Chapter 75
The Day After
The air battle that ensued over Caprica after the destruction of the Cylon basestar began just after midnight and continued until early the next morning. A large number of Cylon Raiders were destroyed before they unleashed their deadly payloads, but some made it through the Colonial defenses, wreaking destruction across all sectors of the city. Government buildings seemed to be the main targets. Marble House was untouched, but six government buildings including the Capitol Building and the Colonial Library suffered damage. Fires started by crashing ships soon overwhelmed the firefighting forces in the city. The loss in lives eventually numbered over fifteen thousand with nearly twice that many injured.
- Bartell, History of the Second Cylon War
.
Kara streaked into the Galactica's port landing bay. Although she easily made the trap, she still knew that if she had come in like that under normal circumstances, the LSO and the CAG would have chewed her out. But these weren't normal circumstances. She was out of ammunition and anxious to get back into the fight.
She waited impatiently while her Viper was lifted toward the hangar deck.
As soon as the elevator reached the top and her Viper was towed off, she slid her canopy back. A crewman rushed a ladder over to her and helped her off with her helmet.
"I'm not staying," she said to him. "I need bullets and missiles."
Galen Tyrol came running over. "Starbuck?"
"I need bullets, Chief. ASAP."
"It'll take fifteen minutes, sir."
"Frak. Why so long?"
"Some of these crewman have never loaded live ammo on a Viper before tonight. They're slow and cautious."
"Nothing wrong with cautious but could you speed it up?"
"We want to do it right. The last thing we need is an accident on the hangar deck." He shouted to a crewman. "Fuel this Viper and load it with ammo."
Kara climbed out of the cockpit and tried to stretch her cramped muscles. She knew how sweat-soaked her hair was. She knew she probably smelled. She was also probably seriously dehydrated, but the feeling of thirst hadn't caught up with her yet.
"What happened up there?" She asked Tyrol. "Did you take out your basestar?"
"Yes, sir. It launched a lot of Raiders before we destroyed it. The other three battlestars stayed to engage them. Admiral Adama ordered us back here to help out over Caprica."
"Did you hear anything about the other basestars and the resurrection hub?"
"Destroyed, but all of them got Raiders out before it happened so the battlestars had to stay to take them on. We heard that the Valkerie and the Atlas took bad hits. They lost a lot of crew. I'm sure there were others that had damage. We were lucky."
"Cain is a good commander."
"She is. I heard what your father did to the basestar over Caprica." He hesitated and then said, "I'm…sorry, sir."
Kara turned on him. "My father's fine. He'll be waiting for me when I land on Caprica."
She saw the surprise in his eyes but he didn't challenge her. "You need something to drink, sir?"
"I probably need something to drink."
"Cally," Chief shouted, "bring Starbuck something to drink."
The young woman brought an energy drink to her. Kara twisted it open and turned it up. She drained half of it before she stopped.
"What's it like out there, sir?" Cally asked.
Kara thought it was a stupid question, but she bit back a sarcastic reply. Cally was probably no older than she was. How could she know what kind of combat conditions they were facing? It wasn't like the crew of the G could stand at a window and watch what was happening. Before tonight Kara only had some video games, a handful of sims and her father's stories to guide her imagination about real combat. Cally hadn't even had that much.
"We're outnumbered," Kara said. "That's why I need to get back out there."
She finished the drink and handed the empty bottle to Cally before she climbed the steps back up to her Viper. She had some more Cylons to kill.
"Another Viper coming in," she heard someone shout.
"Get ready!" Chief called. "Come on! Move it! Move it! Get this bird to the launch tube."
Kara put her helmet back on and for a few minutes, as she sat waiting for her Viper to be readied for launch, exhaustion overwhelmed her. Then it was gone. She was ready to go back out and rejoin the fight. She was ready to kill more Cylons and get back to Caprica and see her father and Lee.
The launch tube's outer door opened. She automatically pushed her head back against the headrest in anticipation of the G-force that would slam her body. She managed the thumbs up and salute. Captain Kelly pressed the button that accelerated the electromagnetic catapult with her Viper attached down the triangular tube and out into space. She had done this so many times in the last three months with Cylon Raiders waiting on her, but only to watch her go through training exercises, not waiting to kill her.
Kara heard Narcho make wireless contact that he was also headed into the G for more ammunition. She couldn't wait for him. The Raiders that were left were all engaging the Vipers. There were no more trying to make it through the atmosphere to Caprica. The ones that had made it through had done their damage by now. Up here they were still outnumbered, but the odds were getting better. With renewed determination, she rejoined the fight.
…
His thirst wasn't overwhelming…yet. The pain in Lee's right leg was stronger than his desire for something to drink. It was a throbbing ache, like an extremely bad toothache. He knew it was broken. He had felt it crack as he'd hit the water hard and at an angle. Later he was sure he could remember hearing the sound of the snap, but that was just one more way that his mind had begun to play tricks on him.
He was so pumped up with adrenalin that on impact the leg hadn't hurt…not until he had tried to kick his way to the surface after his deep plunge under the dark water. At least he'd remembered to release his parachute before he'd gone too deep. That hadn't stopped the feeling of panic, though, as he'd found himself far underwater in a blackness so total that it had instantly spun him into his worst childhood nightmares…of something waiting in the darkness to grab his leg and drag him into the depths, like the hand in the horror film that comes out from underneath the bed and catches your ankle. He sucked oxygen in great gulps and for the first time that night, he panicked. He began to struggle, trying to claw his way to the surface.
On his first hard kick he felt the pain, sickening and knife-sharp in his lower leg and knew what had happened when he'd impacted the water. There were two bones in the lower leg, a larger one and a smaller one. He couldn't think of their names. He wondered if he'd broken one or both of them.
