Part 11

Starbuck awoke with a pained gasp and sat bolt upright. "Apollo!"

"Shhh," Apollo said soothingly. "I'm right here, Bucko."

Starbuck's panicked eyes flashed about him and then his hands went down to clutch at his stomach. "I think something is happening," he whispered bleakly.

Suddenly there seemed to be deer creatures appearing from everywhere. Beagragon began to shout instructions at the top of his voice but he was largely ignored. Falinfech took over then and soon order was restored with all the creatures squatting on their haunches in a series of concentric circles, with the grassy mound at their centre.

Boomer and Cassiopeia fought their way through the crowd to their Captain's side. "Is this really necessary?" Apollo spat as he glared at the two leaders.

Falinfech looked away but Beagragon barred his teeth in the expression Apollo had come to realise passed as a smile for his kind. "Of course!" he beamed. "Or how will the promise be fulfilled?"

Apollo snorted. There were many things about this he did not understand, not least of which was the deer creatures' role in the proceedings. He pushed his way between Starbuck and Magawincha while indicating Cassiopeia and Boomer should go to his other side.

Starbuck was gasping for breath as he drifted in and out of consciousness. "Kynan!" he muttered.

There was an excited gasp from the nearest deer creatures at the name and the news was hurriedly whispered from one to another until even the furthest one knew what the golden one had said; they seemed satisfied with events thus far.

The pain was rushing through Starbuck again, more intense than anything he had previously felt. His body stiffened and he let out a scream of complete agony. He began to whimper and grind his teeth. There appeared to be no respite as wave after wave of contractions washed through his muscles, not allowing him to recover before the next blast of pain hit him.

"Bucko," Apollo whispered as he moved forward to take hold of the failing hands. Starbuck clutched at him, as if the very touch could somehow lessen his pain. Cassiopeia grabbed his other hand and Boomer his ankles; together they held him tightly.

"So it begins," Beagragon muttered. "The seed will out."

Starbuck's breaths were coming in struggling wheezing gasps between the convulsions that were wracking through him. "Breathe," Cassiopeia whispered. His eyes opened wide and though infinitely dulled by pain they appeared to focus on her.

"Cass….." he whispered but another spasm hit him and his body lifted off the floor to writhe in agony.

"Deeply," Cassiopeia said. "Suck the air deep into your lungs, concentrate on that. Pretend you've got your favourite fumerillo. Take each breath at a time."

He looked at her, nodded, tried to whisper his thanks but the next spasm cut through everything that he was and he screamed once more.

His desperate eyes flashed to rest on Apollo then. "'Pollo, stop the pain!" he pleaded between spasms. "I can't….."

Apollo gulped. "I don't know how, buddy," he replied. "Hold on to me and take my strength. We are all here for you!"

As the contractions continued and there appeared no relief in sight, Apollo looked desperately to Beagragon. "How much longer?" he demanded.

"Soon," Beagragon replied with supreme confidence. "See it comes…"

He nodded towards the distended area of Starbuck's belly. It was glowing brightly. As the blonde bucked and writhed, held down only by Apollo, Boomer and Cassiopeia's firm grip, the bulging light appeared to move. Apollo gazed transfixed with horror as the thing slowly, oh so slowly, began to inch its way up Starbuck's gullet. Its movement was not smooth rather it lurched and with every motion Starbuck's muscles tightened in agony and he screamed again.

Boomer caught Apollo's eye and they exchanged desperate glances – what could they do? Apollo reached down and gently rubbed the sweating forehead but Starbuck was aware of nothing save for the rupturing, tearing pain in what used to be his stomach.

Inexorably the thing continued its progress but Starbuck's screams became less, weaker and weaker as his strength gave out until eventually he could only muster a feeble groan that grated in the back of his throat. That sound too stopped as the light reached his throat, the muscles in his neck contorted and stretched to accommodate the bulging size of the shape that had obviously grown so much it was too big to make the return journey out of the suffering pilot. Starbuck began to cough and gag as it blocked both his windpipe and his oesophagus.

"Frak!" Apollo spat impotently as he feared the pilot would choke before them and they could do absolutely nothing to help him.

Starbuck struggled instinctively, with renewed vigour as his body realised his plight, his vision was tinged with scarlet acquiescing to black, he saw dark shapes around him, he could not focus on them. But something deep inside told him he did not have much time. The light was pressing tightly, filling up all the space in his throat, so no matter how hard he tried he could get no air into his burning lungs. He was vaguely aware of a strange gurgling sound that must have been coming from him and his head was thundering. Deep inside he desperately tried to fight but every part of his body seemed to scream in defeat as his heart itself lost strength and his conscious being began to shut down.

