AN: I've been terrible at responding to reviews lately (and posting regularly) so I just want to send a big thank you, they are very much appreciated and help keep me motivated.

Chapter 52

Caroline had stared up at the trail left by the ship until there was nothing left, feeling a burning ache in her chest as the ship had lifted off and flown away, not knowing if the pain would stop until Ford came back.

Even when twenty minutes had gone by, after her colleagues had all disappeared inside, she stood there, staring up into the clouds. But she was not alone. Standing forlorn next to her was Blue Eyes who seemed to be harbouring the same emotions as her.

It wasn't until thirty minutes had gone by, when Howell came out and walked up behind them, that they stopped.

"They've made contact," he had said, making Caroline and Blue Eyes turn round, finally taking their eyes away from the skies. "Everything seems fine."

"Have they found their people?" asked Caroline trying to mask the desperation in her voice. She tried to hide her love for Ford, but knew Howell could see right through her.

"Yes," replied Howell with a smile. "And they jumped away with another ship."

"They actually did a faster than light jump?"

"Looks like Ford and the others will go down in the history books."

Caroline was beaming with pride, concern and a slight pang of jealousy as she imagined what Ford was seeing right now, wondering if he was looking at one of the planets she had only been able to see through a telescope. She wished she could be with him, sharing in the incredible.

She turned her gaze towards Blue Eyes, trying to ascertain what he was thinking. The man looked lonely. Howell nodded his head towards him and walked away leaving them alone.

"You okay?" she asked staring up at him, waiting for the translation.

The man's eyes were magnetic as he looked down at her and Caroline imagined he could draw any woman in if he wanted to, but if she had learnt anything over the past few months, it was that this man was fully dedicated to, and in love with, his wife.

"I'm fine," he replied in almost a whisper.

"They made the jump. That's good right?"

"Yep," replied Blue Eyes but he still looked lost.

She figured he was missing his wife and children. "Hopefully this mission will go fine and then you'll get a chance to go home."

He didn't respond straight away, staring up at the clouds again. "I hate being left behind to wait," he said at last and Caroline could see the sadness in his face.

"Does that happen a lot?"

Blue Eyes smiled ruefully, "too many times." With his head bowed he walked slowly back towards the base.

Caroline suspect there was a lot she didn't know about their guests' long journey to Earth. She followed behind Blue Eyes until she was surrounded by the warmth of the base. He was waiting with a security detail to be escorted back to his room so she walked with them, aware that the man seemed to be eyeing her with suspicion.

"Are you still going to be watching us all the time?" he asked as they walked through a series of corridors.

"Not as much," replied Caroline.

"So what are we going to be doing here whilst we wait?"

She had to be honest that she had no idea. They had been too wrapped up in getting the ship ready to decide what to do with the guests that were left behind. "I'm not sure."

"Great," replied Blue Eyes blandly.

They were silent for the rest of the walk back and Blue Eyes had entered his room without another word to her. She had watched through the glass as he flopped down onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling before pulling something out of his pocket. It was the photograph of him, Blondie and the two toddlers. He looked at it longingly, his eyes seeming to well up, and then held it to his chest.

Turning around, Caroline walked away in shame.

oooo

Battlestar Pegasus

Ford rolled over uncomfortably on the small put-up bed making it squeak loudly. He had not been able to sleep all night, lying there listening to the soft hum of the ship. It was enough to drive anyone crazy. He could tell the others were asleep, he could hear their deep breathing and someone was badly in need of some snore aid.

He looked at his watch. It was only 0500 hours. He still had a couple more hours of boredom before the others woke up. Then they would have nothing to do except talk. This wasn't how he had envisioned his dream adventure.

With a sigh he flung his feet over the side of the cot and grabbed at his travel bag. In the dark he changed into what he hoped was matching slacks and a t-shirt. He then took one of the translators and walked to the door, opening it as quietly as possible.

There were five marines standing outside, all armed. The nearest held up his hand and shook his head at him.

Ford held out the translator machine. "They said I could take a walk with an escort," he said.

The marines looked at him with a hardened stare from under their dark helmets until the machine finished translating. Ford only noticed that the marine furthest away was female as she spoke out. "It's only 0500 hours."

"Well you five are awake and I can't sleep." His fingers were crossed down by his side, hoping that their commanding officer had told them that he was allowed to have a walk with an armed escort.

After a few moments the woman spoke out again. "This way," she said and Ford eagerly followed. He noticed that another marine followed behind them. "Where would you like to go?" she asked.

