Kestra walked home alone from school. Laura was staying behind to work with a few students after class, and she'd told Kestra she could leave. She knew that Kestra was eager to leave today, because she had planned to bring a few people down to the lake to go swimming after work. Kestra went back to the tent to grab a bag and then waited anxiously near the pyramid court for people to show up. She was reading a book when the first of them showed up. Jammer came over and sat beside her.
"What's up?" he asked, startling her out of her focus. Kestra smiled.
"Hi, James. How are you today?" she asked happily.
"Good, I just got done fixing a boiler for Baltar's… I don't even know what it is. A palace?" he replied. Kestra laughed.
"Might as well be. It's not like any real work goes on in there," she said.
"Yeah, I can't even get steady work in this city Baltar made. He dug a hole a few months ago, and that was the last time he did any work at all." Kestra sighed in agreement. "Everybody's real upset they voted against Roslin now," he commented. Kestra shook her head.
"Not everybody," she corrected, "Laura wouldn't have stayed here. No matter how mad people are about the conditions, they're still going to choose solid ground over another year on ships."
"I guess," he said, "but I'd almost rather be on Galactica than down here." Kestra smirked.
"Almost," she said conspiratorially. Jammer sighed in defeat.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sick of that ship." They both laughed as Cally and Galen approached.
"Hey guys."
"Hey Chief," Jammer said, "we were just talking about how much we miss Galactica." Galen smiled fondly.
"Don't joke, James. Galen thinks you're serious," Kestra scolded. Galen blushed slightly as Cally and Jammer laughed.
"Who are we still waiting on?" Galen asked, changing the subject.
"I invited Tucker and Nora," Kestra said.
"And I think Seelix wanted to come too," Jammer piped up. Everyone nodded in acknowledgment.
"Okay," Galen said. There was silence, and they all looked at each other uncomfortably.
"I hear you're forming a workers union Galen," Kestra piped up. Cally rolled her eyes.
"Yeah," Galen said, "we want to make sure people are being treated well and compensated appropriately for all the work that's going on here."
"What are you gonna do? Make sure we're getting health benefits with our high paying jobs?" Jammer asked sarcastically.
"No, we're just making sure that people like Baltar don't take advantage of people's desperation," Galen said emphatically.
"Too late," Cally muttered in irritation.
"I think it's a very good idea Galen," Kestra said helpfully, "with all the disorganization in the government, it's important that somebody look out for the laborers who are actually working to get this city functioning."
"Thank you," Galen said with a pointed look at the other two.
"Okay, but do you really think you're going to get anywhere with Baltar?" Jammer asked, "It's unrealistic."
"You have to try to solve these problems with civility now before they get out of control and start a war," Kestra said.
"We're already at war," Jammer replied.
"No, we're not," Cally said, "Kestra is right. Galen and the union will stop Baltar from taking advantage of us. We all know he'd do it." At this everyone nodded.
"You really don't think we're at war anymore?" Jammer continued.
"No," Cally said, "we're protected by the nebula. The cylons won't find us. This is our home now, and we have to make it better."
"Couldn't have said it better," Galen said as he put his arm around Cally and kissed her hair. Cally smiled brightly at him.
"Hey everybody. Are we the last one's here?" Tucker called from behind them. They all greeted him and Nora as they approached.
"We're still waiting for Diana, right?" Kestra asked Jammer. He nodded. As they spoke Kara and Sam walked by down the street. Seeing the others gathered, they departed from their path to say hello.
"Hey, what's this bunch of bums doing out here?" Kara asked Sam obnoxiously. Everyone cheered a greeting as Kara and Sam dissolved into giggles at their jest.
"Hey Starbuck!" Tucker called, "we're all going up into the mountains to swim. You and Anders should come." The others all voiced their agreement. Kara beamed until she caught sight of Kestra just behind Jammer. The smile fell from her face and she looked around at the group.
"No, ah, can't sorry guys," she said tersely. Sam laughed.
"What do you mean? We're not doing anything," he said happily. Kara shook her head.
"You go with them Sam. There's something I've gotta do."
"Kara?" he asked curiously.
"Really Sam, go. I'll see you later," she interrupted. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before hurrying away. Sam watched her with his brow furrowed until she disappeared behind a tent. He turned back to the others with a smile.
"So, where we going?" he asked with a forced cheerfulness.
"There's a lake up in the mountains," Jammer said, "we're going swimming."
"Nice," Sam said. He looked over the group and finally noticed Kestra among them. He frowned for a moment before pasting the smile back on his face.
"We're just waiting for-"
"Seelix!" Galen was interrupted by Jammer who had shouted past him at Diana as she approached.
"Great! We're ready then," Sam said, looking to the others for approval. They all nodded as they moved toward Diana and the edge of town. As the group walked up into the mountains, Sam fell into step beside Kestra a few meters away from Galen and Cally who led the group.
"Kestra," he said in greeting.
"Hello Sam," she said tentatively, "I'm sorry if I made Kara uncomfortable."
"You didn't," Sam said quickly. They lapsed into silence as they walked. "Do they know?" he asked after a time.
"What?"
"Who you are. What you are," he clarified.
"No," she said stiffly. There was silence again. "Are you going to tell them?" Sam walked on with his eyes fixed on the trees in front of them. He could feel her eyes on him.
"No," he finally answered.
"Thank you," she said.
"Only because she said you're definitely not a cylon," he said sharply. Kestra's entire being wanted to argue with him about his inherent bias against anything that wasn't human, but she knew this was not the time or the place. Causing a scene here would do more damage to her than Sam. She'd finally made friends, and she didn't need them reacting the way Sam was now.
