BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE NEXT GENERATION

  The surviving MAIN characters are IMMORTAL!!! They cannot
be killed, but they CAN be temporarily disabled/comatose, if
you get my meaning.
  Crossovers are permitted, but BE CAREFUL!!! Remember that
the Galactica cannot ever find Earth so that we can keep
adding stories.
  Also, this takes place 17 yahrens after the original BG
series, and of course, ignoring BG80.
  E-mail me at
   jchin01@kepler.poly.edu
Well, Here we go...

#12

There are those who believe that life here began out there,
far across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have
been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or
the Mayans. That they may have been the architects of the
great pyramids, or the lost civilizations of Lemuria or
Atlantis.
  Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man who
even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the heavens.

          BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE NEXT GENERATION
                  IN THE DARK
                  Written by
                   Joe Chin

            Based on Battlestar Galactica
                  Created by
                 Glen A. Larson

Apollo's Journal
  I cannot believe that I am now a father of a sealed man.
It seems like just a  few cycles ago...

  {"May I ride in your ship Sir?" asked this little boy. It
was seventeen yahrens  ago when Apollo first met Boxey, on
his destroyed homeworld, Caprica.
  A much younger Apollo squatted down to the young boy,
saying to him, "Fighter  planes are no place little
boys..."}

  I ended up marrying his mother, and took that little boy
as my own son. He went  on to being one of our finest viper
pilots. His mother would have been proud of  his progress,
had she still have been alive today.
  The lady he married also turned out to be one of our
finest Colonial warriors, too. I am sure that Toria's mother
and father would be proud, whoever  they are, wherever they
are.
  I look back on myself, and I find it strange that I can
think or talk about  Serina, without still feeling the pain
of losing her. I fell in love with her  when I first saw her
on I-F-B, a few yahrens before actually meeting her, but
almost right after I ended up getting sealed to her, she was
killed by the Cylons. I am sure that I have someone new to
thank for helping me through the difficult yahrens of that
loss.
  I have gotten sealed a second time, to Sheba, the daughter
of the legendary Commander Cain. Sheba, too, is proud to be
referred to as 'mother' by Toria, as Boxey has done since my
father sealed us, and she is the closest person she has  to
a mother ever since signing up to be a Colonial warrior.
  Ensign Mojo is getting along all right without Boxey
beside him as his  wingmate and best friend...

Two vipers streaked across space.
  *It is an honor, Mojo, to be your wingmate during Boxey's
furlon,* said Saul.  A VERY great honor.*
  *The honor is mine, Saul,* said Mojo. *I hope that Box and
his new mate are enjoying themselves,* he added.
  *I'm sure they are.*
  The two of them laughed.
  *Well, we've better return or Commander Apollo will have
us as cragh if we are overdue on our patrol.*
  The two vipers made a U-turn, one right after the other,
and then fired their turbos.

A Nomen daggit was cruising through the fleet, wavering
around and past the various ships.
  "I'm sure that it was Colonel Starbuck's idea," said
Boxey.
  "Yeah, it would be something that he would think of,"
responded Toria.
  The two of them laughed.
  "Well, they had to stop us from burning up fuel chasing
each other throughout the fleet somehow," said Boxey. "It
was my father who wanted it stopped."
  "It was nice of Maga to lend us this two-person fighter
for our furlon," said  Toria, changing the subject.
  Boxey was piloting the green retrofitted, practically
rebuilt, Cylon fighter.
"Yes, it was. Perhaps we should pay him a visit after this
next stop."
  Out the front, it seemed that a freighter was approaching
them. Actually, the couple was approaching the freighter.
  "Well, we are approaching the orphan ship."
  Toria pressed a button at her copilot's station, saying,
"A just sealed pair  of Colonial warriors requesting
clearance to land."
  A woman's laughter was the response. *Clearance granted,
Ensign Toria. And welcome back,* said the woman's voice.

Siress Tinnia stood there as the two occupants climbed out
of the green  retrofitted Cylon raider.
  "Hello, Boxey," she said, and then, "Welcome back, Toria."
  Toria ran up to her, and they both hugged. "It's good to
see this place again, Tinnia. How are things here?"
  "Busy as usual. Between that and being back on the Council
of Twelve again..." Tinnia trailed off. "Well, how long has
it been?"
  "Four yahrens when I transferred to the Galactica for
Colonial Warrior training," responded Toria.
  "It's been that long?" asked Tinnia. "It seems like only a
few sectons ago when I saw you off to the Galactica."
  "Your mother would have been proud," said Tinnia.
  "If only we knew who my mother was..."
  "You were just learning how to walk when the Cylons
attacked and destroyed our homeworlds. As I told you before,
you were found in the arms of your  mother, Iris, who died
from laser fodder of the Cylons. No one knows who your
father was. Based on your physical conditions, you were a
yahren old when the Cylons destroyed our homes. All that was
known was that your mother worked as a shop keeper. She
owned a market that sold raw foods. It was also said that
she  never left Gemon, just worked in her market, and went
home. Well, while you're  here, enjoy our hospitality."
  The three of them started walking.
  "We are expecting a maintenance crew to come on board,"
explained Tinnia. She  was on the bridge of the orphan ship,
with Boxey and Toria.
  A bridge officer looked at the duo, saying, "Toria?"
  Toria looked at the young girl at the station. "I have
seen you, but I cannot  remember who you are," said Toria.
  "Roxette," said the young officer. "I am going to transfer
to the Galactica soon for recruitment."
  Tinnia said, "Personal recommendation from me."
  "You must be good, Rox," said Boxey, "to get a
recommendation from Siress Tinnia."
  "Well, she did recommend me," said Toria.
  "And you could probably fly rings around me," said Boxey.
  "That's only because you're too busy to busy paying
attention to ME instead of what you're supposed to be
doing."
  Everyone laughed.

Outside, a shuttle hastily approached the orphan ship.
*Electronics maintenance  crew requesting permission to
board,* said a male voice. *Please...*
  *Clearance to land granted but slow down-* was Roxette's
response. All off a sudden, there was static.
  The shuttle wavered, and then crashed into the side rear
of the orphan ship by its propulsion systems, and then
exploded.

