Disclaimers: See Part 1
To Stop Running
by
AJ Marks
Part 3
"Commander Apollo, what do you think you are doing without permission of the council?" Ziers roared at Apollo.
"Commander Tigh, we've got a serious problem here!" Apollo said knowing that Tigh was just off the screen and could hear him. "It appears that we are surrounded by hostile warships and I don't think that fighting our way out is going to work." Apollo told him ignoring council member Ziers' bellowing.
"You would have never been in this situation if you had followed council orders." Ziers said to Apollo.
"There was not time, what would you rather have, them attack just the Pegasus, or the entire fleet because we had to wait for your pointless bickering about what to do." Apollo said back to Ziers who appeared to be in disbelief at the words he had just been told.
"That does it, son of Adama or not, I'm calling for you to step down as the commander of the Pegasus right now, let me speak to your second in command." Ziers said turning red faced.
"Commander!" Apollo heard his scanner operator say. "We've got a problem."
Apollo ended the transmission from the Galactica as Ziers was ranting about the lack of respect the military had for the council. A sigh of relief went through the bridge as the transmission was turned off and Apollo gave an order for it not to be answered until their current crisis was over. The communication officer seemed to smile at that comment and vowed that he would carry out his orders. Apollo knew that it was no secret that most in the military did not like the fact that the council controlled ever move that the military had made, and Ziers had made many military people made at his treatment of them.
"What's the problem?" Apollo said turning towards the scanner operator who was looking at his screen.
"We have several ships coming in at us and Captain Starbuck is asking what he should do." The operator said.
"Tell the captain to return to the Pegasus as a slow speed, have no one make a threatening move." Apollo said watching as the opposing ships closed in on them. "Communications see if you can raise any of the opposing ships." Apollo told him hoping that they could talk about this, he knew that he was at a tactical disadvantage and hoped that whoever they were that they could be talked to.
"Commander, Starbuck is asking to talk to you." The communication operator said and put him through.
"Hey Apollo, we've been ordered to one of their ships, and I think that we should take it." Starbuck said to Apollo who could not believe what his friend was saying. "I managed to scan one of their fighters and I found out that the pilot was human Apollo, we could have found some allies." Starbuck told him.
Apollo thought about it for a few seconds before giving his friend the go ahead. He figured that if they were peaceful they just might make it out alive, and maybe with some supplies as well.
Admiral White saw that the invading ships were obeying the commands that were given to them, and this made him think that perhaps that they were not the ones they were looking for. They might know who destroyed the outpost however. Making a quick decision he decided to go over on the shuttle to the invading ship.
When the captain heard he tried very hard to persuade the admiral not to go. He expressed concern that they did now know if the invaders were friendly or not and that it should be him that makes first contact.
"Any reports on the scans of our captors ships that we could use?" Apollo asked. The Pegasus was still sitting in space surrounded by a fleet that was quite large. Any attempt to leave would result in their destruction by the other ships. The communications operator was saying that the Galactica was still trying to contact them, and that Ziers was promising a court martial for what Apollo was doing.
Apollo just grinned at what the councilman was saying, he did not even know what was going on. For all Apollo knew he might not even make it back to the fleet.
Starbuck and Boxey made their way toward the ship that they were instructed to go to. It was a large ship, about the size of a battlestar, but looked much more menacing than anything they had ever seen. They headed for the landing bay which they hoped would be long enough for them to land in, it was then that they were told to cut their engines.
Both of them complied and shut off their engines, which would lead them to drift towards the ship without anyway to slow down or stop before they crashed into the ship. To their amazement they were caught and held in a beam of energy and maneuvered into the landing bay where they could see armed guards waiting for them.
"Boxey, I think we should do what they say kiddo." Starbuck said taking a survey of the situation and received an affirmative from his wing mate.
The two pilots climbed down from their vipers and stood by them waiting for their captors to make the next move.
"Slowly remove your weapons and walk towards me." One of the men said and they could tell that he was the one in charge.
Starbuck just gave Boxey a look that they both understood and removed their gun belts then walked towards the men giving the instructions. They were lead out of the hanger and down several corridors to a holding cell where they were put in separate cells.
Apollo walked down to the hanger to await the arrival of their captors. He was wondering what they were going to be like. They were obviously intelligent, that much was for sure, but could they be reasoned with that was the question that needed to be answered. He slightly wondered what Ziers was doing, probably demanding for Apollo's imminent dismissal from command.
A sound made Apollo look up and he noticed that the shuttle had just finished landing. It was larger than he expected, but he was not sure what to expect either. It stopped and Apollo looked around to make sure that no one was in a threatening position. Most of the crew was going about their normal procedures while Apollo and his command crew stood ready to greet their visitors.
