Gods among us - A Harry Potter and Battlestar Galactica crossover

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Re-Edited 21/10/2015

Special thanks to my Beta and Technical Guru XRaiderV1. Your fine work and suggestions (Not to mention the initial challenge to write this Fic) are greatly appreciated. I'd also like to thank Imperator the newest member of 'team arturus' for all oh his advice, prodding and help with this chapter.

The events here happen after the events shown in the Season 1 Episode - You can't go home again

Last time:

Daniel, Sparta and their marine escorts were walking back to the hanger deck to transfer to Triton when Daniel paused. Walking toward him was the Eight he had seen before, the pilot.

She saluted Colonel Sparta and peered curiously at Daniel before stepping aside to let them pass.

Daniel felt a pang of guilt at the sight of her. He hadn't reported her presence because he honestly wanted to know if she was a fellow renegade. Unlikely as that may be.

There was no recognition in Eight's eyes. As they continued on her resisted the urge to turn and look back at her. What was her purpose and how long did he dare remain silent?

Chapter 10

Triton – Life Stations

Doctor Sherman Cottle studied the series of medical scans with meticulous attention before turning to Doctor Jackson and Hermione, "If I hadn't of seen it myself I would have believed these injuries had occurred six months ago. It's quite a gift you have Miss Granger."

Hermione nodded offering Galactica's doctor a smile, "Just so long as everybody remembers the limitations, there are some lines not even magic can cross."

Cottle picked up a notebook and made a few notes before slipping it back in to his pocket, "I'd love to sit down with you and talk through exactly what those limitations are, but I suspect I already have people looking for me."

"Assuming that I'm able to I am at your service doctor," said Hermione before trying to hide a yawn.

Cottle frowned and Jackson tried to hide his flinch at Hermione's words, both were still feeling rather uncharitable toward Commander Adama after his actions on Galactica.

"Tired?" asked Jackson with an understanding smile.

"Healing can be draining, every time you cast a healing spell you give a little of yourself. If I were to try and do too much I could exhaust myself, I heard a story of a healer who tried to keep a dying patient alive despite fatal injuries and ended up killing herself."

"Ouch," exclaimed Cottle, "Alright, well although I can't promise anything I'll talk to Adama and the Roslin; after all I am supposedly the CMO. You are a medical asset Miss Granger one I have every intention of using as needed."

Cottle gathered up the medical scans and departed pausing only to light a cigarette as he left life stations.

Hermione shook her head as the Galactica's doctor disappeared, "He's an interesting man."

Jackson laughed, "Yes he is, he has a reputation in the fleet for being an excellent doctor and a right gruff bastard if rubbed the wrong way."

Hermione gave a tired shrug, "Well unless you need me I might seek my bed."

Jackson considered for a moment there were some wounded that needed attention but nothing urgent or beyond standard medical care. "We are fine here for now, go and get some sleep."

Hermione simply nodded before leaving, so tired that she didn't even acknowledge the whispers and looks she received as she made her way to her cabin.

oOoOoOo

Galactica – Engineering Spaces

Commander Adama watched closely as Harry released his spell at the heavily damaged panel from a Viper. As the metal transformed, he found himself leaning forward to watch. After a few moments, the panel looked completely undamaged.

"Amazing, the change is permanent?" asked Baltar.

Harry nodded, "If that is the intent when I release the spell."

"Can you do more than that at once?" asked Tyrol. "You said something about creating copies."

"Yes Chief, although it's better to change something than create it from scratch...say some scrap in to a component. Anything you conjured from scratch, well let's just say you have to put a lot more power in to it."

Lieutenant Marshall scratched his head as he tried to work out what Harry was saying, "Hold on I think I've got it, so the output varies based on how much power you put in to it and as long as you can visualise the outcome…Frak…sorry, but Frak…" Marshall trailed off aware of the baleful look he was receiving from Adama.

Adama continued to stare at the engineer, "Lieutenant?"

"Sorry sir, but this is a Gods send. Harry can replace or repair every major system we have converting it from scrap, by just using his abilities. No wonder the Triton got put back together in record time."

Adama turned to Baltar, "What's your opinion Doctor?"

"You need them, Gaius, they will be your salvation," whispered Six as she ran her hand over his shoulder.

Baltar twitched slightly before he answered, "Scientifically I can't even begin to explain how he is doing it, matter-energy manipulation is a mere theory, but the proof is right there, "he pointed at the panel. "With Harry's permission I think we need to check that there are no unforeseen drawbacks but, well I can't see why he can't start repairs."

Adama seemed to think for a second before nodding, "Very well make a start."

Baltar cleared his throat, "Um I'd like to ask about our food supplies. The President is deeply concerned about the increasingly difficult rationing issues and wanted me to ask you if you could help. The briefing notes mentioned that you could help with food and water, both of which are critical to the fleet's survival."

