"Jumping in three."
All heads were down, in silent prayer that they would make it unscathed. Kara closed her eyes tight, trying to block visions of what had happened the last time she had come back. The first time she had been locked away in a farm, with the 'doctor' called Simon. She was being kept for reproduction by the cylons. The second time she had fought centurions, and had lost many good people. She had met Brother Cavil that day, another cylon model. She seemed to attract them.
"Two."
"Lords of Kobol." Burgundy muttered from the back, holding his head in his hands.
"One. Jump."
The raptor flickered and vainished, before reappearing somehwere else entirely.
"Madam President, welcome home." Racetrack stated, her eyes glancing at the planet that loomed in front of them. Laura moved forwards, looking at Caprica from the gap between the two pilot's seats.
"My Gods." She whispered, looking at it. It had been so long.
"We have contact!" Helo shouted from the back, his eyes alert looking at the computer in front of him.
"You are frakking kidding me!" Athena shouted, frantically flipping switches.
"Ten Cylon raiders, heading towards us now! Nearly in firing range!" Helo shouted back.
"They left raiders!?" Kara snapped, looking through the same gap as Laura. There in front of them, ten small dots that could have been stars were drawing closer, getting bigger.
"Evasive action! Now!" racetrack ordered, pulling the raider up sharply. They heard a whistling as several shots skimmed the bottom of the Raptor, narrowly missing them. They weren't as lucky the second time.
A faint boom signalled a hit and the impact caused the Raptor to shudder, rocking sharply to the left. Helo clutched the computer to keep himself steady in his seat as Laura was thrown out of hers and into the bulkhead opposite.
"Madam President! Are you alright!?" Kara shouted over the noise of the Raptor's alarms, concerned as Laura clutched her elbow.
"Fine!" she replied, just as loudly, "just hit my elbow! Nothing too bad!"
"We're losing power! They must have hit us good!" Helo warned the two pilots up front, looking towards them for instructions.
"Frak!" Racetrack shouted, slamming her hand down on the controls, careful not to hit any buttons that could cause damage.
"The raiders are retreating! They must be confident we're going to die!" Athena said, peering out the front screen at the retreating ships.
"Oh that's just great! Real reassuring!" Kara retorted, grabbing the two pilot seats to haul herself up.
"We need to make an emergency landing! We need to make it look like we're crashing. It needs to be convincing enough to keep those raiders off of us when we get the frak out of here!" Racetrack said, also watching the raiders.
"We'll go in cold then! Cut the engines and power until the last minute when we can make a landing." Helo suggested from the back.
"Good idea." Athena replied, taking the controls. The raptor grew silent, aside from the shudders as it drew closer to the planet's atmosphere. Laura grimaced as she clutched her elbow. She had only slightly knocked it, but it still ached. She concentrated, however, on the crew around her, who were trying valiantly to keep the raptor on the right course and to make the journey as smooth as possible. The raptor was slowly spinning, coming closer and closer to the planet.
"We're going to enter Caprica's atmosphere in a minute Madam President," Burgundy told her quietly, "it would be best if you held on to something, it can get quite bumpy. On New Caprica when we left the Galactica in vipers, we ... i'm sorry," he apologised hurriedly, flushing slightly, "you probably don't want to hear stories."
"Carry on," Laura said, reassuring the young pilot. He reminded her so much of Billy ... "I welcome the distraction. I want to hear the rest."
"Yes ma'am." Burgundy carried on his story as they clutched whatever they could find. The raptor spiralled downwards into Caprica's atmosphere.
....
"Cylon Sympathisers?" Adama looked up, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Yeah," Tigh replied, "only now they're armed."
"I thought their leader was on Cloud Nine when the nuclear device was detonated?"
"Royan Jahee," Tigh spat out the man's name, disgusted, "did die in that explosion, as did many more of them. Looks like the remnants of the group have been hiding out on The Pandora, slowly gaining more support."
"How did they get more support, after what happened on New Caprica?"
"I'm guessing it's been a slow process for them. Probably just hooked a load of suckers who were still on ships while we were down there."
Adama stared silently at the crew around him. He couldn't understand how the group had gained more support or how they had gained ammunition and guns.
