THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Chapter One: You Know What They Say About Wishes

This is another old story of mine that I dusted off and am updating and continuing. This story is a Battlestar Galactica (TOS) and Battlestar Galactica (RDM) crossover focusing primarily on Athena. In many ways, an unappreciated and underutilized character, I think there's plenty of room for development for her. To those who might have read this story several years ago on the Spacebattles board, I have almost completely overhauled the beginning and will be basically overhauling the entire story. I hope you like the new stuff I've added and will be adding. I won't be updating this story as frequently as "Who Are You." That story remains my primary focus. Well, I've rambled on long enough—I'll let you get to the story. And again, I want to thank everyone for favoriting me and my stories and for your reviews—they have been most helpful and kind. Have a great weekend (for those of us who work four day weekends:) ) and I'll see you Sunday with the next part of "Who Are You."

"That's right, Boxey!" Athena praised, careful not to keep her praise for her nephew by marriage too effusive, "We had to leave our homes because the Cylons destroyed them."

'Why do they want to hurt us, Teacher?" A girl student approximately Boxey's age questioned.

"That's a good question, Kara." Athena smiled warmly at the blonde haired girl seated next to Boxey. "As you remember from our last lesson, the Cylons were originally created by a reptilian alien race, but are all robotic now. The original Cylons were wiped out by their creations. Later on, humans liberated the world of Hasari and so the Thousand Yahren War began. The war had taken many, many lives until Baltar..."

Athena paused as her narrative was interrupted by the students booing that name. After giving her students a few seconds to vent, Athena raised her hand for silence, "Baltar claimed to be negotiating a peace treaty, but really he betrayed us all and, just as it looked like we were about to end the war, the Cylons launched a surprise attack..."

"And Commander Adama called on all the survivors to leave their planets and join him." Kara finished.

"Very good, Kara." Athena praised

"When I grow up..." The blonde girl declared, "I'm going to be the best viper pilot in the fleet."

"You can't be a viper pilot, Thrace!" Boxey teased, "You're just a girl!"

"Better take that back, daggit!" Kara shouted as she balled her fists, "Or I'll give you a fat lip to go with your fat head!"

"Kara!" Athena quickly interrupted, interposing herself between the two kids. "Language! Go to the corner—you've got ten centons quiet time. Boxey! Girls can be viper pilots too, I'm one." Athena asserted, "Other corner, Boxey, you've got ten centons quiet time for starting the fight."

As Boxey sat down in his corner, he glanced across at Kara who was sitting in the other corner. Kara, upon recognizing that Boxey was looking at her, quickly stuck her tongue out at him.

"Kara! I saw that! That's an extra two minutes!"

Managing to get through the rest of the instructional period without incident, Athena sighed with relief when the chime rang out signaling the end of the day. "Class, dismissed!" Watching as her students departed, Athena barely suppressed a laugh as Kara gave Boxey a quick shove out the door.

"That girl's going to be trouble for someone one day."

"Starbuck?" Athena greeted as the roguish Warrior met her at the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting ready to go out on patrol with Apollo." Starbuck replied as the pair walked down the corridor.

Pausing for a moment, Athena looked her fellow Warrior and former lover in the eyes, challenging, "What am I doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Starbuck answered, feigning innocence.

"I mean what the frak am I doing teaching a primary instructional class when I'm qualified to be flying vipers and the fleet needs more pilots?" Athena insisted, "I was trained by the best..." Ignoring Starbuck's preening at her compliment, Athena steamrollered on, "I've proven myself on more than one occasion. I should be flying patrols with you guys—not teaching students or standing bridge watches!"

"I know that and you know that!" Starbuck sighed, shaking his head, "But getting your father and brother to know that..."

"Yeah...well..." Athena complained as they reached the door to her quarters, "They better learn and soon!"

"See ya, later, 'Thena!" Starbuck called out as Athena stormed into her quarters, closing the door behind her. Ignoring her former lover's goodbye, Athena quickly stripped out of her normal warrior's uniform and slipped into the sonic fresher. As the sonic vibrations cleaned the dirt and sweat from her body, the raven-haired Warrior quietly bemoaned her fate. Stepping out of the sonic fresher, she slipped on her sky blue robe as she strode towards the dresser in her room. With a derisive snort, she shook her head as she addressed her reflection in the mirror. "Galactica's short of pilots and what does my father have me doing? Flying CAP? No! Long range recon? Frak no! Not even flying a shuttle! I'm on comm duty again! And if Father and big brother have anything to say about it that's all I'll ever do!"