"Erm," replied Ford, which the translator obviously had difficulty translating. "I don't really know, can't I just wander about?"

The marine seemed to fall into step with him, letting him know that he was now in charge of their destination. "Just keep to the corridors," she said sternly.

The corridors were quite open, but stacked on either side were a number of crates making it seem smaller. For 0500 hours the ship was surprisingly busy, with a number of crew members wandering past, each one giving him a long stare. After a few minutes he saw two people round the corner wearing spacesuits identical to those belonging to Brunette and Legs. The man had dark hair and a helmet tucked under his arm and the woman was shorter, her hair swept tightly back.

They stopped in their tracks when they saw Ford, eyeing him with wonder before carrying on past. They were quick and the translator only partially caught their conversation. He wasn't sure it was translating correctly though as the woman seemed to bizarrely address the man as a hotdog.

"So where's the best place to go on this ship?" he asked his marine contingent as he rounded into another bland corridor. "You guys have got to unwind somewhere."

"That would be the Mess," the woman replied rather shortly. "There are two on the ship, one for the officers and the other for the enlisted."

Despite having a translator as an intermediary, Ford could still decipher the meaning behind the woman's words. She was telling him that he wasn't welcome in either.

"I am an officer you know," he said with a smile, stopping briefly. The woman stared hard at him. "I may not have fought in your war, but I have seen combat on Earth, was even a prisoner of war for a time. So, please, cut me a little slack."

He carried on walking without waiting for a response. He was completely lost, but didn't really care, anything was better than listening to loud snoring all night. The corridors started to narrow slightly and Ford imagined he must have reached either the aft or fore of the ship if it was designed in any way like a boat or submarine.

"Where are we?" he asked, suddenly hearing a soft thudding noise.

"Some facilities for the officers sir," replied the woman.

Her address didn't go unnoticed to Ford, realising that she obviously had a mutual respect for people in the military. There was a pause in the thudding and then it started again. Curiosity getting the better of him, Ford walked towards the noise, peering into a hatch which was ajar and ignoring the marine's request for him to step back.

He recognised Blondie straight away even though she was dressed in exercise clothing and was covered in sweat. It was somewhat comforting to see a familiar face that wasn't asleep and snoring. She hadn't noticed his presence as he watched, continuing to thump and kick the punch-bag that hung from the wall.

"Hey," he said loudly to catch her attention.

Blondie spun around, her body looking alert. He was about to speak again but she placed a finger quickly to her lips and then pointed down to the corner. Asleep on the floor were the two young toddlers he recognised from before, wrapped up in blankets, stirring slightly.

Blondie swiped up a towel, wiping her face. "What are you doing here?" she whispered, nodding to the marines behind him.

"Couldn't sleep," he whispered back. "It's also been a while since I've shared a bunk room."

Blondie nodded.

"Why are you awake at 0500 hours?" he added.

"The kiddies were refusing to sleep, deciding to give me hell instead."

"I'm really sorry, I had…we…" he felt the need to apologise again, the guilt digging at him.

Blondie shook her head, throwing back down the towel. "So are you going to spar with me or what?"

It took him a few moments to realise what she had asked, "sorry, what?"

She threw some knuckle protectors at him, "you're in the military, so you must know how to spar."

"Yeah, but not with a woman."

Blondie rolled her eyes, "you lot are so backwards." Before he'd had a chance to react, she crouched down, sweeping her leg out and connecting with the backs of his legs sending him sprawling backwards. He felt the wind knock out of his chest.

Collecting himself he looked up, seeing Blondie standing above him. She was definitely a formidable looking woman.

"Ouch, that hurt," he said bluntly.

"You obviously aren't trained very well either," she said, a large grin across her face.

"I wasn't exactly ready for that."

"You're military, you should always be ready," she held out her hand, helping him up.

He removed the translator machine from over his shoulder, placing it within earshot. He was dressed for exercise so he had no excuse, but flashes of being pushed through a glass panel played in his mind, putting him off sparring with this particular woman. He imagined she liked to fight dirty and bend all the rules.

He slipped on the protectors, "how about we take out our sleep deprivation on the punch-bag instead?"

Blondie shrugged, motioning him over. "Be my guest."

Taking a few deep breaths, Ford's attention focused on the punch-bag. He not only had his own personal pride to prove, but he also had to show that his planet wasn't full of undertrained wimps. His barrage of punches and kicks were strong and controlled, sending the punch-bag swinging. Every few minutes he paused, allowing Blondie to take over. The sweat was soon collecting on his brow.

