Chapter 69

When You Wish Upon a Star

During the early fall of President Adar's last year in office, a prolonged meteor shower, visible mainly in the southern hemisphere, caused panic in some of the small towns and rural villages. Word quickly spread that the Cylons were once again attacking the planet. The roads were clogged with people in transports and on foot as they attempted to flee into the countryside. Cavil was said to be amused at the fear still exhibited by some of the Colonials. The area's Military Reserve Guard had to be called out to restore order.

-Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War

.

The day after Kara and Karl and Lee went with her father to the memorial garden that had once been the refugee camp, Kara spent the whole day with her dad. They played their favorite video game and that afternoon they took Braedon in his stroller to the park. They talked about a lot of things, but they didn't talk about the camp. The experience was still too raw for both of them. Maybe someday they would talk about it and maybe they would never talk about it. Kara knew that for right now she was okay with what they had shared at the stone altar. It had deepened her bond with her father and that was what mattered to her.

On Thursday morning she got up early and rode her motorcycle over to MediFirst to see Jack Fisk. She hadn't seen him since her winter break. She hadn't noticed it then, but it seemed like there was a lot more silver in his hair. He was happy to see her and they drank coffee and talked for over an hour. He said that business had leveled off and that they concentrated more on the clinics now than on emergency deliveries although he still had a day rider and a night rider.

When she left, he wished her luck in the next phase of her life.

"A battlestar is a whole different way of life," he told her. "It's like living with a big family. You won't get along all the time, but you have to depend on each other."

"Maybe one day I'll get to shoot some Cylons for you."

He smiled. "You do that. And if you ever get tired of flying Vipers, you come see me. I'll have a job for you."

Her next stop was Dreilide Thrace's apartment. She had tried to visit him at least once a week while she was in Flight School, but she hadn't seen him for the last two weeks. She didn't think his color was as good as it had been earlier in the summer. As she hugged him, she noticed an oxygen tank beside the couch.

"What's this?" She walked over to it and dropped her jacket on the couch.

He shrugged. "The clubs are smoky. Sometimes at night I need a couple of breaths of oxygen after I get back here and climb the stairs. It's nothing."

"What do you mean it's nothing? You're getting worse, aren't you?"

"That's what emphysema does, Kara. It gets worse."

"What does your doctor say?"

"A year or two. Maybe a little longer."

Kara swallowed hard. "I'm going to be on a battlestar for a year. I won't get to come back here for three months."

He started to say something, but it ended in a coughing spell. He got the glass of whiskey. "I was trying to say I don't guess they'll let me come visit you," he finally said.

"No, but I'll write to you."

She got a handheld device out of her jacket pocket, her dad and Laura's birthday gift to her. It was an expensive piece of electronics, not much bigger than her mobile phone. It held dozens of games and hundreds of books and had a directory for names, mailing addresses and email addresses. The email wouldn't work in space, but over the last week she had been entering everyone's address she wanted to keep in touch with.

She entered Dreilide's mailing address into the device. He went to the table and brought her a piece of paper. She wrote her military address.

"Mail will get routed to me on the Galactica," she told him. "It's picked up and delivered twice a week."

He took the piece of paper and put it on top of the piano before he sat on the stool. "So you're through with Flight School."

"I finished first in my Viper class. Got a trophy and everything. I even got a beer bath on the last day."

"I'll bet that was fun." He lifted the glass of whiskey. "I would have liked that, too."

"You need to quit playing at the bars so you can get away from the smoke."

He smiled. "That's a nice thought. I suppose I could move my piano to the park and sleep on a bench. Or to an alleyway and sleep in a cardboard box."

"What about your CD sales?"

He managed to laugh. "I make enough off those to buy my groceries every month. It doesn't pay the rent or utilities."

"You could do something else."

"I'm a musician," he said gently. "It's what I do, Kara. It's who I am."

"My dad was a Viper pilot. He's not doing that anymore. He's teaching. You could teach piano."

Dreilide smiled and shrugged. "I never was much of a teacher. I don't have the patience for it. Some people like your dad adapt better to what life throws at them. Like you've done. I'm like your mom in a way, Kara. She was a Marine. That's all she wanted to do."

"You said she wanted to be an artist."

"That was before her father was killed. Once she joined the Marines, she never looked back."

"Why couldn't she have done both?"

"I don't know. I wish she had kept up the art, too, because that's the part of her life that I belonged to. Your dad got the Marine. He never knew the artist. He likes tough women."

"Laura's nothing like a Marine, but she is tough."

" You're tough, too, Kara. Just don't ever lose the ability to appreciate art. When do you leave?"

"Monday morning."

"For three months?"

"I'll be back in November…for the election. I'll see you then."

"I'm going to miss you."

Kara swallowed hard. "I'll write to you. Does the Muse thing not work long distance?"

"I guess I'll find out. You want a CD to take with you? I've got a few extra ones."

"Sure, I'll take a CD."

"I'm working on a new one. As soon as I write one more song, I'll be able to start recording. It'll have Kara's Song on it."

Kara stood. "I'm going to miss you, too."

He hugged her. "Just come back safe. Okay?"

She zipped the CD into her jacket pocket and hugged him again.

"Don't do any of that crazy pilot stuff," he said.

"No crazy pilot stuff."

"I love you, Kara."

"I love you, too."

"Call me when you get home in November."

"I will. You take care of yourself."

He nodded.

Kara turned at the end of the hall just before she got to the stairwell. Dreilide was still standing in the doorway. She waved goodbye and felt it in the pit of her stomach.

Eight minutes later she knocked on the brown metal door at the top of the narrow staircase. Keshia opened the door.

"Ah, and who is this? A stranger?"

"I know it's been a while," Kara said. "Can I come in?"

Keshia stood back and Kara walked past her. "You have been busy?"

