Chapter 57

Appointment with the Admiral

One of the most closely guarded secrets to come from the study of two captured Cylon Raiders was the discovery by scientists and engineers that the Raiders were part inorganic and part organic. These same scientists were still working to discover exactly how the Cylons had achieved the successful integration of the biological with the mechanical when the Colonies went to war with the Cylons once again.

-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War

.

Kara finished the last chapter of her book Sunday evening just past eight o'clock. Sharon was not in the room when Lee had brought Kara back to the Academy late that afternoon, and she still had not returned. Kara needed a break before she read her history assignment and decided to go take a shower. Sharon was sitting at her desk when Kara got back to the room.

"I was starting to wonder about you," Kara said.

"I was at the library with Karl. He held my hand on the way back here to the dorm. We had on our gloves, but still…" Sharon smiled.

"So you hadn't done that before?" Kara asked, remembering what Karl had told her about no touching.

Sharon shook her head. "Not since I told him."

"You're doing the right thing letting him make all the moves. He's working through it. Maybe everything will still work out for you and him."

"I hope so," Sharon said.

"What did you do this weekend?"

"I studied."

Kara asked. "Do you ever remember being anywhere but on the basestar?"

Sharon shook her head again and then said. "After Boomer downloaded, she was brought to the basestar from the resurrection ship. Cavil made her share her memories with me. Then I was brought here on a Heavy Raider… not here, but to Myonia."

"Why do you have a separate place where you download? Why not do it on the basestar?"

"Some basestars have download facilities on board. The one over Caprica doesn't. We use the one out near the ice planet."

Kara walked to her closet, hung up her short robe and pulled on a pair of sweats. She didn't say anything.

When she turned around, Sharon was looking at her with pleading eyes. "You've got to believe me. Boomer downloaded on the hub past your ice planet and was brought to the baseship...or basestar as you call it."

"Are the rest of your basestars in this solar system?"

Sharon looked surprised. "Where else would they be? They watch your battlestars. Why are you asking me all these questions? Did Karl put you up to it?"

"No. I'm curious. What are you going to do when you finish the Academy and Flight School?"

"Get posted to a battlestar with Karl and you. Is that a trick question?"

"You don't see a conflict of interest with that?"

"No."

"Either I'm missing something or you are. Are you telling me that if…something were ever to happen and you had to make a choice…it would be us? You'd choose us instead of the Cylons?"

"Why do you think I would make another choice?"

"You can't blame me if the thought has crossed my mind. You're one of them. You say you love Karl, but in the end would that be enough?"

"When I was on the baseship, when Cavil made Boomer put her hand in the datastream so I could access her memories, I saw something…something she had seen. It didn't bother her, but it bothers me a lot."

"What did she see?"

"I don't know if I should tell you."

"Come on, Sharon. Tell me."

"Cavil had a centurion kill one of us because he disagreed with what we were doing. I can't go back. If Cavil ever makes me put my hand in there and accesses my memories, he'll know that I know. He'll know how I feel about it. He'll kill me and erase my memories, too. I don't want to forget about Karl...or being friends with you."

"You'd just download."

"Don't you understand? Cavil would never let me come back here. Even if he didn't erase my memories, I'd never see Karl again. I'd never get to feel like anybody loved me or cared about me again. Cavil might even box me."

"Box you? What does that mean?"

"Basically it means deactivate me…my copy."

"What about Boomer? Wouldn't he kill her…or box her, too, if he knew?"

"Boomer is different. She was okay with what he did. She thinks Cavil is always right. We're the same model, but we're different copies."

"I don't understand."

"We're more like…sisters instead of identical twins. We're different. I don't know any other way to say it."

"Didn't you come from the same original model?"

"Yes, but that was years ago. A lot of copies of every model were made. Each copy had different tasks to do and had different experiences. When we download we always get the basics of our model and then the experiences of our copy. I wouldn't have known about Boomer unless Cavil had made her share her experiences with me so I could come down here and take her place."

"You're here for a reason, then, just like I thought, otherwise Cadet Sharon Valerii would have drowned and that would have been it. Cavil sent you back for a reason."

Sharon said. "I'm not going to do what he wants me to do."

"It has something to do with getting you on a battlestar, doesn't it?"

"I told you I'm not going to do it."

"Do what? Prove it to me, Sharon. Prove you want to stay with Karl and not go back to the others. What are you supposed to do?"

"Cavil doesn't trust anyone. Even though he has a Doral copy on every battlestar, he still wants someone on the inside. He thinks Doral only sees and hears what the commanders of the battlestars want him to see and hear. Cavil wants someone who went through the Academy and who the other pilots see as one of their own. He wants to know…the true mind of the fleet. That's how he put it to me. That's what I'm supposed to find out."

"A spy? Cavil wants you to be his spy?"

Sharon nodded. "I told you. He doesn't trust anyone. Ever since he deleted his sleep routines, he's had a lot of time to…come up with a lot of paranoid ideas."

"So what are you going to do? He'll be expecting some kind of reports from you."

"I'll lie to him."

"How are you supposed to communicate with him?"

"He hasn't told me that, yet. I'm sure before the time comes, he'll let me know. Are you going to tell Karl about this?"

"You've got to tell him," Kara said.

"I will. I just need some more time."

"Do I have your word on that?"

"You have my word, Kara."

