Outside the police station, Eric and Geri were walking to their squad car as Eric saw Spence and his partner Mickey Lynch returning. Eric turned towards Geri and said, "I'll be a minute. I need to talk to Spence."
"We need to get on patrol so hurry," said Geri.
Eric just waved as he walked away.
As Spence was getting out of the squad car, he saw the inquisitive expression on Eric's face as he was walking towards him. Spence had time to shut his door before saying, "You look as though you have something on your mind, Eric."
"I asked Beth to check out a woman for me with her vision…" Eric was able to get out.
"Aren't you married?" asked Spence as Mickey was stepping up.
"I am, but the woman I want checked out had hooked up with my dad last night and she's now planning to go with my dad to his next duty station," said Eric.
"Next duty station? Is he in the service?" asked Spence.
"Okay, you and Beth belong together," said Eric. Spence looked at Eric in a curious manner. "Anyway, he's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force. When I asked Beth to check out the woman, she wasn't at all interested in helping me out until she found out that the woman was involved in the plane crash."
"So Beth is going to help you?" asked Spence.
"Yes, but the woman and my dad are at a motel and Beth won't do it without you, Brandon or someone else being with her." Eric saw a noticeable grin on Spence's face as he continued to asked, "Why would Beth agree to help me only after she found out that the woman was involved in the plane crash?"
Spence shook his head and said, "I don't know. That's something you have to ask her."
"I did, but she won't tell me," said Eric. He looked at Mickey. "Beth also wants all the officers who know of Beth's psychic ability to be quiet about it."
"Why does Beth want us to be quiet about it?" asked Mickey.
"She wouldn't tell me that either," said Eric. He then looked at Spence. "Something big is going on and it involves the plane crash, doesn't it?"
Spence shrugged his shoulders and said, "Again that's something that you'll have to ask Beth."
"Beth has already made it clear that she won't tell me," said Eric.
"Well, I can't help you," said Spence.
"Can't or won't?" asked Eric.
"Well, since I like my relationship with Beth and I'm not going to do anything to screw it up, then I'm going to say both," said Spence.
"Fine," said Eric. He then gestured in Geri's direction. "Well, I have to get on patrol."
As Eric was turning away, Spence asked, "So when is Beth going to check out that woman for you?"
"This evening at six," Eric said as he continued to walk away.
As Spence and Mickey were entering the police station, Spence took out his cell phone and dialed Beth. The phone rang a few types before going into voicemail. Before hanging up he left a message for Beth to return his call.
At the university hospital, Dr. Michaels and Beth were leaving the surgical room after a successful operation. Before Beth was able to walk down the hall, Dr. Michaels called out, "Dr. O'Brian." Dr. Michaels waited until Beth had faced him before continuing to say, "I thought you should know that I thought that you were competent. In fact, you were one of the better assistances I had in a while."
Beth smiled and said, "Thanks. Oh and I know now that you're no quack surgeon, but you may want to lighten up on how you treat people."
Dr. Michaels grinned. He then asked, "How long until you start your residency?"
Beth looked at Dr. Michaels in a curious manner before saying, "In six months." She then gestured towards the emergency room. "Well, they might need me in the emergency room."
"Before you do that, have you considered applying for your residency outside this hospital?" asked Dr. Michaels.
Beth crossed her arms and asked, "Why would you care where I do my residency?"
"As I mentioned, you aren't incompetent; in fact, I'm still having trouble accepting that you haven't assisted in this type of operation before as you told me during the surgery," said Dr. Michaels.
Beth grinned and said, "I have an excellent memory and I'm a fast learner, which I do believe my good memory is why I'm a fast learner."
"Yeah, well, anyway, I'm associated with three hospitals in Miami and you would be a great addition to any one of them," said Dr. Michaels.
"This city is my hometown, Dr. Michaels and I'm very much attached to it so there's nothing you can say to me or offer me for me to uproot myself from this city," said Beth.
"You wouldn't go where the money is?" asked Dr. Michaels.
"I didn't become a doctor to chase the high income," said Beth. "I did it because that was my life ambition since the age of twelve. If you asked anyone who knew me from the age of twelve, he or she could tell you that I would talk about being a doctor with absolute certainty in my voice."