"In Flight School. I'm going to a battlestar on Monday. I came to say goodbye. I won't be back for three months."

"You must have tea with us before you go."

"Do you have something cold? It's warm out today."

Keshia smiled. "We have ice."

Yolanda Brenn sat at the table in the kitchen. A wind chime over the open window above the sink tinkled softly. Kara smelled the bay.

"You have mixed feelings about going to your battlestar." Brenn said.

"I'm going to miss Lee. And both my dads. And Braedon. And Laura. And everybody who's not going with me."

Keshia put a glass of tea with ice cubes in it on the table and then sat down. Kara took a sip.

"You are troubled," Brenn said. "It is more than your next assignment."

"Lee's going to fly a mission in a month. I know you told me once I would feel despair. I want to know if he's going to be all right."

"My gift doesn't work that way."

"Will you pray for him, then, for his safety?"

"I will. And for yours, too. There is conflict coming. I have seen it. You will be a part of it."

"That's what I've been training to do."

Keshia said, "We have something for you."

Brenn nodded and Keshia went through another gauzy curtain to their bedroom. When she returned, she placed a small piece of folded soft leather on the table.

"Open it," Brenn said.

Kara untied the rawhide cord and unrolled the leather. Inside were two-inch cast bronze representations of two of the gods.

"Apollo and Artemis," Keshia said.

Kara smiled. "The god of the sun and the goddess of the moon."

"Aye," said Brenn, "but also the god of healing and the goddess of the hunt. We will pray to Artemis, the huntress, for you."

Kara was very touched by their gift. "Thank you," she said softly.

Keshia said, "We brought these with us from the temple at Delphi. They belonged to a priest who was killed in the bombing. They have been passed through many generations and are very old. They have heard many prayers."

Kara rolled the small figures back into the piece of leather and tied it. "I'll take them with me to the Galactica. I'll think of you when I pray."

Brenn reached toward Kara and Kara took her hand. "Your kindness last winter saved my life, yours and your father's. You will stay in our prayers always."

Kara stood. "Say a prayer for my other father, too. His emphysema is getting worse."

Keshia nodded. "You will visit again when you can."

"You know I will," Kara said.

Outside she lifted the seat of the motorcycle and put the rolled leather into the compartment underneath. She had one more stop to make that morning.

When she entered Leoben's bookstore, there were six or seven people browsing. A young woman who looked like she might be a University student sat behind the register. Kara walked up to her.

"Is Leoben here?"

"Mr. Conoy is in the back. He doesn't want to be disturbed. Could I help you with something?"

"Tell him Kara is here to see him."

The girl looked at her skeptically before she turned and went through the curtained doorway. She wasn't gone long. When she returned, she said, "He's in his office. He said for you to come back there."

"Where?"

"You'll see it. The door is open."

Kara pushed through the curtain. Wide metal shelves stacked with boxes lined both sides of the hallway. She saw light coming from a doorway at the end. The office was small and windowless. Leoben was sitting behind a desk. He glanced up at her.

"Move that box of books and have a seat." He pointed to a wooden chair on the side of the office. Kara slid the box of books onto the floor and sat.

"I see you hired some help."

"I always hire temporary help at the beginning of each semester. I'm trying to get all the textbooks out now. Classes start in a week. I guess you had a busy summer."

"Flight School. I'm going to a battlestar next Monday."

"Which one?"

"The Galactica."

"Admiral Adama's old ship."

She nodded.

"I don't guess I'll see you for a while, then."

"I won't be back on Caprica until November. I'm coming back for the election."

"Just in time to see your stepmother get elected President."

"It looks that way."

Leoben rubbed the side of his jaw. It looked like he had missed shaving for several days. "Any words of wisdom for me before you go?"

Kara shook her head. "Not yet. Do you have anything you want to tell me?"

"A couple of random memories, more like dreams." He leaned his head back and massaged his temples. "Trying to remember is painful. I can get so far and then the pain starts."

"What do you remember?"

"A place. Not a basestar. Cold running water. A room with big windows and trees outside."

Nereid? But she didn't say it out loud. Instead she asked, "What else?"

"People dressed in white."

"Humans?" Kara asked incredulously.

"I think so." He grimaced, obviously in pain.

"Where is this place?"

Leoben shook his head.

"Were there other Cylons there?"

He shook his head again. "Maybe. It was a big room."

"What you just remembered is important."

"I don't even know if it's real. It could be something Cavil planted to…test me, trip me up…who knows."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"I have something for you." He opened a drawer and took out a slim, leather-bound book. "Kataris," he said. "I found it when I was cleaning out some boxes of books in the storage room. It's signed. I thought you might like it. I read some of it but it doesn't mean much to me. I think I'm missing the poetry-appreciation subroutine. That must have gone to Number Seven."

Kara took the book. It was old but well-cared for. She opened it and looked at the flyleaf. The scrawled signature was almost illegible, but she recognized the K.

"Thank you. I like some of his stuff."

"Consider it a late graduation gift."

Kara stood. "I'd better go."

Leoben tried to smile. "Maybe in three months I can remember more."

Kara nodded. In three months they would be much closer to the Solstice and the coming battle. She didn't know if she and Leoben would have played whatever part they were destined to play by then or not. She didn't know what would happen to Leoben afterward. Maybe nothing if she never told anyone who he was. She might be able to protect this copy of Leoben, but she would soon have to give Sharon up.

Tomorrow she had an appointment with Admiral Adama. She had promised him a name.

…

Laura's driver let her out in front of the building where Gaius Baltar's lab was located. It was a modern structure, the lobby level all glass and metal and tile. Bill stood just inside the door. It opened automatically as she approached.

"I'm sorry that I'm late," she said.

"I don't think Dr. Baltar is going anywhere."

