Ch 32

The Vipers approached the Pegasus which was floating in the blackness in front of the Galactica. The voice of the LSO crackled over their headsets, directing them to head for the starboard landing deck. Lee watched as they floated closer to the big ship as the CAP from Pegasus zipped past them, followed by a Raptor. The CAP slid up and over the top of the big ship but the Raptor was heading for the Galactica. Lee assumed it was another wave of non-pilots coming to see if they could find lost relatives and such.

The Galactica had been coordinating with Colonial One and organizing lists of everyone on the ships. People could contact a member of President Roslin's staff to determine if any of their family or friends survived the attack and was on a ship in the fleet. So far it had gone quite smoothly, with several of the civilians on the liner volunteering their efforts. When the members of the Pegasus had found out about the lists they had clamored to find their own family's fates. They had been trying for days to get a direct comm link to Colonial One so the crew of the larger ship wouldn't have to come over to Galactica or Colonial One in person.

Kara's voice broke through his musings, "Looks like another load of seekers heading for certain dissapointment."

"Probably. Kara, can I count on you to not fly off the handle when we get there? I know that you really don't like Taylor but we really need to try to keep things from getting out of hand."

He could hear her snort over the headset but she agreed to try not to start a fight with the man. As they banked over to the starboard side of the ship they got their clearance from the LSO and they landed their Vipers. One of the deck hands rushed up to Lee to tell him how to find Captain Taylor, who he assured Lee was expecting him. So they headed off to the ready room.

On the way to through the knot of pilots milling around the ready room, Lee saw Lauren's auburn hair and he started pushing his way through the crowd towards her. He waited until she was done speaking to the pilot she was with and she turned to face him, a slight smile curling up her lips. She spoke in a lowered voice and Lee knew that she didn't feel like she could talk at the moment.

"Captain Adama, good to see you again. I hear you've been stationed over here for the time being. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine once you get used to how we do things. If you need anything to help you get settled, let me know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my shift in order." She stepped away from him but leaned into him and ran her fingers through his hand. He watched her walk past him and he was thrilled to see her look up and wink at him.

The other pilots were beginning to filter into the room and Kara paced over to him, rolling her eyes in distaste at the amount of testosterone floating around. "Shall we get this over with milady?"

"If we must. Wait. Milady? Did you hit your head recently?"

"Nah, just in a good mood." He motioned back over their shoulders to where Lauren had just headed. Kara nodded in understanding and they followed the crowd into the room.

Kara and Lee stood at attention in front of Captain Taylor as he read through their files. Kara rolled her eyes at him since he already knew all about them and she could see no reason to draw this out. Lee saw the eye roll and softly elbowed Kara to make her behave. Just then a whole squadron of pilots came into the ready room and began to take their seats. Kara surveyed the group and realized she was one of only three women in the room.

Taylor introduced them to the group and motioned for them to take seats. They made their way to the second row and sat next to each other and waited for Taylor to begin the briefing. The man strutted around the front of the podium as if he were trying to reaffirm his power over the rest of the pilots. When his ego was sufficiently boosted he cleared his throat and began the briefing.

"Settle down people. This is a photo recon mission. We are interested in one Cylon ship in particular which is larger than anything we've encountered before. Analysis to date suggests they will be in this star system next. We will hide behind this moon which has an abnormally large magneto tail and will mask our Dradis signatures."

Kara leaned over and whispered in Lee's ear, trying not to draw attention. However, Taylor had been watching her the entire briefing and he stood up straighter as she leaned over. He looked like he'd been waiting for her to slip up so he could berate her.

"We'll power down, hide near the surface, wait for the fleet to pass by. Starbuck? You have something to add?" the sneer in Taylor's voice was obvious.

"Your plan sucks. And the Cylons aren't stupid. That moon's a blind spot. They'll never go near it. You really want to get close? You got to use the stealth ship we constructed aboard Galactica." She knew as soon as she'd said it that Taylor would shoot her plan down. He was the type of man that had to be right all the time.

One of the other pilots made a snotty comment behind her and she managed not to return the snide attitude. Taylor regained control of the room by saying, "That's enough. Starbuck, you're off this mission. Whiplash, Thumper get your optical gear ready. Apollo, you'll pilot the Raptor with me. Your jacket says you qualified in one. Remember how to fly it?"

Lee responded affirmatively and Taylor dismissed the pilots. Kara grabbed Lee's sleeve and pulled him in the opposite direction as the rest of the pilots. However, he shook her loose and turned towards the other door. She stormed past him wanting desperately to vent her anger as she reached the hall. She turned to Lee and was ready to unleash her anger but he smiled at her and she calmed slightly.

"They expect us to take this lying down? Now you're driving a frakking Raptor. It's humiliating."

Lee pushed a bag at her and unzipped it to show her the camera within it. She picked up on the idea he was pushing on her and he confirmed it by telling her to go get the blackbird and slip away to get the recon pictures of the mystery ship that he knew they would not be able to get otherwise. Then he turned and walked off with Taylor.