II

Present Day

Kara Thrace had quietly entered the school tent that housed the pre-schoolers. Kacey was going on five, and the following year, she would begin her proper schooling. Starbuck felt it important that her daughter learn to socialize like a normal human being-something Kara was never able to do when she was younger, being from a broken home, with a mother who suffered from substance abuse.

As she watch Kacey playing with the other children her age, a warm smile came over Kara's face. This was the childhood she never really had, and instead of wallowing about how bad she had had it, she concentrated on giving Kacey every advantage she could think of.

I am not gonna let Kacey end up like me. She's going to be better than me in every way.

Kara had made that promise to herself, and to the gods. Despite her rebellious nature, Kara Thrace had a deep faith in the gods, and believed that there was something better after this life. She was quite sure that, despite her sinful ways, that redemption was within reach of anyone. She had even come to believe that true for the human Cylons, although she was still working that one out. But if they had a soul, and she at least considered it a possibility that the Skin Jobs did have one, then they were within the reach of salvation.

Kara's salvation, and that of putting Kacey onto a better future (if they ever escaped the Cylon occupation), had occurred on a terrifying night a less than a year earlier.

Eight Months Earlier

Kara Thrace felt, and was sure, she was going crazy, being cooped up day after day in this fantasy world that Leoben had built. Every day was deja-vuall over again, with Leoben trying to act like the caring husband, Kara not responding to his overtures of affection, and certainly had never fraked The Cylon bastard. The only thing keeping her sane was Kacey. It had now been ten months since she had been captured, the very day The Cylons had arrived.

Even in "killing" Leoben more than a dozen times since being captured, the son-of-a-bitch kept returning, that smug smile on his face every time he would say "Honey, I'm home." He would then dispose of his last body, then act like nothing had happened, only to have the event repeated in some form or another. It's almost like he enjoyed letting Kara kill him, then coming back that very day. It was psychological torture on a grand scale.

She had killed many before, but a combat situation, in a Viper, in the vacuum of space, was far different than having to kill, by hand, another living being. She hated The Cylons, but she considered them living beings, just different in some ways from Humans. She had been flabbergasted, and angry when Roslin had chucked Leoben out of an airlock, and there was something about the Cylon man that intrigued her, but it hadn't stopped him from killing him over and over, only to have him come back.

Yet he was playing with her very sanity, and that was starting to wan. She knew with her sanity being taken from her, her very humanity would follow. She couldn't have that happened. Especially now that she was responsible for a child.

Leoben had always kept her off-balance, coming "home" at different times of the day, so she wouldn't have a chance to prepare. Yet the last few nights, he had arrived back at the place around 2000 each night, telling her they were having all-day meetings, and that his schedule would be like that for a week or two.

One problem she had always had was that Leoben put his electronic key, for the gate leading out of the facility, in a safe immediately after he got "home". She didn't know the combination, and had never sent him to Download City while it was on his person. She wanted to cancel that advantage.

So she took a chance.

The fourth night of his set schedule, she had put Kacey down to sleep on the couch in the living room. She hated if Kacey watched her kill the man who said he was her "daddy", which made her want to vomit.

By this time, doing this was as routine as preparing dinner. She was hiding behind where the door would swing open, and waited for Leoben's grating, smug voice to say, "honey, I'm home!" About ten minutes after the hour, she heard the door handle giggle. The much-used kitchen knife-or one of the many-used kitchen knifes-was clutched in her hand.

The door slid open gently, as it always did, Leoben taking a step to his right. "Honey, I'm..."

She put the knife in the center of his throat.

"You're home, I know", she said as she whirled him around, his eyes bugging out, his breath gurgling.

She dragged his now-dead body into opened door, making his carcass a door stop. She cut the key chain off his belt buckle. He had three keys on it. She knew which one went into the door, and knew he used his thumbprint at the gate, right after turning his key.

This would not be easy.

She had Kacey beside her quickly, and had the little girl stand in the hallway. Kara then picked up the now-dead weight of Leoben, and dragged him over to the gate. Being trained in combat, she knew how to throw a wounded soldier over her shoulder, but Leoben was very tall, and damn heavy-plus she was in a weakened condition, being stuck in the house for six months. She braced herself as taught, and, with great effort, hoisted the body over he shoulder.

Once she found her balance, it was no problem walking to the gate. She looked at the keys, easily telling which one was for the gate, turning it. No alarm went off, but a red light flashed on the small pad where a finger went. She had made sure Leoben's arms were in front of her body, so she could more easily grab his hand, then press his thumb to the pad. Not being sure if there was a timer on that action, she accomplished the feat quickly, and in moments, the gate slid open.

Quietly, Kara and Kacey slipped through outside hallway. She could see the glow of searchlights going back and forth across the compound, as more than one hallway intersected each other.

