The Women of Amazonia
Part I of The Galactica Yahren
by Kelly Piper
March 10, 1997

I.

     Sheba hated that she was late and was having to run down the
hallway toward the ready room.  "Frack, he's going to kill me," she
muttered under her breath as she rounded the corner and ran headlong
into Apollo, who was heading in her direction.
     Apollo recovered himself from almost slamming into the
bulkhead and then looked at Sheba, "Ah there you are.  Running a
bit late are we?"  His smile showed how much he was enjoying
ribbing her about being late.
     Sheba just looked at Apollo dumbfounded for a micron and then
said between heavy breaths, "I, uh, I got a bit held up by Boxey. 
I went to your quarters looking for you and got suckered into
playing a round of computer triad with him."  Her breathing quickly
returned to normal as she smiled, "So, I haven't missed the mission
briefing then?"
     Apollo almost laughed and said, "Oh the briefing?  It's been
canceled.  I just got word to go talk to my father about something
that's come up."  His smile broadened after this, "But now we have
time for dinner I think.  After all if it were a true emergency,
there would be an alert, so I think we'll have time."  The grin
became a bit mischievous at this point.
     "Oh that's just my luck then.  Now, instead of a long grueling
patrol with a wonderful view, I get to have interesting
conversation and some decent ambrosia."  Her mischievous grin
belied the joking nature of her comment.  She laughed and added,
"But I guess the view will still be pretty good."
     As Apollo turned to leave he said, "Funny, Sheba, but I'll see
you in the officer's club in two centars, okay?"
     "See you then."

     As Apollo walked into his father's office, he noticed Colonel
Tigh and Bojay already sitting on couch.  "Sorry I'm late.  I," he
took a moment to pause and smile, "ran into someone.  Literally."
     Adama looked at his oldest child with a thoughtful glance, "I
understand.  I was just explaining to Tigh and Bojay that we've
lost two pilots.  A patrol has simply disappeared."
     Apollo's questioning glance met his father's, "Who was on the
patrol?"
     "Boomer and Greenbean."
     Apollo took a steadying breath and looked over at Tigh and
Bojay before asking, "Any idea what happened?"
     Tigh answered this time, "No, Apollo.  They were on a long
range forward probe and they haven't been heard from and are over
a centar overdue.  Unless they crashed on some planet out there,"
he motioned up toward the window over his head, "they are out of
fuel and short on air."
     Adama added quickly, "I'm going to send Bojay and Jolly out to
look for them."
     Apollo just nodded, not trusting his voice at this exact
micron.
     Bojay added quickly, "Don't worry, if they are out there,
we'll find them.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I better get moving."
     Adama simply nodded his approval to Bojay, who quickly left
the office.  He then turned to his son and said, "I know you and
Boomer are close.  He'll be fine."
     Apollo looked at his father and said, "I know.  If you don't
have anything else to discuss?"
     Adama shook his head negatively, "No please, you're
dismissed."
     Apollo went out through the sliding door, not sure where he
was headed.

     As Bojay and Jolly flew through space they continued to scan
for any sign of their friends.  "Nothing here Bojay and we're
almost at maximum range."
     Bojay looked at his scanner and just shook his head sadly. 
Just as he was about to give the word to turn back, a blip on his
scanner indicated a planet straight ahead.  "Wait, are you getting
that planet?"
     Jolly's voice revealed his excitement, "You bet skipper. 
Let's go check it out."
     "Definitely, let's do that."
     As they got closer, Bojay's scanner continued to relay more
and more information on the planet, "Hmmm, its habitable.  And,
wait, there are lifeforms."  His excitement was almost overwhelming
when he said, "And they're human!"  He looked at his fuel level and
said, "But frack, we don't have enough fuel.  Let's head back and
get a recon team out to that planet.  Maybe they went down."
     "I certainly hope so."

     As Apollo walked into the officer's club, he realized that he
wasn't exactly up for a romantic evening with Sheba, but he at
least wanted to explain why.  As he saw her sitting at a table for
two, he remembered why he had started to fall for her in the first
place.  After all there weren't many women who could sustain a
conversation about vipers for very long, but the two of them were
both obsessive about their jobs so it was a perfect match. 
And, he mused to himself, she's not that hard on the eyes
either.  He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be
upset about two of his friends being lost and went over to Sheba.
     As he took a seat she said, "I thought you'd never get here. 
Now who's turn is it to be late?"  She began to smile at her joke
but then noticed his serious expression.  "Apollo, what's wrong?"
     A quick sigh of sadness escaped before Apollo could stop it. 
He then answered, "Boomer and Greenbean are overdue on patrol.
Bojay and Jolly went out looking for them."
     Sheba's eyes grew wide at the news, "What?"  She then sat back
in her chair as the news sunk in, "Well, if you need to send out
any more patrols put me on the top of the list."  
     "I'm sorry, but we'll have to cancel dinner.  I ... I'm just
not in the mood right now."  He quickly got back up out of his
chair and started to push it under the table.
     Sheba nodded and said, "I understand.  We'll have dinner when
they are all back."  She quickly finished her drink and then got up
with him, "I'm suddenly not all that hungry either.  If you don't
mind, I'd like to go with you up to the bridge."  She stopped for
a micron and then said, "You are going up there to see if there's
any word aren't you?"
     Apollo laughed slightly and said, "You're starting to read my
mind Sheba.  Come on let's go.  I told Starbuck I'd meet him there. 
He's gone down to the landing bay to wait for Bojay and Jolly to
return."
     The pair left the officer's club, heading out toward the
bridge at almost a run.

     As Sheba and Apollo came onto the bridge, Starbuck, Jolly and
Bojay could be seen standing around Apollo's father.  At first
glance, it was obvious that there was news but Sheba wasn't sure if
that was a good thing or not.
     "Ah Apollo and Sheba, we've been waiting," Adama said as he
noticed the two walk in.  "It looks like Jolly and Bojay found
something."  He turned to Bojay for the report.
     Bojay cleared his throat before turning to the starmap.  As he
pointed out a position ahead of the fleet he said, "Right about
here, at the edge of our current patrol distance, there's a planet
and we picked up human life forms."  As he looked at Apollo he
shook his head and said, "We're unsure if it was Boomer and
Greenbean or not.  Our fuel was too low to do further scans."
     Adama nodded at the report and added without further thought,
"Apollo, I want you, Starbuck, Sheba and Bojay to fly to that
planet and see what you can find.  If Boomer or Greenbean are down
there, we need to find them soon."  He looked out the starwindow
and said, "The cylons are not far behind and we cannot afford to
stay in this sector for too long.  You have 48 centars.  After
that, you come back with or without Boomer and Greenbean."
     Apollo simply nodded to his father and then with a look at his
friends, all the warriors except Jolly left the bridge.  Adama
glanced at Jolly and said, "I hope we have even that long."  He
then caught himself and said, "Jolly, get Blue Squadron out on more
forward probes just in case Boomer and Greenbean aren't on that
planet.  I don't want to put all our hopes on that one possibility
and close out others."
     Jolly simply nodded and then left the bridge, moving
abnormally fast for Jolly.

     As the group of warriors entered the launch bay, Apollo
stopped Sheba.  After a brief knowing look from Starbuck, the two
were alone for a few microns.  "Sheba," Apollo began, "when we get
back, and when Boomer and Greenbean are safe, I, I promise . . ." 
His voice trailed off as he got a lump in his throat.
     "I know Apollo."  Her eyes twinkled at the man she loved as
she said, "Sooner or later the circumstances will be right and
we'll get sealed, don't you worry."  She laughed as they started to
walk toward their vipers, "I'm not letting you get away from me
that easily after all."
     Apollo joined her in her laughter and then gave her a quick
hug before running off to his own viper.
     "Sooner or later," Sheba muttered to herself as she climbed
into her own viper, feeling the familiar contours of the seat
around her back and legs.  She quickly put on her helmet and
powered up, giving herself communications with the other warriors.
     ". . . them, I'm sure Apollo," she heard Starbuck say over the
comm lines as she turned the power to them on.
     "You bet we will," replied Apollo.  A centon later, his voice
could be heard again, this time going up to the bridge, "Recon
leader to core command.  Request launch clearance."
     The familiar voice of Rigel came over the lines, "Transferring
command to recon craft.  You are cleared to launch."
     With a deep breath, Sheba pressed the turbo button and she was
hurled back into her seat as her viper was hurled down the launch
tube toward the blackness of space.

     "I've got the planet on my scanner, Apollo," Bojay's voice
came over the comm lines.  Apollo looked at his scanner and
confirmed the reading, "I've got it here too Bojay.  Is anyone
picking up the location of those lifesigns?"
     Starbuck's voice was the first to answer, "Hey Apollo, I've
got something weird here.  Frack, there appears to be a small
cluster of human lifeforms down there.  I'm picking up more than my
scanner can distinguish."
     Apollo noticed the same reading on his scanner, "Yeah I have
it here too Starbuck.  Looks like we've found some sort of
civilization.  I've got a fix on the cluster.  We'll land about 30
metrons away to the north of it.  With any luck we'll get down
without being noticed."
     Apollo switched to the fleet comm frequency and said, "Recon
leader to Galactica, we've picked up a small civilization of human
life forms on the planet.  We're going to land and check it out."
     After a centon, Rigel's voice answered, "Galactica to Recon
flight.  Permission for landing granted.  Reports will be expected
every six centars."
     "Understood Galactica," Apollo answered crisply.
     The four vipers soared toward the blue-green planet and
quickly entered the atmosphere.

     As his viper hatch slowly opened, Bojay pulled his helmet off
and ran his fingers through his tousled hair.  Although it was
night, the two moons overhead made it possible to make out a lush
landscape with a pleasant lake nearby.  The air was warm but not
humid, all making for a very pleasant first impression.  As he
looked over at the nearest viper he saw Starbuck pulling himself
out of the cockpit and said to him, "Nice place.  Maybe we should
consider going into real estate here."
     Starbuck laughed back, "Now that, Bojay, might be a
wonderful way to make some cubits.  Remind me to bring it up to the
Commander when we get back."  After jumping to the ground, Starbuck
stretched his back and continued to look around with a smile.
     A few microns later Sheba, and then Apollo, came around
Bojay's viper and the four met up, all smiling at their
surroundings.  Sheba said what they were all thinking, "This is
exactly how I imagine Earth to look.  Only," she frowned briefly
before continuing, "I would hope there would be more people than
showed up on our scan."
     Apollo simply nodded and pointed to the south, "Well, we
better head out.  We've got a good centar or two to walk before
we'll get near that knot of lifeforms."
     They all nodded to him and walked off, each carrying a lantern
to light their path and a blue backpack with supplies over their
shoulder.

     The landscape between their landing site and their destination
was slightly hilly, and it took about four centars to cover the
distance to their current location.  As they got closer to the life
signs, their hand-held scanners began to determine approximate
numbers, first showing about 75 and then finally climbing up to a
total of 87.  As the quartet approached the top of a lightly wooded
hill, Apollo motioned for caution, "We're getting close.  I don't
want to be discovered before we have to be."
     Starbuck edged ahead of the others and reached the top of the
hill, standing slightly behind a tree to provide cover.  As he
looked down into the rolling valley he noticed a rather primitive
village sitting in the valley, lit by the moonlight and a few fires
burning inside the village.  Wooden buildings with thatched roofs
were scattered about, all enclosed by a large wooden fence and
moat.  He noticed lookout spots scattered along the wall.  He
couldn't make out anything about the inhabitants but it appeared
that some were in the watch towers and the rest were simply going
about their business.
     Starbuck motioned for the others to stay back as he crouched
down and fished through his bag for a set of nightscope binoculars. 
He took out the small silver pair and put them up to his eyes.  As
he began to first look at the watchtowers he almost fell over into
a seated position.  "Wow, they're all women!" he muttered to
himself, a rather mischievous smile crossing his lips.  "You've hit
the jackpot now Starbuck." 
     As he continued to look at the inhabitants of the village, he
noticed that he didn't see any men.  The women were all dressed in
what appeared to be rather functional clothing, with either swords
or some form of projectile bow over their shoulders, although it
was hard to tell for sure due to the nightscope readings.  As he
finally reached what appeared to be agricultural fields he finally
found the men.  They were toiling in the soil while a small knot of
the warrior women watched from the side.  A few fires were lit
nearby so that they could obviously see what they were doing even
at the current late centar.  "Frack!" was all he could mutter as he
put the binoculars back in the bag and went back to join the
others.
     "So?" Apollo asked, looking very puzzled at the odd expression
on his best friend's face.
     "You aren't going to believe this one buddy, but there's a
village over there full of warrior women."  He shook his head and
said, "The only men I saw were doing some farming, all being
watched by women."
     Sheba smiled at Starbuck and said with a quiet laugh, "Sounds
like your kind of place Starbuck."
     Starbuck shook his head and said, "I don't think so.  The odds
may be good but I'm not much of a farmer."  He then looked back at
Apollo and continued, "They've got a wall and a moat that appears
to be a pretty good line of defense and they have some sort of
primitive ranged weapons."  He shrugged and headed off the next
question by saying, "No sign of Boomer or Greenbean."
     Apollo looked around at his team and then down at his chrono,
"Okay, we've still got 40 centars until we need to leave.  I want
us watching that village at all times.  If they've got Boomer or
Greenbean then I want to find them.  We didn't pick up any other
life forms so if they are on this planet, they are in that
village."  He looked at Sheba and said, "Sheba, I want you and
Bojay to go to the east half a metron.  Starbuck and I will remain
here.  Alternate watches of the village and stay in radio contact. 
If you see anything that might indicate that Boomer or
Greenbean are in there I want to know about it.  We'll keep our
eyes peeled too."
     Sheba nodded as she patted Bojay on the arm, "Looks like its
you and me Bojay, let's go."  With a smile at Apollo they each
grabbed their backpacks and headed off quickly to the east, the
light from their lanterns quickly disappearing in the dense trees.
     "Well Apollo, it's a nice place to visit," Starbuck said,
motioning to their surroundings.  They each climbed the hill to the
line of trees and got comfortable for their watch.

     On the bridge of the Galactica, Adama looked over his
daughter's shoulder, "Still nothing?"
     Athena shook her head sadly, "No, nothing.  Patrol after
patrol keeps coming back and they still have no sign of Boomer or
Greenbean."  She looked up at her father and said with a slight
tremble in her voice, "It looks like that planet is their only
hope."
     Adama nodded as he stood up.  "It appears so, but keep the
patrols going.  I want blue squadron on a constant forward probe
rotation.  Pull Silver Spar off of furlong.  They need to take over
the slack around the fleet," he said to Omega, who was seated in
front of where Colonel Tigh was standing.  Tigh just looked down at
Adama and shook his head almost imperceptively.

     Sheba was on her stomach and looking through her set of
binoculars for her shift while Bojay sat with his back against a
tree when she saw it.  "Bojay come here and look at this," she said
as she motioned with her binoculars.
     Bojay grabbed his and looked in the direction she indicated. 
His eyes fell on the beast-drawn cart carrying the wreckage of a
viper.  "Frack! you better . . ." He started to talk until he heard
Sheba radioing Apollo.
     "Apollo, this is Sheba, do you two see that?"
     Over the radio Apollo's voice came through with a tinge of
static, "Yeah we see it, I want you two back here on the double. 
We've got to get to the bottom of it."
     "We're on our way," Sheba said as she got to her feet, Bojay
quickly following suit.  The pair quickly made their way through
the trees back the way they came a few centars before.

II.

     Starbuck sat against a tree as he said, "What can we do
Apollo?  It's not like we can just waltz in there and ask if
they've seen our friends."
     Bojay nodded in agreement from his spot slightly down the
hill, "We would stand out a bit."  He laughed a bit nervously,
trying to wish away the grave situation they found themselves in.
     Sheba took a steadying breath and then said to the group, "I
probably could."
     Apollo looked at her with a start, "What?"
     Sheba shrugged and said, "Well, we've gathered that its a
society dominated by women."  She looked around at the others and
said, "Unless I'm hallucinating, I'm the only woman here. 
I could go down there and pretend that I crash landed and ask to
join their little group."  She shrugged and then said, "It's really
the only choice.  We aren't going to learn anything sitting up
here."
     Apollo rubbed his head wearily and looked at his chrono. 
"Well, before I make a decision, let me radio back to the
Galactica.  Our second 6 centar period is almost up.  I'll make a
decision then."
     Sheba looked at Apollo, knowing that he didn't want to send
her into danger.  She shook her head to herself thinking that
Apollo was very much like her father in that respect.

