Happy N7 day, everybody!

" … waking up?"

" … no idea she was that fast …"

" … has to be fine, or goodbye new allies…"

Kara groaned and opened her eyes. "Ow," she complained, trying to sit up.

"Easy there," Williams said, putting an arm around Kara's back. "You were out cold for a bit. Had us worried."

Kara sighed. "I've been through worse," she said.

"You really have lead an interesting life these past few years, haven't you?" Shepard asked. She squatted in front of Kara, then raised her left arm, already glowing with omni-tool orange. She pressed her hand to Kara's forehead.

"Holy shit," Kara gasped as she was engulfed in a cool fire, both numbing and warm at the same time. The sensation faded quickly, but - "Damn. What'd you do?" she asked. "My headache's gone."

"Medi-gel," Shepard said, almost smugly. "Apparently works for bizarro lost cousins as well as it does for us regular humans."

"Very funny," Kara replied. "You, a regular human."

"She's got you there, Shepard," Williams said, laughing as she helped Kara to her feet.

Shepard smiled softly. "I owe you, Kara. I don't know how you did it, but you caught up to her before she could leave. I don't know if we could have stopped her otherwise."

"I was closest," Kara said, shrugging it off. "It's not like I was going to let her get away."

"And it's a good thing you did catch her," Liara said. "We need to know more about what Cerberus is planning. As soon as we get back, I'm going to ask my erstwhile colleague some very pointed questions."

Shepard nodded. "And we need to decide how we're going to handle your people, Kara. We need to get more of them on board the Normandy. Care to give me a short list?"

"Definitely," Kara said, and started naming people as they walked out of the Mars Archives to where Cortez was waiting with the shuttle.

Admiral William Adama stood behind the press podium, leaning forward on his elbows to gaze intently at the swarm of reporters in front of him. Their faces were all intent, eager, hanging on his every word.

"I will take questions," he said reluctantly.

Instantly the room erupted into a cacophony of shouts and waving hands. The reporters didn't wait for him to acknowledge any of them individually, just shouted over each other.

"How many alien races are there?"

"Can we get any advanced alien weaponry to use against the Cylons?"

"How can we travel faster than FTL? Isn't that, by definition, the fastest form there is?"

"Are these people truly the Thirteenth Tribe?"

"Why did we leave Earth?"

"Why did we leave Earth?"

"Why did we leave Earth?"

Buzz-click. Buzz-click.

Adama opened his eyes and stretched, trying to work out the soreness that came from having fallen asleep in his chair. His respite from new information and hard questions was over. He recalled Shepard's insistence that Lieutenant Vega only cover the basics - and that had still been an unfathomably large amount of information that left him with the questions the reporters in his dream had been asking. And it was, sadly, only a matter of time before he would have to field them - too many people had heard Shepard's declaration about Earth.

Buzz-click. "Fine, fine," Adama grumbled softly before lifting the handle. "Admiral here."

"Sir, Commander Shepard is calling for you," Dee said.

"Patch her through, Dee."

"Patching now." There was a brief pause, a click, and then Dee spoke again. "Commander Shepard, you have the Admiral."

"Admiral Adama," Shepard said. "Pleased to report that the mission was a success and we're on our way back to the Normandy. That includes Captain Thrace, by the way. She's a hell of a fighter."

Adama breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled. "That she is."

"We have a few hours before we get to the mass relay," Shepard continued, "so there's two things that need to happen before then. First, I need the mass of each ship in your fleet."

Adama's tired brain managed to make a small connection back to what Vega had said earlier. "For the relay."

"So you can follow us to the Citadel through the relay," Shepard agreed. "And that leads into the second thing, which is that I'd like a delegation from your fleet to come on board the Normandy to receive a comprehensive briefing. Kara mentioned a few names she thought you'd want in that delegation, including yourself, but the decision is yours."

"How much time do I have to decide?" Adama asked.

