Chapter 67 – Day Twenty

Day 20 - Pegasus

The raptor gently shuddered as it rose slowly in the flight pod and then dipped quickly back down again.

"Woah, take it easy," said Kara placing a hand over Ford's as he pulled back on the thrusters. "Laird will kick my ass if you make a frakking dent in his pod."

"Sorry, I'm just not used to these gloves," replied Ford through the translator, flexing his spare hand. "The other times we weren't in a flight suit."

"Well after your last attempts I thought it would be advisable, besides was doing most of the work previously."

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better."

"Relax," laughed Kara, "look, you're off the ground. Now turn her about and take us out."

Nervously Ford remembered the correct controls and slowly moved the raptor around with a slight wobble and then manoeuvred it out of the pod, silently rejoicing when he cleared the end. He had flown out a few times before but Kara had only let him take full control once they were out in space and far away from anyone else. He hadn't done too badly, but Kara had not been very forthcoming with praise. Ford doubted that she ever was.

"How was that huh? Pretty good?" he said with a smile.

"You didn't crash into the ship so I suppose it was adequate enough."

"You really know how to boost morale, you know that?"

Kara grinned and then looked away, "I wouldn't want to give you a big head."

"A little bit of feedback goes a long way, come on, I can take it. How'd I do?"

"You can tell you haven't flown before," replied Kara as two vipers narrowly passed them by. "Biggy on the other hand obviously has."

Ford watched the vipers heading away from them. He had been very jealous of Biggy's natural flying abilities that had given him the opportunity to fly a viper. "He's had years of training," replied Ford slightly bitterly.

"Aww is someone feeling left out?" replied Kara with a playful pout. "If it'll make you feel better you did really, really well."

"Ha ha."

"Truly, it was great, I will get you a gold star from the nursery."

Ford couldn't help but laugh, "are you this mean to your husband?"

"No, he can fly."

"Wow. You know part of me is going to miss this after our 28 days are up," said Ford with humour, but inside his stomach clenched at the thought of returning home. As much as he longed to see Caroline again, his time on the Pegasus had been some of the best he had ever experienced and he hated the thought of leaving. Even though Kara teased him mercilessly, they seemed to have formed a sort of friendship and he wanted that to continue and he wanted to see more of his new friend's world. He had no idea what was going to happen after the 28 days was up and whether he would ever get the opportunity to return.

"Ease up on the throttle," said Kara, bringing back his full attention. "You remember how to bring the ship to a stop?"

"Of course," replied Ford, nervously pulling back on the throttle and gently bringing the ship to a stop. He heard a noise from behind him which made him turn backwards with a small start. He had almost forgotten that the raptor's ECO was travelling with them.

"We've come to a stop sir, nothing is around us," she said from the rear.

"Thanks Nora," replied Kara as she stood up and squeezed through the seats into the back.

Ford was beyond curious, wondering what she was going to teach him now. He looked into the rear of the raptor and watched as the ECO pulled out some long tubing which attached perfectly to a port beneath the ECO panel and then hooked it up to Kara's flight suit.

"Are you going for a spacewalk?" asked Ford.

"We're going for a spacewalk," replied Kara, grinning through her helmet.

"Seriously?" Ford was now a mixture of ecstasy and fear, which made his stomach turn somersaults.

"I told you I wouldn't let Biggy have all the fun. Come into the rear and I'll hook you up." Ford wasted no time, he awkwardly pushed his way through to the rear of the raptor and tried to keep as still as possible as Kara hooked him up to the equipment. "Don't yank on this or anything, it's your O2 and tether to the ship."

Ford laughed briefly, "no yanking, gotcha."

"Are we good to go Nora?"

"All set," replied the ECO looking at the panel so Ford could only see the back of her helmet. She pressed a button and slowly the hatch in the side of the raptor opened wide.

Kara walked towards it, taking Ford's gloved hand gently and guided him forwards. "Take it slow, this can feel a bit weird at first."

