Table Of ContentThe newest novel, adapted from the most
popular BATTLESTAR GALACTICA adventure ever!
A great warrior has returned to lead Galactica
against its biggest challenge yet!
Commander Cain, living legend of the cosmos,
is marshalling his forces for a desperate
counterattack against the Cylon marauders led
by the ruthless Baltar. Yet, the young
warriors of the besieged battlestar wonder:
is the mythical "Juggernaut" really a military
genius—or just an eccentric despot made
crazy by the wounds of time?
GOODBYE, GALACTICA!
They weren't even making any effort to escape! The Galactica might possibly be
able to make it, but that would mean leaving the rest of the fleet to be destroyed
and that fool Adama would never do that. They were going to stand and fight
against overwhelming odds. They had no chance, none whatsoever. Baltar knew
he would get his victory and his place in Cylon history would be assured . . .
"This is going to be a classic defeat," exulted Baltar, licking his lips. "It will
be spoken of thoughout the Cylon nation for the next thousand yahrens!
Goodbye, Galactica. Goodbye, Adama!"
THE LIVING LEGEND
The newest BATTLESTAR GALACTICA adventure!
Berkley Battlestar Galactica Books
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 2: THE CYLON DEATH MACHINE
by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 3: THE TOMBS OF KOBOL
by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 4: THE YOUNG WARRIORS
by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 5: GALACTICA DISCOVERS EARTH
by Glen A. Larson and Michael Resnick
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 6: THE LIVING LEGEND
by Glen A. Larson and Nicholas Yermakov
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 6:
THE LIVING LEGEND
A Berkley Book / published with
MCA PUBLISHING, a Division of MCA Inc.
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley edition / April 1982
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1982 by MCA PUBLISHING,
a Division of MCA Inc.
Cover illustration by David Schleinkofer.
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,
by mimeograph or any other means, without permission.
For information addresss: MCA PUBLISHING,
a Division of MCA Inc.,
100 Universal City Plaza,
Universal City, California 91608.
ISBN: 0-425-05249-4
A BERKELY BOOK ® TM 757,375
Berkley Books are published by Berkley Publishing Corporation,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
PROLOGUE
Troy sat at the console in his cabin aboard the Galactica. He was alone and he
stared at the screen, on which appeared the face of a very old man. The man was
Troy's adoptive grandfather and, when he had been alive, he was the commander
of the Battlestar Galactica.
"Troy," said Adama, "I know it's you because no one else will ever receive the
key to this program. If you're viewing this then I must be dead. Perhaps, I have
no way of knowing, I have only just passed on or perhaps I have been dead for a
period of time. There's no telling what the future holds in store and I have no
way of knowing when you will be hearing these words, much less if you will
ever be hearing them. But if you are, then I know that the Lord has preserved
you and that you are now the new commander of the Galactica."
The image of Adama paused.
"As I speak these words, I know that I am dying. It does not disturb me. I am
prepared to die. I have lived a long and fruitful life and the Lord has seen fit to
allow me to survive this long. I can ask for no more than that and I am content.
"If there was one thing I could have asked for which I have not received, it is
that my son did not outlive me. I—I still feel his loss. When I think of all the
yahrens that he served under me as my strike commander, the finest Viper pilot I
have ever known, the bravest warrior, it pains me when I think that in all those
yahrens I never once told him that I loved him. Oh, he knew I did, but it would
have meant so much more, I know, had I been able to say those words out loud."
Adama's image sighed deeply. For a moment, Troy thought that he would not
be able to continue, but then he spoke again.
"Your father was a great man, Troy. You were just a child when he died. Do
you remember? We all used to call you 'Boxey.' I remember how you came to
hate that name as you grew older and we had to find another for you, since we
never knew your real one. But that's beside the point. Forgive an old man's
rambling. I remember how you tried not to cry the day Apollo didn't come back
from his mission. In a sense, you were wiser than I was that day, for you knew
the truth, while I foolishly allowed myself to hope that some miracle would
restore him to me once again, as had happened the last time he failed to return
from a mission."
Adama paused again, thinking back.
"That was when we found Cain," he said. "Your father came back from the
dead that day and brought another with him. He had been a good friend and I
had thought him dead for over two yahrens. You were very young then, Troy
and I don't know if you'll remember, but he saved all our lives.
"That is but one chapter in the history of the Galactica. I had hoped that her
next commander after me would be my son, but that was not to be. The
Galactica is yours now, Troy, and it is for you to decide her destiny. But before
you determine the future of your ship, you should know her past.
"It's all here, in this program, the key to which no one has but you. These are
my journals, Troy. I have kept them fastidiously ever since that day, back on
Caprica, that the Galactica was commissioned and mine became her guiding
hand. She has known no master but me in all those yahrens and now she passes
on to you. No one else has ever seen my journals, Troy. You are the first. What
you will do with them after you have seen them is up to you. Scan them in order,
if you like, from the beginning to the end . . . or from the present point to the
beginning . . . or according to your own memory. If there are incidents that you
remember, the computer can locate those sections of the journals for you. All
you need do is ask.
"My final words to you, Troy, are these: circumstances made it impossible for
you to have anything even remotely resembling a normal childhood. For that, I
am sorry, even though you've grown into a man that I respect. We tried our best
to make a home for the children in the fleet, for they were our hope for the
future, but in your case, it was very hard. You lost your real parents back when
Caprica was destroyed. You gained a new father in Apollo and you came to love
him, only to lose your father once again. You gained a new mother in Serina,
only to lose your mother for a second time when Serina died. Twice orphaned,
you became a very quiet child, so different from the way you once had been.
"I tried to be the best grandfather I knew how, but that was not enough.
Having twice been orphaned, you put up barriers that no one could get through.
You didn't want to love anyone ever again, for fear of losing them. It was a long
time before anyone could break through to you. I have some knowledge of how
you must have felt for I, too, had barriers of my own.
"You never really knew your father, Troy. Learn about him now. Learn about
the man. It's all here, God knows, it's all that I have left. But before I leave you,
there's one thing more I want to say. I almost said it to Apollo, that time with
Cain, but I didn't and regret it to this day. I have since said it to you, but I want
to say it once again.
"I love you. And farewell."
The screen went blank.
Troy sat for a long time in silence. Finally, he leaned forward to the console to
begin Adama's journals.
He would start with Cain.