On the bridge, everything shook, throwing Tinnia into Boxey
and Toria, and then  everything all of a sudden went dark.
  "What happened?" asked Tinnia's voice.
  "I don't know," responded Roxette. "The maintenance
shuttle may have crashed  into us."
  "You all right, Siress?" asked Boxey's voice. He moaned.
  "Thanks you for breaking my fall, Sergeant," responded
Tinnia's voice. Then she cried out, "I'll have those shuttle
pilots before a tribunal if they crashed into us..." After a
micron's silence, apparently to calm down, she called,
"Toria?"
  "I'm OK," responded Toria's voice.
  "If you can move, we must get to the children... assuming
that this power outage is shipwide."
  "I'll try, Tinnia," responded Toria. "I know this ship
inside and out, from living here most of my life."
  "Good, Toria, get to it."
  "Let me get to engineering," said Boxey. "Where IS
engineering anyway?"
  "I'll take you," said Tinnia's voice.
  "But your place is the bridge as commander of this ship,"
objected Roxette's voice.
  "My place is where I am most needed and useful," responded
Tinnia. "Boxey, let's go. Boxey?"
  No response.
  "Boxey?"

  On the Galactica, Omega pointed out, "Something happened
to the Orphan ship."
  "What happened," asked Starbuck.
  "Apparently, a maintenance shuttle crashed into its
engines," responded Athena. "Commander Croft has just
reported that to us."
  "Are you sure that it was the maintenance shuttle?" asked
Apollo. "Boxey and Toria were going over there to visit."
  Athena piped in with, "Chancellor Maga said that their
daggit had landed in its landing bay several centons before
the incident."
  "Starbuck, you have the bridge," said Apollo. With that,
he ran down the steps of the command deck, jumping at the
last five steps and continued running.

  Cassiopeia and Mojo were in the landing bay. Each of them
had a sack strapped to their shoulders, hanging behind them,
when Apollo arrived with a sack of his own on his shoulder.
  "Commander, I want to come along," said Mojo.
  "Mojo, what-"
  "I was in the life center when Cassiopeia received orders
from Colonel Starbuck to meet you in Landing Bay Alpha,"
said Mojo, not letting Apollo finish his question. "I heard
Starbuck explaining the problems to her. Sergeant Box is my
friend, and I can be of use there."
  "Can we use your daggit?"
  Mojo held his hand out to the green retrofitted Cylon
raider in the bay.
  Cassiopeia looked at Apollo, wondering why. She also had
another question.  "Why are YOU going, Commander? And why
Mojo's fighter craft instead of a shuttle?"
  Apollo looked back at her, saying, "I was originally going
to launch in a  viper, but a viper only carries the pilot.
Also, that's my son out there."
  "But we're not going into combat," responded Cassiopeia.
"Besides there are other-"
  "No time to explain, Doctor," responded Apollo, cutting
her off. With that, Apollo ran over to the daggit.
  Mojo, with his longer legs, beat Apollo to it, and climbed
up the ladder into in first, followed by Apollo.
  Inside the daggit, Apollo sat in the pilot's seat, and
flipped three switches, and pressed three buttons above
them.
  Meanwhile, Mojo reached down, and lifted Cassiopeia by her
underarms up into the air, and then plunked her right on her
feet in the daggit. Then he pressed a button on the side
panel near the rear, and the hatch into the craft closed.
  As Mojo sat in the copilot's seat, Cassiopeia sat in the
third seat where the  Cylon would normally sit and give
orders.
  "Do you know how to handle this daggit, Commander?" asked
Mojo.
  "Yes, Mojo, I flew a Cylon fighter before."
  "But that was seventeen yahrens ago, Commander," responded
Cassiopeia.
  "When he and Starbuck boarded that basestar...?" finished
Mojo.
  Apollo pressed a button on the short control stick, and
everyone was thrown  back against the backs of their chairs.
  "How did YOU know," asked Apollo.
  "Stories of how you and Starbuck insured victory for the
Galactica is one of  the stories told amongst my people,"
replied Mojo. "It is a very dangerous job  to board an enemy
ship to try to disrupt operations the way you did. You could
have been terminated as soon as you arrived, and if you did
not make it off the
basestar, you could have been killed along with its
destruction. It shows that  you were willing to die for your
people. As children, we also have to listen to  that portion
of Commander Adama's journals as part of becoming a Nomen."
  Out the front window, the freighter near the rear of the
fleet was getting closer. The front windows were completely
black.
  Apollo pressed another button, and said, "Commander Apollo
of the Battlestar Galactica requesting permission to board."
  The only response he got was static.

  Outside, the daggit slowly went in circles around the
orphan ship, around its sides, and around from top to
bottom. It then maneuvered itself sideways in front of it,
and then came to a full stop. Then it fired its twin red-
orange lasers four times into space.
  After a few long microns, a light blinked on and off in
one of the windows four times in response to that.
  The daggit fired two more lasers, and then that light
blinked on and off two more times.

"The damage does not seem to be that extensive," said
Apollo. "Someone is still alive and conscious in there."
  He and Mojo looked at each other. Behind them, Cassiopeia
sat silently.
  "Well, people are alive on the bridge," pointed out
Cassiopeia.
  "But one of the propulsion nozzles is severely damaged,"
said Mojo. "It must have sent a chain reaction through its
systems, and blew main and auxiliary power systems."
  The daggit started moving, heading towards a landing bay.

  The daggit came to a full stop in the landing bay.
  On Mojo's dashboard, there was a yellow light blinking.
Mojo pressed a button, in the rear of the craft to open the
hatch, but nothing happened.
  "The landing bay must have been decompressed," said Mojo.
With that, he opened up a compartment, and the three got
into space suits.
  "I hope that my son and his wife are all right," said
Apollo.
  "I'm sure that Boxey and Toria are already trying to
restore the ship's systems," said Mojo.

A light was shining from up ahead in the dark corridor.
  "Hello?" said Boxey's voice.
  The figure held up his hand to fend off some of the bright
light that was shining in his face.
  "Sergeant Boxey?" said Tinnia's voice.
  "Siress!" responded Boxey. "I was trying to find
Engineering."
  "Follow me, Sergeant. I know exactly where it is."

There was the sound of footsteps in the total darkness,
which went silent.  After a high-pitch HARUMPH, there was
the hiss of a door opening.
  "Hello there?" said a woman's voice.
  "I'm Toria," responded Toria's voice. "Is everyone all
right?"
  "Hey! Toria," said the woman's voice. "Welcome back. I
must apologize for the hospitality of the darkness but I
don't know..."
  "A maintenance shuttle crashed into the ship," said Toria.
  Small voices responded. "I'm scared."
  "Are we going to die?"
  "It's too dark in here!"
  "Please help us. We're too young to die."
  There were also sounds of sobbing children.
  Suddenly, Toria's voice screeched, "YIIIii!!" followed by
a thud.
  "Sorry," said another small voice.
  Toria's voice harumphed. Then Toria's voice said, "No
one's going to die. My husband is going to engineering to
get things fixed."
  "Husband?" asked the woman's voice. "You mean Boxey?"
  "Yes. We're both on furlon since we just got sealed."
  "Well, you're a Colonial warrior now, from what I heard.
Don't you have a light source of some kind?"
  "No, because we were on furlon. We did not expect anything
like this to happen. But I know that Sergeant Boxey will do
everything he can to restore power."

