Shadows Gambit - Part 5 She stumbled a few steps back away from the thing, and then did the only thing she could think of. She
charged. The Cylon caught her at full speed and simply flipped her over, her back scraping against the ceiling
with a shredding sound as her jacket tore on the rough surface. She cartwheeled wildly before impacting
the floor again. A drop of sweat, or blood, trickled into her eye as she fought to rise. Her route was open. She pulled herself up to her feet, forcing her eyes to focus, and stumbled for the
hatchway. The Cylon Grabbed her again, but this time, she spun wildly, slipping out of her ruined coat, she
banged her knee hard on the floor as she stumbled forward, and then she half ran, half limped toward the
hatch. The ascender had long since ceased working, but the ladder was sound, so she decided against
the use of all rungs and let her feet slide down the outer edge of the ladder until, with a jar that momentarily locked her knees, she hit the bottom, and stumbled back
away from the rotten lift car, until she fell on the ground. The Cylon simply stepped to the edge, and jumped, landing with a loud whump on the deck,
reverberating in the confined space. With panic beginning to assert itself in her mind, Athena scrambled backwards and stumbled to her
feet, running for the partially blocked entrance of the cave. She scrambled over the rubble and fell back into the open part of the tunnel. She tripped and fell, and
too her amazement, her hand closed on the barrel of her own pistol. She rolled over in time to see Kadal
begin clawing its way after her. She took aim, fired, and let out a hiss as the shot went wide of its target. Chunks of rock from the ceiling hit the floor next to her. Fearful of the possibility that the cave might
collapse on top of her, she rolled over and ran towards the growing bright light of dawn, and the outside. "Apollo," Starbuck called out. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" "Like the whole ground force leaving the surface," Apollo answered as he watched the line of specs that
indicated ships, moving up and away from the surface. "I see it." "My guess is that the Galactica is getting a little too close for the Cylon's comfort," Starbuck continued.
"At least it'll be a short trip home." "Yeah," Apollo answered absently. Starbuck focused on his instruments, ignoring the growing emotions in his mind. There would be time
to mourn later. "Coming up on the landing coordinates. We should be passing right over that station
Backis was talking about." The two Raptors banked slightly, heading towards the retreating Cylon convoy. A few centons later, the silver gray dome shapes of several prefab buildings became visible, rising
above the jungle canopy. "Looks like a resource, processing facility - " Starbuck chattered on. A movement caught his attention
and he craned his neck, pinning his helmet against the transparent surface of the cockpit. "What the - ?" Down among the buildings, stumbling across the uneven field, her tan uniform dark with dirt and
grime, was Athena! "Apollo!" Starbuck called out. "Athena's right below us!" "What!" Apollo barked. He looked around. "Where!" "Down there!" Starbuck pointed. Apollo leaned over to the other side of his cockpit and rolled the Raptor slightly. A few microns later,
he spotted her, shuffling between two buildings. She turned and fired a shot behind her. Apollo saw the
shot explode off the edge of one building, and then he saw a glint of gold through the dust as the battered
form of a Cylon Centurion walked jerkily after her. "Starbuck!" Apollo called. "I've got a better angle," Starbuck replied. "I'll get him!" Starbucks Raptor rolled over and dove towards its target. "Commander!" Omega reported. "Cylon Base Ship just coming in view from behind the planet!" "Status?" Adama asked. "I'm showing some power fluctuations in its energy signature. Seems that the ship is still undergoing
repairs from our previous encounter." Omega replied. "I show weapons systems powered up, but there
isn't nearly the concentration I'd expect from a Base Ship." "They may be too badly damaged for a fight," Tigh said. "We could go in and finish them off." "Or they could be baiting us," Adama countered. Hey keyed the com to the waiting fighters. "Colonel
Jodas?" "Yes sir!" Jodas replied from the control station in the launching bay. "Release your squadron," Adama ordered. "Full attack." "Aye aye, sir!" Jodas almost whooped. He keyed off the com and then keyed the Raptor's frequency. "All right boys and girls! It's time for the party! Fire those bad boys up and hit it!" From his cockpit, Milesar grinned. He looked to his right, and then craned his head back to see the rest
of the ships. "You heard the man," he said as he slammed his throttle forward. Shadow watched the approaching Battlestar with what could only be described as a nervous feeling
moving through his circuits. As he observed, he saw several small specs appear from within the massive
landing bay. They formed into a rough X shaped formation, and moved to a point at the front of the
ship. A quick zoom and enhancement proved his fears. The colonial variants were on their way in, and
he knew that his ship's odds of surviving the combined onslaught were pitifully slim at best. Time for him to play his gamble. "Centurion," he ordered. "Lock all weapons on the surface outpost. Fire on my command only." "By your command," the silver centurion replied. Shadow shifted his monitor view to an enhanced scan of the abandoned outpost. Two Colonial ships
were moving to an aggressive position, preparing to strafe the field. Then he saw a subtle orange flash.