"Frak this!" Athena cursed as she slipped on her form fitting dark blue, almost black, bridge officer's uniform. "Just once I'd like to do something different…something exciting…something other than say, 'Launch vipers

Exiting her quarters and striding down the corridors of the massive warship, she smiled insincerely at the warriors and techs, absent mindedly greeting one, and then the other as she made her way towards yet another boring duty rotation, lost in her thoughts until roused by a shouted greeting.

"Athena!"

"Deitra?" Turning towards the source of the call, Athena immediately recognized the lithe chocolate skinned form of her sometime wing-mate. "I thought you were on shuttle duty?"

"I am…" The other woman, also a fully checked out viper pilot, replied with a sigh, "I just got back from the Rising Star." She then gave Athena a sympathetic look, "I brought with me Sire Uri and some of the Council of Twelve…"

"Oh, frak…" Athena cursed, her normal composed exterior cracking for a moment. "That means I'll be the one stuck holding their hands and listening to Sire Uri's whining about my father during their 'inspection tour'…"

"Better you than me…" Deitra jibed and then in a more sympathetic voice commiserated, "I had to listen to him all the way over here. All he did the entire trip was complain about the Commander not respecting his position, about how the Commander didn't call the Council often enough, about how rarely the Commander consulted with him, about..."

"All right! All right!" Athena conceded, sighing dramatically, "I get it! He's being his usual pain in the ass."

"Yeah." Deitra nodded her head. Then, her lips turning up into a wicked grin, whispered conspiratorially, "Tell you what…meet me in the rejuvenation center after duty and I'll buy you an ambrosia and you can tell me all about what sort of felgercarb Sire Uri's stirring up this time…"

"Thanks, Deitra…" Athena replied with a smile, "Make it two and I'll take you up on that."

"Done!" The other woman smiled back, "I'll meet you then."

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Stepping on to the bridge, Athena strode purposely towards her duty station near Flight Corporal Rigel. Smiling down at the eager, petite younger woman, the raven haired lieutenant asked, "Anything special I need to know about?"

"Colonel Tigh wants to see you, Lieutenant." The corporal smiled back as she motioned with a jerk of the head where the dark skinned executive officer of the Galactica stood talking with the operations officer, Omega. "I think it's about Sire Uri…" Rigel added a note of pity in her voice.

Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Athena forced a smile to her face, "Thanks for the advanced warning, Rigel."

Athena came to attention before the distinguished Colonel who was both her father's executive officer and best friend. "Sir?" She politely drew his attention. "You wanted to see me?"

"We'll discuss the matter further, Omega." Colonel Tigh said as he turned to his best friend's daughter. "Lieutenant." He nodded his head in recognition. "I have an important assignment for you." Maintaining, with great difficulty, a stoic expression on her face, Athena awaited the inevitable bad news. "Sire Uri, along with other members of the Council, have arrived to conduct an inspection tour of the ship. Give them a standard inspection tour, keep them away from sensitive areas while being polite about it, keep them entertained and above all, keep them away from either Commander Adama or me." He then gave the lieutenant a meaningful look, "Do you understand?"

"Perfectly, Sir." Athena replied, the faintest traces of a grin crossing her features as she regarded the XO who was also her father's best friend and something of an uncle to her. "I'm to keep the old gasbag out of yours and father's hair."

Putting on a stern front, the Colonel growled, "That 'old gasbag', Lieutenant is a Sire and a member of the Council of Twelve and will be treated with the respect that is his due—am I making myself clear?"

Snapping to attention, Athena replied in a crisp voice, "Yes Sir."

"Good," Colonel Tigh snapped, "Now, carry out your orders."

"Yes Sir," Athena acknowledged, pretending to ignore the faintest traces of a smile crossing the older man's features. Returning the looks of sympathy given to her by Rigel and Omega with a faint smile, Athena turned to exit the bridge. As the lift doors closed behind her, the raven-haired pilot sighed in frustration, "Teacher, comm officer, and now I'm a tour guide. There has to be something better for me. This can't be all there is to my life!"

