Mad About Starbuck
Stress-inspired silliness by Maggie and Vaughn



"I'll hover with these."  Reyana stared unblinking at the dealer,
her face
impassive, as she pushed out five piles of cubits, all worth one
hundred.

I dared a peek at the other player at our table.  Mouth open, he
was staring
from Reyana to the cards in front of her.  The three revealed
cards hardly
seemed to be worth risking 500 cubits, unless she had a capstone,
but the
odds were very much against that.  I took a another look at my own
cards and
slid out a mere 100 cubits.  "I'll hover with these."

"Aliana, where's your sense of adventure?"  Reyana asked.

"Gone with the last 500 cubits I lost,"  I answered.

The dealer turned to the third player and raised an eyebrow as she
waited.
Lieutenant Starbuck had regained his composure.  Clamping his
fumarello
between his teeth, he used two hands to push out not five, but
seven piles
of cubits.  "I'll hover with these."

Reyana made no outward reaction, but I could see the smile in her
eyes.  She
was right about him, I thought to myself.  By the moons of
Saggittarius, she
was right!  The good lieutenant could not tolerate losing to a
woman.  Ever
since we had come aboard the Galactica as recruits, a sectar ago,
this had
been our running debate.  Starbuck's reputation both as a gambler
and as a
ladies man was known Fleet-wide.  In the quarters for the new
women
recruits, it was almost always the topic of discussion at least
once a
secton.  Reyana had been waiting for our first oportunity to prove
her
theory, and we had finally been granted a furlon.  It just so
happened that
Blue Squadron was also on furlon . . .

The dealer flipped a card to place on her hand.  "Anything above a
half-pyramid wins."

I flipped my cards.  Not good enough.  Say goodbye to another 100
cubits!

Starbuck turned his cards slowly, watching Reyana.  He revealed a
full
Pyramid.  There was only one way to beat his hand.

Reyana let the grin creep slowly across her face as she turn over
her three
cards.  As she flipped the last one, Starbuck nearly dropped the
fumarello
from his mouth.

"Capstone on a half-Pyramid.  We have a winner here."

Starbuck watched Reyana rake in the cubits.  He was studying her.
He's
about to turn on the charm, I thought to myself.  As a warning, I
nudged my
friend in the ribs and whispered our code words -- "red alert!"

As if on cue, Starbuck aimed a wide grin at her and said, "Nice
playing.
Mind if I buy you a drink?"

Reyana kept a serious face.  "Only if it's for the two of us."
She nodded
in my direction.  "Oh, and I think I'd better do the buying."  She
finally
let her lip curl in a smile, winking at the lieutenant.

It was my turn.  Running a hand through my waist-long, brunette
hair, I
slowly stood up, knowing that the shimmery fabric of my short
dress was
nearly transparent under the right lighting condition, such as the
overhead
illumination of a Pyramid table.  My expression was neutral,
though, and I
looked at Reyana.  I stretched, deliberately working out the
stiffness from
sitting for over a centar.  "A nice cold drink before heading back
sounds
good to me."

********

Aliana's stretch had just the right affect on the
Lieutenant.  Starbuck's eyes roamed up and down her
body and I whispered to her, "Red alert yourself."

Aliana had done a great job all through the game of
keeping Starbuck distracted.  She knew just the right
moment to flip her hair, or twirl a curl, to flash a
smile or bat her eyes.   She had also played her hand
so as to insure that the best cards came my way.  I
added to the distraction by starting up a playful
banter with the pilot.  I knew I was right, the famous
Lieutenant Starbuck could not handle losing to a
woman.

Starbuck insisted on paying for the drinks, even
though I mentioned that I had the majority of his
cubits.  He made a point of reminding me that no, I
didn't have his cubits, that the dealer had gotten his
cubit.  He then launched into a detailed account of
the system he was running and analyzing where the
flaws were in the system.

Aliana was hanging on his every word, or at least
appeared to be.  Starbuck seemed impressed that I knew
about several other betting systems that he had merged
to form his new system.  Thanks to Aliana for that
research.  I had scored a barely passing score on our
last cadet exam because I was spending so much time
learning card game strategies.  Aliana was still
giving me hades over her low score too.  She had spent
all her time researching the systems for me. But I
promised her it would pay off in the end.  If not on
the bet we had going with the other cadets, then at
least in the cubits I would win from the strategies I
had learned.  I was already 500 cubits ahead, 500 of
Starbuck's cubits!

Starbuck leaned in closer to Aliana as he went into
the details of a new system.  Aliana leaned towards
him running her hands through her shimmering hair.
Starbuck hesitated for a moment in his animated
explanation as Aliana smoothed out the folds of her
dress.  I'm sure no one else would have noticed, but I
had spent the last sectar learning the tells that card
players have, the moments of hesitation or body
language that can speak volumes.

I couldn't help smiling.  Oh yeah, Aliana had him
right where we wanted him!  I was frantically taking
notes in my head of Starbuck's new system.  I'm sure
it had some flaws that we could capitalize on.

Starbuck offered to buy Aliana another drink as she
giggled to one of his jokes.  Oh yes, there were a few
flaws of Starbuck's that we could use to our
advantage!

I never knew Aliana could giggle!  She was always so
serious, so intellectual and deep.  Oh this was
definitely worth it for the sectons of teasing I could
give her for having giggled at Starbuck!

*************

I knew that I would never hear the end of it.  I was actually
giggling!
Ugh!  But then I remembered our objective, the bet we had with the
other
cadets.  No, this would be worth it, if we could pull it off.  I
leaned back
and crossed my legs, making sure that my short, wispy skirt
slipped down,
way down, my thigh, and said that another drink would be great.
Then I
asked another "inocent" question about his system.

Reyana barely smothered  her snicker.  Even though he wasn't
facing her, it
was obvious that I had his attention.  After a moment, though, the
question
kicked in and he launched into a detailed explanation, providing
more
information than I would ever have wanted to know -- if we didn't
have
ulterior motives.  As I half listened, I kept wondering which was
really his
true love -- women or gambling?  I was beginning to suspect that
it was the
latter.

Reyana was nodding, ever so slightly, indicating that she was
geting the
information she needed.  Finally, she looked in the direction of
the gaming
tables, signalling that she was ready.

Pretending to take a long sip of my ambrosa, I noticed that
Starbuck had
finished his second glassful.  Hmmm, and, as far as I knew, no one
had had
any dinner yet.  I knew my limits and had been careful to not
drink any of
this second glass.  Reyana had not even finished her first.  We
just might
be able to pull this off.

Setting my glass on the table, I leaned in close to the lieutenant
to be
able to talk to Reyana and said, "Do you want to call it a night?
You know,
quit while you're ahead?"

"Now why would you want to do that?"  Starbuck asked.  "There's
still plenty
of time.  And as you keep pointing out, you've got most of my
cubits.
You've got to at least give me a chance to redeem myself!"

Reyana looked skeptical as she considered it.  By the gleam in her
eye, I
could tell she was enjoying watching him worry.  There was no way
that he
would want to end the evening having lost to her, outdone by a
woman.
Finally she said, "Well, all right.  Maybe a game or two --"

"Great!" Starbuck was up out of his seat, hardly waiting for us to
follow.

Trailing behind with Reyana, I whispered, "You got it?"

"Every detail!"  She grinned a devishly smile and winked.  "I
think we just
might pull this off!"

Back at the gaming table, I had trouble keeping up my act of
distraction
because I was in awe of Reyana.  She had obviously absorbed all of
the
information gleened from the lieutenant and combined it with all
of the
reseach that we had done.  As cadets, we were both good students,
too good,
because usually we both aced the courses and the exams, destroying
the
grading curve for the other cadets.  We were viewed as "those two
studious
girls."  That's what had led to the bet, in the first place.  The
others saw
us dedicated to learning all that we could in the academic part of
the
training, before we started the actual flight training.  And they
had
labeled us as "boring, unsocial, and dateless."  We had not really
cared, at
least not at first.  We certainly didn't help our images, because
we wore
little makeup and kept our hair pulled back and out of the way.

But then the ribbing had gotten annoying.  Finally, we had had
enough and
had concocted this crazy plan.  The other women cadets had
laughed.  Not a
chance, they said.  well, when we both emerged from the turbowash,
ready for
our night out, the laughing and jokes had stopped.  Expertly
applied makeup,
trim, flowing dresses, skimpy heels (that I could barely stand
in!).  We had
won at least one of the battles with the other cadets. . . They
still didn't
believe that we would succeed, but, at least, they knew we were
only
"dateless" because we *wanted* to be.

Reyana was a whiz at math, which was why we decided that she would
handle
the gambling; although, with soft, shoulder-length blonde hair and
blue
eyes, she could easily played the role of "distractor."

Just to not completely deflate his ego, Reyana deliberately  let
the
lieutenant win the first several hands.  But then she got serious.
Very
carefully, she worked it so he won one, she won two . . . very
slowly, her
pile of cubits grew larger, while his grew smaller.  She had him
right where
we wanted him -- too frustrated to stop.  So I said, "Rey, I'm
getting
hungry.  Why don't we head out for some dinner?"

"No, wait,"  Starbuck said, looking slightly desperate.  "You
can't quit
now."

"I don't know," Reyana said slowly.  "I'm pretty hungry, too. And,
to be
honest, I'm getting a bit tired  -- bored, really -- of playing."

"Look,"  Starbuck flashed us the classic 'Starbuck grin.'  "How
about I make
it more interesting for you both?"

Reyana did her best to look disinterested.  "Really.  And how do
you propose
to do that?"

"If you win, I'll buy dinner for you both, and a bottle of vintage
ambrosa."

"And if I lose?"

"Then I still pay."

Reyana raised an eyebrow, considering the proposal.  "Just how
would you
pay, if you don't have any cubits left?"

"Uh, I've got an account.  They know I'm good for it."

Reyana made eye contact with me, so briefly that Starbucks did not
notice,
then said, "Oh, I don't know . . ."

It was my turn now.  I leaned in and forward to get the
lieutenant's
attention, knowing what the effect would be of my low-cut dress.
Starbuck
looked down, then back up, quickly.  I said quietly, "We just
might consider
it, if you made it more interesting."

"And how would I do that?"

"Buy us dinner in one of those private rooms, along with that
bottle of
vintage ambrosa."