"This is Engineering," said Tinnia. She had a lantern that
shined right on the doors.
  Boxey tried to walk through it, but stopped short of
walking into the closed doors. "Power must be off line,"
reported Boxey.
  "Obviously..." said Tinnia.
  Boxey dug his fingers into the crease of the double-door,
and struggled to try to open it. The doors did not move.
Tinnia dug her fingers in as well, to try to help, but
nothing happened.
  "If only my wingmate was here," said Boxey. "He can
probably get this door opened all by himself."
  "And if the damage was that bad, maybe get us ALL sucked
into space."
  Boxey sighed. "I have an idea, Siress." With that, he took
his two hands and  made a single fist with them.  He swung
both arms back, and swung at the door four times, making
four thumping noises on the door.
  After a few long microns, he was answered with THUMP, one
micron, THUMP, another micron, THUMP, another micron, and
THUMP.
  Boxey took another three swings at the door. On the last
thump, Boxey found himself flying back from the impact and
his back against the wall on the other side.
  One more THUMP followed.
  "I guess that I may be wrong, there would not be a
response from the engineering crew, Sergeant," said Tinnia.
"Also, I find myself lighter on my feet. Are you all right?"
  "Yeah, I'm OK, Siress. The artificial gee force must be
diminishing."

  *Let's get that landing bay door closed, Mojo,* said
Apollo into his helmetcom as they walked over to the rear of
the landing bay where they came in with the fighter.
  *My magnetic soles on my boots just activated, Commander,*
pointed out Mojo.
  *Mine too, Mojo. Can you still do it?*
  *Never underestimate the abilities of a Borelian Nomen.*
With that, he jumped up and turned upside down, and landed
standing on the 'ceiling' of the landing bay.
  *AARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!* cried Mojo as he struggled to pull
something.  Apollo cringed in his suit as Mojo's cry of
struggle rang in his ears over the comm. Cassiopeia put her
hands to the sides of her head in an attempt to over her
ears from Mojo's cry of struggle. He watched as Mojo pulled
at the landing bay door, and it swung closed, lifting Mojo
off the ceiling. The door slammed shut with a big bang as
Mojo landed on his feet on the floor.  The two of them
walked back towards the direction that they came from, and
Mojo harumphed again as he struggled to open the doorway to
the rest of the ship.

  "...But we have not heard from Commander Apollo since he
landed on the orphan ship."
  Back on the Galactica, Sheba was on the scanner on the
command deck, listening to Starbuck's report.
  *Did he just put you in command of the Galactica or of the
entire fleet?* Sheba asked.
  "He just said, 'Starbuck, you have the bridge,' to me."
  *I take that he only put you in command pro-tem of the
Galactica. I'll take the Adama back there to see for
myself.*
  "Fine by me, Sheba."
  With that, the scanner went blank.

  Out in space the green basestar, Adama, started to drift
backwards. It stopped near a small freighter, small compared
to the massiveness of the basestar.
*Basestar Adama to the Orphan Ship.* It was Sheba's voice
over the comline, and she did not know the name of the
freighter. *Please respond.*

  Sheba, with Bojay standing beside her, both waited.
  "This is Colonel Sheba of the basestar Adama," continued
Sheba. "Please respond, Commander Apollo."
  There was nothing but static over the comline.
  "Communications must be out, Sheba," pointed out Aurora.
  "But Commander Apollo HIMSELF left the Galactica to go
there... I'm sure that he would have carried some kind of
communication device with him."
  "But-" pointed out Aurora, "it may not be able to
penetrate the hull of the ship, Colonel. This is not the
Galactica. Some of these systems on this basestar still are
in the process of being modified and upgraded.
Communications may be one of them."

  Three flashlights shown forwards as Apollo's voice said,
"The damage does not seem that extensive, Boxey. Mojo,
Cassiopeia and I are on our way and we'll meet you by
engineering."
  *We'll be waiting, Father.*
  With that, the three of them trampled as fast as they
could. The gee forces that held them to the floor had
diminished, and their magnetic boots of their space suits
made the trip to Engineering awkward.
  All of a sudden, Apollo heard Sheba's voice, *This is
Colonel Sheba of the Basestar Adama...*
  Apollo pulled out his communicator, saying, "Yes, Sheba."

  Back on the Galactica, Starbuck was pacing on the command
deck.
  "Calm down, Starbuck," remarked Boomer.
  "It's been an entire centar since Apollo left with my
wife," he commented.
  Rigel and Athena started giggling with that comment.
Omega, too, started laughing into his station.
  "What?!" growled Starbuck.
  "It's what you said, Colonel," remarked Omega.
  "Well, I'm worried about them."
  "Well," said Athena. "It isn't like they left for an
affair. If it was what you were thinking. Besides, you are
the one most likely to..."
  "Hey! I haven't tried to seduce anyone since ..." He
trailed off. "I need to make sure that Apollo and Cassiopeia
are all right."
  With that, he tried to step off the command deck, but
Boomer stopped him.  "Colonel, Commander Apollo put YOU in
command of the Galactica."
  "I am the ranking officer, Captain."
  Omega turned, saying, "Colonel, Captain Boomer is right.
The commander's exact words were, 'Starbuck, you have the
bridge.' I would take that to mean that Apollo wants you to
stay here."
  "Besides, you just sent Colonel Sheba to take the Adama to
try to render assistance." said Athena. "If they ARE up to
what you sound like you think, then she'll get them."
  The entire bridge was filled with laughter. After a few
microns, Starbuck was laughing as well.
  "But that is NOT what I'm worried about. Contact the
Adama."

  "Apollo, Mojo and Boxey are trying to get into
engineering," said Sheba into her station. "Cassiopeia went
to find where Toria and the children are, following Siress
Tinnia's directions. I have Damon, Valka, and Kritter on
standby to launch in a shuttle if further assistance is
needed."
  *But what happened?* asked Starbuck's voice through the
comline.
  "Apparently, the maintenance shuttle crashed into the
propulsion systems, and Ensign Mojo speculates that the
collision or the destruction of the shuttle, may have caused
a cascade reaction that took out main and auxiliary power."
  *Mojo went with them?*
  "According to Apollo, he is with them."