Harry tried to keep the tiredness out of his voice, "There are some limits Doctor."

"Be careful Gaius," warned Six, "Do not push too hard."

"Doctor Baltar," warned Adama with a stern expression.

"Sorry, It's just…I'm tired and it has been a long day. It's a good question Doctor." Harry considered how to answer that question, "Water is easy and well I can change one thing from one form to another although there are some limits to this. Food is an odd one that I can do, but I'm not an expert on the why's of it, you need Hermione for that."

"What do you mean?" asked Adama.

"I can take a food stuff and copy it change it in to another, I could take a bland vegetable and change it in to something else. I could improve the taste and appearance of something as long as I knew what it was supposed to be like. Technically you can do it with anything edible but I'm not sure what the limitations of that are," seeing the puzzled looks on the others faces he continued explaining. "Say I had some, I don't know….grass, say I had some grass I could transfigure that in to bread but that's a lot more difficult that changing it to lettuce. It would be even harder to change it in to a steak or a chicken wing."

Baltar nodded slowly as he considered the astounding claims Harry was making, "So the volume of the base material must be the same," he made a note in his notebook.

"Sort of although you can use engorgement charms to expand size, it's pretty technical and not really my area of expertise. I'm probably not explaining it very well but at the end of the day it's the amount of magical power you push in to your spell," Harry conjured a teapot and four cups. "Now I've created the pot and the cups and depending on what my intent was they are either permanent or temporary. Several pro…of my teachers were masters of this type of magic and could create food and drink by pulling magic from the air itself to assemble food but as I said it's not my area of expertise."

Marshal and Tyrol laughed at Baltar's expression of shock, even Adama's lips twitched.

"I assure you Doctor it's more than possible," added Harry.

"Would you be able to demonstrate?" asked Baltar as he tried to ignore Sixes hair in his face as she leaned forward to study Harry.

Harry shrugged looked around for a moment before he reached over and grabbed a small bread roll from the food tray on the table to set in front of Baltar. All the Colonial's in the room knew that food supplies were running dangerously low even with strict rationing, so along with parts and repairs this was a critical experiment.

Harry touched his wand on the roll before casting an engorgement charm holding the spell until the bread roll had reached the size of the table.

"By the gods," whispered Tyrol.

Marshall gingerly touched the huge bread roll, "Is this one permanent or temporary?"

"Permanent," explained Harry.

"That is….well I was going to say impossible, but well it is amazing," said Baltar as he leaned down closely studying the bread poking it with his pen. "And it has the same nutrition value, what happens if you keep making copies?"

Harry cast another spell to duplicate the roll and a second appeared next to the first, "That's duplication the second roll is an exact copy of the first, Most of my people don't use it too much because…actually I'm not sure why, maybe people did use it and I don't know," Harry smiled and gave a grim laugh. "Knowing this spell would have been very bloody useful during the war but we hadn't been taught household charms."

Adama noted the mention of a war but didn't say anything.

Baltar studied Harry for a few moments as Six whispered in his ear, "He's fought before Gaius, look in to his eyes."

"What about a crate of food?" asked Tyrol, "Rather than can by can?"

"Actually the theory is the same for say one tin," Harry yawned before continuing, "As it is for a box of a hundred tins."

"Simply amazing, okay the briefing notes mentioned preservation of food…."

oOoOoOo

Adama poured himself a drink and was somewhat surprised to see that his hand wasn't shaking.

"That bad?" asked Tigh.

Adama took a sip of his drink, "Bad…no it wasn't, more like frightening."

Tigh frowned and looked down at his own empty glass for a moment before putting it on the ledge, "Are they a threat?"

"No, they could be our salvation and I nearly threw it away. I was a hairsbreadth away from ordering them locked up or worse."

Tigh studied his old friend who looked…tired, worn and for the first time he realised that despite the bravado they were both too old to keep this pace up with all the stresses that were being thrown at them. "But you didn't, you did the right thing. Frak it Husker you made the right call, now we've got a few more cards in the Triad deck."

Adama almost smiled; whenever Saul Tigh called him Husker he was being especially serious.

"What did Baltar think?" asked Tigh as he shifted the topic slightly.

"He's a believer," Adama almost snorted. "The good Doctor nearly passed out when Harry did his trick with the bread."

"What?"

"Grew a table length loaf out of a bread roll then made an exact copy. We can probably cross supplies off the list after, well after Baltar and Cottle check that there is nothing wrong it."

"But can we trust them?" asked Tigh.

oOoOoOo

Harry walked in to his quarters to see a meal sitting on the table and Hermione asleep on the bunk. He checked to find that the plate had a warming charm cast on it so he sat and ate what turned out to be a rather good shepherd's pie. Hermione's work no doubt. Once he had finished eating, he had a quick shower, locked the door and was climbing in to the top bunk when Hermione apparently woke up.

