There were different shades of darkness, or at least that's what he had learned on this mission. There was the smothering black of the sewers where there was absolute darkness which somehow made it hard to breathe. Then there was this kind of a darkness where there were shadows, some murkier than others. Such was this shade of darkness with clouds above blocking out the stars. Starbuck led Rene towards the biggest shadow hoping it was the hillside that held the old mine.

"A little direction here would be nice, maybe a sign? I promise to not complain to you when I lose next time at the tables," he offered up a prayer to lady luck, the only god that he found listened to him. In the midst of the shadow ahead, he saw the blink of a light, small and soft, on then off, before coming back on again. The soft glow reflected off the walls of a tunnel opening.

"Thank the lords," Starbuck said, letting slip just how disoriented he'd become once they had lost the daylight. Stumbling around in the night on rugged terrain reminded him that maybe it hadn't been the best of ideas, leaving the safety of the cavern to talk with Rene. Then again, he'd thought they were going to talk, not shuck off their clothes like a couple of newlyweds that can't keep their hands off each other.

"Oh wait, we are a couple of newlyweds," Starbuck playfully teased himself in his head as he headed for the beacon in the darkness. Lady luck was smiling at him for once as in the low light of the illuminator he could make out Boomer and Jake at the cavern entrance.

Boomer's voice was almost a shout that seemed to echo off the canyon walls, "Starbuck, please tell me that is you making all that noise. Either you or a crippled centurion."

"Would you keep it down! We don't want company." Starbuck hissed, cringing at how loud his own whisper sounded. He thought he had been quiet, but a rock he tripped on went skittering in the dark.

"You like aging me don't you Bucko?" Boomer muttered once the two entered into the small spot of light. "Or did you find better accommodations and didn't bother to include us?"

"Oh yeah, a nice little bed and breakfast was just around the corner. They have the best pastries." He breathed a sigh of relief when Boomer's face came into view.

"And how was the décor? You are partial to florals."

Starbuck wanted to laugh at the joke, but Jake's quick steps towards Rene as his hand reached for her brow had him suddenly rethinking their mission planning. If he left Rene with Jake, her ex-boyfriend's selfishness and distrust would override any of Rene's instincts to jump into the mayhem Starbuck was planning to create. Jake would get her out of there and abandon all of them to do it. The problem was, Starbuck needed Jake for his plan and Boomer needed real medical treatment. Starbuck hadn't sucked enough radium into his lungs to think he could pull off this rescue mission on his own, and despite the sudden comradery of his new hiking companions, he did not trust Avery and his people. Okay, maybe that Wyatt guy seemed decent, but the rest he didn't know and, quite frankly, he didn't want to spend the time with them long enough to learn their names. No, they'd have to stick to the plan and he could change it once he got eyes on the objective.

Even in the dim light of the illuminator, Boomer seemed to read his thoughts. "We need to see what we are dealing with and get Rene to a raider."

"That's why we were coming in. Check out time. They said to get moving and there was no bell clerk to carry the luggage. Jake, how is she?"

"Cooler, but we're all a little cooler since the sun went down." Jake unslung his pack and dug in a pocket pulling out two ration bars handing both to Rene. "Last ones. We are out of food after this."

Starbuck took it as a sign she was doing better when she tore into one of them, almost eating the wrapper in her haste.

"Seriously, what took you guys so long," Jake directed his complaint to Starbuck. "Your gold clusters aren't shields against a raider salvo you know." The young man shifted his ire to Rene. "It doesn't take that long to frak or talk, so what were you doing?"

Starbuck tried to remember that Jake was speaking from his worry, and that as their medic, he knew far better than any of them what harm this environment could do to a person, especially one still growing. He answered for Rene, as she was intent on unwrapping the second bar. "Just finalizing some plans to get out of here."

"What did you come up with that's better than my plan?" Jake jabbed

He ignored the comment, or tried to until Rene spoke around a mouthful of ration bar.

"Nothing that involves you."

Even in the dark, Starbuck caught the irritated quirk of Jake's eyebrow. He tried not to react himself at the knowledge that Rene had just chosen a side. Maybe the sense of victory was tempered by knowing that the divide had been created by Jake, and that Starbuck's side included a plan nearly as risky as Jake's. But Rene had finally seemed to have chosen and it gave him some comfort that maybe she had actually listened to him. On their romantic moonlit hike, he'd work on getting her to agree to go find Apollo and choose a course a bit safer than the two opposing plans that involved suicide by cylon. Buoyed by that thought, he decided to go with another plan himself in the process, ignoring Jake and letting the man deal with his ex.

