Athena kept a close eye on Adama, watching his reaction to the news she had just delivered. The Admiral took off his glasses and ran a hand over his forehead, then gave a deep sigh and put his glasses back on. "Heavy Raider escorts. You're sure that's our best option?"

"As sure as I can be within the time constraints, sir," Athena replied. Helo was a half-step behind her, and Gaeta had taken the first available seat when they walked into the observation lounge. Traynor had peeled off when they exited the elevator on the crew deck, saying that she needed to speak to Shepard about something.

"I am certainly reluctant to trust the safety of our Fleet to blind chance and luck," the President said, from her seat besides the Admiral. "However - as you've correctly stated - the captains might not think that the Cylons are a significant improvement."

"Well, we'll have to find a way to convince them." Adama sighed and put his glasses back on. "Can I assume that you will be guiding Galactica, Lieutenant Agathon?"

Athena nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll just need to interface with the ship's AI to get the information."

"Interface how?" Williams asked, exchanging a confused glance with T'Soni. "What would you need?"

"Well." Athena cleared her throat, unsure how to broach this topic with their new allies. She could remember, all too clearly, the expressions on everyone's faces in the CIC the first time she had taken a knife to her arm so that she could stick a cord in her Cylon veins. "I need a hard line." She watched their faces for reactions, then sighed and decided that she'd had just about enough of needing to tiptoe around issues of what she was and could do. "And a knife. I'm going to cut open my arm so I can stick the hard line in there."

To her surprise, neither Williams nor T'Soni blanched at that. Athena had to admire them for that, even as she wondered what it was they had seen that caused them to treat this news so nonchalantly.

"I'd imagine you can find a scalpel or two in the medical bay, and the AI Core is on the other side of there," T'Soni said. "Would you mind terribly if I observed this, Lieutenant Agathon?"

"I guess not," Athena said after a moment. They were supposed to be sharing information, after all.

T'Soni smiled. "Then we should get started." She turned to head for the door, but paused when it slid open in front of her to reveal Shepard and Traynor.

"Commander Shepard," Adama said, rising from his seat. "Is everything all set with Admiral Hackett?"

Shepard nodded. "It is, Admiral. I was coming to share that news with you when I ran into Traynor. She brought a different matter to my attention." She sighed. "I should have seen it sooner, but … never mind." Straightening up, she looked every inch the professional as she turned her focus to Gaeta. "Lieutenant Gaeta. I can tell that the loss of your leg is recent, and still pains you. I can only imagine how depleted Galactica's medical resources are, after all that you've been through. The Normandy's medical bay is fully stocked. You can get some proper rest with proper pain relief while EDI talks you through … whatever technical stuff is your area of expertise. That'll also give her a chance to take scans."

"Scans?" Gaeta repeated. "What for?"

"So that the technicians at the hospital on the Citadel can create a prosthesis for you," Shepard said. Gaeta's eyes widened, and he gripped the arms of his chair. "Obviously, it'll take some getting used to, and the actual replacement will have to wait until after the war…"

"Wait, actual replacement?"

Shepard blinked. "Ah. I had assumed that with the whole Cylon cloning thing, but I keep forgetting … Let me back up. It's possible to grow you a new leg, Lieutenant Gaeta. One made from your DNA, so that your body won't reject it. As I said, it'll have to wait until the war is over."

Gaeta put his head in his hands. Athena was pretty sure that he was crying. She saw Starbuck turn her head to look away from Gaeta, and wondered how much guilt Starbuck felt about her actions on the Demetrius.

"If he can be spared, Admiral," Shepard added after a moment, looking at Adama.

Adama nodded. "Yes. Lieutenant Agathon has found a way to help our ships navigate the mass relays. She'll need access to your AI Core immediately. After that, she and Captain Agathon can take one of the Raptors back to Galactica to start preparations."

Shepard looked at the ceiling. "EDI?"

"Lieutenant Agathon's proposal is most reasonable, and I am glad to assist."

