Mad About Starbuck Chapter 6: Episode 6, a battlestar galactica fanfic

MAD ABOUT STARBUCK - Episode 6

PART 1 The next few sectars were pleasant ones. The tribunal faded in our memories, and we had hoped the fleet would move on to other issues, that maybe the IFB would soon forgot about Starbuck and his unconventional relationships, as several other men and

women in the fleet had begun to establish their own alliances. I guess it's human nature for people to begin to bond together in crisis, to form their own circle of friends and family. Life does go on despite any adversity. But the IFB just wouldn't let it go.

They had of course caught on tape in blazing color Sire Uri making threats to get us for the travesty of justice that had been dispensed upon him. We didn't let our guards down, none of us. We discovered quickly what a tight group of friends Starbuck had.

Sheba and Athena became a constant presence around our place, which was fine with me. I liked Sheba's sense of humor. Apollo and Boomer went to work right away trying to track down every lead on the mysterious supplier. What they discovered was that the flow of illegal goods did not even slow with the confiscation of Uri's storehouse. There was more to all this than any of us suspected, and we remained wary. But so far, Uri's threats had proven to have no bite. In time the security guards at our door and in our corridor proved to be an annoyance. The IFB seemed more of a threat with their constant harassment.

You wouldn't believe the hey day they had with Starbuck and Apollo losing the championship triad game. Of course they held the game a mere three days after the bashing they had both received at the hands of that landram named Silva. Neither of them should

have been up and walking let alone trying to play triad. The IFB was unmerciless. They actually had the gall to insinuate that Starbuck was too tired from satisfying the "insatiable women" he in which he was involved. And Apollo they claimed was getting too old and soft since he was now being groomed for Command on the Galactica and politics of the fleet.

It was a hard game to watch. Apollo limped from one side of the court to the other. Starbuck dodged any contact with any player, not a good move in an all contact sport. He might as well have just sat on the floor while the others played, not that you could call

Apollo's limps and lame throws as playing. Boomer and Jolly were kind at least. They actually slowed the game down. I swear at one point they even threw Apollo the ball to give him a shot. It was a more than fair game. But the IFB had a field day with it

anyway. They used it as proof that Starbuck was losing his edge due to his unconventional lifestyle, and Apollo had fallen sway to the luxuries of being the Commander's son.

We tried not to worry about the IFB and Sire Uri's threats, and everything people said about us. Instead we went about setting up home in our new quarters. Aliana dove into her duties as an instructor, and I began my career as a pilot. I was even flying a few

patrols as Starbuck's wingmate. Oh, not every time, but enough to prove that we were a good team. When we stopped playing around with our fancy toys that is.

It's hard to say that Starbuck actually moved in to the quarters, but he certainly spent most of his free time there. On most nights he would still sneak back to the bunkroom. Some nights I think it was because he didn't feel comfortable in that big room even when

he had Aliana for company. Some nights I think he was just being polite.

Starbuck and I had kept our distance since finding out Aliana was pregnant. It's not that we didn't spend time together, in fact we probably spent more time together since we were now in the same squadron. But things were awkward between us. We had both retreated to the safe distance of friends.

Aliana noticed it right away and was constantly trying to give us time together, or talking to each of us about it. I never did find out exactly what it was for Starbuck that made him hesitant. I know for me that it was the constant stares and comments in public. The IFB had thrust us into the limelight, only it wasn't a very flattering light. The tribunal had only increased the already ugly way people saw us and our relationship. We were the first to give this new Survival Plan a try. As I had learned before, being first can be difficult. I just wasn't up to the scrutiny. Oh publicly I could handle it. I'd put on my Pyramid face for the crowd, but I couldn't seem to let go of the shield in private.

But Starbuck and I played the game for Aliana's sake. There was no way I was going to let her go through this alone. Heck, there had even been rumors that the baby was really Sire Uri's. I'm not sure who said it first, but I know who said it last. One of the security guards was sporting a very ugly black eye the next day, and Starbuck mumbled something about having his pay docked and having to do double duty for a secton. No one ever commented again, at least not to us that there was any doubt that Starbuck was the

father of Aliana's baby. The pilots were decent though. They barely said a thing. Of course I think Starbuck's assessment of the situation was right, they were too busy trying to get in on the action to waste their time looking down on us. So eventually even the

come ons and comments towards me stopped. I'm not sure how many guys Starbuck had to beat up for that one. He never told me. I didn't ask. We kept our distance, laughing and joking as friends, acting friendlier around Aliana, but she knew. She tried

though, and I guess for that reason alone I couldn't completely back out. I played along for her sake.

She'd send us out on a date, and we would dutifully go, usually heading over to the Rising Star to play cards or to one of the other little clubs and chanceries that were opening up on the other ships. We'd come in late, I think on purpose to avoid having

to see Aliana and explain how our evening went. We still had fun together. Even as a friendly date Starbuck was a lot of fun. We'd flirt and tease with each other, but it would only go so far before one of us would back away.

One night Aliana even booked us a private suite on the Rising Star. But we ended up giving the room away to Boomer and his new girlfriend Lexia after swearing both of them to secrecy. At one point I even think Starbuck tried to set me up with Boomer.

On one of our dates ordered by Aliana, Starbuck had invited Boomer along. Then Starbuck suddenly remembered a report he forgot to file and had to go back to the Galactica. Boomer and I smelled the set up right away. It was Boomer's idea to look like we

had gone along with it. He bet me a large pile of cubits that Starbuck would be jealous in the end. I took that bet thinking there was no way that Starbuck would purposely set us up, then act jealous afterwards. I was pretty convinced that what feelings Starbuck had for me at that point were purely platonic.

I'm still paying Boomer off. Happily I suppose. It was nice to know Starbuck still cared, because sure enough, he was lurking around the landing bay when the Rising Star Shuttle came in. He did not look pleased as Boomer and I exited the shuttle arm in arm. Boomer walked me back to our quarters, with Starbuck tagging along. I thought Boomer was going to really push it and move in for a good night kiss, but much to our chagrin, and the loss of my bet, Starbuck intervened just at that moment. Starbuck literally put his hand between Boomer and I and said something about me needing to get sleep before a patrol. Then Starbuck escorted Boomer back to the bunkroom before coming back to our quarters. Starbuck slept on the couch that night, doing guard duty or something.

Boomer is still giving me a hard time about it. Maybe he knows something I don't because in the last few sectars that was the only indication I had that Starbuck still had feelings for me. I was okay with that, because I wasn't sure just how this was all going to work. Aliana and Starbuck looked so happy together.

Aliana's pregnancy progressed with no problems and we all were excited for the baby to arrive. We settled into our family, as odd as it was.

I took every mission possible, even taking back to back patrols. Starbuck kept telling me to slow down, but I think it was mostly because at times he was my wing mate, which meant that when I volunteered, by default he volunteered to.
Maybe everything would have stayed that way. Maybe Aliana and Starbuck would have eventually gotten sealed, and I might have moved on to another guy. Maybe everything would have ended in the traditional happily ever after. But that's not how it turned out.

**************** PART 2 Maybe everything would have stayed that way. Maybe

Aliana and Starbuck would have eventually gotten

sealed, and I might have moved on to another guy.

Maybe everything would have ended in the traditional

happily ever after. But that's not how it turned out.

Instead what happened is I volunteered Starbuck and I

for another patrol. A deep recon this time, one of my

first ones that far in front of the fleet. Things had

been quiet for several sectars and for once it truly

seemed we had shaken free of the Cylons. We had run

across the occasional small outpost, but half the time

the outpost would be empty and dead. The other half,

they were poorly manned and easily defeated. Patrols

were becoming routine. The Commander took the

opportunity to begin exploring the star systems we

passed through for available resources. The forge

ship was constructing another ship, one almost as big

as the Rising Star, with agro capabilities too.

Everyone was breathing a sigh of relief.

I guess it was in that spirit of exploration and the

feeling of calm that made me jump at the opportunity

to snag one of the long range recon patrols. They had

literally tripled the distance they were searching,

and I guess I thought it would be fun to be that far

from home, off and on my own.

Starbuck decided after his first sleep cycle on the

patrol that I had a really twisted sense of what was

fun. I didn't realize how cranky he gets when he has

to do a recon longer than the average 12 centaurs.

And this one was going to last 36 centaurs. He let me

know that I was in for it. Oh sure, he started off

joking, but at some point, his joking got a really

nasty edge to it.

We found a way to pass the time discussing cards and

some of the clubs we had frequented. Most of the

planets in our patrol vector were gas giants without

much to offer us in useable resources, unless we

suddenly had a huge need for sulphuric acid and liquid

nitrogen. I snapped a few pictures for my scrap book

while Starbuck made fun of me.

It was on my second sleep cycle that we ran into

trouble. I was woken up not only by my attack scanner

going berserk, but also by Starbuck yelling in my ear.

"Reyana! We have company!"

His words chilled my blood and I was instantly awake.

"I see four incoming! Oh Frak!" It wasn't the first

time I had gone up against Cylons. Okay, it was only

my second time. But it was also my first time with

just me and my wingmate. There's something to be said

about facing the Cylons when you have your whole

squadron protecting your back. I began to panic as I

initiated evasive maneuvers.

"I'll take 'em high, you take 'em low. Stay cool,

these raiders look old." Starbuck said, as calmly as

if he were discussing a pyramid hand. "Look at that

one there, I think it's even damaged."

As the Raiders began to circle us, I could barely make

out that one of the raiders was trailing a cloud of

sparks. Starbuck was right, it was already damaged.

Starbuck lined up one of the Cylons in his sights and

swooped down upon it firing. I came up at the same

time, and our combined firepower took it out in a

blinding flash.