He zoomed in on the image and saw the dented and battered for of his second in command moving after one of those human survivors. "Kadal?" he said out loud in amazement. Judging by the movements and damage to his counterpart.
Kadal was functioning on his base line programming, attempting to kill any human in his path.
Suddenly, the earth around Kadal erupted into flames as brilliant red bolts shattered Kadal and a large
patch of surrounding soil. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of Kadal were shards of hot
glowing golden metal. He stood taller, and watched as the cross hairs on the targeting computer locked on the spot central to
the compound, and the two colonial ships now landing in his landing field. "Open a channel," Shadow ordered. "Hail the Galactica." "By your command." The Centurion droned. "Commander?" Omega said as his hand reached up to press against the speaker of his headset. "You
are being hailed by the Cylon ship." "I am?" Adama's eyebrows rose slightly. "Yes sir," Omega replied. "By name." Adama looked at Tigh, who could only shrug slightly and shake his head. "Connect that signal here," Adama ordered. A few microns later, the swirling lights and bouncing sensors of Shadow's face appeared on the
monitor. "Commander Adama," he cooed pleasantly. "How very pleasant to see you again, so soon." "What is the reason for this call, Shadow?" Adama asked. "Do you wish to surrender?" "Hardly, Adama," Shadow said pleasantly. "I felt that I should contact you, and suggest that you tell
those nasty little fighters of yours to break off before something very unpleasant occurs." "Such as?" Adama continued, one gray eyebrow rising slightly. "Doubtless you have received the telemetry reports on our little outpost on the planet below," Shadow
said. "We have already completed our tasks there, and withdrawn to the ship. As Cylon directives
dictate, we were preparing to obliterate the outpost as a matter of security. I have temporarily postponed
this directive until I spoke with you." "How very considerate," Adama replied. "Currently, there are two of your ships, and four of your people on the surface below," Shadow
continued. The image winked out, replaced by an overhead view of a section of the planet surface. It
zoomed and enhanced until Adama saw, quite clearly, the figures of Starbuck, his son Apollo, Backis,
and Athena! "She's alive!" his mind raced at the thought, and his heart skipped a few beats. Then a series of targeting cross hairs centered on the key structures of the facility, with four six of them
centering on the ships and each individual person. "As you can see," Shadows voice continued. "I need not obliterate the outpost to obliterate your
people. In fact, I will give you thirty microns to decide whether or not they live, or you watch them
vaporize." "What do you want?" Adama said after a long pause. The image winked out. "I wish to trade with you, human," Shadow said. Then his eyes drifted down to another monitor on his
console. "But not until you withdraw your fighters. As you can see, I have held my own ships back, as a
gesture of good will." Adama fought to keep from scoffing at his adversary, but he turned and nodded to Colonel Tigh. "Recall the flight crews," Tigh ordered. Then he listened for a micron or two and nodded. "Thank you, Adama," Shadow said as he watched the fighters turn away and head back toward the
Galactica. They did not land, but took up station near the front of the ship, ready to charge at a microns
notice. "Well?" Adama asked, trying desperately to calm his racing heart. "I want your word of honor that your ship, or its fighters will NOT hinder our peaceful withdrawal from
this system." Shadow said. It sounded more like an order instead of a request. "In return we will leave
the facilities on the planet intact for your use. Both as a repair facility, or any other use you may have for
it." "You'd take my word?" Adama asked, mildly surprised. "I have learned through some association, that the word of some humans, can be as binding as Cylon
chains. I feel that you may be such a man. Am I mistaken?" Adama did not reply, but Shadow seemed to read his mind. "Excellent." He said. "As I surmised." Adama decided to take his enemy's measure. "What is to stop me from destroying you the micron you are out of weapons range of the planet?" "Ah," Shadow replied without hesitation. "That will be the second part of our bargain. I have
something else that you want very much." "And that is?" Adama asked. With an almost nonchalant air, Shadow said, "The precise coordinates of the planet Earth." Athena rolled over and looked up as the cloud of flame and debris that had been a golden Cylon settled
