21 Years before cylon attack
Laura Roslin age 31
Location: Caprica – Caprica City Mayor's Office

"I can't believe this," fumed Adar. He paced the length of his small wood paneled office. "Have you seen the papers?" He tossed a copy of the Caprican Times across his tidy chestnut-colored desk toward Laura. The headline read Teacher of the Year Challenges Mayor. "You're lucky I can't have you fired." He paused to straighten his pinstripe suit and sat down in his leather chair. "The only thing I don't understand is how that coward Terrance Whitmore convinced you to stand up for him."

"Mister Mayor you didn't seriously expect that the district school board was going to let you pass that legislation without a fight did you?" She sat across from him in a black suit jacket and skirt with perfect aplomb. "You're proposing to dismantle half of the education bureau's structure, appoint a new board and cut their budget. Mister Whitmore didn't have to do much convincing to get me here. Your proposal affects everyone in Caprica City."

Terrance Whitmore hadn't convinced her so much as begged for her to meet with the mayor. She wasn't the type to get involved in politics, but as he'd put it, the board had him against a wall and Adar wasn't being very receptive. Terrance had been desperate when he had contacted her.

It was common knowledge that Adar was looking to run for Governor of Caprica and the local primaries were next year. If his own endorsed Teacher of the Year sided against him in favor of the board, it would make for very bad press that his political opponents would be more than happy to use against him. Because of Adar's need to avoid that eventuality, she was the only one who had sufficient leverage to convince him that it was in his best interest to negotiate with the board instead of having them all replaced, Terrance included.

Laura had reluctantly agreed only after Terrance had started to list off all the negative effects Adar's restructuring policies would likely have on the district's students and partly to make him shut up. Once a meeting had been set with the mayor, Laura had gone about her business. Someoneelse, probably someone with more of a spine than Terrance, had leaked the news of the meeting to the press and of course, they'd already had a field day with it.

"I made a promise when I took this office to fix this entire city's school system," Adar sighed. He had stifled his indignation and was being considerably more diplomatic. "There are nine hundred eighty-seven public schools in this city and there are students on Sagittaron who are performing better on their exit exams. I have just over two hundred fifty schools on the verge of closing for lack of funding, nearly four hundred in need of major renovations and do you have any idea how many students we lost this year to shootings because of inadequate campus security? Thirty three. And I've been to all their funerals. That board has been undermining my reform efforts since I started here five years ago. It's time for a change."

"With all due respect, sir, isn't the timing just a little convenient? You're in your second term, beginning your campaign for governor, and now, of all times, you want to seriously deal with this issue?" Adar's eyes narrowed at that response. Didn't like that did you? "The people of Caprica City elected the board and—"

"The people, wouldn't know what—" Adar stopped himself from another outburst and leaned forward in his chair. Laura realized in that moment that she had misjudged her earlier assessment of the Mayor. During the press event a couple months ago, she had assumed that he was just behaving as if he was having a good time, but now it seemed obvious that his acting abilities were at best, minimal.

"Miss Roslin, if you can think of another way to get something productive done when that board just sits on their collective asses, raises their salaries, lays off my teachers and twiddles their thumbs, please, enlighten me. Because short of replacing the lot of them I don't see another option." Laura raised an eyebrow at that statement. For a politician, he's remarkably incapable of self-restraint. He has no chance of becoming governor if he conducts himself like this all the time. But there was something in his rather impassioned self-defense that Laura found, well, endearing. He wasn't like the rest of the politicians out there after all.

"You can still negotiate with them," she replied. "You're already threatening to remove them from their jobs. They seem very willing to listen to alternatives at this point."

"Talking hasn't worked," he countered. "Talking got me into this mess."

"Well, then mister Mayor, maybe they just don't like you." Did I just say that? Adar's less than amused expression and his marked silence told her that she had. I can't believe I said that. Before she could apologize, Adar unexpectedly smiled.

"Maybe you're right," he said. He leaned back in his chair and examined the ceiling. "Who am I kidding? You're definitely right. They hate me. They absolutely, hate me." A moment later, his gaze dropped from the ceiling and he looked at her squarely. "They seem to like you."

"What—?"

"Just hear me out," he insisted. "Terrance, the rest of the board, they're already willing to let you do the talking for them. They must think you're honest." Only by accident. "Trustworthy. You seem capable of keeping a cool head. I could really use someone like you with me, to manage the situation with the board, help me out with my campaign…"

"Mister Mayor." Laura found herself at a loss for words, so she just said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm flattered, but I'm a teacher, not a politician. I don't have any experience—"

"That's exactly why you'd be the perfect choice." He continued before she could object. "Miss Roslin, in order to fix the system I need someone who understands it, someone who can tell me what changes will actually make a difference and I think that person is you. There are a few days left until the end of term, just finish out the school year and then get back to me. I'll put my proposal on hold until then and if you agree to help, I promise, I will find a way for the board to keep their jobs. What do you say?"