Delivered-To: bsg-fanfic@lists.eyrie.org
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 09:20:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Vaughnnie <vaughnnie@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [BSG] Mad About Starbuck -- part 4
To: bsg-fanfic@lists.eyrie.org
Sender: bsg-fanfic-owner@lists.eyrie.org
Reply-To: bsg-fanfic@lists.eyrie.org

Okay,  I got an idea Maggie.  So what usually happens
to people who try to "starbuck" Starbuck?

By the way, what is *Starbuckan*?

Vaughn, who is guilty of *Starbuckan* too.

********

Oh yes, it was worth it all, the low score on an exam,
the weeks of extra studying to learn the card
strategies.  It was even worth the teasing from the
other female cadets on our transformation for the
evening to watch Starbuck consider a meal alone with
us in a private lounge.

I'm sure he was considering it, but he also was
weighing how much trouble he might get into with
command.  There were official rules about
fraternization on the books, no dating other squadron
members or getting involved with your superior
officer, but no one had bothered to enforce any of
those rules since the destruction.  At least, not yet.
 Too few of us left I guess to bother with trying to
keep us all apart.  I think command was actually
encouraging us to all get together.  But still,
Starbuck was our Squadron leader and teacher.  It
could be a risk.

So as he considered the ramifications, I upped the
ante on the bet.

"Are you afraid of being alone with us?  Afraid of
getting caught with two cadets?  Oh you are so right
Starbuck, you aren't up to the risk.  You couldn't
handle command, you know, now that you are up for a
promotion and might wind up on the bridge command
staff.  And think about your reputation."

Aliana kicked me under the table.  I could tell by the
stern look on her face she thought I had gone too far.
 But I knew what I was doing, or at least thought I
did.

"We are just talking dinner, right?"  Starbuck said
with that sly smile on his face, but I could tell by
his eyes that he was a little confused and trying to
read the moment.

"That's okay Starbuck," I said as I leaned back in my
chair feigning disinterest.  "I know how you hate to
lose.  I wouldn't want to embarrass you like that."

Starbuck almost jumped at that comment, and I knew I
had him.

Starbuck looked at Aliana for a moment, then back at
me.  A slow smirk spread across Starbuck's face as he
leaned over to me.  His eyes locked onto mine and I
felt that I had come under a Cylon force field.  I
realized later that it was like he was performing a
long range scan on me, but Lords help me, I fell under
that spell.  I didn't realize just how bright blue his
eyes really were.  If he had moved in any closer, we
would have been kissing.

In a long slow whisper he said, "Deal."  He hovered
there for a few more heartbeats as my breathing
increased.  He winked at me, then slowly leaned back
with a smug smile on his face.  He ordered us another
round of drinks and told the dealer to deal out the
cards for a new game.  Aliana kicked me so hard under
the table that I winced in pain.

"What!"  I hissed at her as she shook her head at me.
"I've got him right where I want him, trust me!"

I lost the next four hands.  Aliana finally took the
fifth hand as she turned up the heat on her flirting.
If she leaned any farther over that table she was
going to pop out of that dress.  She must have been
dizzy from all that hair flipping she was doing, and
it was a wonder she could even see her eyelashes were
batting away so furiously.

I was just trying not to sweat and keep my mind on the
cards.  I downed my drink hoping the alcohol would
help me to calm down.

Starbuck just leaned back and calmly played cards.  He
was totally focused on the game, even as he paid
Aliana compliment after compliment, his mind was still
on the game.  Okay, I said to myself, two can play at
that game.  I focused on the cards, ran the
calculations in my head and saw Starbuck's smile slip
just a fraction as I took hand number six.

I flashed him my winning smile as he had bet too much
on that hand, seven piles of cubits were collected by
the dealer.  He handed his fumarello towards me and
said in what I swear was his most seductive voice,
"Want to share?"

I sat there dumbstruck for a moment before Aliana
answered sternly for me, "No, she doesn't smoke."

"Uh, yeah, I don't smoke."

"Too bad.  It's a nice blend.  Here have another
drink."

Lords help me, but I downed that drink too.



*****************************************************
I wanted to do more than just kick Reyana as I watched her resolve
crumble.
Slowly, but surely, the lieutenant had won back most of what he
had lost
before our little break. And I watched our combined pile of cubits
dwindle
as
Reyana and I both lost four consecutive hands. It was shear luck
that I
won the fifth. It certainly wasn't from concentrating on the game,
because
I had been doing everything in my power to distract Starbuck,
without any
luck. He had gotten over his initial surprise and bias -- yes,
bias --
about being beaten by a woman, and had locked into gambling mode,
100%.
Confidence, but not too much, and lots of concentration. And the
ability to
either charm or fluster his opponents.
He seemed to have done both to Reyana. At least, she managed to
pull
herself together long enough to take the sixth hand and regain
some of our
cubits, since Starbuck had overextended himself on that one. She
looked
like she was back in control, that is, until she downed that
second glass of
ambrosa. We hadn't even had dinner yet. I knew how *I'd* be
feeling, and
we were basically the same size. I gave up kicking her shins,
because I
doubted that she could feel it anymore. Instead, I tried to think
of a way
to salvage our bet.
It turned out to be luck, sheer luck, that saved us. I was delt a
once-in-a
lifetime hand. I struggled to keep a straight face, impassive. In
fact, I
tried to
look nervous and insecure as we played the hand, trying to get
Starbuck to
misjudge my hand. Reyana was trying, really trying, but I could
see that
she was having trouble concentrating on the cards. She kept
staring up into
the lieutenant's face, and her eyes had that glassy look. I wasn't
sure how
much was ambrosa and how much was the magic Starbuck charm. The
only reason
that I hadn't succumbed long ago was that I had religiouly avoided
looking
at his face, those eyes that could hold you hypnotized. . . I
figured if I
could handle this "assignment," then I'd be ready for anything!
Anwyay, we were down to the final round of bets. I did my best to
pretend
that I was uncertain about my hand, very nervous . . . well, which
I was.
So I hesitantly matched his 700 cubits. Then I looked at Reyana,
looked
even more uncertain for a moment, then said, "Oh, what the heck!
This is
the last round, and we'll be stuck in training for the next
sectar. It's
not like we'll be *needing* any cubits to spend. . ." So I added
200 more
cubits to the bet.
Reyana went wide eyed and shook her head, waving to try to get me
to change
my mind. I just grinned sheepishly. Starbuck looked very serious,
eyeing
his cards, eyeing both of us, running numerous calculations in his
head.
Well, the odds were probably 100-1 against me having the hand I
did . . . so
I could hardly blame him when he figured it was safe to match the
bet.
Reyana glared at me, then folded.
Starbuck, still looking half-serious, took a long drag on his
(foul-smelling
*cough* *cough*) fumarello and turned over his cards. My eyes went
wide.
I'd done it! I bit my lips as I turned my cards over one by one,
slowly . .
. as my expression broke into a child-like grin, Starbuck's faded
into one
of astonishment. A perfect third level Pyramid! Unbeatable! He
took the
cigar out of his mouth before it fell out. "Well . . ." he said.
"Looks
like you two win . . ."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 6

I felt as giddy as a ten-year-old at a natalday celebration
after receiving
a long, sought-after gift.  I just grinned for several
centons at the two
astonished faces in front of me.  Reyana, undoubtedly
floating from that
third drink, barely contained a gleeful shout, then settled
an expectant
look on the lieutenant.

Starbuck leaned back in his seat, took another long drag on
his fumarello as
he analyzed the situation, then gave us that classic grin.
"Well, ladies,"
he said, "I look forward to learning how you both came to be
such adept
Pyramid players - over that dinner that I owe you."  He
stood and motioned
for us to follow him.

I placed a steadying hand at Reyana's elbow as she stood up,
and then we
trailed behind as he led us through the lounge area and up
to the
reservations podium, near the corridor that led to the
private suites.  A
tall man with  white hair stood erect behind the podium,
his head tilted so that he was gazing down his nose at all
who approached
him.  Starbuck motioned towards some seats, indicating for
us to wait while
he arranged the accommodations.  As the lieutenant walked
up, the man seemed
to slant his head in recognition and smiled a faint, wry
smile.  We were not
close enough to hear the conversation, unfortunately, but
the two talked for
several centons.  By the time Starbuck returned to where we
were seated, his
expression looked pained; I could tell that whatever
arrangement he managed
to make had cost him dearly.

Holding out both arms, though, he smiled his most gracious
smile at us.
"Ladies," he said, "this way, please."

I suppressed the school-girl giggle that bubbled in my
throat as I draped my
arm around his left arm, and Reyana did likewise on his
right.  As he
escorted us past the reservations podium, the tall man
looked startled for a
brief instant, but then winked at us.  I wondered if there
was a story
behind his reaction . . .


Starbuck led us down the corridor to a door on the left near
the end.
Disengaging his arms from his guests, he pulled out the
sensor card and
slipped it into the slot.  The door slid open and the
lieutenant stepped
back to allow us to enter.  A dim, golden light emanated
from decorative
globes that were placed in the back corners of the room.  A
softly padded
bench sat against the wall to our left, under a large
viewing portal.  Next
to it was a small table with crystal goblets and a tall
pitcher filled with
ambrosa.  The only other furnishing was a large, elegantly
draped . . . bed.

I sat down on the very end of the bed, beginning to feel
awkward and
embarrassed.  But Reyana stretched out across the mattress
behind me,
sighing as she ran a hand over the silky covers.  In
contrast to my worried
frown, I noticed as I turned to stare at her, she was
grinning coyly at our
host.

"Dinner will be arriving soon," Starbuck said as the door
closed behind him.
He stood just in front of the threshold, fidgeting ever so
slightly.

"Have a seat."  Reyana patted a spot on the bed in front of
her and next to
me.

With just the slightest bit of hesitation, Starbuck moved to
the indicated
location.  "So," he said as he sat on the corner of the bed,
turning so that
he could face us both, "I'd love to know how two such young
and lovely
cadets became such skilled card players.  "I mean - "  He
must have noted my
eyes narrowing as he said that.  Despite everything, such
sexist remarks
would always irritate me.  "It usually takes yahrens of
practice to perfect
such skills,"  he continued.