"Less than an hour. You should load up a small transport ship-"

"A Raptor," Kara interrupted. It startled Adama that he could hear her so clearly, and then he remembered that Shepard probably wasn't using a corded phone to make this call.

"One of those," Shepard agreed, "and head for the Normandy. Kara suggested that the President and Vice President come, as well as at least one Cylon."

It seemed that Kara had explained the Cylon situation while they were off doing … whatever it was that Shepard had needed to do. "You're asking for a lot from me," Adama said, unable to keep the heat from his voice. "You want the important people onboard your ship while we make a jump using unknown technology. How do we know this isn't a trap?"

"My word as a Spectre," Shepard began.

Adama cut her off. "Not good enough. I don't know you, so I can't just take your word. I need someone who can talk about your technology with more confidence than Lieutenant Vega." He could tell that it wasn't just orders that had kept Vega evasive on those matters.

Shepard sighed. "Admiral, the truth is I don't have anyone to give you. I could only spare Vega because you gave me Kara in his place. We left Earth in a hurry with only the crew who happened to be onboard at that moment. There isn't anyone that I can spare to ride herd on you during the jump."

"What if someone got a look at the Normandy's computers and then came back to the Galactica before the jump?" Kara asked. "Someone like Athena or Gaeta."

"Or both," Adama said, warming to the idea.

"That's cutting it pretty close, Admiral," Shepard said.

"Make it happen," Adama replied.

"Admiral. I don't take orders from you," Shepard said coldly, and Adama realized that he'd spoken to her like a subordinate. Careless of him. "I believe that could work. I'm not sure how much they'll be able to learn in such a short period, but if that will get me your cooperation, I'll agree to it."

"Full access, Commander," Adama said, trying to keep his voice level.

"You'll have it," Shepard replied. "We'll rendezvous soon. Shepard out." The click indicated that she'd disconnected.

Adama resisted the urge to rub at his face as he replaced the phone in its cradle. It was too much, too fast. This should have been the end. They should have been able to stop at Earth, to settle there and make a new home. Instead... they had even more questions than they'd had before.

"Dad?"

Adama's head jerked up to see his son standing there. He was starting to get used to the sight of Lee in a suit instead of a uniform.

"Any news?" Lee asked, anxiety written all over him.

Adama knew what Lee was really asking. How's Starbuck? "Shepard completed her mission. They're on their way back. That includes Kara." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "I could use your help with something."

"Anything," Lee said instantly.

Adama nodded, feeling as though a load had been lifted from his shoulders. "I'm leading a group to the Normandy. I want you and Laura as part of it. We'll also have Sharon and Gaeta as our tech experts. I need to have someone onboard Galactica when we jump that has at least a rudimentary understanding of these … relays."

"I think I see the problem," Lee said. "If you take Sharon, that means your XO is going to insist on coming along. Which leaves you with one obvious option for someone to command the Galactica ... and he's not really the obvious option anymore." Lee leaned against the desk. "What about Dee?"

"Dee?" Adama repeated. "Your wife who's not speaking to you?"

Lee grimaced. "She was my XO on Pegasus, Dad. She's still loyal to you and to this fleet. She's a damn good officer and keeps her head in a crisis."

"Enough," Adama said, laughing softly. "You've convinced me. Lieutenant Dualla will be in charge in my absence. Although I think Lieutenant may be an inadequate rank for that."

"So promote her," Lee said with a shrug. "It should have happened already."

"Are you doing this so she'll come back to you?" Adama asked wryly.

Lee shook his head. "No. If I wanted that, I'd be doing more than just telling you to promote her."

Adama wasn't entirely convinced, but he let it go and picked up the phone. "Dee. I want you, Lieutenant Gaeta, Helo, and Athena to come to my office."

"Be right there, sir," Dee said.

"Good. Admiral out." Adama hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair.

"I take it that means I'll brief the President," Lee said. "Anyone else?"

