Celestial Chronicles 03: The Ultimate Gamble

by MartyCessna

The fleet is threatened again, this time by forces within. Can it withstand treason as well as the Cylons,Or is there perhaps a greater evil to be fought? And can Apollo come to terms with his feelings before it is too late? Sequel to Sudden Command

2. Part 2

Part 2

"That's quite a story." Starbuck said as he and Apollo strolled down the halls on the Galactica. Apollo had just finished telling him about Celeste's most recent adventure, and now they were on their way to the life center to visit her.

"It is," agreed Apollo, "But it really scares me. I've never known the Cylons to single out one person before. If Baltar is this serious about capturing her, I doubt he's going to stop until he succeeds again."

Starbuck shook his head, "Baltar didn't know what he was getting himself into when he decided to capture Celeste. She's gotta be the most stubborn person I've ever met! If anyone can outlast Baltar's obsession, it's her."

Apollo smiled a little, "She does have quite a few tricks up her sleeves. She's as good at getting out of trouble as she is at getting into it. Like somebody else I know."

Starbuck gave Apollo an innocent look, "Who?"

They reached the door to the life center. Apollo opened the door and they both stepped inside.

Cassiopeia came to greet them, "Hello Starbuck, Captain. Are you here to see Celeste?"

"Yes we are, where is she?" Apollo answered, looking around.

"Well…she's not here right now. Her d-that is Chameleon came by and they left together." Cassie glanced over at Starbuck, wondering if he'd caught her near-slip. He didn't appear to have noticed. Cassie smiled a relieved smile at Apollo, "That woman is amazing! She can be kidnapped by hijackers, shot at, roughed up, blown up, shot by a Cylon rifle, and come out of it all with a slight concussion and a few scrapes and bruises!" Cassie sighed, "But I am getting tired of having her here. She's a great person, but she just can't sit still!"

Starbuck smiled laughingly, "That's Celeste!"

Cassiopeia looked tired, "Well, if she's not more careful, we're just going to have to have a bed permanently reserved for her. She's in here far too often!"

"I know." Apollo said.

Starbuck saw the sad look in Apollo's eyes and changed the subject, "Hey, Cassie. Any idea where we could find her?"

Cassiopeia nodded, "I think Chameleon mentioned something about the observation lounge."

"Great. Let's go, Apollo." Starbuck waved, "I'll see you later, Cassie!" He was anxious to see for himself that Celeste was okay. He and Apollo left the life center.

Cassie watched them go, smiling and shaking her head.

¤

Chameleon stared at his daughter over his hand of pyramid cards. Her bright blue eyes shone above her hand of cards. She was enjoying herself, and Chameleon had to admit, so was he. It had been a long time since he'd had any real challenge playing the simple game of Pyramid. For some reason, however, luck seemed to favor Celeste, as was apparent by the piles of cubits on her side of the table.

But Chameleon was certain that her luck would run out soon. Especially since he had a third-level pyramid this time! Sure, it wasn't a perfect pyramid, but the odds of Celeste having a higher-scoring pyramid were low enough that Chameleon felt very confident that the game was his.

Celeste's eyes stared unblinkingly into Chameleon's. He had to hand it to her, she knew how to make a guy feel less confident!

Chameleon watched as Celeste pushed another stack of cubits toward the "pot" in the middle of the table. She raised her eyebrows at him.

He wasn't going to back down now, not when he could get more cubits out of her! He slid a stack of his own cubits into the middle of the table, catching a slightly mischievious glint in her eyes as he did so.

Celeste took a deep breath, stared hard at her cards, then looked at her cubits. She picked up one cubit and placed it in the pile. "Well, I guess that does it for me," she sighed.

Chameleon resisted the urge to grin. He had her this time!

"Okay, what do you have," he asked, laying his cards on the table, "that will beat a third-level pyramid?" A grin escaped.

Celeste slapped her cards on the table.

Chameleon stared. This couldn't be happening.

She had a perfect third-level pyramid!

Celeste swept the cubits into her pile and looked cockily at Chameleon, "Again?"

"Absolutely not!" Chameleon cried, "I may be a gambler, but I'm not a fool!"

Celeste sighed. Another one bites the dust. Well, it had been fun having an opponent while it lasted. She wished she could let other people win once in a while.

On the other hand, she never would have imagined that she'd be sitting on a battlestar playing pyramid with her father…and beating him. In a way, it was poetic justice.

Chameleon was unaware of Celeste's thoughts. He was too busy with his own. He shuffled the cards, staring thoughtfully at the table. Finally, he set the cards on the table and sighed, "Celeste, I'm sorry."

Celeste blinked, "Huh?"

Chameleon looked seriously at Celeste, "I've been a lousy father, and not such a great man in general."

I know. Thought Celeste, but she said nothing.

"I wanted so much more for us…I wanted to build a nice new house in the country, and to take you there to live…away from all the madness and fighting. But I couldn't escape myself." He sighed again, "My gambling debts wouldn't let me break away. Once I found out that you were still alive, I tried to find you."

"I remember." Celeste said dryly.

Chameleon looked sadly at Celeste, "And you were so young, but you already knew what you wanted to do in life, and you knew how to make it happen. I never had that. I had dreams, but I never was able to make them come true. And joining the military…it wasn't the life I wanted for my little girl. I had hoped you'd meet a nice man, settle down, and give me grandkids to spoil. "

Celeste sat back in her chair and frowned at him, remembering the time they'd spent together at the Academy. It had not been pleasant for her, knowing her only living family member opposed her chosen profession.

Chameleon continued, "I guess I was…jealous. I was jealous that you were doing something with your life that you really believed in. Something that would help other people. And such a dangerous job, too. I envied your courage and guts."

Celeste looked down, "It's all in the past, now." she muttered.

"No, not really." Chameleon said, "Because here we are together again, and the first thing I said to you after seeing you for the first time in yahrens was that you were a fool."

"No," Celeste corrected, "The first thing you said to me was 'What were you doing under that table, young lady?' But that conversation's not really important now."

"If it's not important," Chameleon said softly, "Why do you remember it word-for-word?"

Celeste looked away, "Look, whether I like it or not, we're related, so let's leave it at that, okay?"

Chameleon saw the hurt in her eyes. His mind flickered back to a time long ago, when a two-yahren-old girl with shiny blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes looked up at him, holding out a finger with a splinter in it. There had been no tears from her, but there was a pain in her eyes that expressed her feelings more than words could. Even then, she had been so strong, yet so vulnerable. But back then, she had come to him, her daddy, for help. She had trusted him to make the pain go away.

With that memory, Chameleon closed his eyes and sighed. Now he was the cause of the pain. Circumstances had brought him back to his little girl twice, and both times he had unforgivably betrayed her. He'd insulted her and her friends. He'd nearly gotten her killed. He didn't blame her for not trusting him.

And yet, here they were, relaxing and playing pyramid together. Maybe there was still hope.

Apollo and Starbuck arrived at the lounge, spotted the two of them at the table, and strode over.

"Hey, guys, what are you up to?" Starbuck asked, unaware of the awkward moment that had just transpired.

Chameleon recovered characteristically quickly, "Oh, nothing much, I was just beating Celeste at a few games of Pyramid."

"What?" Celeste's mouth dropped open, "That's not true!" she stood up. Then she realized that all of the cubits were clearly on her side of the table, and the three men were watching her with amused looks on their faces. She sat down, her face turning red, "Oh."

"Glad to see you're feeling better." Apollo said.

Celeste looked at Apollo uncertainly. Another awkward moment transpired.

Starbuck looked from his friend to his sister and back. Then he turned to Chameleon, "Mind if I give it a try? I have this new system that is absolutely foolproof!"

"As foolproof as the one you had when I met you?" Chameleon asked.

Starbuck held up his hands, "Hey, that system had a major flaw, like you said. I've finally worked it out, and now it's perfect!" Starbuck sat down and dug in his pockets. When his hands came up empty, he looked hopefully at Apollo.

"Don't look at me," Apollo shook his head, "I'm not losing another secton's pay!"

Celeste dropped half the cubits into her cubit bag and slid the rest in front of Starbuck, "Here, Starbuck. Have fun."

Starbuck gave Celeste a surprised look.

Celeste shrugged, "I figure I owe you for reinforcing my bluff back on the gunship. You and Boomer and Zac started firing on that ship at the exact same time as I was telling Baltar about the legions of Vipers on their way to the Cylon capital."

"Really?" Starbuck smiled, "That's quite a coincidence!"

"It must be Celestial luck!" Chameleon exclaimed, "Okay, Starbuck, let's see if it's a family trait."

"I hope so!" said Starbuck, "Are you playing, Celeste?"

"No," Celeste shook her head, "I'll let you guys duel it out." She caught Chameleon's eye. Tell him. She mouthed.

Chameleon glared slightly, but then sighed as Starbuck began dealing and Celeste walked away.

"Good luck, Starbuck." Apollo said; then he turned to follow Celeste to the turbolift.

¤

"Celeste, we need to talk." Apollo pulled her aside when they got off the turbolift. He'd been thinking about what he wanted to say to her ever since the shuttle.

Celeste turned, "About what?" she asked, the anger of that senton when they'd been on the shuttle momentarily forgotten.

Apollo hated to remind her of it, but he couldn't put it off any longer.

"About you going on missions." Apollo said.

Defensiveness crept over Celeste's face. "Oh," she said, "I see."

Apollo looked down, unable to look at her, "You've done a lot of good things for us, not the least of which was saving all those warriors from the Cylons. You proved to all of us that you can do anything you set your mind to…"

Celeste sighed, "Apollo, cut the felgercarb. What is it you want to say?"

Apollo shook his head, "Why do you always set your mind to things that you are ordered not to do? Or extremely dangerous things?"

"It's not like I choose for things to happen, Captain. They just do. And when things happen that I know I can help with, I do my best to help with them." Celeste explained, "It's not my fault that most people don't trust that I can accomplish them."

Apollo winced, remembering Baltar's comment that not even Celeste's captain trusted her.

"I do trust you, Celeste, but I just don't want to see you get hurt." Apollo answered, trying to dispel Baltar's words.