Athena couldn't help but like Shepard a little bit more for that. She was actively consulting EDI about things that the AI would be a part of. The AI controlled the ship, but still deferred to Shepard, treated her like a superior officer. She was starting to feel optimistic about the decision to ally with these people.

"I'll take them to the Infirmary and AI Core, Shepard," T'Soni said.

Shepard nodded. "Good. The rest of you comfortable here?"

Williams cleared her throat. "I'd like to get Kara squared away here, Shepard."

"Go ahead, Ash. I'll sit with the Colonials and answer the inevitable questions," Shepard replied with a grin.

"This way," T'Soni said to Athena, gesturing for her to follow. Athena did so, with Helo a half step behind her and Gaeta a few steps behind them. When they entered the Infirmary, T'Soni took a minute to help Gaeta get situated on one of the beds. That finished, she found a clean scalpel and walked into the AI Core, Athena and Helo right behind her.

The room was smaller than she'd been expecting. Athena had to remind herself that the AI was a true AI, not like the Cylon Hybrids. There were rows of computers along the walls, and a small screen directly in front of the door. Lines of code were scrolling on the screen, too fast for a human to follow - but Athena caught every bit of it.

She reminded herself that time was short. "I need a hard line," she said.

"There is an interface to your right."

Athena turned and saw the gold holographic projection, which fuzzed out immediately. "Open the panel and detach the center cord."

She did so easily, then brought out the scalpel and pressed it against her left arm, a few inches above her wrist. Beside her, T'Soni watched silently, her face smooth and composed. Helo gave her shoulder a squeeze before stepping back, giving her space.

"I must caution you that any attempt to introduce a virus into my system will be met with immediate countermeasures," EDI said. The words contained the most emotion that Athena had yet seen from the AI: determination and hardness. She was protective of her ship.

"No viruses," Athena assured her. She picked up the cord, examining it, stalling for time. This should work. EDI had been able to send the data to the Hybrid. She still couldn't help the small frisson of fear that went through her. This was a completely alien intelligence she was about to interface with. She had absolutely no idea what was about to happen next.

Athena slid the silver cord into her arm and closed her eyes.

She had the sense of her consciousness expanding to take in all of the different aspects of the ship - but it didn't spread out as far as she was used to. The Normandy was smaller, compact - all of the essential processes were there, but at a much smaller scale. EDI was aware of them all. She was like a Hybrid, plugged into everything.

But she wasn't directly controlling everything. Engineer Adams was right where they had left him, looking over the engine readings and inputting commands. EDI responded.

Or was it more accurate to say that the ship responded?

Athena saw the history of this ship in the blink of an eye. EDI could run the ship by herself, but it could also be run with only human input. She sensed that EDI had pulled back from areas like engineering and flight control so that she wouldn't get in the way of the humans there.

It was altogether different and alien. But not so alien that she couldn't understand it — couldn't understand her. There was no doubt in Athena's mind that EDI was female. Cerberus had given her a female voice and she had embraced that as she became more independent and self-aware. EDI perceived herself as female. So she was.

Athena felt a touch at the edge of her mind. Her mental projection of herself turned to see EDI, representing herself in this shared awareness with a simple image — a blue ball on top of a short, slim pedestal.

Are you ready to accept the data transfer?

Once again Athena was struck by how polite EDI was. The AI could have just started shoving the data at her, but EDI gave her a chance to get acclimated and asked if she was ready.

Yes.

The data flowed towards Athena — a smooth, steady stream of information about the relays. There was so much to unpack and Athena didn't bother trying; she just absorbed it all. She hoped she'd be able to recall and analyze it later.

Gasping, Athena opened her eyes. She felt Helo's hand tightening on her shoulder, steadying her as she removed the cord from her arm.

"May I?" T'Soni asked from Athena's left side. Her omni-tool was raised, the odd orange interface seeming brighter than Shepard's had been earlier.

"Uh — what?"

T'Soni chuckled. "Right, I … keep forgetting. Medi-gel. It should close that wound up right away."

