TEN

Samantha O'byea stood at the window overlooking the flight operations area for some time, staring at the activities going on below her. She watched as Jennie Yoder and two other technicians moved quickly about the damaged Viper, pushing work scaffolds into place to repair the battle-damaged canopy. She could see the scorched impacts along the right side of the Viper's nose where the Cylon bullets had marched their way to the blown-out viewing pane. The pane had blown out cleanly, and if one didn't know better, it almost looked like someone had just rolled down the window for a leisurely drive in the country. No doubt Dewayne Kells had a different appreciation for the damage that had been inflicted on the small fighter. It had been a close call.

Suddenly O'byea was aware that one of the deck technicians was looking back up at her, and she felt a little sheepish. She couldn't see him quite clearly, but he was quite obviously aware that he was being watched. Nonetheless, he interrupted his work long enough to raise his right hand to wave to her, the power wrench in his hand brought up as if it were a baton being presented in salute. O'byea began to raise her own hand, stopped, then just nodded towards the technician as if to acknowledge his presence without making any other overt movements. After a few seconds, the technician redirected his attention back to the work in front of him. He snapped his head forward causing the welding visor on his head to drop back down over his face, then resumed disassembling the Viper's damaged canopy.

The connection broken, O'byea backed away from the window and retreated into her office. She stood at the edge of her desk for a moment, aimlessly shuffled some papers, and then returned them to the orderly stack that they had been in in the first place. She then picked up an engraved brass placard from the front of her desk, turned and parked her backside on the edge of the desk, then contemplated the plate carefully:

"SAMANTHA O'BYEA~~FACILITY MANAGER".

In the span of a few seconds, she recounted her years at C.U.B.E, her relationship with Roland Yannero, and the sudden change of circumstances that found her posted to Menno Seven Three. Samantha then thought back to her upbringing on Saggitaron. Odd, she thought, that her remembrances of her childhood years were a haze, even into her teens. Why she was having so much difficulty focusing on her own life was bizarre. She never remembered having so difficult a time keeping her own thoughts in order. It was almost as if she were trying to listen to the stereo, the television, the telephone and wireless all at the same time…hearing them all, but making sense of none of it.

O'byea carefully replaced the placard, dutifully squaring it away in the center of the expansive desktop. Still mindlessly anxious, she started to pace slowly in her office. That there were events transpiring here that taxed her abilities was beyond question. No one could have foreseen the events of the past two weeks. If three weeks ago someone had suggested that she'd become the de facto mayor of an orbiting refugee camp, she would have laughed in their face and thought nothing of it. Her thoughts turned back to the arrival of the Breaker Castle only two weeks ago and the events that had transpired since. Even now she was astounded at how quickly she and the other survivors of Menno Seven Three had acclimated to the situation.

But now she was getting anxious…maybe even a bit paranoid. Certainly everyone on this rock was looking to her for leadership, and it was a daunting task. Just two weeks ago her biggest concern was making sure that production quotas were being met. But considering Menno Seven Three had been a top producer for years with no immediate end in sight, that was almost a non-event.

Maybe it was just the office itself. Afterall, she had been in it, her quarters, or a staff meeting of one kind or another for almost two weeks straight, and certainly all of the confusion, fear, anger and stress that went along with those happenings would drive anyone to be a bit confused.

O'byea headed out of her office, not exactly certain of where she was headed, but certain that she had to get out of that place for at least a little while.

Seconds later she found herself at the elevator outside her office. She stood there and contemplated what she wanted to do for a moment, then she pushed the call button. She could at once hear the whirring of the motor as the elevator started to move from the lower level to hers, and likewise she felt the vibration of its movement in her feet. Only seconds later the lift arrived, and she stepped in. She turned to face back towards the closing door, then paused for a second. She at first thought to head towards the staff tavern at the billeting area, but then thought better of it. Rather than push the 'down' button, she pushed the one button that was above the admin floors, and that was for the upper observation dome above the flight operations area.

