Glen A. Larson - The cylon death machine

FROM THE ADAMA JOURNALS:

Croft.

Who is he? Where did he come from? Am I really a part of his memories, orjust a substitute for authority figures in general? Even when he described the incident where we crossed paths, and I pretended to remember it because he needed for me to remember it and I needed him for the mission, I could not recall a single aspect of the brief adventure.

Later, when I had some time, I went to my quarters and requested from Galacticas computer a printout of my journals covering that time period,the time when he claimed Id supervised the capture of his gang and the shipcontaining their booty while they were fleeing from their raid on the Cylon platinum mines. Studying the pages, the only reference I could find to the incident, or an episode which could have been the incident, was this:

Routine was interrupted today by an apparent pirate ship that stumbled intoour sector, seemingly the result of a miscalculation in course. Ship tried to escape, but when they had our pursuers in their sights, their commander refused to fire on us, and ship and crew were easily netted. Tigh says their holds were quite rich in plundered cargo. I told him to take care of thematter fairly and to send the prisoners to the proper judges.

Could that commander have been Croft, could that cargo have been theplatinum? Why didnt I record the name of a man who allowed himself and his gangto be captured rather than firing on his own kind? Wouldnt the fact that thecargo had been Cylon platinum be worth noting?

The note seems to indicate I didnt even see these particular brigands, yetCroft insists we had a face-to-face confrontation. I should recall such a meeting vividly. After all, wouldnt I have been impressed that the leader of apirate group had once been a full-fledged commander of a garrison, and wouldntI have recorded my bewilderment that such a vital and intelligent man had corrupted his worth in a petty crime? The escapades of such a daring renegade commander deserve more than just a passing mention in my journal, I think.

There is nothing in the surrounding entries to indicate that I was busy with some more important matters that might have prevented my entering a full report of the incident. Further, the journal note that remains is so routinely worded, so militarily matter-of-fact, that I cant believe that I wouldnt have let atleast a hint of Crofts personality or the uniqueness of his exploit enter myjournal. What could have been going on in my head at the time that caused me to miss the essential point of the episode? I can only believe that internal evidence suggests that the entry is about a different group of crooks and that Croft has mistaken me for somebody else, some other commander performing his normal duty.

Still, if it was Croft and his gang, I am sorry I do not remember him or the details of his capture that have been so large an obsession for him during his confinement aboard the prison grid barge. To Croft that episode seems to have been the major event of his life. Its too bad that, while he dwelt on his hopesfor revenge so fiercely, our confrontation was only a forgettable moment for me; an entry in my journal that calls forth no pictures of the event it describes.

This time the trap must work.

It must, the Imperious Leader of the Cylons had commanded, snare the human fleet completely. The humans should not be able to execute one of their sneaky last-minute escapes. There could be no overlooked malfunction in the trapsmechanisms. For too long now the Cylon forces had chased after Adamasassemblage of mismatched ships (a captured prisoner had referred to them as a ragtag fleet, a meaningless term since it could not be translated into the Cylon language).

His executive officers, tired of battling the human pest, had acceded readily to the Leaders plan to force the human ships, especially the Galactica, into the range of the awesomely efficient laser cannon on the ice planet Tairac.

Imperious Leader was particularly pleased that the final destructive assault should originate on Tairac because the garrison there was commanded by the exiled first centurion, Vulpa. It was fitting that the outspoken Vulpa should deliver the final blow. He would learn obedience and regain status at the same time.

The Leader recalled vividly the day he had been obligated to send Vulpa, one of his most valued officers, into exile.

Perhaps we should abandon pursuit of the humans, Vulpa had suggested in themiddle of a briefing. The executive officers closest to Vulpa had immediately moved away from him, knowing that the oddly ambitious first centurion had finally overstepped the proper bounds.

Abandon pursuit? the Leader had said. Vulpa took the question as aninvitation to pursue the subject. The Leader knew he was drawing Vulpa into inevitable errors of Cylon decorum, and he was sorry to have to do so, but there was no other choice when a Cylon acted in an un-Cylon-like manner.

I suggest, Vulpa had said, the arrogance in his voice quite above hisstation, that we allow the humans to continue their foolish quest toward thefar reaches of known space. As long as they do not contaminate any part of our own dominions, they do not pose a threat significant enough for the continued waste of Cylon time and personnel. We have, after all, achieved our goal. Except for that small band of fleeing survivors and the remaining enslaved humans on some outworlds we control, the human race has been exterminated. The warhas been won.

You wish to criticize my decision? Imperious Leader had said politely,giving Vulpa a final chance to back down from his unsuitable position.

Leader, Vulpa had replied, your wisdom and judgment are vitally neededback on our home worlds. You would even be cheered for abandoning the

Silence, First Centurion Vulpa! You assume my right of omniscient judgment.As long as a free human is left alive, the chance they could return in large numbers at a later time is a threat that cannot be abided. Humans breed faster than Cylons, even though their lifespan is shorter. Do you not remember how their resourcefulness made the war against them last too long, longer than it should have? Even now the human insects are winning battles and skirmishes against us. Remember how a small squadron of human viperships wrecked our attacking wall of fighters at the Battle of Carillon. I cannot rest until we have achieved the goal of human extermination. A period of exile, FirstCenturion Vulpa, should aid you to realize the importance of my objectivesand,perhaps, lessen your unfortunate impulses toward ambition.

As Vulpa had slunk off the command deck, Imperious Leader had almost felt sorry for the punished centurion. However, he had known for some time that Vulpa would draw such punishment eventually. Vulpas excessive displays of ambitionhad to be countered. He clearly hoped to be the next Imperious Leader, and he did not lack qualifications for the position, if only he would stop exhibiting his ambition for it so openly.

Ambition was rarely observed among Cylons. Imperious Leader had not had an inkling of what the word meant until he had been awarded third-brain and absolute power over the Cylon Alliance.

Vulpa, however, had always been something of a renegade Cylon. As a fighter pilot, while still at first-brain status, he had been more aggressive than his peers, so suicidally aggressive that it seemed surprising that he had survived to second-brain and then executive-officer status. Normally Cylons at Vulpaslevel knew how to maintain a showing of absolute obedience whether they felt it or not. Imperious Leader hoped that the exile would force some sense into him, since he so obviously did have the potential to become the next Imperious Leader, plus abilities that would make him exceptional at the job.