He reached the surface gasping and wondered how much oxygen was left in the tank attached to his back…a lot less than there probably had been before he'd hit the water.
He was aware of the nausea again and the rivulets of sweat running down his face. His didn't know if his helmet was compromised by hitting the water or not. Even a small crack would eventually let in water. What had Kara called it? Drowning inside a fish bowl? At some point, though, his oxygen would run out and he'd have to open the helmet in order to breathe.
At least he hadn't fallen into a raging sea. The waves were small and rolling gently. His buoyant flight suit held his head above the water as he bobbed across the crests and dipped in the troughs. He couldn't feel any cold yet. Maybe he was still too pumped up on adrenalin or maybe he was closer to the equator and in warmer water. He struggled and pulled off a glove. The water wasn't like a bathtub, but it was about the same temperature as the summer ocean on the island. Hypothermia wasn't an immediate concern. Maybe he could forget about dying from hypothermia and worry about drowning or dying of dehydration or getting eaten by something. He wasn't sure now that hypothermia wouldn't be the easiest way to go. It sure as hell beat dying of thirst, but even that beat getting eaten by something.
He tried to keep himself still and let the flight suit hold him up. He'd always heard that thrashing in the water was a sure way to attract ocean predators, and he was sure the ocean had its share of predators that could see much better in the dark than he could.
There was a transponder in his flight suit that had activated when he'd ejected, but its range was limited. It wasn't designed to aid in locating a downed pilot from a thousand miles away. Its signal was designed for minimal distances. How many ships were within a hundred mile radius with the proper equipment to pick up his transponder signal?
His leg throbbed as he looked toward the horizon and he was acutely aware for the first time of his thirst. He was surrounded by water and not a drop of it was drinkable. The ultimate irony had to be death from dehydration in the middle of trillions of gallons of water.
He tried to put the thirst out of his mind. The sky was lighter. A new day was dawning, their first day free of Cylon control in five years and he'd played a part in making it happen. He thought of Kara again, of his love for her and hoped that she had made it through the fight.
He closed his eyes for what he thought was only a moment, but when he opened them, the sky had lightened to a soft shade of pearl gray with a few wispy pink clouds. There was a faint line of gold at the horizon.
For a long time he listened, but he heard nothing except the soft slap of the water against his helmet and his own breathing. There were no ships in the sky overhead looking for him. There were no rescue ships steaming over the horizon. He was alone in the ocean. He thought of Kara again, of Posiden's daughter. He closed his eyes. It was too bad he didn't believe in the gods. He could use a little of Posiden's help right now.
…
Laura's sleep was that of complete physical and emotional exhaustion, deep and dreamless. She would probably have slept on into the day had it not been for a hand gently shaking her.
John. She wondered why he was waking her when the room was still so dark, when it was still night. She wondered why he was shaking her instead of kissing her shoulder and her neck like he usually did. "Mmm," she said.
"Laura?" Maya's voice. "Laura, there's someone here to see you."
She came up through the final layer of sleep in a rush. She knew where she was. The room was dark because she was deep underground. Laura opened her eyes. Light from the suite's living room came through the open bedroom doorway. She heard her son's voice calling. "Yaya. Yaya."
Laura sat up. Sometime after she had gone to sleep, Maya had covered her with a blanket.
"What?" Laura said. "Braedon? Is something wrong?"
"Braedon's fine. You told me to wake you if someone came. Admiral Adama is here."
Laura sat and groggily put her feet on the floor. "Tell him I'll be out in a minute."
Maya turned on the bedside lamp and went out, shutting the door behind her. Laura got up and went to the bathroom. Maya, or someone, had put out some personal supplies beside the sink…towels and washcloths, soap, a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Quickly she washed her face and brushed her teeth. She ran her fingers through her tangled hair and pushed it from her face.
Bill was standing when she entered the living room. He walked toward her and took her hands in his. "I've asked your nanny to take Braedon down the hall."
Laura tried to read his eyes, red-rimmed and swollen from lack of sleep and the terrible stress of the night.
"What's wrong? Where's John?" And then she knew why Bill was there. She knew why he had asked Maya to leave with Braedon.
"Oh no! Oh, gods, no! No! Please! No!"
Her knees buckled. Bill caught her and got her to the couch. He went to the sideboard and poured a glass of whiskey. He held it to her lips until she had taken a long, burning swallow.
"How?" She whispered.
With halting words Bill explained to her how and why John had taken the Raptor and Raider to the basestar.
She began shaking her head in disbelief and whispering, No.
"Something went wrong, Laura. The delayed timer on the explosives didn't function. John went back. He saved millions of lives."
Laura was still shaking her head. "No. He can't be gone," she said irrationally. "He promised me. He promised he'd come back. He would never break a promise to me."
Bill took her hand in both of his. "His Raptor had jump capability. The engineers who worked on that ship programmed a set of coordinates into it…not far, just beyond the orbit of Thyone, far enough to be out of range of the basestar. We thought there might have been a slim chance that John…made it out, but I've had Raptors scouring every bit of space between here and there and a long way beyond those coordinates. They've been looking all night. They haven't found any trace of his Raptor. We're going to keep looking, but I don't want to give you false hope. It's our belief now that he was still on that basestar when it exploded."
Her lips began to tremble as tears flooded her eyes. The shock and pain rose in her voice. "How could you have let him take that ship up?"
Bill dropped his eyes and bowed his head at the accusation in her voice.
"Kara?" Laura choked. "Please don't tell me I've lost my daughter, too."
"She's still alive. She refueled on the Galactica and has joined their pilots. They're mopping up the last of the Raiders."
"And Lee?"