"Harry, come here," said Hermione.

Harry looked to see a pair of chocolate brown eyes looking up at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"I was just dozing after dinner."

As he sat, Hermione cuddled in to his side, "I wanted to wait up for you."

"Oh," said Harry as he simply enjoyed the feel of Hermione so close to him.

Hermione shifted and kissed Harry's neck, "We keep getting interrupted."

Harry grinned as her hands gently caressed his back, "Well, I've locked the door."

"Good," said Hermione as she pulled him down to kiss once more.

Harry ran his hands up her side to caress her breast and was rewarded with a small moan of satisfaction. With another kiss, he lowered himself down to lie next to her.

oOoOoOo

Daniel nodded, acknowledging his marine escort as he walked out of his quarters. He turned and started making his way towards Colonel Sparta's quarters. He had been working on the photos given to him to check for Cylon infiltrators when he came across a photo of the same Eight he had seen, the pilot. He had studied the photo as the minutes had ticked by trying to decide what to do.

The Marine guard outside Sparta's cabin nodded and pulled the hatch open for Daniel.

Sparta looked up from his own files with a smile and a nod, "Daniel, please take a seat. That will be all Corporal."

Daniel sat as the hatch closed as he did he placed a photo on the desk.

Sparta picked the photo up and looked at it before looking back at Daniel.

"Are you sure Daniel?"

"Of her identity, yes of her guilt no. She walked straight past me Colonel and there was nothing, I was looking for it and there was nothing."

"So she could be a sleeper or One has erased her memory of you. She may even be like you and an objector," said Sparta as he sank back in to his chair.

Daniel shrugged as his expression hardened, "The Cylons are more than capable of adjusting memories, I know One did something to my copies before he tried to kill me. Why else can I remember the five original organic Cylons, my parents, but not remember what they look like, I can hear their voices but can't retain their image?"

Sparta looked down at the photo for a long moment before looking back up at Daniel, "What do you suggest?"

Daniel stiffened and momentarily looked taken back at the question before realising that Sparta was asking his opinion, "She could be an agent so we need to act. I'd hope that we can take her alive, discreetly. If she's a sleeper, then we've removed the threat if not then hopefully she can be reintegrated with no one that doesn't need to know any wiser."

Sparta considered for a moment before lifting the handset on his desk, "It's Sparta, I would like to request a meeting….yes it is….very well."

"Major Brack is on his way."

Ten minutes later Brack leaned back in to his chair with a look of frustration on his face, "Oh well this is going to be a riot. Boomer is one of Commander Adama's favourites; I spent ten minutes talking to her after Adama introduced us."

Sparta shook his head, "We can't risk not knowing for sure, Boomer has, according to her file been a real asset on Galactica but if she's sympathetic to One's cause, then she is a danger to us. It is that simple."

oOoOoOo

Boomer stepped in to the Pilots Mess and grinned as the rich smell of cooked meat wafted across the table. Triton's officer's mess had been rather generous in sharing the stores with their fellow pilots even with the still generally unexplained tension between the two ships. She hadn't eaten as well since coming aboard.

"Hey Boomer you are needed in the briefing room," called out a fellow Raptor pilot just as she reached across for what sure as Hades looked like a steak.

"You have got to be fraking kidding me," complained Boomer.

"Hey we'll save you some," said a second, "If there is any left."

Boomer gave the food another look before sighing and heading out the hatch toward the briefing room. Hopefully whatever they needed her for would be quick. She ducked in to the Briefing room to see the Old Man himself seated at a table with Colonel Sparta.

However, before she could say anything she saw a flash of red light and the room went dark.

oOoOoOo

Four minutes later a medical Raptor lifted off and turned toward the Triton. In the back of the Raptor, an unconscious suspected Cylon was accompanied by Colonel Sparta, four Marines, a medic and a young man in a deck hands uniform.

oOoOoOo

Doctor Jackson finished checking the unconscious Cylon for any injuries and nodded to Sparta, "Besides being out cold she's fine Colonel."

"Good, we'll transfer her to the cell's and prepare her briefing," Sparta stood and gestured for the Marines to start the transfer. Looking over to the other Cylon in the curtained off area his expression softened somewhat. Daniel looked lost as he watched his sister wheeled off.

"You did the right thing Daniel; your actions saved lives, including hers."

"I understand Colonel."

Sparta nodded, "Good, now grab something to eat, I suspect we'll all be busy later."

oOoOoOo

Saul looked at his friend and shook his head, "Are you sure you want to do this Bill, no one would blame you if you got me to do it."