Celeste didn't look like she believed him, "What are you, my father? You know if I were Starbuck or Boomer or any of the guys, you wouldn't act this way. You let them do their jobs. I made a promise when I became a Warrior that I would protect people's lives to the best of my ability. Well, the best of my ability might be more than most people can handle, thanks to the Cylons, but it's my best!"

Apollo closed his eyes, "Do you think that if you didn't have the Cylon capabilities you'd behave any differently?"

"I might not go as far." Celeste replied, "but I'd still give it everything I've got. Even if that everything was less than what I have now. My job is to protect life as long as I live."

"But don't you understand?" Apollo cried, gritting his teeth, " 'As long as you live' might not be very long at the rate you're going!"

Celeste paused before another heated remark left her mouth. She'd never seen Apollo this worked up before.

"That's a risk we all know we're taking when we get out of bed in the morning." Celeste said quietly, "It goes with the job." She turned to leave.

Apollo grabbed her arm, "Celeste."

She looked back at the man standing in the hallway with her. There was an intense sadness in his eyes. A mourning and a pleading that beckoned to her. She suddenly felt that she wanted nothing more than to comfort it. He was no longer her fearless, confident captain, but a man worn down by tragedy. The biting fire left her heart and was replaced by a feeling she had tried to forget.

Apollo looked into her eyes, "I thought I'd lost you this last time."

Celeste blinked slowly. She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry," she said. That sounds so corny. But what can I say?

Apollo looked as though he wanted to tell her something more, but he didn't. He seemed to retreat back into himself, "Make sure it doesn't happen again." He turned to walk away down the hall.

Celeste stared after Apollo, her eyes fixed on his brown jacket. Wow. That last misadventure really affected him. I wonder why? I survived, and I didn't even get so much as a cracked rib.

Wait a centon…he was there. In the Cylon gunship. After I fell. He was there, talking to me. I remember now. He must have seen the Cylon before I did. And he didn't know I was wearing a pulse-proof vest.

Poor Apollo!

The realization that Apollo had seen her get shot point-blank by a Cylon cleared a few things up for Celeste.

That would be enough to bother anybody! Well, anybody human anyway.

But there was something Apollo's voice and eyes that told Celeste that there was more going on than the shock of seeing a friend fall to a Cylon. Something even deeper than that. Some deep pain that had resurfaced because of the events on the gunship. A part of Celeste suddenly understood Apollo's reluctance to let her go.

But a stubborn part told her that she should have a chance to live her life, regardless of something that happened to Apollo in the past.

I don't know exactly what happened to Apollo, but I understand pain. Still, I've worked hard not to let things from my past get in the way of our friendship. It isn't easy, but it can be done. Apollo is one of my closest friends. I know I'd do nearly anything for him. But I also know I can't live the way he wants me to live.

With a divided heart, Celeste decided to find someplace to forget her troubles for a while.

¤

Commander Adama stood on the bridge of the Galactica as he had so many times before. His hands clasped behind his back, he surveyed the bridge operations from his place on the rotating command center, just as he usually did. All the computer terminals and consoles blinked and whirred, functioning as they should. Scanner screens showed several of the fleet ships and a few shuttles, but nothing to be concerned about. Aside from the now familiar reports of water shortages, it seemed that everything was running smoothly.

Nevertheless, Adama was feeling anxious. He felt that something big was about to happen. Of course, something big was nearly always happening. That was life on the Galactica. But to Commander Adama, this felt different.

He had a strange feeling that something life-changing was about to happen. He just hoped it wouldn't be life-threatening to anyone. They'd had enough bad news in the past few sentons to make up for the quietness of the sectons prior.

Colonel Tigh approached Adama. He had that frown on his face that told Adama that something was going on that he probably wouldn't like.

Adama sighed and turned to his second-in-command.

"Commander." Tigh said.

"Yes, Colonel?" Adama answered.

Tigh echoed Adama's sigh, "I have some bad news."

I was afraid of that, thought Adama. "Yes?"

"Lieutenants Boomer and Zac haven't returned with the Lemonade yet. They're off our scanners, and we've had no success trying to establish communication with them." Tigh said.

Adama frowned, "Captain Apollo and Lt. Starbuck arrived over two sentons ago. They said that the Lemonade left ahead of them."

Tigh nodded, "We caught a blip of something on our scanners prior to the arrival of the others. It may have been the Lemonade, but it was traveling so fast it was hard to tell. It's possible that they lost control of that…ship…and ended up far from here."

Adama leaned out over the railing on the command center and spoke to a pretty lady with a long braid sitting at a console, "Get a positive identification on that ship from the scanner archive. I want to be sure it was the Lemonade."

Flight Corporal Rigel looked up from her console. She was close enough that she'd overheard the conversation. She looked worriedly at Commander Adama, "Yes, sir." She began working on it. Rigel tried to act calm, and she was good at it. But inside, she was worried about the missing Lemonade.

It didn't take long for her to find the strange blip on the scanner screen. She froze the frame and ran a search. The computer came up with one possibility. Rigel frowned, until she remembered that the Lemonade's unique configuration hadn't yet been logged into the computers. The result was a viper, but she'd never known a viper to move that fast before. It had to be Lt. Celeste's "hot rod" Lemonade.

"Sir, the computer result says it is a Colonial Viper. But it was moving at nearly four times the normal top speed of a viper." Rigel said.

Adama nodded, "Calculate the destination of the ship if it remained at that same speed and on that same course for the amount of time since it passed."

Rigel keyed in a few more commands into the computer. She waited as the Galactica's long-range scanners went to work scanning the area that the computer indicated.

"There is a small planet in quadrant theta, about five sentares away." Rigel declared, pressing a button to electronically send the info to the command console.

Tigh read the screen, "That's a possible emergency landing point, only slightly off their trajectory. And we should reach that planet soon."

Adama ordered, "Get Captain Apollo up here at once."

"Sir." A bridge officer turned. His name was Omega, "Long range scanners are indicating that the planet only has one land mass."

"That's probably what they would have headed for." Tigh said logically.

"Yes," agreed Adama.

Apollo arrived at the bridge, "Sir?"

Adama gestured for Apollo to join him on the command center platform, "Zac and Boomer have not yet returned. We think they may have made a forced landing on a nearby planet. I want you to take a patrol out there to locate them, and to assist them if you can."

"Yes Sir." Apollo said seriously.

"If I may make a suggestion," Adama continued, "Starbuck and Celeste would be excellent choices for this mission."

Apollo's face seemed to harden a little. "Thank you for the suggestion," he said, his mind already made up.

"Apollo," Adama looked into his son's face. He knew that look. And he also knew what had caused it, "No one knows that ship as well as she does. And you may find need for her resourcefulness."

"All due respect, but if they crashed the ship at that speed, we won't have to worry about operating it." Apollo pointed out, "And we did just fine on rescue missions before she ever came on board."

Adama looked gravely at his eldest son. This time, he could feel that Apollo's conflict was worse than before. Because of what had happened that night, yahrens ago, on Kobal. But the look in the captain's eyes was the same one that Adama had seen for sentons after Apollo had found out about Serina training to be a warrior. Adama raised his eyebrows at Apollo, "She won't like being left out."

Apollo sighed, "Father, she barely made it out of the last mission with her life. If it hadn't been for the vest she made…"

Adama gave his son one last look, "Of course, it's your decision, Captain." He turned away to look toward the front of the bridge. A small blue speck was barely visible amongst the stars.

Apollo closed his eyes, sighed heavily, and left the bridge.

Athena, having heard the entire exchange, glanced toward her brother who was heading down a hall. She took off her headset and stood up, "Rigel, cover my station for a few microns?"

Rigel nodded and Athena followed after Apollo.

"Apollo!" Athena called.

Apollo turned.

"Dad's right…" Athena began.

Apollo interrupted, "Athena, you don't understand."

"I may just be your little sister, but I understand a few things that you don't seem to!" Athena cried, "Celeste isn't the kind of person to take 'no' for an answer!"

"I know that. But if I let her go, I might lose her!" Apollo's voice was strained.

Athena countered, "But if you don't let her go, you will lose her!"

"What are you talking about?" Apollo asked.

"You know what I'm talking about," Athena sighed, "Lt. Celeste is a good pilot, and a good warrior. After all she's done don't you think she's earned a place on that team? And earned your confidence in her?"

"It's not a question of my confidence in her." Apollo replied, "I know how good she is. But I also know that she takes a lot of unnecessary risks. Even more than Starbuck does. And one of these days…"

Athena looked at her brother, sympathy in her expression, "Her life is her choice to make. That's what freedom's about." She held up her hand as Apollo started to say something, "and yes, you are her commanding officer, and you can order her to stay here at home. I know she'd do it if you asked it of her. And doing so would probably lengthen her life. But what kind of life is that for her? She's a pilot, Apollo. Through and through."

Apollo closed his eyes, "I don't have time to discuss this, Athena. We'll be within visual range of the planet soon, and Boomer and Zac could be in trouble."

A flash of worry for her little brother shone in Athena's eyes. "I hope you know what you're doing," she shook her head, "because I'd hate to see anything come between you and Starbuck."

"Starbuck?" Apollo asked.

Athena looked straight into Apollo's face, "He's Celeste's big brother isn't he?"

Apollo looked away, "You're right."

Athena glanced back the way she'd come. "I'm needed on the bridge," she said, "Good luck with the patrol." Athena nodded at Apollo and strode back down the hall.

Apollo continued toward the flight deck of the Galactica. He knew Athena was wishing him luck with more than just the mission.

¤

"Lieutenant!" Apollo approached Celeste. He saw the girl tense up, then turn around. She had quickly caught on to the awkwardness that had suddenly sprung up between the two of them over the course of the past senton. Her blue eyes were apologetic, almost guilty. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to argue her way into another mission.

But Apollo stopped her, "Lt. Celeste, I want you and Starbuck for this mission."

Celeste's blue eyes went wide with surprise, "Yes Sir!" She tucked her helmet under her arm and began heading for the launching bay. She hurried, in case Apollo might suddenly change his mind.

Apollo watched her go, wondering as he always did whether Celeste would be flying her viper on a one-way trip. Get a grip, Apollo. He told himself, It's just a rescue mission! It's not like we're up against a Cylon attack force! There's little to worry about. Especially compared to the last mission!

