A Letter to the Colonial Fleet

This letter is in response to the "letter to the editor" titled "Why Tom Zarek Was Right." First of all, I believe the author was very wrong to suggest that Lt Felix Gaeta and Vice President Tom Zarek were somehow on the side of angels when they attempted their military coup against the Colonial government. This was not "resistance" against a corrupt regime, this was an act of open insurrection against legitimate authority that split the fleet, resulting in the deaths of not just eleven duly elected members of the Quorum but hundreds of other innocent military and civilian personnel throughout the fleet. Had the main Cylon fleet come across the Galactica, its fate would have been certain, given the chaos and its lack of trained personnel on the bridge.

 But that is not the real point of the letter. Its author suggests that the coalition between the rebel Cylons and humans in the fleet was flawed to begin with, and possibly forced upon the fleet by an illegitimate government. Well. This polemic diatribe against the vision of a return to peace, a return to civility, ought not be allowed to stand unchallenged. The fact is that the rebel Cylons represent the "enemy of our enemy" - they were nearly annihiliated by the main Cylon force because they were in favor of working with the human race toward the goal of finding Earth. It is our responsibility, nay, our duty to show compassion to those individuals being hounded by a relentless and godless enemy such as the main Cylon body.

We have seen clear evidence that the Cylons known as "skinjobs" are capable of rational thought and emotion. They have fought along side of Colonial pilots and were, as the author of the original letter notes, responsible for destroying the main Resurrection hub, which doomed them - as well as the entire Cylon fleet - to mortality. This act ought not be diminished. Their technology is said to be able to increase our FTL drives by a third. Again, this is not an insignificant point - our fleet lives and dies by the supply of tilium fuel that is supplied by one Colonial fuel tanker. We cannot afford to ignore the point that we may not reach a habital planet based on the current reserves, and what if the one tilium fuel tanker is destroyed? It is said that the rebel Cylons are capable of giving birth. As our numbers diminish every week, can we afford to ignore the Sharons and Sixes that may be able to help boister our community?

This hatred and desire for revenge has gone on long enough. If we have learned nothing from the voyage to Earth, it ought to be the fact that possession of nuclear weapons is a certain path to destruction of all living beings. Nuclear weapons killed billions of citizens in our original twelve colonies. The use of a nuclear warhead alerted the main Cylon fleet to our existence on New Caprica, in addition to killing thousands. Clear evidence on Earth shows that nuclear weapons were the cause of that civilization's end. Do we need any more evidence of the sheer destructiveness of these weapons before taking action?

I suggest that we need to take the advice of former Quorum member Sam Nunn and others, and begin negotiations with the Cylons to completely eliminate our nuclear weapons arsenals. Certainly with the current nomadic nature of the fleet and the Cylon's dominance of space, there is no benefit to either side to retaining these horrible weapons. The sophistication of conventional weapons technology give both sides enough capability for normal military operations. If humanity and robots are to survive and flourish in this empty space, we need to rid ourselves of the tools of our doom. It is time to place the survival of humanity above the instinctive military desire for improved killing power and reach out with an open hand to the Cylons, if they will only relax their clenched fists.

Sincerely,
Gaius Baltar

UPDATE: Jeff Feck agrees; Jonathan V waffles; Matt Y disagrees. The discussion continues.

Comments

[Kilo]

"It is said that the rebel Cylons are capable of giving birth. As our numbers diminish every week, can we afford to ignore the Sharons and Sixes that may be able to help boister our community?"

I don't think there's much danger of them being ignored in that sense.

What an interesting question though. How did an advanced, alternate, conscious race deal with fuglies. By what process of elimination and reasoning were these misshapen cyborgs recycled in favour of more photogenic models. What lessons can we learn for dealing with our own aesthetically challenged brethren. Hmmm.

[Jinchi]

Hey Gaius.

Whatever happened to that nuke we loaned you for your experiments?

...Oh that's right, you thought it would be a nice Valentine's Day present for your Cylon girlfriend and she blew up one of the refugee ships.

[Gaius]

That's a complete fabrication. I was working on developing a Cylon detection capability when unscrupulous thieves broke in and stole the warhead. If you're looking for blame, then one might ask why the Galactica didn't have its radiation sensors on when it was transferred from its hanger to Cloud Nine. It seems to be a question of lax military security than some delusional plot about me working with Cylons and against the human race.

[Jinchi]

It seems to be a question of lax military security

That's another good reason not to let Adama set demands on the rest of the fleet.