As he felt the familiar jolts accompanying a shuttle touching down upon a deck, Jack stood up, straightening the jacket he was wearing. In the early days of his employment with the President of the Colonies, he had neglected to wear anything over his polo shirts when accompanying her to the Galactica. He soon learned the folly of that decision, for the battlestar was several degrees cooler than most of the other ships in the fleet. Remembering those old days when he had actually been on his guard on the Galactica for fear one of Adama's people might try and take a shot at the President, he couldn't help but grin, shaking his head. How those times had changed.
He'd thought he would never come back from standing up to Colonel Tigh and pointing a gun in his face when the marines stormed Colonial One to arrest the President. And yet, here they all were.
His smile faded when his eyes fell upon his boss, turning a page in the report she had been looking over. He wasn't sure who had handed it to her right before they had boarded the Raptor Adama had sent over to fetch the President.
"All secure." One of the pilots brushed past him, followed by the one he recognized. Smiling jovially, he slapped Costanza on the back, receiving a cheeky grin in return for the effort.
"Madam President?" he offered her his hand. At this point in their routine, she would usually take it and once again refuse his imaginary, unspoken marriage proposal.
Her head snapped up, surprise written all over her face. "Already?" she asked, looking around.
"Yes, ma'am." He wondered how she had missed the landing. He started to assist her in gathering her papers, only to be waved off. Taken aback, he stepped back and simply decided to do his job, make sure the hangar deck was secure before he let her set foot on it.
"Hello, Reynolds."
His mood brightened again as he caught sight of the three-person greeting party assembled. He liked smaller groups anyway. He was more likely to know them all and when it was just him, he wouldn't be able to take out more than two or three people at a time anyway.
"Captain Thrace." He hopped down from the Raptor, offering her a salute. "I'm surprised you haven't managed to kill yourself yet."
"One of these days." Starbuck promised, shaking his hand. "It's been a while since we've seen you."
"Well, the President wanted to make sure she wasn't ignoring the rest of the fleet. She trusts that the Admiral has things well in hand over here on Galactica."
Oh, frak. Now he was turning into a damn politician. He eyed Thrace's sidearm and wondered if she was quick enough to stop him from putting a bullet between his own eyes. Then he wondered if she was buying his statement any more than he was. It was damned strange that he hadn't set foot on Galactica in almost four weeks. As head of security, he went where the President went. And she hadn't gone to Galactica, the only defense her fleet had against the Cylons, in a month.
Damned strange indeed, now that he thought about it.
"Well, the Old Man managed to kick my head back on straight." Starbuck replied cheerfully, then turned to the man standing beside her. "Isn't that right, Chief?"
"If you say so, Captain." Chief Tyrol replied cheerfully. "How are you, Jack?" he asked, offering a hand.
Jack was about to reply when Starbuck quickly drew herself to attention, firing off another salute. "President on deck!"
He quickly turned just in time to see his boss step out of the Raptor with her briefcase in hand. A quick, tense look around before her face settled in something slightly more relaxed than he had seen all morning. Ignoring the second offer of a hand, she stepped onto the deck carefully and saluted Starbuck.
"Welcome back to Galactica, Madam President." the best pilot in the fleet greeted her President with a sly look. "The Old Man's in CIC, asked me to come down and greet you. He wants to make sure the CAG doesn't get his ass smoked with all those nuggets out there on the other side of the ship."
"I was told Admiral Adama wanted a meeting immediately, Captain Thrace." Laura replied, and Jack was disappointed to see the tension return to her face.
Truth be told, he was starting to tense up a little bit as well. Even before the whole mess with the Cylon baby had become public knowledge, Captain Agathon had been making a general nuisance of himself. His lack of respect for the President and her position had appalled Jack, making him a very happy man when word of Colonel Tigh's resumption of his post had reached his ears. He didn't trust Agathon as far as he could throw him and now, with this added chaos, he planned on keeping one finger on his trigger if the President met up with him, or his Cylon, during this visit.