"Boomer, can you pop up the map of where Apollo was headed." He hoped they were moving in the right direction and that maybe if he could visualize it, he could send a better plea to lady luck for some of the divine deliverance they certainly wouldn't turn down.

"Yeah, I can. Avery said we are closer to the cylon operations, but we still have a few metrons to hike. I figured we would want to hit the encampment long before dawn, just in case we don't find a ship to fit all of us. Gives us the darkness to cover our tracks." Boomer turned on his datapad, the map glowing almost too brightly in the dark for Starbuck's eyes to read. He took the pad, trying to shield the "We are here" glow from the raider's prowling the skies.

"They have radios." Boomer's words made Starbuck jump.

"What?! When did you find this out? Why the frack haven't they shared." A chilling thought streaked down Starbuck's spine. "Tell me they haven't been transmitting? And to who?"

"'Whom' is the proper term," Boomer teased. "They have, since this last morning I think. Coded messages at least but," Starbuck cut him off cursing loudly as he removed his hands shielding the data pad, handing it to Rene.

"So why are we trying to be stealthy here? Dammit, I wanted to believe him that we weren't walking into a trap, but," Starbuck choked on the string of curses that were fighting to cue up in his mouth, not sure which one to choose first, coughing on all of them as he hacked up a gob of phlegm and spat it into the darkness.

"Easy there, Bucko. It's not bad news." Boomer clapped him on the back. "If Apollo found a viper, we can now contact him and…" Boomer hesitated.

Starbuck tried to clear his throat, spitting again something that was too thick to be called saliva. "Just tell me."

"They have more people to help. They are almost there. That's how I found out about the radios. Wyatt's chimed with the message. And more good news, they are coming with us."

Starbuck didn't try to hide the contempt as he muttered, "Great, fraking fantastic. What they should have done in the first place! Just what the fleet needs, more idiots. I know, let's have them run for the Quorum of Twelve because their mission planning would fit right in with those imbeciles."

Rene's hand lightly touching his back was a gentle reminder that they were all looking to him to lead the way, not just on this mission but back home as well. Like it or not, he was the gold clusters hero and he chided himself to start acting like it. "Great, alright, great, then let's get going if they are already there. Rene, memorize that map just in case. Boomer, how's the leg?"

His buddy answered too quickly for it to be the truth, "Good. How's the fever?"

"Keeping me from feeling the chill of this night air and keeping me addled enough to still think all this is a good idea, so let's just roll with it, shall we? Seriously, how's the leg?" He turned to Jake for the answer. Jake gave the sewer rat's noncommittal shrug and Starbuck found himself shooting out a hand to smack him in the chest before he could stop himself.

"Cut the mong right now! We're all warriors here, so let's fraking act like it. How's the leg?"

It was Boomer that quirked the eyebrow this time, but at least he answered. "We will act like it when you do. Fraking in the field isn't exactly how a warrior plans a mission."

Starbuck didn't hesitate to defend himself. "Oh, did you not sign up for that course at the academy, or were you rejected because you didn't fit the appearance requirements? It was a private tutor session if you have to question my actions. Besides, in case you hadn't noticed after all these yahrens of us bunking together, I do my best thinking without my clothes. Now cut the felgercarb and feed me the truth, or I am leaving you here at my bed and breakfast with the cylon concierge and you can tell me all about their hospitality. How's the leg?"

He cast his buddy a glare that said despite the joke, Starbuck wasn't in the mood for Boomer's evasion.

"Still infected but I can deal with the pain. Just like you, I'd rather save the drugs for someone else. The kids we are rescuing might need the medications, plus I'm not sure if I want to live if your wife doesn't. I've gotten used to bunking without you, especially since you became so damn cranky. Honest enough answer for you?"

Over his shoulder he heard Rene whisper, "I'm fine," but she nearly glowed in the dark from the fever he knew was still rising when it should be falling. It was no longer time for debate or hashing out plans. He wanted to get this over with. He wanted to zoom past the harsh details to the moment when they would be in the OC laughing about all this.

"Let's go. You follow my lead. You follow my orders, all of you. That means you too, Boomer." His boots were moving as he headed into the tunnel, barking Avery's name and hoping like hades his team was healthy enough and wise enough to follow.

It was Wyatt that answered his call, "Keep it down. He's on his way back."

Starbuck choked back the curses again and a voice in his head, sounding an awful lot like Adama whispering advice told him to stay calm and save his anger for better uses later. "We're going to meet him. Radio and let him know, or better yet, give me one of those communicators so we can get this mission going and get your people off this cursed rock."

