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Battlestar Argo

By

AJ Marks

The Gods

Bri and Troy walked along the corridor as they headed to the briefing room. It was red squads turn to take the next planet but he liked to know what was going on. He would be present to red squads briefing much like Gunther was at green squad's briefing. He had gained a bit of respect for the other captain as he was a hard worker and willing to put his life on the line for someone else.

There was the normal rivalry between the two squads but each held the other in mutual respect, at least outside the Tri-ade court that was. There were several teams on board the ship to help with the down time. That and another transmission from the colonies had been received. So far everything had been normal just like normal.

A few people like Troy had received messages from loved ones. That usually improved moral even though they could not reply back at all. It was the thought of someone back at the Colonies thinking about them was comforting somehow.

Troy turned into the briefing room with Bri right behind him. She had wanted to head on over and get something to eat but he wanted to come here first. She had decided to come along and wait.

Their relationship had grown back after a lengthy talk about Martin. Bri had been angry at him for that. But when he explained everything just last night she seemed to sleep on it and was in a better mood towards him. He was glad that she was no longer mad at him. Bri was one person that he did not want mad at him.

He had watched too many times lately as Nall got the wrong side of her attitude. So far the poor guy had run into a doorframe, tripped in front of everyone, and had his voice taped while having sex all with the help of Bri. The guy took it all in stride and did not seem to affect his moral or his relationships with the women on board. He shook his head slightly at the thought.

"What are you thinking about," Bri asked.

"Nall, I can't believe you pushed him into the doorframe," Troy said.

"I was merely walking though the door with him," Bri replied innocently.

"Yeah, with you holding his ear," Troy said. "If I didn't know any better I'd say he likes it, perhaps he gets off on it."

"Eww," Bri replied scrunching up her face at that thought. "Thanks for a mental image I did not need."

"No problem," Troy said then focused his attention on the commander who had walked into the room.

Ares walked into the room and noticed that Bri was sitting in the room. He knew that she was part of green squadron and not red but it seemed like more and more pilots of the other squad would listen in to the conversations. This one would seem routine compared to the last couple of missions. At least he hoped that it would go smoother than the last one.

"Lieutenants Tanner and Zac, you're flying patrol to the upcoming system," Ares said to the two men. "Your orders are simple, just observe what type of planet's are in the system and if any have intelligent life on it. Once you return back tot he Argo we will decide what the next step will be."

Ares and Pratt had talked it over about what to do if another encounter with an alien race happened. The decision was for the patrol to pull back and wait to see what type of reaction the aliens gave. That would determine if the Argo would leave or not. It was a hard decision but Ares wanted to avoid another disaster like they had just encountered.

"I want all of you to remember that if you encounter a alien ship head back to the Argo. Once you report back then we will decide what to do. Also if there is any intelligent life on any of the planets just report back to the Argo and we will decide what to do later," Ares told the group. This part was a bit different then the last patrol but they had learned a few lessons.

Tanner and Zac left the room to head to their vipers to begin the patrol. Ares left and headed to the bridge to watch how the patrol went. So far they had had very few patrols that did not have anything exciting to learn. He was ready for a patrol that did not uncover anything for a change.

Bri and Troy left the room knowing that the last part of the briefing was new. He would have to inform his squad about the changes that had happened. Troy could understand why the changes had been made. The last thing any of them wanted was a new war with another race.

"Do you think we've left that group called the Alliance behind," Bri asked as she had hot heard anything about what happened after the fight.

"I don't know, we either just skirted the edge of their Empire or we are headed right into it," Troy replied. He really hoped that they were not headed into the Alliance space.

"Come on, let's get something to eat, I'm starving," Bri said tugging Troy along with her. They would find out what was in the system later after the patrol and if there was anything of importance.

They found themselves at the cafeteria and Bri grabbed her breakfast putting more food on her plate than Troy did. Her small size hid a vivacious appetite. She could out eat several larger men and yet she managed to burn off all that energy. Troy put some bread on his plate along with some fruit that the still had.

He wondered about the food supply and how much more they had. So far he had not heard anything about their supplies reaching a critical stage. He guessed that they still had enough at the moment. Perhaps one of the planets that they encounter might have some food which they might be able to barter for.

