Battlestar Galactica: 'Delivery'
Virtual Season 4, Episode 14
Written by Carla, with Eric and 'the list'
July 20, 2020

/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. Some believe that there may
yet be brothers of man who even now fight to survive somewhere beyond the
heavens.../

    "She's...labour...get Doctor Salik...readings...toxicity..." Sheba
struggled toward consciousness as the distant words filtered through what
seemed like several layers of webbing. A force held her eyes closed while
she fought with every muscle to respond to the rising tone of urgency in
Cassiopeia's voice, "Get her out of the bio-pod and into a stasis chamber
so we can bring the levels down more quickly! Give me a check on the
fetal heart-rate and..."
    Sheba drifted, the pressure in her muscles diminishing, fading with
the dizzying movement of lights from beyond her closed eyelids and the
chaotic sensations of the rushed journey from the Galactica's Command
Centre and down to the Life Station.../the baby/...her awareness became
focussed and her eyes were suddenly opened, but not to the chaos of the
Life Station and the preparations for the.../where am I/...Sheba realized
that she was now standing, not on the Bridge or in the Life Station, but
in a place of light, a soft chime-like sound drifting past her ears as
she slowly turned to see the shrouded figures that drifted in and out of
focus, and yet stood still before her.
    "Am I dead?" the words escaped her lips reflexively as the sense of
familiarity, a feeling of recognition, rose in her mind...an
understanding that she had been in this place before.../Iblis/...the
memories seemed to collide with one another as they poured into her mind,
the crashed and missing ships, the Count and his magnetic hold on her,
Apollo's body on the shuttle, his resurrection aboard the Ship of Lights,
and her realization that she had been manipulated, used by the Count
through her desperate desire to be reunited with... 
    "Sheba?" The Lieutenant turned, freezing open-mouthed as she stared
at the form that now emerged from the edge of her perception, "Baby? Is
it you? Surely, I must be dreaming." 
    "Father?" Sheba felt as though her legs had given out beneath her,
but somehow she remained upright, staring at the tall man in the
blindingly white uniform who now approached her with outstretched arms,
"/Father!/" she ran forward, entering his embrace, the feel and smell of
him so familiar, so comforting, so... "Father?" she pulled away, her
cheeks now damp with tears, staring up into the face that had dominated
so many of her restless dreams over so many sectons since she had last
seen the Pegasus... /the Pegasus...it was heading for the base
ships/.../flash/...the panel of her viper had exploded with a shower of
sparks, she was hurt, she couldn't tell how badly... and then Apollo,
Apollo's voice had guided her down, down to the Galactica, to a rough
landing and a rushed journey to the Life Station...the Life
Station.../Apollo/...
   "Apollo?" Sheba felt a sudden heaviness of her body, "Apollo?" she
mumbled as her eyelids flickered, "Don't let him go. Father...please
don't leave me. Take me with you. Apollo, don't let him go without me..."
    "Sheba," Apollo's voice came from a great distance, distorted by a
rushing sound that began at the base of her skull and moved quickly
across her forehead, forcing her eyelids shut no matter how she struggled
to open them, "Sheba, everything's going to be alright. You've been
sedated. That's why you feel so confused."
    "Sheba," Cassiopeia's voice drifted in and out as the rushing sound
became a roar, "Sheba, you've got a little toxicity and low blood
pressure. Don't worry, the stasis chamber will..."
    "The systems are fine," Athena's clear, clipped tone was instantly
recognizable to Sheba's ears and her eyes opened to reveal the sight of
Apollo's sister. There was a slight rustle of the crisp, dark blue
uniform as the athletic, graceful form moved purposefully across a large
launch bay toward a waiting shuttle, "I'm heading back to the Galactica
to wait with the family," Athena paused to hand a small case to the
coveralled technician who walked by her side, "We still don't know where
the interference is coming from, but at least we've established that the
mechanical systems are fine. Contact Komma if there's anything else. I'm
likely to be occupied for a while." The technician nodded, accepting the
proffered case and moving aside with an informal salute to the
dark-haired officer as she entered the shuttle, the vessel's hatch
closing behind her and locking into place with a dull, metallic /click/
while the engine thrusters powered up and began to respond to the launch
sequence...
