Title: Inheritance - Chapter 2
Author: PadawanMage
Rating: PG
Summary: Kara Thrace's past has always been murky, even to her. What if someone offered unwelcome enlightenment?
Author's Notes: Not much is known (through canon) about Kara's past, so I'm trying to fill in a little of that. The ships I listed here can be found on the Battlestar Galactica 2003 website here: www.bsg2003.com. For those wondering, YES I did have a certain TOS star in mind for a character in this chapter.
I didn't add this in the previous chapter, but I want to thank Lona and Kathy for their beta skills, not to mention a few brainstorming sessions on AIM! Also, thanks to Crys for letting me use her now well-known hospital ship in the previous chapter.
Chapter Two
Several hours ago.....
Lee had just come off from a long patrol and had passed by Kara as she headed to CIC to drop off a report before heading for her own patrol. Once in the locker room, he debated whether or not to take a shower, but decided against it since his body pretty much decided for him as he collapsed in his bunk. He was just passing into a dreamless sleep, when the hatch flew open with a clang, rattling him into thinking it was the klaxon. When he looked over he saw Kara pacing back and forth in front of his bunk, her face red and her nostrils flared. He was about to ask what the hell happened and why she wasn't on patrol, when she began to curse Colonel Tigh in almost every dialect of the Twelve Colonies.
Almost ask a silly question…
Lee had first-hand knowledge of Kara in such states and if there was anything he knew for certain it was that trying to handle Kara in such a state was like trying to disarm a tactical nuke: you wondered if you should even try and hoped that it wouldn't blow up in your face.
Although he was a recent addition to the Galactica, he'd quickly found out about the reason why Kara had been thrown in the brig in the first place. Rumor had it that Colonel Tigh had actually – in his own way - tried to smooth things out between him and Starbuck immediately after the jump from Ragnar. Unfortunately, as Lee heard it, Kara – in her own way – had thrown the apology right back in his face. Personally, Lee thought no one deserved that kind of treatment, especially if they had just tried to bring an olive branch. But, even when they had been growing up, Kara had always had her own way of doing things. Even as an adoptive sister, Lee had gotten the impression that Kara had felt like an outsider, no matter how open and loving his parents had been to her. Adama was 'like a father' to her, but he really wasn't. Lee knew she was orphaned, knew she was adopted, but her parents were the one subject he never broached to her in all the times he'd known her.
Lee always thought that it had to do with a connection to one's past. He'd lost a brother, but he still had his father to talk to, if he felt the need to. Kara though, had no one in her past with whom she could connect. Perhaps that was why she was considered a loner by more than one fellow pilot. It didn't help that when she tried to make connections of her own, as in falling for and being engaged to Zac, that it ended so tragically. It didn't help in the least that she considered herself responsible for his death since she had allowed her emotions to dictate passing him in Basic Flight. Lee certainly hoped she'd be able to sort out things soon enough. That kind of emotional baggage was not healthy in the least.
Lee reached the main hold of the shuttle and was surprised when he opened the hatch and all the Marines were already prepping up for deployment. Men – and women – were too busy checking their armor and weapons to even notice him walking in, until the Sergeant noticed him and walked over.
"Five minutes, right?" he asked, checking his watch and laughing at Lee's look of surprise. He tapped the side of his helmet mike. "We picked up the inter-ship chatter in the cockpit. We'll be ready," he added.
Lee glanced around at all the heavily armed individuals. "Seems like you're carrying a lot of firepower for a bunch of criminals," he couldn't help saying.
"You never know if more than one may get it their heads to try and take over the shuttle. Besides," The Sergeant gave a nasty smile. "For all we know, they could be 500 Cylons."
Lee couldn't fathom going hand-to-hand with a Cylon. Yes, his father had done it and won (barely) but that was only because it had been near death. He'd been trained to fight in a Viper against other ships, not in seeing the literal whites (or reds) of the other's eyes.
He nodded to the Marine and headed back to the cockpit.
"Hey, Captain!"
Lee turned to see a young Private come up to him. She had blue eyes and blonde hair, cut very short. Stocky, but not overly so. He couldn't help thinking she'd look half-way decent if she tried a little.
"Listen," she said. "About what happened earlier - "
Lee brought his hand up. "Don't worry about it. You just caught her at a bad time."