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"Frak!" Dr. Wilker cursed as he once again examined the reams of data on his desk, only to come to the same conclusion. "Frak…" Then, activating his comm unit, he spoke, "Get me Commander Adama…now."

"Can you meet me in my office, Commander?" The physicist requested, "We have a potential situation I think you need to be made aware of. One that could be of tremendous importance to the fleet."

"I'll be there directly, Doctor." The Commander replied as he exited his quarters. Arriving several centons later at the scientist's combined laboratory and office, Adama rang the entry chime, "Doctor Wilker."

"Please come in, Commander!" The physicist called out.

"What's so vitally important Doctor that it couldn't wait for our normal briefing?" Adama inquired, quickly noticing the grave look on the scientist's face, "Is the fleet really in danger?"

"It could be in great danger." Wilker declared, "But there is also a potential great opportunity within that danger. However, that opportunity will not come without some risk."

"Perhaps you need to explain this in a bit more detail, Doctor." The Commander prompted.

"Sit down, please, Commander." Wilker requested, "And I shall."

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Entering the reception area, Athena immediately spotted her charges. Spotting at once Sires Uri and Domra, the dark-haired officer shook her head in dismay as she muttered. "Great! Not only do I have to be nice to Sire Uri, I have to deal with his pet daggit too. And of course where Uri and Domra go, Uri's other pet daggit, Geller follows." As she approached the gathered dignitaries, however, the sight of one of the Sires brought at least a slight smile to Athena's face. "Siress Tinia!" The lieutenant greeted as she deliberately avoided making her initial greetings to the senior member of the Quorum present, Sire Uri. Deciding that she had made her point, she then turned to Sire Uri and the others and addressed them by name as well.

"Lieutenant Athena." Sire Uri acknowledged, his frown revealing his displeasure at the junior officer's deliberate slight. "I must admit to being somewhat surprised that Commander Adama would not have taken the time to personally greet half of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve. At the very least I would have expected Colonel Tigh to be here, instead of a mere lieutenant—even if that lieutenant does happen to be his daughter."

"The Commander and Colonel both have many critical issues that they must deal with, Sire Uri." Siress Tinia interrupted, giving the young lieutenant a half smile. "I'm sure that it was in no way intended as a deliberate slight or insult—right lieutenant?" The Siress turned her gaze towards Athena, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Of course, not, Siress." Athena replied.

"There that should resolve the matter." Speaking rapidly so as not to give Sire Uri a chance to continue his protest, The Siress guided Athena to a distinguished middle-aged man wearing a maroon robe. "I would like to introduce you to a new member of the Quorum." Siress Tinia announced, This is Sire Zarek, besides being just recently elected to the Quorum by Sagittara, he was the Astrophysics Chair at the University of Sagittara."

"It is an honor to meet you, Sire." Athena greeted with genuine respect, "I've read your papers on wormhole physics and string theory."

"And I have read a couple of your essays dealing with the philosophy of science, I especially found your essay regarding the ethical and moral dimensions accompanying the creation of artificial intelligence deep and profound. In many ways, it is a pity that you did not continue in academia. You could easily have been on your way to becoming one of our most acclaimed philosophers."

"Th...Th...Thank you, Sir." Athena stammered, genuinely touched by such praise from as prominent a scientist as Sire Zarek. "I'm honored."

"No." The scientist and philosopher shook his head, "It is I who am honored. It truly is a shame that this cataclysm has made it a necessity for our youth to bear arms rather than the pen. Perhaps when we reach Earth, we can return to our true loves."

"As fascinating as this discussion is..." Sire Uri, barely disguising his petulance, interjected, "We have a ship to inspect. Please...lead the way, Lieutenant."

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"The region of space we are about to enter, Commander, is extremely unstable." Dr. Wilker stated as he pointed to a map of the sector on the wall behind him.

"Why is this region of space so unstable?" Commander Adama asked

"To answer your question, Commander, I think it's because of a combination of the presence of this black hole..." Wilker displayed on the map along with other elements."

"What other elements?"