     Athena looked up at her father and said, "Communication coming
in from the recon party Commander."
     Adama nodded from his place next to Tigh and said, "Feed it up
to the bridge."  He leaned over Omega's shoulder as the
communications started to play up on the raised area.
     "Commander, we've located a village that appears to be a
female dominated culture."  Apollo's voice had a tint of concern in
it even through the static of the communications.  "And, we saw
them carting in the wreckage of a viper."
     Adama stood up at that news from his eldest child, "Any sign
of Boomer or Greenbean?" he asked.
     "No sir.  If they are in that village we haven't seen them
from where we are."  His voice trailed off as if there was
something he didn't want to say.
     Tigh piped in, "Do you think you can get into the village to
look around?"
     Apollo answered back quickly, "It appears to be pretty well
fortified."  He broke off suddenly and then added, "Lt. Sheba has
volunteered to try to gain entrance to the village."
     Adama answered quickly before considering the personal
ramifications for his son, "That seems to be the best course of
action.  But, make it clear, that if she can't get in and out in 36
centars, you'll have to disembark without her."
     Nothing was heard for a centon and then Apollo answered, "She
understands that sir.  I'll radio back in another 6 centars if
there's nothing else?"
     Adama shook his head negatively as he said, "No, nothing else
here.  If anything comes up keep us informed."
     "Yes sir."  Apollo said crisply and then the radio went
silent.
     Tigh looked at Adama and said, "She's taking an awful risk
going in there, or so it sounds."  His eyes appeared heavy with
worry, as he looked up at his old friend.
     Adama nodded sadly and said, "That she is."  He paused for a
micron, obviously reminiscing about something, before saying, "Well
she does have a streak in her that is awfully close to her father." 
He smiled and started to leave the bridge, "Tigh, I'll be in my
quarters."

     Sheba was looking through her bag and pulling out the things
she wouldn't need or didn't want to have taken from her by
potential enemies.  Apollo simply watched her from the other side
of the small clearing, his eyes clouded in worry.  Sheba ended her
preparations by pulling her pistol out of the holster and adding it
to the pile that she was leaving behind.
     Apollo looked up with concern at that and said, "You don't
believe I'll let you go in there unarmed do you?"  He walked over
to her and picked up her pistol, holding it out to her so she could
take it back.
     Sheba looked up at him and then to Bojay and Starbuck, who
were obviously keeping their distance so she could have a few
moments alone with Apollo.  She said to Apollo quietly, "I can't
take it Apollo.  They don't have that kind of technology and if
they get it away from me, it could be disastrous."  She then smiled
at him and patted him on the arm, "Besides, I've got my wits. I'll
be okay."  She leaned over to him and kissed him on the forehead
before standing up.
     Apollo watched as his fiancee removed her gunbelt and then
hoisted her now half-full backpack over her shoulder.  He then
stood up and embraced her in a hug.  He whispered to her, "I'll be
waiting for you to come back.  Be careful, okay?"
     Sheba looked up at Apollo and smiled, her eyes twinkling at
him, "I will."  She then laughed and said, "I'm not giving you any
excuses to get out of our sealing after all."
     Starbuck and Bojay then came over and each shook her forearm. 
"You take care of yourself," Bojay said, trying hard to keep a
strong face as one of his dearest friends was preparing to go into
a dangerous situation.
     Sheba nodded and, with a final smile to Apollo, started to
trudge off toward the village.
     Starbuck went up to Apollo and said, "She'll be okay buddy. 
She can take care of herself."
     Apollo simply stood there, still holding Sheba's pistol in his
hand and watching where she disappeared over the ridge.

     "Apollo," Bojay called over from his spot on the hill.  He was
looking through his binoculars as Sheba approached the village. 
"She's out in the open now."
     Apollo stood with his back to Bojay and called over his
shoulder, "Keep me informed."  He closed his eyes and shook his
head, trying to calm himself down.
     Starbuck looked at his friend and touched his arm in a rare
show of emotion, "She'll be okay Apollo.  Come on, let's go watch
to see what happens."
     Apollo answered again, his eyes still closed shut, "You go
ahead.  I," he stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, "I
can't watch."
     Starbuck said quietly, "Okay Apollo, you stay here.  I'll let
you know what happens."  He patted Apollo's arm again and then went
up to join Bojay.
     "Please Lords," Apollo said quietly, "keep her safe."

     As Sheba left the cover of the trees and entered the clearing
leading to the village, her heart began pounding.  She had no clue
what the range of their weapons were, but she didn't want to
underestimate their ability to hit her out here.  She continued to
trudge ahead bravely though, attempting to show with her body
language that she wasn't afraid even though she was secretly
terrified.
     The worst part was that she knew that Apollo was up on the
hill watching this.  If she didn't make it inside alive, he'd watch
her die, or at least hear about it, since she knew he'd at least
have Bojay or Starbuck watching.  She didn't think he could bare to
see another woman that he loved die before his eyes and she knew
that it was tearing him apart right now, but she had to try. 
Besides, she figured he was getting a taste of his own medicine and
he might think twice before going on his next crazy mission,
leaving her behind to worry.  Assuming there is a next
time, she thought before stopping herself from expressing that
fear in words.
     There was also that part of her that just liked to get herself
into a bit of danger every now and then.  She and Apollo understood
one another so well because they both shared that controlled
reckless streak.  They had both seen those close to them die, or,
in her case, simply disappear, and both went through periods of
needing to take those risks to either make amends or subconsciously
in the hopes of not coming back.  
     She had thought she was over her father's disappearance but
she still felt the emptiness that surrounded many aspects of her
life.  He had been her whole life until that day 2 yahrens before
when he sent her off to the Galactica while he went on to take on
the baseships.  Part of her still wished he had let her stay,
although that part shrunk more and more with each passing secton. 
Falling in love with Apollo had done a lot to help heal that part
of her, but she knew that she still had a ways to go.
     She realized suddenly that she was more than halfway across
the field and still walking.  As she looked up at the watchtowers,
she could see the women there just looking down at her with
caution, but they did not have their weapons at the ready.  As she
approached the bridge into the city, the large gate opened and a
group of six women came through it and approached her.
     
     On the bridge of the Galactica, all hell was beginning to
break lose. "We've got an incoming flight of raiders on our scopes
Colonel," Athena's voice called out, "And half of blue squadron is
still out of range on their probe patrols."
     Tigh answered her by saying, "Order all pilots to their
vipers.  Get them out there and keep scanning for a basestar. 
There has to be one out there unless we missed some sort of base
along the way."

     Jolly sat in his viper and shook his head.  This was going to
be a tough fight with most of the best pilots on the Galactica down
on that planet and half of Blue Squadron still coming back from
their probe flights.  
     He received his launch clearance and quickly launched, forming
up with the rest of Blue Squadron, "Let's go Blue Squadron," he
said into his helmet communicator, not at all feeling comfortable
with giving orders.
     The vipers headed off to the port side of the fleet, quickly
forming up with the other squadrons and headed for the wall of
raiders coming toward them.

     Bojay called out to Apollo, "She's almost to the village
Apollo."  He paused and then said, "And it looks like a group of
women are coming out to meet her."
     Apollo still stood, welded to his spot with his eyes closed. 
He could feel his stomach churning and his heart racing. All he
could think of at that exact moment was that if he lost Sheba, he
knew he couldn't go on.  First he had to stand there and watch
Serina die and now he had to send his fiancee into such a
predicament.  What would he do if she didn't come back?
     Starbuck brought him out of his thoughts by saying, "They
appear to be talking."
     "Please Lords," Apollo said quietly again and opened his eyes,
willing himself with each step to go to the top of the hill and
watch.

III.

     As Sheba got closer to the group waiting just outside the
village gates, she noticed that they were all about her size and
build.  At least they aren't some huge giant women, she
thought to herself, trying her best to size up the attitude of the
group, but their straight faces made it impossible.  She took a
deep breath and then stopped.  She stood with her arms slightly
away from her legs, trying to show them that she was unarmed.  It
hadn't crossed her mind until that micron that they may not even
speak her language.
     It was this thought that caused her to be surprised when the
leader of the group said in Sheba's tongue, "Greetings warrior.  I
see that the Gods have sent another."  The woman smiled and said,
"And one more appropriate."
     Sheba seemed very confused at this and asked, "More
appropriate?"  She looked from one woman in the group to another. 
Each appeared to be no more than 30 or so yahren old and all were
strong and slim, their muscles apparent under their leather
britches and woven shirts.  She also noticed in the same micron
that none of these women appeared to be armed, a fact which caused
Sheba to relax.
     "Yes, more appropriate.  The other warriors are simply good
for tilling the soil, but you," the woman smiled, "you can be a
great addition to our forces."  The woman then approached her and
extended her arms in greeting, "My name is Rega, and welcome to
Amazonia."

     As Apollo watched Sheba embrace the strange woman, he sighed
in relief.  He still didn't say anything as he watched her join the
others and walk toward the gates of the village.  He noticed that
Sheba waved her left arm behind her to try to signal him that
things were okay, but his heart still sank as the gates closed
behind the group.
     He continued to look through his binoculars but didn't see her
come out the other end.  He noted that there were a few building
very close to the fence and he supposed they must have entered one
of them, but he refused to even blink for a few centons, until
finally Starbuck said to him, "Well, she's in."
     Apollo put his binoculars down and looked at his friend,
saying what he knew Starbuck wouldn't, "Yeah, but will she get
out?"
     Bojay and Starbuck just looked at Apollo, unable to answer his
question and without a word, the three men went back to their
distant vigil on the village.

     "Blue leader, this is blue 12, a group of the raiders have
broken off and are headed for the Rising Star."
     "Frack," Jolly muttered under his breath, "Okay, blue squadron
pursue.  Silver Spar and Red squadrons will continue with these
guys."  He pulled his stick hard to the right and caught sight of
the twelve cylon raiders heading for his favorite ship in the
fleet.  Even on full turbos he knew it was a long shot that they'd
get there before the raiders could rip it to shreds but they had to
try.  The 24 remaining ships of blue squadron followed his lead and
dove toward them.
     As they approached the raiders, Jolly watched them get off one
good volley on the pleasure ship.  Surprisingly it was still in one
piece as the raiders swung around to come in for a second pass,
although Jolly knew from the fires and the scorch marks that it
would be a long time coming before there would be any more triad
matches there.
     His thoughts were brought back to the battle as he realized
they were within attack range, "Blue squadron, let's go get 'em." 
He caught sight of one nearby and went straight after it. As he got
it narrowed in his sights, one of the vipers flying nearby, the one
flown by a fresh-faced recruit named Rogan, exploded in a shower of
sparks.  As he hit the fire button to destroy the raider he said,
"That's for you Rogan."  
     The raider exploded quickly and Jolly flew through the smoke
and debris on his way to the next victim when he heard Montegna,
one of the youngest and greenest pilots in the squadron say in a
panicked voice, "I can't shake him."
     Jolly quickly looked around and saw the viper being chased
down by a raider.  Laser fire was landing all around the new
pilot's craft and Jolly knew that it was only a matter of microns
until Montegna would be space dust.  "I'm coming Montegna.  Keep
trying to shake the tinhead.  I need about 5 microns to get in
place."
     "Th-, thank you Jolly," came the trembling female voice in
return.  He noticed that she was managing to fly erratically enough
to prevent a good weapons lock, but a lucky shot could vaporize her
any micron now.  He pulled back hard on his stick and rolled in
behind the raider.
     "Frack, this tinhead is good," he muttered as he attempted to
get a weapons lock. "Montegna, pull hard to port, now!"  As
Montegna's viper flew off, Jolly fired off a quick volley of shots,
clipping the right side of the long thin raider.  The raider
quickly spun off and exploded a few microns later.  "Woo!" he cried
in his helmet.
     He looked around and noticed that all the other raiders in the
area had been cleared and the Rising Star was in one piece.  Just
as he sighed in relief he heard Athena's voice in his ear,
"Galactica to all squadrons, we have a basestar coming in behind
those raiders.  Blue squadron meet up with the other squadrons. Red
squadron finish off the raiders.  Silver Spar and Blue squadrons
are ordered to engage the basestar."
     "Frack!" Jolly muttered again.  "Where are Apollo and Starbuck
when you need them?"
     
     Adama paced slightly on the bridge, overlooking his crew
quickly trying to coordinate the fighting going on nearby.  None of
the raiders had yet broken through to attack the Galactica, but
that was only a matter of time.  And with a basestar nearby they
had more to worry about.
     Athena turned around from her station and reported, "All probe
flights have returned and been relaunched.  They are meeting up
with the squadrons, commander."
     Tigh nodded in Athena's direction and said quietly, "If only
Starbuck and Apollo were out there."  His voice trailed off as he
looked at Adama.
     Adama, who appeared to have fallen deep in thought for a few
microns, finally said, "Yes, raise Captain Apollo on the comm.  We
need the three of them back here.  Tell them to get back here as
fast as they can."
     Athena looked at her father wide-eyed and Rigel gulped before
flicking a few switches on her panel.  "Galactica to recon party."
     Apollo's voice could be heard, although the static was heavy. 
"This is the recon party Galactica.  We read you."
     Rigel took a deep breath before stating the order, "You are
hear by ordered to return to the fleet.  We are under heavy attack
and need you here."
     Apollo quickly started to say, "But. . ." but he stopped,
obviously realizing that an argument would best be left for another
time.  "We're on our way.  But it'll probably be a full centar
before we can get back to the Galactica and then we will need to
refuel."
     "Understood.  We'll have fresh vipers waiting for you.  Out."

     As the three men quickly got up from their spots on the
ground, Apollo muttered loudly, "Frack, we can't even let her know
what happened."
     Starbuck said, while packing up their supplies quickly,
"She'll be fine and we'll come straight back as soon as we can. 
Even if we have to go AWOL to do it.  I promise you buddy."
     Bojay added his vote to that, "You can count on me too."
     With a final sad look at the village, Apollo and the other two
officers ran down the hill back toward their vipers.  

     The older woman sat on a large chair.  Sheba thought it seemed
almost to be a throne, although the woman sitting there was not
ornately dressed in any way.  A sword was propped next to the
chair, as if the woman would jump up and fight at any micron if
need be.  The woman nodded to Sheba and said simply, "I welcome you
to Amazonia."
     Sheba nodded in return and said, "I am honored to be here."
She found that she didn't even have to try to act shaken as she
said, "I .. I crashed my craft quite a distance from here, and I ..
I'm afraid that I've been left behind by my fleet."  She tried with
all her might to appear overly upset at that statement.
     The woman nodded without a word.  Rega, who was standing next
to Sheba said, "Ancient, Sheba has asked if it would be possible to
stay with us.  I will act as her adjudicator if you wish."  Sheba
didn't really like the sound of the word adjudicator but at least
they were taking her seriously and she was still alive.
     The older woman, known now simply as Ancient, nodded her
approval and said, "The Adjudication will take place in four
centars.  In the meantime," she smiled again at Sheba, "please
enjoy our hospitality."
     Sheba nodded and said with a slight tremble in her voice,
"Thank you Ancient."
     Rega then motioned to a side exit and they went through it.

     
     As the trio finally entered their vipers and powered up, they
began to catch some of the transmissions from the battle on their
helmetcomms.
     Jolly's voice immediately rang in their ears, "I just lost
Montegna and Ginta.  This fracking basestar is ripping us apart out
here."
     Apollo quickly signaled the Galactica that they were about to
head out, "Recon craft to Galactica, we are in our vipers and about
to launch.  We should be on board in 20 centons."
     The slight relief in Rigel's voice was apparent as she said,
"Understood Recon Craft."
     Apollo glanced over at the empty viper where Sheba should have
been and shook his head, trying to chase the 'what if' thoughts
away.  He then said to his two friends, "Okay, let's get out of
here before I think twice about it."  With that he hit his turbos,
as did Starbuck and Bojay and in a few microns the landscape was
again quiet with Sheba's viper sitting peacefully in the clearing
all alone.

     Jolly looked around and noticed another viper being turned
into nothing off his starboard side.  The basestar was slowly
decimating his squadron before they could even really get in a good
strike.  "Okay Blue squadron.  I want you on the port laser
turrets.  Let's take them out on the first run."  
     He slowly rolled his sleek viper into an attack pattern on one
of the offending turrets.  In his headset he heard Bishop, one of
the Ensigns in Silver Spar say, "Okay silver spar has the starboard
ones and then we'll swing around the back and get the aft ones." 
He noticed the all-too few silver spar vipers veer off from his
flight path and aim for the other side of the round basestar.
     As Jolly approached the laser turret, it began to shoot in his
direction.  With little more than 15 vipers behind him he knew that
it would have no trouble taking out 2 or 3 before they could get
below its firing line and before he knew it a viper to his right
exploded.  The laser fire was getting close enough to fry mushies
Jolly thought quickly.  
     Just before getting below its line of fire, another explosion
nearby rocked his viper.  He didn't have time now to worry about
who it was that had just been lost.  He lined the turret up in his
attack computer and sent off a few quick volleys.  It exploded
quickly and the other nearby turret went up in a similar explosion
thanks to one of the other pilots.  "Port turrets destroyed.  Blue
Squadron head back around to the fore turrets and stay as close to
the basestar as possible so those same turrets can't take you out."
     Being between the two halves of the basestar, it couldn't
really get a fix on the craft flying around and had to rely on pure
luck to take any of them out.  Jolly mulled over the ironic fact
that machines had to rely on luck, but he then smiled when he
realized that humans had to have better luck than any
galmonging cylon could.  
     The fore turrets were also quickly destroyed in a quick sweep,
and Jolly was about to let out a loud whoop when Rigel's voice was
heard saying, "All squadrons finish your current run and then
return to the Galactica.  We are under heavy attack.  Raiders have
broken through."

