*****

Lucas could hear the explosions in his dreams.  At
least he thought he was dreaming.  He remembered the
training the month before, running through the
exercise area with the mines exploding and laser
airbursts all around him.  Even though it was just a
training exercise, it had felt very real at the time. 
He found that for nights afterward his dreams had been
filled with bombs and lasers.  He thought he was
dreaming about it again.  

He had been so exhausted from the all the marching and
drilling they had done the day before getting ready
for the gala ceremony the Warrior Academy would be
having to celebrate the new peace accord.  Since his
group was so close to graduation, they had been
drilled the longest and the hardest.  They were some
of Caprica's best and would be expected to be perfect
in their presentation to the Council of Twelve.  But
it had been hard for his squadron to put their heart
into knowing that with peace, there would be less need
for Warriors.  Even Lucas wondered what his future
would hold in peace time.  He’d probably stay a
warrior, since most of his training had been for
bridge duty.  There would always be a need for bridge
personnel even during peace.  "They wouldn’t just
scrap the battlestars and leave space behind" Lucas
had argued with his fellow squadron members.  "Surely
there will be deep space exploration and diplomatic
missions to other worlds."

But as the peace accord loomed upon them, many of his
fellow squadron mates had lost the drive they had had
in their early days at the academy.  His drill
Sergeant had noticed their lack of enthusiasm on the
field, and decided to drill some enthusiasm into them.
 His whole squadron had literally dropped into their
bunks from exhaustion when the day was done.  Lucas
and many of the others had been too tired to even
change out of their uniforms, collapsing in the
clothing they were wearing.

There it was again, a loud rumble, only he could tell
he wasn't dreaming.  "Maybe it's early fireworks." He
thought to himself, still resisting waking up.  He
went to roll over in his bunk when the bright flash
brought Lucas to full consciousness.  Before he could
react, the concussion threw him and his bunk over onto
the ground as the ceiling tiles started to rain down
on him.  He instinctively put his hand over his head
to protect himself from the flying debris.  

He intended to wait until it was quiet again to move,
to figure out what had happened.  He still wasn't sure
he was awake.  Another blast brought his limbs alive
as he got himself up from under his bunk and began to
run.  He headed towards the door near his bunk, but
realized it was blocked by debris.  He stood dazed for
a moment, still drowsy, making it hard for him to
comprehend why there would be furniture and bricks
blocking the doorway.  

He looked around confused and scared.  The bunkroom
was unrecognizable.  He had woken into a nightmare of
twisted metal bunks and cement bricks.  The ceiling in
the back of the bunkroom had collapsed down over half
of the cadets quarters.  He could see blood and what
appeared to be bodies amongst the rubble.  He ran his
hands through his blonde hair, getting it out of his
eyes as his gaze was drawn to the ceiling where he
could see the early morning sky.  Sunrise was
approaching soon, but it was still dark predawn hours.
 He stared in wonder at the huge gash in the ceiling
and the stars above as a Cylon raider streaked by on a
strafing run.  He dove for cover as the laser blasts
burst around him.  

"What the Hades!"  He swore out loud as he crawled to
the hole that had once been the bunkroom wall.  He
felt hands grab at him from behind and pull him back
into the bunk room and out of the way of another laser
blast.  "What the Frack!"  Lucas said, trying to beat
at the hands that had a hold of his legs.  "Let me
go!"

"If you go out there right now you'll be killed!"  He
recognized the voice that spoke to him.  It was
Quillan, his fellow squadron leader who slept in the
bunk beside him.  

"What the Hades is going on!"  Lucas said, no longer
struggling against his friend’s protective grip on
him.  Lucas crouched against the outside retaining
wall, looking through the hole he had been attempting
to exit the room through.  The field beyond the crews
quarters was on fire, ruts driven into the ground by
the Cylon blasts.  Lucas turned to his friend and said
incredulously, "We're under attack?  But why?"

Lucas stared into the dark brown eyes of his friend. 
Quillan's dark brown hair was streaked white from the
dust of the debris.  There were streaks of blood on
the sleeves of Quillan's uniform.  "I don't know." 
Quillan said numbly as if in shock.  "But I know
that's not a safe way to go.  Let's see who else is
alive and get them out of here.  There are shelters
below the Female barracks.  We should probably head
there."

"Yeah, I guess so."  Lucas said, his eyes drifting to
the back of the squadron quarters, to the mass of
debris that had once been a room.  He didn't move,
knowing that they would find only broken bodies.  He
turned away from the sight to gaze out at the rest of
the campus through the damaged wall.  Many of the
buildings, the ones still standing that is, were on
fire.  The rest lay in heaps on the ground; rounded
mounds of what had once been square structures.

"Come on!"  Quillan said to him, grabbing at Lucas as
if to drag him if he failed to move.  Lucas shook his
head, as if to shake off the shock that was
threatening to paralyze him.  "Come on, think Luke. 
What good were all those high marks if you're gonna
freeze in a crisis."  He admonished himself, and then
rose to join Quillan as they made an attempt to search
for their fellow students who might be alive.  They
poked and pulled aside some of the debris for a few
moments, when they were startled by louder explosions,
raining down more debris upon them.  

"Come on, let's get out of here!"  Lucas said running
towards the blocked doorway, shoving aside twisted
bunks to get through with Quillan right on his heels. 
In the hallway they found more of their classmates
from other squadrons, crouched in the hallway for
cover.  "Where did you say those shelters were
Quillan?"  Lucas yelled above the roar of the now
constant bombing.  

"In the female quarters, back that way, underneath. 
Come on everybody!"  Quillan yelled, running back
along the hallway to the rear exit of the building. 
Lucas followed, gesturing to the others who hadn't
heard them to follow them.  Quillan stopped at the
rear of the building, pulling debris away from the
door so it could open inward.  Lucas looked out the
broken window and could see that the adjoining
building of the female quarters was intact, but smoke
was billowing from the upper floor four stories up. 
If they could make it to the quarters before the fire
reached them, they should be safe  "Most Colonial
shelters were fire proof as well as supposedly laser
proof.  I guess we'll find out if that's true."  Lucas
thought to himself, watching Quillan struggle with the
door.  Lucas picked up a large brick and heaved it
through what was left of the window, breaking the rest
of the glass.  

"Quillan, come on, just dive through."  Lucas said,
before crawling through the window and landing on the
ground headfirst.  He quickly picked himself up
ignoring his now pounding head, and ran as hard as he
could to the female barracks and burst through the
ground level door.

The hallway was dark and starting to fill with black
smoke.  Lucas poked his head back out the door to see
if Quillan and the others were following.  He was
almost bowled over by Quillan who was right behind
him.  Lucas counted seven others headed towards him. 
"Quillan, where is it?"  

"I’m not sure, I just know it’s under the female
barracks."  He said, peering through the hazy corridor
that was beginning to fill with several of the female
cadets.  They were headed towards Lucas and Quillan to
head out the door when Lucas stopped one of them. 
"Where’s the basement?"

"Back that way, but we have to get out, the building’s
on fire!"  She said, trying to push past them, only to
be blocked by more of the male cadets rushing in. 
Lucas grabbed her by the shoulders, practically
yelling in her face over the roar of another raider
streaking overhead "WHERE"S THE BASEMENT?!"

