Drumming his fingers on the dash, Boomer said, "They're sure taking their time fetching those damn prisoners."
"Red tape," suggested Sheba.
From the cockpit window you could see across the docking area to the entryway the two Council guards had gone through nearly ten minutes earlier.
"I don't like any of this."
"You're not supposed to have likes or dislikes," said Sheba. "Remember what that guard told us. We all just work here, do what we're told."
"Bull," replied Boomer. "If everybody thought that way, we'd never . . . Ah, finally. Here they come."
A line of Alliance prisoners came marching into view, accompanied by the two security men.
"They look even paler than they were when they left the ship," observed Sheba. "You really shouldn't have made the shuttle behave that way."
"Everybody ought to have a little excitement in his life."
One of the guards, pale face dotted with sweat, climbed into the cockpit.
Commandent Leiter followed him.
"Hey," warned Boomer, "the prisoners go in the rear compartments. Not up here with—"
"I think you're mistaken," said Leiter, drawing his pistol.
"What the—?" Boomer started to leave his seat.
"Stay where you are, Lieutenant," ordered Leiter. "We need you to pilot this ship and I'd hate to kill you just yet."
Someone else climbed aboard.
Boomer hadn't noticed him before, as he'd been hidden by the other men. "Baltar!"
Smiling, Baltar gave him a mock bow. "So nice to see you again, Lieutenant Boomer," he said. "It's unfortunate Starbuck and Apollo aren't with you or I could settle all my debts at once."
CHAPTER FIVE
Colonel Tigh paced the bridge. "The shuttle should have reported by now."
Stroking his chin, Adama said, "I'm beginning to wonder why we haven't had any word from them since they docked on the prison ship."
"Is this all that unusual?" asked Tinia from her chair next to the commander's. "You both seem to be reacting in a—"
"Contact the prison barge," Commander Adama said into his speakermike.
Five silent seconds went by. Then a voice informed him, "All communications between the battlestar and the prison ship are down."
"You can't reach, them at all?"
"No, sir."
Frowning, the commander glanced at the pacing black colonel. "I don't like this," he said.
From the far side of the bridge a young woman officer said, "Commander, I'm in contact with our shuttle now."
"Good," said Adama, turning to face her. "Is everything all right?"
"Apparently so. Lieutenant Boomer is requesting landing clearance."
After a relieved sigh, Adama said, "Very good. Clear them to Alpha Bay."
"Very good, sir."
Adama nodded at the siress. "I believe that's where the Council is waiting with open arms to greet our . . . um . . . guests."
"That's correct." A faint smile touched her lips.
"Tigh, what's the security status of Landing Bay Alpha?"
Crossing to him, Tigh answered, "There's only Council security personnel there."
"Very well, notify Captain Apollo to take a score of warriors to—"
"Commander," put in Tinia. "Let me remind you that the Council doesn't want warriors present when they greet these Alliance representatives."
"Don't you think, Siress Tinia," said Adama slowly and evenly, "it's odd that all communications with the prison barge are out at the precise centon that we're transferring these people to the Galactica?"
"This, certainly, isn't the first time communications have been out between ships?"
"No," admitted the commander, "but—"
"And Lieutenant Boomer just now requested landing clearance."
"That's true," granted Commander Adama. "Even so, I—"
"I think you're both overreacting," she said firmly. "The Council will not allow warriors in that landing bay. I'm sorry."
Tigh moved to the exit. "Commander, if you'll excuse me," he said, striving to keep the anger out of his voice. "My duty period was up over a centare ago. I think I need some air."
"Colonel," Tinia said to him, "if you decide to take your air on the landing bay, or order any warriors there, I'll view it as a direct act of insubordination."
Tigh straightened, seemed to be counting under his breath. Finally he said, "Is it okay if I retire to the Officers' Club?"
"You may go anywhere you wish," she answered. "So long as it's not that landing bay. Understood?"
"Oh, yes," Tigh said. He pivoted on his heel and left the bridge.
Adama steepled his fingers. "Tigh's a good man," he told the siress. "I don't think you really appreciate that."