Bill shook his head. "My son is missing. His Viper went down over the ocean. The last contact we had from him was high in the atmosphere. He could be anywhere in thousands of square miles. We're not even sure he got out of the Viper. I've got search and rescue ships out, but…there's so much territory to cover. Even if he made it to the surface in one piece, his chances of survival…aren't good. It's been nearly four hours now. Every hour that goes by…" his voice broke and he couldn't continue.
Tears ran down Laura's cheeks. Cavil was in a prison cell. They had destroyed the basestar. They were winning their freedom, but the cost they had already paid was high. Was it too high?
"Oh, gods, Bill," she choked. "What have we done?"
His jaw was clenched in pain. "I've sent a good man, a good friend to his death, and I've probably killed my son."
Bill put his face in his hands, and for the first time in all the years that Laura had known him, he broke down and wept.
…
"You know being dead isn't the worst thing in the world," John said.
The sun was just above the horizon and shining in his eyes when Lee opened them. The water sparkled around him, diamond chips of white and gold and turquoise. He was bobbing in the deep end of a swimming pool. John sat on the edge of the pool, his legs in the water and a drink in his hand…a big drink…full of ice. He took a sip. He was wearing the same bathing suit Lee had seen him wear on the island.
"I've already met a lot of people I know," John continued. "I saw Carolanne. You'll be glad to know she's laying off the booze unlike yours truly. But the newly dead are entitled to one good drink. Maybe two."
Lee closed his eyes. He knew that John and the pool were a hallucination, the result of dehydration and the way the ejection had slammed his head. He probably had a concussion.
If you knew you were hallucinating, were you still hallucinating? Lee kept his eyes closed. There was always the chance he was dead and he wasn't sure he was ready to accept that yet.
"I know you're not real," he finally said.
"Now that's a metaphysical statement if I ever heard one. Define real?"
"I'm in the ocean," Lee said. "I'm not in a swimming pool."
"Of course you're not. But it's your hallucination. You put me on the side of this pool. I'd offer you some of my drink, but I don't think that would work, either. It's the real versus not real thing."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm your friend. I'm keeping you company and waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"To see if you're going to get out of this one…or join me. You made it through two dangerous missions. Maybe your luck has run out like mine finally did."
"What happened to more lives than a cat?"
"I am fond of saying that. If you say something often enough, you usually start believing it. It's one of the ways we kid ourselves, Lee, when we know we're facing death. We make promises we can't keep. We say silly things so we sound brave, so nobody will know we're afraid of dying."
"I told Kara I was going to get another Viper and come back to the fight."
"See there. You knew better, didn't you? What were the odds of landing a bird as badly wounded as yours?"
"Not good."
"I had to punch out once during the First War. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Did I ever tell you about that?"
"Yeah, John. You told me."
Lee could hear the amusement in John's voice. "There is something about your ship being on fire that will make you pull that little striped handle."
"You were lucky. You were close enough to the Solaria that you got picked up by a Raptor."
"I guess I used one of my lives right there. I used a lot of them on the Solaria."
"There's something about tumbling end over end with your ship falling apart that will make you pull that handle, too. Since I don't have a Raptor nearby, do you have any suggestions on what I should do next?"
"Keep floating and keep breathing."
"Great. Thanks. I really appreciate the words of wisdom," Lee said grumpily. "Any advice besides the obvious."
"You're the smart one. I'm counting on you to come up with something."
"Come on. I need a little more help. I'm floating in the middle of the ocean."
"There is that small detail, although technically you're not in the middle of it. In case you decide to start swimming, I'd recommend heading west. You'll reach land quicker…maybe three or four weeks as opposed to five or six if you head east. I don't want to sound discouraging, Lee, but I'd say you're going to have to wait to be rescued. And quit thinking about how thirsty you are. Maybe it'll rain."
"That would be great. Caught in a storm at sea trying to catch raindrops on my tongue and keep from drowning in the waves."
"Lee, I don't think there's much you can do right now except keep your head above the water and pray."
Lee started to ignore the prayer comment. John knew how he felt about the gods and praying, but since John had tried to sneak it by him, Lee couldn't let it pass.
"Prayer didn't do you a hell of a lot of good, did it?"
John laughed so hard he nearly choked on his drink. "There you go again making assumptions. How do you know it didn't do me any good? I could be somewhere a whole lot worse than this right now. Instead I'm sitting on the edge of a beautiful pool talking to my best friend."
"Why did you do it, John? Why did you go back to that basestar?"
"Why do you think I went back?"
"Your family."
"And my friends. Can you think of a better reason for a man to die than to save the ones he loves?"
"Any more words of wisdom for me?"
"Kara's looking for you. But you know that, don't you? That's one thing I can say about my little girl. She's not a quitter. She won't give up. She'll find you. You just hang in there, Lee. Don't you even think about giving up because she won't. Don't disappoint her by dying. Do you hear me? As much as I'd like your company right now, I can wait."
"You're not even really here."
"Of course I'm not."
Lee slowly opened his eyes. He hadn't been hallucinating. He'd been asleep and dreaming.
The sun was halfway up the sky and he was alone in the ocean.
…
Kara and several of the other Viper pilots flew the distance between the Galactica and the airbase on Caprica. There were no Raiders left to fight. The battle for their freedom was over at least right now on this planet. She would think about Nereid later, about what they might have to take on there.
She wondered if Marines were still fighting the centurions on the surface of Caprica. She wondered if any of the skinjobs besides Cavil and Leoben were in custody. She hoped that nobody had hurt Leoben.
Before she entered the atmosphere, the destruction around her was incredible. Pieces of Raiders and Vipers floated in space. She knew that what she saw wasn't everything. Anything that had been in Caprica's gravitational field had fallen to the planet's surface or burned up in the atmosphere.
All she wanted to do now was get back to the base on Caprica and see her father and Lee. She wanted to hug them both and then she wanted to go to the locker, strip off her rank flight suit and stand in a hot shower before she thought about anything that would follow.