Apollo quickly went to retrieve his own helmet from the cubby near the launching bay.

¤

Celeste dashed up to her viper, feeling a thrill as she climbed the metal staircase. There was a power, an energy, which seemed to surround a viper that was ready to launch even before the engines had been turned on. Adrenaline surged through Celeste in anticipation of the launch. Sure, it was a rescue mission, not an action-packed alert. But any launch in a viper was exciting to Celeste, and it never lost its thrill.

She put on her helmet and climbed into the cockpit. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Starbuck dashing up to his fighter. She didn't see Apollo, though.

"Hey, Starbuck, how was the game?" Celeste asked through the comm.

Starbuck's voice answered, "Don't ask."

Celeste smiled, "Not as foolproof as you'd hoped?"

"Not really." Starbuck answered, "would you believe we tied?"

"Are you kidding? Tying in Pyramid is almost impossible!" Celeste gasped.

"Apparently it was neither one of us' day to win." Starbuck said dryly.

Celeste chuckled, "Sorry, Starbuck."

"Me too." Starbuck said sadly, "Hey, where's Apollo?"

"Right here, sorry for the wait. I went to tell Boxey goodbye." Apollo's voice said, "but I couldn't find him. So I left a message with Cassiopeia." The captain sounded disappointed.

"Don't worry, Apollo. This isn't the first time you've left without being able to say good-bye," Starbuck said reassuringly, "Boxey'll understand."

"Are we all ready to go?" Apollo asked his two lieutenants. The back seat of Apollo's special two-seat fighter was now crammed with emergency supplies, in case of any trouble on the planet. Apollo wanted to be sure they were ready for anything.

"Ready!" Celeste and Starbuck chorused.

"Core systems transferring control to viper fighters. Launch when ready." Rigel's voice calmly said.

The three vipers accelerated through the launch tubes and out into space. Starbuck and Celeste automatically assumed a wing formation on Apollo's viper. The three flew toward the blue sphere that seemed to hang solitarily in the star field.

"Apollo, my scanner's picking up a metallic object on the surface of that planet." Starbuck said.

"Could be the Lemonade." Apollo said, "Keep scanning the area around it."

Celeste sat silently flying her viper. She winced when Apollo said the name of her ship. She felt responsible for whatever had happened to Zac and Boomer. I hope they're okay. They have to be okay! Felgercarb! I wish they hadn't set it to super turbo. But I didn't ask them to take my ship for a ride before I had all of the buttons labeled! They must have thought that it was regular turbo. The only good thing about this is that the engines can only sustain a super turbo thrust for about thirty microns. They weren't at top speed when they reached the planet. The bad thing is that I didn't finish adjusting the inertial dampeners. Poor guys had a rough ride once they entered the planet's gravity.

"Celeste, anything on your screen?" Apollo's voice cut through Celeste's thoughts.

Celeste blinked, "Um, aside from that metal thing Starbuck saw, no. But I'm pretty sure that thing down there is the Lemonade."

Apollo sighed, "Hmm. Okay, head for that spot and prepare to make a landing near the Lemonade. If either of you sees or hears from Boomer or Zac, let me know."

"Yes sir." Starbuck said.

"Yes sir." Celeste said, joining Starbuck in orbit around the planet.

Soon they'd be making their descent.

¤

Celeste watched the unfamiliar sight of trees outside her viper canopy. It had been a long time since she'd regularly flown a viper within the atmosphere of a planet. She gently maneuvered the fighter as it whizzed over the trees. She hoped that the Lemonade hadn't crashed in the forest. It would make it hard to land nearby.

Then, the trees beneath the vipers thinned out and finally disappeared, leaving a sun-scorched prairie. In the distance, something glinted in the light of the red giant star that the small planet was in orbit around.

Starbuck, who was in the lead, was the first to recognize the object, "It's the Lemonade!"

"Let's go check it out." Apollo said, his viper slowing to landing speed.

Celeste and Starbuck followed suit, deploying their landing gear and making a slightly bumpy landing on the dry prairie grass.

Celeste noted with some degree of relief that the Lemonade hadn't sustained much damage. She hoped its occupants were as fortunate.

The three pilots opened their canopies. Celeste climbed out and went to her ship, checking out over. The yellow, beige, black, and gray hull had a few long scratches. There was a furrow in the ground behind it leading to a clump of scrubby trees with broken branches. From the looks of things, the odd ship's landing gear hadn't been opened. If they had, they probably would have been broken, judging by the impact the Lemonade had made on the ground. Celeste climbed up onto the ship and peeked into first one canopy, then the other. Both were empty.

"They aren't inside." Celeste called down to her two friends, who were looking up at her expectantly.

"We'll keep looking. They can't be far." Apollo said, nodding to Starbuck, "Let's start searching around the area. They may have left some clues as to where they went."

Celeste slid down the side of her ship and joined her brother and Apollo in the search.

"Did you hear that?" Starbuck asked, walking around the back of the Lemonade.

"What?" Celeste asked, approaching him. Then she heard it, too; a sound, like voices, coming from the Lemonade. Without hesitating, Celeste turned and pressed a nearly hidden button on the back of her ship. A hatch opened, revealing a passenger/cargo compartment containing a few emergency supplies.

And three people.

¤

"Apollo!" Celeste called, drawing her blaster. Beside her, Starbuck did the same.

Starbuck took a few steps into the compartment, weapon drawn, "Get away from them!" he ordered. Celeste followed him in, with Apollo close behind.

As Celeste and Apollo's eyes adjusted to the darkness, they saw a thin, dark-skinned, muscular woman standing over Boomer and Zac, who were unconscious and tied up. She looked at them, fear and distrust clearly evident in her big dark eyes. The light from the open hatch cast shadows across her. Her wavy black hair shone and framed the refined features of her face. She wore tattered clothes, too worn and dirty to tell what they once might have looked like. The most striking thing about her wardrobe was the strange necklace she wore, which appeared to have been made from assorted pieces of scrap metal.

The woman hesitantly backed away from the two warriors, eying Starbuck's gun. She appeared to be sizing the three of them up; waiting for the right moment to escape.

Apollo stepped in front of Starbuck and Celeste, "Who are you? What are you doing with our friends?" he asked the woman.

She opened her mouth a few times before any sound came out. When she spoke, her voice sounded raspy, as though she hadn't used it in a while.

"Questions. Always questions." She hissed, "but I've survived the Monotones for over a year, and I'll survive yet!" She dashed for the door.

Apollo grabbed her, "Wait! We're not going to hurt you! We just want to know what's going on."

Fire flashed in the woman's eyes, "If that were true, you wouldn't be holding guns on me!"

Starbuck and Celeste reluctantly put their blasters away at Apollo's gesture.

The captain looked into the woman's defiant eyes. It seemed he couldn't escape high-spirited women! "We didn't know you were here. We came to find our friends, whose ship crashed." He pointed to Zac and Boomer.

"Why did you tie them up?" Celeste demanded.

The woman glared at Celeste.

Apollo gently asked, "Who are you?"

The mysterious woman frowned at Apollo, "You all land here in my front yard like a bunch of crows and have the nerve to ask me who I am? You pompous Eastern Alliance pigs!"

Apollo and Starbuck exchanged glances. Celeste looked confused, "What's the Eastern Alliance? Pigs? Crows? What are you talking about?"

The woman looked at Celeste as though she'd grown an extra head, "What do you mean, 'what's the Eastern Alliance'? They're the only ones capable of having technology like this…this…warship! Other than the Monotones, and you sure don't look or sound like any of them!"

Celeste snorted. She'd never heard the Lemonade called a warship before, and she doubted that it would ever happen again!

"Are you from Terra?" Starbuck asked the woman.

The woman hesitated before nodding.

Apollo sighed, "We're not with the Eastern Alliance. We're travelers, passing through this system. Our ships have to be well armed to defend ourselves from our enemies, the Cylons, who have pursued us across several galaxies."

The woman still regarded them with cold distrust, but she stopped struggling, "What do you know of Terra?" she asked.

"Enough to know you're a long way from home." Apollo answered.

"What's going on?" Zac cried, waking to find his hands and feet bound with some kind of jungle vine. Beside him, Boomer struggled to sit up.

Starbuck and Celeste went to untie them, while Apollo stood, still holding the Terran woman's arm.

"Would someone mind explaining this to us?" Boomer said when he was freed, standing up.

Celeste nodded, "I'm with you, Boomer. What's going on? What's Terra?"

"Terra?" Boomer asked confusedly, "We're on Terra?"

"No." The woman tensed, "But we've got to leave this area. The Monotones may have seen your ship crash, and if they pick up life forms on their sensors, they could be here any minute. Quickly! I'll take you all to my place." She dashed out of the Lemonade, followed by Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer, and Zac.

"What's a minute?" Celeste asked, following the four men and the woman, and feeling more than a little left out.

The six humans dashed into the woods.

¤

"My name is Qasha." The woman said. She had led the five Colonials to "her place"; a cabin made of roughly cut logs, and partially covered in vines and moss. The ruggedness of the outside of the house failed to come past the door, however. Inside, the cabin was clean and tidy, with quite a few colorful rugs and wall hangings. Some of the furniture was carefully handmade, while some of it looked like it had been scavenged from some old ship's cabin. Some computer equipment sat against one wall, not looking totally out-of-place as one would expect a computer to look in a log cabin.

Qasha noticed her new companions staring at her décor. "I had some time on my hands," she said by way of explanation.

"You have any other questions?" Qasha asked.

Boomer shook his head, "Who are these 'Monotones' you keep mentioning?"

Qasha looked at Boomer for the first time. Or at least, it seemed like the first time. Her eyes ran over him in an analytical way before she answered, her voice a little softer, "Machines. From somewhere out in space. They have a secret base here, and they captured me once when I went to get salvage from my ship. I got away, and I've tried to avoid them ever since."

"What were they like?" Zac asked.

"Monotonous voices, silvery armor, not altogether bright, but mean."

"Cylons!" Starbuck exclaimed. Zac, Celeste, and Boomer nodded.

"A Cylon base here?" Apollo asked, "We've got to warn the fleet!"

