It was quiet. To a point, Bill couldn't complain, not in the slightest. Other than that the ship couldn't jump away. He didn't disbelieve Jean Luc Picard, in fact a part of him was hoping to see the Cylons face something that would take them down a peg or two. It would be satisfying. Pleasing.

But when the Cylons were quiet, they were usually plotting something. He wanted to see the fight that he could sense was coming, but it was much more important to see that the civilian population was safely settled. The debates were already raging on the wireless about what to do, and already it was clear that while it would be put to a vote quite soon, most of the fleet wanted their own world, with visitation to Earth allowed under Starfleet oversight. At least for the duration of the initial transition period. Afterwards they'd be free to move through the Federation like all the rest of its population. It helped, he was certain, that Vice President Zarek had agreed with Roslin that actually settling on Earth wasn't a viable option. Of course, Zarek was no fool either. Settling on Earth would not only effectively destroy the Colonists as a people, it also destroyed Zarek's political career, and it wasn't like the man could fall back on his old line of work. From his own reading, Adama could tell that the Federation frowned on terrorism. Amongst other things. And he was somewhat convinced the prospect of loosing their positions of power and going back to being nobodies had been a factor for the Quorum members as well. And the president. Laura tried to pretend otherwise, but she was rather attached to being president.

Meanwhile he still had a ship to fix, and a crew to watch out for. He looked down at the new report, made by Lt. Jg. Alghee, who had once been a talented computer science major at the University of Caprica. Alghee had been Gaeta's assistant with navigation, and while she was talented, she was clearly struggling with the work. He knew enough of the tech talk to understand that she couldn't figure out what was wrong. He also knew enough to know that the total tear down and redo that seemed to be the solution was impossible. It would take forever, and they didn't have the parts anyway. It was frustrating because he could almost instinctively sense that the problem could be easily fixed. There were times that he regretted not placing more importance on the CIC staff. Gaeta never had been given time to train anyone.

On the plus side, the exchange seemed to be going off well. He had to admit, he found himself rather enjoying the presence of Lt. Cmdr Worf. Once he had gotten past the man's appearance, the Klingon displayed a sharp wit and certainly was a more martial officer than the other Starfleet officers.

It wasn't a surprise, for example, that Worf was patiently waiting for him in the CIC for the start of the morning shift. Riker was there as well, and both seemed a little off. Not nervous, not exactly. Riker in particular looked like he was about to give some bad news. Gods, Bill thought, please don't tell me someone got into a fight. He had expressly warned everyone to smile and be polite. The people from Starfleet were different, and while he found them pleasant, there was simply no way to know what they might say that could give offense. His crew had been pointedly told in no uncertain terms that no one was to be offensive to them, and nothing the guests did was to be considered offensive. The crew was on its best behavior. And he'd have the head of anyone who couldn't control themselves.

"You're both right on time," he said pleasantly. To Riker he added, " I'm sure Col. Tigh will be here in a moment." That was another one that had gotten a warning.

Riker shrugged. " He was a little… indisposed when I went by but he said he would be here shortly. I'm early. I was hoping to speak with you and perhaps President Roslin. There was an… incident in the recreational area last night. Nothing serious…. But there could be some ramifications."

An incident, Bill thought tiredly. Lovely. " Is anyone hurt?"

" No, no…. nothing like that." Riker was quick to reassure. " It's more of a political problem…."

Even better. " Then its fortunate that Ms. Roslin is already on her way." In fact, Laura was moving onto the Galactica for the time being. It was just getting ridiculous the amount of time she was spending going back and forth from Colonial One. He had made the invitation the night before and she had accepted. It helped, he was certain, that the video wireless broadcasts had to be done from the Galactica in order to accommodate the number of people who wanted to attend. The Quorum meetings would be easier as well. And it would only be for a short time. "Lt. Danvers, what's the eta on the President's runabout?"

"Already landed and on her way here," Danvers said. Danvers, Bill realized suddenly, was one of Cain's men originally. Another one who needed a promotion.

"Advise her to come to my quarters at once." Whatever it was, Laura would want to know. His quarters were probably the only private place on the ship. " Gentlemen, please follow me." But as they were leaving the CIC, Kara Thrace stomped in.

" Sir, I need to speak with you. Privately." She came to attention as she spoke, and Adama could see the fire in her eyes. So she was involved with whatever had happened. He sighed inwardly, somehow that wasn't exactly surprising... Which made the fact that no one was hurt quite amazing.

" In my quarters," he said and he began walking. Riker and Worf followed and in seconds Kara had dashed out in front of him.

" I meant privately… sir. Without our guests." She didn't quite glare at Riker and Worf but she did eye them the way she would interlopers.

Riker smiled slightly. " Captain Thrace… I'm quite certain you want to discuss the same incident in the bar last night that I want to discuss. Am I right?"

After a moment, she nodded. It just gets better, Adama thought. Fortunately his quarters were just off the CIC and he was pleasantly surprised to see Laura waiting patiently by the door. " We have a small problem," Adama said as he ushered her and the others in.

