeia or
Athena instead of a daydreaming fool. She had always been a dreamer and
more often than not found herself in trouble for it.
"How are you feeling today?" Elana asked as she set the nourishment
tray down in front of him.
Looking up at her he answered, "Pretty good. How are you?" He hadn't
said much to anyone since regaining consciousness. After all, these
strangers could be the enemy. Until he knew for sure, he wouldn't tell
them anything, not even his name.
"I'm fine, I guess," Elana replied, letting out a sigh. "So, how
come you won't tell anyone your name?"
The man sat up in bed and looked intently at Elana's face. Her
beauty had a radiance to it. He overheard the scolding she had received
from Cassiopeia and felt a bit sorry for her. It seems she's always in
trouble with Cassiopeia. He looked around the room.
Why does this place seem so familiar to me? Even the people seem
familiar.
Looking at the door he saw another face which reminded him of
someone. But who? What is this place?
"Hello," said Apollo as he walked over to the bed nodding to people
he knew along the way. "I'm Commander Apollo, and you are...?
"Lieutenant Allan." Giving his name out so suddenly surprised Allan.
He didn't mean to.
Standing next to the bed Apollo looked down at Allan. Allan was a
big man, much taller than Apollo and considerably heavier but solid as a
rock.
"Well, Lieutenant," Apollo said, "I would like to ask you a few
questions if you don't mind."
"Ask all you like," Allan snapped back. "I'm not going to answer any
questions until I get a few answers myself, such as who are you people?
How did I get here?"
"I'm Commander Apollo, as I've said already, and you're on board the
Battlestar Galactica. As for you, we found your ship adrift in space. You
were unconscious when we found you and brought you aboard."
Allan excitedly asked, "My ship! How is it?!"
"You and your ship appear to be in perfect condition, Lieutenant,"
Apollo responded.
Bewildered, Allan replied, "That's impossible. The last thing I
remember was a large explosion. I've never seen an explosion like that
before. It's as if it was all in slow motion. I could see every element
of it."
Apollo, trying to be tactful, decided to ask the question everyone
wanted to know.
"Lieutenant," he began, then slowly added, "are you from a planet
called Earth?"
Everyone in the life station stopped what they were doing and looked
in the direction of the two men.
Allan paused for a moment, then, rubbing his forehead, answered,
"Yes, Commander......I am."
On board the shuttle heading to the wreckage, Troy and Dalton were
going about their tasks quietly.
"Captain, how long until we arrive?" asked Andar. Andar was a short
man, balding on top. He was slightly underweight, mostly from yahren of
diligent work with very few decent meals. Andar was the leading scientist
in the fleet, his mind yahren ahead of his contemporaries. His work had
become of primary importance in his life since his wife died long ago in
a Cylon attack.
"Oh, we should be on station in ten centons," answered Troy. Troy
was Apollo's adopted son from a previous marriage to the beautiful
Serina, who had been killed on the planet Kobol many yahren ago. His
memory of her was vague since he was very young at the time. For as long
as Troy could remember, the human fleet had been traveling through space
looking for Earth or anyplace where he and his people could live in peace
among other humans. Humans who could save them from the Cylons. Troy had
a driving force to settle the score with the Cylons. Even if his people
found a home, the Cylons must die.
Looking over at Dalton, Troy asked, "Can you get a decent scan on
the wreckage?"
Dalton, without looking up from her scanner replied, "It's starting
to come through now, Troy."
Dalton was the daughter of Starbuck and Cassiopeia, the youngest
warrior to have ever graduated from the Academy. She was a very
headstrong and determined person who had no patience for subtleties and
such.
"According to the scanner," she said, "there isn't much left to
salvage. It appears that the largest section left intact is about the
same size as this shuttle."
"Well, Andar," Troy said looking over his shoulder, "I guess you and
your team will have to suit up for a space walk."
"Very well, Captain," replied Andar, "we will make the necessary
arrangements."
