Number-Six sat in a chair and watched closely at the door as it opened. When she saw who was entering she said, "I thought that people on Earth don't work on Christmas, Agent Holmes."
"There are some job fields that require at least a skeleton crew during the major holidays and it is usually the people who don't have families to celebrate the holiday who volunteer to work those days for the extra cash," said Teresa.
"You don't have any family?" asked Number-Six.
Teresa shook her head and said, "The simple answer to that is no."
Number-Six stood up while asking, "What's the complicated answer?"
"The complicated answer is that my family and I had stopped talking to another for reasons that I won't discuss with anyone," said Teresa. "So don't take it personally that I won't discuss it with you."
"Okay, I won't," said Number-Six. "So are you here to ask me a few more questions?"
"Actually, since you were honest with us from the start, I feel it to be only fair for you to be updated with what is going on," said Teresa.
I'm listening," said Number-Six.
"All of the Cylons in the United States are accounted for," Teresa began. "I have just come from where model number three is being held. Agent Weatherly and I had talked to her about this government starting diplomatic talks with your culture and she agreed to take our request to your culture on the condition that we release all Cylons who this government is holding by allowing them to be resurrected on your ship. Agent Weatherly went to get the approval from our superiors."
"This government will allow us to go free?" Number-Six questioned.
"In order for the diplomatic talks to be established this government will allow it as a show good faith on our part," said Teresa. "There's something that you need to know though before that happens."
"What would that be?" asked Number-Six.
"Because as to how much knowledge we have about your culture, model number three is convinced that there is a Cylon traitor," said Teresa. Number-Six showed a slight disturbed expression on her face. "We told her that we got our information from a local psychic. From what she heard about Dr. O'Brian, she had correctly pegged her as being the psychic, —" Number-Six's expression changed from a disturb expression to a worried one. "— but she is still convinced that there is a Cylon traitor who is supplying us with information."
"If they know about Beth then she's in danger." Number-Six then insisted, "You must warn her."
"Agent Weatherly or I never confirmed her suspicions about Beth, so suspicions are all she has," said Teresa.
"Suspicions are all she needs," said Number-Six. "If they feel that Beth is a threat to the Cylon cause then she is one of the primary targets."
"Well, we are to contact Beth in a day or two for another purpose anyway and when we do, we'll tell her about your concerns," said Teresa.
"You should tell her sooner than later," said Number-Six.
"We'll make sure she's informed in a timely manner," said Teresa.
"Tell her to start carrying a real weapon and not that stun gun," Number-Six added.
"I'll pass on your message," said Teresa. "Right now though, model number three believes that it's either you or model number eight who is the traitor."
"If they suspect me then I can't go back," said Number-Six.
"I'm sure the president will grant you diplomatic asylum if you ask; however, I would like to point out that by staying here, you are basically telling the other Cylons that you are the traitor," said Teresa.
"If I go back and they learn that I came here freely then my memories would be boxed," said Number-Six.
"I'm going to guess and say that being boxed would be a form of solitaire confinement," said Teresa.
"Worse," said Number-Six. "It's more of a death sentence. I rather stay here and let them think that I'm a traitor then go back and being discovered."
"Okay, I'll tell our president that you fear for your safety if you return to your culture and that you formally request diplomatic asylum," said Teresa. "I'm certain that he will grant it to you."
"Thank you," said Number-Six.
"You're welcome," said Teresa. "Well, that's all I have. I'll see you later."
"Thank you for telling me what you did," said Number-Six.
Teresa nodded and said, "You're welcome." She then left the room.
In a moderate size community in Northwestern Canada, William Starling had arrived home to his three-story house that had six bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a billiard room, a library, a study, an indoor swimming pool, a large kitchen, a large dining room and two living rooms. A good size greenhouse and a five-car garage were attached to the house.
Fourteen cars that belonged to relatives and friends were parked in and around the driveway.
When William stepped in, Athena, Williams's sixteen-year-old daughter, greeted him with, "Where have you been, Dad? You were supposed to have been home three hours ago and mom has been worried sick about you."
"Something came up in the states that I need to take care of," said William. "Is your Uncle Brady here?"
"He's in the garage looking at that WWII German staff car that you bought last week," said Athena.
William gazed over the moderately crowded room in a slow manner at his relatives and friends. Everyone was engrossed with his or her own conversation that when most people saw William, he or she just waved to him. William just grinned and gave a polite nod to acknowledge the wave. He faced Athena again before saying, "Tell your mother that I'm home and let her know that I'll be in the garage with Brady."
