Part 13

+20:11:50

CIC, Terran Battlestar Olympus

I stood there, staring at the main AEGIS display and dearly wishing I'd ever been born.

The last fifteen-plus hours had ridden me hard, juggling unfamiliar roles making and delegating tasks on the fly. It was a minor miracle the meetings with the Quorum and distribution of relief supplies had gone so smoothly thus far, even if I had been effectively ordered back to Olympus. Thank the gods the EU had so many Greek-speakers on hand and weren't making an issue about his commandeering four container ships. The fact Thrace had been the "exclusive property" of the UN since her landing at Nellis had been a slightly sore point with Brussels the last year and I had no doubt this was meant to engender some good will from the Colonists.

Still, I couldn't escape the feeling something was about to go wrong at any moment. Evidentially my anxiety had become bad enough Major Agathon and Avery-Richards had practically ordered me out of Conference Delta, where the disbursement of supplies were being coordinated, with the polite-if-firm-as-concrete 'suggestion' I get some rest.

And to think, it only been yesterday that I'd been sitting in Beijing, fighting to look alert and attentive to the latest set of demands from the Committee on Trade and Commerce despite being bored stupid. Had I actually been wishing some cosmic crisis would land on our collective heads so I could escape the Mandarins?

Be careful what you wish for.

I wandered about the corridors of the Olympus for a little bit, somehow finding myself up in the CIC. Callisto was on the flight deck, acting as our eyes-ears-hands down there and working to minimize friction between our crews and the Colonials. Ted was back aboard the Galactica, which was functioning as the Colonial's temporary administrative center. Normally Colonial Onewould have served there, but Adama had insisted Roslin stay there and having Ted there made more sense having my hyper self standing over their shoulders.

Kara was – by mutual decree of myself, Rice, Adama, and Roslin – confined to her quarters until we could come up with a decent strategy for revealing her presence to the rest of the Colonial fleet. Apparently there was some kind of religious sect that had risen in the past couple years, whose doctrines were...ambiguous...to say the least. There hadn't been any known instances of violence committed by or against them yet, but it was agreed having Kara Thrace suddenly reappear might cause more problems than any of us needed just now.

I wasn't sure what was more surprising: the fact Adama and Roslin backed Ted and I on this, or that Kara herself was so...agreeable to it. Ted must have shared my unvoiced suspicions that she was planning something as he immediately ordered her Marine guard be doubled and privately ordered that Shan keep us alert on her movements.

This however meant there was no-one I immediately recognized there and nothing really for me to do there. Somehow this seemed a depressingly reflective of my life now. I was even starting to contemplate if I could swing another visit to the holding cell in Galactica, inadvisable as that might be, when a familiar voice rang out over the comms.

"Pass the word: Secretary Richards please contact the flight deck." It was Callisto herself, which caused my ears to immediately perk up. Olympius Callisto wasn't the sort to buck the chain of command in all the years I'd known her, so for her to be calling the nominal top of the totem pole directly was more than a little unusual.

I picked up the handset and stated "This is Richards. Go ahead, Commander."

"Mr. Secretary, the Caprican representative from the Quorum has just arrived."

"So?" We'd had members of the Quorum shuttling on and off the Olympus for the last ten hours. I'd given up trying to keep track of which ones were coming or going a full eight hours ago.

"He carries a written request from Admiral Adama to be allowed access to the Colonel."

Now that was unusual. "Read it to me."

"Yes, Sir. Message begins with salutation: To Secretary of State Benjamin Richards and the officers and crew of the Battlestar Olympus. Text of the request: I formally and respectfully ask the bearer of this message be provided immediate and direct access to the Commander of Combined Air-wings of the Terran Defense Fleet. He is the Caprica Representative and it is of critical importance that he be allowed to do so. Signed, William Adama, Admiral, Colonial Fleet."

"And that's a word-for-word translation?"

"Affirmative." She paused, giving me a chance to digest this. "Shall I send him up to you in Conference Delta?"

"I'm in CIC right now. And no. Escort him to her cabin yourself..."

"And his children, Sir?"

"He brought his kids?"

"Apparently, Sir. Two daughters, names are given as Cassandra and Payamintra."

"Young?"

"Very."

"Okay. Escort them all to Thrace's cabin. Make sure the kids don't go wandering off anywhere. I'll call ahead and give them a head's up."

"Understood. Callisto clear."

The line went silent and I was left to puzzle out what I'd heard. Not coming to any immediate conclusions I called over my shoulder "Specialist, give me a line to the COMCAW's quarters." I had promised to alert Kara and company of their visitor.

"Go ahead, Sir," the rating replied after a moment.

It was Shan who picked up. "Colonel Thrace's office."

"Lieutenant Mahn, this is Secretary Richards. The Caprican Representative is aboard and is coming to visit the COMCAW, specifically at the request of Admiral Adama."

"Was a reason given, Sir?"

"No, and that has me a little puzzled. The XO is escorting him and his two daughters to the cabin now."

"Shall I prepare to evacuate?"

"I...don't know. The more I think about this the less sense it makes. Just...just keep yourself ready for anything. Oh, and tell the XO she's to remain there until Thrace gives an 'all clear' to her."

"Understood, Mr. Secretary. Anything else?"

"Not right now, Lieutenant. Richards clear." I set the handset down and contemplated this latest development.