But Kara knew one thing without a doubt. She wanted to end tonight in bed with Lee. She had come close to death today. Lee had, too. She wanted to feel alive with him. She wanted to taste him and smell him and feel him and make love to him.
As she approached the airbase from the west, she saw smoke on the horizon coming from multiple locations. She felt sick. They hadn't stopped all the Raiders from getting through.
"Viper seven-two-nine requests permission to enter the pattern," Kara said letting the duty officer know she wanted to land at the airbase.
"Permission granted, Viper seven-two-nine. Pattern is open. Clear to land."
She landed and taxied her Viper to the hangar. The ladder was pushed up to her ship. She made it to the bottom step before she had to sit down. There were dozens of pilots seated on the floor, leaning back against walls, most of them holding bottled drinks.
She saw Narcho and managed to make it over to him before she slid down the wall and sat beside him. Without a word he handed her an energy drink. She turned it up and sat in a near-stupor waiting for it to kick in.
"Told you we'd make it," she finally said as she handed the drink back to him.
"Keep it. I got two more," he gestured to the bottles sitting on the floor beside him. "In another minute I'll have the strength to open another one. Five minutes after that, I might be able to stand up again."
She shut her eyes and drew a couple of ragged breaths, letting the realization that she was still alive wash over her. Narcho put his arm around her and she wearily put her head on his shoulder. Since they had been on the G she had gotten close to him, closer than she had to Flat Top and that surprised her. Nobody would ever be as close to her as Karl, but Narcho had become a real friend.
"I'm sorry about your dad," he said softly.
Kara lifted her head and turned on him. "Why is everybody talking like something happened to my dad? He's around here somewhere. He's probably in the locker room or he would have been out here to meet me."
Narcho looked at her much the same way Chief had. "You mean nobody told you? His Raptor…didn't…. He didn't come back."
"Then he's out there somewhere. He'll be back. He wasn't in that basestar when it exploded. He made it out. My dad is a good pilot."
"Lee's missing, too."
Kara shook her head. "Lee's ship was damaged. He brought it down and got another one. He's okay."
"That's not what they say?"
"They? Who's they?"
Narcho gestured toward the crewmen moving around the hangar. "They hear everything. They said he went missing hours ago. Kara, he never made it back, either. He ejected and is missing. "
"Where's the admiral?"
"Probably over in the comm center."
Kara pushed herself up. "Then that's where I'm headed."
"I'll go with you."
"No. You stay here and get some rest." For just a moment she felt the beginning of tears and then it passed. Lee was still alive. She knew it. So was her father.
"We did good today." Narcho said. "Next time we kill Cylons, I want to be on your wing."
She managed a faint smile. "Back at you."
A crewman walked up to them. "Lieutenant Kara Thrace?"
She turned. "That's me."
"I have orders from Admiral Adama to drive you over to the command center, sir."
"Great," Kara said. "I was headed over there anyway. It will keep me from borrowing one of your jeeps."
The command center was in the main building of the base over a mile away. She didn't speak on the way, but she did reach over and turn off the jeep's heater. The early morning was cold, but she was sweaty enough as it was.
The ensign on duty at the front desk told her to go up to the second floor as soon as she gave him her name.
The admiral was waiting for her. Silently they walked down the hall. He came to an empty office and went inside.
"Sit," he said.
"No, thank you, sir. I'd rather stand. I've been sitting for hours." She looked steadily at him, waiting for him to give her the bad news.
"Lee is missing."
"I heard. I want to join the search."
"We've got every available ship in the air right now."
"Then put me in the air, too, sir."
"You're exhausted."
"I'm fine."
"It's not that simple. Colonel Tigh is coordinating the rescue effort. We don't want to cover the same territory twice."
"Then I'll work with the colonel. I can do that, sir. Please."
"I think you should be with Laura."
"Why? You're not going to tell me that my father is missing, too, are you…sir?"
"Kara," Bill said gently, "John didn't make it back. I've had Raptors searching every inch of space in all directions from that basestar as far out as a Raptor is capable of jumping…even beyond."
"He's out there."
"There's no sign of him. We've had no distress signal. We'll keep looking, but…" he sighed heavily.
"You've told Laura?"
He nodded. "I told her personally. It was my responsibility."
"Give me Karl and Sharon and a Raptor, sir. And point me in the right direction. We'll find Lee. And then if you still haven't found my father, I'll find him, too."
"I don't think I should release Lieutenant Valerii yet."
Kara's voice rose. "What can Sharon do to hurt us now? What can she possibly do?"
"She's going to be questioned with the rest of them."
Suddenly Kara lost all her fear of the man who stood in front of her. He was still an admiral, but he was Lee's father.
"That can wait! We need her in a Raptor. And I'll make sure she gets back. You have my word." Her voice rose again. "We will find Lee and we will bring him back…alive."
Her gaze defiantly held his. She refused to look away.
"What makes you think Sharon will help you?"
"She'll help me. She owes me." Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to give in to them. "I asked you once before to trust me, to trust my gut feeling. I'm asking you again. Please give me Karl and Sharon and a Raptor. We'll find Lee."
"Come with me," Bill finally said.
He exited the office and she followed him down the long hallway. They stopped outside a door where two Marines in full battle gear stood guard on either side. Bill nodded and one of them opened the door while the other one trained his assault rifle on it.
Karl was seated at a table, his head down on his arms. As soon as he saw the admiral, he stood up and came to attention. Sharon was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall. Her knees were drawn up with her arms across them. Her head was on her arms. She looked up when Kara and the admiral entered, but she didn't stand.
Kara's eyes met Karl's. The pain there made her want to cry.
"Lee is missing," Bill said without any emotion in his voice. "Kara has asked for a Raptor and your help to search for him. It's your choice. Yes or no?"