back to the ground. Through the smoke, she could see the familiar black shape of a Raptor. The sound
o a second Raptor came from the nearby landing field. She looked and saw the powerful machine
sliding to a stop on its landing skids. "Yes!" She cried out, rolling over and getting to her feet. She stopped short when the hatch of the first
Raptor opened and her older brother began climbing out of the cockpit. "Apollo?" She cried out. "What are you doing here?" She ran towards him, embracing him as he
landed on the ground. Apollo held that embrace for a long time. She could feel a kind of desperation in his grasp. "Hey," she said. She looked at him and saw the mix of relief and pain. "I'm okay, big brother," she said. "I just want to get out of here." Apollo swallowed his emotions down and became, again, the Colonial Captain. "As soon as Starbuck gets down here, I'll jump in with him. You and Backis take this one." "Starbuck?" Athena and Backis said at the same time as Athena's R.O. came jogging up. Starbuck's raptor made a slightly awkward landing, slowing to a stop and rolling up next to the other
black ship. "Hey everyone!" He called from the open cockpit. "I hate to break up the family reunion, but there IS a
Cylon Base Ship hovering over our heads!" "He's right," Apollo replied, pulling his helmet back on. "Get in and get airborne. The spare helmets
are in the storage compartment." With that he jogged over to Starbucks waiting ship and began climbing in. The four of them exchanged looks from their ships as they rolled to a suitable takeoff position. "Go! Go!" Starbuck shouted from his ship as Apollo situated himself in the rear seat. Athena let her smile grow as she throttled the ship up and sped through the center of the complex and
rose toward the sky. She looked down and behind towards the second ship as Starbuck maneuvered to
takeoff position. A strange shape caught her attention and she instinctively banked in the direction. "What's...?" Backis asked. "Athena!" Starbuck called. "Wait up!" "Hurry up!" Athena shot back more sharply than she intended. She banked the Raptor in a lazy turn
and continued climbing. What was mistaken as rolling, foliage covered hills, down on the ground, was in actuality a long,
ancient furrow that ended with a massive roughly circular swatch of land. "Give me an opinion," she asked Backis. "Does that look like natural topography?" Backis squinted his eyes and stared down at the anomaly. "That isn't natural," he finally said. "If it were anything, I'd say it looked like an old impact crater." Starbuck and Apollo's Raptor finally tucked in next to Athena. "Athena?" Starbuck said. "What are you doing?" "Look down there, guys," Athena said. "You tell me what you see?" "Sis," Apollo said. "That Base Ship could start shooting any micron. We have to leave. Now!" "But-" Athena protested. "Now, Athena!" Apollo cut her off. The two Raptors turned and began to climb for orbit. Adama stared at the monitor, his heart, which was racing before at the sight of his daughter, now
thundered in his ears. "You have the location of Earth?" he asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide the dryness that had suddenly
appeared in his mouth. "That's impossible!" Tigh hissed. "No," Shadow replied. It is true, Colonel." He stepped back, out of the line of sight for the monitor,
and revealed a large, roughly cylindrical object. Cables ran to various points on the thing, and
centurions moved about, adjusting or removing ancient components. "I believe you will recognize this object." Shadow continued. "It is a Mark three, colonial computer
core. Which, if memory serves, was the standard computer mainframe for the Titan class Battlestar,
yes?" Adama leaned back and whispered quickly. "We need an historical expert here, now!" Tigh nodded and stepped away, his lips moving quickly behind the tiny microphone on his headset. "Within the core, we found data regarding the travels of the ship, and nearly complete records of the
systems it ventured through." Shadow finished. "This ships systems identified it as the Prometheus." "I see," Adama said. He forced his nervousness down. "Commander," Omega whispered. "Two ships outbound from the planet. Raptor class ships. They
should break orbit in five centons." Adama gave a subtle nod. At the same moment, Tigh's voice came over his headset. "Commander. Switch the com frequency over to the Black Raptors. Lieutenant Nagon needs to hear
