***Another chapter with graphic sexual content.

XXXVII

"Oh, yeah, Robbie, gods yes." Casey Merril was moaning and writhing as she was propped up on her elbows, looking down at her lover, whose mouth was devouring her wet folds and the nub of nerve-filled flesh directly above it. "That's it, baby!"

A few spasmodic moments later, she climaxed and moaned loudly, her eyes filled with spots, almost passing out from the sheer overload of her senses. She collapsed back on the bed, still breathing frantically, her whole body shaking with pleasure, while Robbie kept up a slow, languid finish of the oral assault.

Roberta finally slid up Casey's body, planting small kisses on her cheek, her jaw and finding her lips. "You tired already?", the Raptor pilot said with a giggle.

"Already? Girl, we've been fracking for four hours straight. Have some mercy!" They both laughed loudly as Casey was trying to further calm her breathing. "Just lay here next to me and relax for a bit, OK?"

"Wimp", Roberta chided her, receiving a light smack on her ass as a reply. Casey finally calmed down, tired and sated. They continued to simply kiss and snuggle for a while longer.

The two women dressed, then went into the small living room to have a small glass of ambrosia, sitting next to each other, idly talking and laughing. Casey decided she needed to make her move.

"Honey", she said earnestly, "I wonder if you can do me a huge favor?"

Roberta arched her eyes. "What, six orgasms and you want another favor?"

Casey laughed delightedly. "No, that's quite enough of that for now." She took a deep breath. "Do you know of Admiral Thrace-Bond?

"Of course I do, you goof! I'm actually stationed on her ship, the Laura Roslin. Why do you ask?"

"I have a much older friend", the Caprican began to explain, "who I've known for years. We were talking with some other people, and the Admiral's name came up. My friend blurted out that she had served with the Admiral before The Holocaust. She was so excited that she sat down and wrote a letter." Casey then blushed. "I told her I'd try to somehow get the letter to the Admiral, as I knew a few of the pilots. I was wondering if you could personally deliver it to the Admiral."

Roberta looked at her sometimes-lover sideways. "This is legit?"

Casey nodded earnestly. "Oh, yes it's legit. I've checked it out. She didn't even know the Admiral was here until she heard her name, and just wants to get this letter to her, and she's hoping maybe the Admiral will send one back."

Roberta thought about it. "I do have to go back to the ship tonight. I have to fly a CAP in the morning. I can take the letter to her and see if she wants to return the favor. That good enough?"

Casey leaned in and gave Roberta a sweet kiss. "Yes, thank you, love", she said gently. "I know it will be appreciated."

As she had promised, Kara had ridden shotgun with her brother Nick on two more refugee pick-up runs, landing on the Roslin after the final drop. On final, she had let Commander Carrico know that she and Nick were going directly to the hospital ward. When they arrived in the waiting area, the whole family but their mother was present. It was obvious that her mother was with her dad.

Nick immediately went to Natalie and wrapped her up tightly, kissing her passionately on the lips. "Now that is what I needed, my dear."

"I was thinking the same thing, Commander", his wife replied tenderly. "One thing I will be glad of is when the war is over, I'll see a lot more of you."

Nick nodded solemnly. "Amen to that, babe. How are you and our future arrival feeling?"

"I feel very well, Nick", she said with genuine happiness. "This munchkin is playing football in there, but I've gotten used to that."

"An athlete, huh?" He smirked at her.

"As long as she is healthy, and I can keep her from becoming a pilot like her father, her grandfather and her aunt, then I'll be happy."

Nick laughed uproariously. "Already have her avoiding the military?"

"Avoiding flying, if at all possible", she said with a wink. "You three jocks are going to have a bad enough influence on these two as it is." They both laughed and kissed once more.

Abby was updating Kara on their father's condition.

"Yeah, he's awake now and he seems to be all there", the youngest Bond child said with relief. "His speech is a little slow, obviously, but that's normal. Gaius says in about a week, they will start running cognitive and physical tests to gauge where he's at and where he still might need some work done."

Nick came up behind both of them, hugging his youngest sister. "Sounds good, Abby", he said with his own relief. "Think mom would mind if Starbuck and I popped in to say hi?"

"Heck no, go in. We've been in a few times today, but want to give mom some time alone with him as well. They'll be thrilled to see both of you."

"C'mon, Admiral", Nick said with a smirk, "let's go see the old folks."