"You are acting peculiar, Dad," said Athena. "Are you okay?"
William grinned before saying, "I've never been better." He started to turn towards the door that led to the garage, but hesitated to do so as he just looked at Athena from head to toe.
Athena saw her dad looking at her as if he was sizing her up for something. She gave him a curious look before questioning, "Are you sure you okay, Dad?"
"I'm fine," said William. "You are to come to the garage with me." Before Athena had a chance to question what she was told, William stepped up to the closes person in the room who was his wife's sister, and said, "When you see Helen, let her know that Athena and I are in the garage with my brother."
The woman nodded and said, "Okay, Will."
William glanced at Athena before turning towards the direction of the garage door and saying, "Come with me, Athena."
As Athena closely followed her dad, she asked, "Dad, what's going on?"
"Patients, Athena," said William. "Things will always reveal itself in time."
Athena patted William on the back and said in a sarcastic manner, "You're quite the philosopher, Dad."
William just glanced at her with a big grinned across his face.
Brady had the hood up on the German style Citroen 11CV and was hidden from Williams' view. A Kubelwagen set next to it. When Brady heard two sets of footsteps approaching, he peeked out from around the side. When he saw his older brother and niece he said, "I'm officially jealous of you, Will."
William smiled before saying, "I'm glad you improve." William and Athena stepped up next to Brady. "The friendly voice finally responded to my post." Athena gave William a curious look as Brady's attention was sparked. "She's in the states and I met her a few hours ago."
"What are you talking about, Dad?" asked Athena.
"Honey, it's time for you to learn something about our ancestors and that lodge that Brady and I attend," said William.
"I'm listening," said Athena.
"Your mother doesn't know about this and she would probably freak if she ever gets told…" William was only able to get out.
Athena gave him a worried look before blurting out, "Now I'm not sure if I want to hear this."
"It's nothing bad," Brady assured her. "Will, the friendly voice must have told you something interesting for you to bring Athena into the fold before her eighteenth birthday."
"Okay, you two are scaring me a little," said Athena.
"Honey, there's nothing to fear," William began. "Hayden Starling had chronicled his life. In fact, his journals are kept in the safe in the study and those journals have been passed down to the eldest of each generation once the eldest turns eighteen… up until now, the eldest were sons." Athena just grinned. "Anyway, in his journals he wrote of where he is from. I know you heard about the twelve colonies of Kobol from the newspapers within the past year and those colonies are real… well, at least they used to be." Brady gave William a curious look. "Hayden Starling was from the Tauron colony."
Athena gave William a confused look before questioning, "Are you telling me that I have alien DNA?"
"The twelve colonies of Kobol are made up of twelve tribes of humans who originally developed on the planet Kobol," said William.
"Athena, human life here, began out there; far across the universe," Brady added. "We are Kobol's thirteenth and final colony."
"No-no-no; that can't be true," Athena strongly insisted. "It can't be. God had created the Earth and the heavens. God created man in his image and from a rib of man God had created woman. We didn't come from far across the galaxy."
"I didn't think that you would freak like this," said William. "You're more like your mother than I gave you credit far."
"Well, you're talking sacrilege," said Athena.
"Have you seen the news today, Athena?" asked William.
"No," said Athena. "News is too depressing."
William grinned and said, "One of the satellites from my company had found a large object buried underneath a large snow mound not all that further north from us. No one knows what that object is, except for your Uncle Brady, the people from our lodge, myself and now the friendly voice of the twelve tribes of Kobol."
"What is the object buried?" Athena quickly questioned.
"It's the remains of the Battlestar Exes," said William. "Most of the ship's crewmembers were from the Tauron colony while the others were from one of the other eleven colonies. From a fears battle that they won, their navigational records that included star maps and navigational fixes were destroyed. The only navigation map they had was what was created after their final battle. Because they didn't know which way to head to return to the colonies, they wandered for several months in search for any habitable planet, and in the year 1877, the crew of the Exes stumbled across their mythical thirteenth tribe. So you are fully human, Honey; you just have an added ancestral bloodline than what most people on Earth have."
Athena gave William a skeptical stare for a moment before saying, "I want to see Hayden Starling's journals."
William grinned before saying, "That won't be a problem. I need to get them out soon anyway."
