Echoes: Chapter 36 of 38
Title: Echoes
Author: EcstaticDance
Summary: Allof this has happened before, now we're going to see it happen again. But the Lords of Kobol want to see if they can possibly change it, so key characters have retained the echoes of memories which cause them to make different decisions, or experience things at different times, than in previous cycles.
Spoilers: Through Season 4
Warnings: Heavy mysticism. This is not scientifically sound, folks. It's myth-driven.
Pairings/Characters: Kara/Lee, and canon couples
Rating: M
Disclaimers: None of it is mine.
Cross-posted: Not yet.
Beta: ez_as_pi (Thank you, as always!)
Previous Chapters: At my LJ
Return to Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Kara leaned in close to Lee, both of them examining the surveillance photographs that had been taken by the heavy raider sent to scout out the location of the Cylon Colony.
“Right here,” she pointed, “that's the spot.”
Lee squinted and turned his head slightly. “I'm not sure. What about this position? Couldn't they see us from there? Jump on us as soon as we show up?” Military strategy and political strategy had turned out to be close cousins. He didn't feel nearly as out-of-practice as he'd expected.
“Shit. You're right.” She shuffled through the pictures, trying to arrange the different angles on the table so that they would tell the whole story.
“Da-AA!” Lee looked down to find Elpis tugging at his pant legs. He bent down and picked her up, smiling and content despite the frustration they were facing. Her round little face pulled into a matching smile. He looked up and saw regret in Kara's face.
“Hey.” He brought his hand up to her face, holding her cheek. “Romo's going to make sure that if we don't come back, she knows we did it for her, to give her the best life we could.”
She shrugged his hand away, shaking her head slightly and looking determinedly back down at the pictures on the table.
“What is it, Kara?”
“Nothing, Lee. Just leave it.” It was like someone had painted the world in different colors. The words were different, but the tone was the same. A wall stood between them which could not be scaled by either logic or emotion.
Lee held Elpis and watched Kara for a long while. On instinct, he handed the child to her.
Kara gasped and looked at him, stunned, as she nearly dropped their daughter.
Elpis giggled madly in reply. Suddenly, she covered her face with pudgy hands and then flung them away, crying out “Ba!”
Kara's face fell further, and she pulled the baby close to her. He heard her whisper words he couldn't quite make out into Pea's hair, watched her eyes squeeze shut. Pea's arms clasped tight around Kara's neck. She gurgled and nestled under Kara's chin, making herself comfortable. Finally, a smile lit Kara's face.
Lee turned back to the table, letting his girls have their moment. He shifted the photographs slightly and swore.
“What?” Kara still held Elpis tightly, but concern had once more replaced her brief contentment.
“Sorry, I just...” He pointed to a place between the Colony and the anomaly that guarded it's back door.
She shifted Elpis onto her hip, freeing one hand. “Frak, you're right. If we can jump close enough to the Colony...”
“We can land without being seen and avoid getting pulled into that black hole.”
She flashed him the look she reserved for mischief. He responded in kind, the pattern of their life fitting together perfectly for the first time since she'd returned from the dead.
“Time to go hunting.”
﴿﴾
Bill watched his son and daughter-in-law. Kara held their child on her hip with a desperation that belied her calm tone.
They'd found the back door.
“We'll need to throw some raptors at the front, to keep their attention...”
“But we should be able to get away with only a handful. They won't be expecting us to jump in behind them.”
“It'll be a tight fit. We'll have to get it just right so that the gravity of the anomaly doesn't drag Galactica away from the Colony.” Lee looked at Feelix Gaeta as he said this.
“I don't like it. Too much chance for it to go wrong. What if we jump into the hull of the ship?” Saul leveled his single-eyed glower at the two young people.
“I'm not sure it makes much difference, Saul.” Bill looked at the pictures Lee had spread out before them for a long while before looking up at his old friend. “It's a good plan, and you know it.”
“I'll need at least 24 hours to calculate the jump point. We should send in a smaller ship to verify it, too.” Gaeta's voice was faint, but confident.
“And how are we going to tell our cylon forces from the Colony's?” Ellen's face was paler than usual, her expression drawn.
Sonja answered her. “The centurions have suggested painting a red stripe across their torso's. I think a red band around the arms of any Eights who join you would be a good idea as well.”
“Definitely a good idea, since I doubt we'll be able to keep Athena out of the melee.” Lee agreed.
