~~~~~~~
When you need to get from here to there,
eliminate the stress, go with the best.
Moving made easy,
with Colonial Movers!
*****
The young blonde tried one more connection on the
evaporator. It still would not start. Instead it
wheezed one time then turned over with a gear-grinding
scrape and was silent.
"You stupid fracking cylon construct!" It was the
worse curse she could think up to hurl at the piece of
machinery. "Great, just great. I do not need this
felgercarb! Not now, do you understand me!" She
cursed at the evaporator again.
Her crew had already tried to make repairs to the
evaporator, even swapping it out with one of the other
evaporators on another of the shipper's compartments,
a compartment where the passengers wouldn't notice if
their air was a little stale, and if they did, so
what. They were lucky to have what accommodations
they had. Last sectar they had paid for their passage
in potar roots. Rayanna had to give the galley detail
credit. They had come up with seven different ways to
cook potar roots. But after a sectar of nothing but
potar roots her crew was getting a little mutinous.
"Next sectar they had better come up with something
good, or they can take their chances on the Agro
ships!" Rayanna said to herself, knowing that she
would never really relegate any passengers to the Agro
ships. The Agro ships had the highest civilian
casualties ever since the cylons had discovered that
was how the fleet was feeding the survivors.
"How is it that this evaporator knows this is where my
best passengers are? They always pay on time, every
sectar, right on schedule, and not just with food.
Without these passengers, you wouldn't have the parts
you need, did you ever stop and think about that you
lazy son of an air conditioner!" She spoke to the
machine again as she tried another valve, then wired
up another connection.
Rayanna did not need this right now. Any minute a
detail from the Galactica was about to show up to
conduct one of their inspections. Rayanna knew she
needed to impress them. She was one of the youngest
skippers in the fleet, and a woman too. She was
hanging on to her ship with everything she had. She
couldn't let it go, what would her father think.
It would have broken his heart to see the ship in the
condition it was. He always kept it pristine. It was
one of the cleanest moving ships in the whole Colonial
Movers fleet. The crew used to grumble about how they
had to clean out container holds with soap and water
when on other ships they would just open up the doors
and let the vacuum of space clear out the debris. But
her father's crew had also always been assigned to the
best customers, the elite of the twelve worlds and all
their belongings. Sometimes some of those belongings
would come up missing, a common tragedy of having your
worldly possessions shipped from world to world, and
one of the crew members would suddenly have a new vid
machine, or a new sofa. The customers rarely
complained, just filed a claim for the loss.
Even now they had some of the fleet's best passengers.
And they had noticed that the evaporator was down
before her crew had. They noticed when the air got a
little stale. Rayanna knew this was not the kind of
work a Captain should be doing, but she was the only
one who had had the time to read all the specs on the
new evaporators to turn cargo containers into living
quarters. In fact, she wasn't sure if half her crew
could even read. They learned most of their duties
through training's put on by other crewmembers. Plus
Rayanna had always picked up on new machinery easier
than the other crewmembers. She was very mechanically
inclined. In fact she had scored near perfect on the
Academy entrance exams when it came to mechanical
ability. If the destruction hadn't come, she would
have entered the academy this last term.
But Rayanna also knew she probably would never have
gone. Her father's health had already been failing.
Even if the end hadn't come, her father's end was
near. His dream had been for her to take over his
ship. He would have left it to his sons, had there
been sons. But there was only Rayanna, her mother
having died not long after her birth.
Rayanna's com buzzed, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yeah, go ahead Jack. What's up?"

"We've got company coming." Jack replied from the
bridge.
"Oh Frack!" Rayanna cursed. The inspection team was
almost here, and there she was up to her elbows in
grease and wires.
"How far out Jack?" Rayanna hoped for a few more
centons.
"About 5 centons skipper. You better get up here."

"Stall them for a few. I need ten more centons."

"I'll try."

"Okay baby," Rayanna spoke to the evaporator again.
"Please baby, if you just work for a little while
longer I will get you all the grease and parts your
little power core could desire. Please for me honey."
She tried one more connection and the machine started
up with a pleasant hum and the steady hiss of fresh
air passing from the vents. "Oh thank you, thank you,
thank you!" She cooed actually kissing one of the
valves.
She grabbed one of the rags nearby and started wiping
grease from her hands as she sprinted for the lift to
the landing bay.
"Jack," she said keying her com. "Let them land, I'm
ready." Rayanna frantically rolled her sleeves back
down, fastening the sleeves. She noticed all the
grease under her short nails and tried to scrape some
of it away.
"I'll meet you in the bay." Jack responded.
The lift opened as she was closing the top button of
her shirt and readjusting the collar. A lot of her
crew had shown up in the bay to watch the vipers land.
Lately they had been sending fighter pilots to