Kara peeked her head around a corner-no Cylons. She followed the flickers of light that canvassed the compound. Finally, she came to the last hallway that led into a courtyard. There was a guard tower about a hundred yards to her right, with a searchlight on it. She waited a few minutes to find the timing of when the light moved. It moved about every thirty seconds.

Her best bet would be to get as close under the light tower as she could, as it could not point straight down, and was meant to light up the main courtyard. There was a another guard tower off to the north, in front of her, but after studying that one, she was satisfied that it didn't intersect the one nearest her.

Kacey, incredibly, had been dead quiet. Now Kara grabbed her, and moved slowly but steadily toward the light tower, hugging the wall next to her. She hadn't thought of covering their heads-both had platinum blonde hair, and it would shine off the light if they were illuminated.

Kara could do nothing about that now. She had made it to the far corner, to the right of the guard tower, two Centurions on top, looking more outward than downward. Kara knew they'd have to go slow and stealthy, not making any sound if they could help it. From the corner that she was at, to the other corner of the large, square compound, was about two-hundred yards. From there, it was another hundred yards to the gate. She'd worry about the gate when she got to it.

She kept an eye on the rotating beacon, stopping and crouching when the late shone out in the courtyard. It stayed there for a good fifteen seconds, then began to move away. Kara then moved a little more, feeling more vulnerable as she got closer to the opposite corner, where there was a better chance for the light to catch her. Her real worry was once she approached the gate.

She made it to the corner-now only the gate remained. From where she was, she saw no Centurions at the gate entrance. It didn't mean they weren't there, but she could see none. That gate was not a solid piece of metal, but had horizontal slats up and down it's length. The slats might be large enough for she and Kacey to crawl through, although it might be kind of tight for Starbuck.

They were committed. They would find out shortly.

Kara's pace slowed as they were more out in the open moving along the wall that had the gate. Once the light began to move toward the courtyard, Kara ducked her head and Kacey's as far down as she could, so their blonde hair wouldn't reflect. It took her ten minutes to go that hundred yards, until she was next to the fence.

Remarkably, there were no Centurions at the fence. She couldn't believe it. Perhaps The Cylons had very few prisoners in the compound, and didn't need to worry about feet on the ground next to the fence. Or maybe it was an oversight. Whichever it was, Kara and Kacey slowly moved toward the fence. This is where they'd have to move a little faster.

As expected, Starbuck was able to push Kacey through the lowest slats, although it was even a bit of a pinch for the little girl. Just as Kacey landed on the other side, the floodlight began to swing back. Kacey now instinctively ducked, although it was doubtful that, where she was, the light would have reflected off of her. Kara, however, was in as vulnerable position as she had been for this whole journey. She ducked her head behind her body, until the light passed.

Kara looked at the space between the metal. This isn't gonna be fun, she thought to herself. To make less noise, she now kicked off her shoes, and threw placed them on the other side of the fence. She simply couldn't roll through, as Kacey had, not with a woman's body. She thought for a moment how best to get through. To get stuck would probably mean death for both of them.

She decided to go feet-first, since she knew the feet would make it through. She was right, and she was able to slide in up to the bottom of her thighs. That's when the pinching began. She slowly maneuvered first her left leg, relaxing the upper leg as much as possible. When she got as far as the middle of her butt, her progress halted. It was pinching her tightly, and her leg instinctively tensed up.

Relax, Thrace, she said in her mind, softly moving her hand to try and massage the thigh through. It took a good minute, but she was able to slip her left thigh through. Since her right side was her dominant side, she knew her right thigh was a little bigger, and as she maneuvered that side in, she felt a sharp slice across the front of her leg: the very bottom of the top-most slat was very sharp, and it sliced into her leg. It took all her effort not to make a sound.

The floodlight would be returning shortly, but Kara didn't panic, at least not yet. She had time. She just needed to remain calm and concentrate. After a few more tugs, she was able to free her now-bleeding right leg through the slats, which had a little give, but not a whole hell of a lot.

Now would come the hard part; her chest and her head.

She didn't have huge breasts, but they were big enough, and the human skull didn't have the pliability that her thighs had. She maneuvered awkwardly onto her back, slipped her arms through as much as she could, then slid her body up to the very bottom of her breasts. She paused for a moment. She knew she had about two minutes before the light returned.

Kara slowly put her hands over her head, palms up, and began pushing against the metal on that side of the fence, in an effort to slide her chest through. She had about half her breasts through, when her hand slipped, making only a slight sound, but changing her position on the fence, and the metal sliced hard into her left breast, just below her nipple, one of the more sensitive areas of her body. The skin there was not as thick as it was on her thigh, and the pain here was more than just a nuisance. It hurt like hell. Again, she used all her will not to scream, or even make a sound.

The pain died down within thirty seconds, Kara breathing heavier now. She was running out of time. She reset the position of her body, raised her hand over her head again, and pushed against the metal, both her breasts being painfully pinched, but no other cuts were evident. She knew both would be badly bruised.

