Disclaimer: While this story takes place in the confines of the Battlestar Galactica Universe, I don't own the characters or the Universe or anything else. I am not making a profit from this, and this story is purely for entertainment.
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How odd that Addison Lynford was helping her father plant seeds to grow in the garden the day the world died.
Her knees dug into the moist loam as she faced her father, watching as his strong calloused fingers gently pushed the soil aside to make room for the seeds. He didn't say it now, but she knew what he was thinking, as he'd only said it about a gazillion times before when she helped him in his work. Plants aren't Cylons, you know. You have to give them some love and a soft touch if you really want them to do their best for you. There must have been at least a cubit's worth of truth in that, too, if the flourishing garden around them was proof of that logic.
True, it wasn't really his garden; it belonged to his employer, Margaret Currington. He'd worked for the rich old broad as her gardener for as far back as Addy could remember. But it may as well have been his, since he'd put his heart and soul into every plant, bush and tree growing on the vast expanse of property.
Addy reached into the pocket of her work dress, groping around for the small seeds. Finally withdrawing a couple, she dropped them into the hole, commenting, "I hope these grow up to taste as good as the strawberries we had this morning for breakfast. They were so sweet," without looking up. "Do you think they will?" she wondered as she waited for him to cover the seeds. But his hands remained lax, so after a moment, she covered them herself before wiping the grime onto the skirt of the rough cotton fabric . "There," satisfaction tinged her voice as she spoke, then glanced up at him.
"Dad..?" Whatever question had been posed on her lips turned to dust when she saw his expression. She'd never seen him look like that before, look so scared... no, he was terrified. His gaze was focused on some point just beyond her right shoulder, and she turned her head to look as well. Her heart shriveled, horror at the sight of a massive cloud ballooning up on the horizon causing her mouth to go dry and amplifying the painfully quick thuds in her chest. Faintly, she heard herself ask, "Is that Caprica City?..." and she jerked backwards, blinking at a bright flash of light. When she opened her eyes and looked back, a second mushroom shaped cloud had appeared next to the first. She watched, mesmerized as it slowly expanded and rose skyward.
Thad Lynford lurched to his feet, hauling his daughter up as he ordered hoarsely, "Get to the cottage. Grab some clothes. Enough stuff to put into a backpack.. No more. We have to be able to move fast. I'll get some stuff together. Hurry."
Addy nodded her head jerkily, and then took off at a run for the gardener's cottage, which would be considered a sizable house anywhere else but on Currington land. Her father's longer strides helped him reach their home before she did, but only by a couple of steps. He veered into the living room to turn on the television, adjusting the volume so it would be clearly heard through out the house, as Addy ran up the stairs to her bedroom. Her oversized backpack was still slung over the back of a chair, from when she'd come in from school a few days earlier. She upended the books and other contents onto the bed, and then rummaged in her dresser for clothes.
What does one pack when the world is coming to an end? she thought, and after a moment's hesitation, grabbed up a few pairs of underwear, bra. Thick socks, it was still fairly chilly this time of the year. A pair of well worn but comfortable khaki pants. A short sleeved shirt.. a thick sweater. As she stuffed those into her backpack, a picture on the top of the dresser caught her eye. Taken late last year after her fourteenth birthday, it showed her mother in the full dress uniform of the Colonial Fleet Marines, her father looking uncomfortable in the suit with the ridiculous tie Addy had given him. And her, wild brown hair temporarily contained with a blue ribbon, and a cheerful grin on her tanned face, brown eyes sparkling... She picked it up, running a finger over the edge of the frame, then added it to the contents of the backpack.
Downstairs, she could hear the TV blaring, "...official confirmation that the spaceports have been hit. No spacecraft left that can leave Caprica. Our best advice is to stay inside, or if you must leave, head out into the country..." Because the cities were being nuked into oblivion, Addy suddenly realized, and her heart clenched again in her chest, so hard it hurt and tears came to her eyes. She drew in deep, slow breaths, trying to calm herself and find her center, the way her mother had taught her during all those stupid exercises. After a few moments, she felt well enough to continue.