The lieutenant looked at Reyana, meeting unwaveringly her
inviting smile.
Then he gazed at me.  And for the first time, I allowed
myself to stare into
those deep blue eyes.  Perhaps if I had had three drinks to
fortify my
reserve, I could have continued our game . . but under the
soft lighting,
the enticing fragrance that seem to emanate from the silky
bedspread, and
the inviting, yet hesitant look that passed through those
eyes . . . I lost
my nerve.  I wanted nothing more than to sink into a warm
embrace and lose
myself in the moment.  But I couldn't.  Not this way, not
under a deception.
That just wasn't me.  Up until now, it had been a game of
wits and mostly
harmless fun - after all, a gambler knows what's at stake
when he plays the
game.

But we had upped the ante, so to speak, and were putting him
in a possibly
compromising situation.  And although he seemed ready to
play along, as he
grinned back at Reyana, I could sense his unease.  It was
too much for me -
the last thing I wanted to do was get him in trouble with
his superiors for
fraternizing with the trainees.  And while the regulations,
given our
refugee status, were not strictly enforced, it just didn't
feel right.

"Listen," I said as I stood up.  I felt myself trembling as
I faced the two;
my nerve was shot.  Reyana had sat up and was frowning at
me.  "I want to be
honest with you."  Reyana was now shaking her head at me and
mouthing the
word, "no."  I ignored her.  "It was a dare.  We did this on
a dare."

Starbuck's looked perplexed.  "A dare?  But how did you
learn to play
Pyramid so well!?"

"We studied like crazy,"  said Reyana, forced to go along
with the
admission.  She shot me a quick, angry glance, but then
smiled
apologetically at the lieutenant.  "I don't know if you
remember us from the
tactical course, but we're the ones who kept acing the
exams."

So we explained everything to him - how two seemingly
"boring, overly
studious, unsocial, and dateless" cadets were goaded into
the challenge of
seducing, basically, their commanding officer.  By the time
we had finished,
I felt pretty lousy.  Reyana did, too, from the look on her
face.  It all
sounded so underhanded and deceitful, even to our ears.
Had we stopped at
the Pyramid challenge, that would have been different.  In
fact, Starbuck
had seemed almost awed by our ability to study and analyze
all of the
mathematical statistics and then turn them into winning
hands.  But we hadn'
t stopped there.

As we finished, Starbuck was shaking his head, but still had
a smile on his
lips.  "You know," he said with a slight chuckle, "I'll
never hear the end
of this, if word gets around that I've been 'Starbucked' by
a couple of
cadets."  He gave us an unblinking gaze, waiting for our
response.  And even
though, as our superior, he could quite easily have pulled
rank, he wasn't
going to.  I  realized that, instead, he was leaving the
choice up to us.

Reyana saw it, too.  She slid to the edge of the bed, gazing
steadily at a
spot on the floor as she spoke.  "Look, I think it's best if
we just forget
about this part of evening, okay?"  She shot him another
apologetic glance.
"I feel really stupid.  I mean, this isn't the kind of
people we are -
usually.  And I don't want you to get into any trouble
because of us."

"Hey," Starbuck said, "I make my own choices and take my own
risks."  He was
grinning at us, again.  "And if I'm beaten at my own game,
then, well, what
are they going to do?  It wouldn't be the first time that
I've spent a
secton scrubbing turboflushes."

I wasn't so sure that that would be the only consequence; I
could easily
picture Colonel Tigh pulling him as our instructor - and I
certainly didn't
want that!  Before I could respond, though, the door chimed.
I glanced
nervously from Reyana to the lieutenant.

"Our dinner," he said smoothly, and opened the door.  The
waiter pushed the
cart in, glanced around at us with an amused expression,
then left after
Starbuck handed him what was probably his last remaining
cubits.

"Ladies," he said with an exaggerated flourish, "allow me."
He motioned
towards the myriad of plush pillows at the head of the bed.
"But first,
have a comfortable seat."

Hesitantly, still feeling embarrassed and quite self-
conscious, now, I
climbed up into the bed and sat carefully against the
pillows, pulling my
short, short skirt down as far as it would go.  Reyana
plopped down next to
me.  Her face was glowing.  I bit my lip and watched the
lieutenant.
Despite everything, he was obviously enjoying himself as he
filled our small
plates with various rations and handed them to us.  His
smile seemed
relaxed, now.  I felt myself melting, and thoughts of any
consequences were
fading as I succumbed to the dreamy atmosphere.  Oh, to have
been alone!

Our secret, I swore to myself, watching as the lieutenant
moved to pour
ambrosa into the goblets, and cast a glance at Reyana.  "Rey
-"  I started
to say.

"I know," she said in a whisper.  "Not a word."

Besides, I reflected as I nibbled on a protein cube, this
evening was way
too special to reduce to a locker room kind of discussion
with a bunch of
cadets.  No way.

Starbuck had turned towards us, holding a crystal goblet in
each hand.  "Not
the best yahren," he said, "but certainly acceptable."  He
took a step
towards the bed.

A violent explosion shook the ship, followed by several
lesser aftershocks.
Starbuck stumbled, then dropped the goblets as he caught
himself against the
wall.  "What the frak was that?!"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 7

An eerie moment of silence followed.  Reyana and I stared in
shock at the
lieutenant.  Still regaining his balance, Starbuck pulled
himself unsteadily
away from the wall.  "Come on -"  he started to say.

A third and final explosion rocked the Rising Star so hard
that it threw the
two of us off the bed in a heap, sent Starbuck crashing back
against the
wall and tumbling into the bench, and sent the ship into a
slow spin.  Then
the lights went out for several microns until the emergency
backup system
kicked in.  A dim, red glow illuminated the suite now.
Before anyone could
move, though, I felt my stomach lurch and lost all sense of
equilibrium as I
floated away from the floor; the gravity field had failed.

As all unattached objected also drifted into the air, I
planted a hand
against a ridge in the wall to steady myself and managed to
overcome the
sick feeling
in my stomach.  At last, I was able to look around, trying
to take stock of
our situation.  The furnishings - the bed,  the table, and
the bench -- were
apparently secured to the floor, but a host of other objects
were floating
loose, including droplets of ambrosa.  Reyana was braced
against the
ceiling, and Starbuck was gripping the bench with one hand
and his head with
the other.  When he brought his fingers down in front of his
face, even in
the dim lighting I could see that they were stained red.
Wiping his hand
across his pants, the lieutenant, however, took only a
moment more to orient
himself, then pushed towards to door.  "Come on!" he said
again.  "They're
going to need all the help they can get."

"What do you think happened?"  I asked.

"Main engine malfunction of some kind, to say the least.
Blew the
stabilizers, too, obviously.  With these rooms located aft
near the main
engine compartment, we're lucky the whole wall did blow out
on us."  He
stopped to make sure we were ready.  "Okay, I'm going to try
to open the
doors.  Just stay close to me.  Ready?"

We nodded, and he pressed the activation panel.  Nothing.
Which meant that
the ship was running on minimal emergency power - enough for
the lights and
life support, but not much else.  Lifting the panel,
Starbuck revealed the
manual release lever and pulled.  The door slid open just
wide enough to
squeeze through.

Out in the corridor, we could hear the screams of a panicked
crowd and smell
smoke.  In fact, a stream of black smoke was pouring out
from under the door
directly opposite ours.  Starbuck banged on it and listen
for any response.
No voices.

"Shouldn't we open it to check for survivors?"  shouted
Reyana as the
lieutenant prepared to move away.

He shook his head.  That door's a fire block - it's
scorching hot.  It'd
only let it spread if we opened it.  Can't risk that."  He
started to guide
himself up the corridor.

"But -"

"Come on!"  He shouted.  "It'd be too late now, anyway - if
there's even
anyone
in there.  Now let's move!"

X-UIDL: 5_$#!+D!#!h&T!!++U"!


Aliana clumsily kicked off the corridor wall and
bounced into another, trying to claw her way down the
corridor after Starbuck.  She had forgotten completely
that she was in a much too short dress of flimsy
flowing material that was now flowing anywhere it
wanted.  I looked down at my own dress and realized
how silly we really were.

We were supposed to be training to be warriors for
Sagan's sake, prepared for anything.  We were
definitely not dressed to deal with an emergency, let
alone a fire.  We had purposely exposed a lot of skin
to undo Starbuck.  That exposed and vulnerable flesh
now could be our undoing.

I kicked off the corridor wall and swam after
Starbuck, grabbing Aliana on my way.  She was trying
too hard to move.  Zero G is like quicksand, sometimes
the harder you try to go one direction, the faster you
go in the other direction.  I'm kind of used to the
concept of zero G, being part Piscerian.  Swimming in
the salty sea can leave you feeling weightless at
times.  Obviously Starbuck knew that as he had no
problem traversing the corridor to the Engine room,
even with the billowing smoke clouding our vision.  I
didn't want to lose track of him and tried to clear my
mind and concentrate on catching up.  Frak, I had to
have that last drink!  I was feeling disoriented, and
I knew it wasn't just from the lack of gravity.

I was finally right on Starbuck's heels, towing Aliana
who had finally realized her best bet would be to just
go limp and let me tow her along, when a droplet of
moisture hit me in the face, and then another.  I
wiped it away distractedly, then was hit with another.
 Aliana gasped and that's when I realized that what I
was wiping away was blood, Starbuck's blood.

We reached the end of the corridor to find the sealed
hatch to the Main Engine Room.  Unable to stop in
time, I bounced into the door.  Starbuck was able to
catch Aliana before she too hit the hatch.  Luckily
the door was cool on my bare arm as I hit.  I can only
imagine the nasty burn I could have received had the
door been warm.  I was hoping when we got through the
hatch that we would find coveralls on the other side.
Most of the engine rooms and bays on the Galactica
always had spare suits hanging nearby.  I was hoping
the same rang true for the Rising Star.

Starbuck immediately went to work on the hatch
controls, attempting to get them to open manually.
Aliana reached a hand up to check Starbuck's wound,
and he brushed her hand away distractedly.

"It's nothing.  Don't worry about it."  He mumbled as
he worked the controls.  Aliana shot me a worried
look, but I knew there was nothing we could do about
it at the moment.

"Okay, I think I've got it."  Starbuck said  "When the
door opens, let me go through first."

