Chapter 62

Boxing Lesson

In the late spring of President Adar's last year in office, the military Academy on Caprica graduated a record four hundred thirty-three cadets, over ninety of whom were headed to further training as pilots. Admiral William Adama gave the commencement speech during which he spoke of responsibility and accountability for one's actions. While never directly mentioning the Cylons, he referred to 'the mistakes of our past' and 'our hubris that we could dare to assume a role that belonged to the gods'.

-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War

.

On Saturday morning Kara parked her motorcycle on the street outside Dreilide Thrace's apartment and removed her helmet. She pulled the elastic off her pony tail and smoothed her hair back before she refastened it. She had called him earlier. He was expecting her. She had barely knocked on the door before he opened it.

"Hi," she said.

"Look at you," he said. "You think you could spare a hug for me?"

They hugged lightly before she put her helmet on the couch, unzipped the leather jacket and threw it on the couch as well.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"Much better. I've cut back on the smokes. I can't give them up, but I did cut back. I finally went to the doctor and got some more antibiotics. I still cough, but not as much."

"That's good. Are you still composing?"

"As long as my Muse hangs around. You look like you lost weight."

She shrugged. "I spent a lot of time in the gym during the last four weekends since I couldn't leave the Academy. Sometimes I'd swim laps until the PE instructor on duty made me get out of the pool. I've started doing some martial arts. If it tired me out, I did it. "

"Your mother was a fighter."

"I know," Kara smiled. "She smacked you around from time to time."

"She never hit me that hard."

"Why didn't you hit her back?"

Dreilide didn't answer for a minute. Finally he said, "I don't believe there's ever a reason for a man to hit a woman." He held up his hands. "And I didn't want to damage these since they're my livelihood." He laughed. "But the main reason is because I was afraid she'd really kick my ass."

Kara laughed, too. "You remember the time I was in that school play and forgot my lines and Charlie Murphy laughed at me. I was seven years old. I punched him out up on the stage and broke his nose. Mom spanked me when we got home. She'd never done that before and it hurt like hell because I was wearing a dress. You stopped her and she punched you, too."

"I remember grabbing her arm. I also remember her punching me. That was the hardest she ever hit me. I think she was about as angry as I ever saw her."

"She never did it again, never spanked me again. That's when she started making me stay in my room when I was bad and not letting me go outside. It was like…like prison. I hated it. I wished she would have just spanked me and gotten it over."

"I talked to her that night after she calmed down. I told her that you had learned to hit people because you had seen her do it enough times to me. I thought she was going to hit me again, but I think I got through to her. Your mom was just a very…physical person. I always wondered if she hit your dad."

"I doubt it. I'm not sure he would have the same philosophy about not hitting back. He told me he used to settle a lot of things with his fists when he was younger."

"When Lee called me and told me what had happened out at the Academy, I thought of her. Now you say he was a fighter, too. I guess you got it honest."

"I got into a lot of fights after you left and we moved into base housing and I had to change schools. There was a pack of girls who didn't like me and I…got good at signing mom's name to the notes I had to bring home. Then I met Karl and he was like a big brother to me. When I hung around with him, those girls left me alone."

"Karl?"

"Karl Agathon. He's a year older than me. His mom and dad used to take me with them on camping and hiking trips. Karl's at the Academy with me now. He's going to be a Raptor pilot and an ECO."

"ECO?" Dreilide asked.

"Electronic countermeasures officer. Raptors aren't armed. Not normally anyway. Electronic countermeasures are defensive. The ECO also operates a lot of computer equipment on board the Raptor and helps with navigation and stuff. They have to be trained pilots as well."

"But you're going to be a Viper pilot. Go out there all by yourself."

Kara smiled. "Yep."

"How does your dad feel about that? I know he was one, but how does he feel about you following in his footsteps?"

"He'd still have me in a playpen with a pacifier in my mouth if he had his way."

"Kara, I don't think you're being fair to him. I feel that way myself."

"I guess I'm not being fair to either one of you. Dad's mostly been cool about it so far. He's taught me everything he can in the simulator. A week from now I get to try a special sim that no cadet has ever flown…I mean never successfully flown. Then the Monday after that we start final exams and the next Saturday I graduate from the Academy. It's early in the afternoon. I'd like for you to come."

"I think I can manage that."

"I'll send you an invitation. You know my dad will be there."

He smiled. "I assumed he would be."

"You're okay with that?"

"When you told me that your mom didn't move in with him after I left, it made a difference in how I feel about him. He didn't get such a good deal from her either. Maybe he and I have more in common than I thought."

"Laura thinks my mom didn't want him around me because he's good with kids. He loves my little brother. He takes care of him more than Laura does."

Dreilide shrugged. "Maybe your stepmother is right."

"Is Paulla still bringing you soup?"

"I finally had to pay for it."

"Ewww gross! I don't want to hear about that."

Dreilide laughed so hard that he started coughing and finally drank from the glass of whiskey on top of the piano.

When he stopped coughing, he said, "I went with Paulla to hear the Cylon woman preach one night when I wasn't playing at one of the nightclubs."

"Why?"

"It seemed harmless enough…and I owed Paulla for feeding me while I was sick. That's all she wanted in return."

"What did you think of the sermon?"

"The Cylon seems to be sincere in what she believes."

"How many people were there?"

"More than I thought there would be. Maybe seventy-five, a hundred."

"That's a hundred stupid people to get taken in by her. Did she pass the collection plate?"

"No, and she didn't mention cubits in her sermon like I've known some priests to do. There was a collection bowl at the door, but I didn't notice much in it. Some of the people there were homeless. I saw some college-age guys. Paulla and her friends were a big group. The rest, I don't know…just average looking people."