"I understand," she said softly and picked up her pace. Sam's brows furrowed and he chased after her.
"Hey," he whispered harshly, "what the frak are you running from?" Kestra slowed to address him.
"You Sam. I understand that you are distrustful, but don't expect me to be happy about it. We're both uncomfortable with each other, so let's just keep our distance." With that she sped back up and joined Galen and Cally in conversation. Sam frowned and watched her from behind.
"What was that about?" Jammer asked as he strolled up beside Sam. Sam looked across at him and Diana.
"Nothing," he said dismissively as he returned to staring forward. They finally reached the lake, and everyone striped down to their underclothes and waded into the clear waters.
"I can see the bottom," Cally exclaimed happily.
"That's better than anything I've ever seen on Gemenon," Galen remarked beside her. The eight of them splashed around in the water for a while. Sam, Jammer, and Duck started racing across the length of the lake. Seelix joined in their races and beat all but Anders. Cally and Galen stayed near the shore given Cally's pregnancy. Kestra and Nora swam lazy circles around the middle of the lake. After an hour, they started getting bored. Nora, Tucker, Cally and Kestra had already taken spots sitting on the bank in the sun. The others were out in the middle.
"Hey, what else is there to do out here," Anders shouted.
"Running out of steam Anders?" Tucker taunted back. Sam waved him off.
"How deep do you think this thing is?" Kestra yelled back. There was silence for a moment.
"At least ten meters I'd say," Galen shouted back, "why?" Kestra stood up from her spot in the grass.
"What are you doing?" Cally asked.
"Making the afternoon interesting for Anders," she said with a smirk.
"Kestra, don't do something stupid," Nora said, concerned, "Anders is an idiot anyway." Kestra laughed.
"Don't worry," she said as she ran over to a large tree growing by the edge of the lake. She began to climb it swiftly and nimbly. The others were so impressed by her climbing that they didn't realize what she was doing right away. Nora was the first to say something.
"Oh my gods, she's going to jump from there," she said as she stood up.
"Kestra, be careful up there," Tucker called.
"Don't do it," Cally called.
"You don't have to impress anyone here, Kestra," Galen called from the middle, "just climb down. At this point, Kestra had climbed about fifteen meters and was crawling out on a particularly long and sturdy branch. She was now standing above the lake on the tree branch.
"This is so dangerous," Nora said nervously. Kestra only smiled. She lifted up her arms and basked in the sun before gracefully falling over the edge of the branch. Cally and Nora both gasped loudly as Kestra fell toward the water. With her arms outstretched, Kestra broke the surface of the water and slipped beneath the surface. The others watched intently as the splash died down and the ripples on the water began to fade. Nothing was coming back up. Galen started to paddle over toward the spot and dove beneath the surface in search of her.
"Woohoo!" They all turned to see Kestra had resurfaced out in the middle of the lake. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief before they began to praise her stunt.
"That was amazing!" Jammer said in awe.
"Wow," was all Galen said.
"You had us so worried. What possessed you to do a thing like that?" Nora called in feigned anger.
"I grew up near a lake," Kestra giggled, "I used to pull this stuff all the time with my brother."
"I didn't know you had a brother," Jammer said. Kestra nodded.
"He was my best friend," she said sadly. Jammer, Galen, and Seelix, who had all swam up to her, nodded in understanding. "But it's nice to be able to swim again. It makes me feel like I'm home." They smiled.
"You're from Caprica, right?" Jammer asked. Kestra glanced at Sam as he approached before answering.
"Yeah," she said.
"What city?"
"Well, it wasn't really in a city. I lived in the forests north of Delphi. My parents weren't fans of… cities," she explained hesitantly. The others seemed to buy it, because they nodded in acceptance.
"Sounds like fun," Galen said, "I would have loved to grow up in a forest like this."
"It was pretty great," Kestra said, watching Anders as he brooded a few feet away. "So who else wants to try it?" she asked, looking back up at the tree." Galen shook his head.
"Hey, I like swimming as much as the next guy but I'm not crazy," he said.
"What about you Anders?" Kestra asked challengingly, "are you crazy?" Sam narrowed his eyes at her and abruptly swam toward the shore. Jammer and Seelix whooped after him.
"Don't hurt yourself Sam," Galen called out as Sam hit the shore and approached the tree. Sam grabbed onto the trunk and hoisted himself up. He climbed more slowly and less gracefully than Kestra had, but eventually he made it to the same branch. He hesitated when he got out on the limb.
"Try diving with your hands pointed out to break the surface of the water," Kestra called.
"Or you could just climb back down," Nora called, trying to be helpful. Sam stiffened as he tried to position himself squarely on the branch. As he did, he half jumped, half fell, toward the water below. Nora let out a small shriek as Sam fell through the air, his arms waving around until his head was pointed at the water. At the last second, he thrust his arms out and broke the surface of the water. The resulting splash was far bigger than Kestra's and Sam had resurfaced by the time the surface of the water had calmed to softer large ripples. Jammer and Seelix shouted their praise for Sam's stunt as they swam over to him. They both slapped him on the back and laughed as they recounted how ridiculous he looked falling through the air. Galen and Kestra swam over right behind them. Sam made eye contact with Kestra.
"Thanks for the tip," he said breathlessly. Kestra beamed.
"You did good," she said, "you're a regular little fish there Anders." The others laughed, and even Sam cracked a small smile.