"You sure you don't want to spar?" asked Blondie as she laid a few quick punches in quick succession.

"Sir," called out one of the marines catching their attention. He was pointing to the corner where the two children looked to be waking up. Through their sparring with the punch-bag they had forgotten to whisper.

"Crap," said Blondie, pulling off her gloves and walking towards them.

"Momma?" asked the girl sleepily. "Momma!"

"I'm here," replied Blondie crouching down in front of them. They both gripped onto their mother tightly as if they were afraid that she would disappear. "Come on kiddos let's have a shower." She took their hands and started to walk out of the gym just as they started squealing.

"Sorry," said Ford.

"Stop apologising for everything," replied Blondie sounding exasperated and then turned to the marines. "Take him back to his quarters."

Ford couldn't help but look disappointed. "Are we going to be stuck in there all day?"

"My debriefing starts in two hours, I always make them quick."

With a smile she walked out of the room, her children pulling on her hands wanting attention.

With a sigh Ford motioned to the marines, "after you."

oooo

When Ford returned to his shared quarters he found Biggy sat up on his bunk looking fresh as if he had slept for hours.

"Hey," said Ford as he strode in and flopped down on his bunk which nearly buckled in protest.

"Where have you been?" asked Biggy folding his arms, reminding Ford of a disgruntled wife.

"Sorry dear, I went for a walk," he replied mockingly.

"A note would've been nice, for all I know you'd been dragged away for an interrogation."

"Trust me, if they come in and try to drag me away, I'll be sure to make a lot of noise about it."

Biggy looked unimpressed, pausing before saying, "So they just let you wander around the ship then?"

"With an armed guard, this is a big ship."

"Excellent," said Biggy as he pushed himself up off the bunk and headed towards the hatch.

"I wouldn't fancy your chances," said Ford, stopping the man in his tracks. "Blondie ordered the marines to bring me back here. Perhaps leave it a couple of hours."

"Great, so all we get to do is sit around here and listen to Swanson snore all morning."

"Hey," came a muffled voice from the other side of the room. "I have a nasal problem."

"If you're awake," said Biggy loudly, "then why the fuck are you still snoring?"

"I'm up, I'm up." Swanson shuffled in his blankets until he was sitting up, his hair up at all angles. "Jeez, I feel like I've gone back in time to when I was at scout camp."

Biggy motioned his head towards Langley, "is he up or still sick?"

"I was trying to sleep," said the fourth member of the room, who with a huff sat up.

From his uncomfortable bunk Ford sat and watched as the others idly chatted, gradually rising from their beds and one by one going through the shower. Ford had gone last, nearly screaming out when the freezing cold water hit him, the flow only lasting for about a minute. He figured the ship must be on rationed water and he had gotten the tail end. He was grouchy when he returned to the room.

"Enjoy the cold shower?" asked Biggy. "Kinda takes me back to my academy days."

"Yeah, well, I remember now that there was a reason I left active service."

By 0900 hours a crew member had arrived with breakfast. The food was terrible, nearly making them all gag. Ford remembered back to when their "guests" had first awoken and eaten. They had scoffed it down with relish. Now he knew why. Even the poor canteen food from the base was better than this crap. There was no flavour and it had a rubbery texture. He wondered how they could live like this.

The beverages were okay though and Ford was amazed that the warm drink had actually resembled their coffee. Despite their planets being so far away, there was somewhere which grew the equivalent of the coffee bean.

"Makes you wonder doesn't it?" said Swanson taking a swig from his mug.

"What?" asked Ford taking another mouthful of stodge with a grimace.

"Whether coffee beans actually originated from Earth, this is pretty much identical."

"I'll make sure to add that to the long list of questions to ask," replied Ford with a smile.

"You're very sarcastic this morning," said Biggy. "What's up?"

Ford shrugged his shoulders, "I'm bored. I want to get out of this room and start being useful. I'm shocked our guests didn't go crazy from staring at the same four walls for months."

"Well it's a good thing I brought these with me," replied Biggy pulling out a pack of cards and a bag of chips from his duffle. "Fancy a bit of Hold'em?"

Ford laughed. He hadn't thought he would get the chance to sit around and do nothing for hours. Biggy had obviously packed for every eventuality. They all circled around one of the beds and Biggy shared out the chips and dealt out the first round.

"Okay," said Biggy. "None of us have any cash, so let's make this an imaginary pot. Fifty quid buy in and twenty-five for a re-buy. Winner takes all when we get back home."