"All right," Athena replied skeptically, watching T'Soni closely as she moved her arm down to lightly brush the wound. Athena felt a cool, tingling sensation spread over her arm. Her eyes widened as she saw the wound closing literally before her eyes.

"That's …. something else," Helo said. He turned an awe-struck gaze on T'Soni. "And this is commonplace?"

"Used for everything from small wounds to large ones," T'Soni replied. "I'm sure that we can find a way to distribute some to your people."

"You have no idea how much that would help our people," Helo said slowly. "Especially if we're going to continue to be part of the fight."

Athena rubbed at the section of her arm which had been so miraculously healed. "We will be," she said. "Count on it."

Galen Tyrol felt out of place with everyone else in the observation lounge. The Old Man was talking with the President and Apollo, with Commander Shepard nearby, occasionally interjecting comments. He felt no strong desire to walk over and join them, and the Old Man seemed to recognize that he wanted to be left alone.

He wasn't sure whether he was glad to be here or not - things on the Galactica had been tense since he, Tigh, Anders and Tory had revealed themselves as four of the "Final Five" Cylons. If he was being honest with himself, his life had started spiraling downwards ever since he'd discovered he was a Cylon. None of them — except Tory — had welcomed the development. He'd been neck-deep in the Resistance on New Caprica with Tigh and Sam.

Tyrol understood why he'd been picked to come to the Normandy. He understood the mechanical side of things better than perhaps anyone else on the Galactica, and it had only taken one glance around Normandy's shuttle bay to tell him that their tech was on a different level than the Colonial's. Was the Old Man also hoping he'd have some special 'Final Five' insight? If he was, he hadn't mentioned it within Tyrol's hearing.

The door to the lounge slid open, and the alien — Dr. T'Soni — walked in. She looked over at the cluster of four by the window, then over at him. He felt … something tugging at the edge of his consciousness, something that he knew but didn't know. It was, he knew, connected to his newly awakened Cylon identity. He strained to catch hold of whatever it was and felt it slipping through his mental fingers like water.

Tyrol shook his head to clear the odd sensation. He'd lost a few minutes, and Dr. T'Soni was next to him, looking at him with a concerned expression on her face. "Are you all right, Chief Tyrol?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said, a little too fast, shaking his head again. "It's just … a lot to take in."

"I can imagine. May I join you?"

He hesitated only a moment before nodding, trying to put a more positive expression on his face. "Certainly, Dr. T'Soni."

"Liara, please," the blue woman — the asari — said with a smile.

"Liara," Tyrol replied. "And I'm — " he hesitated. "Galen."

She must have noticed his hesitation, but he was grateful when she didn't say anything about it. "This must all be very confusing for you."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Tyrol replied with a rueful laugh. "I'm not quite sure what we were expecting, but it — it wasn't this."

"Captain Thrace told me some of it," Liara said, nodding. "I have an idea of what your society was like, but, if you don't mind — can I ask what your life was like? Before the Cylon attack."

Tyrol felt his stomach twist into knots at that question. He was sure she'd thought it was innocent enough, and maybe she'd read his hesitation as grief over the loss of his 'normal' life. The problem was that he didn't know what was real and what had been implanted in his memory. Would talking about it help, now that he knew some of it might be false? Would he be able to tell?

He had nothing to lose by trying, at least.

"I enlisted in the military when I was 18," he said, not quite starting at the beginning. That had to be true, didn't it? It would have been hard for him to be dropped in with a fake service record. "I've been there ever since, as part of the deck crew, and then moving up to Chief Petty Officer." And then moving back down. He didn't particularly feel like talking about that. "I'm sure it's not that different from the life that others like Shepard and Williams lived."

"I'll concede that military life was likely not that interesting," Liara said with a chuckle. "But what about before you turned 18? What was your life like, growing up? It's fascinating to me that there was another human society that developed parallel to that on Earth, and I'm afraid that my scientific curiosity is getting the better of me."