They walked to the elevator. Bill used a key card when they were inside that allowed him to select the floor of Baltar's lab. He pressed 33.

Laura smiled. "How convenient."

"I've had this card from the beginning. I insisted on it."

The elevator door opened and they got off. Bill took her arm and steered her to the left. They went to the third door and Bill once again used the key card. "This is where I've usually found him on past trips."

The room, which appeared to be empty of people, was filled with various kinds of lab equipment on several rows of high tables.

"No one's here," Laura said.

Bill held up his hand for silence, and Laura then heard the noise, a quick scuffling and muffled voices. Gaius Baltar's head appeared above one of the tables.

"We'll be in your office," Bill said.

When they were in the hall, Laura said, "Dear gods, was he…?"

Bill looked disgusted. "He was. One of his lab assistants no doubt."

"I guess that answers the question about his dedication to the project."

Bill used the card again to enter Baltar's office. Laura sat while Bill walked to the floor to ceiling window behind the desk. It was obvious they were in the city. Another skyscraper with large glass windows loomed across the street.

"Hardly conducive to his amorous adventures, is it?" Bill asked.

"Not unless he's an exhibitionist."

The door opened and Dr. Baltar entered smoothing his hair. "How did you get in?"

Bill held the card between two fingers.

"I thoroughly resent this intrusion," Baltar said. "This is my private office. You have no right."

"We had an appointment with you," Laura said coolly. "Fifteen minutes ago."

"I'm a busy man."

"So we noticed."

Baltar straightened his lab coat and went to sit behind his desk. "What do you want?"

"We want to know when we can expect some results from you," Laura said.

"Creating an anti-viral for an engineered virus is not an overnight task."

"You've had far longer than overnight. You've had the better part of a year."

"We don't believe you've utilized all your resources," Bill said.

"What does that mean?" Baltar asked defensively.

Laura said quickly. "We know you're seeing Natasi again."

Baltar opened his mouth like he was going to deny it and then said haughtily, "My private life is not your business."

"Has she offered you her help in getting the antiviral?" Bill asked.

"I told you last year that she denied their involvement in it. She said something like that was against God's will and none of them would have participated in something so heinous."

"And we showed you that isn't true," Bill said. "Simon was very involved. Also a copy of Natasi or Six or whatever she calls herself. We showed you the photographs of them together at CapGen Labs."

"A copy of her maybe, but not her. Natasi knows nothing about it. She preaches now. That's all. She's trying to spread the gospel of God's love among the people of Caprica."

Laura said, "God's love? An odd sentiment coming from you. I understand that you're an atheist, Dr. Baltar."

"Who told you that? Tory?"

Laura smiled without answering him. "Have you discussed your work with my former assistant?"

Baltar looked surprised. "Why would I do that? She has nothing to do with my work here."

"Keep it that way," Bill said. "Ms. Foster is going to work for Aaron Doral. She begins next Monday"

"Cavil's assistant?" The shock in Baltar's voice was genuine.

Laura was surprised. Baltar hadn't known. But then again how could he know that Doral was a Cylon? How could Tory know?

Bill said, "We've kept the scope of this project from the Cylons. It would be to your advantage to keep it that way. I doubt they would let it continue. Cavil thinks you're working on a cure for the cold virus. If you tell Ms. Foster and she tells Doral then Doral will tell Cavil. He will shut this project down so fast you won't even have time to say goodbye to your harem."

Baltar sniffed. "I'm not a fool. Besides, it's your fault she's going to work for Doral. Tory told me you fired her."

"She resigned," Laura said.

"Because of her relationship with me."

"As soon as you resumed seeing the Cylon, you became untrustworthy in our book. As President I couldn't have a member of my staff whispering all the doings of my office to her lover who would in turn pass them along to our enemy."

Baltar's expression changed momentarily and then the arrogant mask was back. "I'm not a traitor."

Bill said angrily. "You helped the Cylons develop a hybrid child, something that's half-human, half-machine. If that's not treason, I don't know what is."

"I thought I could string them along until they realized the task was hopeless. I never thought we would succeed," he whined.

"Is that what you're doing to us on this project? Stringing us along?" Laura asked.

Baltar stood and looked out the window. "This is more complicated than anything I've ever seen. But we are making progress."

"How long?" Laura asked coldly. "A month? Six months? A year?"

"Another year. At least another year."

Laura glanced at Bill. Her look told him that a year was not acceptable.

"You have until Laura takes office in January," Bill said firmly. "That's a little over four months from now. If you've not made progress, then we're bringing in someone else. You'll work for him."

"You can't do that to me. President Adar appointed me as head of this lab."

Laura stood. "Adar will no longer be President in four months. I can, and I will un-appoint you."

"If this is about Tory," Baltar whined again, "then perhaps we could negotiate."

Laura hoped her disgust showed. "It's not about Tory. It's about your lack of progress on an anti-viral medication for the majority of the schoolchildren on Caprica who have been infected, who will never bear children unless we find a remedy."

"I have made some progress. I gave Admiral Adama a report months ago."

"Then make some more progress," Bill said as he opened the door. "I'll be back and I don't expect to find you lying down on the job like you were today."

"I have a theory," Baltar blurted.

Bill and Laura stopped. "Spit it out," Bill said.

"It's just a theory."

"We don't have all day," Bill said impatiently.

"I think the virus only attacks a fertilized egg if both parents are human. I think Cylon DNA protects the zygote from being destroyed in utero."

Laura said, "Am I to understand that a Cylon or half-Cylon embryo would successfully implant?"

Baltar looked like he was one step away from wringing his hands. "I saw two cases at the lab where I used to work. The women had previously used birth control patches from CapGen Labs. They both were successfully implanted with hybrids."

"You're sure of this?" Bill asked.

"I have no proof now. As you well know, I don't have access to those records anymore."

