Admiral Maran's call to the Aurora after the meeting with the Cylons brought with it an unexpected occasion. The screen displaying the Gersallian admiral was split, allowing a second image depicting President Morgan himself, seated in an office. His presence brought enough weight that even Barnes held himself in check.

"It seems clear that the Cylons are gambling on the war holding back our response," the President was saying. "Otherwise I'm not sure why they would bother with such unacceptable terms."

"We cannot be sure they are so concerned," Meridina noted. "The Cylons are driven by a religious devotion. They may believe victory to be possible based on those beliefs."

"Whatever they believe, do they seriously think we'll force Sharon Agathon to give up her child to them?" Julia asked. "We know they've been spying on us. They've got to know we wouldn't do that."

"They may decide we would take the utilitarian position that a single life is not worth the casualties of a war." Maran's expression didn't shift from its usual stoic quiet, but Julia thought there was an element of apology in his voice when he resumed speaking. "They're certainly pressuring us. The rest of the fleet has identified more Basestars jumping into Alliance space. Our strategic analysts and simulations indicate they may be moving toward Hal'tiram."

"There are millions of Dorei colonists on that world," Jarod said.

"Yes. And we can't let the Cylons attack them. I've diverted most of our fleet to assist General Jinam in protecting the planet. The rest are heading to other potential targets in the area."

Angel frowned at that. "But without the fleet, how can we stop them here at New Caprica? With their upgrades they've got more than enough firepower to fight the Aurora. The Koenig alone isn't enough backup."

"Where is the Koenig?"

"On a special assignment, Admiral," Julia answered immediately, and the look on her face made it clear to the others that she didn't want its location divulged over even an encrypted channel. Sector-wide communications were still mostly compromised, and only the advanced communications arrays on the Aurora allowed it this sort of real-time communication.

Considering the way he nodded in acknowledgement, Maran had clearly picked up on her concern. He left it for Morgan to continue speaking. "We have no further instructions for you at this time, Captain," said President Morgan. "You handle things as best as you can on your end and we'll do what we can here. But under no circumstances will the Alliance accept the Cylon terms as they are. Especially not this term of child abduction. Offer the Cylons alternative terms as you and Mastrash Ledosh see fit. We'll back up your judgement if you have to take any action."

"I hear you, sir," she said. She took in a short breath and steeled herself. Morgan was leaving the situation in her hands. He was showing immense trust in her.

A cynic might have noted that he was also ensuring hers was the primary responsibility should anything go wrong.

"Very good. Morgan out." The two men disappeared from the screen.

"So what's our goal here? Delay them?" asked Locarno.

"Yes," Julia said. "Delay them and wait for our opportunity to move. That's all we can do at this point." She looked to Jarod next. "When is the Koenig going to re-establish contact?"

"As soon as they launch the Gonzalez. Then they're going to move nearby so we can reach them by narrow-beam transmission."

"Good. As soon as they let us know they're in position, send them Maran's orders. Everyone, you're dismissed."

The others filed out of the room with the sole exception of Meridina. She waited until they were gone before saying, "I sense your unease."

Julia felt a brief spurt of irritation before chuckling. "I suppose this is what I get for asking a telepath to be my First Officer," she said.

"You have never voiced problems with my abilities before."

"No, and I'm still not. I'm just…" Julia rested her head on her hand. "I guess I've still got some adjustment period."

"As do I. And our situation is not the best for such adjustment."

"They want me and Ledosh to delay the Cylons. I just have to figure out how. They're not going to let us sit here and throw excuses at them. We'll need a real reason to keep them hooked without making it look too easy."

"They have to know that it would take time to locate Hera Agathon," Meridina said. "To expect her immediate arrival would be unrealistic. What we should be more concerned with is how to deal with the Cylon ships once the deflector systems on New Caprica are restored. We will need help."

"Or some way to even the odds." The options seemed limited. Despite all of the intel from the Colonials and the recovered Cylon remains from the failed boarding over Caprica, their knowledge of the Cylons was still limited. They didn't even have any of the computer coding that ran the Cylons…

Meridina noticed the sudden rush in Julia's thoughts even as she noticed the subtle change in her expression. She stood in conjunction with Julia. "Meridina, you have the bridge. Tell Jarod to meet me in Science Lab 1, on the double." She waited only long enough for Meridina to nod before heading off.

With the Koenig almost to the launch point, the final briefing to determine the strike team's goals was being held in the ship's conference room. Colonel Deering was joined by Lieutenant Pete Lindstrom, the senior Aurora security officer in charge of the squads sent to join the strike team. Wilma allowed Lindstrom to bring up the map of the New Caprica Colony and the site of its main defenses.

The emitter that operated the defensive shield to protect the colony was located almost directly in the center of the colony, which put it in the park area by the government complex. The control hardware was located directly in the Presidential Mansion for ease of access for the military personnel directly answering to President Baltar. "You know," said Jack O'Neill, "I can't imagine the idea of putting something like that in the White House."

"It actually makes some sense," Lucy pointed out. "Especially since this isn't just a single capital city but the only settlement. And it would be best to keep it close to the emitter."

"What about backups?" Sam asked.