"Well…" Wilker replied, "The black hole seems to have interacted in some manner with a cosmic string and that has had the effect of rendering this particular area of space subject to some very interesting cosmic anomalies."

"What sort of anomalies?" Adama inquired.

"Wormholes leading to other parts of this universe...or to other universes..." Wilker speculated, "Possibly white holes, gravitational waves, wavefunction collapse, quantum decoherence, and that's just a few of the possibilities I can think of off the top of my head."

"We can't go back because of the Cylons." Adama stated. "But going forward leads to its own dangers..."

"Going around, however..." Dr. Wilker pointed out, "Would add jahrens to our voyage and that there would be no guarantee that we would be able to find suitable worlds for replenishment."

"Not to mention greatly increasing the odds of further encounters with the Cylons." Commander Adama reluctantly conceded.

"We need to get far more precise readings as to gravimetric and radiation levels than we've gotten so far from our probes. Also, we need to know what effects such close proximity to the event horizon of a black hole would have on the human body."

"Good point." Adama concurred, "Most of the ships of the Fleet have only the most rudimentary of radiation shields—there's no way they would survive a prolonged exposure to what I'm sure has to be intense radiation."

"If you'll check my calculations, Commander…" Wilker interjected, handing a minicomputer to the silver haired Adama, "You'll find that I've ascertained that there should be a secure corridor that we can travel through where the radiation and gravimetric levels should remain at safe levels…"

"Should remain?" Commander Adama repeated, his voice tone reflecting his doubt.

"I think you'll find, Commander..." Wilker argued, "That while a passage through the sector is not without risk, is indeed not only possible, but compared to the alternatives, the most logical solution."

"Barely safe." Adama contended, "And only for a limited duration."

"True." Wilker acknowledged, "But still within tolerance levels and we should have enough time to traverse the corridor even traveling at the speed of the slowest vessel of the fleet."

"I don't know…" Adama whispered, "I'm still not convinced that it's worth taking the risk…"

Clearing his throat, Wilker ventured, "Maybe if we sent a reconnaissance viper outfitted with instruments to investigate?"

"It might work…" Adama replied, carefully weighing the positives and negatives. "It would be incredibly dangerous for the pilot though…"

"Commander, your pilots are amongst the best." Dr. Wilker pointed out, "They are trained to take these kinds of risks."

"I know!" The paternalistic Adama acknowledged. Still unwilling to send one of his Warriors on what was most likely a suicide mission, he continued to look for objections. "The problem is, Doctor, right now we don't have anyone ready to go that's qualified for this mission. Apollo and Starbuck are on long range patrol, while Jolly and Stringbean have just returned from their patrol and are no condition to go. That leaves just Boomer and he's..."

"Neither Boomer nor the others are qualified anyway." Dr. Wilker interrupted, much to Adama's surprise. "I've taken the liberty of checking through the roster of the available warriors and have found only one candidate who possesses both the necessary piloting skills and the scientific ability to be able to successfully carry out this mission."

Immediately recognizing who the scientist was talking about, Adama shook his head rapidly, "

"No…" Adama demurred, "No. No. NO! It's too risky…"

"Athena is a most capable young Warrior and scientist." Dr. Wilker declared, not yielding ground to the concerned parent. "Please, Commander...have faith in her and trust her to do the job."

"It's not that I don't have faith in her abilities..." Adama began only to be interrupted by Wilker.

"It's that you don't want to see any harm come to her." I understand. But, Commander. she is the only one qualified to do this—there is no one else. Apollo, Starbuck, and Boomer cannot do this. While they are highly skilled pilots, they do not possess the necessary scientific knowledge—especially in the physical sciences. And while I and others possess the scientific knowledge, we are not pilots—we would not be able to navigate through the narrow corridor safely. Commander, it has to be her."

"Very well…" The wise leader replied in a gentle, yet regretful tone, "The mission is hers. I will personally inform her once she completes her current assignment."

"Thank you, Commander." Wilker replied, his eyes downcast as he realized that he had most likely convinced the Commander to send his own daughter to her death.

"Don't thank me." Adama replied as he rose to his feet, "I wouldn't do this if there were any other way."

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"And this concludes our tour." Athena sighed as they returned where they had started over three centaures ago. "I hope you found everything to your satisfaction."

