It was hard to not be impressed. Or amazed. It was hard, Lee Adama thought as he followed Picard down the hallway, to be anything but completely shocked. He had suspected that Starfleet was much more advanced but seeing the raw evidence of it… He wondered if the Cylons could infiltrate the ship with their virus weapon. The Enterprise was like a shrine to networked systems. It was amazing, but it also made his skin crawl.

But only just a little. And that was partly because the lift was a bit crowded.

" This is the main bridge," Picard said as the door opened. " I believe it's comparable to your CIC? Each station corresponds to a function area of the ship. Engineering, security…."

Lee tried to listen but there was just so much to look at, despite the small space. The Enterprise bridge was dominated by a giant viewer, and the view of the Galactica and the fleet. That alone was intriguing, and interesting, especially since he rarely had time while flying to really look at the fleet. The Galactica looked like a blackened, scarred behemoth among the smaller ships. But that only held his gaze for a moment.

What grabbed his attention was the man who rose from one of the chairs on the lower deck. If it was a man, Lee wasn't entirely sure. He had caught a flash of something earlier, something blue and moving but whatever it was had left the landing bay before he'd gotten a good look, and he had seen a few aliens that Troi had called Vulcans. Vulcans looked like people, austere people with arched brows and pointed ears, but people. This… man looked like the monster antagonist of the scary stories he used to tell Zac.

But it was in a Starfleet uniform, and he doubted that Picard had brought them to the plush sanctity of the ship's main operation center to let some monster tear them to bits. It certainly looked capable of killing, almost like an animal, but as it came closer, Lee started to put the features together. The knobby, ridged forehead was startling, as was the scowl on it's face, but it had eyes and ears. It could be a person, he supposed.

" Captain," it growled, " The bridge is yours."

Picard nodded. " Thank you, Mr. Worf." He turned to the four Colonial citizens. " Lieutenant Commander Worf is my tactical officer. He is also a Klingon, which I am quite sure you have not seen before. The Klingon Empire is currently on good terms with the Federation, and Mr. Worf is one of my finest officers. He's one of the people participating in the exchange tomorrow."

" Yes," Worf rumbled. " I look forward to it." His tone implied anything but. He had a malevolent glare that reminded Lee of his father when William Adama was extremely angry. Still, for all Lee knew, that was a happy look on the Klingon's face.

He also had no idea what passed for courtesy, but he had no intention of being considered backward and cowardly. The backward part was a lost cause, he'd realized that when he saw an apple materialize out of nothing, but there was nothing to be afraid of. So he held out his hand to the Klingon. " I'm Maj. Lee Adama. We usually shake hands, when we first meet someone new. Can I shake your hand?"

The Klingon eyed him. Then he took Lee's hand and shook it, firmly. It didn't feel any different from a human hand. " It is a common human custom," Worf said. " I had read Lt. Cmdr Gaeta's reports. Your people have displayed courage worthy of Klingons. I was quite… impressed."

" The Admiral is looking forward to your visit." Lee said easily. As Picard continued to describe the functions of the various stations, Laura Roslin came up beside him.

"Nicely done," she whispered. " Are you sure you're in the right line of work, Major Apollo?"

Lee was starting to wonder that himself.

" I must be honest," Roslin said as they left the engine room, "Most of the technical discussion went over my head." She suspected it had gone over the Galactica officers heads as well. If they had been paying attention at all to Commander La Forge's rather excited description of the warp core, which she doubted. The warp core was interesting to look at, but she found herself watching the Enterprise crew more. Picard was a much different man than Bill Adama, she had figured that out almost immediately but the two men did share some traits and it showed in the crew. The Enterprise crew clearly respected him. She may not have understood La Forge's technical discussion, but Picard clearly did and his people knew it. If the Starfleet officers seemed a little less disciplined in general, she suspected that was a difference in the entire structure of Starfleet. They did insist they were more about exploration and research than military accomplishments, and that was probably an indicator.