Laura said, "So all you've done is give us further proof of a Cylon conspiracy to destroy humanity. What will come next? Breeding farms where young women are implanted and forced to bear hybrids?"

Bill grasped Laura's arm. She looked at him and realized that those breeding farms would never materialize.

"Keep working," Bill said to Baltar. "This theory doesn't let you off the hook."

When they were in the elevator, Laura sighed. "He is the most disgusting man I know. Now I wonder why he went to such lengths to get the Cylon back. You don't think he could have genuine feelings for her, do you?"

The elevator door opened and they were again in the lobby of the building. Bill told a security guard at the desk to call a transport for them.

"There's no way I'd try to read the mind of someone like Gaius Baltar," Bill said.

When they were seated in the back of the transport, Laura asked him, "Are you still seeing Fiona?"

"I had lunch with her several weeks ago. We're still friends. She's involved with someone."

"The man she was seeing last winter?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, Bill."

Their eyes met. "Don't be. My life between now and the Solstice is going to be too busy to pursue anything personal."

…

Kara let herself into Lee's apartment at two o'clock that afternoon. Months earlier he had given her a key because she often got through with Flight School on Friday afternoon before he got home from work.

She looked around the apartment. They had spent so much time together lately when Lee wasn't at work that he hadn't had time to clean it the way he usually did. Kara took off her boots and jeans and found an old pair of sweat pants that she had left over there. During the summer she had been leaving more and more things at his apartment.

She started in the living room with a duster. Her Viper Top Gun trophy didn't need dusting, but she dusted it anyway. His did. When she got to the CD player, she remembered the CD that Dreilide had given her. She retrieved it from her jacket pocket and put it on. She listened as she dusted everything in the apartment. She cleaned the bathroom, spending a lot of time on the shower. She doubted the shower had been that clean since Lee had moved in.

She changed the sheets and put the others in the small, stacked washer-dryer in the kitchen. She dragged his vacuum out of the hallway closet and vacuumed the carpet in the living room and his bedroom. She found a mop and bucket in the small utility closet and mopped the bathroom before she moved on to the kitchen. She cleaned and mopped it.

She had just put all the cleaning supplies away and was standing with the refrigerator door open getting a beer when she heard the apartment door open.

Lee came in and dropped his keys on the kitchen table.

"I thought that was your motorcycle in the parking garage. He walked over and kissed her lightly.

"Ugh, don't get too close. I'm sweaty. I've been cleaning. It should last for a couple of weeks at least."

Lee looked around. "Wow. What possessed you to do that?"

Kara couldn't look at him for a moment. It was already Thursday. Monday would be here before she was ready for it and she would be leaving.

She managed to smile. "Something to keep me busy. I need to stay busy."

"I thought you'd be at home today with John and Braedon."

"D'Anna Biers was coming over to interview Dad. She was supposed to do it last week, but she had to cancel for some reason. I didn't want to be there."

"How long have you been here?"

"A couple of hours. I went to see Jack Fisk this morning and then Dreilide. He gave me another CD. He's getting worse."

"I'm sorry."

Kara shrugged. "I don't know what kind of shape he'll be in when I get back here in November. Then I went to see Yolanda Brenn. She and Keshia gave me a gift, too. Two little statues. Apollo and Artemis."

"That was nice of them."

"Then I went to see Leoben. He gave me something, too. A book of poetry by Kataris. Leoben thinks he remembers being somewhere other than a basestar. I think it might be Nereid."

"Did he say he remembered being on a planet?"

"No, but he remembered a room with windows and trees. He wouldn't see trees on a basestar. I think it might have been the place where the skinjobs were created. And then it might have been memories that Cavil planted in his brain. He said trying to remember is painful. He's going to try to remember more anyway."

"I guess I'd better mention this to my dad," Lee said.

"Why? He won't care. He's still going to nuke the planet."

"He hasn't made a final decision yet. I asked him."

"That's what caused my dad and Laura to have their argument. Laura sides with your dad. She agrees that rescuing prisoners is too costly. You agree with them, too."

"I didn't say that I agree completely, but I understand why my dad won't risk half the fleet fighting the Cylons over Nereid when there may not be but a handful of humans on the planet. There's no way he's going to put Caprica in jeopardy for a few prisoners. Knowing the Cylons, they'd kill them anyway before they let us rescue them."

"You're probably right. Still, I keep thinking how I would feel if I were on that planet and had survived for five years and all I got for it was a Colonial nuke dropped on me."

"I learned in War College…"

"I know all about what you learned in War College," she interrupted. "Sometimes you have to roll the hard six and kill some humans to get the Cylons. I'm going to take a shower. Finish the beer before it gets hot."

She turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Lee waited a minute before he followed her. She had left the bathroom door open. She was standing at the sink in her underwear, the sweatpants and t-shirt on the floor. The water was running in the shower.

He turned the water off. "Okay, what's going on?"

She turned and crossed her arms. "What if I think your War College scenario sucks? What if I think we should consider rescuing those prisoners because they're human beings just like us?"

Lee put his arms around her. "It's a fine reason. I told you I don't totally agree with my dad and Laura. If he asked for volunteers to go to Nereid on a rescue mission, I'd volunteer. I hate the thought of someone surviving for five years only to be killed by us. But if I were one of those prisoners on Nereid, I wouldn't want anyone to put the fate of the human race in jeopardy just to try to rescue me and a few fellow prisoners. I'd want all our battlestars protecting Caprica."

Kara put her arms around him. "Part of me wants to stay here on Caprica with you."

"I know," Lee said softly. "Part of me wants to go to the G with you. But I've got a mission here."

"And I've got to get some experience flying in deep space."

He kissed her, his tongue finding hers.

She tried to pull back. "I'm dirty and sweaty."

"I don't care."

"Let me at least take a shower."

