Author's Note: The song is Wake Up by Hilary Duff (from Chapter 8). And of course, I don't own the characters or stuff.

Matthew: I think it could be part of why she went. Grace had a ton of work to do in Season 1 carrying off both Boomers (a lot of second unit shoots and stuff on the outskirts of Vancouver). It's a ton of work and expense for a show to basically be on set and on location at the same time, and for so long.

Legolanderin: Thanks! I'm glad ya like it. It's nice to get some sorta hometown looks!

Darlian: Oh, she needs more than a hug… and she may just get it… sometime!

Sharon made it through 100 of her priority samples before a pair of guards came into the lab and requested her to follow them. The phalanx of six men surrounded her and led her to the pilots' ward room. Only Lee Adama was present, and he stood at the podium from which he made all his annoucements.

"Take a seat, Boomer," Lee said as he pointed to the center chair in the front row.

"Is it electrified?" Sharon asked quietly. She tried to judge Lee's reaction to her joke.

"Not yet. Someday, but not yet."

Sharon nervously sat down. She looked at the pilot assignment boards and didn't see her name. That fact didn't surprise her, she likely would never see the inside of her Raptor again.

"We're going to Kobol to rescue the ground team. Colonel Tigh has ordered me to ask you how the best way to do it is, so tell me."

Sharon thought for a moment. "Cylons don't do things much differently than you do. They'll try to track the survivors, and if they can't find them, the Centurions will do their best to make sure you can't get to them either."

"How?" Lee asked.

"Barrage balloons, surface-to-air missile batteries, and ground fire. Again, same basic tools you use."

"So we can expect resistance?"

"I think so. I destroyed the base ship, but there were other ships in the air at the time. Your best bet would be to go in with the Raptor Dradis and cameras on high gain."

"We can't analyze all that data while we're over the planet," Lee observed. "We'd have to carry four or five backseaters."

"Record it and jump out. They'll think you found nothing and continue with their plans. You come back here, check out the data, find your people, and go get them. If they have Dradis active, a Raptor should be able to detect it. That'll be the missile sites."

"What kind of missiles?"

"They only have to hit you once. They're high explosive warheads, non-nuclear. Go in, record your information, jump back here, sort it out, and go back."

"And they won't suspect us?"

"I don't think so. Especially if there are just Centurions on the planet setting up defenses. And if you find the wreckage of a Raptor, destroy it. Don't let any jump computer fall into their hands."

"So you're saying go there, do two or three orbits, jump back here, land, go over the information, and go back?"

"No. Don't dock. You won't have time. Whoever's backseating for you will have to do it all. At least here, he'll not be under fire at the time."

Lee stared at Sharon. His eyes seemed to cut right through her, straight to the back of the chair. Sharon squirmed a bit at the CAG's evil eye.

"How can I trust you not to shoot me in the back?" Lee asked.

"You can't. And I'm better in a Raptor than you are. How good are you at backseating? Seriously, you don't want me flying the mission. This is one hop you need to find someone else to fly."

"You're turning me down?"

"I'm a disconnected Cylon. If I go, they'll know I'm there, and they'll know that your flight isn't just some random chance operation to find a clue as to what happened to the downed ship. I can't help you, and when you come back, we wouldn't have time to transfer the information and let me look at it."

"So, you want me to send…"

"Dammit, Captain, would you think about something? If I go, you're busted. Completely and totally. They will not assume you're innocent. I'm telling you what's best for you and your pilots, and that's not to send me." Sharon stood and walked in front of Lee's podium. "I want to go! I want to get your people back and I want to prove to you once and for all that I'm on your side. But I can't. If you say go, I'll go with you, if that's what it takes. You say suit up, and I'll beat you to the launch bay."

"The missiles, how high can they go?"

"Two types. One type will go to about 50,000 feet. The second type can get to sub-orbital altitudes, 250,000 feet or so. If you fly a sub-orbital recon, they won't shoot at you, the missiles are too scarce to use on targets that don't pose an imminent danger. If you get pinged, abort everything and run with whatever data you have, they'll have to give away the missile battery locations. And they can't pack up and move at a moment's notice, so if you get back in a couple hours, they will still be where you found 'em."

"Anything else you have to tell me?"

"Aside from apologizing for what I've done, no. Good luck and bring 'em home, Captain."

Lee looked at Sharon's big brown eyes. He wanted to say the magic words, to bring her on the mission. She could offer help, but if she was telling the truth, she would indeed endanger the entire mission. The fleet could not afford to lose more people, no matter their job.

"If you were going, who would you pick to backseat for you?"

Sharon breathed deeply. "I left that man behind on Caprica, Captain. In place of him, Racetrack will do fine for you."