  "AARRRRGGGHHH..." cried Mojo as he struggled to get the
doors to Engineering opened. The doors creaked, but Mojo's
yell of struggle made the creak almost unnoticeable. The
doors to Engineering were heavier and harder to open and
close because if they needed to contain an explosion
there...
  "Let's give Mojo a hand," said Apollo.
  Boxey and Apollo dug their fingers in to the crack between
the two doors, and pulled as Mojo let out another yell. The
doors opened some more. With help from  the other side, they
got the doors opened more as two others forced the doors
opened, and Boxey, followed by Apollo, and then Mojo
squeezed through the opening.

  "First, let's get back-up power restored," commented
Boxey.
  "All right, Box," said Mojo.
  "What's that Borelian Nomen doing here?" asked someone.
  "Helping YOU get your ship's power restored, under MY
orders," answered Apollo.
  "Commander Apollo... I was just asking. Didn't this
Borelian Nomen kill someone? A member of Council Security?"
  Tinnia said, "Doctor John, he did not kill anyone, except
maybe a few Cylons. And if you had paid more attention to I-
F-B, you would have found out what REALLY happened. Now, are
you going to give us a hand before life support runs out or
do we talk until we can no longer breathe?"
  "All right, Siress, let's do it."
  "Well," pointed out Boxey, "Mojo speculated that the
shuttle's impact probably sent a cascade reaction through
the propulsion system that blew main and backup power
systems."
  "Somehow, that makes sense, Boxey is it?"
  "Yes."
  "Weren't you here to visit with your wife Toria?" asked
Doctor John.
  "She is with the children."
  "Along with Galactica Chief Life Station Officer, Doctor
Cassiopeia," added Apollo.
  "What happened?" asked Mojo.
  "It just went dark in here," responded the engineering
officer.
  "Come on," said Tinnia. "We need a better analysis than
that. Not the feldorcarb that you just gave us. Or have you
been negligent in your duties?  I'm sure that Commander
Croft aboard the prison barge would not mind an extra pair
of hands..."
  "Feldorcarb?" whispered Mojo to Apollo. "I heard it as
'felgercarb...' Or was that felbacarb?"
  "Different colonies have slightly different dialects,"
whispered Apollo back to Mojo.
  "Siress, I am not giving you feldurcobb. That's pretty
much what happened," he said. "There was a loud bump, the
entire place shook, and then the emergency lighting came on
for a fraction of a micron, and after that, everything just
went dark."
  "Sirette," Another officer stepped in, "Doctor John is
NAUT giving you folgocobb. This is what we ALL witnessed as
we were performing our duties."
  "All right," said Boxey. "I think that Mojo is right.
First thing is to restore backup power. And then life
support."
  "This is not a battlestar," said the engineer.
  "Hey, Doctor John," growled Tinnia. "Commander Apollo is
the Fleet Commander, you know."
  "You're right, Doctor John," said Apollo. "This is not a
battlestar. Want to get MAIN power on first? You're the
chief engineer here. We'll do it your way."
  "That's what we've BEEN trying to do," cried Doctor John.
  "Then what's the problem?" asked Mojo.
  "All right," said the engineer. "We'll do it your way,
Commander."

   "Is everyone all right here?" Cassiopeia walked into the
room where the children were, shining her light into the
room. "I am a doctor."
  "Cassie?" asked Toria.
  "Yes, Toria. It's me. Commander Apollo and Ensign Mojo
went to the engineering section."
  "Well, we have been swept off our feet because it seems
that the gee force generators have gone off-line..."
  Several children giggled at that comment.
  "But other than that," continued Toria, "I believe we are
all right."
  "Good," responded Cassiopeia. "Now all we have to do is
wait."
  "Perhaps I should see what I can do in engineering," said
Toria. "After all, I helped get the battlestar Olympus
started."
  "Go on, Toria," said Cassiopeia. "I'll stay here with the
children."
  With that, Toria pushed the wall beside her, and she
floated towards the doorway.

  "... this mess here. It looks like we may be rebuilding
part of the ship's backup systems, as well as main power
systems," said John. "I just hope that we get it done before
air supplies run out."
  "I'm here to help," came Toria's voice from nowhere.
  "Toria??" asked John.
  "Hello, John. I came to help since Chief Medical Officer
Cassiopeia is staying with the children."
  "Great," he said sarcastically. "Then you can unburn some
circuitry and unfuse one of the backup power batteries."
  "That bad?" asked Toria. "Don't you have spare batteries
or spare parts?  Perhaps we can bypass that part of the
system. Basically, we need to get Life support on and stop
us from floating all over the place."
  "I believe that the maintenance shuttle crashed into us,"
said Toria.
  "It did," said Apollo. "Commander Croft aboard the prison
barge watched it happen with his own eyes, and despite his
attempts to contact them to tell them to slow down... Well,
he was the one who reported it to us."
  "Well, can't we get parts from the electronics ship?"
  "We had to manually seal the shuttle bay with the inner
positive shield to avoid decompressing the entire ship,"
said Mojo.
  "And Main Power is completely destroyed," said John.
  "Do we have enough shuttles to transport all the people
off the ship while we make repairs?" asked Boxey.
  "We have only two shuttles in our bay," said Tinnia. "That
would only carry about... one fourth of the passengers and
crew, even if we fill the shuttle beyond maximum capacity."
  "Space suits?" asked Boxey.
  "We have only a few," said John.
  "And there are there more in the fighter Boxey and I came
in," said Toria.
  "And you think that would help?"
  "Just a thought," said Toria.
  "What we REALLY need is a space station," said John.
  "Yeah, right," responded Tinnia. "They were all destroyed
seventeen yahrens ago... at least the ones we had left. I
saw Germoni Deep Space Station Ninety-Eight explode tight
before my eyes all the way from the surface of  Gemon. And
for it to be that intense, I am sure that the last
battlestar built may have gone right along with it."
  Apollo grumbled.
  "You know exactly what I am saying, don't you, Commander,"
asked Tinnia.
  "The Andromeda," he murmured. "Last I heard was that my
aunt was supposed to be her commander."
  "Siress... Commander?" interrupted John. "I hate to break
into my superior officers' conversation about the past,
but... We have a problem here..."
  "Yes," responded Tinnia. "It was recommended that we
transport all the passengers and crew to other ships, but we
do not have enough room in the shuttles in our landing bay,
even if we have many people standing."
  "We can probably fit a few into the two daggits," said
Mojo. "Boxey and Toria came over here in one, and the
Commander, the Galactica's Chief Medical Officer, and I came
in another."
  "That would be like trying to fit an entire basestar's
worth of Cylon fighters or Nomen daggits on one of a
battlestar's landing bays," said Tinnia.
  "It would be unsafe to transport a shuttle like that."
  "But there has to be more than just the two daggits," said
Mojo. "We took as  many of them as we could aboard the Groof
and our industry ship, and scattered  the rest in landing
bays of various ships of the fleet.  Besides, we can always
have more shuttles here to pick up the rest of the people."
  "And decompress the entire ship?" asked John.
  "Not exactly," said Mojo. "I can manually close the doors
to the landing bay, the same way I opened them, and then
open the doorway to the landing bay from space, close them
as soon as the extra shuttles have landed, open up the door
to the landing bay..."
  "But that may take centares," said John. "By that time, we
all probably would have suffocated. Besides, with all due
respect, Ensign, even a Borelian Nomen can only do so much."
  "Well," said Apollo, "The Adama is standing by to render
aid if we need it." He turned to Mojo, asking him, "Isn't
there a Borelian Nomen under Sheba's  command?"
  "There is Valka, daughter of Vola," answered Mojo. "And
yes, she has been through her Rites of the Code. If you are
thinking what I am now thinking, we can enlist her help in
getting these doors manually opened and closed."
  "Wait a centon here," growled John. "The Ensign here said
'daughter...' A Borelian No-woman?"
  "No," said Mojo. "A Borelian Nomen. She is just as much of
a warrior as I am.  She fought side-by-side with me, Box,
Toria, Colonel Sheba, and Commander Apollo in taking that
basestar. And she fought as honorably as the rest of us."
It was obvious that Mojo was getting heated up. "I saw her
pick up a Cylon Centurion and lift it over her head to throw
it."
  "Yeah, what is wrong with... a Borelian No-woman?" asked
Tinnia. "Or a woman Borelian Nomen?"
  After a few micron's silence, Toria said, "Speak up,
John."
  "If we are finished arguing," broke in Boxey, "we've got
things to do here."
  "Your call, Commander," said Tinnia.
  "Oxygen masks?" Apollo asked.
  "What?" asked John.
  "Do we have oxygen masks available?" Apollo clarified.
"Just for in case Ensign Mojo or Valka have a problem with
opening and closing all those doors."
  "Oh."
  "I mean, Commander Tigh had made specific orders to make
sure that they were available in every area on all the
ships, just for in case of emergency."
  "Yes," said Tinnia. "But I am not sure how many we have."
After a micron, Tinnia said, "Toria and Boxey... Try to get
all the crew and passengers here together, especially the
children."
  "Yes, Siress," responded Boxey and Toria.
  "The Commander and the engineering staff and I will remain
here on the ship to await the repair crew from Colonel
Sheba's ship," continued Tinnia. "John, get the space
suits."
  "Yes, Siress," responded John.
  "Now, John, select who will remain here, and then send the
others to meet the shuttles, and after that, let's all get
into space suits."
  John nodded to her.
  Apollo then said to Mojo, "Ensign, give Boxey your
communications device.  He will need it to tell us when he
is ready for us to call for the shuttles from the Adama."
  With that, Tinnia and Apollo gave them their lanterns.
Then Boxey and Toria both pushed themselves away.