"Just my luck." Zac complained, "Apollo crashes on a weird planet with Boomer and he gets Celeste. I crash on a weird planet with Boomer and I get a Cylon base!"

Qasha watched the five friends with a skeptical eye. She blinked long lashes and spoke again, "It's been along time since I've seen anyone…human." She glanced at Boomer, "Would you all care to introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Apollo from the Battlestar Galactica." Apollo answered.

The others followed his lead.

"Starbuck." Starbuck nodded.

"Celeste." Celeste added.

"Zac." Zac said.

"I'm Boomer." Boomer told the woman. She had hardly looked at any of the others as they had introduced themselves.

"Nice necklace." Celeste remarked.

Qasha looked down at her necklace. "My husband made it for me," she said simply, "before he died."

Celeste looked down.

"I'm sorry." Apollo said, his voice genuine.

Everyone was silent for a while.

Qasha finally stood, glanced out the window, and looked at her visitors. "It's getting dark," she stated pointedly.

"Why don't we stay the night?" Zac said, "We can work on the Lemonade tomorrow, and we can't all fit in three vipers."

"Someone should go back to the vipers and get the tents and camp equipment." Starbuck suggested. He didn't feel comfortable staying in the strange woman's house.

"I'll go." Celeste said. Before anyone could stop her, she dashed out the door.

"I'll go with her." Zac offered.

Apollo gave him a stern look.

"Or maybe not." Zac sighed, "But someone should."

"I agree." Apollo glanced at Starbuck.

"Okay, I get the hint." Starbuck left, following his sister into the woods.

¤

It was getting very dark. Celeste emerged from Apollo's viper with an armload of supplies. She dumped them unceremoniously to the ground and dug through the pile for a piece of rope. Celeste tied the tents and blankets into a bundle and slung the other sacks over her shoulder. She picked up the bundle and turned around.

A dark figure stood behind her.

Celeste dropped the supplies and drew her blaster, "Don't come any closer!" she shouted.

The figure held up his hands and backed away, "Whoa! Celeste! It's me, it's Starbuck!"

"Starbuck!" Celeste put her gun back in the holster, "Don't sneak up on me!"

Starbuck bent to help her pick up the scattered supplies, "You're kinda edgy this evening."

Celeste shrugged, "What's wrong with being alert? That gal from Terra said there was a Cylon base hidden somewhere around here!"

"You think I look like a Cylon?" Starbuck asked, sounding hurt. She could tell he was kidding, though. Celeste almost smiled, "Nope. Hair's too long."

Starbuck almost smiled. That was the Celeste he knew.

"Uh, you don't happen to remember the way back, do you?" he asked.

Celeste sighed and took the lead, "I don't. But part of me logged it away." I guess that Cylon part of me is good for something.

As though Starbuck had heard her thoughts, he said, "Celeste, no matter what you think, to me and the guys, you're all human."

This time Celeste did smile. She stopped and looked back at her big brother's silhouette, "Thanks, Starbuck."

¤

Celeste stepped carefully through the woods. The sounds of gunfire caused her to break into a run. A run. Like there was a whole garrison of Cylon centurions after her. She turned around, and to her astonishment, there was a whole garrison of Centurions following her. But she sensed that they weren't after her. Celeste glanced down at her boots. They shone with a polished metallic gleam. Her legs moved stiffly, and the Cylons behind and around her stood out in the night's green darkness as glowing white blurs. Somehow, she was wearing some kind of night vision goggles, and the galaxy's most uncomfortable boots. Celeste was also astonished to find that she clutched a Cylon pulse rifle. She stopped and stared at her hands. Why was she wearing armored gloves?

The Cylons behind her stopped as well. "BY YOUR COMMAND." They all said with one voice.

Celeste realized they were talking to her. She stared at the sea of white glows she saw. It was blinding! The young woman reached up to try to take the night vision goggles off. Her hand clunked metallically off her head.

Impossibly, she felt herself turn back toward the direction of the camp, where she knew her friends slept. Her arm pointed the way, and the garrison of Cylons tromped after her, ready to attack the Colonial spies at her bidding.

If she'd had eyes, tears would have sprouted in them as Celeste tried to fight whatever was making her continue this march. She was leading the Cylons right to her friends! Stop, she wanted to yell. She wanted to take the pulse rifle and mow down the Cylons before they could reach her friends. But somehow, she couldn't.

The camp came into view. Horror-filled, Celeste watched as the Cylons began firing their guns at the tents and cabin. She heard Zac cry out, and Boomer. Then she saw Starbuck dash out of his tent and behind a part of the cabin. He popped out to fire on the Cylon forces, but there were too many. She wanted to gasp in horror when she saw him go down, but all she could manage was a static hiss. She rushed to her brother, seeing him lying on the ground. He was still alive, but in pain. Thoughts flashed through her head like memories. Old memories of images she'd worked for yahrens to forget. The terrified faces of humans. Children, teenagers, young adults, grandparents…Right before she killed them.

Starbuck looked up at Celeste, gasping in pain. His eyes were full of anger, "Go ahead and kill me, but you won't get away with this!" he cried.

Celeste's heart breaking, she saw the barrel of her Cylon rifle point toward Starbuck.

NO she tried to stop it from happening, this isn't right! I love Starbuck! He's my brother!

Celeste's hand moved in spite of her trying to make it stop.

HE IS A COLONIAL WARRIOR AND A HUMAN. HE IS THE ENEMY.

Starbuck lay still on the ground.

Filled with horror at what she'd just done, Celeste tried to run. She tried to, but the clunky armor on her legs wouldn't let her. She half jogged, half tripped past a tent. A blaster bolt connected with her boot and she missed a step. Her arrival on the ground afforded her an opportunity to look back and see who had fired at her.

It was Apollo.

He held his blaster, firing at Cylons and trying to avoid the return fire. The Cylons had decided he was a target, and many of them surrounded the tent. More than anything, Celeste wanted to rush to her captain's side, to help him defend himself against this unfair attack. The attack led by her.

Her pulse rifle lifted into the air and fired at Apollo. It seemed that the rifle did whatever it wanted, and her arm was only something attached to it. In the light of the laser blasts, Celeste caught a glimpse of Apollo's face. She knew the look in his eyes. It was a terrible sense of loss and determination.

She saw the stillness of the other tents, the satisfied Cylons emerging from the cabin, and the still form of her brother lying on the cold dirt. And she knew the terrible truth.

Apollo was the only one left.

Anger swelled in Celeste. Anger at herself and at the Cylons. She was their leader, wasn't she? She gave the orders!

"HALT!" she amplified her speakers.

All of the Cylons stopped. With only one word from her mouth, the entire garrison had frozen. For a moment, Celeste reveled in the power she had.

But only a moment, because it was suddenly taken away from her. Control went back to Cylon programming.

"THIS ONE'S MINE TO DEAL WITH." Celeste said, wanting to shudder at the sound of her voice, transformed into the trademark Cylon monotone.

She felt herself stride up to Apollo, lift her blaster. She looked into his eyes. She saw him close them.

Apollo! No! Not Apollo too! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Celeste watched him fall to the ground.

NO! NO!

Her whole body shook as she fell to her metallic knees. She had killed the best friends she'd ever had…that she'd ever have…shot them down. It was true.

She was a Cylon.

In the reflection of her shiny boot, she saw her red scanner light moving back and forth…back and forth…whirring…Cylon. Cylon. Cylon.

Shaking. The world was shaking as she cried and yelled as loud as she could. No sound came out. Not that there was anyone left alive to hear her. And even the Cylons vanished. All she could hear was the whirring of her scanner, and static. Loud static. Wordlessly, she screamed into the night. NO! NO!

The static faded into the sound of rainfall on a tent, and the whirring faded to a distant snore. Celeste opened her eyes and felt wetness on her hand. She heard someone screaming and wondered if they needed help, and if her tent was leaking. She heard someone outside her tent. The haze of sleep tried to conquer her, but she fought it. No way did she want to return to her nightmare.

Who's screaming? Who's crying? Celeste wondered, hearing loud sobs and sniffles. Strangely, the sobs seemed to correspond with the movement of her body.

"Celeste! Celeste, are you all right?"

Apollo's voice. She remembered. She had killed him.

"Apollo! Apollo, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Celeste cried, "And Starbuck…poor Starbuck…I tried not to...I didn't want to…"

She heard her tent unzipping. But she didn't care. She had killed them all. And now she was truly alone. It was her fault.

"Starbuck's in bed." Apollo's voice answered, "He's right over there. He's okay."

She felt the warmth of another body in her tent. "Shh," said Apollo's voice, "Shhh, it's okay. Celeste, I'm right here, and so is Starbuck. It was just a nightmare. It's okay." Apollo soothed the sobbing woman.

Celeste tried to take a breath and looked up into the concerned but ever kind face of Apollo.

"Apollo, I love you guys!" she cried, "I'm not a Cylon! I'm not!"

"Of course not!" Apollo exclaimed, a little embarrassed to see his tough, fearless friend in sobbing tears. Whatever she'd dreamed must've been really horrible.

Apollo looked down at the woman. She was still mostly asleep, he could tell. She probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning. There was a haunted look in her eyes. The look and the tears scared Apollo. This was not like Celeste at all. Sure, she had her tender moments, and he'd seen a tear or two in the short time he'd known her…but nothing like this. She was genuinely terrified of something; and Apollo felt that he wanted nothing more than to protect her from it, to take her into his arms and comfort her.

He held Celeste's trembling hand and spoke soothing words to her until she relaxed and fell asleep again. Apollo looked down at her tear-streaked but now-peaceful face, illuminated by the light of a full moon. With her sparkling blue eyes shut, she looked small and vulnerable. Apollo hoped she wouldn't have any more nightmares. She deserved the best dreams anyone could have.

"Goodnight, Celeste." Apollo said gently. He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her fingers. A little surprised at his act, he turned to go back to bed. He had considered staying by her side all night, in case she had another nightmare, but thought the better of it. Celeste would undoubtedly be very embarrassed about the whole thing in the morning. If she'd wanted him to know about the nightmares, she would have told him.

He took one last look toward her tent before climbing back into his. He shook his head. I'll never stop learning something new about Lt. Celeste.

