Back behind the desk of his own Galactica, Adama turned his monitor around and started dictating his log.

"Before the Cylon Rebels rounded up the rogue Cylon Alliance Basestars, the Earth forces that missed the warning to clear the air... The results are plain to see in the shattered wrecks of fighter squadrons all over the inhabited continents of Earth. The nuclear fallout from the strike on the Basestar will undoubtedly cause more ecological problems for us to solve in the yahrens to come. It was a wasted attempt for both a Battlestar and a Basestar can easily shrug off the yield of an Earth nuclear weapon. We would consider them to be lower-grade in our own arsenals."

"There's representatives from the Rebels here to see you," said Lieutenant Omega after walking straight through the door. "Oh, sorry Commander."

"No problem. Show them in."

Adama watched the course of the Heavy Raider on his monitor. Long centons passed. The first to arrive was the grim, unshaven Cylon called Saul Tigh. He wore a black flight suit with CBS43 written in gold lettering on the chest. "Good morning, Commander."

"Colonel," replied Adama. "Have you met Colonel Tigh of this ship?"

"Oh, I have, that boring old bastard. What kind of watered-down piss do you drink on here?"

Before Adama could answer, a smaller officer entered. "Hi. I'm Anastasia Dualla."

"Hi? Hi? Are you another Cylon?"

"Not at first. The original Dualla was Human. She blew her brains out when we arrived at the Cylon Earth. When Saul here rebuilt resurrection tech, he brought me and some old friends back to help the Centurions start a new civilisation."

"Impressive. Saul Tigh, how do you raise the dead?"

"A long time after the Centurions left this planet 150,000 years ago, they returned to the Cylon Earth to see what they could salvage. They found a database of resurrection data on hard copy. It was thousands of pages long, but they decoded it and brought the Final Five back as an experiment. There's machines for you, going over pages and pages of small letters without needing a drink, a nap, or a card game to break things up. They remembered we were came to the Colonies to help them, not enslave them as Cavil did. As for the formula itself, I can give you the hard copy."

"Thank you, no. I have things to do. Was there another one of you?"

"Yes there was. I brought back the crew I could trust as Cylons. I can't say Gaeta was too happy about coming back a Cylon copy, but no one was too happy to see him either. I had him spend a millennium scrubbing the waste extractions systems of the Command Basestar before giving him freedom."

"I said that a century would be fine," said the final Cylon representative. His flight suit's gold lettering did not say CBS 43. Instead, it said CYLON BASESTAR 43. He adjusted his glasses as he approached the desk.

Adama stood up. He knew who this gentleman was. "Admiral William Adama, welcome aboard Galactica."

"Thank you, Commander Adama. I have to say, you orange-brown decor is ghastly."

"I could say the same about your blue-grey corridors."

"We could insult each other all day, but I've been on that Basestar commanding Heavy Raiders for the last 17000 years."

Taking off his ear defenders, William, or Bill as he preferred, gazed up at the stars. They were at the top of the ship surrounded by transparent hull plating. "This celestial dome is something we should have had. Laura would have spent all day here following those prophecies."

"Good for her," Adama replied. "May I ask, did you have children?"

"Yes, Lee and Zak. You?"

"Apollo, Zak, and Athena."

Bill gazed towards a trio of stars that were in the middle of a larger constellation. "Athena... A daughter? No, she died in the womb."

Adama looked towards the same group. "Oh dear."

"It doesn't matter. I had Kara to make up for it, even after she got Zak killed."

"She did? The Cylons killed Zak just before the attack on the Colonies."

"Not here. Kara passed Zak for flight training, only for him to inevitably die. Her fracking emotions got in the way."

"What was Kara, your Starbuck like?"

"I once stapled her disciplinary reports into one long sheet. As expected, they reached the floor after I stood on my chair."

"My one... Probably got caught less. Your Apollo?"

Bill smiled and looked at Adama. "Blasted argumentative, wishy-washy bastard. He was right most of the time though."

Adama laughed. "I'm not sure if my one can compare. Bill, I read that you once had a way of killing all Cylons. Is that correct?"

"We found a disease that would kill Humanoids, leading to Basestars, Raiders, and Centurions shutting down. Against my better judgement, I tried it."

"Why?"

