Chapter 1

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world" The Buddha

The Hera Project, so named by Laura after the wife of Zeus, had taken over her life. Before Hera had become the most important person in her world she had been many things other than a forensic anthropologist; a mother primarily. Zachary Nathaniel Roslin was 16 and the most precious thing in her world even if he failed to share her love of science. He had reached the stage where the most important thing in his life was girls and alcohol but they got along pretty well even so.

But as she gazed on the face of the woman that could be the foundation of their entire race she couldn't help but be enthralled by her. Laura felt as if she knew her despite the 150,000 gap between their exsistence. She'd broken her wrist aged 10, her leg aged 14. Hera had given birth to four children and died of heart failure aged around 80. She had been very beautiful too when she'd be alive or so Laura guessed from the features of her skull. High cheekbones and slim face. When Laura had seen the reconstruction that Maya had drawn up for them she'd felt as if she were starring into the face of a long lost friend or relative.

She would give anything to have the chance to actually meet Hera in the flesh, hear her speak and hear her story firsthand. The mother of the whole human race, mother Earth even.

"Good morning Laura" a voice cut across interrupting her musings and Laura looked up to see Sharon entering clutching two cups of Starbuck's coffee in her hands. Same as always, cappuccino for her and latte for Sharon.

"Morning Sharon" she replied while taking her steaming cappuccino from her and sipping gratefully.

Sharon was probably her closest friend aside from her sister as sad as that sounded. That had spent nearly every day together for the last 6 years since she'd started working for her and she was as good as Aunt Sharon to Zak. Laura liked to tease him for the crush he had on the extremely pretty woman but she had to respect his taste. As she studied her she couldn't help but think once more that Sharon looked incredibly similar to the face of Hera.

Though they may just be a sign that she was unhealthily obsessed.

"Said much today?" Sharon asked one eyebrow cocked towards the skeletal remains and the other rising upwards.

"Oh yes, we were having a nice chat about President Tigh's new policy on education before you arrived" Laura responded with a bright grin that Sharon returned both of them making their way into Laura's office.

"You have a meeting with our benefactor this afternoon" Sharon informed her "A Mr Adama I think"

Laura rolled her eyes "Just what I wanted to spend my afternoon doing - entertaining the billionaire robot king"

"He does pay for this place Laura" Sharon gently reminded her and Laura had to sigh. She didn't like William Adama or his company. He was just the same as every other billionaire; egotistical and self-absorbed but they needed funding. An operation such as the Smithsonian Institute wasn't exactly cheap and without the Adama family they probably wouldn't even have the paper that was used to inform her of his visit.

They hadn't met but she'd knew enough about him to guess she wouldn't like him. At all.

"I know Sharon but I have so much work to do. I need to start identifying those two Jane Doe's that got sent over from South America and I would rather not waste time playing the good host" Sharon laughed and handed her several stacks of messages which Laura looked through absently.

Two skeletons, one male and one female, had arrived a week earlier dating from around the same time period as Hera. Laura was of course immediately excited; they too may hold some clue to the origins of the human species. It was a forensic anthropologist's dream; her very own Adam and Eve. She was the jealously of nearly every one of her peers within the Anthropological community and the small part of herself that she attempted to keep under control was thrilled.

She looked out over the floor of her department and onto the raised podium where the two bodies lay ready to be examined. But it would have to wait. Everything would have to wait for the wonderful Mr Adama.

"I'll start on some paper work, give me a call when he's here"

Sharon nodded and left, Laura noticing that she had quickly become engaged in an animated conversation with one of the other scientists Felix Gaeta. They had just received a shipment of a murder victim who had been immersed in a vat of salt for four months and had become somewhat crystallised in sodium. It had caused much interest and rumour within the department even though they all sure have known better. It didn't matter how many corpses a person had seen there were still some that caused far more interest than others.

Though Laura didn't deal with murder victims she couldn't help but end up being roped into a few cases. Felix and Dee, another criminal anthropologist, had become her and Sharon's main two drinking buddies over the last few years as they had worked together more frequently.

She sighed as she thought of her impending meeting. She hated these things; they always made her feel like a frakking tour guide.

Laura Roslin hated tour guides.

.~.

Billy Keikeya made his way into the office of the President of New Earth to find President Saul Tigh half lent, half collapsed over his desk talking furiously on his phone. From the angered tone Billy guessed he was on the phone to his wife, he always took on that tone when Ellen was involved so Billy was used to witnessing their domestic disagreements. Luckily she rarely found time to visit the government buildings (neither of them actually knew if she knew where it was actually located) a fact that both Billy and Saul were grateful for.