An hour after lights out, Kara was still awake thinking about the things Sharon had told her. Sharon had confirmed Leoben's memory of being executed on Cavil's order. If Leoben was telling the truth about that, maybe he was telling the truth about believing what the Cylons did was wrong. At least his copy of the Leoben model thought it was wrong. Maybe he was destined to help them like she believed he was. Maybe her father was wrong about him.

Kara knew she was going to have to go see her father the next day and tell him everything Sharon had said. She was going to have to tell him about Cavil's plan for Sharon. She knew he would go to Admiral Adama with the news about the ships, but she was going to have to ask her father to trust her one more time about Sharon.

...

She waited for her father outside the cafeteria after lunch the next day. They didn't have time to talk then, but he told her to come by his office that afternoon at 17:00. She was waiting, pacing the hall outside his door when he emerged from the stairwell at 17:05.

He unlocked his office. "What's up, baby?" He took a stack of folders from the spare chair. "Overlook the mess. Between Bill's project and keeping the sims up to date, my housekeeping has suffered."

John sat behind his desk. Kara shut the door before she sat down and quickly went through everything Sharon had told her.

"Damn," John said.

"Admiral Adama is going to love that, isn't he?"

"Okay, let's take it from the top one more time. I want to make sure I get everything right. I'll go by to see Bill tonight. Something like this doesn't get relayed over a phone."

After she had gone over everything once again, she said, "You can't tell him about Sharon. You can't."

"Kara, he's going to know you didn't just pull this from the air. Bill is a smart man. He's going to know this had to come from one of your Cylons and that Cylon has to be someone who is close to you."

"Please. Sharon confirmed what Leoben said about Cavil. She told me a lot more than she had to. She loves Karl. She wants to stay with him. I've thought about it. If Admiral Adama will make sure we're all on the Galactica, then he can use Sharon to feed false information to Cavil."

"So you're suggesting we make a double agent out of your roommate?"

"If you want to put it that way. She's willing. She's already said she would lie to Cavil."

"I won't tell Bill who she is yet...but at some point I'll have to."

"I know."

"Come on, I'll walk with you back to the dorm." Kara waited while he put some of the folders in his briefcase and snapped it shut. He stood and put on his heavy coat.

As they neared the steps to her dorm Kara saw Lee waiting for them.

Lee smiled. "Hi, I was just on my way in to see you."

"I had to go see my dad about something," Kara said.

"I'm heading back into town," John said. "Can I give you a ride…assuming you're ready to go?"

"Go ahead," Kara said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Lee took her hand and squeezed it.

John teased them. "Do you want me to turn my back while you kiss?"

Kara grinned. "No. You can watch." She leaned over and kissed Lee lightly on the lips before she turned and walked up the steps.

John and Lee started walking toward the faculty parking lot.

"Would you do me a favor and call your dad and see if I can go over to his place tonight? It's important. You're welcome to come, too."

Lee took out his mobile phone. When he finished talking to his father, he said to John, "He said he'll come by your place when he leaves work in about an hour and a half."

"Good. Come have dinner with us."

"You're sure it's all right."

"Lee, you know you're always welcome."

When they got to the apartment, John unlocked the door. "Take off your coat. Hang it in the closet. Have a drink if you'd like. I'll be right back. The first thing I always do when I get home is kiss my wife and see our son."

Lee opened the liquor cabinet. To have a drink or not? He poured a small glass of ambrosia. He'd be taking a transport home tonight anyway. He wondered what John could have to tell Bill that was so important it warranted a Monday night meeting.

John walked into the den with Braedon. "Come on in the kitchen. Jennet has left dinner for us. Laura's putting it on the table."

"Do you want a drink?" Lee asked.

"I'd like one, but I always wait until after Braedon is down for the night. I don't want him to grow up thinking his father smells like liquor."

They walked into the kitchen. Lee glanced at Laura as she was putting their plates of food on the table. She looked tired. She also looked like she had lost weight. He was reminded of the way she had looked the first time he'd ever seen her during the time she was working so hard for the refugees, the night he'd realized his father was still in love with her.

"How is the campaign coming?" Lee asked her.

"Very well, so far. Billy has turned out to be quite a gifted speech writer."

"I saw that you're ahead in the polls," Lee said.

"By a slim margin. That could evaporate tomorrow."

"Bill's stopping by in an hour or so," John said. "Kara talked to Sharon last night. She got some disturbing information."

"More disturbing news?" Laura said. "Something more about the mysterious fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector?"

"No. Something a little closer to home."

"Are you going to make us wait until Bill gets here?" Laura asked.

"No."

Lee listened with a sinking feeling as John relayed Kara's news.

"Oh, dear gods," Laura said and sat down.

Lee began to eat, mindlessly, trying to imagine how John's news would change his father's plan.

"Seconds?" Laura asked. Lee noticed that she had barely touched her food.

"A little of everything," Lee said. "Your housekeeper is a good cook."

"Not that you'd know it to look at Laura," John said.

Laura put the plate with his second helpings on it in front of Lee and took Braedon from John. "I'm going to start getting his bath ready," she said before she walked out of the kitchen.

"She quits eating when she's under stress," John said. "I told her the other night I could see her ribs. I don't know what to do. Between her job and the campaign, she's working seven days a week. She won't listen to me about slowing down, much less eating right."

John got up and took their plates over to the sink where he rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher. He covered Laura's plate with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.

"I'm going to go help her with Braedon's bath. If your father gets here, let him in."

Lee returned to the den and sat down. Irina Hoshi's journals lay on the table. He picked one of them up and opened it. He realized from the way the first page started that it was the second journal.