    /Why?/, Sheba stood staring, watching as the shuttle's bow sliced
seamlessly through the automatic atmospheric shield that was generated by
the open bay doors, /This is a barge at the rear of the Fleet/, Sheba
took a slow, thoughtful breath, trying to maintain her calm, trying to
/think/. She exhaled deliberately as the bay doors closed behind the
shuttle, affording her a momentary view of the Base-Ship.../why?/...the
question echoed through her mind as the rushing sound returned once more,
a dizzying array of shapes and colours moving past her while her feet
instinctively moved to find purchase beneath them...
    Cain stepped forward, his hands now grasping at empty
space.../Sheba/...he lowered his white-sleeved arms and turned slowly on
his heels, looking for a familiar point of reference with which to orient
himself, his eyes taking in a dimly lit corridor, the chamber of lights
and Sheba now replaced with the distinctive sections of riveted bulkheads
and hatchways that told the Commander that he was now back aboard a
Battlestar.../What in the depths of Hades Hole is happening/...the
corridor was familiar, but it wasn't right. There was something out of
place. Had Tolen authorized some re-fits without briefing him? That
didn't seem likely.
    "They've gone down to the Life Station. Apollo wants us to head off
Boxey as he's getting out of class and help keep him busy with Boomer and
the kids until Athena finishes up. She's still supervising those
inspection tours of the barges toward the rear of the Fleet." Cain knew
the voice even before the speaker had emerged from a nearby hatchway,
"there's some sort of interference with the sensors back there..."
    /Bojay/, Cain was still as stone, recognizing the broad shoulders of
his daughter's wingman, a man who was like a son to him. Lieutenant Bojay
was speaking to an attractive young woman who smiled up at him and walked
closely by his side, gently guiding him, holding him steady as he
stumbled sporadically, his gait slightly awkward, out of sync somehow,
like that of a man who was recovering from an injury of some kind, until
the two moved out of sight together.../How can this be?/...Cain's
warrior's mind was working quickly, taking in what his eyes had shown him
and searching for a way to reason, to cope, to act. He moved to follow
the path that Bojay had taken, then stopped short as he was confronted by
the sight and the sound of another familiar form.
    "I only have a micron," the sweet, musical tones of the voice rolled
over him like a warm, gentle wave, seeming to embrace him with flashes of
memories, of those days when he had grieved so deeply over the loss of
one who had meant everything to him, and then those evenings of warmth
and comfort came back to him, when a fresh sense of lightness and joy had
returned to a place that he had thought would forever remain in darkness,
"I have to get back. I left Apollo to sit with her until she's ready for
surgery. Don't expect me to be free for a while. Doctor Salik says that
everything should be fine, that we've caught it in time, but
complications like this are nothing to take lightly."
     /Cassiopeia, my beautiful Cassiopeia/, his heart ached with the
impulse to move toward her. He reached out to touch her, knowing
instinctively that his hand would not feel the softness of the shining
blond hair that fell over the curve of her graceful neck, the curling
locks catching in the collar of the Medical Technician's uniform that
covered her slender frame.
    "I'll be down in Adama's quarters with the others, waiting for news,"
Cain studied the man who spoke, taking in the warmth of the expression,
the firm jaw, the streaks of blonde hair and the broad shoulders beneath
the flight jacket, the random subdued flash of the Colonial insignia on
the collar reflecting back against the dim light of the corridor. Cain
inhaled softly, an involuntary reaction as the older man watched
Lieutenant Starbuck lift Cassiopeia's hand to his lips, kissing her
fingertips lightly and holding her palm briefly to the side of his face
before releasing his grip and standing aside to usher her through an open
hatchway.../he's treated her well/...Cain laughed grimly at his own
visceral reaction to the sight of Cassiopeia, and Starbuck, the brash
Lieutenant that had taken Cain's place in her heart.../if he knows what's
good for him, he'll care for you like the rare treasure that you are, my
beautiful girl/...Cain stood still, once more taken by a last luminous
sight of Cassiopeia as she stepped through the hatchway, parting ways
with her companion and leaving with a wave and a small smile that Cain
had once known well, a smile that had once been meant for him. The
Commander sighed, willing himself to focus, watching as the sight of
Starbuck's retreating back and the cold greyness of the corridor seemed
to melt before his eyes, giving way with a sound of rushing air and
reforming into a chamber of lights and gentle chimes...