"I most certainly did." A sympathetic Siress Tinia responded.

"As did I." Sire Zarek added, "I realize that our presence here was an imposition and I appreciate your indulging us with your time and expertise."

"Thank you, Sire...Siress." A genuinely touched Athena responded, only to have her good mood dashed by Sire Uri's caustic remarks.

"Apparently, you did not consider the bridge to be worthy of our time and attention, Lieutenant."

"My apologies, Sire Uri, but the bridge at the present time is undergoing diagnostic checks." Turning to the other members of the Quorum, Athena explained, "While maintenance is an ongoing concern, we especially like to use quiet periods such as now to carry out any extensive maintenance inspections and overhauls that might arise. The bridge at present would be rather..."

"Chaotic?" Siress Tinia suggested with a small chuckle.

"Yes, Siress." Athena agreed, taking the Siress' lifeline.

"Then it would probably be for the best that we not disturb them while they are performing their duties, wouldn't you agree, Sires? Siresses?"

Hearing an overwhelming number of murmured approvals, Sire Uri reluctantly conceded, "We all want the Galactica and its crew to be at peak readiness and, naturally, would not want to interfere with that." Sighing, the Sire finally admitted defeat, "Thank you for your time, Lieutenant. Farewell for now."

Watching as the dignitaries departed, Athena heaved a sigh of relief as a Warrior cadet approached her. "Lieutenant?" The cadet introduced himself, "Commander Adama wishes to see you in his quarters at your earliest convenience."

Knowing that her father's 'earliest convenience' was most likely two centons ago, Athena nodded her head. "Thank you, Cadet. I'm on my way." As she walked towards the lift, the young lieutenant sighed, "This just isn't my frakking day."

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As she stood before the door of her father's quarters, Athena took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Straightening her shoulders, the lieutenant pressed the chime.

"Come in." Her father's rich voice responded. Upon seeing his lovely daughter walking in, Adama rose to his feet. "Please, Athena, have a seat." He urged, gesturing to a comfortable chair in front of his desk. As Athena took her seat, she watched as her father poured ambrosia into two glasses. Looking at the bottle much more closely, the raven-haired beauty was surprised to see that this was one of her father's most prized vintages, dating back at least three hundred yahren. Handing one glass to his daughter, he kept the other for himself as he returned to his seat behind the desk.

"I hear compliments are in order for your diplomatic talents." Adama grinned as he sipped his ambrosa.

"Father?" Athena exclaimed with raised eyebrows.

Laughing, the Commander explained. "I received a brief missive from Siress Tinia stating that you did an excellent job seeing to our visiting dignitaries needs while at the same time keeping them from interfering with the smooth running of the ship. She said that you did a masterful job in keeping Sire Uri at least...in her words...only mildly peeved."

Chuckling now herself, Athena sipped her ambrosa, allowing its smooth and mellow taste to dance over her taste buds. "Thank you, Father, but I don't think that's why you've asked me to see you."

"No." The Commander shook his head gravely, "It isn't." Pausing to take a deep breath and then exhaling, the old man took another sip from his ambrosa before continuing. "Believe me, my daughter..." He said in a solemn, melancholy voice, "If there were any other alternatives...any other way...I would gladly take it rather than having to do what I am going to have to do."

Athena sipped her ambrosa as she felt her stomach tightening. "What do you mean, Father? Did I do something wrong? Am I in some sort of trouble?"

"No...NO!" Adama exclaimed as he reached over to place a paternal hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You're not in any sort of trouble at all. It's just that..." He explained, "A situation has come up. A situation for which you are uniquely qualified to deal with."

Her heart beating faster, Athena inquired, "What sort of situation, Father."

"According to Dr. Wilker..." The Commander explained as he sipped his ambrosa, "We are entering an area of very unstable space. Apparently a black hole is interacting with a cosmic string."

As the physicist in Athena took in the news, she nodded her head as she sipped her drink, "That can cause a whole host of anomalies. Wormholes...gravitational waves..."

"Yes." Commander Adama interrupted, "Dr. Wilker mentioned all those things."

"Such unstable phenomena could be very dangerous for the fleet." Athena pointed out.

