As she walked into Adama's office two days later, it dawned on Laura Roslin that she hadn't ever actually seen Kacey. She'd had numerous conversations about the little girl with the Admiral and with Tory, but she'd never actually seen her until that morning. Just from looking, there was no way to know what she actually was. Kacey seemed completely innocent, her little tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on what she was drawing.
Upon hearing footsteps, Kacey looked up from the picture she was making at Adama's desk and smiled at her visitor. "Hi."
"Hello, there." Adama stepped out from the corner he'd been in, a book in his hand. "Ah, there you are," Roslin told him.
"Trying to find a good story for little ears."
"Quite a task, I'm sure," she replied with a smile, her eyes drifting back to the tiny blonde child at his desk. Adama noticed.
"Had you seen her?"
"No, amazingly, after all these weeks…"
"I've always had a problem saying no to her mother. And Kacey likes staying here when Kara's flying. She's starting to learn to read."
Roslin turned to him, amazed. "She's not even two."
"I know."
"Gods…she's more advanced than Isis."
Adama considered that. "Have you seen her lately?"
"No. I haven't…haven't been able to bring myself to visit. I think I may have been unconsciously avoiding Kacey as well."
The topic of their discussion toddled over, holding a piece of paper. "Wanna see my picture?" she asked Roslin.
"All right." She took the page from the little girl, and smiled as she saw what was on it. A roughly-colored-in blue circle was dotted with green and white spaces – a planet.
"Mommy says we gonna find a new home," Kacey explained. "I can't wait to see."
Roslin smiled; the little girl suddenly made her miss teaching. "Me, too." Kacey left her picture and went back to the desk to work on more. "It's hard to believe," Roslin quietly said. "Hard to see her as anything other than what she appears to be."
Adama nodded. "Hard to look at her and see a possible threat."
"Has there been any sign – "
"That she's something other than a curious and frighteningly bright toddler? No."
"Have there been any other incidents?"
"No, but I've heard people talking. Some wonder if she shouldn't be a few decks down in a cage instead of free to roam around this ship."
"She's a little girl."
"She won't always be…she'd be the perfect package for a sleeper agent."
"Is there any way to know for sure?"
"No one knows…I call her family, but she could kill us all."
Roslin looked over at Kacey, busily scribbling away. The little girl glanced up and offered a smile when she saw that she was being watched. "She's not a threat," she realized. "At least not now…we just have to keep it that way."
Adama nodded. "So say we all."
Kacey continued working on pictures for the next half hour or so while Adama and Roslin continued their meeting. All three of them looked up at the sound of a knock on the hatch.
"Come on in, Lee," Adama told his son. "What do you need?"
"Well, Kara told me this morning that Kacey was going to need to eat and that you would be in a meeting, so I came to take her to the mess."
Kacey instantly jumped down from her seat, going to take Lee's hand. "Bye, Grandpa!" she called. Adama chuckled.
"Bye, Kace."
Roslin turned to the Admiral as the door closed behind them, a somewhat mischievous smile on her face. She hadn't heard anything about Lee and Kacey interacting before; the image of Major Apollo with the little girl had been quite adorable. "You've been holding out on me," she accused Adama.
He grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Kara wound up pulling a double shift, so Lee kept Kacey for the rest of the afternoon. He looked up from the paperwork he was doing at his desk when he heard her stirring on the couch behind him. Lee had been relieved to finally get her to sleep a half hour earlier, but apparently a long nap wasn't in the cards. "Hey, kiddo."
Kacey looked around. "Where's Mommy?"
"She's flying, Kace, remember?"
"I want Mommy."
Lee frowned, putting down his pen. "She'll be back in a couple hours."
"No, I want Mommy now!"
"I'm sorry, honey. You're stuck with me for a little bit longer." Kacey looked on the verge of tears, nervously fidgeting on the couch. "What's wrong?" Lee asked her, getting up. He knelt in front of her. "Kacey, look at me. What's the matter?"
"Mommy's in trouble."
"Trouble how?"
"I had a dream."
"A dream? About what?"
Kacey sniffled, tears spilling. "Mommy's funeral." Lee wasn't sure how, but he knew this wasn't just a dream. He got up, picking up his phone and dialing.
"This is Major Adama. Get me the Admiral. Now."
TBC...