Chances
by Patti Aliventi
November 11, 1999

Author's Notes:
The first of a series of stories titled Earth's Promise.

This is a story I wrote about 16 years ago for my own enjoyment once
Battlestar Galactica was off the air and I was watching re-runs.  This
was way before the Internet, fanfic, etc. The original story was
written first on a manual typewriter, then a second treatment was done
on an Apple IIC.  The "original" treatment has long since disappeared,
but I have resurrected the idea, changed a few characters, and made it
more up-to-date.

Dedication: To Brian Weinstein & Danny Cole, two of the greatest guys I
have ever known!

Disclaimer: These works are fiction stories based on the series
Battlestar Galactica and its characters created and owned by Glen A.
Larson. These stories are not being sold for profit and no infringement
of any copyright rights are intended. All unrecognized characters and
plot lines are mine and copyright protection is claimed. Any
resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

     This story takes place some time after "Hand of God".  Originally,
I intended to eventually tie it to G80.  After some reflection, I
decided that the events of G80 will generally be treated as Pam Ewing's
dream, with the exception of several characters I have lifted.  Hope
you like it!

     _Blip_
     Starbuck  was jolted awake.  "Huh?"
     _Blip_
     He shook his head, clearing out the cobwebs from his hibernation
on deep-space probe, then looked at the scanner in his cockpit.  One
lone object was approaching their position.
     "Boomer!  You got this?"
     "Huh?  What?"  Boomer began to stir from his own hibernation. 
Starbuck's computer had apparently been tripped by the approaching
vessel.  When Starbuck called over to Boomer's viper, his computer
automatically began raising the life-support levels.
     Starbuck looked at the readouts.  "Single vessel.  Energy supply
unknown.  Structure unknown.  Four life forms read."
     "I think I'm picking it up now.  Let me catch up to you before we
get into visual range."
     Boomer kicked in the turbos on his viper and quickly caught up to
Starbuck's viper.  Together they waited for the vessel to come into
visual range, all the while skimming the data that their sensors
spewed.
     "There's nothing familiar about this.  We've never seen anything
like it before," Boomer remarked.  "No apparent weaponry of any kind. 
I'm going to try hailing them.  All communications channels, send out
'Greetings new friend'."
     Starbuck grimaced.  "Greetings new friend" was a council-approved
message that was sent out to any ship they encountered that was clearly
not Colonial in origin. All this had taken place since the incident
with the Terrans; the Council continually was trying to take over more
and more of the day-to-day decisions involved with transporting all
these refugees to their new home.
     "I'm not getting anything," Starbuck said.
     "Neither am I.  We're coming into visual now."
     Both men stared out at the ship.  It was a brilliant white against
the darkness of space;  pointed at the front, almost like a viper, with
a pair of sloping wings towards the rear and a rudder structure at the
top.  It was larger than a viper, about the size of a colonial
shuttlecraft.
     "NASA?" Starbuck sounded confused as he looked at the markings. 
There was also a red and white striped flag with stars in a blue field. 
"Constellation?"
     "Well one of them is probably the name of the ship, like
Galactica," Boomer said. "That'd be my guess."
     "Okay, yeah.  So these people are NASA-ites?"
     "Don't know.  I'm still not getting an answer on the comm
channels.  The computer is trying every frequency we know."
     "Well then we have to steer it back to the Galactica and they can
tractor beam it in," Starbuck said.  "We'll hook on our tow cables, lay
in the course, and hibernate until we're back."
     "Agreed."
     The two men powered-up the turbos on their vipers and swung around
to approach the unfamiliar vessel from the rear.  After shutting down
the thrusters, their vipers slid alongside and easily seemed to grab
the vessel.
     "No response.  I would think they would object," Boomer stated,
perplexed.
     "Maybe it's a science vessel.  No weaponry?"
     "But no defenses whatsoever?  That's pretty naive."
     They waited a few more centons to see if there would be a
response.  "Well, I'm going to go back to deep-space hibernation.  If I
stay awake any longer, I'm going to start getting hungry."
     "All right Starbuck.  I'm going to go back to sleep soon too.  See
you back at the Galactica."

                              ***

     Starbuck and Boomer awoke when they were within long-range scan of
the Galactica.
     "Blue squadron deep-space probe to Galactica," Boomer called over
the comm.  This time he had woken up first.
     "Galactica to blue squadron deep-space probe, we read you.  We are
picking up a third vessel.  Acknowledge," came Athena's voice.
     "Is this a secure channel Galactica?" asked Boomer
     "It is now," Athena replied.
     "We have a vessel of unknown origin in tow.  Four life readings
aboard."
     "Human life forms," Starbuck chimed in.  "At least, that's what my
computer is telling me now."
     "Acknowledged.  Stand by for authorization."
     In the bridge of the Galactica, Tigh had joined Athena's station. 
As the sensor data was fed to her scanner, he managed to get Commander
Adama's attention.  He joined them.
     "What's this?"
     "A vessel that Starbuck and Boomer have brought in tow."
     Adama took the headset from Athena so he could speak with the
warriors directly.  "Is this a secure channel?"  He wanted to keep this
from the rest of the fleet as long aspossible.  He would deal with the
repercussions from the council when he had to.
     "Yes sir."
     "Have you made any attempts at communication?"
     Starbuck was astonished to hear the Commander's voice over his
comm-link. "Yes sir.  No response."
     "We haven't had any resistence of any kind.  They have no apparent
weaponry."
     "Acknowledged.  We will have a detachment meet you in the aft
landing bay. You are clear to land.  All other traffic will be
diverted," Adama turned to Colonel Tigh, "Have all other vipers and
shuttles use the other landing bay.  Cite 'Routine Maintenance'."
       Tigh perused the information Athena had brought up on the
scanner, derived from the sensor sweeps Starbuck and Boomer had made. 
"Well, they aren't Terran."  He hesitated a few microns. "Have all
available warriors meet us in the landing bay when Boomer and Starbuck
arrive."
     "Sir?"
     "Just do it Athena.  I don't want Council Security getting wind of
this before the Commander has a chance to assess the situation.  If
it's anything like the last time..."
     "Understood Colonel."

                              ***

     Dr. Wilker and Cassiopeia were almost finished gathering whatever
data they could from the outside of the vessel.
     "This appears to be some sort of heat-resistant tile," Dr. Wilker
observed.  "Primitive, actually.  Our early vessels contained this sort
of covering."
     "Can you get any atmospheric readings?"
     Cassie shook her head.  "Most of our sensors are being reflected,
either from the tile or whatever metal this is constructed of.  From
the readings, I can guess that it is a compatible atmosphere to ours,
but I can't guarantee it."
     "I haven't seen any movement up there," Apollo said, nodding
towards small viewports near the top of the ship.  He had joined them,
along with the rest of the colonial warriors.  Starbuck and Boomer came
from the direction of their vipers to join them.
     "Apollo, I want you and Boomer to open up the hatch up there. 
Everyone else, stand back and be prepared," Commander Adama stated.
     "I don't know if that's a good idea Commander," Dr. Wilker
protested.  "I'd like to take more readings of the structure before we
do that."
     "I know, Doctor.  And I agree.  However, we now have the benefit
of previous experience.  If we wait too long, the Council is simply
going to order it anyway.  At least these people will get to deal with
us first and not members of the Council." Adama smiled, remembering the
disaster that accompanied the Terran ship.  Not only had it nearly cost
him his seat on the Council and his Command, but he ended up putting
his best warriors at risk of ending up on the Prison Barge.  He would
not risk that happening again.  If these people could express a desire
for him to simply put them back on their intended course, he would -
quietly.
     "And whatever you do, make sure your blasters are set on 'stun'."
Apollo remembered all too well what had gone when a frightened Michael
had appeared at thedoorway when they had the Terran vessel in the
landing bay.  Thankfully there was no Council Security around the
landing bay today.
     The two men climbed the platform to the door-hatch.  It took
Boomer a few centons to figure out how to unlock the hatch, but then
came the familiar hiss as an airlock was breached.  Gently, the two men
opened up the door; a little at first, then wide.  Down onthe ground,
all anyone could see was darkness.
     Apollo looked in.  "The atmosphere seems compatible.  We're going
to need lighting.  It looks like all of the power..."
     He was stopped short by a popping sound.  He looked up, then
looked at Boomer.
     "By the Lords..."
     Boomer was staring at the front of Apollo.  Red spots began
appearing on his tunic.  With horror, Apollo realized he was bleeding
as he collapsed.  Boomer immediately took out his blaster, then
realized he had been winged on his shoulder.  Starbuck, Jolly and
Dillon immediately climbed up to the doorway.
     Sheba and Bojay appeared out of nowhere, and helped pull an
unconscious Apollo out of danger to where Cassiopeia could attend to
him.
     "Have Doctor Salik paged to the landing bay," Tigh said quickly to
one of the  warriors.
     Starbuck peered in, and drew rapid fire at himself.  "Whoever is
in there has good cover.  I can't see a fracking thing."
     Boomer let off a couple of volleys of fire with his blaster,
hoping that might deter whoever was firing or, if he was very lucky, it
might actually hit him.
     "They're using projectiles!" Cassiopeia shouted up to him.
     "Projectiles?  I haven't heard of anyone..." Starbuck ducked as
more fire was sent off at them.  "The way I see it we have two choices. 
We can either storm the ship, or wait them out."
     "Let's get this over with," Boomer stated.  "On three, follow me
in.  First Starbuck, then you Jolly, then Dillon."
     All three nodded in agreement.  "One , two, three!"
     Their blasters were firing as the three men disappeared one by one
into the darkness of that ship.  Return fire was heard, then a
deafening silence.
     "By the Lords!"
     "Starbuck!"  Cassiopeia cried as she crouched near Apollo.  As a
med-tech, her first duty was to him, but she was frightened by what the
silence meant.
     After a centon,  Boomer came out, holding his shoulder which was
now bleeding profusely.  "It's all right.  Dillon and Jolly have
secured the situation.  I think - I think I  need a med-tech."
     He slumped against the platform.  Colonel Tigh immediately helped
him over to where Apollo was.  Sheba, Bojay and Greenbean immediately
ran into the ship.
     Dillon and Jolly were holding two men and one woman prisoner.  The
two men appeared to be about thirty to thirty-five yahrens.  The woman
was about thirty yahrens.  All were dressed in orange flight-suits with
various insignias decorating the front and sleeves.  Again, they saw
the *NASA* symbol.  On the floor was various weaponry, the kind they
had never seen, except in some history books.
     "How are Apollo and Boomer?" Jolly asked immediately.
     "Cassiopeia is looking at them now.  Where's Starbuck?"
     "He went to secure the rest of the ship."
     Sheba and Bojay began walking down a short corridor in the
direction Jolly had indicated.

                              ***

     As soon as Starbuck was sure the situation was under control, he
immediately wanted to make sure there were no more surprises on board. 
The three humans either did not understand Colonial Standard, or were
refusing to talk.  Slowly he crept through the hatches, through what
appeared to be living and science quarters.
     This ship was highly automated, with computers far in advance of
their own.  Strange how their computers were so advanced, but their
weaponry so primitive.  In what appeared to be the galley, he stopped. 
There was a table and two chairs with a scanner above.  Two plates with
the remainder of some sort of food sat on top of the table.  Starbuck
quickly glanced around the room, but saw no food storage or preparation
facilities.  How did these people eat?
     He was startled by a noise from the next room over.  The hatch
between the rooms was not quite closed.  He took the blaster out of his
holster and silently crept towards the hatch.  Without a sound, he
pushed it open so he could stick his head in.
     There was a woman.  Well actually, she was more girl than woman;
only about twenty yahrens or less.  Long light blond hair was wet
hanging down her back and she was wearing very form-fitting short pants
and a loose shirt with a picture of a smiling rodentia on it.  She was
on some kind of exercise equipment, reading what appeared to be a book,
allthe while with a kind of headset over her ears.  A wire ran from the
headset to a computerpanel in the wall.
     Quietly Starbuck slipped into the room.  She seemed not to take
notice; she only continued to read the book.  He took the wire in his
hand, and pulled.  Immediately, he regretted it.  The cabin was filled
with an excruciating sound.
     *You say you want a rev-o-lu-sha-hun, we-ell you know*
     "What the...?"  The woman/girl hit a control pad on her exercise
equipment and immediately the noise ceased.  "And just who the hell are
you?" she asked without missing a step.
     Starbuck did not know what to do; he was stunned, which was quite
unusual for him.  "I'm - I'm Lieutenant Starbuck of the Battlestar
Galactica."
     The girl got a wry smile on her face, and slid off of the
equipment.  "Great, I could use a cup of coffee."  He looked at her
quizzically.  She realized he didn't know what she was talking about. 
"Well are you going to shoot me or just stand there?"
     "What?  Huh?"  Starbuck looked down and realized he still had his
blaster drawn.  That snapped him out of the stupor he seemed to be in. 
"Do you have a name?"      The girl picked up a cloth and began to wipe
the sweat from her face and neck.  "Stevie."
     "Well we have a little problem Stevie and I'd appreciate it if you
would come with me."
     Stevie wrapped the towel around her neck.  Starbuck holstered his
blaster, deciding that she was not the dangerous type, then motioned
for her to go ahead of him through the hatchway.
     They met up with Sheba and Bojay in the next room over.  The three
warriors escorted her out of her ship; an absurd sight the three of
them made, escorting her this way, she thought.  When she saw the signs
of blood near the main hatch, she understood how serious it was.
     "Great.  What did they do now?"  She mumbled to herself.
     "What was that?"  Sheba asked.  She was standing the closest to
Stevie at this point.
     Stevie sighed.  "Nothing."
     They emerged from the ship, and she got a glimpse of just what the
problem was.  It looked as if two of Starbuck's people had been shot
and were being attended to.  Obviously, Brian and/or Danny had done the
shooting.  They were being held under armed guard, with Cindy being
held a little away from them.  The scene was, in general, very chaotic.
     As the two who had been shot were loaded on what appeared to be a
gurney, Stevie was ushered over to stand next to Cindy.  Danny shot her
a look, reinforcing the military training she had received.  Name,
rank, serial number.  She knew the drill.
     'But they're humans!' she thought. 'This is different!'
     Danny still glared at her, as if he knew what was going through
her mind.
     "I am Commander Adama.  You are aboard the Battlestar Galactica. 
One of those two men you just shot was my son."
     Stevie groaned.  "Can you say deep shit?"  Even Cindy turned to
glare at her now, but she didn't notice.
     Starbuck grinned, despite himself.
     "If that means that you are in a lot of trouble, that you are."
The Commander addressed Stevie now, sensing that she was the one he
could get answers from.
     "You mean this is a ship?  This isn't a planet we're on?"  She was
just now  grasping this fact.
     "Shut up Stevie," Danny ordered her.
     Adama's head snapped around, and he walked over to the two men. 
"Dillon, Jolly, and Bojay.  You three take these men to the brig. 
Starbuck, Greenbean, and Sheba.  You three guard these women on board
their ship.  Do not let them out of your sight.  I will be back after I
check on my son."
     Adama wanted them to sit and think for a while before he began
questioning them.  There was no doubt in his mind that Apollo and
Boomer would be fine, it was just that there was not much experience
dealing with injuries from projectiles anymore.
     Stevie followed Starbuck into the ship.  Behind her was Cindy,
Greenbean, and Sheba.  Starbuck stopped at the room he had found her. 
"Is this your rejuvenation center?"
     Cindy sat down in one of the chairs that was fastened to the wall
and glared at Stevie.
     Stevie was torn.  She knew her orders; knew what she was supposed
to do, but  her instincts were telling her totally different.  "This
isn't like those robots or whatever they were Cindy."
     "Robots?"  Sheba asked.  The remark had caught her attention.  She
had desperately wanted to take off after Apollo, but Adama had wanted
her to stay here.  That probably meant he did not think Apollo's life
was in danger, but she would rather be at the infirmary now than here. 
"Do you mean the Cylons?"
     Cindy shook her head, but said nothing.
     "If you mean these tall, shiny, chrome-domes.  Yeah.  I also
forgot to mention, real stupid."
     "You had an encounter with them?" Sheba asked.  It would be so
easy for her not to like these people, but she was beginning to think
they had a reason to be suspicious.  Still, they had wounded both
Boomer and Apollo...
     "I think we had better leave the inquisition to Commander Adama,"
Starbuck countered, even though he himself was dying to hear how these
apparently primitive  people had managed to escape from the Cylons.
     They waited in silence for the Commander to return for
interrogation.  Stevie tried to process what this all meant, but was
having a hard time with it.  There were humans out there!  Or were they
people from her planet, simply from another time?  Could that be? 
Either way, the prospects were amazing in her mind.
     It seemed like it took forever for Adama to return. 
'Interrogation tactics,' Cindy knew.  'If only Stevie would keep her
mouth shut.  She is way too young and inexperienced to be on this
mission.  Still, she saved us from those robots; Cylons; whatever they
were.'
     They heard Adama coming, his boots scraping on the metal flooring
long before he was in the hatchway and entering the room.  "Very small
ship you have here."
     Stevie realized how tall he was, taller than either Brian or
Danny, making it tough for him to get through the small hatch openings
between the sections of the ship.  She wondered how old he was.
     Adama put his hand on Sheba's arm.  "Apollo and Boomer will be
just fine.  Cassie and Dr. Salik are holding them for a few more
centars, but they'll be fine."
     The three warriors sighed with relief.  Inside, Stevie did too.
     Cindy stood up and walked to behind Stevie, putting her hands on
her shoulders.  'I'm being treated like a child,' Stevie thought.  'And
after I got them away from those things!  You'd still be there if I
hadn't...'
     Her thoughts were interrupted as Adama sat down in front of the
two of them, his warriors standing behind them.
     "They were in Cylon captivity for a period, sir.  That's all that
was said while you were gone," Sheba informed him.
     "Well, that may explain a lot.  How about we get introductions
done?  I am Commander Adama.  This is Lieutenant Sheba, Lieutenant
Starbuck, and Ensign Greenbean."
     Stevie could barely suppress a smile at the last name.  'Sounds
just like he's off the farm from Iowa,' she thought.
     "Cynthia Johnson, Captain, United States Air Force."
     "Stephanie Murphy, Mission Specialist."
     "So which one of you wants to tell me what happened with the
Cylons?"
     Both remained quiet, though Stevie couldn't look them in the eye.
     "Colonel Tigh is with your friends where they are being held.  He
is questioning them too.  It's in your best interests to answer my
questions."
     "How do we know that sir?" Cindy asked.
     Adama sighed and rose to walk around the small, crowded room. 
"You don't.  I guess you have to take my word for it.  Do you need
supplies?  Nourishment?"
     "We have a replicator."  Cindy jabbed Stevie in the back for that
last remark.
     Adama could tell he was right.  The younger of the women was the
one to get the answers from.
     "And I wish I could get something alcoholic from it right now,"
Stevie mumbled.
     "Look, if the Cylons have destroyed your world, perhaps we can
help you; offer you sanctuary.  We're fleeing from them too.  You just
have to tell us."
     Stevie looked up at Cindy.  'Oh the hell with it,' she thought.
     "We have no idea where or when we are.  We are, literally, at your
mercy."

                           Chapter 2

     Brian sat on the cold floor of his cell, alone, arms folded across
the front of his jumpsuit and gently tugging at the patch on his
sleeve.  It was a nervous habit; as a child he had always picked at one
thing or another, totally disgusting his mother.  As he got older, he
picked at his clothes and his beard whenever he grew any kind of
stubble.  'The razors have been holding out so far,' he thought as he
rubbed his chin.
     'Mom,' he thought. 'How are you holding up?  Are you clinging to
Eric with every fiber of your being?'  He thought of his younger
brother, still left at home; her only child left as far as she knew. 
Brian's twin brother had been killed in a drunk-driving accident when
they were seventeen, and now this...
     When they had arrived in this area of the ship, which he assumed
was the brig,  Danny had been taken somewhere further down the
corridor.  He had thought of calling out to him, to see if Danny was
anywhere nearby and could hear him.  There was one deterrent, however. 
From where he sat, he could see the guard outside of the clear doors of
the prison.  Her head turned as two sets of footsteps were heard in the
otherwise silent corridor.  Brian saw the Commander who had ordered him
to this prison cell appear in the doorway.  Instinctively, he sat up.
     "Edana, I want to speak with him alone.  Tigh will stay out here
with you.  I want you to be alert should anything out of the ordinary
happen."
     She nodded he understanding, then inserted her key-card in the
control panel which secured the doors.  The transparent doors slid
aside and the Commander walked in.
     Brian knew military protocol, but he chose to ignore it and
remained seated on the floor of the cell.  Adama and he stared at one
another in silence for quite some time.  "As I said before, I'm
Commander Adama.  The ship you are on is The Colonial Battlestar
Galactica.  You and your friends have gotten yourselves in a bit of
trouble," he finally said.
     It almost seemed as if he were a teenager again and were talking
with his father.  Brian attempted to shake off the intimidation factor. 
"We did what we felt was right," he said with a slight shrug.
     Adama sat on the edge of the berth in the room and folded his arms
in front of himself.  "The two men you injured are going to be fine."
     At that, Brian breathed a sigh of relief.  He didn't share the
same views his co-pilot held and had begun to regret their actions
almost immediately.
     Adama heard the sigh and was satisfied.  He had believed that they
were frightened more than anything else, and he hoped this was true. 
"We've been talking with your two friends.  You had an encounter with
the Cylons prior to our patrol running into you?"
     Brian nodded, wondering just how much Cindy and Stevie had told
them.  Did it even make a difference at this point?  He doubted it.
     "We were on their ship for a little more than a day before we
managed to get off of it."
     "Would you want to explain exactly how you did that?"
     "I don't think so."
     "Somehow, I thought that would be your answer.  Stephanie seemed
quite eager to talk, but Cynthia is keeping her quiet."  Adama got up
and walked around the room.  Brian's eyes followed him.  "Why don't you
tell me your name?"
     "Brian Murphy.  Captain, United States Air Force."
     Adama looked at him hard.  "Are you and Stephanie related?  You
have the same second name."
     "She's my sister," he said with a deep sigh.  "And you're right,
if you were to get anything out of any of us, it would be her."
     He stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts.  Slowly he stood
up and stretched his legs, then leaned against a wall.  "However, I'll
deflect any of the trouble she may get into and try to answer your
questions as best I can.  Agreed?"
     Adama nodded.  He had an idea that this was not the first time
that Brian had tried to keep his sister from getting into trouble.  It
seemed something he was used to doing.
     "Can you give me a briefing about what happened with the Cylons?"
Adama asked as he sat down on the bunk again.
     Brian nodded, his blond hair shaking in front of his face for a
moment.  It hadn't been cut in months and was now in long waves almost
to his shoulders.  His blue eyes sparkled, but were intense with his
concentration on what he should and should not say.  "The Cylons were
the first contact we've had since leaving our planet.  We were happy at
first.  We knew we were running low on fuel and would have to start
making some hard decisions real soon.
     "Well we weren't safe.  They acted friendly until we exited our
ship.  I'd guess now they mistakened us for being with you."
     Adama could tell Brian was quick.  "You picked up on that very
well."
     Brian shrugged.  "It seems to be the main point you're interested
in so I'd venture a guess that you don't get along too well with them."
     Adama smiled slightly.  "Now you have put me in the position of
wondering just how much I should tell you."
     Brian remained quiet, waiting for Adama to continue.  His face
seemed to grow more somber until he finally spoke.
     "The Cylons committed genocide on the twelve worlds that made up
where we came from.  Their only goal is to eradicate all humans from
the universe."
     Brian was quiet for a few moments, staring at the floor, then he
looked up, directly into Commander Adama's eyes.  His own blue eyes
were intense and angry.  "Then I guess that makes them our enemy too."
     The meaning of his words was not lost on Adama.  An alliance with
humans they may encounter along their journey could benefit both sides. 
Brian and his group could be returned home... there was technology to
share... the fleet could use supplies...
     "Once we were in their ship," Brian continued.  "We were taken to
a detention area.  Danny and I were sent for an interrogation.  At
first, we wanted to cooperate, but then we began to get nervous.  There
was only one other person on this whole ship.  All the rest were
Cylons.  We were..."
     "One other person?"  Adama interrupted.  "Were they holding a
prisoner?"
     Brian shook his head.  "No sir.  He was their leader, I think.  A
man named 'Baltar'."
     Adama sat down again, stunned.  "By the Lords, they rescued him."
     "You know this guy?"
     "He betrayed our entire civilization to the Cylons," Adama said. 
"He is directly responsible for the annihilation of our worlds and the
murder of our people."
     "Oh....  I'm sorry."
     "Well, whether you realize it or not, that alone is very valuable
information for us.  How did you escape?"  Adama continued once he
recovered from his shock.  He could not believe that Baltar could
manage to get the Cylons to pick him up so quickly after they marooned
him on that planet.
     "Ah.... I'd rather not answer that just yet."
     Adama managed a wry smile.  He found himself liking this man more
and more.  It was regretful that everything had begun in such a adverse
manner. "Don't want to give away all of your secrets?"
     "Something like that."
     "Well I've managed so far to keep the news of your arrival from
The Council of Twelve - our ruling body .  However, they will have
final say in the disposition of you and your friends.  Is your planet
nearby that we can return you to the authorities there?  Or do you want
to be set down on a habitable planet?"
     Brian thought for a few moments before answering.  To answer the
Commander's question honestly could mean giving away classified
information.  However, unless a solution presented itself soon, he knew
that the four of them were doomed.  "We have no idea how to return to
our own planet.  As far as living out our lives on a planet by
ourselves, I guess for me that'd be fine.  For Danny too, in all
likelihood.  Stevie would hate it.  She's too young.  She's got her
whole life ahead of her.  She misses having people around her."
     'Who am I kidding?' he thought to himself. 'Stevie's not the only
one lonely as all hell.  I am too.  I want to be around other people. 
I want friends.  I want a life.'
     "Are you asking for refuge with my people?"
     "I don't know.  I think we'd have to discuss it; the four of us."
     "How did you manage to 'lose' your planet?"
     "We were testing a new engine design; trying to attain light
speed.  Something malfunctioned or there was an effect in the vacuum of
space that no one planned on.  We apparently created a wormhole.  We
tried to shut down the engines, but life support malfunctioned and we
all lost consciousness before we had a chance.  When we came to, there
was no signs anywhere of our planet and we had no idea exactly where or
when we were."
     "You said 'when'?" Adama asked.
     "When we were ordered to shut down the engines, Houston reported
getting strange readings, including some temporal fluctuations."
     "Temporal?  You mean time travel?"
     "We don't know," Brian said with uncertainty and frustration.  "We
just don't know.  We've been over the readings hundreds of times since
it happened.  We've never seen anything like it before except in
theory, and neither did Houston.  They ordered us to shut down the new
engines, but we never did.  Eventually they shut themselves down."
     "I see."  Adama was only understand part of Brian's explanation,
but he thought that he was grasping the important parts.
     "We were trying to figure out where we are and which way home is. 
We've been out here about three months."
     "If you were on a science mission only, why were you carrying
weaponry?"
     "Things aren't going well on our planet, politically." Brian's
face was very somber.  "There's been quite a bit of terrorism lately
and it was decided we needed protection if we accidentally landed in
unfriendly territory.  Not that the four of us could do much against a
band of terrorists."
     'Except kill ourselves.'
     Adama stood up to leave.  "Thank you, Brian, for answering my
questions.  I expect to be back here soon to talk to you some more.  Do
yourself a favor, though.  If anyone from The Council wants to talk to
you, don't.  Wait to answer any of their questions until you're called
in for an inquiry."
     "I understand.  Can I see my sister?  Talk to her?"
     "I don't think it would be a good idea to have you leave The
Detention Area until some decisions are made."
     "Can she come down here?"
     Adama thought it over.  "Frankly, it's against my better
judgement.  However, I will make an exception since you have been
cooperative, provided you accept security measures.  I will not have
the two of you left alone.  There will be a Colonial Warrior and
security personnel around you at all times."
     "I understand sir.  Thank you."
     Edana opened the doors for him, then quickly closed them behind
him.
     "How did it go Sir?" Tigh asked immediately.
     "Very well.  They seem to be decent humans, just frightened.  I'm
going to notify The Council and prepare for an inquiry into the
situation.  I'd like to have Dr. Wilker take a look at their technology
and see if there's anything we would be interested in."
     "Sir?"
     "I want to be able to make an argument before The Council that we
should assimilate these people in with our own."
     Edana's mouth opened in shock.
     "You can't be serious sir?"  Tigh asked, equally astonished.
     "I am serious.  They're human beings away from their planet.  In
all likelihood, a planet that was settled by a part of The Thirteenth
Tribe.  We've seen this on many other planets we've passed so far,
including Terra."
     "And they seem to have the same militaristic demeanor as The
Eastern Alliance."
     "No Tigh, I don't think so.  I think they were just frightened and
reacted the same way a frightened, wounded daggit would when cornered."
     "They injured your son!" Edana was bewildered by Adama's attitude.
     "Yes, they did.  And there will have to be some punishment... or
restitution for that crime.  However, I believe there are extenuating
circumstances here.  Captain Murphy in there has requested to see his
sister.  Stephanie is his sister.  Tigh, please arrange for a warrior
to escort her down here later in the day.  Edana, they are not to be
left alone.  Either you or the warrior escort are to be in the room
with them at all times and listening to their conversation.  If they
break the rules, remove her immediately back to the ship."
     "Yes sir."
     "I'm going to contact The Council and begin an inquisition.  I
don't want Council Security near these people, Edana.  I'll keep
warriors with them in the landing bay, but I want you to keep yourself
or any security officers you particularly trust in this area."
     "I take it you're expecting trouble then?"
     Adama put his hands to his forehead and kneaded as if a headache
were already forming.  "I just know what we've been through previously. 
We have a chance to make these people our allies and I don't want to
lose it."
     "I'll take care of that sir."
     "Thank you Edana.  Tigh, I'll contact you once I have contacted
all of the Councillors."

                              ***

     Stevie had lasted for all of fifteen minutes in complete silence.
     "I'm thirsty,"  she said and walked over to a panel in the wall. 
"Diet Mountain Dew," she said, apparently to the wall.  A short time
later, a panel below it opened and a cup with her soda slid out.
     "Get me a Coke," Cindy chimed in.
     "Would you two like anything?"  Stevie asked, noticing how
intently they were watching her.
     "Uh... Do you have water?"  Starbuck asked.  He had never seen
drinks the color of what the two women were drinking.
     Stevie produced two cups of water.  It did not have the flat,
boiled taste Starbuck was used to.  Greenbean and he exchanged quick
glances.  There was definitely more to these people than what met the
eye.
     Cindy walked over to the wall and pulled out a small disc from a
shelf that held quite a few of them, and slid it into a slot that was
built in another wall with a viewing screen below it.  Immediately it
sparkled to life and a short time later the picture began.
     Starbuck and Greenbean tried not to pay attention, but became
intrigued.  He recognized the trans-vid technology.  It was a motion
picture made with great care and detail; something that no one had the
time or currency to do in the Colonies before the Cylon destruction.
     "Is that your world?"  Greenbean asked, finally giving in to his
curiosity.
     "Well, it's a movie.  This hasn't and isn't happening," Stevie
explained.
     "This was made about twenty years before we left our planet,"
Cindy chimed in.  She was warming up to the idea of having someone to
talk to other than the three people she had spent the last three months
with.
     Starbuck's and Greenbean's mouths dropped open at the sight of a
helicopter skimming across a beautiful blue ocean, arriving at a lush,
green island, and landing in front of a beautiful waterfall.
     "Is that - is that your planet?"  Starbuck asked.
     "Well that's Hawaii.  It's not all like that.  Alaska is snowy,
but beautiful," Cindy said.
     "Yeah, then there's the cities, like New York, Los Angeles. 
They're polluted, crowded, noisy..." Stevie trailed off.
     "Well there's a lot of nice places.  You just haven't seen them
yet."
     Stevie scowled, then sat in silence.  Just because she was so much
younger than everyone else, they had treated her like a child since
this mission began. 'Yet, when it mattered, when it really counted, who
had been the one to save them?' she thought with quite a bit of
satisfaction.
     Starbuck and Greenbean became enthralled with the movie and sat
down in silence to watch it.  They asked several questions, and Stevie
remained silent. 'Let Cindy look like an idiot.'
     About a centar later, they heard footsteps and Dillon entered the
room.  "Greenbean, you're due on patrol in five centons."
     "Frack!  This was just getting good!"  He watched at a
Tyrannosaurus Rex began tearing down the now-off electric fence.  "You
have to let me watch this when I can come back again."
     Stevie grinned and turned.  "Sure."
     For the first time, she saw Dillon.
     Well, that wasn't true.  He had been with the group when she had
exited their ship with Starbuck the first time, but she hadn't really
seen him.  Wavy light brown hair and sparkly green eyes captured her
heart the minute she laid eyes on him.  'Oh Lord, if this is love at
first sight, I'm a casualty!'
     He was much taller than her; somewhere around six-four, she
estimated, and wearing a warrior's uniform like Starbuck, Greenbean and
the others, but he looked different.  He carried himself with a great
deal of confidence.
     "So what are you watching that has Greenbean so mesmerized?"
     His voice was deep and gravely, with a strength Stevie hadn't
heard except in the true military leaders.  She turned back to the
movie, trying to regain her composure.
     "It's great," Starbuck said, motioning for Dillon to sit by him on
the floor.  "There are these giant reptilia called dinosaurs that are
on this island..."
     "They were cloned," Cindy chimed in. "They were on our planet many
years ago."
     "Wow.  No wonder you left."
     "No, it's a movie," Stevie chimed in, finally getting the lump out
of her throat.  "It's made up; a story."
     "Oh."
     Starbuck and Dillon were so intrigued with the story, they
apparently did not notice a sign displayed in one of the scenes:  *When
Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth*.

