Battlestar Valkyrie: Operation Bifrost - Episode 1 - En Garde

[Celestial Centurion]

"... so then right as the buzzer sounded, oh man it was amazing, right as the buzzer sounded he hooked the ball right around the defender and into the goal. Best. Pyramid. Game. EVER!" Terrance woke with a start as the other surgeon and the nurses came into the changing room. "Doc, you ok? What, you fall asleep in here?"

Hamal rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Yeah, I guess I did. Frak, I guess I'm knackered." He slowly pulled on the dark blue uniform jacket and stood up. "I'm no good to anybody like this. Wake me if there's am emergency or in two days, whichever comes first." With the guffaws of his team at his back the doctor shuffled out into the halls of the old ship and made his way to his bunk. He was fully asleep before his head hit the pillow.

[CIC BS: Valkyrie]

Battlestar Valkyrie, Dr. Terrance Hamal's Quarters

Out of the darkness of his slumber pictures formed on the horizon appeared. He was standing on a green meadow back in Caprica where he and his wife had a nice house with garden. Being the Chief Physician of a Battlestar did have it's quirks and one of these was buying an estate with minimum mortgage. They had taken their time before they decided where to settle and the first thing he did was planting an appletree in their garden. It was just a small sapling when he planted it but he expected the tree would have grown quite a lot once he returned from his duty. He heard his children laughing and his wife was walking towards him with a smile on her face. Everything felt warm and safe.

Just before his wife reached him he saw someone entering their house. A darkskinned man in a flight uniform - maybe a Viper or Raptor pilot. He waved at them before he entered the house and after a few minutes he left again waving again at him. Wondering what that was about he gave his wife a small kiss on the head and excused himself. He had to know what that was about. His Children where in the house and he simply didn't like the idea of strangers getting close to them. Taking his first step towards the house he had a sense of dread followed by a flash. Then the house exploded.

(ooc:You wake up, sweating profundly. It's the middle of the night)

[Rorx]

With the CAG off hunting down the Chief again and the Major heading for a game of Triad, Scarface took another mouthful of coffee as he looked aound the room, and spotted Lt Bedrock looking in his direction.

Shrugging slightly he made his way over to the young Lt and pulled up a chair to join him.

"Evening Lt, what's that your reading?[points with his mug] Looks like work to me [grins]."

[Celestial Centurion]

"No!" Terrance looked around and realized he was in his quarters. He swung his feet out and laid them on the floor and sta hunched over for a moment wiping his brow of sweat. What the hell was that? Seeing he was more than halfway through the night he decided that it wasn't worth it to try and fall back asleep. He pulled his pants on and shoved his feet into a pair of ratty shoes. Maybe a walk will help me clear my head... and a snack. He shuffled out the door and made his way towards the galley looking for a bite to eat and maybe some late night company to keep him sane.

[CIC BS: Valkyrie]

Battlestar Valkyrie, Galley

Doc Hamal half stumbled through the corridors meeting no one on his way to the galley. It was really late and only the night shift was on patrol obviously. As he fumbled for a few cubits to feed the coffee machine and get him a small snack he heard some muffled voices which abruptly stopped as the machine started to brew the coffee. Maybe he was starting to hear things?

[Celestial Centurion]

Eh? Terrance stopped and looked around, it was practically deserted and very much quiet. He retrived the coffee and stood there in the silence waiting, listening to see if the conversation would start back up.

[Callsign Bedrock]

Originally Posted By: Rorx

"Evening Lt, what's that your reading?[points with his mug] Looks like work to me [grins]."

"Looks can be deceiving, but not in this case, no. I'm trying to wrap my head around this." Bedrock rubbed his eyes, feeling tired.

"The ship's log smells like a Cylon hack to me. I've never - not in person, the War was before my time, but I've read some case theory. But there's no sign of an actual Cylon attack. How did a toaster get close enough to hack it yet leave no physical evidence? I need to get back over there and take another look."