At that very moment, as the blackness was about to take him, he felt a tremendous pressure building in his gut and rushing upwards. It pushed the bulge before it and all sprayed out of Starbuck's mouth in a blazing stream of bright white light. Starbuck's nostrils flared as he sucked up the wonderful oxygen through his nose and his lungs commenced their action again, desperately fighting for life. His body racked with cramping pains as the life-giving gas flowed around it once more. His awareness was almost gone, he had no sense of where he was or what was happening, he was acting only on instinct, frantically fighting to stay above the blackness, to stay alive but his life was dripping away. He involuntarily threw back his head and the light spurting from his mouth flashed upward, it bounced off the monolith above them where it split into five separate beams of light each shooting off in the direction of the other obelisks.

The air suddenly seemed to be cracking with energy, throbbing with excitement as the monolith above them began to glow with white light. Then the light refracted, changing into the full spectrum of colours of the rainbow. Not only that it was cascading downwards too like an incredibly beautiful multi-coloured waterfall. Everywhere the light waves touched seemed to sparkle with new energy and vigour. Trees seemed to swell in size, first leaves and then pretty blossom budding and growing to clothe the bare branches in seconds and the flames of the small fire of the encampment increased in size as they seemed to dance upwards towards the sky.

The whole place seemed to be overwhelmed by an incredibly intense celebration of life; it was that special moment of magic sensed immediately after the birth of a child but multiplied a thousand-fold. Little flowers sprung from the mud and the mossy carpet expanded to cover all of the brown area. Cassiopeia let out a gasp of awe as a mild breeze blew through her hair and she smelt the long forgotten scent of spring and rebirth. New life seemed to vibrate through the glade.

Boomer, as he looked up at the monolith saw the grey clouds part to reveal a perfect blue sky and that was not all, a brilliant bright sun blazed down on them but its intensity was still dim compared with the power that was streaming from Starbuck's open mouth up to be dispersed by the monolith.


"By the Lords of Kobol, what is happening?" Adama asked in awe.

"I don't know!" Tigh responded sounding equally shocked. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before!"

They had the planet up on screen and what had once appeared quiet and benign appeared to have suddenly leapt into life. The cloudy mist that had shrouded the planet seemed to have burned off and now the whole globe was alight with a number of throbbing energy sources that seemed to be brightening in intensity. Running between these spots were lines of light that covered the whole surface in a grid pattern.

Omega was desperately tapping on his keyboard, his face a mask of concentration. "Immense levels of energy," he reported. "Intensifying to critical levels."

"Where from?" Adama aked.

"Pinpointing now, Sir." Omega tapped again.

There was silence as everyone waited, the time suddenly stretching out for what seemed an unbelievably long eternity. "There appears to be a network system developing." Omega stated. "The obelisks are acting as receptors, channelling the energy, increasing it. The levels are rising steadily."

"Where's it coming from, Omega?" Adama repeated.

The bridge officer's eyes widened as he re-read the details on the screen before him. It was the only sign of emotion as his voice replied, clinically efficient and devoid of all feeling. "It's coming from the glade, Sir." He turned in his seat to look at the Commander. "The glade where Captain Apollo is, Sir."


Starbuck's eyes were tightly shut, his body was glowing, straining as every muscle was stretched to breaking point. He was held down to the earth only by his hands clutching blindly hold of Apollo and Cassiopeia and Boomer at his ankles, except for them he would have levitated into the air. And where he touched them they could feel not only the pain of his tight grip but also the disconcerting feeling intensifying that the life was somehow being sucked from them. Cassiopeia even tried to let go of him but Starbuck's grip was frightening in the strength of its inhuman power. Her eyes flashed worryingly at Apollo, who gave her a supportive tense smile. "We're here, Bucko," he muttered.

The miraculous changes continued around them; the newly grown blossom fell from the trees to overlay the mossy carpet with soft, pink petals. Fruit began to grow, swelling and ripening in just seconds as the boughs of each tree began to creak and stagger with the weight of such bounty. The scent of spring was no longer in the air; it was chased away by the verdant, sticky smell of the juices of full summer. The air hung sugary sweet, as heavy as the branches of the trees and suddenly lightening flashed across the sky, fingering downwards and connecting with the light streams that enveloped the planet. Big cool drops of rain splattered, refreshing and anointing all. Thunder rolled and a stiff breeze blew through the glade.

