"Did you hear one of those Starfleet guys got drunk off his ass on ambrosia," one of the young marines said as they prepared for duty.

Venner, the sergeant, listened halfheartedly. Gossip about the Starfleet officers was all well and good but he was more concerned with their upcoming mission. Guarding the food supplies as they were being distributed to the different ships was tricky and exhausting. The admiral had made it very clear that the distributions were to be orderly and non violent. That meant no weapons other than pepper spray and he wasn't all that certain that years old pepper spray would work, let alone hold back a wild crowd.

" Yeah, he was drunk all right. Frakking lightweights all of them," said the other private. " But he said something about Lt. Gaeta…"

Venner listened. He'd never had a problem with Gaeta. A prissy bastard, but fair with duty and with inspections, and he'd been an enlisted marine before becoming a fleet officer. Marine Basic was hard core tough, Venner had hated every minute of it, and he knew how rare it was for someone to get the golden ticket to the Academy. Which meant Gaeta wasn't just the typical chicken shit deck officer.

Getting them to Earth was a nice plus as well.

The second private continued, " He said… Lt. Gaeta was Apollo's grandson. Like in the prophecies."

The first private scoffed. " I never read a prophecy that said Apollo had kids."

" You two!" Venner shouted. "Shut up and get your gear ready. You're burning daylight and we need to be on the deck ready to go in ten minutes." The two young marines scurried to finish preparing.

That gave Venner a few moments to think. His mother and father had been true believers, believers of all the scripture, not just the convenient ones, and he knew the prophecies that the young Leonid private had so openly derided. Apollo would send his child, when the people were in dire crisis, to save the chosen.

His duty was on the Gemini Traveler, and that was fortunate indeed. Many of the remaining religious scholars lived there.

0o0o0o0o0

She hurt. Her head ached fiercely and her arm… it burned like it was on fire. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmonson opened her eyes, and found herself staring up into the face of… "You're an elf… I didn't know there'd be elves in the Elysium Fields."

The elf looked down at her. " You're not dead," and it sounded female and curtly annoyed, " and I am not an elf. Dr. Cottle, Lt. Edmonson is awake."

Cottle was suddenly there, and Racetrack began to understand. She hadn't been killed, Kara had somehow gotten them to safety, and oddly the headache was quickly fading. Faster than it should, she'd had concussions before. Cottle looked down at her. " How are you feeling? Dr. T'Kil tried some Starfleet quackery, and I want to make sure it doesn't kill you."

The elf, the Vulcan, Racetrack corrected herself, looked at Cottle and arched her eyebrow. " You have a truly terrible bed side manner."

Cottle lit up a cigarette. " Yeah. And you have pointed ears. Now that we've both stated the obvious, Racetrack, how is your head?"

" It… its not really hurting now…." Which was nice, because the initial wake up had hurt like hell, but it also allowed her to focus on her arm and how it hurt. " My arm…"

The Vulcan looked at Cottle, who nodded and then to her. " We will treat that in a similar fashion," T'Kil said, as she began to apply some odd metallic looking devices to Racetrack's arm. Almost immediately the pain was eased. T'Kil moved to her side and helped her sit up. Then she applied an unusual looking splint. " Your arm will be healed within the hour. Normally I would allow you to leave but Dr. Cottle is… being cautious so you'll need to stay for a few hours."

" I want to make sure all this new stuff frakking works," Cottle added. He gestured to the nearly empty sickbay. " No one has died yet so chances are good that you'll live." He took a long drag and smiled as a hugely pregnant woman walked into the sickbay. " Looks like the twins are arriving. Ever had a baby, Dr. T'kil?"

" I have had three," T'Kil said, her tone deadpan.

" Then you know you'll probably want to wear gloves for this." Cottle chuckled and strode off to the pregnant woman. T'Kil didn't say anything but Racetrack sensed the alien woman was annoyed.

" Dr. Cottle is always like this," Racetrack said helpfully. " It's not you. And thank you, my head and arm feel much better." In fact she could almost feel the healing take place.

T'Kil eyed her. " There is no need for thanks. I am a physician, therefore I heal injuries." She paused. " Dr. Cottle is much like my first human mentor." Then she handed Racetrack a computer padd. " Many of the patients waiting are reading the treaty offer. You could do that if you like. Or, if you like stories about elves, you could read this." T'Kil pointed to a reading choice.

" The Hobbit?" It didn't sound interesting but it had been so long since she'd had anything to read that wasn't a report about Cylons.

" It's a classic of Earth literature," T'Kil said. They both looked as a piercing wail came from the pregnant woman. T'Kil frowned. " I must assist. Prenatal care has been almost non-existent here." She strode off, but after a moment Racetrack didn't care, as she began to take in the tale of Bilbo Baggins.

