I do not own any of the characters in this story, nor this world where this story resides.
If you recognize anything, I may have borrowed a line or two from the mini.
Thoughts
(Authors notes)
Telepathy
Please read & review.
2/16/14, Sorry, just making a revision.
Chapter 1
A Gathering
Two weary eyes look out of the space vessel port into the black at the ragtag fleet that is gathering.
"How am I, a teacher, going to lead these people?" Laura ponders as she continues watching more vessels arrive.
Because she is so deep in her thoughts, Captain Russo has to cough a second time to gain her attention.
"Yes, Captain?" Laura replies when she finally notices him and Captain Apollo.
"I thought you might want to accompany Captain Apollo and me to the port airlock. The returning raptor has found a wandering vessel that has an interesting passenger on it."
"Anybody that I know…?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," Apollo quickly replies as he offers her a hand to assist her in getting up. "The Captain wants you to verify the person's identity," he replies.
"Very well," she replies as she brushes past the two captains, "What is the situation."
"When Raptor 312 was searching for survivors, she came across an unknown vessel," Captain Russo said as they follow Laura to the airlock.
"An unknown vessel…?" Laura questions.
"Boomer had never seen a vessel of its type before," Apollo answers.
"However, a female did identify herself in response to Boomer's challenge," Captain Russo responds.
"So you want me to authenticate their claim, I guess."
"If you don't mind, ma'am," Russo said.
As they arrive at the airlock, Captain Russo nods his head to his Copilot.
"I wonder who the mystery guest is." Laura thought as she watches the hatch slowly open allowing two females to enter. One of them is a strangely dressed female and the shorter one is…, "No…it couldn't be…Lara?"
"This woman claims to be your niece," Captain Russo asks as the aforementioned female approaches, "Is that true?"
"Yes, this is Lara Elien, the daughter of my sister Sandra Roslin, I thought I lost her in the attack," Laura said as she pulls Lara into a hug, "Who's this with you, Lara?"
"This is Jazreel Rogers. She rescued me from my damaged vessel," Lara answers as she motions to Jazreel, "My ship was heavily damaged as I was traveling to Caprica. She pulled me from my vessel just before it exploded and treated my injuries. I had been traveling with her for about a month before the raptor found us not too far away from here."
"Why does he look familiar?" thought Jazreel as she quickly glances at Apollo.
"I wonder what her story is," Laura thought as she quickly takes in the stranger. She notices that the brunette female, who is almost the same height as Apollo, is dressed in a light blue full-length coat, light green tunic with loose trousers of the same color and a utility belt. "Thank you for your help ma'am. Fortunately for us you were in the area," Laura said as she extends her hand, "So you had business on Caprica?"
"You can call me Jazz, and your thanks are not required," Jazz replies as she shakes Laura's hand, "I accidently stumbled into the area and I saw a person in need. I merely acted accordingly."
"Captain Russo…Apollo, you can go back to your duties," Laura suggests, "I'm going to take our two visitors to the first class area to get reacquainted with my niece and find out more about Jazz."
"If you don't need us," Captain Russo said with a nod before he walks away.
"We'll be in the cockpit if you need us," Apollo replies. "Where have I seen her before?" thought Apollo as he quickly glances at Jazz, before he follows Russo.
"The First class cabin is this way," says Laura, as she beckons to the two visitors to follow her.
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"I can't believe that I just left him back there," Boomer thought to herself, as she ponders the events that lead up to her ECO (Electronic Countermeasures Officer) being left behind on Caprica, "Helo just stepped aside so Baltar could come back with me and the small group of civilians."
"Are you ready to go find some more ships?" asks Crashdown.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Boomer replies. "Baltar, you better have been worth the trade," Boomer bitterly thought as she once again activates the Raptor's FTL.
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Jazz had just finished explaining to Laura how a huge crack in space transported her ship from her dimension to this dimension.
"So what you are saying is that you were pulled thru a temporal rift?" Laura asks.
"Yes…," Jazz replies hesitantly, "Does this happen often in this dimension? I'm surprised a lay person is acquainted with the idea."