"I'm kind of in the way."  I said, which was true
since I had chosen the slight crack of the opening of
the door as my hand hold.

"Then switch places with me.  When you pull the lever
the door will open."

"Quit trying to be gallant Starbuck and just open the
door."  I said.

"Cadet, switch places with me.  That's an order!"  He
glared at me in anger and reached to grab me and pull
me to him.

"Look Sir,"  I replied angrily, "what do you know
about engines, big engines, not just vipers?"  I
pulled slightly away from him.

"Now is not the time for this!"  Starbuck said
exasperated.

"Yes it is."  Aliana said, putting her hand on his
shoulder.  "Before they opened the female viper
training, we were training to be mechanics."

Starbuck looked at Aliana in surprise, then back at
me.  "I don't remember you two in the mechanics
division."

"Well,"  Alian responded, "how many mechanics do you
know?"

"Alright, good point."  Starbuck answered taking a
deep breath, and wiping again distractedly at the
blood that was streaming over his temple.

"Besides,"  I said reaching to tear a strip from the
bottom of my dress.  "You're injured."  I reached out
to touch the fabric to his head and he stopped me.  He
took the cloth from me and touched it to his forehead.

"It's not that bad.  Okay, let's do this.  I'll open
the door, you go through and Aliana and I will follow.
 First we need to get the gravity back.  This ship is
not exactly equipped for lack of gravity."

"You're right on that one, but first we put out
fires."  I said.

"Then you work on repairs."  Aliana seconded.

"Is there anything else I need to know about you two?"
 Starbuck quipped sarcastically.

"Well we were getting to that when all the fun
started."  I smiled at him and winked.

Starbuck rolled his eyes and shook his head as he
turned back to the controls.  "It is a shame we had to
skip dinner, but it is party time."

The doors opened and I pulled myself into the room
with Starbuck and Aliana behind me.  There were flames
everywhere.  The smoke was thick and I could hear
voices of the mechanics, but could not locate anyone
through the smoke.  I misjudged my speed and
trajectory and had launched myself straight for one of
the fires.  I frantically lunged for a nearby
stanchion grasping it with my fingertips before
getting a good hold.  I vainly reached out to grab
hold of Starbuck and Aliana who were right behind me,
hoping to at least slow their speed.  My fingers
brushed his jacket and I was unable to get a grip.



*************
Part 9


The heat and thick, black smoke burned my eyes and made me
choke as soon as
Reyana and I pushed through the door ahead of Starbuck.
With eyes blurred
by tears, I could not see to stop myself as I sailed
forward, straight
towards the flames.  Reyana, I thought I saw, was able to
reach out and grab
a stanchion.  Blast it! I just hadn't had enough of the zero-
g training to
be able to control myself very well in free fall, or free
float, as it was.
I felt myself panicking, flailing, losing all equilibrium.

"No!  Stop!"  I heard Reyana cry out.  And where was
Starbuck? The
lieutenant had been right behind me, but at that moment, all
I saw and felt
was the scorching flames towards which I was now tumbling.

 I felt a scream building in my throat - and then a hand at
my back grabbed
the material of my dress and pulled me back.  I grabbed for
the arm,
desperately, having totally lost my orientation.

"Whoa there!"  yelled Starbuck.

Gripping his arm tightly, I finally got my bearings and saw
that we were
braced against a support column.  To our left, Reyana had
hold of a
stanchion.  I felt stupid and angry at myself for being such
a hindrance,
and we were wasting precious time.

Starbuck seemed unfazed, though.  He pointed back behind us
towards the door
and shouted,   "Emergency gear!"   Of course!  We wouldn't
last five centons
without breathers and protective gear - especially with
Reyana and me in
these flimsy dresses, which were probably flammable, as it
was.  "Grab the
handle on the panel!" he said and then pushed me towards the
case that
contained the equipment.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw
him extend a
hand so that Reyana could double back, as well.

It was getting unbearably hot, I noticed, as we donned
protective suits and
breathers as quickly as we could.  We also sealed the exit
doors again to
help contain the fire.  Escaping the choking smoke helped me
to regain my
composure. Looking beyond the closest flames, I saw three
technicians about
ten metrons away from us, trapped against the wall and
surround by the fire.
One of them appeared to be unconscious and all were coughing
and struggling
to breath.  Starbuck and Reyana grabbed the two
extinguishers and launched
themselves towards the technicians, spraying fire retardant
foam as they
went.  Waiting to be sure that I could maintain control and
would not run
into them, I grabbed the extra breathers, took several deep
breathes, then
propelled myself at a spot just to the right of techs.

I was getting the hang of this!  I tossed the breathers to
the nearest tech
as I floated by, then caught the edge of a crate to stop my
forward
momentum.  Sticking a toe under the bottom, I turned to see
what else I
could do for them.  The one man was slipping the breather
over the
unconscious tech's face, while the other was steadied him.
Starbuck was
motioning towards the exit. Then he yelled to me, "Reyana
and I'll lead the
way.  We need you to open the exit again, once these men get
over there,
okay?"

"Roger!"  I shouted back and readied myself.  He and Reyana
pushed off the
wall and headed back, spraying to clear a path for the three
technicians.
The techs, supporting their friend between them, went next.
Then I aligned
myself with the exit and launched towards the door.  As I
floated, I noticed
that while the flames in our immediate vicinity had abated
somewhat, the
main engine core, off to our left, had huge columns of fire
blazing around
it.  A leak.  A tylium leak.  "Oh frak, oh, frak, oh, frak!"
I muttered as
I tried to will myself to float faster.

At last, I reached the emergency exit panel, fumbled in
desperation to pull
the lever.  Fingers slipped in the bulky gloves of the fire
suit.  I cursed
and made myself slow down.  Taking time I wasn't sure we
had, I slipped my
fingers around the lever and pulled.  The door slid open.
We all moved
through it.  One of the tech banged the release mechanism to
close it again,
then turned to us.  "Thanks!" he said and started to say
more.

"Is there anyone else in there?" asked Starbuck urgently,
interrupting.

"No," said the man, "but as I was about to say, we need to
get that fire
out - now!"

We had only moments to act, maybe less, because a tylium
explosion would
destroy the entire ship in a micron, and from the look on
their faces, I
could tell that Starbuck and Reyana already knew that.  The
lieutenant
glanced
around quickly, located the com panel, about three metrons
up the corridor,
and launched himself towards it.  Grabbing the transceiver
as soon as it was
within reach, he turned so that his back hit the wall and
shouted into the
device, "Bridge!  Tylium leak!  Purge the atmosphere in the
engine room
 now!"

"Who is this?" Came a voice through the crackling static.
Thank the Lords
of Kobol that communications were powered by the backup
systems.  "We can't
just -"

"Lieutenant Starbuck, viper pilot.  We've cleared the room.
Now purge -"

"You don't have the proper authority to -"

"There isn't time to debate this.  It's a tylium leak!"

"I'll have to get clearance from the captain - "

"Cut the felgarcarb," screamed Starbuck into the transceiver
as he pounded
the wall with his other hand, "and open those frakkin' blast
doors before
we're all vaporized!
*Now!* "

For a moment there was no response, no indication whether he
had convinced
the bridge officer to act or whether he'd simply been cut
off.  The two
techs, still holding their companion, Reyana, Starbuck, and
I stared from
one to another, wondering, waiting.   At the other end of
the corridor, the
official emergency crew had finally arrived and was headed
our way.

Then a jolt and a rumble.  An emergency light began flashing
above the
entrance to the engine room.  And we could hear the faint
sound of air
escaping into the vacuum of space.

'Yes!"  We all shouted and hugged one another.  With no
oxygen, the flames
would quickly die, and the emergency crew, dressed in their
pressure suits,
could do their job,  sealing off any leaks and getting
started on the
repairs.

****
Starbuck didn't wait for the emergency crew to
approach him, as he tore off the environmental suit's
helment and began yelling questions.

"What happened?  Is it an attack?  Are the bays
operational?  How is the Galactica?"  Starbuck fired
off the questions without giving the man in the lead a
chance to respond.

"Everything is under control."  He finally was able to
get out.  "Go back to your rooms and await further
instructions."  He said coldly trying to brush past
Starbuck.

"Frack that!  What is going on!"  Starbuck said
grabbing the man by the arm.

Another of the emergency crew said, "Starbuck, is that
you?"

"Yeah, it is.  What the frack is going on?"  Starbuck
asked, recognizing one of the dealers from a 7/11
table.

"We're under attack, but nothing to worry about.  I
heard Blue Squadron's already mopped it up.  But they
missed one, we took a couple of hits."

"How are the bays?  I need to get to the Galactica?"
Starbuck asked.

The man Starbuck grabbed pulled his arm free and
responded, "Like he said, nothing to worry about.
It's all over but no shuttles are flying at the
moment.  Now go back to your rooms and await.."

"To hades with that!  I'm not floating around in some
suite while you guys try to figure out your head from
your.."

"We're trained mechanics."  Aliana interrupted
Starbuck,.  "How can we help, that's what you meant,
right Starbuck?"

"Yeah, right Starbuck?"  I added, casting Starbuck a
pleading look.

Starbuck looked at both Aliana and me.  We almost
willed him to keep his cool.  I think I even muttered
a "please" under my breath.

He took a deep breath and then muttered, "Well, since
it's all over, yeah, where can we help?"

The man in charge let the insult pass as he replied,
"Take the wounded to the sick bay first, then we need
to get that Tylium leak fixed first.  You know
anything about patching leaks?"

I responded before Starbuck had the chance to open his
mouth and get us locked in our quarters.  "Yes we do,
in fact, that's our specialty, isn't it Starbuck?"

"Oh yes, centaurs of training on that, right
Starbuck?"  Aliana added.

"Yeah, right, sure, tons of practice."  Starbuck said,
casting both me and Aliana a somewhat perturbed look.

Two of the crew carried the wounded down the corridor
as best they could in the zero g.  The rest of
uswaited for a few more moments for the atmosphere to
reestablish itself in the engine room.  When the man
in charge finally announced they could enter, Starbuck
muttered to me as he floated past and into the
compartment, "I sure hope you know what you're doing."


I couldn't help smirking when Aliana countered, "Looks
like we found something else that great illustrious
Starbuck is not so great at."