¤

Zac sat straight upright in bed. His blue eyes blinked away the blurriness as he struggled to comprehend the sound he'd just heard. It had sounded like a featherit singing. But what would a featherit be doing in his quarters on the Galactica?

He groaned and flopped back into bed when he remembered where he was. He was in a tent on a strange planet, and far from the comfort of home. Funny, how the Galactica could seem comfortable when compared to the rugged place he was in now. At least Apollo and his friends were there.

"Hey, Zac, you gonna sleep for another secton or come have breakfast?" Starbuck's voice teased from outside his tent.

Zac smiled, "Depends on who made breakfast!" He pulled on his jacket and crawled out of the small tent. Starbuck stood just outside, looking down at him. Zac stood up, glancing toward Apollo's tent.

"Is Apollo up yet?" Zac asked.

"Yes," came the muffled reply from the tent. Apollo emerged. His uniform looked damp, and his hair was uncharacteristically disheveled.

"What happened to you?" Starbuck asked, "Did you get a leaky tent?"

Apollo looked down at himself and tried to smooth his hair, "I…took a walk last night."
"In the rain?" Zac looked like his older brother had totally lost it.

The captain nodded, "I think it was raining."

Boomer appeared, stretching and yawning. He saw Apollo, Starbuck, and Zac standing around. "Where's Celeste?" he asked.

"I guess she hasn't gotten up yet." Starbuck said, glancing toward Celeste's tent, "I'll go get her." He strode up to the closed tent flap and knocked on it, "Hey, sleepyhead. Everyone else is up but you!"

When Starbuck's good-natured wake-up call didn't work, he knocked a little harder, "Come on, I know you don't sleep that deeply!"

The wind blew at the little tent, lifting it off the ground and causing it to pull at the ropes that were firmly staked into the ground.

Starbuck's eyes widened, "And I also know that you aren't that light!" He opened the tent flap, revealing his suspicions. Celeste was not inside.

"Apollo!" Starbuck cried, "Celeste's gone!"

Apollo, Zac, and Boomer rushed over.

"What do you mean, gone?" Boomer demanded.

Apollo saw the empty tent and sighed, "She must've been more upset than I thought. Boomer, go ask Qasha if she's seen Celeste. Zac, you check around the area. Starbuck, you and I'll check at the ships. It's possible that she decided to get an early start at repairing the Lemonade." Captain Apollo issued the orders and the small group split up to start searching.

"More upset than you thought?" Starbuck asked when he and Apollo had left the camp area.

Apollo glanced sideways at Starbuck, "Did she ever tell you that she has nightmares?"

"No," Starbuck replied, genuinely surprised, "This is the first I've heard of it! Why?"

"She had a really bad one last night." Apollo answered, "She was in tears, and she kept insisting that she was sorry for something and also that she wasn't a Cylon. She mentioned you."

Starbuck frowned, "You think her nightmare might have something to do with her disappearance?"

"I don't know." Apollo sighed, "but it's all I have right now. There was something about her, Starbuck. Something…empty…dark...it was almost like it wasn't her at all…but it was. It worries me."

Starbuck grinned, but there was uncertainty in his eyes, "Celeste's a tough gal, Apollo. She can handle whatever it is and come out on top like she always does."

Apollo smiled sadly back, "You're right." You have to be.

The two warriors reached the place where the three vipers and the Lemonade sat idle, waiting until they would be called upon to ascend back into the stars.

¤

"Boomer, any luck?" Zac asked, seeing his friend standing in the doorway of the little cabin.

Boomer shook his head, "Qasha hasn't seen Celeste since we all went to bed last night."

"No, she hasn't." Qasha's stony face appeared in the doorway behind Boomer, "But she's going to help you search."

Zac noticed that when the Terran woman spoke, she seemed only to speak to Boomer. He also noticed her hardened expression soften whenever Boomer spoke to her. It would seem that Boomer had a secret admirer!

"You are?" Boomer asked, turning to look at Qasha.

The woman's eyes sparkled, and Zac hid a grin.

"No one knows these woods like I do, not even the Monotones." Qasha said forcefully, "And from what I know of your Celeste, you're going to need all the help you can get."

"Well, I won't argue with that." Boomer consented gruffly.

Zac's eyes glinted with mischief, "Okay, why don't you guys continue searching the woods, I'll go see if Starbuck and Apollo have had any success."

Boomer started to protest, but Zac turned and dashed off toward the spot where the ships had been parked.

Without a word, Qasha began walking through the woods, her dark eyes scanning the trees, not missing a detail.

Boomer sighed and followed her.

Zac was nearly to the end of the trees. Just beyond, he knew, were the ships.

Something crackled behind him. Zac stopped and listened. A faint whirring sound gave away the intruder, but not soon enough. Zac turned around just in time to see a Cylon pointing a Colonial blaster pistol at him.

He barely had time to wonder where the Cylon had gotten the blaster before he fell to the ground.

¤

"She's not here!" Starbuck called to Apollo from inside the Lemonade's passenger/cargo hold.

"But she was." Apollo appeared in the hatchway. He was holding a warrior jacket. "I found this hanging on one of the laser guns."

Starbuck took a closer look at the jacket, "Well, it is too hot out here to wear a flight jacket. She must've taken it off while she was fixing this thing."

"But why would she leave?" Apollo asked, concern taking hold of his voice, "If she was fixing the ship, where is she now?"

Starbuck stepped outside of the Lemonade. He glanced around, then walked to a laser gun, "Is this where you found it?"

"Yes," Apollo replied.

Starbuck studied the ground under the laser gun, "Aha!"

"What?" Apollo joined him.

Starbuck held up a small metal object. Apollo recognized it as a tool used for hotwiring.

"She was definitely here, and she was busy." Starbuck concluded, "And I have a hunch…" he tossed the tool to Apollo and started climbing up to the primary cockpit.

"A hunch? Starbuck, what are you doing?" Apollo asked his friend.

Starbuck slid into the cockpit and powered up the engines. Apollo stood back as the Lemonade slowly rose vertically over the prairie. It settled back down and turned off. Starbuck emerged from the cockpit, a puzzled look on his face.

"Well?" Apollo crossed his arms.

"It works." Starbuck shook his head, "From what Boomer told me last night, the engines wouldn't even power up. Celeste must've gotten out here pretty early to have it working this well already. We could probably fly this thing out of here right now."

"That's great, but how does that help us find Celeste?" Apollo asked.

"I don't know." Starbuck said, "I was hoping it wouldn't work, cause that would mean that she might have gone looking for spare parts. But this puts us back at square one."

Apollo sighed, "Well, it was a good idea."

"Too bad it didn't work." Starbuck said, "At least we know where she was this morning."

"It's a start." Apollo agreed, "I think we should go get Boomer and Zac and let them know what we've found out."

"Okay." Starbuck said. He looked at the three vipers, "It doesn't make sense. If she was planning on going somewhere, she'd have taken her viper."

"That's what worries me." Apollo answered, "She may not have been planning on leaving."

¤

For the second time that morning, Zac awoke. For the second time in his life, he realized that he'd been captured by the Cylons. His head throbbed from the stun beam the Cylon had used to knock him out. Zac wondered why the Cylon hadn't just killed him. What was up with the Cylons taking prisoners, anyway? Weren't they supposed to kill humans?

Zac was the only occupant of the cell he was sitting in. He looked around for a door, but found none. The walls were smooth and translucent white, like the interior of a milky cylinder. Zac looked up and saw small holes in the ceiling. The Cylons could flood the cell with deadly gas any time they wanted.

Zac sat down. He wondered what the Cylons were planning to do with him, and he wished that Celeste was there to help him. The young woman seemed to have a knack for getting out of tight situations. And she knew more about Cylons than anyone else Zac had ever met. Maybe she would know what this prisoner fetish was all about.

He wondered where Celeste was. Maybe she'd been captured, too. Or killed. With her record for Cylon encounters, the Cylons probably would just want to be rid of her. She can't be dead. She's got to still be alive somewhere, maybe even somewhere close by. She's too clever to just die. And she wouldn't go without a fight. Even so, I hope she's okay.

I hope everyone is okay! They're probably pretty worried about me! Especially Apollo. Poor guy. He's had a rough couple of sentons. It was only less than two sentons ago that he lost Boxey and Athena, then me and Boomer. The whole Celeste vs. Baltar thing he told me about last night…wow. She's got guts, but that wasn't a good thing. If she hadn't been wearing that vest…and Boomer told me that's how Apollo's wife died, too. What is it with these women that my brother falls in love with?

Zac smiled, thinking about how he and Celeste led the rescue of the warriors from the Cylon basestar. He'd never forget how she helped him get home, risking her life to save strangers and Starbuck, who she hardly knew. She's one of a kind. You sure can pick 'em, Apollo.

Zac thought about his girlfriend back on the Galactica. He hadn't really had time to talk to her in the two sectons since he'd returned. His job as a pilot and her job as a bridge officer kept them apart much of the time. He'd missed her like crazy when he'd been on the basestar. He imagined she'd missed him, too. The amazing thing was, she'd waited for him for two yahrens, even after he'd "died". Zac was glad her waiting had paid off. When he got back to the Galactica, he'd have to set aside some time to spend with his girl, Rigel. If he got back.

Zac sat alone on a bench in the strange cell. He found it easy to slip back into the habit of sitting in a cell, thinking about his family and Rigel. He wondered if he'd ever see them again.

He didn't know that Celeste was only a few cells down.

¤

"BY YOUR COMMAND." A Cylon centurion clunked into the command room of the secret Cylon base. An IL series Cylon with a silver-and-red checkered cape sat in the chair reserved for the leader of the base. His head tilted as his scanners registered the image of a centurion.

"Report, centurion."

The IL's smooth voice contrasted with the harsh metallic monotone of the centurion. But then, the IL series was much more sophisticated than a mere centurion.

"WE HAVE CATPURED TWO OF THE COLONIAL SPIES AS YOU REQUESTED."

"Excellent, but what about the others? We can't have Colonial warriors sneaking around our base here. It would ruin Lord Baltar's plans. Especially if the Colonials are able to warn their battleship of the presence of our base on this planet!"

"THE OTHER COLONIALS CAN BE CAPTURED EASILY."