"My father was a priest, and my mother was an Oracle." Tyrol had intended to keep going with his fake memories, but the words died in his mouth and he couldn't find it in him to continue. He thought about how Boomer must have felt when she realized that her entire past was a lie. A part of him wanted to cling to it, pretend that it was somehow still true, but he was too desperate for answers to cling to a lie. He had to believe that there was some purpose to the so-called Final Five, as the Cylons thought, or the destruction of his life, of everything he had worked for, would have been for nothing.

Tyrol looked at this alien woman whose features were so human-like and decided, following some hazy instinct, to trust her. "At least, that's what I believed until recently." He took a deep breath. "My memories from before I joined the military are fake. I'm a Cylon."

Liara's eyebrows raised in surprise, and then her expression turned eager. "Really! When did you find out that you were a Cylon? How did you find out?"

Tyrol took another deep breath, and considered how to explain this to her. He had to remember that she knew almost nothing about Cylons. Just whatever Starbuck had said earlier. And Starbuck was — well, Starbuck. So, better to err on the side of more information. "First, you have to know that I'm — different. Most of the Cylons are — clones. Duplicates of one another. Athena — Sharon Agathon — is like that. They all seem to follow a personality type, but when they start having different experiences, they become different people." Another deep breath, to steady himself. "There's no clones of me. Just me. The other Cylons didn't know who we were." He saw the confusion in her face, and hastened to clarify. "The other three who — we figured out we were Cylons at the same time. The other Cylons, the clone ones, they called us the Final Five."

"And yet," Liara prompted, "you said there were three others. That's only four."

"We - don't actually know who the fifth is," Tyrol confessed. "We have theories. Nothing terribly concrete." He shrugged. "Kind of got put aside for the time being. We had — have — bigger problems. Some of the Cylons were desperate to figure out who we were. Their actions meant we had to reveal ourselves, and our friends and comrades …" He trailed off, and hung his head. "They saw it as a betrayal. We didn't see it terribly differently." Except Tory.

"Aside from the fact that there's only one of you," Liara said, "what else about you is different?"

"That none of us knew we were Cylons until we were switched on?" Tyrol said, looking up again and shrugging. "I — don't really know, Dr. T'Soni. Liara. The Cylons, one in particular, have a lot of ideas about us. What we can do. What our arrival means. In case you haven't noticed, everyone's placing a lot of importance on finding Earth."

"I did get that," Liara said dryly.

"There is one thing," Tyrol said. "At least one thing. I think — we have some buried knowledge. Ever since I came onboard the Normandy, things have seemed …" he struggled to articulate the complex thoughts and emotions churning inside of him. "Right," he said after a moment. "Right. Like I'm remembering something that I always knew, but I just forgot that I knew. I look at you, and something seems familiar, even though I didn't even know you existed until today." He sighed and shook his head. "Gods. Maybe we were always supposed to come back."

Liara reached out a hand and laid it atop his. Her skin was smooth, the touch feeling exactly like a human hand. Tyrol lifted his gaze and met her clear blue eyes. She was beautiful. It had been ages since…

He ruthlessly stopped that train of thought before it could go any farther.

"I can only imagine how confusing this all is for you," Liara said, her voice low and soothing. "I'm sure there will be a way to untangle it. After all, you just said that you haven't had a chance to talk this through with your people — neither Cylon nor human." She smiled, and those feelings that he had squashed moments ago came flaring back to life. He hoped that none of it showed on his face.

"Yeah. Maybe," Tyrol said, removing his hand in a way that he hoped wasn't too hasty. Liara didn't seem to be offended, which let him relax a little. To distract himself, he looked over at the other Colonials and noticed Roslin in conference with Commander Shepard. Roslin was looking at the wall intently.

A moment later, he saw a blue hologram shimmer into existence from that very wall. The hologram started out as a seemingly random shape — a blue ball on top of a pedestal — then changed to an image of a microphone. The President looked just as surprised as Tyrol felt, then cleared her throat.