"Well, a better income would mean paying off your student loan faster and getting out of debt sooner," said Dr. Michaels.
Beth point to herself and said, "A wealthy grandma, so I have no student loan debt."
Beth heard in Dr. Michaels' voice that he was giving up as he said, "Okay, but if you ever find yourself in Miami sometime in the future looking for a surgical position, don't hesitation to put me down as a reference. My full name is Dr. Darren Francis Michaels the first."
Beth gave him the thumbs up sign and said, "If that scenario ever comes to pass, I will do that." She gestured in the direction of the emergency room again. "Anyway, I need to get going."
"What's your full name?" asked Dr. Michaels.
As Beth was backing away she said, "It's Kimberly Elizabeth O'Brian. Most people call me Beth though." She then turned towards the direction she was walking.
Dr. Michaels shook his head while watching Beth for a brief moment. He then turned and went about his business.
As Beth was making her way to the emergency room, she checked her phone for missed calls. When she saw that Spence had called, she dialed him back.
Spence answered with, "So, Beautiful, do you have plans around six?"
Beth slightly laughed and asked, "You spoke to Eric, didn't you?"
Spence laughed and said, "I did and I also know why you're doing it."
"Are you going to try to talk me out of it?" asked Beth.
"No, I actually agree that if the woman is one of them then she needs to be identified; especially since an Air Force lieutenant colonel is involved," said Spence. "Eric had also mentioned that you won't go there without Brandon or me, so I'm actually volunteering."
Spence heard the pleasant tone in Beth's voice when she said, "Thank you. I was hoping that you would come with me."
"So when do you get off?" asked Spence.
"At two and I'll be off all night; except I'll be on call," said Beth. "Oh and I also talked to my mom and she'll be here around three to take me to go look at cars."
"What are you going to do between two and three?" asked Spence.
"I haven't read to the kids for a few days so I'm going to do it today for an hour," said Beth.
"Ah," said Spence. "So, are you still getting a rent-a-car?"
"I called and canceled that after talking to my mom," said Beth.
"So do you know what kind of car you'll be getting?" asked Spence.
"I always thought that my next vehicle would be either a Jeep Liberty or a Grand Cherokee, so most likely I'll be buying one of them," said Beth.
"I know where there are two reasonably priced Grand Cherokee," said Spence. "Both are about two years old and in excellent condition."
"I have nothing against buying a vehicle that is two years old, but my mom does, so she'll insist that I buy one with no previous owners," said Beth.
"I figured that you might not want a big car payment," said Spence.
"I prefer not to have, but my mom has been bugging me for two years to get a new vehicle and if I buy a used one, I wouldn't hear the end of it," said Beth. "So if I have to choose between getting my mom to quit bugging me and getting a use vehicle, I choose for my mom to quit bugging me."
"Your mom would prefer that you go into debt just for you to have a new car?" asked Spence.
"Spence, I can afford to buy a new vehicle without it putting me in debt," said Beth. "Anyway, I'm approaching the emergency room, so I need to let you go."
Beth caught a depressed tone as Spence said, "Later; bye."
Beth looked at her phone in a curious manner before shrugging it off and putting her phone away.
The emergency room was chaotic with mostly teenaged patients, when Beth stepped in. Several of the teenaged patients were wearing high school football uniforms from two schools. Beth immediately went to assist. When she walked passed Rebecca, she said, "I return from surgery to find that all hell had broken loose."
"Two rivaling high school football teams and their spectators got into a heavy brawl," said Rebecca. "The cops were called to break it up. Most of them have only lacerations, but a few do have broken bones."
Beth stepped up to a teenage boy and began treating him.
On board the Galactica, Cmdr. Adama had received a report from the Grey's station. In the report was a set of coordinates. Once done looking at the report, Cmdr Adama sent out a Raptor to scout that sector.
The sector was a solar system with seven planets. The third planet in the solar system was filled with nuclear radiation with remnants of it once being a thriving planet with forests and oceans. On the surface of the planet on every continent had remains of where cities once thrived. The buildings; however, were of an unusual architectural design.
Once the crew of the Raptor was in the solar system they done their scans. When they scanned the third planet, they found energy readings at the subterranean level throughout the globe. After completing their scans the crew returned to the Galactica.
