~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just Another Day "Now, you don't want to touch that." "What? This?" The boy gave an innocent look as he started to flip the switch. "Yeah, that one," Starbuck said through gritted teeth, his face still locked into a smile, as he caught the small fingers before they could activate the power to the laser generators. He liked kids. He did. Really. His friends all said that he was a perpetual kid. Always the rebel, always ready to buck authority when he safely could and not get into serious trouble. He was the expert at toeing the line. He drove his friends crazy at times, he knew. Much like these children were, finally, starting to grate on his last nerve. As the next one, a girl of about 10 with soft, shoulder-length brown hair climbed carefully into the cockpit of his viper, Starbuck stifled a sigh and tried to ignore the growing . . . burning . . . desire to finish this assignment and get back to the more mundane duties of, say . . . a long range patrol. "What's your name, honey?" he said, focusing on her wide- eyed stare and feeling himself relax again. "Malley," she whispered. "Are you really the Starbuck that's on the IFB playing triad?" "You bet, Sweetie." He smiled gently and began running through the short lecture (which he would probably be doing in his sleep this night cycle!) on how a viper works. He glanced for a moment across the crowded landing bay of the Orphan Ship. The children were swarming over and around the other three vipers, and Apollo, Boomer and Sheba were equally engrossed in talking and playing with them. Okay, so maybe this assignment - letting the kids from the Orphan Ship explore the vipers and ask endless questions - wasn't so bad. After all, he knew how he would have reacted - did react - when he got to climb into a cockpit for the first time. And he had to admit to himself that he had tried to push just as many buttons and flip all the switches, like so many of the kids he was seeing this morning. All 380 of them. 380 . . . Frak, just stop thinking about it! He focused on Malley and did what he did best to shut off his true emotions . . . "So, you think you might be a Warrior someday?" He grinned at the wide-eyed girl. "I don't know . . ." "Here let me help you out. Sweetie." He held out his hands to gently pull her out of the cockpit and guide her down the steps. Her gaze was glued to his face. "Now, be careful," he added as she let go. He waved and gave her a quick wink as she reached the bottom and dashed towards the next ship. He could hear yelling above the crowd to a friend, "Wow! It's really him!" The next child, a boy of about 8, was already up by the time he switched his gaze back. The child was so exciting that he was bouncing around like he had turbos in his pants. Wait. Hadn't he been up already? At least four or five times? Starbuck chuckled to himself and started to ask -- "Hi!" said the boy. "How fast does this ship go? What's it like shooting real Cylons? How old were you when you learned to fly? Can I . . ." Finally, after well over a centar and after all of the children had had plenty of chances to explore each ship, the teacher/caregivers began rounding up their charges and herding them into separate groups to take head counts and let the warriors say a final few words. Apollo took the lead and step in front of the groups. Good, thought Starbuck. Captain's duty. Lords, but he felt tired. He hadn't really realized the energy it took to interact with an excited group of kids. He felt like he had played a full triad match. Next stop, he thought, smiling to himself, the O.C. for some refreshment and . .. some quiet. He'd also forgotten just how noisy this many kids could be. As the children began filing out, Starbuck started to walk the short distance to where the others already stood. But as he turned, he caught sight of a child standing off to the side. He stopped. He didn't recall seeing her among the swarming hordes of kids. And something about her was different. On an impulse, he changed directions. The girl was with a teacher, he saw, and was about 12- yahrens-old. She stood stooped over just slightly, with her hands pressed to her ears. And she was gazing at him almost without blinking, with beautiful, clear green eyes. Her light brown hair fell across her shoulders and reached down to her waist. Her expression was . . . blank. She seemed neither excited nor afraid nor interested. But even from a distance, Starbuck could feel her intense gaze. "Hi!" he said when he was within a metron of the two. The girl said nothing, but continued to stare at him. Starbuck gave the teacher a questioning look. "It's been