The conversation swirled around Bill, pieces falling into place, subordinates called in and told what kind of volunteers they were to seek. He was their commander officer, so they looked for his nod before finalizing anything, but that was all they waited for.
A knock sounded at the hatch, and a Two stepped in to hand a large roll of paper to Sonja. She nodded and he turned to leave. “Our hybrid had a layout of the Colony stored in memory. We've printed it out, with all medical facilities and guest rooms highlighted. Hopefully it will help.”
“He'll have her in or as close to the medical facility as possible,” Ellen chimed in reluctantly.
“Okay,” Kara spoke up again. “Then we take this map with us to talk strategy with pilots and Marines who are going to be boarding with us.” She looked at Lee and he nodded as he rolled up the maps.
“Thank you, Sonja.”
“Of course.”
They all stood then, looking at Bill, waiting for him to do something. “Good work, everyone,” he said finally. “Dismissed.”
﴿﴾
“You all know this is a volunteer mission.” Helo stood at the front of the room, Athena next to him. Maggie chewed the inside of her lip, tapping the desk in front of her and wondering again if she'd made the right choice in stepping forward for this mission. “This task is also voluntary. We need raptors to act as a smoke screen for Galactica in the initial assault. You'll be jumping directly into the defense solution of the Cylon Colony.”
He paused, and everyone in the room held their breath. Maggie turned her head from side to side, looking first at Skulls, then at Dryad. Skulls shook his head, lips pursed. Dryad, however, met her eyes directly and gave a single, crisp nod. Her grandmother's voice ran through her head again. This is not all that we are. She let her eyes flip back to Skulls for a split second, then met Aimee's gaze once more. Determination set in. Hera might be important or she might not. They may never know which of Tory and Boomer, if either of them, had betrayed their alliance.
But ultimately, none of that mattered.
“Who's in?”
Maggie raised her hand.
﴿﴾
Gaius Baltar stood in the middle of the room that had become his refuge, watching the women who had rescued him pack their boxes and haul them
out toward the flight deck. The Six who lived in his head, his savior or his curse (he may never know which), stood next to him.
“You can't leave them alone, you know.” Her tone held the kind of derision she usually reserved for those times that he refused to follow along nicely.
“I know.” He replied. “I don't intend to.”
The candles had all been packed up, the incense put in boxes, and the red velvet drapes folded around various precious and fragile objects. The last of his followers looked at him briefly, offering her help with his things, but he simply shook his head, sending her on her way.
“It's been like a home to me.” His voice echoed in the vast emptiness of the room. He would never stand here again. Change was the only constant, and he was trapped within it. Lifting his one box, still large enough to contain all of his material possessions, Gaius left the room without a single glance at the angel who haunted him.
He didn't begin to doubt until he saw her - Caprica Six. She said nothing to him, just looked at him sadly and turned away. He stopped briefly to watch her, then made his way onward, toward the shuttle that was to take himself and the last of his followers to the civilian ship they'd been assigned to.
On the raptor wing, a fierce young woman met him. She looked at him expectantly, reaching out her hands to lift the box he carried. A blinding light flared in his eyes, a photographer's flashbulb capturing the last moments of Gaius Baltar's departure from the Galactica.
But he didn't see the photographer. Instead, he was back in the Temple of Hope, standing in front of five figures so brilliant that he could not see them. Protect her. It had been their only command. He turned to look at Caprica Six once more, still clutching his box. Her shoulders drooped with disappointment.
“I've gone stark, raving mad.” He said to no one in particular, and took the step down from the wing he'd just climbed up on to.
“Where are you going, Gaius?” The woman he'd left on the Raptor called after him. “We need to be leaving now. We don't have time to chat.”
“I'm not going to chat. I'm staying.” He turned to look at her once more. “I have things I need to do here. You'll be fine without me.”
He left her standing there, gaping after him. Humanity was larger than his group of followers, and every child mattered. Hera was his charge. He didn't doubt his insanity, but he knew that his own soul depended on seeing her safely back where she belonged.
﴿﴾
Laura looked steadily at Doctor Cottle, memorizing the instructions he was giving her.
“You've got three doses here. Take one injection every six hours.” She met his penetrating gaze without flinching. “Are you sure you want to do this? They'll keep you going, but they're going to take one hell of a toll on you.”