He felt like he'd won the big pot at the Rising Star when Wyatt didn't hesitate, tossing him the communicator and pulling out another one to hand to Boomer. Starbuck keyed the communicator open. "Avery, hold your position. We're on our way." He turned to Wyatt. "Let's get this mong mash moving so I can get you all back to the fleet and show you what real hospitality looks like. Lead the way."

Wyatt spread the word down the tunnel, and they began moving deeper into the cavern. Starbuck audibly groaned as he was starting to think he was claustrophobic. He held in the sigh when Wyatt explained that they wouldn't be underground long as the tunnel had caved in yahrens ago. There was an opening farther down, cutting some of their travel and keeping them less exposed.

Starbuck made sure to note how Boomer was moving, deciding that he'd made the right decision to put Rene and Boomer on the same objective. If this hike was as long as the last one they just took, he'd need to find someone to carry Boomer and Rene. The thought had him trying to peer down the dark tunnel, but he had lost sight of Rene in his haste to get going. The voice in his head reminded him that she did better in the dark than he did, plus Jake was with her. "She chose your side. She's here," Adama's voice tried to reassure him. Or he could just be delirious. The tunnel was too cramped to stop and wait for her. He'd just have to trust that opening up and sharing his own fears would convince his wife to follow him.

"I haven't had good luck when it comes to sharing my heart," he mused to the voice in his head. The ghostly adviser suddenly went silent, seeming to mull over that fact rather than offering him reassurances.

He thanked the lords that they didn't need to go far before they reached the area where they could easily climb the debris to come out near the top of the ridge. Starbuck helped Boomer up the scree of loose rocks, noting his friend's clenched jaw and creases on his forehead as he fought back the pain of using his leg a bit more than a hike required. Starbuck didn't ask if he was okay. He wasn't, but Boomer had said he could tough it out. He'd chosen this course of action and practically forced Starbuck to follow. He made a mental note to add it to the report he'd be filing recommending Boomer for an award, or at least a good speech in the OC when he bought him a much-deserved drink.

He tried not to worry about Rene. He knew Jake would help her up the rocks if she needed it, that is if they were still with him. "It's okay if she's not," he tried to dispel the worry in his mind. Jake would see her to a raider or a viper, or die trying. It was somewhat comforting and he lied to himself that it was because of the baby, not whatever feelings Jake might have for his wife.

As he headed off into the dark to rescue more youngsters from cylon captivity, Starbuck suddenly realized he was the grownup of this group. He tried not to contemplate too deeply the curse that could be, all of them relying on him to make the mature decisions. "Yeah, real mature," he said to himself as he pulled a blade of dry grass from his collar, a stowaway from his impromptu coupling in the field. Instead he turned up the volume of Adama's voice and waited for Rene and Jake to catch up with him. "You are capable and quite creative and so is she," the voice tried to bolster his confidence as he stumbled his way in the dark in the hills above Caprica City.

"You could be the hero they've turned Dante into. You could help them to overcome that misguided worship of a very flawed man. Maybe even show them how to be heroes for themselves. That's how you will win them over to our way of thinking."

Adama hadn't given that speech exactly, but he'd hinted at it a few times. Starbuck knew that's what his Commander had meant to do when he immediately put all of the Dilmun warriors into training sessions, even one's who probably didn't need the courses. It was a refresher on how to work as a team, how to be able to rely on your fellow warriors, and not need Dante and his fracked up version of a command structure. He let the spirit of Adama guide him as he tried to keep up with Wyatt and find his way in the night

After what he felt must have been a kilometron, although it was hard to judge in the gloom that had deepened, he couldn't keep the worry contained and halted to wait for the line of men to pass. The pressure crushing his chest released a little when he saw the smaller shadow that evolved into Rene's familiar form. When she caught up to him, he reached for her hand, but in the darkness, he found her arm instead. He chose to reach up to the back of her neck, a favored spot for the rats when they touched. He was beginning to understand why after the black sewers, the dim caverns and now the dusky hills. It was an easy body part to find in the dark, plus he could register in that spot more of how his wife was holding up, could almost feel her emotions. She reacted to his touch, her body rippling at the contact. She was warm, but not burning up like before. Much like his own fever, it was keeping her from shivering in the cold, but it wasn't a problem yet. He felt the strong thread of her pulse letting him know she wasn't getting too tired and still had some energy left.

His other hand reached for Jake knowing he wouldn't be far. As he touched his arm, he didn't say the words again, "Look out for her," because he didn't need to. Instead he whispered, "I need to help Boomer."