Minutes later, in CIC, Cmdr. Adama and Col. Tigh were looking at the report of what was found.
"A hundred cubits that says the habitants of that planet had burrowed themselves underground around the same time that they'd turned their planet into a nuclear wasteland," said Col. Tigh.
"That's a suckers bet," said Cmdr. Adama. "Anyway, recall Apollo and Starbuck from the Grey's observatory. They are to select a crew and go to the planet to make contact with the habitants of that planet."
Ninety minutes later on the planet and while wearing radioactive protective gear, Apollo, Starbuck and four other stepped off the Raptor at what they thought to be the ruins of a capital city. They searched the ruins for twenty minutes before finding an operating exhaust stack that was barely protruding above the surface.
Starbuck gestured towards the stack and said, "I wonder if we can enter from this way."
"It doesn't appear that we have a choice in the matter," said Apollo. He then turned towards a crewman. "Go back to the Raptor and get the scaling equipment."
"Yes, Sir," said the crewman.
As the crewman was walking away, Apollo faced the others and said, "Let's get the top off this stack."
The crewman who left for the scaling equipment was gone for a few minutes and when he returned, Apollo and the others were still working to remove the stack. He put the equipment down and assisted the others. After several more minutes, the stack was removed. Apollo looked down the opening and saw that the shaft was six feet by six feet; however, he couldn't see to the bottom.
Each rope was over three hundred feet long and was marked in twenty-five feet increments. Once Starbuck tided one of the ropes off, she dropped it down the hole.
Apollo went down the shaft first. Everyone waited to see if Apollo was going to reach the bottom before the next person followed. Apollo lowered himself down two hundred and ten feet down before reaching the bottom. The shaft horizontally went into four directions by ninety degrees from each other. Once he was on a flat surface, he shined his light down the four directions and then radioed to the others.
Starbuck went down second followed by two of the crewmen. All three of them carried three hundred feet ropes along with other equipment. The remaining two made themselves comfortable to wait for them to return.
Apollo and the others chose a direction, but before they made their way through the shaft, Starbuck etched an arrow on the wall to show what direction that they had gone in. The direction they'd chosen went a fix direction for several minutes. They knew that they had walked at least a mile and were getting discourage that they had picked the wrong direction. They were discussing turning around, but before they did so, the shaft again forked into three directions that was a hundred and twenty degrees from each other. This time; however, the shaft slanted downward with somewhat of a steep grade. They could also feel a noticeable updraft.
Starbuck was able to find a way to anchor one end of a rope to the wall of the shaft. While holding onto the rope, they made their way down a selected shaft. They got two hundred feet down when the rope came loose from the anchor. They slid at a fast pace for what seemed to have been a long time. They then came to a point that they made a twenty feet dropped onto a tightly nit wire-mesh that was ten feet by ten feet. When they hit, they bounce up eight feet in a manner as if they landed on a trampoline. They bounce a few more times in a lesser degree before coming to a rest.
Apollo shined his light up from where they had fallen from and attempted to radio the two on the surface, but he couldn't get through. Starbuck and the others shined their light on what they were standing on. Starbuck pulled out a meter to test the air that was coming up from underneath them.
Apollo had shined his light on Starbuck and said, "This is not good. I don't see us climbing out from here. I also can't raise the others and according to my oxygen meter, we have sixteen hours of air left so that gives us some time to find a way out of this situation." Without saying a word, Starbuck removed her helmet. "What the frak are you doing?"
"There's no radiation here, and the oxygen coming up from what we're standing on is the same amount on the Trice plateau of the Caprice Mountain," said Starbuck.
"Breathable, but can easily turn into hypoxia if we over exert ourselves," said one of the crewman as he took off his helmet.
Apollo took off his helmet and said, "If we can't find a way out of this predicament, we being able to breathe is only delaying the inevitable."
Starbuck shined her light on what they were standing on and said, "What we're standing on must be a huge filter and I believe that it won't take much to get through it."
"I'm not seeing any option, but to get through it," said Apollo. "Okay, everyone, let's cut a hole."
In Beth's hometown, Noah with Katie at his side was taking Number-Six into the four-star restaurant that he owned.