     Sheba looked at Rega questioningly, "Adjudication?"  Something
still wasn't sitting well with her about that term.
     Rega nodded very professionally and said with no emotion, "Yes
the Adjudication.  We must know that you will be worth the supplies
we must expend on a member of the community.  You must prove that
you can fight."
     Sheba just looked at Rega for a centon and then said, "I
probably don't want to know the answer but with what and against
whom?"  She cringed internally as she waited for the answer.
     "You will fight Alara, the Champion of the Ancient.  The
weapon of choice is the long blade."  She motioned to the long
sword on her hip.  "If you survive 20 centons against her or if you
beat her, you will be deemed worthy of citizenship in Amazonia."
     Sheba looked at Rega's sword and took a deep breath, "And I
have four centars to prepare?"
     Rega nodded, "Slightly less than that yes.  You will want to
eat during that time too." She paused and then continued the
thought, "in case it is your last.  You will be accorded everything
which you desire within that time that we can provide.  You must
simply ask."
     Sheba said flatly, "Then I would like to try your blade.  If
I am to fight with it, I must get a feel for it."
     Rega smiled and said, "Spoken like a true warrior, Sheba." 
She pulled the metal blade out of its sheath and handed the heavy
weapon to Sheba, who hefted it in her hands, "with the luck of the
Gods, we will feast after the Adjudication."

IV.  

     "Recon leader to Galactica, we have you on our scanners. 
We'll be ready to land in 5 centons."  Apollo's voice came through
to Rigel's station clearly, but she barely noticed it among all the
other radio traffic.
     She quickly answered back to him, "Core Control to recon
flight.  You are cleared to land on alpha deck."  She paused and
then said as an afterthought, "If you can get there.  We are under
heavy cylon attack."
     Apollo looked out his canopy at Starbuck's viper next to him
and then down to his fuel gauge, which was getting very low.
"Understood Galactica.  We'll do our best.  Just have those three
vipers waiting for us."  He flipped his comm switch so he could
talk with Starbuck and Bojay, "Starbuck, promise me, that if
anything happens . . . "
     Starbuck cut him off, "It won't Apollo.  It won't.  The three
of us will go back and get Sheba and Boomer and Greenbean together. 
I promise."
     Apollo tried to force a smile as Bojay said, "And when we all
get back, I'll buy the first round."
     Apollo finally cracked a smile as he heard Starbuck's voice in
his helmet, "For that kind of offer, how can we not succeed?"

     Jolly looked around his canopy and noticed that the number of
vipers was steadily dwindling.  For some reason they were getting
cut to bits, even with the basestar unable to fire.  As he squeezed
off another round and destroyed yet another cylon raider, he saw
three vipers coming in toward the Galactica.  "Finally," he
muttered to himself and then said into his radio, "Blue Squadron,
clear a corridor so the Recon Craft can land on the Galactica. 
Concentrate all fire to the Port side of the Galactica."
     Apollo's voice then came through loud and clear, "I see you've
been busy Jolly.  We'll be back out in a few centons and help you
clean up the scraps."
     "Yes sir."  The sir was a bit mocking in jest.  "Glad
you three could join us, but . . . " he started to say something
but figured that it might not be a good idea.
     He pulled his viper over the Galactica and began concentrating
on the raiders to the port side of her, allowing the three vipers
easy access to the landing bays.  As he took out probably the 9th
raider of the day, he saw another viper go up in flames in front of
him.  Just as he returned his eyes to his scanners with a "frack"
under his voice, his control panel started to spark and he felt a
huge jolt.  He tried to move his stick and nothing seemed to
happen.  "Well, its been fun," he said to himself as he waited for
the ship to explode around him.

     Bojay also watched the destruction of the viper and looked
back at Jolly's viper a micron after it was hit by the pursuing
raider.  "Frack, Jolly's been hit!" he said as he pulled his viper
around to quickly take out the offending raider.
     Apollo's voice was stern, "Bojay get onto the landing deck
now.  You don't have the fuel for any more maneuvering."
     "But . . ." his voice trailed off, "On my way Apollo."
     He then heard Jolly say loudly, "I don't have much attitude or
thruster control Apollo.  I'm a helpless daggit out here."
     Starbuck chimed in before Apollo, "Do you think you can land
Jolly?"
     Bojay watched as Jolly's viper made a very slow sluggish roll
toward the landing bay.  "I ... I don't know.  Maybe, if I can pull
it up enough."  Bojay noticed that on his current path, Jolly was
bound to come in a bit too low and crash into the deck.  Jolly's
voice came over the headsets again quickly, "You three better land
before I take away any chance of that."
     Apollo quickly agreed, "Starbuck and Bojay land immediately
and get that deck cleared of all personnel."  
     As Bojay lined his way up for a quick landing he heard Apollo
radio into the Galactica, "Recon Leader to Core Control.  Sgt.
Jolly is coming in hard.  Get alpha deck cleared."
     Rigel's voice was a bit edgy and she replied, "Understood
Recon Leader.  Alpha Bay has been notified."
     Bojay felt his landing gear hit the deck and he quickly popped
the hatch and jumped out, noticing out of the corner of his eye
that Apollo and Starbuck were doing the same thing.  He immediately
ran for the far side of the deck where a small crash barrier was
available for personnel to duck behind in such situations.  
     He dove behind the barricade and was quickly joined by
Starbuck and Apollo.  Not five microns later, Jolly's viper came in
at a dangerously low level and skidded into the far wall.  As the
noise of the crash quickly died down, the three looked up over
their barricade and noticed Jolly's portly figure jumping off the
smoking viper. 
     Bojay couldn't help but laugh quietly as Jolly ran across to
their barricade with his viper smoldering and smoking behind him. 
     Jolly huffed, "Do we get paid enough for this?" as he slid in
next to his friends.  Even as he was saying that, a firefighting
team had gone out to cool down the crashed viper.
     Bojay simply smiled as Starbuck said, "It's not the pay,
Jolly, its the travel."  They all laughed together and began to get
up so they could relaunch into the battle.
     
     As Sheba entered the Great Hall, she looked around and saw
quite an array of the warrior women of Amazonia had come together
to watch her battle with the Ancient's champion.  It felt strange
for her to have the large sword on her left hip instead of the
lighter laser pistol on her right thigh.  Her whole balance was
thrown off by that and, as much as she was trying to think
positively, she figured that was another strike against her in this
battle.
     On the dias at the other end of the room, the Ancient sat with
a rather large woman standing next to her.  Rega, who had walked in
with Sheba, leaned over and said with a nod to the large woman,
"That is Alara."  Sheba's eyes went a bit wide as she saw
the bulging muscles on the other woman's arms.
     Great, she thought to herself, I'm just going to
disappear in this village and Apollo will never see me again.  Oh
Lords, please let me pass this test.  She took a steadying
breath as she and Rega walked up to the Ancient.
     Rega continued to give her whispered hints as they approached
the Ancient.  "Alara is big and powerful but slower than you are. 
Take advantage of your speed and agility and just concentrate on
surviving the 20 centons."  She touched Sheba's arm affectionately
and then added, "I will toast you at the feast."  She paused a
micron and then added matter-of-factly, "either way."
     Finally, the two of them stood before the Ancient and Alara. 
Rega spoke in a loud confident voice to the assembly.  "Ancient and
honored warriors of Amazonia, today we have come together for the
ancient rite of Adjudication."  She then turned to face Sheba and
said, "Sheba, a warrior from a distant world, has been brought to
us.  Let it be decided whether it was the Gods who have brought
this woman to our gates or Morgane."  
     She intoned the last name with such force that Sheba was sure
that Morgane was Iblis or someone like him.  The thought of that
sent a quick shiver down Sheba's spine before she repeated as she
had been taught by Rega, "I accept the Adjudication of this
Assembly and wish to prove my worth to you and yours."
     The Ancient nodded in Sheba's direction, "So shall it be." 
With the slightest of hand motions, Alara stepped down from the
platform and bowed slightly to Sheba, who returned the bow.  Rega
took Alara's place at the Ancient's side as the old woman clapped
her hands once, giving the signal for the fight to begin.

     As Starbuck came shooting out of the launch tubes he noticed
that there weren't that many raiders left.  He smiled as he said to
Apollo via the comm system, "Looks like Jolly didn't leave us many
scraps."
     Apollo laughed as the two of them headed off for two nearby
raiders, "Guess that means no decorations for us this time."
     Starbuck quickly shot one of the two raiders and turned it
into debris.  He saw the flash from Apollo's handiwork out of the
corner of his eye as he started to look around for the next target.
     Before long the last of the raiders were being cleared by the
remnants of the warrior corps.  Starbuck looked around sadly at the
few vipers still flying around and thought, Just when we had a
good size group and not half badly trained at that and then
this.  He added a quiet "Frack!" under his breath.
     "Did you say something Starbuck?"  Bojay asked as he pulled
away from what used to be the last raider.
     "Eh, no Bojay.  Didn't say a thing."
     Apollo radioed back right then that the raiders had been
cleared.  Rigel answered by saying, "All vipers cleared to land. 
The recon party is ordered to the bridge upon landing."
     "Understood," came Apollo's voice in Starbuck's helmet.  He
could tell that his friend was anxious to get back to that planet
and get the missing pilots out of there.

     As Apollo, Bojay and Starbuck came onto the bridge, one panel
on the far side was still smoldering and the smell of burnt wires
filled the air.  Adama stood over by the starmap with Tigh and
nodded to the three as they walked up to him.  "Let's go into the
strategy room."
     After they all came in and found seats around the table, Adama
said, "I know you want to go back down to that planet and find our
missing warriors, but you've been awake for at least 40 centars." 
The three pilots all looked as if they were struggling internally
not to protest.  "I want you to get some sleep and some food before
going back out.  You are hearby ordered to stand down for 10
centars."  He added quickly to head off the protests, "If I had
anyone that I could send down right now I would but all of
the warriors are exhausted and even so half of them are still on
duty.  I don't want to endanger the rescue mission because you are
too tired to think properly."
     Adama looked at his son and knew that what he had just said
was tearing him up.  "Apollo, I know that Sheba is still down
there, not to mention two of your best friends, but you won't do
them any good in this state.  You need some rest."
     Apollo looked at his father almost helplessly for a micron
before saying, "But do you really think I can sleep father?"  That
was all the protest that he allowed himself and Adama simply nodded
at that.
     "Just try but regardless, you are not to launch for another 10
centars."  The commander noticed that the three warriors looked at
one another quickly and then all nodded in almost unison.  They
quickly stood and took their leave of the two fleet leaders.
     Tigh then asked the question that Adama knew he would, "Do you
think they will listen?"
     Adama looked over at his friend and said, "Part of me hopes
they won't."

V.

     As soon as they were out in the hall, Apollo slammed his hand
against the bulkhead and said loudly, "Frack!"  He let his forehead
fall against the wall and just stay there, the cool metal keeping
his temperature below the boiling point.
     Starbuck was the one to say what he was thinking, "I say we do
what we said we'd do on the planet.  Let's just go back."  He
looked quickly at Bojay who nodded his approval and then looked
back at his best friend.  "Apollo?"
     Apollo rolled over and stayed leaning against the wall as he
looked around to see that they were alone.  He took a deep breath
and nodded.  "Let's go quickly get some food and get our supplies
together.  But before we do that, I hope I don't have to warn the
two of you of what will happen when we get back."
     Bojay said quickly, "Apollo, they are our friends.  We can't
leave the three of them on that planet while we sleep.  I'd rather
spend some time in the brig than have that . . . " He trailed off
as he caught sight of Cassiopeia standing at the nearby corridor
intersection.  
     Cassie stood there with her hands on her hips and looked the
group of viper pilots over.  She raised an eyebrow and said, "Well,
if you are planning what I think you are, count me in."
     Starbuck quickly protested, "Cass, we can't . . . "
     Cassie cut him off quickly with a movement of her hand as she
moved over to be closer to the group.  "You don't know what has
happened to them and last time I checked the three of you couldn't
patch up a cut even if the three of you put all your medical skills
together."  She looked at Apollo and said, "I can fly in Starbuck's
jump seat."
     Apollo looked over at Starbuck who started to protest again
and then back at Cassiopeia and nodded, "You're right, we might
need you."  He then looked over at Starbuck to stop yet another
attempt at a protest, "Starbuck, we need her."  His attention was
then turned back to Cassie and said, "I'm assuming you heard that
part about the warning?  You won't exactly get off scott free."
     Cassie nodded and said, "Don't worry about me Apollo, I know
the regulations."  She took a steadying breath and then said, "I
just need about 15 centons to get my supplies and to change."  She
pointed down to the medtech uniform that she was wearing with its
impractical skirt.
     Apollo nodded and said, "Okay, let's take a few centons to get
some food and get our stuff together.  We'll meet down on the
launch deck in 30 centons."
     They all nodded and the four of them quickly departed down the
hallway.

     As Sheba circled around the room, the sword out before her,
she realized how strange this all was.  Here she was, a colonial
warrior who was trained in fighting with the help of technology and
now her life relied on the piece of metal in her hand.  A very
heavy sword, she thought.
     Just as this thought flashed through her brain, Alara made her
first strike.  She lunged at Sheba with a blow designed to simply
overpower the smaller woman.  Sheba quickly reacted by pulling her
sword up to deflect the blow while rolling away from the blow.  A
small gasp went up from the crowd and out of the corner of her eye,
Sheba could see a small smile on Rega's face.
     Alara quickly regained her balance and swung around to hit
Sheba on the left side.  Sheba wasn't able to pull the sword to the
left side quick enough so she was forced to dodge the blow by
jumping back.  Unfortunately, this quick dodge also put her off
balance and she fell to the ground after tripping on an uneven area
on the floor.
     As Sheba looked up from the floor, she saw Alara raising her
sword for a devastating blow.  Sheba quickly grabbed her sword from
its spot on the floor and pulled it up to block the blow.  Alara's
sword clashed with Sheba's with a loud clang of metal against metal
and suddenly both swords started to move closer and closer to
Sheba, who was pinned underneath.
     Within a micron, Sheba knew that Alara would win this strength
match if it went on for much longer, so she began trying to find
another way out.  Sheba quickly jammed a booted foot into the
larger woman's knee, causing her to fall backwards enough for Sheba
to roll away and get back to her feet.
     Suddenly, Sheba found herself with the upper hand.  She
quickly attacked the downed warrior and managed, with a quick upper
cut of her blade, to send Alara's sword across the room.  Sheba
found herself standing over her now unarmed opponent with her sword
at the ready.  
     As Sheba struggled to steady her breathing and calm her
aggressions, she began to hear the women chant "strike strike
strike".  Sheba looked up at the Ancient and Rega and then back at
Alara, who looked up at Sheba and simply nodded.  
     If I give her a chance to get back in this fight, she
thought as her breathing slowed to almost normal, she might be
luckier with her next blow.  But how can I kill an unarmed
woman?  She looked down at Alara, staring into her dark eyes,
and continued to listen to the chanting going on around her.  Time
seemed to almost stand still as she pondered her situation.

     As the group on the Galactica met up, they all looked slightly
refreshed, having had a chance to eat and change and get their
supplies together.  Starbuck was the last to arrive and noticed his
friends standing off to the side trying to look as nonchalant as
possible, however they weren't doing very well.
     Apollo smiled as he saw his friend get off the lift down to
the launch deck, but it did not go beyond Starbuck's notice that
Apollo's eyes showed the stress he as feeling.  Bojay was surveying
the deck casually and as Starbuck came within close contact the
former Pegasus pilot said, "Coast is clear."
     Without a further word the three pilots and Cassie headed over
to their vipers, Cassie going along with Starbuck and pretending to
just talk to him about daily affairs for the sake of appearances. 
"Of course, we can't let most of the pilots out of lifecenter for
probably a secton or two," she said loudly to Starbuck, so as to
help them avoid suspicion.
     Starbuck nodded absently as if he were listening and then gave
her a quick nod as they drew up next to his viper.  He watched her
jump up onto the wing and then into his jumpseat quickly and with
quite a bit of familiarity, seeing as she had come up there to talk
to him before quite a few "suicidal" missions.  With a smile at
some of those memories and a quick perusal of those looking, he
joined the woman he loved in the small cockpit of his viper.
     As the hatch closed and he pulled his helmet on, he took a
deep breath and quickly flipped on the engines of his viper.  He
knew that they wouldn't be radioing with one another until they
were clear of the fleet to avoid detection for as long as possible,
but he also knew that there was a chance, however slight, that
vipers would be sent to engage them.  He looked over to his right
and say Apollo give him the thumbs up and with that, he hit the
turbo and was off, both passengers being thrown back into their
seats with the simple flick of his thumb.
     Within a centon of their launch Starbuck heard in his
helmetcomm, "Core Command to unauthorized viper launch, you are
ordered to return to the Galactica immediately."  Every muscle in
Starbuck's body tensed as he knew this was the moment of no return
and for them there would be no going back.  
     As he began to wonder if Apollo would answer, his friend's
voice could be heard saying, "Captain Apollo to Core Command. 
Negative on that order."  A loud sighing breath could be heard
coming over the comm and then the deciding sentence, "You will have
to shoot us down to get us to return."  Starbuck gulped, knowing
that Cassie was sitting behind him, but he didn't trust his voice
at that exact micron to say a reassuring word.  Instead he, along
with Bojay and Apollo, simply hit his turbos and began speeding
away from the fleet and toward the planet.