Adama didn't respond as he finished buttoning his shirt then pulling on his uniform jacket.

"Bill?"

"Sparta's right you know, we have an opportunity here," Adama paused as he buttoned his jacket, "I have to do this Saul, I'm not going to let this get out of hand and become a witch hunt. Boomer may be a traitor or an unwitting pawn but either way I need to know."

"Do you really want those answers, Bill?"

"Yes I damn well do, Sharon Valerii has served under me for two years I want to know if she is simply a Cylon agent or something more. A few days ago I would have wanted her shot but...well things are a hell of a lot less black and white now aren't they?"

Saul shrugged, "Once a Cylon," he held up a hand to stop Adama's retort. "I know Bill, I agree that it's a fraked up situation. For what it's worth I think you are doing the right thing."

"Saul you command until I return to Galactica."

Saul saluted and gave his old friend a nod before leaving. A moment later Adama was making his way to where a Raptor was being prepped to depart.

oOoOoOo

Adama nodded to the two Marine guards as they pulled the hatch open for him.

"The Colonel's waiting for you sir in the duty room, first hatch," explained the Sergeant.

"Thank you Sergeant."

The atmosphere in the duty room was tense as Adama entered. Sitting propped up in a simple metal chair was the unconscious form of Sharon Valerii.

"Commander," said Sparta in greeting.

Adama looked over at the unconscious Sharon, "Colonel, are we ready to begin?"

"We are just waiting on Hermione to wake Lieutenant Valerii up; she's on her way from Life Stations."

"Where's Potter?" asked Adama.

"I thought Miss Granger might be a better choice for this," replied Sparta.

The hatch swung open again and Hermione entered.

"Sorry I'm late we had a bit of a medical emergency," explained Hermione.

Sparta waved away the apology, "It's fine Miss Granger although if you would be so kind as to wake our friend. I'll also get you to sit at the back of the room and be ready to put her back to sleep if things get out of hand."

Hermione flicked her wand waking Valerii although she also added a weak compulsion charm designed to 'encourage the truth'. It wouldn't stop her lying, but it should, in theory, encourage the truth.

Sharon Valerii awoke to find herself sitting in a chair facing Commander Adama and Colonel Sparta.

"Do you know why you are here Lieutenant Valerii?" asked Sparta.

Sharon looked first at Adama before returning her attention to Sparta, "No Sir."

"I need you to understand something Sharon, no one in this room will hurt you, in fact, we would like to help you but to do that we need you to be honest with us. Do you understand?"

"No," said Sharon in confusion although a small part of her mind was remembering all the small discrepancies she had been noticing, odd things that made no sense.

"I want to show you some pictures Lieutenant and I need you to tell me if you recognise them."

"I don't understand sir, what's going on?"

Sparta gesture and an image of One appeared on the wall. It was soon joined by images of Two, Four and Six.

"These are all humanoid Cylons, just as you are Sharon," explained Sparta in a gentle voice. "We already know that you are an Eight and we would like to talk to you about this and anything that you may have done at your people's bequest."

Sharon was looking at the pictures with a look of confusion on her face as Sparta and Adama watched her reactions. When it happened, Adama found he had been holding his breath. He saw a flicker of recognition that disappeared almost immediately when the image of One and his Altar on Galactica appeared on the wall.

"You know him don't you Sharon?" asked Adama.

Sharon shook her head in denial, "No...Brother Cavil."

Sparta's voice was firm but conversational, "You can't remember can you Sharon, it's there, but you can't remember why, or how can you?"

"He wanted you to do things didn't he, I suspect you were meant to sabotage the ship or did he want key fleet personnel killed, Commander Adama perhaps?" Sparta continued on, his tone still conversational. "You blew up the water tanks didn't you? Then you went and found a new water source, why?"

Sharon shuddered and she stared at the image on the wall as she spoke, "I am a Colonial officer...I am...I' didn't want to," she had tears in her eyes now.

Sparta gestured toward Hermione and Sharon was once again stunned.

"Well that was enlightening," said Sparta with a rather humourless smile "I'd say she's a sleeper agent being controlled by One, but now he's looked up she's unconsciously trying to revert to her cover personality," Sparta shook his head sadly. "I got my Psychology degree before I joined the Marines and what we just saw there has a fancy name like Traumatic multiple personality disorder except the bastards did it on purpose. I'd give good odds that she wasn't meant to survive this."

"Why do this?" demanded Adama "And regardless of what was done can we fix her?"

"Fix her?" asked Sparta in surprise before stopping and turning to Hermione.

"Can we erase the Cylon Personality?" asked Hermione. "It should be easy enough but is it ethical. Shouldn't she have a choice?"

Adama went to reply but stopped himself, Hermione had a good point. Eight had been used as a weapon by the Cylons and Sharon was a young, dedicated officer. On the surface it was easy to pass judgement, Sharon lives, Eight disappears, simple. But it wasn't really was it.

