Word Count: 3,185
Date: 2004
Series: Mini
Rating: K+
Category: Character
Pairing/Focus: Kara
Warnings:
Summary: Kara Thrace's past has always been murky, even to her. What is
someone offered unwelcome enlightenment?
Spoilers/Disclaimers:
Note: Not much is known (through canon) about Kara's past, so I'm
trying to fill in a little of that. The ships I listed here can be found on
the Battlestar Galactica 2003 website here: www.bsg2003.com. For those
wondering, YES I did have a certain TOS star in mind for a character in this
chapter.
I didn't add this in the previous chapter, but I want to thank Lona and Kathy for their beta skills, not to mention a few brainstorming sessions on AIM! Also, thanks to Crys for letting me use her now well-known hospital ship in the previous chapter.
Chapter One
"I wonder what my father would think of me, right now?"
President Laura Roslin was tired as she lay there on the hospital bed. The medical ship, Lenna Dell, boasted state of the art equipment, excellent facilities, and a top-notch staff; The President, however, was not visiting as a government official, but as a patient.
Aside from her personal assistant, only Commander Adama and the doctors on this ship knew of her condition. The doctors said nothing of it because they understood patient-doctor confidence, and the Commander of the Battlestar Galactica said nothing as well due to his 'knowledge' on the whereabouts of the planet Earth.
It'd been only a week since they'd all escaped total destruction at the hands of the Cylons, and since then Laura had been pushing herself to bring some form of order to the remnants of humanity now floating around in their metal homes around them. Unfortunately, her condition could no longer be ignored, so on her first visit to the Dell, she immediately began her treatment. The doctors here were cautiously optimistic, a little different than her now-dead one back on Caprica. Radiation and chemotherapy were now her staple to hopefully combat the lump in her chest. They also gave her a massive increase in vitamins to combat any fatigue she might feel.
But she was still tired.
Who wouldn't be, she thought, when they're trying to kill what's inside my chest just a shade quicker than the rest of me?
Billy Kekieya looked from his PDA in mild surprise. He'd been going over the latest reports from the rest of the fleet with the President when she asked the innocuous question.
"I'm – I'm sorry, Madam President?"
"Billy," she started in weary amusement, "I told you, when we're not in any official setting to let go of the official titles, at least for a little while." A hand picked at the simple hospital garment she wore in bed, and she waved her arm with the IV tube attached. "I hardly think we're in an official setting," she said with a small smile.
Billy's face reddened a bit, but he managed to nod. Neither said anything for a minute or so, until Billy cleared his throat.
"You mentioned your father?"
Laura nodded, and smiled. "Yes. I was just wondering what he might think of me at this moment. He'd probably have a good laugh at my becoming President, especially given what happened between him and my mother. My parents divorced when I was little and it was decided that it would be best that I stay with my father." She sighed. "Even when I was little, we used to have so many talks about – anything: movies, the weather to music. That was one of the things that I loved most about him: he always listened to me when I talked. Even when I went to college, we still made time to catch up on things." Her face grew wistful. "I miss that now. It's not everyday you can find a good listener, especially considering what he did for a living."
"What did he do?" Billy asked.
Laura chuckled. "He was a correctional officer. Worked his way up from men to women and finally working with teens. 'Going from bad to worse' as he put it. So, naturally he'd be used to telling people what to do instead of listening." She paused, looking thoughtful. "Maybe that's why he and my mother never did get along," she mused, then shook her head. "He said he was proud of me when I decided to be a teacher. Every kid I could help to get an education was one less that he had to worry about winding up in prison." Her smile slipped a bit and she grew quiet, deep in thought.
Billy waited for a minute or two. He'd become so engrossed in the story, that he leaned in.
"What happened?"
Laura blinked and turned her head to him, almost forgetting someone was listening to her life's story. She pressed her lips in thought then shrugged. "When President Adar first approached me with an opening in the Ministry of Education, I thought it was a chance of lifetime: to really make a difference in that high a position. My father though, never liked or trusted politicians. He'd seen too many budget cuts affect his correctional facilities. He thought I was selling out, abandoning the people who really mattered."
