Shadows always fall behind when you look towards the sun. Enrique Trejo Kobol, Twenty-Third Lord of Kobol
Maya had been worried that the half-meter tall bouquet of cut flowers she held steady would make her sneeze, but its spicy, sweet fragrance actually cleared her sinuses a little.
The man sitting next to her in the shuttle, Commander Spikolart of the Tall Doll, leaned toward her and said, "Want to trade? Mine doesn't have much odor." He held mostly greenery.
She shook her head. "We're fine. I kinda like them. They're Taurean orchidians, right?" She twirled the heavy bundle a little to show Spikolart the showy purple and red fan-shaped blossoms.
"I think so, but I'm no horticulturist. You'd have to ask Commander Durr. She'd know from her cargo manifest." Spikolart nodded at a tall woman standing close to the hatch. Durr and her date had boarded the shuttle last from the Market Star and brought with them enough cut flowers to stuff the already crowded little shuttle to bursting. Everyone in the cabin except the pilot and co-pilot held one or two bundles in their arms or rested them on the deck between their legs.
Most of the commanders had brought a thank-you gift for Commander Adama and the crew of the Galactica, but the flowers -- a delivery that had been destined for a Picon florist shop -- were by far the most spectacular. The Star had been keeping them under refrigeration in her fresh food compartment.
Spikolart had a rolled-up banner signed and decorated by every human being on his ship. Even the two babes in arms had contributed tiny footprints. There were several other rolled-up banners on board the shuttle, some made of paper and some from bed sheets, and Maya had also seen three or four bottles of liquors and a few wrapped gifts.
Maya had nothing, but she had a plan.
Turning a little to look behind them – the sight-seeing shuttle had three-hundred sixty degrees of clear windows – Maya searched for the cigar-shaped silver gleam of the Tall Doll. To aid shuttle navigation and as a sort of party decoration, every ship had their hull floods lit today. The convoy looked like a flight of odd-shaped silver arrows hurrying towards a target.
Dehan had not protested when Maya had left him an hour ago. The Tall Doll had ten children aboard, and among them he'd found a little girl who'd attended Connelront Basic Grades on Caprica. From what Dehan had told Maya, Connelront had been a fierce roller ball rival of his own school.
Yesterday Tall Doll's male spider cat had begun chasing Dehan's female all over the ship, which had kept Dehan occupied all day trying to hunt her down. He'd recruited all the other kids to help. Leave it to Dehan. He had leadership built into his Godden genes. Maya herself had slept most of yesterday, not getting up until seventeen hundred and only then to take a shower.
Dehan had slipped into the Tall Doll's routine more easily than his aunt. She kept thinking about her ship and about Chief Husher, both of them about equally.
"You've got a great looking ship, Spike," Maya told the man next to her. When she'd arrived two days ago, she been asleep so today was her first look.
"Thanks. She's a good old bird, a retrofitted twenty gunner. She was my dad's and when I retired from the Colonials, I took her over."
On the other side of Spikolart, his wife bent forward and said, "And he's been playing at being a free trader ever since." She looked fondly at her husband and after shifting her bouquet of white daisies she managed to kiss him tenderly on the neck.
The kiss made Maya think of Chief Husher. Would he still be interested in her? Two days ago their time together had been full of tension and fear, and it had heightened their emotions. Things would be different when she saw Hush on the Galactica in his everyday routine. To distract herself she said, "I understand you served with Commander Adama for a while. What's he like?"
Besides Hush, Maya had the Commander on her mind. When she'd boarded the shuttle both the pilot and co-pilot had told her that Commander Adama was a great man and that they really liked him. She'd thought it an odd thing for them to say just out of the blue like that, but she let it go. Everyone had been praising Adama a lot this past week.
Spikolart looked thoughtful. "A good man, a bit of a hard ass, but his crew loved him. I don't think his superiors liked him much, though. He never slacked off a millimeter about the Cylons. We practiced war simulations until our dicks dropped off."
Maya laughed. "Sounds like a right bastard."
"He saved all of us last week. As far as me and the wife's concerned, he's only one step away from being a sacred Lord."
Maya nodded her head in agreement, and with a deep sigh sucked in more of her bouquet's spicy fragrance. Looking up ahead, she saw that the Galactica almost filled the bow window like a great bird with its wings extended. The Star Chaser was in the starboard landing pod and that seemed to be where they were headed.
Maya had received two messages since arriving on the Tall Doll, one from a Chief Tyrol who, if she remembered right, had been one of her rescuers. He'd said the Star Chaser was ninety percent repaired. The other had been from Chief Husher. Maya had that one in her pocket and read it every once in a while.