     On the bridge Rigel looked up at the Commander, "Should I
order warriors to pursue sir?"  She looked up at him sadly, her
eyes showing the understanding she held for his current position.
     Adama stood squarely on the bridge, the only tension being
seen in his hands, which gripped the rail tightly.  As he looked
off into space for a micron, Tigh came up behind him and whispered,
"We won't hold it against you if you let them go."  
     Adama nodded at those words and looked down at Rigel.  "Inform
the Captain that his orders have changed, Sergeant.  He and
Lieutenants Bojay and Starbuck are to proceed with the rescue
operation on that planet."
     Rigel relaxed noticeably as she said, "Right away Commander." 
She then turned around and said into her headset, "Core Command to
Probe craft.  You are to proceed with your rescue operation."
     A very relieved Apollo could almost immediately be heard
saying, "We understand Galactica.  Reports will continue as per the
last operation."  
     Adama nodded at that and then looked out the starfield window,
whispering quietly, "Godspeed my son."

     Sheba stood and watched Alara as the word "strike" rang in her
ears for almost a whole centon before she stepped away and lowered
her sword.  She looked at the Ancient and said, "I will not strike
down an unarmed opponent."  The Ancient simply nodded and Sheba's
attention was quickly drawn back to Alara, who had gotten her sword
back and was readying another attack.
     Alara looked at Sheba and said, "You will regret that," as she
began to move forward to attack again.  The strength of the blow on
Sheba's sword almost forced her to her knees.  She instead flew
backward into the group of women standing behind her, who pushed
her back out into the middle before she could truly gain her
balance.  Sheba made a vain attempt at an attack as she found
herself being propelled back at her opponent, but Alara simply spun
out of the way and managed to run her sharp sword against Sheba's
left upper arm, leaving a streak of blood from the cut she caused.
     Sheba winced in pain but was forced to quickly shrug it off as
the parry and attack continued on, and, after a few centons, the
pain in her left arm was forgotten, even though the observers could
see that it was bleeding strongly with every muscle tension and
every movement.     

     Cassie looked out of the cockpit as they were about to land
and saw the lone viper sitting on the grassy plain.  It hadn't hit
her until that micron that Sheba was really out there, somewhere,
alone.  After all the adventures they had all been through, it had
stopped occurring to Cassie that one of them might never come back
from a mission, that their little family might shrink by one or
more.  Now that possibility seemed more real with both Boomer and
Sheba missing on this planet somewhere.
     Finally, the ships were down and they all climbed out of the
vipers, Cassie leaving only after Starbuck had first jumped out and
moved the seat out of the way so she could unfold herself from the
jump seat.  She looked around as she reached the ground and said,
"Lovely place."  She took a deep breath of the fresh air and
remembered quickly how stale the air on the Galactica really was.
     As the four of them regrouped near Sheba's viper, Apollo
quickly opened the hatch on it and powered up long enough to note
that it hadn't been powered up since they left.  He turned around
to his friends and said simply, with an undertone of disappointment
in his voice, "Well, she hasn't been back here that's for sure." 
He then jumped down and picked up the two bags he had brought
along.
     As they all got their gear set, Starbuck motioned toward the
hills to the south of their location and said, "Well, lets get
moving.  We don't have that much time before the Galactica needs to
move out of the area."  
     Cassie watched Starbuck pat Apollo's arm reassuringly as they
began to walk.  She knew that, although Starbuck occasionally had
a problem showing some feelings, he was sympathizing with his best
friend, understanding the pain and uncertainty and helplessness
Apollo had to be feeling.  Cassie knew that feeling all too well as
she watched Starbuck leave on mission after mission, never knowing
what his fate would be.
     Well, at least now they've let me come along.  It's been a
while that is for sure.  She smiled, remembering the few times
she was able to swindle her way into going on a landing party, but
then she caught herself and remembered this wasn't some attempt at
blowing up a base or some strange civilization that had a medical
need.  Sheba and Boomer and Greenbean are out there
somewhere and who knows if we'll even find them.  

VI.

     Sheba realized for the first time in her life how truly tired
she could become.  It seemed like every cell in her body was crying
out in pain and sluggishness, asking for her to simply stop and
give them a rest.  I can't.  I have to keep going.  Only
a little longer.  Her whole body shook as another blow from
Alara's sword slammed into the one Sheba held in her painful
fingers.
     Sheba shot a quick look up to the podium, hoping to get some
indication of how long this torment would continue, but she
received only blank expressions in return.  I better try to
avoid too many more of those blows or I won't be able to parry them
for long.  Just as she finished the thought, Alara's sword came
down toward Sheba's head and missed by only a hair as Sheba quickly
moved out of the way, not even attempting to bring her sword up to
fend off the attack.
     The blood streaming out of her left arm had now soaked her
entire arm and hand, making a solid grip on the hilt of the sword
almost impossible.  The possibility that she may have lost more
blood than she had originally thought quickly passed through
Sheba's weary mind, but the thought quickly disappeared as she saw
Alara preparing for what could be the final attack.
     Alara had backed away to the far side of the room and held her
sword straight out in front of her, the point acting as a sort of
spear.  She waited for a micron and looked at Sheba, obviously
seeing the chance to do in the smaller woman once and for all. 
Finally, with a blood-curdling battle cry, Alara launched herself
at a pace which Sheba thought was all but impossible at this late
stage of the fight.  The point of the sword became larger and
larger as it neared Sheba, who waited like a daggit caught in the
lights of a landram, or at least seemingly so.
     Just wait another micron....just another...and then
BREAK!  Just as the tip of the sword would have created a hole
the size of a fist in Sheba's stomach, the lithe woman rolled
quickly out of the way, sending an upper cut with her sword as she
did.  As Sheba's sword hit home, she knew that she had injured the
other woman terribly, perhaps fatally, but this was life or death
and her opponent was armed this time.  As she turned to look at
Alara and see how badly the other woman was hurt, the Ancient
finally called out, "The Adjudication is complete.  Time has
expired."
     Sheba saw Alara clutch her stomach, her hand quickly becoming
red from the blood spurting out of the new wound.  The Ancient
quickly added, "Take Alara to the medicine woman."  Alara was
quickly hurried away by a group of women, some of whom were
muttering about Alara being beaten.
     Sheba turned to the Ancient, her breathing beginning to return
to normal as she realized that she had survived the fight.  The
pain from her arm also returned with this realization and she
quickly looked at the gash in her arm with a wince.  Her arm was
covered in blood and the wound was still bleeding.  She was about
to say something about joining Alara at the medicine woman's hut
when the Ancient began to speak.
     "Sheba, you have proven yourself worthy of a place among us. 
We welcome a warrior such as yourself into our ranks with pride. 
Tonight we will feast in your honor.  After the feast you will be
brought into our tribe."  The older woman looked at Sheba's arm and
then said, "Until then, you will need to get your wound treated." 
She turned to Rega and said, "Rega, please take our fellow warrior
to get her battle wound tended to and then prepare her for this
evening's ceremonies."
     Rega nodded to the Ancient and quickly left the podium.  As
she came up to where Sheba was standing, she motioned to the door,
saying quietly, "Let's get that taken care of before you lose any
more blood."
     Sheba could only nod as she was led out of the hut, still
holding the sword she had fought with in an almost death grip.

     Apollo dropped his bags at the old campsite on the hill above
the village.  He quickly fished out his binoculars and crept up to
the edge of the hill, hiding partially behind a tree.  He scanned
the village but was unable to see any sign of his missing warriors.
     Starbuck quickly joined him, "No sign buddy?"
     Apollo shook his head as he put the binocular down, "No, it
looks the same as when we left.  Who knows what has happened in the
meantime."  He shrugged and turned around to face his team.  "Okay,
let's set up constant surveillance of the village.  If there are
any signs of Boomer, Greenbean or Sheba, I want to know about it." 
He took a deep breath before saying, "Regardless of whether its a
good sign or not."
     Bojay nodded and said, "I'll take the first shift."  He
quickly grabbed his pack and went up to the spot where Apollo was
standing, pushing the dark-haired man out of the way almost
playfully.  As Bojay knelt down to get comfortable, he smiled up at
Apollo, "Sorry, Captain, you were in the best spot for this sort of
thing."
     Apollo rolled his eyes slightly and just smiled at Bojay
before going back to the clearing.  He began to get some of his
supplies together, all the while shooting looks at Bojay, almost
willing him to report something.
     Only a mere five centons after arriving, Apollo heard a
rustling in the trees coming from the opposite direction as the
village.  He whipped out his pistol and saw from the corner of his
eyes that both Bojay and Starbuck had done the same.  Suddenly a
tall man in animal skin clothing walked out into the clearing with
his hands held up to show he meant no harm.  "Please, do not
shoot," the man said quietly, "I mean you no harm."
     Apollo relaxed only slightly, still keeping his pistol aimed
on the strange man.  "Who are you?"
     The man cleared his throat before saying, "My name is Garon. 
I am the leader of the Outsiders.  I have come to offer my help in
finding your comrades."
     Apollo did a quick double take before asking, "How did you
know about that?"  He gripped his pistol more tightly while
focusing all of his attention on Garon.
     Suddenly a familiar voice said from behind Garon, "Because I
told him."  Boomer came out from the covering of the trees with a
broad mischievous smile on his face.    
     The warriors immediately lowered their weapons and Apollo went
up to his friend and embraced him.  "Boomer!  How?  What?"  He had
so many questions that he wanted to ask.
     Boomer held up his hand after embracing all of his friends. 
"Greenbean had engine trouble and crash-landed and I followed him
down.  Garon found us and has been taking care of us ever since. 
I'm glad you came to find us."  He chuckled slightly as he said, "I
thought you were going to leave us behind."
     Apollo smiled slightly and then caught himself, "Is Greenbean
okay?"
     Garon nodded and answered for Boomer, "He is injured and back
at our camp.  He will live.  I would suggest that you take him back
to your fleet soon though."
     Starbuck looked over at Apollo, knowing that he was now in a
predicament and waited for what his friend had to say.  Apollo
sighed quietly before saying, "We can't go back right now.  One of
our warriors is in that village over there."  He pointed over his
shoulder as he looked at Boomer and said quietly, "Sheba."
     Boomer's expression darkened, as did Garon's.  Garon said
simply, "That is unfortunate.  Amazonia is no place for outsiders."
     Apollo gulped as he heard that and said to him, "We have to
try to get her out.  I won't leave until we at least find out what
happened to her."
     Garon nodded simply and said, "Let's go back to our camp and
we can talk about it there."  He looked up at the already darkening
sky.  "It is almost night.  We will know if your comrade is alive
soon by the activity within the village.  We'll be able to see that
from our cavern."
     Cassie piped up questioningly, "Activity?"
     Garon nodded gravely, "We will be able to see if she survived
the Adjudication by the type of fire they light."
     Apollo gulped at that and nodded simply.  He turned to his
team and said after taking a deep breath, "Okay, let's pack up then
and get out of here."

     As Sheba sat in the Medicine Woman's hut, she watched the
activity around Alara.  From the looks of things Sheba thought
there wouldn't be much to celebrate.  A small group of women were
hustling around applying herbs to the gash in Alara's stomach and
trying to bandage it up with simple cotton-like clothes, which were
quickly soaking through.  If only I hadn't left the medkit
behind, I would have been able to help, she thought as she
looked on helplessly.
     The Medicine Woman finally went over to a nearby fire and took
out a long metal rod that was flat on one head and red hot.  She
came back over to Alara and quickly put it against the wound,
hoping to cauterize it to stop the bleeding.  A scream escaped
Alara's lips before she could stop it, but it quickly died down to
a quiet whimper as the rod was removed and the bleeding appeared to
have been stemmed, although Alara still appeared very ill.
     Sheba gulped as the Medicine Woman finally came over to her
and silently took a look at the wound on her arm.  She didn't want
to have to go through the same handling and could only hope that
her gash was not severe enough to warrant it.  With a quiet 'hmpf'
the Medicine Woman quickly gathered some herbs and bandages and
quickly salved and bandaged Sheba's wounds quickly.
     Rega touched Sheba's shoulder and motioned to the door. 
Without a word the two quickly left and Sheba noticed that her arm
was feeling better already.  As they left the hut, Rega said
quietly, "Alara will survive and your arm should heal quickly. 
Now, we must go prepare for the feast tonight.  I will take you to
my home to prepare."  Without further discussion, the two women
headed toward the back of the village.
     As she walked down the street, Sheba tried to look around to
see if she could see any sign of Boomer or Greenbean.  She saw a
few men carrying food and other heavy packages here and there, but
none of them even remotely looked like the two she was seeking. 
Not wanting to give her mission away, Sheba decided not to ask any
questions about the men in the village so soon, instead she hoped
to find a few centons to go exploring.
     Finally, Sheba saw the agriculture fields ahead of her on the
right.  She tried to nonchalantly look out over the men toiling in
the soil.  On the far side of the field, too far away to really get
a good look, she saw a tall blonde man that could have been
Greenbean.  It took every bit of control for her not to race over
and investigate further, but her indecision quickly disappeared as
Rega pointed to a hut nearby.  "That is my home.  Please, let us
get ready.  The feast begins in only a centar and you must change
first."  The two of them quickly disappeared inside.

     Bojay looked at the cavern entrance that they were approaching
and quickly understood why this outcropping of "Outsiders" hadn't
shown up on their scans of the planet.  The rock seemed to be some
sort of granite and could easily have reflected any attempt to scan
it with the weak scanners on board the vipers.  He caught up to
Boomer and asked, "Is that where we are headed?"
     Boomer nodded to his friend, "Yes.  They've got quite a
complex of caverns for their group.  They can look down on the
village and track the movements there quite easily."
     The small group quickly entered the cavern and Bojay was
pleasantly surprised to see quite a few men and two women waiting
for them.  Garon nodded to the group and said, "We found the others
from the Galactica.  They've come for their comrades, but one of
them has entered Amazonia and we must help to get her out."
     The group seemed to understand some unsaid order and dispersed
without being told to.  Garon quickly turned to Bojay and the
others and said, "They will make ready for a raiding attempt.  We
go into the village occasionally to free the men from their grips
occasionally and know the village well.  We will depart from here
in about two centars.  Until then, let us eat and plan our course
of action."  He motioned the group into a side cavern that was well
lit.
     Bojay noticed that this smaller cavern was warmed by a fire on
the far side.  As his eyes adjusted to the light difference, he saw
Greenbean lying off on the side of the room, being watched by a
young boy.  The rest of the group also saw their comrade at about
the same time and Cassie quickly went over to check on his
condition.
     Apollo kneeled down next to the medtech and his injured
warrior.  Greenbean opened his eyes as Cassie began to rustle in
one of her backpacks.  He smiled at Apollo and said, "Nice to see
you Captain."  His breathing seemed labored and his face was paler
than normal, but his voice was strong and his eyes blazed clearly.
     Cassie started her examination as Apollo turned back to Bojay,
Starbuck, Boomer and Garon.  As he stood up he said to Garon, "What
can you tell us about this Amazonia."  He went over to where the
rest of the men were beginning to sit down and joined them.
     Garon took a breath and started his story.  "Our people have
been here for only about 200 yahren.  We were a long-distance
expedition from Caprica."  
     Starbuck started to say something at that but Apollo quickly
waved him off with a hand.  He nodded to Garon and said simply, "We
are also from the Colonies."
     Garon nodded and said, "Yes, I know.  Boomer told us of the
cylon destruction.  But I digress.  We were sent on a secret
expedition by the Council of Twelve.  Our forefathers left on a
secret mission to find Earth and noone knew of our existence except
the President of the Council and only two or three of the other
Councilors.  They chose the members of that original flight from
the members of the military who had no family or ties and feigned
their deaths so they would not be missed.
     "As the ship they were on approached this planet, the
hyperdrive began to malfunction and they had to abandon the ship
and land here.  All seemed to go well at first and they built a
society and all seemed well for the first eight sectars until the
one day a hunting party did not return to the village.  We soon
learned what had happened.  Every yahren when the season turns to
its hottest time, creatures, which we call Arutra, come out of
hibernation for three sectons.  They destroy anything they come
across and nothing can stop them.  Unfortunately, the first
settlers did not realize that until it was too late."
     Cassie now joined the group and whispered to Apollo, "He'll be
fine as long as we get him back to the Galactica soon, but it can
wait a few centars."  Apollo nodded and turned back to Garon for
the continuation of his story.
     Garon nodded as he continued, "The majority of the men went
out to fight the Arutra.  All were killed or severely mangled.  All
hope was lost and the suddenly, the Arutra disappeared and it
became apparent that they had gone back into hibernation. 
Unfortunately, there were now only a handful of men, all of whom
were either very old, severely injured or still children.  The
women stepped up into control of the village.  They renamed it
Amazonia, built the wall and moat to protect against the Arutra,
and quickly forced the men into servitude."
     Starbuck interrupted quickly, "But why did the other women
allow this to happen?  Weren't there some that resisted this?  I
mean, they couldn't all have been so power hungry."
     Garon nodded and continued, "We have been told through our
oral history that some women fought against this trend, but the
first Ancient of the village, Hesta, quickly crushed the unease by
banning the women from the village with no tools or weapons.  Those
women were assumed to have died.  She quickly had the rest so
brainwashed that they didn't complain and with the new children,
she had them taught from early on that that was the way the Gods
wanted it."
     Bojay questioned, "Children?  They obviously had to ..."  He
trailed off as he realized what the answer would be.
     A man said from the doorway, "Yes, they use the men to
procreate."  He walked in and joined the group.  "My name is
Lakonus and I was once the Procreator before I escaped.  The
Ancient chooses one man every yahren to act as the procreator of
all the children that yahren.  After that yahren the man is
returned to the work pool and never allowed to see the children he
has helped to produce."
     Garon nodded before picking up the story.  "And so the village
lived for many yahren.  The men were always kept separate and
therefore they were able to pass on the true history of the village
to the male children that were brought into their care at their
fourth yahren.  We are the only ones who know the truth.  The women
in Amazonia now have never heard the truth."
     Apollo nodded as he asked, "And so you have all managed to
escape?"
     Lakonus nodded before saying, "Yes, about twenty yahrens ago,
the men revolted and a handful were able to escape.  They were the
first Outsiders.  Since then we have attempted to free as many men
as possible through periodic raids.  We've developed a rather
complex defense system here in the cavern and as such, the women do
not bother us.  They instead prefer to wait for our raids and try
to hold us off.  We are not always successful, and we have lost
quite a few men in the raids, but we manage to get more out than we
lose and have even talked a few of the women guards into leaving
with the men in some raids.  We have built another society that
will eventually be strong enough to defeat the Ancient and her
minions and return some form of equal order."
     Bojay shook his head sadly before asking, "So you think we can
get into the village tonight?  I mean, if we are caught, we'll
never be able to get Sheba out."
     Garon nodded, "The majority of the women will be at the
festival and their guards will be at a minimum.  We have a secret
tunnel into the village that they have yet to find and we will go
in using it."
     Apollo slapped his knees as he stood up, "So, what are we
waiting for?  Let's get down to planning the specifics.  The sooner
we can get Sheba out, the better off we will all be."
     Lakonus smiled up at Apollo, "We must first wait until we see
the fires.  We still have a centar or two until that happens.  Then
we will see whether we need to go into the village at all."  His
matter-of-fact tone made Apollo cringe slightly.
     Apollo finally nodded and said, "Well, in the meantime, I
should alert the fleet that we have found Boomer and Greenbean." 
He looked up at the rock around him before saying, "It looks like 
I will need to go outside to do that though, so if you will excuse
me?"
     Garon nodded to Apollo, "Of course."
     With a smile to his team Apollo left the cavern.

