There is something to be said for a good night's sleep after a traumatic event. It could help to put the event in the past and leave one feeling rejuvenated for the future that lay ahead, one hopefully brighter. He desperately wanted that to happen, but instead he woke after just a centaur or two coughing hard. He felt like he was breathing through mud and panicked for a moment that he was going to not be able to draw air. Jake was there, a hypo to his neck and a mug of something warm that helped to clear the feeling away at least a little. He regretted that his coughing had jostled Rene from her sleep, but it was worth it for the look of concern and more importantly a glimpse of recognition that she had for him. She still didn't speak, but her hand reached up to stroke his face and he tried to remember that she didn't do that for just anyone.

However, it was Jake she crawled towards a few moments later when her stomach rebelled and she heaved up what had been a good meal on the floor beside them. It was to her friend that she mumbled a sorry and whose arms she sought for comfort as Starbuck tried to reach out for her. Boomer was the one who helped clean up the mess as Jake held her. He wiped down her face as the fever spiked, and was able to help her keep some of the food inside her.

Starbuck felt useless and forgotten as he lay shivering on the cold floor watching his wife in the arms of another. He knew he was being childish as the jealousy rose. Jake was just looking out for his friend and the mother of his children. There was nothing romantic in his motives, but the irrational emotion just seemed to ride in on the wave of heat that swept through him. He shed the blankets and wished someone would turn down the flame on the fire.

He shifted his gaze to the windows of the home and wondered briefly if they had slept longer than a few centaurs as the sky outside grew brighter with an unnatural orange glow. Had the sun finally been able to power through the thick clouds? The glow seemed to brighten and fade, shifting as if moving. He had his answer when an explosion rocked the floor beneath him and the glow flared brighter. The light wavered and he realized it was a fire raging on the hillsides from cylon raider salvos. He was about to shout out the obvious, that the enemy had found them, when the electric grid outside the window flared in flash of blinding blue as one of the tin heads got lucky with a direct hit. He dove to cover Rene with his body, to hope that maybe at least she would survive . He waited for the quick burning that would end his life while muttering a quick prayer for his own child's salvation. He held Rene tight, recognizing that at least they were together, although death seemed to be taking its sweet time coming.

He looked over his shoulder to see the salvo dissipate on the grid, spraying like hot lava across the windows of the home. Apollo belatedly leapt from his chair, blaster drawn uselessly. Things seemed to move in slow motion as Starbuck could see another laser salvo come lancing in, then break up on impact with Peryton's grid. For a moment, Apollo was framed in a bright orange glow like his namesake, the god of the sun, before he flung himself to try to cover Starbuck and Rene.

Rene struggled underneath him and the weight of Apollo as well. Starbuck shifted his weight muttering up at his friend, "So you do care, only could you not care so much. You're heavy."

Realization dawned on Apollo as well that they weren't being incinerated. He rolled away patting Starbuck on the shoulder. "Told you Peryton knew what he was doing."

"Yeah, well, I think I'm okay with you winning that point." Rene was still struggling to get out from underneath him despite the fact that he had moved his weight aside. "You're alright," he said to her in reassurance, but he held tight. She stilled at his words looking up to him, a question forming on her face, but not uttered aloud. "I'm okay, that's what you were wondering right? I'm alright." He took it as a good sign when she nodded.

Apollo got to his feet making a snap decision. "Time to go. Max, get Peryton. We need to figure this out now."

Starbuck found it hard to get to his feet as he called out, "We aren't launching into a cylon patrol. I'd like to die in my bed, thank you very much."

It was Peryton's voice as he entered the room that ended the short debate. "Down to the hangar, it's more secure. Come on. We can wait this out. Three yahrens they've been trying, and they haven't gotten to me yet. Have ya, you tin-plated bastards!" the old man shouted at the window as another salvo hit the grid, and everyone ducked for cover except the old man who chuckled and shook his fist at the blast instead. "Glad they haven't forgotten me. Warms the heart knowing one old man is so damn hard to take down, doesn't it?"