                              ***

     Stevie was amazed at the size of the Galactica when they walked
from the Landing Bay where their ship was being held to the Brig where
Brian was.  She walked next to Bojay, who had been instructed to bring
her here.
     As they turned another corner, she saw a woman standing guard
about a third of the way down the corridor.  "Do you want to go in with
them or should I?" she asked.
     "I'll go in," Bojay countered.
     Stevie saw Brian stand up as the clear doors quickly slid open,
then closed just as quickly behind them once they were inside. 
Immediately, Stevie ran to hug him.
     Brian hugged her, then gently kissed her on top of her head.  "Are
you all right?" he asked.
     "I'm fine.  How about you?"
     He shrugged.  "Been better.  What's going on?"
     "Not much.  Cindy and I are under guard on the shuttle."
     Brian nodded, then looked her straight in the eyes.  "Tell them
anything they want, Stevie," he said firmly.
     Her mouth dropped open.  "But I thought - I mean - Cindy said..." 
She was completely taken aback by Brian's attitude.
     "Stevie, where are we?  Do you know?  I sure don't.  Danny can
spout all the regulations he wants to, but there's no regulations for
this situation.  As far as I'm concerned, we're on our own out here and
we have to use our own judgement.  I've already talked to their
Commander and given him information.  If Danny wants to get mad at
someone for squealing, it can be me."
     Stevie smiled wryly.  "Are you bailing your sister our of trouble
again?  This time before she gets in it?"
     He smiled sheepishly.  "It's a habit I've gotten used to."

     <<"Let Stevie serve as a Mission Specialist.  She needs a chance
to make some restitution for the trouble she's caused. She can do
anything with a computer."
     "So we've seen," the Chief-of-Staff said.  He was in full military
regalia for this meeting, and here was the co-pilot begging to get his
sister out of trouble.  "The whole country... the whole world has seen
how good she is with a computer in the last six months! And now you
want us to let her loose on this high-security mission?"
     "She's a good kid, she just fell in with the wrong crowd.  Give
her a chance and just maybe she'll be on our side next time instead of
against us."  Brian was saving his ace for last.  "Do you have anyone
better in mind for this mission?"
     The Chief-of-Staff had to admit he was right there.  There were no
programmers in any of the branches that were as adept as this man's
eighteen-year-old sister was.
     "All right," he conceded.  "I'll sign her on, but there are a few
conditions...">>
 
     "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry for all the trouble..."
     "I know," he cut her off.  He didn't want this turning into a
burst of emotions for either one of them.
     "So what happens now?"  The two of them walked over and sat on the
bed in his cell.  Bojay stood near the door and leaned against the
wall.
     Brian looked apprehensive.  For a few moments he was quiet.  "Do
you think we're ever going to get home?" he finally asked.
     Stevie opened her mouth to answer, then closed it.
     "You were going to say 'Of course', weren't you?"
     She nodded.
     "That's what we've been telling ourselves all along, haven't we? 
Even if we could find our way back, it might not be the world we know. 
We could be going back to prehistoric times, or thousands of years in
the future..."
     "You want to stay here?" she asked.
     Brian smiled, a warm, silly grin that she was so used to seeing on
him.  "I want a life, Stevie.  I want you to have a life.  I think you
do, too."
     "I had a life.  Till you dragged me along on this godforsaken
adventure."  She grinned jokingly.
     "Till I dragged you along?  Honey, it was this or at least ten
years..."
     She punched his shoulder, smiling all the way through.
     "I love you, big brother."
     "And I love you, my baby sister."
     Stevie rolled her eyes.  "So who's going to break this news to
Colonel Flagg in there?"
     "I'll handle him.  You talk to Cindy; tell her what I've told you. 
I think she'll go along with us."
     "What's going to happen?"
     "Right now they want to have a good look at our technology; see if
there's anything of value to them."
     "I doubt that.  They seem real far ahead of us."
     "Well, just cooperate with them, okay?  When they're poking around
the shuttle, help them to understand things."
     "Sure.  Anything you say."
     "Once they're done with that, there'll be a hearing.  After all,
Danny and I shot two of their guys.  I'm optimistic, though.  The
Commander seems to think we'd be useful around here."
     "I'm not staying if you're not."
     "Stevie..."
     "No, I mean it.  As far as I know, you're the only relative I have
left in this  universe.  I'm not leaving you.  If they say you can't
stay then I won't."
     "Time's up," Edana said as she opened the doors.
     "I'll see you at the hearing, okay?" Brian asked they stood up and
hugged.
     "Okay," she reassured him.  She had to make sure they stayed here,
and stayed together.  At any cost.

                              ***

     When Bojay brought her back to the shuttle, Starbuck was sitting
alone watching Star Wars.
     "Looking for your friend?  Cindy?"  He asked.
     Stevie nodded.
     "Said she was tired and wanted some sleep."
     "Oh.  She was going off duty when all of this happened anyway. 
Twelve on, twelve off.  That's how we work it."
     "She said I could watch this."
     "Yeah, sure.  That's fine."
     Stevie wanted to know where Dillon was. Keep your mouth shut for
now, she thought to herself.  Bojay apparently was staying also.
     "If you want to get some rest..." Starbuck started to say.
     "I don't need it.  I was only awake a few minutes when you found
me."
     "Why do you have all of these with you?"  He asked as he pointed
at the screen showing the movie.
     "Well, we were on an experimental mission.  If everything had gone
as planned and the engines fired properly, we'd have ended up somewhere
in our solar system.  We didn't know if we could fire up the engines to
get home again or if we would chance it, so we brought something to
entertain us for the time it would take to get back to our planet.  It
was only supposed to be for a year, maybe a little more."
     She sat with them a few minutes, then got restless. 'Food,' she
thought.
     "That smells good," Bojay walked over to where Stevie was taking a
bowl of hot, buttered popcorn out of the replicator.  Starbuck had also
turned around as the smell wafted over to him, causing his stomach to
growl.
     "Have some," Stevie offered.
     "Oh no, I wouldn't want to deplete your supplies," Bojay said. 
"Smells wonderful, though."
     "We have plenty.  Have some," Stevie offered again.  This time he
took her up on it.
     "Wow.  Try this Starbuck!"
     Starbuck was a little leery.  She sat down and held out the bowl
to him.  After much examination of a single piece, he finally put it in
his mouth.
     He had never tasted anything like it before.  It was light, yet
with a distinctly rich taste to it.  He took another piece and now
tasted the salt also on it.  "This is really good."
     "It's a grain native to our country.  The natives introduced it to
the explorers and settlers who first came there."
     "You mean part of your planet hasn't been explored?  It must be
awfully big," Starbuck said as he picked up a few pieces and put them
into his mouth.
     "Up until about five hundred years ago, they thought our planet
was flat," Stevie explained.  "Where we come from, it was 'discovered'
by explorers and only settled really within the last three hundred and
fifty years."
     "We've been fighting Cylons for a thousand yahren," Bojay said.
     "Yahren... years.  Think it's about the same?" Stevie asked.
     "Probably,"  Starbuck answered, then had an inspiration.  "Say,
how did humans get on your planet?"
     Stevie shrugged.  "Always been there.  Evolved there some time
after those things you were watching before became extinct."
     Starbuck wondered if Adama had any intention of explaining the
13th Tribe to these people.  Might come as quite a surprise...
     "Do you know any card games?" Stevie asked.
     Starbuck's head whipped around.  "Pyramid?"
     "That's a card game?"
     He nodded.
     "No, I've never played anything called Pyramid.  How about I teach
you a card game today, then the next time you're here, you can teach me
Pyramid?"
     "Sounds interesting.  Do you... uh... wager on any of your card
games?"
     "Of course," Stevie smiled.  She was liking Starbuck more and
more.
     The replicator spouted out three bowls of pretzel sticks, and
Stevie took a deck of cards from a drawer.  "You're going to join us,
aren't you Bojay?"
     "Why not?" he said with a smile.
     "I don't have any of your money to play with, and you're just
learning anyway, so I thought we could bet with these."  She placed the
three bowls of pretzels on the table.  Bojay and Starbuck looked at
them, then took a taste.
     "These are good."
     "Plenty more where that came from," Stevie said as she sat down
and took a rubber-band off of the deck of cards.  "The name of the
game, gentlemen, is poker..."

                           Chapter 3

     "I can't believe it," Apollo said.  He was sitting in the quarters
his father and his son shared while he bunked with the rest of his
squadron.  To enable him to get a few cycle's rest before returning to
duty, Adama had suggested he stay here.  "You want to petition The
Council to grant asylum to the people who shot your son?" He was only
half-joking when he asked this.
     "They were frightened Apollo.  You can understand that.  Imagine
Michael happening on the Cylons first instead of us."
     Apollo rubbed at his chest, where he was still bandaged. 
Tomorrow, the bandages could come off and after a few days of therapy
he would be as good as new.  Still...
     "Look," Adama began as he paced the room.  "I will especially need
your's and Boomer's support in this.  Talk to Brian.  He's a decent
fellow.  From what I understand, Starbuck and the others have been
fairly impressed with the two women on the ship."
     "Well that doesn't really surprise me," Apollo said sarcastically. 
"There's more to this father; what aren't you telling me?"
     Adama shook his head.  "I can't put my finger on it, but every
instinct I have tells me that these people are important to us in our
quest for earth.  Maybe there are clues on their planet that will tell
us more."
     "So you think we're meant to deliver them back to their planet?"
     Adama smiled.  "It's just a hunch, Apollo."
     "Your hunches have been right so far.  You were right about Kobol
being at the end of that field we went through; you were right about
Iblis; you were right about that Cylon basestar."
     "You'll give an old man a swelled head if you keep talking like
that," Adama cautioned with a smile.
     The door opened and Apollo's young son came running in, followed
by his ever-present mechanical daggit.  "Father, are you okay?  I heard
you were in he infirmary!"
     Apollo glanced at Adama, wondering just how much he should reveal
to the boy.  "It's nothing major, Boxey.  It's a small injury and
Cassiopeia and Dr. Salik managed to fix me just fine.  I'll be back to
normal in a few cycles."
     "Is it true that we have more visitors on the Galactica?  And that
they might be from Earth?"  The boy's eyes were wide with amazement.
     "They're from a planet called NASA, I think," Adama explained to
Boxey.  "At least, that's what the markings on their ship say.  We'll
learn more as time goes on."
     "Once The Council is done dragging them across the fire-fields of
Sagittaria, you mean," Apollo commented.
     Adama was about to respond to his son's comment went the comm-link
buzzed.  Dr. Wilker's face appeared on the scanner.  "Yes, Dr. Wilker."
     "Hello Commander.  I just returned from my evaluation and I wanted
to discuss this with you immediately.  I don't know how much you want
to keep classified."
     "Yes.  Just a moment." Adama wouldn't have minded Apollo staying
in the room, but it was too much to expect Boxey not to tell his
friends what he heard.
     "Come on, Boxey," Apollo said as he stiffly got out of the chair. 
"We can do some reading together while I rest in your bed.  Maybe you
can sleep with your grandfather tonight."
     "Wow!  Really?"
     Adama waited until the door closed behind them. "Go ahead, Dr.
Wilker."
     "Wonderful news, Adama, absolutely wonderful.  Their technology is
far in advance of our own."
     "I find that hard to believe, given the state of their weaponry. 
They used projectiles against our warriors."
     "Perhaps they are a fairly peaceful planet and are not used to
channeling all of their efforts into defense.  Their computer systems
are well in advance of our own.  Tiny chips control thousands upon
thousands of commands and functions in their ship.  They've broken food
down to its molecular structure and encoded it!  Do you know what that
means?"
     "I'm sure you're going to tell me..."
     "If we can copy it, get them to cooperate with us, there will be
no more hunger in our fleet, Adama."
     Now Adama was paying attention.  "Explain this to me again, Dr.
Wilker."
     "They have this computer called a replicator.  Thousands of food
items from their world have been broken down to a molecular level and
encoded in this computer's memory.  Any time they are hungry, they
simply ask for it and the computer produces that food item."
     "But where does it come from?"
     "From nothing!  There are storage containers in the wall of their
ship that holds the various elements necessary to create the food; the
building blocks; the molecules, if you will.  As they have been
traveling through space, it sifts through the various molecules
drifting around out there and replenishes itself as needed.  It's the
same thing with their air supply."
     Adama was amazed by what he was hearing.  This alone could easily
push The Council into granting permission for these people to stay with
them.  "But it's still a matter of learning their technology, isn't it? 
The only one of these computers we know of is installed in the walls of
their ship."
     Dr. Wilker smiled knowingly.  "That one girl there... Stephanie? 
She's a computer coder, or hacker as she called it."
     Now Adama was extremely intrigued.  "That is very good news, Dr.
Wilker."
     "I know. We've had no expert coders since we left the colonies,
and the only decent coders we had on the Galactica were lost when the
Cylons attacked us on those suicide runs."
     Adama gently touched his chest, remembering how he had nearly lost
his life during that time. "I don't suppose their computer coding is
remotely similar to ours?"
     Dr. Wilker shook his head.  "Sadly, no.  From what I saw they code
various ways.  Sometimes they code a job to run through another code. 
In fact, that seems to be the norm."
     "What else is there Doctor?"
     "Their ship was a prototype; a test module, if you will.  The
engines were a brand new ion-propulsion system, never tested in space
before."
     "That technology was tested thousands of yahrens ago; before our
war with the Cylons, and found to be unstable."
     "Apparently where they come from, interplanetary travel hasn't
been developed yet."
     Adama frowned.  Their computer technology was far in advance of
their own, yet in other ways they were still far behind.  "From what I
have learned from Starbuck and Bojay, they devote a great deal of
resources to the arts.  Perhaps this is a very peaceful planet?"
     Dr. Wilker nodded.  "That would be my guess.  Resources devoted to
motion pictures and music, if you can call that music, instead of war."
     "Very good, Doctor.  The Council inquiry is to begin the day after
tomorrow.  I'd like you to have a full report prepared for them."
     "Of course, Commander.  One more thing, Cassiopeia wanted your
permission to bring the four of them in for full medical scans so she
could do a physiology report."
     "I'll authorize that right away, but have her only do one at a
time."
     "Very good, Adama."
     He closed the transmission to Dr. Wilker and thought over what had
just been told to him.  End hunger in the fleet?  The news seemed too
good to be true.
     That was when the klaxons began to sound.

                              ***

     Tigh was on the bridge, lost in his thoughts about what had
happened over the last day.  The Cylons had been quiet for some time
now and he wasn't really expecting any trouble from them.
     "Sir, Lt. Giles and Lt. Dietra are reporting a Cylon attack wave
headed this way," Rigel said urgently from her station.  "They're well
enough ahead of the wave to make it back to the Galactica before it
strikes."
     "Sound the alarms.  Have all fighter squadrons scramble and launch
to intercept.  Order the ships of the fleet to close ranks.  Let me see
the scanner readouts, Rigel."
     Colonel Tigh saw that it was a full complement of Cylon fighters
following the two warriors back.  They were coming from the same
general direction that the mysterious ship and her crew had been found.
     Commander Adama joined him on the bridge.
     "Commander.  I'm afraid our friends down there may have led the
Cylons right to us.  They appear to be coming from that direction."
     Adama looked at the readouts from Giles' and Deitra's scans. 
"Perhaps their escape was not what it appeared."
     "Sir?"
     "I mean, perhaps the Cylons let them go, hoping that we would pick
up the ship and lead them straight to the fleet."
     "Or perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye," Tigh said
suspiciously.
     Adama shook his head.  "I doubt that.  Rigel, order all of our
fighters to protect the landing bay where that ship is.  We cannot
afford to lose that ship!"
     "You know something I don't?"  Tigh queried.
     "That ship could possibly be the answer to our prayers if we can
figure out some of their technology... Have all of our fighters
launched?"  He watched as the Cylon ships came within range of the
Galactica's scanners.
     And then a strange thing happened.  As the Galactica's own
warriors engaged the Cylons in battle, one by one they fell dead in the
sky.
     "What's going on out there?" Adama asked, confused by what the
Galactica's monitors were showing him.  He picked up a headset so he
could monitor what the warriors were saying in response to Rigel's
query.
     "I don't understand it," Starbuck said, mystified.  "As soon as
each ship fires its weapon once, everything seemed to be dead on the
ship.  We're picking them off with no problems."
     "We'll have the whole attack wave finished off in two centons!"
Sheba said, excitedly, as one by one all of the raiders in space around
them went dead.
     "I don't understand it," Starbuck repeated.  "I don't understand
it... but I like it!"
     The entire battle was over less than five centons after it
started.  "What do you make of it, sir?" Tigh asked the Commander.
     "I don't know, but I think this might have something to do with
our friends down in the landing bay."  He paused, contemplating whether
he should question them about it further now, or leave it for the
inquiry that would commence in about thirty six centars.  "Where are
our guests right now?"
     "The two women are still on the ship.  Cassiopeia has the officer
you hadn't spoken with in the sick-bay, and the other is still in the
brig."
     "I think I'll be in sick-bay for a while."

                              ***

     Danny was laying on a bed watching the pretty blond woman take
readouts on him with various computers.  Though she had explained
everything she was doing, he had remained silent through it all.  He
was not restrained, but the female security officer who had brought him
up here was standing nearby, her eyes never leaving him.  If he tried
anything, he was sure he would get to see just how those weapons
worked.
     Cassiopeia's head turned when Commander Adama walked in.  She
started to come to attention, but he waved his hand, indicating that
she should continue what she was doing.  When she was done with that
scan, she walked over to the Commander.
     "Sir?"
     "Anything interesting so far, Cassiopeia?"
     "From what I can tell," she began in a whisper, "Their bodies are
identical to ours.  Their blood absorbs the same elements as us and
they respire the same as us.  From the readings of the blood gasses, it
looks like their atmosphere is slightly different; a higher
concentration of carbon monoxide and other pollutants seem to be in
their lungs and there are various chemicals stored in their bodies."
     "Chemicals?"
     Cassiopeia shook her head.  "Nearest I can tell, it seems as if
everything where they come from is probably laced with these chemicals. 
Of course, being in space for as long as they have, their bodies seem
to be purging themselves.  Eventually they will be free of such
contaminants, but..."
     "How did they get there in the first place?"  Adama finished her
thought.
     "Exactly."
     "What have you found so far?"
     Cassiopeia walked over to the main medical computer, followed by
Adama.  After a few keystrokes, she brought up the readout.
     "So far, I've found traces of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane,
organic mercury compounds, dithiocarbamates, chlorinated hydrocarbons,
chlordane, toxaphene, ethylene dibromide, malathion, parathion,
dimethoate, fosamine, dicamba, picloram, dalapon, and glyphosate from
his tissue sample."
     "By the Lords..." Adama was astonished.  "What have they done to
their planet?"
     "According to Starbuck, their planet is beautiful.  He saw a
motion picture that was made in their world that showed blue oceans and
green vegetation."
     Cassie looked at Adama.  They were both mystified by all of the
contradictory information they had about these people.
     "Continue with your bio-scans and prepare a report.  I'd like to
see it before you present it to The Council at the inquiry, especially
if you find the same situation in each of them."
     "One other thing," she began.  "I didn't notice it on their ship,
maybe because they're on the Galactica now, but based on the scans I'm
getting, their gravity is slightly more than ours; about a tenth more
than ours is."
     "Has it affected them at all?"
     "Near as I can tell, no.  Long term, I couldn't tell you.  I'm
going to give all of my results to Dr. Salik so he can determine what
all of it means."
     "Thank you Cassiopeia."
     Adama walked over to where the man was lying on the medical bed. 
Danny looked up at him, his expression cold and emotionless.
     "What's your name?"
     "Major Seeley; Major Daniel C. Seeley, United States Air Force."
     "Are you the ranking officer on this ship?"
     "Yes sir."
     Adama could tell he was a strict military man, by-the-book as he
had always put these types.  Rarely did they think for themselves,
usually blindly following orders put forth by superiors.  Even when the
orders did not make sense, these types did not question.
     "Why did you shoot at my men?"
     Danny silently studied the Commander for a few moments.  "We had
to assume you were hostile forces."
     "Why?"
     Danny did not want to give up the information too easily.  "When
we realized that we were being brought to a ship in space," he began,
choosing his words carefully. "There were one of two possibilities. 
One would be that you were not from our planet; two being that you
were, only from the future."
     Adama folded his arms and wondered where this line of thinking was
headed. "Explain."
     "I've been prodded, poked at, had blood taken and breathed into
I-don't-know-how-many instruments.  I've cooperated as much as I'm
going to."
     "Do you believe that we are from your planet?" Adama asked.
     "Yes."
     That answer startled Adama.  "Then why would you fire on people
from your own planet?"
     Danny stared up at the ceiling, not saying a word.
     "Major Seeley."  Adama was trying to be reasonable and patient. 
He wanted to know what he was dealing with before they went to the
inquiry.  "Your other friends have been cooperating and you'll be
brought before the council in about thirty-six centars for an inquiry
into your actions.  If you refuse to answer, you will remain in the
brig.  I suspect the rest of your crew will be cooperative."
     'What the hell's a centar?' he thought to himself.  From his face,
Danny could not tell whether or not the Commander was bluffing. 
Stevie, yes, she would no doubt talk, but she was not on-duty when they
encountered the ships.  He could not imagine that Brian and Cynthia
would give out such information freely after all of their training.
     "If you were from a planet other than our own, why would you
appear human? Humans are from our world.  We evolved there.  If you are
human, you are from our world."
     "Again, why would you fire on people from your own world, if this
is what you believe?"
     "You would have to be from the future.  We don't have the
capability in our time of building ships such as these.  If... " he
trailed off, unsure about how to explain.  If what he believed was, in
fact, the truth, then the revelation that he was on to them could have
very serious repercussions.
     Adam waited a moment for him to collect his thoughts.
     "It's never been a given in our history that one philosophy or way
of government would survive.  All of them crumbled at one time or
another.  There was already quite a bit of dissent with our country in
my time; in our time."
     "Country?  Is that separate parts of the planet?"
     Danny was taken aback for a moment. 'Had all historical records
been destroyed?  What kind of government existed now?'
     "Countries are areas of land where people live under one
government," he said slowly, unsure of himself.
     Adam nodded.  "Go on."
     "If you didn't know who we were or how to communicate with us, we
had to believe that in the future the hostile forces had won out and
our country crumbled.  Why else wouldn't there be a record of our ship? 
Why else would you not know who we are or how to contact us?"
     Adama smiled and leaned back on the medical bed behind him.  "So
that's what has caused all of this trouble?  The simple arrogant belief
that human life exists only on your planet and that we must be the
enemy?"
     Danny looked at him quizzically.
     "I hate to stomp on anyone's beliefs, but human life is not
confined simply to one planet.  There are many planets we have
encountered with human life on our journey."
     Danny did not believe him. "Human life evolved on our planet. 
Darwin's theories are accepted.  Don't tell me you don't know who
Darwin is?"
     Adam shook his head.
     "Jeez, was there a nuclear exchange or something else that
destroyed all of the records?  All of the textbooks?  Everything?"
     "Major Seeley, I know this may be hard for you to understand, but
we are human and we are not from your planet.  We are from a series of
planets far away from here; twelve worlds on which twelve separate
colonies lived until they were destroyed by the Cylons."
     "Bullshit!"
     Adama sighed.  He'd probably get nowhere with this one.
     "All right, then.  When Cassiopeia's done, you will be brought
back to your cell until the inquiry.  Think about what I said. It's
true, whether or not you want to admit it."
     Danny stared at the Commander until he walked out of the room
after a short talk with the blond woman, Cassiopeia. 'Human life not
evolving on Earth, indeed!'  he thought pompously as he turned to stare
at the ceiling. 'What kind of fool does he think I am?  I don't know
what they're trying to scam us about, but I'm not buying into it!'

                              ***

     Athena sat in the Officer's Club by herself, absent-mindedly
stirring her drink... She had known he would be late the centon the
klaxons had sounded, but the alert had been over so quickly, she didn't
even have time to make it to the bridge.  After a micron or two of
indecisiveness, she decided to return to the club and wait.  If he
didn't show up, well she could just call it a night.  Such was the norm
when you were dating a warrior.  There were many nights out interrupted
by alerts, along with the erratic schedules.
     Giles, Brie and Dietra entered the club, so she knew they had
returned and been debriefed.  Quickly she sat up straighter and tried
not to look anxious.
     Dillon was the kind of warrior that when he walked into the room,
everyone turned to look.  By nature, he attracted attention, and dating
the Commander's daughter didn't lessen the attention bestowed on him. 
He walked in the Club with Bojay.  Both of them had come over from
Commander Cain's ship, the Pegasus just before he had attacked the
Cylon basestars.
     "Hey Athena," Bojay greeted her.
     "Hi Bojay.  Hi Dillon.  What was that last alert about?  I didn't
even get to the bridge before it was over."
     Dillon let his eyes sparkle at Athena. 'Lord, they could melt a
heart,' she thought.
     He smiled, slightly embarrassed.  "Bojay's not staying.  He just
came in for a quick drink."
     "Yeah, I had a long night.  Starbuck and I learned a new card
game..."
     "Oh wonderful!" Athena said sarcastically.  "That's just what
Starbuck needs."
     "That was the craziest alert I've ever been on, though, that's for
sure," Bojay said.  Dillon ordered three ambrosas for the table.
     "I've never seen anything like it," Dillon agreed.
     "What is it?  What happened?"  Athena asked, alarmed.
     "That's just it, nothing happened," Bojay said.  Athena looked at
the two men, confused.
     "When the alert sounded, we launched and intercepted the Cylons,
no problem," Dillon said as the drinks were set down on the table.  He
downed half of his mug quickly before continuing.  "Each raider, after
it fired once at us, went completely dead in the air.  There was no
battle.  We just picked them all off and landed."
     Athena scrunched up her face.  "That's odd."
     "I'll say it is," Bojay commented.  "Number one, we don't see the
Cylons for so long, and then less that two cycles after we pick up
these NASA people they make an appearance, they show up.  Number two,
you'd think they would come at us harder; with more fire-power."
     "You think it's connected to Stevie and Cindy?"
     Something in Dillon's tone made Athena bristle; was it the
familiarity with which he said the names?  She knew that jealousy was
something that came easy to her after she had lost Starbuck to
Cassiopeia, but it was odd for just a name to make her feel this way.
'Maybe I'm imagining things,' she thought.  Later on, when they were
alone, she would attempt to steer the conversation that way again and
see if it felt the same way.
     Bojay shrugged.  "I don't know.  We'll probably find out a lot
more about them at the inquiry, but I'll tell you, that Stevie has a
shrewd streak to her.  She trounced Starbuck but good last night.  Me
too, for that matter.  Good thing we were playing for pretzel-sticks."
     Athena looked at Bojay curiously.
     "They're a kind of... I don't know... thin, hard bread with salt
on top.  Real good.  I'm glad I wasn't playing for cubits.  Speaking of
which, I better get some sleep.  Thanks for the drink, Dillon."  He
stood up an pushed his seat back to the table.  "Good night Athena."
     "Good night Bojay."  As soon as he left, she turned her attention
to Dillon, and getting more information out of him.
     "These sound like interesting people, once you get past the
murderous intentions and all."  Her words sounded almost catty, and she
regretted them the micron she said them.      "I don't blame you for
thinking that way.  I probably would too, if they shot my brother.  But
they're all right, from what I can see.  We were watching this movie,
me, Starbuck, and Stevie, and she didn't mind explaining a lot of
things to us.  Gave us food, too.  Though I don't know about that drink
she had.  I've only seen one other thing the color that drink was and I
sure wouldn't drink that," he said with a light laugh.  Paranoia reared
it's ugly head inside Athena as Dillon continued, "That movie was
something, though.  And you should see the planet they come from!  I
hope we can make a long stopover there.  It sure is beautiful."
     He finished off his drink and signaled for another one.  Athena
seethed inside, but said nothing, afraid of how her own words would
sound.
     "You're awful quiet tonight.  Something on your mind?"
     "Oh, why don't we get out of here?  Take a nice stroll on the
agro-ship or something," she said, trying to sound at ease, but her
words came out forced.
     "I can't," Dillon lamented.  "We're spread thin between your
brother and Boomer being out and having to have at least one of us on
that ship at all times.  Your father doesn't want anyone leaving the
Galactica until this all is done with."
     Athena snuggled up to him.  "Well then, how about a trip to the
Celestial Dome?"
     Dillon blushed, knowing what she meant.  "I don't know Athena.  I
thought you said you wanted to go slower after... after that night."
     "Maybe I'm changing my mind."
     "Well, maybe I think it's a good idea... to go slower, that is."
     Athena was taken aback.  "What?"
     "I mean, things really heated up for a while with us there, and
then you said that we should go slower, and now I think that you were
right."
     Athena stood up, threw the rest of her drink in his face, and
walked out.  Dillon sat in the Officer's Club, stunned, with everyone
staring at him.  As he wiped himself off with a napkin at the table,
Jolly came over.
     "She didn't like something you said?"  He inquired as he handed
Dillon a few more napkins.
     "Thanks Jolly.  You know, I'll never understand women.  First she
says we're going too fast, then she says we're going too slow.  When I
agree with her about going too fast, I get a drink thrown at me.  It
was her idea!"
     "Don't you know it doesn't matter?  She could tell you that space
is purple and whether or not you agreed with her, you'd still be
wrong."
     "I don't know what was wrong tonight.  I don't think I could've
said anything right.  I feel like giving up.  I didn't know if this
would work out anyway, her being the Commander's daughter and all."
     'Right,' Jolly thought to himself sarcastically.  Sheba had told a
select few on the Galactica about Dillon's reputation as an
opportunist.  Apollo from the start had figured that dating Athena was
more of a career move for him than anything else, but stayed out of it. 
Still, Dillon was a nice guy and a great warrior.  He was right up
there with Starbuck, Apollo, Bojay and Sheba when it came to the top
warriors in the fleet.
     "Have another drink?" Jolly asked.
     "You mean besides the one I'm wearing?  No thanks," he sighed. 
"I've got guard duty in eight centars anyway.  I may as well get some
sleep."

