Chapter One: Oceans Apart
Captain Kara Thrace knew she was dreaming. It was the only explanation for the thundering surf swirling around her ankles. The fact that the water felt warm on her skin and that she could smell the salt in the air were inconsequential; she was still dreaming, because the place she called home no longer existed. It was a radioactive waste land now only inhabited by cockroaches. Looking around the beach several things struck her all at once. There were no buildings, no beach houses, no boardwalk with quaint storefronts. No lifeguard stations that were mandatory by law; no road in the distance. Just miles of pristine white sand and waves of thundering blue water.
The other thing about her dream that was unsettling was that it was normal. There were no disjointed images that did not make sense. No distortion in time. Everything was happening as if she was actually living it. Well if you were going to dream then dream big. At least there was nothing clamoring for her attention, no message trying to be conveyed by her sub-conscious. Maybe she should just relax and enjoy the water instead of trying to psycho analyze her dream. A swim sounded good; it had been almost 2 years since she had indulged. If only she had a surfboard, but no use in wishing for the impossible.
Stripping down to nothing, after all there was no one else around and she was not planning on dreaming anyone else up at this point; she carefully put her clothes far away from the water. She entered the water pleasantly surprised that it was warmer than she ever remembered. And she remembered a lot about the life she could never get back. Had she not want to become a pilot so bad she would have definitely competed professionally as a surfer. Between her mother and her brother though she went for the dream of pilot with both hands. She felt the mind numbing pain grip her heart when she thought about her brother. He should be as alive as both her and her mother. He should have been aboard the UAG Capricorn and therefore with them everyday, but it was obviously not meant to be. Instead he had broken his leg in a surfing competion while he was on leave and therefore planet side when the nukes were deployed. Her brother died on Earth while she had been a whole galaxy away with no way to save him.
Kara stood in the shallow water as the tears overtook her and she gave in. Devon Thrace had been the one good constant in her life. Her memories of her father were vague and unclear. Her mother was a hard driving force that continued to push her everyday. She was overly demanding and expected perfection form her surviving child; Kara had to be both herself and her brother to appease her mother. But her brother had been a guiding force in her life. That was what you got when you had a twin. Now all she had was pictures of his smiling face and whispered words in his voice.
She dove back into the water determined to out stroke her thoughts. She swam out to deeper water where she could do laps horizontal to the beach. Kara was not sure how long she was in the water but the burn in her limbs and lungs let her know that she had pushed far wnough and it was time to get out. She was not sure if she should be feeling all the physical exhaustion ins dream; after all she had enough of that when she was awake. When she got back to her clothes she allowed her body to dry itself in the sun before getting dressed. As she pulled her clothes on she turned around so that she was no longer facing the water and found herself staring in the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen.
"Enjoy the show?" she asked the stranger standing on the beach. She was not modest, communal living cured you of that fast; but not realizing that she had an audience made her cheeks turn a little pink.
"It was a good show," he replied smiling at her. She noticed that he was wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a muscle shirt; no shoes. He was not much taller than her and was very nicely built. Not a overly muscled jock but definitely someone who worked out on a regular basis. His dark hair was cut short, almost UAG military regulation and his face was more than passing fair. Well if you were going to add a man to your dream this one would be the one you would want.
"Since you have decided to crash my dream you could give me a name to go with the face," Kara said taking a couple steps to the side to grab her shoes.
"Your dream? I could swear this was my dream," he replied. "A deserted beach, naked woman swimming in the ocean, no one else around anywhere. Now all I need is a surface not covered in sand," he said smiling at her.
That smile actually made he knees go weak. He had a devastating charm and she bet he knew it. And used it to get whatever he wanted.
"Well since I was her before you were and got to go swimming, I would say that this is my dream and I am just adding a little excitement," she said returning his smile.
"Ok I will play along. My name is Lee Adama and where exactly are we in your dream?" he asked.