Adama thought about it for a moment before reaching his decision, "Wake her up I have a question for her."

Hermione did so this time adding a calming charm to help Valerii avoid panicking.

Sharon came awake and looked around wildly before her eyes came back to Adama, "I couldn't remember please you have to believe me, Sir I wouldn't have hurt my friends."

"You need to decide who you want to be Eight, "Adama saw Sharon wince. "Or Sharon, We can help, but it's your call."

"I-I want to be Sharon," replied Sharon, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Then that's what we'll do Lieutenant," said Sparta "You need to help me first Lieutenant. Have you done anything, anything you remember that we don't know about?"

"I...I don't think so...the Chief's been watching me...my nightmares, he was trying to help then the explosion and he...he was suspicious I think, Gods what have I done?" screamed Sharon as she started to cry and covered her face with shaking hands. "I love him, he'll hate me now," she stopped talking as she became too upset to continue.

Hermione found herself growing teary herself as the young woman in from of her tried to deal with her life collapsing around her. As Sharon went on explaining her last few weeks what she had experienced, the fear and the nightmares it reminded her of the stories Ginny Weasley had told of her time possessed by Voldemort's diary.

""Put her to sleep Hermione," ordered Adama as he watched Sharon trail off almost at the point of breakdown.

"You poor, poor woman," muttered Hermione as she slid her wand back in to its sheath, she had been used by the Cylons as a weapon. Even if she had succeeded, she still would have been left with the horror of her actions and the aftermath.

"Opinion's," said Adama "Do we think she knows anything else?"

Sparta shrugged, "I'm not sure that she will know much more, it's bad operational security for infiltrators to know what's happening with their own people and in this case, Hades its closer to some sort of sick brainwashing. I suspect that One is likely the only Cylon in the fleet with any sort of detailed knowledge, after all he's the one that appears to be pulling the strings."

Adama looked over at the sleeping Cylon. Was that all she was? He had taken Sharon under his wing when the green pilot had come aboard. He had helped her become the officer she was today, she had been like a daughter and now she was revealed as the unwitting tool of his enemies, a thing, a machine.

Hermione studied Adama as he sat, expressionless save for the anguish in his eyes. "It's safe you know, we can remove the Cylon programming, she'll not remember and, well let me show you something we discovered with Daniel."

Adama and Sparta both watched as Hermione cast a spell on Sharon that caused a faint, pulsing multicoloured lights to appear around the unconscious Cylon.

"What does it mean?" asked Adama.

"It's a medical charm used to visibly display a patient's life signs and she is showing exactly the same results that you would. Whoever these humanoid Cylons were their creations are works of genius that are effectively clones, not machines. They may start off the same as each other, but I very much doubt this Sharon is the same as any other one, human development doesn't work like that. Even identical twins have differences in their personalities."

Sparta had a thoughtful look on his face as he looked back and forth between Adama and Hermione, "If we erase her memories, her Cylon memories, what will she remember?"

"That depends on the intent of the person casting the spell, ideally she'll be left with what she relates to as her human memories," explained Hermione.

Adama stood up and straightened his uniform, "Miss Granger I would appreciate if you keep her asleep for now. I need to think about this before we do anything."

Sparta stood and saluted as Adama left the room.

oOoOoOo

Adama's Cabin - Galactica

"You wanted to see me Sir?" asked Lee 'Apollo' Adama as soon as the hatch swung open.

"Come in Lee."

"Sir, is this about Boomer?"

Adama nodded and gestured to the empty chair, "Have a seat, Lee."

"Is she injured, I heard that she was transferred to Triton's sick bay."

Adama hesitated as he considered where exactly his responsibilities as a Colonial officer fitted in to this mess. He should tell Lee, his son, he really should because he knew damn well that A Battlestar was like a village, no secret remained hidden for long. There were already half a dozen people in the know and he didn't delude himself in to thinking that the number wouldn't continue to grow.

"What happened?" asked Lee as his father sat silently.

"Lee, Boomer, is not who we thought, she is a Cylon."

"I…what…how?" Lee sat heavily as he stared incredulously at his father who sat silently watching him, "Frak the water storage that was Boomer?"

The elder Adama nodded, "Daniel recognised her as one of the human Cylons. We've questioned her but, well it's a mess."

Lee paled as he considered the situation, "What about the investigation?"

"I'll talk to Roslin and Sergeant Hadrian."

"What did it say?" asked Lee. The 'it' made his father flinch.

"You know Daniel's story from the briefing one thing that is pretty clear is that it turns out the Cylons may have outsmarted themselves or maybe the original human form Cylons outsmarted their offspring. Sharon has two sets of memories Human and Cylon, the Cylon memories are all subconscious so Hermione offered to remove them. We'll be left with Sharon as she was before One used her as a weapon."

