Islands in the Sky

  "You want to take us up?" Starbuck said. "You seem to..."

  "I'd do it, but I'm afrai I'll have to admit reluctantly that your

  instincts would serve us better just now."

  Starbuck strapped himself into the pilot's seat and tried to get the

  feel of the strange ship from its rattling vibrations.

  "Okay to lift off?" he asked Cassiopeia.

  She smiled and raised an eyebrow. Studying the the equipment, she

  replied.

  "Okay. Lift off!"

  Cassiopeia had done her part of the job so well that they took

  flight just behind the shuttles. But the tanker was slower and too

  weighted down. It could not keep up. Starbuck watched the shuttles

  disappear through the clouds, leaving a brief red glow on their ominous

  black surfaces. It was a product of his imagination, he knew, but he

  thought he could sense the volatile liquid Tylium sloshing against the

  sides of its heavy containers. One good jarring shock and it was

  goodbye, bucko. Starbuck would be happy to deposit this payload upon the

  deck of the Galactica where experts could tenderly transport it to safe

  cargoholds.

  "Scanner shows Cylon craft approaching us just below the level of

  the cloud cover," Starbuck said.

  "Are the shuttles in trouble?" Cassiopeia asked.

  "Nope. They seemed to have gotton off in time, or else the Cylons

  don't give a hoot about a pair of surface-to-air shuttlecrafts."

  "They seem to give a hoot about us."

  "I'll have to try evasion tactics. Hold on!"

  Starbuck leveled off the tanker and headed it north, over the

  Ubbo-Sathla gambling chancery and Tylium mine and underneath the Cylon

  ships revealed by the scanner. The Cylons did not alter their direction,

  but instead started up through the clouds. Starbuck looked below. Some

  Ubbo-Sathlas had emerged from the ground and were running around

  frantically. Starbuck wondered what their running amok was all about,

  when he heard a deep rumble from the ground area. It came through loud

  and clear over the rattle of the tanker.

  "What's that?" Cassiopeia said.

  "An explosion! In the mine. Something's setting Tyliuim off. We

  have to get the blazes out of here!"

  Cassiopeia shrieked.

  Starbuck knew exactly what was going through her mind. If the

  tremors from the underground explosion rocked the tanker, the Tylium in

  its holds would----he didn't want to think about it. The planet itself

  could go up. He headed the tanker toward the clouds again. If he got

  away from Carillon, if he got away from the perimeters of the mine

  explosions, if he successfully avoided pursers, if he didn't encounter

  the attacking Cylon Star Force, if he could get through any fighters

  attacking the Galactica, if he could execute the extremely difficult

  landing of a tanker full of volatile fuel upon the deck of a besieged

  battlestar...if he could do all that, everything else was easy. All he

  had to do then was climb in his viper and go off and join his buddies in

  the suicidal battle against the Cylons. Not to worry, he told himself,

  everything was just hunky-dory.

  A second, more powerful explosion rocked the tanker.

  "Oh, no!" Cassiopeia yelled, looking out the side window. Starbuck

  could see fire reflections on the glass and he knew immediately that

  something down on the Carillon's Lot surface, perhaps the mine itself,

  was on fire, and perhaps setting off chain reactions all along the

  surface of the planet. He aimed the tanker for a particularly dark

  cloud. As he went into it, he passed a Cylon warship coming out. He

  could sene it swinging around to follow, even though he now could see

  nothing but cloud outside any portal.

  *****

  Apollo sliced a Cylon ship into ragged, burning fragments. Glancing

  to his left, he saw Jolly's plane in trouble.

  "Look out on your wing, Jolly," he cried.

  "Which one?" Jolly responded. "They're coming in from all over the

  place. They're..."

  Jolly was interrupted by a hit on his tail. His fighter started

  rocking from side to side.

  "There's too many of 'em, Skpper," Greenbean shouted.

  "What do you mean, too many?" Jolly said. "I'm here, aren't I?

  Watch out at three o'clock, skipper!"

  Apollo evaded the Cylon with a sweep left, a quarter turn and a spin

  to the right. Coming out of spin, he opened fire, cleaving his attacker

  across the middle. Both pieces started to go out of control and fall

  toward Carillon's Lot. Another Cylons fighter started tracking in his

  wake and firing, and he put his viper into a reverse loop, coming down on

  the Cylon from above and running a line of fire along the toop of the

  entire aircraft. A sudden explosion and the Cylon ship had been

  instantly transfigured to debris.

  In the distance he could see one of the fighters of the Blue

  Squadron shattering under the fire of eight Cylon attackers.

  "Don't think we can hold out much longer, Captain," Jolly shouted.

  "Phon just bought it."

  "Do your best."

  "I'm doing miracles, sir, but it's not..."

  Jolly's sentence got cut off by a trio of swooping Cylons. Apollo

  couldn't wait around to see the outcome of the attack, because he was

  abruptly faced by a dozen of the enemy trying to make him the spoke of

  their pinwheel attack.