[Rorx]

Scarfae nods grimly at the Lt's comments.

"I'd had thoughts along similar lines. I don't see how it could have been the toasters themselves, but if they have managed to build up some human sympathisers then they could have acted as agents to infiltrate on to the ship to plant this hack and to attack the bridge crew. My worry is that if they could get such agents on to a ship with members of the Quorum and their security, then they would little trouble getting on to a military ship."

[Callsign Bedrock]

"Human sympathizers to Cylons? I can't imagine it." Bedrock was too young to remember the Cylon War firsthand, but he had seen the aftereffects - the rubble, the war veterans, the parts of the colonies that had descended into anarchy. The thought of someone looking at that and deciding to side with the enemy made his stomach tighten.

"But I don't know what it could be. Maybe you're right. The thought of it, though... it's insane. No, I need to go out there again. We're missing something."

[SalmonMax]

At that moment, Callisto came back in and scanned the room as methodically as any cylon. On seeing Scarface and Bedrock, she walked over to them. Her face was a study in anger held in check by sheer discipline.

"I'd like a word with both of you," she said coolly. "Come on."

With that, Callisto turned and stalked back to the door, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the other two were following.

[Rorx]

"Well Bedrock, here we go!"

Scarface drains his coffee and makes his way out after Callisto, glancing over to the game that Major was in.

[Callsign Bedrock]

"Speak of the devil and you will hear the rustle of his wings." Bedrock stands and follows Callisto.

[Rorx]

"HER wings, Bedrock, her wings." [grins]

[SalmonMax]

When they get to Callisto's room she turns on them, the edge of her anger thankfully having passed by then.

"We need to coordinate," she tells the two men. "I was questioning the Chief, not trying to bring her in. We all came in with different objectives, and frakked it up big. We've got to work with each other, or we'll keep working against each other."

She folds her arms. "So. What kind of angles are you two working on?"

[Callsign Bedrock]

"Computer work, here. I'm unsure how the Cylons, or whatever attacked the ship, got into the computer system. There's no signs of a Cylon attack, but there's definite signs of a Cylon hack. Scarface thinks we've sympathizers in our midst, but... I can't believe that."

[SalmonMax]

"Whoa." Callisto held her hands out, as if to keep Bedrock back.

"Cylons? Who said anything about Cylons? This is about political spies frakking with the mission." She stared at Bedrock for a second. "How conclusive are these 'signs' that Cylons were involved? And is there anything linking those signs to the Quorum?"

[Callsign Bedrock]

"I've never personally witnessed a Cylon computer hack, Callisto, but I've studied them. This smells like their work through and through. Of course that doesn't mean it is - but it means it is a possibility we can't ignore."

[SalmonMax]

"Alright...first, have you reported this to the Admiral? That's something totally separate from the situation with the Quorum as far as we know. Second, do you know what the hack was supposed to -do-? I'd heard the explosion was caused by a bomb, not a system malfunction."

[Rorx]

Scarface looks from one to another of the two officiers with him, "I think we have two different things going on here and unless we get things cleared between us all we'll be working at cross purposes. Now what's this about a political spy frakking with the mission? I thought we were investigating what happend to these ships, not some spy on the crew?"

[SalmonMax]

"Well the Admiral believes that the spy may be connected to the ships," Callisto replies. "He suspects Lt Everette is working for the Quorum. This mission is political enough that there could be factions that want it to fail, meaning a Quorum spy may be here for sabotage. We don't -know-. So the Admiral asked me, and by extension you, to check into his activities and see if we can find out what he's up to."

"The ships may be part of the politics," she goes on. "Or they may not be. At first I was thinking that some faction in the Quorum knew they'd be here, and that Everette was supposed to do something with them, or to them...but if they're here because the Cylons tampered with them..."

Callisto shakes her head. "If you haven't told the Admiral about that yet, then that's the very next thing to do. That could change everything."

