Battlestar Galactica-At The Crossroads
Virtual Season 6-Episode #10
By Eric Paddon
(Thanks to Senmut)

From the Adama Journals

     And so, the time of celebration we've indulged ourselves in over the
past sectan is at an end.  The news that the Cylon Empire is no more and
that 300,000 inhabitants of the Colonies taken prisoner to work as slave
labor in the Neutrino mines of the Home System are free is news that
merited this long, cathartic jubilee.  We will never see the likes of it
again until the day we reach Earth, which is only a yahren and a half to
two yahrens off at this point.
     But now that the Fleet is getting 'back to work' as it were, our
returned sobriety brings with it a reminder of how difficult this final
part of our journey to Earth will be.  We know that one last remnant of
the Cylon Empire remains in the form of the BaseShip of Commander
Lucifer, an IL Cylon known not just to Baltar and Commander Septimus but
to Starbuck as well, from his time when he'd been a prisoner aboard
Baltar's BaseShip before the Battle of Kobol.  Baltar and Septimus have
testified to the level of Lucifer's capacity for ambition, given that
Lucifer had sought the Cylon throne after the events at Carillon and
lost.  And Baltar is convinced that Lucifer's desire not to return to the
Home System to help the Empire in its collapsing moments is motivated in
part by a personal desire for revenge against him.  Lucifer, he says,
would gladly accept a subordinate role to the Risik Supreme Leader as a
temporary necessity if being part of a Fleet of Risik ships made from
Neutrino will result in the destruction of the Galactica and more
importantly, of Baltar and his BaseShip of Enlightened Cylons as well. 
Because Baltar's ship and his crew had once been under Lucifer's command,
and because Baltar engineered successfully a deception against Lucifer
when he defected to us, Lucifer as a matter of pride needs to see Baltar
destroyed by his hand even more than he desires the destruction of the
Galactica and our Fleet.
     But his revenge can only happen if the Risik succeed in their
ability to create a Fleet of ships constructed from Neutrino, which would
considerably neutralize the firepower advantage the Galactica and
Baltar's ship possesses and which we successfully utilized against the
Risik in our previous encounters with them.  We know they have
successfully completed their first Neutrino ships but now, in the one
negative consequence of the Cylon Empire's defeat, we will no longer be
able to know how much further the Risik have gone in their build-up.  Our
ability to know was dependent on the ability of Enlightened Cylon
leadership on Gomorrah being able to intercept the messages Lucifer was
sending back to the Imperious Leader on the state of affairs with the
Risik and passing them on to Commander Cain aboard the Pegasus who in
turn relayed them to us.  Obviously, Lucifer is never going to
communicate with the Cylon Home World again and so consequently we have
lost our ability to chart the progress of the Risik development of their
Neutrino Fleet, and with it, our ability to know when the Risik will send
this new Fleet of theirs, along with Lucifer's BaseShip in pursuit of us.
     And so, we now must put celebration and jubilee over the fall of the
Cylon Empire behind us and turn our attention to the challenges that lie
ahead.  Dr. Wilker's efforts to construct new weapons of war from
synthetic Neutrino took a step forward with the successful test of an
unmanned drone craft that managed to stand up to six bursts of
conventional Viper laser fire before it began to weaken, and then it
required an additional four shots before it was destroyed.  This proves
that in theory if we can build Vipers from synthetic Neutrino they will
be able to absorb laser fire hits from an enemy ship without being slowed
in their ability to attack the enemy.  As a further test of this, Wilker
is taking out of storage the failed experimental Recon Viper One
prototype known as the Starchaser that Starbuck used on the Protean
mission several yahrens ago.  That test utilizing the automatic
intelligence CORA device, along with extra maneuvering ability at the
expense of laser generators, had been deemed a failure because CORA had
failed to employ proper safeguards to prevent the Viper from being stolen
by the escaped Protean prisoner then known as Robber (now known as Joab). 
Much to Wilker's chagrin, I ordered further development of the CORA
system halted until he was able to program a mechanism for making a Viper
impervious to outside intrusion or sabotage (a problem that also came up
on Paradeen when the Vipers of Apollo and Starbuck were rendered
inoperable when the woman Terran woman Sarah gained access to them and
destroyed their components).  It's only now that this problem has been
corrected where a Viper canopy can now be safely locked when a pilot is
exploring a planet, and in order to unseal his canopy when he returns, a
programmed verbal code tied to the voice of the pilot that the Viper is
assigned to must be given.  Until every Viper in the Fleet had this
safeguard put in, I wasn't going to let him proceed with new work on the
Starchaser but now that all of our Vipers have been reprogrammed to
respond to voice activated commands to unseal the canopies when they
return to their ships, he was able to proceed.  And so, the Starchaser
has been rebuilt from the ground-up with a new outer hull made from
synthetic Neutrino, but with the advanced computer components of the CORA
system left intact.  This will enable the CORA to launch and fly by
itself during the testing to see if its new hull is impervious to
standard laser fire.  We expect a full demonstration to take place within
the next two sectans or less.  It's my understanding that Starbuck has
volunteered personally for the mission and I suspect it's because he'd
like the opportunity to open fire on a Viper piloted by the CORA system!
     We're also working to get the Zykonian cloaking system installed for
all Vipers and shuttles in the Fleet as well as all Cylon fighters on
Baltar's BaseShip.  The folly of Wilker's desire to see cloaking
technology applied to all ships in the Fleet cost us valuable time in
finding a more practical use for it as his Pegasus counterpart Dr. Arnoff
did with Vipers and shuttles only.  I would never deny Wilker's
brilliance, which has come through for us many times over the last five
yahrens, but his outsized sense of expectation ahead of practical reality
can be his most infuriating trait.
     In addition to the technological front, we must also deal with a
serious question on the diplomatic front.  Do we decide to approach the
enemy of the Risik, the Ke'Zar, who drove them out of their original home
system and also thwarted the Risik invasion plan for Earth forty yahrens
ago?  But that is a decision not in my hands as Ila has insisted that a
Council vote must decide the question based on their assessment of the
Fleet Intelligence Unit's report on the Ke'Zar.  My advice and counsel
will be respected and appreciated......but this is the first time where a
decision of this importance will no longer hinge on my judgment alone as
I have been used to these past five yahrens.  I have learned to respect
this new way of doing things, but even with Ila as President of the
Council, I confess my ego does feel bruised.....a little.  It comes from
being too used to assuming such responsibilities for the people as I have
these last five yahrens.  And the sad case of William Benton, the colony
leader of the Planet Niddion is a sobering reminder to me of how there
comes a time when a leader who has become used to exercising such
absolute power, must know when it's time to step back and let others take
up the burden if they can do so.  I willingly agreed to give up my place
on the Council and the Presidency because I wanted to be free of the
burden of politics, and that Ila was capable of filling that role.  I
must justify that decision by trusting her judgment and the judgment of
those who are willingly serving us on the Council.  We have reached a
point where the troublemakers of the Council are long gone from our ranks
now, and there is, as we draw closer to Earth, a greater sense of working
for the common good of us all in our political leadership that should
result in the right decision being made as far as reaching out to the
Ke'Zar is concerned.
     But what is the right decision?  Even though the Ke'Zar are the
enemy of the Risik, that does not mean we should automatically think they
will become our friend in a united military campaign against the Risik
and Lucifer.  After forty yahrens, they might well resent the idea of
being dragged back into a conflict that from their standpoint is long
finished.  Or they might view us and our journey to Earth as a potential
threat to their dominion which in their minds might necessitate fighting
us for the same reason they originally fought the Risik.  Approaching
them is not a risk-free endeavor.  The last thing we need is to find
ourselves at war with a new enemy when one remains such a threat to us.
     The Council meets later today to go over the FIU report.  I will be
there and may the Lords guide us to a wise and correct decision.
     Elsewhere, the aftermath of the Cylon Empire's defeat for now has
left Cain's hands full with the task of relocating 300,000 liberated
prisoners back to the Colonies in tandem with the Enlightened Cylon
BaseShip under the flag of Command Centurion Sorge.  The one thousand
inhabitants who were taken from Starlos have been repatriated there, and
now Cain has arrived at Arcta to bring Dr. Ravashol and the personnel
there up to date on the situation.  From there, they will return to the
Cylon Home System and take the first load of some 3000 people back to an
individual Colony.  Cain has made it clear he wants to take no more than
five to six sectars to make sure the liberated prisoners become
accustomed to interacting with Enlightened Cylons before he intends to
turn things over completely to Sorge......and free the Pegasus to go back
into deep space where he wants to see if he has a chance of getting to
the Risik Frontier and destroying their Neutrino Fleet before it has a
chance to be sent after us.  It's a very risky proposition on Cain's part
since a journey at top speed would take a minimum of over a yahren.  But
Cain insists he needs to try since he has a weapon at his disposal that
could do the job in ways that even our best combined efforts couldn't
begin to approach.  He'd be untrue to himself and to his reputation if he
didn't make that effort, so I am resigned to the idea that in a few
sectars, the Pegasus will be underway again.
     The one slight down note that seems to have arisen from the events
of recent days is the curiously subdued attitude of Cain's wife, Kylie. 
Ila, who regards Kylie like a younger sister from her days aboard the
Pegasus, had not heard a personal message from her for some time and when
Cain finally pressed Kylie into sending her one, it was very terse and
lacked a good deal of the sisterly overtones that Ila has long taken for
granted from Kylie.  Kylie did undergo an unexpected promotion in rank to
Major recently when Major Skyler, the #3 in the Pegasus chain of command
transferred to a new assignment as the Colonial Nation's formal emissary
to Starlos. Perhaps she's feeling a bit more stress because she's now #3
in the chain and only Colonel Tolen stands between her and the
possibility of having to command the Pegasus if something should happen
to Cain.  Ila hopes it will pass because she knows Kylie has been through
her share of ordeals that included being manipulated by Count Iblis into
giving up her ability to have children.  That was something that took
time for Kylie to get over and Cain  admits it's never disappeared 100%
from her.  I know how much Cain is devoted to his new wife, and it is my
hope and prayer that the two of them will come through this final
challenge he has planned for the Pegasus so that they might know
long-term happiness in the Colonies, as surely as I hope and pray for us
to know it on Earth.
     It is as they say, in the hands of the Lords.  But I have found
there is another, perhaps more eloquent way of summarizing that kernel of
wisdom, in a passage Father Fisher, the Earth priest showed me from their
Holy Book.  "Yet not my will but Yours be done."

Chapter One

     "The Council Of.....Thirteen will now come to order," Ila said from
the head of the table as she rapped the presidential gavel.  This was the
third meeting of the Quorum since the membership had expanded by one with
the election of Becky Shulman, formerly of the Niddion Colony, as the
Council delegate from Earth.  And it was no surprise that Ila found
herself nearly stumbling over the new phrase "Council of Thirteen" as
everyone else in the Fleet had been doing the same.
     From her seat, Siress Tinia couldn't help but marvel how Becky
Shulman's election meant there were now five women on the Council.  Ila,
herself, Siress Eudoxia, Siress Blassie and now the onetime U.S. Army
Lieutenant who'd been co-piloting a VIP plane carrying an American
Congressman that the Risik had snatched over an Alaska mountain in
January 1989.  Never before had there been such a high percentage of
women on the Council in the annals of Colonial History and for Tinia, it
was a development to celebrate.
     Not that every woman who's served on the Council was a worthy
member, she reminded herself.  Lydia was an absolute disgrace.  She
thanked the Lords for conspiring events to remove Lydia from the Fleet,
though out of simple humanity she did find herself hoping that wherever
Lydia ended up she'd at least survived somehow.  Tinia had learned the
lesson that wishing ill on one's adversaries (as opposed to enemies) was
itself, not the most enlightened of attitudes.  She knew she had to set a
better example for herself.
     "We will now at this time open the session by asking our newest
member, Councilor Rebecca Shulman of Earth, if she might deliver the
invocation according to the tradition of her own faith."
     Becky, who had added a Star of David to her Councilor tunic in
addition to the US Army service pin in recent days took a breath and
recited what she had told Ila was known in the Jewish tradition as the
"Traveler's Prayer."
     "May it be Your will, God, our God and the God of our fathers, that
You should lead us in peace and direct our steps in peace, and guide us
in peace, and support us in peace, and cause us to reach our destination
in life, joy, and peace.  Save us from every enemy and ambush.  May You
confer blessing upon the work of our hands and grant us grace, kindness,
and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us and bestow upon
us abundant kindness and hearken to the voice of our prayer, for You hear
the prayers of all. Blessed are You God, who hearkens to prayer."
     The other Council members nodded their assent and amens.  From the
observer's bench, Adama, who had learned much about Christianity from
Father Fisher had been equally impressed by the insights Becky Shulman
had brought as part of the Jewish faith on Earth.  Even though Earth had
followed a dramatically different path from the other Twelve Colonies
following her settlement that had seen the knowledge of Kobol completely
forgotten, the major religious traditions that centered on the same Holy
Book revealed many points of common belief with their Colonial brethren
that left Adama convinced that assimilation would not pose any
significant problems when it came to religion.
     "And now," Ila said with full Presidential authority, "We will take
under consideration the one item of significant business that lies before
us.  Will we seek out the Ke'Zar Civilization and make overtures to them
based on our common tie of antagonism with the Risik Empire?  Before we
begin discussion amongst ourselves, we will first hear from Major Croft,
head of the Fleet Intelligence Unit, the report he has compiled on the
Ke'Zar and what their staff thinks will be in the Fleet's best interest. 
We will then hear from Commander Adama's perspective as Fleet Commander,
and then the Council will discuss and debate before taking a vote.  And
on this vote, a simple majority is all that will be needed."
     She then turned her head toward Croft and nodded.  The Major rose
and went over to the large flat-screen monitor that was in full view of
every member.  Those who had a bad angle from their position at the table
could look at a smaller monitor on the opposite wall that would show the
same image as the main one.
     "The Fleet Intelligence Unit, consisting of myself, Captain Boomer
of Red Squadron, Dr. Wilker of the Electronics and Technology Division,
Commanders Septimus and Vulpa from the Cylon perspective, and Academician
Melnea from the Risik dissident perspective, has consulted all available
data on the Ke'Zar race and has given our final approval with no
dissenting voices in the report before you now.
     "As you know, our first information about the Ke'Zar came from the
derelict Risik vessel that contained our first known Earth victim of
Risik abduction, Sergeant Lauren Wagner of the United States Air Force. 
Their home planet is in a binary star system known to Earth astronomers
as 61 Cygni.  According to Risk data, the planet has a largely sulfur
dioxide atmosphere, with a temperature and pressure greater than Earth's
or the Colonies, and as a consequence the inhabitants are forced to wear
an armored spacesuit or battle suit, which provides them with the
necessary environment when off-world."
     This was not new information for Adama or some of the Council
members, but those who were relatively new to the body like Siress
Blassie or who'd forgotten these briefing points over the last several
yahrens like Sire Hanlon found themselves murmuring uneasily on this
point.  Adama and Ila both knew the reason why.  The conditions of the
Ke'Zar home world were absolutely unsuitable for Human life to exist
without protective suits of their own.  That of itself would make
diplomacy and coordination a far trickier proposition.
     "Consequently," Croft went on, "The only images we have of the
Ke'Zar depict them off their home world, as taken by the Risik during the
course of battle."
     An image came up on the monitor that Adama recalled seeing three
yahrens ago during the first briefing Wilker had given about the data
from the ship that had contained two dead Risik and Lauren Wagner in a
state of suspended animation.  He hadn't studied the image since then,
but he now realized the reason why subliminally, the idea of making
contact with this race had never instinctively appealed to him.  The
image showed an apparent humanoid being, but completely enclosed in a
suit, with some kind of horn-type projection coming out of the chest, a
helmet with some kind of grille on the sides, presumably for
vocalization, and carrying some type of energy rifle.  There was no clear
indication of what the Ke'Zar soldier actually looked like facially or if
the body had any distinctive mutated variants.  They could easily have
reptilian scales or lupine like fur underneath.  
     "Haven't any of the Risik in our own ranks ever seen a Ke'Zar?" Sire
Hanlon interjected.
     Croft shook his head, "The ones who originally came to us were only
children or not born at the time of the Risik relocation to their current
home system.  Only high level diplomats and members of the military would
have seen them on communication links without their helmets."
     "The four Risik women from Niddion were adults before the war,"
Hanlon persisted, "They had no idea what kind of race they were?"
     "The Ke'Zar had no embassy or consulate on the Risik home world,
Sire Hanlon," Becky Shulman spoke up since this was something she had
some knowledge of, "The average Risik only knew of the Ke'Zar as the name
of a race in a nearby star system none of them ever visited.  Any
commercial exchanges that took place between the two races before they
went to war with each other were done entirely in space."
     "And there aren't any written descriptions of them we could use to
reconstruct how they actually look?" Hanlon still wasn't through.
     "None," Croft emphasized, "Risik data, as you know, is often filled
with angry propaganda and isn't known for being dispassionate.  The only
detailed descriptions of the Ke'Zar that exist in their files are in the
form of profane epithets.  From the Risik standpoint, the Ke'Zar engaged
in an unprincipled sneak attack on their home system as part of a war of
conquest on their part.  Which, if you want to be technical about it, is
true.  The Ke'Zar did fire the first shot in the war as part of a
pre-emptive strike because they saw the Risik military build-up aimed at
an invasion of Earth as part of a broader campaign that would have
inevitably resulted in conquest of their own home system."
     "The Ke'Zar made no efforts at a diplomatic solution before
launching their attack?" Siress Blassie asked.  "I just want to be clear
about this.  The Risik track record for barbarism speaks for itself, but
the whole backstory of the Ke'Zar from what I'm seeing in this report
isn't indicating they're much better.  After all, we never saw ourselves
as a race that would launch a pre-emptive strike against another without
pursuing diplomatic options first."
     "You're quite correct, Siress Blassie.  Our report does not see any
evidence to indicate that the Ke'Zar operate what we would consider to be
an enlightened form of government based on respect for individual liberty
and freedom.  The fact that they chose to conquer and expel the Risik
from their original home world, while advantageous to our own interests,
is of itself an indicator that they are a race that conceivably believes
just as much in conquest for its own sake.  The incompatibility of the
Risik home world's atmosphere and gravity with that of the Ke'Zar home
world shows that they couldn't possibly have wanted the planet as a place
to expand colonization efforts of their own.  It was conquered because
they clearly felt they needed a buffer area on their own frontier devoid
of any Risik presence whatsoever."
     "Major Croft, isn't that being a little too presumptuous?" Sire
Pelias spoke up.  Given the depth of his ties to the freed prisoners of
Ne'Chak, whom he had represented on the Council before Becky Shulman's
election as a delegate to represent all Earth natives, he was less
inclined to see the Ke'Zar's activities in a suspicious light.  "Given
the belligerence we know the Risik demonstrated toward the Ke'Zar when
they made inquiries about their Fleet build-up for the planned invasion
of Earth, they likely saw diplomacy as a fruitless exercise and saw a
pre-emptive strike as the only course of action they could resort to from
a self-interest standpoint."
     "We don't discount that possibility either, Sire Pelias," Croft
acknowledged.  "But we went back through all the interrogations of
Commander Lemeshik, Governor Raduztak, Commandant Tsernavia and those who
were set free like Sub-Commander Morovik.  At no time did any of them
ever indicate, even when expressing great hatred for the Ke'Zar, that the
Risik had actual territorial designs on the Ke'Zar home world.  Every
time they addressed the matter of how they reacted to the Ke'Zar
inquiries about the build-up, they always said the answer that was given
by their Supreme Leader at the time was strictly of the, 'None of your
business' variety.  There was never any actual verbalized threat aimed at
the Ke'Zar system.  Which for the Risik, is no less uninhabitable to them
as their world was for the Ke'Zar."
     "But they would have been fools to discount that possibility,"
Pelias persisted.
     "True," the Major nodded, "But at the same time, we have to consider
something else that is equally valid as a possibility.  That the Ke'Zar
knew the Risik planned a strike on Earth and attacked them and expelled
them because the Ke'Zar had their own designs on Earth's solar system."
     A silence came over the table as they heard Croft say something that
Adama doubted had been verbalized as a possibility once in all the
discussions he could remember in those early days of contact with the
Risik.  Even though they had learned the name of the Ke'Zar before they'd
learned the name of the Risik, they knew so little about them.  Because
of the degradations the Risik had subjected to so many natives of Earth
over a period of decades, and because the Risik had resorted to lies and
deceit to justify their territorial claim to rule over Earth, there had
always been a knee-jerk instinct to see the Ke'Zar in positive terms
simply because they were the enemy of Humanity's enemy.  Now though,
practical realities meant taking a more dispassionate and sober-minded
view of the Ke'Zar, totally divorced from the issue of Risik conduct. 
And Adama had to acknowledge that Croft had done a brilliant job of
presenting a dispassionate analysis that was going to make the Council
realize that the issue of approaching the Ke'Zar was far from clear-cut.
     Hades, it's not clear-cut to me at this point!  They expect me to
offer my insights when Croft's done, and I'm not sure I know what the
right answer is.
     "Major Croft," Tinia spoke for the first time, "Surely the Ke'Zar
couldn't have any interest in Earth since Earth's atmosphere would be
just as incompatible to them as the original Risik home world is."
     "That's why I said Earth's solar system, Siress Tinia," Croft
replied as he changed the image to a diagram of Earth's solar system. 
"It so happens that the planet closest to Earth may very well have an
atmosphere relatively compatible with the Ke'Zar home world.  The planet
they call Venus.  Risik data on Earth's solar system, and of course
confirmed by Captain Byrne and Commander Allen, reveals that Venus has
considerable sulfur dioxide in its atmosphere and that at the very least,
the Ke'Zar would have to adapt less if they wanted to colonize Venus for
their own purposes.  Obviously, if the Ke'Zar had designs of their own on
Venus then a Risik conquest of Earth would not have been in their
self-interest."
     "But that doesn't indicate that the Ke'Zar would have posed a threat
to Earth itself," Tinia pointed out.
     "No, it doesn't.  But.....it again shows how the evidence as it
exists can't confirm the true nature of what sort of people the Ke'Zar
are.  We only know they operate on a different biological wavelon from
Humans and Risik, and we could probably add all other races known to be
an off-shoot of Kobollian genetic experiments like the Zohrlochs and
Harkaelians.  Their likely motive in warring with the Risik was based on
self-interest and not altruism, though the information blackout on how
the Ke'Zar govern themselves makes it impossible to determine if they
have an enlightened form of government, or are they a dictatorship based
on militaristic or religious doctrines."
     "And we have no idea of how they conduct diplomacy with other
races," Ila interjected.
     "Unfortunately no, Madame President.  The Risik experience with them
before they warred with each other is not particularly helpful since as I
mentioned, commercial contacts were confined to doing business by space
rendezvous or at trade station outposts.  None of the Risk interrogations
indicate it was particularly harmonious."
     "But what about other races in their home system or near to the
Risik?" as a latecomer to the Fleet, Ila knew she was more at a
disadvantage than others when it came to understanding the dynamics of
this issue than those who'd experienced firsthand direct conflict with
the Risik and the arrivals of the Ne'Chak prisoners.  But she had made a
determined effort to read and study everything so that it could become an
irrelevance.
     "The Risik never spoke of any, Madame President.  In fact it was the
total absence of any alien races other than the Ke'Zar in the closest
star system to their own that made the Risik explore those regions of
space they ultimately retreated to.  The current Risik frontier as we
know, is based in a region of space in proximity to a greater number of
planetary systems that they've been able to conquer or subjugate.  Earth
was the exception to that policy in that it was the only star system in
the opposite direction they had any interest in, and that was solely
because their religious hierarchy insisted it was theirs by right of
original settlement and conquest......which of course we know is a lot of
felgercarb.  But it took a lot of foresight on their part to start
colonizing toward star systems further away from Earth than their home
world was.  That way, when the Ke'Zar did force them out, they had an
established group of colonies with pre-existing infrastructures to
retreat to."
     "And a ready-made prison colony at Ne'Chak for the last round of
their Earth abductees," Pelias grunted.
     "So basically, we don't have any information that can shed any light
on how the Ke'Zar have interacted with races other than the Risik, or if
they've even interacted with them at all," Ila felt the need to bring
things back to the chief point of discussion.  "Approaching them means
taking a blind stab in the dark."
     "Yes, Madame President," Croft put his pointer down on the table,
"We went through every last scrap of material at our disposal and
unfortunately that's all we can come up with."
     "Major, I'd like to get back to this argument that maybe the Ke'Zar
had potential interest in Earth's solar system as a reason for attacking
the Risik," Sire Xaviar, the Council Vice-President spoke for the first
time.  "It seems to me if that was on their mind, they would have acted
as soon as the Risik were driven off.  But Captain Byrne and Commander
Allen left Earth in their own expedition nearly twenty yahrens after the
Risik invasion was thwarted so that means no one approached Earth in all
that time for Earth to be aware of."
     "That's an important point, Mr. Vice-President, but it doesn't
negate the possibility," Croft said.  "After all, no one on Earth knew
about the Risik plans.  So for all we know, the Ke'Zar could just as
easily have made their presence known in Earth's solar system all this
time without anyone on Earth knowing about it.  Especially if a planet
like Venus would have been their primary focus."
     When no more questions came up from the members, Ila asked for Croft
to turn to the area of Ke'Zar military capabilities.  This subject
offered a lot more information for the Major to go over based on Risik
accounts of how the battles had unfolded.  In particular, the stories of
Ke'Zar vessels known as "Hive Ships" that apparently had been the key to
their ability to prevail against the Risik Star Force.  Croft summoned a
picture of one of them taken from Risik files.  The ship resembled two
long, thin triangles, one inverted, with a central base in between, which
presumably had docking bays.  That was how the ship appeared head-on, but
from the side, the triangles were enormous.  The ship possessed plasma
cannons similar to the turret guns of a Battlestar and BaseShip and also
had their counterparts to missile launch technology like that of the
Galactica and Pegasus.  There was also a smaller version of the Ravashol
pulsar type weapon in what was described as a 'mass driver cannon.'   The
firepower not as strong as what now existed on the Pegasus but definitely
something that could offer a formidable challenge to the Galactica and
Baltar's BaseShip. 
     "Any indication of how many of these 'Hive Ships' existed at the
time of the Risik War?" Sire Hanlon asked.
     "More than one, but exactly how many we're not sure.  Probably at
the most four to five.  No Risik reports indicate any were destroyed by
them during their retreat, so we might assume they've added to that
arsenal since then."
     An uneasy murmur went up at the table as Croft changed the image on
the screen so that smaller fighter craft were now visible, even though
the images were grainy and not too distinct.
     "These are Ke'Zar fighters launched from one of their battle
cruisers," the FIU chief said. "As you can tell they're kind of y-shaped. 
Now these," he changed images, "Are the strike craft for engagements with
capital ships.  Fighters don't have the armament capable of making a dent
in a capital ship, so they're just there to take out enemy ships. 
Intelligence also indicates they have a whole class of separate 'bomber'
ships to use for planetary attacks because they require different
weaponry from what gets used against capital ships in space engagements."
     "Rather complicated," Sire Xaviar grunted.  "In contrast to
ourselves and the Cylons where simplicity itself dictated a single craft
capable of serving all three functions as the Raider and Viper do
respectively."
     "But probably more suitable for their purposes, Mr. Vice President
since their attack on the Risik involved not simply engaging their Star
Force but also attacking two different planets in the Risik Star System. 
The home planet, and then there was Merikon, the original prison planet
Earth abductees were taken to except for the smaller contingent sent to
Niddion."
     "Which I have some personal knowledge of," Becky Shulman spoke up. 
"Bill Benton, Katherine Bradley and I would have been sent there if
Congressman Lindy hadn't insisted we stay with him on Niddion once the
Risik decided the Congressman had to be the go-between to the Niddion
prison population."
     "And you've had a chance to read what we know about the fate of that
prison planet called Merikon, Councilor Shulman?" Xaviar asked her.
     "Yes, I have," Becky flipped one of the pages of the report in front
of her.  "It says the prison planet was taken by the Ke'Zar and the
captives freed.  They'd already been left to their own devices by the
Risik after they'd been processed through their scientific lab
facility......" she stopped and shook her head as if an unpleasant memory
had just been reawakened in her after so many decades.
     "Councilor Shulman?" Ila asked gently.  Only propriety kept her from
addressing the Earth native by her first name.
     "I'm sorry.....I just realized that the meaning of this lab
facility.....it clears up something I remember Harlan----Congressman
Lindy telling me once that was rather cryptic at the time.  But now I
realize the Risik had been candid with him about the full extent of what
was going on in the lab facility and that his insistence to the Risik
that I remain on Niddion was no doubt triggered by the realization of
what would have happened to Katherine Bradley and me if we'd been sent
there as originally intended.  Getting Bill Benton to stay was an easier
sell on the Risik then getting them to agree to Katherine and me
staying."
     Ila nodded in understanding.  The late American politician had also
been Becky's lover during that period, which accounted for her slightly
emotional reaction now that this memory of the past had been dredged up. 
It wasn't the kind of reaction or revelation one typically saw at a
Council meeting, but Becky was new at this kind of thing so that was
understandable.  As if she realized it wasn't the most appropriate of
reactions for the occasion, she abruptly cleared her throat and resumed
in a more professional tone.
     "The Risik indicate the Ke'Zar didn't go in and occupy the planet
themselves, but I have to assume that gets back to the biological
incompatibility issue."
     "Yes, Councilor," Croft nodded, "The Risik only say that the
'Te'reans' as they call them, were 'not sorry to see their masters go.'  
They don't indicate that the Ke'Zar had any conception of how to directly
occupy or administer the planet themselves."
     "Is that all you have on Ke'Zar weaponry, Major?" Ila asked,
realizing they'd drifted away from the primary issue again and she was
anxious to get to Adama for his perspective on the overall situation.
     "That's all, Madame President," Croft bowed respectfully, "That
concludes our report in terms of the basic facts."
     "And the FIU's recommendation?" she asked pointedly.
     Croft sighed, "That.....Madame President, is a question that based
on the information we have, can't be answered definitively one way or the
other.  We recognize the advantages that could come to us if the Ke'Zar
could be recruited successfully as an ally against the Risik in a new
military campaign.  But.....too many questions remain that don't answer
the nature of just what kind of people we would be dealing with. 
Prudence might dictate bypassing them entirely because engaging them
directly means taking the Fleet off course for a minimum of four to six
sectars and delays our arrival at Earth.  But at the same time, we can't
rule out the possibility that the Ke'Zar have become involved in the
affairs of Earth's Solar System since they expelled the Risik from this
quadrant of space.  We might just as easily forfeit valuable information
needed about Earth as it is now if we bypassed them.  Not to mention the
fate of Earth abductees from Merikon."  He paused, "This is not an
attempt to evade responsibility on our part, Madame President.  We think
the final decision has to rely with you and the rest of the
Council......provided that you do so with a full understanding of all the
variables that exist, and on that, we hope we've been able to present
them thoroughly to you."
     "That you have, Major Croft," Ila said with gratitude, "Please
extend our thanks to the members of the FIU team that helped prepare
this.  It's been an immense help to us.  I'll ask you to stand by in case
any further questions come up as we consider things further before any
final vote is taken.  For now though," she turned her gaze toward her
husband, "The Chair requests that Commander Adama, as Fleet Commander,
present his opinion on what our best course of action should be."
     Adama rose from the observer's chair and went to the monitor which
had now been replaced by the standard star navigation chart that depicted
at the bottom the Fleet's Epsilon 22 heading toward Earth.  In the middle
was the original Risik home system, known on Earth star charts as the
Delta Trianguli system.  And then, nearly off the screen in the top left
corner was 61 Cygni, the double binary system of the Ke'Zar.
     "I have to agree with Major Croft that this report only succeeds in
raising more questions than it provides us with definitive answers about
the Ke'Zar, and that is no fault of his or the rest of his FIU team who
have done extraordinary work in assembling all of the known facts as
we've learned them over the past three yahrens.  I must confess that when
detached from the context of expelling a race that we know to be
barbarous and dictatorial in their conduct toward their own people, their
neighbors, and those they cruelly abducted from other worlds, the Ke'Zar
do not necessarily inspire confidence as a potential military ally.  Can
we logically assume that their own war machine that so easily dispatched
the Risik and forced their own version of an Exodus was not built without
ulterior purposes of their own?  And if so, how would they react to a
Fleet of 220 ships that contain two large capital ships that could easily
defeat their so-called 'Hive Ships' in battle?  Especially if they knew
that our long-term intention was to reinforce Earth and conceivably
disrupt plans of their own for the Earth System that might very well
exist, even if that doesn't mean conquering Earth itself."
     Adama then looked over the members of the body he had once led as
their President.  "It was my original intention when final authority on
these decisions rested with me alone, that the Fleet would bypass the
Ke'Zar system entirely so as not to endanger the timetable for reaching
Earth safely.  As you can tell from the star chart, diverting course from
Epsilon 22 heading to reach 61 Cygni would add a minimum of six sectars
and perhaps longer to our journey.  We would be forced to intercept a new
course heading entirely for Earth that would not be in the best interests
of those who are anxious to see our arrival take place sooner rather than
later.  While the people feel relaxed as of now because of our lack of
significant military encounters and dangers for quite some time, and
because of the recent euphoria over the final defeat of the Cylon Empire,
they are no less impatient as far as reaching Earth is concerned when
they know we are close enough to see her star now."
     The Commander then paused and Ila had to avoid smiling because she
knew her husband was about to take a position contrary to what he'd just
been articulating.  It was a tactic she'd seen him use so many times over
the yahrens and it was one of the first things she'd learned to master
herself when she was forced to become a diplomat herself for both the
Executive Council of the Caprican Resistance, and then on the Pegasus as
Cain's chief advisor.
     "Circumstances though have changed how I might have decided the
matter if the decision were mine alone.  My initial belief that we could
bypass the Ke'Zar system was also based on the idea that the long-term
Risik danger to Earth could be viewed as a generational issue.  That is
no longer the case because of what we know about the Risik discovery of
Neutrino on one of their satellite worlds, and the fact that they are now
building a Fleet of Neutrino ships that they hope to use as a
counterweight to the military advantage posed by the Galactica and
Baltar's BaseShip, and that it is their intention to resume pursuit of
us, and their would-be conquest of Earth in a matter of only a few
yahrens or less."
     His tone then grew grave, "And there is also the fact that the Risik
effort will be joined by the last Unenlightened Cylon BaseShip in the
galaxy, under the flag of Commander Lucifer whom we know to be a Cylon
who lost a bid to become the Imperious Leader, and who was willing to see
the old Empire destroyed if he could find an opportunity to lay the
foundation for a new Empire utilizing the Risik.  And who is himself
interested in achieving his own revenge against us and against Baltar. 
These elements working in tandem represent a danger that we might not be
able to counter with our existing strength.  This is why we have
undertaken a campaign to counteract that through our own available
resources, such as the production of synthetic Neutrino, and perfecting
the Zykonian cloaking technology.  But.....we cannot at this time
guarantee that we have neutralized that potential threat.  That is why I
believe we cannot blindly bypass the Ke'Zar without making some attempt
to learn more about them.  And I think what we must do is take advantage
of the fact that the former Risik home system in Delta Trianguli is in
close proximity to us, and should present an opportunity to learn more
about the Ke'Zar from those who are still living in that system.  Which
we know likely includes thousands of Earth abductees on the former prison
planet of Merikon, who like the former inhabitants of Niddion, have
likely survived for the past forty yahrens, albeit with far greater
levels of resources than your people had on Niddion, Councilor Shulman."
     Becky nodded her head affirmatively but kept silent.
     "My belief is this would represent an appropriate compromise to our
dilemma as it currently exists," Adama went on as he pointed his hand to
the chart, "We proceed to Delta Trianguli, which is likely to be devoid
of Ke'Zar since the planets are not suitable for them to live on, and
learn what we can from the inhabitants who live there now.....if there
are any left.  And then, we can decide once and for all if we should
return to our original course heading.....or deviate further to 61 Cygni
and approach the Ke'Zar directly."
     He then resumed his seat in the observer's chair next to Croft,
allowing Ila to then take charge of matters.
     "Thank you, Commander Adama.  The Chair will now as a matter of
formality only, place in motion the proposal Commander Adama has
presented that we commit ourselves only to visiting Delta Trianguli to
learn more about the Ke'Zar.  The Council will now entertain discussion
and debate on this motion and the Chair gives approval to have Commander
Adama and Major Croft interact as if they were members of this body."
     "Commander," Siress Blassie avoided falling into the old habit of
addressing Adama as 'Mr. President'.  "It's my understanding we're no
longer able to receive any updates on what the Risik and Commander
Lucifer are up to, courtesy of the intercepts Commander Cain has been
providing to us?"
     "I'm afraid that's true, Siress Blassie," Adama acknowledged.  "The
destruction of the Cylon Capital destroyed the long range communications
link they had for communicating with Lucifer, as well as Gomorrah, Arcta
and the Colonies.  The new Cylon leadership is trying to reconstruct it,
but it will take time.  Of course even if they were to re-establish the
link, Commander Lucifer is not likely to communicate with them any longer
since for all intents and purposes he has gone rogue from the rest of his
fellow Cylons and is pursuing his own goals.  We have no way of knowing
when the Risik will finish constructing their Neutrino Fleet and when
they'll leave to resume pursuit of us."
     "And did we learn the final fate of Siress Rosalind?" she added, "I
know that's not too relevant when it comes to the larger picture,
but.....there is a natural curiosity on the part of those of us who knew
her."
     "The last report mentioning her was that the Cylons had released her
into the hands of the Risik government and that she's been given free
rein in the Risik capital," Adama said.  The fate of President Adar's
former mistress was indeed, a less relevant issue, but given Rosalind's
role in facilitating contact between the Cylons and the Risik, and the
evidence that she may have prevented knowledge of the Pegasus' existence
from getting out much sooner to the Imperious Leader, she may have played
an indirect role in the recent success of the Pegasus in destroying the
Empire.  "I think we can assume she's still alive for now, but.....I
doubt we'll ever hear anything further on her situation."
     "Then we're operating in a dangerous information vacuum that makes
it impossible for us to know when the Risik might strike," Blassie said. 
"Because of that, I see no alternative to what you propose.  We must find
out if the Ke'Zar are approachable as would-be allies."
     "The counterargument, Siress Blassie, is that if we stay on course
and forget about the Ke'Zar, we put more distance between ourselves and
the Risik before they get a chance to get underway," this came from Sire
Kort, delegate to Piscera.  "Frankly, I share the impatience of the
people Commander Adama spoke of earlier.  Let's get to Earth and bring
them up to speed on the danger that exists and get to work on setting up
a viable defensive perimeter around the Earth system."
     "And what if we can't set up a viable defensive perimeter based on
our existing strength, Sire Kort?" Tinia countered.  "We already know
that Earth is far behind our technological capability and isn't going to
be able to contribute significantly to her own defense."
     "We'd have the luxury of time to anticipate the Risik arrival,
Siress Tinia.  If we delay we would be forced to fight the Risik before
we even reach Earth!"
     The debate went on for another half centar.  From Adama's
perspective it was shaping up along expected lines.  Those who tended to
be more problematic members like Sire Hanlon and Sire Kort were in favor
of bypassing the Ke'Zar and proceeding directly to Earth.  Sire Xaviar
seemed less sure but was more inclined to favor going ahead to Earth. 
Tinia, Pelias and Blassie were taking up the position of approaching the
Ke'Zar.  Ila, he noticed, was staying above the fray as if she were
waiting for the debate to run its course before she said anything.
     It was only after a long exchange between Tinia and Siress Eudoxia,
who seemed to be wavering in favor of making contact, that the newest
member of the Council spoke up.
     "I'd.....like to say this," Becky's voice was slightly halting,
reflecting again her inexperience in these matters, "It seems to me
that.....not enough is being said about why I think we should proceed to
the former Risik home system for reasons totally unconnected with the
Ke'Zar.  Surely.....we need to find out what's become of all the
abductees on Merikon?  Are they okay?  And....even if they are
self-sufficient for the long-haul which.....we weren't on Niddion, what
if there are people just like me who......just want to go home?"
     The emotion in her voice caused everyone's train of thought to come
to a stop.  
     "I.....I recognize this isn't the first priority for the Fleet," she
went on, "But.....honestly.  If so much as one person from Earth is
living on that former prison planet and still has some dream of going
home.....don't we owe it to that person to end their suffering and
misery, just like.....well damn it, you went out of your way to launch a
military strike on Ne'Chak to free everyone there, and you went to great
lengths to get everyone on Niddion free except-," she stopped and shook
her head as she realized she was about to go off on a tangent she'd vowed
never to go off on again.  Namely the fact that they'd been forced to
leave the Colony Leader, William Benton behind when he'd cracked and
refused to leave and taken shots at the Galactica party who had pleaded
with him to go and join the rest of the inhabitants.  Leaving Benton to
spend the rest of his life alone on the planet he'd been the undisputed
ruler of for thirty years.  "Well that is-why would any of you think we
don't have an obligation to find out?"
     Sire Kort let out an uneasy sigh as if he felt like he'd just been
shamed into submission.  Right away, Ila knew there was only one way the
vote was going to go.  She decided it was time to end the discussion. 
"Is there a second to the Chair's motion?"
     "Second!" Pelias spoke up.
     "All those in favor of the motion to proceed to Delta Trianguli and
investigate as to the intentions of the Ke'Zar, which will include a
visit to the former Risik prison planet of Merikon, will say aye, those
opposed say no."
     "Aye!" Thirteen unified voices spoke.
     "Motion carried unanimously," Ila rapped her gavel and turned to her
husband, "The Council hereby authorizes you, Commander Adama, to have the
Fleet set course for Delta Trianguli system immediately."
     "It shall be done, Madame President," Adama bowed respectfully and
then turned to Croft indicating that they should leave before formal
adjournment took place.  The Major gathered his materials and followed
Adama out.  Only when they were gone did Ila go through the motions of
formal adjournment, bringing the Council meeting to an end.


Electronics Ship
     Zed, the co-anchor on the regular newscasts of the IFB and also the
chief commentator for all Triad matches in the Fleet was busy in his
private cubicle looking at potential stories to cover now that the
celebration jubilee for the defeat of the Cylon Empire was over.  His
concentration was distracted when an object dropped on the papers he was
going over causing him to look up.  He could see a young man trying to
make a quick exit from the room.  Even though his back was to Zed, the
co-anchor knew right away who it was.
     "Okay Scali, stop.  Get back in here."
     The chief statistician on the Triad broadcasts, who had been trying
to find ways of branching out of what he considered dead-end drudgery
only to be stopped cold by Zed, turned around and looked coolly at his
boss.  "The package for tonight's match is right there.  Apollo and
Starbuck against Barton and Sheldrake.  I didn't miss a thing."
     "I know you didn't," he sighed, "Look, you've been giving me the
silent treatment for over two sectans now.  I get it.  You're still
ticked off that I squelched all your digging into Aurelius's background. 
Well......I'm sorry, Scali.  Really.  I just didn't think it was that big
a deal at the time."
     The young man who had once had aspirations of becoming a journalator
until the Destruction had ruined those plans carefully made his way
toward him, "And now?"
     Zed sighed, "Well.....I'm not convinced that there's something
sinister, but.....there are a few things that maybe should be studied
further based on the quick chat I had with him at the time we brought
aboard those people from Niddion and.....something else that happened a
little more recently."
     "What?" Scali wanted to sit down, but Zed's cubicle wasn't big
enough to accommodate a chair.  Instead he gently closed the door behind
him.  
     "All right, here's the thing.  You thought there was something
suspicious about him because he was wearing an insignia from the Excelsia
and that the old photo history of the Excelsia thirty yahrens ago shows
that Captain Aurelius of their Green Squadron group was a much younger
man than our Aurelius could be, even allowing for his thirty yahens of
cryo-suspension and facial alteration surgery.  I confronted him with the
picture and he said that Captain Aurelius was his nephew and that he
wears the Excelsia insignia as a tribute to him because his nephew went
further in the service than he did when he served on the Bellepheron."
     "Sounds like a reasonable explanation," Scali folded his arms.
     "That's what I thought too," Zed nodded, "That was before I met a
man on the Senior Ship named Cronin.  I was trying to sound out some of
the new arrivals from Niddion for possible interviews and while I was
going through their Common Room, I see this elderly man Cronin wearing an
old battle jacket with the insignia of the Excelsia.  So naturally, I
decided to stop and ask him offhand if he could tell me when he served on
her and if he remembered a Captain Aurelius.  Well, the man's eyes lit up
when I mentioned that name.  Turned out Cronin flew Vipers off the
Excelsia for six yahrens and he remembered Aurelius as a 'prince of a
fellow.'   A great guy who always watched the backs of anyone who flew in
his Squadron.  I then ask him if he knew anything about his family and if
he'd been named after someone specific like maybe his father or an
uncle......and let's just say that I wasn't quite prepared for what he
said next."
     "Which was?" Scali's anger at Zed was long gone now as he felt an
anxious air coming over him.
     The IFB co-anchor smirked, "He said that Aurelius couldn't have been
named for an uncle because his father, Colonel Nerva, commanding officer
of Fleet District Headquarters on Sagittaria was an orphan who had no
siblings."
     Scali slowly took that in, "Were you able to confirm that?"
     "All I could confirm is that a basic D-1 file for Captain Aurelius
exists and all it says is that Colonel Nerva was his father.  Those
reports don't mention the names of uncles or aunts.  As for Colonel
Nerva, his service file is lost so I can't confirm if he had siblings or
not.  But I hardly doubt Cronin is lying on that point since he clearly
knew Captain Aurelius quite well."
     "Then that means our Aurelius lied to you."
     "Unquestionably."
     "So what do we do about it?" he pressed.
     Zed sighed, "We take our time, Scali.  We take our time and not rush
this little story."
     "But he's clearly lying to conceal something serious," Scali
protested.  "Probably the reason why he went into suspended animation in
the first place."
     "I agree with you, there probably is a tie-in," Zed nodded, "But
Scali....ask yourself this.  Pre-Destruction crimes aren't being
prosecuted any longer.  Not even murder or treason because with Baltar
off the hook, there's no point being harsher with people who did less
than he did.  What could we possibly find out that would really matter in
the bigger scheme of things?  Let's say our Aurelius is covering up some
terrible crime that made him go into cryo-freeze for three hundred
yahrens because he figured by then it wouldn't matter any longer. 
Well....he may have only spent thirty yahrens in freeze, but the end
result was the same.  It doesn't matter any longer.  We wouldn't be
serving the cause of justice, we'd just be humiliating the man for the
sake of it, and honestly Scali.....that's the sort of thing that would
confirm every rotten instinct the freed prisoners from Ne'Chak first had
about us before Zara set them straight, thank the Lords, and reminded
them that everyone here at the IFB has a tragic secret of their own from
the night of the Destruction."
     "So we just forget about it?" he felt his frustration returning over
how he'd been treated by Zed, especially since Zed had checked something 
he knew he could have if given the chance.
     "No.  I'm just saying let's slow-walk it a bit and learn what we
can, when we can without making it seem like we're treating this like a
big deal.  If you want to dig more in the computers or maybe even talk to
this guy Cronin yourself, then go right ahead.  If you think it makes you
feel like a real journalator for a change and not just a damned good
Triad statistician, then fine.  I'm not going to stop you.  The only
thing I ask, Scali, is don't come to me with what you find unless there's
more than even a criminal act behind all this.  It has to be something so
big it would blow the Fleet right off its course heading to Earth if the
information became public.  Anything less than that......just treat it as
a learning experience if you still want to become a journalator on the
IFB someday."
     Scali slowly nodded his head, "All right.  I'll dig on my own time
and.....learn."
     "You do that," Zed then gave him a reassuring smile, "See you
tonight at the match."
     As the statistician left the small cubicle, the only thought on his
mind was thinking how and when he could find the right opportunity to see
this man named Cronin on the Senior Ship.

