The Nightmare Machine

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The Nightmare Machine A book of the Berkley Books line
Book No.	11
Author(s)	Robert Thurston
Adaptation of
No. of Pages	{{{pages}}}
Published	December 1985
ISBN	0425086186
Chronology
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The Long Patrol	The Nightmare Machine	Die, Chameleon!
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The Nightmare Machine is an original Battlestar Galactica novel based on the classic continuity that was first published in December 1985. It was written by Robert Thurston who had collaborated with Glen A. Larson on earlier Galactica novels.

Plot Synopsis

During a battle between Colonial vipers from the Galactica and Cylon raiders, Greenbean is separated from the group and captured and brought to a Cylon basestar. After considerable torture, Greenbean reveals the location of the Fleet to his captors.

Aboard this same baseship, Baltar is being tormented by nightmares, in which he relives his betrayal of humanity and feels great guilt. Lucifer reveals to him that he in fact testing a machine known as LEADER on Baltar. LEADER is designed to cause intense emotions to arise within people and in so doing, debilitate them. Scheming, Baltar has Greenbean's memories of being captured erased and has the LEADER machine wired into the buttons of Greenbean's uniform.

Greenbean is set released aboard his viper, and returns to the Galactica. His colleages and crewmates are overjoyed at his return, having assumed he was dead, but soon the LEADER machine begins to take affect. People across the Galactica become depressed and feel guilt about their pasts. Starbuck feels guilt over his treatment of women in the past, and Adama eventually descends into a coma where he relives the destuction of Caprica and the death of his wife Ila.

Apparently unaffected by the machine, Sire Uri wants to be allowed to settle on the habitable planet of Vaile, and when Adama takes ill as a result of the LEADER affects, Uri decides to try to stage a mutiny in the fleet.

Specter, the IL-series Cylon who had been assigned to Attila, arrives on Baltar's basestar to make and inspection, and flatters Baltar which annoys Lucifer. Specter announces that the Imperious Leader will be coming to visit, and when Imperious Leader finally arrives, Baltar suggests that he was the inventor the LEADER machine, and not Lucifer.

Back on the Galactica, Starbuck is having great difficulty under the influence of the machine, and determines to go after Greenbean, who he has managed to determine is central to what is happening on the ship. Greenbean flees into the lower regions of the Galactica into an area called the Devil's Pit. Starbuck follows and tries to kill Greenbean, but an old man living in the Pit interferes with Starbuck and Apollo is able to disarm his fellow warrior. Greenbean starts to recollect what happened to him - that he was captured and that his clothes are somehow causing all the problems. The clothes are then incinerated, and everyone recovers immediately: Adama's coma is ended, and Sire Uri's rebellion is stopped dead in its tracks.

The emotions of the Galactica crew improve, and, after debriefing Greenbean, the Colonials are able to estimate where the Cylons are located and determine to launch a preemptive attack.

On the basestar, Lucifer is using LEADER to inflict guilt on human prisoners while the Imperious Leader observes. Baltar orders Lucifer to increase the power of the machine and LEADER goes out of control. The Imperious Leader is affected, and starts to feel great pangs of guilt for destroying the Twelve Colonies. Leaping from his pedestal, the Imperious Leader lashes out at the centurions around him, and smashes and destroys the LEADER machine. The influence of the LEADER gone, Imperious Leader's guilt disappears and he quickly departs with Specter in tow.

Suddently, the basestar picks up the approaching vipers, and Baltar launches his raiders. The vipers devastate the defending Cylons and swoop in on the the basestar, inflicting considerable damage. Baltar orders the basestar to retreat. Returning to base, the Colonial warriors celebrate their victory.

Original Series definition: a title of nobility akin to "Sir," typically ascribed to a civilian of the male gender (e.g. Sire Uri, Sire Solon)