"I use to be a teacher at a university," Laura offhandedly replies, "A variety of theories such as alternate dimensions and temporal rifts were discussed when I was relaxing in the teacher's lounge."
"So do you have any ideas on how I could return home?" Jazz wistfully inquires.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead you," Laura contritely replies, "I only overheard the discussions, I didn't take part in them."
Suddenly a commotion is overheard as Captain Russo is heard rushing from the cockpit to the elevator.
"Captain Apollo…?" Laura called out when she saw Apollo rushing to the elevator, "What happened?"
"There was an accident in the galley," Apollo hastily answers. "One of the attendants was badly injured, Russo and I are going to evaluate the extent of the damages to the galley," he replies before rushing off.
"Perhaps, I can be of assistance," Jazz offers, "I am a healer."
Laura looks at Jazz and Lara as she weighs her options.
"You can trust her," Lara pleads, "If it wasn't for her skills as a healer…I probably would have died from my injuries."
"Well let's go then," Laura says with a nod of her head.
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The scene that greets them is chaotic. People are either bringing order to the situation or just hanging around as a spectator. Apollo, one of the former is trying to clear out the latter.
"I told her not to use the rehydrator," one of the attendants said to a nodding Russo who is investigating the accident, "I told her that it hadn't been used in a long time."
Jazz quickly walks to and kneels by the injured moaning attendant lying on the floor. A priestess is attempting to attend to her.
"How bad is she?" Laura asks as Jazz gets to work.
"She is badly burned," said Jazz as she concentrates, "I'm stabilizing her before I move her to my vessel."
"Apollo…can you help us…" Laura says when she notices Jazz stand up.
As Jazz raises her hand, the attendant's body rises and floats three feet above the floor.
"How are you doing that?" Laura exclaims.
"There are more things in either 'verse, Madam President, than are dreamt of in yourphilosophy," Jazz says as she walks by the stunned priestess and Laura.
Jazz walks to the airlock pushing the attendant before her. Laura, Lara, and Apollo closely follow her. Others tried to follow, but Lara sent them away.
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"So how long is she going to be in this…Baca tank?" asks Apollo as he presses his hand against the glass and watches the attendant floating in a strange clear liquid while wearing a white gown.
"She should be out of the Bacta tank in about an hour. I will keep her for observation for the rest of the day," Jazz replies as she finishes using the robotic hands in the tank to treat the attendant, "She is fortunate that this happened to her. Based on my examination, I discovered that a cerebrovascular accident was in her near future. I repaired and reinforced that vessel."
"She was going to have a stroke," Laura said in astonishment, "I thought overheard her complaining about headaches."
"Is there anything that you can't do," Apollo said in amazement.
"Well, I don't think she can reanimate the dead…," Lara replies, "…Or can you?"
"I think that question was rhetorical," Jazz said with a chuckle.
Laura Roslin just smiles and nods her head in agreement, as she briefly rubs her chest.
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"What is in that alien vessel," Doral thought as he sat in the main passenger area.
He failed in his attempt to follow them discreetly; the short blond female who had arrived on that vessel quickly discovered him. "Cavil won't let me rest until I find out what is on that ship."
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~Two hours later, First class cabin~
Jazz, Laura, and Lara are once again sitting in the first class area.
"Where did Apollo go?" asks Lara while she looks around the area.
"I think he had to return to his duties," Jazz said with a smirk as she shares a knowing look with Laura.
"So… how long have you been a healer?" Laura casually asks Jazz.
"I've been a healer for about…" Jazz starts to say before Apollo interrupts her as he quickly approaches from the cockpit.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Madam President, but you are urgently needed in the cockpit," Apollo whispers in Laura's ear.
"If you'll excuse me," Laura replies before quickly following Apollo to the cockpit.
"I wonder what that is all about." Lara said in a bewildered tone.
"Patience Padawan all will be revealed in time," Jazz whispers as she surreptitiously watches a nervous man wearing a forest green blazer on the other side of the cabin, "Who is he talking to?"
Suddenly, the stringy haired brunette looks in their direction, gets up and walks over to them.
