Lee flew his viper back onto Galactica. All the pilots were euphoric after the opportunity to blow all those cylon raiders out of the sky. Lee jumped out of the cockpit and was met by Kara. She enveloped him in a hug as he tripped down the stairs.

"Easy there, Starbuck," he said with a laugh.

"Easy? You mean easy like taking out a whole fleet of raiders. What the frak happened?" Kara asked with a huge grin.

"I have no idea. You'll have to ask the old man," Lee said.

"I intend to," Kara replied. The pilots all gathered to celebrate their victory. Lee and Kara both sat back drinking as the pilots got rowdier with each round.

LEE!

Lee flinched and squeezed his eyes shut as he bent forward in his seat.

"You ok, Lee?" Kara asked.

Please! Help me, please!

Kara put a hand on Lee's shoulder as he flinched again. All Lee could feel was the fear behind the words in his head. He didn't even remember to get mad about her voice in his head. She was terrified.

"I have to go," he mumbled to Kara.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she called as he rushed out of the room. Lee raced to the cell and found Sharon alone inside. Lee banged on the window. Sharon got up and hurried to the phone on the wall.

"Where did they take her?" he asked.

"They're gonna flush her out the airlock," Sharon responded. Lee dropped the phone and was out of the room in an instant. Lee raced through the ship, plowing over personnel on his way to the airlock. He rushed in and saw his father, Colonel Tigh, and the president in the control room with Kestra on the other side of the glass.

"Stop!" Lee yelled as he barged in. He wrenched the key out of its place and stared down his father. "What are you doing?"

"I thought we talked about this, Captain," Bill said.

"No, we never talked about killing her," Lee argued.

"We don't keep cylons on this ship. That has always been the case," Roslin said.

"Frack that," Lee replied, "if that were true Sharon would be in there with her. Why now? What's happened that you need to throw her out the airlock?" The others were silent for a moment. Roslin looked to Bill and then to his son.

"Word has leaked to the fleet that we have a cylon aboard Galactica. People aren't happy about it, so if we kill this one we can hold off the media and the quorum," Roslin explained.

"So she's a scapegoat. You got put in a tight spot so you decided to flush the first body you could find out of the airlock. Why don't you put me out. I'm sure the quorum won't check to make sure it's a cylon as long as someone is dead, right?" Lee argued.

"She's a cylon, Lee. If she can't help us we kill her. That's what you do to your enemies, Captain," Bill said with emphasis on the word captain.

"She is not a cylon," Lee said as he looked out into the chamber. Kestra had noticed his entrance and was staring at him with tears in her eyes.

"What makes you so sure she's not?" Roslin asked curiously. Lee turned his attention back to the room.

"I… I'm not sure. I just know," he said. They didn't look convinced. "Listen, take her to Doc Cottle. Have him examine her. If she's an alien, her anatomy will be different."

"Give us one good reason why we should do that and not dump that toaster out the airlock right here and now?" Tigh asked.

"Because if I'm right, and she's not a cylon, you're the ones who will have to live with it. Are you willing to kill an innocent woman, because you're too afraid of the cylons to believe she could be telling the truth?" Lee asked. He looked directly at his father. Bill held his gaze unflinchingly.

"Take her to Cottle," he said.

"Thank you, Commander," Lee said as he handed the key back to his father. Lee ran out to the door and opened it up. He was immediately flanked by marines with their guns trained on Kestra. "Come with me," Lee instructed. Lee led her down the hall with the marines surrounding them. "I convinced him to let the doctor examine you to see if you have human anatomy."

"I do have human anatomy," Kestra said anxiously.

"I needed to buy some time. Is there anything in your physiology that would distinguish you from a human? If there is then we can prove you're not a cylon," Lee continued.

"My brain is probably your best bet. Betazoids have a neurotransmitter called psilosynine, but I don't know how advanced your equipment is," Kestra said.

"Would it show up on an MRI?" Lee asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen one, but I think it's safe to assume that my ability to…" Kestra said. She looked at Lee nervously. "Have you told anyone?" Lee glanced back at her.

"About the?" He pointed to his head. She nodded. "No." Kestra sighed.

"Good. I don't want to… please don't tell anyone. I don't want to become an experiment," she finally said. Lee looked at her with concern. She had done a good job of masking her fear when he had interrogated her, but now he saw just how frightened she was. Being alone on a ship of strangers who had never met a person of her species must be terrifying. He realized that he was probably the only person on this ship, maybe even in this galaxy, she could trust.