“I'm sure. There is nothing more important than getting this little girl back.” For the first time in months, the first time since Elosha had appeared to her on the Cylon baseship, Laura felt entirely at peace with the decisions she was making. The vision of Gaius and Caprica and Hera walking out of the night sky now haunted her even during waking hours. They were so close, so close, to Earth. She could not walk away now.
“Ishay will show you around. She's a good medic. Let her know if you have any odd reactions. You won't be any help at all if you let yourself get sick in the middle of the battle.”
Laura nodded and looked over at Nurse Ishay, who had been listening to the doctor's instructions. They both stood aside to let Cottle walk by.
Ishay waited until her superior officer had left the sickbay before getting down to business. “I'm going to put you over here on triage. That means you need to look at the soldiers who are coming in and tell us whether or not they can be saved. If they can, they go over here,” she pointed to an area toward the front of the large room. “If not, they go over there.” She indicated the section closest to the morgue.
Laura swallowed convulsively. She'd always gotten faint at the sight of lood. “How...” she started, “how will I know which ones can be saved and which ones can't?”
Ishay looked at her quietly, and then answered sadly. “You'll know.”
﴿﴾
Sam looked around the circle, standing in what remained of Joe's bar. Tory's absence left a gaping hole in their group. One had fallen, turned against the others. “All of this has happened before.”
He saw Galen roll his eyes. He remembered Seelix looking at him coldly as she walked forward to volunteer as a raptor pilot.
“You're not quoting scripture. Are you, Sam?” Ellen laid a light hand on his arm.
He looked at her and shook his head. “This has happened before. The five, and the one who left them. The keeper gathering the keys. The cycle is ending, born again in fire and blood.” He paused. “And I remembered all of that. And it made sense.”
Ellen nodded. “You studied the ancient histories, Sam. That's why you knew the song. That was your job.”
“Then why haven't I remembered anything until now?” He still couldn't understand most of it, and there was no time any more for him to figure it out. It surfaced like muscle memory, a reflexive reaction to some mysterious stimulus. His arms and legs tensed, wanting to search for release in some physical form that he didn't have time for and that wouldn't help anyways.
“That doesn't matter,” Ellen told him. “What matters is that you are remembering now. Especially if the cycle really is ending.” She stopped for a moment. When she started again, her eyes and voice were pleading. “Is this the right thing for us to do, Sam? Are we supposed to be killing our own children?”
He started to answer, and then realized what she'd asked. Frowning, he stared at her. “They aren't children anymore, Ellen. They made their choices, and now they need to pay.”
﴿﴾
Gaius looked over at Caprica Six, who sat next to him, dressed in black combat gear and holding a gun with a level of comfort he could only aspire to. He shifted his grip and set his shoulders back.
“I'm surprised to see you here. I'd have expected you to stay in sickbay.”
She looked at him flatly. “Why? I don't have any medical training.”
“Well, no. But. Well, this is combat. It's not very safe.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I've seen more combat than you have.”
Gaius opened his mouth and closed it again, then nodded. “Alright.”
“How about you? Why are you here? I thought you'd decided to stay with your followers.” She imbued the last word with as much bitterness as she could, which was saying a rather great deal.
“Yes, well... I... It seems to me that I owe humanity a debt. This appeared to be a good way of... repaying that.”
Caprica's expression softened as she regarded him. “I'm glad you're here, Gaius.” She reached out and took his hand. Somehow, she understood.
“So am I.”
﴿﴾
Bill stood in the middle of CIC, Saul, Gaeta and Hoshi comprising his entire CIC command staff. They were good men, good soldiers. He was glad he had let the younger men have their relationship. They both deserved the happiness they'd found in these last few months.
He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders.
“Frontal assault team status,” he called out.
“Ready sir.”
“Sickbay status.”
“Ready.”
“Flight deck crew.”
“Ready.”
“Infantry.”
“Ready.”
He paused. He wanted a longer list, but it just didn't exist. The test jump had been entirely successful and completely undetected. A handful of raptors floated alongside them, ready to jump into danger. His support crew was waiting for the first casualties of this battle to come stumbling back. Lee and Kara stood ready to storm the Colony. Laura Roslin waited, patient and resilient, in sickbay.
Nothing remained but to act. “FTL,” he asked for at last.
“Ready.”
“Jump in three...”
“Two... one....” Gaeta took over the count down. “Jump.”