"One down, three to go." Starbuck coolly said.

"Starbuck, they're going for a pinwheel!"

I swear he laughed, as the three lined up on his tail,

the damaged raider moving slower and maneuvering in

jerks instead of a fluid motion.

"Okay, I'll play their game. You line them up and

take them out."

I felt my palms sweat and I almost lost the stick as I

zoomed in on my targets. I shot off a volley of lazer

fire and one more was gone. But the other two broke

off their formation.

"Good shot. Two down. You go for the lame one, I've

got the other."

It should have been a simple mop up at that point.

Except that one lame raider suddenly became well.

Very well. I almost had it in my sights once, twice,

a third time and it still got away at the last moment.

Starbuck was having problems of his own.

"I can't get this guy lined up." Starbuck stated.

"Well the lame one just became well!" I yelled back.

It crossed my sights again, and I took my shot even

though it wasn't perfect. My lazers grazed the wing

trailing sparks, and the raider went into a downward

spin. I watched in horror as it careened towards

Starbuck's viper.

"STARBUCK!!!" I screamed as I watched the raider

explode literally on top of him. Sparks and debris

were everywhere and I couldn't tell if Starbuck had

survived the explosion. I squinted into the fiery

haze that seemed to take forever to clear. In my

panic I began to pray.

**************** PART 3 Oh Lords Starbuck, please be there!" I prayed.

I guess my training must have kicked in at some point

because as I waited for the debris and smoke to clear

I sent off a short scrambled message to the Galactica

letting them know we had ran into trouble. I checked

my scanner and saw that the other raider had broken

off and was on a heading away from the fleet.

After what felt like a yahren the smoke finally faded.

I was so happy to see that Starbuck was still there I

shouted with joy.

"Starbuck, you scared me!"

"Can. ead. com. no... power."

"Say again Starbuck? You're breaking up." I realized

that Starbuck did not come through the encounter

unscathed.

"Reading..get..response main..shot...can you.."

"Okay, it sounds like your communications are out

because I'm not reading you. Frak! How can I tell if

you can read me? Okay,I got it. I'm coming in close,

just stay put."

I said another prayer that he could hear me and that's

why he stayed put, not that he was totally dead in

space and that's why he didn't move. I flew my viper

as close beside Starbuck as I could so that I could

get a visual on him. I gasped as I saw that his

canopy was splattered with something that I could only

assume was blood.

"Okay Starbuck, if you can read me, give me a sign.

Starbuck waved to me.

"Okay, I can see your hand. Well thank the Lords, I

wasn't sure how we were going to work this out if you

couldn't hear me. Let's try this, one hand up for no,

two hands up for yes? Are you injured"

I saw one hand go up.

"Starbuck, this whole communication thing will go

better if you don't lie to me. I can see blood. One

hand for bad, two for not so bad."

Two hands went up.

"Okay, so you'll live."

Two hands went up.

"No communications, right?" Two hands went up.

"Do you have weapons?"

One hand.

"That's a no on weapons. How are you on fuel? I see

fluid streaming behind you, could be weapons coolant,

but."

Two hands went up.

"Okay, you're good on fuel right?"

Two hands stayed up.

"We have fuel. Okay, maneuvering?"

Two hands, then he dropped one.

"Is that a 'sort of'?"

Two hands went up.

"Okay, we'll work on that one in a minute. We're

going to have to put you down somewhere."

"..thrust..no braking..turbo.."

"Okay, I caught part of that. Something about no

braking?"

Two hands went up.

"Oh Frak. That is going to suck on a landing!"

I quickly punched up my scanner.

"Oh man, you are the luckiest man I know! There's a

planet to our right, breathable atmosphere, and mostly

water. We're going to put you down in water, that

should help with the braking."

Starbuck flashed one hand up repeatedly.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me you don't know how to

swim."

He kept flashing hand signals at me, but I ignored

him. "Look, you don't have much of a choice. I don't

think you can limp back, and I don't want to risk it

with no weapons. You've got sparks flying everywhere,

and that leak looks suspicious. We're putting you

down in water."

I read off the coordinates to Starbuck. I started to

pull away from him and head for the planet, but didn't

get too far before I noticed he wasn't headed in the

right direction.

"Uh Starbuck, it's this way."

"...no...no..manu.no...ver..no.ing"

"No, this can't be happening. Roger that, no

maneuvering. FRAK!!!" I swore. Essentially Starbuck

was stuck with one heading, one that led to nowhere.

I pulled up beside him so that I could have a visual.

I sat there for a few centons pondering our bleak

situation.

"Can..read me?"

"Hey, I got part of that! Give me some advice oh wise

flight instructor, because I am out of ideas!"

"Push me..ush me..push.."

"You have got to be kidding! I could do more damage

to your viper!"

Starbuck motioned with a thumbs up sign.

"You are crazy, you know that!"

"Go back..here..back leave..go..me here."

"Sorry Starbuck, I'm not reading you, especially if

you're saying what I think you are FRAKING saying!" I

swore at him.

"Go .go...back go back."

"I am not leaving you here! We are too far from the

Galactica and have just been attacked, there is no way

I'm leaving you here!" I rapped my hand on the canopy

trying to think. "Okay, okay, here's the plan.

You're right, I'm going to just nose my viper over

towards yours and give you a little push."

"Go back now..back...go...now.."

"Starbuck, if you don't shut up, I'm not going to make

this push as soft as it should be!"

I got some really interesting hand gestures for that

one. But he finally calmed down. He gave me a thumbs

up sign.

"Okay, on three." I eased my viper into position to

where I was staring down the nose of my viper to the

side of his just past his canopy. "One, two, three."

I gave my viper a little thrust.

It had the desired effect, only it wasn't enough. I

had to perform the little push two more times to

finally get Starbuck on the right heading. But it

worked and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. One

problem solved, only about 98 more to go. The biggest

one being how we were going to get Starbuck to land

without maneuvering. Giving him a little push in

space was one thing, forcing him down was another.

I had time to think about it in the silence of our

flight to the planet. It was going to take us at

least a centaur to get there and for the first time

since the destruction I had the feeling of complete

aloneness. Starbuck and I were known for our verbal

sparring while flying. Even when he was in sleep

cycle I could hear an occaisional sigh or deep breath.

I was not used to the complete silence I was

experiencing now. I didn't like the feeling.

Apparently Starbuck didn't like the silence either.

He had taken the time to rewire his communications on

the short trip to the planet. Suddenly as we

approached the planet, Starbuck's voice came through.

There was a whole lot of static though.

"Can you read me?"

"YEAH!! Yes, I can, I was getting lonely over here!"

"I don't know how long this is going to work, so talk

fast. Here's the plan. Water landings suck. We need

to find someplace near land, but deep enough so I

don't hit bottom on the way down. You shoot ahead and

scout out a spot."

"Okay, Yes sir." I answered.

"I'll be honest, I'm not sure how well I can swim."

"Aren't you from Caprica? Caprican's love to swim.

Didn't you have lessons as a kid?" I said puzzled.

"Yeah I did, that's not it." Starbuck didn't say

anything more.

I took a guess at the situation. "How bad are you

injured?"

"My leg is busted up." He said, not elaborating.

"How bad?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Bad enough where swimming isn't going to be fun."

Starbuck answered.

I swore to myself. This little journey away from home

was not turning out to be as much fun as I thought it

would be.

"Okay, I don't know if this will work, but maybe if

you pop your canopy right before you hit the water.

Keep your hand on the release of your harness, lose

your restraints quickly enough and the impact and rush

of water will probably actually suck you up to the

surface." I suggested.

"Yeah, that could work. Being crushed on impact can't

be worse than being stuck in a sinking Viper."

It was a grim thought, but he was right. Either way

wasn't going to be good.

"I'll be there to pull you out of the water. I'm an

excellent swimmer." I reassured him.

"Thanks, that's good to know." Starbuck said, but he

didn't sound very confident in our plan.

"Okay, let me go scout out a spot. Maybe we'll get

lucky and it will be a tropical paradise with calm

seas."

"Yeah, maybe. You know, you should have just gone

back." Starbuck said.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that Starbuck. You're breaking

up again." I could hear a loud audible sigh over the

com.

"I can't leave you Starbuck, I love you too much for

that."

Before he could reply, I headed off to scout out a

safe landing. As luck would have it, the planet had

long sandy beaches, rimmed by rocky cliffs covered in

deciduous forests. The seas were deep, dropping off

rapidly from the beach. It didn't look tropical, but

at least the seas appeared to be calm. The planet

also appeared to be uninhabited, as I could not spot

anything remotely resembling buildings or structures

of any kind. Just rocks and trees, and whole lot of

water.

I found a spot where the sea was free of rocks and I

could see a sandy bottom. I noticed that the beach

also had a creek or some sort of water flowing down

near where the cliffs started. It was a good sign

since we'd probably be stuck on this planet for a few

days. It would take that long, maybe even a secton

before the Galactica caught up to our position.

"Good news Starbuck, I found the perfect spot." I

transmitted him the cooridinates. Then the alarm went

off on my scanner. We had been followed by the one

Cylon we had missed.
**************** PART 4

After three sectars, I wasn't beginning to show, exactly, but nothing fit. I couldn't stand having anything tight around my waist, so for now, I chose to wear the not exactly stylish look of an unbelted uniform tunic hanging over pants that were a size too big. I was comfortable, and that was all that mattered to me. And anyone who made anything close to a wise crack, whether or not it was intended to just be funny, received an acid glare and the full benefit of fluctuating hormones. My sense of humor as quite limited, since any and all food seemed to make me queasy, yet I got light- headed if I didn't eat.