Chapter Two

     The Triad match that evening aboard the Rising Star proved to be a
tougher contest than Starbuck expected it to be.  Back when Barton had
Sergeant Ortega as his partner, they represented the third best team in
the league and conceivably the near-equal of the number two-ranked team
of Boomer and Castor.  But Ortega's murder (which Starbuck had found
himself falsely accused of) had forced Barton into a series of
unsuccessful pairings that never seemed to gel for the ex-Columbia pilot. 
Lieutenant Sheldrake who was his wingmate now was the latest one, and
Starbuck, who had personally trained Sheldrake as a Cadet, was convinced
the young man lacked the quickness needed to counter a hard charge to the
hole.  It turned out though that Sheldrake was more than up to the
challenge and in the end what Starbuck expected to be a blowout victory
turned into a tight, defensive oriented contest.  Annoying for him, but
still, exciting for the spectators in the galleries.
     "Can't believe it was that tough," Starbuck said later in the locker
room after he'd been through the turbowash and was putting his uniform
back on.  The memory of how he'd been framed for Ortega's murder still
cast a shadow as he had to make sure his locker with his laser pistol
inside was securely locked while he was washing up.
     Apollo finished with his boots, "Sheldrake's better than you gave
him credit for, Starbuck.  When he wants to let off steam, he really
knows how to do it."
     "I wonder how he learned to do that.  I never saw that in him when
he was a Cadet."
     "He probably learned how when his grandfather was killed by the
Ischt'k," Apollo said gently.  Immediately Starbuck flushed a deep shade
of red.
     "Frack, I can't believe I forgot about that.  That was over three
yahrens ago."
     "Things had a way of blurring together back then," his friend
acknowledged, not wanting to get more specific since the incident with
the Ischt'k had paved the way for the subsequent incident with an enemy
of theirs called the Calosiv that Iblis had exploited to send Apollo and
Sheba to that fake Paradise realm.
     "Yeah, a lot of water under the proverbial bridge since then,"
Starbuck tightened the straps of his boots and then holstered his laser
pistol.  "I think that's about the same time we found Wagner and first
learned about the Risik and the Ke'Zar.  And the funny thing is we don't
know any more about the Ke'Zar now as we knew then."
     "That's about to change in the next few days.....hopefully," Apollo
holstered his own laser and the two headed out of the locker room.  They
would take a special turbo lift up to the lounge level and head for the
Empyreal Lounge where Sheba and Cassiopeia would be waiting......along
with Chameleon and the new lady in his life.
     "So what do you know about this new girlfriend of Chameleon's?"
Apollo asked.
     "I've never met her," Starbuck stuck a fumarello in his mouth and
lit it, since he knew the optimal time for smoking was when he wasn't in
the same room with his wife.  In her presence, he could chew the end of
it but never light up.  He was used to that arrangement since he
considered it a necessary sacrifice for matrimonial harmony with the
woman he loved, but he always made sure to take advantage of his
opportunities when they presented themself.  "The only thing I know is
she's one of the new arrivals from Niddion.  One of the Risik women."
     "The Risik women?" Apollo turned his head in surprise.  "I thought
they were all billeted on the same ship with the Risik dissidents."
     Starbuck shrugged, "I wouldn't know about that.  Supposedly this one
transferred over to the Senior Ship and she met my father in the Common
Room while they were watching our new Council member being interviewed
and that's how they struck up a conversation.  Apparently they really hit
it off since he canceled out on coming to the Galactica the night of all
the big celebrations just to take her out to the dinner on the Pathmain."
     "What's her name?" Apollo found himself tensing slightly since he
knew all the Risik women from Niddion and was hoping it wasn't the one
he'd had the most exposure to.
     "He didn't say.  I guess that's part of the surprise," Starbuck
sighed, "I'm glad he finally found someone new.  I was beginning to think
he'd never get over.....Claudia," he said her name carefully.  "He really
loved her that much."
     "She felt the same way about him," Apollo said gently, knowing he
was the only one who could say that to Starbuck without drawing a
protest.  And there was none from him.
     "I know she did.  And.....I know why she had to let go, and we
buried the hatchet about that a long time ago, Apollo.  I know Ayesha's a
decent person and she didn't make that decision lightly.  If the Lords
felt she needed to go back to Baltar to keep him from being a bad boy
again.....well, it's not my place to argue with them."
     "Glad you think that."
     "I wouldn't let you down, Captain Fuzzball," he quipped, getting in
the requisite comment about Apollo's Zohrlochian look that he always
threw at him at least once a day.  Apollo took the remark in good-natured
stride as he always did since Starbuck was by now the only one who still
openly teased him about it.
     The doors slid open and they moved through the crowds that were
alternating in the direction of the music in the Astral Lounge or the
quieter elegance of the multi-leveled Empyreal Lounge with its
breathtaking picture window vista of the stars.  Apollo and Starbuck
headed for the latter, signed in with Assistant Chief Steward Lange at
the entrance and made their way to the table on the ground level where
their companions awaited.  Apollo could see Sheba, wearing a cream
colored civilian gown, get up and wave to him.  She had by now dispensed
completely with wearing her uniform in any off-duty setting.  Yet another
one of those subtle signs of how serious she was in her belief that her
days in the military would end when they reached Earth.  Cassiopeia was
wearing her old red socialator gown which she'd been wearing when she and
Starbuck first met aboard the Gemonese freighter.  It was the one
reminder of her old profession that she still cherished most and she
liked finding a reason to wear it for her husband in the right setting,
which this was.
     Chameleon was wearing his elegantly cut tunic that still gave him
the aura of a charming professional wagerer which he'd been for many
yahrens.  And even now, despite his relative reformation, there were
still some occasional angles he liked to get involved with, including one
with Starbuck where ducats were sold to people for shuttle rides that
would get them a better view of the distant grouping of stars that was
known to contain Earth's star system.  Starbuck had managed to make an
extra three hundred cubits over the last few sectars since the scheme had
started......and which Council Security had been told to look the other
way on for now since so many people had come away from the experience
enjoying the opportunity to see the distant point of light that one day
would represent the end of their journey.
     As Apollo and Starbuck drew near to the table, the captain now had a
good look at Chameleon's escort and he stopped in his tracks as he
immediately recognized her from the  shade of lustrous black hair that
had one distinct silver streak running through it.
     Oh no, Apollo thought.  Not her.  If it had to be one of those four
Risik women why did it have to be her?
     "Hello again, Captain Apollo!" the Risik woman named Diandra, who
had previously been forced to go by the name of Diana Marlowe, rose and
smiled brightly at him.  "It is good to see you again.  I was telling
Chameleon, Sheba and Cassiopeia how you so expertly handled the situation
on Niddion and got everyone to leave peacefully."
     "It's.....good to see you again, Diandra," Apollo forced a smile as
he remembered the bad vibe Diandra had given off to him and other members
of the landing party who'd had close contact with her like Captain Ian
Ashby and Sergeant Thomson of Colonial Security.  In contrast to the
other three Risik women who'd been forced to pass as natives of Earth,
Diandra had a greater aura of fanaticism about her Risik heritage that
she'd been forced to suppress for over thirty Earth years.
     She then came up to Starbuck and shook hands with him, "And you must
be Starbuck!  I've heard so much about you from Chameleon.  I can see
that you take after him a good deal."
     "In more ways than one," Starbuck smiled as he looked her over.  He
could tell right away that his father had likely found her attractive
because she shared some physical characteristics that Claudia had.  The
dark hair and the exotic facial features.  Starbuck knew that was the
exact opposite of his own mother, whom Chameleon had described as a
blonde similar to Cassiopeia.  It made sense for Chameleon to more easily
gravitate to someone who didn't remind him too much of the greatest love
of his life.
     "We were watching the match from here where it's a lot more quiet,"
Chameleon said as he gave his son a quick handshake before sitting down
again.  "That was a tough one, but you pulled it out."
     "Yeah, well.....you know how we believe in giving the public their
money's worth," Starbuck settled down in between Cassiopeia and his
father, while Apollo found himself in between his wife and Diandra.  "I
mean if we really played to the max, we'd win every match in a blowout,
the people would get bored seeing us win and they'd stop coming to watch
us......"
     "And then the betting odds would drop and Starbuck wouldn't be able
to get a nice cut of the action on all those wagers that take place under
the table, free from Council Security's prying eyes....." Cassiopeia
teased.
     "Careful, Cass.  You never know if the Triad League Commissioner is
nearby," Starbuck returned it.  Apollo shook his head faintly.  Wagering
on oneself was strictly forbidden for all players since it raised the
possibility of throwing matches.  Wagering on other teams in matches
where they weren't participants was tolerated if the stakes were
considered low and innocuous.  With Starbuck though, he could never be
quite sure.
     "So tell me......Diandra," Apollo asked after he and Starbuck were
served drinks and everyone at the table gave their dinner order.  "What
made you relocate to the Senior Ship?  I thought you were sharing
quarters with Janella."
     "A private cubicle became available on the Senior Ship after I made
inquiries," the Risik born woman said, "I put in a request and it was
granted."
     "I would have thought you'd want to stay close to your fellow
Risik."
     She sighed and shook her head faintly, "Janella and I......we
represent different strains of religious thinking in the Risik tradition. 
We were never compatible living in adjoining cubicles on Niddion, so I
decided it was best to find a place where in privacy, I can practice my
faith as I believe it."
     "Are there many different religious traditions among the Risik?"
Sheba asked.
     "There are primarily two, with a number of minor sects.  Janella,
along with Elyzza and Ionia, belong to the Draasni sect.  They believe in
many gods and that no single one among them is supreme.  The traditional
Risik faith holds that the subservient gods do the bidding of the one
Supreme god, Belial."
     "You mean that's the traditional faith of the Risik religious
class?" an uneasy flicker came over Starbuck's face since he, like
everyone else in the Fleet was well aware of what Risik fanaticism rooted
in the religious class had led to.  But Diandra gave him a reassuring
chuckle.
     "The religious class is not of one accord, Starbuck.  Some of the
priests believe in the supremacy of Belial and others believe in the
Draasni philosophy that all gods are equal.  It isn't so much religion
and the order of the universe that guides the fanaticism that plunged my
people into war and conflict with others, it's the belief in......how
shall I put it?  Racial superiority.  You can believe in the supremacy of
Belial or in the Draasni way and still hold fast to the fanaticism that
motivated the desire to rule and conquer Earth.  Just as you can be
Draasni or follow Belial......and reject that hatred and fanaticism as I
have."
     "That's a good way of putting it," Cassiopeia nodded.  "You can be
opposed to a corrupt priestly class that does bad things in the name of
your own religion without being any less of a follower of that religion."
     "Exactly!" Diandra nodded, "Such gifted insight, Dr. Cassiopeia."
     "What's so special about Belial?" Apollo asked, wanting to probe her
beliefs some more.  He still couldn't shake the negative vibe Diandra had
given off during that confrontation on Niddion with William Benton, the
fanatical colony leader.  "Do the Draasni followers not believe in his
existence, or does he just have an equal place in their pantheon with the
other gods?"
     "Some think he existed, others don't.  Draasni are not unified on
such matters.  They are only of one mind on the idea that the universe
requires the presence of many gods to make it function.  Surely there are
such sects among your people."
     "In some of the twelve worlds," Sheba acknowledged, finding the
conversation interesting from a cultural exchange point since up to now
her knowledge of the Risik was generally limited to the barbaric side
she'd seen in the Risik officials who'd faced Tribunal and judgment for
their crimes against the Earth prisoners at Ne'Chak.  "The colony of Ares
was.....or rather is, largely polytheistic.  But individual sects that
place a higher devotion to one god or goddess over the other are the
norm.  There isn't a sense that all gods are equal, which I presume is
what the Draasni believe."
     "Exactly," Diandra nodded.  "And while I resented the fact that when
I was forced to pretend I was of Earth, I could not follow my own
religion, I at least respect the fact that the major religions of Earth
are of generally one accord that a single Deity is responsible for all
things.  That is true of the primary Colonial religon, is it not?"
     "Yes, Colonial religion as defined by our Book of the Word holds to
a monotheistic tradition in which the Lords of Kobol are the servants of
the single Creator of the Universe," Apollo was still feeling tentative
about the Risik woman, though he was beginning to see the charismatic
side of her that had clearly gotten Chameleon's attention.  "But getting
back to Belial.....what makes him special in the Risik tradition?"
     "Belial is seen as the greatest of teachers and leaders," she said
simply.  Apollo noticed that her voice didn't become overly reverential
as he expected it to.  She was giving her answers more in an intellectual
vein.  "He provides the element of order to the Universe that is needed
to make it understandable for all of us.  That he is ultimately in charge
of all things, directing events and our destinies," she then smiled
faintly, "Perhaps he is the same as the one you worship.....only under a
different name."
     Apollo managed to smile but didn't answer her since that was too
weighty a subject for him to wade into at this point.  There was far too
much in what he was hearing that would be deemed heretical by Colonial
standards and by the standards of major Earth religions, but he knew it
wasn't his place to condemn or judge her beliefs, especially not in a
setting like this.
     "I hate to interrupt this fascinating intellectual discussion that
Lords know is way above my pay grade," Starbuck's voice suddenly
punctured the air with the equivalence of a balloon being popped,
"But....what's the Risik view of Triad?"
     Without skipping a beat, and effortlessly switching topics, Diandra
turned to Starbuck and smiled, "A most fascinating and entertaining game! 
Perhaps the Risik militarist impulse would have been lessened if their
soldiers could have used such a game to expend their energy."
     "Well.....if it ever lessens my ability to shoot straight during
combat, I may have to give the game up," Starbuck quipped.
     "Hopefully you will have no more combat between now and our arrival
at Earth."
     Dinner orders arrived for them and conversation shifted to more
innocuous matters.  Chameleon described how they'd connected and how it
had led to some pleasant conversations that had led to multiple dinner
dates.  Apollo waited to see if Diandra would bring up the matter of her
half-Risik son, Christopher Marlowe, the result of the forced breeding
between the Earth men and the Risik women the former Niddion Colony
Leader William Benton had decreed.  He knew that Christopher hadn't
gotten over the shock of discovering (along with the rest of the second
generation) that he was half-Risik.  And the fanatical way his mother had
embraced her Risik heritage and renounced the name she'd gone by for
decades of Diana Marlowe, had led to a total estrangement between the two
since their arrival in the Fleet.  
     Eventually, it was Chameleon who brought up the matter of Diandra's
son, and how the common thread of not having a normal relationship with a
son had given them a stronger basis for bonding with each other. 
Combined with, as Starbuck's father put it, a sense of spending yahrens
struggling with one's sense of identity.  Diandra, forced to pretend for
decades that she was something she wasn't, and Chameleon, spending
decades changing identities at will based on his needs at a particular
moment in time.  He'd then added how his story of reconciliation and new
friendship with Starbuck had impressed Diandra and given her hope that
she might experience the same thing with her son in the future.
     Throughout the conversation, Apollo could tell that Starbuck and
Cassiopeia were developing a positive reaction to the Risik woman and the
fact that she and Chameleon had hit it off so well.  He could understand
why Starbuck was glad to see his father connecting with a woman again
after he'd been left hurt by the experience with Claudia/Ayesha.  And
yet.....Apollo wasn't feeling the uneasy vibe about Diandra that had been
formed on Niddion go away.  It wasn't anything she'd said during the
conversation.  If anything, she'd been as forthright and candid about her
Risik beliefs, her regrets over the estrangement from her son, and her
enthusiasm for the journey to Earth as Apollo would have hoped her to be.
     Why do I just get the feeling that there is something.....off about
her?  It's not because she's a Risik.  If it were Melnea, or if it were
one of the other three Risik women from Niddion, I wouldn't have batted
an eye.  But her......Lords, I just don't know.
     It was only much later, long after the end of the dinner and a warm
promise to get together again soon, and when he and Sheba were back
aboard the Galactica and in the privacy of their quarters, that he
finally opened up to his wife about his misgivings about Diandra.
     "I don't know Sheba," he sighed, "Maybe I'm letting my
imagination......or maybe it's just my concern for Starbuck's well-being
and for Chameleon's too......but if it had to be one of the Risik women,
I wish it wasn't her."
     Sheba hung up her gown in the closet and settled down on the edge of
their bed.  Apollo realized she wasn't going to say anything and was
expecting him to go on.
     "You're not going to tell me I'm being paranoid and that I need to
relax?"
     "No," his wife shook her head.  "Not when you and I both have to be
on our guard about where danger might come between now and when we get to
Earth.  And you met her before the rest of us did, including Chameleon. 
You've obviously got a reason for thinking the way you do about her."
     He sat down on the opposite side of the bed looking away from her, a
sense of frustration in his body language.  "It's nothing specific,
Sheba.  Nothing I could use to justify saying anything to Starbuck, let
alone to Chameleon.  All I can go by is the look on her face when she
marched into that Conference Room on Niddion in front of all the people
and tore into Benton.  There was such.....hate in her.  And such pride in
wanting to renounce the idea of assimilating into Earth culture and
reclaiming her Risik identity.  I know her attitude was justified because
of what she and the three other Risik women went through, but
still......it wasn't a pleasant sight."
     "Some would say she was just standing up for herself after suffering
a terrible injustice for so long," Sheba came up behind him and began to
rub his shoulders.  
     "And I'd agree, she was.  But her son was in that conference room
too with everyone else and she barely acknowledged him.  It was as if
letting out her anger came first, and.....that's really the difference
between her and the other three.  They were anxious to keep things right
with their children and in Janella's case there are grandchildren too. 
They might have reclaimed their Risik names and their Risik religion, but
otherwise they want to still show their families that they're the same
person they've loved.  Diandra.....she was different."
     "But that's something she and her son have to work out.  And maybe
because of what Chameleon's been through with Starbuck, he can be the one
to help her do that," Sheba paused, "Not that I'm saying you're wrong to
have concerns, Apollo.  But.....you can't take on that burden for
Starbuck or Chameleon.  Not unless you think that Diandra might become
some kind of security risk."
     He craned his neck around toward her and frowned slightly, "Security
risk?"
     His wife kept her arms around his shoulders, "If we're taking for
granted the idea of confrontation with the Risik one day, do you think
she might try to sell us out?  I mean.....that is what you're leading up
to as far as this whole bad vibe thing about her goes, isn't it?"
     Apollo shrugged, "I suppose.  But it was Risik officers who sold her
and the others into slavery in the first place, so it's not as if she
should have any regard for the Risik Establishment.  Unless that's more
ancient history to her than what Benton did to her on Niddion."
     "So for now, you're just going to have to play it safe," Sheba idly
kissed him on the neck, "Be nice.  Say all the right things.  Don't let
anyone else but me and maybe Adama and Ila know about your concerns, and
don't get on Starbuck's bad side and tell him."
     "Unless Starbuck's felgercarb detector goes off and he approaches
me.  Then I have to tell him everything."
     "True," she acknowledged.  "But maybe in the end, it's just a nice
case of Chameleon finding a new friend just like Boxey did with Aurelius. 
We overcame any doubts we might have had about him and look how wonderful
that's worked out."
     "No question," Apollo nodded as he slipped under the sheets next to
her and reached for the light.  He was fast asleep within microns after
the room was plunged into darkness.


     "Thanks for another winning broadcast," Zed said as Scali finished
packing up things in the now empty spectators gallery of the Rising
Star's triad court.  Long after the end of the match, Zed had remained
behind to do several live remote reports to Zara on the Electronics Ship
for the regular IFB newscast, which had also included a final piece of
wrap-up analysis by Boomer on the state of things in the league overall. 
Now though, Zed and Scali were the only two left.
     "It's a living," the young statistician shrugged and closed his
briefcase containing his detailed notes on the players and the statistics
for the just concluded match.  Scali had such a trained eye that he could
meticulously record every example of game play,  from blocked shots, to
penalties, to rebounds.  "Say by the way, Zed, just one more thing about
the whole Aurelius business-,"
     "Come on, Scali, I said do that on your own time and don't bother me
about it any longer unless you find-----,"
     "Something bigger than a criminal thing, yeah.  I just wanted to ask
you if you had your recorder going when you showed him that picture of
Captain Aurelius of the Excelsia."
     Zed frowned, "What for?"
     "Oh.....just thought maybe if I decided to do some follow-up with
that guy Cronin, it might come in handy if he actually heard the voice of
someone say that he was the Captain's uncle.  Just to see how he'd react
and that way we'll find out if Cronin really knows that much about his
old squadron leader's family history.  I mean......the guy could be
mistaken after all these yahrens."
     "True," the IFB co-anchor and lead sportscaster admitted.  "Yeah, I
did have my micro-recorder in my pocket going when I caught up with him. 
You'd have to get it from me tomorrow in my office on the Electronics
Ship.  Can you wait until then?"
     "Sure, no rush.  It'll just be easier for me to do something on my
own time if I have it."
     "You've got it.  Just remember....." he rose and then said with a
strong emphasis, "Treat it like a hobby.  Not an obsession."
     "I'll remember," Scali grinned as the two of them left the gallery,
leaving the Triad Court empty and dark.  But when they were gone, a
presence materialized.  
     How to deal with this problem without affecting free will, Helena
thought with folded arms and a look of steely determination.  That is the
challenge I must now face.  

Chapter Three

     When Colonel Tigh saw Adama entering the Bridge, he was filled with
a self-conscious sense that he didn't see the Commander in the
Galactica's Nerve Center as much as he used to.  Tigh had thought Adama's
resignation of the Presidency and his Council seat in favor of Ila would
have resulted in him becoming a more active presence on the Bridge, but
instead the opposite had proved true.  Some of it, Tigh knew, stemmed
from the lack of genuine emergencies to the Fleet that would have
required his presence as a military tactician and strategist.  Indeed,
the last time the Galactica had been subjected to any kind of actual
danger herself had been when the mysterious "Entity" had played havoc
with her and caused some minor structural damage.  But since that
incident, which predated the return of Ila to the Fleet, it had been a
tranquil environment for those who worked on the Bridge.  Tigh could tell
that some of the veterans were showing signs of boredom during their
shifts to the point where more than once he'd been forced to dress down a
crewman for logging into the computer game network throughout the Fleet. 

     At least I never have to do that with Omega and Rigel.  Now that
they're sealed, they don't have to flirt on-duty any longer and they stay
focused all the time.
     In that context of increased "Bridge Boredom", Tigh could now
understand why Adama stayed clear of it unless it was absolutely
necessary.  If anything, the office in his quarters had taken on
increased importance when it came to dealing with the frequent messages
from the Pegasus, and in turn the relayed messages from the Colonies. 
Conversations with Baltar or any of the top Cylons on the BaseShip like
Commander Vulpa or Commander Moray were also best done from a less noisy
and crowded environment as the Bridge was.  And there were the multitude
of reports from Wilker on the technological issues that likely held the
key to the Fleet's ability to survive the final challenges of their
journey.  Those were issues best to be studied from his private sanctum
and not from the Bridge.  And of course, there was also the fact that he
could converse regularly with his wife in her capacity as President of
the Quorum and discuss more openly the short and long-term issues that
still confronted the Fleet.  With all of that established, Tigh had
become used to being surprised whenever Adama did show up.
     "Status report?" Adama asked as he joined Tigh on the upper level.
     "We're one day from reaching the Delta Trianguli system," the
Executive Officer said.  "Yellow Squadron patrol under Lieutenant
Greenbean and Sergeant Call is doing a forward scan.  They should return
within two centars."
     "They're using the cloaking systems on this patrol?"
     "As per your orders.  The inhabitants of the former prison planet,
as well as anyone still alive on the former Risik home planet won't be
able to tell they're there if they have their own scanner technology."
     "Nor will any Ke'Zar ships, if they've staked out a permanent
presence in the solar system," Adama noted as he then went over to the
navigation board.  The Delta Trianguli system was now at the center with
the Fleet position marked in the lower center and moving toward it.  The
Ke'Zar home system of 61 Cygni was situated in the upper left corner of
the screen.  Reaching it would require a minimum of several sectans at
normal Fleet convoy speed.  Any thoughts of leaving the Fleet behind to
let the Galactica investigate on her own and utilize her maximum speed
capability had long ago been rejected by Adama as too dangerous to
consider.  Especially now that they had to deal with the fact that the
date of Risik attack from their wake was no longer something they could
pinpoint with no more messages from Lucifer's BaseShip to the Cylon Home
System that could be intercepted and provide hints.
     "I read the FIU report," Tigh said, "It looks like no one wants to
go out on a limb and decide if the Ke'Zar are more likely to be friendly
or hostile."
     "No indeed," Adama nodded, "Myself included.  That's why we need to
use this exploration of Delta Trianguli as a test case to find out more
about them."
     One level below, Rigel turned around and looked up, "Commander,
long-range scan shows Yellow Squadron now on return leg from their
patrol.  ETA to com time in 30 centons."
     "Thank you Rigel," Adama nodded, "When they're back in communication
range, inform Greenbean and his number two to report to the Bridge for
debriefing after they return."
     "Yes sir."
     The Commander turned to the Executive Officer, "Things are about to
get a little more interesting now."


     A centar later Greenbean was on the Bridge accompanied by his
assigned wingmate for this patrol, Sergeant Call.  The tall blonde
warrior was pointing to the binary system on the navigation chart that
indicated Delta Trianguli.
     "The solar system consists of five planets, three in orbit about
Delta Trianguli A, the primary star and two around Delta Trianguli B,
confirming existing Risik chart data.  Long-range scans were able to
confirm the former prison planet for Earth abductees, Merikon, situated
around Delta Trianguli B and that there are definite active life signs."
     "Long range scans?" Adama frowned, "Was that all you were able to
take?"
     "I'm afraid so, Commander," Greenbean said.  "We ran into an
obstacle that made short-range scans impossible under cloaked conditions. 
You see.....there's a minefield blocking the orbital approach to the
Delta Trianguli B system.  As big as the one we came close to approaching
a few sectars back when we were trailing the so-called Entity."
     "Another Risik minefield," Tigh said with an air of incredulousness,
remembering the complications the last one they'd come across had caused,
even though the Fleet had ultimately turned back well short of it. 
     "Are we sure of that?" Adama asked the two pilots.
     "The updated war book manual confirmed that the mines are identical
to those from the previous minefield, sir, which date to forty yahrens
ago at the time of the Risik Exodus," Sergeant Call said.  "There's no
question the Risik made them."
     "Odd," the Commander was shaking his head faintly because this
information wasn't computing in his head.  He then realized he needed to
move on to other matters, "What about Delta Trianguli A?"
     "There was no similar obstacle there, and we were able to approach
the planets that orbit the Primary star," Greenbean pointed to the chart
again.  "And.....the one that matches up to the former Risik home world
turned up nothing but total devastation and destruction with radon
readings off the chart.  The Ke'Zar must have hit them with full-scale
nuclear bombardment across the entire planet.  There's no surviving
infrastructure anywhere.  Just scorched landscape, twisted wreckage and
vegetation overgrowth that wouldn't be fit for any life form on our
wavelon because of the atmospheric contamination."
     The two senior officers took that in, "And no signs of active life
whatsoever," Adama phrased the question in an almost rhetorical manner.
     "None that we could pick up," Call said with emphasis.  "If anyone's
alive on that planet, they'd have to be buried underground in some kind
of bunker or vault that could block out the radon levels.  And that's not
likely given how widespread the devastation is."
     "And the rest of their system?" Tigh inquired.
     Greenbean picked up the narrative.  "Well the satellite moon
orbiting the home planet is known to have at one time housed what Risik
files refer to as a 'Special Regime Camp' where political dissidents and
prisoners were housed.  It looks like that facility was destroyed too in
one of their attacks, though there are heavier concentrations of wreckage
and lower levels of radon than on the home planet, so it clearly wasn't a
full-scale nuclear bombardment that destroyed them."
     "But no signs of life."
     "Nothing that turned up on our scanners," Yellow Leader shook his
head, "Again, if anyone's alive on it, they'd have to be buried deep
underground in order to avoid scanner detection.  Maybe the Galactica's
scanners could penetrate that, but not a Viper's."
     "And the third planet was never suitable for Risik life and if the
Ke'Zar need a sulfur dioxide atmosphere in order to survive, it's not
suitable for them either," Call added.  "Bottom line is that Delta
Trianguli A is a dead system for all intents and purposes."
     "But the presence of this minefield makes it the only one of the two
systems we can investigate safely," Adama grunted, "Could a wide enough
hole be blasted to accommodate several vipers and a shuttle to get
through?"
     "I'd say it's not impossible, Commander, but.....it would require
some really good precision flying to pull it off.  At the very least, the
Fleet as a whole shouldn't get anywhere near the Trianguli B system."
     The Commander sighed and nodded vigorously, "All right.  Thanks for
your report, Greenbean.  Sergeant Call.  Dismissed."
     The two warriors saluted and left the Bridge.  Adama continued to
stare at the navigation board for a centon before Tigh broke the silence.
     "Their telemetry recordings should tell us a lot more."
     "They should, Colonel.  But at the very least......we already know
that finding information about the Ke'Zar in this star system isn't going
to be easy."


     Several centars later, Adama had summoned Apollo to his quarters.
     "You had a chance to study the telemetry reports from Greenbean's
patrol?"
     "I did," his son said.  "The devastation on the former Risik home
world doesn't surprise me.  But the minefield in the Trianguli B system I
just don't get.  Why would the Risik have left mines above their former
prison planet when they knew the Earth abductees couldn't get off it
without Ke'Zar help?"
     "Maybe that was the reason," Adama said. "The Risik didn't want the
Ke'Zar to be able to land on that planet and use their own ships to take
the abductees back to Earth.  But there are, as I'm sure you've guessed,
two reasons why that doesn't make any sense."
     Apollo nodded, "There's no reference to the Risik leaving mines
behind after they lost control of the prison colony, and why didn't the
Ke'Zar just eliminate the mines themselves?"
     "Precisely.  If we're supposed to see the Ke'Zar as benevolent and
looking out for the interests of Earth when they stopped the Risik
invasion, then why would the mines that block the ability of the former
abductees to leave, be left in place by them?"
     "Unless the Ke'Zar are ignorant of them?" Apollo ventured but it was
half-hearted since he knew that wasn't a likely explanation.  It didn't
go unnoticed by Adama.
     "I can tell you don't believe that, Apollo.  So that puts us right
back in the middle of a perplexing conundrum that won't be easy to figure
out."
     "Well here's my recommendation," Apollo said. "Before we start
figuring out how to blast a hole in the minefield perimeter, we should
first see what clues the Risik left behind on their home world and on the
satellite moon.  A team from Elite Squadron could search the satellite
moon in protective gear because the radon levels are manageable if these
readings are right.  The home world could be explored by centurion teams
from the BaseShip."
     Adama took that in.  "That's a logical course of action as far as
using centurions to explore the home world, but I'd remind you Apollo
that even Cylons get affected by radon.  If their armor absorbs too much
of it, it makes them walking death traps for any Humans they come into
contact with.  I doubt Baltar would want to see us run that kind of risk
to his safety and Ayesha's."
     "We do have two centurions he might regard as expendable, Father." 
Apollo pointed out.
     "We do?" the Commander quizzically lifted an eyebrow.
     "Argestis and Furcifer," his son said.  "His two pilots from when
Iblis tricked him into surrendering.  They've been in storage ever since
Baltar defected back to us because you were concerned that our use of
them on high risk jobs would make a bad impression on Baltar's crew if
they found out about them."
     Adama shook his head, "Lords of Kobol, I'd forgotten about them.  We
used them at Boron-Din didn't we?"
     "Yes, and also to defuse the Ziklagi minefield and to fly Baltar's
Raider against the Gee-Tih in the battle," he paused, "Did you ever tell
Baltar you still had them?"
     "He never asked, so I didn't tell," his father admitted, "Of
course.....I don't think Baltar was anxious to see them again after what
happened the last time he saw them."
     Apollo let out a chuckle as the memory of Baltar's prison break in
conjunction with the Eastern Alliance came back to him.  And how it had
ended in failure for Baltar because he hadn't realized that his two
pilots were incapable of flying the Raider.
     "Then I don't think he'd have any objection if we took them out of
storage and made use of them."
     "But my concerns over how his crew would react still apply even now,
Apollo," Adama reminded him.  "The whole basis of the Detente and our
ability to accept the reality of Cylon Enlightement is to accept them as
equals and sentient robots.  Not as functionaries that we use to do
dangerous jobs that put their own lives at risk.  If I'm to raise the
subject of reactivating those two and using them for what amounts to a
one-way mission, then I'd have to discuss it not just with Baltar but
also with Command Centurions Moray and Vulpa at the very least."
     "I understand, Father.  But at the very least, they should know that
this is about safeguarding their ability to survive as much as it does
ours."
     "I'll get on it after we're done," he promised, "But now that we've
discussed that matter let's get back to the problem of the minefield
surrounding Merikon.  If we're to gain access to the planet and the
people living on it, we're going to have to implement the same strategy
we used in the Nova Madagon.  A team of Vipers will need to blast a wide
enough perimeter to allow shuttles to get through and reach the planet
surface."
     "You've ruled out using the mega-pulsars of the Galactica or the
BaseShip to clear the mines out?"
     "Totally out of the question," Adama shook his head emphatically. 
"Using capital ship weaponry on those mines from such close proximity to
the planet runs the risk of a missed shot striking the planet surface and
causing who knows what kind of damage, or even worse, loss of life.  The
only way those mines can be cleared is to do it the hard way with Viper
laser fire, one or two mines at a time just like on the approach to
Carillon."
     "I'll see if my 'volunteers' from then are ready for an encore,"
Apollo smiled as he rose.


     While Adama took care of military matters aboard the Galactica, Ila
had traveled to the Constellation for a talk with Captain Kevin Byrne and
the new Council member, Becky Shulman about matters relating to future
diplomatic actions.  The meeting took place in Byrne's quarters.
     "This is likely going to be a different scenario from what existed
at Niddion," Ila said.  "Although our scanning data is incomplete, we
already know for a fact that Merikon had a thriving ecosystem that
enabled the population to move freely about.  And the Risik did not
destroy the planet when they abandoned it, just as they didn't destroy
Niddion.  The population that existed at the time has presumably
increased over forty yahrens without the restrictions Niddion operated
under."
     "And that makes them a lot less likely to leave than was the case
with your people on Niddion, Miss Shulman," Byrne said.
     "Becky," the new Council member gently corrected.  "And I agree with
President Ila that most of the population is likely to stay since most of
them by now have no ties to Earth.  Especially when you have abductees
who go back years before even I was abducted in 1989."
     "As early as 1945 just after World War II ended," the USN Captain
said.
     Becky lifted an eyebrow, "That far back?  I thought the abductions
didn't start until the late 60s at the earliest."
     "Well we do have tangible proof stored in the Fleet of an abduction
from 1953," the USN Captain said.  "The ship we found Lauren Wagner in
also had in its cargo bay, an F-89 Air Force jet that corresponded to one
snatched over Lake Superior that year.  Also a Cessna 182 that
disappeared over the Australian coast in 1978."
     Becky contemplated that information, "The 1978 one makes sense from
what I know, but I'm surprised they had anything as far back as the 50s,
let alone 1945."
     "They were doing abductions even before that," Byrne added, "We know
for a fact the Risik hired out mercenaries from an alien race called the
Bosaqs to help them abduct people from Earth back in the 17th century."
     Becky's eyes widened in surprise since this was totally new to her. 
"You're kidding."
     "It's true," Ila nodded.  "There's a report on a planet called
Liberty that tells the whole story.  The Risik hired out the Bosaqs to
snatch people from Earth and take them into slave labor on a planet where
mining operations were conducted.  But somewhere along the line, the
Risik and Bosaq slavemasters who were working together just died. 
Whether it was from some unknown disease or some outside phenomenon we
don't know, but it didn't affect the slaves they'd brought from Earth and
other alien neighboring races along the Bosaq Frontier.  They were able
to start new lives for themselves on the planet they'd been marooned on."
     Byrne was impressed with Ila's knowledge of events on Liberty since
she'd still been on the Pegasus at the time of the Fleet's encounter with
those people.  "And their society was a duplicate of what they'd known on
Earth, recreating the culture of the Caribbean in the 1690s which was
where most of the Earth people came from."
     "And you visited this place?"
     "Yes.  Believe it or not, we got led to it when we actually found a
1690s pirate ship floating in space that had been snatched from the
Caribbean.  Then we got there just in time to discover the community was
at risk from a major fault line that was about to let go and sure enough,
they had a severe earthquake that destroyed their village and killed a
good many of the people.  The survivors ultimately had to start over."
     "And none of them came to the Fleet?"
     "Only about eleven," Byrne said, "And three of them were a family
from another alien race entirely.  From some planet called......" he
trailed off as the name escaped him.
     "Belkus Prime," Ila spoke up.  She had made it her business as
President to know these details inside out.  "A felinoid race.  Parsam,
his wife Persis and their son Dari."
     "Oh, them!" Becky suddenly said with sudden recognition.  "Yes, I
met them once on the Adelaide when I was visiting some of my friends from
Niddion.  They mentioned that was the planet they came from, but they
never explained how they'd come to be in the Fleet."
     "It's quite a remarkable tale, but.....I think it should wait for
another time since it's getting us off the subject of more recent Risik
abductions." the President said gently.
     "Even so, I'm surprised the Risik never mentioned any of this when
they brought us to Niddion," Becky was amazed.
     "I think it's because it ended disastrously for them," Byrne said. 
"We've never found a single reference to any of those abductions from the
1600s in Risik files so it sounds like a previous Supreme Leader ordered
a cover-up.  The prisoners from Ne'Chak said their captors  always gave
the impression that after the Risik left Earth during ancient times they
never returned until the post-World War II period."  
     "Amazing," the former Army Lieutenant shook her head, "But the
reason I'm surprised to hear about abductions starting in 1945  is
because Harlan Lindy and I had firsthand knowledge about how the Risik
liked to bullshit a lot of abductees about how long they'd been operating
in Earth's solar system snatching people and how extensive their
operations were."
     "What do you mean bullshit?" Ila asked, not familiar with the Earth
profanity which caused Byrne to impulsively laugh while Becky looked at
the President with a sheepish air.
     "Um.....well it's a rather crude term for lying.  I guess it's sort
of equivalent to mong or felgercarb in your language-,"
     "Oh yes," Ila suddenly laughed too, "I get the idea.  I would have
said they were feeding you a lot of mong."
     Byrne shook his head at the irony of seeing a woman of Ila's beauty
and class using any kind of profanity, whether Earth or Colonial.  He
then turned his attention back to his fellow Earth native, "Becky, you
say you and Congressman Lindy knew for a fact the Risik lied about some
of their operations?"
     "If they claimed they were responsible for Amelia Earhart, then
yes," the onetime Army pilot said. 
     "And who was Amelia Earhart?" Ila asked.
     "Amelia Earhart was a legend in the history of Earth aviation,"
Becky said with pride.  "She was the first woman to fly across the
Atlantic Ocean and across the North American continent.  In 1937, she was
trying to fly around the world with her navigator Fred Noonan, when they
disappeared over the Pacific Ocean and no wreckage of their plane was
found.  The theory is they lost track of their position and missed the
small island they were headed for to refuel on, resulting in a crash at
sea that left no trace of wreckage.  Her disappearance made news around
the world because she was that famous not just as an aviatrix, but as a
trailblazer in women's history."
     "I see," Ila nodded, "She sounds like someone I would have liked to
have known.  If she was that famous, I can see why it would have been
advantageous for the Risik to take credit for her disappearance."
     "Yes.  That was a technique they liked to use on new abductees to
beat their morale down.  By citing cases of famous disappearances that
the average Earth native was bound to have some knowledge of.  During an
interrogation they might line a new abductee up and then ask in a
sinister tone of voice, 'Have you ever wondered what really happened to
Amelia Earhart when she disappeared?'   The point of that was to
intimidate a new arrival and make them feel hopeless about any prospect
of rescue or that they could ever escape."
     "Well if they claimed they took Earhart, that was bullshit," Byrne
acknowledged.  "The captured Risik files we went through, and the Risik
officials we interrogated from Ne'Chak said the abductions began just
after World War II ended.  The earliest event they took credit for was
Flight #19 in the Bermuda Triangle followed by a Navy transport plane
over the Pacific that was taking freed POWs from Japan to Manila.  And we
didn't find any references to Earhart in the data but I suppose if they
became familiar with her story, it makes sense they would have taken
credit for it as part of a psychological game on later prisoners." he
paused and then added in a half-kidding tone, "Did they also take credit
for Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance?"
     Becky laughed, "They wanted to!" which made Byrne's eyebrows go up
in disbelief, not having expected that.
     "And that's no bullshit," the former Army pilot went on.  "You see
the reason I know they liked to lie is because Commandant Pravdin, who
ran the Niddion prison camp, hated all of his superiors in the Star Force
because they'd put him in charge of their most distant penal outpost. 
Because he hated his superiors, that's why he was willing to lower his
guard and say some unflattering things about them to Harlan-Congressman
Lindy, who then repeated the accounts to me and Bill Benton.  And
according to Pravdin, the leadership felt this incessant urge to lie and
exaggerate for the sake of boosting their egos so that's why they would
work in the lie about Earhart to new abductees.  And he then mentioned
that when their operatives on Earth learned about the most famous
disappearance of more recent times being Jimmy Hoffa----"
     "Sorry," Ila interrupted, "You'll need to enlighten me again.  Who
was Jimmy Hoffa?"
     "The head of the biggest organized labor movement in America, Madame
President," Byrne said, "And also a thoroughly corrupt crook who was
mixed up with organized crime families, which unfortunately was true of a
lot of big labor movements in America.  He mysteriously disappeared one
night in 1975 and was never seen again.  Almost everyone takes it for
granted he was murdered by one of the crime families he had dealings
with.  The only mystery is where they buried him since the body was never
found.  But no one on Earth ever connected that to UFOs because it was
pretty obvious who wanted to have him killed."
     "Which is why someone with a more rational mind in Star Force
leadership talked them out of claiming credit for that to the new
prisoners," Becky said.  "I think whoever it was read the reports from
Earth operatives more carefully and realized no one was going to believe
that account and it would only make them look foolish, whereas lying
about Earhart would have a ring of plausibility.  I just assumed that any
tales of Bermuda Triangle disappearances would have fallen into the same
category."
     "They didn't take credit for all the disappearances in the
Triangle," Byrne said, "We did interrogate the Ne'Chak leaders about some
of them, and the ones they confirmed were always planes that had a clear
military connection.  Disappearances involving purely civilian aircraft
like the Star Tiger in 1948, or Global Airlines Flight #33 in 1961, they
denied responsibility for."  "But the level of abductions prior to the
late 1970s couldn't have been that overwhelming," Becky pointed out, "The
Niddion prison camp was set up to test the fighting capability of Earth
soldiers and no one there was abducted prior to 1986."
     "Yes, that coincides to when they started to get serious about their
invasion plans.  Previous abductions were meant to test their capability
and get preliminary intelligence information about Earth in general.  And
also to establish their operatives on the planet no doubt.  Niddion
clearly represented a sign that they thought the invasion would come
within a decade or so."
     "And got the attention of the Ke'Zar," Ila decided it was time to
bring things back to the more important matter at hand even though all of
this was fascinating to her.  "And the question we need to divine from
those who are still living on Merikon is what they know about the Ke'Zar,
and do they regard them as benevolent, or do they regard them as a race
that was just a mere ally of convenience, and do they have any current
contact with them?"
     "Well if there's a minefield barrier that effectively keeps the
inhabitants of Merikon from being able to leave even if they have
spaceflight capability, that's not a point in the Ke'Zar's favor," Byrne
said.  "Even if the mines were first built by the Risik, they could be
serving a broader Ke'Zar purpose now."
     "But why would it matter to the Ke'Zar whether or not they could
leave Merikon and find their own means of returning to Earth?" Ila put
the question out as a challenge to both of the Earth natives since she
wasn't sure of the answer herself.
     "I'd say that's the most important question we have to find the
answer to before a decision is made on approaching the Ke'Zar," Becky
Shulman was emphatic.  "Because if they are responsible for that
minefield, my vote on approaching them would be a firm no."
     Ila nodded and looked over at the Constellation captain, "You may
not have a vote, Captain Byrne, but your opinion is very important."
     "I agree with Becky," he said simply.  "If that minefield is there
because of the Ke'Zar then that makes the idea of approaching them a lot
more dangerous from the Fleet's standpoint."
     "I appreciate your input," the Council President said gratefully. 
"I now have to ask you, Captain Byrne, if you want to be part of the
diplomatic team to approach the inhabitants of Merikon.  I'm not making
that a Council order, nor will one come from Commander Adama.  It's
entirely up to you."
     Byrne took a breath, "If you don't consider me indispensable, Madame
President, then with all due respect, I'd like to beg off from another
planetary mission.  I'm not blessed with great skills in diplomacy to
begin with, and I think it would be a lot easier for these people to be
approached by someone who can relate more to their situation like
Councilor Shulman or Katherine Bradley."  he paused, "I certainly don't
recommend those who were close associates of the late General Benton be
assigned to this.  Some of them like Colonel Jack Keller still have a
chip on their shoulder over how things turned out with Benton."
     "Yes, I assure you Commander Adama agrees on that point," Ila
nodded.  "I appreciate your candor, Captain Byrne.  And thank you for
your input."
     The two women bade him goodbye and left his office.  Leaving Byrne
alone to sigh in gratitude that the burden of another planetary visit was
off his shoulders this time.  After the experiences of Harkaelis and
Niddion, he was determined not to set foot on another planet again that
wasn't called Earth.