Continue to Chapter 37.
Author: EcstaticDance
Summary: Allof this has happened before, now we're going to see it happen again. But the Lords of Kobol want to see if they can possibly change it, so key characters have retained the echoes of memories which cause them to make different decisions, or experience things at different times, than in previous cycles.
Spoilers: Through Season 4
Warnings: Heavy mysticism. This is not scientifically sound, folks. It's myth-driven.
Pairings/Characters: Kara/Lee, and canon couples
Rating: M
Disclaimers: None of it is mine.
Cross-posted: Not yet.
Beta: ez_as_pi (Thank you, as always!)
Previous Chapters: At my LJ
Return to Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Kara leaned in close to Lee, both of them examining the surveillance photographs that had been taken by the heavy raider sent to scout out the location of the Cylon Colony.
“Right here,” she pointed, “that's the spot.”
Lee squinted and turned his head slightly. “I'm not sure. What about this position? Couldn't they see us from there? Jump on us as soon as we show up?” Military strategy and political strategy had turned out to be close cousins. He didn't feel nearly as out-of-practice as he'd expected.
“Shit. You're right.” She shuffled through the pictures, trying to arrange the different angles on the table so that they would tell the whole story.
“Da-AA!” Lee looked down to find Elpis tugging at his pant legs. He bent down and picked her up, smiling and content despite the frustration they were facing. Her round little face pulled into a matching smile. He looked up and saw regret in Kara's face.
“Hey.” He brought his hand up to her face, holding her cheek. “Romo's going to make sure that if we don't come back, she knows we did it for her, to give her the best life we could.”
She shrugged his hand away, shaking her head slightly and looking determinedly back down at the pictures on the table.
“What is it, Kara?”
“Nothing, Lee. Just leave it.” It was like someone had painted the world in different colors. The words were different, but the tone was the same. A wall stood between them which could not be scaled by either logic or emotion.
Lee held Elpis and watched Kara for a long while. On instinct, he handed the child to her.
Kara gasped and looked at him, stunned, as she nearly dropped their daughter.
Elpis giggled madly in reply. Suddenly, she covered her face with pudgy hands and then flung them away, crying out “Ba!”
Kara's face fell further, and she pulled the baby close to her. He heard her whisper words he couldn't quite make out into Pea's hair, watched her eyes squeeze shut. Pea's arms clasped tight around Kara's neck. She gurgled and nestled under Kara's chin, making herself comfortable. Finally, a smile lit Kara's face.
Lee turned back to the table, letting his girls have their moment. He shifted the photographs slightly and swore.
“What?” Kara still held Elpis tightly, but concern had once more replaced her brief contentment.
“Sorry, I just...” He pointed to a place between the Colony and the anomaly that guarded it's back door.
She shifted Elpis onto her hip, freeing one hand. “Frak, you're right. If we can jump close enough to the Colony...”
“We can land without being seen and avoid getting pulled into that black hole.”
She flashed him the look she reserved for mischief. He responded in kind, the pattern of their life fitting together perfectly for the first time since she'd returned from the dead.
“Time to go hunting.”
﴿﴾
Bill watched his son and daughter-in-law. Kara held their child on her hip with a desperation that belied her calm tone.
They'd found the back door.
“We'll need to throw some raptors at the front, to keep their attention...”
“But we should be able to get away with only a handful. They won't be expecting us to jump in behind them.”
“It'll be a tight fit. We'll have to get it just right so that the gravity of the anomaly doesn't drag Galactica away from the Colony.” Lee looked at Feelix Gaeta as he said this.
“I don't like it. Too much chance for it to go wrong. What if we jump into the hull of the ship?” Saul leveled his single-eyed glower at the two young people.
“I'm not sure it makes much difference, Saul.” Bill looked at the pictures Lee had spread out before them for a long while before looking up at his old friend. “It's a good plan, and you know it.”
“I'll need at least 24 hours to calculate the jump point. We should send in a smaller ship to verify it, too.” Gaeta's voice was faint, but confident.
“And how are we going to tell our cylon forces from the Colony's?” Ellen's face was paler than usual, her expression drawn.
Sonja answered her. “The centurions have suggested painting a red stripe across their torso's. I think a red band around the arms of any Eights who join you would be a good idea as well.”
“Definitely a good idea, since I doubt we'll be able to keep Athena out of the melee.” Lee agreed.