"Um, hello I'm Gaius Baltar," the stringy haired stranger said.
"Jazz…"
"Lara…"
"Were you talking earlier about a temporal rift…that you came into this dimension thru one?" Gaius said as he sat down in the seat across from Jazz.
"Yes, the place I come from is very different from this…" Jazz was saying before the P.A. interrupts her.
"Passengers, please take your seats and stand by to jump. Thank you," Captain Russo said over the P.A.
"What's a jump?" asks Jazz right before she felt the universe turn itself inside out.
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"Are those Colonial signals confirmed?" Snaps Tigh.
"Confirmed, sir… Incoming ships are friendly," Dualla replies.
"Action stations… stand down," Tigh orders over the intercom.
"The lead ship is requesting permission to come alongside, sir. They say - they say they have the president of the colonies aboard," Dualla said, "We also have a request by a civilian vessel on the secure line as well."
"Grant the requests," Tigh snarkily replies, "Have some marines escort…the President…to conference room B. I'll go see about this… civilian visitor."
"Yes, sir…" Dualla answers.
"Gaeta, continue monitoring the munitions transfer. The old man is going to want this done as quickly as possible," Tigh barks as he is leaving the CIC. "You… with me," He snaps at a marine as he passes him.
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Starbuck is working under her viper when she notices an unusual civilian vessel coming down one of the hanger deck elevators.
"What is he doing on the deck with a marine," Starbuck thought when she saw Colonel Tigh waiting for the civilian vessel. "So who is he waiting for?" She thought as she snuck up behind them to watch.
Two female civilians, a brunette and a shorter blond, walk down the boarding ramp.
"Huh, if Apollo had a little sister, she might look a lot like that brunette," Starbuck thought as she looks at the two females.
"Well, tie me down and spank me," the short blond said as the two civilians walk up to Col. Tigh, "Hey where's your husband?"
"Excuse me…I'm the XO on this tub," Tigh snarled as he looks down at her. (AN: He tries to take advantage of their obvious height difference, since he is a foot taller than she is.) "You will give a Superior officer the proper respect that he deserves!"
"Superior officer, ha," the short blond said with a sneer as she looks up at his face, "You know very well that we're the same rank. Hades, I made Colonel before you did."
"Who is this officer?" Starbuck thought as she watches the spectacle, "I think I like her already."
For the longest time, they just stared into each other's eyes waiting for the other to back down.
Tigh is the first to break.
"I'm glad that some things haven't changed," Tigh says with a huge smile, "Tick, you're still as crazy as ever. Are you still doing solo missions with that rifle and scope of yours?"
"One shot…one kill," Tick said with a grin, "I'd tell you about some of them, but then I'd have to…well, you know."
"Tick?" the other female civilian asks in bewilderment.
"That's a nickname that Adama, and Tigh gave me a long time ago. Oh, I'm sorry. Colonel Tigh, this is my friend, Jazreel Rogers. She goes by the name Jazz," Lara said as she introduces her two friends to each other, "Jazz this is Tigh… my victim. He keeps hoping to drink me under the table some day."
"Tigh, a pleasure…" Jazz said with a nod of her head.
"Well, I know what she does for a living," Tigh says with a nod of his head at Lara, "but what do you do?"
"I'm what you may call a healer, but I'm also a medical scientist," Jazz said as Lara listens in fascination, "I specialize in Biomechanical engineering."
"I've never seen Tigh look so confused before," Starbuck thought as she silently laughs to herself, "His wife is probably the only one to have seen that expression on his face, and that was on the night his marriage was consummated."
"I find ways to make life easier for people with medical problems," Jazz explains while Tigh nods in understanding, "Some of the solutions involve machines."
"Uh huh…So why are you on my boat?" Tigh asks Lara.
"Fire Flight doesn't have a FTL drive, so we can't keep up with the fleet," Lara mentions as she motions to the vessel with her thumb, "So I thought that we should hitch a ride with you guys… you know…since I'm probably the last operative of MI2 (Military Intelligence)."
"I never understood why you attached yourself with that …department," Tigh retorts.