"I do, Adama," she said. "You're all good men and good warriors. But what we need at the moment are good diplomats."
Starbuck lit his cigar, rested an elbow on the table and let his gaze drift around the Officers' Club area of the Galactica. "I am working on a hunch," he said.
"About that silvery blonde across the room?" asked Apollo, tapping his finger on the side of his ambrosia glass.
"Nope, this is a serious hunch," Starbuck said, exhaling smoke. "I get 'em now and then. Like the time I knew that lady space pirate's husband was coming back to their satellite base two days earlier than—"
"See? It does have to do with women."
"The point is, if you'll cease heckling me and attend to what I'm saying, old chum, that I often get hunches of trouble coming."
"So whose husband is on your tail now?"
Removing the cigar from between his teeth, Lieutenant Starbuck used it to point at the captain. "You've been hanging around with too many frivolous folks," he said. "Consequently you're incapable of serious chitchat."
Apollo folded his hands on the table top. "I'm in a deadly serious mood, old buddy. Continue."
"Well, I got a feeling that trouble's brewing," said Starbuck, taking another look around. "It has something to do with bringing those damn Alliance bozos back here."
"It doesn't take extrasensory powers to know that'll mean trouble one way or the other."
"But this feeling tells me . . . Oh, greetings, Colonel. Doing a little slumming?"
Colonel Tigh was standing beside their table. "Mind if I join you guys?"
"No, Colonel," said Starbuck, indicating the empty chair. "Park it."
"Thanks."
The colonel signaled the bar. "Bring me a double of whatever these fellows are having," he called.
Apollo unfolded his hands and eyed the colonel. "You're not a frequenter of this place," he said. "Fact is, we never see you hereabouts unless you've dashed in to drag us away for some mission or other."
"I feel," said Tigh, "in need of a drink."
Starbuck nodded. "I told you strange things were afoot," he said to Apollo. "What's driven you to drink, Colonel Tigh?"
"Well," said the colonel, pausing to take his drink from the bar android. "Thanks. Well, it's that woman, for one thing."
"Siress Tinia?" asked Apollo.
"Her, yes."
"She's sort of attractive," said Apollo. "In fact, she and my father make a handsome couple."
"They may look splendid side by side," said Tigh. "But she's a royal pain in the backside."
"True," agreed Starbuck. "Although she's only doing what that dippy Council tells her to do."
Tigh waved again toward the bar. "Better start mixing me another of these," he ordered.
"You haven't even touched that one yet," pointed out Apollo.
"I will." Tigh picked up the glass and downed nearly all of its contents. "Where was I?"
"Complaining about the Council."
"Well, they've let that damn Tinia woman just about take over," pausing to take his drink from the bar android. "Thanks. Well, it's that woman, for one the Council itself is waiting on Landing Bay Alpha to give those captured Enforcers a cordial welcome aboard."
After drinking half of his new drink, Tigh said, "And do you know that all communications with the prison barge went out? Yes, it happened right after our shuttle headed for home."
"Doesn't sound good," said Apollo, sitting up.
"Well, Siress Tinia doesn't think it's anything to be concerned over."
Starbuck asked, "The commander ordered warriors to the bay, didn't he?"
"He tried to, but Tinia overruled him," answered Tigh. "And she practically told me I'd be court-martialed if I took any warriors there on my own."
Starbuck got to his feet. "What say we take a stroll, old chum?"
Apollo got to his feet. "Just what I was thinking."
Tigh asked, "It's not something I've said, is it?"
Shaking his head, Starbuck said, "To be absolutely frank, Colonel, we feel a little uneasy drinking with a senior officer. You can understand."
Tigh smiled as the two men went striding out. "Perfectly," he said.
CHAPTER SIX
The shuttle was cruising toward the Galactica.
Stationed behind Boomer and Sheba were two Alliance warriors, both armed.
Baltar was also standing nearby, smiling. "You've done very well so far, Lieutenant Boomer," he said.
"Yeah, thanks. I appreciate your comments."
