Going downhill wasn't any easier as Apollo nearly stumbled with Boomer across his back. Starbuck rushed forward to help. He and Apollo shifted to a chair carry to try to keep both of them on their feet and distribute the weight, but that meant handling Boomer's injured leg. It was torture. Avery pointed out the entrance to the mineshaft. Apollo breathed a sigh of relief, that is until Avery stopped walking, turned and pointed the rifle at Boomer.
"Now's your time to give me proof my kids made it to safety. Otherwise, this is as far as you go."
"Oh Frack, no," Starbuck said, hoping like hades Rene had drawn her weapon, but he didn't spare the glance back. Jake and Max didn't disappoint him, pulling their weapons and aiming them at Avery. Starbuck and Apollo eased Boomer down, the man crying out in pain. Together they rose, both pulling their weapons. Rene, Max and Jake took steps forward, standing in line with them, five lasers pointed in Avery's direction. There was no way in the name of Sagan they were going to let Avery get the upper hand again. They had no trust in Avery or his men.
"Not another step," Avery said shifting the aim of his rifle, his men raising their weapons behind him.
"These are Colonial lasers," Apollo said. "For now they're set on stun, which could effectively knock out every last one of you in a micron."
Rene held up a hand, lowering her weapon as she took a step toward Avery. "I'm hoping this is more about your concern for your women and children than it is an aggressive move towards us."
"Although I'm sure you can see how it could be misconstrued," Apollo added glibly.
"When we reached the fleet, Gia gave me a message," Rene said, capturing Avery's undivided attention. "She said for me to tell you that it doesn't matter how many Cylons you destroy or how many people you save, it won't bring Eli back. Is that good enough for you?"
Starbuck was pleased at the high level surliness she threw into her words. I guess that trait does come in handy sometimes, he thought as Avery flinched at her audacity in the face of a pulsar rifle.
Her words had the man dropping the aim of his weapon, acceptance settled into his features. "Alright. We'll give you shelter for the night. In the morning, we'll see what you decorated warriors can do. Tell Brains there to keep his mouth shut."
Starbuck grinned and rose to the bait, "Well considering we're the ones who got you out of a tight spot back there, I'm thinking it's the least you could do. Now how about a bit more? What kind of medical supplies do you have?" Starbuck asked, hoping since they'd had time to hang out in shopping malls they had been smart enough to raid some Life Centers first.
"We have a bone mender, but someone will have to turn the crank on the generator to get some power. Since he made it this far he might be worth the effort, but that's all we are willing to give you," Avery said before he turned and walked away.
"After all, all we gave them was a safer place for their women and children, and a little more hope for their future," Starbuck grumbled to Apollo. "Wow, what a leader. Super inspiring." Starbuck went back to helping Apollo carry Boomer.
"It's been a long day, buddy. Let's just get Boomer patched up and get some sleep." They followed Avery around the remains of the land ram that hid the entrance of an old mine shaft. The opening in the rock of the hillside was no wider than Jolly for at least ten paces, but then the tunnel turned and opened into a large chamber, almost as big as the Council chambers. It was well-lit and comfortable with a few lanterns and fires being started around the chamber.
Avery pointed towards a fire near the entrance. "I'll get the medical supplies we have in exchange for some of that food you have brought. Don't think about going anywhere."
"And the hospitality, top notch I tell ya!" At least the quip got a chuckle out of Boomer who had only had the energy to grunt or groan every time they jostled him.
Apollo and Starbuck lowered Boomer to the floor of the cavern, and their friend gasped in pain, his eyes closed tightly. Max dropped his pack and began digging through for the med kit, a blanket and packs of food and water. He handed some water to his cousin.
"I'd hold off on food until we get him patched up," Jake said opening the med kit and pulling out the painkiller hypo and loading up another one with antibiotics. "Hey Starbuck, is that pack Rene's?"
"I think so. I've lost track." Starbuck unslung the heavy pack, grunting in relief at taking the weight from his shoulders.
Jake said in a low voice, "Don't dump it. She'll have a few surprises we may not want Avery and his guys to know about just yet. Get out the med kit and the food though." Jake went to work on Boomer, dosing him with the hypospray before snapping some gloves into place and starting to pull at the dressing. "Can someone hold his leg up?"