She sighed deeply and settled deeper into her pillow. "We never spoke again after that."
Billy frowned a little. "What did your mother do?"
Laura grinned self-consciously. "She was a…Governor for our state. She met my father in one of her tours. One thing led to another and they got married a month later. But, after I was born, she focused more and more on work, leaving me more and more with my father. Not that I minded since I did get along with him. I guess I can see now what my father meant about abandoning those who matter." She sat up slowly and Billy helped her reach for a sip of water in a glass. She stared at the glass for a few moments. "Maybe that's why I never married," she said quietly. She took a deep breath and nodded towards Billy. "Let's talk about something else. What else is there?"
Billy tapped a few keys on his PDA, scrolled down the list and, after seeing an entry, shook his head.
"What?" asked Laura.
"It's funny how you mentioned 'correctional facility' a moment back," he said in response. The President narrowed her eyes, looked away, and then looked sharply back at Billy.
"The Astral Queen," she said sharply.
Her assistant nodded. "The captain's not been too helpful about your request for updates on the status of the criminals. His last message still said – in so many words – that, due to the shortage in supplies, it might just a good idea to..."
"No," Laura interrupted. "No, no, no, no. No 'accidental' deaths. They're still human beings, no matter what they've done." She shook her head and took a deep breath. Not only was she trying to help build a society, but now she had to deal with the unfortunate by-products of the previous one. She ran a hand through her hair, not for the first time wondering how long she'd have it while the treatments lasted. Then a thought crossed her mind.
"Billy," she said slowly, "you finished that engineering survey started by Captain Apollo when we first organized the fleet, right?"
A few more taps on the PDA and Billy showed the President the listing. Her eyes scanned down the data.
"Good," she said thoughtfully as she made several highlights to certain entries. She kept scanning down until another list came up. "What's this?" she asked, scrolling down the list
Billy leaned over and glanced at the new information. "Oh – well, since I was doing the survey of the ships, I decided it might be beneficial to also do a preliminary census."
Laura looked through the list and her eyes grew a little at what it consisted of and how they were grouped. "Am I paying you enough?" she asked in frank admiration.
Billy could only grin sheepishly. Laura smiled and handed back the PDA.
"I think it's time you applied more of that diplomacy and public administration that you learned to the Commander of the Galactica."
Billy nodded and headed out the door.
"Oh, and Billy?" Laura called out. He turned and looked back from the doorway. "Say hello to your friend in CIC for me," Laura said, smiling into her drink as she took a sip. Billy's ears turned red, but he said nothing. He opened his mouth to apparently say something, thought better of it, and simply nodded as he left the room.
Laura shook her head ruefully at Billy's departing back.
"Kids," she said with a sigh.
"This is a joke, right?" Colonel Paul Tigh snorted as he handed the PDA back to the President's Assistant.
Billy kept his face impassive, but sighed internally. He'd hoped to meet with Commander Adama personally, but Colonel Tigh said in no uncertain terms, that any and all requests had to go through him. Billy knew that he had the full authority of the President behind him, but it would not do any good to sucker-punch someone like the Colonel with that kind of power. He'd seen first hand what that led to when the President first confronted Colonel Tigh back at the Ragnar Anchorage. He had to present the request as something that would benefit not just the civilians in the fleet, but also the military. Politics was, as someone said, the art of the impossible.
If only he could get the Colonel to stand still while presenting his argument.
Presently, Colonel Tigh walked from station to station of CIC, checking the status of each and signing off on reports. Billy tried to keep pace, but it didn't help that CIC, although large, had very little walking space when packed with personnel. He grimaced as he bumped into yet another crewmember. A glance over at the communications area showed a grinning Dualla, shaking her head at Billy's predicament.
Billy cleared his throat. "Colonel Tigh, this request is not unreasonable. All that the President requests are to have one or two of your pilots, with sufficient security, shuttle people from the Astral Queen to another ship, the Loki."
