Title: Faoi Dheireadh
Part: 38
Rating: PG, maybe PG-13 later
Pairing: A/R
Summary: The survivors of the Holocaust have finally reached Earth, but they find out that's not the end of their problems
Beta: Mariel
Note: I do want to thank Vi, Marta, Axelrajr, Moggie, Rap541, and AlbertG for their expertise. Without their input this story would not be what it is today. Be warned, this takes place sometime near the end of season two. Anything after Epiphanies are conjectures from the author's warped mind. . .

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters are creations of Glen Larson and copywrited by Universal Studios. I make no money off of this.

Colonial speech: " "
English speech: ' '

Chapter Thirty-eight

"What is triad?" Angela asked as she followed Starbuck into the pilot's ward room.

"Card game. You know, I do have to redeem myself somehow. I never thought you'd know how to play pyramid."

Angela shrugged, "Close to handball." As the former liaison sat down, she could feel the weight of the watch Gaeta had given her earlier in the week. The gift had been completely unexpected. And it was something she still didn't know what to do with.

The Terran stayed out of the first hand while the rest seemed to stare each other down. In concept, it seemed close to poker, but the cards were completely different from what she was used to. Then again, she didn't play a lot of poker while on board the Goch. She didn't play because she wasn't any good, it was because she learned very quickly that she was always poor afterwards. Poker and her were not a good match. And if looks were any indication, Starbuck was the queen of this particular game.

The first round eventually ended. When they started passing the cards out again she shook her head and pushed the cards away. "I do not play cards," she answered while shrugging her shoulders.

Gaeta stepped inside the room and smiled. He would join in on the regular triad game, but he was too busy now. Walking around the table, he stopped when he reached Angela. 'How did she get you in?'

'I beat her at handball,' Angela answered with a smug grin.

"Hey! No fair," Kara glared at the XO. "I can't understand what you're saying."

"I only asked her if she was included in the triad game," Gaeta answered with a slight smirk on his face.

'Fold.' Angela put the unknown and confusing cards down, then pushed away from the table. "I do not know what the cards mean, or how to play the game."

"My reasons for getting you to play," Starbuck answered with a grin as she made another bet.

"How much did you loose?" Gaeta asked as they moved down the corridor.

Angela let a smile cross her face before it disappeared, 'Nothing. I never did bet anything. I know for a fact that I am not a good card player.' There was silence for a few moments when Angela decided to break it, "Where are we going?"

They entered the passageways where the senior officers quarters were located before he answered, "Admiral Adama wants to talk to you."

"Did he say what he wanted to talk about?"

"No." Reaching another intersecting corridor, he smiled and added, 'Tonight?'

"Of course," Angela answered with an amused look on her face. She let it drop once he was in the new corridor, but her eyes still showed some of the feelings she felt for the XO. Eventually, she focused on the task at hand, meeting with the Admiral. It was a surprise for her. "You want to see me, sir?" she asked once she was before him.

Adama looked up and let a ghost of a smile soften his features before they hardened once again. "You should know that we are preparing for Baltar's trial." Angela nodded while he continued, "I wanted to warn you that you might be asked to testify."

Angela looked down for a moment, she did not want to hear this particular piece of information. If she were to testify, she would be forced to answer truthfully about her past issues. It would not be a pretty sight.

"I need to know what happened to put someone in the ground forces onto a ship and not in a marine capacity."

"It was either this or resign," she shook her head slowly.

"I'll do everything in my power to make it so you do not have to testify, Lieutenant," Adama answered kindly. "You might have to, however, since he stole your computer."

"I know, sir," she answered slowly.

'Ma'am,' Jack's voice came over the intercom into Mair's office. 'You wanted to be notified of any arrivals. The task force of a light cruiser and two frigates have arrived with the ambassador on board.'

'Has it?' Mair looked up from her reports.

'Yes. Captain Bledsoe also wishes to come on board.'

'Did he say who Terra sent?'

'Yes. And he also stated that he's very gracious.'

'Who, Jack,' Mair hardened her voice slightly.

'A Spaniard from their Royal House. Juan Bourbon Garcia.'

Oh great, another member of the EU, Mair sighed. This was not going the way she intended it to go. 'Where is Bledsoe from?'

Jack answered with a chuckle, 'He's an Aussie.'

It would be interesting for him to meet Adama. Mair let a smile cross her face. 'Let me know when he's ready to come on board.' She was willing to give the ambassador the benefit of the doubt because of Bledsoe.