I was able to maintain my professional exterior when teaching my two courses, computer basics and viper mechanics, though, since each lasted only a centar. The shuttle runs, however, were a bit trickier, since the g- forces from launching tended to make my stomach do flip flops. I still flew three to four runs, mostly for supplies from either the electronic ship or one of the agro ships, though, because I very seldom actually got sick.

It did make me very touchy, however. Reyana must have a masochistic side, because she could not help teasing me about how temperamental I'd become - and how between me and Starbuck, she couldn't decide who was more volatile. Probably me, since Starbuck usually managed to hang onto his sense of humor for a while before actually exploding. Reyana pointed out, before dodging for cover from the flying hand towel, that my sense of humor was practically nonexistent.

But, otherwise, life was settling into a rather pleasant routine. Starbuck may not have moved into the quad quarters, but I hadn't expected him to. Still, he spent much of his free time with us, staying part of the night, from time to time, with me, before heading back to the billet. It was so warm and comforting to fall asleep in his arms. Yet, a part of our arrangement just didn't seem right. I got the feeling that Reyana was feeling left out. I didn't know, exactly, what was going on between her and Starbuck, but I sensed her pulling back. No, I thought, she couldn't. I needed her, because I was fully aware of Starbuck's transient nature. And while I could accept and even enjoy his impulsive, moment-to moment attitude, I counted on Rey, my only true family, to be there. And I wanted her to be happy. Starbuck still seemed to thrive on our contrasting, yet compatible personalities, but I sensed a barrier between the two, an awkwardness. So I tried everything I could think of to get them past whatever it was that was going on between them. I even enlisted Boomer's help to set up an elaborate ploy where he hinted that he'd like to go out with Reyana, since Starbuck claimed that they were "just friends now" and got Starbuck to invite him along on a date. Boomer then played on Reyana's emotions by betting that Starbuck would be jealous, to show her that this "it'd be great if you went out with Boomer" attitude was just a lie, even if he didn't know it. Boomer has a wonderfully wicked side, I had learned.

When Reyana started flying patrols with Starbuck, on a rotating basis where she also flew with Apollo and another pilot, at least, I was thrilled, because it meant that they would have more time alone to just talk. I thought maybe, during one of those long, boring probes, they would finally cut the felgercarb and realize that they still cared for each other as more than just friends. And I knew they did. Both of them. Even though she tried to hide it and vehemently denied it, I saw the hurt look in Rey's eyes when Starbuck and I spent part of the night together. And I remembered just how jealous, according to Boomer, Starbuck had been when Boomer had gone on that date with Reyana. So it was obvious to their friends, if not to them, that they still cared deeply for each other.

Thus, when Reyana told me that she and Starbuck would be flying their first deep recon together, being gone for 36 centars, I was happy, happy that they would have so much time together. Alone. Surely, they couldn't pretend for that long without one of them letting something slip. I was so intently focused on getting them back together, romantically, that it never occurred to me just what it meant when they flew as wingmates, that danger for one meant equal danger for the other. Or, in other words, my entire family would be at stake, again.

Athena was waiting for me after the cadets had filed out of the classroom and I was gathering up my materials. I noticed her standing just inside the door when I looked up. I didn't need to see the serious look on her face to know that something was wrong. A feeling of dread welled up, but I pushed it back. "There's bad news, isn't there?" I asked, keeping my voice even.

"I'm afraid so," Athena said, approaching me. I dropped my things and met her halfway. "We received a short, scrambled distress signal from Reyana's viper about a centar ago. All it said was that they'd encountered Cylons."

"But are they okay?" I asked, wanting desperately to know more.

Athena put a hand on my shoulder. "We don't know anything else. I'm sorry. Just that they've run into Cylons. But I knew you'd want to know."

"Yeah, thanks . . ." Cylons . . . Oh, Lords, I felt numb.

"Hey!" Athena said, catching my eye and seeing that I was fighting back the tears. "You've got to remember that this is Starbuck we're talking about. He and Rey would have no trouble taking out a squadron of Cylons -"

"But if they were okay, wouldn't they *tell* us so?"

"Yes, but -"

"And it's been a centar?" I felt myself starting to hyperventilate.

"Yes, but -"

"That's more than enough time to either finish a battle, or, or -"

Athena put both hands on my shoulders. "Just hold on," she said firmly. "If they suspect that there are still Cylons in the area, they might not risk sending another transmission. And they're too distant for us to pick any telemetry on them, one way or the other. So there's still every chance that they're fine!"

I took a deep breath and held it. "Yeah, yeah, maybe . . ."

Athena took my elbow. "Come with me," she said gently but firmly and started leading me out. "We'll go check again."

I followed Athena to the bridge. The only thought that kept echoing through my mind was that this couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening. No, not now, and both of them. Both of them. Oh, God! Not both Starbuck and Reyana! Not again! Not again! They were my family now, all I had! I could accept losing one. Or the other. Eventually. I knew the risks. I knew the dangers of being a viper pilot. But I had never even considered that when they flew together . . . they might die together. My entire family. Again. I could not endure that again.

I felt numb as we reached the bridge and approached the small group gathered around the long range communications console. Adama, Tigh, Apollo, and Boomer were in the middle of a discussion. A rather heated one, from the angry look on Apollo's face and the frown on Boomer's. That stopped me cold, because I suddenly knew exactly what they would be debating.

"No," I said, my voice hoarse. "You can't leave them!"

They all turned to look at me. Adama looked stern but steady. Tigh looked tense, and Boomer and Apollo looked angry and frustrated.

"No!" I felt the panic about to burst out. I didn't care if I was on the bridge and everyone was staring now. I didn't care that I was yelling at the commander. This was my family - and my sanity - they were discussing.

"We wouldn't just leave them," Adama said quietly but firmly. "But sending out any sort of rescue attempt at this point would be premature." He glanced at his two agitated warriors. "And too risky. Besides, they're too far out to send a shuttle. Yet." He held up a hand as Apollo started to protest again. "We'll have to be patient on this, as hard as that is."

"A second patrol, Father --" Apollo said.

"And if they encountered a fully manned outpost? We'd risk the Cylons being able to plot the location of the Fleet should they locate a second patrol on their scanners."

Apollo knew he was right. He knew the procedures, too. So did I. The Fleet would alter course - just enough so that if the Cylons had taken a trajectory reading from Starbuck and Reyana's patrol, they could not trace them to our coordinates. It meant that while we knew their last known heading and coordinates, they had no way of locating the Fleet. But we would periodically transmit short, scrambled signals, in case they had activated their homing beacons.

Adama came over to where I was standing, immobile, too numb, almost, to breath. He put his hand on my arm and gave me a gentle, concerned look. "We *will* do everything we can to locate them. I promise. But it's just too soon."

"How long?" I forced the words out.

"It'll be another eight centars before we'd be able to pick up their telemetry readings. Until then, we just have to wait."

Eight centars. Eight centars to prepare for the worst. The unimaginable. The impossible. I felt my knees go weak. Athena and Adama helped me to a seat at the console. All of them - the commander, Athena, Apollo, Boomer, even Colonel Tigh - gathered around, trying to give support. Adama had a hand on my shoulder. I felt myself rocking slightly as I stared at the deck. I was beyond tears, beyond screams. Total shock. I sat, unblinking, my hands cradling the slight bulge in my belly, and just rocked.

********* PART 5 "Oh Frak. Alright, let's do this!" I transmitted

Starbuck the coordinates as I eased my viper over

towards his. I frantically shrugged out of my jacket

and tried undoing my boots. I could reach at least

the top buckles. I wanted to be ready to swim the

second I landed.

"Okay, on three, I'll cut my engines and you can put

the nose of your viper on my tail and start forcing me

down." Starbuck said. He didn't sound like his usual

cool and in control self.

Starbuck entered the atmosphere head on. "One, two

three." He cut his engines and I began forcing him

down. It was not a fun feeling, knowing that the

slightest mistake could either leave Starbuck skipping

across the atmosphere of the planet, or plunging into

the ground like a knife through a gourd. I saw one of

Starbuck's maneuvering jets fire, and it put him into

a gentle glide. I silently thanked the Lords, the

fates, and whoever else might be listening.

"We're getting close Starbuck. Get rid of your

jacket. It will weigh you down." I said. I waited

until I could make out the actual waves on the sea,

"On three, pop your canopy. One, two three."

Starbuck didn't pop his canopy right away, but instead

was a few microns slow. His canopy popped just as his

Viper plunged into the water.

I pulled up and shot around to land faster than I

thought was possible. I popped my canopy and leapt to

the ground. It felt like it took me an eternity to

get my boots off. I threw them god knows where and

headed for the surf at a dead run. I could still see

the tail end of his viper, but it was sinking fast. I

quickly scanned the waves for Starbuck, but could not

see him, so I plunged ahead towards his cockpit.

The water was cold, bone chilling mind numbing cold.

It made my limbs freeze up. I put all of my energy

into swimming out to the cockpit. The waves tossed me

around and I fought against the surf trying to force

me back on the beach. I finally found where I thought

I should be above Starbuck's viper and bobbed in the

surf for a moment trying to find Starbuck. He should

have been near the surface. I dove under to search

for the cockpit, and found him fighting to get free of

his restraints. I grabbed him, but he struggled

against my grip, yanking his arm away. I had no

choice but to surface to get another breath. I dove

down again and saw him still fighting. I was smarter

this time and came at him from behind. I grabbed his

tunic and yanked hard. He broke free of the

restraints and I pulled him to the surface. When his

face broke free of the water, he gulped in huge gasps

of air, breathing in water too. His body was wracked

with spasms as he began to cough.