    "Cassiopeia?" Sheba felt the heaviness lift as her eyes flew open.
She found herself standing once more to view the soft variations of light
moving to the sound of distant chimes, and the gaze of those clear, blue
eyes peering down at her from that battle-scarred face that she had
longed to see so desperately, "Father, I was on the Bridge and then there
was a terrible pain in my back and I fell to my knees".../the
baby/...Sheba's hand moved reflexively to touch her abdomen, a habit that
she had developed over the past few sectons as her discomfort and
impatience had grown along with the girth of her waist.../flat/...a
moment of panic overtook her as she looked down at herself for the first
time to see.../nothing/...Sheba realized that she was wearing a flight
suit of brilliant white, fitted normally, with no sign of a pregnancy at
all. A chilling rush of horror moved through her, bringing with it
painful memories of.../Iblis/...he had tried to deceive her, maneuvering
her, and Apollo with her, into an altered state, a non-reality where
three children had been born, and then discovered to have been
apparitions, false spectres of a potential future, not yet conceived.
    Sheba stood frozen, willing her racing pulse to slow
down.../no/.../no, not again/.../it can't be/...she turned deliberately
to once more study the shrouded forms that continued to hover just
outside the ability of her eyes to focus on their seemingly fluid
features. A fresh sensation of calm came over her, like an aura of
benevolence and comfort that seemed to radiate from this place, from the
very space that surrounded her.
    "It /has/ to be a dream," she looked again into the eyes of her
companion, finding it impossible not to return his warm smile even
through her fear and confusion, "or is it a vision, a message of some
kind?"
    "Frakked if I know, Baby."
    In spite of her confused senses, Sheba felt a chuckle escape her at
this reminder of her father's penchant for profanity, /even in my
dreams.../
    "Sheba, I was in my bed-chamber, had to get some sleep before the..."
Cain's voice assumed a more serious tone, his eyes blinking slowly and
taking in his surroundings. His strategist's mind reflexively assessed
his surroundings as he spoke, though his confusion was evident,
especially to one who was so familiar with that face, that voice... that
voice that she had longed to hear..., "Sheba. I don't know if I'm
dreaming, or dead, or something else in between the two, but I've been
here before. I /know/ this place."
    "I know it as well, Father. I remember this place, or at least it was
a place just like this, one of the ships that..." Sheba turned,
swallowing her uncertainty to address the shrouded figures quietly
standing, as ever, just out of focus, "Why have you brought us here? What
do you want from us?" the rushing sound returned and Sheba reached wildly
for balance, feeling Cain's strong arms, for a moment, holding her,
breaking her fall.../thud/...Sheba felt a dull jolt when her boots
touched down on the deck-plate, her stomach churning slightly from the
abrupt sensation of gravity taking hold of her as she spread her arms
swiftly to compensate and turned with the instinctive ease and grace of a
well-disciplined warrior, testing her balance and taking in her
surroundings, the view quite different from the chamber of light and
gentle sound that she remembered.../Father/...a sense of panic gripped
her once again as she began to walk forward, turning from one side to
another, stumbling as she searched for Cain, who no longer stood beside
her.../Am I home? Is this the Galactica?/...she continued forward along
the corridor in which she had suddenly found herself, recognizing the
bulkheads and hatchways of the Battlestar.../Pegasus...this is the
Pegasus...it says 'The Battlestar Pegasus'/...her fingers moved over the
familiar characters engraved into a gilded plaque that had always been
here, as long as she could remember, just outside the hatchway to the
Conference Chamber, one level down from the Command Centre of her
father's ship.../Father?/...