Starbuck couldn't help but to join in the old man's laughter, as another salvo harmlessly sprayed against the grid that flared momentarily, and in the bright glow he caught Rene's eyes on his, filled with the same optimistic grin.

He called her name and wasn't sure if she heard it over the noise of another salvo strafing the ground before the hillside home, but her hand found his. He pulled her closer before reaching out and bringing Jake along with her into the shelter of his arms.

"It's been a fun holiday, but time to go home don't you think?" he whispered in her ear, then grinned as she nodded and stuttered, "P..pretty…b…boy d…doesn't want his hair r..r..ruffled?"

"You know how I am. Gotta keep looking good for my fans. Come on."

He let go and let Jake helped him to his feet before the two of them helped Rene up. He pulled her to him and tried to stay hopeful as she leaned against him. He'd be doing the piloting, her the navigation, and if he couldn't take these tin cans down, well no one could. Plus, they'd have surprise on their side. The enemy had been targeting this guy for three yahrens and Starbuck assumed not once had the guy fired back. He figured like school yard bullies, they'd flee once there was any sign of resistance.

He looked down upon Rene, saw that despite the fever flush to her cheeks, her eyes were clear. "You can get us home, right?"

Her answer chilled him, "W..we…are…h…home."

"You have a funny idea of home, Sweet Lady. Okay, technically this is our old home. How about you get us back to our current home on the Galactica and from there we'll work on finding a new home, okay?"

He wanted to cheer as she answered with no hesitation, "Where you go, I go." Confusion filled her eyes again though at his grin. The smile he gave her was nearly as bright as the laser show outside the windows.

What was he so damn happy about, Rene wondered? Hadn't he had more than enough of the enemy after spending time in their care. She could feel the device in his arm digging into her shoulder and she wanted to reach up and scratch at the device in her own arm. It still burned and she swore she could feel those wires jabbing inside her. She hoped to the lords that the old doctor on the Galactica had enough education to know what to do about it. Her faith in Colonial Military doctors was pretty low after the one from the Zakar that Dante let live basically told her as she lost Kenan's child that he had no idea why she was losing it or even why women went into labor. He confessed he'd just been trained in how to put people back together long enough to get them to a real medical facility. He was a glorified medic and not even a surgeon. She didn't trust the guy to touch her after that. She'd have to trust the crusty old doctor on the Galactica, she didn't have a choice.

"Rene?" he called to her, concern flooding his features. "You need to stay with me. I need you in the here and now." He didn't have time to deal with her being disoriented, they needed to go or soon they'd be back in the hands of the enemy and he knew they wouldn't make it out alive this time.

She tried to answer him, but his words had her wondering what he meant. Here? Weren't they trying to get out of here? She tried to ask the question, but he'd turned away from her to speak to another man, one so old that it was a shock. No one was old in Dante's fleet, just Dante and one would hardly call him aged with his full head of black hair and smooth skin.

Jake squeezed her hand again and she looked to him, questioning, "Who?" She couldn't manage much more, the words hard to find as the pain stabbed into her temples at the attempt.

"A friend," Jake answered, his free hand saying something else in sign language. "Owns the place. There are vipers," he signed and she nodded back. Vipers were a good thing.

"The d…de…device?"

"Going to have to make a new one. You can do that, right?" She nodded to him, the schematic suddenly there before her eyes, superimposed over the image of his face, junctions of circuits in the places of his eyes, the lines of worry leading to the wires.

"Yeah," she whispered breathlessly at the vision. She felt two squeezes of her other hand, Starbuck's code, but usually one that meant they were safe. This was not safety and she spun to say so to him, but didn't have the chance as they all instinctually ducked as another salvo came close, making the floor beneath them jump.

"Come on," Apollo reached for him, pushing him towards the corridor leading down to the hangar.