[CIC BS: Valkyrie]

Originally Posted By: Doc Hamal

Eh? Terrance stopped and looked around, it was practically deserted and very much quiet. He retrived the coffee and stood there in the silence waiting, listening to see if the conversation would start back up.

Battlestar Valkyrie, Galley

The two men picked up their conversation again keeping their voices down. „Just make sure he doesn't make it. I don't care how.“

Then the men were getting closer but Terrance managed to hide behind the machine. Unfortunately that also took any chances at identifying the men. Just when he thought he was safe one of the two men briefly glanced back into the Galley. Was that Lt. Everette? He wasn't sure, it was too dark and he was too fast gone again.

–

Battlestar Valkyrie, Starboard Flightdeck

Harris couldn't believe the news. This was something the Chief had to know. He searched the Office for her but she wasn't around. If she wasn't there then she must've been on Deck – most likely checking out the missile loading mechanism.

He was right – there she was arguing with some of the new guys. He considered giving the guys a break but thought it would damage her authority. That's something they had to go through – everyone of them.

She dismissed the Deckhands and Harris slowly approached her. “Chief?”, she flashed him an angry look but quickly softened her gaze. Harris was not to blame for her foul mood. “I can leave if you want”, he offered half apologizing.

[Rorx]

"I can see some faction in the Quorum putting a spy aboard the fleet to screw things up, but I can't really see them executing the entire bridge crew of a ship and rigging another ship to blow up with gods knows how many people aboard when another ship tries to rescue them. Or do you really think factions of our own government would do that sort of thing to us? On the other hand I can see people working for the cylans doing those things, human casualties would be a bonus for them. So which do you think is more likely?"

[z-Agrippina Solas]

The Chief was beyond pissy. Not only was trouble landing in her lap left and right, but she was having to deal with incompetent Deckhands. "What the frak do you think you're doing!" she screamed. It wasn't a question, and she didn't give them time to answer. "You don't connect this here, you connect here! Gods save me from morons!" The last was accompanied by a metallic thud as she ripped the offending hardware out and led it on a controlled fall to the floor. "Do it again!"

She started when she saw Harris approaching. "No, no..." she grumbled, waving the man over. "I just need to be given a couple of new Deckhands." Behind them, a clinking noise revealed that the two still didn't quite have it. She looked over her shoulder as they hurriedly struggled to correct. "What's up, Harris?"

[SalmonMax]

"It doesn't -matter- what I think," Callisto reminds him.

"Our job is to find out. Not to speculate. Now it looks like there's several different angles on this. Lets each pick one, and keep each other informed so we don't step on each other's toes."

[Celestial Centurion]

Originally Posted By: CIC BS: Valkyrie

"Just make sure he doesn't make it. I don't care how."

Was that Lt. Everette? He wasn't sure, it was too dark and he was too fast gone again.

Dr. Terrance "Terry" Hamal, was not what one would call an optimistic man. He naturally assumed the worst and only downgraded his assessment of things as evidence allowed. It made him a good doctor but it also made him a bit paranoid at times. This was one of those times. Somebody wants to make sure Lorenzo doesn't recover, doesn't identify who attacked him.

The Doc squeezed his doughy bulk in a gap between the wall and the vend machine until the mystery men were gone and then took off for med bay as fast as he could run. He was huffing and puffing heavily before he had made it half way there and was practically nauseaous when he arrived.

"Nurse," he gaped as he doubled over and tried to suck in enough air to blow the fire out of his lungs. "How is ... How is Lorenzo?"

[CIC BS: Valkyrie]

Battlestar Valkyrie, Med Bay

The nurse looked up surprised at the exhausted Doctor. "We keep him in coma and got his vitals on screen. I can get an update for you if you want, Sir."

The nurse stood up waiting for a response and looked very confused by the sudden appearance of the Doctor.