The shuttle flew into the huge landing bay, right past the Star Chaser's anchored down hull, and landed in a spot outlined in bright yellow, apparently an elevator because the shuttle immediately began to sink. Although there was little to see, Maya twisted around to watch the Star Chaser as long as she could, until a sliding door closed silently overhead. Then they stopped for a few minutes as air was pumped into the lock. With a now audible grinding, the elevator sunk down some more to reveal an open bay with people and tables at one end.
A half hour later the woman who stood ahead of Maya in the waiting line said, "What is with all of this? I thought we were here for a party!" The woman's beige uniform had a Trans-Colonial Pathways logo on one shoulder and her hands rested on the shoulders of a slim blonde girl, maybe thirteen, a little older than Dehan, but not much. The girl and woman didn't look anything alike. The girl was blonde and pink, the woman reddish brown all over.
"I need to use the bathroom," the girl said. "Can we make them hurry up?" She looked cross.
"You went just before we left, Milan. You begged to come with me. You can wait," the brown woman said. "But I do wish we weren't at the end of the line." She shook her head. "I guess it's just like on atmosphere liners. First on, last off."
Seeing saw two familiar faces among the sea of strangers, Maya waved to Apollo and the woman who'd been introduced as Starbuck, two of her erstwhile rescuers.
Apollo nodded an acknowledgement, but began to shout over the bay's din of quiet conversation, his arms waving to attract eyes. "If I could have your attention? Please! Thank you! Welcome aboard the Galactica everyone! We want to apologize for this delay, but after the incident with the Star Chaser, we felt some security procedures were in order. We will scan you and your baggage as quickly as possible, and the gentlemen up here at the table are checking everyone for infectious disease. Please be patient. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do the best I can to answer them. You're here so we can all get to know each other, so let me introduce myself. Many of you know me by my call sign Apollo, but my name is Captain Lee Adama, I am the Galactica's Commander Air Group, which means I'm in charge of the Viper and Raptor pilots; and yes, I am related to the Commander. I'm his son." He gestured to the woman standing next to him. "This is Lieutenant Kara Thrace who you've heard talk on the wireless as Starbuck. We're here to help you find your way around. After you are processed, please wait by the hatch. Thank you."
Apollo was the Commander's son? That's interesting, Maya thought. She'd had no idea. To her surprise Apollo and Starbuck came all the way down the line and stopped to talk to her. "Commander Godden, it's good to see you again."
"Apollo!" Maya said. She hugged him and Starbuck. "Trust me, it's my pleasure. How goes the battle?"
"Slowly, ma'am. We're taking it day by day." Apollo smiled when he spoke, and he looked better than the last time she'd seen him, not quite so stressed, and, like all the rest of them, definitely cleaner.
"Have you seen Hush?" she asked. "Is he here?"
"No, ma'am." Apollo's smile vanished. He looked uncomfortable.
"Go on," Starbuck said and pushed Apollo toward Maya with a shove on his shoulder. "Say it, Lee. You promised."
Whatever Apollo was supposed to say didn't want to come out. It looked like it would choke him. Finally, he said, "Commander Godden, ma'am, I just wanted to say …" Starbuck's eyes bored into Apollo. " … I wanted to tell you that my dad is a great man. A really good guy."
Although puzzled, Maya said, "I'm sure he is, Captain. Thank you for telling me."
Apollo and Starbuck took their leave and returned to the hatch to exercise some crowd control over the growing group of processed commanders and their dates. Maya hated to see them go. The people around her were interesting, but none of them knew Hush.
Eventually the complaining woman ahead of Maya stepped through a spaceport style scanner and sat down at a table, giving Maya her first clear view of the processing. A man dressed in white ran a clipper up the woman's arm then brushed it into a miniature microwave oven. The Chaser had one just like it for zapping a single cup. A second man in white twirled a dial then read off results. Both of the white coats nodded heads, murmured a few words then the woman stood up and walked away.
The young girl sat down next. The white coats seemed very concerned about her results. One of them waved at Apollo and Starbuck who immediately began ushering their crowd out the hatch. Another white coat led the young girl and her older companion away.
Oh poor girl, Maya thought. I hope they have a vaccine for whatever she's got. It made her think of Dehan.
The bay was almost empty now and it was Maya's turn. As she sat down at the table, one of the white coats asked, "You're Commander Godden from the Star Chaser, aren't you?"
Maya nodded. How had he known? She wondered if her problem with Graham was going to make her notorious.
Apparently it was. "This is her. This is the one," the first white coat said to his companions as his shaver buzzed up her arm.
The second white coat nodded, and as his little microwave worked, he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander." He stuck his hand out for a shake.
White coat number one said, "I just wanted to tell you, Commander Godden, how glad we are that you're alright."
