Disclaimers in Part One. Remember: REVIEWS equals MORE FANFIC!
For those still wondering:
English dialogue is in "".
Colonial dialogue is bolded.
Italicized dialogue indicates voices coming over the wireless.
With enormous (Basestar-sized) thanks to The Sidhe, who gave me one of the ideas appearing below. Check out "The Consequences of Not Being Polite" to see why. Thanks also to everyone who has written in so far; you're what keeps this story going!
That all said, back to work…
THE LONG ROAD HOME
Book I: Promised Land
Part Seven
1750 Hours GMT
Battlestar Nemesis
In the interests of fostering further good will with the Colonials the Admiral was only too willing to take Tigh up on his offer of a shower. That this would improve their individual comfort and personal hygiene considerably was simply a happy side-effect.
Ishnay directed them to the head used by his medical staff. Taylor and Lewis had broken the seals on their own suits after Tigh and the Admiral had shaken on it. Starbuck had held back for her own reasons, reassuring the Commander and Admiral both nothing was amiss. She'd taken the moment to order Guarland to put out their 'travel bags' for pick up by the Colonials; the implication being Tigh would detail some of his men to do exactly that.
If Tigh or his officers were taken aback by her presumption, they didn't show it. "See to it, Captain," was the Commander's only reply. Athena simply nodded evenly and went to the wall-mounted phone to do as ordered.
Once this was finished she and Ishnay led their guests out of Life Station and down the hallway. Lewis had been left behind to ensure Olympus received the data on the Colonial's immunity and ensure the scanner was packed away properly.
At that point, everyone was back to not looking in Starbuck's direction, which she found flattering in a way. She couldn't help but be on edge at the non-looks Athena was carelessly not directing her way. This wasn't nearly as nerve-wracking as Athena directing her into a separate room entirely from the others. By rights this should have had Rice and Taylor both up in arms and declaring 'battle royale' at such treatment, given regulations and all.
As it was the Admiral had simply shared a guarded look with Tigh before they'd stepped out of Life Station, followed by a couple meaningful looks-cum-glares toward Athena and Taylor. Whatever had gone unspoken between them all had evidentially satisfied the parties involved. A Letter of Marque might as well have been signed and put in Agathon's hand, the way she moved and oh-so-gently nudged her former shipmate in the desired direction.
Given this, and strictly to ensure the continued comity of their hosts, she offered no resistance as Athena led her off. The head they entered was smaller than the communal ones they'd shared back on Galactica. Some battered lockers stood against one wall, an oversized sink against another and a single long bench between them. There was only one shower stall in the otherwise empty room. Athena closed the door after them and leaned back against it with arms folded and single eye-brow raised. Starbuck pouted in reply and began breaking the seals of her suit one by one.
She was very deliberate and careful about it, just to mess with her temporary guard a bit. A process that would normally take five minutes at most took twice as long. Starbuck simply concentrated on pulling off her gear and leaving it in an untidy pile upon the bench. Her underwear quickly joined it without a hint of modesty on their owner's part, leaving her naked beyond her octagonal dog tags and a familiar ring on her left big toe. Starbuck then pulled off a small bundle that had been affixed to the side of her suit and tore it open. Within it was a pair of folded cloths, one of which she left on the bench away from her discarded suit. The other she took with her into the stall and began rubbing over herself, causing her skin to glisten.
Athena sniffed once and couldn't keep herself from gagging at the stench. Starbuck ignored this, but did glance over her shoulder to grin, "Do my back?"
"What the frak is that?"
"Better not to ask."
Athena blew a disgusted breath and shook her head. She stared at the floor and the gear piled there, trying to block out the scent of whatever Starbuck was rubbing over herself right then. She had little success there and consoled herself that it was likely worse for Ishnay.
Starbuck started up the shower a minute later, shivering under the cold torrent and twisting the knob hard to the other side. It was a vain effort as this area was used expressly for treating chemical spills and the shower had only two settings: cold and very cold. Athena threw her a vicious grin as Starbuck set on the quickest shower of her life. She rubbed herself with the cloth once more, sluicing off the smelly stuff quickly and efficiently.