"What's happening, Apollo?" Boomer asked, his voice seemingly too loud for the intimacy of the moment but purposely so to be heard over the thunder.

Apollo shuddered, the invigorating rain tickled as it dripped along his nose, he could not lift his hands from Starbuck to wipe it away, so he sniffed. "I don't know, Boomer," he muttered, his heart racing fearfully.


"I don't believe it," Omega mumbled.

"What?" Tigh asked.

"The planet – it's regenerating itself!"

"What?"

"It's true, look!" Adama was looking out of the portal at the planet as it sat in the vast black curtain of space before them. As the swirling mists had receded, a grey almost lifeless surface had been revealed, crisscrossed only occasionally by the bright light but as they watched the greyness was slowly retreating, taken over by a green vegetation that appeared to grow over the planet like mould on a laboratory dish in one of Doctor Wilker's experiments. Not only that but as he watched, Adama saw the blue of vast tracts of water springing up to form oceans and rivers on the surface and the whiting of ice at the planet's poles.

"The scanners are going wild!" Omega said. "Mineral deposits that were not showing just microns ago are suddenly off the scale. It's impossible!"

Tigh was looking over his shoulder, reading down the list of minerals flashing up. "Tylium!" he cried unable to hide his glee. "Massive amounts!" He stopped suddenly aware of where he was, catching hold of his emotion he took in a deep breath. "But how?"

Adama pulled his astonished eyes from the green and blue, living planet that hung before them so serenely beautiful; it was impossible to conceive it had ever looked any differently, and certainly not been a mist covered desert, only centons ago. He sighed deeply. "It would appear, gentleman, that whatever it was he is supposed to do, Lieutenant Starbuck is doing it!"


The deer creatures were silent, eyes upturned and wide with wonder as if waiting. Their small bodies shivering so the whole glade appeared to be flexing in anticipation.

Starbuck gasped, his eyes were tight shut but tears were streaming down his face. Apollo felt his own vision dimming as an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion stole the strength from his senses and over-extended muscles. The feeling of being sucked dry of all of his vigour was increasing. He glanced down at where Starbuck was touching him and he saw his own skin around the contact point had begun to take on the same eerie glow that emanated from the pilot's almost translucent body. Apollo shuddered in barely concealed terror. What the hell was happening?

And still the light spewed forth from Starbuck's mouth up to the obelisk to be refracted around the planet. A single shaft hit Beagragon as he stood close by, nose twitching expectantly. The creature's whole being began to shake violently and he let out an ineffectual screech. A black line appeared vertically running across his chest, down his belly, up his neck and round his back. Then his deer like form simply fell away as if cleaved apart by an invisible but massive chopper. It fell away, an empty carcass split into two prefect halves to reveal a man squatting down on the moss. Like a butterfly extending its wings for the first time as it left its useless chrysalis, the man stretched his arms upwards and then flexed the muscles in his legs. He stood up, tall and proud, his body perfectly formed with chiselled muscles rippling beneath tanned skin. His face, framed by golden hair, glowed with beauty and inner serenity – he looked like a god.

Another shaft of light hit Falinfech, he shuddered and then exactly the same process occurred so that within seconds another golden divine figure stood before them. Magawincha too, took a shaft of light full on her chest and within seconds she was transformed into a beautiful blonde woman.

"Frak!" Boomer eloquently voiced the shock that was running through all of the Warriors' minds as they watched.

The monolith's light split into many separate beams and each focused on to one of the deer creatures. They shuddered and were transformed until the glade was full of naked, golden beings, all flexing their limbs and looking at each other with a glowing sense of contentment lighting their faces.

"Lords, what have you done, Bucko?" Boomer breathed.

The body of the subject of the question was glowing intensely as the light passed from him. And then, as suddenly as it started the light dimmed and was gone. Starbuck closed his mouth abruptly as the light went out. He groaned feebly as his suddenly drab and grey body spasmed horrendously one last time. His eyes flashed open and he screamed a forlorn, frail hopeless sound and then fell, as if sucked dry of his spirit, back to the mound.

"Starbuck!" Apollo shouted.

But Starbuck did not hear his friend's voice. He was aware of nothing as his lifeless eyes closed, his muscles jerked and then relaxed completely. A weak sigh escaped his dry lips and then he was perfectly still.


TBC