AU story. What would have happened if Zak had been a born pilot like his father and brother? Zak and Kara might have actually gotten married. The Cylons attack and Kara is still on Caprica.
The End of Everything
Kara Adama sat straight up in bed and instantly regressed it. A wave of nausea was the reward for her quick movement. She clutched her swollen pregnant belly and ignored the signals that her body would like nothing more than to go directly back to sleep. Something was not right; she had definitely been jerked awake by an explosion. She went to her window and was surprised simultaneously by the degree of light outside and the mayhem in the streets. Many vehicles had been abandoned in the road and people swarmed the usually busy Caprican avenue in mass.
Kara quickly crossed the room and turned on her video screen. The traditionally perky blonde reporter was disheveled and distressed. And she was reporting a Cylon attack on Caprica as the source of the noise and pandemonium.
"Frack!" Kara muttered to herself. She cursed her luck that her husband was not even on the planet at the moment. She quickly brushed away her annoyance and picked up her phone to call the military base where she worked. She was rewarded with silence on the line. The reporter was now advising people to stay put and wait for more information, but pregnant or not, Kara had never been good at waiting. She quickly changed into comfortable civilian clothing and grabbed a pack, which she filled with food, water, and medical supplies.
She quickly locked her apartment and found her way into the street below. She and her husband had recently moved in and were not close with any of their neighbors, so Kara didn't stop but made her way down to the street level. Taking her car did not seem to be a possibility if the clogged streets were any indication.
The throng of people outside seemed to be moving deeper into the city, but in her current state, Kara's carefully trained military instincts would not allow her to go closer the source of commotion. The military base seemed to be right in the center of the smoke.
Kara moved out of the city at a cautious pace. She did not want to do anything rash, and still had very little idea what was even happening. As she moved further away from the city more people started moving in her direction and the walked in a comfortable silence. Kara could feel her companions giving her huge pregnant belly appraising glances. More than once someone tried to offer her assistance, but she stopped them with a serious but not unfriendly glare.
Kara was not sure how far she had traveled or exactly where she was going when one of her walking companions broke the silence with a small shout. They had just reached the top of the hill and in the distance a raptor and a crowd of people was visible. Kara's companions broke into a run but Kara kept at her steady pace, her conscience considerably lifted by the military presence.
When Kara was still a distance away it became clear that the raptor was preparing to leave she watched as a man in a flight uniform ushered a number of people onto the craft and then raised his weapon to keep the now unruly crowd in check. She drew closer as a civilian jumped on top of the rapidly lifting raptor, and the man fired a shot to get him off the plane. She was now close enough to the craft to see as it rose that it had the Galatica's insignia and she smiled in spite of herself. If this raider had survived it was likely that the Battlestar also had.
Now the raider was a distant speck in the sky and the crowd started to draw away from the pilot in disgust, and move toward the wounded man on the ground. Kara took the opportunity to move closer to the pilot. She didn't recognize him from any of her assignments or her one visit to the Galatica. He was young and his attractive features bent in concern when his gaze registered on her obviously large stomach.
"You should have spoken up," he said softly. "You and the baby should have been on that raptor." Kara smiled slightly at the forwardness of his greeting. How very chivalrous of him.
"I got here just as the raider took off," she responded to his statement. "I'm Kara Adama." She announced by way of introduction and held out her hand. She watched as his features lit up in recognition of her last name.
"Karl Agathron," he said as he grasped her hand. "You're the legendary Starbuck? Zak Adama's wife?"
When she nodded in agreement he continued.
"I serve with your husband. Both of the old mans son's were on board for the decommissioning. Zak's a solid guy." Kara smiled slightly but then grew quickly solemn.
"Did the Galatica survive? Is my husband alright?" she finished in a hurry.
"As far as I know the Galactica is still flying but…both Adama boys were in the brig."
"In the brig?" Kara repeated, slightly shocked.
"They got in a fistfight with each other, but it might have saved their lives." Helo told her and then lowered his voice slightly to evade the hearing of the crowd that was now eying them interestedly.
"Something odd was happening in the air, an entire squadron of Galatica's fighters was dead in the water, they all were killed by the Cylons."
"Oh Lords." Kara responded. "What now?" Kara asked with a vague gesture to the crowd of people a few yards away. The crowd had been edging away from the site of the take off but as Kara conversed with Helo a few curious people had stopped and were listening from yards away.
"We can't just sit here and wait to get blown up." Helo responded wryly.
"I think the bombing is done." Kara answered. "Nothing has fallen for hours. Now they are counting on radiation taking us out."
"The mountains seem to be our best bet." Helo examined the billowing clouds of smoke. The mountain range in the distance seemed to offer the best protection. Kara agreed and Helo pulled her close to murmur in her ear. "These people are not going to want to come with me right after I shot someone."
Kara nodded and pulled back. She placed both her hands on her very pregnant stomach to call attention to herself and took a deep breath.
"If we want to survive we need to stick together and form a united group. Lt. Agathron thinks the mountains offer us the best protection. I'm going with him and everyone else is welcome to come, or try their luck on their own." Kara stated calmly and started walking. Helo smiled at her forwardness and fell into step with her. The majority of the crowd began to follow. The nervous silence that had permeated the group now transformed itself into even more nervous conversation.
Kara allowed Helo to take her bag from her. Traveling was going to be a struggle even without it. And when he slipped his arm around her waist when the terrain become particularly rocky she didn't recoil from his assistance as she usually would have done. Instead, she silently thanked the Lords of Kobol that her husband had avoided the initial attack and that she had the fortune of running into a member of the Galatica's crew. She didn't think that at the end of the world, she could ask for anything more.