what's going on. Omega, feed video scans to Raptor three." Omega did as instructed. After a few microns, Nagon's voice came over Adama's headset. "Commander?" He said quietly. "I don't know where he got that core, but it LOOKS genuine. I read
through the transcript of your conversation. He has the class of ship correct as well, and there is
historical data that mentions a Titan Class Battlestar called the Prometheus. It isn't mentioned
prominently, but it is there." Adama gave another subtle nod. "Thank you, Lieutenant," Tigh acknowledged. "Continue to monitor this channel." "Yes, sir." "Even if I were to believe your claim," Adama said. "I would require proof that the core is genuine." "Check with the warriors coming up from the surface, Commander," Shadow said evenly. "One of
them actually entered the wreck of the ship." Shadow stepped back into view. "We will begin our withdrawal at this time. Once we are clear of
your weapons, I will jettison the core and transmit the coordinates to you on a secure channel. Do I have
your word?" Adama looked over to Omega who shook his head, indicating that the two ships were not yet out of
danger. "I'm going to do a flash pass," Athena said suddenly. "What?" Apollo and Starbuck both replied in surprise. "I'll be back in a centon," Athena finished. Her ship flipped over on its back and dove back towards the
surface. "Athena!" Apollo cried out. "Get your tail back up here! Now!" Athena ignored him. "Back," she said quickly. "Fire up the scanners, high res, across the spectrum." "Maybe we should think about this, boss," Backis said, his voice vibrating with the shaking of the ship. "Don't make me climb back there Backis!" Athena retorted. "Okay, okay," Backis conceded. His fingers moved across the keyboard, then he looked up and saw
that they were aiming for the patch of terrain that had been scarred by an ancient impact. "Scan for complex alloys," Athena continued. She winced as Apollo and Starbuck started yelling at her
through the helmet speakers, and finally cut the connection. "Refined metals and compounds, trace
elements, the works." "Got it." Backis replied. "Go now!" Athena hit the turbos and the ship vaulted forward, flashing over the site along the line of the deep
ravine. It shot past the Cylon complex like a projectile and then vaulted skyward. "Tell me you got everything!" Athena said loudly over the roaring engines. "It's compiling!" Backis replied. "The Galactica is in system, not even a hectare away! We could
bounce the signal over to her!" "Do it!" Athena answered. She reached over and reactivated her com. "Starbuck! I've got what I need! Head back to the Galactica!" "As soon as your get your astrums back up here with us!" Apollo's angry voice replied. At the same micron, her ship shot past Starbucks its aft section blazing blue/white fire. "You two coming?" Athena asked as she pulled away. Apollo cursed, while Starbuck smiled. "Hang on, buddy." He said and he pulled back on the stick,
hitting the turbo button. Instantly, the two of them were pinned to the seats as their ship followed
Athena's. Starbuck yowled with exhilaration. The sky paled, and the clouds vanished, revealing the pinpoint of stars as the two ships left the planet
heading into space. "Time's up, human," Shadow said. "I have held off from attacking your two fighters, but you must
make your decision now!" Omega leaned over. "They're clear of the planet, on a return arc for the Galactica." "Jettison the core now, as an act of good will," Adama said. "You will have the time you need to pull
back while our shuttle crews retrieve it. Once that is done, you may transmit the coordinates as soon as
you are clear of our weapons." "And your fighter craft?" Shadow asked. "They will return to the Galactica once they confirm that the core has been released." Adama finished. Shadow thought for a micron. "Very well," he said at last. "We will jettison the core in twelve centons." Adama shook his head. "Five." He said, holding up his hand. "It will be difficult," Shadow replied. "But it will be done. I will contact you once the core has been
expelled." The image faded out. Colonel Jodas strode onto the bridge as Adama stepped away from the screen and seated himself in one
of the chairs on the platform. "Earth," he said. "The path to the planet Earth." "Adama," Tigh interjected. "You don't honestly believe they'll give us that information, do you?" "They already have, Colonel," Nagon's voice came over the speaker on his headset. Tigh had forgotten