They sat down and were joined by Nall. He seemed to be in his usual mood even though he still had a bit of a bruise on his forehead.

"How's the head," Troy asked.

"Still hurts, want to kiss and make it feel better," Nall replied looking right at Bri.

"That's what got you that in the first place,"' Bri replied.

Troy just groaned as the two continued to banter back and forth. He sometimes wondered how Martin had ever handled it.

"Commander, we have a problem here," Renee said not looking up from her scanner.

Ares walked down to where she was sitting and inquired what was going on. From the sound of her voice he was sure that it was no good.

"I've lost contact with the patrol," she told him.

"Run a scanner check," he ordered quickly.

"Already done," Renee said having already done that before she had called the commander over. She had been hoping that it was a computer glitch but now it did not look like that was the case.

Ares was not sure he liked this one. They had been lucky the last time a patrol had gone missing, this time it seemed a bit different. His gut feeling was that something was going to happen this time. It was what was going to happen that he did not know.

"Have Captain Troy assemble a team to inspect the area," Ares replied. "Have them keep in constant contact with us just in case. He's squad has had experience with this before."

Pratt left the bridge to find the captain and tell him the news. He was sure that Troy was not going to like it too much. Ares remained on the bridge wondering if he would ever have a patrol that did not encounter something. Maybe it was to be expected though.

Troy noticed the colonel making his way to where he was sitting and knew that something was up. By the look on the colonel's face Troy could tell that it was no good whatever had happened. Part of him wanted the colonel to walk on by but knew that was not going to happen.

"Colonel," Troy said as the man came up to where they were.

"Captain, you're needed in the briefing room along with a team of your choosing," Pratt told him watching as the captain and everyone else sighed.

"Yes sir," Troy said as Pratt walked off. "Well, I guess you two are part of my team as well," he said to Bri and Nall.

"Great, knew I should have sat somewhere else," Nall said.

"Find Jax as well, we'll make it a four man team," Troy said. He was not sure how many people to take so he decided that four would probably be the best.

A short while later they were all sitting down in the briefing room as Colonel Pratt walked in. Usually Ares would be the one giving them their mission so Troy wondered what was going on. He had the feeling that he was not going to like what the commander was going to say to him.

"We have another situation," Pratt said to the four of them. "Another patrol disappeared just a few moments ago while on the way to investigate the latest solar system. Seeing as you have experience in this type of mission your job to find out what happened to the patrol and investigate the threat to the ship, if any."

"Any clues as to what happened," Nall asked.

"None, just that the patrol vanished without a trace. You all know the drill, keep in contact at all times," Pratt told them then dismissed them.

The group left the room and headed towards the launch bay where their vipers would be waiting. Troy could not believe that they would be looking for another lost patrol. The last time they had come across a hidden ship that had been drifting in space. He doubted that the second time they would be so lucky. They would have to keep their eyes open this time for trouble.

The four vipers approached the spot where the patrol had disappeared and found nothing. They moved around a bit hoping to find some trace of the ships but so far they had not found anything yet. There was no trace of any debris or even a distress signal. They could still communicate with the Argo and the Argo still had them on their scanners. Troy had hoped that it was some sort of anomaly in the area that messed with the scanners.

"What about the planets, they might be on one of them," Jax said as she thought about it.

"You and Nall head to the system and see if you spot anything, Bri and I will continue to see if we find anything around here," Troy said.

Nall and Jax turned away from them and headed towards the planets to see if they could spot anything on the surface of the planets. It was a bit of a long shot but at this point Troy was ready to try anything to see if he could get to the bottom of this mystery.

"Nall, are you reading this," Jax said as she looked at the planet. It was showing that there had been a crash on the planet's surface not that long ago.

"Looks like a crash site," Nall replied. "Captain, we've discovered what looks like a crash site on the planet's surface. We're descending to investigate."

"Keep in contact," Troy replied as the two vipers made their way down through the atmosphere towards the site. Flying over the site they noticed that there appeared to be a small ship that looked to be still intact. Making a decision Nall brought his viper down close to the area along with Jax.

"What do you think," Jax said as she walked up to Nall's viper.

"I'm a bit surprised we even saw it from the atmosphere," Nall replied not sure he like this too much. They continued to walk towards the site and approached the craft cautiously. So far they had not seen anyone else either moving around or lying around.

