Chapter 13: Welcome aboard
Tamsin shucked her helmet once the pressure was up; no sense letting these Colonials - who named themselves that, anyway? Colonials of who? - know about the airtight forcefields built into the suits if they didn't need to.
She watched as the pilots hopped down out of their fighters. The nearest had been the last to land, the most skilful - what was her name? Thrace. But they all used codenames. Starbuck, that was it.
"Hello," she said. The woman was tall, white, blonde. A tomboy, a fighter.
Kara looked her over. "Hi."
Lee Adama ducked around under his fighter's nose. He saw Tamsin and felt surprised. He'd pictured her as a lot older, or an alien. She was painfully young.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," she reached out to shake his hand. They had even that in common - species, language, social gestures… "I think the welcoming committee is waiting," he looked over her shoulder. Tamsin glanced at the window out of the bay.
"Who's who?"
"The bald man is Colonel Saul Tigh, the second in command. The other man is Commander William Adama, he's the commanding officer. The woman is President Laura Roslyn."
Tamsin filed the question of how they got the President out to the fleet so quickly in a growing list of other questions. Like why this wasn't a military fleet, more like a shipping convoy… Oh, dear. What if this was their civilisation?
And was Adama a common name? There wasn't too much of a resemblance. Perhaps they were related, perhaps not.
"And the ones behind her?"
"The blond one is her aide Billy Keikeya. The other one is Doctor Baltar. He's an advisor of sorts."
"Don't like him, huh?" She made it a rhetorical question. "And your squad?" He helped her put names to faces as they moved to the doors. The three solemn-looking commanders were waiting.
"Captain Reece," Adama Senior said, "Welcome on board the Battlestar Galactica. I'm Commander Adama." He saluted her.
"Thank you, Commander." She returned the salute.
Author's note: Short and not particularly sweet, I know. Next chapter's longer. Promise.