XIV

Kara opened her eyes the next morning, feeling like a new woman-a bit sore, as she hadn't had a workout like the night before in a long time. It wasn't as school day, so they had a blessed morning to sleep in. Even the President of the Colonies slept in on weekends.

She looked over at Laura, who was on her back, a small smile creased her lips, and she was breathing deeply and steadily, the signs of a good night sleep.

She should have gotten a good night's sleep, Kara thought with an inward chuckle. I think I gave her like eight orgasms.

The covers were only up to Laura's navel, her large, beautiful breasts rising and falling with her even breathing. Part of Kara wanted to lean over, and take a nipple in her mouth, but she knew Laura needed the rest-her job didn't leave much room for a bad day, or for insomnia. As quietly as she could, she got up, put the sheets over Laura in case Kacey came bounding in. Kara walked the few steps to the en-suite, taking a quick shower, then throwing on a t-shirt and jeans. She turned and lightly kissed Laura on the forehead, as she headed out into the main part of their abode on Colonial One, to prepare breakfast for Kacey.

Kara opened Kacey's door. She saw Kacey startle under the covers, pretending to be asleep. Kara couldn't keep a giggle in.

"Gee, I wonder where Kacey is", she said in a mock voice of wonder. "All I see in her bed is a big lump. I wonder if that lump at my daughter." She walked closer to the bed. "Hmm, I wonder if I sit on the lump if..."

Kacey threw off the covers and laughed. "I fooled you, momma! I'm awake!"

The little blonde bounded into the arms of the bigger one, both of them laughing. Kara gave Kacey a quick kiss on the cheek.

"How's my big girl this morning?"

"I slept all night, momma. Didn't wake up once."

"Good for you, kiddo! Want some breakfast?"

"Eggs? Toast?"

"Sounds like breakfast to me", Kara said, hugging the Kacey tightly.

"Is Mommy gonna eat with us?" Kacey looked at Kara excitedly.

"Mommy's still sleeping, Kace. She got home real late last night. She's still tired." Kara smiled inwardly remembering it was she who had exhausted her wife.

"Wake her up later?"

Kara shrugged. "We'll see", she responded. "Maybe Mommy will come out while we're eating. I bet if I make some fresh coffee, she'll wake up."

Kacey scrunched her nose. "Coffee, yuck!"

Kara laughed at the face her daughter made. "Some of us can't start the day without it, sweetie. Get dressed, and momma will make your breakfast."

Kacey was out in record time, or so Starbuck thought, and she wolfed down her breakfast, asking for more eggs.

As Kara was making them, scrambling them in the pan, she heard Kacey shriek.

"Mommy!" Kara turned to see Kacey running toward Laura, and leaping into arms. "Good morning, mommy!"

"Good morning pumpkin", Laura said with a happy smile, Kacey kissing her on the lips. "Something smells awfully good in here."

"Momma made eggs! Oh", Kacey said, scrunching her nose again, "and some yucky coffee."

Both women laughed, getting a kick out of their daughter. Laura came up behind Kara, who was still finishing the eggs, and squeezed her shoulders in a hug, kissing her on the cheek. "You wore me out last night, dear wife", Laura said sotto voce.

Kara giggled. "Yeah, well, I'm a little sore myself", she said in the same, low, secretive voice. "I need to get back in game shape."

Laura lightly swatted Kara's shapely caboose. "With that, I'm getting some coffee, thank you."

Kara again smirked.

When Kara brought Kacey her seconds, and Laura her first helping, Laura looked over at her wife.

"What shall we do on the day off?"

Kara took a breath. "Actually, if you don't mind, I'm gonna head over to Galactica and look at some information that Tigh allowed me to access, and that Dee arranged for me."

"Dee?" Laura looked more than a little surprised.

"Yeah", Kara said firmly. "We had a little heart-to-heart about our past. I don't want to cause Dee any more heartache, and I let her know that. I also had a long talk with Lee yesterday."

"About us?"

Kara heard a small touch of jealousy in her wife's voice. She shrugged. "About us, about the fact that I'm a different person now, and that there's no going back. I also gave him a pretty deep synopsis of what happened to me on New Caprica after they left with the Battlestars."

Laura nodded. "You and Lee are always gonna be close, Kara, I understand that", Laura said cautiously. "I hope he understands who you are now."

"He does", Kara said without hesitation. "Besides you and Kacey, Lee and the Admiral are the closest thing I have to family. I just needed to talk to my best male friend about what I had been through."

"That's fine", Laura said. "I have no reason not to trust Lee. He's been my adviser, and I trust his judgment on the military. And I know you two have been...close over the years. I certainly can't be jealous of a relationship you had before you and I fell in love, or even thought of it."

"Sure you can, Laura", Kara said seriously. "It's only human. Yes, I was intimate with Lee in the past, and I know that's no surprise to you. My problem wasn't really Lee-it was me, and my lack of self-worth that caused me to be such a slut for the longest time." There was no pride in her voice when she said that. "Being married to Sam, watching him get deathly ill, then going through what I did down there, and then finding you-I will never be that person again. One, I refuse to be that person, and two, if I would go back to being that person, I would lose everything that I love and cherish-which is you and Kacey."