She stared in shock and disbelief at the Cylon ship as
it turned and headed towards the building, then
screamed "THIS WAY!" running through the corridor back
towards a stairwell in the center of the building. 
Other female cadets stared at them as they ran through
the corridor, then joined them as the building began
to crumble from the onslaught of laser fire the Cylon
Raider was disbursing.   The stairwell echoed with
their pounding feet, and the impacts of falling
debris.  It seemed like an eternity to Lucas, a
constant winding down and down before he reached a
door, a round hatchway with a large handle to open it.
 He almost couldn’t open it from the press of all the
bodies trying to make it down the stairs crashing into
him as he tugged on the hatch.  Quillan reached for
the handle also and the two of them were able to open
it and usher the others inside.  Lucas counted, habit
from some of his training in bridge duty, he reached
thirty-four before the stairwell began to collapse. 
He pushed Quillan in before finally entering himself,
turning back before securing the door to watch a young
female fall from the now collapsing stairway, landing
on the floor outside the door with a loud squishing
sound, then her body was immediately covered with
debris.  Lucas pulled the door all the way shut, more
to block out that horrible vision than for protection.

He looked around the room.  It was fairly large with
walls lined with benches that could double as bunks.
Emergency lighting had been activated, glowing red
from the caged bulbs in the ceiling.  Quillan stood
beside Lucas, also inspecting the room.  Both took a
moment to catch their breath, before Lucas motioned to
the back of the room where there were shelves stacked
floor to ceiling, lined with boxes of supplies.  Just
then the floor rolled from a large concussion and the
emergency lights flickered.  Lucas held his breath and
prayed to the Lords of Kobol that the lights would
stay on, at least until they could find some portable
lanterns.  When the lights stabilized, Lucas headed
back to the shelves, only to find that several of the
others had already beat him to them.    They were
rummaging through the boxes haphazardly when one of
the young female cadets shouted out, "Lanterns!" and
lit one.

The floor beneath them jumped and the lights flickered
out again, never to return.  The young cadet began to
hand out lanterns to everyone when Lucas turned to
her.  "No just a few.  We may need them later."  The
female Cadet looked up at him, at first in shock, then
slowly in resignation of their situation.  "You’re
right."  She said softly.  "We should go through these
supplies and see if there’s a first aid kit.  You’re
bleeding."  She gently reached up and ran her fingers
through his hair.  It was as her fingers caught on
something sticky in his hair that he realized he must
have cut his head.  He gently grabbed her hand and
pulled it away.  

"It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt."  Lucas said, looking
into her concerned gaze.  "You’re right, let’s do a 
quick inventory and see to the others.  Are you okay?"
 She quickly looked away, surveying the others in the
room, sitting on the benches or sprawled on the floor,
all shocked and dazed, before looking back at Lucas. 
"Yeah, I’m okay."  She turned back to the shelves and
started picking up some of the boxes that had been
thrown to the floor in their haste to locate a light
source.  Quillan joined in, brushing past Lucas and
the young female cadet to the back of the room.  

"This stuff looks pretty old."  Quillan said after a
few moments of surveying a few of the boxes.  "But it
looks usable."

"Yeah, there’s rations and bottled water on the bottom
shelves.  Some blankets and survival kits."  Lucas
added.  

"I found the medical supplies!"  The cadet answered,
picking up one of the discarded boxes.  "Bandages,
syringes, medication, sterilizers, splints.  Looks
like we’re in pretty good shape."  The room rocked
again, throwing the cadet into Lucas, who caught her
just as he lost his footing and fell to the floor.  

"Now if only the building will hold together."  Lucas
muttered under his breath.  The Cadet in his arms
suddenly sobbed, gasping in air as she tried to choke
the tears back.  "I’m sorry, I’m sorry" Lucas said
quickly, turning his hold from one of a reflexive
catch, to an embrace.  He held her there for the
moment it took her to regain her senses, as Quillan
and the others who had been standing regained their
footing.  "It’s going to be okay." He said quietly
into her long brown hair.  

She held on to him tightly as she choked back her
tears.  Then mutterd "I’m sorry." And started to get
up, awkward and embarrassed.  

"It’s okay, look we’re all scared."  Lucas said to her
as he got to his feet.

"It’s just…" She started hesitantly, "I just got here.
 I’ve only been here a week, I really don’t start
until next term, but they let me into the dorms early
because my sister’s here.  She’s graduating this next
week." she said, trailing off.  "Anyway, I don’t
really have the training that you have."

"You’re doing okay, uh,…." He held out his hand, "I’m
Lucas.  This is Quillan, over there I see Jacoby and
Rani."

"I’m Calista.  I have a little training in medicine,
my mom was a med tech."  

"So let’s see to the wounded, okay?"  Lucas started to
lead her back to the others, when Quillan called out,
"Lucas, there’s another door back here!"

Lucas hesitated for a moment, worried about the young
girl.  "You okay?"  He asked.  

"Yeah, you’d better check that out."  She turned to
the others and began to check for injuries.

Lucas watched her for a moment, impressed with her
ability to take control of the situation despite her
young age and her fright.  Then he turned to join
Quillan at the back of the room.  Quillan was
attempting to get the door open, but his hand kept
slipping off the handle, slick from blood.  Lucas
grabbed his hand, checking for an injury.  "Hey buddy,
you’re bleeding.  Let’s check you out first before we
get too carried away."

"Yeah, look who’s talking.  Have you seen yourself? 
The whole front of your uniform is covered in blood." 
Quillan said shining his lantern up and down Lucas’s
front.

Lucas looked down, noticing for the first time that
his friend was right.  He didn’t feel any injuries and
began to pat himself down as if searching for
something lost in a pocket.  There was no pain
anywhere so he deduced that it must have been coming
from the scrape on his head that was still bleeding. 
"No, I’m okay.  Just a scratch, really. Where are you
bleeding from?"

"I think I took some glass in my arm.  I’ve got a gash
in my sleeve.  It’s not bad.  Look, we need to check
and see if this is a room with more gear.  I’m looking
for breathing masks.  I don’t see any here."

"Breathing masks?"  

"Yeah, when the Cylons get done bombing, they like to
flood a planet with plutom.  Don’t you remember that
from your Enemies Strategies class?"  Quillan said,
trying the door again.  This time he got a good grip
and the hatch gave way with a hiss.  The hatch opened
to darkness.  Lucas shined his lantern in to discover
a room lined with supplies.

"Looks like we got lucky again."  Lucas stepped
through the hatch with Quillan joining him.  They
surveyed the room, every wall with shelves, except for
one corner where the shelves had been pushed aside,
forming an alcove.  Quillan walked over to check out
the alcove, as Lucas made for the rear of the room and
another hatch.  Lucas reached to open the hatch, but
when he touched the handle he pulled his hand away
quickly.  It was hot.  "Must be the other exit.  The
fire has reached down here."  He thought to himself.  


Lucas began searching for the breathing masks, knowing
the air would start to become smoky if the fire had
reached the ventilation.  He was startled by Quillan’s
laughter and shout to come over to check out what he
had found.  Lucas walked over to the alcove.  Quillan
shined his light on the wall where a phrase was
scrawled "Starbuck’s Lucky Spot", and what appeared to
be mattresses and empty ambrosia bottles on the floor.
 Lucas let out a laugh, bordering on hysterical.  

"Well, we’re going to need some of that ‘Starbuck
Luck’ if we hope to get out of this one."  Lucas said,
clapping his friend on the back.  