The conversation swirled around Bill, pieces falling into place, subordinates called in and told what kind of volunteers they were to seek. He was their commander officer, so they looked for his nod before finalizing anything, but that was all they waited for.
A knock sounded at the hatch, and a Two stepped in to hand a large roll of paper to Sonja. She nodded and he turned to leave. “Our hybrid had a layout of the Colony stored in memory. We've printed it out, with all medical facilities and guest rooms highlighted. Hopefully it will help.”
“He'll have her in or as close to the medical facility as possible,” Ellen chimed in reluctantly.
“Okay,” Kara spoke up again. “Then we take this map with us to talk strategy with pilots and Marines who are going to be boarding with us.” She looked at Lee and he nodded as he rolled up the maps.
“Thank you, Sonja.”
“Of course.”
They all stood then, looking at Bill, waiting for him to do something. “Good work, everyone,” he said finally. “Dismissed.”
﴿﴾
“You all know this is a volunteer mission.” Helo stood at the front of the room, Athena next to him. Maggie chewed the inside of her lip, tapping the desk in front of her and wondering again if she'd made the right choice in stepping forward for this mission. “This task is also voluntary. We need raptors to act as a smoke screen for Galactica in the initial assault. You'll be jumping directly into the defense solution of the Cylon Colony.”
He paused, and everyone in the room held their breath. Maggie turned her head from side to side, looking first at Skulls, then at Dryad. Skulls shook his head, lips pursed. Dryad, however, met her eyes directly and gave a single, crisp nod. Her grandmother's voice ran through her head again. This is not all that we are. She let her eyes flip back to Skulls for a split second, then met Aimee's gaze once more. Determination set in. Hera might be important or she might not. They may never know which of Tory and Boomer, if either of them, had betrayed their alliance.
But ultimately, none of that mattered.
“Who's in?”
Maggie raised her hand.
﴿﴾
Gaius Baltar stood in the middle of the room that had become his refuge, watching the women who had rescued him pack their boxes and haul them
out toward the flight deck. The Six who lived in his head, his savior or his curse (he may never know which), stood next to him.
“You can't leave them alone, you know.” Her tone held the kind of derision she usually reserved for those times that he refused to follow along nicely.
“I know.” He replied. “I don't intend to.”
The candles had all been packed up, the incense put in boxes, and the red velvet drapes folded around various precious and fragile objects. The last of his followers looked at him briefly, offering her help with his things, but he simply shook his head, sending her on her way.
“It's been like a home to me.” His voice echoed in the vast emptiness of the room. He would never stand here again. Change was the only constant, and he was trapped within it. Lifting his one box, still large enough to contain all of his material possessions, Gaius left the room without a single glance at the angel who haunted him.
He didn't begin to doubt until he saw her - Caprica Six. She said nothing to him, just looked at him sadly and turned away. He stopped briefly to watch her, then made his way onward, toward the shuttle that was to take himself and the last of his followers to the civilian ship they'd been assigned to.
On the raptor wing, a fierce young woman met him. She looked at him expectantly, reaching out her hands to lift the box he carried. A blinding light flared in his eyes, a photographer's flashbulb capturing the last moments of Gaius Baltar's departure from the Galactica.
But he didn't see the photographer. Instead, he was back in the Temple of Hope, standing in front of five figures so brilliant that he could not see them. Protect her. It had been their only command. He turned to look at Caprica Six once more, still clutching his box. Her shoulders drooped with disappointment.
“I've gone stark, raving mad.” He said to no one in particular, and took the step down from the wing he'd just climbed up on to.
“Where are you going, Gaius?” The woman he'd left on the Raptor called after him. “We need to be leaving now. We don't have time to chat.”
“I'm not going to chat. I'm staying.” He turned to look at her once more. “I have things I need to do here. You'll be fine without me.”
He left her standing there, gaping after him. Humanity was larger than his group of followers, and every child mattered. Hera was his charge. He didn't doubt his insanity, but he knew that his own soul depended on seeing her safely back where she belonged.
﴿﴾
Laura looked steadily at Doctor Cottle, memorizing the instructions he was giving her.
“You've got three doses here. Take one injection every six hours.” She met his penetrating gaze without flinching. “Are you sure you want to do this? They'll keep you going, but they're going to take one hell of a toll on you.”
