DISCLAIMER:  The Characters of Battlestar Galactica belong to Glen A.
Larson. No copyright infringement is intended.

Appy and 'Thena
By Seanchaidh & Erin Gieg

  In the depths of the great battlestar Galactica, there lived a 
commander and his two children -- the captain, Appy, and the lieutenant, 
'Thena.
  Food was scarce in the fleet, and so the commander discovered one day
that there were few rations left.
  The next day, during a meeting with the colonel, he let out a great 
sigh and said, "What are we going to do when we run out of rations?  How 
can we feed our warriors?"
  "I know what we can do, sir," answered the colonel.  "We can send 
Appy and 'Thena down into the bowels of the ship to search for more rations.  
If they don't find any, there will be two less mouths to feed."
  "Colonel, no!" the commander cried.  "How could I do such a thing, 
leaving my childr--er, warriors in such a lonely place?  The rodentia would 
scare them to death!"
  "For Sagan's sake, Commander!  Think of the fleet!  Either they find 
more rations, or we have two less mouths to feed."  And he left the meeting 
to let the commander think about the plan.
  The two warriors received their orders, but they knew the implication 
of their mission.  'Thena turned to Appy in tears, "This will be the end of
us.  We'll be lost for sure."
  "What to do!  The angst!" Appy bawled uncontrollably.  "No one's made 
it back from down there!"
  'Thena spied an open box of Bucko's fumarellos, their plasticon 
wrappers glinting in the artificial light.  She grabbed a handful and put as 
many as would fit into her jacket pockets.  "Calm down, big brother--the 
Lords of Kobol will watch over us."
  They met the colonel at the entrance of the lift.
  "Follow me," he said.
  Appy burst into tears, and 'Thena patted him on the shoulder.
  "It's okay, Appy," she comforted him as the colonel scowled grimly at 
them.
  They set out on the journey, first down one long corridor, then farther in
a lift, then through more and more narrow passageways.  'Thena carefully
placed a fumarello at strategic points when the colonel wasn't looking.
Finally they reached yet another junction of the halls, and the colonel
stopped.
  "You will proceed alone," he said.
  Appy bit his lip, and 'Thena laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder again.
  The Colonel took his leave and stalked up the corridor.
  "We'll wait a few centons, until he's halfway back to the bridge," 'Thena
said.
  Appy nodded anxiously.  Twenty centons went by, and finally, 'Thena
smiled.  "Okay, I think it's safe now."
  He grinned at her in relief.
  Hand in hand, they skipped up the passageway, and picking up the
fumarellos as they went.
  "Bucko wouldn't like it if we lost them," 'Thena explained to Appy.
  He nodded in understanding and giggled.  "Yeah, where would he be without
his fumarellos at pyramid games?"
  After a great deal of walking, they reached the commander's quarters.
  "I'm so hungry," Appy complained.
  'Thena opened a drawer, and uncovered the commander's private stash of
mushies.  "Have some of these."
  Appy grabbed a handful of mushies and stuffed them in a pocket, then he
filled the second one.  Stuffing two at a time into his mouth, he mumbled
to 'Thena, "Yummy!"
  The colonel walked in then, and his jaw hit the floor as he saw them
standing there.  He recovered quickly, then demanded, "What are you two
doing here?!  You should still be looking for the rations!"
  'Thena quickly thrust out a mushie while Appy had his full pockets behind
his back.
  "We found a few containers of mushies, and we decided to bring them back
before continuing."
  Looking as though he could see through her confabulation, the Colonel
nodded slightly.
  "Very well, but there are many more rations unaccounted for.  You're both
to continue with your mission immediately.  Dismissed!"
  Appy's shoulders slumped.
  'Thena sighed. 
  "Back we go, I guess."
  Out the door and down the hallways they went, retracing their recent
steps.  As they reached one junction where 'Thena had left a fumarello, she
paused and turned to Appy.
  "Oh no!  I forgot the fumarellos," she gasped.
  Appy reached into his pocket and carefully extracted a handful of mushies.  
  "Here.  Use these," he said helpfully.
  'Thena gave him a grateful smile and took the mushies, leaving one in a
dusty corner at the junction.
  They went further into the deep corridors, and 'Thena continued the
process of taking a mushie from Appy to place in a corridor.  Walking for
several centons, 'Thena examined the long length of corridor, then turned
to Appy.
  "We've gone as far as we can go," she said.  "I don't think there's
anything else down here. Let's head back up."