His companion chimed in, "We all admire Commander Adama. He's a wonderful man." They both gave her toothy smiles.
Maya felt as though they were trying to sell her something. Thoroughly confused, she just murmured, "I'm sure."
They told her she could go. She'd passed their test, whatever it was. Maya stood up, uncertain what to do next. A lithe young woman with full lips and soft doe-like eyes offered her an outstretched hand. "Commander Godden? I'm Specialist Dualla. Dee, from CIC?"
Maya took the hand. "You'll have to forgive me, Dee. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed."
"That's okay. Chief Husher asked me to help you. If you'll come with me …"
At last some word from Hush! Maya perked up.
Dualla stood in the pressurized access tunnel just outside the portside hatch of the Star Chaser. Commander Godden had asked to retrieve something from her ship, a present for the Galactica, she'd said. She'd insisted and Dualla had learned the strength of Godden's will.
On their short walk over from arrival processing, Godden had admitted that she lacked a party dress.
"I'm here to help with that, ma'am. The Com … Hush said to do what I can."
"How is he?" Godden had asked with a look of anxiety. "Will I be seeing him soon?"
"Oh, he's fine. He has to deal with a problem that just came up. First we need to put together something for you to wear then there's going to be a presidential reception that you'll want to attend. I'm sure Hush will be available by then."
The problem keeping the Commander was the Cylon spy they'd just caught. Dee had watched two Marines carry the young girl down the passageway, kicking and screaming like a banshee. They'd been lucky none of their guests had seen that happen. It would have taken a lot of explaining.
"I'm ready." Godden had returned with a long roll of paper under her arm.
As they walked back through the landing pod's access passageways, they ran into Chief Tyrol and Specialist Cally.
Godden exclaimed, "Oh Chief! It's good to see you again! Thank you for all your work on my Star Chaser!" She gave Tyrol a hug, rattling her roll against his sturdy back.
Tyrol didn't seem to know quite how to respond. He huffed a few times. "Actually, it was Cally here that did the work, ma'am."
Godden thanked Cally with a hug too. The shy little specialist blushed. She and Godden were about the same height.
"Chief Tyrol, have you seen Chief Husher today? Is he okay? How is he?" Godden asked.
Dee almost said something in warning, but Tyrol nicely covered for the Commander. "Not today, but yesterday. He was fine, ma'am."
Godden and Dee had taken two steps further down the passageway when Tyrol asked, "Can I ask you something, Commander?"
They both turned back. "You can ask me anything you want, Chief. I owe you plenty."
"Why did you ask Chief Husher to go with you to this party? I mean, you're a commanding officer and he's just a chief. So I was wondering." Tyrol seemed miserable, but Cally looked up at her supervisor with a big approving smile on her face.
Godden smiled. "He's a man, a great man, I think. Rank has nothing to do with that. It's artificial and a nuisance. It has nothing to do with what's inside of either him or me."
"Thank you, ma'am." Looking thoughtful, Tyrol bobbed his head. "Also, I just wanted to tell you that I think Commander Adama is one of the best people I know. Not just a good commander, but a good man."
Godden's eyebrows went up, but all she said was, "It's good to work for someone you respect."
As they climbed stairs up to officer country, Godden asked, "Do you know where they've put Graham and his goons, Dee?"
"I think some of them have gone to the Galactic Queen and some of them are down in sick bay. You'd better ask Hush when you see him."
"Yes, I will. What did you say he's doing?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't tell you. You need to …"
"… ask Hush when I see him," Godden finished for her. "Don't worry, I will."
Keeping Commander Adama's identity under wraps was going to be harder than Dee thought.
Today Galactica had its entire complement of Marines, plus a few of the bigger crewmen, busy guarding every possible secure area, all the way from the engines in the aft to the CIC in forward. Adama acknowledged the salute of the big Marine standing at the hatch to his quarters and asked, "Is she here?" He trusted everyone on the battlestar knew about Maya by now.
They did. "Yes, sir. Specialist Dualla left Commander Godden here about a half hour ago." The Marine pulled the heavy hatch open.
That long? Damn, this frakking day had been another mess. Adama was still shaking in reaction to what had just happened in the brig. Running late, he'd left in a hurry and he still had long gouts of the girl's blood on his right hand. Was it too much to expect two good days in a row?
The good news was that the girl lived and the doctors gave her a good prognosis. She hadn't been able to report back to Cylon home base, at least not yet. They had yet to find some way to prevent that. Maybe a field that mimicked Ragnar would work. Baltar had promised to start on it tomorrow.
Adama had told Tigh and Kelly to go get ready for the party, and now he had to see Maya, to apologize for his deception and then to take whatever she dished out to him, sweet or bitter. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the hatch then pulled it shut.
