[WarMachine]

Part 4, cont'd

Two days after the Medusa's first Jump away from Molokay, Cyrus held a meeting in his quarters' office space with his senior officers. In addition to Hala and Pelops, present were Chief Doctor Xerkon, Senior Flight Technician Abr'am, all the Viper and shuttle squadron and wing leaders, and Captain Rhade-ka, the Medusa's Chief of Navigation.

With the exceptions of Captians Khufu, Rhade-ka and Eala (from the Pallas' Gold squadron), everyone present was from either Caprica, Gemon or Sagittara; those three worlds had always provided the vast bulk of the Colonies' Warriors, and had since Unification two millenia ago.

Eala, a Cancerian, was easily the most exotic; her ink-black hair fell in a massive cable-braid to below her waist(there was a rumor that she had had to have a helmet specially made to accomodate it), and set off her deep chocolate complexion and stunningly blue eyes, common to almost all Cancerians.

Rhade-ka was from the tropical highlands of Virgon; short, slight and quiet, he was an Open Division-rated Triad player, one of the best in the Colonies...he was also a lethal shot, in or out of a Viper, and was simultaneously a trained chemist, botanist and explosives engineer.

Khufu, a Leonian, shared his people's olive complexion and kept his head cleanly shaven after the fashion of his religious sect. He had served under Cyrus from the time he first flew a Viper aboard the Cerberus, when Cyrus and his old friend and classmate Tigh (now aboard the Galactica as Colonel to Adama...and effectively in command, as Adama's Council duties occupied much of his time) had shepherded a group of trainee Viper pilots through a bloddy Cylon ambush.

After reviewing all divisions' current status, Cyrus had Pelops explain the situation with the feed chute; before anyone could grumble, Doctor Xerkon immediately launched into a brief about the physical effects of Jump Sickness, and what the Viper pilots should look out for.

Before anyone else could speak up, Rhade-ka asked Pelops, "So, how many jumps before complete failure?"

"Two. On the third, we vaporize."

Rhade-ka looked at Cyrus. "We will not make the Colonies, Commander. The shortest possible route would require a minimum of nine jumps."

Hala looked grim. "Then we're really in trouble. There are no graving yards between here and the Colonies..." There was nothing more to say. Everyone looked miserable -- except Cyrus and Pelops.

Cyrus leaned back in his chair. "Security," he said to the air, "engage maximum anti-surveillance measures, code Alpha-Zed-Sigma-Tau-Three-Two-Four-Voice-Lock."

The ships' computer said "Confirmed." A blastshield lowered over the portal behind Cyrus; presently, the offices' bulkheads began to hum with an irregular beat.

"What I am about to say is information known only to the President of the Council, those of the rank of Commander, and Colonels with a direct need to know; sorry, Hala." She nodded, a questioning look on her face. "Given the circumstances, I don't expect you to be totally closed-mouth to your Warriors, but I do expect you to be discreet.

"The Colonies have for some time maintained a series of remote field bases outside the Home System. These are small, easily hidden facilities; basically miniature spacedocks. They are usually carved into asterons, and concealed behind facades.

"There is one such base two jumps from here; I will not tell you the exact system, and I expect you to instantly squash any discussion or speculation in that regard. That is a direct order, and I will enforce it with the most extreme severity." He let his gaze, suitably threatening he hoped, rest on each person in turn.

"Captain Rhade-ka and Senior Flight Tech Ab'ram will oversee wiping the short-term memory cards in every Viper and shuttlecraft after each landing aboard the Medusa. Once we have reached this base, we will notify the Council of what happened at Molokay; I'm sure that the Council will allow messages to be sent to families, but make sure that your Warriors all understand that their messages will be carefully censored before being allowed to be transmitted.

"Since the base in question is very small, it only has a small staff; we will have to perform most of the graving maintenance ourselves, so once we're there,that will be home for a while. Questions?"

No one spoke; this was news to the assembled officers. Most had suspected that the Colonies had such bases, but none of the had ever expected to see them. They quietly filed out of the office, until only Cyrus, Hala and Pelops remained.

"Well," Hala said, "I suppose I should have expected it. And no, Cy, I'm not angry about it. What are our options?"

Cyrus sighed heavily; he had been feeling the weight of his yahren lately. "Hopefully, the Cylons committed a great deal of their fleet to Molokay, and equally hopefully, we damaged or destroyed a large number of their Baseships, so I'm hoping that we don't run into any real opposition en route to Hetaira Base."

"That's its name? Hetaira Base?" she asked wryly. "Nice."