The restaurant was elegantly laid out with expensive furniture. The walls were decorated with paintings and photos of influential people who had dine there. Statues and flowers were randomly scattered through the dining area. The illumination of the room was set for a more romantic setting than casual dining. A violin player casually walked the dining room floor as he played his violin. A piano set at the back of the room with a cover draped over it.
Most of the tables were filled up with customers. One waiter and three waitresses were waiting tables.
The violin player and his music were the first things that caught Number-Six's attention when she entered the establishment. She then noticed the paintings and the photos on the wall. One of the photos was of Beth and her Uncle Ernie playing the piano together.
The photo of Beth caught Number-Six's eye, as Noah was saying, "Most of the paintings are from Page's gallery. The photos are of city officials such as the mayor of our lovely city along with the district attorneys, the top lawyers and chief of police."
Number-Six pointed to the picture that caught her eye and said, "Beth is no city official."
Noah grinned and said, "Beth's not, but the man in the picture is. His name is Ernest Kingston and he is one of the top defense lawyers in the city."
"It seems that Beth knows a few influential people," Number-Six commented.
"Ernest… Well, Ernie is what his friends call him," said Noah. "Ernie is Beth's uncle. Anyway come with me to my private dining room."
Number-Six motioned for Noah to walk. As they began walking, Katie took hold of Number-Six's hand. Number-Six looked down at Katie in an uncomfortable manner. Katie just looked at Number-Six with a grin on her face.
Betsy, one of the waitresses, followed Noah, Number-Six and Katie into the private room. Noah pulled out a chair for Number-Six to take. Once Number-Six was comfortable Noah pulled out a chair for Katie.
Instead of Katie taking the seat, she held her private area, bounced up and down, and said, "I have to go potty."
"I'll take Katie to go potty as you and your guest decide on what you want to eat, Mr. Walker," said Betsy. .
"Thank you," said Noah. Noah took a seat across from Number-Six as Betsy was escorting Katie out of the room. "I recommend the lobster or if you don't care for that…"
"Lobster would be fine," said Number-Six as she watched Katie leave the room. She turned towards Noah before continuing to say, "Katie told me about how her mother was in Heaven and how her father was away. It must be tough taking care of Katie and managing this restaurant."
"I own the restaurant, but someone else manages it," said Noah. "However, at times it can be tough caring for Katie."
"How long has Katie's father been gone from Katie's life?" asked Number-Six.
Number-Six saw the expression of Noah's face of him being weary to say anything before answering, "Two years."
"Am I touching on a private matter?" asked Number-Six.
"It's a sensitive subject," said Noah.
"I don't mean to pry, but I get the impression that Katie's father didn't leave by choice," said Number-Six.
Noah again hesitated before saying, "I don't want Katie to know this, but Katie's dad is a schizophrenic and has been in a mental institution for killing Katie's mom."
"I'm going to be showing my lack of knowledge, but what exactly is a schizophrenic?" asked Number-Six.
"James, Katie's dad, heard voices of people who didn't exist and these voices convinced him that my sister Jessica… Katie's mom, was a demon that had to die," said Noah. "Once he was arrested for murdering Jessica, we found out that he had been hearing voices since the age of eighteen, but he was able to keep his conditions from everyone. Now as I said, I don't want Katie to learn this about her dad."
"Katie won't learn about her dad or how her mom died from me," said Number-Six.
"Thank you," said Noah.
On the planet, Apollo and the others worked for an hour before they were done cutting a hole in the screen mesh big enough for a person to crawl through. They had also cut a straight line from one wall to another. On one side of the line that they created, Starbuck had securely anchored a rope to the wall. The hole that was made was directly in the center. When the piece of screen was lifted out, the dust was stirred up along with a harsh updraft. When the dust settled, Apollo shined his light in the hole. As he looked around, he saw a large fast moving blade.
"So what do you see?" asked Starbuck.
"Just as we expected," said Apollo. "There's a large moving blade and as we were wanting we did get over the blade's hub."
"Now let's hope that the rope I anchored to the wall will be strong enough to stop that blade," said Starbuck.
Apollo gestured towards the opposite wall of where the rope is anchored and said, "Everyone against that wall before we throw the rope into the blade. And put your helmets back on."