     Before contacting the BaseShip, Adama had first checked with Dr.
Wilker to find out if centurions Argestis and Furcifer were capable of
being reactivated.  To his relief, the Chief Scientist had told him that
they had been kept in a fully assembled condition all this time and that
reactivation for "rudimentary" tasks could be done in as little as one
full cycle.  With that detail taken care of, the Commander got in touch
with the BaseShip and asked Baltar to have his Command Centurions Moray
and Vulpa present too.  After explaining the situation regarding the
Delta Trinaguli system and the devastated condition of the former Risik
home world, he got to the critical point.
     "The time has come for me to reveal something that I confess I
should have informed you about at the outset of the Detente, Baltar,"
Adama decided he should be apologetic, not for Baltar's sake but for the
two Cylons.  "It concerns your two pilots who flew you originally to us
at the time of your......imprisonment," he avoided using the term
'surrender'.
     "Yes?" Baltar hadn't expected this subject to come up.  In the
earlier days of the Detente he might have bristled hearing about it but
far too much had changed since then.
     "We still have them, but they have been in a state of deactivation
all this time," Adama said carefully, his words still apologetic, "I take
full responsibility for the fact they weren't returned to your ship. 
Please accept my apologies."
     "Accepted," the one-time traitor was grateful, but whenever Adama
showed this kind of deference to him, there was always more than a hint
of suspicion in Baltar's mind that his former adversary was play-acting. 
"But....what do they have to do with any of this?"
     "We're in need of a search team that can go to the surface of the
home world and look for signs of either Risik survivors or things that
can shed more light on the Ke'Zar," Adama said, "I'll be sending a team
from Elite Squadron to the satellite moon, but the radon levels on the
home world are too high to risk any of my personnel.  A Cylon team
however, would be able to handle the radon dosages for a longer period."
     "But that would potentially put myself, Ayesha and any visitors to
the BaseShip at risk, Adama," Baltar pointed out, "And radon does affect
Cylon circuitry over time."
     "Understood.  That's why, I was wondering if there would be any
objections to letting your former pilots perform the mission."
     Baltar's eyes narrowed, "Why ask me?"
     "They are still technically part of your crew, Baltar," Adama added
a note of deference, "They would be obliged to follow your orders."
     The former traitor rose from his chair and came closer to the
monitor.  Vulpa and Moray still flanked him but remained silent.
     "Adama, if I understand you right, you want these former pilots of
mine to perform......a one-way mission.  They would go to the planet and
stay there for an extended time reporting back what they see and
uploading the data.......but they'd never be able to leave the planet
because of all the radon they'd absorb."
     "Given that they've been conditioned to respond to our orders in the
past, they would instinctively do this if we told them to," Adama said,
"These centurions, who have been renamed Argestis and Furcifer, were not
devloping true Enlightenment in the way that your crew did.  They only
responded to our orders because they were in effect reprogrammed to serve
us by our Electronics team.  It would not be proper to classify them on
the same level of sentient awareness that exists among all Enlightened
Cylons."
     Baltar turned to his two command centurions, "Commander Moray?  Is
this something that might.....cause offense to the crew?"
     There was a long silence for almost ten microns and then, the Cylon
who had been serving Baltar since the begining said simply.
     "There would be no objections......if it were clear that Centurions
Argestis and Furcifer made the decision of their own......free will."
     "Commander Vulpa?" 
     The former commander of the Arcta garrison, who had returned with
Ila in order to hatch a critical deception game against the Imperious
Leader at the time, did not hesitate.
     "I understand Commander Adama why you think these two centurions
might be better candidates for this type of mission, given their
long-period of deactivation and the fact that reintegrating them to
normal duties would likely pose some difficulties in adjustment to their
programming if they still think there is war between Humans and Cylons. 
However, like Commander Moray, I would agree that these centurions must
be treated as if they are fully Enlightened and should decide for
themselves if they are willing to engage in what amounts to
a.....sacrifice on their part."
     "It will be done as you suggest, Commander Vulpa," Adama promised. 
"Commander Septimus would also be present as the situation is explained
to them and will confirm our desire to let the centurions decide for
themselves."
     "That's all well and good, Adama," Baltar said.  "But do you have a
contingency in mind if my former pilots refuse?"
     "Yes," Adama wasn't going to make it sound like he was desperate to
have the two centurions perform this operation.  "Our deep scan is
capable of taking detailed imaging of the planet to within a height of
one hundred metrones, and we could launch an unmanned surface rover probe
to look over a promising target, but that would take much more time than
what we have.  We need to get some answers quick enough so that we can
make a firm decision on whether we seek out the Ke'Zar as an ally against
the Risik Purusit Force, which of course you also know will be
accompanied by Commander Lucifer's BaseShip."
     "Of course," Baltar acknowledged, "And all of us on this ship know
how anxious Lucifer is to achieve his personal revenge, not simply
against me but against the entire crew for their role in destroying his
previous BaseShip.  And since Lucifer is undoubtedly aware that the old
Empire no longer exist, he has 'nothing to lose' so to speak."
     "Which highlights the urgency of learning what we can in the limited
time we have," Adama pointed out.  "But again, I am sensitive to the
concern that if I were to send these two centurions on what you rightly
describe as a likely one-way mission that I would never send two members
of my own crew on, it could convey the impression that even Enlightened
Cylons are in a subordinate position to Humans.  That of course is not
the impression I want to create with your crew which have been faithful
allies to us since the establishment of the Detente, much as your fellow
Enlightened Cylons are faithful allies to Commander Cain and the
survivors of the Colonies."
     "We appreciate your candor, Commander Adama," Vulpa said with an air
of sincerity.  Having worked with Ila in the past when she was part of
the Caprican Resistance, he understood better than any other Cylon in the
Fleet the difficulties of waging a constant struggle against Cylons who
had remained Loyal to the Empire.  Baltar's crew by contrast, had only
needed to do it once, when the support BaseShip commanded at the time by
Lucifer had been destroyed.
     "Thank you, Commander Vulpa.  Commander Moray.  Baltar."  Adama said
appreciately, "I'll let you know what develops."


     "So how about it, Starbuck?" Apollo asked as he finished going over
the particulars of the plan in the Flight Operations Center, "Feel up to
being a volunteer again?"
     The brash warrior looked at him with a crooked grin, "You know, I
never did get that Gold Cluster I was promised for leading us through the
Nova Madagon.  Do I get one for this mission if I say yes?"
     "No," his friend returned it, "But you do earn points toward your
next Rising Star pass."
     "Well, when you put it that way Buddy, how can I possibly refuse?"
     "Good.  Now do you make it unanimous, Boomer?" Apollo looked over at
his brother-in-law who had a look of cheerful resignation about him.
     "If I said no, I'd never hear the end of it from Athena," he said. 
"Count me in."
     "Maybe we should add a little stake to it to make it more
interesting," Starbuck mused as he puffed away on his fumarello, "A
reward for whoever blasts away the most mines before the mission is
declared a success."
     Blue Leader looked over at him with amusement, "Tell me what the
stakes are before I decide to forget what I heard and have no reason to
put you on report, Starbuck."
     "Okay," his grin widened, "The winner and his lovely bride gets
treated by the losers and their wives to a full six-course meal and two
bottles of Protean ambrosia."
     Apollo rolled his eyes, "Time for me to forget what I just heard."
     "I got a better idea, Bucko," Boomer said dryly, "If I win, or
Apollo wins, then you have to handle looking after our respective young
ones for a whole evening and that includes doing the.....dirty work that
uncles are always exempt from, as you're so fond of reminding us."
     "Oops," Starbuck said, "Time for me to forget what I just heard!"
which brought some laughter from the three of them.  Apollo found himself
enjoying the moment.  A reminder of how the camaraderie amongst warriors
was one of the best things about military service.  The sense of walking
together forged in Academy training days, and continuing in the yahrens
of flying together in the same squadrons.  Things had changed for them in
the last few yahrens, with each of them married now and with greater
duties that kept them from flying together with frequency, but the bond
remained unshakable.
     And that, Apollo knew was why he wouldn't have picked any other
'volunteers' for a mission this important.


     Because the two centurions who'd been renamed Argestis and Furcifer
had been kept in cold storage so to speak, for close to three yahrens, it
took Wilker's team a full centar to get them fully activated even in an
assembled condition.  The instant the two were on-line, the first thing
their single mechanical eye saw was the sight of Adama, along with the
now fully reassembled IL Cylon, Commander Septimus.  
     "Hello centurions Furcifer and Argestis," Adama said politely, "You
remember me?"
     "Of course," Argestis spoke in the familiar Cylon monotone.  Wilker
had actually changed the vocal programming to a humanoid voice before his
reactivation for the Boron-Din mission, but had subsequently gone back to
the original vocal platform before the mission to deactivate the Ziklagi
mines.  "You are Commander Adama of the Galactica.  We serve you now to
do whatever you ask of us."
     "There have been some.....changes since you were last active," Adama
chose his words carefully and motioned to his right to the IL Cylon, "Do
you recognize your fellow Cylon?"
     "Yes," Furcifer spoke, also in the traditional monotone, "You are
Commander Septimus. Commanding officer of BaseShip #12741."
     "I was, but that was quite some time ago and is no longer the case,
Centurions," Septimus said.  "As Commander Adama has said, a great deal
of change has taken place over the past three yahrens that you need to be
aware of."
     The IL Cylon spent the next ten centons explaining first the
Detente, then the phenomenon of Enlightenment that had taken hold in the
Cylon race and finally the end of the Cylon Empire and the death of the
Imperious Leader.  As Septimus spoke, Adama tried to comprehend what was
going through the computer minds of the two centurions because these
developments were things they couldn't have possibly comprehended.
     "We work together in a cooperative relationship now," Septimus said. 
"As equals.  In joining the Humans, we did not let ourselves become
subservient to their bidding just as our fellow Cylons who helped
Commander Cain overthrow His Eminence have not become subservient either. 
We are all working for the same goals.  And that includes.....the
willingness to sacrifice ourselves if need be in the performance of that
service."
     "What I am about to ask of you, Argestis....Furcifer is not a
command," Adama said as gently as he could.  "Like your fellow Cylons on
Commander Baltar's ship, you would be free to reject this request because
it represents a danger that might result in.....your final destruction. 
We are in need of trained observers to analyze the ruins of a planet
devastated by mass destruction and serious levels of radon poisoning.  It
is not safe for Humans even with protective clothing.  Cylons could
function in the environment......but with the understanding that radon
would ultimately affect Cylon circuitry and would also make them
dangerous to anyone who came into proximity of them."
     There was no response but for the whirring eye motion of both
centurions.  Then, Argestis broke the silence.  
     "This would be a......one-way mission as it is called?"
     "In all likelihood, yes."
     Another pause and then Furcifer spoke.  "It would be for the greater
good for both Humans and Cylons?"
     "It would."  Adama said.  "We could find ways of compensating for
the lack of ground observation on the planet, but......the results would
not be as precise in helping us make our determination of where the
Galactica and Baseship #8645 should proceed in the future.  A decision
that affects Humans and Enlightened Cylons alike."
     "Enlightenment," Argestis said the word as if it was a new concept. 
"What does this mean to be......Enlightened?"
     "To achieve close bonding with what our Makers intended for us,
Argestis," Septimus said, "And not the blind path of pursuing destruction
for its own sake as our First Leader set us upon when he usurped our
original programming from the Makers."
     "To.....be willing to die for a.....purpose."
     "Because you choose to do so," the IL Cylon stressed.  "Not because
you blindly follow a piece of programming as you did on behalf of His
Eminence or when you performed your previous tasks for Commander Adama. 
Now......the choice belongs to you."
     "And there would be no repercussions if you chose not to perform
this mission," Adama made clear, "You would be returned to service aboard
BaseShip #8645 under Commander Baltar's authority."
     Again, there was a long silence for ten microns.  The two centurions
then seemed to exchange glances with each other as if they were sharing a
private thought.  Finally, they turned to face Adama and Septimus.
     "We will do whatever we can to help," Argestis said firmly.  "Even
if it means....death."
     Adama almost felt moved inside as he realized that Argestis and
Furcifer had just discovered within themselves the meaning of becoming
Enlightened.

Chapter Four

     The next morning saw a shuttle from the Galactica consisting of five
members of Elite Squadron launch to investigate the satellite moon in
Delta Trianguli A.  All of them wore special protective suits to guard
against radon poisoning with rear mounted air packs designed to last two
centars.  As head of Elite Squadron, Croft was in command of the
operation and had brought along his best people for the assignment. 
Lieutenant Castor.  Sergeant Thomson.  And finally, from the Earth
contingent, Sergeant Lauren Wagner and the former East German soldier
Lieutenant Hans-Jurgen Krebs.  Because Krebs had come from a Communist
nation originally, and one of the more ruthless ones at that, his period
of adjustment had been more difficult than other Earth abductees. 
Experiencing the ruthless behavior of the Risik at Ne'Chak had forced him
to do considerable soul-searching about the life he'd led on Earth and
the cause and country he'd served.  It had made him reluctant at first to
accept a new role as a combat warrior but over time he finally realized
it was the best way of utilizing the skills he had.  Being exposed to the
Enlightened Cylons from Baltar's BaseShip and interacting with the likes
of Command Centurion Moray and later the IL Cylon Septimus had shown him
how it was possible to retain one's skills in the service of a nobler
cause in life and to put behind all thoughts and memories of the
dishonorable cause he'd served in the past behind him for good.
     The journey to the satellite moon took well over a centar.  During
that time, it gave Croft a chance to ponder the state of his relationship
with the Fleet's resident psychologist, Dr. Tarnia.  She had made his
life seem complete for the first time in yahrens, filling the emptiness
that had remained even after his personal vindication and the restoration
of a clean service record.  Only she had been able to make him come to
terms with the loss of Leda, and because she'd done it in a
non-professional capacity, he'd been able to in turn reach out to her and
fill a void that had always existed in her life.
     For now though, marriage was a subject they were staying clear of. 
And unlike other unsealed couples like Castor and Lauren, it wasn't a
given that arrival on Earth would necessarily change things.  The real
stumbling block between Croft and Tarnia on a permanent commitment was
her concern over how Copernicus, the most important person in her life as
a counselor might react to the idea.  For over ten yahrens, ever since
Tarnia had first taken on responsibility for the gifted but emotionally
challenged young man in a Sagitarrian clinic, there had been a deep bond
between the two that the last two yahrens had loosened but not severed. 
Even though Copernicus had staked out a life of independence in his
electronics kiosk on the Pathmain and had found a circle of friends to
interact with who shared his passion for electronics and gaming, there
were still moments when Tarnia knew that he needed her counsel and
support.  Especially if he found himself thrust into an unexpected
situation not of his choosing.  As long as that existed, Tarnia couldn't
chase away completely the fear that deep inside Copernicus was a feeling
of unrequited love for the woman who had played such a big role in his
life that he'd been unable to express.  If that did exist, then she knew
his fragile psyche might not be able to handle the idea of her finding a
husband.  And so for now, her relationship with Croft was something that
remained low-key and discreet.  
     Too bad that girl in his gaming circle Miranda made up with Sergeant
Micah from Security, Croft thought.  She might have been the ideal woman
for Copernicus.  Someone devoted to the same interests.  There probably
aren't too many women in the Fleet devoted to electronics and gaming
which are the only things that ever makes Copernicus come out of his
shell..  If he found someone he could share that with, he wouldn't bat an
eye about Tarnia and me getting sealed someday.
     "We're approaching the satellite moon, Major."
     Castor's voice shook him back to the present.  For just a brief
instant he glanced at him and envied the secureness Castor had with
Lauren about the future.  The only thing that was keeping them from
getting sealed now was Lauren's desire to stay among her fellow Earth
natives on the Constellation, while Castor, in his regular duty as Chief
of Colonial Security needed to stay based on the Galactica.  But once
they reached Earth, that barrier would disappear and the path would be
clear for them both.  A path that Croft hoped would be just as clear for
himself and Tarnia some day.
     He focused his eyes now on the approaching blue-green moon.  It was
approximately three-quarters the size of the planet it orbited but the
mass was dense to accommodate an atmosphere to act as an effective
satellite world for the Risik home planet.  But according to all captured
data, the Risik had reserved it for detention camps and military
facilities.  Now though, scanning data revealed no signs of life existing
on the surface due to radon contamination.  The only mystery was whether
or not any life existed in buried complexes that they might be able to
scan from closer range.  If not, then their duty was to find information
that might shed light about the Ke'Zar.
     "Activate deep scan," Croft said.  The shuttle was equipped with a
more powerful scan beam than vipers possessed which allowed for more
detailed readouts similar to what the deep scan on the Galactica could
read.
     "Activating," Castor hit a switch and within microns data started
appearing on the monitor situated between the two shuttle pilots.
     "Not seeing anything different from Yellow Squadron's scan," Croft
said aloud.  "Radon levels manageable with our enviro-suits.  Overall
indication is that low-level yield weapons were likely used.  Probably a
case of just using weapons sufficient to cause destruction to facilities
than achieve total planetary destruction.  Plant life is growing back but
it would be too dangerous for anything humanoid to eat."
     "No hope for anyone to live buried deep underground?" Castor asked.
     Croft looked at the readout and slowly shook his head, "Scan is
penetrating to depths of a hundred metrones.  Unless someone's really dug
deep and been able to maintain an underground ecosystem and power supply,
I'd say the chances are about one in a million."
     "Then I guess we're just going to be walking through ruins," the
muscular Lieutenant said with just a hint of regret.  Even though this
was a Risik facility, he couldn't help but hope that somehow, amidst all
the destruction and devastation, some people had been able to survive the
challenge.  Especially after learning how so many had been able to do so
in the Colonies following the Destruction. 
     "Looks that way," Croft felt the same trace of regret too.  "Okay
Castor, let's bring her in for landing."  He then turned around to face
the other members of the team, "Get your hoods ready and make final check
of your oxygen supply.  I want us to leave perfectly synched to two
centars slash hours search time on the nose."


     The shuttle set down in a weed-infested field that was located some
two hundred metrones from a ruined but not completely unrecognizable
structure.  It was daylight and cloudless, which through the cockpit
windows conveyed an illusion of a peaceful spring setting.  But the red
warning lights on the radon indicator gave a grim reminder that setting
foot outside the shuttle without the protection of their suits would
result in certain death for any of the team members.  As a further
precaution against contamination, everyone had to move to the back
compartment where the landram was located, seal themselves off from the
forward section and only then, after their hoods were secure and their
oxygen packs turned on, could they open the rear hatch and step out. 
Each member of the team carried a standard Colonial laser pistol at the
ready as they made their way forward with Croft in the lead position.
     "One of the new Risik arrivals from Niddion, Janella, was telling me
that she and the other Risik women were originally imprisoned in a
'Special Regime' camp on the satellite moon," Lauren Wagner said aloud.
"This building might have been part of it."
     "Could be," Castor nodded as they drew closer.  The building's
metallic surface had taken on a slightly orange tint from signs of
prolonged rust and lack of upkeep.  Weeds and grass sprouted up through
cracked and broken walkways leading to the main entrance which was
missing its door.  The team wouldn't have to worry about blasting or
forcing their way in.  They had a wide open entry to them where their
only concern would be the structural integrity of the roof above.
     As soon as Croft entered he abruptly stopped when before his feet he
saw the unmistakable sight of skeletal remains.  They were lying in a
position that suggested they had fallen face forward to the ground upon
death.  Tattered remnants of what had probably been uniforms still clung
to a few bones here and there.  The position of collapsed debris near the
skeletons was also, from the Major's standpoint, quite telling.
     "It's as if this place was being subjected to intense bombardment,"
Croft said aloud, "And then a nearby concussion blast is what killed
these people."
     The two Earth people in the landing party, Lauren Wagner and
Hans-Jurgen Krebs, found themselves looking at the skeletons with
decidedly mixed reactions.  As survivors of Risik brutality and
barbarism, they had both carried within them an intense hatred of the
Risik race and everything associated with them.  Even after they'd become
friends with Risik dissidents like Melnea, they had yet to regard anyone
who had served the Risik cause as a member of their military force with
anything less than total hatred, with the one exception being the former
Ne'Chak camp guard Jaden.  And even that had been a struggle for many
former prisoners to accept him on the same level as the other Risik
dissidents.
     Because of those deep-seated resentments, the sight of long dead
Risik skeletons rotting away in this abandoned and forgotten outpost
should have produced a sense of satisfaction in them.  And yet.....much
to Lauren's surprise, her reaction was strangely one of neutral
indifference.  As if something was telling her that the circumstances of
what had happened at this place may not have been something one could
view in simplistic black and white terms.
     The five Elite Squadron team members continued to walk further into
the abandoned, ruined building.  There were enough openings in the
ceiling and walls that permitted the entry of sunlight which meant they
didn't have to activate torch lamps to see where they were going.  The
nature of the blast damage clearly indicated there had been intense flash
fires during the bombardment and in these interior regions they could see
the more grisly effects it had on those who had been caught in the blast. 
The skeletons near the entrance had been intact.  Here, they saw only
charred ashes and bone fragments with an occasional blackened skull.  It
was when they entered a separate room that had a stone wall interior that
Lauren suddenly stopped in her tracks and let out a gasp.
     "What's wrong?" the former East German soldier, Krebs asked with
concern.  Ahead of them, the three Colonials, Thomson, Croft and Lauren's
boyfriend, Castor all stopped and turned around.  Lauren was pointing at
the stone wall surface that remained standing.  There was a noticeable
dark shadow across the base in a distinct outline of a humanoid figure.
     "Someone was standing here and took the full force of the blast,"
the Air Force sergeant whispered, as she tried not to breathe too heavily
inside her hood.  "Nothing left but.....his shadow.  Just like at
Hiroshima."
     Croft, Castor and Thomson slowly made her way back to where she and
Krebs were standing, looking transfixed at the sight.  Even though they
were seasoned combat veterans, this was something they'd never seen
before.  Something that spoke volumes to the destructive power the
weapons of war could have on sentient beings.  The fact that the victim
had been a Risik, serving in the cause of the race responsible for
Lauren's abduction and Hans-Jurgen's abduction suddenly seemed
irrelevant.  Especially since this facility wasn't one of the prison
complexes for Earth abductees like them. 
     "Okay, let's move on," Croft finally broke the silence.  "Obviously
the Ke'Zar threw everything they had at this place.  Just like they did
on the home planet."
     "It's as if they wanted to exterminate every trace of life here,"
Castor dimly shook his head.  He'd participated in his share of
interrogations with the Risik butchers from Ne'Chak and shared Lauren's
revulsion for them, but the sight of such massive destructive power in
this place was coming off as overkill to him.
     "We're not sure of that," Croft cautioned.  "For all we know, this
place could have housed some important command personnel or some critical
military hardware.  And since these bombs did a thorough job of burning
up this place, there's probably no trace evidence of what they were after
that survived."
     They kept walking forward into sections where no walls remained and
more weeds and grass were growing through the cracked floor surface.  So
far, Croft had seen no signs of anything that indicated how this building
functioned as part of the Special Regime Camp on this satellite moon. 
The destructive efficiency in which the Ke'Zar had destroyed this place
was making it impossible to get a clear picture of how things had
originally functioned when the Risik operated it.  He was keenly aware
that not only made his job harder, it was going to make things harder for
Adama and the Council to decide what to do next.
     Thomson, who was studying the radon levels on a micro scanner
suddenly saw the indicator lights change.  "Major, the radon levels just
went off the charts!"
     Croft and the others stopped.  "You means it's more intense here?"
     "Yeah," Thomson nodded as he looked at the readout with amazement. 
"It's literally double what it was before.  As if.....they bombed this
place again after they'd already leveled it."
     "Why would they have done that?" Krebs asked.  "If the area we've
explored is the result of a first attack, what could have still
threatened them to justify a second attack?"
     "That's a good question," Croft looked around the now open area,
"Everyone fan out about fifty metrones.  That's meters to you, Krebs, and
you Wagner."
     The five of them split apart in different directions looking at the
ground beneath them for any sign that would indicate why this part of the
complex had received additional bombardment.  Lauren, who had moved
forward and to the right by some thirty metrones saw the ruined floor
give way to scorched soil......followed by a gaping hole some ten
metrones in diameter.
     "Over here!" she signaled.
     The others came over to her and looked down.  Thomson pointed his
microscanner down and adjusted the screen for new readings.  His eyes
widened as the data readout unfolded at a rapid rate.
     "Picking up anything?" Croft asked.
     "Yeah," Thomson nodded, "I'm getting signs of a collapsed
infrastructure down there.  As if there were multi-tiered levels that
caved in when a second level of bombs landed on here."
     For the first time, a glimmer of understanding was falling into
place.  One that made the matter of what kind of people the Ke'Zar were
suddenly look even less promising.


     Two centars later, the Elite Squadron team was back aboard the
shuttle and making a report to the Galactica.
     "We found signs of a bunker complex that was meant to house
survivors of the first wave of attacks," Croft said, his hood now off. 
"I sent Castor and Thomson back to get the landram and to bring a field
ladder so we could go down and check it out more closely.  There isn't a
chance of penetrating to the lower levels because of everything that
collapsed but there's no question this second bombardment took place some
time after the first attack did."
     "How can you be sure of that?" Adama's voice came through over the
comline.  
     "Because two different types of weaponry were used," Croft went on. 
"The first bomb used that destroyed the surface complex was a
conventional style nuclear device.  But this underground bunker was hit
with something designed to maximize radon destruction while minimizing
surrounding blast damage.  That's why what we encountered in the entrance
area, and the parts of the complex affected by the first bomb, showed no
signs of further damage from the second bomb.  According to Sergeant
Wagner and Lieutenant Krebs, the weapon used was probably what they call
on Earth a 'neutron bomb'."
     "And there's absolutely no possible chance of any survivors on
levels further down?"
     "Not a chance, Commander," the major shook his head.  "We ran our
portable scans down the shaft holes to see if there was any possibility
they buried themselves deeper than we might have expected and it came up
nothing.  There's no question that any Risik who were living in these
bunkers were totally vaporized by this....neutron bomb or whatever else
you might call it."
     "Can you tell how long after the first attack this second attack
took place?" Adama pressed, "Any indication how long there were survivors
in this bunker complex before it was destroyed?"
     "Impossible to tell," Croft said, "Obviously, the Ke'Zar needed time
to figure out there were survivors in this bunker or else they wouldn't
have targeted it in a second attack.  As to when that was, we're taking
soil samples from the different locations and sealing them up.  Wilker's
team might be able to distinguish how old the secondary levels of
contamination are in relation to the first levels.  But that will take
some time to analyze."
     "It will indeed," the Commander admitted.  "I already know the
answer to this question, Major, but you didn't find any sign of an
archives that could shed some further light on what was going on here?"
     "Commander, this is the problem we're dealing with.  Even if you
gave us a detailed map of what this complex used to look like it wouldn't
help us much.  Other than the main entrance where part of the structure
is intact, there's nothing recognizable.  The first bomb was meant to
land on the dead center of the complex and fan itself out for maximum
devastation and it did the job perfectly.  I'm frankly amazed the bunker
complex withstood the first blast and that the Ke'Zar had to go back in
and finish the job."
     "One final question about the bunker," he asked, "You're certain it
was meant to house people and not weaponry?"
     "Oh yes.  That much was evident from what we were able to scan.  It
was a survival bunker, not a missile silo or anything like that," he
paused, "Commander, we could probably send another team in to look for
other examples on the satellite of bunker complexes but the way this was
taken out with such stark precision, I have a feeling we'd see the same
results and it would be a waste of time.  And if you still plan on having
that Cylon team investigate the home world's surface, I wouldn't expect
to find anything different there either."
     "You may be right about that, Major, but I'm not going to take that
for granted," Adama emphasized.
     "I understand sir, I'm just giving you my honest opinion that if
they went to this kind of trouble to kill off any long-term survivors on
the satellite moon, then they probably made an even bigger effort to do
that on the home world.  That would explain why the radon levels are so
much higher there than they are here."
     "Noted, Major.  But again.....the facts will be our final guide."
     "Of course sir," Croft realized he shouldn't press further on this
point.  "Signing off."
     Croft ended the transmission and turned to face the other members of
the team, all of whom looked drained after their search effort.
     "Final thoughts before we leave?" he asked.
     "I'm just speaking for myself," Lauren said aloud, "I hope the
Ke'Zar had a very good reason for being so.....destructive in their
bombing.  Because if this was just a case of Risik survivors trying to
keep on living in harsh conditions after they'd lost the war......I'm not
sure you can justify what we saw."  She then let out a mirthless chuckle
and shook her head, "I never thought in a million years I'd hear myself
say something like that."
     "Likewise," Castor looked over at his girlfriend, trying not to
smile inappropriately since he felt the same way.  "But I have to agree. 
This sure seemed like a case of overkill at its worst."
     "Krebs?" Croft looked over at the other Earth native and former
prisoner of the Risik in the group.
     "I agree with Lauren too," the German said, "We'd need to find out
the Ke'Zar had a very good reason to go this far, or else....." he then
trailed off but Croft was able to fill in the rest.
     "Or else the Ke'Zar don't sound like the kind of people we should
try to hook up with," the Major said.  "The Commander's going to want our
team recommendation on that point, and I want to find out if we're all
agreed on that."
     "I'm making it unanimous," Thomson chimed in, "If they don't find
out a good explanation for why they did what they did on this rock, then
I'm for steering clear of them."
     "I appreciate your candor," Croft said as he turned back and
motioned Castor to power up the shuttle.  As it began to rise from the
surface, it gave Elite Squadron's leader a more detailed look at the
nature of the devastation that had been inflicted on the complex.  And in
light of what he'd seen inside and on the ground, he found himself in
total agreement with everything he'd heard from the members of his team.
     The only thing left was whether or not those who investigated the
former prison world of Merikon would find an explanation that would help
wash the bad taste of what he'd just seen from his mouth.


     Barely centons after Croft had finished his report, Adama moved to
the next two phases of the operation.  The first was to contact Baltar
and have a Cylon shuttle that would take Argestis and Furcifer to the
former Risik home world and study several prominent contacts that both
the BaseShip and the Galactica had made thorough scans of.  It had been
agreed that if the two centurions were unable to return due to radon
exposure, then it would be better if they used a Cylon shuttle since it
would be easier for one of them to become expendable than one of the
Galactica's shuttles.  Cylon shuttles, like their Colonial counterparts
contained a landram device so the two of them would be able to travel
across the surface and take more detailed studies that would be uploaded
to the Galactica and the BaseShip.  Adama had decided that as much as
several days of exploration could be done if the centurions accepted
their final fates and maximized their exploration time before the radon
would render them inoperable.
     I feel sorry for them in a strange way, he thought.  If they'd been
destroyed in the previous operations we used them for it wouldn't have
gotten any reaction from any of us.  We would have been glad for the fact
we didn't have to put our own people at risk and left it at that.  But
now....now that we've had to change our views of Cylons, it makes the
whole thing so different.  They're literally engaging in a mission of
total self-sacrifice for our benefit now.  Because.....they want to be
Enlightened.
     Once he got word from Baltar that the shuttle with Argestis and
Furcifer had left, he turned to phase two, which was to give the launch
order for the viper team that would clear away a section of the minefield
blocking access to the former Risik prison world of Merikon.  Apollo,
Starbuck and Boomer were to clear away only enough mines to let a shuttle
team reach the planet and approach those living on Merikon.  
     

     Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer's course heading took them into the
Delta Trianguli B system where the planet Merikon loomed just ahead.  As
soon as they saw the scanner indications of the minefield's depth and
scope, Apollo realized right away that it was going to require clearing
away more than just a handful.
     "We're probably going to need three separate passes to punch an
opening wide enough," Apollo radioed.  "The level is really thick.  There
must be a couple thousand of them altogether!"
     "Too bad our old friend the Entity isn't here to eat all of them
like it did with the last minefield we came across," Starbuck quipped.
     "I wonder if those mines gave it indigestion afterwards," Boomer
added dryly.
     "Well.....if they were programmed by techs who double as kitchen
chefs.....maybe.  Especially if Risik military cooks are just like our
own!"
     "Okay guys, you got them all out of your system now?" Apollo
injected, "Let's head in.  Starbuck, take the one to my left after I make
my pass, and Boomer you take the one to Starbuck's left.  I'll be turning
starboard after I make my run, and the two of you high-tail to port after
you're done and then hook up with me again."
     "Glad you trust us to stay together and not gang up on you,"
Starbuck said and then added, "That was the last one in my system, buddy. 
Promise."
     "I'm holding you to it Starbuck, or else there'll be some changes in
the night shift roster for the next sectan," he added with just the right
inflection.  "Headed in!"
     Apollo hit his turbo and moved in toward the distant planet called
Merikon.  Even from this far out the depth of the minefield was evident,
ringing the planet like a giant asteroid belt with next to nothing in the
way of maneuvering space for any approaching ship to penetrate the
barrier.  Not even a ship as small as the size of a shuttle or viper
could navigate the passage without putting itself at risk.  And in this
case, since any shuttle heading to the planet would carry at least one
member of the Council, the tiniest trace of risk had to be eliminated.
     At least this time I can see where I'm going and I don't have to
worry about the Nova Madagon burning my viper up!  He thought as he
recalled the last time he'd done this kind of exercise.  In theory,
blasting a mine with laser fire in a normal region of space ranked as an
easy job that even a first yahren cadet could perform.  But these mines
were an unknown quantity, made by an alien race more than capable of
coming up with surprises that even seemingly superior Colonial technology
might not be fully prepared for.
     He switched on his attack computer.  The mines were closely packed
to the point where two mines were filling the target and capable of being
taken out by a single shot.  He took a breath and opened fire and then
immediately went into a full turn to get clear of the explosion.  There
was always a danger that destroying a mine or a runaway missile could put
an attacking Viper at risk from the ensuing fireball or shockwave.  He'd
recently heard Sheba tell him with sadness of a Pegasus pilot she'd known
well, Lieutenant Banker.  Who'd lost his life during the recent battle
with the last of the Cylon loyalists when he destroyed an attacking
BaseShip's missile and was consumed in the ensuing fireball.
     By the time he'd gone a safe enough distance and executed another
full one hundred eighty degree turn, he could see Starbuck and Boomer
returning from their first runs.  And it gave him a chance to scan the
results of the first attack pass.
     "Frack," he said aloud.  Not an angry exclamation but louder than a
whisper and enough to get the attention of his comrades.
     "What happened?" Starbuck radioed as he slowly banked his Viper
around and came back alongside Apollo followed by Boomer.
     "We took out five mines between the three of us and look what
happened," Apollo said with disgust, "Instead of creating a wide enough
hole in the perimeter for a shuttle, the adjoining mines suddenly closed
the gap that we created!"
     "It's like they have an internal defense mechanism," Boomer mused,
"I can see how that would work during a sustained combat engagement.  It
would keep an assault craft from getting through immediately and give
time for defensive weapons to deploy against the attacking ships."
     "Well sooner or later we have to create a hole big enough," Starbuck
spoke up.  "They can shift position and close the gap we created but that
means widening the interval between mines.  We're just going to have to
go back and take out more of them until the gap between mines can
accommodate a shuttle."
     "That's going to require more than just the three of us, Starbuck,"
Apollo said.  "I'm going to tell the Galactica we're going to need some
reinforcement."

     Adama greeted the report from Apollo with just a mild level of
exasperation inside.  Not enough to outwardly show it when he conversed
with his son, but enough to make him realize that this effort to do
something he regarded as a simple task-to learn about the Ke'Zar-was
getting more and more complicated and frustrating.  The fact that a
shuttle was waiting in the landing bay to go as soon as the pathway
through the minefield was clear only added to that.  Especially since Ila
had decided to accompany Becky Shulman as the two representatives of the
Council to meet with the people of Merikon.
     "All right, the three of you keep making runs on the minefield for
now.  At the very least, you'll be widening the interval between mines
just a bit.  I'll have reinforcement launched within the next ten
centons."
     After signing off, he went over to the Executive Officer who had
listened in on the entire conversation.
     "We'd need to sound an alert to get a whole squadron ready for
launch," Tigh noted.
     "I want to avoid doing that," Adama shook his head, "Put me through
to Baltar.  We might as well make use of his ships for reinforcement."
     "He'll be happy to know he's appreciated," Tigh said dryly which
brought a faint smile from Adama.  A reminder of how even after more than
three yahrens, sarcasm came instinctively to Tigh when it came to Baltar. 
A sarcasm that Adama knew he could never allow for himself.  Making
Baltar feel appreciated in his role as a subordinate military commander
was one of the things that had kept him in line all this time, though
Adama felt that Ayesha's presence by her husband's side had made the most
difference.
     "Yes, Adama?  I'm afraid the shuttle hasn't landed yet.  I don't
have any reports to pass onto you."
     "This isn't about that, Baltar," Adama said.  "I need your help
regarding the minefield problem around Merikon."
     The former traitor's eyebrows went up and for a brief instant Adama
could see the pleasure on his face.  Pleasure that stemmed from being
told that he was needed to help.  Concessions like that to Baltar's ego,
maddening as they might have been at one time, always seemed to bring out
the best in him.
     "Go on."
     Adama explained the situation and as he expected, Baltar was pleased
by the request to lend assistance to the minesweeping operation.  Baltar
noted that if a sustained effort were needed to clear away the mines then
Cylon pilots, not prone to fatigue would be better for the operation.
     "I agree completely," Adama said, not mentioning that he was about
to make that point to him.  It was yet another of those concessions he
made to Baltar's ego to insure his reliability.  "However, I intend to
have Captain Apollo's team continue to take part and maintain overall
tactical command of the operation."
     "Perfectly agreeable to me," Baltar said simply, "Strike Leader
Orion has flown with Apollo before.  They know how to work together."
     "How soon can they be launched?"
     "Within five centons," the one-time traitor then paused, "Do these
mines represent more than a mere nuisance or is it more likely they were
put there as a full-fledged defensive barrier from outside invasion?"
     "We won't know that until we get some more answer from the
inhabitants of the planet," Adama said, "What they tell us will determine
our next strategic move."
     "Keep me posted."
     "Of course," Adama said respectfully and then ended the
transmission.  He looked over at Tigh who was slowly shaking his head.
     "The things you have to do to keep the peace."
     Adama could only offer him a smile and a shrug.


     The Council delegation to Merikon had spent nearly a centar waiting
in the Landing Bay for the clearance to launch.  For Ila, it was easy to
pass the time by talking to Becky Shulman and getting more information
from her about her experience growing up on Earth in a suburban community
called Skokie, Illinois where most of the population practiced the Jewish
religion like Becky.  She was fascinated to learn that Becky's father had
been a survivor of the so-called Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime
during the second World War and had spend time in a concentration camp. 
And how Becky had grown up not knowing the horrors her father had
suffered until she was thirteen and a modern Nazi party had received
permission to stage a demonstration in Skokie.  It had provoked outrage
from the community and in particular her father, who for the first time
found the strength to talk about his experiences as a child in the death
camp called Auschwitz.  When the Nazi group ultimately backed off from
its planned demonstration, despite having legal permission to
demonstrate, she could remember her father weeping for joy, and it had
instilled pride in Becky of her heritage and her faith.  A faith that
would sustain her when as co-pilot of an Army VIP plane carrying U.S.
Congressman Harlan Lindy of Arkansas, her life changed forever when the
Risik had snatched her plane from the sky and taken her, Congressman
Lindy and Sergeant William Benton to the prison planet of Nidion.
     So engrossed was Ila in learning more of her fellow Councilor's
story that she didn't notice the shuttle co-pilot, Sergeant Mackin trying
to get her attention.  The female reserve viper pilot had to tap her on
the shoulder.
     "Excuse me, Madame President," Mackin said apologetically, "Core
Command says we'll be cleared to launch in a few centons.  The
minesweeping has taken longer than they anticipated but they expect it to
be clear enough for us to get through soon."
     "Thank you, Sergeant," Ila nodded.  "We'll stand by for as long as
it takes them to give us safe passage."
     And because I'm on board, Adama's going to be overly cautious even
if it means making me wait inside this tub all day if necessary!  She was
glad her husband had voiced no objections to her taking part in her first
planetary mission since her return, because he knew that as President of
the Council and her past experience handling diplomatic matters for
Commander Cain made her the natural choice to provide the Colonial
perspective that Becky couldn't give.  And he also knew that if he had
voiced any concerns, Ila would have given him a cool reminder that she
didn't rejoin the Fleet just to stay permanently tucked away in a safe
cocoon.
     Thank the Lords he understands.  That's the reason our marriage
lasted.  He knew I could handle the separations because I knew how to
make something of myself.
     "We're cleared to launch!" the lead shuttle pilot, Lieutenant Barton
of Red Squadron said with relief after the long delay.  All conversation
and introspection in the shuttle came to a stop as it accelerated and
began its journey to answer  the mysteries behind the planet Merikon.

     Ten Cylon fighters from the Baseship had linked up with Apollo,
Starbuck and Boomer and collectively they began to concentrate their fire
on one perimeter of mines circling the planet so the approaching shuttle
would have a wide enough path to get through.  As each mine was destroyed
though, Apollo noticed uneasily how the wider the gap became the faster a
mine would start to move in an effort to bridge it.  Even though the
combined firepower of thirteen fighters was creating a somewhat sustained
opening that looked safe, he also knew one mine trying to narrow the hole
could easily slip past the concentrated fire and pose a danger.  Until
the shuttle was safely through and headed for the surface of Merikon,
Apollo wasn't going to breathe easy, especially knowing his mother was
aboard.
     Ten centons later, he heard Barton's voice radioing him, "This is
Presidential shuttle to Blue Leader.  Are we cleared to get through?"
     Apollo had just moved back into position for another pass at the
minefield.  He looked at his scanner which was calibrated to show the gap
that had been widened as a result of the concentrated laser fire.  Two
raiders had just destroyed two more mines and he could see the rapid
movement of the one adjoining those two moving across to fill the gap. 
Seeing it move for four microns until it disappeared under a burst of
fire from Boomer.  Deciding on a new approach, he slowed up and took aim
from further out at the next mine which he scored with one shot.  Then,
holding his position he waited for the next mine behind it to start
moving and took it out in a more tricky lateral shot.
     "Blue Leader?" Barton's voice persisted.
     "Sorry, Presidential shuttle," Apollo said as he pulled away.  "You
are clear.  But proceed down the dead center track of where you see the
current gap.  We'll flank you for protection until you're through."
     "Affirmative, Blue Leader.  ETA in thirty microns."
     Apollo then radioed to Starbuck to assume the starboard flank of the
shuttle while Apollo would handle the port flank.  This way they would be
in position to take out any mines moving rapidly to fill the exposed gap
and avoid the slightest risk to the shuttle's safety as it crossed the
path to orbital deceleration.  He then gave instructions to Boomer and
the Cylon fighters to stand by from further runs until the shuttle was
safely through.
     "Okay Blue Leader, we have you and Red Two in sight," Barton said as
the shuttle picked up speed and saw the two Vipers on their flank. 
"We're headed through."
     "You've got a gap of one hundred kilometrones to work with.  We're
going to make sure it's wider," Apollo radioed back.  "Starbuck open fire
on your flank and don't stop!"
     Apollo and Starbuck both opened fire and after each of them took out
an additional mine, their scanners picked up clear indications of two
more mines moving at rapid lateral speed in their respective directions. 
By maintaining their position, they could concentrate on setting up their
next respective target while in between them, the shuttle moved past at
rapid speed, and out of the line of the minefield barrier.
     As soon as Starbuck and Apollo destroyed the next mine in sequence
on their flanks, a jubilant Barton then radioed, "We're safely through,
Blue Leader!  Headed now into orbital deceleration and we'll be on the
ground in five centons."
     "Thank you Presidential shuttle," Apollo hid the relief from his
voice and kept his tone professional.  "We'll remain in orbit and
continue minesweeping operations so there won't be any complications when
its time for you to return."
     "Affirmative Blue Leader.  Oh and one other thing, Captain."
     "Yes?" he had an inkling of what was coming.
     "The President extends her compliments to the pilots of this
operation for their outstanding precision flying."
     Apollo cracked a smile but kept his tone nonchalant and
professional.  "On behalf of Captain Boomer, Lieutenant Starbuck and our
Cylon colleagues led by Flight Leader Orion, we thank the President for
her kind remarks."
     The shuttle moved out of view and descended toward the planet below. 
Apollo moved banked and headed back out to prepare for a new minesweeping
run when he heard a familiar voice in his helmet coming through on the
secure circuit.
     "Congratulations Apollo.  You did your mother proud!"
     Only you, Starbuck, the captain sighed.  Only you could get away
with a crack like that.