"Then do it, and prepare for the arrival of a distinguished visitor. Lord Baltar himself is coming to make a personal inspection of this base."

"BY YOUR COMMAND." The centurion left to carry out his orders.

"Soon to be 'By Baltar's Command'." The IL thought out loud. One could even say that the Cylon sounded almost bitter. "I really don't see the intelligence in allowing a human to devise and execute elaborate plots against the humans. I should think a Cylon would be better suited for that job." The IL's servomotors whirred in its transparent head, "Oh, well. Perhaps in time the Imperious Leader will realize the folly of his decision. I only hope it doesn't cost victory for the Cylon Empire."

All around, the Cylon base prepared for the arrival of Baltar.

¤

"Boomer! Any luck?" Starbuck called. He and Apollo had arrived at the campsite just as Boomer and Qasha were returning from a search through the woods.

Boomer shook his head, "We searched all through these woods. We even went to Qasha's crashed cargo ship. But no Celeste." He noticed that one of the warriors was missing, "Hey, where's Zac?"

"I was just about to ask." Apollo replied, "Wasn't he with you two?"

"He was, but he said he went to find you!" Boomer answered.

"We didn't see him." Starbuck said, "he never made it to where we were."

Qasha spoke up, "Monotones." She said that one word as though it explained everything.

"Monotones?" Starbuck repeated, "What do you mean by, 'Monotones'?"

"They captured your friends." Qasha said unemotionally. Her eyes flashed fire, but her voice stayed perfectly calm, "It is the only explanation. The Monotones took them to their base in the canyon."

"Felgercarb!" Starbuck cried.

"Can you show us where this base is?" Apollo asked Qasha.

"Yes," replied Qasha truthfully, "but the Monotones are many, and heavily armed. There are only four of us."

"Four humans against an entire Cylon base?" Starbuck smiled, "I'll take those odds!"

Qasha looked at Boomer, "If we took your ships, we'd get there faster. We can park them a distance from the base so they won't be detected."

"Good idea." Boomer said.

Apollo nodded to Qasha, "Let's go."

¤

A row of milky translucent cylinders lined a hallway. All was quiet, except for a Cylon guard pacing up and down the hallway, its metal boots clanking on the floor.

Suddenly, one of the cylinders emitted a strange sound. It was organic, but it resembled a Cylon alarm. Confused, the Cylon guard froze. It stared stupidly at the cylinder, its scanner oscillating in cybernetic consternation. The strange sound continued, rising in pitch until it exceeded frequencies detectable to the human ear. But the Cylon could still detect it. The sound began repeating itself, dropping in pitch and rising again. The guard walked to the cylindrical cell and unlocked it. The door slid open, and the Cylon flew backward, propelled by a kick from the cell's occupant.

Celeste stepped out of the cell and took the Cylon's pulse rifle, "I'll take that, thank you very much." She hurried out of the cell block and into the darkened corridors beyond. Whew! For a while, I didn't think that I'd ever get that Cylon's attention! My throat is really sore…but it was worth it. Now to get out of here before the Cylons figure out that I'm gone…

She tiptoed down the corridor, which led to another room. This room was full of computer equipment. Smiling a little, Celeste checked to see that the coast was clear. She walked to a console, tapped her fingers on the oversize keypad and sent an encoded message to the Galactica, warning them that there was a Cylon base nearby.

As soon as the message was sent, Celeste gripped the rifle she carried and dashed out of the computer room. She followed the maze of hallways and corridors through several rooms, sneaking past quite a few Cylons. Finally, she glimpsed light from the red star through a doorway. She ran through it and into the bright light, and onto the floor of a huge canyon carved out by an ancient river, now long gone.

Celeste ran and ran until she was sure she was no longer on the Cylons' security scanners. To her surprise, only moments later, four familiar ships landed just across the canyon from her. Though she was tired, she ran the rest of the way to the ships, where she could see her friends getting out of the cockpits.

"Celeste!" Apollo rushed to her and gave her a big hug.

"Captain!" Celeste joked, "Is it really appropriate to hug a junior officer?"

Starbuck walked up and grinned. Apollo glanced at him before answering, "Only if I really mean it."

Apollo released Celeste and held her at arm's length, "What happened?"

"Well," Celeste said, a touch of avoidance in her voice, "I started whistling this noise that Cylons find annoying, and so the guard got curious and opened the door…"

"I mean this morning." Apollo said, "Where did you go?"

"To work on the Lemonade." Celeste looked at the ship in question, "I wanted to get it working so we could get off this hunk of rock. The sooner, the better. I finished it, and next thing I know, I'm sitting in a cell in the center of a Cylon base!" She saw that Boomer and Qasha had joined the group, "Where's Zac?"

"That seems to be the question of the centar." Boomer answered, "We think he was captured by the Cylons."

"What?" Celeste cried, "I just ESCAPED from the Cylons! If I'd have known that he was there, too…! Felgercarb! I just left him in there!" She looked very upset.

"It's okay." Apollo said, "It's not your fault. You didn't know. Besides, we have a plan to get in there and rescue him."

Celeste watched as Boomer and Starbuck headed for the Lemonade and opened the back hatch, "You do?"

The two warriors returned, dragging two silvery forms.

Celeste raised her eyebrows, "We drag the Cylons out of their base and gut them?" She noticed that the two centurions were empty of their electronic components. All that was left was the shell of chrome armor.

"We found these two poking around our vipers and blasted them." Starbuck explained, "Then we took them out of their armor."

Qasha stared unblinkingly at Celeste, "We are to use them as disguises to get into the base."

Celeste snorted, "oh, so someone's going to get into a Cylon suit and just walk into the base, get Zac, and walk out?"

"Yep!" Starbuck nodded.

"Huh," Celeste eyed the Cylon armor, "Which one of you gets the honor?" she said sarcastically.

"Well," Boomer looked down, "Qasha agreed to wear one, but neither Apollo, Starbuck, nor I will fit into the other armor…"

Celeste's eyes widened as she caught the implications of his words, "Oh, no. No way." She backed away from the armor as if it was poisonous. Apollo saw genuine fear flash across Celeste's face. He remembered her cries when she'd had that nightmare. He put two and two together.

"Celeste?" Apollo looked questioningly at her, "If you're not comfortable with this, we'll find another way…somehow."

Celeste stared at the armor, then looked away, in the direction she had just run from. She stood straight and took a sharp breath, "No, it'll be fine." She closed her eyes and was unable to suppress a shudder, "Zac needs help now, and I can help him."

"Are you sure?" genuine concern tinged Starbuck's voice as he saw the reaction Celeste had to the armor.

Celeste bit her lip and nodded. She tried to grin at Apollo, "The things I do for your family…" She quickly picked up the helmet and pulled it over her head, "How do I look?"

"Weird." Starbuck replied truthfully, "But I think this could work."

¤

Baltar strode through his Cylon base, feeling like he owned the place. In a sense, he did. The Imperious Leader had given him several bases to run and a basestar to chase the Colonials in. Not to mention his gunship, now destroyed by those treacherous Colonial Warriors, Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer, and the new one, Celeste. The men had caused Baltar enough trouble, but once they were joined by Celeste, Baltar's plans had been failing right and left. This only steeled his resolve to stop Lt. Celeste and her friends once and for all!

Especially after they had foiled his most brilliant plan of all, and brought down his Peacemakers. But at least Celeste was no longer a problem. He'd seen her killed on his gunship just before he'd escaped. She wouldn't get in his way anymore.

Now, to deal with the others…

He was curious to know which two Colonials his Cylons had captured. Perhaps they were Starbuck and Apollo! Baltar sneered with anticipation. If it was Starbuck and Apollo, he'd torture them until they either betrayed their people or died! Or both. Any of these outcomes would be acceptable.

Baltar finally arrived at the command center of the base. The IL-series leader looked up from a monitor screen. The permanent expression on his face seemed surprised to see Baltar standing cool and confident in his base.

"By your command, Lord Baltar!" the IL said, "We've been expecting you! How did your mission go?"

Baltar frowned slightly, "My plan was not a success, Vikter. I should think you'd have heard about that by now!" But then Baltar smiled, "However, it wasn't a total failure. I did see one of my archenemies defeated and killed."

"I'm sure that gave you great pleasure." Vikter remarked. He seemed to be stalling.

Baltar put his hands on his hips, spreading his green cape over his shoulders, "So, when do I get to interrogate my prisoners?"

Vikter's expression remained the same, as it was impossible for it to change, but his body language seemed to express nervousness, "Er, right away, if you wish, Lord Baltar."

"What's wrong?" Baltar demanded, a suspicious look on his face.

"Well," Vikter said, "nothing's wrong…except that it appears that one of the prisoners has escaped."

Baltar narrowed his eyes, "Well, at least allow me to speak to the remaining prisoner!"

"By your command." Vikter waved at two Cylon centurions, signaling them to take Baltar to see the prisoner.

Baltar glared at Vikter, muttered something rude about IL-series Cylons, and stalked off after the two centurions.

¤

Commander Adama stood on the bridge of the Galactica, watching the planet spin beneath them as the battlestar sat in orbit around it. Somewhere down there were his best pilots; his sons and their friends. They hadn't been heard from in nearly a full senton.

"Commander." Colonel Tigh approached Adama. "The Peacemakers have agreed to stand trial for their actions on both the Rising Star and the Neptuna." Tigh reported, "Still no word from Captain Apollo's rescue team."

Adama nodded, "Thank you, Tigh."

Someone burst onto the bridge.

Commander Adama turned to see Chameleon, red faced and panting, standing in the turbolift doorway. The man strode straight to the command platform and looked directly at Adama.

"I demand to know what's going on here!" he said.

Adama frowned, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Commander! Where's Celeste and Starbuck? Someone told me that they were on patrol, but they haven't returned yet! What's happening?" Chameleon cried.

"They went to the planet we are in orbit around to rescue some of our warriors who were trapped there." Adama explained.

"When are they coming back?" Chameleon asked.

"We don't know," replied Adama, "They may have run into difficulties while on the surface."

"Well, can't we send some kind of shuttle to bring them back?" Chameleon asked.

"We've tried," Colonel Tigh broke in, "But every time we do, the Cylons start coming out of nowhere to attack it. It's just too risky."