"Citizens of the Colonial Fleet. I am speaking to you from the SSV Normandy, the flagship of Earth's military systems." Roslin's voice turned intense. "Yes. We have found Earth."

She paused for a long moment — Tyrol figured it was to let the inevitable reaction onboard all of the Colonial ships die down. He knew that word of the initial meeting on Galactica would have spread to all of the other ships, but there was a difference between rumor and confirmation from the President.

"And yes," Roslin continued, a moment after Adama raised a questioning eyebrow in her direction, "we are currently heading away from Earth. It pained the Admiral to have to give that order, but our new allies, the Thirteenth Tribe, have assured us that it was the only decision we could have made, given the situation.

"It seems that our long-lost cousins have their own violent, vengeful machines. They are called Reapers. They are hitting Earth in force and the Thirteenth Tribe is regrouping at one of their other colonies and seeking allies.

"I know this all seems rather unbelievable. I know that many of you may feel disappointed and angry that we have found Earth only to leave it. But the captain of this ship, Commander Artemis Shepard, has provided myself, the Admiral, and a handful of other senior military personnel with adequate proof of her words." Roslin turned to look at the red-haired woman who was standing against a nearby wall with her arms folded across her chest. "Her name provides further evidence of our two peoples being linked. Artemis is a goddess of the hunt on Earth, as she was on the Twelve Colonies.

"Artemis Shepard is a brave warrior, a leader among her military, and — most importantly — respected by the other species in this galaxy."

Another pause to let the inevitable hubbub die down. Tyrol had never thought about how the President needed to pace her speeches before. This wasn't the first time that she had addressed the entire fleet in this manner, and he was remembering other times when there had been long pauses.

"Yes, there are other species here. Aliens. Many different types, some very similar to us, and others quite different. I promise that information about these different species will be made available to all. But, for now, we must return to the familiar and deal with an immediate threat to the Fleet's continued existence."

"Artemis Shepard has pledged to escort the Fleet to join the Systems Alliance military. There, our civilian ships will have a chance to rest and make much-needed repairs. There, Galactica will also get the chance to make repairs and learn more about the military situation. As of right now." Roslin paused for dramatic effect. "We have an end to constant FTL jumps which wear on ships and crew alike. The Thirteenth Tribe and their allies travel by a method that is faster and easier than FTL. After conferring with technical experts aboard the Normandy, we are confident that the ships of the Fleet can use these relays to travel alongside the Normandy and safely reach the Alliance Fleet."

Roslin paused again, and Tyrol saw the strain in her face. Here it comes, he thought. The hard sell. "But we will need help to use the relays. The technology the Thirteenth Tribe and their allies possess is beyond even what the Cylons are capable of."

"I'm not so sure about that," Liara muttered beside him. It was the first time she'd spoken since the President began her speech. "That type of large-scale cloning and consciousness transfer is decades ahead of anything I'm aware of."

Tyrol nodded absently and returned his attention to Roslin.

"In order to reach the safety promised by the Systems Alliance, we will have to rely on our Cylon allies to help us traverse the relays. Each ship will have a Heavy Raider escort that will guide them. Once we have joined the Alliance fleet, we can explore the option of retrofitting our ships so that we can travel on our own.

"I know this may seem like another risky gamble, or another setback. It is not. We have found Earth. We have found the Thirteenth Tribe. They have welcomed us with open arms. They are our allies. Artemis Shepard will hunt our enemies down, like her namesake, the goddess that watches over Earth and the Twelve Colonies alike. Together, we will prevail. Together, we will defeat our enemies." Roslin slowed her cadence, spreading out the words like she had done a few minutes earlier.

"Captains, you will be contacted shortly by Heavy Raider pilots to begin coordinating the journey through the relay. May the Lords of Kobol watch over us all."

Athena kept her expression even as she walked out onto Galactica's flight deck. The data she'd received from EDI felt like a vibrant jumble of coordinates and equations, an exciting packet of information that she yearned to analyze.