“I'm sure. There is nothing more important than getting this little girl back.” For the first time in months, the first time since Elosha had appeared to her on the Cylon baseship, Laura felt entirely at peace with the decisions she was making. The vision of Gaius and Caprica and Hera walking out of the night sky now haunted her even during waking hours. They were so close, so close, to Earth. She could not walk away now.
“Ishay will show you around. She's a good medic. Let her know if you have any odd reactions. You won't be any help at all if you let yourself get sick in the middle of the battle.”
Laura nodded and looked over at Nurse Ishay, who had been listening to the doctor's instructions. They both stood aside to let Cottle walk by.
Ishay waited until her superior officer had left the sickbay before getting down to business. “I'm going to put you over here on triage. That means you need to look at the soldiers who are coming in and tell us whether or not they can be saved. If they can, they go over here,” she pointed to an area toward the front of the large room. “If not, they go over there.” She indicated the section closest to the morgue.
Laura swallowed convulsively. She'd always gotten faint at the sight of lood. “How...” she started, “how will I know which ones can be saved and which ones can't?”
Ishay looked at her quietly, and then answered sadly. “You'll know.”
﴿﴾
Sam looked around the circle, standing in what remained of Joe's bar. Tory's absence left a gaping hole in their group. One had fallen, turned against the others. “All of this has happened before.”
He saw Galen roll his eyes. He remembered Seelix looking at him coldly as she walked forward to volunteer as a raptor pilot.
“You're not quoting scripture. Are you, Sam?” Ellen laid a light hand on his arm.
He looked at her and shook his head. “This has happened before. The five, and the one who left them. The keeper gathering the keys. The cycle is ending, born again in fire and blood.” He paused. “And I remembered all of that. And it made sense.”
Ellen nodded. “You studied the ancient histories, Sam. That's why you knew the song. That was your job.”
“Then why haven't I remembered anything until now?” He still couldn't understand most of it, and there was no time any more for him to figure it out. It surfaced like muscle memory, a reflexive reaction to some mysterious stimulus. His arms and legs tensed, wanting to search for release in some physical form that he didn't have time for and that wouldn't help anyways.
“That doesn't matter,” Ellen told him. “What matters is that you are remembering now. Especially if the cycle really is ending.” She stopped for a moment. When she started again, her eyes and voice were pleading. “Is this the right thing for us to do, Sam? Are we supposed to be killing our own children?”
He started to answer, and then realized what she'd asked. Frowning, he stared at her. “They aren't children anymore, Ellen. They made their choices, and now they need to pay.”
﴿﴾
Gaius looked over at Caprica Six, who sat next to him, dressed in black combat gear and holding a gun with a level of comfort he could only aspire to. He shifted his grip and set his shoulders back.
“I'm surprised to see you here. I'd have expected you to stay in sickbay.”
She looked at him flatly. “Why? I don't have any medical training.”
“Well, no. But. Well, this is combat. It's not very safe.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I've seen more combat than you have.”
Gaius opened his mouth and closed it again, then nodded. “Alright.”
“How about you? Why are you here? I thought you'd decided to stay with your followers.” She imbued the last word with as much bitterness as she could, which was saying a rather great deal.
“Yes, well... I... It seems to me that I owe humanity a debt. This appeared to be a good way of... repaying that.”
Caprica's expression softened as she regarded him. “I'm glad you're here, Gaius.” She reached out and took his hand. Somehow, she understood.
“So am I.”
﴿﴾
Bill stood in the middle of CIC, Saul, Gaeta and Hoshi comprising his entire CIC command staff. They were good men, good soldiers. He was glad he had let the younger men have their relationship. They both deserved the happiness they'd found in these last few months.
He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders.
“Frontal assault team status,” he called out.
“Ready sir.”
“Sickbay status.”
“Ready.”
“Flight deck crew.”
“Ready.”
“Infantry.”
“Ready.”
He paused. He wanted a longer list, but it just didn't exist. The test jump had been entirely successful and completely undetected. A handful of raptors floated alongside them, ready to jump into danger. His support crew was waiting for the first casualties of this battle to come stumbling back. Lee and Kara stood ready to storm the Colony. Laura Roslin waited, patient and resilient, in sickbay.
Nothing remained but to act. “FTL,” he asked for at last.
“Ready.”
“Jump in three...”
“Two... one....” Gaeta took over the count down. “Jump.”
Continue to Chapter 37.