"Incoming encoded message from the planet, Sir." Athena said from her console.

"I'm going to have to ask that you leave the bridge," Adama looked seriously at Chameleon.

Upset, Chameleon began walking off the bridge. Halfway to the door, he turned, "Commander, that girl is…important to me. Get her home safely." Chameleon left.

"I'll try." Adama sighed, "By Kobal, I'll try." He turned to Athena, "What does this message say?"

Athena typed on her keypad, "Decoding was successful. Transferring message to control platform computer."

Tigh read the message, "Sir! There's a Cylon base on that planet!"

"That would explain the Cylon patrols attacking our shuttlecraft." Adama nodded, "Does it say anything else?"

"Only that the team should be on their way back soon." Tigh answered.

"Good." Adama said, "We must be prepared for their arrival."

"Yes Sir." Tigh answered.

Adama returned to staring at the planet, this time pondering what to do about the Cylon base.

¤

Qasha and Celeste, now fully outfitted with the Cylon armor and pulse rifles, tromped toward the Cylon base. Qasha knew that the base was hidden in the wall of the canyon. She'd followed the Monotones when they had captured her copilot, who also happened to be her husband. She hadn't been able to rescue him, and she was fairly sure that he was no longer alive. Qasha hoped that Zac would be more fortunate. Somehow, she felt that these strange people wouldn't stop until they succeeded in rescuing him. They seemed to be a close-knit bunch, almost a family. She wondered about the woman that walked next to her. Celeste seemed different from the others. She was a part of the group, and yet, there was something that set her apart.

Celeste walked stiffly in the silver armor. The other woman hadn't said a word to her since they left the young men at the ships. Not that Qasha had been very talkative either. Still, it wasn't in Qasha's nature to talk unnecessarily. It seemed very uncharacteristic for one of these mysterious non-Terran pilots to be totally silent.

They reached a cave, the door to the Cylon base.

Qasha whispered into her helmet, "We have arrived." The helmet's comm. was linked to the communicators in the pilots' helmets. That way, Qasha and Celeste could communicate with Apollo, Boomer, and Starbuck. The comm and the scanner light were the only systems that remained in the Cylon armor. All the others were removed to make room for the women to fit inside. However, the voice modulators had been removed, tweaked, and then replaced to change the womens' voices into the trademark monotone that Qasha had named the Cylons for.

Perhaps that was why Celeste didn't speak. Qasha got the feeling that the other woman wasn't comfortable with looking and sounding like a Cylon. Not that Qasha disagreed. Neither one of them had any love for the Cylons.

"Which way are the prison cells?" Qasha asked Celeste in a whisper, so that the voice modulator wouldn't pick it up.

Celeste pointed ahead and marched into the cave, holding her gun like a real Cylon centurion. Qasha followed, emulating Celeste's movements.

The two walked deeper and deeper into the Cylon base. A few centurions glanced at them, but none of them seemed suspicious. They all went about their jobs, mostly paying no attention to Celeste and Qasha.

Suddenly, Celeste stopped, holding up one gloved hand. What little light there was in the hallway glinted off of her armor. She stepped closer to whatever she was looking at, then turned to Qasha and waved her forward. Together, they clomped into what proved to be the control room.

And just to the side of the control room was a glass door.

Celeste strode up to it. Qasha had to admit, Celeste was very good at impersonating one of these Cylons. None of them gave her a second glance. The glass door slid open, and Celeste walked in, followed by Qasha.

Inside, several other centurions held Zac captive, while Baltar and an IL-series droid stood by a comm. unit, apparently making contact with someone.

Baltar gave the two "centurions" a dirty look for interrupting him, but he glanced back at his comm. screen and smiled a big, evil smile.

"Hello, my old friend!" Baltar exclaimed, voice dripping with false friendliness, "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Oh, I think the last time we spoke was…when you so kindly released me from your prison barge."

Celeste stared at Baltar. He was contacting the fleet, probably the Galactica!

Baltar continued, "Now down to business. I happen to have one of your warriors here…" Baltar motioned for the Cylons to bring Zac over so that he could be seen by the person on the other end of the comm., "and I know there are others within my power to capture."

Celeste could barely hear the response from the comm. It was Commander Adama, and he didn't sound happy.

"Oh, really, Adama. I'm surprised you cling to the illusion that your human warriors are better at escaping than my Cylons are at capturing." Baltar chuckled, "Especially after I disposed of that 'invincible' Lt. Celeste. Your other warriors will be as simple to get rid of. Unless we can come to some kind of agreement."

After listening to Adama's response, Baltar's eyes took on a brilliant dark gleam, "I could kill any one of these warriors, as I have my best centurions capturing the rest of them as we speak! You will either have to bend to my pressure, or say goodbye to my hostages. I'm transferring my...terms of our agreement right now."

Celeste almost shook her head, then remembered the Cylon helmet. She couldn't imagine Adama agreeing to anything with Baltar. At least he wouldn't have to. The "invincible" Lt. Celeste, whom Baltar thought was dead, was on a mission that she would not allow to fail. No matter what. Who knew what Baltar was demanding!

Baltar concluded his communication to the Galactica. "Guards! Take him back to his cell!" he ordered.

"BY YOUR COMMAND." The two Cylons holding Zac began to haul him off. Zac hung limp. Suddenly, he kicked one Cylon's leg out from under it, pushing the other Cylon away. He turned around and grabbed the gun from the one he pushed away and dashed out the door, firing at Celeste and Qasha, but thankfully missing them.

Baltar turned with rage to the disguised humans, "What are you waiting for? AFTER HIM!"

"BY YOUR COMMAND." Qasha said as she and Celeste started running clumsily after Zac. The Cylon armor slowed them down some.

But Zac didn't know his way out. He ran blindly down corridors. Celeste and Qasha followed him doggedly, only getting a few glances from Cylons as they passed them.

Zac found himself in a dead end. He held up his gun and fired at the girls.

Qasha stopped and pulled off her helmet before he hurt one of them, "Don't fire! We're not really Mono…Cylons!"

Zac stopped. Relief flooded through his face, "Great! Let's get out of here!"

Qasha nodded and put her helmet back on, "THIS WAY." She and Celeste grabbed Zac and "escorted" him back through the base toward the entrance.

Suddenly, a real Cylon centurion blocked their way. "PRISONERS ARE NOT PERMITTED HERE."

Qasha and Celeste halted.

"WHERE ARE YOU TAKING THIS PRISONER?" the real Cylon demanded.

"WE HAVE ORDERS TO TAKE THIS PRISONER OUTSIDE." Qasha replied.

"WHOSE ORDERS?" the Cylon asked.

Qasha didn't know Baltar's name. She was silent.

"OUR ORDERS COME STRAIGHT FROM BALTAR." Celeste spoke up.

Qasha could almost feel the other woman wincing at her voice.

The Cylon seemed to think about this for a moment. Then it seemed to glare at them, "NO SUCH ORDERS WERE ISSUED. YOU ARE MALFUNCTIONING UNITS. RELENQUISH CUSTODY OF THE PRISONER. OTHER UNITS WILL ESCORT THE PRISONER BACK TO HIS CELL."

"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT." Celeste shot a hole through the real Cylon with her pulse rifle. Zac grabbed the Cylon's gun and spun around to help Celeste and Qasha fight off the other real Cylons, who were now taking a lot of interest in the trio.

"MALFUNCTIONING UNITS. SURRENDER YOUR WEAPONS AND REPORT TO THE REPAIR STATION IMMEDIATELY." A real Cylon ordered. It was holding a Colonial blaster as well as a Cylon gun.

"That's the one that stole my blaster!" Celeste whispered to Qasha.

"REPORT TO THE REPAIR STATION IMMEDIATELY." The Cylon repeated. Other Cylons had their guns pointed at Celeste, Qasha, and Zac.

"I THINK NOT." Celeste said as she and her companions simultaneously opened fire on the Cylons, clearing a path to the exit. They ran for the door to the last chamber, firing as they went. As soon as they were inside, Qasha sealed the door and tore off the hard-to-see-through helmet.

Celeste took off her helmet, too, "We made it! Once we get into the cave, all we have to do is walk out of here!"

"We're almost out. Meet us outside the cave." Qasha said into her comm.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Boomer's voice replied. Qasha did a rare thing. She smiled.

"Uh, we may have a problem," Celeste said. She was at the door control to get into the cave. It wasn't opening.

Zac rushed over, "Let's see…" He joined Celeste in fiddling with the door control.

The door to the rest of the Cylon base was groaning and starting to slide. "Hurry, you two!" Qasha cried, "They'll be in here in a few seconds!"

"Whatever a second is," Zac groaned, "I hope it's longer than a micron, cause this door is really jammed!"

"Security mechanism." Celeste grumbled, "When they found out something was wrong, the Cylons put the base into complete lockdown."

"I wish they'd have 'locked down' this door!" Qasha growled. The door slid open a crack. A bolt of laser fire slipped through. "Hurry!" the woman stood against the door, holding her rifle ready.

"Almost there!" Zac called.

The room exploded in laser fire. Celeste whirled to retaliate, leaving Zac to work the door controls. Cylons burst into the room. Some fell as Celeste and Qasha fired at them. Celeste shielded Zac with her body and her blaster, and Qasha dove behind a computer terminal, still firing.

"HUMANS IN DISGUISE!" said one surprised Cylon just prior to falling into a smoking heap of metal.

The door to the cave finally slid open.

"GO!" Celeste shouted to Zac, shoving him out. She followed him, but tried to clear a path with her gunfire for Qasha to escape. There was a moment when the laser bolts weren't as thick, and Qasha made a run for it. The three warriors dashed out into the cave without taking the unavailable time to close the door. Beyond the mouth of the cave, they could see the Lemonade landing.

Behind them, the Cylons began pouring into the cave. The three humans didn't waste any time taking off running again.

Zac, because he wasn't weighed down with Cylon armor, was the first to reach the Lemonade. He climbed into the secondary cockpit and powered up the laser cannons. From his vantage point, he fired on the Cylons as they came out of the cave.

Celeste and Qasha dashed for the Lemonade.