Under normal circumstances, the observation dome didn't see that much foot traffic except, perhaps, when the staff rotation shuttle was due…then everyone wanted to see the 'freedom bird' as it arrived. The ride to the observation dome only took a matter of seconds, and just as quickly as she had boarded the elevator, she was disembarking.

The observation dome was a magnificent place. To the uninitiated, it could be momentarily terrifying until you realized that you weren't actually stepping out of an open airlock! Rather you were walking out under a reinforced transparent structure that allowed a nearly 270 degree view of one side of the asteroid plus an unobstructed view directly "up" from the center of the dome. Even to long time residents of the rock, the view was awe-inspiring.

One of the most amazing aspects of the dome was the glass itself. When the asteroid was facing deep space, the polarized panes would allow a clear view into deep space. But when the asteroid was facing Menno Prime, the panes automatically phased and protected the occupants from the direct rays of the sun. And along the far rail of the dome were small telescopes and binoculars mounted on posts that allowed the staff the opportunity to spend some time exploring the space around them.

Thankfully, the dome was devoid of any other staff right now. And just as well, Samantha thought…better to not let the staff see her so indecisive and self-doubting right now.

O'byea stopped at the end of the nearest couch and picked up a well-worn fashion magazine. She noted the date on the front cover…Over a year old. Needless to say, there won't be any updates coming anytime soon, she mused. She thumbed through the pages, stopping occasionally to admire some outfit or scan through some article about one entertainment celebrity or another and what scandal of the week was brewing. She flipped rapidly thorough the pages until she reached the ads in the back of the magazine, then replaced it on the table it as she found it. She then picked up yet another magazine, this one a travelogue. Again she flipped aimlessly through the pages until one article in particular caught her eye: "At Home On The Farm: Living Simply, Saggitarian Style". Suddenly there was a flow of memories that had been lost to her all these years! As she thumbed through the pages, she grew even more excited as she realized that the photos were of a farm not far from her own homestead! She had known those people! She had gone to school with their children! This was home!

In an abrupt instant, Samantha O'byea was surrounded by a hot, bright, blinding flash. She recoiled as if the very pages in front of her had just erupted into a searing inferno. She dropped the magazine in shock, as certain that her hands had just been seared away by a nuclear explosion as she was of her own name. She staggered backwards, a brief scream escaping from her lungs as the terror manifested itself in her consciousness. In that instant, she saw the home of her childhood vanish. The once green and fertile fields of the valley in which she grew up were now awash in a firestorm of incalculable ferocity and intensity. Indeed, she could almost feel the pressure and heat of the shockwave on her face as she watched the holocaust unfold before her. In the middle of the maelstrom she could now see the faces of her family…Her brothers and sister…her parents….Even long forgotten classmates and friends were engulfed in the horrific and consuming fires of the nuclear devastation in her vision. She could hear their panicked screams as their flesh was ripped from them, and as all around them vanished in the cyclonic maelstrom of fire, as real in that moment as was the breath in her lungs.

And then, just as suddenly as it happened, and as if nothing had happened, she was again alone in the observation dome. The room was silent save for the whirring of air conditioning fans in the walls behind her. The magazine she dropped now lay at her feet, the pages gently wafting in the vented room. But O'byea's heartbeat and the lump in her throat told her that whatever had just happened, it was real enough for her. The incessant pounding in her chest was so intense that she could hear her heartbeat in her own ears. She could feel the rise and fall of her chest against the confines of her tunic. She held her hands up to her face as if to re-assure herself that they were indeed there, only to be able to see her pulse throbbing in her wrists.

Dazed, she sat down on the couch from which she had taken the magazine only a moment ago. Sweat was now pouring from her brow as her hands began to tremble. Shaken, she looked around the room, grateful to see that she was, indeed, alone. Whatever she thought had just happened, she was safe.

For a brief few seconds, Samantha O'byea held her breath, then inexplicably, she began to cry. At first, it was not more than a whimper, but she quickly began to sob uncontrollably. She tried to hold herself back, unsure, even to herself, as to why she was crying. Afterall, it had been her own decision to leave Saggitaron, and her decision to not return. Why now, after all these years, she should be suddenly so mournful for its loss, was confusing to her. Still, the tears flowed. She owed Saggitaron nothing, as it owed her nothing. But here she was, crying nonetheless, and no reasonable explanation for it.