Dalton turned to Troy. "Where do you suppose this ship is from?
Earth?
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Dalton," Troy responded. "We'll wait
and see what Andar comes up with." Troy noticed Dalton's hopefulness so
he added, "If it is from Earth, then Earth has met the Cylons."
"Captain, we are ready to disembark," Andar's voice was heard saying
over the intercom.
Pushing the talk button, Troy replied, "Very well. We will be on
station in fifteen microns, fourteen, thirteen...."
Leaving the life station, Elana took another look at Allan. He
appeared so handsome to her. "Oh, don't start that again," she told
herself. "You're only going to get yourself into trouble again."
After she had left, Allan lay back down in his bed....and thought
about Elana. Memories of his childhood were also beginning to return to
him. About being told of a great ship called "Galactica."
'Where is the Galactica, daddy?'
'The Galactica was destroyed before you were born, son.'
Allan felt a jolt of adrenaline. Destroyed?! How could that be? How
could he be here?! Allan shifted his thoughts to his conversation with
Apollo. When he said he was from Earth, Apollo became withdrawn, fell
silent, and abruptly left the life station.
Looking over at Cassiopeia, Allan asked, "Cassiopeia, when do you
think I can leave the life station?"
Cassiopeia stood up from her disk and walked over to Allan's bed.
Leaning on the handrail, she answered, "In the morning. The doctor says
you're fit to go."
Allan breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm curious," Allan said, "how long have you been traveling in
space?"
"About twenty-two yahren."
"What is a yahren?"
Cassiopeia laughed. She went on to explain at her best what a yahren
was. She and Allan talked for quite awhile. Cassiopeia told of her life
in the colonies before the destruction, about Starbuck, Dalton, and her
life in the fleet. Then the conversation shifted to the topic of Elana.
"So what's the deal with Elana?" Allan asked. "She seems to get in
trouble quite a bit around here."
Cassiopeia paused for a moment. "Oh, Elana is just young. She dreams
too much and sometimes has a hard time keeping her mind focused on what
she's doing. She's not....um...."
Allan's eyes widened a bit.
"She's not seeing anyone if that's what you want to know."
Allan glanced away from Cassiopeia and smiled. Cassiopeia knew that
was exactly what he wanted to know. They continued to talk until her
shift ended.
As Andar and his team re-boarded the shuttle, Troy stood in the back
checking some of the systems. Troy approached Andar as he was removing
his gear.
"How did it go out there?" he asked.
"There wasn't anything worth salvaging," Andar replied, "but we did
get some excellent samples."
"Do you suppose we can learn anything about the ship's origin from
the samples?"
Andar shrugged. "I don't know.....I don't know."
At that moment Dalton call to them. "Troy, you better get up here.
The Galactica just went to full alert."
Troy noticed a tension in Dalton's voice he never heard before. He
ran quickly to the front of the shuttle where Dalton was seated at the
scanner.
"What is the alert?" Troy asked with great concern. "Did they say
what it is all about?"
Troy sat down besides Dalton only to see the blood rush from her
face.
"My God....Cylons! They have five confirmed baseships launching a
full-scale attack! Five!!"
"How many fighters?" Troy asked trying hard to keep his voice calm.
"Two thousand at least......Troy....the Galactica wants us to make a
run for it."
The claxon was ringing as Allan jumped from his bed.
"Show me where my flight suit is, Cassiopeia!" Allan commanded,
stunning Cassiopeia with the authority in his voice. She pointed to the
locker where his flight suit was kept. He ran quickly to the locker and,
without concern for modesty, tore off the gown he was wearing and dressed
in his flight suit. Then Allan ran over to the intercom.
"How do I operate this thing? I need to contact the Commander."
Cassiopeia, regaining her composure, pushed the buttons which
brought Apollo's picture onto the monitor. Allan stood in front of the
monitor so Apollo could see him.
"What's going on over there?" Apollo asked rather annoyed.