"According to the records, they're in the bunker system," Wilma replied. "But the Cylons will likely be in control of any remaining entrance point."

"So instead we go for what's probably their HQ," Daniel pointed out. "That doesn't really sound that much easier."

"You'll be wearing these." Lindstrom held up an object, a small silver-sheened device. He tapped it with his finger and wavered out of sight. A second later he re-appeared. "The cloaking devices have a set amount of battery time, but if we keep the pace we should secure our targets before the batteries run out."

"Who is going where?" asked Buck.

"Technical Officer Reubens and Ensign Kripkt are cross-trained in engineering," Lindstrom noted, identifying a broad-shouldered woman and a gray-feathered Alakin male in his squads. "They can get the deflector up and running at the emitter, and tie in the reactor. That's Plan B, of course."

"We'll be better off if we can secure the actual controls," Wilma said. "Which means we need our best technical experts on the team going into the Presidential Mansion."

"That would be me and Major Carter," Lucy noted.

"Exactly. And to make things run smoothly, the rest of Major Carter's team will join her. As will Buck and I."

"And presumably Gina will be with Team B?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Lindstrom said.

Gina acknowledged this with a nod.

"Any further questions?" Wilma asked.

There were none.

The long twilight continued to shine waning light on the Dale family home. Robert sat alone by a window and looked out upon the storm that remained, for the moment, on the horizon. But it seemed to have drawn closer, ever so closer. He wondered why. Was it because he was feeling doubts about staying in this place? Because his memories of the world as it actually was had surfaced so strongly?

"Strudel?" a wizened voice asked.

Robert turned his head to where Grandma Anna was standing, bearing a plate of chocolate-topped strudel pastries. He knew without asking that strawberry filling was inside of them. Memories of enjoying those treats as a child briefly crossed his mind. He took the offered plate and said, "Thank you". He took a bite. The taste brought a warm smile to his face. It was as good as he remembered.

"You looked like you needed it," Anna said. "You carry so much on your shoulders, mein kleiner."

"I brought it on myself," he answered. "I could have done things differently. Lived quietly. But I wanted to help people. To save people from suffering. And it led to… well, it led to big things. Bigger than anything I ever thought I could be part of."

Anna nodded and sat beside him in a nearby chair. "And I am proud of you, Robert. I am so proud. You have done many good things in your young life. I wish I could say the same."

Robert reached out and took her hand. "You raised me to recognize what evil was," he said to her. "Just as you raised Dad and Aunt Lilly."

"It was all I could do." There was shame in her eyes. "I was just another follower when I was young. A loyal maiden of the BDM. I never stopped to think about how wrong it all was. I lived with evil and did nothing."

"There was nothing you could have done, you were just one girl," Robert said.

Anna shook her head. "No. I could have resisted in small ways. There were girls who did. Sometimes they even got away with it. I could have done the same. But I wanted to show I was loyal. That I was a good German girl."

Regret came to Robert. In truth, Anna had died when he was still young, when he was still in elementary school, and too young to understand what she had experienced in the Second World War. His grandfather and parents had explained what had happened, her part in the Nazi Party's Bund Deutscher Mädel, or League of German Girls, the girl equivalent of the Hitler Youth. "I wish I was old enough to understand what you wanted to tell me," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Do not apologize for something that was out of your control," Anna chided him. "Reserve your shame and regret for the things that you could have done but did not. For lost chances in your life. I could have done more to oppose Nazi evil when it was right in front of me. I did not, and that is my shame."

The same emotion flared inside of him. "I'm doing the same thing now, aren't I?" Robert shook his head. "We're fighting them ourselves. We're in a war with Nazi Germany that I helped to start. And now I'm here instead of there."

"You have done your share," Anna said. She reached over and touched his shoulder. "More than I did. You have earned time with your family, mein kleiner."

Robert accepted the gesture quietly. Outside, the distant storm seemed to inch closer to them.

The morning sun shined over the long stretch of blacktop cutting across the open plain. Zack was riding shotgun with Anders and Thrace in the backseat, where command equipment jury-rigged into the vehicle kept him in contact with the rest of the convoy. The quiet tension that the journey had started with had given way to the anxious boredom of waiting, the "hurry up and wait" effect Zack had undesired experience with. He felt his eyes droop.

"Didn't you get enough sleep, Loverboy?" Thrace asked, a hint of teasing mockery in her voice. "Clara didn't ask for a tumble when she got in, did she?"

"No," Zack answered. "She was too tired. We just cuddled and went to sleep. Since we're inquiring, what about you? Manage any sleep, Starbuck?"

"Slept like a baby," she said. Zack knew she wasn't being truthful even before the amused snort from Anders.

"Are we going to try and rescue Baltar, if we get the chance?" Zack asked.

"Frack him," was the immediate reply from Anders. "We wouldn't be going through this if he hadn't decided to settle us here."

"Fair enough. It does make Zarek President though, doesn't it?"

"Well, you win some, you lose some," Thrace muttered.

Quiet filled the vehicle again. Zack allowed his thoughts to wander. His eyes felt heavy and they started to droop closed again.