0o0o0o0o0

" Is that from the Earth people," Sheri asked Cally as she fingered Nicholas's new outfit.

" Yes," Cally said excitedly as she pulled her friend into their quarters. " They had packages for all the kids. Mostly things like clothes and blankets and soap…" And it had hurt a little, taking charity, but she had agreed with what Galen had said the night before, when the box had been delivered. The holy scrolls said that accepting charity gracefully when in need was a virtue, and they just had to remember to give charity freely when they were able. And Nicholas had never had new clothes or bedding. She pointed to the brightly colored comforter that already lined Nicholas's bed. " Here, let me show you… There were even some story books and toys."

" Bear!" Nicholas added cheerfully, reaching out to the stuffed animal that was on his small bed. Cally set him down on the bed and returned her attention to Sheri. " It's just nice that he can play with something that's not… one of our tools, you know?"

" Yeah, and I never thought we'd live to see Earth, to tell you the truth," Sheri said. " So… are you sure Chief Tyrol won't mind my borrowing it?"

" No… Just be careful with it." Cally sniffed as she took the small book down from their makeshift bookshelf. " Why do you want it, anyway?"

"Oh I heard something last night…." Sheri shrugged nervously. " I'm not… you know, religious but… They said something about Lt. Gaeta and the Scroll of Apollo and I wanted to see what they meant…."

0o0o0o0o0

" It could be blasphemy," Mariah Hastings the senior priestess in his faction said. " The 13th Colonists appear to be enamored with secular humanism, and this could be an initial attempt to undermine our faith. Still…There are still a few who disagree with the interpretation of the Pythian Prophecies made by and for President Roslin. Despite finding the Temple of Athena, there are still minor factions who don't believe Laura Roslin is the leader of the prophecy. This… rumor… could be a reaction to that, to discredit her claims.

" And that…" Tom Zarek said, his eyes sparkling, "Could be very good news for me."

0o0o0o0o0

Gauis Baltar looked down at the tray of food. " Why am I not receiving any of the new food rations?"

The guards chuckled. " Because prisoners," the female guard snarled, " don't rate special rations. You're getting an extra ration bar. So shut up."

" If you're quiet," the male guard said, " We'll let you listen to the big wireless show."

" Yeah, President Roslin and the second in command of the Enterprise, are going to talk about the treaty offer and take questions." The female guard eyed him carefully. " So its your choice. Take your breakfast and be quiet and get to listen to the show, or keep mouthing off and go sit in the solitary cell. Remember what happened the last time you were in the solitary cell? Lt. Gaeta stabbed you."

Baltar took the tray without another word. The taunts of the guards were just that, taunts. He was no fool. The arrival of the Earth ship dramatically increased the chance that he would someday be freed. The Federation, as it called itself, was clearly a more lawful state than the dictatorship of Laura Roslin and her lapdog Bill Adama. He had been allowed a paper copy of the treaty offer and had realized with no small amount of glee that the Federation was not going to stand for a prisoner being locked up without a trial. And guilty as he was, there was nothing that anyone could prove.

Even accusing Felix Gaeta of being a Cylon could be argued as a self defense measure. He rather doubted Felix would even be willing to press that charge, since it led directly to the lieutenant's oh so charming attack. The memory of that attack burned almost as much as the new knowledge that he had been completely wrong about his ex assistant and aide.

But he wanted to hear the wireless show and that meant appeasing the guards, who weren't in bad moods from what he could tell. They were snickering over a Starfleet officer getting drunk Clods, he thought darkly.

" The president and a Starfleet officer, answering questions from the populace," chimed a sultry voice, " Charming, isn't it? It should have been you there."

He didn't look up. It was her, of course. " It's not."

" No," Six cooed in his ear. " They're foolish, all humans are… but they're not so foolish that they'd ever let you have power again. But… I think you should listen to this wireless broadcast very carefully."

" Why?" he muttered darkly, willing himself to not get aroused by her voice.

" Because the public is finding out something you already knew." She kissed his lips. " Did you think I'd forget your love of revenge? Do you like seeing little Felix, your sad little errand boy who tried to kill you held up as a hero?"

" No…." If only because it made one Gauis Baltar look like a fool. Up until their discovery of Starfleet and the Federation, he had been quite willing to forgive and forget Felix. A regrettable loss really, Gaeta and his naïve honesty and sense of duty had eased the way more than once. But while he could conceivably admit if just to himself that he had pushed Gaeta into a breakdown, he couldn't forgive the man tricking him like he had tricked so many others. There was a part of him, a very small part to be sure, that was jealous of Felix Gaeta's ability to lie.

Six nibbled on his ear. " You'll remember… and you'll have your chance for revenge."