Another voice called out, "We need to go," as Starbuck dragged her towards a door. They were following the old man, but she had no idea who he was and why he might be trying to take them to safety. Old men didn't live. Dante killed them.

"No, that's wrong." A voice in her head cut through the confusion and she looked up to Starbuck to see if it came from him. "Dante's dead." Her steps faltered as something slammed into place in her mind and jolted down her spine. Starbuck's words rattled around inside her head like marbles in a can: "Here and now. Here and now." She let the cadence of it propel her feet forward.

The old man led them down the dark passageway lined with boxes. She read the stencils, realizing they were survival supplies that she wished she could dig into. For the first time since getting to Caprica she was hungry, and this food she could eat without worrying about what toxins it might contain. For some reason, that thought made her crave the food even more. But now was not the time. She reminded herself that she could gorge on whatever she wanted once they were back on board the Galactica.

The old man opened the door to the hangar and the sound of men and children shouting filled her ears, but what she saw wasn't people, no, it was the fighters lined up gleaming. The sight was impressive. The vipers were on display like at an air show, all shiny and new, but it was the dark one in the middle that stopped her dead in her tracks.

Her head swam as her vision turned black, a field of stars rapidly spilled out before her, overlaying her sight. The silence of space and the light thrum of the turbos blocked out the noise of the men and the children. She was in the seat of that craft, the stars around her and before her. She looked out of the cockpit at a planet so starling blue and green. She turned her head to see the moon in her peripheral vision, the gray superimposed upon Starbuck's face. The hangar faded and all she could see was the space before her and she knew it was not the here and now.

"A vision," she mumbled and watched the moon frown. She was used to the visions happening at night, whole dreams of something that seemed so real, scenes playing out as vividly as if her eyes were open. Only this time, her eyes were open. This kind of foresight had only happened a few times, a scene overwriting her current vision. First there was the void and the planet around a pulsing star, then it was finding the light cruiser, the Sphinx. The last time it had happened, the one that had dropped her to her knees while working in her fields one early morning, it was the Galactica and all the fleet in the darkness of space blotting out the morning sun like an eclipse.

A face tried to eclipse the moon and she wanted to brush him aside. She turned instead to look forward at the planet below her. It filled the viewscreen and she let it take over her sight.

Like all the other times, she was nauseous and disoriented as the vision played almost like a holovid. She tried to speak, her voice sounding hollow and flat in her own ears. "I need…I need a stylus." No one seemed to hear her as they moved forward into the hangar, but she couldn't move. The moment demanded her attention. Her heart sped up as she saw through her own eyes, and yet not. She was in that cockpit. Voices called out over a com line, voices she did not recognize, "There she is, what we have all been searching for."

"Rene?"

Another voice was more insistent and she realized it was Starbuck that called to her and it kept her tethered to the here and now. She turned her eyes to him, but couldn't make her body respond. What was in front of her was too important, the planet and the instruments on the panel. She heard voices in her ear, someone named Dillon called to another named Troy.

Jake touched her and she startled. "Get me a stylus, NOW!" Jake shook his head not understanding and she knew she had to do something before the scene went away. The fear of it disappearing broke her paralysis. She bolted to the counters at the back wall of the hangar, jerking drawers open frantically searching. Jake tapped her on the shoulder, handed her a grease pen. She dropped down to a clear spot on the floor and began sketching before it was gone. "Look, look at the instruments!" She willed her own eyes to move beyond the viewscreen, to look down at the instrumentation of the vessel.

Starbuck called to her, his voice held concern as he stepped towards her. She heard Jake's voice as he stopped him. "This has happened before. She found Kobol this way and Dilmun and…" Their voices were distant to her as she frantically drew, images overlaying each other in her mind. What to draw first? She panicked to save it before it bled away. The most important, where was she? Nine worlds, nine, but the third one from the sun was important, as was the gas giant, it was huge and orange, dwarfing all the others. She drew, her arms reaching out in arcs to get it down.