"That's a loaded question," Starbuck replied, glancing at the blood stained mess that was Boomer's leg above the knee. He drew a sharp breath, then gazed into the depths of the pack. "I think I'm busy."
"Yeah, you look it," Apollo said, moving himself into position to help. "This is going to hurt, Boomer."
"Thanks for the encouragement," the lieutenant replied, his head lolling to the side with the effect of the recent sedation, his breathing less labored. His skin had a grey undertone. "Just do it."
Apollo gently lifted the leg while Jake started to remove the dressing. He poured some water over the dressing, easing the foul mess from the skin. About twenty centimetrons long, the gash was deep and ugly, fragments of bone and tissue sticking through raw and swollen skin. Around the wound Boomer's skin was a darker shade and it was hot to the touch.
Starbuck met Apollo's gaze, not liking the look of it. "Wow."
Boomer chuckled, lifting his head to regard his friend. "'Wow'? How bad is wow?"
"How bad does it feel?" Apollo asked, keeping his features carefully impartial.
"That bad, huh?" Boomer replied. "Gotchya."
"His leg's been dependent the whole time," Jake said, "which will account for some of the swelling. But I don't like the look of the redness, then there's that smell." He flushed the wound again, before pulling the biomonitor out of his pack. This time it fired right up, and he ran it over the leg, shaking his head slightly and frowning.
"What?" Boomer asked, surprisingly alert and reading their expressions like a datapad.
"Bone alignment still looks good, but it looks like an abscess is already forming. We need to drain it before we wrap it up again," Jake replied. "Starbuck, I don't have what I need. What's in Rene's pack?"
His attention had been riveted on Boomer's leg and Starbuck hadn't gone beyond a cursory look in the pack. He began rummaging through it, pulling out most of it methodically so he could find out if Jake had been right about the surprise. Sure enough, near the top were two blasters, fully charged. That brought them back to everyone being fully armed. He had no idea where she had found them, or who was now looking for them. When they got back to the Galactica, he'd be asking those kinds of questions, but right now they were a gift from the Lords. "That's my wife," he murmured, as he then found another med kit. He handed it over to Jake.
Jake pulled off the dirty gloves, cleansing his hands thoroughly before delving into the kit. Apollo nodded at Starbuck over Boomer's leg. They had themselves an honest to goodness field-trained medic. Jake came out with a handful of dressings before holding up an instrument they didn't recognize.
"Laser scalpel," he said in reply to their questioning looks. "Just what I was after. Thanks, Rene!" he called over his shoulder before getting back to the task at hand. "Starbuck, you're in charge of drugs. If he's sore, hit him with it." He handed over the hypospray.
"One for you, one for me," Starbuck said quietly, giving Boomer a dose before Jake started cleaning the wound once again, this time with an antiseptic smelling liquid.
"Apollo, you okay?" Jake asked, as he set up an impromptu sterile field. "Legs get heavy," he clarified.
Apollo nodded, repositioning himself and nodding his thanks to Max as the young man propped up some packs for Boomer to rest his leg on. He kept a hand on the lieutenant's leg to secure it. The last thing they needed was for Boomer to be jerking around with a laser scalpel penetrating his flesh. "Go ahead."
Jake pulled on sterile gloves and then activated the laser scalpel, deftly making an incision into the swollen tissue. Thick yellow fluid oozed out of the wound, and even Jake turned his head away at the pungent aroma. Boomer let out a low groan, and Starbuck leaned over, depressing the hypospray again.
"Not too much," Jake cautioned him.
"No such thing," Boomer panted, his chest heaving with the pain. "Bring it on, Bucko."
Starbuck dosed him twice for good measure, ignoring Jake's hiss of caution. He kept his eyes on Boomer's as Jake flushed out the exudate and then began to cut away loose bone splinters. He used another instrument to pick them out. Boomer grunted nodding at Starbuck for more pain killers. He immediately obliged. Jake was finishing up, inserting some kind of fibrous material into the wound. He packed it loosely, and then started wrapping it up again.
"You don't seal it?" Starbuck asked, wondering about the gaping wound.
