~ Bright, Shiny Futures - Chapter Forty-Nine ~
A/N: I've taken a little license with the constellations in my mythology so what you'll be reading isn't necessarily accurate. I've blended some of my own imagination with existing astronomy, along with some modified Latin to make something completely different. I hope it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the story. :)
"Basestar?" Sam said incredulously. "Basestar? That's what the others travel on. I thought you ... we were different."
Though he hadn't actually moved, Tigh had the impression Sam had taken a few steps backwards.
"Naturally we share technology with our brothers and sisters," Zero answered.
"Even though they don't know about you ... us?"
"It's not hard to insert memories into their brains. We had to do that to plant some of them in the colonies anyway."
"Sleepers, you mean."
"Yes. We wanted to see if they could fit in so we had to erase their memories of being Cylon and give them memories of growing up as humans do. They had to appear and seem as human as possible."
Sam shook his head. "So where are we going once our ride gets here?"
"Home."
"Where's home?"
"New Earth."
"I hope it's better than the old Earth," Tory said quietly, glancing up at Sam. He nodded.
"Come," Zero invited the group, lifting her arms high. "Let us prepare for our journey."
The people turned and began to walk out of the cavern, excited chatter raising the noise level considerably.
Tory turned towards Sam, mouth open as if to speak, but she kept silent when he shook his head and shrugged. He took her hand and stepped forward, indicating they were to go with the flow.
* * * * * * * * * *
Kara knew there was something wrong the moment Adama walked into the room. His eyes met hers in warning, as he strode purposefully to the table and spread out the papers he'd carried in.
"Thank you Admiral," Sharon said.
"Hopefully we'll get something useful," he said, smiling slightly. "It's a big galaxy out there and it would certainly help to have some clues to guide us."
Kara moved away from the children and unobtrusively followed Adama out while the others immersed themselves in the star charts.
"Sir," she said softly, touching his arm.
He turned and faced her squarely. "I don't want to talk about it right now. I'm on duty." At her sad look he added, "Lee knows. Talk to him."
She nodded, feeling a lump growing in her throat. "I will," she whispered.
He nodded and put a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "Good luck with the charts."
"Thank you."
She walked back into the room and stood between her children. Zach wasn't one of the hybrids but he'd wanted to go with his mother and sister and Kara hadn't argued it.
Nicky was the quietest of the bunch, not speaking at all as he studied the charts intently. Kara knew the reason for his silence but had no idea how to comfort him. She and the Tyrols had never been close. She smiled sadly at his bent head and sent up a quick prayer for him.
"Here," Hera said confidently, pointing to a random star near the bottom left hand corner of the map.
Sharon looked more closely. "Are you sure?"
Hera lifted her head, eyes closed. "I'm sure."
"What's it called?" Kara asked.
Sharon studied it intently for a moment. "It doesn't have a name," she answered slowly, raising her head to meet Kara's gaze.
"The woman in my visions told me it was called New Earth."
"What woman?" Kara asked curiously.
The girl shrugged. "I don't know. I've never really seen her."
"I thought you said you'd seen lots of people coming out of a cave?" Sharon queried.
"I did, but the woman talking to me wasn't one of them. It's like I hear her voice in my head as though she's ... " She frowned and drew her eyebrows together. "Not reading my mind, but talking in my mind." She looked up with hopeful eyes. "You know what I mean?"
"Telepathy," Kara said. "You talk to her with you minds only."
"Yes."
Kara felt her body break out in gooseflesh. She crossed her arms and hugged them across her chest tightly. "I know what you mean. Someone talked to me in a vision like that too."
"Really?" Hera's eyes widened and her mouth pulled up in a little smile.
She returned it. "Really." She pointed at the star Hera had chosen, now circled with a red marker. "You're certain that's where we need to go?"
"Are we here mommy?" Sara asked suddenly, pointing unerringly at the Earth. Kara nodded. "Then we go here." She slid her finger along the map. "The North Star will show us the way ... "
" ... to The One Who Grieves," Nicky added, springing up as though someone had suddenly breathed life into him, and trailing his finger from Sara's to another set of stars.
"Lacrymosa," Sharon said, reading the name printed beside the star he'd ended up on.
"The Woman Who Weeps," Kara said softly, staring off into nothingness.
"I beg your pardon?"
Kara's head snapped up. "Lacrymosa. In the ancient language it means 'The Woman Who Weeps.' "
"How do you know that?" Sharon asked curiously.
Kara flushed. "I've studied a bit of this and that. I found the Pythian Scrolls to be somewhat fascinating when I was younger so I took some Ancient Studies classes to learn the language better." She shrugged. "Just a passing hobby."
"Who knew?" Sharon smirked briefly, then took her pen and marked the pathways the children had picked out. "I wonder where we go after this?"
" ' The people who walk in darkness shall find a great light'," Kiera said.
Kara whirled on her. "What did you say?"
"What?" Sharon demanded. "What does it mean?"