Today the carbon dating results came back on the bones found in the most ancient tombs. Between two and three thousand years old. The newest tombs contained bones a thousand to fifteen hundred years old. Nothing has been found any newer so far, but Joshua said little has been searched outside the main city. Tonight I am sure we will all gather in Dr. Singh's tent for more discussion and theories. I'm sure we could spend years studying this planet and still not find all the answers. The biggest mystery remains. What happened to the humans who once lived here?

So humans had lived on Nereid for at least two thousand years. They had built at least one large city with a spaceport and then between a thousand and fifteen hundred years ago had vanished from the planet if the carbon dating of the bones was accurate. Of course Irina Hoshi was right. They had not searched the whole planet. Newer bones might be found somewhere else on its surface…or they might not be. He thought about the benefit of studying Nereid. Would they ever get the opportunity? What if Nereid had become the Cylon's homeworld, the world from which they had launched their attack on the Colonies?

The doorbell rang. Lee got up and let his father in. Bill looked surprised.

"John gave me a ride from the Academy. I've been taking the subway out there to avoid the traffic."

Bill followed him into the den and went straight to the liquor cabinet. "I'm sure John won't mind. What's so important that it couldn't wait?"

"I'd rather John told you," Lee said. "He's helping Laura give Braedon his bath."

Bill grunted.

"Did you ever do that, Dad, help Mom give me or Zak a bath?"

Bill walked over to the terrace door and looked out at the night. "Not when you were that young. When you were older, she would put you and Zak in the tub together. You loved the water. Zak, not so much."

"He didn't like getting his face wet. Sometimes when Mom was…busy, I'd make Zak get in the tub before he went to bed. He would wash everything but his face. If I tried to wash it, he would howl like I was killing him."

Bill didn't turn around. "How old were you then?"

"Seven or eight, I think Zak was five or six."

Bill shook his head and continued looking out the terrace door. "I didn't know, son. I didn't know how bad it was. I didn't know how much she was drinking."

Lee felt a wave of anger sweep him. "Yes, you did. Your own mother told you. I still remember that fight you had with Mom after my tenth birthday. Do you know how long Zak cried that night because he thought you'd hurt her? Do you know how long he cried after you and her went to your bedroom?"

"That's enough, Lee," his father said. "You don't need to point out my failings as a father. I'm well aware of them."

Lee stood up and went to the liquor cabinet and started to pour a drink. Then he realized that he was acting just like his father. He put the bottle of ambrosia back on the shelf and stood with his back to the room. He clenched his fists and then relaxed them. What had he expected? An apology? It wasn't in Bill Adama's nature to apologize. Admitting that he had failings was more than Lee had ever expected to hear.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw John walk into the room. He had changed out of his duty blues and was wearing khakis and a long-sleeve white shirt. Lee had come to think of the khakis and white shirt as John's other uniform.

"Bill," John said.

The admiral finally turned away from the terrace door.

"You don't have good news, do you?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Are you ready for that drink, John?" Lee asked.

"Make it a whiskey."

They all sat down.

"Kara talked to one of her Cylons," John said. "The basestar in orbit over Caprica City is not the resurrection hub. There's a separate resurrection ship outside of our long-range sensors…somewhere out beyond the ice planet."

Lee tried to gauge his father's reaction. Bill's face registered almost no emotion. He finally took a sip of his drink. "That's not good news."

"No," John said.

"We need to bring this Cylon in and wring everything we can from it."

"That won't work," Lee said quickly.

"I agree with Lee," John said. "Anything we would get from the Cylon under duress would be a lot less reliable than what Kara is getting."

"Am I to understand that this Cylon is at the Academy?" Bill asked incredulously.

Lee and John looked at each other. "Yes," John finally said. "I promised Kara I would do everything I could to protect their relationship for now. Kara said the Cylon has agreed to function as a double agent and feed Cavil whatever information we want him to know."

"Give me a name."

"When the time is right."

Bill took a deep breath. "I'm about ready to agree with Saul. You should all be in the damned brig. Withholding information on the identity of the enemy is treason."

"John didn't have to tell you where he got his information," Lee said angrily.

"Yes, I did," John said. "If Bill thinks I'm a traitor, then he'll have to do whatever he thinks is best."

Lee could tell that his father was struggling with his anger. They sat in silence until Laura walked in.

"Hello, Bill," she said. Lee heard the warmth in her voice.

"Laura," Bill said. His voice changed, too.

She walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured a small glass of ambrosia before she sat on the couch beside John.

"What a happy group. I gather you've heard the unwelcome news."

"I've heard it," Bill said. "Now I've got to take it into consideration and alter the plan again."

"I've been thinking about Kara's idea," John said.

"Which one?" Lee asked.

"The crazy, outside-of-the-box one about the Raider."

"The one you told her to forget," Lee said. "The one you told her my dad would say absolutely no way to?"

"That one. It's so crazy it just might work."

That got the admiral's attention.

"I'm listening," Bill said.

"The second Raider," John said, "actually the first one Lee shot down, the one that's brain dead. Is there anything wrong with its mechanical parts, the parts that make it fly?"

Bill said, "I don't think so. There was some structural hull damage when it hit the water, but that appears to have…healed."

"Healed?" Lee said. "What do you mean healed?"

Bill said, "The Raider is part organic. That's how my chief engineer put it. He's also got a PhD in astrophysics. He said the small hull cracks appeared to have healed."

"Does the FTL drive still work?" John asked.

"As far as I know, but we don't know anything about their FTL technology. What's this all about?"