"There's no need to be bitter," said Baltar, stroking the barrel of his lasergun. "I won, you lost."
"We got a saying, where I hail from, that you ain't won till you pick up the chips, Baltar," said Boomer, hunching slightly in his chair as he guided the shuttle craft to the docking area of the battlestar.
"I admire your false bravado," said Baltar, "but I'm afraid you—"
"Even you aren't crazy enough to think you can get away with this, are you?" said Sheba.
"I've done quite well thus far," reminded Baltar, gesturing at the young woman with his pistol.
"A shuttle's not a battlestar," she told him.
Tapping Boomer on the shoulder with his gunbarrel, Baltar instructed him, "We want a perfectly normal landing, Lieutenant."
"That's what you'll get."
"Yes, I wouldn't want anything to go wrong and cause me to kill you before I have to." He nodded at Boomer's broad back and turned away.
Baltar made his way across the cabin, along a narrow corridor and into the passenger sector of the ship.
"We'll be landing very soon now," he told Commandent Leiter.
Leiter was at a porthole, watching the Galactica loom ever larger. "So I see," he said.
"Now, the micron the hatch opens, you and your men will take care of all guards," said Baltar. "Take as many hostages as possible."
Turning to face him, the lean commandent said, "You have nothing to worry about. We are quite experienced in such operations."
"Yes, I'm sure you are," said Baltar, edging over to where the shaggy Maga stood with folded arms. "You and your men, Maga, will follow me to the lift. We'll move directly to the bridge."
Maga nodded. "Once we control the bridge . . ."
"We control the Galactica," finished Baltar.
Smoothing his robes, Sire Domra moved in a stately fashion across the landing bay. Several members of the Council were with him. "You guards had best stay to the rear," he instructed the two Council security men who were with them. "We don't want to give them even the faintest cause for uneasiness."
The guards pressed back against one metallic wall.
Domra positioned himself near the entry door the Alliance warriors would be coming through at any moment. "We all must remember," he said to his fellow Council members, "that these visitors have been mistreated by our own warriors. It's only natural to expect them to be somewhat uneasy."
The entry door wooshed open and Commandent Leiter and seven of his men came swiftly through.
"Welcome to . . ." Then Domra noticed that they were all holding weapons. "Why do you—"
"That'll be enough out of you." Leiter prodded the Councilman in his midsection with the barrel of his weapon. "Get against the wall with the others."
Leiter's men had already surrounded the rest of the Council and disarmed the two guards.
"You're making a grave mistake," Domra insisted. "We are your friends and—"
"For now, my friend, I want you and the rest of these idiots to climb aboard that shuttle out there," ordered Leiter, prodding him again.
"But—"
"Get going!" Leiter smashed him across the forehead with the barrel of his gun.
Lieutenant Starbuck said, "My hunch is getting stronger. Something not so good is going to happen."
"Maybe we can prevent that," said Apollo.
The two comrades were moving along a corridor toward the elevator that would take them to Alpha Bay.
"The more I see of diplomacy," observed Starbuck, "the more I think a poke in the nose is a much smarter way of—"
"Violence isn't always the answer either, good buddy," said Apollo.
They rounded a bend in the corridor just as the doors of the elevator whispered open.
Starbuck said, "Yeah, but . . . Holy H. Crow!"
Baltar and several of Maga's men had come lurching out of the elevator cage and into the corridor.
"Hit the deck!" advised Apollo, spinning on his heel and diving back around the bend.
Starbuck's lasergun was in his hand and, as he dashed for cover, he sent a beam flying in the direction of the startled Baltar.
The shaggy men, meantime, were firing sizzling shots in the direction of the two battlestar warriors.
"Looks like the reception committee didn't do too well," said Starbuck as he sent more fire power toward the elevator area.
"We've got to keep these guys pinned down here."
"My sentiments exactly, old chum."
Baltar cried, "Back inside the cage! Quickly, before they destroy us."
"Keep up the barrage," said Apollo, backing for the nearest wall communicator. "I'll get us some reinforcements."