A tone from the makeshift console beside him put a stop to that. Zack's hand went over to the control. The sensors were showing incoming contacts. "Looks like the Cylons want a go at us now," he said. "I've got fighters and heavy raiders on sensors. I'm alerting the convoy."

As best as they could, everyone looked upward to see if they could spot the approaching enemy. The defense guns of the convoy swung into position to deal with any strafing attacks. Zack watched the approaching dots on the screen as they drew closer.

Closer.

"Carrey…"

"They're almost… wait." Zack watched the display and felt his gut twist. "They're… they're not on an attack run. Not against us. I'm... " The color went out of his face. "Oh God, they're going for the refuge! They're going for the mines!"

In that second Anders had to make a choice. It was one Zack was glad he didn't have to make, the kind of choice any commander dreaded. Should he continue the operation and trust to the defenses back in the refuge? Or should he abort to ensure they didn't lose their base? Either way, people would likely die from his decision.

Zack knew the decision was made the moment the vehicle swerved to the left. "Abort!" Anders shouted into his microphone. "We're aborting! Return to the refuge immediately!"

Tigh and Zarek arrived at the makeshift command room together. "Is the shield up?" was the first thing Tigh asked.

One of Anders' volunteer militia looked up from the makeshift hardlight console that had been placed on one of the desks in the converted office. The display of the console showed a blue circle surrounding the mine facilities. Outside of the perimeter larger red dots were surrounded by a growing number of smaller ones. "We should evacuate everyone into the mine," Zarek said.

"So they can kill everyone easier?" Tigh shot back. "No, we hold out until Anders gets back."

"And if he decides to keep going?"

"Then we still hold out, Godsdammit," Tigh thundered. "But if you stuff everyone into the mine and let them take the entrance, all they have to do is shut down the ventilators and seal the entrance, or pump in poison gas. Hell, they could send a nuke down. But the end is the same; everyone dies."

"How is that any better than staying on the surface? We don't have the armed manpower to hold out that many Cylons if they get through the shield!" Zarek shouted. "If they get in, our people are going to get gunned down!"

For a moment Tigh nearly disagreed, but he stopped at the last moment. He had to admit that, yes, Zarek was right about that. They needed to get the non-combatants into the mine at least, and hope Anders got back before they were overwhelmed. "Alright," he conceded. His head turned toward another of the remaining militia members. "Sound the evacuation. I want all unarmed civilians in the mines."

Clara was making rounds in the improvised hospital ward when the sirens began screaming. A surge of fear rushed up inside of her, instinctive and terrible in its strength. Her legs seemed to lock into place.

Cottle's voice broke the spell. "We're evacuating," he announced. "I need the patients secured immediately."

Clara's training kicked in. The doctor on duty had given her orders concerning the patients. She needed to act immediately, to fulfill those instructions to ensure the needs of her patients. She immediately went to the worst case, a patient with a broken spine from being thrown by an explosion, and started to secure him to the bed.

She was in the middle of buckling one strap when she heard the whimper. Clara looked up to see Cally was frozen in place a few beds down. Her face was turning ghostly white much as Clara's had done just seconds before. "Cally!" she called out.

"When will it stop?" she whimpered. "I just want it all to end."

Clara grabbed the next set of straps and buckled them into place. As she worked she continued speaking. "I don't know. Right now we have to get these people out of here. Cally, I really need your help."

But Cally hadn't moved.

First things first. Clara grabbed the last strap and buckled it into place. She checked her handiwork with the straps and went straight for Cally afterward. Frustration and terror were in control of her expression. "Cally."

"They're going to kill us all," Cally insisted. "They're not going to stop until they kill us all!"

"Cally, I'm scared too," Clara said. "But these people need us. Please help me get them out!"

Cally visibly, and audibly, stifled a sob. Clara took her by the shoulders and embraced her. She looked over to see Cottle looking at them. The grizzled old doctor understood what was going on and said nothing for the moment. He had other matters to concentrate on.

After a minute, Cally pulled away. "I'm okay," she said. It was a lie. Both knew it. But it would stand for the moment while they worked to get the patients out.

And so they went to work, helping Cottle to get the wounded and sick out of the ward.

The mining complex hadn't been built as a potential military base. It lacked the sort of facilities that a commander could use to easily observe the defensive perimeter. Only the makeshift command room built from the offices provided something like that. Right now said room allowed Tigh and Zarek to observe feeds of the Cylons lining up outside of the shields. The centurion-model attack drones were intimidating with their size and mounted weaponry.

"Wait." Zarek looked to one feed and pointed at it. "What's that?"

Tigh turned his attention to said feed, showing a number of Cylons, including some of the "skinjob" Cylons, working on a device held on a collapsible table. "Zoom in on that thing," he ordered one of the operators.

The image zoomed in on the gray, cone-shaped object. Tigh felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. It was clearly a warhead of some kind. The cone tip looked like a projector. But what was it?

On the feed the device was set on its side. While moving the warhead the Cylons rolled it enough to expose one side marked with an emblem.

Zarek's eyes widened. "Wait, isn't that?"

