Ch 15
Lee felt the turbulence as his Viper slipped into the upper reaches of Caprica's atmosphere. He still had a hard time believing that he'd been roped into this and he wanted desperately to find the weasel of a PR man and strangle him. He sighed as he slipped into the cool blackness of space and set his course for the Galactica.
When he finally arrived at the area of space where the Galactica hung he looked the old ship over and marveled at how well it had held up through the years. Galactica was one of the few remaining Battlestars that had survived through the Cylon war. His father had proudly taken command of the old ship and Lee thought that the war torn ship and the crusty old man were a good match.
As he flew into the landing pattern of the ship he heard the smooth voice of the LSO in his headset. "Viper Four-five-zero/Galactica. Copy your acquisition lock. Stand-by landing clearance." Lee waited for the LSO to clear him and he continued to look over the ship. "Viper Four-five-zero/Galactica. Approach port landing bay, hands-on, speed one zero five, checkers red, call the ball."
Lee was surprised at the "hands-on" order and commented about it. Then he realized that of course his father, being as old fashioned as he was, would insist on that sort of procedure. Lee landed his Viper and was quickly assisted by several of the deckhands. When he reached the floor he was greeted by the Deck Chief who fawned over him and complimented his father incessantly. Lee quickly asked directions to the CAG and wandered off.
When he found the CAG he was in the pilots ready room and he looked up to see Lee wandering in. The other man then made a big show of presenting Lee to the other pilots who applauded him as if he was a star. After he took a seat the CAG surprised him by telling him that not only would he be in the fly-by but he'd be doing it in his father's old Viper Mk II. How could this day get any worse?
After the meeting he asked about Kara's whereabouts. She'd followed the Old Man to Galactica after the funeral and had been here ever since. Even if the day ended up being a total disaster at least he could spend a bit of time with her. He wasn't surprised when he was told she was in the brig. When he finally found the tiny room he thrilled at seeing Kara and all of the fun times they'd had in the past came rushing back to him.
They chatted for a while then he left her to find out when the fly-by was supposed to happen, his thoughts only on getting this over with. Unfortunately he was snagged by the rodent like little PR man who insisted on shoving him together with his father for publicity shots. The tension between the two men was thick and oppressive but they made it through the ordeal and Lee left to go to the ceremony.
Once the fly-by was done Lee sat in the blackness of space listening to the broadcast of his father's speech. After a few choked words he realized that the older man was speaking to him in a way he wasn't sure he could deal with. Lee was happy to be able to be put on escort duty for one of the ships returning to Caprica so he wouldn't have to face his father again so soon.
They had made it most of the way back to Caprica when disaster struck and the most horrible thing imaginable happened. The Cylons attacked.