Chapter 16 – Splintered “Battlestar Saturn”

“Our SITREP has gotten worse. Saturn is missing. We will have to add more raptor jumps to investigate the alternate jump points. About ten jumps down the road, we should be able to connect with the Saturn.” Major Jacobs pointed to the star chart.

“FTL drive is spooled up and ready. Still waiting on Solaria to report in.”

“This is Solaria Actual. Ready for new FTL. Both hanger decks shift change is complete.” Commander Modi’s voice cracked on the wireless speaker.

“We will have to make some noise. We need to draw attention to this fleet and take the heat off Commander Ramirez,” said Admiral Lawson.

”Contact! Six toasters and the gods damned Artemis class, just outside weapons range.”

“Gun crews hit them. Land the cap. Run the jump checklist.” ordered Major Jacobs.

“Nav…..FTL….jump keys….Solaria shows ready for the same set of jump coordinates.”

“This is Mercury Actual. Crash turn to port. Warn the cap to avoid our engagement zones.”

“Admiral, cap is in the landing bay.”

“Three hundred raiders, mark one first war C B D R”

Jump 6. Saturn missing for 7 hours.

The crews in both battlestars went about their business professionally.  They were worried, concerned about their shipmates on the Saturn. All who understood the impact of time dilation faced further anxiety on this front.

The easiest thing to do was immerse themselves into their work. The engineering crews and deck gangs worked the hardest. Engineering had to keep a hybrid FTL jump system running. The integration of the Cylon technology into the human, had not been without drama. They were working hard, but keeping the two ship fleet moving to its next destination.

The supply of sleep was very low for the deck gang. The Cylons seemed to act like angry bees, attacking bears as they bumped around their nest. The deck gang talked while they worked.

The chief explained time dilation as similar to taking a 40 year nap. Jim Kineson, a working class kid from Delphi on Caprica wondered aloud why he didn’t wake up more refreshed from such a long sleep. 

 “Frakking toasters, they are trying to hack into our network.”

“This is Wheelchair, XO Mercury. Stand up high encryption firewall, random pattern beta. Stay frosty for signs that protected storage has been breached.”

“This is Solaria Actual. Firewall breach. Toasters went for the decoy network! Performance is still sluggish. We need those upgrades!”

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