Re: In CIC
"On it's own?"

While plans had been drawn up, for just this sort of eventuality, it made that recent discovery no less puzzling. What seemed most curious, was that it came from the fused Colonial ship, rather than Cylon.

"Any change?"

"None, Sir. Wait, we're detect-"

Across the loudspeakers, an indecipherable scream of audio cried out so loud, many produced feedback, in their own right and headsets were ripped off. As sharp as any knife, it ended as abruptly as having begun.

"What in the hell was that...?!"

Had there been a physical enemy, that would be one thing. What there was, was a puzzle. Uncertainty. The exact opposite to what a warrior needed. Sinclair ahd every psychological incentive to demand answers.

"It's..." Not actual sound, of course. Would never have survived a vacuum. It had simply been processed, interpreted and relayed in that way. "Some kind of charged datasquirt. A second transmission. Came from the wrecks, but there's so much shielding we can't pinpoint-"

Just then, a loud explosion was heard. Something internal had blown in the Avalon. A pre-planned response to the signal? Or had something been set in place by a Cylon infiltrator? Or perhaps a simple mechanical screw up? That was the problem - no way to tell.

"Admiral! The Colossus' reactor! We've got critical readings fluctuating all over its grid."

Realising that familiar sensation of impending doom, Sinclair's eyes widened. Deliberate sabotage or simply the result of an unsafe contraption encountering an obvious malfunction? In either case, her attention now zeroed in on something she had feared. At least one of the two wrecks had just potentially become a giant bomb.

"Tell the salvage crews to cease all operations and jump to minimum safe distance. Get the closest Marines in on engineering and shut that thing down - now."

Minutes? Seconds? How much time did they have before things went south in a way nightmares were made of? And how many might die before this was over?