'Yes, ma'am,' Jack disconnected the line. The ensuing silence was broken only by the sound of the running ship around her. Rising from her chair, she stood there, bracing herself against the desk. Since the dinner and the reception, her problems had been steadily growing worse. Maybe it is time to retire, she thought morbidly. But then who would be an advocate for the Colonials? she questioned herself. They clung to their culture, what little was left of it, but at the same time were desperate for any help that came along. At least Adama was clear-headed enough to know whom to trust. Sighing, she straightened up the rest of the way, then reached for her cane. It was also getting harder for her to walk.

Snapping it open, she leaned heavily on it as she moved to the door. She also hated to be seen like this, in her mind her condition denoted weakness, and it was a physical weakness. Most, if not all people in her condition weren't able to do any constructive work. She was able to get away with it because of Jack. He had been with her for years it seemed. It helped that they were friends from back in the Academy. When she had been given a choice for her executive officer, she had jumped at the chance to put Jack there.

He was still waiting for his first command, and was also given the chance. But he had decided to stay with her for now. That was what surprised her.

'What are you doing?'

Mair looked up from her inspection of the floor with a slight smile. Sometimes his comments bordered on insolence, but it was well meaning at the same time. She knew why he acted the way he did. 'I do need to meet up with Bledsoe, and not wait for him like some despot,' she answered as he eventually fell into step with her. 'I couldn't do that with Donelson because I was too busy,' she finished. 'Spaniard?'

'That's what the file said.'

'I hope he's not too arrogant,' she answered as she jabbed a button on the lift once the door was closed.

'Well, Spain is sort of on the edge of the EU,' Jack offered.

'Lame excuse. They're still a part of it,' Mair answered as she left the small compartment and continued on towards the hanger.

'It's the only one available,' he answered with a slight smile.

'It's still lame,' she answered back. They soon fell into a companionable silence the rest of the way to the hanger deck.

The arrival ceremony was simplistic compared to the one when President Roslin came on board last week. Bledsoe was easy enough to spot in the entourage. Garcia, though, was a bit more difficult. Once she was able to pick him out she saw noticed he was polished and very professional at the same time.

'His Highness Juan Alfonso Bourbon y Garcia,' Bledsoe introduced the new ambassador to the Colonials from Terra.

'It is my honor, Señora Capitán, to make your acquaintance,' Juan said as he formally bowed.

For a moment Mair hesitated, not quite sure how to take the greeting. Ireland had been without any type of ruling house for several centuries. 'The honor is mine,' she answered with a slight smile.

'I would have thought our visitors would be on board your ship, Capitán,' the ambassador looked around for a moment before setting his gaze on Mair once again.

'Your Highness, they prefer their own ships, which I understand.'

'But of course,' he answered with his best smile.

Oh great, I bet he's going to try and steal the Colonial President, she thought disgustedly. 'I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I do have a ship to run. If you will follow my Executive Officer, he can show you to your temporary cabin. The Colonials are very wary of newcomers. They will want to know about you before they offer an invitation for you to meet with their senior Admiral and civilian President.' She was rewarded with a dark look before it disappeared into a pleasant smile.

'But of course, Señora,' he answered then followed Jack out of the hanger.

Mair stood there for some time before she finally turned around. Just as she reached the airlock she was surprised by one of the marines coming into the hanger. 'Ferguson,' she gave him a slight smile as he stepped to the side to let her through. 'I have a possible job for you. I want you to report to security for your instructions,' she said with a slight smile.

'Yes, ma'am!' he answered as he snapped to attention then turned to leave. She would have to send word to her security chief before the marine reached the office. Moving into the airlock once he was gone, she pulled out her pda. 'Security.'

'Yes, ma'am!'

'I want to send two marines over to the Colonials as an honor guard for the ambassador.' Once the door was completely closed, she continued, 'Also, I want them to keep an eye on him. He seems to think he's some kind of Casanova.'

'Yes, ma'am. Wilco.'

'Good. I want them to go over on the next shuttle. Also, I want them to make contact with Lieutenant Glennan and see if they can work with her. It won't hurt if they started learning the Colonial's language.'

'Yes, ma'am. I understand.' He answered.

She ended the short conversation and left the airlock and entered into the lift. Mair knew she needed to sit down and rest really soon or it would not be a pretty sight seeing the CMO scrape her off the deck.

She didn't even get a chance to rest when she arrived at her cabin. Her message system was blinking notifying her of a recent inter-ship call. Sitting down, she waited a few moments before accessing her communications setup. Maybe I can rest when I'm dead, she thought morbidly. 'What does he want now,' she muttered at the identity of the messenger. Not even on board for ten minutes and he's already demanding concessions. 'Yes?' she answered tiredly not even bothering with the honorifics of his birth.