Shutting off the water, Starbuck stomped out of the stall and picked up the second cloth, which unfolded to become a body wrap. Now it was Starbuck's turn to studiously ignore the rest of the room as she patted herself dry and wrapped the thin material about herself, doing so with the frosty air of one ready to communicate with the ignored party knuckles first.
Athena took the moment to conduct a visual inventory of the woman, carefully noting the tattoos that adorned her shoulder, arm and neck. She likewise noted the familiar scars here and there on her, as well as a couple new ones. A couple on her abdomen caused her own stomach to tighten in sympathy. "Are those new?" she asked, not feeling the need to specify what she was referring to.
The room's temperature dropped another ten degrees. "Mind your own business, Agathon." Starbuck met her eyes forthrightly and added, "Anything you want to say to me while you've got the chance?"
"Nothing that doesn't involve boxing gloves or titanium knuckles, Thrace."
Backhanded flattery had it limits, and Starbuck had reached hers. "What the hell is your problem, Agathon?" Just to underline the sentiment, she bent down and unhooked her sidearm and holster from her biohazard suit.
The subtle message was apparently lost on the target, who questioned, "My problem?"
"Yes."
"My problem?" There was a note of disbelief on the second word.
"Yes! What the frak is it with everyone here?"
Athena did not answer immediately, instead letting out something between a snort of disgust and a laugh of pure bitterness. This was accompanied by a roll of the eyes that was anything but amused. Before Starbuck knew it, they were nose to nose and something very cold wrapped itself around her spine. The fight-or-flight instinct was kicking into overdrive despite neither being an actual option right then.
"My problem, Colonel Thrace, is you. Standing there. Right now."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really."
Thrace had no more idea where this was going than when one of her Nuggets planetside had made a show of taking off her ear rings one night in the canteen. That incident had resulted in a pool cue aimed at her head and sending the girl flying into a wall. It hadn't been fun.
Athena was still speaking. "You really don't get it, do you?"
"Get what, exactly? That everyone's surprised I'm still breathing? Join the frakkin' club!"
Another snort-laugh, double on the disgust and bitterness this time. "You think it's that simple, Colonel?"
"Well obviously 'it' isn't, because I'm not getting 'it'. Why don't you spell 'it' out for me, Captain?"
"You practically killed the Admiral and Apollo when you...you...!" The vehemence in Athena's outburst alone nearly propelled Starbuck into the opposite wall. The small but bruising shove that accompanied it was enough to knock her back onto the bench.
"Whuh...? Helo...Helo said they..." New and even more terrible possibilities rose up in her mind, blotting out all other thought. Whatever her expression was right then, it was enough to shake Athena out of her own anger and had her kneeling before Starbuck, gently holding her by the shoulders which were shaking badly enough her towel threatened to come loose.
Athena felt all the fight, all the irrational anger fueling it, just drain out of her. "They're both...okay, Starbuck. Really. They're both fine." She hoped her assurances didn't sound quite as false to Starbuck's ears as they did to her own. "Starbuck? Colonel!" She very nearly shouted the last word, hoping it would snap Starbuck out of it.
It did, and as a result, the front of her dress blues was suddenly bunched up in two surprisingly strong hands. "Helo said they were fine!"
"They are! They are! Calm down!"
"Frakking tell me!"
"Okay, okay! Calm down, dammit!" Athena managed to pry Starbuck's fingers off her shirt and held them as gently as she would Hera when the child was in a temper. "They're fine. Both of them. Understand me? Both of them."
"You just said..."
"I said...I didn't mean it like that. God, only you...!" The Colonial officer sighed and collected herself. "Kara, you just...vanished. Apollo said he saw your Viper blow up right in front of him. It just...just hit him...them...hit all of us like it was...was like New Caprica all over again." Again a small lie to cover a few less clear truths, most of which were simply not her place to speak of.
There was only one thing Starbuck cared about right then. "But they're both alive, yes?"
"Yes. God, yes!"
"Okay, okay." She took a shaky breath. "Okay, fine. That's all I need to hear." Athena gave her an odd look, as if expecting further questions about other crewmembers. Starbuck simply sat there, shaking ever so slightly.
There was a knock at the door. Athena rose to answer it, finding Major Taylor standing there in a uniform not unlike her own and smelling a bit fresher than before. "Colonel Thrace?"