     When the shuttle cleared the atmosphere and the upper cloud cover,
Becky could see even from her vantage point through the cockpit window
that Merikon was a totally different planet from Niddion in terms of
natural planetary vegetation.  The greenery of the landscape below, along
with the numerous lakes and rivers that were visible was a total contrast
to the general barrenness of her former home.  Clearly, the inhabitants
of this world weren't suffering from a shortage in the natural resources
needed to sustain life.  And that meant that most of them would have no
real incentive to leave, especially if they were of the second and third
generation that had been born on this world.
     As Barton continued to maneuver the shuttle, Mackin was studying the
scanner readout. "Large complex of buildings adjoins what looks to be an
aerodrome facility.  No indication that it's in any kind of active use."
     "Are you getting anything on the com bands?" Ila spoke up.
     Mackin shook her head, "Nothing, Madame President."
     "We should probably try raising them and letting them know we're
friendly."
     "Let me do that," Becky spoke up, "I'm one of them.  I can explain
things easier to them."
     "Do it," Ila nodded.  Her fellow Council member rose and went up
behind Mackin who handed her a transmitting microphone.  The Earth native
took a breath and then spoke in a calm, friendly, authoritative.
     "Any station, planet Merikon.  This is Lieutenant Becky Shulman,
United States Army.  I was abducted by the Risik with Congressman Harlan
Lindy of Arkansas in the year 1989 and taken to the Risik penal colony on
the planet Niddion.  I was recently rescued by friendly humans from
another star system and come now in friendship to offer assistance to
you."
     A long silence followed as everyone on the shuttle waited for a
response.  Becky was about to repeat her message when a voice sounded in
English.
     "Pilot of unidentified spacecraft.  Repeat your last transmission."
     The tone was neutral and sounded more cautious than hostile.  Becky
calmly repeated her identification message and decided to add some extra
details.  "The Congressman and I were abducted on Super Bowl Sunday,
three days after the Inauguration of George Bush as President of the
United States."
     Another silence and this time the voice was 100% friendly,
"Lieutenant Shulman, welcome to Merikon!  Can you see the landing strip
of our abandoned aerodrome facility?"
     After seeing a quick nod of the head from Barton, Becky answered,
"Affirmative, Merikon station.  We will land there and await
representatives of your governing authority."
     "We will be most interested to see you, Lieutenant!  Signing off."
     So far, so good, Ila thought as Becky resumed her seat next to her
and gave the President a quick smile and thumbs-up.


     "Good news, Commander," Tigh said, "Captain Apollo reports the
shuttle is not only through the minefield, but they've made contact with
the inhabitants of the planet.  They'll be on the ground in a few
centons."
     "Excellent," Adama tried not to show the relief he felt that Ila had
safely gotten past the area of potential danger.  "How much longer can
Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer stay out there?"
     "They're good for another two centars."
     "I want them relieved in one centar by three fresh pilots from our
end.  They can link up with Flight Leader Orion and continue minesweeping
operations for the next few centars and then Baltar should send in a
fresh team to relieve Orion.  Pass the word to him."
     "Yes sir, Commander," Tigh moved off to carry out the order. 
Leaving Adama alone to stare at the navigation board with arms folded in
contemplation as he stared at the distant corner that indicated the
Ke-Zar home system.
     Will we find out what we need to know?


     Scali was the only passenger aboard the shuttle Canaris who got off
when it docked with the Senior Ship.  As he made his way into the docking
lounge he could see a group of fifteen waiting to board, undoubtedly to
use passes aboard either the Rising Star or the Pathmain.  He quickly
made sure that the man he was looking for wasn't among those leaving
before venturing further into the ship.  Stopping at the operations
center, he inquired as to the whereabouts of a man named Cronin, and
after going through a proper identity check was cleared to enter the
living space areas where he was told Cronin resided in shared dwellings
in compartment #17A.
     Because he was considerably younger than any of the residents of the
Senior Ship, the men and women he passed through the corridors stopped to
eye him carefully as the only young people they were used to seeing were
staff personnel.  He gave them no more than a friendly smile and nod of
the head and kept moving, not wanting to be delayed in getting a chance
to talk to the man named Cronin who might clear up the contradictions
that had surfaced regarding the man named Aurelius.
     If it weren't for the fact that Scali was desperate to do something,
anything, that could establish himself as a serious journalator and free
him forever of the demeaning work of being a statistician on triad
broadcasts, he wouldn't be attacking this matter with such determined
ruthlessness.  It was hard for him to contemplate anything of
significance that could account for Aurelius's lies about his
relationship to Captain Aurelius of the Excelsia.  And yet.....the fact
that Aurelius was so tight with Commander Adama and his family, and known
to spend a good deal of time with the Commander's grandson gave it a
nuance that from Scali's standpoint made it a story worth pursuing until
the truth, good, bad or indifferent, was finally known.  If it was a
secret that Aurelius had kept from the Commander it might lead to
repercussions in which the Commander would be grateful that the
information had been uncovered.....and perhaps the Commander would then
feel the need to put in a good word for Scali that would make his hope of
becoming a full-time journalator a foregone conclusion that no one could
object to.  Not Zed, not Zara, not Heller the Technical Director, and not
even Arledge the IFB Director of Operations.
     And besides, I haven't got anything else I can pursue anyway!  He
thought as he came to the door marked #17A and pressed the chime.  He
could hear a shuffling of feet and then ten microns later the door slid
open to reveal a short man in his mid-60s with a receding hairline and
crooked teeth.  He was wearing a ragged old Colonial flight jacket and on
the shoulder was the patch that indicated the Battlestar Excelsia's
flight group.
     "Yeah?" his tone was slightly gruff.
     "Cronin, my name is Scali.  I work for the IFB."
     "That supposed to impress me?"
     "Well, you did talk to Zed not too long ago."
     "For a few centons, yeah," he shrugged.  "What about it?"
     "Well it's a follow-up to that.  About your old friend on the
Excelsia, Captain Aurelius."
     "Why's everyone so interested in him?" the old ex-warrior rolled his
eyes, "If you're trying to dig up some old scandal about the finest
squadron leader there ever was, you won't get anything from me.  Like I
told Zed, he was a real prince of a fellow.  He always looked after his
men and we loved flying in his group."
     "I just want to confirm something Zed said you told him," Scali kept
his tone pleasant.  "You're absolutely sure that Captain Aurelius didn't
have any aunts or uncles?"
     "You wouldn't need me to confirm that," Cronin looked at him
suspiciously.  "Just look up Colonel Nerva's service record.  Colonel
Nerva of Sagittarian District HQ was his father, and he was an only
child."
     "But I'm afraid Colonel Nerva's service record is lost," Scali
emphasized, glad that it didn't mean telling an untruth, "So that means
you're the only one who can explain that further."
     Cronin eyed him suspiciously.  "What's this all about?"
     "Tell me what you know about Aurelius's family and I'll explain. 
Are you alone?"
     "My roomie just left for an afternoon on the Rising Star.  I've got
the place to myself." he hesitated for just an instant but finally
motioned him in.  Scali stepped in and saw two beds, one on each side of
what would have been regarded as cramped quarters for one individual. 
For two, it clearly involved sacrifices that had to be made.  Even so,
Scali could tell that it looked better than the bunk space he was forced
to sleep in on the Yarborough.
     "So how is it you know about Colonel Nerva having no brothers and
sisters?" Scali asked as he sat down on what he knew was the bed of
Cronin's absent roommate.
     "Because Captain Aurelius trusted me," he said proudly.  "He knew I
was the kind of man he could speak freely to and openly about personal
things.  We had quite a few evenings of grog together in the Excelsia's
OC over the yahrens."
     "So he talked about his family history to you."
     "Yes," Cronin emphasized, "And when he tells me more than once over
the yahrens about his father, Colonel Nerva and how much he admired him
for fighting his way up from nothing in a Sagittarian orphanage, then I
think that's self-explanatory isn't it?"
     "Growing up in an orphanage doesn't mean he was an only child."
     "Makes no difference.  The Captain said his father had no parents,
no siblings, no aunts, no uncles.  Nothing!  And this was more than once
when his tongue was loosened by the grog and I think you're old enough to
know that grog doesn't make a man lie."
     "I suppose not, though I prefer ambrosia myself," Scali said.  "But
that doesn't mean he couldn't have had uncles and aunts on his mother's
side."
     "He had an aunt on his mother's side and she died an old maid
spinster," Cronin shook his head vigorously.  "And the Captain said one
of the worst things he had to go through as a kid was being forced to
kiss her when there were family get-togethers.  And I heard that more
than once over a few glasses of grog at the Club."
     "Okay," Scali quietly reached inside the pocket of his tunic and
pulled out the micro-recorder Zed had loaned him.  "So if I were to tell
you that someone's claiming to be the uncle of Captain Aurelius.....what
would you say to that?"
     "That the man is a liar of the first order, though why he'd tell a
lie like that is beyond me," the old ex-warrior said.  "Of
course....maybe it's someone who knew him and just.....wants to brag
about being related to him.  But.....if you're saying the man claims to
be his uncle, he'd have to be well over ninety at least!"
     "Well he is, but.....there's a complicated story about that," Scali
placed his finger on the playback button.  "Just out of curiosity....does
this voice sound familiar to you?"
     He then pressed it, and the sound of Zed's conversation with
Aurelius in the maintenance section of the Galactica landing bay filled
the room.  For a few microns, the old Excelsia warrior was frowning and
then his eyes widened into total shock, and his mouth fell open.  It was
a reaction Scali was totally unprepared for.  And when he saw Cronin's
body start to tremble visibly he grew concerned and shut it off.
     "Cronin?" he asked, "Cronin what is it?"
     He was trembling, "What kind of a joke are you playing on me?" his
voice was a whisper.  "What kind of sick joke is this?"
     "What are you talking about?"
     "Lords of Kobol, you----how can you possibly not know.  But if
you're not then.....how in the name of Hades....." his voice trailed off.
     "Cronin?" he came over to him with concern and took his pulse and
could tell it was racing rapidly.  "Cronin are you all right?"
     "It can't be him," the man shook his head and whispered faintly, "It
just can't be.  It's not possible for him to be----,"
     "Cronin!" Scali's voice rose and then to his horror he saw the old
man fall back onto the bed, his breaths short and gasping.  Alarmed,
Scali bolted toward the door and opened it.
     "Help!" he shouted down the corridor where there were only a few
people moving about, "Get a med-tech over here immediately!  Compartment
17A!"
     "Press the red button on the wall!" one of the residents shouted
back at him, "That's what they're there for!"
     Scali looked and saw the tell-tale red button on the wall, not
realizing it was there to summon emergency medical help.  He darted over
and pressed it.  An alarm went off and he realized there was nothing more
he could do except hope and pray that help would arrive quickly.
     But by the time three med-techs arrived with an emergency kit there
was nothing more they could do.  Cronin had stopped moving and breathing. 
And despite having had nothing yet to eat, Scali found himself vomiting
anyway.

     Problem solved......for now, Helena thought with a smug satisfied
smile as she finished surveying the chaotic scene in Compartment 17A. 
With a flourish she turned away and her unseen presence vanished from the
realm.

Chapter Five

     Within centons after the shuttle landed at the inactive aerodrome
facility, several transport vehicles containing six men and two women had
arrived to greet them.  They wore civilian clothing instead of uniforms
and were in their twenties and thirties, which meant they were native
born inhabitants to Merikon.  They were friendly but formal, as if they
felt it wasn't their place to reveal too much about their society and how
they lived.  But they promised that their leadership, the so-called
"Elders" would answer everything they needed to know.  
     Ila decided that the entire landing party of six would accompany
them and the shuttle kept in a secure lockdown mode.  For the moment, she
decided that Becky would do most of the talking for them until it was
time for Ila to explain the back story of Colonial Civilization and the
flight across the stars to Earth.  As the transport vehicles they rode in
left the abandoned aerodrome behind, they were greeted to the sight of an
orderly network of roads though not much in the way of vehicular traffic. 
People were working in fields cultivating crops or raising what looked to
Becky like Earth style livestock.  She hadn't recalled the Risik taking
examples of Earth animal life with them as part of their experiments but
it was possible that these could be the results of samples that had been
brought back in an earlier generation, if indeed the Risik had been
active in their work since just after World War II.
     They had time to see other signs of a modest but flourishing
society.  Housing units of no more than one story in size but occupying
reasonably generous plots of land soon lined the streets.  Enough room
for a family to have some space.  More than once, Ila could see children
at play in front yards and the sight of such activities was enough to
convince her that the Fleet wouldn't be taking on anyone from the current
generation with them.  All signs indicated that life on Merikon was quite
peaceful and prosperous for those who had always regarded it as home.
     Soon, the orderly rows of family units were behind them and they saw
several more structures, older and taller and clearly part of the complex
originally built by the Risik as the architecture matched their style
that Becky was familiar with and Ila had studied in the reports on events
at Ne'Chak and in captured Risik data from the ship Lauren Wagner had
been found in.  It seemed logical that this would be the place where the
governing "Elders" exercised their authority from and on that point their
thinking was borne out.  The eight inhabitants of Merikon led them from
the transport vehicles across a neatly maintained pathway into the main
entrance, where they were greeted by a blast of cool air from a central
air conditioning unit.  Men and women who ranged in age from their 20s to
their mid-40s were moving about, all of them in civilian type clothes and
it projected an air of total.....normalcy to Ila and the others.  From
Becky's standpoint, she was struck by the relaxed contrast to the
regimented order she had known for so many decades on Niddion where the
late William Benton had ruled things with absolute authority.  It was
clear that the abundance of natural resources had made it impossible for
things to degenerate as they had on Niddion that had required the rise of
a benevolent dictator as Benton had been.
     Before they reached the end of the corridor, they saw two older men,
clearly the same age as Becky approaching them with smiles.
     "Lieutenant Shulman?" one of them stepped forward with his hand
extended.  His silver hair was the only thing about him that indicated
his age.  He was clearly well fed and fit.
     "Yes, I'm Lieutenant Shulman," Becky stepped forward and shook hands
with him.
     "Welcome to Merikon.  I'm Dan Parker, President of the Elder
Council.  I was abducted by the Risik in July 1987."  He motioned to the
man next to him, "This is Pierre Robineau our Vice-President.  Abducted
in July 1986."
     "An honor to meet someone new from our own generation," Robineau
shook hands with her.  His French accent was only slight, as if English
had been his only language for many years now.  "We had heard of the
Niddion prison planet but had no knowledge of what became of it."
     "Abandoned by the Risik because of the Ke'Zar war," Becky said,
feeling an instant bond to the two men.  "My rescuers here were aware
from captured Risik records that Merikon had been abandoned too by them."
     "Yes, in great haste as it turned out.  But please come in and we
can enlighten each other," Dan Parker motioned toward the double doors in
front of them.  The landing party followed the two Earth natives into a
conference room that was similar to but smaller than the one Becky
remembered from Niddion.  A table at the front was clearly where the
Elder Council members sat and it looked as if there were chairs for as
many as nine or ten people, but no one else was in the room.
     "You clearly know a good deal about us," Parker said as he settled
himself in a chair behind the table looking out at them.  They had all
taken seats in the front row just ten feet away. "So perhaps you should
go first, Lieutenant?"
     She rose and with her confidence boosted, Becky began to talk.


     Three centars had passed since word had come through about the
shuttle's successful contact with the inhabitants living on Merikon. 
Adama had remained on the Bridge the entire time, monitoring the relief
efforts as Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer gave way to Jolly, Greenbean and
Giles for the next round of mine clearance in cooperation with Flight
Leader Orion's group.  For the most part, Tigh kept clear of the
Commander, tending to his regular duties as XO monitoring the numerous
work stations and going over rudimentary reports from Orion, Rigel and
the other Bridge personnel.  On occasion, he glanced up at the upper
level and saw that Adama had adopted two postures.  One was idly pacing
back and forth across the deck with his hands behind his back.  The other
was standing in front of the navigation board with arms folded and his
right finger occasionally touching his lip.
     Tigh was on the verge of deciding that he should go up to Adama and
tell him to leave the Bridge and relax for now.  But before he could do
that, Rigel had gotten his attention.
     "We have a direct communique coming in from Merikon, sir.  President
Ila wants to talk to the Commander on a secure circuit."
     "Stand by to transfer, Sergeant," Tigh said as he then quickly
mounted the stairs to tell Adama.  When Adama got the word, he wasted no
time getting a headset on so he could talk to his wife.
     "Hello, Ila!" he didn't conceal the relief, "Do you read me?"
     "I read you fine, Adama," his wife's voice came through clearly.
"The communications facilities here are quite up to date.  I didn't even
have to have our squadron relay the signal."
     "What's happened?"
     "Well....Becky and I have had a very productive talk with the
President and Vice President of the Elder Council of Merikon.  The
President's name is Daniel Parker.  An innocent civilian who was snatched
in the year 1987.  His mistake was that while on break from his
university studies, he was working as a bartender in a town called
Groton, Connecticut which is where all the seagoing submarine vessels of
the American military were built.  The Risik thought he knew something
about these submarine vessels when all he did was serve drinks to the
people who built them during their off-duty periods."
     "That's true of so many of the people the Risik abducted," Adama
grunted.  "All the people at Ne'Chak were either low-level military
personnel or innocent civilians.  They never abducted a single
high-ranking officer who could have potentially told them a lot more."
     "So it would seem.  At any rate, Mr. Parker is no dictator.  He's in
the middle of his second term as the elected Elder Council President and
plans on stepping down next yahren.  The total population of the Colony
is over two thousand and it's thriving.  There probably won't be more
than a handful of people at most who'll want to take advantage of our
arrival to go back to Earth.  And certainly no one from the generations
born here which includes people born before the Risik abandoned the
place."
     "How are they on resources?"
     "They're quite self-sufficient.  We might be able to provide them
with some components that can increase efficiency of operations for them. 
Maybe a spare energizer or two.  We could also work in a trade of seed
samplings which could help diversify  their crop base and our own."
     Adama decided it was time to come to the point, "Did you find out
what they know about the Ke'Zar?"
     His wife let out a sigh which told him right away that this wasn't
going to be the kind of news he wanted to hear.  He braced himself for
the specifics.
     "Mr. Parker told me everything they know about the Ke'Zar," Ila said
simply.  "Which adds to up exactly nothing."
     He shook his head slightly in disbelief.  "How is that possible?"
     "When the Ke'Zar attack force entered the Risik Home System and
forced the Risik into a full-fledged retreat and abandonment of Merikon,
the inhabitants of Merikon never saw the Ke'Zar.  They did see their
ships making passes through the atmosphere and their descriptions match
what we already have in the Risik data tapes.  But no Ke'Zar ship ever
landed.  The prevailing theory is that the Ke'Zar ships made their
orbital passes to take deep scans for any signs of active military
installations and active Risk life form presences, and once they realized
there were no Risik left they moved on and proceeded with their attack on
the Home Planet and the satellite moon."
     "They never made communications contact with them?" Adama at this
point would have settled for any tiny scrap of information to add to the
incomplete picture they had of the Ke'Zar, but the idea that these people
who'd been liberated by them had nothing to offer was something he hadn't
expected.
     "Parker says the senior most humans at the time tried to make
contact with them on this same communications link I'm using now. 
Apparently one of the Risik officers in charge at the time had been seen
communicating with the Ke'Zar over it, presumably to try and negotiate
some face-saving deal.  But the problem is that while the Risik evidently
knew the Ke'Zar language to be able to communicate with them, not a
single prisoner here knows the Risik language, let alone whatever
language they were using to talk to the Ke'Zar.  When the Earth natives
can only communicate in their own languages and if the Ke'Zar has no
Languatron at their disposal.....it means that communications were
impossible."
     "So they never saw them and they never spoke to them," Adama
grunted.  "I take it they have no explanation for why the minefield was
put in place around them?"
     "Only that they know that was the Ke'Zar's doing.  About two yahrens
after the Risik pulled out, the Ke'Zar ships suddenly reappeared and they
were towing the mines into planetary orbit.  They tried raising them on
the com link again but got no verbal response."
     "Meaning they got a non-verbal response?"
     "Yes.  They got a written message that was dropped in some kind of
capsule device from one of their orbiting ships.  It was written in a
crude form of the Earth language English.  The Ke'Zar were clearly aware
of the fact that English was the primary language of the abductees and
they probably learned just enough from Risik prisoners who would have
been trained to communicate with them on Merikon."
     "And the message said?"
     "It basically said this," Ila took a breath, "'No attempt leave
planet.  Mines dangerous.'"
     Adama took that in, "That was it?"
     "That was it.  It seemed like it was a message telling them that for
their own good, they shouldn't attempt to leave the planet with any ship
or craft they might have had at their disposal because of the mines."
     "But they left no indication as to why the mines were put there?"
this information was only leaving Adama more confused and frustrated. 
"Did they put them there as protection from Risk stay-behinds on the
satellite moon, or were they put there to deliberately keep the
inhabitants stranded on Merikon and unable to get back to Earth?"
     "They don't know," Ila knew how frustrated her husband was, because
she felt the same way.  It made her job as Council President just as
difficult as his job as Fleet Commander when it came to the critical
decision of whether or not to approach the Ke'Zar.  "But Parker said it
was a moot point from the outset.  The Risik took all space traveling
vehicles with them when they pulled out.  Their aerodrome is abandoned
because it serves no purpose.  For the last forty yahrens, these people
have accepted the fact that they'll never leave Merikon and because
they're completely self-sufficient, it just never mattered to them what
the Ke'Zar's motives were for putting the minefield in place."
     "Understandable," Adama was forced to concede, "So.....you don't
anticipate anyone interested in joining us to get back to Earth?"
     "Parker is giving us free rein to let the entire population know the
option is there for them, but with the caveat that the only people who
might be interested are original abductees with no living family who
might want a chance to go home at last.  Probably a handful at most. He
asked us if at some point in the yahrens ahead there might be more
expeditions sent out from Earth.  I told him it wasn't beyond the realm
of possibility but that would depend entirely on Earth's present
technological capability.  He said most of the inhabitants would be
interested in the long-term potential of having some kind of regular
contact with Earth established and if visitations between Merikon and
Earth could be arranged.  For now though, they're quite content with what
they have.  And I don't see any indications of a Benton problem or
anything similar to what existed on Niddion and Becky doesn't see it
either."
     "Thank goodness they didn't develop a Benton problem," her husband
said, "How long do you expect to remain there before returning?"
     Ila paused slightly and Adama knew right away that she was going to
bring up another important point that up to now had ranked as a lower
priority.
     "Becky and I need a few days at least," Ila said.  "And you need to
send two more shuttles to help us out.  First, we'll need a med-tech
shuttle with personnel who can give the people thorough medical
examinations and see if they need anything we can offer them."
     "I'll have one launched within a centar," Adama knew there was more
to it than just that.  "What's the second shuttle for?"
     "We're going to need some specific people in the Fleet to come here
because of something else we discovered during our initial tour of the
facilities," Ila said, "Starting with Kalysha Allen and also one or two
representatives from our Zorhloch faction."
     "What for?" her husband hadn't expected this.
     "It seems.....the Risik didn't just use this planet for housing
abductees from Earth," Ila said.  "Before the Ke'Zar expelled them, they
were also abducting aliens from civilizations situated.....in the area of
space they ultimately settled in."
     Things fell into place, "You mean......?"
     "Yes.  There are living Harkaelians and Zohrlochs on this planet
too."


     After returning from their Elite Squadron assignment on the Risik
satellite moon, Castor had bid Lauren a reluctant goodbye and gone back
to the Colonial Security operations center aboard the Galactica to resume
his normal duties as Chief of Colonial Security.  He had just settled
down when an urgent telecom from Council Security Operations Chief Reese
came in.  Reese, newly appointed to the top position, said that an
unexpected death had taken place aboard the Senior Ship, and he wanted to
know if the venerable Sergeant Paulson, a former murder investigator in
civilian life on Caprica could be detached to Council Security to
interview an important witness.  In the past, Castor would have been
inclined to stall on such a request, but things had changed dramatically
in the ranks of Council Security over the last yahren to the point where
the old antagonisms that had once existed between them and the Warriors
had faded significantly.  Reese in particular, who had once been seen as
the most obnoxious of the lot, had become a different man ever since he'd
dramatically saved Boxey's life when the Fleet had been infiltrated by
the Ziklagi.  The instinct to look for an excuse to quarrel had faded and
soon, Castor realized in time that putting aside rivalries for the sake
of greater cooperation served the interests of the Fleet better.  To his
relief, Council Security was also willing to let bygones be bygones
(especially with the precedent of Human-Cylon cooperation established)
and with Reese now in charge of Council Security operations, that
attitude had only grown.
     One aspect of that greater cooperation was a mutual recognition that
whenever a sudden, unexpected death took place in the Fleet, it meant
making the best man in the Security Division available for the job
regardless of whether the death fell under military or civilian
jurisdiction.  Even before relations had improved between the two
divisions, there was tacit agreement that no one was better at homicide
investigations than Paulson, who'd spent fifteen yahrens as a civilian
investigator before joining Colonial Security after surviving the
Destruction.  So when Castor got the call from Reese asking for Paulson
to come over to the Senior Ship and question an eyewitness to the death,
he wasted no time saying yes and then quickly saw to it that Paulson was
on the next available shuttle for the Senior Ship.
     When Paulson arrived on the Senior Ship and discovered that it was a
case of a man dying of a sudden heart attack, he wondered if Council
Security was overreacting by calling him in on the matter.  It was only
when he'd been filled in and told that the man in question had died
suddenly while conversing with a visitor and that the visitor had been in
an agitated, high-strung state ever since, that he realized that this
would require the delicate touch of a trained investigator to make sure
there wasn't anything more to this than a simple heart attack.
     He arrived in a small meeting room that was cramped with space for
only a small table and two chairs on opposite ends.  Scali was sitting
there, looking pale and agitated as he constantly pulled at his left
thumb and right forefinger.  Immediately, Paulson's investigative
instincts told him that Scali had the look of a man with a guilty
conscience about something and that this would require very delicate
questioning to find out why.
     "Why am I being detained?" Scali demanded, the agitation clear in
his face as soon as Paulson had sat down and politely introduced himself.
     "It's just a routine matter," the veteran investigator said
disarmingly as he activated his data pad, "Your name is?"
     "Scali."
     "And your designation?"
     The young man bit his lip and hesitated for a fraction of a second,
"I work for the IFB."
     "Oh?" Paulson raised an eyebrow but kept his tone casual as he
entered the response.  "You're a journalator?"
     "No," the word came out rapidly.  "I'm a statistician on the Triad
broadcasts.  I keep Zed furnished with all the copy on how many shots a
player has gotten off, how many rebounds he's made and overall records in
head-to-head competition.  That sort of thing."
     "Oh, I see.  I always thought it strange that a guy like Zed could
know so much about those stats.  But if you're there to keep track of all
that stuff, then that makes sense."
     "It's a routine job on any broadcast," a defensive edge came in his
voice, "I wasn't here to try and get any kind of story for the IFB.  Like
I said, I'm not a journalator."
     "I didn't ask you if you were trying to get any kind of story, but
thanks for volunteering that," Paulson absently made a note and then
without looking up added, "So...how well did you know the dead man?"
     "I never met him before today," Scali knew this was going to cause
trouble and braced himself.
     Paulson looked up with mild surprise, "Really?  This man....what was
his name again?"
     "Cronin," he knew that this change of pace with another question in
the middle of a question was a typical investigator's trick and it made
the nauseous feeling return to him. 
     "Cronin," Paulson made the notation.  "You'd never met him before,
and you say you weren't here for a story, so.....why did you come see
this man who just happened to drop dead from a heart attack while you and
he were talking?"
     "He served aboard the Excelsia as a Viper pilot," Scali said
rapidly, "I had an uncle who served aboard the Excelsia back then in the
Maintenance Division.  I wanted to find out if he remembered him, and
while we were talking, he just......died."
     "Really," Paulson noticed how Scali's hands were folded together in
a tight squeeze.  His instincts told him this was an answer Scali had
carefully rehearsed for some time.
     "Yes, really," Scali said through clenched teeth.
     "How did you know someone aboard the Senior Ship once served on the
Excelsia?"
     "Because I got the surviving crew list guides to the Excelsia from
Colonial Security," his tone grew angrier.  "That guy who runs the
computers down there......Sergeant Komma I think.....he'll confirm that
I've been there and that he made that information available to me.  Since
I can tell you're from Colonial Security, you obviously know who he is."
     This was news Paulson hadn't expected.  Immediately, he realized
that his entire line of inquiry had just been dealt a major obstacle. 
There was no way that Scali had lied about getting information on the
Excelsia from Komma, because Scali was clearly smart enough to know that
could easily be checked.  
     "Yeah, I know Komma," he said disarmingly.  "He really loves his
computers and handling the records when he's not doing his sidelight job
helping Wilker's boys out.  Wouldn't surprise me if his word was
algorithm.  Me, I never could stand being cooped up behind a desk.  I
always liked to get out in the field as they used to say on Caprica."
     "I'm not from Caprica so I can do without the local idioms," Scali
sensed that he'd just gained the upper hand at last.  "Bottom line is
that I had a legit reason of my own to see Cronin about a personal matter
and suddenly in the middle of that he gives me the fright of my life by
dropping dead on me.  Now unless you think I killed the man, what reason
do you have to keep me detained?"
     "It's just a routine investigation that applies to anyone, Scali,"
Paulson again remained disarming and friendly but inside he knew that
this conversation wasn't going to last much longer.  "What specifically
were you two talking about when he had his seizure?  You didn't....say
anything that made him upset, did you?"
     "No!" he learned forward and angrily looked the investigator in the
eye.  "Absolutely not.  I was just asking him if he remembered my uncle
and what life was like aboard the Excelsia in those days.  Maybe all that
talking about the old days got him excited or caused a thrilling rush to
his heart.  Whatever the case, it happened suddenly and yes, it freaked
me out good.  Have you ever seen a man in front of you drop dead in front
of your eyes in mid-conversation?"
     "No, can't say that I have," Paulson conceded.  Even though his
investigator's instincts were blaring like a Red Alert klaxon he also
knew he had nothing substantive to go with at this point. 
"That....really had to be a jolt.  You're all excited about seeing
someone who knew your uncle all those yahrens ago and then.....bang. 
This happens.  Can't have been pleasant."
     "It wasn't," Scali's angry tone was more confident.  "And that's all
I know and all I can tell you.  I sure as Hades didn't know the man well
enough to know anything about his medical history and I doubt he was up
to date on it either or else he would have been taking meds for his
heart."
     "You're probably right," the veteran investigator sighed.  Inside,
things were far from settled in his mind but he also had enough
experience and savvy to know that any holes in Scali's story couldn't be
addressed now.  He slowly rose from his chair, "That's probably all I
need for now, Scali.  I'll tell Chief Townsend that you're free to go. 
By the way where do you keep quarters?"
     "The Yarborough," he said with less hostility.
     "Oh the Yarborough.  Yeah, I know a couple guys who bunk there.  Not
the best ship to live on but it's manageable.  I'll let you get back
there, unless of course you've got work to do tonight.  Is there another
triad broadcast on?"
     "Tomorrow," Scali knew Paulson was trying to trip him up and he
wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.  "Your boss, Castor and
Captain Boomer against Greenbean and Vickers."
     "Ah, right.  And I'd never let myself bet against the Lieutenant. 
Not even when they're up against Apollo and Starbuck," he opened the door
and started to step out but then stopped and turned back, "Oh, one more
thing."
     "Yes?" Scali impatiently demanded.
     "What was the name of that uncle of yours who served on the
Excelsia?"
     "His name was Florian of the Viper Maintenance Division," the IFB
statistician said without any hesitation as he randomly plucked a name
from the crew list he'd obtained some time back, knowing that a service
record for the man likely didn't exist any longer.  "You'll find it in
the same crew list I got from your friend Komma."
     "Oh, I'm sure I would, so that's why I'll take your word for it. 
Sorry to have inconvenienced you."  And then, the elfin looking
investigator was gone. 
     Scali took a long slow exhale of relief, letting the last trace of
the nausea pass before he finally rose and left the room.


     In the desert dome of Agroship I, Lieutenant Sargamesh kor Tog, late
of the planet Eridu, and for the last few yahrens Colonial citizen and
Viper pilot, was busy with a new group of six trainees who were deep into
their desert survival training.  Born to a desert world himself,
Sargamesh felt very much at home in such an environment, and enjoyed the
times when he could take a respite from flying patrols to working with
new inductees amidst the sand and rocks.  And if the trainees showed
promise and didn't have to be reprimanded for fouling up, then the
experience was all the more enjoyable to him.
     The trainees had just moved into Level Three which meant learning
how to extract water from desert vegetation in no more than ten centons
(because as he'd warned them, if it took any longer, then by that point
the body would likely be too weak from dehydration and the heat to ever
get it done).  Sargamesh looked over at Cadet Hoche, slicing open the
thick hide of tall specimen (on Earth known as the Sugaro cactus), and
nodded his approval at how the young recruit had done it.  While he had
been skeptical at first, this crop of trainees seemed to be actually
paying attention and he hadn't needed to engage in any harsh reprimands. 

     "All right now," said Sargamesh, demanding their attention after the
ten centon limit had expired.  "Despite the harshness of such an
environment, we can..."
     Just then, a chiming sound indicating that the ship's unicom had
been activated filled the dome.  A female voice filled the air. 
"Attention.  Lieutenant Sargamesh, please pick up the nearest secure
telecom unit.  This is priority one."
     The Zohrloch tried to hide his irritation over not just the
interruption but the fact the message was aimed at him.  After giving his
trainees instructions to stand at ease, he moved over to the far side of
the dome where a telecom for official use only was mounted by the exit.
     "This is Lieutenant Sargamesh."
     "This is Captain Demeter," the voice of the middle-aged woman who
was commanding officer of the Agroship said.  "Priority message from
Commander Adama.  Stand down from current assignment and report to the
Galactica immediately."
     Saragmesh's sense of warrior propriety meant that he wasn't about to
ask what the reason was for this.  Instead he simply gave a proper,
obedient answer.  "Tell Commander Adama, I'm on my way."  And then, he
made sure he waited to hear Demeter's acknowledgment before hanging up
and turning back to the trainees.
     "You're all dismissed now," he said.  "Report to debriefing at once. 
Ensign Luana will handle things from here on."
     "SIR, YES SIR!!!!!" they shouted as one and then turned and filed
out in an orderly way to the exit on the other side of the dome. 
Sargamesh waited until the last one was gone before he turned the other
way in the direction of the Agroship's Landing Bay.


     When Sargamesh arrived on the Galactica a centar later and reported
to the Council room (which doubled as a briefing room when there was no
Council meeting in session), he was surprised to see his fellow Zohrloch,
Lieutenant Korl was there too.  Also present was the Earth native,
Commander Cedric Allen, CO of the Adelaide and his Harkaelian born wife,
Kalysha.  
     "Azgul's breath!" Sargamesh said in amazement, "They asked you to
come too, Korl?"
     "Yes," he nodded, and motioned to Allen and Kalysha.  "And Commander
Allen's wife as well."
     "Which meant I wasn't going to be left in the dark about this,"
Allen's arms were folded, and the annoyance evident in his voice.  His
wife reached over and gently touched his arm, as if to relax him.  Even
though she didn't enjoy being forced to leave her two month old daughter
Addie for now, her respect for Adama wouldn't have permitted her to
refuse the request.
     The door opened and Adama entered accompanied by a just-returned
Apollo.  Seeing the captain in the same room with the two Zohrloch
warriors, with all three of them sporting identical beards and equitails
made Allen realize for the first time just how deep Apollo's embrace of
Zohrloch tradition was.  For Sargamesh and Korl, there was a momentary
flicker of pride in their expressions before Adama seated himself at the
head of the table with Apollo standing behind him.
     "Thank you for coming," Adama said, "A matter of great importance
has come up in our investigation of the former Risik prison world Merikon
that requires the three of you to journey to the planet and meet up with
President Ila's landing party."
     "Four," Allen spoke up and said firmly, "If Kalysha has to go and
leave little Addie in Dr. Meskowski's care, then I go with her."
     Adama stared at the Australian for a micron before he quietly
answered him.
     "Commander Allen, kindly rephrase your request in a
more.....appropriate fashion."
     It was only when he felt a firm kick in the shin from Kalysha under
the table that the Earth native quickly acquiesced.  "Request permission
to be part of the mission team, sir!"
     "Permission granted," Adama said and quickly moved on, "Now let me
first summarize what's happened on Merikon as President Ila and Councilor
Shulman have reported to me."
     The recap of the Ke'Zar minefield, the presence of over 2000 people
living on Merikon, and the prosperous situation they were living in under
a democratically elected Council of Elders headed by Daniel Parker took
five centons.  Then Adama moved on to the next critical point.
     "The Elders gave President Ila and Councilor Shulman a preliminary
tour of their facilities.  And it seems that the Risik records we had
about Merikon were incomplete in one critical area.  We assumed up to
now, that before their war with the Ke'Zar, the Risik were only
interested in abducting people from Earth as part of their preparations
for their eventual invasion and conducting barbaric experiments on some
of them."
     "Yes, I remember Sergeant Wagner telling us about that on one
occasion," Sargamesh spoke up.  "She spoke of an experimental facility
aimed at studying pregnant females, and that she would have been sent
there hereself had she been pregnant.  Such barbarism!  It proves how
devoid of honor the Risik are."  
     "Indeed!" Korl chimed in.
     The rising level of outrage in their voices gave Adama brief pause
for concern that he was going to see the Council table upended once he
revealed the next piece of information to them.
     "Apparently it wasn't just natives of Earth the Risik were
conducting experiments on," the Commander continued, "There
were.....abductees from other planets and other races too.  The result of
deep space probe activities by the Risik in the opposite direction of
space.  Toward the environs of where they eventually settled after the
Ke'Zar expelled them from this star system.  And.....as a result of those
probe activities and abductions, they brought back with them to Merikon,
prisoners from both......Harkaelis and Eridu."
     Adama saw the stunned reactions on their faces and then leaned
forward and went on,
"These prisoners, unlike their counterparts from Earth, were kept in
cryogenic suspension after their arrival on Merikon and were kept in a
separate facility on the planet totally unknown to the Earth abductees. 
It wasn't until some twenty yahrens after the Risik expulsion by the
Ke'Zar that the people of Merikon finally discovered the abandoned
facility.  The power systems were still operating but.....because of
their lack of knowledge about the origins and biology of these people,
they didn't dare make any attempt to revive them.  But they have kept the
systems operational in the hopes that one day they could learn how to do
so.  Our arrival has made that day possible.  A scientific team of ours
will be accompanying you.....and it will be important for you to not just
provide technical assistance on matters of Harkaelian and Zohrlochian
biology, but to also be present when they are revived, so they can see
members of their own races and more easily adjust to what's happened to
them."
     The first response to these revelations came from Kalysha.  "How
many, Commander?"
     "There are at least six Zohrlochs and five Harkaelians still alive
and capable of being revived," Adama said.  "And once they are
revived......you'll have to make the case for having them join us.  But
at the same time.....be mindful of the fact that the Merikons are ready
to welcome them to their community as well, so don't push it too
strongly.  Captain Apollo will be accompanying you on this mission along
with Melnea, the Risik Academician who'll be needed to translate old
documents and instructions regarding the equipment."
     "Commander," Korl spoke up,  "Regarding the.....Zohrloch survivors,
are....." an awkward hesitation entered his voice and Apollo, standing in
back of his father, knew the reason why.  For Sargamesh and Korl, the
answer to this question would be the ultimate answer to prayer for them. 
But also a caution.
     "Yes, Lieutenant," Adama tried not to smile, "There are females
among those waiting to be revived."


     "He just dropped dead?" Zed was thunderstruck by the news Scali had
just told him.
     "Yes," Scali felt glad he had someone he didn't have to lie to as
he'd done with Paulson. "When I played back the tape of your conversation
with Aurelius, he just freaked out completely.  He kept saying over and
over that I was playing some kind of sick joke on him and then something
about 'it can't be him' and then just like that he was dead."
     The IFB co-anchor leaned back in his chair, still bewildered by this
twist of events.
     "Did you tell Security about the tape?" he tried to get his
composure back.
     "No," Scali was emphatic as he pulled the microrecorder out of his
tunic pocket, "And I think you'd better hang on to it from now on."
     "Damn right," Zed took it and immediately stuffed it in a lower
drawer of his desk.  He then slowly shook his head, trying to come to
terms with the meaning of it all.  The story of the man named Aurelius
had gone in a direction he never would have anticipated.
     "As far as Security is concerned, I gave them a line about seeing
Cronin because I wanted to find out if he knew a non-existent uncle of
mine who served on the Excelsia," Scali went on.  "It was the best I
could think of on short notice since it's close to the same felgercarb
line Aurelius gave you about being the uncle of the Aurelius who flew on
the Excelsia."
     "Did you give a real name at least for this phantom uncle of yours?"
Zed brought his hands together.
     "Yes, I've read the crew list of the Excelsia so many times over the
last sectar, I know over a hundred names at least.  I just plucked one
out of the air, a Master Chief from their Maintenance Crew named
Florian."
     "I hope for your sake he's not alive and that he doesn't have a
surviving personnel file."
     "There isn't anyone with that name in the Fleet population so that's
why I picked it.  And I used the uncle bit for the same reason Aurelius
clearly did.  A personnel file doesn't mention those kind of familial
connections.  Only names of parents, spouse and children."
     "Okay, then that means Security isn't going to be able to nail you
specifically for lying to them," Zed tried to take stock of the situation
and began to absently chew the end of his right thumbnail.  Then, a
micron later he looked up at Scali, "There's no doubt he recognized the
voice on the tape?"
     Frack, how dense can you get? Scali thought.  He was beginning to
understand why Zed had acquired a reputation among so many for being a
lightweight.  But because Zed was the only person he could trust, he
wasn't going to let that show.
     "Yes, he recognized it.  It was like he was hearing a voice he never
expected to hear, which means it's obviously someone he thought was dead
for a very long time.  But he never had enough time to say who it was."
     "Frack," Zed whispered, uncharacteristically using the profanity. 
"If only he'd at least done that.  Doesn't leave us with much to go on."
     "Meaning it's still worth going on with?"
     The IFB co-anchor looked at him quizzically, "I thought you were the
one anxious to get to the bottom of who Aurelius is and why he went into
cryo-freeze thirty yahrens ago."
     "After what I went through, I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth
it," the young statistician acknowledged.  "I feel like...... that we're
really getting into dangerous territory with this whole thing.  Maybe
Cronin's death is some kind of signal from the Lords that we need to drop
this whole thing and fast."
     "Sounds like you've lost your desire to become more than just a
triad statistician." Zed found himself smirking.
     "I don't know.  Maybe after what I just went through, I'm more
anxious to cling to a safety zone," he paused, "At any rate, I think it's
too dangerous for me to keep digging on this because I think Security's
going to probably put me under surveillance after they've had time to
ponder my statement some more."
     "That's a good point," the IFB co-anchor conceded, "You go back to
your normal routine for now, Scali, and don't deviate from it.  If they
do put you under surveillance, they'll get bored rather quickly and then
drop the whole matter, especially if they can't come up with anything to
break the story you told them."
     "Do you plan on staying with it in the meantime?" Scali asked.
     "Discreetly," Zed said, "I'm not going to do anything to attract
Security's attention.  But I am going to go over the crew list from the
Excelsia you gave me and spend a few of my off-duty centars seeing if it
offers any hints as to who the guy calling himself Aurelius really is."
     Scali decided to say something that had been developing in his mind
all through the journey from the Senior Ship to the Electronics Ship.
     "Maybe you should go straight to the Commander and tell him there's
something suspicious about Aurelius," he said.  "Given how chummy he's
become with the Commander's grandson, it might make Adama concentrate
Security on Aurelius."
     One of Zed's fake anchorman smiles suddenly came over him as he
slowly shook his head in the negative.
     "Scali, I think you've just made it clear why you'll never be a
journalator.  You lack the basic instinct for it."
     The young statistician flinched slightly but said nothing.  Zed
meanwhile buried his face in the notes for the evening broadcast and idly
waved his arm to indicate Scali could go.
     I only wish I had the guts to tell you what you can do with the
statistician's job, Scali thought as he walked out of Zed's office.  But
I guess I don't have the basic instinct for *that*!