Dee was waiting for her there, along with a handful of other senior officers. She saluted and fell into step besides Helo. "I heard the President's speech," she said. "Cylon pilots guiding our ships through the relays. I can't imagine that's going over well in certain quarters of the Fleet."

"Probably not," Helo agreed, "but it's not our problem."

"Thank the gods for that," Dee said softly. She turned her head to look at Athena. "You can take Galactica through?"

Athena nodded. "The Admiral wants us to go first. The Cylons are working out the best order for everyone else, they'll go second-to-last."

"Last is the … Normandy?" Dee hesitated a moment. Athena could see the eagerness in her face. "What's it like over there?" she finally asked.

"It's a nearly brand-new ship," Helo replied. "You can tell. There's still some disorganization, but everything looks … shining. Hopeful."

"Hopeful?"

"They believe in their Commander," Athena said. Until Helo had said that, she hadn't thought of it in that way, but now it seemed obvious. "They all follow her lead without question."

"Can she be trusted to look out for our interests?" Dee asked.

"She's got bigger problems, but she won't act against us."

"You sound very confident in that."

Dee was good at making questions into seemingly casual observations, a skill she'd likely obtained from the years spent working closely with the Old Man. "Their ship is run by an AI," Athena told her. "That's how I got the data. She's technically illegal, but Commander Shepard trusts her and EDI — the AI — would do anything to protect her crew."

"And she's an AI that sounds one hell of a lot like a Six," Helo added.

"That's … one hell of a coincidence," Dee said.

Athena sighed. "If it is a coincidence. These people are the Thirteenth Tribe, after all."

"But the Sixes — all of the human models — they weren't created until after the first Cylon War," Dee said, sounding as perplexed as Athena felt.

"Maybe we'll figure it out," Helo offered.

"Maybe," Athena agreed, then sighed again. "One thing at a time."

Dee nodded, and fell in behind Athena as they entered the CIC. Everyone looked up at the entering group, chatter fading into silence as they watched Athena walk over to the sensor console.

"Remember, we're just moving under thrusters," Helo said, projecting his voice so that everyone could hear. "FTL drive remains spun down. Follow Lieutenant Agathon's directions exactly. No matter how odd they seem."

There was a soft chuckle at that. Athena brought out her knife and drew a line on her skin parallel to the one that she'd drawn on the Normandy. It was already healing and would be gone in a few more days. Without her Cylon regenerative capabilities, her arm would have been covered in crisscrossing scars.

The cold silver cord slid into her arm, and Athena closed her eyes.

The Normandy had been bright, seamless; Galactica was a dark patchwork. But it was her dark patchwork, the system that she had injected herself into more times than she could easily remember.

She used Galactica's sensors to find the relay. It glowed with a bright blue energy, completely foreign, completely impersonal. It was a machine in the most literal sense of the word. An artificial creation that did exactly what it was supposed to. No more, no less.

Athena began calling out directions, adjusting Galactica's headings and speed. As the Normandy's engineer had said, there was a very clear spot that Galactica needed to aim for. Athena knew she would have to be calling out minute course changes up until they got to the point where the relay could recognize them. Most of the ships who used the relays were much smaller than Galactica, and the larger ships had crews who had undergone extra training before being posted to those ships — mostly turians and asari.

… How the hell did I know that? About the turians and asari?

The thought slipped away from her, leaving only a vague sense of disquiet as she continued to direct the crew of Galactica.

Finally, they were within range. "Galactica is on target," Athena said loudly. "Everyone take a step back from their instruments." It's out of our hands now, she thought, and couldn't help but feel nervous.

Still plugged into Galactica's sensors, she felt the moment when the blue energy of the relay reached out, starting to cover the ship.

"Relay transit in five, four…"

The ship was being moved forward. Not by any human on board; they had all taken a step back as she had told them to.

"Three, two…"

The mass effect field had completely surrounded Galactica. Athena felt the hum of the relay, an intense vibration that seemed to resonate through every part of her body.

"One."