The Colonel stopped in his tracks and favored him with a raised eyebrow. "Is that all?" he asked sardonically. "Mr. Keikeya, what gave you the impression that Galactica was a limo service? In case you haven't noticed we are very far into uncharted territory. Not only that, a good many of our Vipers are currently grounded due to damage they took in the last fight not just from the Cylons but from the highly unorthodox landings they all made so as to make the Jump with this ship."
He paused to look over a report that was handed him, initialed it and continued walking. "Our people down in the repair bays – not to mention a good number of our pilots - have been working round the clock to try and get as many fighters operational in case we run into anymore nasty surprises." He stopped again and fixed a tired glare on Billy. "Besides, most of the larger craft in the fleet already have shuttlecraft, along with their respective pilots, so why not use them?"
"With all due respect, Colonel," Billy said. "While we might have the logistics to make the changes, we simply do not have the security. We're in the process of setting up even a small police force, but it'll take time. These are hardened criminals and there is the chance they might take over the shuttle. Additionally, Galactica does carry the shuttles with the largest capacity. Am I right in assuming that there is contingent of Colonial Marines aboard?"
Tigh blinked. "Yes," he answered cautiously. "Galactica's always had a small contingent, going all the way back to the first Cylon War."
"Then all that'd be needed are two pilots, at most, with only a few Marines. It wouldn't take that long and with your shuttles it would take at most a few trips. A greater show of force would quell any attempt at a riot. If an attempt is made….well, I would think your pilots – not to mention the Marines – are trained to handle any emergency."
"After all we've been through, I'd say so as well," muttered Tigh, who still looked slightly recalcitrant.
"There is a possible added benefit to your ship as well," Billy offered.
Tigh frowned. "How's that?" Billy took out his PDA, tapped on it a few times and handed it back to the Colonel. "What is this?"
"It's a preliminary survey of the refugees we have in the fleet. While in the process, I was able to scout out some occupations that might be of interest to you." Billy leaned over and highlighted a section for Tigh, whose eyes widened a bit as he scanned down.
"These are - ?"
"Retired Fleet Personnel," Billy said with a nod. "Some of them have worked in such areas as the Picon Shipyards or even aboard other ships, including other Battlestars. I've contacted a few of them and they are more then willing to come to the Galactica and help in any capacity. It would definitely help to bring up the number of personnel you have in the hangar bays, especially after the losses you took on that nuclear strike."
Tigh looked sharply up at Billy. He said nothing for a moment, then looked back at the list and took a deep breath.
"Yes, it would help, wouldn't it?" he said quietly.
"There's also one other thing I'd like to show you, if I may?" Billy said, indicating an empty workstation.
Tigh gave a half-grin. "Oh, there's more?" he asked in gruff amusement. Billy walked over and plugged in a memory card. Several ships in the fleet appeared on the screen with specifications scrolling down on one side.
"Originally Captain Apollo was to do an engineering survey of the ships when we first started gathering outside of Caprica space, but when we got jumped by those Cylons, he never got the chance after the President gave the order to jump to Ragnar."
"I heard about that," mused Tigh. "Leaving behind all those people behind…"
Billy paused briefly from his work. "It wasn't a decision she made lightly, sir," he said quietly, with a hint of defensiveness. "She understood that it had to be made quickly, or else everyone would have been lost."
"I'm not saying that, Mr. Keikeya," Tigh replied softly. Billy looked up and saw the Colonel's features softening a bit. "I merely meant that…I can sympathize with what she had to do." Billy was about to ask what he meant, but the Tigh nodded to the screen. "Go on."
"Oh, well this," he pressed a button, "is the Celestra, an industrial electronics and repair ship. Any problems with your electronics, in any ship of the fleet, can be fixed here." He touched another button and another ship appeared. "This is the Hephaestus, a foundry ship which produces castings from molten ore. I talked with the Captain and was told they can modify their moldings to manufacture Viper parts. They said it would take a little doing, but it's doable." Another button was touched and two more ships appeared. "The one on the left is the Tauranian, which is a refinery ship for Tylium. We were lucky since it was the last ship Lt. Valerii found before we jumped. The last ship is a mineral ship, which can do planetary surveys and ore extraction of Tylium."