"Oh hell," Tigh breathed, putting two and two together as soon as he recognized the emblem, one that he had only seen a few times before, known to its makers as the Hakenkreuz… and to the Multiverse at large as the swastika insignia of the Nazi Party.

Far above their heads, in the void of space outside the planet's atmosphere, the Starship Koenig finished moving into position under the cover of her cloaking device. They weren't far at all from one of the Cylon Basestars, this one maintaining a geosynchronous orbit over the New Caprica Colony that made it seem like a doom threatening that settlement.

The ship's shuttle bay door slid open and the Gonzalez dropped out into orbit. The assault runabout's own cloaking field obscured it from sight as well, protecting it from detection as it descended into the atmosphere at a velocity that would let its cloaking field hide the effects of atmospheric entry.

In the runabout's control cockpit, a piloting Technical Officer sat beside Lucy at the main controls. The young Gersallian, Getamanan, tapped a couple of keys. "Atmospheric entry friction is building. We're still within the cloaking device's threshold."

"Right." Lucy maintained her angle of descent to keep that margin. "Anything on sensors?"

"Life signs underneath the colony proper, and more concentrated at the nearest mountain range. Maps show it as an active mining complex… wait." The young man examined his readings. "I'm picking up multiple Cylon energy signatures in that area. I… I think they're attacking that mining complex."

Lucy nodded. And knew immediately she had a choice to make. Did they land and help the civilians fight off the attack? Or move on to the colony proper to complete their mission? "What's their status?"

"It looks like they do have a defensive shield up."

"Right. They can take care of…" Lucy glanced toward the same sensor return and stopped. Most of the power signature data showed what she would expect for Cylon units. But one… "What the hell?"

"Ma'am?"

"Don't you recognize that signature, Officer Getamanan?"

Getamanan looked it over and shook his head. "I am… not familiar with it."

"I've seen that wavelength before," she said. "It matches the active field of a Reich shield-disrupting torpedo." Lucy reached to her intercom key. "Colonel Deering, Colonel O'Neill?"

Moments later both were stepping out into the cockpit from the rear area. Unsurprisingly, Buck was behind them, not about to be left out of the conversation. "What is it, Lieutenant?" Wilma asked.

"The Cylons are about to attack a civilian target," she said. "There are thousands of people crammed into that mining complex."

"We'll lose the element of surprise if we divert," Wilma pointed out. She looked to Jack.

Lucy felt the conflict within him. He didn't want to abandon people who needed help, just as she didn't. But she could feel he was making the same calculation Wilma had. If the Cylons detected them now, without giving them a chance to bring the Colony's deflectors back up, they could - likely would - wipe out the people still in the Colony proper. "She's right," Jack said. "Proceed to our LZ, Lieutenant."

It wasn't what Lucy wanted to hear. "We're going to leave them to die," she said.

"And we're not giving ourselves away and causing even more deaths when the Cylons destroy the main colony," Wilma said.

Lucy sensed Gina was further in the back. She couldn't look away from her instruments to look her eye-to-eye, but she felt the same disapproval in Gina she felt herself. Quietly Lucy drew in a breath and concentrated, not on her flying, but on her senses, to see if her desire to help was the right course, or if Wilma and Jack were right.

She had an immediate sense of death. The problem was she couldn't narrow it down to either choice. All she could tell was that people were going to die no matter what she did. Whether she obeyed or defied their orders. She didn't know which would be worse. It made her wish Robert or Meridina were around. Robert's power seemed more in tune with sensing outcomes, and Meridina had the experience.

But they're not here. You are, Lucilla. You passed those Trials. You proved yourself. Whether the voice in her head was her own mind, thinking to herself, or the Flow of Life itself, Lucy wasn't sure. She couldn't be in these cases with the use of her power. But she knew it was right. She had to make her decision on her own, based on her feelings.

So she made her choice, and breathed a prayer that it was the right one.

"What did you say it was?" Zarek asked.

"I can't be sure what the frack it is!" Tigh shouted. "But it's a Reich weapon, and those murdering bastards have shield-disrupting torpedoes. If they fire that thing, it might just bring our shield down." Tigh tapped the multi-device on his lower left arm. "This is Colonel Tigh. The Cylons could be coming through any moment. Standby for combat. I repeat, standby for…"

On the monitor showing the Cylon weapon, the warhead suddenly lit up with light and energy. A thick, silver beam of energy shot forward from the cone and slammed into the energy field protecting the mining complex. The blue light of the shield dome flickered and crackled at the point of the silver beam's impact.

"The shield generator is burning out!" a voice cried out. "It's going to fail any…"

Tigh watched the shield fall. The Cylons rushed in, with numbers and enough heavy firepower that he knew how this would go. All he could manage was a defiant "Frak".

Julia was counting away the remaining hours until she was due to meet with the Cylon First again. She forced herself to remain in her command chair, just in case her desire to pace made people nervous. Even her friends would feel better if they saw her as confident and certain, although she was anything but.

It was clear that Meridina knew she felt that way, and felt like it herself. When she spoke, however, it was not to reassure, but to react to something on the display screen to her side. "The Koenig is in position to receive narrow-beam transmissions," she said.

"Tell them to hold tight," she replied. Julia tapped the intercom button on her chair. "Bridge to Science Lab 1. Jarod, any progress?"