"Hey, I just found the breathing masks!"  Quillan
said, reaching up to a shelf behind them and pulling
down a box labeled Respirators.  "And there’s plenty
of them!"

"Well, I guess Starbuck was right, this is a lucky
spot."


*******



























Resistance 2

It was late morning by Quillan's timepiece before the
explosions stopped.  By then they had assessed their
injuries and had found very few.  Of the thirty-six
who had made it to the shelter, counting Lucas and
Quillan, there were twenty-two female cadets and only
fourteen males, and the male cadets had sustained more
injuries than the females.  Lucas deduced that the
male barracks had been hit first and hardest.  But
luckily most of the injuries weren't life threatening,
the worst being a broken arm on Clive and a nasty gash
down Lochlain's leg.  The rest of them just had
various bruises and cuts from flying debris.  "Thank
the lords it was a clean break." Calista had told him
of Clive’s arm because all they could do was splint it
until help arrived later.

But by late afternoon Lucas had given up on the hope
of help arriving.  More than once he had said a
blessing to the Lords for having been so tired the
night before that both he and Quillan had slept in
their clothes.  Lucas had even slept in his boots,
grateful now for that fact as he had helped Quillan
bandage the cuts all over his bare feet.  Quillan had
said his blessings for the fact that he had slept with
his timepiece on.  In the inky darkness of the shelter
it was hard to measure the passage of time without it.

All in all they had been lucky so far.  “The questions
was, now what?” Lucas thought to himself.  As evening
arrived, several of the Cadets were becoming restless
and Lucas couldn't blame them.  He wasn't sure if they
should sit tight and wait for help, or…  "Or what?" 
Lucas pondered to himself.  He had checked the back
door periodically to see if the temperature had
decreased and the fire had burned itself out.  It
wasn't until a Centaur ago that he could touch the
handle without pulling his hand away from the heat. 
That knowledge had kept the others patient, knowing
they couldn't safely open the door.  Quillan had found
the monitoring equipment and had busied himself most
of the day with setting it up and checking it
repeatedly.  So far there was no sign of any toxic
gasses or radiation.  But they weren't sure if that
was because the ventilation system was filtering it
out or if the Cylons had retreated.

Lucas and Quillan were the oldest of those in the
shelter, and the others were looking to them for
answers. "As if by being closer to graduation we
suddenly understand enemy strategy and the war plans
of the Colonial fleet."  Lucas mused to himself.  When
help didn't arrive by midday, Lucas had occupied
himself with gathering together some of the supplies
into packets for everyone to carry.  He had located
twenty hiking packs and cobbled together from some of
the other supplies bags for everyone else to carry. 
Quillan kept reassuring everyone that help would come
that the officials of the school knew about the
shelter and would look for them there.  Lucas wasn't
so sure.

“It had been a long time since Starbuck had gone to
the academy.  For his spot to have gone undiscovered
all this time surely meant that someone, somewhere
must have forgotten about this shelter.”  Lucas had
said when he finally voiced his concern to his friend.
 Quillan had tried to reassure Lucas, "We don't even
know if Starbuck wrote that.  Maybe somebody else
wrote that."  But Lucas knew if help was arriving,
they would have been there by now.

No, it was up to them to get themselves out.  And if
help hadn't come, it could mean a thousand scenarios,
none of them good.  Lucas wanted to be prepared. 
Calista had joined him by late afternoon, helping him
to divide up the food rations and water.  Together
they had found the ammunition and decided amongst
themselves who should get the twenty laser pistols,
and dividing up the hand grenades for the rest.  The
only thing they seemed to be lacking was clothing. 
With the attack having happened in the predawn hours,
most of those in the shelter were in night clothes and
bare foot.  They had found no uniforms or boots but
found a few jackets, which they had given to those in
the most need.  Calista had been dressed, boots and
all, but she had explained bashfully that she had just
been issued her uniform the day before, couldn't sleep
in all the excitement of the peace accord and her
sister's graduation, so she had woken early to try it
on.  It was just a coincidence that she had just
buckled the last buckle on her boots when the first
blast went off.

Lucas and Calista arranged all of the bundles near the
back door of the shelter where it seemed the safest
place to put them, and had gone back to rejoin the
others.   Lucas sat there now, eating a few rations,
trying not to look into all they eyes that were upon
him with the same question.  Now what.

Calista checked on a few of the wounded and talked
with some of the others before approaching Lucas and
Quillan and taking a seat on the floor at Lucas’s
feet.  She was quiet for a moment before looking up to
Lucas and saying, “So should we try the back door?”

“We sit here and wait for help.  They’ll arrive in the
morning.”  Quillan said adamantly.  

“Yeah, but it can’t hurt to crack the door and see
what shape the building’s in, right?”  Calista said
before Lucas could respond to his friend.

“Yeah it could if there’s radiation or plutom, or…”
Quillan said before Lucas cut him off.

“So we’ll wear breathing masks.”  Lucas interrupted. 
“And we’ll seal this room before we open the outside
door.”

“Are you crazy?”  Quillan said staring at his friend
with a puzzled look.

“I will be if I sit here much longer.”  Lucas said,
putting down the stale rations in disgust.  “Look you
don’t have to come along.”  Quillan started to object
when Lucas put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. 
“No, I mean, you should stay here, you know, in case
something does go wrong.”  

Quillan lowered his head and nodded, not wanting to
admit outright that he was scared.  He had pinned his
hopes on a rescue and wasn’t quite ready to give that
hope up.

“I’m coming with you.”  Calista said.  “You’ll need
cover fire.”

“Do you even know how to shoot a laser?”  Lucas said,
not trying to belittle her, just asking matter of
fact.  

“I will if you show me how.  I mean, how hard can it
be right?  Pull the trigger and it goes off, right?”

Lucas laughed, “Yeah, something like that.  Come on,
let’s go.  I can’t just sit here any longer.  You
explain to everyone, okay Quill?  And keep them away
from the back door in case…”  Lucas trailed off, not
knowing what exactly to say.

“Yeah, okay.”  Quillan answered.  “Why don’t we bring
all those supplies you gathered up in here, and I’ll
get you another probe to check the air for gasses and
radiation.”  The three cadets got up and began moving
supplies from one room to the other, with some of the
other survivors getting up to join them.  It seemed
that for all of them activity was better than the
endless wait in the darkness.

Once all the supplies were through, Lucas gave a
cursory wave to his friend Quill, then closed the
hatch and dogged the latch.  He handed a laser to
Calista, wondering for the first time if it was such a
good idea to let her come along with him.  She looked
so small all of a sudden with the large black blaster
in her tiny hands.  But as he watched her, she quickly
found the safety and how to click it off and arm the
blaster.  She took a sight down the barrel and
adjusted her aim.  Then she looked up at Lucas, “Okay,
let’s do it.”  And she slid a breathing mask over her
head and positioned it properly on her face.  Lucas
looked away as he positioned his respirator, trying
not to let her see the fear he was just now beginning
to feel.  

“What would they find?”  He wondered to himself. 
“Can’t be good if help hasn’t arrived.  Only one way
to find out I guess.”  He walked over to the door and
pushed on the handle.  He opened the door slowly, in
case the fire was still raging, taking a peek out of
the open crack.  It was dark and smoky, but no flames
to be seen.