"Well…" Lara prods, "I'd explain, but I'm still wondering where my bunk is going to be."
"Sergeant, help them move into the VIP stateroom next to Commander Adama's quarters," Tigh orders the marine. "Tick, I'd like to catch up with you more, but I have to go talk to a politician," Tigh said with a grimace. "It was nice meeting you Jazz," he said before he walks away.
"Huh, so Tigh is human after all, who would have thunk it," Starbuck thought to herself as she watches the marine escort Jazz and Lara to their vessel before she walks back to work on her viper.
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Doral looks around to see if anyone is paying attention to him as he stands near Jazz's ship. Once he establishes that nobody is paying any attention to him, he gets to work. First, he examines the vessel, as he walks around it, to find the point of entry.
"There it is…a boarding ramp," he thought, "Now where is the access panel?"
Once he found it, his problems did not go away. The language above the two buttons, the two ports, a data access cord, and on the display is undecipherable. He didn't have the equipment to be able to use the two ports, but the service end of the data access cord did have a sharp point, almost like a large needle.
"I wonder," He thought as he looks around himself once again before shoving the needle into his forearm. He could feel the vessel attempting to prompt a response from his neuro-network, as if he needs to give the vessel an initiating signal. He looks at the two buttons, and hoping for the best, presses one.
"What the…?" thought Doral, as an explosion of white light suddenly overwhelms his mind.
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Jazz and Lara are returning from the stateroom and are walking towards their vessel, when Jazz feels a vibration from her security monitor.
"Something is wrong with our ship," Jazz whispers as she quickens her steps.
When they return they see Tigh already standing there talking to a marine.
"I wonder what this is about," Lara mutters to Jazz.
"Let's ask Tigh, since he seems interested in whatever is next to our vessel," Jazz replies.
"Did you have an active security system on your vessel?" Tigh asks Jazz as she walks up to him.
"Only a sensor system, which notifies me if anyone is attempting to enter without my authorization," Jazz replies.
"So what happened to him?" Tigh asks as he steps aside to allow Jazz to see Doral lying dead on the ground next to her vessel.
"I didn't know you had Cyngaliens in your dimension," Jazz said in astonishment.
"A what…?" Tigh said.
"A Cyngalien… a cybernetic humanoid," Jazz replied as she knelt next to Doral, "You see when he inserted this data access cord into his arm to hack into my system, he must have chosen the wrong button and instead of gaining access, he fired up the recharge setting instead. Poor idiot fried his system."
"Are you telling me that that thing is a…Cylon?" Tigh said in a hushed tone after he took a knee next to Jazz.
"Well to be certain, I can take this person on my vessel and run a full scan on him," Jazz replied, "I am a medical scientist."
Tigh just looks over his shoulder at Lara.
"Hey, I trust her with my life," Lara exclaims.
"Do it," Tigh finally decides after a moment, "But keep it quiet."
"I will," Jazz replies as she hands him a small pocket communicator, "When I find anything interesting I'll contact you on this. It's a secure line to my vessel."
Just as Tigh was about to order the marine to assist Jazz with the body, he notices that she has already lowered the boarding ramp and is levitating the body onto her ship.
"Well, I see you have everything in hand," replies Tigh, as he attempts not to show any reaction to the floating body, "Tick, come with me, I'd like to show you around."
"Sure," Lara said as she starts walking at Tigh's side as he walks away from Jazz's vessel.
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"I see the old girl hasn't changed much since the last time I was here," Lara says as she looks around while she and Tigh enter the CIC.
"Commander Adama resisted many of the upgrades that proved to be a fatal weakness of many of the other Battlestars," Tigh replies as he resumes his duties.
Baltar, who is talking with Gaeta, interrupts him to walk over to talk to Tigh.
"Excuse me; Colonel Tigh is it true what I heard about the Public Relations civilian?" Baltar asks, "I overheard some marines talking about that Doral character."
"I'd rather that not get around more than it is now," Tigh growls in warning.
"Tigh…I thought Adama didn't authorize any major upgrades?" Lara asks as she looks up at the DRADIS console.
