Bill called her. There was subdued excitement in his tone, as if something potentially good was happening, but he wanted more information before allowing himself to be truly excited. She was right. "One of my raptor crews found an inhabitable planet. I'll send you the reconnaissance photos within the hour."

"Very good, Commander."

She hung up. It was too soon to get excited, but the possibility of a new home for them was attractive.

/

She sat with Billy and Elosha as they pored over the photos. Laura saw an inhabited city. She couldn't believe her eyes, so she blinked, and there were only ruins when she looked again.

Elosha peered at her. "You saw something."

Laura nodded and explained what she'd seen, doing her best to illustrate it. It was enough to send Elosha on a search into her scrolls. She opened to a page, and pointed at a structure, handing the book to Laura. "Is this what you saw?"

"It is."

"This is the Opera House on Kobol. This planet is Kobol, the birthplace of humanity."

"What does it mean exactly?" Billy asked.

"The scrolls are real, Pythia, all of it," Laura said.

"So say we all," said Elosha.

"And there was something else," Laura said. "An arrow." She blinked in an attempt to remember what she'd seen.

"The Arrow of Apollo."

"We'll need it on Kobol," Laura said.

Billy looked unsure, so Laura told him that planet could help them get to their new home. That helped him perk up.

"We need to tell Commander Adama, but..."

"You haven't told him." Elosha said.

Laura shook her head.

"I can use evidence from the scriptures to back me up that it's Kobol," Elosha said. "The rest will be up to you."

Great. What would she tell him? Perhaps the truth would be best.

/

Elosha got him to agree that the planet might be Kobol. He was willing to send a survey team to check its suitability for habitation, but Laura suspected he would have done that regardless of what the planet was, just based on the initial reconnaissance readings.

She requested a private meeting with the Commander, and he cleared the room after issuing his final orders. "What is it, Laura? You seem nervous." He grinned. "That's not like you."

"I have something to tell you, and it'll sound crazy, but it's true."

"You know, you're not a great salesperson for a politician."

"You know about my allergies, right?"

He nodded. "I remember. Are you okay? We could-"

She put up her hand. "I'm fine, Bill. The medicine works great." She smiled. "I haven't sneezed in a week." She sighed. "Instead, I've had visions."

"Visions?"

"It started the morning we found Leoben in the fleet."

Understanding dawned on his face. "That's why you wanted him interrogated."

She nodded. "He said he had something important to tell me in the dream."

He snorted. "That I was a cylon, you mean. Not exactly helping your case, is it?"

"Hmm. You really could have been a lawyer. There have been other visions that relate to the book of Pythia."

"Pythia?"

"She wrote of four leaders who led their people to the promised land, where humanity experienced a rebirth. Earth, Bill. The visions mean I can find it."

"There is no Earth, you know that."

She shook her head. "Just because we've never seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If we send the raider to Caprica, we can retrieve the Arrow of Apollo and bring it to Kobol, and it will lead us to Earth. Our new home, Bill. You can't pass that up."

He sighed. "I thought you weren't religious."

She gave a small smile. "I wasn't. Things change, sometimes. You know that. Is it a problem that I am?"

"No. It's just new."

She watched him process everything. He didn't need to say 'no.' It was written all over his face.

She said that she understood his position, and it was true. She did; she just understood hers better. She walked out of his quarters, knowing her next actions would put them at odds, and she didn't know for how long.

/

"You wanted to see me, sir." Kara Thrace stood in front of her like the pilot was reporting to detention, which probably had occurred frequently in the girl's youth.

"I did. Thank you." She smiled. "You can relax, Lieutenant. You're not in trouble. Quite the opposite, in fact."

"If you don't mind, I'd like you to rip off the band-aid."

"Fair enough. Are you religious?"

Kara bristled. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes I am."

"Then you know about how time replays itself. That 'all of this has happened before-"

"And all of this will happen again, yeah. What's your point? I don't need a lesson on the Scriptures."

"Lieutenant, what do you know of the four leaders?"

