Sorry for the lack of posts in the last month, but life gets in the way sometimes. Thank you everyone for the reviews, and I will try my best to start posting more regularly again. For those of you who were hoping for more of Kestra's weird interactions with the cylons, don't worry there's plenty of that coming up, but for now I hope this short chapter can tide you over. Enjoy!
-CD
"No, I don't understand, Lee," Kestra shouted, "I don't understand how you can believe that this war is right."
"That's not what I meant and you know it. I thought we'd talked about this," he said. Kestra paced back and forth, unable to keep still in her anger.
"I don't understand why you won't even consider reaching out to the cylons for peace. Has no one thought of this before?"
"No, they haven't, because we all know that we'd be killed on sight," Lee shouted.
"No you don't. The cylons invaded New Caprica and didn't start killing people right away. They only started killing people when the insurgency started," she said.
"So now you're defending what they did on New Caprica?" he asked, getting in her face. Kestra stood her ground and glared at her husband.
"That's not what I'm saying and you know it. I'm not going to speak to you if you're just going to through stupid accusations around. Don't forget that you weren't on New Caprica while they were in power. I was," she said in a dangerous voice. Lee backed off, but his anger was not abated.
"I know you think that war is never the answer and that diplomacy can solve all the world's problems, Kestra, but that's not the case here. Maybe in the Federation, all your enemies just listen when you tell them that what they're doing is wrong, but the cylons aren't like that. They're machines, Kestra, and they were made to kill us."
"You don't believe that," she spat, "you can't believe that or Sharon wouldn't be aboard this ship right now. There are synthetic races all over the universe who are just as worthy of life as any other race I've seen. And the androids that I've met are not that different from your cylons. I don't understand how you can believe everything I've told you about life outside your galaxy and still be so sure that cylons are irredeemable," she shouted.
"Well I do," Lee yelled back. Kestra just stared at him, all the fight in her eyes gone. She had just explained why cylons could be saved, and all he could reply was 'I do'. She crossed to the bed and sat down, defeated.
"There's no reasoning with you is there?" she asked, "with any of you?" Lee shook his head.
"This is just something you're going to have to accept, Kestra. We're at war, and we will be at war until the cylons are gone." Lee stormed out of the room. Kestra let her head fall into her hands and cried. Over the past few weeks, she'd offered many suggestions to Lee about how they might end the war peacefully, but now she realized that he'd never listened to any of them. Lee had no intention of ending this war any time soon, none of the humans did. They were content to continue to fight and die rather than find common ground with the cylons. Kestra knew she should have realized this sooner, but she'd always hoped that the violence was just a product of the difficult situation they'd been put in. Now she realized that they depended on their violence against the cylons as if it were a part of their identity as a race. Humans were nothing if not the enemies of the cylons. They didn't know anything else, and they were too stubborn to consider another way. Too prideful to take the high road and sue for peace. Human's were unreasonable and bloodthirsty. Kestra's heart ached for herself, for Lee, and for humanity. They had no idea what this war could do to them. Kestra had seen the remnants of civilizations that had let hate and war lead them to extinction. She couldn't let that happen to Lee or the other members of this fleet. The cylons were not so closed minded. They'd tried to live in peace. They'd gone about it the wrong way, but they made an effort. That was far more than Kestra could expect from the humans. She realized that if this war was ever going to end, she would have to do something drastic. Kestra threw on some shoes and a jacket and ran out of her quarters. She went straight to the hangar where Sam was preparing a raptor to depart for the planet's surface.
"I'm going with you," Kestra said abruptly as she approached him. Sam was startled by her approach and scrambled to bar her from entering the raptor.
"We, uh, we have a full crew already," he stammered. Kestra peered around him to see an empty raptor with only supplies inside.
"No, you're not," she said, crossing her arms.
"Kestra, you're not cleared to be on this flight," he argued.
"Look, Sam, I know I'm not your favorite person at the moment, but I'm getting down to that planet. So either you can take me or I'll hijack a raptor and fly down on my own," she said. Sam looked at her like she'd gone mad, which in his defense she was giving him good cause to think so.
"Kestra, what happened?" he asked, concerned. Kestra glared at him.
"Nothing has happened, so either let me on or don't," she snapped.
"You're clearly upset. I don't want you making any decisions you'll regret," he said sincerely. Kestra sighed and let her arms drop. She knew how to play this game, and if Sam wanted to suddenly start caring about her after weeks she'd play along.
"Look, Lee and I had a fight, and I just need to get off this ship. It's not like I'm going anywhere dangerous. We're just taking supplies down to the surface, right?," she said more calmly than before. Sam's gaze softened, indicating that her change in tactics had worked.
"Alright, get in," he said. She smiled and touched his arm before boarding the raptor. What she'd said hadn't been all a lie. She and Lee had fought, and she certainly could use the time off Galactica. She could also use the time to find an unattended raptor on the surface and take it to find the cylon fleet, but Sam didn't need to know that.