Adama shook his head. "Shepard asked us to bring a Cylon. Obviously, Kara told her about them. We've already agreed that Sharon's coming."

"Makes sense." Lee paused, clearly thinking through an idea. Adama felt himself warm with pride at this sign of Lee's maturity. "There's one more person that should come," his son said after a moment. "The Chief."

"Out of the question," Adama said. "He's a Cylon. One of their 'Final Five'. We still don't know enough about them."

"But one of the things we do know is their connection to Earth," Lee said. "Not to mention that Tyrol's the best expert we have on ship design and maintenance. I have no idea how the Normandy can generate the level of power it does, but if anyone can start answering that question, it's him." He hesitated. "Besides, if you're uncertain about the Final Five - it may be better to get him away from the Galactica. From the other Cylons."

'Uncertain' didn't really cover what he felt about the Final Five. Despair, hatred, mistrust, anger - those were far more accurate. There had been so much they had endured along the way, so much suffering and loss, and he had taken a heavy part of that because he was their leader and it was his responsibility. And Saul… had been there for him. Saul was the only one who had always supported him, always backed his move, even if it turned out to be the wrong one.

Saul was a Cylon. Cylons couldn't be trusted … until they could.

Adama shoved his conflict over Saul away and thought about what Lee had said, striving to be impartial. What he had said about the Chief made sense. There was no questioning Tyrol's expertise when it came to the design and construction of ships. The destroyed Blackbird was proof enough of that. And it was true that Tyrol, Saul, and Anders had been instrumental in getting them here, to Commander Shepard and Earth, in the first place.

The door opened, and the four people that Adama had called for entered. Back to work, Adama thought, and began to explain the situation to four of his best officers.

The delegation left Galactica onboard two Raptors. When asked to pilot one of them, Lee had grumbled good-naturedly about how he wasn't actually in the military anymore, but somehow kept finding himself called upon to perform military duties. Adama sat next to Laura at the back of the Raptor, and Vega sat up front next to Lee, asking questions and trying to figure out the controls. He'd been convinced Shepard wanted him to return, even though she hadn't said anything along those lines to Adama. Since Vega was outside of Adama's command, he decided it wasn't worth trying to argue.

Helo and Athena were piloting the other Raptor, with Felix and Tyrol as their passengers. The Chief (Adama couldn't think of him as anything else, despite the demotion) had volunteered to come along when the question was put to him, and Adama had decided to follow his son's advice.

Maybe, Adama thought, he shouldn't have brought his best people with him for this. But Shepard was offering them a chance at joining a greater community, of finding a new home with these far-flung cousins. If that was the case, they all needed to be in on it from the start. It was a chance he had to take.

"There she is," Vega said. "The Normandy."

Adama tore his thoughts away from what he'd left on Galactica and looked out the Raptor's window at the ship they were approaching. Up close, she was even more of a marvel to behold - a sleek and graceful predator amongst the stars. She was smaller than Galactica and many of the other ships in the Colonial Fleet. Vega had said that she was a prototype frigate, the only one of her kind - designed for stealth and speed, which inevitably put him in mind of the destroyed Blackbird. That had been a beautiful ship, as beautiful as the woman it was named for.

"What's the significance of the name?" Adama asked.

"Frigates are named for the sites of important battles," Vega replied. "Normandy was one of the biggest."

Adama itched to know more, but nodded instead and returned his gaze to the rapidly approaching ship. The silence was only broken when Lee announced, "Ready to disembark."

"Copy," Adama said, even though they were in person and a nod would have done the trick. He turned to Laura Roslin and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Laura smiled back at him and took his arm. "Let's meet the new neighbors."

Adama led them out, walking slowly so that he could take in the sights. The ship looked practically new, to eyes that had been living on increasingly run-down ships since the flight from Caprica. The walls were pristine and shining, the equipment neatly tucked away in functional spaces. The flight deck was smaller than the Galactica, but the Normandy was also a smaller ship that had no need to field a squad of fighters. He saw Shepard and Williams standing nearby, in what were presumably dress uniforms, with Kara next to them. All three women looked battered and bruised. Kara even had a spectacular black eye forming on her left side. Behind the three women were more people in military uniforms, watching the Colonials intently.