'Señora, I am in need of a translator. I am under the impression that the liaison is fluent?'

You never bothered to find out where Soblet was, and also that Adama kicked him off, she mused before answering. 'The former liaison is still with them. She's fairly fluent,'

'Not good enough, Señora. I need the current liaison.'

'Well, you'll have to go to the brig to talk to him. Admiral Adama had him arrested and then removed after finding him committing espionage. If they find out that you had him reinstated, it will not go over well.'

'Señora, you do not understand. He is the official liaison and I intend to make use of his services.'

Damn. 'All right, Your Highness. I will have someone escort you to the brig.' Neither Adama nor Roslin will like this.

Gaeta shook his head sadly at what the detector was telling him. If only Baltar had come clean at the beginning he would not be in his current situation. He tore the paper off the printer and looked at it for a moment. Now that he knew that the detector worked, he knew he needed to see how he could cut the processing time down. Twelve hours was just too long for any kind of test.

Getting up, he rubbed his bruise gently before heading out. Almost all of the crew he had been passing to a fault would give him a grin. He knew the reason why. They assumed he had gotten it from Angela. The whole thing amused him greatly. He knew of the rumors, but he paid them no mind. He worked hard to keep his personal life completely separate from his job. The hard part was that she was involved with his public life as much as she was with him personally. The only way to keep it to rumors was to have their private involvement as discreet as possible. It helped that the marines would do anything for her, including preserving their privacy.

Not quite sure where Adama was, he decided to swing by CIC. It was late in his shift and it had been a while since he had checked on how things were in the nerve center of the battlestar. His eyes widened in surprise to find Adama standing there and looking up to the DRADIS screens. He was talking to someone over the comm. at the moment.

"I understand that Captain, but I do not want him on my ship ever again," Adama said while lowering his voice to barely above a whisper. "I would prefer to have either Lieutenant Glennan or my own executive officer, Major Gaeta, be the translator than Soblet. . ." Bill looked around a moment then settled his eyes on Gaeta. "Hold," he commented then turned back to Gaeta while placing his hand over the receiver. "How good is your English?"

"Better once. . .Glennan commented that learning it is like learning new computer code." Gaeta let a fleeting smile cross his face before letting it disappear.

"Are you good enough to be a translator?"

"I don't know, sir. I've never done that before."

"Doesn't matter. When the ambassador is here, I want you to make sure of the translation."

"Yes, sir." Gaeta nodded. Looking down, he pulled out the printout he made earlier. "Sir," he said as he handed it over. "You were wanting this."

Adama nodded while turning his attention back to the comm. "Captain, I will have either Lieutenant Glennan or Major Gaeta there during the discussions to make sure that the ambassador is not lying." When he was finished, he lowered the comm. down while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sir?"

"The ambassador has requested the translation services of Soblet. That is why I want either you or Glennan there," he answered while putting the comm. back in place.

"Yes, sir. I'll start studying the language more on my off time."

"So," Bill said after glancing over the printout Gaeta had given him, "It works?"

"Yes, sir. It works. I also want to look at the programming to see if I can cut down the processing time."

"Good. I want you to go by Life Station and have Dr. Cottle test both Valerii and Agathorn with Jankowitz's scanner. If the reports come out the same then we've developed two ways to check for Cylons."

"Yes, sir," Gaeta nodded. "I'll get right on it," he finished while bringing himself to attention. When Adama nodded at him, he turned and left the CIC. He stepped inside Life Station several minutes later. Over in the corner Sharon was standing above the incubator where her daughter was sleeping. The Cylon had its hand on the clear plastic, a look of awe was clearly showing on her face. The Terran doctor was with her while doing the basic medical checks premature newborns regularly went through. She asked the Terran something, but he was too far away to be able to hear her voice clearly. Jankowitz's answer was easily discernible. He shook his head.

Dragging his attention from the scene, Gaeta turned to look for Cottle. Moving over to the CMO's office, he knocked on the closed door.

"It's open," came the muffled answer.

"Sir," Gaeta said as he opened the door. "I was wanting to see if the Terran doctor would let me use his scanner?"

"For the Cylons?" Cottle answered while picking up a file. Beside him, a tendril of smoke rose from the lit cigarette balanced on the side of his ashtray.

"Yes, sir. Baltar's Cylon Detector does work. Or at least I think it does. It marked Valerii as a Cylon and Agathorn as human. I want to make sure that the results are correct and not a fluke."