  Aboard the Adama, Damon, Kritter and Valka were carrying
cases of stuff onto their shuttle.
  "At least now, we have a more definite answer of what we
need to do," said Kritter.
  "Yeah, a load of parts for main power is a lot to load."
  "But at least we are not waiting around doing nothing,"
said Valka, as she carried a larger crate by herself than
Kritter and Damon were both struggling with.

  Meanwhile, Toria, Cassiopeia, and the children, were
holding hands with each other, led by Cassiopeia in her
magnetic footware, down the corridors.

  "We need you to pilot one of the shuttles, Roxette," said
Boxey.
  He was on the bridge, trying to get the crew to evacuate.
  "My place is right here on the bridge, Sergeant," she
argued.
  "All right, then," responded Boxey. "With all due respect,
I do admire your devotion to duty, but let me contact
Commander Apollo, and see what he and Siress Tinnia says."
  "I know Tinnia, Boxey," she said. "After all, she
practically raised me, and I am sure she would agree with
me."
  "It was Tinnia's words that everyone should evacuate the
ship except for part of the engineering staff. I will
contact Commander Apollo and see what they say."
  "All right." Roxette gave in. "Contact them."
  Boxey said into his communicator, "Boxey to Apollo..."


  Toria and Cassiopeia got the children to the landing bay,
and Cassiopeia said to Toria, "Remember that no one except
for you and I, are wearing gee suits. Whoever you and Boxey
take into your ships, remember to go slow."
  "Boxey and I will follow the shuttles, Cass."

  *I need you to pilot one of the shuttles over to the Adama
with whatever crew and passengers are aboard one of the
shuttles, Roxette.* That was Tinnia's voice coming from the
communicator that Mojo handed over to Boxey.
  "All right, Siress." With that, she handed the
communicator back to Boxey. "You were right, and I was
wrong, Sergeant. Let's go."
  Boxey held his hand out to her. "Everyone hold hands, as
we will be floating our way to the landing bay."
  "Now Boxey," challenged Roxette. "How do you think that
Toria would feel if she saw us holding hands?"
  There was laughter from everyone on the bridge.

  Toria and Cassiopeia sat in the pilot's and copilot's
seats of one of the daggits. Behind them were several
children.
  Boxey sat in the pilot's seat of the other daggit. More
children were in that ship as well. He held the communicator
in front of him, saying, "We are starting up, and will
follow the two shuttles. And tell Mojo that I promise to
return his ship to him intact."
  *Launch,* came the order. It was Apollo's voice.
  Boxey flipped the switch on a black box with a small
screen, and 'C.O.R.A' on it.
  "CORA, open a channel to the shuttles."
  *You got it, Box-Box,* responded the CORA unit. *Channel
opened.*
  "Launch," said Boxey aloud.
  *Yes, Sergeant,* responded Roxette's voice.

  Out in the launch bay, someone in a space suit squatted
down on its 'ceiling' as the two shuttles, followed by two
daggits drifted out into space. After the four ships were
gone, five more shuttles drifted in. They drifted in because
they did not want to come in too fast and risk hitting Mojo,
who was waiting by the entrance from space into the landing
bay to close the door.
  Passengers and crew were a train of people holding hands,
drifting into three of the just-landed shuttles.  As the
last person was entering the shuttle, he slammed frontwards
into the side, missing the entrance, and started drifting
towards the opening into space.
  Mojo, who was standing by in his space suit, did a
somersault off the ceiling, catching the person, and landed
on the floor, holding the person by her upper arm. He leapt
towards that shuttle, and someone else
in a space suit grabbed the person's other arm, and led her
to the shuttle. The person climbed in, landing on her
backside in a sitting position as soon as the G-forces of
the shuttle's floor pulled her. Someone inside waved to
Mojo, and after he waved back, the same person hit the
button by the door, closing it.  Three of the shuttles
drifted out in space as the two in space suits stood by the
hatch side-by-side watching the shuttles leave.
  *That should do it, Mojo,* said Valka's voice. *Let's get
this door closed.*
  *WAIT!* cried Mojo as he saw two daggits heading towards
the entrance.