" Mr. La Forge takes great pride in the Enterprise's engines," Picard said easily. " I know I've shown you quite a bit. We have one more thing to see, and it's right this way." The small group followed him to a rather non descript door with "Transporter Room Three" neatly printed on the wall beside it. Transporters, Roslin recalled, had been something that Admiral Adama had wondered about, something about idle chatter he'd over heard. And there was a provision in the treaty offer, Gaeta had said it was important. The Federation was offering to share its technology, including warp, replicator, and transporter technology, and that was a very big deal. Not something they did out of kindness, which meant they considered it very powerful, and that they were extremely interested in the FTL drive. Which means, she thought with amusement, that I had better pay more attention.

The room was fairly bare, with a console manned by a lone officer and a large platform that had six circles patterned on the floor. Hardly intimidating. Hardly important looking. But then, the built in boxlike shelf in the conference room had not looked special either until Felix Gaeta made hot coffee appear in it. So it was most likely important.

" Matter transportation is a technology we use quite extensively," Picard said as they all stepped into the room. " This works on a similar principle as the replicators."

" But what does it do?" Helo asked. "I mean… Matter transportation implies you move stuff with it… sir."

Roslin smiled at the honorific. Politeness never hurt and Helo had always been polite.

" It does move things, Capt. Agathon." Picard seemed pleased by his question. " A matter transporter can take an object, dematerialize it and store it's pattern and literally send the object, or a person, to a different place."

" You do this… to people?" Dualla asked. She sounded more than a little afraid, and Roslin wasn't sure she blamed the young woman.

" It's safer than flying," the operator, a young woman not much older than Dualla, said with a smile. " Anyone want to try?"

" Perhaps a demonstration first," Picard said. " Cmdr. Troi? If you please?"

Troi nodded and quickly stepped up onto the platform. Not nervous in the slightest, and while she had already pegged Troi as clever and manipulative, Roslin didn't think the woman had nerves of steel. Which meant whatever was about to happen wasn't dangerous. She wanted to step up on the platform herself, to make the point but that would just lead to her officer escort protesting and since she was certain it wasn't dangerous, it would be rude. Rude to imply their host was suggesting something that would lead to killing a guest.

" Wait, I'll do it," Helo stepped forward. He smiled. " I mean… you've done this, haven't you, Felix?"

Gaeta smiled slightly. " More times than I could count by the time I was five. It's been a while though. I don't mind demonstrating. It's not dangerous." He stepped onto the platform. " Where are we going, sir?"

" For demonstration purposes, transporter room two." Picard said after a moment. " It's just down the hallway. Normally we don't transport inside a ship unless there's a medical emergency, but this is a demonstration. Ensign Kelly?"

The young woman nodded and with a practiced flick of her wrist, activated the console. And Roslin found herself struggling to not gasp in shock as the three people standing on the platform dissolved in a pretty flash of light. Dualla did gasp, and out of the corner of her eye, Roslin saw Lee put a hand on the young woman's shoulder. Don't panic, she thought forcefully at Dualla, for the sake of the gods don't panic. That was the last thing she needed.

Because if Dualla had a fit, Roslin wasn't all that certain that she wouldn't follow suit.

Out loud she said, " And when do they come back?"

Picard smiled. " That depends on how quickly they walk back from transporter room two."

The door opened and Agathon almost leapt through the opening. " You guys… it's amazing! It feels great and then we were in a totally different room!"

Don't look relieved, Roslin told herself. " And this is a common technology? Everyone uses it?"

" For large transport jobs, it's the only way to go," Ensign Kelly said as Troi and then Gaeta filed back into the room.

" I held off on using them for supply delivery," Picard said after a moment. " I didn't want to startle your people with it. Even on Earth there are people who aren't comfortable with transporters."

" Yes, I can appreciate that," Roslin said. She took a deep breath. " I'm glad I agreed to this tour, Captain. It helps me appreciate what the Federation is offering." And just how easily the Federation could take what it wanted.