Calista handed him the probe, which he had forgotten
about in his haste.  He took it from her nodding
thanks and held it through the crack.  The gauges read
negative other than registering some carbon monoxide
left over from the fire.  He pushed the door all the
way open.  Before them was a tunnel leading up to the
bottom floor of the building with a ladder attached to
the side for ascending.  It was intact with just a
small pile of debris on the floor that had fallen
through.  Lucas moved out of the room, motioning for
Calista to stay behind for a moment.  He walked over
to the tunnel and peered up.  He could see that it was
not blocked.  He gazed up to see the stars. He started
to ascend the ladder when Calista came out of the room
to join him, shutting the door behind her. 

“No, go back!”  Lucas said to her.  “I won’t go far.”

“Not without me, you don’t!”  Calista said

“Then at least stay down here until I get to the top,
okay?”  Calista nodded her consent, and Lucas began to
climb up the ladder.  It was eerily quiet compared to
the sounds they had last heard before entering the
shelter.  When he got to the top of the tunnel he kept
his head below the opening as he held up the probe,
testing the air again.  Negative once more with even
less carbon monoxide.  Lucas put the probe back in his
pocket and tore off the breathing mask, throwing it
down the tunnel making sure he missed Calista.

Lucas waited a moment before peering over the lip of
the tunnel, listening first for any sign of danger. 
It was quiet, too quiet. No sound of any of the usual
activity that could be heard on campus at all hours,
day or night.  There wasn’t even the sound of birds or
insects chirping in the evening air.  Lucas slowly
rose his head over the lip of the tunnel and gazed out
upon the campus. The tunnel opened up next to what had
been the female dorms, in a section that had been a
flower garden of some sort.  The ground was torn up,
and the wall behind him had fallen in upon the
building.  He could see some of what had been the
interior of the female bunk rooms, now just a jumble
of metal and crushed cement.

Lucas gazed out at the rest of the campus.  It was
unrecognizable to him.  Heaps of rubble where
buildings once stood, the paths and walkways now
twisted tracks of cement, the fields rutted and pitted
by laser blasts and bombs.  Debris was everywhere. 
What startled him the most was the lack of light.  The
campus was normally lit up like a nova, with the city
below the academy providing constant backup light.  It
was now dark, and Lucas could not make out any lights
from the city below.  

He looked around cautiously for any sign of Cylons, or
humans, or anyone.  Nothing was to be seen.  He waved
Calista up as he climbed out of the tunnel and placed
his feet on the ground.  The scene around him was
eerie, like something out of a vid.  He kept his
blaster drawn and ready.  He reached down to help
Calista up from the tunnel, she too having removed her
breathing mask.  

“It still smells like smoke.”  She said as she stared
at the scene around her in disbelief.  “Where’s the
city?”  She said aloud.

“The power must be out there too.”  Lucas said in way
of explanation.  

“They attacked the city too.”  She stated more for
herself.  She scanned what was left of the campus. 
“There doesn’t seem to be any sign of anyone, friend
or foe.”

“Yeah.  Kind of weird.  Look, I’m going to scout
around a little bit.  You should go back.”

“We should both go back.”

“No, we need to find something out before we go back
to everyone.”  He caught the determined look in her
eye and realized she wasn’t just going to go back like
she should.  “Okay, you stay here, I’m going to head
towards the main buildings of campus.  There’s a good
view of the city from there too.  I shouldn’t be gone
too long.”

“I’m coming with you!”  Calista said.

“No, you need to stay here.  You need to tell everyone
what we found so they won’t think we’re both dead. 
Count to 500, if I’m not back by then, then go back
down, okay?”

She nodded her head, not happy with the situation, but
knowing he was right, they had to find something out. 


“Look, crawl back down in the tunnel for cover.  And
start counting.”  Lucas took off running before
Calista had even moved for the ladder.  

She watched him until he rounded the corner of what
had once been the male barracks before she climbed
down into the tunnel, just far enough to conceal
herself but still view the campus.  With Lucas gone
she noticed how quiet it was, too quiet.  At this time
of night there should have been the sound of insects
at least.  She listened hard for something, anything. 
She was startled by shifting debris in the building
behind her, a trickle of rocks and dust.  It sounded
like an explosion of sound to her tense nerves.  She
spun around and trained her blaster on the pile of
rocks, but saw nothing.  “Shoot, I’ve lost count!” 
She started over again, her breath coming hard now
from the adrenaline of her fear.  She reached 500 and
still Lucas had not returned.  She resisted the urge
to yell out and break the silence when she heard the
sound of footsteps running.  She turned her head
trying to find where they were coming from.  It was
echoing all around her.  She wanted to retreat into
the tunnel.  She audibly sighed in relief when she saw
Lucas running from around a building across the
campus.

“You scared me!”  She chastised him.  “What did you
find?”  She asked him starting to crawl out of the
tunnel.  He waved her back, and started to climb down
to join her.  They huddled there, sharing the rungs of
the ladder.  Lucas tried to catch his breath before he
relayed his findings.  “It’s gone, it’s all gone.”

“What’s gone?”  

“The city.  It’s gone.  Nothing but rubble.  I didn’t
see anyone moving around.  I could see some turbo
trails off in the distance, maybe from a ship, but I
mean really far off.  Nowhere near the city.”  Lucas
said between breaths.  “But I didn’t see any Cylons
either.”

“You didn’t see anyone?”  Calista said alarmed.  

“No, no one.  The campus is totaled.  

They both clung there on the ladder, Lucas still
trying to catch his breath and Calista trying to
recover from the shock of his discovery.  

"What are we going to do?"  She said to herself.  Then
she looked down remembering that there were others
down there who would have the same question.  She
looked back up to Lucas, expecting to find the same
indecision.  The intensity of his gaze shocked her. 
Instead of indecision she saw determination in his
eyes, as they stared through her in concentration.  He
finally noticed her staring at him and softened his
look for her benefit.  

They both listened to the silence and the trickle of
rocks and dust of shifting debris in the evening
breeze, before he quietly said, "We have to assume
that we're on our own."  He watched her eyes as the
reality of the statement hit her.  He saw how she
wrestled down the shock and fear, taking several deep
breaths to calm herself.

She asked in a surprisingly strong voice, "So what
should we do?  We can't stay here can we?  I mean, the
Cylons will take over the academy eventually, and
perhaps even the planet.  So where do we go?"

"We need to do a little more scouting and see what's
left of the Academy.  I didn't get a chance to make it
over to the Landing Field.  We might find a ship or
two functional.  I hope.  If not, then we should head
down to the city and check the Spaceport there.  But
first, you're right, we need to find some place other
than the Academy to use as our base.  We have wounded
to look after and…."  Lucas paused, looking past
Calista into the darkness of what was left of the
campus.

Calista started to speak, to say something comforting
and encouraging, thinking that Lucas had stopped
speaking because he was thinking about the calamity of
their situation.  Lucas motioned for her to keep quiet
with a shake of his head.  He drew his blaster and
placed the muzzle on the ground past her shoulder. 
Calista turned her head quietly, trying to see what
had alarmed Lucas, when she caught out of the corner
or her eye a red light, a small pin prick of red,
moving back and forth, scanning.  