"Coordinates? Just look at the instruments! Look down!" She didn't realize she'd said it aloud until she heard the voices behind her shouting, concerned, troubled, "Rene!" Jake was trying to explain. It didn't matter. Get it down before it goes away. Was it her? Was it someone else? Even that didn't matter.

And then there it was, the instrumentation in her vision, and the coordinates. "Oh my lords," she gasped. It was so far away. How many yahrens would it take to get there? Could she even jump that far? She wrote the coordinates down, and went back to sketching the planet as the words rang in her head, two voices of people she didn't know, just pilot chatter, but one word was important. "So there she is, what my father spent his life looking for. Earth."

She froze there on her knees in the hangar. She somehow could sense the yahrens between now and what she saw, far too many yahrens in between. But she could change that. She looked over her shoulder to Starbuck. Before her was what she had wanted him to tell her, but now he didn't need to. She didn't need him to tell her what she already knew.

She locked eyes with him and he must have seen the weight of the decision inside her, the burden that would crush her if she thought about it too long and too hard. He called her name, ignored Jake's hand on him as he stepped towards her. She looked down at the instruments drawn on the floor before her, the coordinates written clearly with the grease pen. Starbuck's hand touched her shoulder and she reached out to smear them away.

"Rene?"

She turned her sight back to the instruments, confirming the coordinates, listening to the voices. She was there, but where was he? She tried to call out to him, but the name stuck on her tongue. He wasn't there.

"Rene?"

He spoke to her again and she looked up to him, whispering softly, "Why aren't you there?"

"I'm right here, Pretty Lady. I'm right here."

She shook her head. She wasn't confused, the vision was clear. He wasn't there, but where would he be then? Why would she be there if he wasn't?

"I know," she whispered to him as he lifted her chin so she would meet his eyes, "You're here, but you aren't there. Why aren't you there?

"Because I'm here, Rene. Are you okay?"

His blue eyes were so vivid, they held so much care and capacity to love. His eyes so perfectly matched the planet below her and she looked to it again, drank it in. She was there and he was here. She needed to be here with that promise his eyes foretold. She closed her eyes, shut out both sights and tried to let the pilot chatter fade.

"Rene? Okay, that's it. We aren't doing this today."

"I'm okay." She spoke to the floor and heard her voice in her helmet across the comm. "I'm okay!" She tried to shut out the vision, abruptly getting to her feet, but too fast. She swayed and saw stars in her vision, not the ones through the viewscreen, but here in the hangar as her vision turned gray, light gray, then military gray, gray like the walls of her new home, gray like the corridor to the bridge. She opened her eyes wide as she saw the blues of the bridge crew uniforms, the brown of Athena's hair, the white of Adama's, and the green of the screens.

Adama's voice rang out as he spoke to the crew, "We must move on. The enemy has found us again."

"Rene!" Starbuck's voice was insistent as his hand came to her face, gently lifting her chin as he tried to meet her eyes.

"The scanners," she thought, "I need to see the scanners, to see the course. I have to look down!" She reached to pull his hand away so she could lower her head and take the steps across the bridge, to come up beside Colonel Gage, to see what he saw. She tried to say it, to tell Starbuck to let go, but the words were stuck in her. She tried to pull away, but his hand held tight and his other was on her face, guiding her eyes to his again. "Rene! Stay with me! I need you here, now!"

The scanner, she had to walk to the scanner. Her steps were unsteady and something was holding her back. She pulled away, but that didn't work so she pushed against it, pushed hard but it was no use. "The star map," a voice reminded her, "It's behind you." She tried to turn around, but arms held her in place. She jerked her head away from his hand and caught a short glimpse of the star map and the Galactica's course. It was all she needed, just that glimpse. The arms around her were tight, as tight as the restraints in the ship and the instruments were before her again, a voice speaking to her, ringing across the quadrants of space and the span of yahrens, "Home, finally." It was her voice. "If only Starbuck could have seen this."

