In a situation like this, the veteran who had seen more action always had an advantage over the other, no matter how many enemy kills the other had racked up. Dalton flashed back to one of her most dangerous battles against the Cylons when she had been so outnumbered that death seemed a certainty.
Starbuck always said that when you couldn't possibly get out of a situation you were free to act! The risks Dalton took that day were now hardwired into her. She didn't consciously decide to go into a death dive but there was something about Rhaya that made her throw caution to the wind.
She forgot that she was in an atmosphere.
Her Viper stalled.
It began to break up.
She couldn't believe that she was about to lose a valuable craft because she'd been headstrong, again! There was no choice but to activate the escape pod.
From her angle of descent, she couldn't see what was happening to the other pilot. But she had a ringside seat to the spectacle of a Viper slamming into a mountain and blowing itself to smithereens.
Even louder than the explosion was the scream coming from Troy and echoing inside her helm.
She reached the ground intact, jumped out of her pod, yanked off her helm and looked up at the other descending craft. That's when she became really scared.
The other Vipers began to wobble in the air. There was no problem of reckless flying. They were all losing power at the same time.
She held her breath as Troy issued instructions. The others fought to stabilize their crafts so they could land. It was a struggle to have the ships at the correct angle so that if the power died completely they wouldn't crack up.
The humming of the faltering engines stopped at the same time. Fortunately, the Vipers were close enough to the ground that they all made it.
And Dalton was glad to see that Rhaya hadn't exactly copied her crazy maneuver. At least they'd been spared a casualty.
Troy strode toward her, his face a mask of anger. But as he saw her close up his expression melted into one of sympathy.
"Dalton, you're hurt," he said simply.
"I'm fine," she said, "except for a runny nose."
"It's blood, Dalton," he corrected her. "I think you have serious head injuries."
The funny thing was that she didn't feel any pain. But being told that she was hurt seemed to do something to her legs. Suddenly she had to sit down.
"Take it easy," Troy told her. "We've got to figure out what happened to our other Vipers. We weren't doing stunt flying."
She accepted the put-down from Troy. It was only fair. But she wasn't ready for what Rhaya dumped on her.
"I'm sorry," the girl began well enough.
"Don't worry about me," said Dalton. "I'm just pissed that I screwed things up."
Rhaya could have kept her mouth shut and walked away. But she didn't. "Well, you should have thought about that before you demonstrated what an irresponsible pilot you are!"
Dalton clenched her teeth, which wasn't such a good idea. One of the teeth had split and the pain felt like a hot spike driven into her head. Dalton was angry enough with herself without having to listen to this felgercarb.
With all the willpower in her, Dalton didn't strike back but tried for a touch of diplomacy. "I was wrong," she said. "I apologize."
Troy had wandered back to check on Dalton and couldn't help hearing the tail end of the exchange. He couldn't believe what Rhaya said next to Dalton.
"You shouldn't play a game that you don't have the skill to win."
Dalton couldn't believe what she was hearing. She opened her mouth but the words refused to come out.
Troy spoke for her. "That's enough, Rhaya! You're not helping."
The younger woman stalked off, which was fine with Dalton, who was still in a state of mental and physical shock.
"We've got to find out what went wrong with our Vipers," said Troy. "We also have to find provisions and somewhere to stay for the night. With our power out, we have no way of contacting base."
"How far do you think we are from base?" Dalton asked.
"We could be on the opposite side of the planet," Trays volunteered. He'd dug up a first aid kit and came over to bandage Dalton's head.
"Great," she said, followed by an "Ouch!" as Trays applied the pre-treated antiseptic bandage.
"We'll leave beacons at reasonable intervals," said Troy. "When I was following you down I saw what looked like a cave over that hill." He pointed. "If I'm right, at least the night won't be too bad."
As the three made plans, Rhaya sulked by a tree. She noticed what might be edible mushrooms near the tree roots. As she picked them, she reflected on the sweet reasonableness of having Dalton try out all the foodstuffs first.
After a dose of pain-killer, Dalton was able to walk. Tray wouldn't let her scour the ground for supplies. When she tried, she experienced dizziness and nausea. After that she simply worked on being able to walk with the rest of them to reach the cave.
It started to rain, a slight sprinkle at first. But before they traversed a full metron, the rain became a downpour. Native cuisine was no longer the priority. Shelter beckoned. If any animals of Paradis were in the cave and acted territorial, they wouldn't stand a chance against blasters. Whatever had knocked out their Vipers didn't affect the weapons. Their flashlights worked as well, so they wouldn't have to start making fires yet.
Thanks to Troy's foresight, the warriors had brought a few provisions, enough for a meal for everyone. Trays volunteered to check out the cave. It was empty and relatively dry.
They went inside and made themselves at home. No sooner did Dalton sit down than another bout of dizziness hit.
"Excuse me everyone, but I think I need to take a nap."
Troy gave her part of his kit to use as a makeshift pillow. As Dalton put her head down, she saw a glint of metal on the floor of the cave.
She picked up the object and passed it to Troy. The other two gathered around.