She couldn't help the intake of breath in shock, the
sound seeming incredibly loud to her in the silence. 
She tensed on the ladder, willing her hands to hang on
and her body to remain still.  Any noise or movement
would give them away.   Lucas slowly moved towards
her, placing his lips right next to her ear.  He was
so close she could feel his heartbeat, as he whispered
softly, "I think there's only one.”

She nodded, leaning into him in fear.  Her whole body
felt like it was being surged with electricity as she
fought the urge to clamber down the ladder to what
felt like safety in their shelter.  Her very heartbeat
sounded loud enough to give their position away in the
stillness of the night.  Then she heard it, the sound
of metal machinery, and the hum of the scanning laser
that Cylons use for sight.  It sounded loud and
thunderous.  "It sounds so close, why doesn't he
shoot?"  She thought to herself beginning to panic.  

He whispered in her ear again, "Shhh.  I want to make
sure he's alone."

Calista could hear the Cylon walking, but the tunnel
filtered the sound to where it sounded like he was
coming at them from every direction.  She realized
that maybe she should bring her blaster up to the edge
of the tunnel too and took her hand from the ladder to
do that when Lucas whispered, "Don't move.  He's
alone.  He's across the field and he's heading away." 
Calista put her hand back on the ladder and listened
again as the sounds began to fade away, and then
cease.  

Lucas let out the breath he had been holding and
relaxed his arm holding the blaster as he said, "He's
gone."  Calista began to shake.  She couldn't help it.
 Lucas let her press herself against him for a minute
or two, as she let the tension go before he started to
speak to her.  "We're okay.  But we have to get out of
here.  You need to go down and gather everyone up. 
Grab all the weapons you can and supplies, but only
what everyone can carry.  Tell Quillan to get up here
now."

"Aren't you coming down?"  Calista said still dazed
and confused by their close encounter.

"No, I'll keep watch for more Cylons.  Now go, as fast
as you can.  We have got to get out of here now!"

******

It was the tone in Lucas’s voice that finally broke
Calista’s grip on the ladder.  In terror she scrambled
down and yanked the hatch open harder than she had
meant to, sending it crashing into the wall.  She ran
through the open hatch not bothering to close it
behind her and banged furiously on the door between
the storage room and the main compartment for Quillan
to open up.  He pushed open the door, blaster in hand.
 

"Get everybody moving we have to get out of here!" 
Calisata shouted the order at him.

"What?  No, we should stay here.  We’re safe here,"
Quillan said.

Calista pushed past the shocked Quillan into the room.
 "Come on everybody, let’s move.  Grab what you can
carry, we’ve got to go!"

"Where are we going?"  Quillan asked, still numb and
confused.

"Anywhere but here.  Bring the sensors."

"Why?  What did you find?"

In a hushed whisper Calista said, "Cylons, and nothing
else."

Clive came up to Calista and Quillan, a pack slung
over his good arm, blaster drawn.  "How many?  How’s
the school look?  Is the airfield intact?"  The others
began to crowd around waiting for answers.

"I don’t know.  I know we saw one Cylon and Lucas told
me to get everyone out of here.  The campus is
destroyed, and he didn’t get a chance to check out the
airfield."  

"Come on everyone.  We need to get out of here before
more Cylons show up," Clive said shoving his pack at
Quillan.  "Are you ready?"

Quillan just stared at the pack in his arms and then
up at Clive and Calista.  His mind was racing, maps
and diagrams of the campus and the surrounding town
flashing before him.   It took him a moment before the
right route and plan formulated.  His limbs unfroze
and he shouldered the pack.  Without a word he headed
for the door and the tunnel to find his friend. 
Quillan knew where they should go, and just how to get
there.  "If the fleet was going to find them, they had
better get there fast."  Quill thought.  His legs
froze up again, almost causing him to trip and fall as
the thought came upon him, the one he had been
avoiding since the first explosion had thrown him from
his bunk, "Where are the warriors?  Where is the
fleet?  Clive ran into him, the contact shaking
Quillan from his paralysis.  

"You okay?" Clive asked.

"Yeah.  Just thinking of where to head to, that’s
all," Quillan said apologetically.

"We need to get to the airfield first.  See if we can
find a transport."  

"No!  That’s where the Cylons would look for us first.
 That is if the airfield is even still there.  No, we
need to head up to the hills above the Academy.  We
can see almost everything from there and not be
discovered."

"Yeah, well, let’s talk with Lucas first and see what
he found," Clive said skeptically.

Calisata was the last to leave their shelter, shutting
the door behind her and latching it with care.  "We
might need this space again."  She thought to herself,
leaving a lantern by the door as she headed into the
storage room.  The others were all gathered in the
narrow space below the tunnel.    She could hear their
whispered words, arguing about what they should do.

She heard Lucas’s voice above the others, strained
with worry and fear.  "I’m telling you the city is
gone.  Completely gone!  There’s no point in going
there."

"But what about the airfield?  We should check that
out,"  Clive said.

Rani added in, "Yeah, but who should go?  We shouldn’t
all go traipsing over there.  Quillan is right, that’s
the first place the Cylons would hit.  I’m with Lucas,
we should find a safe place for now."

"We thought this place was safe didn’t we?"  Spoke up
one of the female warriors.  "That’s all we’ve done is
sit in safety waiting for a rescue that isn’t coming!"
 Her words silenced the others.

Lucas surveyed the group.  They were going to have to
send someone to check on the airfield, while at the
same time they found a safer area.  "Quillan, where in
the hills were you thinking of having us head?"

"But Lucas," Clive started to interject.

"Clive, I want you to go check out the airfield.  I’m
going with you.  But we need to send everyone else to
some place safer, okay?  We just don’t know what we’re
dealing with here.  Does everyone agree?"  Several
people nodded agreement

"There should be some small caves up in the cliffs. 
Or at least we can find shelter in the valleys up
there and still have a good view of the city.  Maybe
from up there we can find out about those turbo trails
you saw," Quillan answered.

"Okay then, Clive and I will go with you to the edge
of the Campus, then we’ll double back to the airfield.
 Okay, let’s go.  Quillan and Clive, you head up the
tunnel first, I’ll take the rear.  Lochlain, think you
can climb this thing with your leg like that?"

"Yeah, I’ll go last though so I don’t hold anyone up."
 He answered.

As Quillan and Clive started up the ladder, the others
fell in behind them.  Calista hung back with Lucas
until he finally told her she should go.  

"No, I’ll go after Lochlain.  He might need some
help," she said.  "I’m coming with you to the
airfield."

"No you’re not!"  Lucas said, harsher than he had
meant to.  "Look you don’t have the training the rest
of us do.  You’re just a kid."

"Oh, and the few yahrens you have on me makes you a
man huh?  I’m coming with you.  I’m not just going to
hide in a hole like a rodent.  That’s why I came to
the academy in the first place, to fight!" she said,
standing in front of him at attention.

Under any other circumstances Lucas would have laughed
out loud.  She looked so small and silly standing
there, her hair disheveled and her face streaked with
dirt.   The fierce scowl on her face looked strange on
her impish face.  But under the circumstances, he
admired her spirit.  Given a few yahrens she would
make a good warrior, probably even a viper pilot, he
thought to himself.

"Okay, okay, we’ll argue about it later.  Now get up
that ladder, I’m right behind you."  

They reached the top of the ladder to find the group
strung out across the field.  Most had stopped in
shock and dismay to take in the scene around them. 
Lucas assisted Lochlain while Calista encouraged the
others to hurry out of the open.  