"No, it needs to drain. Almost done, Boomer," Jake told him. Boomer only nodded, sucking in deep breaths through clenched teeth. Starbuck placed the hypospray against his skin once again, activating it.
"Good job, Jake," Apollo told him, amazed at the young man's skill and competence.
"Yeah, thanks, Jake," Starbuck added, squeezing Boomer's shoulder as Max handed his cousin something to drink. "You got him, Max?"
"Yeah."
Starbuck pulled himself to his feet, letting Max take over as he looked for Rene. She was not far off, watching the makeshift surgery on Boomer's leg, but weaving on her feet. Exhaustion was etched on her face along with the dirt. Her eyes were still bright red. Whether it was from the lake water, the sewer or fatigue was hard to say. She mumbled to him, "This is my fault."
He bit back the desire to agree with her. She hadn't asked the Cylons to take a shot at them. She'd come here with good intentions, well, at least this time. How was she to know it would all go to mong this fast.
"Naw, you got him down on the ground alive, and out of the drink. You did good, and you got those women and children to safety. You kept me from getting lost in the sewer and you took a nice nature hike. You've had a busy day. Come on, sweetheart. Time to rest." He went to her and led her to the fire, easing her down to the ground. He reached back for a water bottle and a meal, putting one in each of her hands. "Eat, drink, that's an order."
She mumbled something that sounded like, "yes sir, but I can take care of myself."
"Humor me. You're the only one pregnant in the group," he answered her while he dug in the pack for what should be standard for a Colonial pack. He didn't find it and went back to the others to check out one of the other packs. "Who packed these?" he asked Max as he took the heavy pack from him.
"We did. What are you looking for?"
"Socks."
Max took the pack from him and dug into a side pocket pulling out more than a couple of pairs. "I'm a grunt. I know how important socks are."
Starbuck grabbed a pair and headed back to find Rene sitting in almost a trance. "Eating means you put the food in your mouth." His voice, while gentle, still snapped her out of it and she almost inhaled the meal while he undid her boots and pulled them off, stripping off the sweat soaked socks to lay them near the fire, putting the new ones on. Around a mouthful of food she mumbled something about her boots.
"No, on. I need them on."
He was about to say they were safe here, but he didn't really know that. He surveyed the cavern and the men gathered around the fires. They had all eagerly dug into the Colonial packs, distributing the food, diminishing the supplies his group would need later. The men had remained in their jackets, their weapons still strapped to their backs and their hips. Things weren't safe yet.
He helped her back into her boots and pulled out a survival blanket wrapping it around her shoulders before he went back to check on Jake and Boomer. Apollo was currently tracking down the bone mender that Avery claimed to have. Jake was gently easing Boomer out of his sodden jacket.
"Looks like you've learned a few things," Starbuck said patting Jake on the shoulder. Apollo came over, hefting a small hand cranked generator.
"It's old, but looks functional. This isn't going to be comfortable." Apollo placed the generator down and handed Jake the bone mender. Starbuck took a look at the generator, noting it appeared to have been used recently, but the bone mender was ancient.
"Where the frack did they get that? It looks older than I am."
"I'm assuming some medical museum somewhere. Avery said the Cylons targeted the hospitals right after they eliminated any military facilities. They really didn't want us to survive," Apollo said kneeling down to help Jake place the mender over the leg. Jake ran the biomonitor over the area shaking his head.
"Wish we had a real scanner. Not sure if this will be as good as the Life Center, but he should be at least mobile until we can get it perfect. I'm going to assume we're getting out of here as soon as we can…uh sir?"
"I think we can dispense with the military decorum, Jake," Apollo answered. "At least while we're on Caprica anyway. It seems you are more in charge here than I am. I would love to get us out of here, but I'm going to assume our vipers are destroyed. Any suggestions?"
Starbuck wondered why Jake looked to him as he answered. Apollo had spent time in the Council Chambers with the Rats, but come to think of it, Jake never interacted with him. At the time Starbuck had chalked it up to the Rats distrust of command. They were going to have to get over that if they were going to get out of here together. At least they did trust him, and in time, perhaps that would extend to those Starbuck answered to. "We steal a couple of raiders, but I would like it to be from a smaller operation than what they have going on here. We'll have to get creative."