     After Apollo had radioed in to the Galactica and gotten
permission for the rescue attempt, he sat at the edge of the cavern
and watched the sun go down over the village.  Please let her be
alright.  What am I going to do if she isn't?  He shook his
head to himself to dispel the thoughts.  Of course she's okay
Apollo.  Sheba can take care of herself.  She doesn't need you to
protect her.  You'll get into that village and get her out and then
we'll get back to the Galactica and finally be sealed.  The
images of how he imaged the sealing started to float through his
head and a smile graced his lips as the last hint of the sun sunk
below the distant hills.
     Garon came over quietly and sat beside Apollo.  "This woman
that we are to rescue.  She means something to you doesn't she?"
     Apollo nodded simply before saying, "We plan on being sealed
soon.  She means a lot to me."  He sighed as he continued to watch
the village, never taking his eyes off of it to look at Garon.
     Garon smiled supportively, "Sealings are something which we do
not have the luxury of.  We have too few women to have them be
bequeathed to one man.  I hope," his eyes too now looked at the
village intently, "that one day we too will be able to have such
connections."
     Apollo finally turned his head to the man that would be the
key to getting Sheba back.  "You will.  From what I have seen you
have come far in the last 20 yahren and eventually, not too far in
the future, you will achieve your goals."  
     He then turned back to the village and noticed a small red
light in the central square.  Another quickly followed next to it. 
Soon both lights began to blaze brightly, one being slightly larger
than the other.  Apollo turned to Garon and saw that he too had
noticed the fires and his face showed concern.  "What?" was all he
could manage to choke out as his fear began to grow inside of him.
     Garon shook his head.  "The fires.  There would only be two if
one of the opponents in the Adjudication has gone onto the
Afterlife."  He sighed and said, "It is impossible to tell. 
Normally if the woman being adjudicated dies, they only light one
fire, so perhaps that is a good sign, unless . . . " He trailed off
not wanting to give possible bad news.
     Apollo closed his eyes to wish it away as he asked, "Unless
what?"
     Garon shook his head, "Unless they are celebrating the defeat
of an enemy.  Sheba may have been considered an enemy since she was
not born in the village.  I don't know."  He sounded slightly
defeated but quickly added more hopefully, "But there is only one
way to find out.  We must prepare to leave for the village.  Come
on."
     Apollo nodded helplessly as he stood up.  With one final
thoughtful look at the village he turned and headed back into the
cavern with Garon.  The last microns of twilight quickly faded to
dark in the silence left by the departure.

VII.

     Sheba sat in Rega's hut dressed in the unfamiliar sleeveless
woven shirt and matching pants.  The leather boots came up to her
knees and replace her rather clunky warrior's boots.  All in all,
she had to admit, the clothes were more comfortable than her normal
uniform, although she missed the protection afforded by her now
destroyed jacket.  
     Rega smiled from her position behind Sheba as she put the
finishing touches on Sheba's hair.  She had woven it into an
intricate braid, which hung down to just touch Sheba's back between
her shoulder blades.  Rega came around to the front and smiled at
her handy work, "There.  You will make quite an impression at the
feast."  Her smile became slightly mischievous as she added, "And
afterward."
     Sheba looked up at that and asked, "Afterward?"
     Rega nodded, "Afterward you will be taken to the House of
Maidens to perform your first task for the village."
     "And that is?"
     Rega chuckled before saying, "Why, having a daughter for the
continuation of the village."
     Sheba's expression quickly turned to one of shock, "What?"
     Rega nodded, "All warriors must continue to visit the House of
Maidens until they bear a daughter.  Until then, they are not
permitted to vote in Council affairs.  I presented my daughter to
the Ancient two seasons ago."  Her proud smile beamed at Sheba, who
still seemed very uneasy.
     Sheba's eyes darted around as she tried to think of how to get
out of it. "I, I ... " She couldn't think of anything to say.
     Rega laughed a hearty belly laugh as she said, "Do not worry
Sheba.  You are fortunate.  The current Procreator is very
experienced and," her smile became conspiratorial, "quite
attractive.  He will be gentle with you."
     Sheba gulped quickly and nodded before Rega nodded to the
door, "We must go or we will be late."  Before Sheba could protest
further, Rega hustled her out of the door and toward the center of
the village.

     In his office, Adama sat deep in thought when the door chime
went off.  "Enter," he said in his deep grave voice.
     Rigel entered the room quickly, a broad smile on her face. 
"Commander, Captain Apollo just radioed in.  They've found Boomer
and Greenbean.  Corporal Greenbean is injured but in stable
condition.  Lieutenant Boomer is fine."
     Adama looked up at the woman and sighed in relief, "That is
good news."  He paused for a micron in realization, "And what about
Lieutenant Sheba?"
     Rigel's expression became one of hopelessness as she shook her
head, "No sir.  She is still in the village.  Boomer and Greenbean
are with some group of people outside of the village."  She paused
before adding, "They are planning on going into the village to
rescue the lieutenant sir.  Colonel Tigh okayed the order."
     Adama nodded to himself before saying, "Yes, that seems to be
the only answer.  If they radio back after the rescue attempt and
they haven't gotten her out, I want them all to come back to the
ship immediately."
     Rigel's expression turned to one of questioning but she forced
herself to nod, "Yes sir."
     Adama smiled understandingly to Rigel, "Thank you for bringing
me the news.  You are free to go back to your station."
     Rigel nodded and quickly left the room, her expression now one
of distinct worry.
     Adama leaned back in his chair and rubbed his head, "May the
Lords of Kobol," he said quietly to himself, "help you Apollo."

     Sheba sat to the right of the Ancient at the long table.  They
were set up under a tent near the burning fires in the central
square.  The festive occasion seemed a bit out of place after she
had learned that Alara had in fact not survived her wounds.  She
glanced over at the pyre burning nearby and knew that the warriors
had already said their goodbyes to the former Champion.
     Rega stood from her seat across the table and spoke to the
women gathered at the table.  "Today, fellow warriors, we welcome
into our fold another.  One who came to us from a distant world. 
One who was, as is proven by the Adjudication, sent to us by the
Gods.  She proved to us today that she will be a worthy addition to
our village and therefore, it is with great honor and pride that I
toast you," she turned to look directly at Sheba, "Sheba."  With a
quick look down the table she raised her mug, as did all the other
women at the table.  Sheba quickly raised hers in response and they
all drank from the sweet liquid.
     Rega nodded to Sheba as she sat down, and Sheba took her cue
to stand and make her own short speech.  She looked at the Ancient
first and then let her head turn to address the women at the long
table.  With a quick clearing of her throat, she said loudly, in
the sort of stilted style used for such occasions, "I thank you for
such a heart-felt welcome.  I come from a society where women are
not quite as valued as here.  Today, I left that society and have
found a new one that has already grown to replace the old in my
heart.  I feel that I have been fortunate that," she paused for a
micron before finishing the thought, "the Gods have brought me to
Amazonia.  I look forward to working and living with you all from
this day onward."  She gulped at the possibility of the reality of
those words as she sat down.  Apollo, you won't leave me here
will you?  It's been so many centars already and time is getting
short. I have to find a way to let you know that I am alright, but
how?  It will certainly be morning, she gulped again at the
thought of how she was to spend the night, before I can even
think about leaving the village.
     The Ancient nodded to Sheba and motioned to the food at the
table, "Tonight we shall feast.  We have lost one brave warrior
today but have won a new one to replace her.  May the Gods forever
bless Amazonia."  With this simple blessing the women began to take
the different meats and vegetables on the table to eat their fill. 
The animated conversations betweens friends soon began and the
party truly began.

     Apollo and his team stood in the forest grove with Garon and
Lakonus and a few other men from the Outsiders.  Garon pointed to
a bush and said, "The tunnel into the village begins there.  We
will send Starbuck, Bojay and Boomer off with Arkonin," he nodded
to a man standing nearby, "to cause a disturbance while the rest of
us go into the village."  He turned to Apollo, "Apollo, you will
come with myself and," he turned to Cassiopeia, "Cassiopeia, you
will go with Lakonus and his team.  I'm sure I do not have to tell
the two of you the importance of silence and stealth.  Please
follow our directions and do not attempt anything on your own.  We
know what we are doing."
     Apollo nodded and said, "Of course Garon.  Anything else we
should know before we leave?"
     Garon nodded, "Lakonus' team will go to the far side of the
square and first check the Medicine Woman's hut.  If Sheba was
injured badly during the Adjudication she will be there."  He
watched the worry in Apollo's eyes before continuing to explain the
mission, "My group will go to the near side of the square and
attempt to find her among the celebrants.  If she is in the hut,
then she will be easier to get out quietly, if not," he paused,
shaking his head slightly, "we may have more difficulty."
     Starbuck piped up not only to ask a question but to draw
everyone's attention away from that fact, "How will we know whether
we need to start the distraction?"
     Lakonus answered quickly, "Arkonin will know.  Please follow
his directions and all will hopefully go well."  He looked back at
Apollo and said rather sourly, "We cannot afford to lose anyone for
the sake of your friend.  If things do not run smoothly we will
have to pull out and leave her behind, which," his tone became
quite steely, "will undoubtedly be bad for Sheba as they will know
that she has not been abandoned here."
     Apollo looked at his friends for a full centon while trying to
calm his nerves before answering, "Of course, but you do understand
that I, for one, will not return with you without doing everything
I can to get her out.  But if you feel you need to pull out, I will
understand."  Lakonus nodded simply.
     The groups quickly formed and Boomer walked over to Apollo for
a quick goodbye.  "Apollo, good luck in there. You'll get her out,
I know you will."  He put his hand out to grasp fingers with Apollo
and suddenly Starbuck was there to join in the ritual handshake
that the three friends had formed.
     Starbuck added, "If you need us, give a holler over the comm
unit and we will be crashing the gates with all that we have."
     Apollo smiled at his friend and patted him on the back,
"Thanks, Starbuck.  Let's hope it isn't necessary."
     Cassie, who had been watching the discussion with Bojay, came
over and tugged at Starbuck's arm, quickly dragging him away from
his two friends.  When the two of them were alone she said to him
quietly, "You be careful, okay?"  She smiled bravely, but a hint of
a tear could be seen in her eye.
     Starbuck shot her one of his patented grins as he said, "Who
me?  Of course.  I should be the one saying that to
you.  You better take it easy in there or I won't ever
forget you."  His jesting tone made it easier for him to cover up
the worry he was feeling for Cassie.
     She, on the other hand, let her emotions break through as she
said, "I will."  She got choked up and could not continue, instead
she hugged him tightly, whispering quietly in his ear, "I love
you."
     Starbuck released her and nodded, "Me too."  Without being
able to continue he quickly turned and patted Boomer on the arm,
"Come on Boomer, let's get moving."  He, Boomer and Bojay quickly
joined Arkonin and the handful of men he had gathered around him. 
Without a final look to Apollo or Cassie, Starbuck quickly trudged
off through the trees with his team.
     Apollo walked over to give a reassuring arm squeeze to
Cassiopeia, "He'll be fine, he always is."  
     She smiled back and said, "And don't you worry, Apollo, we'll
get Sheba out and get off this planet and back to the fleet before
you know it."  She took a deep breath and put her tough exterior on
as she looked over at Garon, "Okay, let's do this."
     Garon smiled at the two and walked over the bush, pushing part
of it aside to reveal a whole.  The two teams quickly went down the
hole single final, until only Apollo and Garon remained.  With a
pat on Apollo's back, Garon motioned to the hole, "May the Gods be
with you Apollo."
     As Apollo lowered himself into the hole, he said back to
Garon, "May they be with all of us."  The final two men quickly
disappeared leaving the grove in silence.

     Adama entered the bridge and quickly walked up to where Omega
sat, "Any further word from Captain Apollo?"
     Omega shook his head, "Sorry, Commander, but we haven't heard
anything.  They still have fifteen centars until they need to
launch and another four until the next scheduled communication. 
The Captain requested radio silence until then except in extreme
emergencies because of the delicate nature of their rescue
attempt."
     Adama nodded, his brow furrowing in worry, "Of course.  What
is the status of our squadrons after that last attack?"
     Omega looked back down at his computer console and said, "We
hate a total of seventy-nine available pilots.  We have forty-two
pilots in medcenter and lost a total of thirty-nine pilots.  We are
down to eighty-four operational vipers."
     Adama's worry only increased at the report, "So many?" he said
quietly to himself before speaking to Omega again, "I want patrols
increased.  We are stuck in space while repairs are done to the
Galactica and the other damaged ships and until the recon party
comes back.  I want as much warning as possible if things are going
to turn sour.  That baseship is still out there and who knows how
close reinforcements are."
     Omega nodded and input the orders into his computer as Apollo
started to leave the bridge, "I'll be down in the medcenter if I am
needed."

     The feast broke up suddenly and all the women started to move
toward the smaller fire.  As Rega walked over with the other
warriors, she went up to Sheba to guide her to her spot in the
upcoming ceremony.  She whispered in Sheba's ear just as they
reached the fire, "I'll help you through this part since you are
the first warrior to be inducted who has not grown up seeing such
ceremonies."
     Sheba nodded simply as the two of them went to stand next to
where the Ancient was standing.  As the women finally settled into
their positions and a few of the older female children gathered
quietly off to the side, the Ancient nodded to the crowd and then
looked over to where Rega and Sheba were standing.  Rega prodded
Sheba gently to go forward to stand before the Ancient, with Rega
taking up a position slightly behind her.
     The Ancient smiled for the first time and said in a loud,
booming voice, "Fellow warriors, we have gathered for the Rite of
Induction.  As is tradition, I now ask if there are any gathered
here who wish to put this rite in question."  She paused and looked
around the area for the appropriate amount of time before again
fixing her gaze on Sheba.  "Sheba, please come forward."
     As Sheba approached the Ancient, she realized that the smoke
coming from the fire had a certain sweet smell to it and that it
was very thick.  Her head quickly began to swim from the smell and
things began to seem distant, as if she were watching the scene
from the outside.  She looked at the Ancient, who seemed to shimmer
before her eyes and stood her ground at an arm's length.
     The Ancient nodded to a young woman nearby who brought a shiny
new sword over to the Ancient.  The hilt was wrapped with a cloth
like material and had a gem of some sort at the point where the
hilt made a cross.  The Ancient held it in front of her with the
point to the ground, resting both hands on the hilt as she spoke,
"Sheba, for us, the sword is a sign of honor and acceptance.  Our
children are trained to use one early on, but they do not receive
on until they too go through the Rite which you today passed.  This
sword will become your most important possession and can mean the
difference between life and death."  She picked it up quickly and
pointed the point at Sheba's upper right arm.