conduct the inspections as the other engineers were
tied up making repairs to the Agro ships and refitting
other ships for generating food. That was fine with
Rayanna, the pilots weren't as thorough as the
engineers were. But the pilots brought other problems
with them. Last inspection she had lost half of her
hangar crew. They'd enlisted to become warriors.
Rayanna had understood. It was hard watching those
sleek vipers come in for a perfect landing and not
want to be a pilot herself. Maybe she would have been
had the end not come and she had gone to the academy.
She could her hear father saying to her, "Wishing is
like fishing, you don't catch anything unless you put
your pole in the water." For the first time in her
life she finally understood what he meant by that.
She'd never get a chance to get close to that pond,
not now, not ever. She was in different stream now.
She watched the pilots climb out of their vipers and
knew she'd probably lose another hangar crew this
inspection. Both pilots were fit and well fed. They
were immaculate in their uniforms, medals gleaming
with polish. Both of them wore a star cluster, the
fleet's highest award. The blonde one even looked
tan, not the usual grayish green complexion that most
of the inhabitants of the fleet now had.
Rayanna turned to Jack and said, "Remind me to talk to
Siress Blasie about getting us some of those all
spectrum lights, like the Galactica has. I think she
has a connection, someone named Chenille."

"Chameleon. Yeah, she trades with him often. She
might be able to get us a deal."

"Tell her it would be worth two sectars rent just so I
could keep my hangar crew."

"Yeah, we might lose some bridge crew over these two."
Jack replied almost under his breath. "These guys
are heroes."

"Jack you wouldn't!" I flashed him a look of pure
hatred.
"Could you blame me?" He responded his eyes glued to
the two warriors as the walked across the bay. Walked
was the wrong word, Rayanna thought sauntered would be
more accurate. The blonde one was smiling and
laughing with his darker companion. Yes, Rayanna
thought, I'm going to understand, this guy is
gorgeous. The stuff heroes are made of.
The darker warrior approached Jack and held out his
hand in greeting. "Captain Ray, I'm Lt. Boomer, and
this is Lt. Starbuck. We're here for your
inspection."

Jack didn't say anything, still awestruck by the
uniforms. Rayanna leaned in between Jack and the
Lieutenant and cleared her throat.
"Excuse me, I'm Captain Rayanna."

Lt. Boomer dropped his hand and hastily pulled out a
data pad, double-checking his information. "It says
here Captain Ray."

"I know. Lt. Boomer is it? I've sent in numerous
corrections, but everything keeps coming back for a
Captain Ray."

"Well, the physical description is right, blond, blue
eyed, about 25 yahrens old, everything but the
gender." The blond Lieutenant pointed out to his
partner. "Looks like they left out the most important
information." Lt. Starbuck looked up from the data
pad smiling at Rayanna. He held out his hand to her.
"Nice to meet you Captain Rayanna."

Rayanna reached out to shake his hand. The blond man
held her hand a moment longer than the handshake
needed. Making direct eye contact, he flashed her
another smile. Rayanna had been around men long
enough in her life to know a flirt when she saw one.
She also knew how to not let it get to her. Or she
thought she knew how to not let it get to her. So why
was this guy getting to her? Rayanna smiled back.
The darker Lieutenant spoke up breaking the moment.
"So, do you have any problems to report? Any solium
leaks or major repairs you need that we haven't gotten
to yet?"

Rayanna dropped Lt. Starbuck's hand and turned to
respond to Lt. Boomer. "No, no leaks. We've gotten
to most of the major repairs ourselves."

"How are those new evaporators working out for you?"
The warrior consulted his data pad again.
"Great. No problems. Why do you ask? Perfectly
fine."

"Did we catch you in the middle of some maintenance?"
Lt. Starbuck asked.
"No, why do you ask?" Rayanna asked surprised.
"You've got some grease on your cheek there. Here,
let me get it." Lt. Starbuck reached out and gently
wiped the smear from Rayanna's cheek. Her face
blushed with embarrassment, but she didn't move.
"There, got it! Wow, this is a great ship. Who would
have thought a cargo container would make such a great
passenger ship."

"Colonial Movers were know for providing climate
controlled shipping, isn't that right Captain
Rayanna?" Lt. Boomer replied, casting his companion a
disapproving look.
Rayanna almost choked on her response. "Uh, yes. We
are proud of our containers. The most reliable
shipping available in the Twelve Worlds was our
slogan."

"Your cargo is a little more precious now wouldn't you
say?" Lt. Boomer said. "Shall we begin the
inspection?"

"Uh, yes sir, right this way."

Rayanna could have kicked herself for adding the sir.
This guy should be calling her sir. And what did he
know about the evaporators, she thought to herself.
Rayanna had a sense of dread and prayed to the lords
that the evaporator on container number one held on,
at least until she could hurry these two pilots off
her ship. Not that she really wanted to see Lt.
Starbuck go. He was the best view she'd seen since
the nova near Carillion. But her father would have
been insulted at having to be inspected. He had run
the best ship in the Colonial fleet, and would have
pummeled anyone who said any different. Rayanna's
crewed had worked hard. They deserved some
recognition, not to be checked up on like errant
children. Rayanna put on her best professional
demeanor as she showed the Lieutenants around her
