Kestra walked the edges of the classroom silently. Laura was speaking to the children, but she had long since stopped listening. Her mind wandered as her feet did. She stopped by the entrance to the tent and looked up at the grey sky. She peered through the clouds as if she might see Galactica or the Pegsus out beyond the atmosphere if they would just move out of the way. She thought of Lee, as she often did. They knew the fleet had jumped away as soon as the cylons entered orbit long ago. It wasn't hard for her to believe Lee was out there, perhaps looking at the sky and thinking of her the same way she was thinking of him. She wondered if he had moved on, perhaps being out there with Dee for months had changed his mind. She didn't really believe that, nor did she believe that he'd abandoned them as Sam did. Lee was out there somewhere, and he was coming back. It was hard to imagine him feeling the way she felt though. She wouldn't want him to be this miserable. She wanted him to be happy, yet she couldn't help but hope that he was maybe a little miserable without her. A hand came to rest on her shoulder. She turned to see Maya just behind her.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly, so she wouldn't disturb the class.
"Yeah," Kestra replied as she patted the back of Maya's hand, "just thinking about Lee, that's all." Maya gave her a sympathetic smile and nodded.
"They'll come back for us," she said encouragingly.
"I know," Kestra said firmly. Maya nodded and walked back into the classroom. Laura was finishing her lesson, and the students were starting to pack up for the day. Kestra pushed thoughts of Lee away as she turned to bid the students goodbye. Laura came up to her after they were gone.
"Maya thought you might want to talk," she said knowingly. Kestra smiled.
"I'm fine. I was just… wondering when they'll come back," she said softly. Laura nodded.
"The insurgents have been trying to communicate with them. They should have a raptor out there waiting. It's only a matter of time," she said.
"Time passes quickly," Kestra said looking back up at the sky as they exited the tent, "it could run out."
"Well, it does us no good to think like that," Laura said sternly. Kestra laughed.
"I know. I'm sorry," she said apologetically.
"Don't be," Laura said, "it's hard for all of us." Kestra nodded.
"I think I'd like to be alone for a while. I'm going to take a walk," she said absently.
"Alright, just be careful," Laura said, kissing her cheek before she walked off in the other direction. Kestra wandered through the streets and found herself nearing the detention center. She looked up at the high walls and shuddered. Many had gone in those gates, but fewer had come out. She hated to think what went on inside. She glanced around and saw Galen staring at the gates as well. She walked over to him.
"Hello," she said as she approached. Galen looked at her and nodded stiffly before returning his gaze to the gates. "How are Cally and the baby?"
"Good," he answered curtly.
"And you're standing out here because?" she prodded.
"They've got Jammer," he said blandly. Kestra gasped as she looked at the gates.
"No," she murmured, "how awful."
"Tigh's afraid he'll talk," Galen added. Kestra's eyes narrowed as she was filled with rage at his callous demeanor.
"Afraid he'll talk?" she spat, "Tigh couldn't care less about how scared he must be or what they might do to him as long as he doesn't talk. It's despicable."
"If he talks it could be the end of the insurgency. A lot of good people would be in danger," Galen said, finally looking at her.
"I know that, and Jammer knows it too. He risks just as much as the rest of you by fighting, but instead of worrying about him all you worry about is how he could fail," she said angrily, "you, Tigh, Sam, you're all the same. You don't care about anybody anymore, just your revenge."
"That's not true," Galen said angrily, "I have a wife and son. That's why I'm doing this."
"Is that why you spend more time with Saul Tigh than you do with them?" Kestra asked. He turned to her sharply and a fury entered his eyes that she hadn't seen before. "Have I touched a nerve, Galen?" He glared at her.
"I'm standing up to the cylons to protect them. I don't like being away, but it's necessary," he said.
"And if you spend your whole life fighting the cylons and miss watching your son grow up, will you be okay with that?" she asked.
"Adama will be back before then," Galen said.
"What if he isn't?"
"I would think you, of all people, would want him to come back," Galen said, raising a brow. Kestra's gaze softened.
"I do believe he'll come back," she said softly, "but I don't intend to waste the time I have waiting for that. Life goes on, with or without Galactica." Galen sighed and made one final glance at the detention center.
"I should get home to Cally," he said in defeat. Kestra nodded.
"Give her my best," she said as he walked away. Kestra walked along the edge of the detention center until she reached the edge of the building which dead ended into an open field. She sat in the withered brown grass and pulled up fistfuls of dirt. She looked up at the sky and thought of Lee again
Lee.
She did this periodically. If there was any chance at communication outside of Tigh's insurgency it would be with Lee. She was quite certain that she wouldn't be able to reach him wherever he'd jumped to, but that didn't stop her from trying. Miracles had happened before. However, even if she did reach him, she knew there was no way she'd be able to hear a response. Despite these hurdles, she continued to project out into the space above her, hoping against hope that Lee could hear her wherever he was.