  Out in space, three green laser beams connected from the
Adama to the front of the freighter, as two green shiny dots
headed towards the freighter.

  A good amount of time later, the lights were back on, and
Tinnia removed her helmet. She took a breath of air, and
smiled. Apollo followed suit, and so did everyone else.
  "We DID it...!" cheered John. "And I could not have done
this without your support."
  Boxey and Toria hugged, Apollo and Tinnia hugged, and
Doctor John held his hand out to Mojo. Mojo took it by the
wrist, saying, "Mission Accomplished, Doctor John."
  "Let's get to the bridge," ordered Tinnia.
  "Right," said Apollo.

  Apollo stared at the station, saying, "Thank you for the
assist, Sheba. You can release the towing lasers now."
  *Glad to be part of the help,* responded Sheba on the
scanner.
  "The passengers and crew can now return," said Tinnia from
behind Apollo.
  *I'll tell them,* said Sheba. With that, the picture of
her on the scanner faded.
  Apollo looked behind himself at Tinnia, who turned to and
said to Toria, "You  were here to help save us again,
Toria."
  "Part of the job," responded Toria.
  Tinnia turned back to Apollo, and asked him, "Using the
Adama, you were able to tow my ship so that we did not have
to bring the fleet to a full stop while we made repairs. Why
can we not tow some of the slow moving barges and get us
moving at light speed?"
  Apollo was fast with the answer. "Because the towing laser
generators cannot handle it at high speeds, and some of
those slow moving ships would fall apart  at the higher
speeds. To get the slower ships capable at handling the
higher speeds, we would need to rebuild the hulls with
thicker tylinium, and the extra tylinium needed we do not
have available. Besides, we can tow only two ships at a time
using the Galactica. The Adama can probably tow two as well.
The Borelian Nomens' Groof, and the Celestra, one each. And
they cannot tow anything larger than a shuttle without
exceeding safety limits."
  "Oh," said Tinnia.
  "Besides," continued Apollo, "Having to stop a fleet at
this size at light speed for some reason or another would be
dangerous. All we need is for one helm's response to be a
fraction of a millimicron off, and the results can be
disastrous for two or more ships."
  Tinnia nodded to Apollo, showing her satisfaction of his
answer.

  A scanner on the bridge showed a picture of the landing
bay. Cassiopeia, Mojo, and Apollo climbed into the daggit.
The crew and children had already disembarked from the
shuttles, and Roxette was back at her station.
  Back to the scanner screen, the ladder to the daggit was
pulled in. A few microns later, they heard Apollo's voice
saying, *Galactica commander and Adama shuttle crew
requesting launch clearance.*
  "Launch," said Tinnia.
  "Launch control turned over to you, Commander," said
Roxette into her station.
  From the bay, one daggit and seven shuttles emerged. As
the daggit in front of the shuttles made a U-turn, the
shuttles followed.

  From the bridge, Tinnia, Roxette, Boxey and Toria, and the
entire bridge crew  watched as the shuttles flew
synchronously behind the daggit towards the basestar Adama.
  "Precision flying," said Roxette.
  "Well, It was Apollo and Starbuck who gave Blue Squadron
its good reputation," responded Tinnia. She turned to Boxey,
saying, "And I hope that you are continuing that good
reputation, young man."
  "I try," said Boxey, "Under the leadership of Captain
Boomer."
  "Boomer," murmured Tinnia in thought. "Isn't he from
Tigh's and Solon's colony?"
  "Yes," responded Boxey and Toria in harmony.
  "I remember from history that he and Colonel Starbuck also
helped Blue Squadron get their good reputation," said
Roxette.
  "I learned from him," said Boxey.
  "And I learned from him and Colonel Sheba," added Toria.
  "Ah, Sheba, Commander Cain's daughter," said Tinnia.
  "You mean of the Pegasus?" asked Roxette.
  "Yes, Fleet Commander of the Fifth Fleet," answered
Tinnia.
  "Didn't that fleet perish over twenty yahrens ago?" asked
Roxette.
  "Yes it did," responded Tinnia. "But I am getting hungry,
and I am sure you are as well. Let's talk it over in the
mess hall..."

  Boxey and Toria were in their temporary quarters, each one
sitting on a side of the bed.
  "Lights," said Toria.
  All of a sudden, the room was completely dark.
  "Siress Tinnia sure has a unique point of view of
Commander Cain," said Boxey.
  "That she does," said Toria's voice. "At least you've met
him. I was stuck here at the time."
  "But you've met me," said Boxey's voice.
  The two giggled.

  Boxey and Toria had just gotten back in their daggit. The
ladder leading from it to the deck was pulled in, and the
hatch closed. *Toria and Boxey requesting permission to
launch,* said Boxey's voice through the comm system.
  *Launch control handed to you, Toria,* said Roxette's
voice from the comm system.
  Boxey hit the TURBO button on the control stick, and the
two of them fell back in their seats as the fighter
launched.
  They were on their way to another freighter that was
nearby. This one had laser turrets all over its hull. On the
side of it was GROOF.

  "Easy, Toria. This is different from a viper," said Boxey.
  Toria pulled the control stick back some. "It is not as
hard as you make it sound, Boxey," said Toria.
  "Want to go blow some meteors before our next stop?"
  "All right."
  "Without CORA, all right?"
  "We're not using the CORA unit right now, anyway.

  The green fighter veered off away from the Groof.
  There was a large piece of a meteor that was moving pretty
fast. The fighter approached, and fired two rounds, the
second one hitting it. A third round  made the meteor
explode into smaller pieces, but still relatively large
ones.
  The fighter veered off as lasers fired. Some of the lasers
hit the smaller pieces of the rock, but many missed. The
smaller pieces exploded into space dust.
  The fighter made a U-turn through the debris.

  "I DID IT!" cheered Toria.
  "Yes, you did," said Boxey. He still had his hand on the
C.O.R.A. switch just in case. "Think you can take us in
without blowing us up?" he asked.
  Toria giggled, saying, "Yes. Just turn CORA on... just for
in case."
  Boxey laughed out loud at that.
  "What's so funny?" asked Toria. Her own question was
answered as she, too laughed.
  Out the front, the Groof was getting closer and closer.
  "Don't you need to ask for landing clearance?" asked
Toria.
  "It is not their way, unless there was a lot of activity,"
responded Boxey.
  The open landing bay was now visible.
  "Well, here we go," said Toria, as she pressed the IM
button on the control stick.