ship. She was damned if they'd find anything wrong
with her father's ship. She would never let his
legacy be tarnished.

=====

Rayanna walked towards the two pilots who were
finishing up at the terminal.
"Well Captain, it appears you're right. You never did
get the memo." Lt. Boomer replied. "I've notified
the Galactica of the problem and they said you should
contact your fleet representative right away and
Engineering will be contacting you."

"So the inspection is over and you will be on your
way. Thanks for clearing that up and it was nice
meeting you."

"Now wait a minute. We still have our orders. You
are to link up with the Agro ship to provide extra
quarters for their crew and farmers, and we are also
supposed to be using one of your containers, number
eight, for salvage. You were never able to get the
atmosphere control on that container."

"It was never meant to have atmosphere. That
container was used for industrial purposes only."
Rayanna glared at the Lieutenant, but he did not back
down. He didn't even flinch from her icy stare, just
calmly moved his hand to rest on the handle of his
lazer.
The movement had the right affect on Rayanna. She
knew that if these warriors really wanted to, they
could take her ship by force, just the two of them.
Colonial Movers was unarmed, and there were probably
only 5 or 6 lazers on the whole ship, owned mostly by
passeners.
"Look, I'm willing to part with container number
eight." Rayanna conceded. "I know there is enough
metal and wiring in there to make at least five vipers
and have some left over for repairs on other ships.
But there is no way I am relinquishing command of this
ship."

Lt. Boomer opened his mouth as if to continue the
argument, but Starbuck stopped him before he could say
anything. "You know Boomer, we really should check
this out. There's obviously been a mistake. This
really is a matter for the civilian division. We were
supposed to just do the inspection and input
coordinates. Engineering is handling the actual
transfer. And she's willing to part with the
container, right?" Starbuck looked over towards the
Captain, who nodded ascent. "That is very nice of
you, I mean, without the benefit of the memo and
everything. I tell you what Boomer, we're almost off
duty, why don't we head back to the Galactica and see
if we can clear this up, and then we'll come back and
input the coordinates tomorrow, okay?"

Boomer stared at his partner for a moment and the two
seemed to share some sort of information. Lt. Boomer
relaxed his stance. "Yes, I suppose you are right
Starbuck. We should clear up the problem first. But
I can tell the forge ship to come get the container?"

"Yes, no problem." Captain Rayanna said curtly.
"Then I guess we'll be on our way." Lt. Boomer
replied. He started to turn away, then turned back.
"Oh by the way Captain, you had a new message from a
Sires Blasie. She said the evaporator on Container
one is down."

"That's odd. I'll be sure to get right on it. Must
be something minor."

"Well, she went on to say that it's the fifth time
this sectar and if you don't get something done about
it she's withholding next month's rent." Lt. Boomer
smirked, then turned and walked away.
"Frack!" Rayanna muttered to herself under her
breath. Lt. Starbuck, who was still standing in front
of her, started to laugh. He held out his hand to
her. She didn't take it, instead choosing to glare at
him. For some reason it made Lt. Starbuck laugh even
harder.
"Look, he's just kidding with you. I'm sure we can
work all this out." Starbuck reached out and rubbed
her arm as if he were trying to cheer up an old
friend. "It's going to be okay, honest. You have my
word on it, my word as a Warrior."

Rayanna knew that he had her, that she wanted to
believe him, and almost did. Until he added that
`word as a warrior' part.
Starbuck leaned down to whisper to Rayanna, his lips
brushing her hair as he said, "By the way, nice move
sealing the bay. That was a good one."

He pulled back and smiled at her surprised look, then
turned to join his partner. Starbuck was still
laughing as he climbed into his viper.
"Frack! I knew this was going to be a bad day."
Rayanna said to herself as she watched the blond
Lieutenant flash her a smile and a wave before
launching.

=====

Scene - A new home, woman and young girl (about 5
yahrens old) unpacking boxes
Woman says surprised - My grandmother's dishes don't
even have a scratch!
Young girl looks up and says - And my tea set doesn't
have a scratch either!
Woman and young girl hug. The sunshines and the birds
sing.
Announcer - At Colonial Movers, every cargo is
precious.
~~~~~~~~~~
Colonel Tigh had other matters to attend to than a
missing memo and an upset civilian captain. He was in
the middle of trying to provide armaments for some of
the various unarmed outer ships in the fleet,
distributing navigational reports to the picket ships,
coordinating patrol schedules, and checking data on
the next sector of the fleet's route. In fact, he
thought to himself, I shouldn't be dealing with this
at all. If he stopped to deal with every upset
captain amongst the 200 odd ships that comprised the
fleet, he realized he'd never get anything
accomplished.
"Lt. Boomer, you should be bringing this up with Capt.
Apollo. He's the one who assigned the two of you to
engineering division for inspections. Or better yet,
why don't you consult with engineering on this one.
I'm sure they can settle the matter." Colonel Tigh
handed Lt. Boomer back the data pad with the
inspection data, expecting to be done with the matter.
"Well, we did sir, but it seems that the orders
originally came from you sir."

