acta est fabula Chapter 5, a battlestar galactica: 2003 fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Battlestar Galactica, or any of the characters of Galactica. All I own are my ideas and theories.

Nicky sat in the corner of the small apartment, glued to the cartoon characters displayed on the square cut screen, while Galen sat at the dingy window, looking out at the crowded streets of Earth. After almost a year of decontamination, and diplomatic talks, it was a relief to finally be released into Earth society. He had been asked to help with interfacing Earth and Colonial technology, but had declined. He was through with the war. He wanted the war to be through with him. All he really wanted was to live out the rest of his life in relative peace, and because he had stayed in the background during the diplomatic talks, his face was relatively unknown to the billions of people on the planet Earth.

It was raining outside, which brought back memories of New Caprica. Of the year of happiness before the cylons came, and the occupation began. Before his and Cally's marriage slowly started to fall apart. Before his wife was murdered.

He had never had proof of her murder, but he had been suspicious as soon as Tory had shown up with Nicky in her arms. But he hadn't wanted to believe. Hadn't wanted to believe that Tory could kill his wife in cold blood. Because that implied that he was capable of the same.

Behind him, Nicky giggled at the television, tearing him away from the window. He didn't really know where the other survivors had ended up, although he knew that, had he really wanted to, he could have found out. But he didn't want to. Here, on Earth, he could outwardly forget the war, forget the years aboard Galactica, forget New Caprica, and Kobol. He could just live from one day to the next. He was not really known by his neighbours, they did not try to comfort him, or empathize with him. They left him alone. Alone was where he wanted to be. Alone with his memories.

Sam Anders watched again as the crowds parted for him. Having been at the forefront of the diplomatic talks, the entire world seemed to know his face, and he wondered again why he had been talked into making such a public figure of himself.

o0o

"Admiral." He stepped into the Admiral's quarters and saluted. The old man didn't acknowledge him right away, but instead stared at something sliver that he held in his hand. Finally he seemed to come to his senses, and slipped the object into his pocket before looking up.

"Lieutenant Anders. Come in." He waved the younger man into a chair, and then sat down himself. "As you doubtless know, Earth has asked that we send down a delegation to begin talks. President Zarek and the quorum are obviously going, but we are sending a small military detachment, led by Captain Agathon." He paused, and Sam saw him finger his pocket, and suddenly understood what it must be. This was the sort of situation that would usually have been entrusted to Apollo. The son had never been as rigidly military as the father; had always been able to deal with politicians with much more patience. Even though he had hung up his uniform, he would have still been able to act as a buffer between the military and the politicians of Earth. But he was no longer available in that capacity. "I want you to accompany this detachment. You were in the spotlight all the time back before the attack, and you know how to handle the press. Kara trusted you, and I will take her judgement any day."

o0o

And after that, what could he have said. He had agreed to serve as one of the first in the fleet to set foot on Earth. His face had been played over all their televisions. His voice broadcast over all wireless channels. When the Colonials had finally been allowed to spread out on the legendary planet of Earth, he had been one of the first from Galactica to follow them. Bit by bit, the shorthanded crew of Galactica trained the humans of Earth to run the great ship, and migrated down to the surface themselves. Most were able to blend in easily enough. The time taken for diplomatic talks allowed everyone to get used to Earth technology, and the other slight differences in Earth society, and unlike him, their faces weren't known to the world.

He was a celebrity though. He could not walk the streets without a hush spreading out as people stared at the "alien". He could not walk through the door of his apartment without being bombarded by questions. And once he got through the door, and into his lonely apartment, all he wanted was to stop being alone. Though almost everything in the apartment was newly purchased on Earth, everything seemed to remind him of her. But she was gone, as was everyone else he had ever been close to. His pyramid team, those that had survived Caprica, had eventually all died, he was the last left from his group of nuggets, and the woman who he had loved had died, not once, but twice.

He stood in the observation deck looking out over the planet Earth. He remembered Kara's words when she returned from the dead; "Big blue oceans, fluffy white clouds. You're gonna love it. I promise." And they had followed her course, and they had finally gotten here. Most of the civilians had already moved down to the surface, and their ships were now in several research and development facilities spread throughout the planet. Some of his crew as well as some civilian engineers had been tasked to work on interfacing the Colonial technology with Earth technology. They had proved to be remarkably deficient in space flight technology. Only the Galactica still remained in orbit around the planet, doing a token job at guarding against the cylons if they ever managed to find them. Each day, fewer crewmembers remained on Galactica, having been replaced by the men and women of Earth. He would be the last to leave, turning over the command in a few months time. Until then, he would watch as his crew, the last of his family, embraced the promised land.

A/N: Huge thanks go out to Mariel3, laloveskt, and jewel of the sea for reviews. They mean a lot, so thank you. I know this took forever, but I just started my summer job which involves waking up at 4:30 in the morning, and going to sleep at 10:00 pm. Given that my most productive writing time is between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am, I got very little done. The next chapter however, is almost done, as is the last, so hopefully they will be up before the next episode. If you read this, please do me a favour and leave a small comment. Even if it's nothing more than if you liked or hated it. Thanks again.