CHAPTER ONE: Fight or Flight
Rating: MA (rating for sexual content) Individuals chapters will vary.
Characters: Adama/Roslin (pairing) and various others
Spoilers: Everything up to and including Revelations. We do not know any other spoilers.
Summary: Everyone assumed the Earth was dead, the planet just a barren wasteland, but soon it becomes clear that everything isn’t as it appears and in the very dirt they stand upon is a mystery spanning hundreds of lifetimes. Bill and Laura find themselves questioning everything they had ever known - their relationship becoming the only thing that holds them together. What happened to Earth and why does it seem so hauntingly familiar?
Disclaimer: We own nothing to do with the show and are making no profit.
Warnings: None.
Rating for Chapter I: PG13
i. Prologue.
Grey.
Cold, grey and dead. Ruins. The planet that promised to be a paradise, their salvation, their absolution, was nothing more than a grave. Dead and silent: the entire civilisation - their brothers and sisters - long gone, causalities to an unknown terror.
The soil they stood upon threatened to be forever barren, scorched by radiation, the very life burnt out of it. Broken remains of what was once a glorious city littered the land, huge steel works jutting from the ground - bare structures was all that remained of an entire colony, of a world, of a planet. Of hope.
The euphoria of finding their prophesied safe haven had been shattered, ripped and snatched away. Brutal.
They were left with nothing - nothing except a wilting population and a few cylon acquaintances.
They remained rooted in place, staring out at the frigid sea and solemn skies. Bill linked his fingers with Laura’s, so cold and dry, her hand trembling in his.
The cylon they called D’Anna looked at them, words failing her, the grief both the cylons and humans felt linked them all together as one race. They had all wanted this and now all suffered as a collective.
A figure came to stand near them, slightly off - away from them, as if unsure whether to come closer. He could make out the blonde strands flying in the wind.
“This isn’t what I saw…” The despair and confusion in her voice was caught by the wind and carried away.
Chapter I: Fight or Flight?
The Ward Room was filled with too many minds, too many worries and too many opinions. Around a table littered with readings, charts, prophesies, books and theories stood the two leaders of humanity, as well as Lee and Kara, Carl Agathon and Felix Gaeta, who was the only one to be sitting. Amidst the humans D’Anna, Leoben, Sharon Agathon and Caprica Six also poured over the information, trying to make sense of it. The 4 of the 5 final cylons stood away from the main group, feeling part of neither fraction and having nothing to contribute anyway.
Everyone was at a loss.
Confusions and ideas were called out, people over talking each other, repeating themselves, arguing.
It wasn’t earth - but it was - it wasn’t what was foretold - but here we are - it wasn’t what Kara had seen - but this is the reality. Over and over the state of Earth was discussed, fruitlessly.
“It was beautiful, lush, green fields, blue skies…” Kara looked helplessly at Laura, at a loss as to what else she could say.
“Maybe it was a vision? Maybe you were there at a different time?” Leoben said trying to step close to Kara, who instantly moved away in disgust… throwing her star charts on the table.
“This is Earth sir,” Gaeta said, picking up the charts, “the constellations match…”
“I know this is it,” Starbuck snapped, “I know, factually this is it. But this isn’t what I saw!”
Her eyes glanced from Laura to her adopted father, “This isn’t what I saw.”
“Kara,” Lee sighed, “this is Earth, whatever you saw…”
“Is dead.” Laura spoke firmly, breaking her silence since stepping off the planet.
Laura’s voice, her final declaration, silenced the room, “Take all your dreams and hopes for what this planet should have been and throw them away. This is it. This is the reality. This,” she said pointing to the aerial photos of the desolate planet, “is it. We will find out what happened but at this moment it’s not important. The question is not why or how this happened, not how unfair it is, not what it should have been like, the real question is what do we do now?”
Bill stepped forward slightly, their civilian clothing did nothing to diminish the power both Laura and Bill easily carried, “The President is correct. We need a plan of action.”