Laura thought about the first time she had met Kara, after she had been removed from the Brig, after slugging Tigh, just before the Holocaust. She had always found Kara's brashness, her drive, and her energy contagious, but felt the young pilot was reckless on many occasions. Yet despite that recklessness, Laura didn't think twice about using Kara on high-risk missions, knowing that when she was in her military mode, she was reliable.

Now she wondered if she would send Kara out on any more such missions? Could she not?

"So what is it your intrigued about, babe?"

"I've been looking at stills, video, and the voice recordings of Bulldog's arrival here, after the Raiders chased him down."

That got Laura's interest. "What do you know about Bulldog, and the mission on the Valkyrie almost four years ago?"

Kara shrugged again. "Pretty much what eventually came out-it was a mission against the Taurons, and they shot him down. The Admiral didn't think he had survived, and since the Valkyrie was near the Armistice line, the ship left the area."

Laura nodded. "That's what he told me as well, Kara."

Kara looked at her suspiciously. "But...you don't think he's being honest? You think something else happened."

"I talked to he and Bulldog shortly after Danny arrived and got cleaned up. Something just doesn't...feel right about what Bill told me. I can't explain it."

"Hmpf", Kara wondered. "Just like I think something's off with how he got here."

"Why do you say that, Kara?"

"I don't know, honey", Kara admitted, "but I want to get back to Galactica and try to figure that out."r

"Just as you're not gone all day, my dear", Laura said with a smirk. "I need to...work out later."

Kara's eyes twinkled at Laura. "Oh, you will, baby, trust me."

Kara changed her mind before arriving on Galactica. She had looked at the evidence several times. Something wasn't adding up. The fact that Laura was suspicious about the official explanation of the Valkyrie mission also troubled her. Even before they fell in love, Kara had always trusted Laura's instincts, which is why she had taken those crazy missions for her.

Something was amiss.

Before leaving, she made a call to Galactica.

"Tigh."

"Colonel, it's Starbuck."

"Ah, the First Lady of The Fleet checks in."

That greeting startled Kara. "Frak, I never thought of it that way, but...frak."

Tigh ground out his low laugh. "What's up, Starbuck?"

"Are you on duty today, Colonel?"

"Nope. I have off, at least officially, til Monday 0500. The weekend is mine."

"I wonder if it isn't too much trouble, sir, if I came over and talked to you about something that I think is important."

"Why not. When do you want to head over?"

"If it's OK, I'd like to come ASAP. A few things aren't...adding up."

"How about one hour, Thrace...er, I mean, Roslin?"

Kara snickered at that. "Thrace will do in a pinch, Colonel. OK, I'll be there in one hour."

Kara went over all the information she had gathered, letting Tigh hear the audio, see the video, in real time and in slow motion, than Kara showed him the still frames.

Tigh didn't get it at first.

"The Cylons are saddled up on him; they've got a perfect, point-blank, no-deflection shot. They had him dead to rights, Colonel."

Tigh fingered through the picture. "I'd say so."

"Look, Novacek was hit and smoking, flying straight and level. Any Nugget could have made that kill, Tigh. The Cylons could have wasted him any number of times, but they didn't." She put heavy emphasis on the last three words. She leveled a concerned glare at Tigh. "They didn't. They let him escape. It's the only thing that makes sense."

Tigh was starting to put it together. "The Cylons don't do anything by accident." He took a sip of his booze.

"Yeah", Kara said, growing more concerned, I was thinking that, too." Tigh took still another sip. "Did Novacek say anything about how he was able to overcome The Cylons that were holding him prisoner? You said Bulldog told you they were sick?" She looked at him skeptically. "Had a virus?" She scoffed again. "I mean, how many viruses do The Cylons have, sir?"

"Well, who knows", Saul said, not believing it now. "Maybe it was the same virus those Cylons we found were suffering?"

Kara countered that. "Yeah, or maybe they the just told a story that we'd buy? Something that was credible, familiar." She looked down for a moment, knowing that she may be about to cross a line, but this was too important. "Colonel, Laura told me she had her doubts about the story the Admiral told her, about Bulldog's shoot-down, about the Valkyrie. She didn't say what. Colonel, what really happened there?"

Later That Day

Kara returned back home to Colonial One, the events of the day having stunned her. Danny Novacek was in medical bay, under sedation, for attacking the Admiral, almost killing him. Tigh had arrived just in time to save Bill Adama, but Novacek had apparently lost his marbles, as he needed to be restrained afterward. Even after Saul Tigh had told him he had been played by The Cylons, Danny still tried to get to Bill for abandoning him at the Armistice Line.

Once the sedation wore off, he would be transferred to the bring, then probably to the Astral Queen to be incarcerated. Dr. Tribe had also been requested to help Novacek get through his demons.