"Look Lieutenant, I sign off on a lot of orders. I
can not keep track of every memo and order that leaves
this bridge. Check with engineering on this one."

"Like I said sir, we did. They told us to talk with
you. That the Colonial Mover's ship is civilian so
it's a matter for the command staff on the Galactica."

"Plus Colonel," Lt. Starbuck added, "it seems since we
departed the Colonial Movers ship, Colonial Movers and
several of the other civilian ships, mostly cargo
transports, have reported engine failures and will be
falling behind the fleet."

"Lieutenant, I'm not sure what this has to do with the
command staff. Engine problems and ships falling
behind are very common. And it is engineering's
concern, or navigation's or."

"Or for the Council of Twelve." Commander Adama said
entering the bridge.
"Commander, weren't you supposed to be getting some
rest?" Colonel Tigh said, casting a grim look at the
two lieutenants.
"Yes I was. But I was interrupted by several calls
from council members. It seems that a Siress Blasie
is upset about the placement of the ship where she has
her current lodgings. Were you aware Colonel that
Siress Blasie, and several other prominent citizens
had transferred their residences to the Colonial
Movers ship?"

"No sir, I wasn't. I thought Siress Blasie was living
on the Senior ship along with Lt. Starbuck's friend
Chameleon."

"Yes, so did I." Adama cast a suspicious look towards
Starbuck, "Starbuck, do you know anything about
this?"

"Well." Starbuck said thinking of just how much
information to divulge.
"Yes lieutenant?" Commander Adama asked amused.
"Well, you see there was this matter of a card game,
and it seems several of the residents on the Senior
ship became very upset."

Adama interrupted Starbuck. "I don't want to know the
details Lieutenant. I just want to know if you were
aware that Siress Blasie had transferred her lodgings
to the Colonial Movers?"

"If by aware do you mean helping Chameleon move some
items, then yes I was aware. And for the record, it
was actually Siress Blasie's fault. It seems that she
plays by different rules for some card games. She
takes her Bridge game quite seriously."

"Starbuck, I said I don't want to know the details!"

"Well she does. And it seems some of her companions
agreed with her version of the rules. Plus they were
getting tired of dealing with all the old fogies on
the Senior ship. Most of their belongings were
already in storage on the Colonial Movers, so it just
made sense."

Adama shook his head as Starbuck continued on with
details that Adama would rather have not known.
"Thank you Lieutenant for that detailed briefing. It
appears, Colonel Tigh, that the council would like me
to reconsider my decision to transfer command of
Colonial Movers to the Agro ship. So do you mind
briefing me on when I decided that this would be a
good idea?"

Tigh cleared his throat and looked down in
embarrassment. "Well, actually sir, it was decided in
one of the Sectar meetings that we hold for the
Civilian Captains of several of the fleet's vessels.
It appeared to be a good allocation of resources that
was suggested by Capt. Dastor."

"Ah yes, Dastor, and he would be Captain of the Agro
ship, am I correct?"

"Yes Commander."

"And what did Capt. Ray have to say about this
proposal?"

"Well, actually it's Capt. Rayanna, and she did not
attend that meeting."

"Or any meetings from what the council has told me."

"Sir?"

"Yes, the council informs me that all communications
have been addressed to a Capt. Ray, not Rayanna, and
half of those communications have been misdirected to
the Cancerian Cargo Carriers!"

"Sir, I can explain."