" It wouldn't be a day in the fleet without a problem," Roslin said easily as she took a seat on the small couch. " What's going on?"

" I'm waiting to find out myself," Bill said as he sat down opposite her. " Why don't you begin, Cmdr. Riker." Riker had been first, after all.

" One of our people was very intoxicated in your recreational area." Riker managed to look embarrassed but also concerned. " He… gave out some information on Lt. Cmdr. Gaeta's background that… while it wasn't a secret, it was information that we had hoped to present in a less inflammatory way."

" Considering that Lt. Gaeta was actually from Earth," Adama said after a moment, " I don't know how much more shocking his background could be."

" He's not human," Kara chimed. " Not human."

Adama struggled to keep his composure. "What?"

" Technically, Felix Gaeta isn't entirely human," Riker said after a moment. " But he is a citizen of Earth and the Federation and he is a form of human hybrid. He's not even a full hybrid, he's three quarters human. I realize that this must be a surprise and a shock but it was something that for obvious reasons he couldn't exactly tell you. And like I said, it wasn't something we intended to keep a secret, but you do have to understand that it's partly a privacy issue."

" And what does that mean?" Roslin asked gently. Her tone was even and cool, and Bill was again impressed with her ability to maintain that iron control.

" It's not required for Mr. Gaeta to inform people of his genetic ancestry. He has rights." Riker paused, his tone changing to a far more serious one. Of the "you'd better pay attention" sort". He continued. "The right to privacy is among them, and he is under no obligation to explain his heritage to anyone. There are laws in the Federation that prohibit any sort of discrimination in this respect, and guarantee a measure of privacy to the citizenry. But there are some other concerns as well due to the nature of his non-human ancestry."

" They think he's the grandson of Apollo," Kara snarled. "That stupid frak Jarman said the gods were aliens, and that Gaeta was part god."

And Adama could understand suddenly why Riker felt it was necessary to say something. He wasn't religious at all, and he suspected that while Laura took her visions seriously, she also didn't hesitate to make use of them for political gain if necessary. But Kara Thrace was an entirely different person in that respect. Regardless of the possibility that it was true, and he assumed that it was some sort of gross exaggeration at worst, Kara was no doubt offended. And her reaction was subdued compared to what the average Gemonese civilian would think. And if that had been said in that damned bar, then it was already peculating through the ship. " I trust there's a plausible explanation for this?"

Riker looked awkward. " We don't consider Felix Gaeta to be part god. Not as we understand the concept. He's not much different from a normal human. However… there is a lot of hard evidence to suggest that the alien life form that was Mr. Gaeta's grandfather had masqueraded as the god Apollo on Earth. You can see that evidence if you like. That this life form from Pollux 4 claimed to be the god Apollo doesn't mean that he actually was the god that your people worship…. Even if a lot seems to speak for it. In fact there's really no reason for this to be upsetting, but since I'm certain the basic tale is out there already, you may want to think about how you want to present this."

There was a long moment of silence. Finally Laura leaned back on the couch, and smiled slightly. " Anything else? Anything that might be… I don't know… shattering to our religious faith?"

" In the records…" Riker hesitated. " One of the Federation's greatest heroes, Admiral Kirk, killed Apollo rather than worship him. You can read about it."

"What?" Kara all but screamed.

" It was a glorious battle," Worf said gravely.

Laura nodded. " It's 0800 in the morning, and I have a monumental crisis of faith to deal with. I'd like to speak with Admiral Adama privately if you all don't mind."

Riker rose. " I've already reported this to Captain Picard." Worf merely nodded inscrutably, and they both walked out. Kara stepped forward, her face dark with anger.

" That's it? Have you read the Scroll of Apollo, Madame President," Kara cried.

"I have, Captain Thrace. Be assured on that." Roslin's tone took on an edge that Bill had heard before.

" The president and I will discuss this matter, Captain Thrace." He said it firmly. "I want you to be quiet about this, Starbuck. This could have a lot of ugly ramifications."

For a moment, he was certain she was going to say no. Then with a terse "yes sir!" she snapped a salute and stormed out, leaving him alone with Roslin.

" She's going to be a problem," Roslin said as she leaned back on the couch. " But not our worst one. You understand that this sort of information will devastate the faithful if it's not presented carefully. And it most likely is already circulating in some form already. Kara won't be the only one to think of the Scroll of Apollo. And…." She paused, seeming to think carefully. " You and I need to talk."

" About what?" It wasn't as though he expected a huge amount of problems outside of the Gemonese contigent. After all was said and done, it was really more Laura's problem than his.

Laura took a deep breath. " I knew. I knew Felix Gaeta was from Earth. I knew he wasn't entirely human…. I knew he was the grandson of an non human being that claimed to be Apollo. I've known for about six months."

Bill let his hands rest on the desk. Mustering his last bit of calm, he said, " How did you know that?"

" He told me." Laura said. "And now it's time that I tell you what I've been doing. And what I know."