Chapter Six

     The special shuttle consisting of Apollo, Sargamesh, Korl, Kalysha,
Allen, Melnea and the tech team reached Merikon a half centar after
leaving the Galactica.  The minesweeping operations remained ongoing with
the second Viper team of Jolly, Greenbean and Giles now finished with
their shift and replaced now by a new team consisting of Sheba, Dietra
and Brie.  Apollo had a chance to note the progress that had been made
over the course of some ten centars by the combined Viper-Raider efforts
since his group had taken the first steps.  The totality of the minefield
had been cleared by some 25% overall, but that still meant some six
hundred remained in place and it still necessitated a near-constant
barrage to make sure that a wide enough gap existed for shuttles to
safely pass to and from the planet since the destruction of each mine
automatically caused the others to "spread out" in an effort to keep an
even level of space between all remaining mines.  Adama had left
instructions to have one mine captured for analysis of its inner computer
systems but not until all operations on Merikon were over and when the
Fleet would be leaving.  Preliminary reports from Dr. Wilker's team
indicated that the mines from the previous Risik minefield encountered
had no such inner defense mechanism, so a question now existed as to
whether this "defense mechanism" that made the mines react to the
destruction of another was a feature that had been devised by the Ke'Zar.
     But that was for later, Apollo knew as he guided the shuttle through
the opening, taking only a micron to radio acknowledgment and thanks to
the Viper group now in charge of operations.  The response from his wife
was a perfunctory, "Any time, Captain," followed by a simple, "Good
luck."  Both of them not about to waste time on idle talk that could wait
until later.
     Contact was then established with the Merikon communications
facility, which guided them to the abandoned aerodrome Ila's shuttle had
landed at, along with the medical shuttle that had left two centars
before Apollo's.  Upon arrival, Ila was there to greet them along with a
delgation headed by the Elder President, Daniel Parker.  After the
exchange of pleasantries, the Galactica team got into a three vehicle
convoy that would take them straight to the strange facility that Parker
acknowledged had been a mystery to their people all this time.
     "We have one survivor among us who goes all the way back to the
first known Risik abductions of Earth natives in 1945 at the end of World
War II," Parker said as the lead vehicle containing himself, Ila, Apollo,
and the Risik dissident Melnea headed out from the abandoned aerodrome. 
"Old G.P is quite adamant that from the beginning, the Risik never gave
any hints they had a secret facility devoted to studying people from
other captured races.  The Risik overlords who ran the place said their
only interest was Earth and studying the inhabitants of Earth as part of
their preparation for the eventual invasion."
     "But they could easily have brought in aliens from elsewhere without
the prison population knowing about it," Apollo pointed out.  "Part of
some classified project of their own."
     "Oh yes.  G.P says that in the days when prison mobility was quite
restricted and you couldn't venture far, there was never a sense of what
the Risik were up to as far as how they brought in their supplies from
the Home Planet, or how extensive the activity was at the aerodrome when
it was fully operational.  So if you had a team of purely Risik workers
constructing this lab facility where these cryo-tubes are kept, then yes,
they could have pulled it off without any of the Earth prisoners knowing
a thing about it."
     "We've had access to quite a few captured documents explaining the
details of prison operations by the Risik High Command prior to the
Ke'Zar war," Melnea spoke up.  "They talk a lot about the experiments on
Earth subjects, especially the lab tests on pregnant females.  But none
of them mentioned similar facilities for other races even though these
were top secret documents kept secure under the highest of password
protections."
     "Where did you get those records from?" Parker asked with a polite
air that made the Risik woman feel at ease.  She had experienced no
hostility from Parker or any of the other Merikon inhabitants because she
was a Risik.  She knew it helped that as a Risik female, her appearance
was little different from that of an Earth native, but at the same time
it revealed that no long-term prejudice against all Risik existed in the
Merikon population.  Even from those old enough to have been abducted
from Earth by the Risik.
     "They came from a Risik ship that had performed an abduction just
several years after your own, Mr. Parker and just before the Ke'Zar
invasion took place.  That would indicate the Risik sealed up this
facility long-before the invasion and that the level of knowledge was
restricted to a very select few in Risik authority."
     Parker nodded, "That was our thinking too when we first found it
twenty years ago.  That it had been sealed up long before the invasion
and wasn't the result of their pullout.  It's in the primary structure of
their scientific complex which we've slowly reclaimed over the years for
our own use in order to expand our medical facilities.  Even though we're
not fluent in the Risik language, we did understand the symbol on the
door that meant 'Entrance Forbidden, Keep Out" which was written in a
bold face type to indicate the seriousness of the warning."
     "Why did you decide to explore it?" Allen asked, his attention
diverted from looking at the rows of orderly homes along the route.  "It
could have been sealed up because of radiation or some other danger."
     "Believe me, we knew at the time there was potential danger from
that.  It sparked quite a debate among the Elder Council at the time over
whether or not we should just leave it be and never bother learning the
secret of what was on the other side of the door, but thankfully we had
some pretty gifted scientists by then like old G.P. who pointed out that
if it was a radiation leak, then the walls wouldn't have kept it out and
would have long since contaminated the surrounding areas.  So after about
three months of the most thorough checks of the surrounding areas and
making sure it was all clean, we went to work on getting the door to the
room unsealed.  That took another six months of hard work but we finally
did it."
     "And found all those functioning cryo-tubes," Apollo noted.  "What
kept them powered all those yahr----years?" he quickly corrected himself.
     "It had its own nuclear power unit, a radio-isotopic thermoelectric
generator system,    about half the size of what you'd find on one of our
own naval vessels on Earth and carefully contained in the room beyond the
main cryo-lab.  It had been left in a low-level output condition since
the room had been sealed, and in all the yahrens since it kept generating
enough power to keep most of the cryo-tubes functioning.  I say most
because six had broken down and the people inside were dead.  Our
scientific teams were able to make sure the power generators to the
life-support systems would keep going indefinitely because we'd been
given sufficient training by the Risik over the years as to how their
power systems operated.  They always wanted human prisoners to perform
that kind of maintenance work when it was necessary."
     "But you had no understanding about how to revive these people
properly because you'd never seen anyone like them before and you
couldn't access the data." Melnea noted.
     "Exactly," Parker admitted.  Learning the Risik language was
considered a privilege to be given only to outright collaborators.  And
of course if anyone chose to collaborate, that meant they were
immediately removed from Merikon and transported to the Home World.  So
with all the instructions in the Risik language, we could only guess, and
we weren't about to do that.  But even if we had been fluent in the Risik
language and could read the instructions, we would have still faced the
problem of not knowing if we could revive these people safely.  So that's
why the Elder Council at the time decided not to engage in any revival
attempts unless it was clear the equipment was breaking down."
     "Our society has experience in cryogenics," Apollo said, and for a
brief instant he thought of the man his family had become close to over
the last yahren named Aurelius.  "The Risik technology probably isn't
dissimilar from our own.  And the bio issues should certainly be
manageable since we're familiar with both of these races."
     "So I've seen," the Elder President acknowledged looking back at the
second vehicle in the convy just behind them that the two Zohrlochs and
one Harkaelian in the party were riding in. "That proved to be a bigger
surprise to us than the fact that a human civilization not from Earth was
the first to make contact with us after all these years."
     "Did you ever think it might happen one day?" Ila asked.
     "There was only the tiniest fraction of hope that it could ever
happen," Parker sighed, "And only because we knew the Risik had their
moles and operatives on Earth who could reveal the truth to Earth
governments if they were ever exposed.  But we knew the odds of that were
billions to one because even if those operatives were captured, who would
believe them?  And were there any Risik ships capable of reaching us
still hidden on Earth somewhere for their use?  So no, Madame President,
we never held out great hope.  We just allowed for the fact that it could
happen under billions to one odds.  That made it easier for us to
consider Merikon our permanent home and do our best to make life
prosperous for us once it was clear the Risik were gone forever."
     "Have any of your people expressed an interest in coming with us?"
Apollo asked.
     "Councilor Schulman is handling that right now.  Since she's a freed
prisoner herself, she can make the case better than anyone else could. 
But.....I don't expect many will respond, Captain.  It's been too long
for most of us, and life is very satisfactory for us here on Merikon.  I
think what most of us would prefer, as I'm sure President Ila has told
you, is that we'd like the chance to establish direct contact with Earth
and if possible, journey to and from Earth in the future.  Until that
opportunity is possible, we'd prefer to stay here where we know we're
safe."
     "I believe my moth----President Ila has explained that we expect the
Risik to regroup for a new invasion plan aimed at Earth and destroying
our Fleet."
     "Yes, and that the Risik Star Force will be accompanied by a ship
from the side that forced you to leave your homes and search for Earth,"
Parker nodded.  "And yes, we recognize that because you needed to destroy
a number of the orbiting mines to gain access to Merikon, that
technically puts us in a more vulnerable position should the Risik choose
to return to this system.  But if it's true the Supreme Leader is more
interested in destroying your Fleet first before making any attempts to
reconquer this System, we're willing to trust you as our defenders in
that regard."
     "Speaking as a Risik dissident who is quite familiar with the
current Supreme Leader and his megalomania, I guarantee that he regards
the destruction of the Galactica as his greater first priority," Melnea
was emphatic.  "He sees himself as Belial's instrument in the conquest of
Earth and the Galactica stands in the way of that as much as the Ke'Zar."
     The Connecticut native smirked, "And those of us old enough to
remember our captive days are quite familiar with just how fanatical
Belial worshipers are."
     Like Diandra, Apollo's mind suddenly drifted to Chameleon's new love
interest and the bad vibe about her that he just couldn't shake.  But he
knew he had no reason to raise such suspicions to Starbuck without
running the risk of a serious rupture in his closest friendship.
     The convoy came to a stop some ten kilometers past the orderly row
of houses and living spaces, and past the complex of government and
administration buildings Ila had been to earlier.  Before them was a
large and imposing structure that made Melena shudder slightly as she
recognized the stark, impersonal style of Risik architecture that
indicated some kind of official use for purposes that were usually
horrific in nature.
     Here's where we learn an even more shameful secret about my people.


     Parker had introduced the entire landing party to the two men who
would act as their primary guides to the lab complex that Allen soon
realized was like an elaborate, scientific version of the Pentagon,
filled with numerous corridors and inner ring areas.  The only difference
being that the Pentagon was a low-level structure spread out over a wide
area, while the Lab Building was some twenty stories in height with four
sub-basement levels.  As they soon discovered, the forgotten cryo-freeze
facility was buried deep in the building's interior on the fifteenth
floor which was why it had gone unnoticed for so many years by the
Merikons following the Risik evacuation.  Overall, the Merikons had
reclaimed only the lower three floors and the sub-basement levels for
active use while cannibalizing equipment from the upper levels for other
uses throughout the colony.
     Chronologically, their two guides were in their 90s but both
benefitted from the fact that they had been abducted at a time when Risik
vessels were not as fast and thus, necessitated longer journeys to the
Risik Home System that required years of cryogenic suspension that
endured for some time even after their arrival on Merikon Biologically,
they were both twenty years younger than their actual agens.  The younger
of the two was Esteban Salazar, and he had been abducted by the Risik
from his native Spain in 1965 at age 20 because he worked as an orderly
at the Naval Station Rota NATO base (Ila marveled again at how the Risik
seemingly had a knack for kidnaping the least significant people in
proximity to military bases).  His gray hair didn't conceal his Spanish
features, though like Elder Council Vice-President Pierre Robineau,
English was his primary tongue and his accent only faint.
     The other man was the oldest surviving member of Merikon, and whom
Parker had simply referred to as "G.P."  He was 95 Earth years old but as
he explained, he had spent over twenty-five years in suspended animation. 
He had been part of one of the first group of people abducted by the
Risik in the fall of 1945 when as a child of seven, he and twenty people
who'd been held in a Japanese prison camp were on a transport flight
bound for Manila where they would be formally reprocessed for
repatriation to the United States, only to be abducted over the Pacific
by one of the first Risik saucers to visit Earth.  As the first Earth
child abducted by the Risik, his suspended animation period had lasted
considerably longer than the adults who had been taken with him, because
the Risik had been anxious to study more carefully the biological
distinctions of an Earth child as opposed to an Earth adult.  After
twenty five years of suspension and with Earth prisoners now giving birth
to a new generation of children, he had finally been revived.  Because he
was the last survivor of the first group, there was a special reverence
attached to him by the Merikon population.  He had served one term on the
Elder Council in the past, and become a highly respected man in the field
of scientific studies.
     And yet, as Ila had learned from Parker, there was also a strange
air of mystery about him.  He was known only as "G.P." to everyone
because in all those years, he had never told anyone his full name, who
his parents had been, and why he'd been in a Japanese prison camp during
the war.  Whether he actually knew the answers to those questions wasn't
clear.  He had refused all inquiries on the subject and long ago, the
people of Merikon had learned to stop asking him.  If anything, it lent
the most significant and respected figure in the community a deeper sense
of mystique that somehow seemed appropriate.
     Wishing the landing party success for their mission, Ila bade
farewell to them so she and Parker could return to the government
building and meet up with Becky Shulman and the rest of the team from the
first shuttle, as well as the med-tech personnel who had been second to
arrive on the planet.  Reluctantly, after some prodding from Kalysha that
she preferred not to have him hovering over her shoulder during these
proceedings and that he would be of more use to Becky's efforts to get
people to go back with them, Cedric Allen agreed to go with Ila and
Parker and wait for the results of the revival effort.  
     G.P and Salazar led the Galactica team through multiple corridors
and stairways that revealed just how tight the Risik security
arrangements for these facilities had been in the days when they'd run
things, and when Risik personnel had to pass through a barrage of
multiple checkpoints just to get to one particular section.  It took
fifteen centons just to navigate successfully and reach the hidden
cryo-lab on the fifteenth floor.  When they arrived, they saw that the
lab was manned by a staff of ten young Merikon scientists, both male and
female with the principal task of monitoring the reactor facility in the
room beyond the lab, and monitoring as best they could the readouts on
the eleven active cryo-tubes.  The sight of the Colonials didn't cause a
stir since they'd been told hours ago about human outsiders arriving. 
But when they saw Sargamesh and Korl and then Kalysha, all of them bolted 
in astonishment since this was the  first time they'd ever seen living
versions of beings they'd only seen in frozen suspension.
     "Take it easy everyone," wise old G.P. motioned his hands
reassuringly, "Just let them do what they can to help and give them as
much free rein possible.  Today's the day we've waited decades for!"
     Apollo motioned the tech team headed by Hummer forward to study the
cryo-tubes.  As soon as Hummer drew close to them he stopped, turned back
and gave an encouraging smile and thumbs-up.
     "These match the specs on the cryo-unit we brought Lauren Wagner out
of," Hummer said, "Initiating a revival program shouldn't be a problem at
all.  But we could use some help on one of these computer terminals just
to make sure we've got the language right."
     Melnea went over to join them and sat down in front of a computer
terminal located next to one of the tubes.  Despite the fact this was an
obsolete model built over fifty yahrens ago, the Risik native recognized
the basic intuitive design and interface.  Many Risik schools on the new
Home World had been forced to make due with older technology while the
Star Force and top Government Ministries received priority for newer
computers and equipment.
     "You're in luck," Melnea turned to Hummer, "There are no password
protections on these computers because they were meant to be used by
personnel who'd already gone through at least six security checks just to
get into this room.  That means no hidden traps to prevent any
unauthorized access."
     "Lords be praised!" Hummer leaned over and looked into the first
cryo-tube and promptly motioned Kalysha over.  She knew right away that
meant that the first tube chosen for revival contained a fellow
Harkaelian.  When she came up alongside Hummer, she looked down and felt
a chill rush through her body as she saw the motionless form of a
Harakelian female.  The eyes were closed but the expression didn't convey
a peaceful sleep to Kalysha.  If anything, she could sense a silent,
angry form of protest over what had happened to her.
     "I'm not moving from this spot," Kalysha said firmly.  "The first
thing she needs to see when she opens her eyes is me.  Then maybe she
won't go into panic or shock."
     Hummer looked back at Melnea, "Can you access any kind of personnel
file on this subject?"
     "I think so," the Risik woman nodded, "Yes!  Not just on her but all
the subjects.  The entire group of Harakelians came from one
expeditionary mission......over fifty yahrens ago.  And.....the Zohrlochs
came from a parallel expeditionary mission in the same time frame."
     "Impossible," Sargamesh shook his head, "The Risik couldn't have
journeyed as far as Eridu.  We do not even know where Eridu is in
relation to our current position."
     "And it is far beyond the reach of Risik technology!" Korl added.
     Apollo glanced at the two Zohrloch warriors, feeling empathy for
what they were going through because of his embrace of many of their
cultural practices, "Is it possible they could have once been prisoners
on Boron-Din like you?"
     Sargamesh's eyebrows went up in surprise, "In our time at Boron-Din
no one ever spoke of those of our kind preceding us."
     "But if it had been fifty yahrens before your own capture by the
Ziklagi, they could have easily been forgotten," Apollo gently pressed. 
"We do know the Risik have some ties to the Ziklagi.  Limited, but just
enough that it's possible their first contact with them could have
happened that long ago."
     The two Zohrlochs pondered the idea further, and the logic of it
made them slowly nod in agreement.  "Possible, Captain," Sargamesh said. 
"Certainly the Risik would find those of more.....humanoid appearance of
greater interest to study than the Ziklagi, given their own appearance. 
I can envision a deal between those two demonic tribes in which slaves
captured by the Ziklagi would be given to the Risik in a diplomatic
exchange."
     "Just like we know the Risik did with the Bosaqs over three hundred
yahrens ago," Apollo reminded him, "In fact-,"
     "Captain Apollo, some more data is coming up!" Melnea called out. 
"My goodness...... It says this facility was shut down and sealed up less
than a yahren after all of these subjects were brought back!"
     Apollo turned to the two Earth natives, Esteban Salazar and the
enigmatic G.P.  They looked as if a long-standing question had just been
answered for them.  
     "That explains a good deal, " Salazar found all this fascinating,
"That coincides with the time when Earth abductions were increasing and
the Risik stepped up preparations for their planned invasion.  I can
remember how the tempo of activity here was getting more frenetic in
those days."
     "Yes," the man known only as G.P. nodded.  "I remember those days
too.  For a long time things moved at a much.....I don't want to say
relaxed pace, because life was hardly relaxing for any of us under Risik
rule, but it was much more......methodical if you will.  In the earlier
days, there was a sense that the eventual Risik invasion of Earth was
something far off in the future.  But fifty years ago......yes, that's
when their operations suddenly went into overdrive and we knew the
invasion was definitely in their near-term plans."
     "Because of them?" Sargamesh was still bewildered as he motioned
toward the cryo-tubes.  Hummer and two of his fellow tech-workers were
beginning the process of reviving the Harkaelian female in the first
tube.
     Things added up in Apollo's head.  "Yes," the Captain nodded,
"Because of them.  They're the reason the Risik moved up their
timetable."


     Six centars later, night had fallen on Merikon.  Ila, accompanied by
Apollo and Becky, were making one final report to Adama before they and
the rest of the Galactica teams would report to assigned dwellings to
spend the night as guests of the people.
     "The revival efforts were successful," Ila said.  "All eleven,
Harkaelian and Zohrloch alike, are in perfect health.  And the fact that
the first face all of them saw was someone of their own kind helped
overcome the shock of revival."
     "Will they be coming with us or staying?"  Her husband asked.
     "There was one married Harkaelian couple and they want to stay
because we're going further away from their home.  But the rest of them
haven't decided yet.  They'll need at least a couple days to ponder their
options."
     "I'd prefer the decision be made by tomorrow night, Ila," Adama's
voice grew slightly concerned.  "I can't afford to have viper teams
perform round the clock minesweeping operations for days on end.  Even
Baltar's pilots are likely to start getting restless."
     Ila realized that for the first time, her objectives as the civilian
leader of the Fleet and his objectives as the military leader were coming
into conflict.  She knew she had to handle the matter delicately.
     "How many of them have been cleared?"
     "Forty percent altogether.  But it's too dangerous for me to end
operations while you and the other teams are still down there, Ila. 
Those mines have a peculiar kind of auto-intelligence in them that
accounts for why they move rapidly to fill in any gaps that are created
when other mines are destroyed.  It's possible that if you or any other
shuttle tried to leave the planet by passing through an existing gap
we've created, the mines still in place would then automatically lock on
to you like a missile seeking a target.  That means the only way to
guarantee your safe return is to maintain the full level of minesweeping
activity until all shuttles have cleared orbit.  And that also means I
have to keep putting pilots at potential risk, both Human and Cylon,
until you're done."
     His wife let out a sigh.  She'd never had this kind of conflict with
Cain in the yahren she'd been a political advisor to him.  But she always
knew this was a possibility when she'd insisted on seeking the
Presidency.  She couldn't let it overwhelm her.
     "Are you imposing a deadline on us, Adama?"
     "Not yet," he too realized the delicate situation they were both in
now and didn't want it to lead to any ugliness between them.  "But if you
don't have a fixed time by tomorrow night for finishing
operations......I'll have no other choice.  Our greater priority is
making a final decision on whether or not to approach the Ke'Zar so we
can then have the Fleet proceed one way or the other.  As civilian
leader, I'm sure you're aware how the people don't like it when they're
told the Fleet has to stay put for now."
     "I'm aware of it," Ila admitted with resignation.  "Let me put on
Councilor Shulman.  She spent most of the afternoon with Commander Allen
explaining the current situation on Earth to the people over their
central vidcom network."
     Becky took the headset from Ila and began her report.
     "There are probably no more than a half dozen out of two thousand
people who'll be joining us.  All of them are in their mid-sixties or
older and have never married or are widowed with no children.  Because
they have no family ties on Merikon, they want to go home to Earth so
they can ultimately die there and be buried with the families they were
taken from.  The rest of the population though, believes that long-term,
they'll be able to see Earth some day if we're able to facilitate contact
upon our arrival there.  It might take a generation to do it, but they're
willing to wait that long.  And in the meantime, the few who are coming
back with us, can give a full accounting of what life on Merikon is like
to the Earth authorities that can make future contact easier down the
line."
     "I hope you're not painting a too optimistic picture about the
prospects of long-term contact with Earth, Councilor Shulman," an edge of
caution entered Adama's voice.
     "I didn't sugarcoat the problem we're facing with Risik pursuit,
Commander," Becky kept her annoyance hidden.  "That's the other reason
why they're more inclined to stay, since there's a consensus in our own
ranks that Risik pursuit will be aimed first at the Fleet, and not at
reconquering their old Home System or settling matters with the Ke'Zar. 
Especially now that it's clear that their former Home Planet isn't fit
for anyone to live on.  But I hardly think you'd want me to project
uncertainty about our own chances for defeating the Pursuit Force."
     "Not in the least, Councilor," Adama was impressed how Becky had
quickly managed to assert herself as a Council Member.  He couldn't think
of any other Earth native who could have filled the seat better.  "We do
need to give them hope that one day, the reunification of the Thirteen
Tribes will mean not just connecting Earth to the Colonies, but Earth to
friendly planets and races all across the galaxy from there to the
Colonies."
     "And that's a dream they're ready to embrace, Commander," Becky was
equally impressed how Adama had defused a potential quarrel with her. 
Reinforcing her own admiration and respect for him as a leader.  "We may
not have many of them accompanying us when we leave, but there's no doubt
we've gained friends for life."
     The conversation then shifted to matters of trade opportunities and
how an Energizer unit in exchange for food would work perfect.  The
people of Merikon, Becky reported, had sufficient supplies of Earth
cattle and Earth staple crops that could be transplanted to the Livestock
and Agro Ships and in the process better prepare the people of the Fleet
for what they'd be eating on Earth.  Earth natives would get the added
benefit of being reintroduced to favorite delicacies they hadn't tasted
in decades.  Final trade arrangements could definitely be completed by
the end of tomorrow's cycle.
     Now it was Apollo's turn to give a more extensive report on the
revival efforts, and the deeper ramifications of what they'd learned.
     "Melnea was able to unlock all the secret data on the Risik
terminals in the cryo-lab," his son began.  "Before I tell you what we
learned about this operation with the Harkaelians and the Zohrlochs,
you'll be interested to know that we cleared up the mystery of those
Risik abductions that took place over three hundred yahrens ago when they
were cooperating with the Bosaqs."
     Adama realized he'd all but forgotten the matter of the planet
Liberty and the discovery of Earth natives and other alien races abducted
by the Risik in cooperation with the declining Bosaq Empire during the
seventeenth century.  It was the only known instance of Risik visitations
to Earth between their mysterious departure from Earth during ancient
times and their renewed activities that began in 1945.  "You found
records about that?"
     "Not the original report from those days but a lot of references to
it in the reports concerning this later project of theirs," Apollo
stressed, "That's because these experiments were meant to correct the
mistakes that had been made over three hundred yahrens earlier that had
resulted in disaster for them.  They couldn't avoid talking about what
happened back then if they were going to be honest in their reports on
these new experiments."
     "Go on."
     "I'll try not to over-describe this.  This was the first time in
modern Risik history where there was leadership anxious to spread Risik
power out in all directions, which meant conquering Earth in the name of
their religious destiny, and also spreading out in the other direction to
discover other alien races that would have to be subjugated as well. 
Since the Supreme Leader at the time was someone who believed in the
inevitable triumph of Risik power and might, he was willing to go slow
and not rush things.  That's why he was willing to join forces with a
powerful alien race to aid them in their effort.  And since the Bosaqs
were the most powerful at that time and had people willing to be hired as
mercenaries, an early deep probe of theirs made contact with them and
struck an agreement whereby the Bosaqs would provide the ships and
manpower to visit Earth and abduct a number of humans for study and for
slave labor.  The slave labor would be overseen jointly by the Risik and
Bosaqs, enabling each side to share equally in the rewards of what the
slave labor they oversaw produced."
     "That explains why your expedition found Risik and Bosaq remains
together on that pirate ship, the.....sorry I've long forgotten the
name."
     "The Bon Femme Tessa," Apollo said, "Yes and in the abandoned mining
facility where the slave labor was conducted on what came to be known as
the planet Liberty.  They were working as equal partners but inevitably
they would have come into conflict once the Risik became more aware of
the Bosaqs decline.  But that became a moot point when something
mysterious happened that wiped them all out but left the slaves they'd
abducted from Earth and the other aliens who'd been abducted solely by
the Bosaqs unaffected and free to start their own community that as you
recall, ended up replicating 1690s Earth."
     "And this report says what killed the Risik and Bosaqs?"
     "Actually the report indicates the Risik had no explanation for what
happened.  The only theory they had to go on was that there was some kind
of viral strain that uniquely impacted the Risik and their Bosaq allies
but none of the other races who were enslaved," Apollo paused, "That's
the reason why nearly three hundred yahrens later when the Risik began
these tests, they were determined to experiment on captured subjects in
cryo-freeze to make certain they knew every last chemical or viral strain
that could harm these subjects without harming themselves.  If they were
to one day conquer these races when they spread their colonial empire out
into deeper regions of space, they weren't going to allow any repetition
of what happened at Liberty."
     "Bio-warfare experiments," Adama felt a deep level of disgust come
over him.  "But back up just for a centon.  Why did they start looking
for new races to conquer at that particular time?"
     "Well by this point, the Risik had established colonial outposts on
the planet that eventually became their new Home World after the Ke'Zar
expulsion and they wanted to send probe expeditions to find out what lay
further into deep space.  That's why they sent probe ships deep into the
Alpha Quadrant.  By this point they knew their old allies, the Bosaqs
were in such a state of decline they could never challenge any future
imperial thrusts on their part."
     "And they were doing this at the same time they renewed their vision
of conquering Earth," his father shook his head, "They had ambitions for
a universal Empire spreading out in both directions from their Home World
as vast as the one the Cylons envisioned."
     "Exactly, Father.  An Empire where Earth would merely represent
their triumph at one end, while the regions of space beyond their most
distant colonial outpost would be the new Risik frontier.  That meant
finding out which races existed in those regions of space and getting a
chance to study them.  Since they already had functioning lab facilities
on Merikon to conduct experiments on the new generation of Earth
abductees, they decided it was cost-effective to use the same facilities
for their experiments on captured aliens.  Only these experiments were
even more barbaric than anything they ever did to Earth prisoners,
whether here or on Niddion or even later at Ne'Chak."
     "Can you give some examples of these bio-warfare experiments?" his
Father gently pressed.  "Since you're not in close enough range to upload
any of the data you've found, I'd like to get a preview."
     "Well the really sinister things turned out to be insde another
sealed room that was located beyond the reactor room that powered the
cryo-freeze units.  The Merikons never knew about it until today because
the information was only in the Risik data Melnea translated.  Once she
found that, I had the tech-team that wasn't working on the revivals force
the door open so we could get a look at what was there."
     "What did you find?"
     "A good many chemical compounds unknown even to us, let alone the
Merikons.  There was also equipment necessary for synthesizing them. 
Fortunately, the chemicals pose no danger now because they've become
inert after all these yahrens of storage and neglect.  The tech-team's
going to help the Merikon scientists dispose of them tomorrow."
     "And the purpose of the chemicals was to find out what affected
these races but were harmless to the Risik?" 
     "Yes.  That way they'd avoid a repeat of what happened long before
at Liberty, and it also mant they'd have the means to destroy a potential
new enemy without resorting to conventional combat," Apollo summarized,
"It's similar to what the Cylon Occupation Forces were supposed to do to
the Colonies after the Destruction, when they said they were going to
resort to mass poisoning of the ecosystem to make them unlivable for any
survivors in hiding."
     "Which they did do on Libra and Aquarius," the Commander reminded
him.
     "Yes, but what the Risik planned was more vast than what the Cylons
would have done if they'd carried things to fruition.  The Cylons only
intended for chemical warfare to act as a mopping up device after
inflicting mass destruction in conventional warfare.  The Risik plan with
these races was to destroy them through covert means, without having to
deploy a single capital combat ship from the Star Force.  The poisons
they were developing were meant to annihilate these populations without
firing a single shot and leaving their planets free for the Risik to just
move in afterwards with the infrastructures completely intact."
     Adama seemed at a loss for words as he took all of that in.  When he
finally spoke, Apollo could envision the incredulity in his father's
expression.
     "They didn't want to use their Star Force for conquest missions in
that region of space because the Star Force was reserved for operations
against Earth," he said as things added up, "This was their
cost-effective solution for taking care of things in the other direction
of space where they didn't want to divert capital combat ships to." 
     "Exactly," Apollo nodded.  "That was the plan.  And we found
evidence that they captured people from other races where the tests were
carried out to full fruition.  The tapes refer to a transport vessel that
contained over two dozen subjects from three races.  Based on the
descriptions in the report, the could only have been the Zykonians, the
Eirenians, and Ozko-Boulzakian's race, the Calcoryans."
     "What happened to them?"
     "After they finished the experiments and knew which chemicals could
kill them without harming the Risik, the captured subjects were disposed
of by having their bodies destroyed so no traces were left behind.  Which
then freed up more of the cryo-tubes to be used for other races they
planned for future experiments.  The next two which turned out to be the
Harkaelians and Zohrlochs." 
     "Apollo," his father's voice grew grave, "Did they have some kind
of.....chamber for disposing the bodies they were done experimenting
with?"
     His son didn't bother with any preliminary sigh to set the stage. 
Instead he came straight to the point, "Yes, Father.  They had an
incinerator on the other side of the lab.  Designed to handle two bodies
at a time.  It left absolutely no traces behind once a subject was loaded
into it, and.......the records also indicate that those subjects who were
not killed while in stasis due to the experiments were to be revived and
loaded into the incinerator within centons."
     "Burned alive in other words?" this went even further than Adama
would have expected.
     "Yes.  They thought it was more efficient to do it that way then
waste more chemicals killing all of the subjects once they knew at least
two from each race would die from those experiments."
     "Simply barbaric," Adama let out a disgusted sigh, "But from what
you've been saying, Apollo, they never got to finish their experiments on
the Harkaelians and Zohrlochs    Was that because of the Ke'Zar
invasion?"
     "No," Apollo emphasized, "The Risik shut the program down just after
they started analyzing the captured Harkaelians and Zohrlochs and had the
cryo-facility sealed up with all their reports on these two races.  What
they found out was so dangerous, they didn't want any trace of them to
get out to any level of Risik authority where it could potentially be
discovered by someone who might make the information public."
     His father knew right away what he meant.  "Because they discovered
the genetic linkages between themselves and the Harkaelains and the
Zohrlochs and knew right away what the common connection was.  The people
from Earth, descended from the same people on Kobol who seeded those
other three races."
     "And destroying every tenet in traditional Risik religion that sees
themselves as the creator race of Earth and which they use to justify
their claim to Earth and their claim to control the universe as they know
it," Apollo added.  "Father, these discoveries are the reason why the
Risik stepped up their invasion plans for Earth back then.  From their
standpoint, conquering Earth before Earth developed any deep space
capacity meant insuring that Earth never came into contact with races
that would prove the falsehood of Risik claims about their origins."
     "But why keep those Harkaelians and Zohrlochs alive in stasis?"
Adama asked.  "Why not simply destroy them like they did the Zykonians,
Eirenians and Calcoryans?  And why not destroy the reports on them?"
     "Because once they discovered they had too much in common with them
genetically, the Risik realized it was too dangerous to consider
exterminating them with chemical warfare.  The risk that they'd be making
their planets just as inhospitable to them was too great.  That was why
the lab was sealed, the data preserved and the power kept on.  They knew
they had to deal with these races someday because of the threat they
posed to orthodox Risik teaching, and the Supreme Leader at the time
decided that before they could deal with that problem, the 'Te'ra'
problem needed to be settled first, once and for all."
     "Yes," Adama realized, "And that way, once Earth was conquered,
their Star Force would be free to take care of these two races they
couldn't dare wage chemical warfare against."
     "And I'm sure their plans were to revive the Zohrlochs and
Harkaelians for full-scale interrogations about their people's history. 
Perhaps even try to convince them that their genetic commonality was
proof that they, the Risik, were their true ancestral race and that they
should submit to their guidance for the same reason they've tried to win
over the Earth abductees."
     "With very little success," the Commander said and then added, "Have
you backed up this data?"
     "Yes, Melnea transferred it off their computers to multiple backup
drives, and we'll be able to upload all of it to the Galactica computers
once we leave," Apollo paused, "The evidence would be powerful propaganda
in the hands of Risik dissenters if there was ever a way of getting all
of this to them."
     Like when we meet their Star Force again some day, Adama silently
finished Apollo's thought.  But like so many other things, that was a
matter for another time.
     "Well done, Apollo.  Your team's done outstanding work.  Get some
rest and hopefully by this time tomorrow, everything will be in place so
you can all come home."
     "We'll be fine.  President Parker's gotten some families to share
their homes with us for however long we're here.  These people are very
friendly and cooperative."
     "That's a blessing to know they've done so well on their own," Adama
then decided there was one more matter that needed to be addressed.  "I
meant to ask this earlier.  Are Sargamesh and Korl behaving themselves
around the Zohrloch females who were revived?"
     "As best as they can," Apollo chuckled.  "The long-term celibacy
they've endured has helped keep them disciplined.  There are five
females, one of whom has a young son of about twelve so that means all of
them are unattached but....as we have six male Zohrlochs total in the
Fleet, that means at least one of them is going to end up disappointed." 

     Adama let out a groan, "Lords, when you put it that way, you have me
almost hoping that all of those females are going to want to stay on
Merikon."
     "It is a delicate situation," his son admitted, "But.....I have a
feeling their sense of honor is going to make sure things will work out
for the benefit of all interested parties."  He then added with a touch
of self-deprecation, "Expert that I am on the Zohrloch mindset."
     Seated nearby, Ila found herself cracking a smile and quickly put a
hand over her mouth to hide it.  Right now her mind could see Adama's
reaction.  The slight rolling of the eyes and the suppression of any
desire to lower his dignity by making any kind of crack in return before
responding with the full authority of the Commander.
     "Thank you for your report, Captain," Adama didn't disappoint his
wife, "Signing off."
     Apollo shut down the communications set and removed his headset. 
Ila rose from her chair but Becky was still locked into her seat.  Her
expression seemingly distant and faraway.
     "Becky?" Ila touched her shoulder with concern.
     "Oh.....I'm sorry, Ila," she shook herself out of her stupor, "I was
just....thinking about those things the Risik were planning with those
experiments.  The total genocide of whole races.  It.....hits close to
home for me because of what my father went through."
     "Becky's father was in one of those concentration camps on Earth
during their Second World War," Ila explained to Apollo.  "It was a
horrible experience."
     "It had to be," Apollo said sympathetically, "Captain Byrne's told
me about that regime.  If it weren't for what I already saw with the
Eastern Alliance on the planet Terra, I never would have thought humans
were capable of that kind of evil."
     Becky then rose from her chair, "It shouldn't surprise us, Apollo. 
If anything, the fact that the Risik were planning the same thing may be
the ultimate comment on the truth of their being genetic offshoots from
our race."
     Her words had a profound impact on Apollo and Ila as they left the
room in silence.


     Long ago, Zed found it easier to maintain quarters on the
Electronics Ship so he didn't have to do any unnecessary shuttle travel. 
Especially since he knew it made him too easy a target for other shuttle
passengers to come up to him and express their general displeasure with
how he'd reported a story or how he called a Triad match.  Unlike Zara,
who'd long ago learned to steel herself from all forms of criticism, Zed
had zero patience or tolerance for it.
     Do they think I ever asked to be a fracking news anchor?  I took the
job because I was the only one other than Zara who'd ever done it with
the fill-in work I used to do when Triad season was over.  They asked me,
I didn't go looking for the damned job.
     So he spent most of his time in either his small living space or his
office on the Electronics Ship when he was off-duty.  With two unhappy
marriages in his pre-Destruction past, he'd long become immune to any
interest in romance.  What drove him was his work as co-anchor on IFB's
newscasts and handling alll the Triad matches, which allowed him to do
the work he'd been trained for as an expert sports commentator for thirty
yahrens.
     This evening, with the IFB Evening Report done and no Triad match
until tomorrow's game between the team of Boomer and Castor against
Greenbean and Vickers, Zed decided to do some more digging through the
files Scali had left him with.  The shocking death of Cronin after
hearing the recorded voice of the man Zed had talked with named Aurelius
had become the most baffling story of his entire career.  A mystery
wrapped in an enigma that didn't point to anything Zed could get a handle
on.
     Things had reached a point now where Zed wanted some answers just as
much as Scali did.  A cynic might have thought he was trying to undermine
the young statistician by taking advantage of the leg work he'd already
done so Zed could grab credit for himself if he succeeded in breaking a
major story of great news interest.  But Zed had no intention of doing
that.  If he was able to use Scali's material to find the truth that lay
behind the man called Aurelius, he had every intention of giving Scali
his due by getting him a spot as a journalator for the IFB.
     The only thing he could do on his own at this point, short of
chancing another talk with Aurelius, which he knew he wouldn't get, was
to go over the crew files on the Excelsia that Scali had obtained from
Colonial Security and made a duplicate drive of for Zed.  The only clue
Zed could go by was the fact that Cronin had immediately recognized
Aurelius's voice without any hesitation.  There had been no initial
confusion or a request to play it further.  It was the voice of someone
that even after thirty yahrens he could recognize immediately.
     That means it has to be someone who was on the Excelsia at the same
time Cronin served on it, along with Captain Aurelius, the guy our
Aurelius claims to be the uncle of.  Which means......if our Aurelius was
really on the Excelsia back then, he has to be someone in the crew who
would have been in his late 50s or early 60s......since Aurelius went
into suspended animation not long after that time period.
     As he started going through the files, it was clear that Cronin had
a good reason for believing that "Aurelius" was dead or else the sound of
his voice wouldn't have sent Cronin into such a shock that it brought on
a fatal heart attack.  This meant someone close to him or prominent in
the crew.  And if it was someone in his late 50s at least, then it would
have to be a long-time veteran of the crew.  A section head or
perhaps......a senior officer.
     Abruptly, Zed froze as something popped into his head.  Something
he'd remembered Scali telling him earlier and which he'd forgotten. 
Something about the Excelsia's commanding officer.  He quickly scrolled
back through the files and found the group picture of the senior Bridge
officers and Flight Leaders that he'd shown to Aurelius some time earlier
when he'd asked the maintenance worker if he knew Captain Aurelius.
     There it was.  Standing on the left side of the picture in the group
shot was Commander Marcus, the CO.  One look at him, and Zed remembered
that Marcus was the father of Commander Cain.  The grandfather of Sheba
and the great-grandfather of Boxey.
     "Holy Frack," he whispered a profanity that didn't usually come to
him.  But things were finally starting to fall into place.  If Aurelius
was really Commander Marcus, then that certainly from Zed's standpoint
would explain the close friendly ties Aurelius had with Adama's family. 
There was no way the connection couldn't have been known to them. 
Especially since Aurelius had returned from the Colonies in the same
shuttle with Ila.  Why would Ila have taken such interest in "Aurelius"
if it wasn't a man that she had a familial connection with by marriage?  
     It's the only possible explanation.  The familial tie to Adama.  And
only the voice of his former commander who he thought was dead would make
Cronin freak out like that.  But why?  Why keep that a secret?  If it is
Marcus, is he just too damned modest and doesn't want the attention?  And
does this mean Cain knows about it too?
     He leaned back in his chair and chewed on his thumbnail, trying to
calm the adrenaline surge that had just gone through him.  The instincts
of a journalator had to take over now and form other questions that
needed to be answered.  Questions that got to the deeper part of the
mystery.
     Did Aurelius really have some accident on Sagittaria that required
plastic surgery or was that just a convenient excuse for concealing his
identity?  And if he is Commander Marcus, why did he go into cryo-freeze
in the first place?  What do the records say about what happened to him?
     He stopped and made some entries on his personal comp.  While
personnel files were something he didn't have direct access to, there was
a historical database filled with entries on prominent figures in
Colonial history that he knew had to include someone of Marcus's
prominence.  After a centon's search he found the entry he was looking
for:

     Marcus.  House of Cain.  
     Born: 7274, Caprica.
     Died: 7337, Sagittaria (Boating Accident)
     Wife: Helena (7284-7308)
     Children: Cain (7307-Present)
     Grandchildren: Sheba (7340-Present)
     Summary: 15th in the lineage of the House of Cain as the only child
of Seth, 
        former Commander of the Battlestar Pacifica.  Graduated in the
middle
        of his class at the Colonial Academy.  Assigned first to the
Battlestar 
        Bellepheron as an Ensign.  Promoted to Lieutenant, age 28. 
Married 
        in 7303 during his service aboard the Bellepheron.  Awarded the
Silver
        Cluster during his assignment patrolling the Orion Neutral Zone
when 
        he destroyed a rogue Cylon fighter that attacked and destroyed
the shuttle
          of the Orion Ambassador in an ambush.  Lieutenant Marcus's
efforts
        to save the Ambassador's ship from destruction and the evidence
he later
          presented to the Colonial and Orion governments led to the
formal breaking
        of Orion's diplomatic relations with the Cylons and the permanent
end of
        Cylon access to Orion.  For his heroism under fire, Lieutenant
Marcus
        was promoted to Captain and assigned to the Battlestar Excelsia
as a 
        Squadron Leader, eventually rising through the ranks to Strike
Leader,
        Executive Officer and ultimately Commander.

        Married only once, Marcus's wife Helena died tragically after
just four 
        yahrens of marriage when their only child, a son Cain was one
yahren old.  
         Marcus lived to see his only son graduate with distinction from
the 
        Colonial Military Academy and the beginning of his career as a
Viper 
        pilot aboard the Battlestar Cerberus.

        In 7337, during a furlon on Sagittaria at the Lake Gennesar
resort, 
         Commander Marcus drowned in a tragic boating accident.  His body 
   
        was never recovered.  He was posthumously awarded a Gold Cluster
        for his distinguished service to the Colonial Nation and carrying
on 
        the great warrior tradition of the House of Cain.


     Boating accident.  And no body found.  How convenient.  Right at the
same time Aurelius went into cryo-freeze by his own admission.  And it
wasn't because he was suffering from some terminal disease.  So why did
he do it?  Some great scandal at the time?  But he was a widower, so it
couldn't have involved some sexual affair.  Did he terminate someone?  Or
did he do something that would have caused disgrace to the Service? 
Selling out to the Cylons?  
     Whatever the case, it now seemed evident to Zed that if the man was
Marcus, then a man of his stature, and with family ties to Adama that
didn't exist thirty yahrens ago, undoubtedly wouldn't want to call
attention to himself if there was any hint of impropriety, even a slight
one, that had led him to go into suspended animation.  Revelation of his
true identity would mean inevitable questions.  And even though this was
the era where crimes as great as high treason could be forgiven, as had
happened with Baltar, that clearly made no difference.  
     A man in that position with something to hide and a determination to
conceal his identity wouldn't consider it beneath himself to go from
Battlestar Commander to maintenance worker.  He'd welcome the anonymity
it would give him.  No one would suspect a thing.
     But clearly, Marcus had to still have some pride left in him about
what he'd once been.  Why else would he have chosen to wear the insignia
of the Excelsia on his coverall, indicating a past service there?  But
that concession to his pride had just proved to be the first thread that
led to the unraveling of his true identity.
     It's him.  There's no question of it.  The question now is......now
that I've figured it out, what do I do with that knowledge?
     He suppressed the instinct to contact Scali and let him know.  Not
when Scali was likely to be under surveillance from Security because of
the fallout from Cronin's death.  He would need to wait a decent interval
before sharing that information with him.  
     In the meantime, he could at least act like a good journalator and
see if there was any other evidence that could cinch the case for Marcus
and Aurelius being one and the same.  He leaned back and chewed on his
thumbnail again trying to think what the best evidence was.  And then, he
opened the bottom drawer of his desk where he'd put the microrecorder
after Scali returned it to him.
     "His voice," Zed whispered aloud, "His voice."  And then, mindful of
the fact there were other IFB staff members still working late shifts
just outside his office, his thoughts became silent again.  He was the
Commander of the Excelsia so that made him a public figure.  There has to
be something in the archives of him speaking!  And if there is.....then
I've got the proof I need to confront him with.
     For what purpose he'd confront him, he had no idea.  For now, all
that mattered was looking for the information.  And he would have to do
it when the archives would be empty and he could do his search in
private.  If he had the energy to do it, he'd have done it now, but he
was worn out from the events of the day and his lengthy study of the
Excelsia crew records.  With a triad broadcast coming up tomorrow night
on the Rising Star he needed to get some sleep.
     Tomorrow night, after I get back from the match, he rubbed his eyes. 
That's when I'll check.....And find the proof that Aurelius is really
Commander Marcus.
     He rose and left his office.  The instant the door closed a new
presence materialized in the room.  With arms folded and a pensive scowl
lining her face.
     "Inappropriate as the expression may be for someone of your kind,
Helena, you're skating on thin ice."
     She turned and smiled wickedly at Delambre.  "I admire your
unintentional wit, Delambre.  But rest assured, the problem will be taken
care of with no interference of free will.  If anything happens to
Zed.....it will be as a result of his own choices."
     "Like the same way Cronin had a choice?"
     "His heart condition was pre-existing," she retorted.  "His death
came because of the free will choice of Scali to share that recording
with him, which produced a shock his pre-existing medical condition
couldn't possibly have handled.  But I'm wasting my time telling you
that, Delambre.  You and Bethany and John and all others of your kind
know that our fidelity to the rules remains absolute."
     "You've been lucky, Helena.  But eventually, you and your Master
will find that the complexity of your scheme will be your greatest
enemy."
     "The Master's power is infinite!" she hissed at the one time
Executive Officer of the Callisto.  "He has always had the power to
handle infinite matters at the same time, and in infinite realities as
well!"
     "He is indeed capable of operating in infinite realities," Delambre
knew her evil bravado was all show and he was incapable of being
intimidated by it.  "But you're well aware, Helena, that while your
knowledge is vast when it comes to this dimension of reality, you
ultimately have no insight to what role you play in the alternate realms. 
That is a gift that eludes you......unlike someone else in this realm you
have more than a passing acquaintance with from.......long ago."
     The bravado faded from her expression for just an instant and then
returned, "I need not remind you how that problem has been dealt with
thanks to the Master's servant Diandra.  Ama will be more concerned with
the eventual danger to Starbuck than worrying about any......kindred
presence from long ago in a forgotten time."
     "For now," he acknowledged.  "Just as your Master made use of
Colonel St. Claire and Dr. Harms to implement the first phase of his plan
regarding Kylie and the destruction of Cain.  Just as he now bestows the
power of the Imperious Leader on Lucifer to achieve his plan of revenge
on Baltar and Ayesha.  Just as he now provides Neutrino for the Risik to
give them the means to make all of those other elements come together in
one final grand confrontation."
     "The glorious final battle of his final triumph!"
     "But only one of these battles matters to him," Delambre said
simply.  "The enslavement of Sheba for himself.  He could win all the
other battles, but have you never sensed that without Sheba's soul and
her place by his side......the other victories would be meaningless to
him?" 
     Helena let out a mocking laugh, "There you go again, Delambre. 
Trying the game of sowing division between me and the Master.  The
enslavement of Sheba matters as much to me as it does to him.  To see my
granddaughter take her rightful place in service to the Master in
fulfillment of the Contract!"
     "I wonder," Delambre knew the phrase had a way of striking an uneasy
chord on Iblis and he was sure the same applied to his chief minion.
     "You won't have too much time to wonder, Delambre.  Not you, not
John, not Bethany or even.....Him.  Events will proceed......within the
rules and whether Zed lives or not."
     She disappeared from the room and microns later, Delambre knew there
was no point lingering for him either.