Tigh could only look from the list of personnel in his hand to the ships on the screen. "You – did all this," Tigh waved the PDA, "by yourself?"
Billy flushed a little, and then nodded. "I…really don't sleep that much," he said sheepishly.
Tigh pursed his lips. "Mr. Keikeya, you do realize we would've eventually found out all this information – ships, personnel – by ourselves," he said quietly.
Billy held the Colonel's gaze. "Yes, sir, eventually, you would have."
Tigh said nothing, then shook his head with a chuckle and handed back the PDA. "So, one – maybe two – pilots, one shuttle and a few Marines, all to move some criminals to the Loki?"
Inside, Billy was smiling. "She's a penal ship in her own right and can handle the criminals with her own staff. Plus, the extra space opened up by the Celestra could accommodate more of the refugees, which we could move on our own."
"So, everyone is happy in the end?" Tigh said wryly.
"Exactly."
Tigh was about to say something when his eyes strayed behind Billy's field of view and his countenance dropped like a stone. Frowning, Billy turned and noticed a blonde Viper pilot walking past them. A small smirk tugged on the woman's lips and Tigh's mouth compressed to a thin line as she held his gaze a little while before walking to a station to drop off a report. Billy turned back and to see Tigh, who now had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"You said you needed one or two pilots, right?" Billy nodded. Tigh's lips quirked a little as he gazed back at the retreating pilot's back.
"I can think of one off the top of my head."
"That son of a bitch!!" screamed Kara Thrace.
Not for the first time, Lee Adama idly wondered if voices could carry across a vacuum. If so, then every ship they passed in the fleet must have heads turning in their direction.
Unfortunately, wireless had no such limitations.
"Um – please repeat that last, Shuttle two-one-four?" asked a curious Dualla back at the Galactica. Lee, sparing an exasperated glance at Kara, leaned over and toggled the mike.
"Negative, Galactica. It was just static," he replied, hoping they'd leave it at that. There was slight pause on the other end before Galactica's Communication's Officer answered.
"Roger, two-one-four. Have a quiet trip," Dee said. Lee could imagine her shaking her head. Sighing, he switched off communications and looked over at Kara, who looked a little chagrined.
"If you're going to curse out anyone, try and not do it on an open channel?"
"Sorry," she mumbled. "It's just that – I was on my way to start my patrol, when he dumps this on my lap!" Kara shook her head in disgust. "I'd rather be out there," she waved her hand out past the view port, out into the blackness of space. "Me and my Viper, pushing the boundaries, you know?"
"Yeah," Lee said, also losing himself, for a moment, in the view of the cosmos.
"You didn't have to come along," Kara said a little guiltily. "Now you're stuck on this milk run along with me."
Lee shrugged while checking a readout. "I thought you could use the company on this run. From what you told me, this will help everyone in the end. Tyrol 's going to be jumping for joy once we bring in those personnel and any information on when those ships can start making spare parts. Besides, sleep is overrated." He and Kara shared a look and both chuckled. An indicator light went on and Kara leaned over and shut it off.
"We're ten minutes to the Astral Queen," Kara reported. Lee nodded and undid his safety harness.
"I'll got tell our guests."
Kara shook her head and snorted, though for a completely different reason. The last thing Lee saw was his copilot cracking her knuckles.
Chapter Two
Several hours ago.....
Lee had just come off from a long patrol and had passed by Kara as she headed to CIC to drop off a report before heading for her own patrol. Once in the locker room, he debated whether or not to take a shower, but decided against it since his body pretty much decided for him as he collapsed in his bunk. He was just passing into a dreamless sleep, when the hatch flew open with a clang, rattling him into thinking it was the klaxon. When he looked over he saw Kara pacing back and forth in front of his bunk, her face red and her nostrils flared. He was about to ask what the hell happened and why she wasn’t on patrol, when she began to curse Colonel Tigh in almost every dialect of the Twelve Colonies.
