Zack found that he was indeed enjoying New Caprica. The colony had a similar feel to the New Liberty Colony save the different makeup of its residents. And the planet itself was a pleasant garden world for human life, with the local season approximating spring.

It made his decision quite easy to follow through on.

Another sunny day was promised and with Clara attending a morning shift at the local hospital, he had the day to himself. He left Clara's apartment and started to walk around the colony again. Part of it was simple sight-seeing, but another part was a personal errand.

The blue light of his omnitool came to life over his left hand. He was getting a comm call. He tapped the light and was pleasantly surprised to see Julia's face appear on a holographic image hovering over his left forearm. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," she answered. "How is your leave going?"

"It's great. Clara's been showing me to all of the fun sights on New Caprica," Zack said. He stopped walking and leaned against the nearby building. "Anything new?"

"Rob's still in the coma," Julia said, shaking her head. "Leo thought he was picking up signs of increased neural activity but he's not sure what it means."

Zack nodded once in acknowledgement. "Right. Well, I suppose we'll see how it goes. I guess you'll be transferring him to the Fleet Hospital?"

"In a few days, when we're officially back on duty." Julia leaned forward at her desk. "Although that's going to be tricky if I don't find a new first officer."

"I guess Nick's still saying 'No'? You can ask Jarod."

"I will, but I'm not sure he'll take it either."

Zack shook his head. "If that's an attempt to get me to say yes, sorry Julie."

"Rats," she sighed, but there was a small smile on her face. "I didn't think so. But I figured I'd give it a shot."

Zack chuckled at that. "Well, I'm sure Maran's going to have a list of good candidates for it, at least."

"Oh, he does. But I think it'll be easier if it's someone already with the crew. Anyway, don't let me keep you from enjoying your leave. Say hello to Clara for me?"

"I will," Zack promised. An amused grin came to his face. "And I'll do the same for Lee Adama." He tapped the control to end the call just as Julia's expression showed her (likely slight) irritation.

With the call ended, he returned to the errand at hand. Not even a block further down the street was his destination, with the sign above the door reading "New Caprica Jeweler" in blue lettering on a white background.

Had Zack not been thinking of other things, he might have noticed the hooded woman he beamed down with walking down the street as well. She ignored his presence in turn, continuing on from the Jeweler until she arrived at a side entrance to the Government Building. With rapid key presses on the holographic interface beside the door, she triggered it to open and went inside.

Julia was still working on her paperwork before she received a call confirming that Jarod and Angel had arrived and wanted to see her and the others immediately. She agreed and called an impromptu conference in the senior officer conference lounge off of the Bridge.

When Julia arrived, she found Leo had arrived ahead of her. Jarod and Angel were in seats and he was actively examining them. "They do good work on New Liberty," Leo said. "Although I wish you hadn't let it go so long without direct treatment."

"We needed to get out of there," Angel pointed out. "Getting medical help was out of the question." She turned her head. Concern and a little fear were in her hazel eyes, which were now looking directly at Julia. "Where's Cat?" she asked.

"Still on Vulcan attending that science conference," Julia said. "She's due home tomorrow. Why? What's wrong?"

The door opened behind her. Nick Locarno entered. Several moments later Meridina joined them with Lucy in tow. Julia let her question go unanswered until Scotty and Tom Barnes arrived.

Once everyone was paying attention Jarod informed them of their encounter at Corwinville. "I don't think this was random," he said, displaying an image of their attacker. "I think we were deliberately targeted."

"Just what was this thing?" Julia studied it. "It looks Human, at least."

"Apparently they're also called 'Pretenders'," Angel remarked, giving Jarod a look. "I hope you haven't been holding out on us, Jarod."

"There are times I wish I could have been that fast," he answered.

"Maybe they had cybernetic enhancement," Leo proposed. "If the cybernetics were all internal…"

"My omnitool's passive sensors showed no sign of any cybernetics," Jarod said, shaking his head.