I took the opportunity to get a better hold on him,

but he was disoriented and tried to fight me. I put

my arm around his neck and squeezed. "Starbuck! It's

me!" I yelled into his ear. He finally relaxed a

little, then he grabbed onto me for dear life. I

started kicking for shore, my arm still around his

neck and pulling him along. It wasn't the best

position for dragging him in, it slowed me down, but I

didn't want to take the chance of losing him in the

surf. I wasn't sure how much the impact had shaken

him up, or even what his injuries were. I tried not

to worry about that, and focused on reaching the

beach.

We were literally washed up on the sand by a large

wave, and I lay there on the shore trying to catch my

breath. Starbuck finally let go of me and I rolled

onto my back just in time to watch the Cylon raider do

a fly over.

"Come on Starbuck, let's go!" I yelled. I got to my

feet and reached down to grab his arm. He climbed to

his feet, but I noticed right away that he was

balancing on one leg. He tried to take a step on the

other and collapsed into the sand, curling up in

agony. I knew his injury was bad, but we didn't have

time to patch him up or assess the damage.

I grabbed Starbuck by the shoulder and started

dragging him for the rocks and the trees. He finally

was able to get up slightly, and I placed my shoulder

under the arm of his bad side. He was literally dead

weight on me, but at least I wasn't dislocating his

shoulder anymore in my frantic attempt to get us under

cover.

I tried to ignore his screams of pain as we stumbled

up the rocky cliff. I could see the trees ahead of us

created a type of canopy. I thought that maybe we

could lose the Cylons in the maze of roots and limbs.

If worse came to worse, I could find Starbuck a place

to hide and take on the Cylons. They were slow on

land. I should be able to do it.

"I can't go on. Just leave me." Starbuck said

through teeth gritted in pain as he stumbled again.

"We've already had this discussion, now move Warrior!"

I shouted to him. It got him to go at least a little

further before he tried to give up on me again."

"They're going to catch up to us anyway." He said.

He moaned and reached for his leg. "It's broken, I'm

not going to make it."

"We're almost there. We can hide in the trees." I

pointed ahead of us to the canopy, and a visible path

through the underbrush.

"I can't make it." Starbuck complained again as I

shouldered his weight and marched determinedly towards

the trees. Behind us I could hear the Raider coming

in for a landing. That sound ended Starbuck's

complaints as he tried to scramble up the slope.

We reached the underbrush and disappeared under the

canopy of the trees. It was amazing underneath, a

whole system of tunnels and passages. I could barely

stand up because of the stunted growth of the trees,

but it was just as well as by now I was hunched over

from Starbuck's weight. While he wasn't much help, he

at least had the sense to go limp and let me do the

work. From the moans of pain I don't think he had

much choice.

I zig zagged through the passages, not bothering to

keep track of where I was going or where I had been.

I'd worry about being lost later. As I rounded one

corner and had a choice of three different passages, I

finally had time to give Starbuck a good look. His

face was covered with small burns and lacerations. He

was pale and sweating from the pain. His right arm

was also covered with small burns and cuts that were

bleeding freely. His left pant leg was completely

stained in blood. I didn't have time to look closely,

but I guessed since his pants weren't ripped that the

gash was an internal injury from his broken bone

breaking through the skin. He was breathing heavily

and his eyes were closed. He looked like he was

fighting to stay conscious.

"Alright, some place to hide. I think you've reached

your limit." I said, but got not response from

Starbuck.

I chose the farthest passage, one that headed towards

the cliff at the end of the beach and followed it

until it led to a dead end. It was like a cave, and I

knew we were away from the ocean because I couldn't

hear the surf any longer. I chose it as my last

stand. I laid Starbuck down on the ground. He

groaned as he settled, then tried to shake his head

and get back to his feet.

"Stay still Starbuck. I think we lost them." I drew

his lazer for him and put it in his hand. I drew mine

and headed back down the passage just to make sure.

I heard a whine, a slow lazy whine, that I could only

assume must be the Cylons.

"Frak!" I swore again. "Stay here Starbuck. I've

got something to take care of." I started to head

down the tunnel.

Starbuck tried to struggle to his feet and fell,

screaming in pain. I raced back to make sure he was

okay.

"You're not going without me." He hissed at me

through gritted teeth.

"You're a liability to me right now. Just stay put.

If I get into trouble, I'll head them this way and

then you can help, okay?" I literally begged. There

was no way I was going to be able to carry Starbuck

and take on Cylon Centurions.

"You've never done this before." He gave me a

concerned look and attempted to get up again.

"So there's always a first. Stay put or I'll shoot

your other leg." That earned me an annoyed look, but

I also noticed that he wasn't fighting to get to his

feet. At that moment, I was dead serious. Starbuck

was in no condition to help me.

"Aim for the waist. That's where they keep their

powerpack." Starbuck said.

"Thanks instructor." I said and then headed down the

tunnel. I came round the corner with my weapon drawn.

The tunnel was clear, and the pounding of my heart

almost drowned out the sound of the whine. I willed

my heart still and listened, trying to find the Cylons

location. They were close, and moving closer. I

rounded another corner and could hear that they were

headed in my direction. I could either sit and wait

for them to find me, or I could go to them.

I was still debating what to do when one of the

Centurions came crashing through the trees. His rifle

was drawn, but not aimed at me and I nailed him with

my first shot. He collapsed and I could hear another

Cylon coming from the same direction. I retreated

around the corner for cover and waited. I didn't have

long to wait. Only this Centurion was ready for me

and got off a couple of shots before I finally felled

him. It must have been my fourth or fifth try before

he went down. The laser fire came close to me,

singeing the trees around me.

I had the morbid desire to go and check out the

Centurions. I had never seen a Cylon up close before,

just raiders. I was shocked at how big they were,

damn big!

I heard a sound behind me, and turned to investigate.

I didn't hear the whine, but through the pounding of

my heart and rushing of my blood, I couldn't really

hear anything. I went around the corner behind me,

lazer drawn, and ran right into a drawn blaster.

"Don't shoot! It's me!" I said as I recognized

Starbuck. It took a moment before he finally dropped

his weapon, his eyes glazed with pain. He dropped

down to his knees.

"I told you to stay put!" I said, holstering my

weapon and reaching to help him to his feet.

"How many did you get?" He asked.

"Two. I got two. I don't know where the third one

is." I answered. My voice sounded hollow and from

far away.

"The last one will be with the raider. We have to get

him or we can expect more."

"I'll get him. Let's get you back to a nice safe

place." I said trying to drag Starbuck back down the

tunnel.

"NO!" He shouted and tried to pull away from me, only

to stumble to his knees again. He screamed in pain.

"Easy. Easy." I said, waiting for his pain to

subside before I reached down and gently brought him

back to his feet.

"I see that you feel strongly about this." I teased

him. "Alright, you come with me as far as the beach,

but then you wait in the trees!"

"You'll have no cover on the beach." He stated.

"And that's why you'll be hidden in the trees to cover

me."

Starbuck nodded his approval and his teeth began to

chatter. I felt myself begin to shiver. The sun was

setting and I realized we had more problems than a

Cylon patrol. It was only a matter of time before

Starbuck went into shock, or worse, hypothermia set

in. We were both soaking wet from our freezing cold

swim. I needed to get to my Viper and the emergency

kit. We were not in a good situation at all.

"Okay Starbuck, I need some of that luck of yours."

He tried to grin at me, but it came out as a

chattering grimace. **************

PART 6

It was slow going getting back to the beach. I took a

wrong turn more than once and had to back track.

Starbuck's breathing was too labored for my tastes,

and he was shivering uncontrollably. He was leaning

more and more heavily upon me. I kept suggesting that

I just leave him there and come back for him, but he

was insistent.

I hated to do it, but I knew we needed to hurry and

take out the Cylon before he called in reinforcements.

I hated to do it, but I purposely stumbled, dragging

Starbuck down to the ground. The pain was too much

for him, and he finally lost his hold on

consciousness. I left him lying there on a trail

knowing there was no point in trying to conceal him.

If I didn't make it back, he was as good as dead

anyway.

I moved much quicker and finally found a tunnel that

led down to the beach. It wound its way towards the

small stream, and I came on the beach a good distance

from my Viper. Parked next to it was the Cylon

Raider. I tried to stay towards the trees as I

creeped back towards the raider. I assumed that the

Cylons, being machines and all, probably had great

eyesight and would be able to pick me out easily on

the open beach.

I finally had to leave the trees behind as the cliff

side climbed, and leave myself in the open. I tried

to make myself as small a target as possible. I was

able to cover half the distance to the raider with

still no sign of the Centurion, when he suddenly came

around the side of my Viper. I dropped to the sand

firing. I tried to aim. I didn't want to hit my own

viper. But my aim sucked at that distance. It felt

like centons of hellfire raining down on me from the

Cylon's rifle before I finally was able to disable

him.

I lay there on the sand gulping in great huge breaths.

I slowly got to my feet, trying to calm my heart and

not hyperventilate. I staggered a few feet before I

retched. I staggered away from the mess and sat down

on the sand with my head between my knees trying to

regain control.

"Come on!" I said aloud to myself. "Warriors don't

panic. You're not out of danger yet." A breeze came

up and the cold forced me to shiver violently for a

moment. I shook it off and got up running for my

viper and the emergency kit.

I kept my distance from the Centurion, circling around

the other side of my viper. I climbed up to the

cockpit to be greeted by smashed dials and smoldering

gauges. The Cylon had essentially destroyed my

cockpit. I reached over and turned on the short-range

beacon, and the switch fell off in my hand.