"Before the Journals get brought out, who's the friendly voice of the twelve tribes of Kobol?" Brady questioned.
"Her name is Beth O'Brian," William began. He then took the time to tell Brady and Athena of what he learned from Beth.
When William was finished, Brady said, "I'm going to call the lodge members. They also should know."
"Why are you planning to tell them about this?" asked Athena.
Brady grinned before saying, "Each lodge member is a descendent from a survivor of the Battlestar Exes and they all know about their origin."
"Of course there are more descendants of the Exes' survivors as well who have no clue of their origin," William added.
"I know most of the members of your lodge and now that I know what I do, I'm going to be looking at them… and myself in the mirror in a whole new way," said Athena.
Brady smiled and said, "I reacted the same way when I was told."
Athena just grinned as William said, "Well, if you want to see the journals come with me, Athena."
Once Brady closed the hood of the Citroen 11CV, he, William and Athena walked towards the door. Just before exiting the garage, Athena asked, "Should I keep quiet about this in front of Willy?"
"Yeah, your brother doesn't need to know about this right now," said William.
"I'm a bit surprise that your dad told you today," said Brady.
"I was confident that Athena was mature enough to know the truth," said William as he was opening the door.
"Thanks for saying that, Dad," Athena sincerely said.
William smiled at Athena before motioning her and Brady to go through the door before him as he held the door open.
5:00 P.M., in Beth's hometown, Spence while carrying a few presents was leading Beth into his parents' two-story house that had a basement. Spence's parents, Floyd and Grace; Spence's grandfather, Henry; Grace's sister Carmen; Carmen's husband, Joe; Carmen and Joe's fourteen-year-old foster child, Blake; Wyatt and Tim were in all in the living room. All the living room seats were taken.
Beth was barely in the living room when Tim saw Beth and blurted out as he pointed to her, "Feckle."
Beth tried to keep her tone in a playful manner as she said, "Okay, Buddy. Eighteen years of schooling without being called freckles by anyone only to be called it by you." Tim didn't really understood what Beth was saying and wasn't sure if he should grin as he apprehensively stared at her. Spence went to put the presents under the tree as Beth continued to say, "Now that's gong to cost you a hug and a kiss." Tim understood the words, 'hug' and 'kiss' and toddled over to Beth with his arms out for Beth to pick him up. "Oh cool, you're going to give me a hug and kiss without having to coax you into it."
Everyone watched with a delightful grin on their faces as Beth got her hugs and kisses from Tim.
Beth continued to hold Tim as Spence had introduced Beth to everyone, except for Blake who he didn't know. Carmen was the one who introduced Blake to Spence and Beth.
Once the introductions were done, Grace said, "Supper will be another hour."
"I told Beth that it would be six when we'll eat," said Spence. He then reached out for Tim to go to him.
As Tim was going to Spence, Henry said, "Beth, I heard that you're a surgeon."
"Oh, I'll definitely be a surgeon soon, but presently I'm just an intern," said Beth.
Joe smiled and said, "I like that certainty in your voice."
Beth grinned and said, "I've been certain of that since I was twelve and when I'm determined to do something there's not much that could stop me."
Spence gave Beth a worried look and said, "That's very good to know about you."
Beth knew why Spence gave her that look and responded, "I'm referring to personal goals in my life and not what you're thinking of… although last year in the beginning of December I did attempt to prove something to Brandon and bit off more than I could chew." Spence gave Beth a curious look. "I was able to prove it to him though."
Spence continued to give her a curious look and asked, "What was that?"
"Brandon never told you about what happen to me last year?" asked Beth. Spence just shook his head. "Well, I should tell you later."
"I'll look forward to hearing about it," said Spence.
When Beth just grinned Wyatt asked, "So do you have anymore goals besides being a surgeon, like going into brain surgery or going into research?"
"Well, I'm not wanting to specialize in any specific field or type of surgery, but once I get my surgical career reputation established, I want to become a physician as well," said Beth. "I'm still trying to decide at which way to go after that."
"Why don't you want to specialize?" asked Carmen.
"I like being a surgeon and I don't want my job to become tedious by doing the same type of surgeries over and over again," said Beth.
"Doing things over and over is how you get good at something," said Floyd.
"I have a very good memory so it is very rare that I need to see things done twice before knowing how to do it," said Beth.
Blake said in a slight aggravated tone barely loud enough for people to hear, "Lucky you." Blake had a discouraged expression on his face when Beth looked at him.