"I just fly `em.  I don't fix `em.  It's gotten me
this far, right Cadet?"

"Sure, it sure has, Lieutenant.  Right into the middle
of a flaming fireball.  That was fun wasn't it?"  I
said sarcastically.

"Best time I've had in years."  Starbuck replied
deadpan.  "Where do we start?"  He asked getting right
to business.

Aliana patiently walked Starbuck through the process
of finding the metal patches and how they were first
put in place with a type of adhesive, then very very
carefully spot welded the metal in place.  I
demonstrated the process, that is until we got to the
welding part, when without comment I handed the
emergency welder to Aliana.  I just didn't feel up to
it, not with the several drinks I had had that
evening.  Aliana gave me a strange look, but didn't
comment on it as she began welding and continued to
walk Starbuck through the process.

I turned away to find more patches.  As I floated back
toward them I noticed Starbuck shake his head, as if
trying to dodge something.  Small droplets of red
scattered into the air.  Aliana was preoccupied with
the welder, so I approached Starbuck and whispered,
"You okay?"

"Yeah.  My eyes are just fuzzy, that's all.  From the
smoke."  He stated.  "Where do we need to put those
patches on?"  He said trying to take one from me.

"That's okay.  You help out Aliana, I've got it."

As I turned to scan for more leaks, the world suddenly
turned upside down.  Or that's how it felt as I found
myself flying up to the ceiling, then was suddenly
dragged to the floor.  I landed unceremoniously on my
back, flinging the metal patch as my arm impacted the
floor.

"Gravity has been restored."  A mechanical voice
commented cooly.

"You could give a guy some warning!"  Starbuck yelled.
 I turned to see him crumpled against a control panel,
wincing in pain.  He reached up and grabbed his head
as he said more quietly, "Frack that smarts."

I started to get up on my feet and was instantly sorry
I tried as my stomach flip flopped, lurched and then
heaved.  I bit back bile and focused on not losing
those drinks I had so enjoyed earlier.  From my
peripheral vision I saw Starbuck stagger over to the
floor next to the control panel.  At first I thought
he was falling and I quickly got control of my nauseau
and pulled myself to my feet to go to him.  That's
when I noticed Aliana was still on the ground, and not
moving.  The patch that had been in my hand was now
resting beside her.  I quickly forgot about my stomach
and went over to the two.  Starbuck was leaning over
Aliana's face and I took Aliana by the shoulders and
shook her shouting her name.  She was limp for just a
moment, then her eyes blinked open.

"I'm okay.  Just stunned."  Suddenly her eyes went
wide in fright.

"What?!  What is it!"  I panicked.  Aliana gently
reached out to Starbuck.  I followed her hand to see
that blood was now pouring freely from the wound on
his head.  He kneeled down quickly and caught himself
with one hand braced on the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 11

At any other time, the sight of those expressive blue eyes
hovering near my
face would have sent me floating, gravity or no gravity, but
not this time.
My head was still foggy from the fall, but seeing the blood
streaming down
the side of the lieutenant's face snapped me back to
reality.

"I'm fine," he said as he sagged to the floor.  The sudden
return of gravity
made me feel like I weighed twice as much as I did and my
head felt ready to
explode from the sudden return of pressure; the effects on
Starbuck were
quickly becoming obvious.  "I fine," he said again, in
barely a whisper.
Then his eyes rolled up and he collapsed on top of me.

"Frak, frak, frak!"  I muttered as I squirmed out from under
the lieutenant
with Reyana's help.  Carefully we rolled him onto his back.
"We need a
medkit!"  I yelled, but Reyana had already dashed over to
where the
emergency equipment had been kept and had pulled the first
aid kit from the
wall.

The gash was nasty and had most likely been reopened in the
fall.  Reyana
tore open several sterile wipes, I grabbed a roll of gauze,
and together we
tried to clean the wound and stop the flow of blood.  By the
time we had
finished, both of our environmental suits were stained red,
but the bandage
seemed to be doing its job.  And Starbuck was groaning as he
began to regain
consciousness.

Taking several deep breaths to calm my nerves and to slow my
racing heart, I
looked around to assess our current situation.  The
emergency workers were
occupied elsewhere, probably trying to restore more power,
no doubt.  I
looked at Reyana, who seemed to be thinking the same thing I
was.  "They're
counting on us to patch those tylium leaks,"  I said
quietly.

"Yeah," she said.  "and if we don't, we could still all blow
to pieces."

I looked down at Starbuck, wanting nothing more than to get
him to the
landing bay, find a doctor, make sure that he was okay, but
that would have
to wait.  Grabbing the metal patch from the floor, I pulled
myself shakily
to my feet.  I noticed that I didn't feel so heavy.  They
must have adjusted
the gravity level, I thought to myself, so I *had* weighed
more than usual .
. .  I shook my head to focus on my task.

"I'll keep an eye on the lieutenant if you can get the rest
of those leaks
repaired," said Reyana.  I noticed that she looked none too
comfortable and
was breathing as though to steady her stomach.  Starbuck was
still groaning,
rolling his head back and forth slightly, but was not yet
awake.

"Right," I said.  Ladders were attached to the walls near
the main engine
core.  Darn, but it had been so convenient just to float
around to fix those
leaks!  Now I was slowed by having to position the ladder.
Torch in hand,
though, I was slowly able to patch all of the noticeable
fissures.  Without
the
proper instruments, however, I had no way of knowing if I
sealed them all.
It would have to do until the technicians - the true experts
-- from the
Galactica arrived.  For now, I felt fairly confident that
the core was
stable.  The job had taken nearly a centar, I estimated.

Not bothering to stow the ladder, I hurried back to Reyana
and Starbuck.
The lieutenant was awake and sitting propped against the
control panel.
Sitting quietly, too quietly. I had figured and feared that
he would want to
get up and help as soon as he was actually awake, and we had
already seen
how stubborn he could be.   I cast a glance at Reyana,
"What'd you do to
him?"  I asked.

Starbuck gave me a bemused smile.  "She said that if I
moved, she'd knock me
out again."

Reyana grinned slyly and held up a hypo spray from the
medkit.

I chuckled and shook my head, feeling relieved in more ways
than one.  The
fires were out. The leaks were patched.    The worst was
over.  I noticed
that the three other emergency workers were still busily
engaged in cleaning
up after the fires.  Our job, though, seemed to be finished.
And now that
the blood wasn't streaming down his face, Starbuck looked
close to his old
self.  Still . . .  "I guess we'd better head to the landing
bay so that we
can get back to the _Galactica_ to have your head looked
at," I said, a bit
regretfully.

Reyana nodded, but Starbuck held up his hand.  "Whoa, wait!
It's gonna be
jam-packed in the landing bay trying to get everyone off
this tub.  What's
the rush?"

"What do you propose we do?"  I asked as I stripped out the
environmental
suit.   I felt grungy and sweaty and wanted that bulky thing
off as quickly
as possible.  What I forgot was that I was wearing only a
translucent dress.
As I dropped the suit to the ground, I turned to see
Starbuck staring, mouth
agape, and Reyana trying desperately not to laugh.  I felt
my face flush hot
as I realized just how clingy and transparent my dress
probably was.  Well,
I told myself, I'd worn it for its effects.  I shouldn't be
complaining,
should I?  I grinned sheepishly and tried to brush out my
hopelessly tangled
hair with my fingers.  To hades with it!  Why not make the
best of the
little bit of time together we probably had.  I didn't want
to think about
whether we'd made the right sort of impression that might
encourage a
second, legitimate date with the lieutenant, or whether he
couldn't wait to
lose these too-crazy, strong-willed cadets.

Reyana had also climbed to her feet and had removed her
suit.  She was
shaking out her blonde strands and trying to pull the sweat-
plastered fabric
away from her body.  I caught Starbuck watching her efforts,
and it was my
turn to laugh.  Starbuck turned to me and smiled that sly,
electrified grin.
I felt my face go red again.  "Can you stand?"  I finally
asked.  I extended
a hand to him.

With Reyana's assistance, too, Starbuck managed to climb to
his feet.  His
face went pale for a moment, though, and I knew he was
fighting to stay
balanced and upright.  With our help, he removed his
environmental suit, and
didn't argue when we each took up a supportive stance on
either side of him.
Leaning his arms across our shoulders, he let us lead him
out of the engine
room.  Once outside, he motioned for us to stop, though.

"What?  What is it?"  Reyana asked, looking concerned,
afraid that he was
not able to go any further.

Starbuck leaned against the wall and smiled.  "No need to
wait in a crowded,
stuffy launch bay -"

"But with that injury," I said, noticing just how unsteady
he looked, "we
really should get you to the lifestation.  I'm sure they'd
give you
priority."

"Hm, probably."  He grinned at us again, a challenging look
on his face.
"But I've still got this."  He held up the entry card for
our suite.  Now
that the power's partially restored, we could just wait
there.  The man did
say to wait in our rooms. "

"So he did!"  said Reyana.  The look of concern had changed
to anticipation.

"And dealing with doctors is about as much fun as a Cylon
interrogation, in
my book,"  he added.

"But," I said, not sure about or comfortable with what I
thought he was
proposing,   "what about the rules concerning fraternizing?
I really don't
want you to get into any trouble."

Starbuck feigned a swoon.  "I think it's best if I just lay
down right now.
Walking all the way to the launch bay . . . I just don't
think I could make
it."  He tossed the card to me suddenly.  I fumbled but
caught it.  "But
it's up to you."

I looked from Starbuck to Reyana.  He was grinning, and his
blue eyes were
challenging me.  Reyana was mouthing the words, "Open the
door.  Open the
door!" as she glared at me for even hesitating about this.

I took a deep breath, suddenly very conscious, again, of my
thin dress
clinging to me.  This was it, the whole reason why we had
concocted this
crazy scheme and had sacrificed true study time to learning
how to play
Pyramid.  But this time, there was no deception involved,
only an open
invitation to the private suite.  So why was I hesitating?
I fingered the
card . . .


********

I gave Aliana time to decide what she was going to do.
 My mind was already made up.

Besides, Starbuck had a good point about the shuttles
being packed, the sick bay overflowing.  He wasn't in
immediate need now that the bleeding had stopped, and
for a concussion they would probably just send him
back to his bunk to rest.  He could certainly rest
more comfortably in the suite we had secured.  And
hades, I needed a turbowash.  I was sweaty and smelled
of smoke.  Not sweet fumarello smoke either.

