Panting, Lee dragged himself forward. He was leaning heavily on Zarek, a fact that he more than despised, but right now he had no other choice. His injured leg was hurting with every step, his lungs were burning and he could hardly breathe anymore. His head felt fuzzy and he didn't think he could keep going for much longer, but he also knew that they couldn't stop now. It had been pure luck that Zarek had found the back entrance of the cave the day before and they had been able to escape the Cylons storming their cave in the last second. But they could still be behind them and neither of them had dared to stop and check for it.

Lee didn't know how much time had passed since they had fled from the cave, but he was beginning to think that they might have been able to escape the Cylons for now. So far no one had shot at them. He took that as a good sign. He just hoped Kara and Anders were far away enough from the cave and wouldn't run directly into the hands of the Cylons. He tried to keep thinking about Kara to take his mind of his hurting body and the fact that every breath he took sent a stabbing pain through his chest. But no matter how hard he was trying to fight it, his vision started to blur and he could feel his legs give in seconds before his world turned black.

XXXXXXX

"This should be far enough. The bushes give us enough cover. I think we'll be safe here for the night." Sam said. So far they had been lucky and hadn't encountered any Cylons. He hoped it would stay that way. He was just about to sit down on the ground, when he saw Kara still walking on. "Kara, wait. Where are you going?"

"We can't just sit around and do nothing." Kara said in an agitated voice.

"Gods, Kara. We agreed on that. Even if we keep on looking for them, in this dark we could walk right past them and wouldn't see them." Sam replied impatiently.

"I know. Which is why we'll go to the City now – in the dark – and give our information to Tigh. The sooner they start with the preparations, the better. And as soon as the sun is up, we can search for Lee."

"You want to go to the City? Kara, the Cylons are looking for us. We won't even get near the City."

"The Cylons will think that we will think that which is why they won't look for us near the City. They're searching the mountains for us. The safest place for us right now will be right among them."

"What?" Sam stared at her dumbfounded.

"Trust me on this, Sam. I know what I'm doing. Come on."

Without waiting for hr husband to reply, Kara strode forward. After a moment of hesitation and a tirade of curses about his stubborn wife, Sam followed her. They walked in silence, their hands never leaving their guns. About one hour later they finally saw the lights of the City beyond them.

"I still think this is suicide." Sam whispered.

"Duly noted. Now come on, there are no patrols nearby, this is our chance." Carefully Kara made her way to the City, closely followed by Sam.

XXXXXXX

Groaning Cally stretched her back. It had been hurting for hours and it seemed to get only worse instead of better.

"Maybe we should call Cottle anyway? Just to make sure." Tyrol said for the third time. He had watched his wife all evening and he could see she was in pain. He was worried that it had something to do with the baby. "What if these are already contractions?"

"Galen, I'm only eight months pregnant. These aren't contractions, it's only a plain backache."

"But what if the baby comes ..."

"No!" Cally cut in sharply. "The baby is fine."

"Cally ..."

"Go back to bed, Galen. You have to get up early tomorrow. I just need to walk a few steps. I can't sleep anyway."

Worried Galen watched his wife walk through the room. He wished she would let him call Cottle. Just in case ...

"Chief?"

Surprised Tyrol jumped up. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Cally asked through clenched teeth.

"Someone just called ..." Tyrol stopped when he saw a knife cut through the tent. Then he heard a whisper again.

"Chief, it's me."

"Starbuck?"

"Can we come in? It's getting rather cold out here."

"Yeah sure. Come on in. Thank the gods you're all right."

As soon as Starbuck and Anders were inside the tent, Tyrol quickly moved a desk in front of the tear. Then he turned to them with hope in his eyes. "Did it work?"

"Yes, we reached Galactica. Listen, the Cylons ..."

"...found out about you, I know." Tyrol finished for her. "We tried to warn you, but we couldn't get out. Is everyone all right?"

A look of despair flashed over Kara's face and Tyrol knew something was wrong.

"When we came back to the cave, Lee and Zarek were gone. There were traces of Cylons everywhere." Kara told him in a shaky voice.

"Did they catch them?" Tyrol asked worried.

"We don't know. We're going back to the mountains tomorrow to look for them." Sam said quietly.

Tyrol was just about to reply something, when a cry from behind stopped him. "Cally."