  In space, the fighter was moving, and abruptly came to a
full stop. It started moving again, slowly picking up speed
as it headed into the landing  bay.
  "Good move, Toria," remarked Boxey.
  The two of them laughed.
  From the front portal, the landing bay approached, and
then they were inside.  The fighter came to a full stop
again.
  "Got us here in one piece," remarked Toria.
  They both laughed again.
  "Well, Maga will be glad when he hears that we're sealed."
  "Why?"
  "Well..." Boxey paused. Remember that chase that we all
went on trying to find each other, except that we kept on
being in different places? I got there to find that you had
just left and you got there in time to find that Mojo and I
had just left?"
  "Yeah," giggled Toria, "that was funny."
  "Well, I was feeling down on myself when you decided that
you did not want to go through with our marriage. I just
could not take another micron on the Galactica. I decided
that i wanted to transfer to the Groof and learn to be a
Borelian Nomen. Maga and Mojo both saw right through me.
Maga said to me..."

   {"The reason why you are here right now is because there
are things that Mojo felt that -I- should tell you as an
elder Nomen, but a Nomen who runs away from his troubles
like YOU just did... would be stripped him of his Nomen rank
and thrown into the brig. But- since you do not know that
much about the ways of a Nomen, I am being tolerant. Do you
love her? This... Toria?"
  He looked at Mojo, and back at Maga. "Yes, Chancellor."
  "THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" screamed Maga. "YOU
SHOULD BE TRYING TO WIN HER BACK!... instead of being here."
  Boxey cringed.
  Maga placed a hand on Boxey's shoulder, and said to him,
"A Nomen of the Code would confront his problems and sorrows
instead of running away from them. Not only because it is
the honorable thing to do, but also, you can give up
everything to start over, and it may start off easy despite
the hardships of establishing a new life. But- after awhile,
those sorrows catch you when you least expect it to."
  "You are right, Chancellor..."
  "Please, my young friend, call me Maga."
  "And thank you for the advice, Maga."
  "You and Mojo take a Nomen daggit back... Your vipers are
in the process of being refueled, and you want to hurry and
catch her."
  "Thank you, Maga." With that, Boxey and Mojo put their
right fists on their left shoulders, as if they were both
synchronized, to salute to Maga, and ran out.}

  "You mean, that was you and Mojo who almost collided into
my viper?" asked  Toria. They both were walking down the
corridors aboard the Groof. "I thought that Maga had some
Council business."
  "And I thought that Mojo and I almost collided into my
father as he was trying to get to me on the Groof,"
commented Boxey. "And it turns out that it was you."
  They got to the entrance way to the bridge, and met up
with two Nomen.
  "We are here to see the Chancellor," boasted Boxey.
  "I will tell the Chancellor," responded one of the Nomen.
With that, he walked onto the bridge.
  "The configuration of this ship is similar to that of
Siress Tinnia's ship," pointed out Boxey.
  "Well, they are both freighters," said Toria. "And of the
same class."
  The Nomen returned, saying, "Come with me, Son of Apollo."
  They followed the Nomen to the command center where Maga
and Bora were both waiting. Maga looked at Toria as if he
was trying to make it obvious that he was looking at her.
  "I see that you listened to me, Box," said Maga. It was
evident that he was on duty for a long cycle, and starting
to show signs of tire and wear. "I knew that things would
turn out good for you, my young friend."
  "And it did, Chancellor," said Boxey.
  "At least you listen to me," said Maga. "Other than that
you keep calling me, 'Chancellor.' We are friends, Box. Mojo
hardly listens to me, or takes my advice. But he IS a man of
his own."
  "Mojo takes your advice seriously, Maga," said Boxey.
"That is why he brought me here to you."
  Maga grunted.  "Well how IS my son doing?" asked Maga.
"Ever since I sent him to sign up as a Colonial warrior, I
never thought that I would see one of you without the
other."
  "Mojo is doing very well," Boxey said. "I even learned a
few things from him."
  "Ever since I assigned him to the Galactica, he developed
a one-track mind, and drives me CRAZY," said Maga. "Those
few centons that I get to be with him, he talks of NOTHING
but about you, and Captain Athena. What is going on between
him and the Daughter of Adama?"
  "Nothing that -I- know of," said Boxey. "The only thing
that I know about is that he saved her life on the basestar
when we commandeered it. He and I threw laser boles together
at the Cylon commander.  The next thing I knew, he was gone.
He jumped in front of my aunt, taking a laser shot-"
  "Ah, we talk about a GOOD battle," boasted Maga.
  "Our first battle in many yahrens," cut in Bora. "Since
there is no activity, we should retire and talk over some
blood grog."
  "Come with us, you two," ordered Maga.

  "... thinking that Apollo and I were having an affair
along the way."
  Back on the Galactica, Cassiopeia was nudging and teasing
Starbuck on the bridge. Apollo was beside him, laughing
along with the rest of the bridge crew.
  "I did not even think that until Athena said it," said a
defensive Starbuck. "I was worried about your, and the
Commander's safety."
  Cassiopeia poked him in his belly, saying, "Yeah, right.
Apollo already has a wife. And she would have terminated us.
Besides, Mojo was with us. As a Nomen of the Code..."
Cassiopeia trailed off, breaking into a fit of laughter.
  Athena chimed in with, "Starbuck actually said, 'It's been
an entire centar since Apollo left with my wife.' You know
what that sounds like."
  Everyone, even a red-faced Starbuck, broke out laughing.
  *I should come over to the Galactica and teach Starbuck a
lesson for thinking that my husband would be unfaithful.* It
was Sheba on the comline.
  Both, Apollo and Starbuck, spun around to look at the
scanner to see Sheba's face on it.
  "Oh, hello, Sheba," said Starbuck. "It seems that I had
worded something the wrong way, and no one is letting me get
away with it..."
  "How long were you waiting on the comline, Sheba?" asked
Apollo.
  "Long enough that the bridge crew here are also laughing.
But did you get the good news?"
  "Yes, that Siress Tinnia will be recommending
commendations for Doctor Cassiopeia, Ensign Mojo, Boxey,
you, myself and those who responded to the crisis on her
ship?"
  *Yes.*

  At a table, Maga poured four goblets of a thick and
cloudy, red liquid, and passed out three to Bora, Boxey, and
Toria.
  "What is this?" asked Boxey. "I thought that blood wine
was thinner than this."
  "It's a red thick liquid," said Toria.
  "REAL blood wine," said Maga. "What you had was the worst
of the varieties of blood wine, Box. Try this."
  Boxey hesitantly took a drink, and swallowed it. He opened
his mouth, and took a deep breath.
  Toria looked at Boxey, questioningly.
  "Strong stuff," said Boxey.
  Toria took a drink, and almost started gagging. She
managed to swallow it, but she did not look too good.  She
coughed, and took a deep breath, and watched Maga and Bora
take a drink from their goblets.
  "Want more?" Maga asked Boxey and Toria.
  Boxey held out his goblet, and Maga poured more for
himself, Bora, and Boxey.
  "You were saying about my son in battle?" said Maga to
Boxey.
  "Well, Athena is a Captain, a superior officer with
respect to the rank that Mojo holds now. He risked losing
his life to save-"
  "Ah," said Maga. "He speaks highly of you, too. If I was
to have one of your people assigned to me on the Groof, I
would want no one but you or the commander. But- he talks
about Captain Athena, and not about how he saved a leader."