She looked around the room one last time, then strode over to the bed to grab up her journal and a novel she'd just started from among her school belongings. To the closet for her red jacket and then that was it. Nothing else she wanted to bring, or thought was worth bringing at least. Not that she could remember, anyway. No doubt once they left, she'd realize she'd forgotten something important.
Leaving her room, Addy thumped down the stairs and went into the living room just in time to see the screen go white with snow, the fuzzy sound of static filling the room now. Her father was standing behind the couch, white and shaken, his gaze on the screen. After a moment passed during which he didn't acknowledge her presence, she said softly, "Dad?" causing him to start and look at her. "I uh, I am ready to go," she hefted her backpack.
His breath hissed out, a long slow exhalation. "All right," he said quietly, stuffing her mother's field infantry medkit into his pack before tying it shut and picking it up. "Let's go." Then he turned away from her, heading outside. She followed him out to the car.
They drove away from Caprica City, or what was left of it, heading further into the rolling hills of the country for as long as they could, which was an hour or so. After that, the roads were too congested with people and vehicles to drive anymore. So they abandoned the car in the middle of the road, jammed in among many others. And then they walked, leaving the road and most of the haggard looking people. Neither of them said much. What was there to say, really?
Addy's chest hurt again, and her back and her feet and her head and pretty much every part of her body, from the brisk walking pace, the weight of the backpack, the stress, the worry. She kept her head down and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other on the way up hills, trying a rolling walking pace on the way down them.
Finally, she could stand the silence no more, and said flatly, "It's the Cylons, isn't it?"
Giving her a quick glance, Thad nodded after a moment. "Yeah. Yeah I'm sure it is."
Then she asked the question neither of them had been willing to broach. "You think Mom is ok?"
He was a longer time in answering that question, but finally responded, "I don't know. She was on that escort duty to Picon, which means at least she wasn't here."
"She's ok. She is probably out there kicking some Cylon ass," Addy stated, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.
That at least caused a chuckle to emerge from her dad, and he slanted a grin toward her. "I'm sure she is. We just have to figure out how to get off this planet and find her."
The flash of another nuke off to their left caught their attention, and Addy met her father's worried eyes as he said, "That one was closer... they must be moving further away from the cities now." Their walking pace quickened a little more.
Addy was on the verge of saying something when she saw something flying through the sky. She clutched at her father's arm, mouth dropping open and pointing upward. Was it a Cylon?...but no, the unmistakable form of a small Colonial ship came into view, trailing smoke as it headed toward land in a controlled descent before vanishing over a hill a mile or two away. Not crash-landing then, but damaged at the least. A Raptor, Addy thought, pulling the name of the small scout class vessel out of her memories. And it could fly...
The Lynfords weren't the only ones to come to that conclusion apparently, for in the distance they could see a handful of people running toward where the Raptor was headed toward land. They both broke out into a run, and from there it became a race to see who could reach the small ship first, father and daughter or the increasing number of other people now running toward the landing site.
Addy tried to settle into the long loping jog she'd be running if her mother was here, and they were doing laps around Old Lady Currington's land. It was easier said than done though, especially the weight of the backpack slapping on her back. She was doing better than her father at least, his breath was coming raggedly, but he refused to slack down, utterly focused on reaching that lone ship.
It seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was probably less than fifteen minutes before they were within sight of the Raptor. Two figures in Colonial fleet uniforms were standing in front of the ship, and both had their pistols drawn, pointed out toward the people rushing down the hill. Why are they pointing their weapons at us? Addy wondered exhaustedly, and then she realized. The ship was small, and there were probably fifty people heading toward it, maybe more. There was no way it'd hold all of them.