"What are you doing out here?" came a female voice behind her. Kestra whirled around to see one of the blonde cylon models staring at her curiously. Kestra scooted backward, away from the woman. She'd realized early on in the occupation that this model was the same as the woman she had seen with Gaius Baltar before the occupation. Laura had been hesitant to believe that Baltar had been able to sneak a cylon onto New Caprica, especially since there were many people who knew what this particular model looked like. However, Kestra had not forgotten the eerie conversation with Baltar nor had she forgotten his shock when she saw the cylon beside him. "I asked you a question," the cylon before her said stiffly
"I'm sitting in the dirt," Kestra said tersely, "is that a crime now?" The blonde eyed her skeptically, looking for any sign of others nearby.
"No," she said, relaxing now that she was confident that they were alone, "but we can't be too careful. There are insurgents who would like to sabotage the detention center."
"I wonder why?" Kestra said sarcastically. The six folded her arms and glared at her, but Kestra just sat with her hands in the dirt.
"You're not leaving?"
"I was here first." The six raised her eyebrows, clearly shocked at her defiance. She then shocked Kestra by sitting down beside her. "What are you doing?"
"Sitting," she replied.
"Why?"
"You're the first human who hasn't run at the sight of me- well besides Gaius, so I want to talk," she said.
"What could I tell you that our fearless leader hasn't already shared?" Kestra spat. The six recoiled at her sudden change in demeanor.
"Gaius isn't a bad man," she defended, "he's done what's best for everyone's survival." This made Kestra curious. Just as she'd never seen a human defend a cylon, she'd never heard of a cylon defending a human. That is if you didn't count Sharon and Helo.
"Why do you care what I think of him?"
"Because he doesn't deserve the blame you all place on his shoulders," she replied bitterly.
"I don't blame him for surrendering to you," Kestra said, causing the six's eyes to widen, "I blame him for using the colonist's fears and fatigue against them for a political victory. I blame him for sitting in luxury behind your doors while the people he swore to protect and serve are tortured in your detention centers. I blame him for his cowardice and selfishness. I don't blame him for anything he hasn't earned." Kestra fixed her hard gaze on the six who shifted uncomfortably under her accusations.
"Gaius saved you all. We would have destroyed you if he hadn't surrendered. He did what was best for humanity's survival."
"Sometimes surviving isn't enough," Kestra said. The six cocked her head.
"Isn't that what your insurgents are fighting for?"
"Some of them are," Kestra said while sifting dirt through her fingers, "some would like more. I don't just want to survive. I want to have a life doing the things I want with the people I love."
"We want that too," the six said emphatically, "we came to live with you peacefully. We want the war to end." Kestra laughed.
"An armed takeover isn't a very effective way to spread peace."
"We had to be sure you wouldn't fight us."
"Well, in doing so you caused a fight," Kestra said, "you're enslaving the humans just as they did when they created you. You don't want to live in peace. You want to give them a taste of their own medicine."
"That's not true," the six said emphatically, "if you would just stop fighting, everything would be easier."
"If you would stop rounding people up in the streets and holding them in detention they might stop fighting."
"We can't have insurgents inciting violence," the six said heatedly, "they're the ones that want this war not us." Kestra eyes the cylon for a minute. She'd been intrigued by the cylons since she'd learned about them, and this six was no exception. She seemed so human. Unlike the synthetic lifeforms she'd met before like Data, this cylon had the same faults as the humans it was fashioned after. It also had the same redeeming qualities.
"I admire your optimism," she said finally, causing the six to recoil at the sudden compliment, "but both sides have the same problem. Neither of you are willing to trust the other. You both want to ensure that you're in control before you think about peace or cooperation. Somebody is going to give some ground if anyone is ever going to have peace… or we'll all wind up dead." The six stared at her in shock for a moment before inching closer. Kestra leaned back from the cylons intense gaze.
"Your eyes," she murmured, "Gaius said… you're different." Kestra's heart rate sped up as she braced herself for more. She had no idea how much Gaius Baltar knew about her, but she feared anything he may have told the cylons about her. "You're not from the colonies."
"Baltar talked about me?" Kestra asked, trying to avoid confirming anything she said.
"Just to me," she said softly, "I think you scared him." Kestra's brow furrowed.
"How?"
"I don't know. He just seemed… nervous." Kestra frowned. She remembered the six that had been with him the day of the groundbreaking. How could Baltar have had a cylon there and no one else saw her? What was she missing? "Are you ok?" The question snapped Kestra out of her thoughts. She looked around and found the empty field behind her and the detention center still in front of her. Down the wall she could see people milling around. She snapped her gaze back to the cylon who looked genuinely concerned.
"I have to go. I can't let people see me talking to you," she said quickly as she leapt up from the ground and hurried back the way she had come.
"Wait," the blonde called after her, "please don't go, there's so much more we could learn from each other." Kestra ignored her as she hastened away. She could never admit this to anyone, but she wanted to stay and learn more about the cylons too.