Kara simply rolled her eyes. "He thinks he's the Admiral", she remarked, winking at Brett, Abby, and Natalie, who snickered back.

A few moments later, they quietly opened the door, their mother looking up, beaming over at them. She looked down at her husband. "I think the rest of the family has shown up, dear."

Justin Bond, still quite exhausted, nevertheless smiled warmly at his two children. "Nick, Kara, hey, it's good to see you."

Kara reached him first, the tears coming out, and kissing him sweetly on his cheek. "Dad!", she exclaimed softly. "Oh God, it's good to see you awake!" She kissed him again.

"Can't keep a good man down", he said in the same weak, tired voice, but it sounded like Heaven to Kara. "How are you, my dear?"

"I'm pretty much back to normal", she said with a wink. He gave her a small laugh.

"I don't think anyone in this family is quite normal, Starbuck." He winked at her.

"Well, you got that right. Whose fault is that?" She kissed him again, then moved aside.

"Hey dad", Nick said, sitting down next to him, "good to see you."

"Good to be seen, son", he offered. "I'm tired as hell, but at least I know who I am and who all of you are."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Nick's humor had always seen him through tough, emotional times. Everyone chuckled.

"I'm not sure yet", the former Governor said with a smile. Nick leaned over and kissed his father on the forehead.

"We've been picking up refugees who are fleeing the mountain. Kara hitched a ride with me for the last few runs. I think we're near the end, dad."

Justin looked up with sadness. "That's good, that's good." He had raged at the need to fight these people. He had further raged that the man who led the enemy had once been deeply in love with his adopted daughter. He didn't begrudge what she and Clevin Monteith had together before The Cylons: it was the hurt that it had caused her daughter that made him angry. "The sooner the better."

Their mother interrupted. "Kids, I don't want to cut it short, but dad needs to get as much rest as he can over the next few days."

"I kind of like this sleeping twenty hours a day", the former American President said with some mirth.

"Yeah, you're a lifer, dad", Nick joked. He leaned over his father once more, kissing him again. "I love you, dad. I'll see you soon."

Kara was right behind him. "Get some rest, old man", she said playfully, then became serious. "I love you so much."

Within a matter of minutes, Justin Bond was asleep again.

Casey and Roberta were back out on the town later that evening, eating at another restaurant. Roberta warned her that she had to leave early so she could get a decent nights' sleep as she had to fly CAP in the morning.

"That's fine, Robbie", she told her lover of that day. "No alcohol for you. I want you sharp for the morning."

"Oh, you're no fun", Roberta said coyly.

Casey Merril leaned into her friend. "You weren't saying that a few hours ago, honey?"

The Raptor pilot's eyes twinkled at the Caprican. "We aren't doing what we did a few hours ago, love." They both laughed.

They had a good dinner, again having a wonderful time. Around 2200, Roberta called it a night.

"Darlin', I need to get over to the ship so I can get some shut-eye."

"I know", Casey said with disappointment. "Yeah, it was my idea to get you outta her early, but I still don't like it."

"I'll see you again maybe as early as tomorrow, my love", Roberta Pyne assured her. "I will get this letter to Admiral Thrace-Bond tonight somehow. Maybe when I come off CAP tomorrow, I'll have a return letter."

"That would make my day, sexy lady." She planted a hot kiss on Robbie's lips. "OK, before I get crazy kissing you and wanting to rip your clothes off again, get going." That didn't stop Roberta from kissing her again. "By the gods, girl, you'll be the death of me!"

Roberta simply smiled. "What a way to go, right?" One more lusty kiss and they broke. "I'll see you soon, my dear."

"You better", Casey said with a playful laugh. "Safe flying home tonight."

"Always". She blew the native of this world one more kiss, then headed toward the UED base.

As promised, Colonel Clarey had sent in excess of one-hundred operatives into the Caprica City area. The physical size of the city was enormous, but most of the establishments that had opened since UED arrived two years ago were on the southern end of the city. UED had helped clean up that part of town, even restored power, and local businesses thrived off of visits from UED personnel and those who had migrated to the city since UED had arrived. A temporary local currency system had been instituted, simply to get some form of economy +going. So far, it had brought a small section of the former Colonial Capital back to life.

That being the case, most of the food and drinking establishments were located within an easy distance of the Base. Canvassing wasn't as difficult as it could be had the entire city been heavily populated.