John said, "I was hung up on thinking that we had to understand how the FTL drive works, but Kara is right. We don't need to understand how it works to use it. All we need to know are the right coordinates to get to the fourth planet in the Prolmar Sector. I found those in Irina Hoshi's journal."

"We named the planet Nereid," Lee said. "Kara and I got tired of calling it the fourth planet."

"Nereid it is, then," John said.

"I'm still missing something," Bill said. "What good do the coordinates do us even if the FTL drive works? The Raider has no brain to control it."

"We put a human pilot in it," John said. "You said the mechanical parts still work. Why couldn't a human pilot fly that ship?"

For the first time that evening there was a spark in Bill's eyes. "If that were possible, what do you have in mind?"

"We load the Raider with cameras and measuring devices, regular, infrared, terahertz, anything and everything we think might help us gather information about the fourth…about Nereid, and we jump the Raider to it. If there are Cylons there, the Raider should still have a couple of minutes, maybe longer, before it has to jump away again."

"That's taking a big chance," Bill said. "If they realize it came from outside their solar system and know it's not one of their own, we might be asking for trouble before we're ready to take them on."

John said, "We'd have to wait until it's nearly time to implement the plan. We'd have to wait until we could go ahead if we had to. In the meantime we keep preparing for battle and assume that Caprica won't be the end of it. I'm betting their base of operations is in the Prolmar Sector. If we could get some recon on Nereid, at least we'd know what we're facing and how fast we'd have to move after we defeat them here."

Laura finally spoke up. "John, you keep saying we. You've done that before. Am I missing something?"

Bill looked at Laura. "Don't worry. John's part in this plan does not involve him leaving Caprica. Your son will not grow up without a father."

"How do you propose jumping that Raider without the Cylons detecting it?" Lee asked. "An FTL jump has a distinctive signature on dradis. They'd pick it up the second it happened."

"I'm still working on that," John said. "Before I spend a lot more time on it, Bill will need to say he'll consider it."

"I'll definitely consider it," Bill said. "We'd given up on being able to do anything with that Raider anyway. I'll talk to Dr. Rafferty tomorrow. I'm overdue for a visit out there anyway."

"One thing we'll need," John said, "is somebody really good to take a look at the coordinates from the Hoshi journal and determine if we should use them or if we should use slightly different ones. I think the coordinates in the journal are very close to the planet. We might want to jump into the Prolmar Sector farther out. The last thing we'd want to do is jump into the middle of a group of basestars. I don't care if it is a Raider. That might generate a little too much interest."

"There's a lieutenant on the Galactica, Felix Gaeta. He's the Tactical Officer. Saul has mentioned him several times. He's very good with computers and he understands jump technology. Dr. Rafferty has a young assistant who is equally as gifted when it comes to computers. I'll pose the problem to him, too."

"Felix graduated in my class from the Academy," Lee said. "He was always at the top of our physics class."

Bill said, "I'll contact Saul and arrange for us to talk to Mr. Gaeta the next time he gets shore leave. In the meantime I'll talk to Dr. Rafferty about what would be involved in fixing up that Raider so a human could pilot it."

"I'd like to be considered for that mission, Dad," Lee said.

"I'll take that into consideration," Bill said.

"I'd like to take a look at the Raider," John said. "I'd like for all of us to look at it…including Kara. It was her idea."

"I'll think about it. In return I'd like to talk to your daughter."

"About?" John asked.

"Her Cylon friends."

"She's not going to tell you anything," Lee said.

"Stay out of this, son," his father said.

"Just the two of you?" John asked.

"Just the two of us."

Laura said, "Bill, she's not yet eighteen. Will you guarantee John and me that you won't pull rank on her, that you won't order her to tell you, or threaten her…or her father…if she doesn't tell you what you want to know? Will you promise not to bully her? Because if you won't, the answer is no, you don't have our permission to talk to her."

For just a moment the ghost of a smile played over Bill's face.

"She's a cadet at Caprica's Military Academy. I don't need your permission."

Laura smiled sweetly, but her voice took on the steel edge. "It would be in everyone's best interest, not just Kara's, if we agreed on this."

Suddenly John laughed. "Bill, a wise man would not get on the bad side of the next President of the Colonies. After this little skirmish with the Cylons is over, you're going to want to start building new battlestars. Guess who you're going to have to go to for the funding?"

"Agreed," Bill finally smiled. "No orders, no threats. I just want to talk to Kara and see if I can reason with her. Now, it's been a long day. I've got a lot to think about. Thank you for the drink. I'll see myself out."

After he was gone, Lee said, "I don't like it."

John said, "As long as there are no orders or threats involved, Kara can hold her own against him. The gods know she's gotten enough practice with me."

Lee stood. "I'm heading home, too. Are you going to warn Kara or should I?"

"She's got Basic Flight with Colonel Burgher tomorrow after lunch. I'll see her before I go downstairs to the sim room. I'll let her know to expect a call."

After Lee was gone, Laura put her head on John's shoulder. "I should have known it wouldn't be as simple as we had thought. I should have known the Cylons would have something up their sleeves."

"Forget about the Cylons for a little while. Will you not eat some more of your dinner?"

"I'm not hungry."

"What if I make you a cup of chamomile tea and some toast? Will you at least eat some toast?"

"Yes, for you I'll eat some toast."

John got up, and she put her head back against the couch. She didn't think she could have dozed, but it seemed like only seconds had passed until he was back. He handed her a cup of tea and sat down beside her. He had a small plate with two pieces of toast and some slices of a pear.

