Rascal joined one of these teams. He was glad to be occupied with something constructive to do, after all the death and destruction he had seen. He and the other members of his team raced to find any possible solution before nightfall. As they explored and asked around, Rascal began to wonder why they never saw anyone from the military outpost on Pergamos.

"Why didn't any of the military leaders survive? Almost all of the civilian government officials are still alive. Why not the commander and her staff?"

"Good questions, Scalliant, but we'll get the answers later. Let's get our people off the ocean floor first, eh?"

***

"Captain Heller, come in. This is the Leviathan."

The com officer turned to Captain Danton. "Still nothing but static, sir. The probe appears to be working."

Just then, a voice answered back on the radio.

"Come in Leviathan. This is Captain Heller."

"Yes, this is the Leviathan. We're sure glad to hear your voice."

"What's your situation, Captain?"

"Not good. We sealed off all the exposed decks but we still went under. We're parked on the bottom of the ocean about ten miles out from the city. We have extra oxygen onboard but that will only last for 48 hours at most. Uncertain if the ship's hull will hold up that long. We took a lot of damage in the battle."

"We have teams of Marines looking for suitable rescue vehicles that may be stationed in the city or at the harbor."

"What about the Raiders? Is the city under attack?"

"No. It seems the stories were true. The Cylons won't attack the city. Conserve your oxygen and power, Captain. We'll contact you as soon as we get the rescue equipment."

One of the teams found a submersible vessel in good condition. The dive vehicle was prepared for launch. Captain Heller asked Rascal to contact the Leviathan to coordinate the rescue.

"Stay on the line with them. Keep their spirits up. I'm feeling confident about this. We don't want them to lose hope, Scalliant."

Rascal was eager to help. The rescue of the Leviathan crew would provide some comfort on this long and difficult day.

"Captain Danton, this is Private Roland Scalliant, sir."

"Pleasure to meet you, private. So to speak."

"Captain Heller is personally supervising the rescue operation. We have very capable personnel on the mission. The Captain requested that I coordinate with you to facilitate the rescue."

"Sounds good, Scalliant. We still have at least 24 hours of breathable air down here, but we'll be glad to get out of here much sooner than that."

"Captain Heller will spare no effort in getting all of your surviving crew back on dry land."

"Now tell me something, private. Do you have any idea why the Cylons won't attack the city. It's fortunate that's the case, but it simply doesn't add up. Even if there had been Cylon agents in the city, why lay back now? If I were in their position, I would want to destroy any evidence of human spies. Now that the Marines and Army are in the city, why are the Cylons still holding back?"

"There's nothing definite, sir, but the behavior of the civilian survivors has been very strange. In fact, it was the complete lack of cooperation that delayed the evacuation operation for so long. That led to the failure of the mission. We should have been able to get everyone out but they either ran away or engaged in passive resistance against the operation."

"That's disturbing to hear, Scalliant."

"Yes sir. I've also been wondering about Commander Pentana and her staff. We haven't found a trace of evidence to show what happened to them. No one knows anything. Or they are unwilling to tell us."

"Hold on for a minute, Scalliant. We're picking up some sounds outside the ship."

Rascal waited on the line until Danton returned.

"Hello, Scalliant. We think the Cylons may have dropped depth charges. Fortunately they aren't going deep enough to damage us any further."

Rascal was pleased to hear the news, but he was also concerned. If the Cylons knew the exact location of the remnant of the Leviathan, then how would Captain Heller's group be able to carry out the rescue? They had no airborne ships and no large-scale weapons. Their hand-held machine guns and grenades were no match for the fast and powerful Raiders. Rascal excused himself and told Captain Danton that he had to inform Captain Heller about the threat to the operation.

"Captain Heller, this is Private Scalliant. I have an urgent update."

"Yes, private. What is the news?"

"We believe the Cylons know the location of the Leviathan and are targeting it with depth charges."

Heller faced a tough decision. Should he risk the lives of the Marines on an uncertain rescue mission? The Marines had no means of defense against Cylon ships. It would be suicidal to venture out on the open water without any back-up.

"Scalliant, tell the Leviathan that we're going to sit and wait until the Raiders move off. It's impossible to proceed safely until the skies are clear."