"What did you mean by outsmarted?"

"They made the human form Cylons far to like us, they love, hate and every human thing between. That means that every copy is different, it certainly explains Daniel and why Sharon is distraught now that she realises what she is she wants her humanity back. Did you know about her affair with the Chief?"

Lee started, "You knew?"

"Of course I knew, half the ship knows and now I've got to talk to the Chief and try and explain this mess. Sharon's in love with the Chief and I want his feedback on any choice I make before I decide what to do."

"Do?" asked Lee.

"Do we lock Boomer the Cylon up or do we save Sharon the unwitting weapon of One?"

Lee sighed as he considered his father's words, "I don't envy you having to make the call, but I think I'd put my money on Sharon."

A knock sounded on the hatch.

"Come," called out Adama.

"Sir the Chief is here," said the Marine.

"Send him in," ordered Adama. "Lee you don't have to stay for this."

Lee shook his head as he stood, "I will the Chief may need some support."

Chief Tyrol stepped in to the cabin and came to attention, "Sir reporting as ordered."

Adama gestured at the seat, "Take a seat Chief I need to talk to you about something."

oOoOoOo

"I feel dirty having just heard the story, I can't imagine how she feels," said Hermione as she watched a sobbing Sharon embrace the Tyrol as he walked in to the cell she was being held in.

"Your help has been invaluable Hermione; because of you that young woman may well be given another chance," said Sparta as he sipped at his tea from where he too was watching the reunion. He kept his expression impassive as he watched, but he was quickly reworking his plans. What part would this play in his plan to cause discord among the Cylon collective and disrupt One's plans? He needed to move quickly but carefully, integrating this new wrinkle in his plan before acting. The entire fleet was on the clock and he could almost feel the hands moving.

oOoOoOo

Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace sat in the hard metal chair looking at Aaron Doral as he studiously ignored her.

After a few more minutes of silence, Kara cleared her throat and grinned at the expressionless Cylon, "I know that you would have just downloaded if you had blown yourself up but really, I mean a homemade bomb vest?"

Doral said nothing but he shifted his gaze to stare contemptuously at Starbuck.

"Anyway Commander Adama wanted me to have a chat with you about one of our other Cylon prisoners, a One. He made some interesting statements and we thought your people might be interested." Starbuck nodded to the Marine outside the cell and he wheeled in a display screen that was hooked up to a video unit. "I think you had better watch and then we can talk before you are returned to your cell. Play him the recording," ordered Starbuck.

Doral watched One's confession without changing expression save his eyes narrowing slightly.

Kara waited patiently for the marine to wheel the unit back out of the cell.

"Enlightening viewing, now mister Doral do you have any questions?"

Doral studied her silently although his lip curled in to a contemptuous sneer.

Kara returned the look with her own smug smile, "Oh I see you are already drinking from the same cup. Well isn't that interesting."

Doral remained silent and looked away to begin studying the wall again.

"Well that's all for today, how about we get you back to you cell so you can have a think about where you stand. Oh and before you go, our other Cylon guests have seen this as well, perhaps we should get you together to have a bit of a critique I know Six had a few questions she wanted to ask One….and his supporters."

Four armed Marines escorted Doral back to his cell while Kara remained seated. Less than a minute later Sergeant Hadrian walked in with a clipboard.

"Well Sergeant?"

"He didn't react much at all, my guess is either he didn't care or he already knew," Hadrian shrugged her shoulders "I wouldn't bet either way."

"Or he thinks we're full of fraking crap, do you think we could get away with shoving him in with the female?"

Hadrian laughed, "Or out an airlock."

Starbuck grinned, "I hear you, Sarge, you know I saw a drinks dispenser in the guard room so how about a coffee while we compare notes and do the paperwork?"

oOoOoOo

Harry laughed as Rebeka finished regaling him with a no doubt embellished account of her first day on the Triton. In many ways, he was glad to be back on the Triton, even with the occasional awkward moment it still felt friendlier than the Galactica.

"So, you up for a bit of repair work, you looked wrecked yesterday."

Harry grinned, "I'm fine, had a good sleep so the batteries are all recharged."

Rebeka cocked an eyebrow, "Oh and would a certain brunette of our mutual acquaintance have anything to do with that?"

Harry's grin grew a bit wider, "A gentleman does not carry tales."

"Oh ho a gentleman are you?" asked Rebeka.

"I try, you mentioned a job?"

Rebeka sobered, "We need to look at the launch tubes apparently there is some buckling in the aft section."

"Then let's get to it, because, I've also got to look at some repair that I may be able to help with. Then Hermione and I have to meet Doctor Baltar to do some tests and get some sort of schedule in place that doesn't mean Hermione and I are in ten places at once."