She took a sip of the tea. "We're invited to a birthday party next weekend."

"Let me guess, the President's."

Laura forked a slice of pear. "It's been a year since our first real date."

"Do you ever wish you had asked Chuck Winters to that birthday party instead of me?" John asked teasingly.

"No. I wouldn't change anything…not one thing…not falling in love with you…not having Kara as part of my life…certainly not Braedon."

"I guess the party means I'd better take my tuxedo to the cleaners."

"Unless you want to wear your dress grays."

John smiled. "I like the idea of wearing my dress grays."

Laura finished her tea, a feeling of calm already stealing over her. "That's who you've always been anyway, isn't it? A Viper pilot."

"You know I can't fly a Viper anymore."

"But in your heart, that's who you are."

"You're right."

"Are you coming to bed?"

"You go ahead. I'm still not through reading the first journal. I'm going to read for an hour. A lot is riding on this, especially in light of what Kara just found out. Everything we can learn about Nereid will help us."

She reached across him and put the empty plate and her empty cup of tea on the table. She stretched out on the couch and put her head on the top of his leg.

"Wake me when you're through reading. We'll go to bed together."

He pulled the afghan off the back of the couch and covered her. After he took the journal off the table, she felt his hand gently stroking her hair.

No, she wouldn't change anything about her life right now. Not a thing.

...

"Hi, Karl," Kara said when she got to Colonial History on Tuesday morning.

"Kara," he said. She noticed that he barely glanced at her. "How was your weekend?"

"Great. How was yours?"

He shrugged.

"What did you do besides go with Sharon to the library Sunday?"

"You know what I did Friday night. I was at Lee's birthday party."

"And Saturday?"

Karl finally looked at her. "We need to talk."

"I knew it," Kara said. "Somebody made a move on you, didn't she?"

"This afternoon. The student union. Okay?"

"Our usual time."

Kara got there first. She was already seated at a table when Karl came in. He got a drink from the machine before he came over and sat down.

Karl pulled the tab on the can without looking at her. "I've frakked up."

"Damn it, Karl. Please don't tell me you slept with Maggie this weekend."

"I went back to the apartment on Saturday, okay? I just needed to get away from here. I needed somewhere to go where I could think. Jared was spending the weekend with his girlfriend. Maggie wasn't supposed to be there, but she and Zak had a fight Saturday night…or that's what she said. It was too late for her to go back to the Academy. I was drinking a beer, minding my own business, watching an old movie when she came in."

"I knew that thing about you two just being friends was a total crock," Kara said in disgust.

"I got her a beer. We started talking and the next thing I know she's crying and telling me how Zak cheats on her all the time."

"And she's just now mentioning that it bothers her? At the winter dance she told me she knew Zak dated other girls and she didn't care. She said all she wanted was to be a Raptor pilot."

"She does want to be a Raptor pilot," Karl said defensively.

Kara almost sneered. "Apparently that's not all she wants."

"Go ahead. Rub it in! I already said I frakked up."

"How did you leave things with Maggs?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. "After we…did it…I went back out to the living room and slept on the couch."

"I'm sure that sent her a clear message."

"Sharon and I aren't even dating, and I feel like I've cheated on her."

"Maybe that's because you did."

"How can you cheat on somebody you're not even dating?"

"Because you love Sharon and she loves you. And you are dating. I don't care what you call it."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"No, of course not."

"I don't want to hurt Maggie. I don't love her any more, but I still care about her."

"Duh, Karl. I guess so. You frakked her."

"Look, you just don't understand what it's like for a guy. And Maggie is hot. You might not think so to look at her, but…"

"Too much info," Kara said and then added sarcastically, "I've never seen a guy deny himself an opportunity when he knows it's the best thing for both of you."

"Go ahead. I've got it coming. Make me feel worse than I already do."

"There's probably no way you can avoid hurting Maggie. You two need to have a serious talk. You need to be up front with her and tell her the truth. Don't string her along and let her keep her hopes up. She'll wind up hating you."

"She probably hates me anyway after Saturday night."

"Is that why you held Sharon's hand on the way back from the library last night…because you felt guilty?"

"Damn, she tells you everything, doesn't she?"

Kara grinned. Karl had no idea of how much Sharon had told her.

She thought of the note in her jacket pocket, the note that the lieutenant at the desk had handed to her on her way out of the dorm, the note that told her to report to Colonel Winters' office at 14:00 the next afternoon. The note didn't tell her the reason for being called to Winters' office, but her father had stopped her in the hall on the way to Basic Flight class and told her that Admiral Adama wanted to talk to her. He had told her to expect a summons in the next few days. He'd also told her that Laura had extracted a promise from Bill not to give Kara an order or to threaten her. She knew her father was trying to ease her apprehension about the meeting, but she was still worried. Meeting with the Admiral one on one to talk about the Cylons was not something she was looking forward to.

Now Kara almost told Karl what was going on and then decided to wait. She couldn't tell him without mentioning Sharon and she had told Sharon she would give her the chance to tell Karl first.

"What are you going to do about Sharon?" Kara finally asked.

"I want to start seeing her again, really dating her. When I'm with her now I can almost forget what she is."

"She's not the same as the other one."

"I know. I know what she is, and she looks at me and sometimes I swear to the gods I can see something in her eyes."

"Like love?"

Karl looked down. "I'm imagining it…right?"

"She wants to stay with you. She's willing to do a lot to stay with you. Someday she'll tell you how much. Trust me. Would your best friend steer you wrong?"