"Hello, anyone here," Jax called out trying to see if anyone was within shouting distance.

"No need to shout my child," a man's voice said coming from the ship. In the open doorway a figure walked out of the ship. He had on a black robe with gold etched down the middle and sleeves. "I'm not deaf you know."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know if anyone was here or not," Jax said as a way of an apology.

"Are you travelers," the man asked with some curiosity in his voice.

"You might say that," Nall replied.

"You're not from this planet then," the man said.

"Nope, why," Nall asked.

"I haven't seen anyone intelligent on this planet yet but one can never be sure. Do you think that you can help me out here," the man said.

"What seems to be the problem," Jax asked.

"Well you see my dear child I was traveling though the system when my engines malfunctioned. I was forced to land here and I'm afraid that my radio was damaged in the crash. The engines won't handle a long flight and I don't have the equipment to properly fix the problem," the man said.

Nall radioed the Argo to see if they would take on a small ship with one passenger. Ares was a bit hesitant to allow the man on board but decided that he might have information they could use and allowed him permission.

"My commander has granted you permission to come aboard our ship. We'll see if we have anything that can help you repair your ship," Nall said. "What is your name?"

"I go by many names but you may call me Able," the man said.

"All right Able, if you'll follow our ships we'll take you to our ship," Nall said to Able.

Troy and Bri continued their flight around the area that they had lost the other patrol. So far there had been nothing out of the ordinary that would account for a lost patrol. They had come across no wreckage or anything else that might come close to solving the mystery of what had happened to the patrol. Troy glanced at his fuel and realized that they should be heading back to the Argo.

"Let's head back Bri, we didn't find anything," he said to her. She acknowledged and they began the return flight back to the Argo. Troy was also curious to meet the stranger that they had picked up.

Troy was sure that Ares would ask the stranger if he knew of anything that might account for them losing their patrol. Secretly Troy hoped that the stranger knew something about where Earth was or perhaps was from Earth. There were a lot of different things that could happen in the next little bit. He just hoped that it was good.

The vipers landed and he was greeted by the hanger crew who went to work on his viper making sure that it was ready for its next flight. Troy and Bri made their way up to the debriefing room where Ares or Pratt would be waiting for them. Troy was silently disappointed that Colonel Pratt was waiting for him. He would have liked to talk with the commander before meeting the stranger.

"I take it that you did not find anything," Pratt asked once they were seated.

"Sorry colonel. There was nothing there that we even encountered that might explain the disappearance of the patrol," Troy replied.

"Didn't think so," Pratt replied before continuing. "Our new passenger, Able, said that this area is full of strange occurrences and that our patrol probably encountered one of these anomalies."

"I didn't detect anything on my scanners that would be an anomaly or anything else," Troy said not sure about what Able had told them.

"Neither has the Argo's scanners," Pratt replied. "Personally the quicker he's off the ship the better I'll feel."

"Oh," Troy replied wondering what had caused that. "What's he like."

"He's a stuck up arrogant snob to me," Pratt replied as he recalled his first meeting with the man. "The commander seems to share my feelings but it seems like a couple of the crewmembers have taken to him."

"Really," Bri asked wondering what the man looked like.

"Jax and Renee have taken to him. Nall I don't know, but then again I can't really figure him out anyways," Pratt replied.

"I'll find out," Bri said knowing that she would be able to talk with Nall about anything.

"Is he a threat," Troy asked.

"I don't think so, just arrogant enough to think he knows everything," Pratt replied his annoyance at the man coming though.

"Is he a threat to the ship," Troy asked wondering about the man.

"Don't think so, just real uppity," Pratt said. "You'll see when you meet him."

"What does the commander think of him," Bri asked.

"He's open minded but I think he feels the same way as me. The quicker we get him off the ship the better for everyone," Pratt said to the two of them before finally dismissing them. Bri and Troy decided that they would head to the rec room and see what was going on for themselves.

Entering the rec room Bri and Troy quickly found Nall sitting over by himself. On the other side of the room was a group of people along with another older man who they had never seen before. Troy figured that he must be the stranger Able.

The two of them made their way over to where Nall was sitting and sat down. Nall did not seem like his normal self at the moment. To Bri it almost seemed as if her friend was pouting a bit.