"Great. Just great." I mumbled to myself. So we

were on our own. That was okay, I was prepared for

that. I grabbed my jacket and put it on over my wet

shirt. It did help me feel warmer.

I didn't have the usual emergency kit like my last

crash landing. Since being assigned my own viper I

had been adding things to my kit. Hey, you only need

to crash land once to realize that the standard

emergency kit just wasn't going to cut it. Plus I was

small. I could load that thing up and still not reach

the standard pilot weight limit. It left me a little

less leg room, but I've got short legs so I don't

notice.

Of course I forgot that I might have to carry the

emergency kit for a long distance. It was too heavy

for me, and I pulled out the critical stuff. I ran

down the beach to the trailhead near the creek and

dropped the items in the sand, then ran back to get

the rest. I wanted to get everything out of my viper

just in case we were paid a little visit by our Cylon

friends. I also took the time to get my boots on and

it helped me feel warmer getting my barefeet off the

cold wet sand.

On my last trip carrying supplies, I reached down and

took the rifle from the Cylon. I knew he was

disabled, but I still kept my lazer aimed on him. I

had to roll him over to get to the rifle and it took

all my muscles to get him off it. Man those things

are big!

I left all but the most essential items hidden beneath

some driftwood on the beach and raced up the path to

find Starbuck. I must not have been gone as long as I

thought I had, as he was where I left him and still

out. I took advantage of his lack of consciousness to

roll him over and evaluate his injuries.

The cuts and burns on his face and arms looked

superficial. A few on his arm were deep, but they had

stopped bleeding. I pulled out an antiseptic and

wiped them off for good measure. His upper body

appeared fine, but I gently patted down the pant leg

covered in blood to find the broken bone he'd been

complaining about. The bleeding had stopped, and I

could feel that the bone on his left thigh was

definitely broken as his leg moved in two different

directions. The bone was no longer protruding through

the skin, and the bleeding had slowed to a trickle.

When I pushed on the wound to try and put the bone

back into place, more blood seeped through, but not

enough to indicate an artery.

I knew Starbuck was starting to wake up as he groaned

when I pulled on his leg to straighten it out and

splint it. I hesitated to give him a painkiller just

yet. I needed him awake to move him once I tied the

make shift splint in place. I had found two straight

sticks on the beach. They weren't as thick and sturdy

as I wanted, but they would have to do.

I covered Starbuck with the blanket while I waited for

him to come around. I almost left him to head down to

the beach for wood to start a fire. It was getting

cold as the sun set and my adrenaline ebbed. My

uniform was still sopping wet and the breeze was

picking up. I was starting to worry about Starbuck

dying of shock or the cold, when his eyes finally

fluttered open. He jerked awake, fumbling for his

lazer.

"Starbuck, it's okay. I got 'em. It's okay." I said

taking his shoulders.

His eyes cleared and he relaxed. "You got 'em?" He

said, but his speech was slurred. He shook his head

to clear it, and tried to rise.

"Give yourself a centon Starbuck." I said gently

pushing him down. "I got 'em. We're safe. But we

need to get ourselves some place warm. Why don't we

sit here until we're sure you're coherent, okay?"

"I'm okay." He said, but his eyes were still clouded.

"Well I'm not. You're heavy and I can't carry you any

farther. You're getting fat. Too many dinners on the

Rising Star." I teased.

Starbuck chuckled. "You got 'em? Looks like I owe

you another one." Starbuck's eyes suddenly looked

clearer as he apprised our situation.

"Yeah, I did. Hey, how come you guys never said

anything about how big they are!"

"Didn't want to scare you." Starbuck replied. He

reached up and brushed the hair from my eyes. "Are

you okay?" It was the first time in sectons that he

had touched me.

"Why is it you always worry about everyone but

yourself?" I said, but I didn't stop him from

stroking my face. I wasn't sure how to respond, but I

didn't want to put him off, not now.

"I'm a seasoned veteran, remember? You're just a

rookie." He said concerned.

"I did okay. Besides, you're not grading me anymore."

"You would get an A." He said, then shivered.

"Okay," I said. "You ready to do a little more

traveling?"

"Not far I hope." He said grimacing as he tried to

get to his knee to then get to his feet.

"Just far enough to get us some fresh water and get a

fire started without burning down this whole forest."

I shouldered Starbuck, blanket and all, and we took

our time. He moved a lot easier now that I had his

leg set. He complained less about the pain, but I

could tell he was going to really appreciate a

painkiller here soon.

****** PART 7

"Okay, this is far enough." I said easing Starbuck

down in a small clearing near the stream. The trees

still created a roof over our heads, but it opened up

over the stream and you could see the two moons

shining through.

Starbuck groaned as he settled up against a tree,

wrapping the blanket around himself. Then he was

suddenly alert again. "What's that noise?" Starbuck

said reaching for his blaster.

"It's the surf. We're closer to the beach."

"Oh yeah, I forgot how noisy it could be."

"Okay, you hang out here while I head down to the

beach and get some wood for a fire. But here, this

should make the wait a little better." I said

producing a small syringe from my pocket.

"You made it back to your viper? How long was I out?"

Starbuck still didn't sound all that coherent since

it was obvious from the blanket I had made it to my

viper.

"Long enough for me to set that leg, so don't worry

about it." I said leaning down and giving Starbuck

the dose of painkiller.

"That does feel better." His eyes closed in relief as

it started to work "So did you get a message off to

the Galactica? You used a scrambled signal, right?"

"Uh yeah." I lied. I hadn't meant to deceive him, I

just thought he could handle the truth a little better

when he was warm and dry.

"We're at least four days in front of the fleet.

We're going to be here a while." Starbuck said,

looking around at our current location.

"I've got it handled. I learned from the last time,

remember?"

"Oh yeah. It's going to get cold tonight too."

Starbuck said with dread.

"Well don't sound so upset." I said testily

remembering how we had had to snuggle for warmth on

our last landing.

Starbuck flashed me a confused look.

"Don't worry, I'll get a fire going. You can sleep

way over there, you won't have to come near me." I

said. Recognition dawned in his eyes.

"Oh frak, I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Starbuck looked at me apologetically.

I sighed, "I know, sorry. I'm just cold and tired.

I'll be right back. Gotta get supplies." I didn't

give him a chance to say anything more and headed back

down to the beach. I brought up an armload of wood

and got a fire started. Starbuck tried to apologize

again, but I just cut him off and told him I needed to

get more wood.

I headed down for three more armfuls. Then I started

bringing up the rest of the supplies. Somewhere about

my fourth trip Starbuck had dozed off. I covered him

with another one of the blankets I had, tucking it

around him, and I added more wood to the fire. He

looked so young when he was asleep. All his defenses

were down and I suddenly wanted to be near him, to hug

him and tell him how I felt about him. But I let him

sleep and I finished bringing up all the supplies we'd

need.

I constructed the shelter around him, not wanting to

move him if I didn't have to. The sky had turned

cloudy and I smelled rain. I had forgotten that

smell. I knew that it would complicate things as far

as getting dry and warm, but it was a nice scent.

Starbuck stirred awake as I started heating water and

preparing some of the emergency rations.

"You did a great job on the shelter." He said

startling me.

"Oh hey, you're awake. Good, I was getting bored and

lonely." I walked over and crouched down beside him.

"How's the pain?"

"Not bad." He said. "Wow, you've even got food

going."

"Yeah, I thought we could use some warm food. Let me

help you get out of your wet shirt and see if I can

get it dry before the rain starts."

"That would be nice. That water was cold." I sat

down and helped him struggle out of the clinging

tunic. My hand brushed his chest, and I quickly

pulled back.

"Why don't you do it." I said.

He struggled out of the shirt. As he handed it to me,

Starbuck grabbed my hand, and placed it on his chest.

He looked at me with that same intent look I

remembered so well from our nights on the Rising Star.

I didn't move or speak. Whatever defenses had gone

down, I didn't want to be responsible for them going

back up.

"I'm sorry I've been so distant." He said. "It's

just that."

He was quiet for a moment, searching for the right

words.

"I know." I said, trying to save him from having to

explain it. "I understand, you and Aliana look so

happy together."

"That's not it!" He said almost angry. "I mean, it

is, and it isn't. You told Aliana you weren't sure

anymore. I didn't want to push it."

"It's okay Starbuck, I know that you and Aliana are

happy. I know you don't want me in the picture."

Starbuck's eyes went wide as if in shock. "Is that

what you think? Is that what you really think?" His

eyes searched mine, and I dropped my head.

"Look, it's okay Starbuck. I really do understand."

Starbuck's grip on my hand tightened. He dropped his

shirt as he reached for my other hand. "Look at me.

Look at me!"

I angrily brought my eyes up to meet his. I knew how

he felt, but I didn't need to hear it. I didn't need

the rejection.

"Do you have any idea how hard it has been seeing you

everyday, working with you side by side, and not being

able to reach out and touch you?" he said

passionately.

"What?" I asked confused. "You wanted to." I

trailed off into silence.

"I thought you didn't want this. So I backed off. I

thought it was what you wanted." His eyes were open

and sincere. "I wanted you, but only if you wanted

me." He released my hands.

I kept the one on his chest as I slowly brought the

other up to stroke his face. "I'm sorry. I just

wasn't sure. This is all so different and." I said,

fumbling for words again.

"Tell me about it. You're not the one about to be a

father."

I laughed. "Well no, that's genetically impossible.

But I think I know what you mean, well, sort of."

He reached out to brush the hair from my eyes, and

cupped my chin. "I just needed time. But I always

wanted you."

"I guess I did too." I whispered.