    "Do you have the plans laid out and ready for the final run-through
in the morning?" Again, a familiar voice interrupted her reverie, a voice
that she knew instantly.../Tolen/...she turned to see him, her father's
Executive Officer, a man whose voice had gathered the warriors of the
Pegasus for so many debriefings, so many assignments, so many battle
plans...
    "Tolen?" she reached for him, her white-sleeved arm seeming to miss
contact, though she was certain she had judged the distance correctly.
"Tolen? You can't see me, can you?" She looked downward, staring almost
absently at her upturned palms, the sleeves of the spotlessly white
flight jacket contrasting sharply with her current surroundings, /It has
to be a dream. I must be delirious. Why would I be sent here if I can't
interact with anyone?/
    "Yes, Colonel Tolen, we've done a final check on the timing and
accounted for the power levels, just to be sure," Sheba looked into the
face of Tolen's companion, to see another that was so familiar to
her.../Ham/...she watched as the two men, deep in conversation, continued
walking along the corridor. She followed close behind them, seeing no
indication that either had sensed her presence, "I can run it by the
Commander, if you wish..."
    "No, Major," Tolen lifted a palm as he spoke, a cautionary gesture,
"we've finally convinced him to retire and get some sleep. There's a busy
morning ahead, and you know how difficult it can be to get him to rest
when others are still working," together, the two men mirrored a pair of
grim smiles that spoke to Sheba of yahrens of service under a Commander
who had always refused to care for himself over the needs of his crew, a
quality that had inspired in those who served under him a loyalty that
sometimes teetered over the edge of love and respect, and into what some
had dared to call a touch of fanaticism.
    "I'm surprised that he agreed to go so easily, Sir," Tolen's
companion mused, "I half expected to see him checking the transmitters
again before the shift change.
    "That's one more advantage to having the Professor aboard, Ham,"
Sheba jumped to join the two men as they entered the lift at the end of
the corridor, watching as Tolen pressed the key that would transport them
upward to open onto the Pegasus Bridge, "She talked him into it, warned
him that if he was over-tired it could cost lives. It would appear that
she's a little more adept at persuasion than either of us."
   "It's nice for him to have someone aboard from his own circle to
relate to, someone his age, with a shared history, even in spite of the
circumstances ..."
    "Yes, Ham. She's not a member of the crew in the same sense as you or
me. He's not able to dismiss her opinion as easily, perhaps. She's a part
of his family, more like a peer than a subordinate," Colonel Tolen
gestured for the Major to exit the lift ahead of him as the door
/swooshed/ open, Sheba close behind them, following as they approached
the Command Platform, "Professor! Are you still working? I should think
that you would follow your own good advice and get a little rest before
things kick off in the morning," Sheba's gaze followed Tolen's, her
breath suddenly caught in her throat as she recognized the woman who
stood on the Command Platform of the Pegasus Bridge, looking down with a
gentle smile and reaching for the hand that Colonel Tolen had offered to
steady her while she made her way down the steps to the deck below.
    "Thank you Tolen," the woman's tone was warm and steady...a familiar
voice that struck a strident chord in Sheba's memory. "You're right, of
course, but I felt the need to run another check on the calculations
anyway, if only to reassure /myself/. There will be very little margin
for error. Our transmission window may be limited and we don't want
unexpected compatibility problems to complicate matters. The timing is
critical, and we must be certain that we don't deplete our power reserve
in the process." The roaring had returned as Sheba stared in wonder at
the woman, the Bridge of the Pegasus becoming darker and less distinct,
the queasiness returning to her stomach, her eyes involuntarily closing
as she felt the heaviness descend upon her chest, the voices at the edge
of her consciousness becoming more distinct as she struggled to
remember...
   /...what was it...a face...no, a name.../
    "She's going to be out of it for a while, Apollo. We don't dare give
her much more sedation, so we'll rely on intermittent stasis until we're
prepared for surgery."
    "Thanks, Cassie," Apollo's voice brought her senses into focus,
"Sheba, I don't know if you can understand me, but everything's fine.
You're going to be fine...both of you."