                           Chapter 4

     Stevie moved down the corridors of the Galactica, continually
amazed by the size of it all.  Her short trip to see Brian two days
before had not given justice to the true size of this marvelous ship. 
Cindy, too, looked around the corridors in awe, realizing that the
battlestar was probably the size of the small town she had come from.
     They were on their way to the inquiry.  What exactly was about to
happen was unknown, and they were nervous.  Stevie had a marathon sleep
session of almost twenty four hours after finishing her game with
Starbuck and Bojay and was feeling well-rested.  Cindy, on the other
hand, had already been awake more than six hours and was not looking
forward to this.  If it was typical of how these matters were handled
at home, it would mean twelve to fourteen hours of grueling testimony.
     Both women were in their orange NASA jumpsuits, the closest things
they had to uniforms.  Brian and Danny had sent for their own jumpsuits
the day before, that was how Cindy knew what to wear.
     Sheba and Jolly brought both of the women to a halt, then opened a
door.  Inside was a waiting area with chairs and a table in the center. 
Brian and Danny turned as the door opened.  Immediately upon seeing
him, Stevie ran over and hugged her brother.
     "How ya doing, kid," he said as he held her.
     "Good.  I'll be a lot better when you're out of the brig."
     "Soon."
     Danny stood off to the side, watching them skeptically.  Stevie
felt a shiver go up her spine; he was up to something.  Slowly she
broke off the embrace of her brother.
     "Do you know what all this is about?" Danny asked her stoically.
     "I know pretty much the same as you.  They have an inquiry before
deciding whether or not to file formal charges; put us on trial."
     Danny moved closer to her.  His attitude was not deterred by the
two warriors and two security officers still present in the room.  "Not
us, sweetheart, not all of us.  Specifically, your beloved brother and
me, and maybe Cindy here is they can hang her with a charge also. 
You're the golden girl once again."
     Stevie was dumbfounded.  "What are you talking about?"
     "Yeah, Danny, what are you talking about?" Brian chimed in, his
hands folded across his chest skeptically.
     "Once again you've managed to bail your little sister out of
trouble.  What deal, did you cut Brian?  Sold us all out to protect
her?"
     "Now wait a minute!"  Brian shouted.
     "I didn't do a thing!" Stevie countered.
     "I've been with her the whole time," Cindy chimed in.  "There's
nothing going on."
     Danny looked around at the three of them.  They were all against
him, he was sure.
     "I am the senior officer in charge of this mission.  I am telling
you right now that you give up nothing!"  He looked at the silent faces
regarding him.  "Or is it too late for that already?"
     "By 'give up', what exactly do you mean?"  Brian asked.
     "Don't tell them anything about who we are.  Don't you realize
what's going on here?"
     Stevie, Cindy and Brian looked at each other.  Brian almost seemed
amused.  "I know what's going on here, but I'm beginning to have my
doubts that you know what's going on around here."
     Danny indicated that they should move in closer to him.  At first,
Stevie was sure that they would not be allowed to talk privately, but
neither the warriors nor the security personnel made a move to stop
them.
     "Don't you realize who these people are?"  Danny asked them.
     "What are you talking about?" Even Cindy was mystified.
     "Look, are you going to believe for a moment that these people are
from any other planet but ours?"
     Brian nodded his head.  "That was my general train of thought."
     Danny scoffed at him.  "Yeah well that's what they'd like you to
think."
     "And I'm sure they didn't fool you for one minute," Stevie said
sarcastically.
     "Don't be a smart-ass.  You have no idea what you're up against. 
You are not trained.  You are not..."
     "That's enough." Brian cut him off.  "Just tell us what you know
and leave personalities out of this."
     Danny glared at him, then continued.  "They're from Earth. 
They're from the future.  And if they don't know about us; if they
don't know who we are after what happened surely was written up in
books, then it has to be the other side."
     Brian bit his lip to stop a smirk.  "What other side?  There's at
least ten other sides I can think of off the top of my head."
     "Well one of them, I don't know what happened down there."
     "Don't you think this mysterious other side can read also?" Cindy
chimed in.  "Why wouldn't they know about us?"
     "Look, all I'm saying is not to give up anything."
     "What do we know that we shouldn't give up?"  Brian asked.
     "If there's all these records out there of what happened to us,
then just by looking at the name of our ship they should know," Stevie
chimed in.
     "Do we know about every ship that was lost by the explorers five
hundred years ago?  So maybe they don't know all about us."
     "Well what great wealth of information are we supposed to withhold
from them?"  Stevie was exasperated.
     "Just listen to me!  I am the senior officer on this mission and I
am ordering you not to reveal any information that could be considered
high-security clearance only.  If necessary, I'll order every one of
you not to speak and I'll do all of the speaking."
     There was silence all around for a few moments.
     "No, Danny," Cindy was the first to break the silence.  "If anyone
is going to do the speaking for us, it should be Brian."
     He turned to look at her.  "What do you mean, 'no'?  This is a
direct order from a superior officer; from your senior officer."
     "I know," she said.  "And I know what the consequences are if and
when we get back to our own place and time.  I'll worry about that when
I have to."
     "I can have you charged with mutiny!  Insubordination! Treason..."
     "Then you'll have to charge all of us," Brian chimed in.
     Danny glared at all of them; a cold, hard stare of a man who
seemed about to snap.  Without a word, he walked away from the other
three.  Cindy, who hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath, let
it out in relief.
     "I'm glad that's over with," she said.
     "For now," Brian agreed.  He had his doubts that Danny would give
up being lord and master to the other three.  Slowly he reached over
and took Stevie's hands in his own.  "How ya doing, kiddo?"
     She managed a crooked smile.  "Been better.  Been worse, too."
     "You were right about him," Brain tilted his head to where Danny
was sitting at the table.  There was a platter of food, some sort of
bread or pastry apparently, on the table and a beverage server.  He
simply stared ahead at them.
     "He's going off the deep end?" Stevie asked.  The sarcasm was gone
from her voice, now replaced by real concern.
     "It's hard for someone who's life is so dictated by a specific set
of rules to adapt when those rules no longer apply."
     Stevie gave a rueful chuckle.  "And I was kidding about the
Colonel Flagg title."
     "I don't know if he's that crazy," Brian said at Stevie's
reference to a character from a show in re-runs they had often watched
together.  "But, yeah, he'll have a hard time for a while if we stay
here."
     "I miss you."
     "We get this matter settled and then we can get back to some sense
of normalcy."
     "Do you think it's going to be that easy?" Cindy asked doubtfully.
     Brian shrugged.  "If their system of justice is the same as ours,
no.  Maybe theirs is better.  This seems to be like when you're called
before the Grand Jury to see if you'll be indicted."
     "But isn't that just a formality?  Don't they usually indict
everyone anyway?"  Stevie asked.
     Brian squirmed. "Well, yeah, but..."
     He stopped as the door to the inner chamber opened.  Two men in
black shirts, as opposed to the blue or tan that had been seen up until
this point appeared in the doorway.
     "Ladies, gentlemen, my name is Reese.  Warriors and Fleet Security
are not permitted in Council chambers unless they are giving testimony. 
As long as you are in those chambers, you are under our jurisdiction."
     Stevie flinched when he placed the emphasis on our, as if it meant
that they were in deeper trouble.  Nervously she looked back at
Lieutenants Sheba and Jolly who had brought them down here.  Both were
shaking their heads in disgust.
     "So are you guys rent-a-cops or what?" Brian asked sarcastically. 
Stevie was happily surprised by the attitude he'd adopted.  It seemed
to take the edge off of Reese's confidence.
     "I don't know what you mean," he said tersely, his face reddening
as he knew he had been insulted.  "Now, follow me please."
     Brian shot Stevie a quick smile of support, and she grinned her
wide approval back.  Even Cindy was able to walk into the room with a
smile on her face.  Only Danny, bringing up the rear, did not seem
happy.
     The room was wide, with a dais bathed in white light where the
twelve Councillors were seated.  There was a galley that was only
occupied at the present time by Lieutenant Starbuck, who flashed Stevie
a wry smile of support as her group walked in, and another warrior
Stevie had not yet seen.  Brian recognized him immediately as one of
the men who had been shot.  Guilt swelled up in him as he saw that his
arms was still in a sling.
     They were led to a table with four chairs behind it, facing the
twelve Councillors.  A pitcher, of what Stevie assumed was water, stood
on the table along with four cups.  As they filed in, the Councillors
stood up.  All of them seemed to be older, much older than the four of
them.  Stevie knew enough to remain standing until they were told to be
seated.
     "This formal inquiry of The Colonial Council into the matter at
hand is called to order at exactly oh-seven-hundred centars.  You may
be seated."
     Cindy was sitting at the end of the table, furthest from the
center of the chamber, followed by Stevie, Brian, and finally Danny.
     "Normally, the President of the Council is in charge of the
proceedings, but as this involves warriors under Commander Adama, and a
possible conflict of interest,  we have voted to have an alternate
arrangement.  We will make introductions at this time.  I am Sire
Geller," the older white-haired man said.  He continued on down the
line, though five minutes later all the names were forgotten.  "Now, if
you will, please."
     Danny stood up first. "Major Daniel C. Seeley, United States Air
Force."
     "Captain Brian Murphy, United States Air Force."
     "Stephanie Murphy, Mission Specialist."
     "Captain Cynthia Johnson, United States Air Force."
     "How are you normally addressed?  By your first name or second
name."
     "For formal matters it would be our rank and last name.  In the
case of our Mission Specialist, I believe Miss Murphy will be fine,"
Brian answered before Danny had a chance.
     "Very well then.  We will begin.  This is a formal inquiry into
actions taken two cycles ago at approximately eleven hundred centars. 
Before I ask Lieutenant Boomer and Lieutenant Starbuck to come forward,
Commander Adama has a statement he would like to present."
     Commander Adama stood up.  "Fellow Councillors, while it is true
that my son was injured as a direct result of the conduct being
investigated here, it is my belief that there were extenuating
circumstances at the time.  I believe that, at this moment, these
people present no more of a threat to us than our own civilians on the
ships of our fleet.  In addition, in testimony we will here later,
there is much we can learn from them and their technology.  If we can
forgive and all work cooperatively, I believe we can help each other. 
That is all."
     As Adama sat down, the two warriors, in formal attire, stood up
and sat at a table closer to the Councillors in the center of the
chamber.
     "Please describe to us what happened up until the time that you
landed aboard the Galactica with the *NASA* ship in tow."
     Starbuck and Boomer told the story of being awakened by the alarm
in their vipers, attempting communication, attaching the tow lines and
arriving aboard the Galactica.
     "Captain Murphy, were you piloting your ship at the time?" one of
the other Councillors asked.
     "Yes,  I was."
     "Does the testimony of Lieutenants Starbuck and Boomer seem
accurate?"
     "Uh... well... I guess so."
     "You guess so?"
     "We saw two ships come up to us and attach cables to us."
     "You did not see the vipers approaching on your scanners?"
     "We do not have that sort of equipment on our ship."
     "I believe, Sire Grandio, that their technology will be covered at
a later date by Doctor Wilker and Cassiopeia."
     "I see.  Are you also saying that you did not hear the
communication attempts by our vipers?"
     "No, sir.  Apparently we do not monitor the same frequency."
     "From what I have been told, Sire Grandio, and we will hear this
later on, they monitor a Gamma frequency," Adama informed the other
Councillor.  Everyone nodded and hurriedly scribbled down notes.
     'Gamma frequency?' Boomer thought to himself. 'I wonder if it's
the same frequency Apollo picked up those transmissions on in the
celestial dome?' He decided that he would look into the matter as
discreetly as he possibly could later on.
     "So you had no way of knowing who was securing your ship?" Adama
was trying lay the groundwork for their argument.
     "No sir," Brian responded.
     "Lieutenant Boomer, will you please take it from there and give us
your version of what occurred in the landing bay," Sire Geller asked.
     One by one, all of the warriors who were present gave their
versions of what happened in the landing bay when the Constellation had
been boarded.  At then end of the last testimony, the inquiry was
adjourned for a meal period.
     The four defendants were brought back to the waiting area where
there was food waiting for them.  None of it looked familiar to them.
     "Have you eaten any of this food yet?" Stevie asked Brian.  Danny
still had not said anything since the other three had gone against him.
     "Yeah.  Not bad, really."
     Stevie poured herself a drink.  The water was flat tasting.  Brian
began picking at the platter of food.  Some of it reminded them of
various cheeses, and there were some vegetables that were very
different-looking and tasting.  The breads weren't too bad, but had a
grainier taste to them than the white bread they were used to.  In the
end, none of them ate much.
     A short time later, the door opened and Commander Adama walked in. 
"Gentlemen, ladies," he greeted them.  Brian stood up, so Stevie and
Cindy followed suit.  Only Danny insolently remained seated.  "At ease. 
I trust you're satisfied with your nourishment?"
     "It's not what we're used to, but we're doing fine, thank you,"
Cindy responded.
     "How much more of this do we have to go through?" Brian asked.
     "We'll finish the testimony about the incident shortly.  The
Councillors will then want to directly question you.  After that, we
are through for today.  Tomorrow will be the medical and technological
reports, followed by more questioning.  The cycle after we should be
able to begin debating whether or not to hold a trial.  Off the record,
I will be voting no."
     "That's very kind of you, sir," Stevie chimed in.  "Especially
considering we nearly killed your son."
     Brian winced. 'Why did she have to remind him of that?'
     "Our medical technology is such that my son was never in any
serious danger.  I do understand what it's like to be in such a
frightening situation.  I just came in to let you know that you're
doing very well."
     "Thank you sir," Brian answered.
     "We have about fifteen centons and then we'll be going back
inside."  He put his hand on Brian's shoulder before he turned and
walked back out.  It was a gesture that brought back a memory to
Stevie, of their father doing the same thing.
     "What's wrong?" Brian asked as he looked at her, concerned.
     Stevie shook her head.  "Nothing.  I was just thinking... of
home."
     No one said anything else until they went back into the Council
Chamber.

                              ***

     "And after you were brought aboard the Cylon baseship, how long
was it before you were incarcerated?" the Councillor know as Sire
Dombra asked.
     "Immediately," Brian responded.  He took a sip of water.  His
voice was tired from answering questions.  In his estimate, they had
been going for five hours since the meal break.
     "By immediately, what do you mean? What exactly happened?"
     Stevie rolled her eyes.  They had been over this so many times
already; picking apart every action that had been taken by Brian, Danny
and Cindy when they had boarded the Galactica.  Now they were going
over their captivity by the Cylons for the fourth time.
     "We were escorted into their landing bay, not knowing whether or
not they were friendly.  We were not... we didn't know how to react. 
We opened the hatch on the side of our vessel and were met by a team of
armed robots."
     "You mean the Cylons?"  Adama asked.  He was trying to help them
clarify everything so these proceedings could end, at least for this
cycle.
     "Yes.  A team of armed Cylons met us.  We were instructed to come
along with them.  We were led to what I can only assume was a detention
area and the four of us were locked in there."
     "How can you assume this was a detention area?  What makes you
think that?" Sire Grandio asked.
     "There was a force field across the way we came in, so we could
not leave.  If we tried to go that way, we would get what I can only
describe as a severe electrical shock," Brian answered.  He was
beginning to sound exasperated in his tone of voice, something he did
not want to do.
     "I see.  Can you describe what you saw between the landing bay and
the detention area of the basestar?"
     "Sire Grandio," Adama interrupted.  "We have heard from these
people already that most of it was unfamiliar to them with the
exception of several computer terminals.  How can we expect an exact
description when we have no common references?  Not to mention the fact
that this was all new to them?"
     "Commander Adama, I understand your point.  However, this is a
crucial point of these proceedings.  We must decide whether or not
their previous incarceration aboard the Cylon basestar affected their
judgement in dealing with our warriors.  Please answer the question..."
He consulted his notes.  "Miss Murphy.  Why don't we hear from you for
a change, since Captain Murphy seems to be getting tired of answering
our questions."
     Stevie looked nervously at Brian, then at Cindy.  "Well, I wasn't
paying attention to where we were walking.  I was amazed at the sight
of these robots and I wondered about them and their circuitry; what
makes them work.  Most of the corridors we walked down were bare. 
Every now and then we'd see a computer terminal built into the wall."
     "In your opinion, did it resemble a place where an individual
Cylon would work, or was it and area for many to work?"
     "I'd say it was a single workstation."
     "Workstation?"
     "Uh... that's what we call a computer terminal and area around it
where a person works."
     Some of the Councillors seemed to fix her with a skeptical look. 
What had she said wrong?
     "Perhaps the term workstation is a Cylon term you acquired?"
     "Oh, no sir.  That's a term we use on our world.  Usually it's a
desk with a computer terminal on, it surrounded by three walls."
     "You may continue."
     "That's all.  We were brought into this room.  The Cylons left and
when Major Seeley here tried to leave also, we discovered the force
field that was in place."
     "How long were you kept in the detention area?  Were you given any
food or water?" Siress Tinia asked.
     "In our time, I'd have to say it was six hours.  We were given a
small amount of water and food before they were escorted up to be
questioned by Baltar."
     "According to Captain Murphy, only he and Major Seeley were taken
to see Baltar.  What did you do while they were gone?"
     "Worry."
     There was a snicker from someone, but Stevie didn't know who.
     Siress Tinia smiled gently.  To Stevie, it reminded her of a cat
grinning right before it pounced on a mouse.  "You didn't do anything
to try and escape prior to this point?"
     "You mean prior to their return from the questioning?  No."
     "And you, yourself, and Captain Johnson here never saw Baltar."
     "No," Cindy chimed in.  "From what Captain Murphy and Major Seeley
told us when they returned, we would have been brought down for
questioning next."
     "What is your interpretation of their emotional state when they
returned to the detention area?"
     "They were distressed; upset."
     "Did you ask them what had happened?"
     "No."
     "No?" Siress Tinia seemed genuinely surprised.  "I would think
that would be your first question."
     "When they came back, all they were saying was 'we've got to get
out of here.'  I knew that something had spooked them pretty bad;
frightened them.  If they had wanted to tell us, they would have,"
Stevie answered.  If it had been Danny alone, she would not have been
so sure, but she had never seen such an expression on her brother's
face.  Both Brian and Danny had refused to offer specifics today on the
line of questioning.  Their testimony told of his persistence with
regard to the colonial fleet, which they knew nothing about.  Baltar
had then become convinced they were part of something he called 'The
Eastern Alliance'.  They denied knowledge of that also, but he had
doubted their assertations.
     "What happened next?"
     "We were fortunate.  There was some sort of major malfunction
aboard the ship.  It shut down some systems, including the force fields
at the detention area."
     "And you saw no other prisoners, human or otherwise, while you
were there?"
     "No ma'am, though it looked like the cells had been used at one
time or another."
     "You then made it all the way from the detention area to your ship
without any interference by the Cylons?  I find that hard to believe."
     Stevie shrugged.  "I don't understand it either, but I wasn't
going to wait around and ask.  We knew we had gone down to the
detention area, so we kept walking up in the samegeneral direction we
had come from."
     "Without any interference at all?" Sire Grandio did not seem to
believe them either.
     "No sir.  I guess whatever the malfunction was, it was keeping
them pretty busy.  We didn't see anyone in the launch bay.  We boarded
our ship and left without incident."
     "Until you came across our warriors from the fleet."
     "Well I wouldn't know about that.  I had been relieved and was
sleeping at that time."
     "I'm still having a hard time with exactly what happened aborad
the Cylon ship," Sire Geller said, looking through his notes.  "Let's
go over this one more time.  Major Seeley, I'd like to hear from you
now."
     The four defendants sighed.  It was going to be a long day.

                              ***

     "I'm going to bed," Cindy said when they arrived back in their
ship.  It had been a long stretch without a break as the Councillors
asked them questions about everything imaginable.  They had each
discussed their thoughts and feelings at length, along with every
detail they could recall of their captivity among the Cylons.  It had
been quite trying to go over the same information over and over again,
and tomorrow would be more of the same.  However, when Dillon walked
into the ship, Stevie immediately perked up.
     He smiled at her, a smile that made her heart beat faster.
     "Stevie, are you going to bed too?"  Cindy asked.
     "Um... no.  Not yet.  I'm too awake.  I'll be in later."
     "Suit yourself," she said with a shrug and walked out the other
door to the sleeping area.
     Stevie swallowed hard and tried to calm herself down.  She didn't
want to come off like a giddy teenager.  "Would you like something to
eat?  Are you hungry?"
     "That'd be great.  Starbuck and Bojay have been raving about what
they ate here with you."
     "They owe me.  They have to teach me Pyramid yet."
     Dillon laughed.  "I don't know if I'd trust Starbuck to teach me
Pyramid.  Just don't try any of his 'sure-fire systems', okay?"
     "Gotcha," she said as she brought over two plates with
cheeseburgers and french fries, and two chocolate shakes. 'Please like
this,' she thought to herself as she turned on the screen and slipped
the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark into the player.
     "Wow, this is really good," he said after taking a bite of the
cheeseburger.  He drew on the straw in the milkshake.  "And this is
sweet.  It's like a confection almost."
     "I'm glad you like it."  She sat down next to him and ate as the
movie played.
     "So how did it go today?" he asked after he had finished eating. 
"Did they rip you apart?"
     "No.  It wasn't too bad.  It's just a pain in the- it's just not
fun to go over the same events over and over and over again from every
different point of view imaginable."
     "Bureauticians.  Your home must be a very enlightened and peaceful
place."
     Stevie laughed, hard.  "Where would you get an idea like that?"
     "All of these great motion pictures.  You must devote a lot of
your resources to the arts."
     "Well... a lot of the actors and actresses who make these motion
pictures are paid a lot of money and the pictures themselves make a lot
of money, but cultured?  Enlightened?  Those aren't words I'd use to
describe the world I came from."
     "Well are you at war?"
     "Not like you are with the Cylons.  We're at war with each other,
mostly.  There are different groups, factions all over the world that
are fighting over religion and politics and all that kind of stuff. 
Then you have terrorists... They like to get everybody shook up,
especially innocent people.  They'll hurt anyone just to make a point."
     "Doesn't sound as nice as everyone around the Galactica thinks it
is."
     "What do you mean?"
     "Well there are a lot of rumors going around.  I guess some of the
warriors have talked about the motion pictures you've shown them and
they got this idea of what you world is like."
     "Oh.  I hate to disappoint them."
     Dillon shrugged.  "What are you going to do about it?"
     "Can you tell me what it was like where you came from?"
     "I came from the planet Scorpio.  It was a harsh world, not as
nice as some of the others.  We had terrible storms; dust, rain, wind,
snow.  Over three quarters of the land on that planet was desert.  The
other land was lush and beautiful, though." He stopped for a moment and
could see Stevie was hanging on his every word. "I grew up in one of
the biggest cities there.  My father was a diplomat and we spent a lot
of time on the other colonies, but Scorpio was my home.  I loved going
there."
     "Do you have a big family?"
     "I did.  Until the Destruction."
     "I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have asked."
     "You're sweet.  How could you know?  I was away at the time.  I
was on board the Pegasus which was another battlestar that was presumed
lost at a battle at Molecay two yahrens earlier.  When we found the
Galactica I looked through the registries for my family, but I haven't
come across any of them.  Apparently, since the population on Scorpio
was very concentrated in certain areas, the casualties were higher
there.  So my family never knew that I was still alive."
     Stevie was silent for a while.  She didn't know what to say.  "No
one survived?  No aunts or cousins or anything?"
     Dillon shook his head.  "No one.  I had two younger sisters and a
younger brother.  I was the first one to receive my commission.  One
sister was a bridge officer on the Atlantia, the other was in the
Scorpion Military Academy and probably my brother would have been also. 
The Atlantia was the President's battlestar and was the first one lost
when the Cylons attacked, so I've been told."
     "I'm sorry," Stevie said with genuine tears in her eyes.  She
could not imagine living through something like that.
     Dillon reached his hand up and wiped away the tears.  "It's all
right."
     She looked up at him and felt a shiver go through her body at his
touch.  For a long time, they sat there just looking at each other. 
Finally, he leaned over and kissed her.
     "I'm sorry," he said when he broke it off.  "Was that
inappropriate?  I don't know the customs of your world."
     "Oh no," she said, her voice trembling.  "That was not
inappropriate at all.  Unless you have a wife and a couple kids..."
     Dillon smiled. "No wife, no kids.  No girlfriend, even.  She broke
up with me two cycles ago."
     "Oh."
     "We weren't serious or anything.  I mean, we hadn't..." Dillon
hesitated, trying to describe just what had happened.  "I guess we just
weren't right for each other.  Did you have anyone back on your world?"
     "No.  Never."
     "Never?  I can't believe anyone as pretty as you would be alone."
     'Oh, but you don't know my world, Dillon,' she thought to herself.
'See, where I come from there are classes of people.  And a girl like
me, a girl with a brain in her head who's independent and not afraid to
assert herself, would never be approached by the likes of you.  You'd
be a jock; probably quarterback of the football team and have all the
cheerleaders lifting their skirts for you.  Me, I'd be in the computer
lab with the other geeks.  Course, all the guys there were always after
me, but then I was the only girl around for them.'
     "What's the matter?  You look upset?" he asked.
     "Just a little homesick I guess," she lied.  "And no, I didn't
have a boyfriend or anything like that.  I was kind of a loner; kept
pretty much to myself.  Didn't have any girlfriends either.  I had guys
who were friends, but..."
     "But?"
     Stevie shook her head.  "We messed up.  We thought we were so
smart and so cool, but all we did was mess up real bad and that's how I
ended up here.  Getting on that ship was my punishment, so to speak."
     "Oh."
     "It's a long story."
     "Well then you'll have to tell it to me sometime."
     He leaned over and kissed her again.  At that point, common sense
took a long holiday from Stevie's mind.

                           Chapter 5

     Cindy woke up early the next morning.  Stevie was still asleep in
one of the other berths. By her estimates, they still had several hours
until they were due at the inquiry.  She could afford to let Stevie
sleep a little longer.  Cindy slipped into her jumpsuit and walked out
to their living quarters.
     She was startled to see someone there.  Not the warrior they were
used to being around, but rather a small boy and some kind of
mechanical creature.
     "Hello," she greeted him warily.
     "Hi," he said.
     "Are you the warrior they assigned to guard us today?" Cindy asked
with a wide smile.
     "No," the boy said, grinning.  "My name's Boxey.  I.... I'm not
really supposed to be here."
     "I kind of figured that.  My name's Cindy.  Why are you here?"
     "I just came down to the landing bay to see your ship.  When
Dillon left, he stayed outside and talked to Giles for a long time.  I
sort of snuck in then.  I don't know why Giles is staying outside
instead of coming in."
     "Well, I don't know that either.  Isn't there somewhere you should
be, Boxey?  Is someone looking for you?"
     "Um... Well I do have learning period soon, but I think I can
learn more here."
     "Oh you do, huh?"  Cindy smiled.  " I was about to make myself
something to eat.  I don't suppose you're hungry too?"
     "Well, I did it my primaries already, but my dad said that I'm a
growing boy so I'm always hungry."
     Cindy smiled.  The boy was really cute, and the first child they
had seen on the ship.
     "Who's this?" she asked as she nodded towards the mechanical
creature that accompanied the boy.
     "That's muffit.  He's a daggit.  Well, he's supposed to be a
daggit.  All of the real daggits were killed by the Cylons.  He's the
first one they made.  I get to teach him how to be a daggit!"
     "I see," Cindy answered, not really understanding, but accepting
the boy's explanation.
     "Starbuck said you have some great motion pictures here."
     "Starbuck did, huh?"
     Boxey nodded.  "He said I would like them, especially the one
about..."
     "Dinosaurs?"
     "Yeah!  That's what he said!"
     Cindy walked over and put the Jurassic Park disk in the player. 
Immediately, the screen sprang to life.  Boxey soon became enthralled
with the movie, especially when the dinosaurs began appearing.  Cindy
gave him some pancakes and sausage with orange juice.
     "This is great!"  Boxey said.
     "The food or the movie?"
     "Both!  I can't wait to visit your planet."
     "I don't know if you'll get the chance Boxey.  I doubt that we'll
ever see our home again."
     "Oh.  My dad thinks we will.  So does my grandfather."
     "Who are they?"
     "My grandfather is Commander Adama."
     "Oh, so that means your father..."
     "Is one of the warriors you hurt."
     Cindy winced visibly.  "Well, if we had known that he wasn't like
the Cylons, we wouldn't have shot him.  I'm sorry."
     "See, that's what I don't get.  You said you're sorry.  When I say
that I'm sorry, I'm not in trouble anymore.  How come you're still in
trouble?"
     "It's not that easy when you grow up.  When you grow up, when you
make a mistake, you have to take responsibility for what happens
because of that mistake.  Do you understand?"
     "A little."  Boxey settled back in to watch the movie and eat the
food Cindy had given him.  She wondered if she should let the warrior
outside know that he was in here.  Maybe they were looking for him, and
that was why no one had come inside yet.
     While she was debating what to do, Stevie walked out of the room. 
Her eyes widened at the sight of the little boy.  "Well, it looks like
we have a visitor."
     Cindy motioned for her to come over by her.  "He was here when I
got up this morning.  Wanted to see the movie that Starbuck talked
about."
     Stevie grimaced.  "You know we'll probably get in trouble for
this..."
     "Well, maybe he'll sneak back off the way he got on..."
     "And maybe I'll flap my arms and fly to the moon.  Hmm.  There's
an interesting possibility.  What's his name?"
     "Boxey.  He's Commander Adama's grandson."
     Stevie's eyes widened again.  "That means..."
     "Yes."
     The movie was getting near to the end now, and Stevie wondered if
they should bring the boy outside to the warriors.  As Cindy and
herself were debating this, they heard the hatch open and someone walk
in.
     Captain Apollo appeared in the doorway.  "Boxey!"
     They little boy grinned.  "Hi Dad."
     He looked over at the two women.  "I'm sorry he was here bothering
you."
     "He was not bother, really.  He was just here when I got up this
morning."
     "You snuck in here before these people were even awake?"
     "Dad!  Dad! I have something to show you!"
     Apollo ignored his son. "I'm sorry he woke you up."
     "Oh, he didn't wake me up."
     "Dad!  Dad!  Come here!"  While Apollo was talking, Boxey had gone
over to the controls for the scanner and started pressing buttons.
     "Boxey, no.  We have to leave.  I'm real sorry about this."
     "It was fine, really.  He was good."
     "Dad, look!"
     "Boxey, I told you..."
     Apollo stopped when he saw the picture on the scanner, Boxey had
figured out how to work the controls and had the picture on the screen
frozen.  The main focus was a sign that read: When Dinosaurs Ruled the
Earth.
     Apollo's eyes widened.  He turned and looked at the two women,
then back at the scanner, then back to the two women, then back at the
scanner.
     "Is... Is there any way you can bring this to the Council room?"
     "I can use my laptop..."
     "Get whatever you need!  Bring that disk!  Come with me!"
     Stevie and Cindy looked at each other, not understanding at all
what was going on.  Stevie pulled out her laptop, which she hadn't used
too often, and Cindy pulled the disk out of the player.  The two of
them followed Apollo, with his hands firmly on the boy's shoulder, out
of the ship.
     Giles was talking to two Fleet Security officers as he they came
out of the ship.
     "Hey!  We're here to take the two of them to the inquiry."
     "Well then come on.  I've got something for the Council to see. 
Giles, can you make sure someone comes to get Boxey and brings him to
instructional period for me?"
     "What's going on?" he asked.
     "I'll explain later," Apollo said.  "For now, just trust me."
     The two security officers followed Apollo and the two women to the
Council Chamber.  Apollo burst through the door of the waiting room.
     "You two, come with us!" he ordered Brian and Danny as he walked
through the room, not stopping.  Stevie only had time to shrug at her
brother's questioning look as they walked into the Council Chamber.
     "What is the meaning of this?" Sire Geller bellowed as the group,
led by Captain Apollo, walked into the room.
     "I have important evidence sir.  Evidence that has a big effect on
this hearing."
     "Captain Apollo, this is not the time..."
     "Yes it is."  He looked over at his father.  "Trust me," he
implored.
     Adama nodded at his son, but said nothing.
     He motioned for Stevie to sit down at the table.  She put the
laptop on the table.  "Can you bring up that scene that Boxey showed
me?"  he asked Stevie.
     "On this, yeah."
     Apollo watched as the screen came to life on the small computer. 
He didn't have the time to be impressed by the technology.  "Can you
get it onto that screen on the wall over there?"
     Stevie looked at her computer with a little frustration.  "I
might... Is it on?  I can see what I can do.  If I can pick up the
frequency that the monitor is on, I might be able to send the signal
through the satellite uplink module."
     "You have a satellite uplink module on that thing?"  Brian asked
in a whisper.  Captain Apollo had gone over to make sure that the
screen on the wall had power.  "Where the hell did you get that?"
     "I don't have time for this now."
     "Captain Apollo, we're waiting."
     "Hold on just a moment, please.  We're getting what you need right
away."
     Stevie slipped the disk into the tray on the side of the computer
and slid it closed.  The screen at the side of the Council Chamber
remained blank.  She keyed in a program that checked for frequencies
being used around them.  Several of the lights in the Chamber
flickered.
     "Don't worry, that's normal."
     "You did that?"  Adama asked, astonished.
     "Yes."
     "You wouldn't happen to know anything about..." he was about to
ask.
     "Got it!" Stevie shouted, full of the confidence and pride she
usually felt when she managed to get into a system.  The screen on the
wall flickered to life with the beginning of Jurassic Park.  "Now to
find the scene you want..."
     She tried several intervals until she was near the spot, then
fast-forwarded the picture until she was at the scene.  The Councillors
watched, impatiently.
     When the scene froze at the point Apollo had asked, silence filled
the Chamber.  The Councillors looked at the screen, then over at the
four of them, then back at the screen.
     "I make a motion that we dismiss all charges against these
people," Adama said quietly.
     "All those in favor," Sire Geller said, almost breathless.
     A soft chorus of "aye"s went up from the group.
     "Charges dismissed," he said in the same breathless tone.  The
Councillors were still staring at the picture on the screen.
     Brian whispered in his sister's ear, "What is going on?"
     Stevie shrugged.  She had no idea.
     Adama walked over to the table where Apollo stood with the four
people.
     "Is it true?  Are you from... Earth?"
     "Well, yeah," Brian said, not understanding what was happening.
     "On your ship... It said *NASA*..."
     "That's the name of the agency that is in charge of our space
program," Brian explained.
     "We thought it was the name of your planet," Apollo clarified.
     The Council Security Officers and Fleet Security Officers that
were in the room began to talk amongst themselves.  Several of the
Council Security disappeared; apparently this would not stay a secret
for too long, Adama thought.
     "Of course, you don't understand...." he said, to himself as much
as to the four of them.
     "The planet we're looking for is Earth," Apollo finished.
     "The planet you're looking for Earth?" Brian repeated.
     "The third planet in a solar system of nine planets around one
sun," Adama responded, attempting to clarify the situation further.
     "Well, yeah.." Brian hesitated.  "Some scientists think that
there's a tenth planet out there."
     "And some are saying that Pluto isn't a planet at all," Stevie
chimed in.
     "Pluto's a planet," Brian said.
     "Maybe."
     "So you're saying that your system may have eight, nine or ten
planets?"  Adama asked, somewhat startled.
     "No," Brian answered firmly.  "There are nine planets in our
system.  And we do orbit one sun.  And we are the third planet, that is
not up for debate."
     "I think that we all have a lot of talking to do," Apollo said.