Saul looked up at him and rolled his eyes cause Billy to smile "No Ellen, I don't care what colour you repaint the master bedroom"

After a few more moments of small talk he finally just put the phone down on her and gestured to the seat in front of the desk which Billy took taking out a pile of papers from the briefcase he had lowered to the floor next to his chair.

"Did Bill call?" Saul asked and Billy nodded

"Yes he did Mr President" He handed him a print out "He sent you this report. Apparently the new models are around 89% battle effective. There's still some trouble with their automated missile systems but he's hoping to fix that in the next few weeks"

Another hand out changed hands on which was outlined a schematic of what appeared to be a human body and a list of complicated logarithms and equations. The future of Planetary Defences – the ultimate AI weapon. A solider who never got tired, who was difficult as hell to destroy and who could think on thief feet to adapt to any situation. The unit that had just been released into the public eye by Adama Industries was not even close to the models the firm were already producing for the Ministry of Defence in terms of advancement and the capacity for free will.

"Good" Saul replied as he read of the pages of complicated math that he could barely even begin to understand "I hope the prototype will be ready for the next Forum council"

Billy looked though his notes that he had made from their earlier phone conversation "Mr Adama hopes so Mr President. The first prototype, the Boomer model, should be ready in just a few days if all runs according to plan"

Saul couldn't help as a smile crossed his face. He knew that Bill wouldn't let him down. They'd known each other for years, hell they practically been best friends since they'd been in diapers. Their fathers had been drinking and gold buddies so they have been thrust together from an early age.

William Adama really was the future of the human race even if it wasn't in the exact way that harpy D'Anna Biers had reported. Saul hated that poor excuse of a woman, she had a habit of taking things out of context and she sure could spin a line. Though hit appeared even she had fallen under the infamous Adama charm. She'd practically been salivating as she reported on the launch.

"Anything else that urgently needs my attention Mr Keikeya?" Saul asked him handing back the reports that he had just skim read in order to be filed away somewhere far away from the public eye and where those damn, anti war hippies couldn't get a hold of them. That was all he needed; they wouldn't hesitate to bring down his entire career even though everything he did was for the good of their planet and their race. Not that they gave a frak about that.

"Just a message from Doctor Baltar, apparently they've found some strange remains. They seem to have been part of some ship that had broken up in some astral body's orbit. The material isn't anything found on Earth and from the design of the fragments found it seems to be some sort of warship. There were also some fragments of what appeared to be human remains found and recovered. He assured me he'll send you a full report once analysis is complete"

Interesting. This would only cause more debate over their origins which had been nothing but a powder keg since they'd found that damm body. And the frakking Smithsonian were dragging their feet over the whole matter; Saul was convinced they just didn't want to admit they hadn't found anything of interest. That Doctor, Laura something or other, was pretty but she was damn talented at avoiding his phone calls.

"Call Doctor Baltar back and tell him I want a full report as soon as possible. Thank you Mr Keikeya" He dismissed Billy with a nod of his head just as the phone began to ring once more. He sighed massaging his temples with a hand as the phone continued to buzz nosily as if the caller knew they were being ignored.

He answered it and the irate voice of his wife filled the room "Saul, the builders have painted the damn thing powder blue, I told them I wanted it sky blue!"

Saul sighed and went about his hardest duty as President - placating the First Lady.

.~.

It was easy to pick out Billy's desk. It was the one covered in pictures and his daughter's artwork. It was even more noticeable today when he saw the charming sight of his wife perched on the edge of it, Isis laughing loudly in her arms.

Once she had caught sight of him she slipped out of her mother's embrace and down onto the floor. Running as fast as her little legs would carry her she made her way over to him and was laughingly swung up into his waiting arms. Her lips bumped into his cheek clumsily.

"Daddy!" she cooed at him happily, one hand tugging at his hair "Lunch time!"

"Okay little lady" he told her with a bright smile kissing her on the forehead and making her giggle. Billy still had no idea what he done to deserve his remarkable daughter or his gorgeous wife but he sure was indebted to whoever had sent them to him. Maya kissed him in greeting and she tasted like cinnamon.

"Isis wanted to come and surprise you" Maya smiled fondly at her daughter who was still nestled happily in her father's arms "so we made a picnic"

Billy looked behind her to see the red wicker basket sat on his chair "I made cake!" Isis informed him happily leading Billy to notice the faint traces of pink icing that outlined her mouth.