Almost ask a silly question…
Lee had first-hand knowledge of Kara in such states and if there was anything he knew for certain it was that trying to handle Kara in such a state was like trying to disarm a tactical nuke: you wondered if you should even try and hoped that it wouldn’t blow up in your face.
Although he was a recent addition to the Galactica, he’d quickly found out about the reason why Kara had been thrown in the brig in the first place. Rumor had it that Colonel Tigh had actually – in his own way - tried to smooth things out between him and Starbuck immediately after the jump from Ragnar. Unfortunately, as Lee heard it, Kara – in her own way – had thrown the apology right back in his face. Personally, Lee thought no one deserved that kind of treatment, especially if they had just tried to bring an olive branch. But, even when they had been growing up, Kara had always had her own way of doing things. Even as an adoptive sister, Lee had gotten the impression that Kara had felt like an outsider, no matter how open and loving his parents had been to her. Adama was ‘like a father’ to her, but he really wasn’t. Lee knew she was orphaned, knew she was adopted, but her parents were the one subject he never broached to her in all the times he’d known her.
Lee always thought that it had to do with a connection to one’s past. He’d lost a brother, but he still had his father to talk to, if he felt the need to. Kara though, had no one in her past with whom she could connect. Perhaps that was why she was considered a loner by more than one fellow pilot. It didn’t help that when she tried to make connections of her own, as in falling for and being engaged to Zac, that it ended so tragically. It didn’t help in the least that she considered herself responsible for his death since she had allowed her emotions to dictate passing him in Basic Flight. Lee certainly hoped she’d be able to sort out things soon enough. That kind of emotional baggage was not healthy in the least.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee reached the main hold of the shuttle and was surprised when he opened the hatch and all the Marines were already prepping up for deployment. Men – and women – were too busy checking their armor and weapons to even notice him walking in, until the Sergeant noticed him and walked over.
“Five minutes, right?” he asked, checking his watch and laughing at Lee’s look of surprise. He tapped the side of his helmet mike. “We picked up the inter-ship chatter in the cockpit. We’ll be ready,” he added.
Lee glanced around at all the heavily armed individuals. “Seems like you’re carrying a lot of firepower for a bunch of criminals,” he couldn’t help saying.
“You never know if more than one may get it their heads to try and take over the shuttle. Besides,” The Sergeant gave a nasty smile. “For all we know, they could be 500 Cylons.”
Lee couldn’t fathom going hand-to-hand with a Cylon. Yes, his father had done it and won (barely) but that was only because it had been near death. He’d been trained to fight in a Viper against other ships, not in seeing the literal whites (or reds) of the other’s eyes.
He nodded to the Marine and headed back to the cockpit.
“Hey, Captain!”
Lee turned to see a young Private come up to him. She had blue eyes and blonde hair, cut very short. Stocky, but not overly so. He couldn’t help thinking she’d look half-way decent if she tried a little.
“Listen,” she said. “About what happened earlier - ”
Lee brought his hand up. “Don’t worry about it. You just caught her at a bad time.”
“Oh, well, then could you give her this?” She slung her pulse rifle and patted at her pockets until she came out with a small aluminum tube. “It’s one of my last, but I figure if she knew it was no hard feelings?”
Lee had to smile at the others persistence as he took the offering. She leaned in as if to whisper. “Between you and me, Captain, your co-pilot looks like she could give a mean right-hook,” she said in something like admiration (or was it something else?).
Lee laughed. “I know more than one person who’d agree, Private.” The other laughed as well, snapped a quick salute and jogged back to the main hold.
When he and Kara had arrived at the launch bay, they’d met up with the platoon of Marines they were to take for security. Unfortunately, Kara (who was definitely not in the best of moods) had gotten into a verbal scuffle with that same Marine and both got into each others' face, trying to glare the other down. For a split second no one said anything, and Lee almost stepped in since he didn't want to have to visit Kara either in the brig (again), or worse, in Sick Bay.
