III
Six Months Later, August 2046
"Attention citizens of the fleet, this is The Governor. As you know, we have arrived at what is known on Earth as Kepler 452b. And as all of you are aware, we have determined that this is the planet "Earth" that Cylon Humanoids called home thousands of Earth years ago", he said with deliberate dispassion in his voice.
"Many of you have been here before, many years ago, and I understand that that experience was not a pleasant one; yet as part of our charter, we are to explore any planet that could support Human life. This one currently cannot, due to radiation levels, but someday it may be able to do so.
"In the spirit of our mission charter we are going to be here for several weeks to survey and chart this planet as thoroughly as we can, so that our posterity may have as much information on this place in the event that, someday, Human Beings might settle here.
"We have restricted access to the planet to actual UED personnel, due to the radiation levels, but as and if we find anything of importance, we will share it with the citizens of the fleet. Thank you very much for your attention."
He turned to Caprica at her post in CIC, "Admiral, let's get this mission underway", he said in his best command voice.
"Aye, Governor." Five minutes later, Lee Adama set the coordinates for high orbit around the former Cylon world, and the survey mission began.
While most of the planet mapping was being done from the air by Raptors from different altitudes, Justin Bond went to the surface. Partly out of sheer curiosity; partly out of the need to learn; and in large part, in a hope to maybe find out more about what his daughter had gone through the first time she had been here.
The Governor, along with Caprica, Gaius, Galen, and Kara had landed on the surface on the second day. As the Raptors buzzed overhead, some near the surface, and some up to as high as one hundred thousand feet above the planet surface, the landing party did a little surveying with their eyes. Justin Bond had seen the devastation in countless nations back home after the Earth-Cylon war, but nothing had prepared him for seeing it on such a scale.
"God Almighty", he whispered, shortly after touching down, looking over the ocean of water towards what had been a major city to his West. "There's barely a stone left on a stone here."
"That's about the size of it, sir", Galen Tyrol looked around at his long-ago home. "The war was so sudden and complete that no one had a chance-except for those of us who had been part of the Resurrection project."
For the first time, Justin Bond didn't look at Galen quite as a man, but as something that he couldn't even fathom: a man who had lived around the time of Christ, and was still alive today. It didn't change his estimation of the kind of man Galen was, but it changed his perspective on "The Chief" in some ways.
"From what you told me years ago Galen, you had quite literally five seconds to take in what happened?"
"Yes, sir. I was at a market getting some fruit and vegetables; I saw the blinding light...and after that, I simply remember being on the Colonies all those years." The Governor shook his head and clasped the man on his shoulder. Galen smiled, "Believe me, sir, I still don't understand all of it, either, so don't feel so bad." That made the Governor smile.
About thirty feet away, Caprica was looking out over the devastation that she had laid eyes on so many years before, but the Governor could tell her mind wasn't on the destruction, but on her Cylon sister, who he was sure had died here many years ago. He went over to her.
"You sense anything, my dear?", he said, putting his arm around her shoulders. She was his Admiral, but they had also been friends for many years, and genuinely cared about her. Judith had wanted to come down on the surface, but his order that only the military (and himself) were allowed on the surface, extended to the First Lady of The Fleet.
"Not really, Justin", she said to the man whom she had almost died next to a few years earlier on the streets of Sioux City, "I've heard that our people can sense the presence of those that we're close to, but I'm not sure that extends to the deceased", she said plainly, "although I'm convinced that if we come upon some uncovered bones, that if I would touch them, I would know if it was Deanna or not."
"I know this is tough on every one of you, Admiral", he said with sympathy, "You have the freedom, within the parameters we laid out, to search for her. If you do find her, I want to know."
She smiled at her friend and Boss, "You have my word on that, sir", and then she looked towards the shoreline, where Admiral Thrace-Bond was standing "Right now I think you and your daughter may need to take a hike somewhere."
The Governor's eyes widened when she said that but instantly knew that Caprica had been right, "You're right, Caprica, I and my daughter need to see a few things together", and he walked in Kara's direction.
As he approached her, Starbuck looked over at him, "So, what do you think of this Cylon Paradise, dad?", as a wry, but not happy smile crossed her face, "Probably could get some good deals on the property around here."
In spite of himself, Justin Bond chuckled at that, "Location, location, location, Admiral", he said and they smiled at each other. Then he became earnestly serious. "Honey, I think you and I need to take a walk together." His eyes were locked on hers, as he grasped her hand. Kara didn't have to figure out where they were walking to. This was a moment she knew she had to face since learning that this Cylon World was Kepler 452b.
She took his hand and they strolled away. Behind them, Caprica, Baltar, and Galen watched them walking away, then looked at each other. They understood that this needed to be a private moment, not between Governor and Admiral but between father and daughter.
It took the two of them about ten minutes to walk the distance. They never said a word, but never let go of each others' hands, either. If ever there was a moment Kara thanked God that she had a father, this was it. She couldn't have faced this alone. This was the very situation that Justin and Judith Bond had in mind when adopting her. She had no idea how she'd react, but she wasn't alone, and that's what mattered.
"It's right over here, dad", Starbuck said with little emotion, "it's just beyond this tall brown grass." in a few moments the Governor could see some white through the blades of wild grass.
A moment after that, he could see that it was, indeed, a cockpit that had been torn from the rest of a Viper, with the name "Lieutenant Kara Thrace" stenciled on the side in Caprican.