Karl finally smiled at her. "No, my best friend wouldn't steer me wrong. She'll give me a boatload of grief when I frak up, but she won't steer me wrong."

...

At 13:55 on Wednesday afternoon Kara walked stiffly into Colonel Winters' outer office and up to his aide at the desk.

"Cadet Kara Thrace reporting as ordered." She stood at attention and kept her eyes straight ahead as he picked up the phone.

A few seconds later he said, "The Colonel will see you now."

Kara walked into the office. Colonel Winters was behind his desk. Bill Adama was seated in a nearby chair. She stood stiffly at attention. "Cadet Kara Thrace, sir."

"At ease, Cadet Thrace. I believe you know Admiral Adama."

"Yes, sir."

"The Admiral would like a word with you. There's a conference room off the outer office, Bill. You're welcome to use it."

"Thank you, Chuck. Please follow me, Cadet Thrace."

Kara knew they had to follow the rigid rules of protocol and rank, but it still felt weird being addressed by Lee's dad as Cadet Thrace.

After they were inside the small conference room, he closed the door.

"Please sit, Kara. Let's dispense with formalities."

"Thank you, sir."

Bill chose a seat across the table. He didn't look anything like Lee, and yet for what seemed like forever, he studied her with eyes as blue as Lee's.

"You're very young to be at the Academy," he finally said.

"I'm just a year younger that most of the others, sir. That's not so much."

"You can drop the sir for now. Talk to me more like you talk to John."

Kara couldn't suppress a grin. "I'd probably be expelled if I did that."

Bill smiled. "Then talk to me like we were eating dinner at Channing's with Lee."

"I'll try."

Kara had the feeling that he was choosing his next words very carefully.

"It's been my experience that youth is a time of…high idealism. We believe strongly that a path we have chosen is the correct one. We're willing to defend it…no matter the cost. I'd like for you to think about the path you've chosen with these two Cylons…to keep their identities a secret. I'd like for you to explain to me why you've chosen that path because it looks to me like you're willing to put your personal feelings above the best interest of the Colonies."

Kara returned his level gaze. "I believe keeping their identities secret right now is in the best interest of the Colonies. I think they're both going to help us when the time comes. One of them is already helping us. The other one believes what the Cylons did when they attacked the Colonies was wrong. Cavil killed a copy of him on the basestar and wiped his memory before he sent him down to Caprica. Cavil was afraid he would start turning some of the others to his beliefs."

Bill absently tapped a finger on the table. "I wouldn't have thought a young woman who had lost her mother to them would feel the way you do."

Kara realized that he was trying to appeal to her to on an emotional level. She took a deep breath and swallowed the pain. In a way her conversation with Zak after Carolanne Adama's funeral had prepared her for the admiral's remark.

"My mother chose to stay behind. She could have come with us that night my dad took me and Karl off Picon. Instead she chose to stay and fight. She died at the hands of the Cylons, but that was her choice."

"You spent several years in a refugee camp because of the Cylons."

"No, sir. I spent those years in the refugee camp because of Tom Zarek."

A small smile curved the admiral's mouth. "You're well prepared. John obviously told you I was going to talk to you."

Kara looked straight ahead. "My answers would have been the same even if he hadn't."

"If it weren't for his love for you, John would have given me those names a long time ago."

"If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have known them, sir."

"He knows what they're capable of. He fought them before. Doesn't it bother you that he's committing an act that could be viewed as treason just to protect you?"

Kara finally felt her composure start to slip. She knew anger had crept into her voice. "I know what it feels like to fight them. My dad never told you I was in the resistance, did he?"

Bill Adama's expression didn't change, but his eyes revealed his surprise. "No, he didn't."

"I was the sniper on the hill that night above Dr. Baltar's lab. I killed two of them. I did it to save two lives…two human lives. And if I thought that giving up these two Cylons to you to interrogate and torture would save any more lives, I'd do it. But they're more valuable to us where they are. What I'm learning from them is the truth."

"Does my son know this?"

"Leave Lee out of it. And leave my dad out of it, too. If you've got to do something to somebody, do it to me. They're both protecting me."

"Kara," Bill said more gently than she'd heard him speak that day, "I'm not going to do anything to you or anybody else over this. I'm just trying to understand your loyalty to them."

"My destiny is tied to them and my destiny is to help rid Caprica of the Cylons."

"Not all of us believe in destiny," Bill said.

"They're going to help us. I know it. But if the time ever came that I had to make a choice between a human life or one of them, you don't need to think for one minute that I'd make the wrong choice."

"Just keep in mind that they're the enemy. They're Cylons. They came within a hair's breadth of destroying humanity."

Kara took a deep breath. "When I was in the refugee camp, sometimes the food wasn't that good, and we went without what most people take for granted."

"We did the best we could," Bill said. "Laura risked her career, probably even her life to keep the camps supplied."

"I know that. The point I'm trying to make is that there were some men who could get you almost anything you wanted…for a price."

"A black market."

"That's right. They dealt guns and cigarettes and food…and drugs…both kinds…legal and illegal. And sex. You could give them cubits or you could work out a trade."

The worst memories of the camp flooded her for a moment and she knew her eyes had hardened. For the first time since they had begun talking, she saw compassion in the admiral's eyes.

"I never dealt with them. I went without rather than go near them. But others I knew did. I could tell you stories that would make you sick. Lee interrogated a kid in Sovana who had dealt with these same people in the camp he was in. Get him to tell you about what sick motherfrakkers they are. I look at these two Cylons and they seem like priests compared to some of the humans I've seen."

