Life on Earth
The Tighs
Saul clinked his glass with Ellen’s. “This is the life.”
Ellen leaned in to her husband, taking a swig from her glass. “Yes, it is. Nothing but you and me, this gorgeous island, and that wonderful plant we found.”
Saul took a drink from his glass. “That cane makes far better liquor than ambrosia. I like this planet already.”
“What should we call it Saul, this..drink?” Ellen asked.
Tigh grinned. “I say we call it delicious.”
Saul and Ellen giggled, falling over each other. As the sun set over the rolling waves, the two of them made love on the sand for the third time that day.
Chief
Galen stared at the animal. It was fat, round, and awkward looking, but it had the most incredible teeth. The teeth didn’t fit the rest of the animal. They were teeth of a warrior. It was quite possibly the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen.
A few days passed. Galen was getting hungry. He’d been living off small fish for days, but they weren’t quite satisfying enough. He’d heard that cylons could turn off their ability to feel hunger, but he hadn’t figured out how just yet. There’d be time to explore his cylon nature later. Food came first.
With the bitter cold, not much grew here. Just inedible lichens and moss. Galen wandered the island searching for edible fauna. There he saw it- the fat, round animal with the warrior teeth. He didn’t know if he could bring himself to kill it, it felt like an injustice.
Galen wasn’t sure if it was his admiration of the animal or his stomach’s yearning for something other than fish and algae, but the meat had been some of the most delicious food he’d ever eaten. There was enough meat on it to last him for months, once he let it freeze in the cold air.
As Galen took his last bite, he eyed the two teeth he’d cut from the animal. They didn’t serve him much use, since there were no people and no animals to protect himself from. But he couldn’t simply throw them away.
He spotted the flight helmet he’d used in the raptor to get here. He looked at the teeth again, then back at the helmet. Chief grabbed the knife he’d used to carve the animal and proceeded to cut a hole in each side of the helmet. Then he took the teeth and stuck them into the helmet, ends pointed upwards. He placed the helmet in front of his camp, displaying it proudly. A dedication to all the fallen warriors.
Romo
“Frak Lee Adama. We’re building a city anyway. If there is one thing I know about Lee Adama, it’s that the man lives in his dreams. It’s a nice sentiment, but really not practical. And seeing how he’s on another continent, he’ll never be able to object.”
They’d chosen a continent without any people, so no one would ever discover their grand settlement, not until the descendants of the other factions made it over. The spot they’d picked lay at a river’s mouth along the coast of a gulf. It’s location made exploration by boat simple, if they ever ran out of food or needed to search for resources unavailable at their area of settlement. Romo had never quite expected Cottle to be a genius of geography. “Damned if I’m going to let us all die for lack of trying. I took an oath,” he’d grumbled.
“Presidency, rather a useless thing now,” Romo had declared once plans were laid out for their new city, and demoted himself to mayor instead. He’d sworn presidency and the whole bureaucracy surrounding it had been part of what made New Caprica such a disaster, and getting rid of lofty titles and living as equals managed to work out well. Within a few years, the citizens of Galactica City had set up a well functioning settlement. It was wooden and crude, but they had running water, a market where people bartered the goods they produced, a school, a small hospital, and even a restaurant. Romo wasn’t quite sure what had possessed Hoshi to build it shaped like an apple, but Hoshi had just smiled and simply stated that he had his reasons. This new Earth was turning out to be quite the great place for a new home.
Of course, the one thing nobody had planned for was the weather patterns on the planet. There’d been an ocean on Aquaria, but the it was so vast that the affect it had on the planet’s single continent was minimal. So when the first hurricane rolled through the gulf, the citizens of Galactica City were completely baffled and unprepared. The entire settlement and everyone in it was wiped out in one fell swoop.
Lee
Lee gazed admiringly up at the mountain in front of him. It would be his first glorious expedition on this new planet, to climb to the top and gaze out into the country from its peak. It was one thing to see for miles in outer space, it would be quite another to see for miles on a planet’s surface. He tightened up his shoe laces, secured his backpack, and started his trek to the top.
It took him three days to get there. He was breathless and cold, yet felt completely satisfied. He’d conquered the mountain and now stood to reap the rewards. The view was even better than he expected. It stretched across the plain, across the continent, to places it would take weeks for Lee to ever reach. “This place is perfect,” declared Lee. “Gorgeous and perfect.” The memory of this mountain would remain with him for the rest of his life.
He wished he could stay longer than he did at the top of the mountain, but the air was hard to breath and he had to make his way down. He hardly paid attention to his surroundings on the way down, instead reveling in the image of that view from the top. So Lee didn’t even notice the mountain lions in his path. They were startled by his presence, this new creature they’d not yet encountered. But as rulers of the mountain, they assumed that it was the same thing as everything else large and without claws: food.
Lee never stood a chance.
Baltar
“Julius Felix Baltar!”
Fifteen year old Julius came trudging up to the house. “Dad, I-“
“Don’t give me that. What were you doing with Hera, huh?” Gaius was glaring.
“Nothing! She’s pretty, that’s all.”
“Yeah, and she’s five years older than you are, I might add. Don’t think I don’t know how the mind of a teenager works, Julius. You better not be doing anything with her, you understand me?”
“We were just talking, dad, chill out. Besides, Mr. Agathon doesn’t mind.”
“Just talking, sure. I don’t care what Mr. Agathon thinks. Nothing happens between the two of you until you’re 18, you understand me? I catch you trying to hit on her again and I’m sending you on a very long hunting expedition.”
Julius just rolled his eyes and walked off towards the fields. Gaius was still glaring.
Caprica came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hard to believe he’s the future of society, isn’t it?” she whispered in his ear.
Gaius put his face in his hands. “God help society.”
Anders
Bob was startled from his sleep. There was someone standing in his room. He started to move slowly out of bed to call for the police.
“Don’t bother. I’ll be gone by the time they’d get here,” the figure said. He was a man, tall, blonde, and built like an athlete. “I have something for you. Here.” He handed out a sheet of paper. Bob took it cautiously and glanced at it. It was music, notes to a full song and lyrics starting there must be some kind of way out of here.
“Record it,” the figure said. “It’ll be critically acclaimed and you’ll make a ton of money off of it.”
“You want me to record this?” Bob asked. “Why?”
“Revenge. Ironic revenge,” said the figure.
“For what?”
“Basically everything since what you believe to be the beginning of time. A direct result of sending my ass hurdling into the sun.” Bob felt very confused, and it must have shown on his face. “Just record the damn song.”
Bob looked at it again, unsure. He’d never had visions appear to him with fully written songs before.
“I’ve got plenty of other prospects if you don’t want it. I’m sure the Beatles would die for deep stuff like this. Whoever does this will get their due, trust me. And you’ll never have to see me again.”
“Yeah. Ok. Sure,” Bob agreed. The figure disappeared. It looked like a pretty good song. He’d start recording it tomorrow.