VII

Three Days Later

Galen Tyrol was a man in turmoil. He didn't trust Boomer one bit. Yet at the same time, he certainly didn't want to see her executed for Treason by the Cylons on the Baseship. Hadn't there been enough killing?

He had pleaded with President Roslin, not to sign the Extradition order that Sonja had formally sent her. She had signed it in front of the Chief, ignoring his pleas for mercy. Admiral Adama had been there, and had back the President without flinching.

He couldn't let Boomer simply be executed. Even for all the shit she had pulled over the last few years.

He had to stop it.

CIC, Later That Day

"Hot Dog, Galactica, your squad rotates out of CAP in thirty minutes", Louis Hoshi said in his usual calm, unhurried voice. "Repeat, three-zero minutes."

"Galactica, Hot Dog, affirmative, three-zero minutes remaining in CAP rotation."

"Mr. Hoshi", Bill Adama asked, looking at his log book, as his official shift for the day ended at that thirty minute time, "whose one CAP next?"

"Sir, Snicker and Funny are up as leads. They're in pre-flight right now."

"Thank you Mr. Hosh..."

As Bill Adama was finishing, Galactica started to shake violently, the lights flickering on and off every few seconds. It's getting worse, the Admiral said to himself.

Despite the Cylon resin, and the efforts to shore up Galactica's frame, the Old Girl was slowly losing her cohesiveness. The shaking lasted maybe fifteen seconds, then ceased.

"Saul, SitRep?"

"Admiral", Saul Tigh responded, looking at the systems board. "Everything checks out: life support, propulsion, weps, communications. No damage reported." Even so, the old Cylon and the Admiral traded a look. They both knew they were running out of time.

"I need to see the Chief up here ASAP", Bill Adama ordered Tigh. "We can't throw in the towel quite yet."

"I'm on it, sir."

"Just hold out a longer, old girl", Adama said sotto voce.

Laura Roslin was sitting on the couch with no top on, as little Sammy greedily suckled his latest meal from her right breast. Kacey was doing some homework, Laura having her daughter show her work to her Mommy, as she fed her little brother. She enjoyed this time with her children. She felt Kacey was just as much hers now, as Kara felt Sammy was hers, even though biology said otherwise. Fortunately-or unfortunately, Laura thought, Sammy's days of nursing on her nipples would end in the next week or two. Teeth were making it almost impossible to breast feed.

Kacey had just gone over some math homework with Laura, when a loud explosion rocked Galactica. Kacey screamed and ran over to her Mommy and little brother, Laura instinctively grabbing the little girl and keeping her close.

"What is it, Mommy? Make it stop!"

"I don't know, baby." Laura immediately put Sammy in the crib that she had rolled out of the Nursery, quickly putting her blouse back on, not having time to put the bra on.

The two Marines entered the quarters. "Madam President, are you and the children all right?"

"Yes, we're fine, Lieutenant. Any idea what happened?"

"No, ma'am, no idea. We'll keep you here until we hear something official."

Laura knew better to argue with the security experts.

Within a few minutes, Kara had come through the open door. The look on Kara's face was grim.

"Honey, what is it?"

"We've got a huge emergency, Laura."

Within five minutes, Laura and Kara were in CIC. Small fires were being put out, and there clearly was fresh damage to the nerve center of the warship. Kara had only told her wife that there had been a major security breach involving Boomer. She didn't know anything beyond that.

When they arrived, a very shaken Bill Adama looked at the two women as they approached his command position.

"Bill, SitRep?"

In another situation, the Admiral might have smiled hearing Laura Roslin say that, but this wasn't the time or place for it. "Boomer escaped, and just jumped out of here. She has Hera."

"What?"

"Madam President", the Admiral said with some sharpness, "we've all said that already."

"How the hell did Boomer escape?"

"We don't know all the details, but apparently, someone let her out, replaced her with an unconscious Eight who was apparently working on the repairs. Helo was giving a pilot brief when Athena walked in. She was beaten pretty badly-apparently by Boomer. Then, disguised as Athena, somehow Boomer was able to get Hera on a Raptor without anyone knowing. We tried to stall her, but she engaged her FTL right next to the ship, which caused more than a little damage. We had no idea Hera was onboard until I told Boomer I'd shoot her down. That's when she advised me that she had the child."

"Gods", Laura said, her knees buckling.

"Doc Cottle is treating Athena right now. I've called for Caprica to meet us here. I know the three of you have had those visions about Hera, and I need the three of your to talk to each other, and to me."

"Of course", the President said, shock still in her voice. "Boomer's taken Hera to Cavil...hasn't she?"

"More than likely", Tigh said, his face drained of all color. Laura had never seen the Commander so shaken.

"We've got to go get her, Bill", Laura said firmly.

Adama didn't answer for the moment.

Like everywhere else on Galactica, the hangars were mayhem. Galen Tyrol was giving orders.

"I need a team, scaffolding, shoring compound to the forward magazine right away!" As he was walking with one of his mechanics, he looked up on the catwalk to his right, where Helo and Athena were in a heated conversation with another member of Galen's team.

"How did a three-year old girl get by you?" Athena's voice was loud, unyielding, and full of panic.

Galen turned to the mechanic. "What the hell's going on up there?"

"Apparently Boomer escaped and took their kid."

Galen's knees almost gave out, his eyes going wide. "What?"

"She took Hera and just walked right out of daycare."

Galen involuntarily backed up until he ran into some storage units. He wanted to puke. And I helped her. The gods help me...

Ellen Tigh had called CIC, telling Hoshi that she needed desperately to talk to Saul. She told the Lieutenant that she had a pretty good idea what had transpired from the beginning. After talking to his wife alone, Saul brought her to CIC, where the Admiral, the President, Starbuck, and now Caprica, were all assembled.

"Bill, I have no doubt now that Cavil arranged my escape, and Boomer was in on it. He obviously wants Hera, and Boomer played me into thinking she was helping me."

The Admiral moved the meeting out of CIC, where they needed to concentrate on repairs. He left Hoshi in charge for the moment, taking the others with him, and calling in Lee, Ishay, and Tory Foster to see if they could add anything else. Ellen Tigh, however, instinctively knew what was going on.

Lee, Ishay, and Tory arrived, as Kara, Laura and Ellen were discussing and arguing about what was going on.

"Cavil wants to study what made a successful Human/Cylon Hybrid. Of that I'm sure. He's gonna take her to The Colony."

Lee looked at Ellen hard. "The Colony?"

"Call it home for The Cylons. It's where we and the Centurions went after the first war."

"You know where it is, don't you Ellen?"

Ellen Tigh looked calmly at her husband. "I do know."

Lee turned to the Commander. "So you want Galactica to jump into a Cylon hornet's nest, risk everything to save one child?" Lee was aghast.

"Lee", Ellen protested, "she isn't just a child. She may be the only hope for my people's chance to survive."

"She may be the only chance for Humanity as well."

Everyone looked over at Kara, who looked seriously back at all of them. "Earlier today, Hera wrote down the notes to a song: a song that I played as a child; the song that switched Tigh, Galen, Tory, and Ishay on. The same song that led us to Earth. Something greater than all of us is pulling the strings, and that little girl is in the middle of it."

Admiral Adama looked at Kara, his face telling her that he agreed with Lee.

"She's the key, sir."

Bill Adama wasn't buying it. Kara and Saul tried to reason with him about what was happening. But with the ship starring to fall apart around them, and their own future in serious question, Bill Adama was sick and tired of all the prophecies and mythology.

He didn't want to hear it.

But he did agree to send a Heavy Raider to investigate.