Her chin came up and she looked defiantly at him.

Slowly he nodded. "There are too many who would exploit their fellow humans for the sake of cubits or power…for any number of wrong and vile reasons. I've asked myself many times if humanity is worth saving, if I've done the right thing, am doing the right thing with this plan of mine?"

"You've done the right thing. We're worth saving because of people like Laura and my dad and your son…and my little brother. He's going to help us find Earth one day."

Bill sat for a long time, his eyes remote, obviously deep in thought. Finally he smiled. "I like your idea about jumping the Raider to the…to Nereid."

"My dad told you about that? He said there was no way you'd allow it."

"There's a slim chance we can pull it off. I went by to talk to my chief engineer this morning. They're going to start working on a way for a human to fly that Raider. We'll have to wait until very close to the time for the attack, but I've given it a tentative approval."

"You mean next winter?"

Bill made a half nod.

"I'd like a shot at flying it. I'll have my wings by then."

"Lee's volunteered, too. We'll wait and see. Your dad has asked for the opportunity to go out and look at it. He wants you to come along."

Kara couldn't keep the excitement from her voice. "When?"

"I'll see if I can arrange it soon."

"Midterms are next week. I'll be off the whole week after that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Bill said as he stood. "I've taken enough of your time."

Kara also stood. "I hope…I really hope you can understand where I'm coming from, sir."

"I understand it better than I did this morning."

"If I had given you their names, what would you do to them?"

"We wouldn't kill them, Kara."

"But you would lock them up somewhere."

"Yes."

"My way is better," she finally said.

Bill grunted. "You're not even my daughter and you've convinced me…for now. Keep your father informed of everything you find out."

Kara finally smiled. "I always do. They're not all bad just because they're Cylons. And all humans aren't good just because they're humans."

Bill opened the door. "After you, Cadet Thrace."

"Thank you, sir. I look forward to seeing that Raider."

"I'll bet you do."

...

When she walked back into the lobby of her dorm that afternoon, the lieutenant called her over to the desk. She pointed to a vase with three red roses in it.

"For me?" Kara asked in surprise.

In her entire life she had never gotten flowers from a florist. She carried the roses up to her room and opened the card.

To my sea nymph, the hot blond in black leather who rode into my heart one year ago today. I love you. Lee

Maybe it was because she was still such a bundle of nerves from her talk with Bill Adama, but Kara felt tears sting her eyes. She sat down at her desk and touched one of the flowers. She smelled the soft rose scent. She looked at the card again and rubbed her finger across the words in his handwriting.

How had she ever gotten so lucky as to find her prince? Admiral Adama may not believe in destiny, but Kara knew that some things were simply meant to be.

She was in the lobby of the dorm when Lee walked through the door shortly after 17:00. Again she almost choked up.

"The roses are beautiful, but the card…you have such a way with words."

He smiled. "I was inspired."

"A year ago today about this time I was explaining to Jack Fisk what had happened to my eye, not that I told him everything, but I had to tell him something."

"I had just finished explaining to my CO what had really happened with you and Ackerman. He wasn't too happy, either. He's the one who told me to talk to you again."

Kara smiled. "And if he hadn't told you to, were you just going to forget it?"

"Not a chance," Lee said. "I'd have figured out a way to see you."

"I guess you would have hung around outside MediFirst and stalked me?"

"Probably. John told me that my dad was going to talk to you today. How did it go?"

"I think we understand each other better now. Or maybe he understands me better. He agreed that we leave things the way they are for now. I'll keep trying to get information from Sharon and Leoben and passing whatever I learn to my dad. We talked about the Raider, too."

"And?"

"I told him I'd like to fly it."

"I've already volunteered."

"It was my idea," she said.

"You haven't even gotten your wings yet."

"By the time the mission is ready to go, I'll have them."

"Who got that Raider in the first place? I've had a lot more time and experience in the air."

She grinned. "Yeah, but I'm a better pilot."

"Says you."

"I went through the first three sims without a mistake. I've done a couple more since then without making a single mistake."

"Sims aren't the real thing."

"True, but they're the closest thing to combat experience we're going to get. My dad says so. Do you do anything up there flying around on your training missions with your Raider escort that you could even remotely call combat training?"

"No," Lee finally admitted.

"Admiral Adama will make the final decision on who flies that Raider. He'll probably pick you."

"Don't count on it. My dad must have a real soft spot for you or he would have ordered you to give him the Cylons' names."

"Maybe he's just smart," Kara said smugly. "So, about this weekend. I can't leave until late Saturday afternoon. I have to qualify on the pistol range. I need to come back here Saturday night because I need to study all day Sunday. Midterms start Monday."

Lee smiled. "We might have to grab a bite at Zeno's and go back to my apartment."

"Like a year ago? It is an anniversary…of sorts."

"I can handle that." He looked at his watch. "I need to get over to the Math and Sciences Building. Your dad told me I could start riding back into the city with him. It gives us a chance to talk."

Kara put her arms around him and whispered. "Thank you for the roses. I love you."

With an eye on the lieutenant who was watching them, he kissed her quickly and gently. A year. They'd made it a year, a year that hadn't always been easy, a year when they'd both made mistakes, but they were still together. It felt good.

Lee walked across campus. John was standing outside the building waiting for him. They began walking toward the parking lot.

"How's Kara?" John asked.

"She's fine."