The first thing that caught Adama's eye was the tall bouquet of purple and red orchidians on the table that centered his reception area. The flowers filled the whole compartment with a sweet spicy scent and the memory of open air. On a brown-leather couch a length of gauzy white fabric floated like a cloud.
Maya stood in front of Haddenbock's "The Destruction of Scorpolios." Scorpolios had been the worst human defeat in the first Cylon war. Adama would never have been able to afford the painting, but Arthur Haddenbock had been a friend and had given it to him as a present saying, "Never forget the bastards. They sure won't forget us." Adama hadn't forgotten. He hung it wherever he berthed, and it had traveled hundreds of light years. It was going to travel a lot more.
Dee had found Maya something to wear that, in contrast to the painting's dreary browns and blacks, looked like a spring sky. Loose drapes of glittering, almost transparent blue fabric drifted from her shoulders. Something opaque underneath protected her modesty. No couturier, Adama didn't know what to call it other than beautiful. The flaming red hair had been piled high. Maya sparkled with life.
Adama moved behind the long, curved leather couch. She turned and saw him. A glowing smile lit up her face. "Hush," she said. "I've been waiting all day to see you." She stepped close and tilted up her face to be kissed.
He accommodated lightly, softly, as gently as a sigh.
Life played such cruel tricks, Adama thought. After all his lonely years bringing him this woman when the whole universe was imploding. He had to get this over with. "Maya, I have to tell you …"
"That you're Commander William Adama and not Chief Husher? Sorry, already know." She stole another quick kiss then pulled back and looked up into his eyes.
"How? Who told you? Dee was supposed to let me."
Maya chuckled, a hearty sound for someone so small. "Pretty much everyone. I may be a little blind, but I'm not stupid. I figured it out eventually, especially after Dee told me to wait for you in here. All afternoon whenever Dee introduced me to someone, as soon as they heard my name, every single one of them, without exception, including President Roslin I might add, started telling me about the wonderful Commander Adama."
"Oh, oh really?" Adama hoped he looked as embarrassed as he felt.
"You've got a lot of admirers, Hush. I should have known a man as wonderful as you would be more than a chief." She stepped further away. "Now it's my turn. I kinda backed you into a corner so if you don't want to go to the party with me, it's okay. I'll just …" As Maya spoke her gaze had dropped down until it rested on Adama's bloody hand. "Holy Lords, what happened? Are you okay?" She pulled up his hand to look at it.
"It's not my blood. I was … we were interrogating a prisoner." Maya looked at him open-mouthed. "No, it wasn't like that. I didn't hit her. I had this pencil in my hand and she … she ran on it. Deliberately spitted herself on it. Just a frakking sharp pencil, damn it!" That had been less than an hour ago and the memory made Adama start shaking again. The girl may have been a Cylon, but she had looked like a blonde, sweet child – a child that had tried to commit suicide with him holding the weapon.
Maya stroked Adama's arm. "I think I saw her, the little girl at the gate. But why?" she asked softly. "Why did she do it? Do you know?"
Struggling to stop shaking, Adama nodded. He hadn't realized he was so upset or that he could still let it show. As a Colonial commander, he'd repressed his fears, pains and disappointments for so long that it had become an ingrained habit. "Cylon spy. We have humanoid Cylon spies. When she dies she releases herself to report back."
"Frak, I could have happily gone the rest of my life without knowing that. Oh Hush, and I thought my problems on the Star Chaser were so serious." Maya hugged him close.
Adama's chuckle came out as a sort of croak. "They were significant, let me tell you." Now was the time to warn her. "Maya, you can't tell anyone about me being on the Star Chaser. A lot of my crew have heard rumors and I'm sure it'll get out to the rest of the fleet. But even if someone asks, you can't admit anything, ever."
"I know." The agreement was quiet, almost whispered.
"And you can't tell anyone about the humanoid Cylon spies. No one."
The arms around Adama tightened. Maya was frightened. He could feel it through his skin. "I won't." They stood like that for a minute, her breathing uneven.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have told you. Only a few people know."
Maya looked up. "And here I thought you were tied to a boring desk job, counting bullets or something." Her eyes were wide but her voice was steady.
"I wish." Adama looked down into those amazing blue eyes. If he didn't look away, he'd kiss her, and if he kissed her, this time he wouldn't stop. He took a deep, aching breath. "Hey, I have to shower up and put on my dress uniform. One does not keep the President of the Colonies waiting." He moved back.
An impish gleam came into Maya's eye. "Can I help?"
:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:w:
Music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts.
Thomas Stearns Eliot, Four Quartets--The Dry Salvages