"Blake has a slight learning disability so please don't take offence to what he says," said Carmen.
"I learn fine as long as I don't have to read anything," Blake grumbled. "I just can't remember what I read after I read it."
"I honestly don't know if this helps or not, but I met this girl in my freshman year of college that dictated what she read into a tape recorder so she could play it back to herself later," said Beth. "Of course she dictated what she was reading in private so she wouldn't disturb the people around her."
"I might try that," said Blake. "Now do you have any hints on how to improve my reading?"
Beth grinned and said, "I do actually. One of my older cousins had a hard time with reading and one day, in spite his difficulty, he decided that he wanted to write a fictional novel that he had an idea for so he sat down at the computer and started typing away. He still had a few English and grammar books and when he wasn't sure about something he looked it up as he went. Within three years he had no problems at all with his reading or grammar. In fact he said that he had learned more while writing than what he ever did in a classroom."
"Did he finish his book?" asked Blake.
"He did and I was one of the first people to read it," said Beth. "It was a fantasy story with dragons, sorcerers and witches."
"Is that book published?" asked Spence.
Beth shook her head and said, "That one he never tried to get published and it wasn't a bad story. He had written several more fictional stories since then that he is attempting to get published."
"Cool," said Blake. "I wouldn't know what to write though."
"Well, if you ever had watched a TV show and thought that the show should have went into another direction then write about that," said Beth. "Truthfully, it doesn't really matter what you write about because you would be only doing it to improve your reading. You might even decide that you like writing."
"Well, I'll give it a shot," said Blake.
"Spence, you should go into the kitchen and get chairs for you and Beth," said Grace.
"All right," said Spence as he was putting Tim down.
As Beth began to take off her coat, she asked, "Where should I put my coat and purse?"
Grace pointed to a door and said, "You can put them in that room, Dear."
"If you don't mind, you can take my coat too," said Spence. Beth just nodded as he began to take off his coat.
Once Beth had Spence's coat, she went into the next room while Spence went to get the chairs.
The room that Beth entered was a sewing room with a heavy-duty sewing machine. As she looked over the room, she saw a wide doorless closet. Hanging in the closet were five dresses along with coats belonging to Spence's relatives. Between the closet and a sewing machine was a dressmaker mannequin with an unfinished dress on it. After gazing the room once, Beth walked over to the closet to hang up her belongings. Before hanging anything up, she reached in her purse for her cell phone. It began ringing as she was pulling it out. She looked at number and showed a confused look before answering with, "Hello?"
"Beth, it's William; William Starling," he said. "I got the information for you."
"That's great," said Beth.
"Do you have a paper and pencil?" asked William.
"No, but tell me anyway; I'll remember," said Beth.
"Okay," said William. He then told Beth the coordinates to Earth in colonial terms.
When William was done, Beth said, "Okay, thanks for the information and I'll try to pass that onto Kim before I go into work tonight."
"Oh, you have to work during the holiday?" asked William.
"I do, but since I got off during when everyone eats Christmas dinner, I don't mind it," said Beth.
"Did you work yesterday any?" asked William.
"Well, I was working a double shift two evening ago and got off on Christmas Eve at 6:00 A.M. My shift tonight starts at ten, which is not quite five hours from now."
"It's not another double is it?" William questioned.
"It is actually, but I'm okay with working a double," said Beth.
"Well, hopefully you won't get to busy," said William. "Anyway, again Merry Christmas and I'll let you get back at what you were doing."
Grace opened the door to check on Beth as Beth said, "Merry Christmas, —" Beth noticed Grace walking in. "—and again thanks for the information."
As Beth was putting her phone in her purse, Grace said, "I was wondering what was taking you so long."
Beth grinned before saying, "My phone rang before I had a chance to put anything up." She then went to hang up the two coats and her purse. "These dresses are nice. Did you design them?"
"My neighbor Martha designs them; I just follow her design specification," said Grace.
Beth was done hanging up her belongings and as she faced Grace, she said, "Cool. Do you do this as a hobby?"
"No, being a seamstress is my job," said Grace. "Martha creates the designs for the dresses and I along with three others create them. Oh and we all work from our homes."
Beth said in a sincere and pleasing manner, "That's very cool."
Grace smiled and said, "Thank you for not snubbing what I do."
Beth looked at Grace in a confused manner and asked, "Why would I do that?"