"Besides, I doubt cybernetics were responsible for that thing's voice," Angel added. "It was raspy. Like a Zigonian with laryngitis. And that thing was unbeatable with how quick and strong it was."

"What about your rescuer?" Meridina asked.

"She didn't give a name, and she certainly had an attitude of her own," Angel remarked. "Some kind of bounty hunter, I think."

"And again, it's just a coincidence she happened to come after this thing when it attacked us?" Jarod asked. "She even knew who we were." He shook his head. "There's more to this than a random attack."

"I concur with Jarod," said Meridina. "This cannot be random chance."

"Until we know for sure, all we can do is be careful," Julia remarked. ''Put together reports and file them with Maran. Alliance Intelligence can look into what these other 'Pretenders' are. If there's nothing else?" When nobody responded, Julia nodded and said, "Then you're all dismissed. And it's good to have everyone back."

"Almost everyone," Angel said, sadness in her voice.

Julia nodded and felt her mind drift at that remark. Not knowing if Robert would ever wake up… she reminded herself it was better than him being dead, but the uncertainty of his situation was a terrible pain in its own right.

She pushed away that thought and called out, "Jarod, a minute?" She had spoken just as he got to the door. He turned and walked back to the table while the others continued to file out. "I need to discuss something with you."

Jarod nodded without speaking a word.

She went right to business. "I need a new first officer," Julia said. "Your name is on the top of the list automatically."

Jarod initially responded with a chuckle. "I imagined you'd ask sooner or later."

"And?"

"I am not interested, and you know that," he replied, shaking his head.

A resigned sigh was Julia's first reaction. "Well, it has to be someone," she insisted. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Jarod shrugged. "Honestly I'm not sure anyone on the crew is interested. I know Nick isn't. Scotty's happy in Engineering. Angel likely isn't, and I don't see them giving her a two-grade promotion either. And that just leaves…" Jarod stopped. His face turned thoughtful.

Julia gave him a quizzical look. Said look became one of realization when she figured out what Jarod had meant. "Do you think…"

"All you can do is ask," he said.

With his errands for the day done, Zack spent the rest of his free day seeing to curiosity. Said curiosity led him to the primary school, where he waited outside for the day's instruction to end. Children there waved at him, and some even approached him to ask when he would come back to see their leagues play. He gave them the best answers he could and sent them on their way.

"You've become very popular with the children."

Zack heard the words and turned slightly to face the speaker. Laura Roslyn was in a simple civilian jacket of blue color over a dark-colored shirt, with a blue skirt. Zack almost called her "Madame President" but stopped himself. "Ms. Roslyn."

"Commander." She nodded. "It's good to see you. I hear you've been busy."

Zack furrowed his brow. "Does everyone here interest themselves in what I'm up to?"

To that Roslyn laughed. "Only those of us who stay in contact with Ms. Davis," Roslyn said. "I see her often enough."

At that Zack winced and said, "Sorry, I forgot. How are you feeling?"

"The cancer's been gone and isn't coming back, thank you," she answered. "But that's not the only reason I see Clara. She's our on-call nurse for tending to the children."

"Right." Zack looked over the small building that functioned as the colony school. It was a prefab structure made to resemble a brick-built building, three stories high and about a hundred and twenty meters by forty in size. From the front he could just make out the fence for the outside recess area. "You enjoy this more, don't you?" he asked her.

"You mean am I satisfied going from President to the head of a school?" Roslyn laughed. "I started in this profession. I got into politics to promote education. As far as my heart is concerned, this is where I belong."

"Is that why Baltar supported the appointment?"

"Possibly. Although given his mentality, he may have seen it as putting me in my place, so to speak," she said.

Zack was suspicious that was the true motivation. Baltar had always struck him as being full of himself and convinced of his own superiority. "And how is the President of the Colonies? Clara tells me a lot about life here, but not how the politics are going."