"Your dad stopped by to see me when he finished talking to her. It was nice of him to walk all the way over to the basement to let me know how it went. We didn't have but a couple of minutes to talk. I was between students. He seems resigned to the fact that Kara isn't going to give him any names yet."

"Kara believes in what she's doing. She believes she's right. She must have convinced my dad."

"Your dad's going to arrange for us to see that Raider week after next while Kara is out for midterm break. I told him to make it early in the week. We're flying down to my place on the island on Wednesday. Laura needs a break. We all need some down time. I haven't mentioned it to Kara yet because I want her to keep her mind on her studies, but you're welcome to go with us. Of course she'll be in the copilot's seat. I'm going to let her do most of the flying."

"We don't have War College that week. I'll put in for some vacation days."

"We're leaving early Wednesday morning and coming back on Sunday. It's a special anniversary for me and Laura. I'd explain it but you're good with math."

"You're sure you want company?"

"It's a two bedroom place with a nice big couch in the living room. We're going to keep Braedon in the room with us. But if Laura and I want to go walking on the beach at night, I'm sure you and Kara wouldn't mind watching him for an hour or two."

"I'm beginning to understand this arrangement a little better now."

John grinned. "I thought you might. A free trip in exchange for a little baby-sitting. Oh, and one other favor I'd like to ask. Find a good place to hide Laura's mobile phone. She can live for five days without talking to Billy or Tory or Scott Mickelson. They can live for five days without talking to her, too. They probably need a break as much as Laura does."

They reached John's car and got in.

"Today is an anniversary for me and Kara," Lee said. "It's the day I met her, the day she came out to the base last year and had an interview with Sergeant Ackerman."

"The interview that ended with Ackerman slamming her head into the table?"

"Ackerman is still in Sovana…wearing a bullet-proof vest to work every day. I don't think Major Parker plans to bring him back to Caprica City anytime soon."

"If Ackerman is smart, he'll ask Parker to leave him there." John grinned. "It's safer for him."

...

On Saturday afternoon Kara stood at the indoor firing range while the instructor from Taggert's explained the various kinds of Colonial side arms used by the military. He explained caliber and muzzle velocity and number of shots per clip. He talked about kill power. He talked about all of the things Kara's mother had taught her when she was twelve years old. Then he told them that none of it mattered a lot since they would only be issued rubber bullets.

They still needed to qualify, though. He would come back on a Saturday after midterm break, and they would all learn how to break down and clean the side arm they would most likely be issued based on their career of choice.

He had them put on their ear and eye protection and fire three shots at their targets.

Kara's target was again the last one that he reviewed.

He looked at the neat triangle in the chest area as he wrote her name, signed and dated the bottom of the target.

"You're just as good with a pistol as you are with a rifle."

She grinned. "That surprises you?"

"A mutual friend of ours sends his regards. He said to tell you he hoped you had worked everything out."

Kara remembered the last time she had seen Frogman…Paul. He had walked with her to Lee's apartment that terrible night she thought Lee had broken up with her.

"Things are fine now. Tell our mutual friend I said so. And tell him I hope he's doing all right. He's a good guy."

"I'll do that. Some of the, uh, members of our club still talk about a certain sniper who saved two of our own last year. You're well on your way to becoming a legend."

"Right."

"With luck, you'll get to…use your skills again."

"I hope so…only I'll be in a Viper next time."

"If you don't mind my asking, where did you get your knowledge of firearms?"

"My mother was a Marine. She taught me."

"I was in the corps myself a few years back."

Kara nodded. "I'll see you in a couple of weeks, then."

She got back to the dorm fifteen minutes before Lee was supposed to pick her up. Sharon had on a short skirt and sweater and her hair was down around her shoulders instead of in the ponytail she usually wore.

"Wow, look at you," Kara said.

"Karl and I are going to McGee's tonight. I was tired of wearing jeans."

"Where did you get the skirt?"

"I borrowed it."

"From who?"

Sharon smiled. "From whom."

"Who, whom…the name," Kara laughed.

"Don't freak."

"Why would I freak?"

"I borrowed it from Lieutenant Sydell."

Kara was almost to the door with her shower kit when she stopped. "You borrowed a skirt from Shelley Sydell? She's about five inches shorter than you are."

"The skirt is longer on her, but we're the same size."

"How did you and Sydell get to be such buddies?"

"I wouldn't say we're buddies, but she talks to me a lot more now than she used to. She knows Karl and I broke up and are trying to work things out. She suggested the skirt."

"That ought to get Karl's attention," Kara said.

Sharon smiled. "You think?"

"It'll probably get a lot of other guy's attention, too."

...

That night as she and Lee walked from the garage of his apartment building to Zeno's, Kara said, "Let's sit at the bar."

"Like we did a year ago. Okay." He took her hand. "A lot has happened since then."

"Did you have any idea last year that we would…go back to your place that night and…get to know each other better?"

Lee smiled at her. "I didn't even know if you would show up."

When they were seated at the bar, Kara said. "A sea nymph and a prince. I was really naïve. We've come a long way in a year."

Lee ordered beer. "We'll have to come back here next year to celebrate our second year together."

Kara smiled at him all the while wondering what the next year would bring. One of them would jump that Raider into the Prolmar Sector and help determine what lay ahead for them on Nereid. Both of them would fly Vipers against the Cylons. There were so many unknowns between now and then. He glanced at her. She knew he was thinking the same thing.

When the beer came, he touched his bottle to hers. "You're still my sea nymph."

She tried to put the future out of her mind. They had tonight. She thought of the roses.

"You'll always be my prince."