"I know my job is not glamorous like yours and…" Grace was only able to get out.
"Grace, I would never snub or disparage anyone for what kind of work they do," said Beth. "Besides, I can see that you have talent."
Grace smiled before asking, "Would you like to see more of the house?"
Beth grinned before saying, "I would like that." She then followed Grace out of the room.
Once they were in the other room, everyone heard a timer going off in the kitchen. Grace turned towards Spence and told him, "Give Beth a tour of the house. I was going to do it, but I need to get back in the kitchen to attend to our dinner."
"No problem," said Spence. He then faced Beth. "We'll start upstairs."
Beth just gestured for Spence to lead. As Beth and Spence were halfway up the steps, Tim went to the steps and because of a childproof gate blocking his way, he began to cry that he couldn't follow. As Wyatt went to pick Tim up, Tim pointed up the steps and said, "Dad-dy; feckles."
"They'll be back," said Wyatt. "Your daddy is just showing freckles around."
Tim continued to reach for the upstairs and said, "Me go."
"Okay, let's go upstairs," said Wyatt.
Tim knew that he was going upstairs and laughed with excitement. As Wyatt was carrying Tim to the top of the stair, he noticed that they were in Tim's room when he would spend the night.
When Beth saw Wyatt stepping in with Tim, she said, "Hey, Sweetie. We're just checking out your room."
Wyatt kept a straight face and said, "It's Tim's room actually." He then grinned.
Beth grinned before saying, "I'm a bit surprise you're making that kind of joke after my warning this morning."
Wyatt continued to grin and said, "I live dangerously." Beth just grinned. "Anyhow, Tim was fussing to come up here with you two."
Beth went over to console Tim and when she did, Tim reached out for Beth to take him. Beth took Tim and said, "I wasn't meaning for you to come to me, but I won't pass up your offer."
Tim slightly rubbed a patch of freckles on Beth's arm and said, "Feckles."
"Yep, those are freckles," said Beth. She then kissed Tim on the cheek.
"I hate that mom had put Tim in this room," said Wyatt.
Beth gave Wyatt a curious look before saying, "Why's that?"
"Did Spence tell you about our sister, Wynona?" asked Wyatt.
"I did." Spence then told Beth, "This room was her room before her death."
"I'm a bit surprise that you didn't become a policeman too, Wyatt," said Beth.
"I have somewhat of a spotty police record and I doubt that I could be a security guard somewhere," said Wyatt.
"So what do you do?" asked Beth.
"I'm a foreman for a construction company that my dad is a co-owner of," said Wyatt.
"That's sounds exciting," said Beth. "Do you or your dad make good money?"
Wyatt shook his head and said, "Not really. My dad is partners with three other people and once the profit is split, he barely has enough to make it through the off season."
Before Beth or Wyatt could say anything else, Spence asked, "Beth, can I ask you for a favor?"
Beth gave Spence a confused look before saying, "Of course. What do you want?"
"Wynona's case is in the cold cases," Spence began. "If this is too much of an imposition for you I'll understand, but I would like it if you would try to get a vision for me."
"Vision?" Wyatt questioned. "You're a psychic?"
Beth looked at Wyatt and said, "Yes." She then turned towards Spence. "And yes, I'll attempt to get a vision for you. You need to take Tim though before I try."
Wyatt again took Tim. Tim didn't want to leave Beth and reached out for her while saying in an irritable manner, "Freckles."
"Hey, little man, you said it correctly," said Wyatt.
Beth kissed Tim's hands before saying, "Your dad wants me to do something and then I can hold you again. Okay?"
Spence reached out for Tim and asked, "Do you want to come to me?" Tim hesitated for a second before going to Spence. "Wyatt, do you know where the turquoise necklace is at that Wynona used to wear?"
"I don't," said Wyatt. "Mom has it put up somewhere."
"What about a picture of Wynona?" Beth questioned. Wyatt just gestured for her to wait and then left the room. Beth gave Spence a curious look. "I'm going to take that as a yes."
Spence just grinned. Wyatt was gone for a minute before bringing back a picture. As he held it out for Beth to take he said, "This was the last picture before her death."
Once Beth took the picture she was given a vision of Wynona shopping in the mall with four of her friends. Within the vision, Wynona and her friends were approached by a guy who invited them to a party. Her vision lasted for a few seconds and as she was coming out of it, Spence asked, "What did you see?" Beth described what she saw along with describing the guy who invited them to a party. Spence didn't see any relevance of the vision and showed a slight disappointment. "Thanks for trying."