"What did the Cylon preach about?"

"How the one God has a purpose for each of us. About how God loves us. About the power of belief and how it can change your life for the better. That sort of thing."

Kara snickered. "I wonder what she would say if I told her that her one true God's purpose for me is to blow away as many of those motherfrakkers as I can."

"Are you sure that's the path for you?"

"One hundred percent."

"There was someone there to hear her preach who is well known in Caprica City. I was surprised…the scientist, Dr. Gaius Baltar."

"No kidding. Dr. Baltar was in an old warehouse listening to Natasi preach her one-true-God sermons? You're sure it was him?"

"Positive."

"How did they act?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like they knew each other? Like friends? Like boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Dreilide thought a few moments. "I didn't stick around afterwards. He was down front talking to her. Beyond that I can't say."

"Are you going back?"

"I doubt it. How are you doing this semester?"

"Really good in Basic Flight and the simulator. Not as good in my other subjects. Math is probably my next best. PE is okay. History is okay, too. I'm doing the worst in Colonial Lit. I don't like the stuff we're reading. I'll probably make another 2.0. I don't care, though. Lee said that when I get to Flight School, they're going to be looking at my Basic Flight grades and my sim scores. That's all they care about."

"Despite the fact that your mother wanted something else for you besides the military, I think she would have been proud of what you've accomplished."

Kara debated about saying what was in her thoughts at the moment and finally decided to go ahead. "Lee told me that there's a chance the Cylons might have taken prisoners off some of the planets before the radiation killed everybody. Do you think there's a chance…I mean it would take a while for the radiation from that basestar to get down through the atmosphere to Picon and…you think maybe she got taken to a basestar?"

"No, Kara, I don't think there's a chance. Your mother would never have allowed herself be taken prisoner by the Cylons. I doubt any of her fellow Marines would have. They would have fought to the end. All of them."

"Is that what she meant when she told me that when you're in a firefight for your life, you never fire your last bullet until you're sure you've won?"

Dreilide nodded. "That's exactly what she meant. She would never have surrendered to a bunch of toasters. She'd have gone down fighting."

"I would probably do the same thing rather than be taken by them. Whatever happened, she was still a hero."

"Yes, she was."

"I'll let you get back to composing. I've got a couple more stops to make this morning. I probably won't make it next Saturday. I'm going to try to fly that special sim and then I've got to start studying for my finals. I'll send you the information about my graduation. I'll see you then."

"I'll be there, Kara."

She hugged him before she left. "The first Cylon I take out will be for my mom."

"I didn't think the military was in the business of taking out Cylons right now."

"Maybe that will change one day and I'll get a chance."

"If that happens, take one out for me, too."

She smiled. "The second one will be for you."

...

Kara rode her bike several blocks and again parked across the street from the Oracle's place. When she climbed the stairs and knocked, Keshia answered the door and asked her to wait. Someone was with Yolanda Brenn.

Kara sat down at the top of the steep stairs. She waited almost ten minutes until the door opened and a well-dressed woman came out and hurried down the steps so quickly that she nearly stepped on Kara's hand.

"Come in," Keshia said as Kara scrambled to her feet.

"What's wrong with her?" Kara asked as the woman pushed through the door at the bottom of the stairs.

"She came seeking one answer and found another. She was not pleased."

"I'm not seeking answers. I just came to see both of you."

"Would you share tea with us?"

"Sure."

Keshia held aside the gauzy curtain and Kara went into the little kitchen.

Yolanda sat at the table sipping a cup of tea.

"You look much better," Kara said.

"I am well finally. We have wondered about you."

"I was restricted to campus for a month for getting into a fight with another cadet."

"Ah. Fighting is a serious offense?"

"It depends on when and how you do it. If we'd taken it to the gym and put on boxing gloves, it would have been okay."

"Why did you fight?"

"Well…as my stepmother put it, the other cadet impugned my honor, my father's, too. There's more involved than just that. The other cadet and I have never exactly been friends. It's complicated."

"Did you win?"

"We didn't get to finish it. Maybe next time."

"Would that not just prove which one of you is the better fighter instead of who is right?"

Keshia put a cup of tea on the table in front of Kara before she sat down with a cup of her own.

"Your fathers are both well?" Keshia asked.

"The one you know is. The musician has emphysema. He's cut down on his smoking, or so he says, but I don't think there's any cure."

"There is no cure for any of us," Brenn said. "We will all die sooner or later. I came very close this winter. If not for yours and your father's help and my dear Keshia, I would have."

"The Cylons don't die. I mean they do, but their consciousness downloads into another body. They start over."

"Our souls ascend to Elysium. Some refer to it as crossing over or crossing the river. We leave our earthly body behind. The Cylons have no souls," Keshia said. "They will never enter Elysium."

"Some of them think they do," Kara said, "have souls I mean. The blond Cylon, Natasi, preaches her monotheism in an old warehouse. She's attracted some followers."

Brenn said. "The Cylons didn't originate monotheism. The lost Thirteenth Tribe was created by members of the twelve tribes who had grown to believe in only one God, a Supreme Being who did not rule humanity as the rest of the gods did. It is why they broke away from us centuries ago on Kobol."

"That's interesting," Kara said. "It's interesting that machines would adopt the Thirteenth Tribe's religion and worship one God."

"It's amazing that machines would worship a god at all," Brenn said.

"You're right. It's probably just their programming. Maybe the humans who created them believed in one God and that's what they put in their programming."

Without another word Brenn held out her hands. Kara took them.