[Celestial Centurion]

Gasping for air Terry holds up his hand. He gives an exasperated roll of the eyes and grabs an oxygen mask off one of the nearby tanks and turn the valve on. After a few deep breaths he turns the valve off and looks visibly recovered. "No need, no need. Umm, get me the Marine watch commander though, I'd like to get some men up here. If whomever tried to bash young Lorenzo's brains out decides to come back I'd rather there be some big strapping young lads with guns here to greet him."

[Callsign Bedrock]

"I wanted to be certain, before I started telling wild ghost stories. Which means I want another look at the ship's computer, so that's the 'angle' I'll take."

[Rorx]

"Ok, my point is that someone or ones who could get through the security around the Quorum members walked onto the bridge and killed them all, largely execution style. That means they were trusted, they had infiltrated the system. Until Lt Bedrock can get a crew and passenger list from the ship we can't even be sure who was killed on the bridge let alone if they were meant to be there or not. Indeed, if the people we now have aboard our ships were meant to be there or not."

He shifts in his seat uncomfortably for a second.

"I know it may be paranoia brought on by being out here on the line, but to me what has happend to these ships, together with the computer code, seems more like something to dowiththe toasters than a faction of the Quorum. If they have people willing to do things for them like on these ships perhaps we need to consider that Lt Everette may be working for them rather than for a Quorum faction?"

[CIC BS: Valkyrie]

Battlestar Valkyrie, Starboard Flightdeck

Originally Posted By: Agrippina Solas

She started when she saw Harris approaching. "No, no..." she grumbled, waving the man over. "I just need to be given a couple of new Deckhands." Behind them, a clinking noise revealed that the two still didn't quite have it. She looked over her shoulder as they hurriedly struggled to correct. "What's up, Harris?"

"It's about Lorenzo - He's alive. Well, he's in a coma but at least he's alive. I thought you wanted to know...", Harris wasn't good at this stuff. He knew it was important to the chief and immediately made his way to her when he heard two nurses talk about it.

Battlestar Valkyrie, Med Bay

Originally Posted By: Doc Hamal

Gasping for air Terry holds up his hand. He gives an exasperated roll of the eyes and grabs an oxygen mask off one of the nearby tanks and turn the valve on. After a few deep breaths he turns the valve off and looks visibly recovered. "No need, no need. Umm, get me the Marine watch commander though, I'd like to get some men up here. If whomever tried to bash young Lorenzo's brains out decides to come back I'd rather there be some big strapping young lads with guns here to greet him."

"Of course, Sir.", the nurse stood up to execute the order but hesitated for a moment. "Sir? I was wondering... is that necessary? There are already two Marines guarding the door. A Lt. Everette issued that order right after the surgery." The nurse was at the door ready to do what the Doc said anyway, but she wanted to make sure it was ok.

[z-Agrippina Solas]

Originally Posted By: CIC BS: Valkyrie

Battlestar Valkyrie, Starboard Flightdeck
"It's about Lorenzo - He's alive. Well, he's in a coma but at least he's alive. I thought you wanted to know...", Harris wasn't good at this stuff. He knew it was important to the chief and immediately made his way to her when he heard two nurses talk about it.

Solas stared at Harris for a long moment. One could almost see her thinking. Even more interesting was the red flush that crawled up her face. It wasn't embarrassment; any deckhand could tell you that. It was a running joke that you could tell how angry the Chief was by how red her face got. And right now, even the normally pale slash of her scar was seeping through with color.

Then she moved, striding toward her wall. Her fingers curled around the haft of her hammer and lifted it clear of the brackets. "Sir?" Harris asked.

"I'm off-duty," Agrippina growled as she marched for the door. "And I just remembered that I need to have a chat with someone..."

[Celestial Centurion]

Terry frowned, "Get me the commander, I'll talk to him myself."

The doctor waited as the nurse got the Marine officer on the line then he took the reciever, "Yes, this is Dr. Hamal, did Lt. Everette ask you to put two men outside my sickbay?"