"Nice name. As far as where we are; I would have said Venice Beach in Venice, California but I don't think so now," Kara replied.
"First I also need a name for you. I am sure that if I start referring to you as gorgeous you will deck me," Lee said tilting his head slightly to the side. This woman standing before him was intriguing. He felt drawn to her, as if they were suppose to know each other. Funny considering that they were meeting in a dream. She could be anywhere in the fleet and he caught a glimpse of her and had decided to incorporate her into his latest fantasy, not that he should be having fantasies considering he had a girlfriend.
"Name is Kara," she replied watching him. Now why did she tell him that? She made everyone call her Starbuck; Kara had been reserved for Devon or whenever her mother wanted to throttle her. Plus she would not object too much if he wanted to go around calling her gorgeous; after all it was her dream.
"Now that we have the introductions out of the way, where is this Venice Beach?" he asked. Lee had never heard of a Venice Beach but there had been 12 colonies and he could not possibly know the name of every single beach on every single planet.
Kara looked at him a little quizzically. Venice Beach had been world renowned even before the extreme surfing competitions had exploded. For him not to have heard of it meant he had to have been living under a rock.
"Venice Beach is in California. It is a wonderful place to be if you want to surf. It is also where I grew up," she replied watching him. She wanted to see if he was going to still play dumb. Everyone knew where California was.
Alright this was not going quite the way Lee wanted. He was now even more confused. Where was California? He had definitely never heard of it and the way Kara had said it he felt like he should know exactly what and where it was. Something here was not right.
"Ok where is California?" he asked deciding to play along. Although he was getting more confused he was not quite ready for this dream to be over. The longer he talked to her the more he wanted to spend time with her.
"California is on the western coast of the United States of America; also one of the countries that make up the United Allied Group. Just in case you may have forgotten any geography lessons you were taught the USA is on the North American continent on a little planet once fondly referred to as Earth," she replied.
Lee felt as if all the blood in his body was rushing into his head and ears. She could not have just said what he thought he heard. She was from Earth. No way was that possible. This dream had just taken on a surreal quality. It did not make sense that he would dream about a woman from the one place they were trying to get to. He had not had a dream like this in all the time that they had been searching so why now?
Kara watched as Lee turned pale and looked as if he might pass out. His breathing became ragged and she began to wonder if he was hyperventilating. Maybe she should make him sit down and put his head between his legs. She did not need him to pass out on her.
"You live on Earth?" Lee had to ask one more time. He needed her to confirm that she really was from the mythical planet they were having such a hard time finding.
"Yes..well no. I used to live on Earth, but then so does every other human being. It is were we are from." She replied.
And with those words Lee's vision went black and the ringing in his ears deafened him. He saw her move towards him but he backed up a little. He needed a moment to process what she just said, but he could not concentrate. He felt her hand touch his bare arm and what felt like an electric jolt shot all the way to his chest. He gasped and tried to focus on her face, but everything went blurry. He felt like he was falling into a pit of darkness. He jerked away and felt himself fall onto the hard cold floor of the bunk room. His heart was racing and he was not sure if it was because she had touched him or because she said she was from Earth. He has to shake his head to clear the last remnants of the dream from his mind. It was a dream, nothing more. He had to remember that, but why did it feel so real.
Back on the beach Kara blinked as she looked at the spot where Lee had just been standing. Her hand was still raised and she could still feel the warmth of his skin on her fingers. She shook her head and laughed to herself. She was just dreaming afterall. She was a little disheartened; Lee was the kind of man she would have like to know better, even in just her dreams. She sat down on the sand and laid back watching the clouds chase themselves across the sky. Before she knew it she was drifting off to sleep. She thought she heard voices around her while she was laying there on the beach but she could not be to sure.
Kara came awake slowly to find herself in her private quarters. The sounds of the ships engine a comforting lullaby to her ears. As the remnants of her dream started to fade the only thing she could remember was a pair of incredible blue eyes and the feeling of wishing for something that would never be.