"You have been in the belly of the enemy," Brenn said. "You will leave Caprica and journey to another world. Your faith and your resolve will be greatly tested. Do not give up in your quest even when the odds do not favor you."

She dropped Kara's hands.

"I know what part of it means," Kara said and grinned. "I think it means that I'm going to fly…a certain mission that nobody thinks I can fly."

"Again I have seen a time in your future that will be very difficult for you. You must not give up."

"Lee and I are going to be separated when I get posted to a battlestar this fall. I've got to go. I don't have a choice."

"Separation from a lover is hard when you are very much in love, especially when you're so young."

"The last time I was here you said I would know despair."

"Despair is a test of our faith. When I lost my eyesight, I knew despair, and yet here I am. The gods took one sense from me and gave me another. We are each tested in our own way. Your test will not be mine or any other's test."

"I'll remember that," Kara said as she slipped the hundred-cubit note from her pocket and gave it to Keshia who nodded her thanks. "From my father."

"She prays for him, for all of you. We both do…for the times that are to come."

...

Kara had one more stop to make. She hit most of the traffic lights green, and ten minutes later was outside Leoben's bookstore. She had to browse around for nearly fifteen minutes as he waited on customers.

Finally he walked over to her. "I see you got out of jail."

She looked at him in surprise. "You knew I was restricted to campus?"

"Your father was in here a couple of weeks ago. He told me."

"What was my father doing in here?" She asked warily.

"Buying a gift card."

"Who would my father buy a gift card for?"

"I think you'd better ask him that question. He said it was a birthday gift."

Suddenly Kara knew. Maya.

"Did you talk about anything else" Kara asked.

"He wasn't in here very long. I told him I thought his wife would win the election. I noticed Elliott True disappeared from Talk Wireless. Last week I found he's got an internet site and is spewing out his views that way. I think most of his problem is that Laura Roslin is a woman. True doesn't believe a woman is capable of running the Colony. He's a misogynist."

"I don't have a dictionary in my head. What does that mean?"

"It means he doesn't really like women."

"He likes men?"

"Not like that. Elliott True is married and has five kids. But he has no respect for women or their abilities. The idea of the Colonies being led by a woman is something he can't accept."

"I'll mention that to my dad and Laura. She needs to know that Elliott True is still doing his dirty work against her."

"She's in a precarious position. I don't envy her. She can't silence True for voicing his opinions. Freedom of speech is a protected right under the Articles of Colonization. The only thing she can stop him from doing is telling lies about her."

"Like saying she had Braedon out of wedlock."

"Exactly."

"You've been a big help. Any more memories?"

"I tried chamalla."

"And?"

"I had a few strange visions. A woman with a baby in her arms. She told me we had to protect him."

"Was it Laura?" Kara's voice was filled with concern. "Was it my brother?"

"I don't know. It might have been her. I didn't see her face. The vision shifted to a cold room, a prison cell. I was alone. Then the room was gone and I was at a gathering of people, somber, mourning people. There was an altar with a white light on it coming from above. A priest lifted an object, a glass chalice. The liquid inside was red, maybe wine, maybe blood. Somewhere among the mourners a child began to cry."

"That sounds like something an Oracle would see."

"That's me," he said sarcastically. "Leoben, the oracle."

"You didn't see your past? You didn't see anything on the basestar."

"No, just crazy images, things I couldn't understand. Confusing, crazy images. Hallucinations. I never tried the chamalla again. I don't want to."

"Do you still feel like the Cylons made a mistake in coming back to try and destroy us?"

"More now than ever."

"Your memory of being shot and killed by a centurion and downloading is real. Cavil ordered it because you were arguing against him when he wanted to occupy Caprica. Killing you silenced the others."

"How do you know that?"

"I know another one of you. She saw it happen. Or rather a copy of her saw it. Then Cavil made that one share her memories with the one I know. All copies of the same model aren't alike. Some are good. Some aren't."

She saw the corner of his eye twitch. He turned and went back to the tall counter where he had a cup of coffee. He took a sip.

"I let it get cold."

"Did the Cylons take prisoners from ships or from the planets onto one of the basestars?" Kara asked.

"I don't know."

"Where are all the basestars? Are there more than four?"

"I don't know that, either."

"You haven't remembered anything since I was here last time?"

"Cavil is called Number One. I'm known as Number Two. The numbers don't denote our importance, just the order of our creation. There were originally eight. Cavil destroyed all the copies of the seventh model. He said there was an inherent flaw that we couldn't allow to replicate. I think the seventh model were our artists, our musicians, our writers. I think that's why we don't have any Cylon music or literature or paintings."

"Why would Cavil have destroyed him?"

"Jealousy, maybe? The ability to create is considered by many of us to be a gift from God. Maybe Cavil was jealous. Or maybe the Sevens wouldn't go along with his plans to destroy humanity. Maybe my part of God's plan is killing Cavil."

"He'd just download. It wouldn't do any good. You can't kill him. Not now, anyway. I…I think your destiny is something else. It's linked to mine and mine is linked to my brother. I just don't know what it is yet."

"So I wait?"

"So we wait. I'll know when the time is right. You'll remember more. I'll come back. We'll talk again."

He nodded. "We wait, then, until the time is right."

...

Kara let herself into the apartment. She knew her father was still at the Academy because his car wasn't in the designated parking space in the underground garage when she pulled her motorcycle into the adjacent spot. She knew he and Colonel Burgher were working on the final exam sim today. Laura was at her campaign headquarters.

Kara put her helmet and her jacket in her bedroom and went into the kitchen. Maya had a book opened and some papers spread out on the table. She quickly began moving them out of the way.