Ford felt like a toddler taking his first steps as he paced carefully forwards and out onto the wing of the raptor. He knew that he would never be able to describe the feelings that he felt in those few moments as he took in his surroundings, the vastness of space. The Battlestar had jumped twice since he had arrived and he no idea where they were, but that didn't detract from the beauty that surrounded him.

Kara reached the edge of the wing and gently pushed off backwards, pulling Ford softly with her. His feet left the ground and floated just beyond the end of the wing.

"Thank you so much for this," he said through the comm system with a smile as he tried to adjust to the new sensations. "This is so amazing, and weird, but I guess this must be everyday action for you."

"Not really, if a viper pilot ends up in the black something's gone really frakking wrong."

"Is this part of your training?"

"Yeah. They chuck your ass out of a raptor and you're expected not to freak out and orientate yourself, but no amount of training prepares you for what it's really like to punch out."

"Have you had to do it?"

"Once, I took a bad hit whilst taking out a toaster that spun me towards a planet and had to punch out in the upper atmos. I vaguely remember the force of it before passing out, thank the frak for auto parachutes."

"Wow, so you landed on a random planet, how'd they find you?"

"They didn't. I found the toaster I hit, gutted it and flew it back to the ship."

"Seriously? Bet Biggy's babysitter never did that."

Kara laughed, "Kat was just a nugget back then, I saved her ass."

Ford twisted around slightly, stretching out his limbs, "so you wouldn't recommend punching out into a planet's atmos?"

"You'd probably have more chance of surviving that then punching out mid-battle. You're left floating out there with a frakking battle raging around you, praying that you don't get hit by any cross-fire or another ship as you desperately wait for a raptor to rescue you."

"I've had the experience of being completely pinned down by gunfire, but I was securely hidden behind a rock, so it's not quite the same. If I had been spread eagled out in the open it might've come close to that experience though."

"A battle is a battle," replied Kara. "We all put our asses on the line and despite how well we're trained, you're always afraid when the fire pours down around you."

Ford nodded, not that Kara could see that through his helmet. He twisted about in the vacuum, loving the strange feeling of floating. The carefree pair danced about in space until it was time to return to the ship. Kara had guffawed as she gave Ford a gentle kick to push him back into the raptor, sending him flailing into Nora.

Once back in the raptor, Nora set about repressurising the ship as Kara and Ford settled back in the front. Ford started up the engines and carefully brought the ship round to head for home. They were mostly silent until they neared the Pegasus.

Kara shifted slightly in her seat, "so what do you think is going to happen after the 28 days?"

Ford glanced over at her, "I've been having too much fun to think about it in all honesty. I suppose that I will report back and let the powers that be take things forward."

"Are you going to let the rest of my crew come home?"

"I don't think anyone is a prisoner, but I promise to do all that I can to make sure that they do."

"Thanks"

"Not that I want to leave this place. I really wish that I could have seen your home worlds, I imagine they were amazing."

Kara shrugged, "It's easy to only recall the good things once something's gone. I'm sure we had the same issues as you do on Earth. I used to live in a crappy apartment in the ass end of Delphi that had a view of a parking lot. Believe me, carrying around a weapon in your car was necessary."

Ford laughed, "I can well imagine you living in a place like that."

"I do miss some of the small things though, being able to take a run out in the sunshine, watching the pyramid game in the mess..."

"Hotdog wants to show me how to play pyramid, is it hard?"

Kara scrunched up her nose, "you don't want Hotdog to teach you how to play, he's no good."

"And I suppose you are?"

"Of course," replied Kara as the raptor entered the flight pod. "Do you want to try a solo landing?"

"If you think I'm ready."

"Ease up on the throttle, you're aiming for the trap over there." Ford eased up as gently as he could on the throttle and edged forwards towards the trap. "A bit further…now ease back more and lower the thrusters."

Ford's heart hammered in his chest as the ship lowered slowly until he felt a clunk as the ship landed. "That was amazing."

"Amazing is a strong word."