“Do we stay?” Caprica Six asked, looking to the group and then over to the 4 cylons.
The room fell silent, every person in the room looking at the table with pictures of the planet scattered over it.
“Initial readings show it’s habitable,” Gaeta offered pushing forward the readings from the planet, “The radiation levels are low, whatever happened here happened a long time ago, we wont be in danger from that,” he shuffled through the papers finding the base report, “Oxygen, water…it supports human life, we can live on this planet.”
Leoben handed the Admiral a report, “Our scans show that there is edible marine life. The soil is infertile but we believe we have a way around that. Modifying our technology that uses regeneration abilities we believe we will be able to not only create a form of botany that allows plant life to flourish but also gradually be able to refertilise the land.”
“Projected time?” Bill asked.
Leoben glanced at his cylon colleagues before sighing, “It’s a long process for one acre to become fertilised and produce strong planet life, such as grass and vegetables would take one Earth year.”
“So to do the entire planet…”
“It wouldn’t be feasible.”
Voices started to over talk again, one in favour of the process citing it as hope at least, while others saw the project as futile.
“Forget the entire planet. Caprica wasn’t built in a day.” Laura said, “Look, I know this isn’t good. But we need to look at all options here. At least we have a viable means of getting some plant life back into this planet. If we were to settle,” she held her hands up against the sudden noise her last comment created, “IF we settle, we need to start with our area of settlement, we don’t need to rebuild the entire planet.”
“We have no option but to settle. This is earth. What else is there? Where else is there to go?!” D’Anna said, a level of frustration and almost hysteria in her voice.
“We open it to a vote?” Lee offered.
“This isn’t what was foretold… something must have gone wrong.” Caprica Six’s voice rose above the others, “God…”
Throwing his arms up in frustration, Lee sighed, “Oh and now we are back to God, how exactly will that help?”
“Go through what you saw again Kara” Leoben asked as Saul Tigh suddenly stepped forward, “Stop your frakking yapping and listen to the Old Man and the President…”
Helo spoke for the first time, “The Colonel is right, we need order here…”
“Maybe there is another planet, maybe we can keep looking?”
“Saul is this Earth? Are we sure of it?” Caprica touched his arm.
“Keep looking? What do you think we have been doing all these years? If there was another planet we would have stopped. New Caprica was the only other habitable planet and you lot frakked it up!” Kara yelled, blood rushing to her face.
“We have to settle, we can’t keep going, we are running out of supplies all the time at least here we can make a go of it.” Sharon offered, “It’s habitable!”
“Have you seen the state of it?” Anders offered for the first time, stepping closer to the table.
“Yes actually, I was down there, it’s not perfect but it’s better than dying in space.”
“Not by much.”
“Then don’t settle.”
“Hang on,” Helo interjected, “We aren’t talking about a split here.”
Laura sighed at the new onslaught of noise and walked away from the group, feeling Bill’s hand brush her arm in concern as she moved away.
Laura removing herself from the group got everyone’s attention and the room fell silent, when she spoke her voice was tired and emotionless, “This is it. This is reality. I don’t know about you but I’m out of ideas. This is Earth, as far as I’m aware this is all there is. Take a frakking vote if you want to. Or just stand here and complain about how unfair it all is. Make a decision.”
Bill nodded once, firmly, “We found Earth. We all had different expectations and hopes but, life doesn’t work out that way.”
He picked up the readings that proved Earth was habitable, “We did what we set out to do - we got our people to Earth. Now we settle. We can’t keep travelling on the hopes that we will find another planet, our ships are failing, we are running out of supplies. This isn’t how we wanted it, but this is what we have got.”
“So we make the most of it.” Helo agreed.
The room fell silent, it wasn’t perfect but the decision had been made and no-one could or would disagree with it - there was no other option.
“We settle.” Bill stated.
Bill caught Laura’s gaze, their eyes locked in a silent exchange, firmly she echoed, “We settle.”