    Sheba's struggle toward wakefulness once more began to fail, a single
whisper escaping her lips as she drifted once more into a chamber of
lights and gentle sounds, a single phrase that had eluded her, but now
came into temporary focus as she managed to speak, lucid for just a
moment as her lips brushed against her husband's ear, "Her name is Ila".
    She stood now in a corridor, the echoing sounds of distant voices
just beyond the limits of her perception, "Father?" Sheba bit down on her
lip, holding back the tears of confusion and anxiety that threatened to
spill over her eyelids, willing herself to stay in the moment, studying
the place in which she now found herself, /is this the Pegasus?/, she
moved forward, following the corridor and listening to catch a word, a
phrase, from the voices that grew ever-nearer, until a hatchway opened
and a familiar form stepped through...but this was not Cain, this slender
form with long golden-brown hair, and a distinctive grace of
movement.../Mother!/...the tears that Sheba had held at bay now spilled
from her eyes as she reached instinctively to touch the woman's face, a
beautiful face that had not yet succumbed to the ravages of the disease
that had so brutally torn her from her family.../she's so young, she
looks my age, even younger/...Sheba was disappointed, but not surprised,
when her hand missed its mark, as it had earlier with Tolen, /I can't
touch her, either, but it feels different this time, as if she knows that
I'm here.../
    "I'm so sorry, Sheba. I'm afraid that your father has a very
important job to do," this vision of Bethany reached downward, clasping
the hand of the small girl that had followed her through the hatchway,
"but he's promised to send along a lovely gift for you, and we'll make it
the best birthday yet." Sheba felt an ache of sympathy and compassion for
the mother and child before her, seeing herself as a tiny girl,
disappointed that her hero, her father, had again chosen his warrior's
duties over her, yet even then, at such a young age, she had sensed a
resolve within herself, a concept later to be described with words that
had not yet formed in her child's mind, that she too would be a warrior,
and that would mean that her father would be proud of her, and take her
with him on his missions.../oh, Mother, how I have missed you/...Sheba
stared one last time into that face, so similar to her own, but for the
deep blue colour of the eyes, those eyes that had looked with love upon
Sheba through so many disappointments, and so many sweet, shared moments
that no-one else would ever understand. Sheba took an unsteady step
backward as the scene before her began to lose its structure, the rushing
of the blood in her ears taking over and transporting her through layers
of light and sound...
    "Father?" Sheba found herself once more standing with Cain in the
chamber of lights, the heaviness gone from her body, and the sense of
queasiness diminished. She rushed instinctively back into the tall man's
embrace, holding onto him tightly, desperate to take in the feel and the
smell of him, to waste none of these moments, whether they be real or
imagined, for fear that he could disappear at any time, and she would be
left with only the memory of his touch, "I don't understand. What's
happening? I was aboard the Pegasus, and..."
    "I was aboard the Galactica," father and daughter shared an
expression that conveyed, one to the other, their shared sense of wonder
and frustration, "I saw Bojay, and...Cassiopeia..." his voice faltered
ever so slightly, a catch in his throat that only one so close to him as
a daughter would notice, "...she was with Starbuck..."
    "Father, she's never stopped caring for you," Sheba's voice was
gentle, her past resentments long gone as she had grown in the
understanding that Cassiopeia had never been meant to replace Sheba's
mother, that the former socialator had been a comfort to Cain, a comfort
that a daughter could not fulfill, "It wasn't easy for me to accept after
being so hurt and angry for so long a time, but I've learned that not
everything is as I think it should be, that people can change, and I'm
not angry anymore..." her words trailed off as the silent spectre of past
loss hung in the air between them.
    "It does a battered old war-daggit's soul a world's worth of good to
hear those words, Baby," Cain's tone was uncharacteristically hesitant,
the image of Cassiopeia still fresh in his mind, "I so wanted for the two
of you to make peace, to be friends if you were willing," his eyes
widened with a sense of realization that this may indeed be more than a
father's dream of his daughter's long-absent touch, but an encounter as
real as...