"Some."

"Will it be ready before the Cylons come back?"

"Unlikely. Sorry, Captain, but this is taking time."

"Do what you can, then. Bridge out."

With that done the waiting game was due to resume. Meridina gave Julia a worried look without saying anything. Julia had nothing to say either. There was nothing to say, or do, until the Cylons came back. And then all they could do was hope they could buy time.

The sounds of weapons fire and explosions reached the medical ward. It did nothing to help the tension there as a number of the patients still had to be evacuated. Cally gave Clara a frightened look. Clara felt just as scared as she knew Cally to be. She thought of what Zack had said about always being scared and having to work through that because people were counting on him. In much the same way, people were counting on her. Her patients were counting on her.

The current patient she was working on moving was an older woman with a broken leg. Clara felt nothing but sympathy for her patient at the pain visible on her round face. The same brace that held the woman's injured leg in place to heal was now subjecting it to undesired movement due to the rapid movement of the stretcher. "I know it hurts," she said, "but we've got to get you out of here. Just hang in there."

The woman nodded.

Clara pushed the stretcher to the door. Outside, the warm sunny sky looked inviting, but the shouts of battle and the crowds of civilians running for the nearest mine shaft entrance made a mockery of said sky. An orderly Cottle had drafted from the civilians took charge of the stretcher. "Please be careful with her," Clara urged, although given the look on his face Clara was fairly certain the man was more concerned with getting into the mine himself. She wondered if he'd come back for another patient.

But she had no time to worry about that. Clara rushed back in to get another patient.

Tigh and Zarek didn't stay in the command room. There was no point. As much as Tigh was hoping to hold out, the moment the Cylons started pouring in he knew that wasn't happening. They could try to hold a thin perimeter around the mine entrances, but it would be shaky, and it would probably fail.

Instead of staying in a place where the entrances were few and the Cylons could easily trap them, the two had moved to an area beside the mine entrance. The stream of people heading into the maw on the mountainside wasn't letting up. It was everything that Zarek's people could do to keep the flow from becoming a deadly stampede. Tigh took up a position beside an excavator and hid behind its dormant scoop. The Alliance-built pulse pistol in his hand gave him some hope of fighting a Cylon. Better than standard bullets, anyway.

The Cylon centurions came around the mine store first, toward the southern flank of the mine entrance. A Colonial militia squad retreating from the store was caught out in the open as the Cylons came on. "Fire!" Tigh shouted to the others, and there was a hail of gunfire in response to his order.

But it wasn't enough. Sure, the Cylon front ranks took damage. Some even went down. But within ten seconds all four of the militia were gunned down by the approaching Cylon forces. Their fire shifted. Tigh had to pull back behind the excavator blade to avoid getting hit. When he had a moment he slid out of cover slightly and took another series of shots. His pulse shots weren't the most accurate, but at least two hit a Cylon centurion and blew away metal and material from its chest. It dropped down to a knee and fell over, the red light on its head going dark.

Tigh glanced over to where Zarek was behind the main body of the excavator, using it as cover. The look that passed between the two men said it all; if they didn't get help soon, everyone at the mining complex was dead.

The quiet that had settled over the Dale house gave it an unnatural tension that Robert found palpably uncomfortable. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be a happy home. The home he had experienced these past months - was it months? - was never supposed to be like this.

A glance out the window showed that the menacing storm clouds were now starting to obscure the setting sun. The winds had picked up. Robert felt the impulse to call for everyone to descend into the tornado shelter just from the look of things. That impulse was overcome by his inability to turn away at the moment. He felt a pull to the storm that kept his eyes fixed on it.

"Am I doing the right thing?" he asked himself, mumbling the words aloud. "What is the right thing?"

He noticed a shadow drawing up, created by the light of the dining room lights. When he turned his head he was facing his father. Michael Dale's brown eyes met Robert's. "You look lost, Rob," he said softly.

"I'm trying to do the right thing. Always the right thing," Robert said. "I just don't know what it is. I owe you and Mom, everyone, but there are things I'm responsible for. Things I think I should be doing."

Michael nodded in acknowledgement. "I know what that's like. I had to make the same decision before you were born."

"About whether to stay in the service or come home." Robert nodded in recollection. He'd heard the story growing up. His father, had he stayed in the Navy, could have risen to the top. But he'd given that up to come home to the family farm. The officer had lost to the farmer, or more to the point, the loyal son.

"It's why I never resented your choice," Michael said. "I was disappointed when you turned down Annapolis. But I could see why you made the choice, and I understood it."

"I have to make that choice again, don't I?" Robert asked.

"That's the way it looks, son." Michael's hand came up and settled on Robert's shoulder. "However we've come back together here, you need to know I'm proud of you. We're all proud of you. You've done great things with your life. And if you want to settle down and be with your family, that's fine. You've earned it."

"Have I?" Robert asked, his voice a quiet murmur. "I've left things half-done, it feels like. The war I helped to start. The things Meridina has shown me. The dreams of what might come."