                              ***

     "I can't believe," Adama began.  "That we had - what?  Eight? -
warriors in their ship, watching this motion picture and only Boxey
noticed that sign.  I think we should have all of our warriors undergo
another few sectons of training in observation tactics."
     Apollo grinned.  "At least that leaves me out."
     After the startling revelation in the Council Chambers, Adama had
herded them all back to his quarters to talk for a while.  Apollo had
returned with them, and Starbuck, Boomer and Cassiopeia had soon joined
them.  Sheba was out on patrol, or she would have been there also.
     "Now, can you tell us what you did on earth before you became lost
in space?" Boomer asked.
     Cindy and Stevie had been taking drinks from the glass of water
and barely managed to contain themselves.  Brian cracked a wide smile
and stifled his laughter.  Even Danny grinned.
     "What?  What did I say?" Boomer asked, dumbfounded.
     "Warning!  Warning!"
      This time they did lose it.  Stevie, who was still trying to take
a drink, spit out her water all over Lieutenant Starbuck, who was
sitting next to her.  Cindy burst out in a fit of giggles, and Brian
began chuckling heartily.  They could hardly believe the last comment
had come from Danny, who now had a wide smile on his face.
     "Good to have you back, man," Brian said as he gave him a
high-five.  When he was acting normal, Danny wasn't such a bad guy to
be around.  Whatever had happened today, apparently it had transformed
him somewhat from the by-the-book soldier he had been.
     "I still don't see what was so funny," Starbuck said as he wiped
off some of the water from the front of his tunic.
     "I'm so sorry," Stevie said, still giggling.  Finally, Starbuck
gave up.  "It'll dry," Stevie assured him.
     "It's a... cultural thing," Brian said.  "Something that's funnier
to us than to someone else."
     "So does the reason that they Cylons have been mysteriously
dropping dead in the middle of battle have something to do with your
little demonstration in the Council Chamber today?" Adama asked looking
straight at Stevie.
     "Uh...."
     "If you're asking if Stevie was responsible for our escape from
the Cylons, the answer is yes," Brian answered for her.  "When it comes
to computers, my sister is an idiot-savant."
     Stevie pursed her lips at her brother's taunting.  "I'll give you
an idiot-savant.  Just wait till the next time you use the replicator."
     "What exactly did you do to the Cylons?"  Adama was used to the
sibling bickering that was going on, and he chose to ignore it as he
did with his own children.
     "Using the control panel that was inside of our prison cell, I
managed to uplink to our computer on the ship and download a virus I
kept stored in my files.  A virus is a program that will..."

     <<"Can't you do something Stevie?" Danny asked her.  They were all
frightened by their current predicament.  "Can't you do something with
that panel over there?"
     "I can try.  I don't know how long it will take."
     "Do it like they did in Independence Day," Brian urged her.  "See
if you can screw up their computers long enough for us to get out of
here and launch."
     "All right.  Just keep an eye out.  Make sure that if any Cylons
come down here, I can put this panel back on and cover up my work."
     Danny stood guard while Cindy and Brian stood next to her as she
handed them various things she pulled off the wall.  Brian held the
panel cover, ready to place it back where it had been in short notice.
     She began altering the wiring.  "The only problem is that I'm only
going to get one line of readout here..." she said with some
frustration.  "It's going to be hard remembering what's going on."
     "Tell us as you're doing it.  Out of the four of us one of us
should remember what you want," Cindy responded.  "Hurry!"
     "All right!  All right!"
     She went to work inside of the panel again.  Finally, she seemed
to have a pattern that was familiar to her.  Using a
frequency-detecting program she had found in the computer of the Cylon
ship, she linked to the computer on the Constellation.
     "I'm in!" she said gleefully.
     Danny put a hand to his lips. "Keep it down.  We don't want to
draw attention to ourselves."
     "All right.  Hold on a few more minutes and we'll be in business." 
Stevie went into her own personal files and selected several.  "It'll
take at least fifteen minutes to download.  Then I'll start them
running.  I'll put them in as many critical systems as I can and set
them off.  All we can do is wait and see.  If there are too many
firewalls in their system..."
     "Someone's coming!" Danny shouted and they put the panel back on
quickly.>>

     "It was only a Cylon guard passing through," Brian said.  "Stevie
finished what she had to do and an hour later we noticed things
starting to fall apart."
     "We just walked off of the ship," Danny said.  "No resistance at
all.  Apparently, they were all occupied by the system failures."
     "And apparently those failures are still going on," Boomer said,
impressed.
     "You are a very dangerous woman, Stevie," Adama looked into her
eyes.
     "Why thank you," she responded, delighted.
     Everyone's heads turned as the door opened.
     "Ahh, good, you're off-duty.  This is my daughter, Athena. 
Athena, I'd like to introduce you to our guests: Danny Seely, Brian
Murphy, Stevie Murphy, Cindy Johnson."
     The moment she had walked into the room, Brian was taken in by her
beauty.  She had an exotic, dark quality to her looks that made him
take notice immediately.  Throughout the conversation, he found his
eyes returning to her whenever possible.  Several times he caught her
looking back.
     Athena nodded all around, but took notice of the exceptional way
Brian was staring at her. Several times she caught him looking her way. 
Though flattered, she was still committed to Dillon and their
relationship.  They hadn't talked since the other night, but she was
certain all of their problems would work themselves out.
     "We're just hearing about how Miss Murphy here is responsible for
all of the problems that our Cylon pursuers are having."
     "Oh really?' Athena asked in an even tone.
     Stevie was mystified by the woman, who seemed to be trying too
hard to seem cheerful.  Uneasily, she looked at her brother.  He seemed
completely enamored of the woman.  'Maybe it's just me,' Stevie
thought.
     Stevie shrugged her shoulders.  "It wasn't much, really.  That
Baltar person is probably being tormented by images of Daffy Duck right
now."
     "Daffy Duck?"  Brian asked, stunned.
     "Uh... Yeah.  I had to make it good, you know.  I couldn't just
put in something to infect the system... I had to do it with style."
     Danny shook his head.  "I can't believe you."
     "How much time did you waste on that?" Brian asked her.  "We
could've been dead!"
     "Well it was already written into the program, I just had to
decide who to use.  I almost used the Tasmanian Devil, but figured
Daffy Duck was better."
     Brian shook his head.  Just when he thought Stevie had matured a
little, she managed to show him that nothing about her had changed at
all.
     "Do you think," Boomer began, changing the subject. "That this
could be used as a weapon of some kind?  To disable their ships as they
came within a certain range?"
     Stevie frowned a little, trying to think. "Well, first of all,
they'll probably learn from this little experience.  Their systems are
too interdependent on one another.  They should be more autonomous.  So
you've got to figure that each ship will probably be on a separate
computer system as opposed to a single one."
     "They operate on a single computer system?"
     "They'd have to, for the virus to be transmitted to them.  There
has to be some sort of direct exchange of information between them."
     "What about communications?"
     "Radio communications won't do it," Stevie replied.
     "What about e-mail," Brian suggested.  "Or their equivalent of it? 
Or a diagnostic through the main computer in the basestar."
     "E-mail type, no.  Not this virus cause I didn't know if it would
work.  This just keeps attaching it to programs, and..."
     "Frak!"  Boomer swore.  Everyone looked at him.  "Cassie, call Dr.
Wilker right away, and tell him under no circumstances should he try to
get anything from the Cylons that came with Baltar, or that raider.  If
they all work on one systems, they might get infected too.  Am I
right?"
     "As soon as they power up, yeah.  Especially when the Cylons
attacked the other day.  If they were within a close enough range, they
could have communicated the virus to a raider you have on board the
Galactica."
     Cassiopeia went over to use Adama's comm-panel to pass the
information along to Dr. Wilker.
     "I never realized that they Cylons were linked by one master
computer," Adama said.  "This is more valuable information you have for
us."
     Stevie smiled.  "It would have to be, for what you described to
happen.  A maintenance program or diagnostic wouldn't have done it,
either for two reasons.  One is that they would have had to run a
diagnostic on every raider that was out there.  I don't see that
happening because as soon as the first one or two came up negative,
they probably wouldn't have bothered with the rest.  When did these
Cylons 'drop dead' in space?"
     "As soon as they started firing weapons," Starbuck responded. 
They were all intently listening to what Stevie was saying, though only
Boomer seemed to truly understand what it was she was talking about.
     "Okay, that brings me to the second reason. It seems as if they
managed to get the virus out of some systems; they tracked you, or us,
launched an attack and managed to navigate their way here.  All these
are systems they might use on the base ship, right?"
     "Basestar, yeah."  Boomer agreed.
     "How often do they fire weapons on the basestar?"
     "I've got you.  They didn't get it out of their weapons systems,
so as soon as they began firing, the virus was triggered again!" 
Boomer declared.
     "Exactly."
     "But can you make a weapon?" Adama asked, growing tired of the
whole technical discussion that was going on between the two of them.
     "It depends...  It depends on how they adapt to all of this now. 
If they make each raider autonomous, having its own independent
computer system, then you'll still have to download the virus to each
raider before it would work."
     "Couldn't you just make a blanket transmission to each raider
within a certain range?"  Boomer suggested.
     "We'd have to get the frequencies that each computer receives
information on... We'd have to use something similar to the satellite
uplink module..."  Stevie was deep in thought, talking as much to
herself as to those around her.  "I don't know if we could make a
weapon, but we could possible design something that would prevent them
from getting too near the ship.  A shield, sort of.  If they got too
close, the virus could enter their computer and disable it."
     "I think you've got yourself a job, Miss Murphy," Commander Adama
said to her.
     "Stevie.  Stevie's just fine."
     "What about the rest of you?  If you're going to be staying here
with us, we can use all of the help we can get.  Your knowledge of
where we're headed will be valuable in itself, but have you given any
thought if there is anything else you'd like to do around here?"
     Brian and Danny looked at each other.  "Air force!" they said in
unison.
     "Air force?"
     "Well, whatever you call it.  The planes... those thingies that
brought us in.  I'd really like to pilot one of those," Brian said with
Danny agreeing all of the way.
     "I take it that means we have two more cadets for the academy,"
Apollo said.  "You know, it's going to take you longer because of the
language gap between our worlds."
     Danny smiled.  "Since apparently you're planning on going there
anyway, you'd better start learning."
     "Oh, we'd better start learning?"
     "We're arrogant Americans.  Everyone has to do it our way," Cindy
said.  "I think I'd like a crack at that academy also."
     "And you all shall have your chance," Adama assured them.  "But
before then, we need to know as much as possible about Earth, so we can
be prepared for what we'll encounter when we arrive."
     The four of them exchanged uneasy glances. "That may be a
problem."
     "Why?" Apollo asked.  "I thought we had put all of the animosity
of that first meeting behind us?  I know I have, and..."
     "It's not that," Brian explained.  "I told you already, Commander,
that we may have gotten displaced in time on our test firing of that
engine.  We could be arriving at Earth two- thousand years ago, or a
thousand years in the future.  Or a hundred years ago."
     Adama nodded his head.  "I understand what you're saying.  Still,
perhaps knowing whatever history you have will help us be prepared
regardless."
     "We can't arrive in the past," Stevie said.  "We can't.  If we
arrive in the past, then how can we be here now?  If you had shown up
on Earth before we launched, your technology would have overshadowed
the new engine we were testing, and we never would have launched."
     "Time travel theories always gave me a headache," Starbuck said. 
"So what you're saying is that you don't think you can go into the
past, only the future?"
     "That would be logical. Otherwise, how would we be sitting here
talking to you?"
     Adama tapped his hands on his chin.  "This will have to be one for
the scholars to deal with.  However, I still would like as much
information as possible."
     "I'm afraid, though, sir, that Earth is not the paradise that you
and your people have made it seem," Danny said.
     "As in?"
     "We have a lot of problems."
     "We already know you're poisoning your environment with
chemicals," Cassiopeia replied.  "It was in the report that I would
have given today."
     "Do you still have it?"  Brian asked.  Cassiopeia handed him the
report she had intended to read to the Council.  He glanced through it
quickly, not recognizing any of the chemicals listed, save one:
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.  "DDT.  This stuff was banned nearly
forty years ago and it still turned up in our system?"
     Cassiopeia nodded.
     "They found that this chemical was damaging wildlife so they
banned the use of it," Brian explained, as he handed the file over to
Danny for him to look at.  "The other names I don't recognize either,
but they're probably the various pesticides and herbicides we use to
help with crop growth."
     "But you've only touched on one of the problems of our planet,"
Cindy explained.  "We're very over-populated and we're drawing on our
resources too quickly.  We're destroying the atmosphere and the
environment at a record pace.  We've got all sorts of problems with the
weather, and global warming, not to mention so many social and
political problems."
     "Such as?" Adama prompted her.
     Cindy looked uneasily at Boomer.  "I'm glad to see that you have
gotten past the problems we have... but, well... racism is a big
problem in our society."
     "Racism?" Adama repeated, not sure if he understood what she
meant.
     "People hating other people because of the color of their skin; or
because they're not from the same country.  I'm afraid some of your
crew may be in for a rude awakening."
     "Not to mention," Danny began as he handed the medical report
along to Cindy.  "An overall problem with you existing in general.  Our
religious beliefs dictate that human life began on Earth.  There's
going to be a lot of resistance to any other belief from every corner
of the globe."
     "That human life began on the planet Kobol." Adama nodded as he
spoke.  He had already told them about their beliefs that Earth was
settled by the thirteenth tribe that had left that planet while the
others settled in what had been the twelve colonies.  This had been one
of the first conversations he had with them once they were sequestered
in his quarters.
     "Quite honestly, I still have a hard time with that, sir," Danny
said.
     "So Earth isn't going to solve all of our problems," Athena spoke
up for the first time. "Then what are we doing all of this for?  What's
been the point?"
     "Well, we still don't know," Apollo said.  "Maybe if we get to
Earth a thousand yahrens - years? - after their time, a lot of these
problems will have been solved."
     "If not, I think we'll all be doomed."
     "What do you mean, Stevie?"
     "We have no capability of fighting the Cylons.  Earth will be a
sitting duck, so to speak," Brian said stoically.  "Target practice for
a Cylon basestar."

                           Chapter 6

     Silicon.
     Adama looked at the chip he was holding in his hand, taken from
the computers in one of the non-essential systems of the Earth ship,
Constellation.  He picked up one of the circuit boards Dr. Wilker had
given him.  He had learned a lot about silicon this past week.  It was
an element that was found on Earth, and unheard of in The Colonies.
     Soon they would send out expeditions to planets in search of this
element.  Hopefully, they would then be able to recreate the computers
that this Earth vessel contained.  It was the only factor they could
find that gave them superior computers.  
     Silicon.
     For a secton, the Council had been demanding answers.  Adama
wanted to keep silent for as long as possible, until a way was found to
introduce these people to the public without creating an uproar.
     The people of the fleet had built of their expectations of Earth;
that somehow it would be so wonderful it would solve all of their
problems.  From what Adama had learned this past secton, that was far
from the truth.  How could the people of the Fleet gradually be given
this knowledge?
     He walked over to the viewport in the room and looked out at the
stars.  It was out there; Earth was truly out there.
     Silicon.
     Once again he turned to look across the room.  Adama's usually
tidy desk was in disarray.  He had printouts all over, mostly about the
computers and processors on the Earth vessel.  Stevie was all too
willing to help them, and had printed out hundreds of pieces of
information contained on a disk she called an Encyclopedia.  Her
cooperation was making things easier, as was Cindy's and Brian's. 
Danny appeared to be cooperative, but there was something about him
that Adama did not yet trust.  When their formal training began, he
wanted to make sure that Major Seeley was watched closely.
     They were attempting to transfer the four of them to quarters off
of their ship, so they could investigate their computer systems in
greater detail.  Brian and Danny would go with the squadrons once
arrangements had been made for a special class for them.  It would
probably take twice as long to train them to be viper pilots as it
would take a normal student who had grown up in the Colonies.
     Cindy and Stevie would share private quarters on the Galactica. 
This would work best for now.  Normally, a cadet such as Cindy would
have to bunk in the women's barracks, but in this case Adama was
willing to make an exception to the rule.  The quarters they were
getting were fairly large, to accommodate all of the electronic
equipment Stevie would be working with.  Already, the techs of the
Galactica were readjusting the power supply to that room to accommodate
the computers, and the replicator.
     The replicator.
     That technology alone was precious to the Fleet.  It was necessary
to keep the current version in working order while they tried to
duplicate the same system.  The techs were working hard to set it up
the same way it had been on the Constellation, including ductwork that
allowed it to filter through the particles in space.  It was amazing
that a culture that was capable of such an amazing piece of technology
was also capable of some of the coarseness he had sampled.
     After being shown how to use the portable, or laptop, computer as
Stevie called it, he had brought several of the motion pictures back to
his quarters to view.  He had seen the beauty in Jurassic Park that the
warriors had also seen, though there were parts that also left him
confused.  Earth seemed to be as beautiful as the legends had
described.  What had disturbed him, however, was the five movies titled
Lethal Weapon.  He hadn't even finished watching all five of them.  The
violence in them was appalling.  If they found Earth to be of this time
period, how would they possibly acclimate to each other?
     Major Seeley had loaned him the primary book of word on Earth,
called a Bible.  It was far too long for Adama to read through, but the
little bit he had read bothered him to a certain degree.  If and when
the Galactica arrived on Earth, it would mean a major upheaval in the
beliefs of this world.  How had everything changed so drastically since
the Thirteenth Tribe had settled there?  What had caused them to
abandon their tradition beliefs in favor of the beliefs now written
down in this Bible?
     Silicon.
     His thoughts kept returning to that element, and how something so
simple could make such a big difference, just as tylium was an element
the Colonies used and was unheard of on Earth.  The arrival of these
people was turning into a blessing and a curse for Adama.  For the
first time he could ever recall, he was unsure of how he should
proceed.  For now, he was keeping control of the situation, but between
The Council and the IFB, it would not be long until the truth was
known.

                              ***

     Stevie couldn't believe this was the same ship they had spent so
many months on. The entire cockpit had been ripped apart, now
considered "unnecessary", so the instrumentation and computer
controlled systems could be studied.  Most of her computers were still
intact, but not for long.  The power supply in what was going to be her
new quarters was almost finished being adjusted.  The next "cycle", as
they called it, they would attempt to hook up one of the computers and
make sure it didn't blow up.
     "You all right kiddo?" Brian asked her as he walked into their
living quarters.  Stevie was putting all of the movie disks in a
plastic container to take to her new quarters.  She stopped what she
was doing when he entered the room.
     "Yeah.  Just... I don't know."
     "It does feel strange, doesn't it?"  He leaned against the wall. 
This was the first time all week they had time alone together, just the
brother and sister.  The techs were gone for now.  Cindy was in what
would be their new quarters with some of the techs.  Danny was off on a
tour of the landing bays and the vipers.  Brian could have gone, too,
but he wanted time alone with his sister.
     Stevie nodded.  "Do you still believe in God?"
     Brian grimaced.  "You don't beat around the bush, do you?"
     She shrugged her shoulders and sat down at the table.  Brian went
to the replicator and got two cups of coffee, then sat down across from
her.  For a long time, the two of them were silent.
     "Yes, I still believe in God," he finally said.
     "Even with everything we now know?"
     Now Brian shrugged his shoulders. "I can still believe it all. 
They believe what they believe and we believe what we do.  Is it any
different than the differences in the religions back home?  I can have
my beliefs and have respect for theirs, even though I don't believe it
myself."
     "Well then what do you believe?  How do you explain their
existence?  How do you account for what they believe?"
     "I wasn't a theology major, sis," he said with a wry smile.  "I
don't have all of the answers.  Are you gonna throw out Jesus, Moses,
and two thousand years of beliefs just because of a few hundred
thousand people out here in space?"
     Stevie sipped her coffee. "Well when you say it like that..."
     "Look, something or someone led us to this place; to these people. 
Someone was on our side that Danny and I didn't kill anyone by mistake. 
I pray to God, so I'm figuring that it's him... Is that what's been
bothering you lately?"
     "Somewhat," she nodded.  She was not about to tell her brother
about Dillon, nor the fact that she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him
since the fact that they were from Earth had been revealed.  It
troubled her a great deal, but she was keeping it to herself.
     "Look, Stevie, this is a great opportunity for you.  It's a chance
to start a whole new life, with none of that crap that went down
haunting you.  It's a chance to prove just how much you can do; a
chance to prove what an asset you are; a chance to live up to your
potential."
     "And you?"
     "Huh?"
     "What are you looking for big brother?  The only thing I see you
grasping for is the chance to get yourself killed."
     Brian grimaced.  She was thinking about Bobby, he was sure of
that.
     "I'm not looking to get myself killed," he said quietly.
     "Yeah, right.  Leave me here all by myself with just Danny and
Cindy."
     "Nothing's gonna happen to me."
     "How can you be so sure?  What do you think this is, Brian?  A
video game? Do you think you're Luke Skywalker or something?  They'll
be firing real shit at you out there!"
     "And I'll be firing real shit right back at them.  I was stationed
in the Middle East for three years, Stevie.  I was probably in more
danger from terrorists there than I'll be here.  Commander Adama
doesn't want to lose us.  He'll make sure we get real good training
before we see any real fighting."
     Stevie shook her head.  "You just don't get it.  You may be the
last family I'll ever have.  If we don't get back to Earth..."  She
hesitated for a moment to compose herself.  "How would you feel if it
was me?  How would you feel if I decided right now that I wanted to fly
one of those viper thingies?"
     Brian grinned.  "Viper thingies?"
     "Whatever they are.  I'm serious!"
     "So am I," he said soothingly.  "Stevie, what do you want me to
do?  I'm a pilot.  I've always been a pilot.  That's all I ever wanted
to do.  I loved flying jets across the desert.  I thought the greatest
thing I'd ever do in my life is pilot this shuttle.  Now... Now I see a
chance to do what no one from Earth has ever done before.  Danny and I
get to be the first ones to do this."
     Stevie shook her head.  "I guess I just don't get it."
     Brian sat back for a moment.  "Why did you hack into that computer
and create an international incident?  What motivated you?"
     "I don't know.  I guess I wanted to prove myself; show what I
could do; and maybe get Mom and Dad's attention in the process."
     "I'd say you got their attention. Hacking as many systems as you
guys did is not something a typical American high-school student is
capable of."
     "Satellite uplink module."
     "Yeah, I figured that out the other day.  You know, you're
supposed to be authorized to get one of those things."
     "I have my sources."
     "You can't tell me that it was all your idea, though."
     Stevie squirmed a little.  In all the months they had been out
here in space, this was the first time Brian had brought up her past
misdeeds, at least the ones he knew about.      "Stevie, you did it
because it made you feel good.  You got a rush when you hacked into a
computer.  It was a victory of sorts for you, even if it was illegal. 
It gave your ego a boost to be able to do what you did.  I'm not gonna
try to justify what you did, cause it can't be, but you felt good when
you did it.  Well that's how flying makes me feel, and it's not
illegal.  I wouldn't be happy sitting back here with you working on
computers.  It's all right for you, but not for me.  Can't you
understand that?"
     "No, not really.  But I don't have a choice, do I?"
     Brian smiled weakly.  "If it's any consolation, I'm honestly going
to do my damndest to make sure I don't get killed out there.  Someone's
gotta keep you in line.
     "Thanks for having so much faith in me," she said sarcastically.
     "You're welcome.  You know, I miss being home just as much as you
do."
     "I don't miss being home, Brian.  I mean, I miss Earth, I guess,
but I don't miss Mom and Dad at all.  You don't know what it was like
living there after Bobby died.  You dealt with it by getting away;
going to the Air Force Academy.  I was stuck at home, in the land of
the un-dead."
     Brian's face was sober now.  "You don't remember what it was like
before?"
     Stevie shrugged.  "Not really.  I have some memories of happy
times.  I can remember being on a boat on the way to the Statue of
Liberty and Bobby holding me up to the rail while Mom screamed at him
to put me down.  I have lots of little memories like that, but I can't
remember what my whole life was like then."
     "Mom was different.  She was... really into being a Mom.  She came
to all of the school concerts.  She took us just about everywhere."
     "And you guys got to do stuff.  I saw the photographs.  You guys
got to do a lot more than I ever did."
     "Dad loved to do all the outdoorsy stuff.  We all went camping,
fishing, even white-water rafting.  Of course, we lived overseas for
many years and got to see a lot of places while Dad worked in Europe. 
When we moved back to New York...  Everything changed after Bobby
died."
     "Brian, if you don't want to tell me, I understand, but what did
it feel like to you?  You know, being a twin and all."
     Brian just shook his head.  "Let's finish packing up so we can
hopefully move you and Cindy into your new place tomorrow."

                              ***

     Dillon walked out of the decontamination chamber.  He had just
finished a deep-space patrol that had lasted three cycles.  Before
that, with all of the excitement surrounding the revelation that their
new-found friends were from Earth, he hadn't had the chance to see
Stevie again and talk to her.  He had really wanted to talk with her,
but there was always a crowd surrounding their ship or in the ship now.
     Somehow, he would find a way into the ship, and soon.  First, he
had to find out any new developments that had happened since he left on
patrol, then he'd figure something out.
     As he rounded the corner near the Rejuvenation Center, where he
intended to catch and IFB Broadcast, he almost ran right into Athena.
     "I'm sorry," he said as he tried to walk around her.
     "Dillon!" she said as she stepped into his path.  "I was just
looking for you."
     "You were?"
     "Sure.  I was going to wait for you outside decontamination, but
you're faster than I thought you'd be." She fingered the clasps on his
jacket.
     "Well... I uh..." Dillon shifted his stance nervously.
     "Look," she said as she hooked her arm in his and started walking
down the corridor.  "I know I haven't been too easy to get along with
lately, but I want to make it up to you.  You must be famished!  Let's
have dinner together."
     "Athena... I... uh..."
     Athena stopped and turned to look at him.  Her eyes narrowed and
she crossed her arms over her chest.  "What's wrong?"
     "Well," he began, unable to look her in the eyes.  He leaned
against the bulkhead and scraped his boot on the floor.  "I thought...
that is... well, I thought you didn't want to see me anymore."
     "Is that it?  Whatever gave you that idea?" she was relieved
momentarily.
     "The fact that you threw that drink in my face about a secton or
so ago.  You haven't spoken to me since."
     "A lot has been going on since then.  The whole Fleet is in an
uproar."
     "I know... Anything new since I've been gone?"
     "My father won't let anyone talk to them yet.  I think he's afraid
of the impression they're going to give of Earth."
     "Afraid?  From the movies I saw, it's beautiful!"
     "I've only heard a little about it, but apparently it's not as
great as everyone has imagined it to be, not to mention we're not sure
what timeframe Earth we may be dealing with."
     "They couldn't find out anything from their data?"
     "We can't even access the data yet.  Our computers aren't talking
to theirs yet.  So how about dinner?"
     They had begun walking again in the general direction of the Mess
Hall, but now
Dillon stopped.
     "Athena, I really thought we weren't seeing each other any more."
     She shrugged her shoulders.  "No big deal."
     "Yeah, it sort of is. You see, I kind of... I want to see someone
else."
     Athena felt as if something had just caved in on her.  "What? 
Who...?" Her eyes narrowed slightly.  "It's her, isn't it.  That...
that girl from Earth?"
     "Athena, look, I really thought..."
     "I don't want to hear it.  Goodbye Dillon."
     She stormed off down the corridor.  Dillon took a deep breath and
leaned against the bulkhead again.  'That did not go well,' he thought,
then smacked the wall in frustration.  She had caught him off guard. 
If he had been prepared, he would have handled it much better.  'How
were you supposed to know she still wanted to see you?  She didn't talk
to you for over a secton.'
     Not that it would have mattered.  He had started with Stevie
almost immediately.  'Now that was not the brightest thing to do,' he
admitted to himself.  If Athena found out about that, well he didn't
want to think about it.  He was going to look bad enough when all of
this felgercarb got out.  Apollo probably would not schedule him for a
furlough for the next yahren.
     With a resigned sigh, he pushed off of the bulkhead and walked
into the Rejuvenation Center.

                              ***

     Athena was lying on her bunk, but could not fall asleep. In her
mind, the events preceding her departure from the Officer's Club more
than a secton ago kept replaying themselves over and over.  What had
happened?  When had it all gone wrong some how?  Had she pushed Dillon
away the same way she did Starbuck?
     'What's wrong with me?' she thought to herself.  It was a thought
she'd had more and more often lately as she found herself unable to
control her emotions.  More than once recently, she'd had to leave the
bridge when her emotions had gotten the better of her.   That had only
happened once before, at Caprica....
     Athena tried to push those memories out of her head.  Sometimes
when she thought of that day, everything seemed to go in slow-motion,
making it harder to forget sitting at a desk watching everything that
had made up her existence be destroyed.
     'Maybe I should go down to the life-bay,' she thought. Cassiopeia
would give her something to help her sleep without asking too many
questions.  Did she really want to go see her right now, though? The
answer was a resounding 'no'.
     Athena turned over again and looked at the back-lit chrono on the
wall of the quarters.  Bridge Officers' quarters were semi-private;
only two to a room.  Athena had shared her quarters with Rigel since
coming aboard the Galactica.  Rigel was on the bridge right now, but in
another three centars she would be off-duty.
     "I can't let anyone see me like this," she said aloud, and was
startled by the sound of her own voice.
     She sat up in her bunk and slipped on a robe.  A little reading
might help relax her.  She walked to the monitor on the desk and
switched it on.  She tried to immerse herself in one of the technical
manuals for vipers that she was trying to get through so she could
understand the flying craft better.
     The thoughts in her head kept drifting, though.  Earth.  It had
held so much promise for all of them.  Now it seemed to be nothing more
than dreams that were shattered.  Was Brian right that they would
arrive there and end up all being sitting ducks for the Cylons?  What
was the point of it all?
     Brian... her thoughts drifted to him for only a few microns.  His
sweet, gentle eyes conveyed a kindness she didn't see often in the
hardened warriors of the fleet.  'Well, if he'd had any potential, he
is about to lose it, having volunteered for warrior training,' she
thought.
     Her thoughts then turned to his sister. Younger sister. She was
what? Eighteen, nineteen yahrens?  Already she was being touted as
being sent by the Lords by the members of the tech crews of the fleet. 
Dr. Salik himself said that he had never seen anyone this adept with a
computer, and even Boomer had been suitably impressed with her two
cycles ago when he had been in the Officer's Club with Apollo and
Athena.  And now she apparently had Dillon, too.
     With a sweep of her arms, Athena sent the monitor crashing off of
the desk.
     Her hands went to her mouth, completely horrified by what she had
done.
     "What's happening to me?" she almost sobbed. 