"Don't bother Tigh, the council has already explained
for you! By the Lords Tigh, I do not need this right
now! I am battling with the council every day to
maintain some semblance of control and order within
this fleet." Adama was now yelling. Although he
didn't need to yell to be heard as the bridge took on
an eerie silence. All except a slight chuckle, coming
from the direction of one blond lieutenant.
"Do you find something funny, Lt. Starbuck?" Adama
roared turning towards the snickering pilot. "Because
I don't find this the least bit funny! I have several
Captains threatening to pull out of this fleet,
leaving their passengers vulnerable and at the prey of
the Cylons, which are only moments behind us. Do you
find that funny Lieutenant?"

Starbuck suddenly stopped smiling.
"Well do you?" Adama asked again, clearly agitated.
"No sir, uh, not at all." Starbuck said coming to
attention. The commander glared at him for a moment
more, before turning back to continue chewing out
Colonel Tigh.
"But sir, I do think you're making a mistake."

Adama turned back to the lieutenant fully intending to
vent the rest of his fury on the brash warrior.
"I am making a mistake? What do you mean by that
Lieutenant? You certainly would be a good judge of
mistakes, now wouldn't you."

"Well, yes, that's true sir, but it seems to me that
maybe if you asked, she might just give it up."

"Starbuck, she sealed us in the landing bay, remember?
Plus she's charging those passengers rent!" Lt.
Boomer said.
"A lot of the ships charge rent. Why do you think
Chameleon is living on Colonial Movers and not the
Rising Star? He can't afford the rent."

"Commander, are you aware of this?" Lt. Boomer asked
appalled.
"Unfortunately yes. I am not pleased about it, but I
have been unable to come up with a good solution to
stop the problem. So for now I allow it to continue.
As long as it's not exorbitant and refugees are not
left out in the cold, so to speak."

"And she didn't seal us in the bay until after you
tried ordering her around. You know she had a good
point Boomer, she never did enlist in the colonial
service. She is a civilian and doesn't have to do
what we tell her to do."

"That's true Lieutenant." Commander Adama added. "Of
course we don't have to supply her ship with fuel, or
water or food supplies either. Or for that matter,
spare parts, repairs, navigational coordinates, viper
support."

"Well yes sir, you do have a point there sir. But I
think she knows you're not just going to leave those
passengers to fend for themselves either. You
couldn't do that."

"I most certainly could Lieutenant. It's what I
should do. In fact, I should probably just take the
ship by force. Last I checked most of the cargo
carriers are unarmed and we are under martial law."
Adama said, casting a knowing look to Colonel Tigh.
"Yeah, and like I said, your making a mistake, uh,
sir." Starbuck added hastily. "I mean, wouldn't that
put you in even more hot water with the council, not
to mention several of the other civilian ships."

Adama strolled over towards the pilot, his arms
crossed. "What do you suggest I do? I suppose you
have a few suggestions?"

"Actually I do sir. Like I said, I bet if you asked,
she'd give it up. I mean, she is young, and has
pretty much inherited a big responsibility. One I bet
she hadn't planned on."

"That may be true." Colonel Tigh added. "Our records
show the original Captain of Colonial Movers when they
joined the fleet was her father. He died four sectars
after the destruction. Heart failure from the rumors.
Sometime after crossing the void."

"Exactly." Starbuck replied. "Anyway, I think she
kind of had other plans than winding up running a
refugee ship in a fleet of fleeing survivors."

The Commander sighed, then said as if talking to a
small child, "Yes but Lieutenant, I think we all had
other plans than what we are facing now. Get to the
point."

"I'm just saying that I could probably work something
out." Starbuck said with a self-satisfied grin on his
face.
"You could work something out?" Adama replied
sarcastically. "What are you suggesting Lieutenant?"
The Commander's tone was less than amused.
"Well, since you were supposed to be getting some
rest, why don't we talk it over in your quarters with
a glass of ambrosia maybe."

Commander Adama seemed ready to explode again. The
bridge tensed. Everyone held their breath waiting for
the Commander to finally give Lt. Starbuck the lashing
he surely deserved for his audacity. But instead, the
Commander began to laugh out loud.
"Okay Starbuck, I'll give you ten centons to explain
this plan of yours. You certainly can not screw this
up anymore than it already has been." Adama gestured
for Starbuck to join him as he left the bridge. Just
before exiting, Adama stopped and turned to Colonel
Tigh.
"Colonel, could you please see that Colonial Movers
records are changed to reflect a Captain Rayanna, and
forward her all of the past communications that were
misdirected."

"I'll get right on that sir." The colonel replied,
casting an angry glare at several of the bridge
officers.
They may have escaped the Commander's wrath this time,
but they had the Colonel's to deal with now.

=====