"She's finished, Sir..."
"I'm here," Starbuck called out, quickly wiping her eyes clean and refastening her wrap. She pushed past Athena and glared at Taylor's new attire. "I see the travel bags got delivered."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"So...where's mine?"
"Admiral Rice asks we rejoin him in Life Station, Ma'am."
"As we are?"
"Aye, Ma'am."
Starbuck snorted, "This is payback for something, isn't it?"
"I can't say, Ma'am."
"Yeah, right," Starbuck muttered, throwing a quick glare at Athena. "We aren't finished, Agathon." She then marched past Taylor and back towards Life Station. Taylor could only exchange a helpless look with Athena as they quickly fell in behind her.
They re-entered Life Station to find Lewis and the Admiral conferring over the still-unpacked monitor section of the testing equipment. Commander Tigh was not present and Lt. Ishnay was to one side, donning a familiar white lab coat.
"Send it precisely as written," Rice quietly ordered Lewis, who quickly hammered something into the embedded keyboard.
"Recommendation sent. Confirmation pending, Sir," Lewis replied equally quietly.
"Very well."
Before Starbuck could ask the obvious, Ishnay called over to her "Ah, Colonel Thrace. Excellent. Come over here, please."
"Why?" she immediately challenged.
Not raising his eyes from the monitor, Admiral Rice ordered, "Do as he says, Colonel." A two-second glance from him was that was needed to kill any further argument.
Starbuck stomped over to Ishnay, who was laying out some basic medical instruments on a tray. "Please lay down in there, Colonel," he directed her to what looked like a tanning bed, albeit one that didn't appear to close.
She threw a dubious look at Ishnay but did as ordered. This actually proved a bit of a task as she was careful to keep her wrap closed as tightly as possible. "What is all this anyway?"
"X-rays. I'll also be running a basic MRI."
"Don't I need eye shades or something?"
"What was that?"
"Should I close my eyes?"
"If you like. It is not really necessary." The way he said it had her immediately squeezing her eyes shut, just in time for the microsecond burst of light to wash completely over her. "There, done."
It was all she could do to bite down a very, very loud curse. "Please stay still, Colonel," Ishnay ordered. "I just need to run an MRI." There was no flash of light this time, merely a slow hum. Starbuck kept her eyes closed and tried to think calming thoughts, most of which centered on blowing Raiders out of the sky in complex dogfights. She even imagined Tigh and Ishnay's faces superimposed on several of her imaginary targets, which nearly caused her to giggle at points.
"This will take longer if you don't stay still, Colonel," was Ishnay's only comment. Taking the hint Starbuck sobered and did her best to relax. No easy feat the way she was feeling right then. She didn't even realize her fists were instinctively clenching until she felt the bite of her nails into her palm.
She counted from one to twenty, twice, switching between English and Colonial Standard every other digit.
She mentally ran down the pre-flight checks for Terran and Colonial Vipers and made notes on the differences between the two.
She thought up new stratagems for Triad and Poker and wondered if she could con the Agathons into a game of Strip Poker.
She diligently refused to let her thoughts drift anywhere near any other surnames beginning with an Alpha, which proved far harder than she expected.
She was fast running out of safe things to keep her mind occupied and found herself starting to wonder if Doc Cottle was keeping his domain as pristine as young Ishnay did here. This was a dangerous direction as it led to wondering about Galactica, which in turn led her to wonder about...
"Done. You can get up now, Colonel." This took a bit more maneuvering on her part, uncharacteristic modesty rearing its quadrangular head once more.
"Okay, so, where's my uniform?" she asked of no-one in particular. She caught a vacuum-sealed packet tossed to her by Taylor, who had been standing nearby remarkably unobtrusively given his size and general demeanor. Tucking it under one arm, Starbuck moved over to one of the examination bays and pulled the curtain closed after her. Tearing open the pack she quickly unfolded the fresh uniform it contained.
Starbuck dressed herself quickly. It wasn't until she had the tunic buttoned and tucked in that she noticed someone had seen fit to include not only her Senior Pilot Wings, but also the two Silver Stars the Octagon had seen fit to pin on her for "Exceptional Conduct". All she could do was pray to the Lords that no-one asked her about them, particularly given she hadn't seen either Rice or Taylor wearing anything more than their own rank insignia. Doubtless there were going to be enough uncomfortable questions going to be asked over the next couple hours, most them she was sure going to be focused on her specifically. Hopefully the fact she had her sidearm strapped to her hip would keep things as formal as possible.