  Mojo walked onto the bridge of the Galactica, and went
straight to Athena.
  "Captain?" started Mojo.
  Athena turned to see what the Borelian Nomen wanted. "Yes,
Ensign Mojo?"
  After a few microns of silence, Mojo said, "Seventeen
yahrens ago, when Blue Squadron was unable to do their duty,
you led a squadron of inexperienced pilots against Cylons
and was victorious. Will you go into the simulator and show
me some of the tactics that you used?"
  Athena turned to him, and saw the gleam in his eyes. "It
was really Colonel Starbuck who led us. We were just lucky,
but -I- think that it was because of our inexperience that
helped us. We used maneuvers that the Cylons did not
expect."
  He looked up at the command center to see Starbuck and
Apollo staring at the station over Omega's shoulders. "Thank
you, Captain." With that, he walked up to the command deck.
  "Yes, Mojo," said Apollo as he saw him approaching.
  "Commander," Mojo started, with some disappointment on his
face. It was unclear if it was because Athena sent him to
someone else, or if it was because of the past experience
between his father and Starbuck involving a man who called
himself Captain Dimetre. "I was just informed by Captain
Athena that Starbuck led an inexperienced squadron of viper
fighter pilots against a squadron of Cylons, and was
victorious. I wanted to ask Colonel Starbuck to accompany me
in the viper simulators so that he can teach me some of
those tactics."
  Starbuck turned to Mojo saying, "I am honored that you
asked me, Ensign, but it was really Captain Athena's
leadership that led the squadron to victory I was captured
by the Cylons at the time. Besides, you managed to come up
with tactics of your own."
  "Thank you, Colonel." He turned to Apollo, saying,
"Commander..." as he nodded to Apollo.  He turned and went
back down from the command deck the way he came.

  "Well, Maga... Bora... that was my experience on that
basestar," said Toria.
  "And you both tell your stories well," said Bora.
  Maga said, "That, you do." With that, he opened his mouth
wide, took a deep breath, and exhaled it loudly with a
"HHRRRRAAAAAAAAHHhhh..."
  Boxey and Toria jumped from the loudness of Maga's yawn.
  "Time to sleep," murmured Maga.
  "That, it is," said Bora as he got up from his chair.
  "Yes, it is," said Toria, as she looked at Boxey, whose
eyes were closed. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and
whispered to him, "Boxey?"
  "Hmmm?" Boxey murmured in his sleepiness. He patted gently
her hand on his shoulder.
  "Boxey? Shouldn't we get back?"
  Boxey opened his eyes. "Oh," he said, suddenly wide awake.
  Maga let out a belly laugh. "Yes, Box REALLY listens to
me. I say, 'time to sleep,' and then he sleeps!"
  Everyone laughed.

  Boxey climbed up the ladder up to the green fighter, and
Toria followed.  Inside the daggit, Boxey moved towards the
pilot's seat on the left. Toria  got around him, and sat in
that chair. "You, Boxey, over there," she ordered.
  "But you don't have much experience in flying this thing,"
Boxey responded.
  "Well, in your state... You're tired. Besides, you've had
too much of that blood grog."
  "I am all right, Toria." Boxey sounded all right, but
Toria was not about to take that chance. "I only had four
small drinks of that stuff."
  "Over there," ordered Toria. Her voice was firm.
  "I am the sergeant, Ensign," responded Boxey.
  "We are on furlon, Boxey," retorted Toria. "You are just
my husband now."
  "Oh, all right," said Boxey. With that, he sat in the
copilot's seat.
  Toria went over to him, saying, "I will get us back
safely, Boxey. Don't you worry." She kissed him on the
forehead. Then she went and sat in the pilot's seat, saying,
"Let's go."
  Her hand flipped switches, and then went over and switched
on the CORA unit. After that, it went for the control stick
to the right, and the thumb pressed the middle button.
  The couple was thrown back against the backs of their
seats as the fighter launched.

  From the landing bay, the fighter emerged. From space, it
looked like just a small green space craft hovering around
an assortment of ships. Inside, was more than just a boy and
girl getting from one place to another.
  Boxey was holding on to the seat of his chair as, what
looked like from the front window, massive ships approaching
and then veering off.
  "Take it easy, Toria," said Boxey. "Remember that this
ship is wider than a viper or a shuttle."
  "I know," said Toria. "Like I said, I will get us home."

  *A pair of married Colonial warriors requesting landing
clearance,* said Toria's voice. The green fighter was
approaching the Adama. The fighter craft went into the
center between the two hulls, and into a landing bay.

  "I thought that 'home' meant the Galactica," said Boxey as
she led him by the hand down the corridors.
  "Well, home can be either place, Boxey," she responded. "I
had spent a few nights in your quarters, but now, you should
spend at least one in mine before we have to return to duty
in two cycles."
  The couple stopped at a door, and Toria pressed a sequence
on the keypad beside it. The door opened, and the two of
them walked in.
  "Thank you for piloting us, Toria," said Boxey. "Let's go
to bed."
  "Yeah."
  On a desktop, there was a picture of Boxey and Toria,
dressed in full dress uniforms, facing each other and
holding hands, and Apollo right there, wrapping the ribbon
around their wrists.
  "Lights," said Toria.
  It went dark in the room.
  "Boxey?" said Toria's voice. "Why is your hand on me right
there?"
  "Hmmm?" responded Boxey's voice.
  There was a "SMAK" which was a kiss.
  "Mmm, thanks, Boxey. I said..." said Toria's voice, but
was cut off.
  "Hee hee hee hee..." The giggles were Boxey's voice.
  "BOXEY!!" Toria's voice yelled. "THAT TICKLES... GET YOUR
HAND OUT OF THERE!... WAHAHAHahahahahahhh...!!!"
  The room was filled with their laughter.

After a generation of fleeing from Cylon treachery, the last
battlestar, Galactica, leads a ragtag fugitive fleet on a
long and lonely quest. A shining planet known as Earth.