Rebeka frowned, "How long do they think you can keep this up without burning out?"

"I know, I'll bring it up today, okay so the launch tubes."

oOoOoOo

Harry watched on as Hermione answered Doctor Baltar's questions. The man was charming and smart, well he was a scientist so that was obvious but there was something odd about the man. It was like he was zoning out or his attention was elsewhere. Still he seemed genuine in his interest even with his continuing oddities.

Hermione was enjoying her time talking with Baltar, he was intelligent and his questions were insightful showing that he had read through the briefing, put together a list of questions designed to uncover the best way to use their abilities. He was a bit odd with some strange, quirky mannerisms, but it didn't impact on their session so she just ignored it.

An hour later Hermione caught a Raptor flight back to Triton to start her shift in Life stations while Harry and Baltar went over a report the scientist was preparing for the President. By the time he climbed aboard a Raptor bound for Triton, he was looking forward to something to eat and a hot shower.

oOoOoOo

Raptor Eight - Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson/ ECO Lieutenant Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo

Racetrack was at the far end of an extended holding pattern allowing a merchant ship to refuel safely when a Cylon Baseship appeared in her flight path. She automatically began to manoeuvre and went to full power as she heard the alert from Galactica over the wireless. Even as the Raptor catapulted forward she knew they were in trouble, the Basestar would already be launching Raiders.

"Frak Crashdown start jamming and launch countermeasures," ordered Racetrack as she tried not calculate odds of them working in her head.

A high pitched whine indicated that a missile had locked on to them even as the first rounds of weapons fire streamed past them.

In the passenger seat, Harry could sense the controlled panic as the ECO and pilot worked to keep them alive. He considered using his Portkey, but he wasn't prepared to abandon the two crewmen. He could save them but to do so he had to be in physical contact with them.

"Racetrack get the Frak out of there!" ordered Apollo as Galactica's CAP closed on the Cylons engaging the madly jinking, spiralling Raptor.

Racetrack didn't bother replying as she twisted the Raptor to avoid both an incoming missile and two incoming Raiders. Even with her experience and skill it was an impossible task but she very nearly succeeded. The missile confused by both the jamming and anti-missile chaff exploded just aft of the Raptor sending it spinning away and brutally crushing all aboard in to their seats.

Immediately a cacophony of alarms sounded as the badly damaged craft spun through space. Somehow Racetrack managed to hold on to the controls. Now she was desperately trying to regain control but it was a losing battle. Nothing she did seemed to work, finally however the spinning slowed somewhat. Before she could take advantage of it main power failed, followed almost immediately by the backups leaving the Raptor lit only by the faint red of the emergency lighting.

"Frak...Crashdown you still with me?"

"He's injured but not too badly, out cold I'm afraid," reported her passenger.

oOoOoOo

Once the spinning had slowed Harry released his harness and moved to the figure slumped in the chair. He quickly checked the ECO who appeared to be alive but unconscious, he was banged up some, but nothing life-threatening could be seen.

The pilot called out so he stuck his head in to the cockpit, "He's injured but not too badly, out cold I'm afraid."

The pilot nodded and released her harness before pushing past him, presumably to check on her fellow officer.

"What now Lieutenant?"

"Now we hope someone rescues our asses before the Cylons finish us off or the fleet jumps."

Harry grimaced as he considered what to do. Adama's crew had not been briefed in, save for the senior officers and he had seemed rather loath for it to become general knowledge. So for now he'd wait and prepare to act if things went to hell.

Unfortunately before he could help anyone the Raptor was thrown violently sideways. The last thing Harry saw was the bulkhead as he smashed head first in to it.

oOoOoOo

Baseship 107

Three cursed as she watched the civilian fleet start to jump away. With the fleet now safe the two Battlestars turned their full attention to the Baseship.

Turning to a Two immersed in the data stream she demanded an update, "Where are our reserves?"

Two shook his head, "They've been redirected to deal with a supposed sighting of Pegasus, apparently One was concerned they were making a run at the resurrection ship his fleet was protecting."

Three wanted to scream in frustration but satisfied herself with a sneer, "Well I hope it's in range because we are not in a position to beat two Battlestars. Order the forward element Raiders to prepare to act as a screen to protect the Baseship while we save what raiders we can."

Two raised an eyebrow but carried out Three's orders.

Amidst the other conversations, the hybrids voice continued issuing acknowledgements and status reports"...sealed. Junction four two one A has failed, rerouting power to the secondary...heavy damage to section two one F, repair crews have been dispatched...FTL coordinates calculated...the travellers are separated...Heavy Raider redeployed..."

Two looked up in surprise when the hybrid mentioned the travellers. One of his brother Two's had been seeking further data on that topic.