They reached the backside of the mob of people just in time to hear a gunshot, and both father and daughter ducked down before slowly standing up, and looking toward the two pilots. Pilot and ECO rather, Addy thought. The shorter one was a dark-haired woman, her brows drawn into a worried frown. Her limping crewmate was much taller, and a bloodied cloth tied around his thigh covered some injury sustained.
The tall man waved his gun around as he called out, "That's as close as you get - Okay? Let's just settle down here. Settle down, and no one gets hurt." People began to mutter angrily, pressing forward.
One man desperately waved a wad of money, "Please, I've got to get to port. I'll give you fifty thousand cubits!" A woman shouted over that offer, "Sixty thousand!"
Thad looked hopelessly down into his daughters eyes. If these Colonials decided to take passengers based on who paid the highest amount, there was no way either of them would ever leave Caprica. But then the man said, "We're not taking money! This is not a rescue ship. This is a military vessel! We are not taking money!" he repeated. Then the crowd surged forward in fury, only to recoil and cry out in alarm as the woman raised her weapon and shot into the air.
Some of the people in the crowd cursed, and others moaned. A woman's voice clearly rang out, "But what about the children?" Immediately, others took up the cry, "Please, take the children," Addy started as she realized that her father's voice was among those pleading with the two Colonials.
"All right, all right!" the uniformed woman said, though she didn't lower her gun. "Children first. Children," she said firmly, darting a quick glance at her surprised crewmate.
Immediately, Thad unshouldered his pack and pushed something into her startled hands. "Here," he said roughly, not meeting her eyes. "I was going to give it to your mother when I saw her again... I think you should give it to her instead."
Her chest hurt again, unsurprisingly. "Dad... I am not going to leave you here," Addy stated, her voice quavering as tears began to stream down her face unbidden.
"Yes you are. You have to. I love you..." he couldn't go on then, and gave her a last tight hug before pushing her toward the front of the crowd with the other children before the two Colonials could change their mind.
Addy walked numbly to stand beside the other children behind the two officers, all but one tall boy appeared to be younger than her fourteen years. She kept her eyes fixed on her father's face as the dark-haired woman turned to look over them before announcing, "All right, we can take three more people." Hands shot up into the air, including her father's, volunteers to be among those select three.
"Why only three?" someone asked derisively.
"That's the maximum load if we're gonna break orbit," the ECO announced, face grim.
An angry looking man in a blue sweatshirt right in front of the injured Colonial growled out, "So who chooses the three? You?"
"No one chooses," the woman responded immediately. "No one. Lottery." Her crewmate nodded agreement. "Everyone gets a number. We put them in a box, and pull out three. That's it. No arguing, no appeals."
It was quiet for a few moments as the crowd thought it through. A slim chance was better than no chance, to Addy's way of thinking at least. Maybe her father would be one of those...
Then the tall officer said, "And I will shoot the first person who tries to board before then," lifting his gun slightly to make the point.
"Helo, get out your flight manual and tear out the pages," the dark-haired woman ordered. After giving the crowd in front of him a hard stare, he limped back a few steps, and Addy was among those who stepped to the side to allow him access to the interior of the Raptor.
The next few minutes were excruciating for everyone. The ECO named Helo counted the crowd, and neatly wrote the numbers on two pieces of manual paper. One for the emptied out toolbox that would serve as the 'hat', and one for the 'contestant'. The pilot, who's name was Sharon, kept her gun pointed on the crowd to keep them at bay.
When all the numbers had been handed out, Sharon said, "Ok let's get this over with. First number. " She reached in and pulled out a scrap of paper, reading it carefully before announcing, "Eighty-seven. That's eight seven." A few people moaned, shaking their heads, but a surprised looking older woman clutching an armful of books to her chest said, "That's me.. that's my number." She stepped forward eagerly, eyes glistening with tears as she showed her number to Helo for verification.
"All right, stand over there," he nodded, gesturing toward Addy and the rest of the children.
"Next, one twenty-seven. One two seven."