Michael said nothing. It was Robert who turned and watched Little Robby playing with his toys beside Grandma Anna and Leigh. Julia and Susannah looked on in with quiet smiles at the happy little boy who seemed completely oblivious to the terrible storm looking out of the windows.

"How can I leave him?" Robert asked. "How could I leave any of you? If I leave here, you're all gone again. Forever. He'll be gone." He swallowed. "Once and awhile I thought about having children. One day, I mean. But I never knew it'd be like this."

"I know the feeling," said Michael. He put an arm around Robert's neck. "And you don't want to do anything to hurt him."

"Yeah."

"It's not easy. Balancing family and duty. But I know you can."

The conversation ended at that note. Michael quietly walked over to the couch where he snatched up one of Little Robby's toys and shook it in the air, prompting a peal of laughter from the child. The sight brought a small smile to Robert's face. He looked back to the window and the storm outside.

It seemed incredulous that this could happen. That he was locked into some kind of dreamworld, with a family that was completely alive yet seemed to know what was truly happening. A part of him knew that the "Doctor" was right, that he couldn't stay here. That this place wasn't real. He had friends back in the real world who needed him. He had responsibilities.

Yet again his eyes ventured over to the living room, where his little boy was playing happily with his family. It was astonishing that he had never before wanted to be a father given how much love he felt for Little Robby. He was everything Robert could ever want in a child. More than anything, it was Robby's tears that had kept him from leaving.

As he thought of that, Robert considered again this place he was in. It could almost be Heaven itself, it seemed. But what was it? How had he ended up here? What was the purpose of this? Who could he ask to get answers? Who would know?

After a few moments, realization showed on Robert's face. He turned away from the window, away from the family, and to the person he knew would have the answers.

Allen Dale smiled at him and nodded. "Well, Rob, it looks like you're ready to talk," he said.

The Gonzalez swept over the abandoned streets of the New Caprica Colony. Their destination loomed ahead: the Presidential Mansion and the Government Buildings, and the park adjoining them.

The sensor feed showed the occupants in the back the sight of the empty streets. The blackened remains of bombed out cars were joined by vehicles that were still, surprisingly, completely intact. But this wasn't on the mind of Jack O'Neill when he asked, "So where are the robots anyway? I was expecting the streets to be filled with killer robots."

"They're probably part of the attack on that mining complex," Lucy pointed out. Her eyes narrowed toward Wilma Deering.

Wilma met Lucy's eyes without a sign of regret. It was something of a cover. Lucy could sense that Wilma was worried she'd condemned those refugees at the mine to die. But she'd made the call and she was going to live with it.

But there was another feeling Lucy had. A presence that stood out in the Flow of Life. She looked to Gina who, like her, was sensing it, and was frowning. When Gina looked back toward Lucy, she shook her head, and Lucy could tell this meant she wasn't sure what it was, but that she felt it. "Change of plans," Lucy said. "Gina's coming with Team A."

Wilma and Lindstrom gave her uncomfortable looks. Lucy met the looks with a firm expression. She understood their concern, so she said, "I don't know how, but they've got someone trained in the Gersallian arts with them. Or something like that. Whoever it is, they're at the Mansion, and one of us will have to deal with that threat, so it's best if we're both there."

Buck nodded to Wilma. "I've seen Meridina and Lucero fight. If they've got someone like that, well, all bets are off."

"Alright. Change accepted," was her answer.

A solid thud filled the runabout. The rear door opened to a grassy park field, not far from a baseball diamond and bleachers. The Aurora security teams activated their personal cloaks and stepped out of the rear hatch.

Lucy pulled on the blue Gersallian robe to match the armor she was already wearing, with its primary purple-colored plates. Next she pulled down to her eyes the visor would give her the ability to see the others while they were cloaked. One last check ensured her tool belt was in place and her lightsaber clipped to it. A tap to her omnitool brought the cloak online and she stepped out with Teal'c and Daniel. They quickly got onto one of the sidewalk paths that would lead them to the Presidential Mansion.

A night's sleep had not been kind to Baltar. The Cylons had refused him the chance to at least rest in his own bed, presuming he could, forcing him to instead lay on the couch in his office. The more he thought of it, the more he was certain he wouldn't have fallen asleep anyway. But it would have been nice to have the chance.

The second day of this nightmare was turning out much like the first. The Cylons brought him a cold, unappetizing soup from the kitchens. The only reason he could stomach it was because his stomach needed something in it to digest, and it was therefore willing to take what was offered.

Despite his fatigue, Baltar had the energy to finally demand, "When do I get to speak with the Alliance?"

"Soon enough," a D'anna Biers look-alike claimed.

He grumbled in silence at that.

The third Cylon, the one who had killed his bodyguard, sat up straight. The others noticed this movement and clear worry showed on their faces. "What is it?" asked the D'anna look-alike.

"The Alliance is here," she said. "They are launching an attack."

The other two Cylons waited a moment before one nodded. "Alert the fleet."

The third Cylon didn't join them. She went for the door.

The situation at the mining complex was collapsing. The radio tied into Tigh's multidevice crackled with cries for help from the handful of militia trying to hold the Cylons away from the entrance. His own position at the excavator was on the verge of falling. The Cylons, despite some losses, still had the number advantage and were pressing it.

