Chapter 7

On the bridge of Brian's Galactica

Adm. Adama was looking over the reports from the pilots that had been out looking for Nova, and still no sign from him. This was frustrating to him as well, but he knew that things had to keep going for everyone on the ship.

"Look everyone, with Captain Tregare either missing or dead, things have to keep moving on. I just received several reports that his ship, and wreckage could not be found. Now I want everyone to get back to what they were doing before this happened. Is this understood." The Adm. said to the bridge personnel.

Everyone had murmured a 'Yes Sir' to him, and went back to their duties. There was still some silence on the bridge which he liked at times like this. Maj. Adama arrived on the bridge a short time later with a look on his face.

"Adm., we have to talk in private. It's important." Lee said to his father.

"Alright, let's go to my quarters then to talk." William Adama told him son.

They left the bridge and headed for the Adm.'s quarters. They went in, and the Adm. sat at his desk, and motioned for his son to take a seat. Lee sat down and fidgets a bit.

"So what do you have to say to me that couldn't have been said on the bridge?" Bill asked Lee.

"I had received a private message from Kara about Brian's parents that I thought you ought to know about." Lee said.

"What is it then?"

"It appears that his parents tried to take their own lives."

"What?!"

"Kara and Brian's girlfriend went to his parent's house to see how they were doing, and found them in the garage with the door closed and the car engine running."

"Dear gods. Are they still alive?"

"His mother is, but his father…"

"I would never have thought that they would do something like that. What's happening with his mother?"

"She's at the local hospital right now in an oxygen tent right now. From what I learned from Kara, she'll make it through. I hate the thought of telling him if he returns soon."

"Lee, he's gone now. We have to move on and make sure that this does not keep happening to anyone else who is a Viper pilot."

"I know that, but with Brian, it was different. At least there was something always going on all of the time. I still remember when someone in his squadron put that sign on my back that said "If you like what you see, Just whistle.'"

"I remember that, and no one did confess who and how they got that on your back." Bill said with a smile on his face.

They both started to laugh at that, and started to remember other things that had happened once they started to incorporate the pilots from Earth into the Galactica's fighter pilot's ranks. Especially how someone managed to get into the Adm.'s quarters and put honey into the shower head. The Adm. was not very happy about that, and had the entire squadron on extra duties for a month. No one did say who did it, but it was worth the time on extra duty. They managed to pull other pranks as well just to keep morale up on the ship.

They then got up and left the Adm.'s quarters to go back to the bridge of the Galactica.

On the other Earth

Brian and Athena had walked up to Rockefeller Center, and saw the Christmas tree that was there. Brian just looked at it with awe in his eyes. Athena saw this, and was amazed that the people on Earth had managed to get a tree this big here, and set up like this.

"Brian, I take it that you're taking in the beauty of the way this tree is made then." She said to him.

"Yes, In fact I am. It brings back memories for me from when I was a little boy watching this on TV. Getting ready to be lit up for the first time. I'm glad that they do this here as well." He told her.

She then put her arm around him just to hug him. He returned the hug, and held her just a little bit longer. She didn't mind it that he was holding her. She was hoping that maybe there might be more, but didn't want to push it until he was ready. She looked up into his eyes and smiled at him. He returned the smile to her. He then decided to try his luck. He then lower his mouth and kissed her, and then stop.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Please forgive me." He said to her.

"There is no need to apologize. I was wondering if I should make the first move myself. And I would have no problem if you wanted to continue with what you had done." She told him with a big smile on her face.

"Are you sure about that? After all…" He started to say, but Athena's hands went up to his face and pulled it down to hers and kissed him even more.

After she was done, they both had big smiles on their faces. They then decided to head back to the landing pad to return to the Galactica.