Lochlain muttered to Lucas, "Wow, we’re really done
for aren’t we."  It wasn’t really a question, more of
a statement made in shock.

"We will be if we don’t get out of here.  Come on." 
Lucas said, helping the cadet make it to cover on the
far side of the field.  The rest were huddled together
looking to Quillan, who was adjusting dials on the air
sensors.  Lucas leaned Lochlain against part of a wall
and approached Quillan.  "What’s wrong buddy?"

"It’s not there.  How are we supposed to contact the
fleet?  It’s not there."   Quillan continued to adjust
the dials on the sensor.  Lucas reached out and pulled
the sensor from his friend’s hand.

"Would you forget that thing!  What’s not there?" 

"The communication center is in the Admin building. 
But it’s not there.  The whole building is gone.  What
are we going to do?"  Quillan looked up at his friend,
confusion and fear in his eyes.

Lucas was startled.  He had never seen his friend like
this before.  In training Quillan had always kept his
cool, always seemed to know what to do and what
procedures to follow.  "But this isn’t a training,"
Lucas reminded himself.  Before Lucas could think of
what to do or how to handle the situation, Calista
approached them.

"Okay Quillan, lead the way.  We’re all together.  I
think the Admin building was that way, right?  And
behind that we can get to the hills, right?  That was
the route you wer thinking of, right?"  Calista said
the questions slowly, coaxing Quillan.

"Yeah.  Yeah, it’s that way."  Quillan took a deep
breath and reached for the sensor in Lucas’s hands. 
He met Lucas’s concerned gaze.  "We’re on our own
aren’t we?  What are we going to do?"

"Just get to safety for now.  We’ll worry about the
rest later, Okay?"  Lucas went to say something else,
when his words were drowned out by the sound of
engines starting.  Everyone hit the ground as the
Cylon Raider appeared above the debris and took off
away from the campus.  When the sound diminished Lucas
started yelling, "Let’s go! Let’s go!"  

Everyone began running for the edge of campus and the
hills beyond.   Lucas motioned for Clive and another
cadet Rani to follow him.  He turned to Calista ,"You
go with the others, understood?"  Calista started to
shake her head no, but before she could speak, Lucas
said to her, "Quillan needs cover and Lochlain needs
help.   We’ll catch up!"  

Lucas, Clive and Rani peeled away from the group,
running headlong towards the landing field.  Lucas
didn’t look back fearing that if he did he’d find
Calista following him.  The trio slowed as they
approached the airfield.  Lucas found cover and
motioned for the other two to join him.  Lasers drawn
they carefully picked their way forward, running from
cover to cover.  Soon they ran out of protection and
had no choice but to break into the open.    They
stood there at the edge of the airfield, surveying
what they had found, or more appropriately, what they
had nott found.  The airfield was intact.  And empty. 


"Frak!"  Rani cursed.  "I thought there might at least
be a shuttle, something!"

"Or a Cylon raider," Clive added.

"They think we’re all dead, why bother to land when
you’ve bombed the pogees out of the place," Lucas
commented.

"Yeah, but why leave the airfield intact unless you’re
planning on using it.  So far we’ve only seen one
Cylon right?"

"Right, " Lucas answered.

"I don’t think we’ve seen our last!"  Rani yelled. 
They dove for cover at the approach of another Cylon
raider.  Crouching behind a pile of rubble and they
watched the raider land.

"I don’t think they saw us," Lucas said.  He watched
in fascination as the crew from the raider departed
the vehicle.  "They’re moving slow."

"I think we can take them.  Let’s take the raider and
go!"  Rani said excitedly.

"What about the rest of our people?" Lucas said.  "We
can’t just leave everybody, and where would we go?"

"We could get a message to the fleet."

Lucas laughed.  "Oh yeah, and what would that be,
‘Hey, in case you hadn’t notice the Cylon’s attacked
Caprica.  Could you come rescue us?’"

"You got a better idea?"  Rani said in anger.

"I do.  Let’s get out of here."  Clive pointed in the
distance, where three more raiders were approaching
the airfield preparing to land.  Without discussion,
the three turned and ran heading for the hills and the
rest of their group.  They caught up to the others at
the edge of the campus.   Clive and Rani ran past the
group, alarming the rest of them to pick up the pace.

"What is it?  What did you find?"  Calista asked when
Lucas caught up to her.  Lucas threw Lochlain’s other
arm around his shoulder to help her support him.  

"Raiders, four of them so far, with full crews.  The
airfield was intact, but no Vipers, not even a
shuttle."  

"They’re going to use the academy as a base of
operation.  Oh hades, we’re in the middle of an all
out invasion!"  Lochlain said, putting all of his
strength into moving faster.

Lucas looked at the group spread out in a ragged line.
 The impact of their situation was not lost on a
single one of them as they ran for safety.  He thought
he should do something, call them all together and get
organized.  The others were easily pulling away from
him, Calista and Lochlain.  They were going to lose
each other in the dark and the wilderness of the
hillside.  He was about to shout for the others to
wait, when another raider appeared over the top of the
hill and dropped down to land at the academy.  He had
to fight the temptation to drop Lochlain and run. 
When the sound of the engine had faded Lochlain said
to them, "Go, I’ll catch up."

Neither Lucas nor Calista made a move to leave their
comrade.  The three of them ran on best that they
could.  Lucas silently counted the raiders as they
landed at the field.   When they crested the hill and
dropped down into the valley and out of view of the
academy, he had counted twenty-one.

*****

The raider landed expertly on the airfield that had
once been filled with Vipers and their pilots.  The
hatch opened, and a lone human exited the craft,
followed by his crew of gleaming centurions.  The man
paused at the edge of the airfield, surveying with
satisfaction the complete destruction of the Academy.

"Turn down my application will you.  Well take that!" 
Baltar chuckled.  His evil laugh echoed in the quiet
night air.


*****

After cresting the first hill, Lucas, Lochlain and
Calista had walked in silence as the dusk fell into
the blackness of night.  Lucas had lost track of where
everyone else from the group had headed.  He picked
the most direct route away from the academy and
thought that they would catchup.  He had lost hope of
meeting up with any of them when they crested the
second hill and he could not see any of their group in
the valley ahead. 

"I need to stop and rest.  You two go on."  They were
attempting to descend the steep slope down to the
valley, but it was difficult to maintain their footing
and had fallen several times.  Calista could tell that
Lochlain was in pain.

"We’re not leaving you," she said.  "I don’t think
we’re being followed, they would have caught us by
now.  We can afford to stop can’t we?"

"Yeah.  Besides, we need to figure out where everyone
else went.  You two stay here.  I’m going to backtrack
to the top of the hill and see if I can see anyone." 

Lucas turned and started walking before either of them
could protest.  Calista watched him walk away,
wondering to herself how he was going to see anyone in
the dark.  But she was too tired to care right now. 
She desperately wanted to lay down and sleep.    She
chastised herself for not having done so when they
were back in the shelter.  Lochlain grunted in pain
next to her as he stretched out on the ground.  He
closed his eyes and soon she could hear the rhythmic
sound of his breathing as exhaustion overtook him. 
She drew her laser and settled herself into a
comfortable sitting position to stand watch.  It
wasn’t long before her eyes closed and her head fell
to her chest and she dozed.