                           Chapter 7

     Gray, Gray Gray.  Gray as far as the eyes could see.  Boring,
drab, gray.
     Stevie hated her new quarters.
     She stood in the main area, a large room containing a multitude of
computers, both from the Constellation and the Galactica.  It was all
hers... sort of.  For the last week - or secton, near as she could
figure - she had been working with the techs from the Galactica,
getting this room up and running.  Dr. Wilker's electronics lab on the
battlestar was the room next to it, and a newly-installed door
connected the two.  Thankfully to Stevie, he still spent most of his
time on the Electronics Ship.  So far, their time together had been
tedious, at best.
     Brian, Cindy, and Danny were in the warrior training program.  She
hadn't seen her brother in a full week now.  Cindy would come back
later in the day and tell her the training was going along just fine. 
They were getting a rudimentary teaching of the basics that they needed
to know to understand how these ships operated.  Cindy was leaning more
towards working on the bridge of the Galactica than anything else.  Her
communications background would serve her well there.
     'And I'm stuck here,' Stevie thought.
     At the behest of Commander Adama, they had been interviewed by the
Council, and it was broadcast on the IFB.  The Commander had cautioned
them not to reveal any more than they had to, and to try to hold back
any of their personal opinions.  It was a marathon session, going on
for about ten hours, and it had been a success.  The people of the
fleet, now knowing for certain that Earth was out there, were all the
more eager to stand behind the Commander on this quest.  If the Council
had any reservations, they were no longer stating it publicly.
     There was still interest in everything about Earth, and more
interviews would follow.  However, they had managed to delay this by
having the training begin so quickly, and giving their newcomers time
to "settle in".
     Cindy and Stevie had visitors already.  Twice Starbuck had shown
up with various other pilots for a night of cards.  Stevie had enjoyed
it a great deal, and had learned the game of Pyramid pretty well. 
Starbuck was mastering poker, and they had tried blackjack one night
also.  The night Apollo had come, Stevie had gotten the feeling that
all of this was being done at the urging of the Commander; to make them
feel more "welcome".
     Dillon had been there the first night.  Though they hadn't had any
time alone, his eyes twinkled at Stevie across the table while they
were playing Pyramid.  Oh how she longed to be alone with him again!
     The doorchime sounded.  Thinking it was another of the techs,
Stevie pressed the button for the door to open.  One of the pilots
walked in.  He was somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't place
him.
     Sgt. Jolly had walked in feeling nervous to begin with.  "My name
is Jolly, ma'am."
     Stevie grinned.  She could see his nervousness and wondered why he
was there.  "Well, I'm gonna be really offended if you call me ma'am
again," she said with a smile.  "Stevie is fine."
     "Stevie," he said, and shifted nervously on his feet.  "Just
seeing how you're settling in, that's all."  He tried to sound casual,
and went to lean against the bulkhead.  He missed, and just managed to
catch himself before he tumbled onto the floor.
     Stevie put a hand to her mouth to suppress a giggle.  It didn't
work, and some of the sound escaped her.  "I'm sorry," she said.
     "That's all right," he responded.  "I'm just not good with...
people I don't know."
     "I see.  Well, I'm settling in fine, though I wish I had more
options than 'gray' for color, though."
     "Not much need for color around these parts," Jolly countered. 
"This was primarily a military ship up until the Destruction.  Now,
when you get the chance to go to the Rising Star, or one of the other
ships that used to be in civilian service, you'll see a little more
color."
     "Too bad I can't live there."
     "Oh, I don't think the Commander would let you off the Galactica. 
At least, not on a permanent basis and not without an escort.  You're
too important to us now.  You're the best coder we have, apparently."
     "Coder?"
     "You know, for the computers."  He waved his hand towards the
milieu of electronic equipment in the room.
     "We call them 'programmers'," Stevie said.  "And they're pretty
abundant where I come from."
     "Not here.  We had some on board after the colonies were
destroyed, but most of them were killed about a yahren ago.  The Cylons
made some suicide runs on the Galactica and damaged her pretty bad. 
Killed a lot of people, including all of the coders that were working
in their lab at the time.  Dr. Wilker has been trying to train some of
the techs, but from what I've heard, it hasn't been working too well."
     "Oh really?" Stevie knew this was good information.  If she was
the best they had for the computers on board this ship, it gave her the
upper hand.
     "Look, the reason I came here, is that I was wondering if you
would like to go to the Rising Star sometime."
     "Oh I plan to.  Starbuck has been building me up for it.  Taught
me to play Pyramid pretty well."
     "I didn't mean..."
     The doorchime sounded again, interrupting him.  Stevie smiled, and
pressed the button to open the door.
     Dillon walked in the room.
     Jolly could not miss seeing Stevie's eyes light up at the sight of
the man, nor Dillon's wide grin and smile at seeing her.
     "Uh... hi, Stevie."
     "Hi Dillon."
     "I didn't realize you were busy," he commented.
     "Oh, Sgt. Jolly was just making sure I felt comfortable in my
quarters here on the Galactica."
     "Yeah," Jolly said.  "That's it.  You seem to be fine, so I'll be
going.  Dillon.  Ma'- Stevie."  He backed out of the door with an
awkward smile.
     "What was that all about?" Stevie asked as the door closed.
     "I have no idea," Dillon said as he leaned over to kiss her.
     "I'm glad to see you're still interested," Stevie commented.  Her
arms went around his neck.  "I thought for a while there you were
hiding from me."
     Dillon made a face.  "Just got stuck on a couple of cycles of
patrol," he commented.  "No big deal.  Those things happen."
     "I'm sure they do," Stevie answered, trying not to sound to
anxious.  She could feel his arms go around her waist.
     "You had better get used to it... that is, if we're going to see
each other."  He looked at her with his green eyes sparkling.
     Stevie felt like she was going to melt.  Her legs felt weak.  "Are
you kidding?"
     "About?"
     "About seeing each other?"
     "Why would I be kidding about that?"
     Stevie paused for a moment, then shook her head.  "Let's just say
that where I come from, a guy like you wouldn't give a girl like me the
time of day."
     "What do you mean 'a guy like me' and 'a girl like you'?"
     She paused for a moment.  "It's hard to explain.  There's just a
way people look at each other where I come from, and make assumptions
about that person that may or may not be true."
     "Doesn't sound like paradise is all it's cracked up to be," Dillon
remarked wryly.
     "If you mean that Earth isn't all it's been built up as by your
people, you're right.  In my time, at least.  Who knows what time
period Earth we'll find if and when we actually find it."

                              ***

     Jolly entered the Officer's Club.  Seeing Greenbean, Boomer,
Starbuck and Bojay sharing a table, he joined them and ordered an
ambrosa.
     "What's wrong Jolly?  You don't look too happy.  Did the Mess run
out of mushies again?"
     "No, it's nothing like that," he said.  He did not even have a
snappy comeback for Greenbean's remark, nor did he show any irritation. 
The other pilots carried on their conversation once again.  Jolly
debated just how much of his personal life he wanted to tell these
guys.
     "I saw Dillon with Stevie today."
     Starbuck stopped dead in the middle of the story he was telling. 
"What are you talking about?"
     "I went to see her, just to talk, you know." He looked uneasily
around to see the reactions of his fellow pilots.  None of them seemed
too concerned about his remarks so far.  "Well, he showed up there, and
it was pretty obvious they didn't want any other company."
     Starbuck had noticed several glances between Dillon and Stevie the
one night he had joined them for Pyramid in her quarters, as had every
other pilot in the room.  He held back on the urge to warn Stevie away
from him, just as he had with Athena.  Athena was an adult, though. 
Stevie... she was real young yet.  He was worried about her.
     "It even seemed like they knew each other before this."
     Starbuck lit up a fumarello.  "Well, all of us have spent some
time with her."
     "No, I mean as if they were... closer than that."
     Starbuck frowned and took the fumarello from his mouth.  "That
can't be.  He's been on a regular patrol since he and Athena had that
falling out.  When would he have the time..." His voice trailed off as
a realization came to him.
     "Unless he started something with Stevie before he ended it with
Athena," Boomer echoed his thoughts.
     "Oh man, that's low," Bojay said.
     "Now hold on.  We may be getting ahead of ourselves here.  When
was there any time that he could have been alone with her?  Weren't
there two warriors with them at all times?"
     Bojay shook his head.  "A couple of times Tigh had only single
warriors to give everyone a break.  With Boomer and Apollo on the
sidelines, and three warriors assigned to that ship and the landing
bay, our resources were stretched.  A few times he had one inside and
one outside the ship."
     "I'd really like to check the duty roster and see if Dillon was
alone in that ship one of those times," Starbuck remarked acidly.
     "Hold on a micron, there, bucko," Boomer stopped him.  "If I
recall, you yourself started seeing Cassiopeia before you broke it off
with Athena."
     "Yeah, but this is..."
     "Different?  Why don't you ask Athena and see if she sees it that
way?" Bojay asked as he finished his ambrosa and signaled for another
one.
     Starbuck was squirming.  He hated being backed into a corner,
especially when it came to his relationships.  "All right, so maybe it
was somewhat similar.  That  still doesn't make what he's doing right."
     "We have no proof..." Boomer trailed off as he spoke.
     "Unless..." Jolly began.  "Unless he knew that they were from
Earth before everyone else did."
     "Now hold on," Boomer said.  "It's impossible to prove any of
this.  And before we go accusing anyone, what do we really know?  All
we pretty much have is rumors about him."
     "Pretty bad rumors, even by my standards," Starbuck chimed in. 
They were silent for a moment as another round of ambrosa was placed in
front of all of them.  "Bojay?"
     Bojay knew they were looking to him because he had served with
Dillon for so long on the Pegasus.  "Well he was already assigned to
the Pegasus when I transferred over there.  A lot of stories get told. 
There were a couple of guys who were in The Academy with him and said
that the only reason he got in was because he was... taking care of a
certain Siress on his planet.  Now, granted, that could just be sour
covilles, but from what they said, she would come and visit The Academy
and he would leave and not come back until the next morning."
     "And he went after Sheba too," Jolly chimed in.
     "Well, I know he asked her out a couple of times and she turned
him down," he said with a frown.  "I don't think he ever made it a
point to pursue her."
     "Sounds like a gem of a guy, sleeping his way right through the
military," Jolly said disdainfully.
     "Now hold on," Greenbean said.  "We don't know anything for sure. 
It's all just rumors.  There's no real proof-"
     "Think about it Greenbean," Jolly interrupted as he leaned across
the table.  "What better way to further your career than to hook up
with one of these women?  It'll put him in the spotlight until we reach
Earth, and even then..."
     "Sounds like you have a touch of envy Jolly."  Jolly just stared
at Greenbean.  "I'm not convinced.  And I don't want to go jumping all
over someone without evidence.  Maybe he just likes her."
     Starbuck sighed.  "Much as I hate to agree, he's right.  Dillon
could just have honestly jumped from one woman to the other.  Even
though I think Stevie is rather young for him."
     "Oh?" Jolly was now wondering what Starbuck's interest was in the
matter.
     It was impossible not to see that Jolly had taken an interest in
the girl - a romantic interest.  That was a rarity for him.  He usually
was fairly awkward and shy around women.  Dillon was more the suave,
charming type that would make him seem older than his years, while
Jolly's shyness caused him to come off younger.
     "She's a kid yet practically," Starbuck finally said when he
finished his assessment of the situation. "A sweet kid, but a kid. 
Don't get me wrong, I like playing cards with her.  She's a lot of fun,
but she seems to have a lot to learn yet."

                              ***

     Brian was tired.  The numbers were reeling through his mind, and
he just wanted it to shut down so he could get some sleep.  Danny was
snoring in the bunk next to him already.  Their training had only been
a couple of days so far, but it had been tough.  Just converting time
units and other measurements was wearing on them.
     He was going through it all over again; the years spent at the Air
Force Academy in Colorado seemed so long ago now...
     Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he got up.  After putting
on a pair of pants, he began looking through all of the information
they had begun to study.
     "You should be asleep."
     Brian turned to see Captain Apollo entering the bunk room.
     "Captain Apollo," he greeted him.
     "You've got a long day ahead of you, Captain Murphy."
     "I know it," he said with a smile.  "I just have all of these
numbers running through my head and they don't seem to want to leave."
     Apollo grinned.  "I know the feeling.  Back in my days at The
Caprican Academy, I spent many a late night running sims through my
head.  If you think this is keeping you awake, just wait until we get
to military strategy and maneuvers."
     Brian shrugged.  "Hopefully then we can learn from each other. 
Maybe we know a thing or two that can help you surprise the Cylons."
     "That would be nice," Apollo agreed.  "Why don't we go down to the
Rejuvenation Center before we wake everyone up?  You're not allowed in
the Officer's Club until you completed your training."
     "Sounds like an idea."
     Brian quickly pulled on a shirt and tucked it in his pants.  He
followed Apollo out of the room and down the corridor.  He was still
getting some of his bearings straight, and was not confident in his
ability to make his way around this huge ship yet.
     It was late, and the Rejuvenation Center was empty.
     "How long do you think we have to go until we can start using the
simulators?"  Brian asked.  Apollo was bringing hot drinks - sort of a
cross between hot chocolate and coffee - to the two of them.  "And
what's this called again?"
     Apollo smiled.  "This is called Kakaio.  It's native to the planet
Taura.  And I hope to start you on the simulators by the next secton. 
We need good pilots desperately."  Apollo took a sip, then looked
across the table at Brian.  "I know we let you keep the ranks you had
in the military on Earth, but do you think that's going to be a
problem?"
     "Well, I have no problem with it.  But then, you weren't really
asking about me, were you?"
     "You catch on quick." Apollo smiled wryly.  "So?"
     "I don't know," Brian answered honestly.  "Danny... Major Seeley
is a strange sort.  There are some days he's fine and it's just like
you're dealing with a normal human being.  Other days, he's a big pain
in the... Let's just say he's a pain.  He has  what we used to call
'tunnel vision'.  He sees things through a narrow tunnel and everything
that falls outside of that tunnel is wrong." 
     "What does he think of all of this?"
     Brian sipped on the drink and shook his head.  "I'm not really
sure.  At first, he was dead set against giving an inch on what he
believed.  Now... He changed his attitude so fast that I'm not sure if
it's genuine or not."
     "We were planning on keeping a close eye on him."
     A smile lit up Brian's face.  "Well, I think you guys catch on
pretty quick too."
     Apollo had found in the last few days he couldn't help liking this
man, despite all that had happened.  Brian had such a natural,
easygoing way about him.  Apollo had to believe that he had only taken
the course of action that best protected the people on his ship.
     "What about your sister?"
     The grimace that found it's way onto Brian's face told Apollo that
this would be a harder call.  "Well, whoever you have working with her
is going to have their hands full.  Stevie does not like authority. 
She's not used to it."
     "What do you mean?"
     "Never had it at home.  Our parents let her do whatever she
wanted."
     Apollo's eyebrows went up.  "Never?  Nothing?"  He found the whole
concept hard to believe, coming from the family that he did.
     "She was the youngest; the only girl.  If that wasn't enough, we
lost a brother in an accident."
     For a few moments Apollo was silent.  Thoughts of Zac went through
his mind.  'No,' he thought.  He couldn't bring himself to tell this
man about his own brother.
     "Still..." he finally said, letting the word hang there.  He
wondered how Dr. Wilker would handle the headstrong young woman.
     "She created this whole image in her head of herself; a
romanticized image.  She became this computer rebel-hacker-anarchist
type that you would see in the movies.  Well, that we would see in the
movies anyway," he acknowledged the cultural differences.  "I think she
really wanted to believe that this was who she was, but it was really a
front for a very insecure girl who was looking for approval from
someone, anyone."  Brian shook his head.  "I wish I'd been home more. 
Maybe things would've been different for her.  She's certainly bright
enough to have done a lot more good with her life."
     "You weren't her parent, Brian," Apollo stated, though he knew the
feeling well; a feeling of responsibility the oldest sibling has for
his younger ones.  It amazed him how similar some of the culture was,
while other parts were totally different.
     "I know," he acknowledged.  "But if anyone had been paying the
least bit of attention to what she was doing... Well, I'm hopeful
anyway."
     "What do you mean?"
     "Maybe being here and getting some military-style discipline in
her will be good.  I'm hoping she'll come around.  For a while, she
seemed to be doing better; when we were in training for this mission. 
Then she had a personality clash with Major Seeley after the accident
and it seemed more along the lines like she was trying to undercut him
at every turn.  I couldn't stop her.  It was like a game."
     Apollo relaxed a little.  "Speaking of games, do you have anything
resembling Triad on Earth?"
     "Triad?"  Brian's face showed confusion.
     "As soon as you're granted a furlough," Apollo said with a smile. 
"We'll take you over to the Rising Star.  They have Triad courts
there."
     "I take it you don't have anything resembling football on this
ship.  Not that you'd know what I was talking about anyway."
     Apollo smiled warmly.  "I'm looking forward to learning it,
though, if that's possible.  The cultural differences are amazing,
aren't they?"
     "I just hope it's this easy when we find Earth."

                           Chapter 8

     Adama was expecting a report on his terminal from Dr. Wilker
containing the latest information on the computer upgrades.  They were
currently attempting to duplicate one of the Constellation's computers
with one of their own.  It was slow going, especially considering the
small supply of sufficient circuitry available.   Hopefully, in less
than a sectar, they should be able to create their own computers
similar to what was found on Earth.
     The reports up until now had pleased Adama.  Programming them to
work on the Galactica was another problem.
     Dr. Wilker's reports had so far only mentioned Stevie in passing. 
Today was about to be a different story.
     His comm-link signaled an incoming transmission.  Adama brought
the image up on his monitor and was surprised to see Dr. Wilker,
looking quite harried.
     "Greetings Adama."
     "Greetings, Dr. Wilker. More good news?"
     "If only."  His tone was one of exasperation.  "I just don't see
how the techs and I can work with Stevie.  She is giving us a very hard
time."
     "Oh...?"
     Dr. Wilker sighed.  "She is very knowledgeable and is using that
to her advantage.  Most of the techs are totally intimidated by her. 
Instead of helping them to learn, she simply does the work for them."
     "Well if she is capable..."
     Dr Wilker sighed.  "Adama, I have no doubt of her abilities.  She
does not want to follow any suggestions I make, never mind orders.  If
I ask her to do something; to try to learn a little more about our
systems and our needs, she circumvents the whole situation."
     "Maybe we all need to look at things from another point of view. 
Her insights are as valuable as anyone else's."
     "Adama, she is undermining my authority with the techs and
trainees," Dr. Wilker finally blurted out.  "For whatever reason, she
does not want to accept me as an authority figure.  I just don't see
how I'm going to be able to work with her."
     "Should I have a talk with her Doctor?"
     He nodded.  "That may help.  Ask her what she wants, Adama.  I can
give her techs and projects and let her go off on her own if that's
what will work."
     "I'd rather not have that, Doctor, for my own reasons.  I think
the young lady does need an authority figure.  I think that's
important.  Perhaps she would respond better to someone else?"
     "Who, Adama?"
     For a centon, Adama was quiet, thinking.  When the side of his
mouth curved upwards slightly, Dr. Wilker became hopeful once again.

                              ***

     Stevie was nervous as she stood outside the Life Center.  The
corridor was empty, but soon someone would happen by.  She really did
not want to be seen here.  It might raise too many questions.
     The button alongside the door opened it up for her and she quickly
stepped inside.  This appeared to be a small waiting area, and it was
currently empty.
     "I'll be there in a few centons!" came a female voice from back
beyond the walls.  Apparently, someone had been notified of her
presence.
     She had told the techs she was working with she was going to get
something from the Constellation, but that wasn't true.  She just
didn't want too many questions asked.
     Cassiopeia walked into the waiting area.  She was startled, to say
the least, to see Stevie standing there. "Stevie," she said with a
frown.  "Is something wrong?"
     "I... uh... I have a problem, sort of."
     "Okay..."
     "Can we go somewhere private to talk about it?  I didn't want
anyone knowing I was here."
     "Sure.  Follow me."
     She followed Cassiopeia back through the Life-Bay and into a
private corner.  Cassiopeia pulled a curtain over to make it more
private and sat down at the desk that was there.
     "What can I help you with Stevie?" she asked as Stevie leaned
against the examining table that was within the curtained area.
     For a while, she was silent.  When she finally had gathered all of
her courage, she spoke.  "Can you... can you tell if someone is going
to have a baby?"
     Cassiopeia was taken aback.  This was the last request she had
expected from the young woman.
     "Yes we can Stevie." She paused, then asked, "Is there something
you'd like to tell me?"
     For a few centons, she just stared ahead.  Finally she shook her
head.  "I can't.  Not yet, anyway."
     "All right then.  Let's check you out and see what the scans
show."
     Cassiopeia was concerned.  The four Earthlings had been a part of
the fleet for just over a sectar.  Stevie appeared to be somewhat
frightened at the prospect, and Cassie wasn't sure what she should read
into it.
     Cassie ran the sensors over Stevie's abdomen and looked at the
readouts.  "According to the scans, you are pregnant.  About three
sectons.  Stevie..."
     Stevie had large tears in her eyes.  She did not want to burst out
crying.  Not in front of Cassie; not in front of anyone.
     "Stevie, who is the father?"
     Cassie was concerned.  The timing meant it could be anyone.  There
was the Major that was on the ship with them, but from what Cassie had
heard, he didn't seem the type to start up with a subordinate. 
Starbuck had told her...
     Starbuck?
     Cassie tried to dismiss the thought from her head.  Sure, Starbuck
had been spending time with the girl and her friends.  What he
described was a night of playing cards and watching motion pictures
from Earth.  It couldn't be more, could it? Could it?
     No, Starbuck talked about Stevie like she was a younger sister. 
He seemed to be concerned about her and how she was adjusting.  As much
as Starbuck's reputation preceded him, Cassie just couldn't picture him
taking such advantage of someone he always spoke of as seeming so young
for her age.
     "Stevie, who is the father?" Cassie asked softly.
     Stevie was torn.  In her heart, she felt it wouldn't be right to
talk about this to anyone else before she talked to Dillon, but she
desperately wanted someone to talk to right now.
     "Cassie, is everything I say to you here confidential?  I mean, it
stays between the two of us?"
     Cassie nodded.  "Of course."
     Stevie's mouth wavered a few microns.  "What is this like in your
culture?  I mean, I'm not going to get stoned or have to wear a letter
on my chest or anything, am I?"
     For now she was skirting the issue, but Cassie decided to follow
her lead.
     "Well, you're not going to be stoned.  As for wearing a letter on
your chest, you'll have to explain that to me sometime.  I don't know
how you feel about the father.  Our ceremony of sealing is taken so
seriously, that there are many people who have children yet choose not
to take the seal."
     "What do you mean?" Stevie was confused.
     "Our sealing ceremony means that you are sealed to that person for
your entire life.  You are always considered joined to that person
until you or he dies.  For that reason, people don't rush into it. 
They take the whole concept very seriously.  Because of this, there are
many people jointly raising children who have not taken the seal."
     "But... but what if you don't want to be sealed anymore?  Can't
you get a divorce?"
     Cassie frowned.  "A 'divorce'?"
     "Well on Earth, we can get married to someone and if it doesn't
work out you can get a divorce.  Of course, you're supposed to stay
together for life, but most of the people I know haven't."
     "Once you are sealed to someone, there is no turning back.  There
have always been people who are sealed, but live separate lives.  For
many years,  if a man's wife died, he was allowed to reseal and that
woman was also considered his wife.  Women, on the other hand, were
always considered joined to their first husband, even if they resealed
after he died.  Any children from the subsequent union would be
considered to be the deceased man's children.  It's only been in the
last half-millennium that the elders began recognizing death as the end
of the seal.  There are still some sects that cling to tradition,
though."
     Stevie seemed to look all the more troubled, but actually she was
somewhat relieved.  She did not want to become "sealed" to someone she
hardly knew.  "So then, I'm all right with this.  I mean, no one's
gonna freak out about this."
     "I think your brother might have something to say on the matter."
     "Brian..."
     Stevie seemed deep in thought, so Cassie just sat there with the
young woman.  Luckily, no one else was due in the Life Bay today,
unless there was some sort of an emergency.
     "Can you tell anything else with those sensors about the baby?"
     "Not right now.  It's still too soon. Why?  What did you want to
know?"
     Stevie shrugged.  "Just curious, that's all."
     "How long have you thought that you might be having a baby?"
     "Just a couple of days.  Cassie, I..."
     Something was deeply troubling the young woman, but Cassie wasn't
sure what it was.
     "Stevie, you can tell me anything an I promise it will be
confidential."
     Stevie sighed deeply.  "What if I don't want to have this baby? 
Is there anything that can be done?"
     Cassie hadn't approached that topic herself, unsure of what Earth
culture dictated on the issue.  "There are always things that can be
done.  But, it's a major decision Stevie, either way.  Have you talked
with the father yet?"
     "No." Stevie was finally willing to open up. "Cassie, it's
Dillon."
     The revelation startled Cassie.  "Dillon?  But I thought he was...
That is, you haven't been here that long..."
     "I know.  I was stupid.  I jumped in really fast.  He is just so
gorgeous, and he actually wants to be around me..."
     For the first time, Stevie sounded like a giddy teenager to
Cassie.  She could see why Starbuck had shown concern about her.  "Why
wouldn't he want to be around you?  You're a nice girl, from what I can
tell and from the way Starbuck talks about you."
     Stevie smiled a little.  "Thanks.  What do you think I should do?"
     Cassie had done the mental calculations in her head.  This baby
had been conceived before he and Athena had broken up, she was sure of
it. 'What a heel!  Stevie would be better off without him!' she
thought.  She had heard the gossip about him, and just like everyone
else she did not know how much was true. 'Is he just using her?'
     "I think you should talk to him, and see what he thinks," Cassie
finally said.  If he was truly as bad as everyone said he was, maybe
this would force him to abandon the charming exterior, and his true
self would come to the surface once and for all.  "After all, it's his
child too.  And you shouldn't be going through it alone; making
decisions and all.  Whatever you decide, Stevie, I'll help you through
it."
     "Thanks Cassie."  Stevie stood up to leave.  "Any instructions for
the time being?"
     "Well, I can't tell you what to eat because I have no idea what
your diet is like," Cassie said with a smile.  "Just try to eat healthy
and no strenuous exercise until you figure out what you're going to
do."
     "All right," Stevie said with a nod.
     "And whatever your decision, I want you back here no later than
three sectons."      Stevie nodded and walked out of the Life Bay,
still reeling from the news Cassiopeia had delivered.

                              ***
     "And you've just hit your first raider," Starbuck said proudly. 
"Hey Apollo, I won the bet!"
     "The bet?" Danny asked him.
     "Yeah. We had a bet on which one of you would get a Cylon first. 
Thanks to you, they owe me drinks the next time we're in the O-Club."
     Danny smiled slightly.  He knew the routine of being in an Academy
and the games the upper classmen played with the froshes.  This was a
much more relaxed atmosphere than he was used to, probably because they
weren't used to training new pilots in this manner yet... nor pilots
from Earth.
     "I still am having a hard time getting used to the way the viper
handles, if your simulator is accurate," Danny commented.  "It's
nothing like the F-16's we flew back home.  Even the Stealth didn't
respond the way this thing does."
     "You'll find the simulator to be fairly accurate.  Of course,
nothing can completely simulate the experience of flying one of these
in space.  That's something you'll get used to with practice."
     "And of course practicing in space means we're in danger from the
Cylons."
     "Exactly.  We have to be sure you have a pretty good handle on
what you're doing out there before we put you in the line of fire for
the Cylons."
     "How much longer?"
     "You've still got more classroom work to go.  Don't be so
anxious," Starbuck warned him.
     Danny grinned, a genuine smile that none of them had ever seen on
him before.  "The greatest thing I thought I would ever get to do is
pilot that shuttle that's in your landing bay.  Now I'm getting the
chance to do something... something out of a sci-fi movie for Christ's
sake!  Sometimes I think I must be having one hell of a dream."
     Starbuck had tried many times to imagine what it had been like to
grow up on a planet that did not have interplanetary travel... a time
of exploration and discovery he had only read about in history books -
since the coming of the war with the Cylons, all of that had ceased to
exist for the Colonials.
     Now they were being forced into being explorers all over again. 
Maybe the Earthlings would adjust better to their current status than
many of the surviving Colonists would.
     "Got one!" came a shout from the simulator Apollo was working at
with Brian.  All that remained was...
     "Yes!" Cindy screamed.  She gave Boomer a high-five.
     "We only recently began using multiple simulators.  We found that
it was helpful to simulate multiple viper formations; to help cadets
get used to having more than one in the air at the time."
     Starbuck nodded vigorously.  "Yeah. The first time we ran this
thing, I accidentally ended up getting blown to bits."
     "We don't know for sure that it was an accident," Boomer chimed in
with a straight face.  "See it was one of Starbuck's former
girlfriends..."
     "You don't have to rub it in," Starbuck grimaced.  "Besides, what
happened between Athena and me is ancient history."
     Brian's head whipped around at the mention of her name.  "Athena?"
     Apollo sighed.  "Yes, my sister Athena.  Starbuck dated her for a
while.  I stayed out of the whole mess.  I told them both I thought
they were making a big mistake when it started and I didn't want to
hear about it when it ended."
     "And..."
     "And I stayed out of it.  And it ended.  And I don't know any of
the details."
     "Oh," Brian hesitated now, wondering how Apollo would take his
interest in Athena. With a grin, he ventured, "Your sister is really
beautiful."
     "Oh?" Apollo was somewhat startled.
     "Well, I couldn't help but notice..."
     "I'm staying out of it," Apollo said with a grin.  "But she did
just end a relationship with someone.  Maybe you should give her a
little time before you..."
     "I'm stuck here anyway.  Not much I can do until I graduate from
the training."
     "That is true," Apollo agreed.  "So maybe you better make sure you
do real well.  I've got an added incentive to try to keep you here."
     "I hope you're all not having too much fun." Commander Adama said
as he walked into the room.  Immediately the three warriors and three
cadets came to attention.  "At ease."
     "Yes sir!"
     "Boomer, I'd like to have a talk with you.  In private," he said
with a nod towards the control room for the simulators.  "Is anyone in
there or are these pre-programmed?"
     "Pre-programmed sir.  It's their first simulator run and we didn't
want them competing with a live person just yet," Boomer replied.
     "Very good.  If you will." Adama extended his hand to let Boomer
lead the way to the room.
     "Apollo..."
     "I'll keep an eye on Cadet Johnson."
    
                              ***

     Adama looked around the control room of what was the newest
innovation in training viper pilots.  Never having imagined that he
would, one day, be presiding over a training academy, he was
ill-prepared as to where to begin.  Through trial and error, they had
learned what was needed.  Too many fresh pilots had been lost out of
the first few classes.  More actual experience was needed, but he was
hesitant to turn loose cadets who could be ambushed by the Cylons at
any time.
     First they had integrated multiple simulators to work together, an
innovation that had come at the suggestion of his daughter.  The newest
change was that once pilots were comfortable enough in the vipers
against the computer, they would then go against other viper pilots who
would control the Cylon raiders from this control room.  Cylons were
notoriously slower than humans, so if they could be sufficiently
trained against their fellow viper pilots, Adama was satisfied that it
would be safe to "let them loose" in space.
     "You did a lot of work on this system, didn't you Boomer?" Adama
finally questioned.
     Boomer had been wondering when the Commander would get around to
what he wanted to talk to him about.  "Yes sir."
     "Do you like doing this sort of work?"
     Boomer made a half smile.  "There are parts of it that I like, and
there are parts of it that I hate."
     "Would you ever consider doing this instead of being a viper
pilot?"
     "Sir?" Boomer was truly astonished by this request.
     "It's no reflection on you or your piloting abilities, Boomer,"
Adama said soothingly.  "We have a small problem... Dr. Wilker is not
getting along well with Stephanie Murphy.  There is... a personality
clash, if you will.  I'd like to see if she responds a little better to
working with you."
     "Dr. Wilker can be difficult to work with..." Boomer agreed.
     "Oh I think there's enough blame on both sides of this one Boomer. 
She is one very headstrong young woman.  But you'll have a great
opportunity to get in ahead of everyone else on this.  We'll need
someone from the military to help develop these systems for use in the
Galactica, vipers and other ships."
     Boomer was hesitant.  He liked being a viper pilot, though he had
to admit that he had also thoroughly enjoyed developing this integrated
simulator system to train cadets.  It had been a great challenge...
     "Of course, you would be a part of our reserve squadron.  You'd
stillhave to keep up all of your skills as a viper pilot.  And you
could be assigned to a squadron any time another pilot is grounded for
any reason or if the Cylons are being... difficult."
     "I don't know sir," Boomer finally said hesitantly.  "Can I have
some time to think it over?"
     "Of course," the Commander assured him.  "Take a few cycles and
think about it."
     "Thank you sir."