Rascal returned to the communication with Captain Danton.

"I'm sorry but there is no alternative. The rescue party has to sit in port."

"Well, I knew that was a possibility. We still have some oxygen left. Funny though. We're sitting on the bottom of the ocean under billions of gallons of water and we might end up dying of dehydration."

"Now that the recovery operation has been delayed, maybe it's best to conserve your oxygen and power, sir."

"Good idea, private. Contact us when the operation resumes."

Rascal thought it would be a horrible way to die, being trapped in the structure that would eventually serve as one's grave, knowing that you were going to die in that tomb in a matter of hours. Far from help, far from the open air. They would never see the sun again or feel the natural breeze on their faces. Rascal thought they were already dead because there was no reason for the Cylons to move off.

Danton had similar thoughts. He also second-guessed his decision to remain behind while all the other ships in the battle group had left. Had he doomed his crew to this fate, to be crushed by the weight of the sea after suffocating inside a metallic matchbox, like a sardine in a tin can? Maybe this is how a lobster felt in the pot as the cover closed on it. But lobsters didn't have feelings or intelligent thoughts, did they?

He never thought it would end this way, underwater and sitting around waiting to die. He always thought he would die in space, in the middle of a fierce battle. There was no time to reflect in those situations. You acted, you fought, and you calculated while pumped up on adrenalin. If you got shot out of space, you had very little time to ponder your life and the mistakes you had made. That was the worst part of this -- the calm waiting.

Danton was familiar with the challenges of space but the ocean was an entirely alien environment for him. In space, his ships were free to maneuver. In the heavy water of the ocean deep, he felt the oppressive mass of the liquid and salt.

Rascal began to sense in a visceral way the massive loss of life he had witnessed during the failed mission to Pergamos. The bodies piled up by the city walls, the fully-loaded transport ship, and now the crew of the Leviathan about to become victims of the deep. The unrelenting march of Death seemed to infect and overtake everything on this cursed planet.

Whose fault was it -- the trapped ship on the bottom of the ocean? Captain Danton? Should he have taken the ship away from Pergamos? Rascal couldn't completely blame him for trying to save hundreds of civilian lives. The survivors? If they would have cooperated, all of them might have escaped from Pergamos, rescuers and survivors alike. Rascal thought about this, long and hard. The frustration and anger welled up inside him. He no longer felt lost. Rage took over and crowded out fear and confusion. Rascal picked up his machine gun and fired into the floor.

He stopped after a minute. He realized that uncontrolled rage wouldn't help Captain Danton and his men. Maybe it was too early to give up hope. Maybe Captain Heller would find a way to reach the Leviathan.

Night had now fallen over the city on Pergamos and Rascal drifted off to sleep. Hours later he was awakened by a radio transmission.

"Scalliant, are you there?"

"Uh, yes, Captain Heller. Sir?"

"We've located some Vipers. We'll use those to provide cover for the rescue team."

"Great news, sir! I'll inform Captain Danton."

Rascal relayed the word to the Leviathan. He was guardedly optimistic that the crew would be saved.

Twenty minutes later, Captain Heller checked in. "It's no good, Scalliant."

"Excuse me, sir? I didn't understand you. What happened to the Vipers?"

"It's not the Vipers. The sub is gone. An explosion destroyed it."

Rascal was stunned.

"We think it may have been the work of a Cylon sympathizer. We'll continue to look for another submersible."

Rascal contacted the Leviathan. "We're experiencing some difficulties with the rescue vehicle, Captain."

"We're having problems of our own. We've got a power drain, possibly in one of the flooded decks. Our radio will give out soon. If this is the last time we speak, Scalliant, I'd like to thank all of you for trying to reach us."

Rascal paused before answering. "Go in peace, sir."

"Leviathan out."

Rascal never heard from Captain Danton again. The days passed and the Marines never found another submersible vehicle. The Cylons continued to patrol the skies above the sea but they continued to stay away from the city. Rascal watched the ocean from a balcony of a high-rise building. The waters were calm, the gentle ripples being the only sign of movement. There was no sign, no memorial of the hundreds of crewmen buried deep below. The ocean kept its secrets well hidden. The life of the ocean continued on, following the daily rhythms of the natural world as it had always done.

***

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