"The admiral was hoping the CAG would've been finished with the nuggets by this time, but some of them need a little extra practice." Kara replied, her grin fading somewhat as she realized the President wasn't in one of her usual bright moods. "He said you could wait in his office in CIC."
She was sorry a moment later when the President visibly paled and shook her head. "No, thank you, Captain. I wouldn't want to be in the way. Is there another place I could finish looking over Colonel Tigh's recommendations until they're ready for me?"
From the look Tyrol shot him, Jack would have bet a larger number of cubits than he had at his disposal that the thoughts running through the chief's head at the moment consisted of three words, "What the frak?" He shook his head slightly, ignoring the questioning look.
"She could use your office, couldn't she?"
It was the first thing Cally had said since Jack disembarked from the Raptor.
"What?" Tyrol asked, turning to look at his wife. "I thought you had Nicky in there."
"Nicky's fine. He slept through two jumps last week, remember?" Cally nudged him, nodding and cocking her eyebrow. "Unless you think he'll disturb you, Madam President?"
"Oh, no, of course not." Laura replied, smiling at Cally, who looked like the cat that had just found a zoo full of canaries to swallow. "I'd be more worried that I might disturb your son."
"Oh, no, he sleeps like an angel." Cally shoved past Starbuck to take the President's briefcase from her. "And Galen's been working on one of the other Raptors for the past three hours. He'll be another three, so he won't need the office unless to just run in for something. And if you need anything," she began to tug Laura gently along with her, "you can just call me. He put me on cleaning duty again." She made a face, which did earn her another smile.
Jack chuckled as he watched Cally fairly railroad over the President of the Colonies. His outlook on the day was starting to rise as he realized that in two minutes with the specialist, he'd seen the President smile more than she had smiled in the past three weeks.
"I'm sorry." Galen stumbled through the words, beet red. "I keep telling her it's not like it was on New Caprica, when she was the schoolteacher. She kept mentioning how great it would be when the baby was old enough to be the President's student."
"Chief," Jack waved away his apologies firmly, "if I wasn't fairly certain you'd kick my ass, I'd kiss your wife right now."
"Hey, Reynolds, if she has time, you think you could have her down in the pilots' briefing room sometime before she leaves today?" Starbuck asked, watching as Cally ushered the President into the office, shutting the door behind them.
"Depends on what else is on her schedule. I'll do my best, Starbuck." Jack replied as he started for the office. "Tell Sam I said hi."
"Will do." Starbuck replied.
"I can't believe Cally did that." The Chief picked up his tool belt, shaking his head. "What's the President going to think of her?"
"Uh, probably the same thing she thought of Cally on New Caprica." Starbuck shrugged. "Look, Chief, she might be President again, but that doesn't mean she reverts back to her old relationships before New Caprica. I've spoken to her a few times since the Admiral kicked my ass back into shape and she always asks about you and Cally and Nicky. She may not be able to interact with us the way she used to, but she didn't stop thinking of us as her friends."
She thought she saw a twinge of relief in the Chief's eyes before he shook his head again. "But as much as we wish it wasn't, it is different now, Captain." he remarked. "She's the President and we can't just treat her like one of us. It's a matter of respect." Clearing his throat, he gestured to his wounded Raptor. "I gotta get back, Captain. I'll see you later."
"I'll come brief you about the other thing later. Call me when the CAG finally gets his ass back on the deck." Starbuck winked at him.
"All right, listen up!" Kara shouted as she charged into the briefing room. "The CAG's about to land his ass, so we don't have much time!" She took a moment to look around the room, finally locating the face she was looking for somewhere along the back wall. "Felix, where's Dualla?"
"CIC." Gaeta called from his vantage point in the back of the room, where he was leaning against a bulkhead, right next to the door. He planned a hasty escape. "Colonel Tigh asked me to tell you he's in."