   "Father!" the combination of Sheba's tone and expression told Cain
that his daughter had come to a similar conclusion as he, "I think that
we may have been brought here together for a reason," she stepped
backward, peering up into those clear, blue eyes, "I was aboard the
Pegasus. Tolen and Ham were there, and on the Bridge..." the words left
her lips in a tentative manner, as though she almost feared to speak
them, bringing what she had thought must be a dream into a more certain
realm of reality, "I saw Professor Ila, alive and well, and helping to
plan some sort of mission..."
    "Yes," Cain rested his hands on her slender shoulders, holding her in
a firm, but gentle grasp and smiling almost conspiratorially as he spoke,
"she was hoping to reach the Galactica, but the Pegasus crossed her path,
and the automatic systems on her shuttle locked onto our wake instead.
She's with /us/ now, a part of our family as you've become part of
Adama's."
    "There's more, Father," Sheba's smile mirrored his own as she drew a
breath, wondering how best to tell him, "you're to be grandparents
together, the two of you."
    "The complications that Cassie was talking about..." Cain's
ever-strategic mind continued to fit snippets of information together,
adjusting his expression to one of deep concern, "that was /you/ in the
Life Station, the surgery that Cassie had to get ready for..."
      "I was lifted out of the bio-pod and transferred into a stasis
chamber, "I...I remember Apollo telling me that everything was going to
be fine, and...and then I was here with you," Sheba pressed her hands
ever more firmly against his chest, willing him to remain, fearful of the
next moment when her sense of reality might once more begin to shift...
"No! No...I...Father?"
    Sheba found herself alone once more, peering into a darkened space,
her senses adjusting to yet another shift of light and sound, /how can it
be real, what sort of message is this, if I'm here, right now, in this
place?/, she asked herself as she stepped forward over a rocky
outcropping, a dry, dull wind growing stronger and filling her nostrils
with dust and grit. She stood, finally, beside the wreckage of a massive
vessel, the sight of it bringing her back, back to a planet where she'd
almost lost...everything...
    "Sheba, come to me," the words fell over her like a thick, viscous
sludge, "Sheba, you are mine. You have given yourself to me." she turned
slowly, away from the mangled hatchway of the wreckage to see, not the
white-robed figure that her memory dreaded to conjure up, but another,
broken form that lay still and lifeless on the rough ground below.
    "Apollo!" she cried, rushing forward to cradle his motionless head in
her hands, willing him to wake up, willing him to open his eyes, "Why!
Why are you making me live through this again? What do you want!" she
realized with a sudden shock that her fingers had connected with Apollo's
thick, black hair, the texture so soft and familiar and yet so alien in
this harsh, barren place, "Apollo, you sacrificed yourself for me...for
me...but you're not here anymore, /I'm/ not here anymore!", the rushing
sound returned and Sheba closed her eyes as the hot wind seemed to sweep
away the Captain's lifeless form, like dust between her fingers, "What
now?" Sheba cried out, the wind snatching the words from her lips as she
lifted her now-empty fingers, swiping at her tears in a child-like motion
of the backs of her hands, "Why are you showing me these things? Why
won't you tell me what you want from me?" She cried out into silence,
becoming aware of her new surroundings, yet another sense of movement
coming over her...     
    "It's alright, Love," Apollo's calm, comforting tone once more
replaced the roaring in her ears, her eyelids refusing to open, her vocal
chords constricted, not allowing her to speak, "I'll be here when you
wake up."
    She willed herself to speak, failing to overcome the sedation that
pulled the blanket of darkness down over her senses, /I have to tell
them/, she knew only that she was meant to deliver a message, but she
could not remember what it was. It lay there, just beyond her reach as
the warm voice of Apollo gave way to the sounds of the Life Station,
then...darkness...and the rushing sound that warned her of another shift
in her reality...
     "Sheba?" Cain's strong arms once more encircled her, lifting her to
her feet and smoothing her hair as she wept, "Baby, Please don't cry.
I've got you, Baby. I've got you," Sheba struggled to smile through her
tears as Cain spoke, "I think I may know why we're here, the two of us,
together," Sheba held tight to Cain's arms as she peered past him, to see
the ever-present, still silent, shrouded figures just out of focus and
beyond her reach, quiet sentinels, unmoving, as if waiting, "perhaps
they're showing us how to make contact with one another, a long range
transmission, some way for the two Battlestars to communicate. They may
be giving each of us enough information to..."