The words sent a shock through her as she looked up to him. "You won't see it," she whispered softly in defeat, her knees buckling at the revelation. She wanted to know how and when she would lose him, wanted to see that instead of this, but did she? She felt a cold wind blow at her, dust and debris pushing her down.

"I've got you, sit down." His hands guided her back to the floor.

"You sure she can fly?" she heard the old man ask Apollo and she tried to answer. She found herself looking up to Starbuck. The view out the canopy of the ship began to shrink, the planet growing smaller and smaller, the blue still vivid as it merged into the image of Starbuck's right eye. The same blue, so vivid and promising, the eyes that haunted her dreams even before the Zakar.

"I'm okay," she offered up to him. His eyes were so deep and so full of worry. She spoke again hoping to chase it away, "I'm okay."

He nodded, but it was obvious he didn't believe her. "Maybe we should get you some more to eat." His hand squeezed her shoulder, but he was looking beyond her to the drawings on the floor for a moment before he looked back to her.

"I'm okay." She felt his cool hand on her forehead as he kneeled down to her level, eye to eye.

"What happened? Can you …explain? I've seen that star system before. It was on the wall of the cell on Proteus."

"I can't…it's …it was in the quadrant with Dilmun." She lied knowing instinctually that this was a secret best not to be shared. "I saw…I saw some pilots … there are people still on Dilmun."

Starbuck looked back to her shaking his head. "Well then we'll pick them up when we pass through by there again. You said everyone could fly, everyone could defend themselves. They'll be fine. One rescue mission at a time. Just one more jump and then you and I aren't taking anymore holidays after this one."

"I know," she needed to reassure him, needed him to not know yet what it was she saw. Maybe later, maybe in the safety of their quarters on some boring evening when it felt like she had forever to be with him she might tell him. But not now. "It wasn't about that. It was…it…it doesn't make sense. They don't have to make sense. I just know I was in that ship. I know how to fly that ship."

She watched the conflicting emotions swirl in his eyes like clouds in a planet jet stream. He wanted to get her home, all of them home before this planet killed them, but he was full of fear and doubt. She could tell Starbuck was trying not to be disturbed by all this. She'd already taken him on a wild ride with the dreams she'd had on the Galactica that had brought them here to Caprica. He was trying to understand, but she couldn't explain, she barely understood and lacked the words to clarify. She knew she'd be alive yahrens from now to find earth, but if she had the coordinates now, why would she wait?

There was no hiding anything from Starbuck, he could read her too well. She tried to look away, but he knew and guided her chin so their eyes met again. He scanned her more effectively than any biomonitor.

"I'm okay," she spoke rapidly hoping to keep him from looking too deep into this. "It was a good thing I saw. It's okay. I c..c..can fly that…" she pointed to the dark ship. "to home."

He nodded to her again, his fingers under her chin reaching to stroke her cheek. "Just so you get to the right home, okay? Back to the Galactica."

She melted into his touch, her heart nearly exploding with the knowledge that he understood. He knew. Her home was not on some metal ship in space. Maybe in the cockpit, but not those gray walls. For now, home was in those blue eyes full of concern and care that gazed deep into her own.

"Maybe we should try this tomorrow." It was a statement, not a question as he came to a decision.

She waited for another quaking of the earth from a raider salvo to change his mind, but it was Avery's voice that exploded from behind them.

"Wait? What the hades? First you wanted us to go, now you want us to wait? Make up your mind. We've lost too many to your plans. The kids are ill and we want to see our wives, wherever you have taken them. Even if it's not to safety, we need to see them!"

Starbuck abruptly dropped her chin, rising to face the man. "Calm down! We got you to safety for now, so shut up!" He balled up his fists and Rene noted that he planted his feet, blocking her from the man. "We go when she's ready to go."

Avery took a menacing step towards Starbuck. Rene sighed as Apollo stepped in between them. "Avery, this is not an exact science. We don't know how she does what she does. If she's not up to it then…"

"Then what? You want to go raid some more shopping malls before you go, is that it? Need some more jewels or booze before you can leave?"