"I hope you didn't eat them all" he teased her and she buried her head in his shoulder shyly

"Not all of them daddy" she assured him and he kissed the top of her head chuckling. Maya's hand squeezed his arm.

"Come on Billy, it's a gorgeous day and it's your lunch hour. You're getting almost as bad as Laura for working through your lunch period" she scolded him swiping him gently on the arm. He looked thoughtful for a moment

"Come on daddy! Cake!" Isis babbled enthusiastically causing her dark curls to bounce gently.

Billy and Maya had been young when they'd had Isis, 20 to be exact and neither of them had felt ready. But now he couldn't imagine his life without his daughter and he wouldn't have it any other way. Ever since he had made an honest woman of her a year ago their little family had been complete and neither of them could be happier.

"Alright then baby, let's go eat cake!" Isis kissed him nosily and Maya smiled affectionately at him as she slipped off the desk edge grabbing the basket as she went. Linking her arm through his and kissing his cheek with soft lips they made their way out of the building and into the sunshine filled courtyard just outside the government building.

Spreading out a blanket in the nearby park filled with more business men than families Maya had set out the food as Billy had watched Isis dance manically in a wide series of circles only returning when her mother had waved an icing topped cupcake at her. As Billy tucked into his chicken sandwich he turned to his young wife

"So how come your not bothering your sister this afternoon?"

Maya shrugged "Sharon said she had some big important meeting this afternoon so I decided to come see my lovely husband instead"

She was adorable and Billy lent in to kiss her, in the process getting icing all over his chin which caused Maya to fall into a fit of giggles as she licked it off. They were sure they were getting funny glances from the surrounding businessmen but they didn't care. They were young and in love and that was the most incredible thing in the world.

"Galen sent us an invitation to his barbecue this weekend" Billy informed her and she thought hard for a moment trying to place the name Galen.

"Is that your writer friend?" He laughed at her forgetfulness. That was hopefully one trait Isis hadn't inherited that particular gene from her though he hoped beyond measure that she inherited her looks rather than his own.

"Yeah it is. He and his fiancé Cally have just bought a house together"

"I can imagine our dream home…"

They got lost together in their thoughts as they both imagined that house with its airy windows and wooden floors while they daughter ate her star sprinkled cupcake with a smile on her face.

.~.

Caprica and Gaius stood hand in hand watching Billy and Maya lying in one another's arms, Isis playing a few feet away blowing bubbles into the wind gleefully. A small smile danced on Caprica's face and she turned to Gaius to kiss him tenderly

"She's so beautiful" she commented quietly, Gaius squeezing the fingers laced through his own gently "I wonder what God has planned for her"

Gaius grinned at her "Haven't you been telling me since Kobol that we can't ever know the will of God?"

"I know" she said wistfully "but still, I hope that she doesn't have to live through the same pain as her first embodiment had been forced to endure. She's too full of joy and love for such a fate"

Gaius bent down to pick up a paper that someone had dumped at his feet. The front page was mostly covered with a large shot of Sam Anders and the new AI model from Adama Industries. Gaius began to read with a cynical expression and a raised eyebrow "She might not have a choice"

"I thought you agreed that it might not all have to happen again, not this time" her voice was somewhat pleading, pain in her eyes

"You've seen what Adama's working one. An AI robot army doesn't that sound familiar to you?" he showed her the front of the paper which she took from him and threw it into the nearest trash can showing exactly what she thought of what he had just said. She heard him snort in response to her actions.

They started making their way across the park, past Billy and Maya then past Isis who was still blowing bubbles but waved a chubby hand in their direction. Caprica returned the wave and smiled at the young girl who proceeded to carry on with the task of blowing bubbles. Caprica felt her heart ache at the sight. She looked so much like Hera had done at her age and just like Hera had been the hope of the Cylon race, this child was just as much a miracle. Every single child was a blessing from God.

The one thing Caprica had always wanted; to have a child and the one thing that was impossible for her.

"I hope not Gaius, I really do" her voice was cheerless and he turned to her to take her into his arms, a reassuring hand on her back. She lent her head onto his shoulders his arms the one place that had brought her comfort no matter how many worlds they had witness come into exsistence and burn away into the infinite blackness of history.

"Me too, me too"

.~.

Bill snapped his phone shut with an annoyed sigh. Once more he was forced to bail Lee and his wife out of prison for trying to harass the President. The only reason the two of them weren't behind bars was because Saul had a sense of humour and Bill had a lot of money.

He assistant Kat raised her eyebrow at him, the thin strip of hair disappearing under the wild explosion of black curls atop her head.