Celeste tripped over her bulky Cylon boots. "Frack!" she cried, hitting the ground. Qasha stopped to help her up, and cried out in pain as Cylon gunfire grazed her leg. Celeste and Qasha stood up and leaned on each other, trying to reach the Lemonade. Both took hits, despite Zac's blasting at the Cylons. Some of them got through.

From the main cockpit, Boomer opened the rear hatch. Qasha and Celeste stumbled inside. "We're in!" Celeste said into her comm. The hatch started closing.

And one Cylon fired into the closing gap between the hatch and the rest of the ship. Someone cried out, and smoke puffed from the back of the Lemonade.

Boomer lifted off, leaving the Cylons to stand on the ground and watch them leave. A green-clad human figure emerged from the cave, looked up, and shook his fist at the departing multicolored ship.

But there wasn't anything immediate that he could do.

¤

Cylon raiders launched in groups of three and began to attack the Lemonade.

"I can't handle them all at once!" Zac cried, struggling to hit the grey ships with the Lemonade's modified laser cannons.

Apollo's voice came over the comm., "You won't have to."

Zac cheered as two Viper fighters rose up beside his cockpit. Starbuck and Apollo stayed near to the multicolored vessel. The combined firepower of the three ships started to make a dent in the Cylon attack force.

"Boomer, you and Zac go get the other Viper," Apollo ordered, "We'll cover you."

Starbuck flew through the remains of the Cylon fighter he'd just disintegrated, "Sure seems different to be doing this within the atmosphere of a planet," he remarked.

"As soon as you get back, we'll head home." Apollo told Boomer and Zac.

The Lemonade streaked off toward the place where the third Viper waited.

Starbuck added, "Sounds good to me!"

He and Apollo wreaked havoc with the Cylon forces. They expertly attacked and defended, preventing the Cylons from pursuing the Lemonade. By the time the super-viper returned, followed by Zac in the third Viper, most of the Cylon raiders were destroyed, and the rest were retreating.

"Let's go home." Apollo said.

"Right behind you, Captain." Boomer replied.

¤

"What's it going to take to convince you, Apollo?" Celeste was once again in the life center. Apollo and Starbuck had come to visit her. She had just been treated, and Apollo was, as usual, very concerned about her. She counted on her fingers, "I told you, Cassie told you, the entire medical staff of the Galactica told you! I'm fine!" Celeste hopped from one foot to the other to demonstrate, trying to hide a wince.

Apollo shook his head, "With both you and Starbuck as friends, you can't blame a guy for being careful. I still can't believe you got shot in the leg only sectons after he did."

"Ankle." Celeste corrected, "It was my ankle. How that Cylon managed to sneak that laser through the closing door and still hit me is mystifying."

Starbuck raised his eyebrows, "How many times you've survived being shot by Cylons mystifies me."

Celeste sighed sarcastically, "I'm just lucky, I guess. At least this time it wasn't so bad. Cassie said I could leave as soon as I thought I was ready." Celeste took a few steps toward the door. Her leg suddenly found no support from her foot, and she would have fallen if Apollo hadn't been right there to catch her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Apollo asked for what had to be the millionth time.

The young woman rolled her eyes, "Apoll-o."

Apollo held up his hands when he was sure she'd regained her balance, "I know, I know, you're fine. But are you 'fine' enough to go back on duty?"

"Unlike walking," Celeste pointed out, "Flying a Viper doesn't require the use of my ankles."

Apollo glanced at Starbuck for help.

"Don't look at me, I think she has a point!" Starbuck shrugged, "I might even use that argument myself sometime!"

Celeste fixed her determined, mischievous gaze on Apollo, "How many times can you say 'no'?"

Now Apollo thought that she had a point. As many times as he'd try to keep her safely on the Galactica, she'd come up with twice as many ways to get around it. She was stubborn, dedicated, and intelligent. Once she set her mind on a goal, the entire Cylon Empire couldn't stop her from achieving it.

Apollo looked into her eyes, lost in thought. That's who she is. And those are all reasons why I like her. Her fire, her dedication, her bravery; those are all reasons I…love her. Sure, she can be hotheaded and impulsive, sometimes to the point of utter recklessness. But she has strong values and she believes in the causes she fights for. Celeste would never hesitate to help a friend in need, no matter what it took. No matter what the consequences were.

Celeste is strong, but also vulnerable. As invincible as she acts, she's just as mortal as the rest of us. That's what scares me. She doesn't seem to take death seriously. She and Starbuck share that trait. If I lost her, I don't know what I'd do.

Apollo smiled at her bright blue eyes, feeling so very lucky to have her standing in front of him, alive and feisty as ever. He reached out and placed his hands lightly on her shoulders, "Okay," he said, "you're right. But from now on, you are to follow my orders, or else I'll have to turn you over to Colonel Tigh."

Celeste smiled back, "Yes sir!"

She studied the face of her captain, but found no trace of sadness or regret. For once, he was looking at her without thinking about his late wife. Celeste knew Serina was never far from his mind, and that she always would be part of him. But somehow it bothered her to be compared to the other woman, to be held in check just because of events that happened yahrens before Celeste had even met Apollo.

I can never live up to a ghost. Celeste thought, But…maybe I won't have to.

She gazed at her handsome friend, memorizing every detail of his face: the sweep of his dark hair, the sparkle in his eyes. And the feeling of friendship she knew when he was near.

Neither Celeste nor Apollo noticed Starbuck's exit. They were lost in each other, sharing a fleeting moment that lasted lifetimes.

Celeste suddenly looked down, breaking the spell.

"What's wrong?" Apollo asked her, genuine concern filling his voice, "It seems like every time we get a moment together, you suddenly glance at the floor with a sad look on your face. What am I doing wrong?"

"It's not you," Celeste sighed, "Apollo, there's something…something you should know about me. I…I had a relationship once. But it didn't turn out so well."

Apollo's eyes widened, "Did he break up with you?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Not exactly," Celeste flashed a wry look at the floor, "Seti left me for dead during a Cylon ambush. Then he dumped me. Course, this was before I found out that he had a wife. Turned out that he'd been leading me on the whole time. When his wife found out, she dumped him and split for Caprica. So with her out of the picture," Celeste shrugged heavily, "Seti came back to haunt me. Until he was shot down during an attack on Taurus, he thought it was his life's mission to make my life miserable. He said it was because I drove his wife away."

"That's terrible!" Apollo exclaimed.

"Yeah, so that's why I don't always…trust people." Celeste said, her voice barely more than a whisper, "that was a long time ago, but…it still hurts."

Apollo started to hug the woman, but hesitated. She might not feel comfortable hugging him twice in the same senton.

Celeste didn't resist, however. Instead, she finished the embrace that Apollo had begun. He felt her relax as he wrapped his arms around her. The emotional wall she'd built around herself seemed to be starting to crumble.

Apollo closed his eyes, thinking of the few tender moments he'd shared with her. There was the talk in the secondary maintenance bay, the talk in the shuttle during the "hero reception", and the other various few microns when there was a warmth between them that was unparalleled by any other moments with her. Apollo thought about what she'd just told him.

Don't worry, Apollo thought, I won't let anyone hurt you that way again. I promise.

He and Celeste stood holding each other for longer than either of them could quite believe. Both discovered feelings that had been there all along, nagging at the two to acknowledge them.

Celeste had never felt so safe in her life as when Apollo's strong arms were around her, holding her close. She closed her eyes, thinking about her nightmare. It had been horrible. But somehow, it had helped. When she had needed to "become" a Cylon to save Zac, the entire experience hadn't seemed as bad as the nightmare. It had turned out better, too. Her friends were still alive.

How different Apollo was from the other men she'd been around. Celeste felt in her heart that he would never betray her as Seti had. He was safe. She could trust him. And in return for his friendship, she'd had him worried the entire time whether or not she would live to see another day.

I've got to stop. Stop running from my past. Stop trying to prove something to myself. Apollo cares about me because I'm me, not because I'm some big hero. He hasn't even tried to thank me! Celeste smiled, adding an ironic thought, and for that, I am very thankful! She snorted.

"What's so funny?" Apollo pulled back, favoring her with a smile that inexplicably turned her insides into mushies.

She tried to think of an answer, "Just a joke I thought of." Celeste grinned, "How many warriors does it take to escape from a Cylon base?"

"How many?" Apollo asked.

Celeste grinned even more, "All of them!" she said brightly.

Apollo groaned good-naturedly, "Better stick to your day job," he told her.

"Gladly!" Celeste replied, starting to limp toward the door.

Apollo caught her arm, "But not until you can walk."

Celeste sighed and plopped back down onto the bed, "I guess it would look a little strange for me to be carried to my viper."

Apollo was surprised that she had agreed so quickly, "I think so." He sat down next to her.

The young woman looked around at the familiar surroundings, "But what am I going to do?"

"I could send people in here to visit you." Apollo replied.

"Oh great," Celeste groaned, "send them in here and they'll thank me!"

"It's a possibility." Apollo said, "but you should probably get used to it if you're going to go around saving people all the time."

Celeste made a face, "I guess I could stand a few at a time. But don't let a whole ship-full get in or I'll have to take drastic measures."

Shaking his head, Apollo smiled, "I don't even want to know what you mean by 'drastic measures'."

A small smile started at the edges of Celeste's mouth, "No, you probably don't."

Apollo checked his timepiece and stood up, "I wish I could stay longer, but I've got a meeting with Colonel Tigh in fifteen centons." Apollo saw the disappointment in Celeste's eyes. Part of him was sad that he'd caused it; but at least she liked spending time with him. "If you'd like, I can tell the Colonel to reschedule for a time after you get out."

"No," Celeste shook her head, "That's okay. You keep the colonel happy. I'll be fine. After all, I've got Qasha to talk to." She gestured over to a bed across the room, where the woman sat quietly reading a ship manual, her dark, curly hair tied back in an attempt to tame it.

Apollo glanced at the quiet woman from Terra. Even when she was sitting down, she had a calm power about her that was as mysterious as it was intimidating. One thing he'd learned about Qasha, however, was that she didn't do much talking. He raised his eyebrows at Celeste.

"What?" Celeste asked innocently, "I'm up for a challenge."

Apollo shook his head and smiled, "Whatever you say. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Celeste watched him go, glanced at the quiet Qasha, sighed, and flopped back onto the bed.