Admiral Adama was going to be OK. He had been bloodied, but despite how close Bulldog had come, he had not received any serious injuries. Laura had been spending the day with Kacey in their quarters. Kara went home as soon as she could, to update her wife and the President.

When she walked in, Kacey was watching a cartoon, Laura sitting with their daughter, laughing with her. She took one look at the grim look on Kara's face, and froze.

"Honey, what is it?"

Kara didn't answer at first, walking to one of the cabinets in the kitchen, getting a glass, and pouring some wine, then she sat heavily in one of the kitchen chairs.

Laura moved over to her wife, sitting down across from her. "Honey, what's wrong?"

Kara looked at her. "Babe, you better get your own glass of booze, you're gonna need it."

Laura did just that, Kara telling her what had occurred on Galactica a short time earlier. To say Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies, such as they were, was floored, was an understatement.

"Wait a second", Laura said, party way through Kara's account anger and confusion lighting up her face. "Are you saying that the Taurons didn't shoot down Novacek? That he was over the Armistice Line? Did he get lost?"

Kara shook her head. "No, Laura", she said, dreading what she had to say next. "The mission was to get a stealth ship over the Armistice Line. The story about the Taurons was a cover. The Admiralty planned it to go over the Line. When he was over the line, Valkyrie showed a Raider jump in on Dradis, then jump out, two more jumping in a few moments later."

"So, the Raiders shot him down?" She still didn't see it.

"No", Kara said quietly. "Laura, the military deliberately put a ship over the Armistice Line. Put yourself in The Cylon's shoes. What would you think if your sworn enemy deliberately crossed that line?"

"What are you saying, Kara?"

Kara sighed. "The Valkyrie shot down Bulldog", she said sadly. "Adama honestly thought he had blown Bulldog out into the vacuum of space, and destroyed his ship, before the two Cylon Raiders could see him. The Valkyrie then withdrew."

"They abandoned him", Laura said, the full weight of Kara's explanation hitting her, the President slumping back in her chair. "Good gods." She looked up at her wife. "You know, Kara, I could have the Admiral, and Tigh both, Court Martialed for this?"

"I know you could, honey", Kara said frankly. "But we can't afford that now. Those who ordered it are all dead. But it makes sense now."

"What makes sense?"

"Why the Admiral ended up on Galactica", she said matter-of-factly. "Even though the Admiralty ordered him to do what he did, and protect their mission, they send him to Galactica as punishment for carrying out their orders. Valkyrie was a state-of-the-art Battlestar; we don't call Galactica 'The Bucket' for no reason."

"He did what they wanted, and as a reward, they sent him to a ship that was being retired-and then they were gonna retire him, right?"

"You got it, babe", Kara said with a cold finality.

"Where's Novacek now?"

"He's in the medical bay, under sedation. Lee has taken charge of him, and is deciding if he'll end up in the brig, on the Astral Queen, or somewhere else, undergoing therapy. I hear Dr. Tribe is gonna work with him."

Laura knew that part. "I recommended her to Bill", Laura said, finally calming down. "Gods, what a fraking mess."

"So, what are you gonna do?"

Laura looked at her wife. "I can't tell you what, exactly, but I need to talk to Bill and Saul, and have them lay all of it out for me. Then I need to talk to the Quorum."

Kara looked alarmed. "You're not really gonna Court Martial them, are you?"

Laura looked sternly at her wife. "First of all, this is where I have to separate me as your wife, from me, as the President of The Twelve Colonies, Kara. That's something I need to discuss with the Quorum, after talking to the Admiral and the Commander."

Kara looked properly chastised. "I'm sorry, Laura, I didn't mean to..."

Laura cut her off. "Gods, Kara, I shouldn't snap at you like that", she said with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, baby, but there are moments I can't be your wife, and have to be the President."

"I understand", Kara said, for the first time having to face the dual roles of Laura Roslin. In this role, Kara was the First Lady, and had to leave this to the Chief Executive, that happened to be her wife. "I will always be concerned about the Admiral. And, strangely enough, Tigh and I have come to respect each other a lot."

"I understand all that, Kara", Laura said earnestly, "but again, there's things I can't confide in you as my role as President. And I'm glad you and Tigh have come to an understanding." She eased up on her attitude, smiling at her wife. "I'm glad, because you two were such pains-in-the-ass before New Caprica, you know that?"

The smart-ass remarked caught Starbuck off-guard, and after a moment to realize Laura was ribbing her, she laughed hysterically. "Yeah, well, that's for sure. I do miss slugging him now and again, though." She winked at her wife.

"Don't you get started on that", Laura said with a chuckle. She became serious again. "I will need to go up to the office for a few minutes, honey. I will call the Admiral, and tell him I want to talk to him, Tigh, and Lee, tomorrow morning. Then I need to call the Chairwoman of the Quorum, and set up a meeting with her, first thing Monday morning."

Kara nodded. "The work of the President never ends, does it?"

Laura gave a humorless laugh. "So saw we all, my dear."