Lucas reached the top of the hill and looked back down
on his companions a few yards below.  He shook his
head as he realized that Calista was attempting to
stand watch.  He saw her head fall as sleep came upon
her.  He turned his attention back the way they had
come.  The hill he stood on was higher than the first,
and he could see the campus below him.  The airfield
was now bustling with activity.  Buildings were being
erected.  Lights illuminated the airfield.  Beyond,
the city still lay dark, but he could just barely make
out the city’s spaceport.  There were lights there now
too, where there hadn’t been before.  There was a
steady stream of raiders landing and taking off at the
academy airfield.  None headed over the hills. 
"That’s one bit of luck in our favor."  Lucas thought
to himself.  

"Luck, that’s what we need now.  Only we’re not going
to get it."  Lucas sat down heavily, the weight of
their desperate situation suddenly crashing down on
him.  "Think man, think!  What would a Colonial
Warrior do?  What would Starbuck do?"  He recalled the
stories that had been passed around the academy of the
exploits of the famous Warrior.  "One thing for sure,
he wouldn’t be running into the hills in the dark like
a scared rodent.  He probably would have captured that
one raider and defeated the whole Cylon invasion." 
Lucas laughed to himself.

He turned to survey the hills in front of him again,
trying to pick out a route up the next hillside. 
That’s when he saw someone wave to him from the top of
the other hill.  The dark figure waved and motioned
for him to get down.  "Oh Frak, I am so stupid!  Just
standing here out in the open on the top of a
hillside.  Great example of warrior training here all
right!"    He continued to chastise himself as he slid
down the hill to reach Calista and Lochlain.

The sound of his descent roused both of them from
their sleep.  "What is it?"  Calista asked worriedly.

"I’ve spotted one of the others.  Can you make it
Lochlain?"  

"Yeah, just help me up.  How does the airfield look?"

"Like a Cylon base."

"Okay, there’s no going back.  I guess we go forward. 
Why don’t you guys get started up that hill and I’ll
catch up later."

"Would you stop it!"  Calista snapped at him.  She
angrily threw his arm around her shoulder and made to
drag him a step or two whether he wanted to or not.

They made it to the next valley just as dawn broke. 
Clive met them at the top of the hill and guided them
down to where he had gathered the rest of the others. 
They were huddled in the dip of the valley beneath
some trees and shrubs.  They were trying to keep warm
in the morning chill.  Lochlain and Calista collapsed
in the relative shelter and soon were fast asleep.

Clive pulled Lucas aside to where he, Rani and Quillan
were keeping watch.  

"Situation looks bad," Clive said, gesturing with a
nod of his head back towards the airfield.

"Yeah.  I don’t think we can look forward to a
rescue."  Lucas caught Quillan’s gaze as he said it.

"I’ve got a plan."  The fear was gone from Quillan’s
eyes.  In its place determination.  Lucas could see
the classmate he was used to, the one who always knew
the textbook procedure, or could quote by name any
past battle plan or strategy.

"And what’s that?"  Lucas said, taking a seat on the
ground, his legs aching with fatigue.  

"We need to get out of here."

"And that’s your plan."  Lucas laughed, wanting to
cry.

"We go back and take a tanker," Rani added.

Lucas’s laughter increased.  "You’re kidding me
right?"  He looked around at his classmates in wonder.

"They’re not expecting it.  They think we’re all
dead," Clive said.  "Did you see any guards on the
field?"

"No, I didn’t."  Lucas tried to get his brain to work,
tried to remember the lay out of the raiders and the
buildings they were constructing.  He couldn’t do it,
his thoughts slowed by fatigue.

"This could work.  We could go down, just a few of us,
capture the tanker and rescue the others here.  Then
head into space.  If the tanker’s full, we could get
pretty far,"  Rani spoke up.  

Lucas swiveled his head to look in Rani’s direction,
throwing himself off balance in his state of
exhaustion.  Quillan reached out his hand to steady
him. 

"Look, I must be tired.  You guys are making sense." 
Lucas laughed again, only he was too tired to put much
feeling into it.  

"Get some sleep.  We’ll work out the details, but do
you think it will work?"  Clive asked.

"Yeah, sure, sounds great.  We’ll just march in, most
of us barefoot and in our nightclothes and take over a
tanker.  Yeah, sounds like a plan."  Lucas’s head
dropped down in resignation.

"Lucas!"  Quillan’s shout brought back Lucas’s
attention.  

Lucas shook his head trying to chase away the sleep
that was stalking him.  "Yeah, yeah, it makes sense. 
I’m just saying we’re not up to it right now."

"So we take turns sleeping and standing watch until
sunset.  Then we go back."  Quillan said.

Lucas wasn’t sure if he said the words aloud, or if he
was dreaming, "Okay, I get to be the pilot."

"Yeah, sure, sounds great.  We’ll just march in, most
of us barefoot and in our nightclothes and take over a
tanker.  Yeah, sounds like a plan."  Lucas’s head
dropped down in resignation.

"Lucas!"  Quillan’s shout brought back Lucas’s
attention.  

Lucas shook his head trying to chase away the sleep
that was stalking him.  "Yeah, yeah, it makes sense. 
I’m just saying we’re not up to it right now."

"So we take turns sleeping and standing watch until
sunset.  Then we go back."  Quillan said.

Lucas wasn’t sure if he said the words aloud, or if he
was dreaming, "Okay, I get to be the pilot."


*******

Lucas awoke with a start, the midday sun blazing in
his eyes.  He was lying in the dirt, his back aching
and his head pounding.  He could feel the rocks and
sticks underneath him suddenly as if everyone was
pressing on a nerve.  He sat up brushing dirt from his
face and hair.  Groggily, he looked around to see
others of the group lying on the ground around him. 
Somehow he had made it down to the bottom of the
valley to collapse on the ground near the cover of the
trees.  He didn’t remember making it this far.  The
last he remembered was talking with the others about
some crazy plan.  

Lucas looked around him for his canteen.  His mouth
felt as dry as the ground he had slept on.  Not quite
awake, he searched for his canteen.  He didn’t notice
that Calista had approached him until she pushed the
canteen mere inches away from his face.

"Looking for this?"  She said, handing it to Lucas and
sitting down on the ground beside him.

"Thanks."  Lucas said, then taking a long drink. 
"That’s exactly what I needed."

"Sleep well? You were pretty tired."

"Oh yeah, just great.  Much softer than the academy
bunks.  And you?"

"Like most everyone, I slept like a baby.  We were all
pretty tired."

Lucas had finally cleared his head enough to look at
his friend.  She didn’t look the worse for wear after
hiking through the hills and sleeping on the ground. 
He took a look around him again at the rest of the
group.   In the light of day they didn’t appear to be
the panicked, ill-equipped group they had been the
night before.  He brought his gaze back to Calista. 
He was amazed at how good she looked in the sunlight. 
If he was any good at make believe he could pretend
that they were just on a camp out, a school outing in
the hills and they had just awakened from a night of
hiking and songs sung by the campfire.  Calista had
that glow that some girls get when they’re roughing
it, an all-natural beauty.   Lucas shook his head
chasing away dreams left over from his sleep.  

"How did we fare?  Any more injuries?"  Lucas asked,
taking another drink.

"Nothing major, just cuts and scrapes.  I actually
expected a lot worse since most everyone is barefoot."

"How’s Lochlain?"