"Admiral Adama," Shepard said, stepping forward. "Welcome aboard the Normandy."

"Thank you, Commander," Adama replied. "You've already met the President and Vice President." He turned and saw the other Raptor pulling up, making the cargo hold seem slightly crowded. The door opened and the other members of the Galactica's delegation exited. "Allow me to introduce Lieutenant Sharon Agathon, Lieutenant Felix Gaeta, and Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol. And you remember my XO, Captain Karl Agathon."

Shepard's eyes passed over each of them in turn, and she nodded. "Welcome. If you'll follow me, I'll try to explain the situation a bit more. I'm afraid I did tell Lieutenant Vega to omit certain pieces of information."

Vega grinned and walked over to what looked like a weapons locker as Adama and the others fell in behind Shepard. They walked into an elevator, and then exited into what looked like the Normandy's CIC. Here, as in the shuttle bay, the scene was one of crisp newness. A large hologram rose from the floor in the center of the room, with a dark skinned woman in a military uniform working on a computer nearby. Other crew members stopped to look at the Colonials as they passed.

Shepard paused in front of a door with a glowing green symbol in the middle, and to Adama's surprise, the door opened at her touch, the sides sliding into the floor and ceiling. They passed through another, similar door, into a room where cords ran across the floor and a smaller alcove contained a small wooden table that was hollow in the center. Williams, Adama noticed, took up a position by the door they'd entered through. Shepard's left arm started glowing a bright orange, which set everyone except Kara murmuring. A moment later, the hollow center displayed the same symbol that was on the exterior of Shepard's shuttle. Another hologram, then.

The image morphed into what looked like a star map. All of the Colonials edged in closer for a look. Shepard touched a part of the hologram, enlarging it, until the image of a planet appeared and began to rotate slowly. There were clear landmasses - continents, presumably - set against a wide backdrop of blue ocean. "This is Earth," she said quietly. "Thought you might like to see that first."

Everyone, including Kara, leaned in that much closer to drink in the sight. The picture was clearly on the global scale, so population centers weren't immediately obvious. But Adama could make out seas and rivers, mountain ranges and plateaus. He counted two large continents and several island chains off the eastern coast of the larger continent, one of which was noticeably larger than the others, and wondered how they were split politically.

Shepard gave them a few minutes to stare in wonder before closing out the hologram and leaning back against the wall. "I asked Vega not to say anything about the galactic situation because, as competent as he is, he hasn't been at the forefront of galactic politics like I have. I know he explained what a Spectre is, so I won't go through that again. As the first human to be awarded that title, I've seen and done a good deal more than most people you'll meet. I'm going to try and give you an overview of the different species in the galaxy - because chances are, you'll run into them sooner or later. In fact, one of them is aboard right now, and I sincerely hope she'll forgive me for parading her out like a museum piece."

"You're forgiven, Shepard," came a soft female voice from behind them. A blue woman moved forward, giving a friendly nod to Kara as she took a place besides Shepard.

"This is Dr. Liara T'Soni, a member of the asari race," Shepard said. "And a very good friend."

"Also, she can kill you with her brain," Kara said. Lee choked on a laugh.

Shepard smiled. "Actually, Kara's right. It's called biotics, and I can explain it later. Asari are one of the three Council races. Four, now - humans received a seat on the Council after the attack on the Citadel. Did Vega cover that?"

"He did," Lee replied.

"Good. I won't go over it again. The asari are all female, and have lifespans of over 1000 years. So they tend to take the long view of things. They all have biotic ability, though some are more talented than others." Shepard flashed a grin at T'Soni. "Liara's one of the best I've ever met."