"Leave everything where it is," Kara said. "All I need is room for a plate and a glass." She went to the refrigerator and got out the makings for a sandwich. "What are you studying?"

"Algebra," Maya answered. "I took it in high school, but that was almost fifteen years ago. It's like starting over."

"So how old are you, really?"

"I just turned thirty...two weeks ago."

Kara rolled her eyes and grinned. "You're ancient."

Maya smiled also. "Don't remind me."

"You lived in Sovana?"

"Kinsdale. My husband Peter and I and our little girl. He was an engineer. He and his father had formed a company, Laird Electronics. They died when their building was bombed. My daughter and I were at the supermarket. It was bombed, too. We were both injured. She died later in the camp from an infection because there were no antibiotics."

"How old was she?"

"Six months."

Braedon was six months old. Kara tried to imagine what it would do to them to lose him. She couldn't imagine what Maya had been through. She thought of Hugh Connelly and the day she had met him, the day he had tried to kill himself.

"One of my instructors at the Academy was in the same camp I was in. He lost his wife and parents in the bombing of Antioch. His little boy died in the camp. He was two. I know the camp was hard on the little ones. I'm sorry about your daughter."

Maya nodded. "I call Peter my husband. We hadn't gone through an official ceremony, but when I found out I was pregnant, we went to a temple and pledged ourselves to each other. I knew he would never leave me."

Kara took her sandwich and glass of lemonade over to the table and sat down.

"Is it hard taking care of other people's kids?"

Maya said softly, "That depends on the kids. Before I came to work for Laura and your father, I worked for Sarah Porter. She's on the Quorum of Twelve. Her kids were…I shouldn't say bad things about a former employer, but her kids were very difficult."

"Braedon's a good baby, isn't he?"

"Braedon is a dream most of the time. He'll probably start teething soon and things might get a little rough, but he's basically a happy, sweet child."

"One day maybe a gazillion years from now, I want a baby." Kara grinned. "Lee's baby."

"How does he feel about that?"

"He had a rough childhood. I didn't think he would want kids but something changed his mind."

"Maybe seeing your father with Braedon."

Kara shrugged. "Maybe."

"Your father is the kindest man I've ever known other than Peter. He remembered my birthday. It was just a gift card for textbooks, but every little bit helps. He's the only one who remembered."

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

Maya shook her head. "I still haven't gotten over losing Peter. I know it's been four years and I should move on but…" She was silent for a moment and then Maya said passionately, "Enjoy your time with Lee, every single minute of it. You just never know. I kissed Peter that morning before he went to work. I had no idea I'd never see him again. I loved him so much."

Tears had formed in Maya's eyes and now rolled down her cheeks. She hastily brushed them away and smiled. "Listen to me telling you what to do."

"No, Maya, I understand."

On the baby monitor they heard Braedon begin to make a few sounds.

"I'll get him," Kara said. "You keep studying. I haven't got to spend any quality time with my little star-mapper lately."

As she started down the hall toward the nursery, she thought.

The third Cylon Raider I take out will be for you, Maya. For you and Peter and your little girl.

...

Lee and Kara sat in a booth at Zeno's waiting for their meal to arrive. The waiter was new and had never seen them before so he had carded them. She had told him she didn't have her ID with her, and he had refused to bring her a beer. A glass of water sat in front of her. She reached for Lee's beer and took a sip.

"Three more months and I won't have to put up with this crap," she said. "That magic number will have rolled around and I'll be legal."

"Don't wish three months away, Kara. In three months you'll be six weeks away from going to the Galactica or wherever you get stationed. And then it will be another three months before we see each other again."

"It's not real to me yet."

"I avoid thinking about it, too."

"I went to see Dreilide today. He told me that Gaius Baltar was at one of Natasi's sermons in that old warehouse where she preaches."

"Have you told your dad or Laura yet?"

"Not yet. Dad had just gotten home from the Academy when we left tonight. Laura was still at her campaign headquarters. I'll tell them tomorrow at breakfast."

"What was John doing out at the Academy?"

"He and Colonel Burgher were putting together the final sim exam. It must be a good one if they spent all day on it."

"My final was thirty solid minutes of flying."

"My midterm was thirty minutes of flying."

"John's being tougher on your class than Burgher was on ours."

"Maybe that's because my dad knows we're soon going to have to kick some Cylon butt. Did you ever get to try Burgher's sim that no cadet has ever beaten?"

"Yeah. The cadets with the top five sim scores each year get a shot at it."

"How did you do?"

"It's still the sim that no cadet has ever beaten, isn't it?"

"No, I mean like did you last five minutes, twenty minutes? What? How long is it anyway?"

"I don't know how long it is. I made it eight minutes. Don't you want to know what got me?"

"No. I don't want to know anything about it. I'm flying it next Saturday morning at 10:00."

"It's hard, Kara. You shouldn't be too upset when you don't make it."

"That's what my dad told me. I'm good with whatever happens." She grinned. "Unless I don't make it eight minutes. I didn't ask my dad how far he made it the first time. He nailed it on the second try."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"He's really tried hard this year to teach me, to teach all of us what it takes to survive out there. He's been trying to teach us combat skills without being able to tell all of us that we're going to be using them soon."

Their meal arrived. Lee said, "This looks a lot better than Academy food. I don't see how you eat it every day. It's a lot worse than when I was there. I almost choked on those mashed potatoes."

"Maybe it was the company you were eating lunch with," Kara said.

"I've been waiting for you to say something about Shelley. I'm surprised you made it this long."

"What's there to say about her other than she's a man-stealing little bitch?"