The two chimed, "Yes sir," and he felt he finally had an example to use with Rene for what a low one should sound like on her surliness scale. It sparked a bit of hope that maybe this was the team building exercise Rene had teased him about.

He looked at the landscape behind them and saw a spot glowing softly in the night, his makeshift beacon for his friend. "See, I have learned a thing or two from you. Now get here and rub it in my face, buddy." It was as close to praying he was going to let himself come to today, at least that was the vow he tried to make as he searched the sky for either stars or raiders. He found neither, just Rene's hand that somehow had found his in the dark, urging him to keep going. He squeezed gently in reply before letting go.

He caught up to Boomer who was valiantly trying to keep pace with Wyatt leading the way. Starbuck slid himself under his friend's arm, taking his weight so he wasn't placing as much of it on his bad leg. Boomer started to say something, but Starbuck silenced him.

"I owe you after you came back for me on Attila. Oh, and then there was that time on…frak if I can remember the name, but you saved me from Borays and Siress Belloby. Neither of which were particularly pleasing to the eye."

"Oh? I thought you liked her kiss, or did the Boray's kiss better?" In the jibe Starbuck heard the unspoken "thanks" that didn't need to be said between friends.

"They smelled better. Her perfume was overpowering. Did she really think that covered up her old lady smell?"

"I thought you liked mature women?"

"Well sure, for a date, but not for a sealing mate. They usually have some money to spend." They both kept up the banter, distracting themselves from the agony of a long hike over steep terrain, until the climb made it difficult to speak.

It wasn't much longer before Wyatt halted, speaking quietly, "Over the next ridge is the camp. We need to keep it down. Avery is at the top of the ridge waiting on us. You want to take a look first, right?"

"That's the plan."

The radio at his belt crackled as did the one in Wyatt's hand. Starbuck nearly jumped out of his skin as he reached to shut it off.

"That you Wyatt, over?" Avery's voice reverberated in Wyatt's hand.

Wyatt keyed the communicator twice, receiving an answering message from Avery, "Deer is bedded down in the glen."

Starbuck tried not to chew out Wyatt. It wasn't the man's fault that they didn't understand basic infiltration strategies of keeping the coms clear, but he couldn't quite keep the snarl from his voice as he hissed, "Where is he?"

Wyatt pointed up to a steep ridge ahead of them. It was a decent location to scout out the valley below due to its elevation and held plenty of brush for cover. Starbuck wasn't sure if the darkness hid the hand sign he flashed Rene to hold up or if she just chose to ignore it. When he began to creep up the steep ridge, nearly on his belly, he discovered she had followed him. He felt her hand taken hold of his belt, as if she needed a tether to him.

He found the dark shape of Avery and headed for the bushes the man was using for a shield. He reached out to lightly pat Avery rather than speaking his name. Peeking his head over the crest of the ridge, Starbuck took a look at their objective. The camp was close, too close. Had it been illuminated, they would have seen the glow in the distance as they came over the last hill, but most of the camp was dark. "Of course, centurions don't need light to see," he reminded himself. The cylons could probably scan them right now if the six patrolling the nearest perimeter bothered to look up.

He took a quick scan of the encampment. It was as Avery had mapped out. A mining operation off to the left, the ravine fenced in. Inside that fence there were more fences and outbuildings. Off to the right were at least four rectangular buildings lacking windows, just a door in each and a well-worn path between them. The buildings were also surrounded by a fence that led to another enclosed area. There weren't many lights on in the encampment, but the few there were all directed down on the masses of brown that looked like small piles of dirt surrounded by a fence. There were more centurions patrolling inside the enclosure, and he counted four more in towers above the fences. Mentally he added up the number of tinheads the base probably held, well over twenty, half of which were guarding the buildings and the enclosed courtyard.

"Why would they need to guard dirt?" He wondered until the movement of a pile made clear the mounds weren't debris or soil. They were bodies huddled together for warmth. It was a centurion marching near the bodies that helped Starbuck determine the dimensions of the camp and the people inside it. The bodies were small.

"Kids," he gasped out loud knowing it was stating the obvious, but he hadn't fully grasped just how young these children might be when this was an abstraction of a plan. "Little kids," he clarified in a whisper and felt Rene's fingers dig into the small of his back as she tightened the grip she had on his belt.

It was Boomer's voice in his ear that startled him and raised the hairs on the back of his neck. "Bucko, there's no raiders."

Starbuck let loose the breath he'd sucked into his lungs, expelling the hope he'd had that this would work.

"No. No no no," he began to murmur, but the voice inside his head that had been his motivation for this hike was chiming softly, "Yes, yes,yes."