"You know what I mean," replied Ford twisting in his seat to face her. "It was an amazing experience. So how did I do?"

"Better than some nuggets I've taught, perhaps I will make a pilot out of you. Now that's the nicest thing I'm going to say to you today, so don't push it."

"What, no offers to teach me pyramid later or an invite to the triad game?"

"I'm on guard duty later," replied Kara with a sigh as the ship started to be towed in.

"Guard duty? Don't you have guards for that?"

"We lost a lot of marines on our journey here, there isn't enough to protect the whole ship."

"Oh," said Ford, imagining the battles that the ship had come up against.

The ship jolted to a stop inside the hanger. Kara removed her helmet and shook out the loose strands of hair that had pinned themselves to the sides of her head. "I'll be on duty down near the officer's gym if you really want to learn to play pyramid."

Ford removed his helmet and pushed his way into the rear of the raptor. He was walking on high, looking forward to telling his roommates what he had done today, especially Biggy. He was sweating all over, superheated by the flight suit and finally understood why all of the pilots hit the head as soon as their caps were over. "So how good are you at this pyramid game, I need to make sure I have the best teacher?" he asked as they exited the raptor.

Kara shrugged, "I was headed to the pros."

"Of course," replied Ford. "Is there anything you haven't mastered yet?"

Kara thought for a moment as she stepped down off the wing of the raptor, "Life? I've generally been really rubbish at that."

Ford laughed, "you seem to be doing fine with your little family."

"If it wasn't for Lee I would be a complete frak up, believe me."

"He definitely seems to be a calming influence."

Kara grinned, "go and hit the head, you'll need it after being in that flight suit. I'll find you after."

Ford pulled a mock salute and then set off across the deck towards his quarters. Gradually as the weeks had gone on they had been allowed more freedom and were no longer escorted everywhere as long as they went straight to their quarters. He now knew the way from the deck and bounded happily down the corridor of the ship that was starting to feel like home.

ooooo

Day 20 - Earth

Lee felt the sweat mottling his brow as he completed another lap inside of the base. They had been allowed to explore within the building and Lee spent a couple of hours each day running circuits within it until his muscles ached. Each day he catalogued every inch of the base, making a mental note of everything. There wasn't much there as they had clearly only been allowed in the area of the base that didn't contain anything of importance.

Despite being entrapped within a complex, the last few weeks had been pleasant, even though he desperately missed Kara and the children. The people in the base seemed to be well intentioned, good people, the scientists especially who only seemed interested in knowing more about them. Lee had spent many evenings telling Caroline about the Colonies, just small mundane things that seemed to fascinate her. Since their destruction, no-one had really spoken about the Colonies, about their old lives, as it had been too painful and over time they had become an almost taboo subject. But Lee had found describing the Colonies to this stranger oddly comforting, despite it bringing back painful memories of what he had lost.

Lee rounded another corner and then stopped as he reached his small cell that were now his quarters, catching his breath he bent forwards with his hands on his knees. After a few minutes he stood back up and wiped away the sweat off his brow. He was about to walk towards his shower when he heard a small giggle emanating from one of the other quarters. Lee frowned and then walked down the row of rooms until he came to Racetrack's quarters where he heard another giggle. He looked in through the doorway to find Racetrack standing close to Sergeant Jones, an Earth soldier who had been a frequent player at the poker table over the past few weeks, her hands pressed against his chest. Jones looked enthralled, smiling down at Racetrack who was grinning widely.

Lee cleared his throat making the couple jump and pull apart.

"Sir," said Racetrack standing to attention, her face flushing. Lee raised his eyebrow making her look down.

Lee ignored Jones who muttered something and then left with the translation machine.

After a moment Racetrack raised her head, "Sir, I…"

"What the frak do you think you were doing?" asked Lee keeping his voice low.

Racetrack shrugged, "we were just sharing a joke."

"Come on Racetrack, I'm not blind, or stupid."

"It's nothing, nothing has happened!" Racetrack's voice was now slightly raised.