A young woman in the front of the crowd gasped, waving her piece of paper. "Here... thank the Lords of Kobol," she stammered as Sharon waved her forward, and gave her piece of paper to the injured ECO. "Thank you, thank you," the woman kept babbling under her breath, hugging herself.
When the third number was called out, a groan emerged from the remaining people unlucky enough to have had the wrong number. No one immediately stepped forward with their slip of paper clutched in white-knuckled hands, surprisingly. Addy's father met her gaze and merely shook his head and shrugged. He would not be among those joining her on the little ship. Her vision blurred with tears again, and there was a roaring sound in her ears.
There was some confusion then, as Helo addressed someone in the crowd, some guy named Gaius Baltar. The name was vaguely familiar to Addy, he was some sort of celebrity from Caprica City or something. No, a doctor maybe. He walked forward leading an old woman, who's beaming smile indicated she had been the one holding the last winning number.
More angry voices rose up as the injured ECO suddenly announced that he would be giving up his seat to the doctor. Even his pilot looked stunned by that announcement, but as Helo gestured toward the horizon, toward the many mushroom clouds still blooming as Caprica was bombarded, he said, "Look at those clouds. Look at those clouds Sharon, and tell me this isn't the end of everything."
Addy focused her gaze long enough to look as well, and it was as if someone had tossed a bucket of ice cold water on her. She shivered, He is right. This is the end of everything. She supposed she had been thinking that it was just Caprica City, that somehow, there was a safe place to go on Caprica, and get far enough away and just go back to normalcy. But there was too much destruction, there were too many clouds. And there would be radiation...
As though he could read her mind, Addy's father lifted his pack, opening it long enough to reveal the medkit inside before quickly closing it again, mustering a reassuring smile for her. Anti-radiation meds were standard in that kind, the military ones. So there was a chance... of course there was a chance. This Raptor would take them off the planet, and then they'd meet up with the Colonial fleet and her mom, and they would all come to Caprica and kick the Cylons all the way back to whatever godsforsaken rock they had crawled out from under this time.
"Get on board," Sharon said abruptly to them, her dark eyes on Helo as he limped away from the Raptor holding a red medkit that was identical to the one that her father had just flashed her. So he was staying and letting that guy Gaius Baltar take his place in the Raptor.
Addy wanted to shout, Why take him, why not my father? at the injured ECO, but bit her lip as she turned to clamber up the ramp into the small vessel. It was amazing enough that the injured officer would even be willing to give up his seat for a complete stranger. Incredibly brave. Incredibly stupid.
This guy Baltar better be worth it. Worth the loss of the ECO, at the least, cause he'll never be worth leaving my father behind for. She glared balefully Gaius instead as she settled into the cramped confines of space behind the pilot's chair as Sharon sat down and begin checking the instruments, prepping the ship for takeoff, while a boy who had claimed the copilot's seat watched. Baltar was standing at the ramp of the ship, looking out into the crowd of people at... something. She couldn't see what.
Then the ramp began to hiss closed, rising to seal them into the ship, and Addy stood up , trying to keep her father in her sight for as long as possible. He lifted his hand in a farewell wave, and mouthed something, but she couldn't tell what. Then the hatch closed.
The Raptor slowly lifted skyward, and then lurched to one side as if knocked off balance by added weight, but Sharon must have recompensed somehow, for in a moment the flight turned smooth. From her position behind the pilot's seat, Addy could see as the small ship turned once, showing those left behind, her father, Helo, and all the others slowly backing away. There was a bloodied body on the ground in front of the ECO now, the man with the blue sweater. Blue and blood-red sweater.
The very last sight she had of her father, he was shielding his eyes from the dust blown up by the Raptor's engines as it rose. Tilting in the air as it lifted higher into the atmosphere, the view out the front window shifted to the blasts of the still-falling nukes, and the blaze of fire and ash that followed in their wake. Then they left Caprica, or what was left of it, behind.