"He didn't," Tigh replies curious about what is catching her interest.
"So what is this thing on the bottom of the console?"
"I've been meaning to mention that I saw Doral acting rather strangely around the console awhile ago," Baltar replies in a tone of concern.
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Jazz is at the examination table working on Doral's body when her communicator vibrates.
"This is Jazz," she says as she answers her handheld.
"Jazz, Tigh… I'm sending Lara back to your location with Doctor Baltar. He just became our resident Cylon technology expert," Tigh said, "Lara will bring you up to speed on our needs. Tigh out."
"Well, I better get ready for company," Jazz says to herself as she walks over to the refresher to clean up before Lara, and Doctor Baltar arrive.
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As a medic tends to Adama's face, Tigh is telling Adama about Jazz, Lara, and the deceased Cylon they found on the Port hanger deck. They glance at Leoben as some men carry him on board the ship.
"Take that one to the civilian ship on the Port hanger deck," Tigh orders the men, "She's expecting you."
"Tick's onboard huh," Adama replies as he waves the medic away, "Good, we've lost enough friends already."
"Since finding this second Cylon things are looking worse and worse," Tigh mutters, "They look just like us."
"Down to our blood…" remarks Adama.
"You realize what this means," Tigh said, "They can be anywhere…anyone."
"I've had time to think about it."
"So, what do we do?"
"I don't know, How we doing on the warheads?"
"Magazine 2 is secure, 3 and 4 within the hour. Something else, Lee is alive."
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"I'm sorry about getting you involved in this mess," Lara apologizes again to Jazz, who is exiting the secured lab area, as Lara glances over at Baltar who is at a side workstation examining the strange device from CIC, "I knew our side was losing, but I didn't know by how much."
"Don't worry," Jazz says to reassure Lara, "I became a healer to help others, it doesn't matter that I am not in my own dimension."
"So do you trust that man over there?" Lara asks Jazz as she nods her head towards Baltar.
"I'm not sure about him," Jazz says in a low tone as she secures the hatch behind her, "He seems a little too jumpy."
Suddenly, Jazz's handheld vibrates.
"This is Jazz," she said as she answers her device.
"Jazz, this is Tigh and Adama…permission to board."
"I'll send Lara to escort you to the lounge," Jazz says into her communicator. "I'll meet you there Lara," Jazz says to Lara, "I have to attend to something first."
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"It looks like you're having fun," the Six in the red dress said, "are you having fun with your new toys?"
"This ship does have some advanced technology," Gaius admits as he watches Jazz and Lara walk down the stairs to the common area.
"If I didn't know any better, I would think that those two ladies didn't trust you," she conspiratorially whispers.
"Even I would have trouble trusting someone that I caught talking to himself," Gaius concedes, "Who are you really, my little specter?"
"Don't you remember…" teases Six. "Don't worry you'll remember…eventually," she whispers before she disappears.
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As Jazz enters the lounge, she notices Lara, Apollo, and Tigh sitting on the couch. That's when she notices another officer, facing the other way, looking at a painting on the wall.
"Commander Adama, this is Jazz," Tigh says as he gets up from the couch, "Jazz…Commander Adama."
"By the force…?" Jazz blurts out, when the officer turns around.
"Saul…what's going on?" Adama grumbles as he looks at a female who bears more than a passing resemblance to Jaycie McGavin, a Raptor pilot he once knew.
Tigh just stands there looking dumbfounded.
"Now I know why you look so familiar," Jazz says to Apollo.
"What are you talking about?" asks Lara.
"Remember, when I mentioned that I never knew my parents," Jazz said to Lara as she walks over to the holographic table. "Well, my twin brother never agreed with council policy concerning the separation of children from their parents. So, Jacen went and found our father. He contacted me and sent me a picture of the two of them together, before he disappeared," she said as she triggers an image on the table. "My brother is on the right and my father is on the left," she said as she went and sat down in a nearby chair, "My father was the Commander of a Corellian Dreadnaught."
Apollo is speechless as he looks at the 3-D holographic image of a man who could be the identical twin of his father and the young man on his left who looks a lot like his younger brother, Zack.