"We're out of time, Colonel!" Zarek insisted. "We need to pull back!"

Tigh's reply glare was an acknowledgement that the former terrorist was right. They did need to fall back. But there was nowhere to fall back to. Once they were shut in the mine, the Cylons would have them completely at their non-existent mercy.

"Godsdammit," Tigh muttered. He tapped the comm key on the device. "Fall back, I repeat, fall back!" While affirmatives were given to that, he moved from cover with his pistol raised and fired off another sequence of shots. A Cylon centurion went down with half of its eye visor missing.

The next Cylon had prior battle damage, a shot that had taken out its gun. But it still had its lethal strength and a hand that could rip into living flesh with ease. Tigh shot it in the shoulder. It produced a sparking hole but nothing more. The Cylon's hand lashed out at Tigh's head. he leaned backward to avoid the attack. But the blow still struck. Pain filled his face. Blood and darkness covered his sight while an involuntary cry of pain and surprise roared from within him. Tigh dropped to the ground utterly blinded by the attack.

There was a weapon shot and the sound of sparks followed by some metallic clanging and a thud. An arm slipped under Tigh's shoulder and brought him back to his feet. "Come on!" he heard Zarek say with terrible urgency.

They were almost done. The last patient remained, and he must have been one of the oldest of the Refugee Fleet to still be around, Clara imagined. He was suffering from a host of maladies that included a smashed left hip that precluded any chance of the man walking. He shooed at them. "Get out of here, ladies," he insisted. "Leave me behind."

"It's not happening, sir," Clara insisted. She looked toward Cally. With the shouts and gunfire at its loudest, it was clear they had minutes, if that, before the Cylons got to the ward. And Cally was clearly about to freeze up again. "Cally, on my side."

Having an order did what Clara hoped it would do. Cally had something to focus on, something to do. She took hold of the side of the bed and began pushing. Clara did the same, which allowed them to maneuver the bed and move it toward the door. Cottle didn't meet them at the door. Tigh had already ordered him to move into the mines to protect him. Indeed, nobody was at the door. The last orderly hadn't returned. Cally and Clara would have to push their patient to safety.

It was not an easy task. The fighting was raging around them. The medical ward for the complex was one of the closer structures to the mine, for obvious reasons, but the Cylons were advancing alongside of it now. Their weapons thundered in the air. The response was a mixture of the ineffectual, with bullets that bounced off the Cylons' metal skin, and the devastating, specifically the energy weapon fire that melted and blasted the Cylons.

"We're not going to make it," whimpered Cally.

"Yes we are. Keep pushing!"

The effort was making Clara's arms and legs burn from exertion. Exhaustion was a real threat. But she didn't let herself stop. She couldn't. And she wouldn't let herself look back at the Cylons drawing steadily closer.

Dirt suddenly sprayed up beside them. Sparks flew from the bullets hitting the stretcher frame, tearing the metal apart so that the entire thing collapsed. A spray of blood rose from the leg of the old man, who let out a cry of pain. The collapse of the stretcher sent him tumbling to the ground.

Not missing a beat, Clara went to him and helped him up. "Cally, his leg! Hold it up!"

To her credit, Cally obeyed instantly. Behind them a phaser beam from one of the militia rifles speared the Cylon that had opened fire, destroying it.

The old man cried out again from the pain of his savaged leg, with the shattered hip undoubtedly making things worse. Clara almost shouted encouragement to him. The need for every bit of air her lungs could bring in kept her from doing so.

A Colonial armed with a Systems Alliance Avenger assault rifle met them at the perimeter line. The weapon's mass effect field filled the air behind them with deadly metal that tore through any Cylon it struck. The dark-haired woman kept the fire up until they were safely behind the line. They set the old man down behind some cover. Cally immediately grabbed at the first aid pouch Clara had insisted she carry and brought out the materials to treat the old man's wound.

Clara was a second from joining when she heard a scream of pain. She turned back to see the woman who had helped them falling to the ground. Without a moment's consideration she dashed to her. Her body's tired muscles protested the action with pain, but they failed to dissuade her, and the Cylons certainly didn't.

The coated Colonial woman was still alive. The Cylon shooting at her had aimed too low to hit anything immediately vital. But several rounds had gone through her belly and torn up her guts and possibly her spine. Clara knew that the wounds would be fatal and painful if medical attention wasn't immediate. She pulled the woman's coat tightly over the wounds and slipped the buttons into place to secure the wounds from the jostling that would be necessary. With a series of increasing groans of effort Clara picked the Colonial woman up into a fireman's carry. She started her return to safety by running as quickly as she could with her burden. Her eyes were entirely focused on the same broad ore truck that Cally was using to shield their elderly patient from the Cylons' attacks. A cry of warning came from ahead of her.

The Cylon behind her opened fire a moment later.

Jack and Buck entered the foyer of the Presidential Mansion first, their respective pulse rifle and laser pistol raised and ready. Gina and Daniel were behind them, then Lucy and Sam. Wilma and Teal'c took up the rear.