Cottle sat back while sizing up the younger officer. "Jankowitz!" he suddenly bellowed.

Several minutes later the Terran doctor showed up just on the outside of the small office. "What is it this time?" he asked somewhat bored.

Gaeta's eyes danced for a moment in amusement at the Terran's comment while Cottle answered, "Major Gaeta here has a request."

"Admiral Adama," Gaeta started, "Mentioned to me that your scanner can detect certain biological agents not normally found in humans."

"Oh, the cylon stuff?" Jankowitz asked as he pulled out his pda.

"Yes. I need for you to scan, or test, two people for me."

"Sure. Who do you have in mind?" Jankowitz seemed somewhat more interested in Gaeta's request.

"Valerii and Agathorn."

"She's positive and he's negative," the Terran answered offhandedly.

Gaeta's eyes widened in surprise as he did a double take. "Is that it?"

Jankowitz shrugged his shoulders, "No. It's more complicated than that. But in essence, yes."

Felix closed his eyes for a moment, desperately trying to think of something else to say. "Do you know anything about computers?"

"Not hardly," the Terran answered. "That is unless it deals with medical tests."

"If I showed you the program that we have for detecting cylons, would you be able to see what can be done to refine it?"

"A test is a test, plus I know what to look for," he answered offhandedly as he turned to head back into the large room.

"Not if it takes twelve frakkin' hours to complete," Gaeta grumbled. He looked up, expecting some comment from either doctors, but Jankowitz had already exited the room and Cottle had gone back to the report he had been working on.

"So, when do you want me to take a look at the detector?" the Terran asked while folding his arms once he had exited the cramped office.

"I'll let you know as soon as I get permission from the Admiral," Gaeta answered. Just as he was turning around Cottle commented from the door, "Not so fast Major. I want to take a look at that bruise."

Turning back around he found Cottle was pointing to one of the few free hospital beds. Sighing, he went over and lifted himself onto it.

"Where did you get it?" the CMO asked as he looked at it carefully.

"I was in the brig talking to Baltar," Felix answered. "I wanted to know why he had lied about Valerii's test results. I inadvertently stepped within the danger zone and he yanked me against the bars."

Cottle examined it for a few more minutes before stepping back. "I want you to be more careful next time."

At least he didn't make any snide remarks or innuendoes, Gaeta sighed in relief. "Yes, sir. I plan on it."

Laura stepped inside Bill's quarters and sighed in relief. In the short time she had started staying with him, she had come to see it as home.

"How did it go?" Bill asked from the couch.

"Need you ask?" she muttered as she kicked off her shoes. "You know how it always goes." She sighed as she put the folders on the table. "They demanded evidence."

Bill lowered the book he was reading and answered, "You have it, don't worry."

"Really?" Laura perked up slightly. This was news.

"Yes, Gaeta recently finished testing Helo's blood sample. It came out negative."

Laura thought about what Bill had told her for a moment before letting her attention settle on the book he had. It was odd that it was a soft back book when most, if not all, in his personal library had hard backs. "What are you reading?" she asked as she moved over to the couch and sat down beside him.

Bill flipped the book over to look at its cover. "It was initially for the civilians that were going to visit the museum. Lieutenant Glennan asked about it several days ago."

"You're reading a book written for tourists?" she asked in mock surprise. "You must really be bored."

Bill looked at her over his glasses before turning his attention back to the book. "I wanted to see how much information it contained about the First Cylon War and the buildup to it."

"Can I see?" she asked as she reached over for it.

"Not yet, I haven't finished my examination of it," he answered with an amused look on his face.

"Oh really? It looks more like you're reading it."

"There's something else you need to know about," Adama said as he lowered the book. He paused as the amused look on her face faded.

"It doesn't sound good."

"Not really. The new Terran ships that arrived also brought the ambassador. Captain O'Neill relayed that he's demanding to use Soblet as the translator."

Laura's eyes narrowed, "Definitely not! I do not want that. . .person. . .back on board, especially after what he did."

"Neither do I," Bill answered. "I don't care how angry the ambassador will get, but I will refuse to have Soblet come back on board."

"What about Gaeta? How is he coming along?" Laura asked as she leaned up against him.

"I'm not sure. Glennan is farther along in the process. I want to have both of them there."

"Good idea," Laura mumbled as she snaked an arm around his back. Raising her head back up, she looked at the open book in Bill's lap. "So, is that book interesting?"

"Surprisingly enough, yes. And it doesn't talk down too much to the reader."

"That's nice to know, especially since I picked out the books that would be sold at the gift shop."

TBC...