"Yes," Karl said immediately.
"What happens to me afterward?" Sharon asked.
"That's still open at this point," the admiral said. "I won't make any promises."
Sharon stood. Her eyes met Kara's. "Let's go."
Out in the hall, Bill motioned to the Marines. "Follow us."
They walked to the elevator and all crowded inside. The admiral pushed the button for the third floor. The elevator rose. When it stopped, they got off and followed him down the hall. He opened a door and told the Marines to wait.
Colonel Tigh and several officers were inside. There were maps spread over a large table.
"Tell us what's been done so far," Bill said.
Colonel Tigh looked up. His expression changed when he saw Karl and Sharon.
"What the hell are they doing here?"
"They're going to help with the search," Adama said.
"You're making a big mistake."
Adama rubbed his forehead. "I asked for a status report, colonel."
"We think Lee punched out somewhere between fifty-eight and sixty thousand feet right here." Tigh pointed to a map. "These are the coordinates he gave over his wireless . Other than the distress call, it's the only transmission we had from him."
Kara walked over to the table and looked down. Someone had drawn a small red circle where Tigh's finger had just been. A much larger circle was drawn around it.
"The search area," Tigh said as he pointed to the large area. "It's based on our best estimates of where he could have come down using prevailing wind directions and speeds. Understand that we're guessing. Nobody was out there this morning measuring anything."
"How many square miles, sir?"
"Over thirty-five thousand give or take a few thousand," Tigh said. "We've started at several places and we're flying concentric circles outward and inward trying to pick up his transponder signal."
"We'll need jump coordinates for our Raptor, sir," Karl said. "Put us where we can help the most."
"Is she going, too?" Tigh asked looked at Sharon.
"She's flying the Raptor, sir," Kara answered.
Tigh looked at Bill and asked incredulously. "Are you out of your mind? She's a damned Cylon."
"They're looking for my son. Another ship in the air can only help." He turned to Kara. "Get back over to the hangar. I'll make the necessary calls."
Kara looked at the admiral. His face mirrored his stress and exhaustion…and fear. "We'll find him, sir."
Bill nodded wearily before he turned away.
"Let's go," Kara said to Karl and Sharon. "We're wasting time."
As Kara walked past the admiral, he put his hand on her arm. For a long moment they looked at each other. His eyes were tired and sad and maybe asking her forgiveness.
"Lee's alive," Kara said. "And so is my father."
Once more Bill dropped his eyes. "Then gods speed."
…
"What's the death toll?" Laura asked President Adar.
"We don't have a count, yet. I spoke with Admiral Adama about an hour ago. Approximately twenty Raiders got through the Colonial defenses."
"What is the estimate?" Laura asked, trying to keep her voice even. "How many dead?"
"Thousands. More than that are wounded. There was a lot of property damage. Several large apartment complexes were destroyed. Several office buildings. Part of the Capitol Building. The East Bay Bridge was damaged. The list goes on."
Laura knew that the bunker had its own generator and air and water systems. "Utilities?"
"The hydroelectric plant was untouched. No Raiders got through to it or to the big water desalination plant, but we had structural damage to one of the main utility tunnels. We've already got work going on to shore it up."
"The other cities?"
"One of the Cylon ships got through to Delphi and got off some missiles before it was taken out by a Viper. Several thousand lives were lost there. Just like Caprica City, we don't have an accurate count, yet. When I spoke with Bill he said it looks like the Cylons' main target was Caprica City with Delphi being a secondary target. The northern cities were spared."
"Did they use any nukes?"
"No."
Laura sighed. "Thank the gods." She would think about the loss of life and damage later. "The centurions?"
"The Marines are still fighting them in multiple places, but without reinforcements from the basestar, we will eventually win."
Laura rubbed her hand over her forehead. "How long before we have reports on everything?"
"You don't need to be doing this right now, Laura," Adar said.
"Yes, I do. Did we ever find Natasi and D'Anna Biers?"
"We got both of them. Natasi was with Dr. Baltar at his place. Darren's agents brought him in, too, just to be on the safe side."
"And Biers?"
"We don't know where she was. She was arrested when she got back to her apartment late last night."
"How much do they know?"
"Nothing definite, but none of them are stupid. The prison cells are all under audio and visual surveillance. Cavil has told them what happened to him."
"I want to go talk to them now."
"Laura, are you sure you're up…"
Grief burned deep inside her, fueling her anger. She lifted her eyes to his. "I'm up to it. I've got to do something. I can't just sit idly by and do nothing."
Together they got on the elevator. Adar inserted a key and pushed the button for the lowest level of the bunker. When the doors opened again, the air smelled like damp concrete and something else much more disgusting.
Laura made a face. "What is that terrible smell?"
"We've had a problem with water leakage. This level is well below the water table."
"It smells like…"
"Sewage," Adar finished for her. "Toilets tend to overflow down here. Are you sure you still want to talk to them?"
"Yes."
They walked a short distance down a hallway. "This level is not as large as the others," Adar said. "It was originally meant to house only the utilities. After the last war we decided to add some cells. Agent Darren's men have used them on occasion when they wanted complete privacy with a prisoner."
"They tortured people down here?" Laura asked in surprise.
"I didn't ask."
A group of Marines stood outside a door. Laura could hear someone shouting on the other side. She and Adar stopped.
"Dr. Baltar," she said. "I recognize his voice."
"He's been shouting like that since we brought him in, ma'am," one of the Marines said.
"Thank you, Sergeant," Adar said. "We'd like to go in now."
The Marine opened the door.
"What am I doing here?" Dr. Baltar shouted at her. "I am not a Cylon."
Laura walked up to his cell. She knew he wasn't a Cylon, but she also realized that she was enjoying his predicament.