The foyer was empty of life. It had the same appearance as the colony itself, looking abandoned by those who normally lived and worked here. The finely-crafted half-circle desk where the information and security personnel waited for visitors still had active workstations, showing how quickly their minders had fled when the Cylons attacked.

"The stairway to the subbasement should be this way," Daniel said, consulting the Alliance-issue omnitool that SG-1 had been provided for this mission.

He took a step, but the resulting sound came from the second level of the foyer. Someone was walking along the polished tile quite loudly, without seeming to worry about giving themselves away. Distant mechanical whirring joined those loud footsteps after a time.

Cylon Centurions stepped into the openings leading out of the foyer. But after brief glances toward them, it was the figure in the hooded jacket that drew everyone's attention. She stepped up to the railing behind the main desk and looked down toward them, as if she could see them.

Lucy swallowed. She felt the woman's presence. She felt the cold dark and the way it chilled the Flow of Life. This was a being given over to darkness, just as Goras had been.

The figure made a sudden leap that brought her to land on the main desk. Stacks of papers scattered from the impact point. The act had the effect of causing her hood to fall off her head to settle behind her neck, revealing her head and face. The eyes of everyone present widened in surprise.

The Cylon woman's skin was a light brown tone. Cold blue eyes looked over them on a face that they all found immediately familiar, topped with a head of dark, curly hair.

"Well." Jack glanced toward Lucy. "An evil twin? Really?"

For the moment Lucy couldn't react. Not only was she shocked by the appearance of her doppelganger, she found herself sickened by an immense sensation of violation. "They took my blood," she murmured. "On Djamar Station. They… they made her… from me."

Her Cylon doppelganger's arm stretched out. A multitude of crunching sounds directed their attentions toward their belts, and to the sight of their personal cloaking devices being crushed until they stopped functioning. The eight of them wavered into normal sight.

"Well, so much for the element of surprise," Buck muttered, leveling his gun toward the doppelganger.

Gina gave Lucy a worried look. "Take the others," Lucy said. "Get to the control room. They'll need your help." Lucy reached to her belt and pulled her weapon. Her counterpart clearly had training as well, but odds were that, at best, she had a lakesh. And Lucy knew from personal experience that the lightsaber had an advantage over that weapon. She brought her blade into a ready position and activated it. An electronic snapping sound was followed by a lingering hiss as the blue energy blade of her weapon extended to its full size.

Her Cylon counterpart actually grinned at that. Immediately Lucy realized she had misread the situation, but she had never imagined the extent of it until she saw the Cylon pull an object off the belt under her jacket.

Another snap and hiss filled the air as an energy blade, blood-red in its color, surged from the weapon in the Cylon-Lucy's hand.

Lucy's jaw hung open in shock.

"Kill them," she heard her own voice speak, coming from the Cylon-Lucy. "Kill them all."

And then her counterpart lunged forward. Lucy brought her weapon up and met the blow, causing their lightsaber blades to clash with a loud, electronic crackle.

There was no escaping the tension in the Aurora conference room when the Cylons returned. Ledosh led off by stating the Alliance was willing to consider both a return of prisoners and firm borders between Cylon and Alliance expansion zones, but that the Cylons would have to agree to an exclusion zone between those borders where neither side could settle or send starships.

The two female models and the one "new" male one said nothing. Cavil did the talking, and he did it with a slight scowl. "And what of the child? The child must be returned to us. Now."

"You must realize that we cannot compel the Agathons to give up their child," said Ledosh. "Not under our law. We are opening a dialogue with them to see if they can be persuaded…"

"And what you must realize is that our ships do not leave until the child is delivered," Cavil said. "That child represents the future of our civilization."

"How?" Julia asked. "Why are you ready to start a war over the Agathons' baby?"

"That is not your business," said the Gina-model.

"So you honestly expect us to take the child from her parents? Do you think we're that monstrous?"

"We know Humans are," the D'anna-model said. "We've experienced enough with your kind to know what you're capable of. And we're only asking you to take the child, not to kill her parents."

"Your judgement of Humans seems overly harsh," Ledosh observed. "While I too have seen Humans behave monstrously, I have also seen them behave with great courage and nobility. Judging an entire species for the misbehavior of a few…"

"We did not come to indulge in philosophical prattling, Gersallian," Cavil barked, and with real venom in his voice. "You are clearly stalling. Perhaps you…"

When he stopped speaking, Julia wondered just what was going on. She also kept glancing toward the quiet Cylon, the other male, who continued to look over them with his light green eyes. He seemed strangely detached from the entire argument. A small, haughty smile came to his lips, as if her interest in him was an amusement.

"Of course." Cavil's voice dripped with contempt. "You never planned to negotiate in good faith, did you? You came here to stall for time while your strike team attacked our forces in the colony."

Julia dared nothing beyond breathing. She forced her face to remain completely neutral at the charge.

"We…"

"Don't bother with denials!" snarled Cavil, cutting off Ledosh before he could even start the second word. "We were hoping for better from you, but we expected this behavior from your kind."

"Captain." The voice was Locarno's. "The Cylon ships are locking weapons on the planet and on us."

"Wait, don't," Julia pleaded. "We can still work this out."

"You defied us," Cavil said, "and for that, the people of New Caprica have to die."