Whatever Adama was playing at, presumably Roslin was in on it and Zarek wasn't, otherwise he'd have likely slipped word to us beforehand. The divisions within the Colonial government were already evident and I'd trying nonstop to keep them under control while the EU had it people around. Last thing any of us needed was Brussels making its own approach to them before we'd gotten them stabilized and settled. This was one of the reasons I'd put Ted on Galactica and had Callisto minding the flight deck.

But this move of Adama's? I couldn't figure what prompted it or what it was in aid of. He knew about Kara, and had put it on record he wasn't going to force the issue of her refusing to go to the Galactica. She was in fact the only subject that actually hadn't come up in the exchanges I'd had with Adama and Roslin since my appearance to the Quorum.

This got me thinking about who I'd just allowed to come on board. Maybe it was simply how bad I was with faces and names – gods alone knew how often I'd called my sisters by our brother's names, and vice versa – but I couldn't immediately recall the name or face of the Caprican delegate. Had he been at that first meeting? I just couldn't recall.

Anyway, who the hell named their kid something as nonsensical and tongue-twisting as 'Payamintra'?

Shaking my head, I conceded this one was a bit beyond me. Fortunately I knew exactly where to inquire to get insight. I kept my eyes on the main AEGIS display, focusing on the blip representing the Galactica, as I called out "Specialist, open a line to Galactica Actual, please."

I drummed my fingers on the planning board and stared a hole in the Galactica's icon as I waited. Eventually the comms monitor informed me "Line open, Sir."

"Thank you," I said superfluously as I lifted the handset and spoke into it. "Galactica Actual?"

"Affirmative, Mr. Secretary." Adama's voice came over the line. "Is there something wrong?"

"You tell me," I replied a tad tightly. "I've got the Delegate from Caprica and his daughters on their way to see Colonel Thrace, all per your written request. Can I ask why you felt this was of, quote, 'critical importance', unquote?"

"Colonel Thrace was a resident of the city of Delphi on Caprica prior to the Cylon's attack. It was felt by the President and myself she should be put in contact with him."

"Nice try, Admiral. You and I both know she was born on Picon. And from what little I know of Colonial law, a citizen's representative is determined by where they were born, not where they're living at any given moment." Something in the Admiral's tone put me on edge. "What's going on here, Adama?"

"Its...personal. That's all I can really say."

"Personal?"

"Yes. Its not...related...in any way to our negotiations."

"Why don't I believe that?" I hadn't meant to say that aloud, but I had and could sense another outburst coming. I needed to defuse this conversation and fast. Unfortunately, the next question that came out didn't help matters there. "Oh, gods. I haven't just put her in some kind of danger have I?" I demanded.

"Of course not!"Adama all but thundered back, causing me to flinch a bit. "How could you think..."

"Well what am I supposed to think, Adama?" I hissed back, mainly because I didn't want or need the CIC crew staring at me right then.

Adama's next reply sounded like he was pulling each word out of his throat with pliers. "You have my word, Kara is in no danger from this visitor."

"Visitors. Plural." I took a breath and tried to calm down. Hadn't I originally called to get information? Now I was on the verge of throwing all goodwill out the airlock and starting a full-blown shouting match with half of the Colonial leadership, over an open line no less. Hardly a good way to proceed.

Being a linguist, I'd long ago learned to listen to vocal cues – inflection, accent and the like – as well as the actual words being said. Thinking over something Adama had said a moment ago, when he paused over the word "related", suddenly had me thinking. Why was that important? It must have meant something if he felt he had to say it...

I went still as a most unsettling scenario came to mind. "Admiral?" I asked with absolute calm.

"Yes, Mr. Secretary?"came Adama's cold reply. I didn't pay it any mind as I asked the question I should have from the start.

"Who is the Caprican Representative?"

Adama took an audible breath. Then, he told me.

I felt my temples start to pound like a chorus of drums. I might have even said, or more likely screamed something aloud as I slammed the handset back down onto its cradle.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I growled as I leaned heavily against the planning table. It was amazing I wasn't completely doubled over and retching up everything I'd eaten in the past week. Instead I just wished I had a stiff espresso at hand right then.

This was a damned nightmare, one that nearly elicited a crazed laugh. The absolute worst part of it was that I should have seen it coming from the moment Case MOSES had been declared, never mind as soon as Galacitca jumped into the system and it turned out Adama was still in charge.

I quickly calculated how long it would take Callisto to lead the 'Representative' to Kara's cabin. It was likely a futile gesture but I barked out "Give me a shipwide line!"

"Go ahead, Sir."

I picked up the handset I'd abused a few moments earlier and said "Pass the word. Lieutenant-Commander Callisto or Lieutenant Mahn contact the CIC immediately."

It was only a few very tense seconds before a reply came. "Lieutenant Mahn, Mr. Secretary." There was a breathless quality to the normally unflappable Vietnamese officer that had me immediately on edge.

"What's happening down there?"

"The Representative has...Sir, Colonel Thrace has ordered we all clear her cabin."

"Wonderful," I muttered. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Sir. I have the children with me..."

"Relocate them to Conference Blue and keep them there for the time being. You have all of them?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then get those nuggets under cover until this blows over. Richards clear."

I dropped the handset and was sprinting out of the CIC. It would take me at least seven minutes to reach Thrace's cabin, which was eight minutes longer than any of us had to avert the likely bloodshed that was to come.

TBC...