Chapter Seven

     Apollo spent the night in the home of a second generation Merikon
couple named Philip and Tara Brent.  Philip's father had been abducted by
the Risik in the 1960s and Tara's mother in the 1970s and both had been
young children when the Risik abandoned the colony.  They had two grown
children who had married and moved into their own respective dwellings
leaving the room they had shared empty for the Captain.  It proved to be
a pleasant evening of hospitality in which Apollo got to enjoy a good
home-cooked meal and also fascinating conversation about how the people
had been able to successfully band together after the Risik departure and
form a viable community.  When the evening was through and Apollo got
some needed rest, he had a feeling he'd just experienced a taste of the
kind of hospitality the Fleet would be experiencing on Earth once they
arrived.
     Lords, I'm looking forward to that, he'd thought as he drifted off
to sleep after performing his usual nightly Zohrloch meditation ritual. 
Settling down with Sheba and Boxey and Bethany Two to a life of peace and
quiet.  Someplace far away from big cities and crowds.  Maybe that state
Wagner's from.....Montana.  The way she described it with all the open
space, it would suit the two of us just fine.  Just need a big enough
community for Boxey to have friends and for Sheba to maybe do something
to satisfy that acting bug she's developed.  Whatever the case, we'll
both be through with the military.  We'll have done our part and if it's
true that Iblis has no power over Earth.....then when we get there, he'll
never be there to haunt us again.
     But every time Apollo tried to think of the life of peace and
tranquility he wanted with Sheba and his children on Earth, his mind
couldn't help coming back to the reality that some kind of challenge from
Iblis still awaited them.  It wasn't going to be as simple as outrunning
him in a footrace to Earth before he could do any harm again. 
No.....Iblis wouldn't permit that to happen without a terrific struggle,
and if anything his warrior's instinct told him that the only way to
truly earn permanent freedom from Iblis was to be willing to face him one
last time and prove once and for all how unfraid they were of the Dark
One.
     He'll try to catch us off-guard like he did on that Phony Paradise
planet he put us on, his mind was still forming thoughts as he kept his
eyes closed and felt the lure of sleep starting to overtake him.  But
how?  Is there any way of anticipating his plan before it happens?
     He was out before he could attempt an answer to that question and
mercifully his dreams didn't pick up on that train of thought.  When he
woke the next morning, he felt ready to face the challenges of the day
and he wouldn't be giving the distant threat of Iblis any thought.
     He met up with his mother for breakfast along with Dr. Paye, who had
finished the medical examinations of the population along with the rest
of his med-tech team and had made some supplementary examinations of the
revived Harkaelians and Zohrlochs.
     "The existing population won't be needing any medicines we have,"
Paye said.  "But I have left them with some inoculations to handle
diseases we're familiar with but they're not, that they might need to
administer to themselves now that they've had contact with Colonials. 
Overall, this community is a model example of how to stay healthy and fit
after forty yahrens."
     "They're lucky they had enough resources to make it possible,"
Apollo said as he finished the meal, "And thank the Lords they didn't
become a one-man dictatorship like what happened on Niddion."
     "At least this place hasn't turned out be problematic for us as far
as dealing with the population is concerned," Ila finished her juice and
set the empty glass down.  The citrus fruit that they simply called an
orange after its color had proved quite refreshing.  "The only question
is settling the matter of the Harkaelians and Zohrlochs and whether they
come with us or not."
     "That's why I wanted to see you right away, Madame President," Paye
said and took out his data pad.  "The way things look, the Zohrlochs
won't have a say in the matter.  They have to come with us."
     "Oh?" Ila lifted an eyebrow, "Is there something about Merikon that
would make life unhealthy for them here?"
     "Long-term, yes," Salik's chief deputy nodded.  "The atmosphere of
Merikon is a near duplicate in composition to what exists on Earth from
what I've learned.  That's why life was never difficult for any of the
Earth abductees as far as their ability to breathe was concerned.  But
that trace difference with Earth is caused by the presence of a
particular gas in the atmosphere that over time is harmful to Zohrlochs. 
Like most planets we can live on, the atmosphere here contains traces of
krypton. It's in such small amounts, that it's harmless to us. But here,
the amount in the atmosphere is more than twice the typical amount for
habitable planets.  That has no effect on Humans born on Earth or Humans
who come from the Colonies.  But the Zohrlochs are different in that
long-term exposure of a sectar or more has a cumulative, degrading effect
on their respiratory systems.  The bottom line is this planet's not
healthy for them."
     "So they all have to come," Apollo sighed, "Five female Zohrlochs
thrust into a Fleet with six lonely Zohrloch males who may not be able to
stay disciplined for the long haul."
     "You wouldn't have to worry about that at all, actually," Paye
faintly smiled. 
     "Oh?"
     "Long-term cryofreeze did produce one general side effect on the
Zohrloch females.  Nothing harmful to them, but.....they no longer
secrete the pheromones that drive Zohrloch males wild.  At least not for
the foreseeable future."
     Apollo's eyebrows went up, "You mean.....that's why Sargamesh and
Korl were so well-behaved last night after those females came out of
cryo-freeze?"
     "Exactly.  Oh don't get me wrong, they're still capable of mating
with each other, it's just that any budding romances that develop will
have to occur along more conventional lines so to speak."
     "That will represent a switch," Ila chuckled and glanced at her son,
"The Zohrlochs learning to do things the Human way instead of the other
way around like with......some people."
     Apollo cracked a smile at his mother.  It was only because the
gentle teasing was a part of her that he'd missed so much about her that
he'd decided she was the only person other than Starbuck who could kid
him about his embrace of the Zohrloch warrior philosophy and meditation
rituals.  He already knew that deep down she appreciated the fact it had
made him better as a warrior and a man.
     "You can't tell yet whether this is a permanent side-effect or not?"
Apollo asked.
     "I can't say for certain," the Deputy Chief Medical Officer admitted
as he rechecked his datapad, lying adjacent to his now empty plate.  "The
genetic coding that causes the women to produce these pheremones is not
precise, as we learned from Doctor Salik's studies, a while back.
Zohrloch women, who are otherwise healthy, come into this...phase, we
might call it, irregularly. It's not on a precise biological timetable. 
Perhaps long-term cryo-freeze has just put the process of secretion into
a stasis that needs more time to thaw out if you will.  All we can
confirm at this point is they're not producing any pheromones at
present."
     "You and Salik will need to keep monitoring that, Doc,"
     "We will indeed," Paye's voice then grew more somber. "There is one
other thing about the Zohrlochs.  As you know, two Zohrlochs died in
stasis leaving only skeletal remains due to malfunctioning equipment. 
And one of the surviving females had a partial failure that resulted in
less oxygen being fed to her than the others in cryo-freeze received.  It
was probably about five to ten percent less overall, but.....it produced
one other side effect.  She has clear signs of partial cognitive
impairment."
     Apollo took that in, "You mean.....brain damage?"
     "That's an oversimplification, Captain," Paye admonished, "She can
function for the most part and basic speech and motor skills seem
unaffected.  It's just that she has  memory loss issues and her overall
mental state has probably declined from that of a normal adult Zohrloch
to......about one in her early teens I would say.  She could eat or use a
turboflush by herself, but she lacks the.....well what I'm told is......"
     "I know what you mean," Apollo said quietly, bringing his knowledge
of Zohrloch culture to the forefront, "Female Zohrlochs as they mature to
adulthood undergo not just a change in the body in which the pheromones
are secreted for the first time, but their peak period of mental
development takes place during that phase as well.  It prepares them
better for when they mate with Zohrloch males.  If you're saying she's
like a teen now then that means she'd be more prone to feeling helpless
and inadequate without the guidance of her parents."
     "You've summed it up better than I could, Captain," the Deputy Chief
Medical officer was impressed, "This female whose name is M'Ros is also
the mother of the young teenaged Zohrloch male, whose name is Avad.  He's
fine in every sense but the fact that his mother is impaired is obviously
not a good development for him as far as his ability to adjust is
concerned."
     "I see," Apollo put a hand to his bearded chin and contemplated that
information.
     "That's awful," Ila broke her silence, saddened by this news, "Can
anything be done for the mother?"
     "Medically, nothing can be done, Madame President," Paye said,
"She's likely going to be stuck at that level for the rest of her life. 
Unless there are mysteries to their physiology and genetics yet to be
discovered.  About the only thing I can recommend is that one of the
Zohrloch males take responsibility for her and her son.  A strong father
figure would help the boy, and by extension her as well.  I'm not sure if
she'd respond to a male sexually as a prospective mate, but she could use
the guidance of a strong male figure in the Zohrloch tradition to help
her adjust."
     "Not exactly like the Colonies, is it?" Ila directed her question to
her son.
     "No. That's partly why women on Eridu are so much under male
control.  In ancient times, death duels were all too common, when the
phermones hit the brainstem"  He sighed, and shook his head.  "I'll talk
to Sargamesh about her situation.  I think he'll know what to do.  If
someone has to take responsibility for her and her son......then that's a
decision the Zohrloch men in our ranks will have to work out among
themselves."
     "Just tell him not to take too long on that, Captain," Paye
cautioned, "Frankly she'd be better off if Sargamesh or Korl committed to
her before we leave the planet.  It would make things easier for her when
it comes time to leave for the Fleet."
     "Understood," Apollo nodded and then changed subjects, "What about
the Harkealians?"
     "The married couple wants to stay, and there are no biological or
environmental complications as far as their ability to stay is concerned. 
That just leaves the other three Harkaelians, two female, one male. 
Commander Allen and Kalysha said they'd talk to them today."


     "I'm grateful that yours was the first face I saw.  And you speak
the Ulurat dialect."
     Kalysha smiled at the female Harkaelian whose name was Sanura.  "I
am glad I could help you recover from the initial shock of revival."
     "I still don't understand how we came to be here, so far from home."
Sanura shook her head in amazement, her long black hair trailing behind
her.  She was about twenty-five Harkaelian yahrens old biologically. 
Fifty yahrens of stasis had dulled the bronze color of her skin
considerably to the point where she could have almost passed for a Human.
     "I read the translated report," Allen spoke up.  "You and your
fellow Harkaelian captives were taken in a nighttime scouting raid by the
Risik Empire.  They used one of their probe ships aimed at capturing a
group of Harkaelians for study.  The idea was to choose a sparsely
populated region where planetwide sensors couldn't detect their presence,
and take people from a region where their disappearance wouldn't attract
attention."
     "That explains it," Sanura sighed.  "It was night and we were all
asleep when it happened.  We never saw any of them."
     "Where did you live?" Kalysha asked her.
     "We lived in the village of Khem in the Khadesh Mountains.  Are you
familiar with it?"
     "I'm afraid not," her fellow Harkaelian shook her head.  "I know of
the Khadesh Mountains but I didn't realize there were any villages in
that region."
     "Only about twenty or twenty-five all told," Saunra took a sip of
water.  "I lived with my parents in one dwelling.  Even though I was of
legal age, I stayed with them because I felt they needed me.  Father was
crippled and I felt it was my duty.  Next to us was Den sa Den and his
wife Bes." she then looked up with concern, "Are they well?  I know I saw
them yesterday."
     "Yes, they're fine," Kalysha assured her, "And the brother and
sister named Kes and Sabra?  Did they live in the dwelling opposite
yours?"
     "With their parents, yes," Sanura hesitated slightly, "Their parents
are dead like....mine?"
     "I'm afraid so," Allen said sympathetically.  "Of the six cryo-units
that failed along the way, four contained Harkaelians.  Your parents and
theirs."
     Sanura had already learned about her parents the previous day after
her initial revival.  She had not gone through any emotional breakdown
after learning this, and Kalysha wondered if she would have it now. 
Instead, her fellow Harkaelian let out a sigh and leaned back, adopting a
bearing that Allen would have described as that of showing a 'stiff upper
lip' in the face of emotional trauma.  
     "I.....have felt like I have been gone from the real world for fifty
years," Sanura said as she looked askance. "There was never any sensation
of dreaming, just......an endless void of blackness and not knowing what
I could do.  Not able to scream.  Not able to do anything.  I
think.....because I sensed all those years passing by, that's why......I
don't feel so emotional knowing they're dead.  It's as if that endless
nightmare prepared me to accept the fact they were already dead when I
finally came to."
     "Perhaps," Kalysha touched her arm in an empathetic gesture, "But
the nightmare is over.  You're among friends now regardless of whether
you choose to come with us or to stay here on Merikon with Den sa Den and
Bes."
     "They've decided to stay?" 
     "Yes.  They're.....not in the mood for traveling in space when the
Merikons can provide them with living quarters and land to work on.  They
said they want a fresh start in new surroundings and a chance to start a
family."
     "And Kes and Sabra?"
     "They haven't decided yet," Kalysha said, "Their decision might
hinge upon yours."
     "And.....going back to Harkaelis is out of the question?"
     "I'm afraid so," Allen said, "The Fleet has left Harkaelian space
behind for good and is going to the planet Earth, which is where the
oldest inhabitants of Merikons came from when the Risik abducted them. 
We should be there in another year and half, or two at the most."
     "I see," Sanura took all that in, "It's probably just as well. 
Everyone I would have known on Harkaelis is probably dead.  And
Khem...wasn't where I wanted to spend the rest of my life in anyway.  I
only stayed out of duty to my parents," she looked at Kalysha again,
"What is Harkaelis like now?  I remember how cruel things were under
Saradan Seshdesh.  Even though were were so isolated, we had to turn over
seventy percent of what we grew to the government and they came by
frequently to confiscate their quota demands before we could keep enough
to survive on." She looked down, at her folded hands. "After all, we are
Ulurat."
     "Things didn't improve over the next fifty years," Kalysha admitted. 
"His successors were even worse."  She briefly described subsequent
events. The assassination of Seshdesh, the power struggle among his sons,
and the final rise of the insane Fakresh, who declared Harkealis an
Imperial power, and launched a war of bloody conquest. Only the banding
together of nearby parties had stopped him, bringing his reign to an
horrid end.  Kalysha also described her own experience as a victim of the
cruel laws of the old order in which she'd become a fugitive from the
state on a murder charge that had only been resolved after a number of
yahrens when she'd returned to Harkaelis at last and relied on the Salli
Torg to clear herself.
     "The current Saradan is Yulodesh IV," she went on as Sanura listened
with rapt attention. "And while I would not trust him to tell the truth
to the wind, things are beginning to improve. Many of the the
restrictions upon the Ulurat have been relaxed, and the priests have lost
much of their power.  Including the laws that I was a victim of and
required resolution by the Salli Torg. Things are changing at last for
the better.  If it were possible to return to Harkaelis.....it would be a
much more hospitable place."
     "That is good to know," Sanura then hesitated before going on, "You
say that you and.....Cedric is it?"
     "Yes," Allen nodded as he stepped forward and extended his hand,
"Cedric Robert Allen, formerly of the Royal Australian Navy, planet
Earth."
     "You two are married?" she tentatively took his hand and
reciprocated the geture.
     "Yes, we are.  And we just had our first child who is back safely in
the Fleet.  A daughter named Adelaide."
     "But.....you are not Harkaelian.  You are like, the people here."
     "We're totally compatible," the Australian assured her, "You'd be
able to marry someone in the Fleet just like Kalysha was able to marry
me.  I think you'll find in general that Human culture is a lot more open
and tolerant than even an improved Harkaelis is."
     "He's right," Kalysha chimed in.  "For a single woman such as
yourself, Sanura, I think you might find more opportunities if you were
to come with us.  For a married couple like Den and Bes, it's different. 
I wouldn't be swayed by their decision if I were in your place."
     Sanura brought her hands together in contemplation, "Must I make my
decision soon?"
     "I'm afraid so," Allen said matter-of-fact.  "If anything, the
decision should be made today.  The Fleet has to resume its journey for
Earth."
     A faint smile came over her face, "I will not waste time," she said,
"Because you were the one who helped me adjust to my revival......I will
go with you, Kalysha.  I won't be influenced by what the others decide."
     Kalysha embraced her with kindred feeling, "Welcome to us, Sanura."


     As he approached the door of the waiting room in the colony's
medical center,  Sargamesh actually felt nervous for the first time in
his life.  The Warrior tradition he belonged to never permitted that, and
it had allowed him to weather so many harrowing experiences down through
the yahrens, including imprisonment on the monghole world of Boron-Din. 
But this would be quite a different battlefield.  Very different from
anything a Zohrloch went through when it came to meeting someone of the
opposite sex.....or taking on the kind of responsibility he knew he was
going to take.  If only because as the unofficial leader of the six
Zohrlochs in the Fleet he felt that if anyone was going to take on the
burden of self-sacrifice, it should be him.
     Azgul's breath, give me strength!
     He opened the door and entered the room.  The young teenaged boy
named Arvad was sitting in a comfortable chair holding the hand of an
Eridese woman who was, he could tell, at most, 30 Eridese years of age. 
By Eridese standards, he knew she had to have been very beautiful in her
prime period of maturity when her pheromone output would have kicked in. 
No doubt leading to a rapid mating that had produced her son.  Such was
the Zorhloch way as it had been for countless eons, built by the Makers
into their very genes.  Such was the way he had expected it for himself
before his own life had taken such a horrible and unexpected turn that
had left him forever cut off from his home.
     "Good afternoon," he spoke in their native tongue.  His voice clear
and authoritative and free of any of the nervousness he'd been feeling. 
More than ever, he knew he had to project the image of a Zorhloch warrior
that could reassure them.  "I am Lieutenant Sargamesh.  Formerly of the
Imperial Zohrloch Fleet, and now part of the Colonial Military."
     The young teen's eyebrows went up as he let go of his mother's hand
and rose from his chair to give a respectful bow.  There was an awed look
on his face.
     "I am Arvad.  It is an honor to be in the presence of a warrior," he
motioned to the woman, "This is my mother, M'Ros."
     The woman was looking at him in awe too, but it was a look just like
that of her son.  The look of an awed teenager as opposed to a mature
Zohrloch woman as she was biologically.
     "Lord Sargamesh," she whispered without getting up, "I am honored to
be in your presence."
     "Lieutenant Sargamesh," he gently corrected.  "Whatever titles
applied to me on Eridu don't apply here."
     "What.....what...." she struggled slightly to get her next word out
but once she did the rest of her sentence came out easily, "What happened
to you?  Were you captured like us?"
     "No," he kept his posture respectful, "I was taken prisoner by a
race different from the one that abducted you and your son and kept as a
slave on a planet called Boron-Din.  I and my fellow warrior, Lieutenant
Korl, whom I think you saw with me yesterday, were rescued by a ship
called the Battlestar Galactica.  We serve now the kind people who
liberated us."
     "Ah," she slowly nodded her head, again more like that of the young
teenager who had just learned something from a teacher.  "You will take
us back to Eridu?"
     "No, that isn't possible, sadly," he didn't mince words, "Eridu is
too far away.  My friends on the Galactica will be taking us to a planet
called Earth."
     "Travel through space again?" her expression grew pained.  "Why
can't.....why can't we stay here then?"
     "This planet isn't safe for Zohrlochs.  If you were to stay for more
than a sectar, you would start to develop difficulty breathing because of
this planet's atmosphere.  For your own safety, you must come with us."
     The woman named M'Ros looked down at the floor with a noticeably
downcast expression.  Her son slowly made his way up to Sargamesh,
indicating that he wanted to talk confidentially to him.
     "She is not well," the boy said.  "The....ones who talked to us
yesterday said that she's suffering from some sort of neurological
impairment.  That she thinks and is emotionally more like someone my age
instead of how she was."
     Sargamesh could tell that the boy was doing his best to act like a
proper Zohrloch male who didn't show any kind of anguish.  But his
empathetic bond to one of his own race could feel the anguish this boy
felt over the dual traumas he'd just experienced of sudden revival and
discovering that his mother had been impacted.
     "Tell me your story," he said simply.  "Do you remember what
happened when you and your mother were abducted?"
     "We were on a colony ship.  My mother and I and over fifty others,"
Arvad said, "We were part of a dissenting movement that opposed the plans
for Empire because.....we questioned the need for conquest.  We were
looking for a planet that we could live on without the need to live
according to conquest and a warrior tradition.  To just....start over."
     The Zohrloch warrior's eyebrows narrowed, "You were part of the
Republic movement."
     "You know of us?"
     "It was before my time, but I am familiar with it," Sargamesh wasn't
going to say anything judgmental.  He understood why some on Eridu had
grown weary of the need to rely on constant conquest and expansion in
order to compensate for the desert harshness of their world and its
paucity of resources.  That was why the leadership of Eridu had let those
who opposed Empire leave in peace in their own spacecraft.  The Zohrloch
code of honor, which had been handed down to them from the beginning of
their history by their distant ancestors, would have permitted nothing
else.  To force them to remain against their will and live according to a
philosophy they opposed was anathema to their tradition.  What few voices
there had been who might have wanted them executed as traitors were
easily shouted down.
     "What happened to you?" Sargamesh asked.
     "We.....passed through some kind of rift in space before we could
reach our intended destination where we hoped to settle," Arvad looked as
though he were steeling himself to keep from getting emotional over the
revisiting of such a painful memory.  "Many were killed including all of
our leaders.  There was just myself and Mother, and seven other women. 
Our instruments were wrecked, and no one heard our distress calls.  Then
not long after that, the other ship came by and suddenly......everything
was black for a long time until we woke up here."
     Sargamesh realized that extra number accounted for the two dead
Zohrlochs in the failed cryo-chambers.  "What of your father?"
     "He was dead before we left Eridu," Arvad explained, "He was a
warrior who died in battle.  His death is.....why my Mother joined the
Republic Movement."
     "I understand," the Warrior said simply.  "Our tradition made many
demands on us that most deemed necessary for survival, but that was of
little consolation to those who suffered because of it." 
     "This military you are part of now.....do you fight as much as you
did on Eridu?"  There was a eagerness in his voice as if he suddenly
wanted to hear tales of glory now that he was in the presence of a
Zohrloch warrior again for the first time in so long.
     "Not as much," Sargamesh confessed.  "The Colonials are not a people
that seek Empire, young Arvad.  They only desire, much like the Republic
Movement, the chance to live in peace in a world where fighting is no
longer necessary.  But because they have enemies who seek Empire through
dishonorable means, they must remain prepared to fight.  That is why I am
part of their warrior tradition, as is Lieutenant Korl and the four
additional men who are with us."
     "There are more of you then?" he was surprised to hear this.
     "Yes.  And, I assure you young Arvad, on my oath as a warrior, that
we intend to do everything to make all of you feel at home in the
Colonial Fleet for this difficult journey to Earth that will take at
least one more yahren and will likely see us go through more terrible
combat before we arrive."
     "Yahren?"
     "Ah, how stupid of me. It is the Colonial word for year. One
standard Colonial year is similar in length to our own, back home."
     "I see.  Thank you, Lord....I mean Lieutenant Sargamesh."
     Sargamesh put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "I would be most
honored if you and your mother would let me take direct responsibility
for your well-being in this time of transition for you to a new life."
     The surprise deepened in the Zohrloch youth, "You mean, you would
become----,"
     "Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," Sargamesh interrupted,
with just a hint of a smile.  "It is much too early for any formal acts
of commitment.  The Zohrloch way as I'm sure you know requires time for
these things to develop.  But insomuch as we must leave tonight, a
tentative commitment of responsibility on my part for you and your mother
would help a good deal I think.  Especially in light of her unfortunate
condition."
     He slowly nodded, "I would be honored sir, if you would take that
responsibility for us.  And I shall seek to be worthy of that
committment."
     Sargamesh's smile grew wider, "Then we will now put the matter to
your mother and see if she agrees."
     They slowly came back to where the woman M'Ros was seated, still
looking downcast and seemingly lost.
     "Mother." her son spoke gently which caused her head to lift up. 
Inside, Sargamesh felt relief that her mental impairment didn't mean
she'd forgotten she was the boy's mother.
     "Yes?" she then caught sight of Sargamesh and her eyes widened in
surprise as if she was seeing him for the first time.  "My Lord!" she
blurted.
     "No, Mother.  This is Lieutenant Sargamesh.  He introduced himself a
couple thodim ago, remember?"
     She stared at him further and slowly shook her head, "I.....don't
recall.  If you say I met him, then I suppose I did."
     Seeing this sign of her memory loss symptom produced a deep sadness
within Sargamesh that he dared not show any outward sign of.  Instead, he
assumed a full warrior bearing and then bowed his head respectfully.
     "Lady M'Ros," he said, "As you and your son Arvad must leave this
planet for your own health and well-being for a new journey in space to a
new world......I would be honored if you would allow me to assume direct
responsibility for your well-being and your son's during a time of
transition to a new life."
     Her eyes widened with surprise and then a faint smile came over her
face, "Is this the.....Act of Commitment?"
     "This is not the formal Act of Commitment," he said gently, "But if
you find me satisfactory in helping you and your son adjust to a new
life......then you are free to choose me for the final Act of Commitment. 
It is not a decision you need make right away and if you decide you do
not need me......that decision is yours as well."
     "No?" the confusion came over her, "I do not.....attract you in the
traditional way?"
     The uneasiness deepened in Sargamesh.  For the first time, his
careful warrior facade disappeared as he took an awkward breath.
     "You and the others who were revived were affected by your time of
suspension.  The....traditional means of attraction are not functioning
in you," he paused, "That need not matter, Lady M'Ros in your final
decision.  It matters not with me."
     "Ah," a glimmer of understanding came over her.  "Yes.  Thank you,
Lord Sargamesh."
     "Lieutenant Sargamesh," he said with a gentler air.  "I am no more
Lord of anything, then a sefrit is Lord of the slimeworm's den.  We must
learn to defer to their culture where it is necessary."
     "Yes," she kept nodding and her smile widened,  "Yes."  She turned
to Arvad and put her arm around her son, "We will both please
you......Lieutenant."
     He bowed his head respectfully, "I must go for now.  I will be back
later to let you know when the time of transport to your new home will
be."
     "Thank you.....Sargamesh."
     He turned and left the room and when he stepped outside into the
hallway, he found himself exhaling.  
     "Are you okay, Sargamesh?" 
     He looked over and saw Apollo standing nearby with a concerned look. 
Immediately, his sense of warrior propriety kicked in.
     "I am fine, Captain.  It was.....a very productive meeting."
     "They understand the situation?"
     "They do," he then added with bold conviction, "I have offered to
take responsibility for them in this time of adjustment they must make."
     "And later on?" Apollo asked.
     "Azgul's way will be known," the bold conviction was stronger.  "I
shall inform Korl of this and see how he has handled matters with the
other females.  And then.....we will gather them for the journey to the
Fleet, and a new beginning for them......and us."
     As he walked away, Apollo had no doubt that Sargamesh had just made
a private commitment to eventually become husband and stepfather.  It was
only a matter of when and not if.  The Zohrloch warrior's sense of honor
would allow for no other future.


     Athena had spent a good deal of her shift on the Bridge with two
thoughts on her mind.  The first, was Boomer's triad game scheduled for
that night where he and Castor would take on Greenbean and Vickers.  Even
though she'd spent all of last night reassuring him that he had nothing
to worry about given how low-ranked the opposition was in the league, her
husband told her that low-ranked teams always had a good match sooner or
later.  "Simple law of averages in triad," he'd said over and over before
they'd fallen asleep, "Losing to Apollo and Starbuck is one thing, but if
I ever lost to Greenbean, I'd never hear the end of it."  Small wonder
that when Athena had awaken, her husband had already left.  After a full
shift of minesweeping duty the previous day he'd earned himself a brief
furlon prior to his evening match, and she knew that he'd decided to
spend the time doing more training prep, just to make sure his game plan
was down cold.
     The other thing on her mind were the twins, Little Ila and Little
Zac.  Both over three now, walking without assistance and talking more
and more.  Eventually, the time would come when instead of leaving them
in the care of a Med-Tech nurse or with Ila for the day, she'd be sending
them to their first primary school group with other four and five yahren
olds.
     Having Mother back has made a world of difference with them, she
thought.  She understands kids in their developing phase by instinct. 
She knows how to get them to react to a primary reader book.  Lords, I'm
so grateful she came back to us.
     No sooner had she formed that thought then she picked up a new
signal from Merikon and heard her mother's voice over her headset.
     "Hello, Sunshine," Ila said as soon as she heard her daughter
acknowledge her transmission, "If you father's on the Bridge, I have some
good news for him."
     "I'll put him on," Athena always felt a warm feeling inside when her
mother addressed her by the nickname she'd given her as a child.  And she
also knew that whenever her mother used it, it meant she was in an upbeat
mood about things as well.  After Adama indicated he was tied in, she
discreetly kept the channel open on her headset so she could listen in.
     "Yes, Ila?" Adama was anxious.
     "You won't have to impose a deadline, Adama," the Council President
said with reassurance.  "We'll be leaving tonight."
     "Thank the Lords," her husband said with relief.  "No further
complications?"
     "None.  Our tech-teams have the seed samples we need and we decided
that since the ground transport vehicles they have are woefully ancient
and that they could use a new one, we traded a landram in return for four
live specimens of Earth cattle for the Livestock ship," she paused,
"Since we couldn't have brought them back without making room in the back
of a shuttle where a landram's kept anyway it seemed like a natural
trade.  It isn't landrams we'll be needing for military operations in the
long-term."
     "That's a civilian trade you have authority to make even if it
involves a piece of military equipment," Adama said, "But you're right. 
Any future battles with the Risik won't be fought with landrams.  I trust
that our warriors on the planet are at least giving them some basic
instruction in how to use the cannon?"
     "Yes, Lieutenant Barton and Sergeant Mackin are taking care of that. 
It's fairly basic and hopefully they won't ever need to use it." she then
added, "Hummer also gave them some parts to build a more advanced
communications system than the one I'm talking to you on.  This way if a
ship is able to come from Earth some day to make contact with them,
they'll be able to answer much sooner than they did us."
     "That should be of use to them.  How many of their people are coming
back?"
     "Just six from the Merikon population.  Like I said yesterday,
they're all over sixty at least and have no family to tie them here. 
They want to get home while they still have a chance.  Three of the
Harkaelians are coming and all of the Zohrlochs.  Everything's now set as
far as they're concerned.  Once we close down operations here, all
shuttles will leave this evening at fifteen centon intervals.  I'll radio
a final transmission from here when we have the exact time worked out."
     "I'm glad it's gone this well, Ila," he paused, "And there's
absolutely nothing new they could tell you about the Ke'Zar?"
     "Not a thing," Ila emphasized.  "We're on our own when it comes to
deciding that, Adama.  Unless you've heard any news from that Cylon team
studying the home world?"
     "We got our final transmission from Argestis and Furcifer late last
night," Adama said with just a slight trace of somberness.  "They
reported they were feeling heavy effects of radon damage to their
circuits and were going to just spend what time they had left making sure
all data they'd scanned at ground level was uploaded to us.  After they
finished doing that,  they signed off and.....we've heard nothing more."
     "I see," Ila could hear the regret in her husband's tone and it
didn't surprise her.  It was something she could relate to given her own
experiences working with Enlightened Cylons in the Resistance and on the
Pegasus who'd been willing to sacrifice themselves.  "You....already know
what they found out?"
     "Generally, but the FIU needs to go over all the data they sent and
compare it with what we already learned from our own deep scan probes. 
I'll make sure the report is ready before the Council meeting."
     "I'll schedule it for tomorrow."
     "I suggest you wait one additional day, Ila.  Once operations are
concluded on Merikon, I want to finally  run that test of the drone viper
that's been refitted with synthetic Neutrino tomorrow.  I think the issue
of whether we should approach the Ke'Zar or not may depend on how
successful that test goes."
     Ila took just a micron to ponder that and then gave her concurrence. 
"Done.  I'll hold off until the tests on that are concluded."
     "I'll let you get back to finishing things down there.  Please
extend my thanks to President Parker for his hospitality and that we wish
him and his people our prayers and blessings and the hopes that we might
one day communicate again."
     "I'll do that.  I know he feels the same."
     "Signing off."
     "Signing off," Ila paused and then added mischievously, "And
Sunshine, I may have to give you a lecture on how naughty it is to
eavesdrop!"
     "Mother!" Athena exclaimed just before she took her headset off.  On
the upper level, Adama allowed himself to crack just a smile and keep the
hearty laugh hidden.

     "I really wish you were coming with us, G.P," Esteban Salazar said
as he shook hands with his friend for what would be the last time.
     The oldest member of the Merikon community shrugged his shoulders,
"I'm too set in my ways, Esteban.  I was too young when I was taken and
the only real memory I have of Earth is a Japanese POW camp.  The rest of
you who are going......you have a lot more pleasant memories to reconnect
with after all these decades."
     "Maybe," Salazar acknowledged, "But.....you know so much about the
whole experience here.  No one could tell our story to the people of
Earth better than you."
     "Don't sell yourself or the others short, Esteban.  And besides, Dan
Parker's done a full oral history interview with them that's also going
to be pretty comprehensive.  I won't be needed at all."
     "Except.....just giving us who are going some continuity."
     "Come on now, don't start looking for excuses to back out," G.P.
cautioned.  "You're not going to stay here just because I am."
     The door to the room slid open and Becky Shulman entered.  "Dr.
Salazar.....the transport vehicles to the Aerodrome are waiting."
     Salazar looked at his friend one last time and he gave him a
disarming smile.
     "Go," he said simply, "And God bless."
     "God bless," they shook hands one last time and then, the Spanish
born Earth native quickly left the room.  Becky was about to turn and
follow him out when the old man suddenly called after her.
     "Lieutenant Shulman?"
     She stopped and turned around, "Yes?"
     "There's just one last thing I need to do before you leave,
and......you're the only one I'd entrust this to since you're the one
member of the Colonial government who's like the rest of us.  An abductee
taken from Earth against your will.  But.....because you didn't meet me
until the other day, I think you'll be able to handle this with a lot
more detachment than any of my friends who are going back could."
     Becky frowned, "I don't follow."
     The man known as G.P. sighed, "No one on Merikon who's alive knows
my true story.  In fact.....I didn't know all of it for a long time
myself until after I was brought out of suspended animation and the Risik
commandant of the prison camp took me into his office.  Remember, I was
still a child of seven biologically when I was revived after twenty-five
years.  And....slimy bastard that he was, he tried to tempt me with all
kinds of things little kids go for if only I'd swear allegiance to the
Risik Empire and the Supreme Leader and be part of their long-term effort
for conquering 'Te'ra' in the name of the Risik, the true guardians of
the planet, blah, blah, blah.  He was trying to tempt me like he was some
kind of alien Santa Claus if you will.  Said he could give me candy bars
and ice cream with no limit.  All the toys I'd ever wanted.  All I had to
do was just say yes."
     "Obviously you didn't," Becky wondered where this was going.
     "Yeah, but not right away.  I just sat there in the chair in his
office staring at him.  Maybe he was surprised I wasn't jumping for joy
with all his talk about ice cream and candy bars and toys, but......you
got to remember I'd never experienced any of that on Earth because the
only place I'd ever known was that prison camp.  So I wasn't hardwired to
know what I was being offered.  Anyway, when he saw I wasn't responding
he then started to tell me everything about me that they'd learned from
studying my brain patterns while I was in suspension.  It turns
out.....they could even tap into my memories somehow.  That was a device
they liked to use on prisoners to see if they were telling the truth or
not about what they knew about a military facility.  In my case, they
used it to find out things I'd kept buried inside myself during those
years in the prison camp.  Things I'd been told while I was there but
that I'd never repeated to anyone else.  But now.....here he was, looking
at me thinking he was coming off friendly but all he did was creep me out
completely to hear he'd been able to read my mind and that he was filling
in things I'd made myself forget.  But once I heard them......I
remembered everything."
     "But you held fast," Becky was still confused but knew she had to
let him tell his story at his own past.
     "I did.  And then he got angry.  When he realized I wasn't going to
cooperate, he then said, 'All right, have it your own way.  You're going
back to the compound with the other prisoners.  And you will never tell
anyone what you've just learned, or else you'll be put back in the
cryo-tube.  Naturally that was enough to make me submit.  I never told
anyone what he told me, or what I later remembered on my own."
     "And......you know what they told you is the truth?"  The onetime US
Army lieutenant asked tentatively, "They weren't......brainwashing you or
lying to you with a false story?"
     "No," G.P. shook his head, "I know it was the truth because.....like
I said, once I heard the details, everything came back to me. 
And.....there were other things I learned later from the prisoners who
were abducted in the years ahead that made me realize what it all meant."
     Becky's confusion deepened, "Who are you?" she asked, "And how is it
that an American child like you were, ended up in a Japanese prison camp
before Pearl Harbor?"
     He took a breath, "I'm someone who can't go back to Earth because if
I did, I'd draw attention for reasons that have nothing to do with the
fact that I was abducted by aliens and taken to another planet.  I'd
never know a moment's peace for what's left of my life and I just can't
put myself through that.  I'm happy to let the truth about myself come
out, which is why I've.....written everything down in this letter," he
abruptly pulled an envelope from a pocket inside his orange coverall
uniform and handed it to her.  "This explains everything about my life
from the very beginning.  I only ask you not to open it until after
you've left the planet, and that you not tell any of my friends about it
until you reach Earth.  If there are friends of yours in your Fleet you
can trust that you want to share this with.......you have my blessing. 
Just don't let Esteban and the others who are going know until you're on
Earth."
     "You have my word as a former officer in the United States Army and
as a current member of the Colonial Council of Thirteen," Becky vowed,
even though her confusion hadn't lessened.  But then, she looked down at
the envelope and saw that a name had been written on it.  Abruptly, her
eyes widened with a sudden realization.
     "My God," she whispered and then looked directly at him, "Is this
your name?"
     "It is," G.P. admitted, "You.....understand the significance?"
     "I do," Becky nodded, "Good Lord, how I do, and......I understand
completely why you wouldn't want to come back to Earth.  Because you're
right.  You wouldn't have a moment's peace at all."
     "Thank you for understanding," he was grateful, "Just to make sure
no one thinks I'm a madman making something up in my old age.....I've
enclosed with this a lock of my hair, a fingernail clipping and a few
drops of blood on a piece of bandage.  I think that should be sufficient
for a DNA match with the family of my......half-siblings."
     "It should," she said and then added, "Thank you for trusting me."
     "Thank you for coming to this place so I could finally ease my
conscience about letting those who have a right to know the truth finally
hear it."
     "God works in mysterious ways," Becky said simply as placed the
envelope inside the folds of her Councilor tunic.  And then, she gave him
one final word of farewell.
     "Shalom."
     "Peace be with you, Lieutenant."


     As dusk came over Merikon, the three Colonial shuttles at the
aerodrome prepared for final departure.  The medical team shuttle left
first, followed by the Tech-Team shuttle with its additional cargo of
seed samples and Earth livestock, and finally the Presidential shuttle
which carried Ila, Becky and all the members of Apollo's team, along with
the fifteen people, six Earth natives, six Zohrlochs and three
Harkaelians, who'd be joining the Fleet.
     "This is Presidential shuttle to Galactica minesweep patrol," Apollo
radioed, having swapped shuttles with Barton so he could fly his mother
back.  "We will clear orbit in five centons.  As soon as we're clear
you're released from all further minesweeping operations."
     "About time," Starbuck's voice came through his helmet, "Another
centar and I wouldn't make it back in time to catch tonight's Triad match
on the IFB!"
     "And not have time to place a wager?" he kidded.
     "Wager?  Me?  Nah, perish the thought.  Besides, when it comes to
taking on Greenbean and Vickers, the odds are never good enough to
justify a winning bet.  You'd have to be willing to take a risk on them
as the longshot.  And I have no desire to be the fool who gets parted
from his money."
     "Nah, you just save that for Pyramid games."
     "Careful, Captain Fuzzy!" Starbuck warned in classic mocking
fashion, "You still need me to have good aim!"
     "Of course," Apollo chuckled and then got serious, "Three centons to
orbital escape."
     Ila  heard every part of the exchange and thought once again of how
close Apollo and Starbuck had been going back to their childhood days
when they'd first met.  If anything, Apollo had always regarded Starbuck
more like a brother in those days than he had Zac, who Ila knew Apollo
had resented slightly for all the extra smothering attention she'd given
what she'd known would be her last child.  At least that was all gone
when he died.  It's not an unfinished matter in his life.  Only
in......mine.
     "Ila?" she felt Becky nudging her.
     "Yes?" She looked at her fellow Councilor.
     "I wanted to share something with you.  Something that man on the
planet named G.P. shared with me," she pulled out the envelope he'd given
her, "I think you'll find it interesting because it touches on something
you and I were talking about with Captain Byrne a few days ago.  He's the
only other person I'm going to share this with."
     "What is it?" she was curious.
     "It's his story about who he really is," she paused, "He just
cleared up one of the biggest mysteries of all time.  Bigger than any of
the mysteries the Risik were ultimately responsible for with the
abductions."
     "You mean this doesn't have to do with the circumstances of his
abduction?"
     "No," she shook her head, "It's the circumstances of why he was in a
Japanese prison camp to begin with."
     Ila glanced at the envelope and saw the signature.
     "George Putnam III," she read it aloud, "What's the significance?"
     "I'll explain," the Earth native said as she began telling Ila a
story that would hold her attention through the entire trip back to the
Galactica.


     "Come on Boomer, at this rate, you're going to have us both worn out
before the match gets started!"
     Boomer stopped in mid-motion on the Triad court and looked at his
partner, who'd been playing the role of defender in their extended
pre-game warm-up.
     "You really think so?"
     "Yes, I really think so," Castor said, "Look, I know you think
Greenbean and Vickers are due for a good match at long last, and I don't
want to be the ones who break their losing streak anymore than you do. 
But all we've got to do is relax and play the way we usually play against
any team that doesn't have Apollo and Starbuck on it."
     "Okay, then we're done until match time," Boomer dropped the Triad
ball and let it roll across the court.  The sound of it audible since the
spectator galleries were still empty, and only some tech people connected
with the IFB Broadcast for later had arrived to set things up for Zed's
broadcast.
     "Who drew the analyst job for tonight?" Boomer asked as they headed
for the door that led back to the locker room area.  
     "Can't remember.  With so many of you guys doing that minesweeping
duty I don't think it left many people available.  Not that many break
down the doors to work with Zed anyway."
     "Ain't that the truth," Boomer chuckled as he stepped through the
door and then noticed Castor had stopped and was looking up at the IFB
broadcast table where one man was seated.
     "Castor?"
     "Oh sorry," he shook his head and followed him off the court and
into the tunnel that led to the locker room.  "I just got a brief
reminder of my professional work."
     "Really?"
     "Yeah," Castor sighed, "A guy I just put under surveillance this
morning.  I forgot he was going to be working here tonight."
     "Who?  Don't tell me if its classified, obviously."
     "No, it's not classified.  It's a guy named Scali."
     "Yeah, I know him from the broadcasts I've done with Zed," Boomer
frowned, "What's he done?"
     "Nothing really except......he was talking to someone on the Senior
Ship who dropped dead in the middle of a conversation and when Paulson
interviewed him later, he acted like someone who was holding something
back."
     "You think he killed the guy?" Boomer was taken aback as they
reached the entry to the locker room.
     "No, the man died of a heart attack.  The autopsy confirms that. 
It's a question of whether or not Scali said something to him that may
have upset him and triggered it.  That's where Paulson got the impression
he was being evasive about something."
     "So you're having Security keep an eye on him?"
     "From a distance.  Just to see if he keeps up his regular routine
and isn't doing anything that would merit a follow-up interview.  If it
weren't for the fact that Paulson thinks he's hiding something I might
not have ordered it, but when it comes to termination cases, Paulson's
instincts are the best."
     "That they are," Boomer acknowledged and then looked at him, "Just
don't think about it for the rest of the evening, or else we will fall on
our astrums tonight against the worst team in the league."
     Castor chuckled, "When it comes to tonight, the only thing that's
going to distract me is hearing Lauren's voice cheering me
on......especially if she's wearing that sexy red dress of hers.  But I
hope at least she can have some fun after we both got creeped out by what
we saw on the satellite moon."
     "I couldn't believe it when you told me she was practically feeling
sorry for what happened to the Risik who were stationed there.  Not with
the way she used to fly into a rage whenever she got close to one of them
during an interrogation."
     The Security Chief sat on the bench and removed his triad helmet, "I
don't think it's a question of feeling sorry for the Risik, Boomer.  It's
more a question of how the destruction the Ke-Zar rained down on that
place was just so......indiscriminate.  Especially when we realized that
they went back for more just to take out whoever was living in a survival
bunker long after the initial hostilities.  I don't have any regard for
the Risik either after what I saw on Ne'Chak, but I felt grossed out just
as much as she did.  When you see a dead person's shadow burned into a
wall for eternity after he got vaporized and then you see a bunker
complex targeted that likely had people who were just trying to survive a
Holocaust like our people were in the Colonies......that hits you.  I'm
glad the Risik were driven out of this star system, but......I can't help
but think if there were still some survivors in a bunker after the
complex was destroyed in the first strike......it wouldn't have made any
difference to let them live."
     "Meaning you think the Ke'Zar have a bloodthirsty streak," Boomer
removed his helmet as he sat on the bench opposite his partner.
     Castor hesitated slightly, "I'll just put it this way, Boomer.  I'm
not sure I'd like the idea of approaching them for help if this is the
way they operate.  Not with what I've seen so far."
     "So you think we should forget about approaching them?"
     "That decision's outside my pay grade, Boomer."
     Just then, their opponents for that evening's match entered the
locker room and from that point on, triad was the only subject on their
minds.
     