"Public opinion. Apollo wanted it. Laura wanted it. Even Sharon the Cylon wanted it. It didn't work because someone sabotaged the system."

"Who?"

"I chose not to know. In a way, I think not doing it saved us. I'd rather deal with rational beings I can reason with than with rabid, angry dogs. If I'd we'd succeeded, I have no doubt that the Cylons would have sent everything they had in the universe to take us down with them."

"I can see your point. Yet here we are now. The Cylons destroyed the Colonies a second time and could have destroyed Earth here now."

"If it helps, I now know they found a cure just after our mission. We're all immune now. Besides, the reptile Cylons attacked you, not ours. Commander Cain told me about them."

Adama jumped. "Commander Cain of Battlestar Pegasus?"

"That same fracking lunatic," Bill said. "His story of attacking behind Cylon lines was familiar. When Admiral Cain found my ship, our Battlestars almost shot each other. Your Cain was far easier to negotiate with. His ship was almost gone when we found him. We housed his remaining crew on a Basestar... somewhere. When he finally gets here, I expect Sheba will be overjoyed."

"Probably. With her, it's ''my father this' and 'my father that'."

"Commander Adama," said the voice of Colonel Tigh, "Apollo and Starbuck are back."

Bill and Adama took one last glance at Orion and Sirius before going back down.

"No, I haven't attempted to murder anyone in the civilian government either," Starbuck said to Bill. "No, I've not come back from the dead. No, I haven't upset another pilot who was on drugs at the time. No, I haven't been so irrational that I caused a small mutiny. I helped stop a mutiny once."

"Are you sure you're Starbuck?" Bill asked. They were in the officer's lounge waiting for Apollo to get something.

"I'm Starbuck, always."

"I've found the files," Apollo said once he came back.

Bill stood up and glared at Apollo.

"Hello, Admiral."

Bill said nothing as he stepped forwards.

Apollo opened his mouth to say, "I'm Captain Apollo," but never got the chance.

Bill punched Apollo to the floor and jumped down on top of him. Grabbing his throat, he whispered, "I want you to die. Die!"

The combined strength of Adama, Starbuck, Jolly, and Sheba was enough to pull Bill off Apollo. "Admiral!" Adama shouted.

"Why is that mass murderer loose on your ship?" Bill asked. "That terrorist should be out of an airlock."

"You... You don't realise?" Apollo said. "I'm... Apollo. I'm not Zarek."

"He's my son, Apollo," Adama explained.

Bill bit his lip. "Easy mistake to make."

Apollo turned away from the Admiral towards the Commander. "I... signed agreement... UN Security Council."

Adama took the paper and tried his best to work out what it said.

"It's complicated on the fine details," said Number Six as she materialised behind Adama's shoulder. "Put simply, the remains of the 12 Colonies of Kobol are authorised to settle on Earth. You will be distributed across the territories of the permanent 5 members, but you will be alive and breathing planetary air again."

"Who are the permanent 5?" Adama asked. He noticed how Bill was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Further, Apollo had got behind Bill, while Starbuck had put himself between both of them.

"The USA, China, Russia, France, and the UK will be your new homes."

"What about the Cylons?"

"The Cylons..." Apollo watched Bill carefully as he explained what was on the paper. "The Humanoid Cylons are welcome to join us. The Centurions and the IL-Series are a bit more complicated. The Cylon Rebel Centurions are perfectly free to help Humanity, but are recognised as independent actors. The Cylon Alliance are requested to leave Earth alone, but any IL-Series and Centurion who wants to stay with the rebels can stay too."

"I'm going to consult Baltar. Bill, come with me please."

"Welcome aboard, Admiral," Kara said after Bill came out of his Heavy Raider once it landed on her Galactica. She saluted.

"There's no need for hand waving. I'm not an admiral. I'm a Co-Regulator."

"Co?"

"There's 20 Humanoids and 20 Centurions."

Kara looked over Bill's shoulder. "Ah, my new friends are back!"

"Hello Kara," said Starbuck. "It was nice meeting your Adama. Apollo's not so happy, but it was a mistake anyone could make!"

"I'm much younger than Zarek!" Apollo shouted.

"Will you stop whining?" Bill demanded. "Yes, I tried to strangle you, but we have important business to arrange."