Roslyn chuckled softly. "Baltar is busy being Baltar. Zarek is running the show in the Quorum."

"Well, I suppose it could be worse."'

"Yes, it could be." Roslyn smiled at him. "Your people are the reason it's not."

"The pleasure is ours, ma'am," he answered.

Angel was waiting at the terminal of the Fleet Base for Caterina's shuttle when it arrived. She smiled despite herself at the sight of her happy sister emerging hand-in-hand with her girlfriend Violeta. "So, how was the egghead party?" Angel asked teasingly.

"Angel!" Cat ran up and hugged her. "Where have you been? Everyone said they had no idea where you were off to."

"Oh, just wandering," Angel said, completely truthful in word without giving away a bit of the truth. "And you didn't answer me. How was Vulcan?"

"For my poor Vee, boring," Cat said. "It was pretty exciting for me, though. The combination of scientific communities in different universes is leading to a lot of new ideas and discoveries about subspace, hyperspace, and other fields related to exotic physics."

"Sounds boring to me too," Angel teased, wrapping an arm around Cat's shoulders. "And is it just me, or did you grow taller in that time you were with the Doctor?"

"Oh, maybe an inch. I doubt I'll grow any taller though."

"So you're still my little sister. That's a relief."

Both giggled in amusement at that while Violeta smiled quietly. With Angel's arm still on Cat's shoulders, they started walking through the terminal on their way to the terminal exit.

Meridina found a sense of relief in returning to her quarters for the first time in weeks. It surprised her how much she missed the ship, and her place on it, and that prompted a moment of reflection on how her life had changed over the past year. The way her decisions had played out, and how different things were compared to what she had expected.

Looking back, one thing was clear; she did not regret any of the major decisions that brought her to this point. Lucy's success had confirmed the wisdom of those decisions.

Meridina finished swapping out her uniform for her basic garments and sat at her work desk to begin examining the security roster. She was pleased to see Lieutenant Richmond was remaining with the crew as one of her assistant chiefs. But the number of new names were a painful reminder of those who were not present any longer.

She began to write up a short address to the new officers and security personnel. Her progress had brought her to the third paragraph when her door chime sounded. For a brief moment Meridina thought it might be Lucy, but her senses felt Lucy to be too far away to be the one at the door. "You may enter," she called out from the desk.

The door slid open and Julia stepped in, still in uniform. "Again, welcome back," she said. "How was home?"

Meridina looked up from her screen. A thoughtful look came to her face. "It is an interesting question for me, Captain."

"These are your quarters, Meridina, first names work for me here," Julia insisted. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Because I am thinking of this ship as my home," Meridina replied.

Julia smiled at that. "You and me both. Then how was Gersal?"

"More quiet and safe than it was during my prior visit," she admitted. "Lucy's training has ended. She has proven herself to be a powerful knight."

"That's good to hear. So what's next for you?"

"Duties. Lucy will remain my training partner if not my student, but that is for my off-hours." Meridina gestured to her system. "I am currently preparing a statement to give to my new security staff."

Julia nodded once. "Right," she said. "Actually, that brings me to what I was going to ask you."

"What is it you wish to ask?"

"Well…" Julia sat down in one of the few spare chairs in the room, usually Lucy's. "I know this wasn't really your calling," she said. "You joined up to watch over us specifically due to all of this 'Bearers of the Dawn' stuff."

"Yes," Meridina said. "I never intended to make my place permanent. But my destiny took me down a path I did not expect. I am an officer of the Stellar Navy and nothing else, now."

"I'm glad to hear you say that, because that's why I'm coming to you." Julia leaned forward. "I need a first officer, Meridina."

Meridina tilted her head slightly, seeming a little confused. "Well, I shall be glad to assist you in determining who best suits…"

"That's not what I'm here to ask," Julia said. "I'm here to ask you if you'd take the post."

Meridina's expression betrayed her surprise, and more than a little uncertainty. "You want me to be the first officer?"