Lee raised his hand, motioning for her to lower her voice, "for frak's sake lower your voice, do you want the whole place to suddenly come here and start writing notes?" He motioned towards the two way mirrors, "for all you know they were watching your whole exchange with that soldier."

The anger had bubbled up in Racetrack, but she kept her voice lower, "so what if they did?"

"It may have escaped your notice but we're living on a knife edge here, we can't afford to have a political incident, not to mention how inappropriate it is, you know the rules."

"Wow, sir, coming from the former CAG who was frakking and knocked up one of his pilots, that's really rich." Lee raised his eyebrow again and crossed his arms, making Racetrack look down at the floor again.

Lee momentarily recalled the similar argument that he'd had with Kara after she had spent the night with Balter, which had been nothing to do with her breach of any rules but rather his jealousy. At least Racetrack hadn't punched him in the face. "You're out of line lieutenant."

"Sorry sir. But honestly, there's nothing going on."

"I don't expect any officers to be celibate, but messing with someone from Earth when we've just managed to establish relations could ruin everything we've worked and suffered for. So whatever is happening needs to stop, for now at least."

Racetrack nodded, the look of disappointment on her face evident. "Yes sir."

"Come on, I hear that a poker game is starting soon. You can still see him over a game, just nothing more in private."

Racetrack nodded again and then started towards the exit before pausing, "do you really think that those four Earth guys will stay celibate on the Pegasus? The crew will eat them alive."

Lee laughed briefly, imaging how popular new "meat" would be on the Beast. The amount of frakking that typically went on between the crew had been rampant before they left on their long and lonely mission to find Earth. "Carry on lieutenant."

Racetrack left the room leaving Lee to sigh and shake his head before heading to his own quarters for a shower. Mercifully shades had been installed in the bathrooms so he could enjoy a nice warm shower in private. He thought of Kara as he washed away the sweat from his run, wishing that he was with her back in their quarters on the Pegasus. Part of him didn't blame Racetrack for wanting to start something and she had been right to call out his hypocrisy, but he knew that one wrong foot here could ruin their progress and he couldn't bear the thought of being apart from his family any longer.

Once he had finished his shower, he spent a few minutes updating his log. They weren't exactly a riveting read, mainly consisting of his observations of Earth and their daily activities, but it took his mind away from home.

When he joined the rest of his crewmates they were already deep into a poker game and beers. They glanced over at him when they passed, except for Racetrack and Jones who were suddenly very interested in their cards. Skulls inviting him to join but Lee politely declined, not wanting to spoil their fun. Back on the Galactica he had occasionally enjoyed a game, mainly so he could admire Kara in her element, but when he had taken over as XO of the Pegasus he rarely had the time to hang out in the officer's mess. Lee walked past and took a seat opposite Caroline on one of the sofas, unable to stop the sigh that escaped his lips as he sat down.

"Everything okay?" asked Caroline through the translator.

Lee looked up and smiled briefly but not convincingly, "fine." The truth was, he wasn't fine, he missed his family. There was also a thought that niggled at the back of his mind, an unwanted worry that whilst he was stuck here, Kara was out there with four strangers. He trusted her implicitly, but he didn't trust them and he knew the allure of his wife all too well.

Caroline nodded but didn't push anything further, "not joining the game tonight?"

"Not tonight," replied Lee shortly, leaving an awkward silence. After a few minutes, and sensing that he had offended his kind caretaker, he desperately tried to get the conversation flowing again, "is there anything more you want to know about the Colonies?"

"Sorry, I've been asking about them too much, you're probably really bored of telling me about them" replied Caroline shyly with a small smile.

This wasn't the conversation starter he had intended, "I don't mind, really, it's been good to remember them."

This seemed to appease Caroline who then asked, "why don't you tell me about your new home, I believe you called in New Caprica?"

Lee sighed, "I wish I could say it was like its namesake but it's cold and miserable, Caprica was nearly always sunny. People are living in tents because our current President is too lazy and inefficient to order the building of any infrastructure, even though it was his election pledge to settle there."