For a weight Apollo tied the end of the rope to the piece of metal that was cut out. When everyone was out of the way, Apollo dropped the metal through the hole. He eased it down until it was over the blade close to the hub. Once he turned loose of the rope, he backed up towards the others at a quick pace.
As the rope was getting tangled up in the blade, the slack in the rope quickly disappeared. Once the rope was taut, the rope quickly ripped through the screen mesh of the opposite side of where they were standing. Once the rope was done ripping through the screen, it had pulled on the wall strong enough for it to rip a sizable chunk out of the wall. The chunk pulled down the rope's side of the screen mesh and once everything had fallen onto the blade, one side of the blade was sheered off which stopped everything from turning. The updraft ended abruptly and the oxygen levels fell to zero. A loud alarm was heard from below followed by the sounds of slamming emergency bulkhead type doors.
Everyone waited for the sounds of the bulkhead doors to stop slamming shut before continuing down passed the blade. They traveled passed the blade for another two hundred feet before coming to another meshed screen that was eight feet by eight feet. The screen was mounted at the ceiling for an air intake to a large hexagon dining room with twelve large tables and chairs. The screen was fastened on with lightweight fasteners and when they put their weight on it, they broke through and fell from a fifteen feet height. Starbuck and one of the crewmen fell in the center of the table. Apollo and the second crewman fell on the floor beside the table.
The room was illuminated with only a rotating red light from the ceiling and when they got back on their feet, they were able to see the layout of the dining room.
Apollo only briefly looked at the décor of the room. He then shined his flashlight while looking for a way out of the room.
As Apollo looked for a door, Starbuck said, "This is only a section of the dining room."
"You're right," said Apollo. "There are no doors of any kind leading from this room which makes me think that each one of these walls are emergency bulkheads."
"The bulkheads that we triggered when we broke in," said one of the crewmen.
"Okay, spread out and search for something that can get us out of this room," said Apollo.
They searched for a short time before they heard once again the slamming of bulkheads. They stopped searching for a way out and went to the wall that they were able to hear the slamming the best. Once the slamming sounds had stopped, the wall that they were at began to move to the open position. Apollo and the other quickly moved away it.
The emergency bulkheads were designed to close rapidly during a seal breached and it had opened much slower than it had closed. Starbuck rested her hand on her gun for a quick draw and waited with anticipation with what was on the other side of the bulkhead.
As to how long it was taking the bulkhead to reopen, one of the crewmen asked, "Should we be taking cover?"
"Most likely the people or Greys that are on the other side is only here to assess the damages and not a security detail, so the threat to us is minimal," said Apollo. "So no hostile actions unless there's no other choice, Starbuck."
Before Starbuck was able to respond, the bulkhead opened up enough for the four colonial warriors and the five Greys in protective suits to see each other.
Once the Greys saw the colonial warriors, one of the Greys immediately got on his communication device and spouted out words in his language.
Apollo showed that he had no weapon in his hand and announced, "We come in peace." Each Grey grasped what he was holding as a weapon and spouted out words in their language. Apollo glanced at Starbuck and the others. "Everyone, put your hands up to show that we're not here to harm them."
Starbuck hesitated before taking her hand off of her pistol.
The Grey with the radio had exchanged a few words with whom he was talking to. When he was done, he gestured for colonial warriors to stand at a certain spot on the Grey's side of the opened bulkhead and spouted out a few words.
"Any idea of what he's saying?" asked one of the crewmen.
As the Grey repeated the words in a more agitated tone, Apollo said, "I think he's telling us to move to that spot."
The colonial warriors moved to where the Grey had pointed to. Once there, the Grey spoke again into his radio. The bulkhead was once again closed. Seconds later, a bulkhead behind the Greys began to open in the same slow manner as before.
As soon as the bulkhead began opening, Starbuck said, "Two hundred cubits that there's an armed security detail behind that bulkhead."
"The bet is not if there a security detail behind that bulkhead, but as to how large it is," said Apollo.
"I'm going to guess twenty with rifles," said Starbuck.
"We're a small invasion force of four, so I'll say ten with rifles," said Apollo.