"Creative is my specialty," Starbuck replied.
Jake turned back to Apollo. "Sir, think we'll be fine here? I would like to give him more painkillers since we have them, but if we have to move him, he'll be out of it."
"I can take it," Boomer said, attempting to sit up.
Apollo gently pushed him back down. "If we can get you on your feet it will be easier for everyone and there is no need to be in pain while we do it. We are just going to have to trust we are safe here for now."
"Hey, one shot on stun could knock out one third of these guys, and I don't think we should hesitate to do it if we feel threatened," Starbuck reminded them. "Do it Jake."
Jake loaded the hypo and administered the dose before positioning the bone mender at what would be his best guess at healing the break. Starbuck took up position on the generator, beginning to crank, trying to keep his movements steady, but an electric current is never steady when relying on human power. As predicted, mending the bone was slow, and even with the extra medications on board, Boomer was gritting his teeth in pain. Starbuck was focused on the generator, when he felt Apollo tap him on the shoulder.
"My turn. See to your wife."
Starbuck didn't mind handing over the job. His shoulders ached from the repetitive motion and it wasn't easy to listen to Boomer's suffering. As he got up Jake told him, "Get her on her left side. It's better circulation for the baby."
He nodded and came around the fire to Rene. She looked to have just slumped over, the food at least gone, the water half gone. Starbuck got out another blanket, laying it on the ground near the fire and gently nudging Rene awake. Her eyes flew open and her blaster came up.
"Whoa…easy. Just getting you more comfortable, pretty lady. No need to shoot me, and don't be waving that thing around or Avery is going to want to take it from you again."
She mumbled something incomprehensible as she tucked the blaster back inside her jacket and let Starbuck guide her down to the blanket that he then wrapped around her. He reached for a meal himself and sat down pulling her head into his lap. She was sound asleep before he could get the meal open. Max took over for Apollo, and his buddy came to join him by the fire, a meal in his hand as well.
Starbuck waited until Apollo was halfway through the meal before he gave him the bad news. "We have about two days worth of food, and even less of water since we lost my pack and yours to these guys." Starbuck waved at the cavern where Avery's men seemed to be overjoyed at the contents of their packs and the extras they had brought. The packs had all been scavenged and tossed aside like empty candy wrappers. "I'm thinking by how fast they ate, they've been out of food for a while and that doesn't bode well for us. Don't suspect they will be excited about six more mouths to feed."
"Well, we did remove the women and children from the equation, so that might account for something." Apollo looked down to Rene sleeping soundly in Starbuck's lap. "I suggest we save what we have for Rene. The less she consumes on this planet the better for the baby."
"This planet? You're talking like this is just some other barren planetoid on our journey. This is our home."
"Not anymore, buddy. I've been taking readings every now and then. Brought along a better scanner than we usually have. I've taken some samples of the air, the ground. It's devoid of insects for one. The radium is high, but there are other toxins in the air that have me convinced it will be more than a hundred yahrens before we could consider repopulating Caprica, and that's if the Cylons stopped their mining productions right now."
"So we're in agreement. We leave sooner rather than later." Starbuck watched the men beginning to gather around the fires, their wary looks directed back at the Colonials. No one had bothered to speak to them since they fled the shopping mall. He wasn't sure if Avery had told them not to, or if no one was interested in speaking to them. He knew if he'd been stuck on Caprica for three yahrens, he'd want to hear about a fleet of ships and what had been happening. He tried to pick out Avery from the clusters of camo clad bearded men. He blended in until Starbuck started looking for those who might be watching him. There he was, across the cavern at another fire close to the opening.
"Think he's figured out yet that we're it?" Starbuck asked, absently stroking Rene's hair.
"Yes, based on the fact he's not talking with us. He's not believing our story, but don't see that it matters much right now. Our objective is not to help them fight the Cylons, but to initiate our evacuation. But, that could go easier if they create a diversion for us. I'll speak with him in the morning. I'm just too tired now to be diplomatic."
"Grab a blanket, we at least have plenty of those. I'll take first watch."