"Oh, gee, praise the Lords of Kobol for that!" Starbuck threw her hands in the air with a dramatic air. "I don't think we could ever plan a surprise party without the XO!"
"Did you talk to the President when she landed?" Racetrack called.
"Yeah, she likes Apollo!" Hotdog called.
"Oh, like we need the President to plan a party."
That came from one Karl Agathon. No one was particularly surprised. Helo had been taking every opportunity he could to badmouth the President lately. Everyone else had been giving him a wide berth, considering the circumstances, but Starbuck could sense that the tide would soon turn against him if he didn't lose the attitude. She cleared her throat to clear the sudden tension in the room.
"Madam Prez likes Lee and she likes Dualla." she said firmly. "If she wants to be involved, she's in. End of story. And if you can't keep your fat mouth shut when she's here later on, we can do this without you, Helo."
Helo's face colored. He hadn't been called out in public like this before.
"You know," he snapped angrily, "I wonder how you would feel if it was your child she stole."
"Oh, for frak's sake." Hotdog stood up, pointing at Helo. "You need to get over it, Helo. At least your daughter's alive and you have her back. How many people can actually say that these days?"
"Hey, we're here to plan a party!" Ever the peacemaker, Racetrack nonetheless shot Helo a murderous glare as she tried to steer everyone back to the subject at hand. "Are we just going to jump out and shout, 'Happy first anniversary,' or do you have a better plan?"
"Sam's in charge of that one." Starbuck replied. Who knew planning a surprise party was so much more stressful than planning a regular party? "Remember, people, stealth's the name of the game. CAG's extremely smart, so we have to be extra sneaky."
"I volunteer to amp up the briefing room antics, keep him busy trying to control me!" Hotdog suggested, which got a roar of approval from his audience.
"How'd I know that'd be your first contribution, Hotdog?" Starbuck tossed her pen at him. She then looked back at Gaeta. "Hey, Felix, we're leaving you in charge of distracting Dee, okay?"
The lieutenant brightened. "That's all I have to do?" he asked. The less he was involved, the less chance it'd come back and bite him when the brilliant plan fell apart. "Keep me in the loop as to the actual dates and times."
"I'm hoping we can actually come up with a reason to actually get the CAG's ass off the ship entirely the day of, so we can take care of all the last-minute details without trying to stay away from him." Starbuck remarked.
"Roslin could help us with that!" Racetrack shouted, shooting another death glare at Helo, who paid no attention.
"I don't see why she has to be here at all, anyway. Sharon's been through enough without having to look that bitch in the face every day." he sputtered out angrily.
A hush fell over the room as his words set in.
"That bitch, as you so respectfully call her, is the President of the Colonies, Captain." Gaeta reminded him, wishing that one of the other CIC officers were here right now to lay Helo out flat.
"And maybe now our girl Athena can understand a little bit how all the rest of us felt when y'all got back from Kobol, considering what Boomer did to the Old Man!" Hotdog added pointedly. "And oh, yeah. Her race is still chasing us and trying to kill those of us they haven't already killed."
"Sharon's not like the rest of them!" Helo shouted, standing up to face Hotdog.
"Look, we all know that!" Hotdog challenged him. "You really think I'd want Athena next to me in a Raptor or watching my ass while I'm in the cockpit if I thought she was like the rest of those toasters? But you've got to stop with this crusade against the President!"
"ENOUGH!" Starbuck slammed her hand down on the podium. "One word out of either of you and you're both going on report. Helo, you sure as hell know better than to call the President of the Colonies a bitch in front of the rest of us. She's saved all our lives more than we can count. And, Hotdog, try to keep your head in front of your damn mouth!"
Shaking his head, Helo got up and stormed out of the briefing room, leaving silence in his wake.
"Good riddance." Racetrack shifted in her seat, making herself comfortable. The CAG was about to come in and report on the new batch of nuggets. They were all looking forward to it.