The Marine, though, seeing that Kara wasn't about to back down, only laughed and said something to the effect of Kara being ‘her kind of girl’. The situation defused itself right there as the Sergeant threw a few choice words at the platoon and had them loaded on to the shuttle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee was still chuckling as he strapped himself back in his seat. Kara glanced at him curiously then frowned at what was in his hand.
“What’s that?”
Lee offered the sealed tube to Kara. “A ‘no hard feelings’ gift from your new fan,” he said wryly. Kara glared at the offering and stared right back out the view port.
“C’mon, Starbuck,” Lee said. “How many cigars do you have left anyway?” That hit a nerve, because Kara started to chew on her lower lip. Finally, without looking, she snapped the cigar case and put it into her suit pocket, mumbling something about all Marines being nuts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Welcome to the Astral Queen, I’m Captain Karos.”
“Captain Lee Adama.” Lee introduced himself, while shaking the man’s hand, then he introduced the others. “This is Lt. Kara Thrace, my copilot and Sergeant Reis of the Colonial Marines.” The Captain nodded to the others in obvious relief and quickly showed the group through the nearly deserted ship.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am about this. We only have a skeleton crew aboard and we weren’t really trained for this sort of thing.” The Captain ran a hand over a shining pate and had a habit of stroking a very thin goatee he was sporting. He looked back at the other two before leaning over to Lee. “To be honest, I was hoping that the President would see things my way, especially with the shortage we have of supplies and all.”
“I believe the President made her sentiments clear on that subject,” Lee said quietly.
Captain Karos looked sideways at Lee. “Of course. I understood that when she threatened to withhold the last Jump coordinates so that the Queen would end up stranded from the rest of the fleet,” he said with a little chagrin.
As a luxury liner, the Astral Queen featured state of the art entertainment: casinos, hotel, restaurants, a natatorium, movie theater, even a concert hall. Kara’s eyes boggled at everything around her.
“How did you end up carrying 500 criminals in the first place?” she asked.
“We’d just completed a major overhaul and refit at Geminon. Our company, White Star Lines, is sometimes subcontracted to carry cargo from one port of call to another.” Karos shrugged. “Geminon had some criminals to be transported so we were tapped. We were supposed to drop them off at a penal colony and then head to Caprica for a full complement of passengers. Who knew the Cylons would have different ideas?” he said with a shake of head.
“Captain,” asked Sergeant Reis. “What kind of criminals can we expect?”
Karos snorted. “You name it, we’ve got it: Everything from petty thieves to murderers to political prisoners.”
Lee frowned. “Political prisoners?”
Now Kara snorted. “Not everyone was happy with the way things were being run by the government, Lee. Don’t forget that even before the Cylon War, the Twelve Colonies were fighting each other. After 40 years, a lot of the old hatreds between the worlds have been simmering.”
“I’ve lost count as to the number of combat drops we made to stop a riot here or an armed revolt there,” Sergeant Reis added grimly.
“Great,” Lee said. He started going through the manifest as they were being led to the lower levels when something caught his eye. “Captain, our initial information stated that you had 500 individuals, but on your manifest, you now state 501.”
Captain Karos started to chuckle. “Yes, my apologies on that. We hadn’t updated our manifest what with the war and all. Just prior to Jumping from Geminon we received a distress signal close to the asteroid field so we decided to render assistance since we were the closest ship. What we found was a small freighter drifting too close to the field. We towed it in and found that a fire had broken out in the cargo hold. It didn’t take us long to realize that the captain was a smuggler.”
“What was he smuggling?” asked Kara.
“Ambrosia,” Karos said with a smirk. “Hence the fire.”
“I don’t understand,” Lee said.
“Well, we all know how volatile ambrosia is? It seems our Captain had an accident while ‘taste testing’ some of it while smoking at the same time.” Karos shook his head. “What a mess!”
Kara and Reis both started to laugh. When he sobered up, Captain Karos indicated a hatch ahead of them.
“These are where the less dangerous criminals are staying. We actually had to separate the others into some of the other smaller cargo areas.”
Lee looked up from the electronic manifest he was scanning. “Why?”