Once the bulkhead was opened up enough the colonial warriors saw two groups of six Greys pointing rifles at them and a single grey standing between the two groups with a handheld computer. Six more Greys with rifles were standing several feet back from the main security force. The Greys weren't wearing protective suits.
Starbuck counted and said, "Eighteen with rifles and one without. One off, so I win."
"Let's hope that we get out of here for you to collect," said one of the crewmen.
As the original five Greys were removing their protective helmets, the Grey with the computer stepped closer to the colonial warriors and said something in his language.
Apollo quickly responded, "I can't understand you."
The computer picked up what Apollo said and once the words were analyzed, it repeated what Apollo said in the Grey's language.
The Grey pressed a combination of buttons on the computer and spoke again. This time the colonial warriors heard the computer translating, "The air is safe to remove your helmets."
Once their helmets were off, Apollo said, "I apologize for the way that we entered; however, we couldn't find any other way in, and it was important to make contact with you."
After the computer translated what Apollo said, the Grey spoke again. A moment later the colonial warriors heard the computer asking, "You came here from the surface? How?"
"Yes, we found an exhaust stack and the shaft to that stack brought us here," said Apollo.
"Are there others," asked the Grey.
"There are two more on the surface," said Apollo. "They're standing watch at the stack. My name is Capt. Lee Adama. I realize that by us breaking in must look hostile, but we only done it to talk to you. We are here on peaceful terms."
"If you are here on peaceful terms then you won't have a problem with removing your weapons from your side and dropping them onto the floor," said the Grey.
Apollo looked at Starbuck and said, "Everyone, drop your weapons on the floor." Starbuck only complied with Apollo's order when Apollo gave her a look as if to say, "This is not the time for that."
Once the colonial warriors' weapons were on the floor, the Grey pressed a button on his computer. He then faced the ones with the rifles and shouted out a command. Twelve of the eighteen snapped to attention and marched away. The Grey pressed the button on his computer again and spoke, "Come with me."
The Grey turned and walked away without waiting for a response. Apollo looked at Starbuck in an uncertain manner before following the Grey while carrying his helmet. Starbuck and the other two followed Apollo while carrying their helmets. The remaining six Grey's with rifles followed the colonial warriors.
The colonial warriors looked at the soundings as they followed the Grey through several corridors and down eight levels. As they were getting closer to where they were going Greys with more human features were being seen.
After walking for a few more minutes, the Grey led them into a large white room with no windows of any kind. Four white benches that could seat six sat in the middle of the room. Two more white benches of the same size ran against each of the three walls without a door.
After entering the room, the Grey gestured to the seats and said, "Someone will be here shortly. Make yourselves comfortable while you wait."
Before the Grey was able to leave, Starbuck commented, "The one who designed this room must not believe in adding color."
"Colors are impure, and can corrupt the mind," said the Grey.
Starbuck said in a patronizing tone, "Right."
The Grey ignored Starbuck comment and walked out of the room. The door was closed and locked behind him.
The two crewmen walked around the room. After a second of roaming, one of them said, "This room has to be some kind of holding cell.
"You just now figuring that out?" asked Starbuck.
"We came in peace, though," said the crewman.
"If the situation was reverse, we would do the exact same thing," said Apollo. He then sat down. "Anyway we might be waiting for a while so we might as well get comfortable." As the others were taking their seats, the door opened again and a twenty-eight-year-old woman who greatly appeared more human than a Grey stepped through the door. "I'm wrong about the wait."
Everyone stood up again and as the woman stepped up, she said, "All of you are Humpurist."
Apollo looked at her in a confused manner and said, "We're humans."
The woman grinned and said, "Humpurist is our word for pure human. As you can most likely tell, I'm not a pure human. I'm equally mixed with the Hominid DNA." The woman saw the confusion in the colonial warriors' face. "Hominid is what we call ourselves. Anyway my name is Catalina-sixteen."
Starbuck looked at her in a curious manner and asked, "Your last name is sixteen?"
Catalina slightly laughed and said, "No. I am a clone of the original Catalina and every twenty years another clone of Catalina is created. So I'm the sixteenth generation since the original Catalina was born. I have the original Catalina's memories up to the age of seven. Catalina was of that age when the DNA was abstracted from her and I was brought to life at that age also. Having the original Catalina's memories is also why I know English. Catalina's mom taught it to her."