"Kara…"

"No, Lee. I don't want to hear any excuses from you about how she was just doing her job and all that crap. Trying to tongue-kiss you out on the terrace was not doing her job."

"I never said she tried to tongue-kiss me."

"You didn't have to. She had one shot at you. She would have gone all out. She got Colonel Winters to send you that invitation to chaperone the dance because she's been trying all year to get her hooks into you again. I heard all about the black dress with her boobs hanging out."

Lee looked at the ceiling for a moment. "Sharon…"

"You're damned right Sharon told me. Karl, too. They're my friends."

"I thought you said you trusted me."

"I do trust you. This is not about you. It's about her."

"I don't want us to fight about Shelley. It's not worth it. What I had with her was over three years ago."

"You're right. It's not worth fighting over. But one of these days she and I will have a chance to…how should I say this…we'll have a chance to address the issue."

"Kara, you've got to promise me you won't do anything stupid. Getting into it in any way with Shelley right now, even verbally, could cost you everything you've worked for all year. It could get you expelled from the Academy and that means no Flight School and no flying Vipers."

"Okay, Lee. Chill out."

"Can't you be satisfied knowing that every time she looks at you she knows I'm with you…that I have no feelings for her? What she tried didn't work."

"It's not just what she tried with you. She's had me in her sights for a long time. She tried to push me into doing something at the winter dance. I'll bet she was laughing her ass off because I missed the spring dance. I'll bet she had a major orgasm sitting right there beside Colonel Winters when he told me and Maggie that we were on restriction for a month. I'll bet she had another one each time I had to report to her while I walked off my demerits. That's why I tried to walk off at least two hours at a time. Fewer orgasms for Shelley."

Lee tried not to smile. "Just let it go, Kara. In the whole scheme of things it's not important."

"It's important to me."

"Shelley Sydell is not worth it."

"We'll have to agree to disagree. You have my promise I won't do anything stupid. We'll let it go at that."

"Okay."

"Is she a good kisser?"

"I thought we were going to let it go."

"Is she?"

"Not nearly as good as you. I don't remember a lot about kissing her. Now can we please talk about something else?"

Kara picked at her salad. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything but Shelley."

"I invited Dreilide to my graduation. He said he would come."

"That's nice. My father is the commencement speaker."

"When did you find that out?"

"I met him for dinner one night this week. He asked me to give him some ideas for his speech. I told him to talk about responsibility and accountability and accepting the consequences of our actions."

"Were you thinking about me when you told him that?" Kara asked testily.

"No. I was thinking that the reason we're in the situation we're in now is because humans created the Cylons years ago, and now we're acting like it's all the Cylon's fault that we're under their control."

"Things must be better with you and your dad if he's asking you to help him write a speech."

"We're both trying. It's not easy, but we're trying. Old habits are hard to break. It's like our brains get wired into certain patterns and we want to keep going down the same path instead of trying something new. How about you and Laura?"

Kara shrugged. "Okay. She was already at the apartment when Dad and I got home from the Academy yesterday afternoon. She hugged me and told me she'd missed seeing me. She and my dad are acting all kissy-faced again."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Kara shrugged.

"You might be surprised at how much she cares about you," Lee said. "So where do you want to go tonight?"

She remembered Maya's words. "It doesn't matter as long as I'm with you. Let's just go back to the apartment."

He smiled. "You talked me into it."

...

When Kara and Lee walked back into her dorm early Sunday evening, Kara saw that Shelley was on the front desk. Lee stayed to the side of the lobby as Kara went to check in.

"Cadet Kara Thrace returning from weekend leave, sir," Kara said to Shelley and smiled. With Lee standing close by, there was no way Shelley could mistake the meaning of her words.

Without saying a thing Shelley turned the log book around and Kara flipped back to Friday afternoon when she had signed out. She wrote Sunday's date and time in the Date Returned column and signed her name beside it.

She walked back over to Lee who had set her duffle bag on the floor. "Will I see you after your class tomorrow?"

"If we get out in time."

Kara knew Shelley was watching them out of the corner of her eye.

"Kiss me," she whispered, "with some tongue."

"That's cruel."

"Humor me. She deserves it…and then some."

He did as she asked, their mouths coming together in a kiss that quickly got hotter than either of them had anticipated. Lee finally pulled back.

She said softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Kara."

She let Lee get out the door before she picked up her duffle bag. As she turned with a smile on her face, she saw Shelley quickly glance down at the log book. She had been watching them. Feeling like whistling, Kara walked to the door leading to the stairs.

Take that, you bitch.

Shelley was waiting for her the next morning as she and Sharon walked back to the dorm after breakfast.

"Walk on Cadet Valerii," Shelley said. "I need a word with Cadet Thrace."

Sharon hesitated and looked at Kara.

"I'll be okay. Go."

Sharon walked toward the dorm as Kara came to attention and looked straight ahead.

"That was some show you put on yesterday."

Knowing exactly what Shelley was talking about, Kara kept her tone neutral. "What show would that be, sir?"

"You and Lee. That was for my benefit, wasn't it?"

"No, sir. It was for our benefit. It was a nice way to end the weekend we spent together."

"He told you what we did at the dance?"

"He told me what you did, sir."

Shelley smiled, her lips forming a thin line. "Would you like to take a swing at me like you did at Cadet Edmondson?"

Kara kept her eyes straight ahead. "Yes, sir, but that would get me expelled from the Academy. Lee and I had a long talk about it Saturday night. He said you weren't worth it. I agree with him, sir."

"You want a shot at me then you stay in the gym this morning after your PE class is over. Come to the boxing ring. We'll put on some gloves. Dismissed, Cadet Thrace."