One of the MP's undercover was Officer Karam Kayal, who hailed from Chennai, India. He had joined UED in 2040 at the age of twenty-one. He had wanted to fly Falcons or Raptors, but he didn't pass the physical, but he was a good security guard and he had the knack for staying very cool in tough situations.

He had been around and about for several hours. He had run into a few people in the local establishments who recognized the subject, at least in passing, that, yes, they believe they had seen her somewhere before but could not be sure. That was a start. He had made is way over to the Mos Eisley Cantina. He had patronized the place himself. It was one of the more popular and better establishments in the city. At that point, he was starving, so he ordered some meat from an animal that resembled a bison, along with some soup and onion rings, plus an iced tea. He began to eat as if he was not aware of anyone else. His eyes were discreetly at work.

His drink ran out and he signaled to the waitress for another. When she arrived with the beverage nodded his head.

"Thank you, miss", he said with a pleasant smile. "By the way, if I may ask you something? I have a friend of mine that I think used to come here. I haven't seen her in ages. Would you know her if I told you her name?"

The waitress smiled. "I see a lot of people here, but if she comes here often, there's a good chance I ran into her."

"Her name is Casey Merril." He gave her the description of the woman.

"Casey!", the woman said with a smile. "Yeah, she's about as close to being a regular here and still not being one. She'll be gone for months at a time, you know? But then she'll show up for a week or so, then go...wherever she goes. She's a good, sweet kid."

"Really?" The MP dressed in civvies raised his eyebrows. "Hmpf, what do you know?" He smiled up at his server. "She been in recently?"

"Yeah, you missed her by a couple of hours", the young lady said with a frown. "She was in here earlier and left with...well, shall we say, a close female friend of hers." She gave him a knowing smile and he chuckled back.

"Yeah, that sounds like Casey, but you're right, she's a sweetheart."

"Hey", the waitress said with her eyes widening, "if I see her here I could give you a call and let you know."

"I'd like that", Karam said with a broad smile, then told her to move closer. "Just don't tell her, if you don't mind? I haven't seen her in like a year and I'd like to surprise her."

"It's our secret", the young lady said sweetly. The MP gave her a private number where he could be reached, and when he left, he made sure to have a larger-than-usual tip on the table. He needed to report back to the base.

Colonel Clarey was already asleep when Officer Kayal returned. Like all UED field offices, they were staffed twenty-nine-hours a day, seven days a week. He checked in immediately with the watch officer on duty.

"Hey Tony", Karam said to the Watch Officer, "how are you doing?"

"Can't complain, Karam", Tony said with a smile. "You been canvassing tonight?"

"Yep", Kayal said with a broad smile.

Tony looked at him with a sly grin. "Either you got laid earlier tonight, or you've got some information on our subject. I happen to know what a shitty poker player you are." Both men laughed.

"Guilty", Karam continued to chuckle. "I wish it were the former, but it is the latter. I've had a positive ID from a waitress that our girl frequents her establishment...and that she's currently in the area."

Tony's head came back up, a now-serious look on his face. "You're fuckin' kidding me?" Tony put down the work he had been hauling around and went to his pick, immediately getting on the base phone system. "Captain Ross, Tony Archuleta at the watch desk. You need to wake up Colonel Clarey immediately. OK...thanks Mark."

Karam looked at him with wide eyes. "You're kicking some serious butt tonight, Tony. You didn't..."

"The Colonel said if we get any type of positive ID to let him know immediately. I think this qualifies."

The other MP looked impressed. "Damn. Well", he said with a sigh, "I guess I'm going to have to hang around for a while. You got any coffee around?"

His comrade grinned. "Just put on a fresh pot. I'll get you some when it's ready."

Lieutenant Roberta Pyne piloted her Raptor back to the Laura Roslin. It was about 2300 when she skidded to a stop on the starboard side. A few minutes later, she was headed towards CIC to see if Admiral Thrace-Bond was there. Surprisingly she was.

She had been to CIC before and had even talked to her Admiral, yet she doubted The Boss remembered her. As she entered, a security guard met her.

"Can I help you, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, um", she slightly stuttered, "I wish to talk to the Admiral."

The guard nodded politely. "Can I inquire as to the subject?"

"Yes." Robbie cleared her throat again. "I was given a letter on the surface from someone who served with the Admiral years ago, and recently found out she was with The Fleet. A friend of mine asked me to deliver it to the Admiral."