"I can try again with another object if you want," said Beth.
"My mom either got rid of or put away most of her stuff so I don't have anymore objects of Wynona's to give you," said Spence. "Anyway I'll show you the rest of the house."
Beth nodded and said, "Okay." She then rubbed Spence's back for a few seconds as they began walking.
As the evening progressed Beth and Spence's relatives got to know each other. During a conversation Grace had told Beth that pork roast was Spence's favorite dish. As the evening continued to progress, Grace and Carmen noticed the developing attachment Tim was showing for Beth. When it came time to open any presents that were still to be opened, Tim went to Beth for help with the difficult to open packages. Beth also was able to get Tim to call her by her name instead of being called 'freckles.'
Beth and Spence returned to Beth's apartment at 9:00 P.M. Just as they were stepping in, Spence asked, "Are you going to your bedroom and meditate now?"
"I am and if you're staying, I need you to be quiet," said Beth as she was putting her purse and coat up.
"I'll be as quiet as a mouse," said Spence before giving Beth a passionate kiss.
Beth pulled away after two seconds and said, "Okay, I definitely won't be able to clear my mind to meditate if I let you kiss me like that so go away, until I'm done."
Spence smiled in a satisfying manner before saying, "I'm glad I can affect you in that way."
Beth grinned and said, "Okay, I think I just saw your head grow two hat sizes."
Spence continued to smile and said, "Cute."
"Well, hopefully I'll be done in a few minutes," said Beth. When Spence just nodded Beth went into her bedroom.
Aboard the Solar Flare, Kim was in the mess hall eating dinner with Kyra, Seth, Adonis and Casmir when Beth appeared slightly out of Kim's view. Kim was taking a drink of her juice when Beth caught her eye.
Adonis saw Kim's odd moment when she appeared to look at a blank wall while hesitating to swallow her drink. Kim was swallowing what she had in her mouth as Casimir asked, "Anything wrong, Kim?"
Kim ignored Casimir and said, "Merry Christmas, Sis."
Kyra grinned and said, "Hi, Beth."
"Tell everyone, Hi," said Beth. "I'm also here to pass on information to Cmdr. Adama."
"Beth says hi and she's here to pass on information to Cmdr. Adama," said Kim.
"Okay," said Kyra.
"In 1877 the Battlestar Exes had crashed in the Arctic near Alaska…" Beth was only able to get out.
Kim's eyes had gotten wide before blurting out, "You're kidding, right?"
"I'm serious," said Beth.
Kyra overlapped Beth's words as she asked, "What's going on, Kim?"
"The wreckage of the Battlestar Exes was discovered in the northern polar region on Earth near the state of Alaska," said Kim.
"Well, they haven't dug it up yet," said Beth. "They just discovered it being buried under the snow this morning."
"Then how do you know it's a battlestar?" asked Kim. Everyone at the table just gave Kim a confuse look.
Beth explained to Kim of how she came in contact with a descendant of a crewmember of that battlestar. Everyone at the table watch Kim's facial expression as she listened intently to what Beth had to say. Kim's eyes grew wider when Beth gave her coordinates to Earth. When Beth was finished passing the information along, she continued to say, "I can't stay, Kim, so Merry Christmas and the next time we see each other it may be in person."
Kim smiled and said, "I look forward to that and again Merry Christmas."
As Beth was fading from Kim's sight, Kyra asked, "Kim, what's happening?" Kim gave Kyra a dubious grinned before relaying what Beth had told her. After hearing what she did, Kyra said, "Hurry up and finish eating, Kim, so we can go to the Galactica."
"Yes, Ma'am," said Kim. She then ate her food at a quicker pace than her usual leisurely manner.
Kyra and Kim were able to tell Cmdr Adama of what was discovered within an hour. Once Cmdr. Adama got the information he went directly to CIC and inquired about the ETA to reach the coordinates that was given to him by Kim.
Geata done a quick calculations before saying, "Sir, the entire fleet can reach those coordinates in eight jumps; four for a raptor."
"That could be weeks for some of our ships as fast as the FTL drives break down," said Tigh.
Cmdr. Adama turned towards Tigh and said, "Have Lee and Kara take a raptor to those coordinates to check it out."
