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"We're not leaving anyone behind!"
Thane looks coldly at Apollo. It's the look he gets justbefore he's ready to spring.
"We'll see, Captain. We'll see."
Apollo, busy seeing to Voight, doesn't hear Thane. Iwish I hadn't. Thane's all coiled up inside. If that
tensiongets released, I don't know if I can handle it.
Boomer, directing his light toward another gash in theside of the shuttle, reports to Apollo:
"It isn't good. She'll never fly again."
Great!
"Worse," Apollo comments, "she can't sustain life inside. All of her systems are purged."
Terrific, even better!
"Looking on the brighter side," Boomer says, "I thinkthe snow ram's operable."
"Let's get her out fast, then, so we can move the wounded into her."
Apollo takes a step toward the gash. Outside, thesound of a far-off aircraft becomes louder quickly.
Apollotries to look out the opening. The roar grows to adeafening scream as a Cylon fighter flies over us.
"He'll be back!" Apollo cries. "We better get everyoneout of the shuttle. Boomer, Croft, help me get the
snowram."
The three of us crawl into the hold containing thesnow-ram vehicle. Apollo climbs into it, and starts
throwing switches. As I climb into the other side, I amstartled out of my wits by a low growl. Apollo
whirls in hisseat and shines his light toward the rear of the snow ram.A child and a furry animal crouch
there, huddled into acorner, obviously on the verge of becoming one youthfuland one furry icicle.
"Boxey!" Apollo shouts, amazed. Apparently heknows the kid. Unless Boxey's the animal. The child
crawls forward, attempts a smile that turns out painfullyweak.
"Muffit wanted to see snow," he says. Muffit must bethe animal. It sidles to the boy's side. It's not an
animal.It's some sort of droid version of an animal. A copy of adaggit, I think, though I haven't seen a
daggit since Godknows when.Apollo looks ready to bawl out the kid, but he reactsinstead to the obvious
fact that the kid is terribly cold andscared.
"Come here, son," Apollo says softly, affectionately.Did I hear right? The kid is Apollo's son? That's just
perfect.
The kid hugs Apollo. Apollo hugs back.Cozy.
"I'm sorry," the kid says.
"It's all right," Apollo says soothingly. "It's all right."
I resist saying maybe it's all right withyou, but whatabout the rest of us? The droid must be a mind
reader. Helooks my way and growls again.
I don't like this setup and I don't like the way it's going.Wolfe may have a gun, Thane is ready to cut
throats,Leda who knows what ever goes on in Leda's head? Apollo's trying to assert command over a
bunch to whomcommand is a threat. We have no shuttle to return to theGalacticain. A Cylon fighter
plane may be returning at any moment. The captain's kid is a stowaway. I've got to put up with his
mechanical pet growling meanly at me.There's snow everywhere and it's colder than a Scorpionslumlord.
We're expected to climb a mountain that mightnot even have a rock you can cling to without sliding off,
knock off a weapon that can destroy a whole fleet, escapewith our teeth intact. Nope, I don't like this
setup one bit,and it's beginning to look like it's going to have to be mewho makes it function at all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cylon scout ships had once again detected a flaw in thecamouflage force field of BattlestarGalactica
and its ragtag fleet, and Imperious Leader was quite pleased toverify that the humans, their progress
slowed almost to astandstill, had fallen right into his trap. It was obvious they were trying to stay out of
the accuracy range of thelaser cannon on Mount Hekla. It was time to prod Adamaand his vile human
forces. Turning to the ring of executiveofficers surrounding his high pedestal, he ordered:
"I wish to close in on the human fleet. Double ourspeed and inform our warriors to make ready. This will
bethe final battle. Send out one phalanx of the ghost ships toattack the fleet immediately. I want them
frightened andaware we have discovered them."
Satisfied with his strategy, he dispatched the officers. The ghost-ship phalanx should serve to confuse
Adama'sfleet. The development of the pilotless warhead aircraft had been one of First Centurion Vulpa's
finest ideas. IfVulpa did succeed to the position of Imperious Leader,his technologically innovative
abilities should be vastlyimproved by the addition of the third brain.
He reviewed the details of his plan, satisfied with thegeneral outline of squeezing the humans between the
Cylon pursuit force and the Mount Hekla weapon. Although there was no apparent reason to doubt, he
decided to consult the Starbuck simulation again.Turning to the simulator, which he had not yet sent away
from his pedestal, he stared at the telepathy-template and requested the simulacrum of the arrogant
human lieuten-ant.
"Hi, chum," the Starbuck simulacrum said after theoutline of his body had solidified. Turning his attention
back to the telepathy-template, the Leader ordered thatthe simulacrum have memory of their previous
conversa-tions.
"I'm still not going to help you," the Starbuck said.
"You can't avoid it. Your programming impels you toanswer any question according to the knowledge
we haveaccumulated about your real self."
"You can take all your programming strips and eatthem for breakfast, bug-eyes. Better than primaries
anyday."
"Do you know about our pilotless aircraft?"
"Your ships are pilotless even when you guys are inthem."
Suppressing his anger, Imperious Leader turnedtoward the template and ordered that knowledge of the
ghost ships be added to the simulacrum's information. The Starbuck smiled as soon as the information
was provided it.
"Trying to spook us, then. Nice play, I'll give youcredit."
"Oh?"
"Sure. We humans have a natural tendency towardsuspicion. Give us a force we can't explain, or a
strangeshape drifting through the darkness, and we all feel aclutching in our chest, a shiver up our spine,
and the urgeto run for the hills."
"Then the ghost ships will be a successful maneuver?"
The Starbuck appeared to think for a moment. Thesimulator was searching its data banks for an
appropriatehuman-language response.
"Doubt it," the Starbuck finally said.
"Why do you say that?"
"It's like this: Adama. You can't fool him with magictricks. He ain't like the rest of us. Sometimes he's
downright inhuman."
"Then you believe he might not be, to use your word,spooked by our pilotless aircraft?"
"You might spook him a little, but you won't scarehim."
"What is the precise difference in terminology?"
"Spooking requires merely a feeling that the object ismysterious; scaring requires that the object come
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