The male guard smiled. "One moment while I advise the Admiral of this."

Kara wasn't particularly busy, being only an hour from calling it an evening. The guard approached her.

"Admiral", he said respectfully.

Kara turned to face the guard. "Yes, Curt, what is it?"

He motioned to Lieutenant Pyne who was still at the doors of CIC and explained his conversation with her. Kara's outward appearance didn't change, but inside her mind went into overdrive.

A friend I used to serve with? Is that possible? "Curt, she didn't give you a name or anything?"

"No, sir", he said quickly. "She said a friend of hers gave her the letter. Said it was from someone you knew a long time ago."

"I wonder who it could..." Kara froze for a moment. "Sargent, I'll handle it from here, thank you very much." Kara walked as casually as she could over to the pilot with a smile on her face.

"Lieutenant Pyne", she said graciously, "I haven't seen you for a while. I hope you've been well."

"Yes, sir", Roberta said with some nervousness. "I've been doing more than a few runs picking up the refugees."

"Very good", Kara said, hoping she didn't show the angst she was feeling. "Lieutenant, will you come with me to my quarters for a few moments?"

"Yes, sir." Now Robbie was scared she would get a chewing out. Her fears were groundless.

"I hear you have a letter from an old friend of mine?"

"Yes, sir. A good friend of mine knows this person who she said you knew back before The Holocaust, found out you're with The Fleet and wanted to get in touch with you."

"Hmpf", Kara said, if stumped, knowing full-well now who the letter was probably from. "It's entirely possible. Your friend didn't give you a name."

Lieutenant Pyne shook her head. "No, sir. That it was a friend of hers."

"It's kind of out-of-the-ordinary, but this whole fracking thing is that way." She smiled at the younger woman to put her at east. "Do you have the letter with you?"

"Oh, yes, sir", she said, almost forgetting she had the damn thing. She pulled it out and handed it over.

"Lieutenant, would you mind if I read this in my private quarters for a few moments?" Kara went to her small ice box and pulled out a bottle of water for the pilot. "Here you go, just relax for a few moments. I'll be right back."

Roberta finally took a seat on the other side of the desk, finally relaxing somewhat.

Kara closed the door to the outer office, wanting to open the letter, yet not wanting to open it at the same time. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened the envelope, unfolding the letter:

Kara;

This is the only way I thought I could contact you. I have been in turmoil since seeing you when you delivered the ultimatum. As you read this, you know that it won't be long until your UED has over-run The Kingdom, and I suspect I won't survive the finish.

I don't want how we saw each other to be the last time. We never had closure when The Cylons came. I would like some closure now. I would like to see you one last time before the end. I have a safe spot we can meet. If you agree, please write me back, and give it to whomever my operative gave it to. I will agree to your terms as to the time when we will meet.

Clevin

"Jesus Christ", Kara breathed, her hands shaking. "Goddammit, Clevin, we're fighting a fucking war against you! I can't just show up!" She raged at him even if only by whispering. She needed a few moments to think.

She went to the kitchen, grabbed a high-ball glass, and poured two fingers of straight bourbon, knocking it back in one gulp. Her mind was racing.

I don't want that to be the way it ends, either, she thought to herself, but Christ, can I really see him again? What would he want to say to me? What could I say to him?

She poured another small glass and knocked it back just as quickly. She was still thinking as she held the empty glass. Her eyes focused, and she brought the glass down hard onto the countertop. She went to her bathroom, brushed her teeth, and even put a breath mint in her mouth to try and cover the alcohol.

She went to her desk in the bedroom, pulled out a pad of paper and pen, and began writing furiously on it. She had an envelope tucked away with the paper, and sealed the letter inside. She hurried back out, knowing if she didn't she might change her mind.

She was calm on the outside again as she re-entered her outer office. "Thank you, Lieutenant, for waiting. I appreciate it." Kara held out the envelope. "I've written a reply to my friend. If you could be so kind to give it to your friend so she can hand it over, I would be most grateful."

"Yes, sir", Robert said, rising with a smile on her face. "I am on CAP in the morning, sir, I can deliver it after I'm done with my rotation.

The Admiral nodded. "That would be perfect, Lieutenant Pyne. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You're dismissed."

The Lieutenant saluted her Boss who returned the honor and left, almost ready to collapse from how nervous she had been.

Back in her office, Kara knew that the sleep she had been craving would not come this night.