"Yes, Sir," said Tigh. He then picked up the handset to have Lee and Kara to meet him in the briefing room. Once that was done he turned back towards Cmdr. Adama. "So what should Lee and Kara expect to find at those coordinates?"
Cmdr. Adama gave him a serious stare before saying, "Earth."
"Earth?" several crewmembers had blurted out as a rhetorical question.
"How did you get the coordinates to Earth?" Tigh questioned.
"Do you remember reading about the Battlestar Exes in your history lessons?" asked Cmdr. Adama as everyone in CIC intensely listened to each word that was said.
Tigh gave Cmdr. Adama a curious look before saying, "She was one of the early design battlestars and was in service before the Cylon war broke out. She went missing early in the war without a single clue as to what happened to her. That was over a hundred and twenty years ago."
"Well, Beth had paid Kim a visit and had told her that the wreckage of the Exes was discovered buried under the snow on Earth at one of their polar caps," said Cmdr. Adama.
"My gods," Tigh blurted. "They had to be seriously disoriented for them to end up on Earth. I guess there would be no way to know if there were survivors."
"There were," said Cmdr. Adama. "I don't fully understand the details on how, but Beth had made contact with a descendant of one of them. That descendant knew of his ancestor's origin and had given Beth the Earth coordinates in terms for us to understand. Anyway, you stay here and I'll go brief Lee and Kara."
As Cmdr. Adama was walking away, Tigh saw that the people around him were discussing what they had heard; except for Geata. Geata was in deep thought and when Tigh noticed Geata, the officer closest to him was asking, "Are you okay, Felix?"
Geata was slightly caught off guard by the question and asked, "What?"
"Are you okay?" the officer repeated.
"A direct ancestor of mine was serving on the ship at the time it disappeared," said Geata. "I'm not sure, but I think he was my grandfather's grandfather. He was supposed to have been in his late twenties at the time. I could have distant relatives on Earth."
"Most likely your Earth relatives wouldn't even know anything of the colonies," said the officer.
"Most likely, they wouldn't," said Geata.
Several minutes later, Cmdr. Adama, Apollo and Starbuck were leaving the briefing room and came face to face with Pres. Kellogg standing next to the door. Pres. Kellogg looked at Cmdr. Adama and questioned, "You wanted to talk to me, Bill?"
"Yes," Cmdr. Adama confirmed. "We can go to my quarters. Lee, you and Kara can go."
"Yes, Sir," said Lee followed by Kara.
Pres. Kellogg saw the revived spirit in Apollo's and Kara's eyes and as they rushed away, Pres Kellogg commented, "I haven't seen their morale that high before. Is there something going on?"
"That's why I asked you here," said Cmdr. Adama before he gestured for the president to walk. He continued to say as they walked leisurely towards his quarters, "A short time ago, Beth had visited Kim with the news that the wreckage of the Battlestar Exes was discovered buried under the snow on Earth at one of their polar caps."
"The wreckage of a colonial ship was found on Earth?" Pres. Kellogg questioned.
"It has and this particular ship went missing in the very beginning of the original Cylon war," said Cmdr. Adama. "Beth had also made contact with one of the descendant to one of the battlestar's survivors. That descendant provided Beth with a set of coordinates…"
"Coordinates to where?" asked Pres. Kellogg.
"To Earth," said Cmdr. Adama. Pres. Kellogg stopped walking and looked Cmdr. Adama in the eyes. Cmdr. Adama had also stopped and looked into Pres. Kellogg's eyes. "Lee and Kara left in high spirits because they are going to go to those coordinates in hopes to find Earth."
Cmdr. Adama saw that Pres. Kellogg was quickly giving what he just heard a great deal of thought before questioning, "Who all knows?"
"The crew in CIC, Lee, Kara and of course Kim, Kyra… and whoever they'd told," said Cmdr. Adama.
"So it's too late to put a lid on this until those coordinates can be confirmed," Pres. Kellogg commented.
"I know that the people have been disappointed more times than I can count in the past six years, Aryan, but I strongly feel that this time is different," said Cmdr. Adama. "And to lessen any disappointed then tell the people the truth."
"And what is the truth, Bill?" asked Pres. Kellogg.
"We believe that we have obtained the coordinates to Earth, but it will be two days before we can confirm it," said Cmdr. Adama.
Pres. Kellogg slightly hesitated to grin and nod in an agreement. They then continued down the corridors. Pres. Kellogg began a general conversation.
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