"I quite agree." Adama concurred. "However, we don't really have a choice. We can't go back..."

"The Cylons." Athena finished, nodding her head.

"Right." Adama affirmed. "We also can't go around. It would add too many yahren to our journey. We have no choice but to go through. Dr. Wilker believes that there is a safe corridor where the radiation would not be lethal to the fleet—provided we moved through it in as rapid a manner as possible."

"You'll need more concrete information and data." Athena pointed out. "Probes and instruments taken from observations at a distance won't do."

"I concur." Adama stated. "We need to send a reconnaissance viper to carry out a more detailed survey and map out the safest route."

Seeing where her father was headed, Athena took a quick drink from her glass to hide her growing excitement. "You would need someone who can both fly and is knowledgeable in physics." Pausing for a moment, she announced, "I would like to volunteer, Sir."

"I figured you would." Adama remarked as he looked on with pride at his daughter. "I want to make sure though, that you fully understand the risks."

"I do Father." Athena replied in a solemn voice, "And I accept them." She then added as she finished her ambrosa, "And Father...thank you. For having faith in me and trusting me.

"Don't thank me, my daughter" the worried parent said, shaking his head sadly, "There is a very high probability that I have just sent you on a suicide mission. It will take at least one cycle for the recon viper to be outfitted with the special shielding and instruments you'll need. That time's yours to do with as you wish."

"Thank you, Father." The dark haired woman replied as she pivoted about and left the meeting room, her soaring heart now making her steps seem much lighter than they were earlier in the day.

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"That's my girl!" Deitra praised as Athena broke the news to her about her upcoming mission. A mischievous smirk coming to her lips, the chocolate-skinned pilot teased, "You gonna buy the house a round of ambrosa?"

"Yeah..." Athena smiled back, "I guess I will." Going to the bartender, she slipped him her credit chit. Nodding his head as he withdrew the appropriate amount of cubits from her account, the barman called out, "This round is on Lieutenant Athena!"

"To Athena!" Stringbean shouted out, his cheer soon echoed by everyone else in the rejuvenation center. The lanky pilot then toasted, "May she return to us in triumph!"

"Hear...Hear!" Bojay called out as the other pilots cheered on their fellow Warrior.

Entering the rejuvenation center to the sound of cheering, Boomer very quickly discovered the target of the cheers standing at the bar drinking her ambrosa. "Athena!" The dark-skinned Warrior called out, "Can I have a word with you?"

"Sure, Boomer." Athena responded as she met her brother's squadron mate at an empty table. "What do you want to talk about? And please..." She warned, "Don't try to talk me out of going on this mission."

"I'm not going to try to talk you out of it." Boomer replied with a worried frown, "I know better than that. Apollo and Starbuck would disagree with me, but I know that you are the best qualified to do this."

"Thank you, Boomer." Athena smiled warmly as she regarded her friend, "You don't know how good that makes me feel."

"Thank me by coming back." Boomer responded, chuckling, "Now when your brother and Starbuck hear the news..." The rejuvenation chamber suddenly fell silent as an elderly woman entered the room, her every step exhibiting grace and dignity. "A Seeress..." Boomer proclaimed with a hushed voice.

"They almost never leave their shrines." Athena whispered. "I wonder what she's doing here."

"I think we're about to find out." Boomer whispered as the Seeress approached the pair who fell to their knees in respect.

"Seeress..." Athena greeted with respect, "You honor us with your presence."

"No..." The elderly woman shook her head as she spoke kindly the younger woman kneeling before her. "It is I who am honored, my child. I have words for you...if you would deign to hear them."

"I..." Athena stammered, "I...would be honored. Please, speak your words."

Closing her eyes, the elderly woman laid her hands on Athena's head as if delivering a benediction or blessing. "Child of Isis. Isis reborn. Your true home awaits. The journey shall commence anew. The Temptress comes in the dark and leaves in the light. Child to mother...mother to child. Children find their parents. Parents find their children. The Children of Man meet the Children of the Serpent. Those like yet not like unite in common cause. Isis and the Temptress. Isis the reconciler. Isis bringer of life." Removing her hands, the old woman bade the pair to arise, "I must depart now...as soon you must, my child. May the Lords of Kobol guide your path."

