A Book By Its Cover
This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: Battlestar Galactica no mine...no money, no sue, please?
Lee turned a corner and stopped. People brushed past him, mostly ignoring him, though he knew that their minds were crawling with questions about what he was doing, and why. Lee tugged on the bottom of his uniform jacket, taking a deep breath and holding it in his chest for just a second before letting it back out again. He took a step forward, lifted his hand and let it fall. His heart skipped a beat at the sound of the familiar gruff voice answering "yeah." Lee pushed the door open and stepped into the Commander's chambers. Adama looked up from the papers sitting on his desk. Lee saw his disappointment, still burning bright in his eyes. Some people never saw emotion in this man's face, but Lee had always been able to see beyond the stable mask his father wore. He stood in front of the desk, his hands behind his back, unsure where to start.
"How're you feeling?" he asked. Adama did not take his eyes off of Lee, using the unblinking stare he was so good at.
"Better" was his answer. Lee nodded, once, and continued to stand in front of his father's desk, hoping that the other man would say something first, or that he could think of some excuse for being there. His father said nothing, however, and Lee couldn't think of anything to say beyond what he'd really come to talk about. The two men stared at each other, saying nothing. They were not the ones to do the talking in the family. The silence started to get to Lee. A nerve twitched in his jaw. He wondered if anybody ever noticed when that happened, or if it was invisible, something only he noticed.
"What is it Lee?" his father finally asked, returning his eyes to the surface of his desk and then back up again. Lee steeled himself.
"I came to explain, sir" he replied slowly, trying to pick the right words in the right order and finding it very difficult, "That day, on Colonial One…"
"You explained at your hearing, Captain" Adama interrupted, his eyes returning to his desk. Lee faltered. They hadn't spoken a word, privately, about the matter. He felt he needed to get something off his chest, although he wasn't quite sure what that something was. His father, as always, preferred to act as if the incident had never happened. Usually, this was perfectly fine with Lee. They had never had words about Zach, or his mother. Now, though, he wanted to say something, anything, to make it better, to try and redeem himself. His father wouldn't let him.
"Is that all, Captain?"
"Yes" Lee answered, "Sir" He turned and left without a fight.
Lee was walking. There wasn't a room aboard ship that he could imagine being in right now, alone or with people. So he was walking. He'd already made one trip around the ship and was just starting his second.
"Apollo" Lee jerked his head up and nodded at the blonde matching his stride.
"Starbuck" he replied. She wasn't smiling either. If anything, their relationship had grown closer over the past few months. They had both done stupid things that day that had damaged their reputations, perhaps irreversibly, even if they had both made the right decision. And they both knew the only reasons they still held the positions they did was that this Fleet needed every experienced person it could get in order to survive. Getting rid of the CAG and his XO at the same time was out of the question, and they couldn't punish the one and not the other. All the same, respect was hard won, easily lost, and regained only with time, patience, pain and work.
"You go vote yet?" she asked.
"This morning"
"You think Roslin's going to win?" Starbuck wanted to know.
"She better" Lee answered. Starbuck had it easier. At least her defiance had yielded tangible results. His had yet to do the same. If Roslin was re elected president, at least his actions would have some justification. Not that it would ever matter to certain people. Colonel Tigh would hate him forever now.
"Yeah, well…"
"Captain Adama to the CIC" Officer Dualla's voice announced over the coms, interrupting Starbuck.
"Guess you're still needed for something around here" Starbuck quipped and continued the way she was going while Lee turned around and headed for the CIC, wondering what was going on. They had left Kobol, what Roslin and others believed to be Kobol anyway, sometime ago and now they were in need of supplies again. He knew the Old Man had been sending out the raptors to look.
He stepped onto the deck and noticed that there was an excited vibe in the air. He descended the stairs to where his father was speaking quietly with Tigh. He got an evil eye from the XO.
"Captain. The raptor found a planet with viable living conditions" the Commander started in his slow, even way, "They reported seeing a small settlement, active radio signals" Adama stopped speaking, looking up from the board he'd had his eyes on. The personal feelings that had been in his eyes were gone and now he was the Commander of the Fleet. Lee had always wondered how he so completely separated the two.
"I want you to take Starbuck and check it out. Use extreme caution" he finished.
"Sir?" Lee was somewhat confused. Extreme caution for some colonists?
"The Cylons look like us now, Captain" Tigh reminded him harshly, "Who knows how many models they have?"
"Of course, sir" Lee nodded. They were afraid this was some kind of Cylon trick. Well, at this point he wouldn't put it past them. But if he went out now, he'd miss the election results. He'd have to be in agony another 24 hours, at least. He took a deep breath, burying his feeling deep down, with all the others, saluted, and headed out to track down Starbuck.
(just out of jump)
"Well, she's a pretty planet" Starbuck commented over the comms. Her voice crackled in Lee's ear. Indeed, the planet was lovely, all blue and green and swirlly white clouds. It reminded him of home, but then he figured that any planet that would be suitable for human life was going to remind him, and everybody else, of home. Some home or another, anyway. There were still fights breaking out throughout the Fleet, less than before, between members of the 12 Colonies. Slowly, they were learning that there were no more Capricans or Sagitarians anymore. There were only the Survivors. One people, with one mission. Humanity, on the whole, were slow learners though.
"So how exactly are we supposed to figure out if these people are Cylons? Ask politely for a vial of blood from each of them?" Starbuck continued.
"I don't know. Let's just get down there first, huh?" Lee answered, the same question reverberating in his mind. They had images of a few of the models. If they saw Boomer, for instance, they'd know right away. His next question, though, was what he was supposed to do if they weren't Cylons. If they were lost colonists, or even some completely other species? He and Starbuck started their descent through the atmosphere. He was picking up radio signals, not strong ones. The two vipers headed towards the signals, both silent.
"I have a visual" Starbuck suddenly reported. They were passing over what looked like a valley, surrounded by a mountainous region on three sides and a small sea on the other. A thick blue vein of a river pushed inland from the sea, and along its riverbanks stood buildings, mostly primitive but sprinkled with what appeared to be prefab units. As the vipers lost altitude, Lee spotted small bodies emerging from some of those buildings. Suddenly, his ears were bombarded by a screeching sound which quickly settled into a crackling radio signal.
"Alien craft please identify yourselves" a female voice demanded strongly.
"Looks like someone's home" Starbuck said.
"Be advised, this is Viper One of the Fleet of the 12 Colonies" Lee replied, not completely sure that he should have said all of that. That voice, though!
"Please, land. We would be happy to receive you. I'll transmit safe landing coordinates" the voice replied, a little softer, and Lee suddenly found himself wondering how old the person behind that voice was.
"Sounds like we've been invited to dinner, Captain" Starbuck quipped, "Are we accepting?"
"Don't know how we're going to figure out if they're Cylons if we don't meet them, Lieutenant" Lee replied, "Just don't eat anything you don't see them eat first" Starbuck chuckled.