"Oh, well, then could you give her this?" She slung her pulse rifle and patted at her pockets until she came out with a small aluminum tube. "It's one of my last, but I figure if she knew it was no hard feelings?"
Lee had to smile at the others persistence as he took the offering. She leaned in as if to whisper. "Between you and me, Captain, your co-pilot looks like she could give a mean right-hook," she said in something like admiration (or was it something else?).
Lee laughed. "I know more than one person who'd agree, Private." The other laughed as well, snapped a quick salute and jogged back to the main hold.
When he and Kara had arrived at the launch bay, they'd met up with the platoon of Marines they were to take for security. Unfortunately, Kara (who was definitely not in the best of moods) had gotten into a verbal scuffle with that same Marine and both got into each others' face, trying to glare the other down. For a split second no one said anything, and Lee almost stepped in since he didn't want to have to visit Kara either in the brig (again), or worse, in Sick Bay.
The Marine, though, seeing that Kara wasn't about to back down, only laughed and said something to the effect of Kara being 'her kind of girl'. The situation defused itself right there as the Sergeant threw a few choice words at the platoon and had them loaded on to the shuttle.
Lee was still chuckling as he strapped himself back in his seat. Kara glanced at him curiously then frowned at what was in his hand.
"What's that?"
Lee offered the sealed tube to Kara. "A 'no hard feelings' gift from your new fan," he said wryly. Kara glared at the offering and stared right back out the view port.
"C'mon, Starbuck," Lee said. "How many cigars do you have left anyway?" That hit a nerve, because Kara started to chew on her lower lip. Finally, without looking, she snapped the cigar case and put it into her suit pocket, mumbling something about all Marines being nuts.
"Welcome to the Astral Queen, I'm Captain Karos."
"Captain Lee Adama." Lee introduced himself, while shaking the man's hand, then he introduced the others. "This is Lt. Kara Thrace, my copilot and Sergeant Reis of the Colonial Marines." The Captain nodded to the others in obvious relief and quickly showed the group through the nearly deserted ship.
"I can't tell you how relieved I am about this. We only have a skeleton crew aboard and we weren't really trained for this sort of thing." The Captain ran a hand over a shining pate and had a habit of stroking a very thin goatee he was sporting. He looked back at the other two before leaning over to Lee. "To be honest, I was hoping that the President would see things my way, especially with the shortage we have of supplies and all."
"I believe the President made her sentiments clear on that subject," Lee said quietly.
Captain Karos looked sideways at Lee. "Of course. I understood that when she threatened to withhold the last Jump coordinates so that the Queen would end up stranded from the rest of the fleet," he said with a little chagrin.
As a luxury liner, the Astral Queen featured state of the art entertainment: casinos, hotel, restaurants, a natatorium, movie theater, even a concert hall. Kara's eyes boggled at everything around her.
"How did you end up carrying 500 criminals in the first place?" she asked.
"We'd just completed a major overhaul and refit at Geminon. Our company, White Star Lines, is sometimes subcontracted to carry cargo from one port of call to another." Karos shrugged. "Geminon had some criminals to be transported so we were tapped. We were supposed to drop them off at a penal colony and then head to Caprica for a full complement of passengers. Who knew the Cylons would have different ideas?" he said with a shake of head.
"Captain," asked Sergeant Reis. "What kind of criminals can we expect?"
Karos snorted. "You name it, we've got it: Everything from petty thieves to murderers to political prisoners."
Lee frowned. "Political prisoners?"
Now Kara snorted. "Not everyone was happy with the way things were being run by the government, Lee. Don't forget that even before the Cylon War, the Twelve Colonies were fighting each other. After 40 years, a lot of the old hatreds between the worlds have been simmering."
"I've lost count as to the number of combat drops we made to stop a riot here or an armed revolt there," Sergeant Reis added grimly.
"Great," Lee said. He started going through the manifest as they were being led to the lower levels when something caught his eye. "Captain, our initial information stated that you had 500 individuals, but on your manifest, you now state 501."
Captain Karos started to chuckle. "Yes, my apologies on that. We hadn't updated our manifest what with the war and all. Just prior to Jumping from Geminon we received a distress signal close to the asteroid field so we decided to render assistance since we were the closest ship. What we found was a small freighter drifting too close to the field. We towed it in and found that a fire had broken out in the cargo hold. It didn't take us long to realize that the captain was a smuggler."