"It's metal," said Trays.
"Yes, and we didn't bring it here," said Troy, stating the obvious.
"Where did it come from?" asked Rhaya.
"I wonder if there's any more," said Dalton.
They looked around and found a whole lot more. The floor of the cave was strewn with small, thin shards of the mysterious substance.
"This could be an important find," said Troy.
"And that's not all," said Trays, who had followed a trail of the stuff deep into the back of the cave. "This cave doesn't end. It goes on, deep into the mountain. And look at this!"
They joined him as he swept his light before them. The cave floor sloped downward. He picked up a pebble and rolled it down the incline. The small stone rolled out of sight and disappeared in the distance.
"I wonder what we've discovered," wondered Dalton.
"Maybe we'll find out what knocked out the engines of our Vipers," added Rhaya.
"There's more to Paradis than we thought," Troy said, finishing the thought for all of them. He held one of the metal shards between thumb and forefinger.
Chapter Ten
Sheba insisted on looking for the missing pilots personally. She needed to find them. She'd seen herself every time she'd looked into their young faces. In a way that she could never explain, she also saw her father in every brave warrior who took a chance.
As she launched her Viper into the clouds of Paradis, she thought about Cain. How civilians had hated him. He was a swaggering martinet to them. Some thought he was an idiot. They hated him because he had a simple view of good and evil. They despised him for his lack of diplomatic savvy.
He had made mistakes—but in the end, Cain had been willing to pay for his mistakes, even if it meant his life.
Find a civilian with that kind of dedication! Good luck!
The odds were that someone in the quartet of Dalton, Troy, Trays and Rhaya had made a mistake. If only one had fouled up, the others would follow their comrade into the fieriest pit of hell, burning hotter than the re
d giant in the sky of Paradis. Viper pilots were the essence of esprit de corps, the bone and sinew of camaraderie.
If they were alive, Sheba would find them.
She flew toward their last known position, descending below the clouds sooner than required because she wanted to drink in the sight of the planet, which unfurled below her a brown and green canvas. Whatever had happened to them, they were no longer in the sky. Something had clipped their wings and they would be on the ground, or in the sea.
As Sheba searched, she remembered the report the quartet had filed about a sea monster. So many problems were piling up for the warriors that the monster had been placed on low priority. That was probably a mistake. The first complaint had reported the loss of a worker. Now a follow-up report indicated the foreman of the project had also died.
Ryis would use that against the warriors when he made his next full report to the council. The warriors were expected to solve every problem before it happened. Then the lack of casualties would be used as an argument that the warriors were superfluous. On the other hand, when there were casualties proving that Paradis had its fair share of dangers, the deaths were held up as proof that the warriors weren't doing their job.
There was no way to win against that kind of logic.
Fortunately, warriors didn't have to construct legal briefs justifying their existence. They had an easier task. They only had to fight, and die, if need be.
Sheba reached the coordinates. She went lower and began circling. The last transmission from the cadets was not in vain. She saw the abandoned Vipers before the beacons. The cadets would follow standard procedure and leave beacons to mark their route.
As Sheba descended, she noticed that only three Vipers were in view. While she was wondering what happened to the fourth she turned on the comlink to make contact. That's when the power went out in her Viper.
Sheba was flying a dead hunk of metal at a much higher altitude than her comrades had. Whatever knocked out the other craft was reaching its invisible fingers higher now.
But Sheba was proficient at flying in atmosphere. She'd been at cruising speed when her Viper died.
She had no choice but to glide, and Vipers didn't glide very well. The terrain was terrible; there was no way to avoid crack-up. The question was how much control could she exert over a methodically planned crash?
She had to slow her descent. Without power how could she possibly survive? Her only hope was the trees. She could use their branches to slow her speed. Steering between two large trees was no easy task without power, but she performed the miracle. What passed for wings on a Viper absorbed the impact.
The ground rushed up at an alarming rate. Somehow she didn't break her neck. Stunned, she stumbled out of the craft. It hardly appeared to be damaged. She wished she could say the same for herself. Finding the others could wait for a little while. She laid flat on the ground and stared up at the azure skies of Paradis.
Cassie never thought being a mother would be such an adventure. When she decided to let a Gamon midwife help her through the final stages, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
She, along with many of the Colonials, had been wondering if there were any native women. Her midwife was the first she'd ever seen. Gar'Tokk had stopped by on the day she had arrived. He played a crucial role in communications between the Colonials and inhabitants of the planet. Cassie was aware that the Nomen had not seen one of their women in a very long time and assumed it must be an unusual experience for the burly Borellian to see the native female.
Her name was K'Ris. She had taken the trouble to learn some of the human language. Gar'Tokk told Cassie how unusual that was. He communicated in part through telepathy and in part from the similarity between the language of Paradis and the language of the Nomen.
Basically, Cassie was honored to have this woman come into the completed portion of New Caprica City and attend her in the spacious apartment that had been prepared for her. Even Ryis made a point of sending the expectant mother an arrangement of lavender flowers.