"Hey Nall," she said as they sat down.

"Sure you wouldn't rather sit with our great guest over there," Nall said nodding his head in the direction of Able.

"Nah," Bri replied as she studied Nall for a second. Something was definitely bothering him but she could not put her finger on it. Troy glanced around the room and realized that it was a bit strange. He thought about what was missing before realizing what it was.

"All the girls have abandoned you," Troy said as he looked back and forth. Most of the people around Able were women along with a few men.

"Ha-ha," Nall replied but knew that it was the truth. He had never had so much trouble with women than now. He had the feeling that their guest was more than he appeared. But no one would listen to him except maybe the colonel. He had seen the look Pratt had given them when they came aboard.

"And who might you two be," a voice said breaking into their conversation. They looked up to see Able standing there at their table.

"Able I assume," Troy said looking at the man waiting to see what was going to happen.

"Yes, you seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know my name but I don't know yours," Able said with a smile on his face.

"Troy," he replied as Able turned to look at Bri.

"And this wonderful creature," Able asked looking at Bri.

"Gabrielle," she replied. Troy noticed that she did not use her shortened name and he wondered about that.

"A lovely name," he said. "Why don't you come and join us," he told them with a sweep of his arms.

Bri glanced at Troy to see what he thought of Able and if he was going to accept his invitation. She really hoped that he would not but Troy seemed to have a bit of a distant look on his face at the moment. It finally cleared and the look that he leveled at Able was not kind.

"I think you should leave us," Troy finally said his eyes boring into Able.

"Be careful what game you play young one," Able replied very softly then turned and walked back to the group that was on the other side.

"What was that about," Nall asked having witness the exchange. He had never seen his friend with so much malice towards one person before.

"I don't think our new 'friend' has any intentions of leaving," Troy said.

"You mean he's going to be here a while," Bri said trying to make since of what he had just said.

"No, he's an alien for sure, but it’s almost as if he lives off others," Troy said not really sure of it himself.

"Perhaps you should talk with the commander," Bri replied.

"Yes, I think I should before it's too late," Troy said excusing himself and went in search of the commander.

Bri and Nall watched him go and wondered exactly what Troy had seen. They both knew about Troy's abilities to see events of possible futures. They could only hope that it was not a bad one.

Troy walked onto the bridge and found the commander standing there looking at the monitors with a perplexed look on his face. Taking a look at the monitors he saw what Ares was seeing. On the monitor were several bright lights zipping around the ship.

"Commander," Troy said as he walked up to Ares.

"Troy," Ares replied not looking away from the monitors. "Any idea as to what these are?"

Troy gave the strange glowing lights a hard look. They were not like anything he had ever seen, nor had he ever had a vision with them before. He told Ares the truth that he did not know where they had come from nor did he know what they were.

"They are the one who are responsible for your missing pilots," a voice said from behind them. Both men recognized the voice almost right away as belonging to Able.

"Thought you didn't have any idea as to how our pilots went missing," Ares said turning to the other man.

"These lights are mentioned in my history," Able said. "They take people for their own purpose and brainwash them. Be extra careful commander."

"Bri and I will check them out commander," Troy said knowing that they had just been on patrol but volunteering anyways.

"That seems to be the best idea," Ares replied as he thought about it a bit more.

"You and I both know it," Troy said. His abilities might come in handy and he still had to talk with the Ares about Able.

"All right," Ares said then turning to Able. "And you should not be on my bridge."

"All I did was ask for a tour from my new friends," Able replied. Ares could see Renee and Jax as two of the people standing behind Able. He spared them a glance as they should have known better. He was becoming more and more concerned about his new passenger.

"Have you talked to our engineer about fixing your ship," Ares asked him. That was the main reason the man gave for wanting to come aboard.

"In due time commander," Able said then with a flourish he turned to leave the bridge.

"Lieutenant Jax, Renee, may I have a word with you in my office," Ares said before they too could turn and leave. Ares watched as they almost seemed to turn to look at Able. "That was an order from a superior officer. Our guest doesn't have that authority," Ares said watching as Able turned around to glare at him. Ares returned it and knew that the man was going to be trouble.

"I should get going commander," Troy said and with a nod from Ares he left the bridge passing Able on the way.

End of The Gods part 1

Go on to The Gods Part 2

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