Ford felt more at home as they began to play, remembering back to his days in the army. He had lost lots of money over the years playing with his comrades, but it had been worth it. It was the way everyone always bonded together, even if it did lead to the occasional fight or argument. The difference here was the presence of coffee over beer and the lack of stogies.

oooo

"Raise you one hundred," said Biggy with a grin.

They had been playing for hours and the pot in front of them was full. Swanson had crashed out long ago and Langley, to give him credit, had hung on until this round until he had thrown all his chips in before the middle cards had been dealt. Now he was looking ashen and Ford could tell he had nothing. All he needed to gauge now was what was going on in Biggy's head.

The man was a mystery, his tactics changing constantly. Ford kept his face neutral as he looked at his cards. He had an ace high flush. It was a fair hand but could quite easily be beaten.

"Call," he said without emotion, throwing in his chips. His mind was so focused on the game that he didn't even care that their lunch had arrived, hearing the hatch door open.

"Not going to raise it huh?" said Biggy. He grinned and then pushed his chips forward. "All in."

Ford faltered, not sure what to do.

"He's bluffing," said a female voice from behind them making them all jump, her words quickly translated.

Ford turned around to see Blondie standing there, her arms folded in front of her chest. She was dressed in what looked to be a uniform, which he had seen a few others wearing around the ship. It was dark blue and she had a pin attached the chest, which looked like their version of a set of pilot wings. Her long hair was swept back tightly. It was the first time he had seen her look as if she belonged in the military, having only really seen her in tracksuits before.

He had been staring at her so long, almost enthralled, that he had forgotten what she had said. "Sorry, what?" he asked.

Blondie smirked. "I said, he's bluffing."

It took Ford a few moments to realise what she meant, saying "oh."

He was shocked that she had worked out that they were gambling. She looked sure of herself, a small smile on her lips. Turning back to his cards, he looked up at Biggy and then pushed in his chips. "All in, can't ignore the lady."

Biggy slapped down his cards face up with less gusto then before. He only had two pairs and by the look on his face, he already knew that he had lost. Langley quietly placed down his pair of kings and shrunk away. A small smile tugged at the side of Ford's mouth as he threw down his cards and then tipped the pile of chips towards him with glee.

He looked back at Blondie and pulled a mock salute. She shrugged her shoulders with a smile and then untwined her arms.

"You're needed," she said motioning her head and turning to the hatch.

Forgetting the high of the poker game quickly, they pushed up off their beds and scrambled towards the hatch after Blondie who led them down the corridor. Ford walked into step with her, trying to keep up as she strode quickly.

"How did you know he was bluffing?" he asked.

"Everyone has a tell," she replied.

"So I guess you have similar games where you're from, I'd like to learn them."

"Sure, if you want to lose everything you own." Ford turned his head to Blondie, seeing that she was grinning. He wondered if there was anything this woman hadn't mastered yet.

"So what's this meeting about?"

"My debriefing has finished, told you I'd keep it short."

"What did you tell them exactly?"

Blondie shrugged, "we jumped, crashed and ended up finding you. It's pretty simple."

Their conversation stopped as they entered what looked to be a small conference room. There was a large table that lined the far end of the room and then up the sides, and there was also what looked to be flags on the walls. In the middle of the room, inside the U shaped table were four chairs where they sat themselves. Straight ahead of them was the man they had seen before, who looked as if he was in charge. Blondie sat herself to his left and another woman who looked almost oriental, with long dark hair, was on his right.

Rugby gave them a small wave from his seat. Like Blondie, he too was dressed in a dark blue uniform now and looked much more military than before. There were a few others in uniform sat around, one female who Ford recognised from that morning, and there was one person sitting in a suit who looked far too young to be in a position of responsibility.

They all seemed to stare at each other for a few moments before the commanding officer turned to Blondie.

"How do these things work?" he said pointing to the translator.

"Just talk like normal and they will do the rest," replied Blondie.

"Right," said the commander, looking unsure. "On behalf of the Colonial Fleet, I wish to welcome you again to the Battlestar Pegasus."

Out of instinct Ford and Biggy rose to their feet and saluted before being motioned to sit. Swanson gave a small wave and Langley remained silent.

"I see two of you are clearly military," said the commander.

"Yes sir," said Ford, trying to sound as formal as possible. "I'm Major Ford and my comrade is Squadron Leader Colin Bigsby a pilot in the Royal Air Force. My other companions are Dr Swanson a leading scientist and Greg Langley a representative from our government."