"That was...different." Boomer remarked in a low voice as the Seeress departed the rejuvenation chamber. ""What was all that she was talking about? Isis this and Isis that? Children of men? Children of chaos? And who is the Temptress? Cassiopeia?"

"I don't know." Athena replied, shaking her head, "I wonder what she meant by 'true home awaits.'"

"Sounds kind of ominous if you ask me." Boomer declared and then asked half in jest, "You sure you don't want me to take your place?"

"I'm sure." Athena strongly asserted, "Not only am I the only one qualified to do this. I have to do this. Not just to show you, Starbuck, Father, Colonel Tigh, and my brother that I'm capable of doing it." Raising her hand to cut off the objection forming on Boomer's lips, Athena continued, "I have to do this for myself."

"I guess I understand." Seeing Brie and Deitra waving for Athena, Boomer smiled. "Well...I better let you get back to your revels. I'll see you tomorrow before you launch."

"Take care, Boomer!" Athena smiled and waved as her friend departed. Returning to the two women seated close by, the dark haired beauty smiled, "Ok girls, so where were we?"

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"That's what she said." Boomer said, repeating the Seeress' prophecy to a thoughtful Adama. What do you think it means, Sir?"

"I'm not completely sure." The Commander confessed. "Isis was supposed to have been one of the wives—the primary wife, in fact—of the First Lord of Kobol, but little now is known of her. Children of the Serpent could be referring to the Cylons." Adama hypothesized. "After all, they were descended from a reptilian race."

"That sounds logical." Boomer agreed. "But who...or what...are the Children of Man?"

"That's a good question." The Commander mused. And one that has me baffled—along with the rest of the prophesy." Taking a deep breath, the philosophical Adama remarked ruefully, "The unfortunate thing about prophesies is that we often don't understand what they mean until it is too late and what they have prophesied has already happened."

"So..." Boomer inquired, "What should we do? Scrub the mission?"

"No." Adama shook his head, "We can't do that. We are committed to this course. The mission proceeds as scheduled."

Shaking his head, Boomer remarked with a crooked grin, "Apollo and Starbuck will be getting back from their patrol soon. When they find out, they're going to hit the ceiling."

"You let me worry about my son and Starbuck." Adama retorted with a grin, "You just go and get some rest. You're on patrol early tomorrow."

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"What the frak do you think you're doing?" Storming into the locker room, the commander of Red Squadron, Captain Apollo, demanded as he confronted his younger sister. "Trying to get yourself killed?" Then, pointing his finger at the dark haired woman, who was in the process of putting on the brown jacket marking her as a Colonial Warrior, he shouted, "I'm scrubbing you from this mission."

"You can't do that, Apollo!" Athena declared in a flat, defiant tone. " Father was going to ask me to do this mission before I even volunteered." Softening her voice, she said, "He knows, and I think you know too, that I'm the only one qualified to do it."

"Yeah, I know…" Apollo replied softly. "Father filled me in on the details—and rejected my request to go in your place."

"Apollo..." Athena pleaded in a conciliatory tone, "I know you and Starbuck are the better pilots—right now. But I am a good pilot. Better than pretty much anyone else in the squadron other than the two of you and Boomer. And you know that before the Cylon attack I was well on my way to my philosophical doctorate in physics."

"I know..." Apollo reluctantly concurred, "But..." He began, still refusing to give up.

"But what?" Athena demanded. "Are you telling me I'm not competent enough?" Putting her hands on her hips, Athena spat out, "Well everyone but you disagrees with that assessment! So, why is it that I'm almost never on the flight rotation—and when I am—it's never on vipers, even though I am fit?"

Momentarily at a loss for words, Apollo stammered, "It's because…it's because…"

"It's because I'm your sister—right?" Athena supplied, "And it's because of Zak…" She finished, her voice softening. Seeing her brother's head droop momentarily at the mention of their fallen sibling, Athena gently caressed his cheek. "Apollo, I feel the same way about you every time you go out on a mission while I'm stuck on the bridge, but I realize that you have to go. Well, this time it's my turn to go out while you stay on the bridge." Taking a deep breath, she finished, "You're just going to have to trust in the training that you and Starbuck gave me—after all…" She finished with a smile as she gave her brother a hug, "I learned from the best."