"What was he smuggling?" asked Kara.
"Ambrosia," Karos said with a smirk. "Hence the fire."
"I don't understand," Lee said.
"Well, we all know how volatile ambrosia is? It seems our Captain had an accident while 'taste testing' some of it while smoking at the same time." Karos shook his head. "What a mess!"
Kara and Reis both started to laugh. When he sobered up, Captain Karos indicated a hatch ahead of them.
"These are where the less dangerous criminals are staying. We actually had to separate the others into some of the other smaller cargo areas."
Lee looked up from the electronic manifest he was scanning. "Why?"
Sergeant Reis looked over at Lee. "You've never worked with criminals before, have you?" The other shook his head. "Among them, it's considered a badge of honor to kill convicts with records such as child molestation or murder."
Lee merely sighed as he shook his head. "Before we go in, how do you recommend we handle the prisoners?"
Reis consulted his manifest then looked back up. "Since the worst cases are already separated, I'd prefer we move those first to the Loki. Once they're out of the way, it should get easier from there with the less dangerous criminals."
Lee nodded as well. Although in overall command of the mission, he knew enough to defer the actual handling of the people to the Sergeant. He looked over at Captain Karos.
"Since we're here I'd like to run a quick check to make sure no one's missing, or has gone unaccounted for," he said nodding towards the hatch.
"Sounds good to me, as long as they're out of my ship as soon as possible," Karos said as he punched a code on a keypad next to the hatch. It slid to one side and all went in.
The main hold was cavernous. Even so, Lee could see it was that the people here were packed to the gills. Hundreds of people were milling around: some playing cards, a few sleeping in makeshift cots, some talking, and some laughing. He turned towards Sgt. Reis and was about to ask him a question when something small and fast whipped right past him and the Marine. Instinctively, he went for his sidearm, but started in surprise as Reis grabbed his arm and shook his head. Lee paused and looked over as several 'somethings' came into view, now giggling and pointing. His jaw hit the ground and he rounded on the Captain.
"Children?" Lee asked incredulously. "How could you allow minors in the same area as convicts?"
The Captain looked a little embarrassed, but simply shrugged and spread his hands. "I thought you knew. You may not believe this, but a lot of these criminals are married to one another. Their children actually keep the family business going. They just don't know any other life."
Kara frowned. "You didn't even try to separate them?"
"And run the risk of a real riot on my hands?" Karos shook his head. "The ones with kids actually thanked me when I separated out the really severe convicts."
Lee took a deep breath. This new factor would definitely add a new wrinkle to things, especially with the new President being a teacher and all. First things, first though.
"Captain, a word please?" Sergeant Reis said, motioning over to a corner. Lee frowned, but came over. Kara also walked over. Reis glanced up at Karos and then back at the two pilots. "If our good captain was contemplating the 'removal' of the prisoners on his own terms, did that include doing the same to the children?" he said quietly.
Both Lee and Kara's face paled slightly at the implication. Kara's fist balled up but Lee held her back.
"Not here," he said, his voice strained. "If the prisoners found out what Karos had planned for them (especially the parents), we really would have a riot on our hands. Once we're done, we'll let the Commander and the President know."
Kara nodded, but said nothing. Lee had the impression that she'd love to show Karos the business end of an airlock.
"Kara, why don't you start on that end over there and I'll start here. Sergeant?" Reis nodded and pointed to a few Marines to escort Kara, while he and a few others fell in step with Lee. The rest covered the door in case any convicts got a little ambitious.
Although Lee thought the presence of the Marines a tad excessive, he had to admit there was more than one time where a convict looked over and, seeing the Marines, was more forthcoming about his or her name. More than one had asked him if it was true what had happened to the Colonies. Although criminals, they were still human and more than one wondered about family they had lost in one colony or other.
Lee was almost wrapped up when he stopped suddenly and sniffed. He took a deeper breath and frowned. He looked over to see Kara working with some Marines with a crowd of people around her. Although not a smoker, he thought he caught a whiff of strong cigar smoke, and he knew Kara didn't smoke while on duty.
He looked over and noticed a cluster of people huddled at a small table. Curious, he walked over and saw that the people were playing cards. Most of the players took no notice of him since they all threw their cards down in disgust just as the player right in front of him laid his hand down on the table.