"We can shower together…later."

Kara felt him hard against her. He kicked off his shoes while she was unbuttoning his uniform tunic. It fell to the floor. He unzipped his pants and slid trousers and shorts to the floor. He let her caress him while he unhooked her bra. He leaned down and licked her nipples. He tasted the salt of her sweat.

Kara knelt and took him in her mouth. He'd never let her do that to him for very long because he couldn't stand it. She didn't know if that was the truth or maybe she didn't know how to do it right. He'd never let her pleasure him all the way like that even though he had done it to her a number of times. If there was one thing Lee Adama was all about when it came to their lovemaking, it was about pleasing her. He always put himself second.

Lee gripped the edge of the sink, breathed deep and shut his eyes. He could barely take the feeling, much less watching her do it. In only a few minutes he was ready, his body screaming at him to let her finish it that way, but he reached down and pulled her to her feet.

"How are we going to…" Kara started, but Lee turned her around facing away from him. She knew what to do. They'd done it like that in the shower before. She bent over slightly and arched her back allowing him inside.

She moaned, "Oh, yes," as he thrust.

He slid his hand around the front and found the hard center of her pleasure. It pushed her over the edge. Her knuckles were white against the sink as she said his name. "Lee, oh, Lee."

He let her hang there for a long, torturous moment before he joined her. She saw him in the mirror, saw the pleasure tighten his face while his body tensed and his arms tightened around her. He pressed into her as deep as he could.

They both stood breathing hard. Lee leaned over and kissed her shoulder, tasted the salt of her body again.

"Shower," she finally said.

Lee turned on the water and let it get warm. They stepped in together. Kara scrubbed her body and then turned around so Lee could soap her back. They rinsed and got out of the shower. Lee wrapped a big towel around her.

"If you were on the Galactica…" Kara started.

"It wouldn't be this private."

"I know. We'll still have bunks with curtains."

"That wouldn't be so private either. You'll see when you get there."

"At least we'd be together."

"Kara, we'll make it through these next couple of months."

She put her arms around his neck. "Call in an order for a pizza. I don't want to leave for dinner."

"You'll be so busy when you get on the G that three months will pass before you know it. You're going to love flying your Viper in space."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better about going."

"Maybe I'm trying to make me feel better."

Kara forced a smile. "You're right. What's three months?"

"Yeah," Lee echoed. "What's three months?"

…

Friday morning Kara looked again at the slip of paper in her hand. Room 303. The receptionist had given it to her at the desk along with a visitor badge. The Marine guard checked it before she got on the elevator and rode it to the third floor. She entered the office. Bill's aide, a serious looking captain, picked up the phone and spoke to the admiral before she motioned Kara to the next door.

The office wasn't huge, but it was nice. There were dark wood bookcases and a dark wood desk similar to Laura's. There was a painting on the wall that looked like it could have come from a museum.

Bill stood. "Come in, Kara."

"This is very nice, sir."

He smiled. "I'm glad you approve."

"Who did the painting?"

"Monclair. It was a gift from a former commander of mine when I made colonel. I brought it from the Galactica. One day it will go back along with the rug and the lamps and the desk. And me."

Kara smiled. "And the books?"

"And the books. Are you packed and ready?"

"Almost."

"You'll find Commander Cain is hard and a stickler for the rules, but she's fair. Keep your nose clean and obey orders. Watch that mouth and you should get along fine with her."

"Thank you, sir. I'll try."

He took a sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to her. "The nugget roster for Monday's deployment. Which one is the Cylon?"

Kara looked down at the names. She handed the list back to him. "Sharon Valerii. She's their number eight. The last Cylon created…that we know about. They made her brain the most human. They sent her down here to learn about human emotions and now she's more human than she is Cylon."

Bill looked skeptical. "That could be a clever ploy."

"She loves Karl. She'll do anything to stay with him. She'll help us any way she can."

"She's got to have a mission. There's got to be something in her programming. I can't believe the Cylons would give one of them that much freedom of choice."

"She's supposed to get word back to Cavil about the true morale of the fleet…the true feelings of the pilots and crew and any plans that are being made. She's going to tell him that morale is down and that the pilot training isn't going too well."

"How will she communicate with him?"

"She said she would know when she got on board."

"Then your job is to find out how and what she's communicating and tell the Galactica's XO, Colonel Saul Tigh. He'll get word to me."

"You're going to tell him about Sharon? I thought that this would be our secret, sir. That it would be between you and me."

"Saul is my eyes and ears on board ship."

"Then you're not going to tell Commander Cain?"

"I can't. Cain would kill Lieutenant Valerii…or worse. But I warn you. One false step and your Cylon will be back on Caprica in a Colonial prison."

"When we fight, she'll fight with us."

Bill turned, walked around behind his desk and sat. "I hope you're right."

"I know I am," Kara said with a lot more confidence than she felt at the moment. "Will that be all, sir?" Kara asked.

"Good hunting, Starbuck."

Kara smiled. "Thank you, sir. About Lee's mission…"

My son will perform his mission and come home safely."

"Yes, sir. I know he will."

"Where's your faith?" Bill asked. "The mission was your idea."

"I never thought when I said it that anyone would take me seriously."

"I did. I like outside-of-the-box. It gives us an edge. The Cylons aren't any good at outside-of-the-box. When do you leave to go to the John's cottage?"

"As soon as I leave here. Lee took today off. We're meeting my dad at the ship."

"Enjoy the sun. You won't see it again for three months."

…

Lee and Kara walked hand in hand down the beach. The sun was low on the horizon. John had taken Braedon up to the cottage to feed him.

Kara said, "We should go back soon. I know my dad will need some help with Braedon or getting something ready for dinner."

Lee stopped and turned to her. "John didn't say anything about me sleeping on the couch."