Starbuck took a step towards the man, his fist rising. Apollo put a hand to his friend's shoulder to remind him to remain calm, but it looked like he too had had enough of Avery and enough of Caprica.

Jake's hand on her shoulder distracted her from the confrontation, his face lined with worry. She accepted his hand to get up from the floor. Once on her feet, she felt light, as if she was filled with helium. They had given her the answers she needed. She didn't have to rely on Starbuck or anyone from the Galactica for the coordinates. She could take them now, except it would just be them, leaving far too many behind. Maybe that was for the best though. Maybe it was what they wanted. They could scout it out and get things settled before they went back for the rest, or maybe…

Jake interrupted her thoughts as he seemed to catch the same wavelength she was on. "We need you and Starbuck healthy. You need to get back to the Galactica and decent medical facilities. Those wires inside you, the bacteria and virus are wreaking havoc. I want you to live to see how this all ends."

Some part of her knew he was right but doing things right had never been their thing. She nodded to him anyway to let him think she agreed. Starbuck's voice rising drew both their attention.

"You have the manners of a boray! He takes you in and you have the gall to demand and order him around? Without us you'd be freezing in those hills and these kids would be laboratory specimens!"

The grin on Jake's face was familiar, but she hadn't seen it since Kenan beat the pogees out of Agenor, or when Crius stood up to Pallus during flight training. Starbuck had worked his way in to Jake's trust and she had no idea how it happened. She looked to Starbuck who seemed ready to take all of Avery's men on and suddenly wished Jake had been there on the Rising Star to see Starbuck almost best Pallus.

"What?" Jake said, catching the astonished look on her face.

"N..n..nothing." She shrugged and was going to leave it at that, but she couldn't resist rubbing it in just a little. She tried to find the right thoughts to sum up all that was Starbuck, but the words still caught in her head and she stuttered, "Gold cl…cl..clusters."

"I wouldn't call him a hero," Jake quipped back. "He's too sneaky. More like a rat. I may get to see how he fights after all if we don't do something about this. Rats stick together."

She nodded and tried to believe she wasn't dreaming. It was just too much, and she stepped away from the moment before it could break. She took another step, reaching out for Starbuck as Jake called his name. He turned, his anger quickly slipping from his features as he looked down on her, his worry filling his eyes. She took a deep breath, pushed the words out as clear as she could.

"I'm okay. I can do this."

Jake was there to back her up. "We don't have time for this. The enemy is knocking on the door and we have a device to make and a viper to launch. I would prefer you not get knocked out before flying. She may not be clear headed, so we need you to be." Jake turned to Avery, "You want to go another round old man, you go with me. You got that?" His fists came up and Avery took a step back.

Apollo rushed in, ending the confrontation. "We all need to be working on keeping the children safe and getting out of here, all of us!"

He pointed his finger at Jake and Starbuck which had Starbuck sputtering, "Hey, I didn't do anything. Well, not yet anyway."

Jake stepped towards Avery again and Apollo put a hand to his chest as if to push him back.

"Jake! Stand down!" Apollo shouted, but Rene thought she saw a smile ghost at his lips, one that mirrored Starbuck's smile.

"He really did take him down didn't he?" Starbuck smirked.

"We can fight. I've told you that Stah…Star..r…" The word stuck on her tongue, but she attempted it again just to see the light that flared in his eyes. "Star…b…..b…frak."

"Well good to see you still know that word. Many might agree to calling me an astrum or felgercarb versus a starfrak, but I'll take it for now. We have a device to build. Think you can do that even if you can't get my name right?"

She nodded at his joke and reached for Jake, who turned away momentarily from Avery before making a quick turn back just to watch the man jump in surprise, before turning back to the work tables. They walked off to Starbuck's chuckle and Apollo's admonishment.