Three also looked at the hybrid in surprise, "Why is it redeploying a Heavy Raider?"

Two dipped in to the data stream as the ship began taking heavy fire, "We can't take much more of this. We are about to lose the upper section."

To the surprise of the Cylons on the bridge the hybrid answered or at least appeared to answer Three, "The travellers know the true path...they befriended the lost...sector two one F is still awaiting repair teams...screen effectiveness at eighty-four point two six percent and dropping...Heavy Raider is aboard..." The hybrid's back arched and it screamed out, "JUMP."

oOoOoOo

Engineering Space - Merchant Ship

Leoben Conoy awoke to an alarm, immediately followed by the captain announcing that the Cylons had appeared and the ship was preparing for an FTL jump. Given the current location of his new hideaway, he would need to be alert. He was far too close to the engineering spaces that could potentially become rather busy if the ship took any damage. Which might well be the case after it shook violently followed by a long wait of almost two minutes before the captain was on the overhead calling for calm, stating that they had suffered a minor power surge in the FTL. Before he could move the hatch nearest him flew open and two crewmen burst through holding armloads of equipment as they raced toward engineering. The first, a man tripped and slammed head first in to the wall while his female companion slid to a halt. As he tried to work out if it was best to hide or announce himself, Leoben realised that the woman was familiar.

"Frak Liam, you clumsy..." Leah trailed off as she knelt down to check her companion who was unmoving on the deck.

Without realising it, Leoben found himself moving.

"Can I help?"

Leah's head whipped around, "Leo, you nearly made me wet my fraking pants. Grab Liam's gear and follow me we need to do a hot restart of the FTL and I've got to get down there."

Leoben nodded and picked up the dropped toolkit and the bundle of wires.

"Come on," ordered Leah as she stood and started toward the engineering section.

The FTL drive was silent as she pushed open the hatch. Cursing under her breath she began pulling open panels, "Do you know anything about FTL engineering?"

Leoben knew a great deal about Cylon FTL systems and given that they were based on colonial technology he certainly knew enough to help, "A bit."

"Know what the power relay looks like?"

He pointed to a power distribution console and Leah nodded, "Great, switch everything to stand by and let me know if you get any warning lights."

As he worked his way through the rows of switches, all the lights stayed green save the last, "Junction four is showing a fault."

"Frak, okay hold on...now?"

Leoben flicked the switch to off and then standby and the light flickered to green before turning red, "no still faulting."

"Then we'll have to override the junction. Do you know how to do it?"

Leoben shook his head, "I've never needed to."

"Let me then, can you run a power cable from the outlet there," she pointed to the far side of the cramped space, "to here?"

"On it," replied Leoben as he picked up the cable he had brought with him to begin. It was a big risk running power directly to the FTL, but it was a solution.

Working as quickly as possible the power cable was set to feed power directly to the FTL drive.

"Have you ever done this before?" asked Leoben as he watched Leah frantically flipping switches.

"Nope, although I have read about it being done," she flicked the last few switches and grinned, "If it doesn't work we won't fraking care."

She flicked the last switch and the FTL lit up and began spinning, "Frak me, it worked, okay well we had better get this crap off the FTL and get it working."

"Shouldn't we do something about Liam was it?"

"Oh, Hades," Leah ran to the wall and picked up the wireless.

Leoben shook his head and began removing the cabling before he noticed a faint hissing noise before he identify it a loud crack sounded and the decompression alarm sounded.

Leah dropped the wireless and waved toward the door, "Out, out now."

Leoben just reached the hatch when a whole section of the bulkhead buckled followed by explosive decompression, without thinking he grabbed the hatch and with inhuman speed he lashed out and caught Leah as she was dragged toward the hull breach.

oOoOoOo

CIC Triton

"Concentrate fire on the Raider screen," ordered Brack. "Prepare another volley of ship to ship missiles."

"Sir...they've jumped. We only have raiders on DRADIS."

Brack nodded accepting the information, "Right well we are on SAR so while Galactica clears out the Raiders let's get our Raptors prepped. Communications get Galactica on the line, please."

After a quick status update, Adama agreed that the battle appeared to be over as the Vipers dealt with the last of the Raiders.

Brack hung up the wireless, "Launch the SAR flight and stand us down XO. Operations I want damage and casualty reports before we jump."

Brack looked over at the DRADIS screen to confirm the situation as Emma handed him the Wireless.

"Brack."

"Sir Petty OfficerYoland at flight operations, we have a problem Raptor Eight has been reported MIA and I have Cracker, that is Lieutenant Mollin reporting that a heavy Raider snagged a Raptor before the toasters jumped."

Brack took a moment to internally curse their gods damned ill luck before demanding a line to Galactica.

oOoOoOo