The midwife told Cassie a story the first night she was in attendance:
"Your child is special, like a piece of the sun. There are many suns, and one of them is the true father of your child."
Cassie continued to be protected from Baltar's theories of the real father. Apollo wanted it that way. If Baltar could overhear the midwife's story, he would have been astonished at how the metaphors supported his version. But Baltar was not allowed anywhere near the birth chamber.
"A piece of the sun is in you," said the midwife, tracing invisible geometric patterns over Cassie's swelling belly. "Only special people are born from light. Paradis is a special place. You did not come here by accident. But there is dark light as well as bright light."
While Cassie tried to divine her meaning, the old woman began to sing. Naturally the expectant mother did not understand the words. But a strange thing happened—unusual even for someone with the varied experiences of a Colonial.
The moment K'Ris began her strange chanting, a bird flew to the open window of Cassie's compartment. It began to chirp along with the Gamon. A second bird joined the first, and then another. They were all of different species, yet they sang together.
Cassie didn't tell anyone about the birds. When it was over, she thought she might have been hallucinating. But when Dr. Wilker dropped in to see how she was doing, she did tell him about the fairy tale of the midwife.
"It's interesting that even the natives sense that there is something special about their red sun. Our physicists are fascinated by it. Of course, there is a practical side. We must know how much time it will continue to give life to Paradis."
She rubbed her tummy. "Lately, I think a lot about giving life."
"Of course," he agreed, gazing out the window at the orb under discussion.
She remembered the unusual symbols the midwife had traced on her abdomen. "It's hard to believe that a star can die."
Wilker nodded. "That's when it throws out a stream of pure neutrinos. Even with the QSE technology, I don't think we'd be able to harness all that free energy. A shame, really."
As he was about to exit, he turned and asked, "Where is your midwife?"
"She's out gathering herbs."
"So near to when you are about to have the baby?"
Cassie smiled. "She says she knows about such things. The baby wouldn't dare come until she's here for me."
Cassie wasn't smiling the day after the birth. The midwife stole the child! Cassie broke down completely. All she could think to do was call for Apollo.
He was already on his way to her, having heard the news. He felt guilty about not having been present for the birth in the first place. But Cassie knew as well as he did that his job had become impossible again, as if they were all back in another war with the Cylons.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept; but that was no excuse for how he felt at this moment. Cassie needed him and he hadn't been there for her,
For one moment, he would let himself stop thinking about the conflict between the Fleet and Ryis, not to mention the escalating problems with the Gamon. For one blissful moment of his life he would put out of his mind the failures of their equipment and the growing suspicion that more was going on with Paradis than any of them had imagined.
He just wanted to think about Cassie.
"We have warriors and part of the civilian security staff looking for your child," he said, holding her hand so hard he almost hurt her. "The midwife won't get away."
Tears streamed from Cassie's hazel eyes. "Why would that Gamon woman do this to me? She'd seemed so nice! What did I do to deserve this?"
"I'm certain that this is not about you, at least not personally. Things are starting to come apart here. Gar'Tokk warned me that Ryis made a mistake when he violated native taboos."
She laughed a bit hysterically. Apollo held her tight.
"Ryis sent me flowers," Cassie told him. "The proud architect wants to mak
e a good impression. I'm one of the first mothers in New Caprica City!"
She pointed at the yellow wallpaper. "He even picked that out. He thought it was maternal. He just made one miscalculation by pissing on their sacred burial grounds!"
Apollo shook his head. "We don't know why she took your baby. Don't jump to conclusions."
Right on cue, his comlink activated. "Commander, we've found them, the Gamon woman and the child."
Cassie fainted. Apollo was stunned. He'd actually never seen a woman faint before. It was not typical for a Colonial.
When Cassie came to, she was at the hospital—with her baby. Apollo had arranged everything. Koren was there, too, grinning at the baby. She'd never realized that Koren had so many teeth.
She held the infant in her arms and cried over its already wet and shining face. "What happened to K'Ris?" she asked.
"We've put her under arrest," said Apollo.
"Did she say why she did it?"
He shook his head. Despite his relief, he was ill at ease. He didn't know why he felt this way. He started edging toward the door when Cassie called his bluff, as surely as if they were in a game of Pyramid and she held all the cards.
"Don't you want to hold our baby?" she asked.
The truth was that Apollo didn't. He wished he could stop thinking about what Baltar had said. Cassie's offer had frozen him in space, as if he might be a statue. He couldn't leave and couldn't reach out for the child.
He was saved by Koren. "Mind if I hold him?"
As Cassie passed the child to the boy, she reminded Apollo of yet another salient fact. "We still haven't given him a name."
"I know."
"Do you have any ideas on the subject?"
This was a day or miraculous saves for Commander Apollo. An orderly chose that moment to enter the room with the news that Gar'Tokk was waiting for him outside the door. He and the Noman had been requested by the midwife. Maybe she was ready to talk.
Cassie could sense the relief with which Apollo rushed off to do his duty. His wonderful, blessed duty! Although she was offended, she hid it well.
Battlestar Galactica-05-Paradis Page 10