Sergeant Reis looked over at Lee. “You’ve never worked with criminals before, have you?” The other shook his head. “Among them, it’s considered a badge of honor to kill convicts with records such as child molestation or murder.”
Lee merely sighed as he shook his head. “Before we go in, how do you recommend we handle the prisoners?”
Reis consulted his manifest then looked back up. “Since the worst cases are already separated, I’d prefer we move those first to the Loki. Once they’re out of the way, it should get easier from there with the less dangerous criminals.”
Lee nodded as well. Although in overall command of the mission, he knew enough to defer the actual handling of the people to the Sergeant. He looked over at Captain Karos.
“Since we’re here I’d like to run a quick check to make sure no one’s missing, or has gone unaccounted for,” he said nodding towards the hatch.
“Sounds good to me, as long as they’re out of my ship as soon as possible,” Karos said as he punched a code on a keypad next to the hatch. It slid to one side and all went in.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The main hold was cavernous. Even so, Lee could see it was that the people here were packed to the gills. Hundreds of people were milling around: some playing cards, a few sleeping in makeshift cots, some talking, and some laughing. He turned towards Sgt. Reis and was about to ask him a question when something small and fast whipped right past him and the Marine. Instinctively, he went for his sidearm, but started in surprise as Reis grabbed his arm and shook his head. Lee paused and looked over as several ‘somethings’ came into view, now giggling and pointing. His jaw hit the ground and he rounded on the Captain.
“Children?” Lee asked incredulously. “How could you allow minors in the same area as convicts?”
The Captain looked a little embarrassed, but simply shrugged and spread his hands. “I thought you knew. You may not believe this, but a lot of these criminals are married to one another. Their children actually keep the family business going. They just don’t know any other life.”
Kara frowned. “You didn’t even try to separate them?”
“And run the risk of a real riot on my hands?” Karos shook his head. “The ones with kids actually thanked me when I separated out the really severe convicts.”
Lee took a deep breath. This new factor would definitely add a new wrinkle to things, especially with the new President being a teacher and all. First things, first though.
"Captain, a word please?" Sergeant Reis said, motioning over to a corner. Lee frowned, but came over. Kara also walked over. Reis glanced up at Karos and then back at the two pilots. "If our good captain was contemplating the 'removal' of the prisoners on his own terms, did that include doing the same to the children?" he said quietly.
Both Lee and Kara's face paled slightly at the implication. Kara's fist balled up but Lee held her back.
"Not here," he said, his voice strained. "If the prisoners found out what Karos had planned for them (especially the parents), we really would have a riot on our hands. Once we're done, we'll let the Commander and the President know."
Kara nodded, but said nothing. Lee had the impression that she'd love to show Karos the business end of an airlock.
“Kara, why don’t you start on that end over there and I’ll start here. Sergeant?” Reis nodded and pointed to a few Marines to escort Kara, while he and a few others fell in step with Lee. The rest covered the door in case any convicts got a little ambitious.
Although Lee thought the presence of the Marines a tad excessive, he had to admit there was more than one time where a convict looked over and, seeing the Marines, was more forthcoming about his or her name. More than one had asked him if it was true what had happened to the Colonies. Although criminals, they were still human and more than one wondered about family they had lost in one colony or other.
Lee was almost wrapped up when he stopped suddenly and sniffed. He took a deeper breath and frowned. He looked over to see Kara working with some Marines with a crowd of people around her. Although not a smoker, he thought he caught a whiff of strong cigar smoke, and he knew Kara didn’t smoke while on duty.
He looked over and noticed a cluster of people huddled at a small table. Curious, he walked over and saw that the people were playing cards. Most of the players took no notice of him since they all threw their cards down in disgust just as the player right in front of him laid his hand down on the table.
“Read ‘em and weep, ladies,” the man said. Lee looked over and noticed a smoking cigar clenched tightly in a shit-eating grin. Blonde hair hung in bangs in an unkempt fashion over a set of deep brown eyes that twinkled mischievously. Lee put him around his late 50's or early 60's, old enough to be around during the first Cylon War. The man puffed, nodded appreciatively at the winnings and reached over. “Come to papa,” he said as the hugged the pile of cubits over to his side of the table.