"I'll consider your offer mister Mayor," she said.

"Here, this is the number for my direct line." He handed her a slip of paper with the precisely handwritten numbers 9-202-456-1216 and then rose to shake her hand before she left his office.

-xxx-

Laura Roslin sat on her couch and closed her eyes. She hadn't been able to paint for over a week, ever since her meeting with the Mayor. The school year had ended for her students four days ago on a wholly unremarkable note, mostly due to the fact the end of term field trip had been canceled by the new principal. He was the third one in less than a year and the most risk-adverse and dictatorial that they'd had in nearly a decade. He had cited the school's inability to chance any kind of financial loss as his reason for denying the trip. He went on to say that despite recent budget increases, money was still tight and the last thing Seacade Public Middle School needed was to get sued because some student was involved in an accident while on a school sponsored field trip. Laura eventually proved unable to sway him and so the Delphi Museum of the Colonies and theThesus Library of Picon would have to wait until she could try again next year. If there was a next year for her.

"Just hear me out." The mayor's offer had been a tempting one. "I could really use someone like you with me." It was an opportunity to get out from underneath the school administration's frustrating bureaucracy, to shape the mayor's education policies and affect more students than just the ones she had in her class. But at the same time it would mean giving up teaching and it was something that, for all intents and purposes, ran in her blood. Her parents and sisters and even a few cousins were all teachers at one point. She was the last one in the family who was still teaching.

She knew that her answer to Adar's offer should be no. She couldn't just give up a career that she loved, a family tradition, one of the few anchors to her past that she had…but it wasn't just the offer that swayed her. It was Adar himself.

He wasn't simply a bad liar; he was an honest man. An honest man who genuinely wanted to make Caprica City a better place to live and work in. She knew as much as the next person that honest people did exist in politics despite the stereotype, but it was still something of a shock to actually encounter one and he probably wouldn't last long without help. His opponents in the governor's race were anything but scrupulous.

Then there was that moment, where she had inexplicably slipped and had told him exactly what she'd thought instead of a more polite alternative. "Maybe they just don't like you." He had managed, somehow, to unbalance her and she wanted to know how he did that. Not even Dr. Gallagher with all his earnestness and warmth could get a response out of her that was anything other than feigned sincerity. Perhaps it was that Adar had a certain intensity that Dr. Gallagher lacked, or maybe it was something else entirely...

Laura knew that she couldn't sit on her couch forever. Adar expected an answer from her, eventually. She hadn't heard anything from his office so the pressure to make a decision was mostly her own doing and it was only going to keep getting worse. Just get it over with. She leaned over to her right and picked up her phone. It took her a minute to find the number for the direct line to Adar's office and she nearly gave up when she couldn't find the piece of paper that he had written it on. She eventually found it on the floor near the rear of her couch.

Laura tried to keep her hand from shaking while she dialed the number and waited for the mayor to pick up.

"Adar here."

"Hello, this is Laura—"

"Oh, yes, Miss Roslin I was hoping to hear from you soon." His voice sounded noticeably different over the phone, flatter, less intense, but it lost none of its persuasiveness. "Can I look forward to your help?"

Laura hesitated. She wanted to say no, that she couldn't give up being a teacher, even for a little while. But those words refused to be spoken. What are you doing?

"Yes." She swallowed and forced down the slight tremor in her voice. "Yes, you can mister Mayor." No taking it back now. It's done.

"Wonderful, I'll have my secretary coordinate with you and set up a time to meet. I'm afraid I have to cut this short. I'm already late for a meeting. I look forward to working with you."

"So do I. Good bye." After she had hung up the phone, she realized that she had been holding her breath. She exhaled and got up to fix lunch. On her way to the kitchen she paused to turn on her wireless set and listened to the midday news.

"…Price of bread may be on the rise as torrential rains on Aerelon continue to cause widespread flooding of wheat fields. For those of you just joining us, the top story this afternoon: S.F.M. terrorist leader Thomas J. Zarek was captured today after a protest outside the Labor Ministry Building on Sagittaron took a horrific and bloody turn. The following is an excerpt from his speech just moments before he detonated a truck bomb that left the Ministry in ruins:

'There is a sickness in the governing body of Sagittaron and it has gone untreated for too long! It has eaten away at the very fiber of the common good and I am here to see it end today. I'm bringing you freedom Sagittaron! Use it!'

"Authorities have not yet released any information on the death toll, but sources estimate casualties to be—"

Laura turned off the wireless in favor of spending the rest of her day in peace, or rather in as much peace as was possible considering recent events. All she knew was that the next few years were liable to be anything but peaceful and all she could hope for was that she had made the right decision.


AN: Next part might be awhile. RL has gotten very, crowded, and I don't have a lot of time to write, but it should let up after the 4th of July weekend. No matter how long any single part may get delayed, do be assured I will finish the story. I always finish what I start. :) Patience and Faith -SVR