Kara's eyes widened. "They led the people to the promised land. Apparently the teacher and the soldier were really hot for each other too. It sucks, though, because the story cuts off just when it's getting good."

Laura smiled. This young woman was someone whom she'd enjoy knowing better. "It does suck, doesn't it? Kara, I believe you have a special destiny."

Kara blinked. "What?"

"A special destiny?"

"Don't...I don't like that phrase. It reminds me of something, I'd rather forget."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that. I just mean you have a big role in all of this. One that will help lead us to Earth."

"Are you saying you think I'm one of the Four?"

"Yes. I am. That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Which one?"

Laura smiled. "I believe you're the shepherd. Because you always find a way. I mean, you made it back to us in a raider, and you're the only one who could figure out how to fly it. And that's just one example in the short time I've known you."

Kara nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. Do you know the others?"

Laura nodded. "I'm the teacher-"

Kara snorted. "Yeah, that's about right. And the Old Man's the soldier, right? That explains the way you were feeling each other up the other night." She became serious. "He doesn't know, does he?"

Laura shook her head. "No, he doesn't. I tried to tell him-although less candidly than I am with you."

"He knows where Earth is, he'll get us there."

Laura frowned. "Kara, I'm afraid that's not true. He has no clue where Earth is, but if the four of us work together, we'll find it."

"The Old Man said he knows-"

"He was lying. Telling a story to give the people hope."

"He's not a liar. He wouldn't."

"Ask him."

Kara straightened. "I will."

"And when you learn I'm right, I want you to take the raider to Caprica, and I want you to find the Arrow of Apollo and bring it back to us." Laura cleared her throat. "Once we have the Arrow, the four of us will bring it to Kobol. We'll take it to the tomb of Athena, and it will show us the way to Earth. Lee Adama is the archer, by the way."

Kara's eyebrows rose.

"Makes sense, doesn't it? And from what I understand, things between the archer and the shepherd are pretty heady as well."

Kara rolled her eyes. "I won't promise anything until I talk to the Old Man."

"I admire your loyalty, Lieutenant Thrace. It's a trait I don't often see in my line of work, I'm afraid."

Kara nodded, clearly unsure of what to say to the compliment. For one so confident and talented, the young woman had a vulnerability Laura didn't expect. "Will that be all, Sir?"

Laura nodded. "I'll see you on Kobol, Lieutenant."

/

Dee put Kara through to Galactica actual. Bill listened as Kara told him he was a liar. "You lied to me, Sir, but you're still the Old Man."

"I am. And everything I've done, I can live with. Make sure you can live with whatever it is you do."

"Sir, I'm not disobeying you, not really."

"It sure looks it from where I'm standing."

"I'm following an order you haven't given yet."

"And how do you know what my orders will be?"

"Because they'll be whatever your wife says."

"My wife...Starbuck, she's dead. What are you talking about?"

"You're gonna have to ask the President, Sir. I'll see you on Kobol, Old Man."

Then she was gone. Poof.

Saul asked, "Where the frak'd she go?"

"Home," Bill said.

Things were a mess. They had a battle to win, and Laura was making a power play, using his kid against him. And what the frak was that about a wife?

"What's she doing, Bill?"

"Whatever the President told her."

Saul snorted. "No one coerces Starbuck."

"Oh, yeah, you might want to listen to this then." He picked up the wireless, as Dee put him through to the President.

"Madame President, Starbuck has just jumped away in the raider."

"Ask me what you really want to, Commander. Did I tell her to take it to Caprica? Yes, I did."

"Then, Madame President, I'm going to have to ask for your resignation."

"You sure about that, Bill? It didn't go so well for the last person who tried that. If you want me, you're gonna have to come over here and get me."

He grunted. "See you soon, then." He turned to Saul. "I'm getting her myself. You have the con."

"Bill, why?"

"I have a feeling it'll be much quicker this way."

He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. He was angry, yes, but Kara was convinced Laura was right; otherwise, she never would have betrayed Bill. Her loyalty to him was one of the surest things in the universe, and according to Kara, still intact. Laura had an explanation, and he wouldn't get it with Saul's and the marines' interference.