"Flatterer," T'Soni said, laughing lightly. She was startlingly beautiful, despite the oddity of her skin and the tentacles that she had in place of hair. Adama looked over at Laura to distract himself, and caught her smiling at him, as if she knew what was on his mind.

"How old are you?" Kara asked.

"One hundred and eight," T'Soni replied serenely, much to everyone's shock.

Shepard tapped at her glowing orange arm, explaining its function briefly (and setting Gaeta and Tyrol to murmuring to one another speculatively) and the hologram image shifted into a picture of Shepard and an alien, on what looked like a beach. The alien had reptilian green skin with two horns poking out from the top of its head.

"That's a salarian," Shepard said. "Captain Kirrahe, of the Special Tasks Group. They were the model for the Spectres and are the front line of the salarian military." She paused. "Front and back, in some ways. The salarians prefer to win wars before they start, with infiltration, sabotage, black bag jobs - that sort of thing. They have a short lifespan - about fifty years - and their gender ratio is heavily skewed towards the males. Only one out of every ten salarians is female, and as such they all hold positions of relative power, and few of them ever get off of Sur'Kesh - the salarian homeworld."

Adama was peering closer to make out the details of this new alien. He was slightly shorter than Shepard, in armor, with the upper part of his chest slightly extended out.

"Salarians tend to be very intense about what they do, so telling one that he's done a good job is the quickest way to make friends," Shepard said. She let the image linger a few moments longer before tapping her arm again, pausing, and giving a few more taps.

The image that came up contained an asari and a - what was it? A salarian - as well as that of a third alien, presumably the last of the 'Council races'. The third alien was taller than the asari and its (his?) skin looked hard, more like plate. The dark plate had white markings on top of it, in what looked to be some sort of pattern. He had mandibles on either side of his face, and slim, arching spikes extending from the back of his head. Like the salarian, the top of his chest stuck out from the rest of his body, except it was more pronounced with this alien.

"This is Sparatus, the turian councilor," Shepard said, "with his salarian and asari counterparts - Valern and Tevos."

Adama started to wonder why Shepard hadn't just started with this photo, then realized that a living asari was a better example than a photo, and in talking about Captain Kirrahe she had given them an idea of the salarian race as a whole. Presumably, she was about to mention what the turians were like as well.

"The turians, as Lieutenant Vega might have mentioned, were the first race that humanity made contact with," Shepard said. "That was twenty nine years ago. Turians are very regimented and hierarchical, though it is possible to be move up the ranks based on performance. They make up the bulk of Citadel Security - C-Sec for short. Service in the military is compulsory and starts at 15." Once again she let the image linger before changing it.

Shepard brought up another image of herself next to an alien. This one was much larger than she, broad-chested and muscular, another lizard-like creature - though much more physically intimidating than the salarian. Its skin was a pale peach-yellow, transitioning abruptly to bright red where hair would have been on a human, the eyes the same bright red color. It had a wide mouth, forming a V on the face, with multiple scars running from the top of its head towards the neck.

"Shepard," T'Soni said, shaking her head, "why did you have to use Wrex as an example?"

"So that they'll know how ugly and mean krogan are," Shepard said, grinning at the blue woman. "This is Urdnot Wrex, Warlord of clan Urdnot, one of the meanest sons of bitches I've ever fought besides. He's currently doing his best to unite the squabbling krogan clans on their shithole of a homeworld."

"It really is a shithole," Williams put in from the door. "It's just their shithole."

"Krogan lifespans are in about the same range as asari," Shepard said. "Wrex is nearly a thousand years old."

"And … he's a friend of yours?" Gaeta asked tentatively.

"Wrex is all right, for a krogan," T'Soni said. "He really is doing some good on Tuchanka. Though not everyone thinks so."

"The krogan don't have the best reputation in the galaxy," Shepard said. "Couple hundred years back, they started rampaging across turian colony worlds. They were only stopped when the salarians unleashed a genophage that devastated the population. Made it so that only one out of every one thousand krogan pregnancies came to term." She shook her head. "It's a sad situation. I'll explain a bit more later."