"Bill?" Tigh muttered, wondering what the Admiral was thinking.
"I want to talk to him, the man you arrested."
"Yessir," Tigh saluted, "You gonna lose your temper like last time?"
"No."
"Damn."
....
Adama entered through the hatch, his eyes piercing as he glanced at the cells. There were two cells in this particular brig and one was occupied. The occupant sat on his rack, his elbows resting comfortably on his knees and holding the weight of his upper body as he slouched over. Adama and Tigh slowly walked over to where a marine stood on the other side of the bars, watching the man. At the sound of their steady footsteps, the man looked up and he noticed Colonel Tigh immediately. He broke into a toothy grin, his eyes narrowed.
Tigh turned swiftly to the marine.
"How long?" He asked, not caring to elaborate. Adama looked between them, confusion showing slightly in his eyes. His expression remained stoic, however.
The marine seemed to understand the question, hurriedly replying;
"2.79 seconds sir, but it changes. Sometimes it is erratic, other times slowed right down."
"I do it on purpose, you know." The prisoner called out, also understanding what it was that Tigh and the marine were going on about, "its a fun way to pass the time."
Adama turned to Tigh, his voice low so only the Colonel could hear.
"2.79 seconds, colonel?"
"Just making sure the marines are doing their jobs right Admiral. I told them i wanted him watched constantly so that they are even able to glean how much time between each breath."
Adama nodded his understanding, turning back round to the prisoner. He clasped his hands in front of him tightly, resisting the urge to use physical violence. Laura wouldn't have wanted it, and he loathed to be on the end of her anger after she returned from Caprica.
"Hows the ship?" The man asked, smiling sickly. There was no trace of genuine concern in the question or in his expression, not that Adama expected there to be any.
"The part of C deck that you destroyed is being repaired as we speak, so effectively you failed." Adama informed him, his expression cold.
"I didn't fail. My job was ultimately a success."
"How do you figure that one?" Colonel Tigh asked, glaring at the man.
"You are a weapon, an ideological tool of oppression. You believe that by slandering the cylons, you can keep people distracted from finding out the real enemy, the military that dictates our life."
"The cylons destroyed our homeworlds."
"We could stop running, right now. Make peace with them! We could share earth, live together again as we did before."
"This is a frakking joke." Tigh snapped, his good eye narrowed.
"Demand peace!" The prisoner replied, gaining momentum, "Demand peace and we can survive! The Cylons only wanted to live peacefully with us on New Caprica!"
"They pulled out my frakking eye!" Tigh roared and stepped closer, cracking his knuckles threateningly.
"Because of human resistance! People died because we humans couldn't accept their offer of peace! You were a member of the resistance yourself Colonel!"
"Enough." Adama stopped the argument immediately, and the two angry men turned to look at him. He was looking at the prisoner, his blue eyes piercing him, staring at him and through him with just one look.
"You boarded my ship without permission and caused a major explosion that cost the lives of several of my men. Not only that, you pulled a gun on my XO, intending to take him hostage. Even if we took the sympathy for the enemy out of the equation, you are looking quite possibly at a death sentence."
"If my death makes people aware of our cause then it is worth the sacrifice. The cylons only want peace, Admiral, can't you see that?"
"I see an enemy. An enemy that we created, the cylons. I also see an enemy that has created himself, you."
The prisoner looked at him silently.
"Now listen to me," Adama continued, his voice getting lower, "I need to know some things. I need to know every member of this Cylon Sympathy Group. I also need to know where you got your weapons and how many ships are in your control. Lastly, i need to know how many more there are of you on this ship. Maybe then we can take a step back and re-evaluate your sentence."
The prisoner didn't react at all, a smile still playing on his lips.
"Really, Admiral, it's never that easy. You make peace with the Cylons, then I will give you the information you so sorely want."
"You frakking son of a-" Tigh shouted, pushing towards the man behind the bars. The man flinched slightly, leaning back. Adama just stared as Tigh swore and shouted. Then, without a word, the Admiral turned around and strode out of the brig.
"Demand Peace!" The prisoner shouted as he left, still smiling.