Shelley turned and walked away. Kara hurried back to the dorm.

"What did she want?" Sharon asked.

"She wants me to stick around after PE today. She said we'd put on some gloves and I could take a shot at her. I can't believe I'm going to get a chance to knock her on her ass."

"You know she was women's boxing champ during her year at the Academy?"

"No," Kara said in surprise. "Frak. Maybe I won't be knocking her on her ass. I'll bet she's been planning this since last night."

"What happened last night?"

"I made a point to kiss Lee in front of her."

"Not smart, Kara, not smart."

"Look, don't say anything about this, okay? If my dad finds out…"

"You're not doing anything wrong. If you and Shelley are wearing gloves and it's under supervision, than it's all right, even if she's an officer and you're a cadet. If you both willingly go into a ring with gloves on, then rank doesn't matter."

"Why does that not make me feel better?"

"I've got to get to class," Sharon said. "If you're not back after lunch, I'll go look for you in the infirmary."

"Ha ha. You're funny, Valerii."

...

During her math class that morning and while she played volleyball during her PE class, Kara's mind was on the upcoming fight.

Shelley was in tanks and shorts and was warming up at a bag when Kara walked into the room that contained the boxing ring and equipment.

Kara watched her for a minute. Shelley was good. Her coordination was good and her timing was good. She moved with a natural grace. As if she felt Kara's eyes on her, she turned and motioned to the rack of gloves.

Tucker Clellan had agreed to serve as referee. He pulled a new mouth protector from a drawer and handed it to her. "You know the rules?"

Kara tore open the wrapper on the mouth protector. "Just tell me what I can't do."

"No biting, pushing, tripping, kicking or wrestling. No hitting below the belt or on the breasts or the back. If you go down, you've got thirty seconds to get up. I'll call it anytime I think either one of you can't go on."

"Sounds simple enough," Kara said. "Let's do it."

Duck helped Kara put on the gloves after she positioned the mouth protector and bit down on it. She'd never fought with gloves on. They felt funny on her hands. She felt like she would do a better job without them, but she knew she and Shelley would never be allowed to go at it bare knuckled.

They climbed into the ring. Several cadets working out on the bags stopped to watch as the two of them warily circled each other. Without warning Shelley stepped inside and delivered a quick, hard uppercut to Kara's chin. Her head snapped back and she stumbled backward a few steps. Shelley followed, her next punch a quick jab that Kara barely managed to block, but which gave her the opportunity to drive her left glove into Shelley's abdomen.

She saw the momentary surprise in Shelley's eyes. She had probably expected this to be over in less than a minute.

Kara adjusted her mouth protector with the back of a glove.

They slowly circled each other again. Kara's bare-knuckled playground fights were not much help against an opponent with Shelley's skill. She quickly and deftly blocked the next two punches Kara threw and then landed a cross punch that got Kara on the side of her head. Kara went down and heard Clellan start to count.

Kara was back on her feet before he got to six.

"Are you all right to continue?" He asked.

Kara nodded and thought about her father. He wasn't going to like this at all. She thought about Lee. He was going to like it even less. Still, she couldn't back down now. She wouldn't back down now.

She lifted her gloves as Shelley moved in once again. As Shelley jabbed, Kara moved to the side and used the same uppercut that Shelley had first used on her. She followed it quickly with a cross. Shelley stumbled but didn't go down. She blocked Kara's next punch and landed another cross. Kara managed to stay on her feet but just barely.

Clellan called the end of round one.

Kara could hardly believe that only three minutes had passed. It felt like fifteen or twenty. They walked to opposite corners. Kara was sweating and breathing hard. She knew one eye was swelling. She also knew she was outclassed.

The boxing match had drawn fifteen or twenty cadets by now. Kara wondered how long it would take word about the fight to get around the Academy.

Clellan called it two minutes into the next round. Both she and Shelley had managed to land punches, but Shelley's had done more damage. He helped Kara take off her gloves. She spit out the mouth protector and tasted blood. There was a cut on the inside of her lower lip.

"I'm going to give you a cold pack for that eye," Clellan said.

"Bad?"

"I don't know if you two settled whatever you came here to settle, but you held your own against her. I could have let it go on, but there wasn't any point. You've got a lot of guts. A little work on your technique and you could have another go at her."

"She still won," Kara said.

Clellan grinned. "Did she?"

Ten minutes later as Kara stood in the shower, she finally realized what he meant.

...

Thursday afternoon she walked into her father's office after her sim session. He stood and hugged her before she sat down in the chair in front of his desk. She took a deep breath and let it out.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"This is not my week. Shelley kicked my ass on Monday, and now I frakked up my last sim before the final exam."

"Frakked it up how?"

"I lost points because Colonel Burgher said a couple of my moves were too aggressive. He told me that just because I got away with them and didn't get shot down doesn't mean they were the best moves. When I tried to tell him why I did it, he said, 'That's a big gamble to take with one of our few remaining Vipers, Cadet Thrace.' I did it so I could go to guns up faster. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't been sure it would work. I took out Burgher's Cylon before it had even realized I wasn't in front of it anymore."

"What'd you do?"

"Inverted Split-S. I got the Raider from below."

Her father smiled. "I'd probably have done the same thing. In fact I probably did do the same thing on more than one occasion. Conrad tends to look for text-book moves. I'm not saying that to be critical of him, but he's never flown under combat conditions. Sometimes you can't follow the book."

"I did it twice. He took off twelve points total or his stupid computer took off twelve points. My last sim before the final and I got a lousy 88 on it."

"You're still way ahead of the game." He paused for a minute. "Lee told me about the fight with Shelley. Let me see the eye."