Admiral White stepped out onto the deck of the battlestar Pegasus and looked around. It was quite impressive he thought, and wondered where they had come from, because from the looks of it they were human. He noticed that there was a group waiting for him and he could only assume that the person standing up front was either the captain of the ship or someone who would take him to the captain.
"Welcome aboard the battlestar Pegasus, I'm Commander Apollo." Apollo said when the other man walked off the shuttle. Apollo could tell that he had shocked the man, and that's what he wanted to do.
"Thank you commander, I'm Admiral White." The man said extending his hand trying to figure out what the person in front of his was trying to do. Something deep in his gut told him something was wrong about all of this, but he just could not figure out what it was. "Your friendlier than I was expecting."
"Well, I could still have all of you killed, but we don't have the firepower to fight our way out." Apollo answered honestly. "Besides, I am a bit curious as to what you want."
Admiral White could not contain the smile that broke out, he like this man. He reminded him of himself when he was younger, brash, strong, cocky and intelligent. "Perhaps we should talk commander."
"Please, come with me." Apollo said hoping that he had not overplayed his hand.
Ziers walked into the council room filled with anger at being disobeyed. He had quickly called an emergency meeting of the council to deal with this new development. Normally they would have been one member short, as Helisan would usually be over on the Pegasus but he was on the Galactica because of a council meeting that had been scheduled earlier in the day.
"Greetings gentlemen, I am sorry for calling you together in such short notice, but Commander Apollo has once again overstepped his authority by his recent actions." Ziers told the group.
There were two rolled eyes as Ziers make his comments but the rest of the council seemed to be truly interested in what he had to say. The two councilmen who did not agree knew that they did not have the political backing of the council to make much of a difference but they would try anyway.
"So what are you talking about Ziers." Councilman Markus asked. He was a young man who had only been on the council only a couple of years. He had been a supporter of Adama when the legendary commander was still alive and looked to the man like a mentor to him for council meetings. It was at times like this that Markus wished the man were still living.
"Commander Apollo has willfully taken a battlestar away from the fleet into a dangerous situation. Even now he continues to ignore my requests." Ziers said angrily.
"Perhaps he encountered something that required immediate attention, or are you willing to put the entire fleet at risk because of your wounded pride." Markus said.
"My pride has nothing to do with this Markus, the commander deliberately ignored an order from a council member." Ziers replied. He had noticed that Markus had been more vocal lately and the man's passion and speech reminded him of Adama. Ziers would have to prevent that from happening, he was in control of the council. "If they ignore the council then what's to stop them from taking the council over, we must show them that we still have some bit left, or we will lose everything."
"So what do you suggest we do Ziers?" Another one asked. "If Apollo is not answering then we might also have to presume the worst and that the battlestar was destroyed."
"No, it has not been destroyed, the fleet line alpha is still working, and the Pegasus is just refusing to respond." Ziers replied. "I request that when Commander Apollo returns that he be brought up on charges of negligence, and willingly ignoring the council's orders." Ziers said knowing that these charges could end Apollo's career, which would then allow him to put one of his own lackeys in charge of the battlestar.
"We will vote on the issue, standard procedure." Another one said and the majority agreed. Ziers wanted an open voting but the others were not with him on this one.
It took a few minutes to count the votes, but Ziers proposal passed with a slight majority, seven to five. Markus was a bit surprised that it was that close and began to wonder who his allies were in the room. He could count out both Ziers and Helisan were part of a team, but there were four other people that he might be able to talk to and perhaps form a power base in which to oppose Ziers from.
"Thank you gentlemen, is there anything else that requires our attention right now?" Ziers asked wanting to get out of the room so that he could gloat to Commander Tigh about what had just happened.
Apollo walked into his office along with the members of the group that had forced Apollo to surrender. There was something different going on, this group was human, yet their actions towards him were still hostile. They looked like they were in a war against another human group, much like the Alliance they had encountered some time ago.
"Please have a seat Admiral White." Apollo said remembering the man's name.
"Thank you, I have some questions for you." Admiral White said as he pulled out an envelope and laid it down on the desk.
"I'll try my best to answer them." Apollo replied thinking that the Admiral wanted to know where he came from.
"Just a few hours ago one of our listening stations was attacked and destroyed by an unknown force. We sent out a ship to investigate and then you come along, what do you know about it?" The admiral asked point blank.
Apollo was taken back by the question. "I don't know what you're talking about, we were investigation a problem when your ships attacked ours." Apollo replied.
"So then these ships are not yours?" The admiral said throwing down a picture on the table not expecting the reaction from the man in front of him.
Apollo picked up the picture and studied it for a second before he realized what he was looking at. The picture was quite blurry and out of focus but the shape and markings was undeniable.
"Cylons!" Apollo whispered.
End Part 3
E-Mail me at: AJMarks01@aol.com or AJMarks@ajstories.com