Starbuck slowly pulled me to him for a kiss. My heart

soared. I didn't realize until that moment how much I

had missed being with Starbuck this way, without the

defenses and walls.

We broke off the kiss as the rain began to fall.

"The food!" I said, getting up to rescue our meal

from the rain. I brought the pan over to Starbuck,

then took his shirt and hung it up under the shelter,

but near the fire. I unrolled more of the shelter to

extend farther over the fire.

"We'll have to deal with some smoke, but it will keep

the fire from going out."

"Sounds good." Starbuck said between mouthfuls of

food.

I threw more wood on the fire, and did other small

housekeeping chores around our campsite as I thought

about what he had said. It surprised me that it

changed everything for me, knowing that he still

wanted me. Knowing that he had felt the same as I

had. Things were different once Aliana became

pregnant, but we had let our own insecurities push

each other away.

I brought more of the supplies under the tent and

rummaged around for my med kit.

"Hey, save me some of that!" I said, sitting down by

Starbuck again.

"This stuff isn't bad when it's heated up."

"Let me know when you're done. I have something I

want to try."

"Uh, what's that?" Starbuck said puzzled.

"Ta da!" I said, producing from my med kit an

emergency bone knitter.

"Is that what I think it is? How did you get that?

That's supposed to be reserved for a med tech on

dangerous missions."

"I stole it from the Life Center during my physical.

I thought it might come in handy." I said, flashing

him a victory smile.

"You stole it? Are you crazy?" Starbuck actually

sounded appalled.

"So what are you going to do, put me on report?" I

said pulling the bone knitter out of his reach.

"Under the circumstances, I'd have to say no. Do you

know how to work that thing."

"Nope, so shut up and be still while I figure this

out."

I did eventually figure it out, and while we don't

think it completely healed Starbuck, he said it did

reduce the pain considerably. We thought we'd wait

until morning to see if he could stand. Until then, I

pulled over another blanket. Starbuck put his arm

around my shoulders.

"Is this okay?" He asked.

I took up his offer and rested my head on his chest.

"Mmmm, you're warm. Your shirt's almost dry too." He

said nuzzling my hair..

I didn't say anything. I didn't want to break the

spell. We snuggled together and I fell asleep

listening to the rain.
******* PART 8

I awoke the next morning, as Starbuck tried to ease

himself out from under me. I opened my eyes to soft

light and an overcast sky.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Shhhh..stay asleep. I was just going to see how my

leg is doing and add more wood to the fire."

"Let me do it." I started to rise.

"No, shhhh" Starbuck stroked my hair. "You're all

nice and warm. You're so soft when you're asleep.

You rest. I'll be back I promise."

I was too sleepy to argue with him, and dozed back off

to the sounds of Starbuck putting on his shirt and

stirring the fire.

I awoke about a centaur later as Starbuck crawled back

under the covers.

"Where have you been?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"Just scouting our location. I checked on your viper

on the beach. So when were you going to tell me?" He

didn't sound mad.

"Oh that. That centurion sure did a number on it. Do

you think it could launch?" I asked already knowing

the answer, but hoping maybe Starbuck could perform

one of his famous 'Starbuck Luck' miracles.

"I doubt it. Besides, our friend on the beach

punctured one of the fuel cells. Probably not enough

fuel for a decent launch. So we're on our own for a

while, or at least until we show up missing."

Starbuck put his arm around me and offered me his

chest again. I snuggled in, not wanting to leave the

warmth of the covers.

"I did get a message off before we headed for this

planet. It's the only breathable atmosphere in the

whole sector. They should find us." I said to

reassure him.

"That's good to know. You must have had a good

instructor to remember to do that." Starbuck stroked

my hair and snuggled closer.

"One of the best. How's the leg?"

"Still hurts to put my full weight on it, but I can

get around with out passing out. I'd say that's an

improvement."

"So aren't you glad I stole it?"

"Just keep me warm and I won't report you."

We stayed under the covers listening to the surf. I

didn't want to wake up. I knew this had to be a

dream. I figured I'd been shot by the Cylon and was

lying injured on the beach. This was all just a

fevered delusion.

I heard water hissing as it hit the fire.

"My waters boiling." Starbuck said, but didn't move.

"I should get that." I said, but I didn't move.

Starbuck gave me a squeeze. "We won't have water if

we don't get up."

We disentangled ourselves and Starbuck limped over to

the fire.

I looked around our campsite and saw that Starbuck had

put his boots near the fire to dry. I pulled at my

tunic, which had dried stiff against my body.

"I don't suppose that creek is any warmer than that

ocean? I could use a turbo." I said.

"That's what the boiling water is for. Best I could

do." He said flashing me a grin

"That was sweet!" I got up from under our covers

brushing dirt and needles from my clothes.

"Well, actually it's a bribe. But we can talk about

that after breakfast. Look what I found!" Starbuck

produced the med kit container, now full of some type

of berry.

"Uh, I wouldn't eat those if I were you."

"I saw some little ground animals eating them. They

didn't keel over, so I guessed we'd be fine. Besides,

I've already eaten more than a handful." Starbuck

took a step, swooned and flopped to the ground.

"STARBUCK!!" I leapt to his side.

He started laughing.

"Oh you! That's not funny!" I punched him in the

shoulder.

He laughed harder.

"Just for that, I'm using all the hot water!" I took

the pan and headed for the stream. Starbuck was

sitting near the fire munching on berries with a smile

on his face.

"Alright, you've had your fun. What's this about a

bribe?" I said, taking a seat beside him and reaching

for a berry.

"Well, I can see the tail section of my viper in the

waves. I thought, since you're such a great swimmer,

I'd have you swim out and see if you can get the

communications panel out. I figured, your

communications worked, at least before your controls

were destroyed. My panels were fine, just the insides

were fried. We put my controls with your insides, it

should work. So how about a swim?"

"Starbuck, that water is cold!" I protested.

"I'll keep the fire going."

I didn't answer, remembering the shock of that

freezing cold water.

"You can leave your clothes on the shore. They'll be

warm and dry waiting for you." He added.

"Uh huh." I said giving Starbuck a less than amused

look.

"Look, it's a big sector. We're lost and sectors in

front of the Galactica. I just want to up the odds

that we're found." He said sincerely.

"What, tired of my planet already?" I said jokingly,

but somewhere inside me I wasn't joking. It was the

closest we had been since Aliana had been pulled from

the pilots program. I wasn't ready to walk away and

back to the awkward situations aboard the Galactica.

Starbuck caught the edge to my voice, and answered

frankly. "I have a lot of reasons for getting back.

We have a family now."

At first I felt pushed aside again, but then his words

sunk in. We, we had a family.

"Okay." I said reluctantly. "But there's no

guarantee that it will even work. Your communications

were down and your viper has been soaking in salt

water overnight." I shuddered as I remembered from my

mechanics training the kind of damage a little salt

water could do to an instrument panel.

"We can't know unless we try." Starbuck said, handing

me the rest of the berries.

"We? We? Um, I think that would be ME paddling

around in that icy water!

"I'll warm you up afterwards." Starbuck said

seductively with a smile on his face. "And you have a

bottle of ambrosia in that emergency kit of yours.

That and the kitchen sink. You don't exactly travel

light do you?"

"I thought they said you knew women? Geez! You don't

know anything. It's not like you had to carry any of

it! I do believe I did all the work getting it up

here, including carrying you." I teased him.

"Hey, you pack it, you carry it. I believe that's

written in the Warrior's manual somewhere. In fact,

as your instructor, I'm pretty certain it is."

"How does that cover my carrying you?"

"Oh I'm all yours. Somewhere in all this I stopped

being my own person and became yours.and Aliana's."

He added.

I smiled at him because I knew it was true. We both

had had him in a way these last few sectars. She

seemed to have him at home, and I had him on duty.

I sighed. "Okay, I don't suppose it's going to get

any warmer out here?" I said shivering a little.

"The clouds look like they might clear in a little

while, but from the greenery on this planet, I'd say

it stays pretty moist."

"Okay, let's wait till later then. I want it to be as

warm as it can be before I go into that water."

*************

PART 9

We spent most of the day down on the beach. Starbuck

gathered up some firewood while I went to work pulling

off my communications control panel and seeing if it

could be repaired so I didn't have to take a swim. It

was totally trashed. I was pretty sure my short range

beacon was transmitting though. Starbuck and I agreed

that that wasn't good enough considering how far out

in front of the fleet we were. It looked like I would

still be making that plunge.

The Cylon lying on the beach had me edgy, and I walked

around most of the time with my lazer drawn. Starbuck

had even gone into the raider to see if we could

scavenge anything from it, or perhaps use its

communications. I wanted nothing to do with it. It

definitely gave me the creeps. Starbuck even

suggested trying to fly it home, like he and Apollo

had done when they took out that basestar. I told him

he could go alone, I wasn't touching the thing. He

did have to concede that the Raider had a different

design than the one that he and Apollo flew and he

wasn't sure if he could launch the thing from a

planet. But he kept pestering me to give it a try. I

told him I'd rather swim in the cold water than mess

with that Raider. Hey, I barely learned how to fly

vipers, I wasn't in the mood to try something that

might really get me shot down.

I ended up carrying most of the wood up to the fire

since Starbuck started to complain that his leg was

not completely healed. I did notice he was limping

worse than earlier in the day, but he wouldn't give in

to a painkiller either. He limped, rarely putting any

pressure on his left leg unless he had to. I don't

know how he made it down to the beach and back by

himself while I was sleeping, as he still needed my

help on the slope.