With her breasts through, she turned her head sideways, and with all the strength she had, was able to move the metal slats ever so slightly. She did scrape her left cheek as she moved through, and felt the warmth of blood on her face, but she knew she would get through now. She popped her head through, wiped the blood off the metal, then she and Kacey froze as the floodlight swung by again. They were safe from the light on this side.

There was one more, unmanned fence exactly like this one, to get through, about twenty yards further north. But with the first gate between them and the floodlight, Kara knew they could move a little more freely. With the experience of the first fence behind her, she was able to move she and Kacey through the second gate much faster.

As the floodlight swung back into the courtyard, Kara caught a metallic gleam off to the east, and knew there were at least a few Cylon Centurions off in that direction, perhaps three hundred yards away. She and Kacey would have to stay low until they reached a small hill about fifty yards directly north. They could then duck behind that, and Kara could get a better sense of the lay of the land, and,hopefully, see the lights from New Caprica.

She put Kacey on her back, and crawled slowly on all fours to the hill, finally able to move she and Kacey to an area where they couldn't be seen. She gathered herself for a minute, then looked around her in all directions.

There.

To her northwest, she could see the low clouds lit up by a phalanx of light from the ground. That had to be New Caprica. There was no place else on the surface that could generate that much light.

It was two miles through a small forest, and some underbrush, both of them getting a few scratches on the way, but nothing serious.

When she broke into the clear, she could see New Caprica directly in front of her. The dreary settlement was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. She was able to orient herself quickly. There weren't too many people around, and she easily avoided them, knowing exactly where her home was.

Arriving there a few minutes later, her heart pounded, as she was finally able to think of Sam, wrapping her arms around him, and simply feeling the warmth of another human being that she loved.

She grabbed the heavy tent flap, and swung it open...

...In a moment, someone yelled "who the hell are you?"

Kara almost jumped out of her skin, instantly moving into a protective stance around Kacey. "Who the hell are you", she challenged, "and what the frak are you doing in my house?"

There was a gasp. The unknown person, an older woman moved forward. "Are...are you Kara Thrace?"

Starbuck looked at her in shock. "Who are you, lady?" Kara was holding her ground.

"Oh, my gods", the woman said, "you're alive!"

Kara shook her head in confusion. "What the frak is going on?"

"Captain Thrace...please...I think I need to take you to see Colonel Tigh. Everyone thought you were dead!"

"Dead?" Kara had a bad feeling about this.

Tigh was in his quarters with Ellen, sharing a rare quiet evening when he heard the knock on the wood of his tent.

"You expecting any visitors, Saul?"

"No", he replied quickly. "No meetings or anything tonight." He got up and walked to the flap in his tent, and flung it open.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

"My gods", he exclaimed, his remaining eye flying open. "Starbuck!"

The woman who had delivered Kara and Kacey had beat a hasty retreat. Tigh grabbed the younger woman, with a child in her arms, and brought her in.

Kara put Kacey down for a moment. Surprising Starbuck, Tigh grabbed her and gave her a tight, emotional embrace. "We thought you were dead, Thrace", he said in a shaky voice. "We were convinced you were dead."

"I'm not, thank the gods, I've still got some..." She stopped and looked at the grizzled older man. He looked terrible: his one eye was missing, he had lost a severe amount of weight, and he walked with a limp, using a stick.

"My gods, Colonel", Kara said in alarm, "what happened to you."

"The Cylons, of course, but that can wait. Come in and sit down, young lady." When they were seated, Ellen fetched them each a cold glass of water, then she excused herself into the bedroom, knowing this was something that Saul needed to handle.

When they were comfortable, Tigh looked over Starbuck. "You've got some injuries, Kara."

Kara shook her head. "Nothing that can't wait a short while, Colonel. I'm fine right now."

For the first time, Tigh eyed the toddler that now sat on Starbuck's lap. "Who is this young lady on your lap, Thrace."

"This", she said with a steadying breath, "is my...daughter...Kacey."

Again, Tigh's eyes widened.

Kara then thought about her run-in with the older woman at her...at what she thought was her home.

"Saul, where is Sam? That woman is in our home. Where is he at?"

Tigh broke the news to her.

Ellen had to come out and help calm Kara down for a while, so upset she had become over the news of Sam's death. Mercifully, Ellen was able to settle Kacey down in the bedroom, and the little girl fell fast asleep, Ellen sitting in a chair next to the bed, dozing off herself in watch over Kacey.

When Kara had calmed, Tigh rose and fetched a bottle of what was clearly alcohol.

"Believe it or not, Thrace, I don't drink much any more, but you and I, we have a lot to cover tonight, and I both think we'll need some of this.

They were up almost til dawn, catching each other up. Saul had been right-the alcohol had been needed.