about the Raptor pilot listening in over the open com channel. "One thing that even the Cylons would not know, is that many of the old computer cores had a
manually bootable backup system, separate from the main core. Important data, like course headings,
would be automatically saved in the backup mainframe. Even if we destroy that snitrad, we'll still have
what we need!" "So, we could destroy that ship," Jodas said. Adama looked solemn. "No," he finally said. All of his officers looked at him with total shock. "What?" Jodas blurted out. "Begging your pardon, Commander, but that snitrad took out twenty four
pilots in a cowardly ambush, then decided to hold our fate hostage with his little game here. Not to
mention the agro-" he stopped as Adama turned steel eyes on him. "As you were, Colonel," he growled. "I know, better than most, what the Cylons have done to us. Yet,
as a man of honor, I gave my word. The Cylon Ship will be allowed to withdraw." "But, Commander - ?" Jodas continued. Adama raised his hand. "Provided, he does not attempt to transmit the information to anyone but us. I will not be responsible
for the destruction of our brothers and sisters on the planet Earth. Any broad band transmissions, and I
will blow that ship to oblivion." "But you didn't tell - " Tigh began and he stopped as Adama turned his eyes on his friend and smiled. "No, I didn't, did I." He answered with an air of menace that Tigh had only seen once, in their academy
days. He also remembered the destructive results. Adama, in his mid age, was much changed from the
Adama of the academy, so many yahrens ago. He had had a penchant for rash, and often-brutal
vengeance towards his "mechanical" enemies. Since they were not living, he was able to associate their
destruction with shutting down a malfunctioning computer. That old Adama now sat before him again, in a position of absolute, almost divine power. Like a
vengeful, protective God. "Commander!" Omega chimed in. "We're receiving a pulse scrambled feed from the two incoming
Raptors." "What?" Jodas and Adama both asked. "Narrow beam, on the fleet com channel. Video feed." Omega's fingers danced across his keyboard
and then hit several switches. "Decoding." In a matter of microns, the image shot past them, at a birds eye perspective of a long section of jungle. "What the blazes was that?" Tigh asked. "Something I came up with about thirty yahrens ago, Colonel," Jodas replied. "It's called a flash pass.
You shoot past a target at full speed, setting all your monitoring equipment to the highest resolution, and
then slow it down." They all leaned over the scanner as Omega slowed the playback to a frame by frame speed. They
followed the flight pattern. "That looks like an old point of impact," said Tigh, pointing at the screen. "Yeah," Jodas agreed. "But it wasn't a dead on hit." His brows furrowed. "Almost like something hit
at an angle, like a rock skimming water." "A glide path," Adama said. He watched as the flight line followed the shallow crevasse. "And at the
opposite endà" They all watched as the Cylon building moved slowly by. A single piece of abandoned machinery
caught their attention. "Freeze that!" Jodas barked. Omega his the switch and the image stopped, showing several circular,
dome shaped buildings, various ground equipment, packing crates, and one, amazing vehicle. "Zoom in on that," Adama said breathlessly. On the monitor, the image of an ancient, yet unmistakably colonial ship resolved into view. "I'll be -" Tigh began, but his voice faded. "She included high resolution and invasive scans in the package," Omega continued. "IR, X-Ray,
Metallurgical, Seismic, and a dozen other spectrums." "That's my girl," Both Adama and Jodas whispered at the same time, each with the same air of pride.
They exchanged glances, and then a smile flashed on each of their faces as they looked back at the
monitor. Shadow slowly turned away from the monitor. He wasn't beaten yet. He would not allow himself to be
bested by this Colonial Human creature. He turned to the silver centurion at his side. One benefit of
losing Kadal. His former second in command would never have approved of the next set of instructions. "Prepare a single fighter," he instructed. "Have two of your best pilots ready to launch with the
coordinate information. Tell them to begin transmitting the data back to Cylon as soon as they are clear.
With their fighters in a holding pattern, they will be too far away to stop the transmission." "By your command," The silver centurion droned. "Bring all motive units to full power, and have the electronic defense shields brought to stand-by mode.