     Garon finally pulled himself out of the tunnel.  Lakonus,
Cassie and the others in his team had already left for their
destination.  As Garon joined Apollo and the other two men in their
group he pointed to a side alley between two huts.  The group left
without a word and after a few turns down small gaps between huts,
they found themselves near the edge of the square.  
     Apollo saw the group of women standing around but the smoke
was too thick to pick Sheba out of the group.  He looked over at
Garon to get his take on it and the Outsider nodded with a slight
smile.  He pointed over to where a small group of three women stood
separated from the others and Apollo noticed the familiar form of
Sheba, with her left arm bandaged and her hair in an odd braid. 
With an immense sigh of relief and a nod he looked at Garon with a
questioning glance.
     Garon whispered, "We must wait until after the ceremony."  He
then turned to one of their compatriots and nodded.  That man
quickly turned and left without a word.  "He will tell Lakonus so
all is prepared."
     Apollo nodded as he turned his attention back to the scene in
the square, his worry again starting to rise as the sword being
held by the old woman suddenly was turned on Sheba.  Garon put a
hand on Apollo's arm to calm him and smiled, "She will be safe." 
Apollo nodded, never taking his eyes off of Sheba.

     As Sheba's head continued to swim a faint buzzing started to
annoy her hearing and she felt very light headed.  Her last
coherent thought was that there was definitely some sort of drug in
the smoke but before she could react to that thought it was gone
from her memory and she was overcome by the ceremony around her, as
if only she and the Ancient were standing there.  She nodded slowly
to the Ancient and swayed slightly on her feet.  She didn't even
feel Rega put out a supporting hand to her back.
     The Ancient quickly nicked Sheba's arm and then pressed the
cool metal against the few droplets of blood that appeared.  Sheba
again looked down at her arm and thought to herself how odd it was
that she didn't even feel the pain from the cut.  The Ancients
voice then started echoing in her ears, "May this be the last blood
you lose while wielding this sword."  Suddenly the sword's hilt was
being offered to Sheba and she looked at it, not understanding what
was to be done.
     Rega leaned forward and whispered, "Take it."  There was a
hint of amusement in her voice that was lost on Sheba.  Sheba
responded by mechanically reaching up and taking the hilt of the
sword.  As the Ancient released her end, Sheba's arm feel down
under the sudden weight of the sword.  She stood there simply
looking down at her arm for a micron before lifting it back up
again, her expression never changing from its far-off distant look.
     Suddenly it occurred to Sheba that this all seemed very real
and that her life aboard the Galactica seemed only a dream.  Maybe
it was only a dream, and in some cases a nightmare, that she had
been living before.  Maybe she really hadn't been born in the
Colonies.  Maybe her father hadn't been lost during that battle
with the basestars.  And maybe, just maybe, Apollo was just a
figment of her imagination.  With a sense of familiarity, she
turned to face the women, and unknowingly look in Apollo's
direction.  She raised the sword to the women gathered in salute. 
The crowd answered her salute with a loud whoop of excitement and
suddenly the group came toward her to congratulate her in
friendship.
     She quickly put the sword in the scabbard she had been given
before the ceremony and then greeted every woman who came up to her
with a heart-felt hug.  The feeling of acceptance was overwhelming,
one which she had never known.  Perhaps, she thought between
hugs, because this is real and the rest was just a
dream.

     Cassiopeia slinked around the Medicine Woman's hut with
Lakonus and the other two men when they heard the noise coming from
the square.  She looked up in alarm, her hand going reflexively to
the blaster she had holstered to her hip, before Lakonus looked at
her with a smile, "Sheba is at the square."
     Cassie was about to question that statement when one of the
men that had gone off with Apollo joined them, pointing toward the
direction of the noise.  He whispered to Lakonus, "She is for the
most part uninjured."
     Cassie looked at him with a slight tinge of alarm, "For the
most part?"
     The man nodded professionally, "She appears to have been
wounded but it is not serious.  Come, we must join Lakonus."  He
started going back the way he had come before Cassie could question
him further.  She quickly followed at Lakonus' silent urging.

     Bojay looked up from his spot at the edge of the forest when
he heard the distant cries from the village.  He looked over at
Arkonin, who was smiling.  "It appears," the Outsider said, "that
your friend has succeeded.  That is the call that the women give at
the end of the Rite of Induction."
     Bojay relaxed visibly, as did his two friends.  Starbuck
looked over at Arkonin and asked, "So, when do we get to work our
magic?"
     Arkonin smiled and said, "Patience, Starbuck.  We must await
the signal that she is alone.  It will come."
     Boomer looked down at his chrono and noticed the advancing
centars, "But when?"
     Arkonin shrugged, "It should not take long.  The Rite is
finished and she will be allowed to go to her housing for the night
soon."
     Bojay nodded and eased himself back down into a seated
position, getting ready to wait a bit longer, but still quite
relieved that his oldest living friend from his days on the Pegasus
was still among the living.  He had had no desire to continue on as
the only survivor of all that they had gone through together.

     Apollo watched as the last of the women embraced Sheba and
went away from the square, leaving only the older woman, Sheba, and
two other women.  Just as he was about to suggest that they make
their move, Cassie and Lakonus, along with the other three nameless
men, joined them.  Apollo smiled at Cassie and nodded silently
toward the square.  He watched her look over and visibly relax at
the sight of Sheba appearing, more or less, to be in one piece.
     Garon said quietly, "We will watch where she goes after this
and make our move then."  As he said that he turned back to watch
the group of women in the square and Apollo noted just the
slightest hint of worry on his face.
     "What's wrong?"  He almost did not want to know but felt that
he would prefer to be informed than go into this blindly.
     Garon turned to his friend, "It is perhaps nothing.  I was
just wondering if she will be taken to the House of Maidens or
not."
     Cassie's curiosity was piqued by that as she asked, "What is
that?"
     Lakonus answered before Garon could in his monotone voice,
"That is where the procreator lives."  He looked at Apollo blankly.
     Apollo gulped and his eyes darted around for a micron or two
before he could meet Lakonus' gaze. "Will we be able to get to her
before ... ?"  He could not manage to finish his thought.
     Garon chuckled quietly, "Do not worry Apollo, we will do our
best."  He then turned and watched as the four women began to leave
the square.
     
     As Sheba walked with the Ancient, Rega, and the Ancient's
assistant Brekel, she still felt as if she had been here her whole
life.  Everything seemed so natural, even the sword on her left hip
seemed to fit properly, as if it had sat there her whole life and
not just for the last fifteen centons or so.  They walked to the
far side of the square and came to a hut where they all stopped
before the door.  Sheba turned to the Ancient to hear what she knew
she would have to say.
     The Ancient smiled sweetly to Sheba, a look of pride on her
face.  "Sheba, tonight you will take your first step toward
becoming a member of the Council.  May the Gods bless you with a
daughter."  She then turned to Rega and said to her, "Stay with her
and prepare her until the Procreator is ready."
     Rega nodded with a simple smile, "I will Ancient."  Sheba's
Adjudicator and the closest thing she had to a friend in the
village opened the door to the hut and pulled on Sheba's arm
slightly so she would enter, which she did without a further word.
     The room was small and on the far side was a cot surrounded by
a sheer material, giving it a sort of magical appearance.  Rega
motioned to a comfortable chair nearby and Sheba dutifully sat
down, her head still swimming from all the smoke outside.  Rega
went over to a side table and began preparing something which Sheba
could not see.
     "What are you doing?" she finally asked.
     Rega turned around and smiled at the newest member of her
village, "I am preparing a drink for you to make this," she paused,
trying to think of an appropriate word, "easier.  It will prepare
you for what is to happen."
     Sheba nodded without question, taking everything at face
value.  As Rega came over with the metal mug and extended it to
her, she took it and drank from the liquid.  It was slightly
bitter, but Sheba was suddenly so thirsty that she finished the
entire contents in one swift gulp.  
     As she lowered the drink from her mouth her head started to
clear, but in an odd way.  She no longer felt as if she were not in
entire control of her body.  Instead everything seemed very bright
and clear.  The distant smell of the smoke, which still clung to
her clothes, seemed stronger and the heat from the small fire
burning nearby felt very warm against her bare arms.
     Rega smiled and took the mug from Sheba.  "I am glad you have
come to Amazonia, Sheba.  You will soon feel at home here."
     Sheba laughed loudly, "I already do."  She smiled broadly at
the other woman and relaxed into the chair, patiently waiting for
what was to happen.  Her thoughts never once going to her life on
the Galactica, as if those memories were all but gone.

     Apollo grimaced as Garon told him that Sheba had indeed been
brought to the House of Maidens.  He had sent off two of the men to
give the signal for the diversion and now it was all about time. 
Would the diversion happen before this Procreator could arrive? 
Would they manage to get her out?
     Garon said quietly, "I must warn you Apollo, that she may seem
a bit strange when we finally get to her."
     Apollo looked up in alarm, "Why?"
     With a motion toward the air, "Do you smell that sweetness to
the smoke?  That is a drug known as Ysuba.  It has affected her
perceptions.  Also, she will have been given a further drug in the
House of Maidens that will also affect her perceptions.  She may,"
he paused and sighed quietly before continuing, "she may not
remember you properly or want to accompany us.  Do you have a way
to subdue her?"
     Apollo's eyes had grown wide and before he could answer Cassie
said, "I can give her a hypospray to knock her out.  I will have
one ready."  She began rummaging through her backpack getting the
shot ready and then holding onto it like a weapon.
     Lakonus said quietly, "Once the diversion is given, we will
know about it.  We must move quickly before they catch onto what is
happening."
     Apollo nodded, still not trusting his voice.  He instead
started to watch the hut, praying with all his might that the
diversion would occur soon, very soon.

     Starbuck looked up as Arkonin suddenly jumped up.  "We have
received the signal."
     Starbuck looked around and, not seeing anything questioned,
"We have?"
     Arkonin pointed toward the one corner of the village where a
small light could be seen, "There.  Now, come, we must hurry." 
They gathered their tools and quickly moved along the line of trees
to a spot as near to the village as possible.
     From there, Starbuck, Boomer and Bojay took out their blasters
and aimed at a very small outcropping of trees that stood alone in
the field only a small distance away.  "On three," Starbuck said. 
"One, two, THREE!"  All three shot at the trees, and they burst
into flames.
     Starbuck looked up at the watchtowers and saw the women notice
the sudden fire in the trees.  Cries could be heard from the
village and suddenly, only about a centon later, the gates opened
and women began to run toward the fire.
     Boomer smiled and said with a slight chuckle, "Like taking
mushies from a baby."

VIII.

     Apollo's expression turned to a form of panic as a man, with
two women guards, approached the door to the hut and entered.  The
other woman that had entered the hut with Sheba earlier quickly
left and took up her spot next to the door.  "Frack," he muttered
to himself, "That diversion would be good right about now."
     Garon was about to say something when suddenly a cry went up
from the far side of the village.  Women suddenly began running in
that direction, including the woman standing outside the door to
the hut.  Apollo began to get up, before Garon tugged him back
down, "Wait one more centon, and then it will be better."
     Apollo simply looked at him with a mixture of panic and
nervousness.  The microns ticked away slowly, more slowly than
Apollo had ever thought impossible.  They watched as the number of
women running around quickly diminished.  
     Garon finally nodded, "Now."  
     With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Apollo shot up and began to
quickly move across the square with the rest of the team.

     Adama paced the bridge, looking every few microns to the radio
station.  He walked up to Tigh and said almost nervously, "They are
overdue reporting in."
     Tigh nodded grimly, "I know Adama.  Perhaps they are embroiled
in something and simply can't radio in?"
     Adama began to speak when Rigel called out, "We have a report
coming in from the recon team."  He quickly moved over behind
Omega, saying, "Feed it up here."
     Starbuck's voice came in loud and clear over the comm line,
"Commander, we are in the middle of the rescue operation.  Sorry
about calling in a bit late but we didn't have any news until now."
     Adama quickly asked "And what is that news Lieutenant?"
     Starbuck could be heard slightly chuckling, "We have the
village in a state of mayhem and Apollo and Cassiopeia are
presumably getting Sheba out while we speak."
     Adama's demeanor relaxed suddenly, "That is good to hear. 
Report back in once they have returned.  Is there anything else to
report?"
     Starbuck's voice answered quickly under a hint of static, "No
sir.  Nothing else.  We are headed back to the rendezvous point now
and will report in when we know more."
     Adama nodded, "Understood.  We will be waiting for your
report."

     Sheba looked over at the man now standing in the hut with her. 
He was tall, with sandy blond hair and very well built.  Every
woman's dream man, she mused to herself as she stood up from
her chair to go over to him.  She smiled sweetly at him and began
to speak, "I, I ..."
     He interrupted her by saying, "No need to say it ma'am.  I
know what to do."  He began to approach her when the cries from
outside became audible.
     Sheba looked up with a start, "What the?"
     The man also looked up as if trying to discern what was
happening outside.  He shook his head helplessly, "I am unsure what
is happening outside.  Let it not keep us from our duty.  If you
are needed, someone will come to get you."  He walked over to Sheba
and tenderly brushed the bandage on her arm, "I will be careful of
your arm."
     Sheba looked down at his hand on her arm and giggled like a
young girl, "Oh, it doesn't hurt.  Don't worry."  She then looked
up into his pale blue eyes and was quickly drawn into his
magnetism.  She joked to dispel a bit of her nervousness, "So, are
all the Procreators as good looking as you are?"
     The man seemed embarrassed by that, "We are chosen for our
physical traits."  He reached down and took her hand and began to
draw her toward the cot when the door behind them flew open.
     Apollo rushed in, his blaster at the ready.  Both Sheba and
the Procreator turned around with a start.  "Stop where you are,"
Apollo called out as the hut began to fill up with the other
members of his team.
     The Procreator called out, "What is this?"  His hand let
Sheba's go and he moved to stand in front of her slightly, but she
pushed him to the side and withdrew the sword still hanging at her
hip.
     "Get back," she called out, obviously not recognizing Apollo
or Cassie, who stood to his right.
     Apollo looked at the sword and then up at Sheba, "Sheba, it's
me.  It's Apollo.  I've come to take you back to the Galactica."
     He watched as Sheba's face seemed to struggle with her
thoughts, "Apollo?"  He relaxed slightly as the sword began to drop
slightly.
     Apollo took the chance and lowered his blaster, but still kept
it out of its holster.  He walked toward her slowly, trying to calm
her, "Yes Sheba, it's me.  We're going to get you out of here and
take you home."
     Sheba shook her head as if trying to clear it and then looked
up with a start, "But I am home."  She brought the sword
back up to the ready.  "Now leave, or I will have to use this."

`    Boomer chuckled from his spot back at the rendezvous point. 
He was watching the women trying to douse the fire with the water
from the moot.  From his estimation, they didn't seem to be doing
very well.  He then turned back to look at Starbuck who was pacing
like a caged animal.
     "Starbuck, calm down.  They'll be back soon," he said
supportively to his friend.
     Starbuck's pacing continued as he said, "Yeah, I know.  I just
hate being stuck here while they have all the fun."
     Bojay laughed at that, "Of course you do Starbuck.  For once
you don't get to be the hero."
     Starbuck looked up with a hurt expression that quickly turned
to his roguish grin.  He said with a mock hurt voice, "But I am a
hero."
     Boomer chuckled loudly, "Of course you are.  Now stop pacing
before you make us all nervous."

     "Sheba," Cassie quickly said in a calm voice, "It's Cassie. 
Now please put the sword down so we can get going."
     Sheba turned her attention to Cassie, who had slightly
separated herself from the group.  Just as she was about to say
something, Apollo lunged across the room and got a hold of her
wrist.  She tried to struggle against him, but the mixture of his
strength and the injury to her arm caused her to be quickly
overwhelmed.
     The Procreator had retreated to the far wall, not wanting to
be hurt by the intruders, but at this he lunged out and tried to
grab Apollo in a bear hug.  He was quickly stopped by Garon and
Lakonus.  He watched as Cassie quickly over and gave Sheba the shot
she had prepared.
     Apollo released his grip on Sheba's arm as she visibly relaxed
under the influence of the shot.  He let the sword drop and caught
her as she started to collapse.  He looked at the Procreator with
disgust as he quickly swung her over his shoulder in a fireman's
hold.
     Garon said to the Procreator, "You are welcome to leave the
village and come with us, or you can remain here.  It is your
choice."
     "Leave?" he questioned.  The Procreator shook his head in a
similar way to Sheba and said, "Y-, yes, I will leave with you.
L-, Let's go."  He relaxed and was released, a smile beginning to
trace his lips.
     Apollo resettled Sheba over his shoulder so he would be able
to run and nodded, "Okay let's go."  He waited for Garon to leave
and then followed him out into the night  The rest of the group,
now one larger with the addition of the Procreator, followed
quickly.