Adama found himself pondering that sad situation while Shepard continued to explain about the other races - the hanar and volus, races that needed assistance to operate in a human environment, the hanar's client race the drell (another lizard-like race), the large and slow elcor, and the hostile four-eyed batarians.. It seemed as though the krogan were dying a slow death, not unlike what might have happened to the Colonials if they had not (as Laura had famously said) begun making babies. He acknowledged that the fear of letting his people be wiped out was part of why he was going along with Shepard's plans - she was dangling a chance in front of them, a chance to live and perhaps even thrive. How many people in the Fleet would welcome the chance to disappear into the background of a larger civilization? How many of them just wanted to live a normal, stable life once more without caring about losing their culture and identity along the way?

"And last, but certainly not least, the quarians," Shepard said. Adama shook his head at the pointed tone in her voice, and noticed Kara standing up slightly straighter and paying attention. Both were indications that whatever Shepard was about to say was more important than what had come before.

Shepard took a deep breath before she continued. "About three hundred years ago, on their homeworld of Rannoch, the quarian people built synthetics - machines, robots, what have you - to make life easier. They called these machines the geth. When the geth became sentient, and began asking questions the quarians didn't want to answer, fighting broke out." Each of the Colonials stiffened at the obvious parallel. Adama understood Kara's reaction now. "Eventually, the quarians were driven off-planet. They live on ships, now - wandering the stars, without a home."

"For three hundred years?" Laura asked, aghast.

"Closer to two hundred and fifty, not that it makes a large difference," Shepard replied. "Their society revolves around their ships and keeping the population alive. Quarians are another race that go around in pressure suits-" she paused to tap her arm and bring up another image. The figure looked very human, short and slim, with a mask covering up any facial details. Adama noticed that the hand only had three fingers, and the other main difference was in the bowing of the legs.

"Their immune systems have been weakened after years of living on ships," Shepard said. Adama felt his stomach lurch as he contemplated that future for his people - another way in which they might die a slow death rather than a violent one at the hands of the Cylons. He had never thought about what would happen if they couldn't find anywhere to go, being too concerned with simply staying ahead of their enemies. He was certainly thinking about it now. "They need a whole host of drugs to try and interact with the world outside their suits, and even then they're likely to be sick at first while their bodies adapt."

"How many quarians are there?" Karl asked, speaking for the first time since coming onboard. They had all been far quieter than usual, actually, Adama realized. Perhaps this was just all too much to deal with at once.

"Seventeen million," Shepard replied.

"That's a lot," Laura said, startled. Adama guessed she had been expecting something more like the Colonial Fleet.

"That's not that much," Shepard corrected. "That's not far off from the population of the Citadel. Mind, there are several species that add to that count, but still." She changed the image again, to a figure that somewhat resembled a Cylon Centurion. It looked less menacing than the Centurion, smaller and skinnier, and the head resembled the end of a flashlight.

"That's a garden variety geth," Shepard said, then switched the image to a larger Cylon - geth, he reminded himself, fighting back the instinctive urge to label all humanoid machines as some variety of Cylon - that looked more intimidating. Taller, though without any kind of scale it was harder to tell, with thick limbs. The flashlight was replaced by something that looked almost like a face without a nose, two dots for the eyes and one for the mouth. "And that is a Prime. Geth get smarter the more of them you face - they network with one another. Having said that, there's currently a split in the geth. Some of them sided with Saren, as Vega told you. But most of them are keeping to themselves, trying to build their own future."

She switched off the image and crossed her arms across her chest. "So that's the current galactic situation. I expect that things are going to change quite a bit in the near future. The Normandy is on its way to the Citadel to beg help for Earth from the Council, but there's no guarantee that we'll get it.

"And with all that in mind, I think it's time to start discussing how you and your people fit in."