"What's English?" asked one of the crewmen.
"That's what Earth humans call the language that we speak," said Starbuck.
Catalina looked at Starbuck in a curious manner and asked, "You're not from Earth?"
"We're not," said Apollo. "We are from the twelve colonies of Kobol and we are in search for the planet Earth… our thirteenth colony." Catalina looked at Apollo in a skeptical manner. "We have reason to believe that your people have the information we need to find Earth. That's why we're here. I'm Capt. Lee Adama." He then introduced the others.
"I'll admit that my knowledge of Earth is very limited, and although I have only the Catalina's memories from the age of seven, I am certain that Earth is no colony," said Catalina.
"Earth was originally a colony, and we strongly suspect that Earth had been struck by catastrophic disasters during the early develop of that colony," Apollo began. "These disasters had thrown the humans on Earth into a more primitive existence along with causing them to lose the knowledge of their true origin."
"You say that you came here looking for Earth, but it seems that you know more about Earth than what is in our records," said Catalina.
"A year ago, we found a drifting ship belonging to your people…" Apollo was able to get out.
"You must be talking about the Hominid Empire, because we don't have any ships," said Catalina. "In fact we have been prisoners to our underground cities for about a hundred and thirty years."
"You're not part of the Empire?" asked Starbuck.
Catalina shook her head and said, "We were at one time, but not now."
"What happened," asked Starbuck.
"Over a thousand years ago the Hominid Empire was fast becoming sterile," Catalina began. "As the Empire went out in search for a way to stop sterility the Empire discovered Earth and her inhabitants. The humans on Earth are fertile and according to our scrolls humans are somehow related to the Hominids; however, I'm not certain how that came about. Anyway, the Empire began abducting humans from Earth in order to find the secret in stopping sterility and to help populate the Hominid Empire. That's how the mother of the original Catalina came to be among the Hominids. From the beginning, there were small to medium size groups that didn't like the idea of the Empire abducting humans. A hundred and forty years ago that long debated subject of ending abduction turned into a civil war among the Hominids. As you most likely deduced, the war left the surface of this planet inhabitable. The Hominid Empire filled their ships with as many as they could and fled the planet in search for a new home. The Hominids who were left behind built these underground cities. Most likely the Hominid Empire doesn't even know that we survived. Now, as you were about to say, Capt. Adama?"
Apollo thought for a second before saying, "Oh, ah, on that drifting ship, most likely belonging to the Hominid Empire, we found seven genetic duplicates… human clones who were from Earth…"
Catalina again interrupted, "The Empire is still abducting people from Earth?"
"They are; however, we have evidence that they'd changed their practice," said Apollo. "They are still abducting humans, but after taking what they need to create clones, they're releasing them with memory gabs of their abductions. Anyway, those clones we found were in stasis for ten years. We were able to revive them and the information that we do have on Earth is from them. Unfortunately what we don't have is Earth's location. We came here hoping that you can point us to Earth."
"I do not know if we have the location of Earth in our records, but before I go searching for it, I would like to know how did the humans of the twelve colonies of Kobol find us," said Catalina.
"More than twenty-four hours ago, we found an abandon observatory space station that once belonged to the Hominid Empire before your civil war," Apollo began. "The captain of that station attempted to erase the data from their computers before it was abandoned, but we were able to restore some of its data. The data that we retrieve led us to this planet."
Catalina thought for a second before saying, "I was taught of that observatory and according to our childhood lessons, that observatory was destroyed during the first battle of the civil war."
"The observatory does show signs of it being struck by weapons fire… I'm guessing from incidental fire, but it wasn't destroyed," said Apollo. "Her captain withdrew her from the battle as soon as the battle started."
"Capt. Adama, I was sent in here to find out why you are here and to determine if you and your people are a threat to us," said Catalina. "I believe you when you say that you and your people want only to find Earth. I will go and pass on what you have told me. I'll be back soon."
"Of course," said Apollo.
Catalina left the room. As the colonial warriors were sitting down, one of the crewmen asked, "I wonder if the Hominids will help us."
"Only time will tell," said Starbuck.