    "No! Father!" Sheba clutched desperately at Cain's sleeves, sensing
that their time together in this place was coming to an end, holding onto
him with all her strength, "No! There's so much more for me to say to
you! Father...
     "I will find a way back to you, Sheba!" Cain held the focus of her
soft brown eyes with his own piercing blue gaze as reality once more
began to shift, "Tell Adama to listen for us! Tell him to use the
base-ship! Open the receivers! I will find a way to send a message..."
    "I love you, Father!" Sheba sobbed as her arms lost their grip on
him, the heaviness once more returning to her chest, but this time there
was no rushing of the blood in her ears, just a steady series of
electronic beeps and distant voices coming nearer...
   "Sheba," Apollo's face came into slow, soft focus as her eyes
fluttered open, "Sheba, don't try to move."
    "I'm sorry, Apollo," Cassiopeia's melodious tones carried through the
slowly clearing fog, "We have to put them both back into stasis for just
a few more centars. Sheba," the golden locks of hair came into view above
her, reflecting the multiple lights of the medical displays nearby,
"Sheba, you and your little girl are fine. We just need to level off your
vital functions. Don't worry. Don't try to move. Don't try to speak..."
    "No! I have to tell Adama..." a gentle blanket of darkness descended
over her, overwhelming her consciousness, and sending her away, into a
dream of her own mind's making this time, the sound of her husband's
voice lulling her gently off to sleep...
    "Sleep now, my love," She felt his lips brush her forehead as her
senses slowly dulled, "they're having a celebration in Father's quarters.
We'll have another just for you when you're up to it...
    Sheba tried to speak, her tongue refusing to respond, nothing but a
single phrase slurring from her lips to Apollo's ear, "her name is Ila".

Epilogue,
    "Congratulations, /Dad/," Apollo turned with a smile at the sound of
Bojay's voice, struggling through the crowd of well-wishers that had
gathered in the Galactica's Officers' Club to celebrate the good news.
    "Thanks, /Uncle/ Bojay," Apollo shouted through the noise and smoke
that surrounded him, "Let's grab a table for a few centons before I have
to get back." The two men moved to a quiet corner near the bar, Apollo
barely making it through the friendly onslaught of handclasps and offers
of drink.
    "It's good that you and Sheba have named her Bethany! I think that
Cain would be very pleased by that choice!" Bojay lifted a fresh tankard
to his lips, his smile touched by the slightest slur of drunken-ness.
    "Yes, Bojay. That was our plan from the beginning. It was important
to us to honour that name in particular," both men shared a look of
bittersweet remembrance, each with his own thoughts, yet feeling an
intersection of understanding, a momentary sense of silent accord in the
midst of the raucousness of the Officers' Club, then together, they
silently nodded and turned their attention back to the tankards in their
hands. "Why'd you leave the family party so early?" Apollo felt a warm
rush of contentment as he settled into his chair, "Adama is still showing
Tigh and the others the first holographic images, like a typical
grandfather, and Boxey is beside himself to be a big brother at last,"
the Captain laughed with a happiness fueled by a combination of the good
news from the Life Station and a not-unsubstantial quantity of ale.
    "I think that I stepped out for the same reason that you did,
Apollo," Bojay smiled and reached to touch his tankard to that of his
table-mate before downing another salutary sip, "I needed a quiet moment
on my own, but then I got drawn into this crazy party. Everyone's pretty
happy to have some new life to celebrate after everything else that we've
been through in the last few sectons, even the last yahren or two.
    I guess I've been caught up with family matters so much recently that
I haven't made a lot of time to think of anything else. It's been a
blessing in that way as well as a hundred others, but now that the new
arrival is here, I suppose I'll have to stop day-dreaming and get back to
work full on," Apollo clinked another tankard with Bojay and the two
shared a thoughtful second drink.
    "Day-dreaming," Bojay muttered, "I'd prefer that to dreams that come
at night, without my editorial control."