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"Recon One ready to launch," Athena reported in as calm and measured a voice as she could muster.

Flight Corporal Rigel, more than a little nervous as her eyes darted about the bridge, noting especially the presence not only of Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh, but also of both Starbuck and Apollo cleared her throat as she issued the command, "Launch viper."

Taking a deep breath, Athena she felt her body slam back into its seat as her craft sped down the launch tube and into space. "Moving to position." The lieutenant reported as she smoothly guided the control stick of her craft towards the anomalous region of space that she was to observe. "Instruments active. Dr. Wilker was right—this is an area of very high energy. Alpha and beta radiation are both at very high levels, and the gravitational forces are almost off the scale." Then, her lips turning up into a smile, she observed, "I've found what looks like an area of relatively low radiation, am going to investigate…"

"Exercise caution, Lieutenant…" Apollo directed from Galactica's bridge.

"Understood, Sir." Athena replied, carefully keeping her voice tone as neutral as possible. Then, as she examined her instrument readings, her grin returned, "Tell the doctor he's right again—there does seem to be a corridor with high—but barely acceptable—levels of radiation. We would need to move our ships through quickly though. The readings in the corridor seem to be changing at an irregular rate—I think it might be due to the forces being exerted by the black hole and cosmic string acting on each other. The gravitational waves are phenomenal and I'm picking up on some intriguing quantum singularities."

"Fascinating!" Dr. Wilker, who was also on the bridge, remarked. "Can you get some more detailed readings on those singularities, Lieutenant?"

"Belay that, Lieutenant." Apollo interjected. "You've gotten what we've come for. Return to the ship, now."

"Request permission to continue the experiments." Athena radioed back. "I think I can get the readings safely."

"Those readings could be most important and valuable, Commander." Dr. Wilker pleaded, "We might never get an opportunity like this again."

"I disagree, Sir." Apollo objected. "We've already accumulated yahrens worth of data. Keeping her out any longer would be tempting fate needlessly."

"Commander..." Athena pleaded over the radio, "I can do it."

With great reluctance, Adama gave his consent, "Very well, Recon One. Proceed with caution. Get the readings and then return to Galactica."

"Yes Sir," The young officer confirmed as she pivoted her craft around. Alarm klaxons suddenly blaring, Athena called out, "Galactica. My instruments' readings are off the scale. A quantum anomaly seems to be forming near me. Galactica, do you hear me?"

Hearing static with the occasional bits of words coming through, Rigel repeated, "Recon One, repeat your last message…"

"Galacti..."

"Sir!" Bridge officer Omega called out—I think I can get a picture from one of our probes.

"Put it on." Tigh ordered through clenched teeth.

"Aye Sir." The bridge officer acknowledged as the screen came on to reveal a beautiful multi-colored swirling object. "A wormhole." Omega immediately observed.

"Galactica…" Athena called out, her craft shaking and shimmering as the swirling anomaly grow larger and larger. "I'm being pulled in!"

As her craft was pulled into the wormhole, Adama and the others on Galactica's bridge heard one last scream through speakers and then—the crackle of static. Turning to his father, Apollo requested, "Father! I'd like to permission to take out a rescue party..."

"It's too dangerous, son." The silver-haired commander somberly replied as he shook his head, "I can't risk losing you as well."

"Please, father!" The youthful Colonial Warrior pleaded, "We can do it with a medical shuttle and two vipers. The med. shuttle is already shielded to withstand radiation. Please..." Apollo begged, "At least allow me to make one sweep!"

Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, Commander Adama nodding his head, reluctantly granted his assent, "Very well, Apollo. One pass and one pass only. You're to pilot the shuttle. Take Cassiopeia for your med tech, if she's willing. Starbuck and Boomer will fly escort. Go...and bring your sister home."

"Yes, sir!" Apollo exclaimed as he motioned with his hand to his best friend, "C'mon Starbuck. Let's move."

"Right behind you." The roguish blond pilot responded as he joined the other viper pilot in racing for the bridge exit.

Watching the two young men as they dashed off, Commander Adama's lips moved in prayer for his daughter, his son, and the young man he had grown to think of as a son, "May the Lords of Kobol watch after you and guide all of you back home."