Okay, so that's how I was justifying it to myself.  I
would have given anything to go back to that moment
before the explosion, to the look that Starbuck was
giving us with it's implied invitation.  I just wasn't
sure how Aliana felt.  She had a point, we didn't want
to lose Starbuck as our instructor.  And this was not
like us at all.

I was about to say something to Aliana, reassure her
that it was okay, nothing would happen, we'd just
turbowash and let Starbuck rest.  That's when Starbuck
upped the ante.

He reached out and closed his hand over her hand that
was fingering the room card.  "You are only young
once."  He whispered.  "Isn't that what being young is
all about, getting in trouble?  It's kind of fun, you
should give it a try."  He winked at her and Aliana
met his gaze straight on.

"They could throw the book at all of us."  She
hesitantly whispered.

"Then I'll catch it.  Besides, everything is chaos.
Most of the systems are down on this ship.  Who's
going to know?"  Starbuck gently pulled the key from
Aliana's hand.  She offered no resistance.  He held it
up to her, dangling the key as he asked in a seductive
voice, "Shall we?"

I could barely hear her as she whispered, "Okay."

Starbuck flipped me the room card.  "I know you're
game.  Be a dear and open the door."

I know I moved faster than when I was fighting that
fire.  I guess I didn't want to give my mind time to
think, time to figure out this was probably not a good
idea.  Lords, why did I always have to think about
things?  Why couldn't I just unlock that door and have
some fun, and then lock the door behind us when we
left and not worry about it?  Didn't I deserve some
fun?  I know Aliana does, she studies so hard, trains
too hard to be the best.

All this was running through my mind as I opened the
door and saw that our suite was in somewhat the same
condition we left.  The food was splattered all over
the floor, but the pillows and bedding had landed
right back on the bed that must have been secured to
the floor.  Aliana helped Starbuck through the door,
and I realized that he probably wasn't feeling as bad
as he was feigning, as he reached down to retrieve the
half empty ambrosia bottle from the floor at the foot
of the bed.  Starbuck let Aliana settle him on the bed
and arrange the pillows beneath him, playing up his
injury for all it was worth.

"Oh yes, this is much better than some crowded shuttle
bay."  Starbuck sighed and then checked the level on
the ambrosia bottle.  "I don't suppose any of the
glasses survived the commotion?"

"Nope, pretty much shattered."  I said as I surveyed
the room.  "I might be able to salvage the mushies if
no one's too particular about eating food that's been
on the floor."

"We'll have to share the bottle too.  Would you like a
drink?"  Starbuck offered the bottle to Aliana who had
yet to say a word.  She cautiously sat on the bed
beside Starbuck and took a long pull from the bottle.
Starbuck reached out and took her hand in his as she
handed the bottle back.

"You really surprised me in that engine room Aliana."
Starbuck said.  "I honestly didn't know how talented
you are.  There is a lot more to you beneath that
beautiful surface than meets the eye."

Aliana turned to look at Starbuck, and he gazed in her
eyes.  I have never seen Starbuck's eyes so deep blue
and sincere, and I was instantly jealous.

Just for an instant.  And then it passed.  I knew that
Aliana had wanted this moment, had worked hard for
this moment.  She deserved a chance to.well, a chance
to impress Starbuck, maybe even win him over.

We had often laughed and joked about when we would
finally *Starbuck* Starbuck and get him alone.  But it
hit me at that moment that we had never discussed what
we would do after that.  I guess neither of us had
thought that we could actually do it to bother to
think that far.

Yet here we were.  It was more than we had ever hoped
for.  And I wasn't sure if we could handle it.  A
cylon attack, nor problem.  Fires and tylium leaks, no
sweat.  The two of us alone with Starbuck.that could
tear us apart.  I mean could we honestly *share*
Starbuck.  But, now it looked like that wouldn't
really be an issue, sharing I mean.

"Uh, I'm going to take a turbowash and get some of
this grime off."  I muttered, but I doubt that they
heard me as I watched Starbuck reach up and stroke
Aliana's face.

I let the water run over me as I felt sorry for
myself.  It looked like Aliana had won that evening.
I didn't begrudge her though, I just felt bad for
myself.  I also felt stupid, like I was some little
kid who didn't get what they wanted for their
birthday.  I mean, what was I thinking!  This wasn't
really how things were done anyways   As I stepped out
of the turbo and grabbed my clothes I decided to be
happy for Aliana and to make a delicate exit.

I quietly entered the main room and saw that I was
definitely interrupting something.


********************

I was so nervous as I sat next to Starbuck on the edge of
the bed that I
didn't trust myself to talk, not if I wanted to say anything
remotely
intelligent.  Three words kept repeating in my head:  "This
is it.  This is
it.  This is it . . ."  And I was terrified.  Dreaming about
this moment,
even scheming and plotting about this moment, had been one
thing, but this
was it.  Reality -- not a studious, never-even-bend-the-
rules cadet's
fantasy.  I was sitting next to *the* Lieutenant Starbuck,
who was handing
me the half-empty bottle of ambrosa.  I took a long sip, not
even thinking
about what I was doing.  Then, as I handed the bottle back
to him, he gently
grasped my hand.  He said something, but all I could
concentrate on was how
warm his hand felt, and how strong, yet gentle.

Then I looked up and met his gaze for the first time since
returning to the
suite.  His eyes, his captivating eyes . . . His hand
brushed my chin.  I
felt electrified.  He sounded sincere, so sincere, so
inviting.  Yet,  I
knew his reputation.  And I didn't care, until out of the
corner of my eye I
saw Reyana disappear into the turbowash.  My mind snapped
back to reality.

I pulled back.  "Wait, wait."  I stood up.  "I can't.  It's
not right."

"What's not right?  Isn't this what you and Reyana wanted
all along?"  he
said it softly, almost pleadinglingly.

I felt my face flush.  "Well. . . yes."

Starbuck reached out and pulled me back.   I sat down again
on the edge of
the bed, my back as stiff as a board.  He cupped both hands
around my right
hand and gazed straight into my eyes and into my soul.  "A
kiss," he
whispered,  "I owe you both a kiss, at least.  After all,
you both probably
saved
my life and everyone else's back in that engine room.  A
kiss," he repeated.
"And nothing else . . . if that's what you want."

"But what about the regulations?  You could get into serious
trouble -"

"We've been through this," he said quietly.  "It's my
choice.  I want this,
too."  I felt his fingers softly rubbing against the top of
my hand.  "It'll
be fine.  Just a kiss."

We sat like that in silence for probably several centons.
Then his hand
touched my cheek, and I melted.  He leaned in slowly,
cautiously.  I felt
his breath against my face as I inclined my head so that my
lips met his.
Gently, slowly, we kissed . . .

*****

Starbuck broke off the kiss when I entered the room,
and casually disengaged himself from Aliana, backing
away and, propping himself against the wall.

"Um, I was just going to go and leave you two ..um.."
I couldn't say it.  For some reason I just couldn't
say the word alone.

"We saved some mushies for you."  Starbuck said
pointing to an upside down plate near the center of
the room.

"Look, it's okay.  I understand.  I'll catch up with
you later Aliana."

Before I could turn to leave Aliana said, "Don't go."


I stood there for a few moments staring down at the
floor.  For some reason I couldn't get my feet to move
or my mind to think.

"Reayana, sit down and have a drink."  Starbuck said

"I think I've had too many tonight.  I'm just going to
head back to the Galactica."  I said, trying once more
to exit the scene before me.

"Then wait up for me.  I'm going to turbowash first."
Aliana shot Starbuck a glance, then got up and headed
for the restroom.

Aliana moved too fast for me to object, or to tell her
I'd meet her in the shuttle bay.  I stood for a few
moments alone in the room with Starbuck, feeling
foolish and stupid.

"It's been an interesting evening Reyanna."  Starbuck
said smiling at me.  "I don't think I've had this much
fun on the Rising Star.  Sit down and have a drink."

I didn't know what else to do, so I sat down on the
end of the bed across from him. Starbuck took a drink
from the bottle, then handed it to me.  I drained it
without thinking about it.

"Your friend is worried about getting me in trouble."
Starbuck stated bluntly.  "I think you're worried
about your friend."

I just nodded not knowing what to say.  It was awkward
and I knew I should just go and leave them to
be...whatever.

"You're not worried about me being in trouble are
you?"  He grinned at me, moving away from the wall and
farther down the bed.

"If you were worried about being in trouble, you
wouldn't have agreed to the private room."  I
countered back, smiling slightly remembering the
moment when we had bested him.  "If you were worried,
you would have won."  I smiled at him teasingly.

"Ahhh...so you caught that one."  He nodded to
himself, and moved closer  "You're smarter than I gave
you credit for.  Your beauty hides your brains."

I couldn't help myself.  I laughed out loud.  "And
your good looks hide your reputation."

"Well, there is that.  And I do have a reputation to
uphold.  I couldn't let you leave without giving you a
sample of what all those rumors are about."

I preempted his attempt to move in closer by moving
closer to the end of the bed.  "What more could you
give me than my victory over you at pyramid?  A plate
of mushies perhaps?"

"Or a kiss."  Starbuck said leaning in closer to me,
putting his arm around my shoulder preventing me from
backing away.

Lords help me I should have stopped him.  I knew what
I was dealing with.  I knew his reputation.  And I
knew that Aliana was not one to play around, not one
just to let some rogue of a scoundrel kiss her.  I
could play the game, but.I was worried about Aliana.

But my thoughts were too slow, and Starbuck was too
fast.  His lips met mine before I had a chance to
object.  His lips were sweet and tasted of the
ambrosia.  Lords this was fun, and I gave as good as I
got, all worries flying out of my head.

Starbuck broke off the kiss, his eyes blazing with
surprise, and Lords help me, I moved in for another.
It seemed like an eternity, and yet oh so short a
moment before I heard Aliana enter the room.