D’Anna exchanged a look with the 4 standing behind her, the determination on Saul Tigh’s face was enough for her, “We settle.”
“So say we all.” Kara finished, her eyes never leaving the desolate image of Earth - still seeing the emerald land and sparkling oceans and knowing it was all an illusion.
Bill's eyes followed Laura as she made her way out of the room, her shoulders hunched, arms folded tightly across her chest and her head lowered. He resisted the instinct to go after her. She needed some time alone, her body language telling him loudly where words were left unspoken, to let her be.
He turned his attention back to the people in the room, all eyes fixed on him, the great Admiral Adama he didn't have all of the answers to the questions those eyes asked.
“Gaeta.” Bill's hands braced the table, leaning on it as if it was the only thing holding him up, “I need a team put together. Gather as much information as you can about this planet. I want detailed meteorological and geological reports. Natural resources.....” he trailed off , taking a moment to look at the people surrounding him- Human and Cylon, man and machine, except they didn't look like machines, their eyes spoke with the same desperation, anger and despair as their human counter parts.
The Cylon they call Leoben moved towards the table, opposite the Admiral, his body language mimicking Bill's, tense and somewhat cautious. “We have certain advanced technologies that would be of great assistance to you Admiral. Me,” he swept his hand out gesturing at his fellow cylons “and my brothers and sisters will do all we can to aid you and your people” Leoben took a step back and nodded at the Admiral.
“Thankyou,” Bill answered through gritted teeth. They had agreed on a truce, but he didn't have to like them. “ Helo you are in charge. I will be in my quarters”
“Sir” Helo saluted as his superior officer marched out of the ward room.
***
Bill didn't hurry back to his quarters, in fact he took the longest route possible. He needed time to think. Four years on the run, four years fighting for their lives, four years for what? Earth? The reality pained him. I wanna see you hold that first fist full of Earth Laura's words echoed through his mind. Laura. What must she be thinking? Empathy for his lover swamped him; this wasn't about him now or feeling sorry for himself. He should be with her, she needed his support. He walked faster.
Her security detail were positioned at the entrance to his quarters, pausing for a brief moment to nod a greeting, Bill spun the wheel and entered, deadbolting it behind him.
The mud caked boots she had been wearing laid in an un-organised heap to his right. His eyes followed a trail of clothing: a jacket strewn on the floor, pants screwed in a ball and resting just by the couch and the t shirt he had lent her hanging from one of his book-shelves. But no Laura. What the hell has gone on in here? he thought as he studied the room. He stepped further in, pictures of Earth were scattered on the floor in a crumpled mess. He stooped down and gathered them up, throwing them on his desk.
“Laura?” he almost whispered, to which he recieved no reply.
The door to the Head was slightly ajar but no light shone through the gap. He crept over and pulled it back, flicking the light switch to illuminate the small bathroom.
His eyes fell upon the hunched up form of Laura, her knees tucked up under her chin, back against the wall. She stared straight ahead with dull vacant eyes. With only a bathrobe for warmth against the cold metal floor. She was shivering but didnt seem to notice or care.
“Laura?” he knelt down beside her, “Laura snap out of this” his voice grew a little sterner.
“What's the point Bill? What is the point of any of this?” she mumbled flattly, emotionlessly.
He cupped her chin. “Look at me.” She flinched at his touch, and pulled away from him.
“Bill leave it!” she snapped. “Just leave it!” Her eyes flashed a warning at him as she scrambled to her feet and exited the Head, leaving him to stare after her.
He groaned as he hauled himself up from the floor, one hand gripping the wash basin for support. He followed her out into the main room.
“Laura talk to me,” he pleaded with her.
She shook her head, her fists clenched at her side “This isn't happening Bill. What was that?” she gestured to the pictures of Earth now on his desk “Four frakking years Bill, all that death, destruction, fighting to survive, for what? A promised land that doesn't exist,” she scoffed.
“We will make this work Laura, it will just take time,” he tried to take her hand in his and again she pulled away from him.