Apollo didn't question the decision of posting someone to guard their group. He just nodded and reached for a blanket and, much like Rene, curled up where he was. Starbuck half thought of offering his pack to Apollo so he didn't have to sleep with his face in the dirt, but Apollo was asleep before he could voice the idea.
Jake finished up with Boomer, draping a blanket around the dozing man before adding more wood to the fire. He walked around to sit behind Rene, taking the meal that Starbuck offered him. Max came to sit by Jake as well, wolfing down food quickly before curling up near Rene's feet. Starbuck started up a conversation with Jake, mostly to make sure the young man stayed awake long enough to get a meal into him.
"Rene told me about those first days in the sewer. Neither of you mention how dark it is down there. I mean, that's not just dark. You were blind down there, weren't you?"
"Not at first. Explosions and fires lit things up, but yeah, later when it was over. You lose track of time and well, everything," Jake shivered and looked at the men in the cavern. "They're well dressed. Think they have extra clothing? Boomer really needs some dry clothes that haven't been dipped in a cesspool. We could all use some."
"Well, it can't hurt to ask. Think you can stay awake until I get back?" He eased Rene's head from his lap, laying it gently down on the blanket.
"Sure you don't want some back up?" Jake asked.
Starbuck considered it. Avery said outright he trusted Jake, but Starbuck decided he needed to handle this his way. It had worked in the past with other Borays, surely it would work this time. "No, stay with the group and cover me from here. Boomer might need you."
Starbuck got up and strode across the room, feeling his joints ache from the long hike. He debated on what strategy he should use, come on strong, or ease his way in. Like Apollo he was too tired to think about it, so strong it was.
When he approached the fire, all the men looked to Avery first before they looked at him. Avery didn't say anything, just glared at Starbuck while he chewed. Starbuck started to raise a hand in greeting, and then decided he was too tired for pleasantries.
"Avery, what supplies do you have? We're all soaked and could use something dry if you've got extra clothes, at least for our injured man. Plus you might want to go easy on the food. We were thinking we might need some of it. My wife over there's pregnant, and the less she consumes on this toxic dump of a planet the better."
Avery made a point of taking another bite of the meal he held before he glared up at him. Starbuck didn't let it faze him, choosing to sit down and reaching for a protein bar in one of the meals scattered about.
"Like it or not, we're in this together now." Starbuck accentuated his point by taking a bite of the bar.
"So you brought your pregnant wife to this planet knowing what you would find?" One of Avery's men around the fire spoke before Avery could hiss at him to shut up.
Starbuck couldn't tell who had asked the question, his focus on Avery. "We had to bring her. She's our ride. Blame it on her motherly instincts, but she seemed to be under the impression you guys wanted to be rescued. Based on how quickly you scarfed down our food, I'm thinking she wasn't that far off on her guess. So why weren't you willing to take the ride?"
Avery glanced at all the men around him before he answered. "We're not done here on Caprica. This is our home and we will reclaim it from the enemy."
Avery's eyes were blazing with patriotism that Starbuck hadn't seen for a while. Maybe watching all your buddies go up in flames burned that kind of loyalty for your home world out of you. But then again, Starbuck had never really bought into that whole rabid, flag-waving Kobolian "Caprica is the best" mentality. Yeah, he was Caprican and damn proud of it, but he liked a lot of the other twelve worlds and their people and customs too. Just the luck of the draw that he was Caprican. He could have easily been sent off to grow up on another world as the foster system sent you where they had the room. But this guy obviously bought into all the frenzied and jingoistic slogans, songs and bedtime stories.
"Have you seen this place? I'm thinking you're done here, or at least the planet is done with you." Starbuck made sure to make eye contact with the half a dozen men around the fire, noting that they all evaded his gaze. Perhaps not everyone agreed with Avery's plan of prolonged suicide. If he could create some cracks in this group, maybe they could talk some sense into Avery and turn around this mission.
"Spoken like a coward," Avery looked to his men and they laughed as if on cue. Starbuck suddenly had a flash back to secondary school and the sports jocks who ran in packs, always with some big bully as their leader, the rest his flunkies. Was that the case here? Had Avery bullied these men into staying to finish off some contest that couldn't be won?