"I won't," he said, "do you trust me?" She met his eyes.

"I trust that you won't tell them. I can't say I trust you any more than that." They walked silently for a moment. "You might also be able to use my eyes. Where I'm from human's irises are always colored. Mine are black."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lee said as they approached the sick bay. They entered and found Doctor Cottle smoking. "Doctor, the Commander has ordered that this woman be tested to determine whether or not she is human."

"He already knows that the cylons are indistinguishable from humans. There's no way I can medically prove she's a human," Cottle replied irritably. He glared at Kestra who stood in the center of the room at gunpoint.

"That's why we're asking you to prove that she's not," Lee said. The doctor raised his eyebrows. "We want to prove that she's an alien." Cottle laughed.

"Have you lost your mind, Captain?" he asked. Lee stared at the older man silently. "You're serious?" Cottle asked as he realized Lee wasn't kidding. "What do you expect me to do? Even if she is an alien, how would I know what to look for?"

"We've come up with a few options that we think will offer the best results," Lee said. Cottle squinted at the captain.

"We? Is this one your pet then? Helo's got one so you had to have the other one?" he asked cynically. Lee shot across the room until he was nose to nose with Cottle.

"You'd better watch what you say Doc," he said dangerously low.

"If you boys will take a moment to stop fighting, we can find the answers to your questions. Then no one has to be suspicious of anyone else," Kestra said sternly, "the captain has suggested an MRI to prove that my brain functions differently than a humans." Lee and Cottle both eyed Kestra. Lee took a step back.

"I'll be back for the results of her MRI. Stay here while the doctor does his work," Lee instructed the marines. With that he stormed out of the room. Cottle looked at Kestra.

"Well, I guess you'd better come with me," he said gruffly. He started walking away and Kestra followed. They approached the MRI machine, and Cottle instructed Kestra to lay on the table.

"While I conduct the scan you need to remain completely still," Cottle instructed. Kestra nodded and laid down on the table.

"And I don't enjoy being referred to as anyone's pet," Kestra said harshly as Cottle set up the machine. Cottle snorted as he walked away. A smirk crept into his features as he approached the computers. He ran the MRI and waited for the images to appear. Kestra sat still and didn't move until the machine above her shut off. She received no instruction from the doctor, so she looked across the room to see him staring at the screen.

"Frak me," Cottle said as he turned to look at Kestra.

The Commander entered sickbay with President Roslin at his heels. Lee was waiting alone in the middle of sickbay.

"Where's Cottle?" Bill asked.

"I don't know. I just got word that his tests were done," Lee said. A moment later Cottle came through a curtained area with Kestra beside him.

"Good you're all here," he said gruffly. The marines surrounded Kestra at gunpoint again. "Must you really do that?" Cottle asked.

"It's a necessary precaution," Roslin said, "now, Doctor, what have you found?" Cottle huffed and he pulled out the pictures of Kestra's MRI.

"Captain Adama suggested that we start with a brain scan and he was right on the money," Cottle said.

"So it is different?" Lee asked.

"Different? Sure. She's got an extra lobe on her brain here, and the readings coming from it aren't like anything I've seen from a human. Our equipment doesn't even know how to read it," Cottle said.

"So she is an alien," Roslin whispered in wonder.

"On top of that, she was right, her irises are completely black. Not dark brown. Black. I've never seen anything like it," Cottle continued. Everyone's eyes shot to meet Kestra's. They all stood in silence for a moment. Roslin broke the silence in a sharp voice.

"Take her to the brig," she ordered. The marines looked to Adama who gave a stiff nod.

"Wait, he just said she's not a cylon," Lee said as the marines began to lead Kestra from the room. Kestra shot a glance back at Lee as she was led out of sickbay. Lee and Cottle both shot questioning glances at the commander. "Why are you sending her to the brig?"

"She is an unknown and therefore a danger to the fleet," Roslin said, "we can't be sure that she isn't a new model of cylon. Until we can ascertain her place in this story, we can't afford to let her roam free." Lee looked to Bill for confirmation of the president's assertions.

"She will stay in the brig until we know what she is," Bill said, "you are dismissed, Captain."

"Yes sir," Lee responded with irritation as the commander left. Roslin nodded to him as she too left the sickbay.

"The president fits right in with the military. Suspicious of everyone and resolves it by throwing them in the brig," Cottle grumbled as he left the room. Lee walked out by himself, finding that his only comfort was that an innocent woman had not been killed.