"Was…?" asks Commander Adama.
"The last I heard is that my father was killed by slave smugglers, and my brother disappeared while on a mission for the council at about the same time," Jazz replies, "When I came here… I never imagined… that I would meet this dimension's version of my family."
"How's your mother?" Apollo asks.
"She died while delivering my brother and me," Jazz quietly answers.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Apollo says sympathetically
"Thank you for the thought Apollo," Jazz replies.
"My name is Lee, Lee Adama," Apollo says. "Apollo is my call sign," Lee says as he looks at the holographic image, "and considering the circumstance, Lee might be more appropriate."
"Lee…" Jazz tenderly replies.
"Do you have any other siblings?" Lee quickly asks.
"I have no other siblings," Jazz forlornly replies.
Commander Adama sits silently for a moment staring at the image before he seems to come to a decision. "We can get further acquainted later, first tell me everything that you have learned from the two dead Cylons and if you can come up with some sort of detector that can help us find out if there are any others hiding in our fleet."
"Before I do that, I need to tell you about a planet in my dimension called Cyngalia," Jazz replies, "The name of the planet is based on the name the natives decided to give themselves."
"You mentioned something similar before I think," Tigh recalls, "Cyngalien…?"
"Yes, the natives combined two words when they named themselves…" Jazz says with a smirk, "Let's just say that they have quite the sense of humor."
"What two words did they combine," Lee asks.
"They combined their word of Cynga," answers Jazz, "which means to fornicate… and our word of alien. When you combine the two words, it loosely means…"
"Fracking alien," Adama said with a chuckle, "I see what you mean about them having a sense of humor."
"They are a planet of highly advanced sentient humanoid life forms that engaged in many questionable practices," Jazz said, "For example, they started to engage in genetic experimentation, which created a subclass of their species. After many decades, two classes populated their planet. The Masters, they are the original natives of the planet, and the Drones, they are the genetically modified specialized subclass that the Masters created to serve them."
"So they had slaves," Tigh retorts, "What does this have to do with the Cylons?"
"The Masters, in their arrogance, thought that they had total control over the Drones," Jazz continues, "They thought that the Drones were too servile and that they, the Masters, were too mighty for anything like a revolution to occur."
"A civil war…?" asks Lee.
"Yes that is how I became acquainted with them," Jazz explains, "When I had received the rank of Knight, the council sent me to assist the faction that was allied with us. I was sent as a healer to assist them, since part of my research dealt with them."
"So did the Drones overthrow the Masters?" Adama asks in a hushed tone.
"They almost did more than that…some idiot gave one of them access to the master control program. The Drone almost rewrote many of the Masters' programming before he was eventually caught. Many Masters were dominated before being rescued and reprogrammed."
"They were…?" Lee blurts.
"Yes, they are our dimension's version of Cylons," Jazz replies with a nod at Adama, who returns the nod; "They are naturally formed cybernetic sentient humanoid life forms."
"And the two Cylons you examined…?"Adama asks.
"They are identical to the subclass…Drones," Jazz replies, "From what I can piece together from their remains. The original programming is more than two thousand years old. I would surmise that these Drones' programming is based on their Masters' programming. Based upon my examination of the Drones' programming, I can also surmise that they were created about thirty years ago. However, soon after their creation a second party altered the Drones original programming."
"How can you tell that it was not done by one of the Masters?" Adama asks.
"The coding was done by someone who was familiar, but not an expert in the original programming language," Jazz answers as she changes the holographic image on the table to the images of the two Cylon cadavers in the lab.
"This just leaves me wondering," Adama replies as he leans in to look more closely at the holographic images, "Who is in charge…a Master…or a Drone?"
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As Jazz stands at the end of her vessel's boarding ramp watching Commander Adama, Apollo, and Tigh walk away, she feels a presence approach from her left.
"Jazz," President Roslin says as she approaches Jazz, "Can we talk for a moment?"
"How can I help you Madam President?"
"I am wondering…since you are a healer…" Laura hesitantly asks as she nervously looks around her, "If you would use your skills as a healer to…"
"You would like me to give you an examination," Jazz quietly replies, "Because you are suffering from an ailment."