“Time?! I will be dead before.....”
“Don't say that!” he cut her off mid sentence. “Earth isn't what we expected, its not lush green fields and deep blue oceans. But it's all we got,” he moved closer, “Laura. We still have each other, that's more important than the state of...”
It was her turn to cut him off, “Great Bill. I have cancer. I'm dying. I worked for years for this, I was prepared to die for this” tears were now tracking the contours of her cheeks “I just wanted to spend what little time I have left enjoying life. Instead I will end my days knee deep in dirt on some barely habitable hunk of rock and leave the world knowing that it was all for...”
He kissed her.
She hadn't even noticed him inch closer or dip his head until his mouth crashed against hers in a searing kiss. He was taking no prisoners, his tongue ran along her lower lip demanding entrance to her mouth. She granted him that willingly. They kissed deeply, clinging to each other frantically. Suddenly desperate passion flooaded them, her arms wrapped around his neck as he hoisted her up, her thighs gripping his hips as he edged them closer to the rack.
Her fingers ran through his hair pulling his head back to give her better access to his mouth, Bill's knees connected with the mattress, he moaned her name as he lowered her onto his rack. Trembling fingers sought out skin, their clothes were discarded as rage, dispair and disappointment was lost to a sea of desire, lust and love.
*****
“Come in,” Bill whispered to his son and Helo, “Laura is asleep.”
“We have the reports Dad,” Lee handed his father the folders. “Its not all doom and gloom, ok so it won't be a paradise, not for a long time but there are raw materials we can work with.”
Bill flicked through the sheets of paper “What about climate?”
Helo jumped in, “This land mass here is pretty stable.” he pointed to the map on one of the pieces of paper Bill held. “Its cold, and rains frequently, but it has a good source of natural resources and geologically speaking the risk of quakes are small compared with other areas on the planet.”
“Thank you gentlemen, I will read through these now and see you in CIC in 2 hours.” He nodded towards the door, Lee made his way out but as usual Helo waited. “Dissmissed.”
******
Within days everything had been finalised. The Basestar and Galactica would remain in the sky for the foreseeable future, they would be the only ships that would main intact, functioning and airborne. If the worst happened and they needed to exodus there would be enough room - at a push to house all the survivors on those two vessels.
Commander Thrace, Admiral Adama and Colonel Agathon would take weekly turns manning the Galactica with a still partially commissioned ghost crew. The Basestar would be left under the control of the hybrid who would protect the Galactica and the planet from possible attack. Vipers and Raptors would be divided by half - on the ground and docked on Galactica. This wasn’t New Caprica - they had learnt, they were prepared for every contingency. A ground army would be assembled of both humans and cylons who would guard the settlers, watch the boarders and be ready at a moments notice to be called upon.
Everyone would settle and it would work on a ship by ship basis. Settlers would move down in waves, find their section of land have it signed off as officially theirs and then receive their allotted equipment to build their homes. When one wave was complete the next would begin. All ships save the Galactica and the Basestar would be scrapped and used as material for shelters. This was their final and only home, everything had to be put into this, there were no half measures - this would be their planet, their civilisation and their future.
Already there were areas sectioned off for what would be a military station, a governmental building and a human and cylon liaison building to deal with any problems that might arise between the two fractions.
It had been decided the human and cylons would settle together with no segregation and a lot of effort was being put into displaying unity and peace.
In 6 months everyone would be settled and the foundations of their new civilisation would be firmly in place.
People were beginning to feel that faint thread of hope again. It would be hard, but they were determined they would make it work. Frankly the feeling now was that the worst had happened - what more could go wrong?
Chapter 2 will be up next week. We are weeks ahead of ourselves so there will not be a gap in posting. The entire fic is planned, it won't be 'left'. Also, if you are enjoying it please do let us know by commenting or adding the community. We are having such a blast writing this and we hope more than anything that people are also enjoying it. It's a labour of love.