"It's too bad you never created a Cylon detector for us, Dr. Baltar. Then we would have proof."
"You don't need proof. I was born on Aerilon. I went to the University here on Caprica. I've lived here all my adult life. I've worked for the government. I've worked for you. I don't belong here. Tell them to let me go."
Laura walked to Leoben's cell. "How long have you lived here, Mr. Conoy?"
"I don't know."
"How long do you think you've lived here?"
She saw the sadness. "All my life."
Laura walked back to Baltar's cell. "You heard Mr. Conoy. Are you sure you're not a Cylon? I understand that their ability to implant memories is quite good."
Baltar grasped the bars of his cell. "I demand to be let out of here at once. I have important work to do, work that you and Admiral Adama have asked me to do."
Laura passed him and walked to Cavil's cell. He sat on the bunk with his head down. The mark on his forehead had darkened and turned an ugly, purplish color. He refused to look up at her.
"Your basestars have been destroyed."
Cavil finally looked up. Sitting in the cell he looked smaller and much less intimidating to her than when he had tried to take her son.
"You lie," he said to her.
"We can get you pictures," she said coldly and then her voice caught. She didn't know if she would ever be able to look at the destruction of the basestar over Caprica City. Her husband had died in that explosion.
She passed him and went to stand in front of Natasi's cell.
Natasi's eyes were wide. She, at least, believed Laura.
"We spared you. We spared humanity and you have murdered us."
"You can't murder a machine," Laura said.
"Then how about this?" D'Anna said from the cell next to Natasi's. "You murdered the hybrid babies. Children like your own, Laura. They were on the basestar."
Laura looked her in the eyes. "Now who's lying? Those hybrid children are being raised by foster parents here on Caprica."
"Really? Where did you hear that? Did you tell her that, Simon?"
"I've never told her anything. I don't plan to tell her anything either."
"Gaius told her," Natasi said.
"I told her nothing about the hybrid children," Baltar shouted. "Nothing, I swear to you. Nothing."
There was a sick feeling in the pit of Laura's stomach. "Are you telling me that you took the infants to your basestar?"
Natasi said, "Did you really think that we would trust the raising of those important children to humans? God had a hand in their creation."
Laura's knees felt weak again. "How many?" When none of them answered her, she shouted, "How many?"
"Over a hundred," Doral finally said.
"And you thought that raising them on a basestar in the dark of space was preferable to raising them on Caprica where they would be able to play in the sunshine and laugh with other children and…"
"Grow up like your son?" D'Anna asked.
Adar said, "I think that's enough for today, Laura. These Cylons aren't going anywhere. We can come back. You can question them later."
"No." She walked to D'Anna's cell. "What do you know about how my son is growing up?"
"Your husband is a very good father. Your nanny, Maya, is a very good mother. We had begun modeling our parenting of the hybrid children on them since some of the babies weren't thriving despite our best efforts. Despite Natasi's incessant prayers for them."
Laura was so stunned that she couldn't speak for a moment. "You…modeled…"
"She's lying to you," Natasi said. "We don't need human help to know how to raise our children. God's hand was clear in their creation. D'Anna is lying. The children were thriving. I don't understand what we did wrong that He allowed them to be destroyed?"
"Perhaps your God objected to the killing of billions of innocent humans including infants and children. Maybe that wasn't in His plan," Laura said sarcastically. "Or perhaps it was the unnatural way they were created. Perhaps the gods have granted the ability to procreate to humans alone and they saw what you did as the abomination that it is."
Cavil spoke again. "Enough of God's plan. God had nothing to do with it and neither did the hybrid children. I can assure you there were no children on the basestar. My brother Ones refused to have a bunch of squalling brats disrupting the serene life aboard ship."
Adar took Laura's arm and walked to the door with her. "It's obvious that some or all of them are lying to you. You need to go back upstairs and rest. We'll talk to them again. They're not going anywhere."
Laura suddenly remembered something. She walked back to Cavil's cell. "What have you done with Yolanda Brenn and her friend? Were they on your basestar?"
Cavil looked up at her. The sarcasm in his voice was clear. "You're not even President yet and you need the services of an oracle?"
"Damn you," Laura said, her control finally snapping. "Where are they?"
"Tell her," Leoben said. "You're the one who ruined it for the rest of us with your insane ideas about finding Earth. You're the one who tried to kidnap the President-elect's child."
"Earth is real! And her son knows where it is."
"My son isn't even a year old," Laura said with anguish in her voice. "He doesn't have the slightest concept of what Earth is, much less anything about where or how to find it."
"You think I would tell you about your oracle because a traitor tells me to?" Cavil asked her. "Why would I care? You're going to kill all of us anyway. Soon, I hope."
"Do you want to die quickly because you think you'll download on your resurrection ship near the ice planet?"
For the first time she saw something close to fear in Cavil's eyes.
Laura continued. "I forgot to mention that it was also destroyed. There will be no downloading for any of you so I wouldn't wish for a quick death if I were you. It will be final."
"You'll pay for this," Cavil said.
Laura thought of her husband as she walked to the door. She had already paid a terrible price, but John had paid a higher one.
"Please release Mr. Conoy," she said to the President. "He helped me willingly without regard for what would happen to him afterward. I owe my life and the lives of my son and daughter to him."
"You're sure about this?"
"He knows nothing that would be of further use to us. What harm can he do, now?"
Adar motioned to the Marine sergeant. "Unlock that cell and release the prisoner."
As they exited the room, Baltar started shouting again. "What about me? You can't leave me here. I'm not a Cylon."
The three of them rode the elevator up together.
"What about Dr. Baltar?" Adar asked.
"You decide what to do with him. I don't care, but I think another night with his Cylon friends should make a sufficient impression on him."
At the surface floor of the bunker, Adar held the elevator for her. Laura walked with Leoben to the entrance.