******
Part 13

I needed that turbowash.  A cold one.  And I was so
confused, so confused.
Never in my wildest dreams had I expected us to actually
find ourselves -
the *two* of us - in a room alone with Starbuck, the most-
sought-after
womanizer in the Fleet; at least, that was how he was
described by the other
women cadets.  That had been the plan all along, I knew that
- the two of
us.  So why was I now . . . jealous?  And angry at myself
for feeling
jealous!

I had excused myself to be fair to Reyana, who had looked so
hurt, so
uncomfortable, and to attempt to sort out what was actually
happening.  What
did I want?  What did I have the right to expect?  I knew
the lieutenant's
reputation and did not totally trust him.  He would say what
one wanted to
hear.  But that kiss . . .

It *had* been worth it!  I didn't care why it had happened.
I laughed out
loud, because suddenly everything was clear.  Cylon
emergency and fires
aside, this had been the perfect evening.  And as he had
said - you're only
young once - so enjoy it!  And I had, I had.  But it was one
wonderful,
blissful moment in the middle of the worst period in history
that humans had
ever known.  And that was all any of us had.  So suddenly I
knew that I
*could* share Starbuck . . . not that he saw it that way.  I
was, I decided,
so very content with what had just happened, and I hoped it
worked out just
as well for Reyana.

And Starbuck.  When he had gazed at me with those eyes that
blaze like a
laser, I had seen, had felt, that he truly *did* want that
moment, too.
Consequences be damned.  He had repeated that often enough.
I still wasn't
quite sure.  It would hardly be worth it if he were pulled
as our
instructor.  My bravado and "live for the moment" attitude
did not quite go
that far, yet, I also realized.  I was still worried about
what his
superiors might do if they found out about this.

But as I slipped my dress back on over my head, however, I
pushed those
thoughts out of my mind.  Too late to worry about it now.
So why not make
the most of it?  I laughed to myself again, feeling giddy.

So as I left the restroom, I was careful to gage what was
happening out in
the main room, not wanting to interrupt something that had .
. . progressed
too far.  Reyana and Starbuck were sitting on the bed but
locked together in
a long, passionate kiss that just seemed to go on and on.
Her hands were
massage his neck, brushing through his hair.  All clothes
were intact,
though, I noticed with a grin.  And I was amazed had how . .
. relaxed I now
was about this.  "Ahem."  I leaned against the wall and
cleared my throat.
My arms were crossed, my brow cocked, but my lips were
curled in a smile.

Starbuck pulled back, gasping slightly for breath, and
looked at me.  He
looked a bit flustered.  "Aliana, we were just, just . . ."

Reyana was blushing.  "Uh, we were . . ."  I knew that she
was probably
worried about my reaction, knew that I was not the play-
around type.
Normally.

" - having all that fun!"  I said with a laugh and sat down
on the opposite
side
of the lieutenant.  I wasn't sure where this wild, carefree
Aliana had come
from -- certainly not from just one sip of ambrosa - but I
was going to make
the most of it before she transformed back into the bookish,
too-serious
cadet.  I slipped an arm around behind Starbuck's back and
snuggled close.
"I don't think I was properly thanked,"  I whispered.

Lords, but Reyana was trying not to laughing because
Starbuck actually
pulled back.  My sudden change had thrown the unflappable
lieutenant totally
off guard.  He even looked embarrassed.  But then, I
surprised myself when I
said, "If you'd like me to wait a little longer so you two
can finish, I
don't mind."

That did it.  Reyana burst out laughing.  And Starbuck, his
reputation at
stake, made a quick recovery.  "Not at all," he murmured in
his most
sensuous tone, his eye lids half closed, his lips parted in
a seductive
grin.  "I think I can handle you both."   With more than a
bit of dramatics,
he wrapped his arms around me, swept me across his lap, and
leaned in for
the kiss.  No hesitating brush of the lips this time; it
promised to be
unlike anything I had ever experienced.  I was melting
again!

*knock, knock*  "Security doing room checks!  We need to
evacuate all
nonessential personnel from the _Rising Star_."

"Oh, crap!"  I felt the blood drain from my face.  I felt
frozen.

"Felgercarb!"  I heard Reyana say.

Starbuck, ever the quick-thinking warrior, unceremoniously
dumped me on the
bed and whispered,  "I've got a head injury, remember?
Concussion.  I've
been unconscious the whole time."  With that, he slumped
back on the bed.

Reyana was quick to take up a position next to him, but I
still felt totally
terrified.  A moment later, the door slid open, and a black-
suited security
guard entered.  He stopped when he saw the three of us.
"What's going on in
here?"  he asked, frowning at us.

"Treating a head injury," I said, more calmly than I would
ever have thought
possible and sliding off the bed to give him a full view of
a drowsy-looking
Colonial warrior.  Starbuck was lying on the bed, eyes
closed, groaning
slightly.  Reyana was pretending to arrange the bandage on
his head.  It
didn't hurt that the white gauze actually was soaked through
with a bit of
blood.

The guard eyed us, making full note of our skimpy dresses
and ages, no
doubt.  Not a mark in our favor that we probably looked
younger than our
actual ages, which were a good 10-yahrens less than
Starbuck's to begin
with.  "Why didn't you report to the sick bay and get
emergency transport to
the _Galactica_?

"Because he was in no condition to be moved, and this room
was available!"
Reyana gave her sternest look.  "Look, just check with the
emergency crew.
We're the ones who got the fires out and patched the tylium
leaks.  The
lieutenant was injured when the gravity was restored."

I pointed a finger at him.  "That's right.  And we didn't
want to move him
until we were sure he was all right."

With that, Starbuck groaned louder and opened his eyes.
"What?  Where?" he
muttered, looking suitably disoriented.  He was a darn good
actor, as well
as kisser, I thought to myself!

The guard looked unsure now.  But with the lieutenant
"regaining"
consciousness, he apparently decided that now was not the
time to discuss it
any further.  "Fine.  All right," he said.  Let me help you
get him to the
shuttle lounge.  I'll have someone notify the _Galactica_ to
expect another
casualty."

"No, no," said Starbuck, holding his head and still
groaning.  "I think I
can make it.  You just keep on doing your job . . ."  He
staggered to his
feet as Reyana and I steadied him.  Eager to get away from
the security
guard, we let the lieutenant lean on us as we exited the
suite and headed
out.  We did not look back to see what the guard was doing
now.

My heart was pounding as we made our way towards the shuttle
lounge.  "That
was too close," I whispered.  "Do you think he'll report us?
You were quite
convincing!"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll report me," Starbuck said with a sigh.

"Why?"  Reyana asked.  We were nearing the lounge. The
lieutenant  continued
his act, or partial act, because by the time we entered the
lounge, I was
feeling Starbuck depending more and more on our support and
got the feeling
that he was more than a little woozy from the exertion.  I
didn't doubt that
he really did have a mild concussion.  The lounge was about
half full, and
at least four of the occupants were security guards
directing the
evacuation.  We took a seat to wait.  When we were sure that
no one was
listening, she asked again, "Why would he report us?  We
were just taking
care of the wounded!"

Closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall,
Starbuck sighed
again.  "Because I know that guard.  His name is Reese . .
."

********************
Part 14

Reyana and I sat quietly but nervously in the lounge,
waiting for
the next available shuttle back to the _Galactica_.  A
glance at Reyana's
face indicated that she probably felt as uncomfortable as I
did sitting
around in our skimp party dresses.  I was starting to feel
more and more
conspicuous and more and more ready to ditch these outfits
for our uniforms.
Plus, we kept getting looks from the security guards;
although, I wasn't
sure if that was because of us or because of Starbuck's semi-
conscious act.
At least, we thought it was an act.

After about five centons, one of the guards, a tall, stocky
man, approached
and asked, "Is he all right?"

"Yeah, fine," I answered.  "He's just resting.  Bumped his
head when the
gravity came back on."

The guard looked dubious, but did not press the issue.
After he had ambled
off,   I shot a look at Reyana, then jabbed the lieutenant
in the ribs.
"Are you okay?"  I whispered.

No response.

"Starbuck!"  I whispered again, shaking his arm.  "Are you
okay?"

"Fine, just fine, just fine . . ." He sounded anything but
fine.   The
bandage, I noticed, was looking soaked.

"Oh, frak," I muttered. The original plan had been to get
back to the
_Galactica_, then go our separate ways.  Starbuck had
promised to go to the
lifestation, and we were supposed to head back to our billet
to get some
sleep.  He had promised to keep us informed if the security
guard reported
him, had kept on insisting that he could handle the matter,
and had even
promised another round of Pyramid sometime in the future.

Now, however, I doubted that he could make it to the
lifestation on his own.
My fears were confirmed when the shuttle arrived.  As the
passengers began
boarding, Reyana and I nudged the lieutenant.  "Time to go!"
Reyana said
cheerfully.

Starbuck, I noticed, was squinting and rubbing his forehead.
"You okay?"  I
asked.

"Just one hades of a headache," he said.

Reyana and I both sighed and grabbed an arm to help him to
his feet.
Starbuck stood, took two steps, then toppled to the floor
before either of
us could stop him.

"Whoa!  Who made the shuttle spin!"  he muttered.

Quite conscious of the looks we now getting, we tried to
haul him to his
feet and steady him enough so that we could board the
shuttle, but he seemed
to have lost all sense of equilibrium.

"Fine, huh," grumbled the security guard as he approached.
Being quite a
bit taller than either Reyana or me, he had no problem
hoisting the
lieutenant up and supporting him as we finally boarded the
shuttle.  As he
deposited a groggy-looking Starbuck in his seat, the guard
gave us a
no-nonsense look.  "I'll notify the _Galactica_ to have a
medtech and gurney
standing by when we arrive."

Now I was worried.  And I was kicking myself for ever giving
in and going
back to that suite when we *knew* that his injury was more
than just a
scratch.  We had the blood all over the environmental suits
to prove it.  So
Reyana and I sat in an uncomfortable silence, watching
Starbuck, who sat
with eyes closed, rubbing his temples throughout the short
trip to the
_Galactica_.  Not the best ending to our evening.

Once aboard the _Galactica_, the guard returned to help the
lieutenant out
into the landing bay.  Reyana and I followed on either side.
Sure enough,
there was a gurney and two medtechs waiting a short distance
from the
shuttle.  One of the medtech was a slim woman with blonde,
shoulder-length,
wavy hair.  And from the look on her face, as she stared
from Starbuck to
Reyana to me, I could tell that she knew the lieutenant.