"Commander," Allan said, "I would like to help."
"No, Lieutenant, just stay where you are," Apollo replied.
"Commander, please, you need all the help you can get. I must get to
my ship."
Apollo paused for a moment. "Put Cassiopeia on."
Cassiopeia stepped up to the monitor. "Yes, Commander?"
"Cassi, have someone show Lieutenant Allan to the Alpha landing bay.
His ship will be ready to go when he arrives. Apollo out."
On the bridge, Apollo shut off the monitor and turned to Athena.
"Colonel, he is right about the help we need. I want you to take over on
the bridge. With what we're up against we need everyone available out
there fighting, myself included."
Apollo then turned and ran off the bridge.
The Cylons captured the humans flat-footed. Every viper aboard the
Galactica launched to engage the massive Cylon force as raiders swarmed
down upon the fleet. The raiders were making suicide runs on the
Galactica as well as the other fleet ships. Explosions shook the
Galactica as Cylons slammed into her hull.
Allan and Elana reached the landing bay after taking several detours
because of the battle damage.
"Your ship is over there!" Elana yelled over the noise of falling
debris. Allan ran quickly to his ship. As he was jumping in to take off,
Cylon fighters converged on the Galactica's landing bays. One scored a
direct hit in the Alpha bay causing a deafening explosion of fire and
searing heat. Burning shrapnel flew in all directions. Allan fell back to
the deck and covered Elana with his body as she lay unconscious. He
looked upward for a moment only to see flames closing in on them.
"Come on, Elana! We have to get out of here!"
Allan picked up Elana in his arms and quickly strapped her in the
back seat of the cockpit. He put on his helmet, closed the cockpit
canopy, and ignited the engines. The ship jumped to life. Allan hit the
turbo boost thrusters and the craft rocketed out of the inferno as the
entire landing bay exploded. As he moved further away from the Galactica
he could see huge fires raging all over the great ship.
The explosion in the Alpha landing bay caught everyone's attention,
even the Cylons, and for a full centon the battle was suspended. The
humans watched in horror as the whole port landing bay broke off the
Galactica and drifted off until it was consumed in a fireball.
"No!!" screamed Starbuck. When the landing bay exploded he flew into
a rage jerking the control stick hard to port. He flew directly into the
advancing armada. His viper darted in-between the raiders with volleys of
laser fire destroying dozens of them. In his rage, nobody could survive
against Starbuck. Starbuck's viper exited on the rear flank of the Cylon
task force. On his scanner he could see one of the Cylon baseships. He
angled for it, hit his thrusters, and kept his finger tightly on the fire
button.
Apollo was slammed back against his seat as his viper launched to
engage the Cylon task force. As he emerged from the launch tube, he saw
the tremendous explosions as ships in the fleet met their deaths. The
viper pilots were putting up a valiant struggle, but there were too many
Cylons. The armada was nearly twice the size of the force which had
decimated the colonies. Apollo lined up his sights on a raider and fired.
It burst into flames. Then Apollo realized he had made a fatal error.
Four Cylons had him sighted dead cold. Impending doom gripped his body
as he braced for death. Suddenly, all four of the raiders exploded
simultaneously.
"What the...?!" Apollo exclaimed. A voice came over the comm link.
"I told you you're going to need all the help you can get,
Commander." It was Lieutenant Allan. His fighter, although similar to the
viper in appearance was more than a match for the Cylons. As he raced
passed Apollo, he methodically sighted in another group of raiders and
fired. All three of them exploded at once. His fighter had the ability to
fire at five targets simultaneously with deadly accuracy. He didn't even
need to face the enemy. His ship could fire in all directions.
The Galactica, damaged beyond repair, was a drifting hulk. The left
landing bay was completely gone along with the main engine section. The
Cylons kept up the attack until at long last the great ship Galactica
broke apart, exploding like a supernova. The blast destroyed half the
Cylon attack squadrons forcing them to withdraw.
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