    "What do you mean?" The Captain's dark face registered concern as he
leaned forward, "you're not having stressful dreams about the accident,
are you? I hope you've been speaking with someone about that."
    "No, those have become less severe as time passes, and the
counselling and physical therapy have been a great help," Bojay's glance
moved downward, "it's good now that the legs are working a little better.
Some of those first spills were a bit painful," Bojay's expression became
slightly veiled, a darkness coming over him in a manner that Apollo had
not seen before, "it's something else, dreams of...well..."
    "Whatever it is, it seems to be bothering you enough to distract from
a day like today," Apollo smiled, his joy still evident even through his
sincere concern for his companion.
    "It's one of the holographic images in the Commander's office
chamber. It caught my attention, and I couldn't quite work out why,"
Bojay adopted a cautious tone, his expression gentle as he leaned even
closer to the Captain to speak his next words, "Starbuck told me that
it's an image of your mother, taken when she and the Commander hadn't
been married all that long," the brown-haired warrior coughed nervously,
the words seeming reluctant to emerge from his mouth, "it took me a while
to put it together, but I'd seen her somewhere before, somewhere else
where she appeared a little older..."
    "That's not unusual Bojay," Apollo smiled affably, checking his
chronometer and gesturing to the barman for another two drinks, "Mother
was a well-known person in many circles of..."
    " No," Bojay's interruption was abrupt, catching the Captain
off-guard with its force of emotion, "I knew who she was, I'd seen her in
public, though I'd never met her directly, but this time I'd seen her in
a dream. It was a dream of /my/ past, yet there /she/ was in the landing
bay with Cain and..." Bojay stopped as abruptly as he had begun, noting
with alarm that the blood had drained from Apollo's now pallid features,
"What...what is it...?"
    "Where was this landing bay, Bojay? What ship?" Apollo's tone had
taken on a sudden urgency, the blood that had fled from his face seeming
to rush in his ears, drowning out the noise at the bar, and bringing his
focus to Bojay alone, "Bojay, tell me the rest!"
    "I was floating through the landing bay, aboard the Battlestar
Pegasus...a...a memory I thought...then I was standing next to Commander
Cain, but I wasn't me...I was somebody else," Bojay's features displayed
his struggle to recall the experience in detail, the two men silently
nodding as the barman interrupted by placing two fresh tankards on the
table top between them, "then I was looking from another angle, and it
wasn't /me/ standing next to Cain, it was Tolen..." Bojay took another
sip as Apollo stared quietly, the dark-haired man listening to the
Lieutenant's words with bated breath, the rushing noise in his ears
becoming louder with every passing micron, "there was a shuttle, a
one-passenger thing with Colonial markings, and I...no...it was Tolen..."
Bojay leaned forward, his voice so low that Apollo leaned ever closer to
catch the words, "they opened the shuttle, and your mother, Ila, she was
inside, in suspended animation. It seemed so real that I could smell
the..."
    "...smell the fuel residue in the landing bay..." Apollo spoke
flatly, his expression impossible for Bojay to read.
    "Yes, how did you know?" Bojay shifted uncomfortably in his seat,
uncertainty and confusion taking hold of him, "they opened up the hatch
and I remember saying...I mean...Tolen said..."
    "Her name is Ila", both men spoke in unison, both of them staring
open-mouthed into one another's eyes for several more microns, but what
seemed to them a much longer time...
    "I don't understand," Bojay's voice broke through the layer of heavy
silence that had seemed to envelope the two of them, distorting the
sights and sounds of the celebration that surrounded them, "How did you
know..."
    "I'm afraid we'll have to interrupt the family celebration for a
while, Bojay," Apollo drained his tankard and made to rise unsteadily
from his seat, extending a helping hand to his companion, his face slowly
regaining its colour, though his voice betrayed a strong undercurrent of
emotion, "I need you to come back to the Commander's quarters with me,
and tell him what you've told me. I believe that this dream of yours may
be more than it seems...it could be /very important/...for /all/ of
us..."

/Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny...the last Battlestar, Galactica, leads a
rag-tag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest...a shining planet known
as...Earth./