"Lee again sir?" she asked and Bill nodded closing his eyes and cradling his head in his hands. His head pounded and his eyes throbbed. Stupid idiot, he'd been a thorn in his side since he'd hit puberty.

"When will that damn fool ever learn? The President has more pressing matters to attend too than the plight of some penguins in the arse end of nowhere"

With a jolt the car pulled up in front of the Smithsonian institute most of which had been built with the proceeds of Joseph Adama's many generous donations during the course of his lifetime. Bill had continued his work in memory of his father though his own interest in the institute's work was non existent. He didn't want to waste an afternoon meeting some anthropologists but he had to play his part and feign some interest in some dead chick from over 150,000 years ago.

The woman who'd met him was pretty in a dark skinned, dark haired type of way though she wasn't his type. He'd always had a thing for blondes personally though he harboured a soft spot for redheads since he'd met Lee's mother nearly thirty years ago. God, she'd been a hell cat and formed most of his most pleasant memories.

The office he had been led to had been one of the most unusual offices he had ever seen. It was filled to the brim with books, no doubt priceless artefacts, skulls, human remains and what seemed nearly every type of handheld weapon ever produced by mankind. On the desk sat a set of three Katakana swords, a framed picture of what he assumed was her family, a skull and some sort of jade statue of a woman. It smelt strangely chemical and he was slightly startled to see an entire human body laid out piece by piece on a white topped lab table.

Who the hell was this woman?

"Mr Adama?" a soft voice enquired and he turned to see a woman watching him. Red hair twisted into a bun atop her head so that several tendrils had fallen down and framed her face. Her lab coat was open give him a view of the tight brown dress she wore underneath which clung to her invitingly feminine curves. However he was filled with the most peculiar feelings, not lust or desire but a strange sense of déjà vu.

"About time" he responded and he knew in that moment whey he felt strange. It was as if he already knew her. But that was just frakking stupid; he'd never met this woman before in his life. He'd sure he'd remember a woman like her.

She sent him an annoyed glance "I'm Doctor Laura Roslin"

They shook hands and he couldn't shake the sense of familiarity. She showed him to a seat and they began their meeting Laura explaining about what they had so far discovered about Hera, about the two new bodies and offered to show him the crystallised remains of their Jane Doe atop the table in the examination area which was currently being rehydrated so she could be identified. He'd politely declined and they'd parted ways soon after, his last view of her being of her cleavage as she bent over the skeletal remains she informed him about earlier.

"Was she a nightmare?" Kat asked him once he was back into the safety of his limo. He'd shrugged; he had no idea how to answer that one so he choose to ignore the question instead asking Kat if she'd successfully bailed his son out of jail.

That night as he slept he'd had the weirdest dream. He been dismounting some type of transport he'd never seen before and they she was waiting for him, Laura Roslin though with long black hair that made her features stand out in sharp relief. They hugged each other tightly, her tears on his neck.

"I love you"

His heart had seared with joy "About time"

Bill had no frakking clue what to make of that though he did vow to drink less ambrosia before going to bed in future.

.~.

In a far away forest hundreds if miles away from New York City in a clearing by the edge of a little lake whose water ran clear as glass sat the remains of a long since abandoned cabin. Two graves sat alongside it engraving long since eroded away by the wind and rain. Ivy curled around them though now disturbed by the archaeologists who had happened to stumble across it. Dirt was still strewn across the ground though the tools and the trenches were long gone.

It was peaceful here. Bird song rang around the air and the sun shone down upon the once proud cabin with a golden beam that illuminated everything it touched. Footsteps were embedded in the ground though no body had visited this place in months.

The woman who stood gazing upon the sight had tears in her eyes, her hair dancing in the wind and her hand wrapped around herself. She had stood in her silent pilgrimage for several hours, unmoving even when the wind had picked up and her skin had become frozen.

"I love it" she exclaimed quietly as a hand reached up to caress her shoulder. Her own hand reached up to cover it with her own.

"They need us" the masculine voice informed her and she turned to see her male companion stood behind her, face red from the brush of the wind. She kissed him on the cheek which was smooth and unmarked.

"I know they do but I wish they didn't" her sigh was heartbreaking and she looked down tears falling onto the ground with a silent desperation that echoed around the clearing poignantly.

"I feel the same but we have to go" He smiled at her, a hand stroking her face and his lips on her forehead. She sent him a watery smile and took his hand in her own.

"It all happened before and it'll all happen again"

"Not if we can help it" he assured her and they began walking away from the gravesite little by little fading into the wind with each step until not a trace of their presence remained aside from a single tear on the lush grass.