"We will probably not see each other again, Mr. Conoy. I thank you for what you did for us."
He nodded. "Is there any word on Kara?"
"She was still alive this morning."
"I'll say a prayer for her."
"To your one God?"
She saw the sad smile. "To any of them that will listen to me."
"Then your prayers will join mine."
…
"Come on," Kara said. "We're wasting time. You put in the coordinates and you press the jump button. How hard can it be? It's not like we're going very far. Just seven hundred miles."
"How many times have you jumped a Raptor?" Sharon asked. "I don't want to make any mistakes."
Kara sat in the copilot's seat. Karl was behind them in the ECO's seat. None of them had ever jumped a ship or been in one that had jumped.
"Here goes," Sharon said.
There was a moment when Kara felt like she was being pulled forward, when everything around her bent at crazy angles. They were in the air five thousand feet above the airbase on Caprica and then they were a thousand feet over the ocean.
Kara shook her head. "Wow."
"I'm picking up something," Karl said. "A signal. It's strong. Talk about beginner's luck."
"What direction?" Sharon asked.
"Northwest. Fifteen miles."
"Get lower," Kara said.
"We're almost on top of the signal," Karl said a few minutes later.
"There," Sharon said. "Off the port side." She swung the Raptor around.
"Oh, gods," Kara said. "No."
The pilot was floating face down in the water.
"Open the door," Kara cried. "Open the gods damned door."
"You can't jump out of a Raptor a hundred feet over the ocean," Sharon said. "You'll kill yourself."
"Watch me. Now open that door."
"I've sent a wireless request for a rescue helicopter," Karl said. "They're twenty minutes away."
Kara was already out of her seat and going for the manual door override. Karl grabbed her and held her.
"Stop it, Kara! Stop it! He's not moving. He's dead."
"No! No, he's not!" She began to fight Karl. "He's not dead! Lee is not dead! No!"
One minute she was struggling against him and the next minute she was on the floor of the Raptor. Karl was on his knees beside her, holding her.
Karl rocked Kara back and forth while she made inarticulate sounds. She was beyond tears. She didn't know how much time had passed as they hovered.
"The chopper's here," she heard Sharon say, and a few minutes later, "The divers are in the water. They're turning him over. They're…it's not Lee! Kara, it's not Lee. I don't know who it is, but it's not Lee."
Karl let go of her briefly while he looked out the front of the ship. "Sharon is right. It's not Lee."
Everything began to fade for Kara, sound and light merged into a swirl of color as she slumped against the side of the Raptor. She couldn't get her breath.
Karl was back, beside her, holding her once again. "We'll find him, Kara. He's out there. We'll find him."
"Let me sleep," she said. "For a few minutes. Just let me sleep." She leaned back against the bulkhead. "Just let me sleep."
"Sleep," Karl said. "We'll keep flying the search pattern. We'll keep looking."
"Five minutes," she mumbled. "Just five minutes." It was the last thing she remembered.
…
Lee finally took off his helmet. He had run out of oxygen an hour earlier and had to pull out the lower part of the faceplate in order to breathe. By the time the sun was directly overhead, though, he felt like his skull was being cooked inside a roasting pot. He was starting to sweat again and he knew he didn't need to lose any more water from his already seriously dehydrated body. He released the locking band at his neck and twisted.
The breeze across his face felt wonderful. He scooped a handful of seawater on his hair and felt the cool envelop him. He touched his tongue to the salty drops running down his face and fought the temptation to drink a handful of the water. Instead he wet his face again and let the drops run over his lips and tongue.
Shading his eyes, he looked skyward. No ships. Not even any birds, just a few high white and puffy clouds. He thought of being on the beach with Kara, of the way they had made love. He wondered if they would ever find him...alive or dead.
He thought of his dream. Of what John had told him. Kara was alive. She was looking for him. Otherwise she would have been with her father on the edge of the pool. She was alive and looking for him. He couldn't disappoint her by dying.
The sun reflected off the water and he closed his eyes. His face was going to be sunburned. Kara would probably laugh.
…
"I've got another signal. Twenty miles due east." The excitement in Karl's raised voice woke her.
Kara opened her eyes. "How long have I been out?"
He looked at the cuff of his flight suit. "Almost two hours."
"That long? Where are we?"
"In the third search pattern. We're halfway through the grid."
Kara pushed herself up and felt her stiff muscles protest. She almost groaned aloud.
"Got him," Sharon said.
Kara felt the Raptor begin to descend.
"Calling the rescue chopper," Karl said.
"This one's alive," Sharon called happily. "He's raising his arm. I think…I think it's Lee."
Kara clambered into the front of the Raptor. "Get closer to him."
"I can't. I don't want to drown him with the Raptor's downdraft."
Kara stepped to the back of the Raptor and kicked off her boots. She unzipped the flight suit and peeled it off.
Karl turned from the console display. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Take it down Sharon. Now." Kara activated the manual door override and it started up.
They were still fifty feet off the water. Karl grabbed for her and got her arm.
"Let go of me, damn it, let go! That's Lee down there." Their eyes met. Karl let go. Kara turned and stepped off into the air.
Lee looked up. The Raptor was a hundred yards away and descending fast when he saw the door begin to open. Oh no, she wouldn't be that crazy.
"No!" he shouted. "Don't do it!"
He knew they never heard him over the roar of the Raptor's engines. The ship was still forty feet up when he saw the pale, slender form plummet downward and hit the water feet first.
"You're insane!" He shouted at her, knowing none of them could hear. "You're beyond insane!"
He started swimming toward where she had hit the water, his right leg dragging, the pain getting worse with every stroke. He saw her head bob to the surface and saw her start swimming. Karl hurled something from the Raptor. It landed between them. A life preserver vest. He hurled another one.