I lingered in front of the fire for as long as I

could, sitting so close it was almost too warm. I was

not looking forward to taking a plunge in that cold

water. But Starbuck was right, it was worth a shot to

try. The Galactica could easily bypass us, or take a

completely different heading based on information from

other patrols, or the bad omen of our disappearance.

I sat in front of the fire until the clasps on my

jacket were too hot to touch and I think I melted my

boots, but I wanted to be as warm as possible before

shocking my system with that cold water again.

"All right, let's go." I finally said.

When we got to the beach I decided that it might be

better for me to swim with some of my clothes on, for

the insulation against the water. Starbuck suggested

I leave my tunic on, then I could have his dry one

when I was done. I agreed. I figured if I had to be

cold, he should be too!

I was right, the water was a shock. There was no

easing into, so I plunged in head first. It was a

longer swim out to his viper than I remembered from

the day before. It took me more than a dozen dives to

retrieve the instrument panel, and in fact, I dropped

it, but it had landed on the seat of his viper. Once

I had unscrewed it, I wasn't careful with the wires,

yanking with all my might to pull it free. He must

have had some juice in his batteries as it sparked

even in the water. It wasn't an easy swim back. I

was shivering uncontrollably, and couldn't really use

my hands to swim since I needed to hang on to the

control panel. Plus I think the tide was going out.

No matter how hard I kicked I just didn't seem to get

any closer to shore. I finally had to resort to

riding the tops of the waves in and tumbling around in

the surf.

When I finally reached the shore I was miserable. I

collapsed on the sand exhausted and Starbuck gingerly

took the control panel from me and placed it in my

viper.

"Come on, I promised to warm you up." Starbuck said.

He offered me a hand up and handed me my dry pants.

He helped me to get out of my wet tunic. Then he

stripped off his and helped me into it. Finally he

helped me into my jacket, which was still warm from

the fire. We walked up the slope together, helping

each other to stay on our feet.

The fire was still burning when we got back to the

campsite. Starbuck took some more of the wood and

piled it on, increasing the flames and the warmth. I

crawled under the blankets still shivering. Starbuck

got out the bottle of ambrosia and some rations and

brought them to our bed under the shelter.

Starbuck opened the bottle and handed it to me.

"Here, this should warm you up a little."

I could barely get a drink because of my chattering

teeth. Starbuck crawled under the blanket and put his

arms around me. I pulled in closer, leaning into the

warmth of his chest. I finally was able to stop my

teeth from chattering, but I was still shivering. I

tried to burrow myself into Starbuck, for warmth. He

pulled me up into his lap wrapping his arms completely

around me, then covering both of us with one of the

blankets.

We sat that way for a while until I finally stopped

shivering. But still we did not move. I gazed into

the fire and reveled in the feel of Starbuck's chest,

the smoothness of his skin, the feel of his muscular

arms around me. I felt safe and protected. I felt

warm inside and out.

I could still feel that we both had walls up. We had

been hesitant with each other most of the day, neither

of us ready yet to reach out to the other. The more I

thought about what Starbuck had said, about how he

thought I was the one who had wanted out of the

relationship, the more I realized he was right. I had

at one point literally said I couldn't handle it. I

knew now that it had been a momentary reaction to the

stress of the media surrounding Sire Uri's trial. But

I had also never recanted that statement.

"Starbuck?" I said breaking our silence.

"Mmm?" Starbuck answered.

"I always wanted you. I'm sorry if I said it wrong,

or acted like I didn't want you. It was the whole IFB

publicity thing I didn't want."

"I know. I know you backed off because of Aliana too.

You're a good friend." Starbuck said reaching to

stroke my hair.

"So are you. You've been a good friend to me lately."

"Oh I don't know about that. I had ulterior motives.

Some nights, well, some nights it was so hard to stay

away from you." Starbuck said with longing in his

voice.

We were silent for a moment and I remembered all those

nights playing cards, all the patrols when he insisted

on joining me, the meals we would take together, or

how some evenings we just sat on the couch watching

vids or playing vid games. I realized now that

Starbuck had been biding his time, hoping that I would

change my mind.

"You don't have to stay away anymore." I said,

looking up at him.

His eyes blazed suddenly, like a fire rekindling.

Without hesitation he leaned down to kiss me. It

started slow and sensuous as our lips met, but it soon

turned fevered and frantic. Our mouths opened and we

tasted each other. I felt that I was sinking into

him, becoming a part of him.

My hands sought the back of his neck, running my

fingers through the nape off his hair that I knew sent

shivers down his spine. He broke off the kiss, His

breath was ragged and heavy. "Stop." He whispered.

"We can't do this." He said, not pushing me away, but

instead pulling me tight, so tight I that I was

nestled against him. I let Starbuck catch his breath,

as I gave him small soft kisses on the chest. I could

feel his heart pounding under my lips, and heard my

own blood rushing in my ears.

"We can't do this." He said huskily.

"Yes we can." I said trailing my hand down his chest.

Starbuck sighed heavily, then pulled me in close, too

close to move. My ear was over his heart and I heard

the pounding as he said, "I want you,. Lords I want

you. But, we can't. I've already have one child on

the way."

The reality of Starbuck's words hit me. While he was

happy about the baby on the way, it had been a

surprise. It would be a little much for there to be

two. I also knew for myself that I wasn't ready to be

a parent. Starbuck had come to the unfortunate

reality that sex, even the first time, produces

children.

"There are things we can do to prevent it." I

whispered.

"Not much though, not with Adama's new plan. I know,

I've looked into it."

His words struck me. He wouldn't have asked for

Aliana's sake. She was already pregnant. He had

asked for my sake.

"So we'll be careful." I said, slowly pulling my hand

from under his, massaging his chest. Starbuck nodded

and kissed me again, deeply, almost inhaling me.

******************

PART 10

When I awoke, I was curled up on Starbuck's chest.

The sky was dark and it startled me as I didn't think

I had fallen asleep for very long.

"It's okay." Starbuck said and I realized he was wide

awake.

"How long have I been asleep?" I tried to snuggle

closer because I was cold. Our fire had burned down

to coals.

"Only about a centaur. Days are short here."

"So what time is it." I asked, not really meaning the

actual Galactica time.

"Well, officially we are about ten centaurs overdue."

Starbuck answered knowing exactly what I meant.

"Frak." I muttered. "Aliana is going to be worried."

Starbuck sighed a heavy sigh. "Yeah, she is." We

flashed each other a look, knowing exactly what the

other was thinking. Aliana worried is not a good

thing. "I don't want her worried for too long."

Starbuck said. "First light we start working on

communications."

"Agreed. Is there any more rations left?" I said

suddenly starving.

Starbuck reached over for his pants and tunic. "Yeah

there is. We need more wood for the fire." He eased

out from under me and got dressed. I found my clothes

and started to put them on.

"You stay here. I'll get the wood." Starbuck said,

pulling on his boots.

"You can barely make it up that slope without help.

Plus we are going to need to go further down the beach

to find wood." I gave him a flirty smile as I said,

"Besides, now that I've got you back, I don't want to

be away from you for even a micron."

Starbuck just shook his head. He got up and stirred

the fire, throwing on the last couple of logs that we

had. He reached down for his gunbelt and strapped it

on. I quickly ate the rations Starbuck handed me and

got dressed. The fire was dwindling down and it was

getting cold.

We headed down to the beach and went searching for

firewood. This time we had to venture farther down,

having picked the beach clean at this end of wood. It

gave me the creeps having to walk past the Raider, and

I probably would have drawn my lazer if I didn't think

Starbuck would make fun of me for doing it. The wind

blew on the beach in cold sharp blasts.

We didn't linger long, the cold driving us back to our

warm camp. I let Starbuck help me stack wood at the

base of the slope, but I wouldn't let him carry any up

the slope. He was still limping, but he insisted on

carrying it from the top of the slope to our camp.

When I made it up with the last load, Starbuck had

stoked the fire and straightened up our camp. It was

actually kind of cute the amount of care he took to

keeping our simple campsite in order.

We sat down by the fire to warm back up. We hadn't

said much down on the beach. But there was something

that was tugging at my mind.

"Starbuck?"

"Yeah?" He asked from inside our shelter where he was

straightening blankets.

"Can I ask you something?"

He came out and sat down beside me. "Sounds serious."

"No, I just can't figure something out. If you said

you felt the way you did all this time, you know."

"That I wanted to be with you. Yes, I very much

wanted you."

"Okay, um, then why did you set me up with Boomer?"

"What? I didn't set you up with Boomer, that was his

idea!"

I shook my head. "No, he said it was your idea, he

bet me on it! I still owe him cubits!"

"That boray! He told me that to be sure that you

didn't have any feelings for me, that he should make a

play for you. He bet me that you would kiss him good

night! He claims I owe him!" Starbuck swore, and

then shook his head. "You know, Boomer has such a

twisted sense of humor."

"Yeah, yeah he does. I thought you were trying to get

rid of me!" I said in mock exasperation.

"Well I wasn't!"

"Yeah, I know that now. Boomer bet me that you still

cared, that you'd be in the landing bay waiting for

us."

"And you bet against me? I'm hurt." Starbuck said.

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"I wasn't sure. But believe me, it's one bet I was

happy to lose." I said, cocking my head at him

flashing a smile.

"Well now that you brought it up, I have to ask.

Would you have kissed him?" Starbuck honestly sounded

jealous and hurt.

"Only to get a rise out of you. You're the only one I

want to kiss." I leaned over to kiss him but Starbuck

backed away.

"Oh no, you don't get off that easily. You bet

against me! I can't believe you would do that! You

know the safe bet is always with me, not against me."

Starbuck said, but I could tell by his smile that he

was joking this time.