     The group ran as quickly as possible through the village. 
Suddenly, Garon turned a corner and a small group of women stood
blocking their path.  As he turned around to move in the opposite
direction, another group of women stood waiting.  The rest of his
team caught up with him at that moment and stopped in their tracks. 
An older woman, the Ancient, stepped to the front of one of the
groups, "So, Garon, you have returned."  She looked around at the
group, "And I see you have brought a few of your friends with you. 
Well," she smiled with a hint of an evil tinge, "I think we have
some room for you at the fields.  Now, let Sheba go and put down
your weapons."
     Suddenly all the women drew their swords simultaneously and
took one step forward.  Apollo looked around from one group to the
other and tried to figure out a course of attack.
     Garon chuckled, "You think that we will go back to being your
willing slaves Vyna?  You are wrong."  He pulled his own sword out,
as did the rest of the Outsiders.  Apollo and Cassie quickly
followed suit by drawing their blasters.
     The Ancient returned the chuckle, "Well, have it as you will
Garon.  You were always a problem child.  I curse the day I gave
birth to you."  She took another step toward the group when Apollo
shot at her feet.
     The women all took a few steps back at that and Apollo
bellowed, "Now, you will let us leave or I will not be so kind with
my next shot."
     The Ancient stared at this new man with Sheba slung over his
shoulder for almost a full centon before relaxing her sword arm and
lowering it.  "As you wish."  He turned back to Garon and said,
"But do not think that we will be as easily fooled the next time
Outsider."  She backed away and allowing passage through the women
who also parted into two groups.
     Garon nodded and slowly began moving through the two groups,
followed by the rest of his team.  None of them lowered their
weapons and as they passed the women, Lakonus and the other men
began walking backward to protect their backs, but the women did
not pursue.
     Not wanting to give away the location of their tunnel, Garon
instead lead them toward the main gate.  As they approached the
gate it opened slowly, the guards near it standing with their
weapons still holstered.  
     Garon increased his pace slightly as they moved through the
gate and out into the field, but no attack ever came.  Before long,
they reached the safety of the forest and began heading for the
rendezvous.

     Athena looked up in panic from her panel, "Commander, we are
receiving reports that the basestar is headed this way."
     Adama grimaced at the prospect and thought for a centon before
giving the order, "We have no choice, start moving the fleet away
from the basestar, and send out Blue and Red squadrons to
intercept."
     Omega looked up at the Commander, the worry apparent on his
face, "Yes sir."  He seemed to have a hard time getting the words
out of his mouth.  He then turned back to his console to give the
order.
     Tigh walked up from his position down near Rigel and joined
the Commander, "Should we contact the recon team?"
     Adama nodded, "Yes, send them an encrypted message telling
them our heading.  We will not be able to wait for them.  I just
hope that they get off of the planet before we are out of range." 
He looked down at Rigel, "Send the message to the recon team."
     With a slight nod of her head, Rigel nodded, "Yes sir."  She
turned to her panel and started to work on the encryption.
     Tigh nodded, "I'm sure they will."
     Adama looked at his friend with a distinct weariness in his
eyes, unable to voice his doubt.

     Starbuck stood up from where he was trying to sit calmly,
"Something's wrong.  It's taking too long."  Suddenly he looked up
as the comm unit began to beep.  "What the frack?"
     He looked at the unit and saw the encrypted message being
displayed on the display.  He called over to Boomer, "Hey, Boomer,
we've got an encrypted message coming over the comm.  Get over here
and get it decrypted."
     Boomer quickly jumped up and looked at the display, pushing a
few buttons on the unit.  As he figured it out he shook his head in
a mixture of worry and disbelief, "The fleet is on the move.  A
basestar is coming their way.  They want us back as soon as
possible before we are out of range of them."
     Bojay quickly joined them when he heard that, "Frack, if we
wait around here and then go back for Greenbean and then go
for the vipers we'll never make it back there in time."
     Starbuck nodded, "And we need all four vipers or we can't get
everyone out."  He paused, his mind obviously churning, "If the
three of us go now, we can fly them back here.  Then we can just
send one of us back there with someone in the jump seat to retrieve
the last one.  If we sit around here waiting, we won't make it."
     Arkonin, who had been listening in, came over and nodded to
Starbuck, "You better get moving then.  We will let Apollo know
what has happened."
     Starbuck smiled up at the man as he quickly gathered his
things together, "Okay then, Boomer and Bojay, let's get a move on. 
It's a good two centars walk from here but if we hustle we can make
it in less time."
     Without further discussion the three men quickly started
running off into the woods, leaving Arkonin and the rest of his men
to wait for the return of the rescue team.

     Jolly flew with the rest of Blue squadron and Red squadron
nearby toward the baseship.  The only consolation that he had was
that it probably could not have repaired all its guns and missile
bays and that it more than likely had next to no vipers.  It was
still a fracking baseship, but if they could just delay it long
enough for the Galactica to get a good jump, there might be some
hope of getting away.
     Brie, the former shuttle pilot, said over the comms, "I've got
the baseship on my scanner.  No signs of any raiders."
     Jolly nodded to himself as he too saw the dreaded blip on his
scanner, "I've got it here too.  Okay, we don't know what kind of
weaponry that galmonger has left, so be careful.  If any of the
guns are active, target them first, and then fire away until you
can't any more and hustle back to the Galactica."
     The baseship grew from a speck in the distance to a looming
yo-yo shape all too quickly and then they were flying around it. 
No guns or missiles fired at the vipers and Jolly sighed quickly in
relief as he started to fire on the baseship.  Laser shots flew out
from the noses of all the vipers flying around.  The real danger
wasn't from the baseship but from the other vipers flying around in
such close corners.  Unfortunately, their lasers did not appear to
be having much affect and the baseship kept on its steady course
toward the slower fleet.

     "We're almost to the rendezvous," Lakonus said.  He was now
carrying Sheba to give Apollo a rest.
     The going was rather slow now as they were being forced to
trudge through a rather thick forest.  Pren, the former Procreator,
came up to Garon as they walked and helped him clear the path. 
"This is the first time I have ever been outside the village. It's
so, green and big."  He grinned broadly.
     Garon nodded with an equally large grin, "This is only a
fraction of what you will see.  One day, all the men and
women of Amazonia will be free to wander these forests, and go to
the nearby lakes and streams."
     Just as he finished saying that, they broke through the final
bit of overgrowth and entered the clearing where Arkonin and the
remainder of his group were waiting.  Lakonus eased Sheba onto the
ground just as Apollo and Cassie popped out of the trees.
     Apollo looked around with a large grin until he realized his
friends were no longer there.  He looked up in alarm at Arkonin,
who quickly answered his silent question, "Your fleet is on the
move and they have gone to retrieve your ships, so more time is not
wasted.  We are to meet them at the cavern."
     "On the move?"  He sighed loudly and looked over at Cassie,
"That baseship must be back, or worse..."
     Cassie nodded and said, "Well, we better get back there as
soon as possible.  I'll need to get Greenbean ready for the stress
of flying anyway, so the quicker the better."
     Garon nodded and went to go pick Sheba up to take his turn in
carrying her but Apollo got there first, "I've got her."  He smiled
down at the woman he loved, lying peacefully on the grass and
quickly picked her, flinging her as gently as possible over his
shoulder.
     Arkonin and Lakonus took the lead and the rest quickly
followed as they headed up the slight incline through the forest.


IX. 

     "There they are," a winded Bojay said as they reached the
crest of the final hill.  The four vipers stood exactly where they
had been left at the bottom.  The three men quickly ran down and
started climbing into the vipers.
     Boomer looked at his chrono and said as he was putting Sheba's
slightly small helmet on his head, "Not bad, only took us a little
over a centar."  He smiled over at Starbuck and gave him the thumbs
up as he quickly powered up and shut the canopy.
     The other two vipers also quickly were sealed and ascended
into the sky, flying off to the south at top speed.
     
     "Commander," Jolly's voice came over the bridge comm system,
"We can't stop it.  It's still headed for the fleet.  We haven't
seen any raiders and it hasn't fired a single weapon, but its
gaining on you."
     Adama turned to Tigh with a quizzical look, "Understood Jolly. 
Keep us informed and keep hitting it as hard as possible.  Focus on
the joint section where the two halves meet."
     "Yes sir, Blue six out."  The comm went silent.
     Tigh looked at Adama with an equally quizzical look, "What
could they be planning?  Without any raiders or guns it makes no
sense."
     Adama nodded, "I know Tigh, I know.  It all seems very
strange."  He quickly looked down at Omega, "Get all remaining
pilots out on recon patrols in all directions.  I want to make sure
the cylons are not trying to bait us.  And slow the fleet to half
speed."
     Omega nodded, "Right away."
     Tigh looked worried, "Bait?"
     Adama nodded with a furrowed brow, "Let's hope not."

     Back in the cavern, Apollo sat on the floor with Sheba's head
resting on his leg.  Cassie had rebandaged the nasty cut on her arm
and informed him that it was nothing to worry about and so he was
left to just sit and wait for his friends to return.  He held her
right hand in his and rubbed it reassuringly.
     "Oh Sheba," he said to her quietly, more so to give him
something to do than to really try to get through to her, "you had
me worried there."  He chuckled to himself, "That was a close call
wasn't it?"
     As if on cue, Sheba's eyes began to flutter and she began to
move her mouth as if she tasted something odd.  A quiet moan
escaped her lips before Apollo could say anything.
     "Sheba?  Can you hear me?"
     "Apollo?" she said weakly, her eyes fluttering open to look at
him.  She smiled at him, her face lighting up at seeing him.
     She began to sit up, but Apollo pushed her back down gently,
"Just rest.  You've been through a lot.  It's good to see you
again."
     She rested against his leg and looked around the cavern,
"Where are we?"
     Apollo looked around before looking back down at her, "We are
in a cavern near the village.  We ran across a group of resistance
fighters who helped us get you out."
     Sheba's expression became confused, "But, how did you get me
out? I, I don't remember you coming for me.  The last thing I
remember..."  She trailed off with a sudden look of worry, "Apollo,
I, I have to tell you something."  She sat up to look at him, going
against his attempts to keep her lying down.
     "What?"  Apollo's expression also became worried.
     She looked around to make sure they were alone before saying
quietly, "I think I, well, I'm not sure, but the last thing I
remember was being in that hut and . . . " She trailed off, not
wanting to express her fears.
     Apollo smiled sweetly, "Don't worry Sheba, you didn't.  We got
to you just in time.  In fact, Pren, the man you were," he grimaced
and said, "with, has joined us and told me that nothing happened
before we got in there."
     Sheba sighed in relief, "I was afraid you'd call off the
sealing."
     Apollo chuckled and shook his head, "Never."  He smiled
affectionately and said quietly, "I love you and nothing will
change that, okay?"  He leaned over and kissed her.
     Just as they were breaking the kiss, Bojay came into the
cavern with a big grin on his face, "Ah, there you are."
     Apollo and Sheba both looked over at him and quickly smiled,
"Good to see you Bojay," Apollo said quickly, "But where are Boomer
and Starbuck?"
     Bojay shrugged as he came over to sit down with the pair,
"They went back for the last viper.  They'll be back in about
fifteen centons or so.  They told me to get you all ready because
we need to hurry or we'll never make it back to the Galactica
before its out of range."
     Sheba looked at Apollo with worry, "Out of range?"
     Apollo nodded sadly as he began to stand up, Bojay and Sheba
soon following suit.  "We got word that they had to move from their
position.  If we don't leave soon, we'll be out of range."
     Sheba then caught onto something else that had been said, "So
you found Boomer and Greenbean?"
     Bojay nodded with a smile, "They were here with the Outsiders
the whole time."
     Sheba smiled as she sighed dramatically, "So my heroic effort
was just a waste."
     Bojay chuckled to her, "Well, you get points for effort.  Now
let's get everything together.  Cassie needs to get Greenbean
ready."
     Sheba said in shock, "Cassie is here?  How the frack?"
     Apollo smiled, "We've been busy while you were in there.  We
made it back to the fleet and back.  There was an attack while we
were waiting for you up on that hill and we got called back.  The
Commander ordered us to get some sleep after it was all over,
before he'd let us come back to find the three of you, but . . ."
He grinned mischievously at her.
     Bojay continued, "But we couldn't let that happen.  Needless
to say you may have to come visit us in the brig when we get back."
     Sheba seemed slightly choked up but chased it away with a
broad smile, "I'll smuggle in mushies for you guys then."
     Just as they were about to turn to go get Cassie, she came
into the cavern, her smile shining in Sheba's direction, "Good to
see you Sheba."
     Sheba went over to her and gave her a quick hug, "So, do I
have to bring mushies to you too Cassie?"
     "Huh?"
     "When you are in the brig."  Sheba smiled at the blond woman
standing next to her.
     Cassie chuckled, "You may just have to do that."  She then
looked over at Apollo, "Greenbean is ready to go.  I've got him as
stabilized as possible.  He's got some bruised ribs, which I
wrapped up, and a nasty concussion."  She sighed and then said,
"I'd prefer not having to put him through the stress of a viper
launch, but we don't have a choice.  He'll live, but he'll be in
the med center for quite a while."
     Apollo nodded and said, "Well, lets get our stuff together and
get Greenbean outside.  There isn't a micron to lose.  I want to be
ready to go as soon as Boomer and Starbuck get back."
     The four friends left the cavern, Sheba supporting herself on
Apollo's arm.

     "So far no reports of cylon activity sir," Omega said to Adama
without looking up from his console.
     "Keep the patrols out there.  Unless that baseship is just
going to make a suicide run, there has to be another reason." 
Adama looked out of the starport.
     Athena called up to her father, "Commander, recon team is
reporting in."
     Adama walked down to where his daughter was sitting and
listened over her shoulder.
     "Captain Apollo to the Galactica," came his son's voice
through the static.  Both Adama and Athena sighed in relief
slightly at the sound of his voice.
     "Go ahead Apollo," Adama said, a bit apprehensively.
     "Our mission was successful.  We're just waiting for Starbuck
and Boomer to get back with the last vipers and then all seven of
us will be on our way back."  Apollo's voice was light, although
there was still just a hint of worry to it, which was even apparent
over the static.
     Adama smiled, "That's great news."  His expression again
became serious, "But get back here as soon as possible.  We've got
a baseship nearby."
     Apollo answered quickly, "We should be back within the centar
if all goes well.  We've got Greenbean strapped into one of the
vipers already.  We should be launching any..." his voice trailed
off before he said, "Here come Boomer and Starbuck now.  We should
be launched in less than 10 centons."
     Adama nodded, "Understood.  We'll give you further orders
before you land."  He nodded to his daughter to terminate the
communication before going back up to stand next to Tigh.
     Tigh sighed as he did and said, "Well, that's one problem
taken care of."
     Adama nodded and said, "Yes, but it isn't the biggest of our
problems."
     
     Starbuck opened the canopy and smiled as he saw Cassie and
Sheba standing nearby.  He quickly jumped down and ran over to
Cassie, giving her a big hug.  "What was that for?" she asked him,
surprised at the expression of affection.
     He flashed back his typical roguish smile, "I was worried
about you."  He kissed her quickly on the cheek and turned to look
at Apollo and Sheba, "So, nice to see you got her back there
Apollo."  He smiled broadly at Sheba, who was still leaning on
Apollo's arm for a bit of stability.
     Apollo grinned back and said, "Well, it sure was interesting. 
I'll tell you about it over a cold ambrosia later.  But we better
get moving.  They've got a baseship heading after the fleet up
there and if we don't get back soon..." He trailed off, knowing
that Starbuck knew the consequences.
     Garon quickly walked up to Apollo and gave him a friendly hug,
"Godspeed, Apollo.  Good luck to you all."  He smiled at him and
then flashed his smiled to the rest of his group.
     Apollo returned the smile, "And thanks to you.  We could have
never gotten everyone back without you.  Good luck with
everything."  He nodded and then turned to help Sheba up into his
viper, climbing in quickly behind her.  With a final look at Garon,
Lakonus, Arkonin and Pern, all of whom had gathered to say goodbye,
he said, "You'll succeed Garon, I know you will."  With a flick of
a switch the canopy closed.
     The other vipers were also quickly occupied and ready to go. 
With a final wave from the group of Outsiders, the four vipers shot
off into the sky, leaving the planet as quickly as possible.

X.