"Let me guess, you didn't vote for him?"

"No way, the former President Laura Roslin was much better, she's the one who saved us from being completely wiped out, kept the fleet together."

"But she didn't want to settle on New Caprica?"

"Being settled on a planet is dangerous. It's well hidden, but we'd be sitting ducks if the cylons do show up, there'd be no way to escape."

"But constantly running must be dangerous too?"

Lee paused momentarily, his eyes piercing, "yeah."

"Sorry," replied Caroline, but Lee smiled he response. "What?"

"You apologise a lot, it just made me think about Kara. She's always so brash and she never apologises for it. It's never failed to make me smile."

"She's definitely a memorable person," laughed Caroline.

Lee smiled, "you have nothing to apologise for, really. Feel free to ask anything you want about the Colonies."

"Thank you. Is there anything you would like to know about Earth?"

"What's going to happen when the others return next week?"

"I'm not sure, no-one discusses such things with me."

"So they could lock us up again?"

Caroline looked away briefly and then turned back, "I don't know. Believe me, if it was up to me, I would send you all straight back home, but I would be jumping on board and running away with you."

"This is your home, why would you want to leave?"

"I know it must sound strange that I'd want to leave, especially when I imagine you would all like nothing more than to go back to your old homes. It's just…I've always wanting something more. I started out as a doctor, worked non-stop hours, but it never felt right. Then I came here and it brought me closer to my dreams, but I never could have imagined meeting people from other worlds. Now the only thing I want to do is to go out there, to glimpse your worlds, does that sound mad?"

"Not at all. I used to have similar dreams when I was a kid. The twelve Colonies may have been big but we didn't stray too far beyond them despite having the technology."

Caroline was about to respond but she was interrupted by a slightly nervous technician who came quickly into the room, slightly out of breath.

"Erm, Dr Richards?" he said. "I'm picking up a radio signal."

"What? That's not possible, it's a week early," replied Caroline, walking up to the technician. Lee couldn't stop himself from following her, a look of concern forming on his face. The computer had been programmed to pick up the radio frequency emitted from the raptor. It had only been tested once previously and that was when the raptor had left with Kara and the others. "There must be something wrong with it."

They followed the technician into an adjoining room. Caroline was about to start pressing buttons when the telephone next to the computer began to ring. She picked it up quickly and answered, ignoring Lee who was standing by her side. Lee's stomach clenched as she listened to the person on the other end and responded that she understood.

"They've picked something up on radar," she said, "it's heading here quick."

"Where?" asked Lee after the translation.

Caroline started to head for the door at a fast pace, "it's headed straight here, it must be using the return coordinates."

Lee followed closely as she went down a maze of long corridors, using her thumb print to open the various security doors. There was no way that he would remember the route she was taking, noting that the base was built to keep people inside. Finally they reached a large door, which Carolie heaved open, taking them outside.

Immediately they could hear the roar of the thrusters closing in. It was dark outside but the ground was illuminated by floodlights. Caroline kept back but Lee stepped forwards towards the noise undeterred. The wind from the thrusters beat down on the ground sending dust everywhere, Lee turned his head away and shielded his eyes as the raptor neared slowly. His heart was racing, fear pouring through him. There was no way that Kara would just return early, something had to be seriously wrong. Lee desperately hoped that their worst fears had not materialised.

He looked back up at the raptor as it gently landed with a thump. He walked up to the wing as the hatch opened, needing to see who was inside. He felt half elated, half sick when he heard the cheerful sound of his children running down the wing shouting "dada!"

Lee scooped them into his arms, gripping them closely, but he stared up into the raptor seeing the rest of the Pegasus' children and nursery carers inside. And then Narcho emerged, tossing his helmet aside a look of desperate urgency on his face.

"Has it happened?" asked Lee although he could already guess.

Narcho nodded, his face ashen, "we've been boarded."