Kara got to both of them before he did, and kept swimming toward him, side-stroking now, pulling the two life vests with her.
They met.
"What are you trying to do?" He yelled at her. "Kill yourself?"
"Good to see you, too."
"Put that damned life vest on."
She pushed one of them toward him. Getting into her own was harder than she had thought it would be. She finally managed to get one of the hooks fastened.
"Boy, is your face sunburned."
Lee reached out and touched her. She was real. She wasn't a hallucination or a dream like John had been. He tried to speak, but couldn't for a few moments.
"I knew you would find me," he finally said.
"It was Karl and Sharon."
The wake generated by the Raptor's downdraft washed them and Lee winced. "What's wrong?"
"My leg is broken."
"Punching out?"
"Hitting the water."
"A chopper is on the way. Just a few more minutes."
"You think they'll have some beer on board?"
"They'll have something a lot better than that."
Lee took her hand and pulled her to him. He didn't care about the leg. They managed to get their faces close enough to kiss. When he pulled back her eyes were shining and wet.
"Salt water," she said.
He laced his fingers through hers. "I guess we won."
She nodded.
They bobbed together in the water.
"Not exactly like the island," she said. "When your leg is better, we'll go back. Me and you and my dad and Laura and Brae. We'll go back."
Lee knew his look was as confused as he felt. John was gone. He'd seen the basestar explode.
"Your dad?" He said.
"He's out there somewhere. We'll find him."
Lee dropped his eyes.
"I thought he was dead once," Kara said. "I was wrong. I'm not going to make that mistake again. I'll find him."
Above the gentle slapping of the waves, Lee heard the distant and unmistakable thumping of a helicopter's rotors.
"Chopper's coming," he said.
Ten minutes later the divers were in the water with them. Ten minutes after that Lee was lifted skyward in a metal basket. She was next. The diver below looked up as she ascended on the harness and cable. She knew he had a good view since she was wearing only her tank tops and underwear, but she didn't care.
Karl and Sharon followed the chopper back to the rescue ship and then Kara saw their Raptor become smaller in the distance before there was the bright wink and it disappeared.
Someone put a blanket around her as she sat on the floor of the helicopter holding Lee's hand. She could tell he was in a lot of pain.
"Sorry there's no beer on board," she said to him.
"Water's good," was all he managed to answer.
Several medical corpsmen met the helicopter with a stretcher as soon as they landed. Lee was placed on a gurney. Barefoot and still clutching the blanket around her, she followed them to the infirmary.
A doctor was waiting. "We'll take care of him, now," he told her.
"His leg is broken," Kara said.
She saw the activity around Lee as a team rushed him into a cubicle. They were already cutting the flight suit away when someone pulled the curtain.
A nurse gently took her arm. "How long were you in the water?"
"Not long. Half an hour."
"And Lieutenant Adama?"
"Since before sunup."
"Are you injured?"
Kara shook her head. "I'm thirsty and I'd like to take a shower and I need some clean clothes."
The nurse eyed her hand and the braided gold ring. "Is he your fiancé?"
"Yeah," Kara answered.
"Come with me," the nurse said. "He's in good hands now."
Kara followed her.
Lee lay on the gurney as the medical team quickly and efficiently worked on him. He felt the stick of an IV needle in his arm.
"My leg," he croaked as pain washed him.
He heard a deep, male voice. "We'll fix your leg. We're going to give you something for the pain."
The drug began to work. He felt warm and then he started to drift.
"Let's get an x-ray," he heard the doctor say and then everything around him faded to soft muted sounds and gray light. He could stop fighting the pain now. The buzzing in his ears faded and he surrendered to the drug.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a bed with raised side rails. Curtains were drawn around the bed. The light was dim. The IV was still in his arm. His lower right leg was propped on a pillow and immobilized in a cast. His face felt cool and greasy. He touched it.
"Hands off," Kara said softly. "It's for the sunburn."
He looked toward her voice. She was sitting in a chair at the head of his bed and was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt that said CMS Posiden.
"What time is it?" He asked her.
"I don't know. Night."
"My leg? How bad?"
"Broken."
"I knew that already. One bone or both of them?"
"Your doctor didn't show me the x-rays. They set it."
"A lot of help you are," he said groggily.
"I talked to your father. He's sending a transport tomorrow to take us back to Caprica."
"I guess he wants to chew me out for losing one of his Vipers," Lee said lightly.
"I'm sure that's what he wants to do. That was my mission. Hunt you down in the middle of the ocean so Admiral Adama could chew you out for losing one of his precious Vipers."
"Go find a bed somewhere and get some sleep."
"I'm fine."
"Kara, you can't sit in a chair by my bed all night."
She grinned. "Watch me."
He struggled and slid his hips over on the mattress. He patted the space beside him.
"You're crazy," she said.
"Humor me. I'm on drugs. I'm feeling no pain."
Kara lowered the rail and sat on the edge of the bed. Gingerly she lay down beside him. Their shoulders were touching.
"I finally got a shower."
"I can tell. You smell good. Get under the sheet with me."
She laughed. "No way."
"Hold my hand at least?"
She reached for him. Their fingers locked.
"I love you, Kara."
She turned her face against his shoulder. "Well think about that next time you decide to do something stupid like punch out of a Viper eleven miles above Caprica."
"I didn't have a choice. My ship was tumbling and falling apart."
"Okay, you get a pass this time." She rolled on her side and put her arm over his chest. "Enjoy it while you can. I'm sure the doctor is going to kick me out of here soon."
"Until he does, just stay right where you are."
"I've got no plans to go anywhere."
"Does that mean you love me?"
"Probably. Now go to sleep so I can."
He caressed her hair and smiled. John would be proud of him. He was still alive. He hadn't disappointed her by dying.