With a few quick steps, he had reached his wife. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I ... ow ..." Holding her hands tightly on her belly, Cally doubled over in pain. Only Tyrol's strong hands were keeping her from falling on the ground.

Kara was quickly by their side. "Get Cottle. We'll stay with her."

Tyrol hesitated a second, not willing to leave his wife alone right now. But he knew he had no other choice. "I'll be right back, Cally. Hang on." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and then he ran out of the tent.

XXXXXXX

Slowly Lee came back to consciousness. The first thing he noticed was that he was lying on the floor. When he opened his eyes, he saw Zarek bending over him.

"Captain, glad to see you awake." Zarek said smiling.

Lee blinked a few times to get his vision sharper, then he tried to get up. Immediately his head swam at the movement and he laid back down again. "What happened?" He asked after a moment.

"You passed out. I was already starting to worry. Didn't think you'd wake up again."

"Yeah, right." Lee closed his eyes again and took some deep breaths. Then he tried to get up again. This time his head only felt slightly dizzy. He took that as progress. "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes." Zarek paused for a moment. "If you feel up to it, we should keep going. We need to find some place warm to stay. It's getting really cold out here."

Slowly Lee nodded. He didn't really think he could go much further. His whole body was hurting, he was cold and tired. But he knew that staying here wasn't an option. He tried to ignore the pain as he raised himself up off the ground. As soon as he stood, the whole world seemed to spin around him. He leant against the tree trunk and took some deep breaths. He could feel Zarek holding him by the arm and when he looked at him, he thought he saw some real worry in his eyes. He must be really sick, if someone like Zarek worried about him. He took another deep breath and gradually his world stopped spinning and he got his bearings again.

"Let's go." He said quietly after a moment.

XXXXXXX

"The baby is coming." Cottle said quietly.

"What?" Both Cally and Tyrol called out.

"But it's too early," Cally said with tears in her eyes.

"There's nothing I can do to stop it now. But if Starbuck is right, then Galactica will be here soon and your baby will be safe in life station." Cottle tried to calm them.

"I hope you're right." Tyrol replied worried.

Sitting around a table a few feet away from the worried couple, Kara and Sam informed Tigh and Roslin about the plan they had made with Adama.

"Galactica will jump in tomorrow at 12.00 hours. You need everyone to be at the right place then. Get as many of your people as possible to attack the Cylons and create enough diversion to get the people to the ships. If everything turns out right, we will be off this planet by tomorrow night."

"It has to go right." Roslin said determinedly. "We won't get a second chance."

"This won't leave you with much time to find Apollo." Tigh said quietly. He never really liked the young man, but the Old Man would be devastated if he found out his son was dead. He hoped Starbuck would find him before the Cylons did.

"That's why we're leaving right before dawn. I don't want to waste any time." The determination in Kara's voice didn't leave any doubt that she wouldn't come back before she found Lee.

XXXXXXX

As planned, Kara and Sam left the next morning, right before dawn. They managed to slip out of the city unnoticed by the Cylons and began their search for their friends. They didn't say much as they looked at their surroundings for any signs of them.

"We need to get back. Galactica is gonna jump into the system in less than in hour. We have to be back in the City by then." Sam said after a few hours of silence between them.

"We haven't found him yet."

"We haven't found them yet." Sam said angrily. "Lee is not the only one missing, remember?"

Kara only glared at him and continued walking.

"Damn it, Kara, we have to get back now!"

"I'm not leaving without Lee. I won't stand in front of the Old Man and tell him that I left his son dying on this frakking planet. I'm not leaving him behind!"

"I know what he means to you, but you have to face the fact that they're probably dead by now. Even if they had managed to escape the Cylons, in this cold it's not very likely that they made it very far. And in the shape Adama was in ..." Sam didn't finish his sentence. He knew he didn't have to.

Kara had stopped walking and stared at him angrily. She was just about to reply something, when she saw a movement behind him. Immediately she grabbed for her gun and pushed Sam to the side.

"What is it?" Sam asked, grabbing for his own gun at the same time. Then he saw what had caught Kara's attention. Someone was running in their direction. He was too far away to recognize him.

Both of them kept their guns pointed at him, until he was close enough for them to see who it was.

"Tom?" Sam called out surprised.

TBC

A.N.: Thanks to Laurie for beta reading :)