She retrieved the grease pen from the floor and walked to a counter, drawing out the diagram for the circuit board on the table. The old man leaned down almost nose to the surface to see what she had drawn, nodding his approval as she tried to ask if the lasers were configured the same as the regular old viper. Jake figured out what she was trying to say and Peryton confirmed it was so, while also muttering, "I'll be damned, but that shouldn't work."

"But it does," Jake answered him.

"So explain in detail how it does, punks?"

They both shrugged and the man barked the same command. She let Jake answer despite wanting to jump in for him. He'd never done well with authority, but she figured this old guy wasn't an officer so if Jake vented his frustrations on him, well it might act as a safety valve and help Jake deal a bit better back on the Galactica.

She was shocked that Jake answered calmly and truthfully. "We don't really know why it works. I think that's where she comes in because it just singes my wings and fries my circuits if I go through it."

The man just harrumphed at them. "Going with that mystical felgercarb?"

"Well since you're so damn smart, you explain it then," Jake barked back as he reached for the solder gun.

The old man hovered at Jake's elbow the whole time, asking what he was doing, how Jake was doing it, but also telling her and Jake where to find the parts they needed. The man didn't reach for any tools himself, and Rene wondered about it as the he seemed rather perturbed to have them rustling around in his tools. She knew the mechanics on the Zakar, and they were all that way, upset if you touched their stuff as each one had their things arranged to their own preferred order. But Peryton just grumbled and eventually Jake flashed the signs, spelling out that the man was going blind. It explained a lot.

She was about to ask the man about what happened, how he had survived this long, when Starbuck was there, handing her a water bottle and a protein bar. Apollo and Boomer were with him as well.

"How's it coming along, Jake?" he asked as another whump of a salvo strike punctuated his question.

"Almost there, then just need to install it and we should be good to go."

"Alright, I'll go get her prepped."

Boomer held out a hand to forestall him. "Actually buddy, we have that done. We need to work on the other ships as I have a plan that just might work. Peryton says the other viper's weapons are charged so if we line them up, get them out of the hangar we may be able to fire away and clear the skies, or at least make the Cylons think we're launching a whole squadron and beat a retreat."

"That's a great plan, but we have more vipers than we have pilots. Think we can train Avery's men in a hurry to at least be able to fire a viper laser?"

"If Chameleon can do it, they can. It's not that hard," Apollo answered. "But I think I'm going to leave that task up for you."

"Me? You think that's a good idea?" Starbuck gestured towards Avery who was across the hangar, leaning against a viper, arms crossed and glaring at the warriors. "Besides, I'm going to be busy getting the layout of that new ship's controls and…"

"No, you aren't, Starbuck. I'm piloting her with Rene," Apollo answered and physically braced himself for his old wingmate's response.

"Wait, what? No way!"

It was Boomer that reached out a hand to Starbuck's shoulder as if to hold him back. "Just hear us out."

"Not if you're going to sound as delusional as Rene!"

"You're not up for this Starbuck. You said it yourself, you're sick." Apollo listed off his first point.

"Not that sick! I'm the best pilot and you know that!"

It was Boomer who offered a rebuttal. "When you're healthy and not coughing up old fumarello butts, AND second to Apollo, I would agree with that, but right now you're not healthy. Besides," Boomer looked to Apollo before looking back to Starbuck, "We think you have a point about that thing in your arm being a tracker."

"Which is why I need to get me and Rene out of here!"

"And wind up shot down in the process as they narrow in on you with that tracker?" Apollo asked, his words silencing Starbuck's argument.

Starbuck sighed heavily before offering up another objection, "You'll have Rene with you and she has the same thing in her."

"Yes, but then they only have one tracker to focus on, meanwhile you are here on the ground your tracker registering and distracting them. It might at least split up their forces and give us a chance to get launched."

Starbuck thought for a moment looking at all their faces, settling on Jake's for a moment before turning back to Apollo. "Alright, but once you get up in atmo, you won't know what you're doing. You've only been through that rift twice. But…but Jake knows what he's doing, has done it a hundred times, isn't that what you said? Jake should go while we lay down cover from here."