"Let me make it up to you." I said smiling

seductively. I got up and held out my hand to help

him up.

"Yeah, we should get some sleep. We have a busy day

ahead of us tomorrow." He got up and I led him back

under our shelter to our makeshift bed.

"You can sleep after I've made it up to you." I

helped him to lie down and curled up beside him,

leaning over to offer him a kiss. This time he didn't

back away.

**************************

We both slept, but we awoke just at sunrise. We both

got ready for the day and ate our meager breakfast in

silence, savoring what was the last of our rations.

If I couldn't repair the communications and get a

message out, finding firewood would not be our biggest

concern. Food would be. I mentally made a note to

myself that in my next emergency kit I should probably

add some netting material or fishing supplies. I even

asked Starbuck how big those ground rodents he saw

were. He knew what I was thinking and replied simply

that they weren't big enough to waste our time on.

We headed down to the beach as soon as the sun was up.

Starbuck suggested I see what I could scavenge from

the Raider for our repairs, but I delegated that task

to him. That's why he gets paid the big Lieutenant

wages, right? Besides, I wanted nothing to do it.

Two days of being around the dead Cylon and his craft

still hadn't made me feel any easier about them.

I climbed up in my viper and started on the repairs.

Starbuck's panel hadn't received as much corrosion as

I thought it would have. I got my panel off with no

problems and was pleased to see that the internals

were just fine. I made short work of replacing my

panel with his. I secured it to my viper and flipped

the switch. Starbuck came running as fast as he could

when he heard my shout of joy.

"I got it to work!" I yelled down at him.

"Great! Can you get a secure channel?"

"I'm not sure at this point. I'm not picking up

anything either. Let me give this a try." I said to

him, then began transmitting.

"Lost children to mother, lost children to mother.do

you read?" There was no response. I flashed Starbuck

a concerned look.

"We're a ways out." He reminded me. "Sometimes it

takes a while. Keep trying, I've got an idea for

lunch." He ignored my puzzled look and walked off

towards the cliff and where it met the sea.

I kept trying for what must have been over a centaur

before I finally received a reply. It came through

crystal clear."

"Lost children, this is mother. You are late, repeat,

you are late. Suggest you head home."

I shouted for joy again, and yelled for Starbuck, but

he was too far down the beach and too close to surf to

hear me.

"Mother, this is lost children. Reading you, but

can't get home. Repeat, can't get home. Went to a

party and crashed the vehicle."

"Lost children this is Mother, how was the party?"

I knew what the Galactica was trying to ask, were the

Cylons still a threat. I didn't know the answer, and

I wasn't risking that they might decide to leave us

here rather than risk the fleet. Call me selfish, but

I was ready to go home.

"Mother party was great. No one went home. Repeat,

no one went home."

"Lost children, we're coming to get you. Mother out."

"Thanks mom. Let sis know we're okay. Lost Children

out."

I hopped out of my viper and hit the beach running

towards Starbuck. I must have scared him because he

dropped what he had in his hands and went to pull his

lazer.

"Starbuck, it's okay, I got the Galactica!"

"Great! See, I told you it was worth the swim! When

are they coming?" He said, putting back his lazer and

picking up the black shells he had dropped.

"They didn't say. They didn't say much, I wasn't sure

if I got a secure channel. But they know we're okay.
"You told them enough so Aliana wouldn't worry?"

"Yes I did." I said, knowing exactly what he meant.

Aliana was probably driving the whole Galactica nuts

worrying about us. "What are those?" I asked helping

Starbuck pick up the shells he dropped.

Starbuck took his knife, slipped it between one of the

black shells and pried it open. Inside was a type of

mullosk. "Lunch!" He said.

******** PART 11 **************

We went to camp and boiled up the shells that Starbuck

had found. They were actually quite good. The sun

was shining so we packed up some of our camp to be

ready when the shuttle arrived, and headed down to

explore the beach. If it weren't for Starbuck's limp

to remind us of how we had wound up on this planet, it

might have been an enjoyable vacation. I hunted

through the surf for different shells and rocks that I

thought were pretty. We sat on the beach and watched

the waves. We even dug in the sand and amused

ourselves by building sand castles. We stayed on the

beach holding hands and watching the sun sink into the

sea. We lingered until the last of the sun's rays had

faded.

Then the cold wind picked up, a soft breeze at first,

but increasing in intensity.

"Looks like another cold night. They probably won't

get here until morning." Starbuck finally said.

'We're going to need more wood. Our fire is probably

out." I replied, getting up to go gather wood.

We had to go further this time to find wood that was

small enough for us to carry. We wandered about a

quarter mile down the beach, gathering wood and

placing it in one central pile. We knew we'd have to

make several trips, and even though Starbuck said he

could manage it, I knew he couldn't carry any of it up

the slope. I was definitely getting a work out on

this patrol. My arms and shoulders already ached from

when I had to carry Starbuck as we escaped from the

Cylons. Sleeping on the ground wasn't helping any

either. We decided to carry the wood in stages,

carrying most of the wood back and forth from down the

beach, to near my viper. Then from there we could

carry it up the slope.

We did about four loads to the viper, when I noticed

that Starbuck was limping worse than before, and I

decided this should be our last load. We were headed

up the beach towards my Viper and the Raider, when I

noticed something different in the dark, an outline

that wasn't there before. It was moving.

"Starbuck, what is that?"

The object turned, and we saw the red eye sweep across

us.

"Frak, RUN!!" Starbuck said, dropping the wood,

drawing his lazer and firing.

I dropped my armload, and added my own lazer fire to

the fight. Something fired at us from up on the

cliffs, and another from closer to my viper.

Starbuck and I both dropped down to the sand. We were

in the open and vulnerable. Starbuck scrambled closer

to me.

"I thought I told you to run!" He yelled at me over

the rifle fire.

"Where am I going to go?" I said, firing up at the

spot on the cliff where I thought I had scene the

lazer fire come from.

"Good point. On three, we sweep the beach with fire,

you start from the left, I'll start from the right.

One, two, three." We both started firing, and saw

sparks fly and the sounds of something big hitting the

beach.

"Got one." Starbuck said coolly.

"How many more to go?" I asked, not really expecting

an answer. Suddenly lazer fire was lancing the sand

right in front of my face. I instinctively backed

away, crawling down the beach with Starbuck firing

wildly in the direction of the lazer fire.

Lazer fire hit the beach behind me, coming from the

cliff side. I fired up into the trees, and the lazer

fire stopped, but I didn't see the distinctive sparks

that indicated a hit.

"We're trapped!" I yelled to Starbuck over the roar

of his blaster. Lazer fire began to rain down again

from the cliff side.

"FRAK!!!" Starbuck yelled, firing wildly at the

cliff, then turning to fire down the beach again.

I sweeped the cliff side with my blaster, setting off

many small fires, but it didn't slow the rain of lazer

fire on the beach around us. I was starting to panic.

We weren't going to come out of this one. Starbuck

and I were nailed down, and firing blind.

***************
I sweeped the cliff side with my blaster, setting off

many small fires, but it didn't slow the rain of lazer

fire on the beach around us. I was starting to panic.

We weren't going to come out of this one. Starbuck

and I were nailed down, and firing blind.

That's when I heard a sound that chilled my blood.

Starbuck heard it too as he slowed his firing to

listen. It was the sound of Cylon engine, of a flying

craft about to make a strafing run. We saw the dark

sliver coming at us from the black sky. We saw the

lazers firing.

"Run for the rocks!" Starbuck said, grabbing me and

heading for the cliffside as fast as he could go.

Just as the Cylon Raider was about to strafe the

beach, it exploded and debris rained down around us.

A viper tore through the smoke. Starbuck and I

flattened ourselves on the beach.

"Thank the Lords!" Starbuck yelled. "Great timing!"

Starbuck pulled me with him as he crawled towards the

cliff side. We were still under fire from the

Centurion, or Centurions up in the trees. It was hard

to tell if it was one or two in the dark. The Viper

swung back around, and began a strafing run on the

cliff. Starbuck and I huddled together, hands over

our ears to block out the deafening explosions.

Amongst the sounds of viper lazers and debris flying

we heard another sound, one very familiar and welcome

to our ears. Starbuck looked at me, hope shining in

his eyes, then he pointed towards the beach. We

watched as a shuttle came down on the beach just past

my viper.

"Let's make a run for it!" He shouted above the

chaos, but I was already ahead of him. I looked back

to see that Starbuck had stumbled, and I slowed just

long enough to help him up. Lazer fire was still

falling around us from the Cylon's on the cliff. We

both ran till our lungs ached. We flew through the

shuttle hatch in a heap. The door closed, and the

shuttle took off the moment we were through.

"Man are we glad to see you!" Starbuck yelled.

"Having fun?" Sheba shouted from the cockpit.

"Loads of fun." Starbuck answered back still lying on

the shuttle deck with me.

I was trying to catch my breath, trying to keep my

heart from pounding it's way out of my rib cage, when

Starbuck looked at me and asked, "You okay?" I only

managed to nod back. I was afraid to speak for fear

I'd lose my lunch on the floor. Starbuck patted me on

the thigh.

"You're okay."

A hand was suddenly in front of my face, offering to

help me up. I followed it up to the see Aliana

looking down on me, a smile of relief on her face.

"What are you doing here?" I said

"I couldn't let you two have all the fun." She said

helping me up.

She gave Starbuck a very concerned look when she saw

how carefully he got to his feet. "Are you okay?"

She asked.

"Yeah, I'm better now." He said giving her a hug,

then pulling me into the hug too. We stood like that

for a while. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the

moment instead of worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow

could take care of itself. I wanted my family now.