Dr. Baltar continued to gain in the polls. Through the use of speculations and deliberate misinformation he had managed to convince the voters that the missiles fired on the Pegasus were Colonial in origin and had been part of the armament of a ship that had crashed on the surface decades ago. He even had talked about plans to send marines to capture the missile launchers intact, so they could be upgraded and used to defend the planet, which he now called New Caprica, in case it was discovered by the Cylons.
Meanwhile, Starbuck had returned to Galactica with the resistance fighters, much to the delight of Admiral William Adama. This also meant that there were now enough raptors available to land ground teams on the planet for a more extensive survey mission before the settlement would begin.
Fearing that she had indeed lost the presidential race, Roslin took several desperate measures to still win the election, even going as far as allowing her supporters, Colonel Tigh among them, to go ahead and switch out the ballots in her favor. However, Lt. Gaeta discovered that the ballots had been tampered with. Baltar had won the election and Admiral Adama managed to convince him not launch an investigation. President-elect Baltar then ordered him to set a course for "New Caprica".
Aboard the battlestar Pegasus Commander Lee Adama was holding a mission briefing for the ground teams. Raptor crews, marines, and several civilians were present. Among the civilians were geologists, botanists, zoologists, and civil engineers.
"We have managed to pinpoint the location from where the missiles were fired at the Pegasus", Commander Lee Adama said. The marines, who make up team alpha, will land here", he pointed at the map, "and attempt to capture the missile installation intact. Watch out for automated defenses and booby traps", he cautioned.
Several marines nodded.
"Team Beta will land at our main landing site over there", he pointed at another part of the map, "where the ground is even enough to land most of the civilian ships. You will inspect the landing site and report anything that could lead to problems."
"Team Charlie will land a little further south, right here, where we are going to establish our main settlement.
"The other teams will explore various points of interest across the habitable zone of the planet. All raptor pilots will be provided with the coordinates of your designated landing sites. All teams are to report in once every hour, any hostile encounters or unusual events are to be reported immediately. All teams except team Alpha will return for debriefing 12 hours after launch. Team Alpha will guard the missile installation until being relieved. Any questions?" Commander Lee Adama asked.
The fleet jumped into orbit of Magrathea/New Caprica. All ships appeared in bright flashes of light, one after another.
"Jump completed, we are in orbit around New Caprica", one of the crewmembers in Galactica's CIC reported.
"All ships have been accounted for", Dualla reported.
"Send word to the Pegasus to launch the initial ground teams onto the surface", Adama ordered. "Let's get a good look at our new home. Gods help us all".
Aboard Colonial One, in front of the cameras and microphones of the assembled reporters, with the representatives of the Quorum of the Twelve next to him, president Baltar was sworn into office as president of the twelve Colonies. A priest was standing next to the newly elected president, reading the oath of office from a scroll, while Baltar repeated after him.
"If you raise your right hand and repeat after me: I, Gaius Baltar, do now avow and affirm..." the priest said.
"I, Gaius Baltar, do now avow and affirm..." Baltar raised his hand and repeated.
"...that I take the office of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol without any moral reservation or mental evasion..." the priest continued.
"...that I take the office of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol without any moral reservation or mental evasion..." Baltar continued repeating.
"...That I will protect and defend the Articles of Colonization..." the priest went on.
"...That I will protect and defend the Articles of Colonization..." Baltar kept repeating
"...with every fiber of my being", the priest finished.
"...with every fiber of my being", Baltar finished repeating
Gina Inviere sat in her quarters, naked, crying. She watched the broadcast of Gaius Baltar's inauguration, while the timer on the nuclear device beside her was ticking away.
"Congratulations, Mr. President", the priest said and shook Baltar's hand. Others congratulated the new president and the crowd applauded. Laura Roslin looked at him, defeated and disappointed.
Suddenly Gina could hear a strange mechanical wheezing, groaning sound behind her, slowly getting louder and louder.
"I accept the role offered to me by the Colonies with humility and gratitude. Thank you. Gentlemen, wait. And now, because it was the first will of the people, I am going to sign my first executive order, requiring to immediately establish settlements on the planet we have come to know as New Caprica", President Baltar announced. Laura Roslin stood next to William Adama, their disgust at Baltar's arrogance clearly visible on their faces.
As Gina turned around, she saw a tall, blue wooden box slowly fading into existence behind her.
"You have your orders", Baltar said to Adama, who looked at him silently. The first ships would land as soon as the ground teams had returned and been debriefed.
The box appearing in Gina's quarters had the words "Police Box" written on all sides and a white light on top of the box was flashing. Gina rubbed her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She got up from the floor and picked up her clothes. The box had now completely materialized and the sound had stopped. She had quickly put her clothes back on and stood there staring when suddenly the door of the strange blue box flung open and a skinny man in a brown pinstripe suit jumped out.
She didn't scream. She just stood there in shock with her mouth open, staring at the box and the strange man. He quickly looked around in her quarters, at her furniture, the nuclear device, then at her. He seemed hyperactive, as if he had had way too much coffee.
"Strange, this doesn't look like 12th century Japan to me", the jumpy man said with an accent very similar to Baltar's, but not quite.
Then he pulled something that looked like a pen with a blue light on it out of the pocket of his jacket, and pointed it at the nuclear device. The strange tool emitted a noise and the countdown immediately stopped.
"Aah, that's better", he said, putting that weird pen back into his pocket. "Those countdown clock things always make me kinda nervous, you know?"
"Who or what are you?" Gina finally managed to speak.
"I am the Doctor", the man introduced himself. "And it's actually not the countdown clock that makes me nervous, but the device it's hooked up to", he corrected himself.
Author's note: I have not described the details of Starbuck's rescue mission to Caprica, the discovery of the model one Cylons, or Chief Tyrol's struggle with his nightmares, since those events happen exactly as shown in the season 2 finale. For the same reason I only briefly summarize Roslin's actions and the election. I admit that this and the previous chapter were kinda dry, but I felt that I needed to include the election campaign to show how my story is now slowly beginning to diverge from the series. The next chapters are going to be more exciting.