Reyana sensed it also.  "Uh, oh," she whispered.

"Uh, hi, Cassie,"  mumbled Starbuck as the guard plopped him
onto the
gurney.

"A bit too much excitement, Lieutenant?"  was her response.
Tthen she
motioned to her companion.  I don't know about Reyana, but I
felt extremely
awkward as I stood there watching as she and the other
medtech, without a
word, fastened the safety straps.  Her exterior was all
business, very
professional, but beneath that, I could sense a definite
chill in the
atmosphere.


*****

We watched helplessly as the blonde medtech escorted
Starbuck away.  She had made it very clear with her
body language and professional attitude that we should
not follow her, although we wanted to.

"Shouldn't we go make sure he's alright?"  Aliana said
worriedly.

"Yeah, we should, but I think his head is the least of
his problems."  I replied.  Aliana shot me a puzzled
look.  "Come on, let's get into uniform.  We need to
get to the bridge."

"The bridge?  I don't understand?"

"We need to report what happened before that security
guard has a chance to!  We need to make sure they know
what *really* happened."  I winked at Aliana and she
caught my drift right away.  We dashed for the
bunkroom faster than if we were running for a red
alert.

Colonel Tigh was a little surprised to see us so early
in the beginning of the day shift, but when we
explained that we were reporting in from the night
before he flashed us a very knowing and displeased
look.

"What seems to be the problem Cadets?  I have a very
busy schedule ahead of me.

"We need to put ourselves on report."  Aliana started
with no preamble.

"The proper chain of command for reporting a missed
curfew is to see your Squadron leader."

"Well, you see Sir,"  I continued, "It's our Squadron
Leader that we need to put ourselves on report for,
or, er, what we did to him."

That definitely got his attention.  He looked up from
his reports and slowly asked, "What did you do to Lt.
Starbuck?"

"Sir, we disobeyed his direct order and took advantage
of his injured condition."  Aliana blurted out.  I
think I broke one of her ribs as I elbowed her.  I can
teach the girl how to play pyramid, but have yet to
teach her about tact!

The Colonel repeated what Aliana said, slowly
accentuating each word.  "You took advantage of his
injured condition.  What injuries are you talking
about, and what exactly do you mean by."

"Sir," I interrupted, "We were over on the Rising Star
when the attack occurred, playing pyramid with Lt.
Starbuck, and he received a head injury when we went
to help repair a Tylium leak in the main engine room.
He ordered us to take him directly back to the
Galactica, but we thought it best that we treat his
injury in one of the private lounges and stabilize him
for the journey back to the Galactica.  It was while
we were stabilizing his injuries that Security came to
check the rooms, and we are afraid that the Security
Guard got the wrong idea."  I spoke so quickly I made
myself dizzy.

Colonel Tigh stared at me, his mouth slightly open.
He blinked once, then twice before he responded.  "I
see Cadet.  Well thank you for reporting the incident.
 I just have a few questions.  How exactly did you
stabilize his injury?"

Before I could respond, I heard a chuckle coming from
behind me.  I turned to stare in horror at Commander
Adama.  Aliana gasped, and I immediately came to
attention.

"Yes Cadets,"  The Commander said smiling, "how did
you stabilize his condition?"

"Uh Sir, uh.you see..um.well we applied pressure to
the wound and had him rest."  I stammered.

"He ordered us to take him immediately back to the
Galactica.  It was not his idea at all!"  Aliana
added.  I could have just laid down and died from
embarrassment.

"Oh, I see.  You had him rest."  The Commander turned
to Colonel Tigh.  "I see they had Starbuck's best
interests at heart.  You may be dismissed Cadets."
The Commander said, then chuckled to himself and
walked away.

"Sir?"  The Colonel asked after Commander Adama, but
the Commander just kept walking and laughing.

Neither Aliana or I moved.  I wasn't sure what to do.
The Colonel looked down at the floor shaking his head
and sighing.  He also turned to walk away, when Aliana
spoke, "Uh Sir, are we, um, dismissed?"

"Yes Cadets, you are dismissed.  See that it doesn't
happen again."

I don't think I breathed until I was safe in the lift.
 Aliana looked paler than Starbuck had, and I was
afraid she was going to be sick.

"Well, that went well."  I finally said.

"Oh yeah, just great.  I'm sure Starbuck would agree
with you."  Aliana said as straight faced as she
could.  Then we both broke into laughter, tears
rolling down our faces.

*********
Starbuck honestly thought he got away with it.  Cassie
had never mentioned the two young Cadets who were kind
enough to help him out on the shuttle, or at least
that's the story he told her.  He definitely expected
a visit from either the Colonel or from Apollo while
he was being checked out in the Life Center, but it
was a routine exam.  He was issued pain killers, anti
inflammatorys and sent back to the barracks, with
orders to return for a check up the next day.  He
fully expected to be awoken by a summons to the
bridge, but instead, he had gotten a full 8 centaurs
of sleep, uninterrupted.  A true luxury in Blue
Squadron.  It wasn't until later in the day that he
finally was called to Apollo's office, for something
routine and minor, but Starbuck knew the moment he saw
the Colonel that the jig was up.

"So Lieutenant, I heard you had an interesting evening
on the Rising Star last night?"  The Colonel started
as soon as he was in the room.

"Oh yes, there was tons of excitement, but
unfortunately I lost all my money.  Real shame that
one system didn't work out."  Starbuck answered.

"Actualy I was referring to the attack and the head
injury you received."

"Oh that?  Nothing really.  Just a minor distraction
on an otherwise perfectly wonderful evening."

"Yes, so I was told by two Cadets who claim they took
advantage of you."

"Two Cadets?"

"Yes Starbuck," Apollol added, "I believe their names
are Aliana and Reyanna.  They are in the squadron you
are training.  Care to tell us about it?"

"Oh yes, well, there's really not much to tell.  They
took advantage of me at the card table, there was an
explosion, we put out some fires, patched some tylium
leaks."  Starbuck said stopping.

Apollo and the Colonel said nothing, waiting for
Starbuck to finish.  The silent moment went on for a
few more seconds before Starbuck went on.

"Oh yeah, then I bumped my head, they helped me to a
private room.  I don't remember much, then I was on
the shuttle back to the Galactica.  I don't remember
much, except that the Cadets took advantage of my
situation to proposition me, and to put me in a rather
uncomfortable situation, I mean with the private room
and all.  But I assure you nothing happened.  I was
very firm with them that they needed to obey orders."

"Starbuck, are you trying to tell me that those two
very studious and responsible cadets, who by all
reports and witnesses spend every free centon studying
or reading, propositioned you?  Do you really honestly
expect me to believe that they took advantage of you?"

"Well, yeah."  Starbuck said shrugging his shoulders.
"I mean, I was kind of out of it with the head injury.
 I really don't remember much after the gravity came
on.  And next thing I knew they were helping me on the
shuttle."

"Lieutenant!"  Tigh barked, "The dealer at the pyramid
table reported that you left for the private lounges
with the two VERY YOUNG cadets BEFORE the attack.  I
could request the security tapes if necessary."

"Well, see sir...they were giving me a pyramid lesson,
and I lost a bet that included dinner, and all the
tables were full, but the private rooms were open.
I'm sure if you check the tapes you'll see that we
didn't really have, um, time to do, well to do much
but get to the room before the attack occurred."

Apollo laughed sarcastically.  "You lost to them at
pyramid?  Starbuck, you have made up some tales
before, but this one is a doozy."

"Well, what did they report?"

Tigh cleared his throat before replying.  "Well, it
seems that they put themselves on report for- and I
quote - "Compromising an Officer and his authority".
They claim you ordered them to cease and desist and
they ignored your orders."

"See, I was right."  Starbuck said grinning the smile
he can't resist when he's won a pot at pyramid.

"Starbuck, do you really honestly expect us to
believe.." Apollo started when Starbuck cut him off.

"Are you calling those studious, forthright, heroic
cadets liars?  I mean they practically saved the
Rising Star, and any other ships nearby from disaster
when they put out the fire and patched the tylium
leak.  We could have lost nearly 500 civilians!"

Tigh sighed and turned toward Apollo.  "You handle
this, you're better at dealing with him.  As far as
I'm concerned, it never happened.  I'll do my best to
sweep it under the rug."  Tigh reached up and rubbed
his forhead.  "Heck, I can't even mention it to the
Commander."  Tigh glared over at Starbuck, then turned
back to Apollo.  "For some reason, Adama finds this
humorous, and the only response I can get out of him
is laughter."

Tigh turned and stalked out of the room.

Apollo sighed and shook his head.

"Alright Starbuck, for the record, you expect me to
believe that two women beat you at pyramid,
propositioned you, took you to a private room, and
nothing happened."

"You mean other than putting out the fires and sealing
Tylium leaks?  Of course nothing happened."  Starbuck
said smiling.

"Buddy, I have known you for a long time.  I've seen
you woo women on every planet we wind up on.  You were
in the midst of every mans dream, two young women
propositioning you, and you are telling me that
nothing happened?"

"Head injury, remember?  For the record, I can neither
confirm nor deny anything that occurred.  All I know
is that all my clothes were, um, intact, and they
escorted me to the Galactica.  I can not recall
issueing any orders that they may or may not have been
ignored.  I guess you'll have to take their word for
it."

"Starbuck...I swear you are going to drive me to
drinking!"

"Speaking of which, I do owe those girls a drink for
saving my life.  Care to join us in the Officers Club?
 I mean if we're done here, for the record?"

"No, I think I'll pass on the celebration."  Apollo
said sarcastically.  "Yeah, we're done, but I'm
telling you Starbuck," Apollo paused, then shook his
head again.  "Oh forget it."

"What good buddy?  I can take it.  Let me have it."
Said Starbuck, knowing he couldn't hide much from his
friend.

"Starbuck, it won't make a difference.  Go, have fun,
try to stay out of trouble."  Starbuck cast Apollo a
wry grin, then turned to leave.

"Oh and by the way Bucko,"  Apollo said, "I'm not
helping out when Cassie rips you apart, for the
record."

Starbuck's grin slipped.  "Oh yeah..um, sure you don't
want to join me for that drink?"

"I'm sure your two heros can protect you.  Have fun
now."