Then, almost as quickly as it started, her crying abated. Samantha rose from her chair and made her way towards the restroom by the elevator, her gait a bit unsteady. Stumbling against the door, she made her way into the restroom. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, again grateful that she was alone, then turned on the tap. She took several handfuls of cool water and splashed her face vigorously, running her fingers through her long locks with each splash. She then took some paper towels from the dispenser on the wall, blotted her eyes and cheeks carefully, all the while trying to regain her composure. She then took a moment to contemplate her face in the mirror. Her eyes were red and her cheeks swollen from the crying, but they'd resolve, she told herself.

O'byea then stood erect, adjusted her slacks and tugged at the hem of her tunic. "This will have to do", she said aloud. With that, she followed her own tracks back out of the restroom and into the observation dome. As she did, she turned and walked slowly to the edge of the viewing rail and gazed deep into the blackness of space. Somewhere, in that darkness, was Saggitaron. Or what was left of it, anyway. When she thought about the tears she'd just shed, it came to her that no matter what she'd thought she was leaving behind, there had always been the thought that she'd be able to go home again, someday.

Now someday would never come.

Suddenly Samantha was distracted by a glint of light inn the distance of space. Not the horrific torrent of light that she had just seen in her vision, but more like someone a long way's away striking a match. Nonetheless, it caught her attention. She leaned forward in a vain attempt to see what may have caused the brief anomaly, but she saw nothing with her naked eye. Remembering where she was, O'byea stepped over to one of the small telescopes and brought it up to eye level. She took one casual look in the direction of the flash, yet saw nothing. She then reset the telescope to take a wider view and redirected her scan. She carefully searched back and forth. At first she saw nothing but the distant twinkle of stars

Then she saw another 'something'. At first it was just a glint, like sunlight off of metal. Instinctively, O'byea looked down over the rail of the dome and into the loading docks of her own facility. Just as they had been before, all of the hangar bay doors were closed. Looking back out in the direction of the flash, she was at first disappointed that she'd lost track of whatever she had seen in the first place. Then, almost as if on cue, the glint re-appeared. Samantha watched it for a moment, wondering at the erratically tumbling object. Suddenly the object stopped tumbling. As a matter of fact, it moved rather smartly and apparently under control. And in that instant, the object turned directly towards Menno Seven Three, staring, seemingly, directly at O'byea herself.

Samantha now found herself transfixed. It was almost as if she was being drawn to the object in the view finder and she was unable to move away. All Samantha O'byea could see was an alternating red light moving incessantly from left-to-right-to-left, yet the light drew her into its depths.

O'byea started to pull away from the telescope, but found she couldn't move. It was almost as if she were glued to the eyepiece, inextricably drawn to the sight of the object in the distance. She consciously told herself to back away, but her body ignored the command and stayed transfixed. Suddenly she could hear a flood of ten thousand voices rushing through her mind, all of them calling to her. All of them intimately familiar, yet distantly cold and strange. She tried to focus on the sight ahead, to ignore the sudden rush of voices calling to her. As the voices grew louder, she was flooded with a torrent of faces and flashes of scenes of places that she seemed to know, but couldn't assure herself that she'd ever been there or knew the faces she saw.

And in a second, she was alone again. The voices were gone and the visions disappeared. She wanted to scream if for no other reason that the confusion was driving her mad.

She once more tried to back away from the telescope, yet found herself unmoving. It was as if the object in the distance knew she was there and was calling to her.

Perhaps it was.

In that moment, Samantha O'byea's life changed.

Gone were the lingering doubts about who or what she was. Gone were the insecurities over her place in this universe or the hazy veil of dreams and visions that had been the memories of her past. Manifest in her being was the surety that hers was a certain destiny. That whatever may come, however it came, her role in it would be meaningful and significant in some greater scheme of things. That her current circumstances may be glum or uncertain was irrelevant.

Things were about to change.