                           Chapter 9

     According to what she knew of his schedule, Dillon would come off
of his latest patrol cycle tonight.  Stevie was nervous; extremely
nervous.  Delivering this news to him was not going to be easy.  She
had been thinking about it for the last few days and was growing more
and more skittish about talking to him.  A few times, she had thought
about just going to Cassie and ending it, never saying a word to him;
but then she didn't think she could go through with that either.
     She would tell him.  Today.  Tonight.  Whatever.  The next time
she saw him.  She wasn't too sure about what his reaction would be. 
She didn't know him that well.
     'If you didn't know him that well, why did you jump into bed with
him?' she asked herself, and she didn't like the answers.  She was
stupid, irresponsible, and reckless, to say the least.  But then, that
had been the trademark of her life so far, hadn't it?
     First, she had thought that the worst thing to happen in her life
had been her brother's death.  To be fair, it was still hard to think
of a time when she had been so young and he had still been alive.  When
the FBI agents had come and arrested her, and she had seen herself and
her family plastered all over the evening news, she had thought the
humiliation from that was the worst thing that would ever happen to
her.  Brian had almost lost his place on the shuttle mission because of
it; her father had been forced to retire from his post at the United
Nations.  When she was given a chance to redeem herself, she had
thought the worst that could have ever happened to her was the result
of that accident in the shuttle.  Now, she wasn't so sure.  Brian was
going to kill her when she told him - if she had to tell him.
     All she knew about Dillon, besides the fact that he was gorgeous,
was that he had been a viper pilot for about seven years - or yahrens. 
After graduation from the academy on Scorpio, he had first been
assigned to a mining colony, helping to transport the precious tylium
that fueled all of these ships, and protecting them from Cylon attacks. 
Next, he had been assigned to the Pegasus.  He had hinted that he
didn't like that ship, but Stevie knew none of the details.  He had
survived the destruction of The Fifth Fleet - whatever that was - and
remained with the Pegasus until they came across the Galactica and the
remnants of the Colonies.  He was one of the viper pilots transferred
to the Galactica when the Pegasus went off after three Cylon basestars.
     He was a good pilot, or so he said.  The fact that he had survived
this long seemed to prove him right.  He played Triad, whatever that
was.  He had tried to describe it to her, but had finally given up
after a centar.
     "There are some things I guess you have to see for yourself," he
had finally said with an exasperated smile.
     What if he didn't show up tonight?  She didn't think she could
hold it in another day.  There hadn't been any attacks and his patrol
should have been back a centar ago.  If he didn't show up soon, she
decided that she would try to track him down.
     She sat at one of the computer terminals and stared at the screen. 
She was working several of the non-essential systems, to see if it was
possible to adapt it instead of having to start from scratch with the
new, less-bulky computers once they were developed.
     Idly, she tapped at the keys.  Finally she got up and put a CD on
and laid down on the lounge that some of the techs used when they
needed a quick break.  She was drifting off to sleep to the sound of
Chris Isaak.
     A soft kiss woke her up.  She blinked her eyes several times and
saw Dillon kneeling next to the couch.  "Hi there sleepy," he finally
said as he brushed the hair out of her face.
     "Dillon.  How did you get in here? How long was I asleep?  What
time is it?  How long have you been here?"
     "Through the door, I don't know, eighteen hundred centars and just
about five centons."
     "Oh."
     "I was just enjoying watching you sleep," he said with a smile. 
"Have you eaten anything yet?"
     "No.  I was too nervous," Stevie replied as she sat up.
     "Nervous?  About what?"
     Stevie hesitated a moment.  "Maybe you better sit down."  She
patted the seat next to her.
     Dillon sat down and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her
close.  She could feel the  strength in his arms as he held her.  For
some reason, it made her more miserable than ever.
     "What's wrong?"
     "Oh Dillon!  I don't know how to tell you this..."
     "Tell me what?  Was I gone for a few cycles and you found someone
else?" he teased.
     Stevie managed a weak smile.  "No.  Never.  It's nothing like
that."  She took a deep breath.  "Dillon, I'm pregnant.  I'm gonna have
a baby."
     For a while there was only a stunned silence.  Stevie was braced
for his reaction; good, bad or otherwise.
     "But... I mean... we've only been together a few sectons.  Just
about a sectar now."
     "I know.  I was just as surprised at this as you were."
     "Are you sure?"
     Stevie nodded.  "I went to the Life Bay and Cassiopeia confirmed
it."
     "Cassiopeia?"
     "I haven't told anyone else," she said urgently. " I wanted to
tell you first, but... well... I had to make sure I was right."
     "It's all right," he said softly and kissed her on her forehead. 
"It's all right. We'll figure it out."
     For a long time, he just sat there with her in silence, letting
the information she had just given him sink in.
     "Well, what are we going to do about this?" he finally asked in an
almost amused tone.
     Stevie was flabbergasted.  He sure was taking the whole situation
very lightly.  "Well, Cassie said that it's not that big of a deal. 
Lots of people in your society -"
     "Let's get sealed."
     Once again, Stevie was shocked.  This was the absolute last option
she had been thinking of.  Well, maybe second to last.
     "But... But... I thought... Cassie said..."
     "She said what?" Dillon asked nonchalantly.
     "She said that getting sealed in your culture is taken very
seriously and that many people raise children together who aren't
sealed."
     "Well, yeah, it is.  Frack, I've never wanted to be sealed before. 
Stevie, you're really special.  I've never met anyone like you.  You're
beautiful, you're smart, you're fun..."
     "I just... I just don't know if I'm ready to be sealed to anyone." 
Stevie sat up.  "Can't this wait?  Can't we just be parents to our
child?"
     "I can see the way Cassiopeia steered you.  That may be fine for
an ex-socialator, but-"
     "A what?" Stevie interrupted.
     "A socialator."  Dillon could see she had no understanding of the
term.  "It's someone who is paid to do... stuff.  With men."
     "Oh," Stevie understood what he meant now. 'A hooker.'  Of course
Cassie would see nothing wrong with having a baby by yourself, having
lived that sort of a life.
     "I just know that kids are not always nice.  And I'd really like
my child to be raised in a home where the mother and father are living
together and raising him... or her."
     "I see," Stevie said slowly.  She was processing all of the new
information Dillon was giving her.
     "Look, I can't - and I won't - force you into anything.  I'm just
telling you how I feel, based on what I've experienced."
     "But you've been around these people a lot more than I have.  I
mean, you know better how everyone will react."
     "That's for sure," he said with a grimace.  "No matter what
happens I'm sure I'm going to catch felgercarb for all of this. 
They'll discipline me somehow.  Maybe even bust me back a rank."
     "Why?"
     He smiled lightly.  "Cause I'm older than you."
     "Not that much!"
     "Probably seven yahrens Stevie, at least.  It'll look really bad
for me.  They'll say I took advantage of you..."
     "No one takes advantage of me.  Oh Dillon!  I don't want anything
bad to happen to you."
     "I'll take my lumps if I have to, Stevie.  You're the important
one.  You and the baby.  I'll go along with whatever you say," he said,
resignedly.
     The decision was all hers.  Well, she pretty much already knew she
wanted to have the baby.  At least, she thought that was what she
wanted.  Not having the child didn't sit too well with her conscience,
no matter how angry she thought Brian would be.  And Dillon wanted to
get sealed!  She didn't want to get sealed... at least, she didn't
think she wanted to.  She had been so sure of that before, but now she
wondered if he was right.  Maybe to someone like Cassiopeia, it was all
right, but she wasn't so sure after listening to Dillon.
     He would probably suffer consequences once this all went public,
anyway.
     And Brian would kill her... maybe not literally, but she would
have a lot of explaining
to do.
     "If..." she began.  "If we got sealed, do you think it would be
possible to keep the fact that I'm going to have a baby quiet until
after we're married?"
     Dillon rubbed his chin, deep in thought.  Oh how those green eyes
sparkled!  "We'd have to do it pretty quickly.  And Cassiopeia knows
already."
     "She won't say anything.  She told me that everything is
confidential."
     "You're seriously thinking about this?"
     "Well, yeah.  I mean, what you say makes sense... sort of."
     "Look, I don't want to rush you into any decisions.  You think
about it."
     "But if we don't want people knowing..."
     "Trust me, the rumors will be out there anyway.  You'll hear a lot
of gossip on this ship."
     "From what I see, the IFB treats you like celebrities.  It seems
to be the same way it goes for actors, actresses and musicians where
I'm from.  And then there's people who are famous for just being
famous..."
     "Yeah, well, it's not just the IFB.  Sometimes your fellow
warriors..." he trailed off, then shook his head.  "It's not important. 
Look Stevie, I love you and I'll make you happy.  I can promise you
that."
     'How come an hour ago I knew for sure there was no way I was going
to get sealed, and now it looks like a good idea?' she briefly wondered
to herself.  Suddenly, the realization of what he had said hit her. 
"You what?"
     "You have no idea of just how special you are, do you?"

                              ***

     Commander Adama rang the doorchime.
     No answer.
     He turned and looked at the man next to him.  Lt. Boomer shrugged. 
Adama rang it again.
     "I'm coming!" came a cry from inside the room.  A few microns
later, the door slid open.  Stevie stood next to her desk, looking as
if she had just ran to open the door.  Dillon was standing against the
bulkhead, having a drink.  The Commander and Boomer were both surprised
to see him there, the Commander more so than Boomer.
     "Lieutenant.  I didn't know you were doing tech work in your spare
time," the Commander inquired.
     "I'm... uh... not, sir.  I'm just... visiting."
     "Visiting?"  The Commander was tempted to pursue this further, but
he had never involved himself in the personal life of any of his
children, and he was not about to change it now.  Still, he would
definitely make it a point to have a discussion with Stevie at a future
date.  And maybe Apollo should have a talk with Dillon about
appropriate behavior by officers.
     Stevie and Dillon exchanged uneasy glances.  Boomer had a feeling
more was going on here  than either of them had realized.
     "I have news for you Stevie," Adama changed the subject.  "You
will no longer be working with Dr. Wilker."
     "Oh really?" she asked with a little too much enthusiasm.
     "We've decided to try a new approach.  We're going to team up you
and Lieutenant Boomer for the time being and see how that works. 
Boomer will still have some piloting responsibilities, so he won't be
with you on a continual basis, but I think this arrangement may work
out better."
     Stevie looked at Boomer.  She knew how much her brother enjoyed
flying.  It was in his blood.  It was not something he'd give up too
easily.  "You really want to give up flying?"
     "It's not really 'giving up'.  I'll still be in the reserve
squadron.  If they need me, I'll be ready."
     "We have some news of our own," Dillon said as he walked over to
Stevie.  In her nervousness, she grabbed his hand. "We want to take the
seal."
     Adama was speechless.
     Boomer couldn't believe what he was hearing.  What was going on?
     "As soon as possible sir," Stevie chimed in quietly.

                              ***

     Starbuck was sitting in a lounge of the Rising Star.  Around the
table with him sat Apollo, Sheba and Cassiopeia.  They were laughing
and having a good time.
     Boomer entered the lounge, quite agitated.  He spotted his friends
and made his way to their table.
     "We've got to get Brian to see his sister.  Fast."
     Cassie looked up, wondering if she knew what this was about.
     "Can't do it," Apollo commented.  "A cadet may not have contact
with anyone outside of their fellow students and superior officers
until they are cleared."
     "Don't cite regulations to me Apollo.  This is important!"
     Apollo was stunned.  He had never seen Boomer this worked up
before.
     "Calm down, Buddy," Starbuck said.  "Have some ambrosa.  Does this
have anything to do with out little talk the other night?"
     "Yes, and worse than we thought."  He took several big gulps of
ambrosa.  "Dillon and Stevie just told the Commander that they want to
be sealed.  As soon as possible."
     "What?" Apollo was aghast.
     "What?" Sheba was sure she hadn't heard correctly.
     "What?" Cassiopeia was totally stunned by this reversal by Stevie.
     "What?" Starbuck couldn't believe what Boomer was telling them. 
Not that he doubted his buddy's word...
     "We went there to tell her about me working with her from now on. 
Dillon was there.  I could tell the Commander was surprised -"
     "Just how long have they been seeing each other?" Sheba
interrupted.
     "That's what I'd like to know," Apollo interjected.  Despite his
previous assertions about staying out of his sister's personal life,
this news greatly concerned him.  Starbuck looked uneasily at Boomer. 
Obviously they knew more about this than they were telling.  "Spill
it."
     "We have our suspicions..." Starbuck began.
     "But no proof," Boomer interjected.
     'Oh, there'll be proof soon enough,' Cassie thought to herself,
her head in her hands.  Where had she screwed up?  She was sure she had
steered Stevie away from getting sealed.
     "What's the rush anyway?" Sheba asked.  "I mean unless...
there's... a... reason..."
     All heads turned and looked at Cassiopeia.  She looked up and
around at the four faces now looking in her direction.
     "What?" she asked.  "Look, I can't divulge anything.  All
information in the Life Bay is strictly confidential."
     "So Stevie has been down to the Life Bay?"
     "I didn't say that."
     "We have to get Brian to see her, before she jumps into this,"
Apollo said.
     Boomer just stared at him.  "Isn't that what I said when I walked
in here?"
     Apollo ignored the question.  "What did my father tell them?"
     "He tried to put them off, but Dillon brought up someone else's
rather fast sealing," he said nervously, glancing at Apollo.  They knew
what he meant: Apollo and Serina's sealing. "And the Commander didn't
have an answer.  I think they are planning on the day after his next
patrol cycle is over."
     "That doesn't give us much time..."
     "Hey, what's going on?"
     Athena was standing right behind Apollo's and Sheba's chairs with
a wide smile on her face.  Everyone quickly looked around at each
other.
     "Athena." Everyone sat back.  No one wanted to tell her this. 
Finally, Apollo shook his head and said, "You're going to her this soon
enough anyway.  Better from your friends than anyone else, right?"
     "What are you talking about?" she asked. 
     Starbuck sat forward, about to say something, but Cassiopeia cut
him off, hitting him in the chest.  He sat back down in his chair with
a grunt.
     Athena looked around at them.  Their faces seemed to almost be
sympathizing her.  Finally, she stared at her brother.
     He could feel her eyes on him.  The last thing he wanted to do was
hurt his sister.  There was no telling how she would react to this.
     "It's about Dillon."
     "Dillon?  Why would I care about Dillon?  I ended it with him two
sectons ago."
     Cassie put her face in her hands again.  Stevie's baby was
conceived before he broke it off with Athena!
     "Well... that's good," Apollo started, putting a forced smile on
his face.  "Because we just heard that Dillon is... He's going to be
sealed."
     "Sealed," Athena repeated in a voice just barely above a whisper. 
Her face showed that the statement was incomprehensible to her.  "To...
to who?"
     "Stevie... you know, one of the -"
     Her eyes narrowed slightly, but not enough that anyone would have
noticed unless they were looking for it.  "I know who she is."
     Everyone was quiet, waiting for a reaction from her.  Finally,
without a word, she just walked away from the table and out of the
lounge.
     "Do you think you should go after her?" Sheba asked Apollo.
     Apollo shook his head.  "I think she needs time to herself. 
She'll get over this.  It's just going to take some time; a lot of time
maybe."

                              ***

     Athena sat alone in the quarters she shared with Rigel, feeling a
darkness envelope her.  She had felt this several times before, and had
always managed to fight the feelings emanating from within her.  This
time seemed different.  Deeper and deeper it sank; despair settled into
her very bones.
     'No!' She tried to control herself, tried to push herself out of
the darkness. 'No, I won't let it happen to me!  He's not worth it!'
     'Why then?  Why...  First Starbuck takes up with Cassie - a
socialator! - less than a secton after I refused to be sealed.  I just
didn't know!  Is there something wrong....  Then Dillon starts up with
that... that... girl!'
     Sobs wracked her body.  What was wrong?  Why had this affected her
so badly?  Desperately she began to wonder what was wrong with her. 
"Why... Why.. Why..." she said aloud, though there was no one else in
the room.
     She had a feeling of having lived this scene once before.  Her
mind went back to a time on Caprica, when she had been a young woman
near the end of her last year of instruction at home.  The next year
she would join Zac at the Academy.  She could remember lying on her
bed, sobbing much the same way she was now, and feeling her mother's
comforting presence and voice.
     Athena could hear her voice in her head, but couldn't remember the
words Ila had used nor hear them now.  There was just the familiar
drone of her voice buzzing in her head.  She swore she could smell her
mother's sweet sachet and feel her soft arms hugging her; comforting
her.
     "I want my... my mother!" she sobbed aloud to no one.  Her body
wracked itself with grief and she felt the blackness overcoming her
again.  Her strength to fight gradually dissipated and she gave in to
the grief.
     'Why weren't you with us?  All the rest of us were on the
Galactica... Couldn't father have done something?'  Her husband and
three children were on the Galactica, shouldn't she be there too?  Why
hadn't her father asked her to be with them?  Why wasn't special
permission requested and granted for her to be with her family at this
historic time?
     "I want my mother!  Mother!" she sobbed aloud again, not realizing
she was doing it.
     The blackness lifted slightly as vivid memories she had attempted
to keep buried broke to the surface of her mind.  Of being on the
bridge as her father communicated with the President... Of Apollo's
warning to Adama and the fleet... As that warning went unheeded... Of
Zac's viper being disintegrated by the Cylons...
     'Zac... Zac... what could I have done?' She had been on the
bridge.  She had watched Zac come into the Galactica's range in his
viper, which was lame from the discovery of the ambush...
     She felt almost as if she were reliving it now, feeling the same
feelings, as if she could will Zac's viper to make it to the
Galactica's landing bays before being overtaken by the Cylons.  Her
urging, almost the same as when she had been in primary school and they
had been divided into teams competing in races against each other. 
While standing there, she would feel as if she could will her team to
win; will the other girls to run faster; will them across the end-line
before anyone else.  It was the same feeling with Zac...
     But she hadn't been able to do that.  All of her will was not
strong enough to make the lame viper go any faster.  She had watched
helplessly as the Cylons bore down on his viper and then it was gone
from the screen.  She heard her father's voice: "That, Mr. President,
was my son..."
     The loss of her brother was probably the most terrible of all.  He
was her friend, her confidant, her occasional partner-in-crime.  Apollo
was older than the two of them, and had spent most of his time around
the two of them shaking his head in disbelief at the mischief they
caused.
     Her mother had always prepared them for the possibility their
father would not return.  She had never really accepted the fact that
she could lose one of her sibling, especially not Zac, and particularly
since they were supposed to be entering a time of peace!  It just
wouldn't happen!
     The blackness crept in again as the grief overtook her.  For a
long time, she was lost in the darkness.  Eventually, it cleared
slightly, leaving her feeling as if she were dreaming.  She was shocked
at the scene around her.  The room had been completely destroyed. 
Precious flat-pics had been smashed against the walls and the
reflective glass had been shattered apparently by having a very heavy
object thrown at it.  Had she done it?  She couldn't remember, and she
wasn't sure that the scene she was seeing was real.  Her hands were
moving.  Slowly, she looked down and saw she was holding a knife and
had taken it to her pillow.
     'A knife?  Where did that come from?'
     A look at the boxes and the contents strewn about told it all. 
She had been the one to clear out Zac's personal effects after he had
been killed.  While her father and brother journeyed to the planet
Caprica to see what remained of their home, she had cleaned out all of
her brother's personal effects and put them in these few boxes she kept
in her room.  Their contents were now scattered about the room.  There
was his civilian clothes, in the latest fashion.  He had always been
more concerned about the current trends than either of his two
siblings.  Books which were his favorites; stories of explorers and
their adventures in space that had thrilled him his whole life.  Models
of vipers and other flying craft he had spent centars assembling.  All
these were only a small portion of what had been in his room at their
home...
     The knife was an explorer model that he had used in his camp-outs
as a boy back on Caprica. What had ever possessed him to keep it with
him all of these yahrens?  And to keep it with his possession on the
Galactica...
     Athena's thoughts didn't dwell on anything too long as she looked
about the room again.  The cushion of her bed also had knife marks in
it, and the insides stuck out.  There were marks on the walls where
they had been scratched by the blade.  Her own clothes were torn, but
there was no blood anywhere.
     'Did I do that?' she thought with amusement. 'No, it has to be a
dream.'
     Laughter ebbed from her uncontrollably.  The tone grew more and
more maniacal as she finally gave up fighting and let the blackness
completely take over her.

                           Chapter 10

     "Well, she's sedated," Cassiopeia said with a sigh as she came out
of the life-bay to the waiting room.
     "What's wrong?  Why is she acting this way?" Apollo asked.  Just
as the five of them had returned on the shuttle to the Galactica,
Cassiopeia had received an emergency page to Athena's quarters.  A
terrified Rigel was waiting in the corridor; panic and fright evident
on her face.  The scene that greeted them had shocked them all.
     Cassiopeia shook her head.  "I don't know.  I put in a call to
Tyrus.  He's on his way here."
     Apollo was confused.  Tyrus was an psych-tech, not a medical
doctor.
     "Cassie, what's wrong?"
     Adama walked in to the waiting area just then.  "What's wrong with
Athena?"
     "We found her in her room.  One micron she was laughing, one
micron she was crying.  The room was destroyed and she was ripping
apart the cushion with a knife," Apollo responded, a look of anguish
and confusion on his face. 
     Adama shuddered.  "Did she say anything?"
     Apollo shook his head.  "Nothing.  It was like she couldn't hear
what I was saying, or like I wasn't even there."
     "I don't think she knows what's going on around her at all,"
Cassie interjected.
     Adama sat down in a chair with a deep sigh.  "I've seen this
before," he announced.
     "Father?" Apollo queried.
     "Usually, it involved warriors on the front lines of battle.  It's
a form of distress - a severe form."
     "Tyrus has no experience dealing with that," Cassiopeia announced. 
"Well, he was still being educated as psych-tech when the destruction
occurred.  He never finished. He was pressed into service when we lost
all of the other psych-techs and has been finishing up his training as
he went along."
     Adama put his face in his hands. This was not the treatment his
daughter needed.  She needed someone who knew about this; who had dealt
with it before.  Back on Caprica, there had been special clinics the
military had maintained for the express purpose of helping the warriors
suffering from this type of problem.
     "Do you think the news from Dillon and Stevie caused all of this?"
Apollo asked.  He'd kill Dillon, he swore.
     "She knows?"  He looked quickly around at the room.  Boomer looked
sheepish, and Adama realized that he must have gone running right to
Apollo and Starbuck after hearing the news.  Adama shook his head. 
"No.  Oh, it may have been the trigger, but this had to be building up
in her for a while."
     "Since the destruction," Cassiopeia said thoughtfully.  Adama
nodded.  "Losing her mother and brother... then Starbuck..."
     "And now Dillon.  Although I honestly don't think that's a bad
thing," Apollo added.
     "Don't start feeling guilty, Cassiopeia."  Adama knew where her
line of thinking was headed.  "Athena has probably been hurting for a
long time.  We just didn't see it."
     "Or we chose not to see it," Cassie lamented.  "And I didn't help
matters any."
     "Having someone stay with her... out of obligation or a... sense
of duty wouldn't be any good for her."
     Cassiopeia nodded.  From her socialator training, she thought she
could finally understand what Adama was talking about.  She had seen
the warriors that came home from the battle and spent most of their
time alone.  When they were around other people, they cried or began
yelling for little or no reason.   "She needs to get strong in her head
and beat this, and no one can make her do it.  She needs to stand on
her own and find out who she is; not depend on anyone else to hold her
up."
     "Exactly," Adama agreed.  "No man was going to take away the root
causes of these problems.  They have to be dealt with.  Whatever pain
she's feeling... Right now, the best we all can give her is our love
and support."  He sighed deeply.  "I just hope Tyrus is up to the job."
     Cassiopeia looked around quickly.  "Where is Starbuck?"

                              ***

     The doorchime rang: once, twice, three times rapidly.  Stevie
hurried to it.  Dillon had just left. 'He wouldn't be back this
quickly,' she thought.
     "I'm coming.  Hold on!"  She yelled impatiently as the chime rang
a fourth time.
     "Starbuck?"  Stevie looked at him quizzically.  He was close to
the last person she had expected to see.
     He walked into the room without waiting for Stevie to ask him in.
     "What's wrong?"  She was immediately frightened by his appearance. 
"Is it Brian? Did something happen?"
     Starbuck looked at her, not comprehending her concern at first.
     "No... Brian's fine," he said slowly.  "What's going on with you?"
     "Me?" she was taken aback.
     "You and Dillon."
     "Oh no.  Cassiopeia told you!  She said she wouldn't.  She said
everything was confidential..."
     "No, Cassie didn't tell me anything."  He paced back and forth in
the room, obviously agitated about something.  "Athena - she's - that
is - did you know Dillon was seeing Athena?"  He finally blurted out.
     Shock and surprise registered on Stevie's face.  Starbuck had his
answer.  "You mean now?  He's been seeing her..." her voce rose as she
grew more agitated.
     "A couple of sectars ago they broke it off."
     "So he was seeing both of us at the same time?"
     "Probably... Stevie, are you...."  He waved his hand at her
motioning up and down.  "You know."
     "Yes," she said with a groan.  Tears welled up in her eyes.  How
could she have been so stupid!
     Starbuck immediately felt bad for the way he had burst in on her. 
"Don't get upset.  I'm probably just as much to blame as anyone else,"
his tone was calmer, less frantic.  Shaking his head, he pulled out a
chair and sat down.
     "You?" Stevie looked at him inquiringly.
     "Frack, I wish I had some ambrosa right now.  A grog would be
better."
     "Hold on a sec."  Stevie walked over to the replicator.  After a
few moments, a glass with a clear, thick liquid appeared.
     "What's that?"
     "Something I like called Rumpleminze.  Try it."
     Starbuck looked at the glass and liquid and sniffed.  It had a
strong, minty smell to it.  He took a gulp and promptly spit it out.
     "Not my taste," he said, putting it down on the table.  "Anything
else in there?"
     "Yeah.  Hang on.  Maybe this'll make you happier."
     Stevie had never told anyone that she had been able to modify the
replicator this way.  Originally, it had been designed with certain
safeguards, such as not dispensing anything alcoholic in nature.  It
was her own, safe secret.  Now it was between her and Starbuck.
     Starbuck looked at the brown liquid and took a sip this time.
     "Much better.  What is it?"
     "Whiskey, it's called."
     Starbuck sat down at the table.  "A long time ago, back when we
actually lived on planets instead of these floating scows in space, I
dated Athena occasionally.  On and off, you might say.  Well, after the
Destruction I dumped her for Cassie.  Actually, we had a fight and
within centars I was... with Cassie."
     "Oh," Stevie said, wondering what this had to do with anything.
     "Stevie, Athena is in the Life Bay right now.  Something happened
to her after she heard about you and Dillon.  They're bringing in a
psych-tech."
     Stevie's mouth opened, both in fright and overwhelming guilt.
     "I didn't know, Starbuck!  If I had known..."
     "I know.  You're not like that."  He finished off the drink.  "Got
another?" In short order, Stevie produced another.  "I am, though.  Me. 
I knew.  I knew exactly what I was doing.  I was taking care of ol'
Starbuck, just like I always do with no regard for anyone else."
     "But... I mean..."  Stevie was nervously fingering the glass of
Rumpleminze Starbuck had put down on the table.  She should not drink,
she knew that.  Still, it was tempting.
     "When I came back to the Galactica after the Destruction, I yelled
at her something terrible.  Then, I was sorry.  I went to talk to
her... to reach out to her..."  He took a big gulp of his drink.  "Of
course, this was all after I had already checked on another girl on
Caprica.  I overflew Aurora's house in one of the transport shuttles
and it was destroyed.  So, I come back to Athena, thinking I better
grab onto her.  What happens?  She doesn't react the way I want, the
way I need, so ol' Starbuck goes and finds someone else to comfort
him..."
     He held out his empty glass again.  Stevie promptly gave him a new
one.
     "Cassie," Stevie figured it out.  "And now here comes me and I do
the same thing to her with Dillon."
     "Well you didn't know at least.  And Dillon's a piece of
felgercarb anyhow."
     "Huh?"
     "I don't know if you want to hear this..."
     "Tell me, Starbuck!  I have the right to know about..."
     "Yeah, I guess you should.  Rumor has it that he is a very
upwardly mobile person.  His idea of career advancement is to find
women who are in... strategic positions to help him out."
     "So?  I can't do anything for his career."
     Starbuck smirked.  "Stevie, you're the first people who we're
encountering from Earth.  You can tell us everything about it.  You're
the perfect person for him to latch on to.  Just being with you puts
him in the public's mind."
     Suddenly, what Starbuck was saying got through to her.  She picked
up the drink and gulped it down.
     "I don't think -"
     "Leave me alone, Starbuck."  Her words were acidic as she thought
of just how much she had been duped.  And so easily too!  All she
wanted at this point was to drown her sorrows the only way she knew
how.  "So what's wrong with Athena?"
     "Don't know.  They were all hanging around talking about it and I
din't wanna hear any more."  His words were starting to get slurred. 
"So I left.  Don't fall into it with Dillon, Stevie."
     Stevie produced another drink for Starbuck.  "Tequila."
     Starbuck sniffed it and tasted it.  "Nice," he said
appreciatively.
     Stevie got herself another one too.  It was wrong, and she knew
it, but the guilt was overwhelming right now.  She wanted the pain and
the anguish to go away.
     "So between the two of us, we did a number on the Commander's
daughter.  Great way to start a new life," she said icily as she sipped
on the drink.
     "You din't do nothing wrong!" Starbuck protested again.  "How long
you been... uh... with him anyway?"
     "About four weeks, or sectons as you call them," she said.
     "He moves fast," Starbuck said.  "What, a day or two after you got
here?"
     "No!  Not that fast.  Bad enough, though.  How could I be so
stupid!"
     Starbuck's head had a delightful buzz on.  "It usually takes me a
lot more ambrosa for me to feel this good.  Grog, too."
     "Something to look forward to when we get to Earth."  Stevie
raised her glass which was now full again.  "To Alcoholics Anonymous."
     "Huh?"
     "Never mind."
     "So wha're ya gonna do?" he slurred.
     "Whaddya mean?" Stevie slurred back as she found a chair.  The
drink was finally beginning to affect her, too.
     "About Dillon, stupey."
     Stevie shrugged exaggeratedly.  "Dunno.  Wanna keeell him, but
then my baby would be an orphan," she giggled.
     "Nooooo." Starbuck wagged his finger at her.  "Yer only an orphan
if both've yer pa'ents ur dead."  He hiccuped.  "Teekeela."
     "Oh, okay."  Stevie handed him another drink.
     "This stuff alone's gonna make findin' Earth worth it," Starbuck
commented.
     "So why did you skank Athena like that?"
     Starbuck laughed.  "Cause I'm scum."
     "Nooooo, yer not."
     "Yez I am.  I din't wanna get sealed.  Not ta her, not ta anyone. 
I was akshully relieved when she said 'no'.  Gave me 'scuse.  Hey, you
said 'no'.  Now I'm off da hook."  He took another gulp of the drink. 
"At leas' you have an excuze.  You din't know 'bout her."
     "Don't change nothin', though."
     "No, it don't."  Starbuck took a drink, followed by another
hiccup.
     Stevie was working on another one herself.  "I screwed up."
     "What dija see in him, fer Sagan's sake?"
     "Heez cute."
     "Daggits ur cute.  It don't mean yer gonna... you know."
     Stevie smirked. "I guez I'm gettin' what I deserve for bein' so
stupey.  I screwed up my life... I screwed up Athena's life... I
screwed up Brian's life..."
     Starbuck smiled drunkenly. "I woon't wannabe in yer place when ya
tell him."  He hiccupped.
     "I don't wanna be in my shooze when I tell him."
     "Yer all right, Stevie.  I dunno why you don't see that."
     Now Stevie hiccupped.  "The social classes on Earth make that
impozible."
     "Oh.  You mean like cause I'man orphan, and no social status I
won't get ahead the same way Apollo does."
     "Is that why he's a Cap'n and you're still a Looeytenant?"
     "We were in the same class at th'Academy fer cryin' out loud. 
Could they be more obvious?  Not that I wanna be a Cap'n anyway.  A lot
more worries."
     "Life sucks."