She lifted her chin and turned slightly sideways so that he could look at her.

"It's not too bad. It didn't break the skin. Just some bruising."

"My lip is cut. My jaw is sore. It hurts when I chew. My guts hurt."

He smiled. "I remember those days. I almost walked over to your dorm to see you on Tuesday, but I didn't want to embarrass you. I figured if you wanted to talk to me about it, you'd come find me."

"What was there to say? Shelley kicked my ass. What did Lee say?"

"He talked to Clellan. Tucker said it was closer than you probably thought it was. He said Shelley is good and you held your own against her. He was impressed…considering you'd never had on a pair of gloves before."

"I'm glad somebody was."

"Some guys would think it's cool to have two women fight over them, but not Lee. He got upset when I kidded him about it. What did he say to you?"

"He said it's a stupid and juvenile way of handling things. He said Shelley and I should have both known better."

"In this case he's probably right, but I'm hardly in a position to say anything to you."

"We weren't fighting over Lee. It's not like whoever won the fight was going to get Lee. Shelley challenged me. I wasn't going to back down."

"And you didn't. How are you and Shelley getting along now?"

"We're back to ignoring each other except when we can't avoid it. Mom used to hit Dreilide a lot. Did she ever hit you?"

"Once."

"Did you hit her back?"

"Not hard, but I did hit her. She damned near broke my jaw. It's the only time in my life I ever hit a woman. I'm ashamed of it now, but we were arguing about…never mind. It's not important now."

"Dreilide says there never a good reason for a man to hit a woman."

"He's right."

"So why did you hit her?"

"She's just told me I couldn't see you any longer. It happened a month before your third birthday. I don't want to go into any details. Let's just say that legally she was completely within her rights to keep you away from me."

"That sucked. This whole week has sucked."

"Don't let it get you down, baby. Put the fight and Burgher's last sim behind you, and get ready to fly that special sim on Saturday. I want you to go to bed early on Friday night and get a good night's sleep. Eat something light for breakfast that morning and come over here ready to do it."

"Will you be here Saturday?"

"I'll be in my office working on the final exam sim. I'll watch you fly Burgher's sim if you want me to, but I don't want to make you nervous. You tell me. I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"You bring me luck. I want you there. Lee said he made it eight minutes. How many did you make it?"

"Almost twenty. And mine was a stupid mistake. You go in there relaxed. You get in that cockpit and you become part of that ship and you can do it. I know you can."

...

On Saturday morning Kara sat in the cockpit of the simulator and listened to Colonel Burgher run down the components of the sim. Instruments, navigation, maneuvering, targeting and quick decision making both separately and in any or all combinations. She knew she should be nervous, but she had either done a great job of conquering her nerves or she had moved beyond nervous into a state of semi-consciousness. She was afraid it was the latter.

Burgher's voice penetrated her thoughts. "Are you ready, Cadet Thrace?"

"Yes, sir."

As she said the words, she felt everything around her take on a clarity that was almost eerie. The canopy slid shut. She took a deep breath. She was part of her ship.

The screen flickered. The voice in her headset said, "This is a timed simulation. If you make a mistake, the sim will reset to the beginning and you must start over, but the clock will keep ticking. If you are more than two minutes into the sim when you make a mistake, it will end since you cannot possibly make up the time. Do you understand the conditions?"

"Yes, sir."

"On the count of three you will launch from a battlestar into hostile conditions. Enemy ships are approaching. You are free to engage."

Engage she did. The first three kills were quick and easy. The next three harder, her opponents more elusive, but as she pursued the last one and locked onto it with a missile, she felt like she was flying a real Viper.

She wheeled her ship around. There was nothing but empty space around her. The sky flickered. Her Viper was suddenly still. She was facing the famous obstacle course that had once existed above Aquaria. Twenty-eight buoys suspended in space and controlled from the surface of the planet. Large LED lights created arrows on the surface of each buoy that told her whether to pass the buoy on the right, left, top or bottom. Her headset told her she had ten minutes to find and correctly pass all twenty-eight buoys…in the right order. Coordinates for the next buoy were given only after she had correctly passed the current one. It was a test of her navigational and decision making skills. A disembodied voiced marked the minutes counting backwards at each minute mark. If she made a mistake, and passed a buoy incorrectly or went to the wrong one, she had to start from the beginning of the sim, a sure guarantee of failure since she was well past the two-minute mark.

Seven minutes into the course she had just passed the twentieth buoy. She saw one in the distance and almost made the mistake of heading for it when she realized the coordinates she had just received couldn't match it. There was at least one between her and that one. It was below her. She pointed the nose of her ship down, made twenty-one and twenty-two before she reached the distant buoy, number twenty three. Another minute had passed. She had two minutes and seven buoys left.

Again she started to head for the next buoy and again it was the wrong one based on the coordinates. She took a deep breath and fought down her impulse to rush without thinking. With four seconds of her ten minutes left on the clock, she passed under the downward-pointing arrow of the twenty-eighth buoy.

She didn't have time to rejoice, however.

Space flickered and became the atmosphere of a planet. She was flying through dense fog or clouds. Her instrument and navigational skills were being tested. As she listened to the directions in her headset to plot a course based on coordinates being given to her, she scanned her instruments.

She saw the Cylon Raider on her dradis only seconds before her computer indicated that her ship had been missile-locked by it. She was already reacting, pulling the Viper into a climbing inverted turn when the Raider launched the missile. She rolled her ship upright before kicking in the afterburners. On the screen she saw the missile turn with her, closing on her as she now flew straight at an enemy she couldn't see except as another blip on her screen. Playing chicken with a ghost. Was this what had gotten her father when he flew the sim?