"Inside," said Baltar, herding them back into the elevator. "Now the doors . . . shut the damn doors!"
Grinning, Starbuck edged forward, lasergun firing. "Welcome aboard, Baltar!"
The elevator doors smacked shut.
Tinia sat frowning. "I don't understand why we haven't heard anything from the Council," she said, eyeing the scanner screen in front of her.
"Perhaps they're all still busy shaking hands with our guests," said Commander Adama.
"I know you don't approve of our actions, Adama, but in time you—"
"Bridge!" came Apollo's voice out of a speaker. "This is Captain Apollo."
"What is it?" asked his father. "Go ahead."
"Landing Bay Alpha is under attack," said Apollo. "Extent of forces unknown. Starbuck and I are holding the lift in Beta corridor. We could use a little help."
"At once," said Adama. "Is it the Alliance Enforcers?"
"Could be," answered his son. "But we also have our old pal Baltar to contend with, along with a gang of hairy louts."
"Baltar," said Adama slowly. He broke the connection with the captain, flipped another talkswitch. "Launch Red Squadron. They are to prevent any ship from launching without my approval." He turned on another mike. "Have Fleet security cover all hatches above, below and around Launch Bay Alpha."
"Yes, sir," answered a speakerbox.
"And get Colonel Tigh up to the bridge at once."
Siress Tinia had slumped in her chair. "I don't quite," she said in a shaky voice, "understand what's happened."
Adama rose slowly to his feet. "Your Alliance friends seem to have captured the entire Council and taken over Landing Bay Alpha," he told her. "That's what's happened."
Her breath sighed out. "But surely they understood that we wanted to be friendly—"
"Baltar's a tough fellow to make friends with," said Apollo as he came into the room.
"Yep, not cordial at all," added Starbuck, pausing to brush at a singed patch
on his trousers.
Apollo walked to his father's side. "Somehow Baltar and the Alliance gang have joined forces," he explained. "Looks like they recruited a few other ne'er-do-wells from the prison ship as well."
"And they definitely have the Council?"
"That seems likely, yes."
Lieutenant Starbuck rested his backside against a readout screen. "You know, if Colonel Tigh hadn't warned us about what might be coming up, Baltar and his buddies would've been rampaging all over this bridge right now."
Adama asked, "Where is Tigh?"
The colonel came through a far door. "Reporting for duty," he said.
The crackling whine of launching viper ships could be heard now.
"Red Squadron launched, Commander," said one of the speaker boxes.
Siress Tinia was watching Tigh. "Colonel," she said in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry. I apparently made a mistake."
After a few seconds the black colonel said, "Yes, apparently."
The cockpit of the docked shuttle was crowded. Baltar, a satisfied smile spread across his face, was seated in front of the communication screen. "Be quick about it," he was saying. "Put me through to the bridge."
The scanner flickered, then Adama's stern face appeared.
"Ah, my dear Adama," said Baltar with mock concern, "you don't look at all well. Can it be—"
"Baltar, you have exactly one centon to lay down your weapons and surrender."
Baltar laughed. "You apparently don't yet comprehend the situation," he said. "I am in charge of things. I tell you what's to be done."
He motioned to Maga, who dragged the shivering Sire Domra within scanner range.
"Adama, they're attaching solenite charges to the outer hull of this shuttle," he said in an unsteady voice. "They'll kill us all if you don't do what he says."
Smiling even more broadly, Baltar leaned forward. "Here are your orders, Commander Adama," he said. "Firstly, you are to release the two Cylon pilots who flew me here originally. Along with them you'll turn loose my fighter ship. Further, you will return the Alliance destroyer ship to my comrades."
"Anything more?" asked Adama.
"When my friends and I are all safely aboard our ships, this shuttle will launch. Followed by the destroyer ship and finally my fighter," continued Baltar. "If this shuttle makes any attempt to return before we are in orbit at Luna Seven, or if one single viper pursues us, then I press a button and the shuttle and everyone aboard will be destroyed." He snapped his fingers. "Like that, in an instant."
Battlestar Galactica 9 - Experiment In Terra Page 3