                              ***

     Stevie's head was pounding.  Somehow, she was in her bed.  As she
rolled from her back to her side, her stomach lurched violently.  She
hadn't felt this awful since... well, she had never felt this awful. 
The events of the day and night before flooded her confused mind; from
her telling Dillon of the impending arrival, to him convincing her to
be sealed, to Starbuck bursting into the Tech-Center with the whole,
entire story.  The story she had not been privy to before.  The rumors
that had been flying about Dillon and his accelerated career.  It had
all been too much for her, especially learning that he had still been
seeing Commander Adama's daughter while he was seducing her.
     She moaned slightly as she propped herself on her elbow in the
darkened room.  Her stomach was really shifting now, more than before. 
She didn't remember much from the night after Starbuck had asked if it
she had anything that could get him drunk.  He had begun to spill his
own story to her about how he felt responsible for Athena; how he had
betrayed her by beginning a relationship with Cassie.  Stevie had
started with just a few sips.  No drinking while pregnant.  She knew
that.  But the drink had numbed her mind and her feelings.  A few
drinks later, the guilt didn't seem that bad at all.
     Until now.  Until today.
     "Are you going to throw up?"
     She recognized her brother's voice.  'Oh shit,' she thought. 
'When did he get here?  How much does he know?  Isn't he supposed to be
cut off from seeing me until he's done with his training?'
     "No," she responded, but she actually wasn't too sure about that. 
She sat up on the edge of the bed and swung her legs over the side,
staying in that position for a while to see what would happen.
     The room grew lighter.  Brian had turned on the lighting, low. 
Even so, her eyes protested at the intrusion and her head hurt all the
more.  He was in a Colonial uniform.  It was the first time she had
seen him like that.
     "It looks good on you.  You blend right in."
     Brian ignored what she said and shook his head as he leaned
forward in the chair he had moved in here. "What the hell are you doing
Stevie?"
     'No small talk,' she thought.  'Right to the point.'
     "Screwing up my life like I always do.  Only now I seem to be
taking a lot of people down with me."
     "You've been taking people down with you all along," Brian said
harshly.  His tone surprised Stevie.  "What you've done now... It's not
really taking down anyone else.  You perceive it that way, but it's
not.  The only one you're hurting is you."
     "Oh no?  Gee, I was sleeping with the Commander's daughter's
boyfriend while he was still seeing her and she's flipped out now
because of me."
     "She's not flipped out because of you.  There's a lot more to it
than that.  If you think that a guy dumping you for someone else is
enough to make someone flip out, you have a lot more to learn than I
thought."
     Stevie was silent, waiting for Brian to get to whatever point he
wanted to make.
     "I'm not here to talk about Athena, anyway.  I'm here to talk
about you.  After we dragged Starbuck out of here last night, Apollo
suggested I stay with you.  No one felt like holding any training today
anyway."  He stood up, hesitating a moment.  "What the hell are you
doing Stevie?  Didn't we have a whole conversation about what a great
chance this was for you?  How you could change everyone's perceptions
of you?  Start from scratch with no one thinking of your past?"
     "It was too late already."
     "What do you mean?"
     Stevie was confused.  "Huh?  What are we talking about here
Brian?"
     "You marrying, or getting sealed to that... jerk.  What on
Earth... well, not Earth, possessed you to even think about something
like that?  You are not doing it, no sir, no way.  Understand?"
     Stevie looked up at him with tears in her eyes.  "I'm pregnant.  I
thought Cassie told you, or Starbuck maybe."
     Brian's face showed that he had not known until that moment.  It
registered shock and surprise.  "Pregnant?"  He began to pace the room. 
"Stevie, I know you're not that stupid.  What were you thinking?"  His
voice was angry and he was shouting at her.  Stevie's headache grew
more intense with each word, and she clamped her hands over her ears.
     "I don't know."  She hung her head, refusing to look up at him.
     "Was it your first time?  Was that it?"
     "No.  There was one time only before this."
     "Then you knew better Stevie.  What did you think, just because
you're in space the sperms can't make it to the egg?"
     "I don't know," she said.  Her head was throbbing, pounding more
than ever.  Tears had started down her cheeks.  She just wanted it to
go away, she just wanted all of it to go away.
     "And what the hell were you doing getting drunk when you're
pregnant?  C'mon Stevie.  I know you know better than that.  What the
hell's going on in that head of yours?"
     "I didn't think-"
     "No, you didn't think Stevie.  You never think any further than
the moment.  You never think about the implications of your behavior."
     Brian's harshness stunned her.  No one in their family had ever
taken her to task before.  She had finally done it; made her own family
hate her.
     "You have no idea who I am Brian.  You weren't around.  You didn't
go through what I went through.  You didn't even see what I went
through."
     "You know what Stevie, none of that matters.  What matters is that
you had a clean slate to work with here.  You could put whatever went
on back home aside and start fresh.  You had a great chance to impress
people with what you know.  You had a chance to succeed and forget
about any preconceived notions about you, but you're choosing to blow
it... Again!"
     "Do you have any idea what it was like at that God awful school
they sent me to?  That school..." Stevie paused to try to stifle the
tears that were appearing. Brian had been silent, watching the tears
flow from her face, as he realized that no one had really sat and
listened to Stevie before.  "That school was a joke.  If you weren't an
athlete or a beauty queen, they didn't know what to do with you.  I was
way too smart for that school. The other kids there all hated me.  Do
you know, even remotely, what it's like to be surrounded by people who
hate you?"
     Brian shook his head.
     "Well it's not fun Brian.  So when Dillon, this gorgeous guy; this
hero, who never would have looked twice at me if we were on Earth,
started paying attention to me; started telling me how pretty I was;
started wanting me, well, that was something new for me.  A guy like
him was always out of my league."
     "This isn't New York, Stevie," he said quietly.  "You're applying
standards that aren't in place up here.  Why, for God's sake, didn't
you use protection anyway?"
     Stevie didn't have a good answer.  "I don't know.  I didn't think
about it.  Maybe I didn't have to; maybe he took care of it.  There's
enough things different up here."
     Brian sighed and threw himself down in the chair.  "You are not
going to get sealed to him.  He's no good, Stevie.  He's just using you
to further his own career."
     "How... how do you know that?"
     Brian shrugged his shoulders.  "Stuff I heard.  Stuff Apollo and
Sheba and Boomer told me last night while you were passed out on the
couch."
     "Proof?  Is there any proof?  Or is it all just rumors and gossip
flying around?"  She refused to believe he was as bad as she was being
told, both by her brother and Starbuck. Dillon had said other warriors
were as bad gossips as the IFB.  Maybe it was all just a
misunderstanding.
     "You can't be serious Stevie.  Why are you defending him?  You're
not still considering getting married - or sealed - to this guy?"
     Stevie took a deep breath and looked at her brother.  "It's too
late," she said quietly.
     "What do you mean?  You mean because you're pregnant?  Don't
worry, we'll take care of it, together.  It won't be easy, but -"
     "No Brian," she stopped him.  "I mean that last night, when we had
made the decision to get sealed before anyone found out about the baby,
it looked like Commander Adama wouldn't seal us as soon as we wanted. 
So he - we found someone else."
     Brian felt his heart sink and his face registered the shock.  "But
how?  You haven't even been off this ship!"
     "Dillon went and got someone from another ship.  He had just left
when Starbuck came in here."
     "Oh Stevie," he sighed.  "What the hell are you thinking?"  He
wasn't yelling now, he was resigned to watching his sister's life
deteriorate.  "Don't you realize what you've done?"
     "But..." Her eyes were filling with tears all over again.  "It
didn't seem fair to raise a child without two parents together."
     "Why didn't you talk with anyone else about this before you jumped
in?"
     "I didn't know if... when I'd be able to talk to you.  And Cassie
said it was fine to raise a child by yourself, but Cassie was a hooker,
so of course she wouldn't think there was anything wrong with it."
     "Cassie is a what?"
     Stevie nodded.  "She told me I was pregnant.  And she told me it
was no big deal to raise a child without being married... sealed.  But
she's..."
     "A hooker?  Cassie?  The Cassie who's in the Life Bay?  The Cassie
who's Starbuck's girlfriend?"
     Stevie nodded.
     "Are you sure?"
     "Well, Dillon told me, but Starbuck said that she used to be last
night too."
     Brian was silent for a few minutes.  "Can't we unseal you
somehow?" he finally asked quietly.
     "No.  No divorce.  At least, not here anyway.  Now when we get to
Earth, though, that's another story..."
     "Is that what you're thinking?" Brian's voice was rising again as
he sat forward in the chair.  "Are you thinking that you can divorce
this jerk when we get to Earth?  Stevie, we don't even know if we're
ever gonna get there."
     "Sure we will.  Commander Adama knows where he's going."
     Brian shook his head.  "He has a vague idea.  Coordinates given to
him by some unknown race.  With the information they've gotten from us,
it looks like everything is right, but we don't know how far away we
are or how long it'll take to get there.  Stevie, you can't count on
that to solve your problems."
     The two of them sat there for a long time in silence, letting all
that had been said in the last minutes sink in.  They were startled by
the door to Stevie's room opening.
     "There you are!"  Dillon said as he walked in.  He was looking
directly at Stevie and didn't see Brian sitting there.  "I was looking
for you.  It looks like a maelstrom went through out there.  What -" He
stopped short on seeing Brian sitting there, then looked back at
Stevie.  Slowly he started backing up.  "I can see this is a bad time. 
I'll just -"
     "Halt!" Brian ordered.  "You're not going anywhere."
     "I... uh..."
     "Technically, I'm your superior officer."
     Dillon said nothing.
     'Oh Brian, please don't make this any worse than it already is,'
Stevie thought miserably.
     "I... I thought I was doing the right thing," Dillon said simply.
     Brian was buying it.  "By sleeping with my sister when you were
still going out with someone else?"
     "But we weren't... that is, I thought she had already broken up
with me.  Ask Jolly. He was in the Officer's Club the night she threw a
drink a me.  I thought it was over!"
     This startled Brian, though he was still skeptical.  The story
would check out easily enough.  The incredible urge to beat the living
daylights out of this man standing before him was overwhelming, but he
had to think about Stevie at the same time.  She was already trapped to
this man.  "Outside.  You, stay here."
     Stevie groaned and laid back down on the bed.
     "I've heard a lot of stuff about you... A lot of stuff that isn't
too good."
     "Resentment, that's all-"
     "Shut up and listen to me."  Brian said as he walked over to
Dillon.  "I don't care about whatever you've done up until now.  All I
care about is my sister in there.  So help me, if you do anything to
hurt her, you'll have to answer to me.  You had just better be on your
best behavior when it comes to her, understand?"
     Dillon swallowed hard.  When Brian was angry, he was not someone
to mess with.  His usual easy-going personality had disappeared
completely.
     "You wanted this, you got it.  But you better make sure she's
happy.  Deliriously happy.  If you don't, you'll have to answer to me."
     Brian knew there really wasn't that much he could do, but he
wanted to scare Dillon as much as possible; take away some of the
cockiness he had when it came to Stevie.
     "I will, Brian.  I swear."  Anything to get him off of his back
right now.
     "Good.  Maybe there's hope for you yet.  I will have people
watching you when I'm not around, you know.  If I hear one thing out of
line, you will be sorry."

                           Chapter 11

     Cassiopeia was surprised to see Brian walk into the Life Bay.  He
looked nice in the warriors uniform he now wore.
     "Is something the matter?  Is Stevie all right?"
     "No... I mean... yes... I mean, everyone's fine.  I'm okay. 
Stevie's okay as far as I know. I just... I just wanted to see Athena. 
Is that all right?"
     Cassiopeia was surprised.  Athena had been here almost a secton. 
No one other than Apollo and the Commander had been in to see her. 
"She's still sedated, though she does stay awake for longer periods
now. As long as you're quiet.  If she starts getting upset, you'll have
to leave."
     "I understand..." he said.  Quietly he made his way to the bed
where Athena lay.
     This person in front of him was hardly the woman that had caught
his eye the instant she had walked into the room.  Her face was drawn,
haggard, and pale.  Her eyes seemed to show pain.  To himself, Brian
wondered what the heck he was doing here.
     "What are you doing here?" Athena asked.  "Came to see the freak?"
     Her voice had a bitter edge to it, but Brian heard more there.
     "I just wanted to see you... See how you were doing..."
     "How does it look like I'm doing?"
     "Really? Better than I expected after hearing all of the rumors."
     "Great.  That's just great.  The Commander's daughter falls apart
after losing her boyfriend.  Dillon must be reveling in that!"
     Brian tentatively put one of his hands on top of hers.  When she
didn't jerk it away, he felt a little more confident.  "I don't think
anybody thinks all this is cause some jerk dumped you."
     Athena was surprised.  He was the man's brother-in-law, from what
she had been told.
     "Yeah, he's a jerk.  My sister has no clue what she's gotten
herself into."
     Athena sniffed a little.  "So then what is your assessment of this
situation, doctor?"  Her voice still had an edge to it, but the
bitterness that had been there before had lightened a bit.
     Brian shrugged.  "I'm no doctor, but I know about loss.  I know a
lot about loss.  Back where we're from... Jeez, I don't know how to
explain it to you in your terms... My brother, my twin brother, was
killed when a man who was driving a car - an automobile - had too much
to drink - as in alcohol, getting drunk..."  He hesitated a moment, not
sure if he was getting his point across.  When he saw that she
understood he continued, "And hit the car he was in with a bunch of his
friends. I was in the car in front of them.  It was the worse night of
my life..."
     His voice trailed off.  Silence hung between them for quite a
while.
     "I think I understand what you mean," Athena said, sitting up a
little.  "I'm sorry Brian."
     He nodded his head a little, trying to keep his own composure as
he spoke to her.  "Thanks.  Anyway, nothing was ever the same after
that.  My mother and father, they didn't handle it good at all.  Bobby
was the golden boy, you know.  He did everything right; everything
perfect and he was gone.  Stevie could tell you how they shut down....
though I don't image you'll be talking to her anytime soon."
     Athena managed a thin smile.  "No, I don't think so."
     "She's totally frightened of you, you know.  She blames herself...
If she had known..."
     "I know.  Starbuck too, from what I heard.  But all this has
nothing to do with that, as you seem to understand."
     Brian nodded.  "I don't think I could cope with the things you've
seen and come out as well as you have."
     Athena nodded.  "Being on the bridge that day... and hearing my
own brother lose his life... I guess I just shut off my feelings; tried
to bury it for a long, long time."
     "And tried to find reassurance in the wrong way that everything
was just fine."
     Athena nodded.  "I kept thinking that if there was an image of me
out there as this strong daughter of the Commander who everyone could
look up to and admire, that it would be true."
     "After my brother died, that fall - our next season when school
starts - I went away to the Air Force Academy.  That's where you train
to be a pilot.  Anyway, I just buried myself in school.  I didn't want
to deal with what I was feeling.  I was trying to show everyone how I
had gotten over it, but I was dying inside."
     "How come... how come this happened to me though and not to you?" 
Athena asked.
     Brian shook his head.  "Who knows?  For one thing, it was only my
brother.  If I had lost my whole world like you did... At least I had
the familiarity of our society.  I could watch television, play sports,
do everything else just as it had been.  Have you been talking to
anyone?"
     "You mean a psych-tech, right?"
     "Is that what they call them here?"
     "Tyrus is the closest thing we have.  He was in training  when the
Destruction happened.  I've talked to him every day so far.  Then
there's all this medication they've got me on..."
     Brian grimaced.  He never liked to hear that, even though there
was a very good reason for her to be on it.
     "I think maybe Athena should rest now," Cassiopeia said as she
walked over to them.
     "Can I come back another time?" Brian asked hopefully.  He was
actually asking the both of them.
     Cassiopeia looked at Athena, who nodded. "I'd like that."
     "Then come back any time you want Brian."
     He waved slightly at Athena as she laid back down in the bed.  She
managed a thin smile.
     Cassiopeia walked with him towards the door.
     "How come you're down here?  I thought all cadets were confined."
     "From what I was told, usually only until they're cleared to fly. 
Since we need a little more training than your average cadet, Colonel
Tigh finally relented and cleared us.  Especially after everything that
went on."  Brian hesitated a moment, almost afraid to bring up what he
had actually come down here for in the first place.  "I actually want
to talk with you, too, if that's all right?"
     "Sure," Cassie said.  She brought him into a private office and
closed the door.  "Athena really responded to you.  She seems better
now than she has all secton."
     Brian blushed slightly.  "Thanks.  Fortunately... Unfortunately,
we share some of the same experiences, so I can understand how she
feels, a lot."
     "But that's not what you want to talk to me about, is it?  Is this
about Stevie?"
     "Sort of.  Cassie, if it's none of my business, tell me, but what
did you do before you were a med-tech?"
     His question startled her.  "Why?"
     "I know you tried to talk Stevie out of sealing to Dillon, and I
really appreciate it, believe me..."
     "Thanks."
     "But he told her you used to be a hooker before you were a
med-tech."
     "A hooker?"
     "Well, that's what we call them on Earth.  They're... uh... women
who... go with men... for money."
     Cassie nodded.  "We call them socialators. Back where I come from,
it's an honorable profession, blessed by the elders.  I had to go
through a lot of training to get a license for that."
     Brian was shocked.  He sat in silence,  letting what she said go
through his mind several times.
     A realization hit Cassie as she sat in silence with Brian.  She
had counseled Stevie, and her past had let Dillon discount all of her
counseling.  That was why she had changed her mind so fast!
     "Dillon used my past against me, didn't he?"
     "Cassiopeia, it doesn't bother me, it really doesn't.  But, yeah. 
Dillon told Stevie that you would only think there was nothing wrong
with having a kid and not being sealed was because of what you were."
     Cassie was stunned.
     "Brian, I'm sorry.  If I had known..."
     "You couldn't know what that ass- jerk was going to do.  I just
wish you had told me so I could have talked to her."
     "It's a matter of ethics Brian.  Confidentiality of what goes on
here in the Life Bay is very important."
     "I understand.  Dillon's a real smooth talker.  He probably would
have gotten over on Stevie anyway."  When Cassie looked at him
quizzically, he rephrased what he had said, "He would have convinced
her no matter who you were or what I had said."
     Cassie's mind was reeling.  Everything she had said to Stevie that
day had been set aside because of her past; because of who she had
been.
     Brian was unnerved by Cassie's silence, and the look on her face. 
"Cassie, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to upset you."
     "No, Brian.  It's all right.  You didn't do anything wrong."
     "I'm sorry."
     Cassie put on her best smile.  "It's all right, Brian, really. 
This is something I had to know about.  It's something I never
considered before."
     "I'm sorry."
     "If you don't stop apologizing, I'm going to have to get angry."
     "I'm-" he stopped himself as he realized what he was about to say. 
"Look, about Stevie anyway, how is she?"
     "Health-wise?  Fine.  I don't see any problems coming up.  We'll
keep a close eye on her anyway, just because we don't know what's going
to happen as a result of whatever subtle differences there are in the
physiologies between us."
     "Uh.... Meaning?"
     Cassie smiled, though it was forced.  "Well, we don't know if
there will be any complications with the pregnancy.  We also don't know
if childbirth is the same for you as it is for us.  We just have to
monitor her."
     "What about her drinking episode?  Will that hurt the baby at
all?"
     "If it's just the one time, she should be fine.  As soon as it's
possible to get a reading, we'll check on it, though."
     Brian nodded thoughtfully, then stood up to leave.  "Well,
anything you want, I'll help you out with."
     "Thanks Brian.  I'll be sure to call you in here to talk with her
if anything else comes up."
     After he left, Cassie quickly checked on the patients in the Life
Bay, then went back to her desk.
     The implications of what had occurred were weighing heavily on
her.  If someone else, other than herself, had spoken with Stevie after
she had found out she was pregnant, maybe things would be different
now.
     Her past was catching up with her.  For a while she had been
thinking about continuing her med-tech training and becoming a
full-fledged doctor.  Now she was wondering if she should even continue
to be a med-tech.  How could she do her job effectively if anything she
said was discounted because of her previous occupation in the colonies?

                              ***

     Cindy stood outside of the turboflush, waiting for Stevie to get
out.  She was throwing up... again.
     "Are you almost done?  I have to get to my classes!"
     "I'll be out in a minute... centon... whatever."
     Cindy shook her head.  She had thought she would be moving out of
here once Stevie had been sealed to Dillon, but that hadn't happened. 
Dillon was still quartered with his squadron while he was on-duty. 
When he was on furlough, after his particular patrol cycle was over, he
would spend a few cycles here before returning to duty.  Besides, Brian
wanted someone around to keep an eye on what was going on.
     Living off of the Tech-Center, as this was now being called, was
not much different than being quartered with the other female warriors. 
Privacy was almost nonexistent, though she was able to sleep in peace. 
Still, there were techs coming in and out of the room almost all of the
time now.
     "Thank God!" Cindy said when Stevie finally emerged.
     "I feel like crap."
     'And who's to blame for that?' Cindy thought, but didn't say it. 
"It'll pass."
     Stevie saw Boomer walk in.
     "Hi Boomer."
     "Stevie." He nodded.  "You don't look too good this morning."
     "I don't feel too good."
     "Do you think you'll be able to help us test today?"
     Stevie nodded.  They were testing the first computer built by the
Electronics Ship that was based on Earth's technology.  They were
trying to program it like a replicator.  Though they had managed to
provide food to the Fleet through use of the Agro-Ships and a Livestock
Ship, it was quickly becoming clear that this was not a permanent
solution.  Sooner or later a crop would fail, or some other disaster
such as the Cylons taking one of the ships out, would befall them.  The
only solution was to get the replicators up and running as soon as
possible.  If Boomer, Stevie, and their crew could duplicate the
computer, it would solve a lot of problems.  On the Electronics Ship,
Dr. Wilker was attempting to put together the rest of the components
and storage compartments according to the diagrams Stevie had printed
out.
     Simple programs were running on the computer.  Stevie didn't dare
load in the latest commercial software for fear of crashing the system. 
Instead, she was running basic programs such as card games.  Now they
were planning on trying something a little more complicated.
     Boomer was a fairly proficient coder - or programmer - for the
Colonials.  He was eager to put their new computers into the vipers. 
They were so much more compact than the bulky computer the Colonials
had built.  Still, the vipers would have to wait until they were more
confident in the new systems.
     After about four centars of working, both Stevie and Boomer were
confident they had the bugs worked out.
     "Run that sucker!" Stevie said with a grin.
     Boomer took a deep breath, and tapped the key that had "Enter"
written on it in tape.  They had a dummy keyboard that showed both the
Earth terms and Colonial terms.  The other three techs that were
working with them gathered around to watch.
     Boomer had chosen a basic diagnostic program, that generally took
half a centar to run.  It finished perfectly in less than ten centons. 
Cheers went up from the crew around them.  Boomer and Stevie smiled at
each other.
     "This is looking real good!"
     "There's not much else we can do until we can test the rest of the
components," Stevie said.
     "No, there's not," Boomer agreed.  "They have to build it before
we can code it.  But we can let them know that the computers they're
building are working; that they're on the right track, at least."
     "We're going to need a lot more of these," the tech named Kimba
agreed.  "Especially if we want to replace all the computer with
something as compact as this.  The replicators alone would solve a lot
of problems... And the vipers will weigh a lot less...  We'll have more
room aboard ships for people..."
     "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Boomer cautioned.  "We have to
do a lot more research."
     "And we're gonna need a lot more components... supplies.  Memory
boards, chips, monitors, keyboards..." Stevie added.
     "Well, we should have the monitors at least," Boomer said.  "But
the other components may be a problem."
     "What about raw materials?" Ada questioned.  She was one of the
more knowledgeable coders they had to work with.
     "Silicon is our biggest problem," Boomer agreed.
     "And each chip has to have a layer ten atoms thick on it," Stevie
interjected.  "Five is supposed to be fine, actually, but ten is
safer."
     "Five atoms!" Ada smiled.  "I can't believe we're dealing with
such small amounts."
     "I can't believe they can make a computer this small," Boomer
countered.  "And they have scout crews out looking for silicon deposits
on planets and asteroids.  They haven't found much yet.  Maybe I can
get out there and help them out."
     Stevie shrugged.  "There's not much else for you to do until we
can start working with the Colonial codes and program new systems."
     "We need the systems first before we can start coding," Boomer
agreed.  "I think the priority is the replicators, but we still need
the raw materials."  He looked over at Stevie, skeptically.  "Think you
can handle actually teaching coding... programming... Stevie?"
     "Sure!"
     "You can't just do it.  You have to make sure they are learning
what to do."
     "I'll do my best Boomer."
     "I'll be watching you.  I'll only be out there until we're ready
to begin implementing these programs so I'm counting on you.  The more
people we have able to code, the faster we can implement these new
systems."
     "I can do it.  I know I can."
     "You sent for me?" Apollo asked as he walked into the Tech Center,
followed by Boxey and Muffit.
     "I have something to show you," Boomer was saying with a smile. 
"Stevie, can you get out that disk we were watching last cycle?"
     "Apollo 13?  Sure."
     "Apollo 13?"  Apollo repeated.
     "That was the name of one of our early lunar missions."
     "Just watch this with me a few centons and tell me if it seems
familiar."  Boomer urged.
     Apollo looked at him questioningly, but sat down to do as he
asked.
     "What's this?" Boxey asked as he went over to a small cage Stevie
had on a table in the Tech Center.
     "These are the animals we had on board with us.  We were supposed
to do experiments, but when the mission fell apart... well, no one
really cared anymore.  We just kept them as pets.  They're called
guinea pigs."
     "Guinea pigs?" Boxey scrunched up his face.  "That's a silly
name."
     "Would you like to hold one?"
     Boxey looked over at his father, who nodded.  Stevie opened the
cage and took out the fluffy creature.  It squealed slightly in
protest.
     "It's so soft," he giggled.
     "Holy frack!" Apollo swore.  Stevie turned to see what had grasped
his attention.  The beginning of the movie was showing actual footage
of the first lunar landing in 1969.  "Do you have any more clips like
this?"
     "I might," Stevie said as she walked over to where they kept all
of their disks.  "What's going on?"
     "About sectars ago, we picked up parts of a transmission," Boomer
explained.
     "A transmission we theorized might be from Earth," Apollo
continued.  "And, going from memory, it resembles what you just showed
me quite a bit."
     "Show it to me," she said with a shrug.  "I'll be able to tell you
if it comes from us."      "That's just it, it was destroyed in a Cylon
attack on the Galactica," Apollo grimaced as he watched Stevie flipping
through what appeared to be an enormous collection of the disks.
     "You were the one who was so sure it was from Earth," Boomer
added.  "Everyone else was convinced that it was a Cylon trap."
     "Here ya go!" Stevie slid a disk out from in between all of the
documentaries they had brought.  "This is a documentary on the first
lunar landing."
     Apollo held the disk in his hand.  "I want to wait.  Get my father
down here to see it.  If this is the same as the transmission we
intercepted, we can change direction to follow the path that came from
more directly."  He looked over at her.
     "Sure.  Whatever."
     "I have to go on patrol now, but it will be real soon, all right?"
     "Whatever, Apollo.  It's all fine with me.  I want to get to Earth
as much as you all do."
     "Thanks," he said with a gentle smile. "Well, I have to get Boxey
to Cassiopeia.  Thanks again Stevie."
     "The Life Bay?  Is there something wrong?"
     "Well, no."  Apollo shifted uncomfortably.  "I... uh..."
     "Aunt Athena used to watch me when Dad was out on patrol," Boxey
chimed in as he put the guinea pig back in its cage.  "Only she can't
now cause she's sick.  So I stay with Cassie, or Grandpa, or Jolly if
he's around... sometimes Sheba, too."
     "Oh,"  Stevie responded.
     Apollo looked at her apologetically.
     "Why don't you leave him here?  The Life Bay is really no place
for a little boy."
     Boxey's eyes went wide.  "Could I Dad?  Could I?"
     "I..."  Apollo stammered.
     "Look, Apollo, I'm not here by myself most of the time.  There's
techs, Boomer, Cindy all going in and out at all different times.  I
don't mind.  There's plenty for him to occupy himself with."
     "I can learn all about Earth!"  Boxey chimed in, hopefully and
excitedly.
     "Stevie, really, thanks -"
     "And besides, I sort of need to get used to having a kid around,
don't I?"
     Apollo knew this was more from her guilt about what was going on
with Athena.
     "Please Dad?"  Boxey begged.  He looked into the little boy's
pleading eyes.
     "Well, you're right about Life Bay not being a good place for a
little boy."
     "Yes!"
     "But, young man, you must behave.  If I hear any negative reports
from Stevie, Boomer, or any of the techs, you will not be allowed to
stay here again."
     "Thank you Dad."  Boxey hugged him quickly.  "Can I watch that
dinosaur motion-picture again?"
     "Sure," Stevie said.
     "She'll be with you in one micron, Boxey."
     Boxey walked over to the living area where the screen and player
were now mounted in the wall.  Apollo turned to Stevie.
     She held up her hand.  "I promise not to let him watch anything
violent or otherwise inappropriate for his age.  I have lots of Rugrat
cartoons around and a few Disney movies.  Got video games too that are
all right for a kid his age."
     Apollo smiled.  "Yes, that's part of it.  I just don't want you
feeling like you have to do this to compensate in any way for Athena. 
It's got nothing to do with you, really.  Even if it did, you didn't
know."
     "I know," Stevie replied.  Apollo got the feeling she was giving
this reply more because it was expected of her, and not because she was
convinced that the facts were true.
     "Well, we'll try it for now," he said.  "But thanks again.  If
this does work out, you've helped me out in a big way."

                           Chapter 12

>From Brian's Journal:
     I'm starting this journal, in the belief that I will one day use
it as a guide to write a book (or books) and make millions once we
reach Earth.  Somehow I don't think we're going to be getting overtime
for this mission.  I'm hoping it doesn't become my epitaph, given over
to whoever may still be in charge long after my death.  I want to reach
Earth in my lifetime.  I don't know if that will happen.
     I told Stevie to do the same thing and start a journal, not that
she'll listen to me.  Stevie never listens to anyone other than that
little voice inside her.  More and more I am regretting having her come
along on this trip.  Although I doubt we would have survived the Cylons
without her, she's making some bad choices; some really bad choices.
     Would her life on Earth have been any different?
     I don't know.  I don't know what it's going to take to make her
change.  I don't know if she'll ever change.  She is who she is.  I
know she feels guilty when she screws up and hurts other people, but
usually by then it's too late.  And usually she feels guilty for the
wrong reason.
     But my sister is my sister, and I love her, and I'm sure she'll
play a big part in what follows.  Onward!
     I'm going to fly a Viper.  A fighter plane in space, essentially. 
The simulators have been preparing us, but I can't wait to actually
feel the rush of flying through space in a fighter plane at breakneck
speeds like I did in an F14 back home.  Apollo says we'll be ready
soon.  Our training has helped us understand the different effects that
occur in a Viper, and we're ahead of where he thought we would be,
contrary to what they thought would happen.  Another secton (week) or
two, and he thinks we'll be ready.
     All of us seem to have adjusted.  Stevie is doing what Stevie
normally does (but I've covered that already, haven't I?)  Cindy seems
to be settling in.  She doesn't make friends as quickly as Stevie does. 
Hell, we were on this mission and lost for at least two weeks before
she really started talking to me more as a friend than a coworker.  But
I think she's realizing that this is where we are stuck, at least for
the time being, and these are the people who will now make up our
world.
     Danny is another story.
     For anyone who may read this, don't get me wrong.  He is an
exemplary serviceman.  Too exemplary.  He worries me, more than I am
letting on to anyone.  His changeover was too quick, too easy.  I've
known him a long time, and I've seen him cut loose and enjoy himself,
but this seems, well, too controlled is all I can really classify it
as.
     I hope I'm wrong.
     The people of this Fleet have taken all of us in with open arms,
and are eager to hear everything about Earth.  Along those lines, we
want to begin introducing them to Earth and the concepts and ideals of
Earth - slowly.