She watched her dradis. She and the Cylon were closing on each other now faster than the missile was closing on her. She nudged the nose down and leveled off. She and the Cylon were at the same altitude on course for a head-on collision. She watched the blips get closer. She saw the Raider through the clouds and fired her machine cannon. The tracers arced. The missile continued straight into the ship that had launched it. The Raider disintegrated in a stunning fireball.

She flew her Viper clear of the explosion. Her palm was sweaty and she risked quickly wiping it on the leg of her fatigues.

The canopy slid back. Sim Over displayed on the screen. What had she done wrong? Where had she screwed up? Dejected she climbed down the ladder. Burgher turned from his computer.

"Congratulations, Cadet Thrace."

"You mean I beat it?"

"You beat it. Not exactly text-book, but you still beat it."

She turned and looked at her father who had just come down from the amphitheater. There was a huge grin on his face. Without a word he wrapped his arms around her.

"I did it! I can't believe I did it!" she said.

"You're good, baby. I told you that you're good," he said softly.

"This stays between us," Kara said. "It stays between the three of us."

Colonel Burgher walked over to them. "Did I understand you, Cadet Thrace? You don't want this known?"

"No, sir. Nobody will believe it anyway. They'll think it's just something else that was given to me. I flew the sim. I know it, my dad and you know it and I'm going to tell Lee, but I don't want anyone else to know."

Her father asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. We all know. That's all I care about."

Colonel Burgher held out his hand and she shook it. "I knew the day you came out here with Lee last summer and sat in that Viper cockpit that you were going to be an excellent pilot."

"Thank you, sir."

Her father smiled and said to the colonel. "Now you're going to have to make that sim harder."

"I'll wait until someone else nails it. Then I'll think about it."

Kara and her father walked out of the building into the sunshine.

"That was a dangerous move you pulled with that Raider," he said to her.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"It worked in the sim. I wouldn't try it for real. If that Raider had started firing, you'd have been killed. Burgher never programmed it to do that because he wasn't expecting anyone to do anything that crazy."

"What did you do?"

"A wing-over turn and took the missile out with machine cannon fire. Then I took the Raider out with a missile."

"I'll remember that. Where did you mess up the first time you tried the sim?"

"I missed a buoy. I got ahead of myself and didn't listen to the coordinates. By the time I realized what I had done it was too late. I ran out of time."

"I almost did that twice. Do you think Lee is going to have a problem with this?"

"Maybe. I've known Lee for four years and I'm not sure how to call this one. If it was anybody else, I don't think he would have a problem, but you…I don't know."

"He's so smart. He did a lot better than me when he was here. He graduated first in his class."

"That may not matter. It may be an ego thing. Like I said, baby, I don't know how to call this one."

"I'm going to have Lee bring me back to campus tonight so I can start studying for finals."

"Come see me Thursday after your sim final."

"You know I will."

...

Sharon wasn't in the room when Kara walked back to her dorm. She changed out of her fatigues, put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and lay down on her bunk to wait the forty-five minutes until Lee would get there. The morning's adrenalin finally began to wear off.

She would tell Lee. She had to. Why shouldn't she tell him? She was proud of what she had done. He was going to have to deal with it.

At noon she got up and walked down to the lobby. He had just walked through the front door. She smiled at him and went over to the front desk and signed out until midnight.

As they walked down the steps, he said, "Well?"

"I did it."

"You beat Burgher's sim?"

The surprise was evident in his question, maybe even a hint of skepticism.

She nodded.

"I don't know what to say."

"How about Congratulations, Kara or great job, Kara? "

"Congratulations, Kara."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. "I can tell you really mean it."

"I just wasn't expecting it. That's all. I was ready to put my arm around you and tell you I was sorry you didn't make it."

"Like you did after Shelley kicked my ass?"

They got to his car and got inside.

"I didn't…"

"You didn't do anything except tell me how juvenile it was."

"What did you expect me to say? I'm impressed and pleased that you and Shelley knocked each other around a boxing ring because of me. I would never believe you love me otherwise."

Kara sighed and looked out the window. "I knew this was going to cause us a problem. I knew it. I'm not as smart as you are. I'm not going to graduate from the Academy at the top of my class or with a perfect 4.0 average, but I'm a good pilot. I'm a damned good pilot. I'm going to be a better pilot than you are. There. I've said it."

Lee tried to conquer whatever he was feeling at the moment, tried to push it down to a place where he could deal with it later. He took her face and turned it toward him. For a long time he just looked at her, at the green eyes that could change like the surface of the ocean depending on her mood.

"You're going to be a great Viper pilot. I never had any doubts about that."

"I'm not telling anybody about the sim."

"Why not?" Lee asked surprised.

"Because everybody will just say my dad told me how to beat it. My dad and Colonel Burgher and you are the only ones who know. I want to keep it that way. I just want to graduate and go on to Flight School and show everybody what I can do up there."

"That's not fair to you, Kara. You did something no cadet has done. You should get credit for it."

"It's not about credit. I know I did it. That's what's important. That's what I care about. When I get to Flight School, then I can get in everybody's face if they hassle me. They can't say my dad is helping me cheat my way through Flight School."

"I told my father you were going to try to fly the sim today. What should I say if he asks?"

"Tell him I did it. Tell him that next winter I'm going to kick some Cylon ass for him."

Lee smiled as he started the car. "Next winter we're going to kick some Cylon ass."

Kara finally smiled, too. "Okay, we're going to kick some Cylon ass. I'm sure I'll need just a little help."