Kara turned slowly. "It's a translation from the Scrolls. An obscure part that some believe wasn't written by Pythia herself but added later."
"Some Ancient Studies classes? It sounds like you could be teaching a class in it yourself."
Any other time Kara would have smiled. "I was always interested in the verses that weren't considered authentic. They seemed to mean more than the obvious ones did. I spent a lot of time thinking in circles, trying to figure out what they meant."
Hera pointed to the map. "Sagittarius, the archer. His arrow will show us the way."
Arrow, Kara thought. An arrow to show us the way. Why does that sound familiar? And then her mind made a sudden leap. The Arrow of Apollo. Lee! She shivered.
Sharon caught it. "What? What is it?"
"Lee," Kara very nearly whispered. "Sam said Lee had to be protected because he was part of my destiny."
"I remember."
"The arrow. Arrow."
Understanding dawned on the Cylon's face. "We need him here."
Kara nodded. "I'll get him paged. Write down everything they've said so far."
Sharon's head bent down as she began to make notes on the map.
* * * * * * * * * *
Tyrol slid out from under the Raptor, uncomfortably aware that someone was staring at him. Had been for a while.
He stood and faced the young man in orange coveralls. "Can I help you?" he said politely, though those weren't the first words to come to mind.
"I just wanted to say ... I'm sorry about what happened to your wife. It must be hard for you ... "
Tyrol bristled. "Do I know you?"
The man shifted from one foot to the other. "No sir, I just transferred here today." He smiled nervously. "Got bored sitting around and figured I could learn how to use tools and help out here. The Admiral said he needed new recruits ... "
"I'm sure that's true," the Chief interrupted, "but you'd be better off working than yakking with people about their personal lives."
The other man flushed a deep red. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean ... " he stammered. "No disrespect intended ... "
"It's okay," Tyrol said gruffly. "Thanks for the sympathy but I don't want to talk about it."
"Of course, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ... "
"Forget it and get back to work. Come back if you have a work-related problem."
The new recruit nodded and backed away, turning and fairly running to the other end of the bay.
Tyrol shook his head and sighed. He was going to have to figure out how to deal with his feelings fast - Cally's memorial service was later on that day and he was going to have to make nice to all the well-wishers. Not to mention figuring out a story to tell them about why she'd killed herself. "I'm a Cylon and she couldn't deal with that," wasn't going to go over well.
* * * * * * * * * *
"It's cancer," Eve said as she brought the results of the test over to Roslin, knowing the blunt words were what the other woman needed to hear." I'm so sorry it's come back. You've done so well for so long."
Laura pressed her lips together and nodded, tacitly thanking the woman for both being honest and for her sympathy.
"As far as the options go ... "
"There's no more chamalla, is there?" Laura choked out.
Eve shook her head.
Laura managed a weak smile. "Cottle told me we were almost out when I was fighting it before."
"We can operate and remove the tumour."
Laura met the other woman's eyes. "But it's already metastasized and is likely spreading elsewhere."
Eve nodded sadly. "Surgery will help, and there's chemotherapy. We have enough of the drug to last a few months."
"It will only prolong my life, not save it."
"Yes, but maybe we'll find a new home by then and you can at least see the journey through to the end."
Laura thought for a moment before answering. "I'll think about it and let you know."
"Surely you aren't considering not treating it?" Eve was aghast.
"I consider all options to every situation," Laura replied coldly. "I have family with which to discuss this. I will let you know what I decide tomorrow."
Eve nodded as Laura slipped off the med bed and walked slowly away, head and shoulders held high.
* * * * * * * * * *
Lee began to run as he heard his name over the ship's intercom. His heart quickened even before his body began to feel the effects of the faster pace. A familiar face appeared at the end of the corridor and he swore under his breath. Not now.
"Lee, can we talk about ... " Kathryn began as he approached her, batting well made-up eyelashes at him.
"Not now," he said shortly, not stopping as he passed her.
"But ... "
"I was just paged, didn't you hear it? I have somewhere to be right now."
"Maybe later then?"
Lee looked over his shoulder for a second. "Maybe," he said dubiously, then added to himself, "but I doubt it."
He pushed open the hatch to the war room and entered quickly, staring stupidly at the peaceful scene in front of him.
"What's the matter Apollo?" Sharon asked, not even trying to hide the amusement in her voice. "You training for a marathon or just sprinting for fun? Either way you'd be better off wearing workout clothes."
"Very funny," he retorted, catching his breath and walking over to Kara.
She smiled. "You do look a little hot and bothered."
His already flushed cheeks grew hotter. "I thought something was wrong. People don't usually page others unless it's an emergency."
"Sorry. I guess I could have gone looking for you but that would have taken longer. It's a big ship you know."
"Tell me about it." He arched an eyebrow at her. "I just ran the length of it."
She smiled again.
"So what do you want me for?"
Kara highlighted the conversation but trailed off as she got to the arrow of Apollo part. That sounded a lot more plausible in my head, she thought, beginning to flush.
"So why do you need me? I don't know anything about this sector of space."
