Seeker
Part Three of the Mailman Saga
by Chaoseternus

I do not own, nor do I claim ownership of characters/concepts from Battlestar Galactica 2003/03

this story is in the same series as Mailman and Earthman

please read and review

One: Mutiny

Jig Cade cursed, the bulky heavy weight of the rail-rifle in her hands dancing as she fired round after round at the Cylon warriors striding fast and implacably along the corridor towards her, “"frak, I didn't sign up for this shit!”"

She felt a double-tap on her shoulderblades, and dived around the corner of the bulkhead for cover, waiting for the concussion that was soon to follow. Seconds later, she dived around the corner again, her rifle warily raised. There was no need for it.

“"Gratz Marine-boy, you got ‘em all”"

“"Yea…”" the green suited marine glanced around the corner, quickly ducking his head back into cover as soon as he had gleefully verified the truth of Cade's words, "“nice... but I'm running real low on claymores now, just two left”"

“"Well, we will just have to find some way of using them then”" Cade snarled, kicking the battered, dead head of a cylon down the corridor.

The Marine stuck his head around the corner, shaking his head, “"whilst I have no doubt that you will find someway to kill a bunch of cylons with them, might I remind you that staying in cover is a great idea for improving your life-expectancy”?"

“"Cant stay in cover if you're playing ‘bait' mate”"

The Marine, whose name tag identified him as Colour-Sergeant Cade, grinned wryly, “"I know... I just hate it. By the way, for a navy brat, you're not doing bad, ever consider transferring to the Marines?”"

Jig Cade turned, sending her brother a saccharine sweet smile that the Marine instantly recognised as trouble, “"Brother… how would you like to be a Eunuch?”"

He wisely decided to shut up.

xxxx

Commander Helva cursed, resisting the urge to pull her sidearm and start killing prisoners out of frustration. She couldn't, she mustn't. They needed those prisoners if they were to find Earth, if they were to destroy the last remnants of humanity. And damn her frakking otherself for getting to ‘cute' with her security procedures... hiding the co-ordinates was a sensible precaution, but for a Commander to hide those Co-ords from herself was just... It made her want to scream in frustration, it really did.

Now, she had a computer mainframe that had been very effectively wiped, a mutiny across the ship, no co-ords, not just for Earth, but for any location, a dead basestar and a disabled self-destruct.

It really made her want to tear her hair out.

Another explosion rang through the ship, followed by a sharp stinging sensation at the top of her head and Commander Helva, a near exact copy of Boomers, realised with a pained start that she had in fact, started to tear her hair out.

Damn him! damn that man! All he had to do was die but like everything else in his life, her damned Communications officer, Lieutenant Christie couldn't even do that properly, instead he had to stay alive long enough to put the bridge on intercom and finally die smiling as everything that was said and done on the bridge was instantly sounded across the entire ship

And damn and frak herself for not spotting it sooner!

Now she had a crew that was very effectively resisting her control of the ship and which controlled the missile batteries aft, which they had unloaded at her reinforcements, the basestar sent to assist her taking control of these pathetic beings. Luckily a large contingent of warriors had boarded by then, but if those rebellious humans decided to blow the ship, with control of the missile launchers and the missiles themselves, they would have little difficulty.

Damnit and frak it all to hell, she needed reinforcements, maybe a way to get her prisoners of the ship. Yes... yes! her warriors controlled the launch bays, they had Raptors which she could fly and one of the surviving bridge officers would certainly know where earth was, or at least, could give them the general area. Her mission would still be completed; she would just have to send a few basestars to finish off the Seeker , a minor consideration.

xxxx

Marine Cade frowned, his head tilting slightly as he listened to the message coming over his radio bead, then he sighed.

“"Looks like you will get your chance a little sooner then expected sis, she's bunking out, taking the bridge crew with her, heading for the starboard bay”"

“"Damnit, we need them, at least one of them must know the co-ords for Earth and... safety” she trailed off, her hand resting on a elfin face that was suddenly crossed with an expression of realisation and pain, “of course!"

Tears hiding at the corners of her eyes, she turned to her brother, “"tell your boys in the missile room that any craft attempting to leave this ship must be destroyed regardless of who is aboard, we cannot let the Cylons get Earth's location, even if it means placing a virtual death sentence over our own heads”"

Wearily nodding, the marine tapped at his comm. Bead, his eyes roaming, looking for threats. He might be older, but she was always the one who had the ideas, who could quickly grasp possibilities and analyse them. In a larger service, she might already have been earmarked for Command but her adventuring streak, her desire for things new and unseen was too great and she had applied for E&E instead of the regular military, what else could he do but request a transfer and try and keep her wild streak under control? E&E was always high on the line for Marines anyway, they were gone far too long and ran into too many hostile situations on the ground, albeit usually wildlife related for them to get anything but the best.

Though, he had to smile at the nepotism within E&E, he had been told to save his favours for something else, it was SOP for siblings and family to be placed together. Made sense if you were away so long he supposed.

“"Missile bays got the word, they aren't happy, but they understand”"

His sister nodded, sharply abruptly, “"right, here is what we will do..."

Helva stopped suddenly, her eyes rolling. God, why couldn't you have given these humans some sense? Like enough sense to know when they are beaten… or to know that claymores are most effective if hidden.

Shaking her head in apology, she gestured a single warrior forwards, speaking the words that would commend his soul to God as she sent him forward to his death

She closed her eyes as he approached the tripwire, waiting for the explosion that would signal the end of that trap and the warrior.

It didn't come.

Puzzled, she opened her eyes, glancing straight at the trip wire. She frowned, strange; the movement of the wire had shown that it wasn't actually connected to the claymore. Grimacing she strode forward, as soon as she saw the claymore close she groaned, it was just a small box swiftly painted marine dry, the paint hadn't even started to dry.