Jake didn't hesitate as he replied, "No, I vote for Starbuck."

Starbuck almost took a step back, looking in shock from Jake to Rene, then back. "Why me? I just said it should be you. You're a decent pilot, and with us clearing the way, you can do it. You don't need to get far, just clear of here."

"No. It needs to be you."

Starbuck narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why me? Not that I'm disagreeing, just want to know why I get your vote."

"Because…" Jake almost looked in pain having to admit his thoughts, "because if she gets lost at least she'll be with you. You wind up near Dilmun or…or some other random coordinates, at least you're together. She married you and…and besides, you're lucky."

Starbuck was trying not to grin in victory when Jake added, "I played guitar at your damn sealing, remember? I've had plenty of chances to object. If she's going to not make it or get lost in the universe, it should be with you."

Starbuck reached out a hand to his shoulder, nodding while trying to tone down his grin. "Good logic. Alright, it's a vote then, four for me, and two for Apollo. Debate's over, I win."

Apollo mumbled, "It's not a vote. I'm in Command," but both Starbuck and Boomer ignored him.

Boomer was the one to quirk an eyebrow before he looked to Max behind him. "You are assuming my cousin is going to vote for you?"

"Yeah sure, he's part of the rodent family, so he's going to vote with the vermin, aren't you, Max?" Starbuck asked him, but Max looked to Rene before he answered, "I abstain."

"Alright, fine, three to two, I still win so no more debate." He smiled smugly at his friends.

"Starbuck," Apollo started, but Rene cut him off.

"I vote for …for…A…A…Apol….him." She pointed to Apollo.

Max quickly rejoined, "I vote for Apollo too."

"You abstained and now I know you're not in your right mind," Starbuck said turning to Rene, trying to joke, but the betrayal stung just a little. "Why? If you can spit out why, then maybe I'll agree, but…" She started to speak. Starbuck cut her off, "But you can't get the words out can you, so you don't get a vote. You and me are going to…"

"You can't convince A..A…Adama. He can!" she shouted pointing to Apollo. She sped forward into Starbuck's stunned silence. "He…he won't let us come back and….if he goes," she pointed to Jake, "you are st…stuck here and you'll die. I...I…NO! You….you nee…need to live and he," she pointed back to Apollo, "c..can…p…pull…r…rank and…" She practically growled in frustration as he was right, the words stuck like taffy in her teeth. "We nee…n…n…more vipers! More…more than b…before…"

"Okay, okay." Starbuck held up his hands hoping she would stop talking as he couldn't stand to see the pain that was crossing her features as she winced at each word that stuttered out. "I hear you. I'm not agreeing, but…"

Apollo cut him off. "Starbuck, I was at that sealing too. I want you both to live a long and happy life. I will get her to the Galactica and the care she needs. She's right, I can convince my father, or at the very least use my own pilots. One of the perks of having command of your own ship. If Cain can defy my father, then I think I can too, and I will if I have to over this. And…" he held up his hand so he could add another point to the debate, "If she is confused or lost, she might at least remember the Zakar if she doesn't remember the Galactica. That's where you started doing this, right, on the Zakar?" Apollo looked to Jake instead of Rene for confirmation.

"Yes sir, but if you ask the Rats, they'll volunteer, all of them. Most have been through the rift."

"So it's decided. No vote. I'm in command. I have the promotion and just like you, Starbuck, I have the gold clusters, which everyone seems to forget I earned right beside you."

"I was there too," Boomer added, "Not that anyone ever remembers good ole invisible Boomer."

Apollo smiled at Starbuck. "And Boomer too. I won't let you down, Buddy."

Starbuck looked around at his friends, saw the decision in all their faces, well except for Jake, but he didn't look like he was going to object strongly enough to sway their resolve. He looked to Rene last.

"You sure about this?"

She nodded, reaching out for his hand and squeezing it twice.