"I don't know. I guess I just thought ... the Arrow of Apollo, the arrow of Sagittarius ... they might be related somehow."
"Sagittarius? Isn't that one of the constellations in this area? Remember we saw it on Kobol." He turned to face her. "The Earth constellations are what our colonies were named after. Sagittarius, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Gemini, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Capricorn."
It was Sharon's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Wow. The two of you are just a fount of historical knowledge."
Lee and Kara both shrugged. "Maybe so," Lee said, "but what do we do with it? Knowledge is useless if it doesn't have a purpose."
Kara frowned. "I'm sure it does, but how?"
The room was silent.
"Do you remember anything more from the Scrolls?" Sharon said, turning to Kara. "Maybe something else in the obscure stuff can help us."
Kara's eyebrows drew together as she thought. "Well there's the part about the twins. Scholars don't think that is accurate though because twins are awfully rare genetically."
"You don't suppose twins means Cylons?" Lee asked.
"There are many copies of each of us. I doubt if twins would be the word used. More like multiples," Sharon said.
"Maybe it has some sort of stellar meaning," Kara suggested.
"You mean like a double star system," Lee asked.
Sharon was already searching. "Here!" she said triumphantly. "Here's a planet with a double star."
"Trace the path from the arrow in Sagittarius."
Sharon did so and Kara backed away, face paling. "Oh m Gods," she whispered.
"What is it?"
"That shape." She traced her finger along the red line Sharon had made, from Earth through Lacrymosa, Sagittarius, the twin star system to New Earth. "That swirl ... I've been seeing it and drawing it all my life."
* * * * * * * * * *
Helo tapped at the door of the quarters Kathryn shared with several other people. She answered swiftly.
"Major, how nice to see you."
He smiled tightly. "Can I see you for a moment please?"
"Of course. Come in."
"Are you alone?"
"No, why?"
"Perhaps you should come with me. I'd like to talk to you in private."
She came out and shut the hatch behind her. "What's going on?"
They began to walk. "I know you've been here for several years and we here on Galactica have appreciated your services, but there's a need elsewhere for your skills."
She stopped and faced him. "What are you saying?"
He unfolded some papers that had been hidden in his hand. "Transfer orders. We'd like you to go to the Libran Sun for a term there."
Lines began to form on her face. "Why?"
"Surely you know Galactica isn't the only ship in the fleet with children on it. There's a need for childcare elsewhere as our population grows."
"Why me? This is my home. I don't want to move."
Helo sighed. She was obviously angry. Oh well, he hadn't really expected her to take it lying down. "Because you're good at what you do. We need someone to take the lead over there and train others to do your job."
"So because I'm good I get promoted and have to move."
"Welcome to military life," Helo said with a rueful smile. "Most of us have been through that several times in our careers. At least now the fleet is in close proximity so you can come back and visit now and then."
"Hmm." Kathryn still didn't look amused but she opened up the papers and read through them. "How long do I have?"
"Order is effective immediately. Sorry."
"Are you really?" Her eyes flashed darkly.
Helo straightened up and thrust his chin forward. "I just do what I have to. It's nothing personal. Dismissed."
He turned and began to walk away, but her parting words, half whispered, reached his ears.
"Nothing personal my ass."
He pressed his lips together to stop himself from responding and forced himself to keep walking.
* * * * * * * * * *
Adama caught the quick flash of Laura's red hair and grey eyes before it disappeared beyond the door of CIC. "I'll be in my quarters for a short while. Keep me apprised of the situation should it change."
Gaeta nodded swiftly. "Yes sir."
As fast as he walked, she'd made it to their quarters faster. She stood by his desk, the blanket normally hanging on the back of the couch slung over her shoulders.
"Laura."
She turned slowly, almost as if in slow motion, to face him. Her eyes were red and her face swollen with tears as yet unshed. "It's cancer."
Adama's shoulders slumped. "Frak."
Laura drew herself up tall and proud. "It's been a good life. A full life. A life full of surprises."
"You're not just giving up," Adama growled, walking over and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Come on Laura, fight it. You beat it once, you can do it again."
"I'm not sure I want to." Her voice wavered.
"Why in the Gods' name not? You have everything to live for." He touched her hair with a gentle hand, pushing it back to expose her ear.
"That's the point. I fought it before and thought I had it beat. How many times am I going to have to fight before I give in and admit defeat?"
"That answer had better be more than one because I'm not letting you go. You can't give up Laura. I won't let you." His voice wavered as well. "I love you and I can't live without you." He kissed her on the lips gently.
"Well someday you're going to have to," she whispered.
"Then we'll commandeer a Raptor and just fly out into nowhere and die together."
She blinked rapidly. "You'd do that for me?"
He leaned forward so their foreheads were touching. "I'd do it right now but I want a chance to get to know my grandchildren better and maybe even watch them grow up a little. Will you stay and do that with me?"
The tears spilled out of her eyes as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard. "Yes," she whispered in his ear. "I love you Bill."
~ TBC ~