"Yes," said Julia. "I do."

Tag

The sun was out again with few clouds in the sky over New Caprica. Given the months he'd spent in space, being under a sunny blue sky yet again was something Zack was thoroughly enjoying. After another day of walking around the colony (and checking up on things at the jeweler) Zack walked into the main entrance of the New Caprica Hospital. The lobby area had a fine gray carpet with red lines running a pattern over it. Plushy chairs were available for those waiting to see the administration or simply waiting.

Zack never got a chance to sit. Clara emerged from the offices with a young woman with a round face and brown hair. After a few moments Zack recognized her as Cally Tyrol. They walked up to him and Clara planted a small kiss on his cheek. "Did you wait for long?" she asked.

"Not at all," he said. He looked to Cally. "Cally Tyrol, right?'

"You remembered me," she said, grinning.

"Yeah. Although I thought you were in the technical crew for the Galactica?"

"I applied for early release to begin medical studies," she answered. "I'm trying to get into dental school."

"You want to be a dentist? I never knew that." Zack extended his hand. When she took it he said, "Good luck with that."

"Doctor Zhu offered to give her a recommendation to a dental school on New Canton L2M1," said Clara. "She's working toward that now. And she was a big help this morning, so I'd like to invite her to lunch."

"You don't have to," Cally said. "I should probably get home to my baby."

"Isn't Galen watching little Nicky?" Clara asked.

"He is. But I don't want to make him wait."

"Call him up and ask him to meet us at that Italian place on 2nd, then. I'm buying," Zack said.

Cally smiled at that and reached into her pocket for a comm unit. While she spoke with Galen Zack and Clara stood by the door, giving her space. "That's sweet of you," said Clara. "All of your war hero earnings burning a hole in your pocket?"

Zack chuckled. "Yeah. Well, I've gotten some prize money for shooting up Nazi troop transports and cargo carriers," he admitted. "It's something to make up for not having my quarters on the Aurora for all that time."

"You didn't when you were traveling with the Fleet," she pointed out.

"No." He grinned at her. "But I had other benefits as soon as a lovely nurse showed up to brighten my Fridays." Clara giggled at that in the moment before their lips met for another kiss.

The kiss ended when Cally stepped up to them, grinning as well. "Galen's going to meet us. Although he's not entirely sure what 'Italian' is."

"Pasta, nice cheese, and tomato-based sauce," Zack answered while they stepped out of the door. "That about sums up Italian if you ask me."

"It's a little more than that," Clara pointed out.

"Well, yeah, I forgot to mention pizza," Zack agreed.

"Oh, I know that one!" Cally nodded, grinning. "It's that big wheel of baked dough with stuff on top."

"Just another wonder that came from the country shaped like a boot."

Again a confused expression came to Cally's face. Clara activated her multidevice and, with a couple taps, brought up a general information page on Earth and zoomed in on Italy. "Ohhhh," was Cally's response.

The three crossed the street and stepped up to the waiting station for a public bus. On this side of the street was a line of shops, including a candy store and a florist, "Remind me to get you a car," Zack said to Clara.

"There's not much to drive on yet," Clara replied.

"Yeah, but it would mean less walking."

"The bus will be here any moment."

Clara's prediction proved accurate. The bus came around the far corner to their left and approached. Zack urged it onward if only to get off his feet.

In the upper periphery of his vision, he noticed flashes of light. Out of curiosity he looked up while a shadow blotted out the sun.

His jaw dropped in utter surprise. A moment later instinct took over.

Cally and Clara both cried out in surprise at having Zack grab them and pull them toward the ground. As they went down the air filled with the telltale roar of weapons fire. The bus they had been waiting for was perforated by high velocity rounds that cut it, and the occupants, to pieces.

All three looked up. "Oh Gods," came from Cally, her voice brimming with absolute terror at the same sight Zack had just seen.

The sky over New Caprica Colony was no longer clear.

The Cylons had arrived.