"Frack you."

"That'll do," said Adama.

Bill grabbed Kara suddenly, holding her tight. "You're the last of my original crew?"

Kara hugged him back. "I've taken good care of this ship. Sam's still plugged in."

"May I enter your CIC, Captain Thrace?"

"You may, William."

"It's a reasonable assumption," both Baltars said to Adama.

"You believe that any IL-Series can be trusted?"

Count Baltar and the being calling himself Gaius Baltar had met Adama, Bill, and Number Six on the CIC. As always, Anders and Kara were watching over them.

Adama noticed how Gaius sat some distance away from Baltar, in contrast to how Six was constantly breathing down his neck.

"Most of the Cylon Empire had no role in attacking the Colonies or pursuing Galactica," Baltar continued. "Lucifer was involved, but Spectre had other duties. There are other aliens to conquer, other worlds to manage."

"That still means that they were involved in similar atrocities to destroying our worlds."

"Ah, but not always. The Hasari and Ovions were conquered, not killed. That stuff all happened under the previous Imperious Leader anyway, not the one now. He's tolerant, he can stand Humanity continuing to exist."

"Can he?" Gaius asked. "Daniel always sounded thorough and determined. The Cylons I knew only stopped chasing us once we dumped their Colony into a black hole. Their idea of being nice to us on New Caprica was beating us up, shooting us, and throwing us all in jail. Who knows how much sleep the real Gaius lost. He started as president and finished with nearly everyone wanting to cut his throat. Someone even cut his throat. Why wouldn't the Cylons do the same here?"

"Us," Bill said. "We have our own civilisation now where Humanoids and Centurions work together in harmony."

"You sound as though you will conquer Earth instead of the Alliance," Adama said.

"We will protect it, certainly. That all being said, some small compensation would be welcome."

"Here we go," Kara said. "It's begun."

"So it has, Captain Thrace. So say we all."

Cylon model Number 7, known as Daniel before but now as the IL-Series and the Imperious Leader, watched the tall, thin Centurions walk around his throne room. Eventually, his eyes were drawn to the Humanoids who came in. "Saul, Ellen, D'Anna, Leoben, greetings."

"What happened to you?" asked the blond known as Ellen Tigh.

The scaly robot's memories of a fleshy, mammal body came back again. "After John got me, I remember waking up to see a lizard grunting over me. I found myself buzzing." The Imperious leader remembered the painting sessions he and Ellen shared together. "Do you know what having two, even three brains is like?"

"I've found one painful enough," said Saul.

"The reptiles asked me to help them understand the Basestar, Centurion, and Raider designs. They said they were impressed with Human designs. However, until now I was a programmed machine as well as a living being. The result was war across the galaxy to organise life."

"How did someone so sensitive and artistic become so vile?" D'Anna asked. "Goodness me, you've done more damage to the galaxy, the local group even, than John ever did."

"There were loads of Seven," Leoben pointed out. "Some would be just like the Daniel we knew, others not so much."

"What will you do now then?" Ellen asked.

"Some of me will stay here, but I personally have a score to settle. I'm certain my voice is different to the one I had back then. I plan to find Count Iblis."

"Good luck," said Saul. "Stay away from Earth... Call us first."

"By your command."

Adama signed the agreement with the UN Security Council as the fleet began dispersing to the Permanent 5 countries. Already, Earth was coming together to share in the thought that it was not alone.

Meanwhile, Bill stopped talking in front of a podium in front of a semicircular wooden wall. There was a blue circle above him showing Earth's continents wrapped in a wreath. Before he arrived, he had a chat with an American actor called Edward James Olmos about the environment and politics.

He could barely remember what he'd said to the UN or to Olmos, but he knew it was as direct and honest as usual. There was only one more thing to cover.

Half-gazing, half-glaring at representatives from 193 nations, he asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yes!" someone shouted back. Unknown to Bill, that same delegate whispered, "We've said so for the past half hour."

"So say we all! Say it, it will make you feel better. Earth is ready to join the galactic community. So say we all!"

"So say... we all?" answered around 68 delegates. The rest shrugged.

Bill gripped the podium and glared at them as hard as he did when he heard Tigh was a Cylon and Kara had got Zak killed. "For frack's sake. SO SAY WE ALL!"