"He’s still sleeping.  I gave him a few pain pills
from med kit early this morning.  He kept waking up
and wouldn’t admit he was in pain, but he didn’t
refuse the pills when I offered them either.  He’s
going to need to get to a med center, eventually." 
She said the last word slowly, realizing as she said
it the futility of them ever seeing a med center.

Lucas saw a worried look cross Calista’s face.  He
wanted to reach out, pat her hand and tell her it was
all going to be okay.  But that seemed a stupid thing
to do.  They weren’t okay, not yet anyway.

Calista went on with her report.  "Clive has been up
on the hilltop most of the day, with Rani watching his
back.  They’ve seen several Cylon raiders land and
take off, but they haven’t come in our direction. 
They’ve all headed back into the city."  Calista
looked down for a moment, then back up to look Lucas
in the eye.  "The city is bad.  Clive hasn’t seen much
activity, and there are very few buildings still
standing.  We seem to be the only ones left."  

Lucas saw in Calista’s eyes, rather than heard, what
she was really trying to tell him, they were the only
survivors and all that they had known was gone.  Lucas
did not know what to say to her or how to respond. 
The impact of their situation washed over them like a
wave as they both braced themselves for the flood. 
Lucas could see in Calista’s eyes that she wasn’t
ready to face it, not yet.  And he wasn’t sure he
could either.  They sat for several moments in their
shared grief before Lucas spoke.

"At least we're not alone."  

Calista's eyes flickered, a small spark as she
blushed.  She lowered her eyes breaking the moment,
then looked back up again and said, "Rani thinks he
spotted Vipers last night."

"Really!"  Lucas started to get up, but Calista put
her hand on his shoulder to keep him seated.  

"He hasn't told everyone.  He only saw two.  And they
were headed away from us back into space."

"Oh."  The fleeting moment of relief turned into
despair.

"It was after that when Clive started sighting some
civilian craft.  The majority of the Cylons left the
airfield," she hesitated before continuing, "to shoot
them down."

Lucas turned away from her, staring at the hillside in
front of him.  He picked a point and tried to
concentrate, fighting back the emotions that
threatened to overflow.  

Calista could feel the despair Lucas was feeling.  For
some reason, all she felt was numb.  She had puzzled
over her lack of emotions at first.  She knew she had
always been a soft touch, easily crying over a dead
daggit in the road, or a sad movie.  But several times
through out the day before and the long night she had
wondered why she didn't feel the need to cry.  Even
now, feeling sorry for Lucas as he blinked back tears,
she realized she had no tears of her own.  "Because
it's not over yet," she thought to herself.  

"When this is all over I'm going to find a nice big
bath tub and have a good cry."  She talked to break
the tension.  "I am so filthy."

"I doubt Cylons even use water."  Lucas said turning
back towards her.

"So no hope for a bath for a while huh?  Ugh, I'm not
sure I'll be able to stand myself."  She said trying
to sound funny and lighten the mood.

Lucas started to get up.  "So tell everyone to go easy
on the water.  We probably won't be able to refill the
canteens before we leave."  He held out his hand to
help Calista up.  "You look great to me."

They both stood there in the afternoon sun, staring at
each other, uncomfortable for a moment.  Lucas wanted
to reach out and take her in his arms, to search for
some comfort in the hug he knew he would receive in
return.  Instead he reached out his hand to gently rub
away a smudge of dirt on her cheek.  She closed her
eyes and tilted her head leaning in to his touch.

"I promise I'll get you that bath when this is all
over."  He whispered.

"Oh, I'll really need one by then."  She sighed, a
small smile coming across her face.  

Lucas was suddenly struck with the strong desire to
survive.  He didn't just want to get through another
day alive, he wanted to live to see another yahren. 
And he knew he could do it.  He dropped his hand from
Calista's face placing it on her shoulder and looked
around at the group of Cadets.  They were young and
strong.  He knew he had the training and the skills to
get through this.  He wanted to get through this.  He
knew he could do it, knew they all could do this. 
This was a lesson they could not afford to fail.  This
was the test, their final exam, and today was
graduation.

"I will get you that bath."  Lucas said in strong
determined voice.  "Now let's go get us a ship and get
out of here."  He reached down to hold her hand. 
"Calista, go round up the others.  We’ll meet under
those trees.  I’ll get the guys."  Calista nodded and
squeezed his hand before she headed off to wake the
others.

Lucas found Quillan halfway up the hill.  As Lucas
approached, Quillan motioned for Clive to come down
from the top of the hill, and nudged Rani who had been
concentrating on the sky behind them for signs of
raiders.

"Hey Quill, what did I miss while I was passed out
there?"  Lucas said.

"I saw Calista talking with you, did she fill you in?"

"Yeah, on some of the details.  She said you saw some
Vipers Rani."

"Yeah, I saw two, but we haven’t spotted anymore, and
that was in the early morning hours."

Clive had climbed down the hill to join them.  "If the
planets are gone, the warriors are probably trying to
secure a base of operations and defending the
survivors."

"So how does the academy look?"

"Like last night.  Totally gone.  Nothing usable left.
 Looks like the Cylons concentrated their efforts on
removing any means of communication.  The transmission
towers are down as far as I can see.  None left in the
academy, none left in town."

"No vipers or shuttles left?"  Lucas asked, holding
out for that last bit of hope.

"No.  Just pieces.  Most of the shuttles were already
allocated for fleet use for the armistice.  The vipers
were all lined up, nice and neat, ready for the
festivities.  They were easy pickings.  Only thing
flyable on that airfield is Cylon."

"And?"  

Quillan answered.  "Right now, only three raiders, and
the tanker.  They seem to be using it as an emergency
refueling point.  We saw most of the raiders leave
later today, right after we saw the civilian ships
taking off."

"Yeah, there were about eight civilian ships that we
could see, seven were from here, one came from the
south and tried to land, I assume to pick up
survivors, but it was shot down."  Clive said.

"Of the seven, how many got away?"  Lucas had to ask
even though he was afraid of what the answer might be.

Rani and Quillan looked at each other then looked
down.  Clive answered quietly.  "Three."

There was silence as Lucas tried to think.  "Clive, do
you really think you could pilot that tanker?"

"Sure, if it can fly, I can get it off the ground." 
He said flippantly.

"No, I mean are you sure.  There is no point in us
risking our lives to capture the thing if we can’t fly
it."

"I can figure it out."  Clive answered.

"I’m not sure we should risk it if you’re not one
hundred percent sure you can do this."  Lucas said,
shaking his head as he tried to judge whether Clive
was just boasting.

"Maybe I can, maybe I can’t, but it sure beats just
being gunned down as we…"

"I can."  Quillan said interrupting.

"Quillan, you’re not a pilot.  You’re a communications
cadet."  Lucas added.

"Yes, and that means that I’ve studied the Cylon
language.  I can interpret all the gauges.  And Clive
can pilot."

"Most Cylon ships need two pilots at least."  Lucas
replied.

"Hey, don’t forget I’m a Viper pilot too!  Just
because I’m not top of the class doesn’t mean I can’t
fire up a turbo and launch a laser volley."  Rani said
smiling.

"It’s not like we have much choice."  Clive said
reaching his hand out to Lucas.  "Are you ready?"  

Lucas clasped Clive’s hand.  "As ready as I’m ever
going to be.  Let’s do it."

***********