When I give the order, put all power to the drive units and ram the Galactica at full sub light speed." The centurion turned its bouncing eye sensor on Shadow. "That is an unapproved strategy," it droned. "As a commissioned commander, appointed by the Imperious Leader, sworn to protect all Cylon from
ANY threat at ANY cost, this strategy is the final, and most logical solution." Shadow smoothly lied. The performance was lost on the silver drone. It merely comprehended "commander, Protect Cylon,
and Imperious Leader" and interpreted them in its simplest way. "By your command," It replied. Shadow turned and, with a swirl of robes, withdrew. He left the command center and headed down
into the deepest bowels of the lower section, to where the spare components of his army had been kept.
In a separate locked compartment, he removed a large, flexsteel suit, like a bulky body suit, but armored
and black. Then he removed a second unit, conical, like the top half of an egg. It was dull black and the
about half the size of a human head. He set the two items down and then pressed a release at his throat.
The fire blue cobalt robe he wore fell to the floor with a metallic rustle and he stood there "naked". His body was a combination of reinforced support structure, much like a human skeletal system, but
uncovered where some of the major components were placed. Tiny lights flashed from the cavities in
his torso, and sinewy flex fibers, a material that mimicked the movements of organic muscles were
attached and exposed at the joints of his body, shining a dull lifeless gray against his polished black infrastructure. With the robes gone, his ability to move more freely gave him
an almost human smoothness to his actions. Quickly, he reached out and took hold of a molecular fastener, and then he set the first piece of
flexsteel to his lower leg and foot. The machine whirred, and sparks erupted as the opaque, dull armor
welded itself into place. Next came the thigh and abdominal protection, back plate and finally the chest
piece. His arms and legs, were the last to be covered in the armor. Once the task was completed, he
stepped away from the work station and over to a large, reflective slab of plasteen. His body, which had been gaunt from lack of armor, was now bulked up, and the surface of his armor
showed no hint of flaw or weakness. He reached for the final piece of armor, and set the oblong shape
over his transparent dome, dousing the swirling lights of his neural center. His bouncing red sensor eyes
stared at the reflection without emotion. "Perfect," he said to himself. He let his arms fall to his sides and then looked about the room.
Weapons. Now he needed weapons. He went to the armory and retrieved a rifle, pistol and sword from
the numerous racks of weapons. The rest of the equipment he needed was on the surface below. He removed his helmet and made his way to his own command center. Standing before the cracked and useless monitors. Only one small screen was functional. He set his
helmet down on another of the cracked and blackened consoles and then hit a switch. "Open a channel to the Galactica." He instructed. "And have the pilots I requested stand by in the
launch bay." "By your command," the answering voice droned. Athena looked behind her as the sky faded from its uniform blue to the cold black void of space. "Oh Frack!" Starbuck exclaimed. "What?" Athena asked. "I think he's a little upset about the obstacle between us and the home base." Backis piped in. "I have a
Cylon Base Ship, just passing the terminator line into the night side." "And the Galactica?" Athena asked. "She's just beyond." Backis replied. "I'm also getting marker beacons from the rest of the Raptors.
They seem to be in a holding pattern near the front of the ship." Athena smiled and keyed her com. "Raptor two to Galactica. Do you copy?" Her father's voice responded almost instantly. "Go ahead Raptor two!" "Did you receive my little message?" Athena asked. "Every bit of it!" Her father answered. "Maintain your position for now. Do not cross the terminator
line until otherwise instructed." "Understood," Athena replied. She looked over at the other ship besides hers. "How's your fuel,
Starbuck?" she asked. She watched as Starbuck looked around in a vain attempt to locate the appropriate panel. "Uh, uh," he stuttered. "Oh, fine." Athena let her eyes flick to the seat behind Starbuck, where Apollo sat. "Apollo? How's your fuel?" "Main tank is nearly dry," Apollo said. "But the auxiliary cell is still full." "Back?" Athena asked. "I started the transfer as soon as we took off. We're at nearly full capacity." "Would you instruct the newbies, please?" Athena said, a smile on her face. "Certainly, boss," Backis said, and then he hit his com.