She reached down, planning to tug the wire out of the wire so her prisoners couldn't use it as an excuse to trip, fall or any of the thousand and one other ‘accidents' they had had whilst trying to slow her down.

It was when she heard the click that she realised her mistake.

xxxx

Jig Cade glanced up with an evil, malicious grin, "“I hear they found the claymores then…”"

Her brother snorted, brushing the latest layer of explosion disturbed dust from his uniform, “"now what gives you that idea?”"

The Jig rolled her eyes, before glancing seriously at her Marine, “"how many do you think we got?”"

“"No idea... but we ran a real risk of killing a few of our own with that lot”"

"“I know, but frankly they have been held prisoner too long, they are compromised, you know the regs regarding cylon prisoners as well as I do. Now, if they still have their minds, their loyalties I am sure they would much rather be dead then give away the location of...” even now, she wouldn't say it, “it is the prime regroup site for units that know, our best chance of vengeance, you know that. They can not find out where it is”"

A clatter sounded behind her, and the two turned, their guns rising in an instinctive motion, before relaxing back with a sigh, "“you guys here to help?”"

The three, a dark skinned female wearing pilots wings that Jig Cade couldn't remember the name of, CPO Harris and a Marine Lance Corporal whose badge identified as Kelly nodded swiftly, hunkering down at her side.

“"What's the plan?"” the pilot asked.

Jig Cade smiled, a pilot with more sense then balls, good, she could name a few who would instantly try to take command just because they had a single grade on her but this LT was willing to go with the person on the scene, with intelligence like that, how had she ended up being a mere Raptor pilot?

“"Unknown numbers of hostiles, unknown number of prisoners heading directly for this choke point. Preventing them past this point is the primary objective, rescue of prisoners..."” Cade shrugged, “"I hate to say it, but if the Cylons look they are going to break through, then the prisoners become primary targets, we can't let the cylons..."

She broke off at the groups swift, understanding and pained nods.

Then, she tensed, her rifle rising once more in her hand as a clattering sounded along the corridor, the distinctive sound she had learned to hate, the sound of warriors striding along the decks of the Seeker.

A warrior strode around the corridor into her line of sight, followed swiftly by a second and Jig Cade fired, her ears telling her that beside her, the others were doing the same.

The warriors fell, followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth. Then suddenly, they just stopped coming. Puzzled, Jig Cade glanced forward, her ears were telling her clearly that there were more warriors moving down the corridor, but they weren't attacking. Then, the clatter of cylons weapons, but none of the sounds she associated with Colonial weapons, they wouldn't kill their prisoners, so who were they firing on?

“"They're waiting around the corner for us to get impatient and investigate”"

Cade nodded, "unsure, “maybe…”"

They waited, and waited. It felt like hours, days even but their watches just said minutes. Then, something brushed against Cades check. She frowned, glancing around but seeing nothing. Her hair moved, now she was irritated, not recognising what it was, she had been on a ship too long and it wasn't a shipboard phenomenon unless you were in real trouble. Then, it grew stronger, and Cades eyes widened in horror. Wind, you wouldn't get wind shipboard unless…

“ "Hull breech!”"

xxxx

"“Sir, we may have a problem”"

Warrant Officer Flynn scowled at those words, seemed he had been hearing them far too often today, “"what is it this time?”"

“"If I am reading this board correct, then somebody has locked inner and outer locks open on recovery pad beta, starboard launch bay, we're also losing atmosphere in several adjoining corridors despite locks between the bay and ship being indicated as closed”"

Flynn scowled, “"prepare to fire, we got an unauthorised outbound launch, and Sergeant, I know you're not entirely familiar with those systems, but if you let those cylons get away then I will kill you myself”"

“"Aye sir”"

xxxx

“"Damnit!"” Cade cursed, ignoring the aching fire in her lungs from her close brush with vacumn, "“they cut through the bulkheads, bypassed us totally”"

Harris snorted, “"not with those weapons, bulkheads armoured between ship and launch bays”"

She shot the CPO an annoyed look, "“if our old friend Helva was still alive” she sarcastically replied, “don't you think she would know exactly where to fire to get through the bulkheads? After all, she was only Commander of this ship for the last ten years or so!"

CPO Harris cursed, but Jig Cade was no longer paying attention, “"we just have to hope those Marines know how to shoot straight, a bloody Raptor or shuttle is an entirely different proposition to hit then a basestar close aboard”"

xxxx

Two Raptors shot out of the launch bays, instantly going evasive and launching decoys, knowing that they would soon have missiles on their tails.

They were right, as the last ten missiles in the cells launched, a plume of waste gasses marking their trail as they speed towards the two support craft.

Four missiles followed the decoys, detonating to no useful purpose, the rest split, four on the one Raptor, two homing in on the second.

The Raptors dived; turning coordinated back to the Seeker, diving in at full bore, turning away at the very last minute, so close the second Raptor only left five inches of clearance as it banked away from the hull. Raptor one found a sensor mast dead ahead and couldn't turn away in time, it died, shredding the vital mast from the hull, Raptor two now had just one missile after it, all the other missiles not having turned fast enough and impacting on the Seeker's hull as the cylons had intended.

The missile was tenacious… maybe blessed, as it homed in on the Raptor , firmly locked on its target and ignoring the chaff and decoys the Raptor spat out, till it had no more. In a desperation move, the Raptor dived clear of the E&E vessel, hoping to get clear so it could simply jump away from the missile.

The Cylon controlled Raptor didn't make it, the missile impacting just seconds before its fuel would have run out, and shredding the craft. Bodies, both cylon and human, tumbled into space.