"I know. He's not going to, either. I mean it's really stupid. We spent a week down here by ourselves. He knows we didn't sleep in separate bedrooms."

"It'll still feel strange."

"Then sleep on the couch," Kara said irritably. "I'm not going to force you to sleep with me."

Lee grinned. "Come on, Kara, lighten up. How would you feel if we were down here with my dad? Wouldn't you feel strange sleeping with me?"

Kara shrugged. "I gave him Sharon's name today. I've got to find out how she's supposed to communicate with Cavil and then tell Colonel Tigh. I've heard my dad and Laura talk about him. I know he's a drunk and his wife sleeps around and he puts up with it. What kind of man lets his wife frak other men and doesn't do anything about it?"

"Stay out of Tigh's personal life. He's a good officer or my dad wouldn't have him on the G or trust him the way he does."

"Whatever. Let's not argue about this now. That's not why we're down here."

They got back to the cottage to find Braedon fussy and not wanting to eat.

"Let me," Kara told her father. "You and Lee fix us something for dinner. Braedon just wants his bottle, not those mashed up vegetables."

"This is the same stuff he eats at home without any problems," John said.

Kara wiped Braedon's mouth and picked him up from the high chair. She took his bottle from the table and sat down with him. Braedon began very contentedly sucking the bottle.

"We're not at home," she said to her father. "You were walking him all over the beach this afternoon. He's probably just tired."

Kara looked down at her brother. His eyes were already half closed. She knew how much she was going to miss him.

That night after they ate, Lee volunteered to clean up. Kara helped him. The three of them played a few hands of triad and Kara won easily. She could tell that her father's mind was not on the game.

"I'm going to bed," he said after losing the third straight hand. "It's been a long day."

"I think we're going down to the beach again for a walk," she said.

John smiled. "The moonlight is nice tonight. It reminds me of the first time Laura and I came down here."

On the way out, Kara grabbed a beach towel.

"That's what's wrong with Dad," she said to Lee.

"What?"

"He misses Laura. She should have come. This place is special to my dad. It's where they made Braedon."

"You mentioned that the last time we were here."

They walked down the now familiar path between the rocks. The water was silver with the moonlight. Carefully they spread the towel and sat down. Lee lay back with his arm under his head. Kara propped on her elbows and looked up at the stars. The sky seemed filled with them.

Lee said, "Out here on the beach it seems like we're alone in the universe."

"Did you ever think that somewhere out there other humans might be looking at the sky and saying the same thing?"

"The odds favor it. There are billions of galaxies in the universe."

"Forget about the odds," Kara said. "Doesn't your heart tell you that we're not alone?"

"My mind tells me the odds favor some kind of life evolving on other planets."

"Where is your poetic soul?" Kara kidded. "Have you never read Kataris?"

Lee teased her, "I didn't think you liked Kataris because he wrote dark, sad stuff, but since Leoben gave you a book of his poetry, you're a big fan now."

"I don't like his love poetry. It is sad, but some of his other stuff is okay. He wrote a poem about a poet telling the story of the exodus of the Twelve Tribes from Kobol. It's called The Torches of Other Worlds. That's what he called the stars."

Lee slid his hand up her arm and pulled her down to him. He could hardly think about not being able to see her or touch her for three months. He kissed her and tried not to let his sadness show.

They were suddenly all hands, all heat and eagerness. He had a momentary remembrance of making love to her early in the summer, naked and unashamed on this same beach, and then the fire of the moment erased all thoughts from his mind except the feel of her hands and her mouth on him and then her body.

As they lay together afterward, listening to the waves rolling onto the beach, they saw the flash of a meteor streak across the sky.

"A falling star," Kara said.

"It's not really a star. It's cosmic debris that got caught in Caprica's gravitational pull and burned up in the atmosphere."

Kara elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "Thank you, Mr. Science. I know it's not a star, but that's what we used to call them when I was growing up on Picon. Falling stars. Karl told me that every time you saw one you could make a wish and it would come true."

"Which one of us gets to make the wish?"

"We both do. We both saw it."

"You first," Lee said. "Make your wish."

"I wish for you to come home safely from Nereid. Now make your wish."

"I'm going to save my wish for later."

"Why?"

"I'll save it for when I really need it. They don't expire, do they, these wishes on a falling star?"

"I don't think so."

"Then I'll wait."

…

Early Monday morning her father drove Kara to the airbase where the personnel transport was waiting that would take the nuggets and any other returning crew to the Galactica. Her footlocker had been sent ahead. She had only her duffel bag.

Her flight left at 06:00 and would take almost six hours to reach the Galactica since the transports were no longer allowed to jump. She and her father spoke very little on the twenty-minute trip. She knew that both of them were hanging on to their emotions by very slender threads.

She and Lee had said their goodbyes the night before. It was more painful than she had imagined and she had cried despite her intention to be brave. He had kept it together for her sake and for that she was grateful. If he had lost it, she would probably still be crying.

Lee had to be at the airbase for his usual Monday morning training flight. Kara looked at her watch as she and her father approached the gate. Lee would be eating breakfast now. He had to be at the base and suited up by 07:00 for the pre-flight briefing.

They pulled up to the gate and her father showed his ID. The guard waved them through and he found a parking place.

Kara got out and saw the big personnel carrier on the tarmac. There were a number of people waiting to board. The person who checked them onto the ship hadn't yet arrived. Her father got her duffel bag out of the trunk. Kara thought she felt the first hint of autumn in the air, a coolness and dryness that she hadn't felt before. She thought of the previous year when she had started at the Academy. The time had passed so quickly. Now school was starting again.

"I know you don't want me hanging around," John said.

"Hang around all you want." She put her arms around him. "I'll be back in three months."

"I know," he said tightly.

"You'll be busy teaching cadets and the time will pass quick and…"

"Every time I see that simulator, I'll think of you."