  *****

  A bridge officer reported to Adama that four of the Cylon ships that

  had sneaked onto the surface of Carillon's Lot were now emerging from the

  cloud cover, apparently to join the alien attack armada and attack the

  Galactica's squadron from behind. However, they did not count on the

  artillery on the Galactica and the luxury liner Rising Star. Catching

  the Cylon craft as they attempted a flyby, both large ships opened fire

  with long-range beams. The four ships exploded almost simultaneously.

  The crew on the Galactica bridge cheered.

  "Another unidentified vessel approaching," Tigh said. " Looks

  like---yes!----it's one of those Ubbo-Sathla freighters. Could they be

  launching an attack? Might be trouble. Should I order it fired on?"

  "NO!" screamed Athena from the communications console. "It's

  Starbuck. He just radioed. He's bringing a Tylium load."

  "A Tylium load. Here? In the middle of combat?" Tigh said,

  incredulous.

  Adama laughed, a bizarre sound to the crew around him, who had not

  heard him laugh so heartily for some time.

  "That's Starbuck. Prepare the landing deck. Well, prepare it!"

  The bridge crew sprang into action.

  "Oh, no!" Athena screamed, as she stared at the scanner screen.

  Just beyond the tanker a Cylon fighter had broken from the

  Carillon's Lot cloud cover, heading directly for Starbuck's ship.

  "No, he can't be killed!" Athena yelled.

  From another corner of the screen a viper, just launched from the

  Galactica, appeared.

  "That's B
oomer's ship," Tigh cried.

  Boomer's viper raced on a course to intercept the Cylon that was

  zeroing in on Starbuck. On the Galactica's bridge, everybody held their

  breaths simultaneously. Just s it seemed the Cylon fighter would open

  fire on the tanker, Boomer guided his ship to a position in between the

  Cylon and the tanker, and opened fire. In a second the Cylon ship was a

  collection of specks that looked like momentary jamming interference on

  the viewing screen. Another cheer went up from the bridge crew.

  "Look at that, will you, Tigh?" Adama said, pointing to the screen.

  Then he gestured toward other screens showing Cylon aircraft being hit by

  the smaller but more maneuverable Colonial Fleet vipers. "We're doing

  it. This ship, it's, I don't know, it's..."

  "Coming back to life," Athena said, coming up beside her father.

  "That's exactly it, it's as if the Galactica' s been sick, tainted

  by running away from the battle. Now we're proving ourselves again,

  we're..."

  "Wait!" Tigh said. "Listen!"

  He turned up a volume switch. Boomer's voice literally boomed

  throughout the bridge.

  "Hey, you guys, move over. Let me have some of this."

  "Boomer!" Apollo said. "Where have you been?"

  "You know damn well where I've been. On your lousy milk run."

  On the screen Boomer's viper started blasting at a trio of Cylon

  ships, all of which seemed to explode at the same time.

  "Boom...boom...boom," Boomer said.

  "Hey, Boomer," Apollo said. "Welcome home."

  Apollo's ship streaked into the picture. His and Boomer's craft

  seemed to touch wings as they headed toward a line of Cylon fighters.

  "Hey, guys," Jolly shouted, "we've got a fighting chance."

  "You know it!" Boomer shouted. "In a mili-centon we're gonna be

  filling this sky with fire!"

  Adama turned toward Tigh.

  "Jolly's right," he said. "We've got more than a chance. Are all

  our people back on board?"

  "When Starbuck gets here with the fuel freighter, that ought to be

  everybody. Nobody else reporting in from Carillon's Lot. Things are bad

  down there anyway. Explosions." Tigh paused. "God, we lost a lot of

  people down there."

  Adama nodded.

  "Yes," he said, "and all that I can think of to say is, we've seen

  worse. Not very comforting. But we're turning it around now. I can

  feel it. We'll get those slimy----the Galactica's alive again, do you

  understand, Tigh, do you?"

  Tigh looked at his commander as if he thought him on the verge of

  madness, but he nodded agreement anyway.

  On the screens Cylon ships were blowing up all over the sky, as the

  human pests inside their vipers slipped in and out of the enemy's traps.

  Concentrating their attaention on a separate screen, Adama and

  Athena watched Starbuck's approach to the landing deck.

  "Easy, boy," Adama muttered.

  "Don't blow it now, bucko, please, please don't blow it now," Athena

  whispered.

  The tanker seemed too large, too bulky for a smooth landing,

  especially under the present battle conditions.

  "He's going to make it, Father!" Athena cried.

  "You're right about that. If he doesn't, there'll be a hole in the

  side of this battlestar big enough to send it out of commission for a

  good long time, maybe forever. Watch it, Starbuck. That's right. Good.

  Easy, now."

  One miscue, one bad bounce on the Galactica's deck, and the tanker

  was sure to explode. And Starbuck was already notorious for flashy

  landings. Just before the ship made contact with the deck, both Adama

  and Athena inhaled sharply and audibly.

  "C'mon, bucko," Tigh whispered.

  Starbuck eased the tanker onto the deck so smoothly, so delicately,

  the fuel ship appeared weightless. When it gently glided to a stop,

  another unanimous cheer went up from the bridge crew. Adama could not

  help smiling.