“How does he do that?” one woman muttered as she saw her cubits being dragged over.
“What can I say?” said the man as he started stuffing his earnings into various pockets of his jacket. “It’s a combination of talent and luck.”
The woman grimaced as if biting into a lemon and opened her mouth to reply when she looked up and noticed Lee and the Marines. Everyone else at the table looked up as well, including the winner. Lee cleared his throat.
“Pardon the interruption, but we’re taking a survey of people before we transfer all of you to another ship.”
Everyone looked at each other. The woman who was talking to the blonde man leaned over.
“Is it true? About the Colonies and the Cylons, I mean,” she asked. Everyone looked at the Colonial Officer expectantly, some with worried expressions. Lee looked uncomfortable. He’d hoped to get the criminals processed and transferred as quickly as possible. He was afraid someone might try something stupid if news reached them that everyone back home was dead. The most dangerous person is one who has nothing to lose. He looked quickly and noticed Sergeant Reis look back at him and nod. Lee looked back at the woman and nodded once. Everyone at the table sagged a bit at the news. Some people covered their faces, others simply muttered and sighed.
The woman who asked said nothing for a while, lost in thought. Then she looked back at the blonde man who was also lost in thought. “Well,” she started, a little sarcastically. “I guess luck was on your side again when we picked you up in that asteroid belt.” The man sighed while absently staring at his cigar.
“Yeah…lucky.”
Something clicked in Lee’s mind and he did a double-take. “You’re the Captain who blew up his cargo?” he blurted out.
Everyone’s demeanor changed as hoots and guffaws rang around the table. The blonde man’s face reddened and he rolled his eyes at the laughter and cat calls aimed at him. The woman across from him chuckled and pointed at his cigar.
“You’d think that would give you enough cause to give those up.”
The other puffed furiously on his cigar as he frowned. “Now I take offense to that.”
“Hey,” the woman said bringing her hands up. “At least I didn’t drink away any of my cargo while I did runs.”
“It was quality control!” the man protested. “I didn’t want to be known for bringing in substandard ambrosia.” The others, not buying it, simply laughed harder.
“Oh, su-re,” the woman said, still chuckling.
Lee could help himself as he chuckled at the other’s discomfort. At least it didn’t turn into a situation, especially as he looked over at Reis and noticed him relaxed (though still alert). He thought it was a good time to get back to the business at hand.
“Before we continue, I do need everyone’s name before transfer.” He went around the table checking off everyone’s name in his PDA. He then turned to the blonde man.
The other, still looking a little miffed, said, “ Thrace , Derek Thrace.”
Lee, who had the PDA ready for input, stopped and looked sharply back at the man.
“Did you say, ‘ Thrace ’?”
The other stopped in mid-puff and looked back up. “Yeah, why?”
“Hey, Lee!”
Lee turned to see Kara walk towards him waving her PDA.
“We’re set here,” she said. “We can start with the real nasty ones that Karos locked up.”
Lee nodded absently and looked back at the other man, but stopped when he noticed that Derek Thrace was now standing and looking at Kara with an expression of amazement mixed with horror. The man’s cigar fell from his hands to the ground.
“Elisa?” he whispered. Kara’s eyes widened and her mouth opened a little in confusion.
“How – how’d you know my mother’s name?” she said, now more confused than ever.
“You’re - ?” Derek started, then he sat back down again, looking Kara up and down in bewilderment.
Lee, thoroughly confused, looked from one to the other. He frowned and looked from one to the other again.
Wait a minute. The hair…some facial features…Lee’s eyes widened as he looked a third time from one to another in realization.
“Oh, boy,” he said as he looked back to Kara and noticed the dawning of comprehension in her eyes as they narrowed.
Kara’s nostrils flared and with her jaw set, she stared down at the man, who couldn’t bring himself to look back.
“Hello, dad,” she said quietly.
-Continued-