"Every time you hear somebody's big mouth you'll think about me."

He smiled. "That, too."

"Show Braedon my picture every day. Don't let him forget me."

"I won't. Maybe he'll even be able to say your name right when you get home. We're going to practice."

"I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too, Kara."

"I'll write."

"You'd better."

The emotion was welling in her. "I don't want to cry."

He kissed her forehead. "I'm going. You take care. No crazy stunts."

"No crazy stunts," she echoed.

He turned and got into the car. She waved and he put up his hand before he backed out of the parking spot and drove away. She watched the taillights of the car disappear through the gate before she shouldered the bag and walked over to the crew milling around near the bottom of the steps leading into the transport. Saying goodbye was hard for her. It had always been hard for her.

She saw Noel Allison and Dwight Saunders and walked over to them. Saunders was sitting on the tarmac beside his duffel bag with his head on his knees.

"Hey, guys," she said.

"Be careful how loud you talk," Narcho said. "Somebody overdid the celebration of our last night of freedom for a while."

"Shame on somebody," she joked.

"You and Lee should have been there."

"The Shark Rider?"

"Our very own Saunders got up and played the guitar. Seelix sang."

"A man of many talents," she said to Saunders. "I didn't know you played the guitar."

"I don't," he moaned.

Kara snickered. "I can't wait for amateur night on board ship. I'm sure somebody has a guitar you can borrow."

Saunders didn't look up. "Funny, Starbuck."

Kara looked at Noel. "Have you seen Karl and Sharon?"

He pointed. "Here they come now."

Kara turned. Karl and Sharon exited the terminal building in the distance just as a jeep pulled up and a captain with a clipboard got out. She looked at her watch. 05:50.

Karl and Sharon began to run. Karl was breathing hard from running and carrying his duffel bag when they arrived at the group, but Sharon seemed like the exertion was nothing.

"Man, we overslept," Karl huffed.

Sharon looked at Kara and smiled and Kara knew that it wasn't oversleeping that had caused them to almost be late. They were celebrating their last bit of privacy for three months.

Noel kicked Saunders' duffel bag. "Get up or get left here."

Saunders struggled to his feet. "Watch it! You're going to break something. I hope we can sleep on these ships."

"Line up," the captain with the clipboard shouted.

As they formed a line, Kara glanced back. She saw Maggie and Diana Seelix talking. Seelix looked almost as hung over as Saunders. Maggie looked fresh and bright-eyed. Either she had skipped The Shark Rider or she had not overindulged. She wondered if Maggie had spent her last night on Caprica for three months with Zak.

On board the transport, Noel motioned for her to sit beside him. Saunders had gone to the back and found a window seat alone. He would probably be asleep before the ship left the ground.

Pike got on board and also found a seat by himself.

"I never really got a chance to congratulate you on the Top Gun trophy," Noel said.

"Congratulations on getting in the top three."

He nodded. "I also want to tell you what a good teacher your dad is in the simulator. He knows his stuff. We all owe a lot to him. When I was having a hard time in the beginning, he stayed late a couple of times with me and made sure I understood everything. He made me believe I could do it."

"I'll tell him you said so. It'll mean a lot to him."

"Did you grow up in Caprica City?"

"Nope. On Picon. What about you?"

"I was born in Kinsdale. My dad was a contractor. We moved a lot. He and my mom divorced when I was ten. He was on Scorpia working at the shipyards when the Cylons attacked. My mom and I were in Delphi. She died two years ago and I came to Caprica City to live with her brother, my uncle. He convinced me to go to the Academy. He had served on the Columbia years ago."

"My dad was stationed on the Solaria during the last years of fighting the Cylons in the First War and a couple of years afterward. Buzz Jessups was on the Solaria, too. Colonel Winters was the CAG then."

"No kidding. Your dad served with Winters and Jessups?"

Kara rolled her eyes. "I think my dad was one of Winters' biggest headaches. My dad liked to have fun."

"Nothing wrong with that," Noel said. "What about your mom?"

"She was a Marine. She stayed behind with her unit."

"Any brothers or sisters?" He asked.

Kara shook her head and then said. "A half-brother. My dad and Laura have a little boy. He's ten months old. And Karl and I have known each other since I was eight and he was nine. He's like a brother. What about you?"

"I had an older sister. She was studying to be a priest. She was at the temple in Delphi when it was bombed. She died. My mom never got over it. She couldn't understand how the gods would let a priest be killed."

"I know a woman who was a priest in Delphi. She lives in Caprica City now. She left the priesthood. She's an Oracle. She was blinded in the bombing. One side of her face is scarred from glass or shrapnel or something."

"What's her name?"

"Yolanda Brenn. She probably knew your sister."

"I don't remember that name, but I was only fourteen when it happened. How do you know her?"

"A friend who runs a bookstore told me about her," she said.

"So does she tell fortunes?"

"She doesn't say stuff like, 'You'll marry a rich man and have eight kids.' It's more like thoughts that come into her mind when she takes your hand. She doesn't even know what most of them mean. She tells you, but you have to interpret it for yourself."

"Maybe when we get back to Caprica City in a couple of months, you can tell me where to find her. I'd like to talk to her and see if she remembers my sister."

"You'd probably like the place she lives. It's close to the waterfront."

Noel grinned. "Maybe in a couple of months I'll be ready to visit the waterfront again. I might even talk Saunders into going with me."

Kara felt the transport begin to move. She looked out the window of the ship. The rising sun cast golden light on the runway much as the rising sun had given Caprica City a golden glow the morning she had first seen it. Kara relaxed into her seat. She was on her way to yet another phase of her life.