Rather than dwell on the likely outcome of that, she concentrated on lacing up her boots and settling her beret on her head properly (a skill she was working at mastering). Her one consolation to it all was how unlikely it was Tigh or the rest would ask who was responsible for their choice of headgear.
Pushing the curtain aside, the now-properly attired Colonel Thrace found herself facing an almost empty Life Station. Only Athena and one of the duty nurses were present. "Colonel," Athena nodded formally.
"Captain," Starbuck nodded in return, willing to go with the formality. It was safer then the other reactions that competed for action right then, most of which involved hugs or swinging a few roundhouse punches. She clasped her hands behind her to damp down the likelihood of either. "May I ask where everyone is?"
"The Commander and CMO are conferring with your Admiral and Major in Conference Beta. I'm to escort you there."
"Well lead on then, Captain." If the tattoos and her borderline-breakdown in the head hadn't already convinced her, the trademark cockiness in both tone and stance sealed the deal in Athena's mind.
She of course wouldn't let any such thoughts slip. Keeping with military formality, she instead turned on her heel and marched out of Life Station, not once deigning to glance behind her to ensure her charge was following. The heat of Starbuck's glare was reassurance enough that she was. The few crewmembers who were about in the corridors again hugged the walls as the past, some of them showing recognition of the somewhat strangely attired woman behind her and all of them quickly finding other places for their eyes right then.
Not once did she feel Starbuck's eyes leave her back.
1620 Hours GMT
"Colonel Thrace, Sirs." Starbuck stepped past Athena and took in the conference room, quickly acquainting herself with its sparse features and the faces present. The large circular table and handful of semi-matching chairs were its only furnishings. The barren walls were exactly like the ones outside and all over: dark metal and a lot of indirect lighting. In comparison to the sometimes-cramped feeling the Olympus had given her and sheer age and fatigue that she recalled pervaded the Galactica, both this room and the ship itself held all the charm of a coffin. Their brief tour with Helo hadn't dispelled most of her doubts about any of this either; she'd kept hold the party favor just in case any of those doubts proved justified.
"Sirs," she nodded, more to Rice and Taylor than Tigh and Ishnay, a tad disappointed they were the only Colonials in attendance. Evidentially Helo was still busy being the XO to attend, leaving her to wonder idly how badly it would rankle Tigh if she started addressing Karl as 'Commander'. Of all the things they'd encountered to date, Saul Tigh wearing Commander's pips was the single hardest detail for her to swallow.
"Colonel," Admiral Rice nodded in return. Tigh and Ishnay kept their own counsel and would only glance her way as acknowledgment. She took the only remaining chair on the Terran 'side' of the table. This left her flanked by Rice on her right and Taylor on her left. The latter she noticed sat with his chair slightly pulled away from the table's edge and his right hand resting on his thigh, barely a centimeter from his own sidearm. Clearly she wasn't the only harboring a few doubts here.
Admiral Rice waited until Athena seated herself with her fellows before addressing his opposite number. "My thanks for the use of your facilities, Commander."
"Our pleasure, Admiral," the Colonial Commanded nodded again, eye fixed on the Admiral alone. "We've learned a thing or three over the years about sharing."
"No doubt. Then perhaps you could share Lieutenant Ishnay's findings concerning Colonel Thrace?" Ishnay was the only one who looked a tad uncomfortable by this. Tigh merely frowned a little harder and Athena's eyes flickered between Taylor and Starbuck. Starbuck herself simply sat back in her chair, eyes now of Ishnay and arms carefully crossed.
"Lieutenant?" Tigh prompted after a beat.
"Er, yes, Sir. The X-rays and MRI all…the ones just now, all match those on file from Galactica." He glanced towards Starbuck, who gave him a frosty smile. The CMO shifted in his seat and addressed his CO more directly.
"Perfect matches?" Tigh asked.
"Yes, Sir. Including the symmetrical fractures along her left proximal phalanges." He turned back to the Terrans and traced a line across his own fingers in demonstration. "Those are our term for the bones of the fingers between the second joint and the body of the hand itself, Admiral."