     Sheba finally broke the silence after about twenty centons. 
"Apollo?"
     "Hm, yeah?" 
     "I'm sorry.  I did exactly what I hate when you do it."  Her
voice was slightly shaky.
     Apollo answered in a slightly shocked tone, "What?  What are
you sorry about?  You don't have anything to be sorry about."
     Sheba answered quickly, "Yes I do.  I didn't just go off to
help Boomer and Greenbean.  I," she swallowed hard before admitting
it, "I also went off so you would know how I feel every time you go
off on one of your crazy missions."  She sat back heavily, the
weight being lifted from her, but she also cringed, waiting for the
response.
     Apollo waited a few microns before answering, "Apology
accepted."
     Sheba waited for more but nothing came, "What?  Is that all
you have to say?"
     Apollo sighed heavily, "No, that isn't all that I have to say. 
I," he took a long breath before saying, "I know that you hate it
when I go off on those missions, and I know why you hate it."  He
chuckled lightly, "And you're right, now I know what it feels like
and I'll admit I hated every micron of it, but Sheba ..." He
trailed off before stating his argument.
     "What Apollo?"
     "We can't avoid doing our jobs.  If we're going to be sealed,
we need to learn to handle that fear and worry that we're going to
feel when one of us goes on a mission and the other stays behind."
     Sheba nodded, even though he couldn't see her.  "I know that
apollo, but can you promise me something?"
     Apollo's head nodded in front of her, "If it's something that
I can control I will."
     "Okay, then promise me that you won't go volunteering for
every suicide mission there is.  There are plenty of warriors
chomping at the bit to go on them," she laughed, "myself included. 
Give the others a chance too.  Not everything needs to be handled
by you and Starbuck."
     Apollo looked out at the stars before answering quietly, "I
promise."
     Sheba smiled, feeling as if she'd accomplished something.

     The four vipers flew into a final landing formation at the
same time as Blue and Red Squadrons were returning from their
attack run on the baseship.  Almost fifty vipers were trying to
land in the mayhem so they could get refueled and make another run
before the baseship reached the edge of the fleet.  The comm noise
was almost impossible to clearly understand.
     Rigel's voice finally could be hear saying "Recon team,
cleared to land on beta deck.  Report to the bridge immediately."
     Apollo acknowledged for the four vipers, "Understood, Recon
team out."
     He eased the viper down and it landed with a reassuring thud
on the solid deck.  "Home safe and sound," he said to Sheba behind
him as the canopy opened.
     "Yeah, but for how long?  Let's get up to the bridge and see
what is going on."  She started to get out of the jump seat after
Apollo's quick exit.
     Apollo shook his head negatively, "No way, you are going
straight to the med center to get your arm looked at."
     Sheba shot a smile at him and raised an eyebrow jokingly, "Is
that an order?  Because if it isn't I'm coming with you.  I'll head
down there afterward."
     Apollo shook his head with a grin, "You promise?"
     Sheba smiled, "Of course."
     As the two of them climbed down from the viper, the other
pilots of the team joined them.  As they started to moved toward
the turbolift, a medical team passed them, on their way to get
Greenbean out of his jump seat.
     Starbuck chuckled as they entered the lift, "Guess we are on
the fast track to the brig now?"
     Apollo laughed, "Well, it's all a matter of interpretation. 
It did eventually become an order."
     Starbuck smiled at Cassie, "I hope we get put in the same
cell."
     Sheba chuckled, "The brig is supposed to be punishment
Starbuck, not a recreation period."
     Cassie just rolled her eyes.
     Boomer smiled and said, "Well, Sheba and I will come visit you
in the brig when we aren't busy celebrating in the officer's club."
     Bojay jabbed Boomer in the ribs, "Well, my offer for free
ambrosia doesn't cover the two of you then."
     Sheba laughed and said in a mock hurt voice, "Not even for me? 
Sheesh."
     The lift finally headed up to the upper levels carrying the
six of them up to the bridge.

     Adama smiled broadly as the six of them entered the bridge. 
He walked up to Apollo and gave him a relieved hug before turning
to the rest and smiling at them.  "It is good to see all of you." 
He turned to look out the starfield window and said, "We've got a
basestar chasing us.  It doesn't have any weapons or raiders, but
we're afraid it's coming in on some sort of suicide mission." 
Adama turned back around to the group standing there.  "Any
suggestions?"
     Starbuck smiled at Adama, "Well, Apollo and I could fly in
there again and see what we can do."  He turned to Apollo and
slapped him on the arm, before noticing the look of death Sheba was
shooting at him.  "Or, well, Boomer and I could go."
     Adama nodded, "Actually, I had hoped you would say that.  Do
you think you are rested enough to do it?"
     Starbuck nodded, "Fit as a daggit during mating season."  He
looked over at Boomer, "Boomer?"
     Boomer looked slightly uncomfortable before saying, "Yeah,
sure."
     Apollo began to say something before looking at Sheba and
relaxing, "You two will do fine."  His eyes never left Sheba, who
now had a slight grin on her face.
     Bojay added quickly, "Why not send three of us in?  I'm
available."
     Adama nodded, "Yes, that is fine.  Why don't the three of you
go get ready and get down to the launch bay immediately."  He
turned to Apollo, " Apollo, I want you to lead Blue squadron as
escort."
     Apollo nodded and looked at his friends, "Well, let's get
going then."  The four of them hurried off before Sheba and Cassie
knew what was going on.  They looked at one another and quickly
followed them out into the hallway.
     "Apollo!" Sheba called out to him, "Wait a micron."  She ran
and caught up with him as Cassie quickly went passed her to catch
up with Starbuck farther down the hallway.
     Apollo turned to her and said, "See? I kept my promise."
     Sheba nodded with a smile, "I know.  Thank you.  I just wanted
to tell you to be careful.  I'll either be in the med center or in
the officer's club waiting for you when you get back."
     Apollo nodded, "I'll see you then." He quickly left, walking
passed Starbuck and Cassie.
     
     Cassiopeia looked at Starbuck, "You be careful in there okay? 
I ... " she couldn't finish as the tears welled in her eyes.
     "Hey, Cass, you don't have to worry about me.  I know
baseships like the back of my hand.  We'll be in and out of there
in no time."  He hugged her quickly and left before she could say
anything else, leaving her standing in the hallway watching him run
down the hallway.
     Sheba came up to her and put her right arm around Cassie's
shoulders.  "They'll be fine.  They always are."
     Cassie nodded bravely to Sheba, "I know but it's so hard
sometimes."
     Sheba nodded sympathetically and nodded down the hallway,
"Now, let's get down to the med center and get my arm fixed up and
see how Greenbean is doing, okay?"
     Cassie nodded and the two of them headed down the hallway
toward the lift.

      As the squadron of vipers sped toward the baseship, Starbuck
was trying his best to convince Apollo to come on the mission with
him.  "Oh come on Apollo, she'll never know.  We'll be on and off
before anything happens."
     "And if something does?  She'd never forgive me.  I'm sorry
Starbuck, as much as I hate letting you have all the fun, I
promised Sheba that I'd cool my heels."  He laughed quietly, "For
awhile at least."
     Boomer chimed in, "Oh alright, but when they are pinning
medals to our chests don't come crying to us that you didn't get
one."
     Apollo laughed at that, "Oh, I've got enough medals to make my
dress uniform weigh as much as Muffit.  It's about time you and
Bojay do some catching up.  I'm just letting Starbuck go along as
a chaperon."
     Bojay chuckled loudly, "Some chaperon.  He'll probably be up
in the control center smoking fumerillos and playing pyramid with
the tinheads if we don't keep our eyes on him."
     Starbuck answered back in a mock tone, "Who me?  I would never
do that.  But, if its fumerillos and pyramids that you want Bojay,
I do believe that the pay period just ended.  I'm up for an evening
of gambling when we get back."
     Bojay smiled in his viper and shook his head, "Not on your
life Starbuck.  I've more than earned my pay this secton and I'm
not giving any of it to you."
     Apollo finally broke the joking, "Well, there she is.  You
three get going and take care.  We'll be waiting for you out here."
     Starbuck answered back in a slightly more serious tone than
normal, "See you in a flash."  The three vipers broke off from the
formation and headed directly for the landing bay, quickly
disappearing inside.
     Apollo watched the three vipers go out of view and winced, not
feeling at all comfortable about sitting out in relative safety. 
Guess that's what you get for keeping promises.  I swear, love
will be the end of me.  He chuckled to himself and took up the
patrol route around the basestar with the rest of the Blue Squadron
pilots.

XI.

     As Bojay's cockpit canopy opened he had his blasters at the
ready but looked around quickly and saw that he did not need them. 
The hanger bay was completely empty.  He jumped down and joined
Starbuck and Boomer who were also now out of their vipers.  "What
the frack?  Even with no raiders, there should still be centurions
crawling all over the place."
     Boomer nodded as he continued to survey the hanger, "Sure is
strange."
     Starbuck chuckled, "Well, let's take advantage of our luck and
get out of here."  His expression turned a bit more serious, "These
things are even more eerie when they are empty."
     Starbuck motioned over toward the exit that led toward the
central computer section and the three quickly ran in that
direction, their blasters still drawn.
      They made it all the way to the central computer center
without seeing a single cylon.  As they stood there placing the
explosives Boomer suddenly called out, "I've found out what is
going on."  He pointed to one of the computers, "It seems they've
set it on some sort of autopilot.  See here," he pointed to a
flashing light, "there seems to be some sort of tracking device. 
Maybe they set it down in the previous attack or at some other
point.  If we blow this bank of computers, it should cancel the
autopilot and hopefully it will either stop or just continue on its
current course."
     Starbuck nodded and started setting the charges on that bank
of computers.  When all three had finished setting their charges,
he looked back at the computers and said, "Okay, let's get out of
here.  We've got exactly fifteen centons until these blow and I'd
prefer to be on my way to the officer's club by then."
     Boomer shook his head with a laugh as they started climbing
the ladder back up toward the hangar bay, "Typical, Starbuck.  Why
can't you play pyramid like you live life?"
     Starbuck grinned as he reached the top of the ladder just as
Bojay was climbing out of the top ahead of him, "It's a gift
Boomer."  They all laughed as they ran back down the corridor
toward the hangar bay.

     Apollo continued to circle the baseship waiting for his
friends to emerge.  The waiting was killing him.  If they aren't
out in two centons, I'm going in after them, he thought to
himself.  Almost on cue, though, the three vipers shot out of the
hangar bay with Starbuck letting out a loud whoop over the comm
line.
     Boomer chuckled, "Piece of cake.  The baseship was set to
follow some sort of homing beacon and once the explosives go off,
it'll be taken care of."
     Apollo smiled, "So, the baseship was empty?"
     Bojay laughed, "Emptier than my pockets after a game of
pyramid with Starbuck."
     Apollo chuckled, "Great to hear.  Let's head home.  Blue
leader to Blue Squadron, return to the Galactica."
     The squadron quickly formed up and sped back to the Galactica.

     Tigh peeked over Omega's shoulder as the report came in from
Apollo, "Blue leader to Galactica.  The mission was a success.  It
appears the baseship is following some sort of homing beacon.  Once
the explosives go off we recommend a course change for the fleet."
     Tigh nodded with a brief smile, "Understood and good job."  He
nodded down to Rigel, "Give them the landing clearance."
     Rigel nodded and quickly radioed out to the pilots of Blue
Squadron, "Core Command to Blue Squadron craft.  You are cleared to
land in alpha bay."
     Tigh relaxed with a broader smile, "Well, it seems that
another problem is behind us.  Calculate a slight course change and
then bring us back onto this heading and bearing after we determine
whether the baseship is continuing on its course or has..."
     He was interrupted by a small explosion off in the distance,
"What the?"  Tigh was about to order a report from the vipers when
Apollo came over the open comm channel, "The baseship has exploded. 
Blue squadron was out of range of the explosion when it happened."
     Tigh's smile now grew even larger as he looked down to Omega,
"Cancel that last order.  It's back to business as usual.  I want
teams out scouring for that beacon and the repair crews working
overtime until our vipers are back in shape."
     Omega nodded with a trace of a smile, "Yes sir."

     As Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer and Bojay entered the officer's
club they noticed Cassiopeia and Sheba sitting at a table talking. 
The four of them approached the table and Apollo said in his best
gentlemanly voice, "May we join you?"
     Sheba beamed up at him and tried very hard to restrain her
relief as she replied, "But of course.  After all, doesn't Bojay
owe us all a round of ambrosia?"
     As they started to take their seats Bojay looked around as if
he had forgotten his earlier officer, "I don't think I ever offered
that."
     Starbuck chuckled, "You aren't getting out of it."  He
motioned to a waitress, "Ambrosias all around."
     Bojay shook his head sadly, "There goes that paycheck."
     Starbuck grinned, "Better than losing it to me in pyramids." 
He then looked over at Cassie and smiled, "See?  Made it back in
one piece as promised."
     Cassie rolled her eyes and said, "One day, Starbuck, you are
going to be wrong, and I will never forgive you when you are."  She
laughed at him and patted his hand affectionately.
     Sheba looked at the four men and finally affixed her gaze on
Apollo, "So, did you keep your promise?"
     Boomer let out a 'ooh' to signify trouble before Apollo could
smile, "Sure did.  I never even got near the hangar of that
baseship."
     Sheba grinned at him, a brief twinkle playing in her eyes,
"Good, now we'll see how long it lasts."
     As the waitress put the drinks on the table, Bojay asked, "So,
when is the big day anyway?  I need to make sure I have my dress
uniform laundered beforehand."
     Sheba raised an eyebrow to Apollo, waiting for him to answer. 
He looked slightly surprised by the question, "Um, well, I, I
really don't know."  He turned to Sheba, "Any suggestions?"
     Cassie answered for her, "Don't ask her Apollo, or she'll say
right now."
     Sheba looked over at her friend with a joking hurt expression,
"I would not.  I was actually going to suggest tomorrow.  After all
I need to figure out what I'm going to wear first.  I do need a few
centars for that, besides," she looked around at the others, "I
really think we could all use some sleep first.  One ambrosia is
going to put most of us out."
     Starbuck said in a swaggering tone, "You, perhaps, but not the
old Starbuck.  I can live for sectons without sleep."
     Boomer rolled his eyes, "Oh, yes, sorry, we forgot you could
do that Starbuck, but you aren't the one who's getting sealed."  He
then grinned at Cassie and added, "Yet."
     They all laughed at Starbuck's expense, and Apollo patted him
on the arm.

     Adama stood in the large room before the small crowd.  Apollo
and Sheba stood up front, Apollo in his dress uniform and Sheba in
a pale pink dress.  All their friends were gathered--Starbuck,
Boomer, Bojay, Cassiopeia, Jolly, Greenbean, Tigh, Rigel and Omega
as well as Athena and Boxey.  They stood in a half circle
surrounding the couple and the Commander.
     Adama cleared his throat slightly and smiled at Apollo,
"Today, I have the honor of sealing my son with the woman I have
come to regard as a second daughter."  His smile broadened as he
continued, "As I am sure you are all well aware, their's was not a
love born from the first moment."  The group all chuckled at that. 
"But it was one that grew over time.  One that has been forged in
the fire of our many battles and the quiet of our peace.  And
certainly it was one that, at times, some of us wondered if it
would ever come to fruition."  Another chuckle rose from those
gathered and Apollo hung his head in an attempt at playing up his
joking shame.  With a smile at his son, Adama finished, "But, we
stand here today, finally, and can celebrate with them."  He then
turned his attention to his grandson and said, "Boxey, you wanted
to say something right?"
     Boxey nodded and walked up to where his father and Sheba were
standing.  Apollo smiled down proudly at his son as he said, "Dad,
I just wanted to say that I'm happy you and Sheba are being sealed. 
You have my," he struggled to remember the word and then say with
a proud smile, "blessing."  
     Apollo knelt down and hugged his son and said to him, "I
wouldn't have it any other way Boxey."  He then stood back up and
looked at his father, who nodded to him.
     Apollo looked around at his friends and started the speech
that he had prepared the night before, "I wanted to first thank you
all for being here today.  It means so much to me that you all are
here to share this moment with me."  He then turned to Sheba and
smiled, in an attempt to copy a Starbuck-roguish smile, "And Sheba,
our beginnings were anything but normal."  She, Bojay and Starbuck
all laughed out loud in unison, obviously remembering that first
moment.  "Guess I'm lucky that you weren't such a good shot that
day."  His grin grew as he said, "And I know it took me quite a
while to admit my feelings but," he chuckled quietly, "I came to my
senses finally and I wouldn't have it any other way."  He nodded to
her, letting her know that he was done.
     Sheba smiled back at him and, as he had done, turned to her
friends.  "I had always thought that my father would be here on the
day that I was sealed, but," her expression was not one of sadness
but actually of joy, "I have you all instead and that makes it so
special.  Thank you."  She then turned to Apollo and said with a
slight lump in her throat, "You stole my line about the bad
beginnings, but when I think back to how we have come this far I
find it truly amazing that we didn't manage to kill one
another along the way, although on the Ship of Lights I thought I
had came close."  She smiled again, although there was just a trace
of a harsh memory there.  "It did take us quite a while to develop
what we have and I think that that is a good sign.  We've had to
work at it and," she grinned mischievously, "we've even had to give
up some things for one another, so I think that bodes well for the
future."
     Adama took over and bound their hands with the ribbon, saying
seriously, "As I have been given the honor of doing, I hearby seal
Apollo and Sheba in the tradition of our forefathers and the Lords
of Kobol."  He then smiled and started the applause, which was soon
joined by everyone else.
     Starbuck quickly said above the noise, "Kiss!"
     With a roll of his eyes, Apollo leaned over with a smile and
said to Sheba quietly, "Our public awaits."
     Sheba raised an eyebrow and then grinned back before leaning
in for a tender kiss.

This story is purely for entertainment purposes and no copyright
infringement is intended upon the original holders of the
copyrights for the base material.