  "Precision flying?" Athena said to him.

  "Exactly!' Adama shouted.

  Starbuck ran down the gangway as the crew began unloading the

  tanker, rapidly but delicately. Athena's jubilant mood was momentarily

  diminished when she saw the tall socialator, looking quite

  self-satisfied, follow Starbuck down the gangway. But her anger was

  brief. At least Starbuck was alive. That was what counted.

  *****

  Starbuck joined the battle by paying back Boomer his favor. One

  after the other he wiped out four Cylon ships that had Boomer caught in a

  pinwheel attack.

  "Anybody want to fly over and touch me for luck?" Starbuck yelled.

  "Starbuck..." Apollo said.

  "Yo!"

  "On your tail."

  He looked over his shoulder. A Cylon fighter coming in from each

  side.

  "Nothing to worry about," he said. But a Cylon laser torpedo came

  too close and the explosion sent Starbuck's ship rocking. He banked it

  over and away from the pair of Cylons, who continued pursit.

  "Boomer," Apollo said, "you give him a hand?"

  "Again? Well, I'm trying."

  Boomer swung over and began firing.

  "Don't take too long, Boomer," Starbuck said.

  Another explosion shook Starbuck's ship. Boomer got the attacker in

  his sights and pulled the trigger with a vengeance. The Cylon fighter

  made a thousand beautiful little pieces.

  "C'mon, Starbuck, Boomer," Apollo yelled. "Let's triple-team 'em."

  The three fighters quickly formed a triangular formation much like

  the one they'd used in blazing the path through the minefield, and they

  swept down together on the wall of Cylon ships, shooting left and right,

  up and down. Cracks seemed to form in the Cylon ranks. A series of

  explosions joined many of the close-flying craft. Apollo, Starbuck, and

  Boomer all together went into a tight turn and fled the counterattack.

  "That's a few for the Atlantia," Starbuck said.

  "And one for Zac," Apollo said.

  Other Vipers from the Red and Blue squadrons came together and

  blasted away at the Cylon spacecraft. The wall of menace was quickly

  becoming a wall of fire and shattered fighters, Starbuck thought, as he

  swooped down on still another sitting duck target.

 

  ******

  On the bridge the reports came in so fast that they were difficult

  to assimilate. Adama felt at the center of a vast network of

  communications.

  "Commander? Scanner shows a series of mammoth explosions on the

  surface of Carillon's Lot. Half the planet is blowing up, it looks

  like!"

  A screen displayed the large fires on the planet's surface. Another

  one showed many explosions occurring in the sky above the mine.

  "What're those?" Adama asked.

  "Not sure, be we think it's the rest of the Cylon war party that

  sneak-attacked us down there. Appears they all didn't take off before

  the
mine explosions started."

  "Commander," Tigh reported, "the Cylon Supreme Star Force seems to

  be retreating, at least for the moment. Should we give pursuit? All our

  pilots are begging to pursue."

  Adama wanted to give the order to pursue, but it was too dangerous

  to let the vipers get too far away from the main fleet.

  "No," he said, "we must conserve our resources. There's too much to

  do, yet."

  "Should I order the vipers to return to base?"

  "No, we better go out and meet them. Contact the Rising Star and

  the other ships. Tell them we're all heading through the minefield

  corridor. We've got to get out of this trap, then set all ships for the

  hyperspace jump back. I don't know for sure what's going on down on

  Carillon's Lot, but we can't afford to take chances----we've got to get

  moving in case the whole planet blows up. It gets any worse down there

  and, what with a working minefield on one side and exploding planet on

  the other, we'd be between the devil and the deep blue sea."

  "Yes, sir," Tigh said. "I'm on it."

  Adama raced around the bridge as they set their course for the

  minefield corridor. He barked orders, directing the assembling of the

  fleet, the tricky flight through the minefield, and the subsequent

  landing of the flight squadrons.

  *****

  The new crisis developed almost as soon as all the ships were

  outside the minefield. The Cylons had reassembled, rebuilt their

  attacking wall, and were heading back toward the fleet.

  Adama turned to Apollo.

  "All right, Captain," he said, "what's our potential? Can we give

  them a good fight, Apollo?"

  Apollo punched out the information on the board below the main

  scanner, examined the data that came up on the screen.

  "I'm afraid not, sir. There's still too many of them. In the long

  run, they'd wear us down. If we hadn't just been through a fight, we

  might be able to do something, but just now..."

  "All right, all right. After the last time, I hate like hades to

  retreat from another battle. I don't want the military record of the

  Galactica to be tainted again."

  "Sir, it's hardly taint when we're saving what's left of the human

  race."

  "That's what I said the first time."

  "You have the knack of always being right."

  Apollo and Adama exchanged smiles. Adama saw, over his son's

  shoulders, that his daughter endorsed Apollo's words.

  "And anyway," Starbuck interjected, "you know the old maxim: we're

  not retreating, wer'e just advancing in another direction."

  "All right, then, we'll make the hyperspace jump in..."

  "Sir, there isn't time," Tigh said. "The Cylons'll close in on us