…

The personnel transport docked in the big landing bay on Galactica's starboard side. They had to wait for the inner doors to close and the area to pressurize before they exited the ship. The pilots were told to go to one section of the landing bay. Their CAG, Captain Cole Taylor, welcomed them aboard and gave them their bunk assignments. Kara glanced around as they shouldered their duffel bags and began following an ensign toward the landing bay's exit. There were eight new Viper pilots and seven new Raptor pilots in the group.

Diana Seelix was the only pilot of the nuggets assigned to bunk in the same quarters as her. The rest of them were split over six different bunkrooms. Karl and Sharon were separated. She knew how much they hated that. Noel Allison and Dwight Saunders were separated, too. She thought Maggie and Noel were assigned to the same room. She thought Pike was also assigned to that room. All that mattered to her was that Pike wasn't in the same quarters with her. She didn't care who the other pilots were as long as one of them wasn't Pike.

"Feeling better?" She asked Seelix as they began putting items from their duffels into their lockers.

"I'll live," Seelix answered.

"You and Saunders have a thing?"

Seelix shrugged. "We've hooked up a couple of times. Nothing serious. He's a nice guy. A lot more considerate than some of the jerks I've dated."

Two pilots, a male and a female, walked in wrapped only in towels. Kara glanced at them and thought they looked familiar.

"Nug-gets," the female said.

"Welcome aboard," the guy said.

"Thanks," Kara replied. "Do I know you?"

"Brendan Constanza. Hot Dog. This is Louanne Katraine. Kat."

"Zeno's," Kara said.

Hot Dog smiled. "Last year during the pyramid semi-finals. You said you rode a motorcycle."

She had met them as Carrie Warner. She hoped neither one of them remembered her name.

"Not last year. Almost two years. I don't ride a motorcycle anymore except for fun. I fly a Viper now."

Kat said, "Time sure flies when you're having fun. We always have fun on the Galactica. Don't we, Bad Dog?"

"It's a laugh a minute. Commander Cain is a real comedian."

Kara could tell by the way he said it that Commander Cain was anything but a comedian.

"So what's your name?" Kat asked. "Sorry if I don't remember after two years."

"Kara Thrace, Starbuck. This is Diana Seelix, Hardball."

"Starbuck and Hardball. Are you like a team or something?"

"We went to the Academy together."

Hot Dog went over to his locker, turned his back, dropped his towel and pulled on his underwear. Kara quickly looked away. Seelix didn't.

Kat laughed. "You get used to seeing naked butts. Of course some of us put on our underwear under our towels instead of showing our naked asses to everybody. A battlestar is not a place for the modest."

"That's what Lee told me," Kara said before she realized she should have kept her mouth shut.

Seelix turned from her locker. "That's Lee Adama, the admiral's son."

"Woo Hoo," Kat said. "Starbuck here dates an admiral's son. I guess you think that makes you hot stuff."

"You don't know the half of it," Diana said.

"Thanks, Seelix," Kara snapped.

"They would have found out sooner or later. I just did you a favor. Now it doesn't look like you're trying to hide something."

Kara resumed putting away items from her duffel bag. Seelix was probably right. She taped a picture of her and Lee to the inside of the locker door. It was a good one that her father had taken at Bonnie Patrice the night of her Academy graduation party. Lee had his arm around her and they were both smiling. He looked so good. Kara remembered how happy she was that night.

"Hey, Hot Stuff," Kat said. "Just so you don't go getting ideas. Dating an admiral's son don't mean squat when you're in a Viper. I'm Top Gun on this ship. Get used to it."

Hot Dog had on his uniform by then. He turned after he combed back his damp hair.

"Don't listen to Kat. She likes to run her mouth."

Kat laughed loudly. "Oh, yeah, Dog? Who flies circles around you out there?"

From behind the closed curtains of a bunk, an angry voice said, "Will you all shut the frak up? Some of us fly night CAP. We're trying to sleep."

Kara quietly closed the door of her locker as Louanne Katraine noisily opened hers. Living on a battlestar was going to take some getting used to.

…

Lee put the large envelope on Kevin Abinell's work table. Abinell looked up.

"What's this?"

"You said you're a Buccaneers fan. My brother works PR for them."

Kevin opened the metal clips of the envelope and pulled out the photographs. One was a publicity shot, a glossy eight by ten of Sam Anders in his uniform. Anders had autographed it. The other was a shot of the team that had been autographed by all of them.

"Thanks, man." Kevin propped both of the photographs against the wall behind the table and looked at them. "This is too cool. Anders is the man."

"He's a good player," Lee agreed. "The C-Bucks should have won last spring."

"They sure should have."

"Do I get to try the sim in Sadie today?"

"Why not? You want to put something on over that uniform."

"I'll brave it. Kara told me to get an air freshener."

Kevin snickered. "How's Kara doing?"

"She left this morning for a year-long deployment on a battlestar. I won't get to see her for three months."

"That bites, man."

Just talking about it gave Lee a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't believe that Kara was now aboard the Galactica and that the G was six hours away at a third the speed of light.

He heaved himself up into Sadie. Kevin poked his head through the opening.

"Same setup. Try the cameras this time. You'll get a good view of the floor. I put a picture on the concrete so you'll know when the cameras are on…although your girlfriend might not appreciate it."

Lee turned on the computer and waited while it booted. In the last several weeks he had gotten good at getting Sadie smoothly off the ground and into flight. But Kevin was right. Doing it lying on his stomach wasn't as easy as doing it sitting in front of the computer on the table.

It took several tries to master a smooth takeoff. He flicked the switch that turned on the cameras and started laughing. He would have to write Kara about Kevin's sense of humor. The picture on the floor was the centerfold from a men's magazine with the head of a centurion pasted on top.

Kevin had said that he and Rick didn't know where Lee was going in Sadie, but they had obviously figured out that it had something to do with the Cylons.

Lee couldn't stop laughing. It added a whole new meaning to the term skinjob.