"How did you know?" Laura says in astonishment, "I never revealed anything to you."
"I am a healer," Jazz gently replies as she lays her hand on Laura's shoulder, "It is my job to sense these things. Come to me when it's convenient to you for an exam and treatment…and don't worry, I will keep your confidence."
"Thank you," Laura says sounding relieved, "I'll talk to you later. I only stopped on my way to talk to Commander Adama to see you."
"I'll speak with you later than," Jazz says with a nod.
"Until than…" Laura says while returning Jazz's nod and then turns and walks away."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
All is quiet, as Lara and Jazz are sitting cross-legged, meditating, on the lounge floor of Fire Flight.
"Why, all of the sudden, was it so important for me to meditate," Lara thought as she tries but fails to clear her mind as Jazz taught her. "We're working in the lab and suddenly she says, 'You need to meditate. Come with me.' Why now?" She is thinking when she suddenly feels a tremor travel thru the ship.
"It has begun Padawan," Jazz telepathically tells Lara, as Lara is noticing the increasing occurrences of the tremors. "Be patient, there is nothing for you to do right now."
Lara tries to sit quietly even though it feels as if the Galactica is about to be shaken to pieces." After what seems to be forever, Lara feels that old forgotten feeling, the feeling of her whole world turning inside out.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~(.}*{.)~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Jazz and Lara stand to the side watching the Colonials conduct their Religious funeral service in the Starboard hangar deck.
Elosha, the priestess finishes singing and then concludes her part of the service with a prayer.
"So say we all," Elosha says in conclusion.
"So say we all," the assembly responds weakly.
"Not a whole lot of enthusiasm in that response is there," Lara mentally said to Jazz.
"Their spirit has been greatly damaged," Jazz mentally responds, "A Leader better do something about it quick, before it gets worse. Nobody can live long without hope."
"It seems that we are not the only ones that noticed the assembly's response," Lara mentally said to Jazz, as she notices Commander Adama walking to stand in front of the assembly.
"So say we all," Adama calls out as if testing the assembly.
"So say we all," the assembly responds a little more forcibly.
"So say we all," Adama says trying to encourage the assembly.
"So say we all," the assembly responds a little louder.
"So say we all," Adama calls out once more.
"So say we all," the assembly loudly responds. Finally giving a response that satisfies Adama.
"Are they the lucky ones? That's what you're thinking, isn't it? We're a long way from home," Commander Adama says to the assembly, "We've jumped way beyond the red line, into unchartered space. Limited supplies, limited fuel, No allies… and now, no hope? Maybe it would have been better for us to have died quickly, back on the Colonies with our families, instead of dying out here slowly, in the emptiness of dark space. Where shall we go? What shall we do? Life here began out there. Those are the first words of the sacred scrolls, and the Lords of Kobol told them to us, many countless centuries ago. And they made it perfectly clear that we are not alone in this universe. Elosha, there's a thirteenth colony of humankind, is there not?"
"Yes. The scrolls tell us a thirteenth tribe left Kobol in the early days," Elosha answers, "They travelled far and made their home upon a planet called Earth, which circled a distant and unknown star."
"It's not unknown. I know where it is! Earth," Adama proclaims, "The most guarded secret we have. The location was only known by the senior commanders of the fleet, and we dare not share it with the public. Not while there was a Cylon threat upon us. For now, we have a refuge to go to. A refuge the Cylons know nothing about. It won't be an easy journey. It'll be long, and arduous. But I promise you one thing: on the memory of those lying here before you, we shall find it, and Earth shall become our new home. So say we all!"
"So say we all," the assembly loudly repeats.
"So say we all," Adama calls out again.
"So say we all," the assembly answers.
"So say we all," Adama calls out again.
"So say we all," the assembly answers.
"So say we all," Adama calls out again.
"So say we all," Elosha replies.
"Dismissed," Adama orders the assembly.
"Well that was interesting," Lara whispers to Jazz as they watch the assembly clap and cheer.
"It's only started to get interesting," Jazz replies.