"I believe we use the same name for them, Lieutenant."
"Ah, yes…well, as I was saying." He forcibly cleared his throat. "She also has all the tattoos we have on record for her. And no, uh, implants or growths familiar with Cylon skin jobs either." He looked over to Athena and asked, "Do you know of any technology the Cylons might employ to create, um, real-time injuries for downloads?"
"'Real-time injuries'?" Tigh questioned.
"I mean injuries that match those done to a previous body…"
"I get it, I get it." Tigh shook his head, chuckled, not condescendingly but apparently not taking the notion altogether seriously.
"None that I am aware of," Athena answered, fixing Starbuck with a close look. Starbuck returned it, lips widening her cold smile ever so slightly. "I'd even go so far as to say it would be impossible."
To which Starbuck added, "Kinda like a skin job having a child with a half-rate ECO from Canceron, huh?"
"Yeah. Exactly like that." Athena's eyes fairly sparkled and she favored them all with a true smile, complete with perfect teeth tightly clenched.
Ishnay quickly stated, "There are some, er, new fractures on her left shoulder and…well, its all here, Sir." He finished by pushing a thin folder towards Tigh, who picked it up and in turn handed it over to Athena without opening it.
"New fractures?" Tigh asked Starbuck, addressing her directly, which caused her grin to falter a bit.
"Ah," was her only immediate reply. Admiral Rice filled the breach after a guarded glance from her.
"Colonel Thrace was ambushed by three pilots-in-training under her command about a year and a half ago."
The three Colonials went utterly still. "Ambushed?" Tigh ground out as if he were spitting something foul.
"At night, and with weapons," the Admiral nodded. Tigh's expression went from furious to literally murderous while Athena simply sobered and kept looking between Rice and Starbuck. The tension rolled off them both like boiling steam. Taylor found his right hand shifting instinctively towards his sidearm.
Tigh took a deep breath and ground out "I trust these three…individuals…aren't presently serving anything other than prison terms somewhere?"
"Oh, yes. Very, very long ones, I assure you." Rice sat forward and gave his counterpart a hard look. "As I said to Major Agathon, the Colonel here sits very high on our Fleet's hierarchy. The only reason she's even here with us is because I need her recommendation before we go any further here."
"Understandable," Tigh's familiar frown returned. "On that score, we have a few questions of our own before continuing here."
The Admiral apparently relaxed at this. "Of course, Commander. You'll understand if I can't promise I'll be able to answer just anything?"
"Noted. But I'll first state for the record and with all of you as witnesses, that I am satisfied Colonel Thrace is indeed the career frak-up of a Viper jockey I had the distinct pleasure of having under my command until two years ago." He heaved another breath as Rice gave him a quick nod of acceptance.
"Noted for the record, Sir."
Tigh sat forward, hands carefully folded in front of him. "Then in that case, do you or the government you represent have any hostile intentions towards my crew or towards the people of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol?"
Rice mimicked the move and replied, "No, Commander. As I said previously the United Nations, the administrative body which I serve, has already passed a formal resolution directing me to extend diplomatic recognition to the Twelve Colonies."
"Are your people prepared to enter into negotiations with the Twelve Colonies for, say, trade and mutual defense?"
"Not I myself, obviously. But I've no doubt the Secretariat will be…anxious…to say the least to get a team up here to do exactly that."
"Colonel Thrace has informed you of our ultimate objective, yes?"
Rice gave Tigh a tight but genuine smile. "I think what you're trying to ask is…are my people the Thirteenth Colony, yes? I'd prefer to leave that one for the moment until I can discuss it with my superiors."
"I understand. There's really just one other question I'd like to ask right now."
"That is?"
Commander Tigh fixed his remaining eye on Starbuck and asked "Exactly how did you manage to appear to Apollo in the Ionian Nebula two years ago?" It was a tone that would brook no falsehood or deflection.
The air went still again.
"I…what?" was all Starbuck could stammer.
TBC…
Author's Endnotes: for those wondering, yes I am taking Crossroads Part 2 as canon and will be dealing with its many revelations in turn. Feel free to write in and tell me how crazy I am.