[SalmonMax]

Callisto frowned. The intel that Everette worked for the Quorum came from the Admiral. She didn't think he'd order this kind of off the books investigation unless he had some confidence in it.

"It's -possible- we're working the same case from two ends," she said after thinking, "but it's also possible that what happened to those ships, and what the Lieutenant is up to are two separate things. I don't want to jump to conclusions on this."

"That said, lets handle it this way. Bedrock, you get on the computers and see what you can find out about this hack. I'll chase down the Chief and finish with her...she was saying something interesting before she was interrupted. Then I'll put together an interim report for the Admiral."

She nods at Scarface. "As for you, I want you to check with the survivors from the other ships we managed to get on board. See if they can tell you anything they haven't already. And make sure, quietly, that they're under guard and their movements controlled."

"Anything else you guys want to add, or are we set for now?"

[Rorx]

"What are the Lt's duties? It would help if we knew what he was meant to be upto if we are going to try to catch him at something he isn't meant to be doing. I'll contact the Marine Commander and get some people to 'assist the survivors with orientation on the fleet vessels', that might pass without arousing too many suspicions."

[SalmonMax]

Callisto nods. "I'll look into Everette for now. You two find out what you can and give me a status report before noon. I'll pass on what we have then to the Admiral and see what he thinks."

[CIC BS: Valkyrie]

Originally Posted By: Doc Hamal

Terry frowned, "Get me the commander, I'll talk to him myself."

The doctor waited as the nurse got the Marine officer on the line then he took the reciever, "Yes, this is Dr. Hamal, did Lt. Everette ask you to put two men outside my sickbay?"

"Lt. Who?", asked the Commander. "Let me check that, Major."

There was a shuffling sound in the background and a few moments later he was back on the line. "Lt. Everette of the CIC? Never met that man. I don't know anything about two of my men being put outside your sickbay. Do we have a situation, Major?"

The Commander's voice was calm and determined.

[Celestial Centurion]

"Frak. Commander, we most definately have a problem. Specialist Lorenzo was attacked and almost killed yesterday, I managed to stabilize him. On a hunch I came down to sickbay to have a nurse request two of your men be set to watch over the specialist lest his attacker return and she informed me that Lt. Everette had already done so. And now you are telling me those are not your me. I'd say we have a significant problem sir." Terry was wide awake now and had started to sweat nervously. He pulled the phone out to the limit of its cord and looked down at the two men standing by the door. "I'd very much appreciate it if you could send some of your Marines down here immediately."

[CIC BS: Valkyrie]

"I understand, Major. I'll sent you four of my men right now. I will contact the CIC in the meantime and ask for Lt. Everette to report to me. We'll get to the ground of this ASAP, Major."

The Commander was about to hang up...

[z-Agrippina Solas]

"Hi, doc." The voice carried like a thunder snap, and if Agrippina realized that the doctor was on the phone, it didn't seem to matter. Her hammer was held loosely in her right hand, not at all in an offensive position, though that hadn't stopped the nervous reactions around her. "I don't suppose you have a patient here - one still alive, I should clarify - named Lorenzo? As I was accused of murdering him earlier today, you can understand I'd like to clear a few things up."

[SalmonMax]

Having concluded the meeting on what was a positive note, in her opinion, Callisto was in fairly good spirits as she headed down to the flight deck. That was to change.

The last person anyone had seen with the Chief was Harris. And Harris didn't have happy news.

"I saw her heading off that way," he indicated nervously, "With her hammer."

That brought Callisto up short. "What were you two talking about?"

He explained to her the situation with Lorenzo...the unlucky deckhand who'd turned up dead, prompting Everett to sequester the Chief briefly, and who was now alive.

And there was that magic name. Everett.

The CAG thanked Harris and sprinted off in the direction he'd pointed. She was ready to race Aggripina to the medbay if need be, but the Chief had a head start and got there ahead of her.

She slowed to a trot, then stopped, far enough to be discrete, close enough to eavesdrop...and intervene if need be.