"Read 'em and weep, ladies," the man said. Lee looked over and noticed a smoking cigar clenched tightly in a shit-eating grin. Blonde hair hung in bangs in an unkempt fashion over a set of deep brown eyes that twinkled mischievously. Lee put him around his late 50's or early 60's, old enough to be around during the first Cylon War. The man puffed, nodded appreciatively at the winnings and reached over. "Come to papa," he said as the hugged the pile of cubits over to his side of the table.
"How does he do that?" one woman muttered as she saw her cubits being dragged over.
"What can I say?" said the man as he started stuffing his earnings into various pockets of his jacket. "It's a combination of talent and luck."
The woman grimaced as if biting into a lemon and opened her mouth to reply when she looked up and noticed Lee and the Marines. Everyone else at the table looked up as well, including the winner. Lee cleared his throat.
"Pardon the interruption, but we're taking a survey of people before we transfer all of you to another ship."
Everyone looked at each other. The woman who was talking to the blonde man leaned over.
"Is it true? About the Colonies and the Cylons, I mean," she asked. Everyone looked at the Colonial Officer expectantly, some with worried expressions. Lee looked uncomfortable. He'd hoped to get the criminals processed and transferred as quickly as possible. He was afraid someone might try something stupid if news reached them that everyone back home was dead. The most dangerous person is one who has nothing to lose. He looked quickly and noticed Sergeant Reis look back at him and nod. Lee looked back at the woman and nodded once. Everyone at the table sagged a bit at the news. Some people covered their faces, others simply muttered and sighed.
The woman who asked said nothing for a while, lost in thought. Then she looked back at the blonde man who was also lost in thought. "Well," she started, a little sarcastically. "I guess luck was on your side again when we picked you up in that asteroid belt." The man sighed while absently staring at his cigar.
"Yeah…lucky."
Something clicked in Lee's mind and he did a double-take. "You're the Captain who blew up his cargo?" he blurted out.
Everyone's demeanor changed as hoots and guffaws rang around the table. The blonde man's face reddened and he rolled his eyes at the laughter and cat calls aimed at him. The woman across from him chuckled and pointed at his cigar.
"You'd think that would give you enough cause to give those up."
The other puffed furiously on his cigar as he frowned. "Now I take offense to that."
"Hey," the woman said bringing her hands up. "At least I didn't drink away any of my cargo while I did runs."
"It was quality control!" the man protested. "I didn't want to be known for bringing in substandard ambrosia." The others, not buying it, simply laughed harder.
"Oh, su-re," the woman said, still chuckling.
Lee could help himself as he chuckled at the other's discomfort. At least it didn't turn into a situation, especially as he looked over at Reis and noticed him relaxed (though still alert). He thought it was a good time to get back to the business at hand.
"Before we continue, I do need everyone's name before transfer." He went around the table checking off everyone's name in his PDA. He then turned to the blonde man.
The other, still looking a little miffed, said, " Thrace , Derek Thrace."
Lee, who had the PDA ready for input, stopped and looked sharply back at the man.
"Did you say, ' Thrace '?"
The other stopped in mid-puff and looked back up. "Yeah, why?"
"Hey, Lee!"
Lee turned to see Kara walk towards him waving her PDA.
"We're set here," she said. "We can start with the real nasty ones that Karos locked up."
Lee nodded absently and looked back at the other man, but stopped when he noticed that Derek Thrace was now standing and looking at Kara with an expression of amazement mixed with horror. The man's cigar fell from his hands to the ground.
"Elisa?" he whispered. Kara's eyes widened and her mouth opened a little in confusion.
"How – how'd you know my mother's name?" she said, now more confused than ever.
"You're - ?" Derek started, then he sat back down again, looking Kara up and down in bewilderment.
Lee, thoroughly confused, looked from one to the other. He frowned and looked from one to the other again.
Wait a minute. The hair…some facial features…Lee's eyes widened as he looked a third time from one to another in realization.
"Oh, boy," he said as he looked back to Kara and noticed the dawning of comprehension in her eyes as they narrowed.
Kara's nostrils flared and with her jaw set, she stared down at the man, who couldn't bring himself to look back.
"Hello, dad," she said quietly.
-Continued-