  Appy nodded, but as the siblings retraced their steps to the last mushie
they'd placed, they were greeted by the sight of Muffit eating it.
  "You stupid daggit!" Appy exclaimed, aiming a kick at its metallic body,
then howled in pain.
  "That hurts!" he yelled.
  'Thena smiled sadly at him and reached a hand over to Muffy and hit the
mechanical daggit's on/off switch.
  "Come on, let's go," she said, taking her brother's hand to lead him away
from the prone daggit.  "I think I remember how we came."
  "What about the mushies?"
  "We don't need any mushies," she replied, feeling half convinced herself,
but at least it calmed Appy down for the time being.
  They wandered aimlessly for a very long time.  After a while, they began
to think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give up.  As soon as that
thought had come, a house came into view...only it wasn't just any house:
it was a house made up of all sorts of food!
  Appy squealed in glee and hopscotched over to the house.
  "Mushies!  And protein cakes and...and...and," Appy babbled.
  "Yes," 'Thena said with a slight frown.  "But who knows how long they've
been there...I mean, that house looks pretty solid."
  "I don't care, I'm hungry!" Appy declared, and began to pull mushies off
of the windowsill.
  Just then, a mechanically enhanced voice called out from the vicinity of
the house's door. 
  "Who is eating my home?"
  'Thena looked up from a protein brick and started when she saw a
particularly menacing IL-series cylon.
  "Yeah, well we're hungry, and you don't need to eat.  Besides, you don't
need a house either...and our father is commander of this ship!"  Appy said
peevishly.
  "Oh, well in that case," the cylon bowed and swept a hand appendage
towards the door.  "Come in, and I shall fix you a proper meal.  My name is
Lucifer, and yours are?"
  "I'm 'Thena, and this is my brother Appy," 'Thena jerked her head stiffly
to indicate Appy.
  They entered the small house and ate a hearty meal that Lucifer prepared.
After they were finished eating, Appy yawned.
  "Oh, you must be exhausted," Lucifer droned, having wheedled the story of
their 'journey' out of them and stored it in the appropriate memory bank.
"You should rest."
  Appy was quick to jump at the chance.
  "Oh thank you!"
  'Thena, still suspicious, resolved to keep her ears open for any odd noises.
  The pair made themselves comfortable on the bunk beds in one corner and
fell asleep in short order.  'Thena's last thought before she drifted off
was, "Why would a cylon need bunk beds?"
  'Thena woke up in the morning to find that Appy and herself had been
trapped in a rather large cage that had been lowered over the beds.
  "What is the meaning of this?" 'Thena demanded of Lucifer, who had just
reentered the hut with an armful of wood.  "And where did you get that
wood?  Logging is prohibited throughout the fleet!"
  Lucifer's eyespots grew brighter and he said, "I am not required to follow
the rules of the fleet.  I answer only to Baltar and the Imperious Leader."
  Appy gasped.
  "Oh no!  What are you going to do with us?" Appy whined.
  'Thena sent a glare his way.  For a commander's son, he should know better
than to show weakness. 
  "I am going to present you to Baltar as a gift," Lucifer said.
  'Thena rolled her eyes.
  "And when are you going to do this?" she asked.
  "Why, as soon as we dock, of course."
  "Dock?  We're aboard the Galactica!  Since when will the Galactica dock
with a Cylon basestar?"
  Appy was silent now, and 'Thena was extremely relieved.
  "I haven't decided yet," Lucifer said.
  "Of course you haven't.  You don't know how, do you?" 'Thena taunted.
  "I will not be baited by a weak human," Lucifer droned.
  Appy lost it and started bawling.
  'Thena stared at him reproachfully.
  She spied a laser weapon sitting on the table nearby and _called_ it 
to her hand...oh wait, that's a totally different universe...*shrug*  Oh 
well, it works.  Okay, so !Super'Thena! bent one of the cage bars quickly and 
swiped the weapon off the table.  Better? Ok, moving right along: she pointed 
it at Lucifer and ordered, "You are going to take us back to the bridge, and 
then you are going to tell the Commander all about your little plan, and where 
we can find Baltar."
  Seeing that he was cornered, Lucifer acquiesced.  
  "I didn't like Baltar anyway," Lucifer changed his tune, but still sounded
quite sullen.
  Appy dried the tears from his face.
  "Yeah, you're going to do that right now!"
  'Thena rolled her eyes again, something that seemed to be happening more
frequently.
  And that was how Lucifer defected.  They didn't catch Baltar after all,
but hey, he's a great villain.  Can't catch him too easily!

				THE END