"That's what you think I am because I decided that maybe saving what I could of the human race was better than tossing my life away? I was there that day. I fought in the battle against the Cylons and I watched most of my friends die. I hate to be the one to tell you, but we lost!"
Even Starbuck winced at the words, an admission that no one had really uttered aloud, at least not often and not to any large groups of people. He'd never said it himself, not even with his close friends. They hadn't lost, they'd survived, or so they decided to believe. Maybe it was walking through the wreck of his home world that had him more able to face the reality of the situation. Maybe it was knowing he had a future ahead of him with a wife and child. He just knew that he was eternally grateful that when the Galactica retreated, he was smart and lucky enough to survive until she came back. Was it cowardly to want to live? Maybe it was Rene's recent indecision if she wanted to continue her own existence that had him changing his mind on what was cowardice. He'd been brave enough to want to live. It would have been so easy to just launch himself at the nearest raider salvo and call it a day.
He realized the group around the fire was still quiet, so he assumed they wanted to hear what he had to say. In a softer voice, he continued. "We lost. It sucks, believe me I know. I'm living with it every day. Our twelve colonies have turned into about two hundred ships and less than a quarter million of our population, mostly women and children. You want to think I turned tail and ran, fine. But don't keep spewing that fantasy that the fleet is out there defeating the enemy on the other worlds because it just isn't true."
Avery chewed his food while continuing to scowl at Starbuck, before he finally spoke. "So you are trying to tell me that the fairy tale that gal told is true? She can leap across quadrants of space? There aren't Colonial warships in this quadrant?"
Starbuck nodded his head wishing he had some kind of proof he could offer the man, but the only proof he had to offer was his own boots crusted with Caprican soil. "I know I can't prove it. I barely believe it myself, but yeah. We are beyond our explored space, and she can take us pretty much anywhere we want to go. Don't ask me how, I couldn't explain it. And does it really matter? Look at your men? I saw your women and children. Anywhere is better than here. You're doomed here."
"Oh, I would argue that point. We've been winning so far against those tin heads. When we take them out, more do not arrive. With more help, we stand a chance of real victory. We can take back the glory of Caprica and do what our military could not!"
Starbuck looked around at the camouflaged clad men as they nodded at the declaration, some even uttering a "frack yeah!" or an "oorah". That's when it hit Starbuck just what he was dealing with. These were military wannabes. They all probably tried to join the service, and maybe some of them were ex-Colonial Warriors, but they had washed out or were flat out rejected from the Colonial Service for various reasons. Starbuck eyed Avery and realized he'd probably tried to be an officer. Grades, that had to be it. It was most likely low grades in his classes and on the tests that washed him out, or maybe his immovable temperament. Lord knows Avery wasn't bright. The man had tried though, Starbuck would bet cubits on it. Tried and failed. They all probably had. The revelation gave Starbuck something to work with.
Starbuck waited for the cheers to subside and the nodding along to Avery's words to taper off, before he squared his shoulders and met Avery's eyes. "The fleet needs you, hades hole, the human race needs you. We need more people like you to protect our women and children. You want to take back Caprica, I get it, I do, and I fully support that, but the fleet doesn't have the resources to help you. I'm needed back there, we all are. Right now, our victory lies in saving our race from extinction. Our Commander has a plan for that, a lost colony of Colonial explorers who thousands of yahrens ago were brave enough to head out looking for more worlds for us to conquer, to grow and expand the great Colonies. When we find them and unite our forces, only then can we beat the Cylons! But that starts by not letting them wipe us out now."
He hoped his insignia were shining in the firelight, hoped that his uniform, despite the muck of the sewers and the dust of the hills, still looked good enough for this recruitment speech. He'd have to remember on his next trip to bring along his gold clusters. He spared a glance around the fire, saw that Avery's men had latched on to the hope for victory Starbuck was offering.
"Our women and children are counting on us. We are all needed to keep them safe and see that we get them to that haven so that we can rebuild. Then we can come and take back what is rightfully ours, when we're stronger and better equipped. It's not that we don't want to join you, believe me, there is nothing I would like more right now that to take some revenge on the Cylon Empire, but the damage here has already been done. Our scanners indicate the radium levels are too high, and they won't go down for several yahrens. Your water is poisoned no doubt, and you're running out of food as well as places you can grow it. If you stay here, you're all going to slowly die of radion poisoning. Our time here is done, but the fleet still needs you and your abilities. After your experiences here on Caprica, we could use your expertise at defeating Cylons."