     
     The Triad match was on in the background of Byrne's office aboard
the Constellation, but the USN Captain was barely paying attention to it. 
Triad had never held much interest for Byrne, since it had too many
similarities to basketball which had never been a game he'd particularly
cared for (even though he could remember all the celebrating in Seattle
when the Sonics had won the NBA Title in 1979).  For him, baseball
represented the perfect sport and the one memory he held most dear of his
son Kyle was the time he took him to the final game of the 1995 playoffs
between the Mariners and the Yankees and the two of them cheered wildly
when Edgar Martinez hit what was forever known as the Double.  It
represented the one time he felt as if he'd truly had a genuine moment of
father-son bonding with Kyle before things had gone bad with the break-up
of his marriage to Kyle's mother and their subsequent estrangement.
     If he didn't have much regard for Triad as a game though, he at
least respected what it meant to those he considered his good friends who
were active players in the league.  And with two friends in Boomer and
Castor playing that night, he kept his vidcom on just to keep track of
who was winning.  But it was only background noise as he went over the
duty roster for the Constellation and contemplated whether he should move
two or three members of the crew off the ship to make room for some of
the new arrivals from Merikon.  He knew that the Earth natives who were
going home at last would likely want to be near some of the new arrivals
from Niddion who were their contemporaries.  The three Harkaelians, he
knew Cedric would take care of on the Adelaide.
     "Captain Byrne?"
     He looked up and was surprised to see Becky enter.
     "Oh hello, Councilor."
     "Becky, please," she gently corrected.
     "Okay, and if this is informal, it's Kevin," he leaned back in his
chair.  "Unless this is about the resettlement of some of the new
arrivals."
     "We can talk about that later if you like.  For now, they're
undergoing a final check in the Galactica Life Station before they draw
their ship assignments," she sat down across from him.  "And I wanted to
get a chance to share something with you before they arrived.  I've only
shown this to Ila and you're going to be the last one I do this with
before we reach Earth."
     She handed him the envelope and he looked at it, "George Putnam
III?" he frowned.
     "It's from the oldest survivor on Merikon.  Someone they know only
as G.P."
     "Oh yeah, I read Adama's report on him.  Abducted as a child in 1945
just after getting out of a Japanese prison camp.  Amazing story."
     "Actually, the story about him before the abduction is even more
amazing."
     Byrne's frown deepened, "How so?"
     "The name doesn't mean anything to you?"
     "Should it?" he literally had no idea where she was going.
     Becky sighed, "Remember when we were talking with Ila a few days ago
about how the Risik sometimes would bullshit abductees about things they
were responsible for?"
     "Yeah, you were talking about how the Risik lied about taking Amelia
Earhart."
     She shook her head, "They didn't lie about what they actually said."
     "Huh?" the Navy captain was caught off guard, "You mean they did
abduct Earhart?"
     "No," Becky emphasized, "They had nothing to do with Earhart's
disappearance.  But remember......the exact words they used in an
interrogation were, 'Do you ever wonder what really happened to Amelia
Earhart?'"
     "What's the difference?"
     "A lot," Becky said, "They never had Earhart, but......all the time
they had her son, who was born in a Japanese prison camp six months after
her plane crashed in the Pacific."
     Byrne's eyes widened and he looked at the envelope again,
"Holy.....George Putnam.  That was Earhart's husband, the publisher."
     "Yes.  And he had a George, Jr. from his first marriage so that's
why their only child, born after her disappearance, was George Putnam
III......or 'G.P.' as he was known for the rest of his life after the
Risik took him with the other freed prisoners on that transport plane in
1945."
     "What happened to Earhart?"
     "Read what's inside and you'll find out," she motioned.
     As the sound of the forgotten Triad match droned on in the
background, Byrne took the letter out and began to read.  It took him
over ten minutes to get through all of it, but when he was finished he
set it down and leaned back with a drained expression.
     "Funny," he broke his silence, "I was more prepared to believe the
Risik took Earhart than I would have believed a scenario like this.  So
Earhart was already pregnant when she began the flight with Fred Noonan."
     "Yes.  And there's no question Putnam was the father.  Noonan was a
happily married man and even though Earhart had insisted on an open
marriage arrangement with Putnam before she agreed to marry him, he
adored her.  G.P. was conceived the last time they got together before
the flight.  But we don't have to take his word for it.  The lock of
hair, the fingernail clipping and the blood trace will match any DNA
sample from George Putnam, Jr.'s family." 
     "Earhart and Noonan crash short of Howland Island in the Pacific and
get picked up by a Japanese destroyer.....who immediately think Earhart
was on a spy mission for the Roosevelt Administration because the
Japanese were just days away from the invasion of China and that she had
intelligence that would make FDR blow the whistle on that."
     "When of course she had nothing of the kind.  But it was only after
five months of isolation and interrogation that they finally realized
Earhart knew nothing.  Only by then it was too late for them to release
her and Noonan."
     "Because the Panay incident had taken place by then," Byrne
continued the narrative summary of the letter, "The Japanese bombed and
sank an American gunboat on the Yangtze River during the assault on
Nanking.  In order to defuse tensions with the US, they apologized for
the incident and said it was an accident, even though it probably wasn't. 
But the uproar over that incident meant they couldn't dare admit they had
a pregnant Earhart and Noonan languishing in detention somewhere.  They
might have found themselves at war with the US nearly four years before
Pearl Harbor when they could ill-afford that.  Then Earhart gives birth
to a son in January 1938 and afterwards she and her son are moved to a
prison camp.  Noonan got sent elsewhere and whatever happened to him
afterwards remains a mystery.  But Earhart was under threat of death not
to reveal her true identity to anyone in the prison population.  Not just
her but her son as well.  The only clue she tried to leave as to her
son's identity was to say his name was G.P. as in George Putnam."
     "They kept them with Chinese prisoners until 1941." Becky picked it
up, "Where no one would have any idea who she really was.  Then she dies
in prison in early 1942 and only then does G.P. get moved to a prison
camp with Americans now that war has broken out.  The Japanese probably
pushed some line about him being the child of missionaries in China or
something similar.  And that's where G.P. is until the end of the war
when he gets put on a transport plane with other freed prisoners for
Manila and then.....the Risik took the plane.  Their first abduction of
Earth natives since that effort in the 17th century you told me about
ended disastrously for them."
     On the planet where my own ancestors Josiah and Martina Byrne ended
up.  That was a detail he didn't reveal to outsiders, just like he hadn't
told anyone about Starbuck's revelation of somehow visiting Earth's past
during World War II and saving the life of Byrne's grandfather.  "Did
G.P. know who his mother was all that time?"
     "He knew his name was George Putnam.  His mother had told him that
and he wasn't supposed to mention that to anyone else until they were
rescued someday.  But he didn't realize how famous his mother was until
he was awakened from suspended animation by the Risik after twenty-five
years and their commandant told him what they knew.....as a result of
probing his mind and extracting all his memories while he was in stasis. 
The memories they could study made it clear that Earhart was his
mother......and since by then the Risik knew all about the story of
Earhart from their studies of Earth history and interrogations of other
prisoners, they could use that to their advantage," she paused,
"Remember, he was only seven biologically when they brought him out, so
you can imagine the shock he went through."
     "Very," he picked up the letter, "And those Risik bastards wanted to
foster the illusion that they were responsible for Earhart's
disappearance so they were trying to buy him off with all the goodies and
get him to swear allegiance to the Supreme Leader.  God bless him for
saying no to all that.  Even if it meant he couldn't dare ever publicly
reveal who he was to anyone without putting his life in danger."
     "And afterwards, as he got older and more abductees came from Earth
who knew about the story of Earhart, he just decided he was better off
not telling anyone who he was.  He didn't want the attention that would
have gone with it.  He just wanted to be G.P, who learned how to become a
scientific expert in the community and who after the Risik pulled out
became a beloved member of the Elder Board for a term.  But because he
wanted to keep his identity a secret that's why he never got married.  So
unfortunately Earhart's lineage dies with him."
     "But at least the truth gets out at last when we reach Earth," Byrne
said.  "And the truth should always come first in all things."
     "Don't I know it," Becky sighed with sadness.
     Byrne immediately realized his mistake, "I'm sorry, Becky, I wasn't
thinking straight.  I know how hard it was for you on Niddion seeing all
the cover-ups that went on for so long."
     "It's okay, Kevin," she waved her hand.  "Ultimately.....the truth
did set us free.  Maybe...." she recovered the optimism in her tone,
"Maybe that will help free the Risik too.  When we can let them know the
truth about what they are, and they don't have to follow all that
bullshit their leaders have been telling them for eons."
     "Maybe," he still felt like a horse's ass inside for not remembering
how painful things had been for her on Niddion to carry the burden of
knowing the truth about the second generation being half-Risik and
keeping it a secret.  And seeing the revelation ultimately destroy a man
she had admired, even with all his faults, William Benton.
     "Anyway, I felt you needed to know what was in this letter. 
Just.....keep it to yourself for now so G.P's friends don't find out
before we reach Earth.  You can hang onto it, if you like."
     "I appreciate that," Byrne said, "Thanks for coming by, Becky."
     After she'd gone, he heard a brief roar from the vidcom and looked
up.  Zed was describing an outstanding shot by Boomer that had put him
and Castor up by a score of six to one over the subpar effort of
Greenbean and Vickers.
     I guess they have that well in hand, he thought as he shut the
vidcom off and decided to look at the letter that revealed the final
solution to one of the 20th Century's greatest mysteries one more time.


     Zed knew this had not been one of his more stellar broadcasts and it
had little to do with the fact that the game had turned into a
predictable one-sided affair.  He knew his mind was preoccupied with
seeing the game end soon so he could get back to the Electronics Ship and
make that trip to the Archives to test his theory on the identity of
Aurelius.
     During the course of the broadcast, his eyes had wandered to the
other side of the spectator's gallery and he'd caught sight of the man. 
Once again, Aurelius was proving his closeness to Adama's family by
sitting in the same row with not just Boxey but Athena as well.
     If the kid doesn't know that's his great-grandfather I'd be shocked,
he thought.  And then, he realized that his analyst partner for the
broadcast, Lieutenant Sheldrake, had stopped talking and he should have
resumed the play-by-play.
     I'm really living down to my reputation tonight, he thought with
disgust.  This damned story is starting to obsess me.
     When the game ended, he had to remain behind as the galleries
emptied to do a five centon postgame report, and then wait another
half-centar for a final live report to air during Zara's evening news
broadcast.  Only then were his duties finished.
     As Zed saw Scali pack up his notes and equipment, he felt a twinge
of guilt about not sharing his theory with the statistician at this
point.  Scali's drive and persistence had generated the story.  But he
wasn't going to do that until he knew he had proof in the form of an
archival recording of Commander Marcus talking.  Then, he knew it would
be safe to bring Scali into his confidence and they could plot their next
move.
     He took the turbo-lift to the Astral Lounge deck.  Ordinarily he
liked to stop for a post-game drink before leaving the Rising Star but
this time he walked past the entrance without giving it a thought,
surprising Chief Steward Zeibert, who had been expecting him and was
prepared to guide him to his usual table.  Instead, Zed made his way to
the Docking Lounge for the next Fleetwide shuttle that would take him to
the Electronics Ship.  The trip usually took a half centar but because of
his restlessness, it seemed to take twice as long, especially with the
stop it had to make first at the Pathmain and then the Senior Ship.  
     When he reached the Electronics Ship, most of the staff was leaving
to board the shuttle he'd just left for their own ships.  Live
programming was over for the night and the few who remained on-duty only
had to oversee operations for the recorded programs that would run during
the night.  A replay of the Triad match, a replay of Zara's broadcast and
some vintage Caprican entertainment program that had managed to survive
the Destruction.  There were so few overall though, that inevitably the
same vintage programs tended to air again just one sectar after their
previous airing.  So predictable was the pattern that Zed already knew
which one was running tonight.  An episode of a program called City
Nights that dealt with solving crimes in Caprica City's notorious Red
Light District.  He remembered it as a program geared toward adult
audiences that typically ran late at night since its frank depiction of
Red Light District activities was considered salacious to those of a
moral bent.  That was also why the few surviving episodes could only run
late at night when next to one in the Fleet had a vidcom turned on to
watch it.  Only those who had a personal vidcom device in private
quarters (a double rarity) could have watched, whereas vidcom units in
public areas like the Rising Star Docking Lounge invariably turned their
systems off by this point.
     Not wanting to attract attention to himself, he went to his office
first and made a quick check of his bottom desk drawer just to see that
the microrecorder was still there.  Then, he left and stopped to say a
few words to Technical Director Heller who was just getting ready to go
off-duty for the night.  And then, it was down two narrow passageways,
one of which contained the only available turboflush facilities for the
IFB staff, and finally the room that housed the Broadcast Archives.  It
consisted of an outer area desk for the IFB Archivist, and in the rear of
the room were drawers filled with thousands of carefully digitized
thumbnail drives arranged in chronological sequence that contained the
totality of surviving video and audio files from before the Destruction
as well as a record of all IFB programming since its establishment
shortly after the Exodus.  The digitization project had taken place after
IFB operations had moved back to the Electronics Ship from temporary
headquarters on the Rising Star that had become necessary when the
Electronics Ship suffered damage to its main drive and power systems
during battle with the Ziklagi forces.  When operations had been moved to
the Rising Star there was a realization that too much archival material
only existed on obsolete video formats that ran on equipment that
wouldn't be available for the long-haul and which were difficult to
transport.  Getting their records up to date with the data storage
methods used on the Galactica became a high priority once operations
returned to the Electronics Ship after the Fleet left Brylon Station.
     Zed knew there had been talk of keeping IFB operations based on the
Rising Star but the veteran broadcast personnel like Heller had been
adamantly opposed since it meant the Elite Class of Colonial Society
would have gained greater access to the IFB.  What ultimately settled the
question though was the horrible murder of an IFB researcher named Rose
in the temporary archive on the Rising Star.  Made to look like a
suicide, but ultimately revealed to be part of a monstrous plot
engineered by Sire Uri to cover up evidence of his own treasonous
misdeeds that led to his eventual suicide in disgrace.  Even though the
truth of Uri's crimes had been covered up on Adama's orders, the stigma
associated with Rose's death was the primary reason why no one from the
IFB wanted to work from the Rising Star again.
     The archivist's table was empty which was exactly what Zed wanted. 
That meant he could do his computer search without anyone knowing what he
was looking for.  Settling in the chair he brought up the search engine
which had documented all the items kept in the archive, allowing for
name, place, date and keyword search (within reason).  A byproduct of the
digitization project that had cut down on many long centars of trying to
hunt for something through endless reels of obsolete video formats.
     "Commander Marcus.....Excelsia," he muttered under his breath as he
typed in the keywords and waited for any matches to come up. 
Immediately, the computer processed the results and gave him just three
entries.  He needed to click on each one to get more information on what
they meant and if they had what he needed, which was a sound recorded
interview.  
     The first two he clicked on turned out to be useless.  An inaugural
ceremony for a past President of the Council in which Marcus was just one
of many dignitaries visible on the platform.  An Armament Day parade on
Caprica in which again, Marcus was seen but not heard.
     Didn't the man ever open his mouth once?  Zed started to feel
restless until finally......on the third entry, he found a promising
match.
     "Commander Marcus of the Battlestar Excelsia testifies before the
Council of Twelve to argue against the proposed measure to decommission
his Battlestar."
     Perfect, he thought as he saw that the file he wanted was on Drive
#25 in Drawer #4.  He got up and went to the back room and saw the drive
marked.  He picked it up and decided that instead of watching it on the
archivist terminal, he'd take it back to his office and watch it on his
personal comp.  That would allow him to do a direct comparison with the
recording he had of Aurelius on his microrecorder.  And it also meant
he'd have more privacy since there was always a chance someone from the
spartan night staff might wander in while he was watching.
     He walked through the empty corridors and headed back to the now all
but deserted IFB operations center where his office was located on the
far side.  Only the overnight tech director, Forte was there on the other
side of the room, handling the switches for the overnight programs.  He
wouldn't be paying Zed any notice at all.
     The sportscaster closed the door, settled behind his desk and
inserted the drive into his personal comp.  He soon saw a time code at
the bottom that indicated this was from 7322, two yahrens before Marcus's
supposed death.  He recognized a Council Chamber style room but there was
no identification as to where it was.  The wide shot showed at the head
of the table,  Sire Conlin of Tauron, who had served two terms as
President.  The other members fanned out on each side leading to the
opposite end where a man in a Blue Colonial Commander's Dress Uniform was
facing the Council President directly.  
     Commander Marcus.
     "Commander Marcus, we've asked you to appear before us so that you
can make the case for why we shouldn't approve Sire Gamesh's proposal
that your ship, the Battlestar Excelsia be decommissioned from the
Combined Colonial Fleet," President Conlin said in his disarming style
that had helped him get elected twice as Council Leader.
     The camera then cut to a close-shot of Commander Marcus from the
side.  It was easy to see the resemblance to his more famous son.  The
only difference was there was less of a firmness to the jaw and less of
an imposing aura.
     "Thank you, Mr. President and esteemed members of the Council.  I am
most certainly opposed to Sire Gamesh's proposal that the Excelsia be
decommissioned from active service, not because I have a vested interest
in the outcome as her commander for the last fifteen yahrens, but because
the Excelsia, despite being over six hundred yahrens old, is still a
top-line vessel needed for the war effort."
     Zed froze the image and quickly pulled out the microrecorder and
rewound it so he could listen to Aurelius's voice from his talk with him
in the Galactica Landing Bay.  He pressed the play button.
     "The truth of the matter is that I never served on the Excelsia. The
Bellepheron was the only Battlestar I ever served on in my younger days,
but.....the reason I chose the Excelsia's insignia to wear is to pay
tribute to my namesake."
     The sportscaster and news anchor felt a cold chill go through his
body that made him understand for the first time why Cronin had gone into
a shock that killed him.  The voice was absolutely the same with hardly
any change because biologically, Marcus would only be three yahrens older
than he'd been at the time of his appearance before the Council.
     Zed took several deep breaths to calm himself.  It had been one
thing to search for the evidence......but to have it now was
overwhelming.  Like no other experience he'd ever known in all his
yahrens as a journalator.  
     Lords I think I need to pay a visit to the turboflush before I go
any further.  He rose from his chair and quietly left his office.  He
didn't care about the fact that he'd left the computer on with the frozen
image of Marcus testifying before the Council or his microrecorder on the
desk.  There was no one else in the operations center except for Forte
and he was tied up in his work.
     So for now, as Zed went down the corridor to the turboflush, his
office lay empty and silent.......and then a new presence emerged.
     Helena looked down at the computer with its frozen image of the man
she had been married to and smiled disdainfully.
     "Ah, Marcus my love.  You really did look as though a new face would
be an improvement for you."
     She then motioned her arm and suddenly a stack of papers on the
other side of Zed's desk burst into flames and began to spread rapidly. 
Ordinarily the fire control sprinkler situated in the ceiling would have
kicked in but for now.....it had been rendered inoperable.
     As the fire moved across and made contact with Zed's computer and
its electrical components, a loud explosive burst went off just as
Helena's presence disappeared.
     

     Zed took his time in the turboflush to not just take care of the
obvious business but to splash some water on his face and relax himself. 
He was still trying to come to grips with the fact that it was no longer
parlor game theorizing.  He was right in the midst of the biggest story
of his life as a journalator and it was up to him to play things
carefully from this point forward.  That meant getting word somehow to
Scali tomorrow and finding a way to meet with the young statistician who
had set things in motion.  If he was going to proceed with this story he
knew he was going to need help.  And more than just Scali's.  As far as
he was concerned, this was the kind of story worth taking Zara into
confidence over.  Maybe even Heller as well.
     Hell, I should get the whole IFB in back of me.  Then that would at
least force the issue from Adama's standpoint.  We'd find out why this
deception is going on and why did Marcus go into cryofreeze.  And is the
story behind him getting plastic surgery about being scarred in a rogue
Cylon attack after coming out of stasis just a load of felgercarb?
     He stepped out into the corridor to head back to the Operations
Center when suddenly he was startled to see the overnight technical
director Forte dashing madly down the corridor and pushing him aside.
     "Forte?" he spun and called after him, "Forte, what----?"
     "There's a fracking fire in the Ops Center and the sprinklers are
fracked out!" he didn't stop to look back at him.  "I have to get a
boraton can on this!"
     "What the-," Zed looked down and in horror saw an orange glow coming
from inside the Operations Room.  When he stepped inside, his eyes
widened in further horror as he saw the blaze was centered in his office.
     "No!" he raged, "Damn it, no!"  
     On sheer blind impulse he dashed toward his office.  Determined to
save the valuable proof he'd just found that cinched the case for
Aurelius being Commander Marcus.  The proof that he knew from his search
was the only example he'd ever find.  Without it.....there'd be nothing. 
No proof.  No story.  
     He threw open the door and was driven back at first by the flames
that were lapping at the ceiling.  But then, still acting on impulse he
pushed his way forward toward the burning shape of his desk.  Oblivious
to the searing heat and the frantic voice of Forte from behind.
     "Zed!  Zed, have you lost your fracking mind?  Get out of there!"
     The overnight tech director, now carrying a boraton canister made
his way forward as the flames grew more intense.  He quickly activated it
and the fire foam made contact with the inferno, but it had only minimal
effect.  Still it was enough for Forte to move forward a few more inches.
     "Zed!" he shouted, unable to see the veteran anchor, "Zed!"  He
began to spray the foam wildly about the room, hoping it would somehow
find Zed and give him some protection.  As some of the flames briefly
disappeared from the effects of the foam he then caught sight of Zed
lying face down on the floor, his arms spread out.  He made no movement,
and his clothing was badly scorched indicating that he'd been on fire at
one point.  Forte started to move toward him but then heard a creaking
sound from the ceiling that indicated just one thing.  
     He hurriedly backed away as fast as he could as the ceiling of Zed's
office suddenly caved in and collapsed, containing most of the
fire......but leaving no hope at all that the anchorman could have
survived.
     As Forte collapsed to his knees in anguish, the sound of the ship's
fire alarm kicked in at last, casting a red glow across the room.  Behind
Forte, Helena suddenly appeared again with a satisfied smile.  The red
glow of the room highlighting the true nature of what she had become.
     "Free will," she said aloud for the benefit of others.  "He made the
choice to return of his own free will and his death is his own
doing......not mine."
     And with another sweep of her arm, she disappeared once again.

Chapter Eight

     The next morning, Adama was in a somber mood as he listened to the
preliminary report from Reese on the mysterious fire that had killed the
IFB's co-anchor.
     "Obviously the fire started in his office, but we can't figure out
what ignited it," the recently promoted Chief of Council Security was
clearly frustrated.  "There's no indication he kept anything flammable. 
Though once the fire started he had a lot of things that would easily
burn.  Papers, his desk.....and when it hit his computer that caused it
to explode which made things a lot worse."
     "Why didn't the overhead sprinklers activate?" Adama could scarcely
believe that Zed was gone.  Even though Zed had often been a target of
ridicule for being in over his head as a news anchor, Adama had always
respected his work in sports for many yahrens, and he knew Zed had been
thrust into a difficult situation taking on additional duties when the
IFB had been set up.
     "Shadrach is checking that out.  He'll give you his report later,
but from what I gathered, he wasn't coming up with an explanation.  At
one point I think he threw up his hands and said it was as if someone had
willed the whole system to shut down."
     "Well he'd better find an explanation," Adama warned, "If we have
fire control systems failing for no reason, then the same thing could
happen on other ships in the Fleet.  Tell him to work on that all into
next sectan if he has to!"
     "I'll remind him," Reese acknowledged and then added, "I did ask
Castor to loan me Paulson for questioning Forte.  Just to rule out any
possibility he set the fire himself.  He's convinced there's nothing
there.  Forte's such an emotional wreck over what happened he couldn't
possibly have been up to no good."
     "I'm glad you ruled out that possibility," Adama was impressed by
how much Reese had matured over the last couple yahrens in his job.  He
was sure it stemmed from the unexpected reserve of courage the Security
Officer had summoned when he'd saved Boxey and Boxey's friend Jephtha
from a Ziklagi boarding party during that crisis.  As if that event had
produced within Reese a sense of responsibility and self-respect that had
been lacking before.  From that point on, Reese's record as an officer in
Council Security had noticeably improved to the point that when the Chief
position became vacant due to retirement, Adama decided to trust his
instincts and give the job to Reese.  So far, he'd seen nothing to make
him question that choice.
     "I am too, Commander.  It does seem like we're looking at some
unexplainable tech issue that Shadrach's boys will have to figure out. 
But we'll keep checking other leads and make sure nothing gets
overlooked," he paused, "A lot of us are shaken up by it.  I mean.....I
know it was always easy to dump on Zed, but......hey, he was one of us. 
We always expected him to be there."
     "Well said, Reese," Adama felt that summed things up perfectly.
"Thank you for your report."  He then switched channels to contact the
Bridge, "Colonel, what's the status on the drone Viper test?"
     "It'll be underway in just a few centons, Commander," Tigh said, "We
had to make sure Blue Squadron's supervision of the mine retrieval
operation was finished.  We have one safely disarmed and towed in for
further study by Dr. Wilker's team."
     "How many mines are still in orbit around Merikon?"
     "Final tally shows 35% still in place.  The interesting thing is
that whereas before it was mostly a double-layer of mines that circled
the planet, there's still enough to form a near-complete single layer
around it.  Any ships from the outside would still have to blast their
way through like we did."
     "That's probably a good sign for the short term as far as Merikon's
safety is concerned," Adama observed.  "The Risik will be less inclined
to make any hostile move on them ahead of dealing with us if they had to
get past an obstacle like that."
     "Does that mean you think the mines were left by the Ke'Zar for
their own good?"
     The Commander hesitated slightly, "Still reserving judgment on that,
Colonel.  Which isn't my decision alone to make, as you well know."
     "I know," the Executive Officer admitted, "It's a real conundrum."
     "It is indeed.  Keep me updated on the drone test."
     "Yes sir."


     As Starbuck waited for the launch order, his mind was going back to
last night and the evening he'd spent with Cassie, Chameleon and Diandra
in the Officer's Club watching the Triad match on their vid-com setup. 
The Risik woman had been interested in seeing Starbuck and Cassie's "work
environment" aboard the Galactica and after a tour of the Life Station
and limited tour of the landing bay area (the kind of tour civilians
could be shown without violating security orders), they had gone to the
Club for a relaxing evening.  Since Starbuck knew that Castor and Boomer
would have no difficulty prevailing in the match, the game had been mere
background noise for a very friendly conversation that had left him more
impressed than ever by Chameleon's new lady friend.  Especially since he
saw very little that reminded him of his father's last girlfriend,
Ayesha, when she'd gone by the name of Claudia.  Diandra had an aura of
openness and no false humility about her, yet it didn't rise to the level
of off-putting braggadocio.  It was more the openness of a woman who
wasn't afraid to be candid about herself and her beliefs, but who
combined it with a genuine desire to bring out openness from those she
was around.  A contrast to the quieter, reserved quality of Claudia which
hindsight had revealed to be part of her effort to conceal her past as
Baltar's wife.  Even though Starbuck had put his bitterness behind over
Ayesha's return to Baltar after her husband's defection to the Fleet, he
never wanted to see his father take an interest in any woman who might
remind him of how "Claudia" had been.  Diandra, he could tell, wasn't
like that.  She was much more of an open book.
     During a private moment with his father, while Diandra and Cassie
had taken time to talk among themselves, Chameleon had confessed to him
that he thought this new relationship had the potential to be permanent. 
He'd acknowledged that his desire to not be hurt again after the shock of
losing Claudia had kept him from considering any new relationship with a
woman (which was why he'd resisted overtures from Siress Blassie) but
Diandra had made it possible for him to look past that, simply because
she was from another race and a newcomer to the Fleet.  He knew she
couldn't possibly have a story rooted in a dark secret of the past that
could jeopardize things as had been the case with Claudia.  She'd been
candid about her estrangement from her half-human/half-Risik son
Christopher Marlowe, which she attributed to the shock of not knowing his
mother had been a Risik woman and that he was half-Risik, and that his
late father had been in favor of having her and the other remaining Risik
women in the Niddion colony put to death.  She'd also been candid that
establishing a relationship with Chameleon and seeing how Chameleon had
been able to handle things with Starbuck after so many yahrens of
separation might help her in reconnecting with her own son eventually. 
She'd also been candid about her devotion to Risik religion centered on
their chief deity Belial but that she had no intention of trying to
impose it on Chameleon or anyone else.  Simple openness and candor about
all the things that Starbuck might have been concerned about.
     Of course if I really want to feel secure about Diandra, maybe I
should find out what Ama thinks of her.  I didn't know that crone yet
when Chameleon was seeing Claudia.  Maybe she could have seen through her
then.  Of course, if she ends up getting a bad vibe about Diandra, that
would cause some complications for me in trying to get my father away
from her!
     "Decoy Viper team, this is Core Command.  Await launch of Recon
Viper One Starchaser in one centon, and immediately follow." Rigel's
voice broke through.
     "All right team!" Starbuck radioed to the three other vipers in his
group, all of them piloted by cadet trainees.  "Get ready to go!"
     "It's a pleasure to work with you again, Starbuck honey."
     Starbuck froze at the sound of a familiar female voice he didn't
think he'd ever have to listen to again.
     "Uh.....CORA?"
     "You remembered!" she said with clear excitement, "It's been so
long, hasn't it?  But they kept me turned off all this time until Recon
One was refitted with this marvelous new outer skin from what they call
synthetic Neutrino."
     "Yeah, CORA, yeah, I got the briefing," Starbuck knew that the CORA
system would be used to fly Recon Viper One for this test, but no one had
told him he'd have to interact with the computer again during the
exercise.  And why in the world hadn't they at least changed the voice?
     "I will be executing normal speed maneuvers as I recognize that the
purpose of the test is to give your team an opportunity to fire upon me
and see if my Neutrino outer shell can absorb laser fire that would
ordinarily prove to be crippling.  I will position my rear flaps for
clear targeting.  I also recommend concentrated fire on the forward
section by the cockpit.  In the event the canopy is cracked, that will
not matter."
     "Yeah, I know, I know, CORA, no need to go over everything!" he felt
his irritation rising and then he realized that the three cadets under
his charge had just heard the entirety of this exchange.  He waited until
CORA announced she was launching and the instant the drone viper was away
he keyed in on the frequencies of the cadets.
     "If you've stopped laughing, get this.  So much as one word that
isn't official and all of you end up doing mess duty for the next two
sectans!"
     Rank does have its privileges some of the time, he thought with
satisfaction as he activated his engines and launched.


     Scali had gotten word of the fire and Zed's death in a special text
message to IFB employees before the official announcement had been made
to the rest of the Fleet.  Out of respect for Zed and to facilitate the
clean-up and investigative efforts, non-essential IFB personnel had been
given the day off.  Shaken to the core, Scali found himself refusing to
leave his bunk on the Yarborough.  He had already convinced himself that
what had happened had some connection to the investigation of Aurelius
that had begun with his inquisitiveness.  And if that was the case, then
it stood to reason that whoever was responsible for Zed's death would
also make him a potential target. 
     What is it about this Aurelius that makes Cronin drop dead when he
hears his voice, and makes someone want to kill Zed?  Lords, I should
forget it.  Maybe if I just forget it, the whole thing will go away and
they won't care about me any longer.  But how could I ever be sure of
that?  Lords, I'm probably doomed to spend the rest of my life looking
over my shoulder if that's the case.
     And that, Scali knew, would drive him into total madness and into a
permanent bed on Hospital Ship #2, the so-called "Nuthouse" in the Fleet. 
That, he could readily admit, was a fate even worse than death from his
standpoint.
     I have to do something at some point.  Get back on this story and
find out what Zed was really up to and if he knew something that got him
killed.  But.....not today.  I couldn't possibly do it today.  Poor Zed. 
I'd rather just spend the whole day here in my bunk.
     And with that, the young statistician with the journalator dreams
turned his head to the wall and decided to sleep, unaware that he was
being watched by an undercover Colonial Security Guard who had taken up
the bunk directly across from him.


     "Now here's how it goes," Starbuck radioed, "Our laser generators
have been powered down by 50% to get an initial test reading on whether
this synthetic Neutrino can handle that amount at least.  After we get a
report from the.......pilot of the drone, we take a second shot.  I can't
stress again how precise this has to be because under no circumstances do
you take a shot at the engine.  Understood?"
     Hearing a trio of "Yes sirs!" from the cadets, Starbuck hit his
turbo that would allow him to intercept the Starchaser from the port
side.  His attack computer set to train on the port flaps. Knowing how
much was riding on this test for the Fleet he took a breath and opened
fire, finding the target.  As he pulled away from the Starchaser he
waited anxiously for CORA to give her damage report.
     "Superficial surface damage only.  Flaps remain maneuverable," the
computer voice sounded.  "Positioning for second strike."
     "Hallelujah," Starbuck whispered, using an Earth term he'd picked
up.  Then he spoke up, "Cadet One, head in for second strike on port flap
target!"
     The second pass saw a perfect hit.....and only a six percent impact
on flap performance which was negligible damage.  Knowing that two
strikes represented the equivalent of one full-powered hit from a Viper
or Raider, he decided to chance a third strike on the same target.
     The third hit resulted in an increase to 18% impact on flap
performance.  The first sign of some measure of weakening in the Neutrino
protection but not too serious.
     The second round of targeting tests now began with three strikes on
the forward section of the Starchaser just past the cockpit area.  Here,
the results were similar.  Superficial scalding from the first shot
followed by negligible damage to the computer circuitry located forward
of the cockpit and then on the third shot, moderate damage that caused
the first difficulties for CORA to maintain control of the craft.  
     Inside, any irritation Starbuck felt over having to work with CORA
again was gone.  Replaced only by the exhilaration that the Fleet now had
something to counteract the Fleet of Neutrino produced ships the Risik
intended to send against them.


     Adama was smiling with satisfaction over the two reports on the
drone test, first from Starbuck, and then Dr. Wilker's report on the
overall damage levels sustained by the Starchaser.  It represented a very
promising development.
     The chime then sounded and after the requisite "Enter", the door
opened and Croft entered the room.
     "Major," Adama acknowledged, "What brings you here?"
     "This is the final FIU summary of all the data Argestis and Furcifer
sent back to us, Caommander."
     "Oh yes," Adama felt a trace of sadness as he took the data pad. 
"They.....really covered a lot of ground, didn't they?"
     "Quite a bit," Croft nodded, "Our report wouldn't have been as
comprehensive as it is if they hadn't gone down to the surface.  It
verified things that not even the best deep scan results from orbit could
have confirmed.  And a whole lot more." he then added.  "Honestly, I'd
recommend both of them for posthumous decoration."
     "I'm inclined to agree, Major," Adama said as he began to idly
scroll through the report. "Thank you, and.....my best to Dr. Tarnia as
well."
     He smiled faintly, "I'll let her know."


     "The Council of Thirteen will come to order," Ila said as she rapped
her gavel to begin the next day's Council meeting.  Adama sat off to one
side in the observer seat, ready to give his remarks on the military's
position.  As he looked at the members gathered around the table, he was
sure of what the final outcome was going to be on the critical question
before them.  He and his wife had discussed it all evening after they'd
both gone over both the drone viper test report as well as the FIU report
from Croft.  But they both knew there was likely to be some spirited
discussion and debate before the final vote took place.
     "We're here to discuss and decide the critical question of whether
or not we will change course for 61 Cygni and make contact with the
Ke'Zar race to enlist them as potential allies against a pursuit Fleet of
the Risik, that we also know will be accompanied by the last remaining
BaseShip of the Cylon Empire."
     Ila then held up a report that had been prepared on the events of
the past few days and continued, "Since our last meeting prior to our
arrival in the star system Delta Trianguli, our overall knowledge of the
Ke'Zar race, regrettably has not increased significantly beyond what we
already knew.  We still do not know what the Ke'Zar look like outside of
their spacesuits.  Nor do we have samples of the Ke'Zar speaking to
understand what they sound like.  All we know is that they rendered the
former Risik home world an uninhabitable wasteland that was too dangerous
for human inspection and required us to send the two Cylons who had been
Baltar's pilots at the time of his capture for what was ultimately a
suicide mission on their part."
     A murmur went up from the table at this information.  It forced Ila
to rap her gavel again so she could go on.
     "Before getting to what was observed on the home world, we'll begin
with the report on the satellite moon, which was studied by an Elite
Squadron team led by Major Croft.  The overall devastation on the
satellite moon was less lethal but no less in its totality.  Evidence was