                              ***

     Cindy was ready; as ready as she thought she would ever be.
     "How do I look?" she asked.
     Stevie looked up from the game she had been playing.  "Fine," she
said curtly.
     Cindy grimaced.  Stevie was still pouting.  This was not going to
be an easy situation, she was sure of it.
     Commander Adama had approached the four of them about introducing
Earth culture to the people of the fleet... slowly.  The idea was to
stage an interview between Zara of the IFB and one of the four of them
presenting ideas and the like from Earth.  Movies and other shows in
their possession would also eventually be shown.  The idea was to
script and control what was being disseminated to the citizenry.
     Which was exactly why Cindy had been chosen for the job.  Stevie
had wanted it, that was obvious, but all of them considered her to be
too much of a loose cannon.  Danny didn't show an interest in it, but
if it was going to happen he had to agree that Cindy was who should do
it.  Brian had agreed.
     So now Cindy was stuck with a roommate who was sulking.  Dillon
wasn't due off of his third consecutive long-range patrol for another
two cycles.  Apollo had been trying to keep him out and away from the
Fleet as much as possible, but sooner or later the guy needed a break. 
Cindy was counting on that to end this latest bit of selfishness on
Stevie's part.
     "Gosh, I hope I know this stuff good.  I'm so nervous."
     "You'll do fine.  Even if you forget the script, you know it all
so fake it."
     "The whole idea is not to forget the script."
     "Whatever!"  Stevie was irritated by the whole thing.  Hell, she
had the least amount of work so far.  Didn't she have the time for this
over Cindy?  But no, Cindy gets to do this.
     The doorchime rang. "Must be my escort," Cindy said happily. 
"Come on in!"
     Both of them were surprised to see Captain Apollo standing in the
doorway.
     "Ladies," he said as he entered the Tech Center.  He glanced at
all of the equipment lying about the room.  "Looks like you've been
having fun."
     "Trying to get all of this to function, that's all," Stevie
replied with a shrug. "I think Boxey is with Starbuck."
     "I know."  He turned to Cindy.  "Are you ready?"
     "You're escorting me to the broadcast?" Cindy was astounded.
     "I volunteered for it," Apollo said with a smile.
     "Why thank you Captain."

                              ***

     "Your roommate doesn't seem too happy," Apollo commented as the
two of them walked down the corridor towards where the interview had
been set up.
     "No, she's not," Cindy admitted.  "She seems to think that she
should have been selected for this particular chore."
     "And?" Apollo asked as he turned and smiled at her.
     "And none of us think she could do it.  At least, and not follow
through the way it's intended."
     Apollo nodded.  "You don't want to do it?"
     "If it gets me away from there, I don't mind it.  How I got stuck
playing babysitter to Brian's sister -" She stopped short, unsure if
she had said too much.
     "It's all right.  I wouldn't say anything," he reassured her.
     Cindy smiled.  "Thank you.  I guess I just need to blow off a
little steam, and there's no one really around to do it to."
     "Well, you can come find me and blow off steam any time you want." 
Apollo opened the door to the room where the lights and cameras were
awaiting her.  "In fact, after you're all done here if you don't want
to go back, I'd be pleased to escort you to the Officer's Club."
     Cindy smiled at the handsome Captain.  "I think I'd like that a
lot."

                              ***

     The broadcast went off without a problem.  Both Cindy and Zara
stuck to the script that had been first cleared by Commander Adama and
then the Council.  The Fleet had been clamoring for more news of what
Earth would be like, and this was a basic lesson, mainly in geography. 
They talked about the concept of countries, each with a separate
government.  They discussed the weather in the various area, then
showed Raging Planet, a program from Earth that showed different
disasters - flooding, tornadoes, snowstorms - from all over the world.
     "Well," Zara said a little uneasily as the piece ended, though she
kept a smile on her face the entire time.  "I'm sure that will generate
a few questions.  Feel free to submit your questions to us, and we'll
choose some to answer on our next segment.  Same time, next secton. 
For the IFB, I'm Zara, and this is Cindy."
     The program ended.
     Danny had been watching with the other warriors in the billet.  He
remained quiet all the way through, not commenting at all about the
whole thing.  Just as it had been on Earth, the other warriors regarded
him more as a loner, while Brian was the more friendly and outgoing one
of the two.  Brian had gone down to the studio to watch the broadcast
live.
     Something had struck a chord in Danny while he had been watching
the broadcast.  He had accepted that these people in the Fleet were not
of Earth, but he knew there had to be another purpose for him being
thrust in their path. The purpose would be shown to him when the time
was right, he just had to be patient.  Now, he thought he had an idea
of what it was.
     Already on Earth, there was so much conflict, so much discord in
the world.  Was it fair for these people to bring their problems and
their war and dump it all at the feet of the people of Earth?  He was
beginning to think not.  What potential conflicts would this cause in
their already unstable world?  Surely they would become allies of the
United States, but what if there was a conflict between the government
of the United States and that of the Colonials?  Would they merely
assert their higher technology and force capitulation?
     As the only one of the three of them who apparently still felt any
sort of sense of duty, he guessed that the responsibility for seeing
that these people never reached Earth would sit squarely on his
shoulders.
     He watched the warriors talking amongst themselves, excited about
all that they had seen.  Opportunity would present itself eventually. 
Until then, he would hold up his end as a good warrior, as a good man. 
No one would have reason to question his motives.
     And above all, he had to avoid being killed.

                              ***

     "Thank God I have a whole week before I have to do this again!"
Cindy said with relief as she walked through the corridors of the
Galactica with Brian and Apollo on either side of her.
     "Yeah," Brian agreed.  "I'll come by one night and the three of us
can go over more of the material to submit it for the Commander's
review."
     "Three of you?" Apollo questioned.
     "Danny wants no part of any of this," Cindy explained.  "He thinks
about one thing and one thing only: duty.  This does not fit into what
our parameters were defined as for this mission."
     "What she's trying to say," Brian cut in.  "Is that he's got a
very narrow focus.  It's hard for him to adjust to the fact that this
mission did not go anywhere near as planned.  He takes it personally."
     "And he has no idea of how to have a social life," Cindy added. 
"Back on Earth, when you're scheduled for a mission, you practically
eat, sleep and breathe that mission.  This one, especially."
     Apollo smiled.  "The three of you are doing so good in the
simulators, we think you'll be ready for the real thing withing the
next secton."
     Cindy's face looked at him quizzically.
     "Week."
     "Ah."  The three of them had arrived at the Officer's Club. 
Apollo looked over at Brian with a look that said "get lost".
     "Well, I better go back.  I... uh... wanna cover something tonight
before tomorrow's class."
     Brian gave her a reassuring pat, one that Cindy knew was meant to
tell her she had done a good job, then he walked away from the two of
them.
     "He's not very discreet, is he?"  Cindy asked with a smile.
     "I don't know," Apollo smiled.  "I think knowing when to leave is
a very admirable quality myself."
     Laughing, the two of them entered the Officer's Club.  It was
crowded, from all of the people who had watched the broadcast in here,
but neither of them were paying particular attention to the crowd. 
Apollo saw seats at tables, but there were other people at them.  He
wanted to give Cindy the chance to let off steam without having to
worry who might overhear.
     "This isn't good," he said.
     "It is awful crowded."
     "Come on," he said.  "I know a place where you can blow off steam,
and there's no one around but the stars - and me - to hear you."
     Apollo squired her back out of the club.

                              ***

     Sheba had been sitting at a table with Cassiopeia, listening to
her friend talk about what had happened with Stevie, in regards to
Dillon throwing past history in her face.  Sheba understood her
concern, her previous designation was largely the reason she had been
so objectionable to Cassiopeia's relationship with her father,
Commander Cain.  Once Sheba had taken the time to really know
Cassiopeia, she had found a friendship she was sure would be one of the
best she would ever have.  Now as she sat, with her back to the door,
Cassiopeia expressed all of her concerns in a low voice, barely audible
in the din of the Officer's Club.
     "How can I think about becoming a Doctor when any advice I give is
tainted?"
     "Have you discussed this with Starbuck?" Sheba asked.
     Cassiopeia nodded. "He says it's no big deal.  I'm overreacting."
     "Of course, men always do.  Except when it's them."
     The two women laughed.
     "Oh here's Apollo!" Cassiopeia said as he walked into the room,
accompanied by Cindy, the woman from Earth who had just done the
broadcast.
     Sheba turned and looked.  As the two of them scanned the room, she
waved her arm, trying to catch his attention.  They saw him lean over,
whisper something to Cindy who nodded, and then the two of them left
the Club.
     "That was strange," Cassiopeia said.
     Sheba frowned.  "Yeah.  Maybe she just wants to get away from her
adoring fans.  It's going to be tough being an IFB celebrity."
     "I don't think she knows the half of what she's in for,"
Cassiopeia agreed.  "He probably just didn't see us."
     "It's just as well," Sheba shrugged.  "You wouldn't want to
discuss this with him around anyway."
     "That's true."
     "It's too crowded and noisy in here anyway," Sheba said.  "Let's
go to your quarters.  We can talk in peace there now that the big
broadcast is over."

                              ***

     "This is beautiful," Cindy was sitting in the chair at the
controls in the center of the Celestial Dome.  Her earguards were
around her neck, and she stared in awe at the stars.  Apollo stood
below her on the deck, looking out at the sky at it seemingly slowly
moved by.
     "Isn't it?  It's one of the few places around here where you can
find some privacy... and some tranquillity."
     "Peace and quiet is definitely not something in abundance around
these parts," Cindy agreed.
     "If it's that bad, why don't you put in to be moved to the female
crew's quarters?"
     Cindy sighed.  "I wouldn't do that to her.  She's young. 
Everything that happens she still takes personally."
     "Like been looked over for this IFB representative?"
     "Exactly.  And I have nothing against her, personally... really. 
It's just that... she's not my responsibility.  She's Brian's sister. 
He's the one that got her on this mission in the first place."
     "So she's not doing her job?"
     "No, it's not that.  I mean, I don't think anyone else would've
been able to help us escape from the Cylons.  I give credit where
credit is due.  When it comes to any of this electronic stuff... well,
she's a genius.  She's just way too immature for the responsibilities
that go with it."
     "Did she replace someone else?"
     "Yeah," Cindy said with a smile.  "This guy never would have cut
it.  He was also a computer genius, but every time he went in the
simulators he got sick.  I think that sold them as much on Stevie as
Brian's pleas did.  Like I said, Stevie is good at what she does,
that's half the problem.  Everyone makes exceptions and allowances for
her and she's used to getting what she wants."
     "And I don't suppose we're helping any," Apollo grimaced.
     "To be honest, no.  I mean, she came here and was heralded as a
great
programmer... coder.  And everyone started doing backflips to make her
happy."  Cindy shook her head.  "She doesn't even realize that she's
doing it half the time."
     Apollo climbed up on the platform beside her.  "I think I
understand more and more why she and Starbuck naturally gravitate
towards each other."
     Cindy smiled.  "Yes, he does seem to think the universe revolves
around him, doesn't he?"  She sat back a little in the chair and
regarded Apollo skeptically.  "So what's your story, Captain?"
     Immediately, something seemed to change in Apollo.  While they
were talking about her and the current situation, he had seemed fine,
but as soon as she switched the focus, a pall fell over them.
     "The usual for here.  Lost a good part of my family at the hands
of the Cylons.  Just trying to keep on living one day at a time."
     "You don't like to talk about yourself, do you?"
     Apollo grinned at her.  "That's ten cubits for the lady for
getting that one right."
     "What do you think of us so far, then?"
     "Well, it's good to know that Earth really does exist; that we're
not just chasing a fairy tale or a fable.  What we're going to find
when we get there, though, that scares me a little."
     "Why?"
     "I just... I just don't know if it will live up to all of our
expectations."
     "Then maybe you should reconsider all of the propaganda you're
putting out there on the IFB."
     'Interesting choice of words,' Apollo noted to himself.  "Well,
I'm hopeful we can present an honest view of what Earth will be like,
albeit slowly.  I don't think introducing the problems of Earth is a
good way to start."
     "All right, you've got me there," Cindy laughed.
     "What was it like for you?  What was your life like?"
     "Me?"  Cindy was surprised.  "I'll make you a deal.  I'll tell you
my life story if you tell me yours."
     Apollo was reluctant to agree to this, but he had to admit he was
getting a feeling of comfort around this woman he hadn't felt in a long
time with anyone, not even Sheba who more often than not confused him.
     "All right.  You first."
     "Oldest of three girls.  I went to the Air Force Academy right out
of high school and took up communications.  I lived right in Colorado
up until then, and that's where the Academy was located so it was no
big deal to go there; I mean, I wasn't going that far from home.  It's
a state in the center of where we come from.  All mountains and really
beautiful.  I wanted to fly, but I didn't know if I wanted to be a
pilot."
     "You're going to be in a Viper soon."
     "Yes, and I don't think I'd want to miss out on that experience. 
As Brian keeps saying, it's something no one I know ever even dreamed
about."
     "You seem to hold Brian in high regard."
     "Except for the blind spot where his sister is concerned, he's
probably the most level- headed person I know.  If I was in a disaster,
he's one I'd pick to be with me because he would find a way to
survive."
     "And Danny?"
     Cindy hesitated.  "Danny knows the rules and the regulations.  He
can recite them to death, but he doesn't know how to think for
himself."  She shook her head.  "I just don't know how else to describe
him."
     "He doesn't give up much about himself," Apollo admitted.  "Brian
is still worried about him."
     "Yeah, well, he's the last person I'd want to be stuck with. 
Innovative thinking is not his forte."
     She was holding back a little.  One of the hardest things she had
ever been through had meant being with the right people, the ones who
could survive, at the right time, and this was how she judged who she
could count on as a friend.  It was still something she did not talk
about freely.  Cindy was looking at Apollo expectantly.
     "I suppose that means you want me to talk?"
     "Uh huh."
     Apollo shrugged.  "Grew up on Caprica which was one of the more
populous of the Twelve Colonies.  My father was away in the military
for most of my young life, but I was home with my mother, and my
brother and sister.  I went in the military because that is pretty much
what you do.  I graduated the Academy with flying colors, and was
assigned to my father's battlestar where I've been ever since."
     "And so is your sister.  Do they generally assign family members
together? In our military, they usually try to keep them separate, so
that if one ship goes down, the whole family isn't gone."
     "Our studies have shown that family members work better together,
so unless it is specifically requested, we are assigned to the same
ship.  For a time, I did think about requesting to be assigned to the
Pegasus, which was Commander Cain's ship."
     "Sheba's father," Cindy remembered the history lessons they had
had during their training.
     "Very good," Apollo said admirably.  Hearing Sheba's name
triggered something in him.  He enjoyed being with Cindy, and yet
suddenly he was wondering if this was right; if spending this time with
her was somehow a betrayal to Sheba.  They had admitted that they cared
a great deal for each other, but it hadn't yet gone beyond that point. 
Why should he feel guilty for spending time with someone else?
     "Dillon comes off of deep space probe tomorrow," he changed the
subject.
     "Well, if nothing else, that'll get Stevie out of the brooding
she's been doing."
     "It's late... do you want to go back?"
     "As much as I think I would love to stay here forever, I think it
would be a good idea," Cindy admitted. As she started to get up from
the chair, Apollo leaned over to trip the switch to close the dome. 
Their heads collided, and Cindy sat back down in the chair, seeing more
stars than ever.
     "Are you all right?" Apollo asked.  He too was stunned for the
moment.
     "I'll be fine," Cindy reassured him.  She wanted to get out of
there, as fast as possible.  There was something stirring inside her;
she was quite attracted to the Captain, but she knew from talking to
enough people that he had a relationship with Sheba.  Quite frankly,
she wasn't sure she wanted to start a relationship with anyone, never
mind someone who already seemed to have an attachment.
     Apollo was enjoying Cindy's company, but he too was confused by
what he was feeling.  It never dawned on him how much she reminded him
of his late wife, Serina.  Cindy was petite with dark hair and eyes
like Serina, and a mind that seemed just as quick.      They climbed
down the ladder out of the dome, and down the corridors back to the
Tech Center in silence.  Neither of them knew what to say, and there
was an air of awkwardness between them.
     "I'll see you tomorrow, for the class then?" Apollo finally
questioned as they neared the Tech Center.
     "Yes," Cindy agreed and entered the Tech Center saying nothing
else.
     For a few centons, Apollo stared at the door, then slowly walked
back to his quarters.

                              ***

     "So how is Athena doing?" Sheba asked as she and Cassiopeia
settled into her quarters for a long, private talk.
     "She's talking to Tyrus."
     "And...?"
     "And that's about it for now.  Most of what she's going through is
rooted in losing so much in the Destruction."
     "I guess in a way we were lucky to be shielded from all of it on
the Pegasus."
     "For a time, I guess so.  It must have been hard on all of your
people to learn later on that they had lost so much."
     "It was a shock... for a lot of people."  Sheba thought back to
when they heard the news.  The effect it had on the crew; Cain's crew. 
Instead of depressing them, it seemed to create a renewed drive to pay
the Cylons back.  Still, they had not lived through seeing the
Destruction and its aftermath.  "So what are you going to do now?"
     "I don't know," Cassie admitted as she shook her head.  "I was so
sure I had found my place following the Destruction."
     "A place where your 'bedside manner' served you well?"
     "Something like that."  Cassie nodded.  There were things she
could talk about with Sheba that she couldn't with others, simply
because they had once not seen eye-to-eye and she knew that Sheba had
had to work through all of her feelings about Cassiopeia's former
designation.
     "Well, it's obviously not considered to be so honorable on Earth."
     "No, not at all.  And still not by many people in this Fleet."
     "Have you talked with Dr. Salik about it?"
     Cassie nodded.  "He just keeps telling me not to worry; that I'll
make a fine doctor someday."
     "And that's not the answer you want to hear."
     "I don't know what I want to hear Sheba.  I just don't know.  How
can I effectively counsel people if they're going to ignore my advice
simply because of what I once was?"
     "Well, is it any different than counseling someone who ignores
your advice because their beliefs are different?"
     "You're referring to people like the Jintui?"  The Jintui were
another of the religious sects that did not believe in any artificial
means to cure the sick or injured.  They only believed in the power of
prayer to the Lords.  "I think that I can accept because I can't
control what they believe."
     "And you can't control how people perceive you either."
     "But the Jintui would perceive any doctor that way.  What I'm
thinking about applies only to me."  Cassie hung her head and put her
face in her hands.  "I'm considering leaving the med-tech program."
     "What?! You're crazy?"
     "Temporarily, at least for now.  Until I can really think this all
through and get my head on straight.  I have to be sure of myself when
I'm in there with patients, and right now that's just not possible."
     "Cassie..."
     "Starbuck had that same tone with me."
     "Well far be it for me to agree with Starbuck under normal
circumstances, but in this case I think he's right."
     Cassie smiled weakly.  "Nothing is ever simple, is it?"
     "No, never."

                           Chapter 13

     "So what are you going to do?" Cindy was looking across the table
at Stevie.
     "About what?"
     "About Dillon.  He goes on furlough today.  Is he staying here?"
     Stevie shrugged noncommittally.  "I guess so."
     "Are you going to keep carrying on like this?"
     "Like what?"
     "Forget it," Cindy was exasperated.  "Look, if you don't want me
here, I'll gladly transfer to the Women Crew's Quarters."
     Stevie just shrugged again.
     "What is with you?"
     "Maybe it's cause I'm not quite two months pregnant... Maybe it's
cause I'm married to someone who only wants me for the status I give
him... Maybe it's cause I've practically turned this whole place upside
down without even trying... Forget it, just forget it.  Boxey will be
here soon."
     Inadvertently, Cindy stiffened.  She hadn't resolved any of her
feelings for Apollo, and got the distinct impression that he wasn't
sure of what he wanted either.  Seeing him this morning might prove
difficult.
     It had surprised her how well Stevie had been with the kid,
though.  Maybe, just maybe there was the hope that she would lose some
of her self-centeredness once she became a mother.  It seemed to be
good for her.
     "Isn't Boomer going to be around?"
     "He's helping a reconnaissance crew extract silicon deposits from
that asteroid they located."
     "Oh."
     "We haven't come across any huge deposits yet.  So far, there have
only been traces, and the Electronics Ship is using up what we've found
trying to get used to working with the stuff. They've duplicated the
circuit boards that we use on Earth with no problem, now it's just a
matter of getting a better understanding of exactly what they're doing
so they can decide how to implement the smaller components in the
vipers and in the controls of these ships."
     "Isn't there anything else you can do?"
     "I've done most of what I can do already.  I figured out their
coding sequence; it's really quite primitive.  Other than that..."
     The door slid open and Dillon walked in.
     Stevie was speechless for a few microns.  She wanted desperately
to be happy that he had returned, but she wasn't.  Instead, she was
only frightened of what all of this meant, the realization that he was
here to stay.
     "Stevie... Cindy." He nodded at the two women.
     "You're back.  And in one piece."  Stevie tried to smile, but it
was forced.
     "I'm back."
     "I have a class to get to." Cindy figured if she left a few
centons early she would avoid Apollo anyway.
     The room was silent for a long time.  "The Techs will be here
soon," Stevie said.  "And Boxey too.  I've been watching him for
Apollo.  He has Instruction Period in a centar anyway, so it's not a
long time today... Are you hungry?  Maybe I can -"
     "Stevie," Dillon said simply as he turned her around from where
she was standing and forced her to look at him.  He rubbed her arms and
tilted her head up to look into his eyes.  "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry for
everything.  I never wanted to hurt you.  I swear to you, I thought
Athena and I had broken up."
     "Does it really matter anymore?"
     "Yes, because I care what you think about me.  I don't want a wife
who thinks so negatively of me.  I want to be with you.  I love you."
     "Do you?"
     "Yes!"
     "Do you love me, or the fact that I came from Earth?"
     "What?"
     "You know what I mean."
     "No, I don't."
     Stevie couldn't tell if he was lying.  A part of her desperately
wanted to believe he was being sincere; that she hadn't been deceived
this way.
     "You got into the Academy and all by having certain connections,
you went after Sheba when you were on the Pegasus, you went after
Athena when you were on the Galactica, and then there's one of the
first two women from Earth and you manage to land me."
     Dillon sighed deeply.  "Sit down."  He sat down on the lounge next
to her.  "I asked Sheba out because she was a beautiful woman.  That's
all.  It was never anything more than that.  I didn't relentlessly
pursue her or anything.  I asked Athena out because I liked her at the
time too.  And if you remember correctly, you were just as interested
in me as I was in you."
     "And the Academy?"
     "That was a long time ago, Stevie.  I was a lot different then." 
He stroked her hair, trying to soothe her.
     "So you're not denying it?"
     "I got into the Academy that way, Stevie.  My scores were too low
for me to be admitted, but I found someone who could pull a few
strings, and I allowed it to happen.  That's all.  Once I was in, I
proved myself, but I had to find a way to get in."
     Stevie hung her head in her hands.
     "Look, why would I tell you this part and then lie to you?  I'm
admitting stuff to you that I never would to anyone else.  I want this
to be right between us.  How can I set this right?"
     The earnestness in his voice gripped her.  And in her heart, she
knew she had to let all of this go, so that they could start fresh.
     "Just... just hold me for a while.... please."
     Dillon was happy to comply.  Stevie knew she had no real choice
except to accept what he was telling her.  Even if she didn't believe
him, she was sealed to him and was carrying his child.  Did she want to
spend the rest of her life fighting with him over what had happened? 
Or did she want to try and give this a chance?

                              ***

     "What is the meaning of this?" Dr. Salik walked over to Cassiopeia
who was finishing an inventory of the supplies.  She did not turn from
her work.
     "I thought it was clear.  I'm resigning from the med-tech
program."
     "Cassie...  You can't.  You're the best candidate we have so far. 
And we are going to need new doctors..."
     "And what happens when people don't want to be treated by a doctor
who was once a socialator?"
     "Is that what this is about?"
     "Yes.  And I happen to think it's a very serious problem."
     "One thing that all doctors have to get used to Cassie, is that
patients often do not follow our advice."
     "But not because of who you once were.  Not because your past is
being tossed around to discredit you."
     "No," Dr. Salik admitted.  "But I can't count the times I've told
people to do one thing and they come back to me three days later, still
with the same problem.  You ask them if they've been following your
advice, and they say 'no' because they have a friend who told them that
they knew someone who did something a little different and it worked
for them.  Some patients, no matter how many times I try to talk to
them, never take medicines I prescribe.  It's something that every
doctor has to get used to Cassie."
     "Stevie didn't follow my advice because Dillon told her I used to
be a socialator," Cassiopeia said plainly.
     Dr. Salik nodded.  "And what makes you think she would've followed
it anyway?  From my limited knowledge of the young lady, she doesn't
seem to want to let anyone tell her what to do." Cassiopeia was silent.
"How about we put you on leave from the program, temporarily, until you
have more time to think this through?  That way, you can still help me
out when I need it."
     "All right, Doctor," Cassiopeia agreed.
     "We're coming p to a Class M planet that I want to look for some
of the plants we use for our medicines.  I could use your help."
     "That would be fine," she said.

                              ***

     "What are you doing sitting here by yourself?" Starbuck asked as
he sat down in the Officer's Club across the table from Apollo.
     "Trying to get some thinking done," Apollo replied evenly.  He had
planned to spend the evening alone, collecting his thoughts.
          "That's your problem Apollo, you think way too much.  Better
just going with the flow."
     "What's this I hear about you wanting to get your name used....?"
Apollo changed the subject.
     "Stevie's idea," Starbuck responded proudly.  "She said to make my
name a trademark and we can make a fortune when we get to Earth. Seems
there's some sort of big store called Starbuck's there, and -"
     "Forget I asked," Apollo interrupted him.  He did not want to be a
part of any more of Starbuck's get-rich-quick schemes, and was very
happy in some ways that Starbuck had found Stevie to be his new
partner-in-crime.
     "So what are you thinking about?"
     Apollo had thought that he had changed the subject successfully,
but Starbuck wasn't letting it drop.
     "Just life... in general."
     "Something's bothering you, Apollo.  I know you too well.  Did
Sheba say something?"  Starbuck knew his friend had feelings for Sheba,
and that the feelings were reciprocated.  It was just a matter of
Apollo deciding to act on those feelings...
     "No.  Sheba has been fine lately."  Apollo hesitated.  While he
was sure Starbuck would never tell anyone intentionally, he wasn't too
sure if he could be counted on not to accidentally say something in
front of Cassie.  Since they had met up with the Pegasus, Sheba and
Cassie had become great friends, and Apollo had no doubts as to what
Cassie would do with that information.  "I'm just not so sure of what I
want anymore, that's all."
     "What you want anymore?"  Starbuck didn't understand.
     "Well, maybe I never really knew what I wanted," Apollo responded,
misinterpreting Starbuck's question.  Not one to delve too deep into
his feelings, he blurted out, "Cindy is a really great person."
     "You've been spending time with her?" Starbuck asked as he lit up
a fumarello.  He had been wondering how long that would take his
friend.  Her resemblance to his dead wife was only slight; it was not
the first thing you thought of when you saw her, but something had told
Starbuck that Apollo would gravitate to her sooner or later.
     "A little," Apollo admitted.
     "She's all right in my book, from the time we've spent with her." 
Starbuck hesitated, drawing on the fumarello and letting the smoke
drift around his head.  "What about Sheba?"
          "I don't know," Apollo said, looking down at his ambrosa and
not across the table at his friend.  "I just don't know."
     "You know, I'm the one who's supposed to be mixed up about women. 
You're supposed to be the calm, settled one.  Something must have gone
very wrong in decontamination the last time we went through."
     "If you're not going to be serious..." Apollo started to get up.
     "I am serious.  Look, you've never been interested in two women at
the same time in your life.  The whole time I've known you, when you
were seeing someone, you would wait for that scenario to play out
before even thinking about anyone else.  So what's changed?"
     Apollo shrugged, but deep down he knew as well as Starbuck what
was different.  Losing Serina had shaken him, and his confidence. 
Starbuck suspected it was not as much running to Cindy as it was
running away from Sheba.
     "Why aren't you down there with Stevie figuring out the best way
to get your name...."
     "Trademarked," Starbuck finished.  "Yeah, well, Dillon is back
tonight and I just figured... Anyway, she's pretty much cleaned me out
of the last few secton's pay teaching me poker."
     Apollo couldn't help a smile. "So what else is new?"
     "That's not fair Apollo," Starbuck was indignant.  "I usually win
at least as much as I lose."
     "It seems like when you win it's your money, though, and when you
lose it's always other people's money," Apollo joked.
     "Yeah, well, I'm not the only one she's busy cleaning out."
     "Who else?"
     "Well, I think Bojay broke even pretty much.  Greenbean took a big
hit, as well as Jolly and Giles.  Dietra and Brie were down there a few
nights and I don't know how they did."  He paused a few centons.  "You
know, that's enough people that I can get my own game started.  Care to
join us?"
     Apollo smiled.  He had successfully managed to divert Starbuck's
attention from him.  "No thanks."
     "All right then."  He paused before walking out ofthe Club.  "And
don't think too hard, Apollo.  It kills brain cells and you need all
you can get."

                              ***

     As soon as the doors opened, Stevie was awestruck.  She had never
been to the bridge of the Galactica before.  The room was vast,
probably larger than their whole shuttle.  What she thought was a huge
scanner showed a picture of space.  The officers assigned here were
moving between stations with a discernable rhythm.
     The stations appeared old, and bulky.  Stevie knew how much she,
Boomer and the techs could do to upgrade.  With smaller computers, they
could fit a lot more into this space.
     The security officer patted her on the shoulder and motioned to
where Commander Adama was standing on the highest point in the room,
overseeing all that was going on.
     "You sent for me sir?" Stevie asked as the security officer who
had escorted her onto the bridge of the Galactica disappeared.
     "Yes Stevie.  I thought you might appreciate seeing this."
     Thinking he was looking at something on one of the screens, she
walked over and looked over his shoulder.
     "No, not there.  It's Major Murphy's first patrol.  I thought you
might enjoy watching him launch."
     "Oh, yes sir!"  She replied eagerly.
     Adama smiled.  The two of them walked to Rigel's position on the
bridge to hear the conversation between the pilots about to launch.
     "Captain Apollo and Lieutenants Starbuck and Boomer are escorting
Majors Seeley and Murphy and Captain Johnson.  It's a simple patrol,
really."
     Stevie nodded.
     "Blue squadron patrol requesting permission to launch," came
Apollo's voice over the comm-line.
     "Would you like to say something before we clear them?" Adama
asked.
     Stevie nodded eagerly.  Rigel opened a channel to Brian's viper
and motioned for Stevie to use the microphone on her headset.
     "Good luck, big brother."
     They could hear Brian's laugh over the comm-line.  "Thank you,
kiddo.  Wait'll you see what these babies can do!"
     "Blue squadron patrol, you're cleared to launch when ready."
     With that, Commander Adama and Stevie turned to look out the
scanner.
     "That's an actual view; a window of sorts," Adama informed her. 
"Not a projected image."
     "Isn't that dangerous?" Stevie asked curiously.
     "There's a shield we can put in place when we are under attack. 
It's normally quite safe."
     Stevie nodded, watching for the vipers to appear.  Suddenly, there
was a roar.  Six vipers appeared, one by one, and shot out into space.
     "Blue squadron patrol launched!" Rigel happily informed them.
     Suddenly, Stevie was overcome with raw emotions.  She felt first
dread, then shock, sadness, and grief.  As she became unsteady on her
feet, she gripped a nearby handrail.
     Commander Adama turned to say something to her, and noticed her
leaning against the railing.  Her face was pale and drawn.
     "Stevie?  What's wrong?  Rigel, call for a med-tech -"
     "No," Stevie regained her composure.  "I'll be all right.  Are
there any Cylons in the area?"
     "Cylons?"  Adama looked to Omega who shook his head.
     "No activity, sir.  We haven't seen any Cylons since that brief
attack about two sectars ago."
     "What is it?"  Adama turned and asked her.
     Stevie shook her head, as the feelings passed.  "I can't explain
it... it's a feeling that I've been here before... seen this before...
only something terrible happened.  It's just a debilitating feeling of
grief, sadness, dread...  We call it de-ja-vu on Earth.  But I've never
been on the bridge before.  I've never seen this..."
     'Precognition?' Adama mused silently.  He did not want to frighten
the young woman.  Perhaps she had gotten a glimpse into events
yet-to-come?  In his studies of the mind-powers, there had been
instances of people knowing of events before they happened, usually in
more detail than she was relating.  All she was conveying was a series
of emotions; no real level of detail.
     "Are you sure you're all right?"
     "Yes sir."
     They watched the Vipers cross in front of the window into space,
two of them rolling as they passed.  Stevie bet she knew which two they
were.
     "Everything is still clear," Rigel said softly as Stevie leaned
over her scanner.  "Apollo and Starbuck would know if there were Cylons
in the area."
     Stevie nodded.  On the outside, it seemed that she was fine, but
inside she was having the same misgivings as Adama.  Had she just had a
glimpse of her brother's death?
     The thought sent chills up her spine.  If her feelings were any
indication, it meant that she would be on the bridge when it happened. 
All she had to do was avoid the bridge of the Galactica and Brian would
stay alive.

                            THE END