The commander glanced at Blondie who shrugged.

He continued, "I've had a chance to speak to my two officers, and I am satisfied that my crew have been well treated and that you do not pose an imminent threat to my ship."

Ford glanced at his comrades and then turned back to the commander. "That's good to hear."

"I'm Commander Fisk and this is my acting XO Kendra Shaw." Ford could see Blondie rolling her eyes when he mentioned the woman to his left. "So what are your plans here?"

"Um," was all Ford could think of to reply at first, quickly adding "to learn and form diplomatic relations."

"When are you expected back?"

"Twenty-eight days, if that's okay with you?"

Fisk nodded his head and then appeared to think for a moment. "You'll each be assigned an officer to be your escort around the ship along with a guard. When you are not with them, you will be back in your quarters is that clear?"

They each nodded their head in understanding.

"Right," continued Fisk. "Considering you two already seem to get on," he said looking towards Ford, "you'll be paired with Major Thrace."

A muffled chortle came from Blondie, making Fisk turn to her.

"Something funny Major?" he asked sternly.

She looked to be suppressing a smirk as she replied, "the first time we met I threw him through a glass partition."

"That wasn't in your report."

Blondie shrugged, "it didn't seem important."

Fisk then turned to Ford, "care to tell me what prompted one of my officers to feel the need to push you through a glass partition?"

"Um," replied Ford, seeing that Blondie was trying not to laugh. "She slammed one of my comrade's head into a table, then knocked him out, stole his gun and escaped from the room holding someone hostage before disappearing into the base. I had the misfortune of finding her."

"Jesus," whispered Biggy next to him.

Fisk turned to Blondie, who gave him a "what?" expression in response, and then turned back to Ford. He didn't look surprised. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Well you two will get the opportunity to know each other even better."

It didn't escape Ford's notice that Blondie's shoulders slumped slightly, feeling a little offended.

Fisk then pointed at Biggy, "As you're a pilot I'm partnering you with Kat. The scientist can stay with Helo," he added, pointing at Rugby. Ford figured that the commander was using their call signs instead of their real names. "And the politician can be accompanied by our Quorum representative, Billy Keikeya." The young man, who looked far too young to be a politician, gave them a small wave.

"Any questions?" asked Fisk.

"What can we do on the ship?" asked Ford.

"Anything, just don't get in the way or blow her up," the commander replied. "We are still on active duty, I'm sure your companions will show you how to do something useful."

He stood, indicating the end of the meeting and walked out of the room followed by the oriental looking woman. The shorter pilot, Kat, walked up to Biggy and shook his hand.

"I hear you're a pilot," she said. "Want to see what a real bird looks like?"

Biggy looked like he was a dog with two tails, saying enthusiastically, "most definitely." He had a bounce in his step as he followed her, turning to Ford briefly and saying, "this place is awesome."

Rugby guided Swanson out of the room, the pair already vaguely familiar with each other. The politicians met with a firm handshake and left the room talking quietly to each other, which left Ford with Blondie. She was still sat in her chair, slouched back, her arms folded in front of her chest.

"So… I get to be shown around by you then?" said Ford with a smile.

"I wouldn't feel too honoured, I asked for the pilot," she replied unfolding her arms.

"I'm hurt," said Ford placing a hand to his chest. "So you didn't tell your commander about your little escape bid then?"

"Nope, I find it's better to leave out those details." She shrugged, "I wasn't exactly following protocol."

"I get the feeling that you rarely do."

This time Blondie grinned, "So my husband keeps reminding me."

"He didn't seem surprised about it at the time."

Blondie stood up from her chair and guided him out of the room. Once into the corridor their marine guard followed on behind.

"I'm sorry I held your girlfriend hostage," she said as they rounded a corner.

"Sorry?"

"She is your girlfriend right? I mean, people say that Lee and I were obvious, but you two…"

"Yeah, kind of," replied Ford thinking about the soft touch of Caroline's skin. "Since the night before we came here."

"Oh," said Blondie looking surprised.

Ford realised that he and Caroline were more like Blondie and Blue Eyes then he had originally thought, except thankfully Caroline held nothing akin to Blondie's volatility. He didn't know if he could handle a woman like that, and admired Blue Eyes for managing it.

He followed just behind the formidable woman, trying to keep up as she swaggered down the corridors like she owned them. He was in her element now, and one thing was certain, it was going to be an interesting 28 days.