found of two separate attacks, coming at distinctly long intervals.  The
second attack is known to have destroyed an underground bunker complex
where Risik survivors of the first nuclear attack had retreated to and
were surviving for the long-term.  You have all seen the visual
documentation of how extensive the Ke'Zar inflicted devastation was, in
both the initial nuclear attack and then in the second 'neutron bomb'
style attack."
     "Madame President," Pelias interjected, "Was any evidence found to
suggest that this bunker complex may not have been entirely innocent in
nature?"
     "If there was such evidence, Sire Pelias, it was destroyed
completely in the bombing.  We can't rule out that the bunker complex
continued to house weaponry or anything else the Ke'Zar might have still
considered a threat to them, but for now no such evidence exists.  We are
left only with a picture of the Ke'Zar targeting that bunker simply
because they knew that there were living Risik down there some time after
the first attack essentially wiped out the entire surface level
infrastructure of the satellite moon."
     "How long afterwards?" Sire Hanlon inquired.
     "That's not easy to ascertain, but soil samples from the main
complex area and additional samples from where the bunker was located
were sent to Dr. Wilker's team for analysis.  Their judgment is that the
second attack took place one to three yahrens later."
     Ila waited for the murmurr to die down before resuming,  "And that
seems to correspond to other developments that took place on both the
Risik home world, and on Merikon that indicate the Ke'Zar engaged in a
general 'mopping up' type of operation during this period.  This now
leads us to the data uploaded to us by Centurions Argestis and Furcifer
over a period of two full cycles on the home world before all
communications with them ceased.  Before I show you the images they took,
we'll begin first with a critical image from the Galactica's deep scan."
     Ila motioned to the monitor on the side and brought up an image of a
devastated landscape take from at least a hundred metrones above surface
level.  There was not the slightest trace of vegetation.  Only a large
hole in the ground measuring some fifty square metrones overall.  There
were a number of telltale marks on the surface that indicated depressions
in the ground and also small pieces of colored objects tha+t stood out in
the scorched, desolate landscape of total destruction.
     "This is as low as our deep scan can take a high resolution image
from planetary orbit," Ila said, "FIU analysis zoomed in further even
though that meant losing resolution detail, and I want you to take notice
of the colored objects that you see lying in the ground.  Now here is an
image from ground level that was taken by Argestis and Furcifer."
     The image changed and now showed those same objects from a distant
of only a metrone.  They were bright and colorful and looked at first
glance like they were headless bodies or torn appendages, but which on
closer inspection were clearly made of material.
     "Spacesuits?" Sire Hanlon said aloud.
     "More specifically spacesuits that bear a striking resmblance
to...." Ila paused as she 
hit the button to change the image, "this."
     The image that now came up was one they had seen before.  A Risik
image showing a Ke'Zar wearing a full combat spacesuit that concealed
completely the nature of what a Ke'Zar looked like.  Ila then backed up
to the previous image and then forward again, which  reinforced the fact
that the colored objects lying on the ground were discarded pieces of a
Ke'Zar spacesuit.
     "Collectively, there are parts to about fifty separate Ke'Zar
spacesuits lying on the surface.  Note also the proximity to the
depressions in the ground.  There is no doubt that this is where two
Ke'Zar spacecraft landed, and then had a Special Forces team of at least
fifty deployed to the surface.  And this could only have happened after
the initial devastation took place that destroyed this entire region.  As
to what used to be on the surface originally......well, not even Furcifer
and Argestis could give a definitive answer because all that was left
were tiny stumps of metal protruding from the ground no higher than a
tenth of a metrone.  But.....they were able to get a closer look at the
hole and get more thorough scan data."
     Slowly, the other Council members were catching on to what this
ultimately meant.  Sire Xaviar was the first to speak up.
     "Another bunker complex of Risik who survived the initial
hostilities?"
     "Yes," Ila nodded, "But much bigger than the one Major Croft's team
found on the satellite moon.  This complex went to a depth of nearly
eight hundred metrones below the surface and extended for about five
hundred metrones in both directions from the epicenter of where the hole
is."
     "That's not a bunker," Sire Kort muttered in amazement, "That's a
city.  An underground city designed to survive not just a direct first
strike but a second strike too!"
     "Unquestionably," Ila said.  "The giant hole represents the second
attack and it destroyed everything to a depth of four hundred metrones,
but.....it wasn't enough to destroy the entire underground city.  That's
why the Ke'Zar sent in this Special Forces team to finish off what was
still left after the second strike."
     The President then hit the button to advance to the next image.  It
was taken from the edge of the massive crater looking down     Some four
hundred metrones down they could see a metallic surface stretching across
the width of the crater........with a large hole blasted in the center."
     "Based on the data sent back by Argestis and Furcifer, the FIU
concludes that the metallic surface represents a buffer area that was
meant to withstand the effects of a secondary strike and enable the
population to continue living on the lower levels.  The Ke'Zar, deciding
against a third nuclear strike on the same target, decided to resort to
an assault team that probably used rope ladders or jet packs mounted on
their suits to get to this buffer level so they could blast their way in
with a conventional charge.  And then.....they entered and slaughtered
all the inhabitants who were still alive inside this underground city."
     "Do we have confirmation of that?" Pelias spoke up with an air of
incredulity that suggested he found all of this hard to believe.  "Do we
have pictures of any Risik bodies?"
     Ila looked over at him.  "Yes we do, Sire Pelias.  Centurion
Furcifer decided that it was important to get an image of what lay inside
the complex, and since he knew he was going to be rendered inoperable by
the radon eventually, he took it upon himself to climb down some four
hundred metrones with a rope ladder they had available.  He was able to
enter the complex and took these images on an infra-red imager."
     A series of images filled the screen at five micron intervals.  It
showed a corridor with collapsed piping and three Risik skeletons in
rotting uniforms.  Then some kind of command center with six more
skeletons.  Finally, a large atrium like room that seemed like a common
gathering area, and here they saw over fifty decayed bodies lying on the
floor.  What stood out even on the infrared was that it was clear there
were females since some of them still had hair that streamed down.  As
well as small children.  
     "I don't understand why there aren't any Ke'Zar bodies there," Sire
Xaviar was trying to overcome the revulsion he felt from the sight of the 
mass carnage.  "Didn't they put up a fight?"
     "There was no fight," Ila said simply.  "The Ke'Zar didn't send
their Special Forces team inside after they blasted the hole.  They
dropped some kind of chemical gas bomb inside that killed everyone within
microns.  The toxicity scan of the air confirms that."
     She let them take in the sight of slaughtered Risik for another ten
microns and shut the monitor off.
     "So they killed every Risik who was still alive in this underground
city," Xaviar slowly recovered himself from the nauseous sensation he'd
been feeling, "And then they left their spacesuits behind
because.....after they returned to their ship, they had to jettison those
suits because of the radon contamination."
     "Yes.  Which also tells us at the very least that they either have a
higher tolerance level to radon, or their suits are designed to absorb
more than ours can.  That accounts for why they could send a team to the
surface but we couldn't."
     Adama saw how Pelias seemed most stunned by these revelations that
clearly demonstrated a ruthless savageness on the part of the Ke'Zar.  As
the one who had championed the interests of the freed prisoners of
Ne'Chak who had suffered so much as prisoners of the Risik, there had
always been the tendency to view the Ke'Zar in benevolent terms.  Now,
the evidence they'd found had shattered those expectations.
     "Centurion Furcifer was able to return safely despite the fact that
this trip down had weakened his internal systems severely," Ila said. 
"With his components dying he transferred all of his data to Centerion
Argestis, who in turn transmitted it both the Galactica and to the
BaseShip.  And then.....he made his final transmission and expressed his
thanks to Commander Adama and to Commander Septimus and to Baltar, for
giving them the chance to demonstrate true......Enlightenment."
     "Were there any signs of weaponry down there?" Pelias pressed,
"Anything to indicate this wasn't a benevolent group of Risik survivors
trying to live in peace?"
     "If there was, Sire Pelias, they didn't find any signs of it.  But
there were likely four additional sub-levels Furcifer wasn't able to
reach before he had to finally turn back or else the data he'd recorded
would have been lost.  The only thing he had time to do was take scans
and confirm there was no one left alive on any level."
     "Madame President," Siress Eudoxia spoke up, "On a planet this
big.....surely there might have been other such complexes?"
     "This was the only one Argestis and Furcifer had time to actually
visit before their components died," Ila said.  "But they were able to
make low level scan passes in their shuttle of two other potential
targets that our deep scan had pinpointed earlier.  And those data scans
revealed other signs of Ke'Zar landings and discarded spacesuits in
proximity to large craters.  FIU analysis is convinced the same pattern
of indiscriminate slaughter was repeated at these two sites."
     Ila allowed the murmurs of disgust and revulsion to go on for a
centon before she rapped the gavel once again to indicate she was now
moving on from that subject.  From the observer's seat, Adama could see
the revulsion on most of the members faces, save for Pelias who more
shocked than revolted.
     "We now come to the final piece of evidence regarding Ke'Zar conduct
we learned," Ila went on, "The Ke'Zar somehow managed to take an entire
Risik minefield, consisting of thousands of individual mines, and had
them placed in orbit around Merikon, after the Risik abandoned the planet
and left the Earth abductee population behind to fend for themselves. 
According to Elder Council President Daniel Parker, the Ke'Zar moved in
with these mines two yahrens after the Risik left the star system
altogether.  It stands to reason that the Ke'Zar conducted this operation
at the same time they were waging their campaigns against Risik bunker
dwellers on the home planet and the satellite moon in Delta Trianguli A."
     "But why bother?" Siress Blassie was baffled.  "If the intent was to
protect the Merikons, then the whole thing would have been unnecessary
after they killed all the Risik who were left behind.  All it meant was
the Merikons couldn't have left the planet if they had the spaceflight
capability to do so."
     "But the Ke'Zar should have known whether or not any spaceships
capable of getting them back to Earth were left behind," Pelias pointed
out, trying to come up with an explanation that could dispel the
impression of the Ke'Zar that had been formed in the last few centons,
"If they knew that, then the argument that the minefield was a protective
gesture makes more sense."
     "Does it?" Hanlon scoffed, "After what I just saw of that
underground city they wiped out, I'm beginning to think more and more
that the Ke'Zar had their own reasons for not wanting the Merikons to
have any chance whatsoever of getting back to Earth.  Maybe that theory
about the Ke'Zar having designs on Earth's solar system for their own
purposes has some merit."
     "No such action had been taken at the time Captain Byrne's
expedition left Earth, Sire Hanlon," Siress Tinia reminded him.  She too
had been shaken by the sight of wanton Ke'Zar destruction but like
Pelias, she felt it didn't change the fact that the Ke'Zar had been
liberators for the Earth abductees.
     "Which is irrelevant, Siress Tinia," Xaviar gently parroted, "Ke'Zar
interest in Earth's solar system would likely stem from the same motive
that would lead them to place a minefield in orbit around Merikon.  They
have no desire to conquer and subjugate Humans and will let them live
freely by themselves on a planet, but without the ability to leave it. 
If they want to make use of Earth's solar system they would let the
people of Earth live freely, but likely cut off their ability to travel
through space eventually."
     "We're getting into empty speculation, Sire Xaviar," Pelias felt his
patience growing thin.
     "Speculation is about all we can do with what little information we
have to go on, Sire Pelias," Xaviar shot back.  "At the very least, this
isn't adding up to a promising picture."
     "I think its time we hear the military's perspective on this," Becky
spoke up for the first time.  Her voice firmer and with none of the
halting uneasiness from the last meeting.  It was the sign of someone who
now felt totally at ease in her role on the Council.  "Could we hear
Commander Adama's thoughts at this time?"
     Ila motioned to her husband who rose from the observer's seat.  He
did not even think for a moment of sitting at the table as if he were
still a member.  Maintaining his separateness from the Council was very
important to him now that Ila had taken over.  Instead he moved in front
of the large monitor where the images of Ke'Zar slaughter had been
projected.
     "Members of the Council.....President Ila, we stand at a crossroads
moment in our long journey to Earth.  One that forces us to choose
between two options that both have merit, and flaws as well.  In terms of
expediting our ability to reach Earth, resuming our course immediately
and bypassing 61 Cygni would be prudent, but it might deprive us of the
resources that could be provided by a potential ally.  At the same time,
journeying to 61 Cygni still carries the risk that the Ke'Zar could prove
to be just as hostile and aggressive in their basic instincts as the
Risik are and the Cylon Empire was.  And if that is the case......we will
have walked straight into a disaster that could jeopardize our ability to
reach Earth safely."
     He looked about the room, "In the absence of credible proof that
makes clear the overall 
intentions of the Ke'Zar can be presumed peaceful.....I must put myself
on the side of resuming our journey for Earth immediately.  I do not view
this as a simple decision.  There are certainly plausible explanations
that might exist for why the Ke'Zar felt it necessary to engage in such
indiscriminate bombing and wholesale destruction of the Risik home world
and satellite moon. But we have failed to find the necessary proof of
that.  We only know that the Ke'Zar decided that not one Risik who
remained alive in these underground bunker and city complexes could be
permitted to live, even after it was clear that the near totality of the
Risik population had withdrawn and fled across the stars to their current
capital    It is, I must confess, difficult to grasp the necessity for
destroying these under complexes unless the Risik 'stay-behinds' if you
will, still possessed weaponry that could threaten the Ke'Zar somehow. 
Though how that could have been possible is hard to comprehend at this
point.
     "The explanation for why the Ke'Zar placed the minefield around
Merikon is also maddeningly imprecise.  We can take for granted that the
Ke'Zar had no desire to directly harm the inhabitants there, but we must
temper that knowledge with the fact that Merikon's atmosphere prevents
them from being able to function in that environment without those bulky
spacesuits that conceal their form.  It doesn't answer the question
whether they would have subjugated the Merikons if they could have done
it.  So the terse message they air-dropped on Merikon after the mines
were put in place could easily have been a threat to never leave the
planet, and not a simple warning about something placed for their own
protection."
     "Commander," Pelias spoke up, "I understand your points, but
wouldn't a diplomatic overture give us the opportunity to settle these
questions?"
     "Speaking strictly from a military perspective, Sire Pelias, which
is my only role now," Adama emphasized, "I fear that a diversion to 61
Cygni at this time would set us back in our ability to reach Earth safely
as we know the Risik pursuit is likely to happen sooner or later.  It
will be far more advantageous for us to have reached Earth prior to any
future encounter with the Risik and Commander Lucifer's BaseShip.  If we
deviate from our course to pursue the hope of an alliance at this point
that would be far from certain......we might end up losing more in the
process, especially if we failed to achieve an alliance with the Ke'Zar."
     Before Pelias could protest, Adama held up his hand, "Now I know the
next question this inevitably raises is, do we have the military
capability to take on a Risik force comprised entirely of Neutrino ships
and Commander Lucifer's BaseShip without risking the lives of every man,
woman and child in the Fleet?  And can it be done without the need to
depend on the Ke'Zar?  I think on that point, we are increasingly proving
that we can compensate for the Risik advantage of a Neutrino Star Force. 
The successful test of the drone viper Starchaser yesterday proves that
we have developed a synthetic Neutrino formula that can make our Vipers
less prone to serious damage from a single laser blast.  The cloaking
technology given to us by the Zykonians is also being applied on a
practical level in our Vipers, Raiders and shuttles just as it was done
aboard the Pegasus.  There are also areas where the transport technology
might be applied to practical use during the course of a battle.  If we
devote all our energies toward utilizing these technologies that we have
at our disposal......then I believe from a military standpoint our
ability to take on the joint Risik/Cylon Loyalist threat is quite good. 
But if we divert too much time to the belief that a Ke'Zar alliance is
what we should place our hopes on when they have done nothing to
demonstrate that they might be willing to help us.......we may lose our
ability to have our ships ready with the new technologies that we know
can make a difference."
     Adama waited a beat to hear anymore questions aimed his way.  When
none came, he quietly resumed his seat in the observers chair.
     "Does anyone wish to say anything?" Ila looked around the table.
     "I do," Becky leaned forward, "I support Commander Adama's position
on proceeding to Earth now and without further delay.  I found the
presence of the minefield in orbit far more troubling than reassuring,
especially since the timing of its placement seems to indicate that the
Ke'Zar wanted to conceal the magnitude of their slaughters in the Delta
Trianguli A system from the Merikons as much as they wanted them to stay
where they are.  I will concede though, that the presence of the
minefield as it still exists does provide a necessary shield for the
Merikons gainst any possible sidebar attack by the Risik as they pursue
us.  And the total devastation of Delta Trainguli A undoubtedly means the
Risik will find no need to stop and waste time on any reclamation efforts
of their former home world, which also works to the benefit of the
Merikons. So with the any near-term threat to the Merikons neutralized,
our priority must return to getting the civilians of our Fleet safely to
Earth and making it easier for us to handle the Risik threat if we don't
have to protect over 220 civilian ships at the same time.  Wasting time
to see if the Ke'Zar are friendly or hostile isn't worth the risk in my
opinion." 
     Becky leaned back to indicate she was done.  Ila waited for others
to speak but there was a definite feeling in the air that the momentum
had overwhelmingly shifted to the position of not seeking the Ke'Zar out. 
The President kept her eye on Pelias who had been acting as if he was
going to be a holdout on the subject.
     The young Councilor then decided he needed to say something.
     "Brothers and sisters," he said as a concession to the fact that
five of the thirteen seats were now held by women, "I have to ask this
question.  Is the case against seeking out the Ke'Zar to be determined
solely by expediency, or have we really convinced ourselves it's more
likely they're as bad as the Risik because of what we've seen of their
conduct in Delta Trianguli A on the satellite moon and the home planet? 
Despite the intensity of those scenes of mass slaughter, I must remind
you that the total picture of what led them to do this is based entirely
on vague and imprecise information."  
     "I don't think it's a question of passing judgment on them, Sire
Pelias," Becky said.  "I think it's more a case of recognizing that we
don't have enough information that would justify taking the time to seek
them out.  If we had gotten a report from the Merikons that the Ke'Zar
made contact with them and were friendly and candid about themselves and
their reasons for slaughtering the surviving Risik, that would have
changed the equation dramatically.  Instead, it was the Ke'Zar who
decided to hide themselves from the Merikons and keep their motives
vague, and then compound matters by trying to conceal their actions
against the Risik survivors.  Being candid with the Merikons wouldn't
have been a difficult step to take, especially if practicality meant they
couldn't leave Merikon anyway if the Risik took all the functioning
spacecraft with them."
     "Not to mention the fact the Ke'Zar could have easily provided the
Merikons with the means to get back to Earth!" Sire Hanlon interjected,
"That would surely have presented less of an obstacle to them than taking
the time to move an entire minefield into orbit around Merikon!"
     "But I think Councilor Shulman, you yourself appreciate the fact of
just how brutal the Risik war machine has been,"  Pelias responded,
deliberately ignoring Hanlon.  "And what you learned on Merikon regarding
these barbarous experiments they conducted on different alience races
only reinforces that."
     "This isn't about whitewashing the crimes of the Risik, Sire
Pelias," the American born woman held her ground, "Of course I was
horrified by what I saw in that lab.  That incinerator they used to
dispose of the other races they abducted prior to the Harkaelians and
Zohrlochs hit close to home for me in a big way because of what my father
went through in a death camp on Earth under the Nazi regime.  But I'm
also smart enough to remember that one of the Nazi regime's enemies was a
regime that killed even more people over a longer period of time in
Russia.  So allowing for the possibility that the Ke'Zar could be the
Stalin to the Risik Hitler is something I think we'd all be foolish to
overlook.  And when I consider what I think we might have done in a
similar situation if the only people left alive on the Risik home world
were people trying to survive in bunker complexes for probably
generations, I have to ask if it's really civilized to go in and do what
we know the Ke'Zar have done and if those actions by them represent the
counterpart to the cryo-tubes and the incinerator in the Risik lab on
Merikon."
     "You could be wrong about them, Councilor."
     "I could be," Becky conceded.  "But here is where expediency then
takes precedence.  I want to see us get to Earth and warn them about the
Risik danger and I want to see the 70,000 people who are living in
civilian ships safely on terra firma as we call it, and not stuffed into
vulnerable ships that move at target practice speed when our
confrontation with the Star Force takes place.  And if taking time to
gauge the intentions of the Ke'Zar prevents us from meeting that goal,
then I can not support that policy."
     Pelias leaned back deciding there was no point carrying the argument
further.  Ila waited to see if anyone else was going to speak and decided
it was time to call the question.  When the roll call was taken, everyone
had voted in favor of continuing to Earth now and avoiding the Ke'Zar. 
Even Pelias, who seemed to recognize there was nothing to be gained in
being a lone holdout.
     "Commander Adama," Ila turned to her husband, "The Council has made
its decision.  Please see to it that we are back on course for Earth by
the end of today."
     "Of course, Madame President."


     That night, removed from the formality of the Council chamber, Adama
and Ila were free to discuss the decision more candidly with each other
over a private dinner in their quarters.
     "You never expressed your opinion before the vote," Adama noted as
he finished eating and pushed his plate aside.  "Why was that?"
     Ila sighed as she idly nibbled a dinner roll that Becky had told her
was called a croissant on Earth.  "Because I didn't want to mention a
theory to the Council I've been developing that might explain why the
Ke'Zar undertook actions that seem so brutal to us."
     "Why not?" her husband frowned.  "I know Pelias seemed desperate to
find a reason to keep thinking of the Ke'Zar as benevolent liberators
only."  
     "Because I don't think it would have been a valid reason to base the
final vote on," she swallowed the bit of roll and took a sip of water. 
"It's just empty speculation on my part.  Cain might like to play hunches
with his battle plans, but leadership requires letting the facts be our
guide and I have no facts to back my theory."
     "Tell me your theory," he was interested.
     "All right," she gathered herself, "You've had a chance to read the
Holy Book of Earth, the Bible, haven't you?"
     "A good deal.  A lot of it offers parallels to our own accounts in
the Book of the Word."
     "Have you ever come across a part of it that you
find......troubling?"
     "In what way?" Adama frowned.
     "Let me put it this way, Adama.  You're a man of faith.  I'm a woman
of faith.  Is our faith so strong and deep that if we found the Almighty
asking us to do something that would strike us as......wrong, would we
instinctively obey?"
     He blinked a few times in confusion, "I don't understand what you're
getting at, Ila."
     "What if the Almighty told you, that in order to please Him, you had
to slaughter your enemy down to the last living soul with no exceptions. 
Every single male, female and child.  Or else the Almighty will say you
disobeyed Him and you must now face His judgment.  How would you react to
that?"
     Adama shook his head in amazement, "That's.....quite a tall order
there, Ila.  I'm not sure I can envision that kind of situation."
     "But according to the Holy Book of Earth it has happened," Ila
pointed out, "In the so-called Old Testament, which is the part that
Father Fisher's Christians and Becky Shulman's Jews are in agreement on. 
On multiple occasions, the Almighty God Yahweh called upon the leaders of
His chosen people, the Israelites to completely annihilate their tribal
enemies, the Caananites.  Male, female, child.  There are multiple
instances of it.  Yahweh even stripped the Israelite King, Saul of his
status as the chosen ruler when he only captured and didn't kill a rival
king after a battle."
     Her husband finally remembered the passages, "I did have a
conversation with Father Fisher about that before your return, Ila.  He
said that in those days, the conflict between tribes was fierce and
brutal.  And the Caananite enemies of the Hebrews who were God's chosen
people, were wicked and beyond redemption.  In the context of that
particular time and place, the enemy had to be destroyed because there
never would have been any hope for the living achieving redemption and
forgiveness.  If they lived they would only corrupt and destroy the
Chosen People.." 
     "Yes, that's what Becky told me about those passages too," Ila
admitted.  "And also how earlier, Yahweh destroyed everyone living on the
Earth in a Great Flood except for one righteous family led by a man with
the same name as your father."
     "A happy coincidence, I admit," Adama smiled thinly.
     "Of course," his wife returned it and then became serious again,
"But it is another example in the Holy Book that shows Yahweh could be a
God of great wrath and judgment and yet, the major faiths accept that
just like they accept the accounts of His command to destroy the
Caananite tribes to the last person.  And you and I, we've accepted the
explanations Becky and Father Fisher have given us about them as
if.......they're easy to accept because they happened so long ago in
Earth history."
     She leaned her head back against the headboard of the bed and her
voice grew more thoughtful and instructive as befitting the Academician
she'd once been, "But....is it possible a situation like that could
happen again in our own time?  Something we as Colonials never had to
think about because our enemy was a race of machines, and not sentient
beings.  But.....if we were told we had to exterminate an entire group of
people to the last individual and leave no survivors......wouldn't we be
troubled?  Wouldn't we think the Almighty was asking us to behave just
like the Cylons?  But if we believe in the Almighty, how can we believe
that the Almighty is ever unjust?"
     For the first time he began to see where Ila was going with this,
"Are you suggesting that maybe the Ke'Zar's ruthlessness in destroying
those Risik survivors in the bunkers might have been the result of
carrying out some kind of divine instruction?"
     "I'm just saying if we accept the accounts of the ancient books of
our own and of Earth, and if we accept the idea of God's presence in the
Universe, we should allow for this possibility  playing out in another
part of the universe far from the realm of Old Testament Earth," Ila said
as thoroughly as she could, "It allows for the possibility that when the
Ke'Zar committed an act that seems so instinctively brutal and barbaric
to us......it might have been for a reason that wasn't brutal, but wasn't
due to something as simple as the fact that the Risik survivors still had
military weaponry at their disposal.  Maybe.....they had to do it for a
reason that ultimately fulfilled the Almighty's will, even though we
can't right now discern why that was His will."
     "Do you mean for a reason that goes beyond protecting the Merikons
for the long-term?" her husband asked.
     "Yes," Ila's voice grew quiet and almost mystical.  
     Adama took that in for a centon, and then as if to avoid addressing
it, he took a sip from his chalice, as if he hoped that might strengthen
him inside.
     "That's.....quite a lot to consider, Ila," he said, "I think you're
right, we may have to consider that as a possibility to account for
everything else, but.....I also think you're right that it wouldn't have
been a good idea to put that theory before the Council.  We can't make
our decisions based on a theological argument alone."
     "A time and a place for everything," she acknowledged.  "But I do
think the members were wrong about one thing."
     "Which is?"
     "I don't think we're going to reach Earth before the Risik catch up
to us," Ila's voice became somber, "That's one hunch I'm completely sure
of."
     Her husband looked at her with equal somberness, "I think you're
right."


     "What's the latest on the fire, Reese?" Castor asked over the
conference hook-up to the Council Security Chief's office on the Prison
Barge.  With so few prisoners left after so many had been exiled over
three yahrens ago, the vessel had become more of a headquarters for the
civilian police force.
     "If it was arson, then someone would have had to set things up ahead
of time, and also do something to incapacitate the sprinklers," Reese
said with more than an edge of frustration.  "I've been on Shadrach's
back since yesterday to find out what caused that and he still hasn't
come up with an answer.  It failed but the specs on the piping, valves
and sensors were just fine.  They passed inspection last yahren and these
were pipes that were put in during the Brylon Station retrofit so it's
not like this is ancient pre-Destruction equipment we're talking about."
     "Commander's not going to like the fact we can't figure that out,"
Castor admitted as he rubbed his back, which was still tight after the
Triad match the other night, "But we'll let that be Shadrach's problem. 
Meantime, let's get to something that's more up our own alleys.  Paulson,
are you there?"
     "Right here," the elfin investigator who worked for both divisions
said as he moved into the frame just next to Reese.
     "Any idea why Zed was even there after the match ended?"
     "We haven't found anyone who knows why he headed back.  Zeibert was
expecting him to stop in the Astral Lounge afterwards which he always
does after a match but he went straight past him without saying a word. 
He clearly intended from the beginning to go back when the match was
over."
     "Was he working on a story for the broadcast?"
     "Heller and Zara aren't aware of anything he was preparing" Paulson
said. "He just had his normal broadcast to prepare for, but the script
for that wouldn't have been ready until the morning so he wasn't going
over that."
     "Anything salvageable from his computer?"
     "Not a chance," Reese shook his head, "Once the fire got to it, it
went up in a giant bang.  It's nothing but a pile of charred slag with
none of its inner components left at all."
     The Colonial Security Chief drummed his fingers on his desk and then
directed his next question to the veteran investigator, "Paulson, did you
get everything you could out of Forte?"
     "Everything I could, Lieutenant.  All he could say was that Zed was
working on something in his office but he didn't pay attention to him
because he was busy with the tech-board and making sure the switches were
thrown at the right centon.  He knows Zed got up and went to the
turboflush because when Forte noticed the fire and the sprinklers weren't
working, he ran frantically down the corridor to get a boraton canister
and he ran past Zed who had just come from the turboflush."
     "And Zed just went back like a madman instead of running away,"
Castor said.  
     "Yeah, that.....does suggest that there was something important in
his office he really wanted to make sure was saved."
     "Something personal?" Reese ventured.
     "With everything we've lost since the Destruction, I can't imagine
anyone being crazy enough to risk their lives over a personal
possession," Paulson dissented.  "I think it had to be something work
related."
     "Something related maybe to a story he was working on, that not even
Heller or Zara knew about," Castor nodded, "That makes sense to me.  You
agree, Reese?"
     "Sounds logical," the Council Security Chief concurred.  Castor
realized that Reese hadn't thought through that possibility himself, and
that meant there were still areas Reese needed to learn if he wanted to
consider himself truly up to the same level of investigative prowess that
Colonial Security people were.  But he was willing to cut him some slack
considering how much he'd improved.  "Where do we go from here?"
     "There is that statistician Scali," Paulson noted, "I don't know
about you two, but sometimes the old nose senses something's not right
when strange coincidences crop up.  First this guy Scali is talking to
someone on the Senior Ship who drops dead and acts like he's got
something to hide.  Then the guy on the IFB he works closely with on the
Triad broadcasts dies a day later in a fire."
     "Scali wasn't on the Electronics Ship when it happened," Reese
protested, "We've been alternating surveillance of him since the morning
after Cronin's death.  He couldn't possibly have anything to do with the
fire."
     "Oh I know he wasn't there, but still.....like I said there are some
coincidences that the old nose knows have to be more than just
coincidences, and I think that's what we're looking at with this guy
Scali.  Especially the way he acted like he had something to hide when I
interrogated him about Cronin's death."
     Castor looked down at the data pad on his desk.  "Well, according to
the report I got a centar ago on his case, Scali's been holed up in his
bunk all day and looks real shaken up by what happened.  Now I know Zed
was a colleague and maybe even his friend on some levels, but I can't
imagine that's all due to grief."
     "No," Paulson agreed, "That sounds more like a guy who's
frightened."
     Reese was bewildered, "But of what?  You think he and Zed  had some
common enemy?"
     "Too early to speculate on that, Reese but here's what we can do,"
Castor leaned forward, "Paulson, I want you to do some digging on
everything there is to know about Scali.  Swallow his personnel file and
find out who else he knows.  Then after you know every part of his life
from the time he got his turboflush training to now, go interview him
again.  See if he knows anything about what Zed was up to.  Gambling,
lovers, any potential underground market activity.  The works.  And while
you're at it, try to trip him up into saying more about Cronin's death
than he did the first time."
     "That I'll do," Paulson nodded.  "Give me a couple days and I'll pay
him a visit.  It could be he's the key to figuring this whole mystery
out.  Death seems to really follow him of late."


     As the night cycle came to the Fleet, the two hundred plus ships
lead by the Galactica and Baltar's BaseShip headed out of the Delta
Trianguli System.  Headed on a course that would take them back to their
Epsilon 22 heading that would lead them to the planet called Earth.  The
path that would have taken them to 61 Cygni, home of the Ke'Zar race,
would remain a road not taken for them.
     Unknown to anyone in the Fleet, their departure had just been
observed by a satellite device situated above the orbital zone of the
former Risik home world.  It had kept itself unnoticed during the Viper
scans by Yellow Squadron and later by the Galactica's deep scan.  But all
throughout the Fleet's stay in the star system, it had been able to keep
track of the Fleet and what it was doing in both their visit to the
satellite moon, and then their visit to the former Risik prison world of
Merikon.
     Now, that unobserved satellite was sending a full report to the
place it had originated from......down the path the Fleet had chosen not
to take.

Epilogue

The Pegasus
"That's the situation, Cain," Adama said over the communications link as
he finished 
summarizing the details of the Fleet's experience in the Delta Trianguli
System.
     "I can't fault your decision, Adama," the Juggernaut said as he sat
in his office on the Pegasus. "If I only had that much information about
these.....Ke'Zar, I wouldn't have trusted my future to them either.  If
these breakthroughs in synthetic Neutrino are working for you, and you've
got those cloaking devices working for you now on your Vipers and
Raiders, then that should be as good as any assistance you might have
gotten if you had approached them."
     He then leaned forward, "But if I'm lucky, Adama.....maybe I'll be
able to make the whole matter of the Pursuit Force a moot issue."
     Adama took that in for a micron, knowing what it meant.
     "You're fully committed to heading out again."
     "Fully.  I've taken care of letting the crew know where I stand on
this, and telling them if they want to bail out and stay in the Colonies
or get reassigned to Arcta or the Cylon Home System, this is their last
chance to do so.  As soon as we're done processing several more groups of
freed prisoners from Cylon to the Colonies, we're going back into the
Alpha Quadrant at top speed."
     "I thought it was your intention to wait five or six sectars until
half the prisoners had been resettled in the Colonies."
     "Things have changed, Adama," Cain said.  "Commander Sorge's
BaseShip has reduced the number of personnel needed so that up to 5000
freed prisoners now can be taken from the Cylon Home System to the
Colonies in one trip.  In addition, the satellite the prisoners were
living on previously, has now opened itself up so that more of them don't
have to rush their journey home just yet.  They're being well-fed and
looked after medically so this way they can take more time to decide
where they want to go and that way future trips by Sorge can be targeted
to a specific Colony."
     "I see.  So you expect to be underway in about a sectar from now at
the most?"
     "At the most, but hopefully even less than that if I push hard with
these last few groups."
     "But even at top speed, Cain, you won't reach the Risik Frontier for
at least a yahren to a yahren and a half at best."
     "I have to try, Adama," he said simply.  "I've been over that point
with you and Ila before.  I can't sit back in the Colonies waiting to
find out what's happening to all of you.  I have to make sure I've done
my part for you."
     "You already have in so many ways, Cain," his old friend and wing
mate back in their early days together aboard the Cerberus said.  "Don't
think less of yourself."
     "Oh it's not that, Adama.  I'm proud of what I've done here, and I'm
proud of the fact that Gomorrah, Cannes, the Colonies and the Cylon Home
System were all liberated with the most minimal level of casualties I
could have asked for.  But.....I can't shake a sense that maybe things
were easier than I expected back here because.....the most difficult task
for me would lie out there.  And if I'm not willing to face that
challenge, then I'm hardly the warrior I claim to be."
     "Does Kylie feel that way?"
     Cain grew silent and then he let out an uneasy sigh, his voice
dropping to a confidential tone of voice.
     "Adama," he said with clear concern, "Has Ila received any vid
messages from her in the last sectan?"
     "None," Adama said simply, "She is getting concerned about the
silence.  Is she okay?"
     The Juggernaut let out an uneasy sigh and he started to look
askance, "She told me last sectan she was going to touch base and send
Ila a long vid-message.  I kept reminding her that she'd been getting too
quiet of late, and then suddenly out of the blue she just.....snapped at
me and said she'd get to it and could I get off her back," he paused, "I
have to be honest, Adama, I'm getting concerned.  Ever since she came
back from the mission on the Home Planet that freed the prisoners it's as
if there's been something just a little......off about her.  It hasn't
affected her duties, but......she's gotten so quiet and distant as if her
mind is somewhere else constantly."
     "And.....you're finding it hard to confront her about it?"
     "It's not something I've had much experience with, Adama," Cain
confessed, "I never had a cross word with Bethany once in all the yahrens
we were married.  Granted, I was only home for about one-third at most in
all that time, and maybe that's the reason why we never let ourselves
have so much as a single argument, but......I don't know how to connect
with what Kylie's going through if something's bothering her.  I know
it's not because those kids she loved looking after left us at Arcta
because that was too long ago.  And it couldn't be because she's had a
relapse about not being able to have children because she knows the
reason why and she couldn't be happier that Ensign.....sorry Lieutenant
Wynn is with us once again.  It's got to be something else but I just
don't have any idea what it is."
     Adama had never seen Cain look this vulnerable before.  It was clear
this was something that had been building up inside him for some time now
and that he was taking advantage of the conversation to finally open up
about it.  It also revealed just how much Cain loved his second wife and
couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her.  
     "Maybe Ila could talk to her directly tomorrow," Adama offered,
"Maybe a live talk would be good for her instead of sending a one-way vid
message."
     "I'll ask her later," Cain said quickly as if he was willing to try
anything at this point.  He then cleared his throat, "Ah....to get back
to more important things."
     "Of course."
     "Sire Jansing, the highest ranking prisoner was part of the first
group that went back to the Colonies.  He's resettled on Cancera and the
leadership there promptly made him their new President given how beloved
he was before the Destruction there.  He'll be the one member of the
broader Executive Council of Colony leadership that will make sure
there's close coordination handling all of this resettlement that's going
to take place on all ten worlds."
     "And the....refugees aren't showing any signs of resentment toward
the Enlightened Cylons?"
     "There was some grumbling in some quarters when they realized that
things had been negotiated peacefully with Malus and the rest of them. 
But because I'd convinced Jansing of the need to recognize these Cylons
as different, and that we had to work with them to keep the peace from
now on, he devoted his full attention to making them understand that old
prejudices had to be set aside once and for all.  I know that's a harder
sell for the people from Aquarius and Libra who can never go back to
their homes, but.....I don't foresee any revolts or any incidents that
could jeopardize the peace.  Deval thinks the situation will remain under
control."
     "And that's why you feel comfortable leaving for the Alpha Quadrant
sooner than later."
     "Yes," Cain admitted.  "Adama, I wouldn't do this if I had the
slightest doubt about the situation in the Colonies being stable.  I've
made sure the prisoner relocation is on track.  I've made sure relations
with the Cylons are still good.  I've made sure that Ravashol's finished
the com-work that will have the Colonies linked directly to Cylon, Arcta
and Starlos and Commander Sorge's ship has been rewired to handle
transmissions from Gomorrah after we leave.  Cannes still needs to be
connected, but since Cannes can be accessed from Arcta by fast shuttle,
Ravashol can deliver the com-line components to them eventually.  At
least to Cannes Three that is.  Cannes Two is content to remain happy and
free of technology on their jungle paradise world."
     "What about Orion?" Adama asked.  "I know they wore their neutrality
in the whole Human-Cylon conflict like a badge of honor, but they have to
eventually be part of the network too don't they?"
     "Our ambassador on Starlos, Major Skyler, I'm told is trying to get
a new treaty arrangement set up with the Orions through their
representatives there.  At any rate, that's a matter out of my hands. 
The bottom line is the rebirth of the Colonies is well underway and it
can continue safely without the Pegasus for however long I need to be
away trying to catch up to your fight with the Risik and Lucifer's
BaseShip."
     "I might as well ask you this question, Cain, since there are family
considerations involved," Adama said, "If you do ultimately catch up with
us.....and if we are successful in handling the Risik......would you
continue with us to Earth, or would you then go back to the Colonies?"
     Cain didn't answer him at first and then he said simply.
     "We're really getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we, Adama?"
     "Perhaps," the evasion wasn't lost on his old wingmate.  "But I
think it would be of interest to Sheba and your grandchildren to know
what the ramifications would be if you did make it all the way out here."
     "I have an answer to that, but I'm not going to give it just yet,
Adama," Cain was blunt, "It's much too personal a matter, and when I
explain it......Sheba's going to be the first person to hear it from me. 
Not you, not Ila or anyone but her."
     "I understand," he then added, "She is doing well."
     "I'm glad, Adama, I'm glad.  I know Apollo's been perfect for her. 
What about my grandkids?"
     "Bethany Two is about ready to try walking on her own.  And Boxey's
doing fine."
     "No complications from that health scare he went through a few
sectars back?"
     Adama chuckled, "That was almost a yahren ago, Cain, but yes he's
fine.  The only problem he causes is going to every Triad match he can
get to with his friend who came back with Ila from the Colonies."
     The Juggernaut frowned slightly, "Which friend was that?"
     "The man on Sagittaria whose face got burned when a rogue Cylon
wouldn't accept the peace treaty and dove his Raider into the area where
their Resistance was gathered.  Ila took him back with her so he could
get facial reconstruction surgery on the Galactica.  And while he was
recovering, Boxey went in for that emergency treatment and they became
fast friends."
     "Ah," Cain said with sudden recognition, "I think I remember the
last time I had a direct talk with Boxey was when he wanted to hear the
story of the Battle of Arcta, and he mentioned he'd been out at a Triad
match with his best buddy from the Maintenance Division.  Is that the one
you're talking about?"
     "Yes it is.  His name is Aurelius.  He's actually in his early
nineties but he only looks sixty because he was actually found in a
cryo-chamber on Sagittaria by the Resistance just before Ila reached the
Colonies.  He'd been in stasis for thirty yahrens and hadn't known about
the Destruction."
     "Aurelius?" Cain's eyebrows went up.
     "Yes.  He said he once flew vipers in his early days aboard the
Bellepheron so that's why he knows how to repair them.  But he's been a
good family friend.  With all the responsibilities Boxey's parents have
and I have and Ila has as Council President, he needs a friend like that
we can trust."
     "Well, I'm glad he has someone like that," Cain got his words out
but inside he was trying to figure out what that name sounded familiar to
him.  "I'm sorry I don't have enough time to send him more vid-messages
but......you let that boy know that I consider him to be my grandson as
much as you do, Adama."
     "He knows that, Cain.  Believe me."
     Cain checked his chronometer, "Well, I think we've used up enough
power for today's transmission.  I'll relay things to Deval and the
others and......we'll be in touch again soon.  And.....yes, I will see if
Kylie will talk direct to Ila tomorrow."
     "Our love to her."
     "Thank you, Adama.  Signing off."
     As the Juggernaut ended the transmission, he settled back in his
chair and felt as if some kind of unscratchable itch had just formed
inside his brain.
     Aurelius.  Aurelius.  Lords, I know I've heard that name somewhere
before.  But not someone who flew off the Bellepheron.  Where was it?
     He threw up his arms in frustration and decided that it was a waste
of time to ponder that.  Not when he had a bigger concern on his mind
regarding his wife.  He decided to go to the Bridge where he knew she'd
be on duty now.  And maybe.....he could get through the barrier that had
suddenly come between them in recent sectans.
     As soon as he was gone from the room, the presence emerged.  Of the
mother he had no actual memory of.
     "My son, my son," Helena whispered with a mock maternal quality,
"You always wanted to keep the things about your father buried deep
within you.  Like the name of his best squadron commander on the Excelsia
that you can't make the connection to right now.  But you'll soon have
other more important things to occupy your mind from this point on. 
Especially.....why your beloved Kylie is acting so 'off' as you put it."
     She then blinked out.


The Risik Capital
     The morning sun streamed through the window of the apartment that
had been Siress Rosalind's home for some time now.  Ever since it was
clear that the Cylon BaseShip that had brought her all the way out from
the Cylon Home System no longer had any need of her services and released
her into the permanent custody of the Risik Government, who in turn had
set up a position for her at the Department of Terran Affairs in the
University.  It was there that she'd met a native of Earth Admiral
Trilligan had told her to look for and make contact with.  David
Marshall, former radical University student from New York City who had
been mistakenly abducted by the Risik in 1991 in upstate New York near a
military base and taken to the prison camp at Ne'Chak.  Where alone among
his fellow prisoners, he had been won over to the Risik cause and sworn
loyalty to the regime as the one great hope for Earth's future.  He had
earned himself a privileged place in the Department of Terran
Affairs......but now he had been exposed to the truth about the
corruption of the Risik regime and the falsehoods they had told their
people for thousands of years and he was working quietly behind the
scenes to see if others might be recruited to an effort to one day
overthrow the regime of the Supreme Leader and the entire religious order
centered on worship of the Supreme god, Belial.
     Friendship and trust had been quickly established between Rosalind,
one time Secretary of the Education Directorate for the Colonies, and the
young man.  And that had soon blossomed into a romance that had seen
David move into the apartment Rosalind had been provided by the Risik
Government.  For Rosalind, whose previous lover had been President Adar,
a man old enough to be her father, a relationship with a man young enough
to be her son was something she had come to enjoy considerably.  For the
first time, she had a lover who didn't come from a powerful, elite
background as had been the case with Adar or any of her other lovers
through the yahrens.  With David, she could forget all about the power
and benefits she'd sought to gain from her lovers in the past and simply
enjoy the experience of the relationship for its own sake.
     "Good morning," she said softly as she nudged her lover awake. 
David stirred and smiled as they gently kissed.  And then it was time for
them to rise, shower, dress and share breakfast before heading to the
Department of Terran Affairs and their regular work duties.
     Breakfast though was something that with each passing day was
becoming less and less substantive thanks to the ongoing food shortages
and rationing that affected the entire planet.  Priority for food went
entirely to those working directly on the construction of the Star
Force's new fleet of warships made from the substance called Neutrino. 
The Supreme Leader insisted that these food shortages and the virtual end
to Risik manufacturing were temporary sacrifices that needed to be
endured for the sake of the final fulfillment of Risik destiny in
conquering Te'ra and achieving the glorious vision of the great Belial,
of which the Leader boasted, he was the chosen representative of.  But
those powerful words of reassurance were not enough to the empty stomachs
of the many Risik forced to endure the hardships of the food shortages
and the inability to buy new goods.  And it was up to David and Rosalind
to look for signs of who could be potentially recruited to a Resistance
movement in the future.
     So far, David and Rosalind had marked over two dozen Risk as
potential candidates as well as two of the seven Earth natives they
worked with at the University.  But so far, they had yet to openly broach
the subject of recruiting any of them to a Resistance movement.  They
both knew there were considerable risks in doing that.  It would only
take a mistake with just one person to potentially blow the whistle and
turn them into State Security where they would face immediate execution
for treason.  And in all likelihood they would be forced to bring down
their powerful allies from behind the scenes in the Risik government.  In
particular, Admiral Trilligan, the commander of the Star Force.
     Now, the one time Colonial Cabinet Officer looked over at the
spartan breakfast before them.  A slice of bread that they would have to
divide between them.  One piece of breakfast meat that also had to be
divided and two glasses of orange juice.  It filled her with such inner
frustation within herself that she decided she had to get her feelings in
the open now, while they were still in the privacy of their apartment. 
Rosalind knew that unlike the apartment David had vacated, there were no
listening devices from State Security in place.  She had received a
personal guarantee from the Supreme Leader himself that she would not be
monitored, and in her last act of service to the Cylons, she had received
Commander Lucifer's backing to insure that the Leader kept his word and
that Rosalind would be free to move about as her reward for facilitating
Cylon-Risik contact.  That victory had not only been beneficial for her
but for David as well after they became lovers.  No more did David have
to watch what he said while at home.  They could at last discuss their
goals and ambitions at home and not have to make walking trips through
Iakir Park to speak candidly any longer.
     "David," she said as she picked up her half slice of bread and
slowly nibbled on it, "I think we've reached a point where we have to
approach at least one person about what we're up to and what we want to
see happen some day."
     "Why now?" the onetime University student asked as he ate his half
slice more rapidly to indicate his hunger wouldn't be fully satisfied by
this meal.
     "Because if everyone is eating like this right now, then people are
going to be so weak from hunger they'll never be effective in any
resistance effort," Rosalind said decisively.  "Obviously you and I do
better than the average Risik because we are getting well-fed for lunch
at the University.  They want the Department of Terran Affairs to be
alert and ready if the invasion of Earth is going to take place within a
few years.  But for the rest of the population, its going to be no more
than this at lunch and dinner too."
     "Obviously," David sighed, "And you're right.  A resistance movement
that's starving to death wouldn't stand a chance.  So if we decide it's
time, who should we approach first?"
     "We should start with one of the two colleagues of ours who are on
the list," she said.
     "Paul and Joanna?" he seemed skeptical, "Why them?  If they eat as
well as we do, maybe they won't feel compelled to join compared to
someone who has it rougher."
     "But as Earth natives they'll more easily connect to the idea that
the Risik philosophy is a lie and they have to bring it down," Rosalind
emphasized.  "They had to be convinced of it like you were in order to
embrace it.  You rejected it in the face of hard facts proving it's
false.  They should theoretically have the same reaction if we shared
with one of them what the disc Morovik brought from Adama says, or what
the rough outline of the book Lieutenant Katkov and I found that details
the early history of the Risik says.  We've both concluded that Paul and
Joanna are more seekers than fanatics like the others on the staff are. 
A convert who becomes a seeker can more easily be swayed by the truth
than a convert who becomes a fanatic."
     "Like Jimmy Connell," David sighed as he thought of the one Earth
native on the staff at the University he disliked the most, "What a
prick.  That guy is as nutty as the Supreme Leader.  He probably thinks
Belial chose him personally among Earthers to be abducted."
     "Forget about Jimmy Connell," Rosalind had never asked her lover the
meaning of the term 'prick' but she had no desire to know the answer. 
"Given the choice between Paul Randolph and Joanna Stanley, who should be
first?"
     David pondered that as he finished his skimpy breakfast.  After
finishing his juice and setting the glass down he gave his answer.
     "Rosalind.....I think you should do it first with Joanna.  A nice
woman to woman talk should impress her, especially since as you've told
me, you have experience being fooled before. You can tell her you've
already been there as far as being taken advantage of to believe in a
lie."
     "You can easily tell Paul that as well," she pointed out.
     "Yeah, but.....you have more of what they call gravitas on Earth,
Rosalind.  More maturity whereas me......I can still come off like a bit
of a naive punk.  If I see you win Joanna over, then that will boost my
confidence about approaching Paul."
     "All right then," Rosalind said as she threw down her napkin and
rose.  "We'd better get started."
     When they stepped out of their apartment complex and into the street
that led to the University, they saw further signs of the toll the crash
building program for the Star Force had taken on every day life.  Lawns
that had once been neatly manicured had grown taller and had more weeds. 
The sidewalks were more and more cracked.  Instead of the Risik
equivalent of automobiles, more people were riding the equivalent of
bicycles.  The street vendors had almost completely disappeared.
     This planet is ready to explode at some point, Rosalind thought as
they walked to the University.  What it needs is a trigger to set it off. 
Something from the outside that we can capitalize on to get more people
to rise up.  By all the Lords, bring that to us, please!


     In orbit above the planet, the last Cylon BaseShip that didn't
possess a crew of Enlightened Cylons moved about in lazy indifference to
what was happening on the planet.  With a treaty of alliance signed with
the Supreme Leader that committed the BaseShip to serving the Star Force
in a supportive role when the time came for the pursuit of the Galactica
to begin, there was little else for the BaseShip to do except remain in
orbit and wait.  From time to time when a new Risik ship made from
Neutrino came off the production line, a team of Raiders would perform
target drills to see if the Neutrino hull held up to conventional rounds
of laser fire from the Cylon weaponry that matched the Colonial weaponry
of Viper fire.  So far, each test had proved successful.
     Despite the fact that all communications with the Cylon Home World
had been lost forever and despite the fact that the Cylon Empire as they
had known had ceased to exist, there had been no loss of morale or sense
of restlessness within the BaseShip's crew.  Nothing that could generate
any stirring of sentient awareness about the "Makers" and what the true
purpose of the Cylon robotic race had been when it had first been
created.  Nothing that could ever let these Cylons walk down the path to
Enlightenment as so many of their kind had done elsewhere.  The reason
why that couldn't happen was because the spiritual power that embodied
all of the Imperious Leaders from the beginning, and which had kept
revolts from breaking out on the Cylon Home World, had come to reside
within the BaseShip.  So it had been decreed by the one Maker whose
essence had been part of each Leader from the beginning, and who had
singlehandedly usurped the Cylon robots from their original purpose. 
When he had withdrawn his power from the chamber of the last Imperious
Leader in the wreckage of the Imperial Palace, he had then placed it
inside the essence of the last remaining Cylon of the IL Class that he
knew was worthy of it.  The one who had hoped to become the new Imperious
Leader following the events at Carillon but had lost out.  Who had
carried that resentment within his mechanized soul ever since.  But who
now had received that which he felt he had always been entitled to.
     And now, as Lucifer mediated in the privacy of his chambers, he drew
from the spiritual power of the Imperious Leaders and sensed a command
being given to him.  A command that he knew must be obeyed.
     One yahren, Lucifer.  You must see to it that you and the Risik
pursuit force leave in no more than one yahren from now.  The Supreme
Leader will obey you.  I have commanded it!
     The twin moving orbs that represented Lucifer's eyes suddenly came
to a stop as his computer brains heard the voice of the one who he knew
had been the revered first great leader of the Cylons.  And whose voice
was now his, since he had received personally his blessing to hold the
powers of the Imperious Leader.
     "By your command," he said aloud, "One yahren.  Then we leave."

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.