"So this is it?", he said, not knowing what else to say at the moment. This was a seminal moment in his relationship with his daughter. A few months after the end of the war and the adoption, President Justin Bond had given his thoughts to his daughter about this place, saying that perhaps God had shown her what could become of her if she didn't change. Now, seeing the physical remains of a Viper, he wondered if it had been wishful thinking?
Kara seemed at peace, but she could instantly sense her father was having a totally different reaction to the moment.
"I know what you're thinking, dad", she smiled at him, "but I still believe your explanation is as plausible as any other", she continued putting her arm around his waist and pulling him closer.
"I have to admit, babe, that this gives me pause", he said starkly "When we discussed this over the years, and what I thought, it was all just me trying to wrap my limited human mind around what you went through. But seeing an actual part of a Viper..." his voice trailed off, in the grip of an emotion he had not been prepared for.
"You're glad that there is no body in there...aren't you, dad?" she said to him as seriously as she had ever said anything to him.
Justin Bond was in the grip of a greater turmoil than Kara had ever seen. She had rarely, if ever, seen him with any kind of doubt, and to see him struggling with doubt when it came to his adopted daughter broke her heart. He had wanted to be here for her, but she clearly saw she needed to be here for him as well.
"I am, honey", he said with a frank admission, "I think I might shake apart if I saw that blond hair in the cockpit..." He lost his composure at that moment and cried. Kara wrapped her arms around him. "All I can see is the Viper crashing and you being tossed around like a rag doll, Oh my God", his body now racked with sobs, envisioning his daughter in such a nightmare. "Just imagining that tears me apart, honey."
"It's OK, dad", she said, as she comforted the man who had been her hero since she had met him. The fact that he was so emotional over this actually increased her love and esteem for the man. A lesser man would have tried to keep it in. "It's really OK. We'll never know if it was me, and besides, I'm right here for you." She continued to rock her father gently, "that's all that matters right now." He was beside himself with a grief that he hadn't expected and didn't fully understand.
She guided him over to a tree trunk sitting on the ground, and they both sat down. Kara wiped at the tears in his eyes, a beaming, proud smile on her face, which was the last thing that her father probably expected to see. The sobs with the aftershocks of the terrible emotion that had hit him continued, but he was starting to calm down.
After a few minutes the Governor had regained his composure. He looked at his daughter in wonder, "All these years, I had always said that I was here for you. After your struggles during the war your mom and I swore we would never let you go through such heartache alone ever again." He put her hand in his again, "And her you are, comforting me with something that I'm having trouble coming to terms with." He let out a short laugh. "I'm so sorry that I fell apart like that Kara."
Kara moved right next to him, and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, dad", she said, looking directly into his eyes, "It's never been a one-way street old man", she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "It was a commitment by the five of us to always be there for each other. I didn't expect you to have this reaction. I was more worried about mine, but I'm glad I was able to help you through this."
"Well, honey I have to admit it's overwhelmed me and I didn't expect that. I was so focused on protecting you and making sure you made it through this. But it looks like you've made your peace with this scene."
"I think I have, dad", she said with no small satisfaction, "I was worried about that, too. But remember I've been here before, so it's not new to me. And I'm not the same Kara Thrace that I was back then. And I have you to thank for that."
"I appreciate that Starbuck", he said gratefully, wiping his eyes again, "but you've done the hard work to get to this point. Maybe I and your mother pointed you in the right direction but you've made yourself into an incredible woman that I'm proud to call my daughter."
Kara finally let some tears roll down her cheeks, but only a few. She had come to terms with this place, and she actually felt a peace that she had not anticipated, "So, have you revised your theory about me, dear father?"
"I don't know, Kara", he said with another shudder of emotion, "Knowing now what you saw here, and what you went through, hit me like a Mack Truck. I wasn't prepared for the emotional impact that I would feel." he paused to keep his composure. "Could I still be right?", he asked, and Kara nodded, "Yes, I think I could still be right. As I said, I don't believe God is a puppeteer but I do think He can, every now and again, show us things that can make us better our lives. But even contemplating that you might have gone through that, it was just too much to bear for me."
"In the end, dad does it really matter now what the real answer is?", she said with wisdom gained over the many years since she was last at this spot, "I'm here, right now. I'm still Starbuck. I'm still Kara Thrace-Bond, your daughter, and I'm headed back to The Colonies to help Humanity there. That is all that matters right here, right now."
He looked over at her with a mixture of gratitude and amazement, thankful again that he and Judy had taken this incredible woman into their family almost twenty years earlier. "You know, Starbuck", he said with his famous gift of deadpanning, "you're a lot smarter than you look?.", He finished it with a wink at her.
Kara burst out laughing in a way that she could never have imagined at this place, "Well, Mr. Bond it's a good thing I get my brains from mom", she retorted, hugging him while continuing her laughter.
They got up and prepared to leave. As they were moving away, Justin Bond stopped and turned back around. He continued to look at the Viper cockpit when he spoke again, "You know, I said no unauthorized personnel would be allowed down here when we arrived?"
"That was a no-brainer, dad" she replied with a chuckle.
"Yes, I know", he smiled back at her, "but this spot is an important place, and I think it wouldn't hurt if I brought your mother, Nick, and Abby and Brett down here for a few moments before we leave."
She understood that the power of this place had affected her father deeply, and he wanted to share this place with his family. "I think that's a wonderful idea, dad", and squeezed him again, "but for now, we need to get back to the others."