Starbuck watched the sparks that he saw in these men begin to grow. He just hoped the winds would blow the fire his way. "Don't you want to see to it that your women and children are kept safe? Don't you want to join them and join the fight that humanity is winning? Isn't it time to let Caprica go for the good of your families? After all, Caprica isn't going to go anywhere. We can always come back."
Starbuck saw in their eyes that they were considering his words. The men were tired and needing some hope of seeing this through to the end alive. But none of them answered his question. They sat quietly, each man with his own thoughts. Avery looked daggers at him, obviously upset at the cracks Starbuck was working hard at widening between Avery and his belief they could take back Caprica.
Avery finally broke the silence. "What was it you needed again? I'm thinking you should get back to your people, while I take care of mine." Avery got up, looking like he was going to come over and drag Starbuck to his feet. Starbuck got to his feet before Avery could reach him.
"Dry clothes if you can spare them. More clean water if you have it."
"See to your people and I'll bring some over." Avery held his place by the fire.
"Thanks, that would be appreciated." But Starbuck didn't move, and Avery stared him down. Starbuck was too tired to wait the man out. "I can answer any questions you have about the fleet. You know where to find me." Starbuck reached down for the stack of wood by their fire, grabbing more than a couple of logs before turning to head back across the cavern.
He sat down again by their fire, added more wood, determined to get it roaring enough to get them all dry and warm. He eased Rene's head back into his lap.
"So what did they say?" Jake asked as they watched Avery disappear into one of the tunnels leading away from the cavern.
"They said they would see what they could do. I wouldn't expect much from them. In the morning, we get creative and get the frack out of here. Get some sleep. Boomer's going to need you."
Jake nodded to him before he lay down spooning up to Rene's back, pulling his blanket around the two of them, and an arm protectively over her. Maybe a secton or two ago, Jake's choice of where to sleep would have annoyed him, but here and now it seemed natural. Maybe it was the trip through the sewers that day and the full comprehension of how much Jake and Rene and all the rats had been through together, but he was glad at the moment that she had more than just himself to look out for her.
The activity across the cavern died down as the men settled in to get some sleep. They posted a watch, but it was outside the entrance to the mine to ensure the Cylons did not surprise them. He watched Avery return from the tunnel, a bundle in his arms. He strode over to the fire, and dropped a stack of clothes by Boomer.
"Best we could do. We have plenty of water. There's a spring outside the opening, straight from an artesian well so it's clean except for a sulphur smell. You get used to it." Avery had already turned and was walking away when Starbuck mumbled thanks to the man's retreating back.
Starbuck eased Rene back from his lap and got up to see that Avery had brought hunting clothes, a heavy wool shirt and a wool sweater, plus a couple of more sweaters for the rest of them. All of it was in a camouflage print that hunters favored. He went and helped Boomer out of his shirt. It disturbed Starbuck that his friend didn't wake with the movement, but at least seemed to feel cooler to the touch and had a bit more natural color once he was dressed again. Starbuck tossed another log on the fire and sat down again, absently stroking Rene's hair as he occupied his mind by trying to place the names he had learned earlier with the faces.
He didn't make it more than two centaurs before he was waking Apollo to take watch, letting him know there had been no problems and it might be unnecessary for them to keep a guard posted. Apollo indicated that he would still take watch to make everyone, mostly Starbuck, feel safer. He thanked his friend as he lay down next to Rene, pulling her onto his chest. Jake was still wrapped around her so Starbuck just threw his blanket over the three of them. The sewer rats were a close bunch, and now he thought maybe he understood why. He remembered back to that first night on the Galactica when they had all curled up to sleep together, tangled together like a nest of rats. Just like Starbuck had in the sewer tunnels, they held on tight when things were dark. Despite the firelight, things looked pretty dim with no way to get off planet, a hostile host and food running low. Not their finest day ever, so he let Jake be. Safer in numbers he figured. At least Jake didn't snore like Jolly.