a bit noisy for her," the woman said. She was about 30, with short black hair and dark brown eyes. She carried a small pouch on her belt, Starbuck noticed, his sharp senses noting that none of the other teachers had had one. "Yeah, for me too," responded the lieutenant. "What's her name?" He looked at the teacher and smiled gently. " And what's your name?" "This is Selia," she answered nodding towards the girl. "And I'm Carly." Starbuck glanced back to see Apollo staring at him and motioning for him to come. He knew they needed to get back to the Galactica, but . . . He ignored the captain and turned his smile to the girl. "Hi, there," he said, and started to put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't touch her," Carly said quietly but firmly. Starbuck stopped. "What's wrong?" Selia was still staring at him, and her expression still gave no clue as to how she felt. "She doesn't like to be touched," the teacher explained, "unless you tell her before you do it." Starbuck raised his eyebrows and gave the woman a confused look. "Do you know what autism is?" she asked. Starbuck chewed his lip and noticed that the girl was now giving him a faint but unmistakable smile. "I, uh . . . I've heard about it, but I don't really know much." "It's a neurological condition that, essentially, scrambles the senses and makes it difficult - to varying degrees - for individuals to tolerate the 'outside world,' as I call it," Carly explained. "So they may withdraw into themselves. Some are verbal and almost no different from you or me. Some can't speak and look mentally deficient, but --" And the woman's eyes flared. "All of these people, these kids and adults, are far more intelligent than we might think. You can't go on what you see." "I understand," Starbuck said slowly, sensing that Carly was so used to defending Selia and others like her that it had become automatic. He gazed back at the girl. She was now smiling broadly at him and had let her hands drop to her sides. The noise level, he noted, had greatly diminished, now that most of the children had left. He smiled back. "Hi, Selia." He held out his hand. "Can I shake your hand?" "Can I shake your hand?" she responded, echoing his question, but she extended her hand out. Starbuck took it gently, holding it. "Pleased to meet you." "Pleased to meet you," she whispered. He eyes still stared into Starbuck's, but now they sparkled with her smile. Still holding on to her hand, the lieutenant asked, "What's your name?" "What's your name?" Selia's brow wrinkled for just a moment. "Selia," she answered, beaming at him. "Speech is difficult, sometimes, when she's in a new situation," whispered Carly. "But she understands everything you say to her." "I see," said Starbuck. And he did. Something about her gaze, so penetrating and so deep, drilled right through to his soul. He could feel a reflection of her inner spirit. It was a bit unnerving. "Do you want to see my ship?" he asked. He could hear Apollo calling, but ignored him. "Ship! Yes, ship. Yes!" Selia clapped her hands. "I don't know . . ." Carly suddenly looked uncertain . . . worried. "What's wrong?" Starbuck asked. "We need to get back. All of the excitement might . . . I mean. She has another condition, and she's been more unpredictable today. We really --" Selia grabbed the lieutenant by the hand and pulled him with surprising strength towards the viper. "Ship. Yes, ship!" she said, cutting off her teacher. Starbuck turned to shrug at Carly, who frowned and chewed her lip as she followed behind the two. As he turned back around, the lieutenant saw Apollo, Boomer, and Sheba staring at him. Sheba and Boomer looked amused. Apollo, the 'keeper of duty rosters and schedules,' looked annoyed. Starbuck gave the captain a wide, innocent grin before turning his attention back to Selia. "Do you want to see inside my viper?" he asked as they reached the ship. Compared to her former immobile countenance, it was as if a switch had been flipped; she was animated and excited, bobbing up and down and saying, "Yes, yes! Yes, yes!" "Okay," said Carly, "but only for a few centons." She pointed to her chronometer. "I'm setting my timer." Selia frowned briefly, then turned to scale the ladder up to the cockpit, with Starbuck right behind her. She moved quickly but . . . with slight jerks, he noted, her movements not fluid like all of the others who had swarmed over the ships. Still, she made it into the cockpit with little help from him. Once inside, she sat and stared in fascination at all of the gages and switches in front of her. She laughed quietly and started to almost sing, "I'm Selia. Sweet Selia. And I'm a pretty girl!" She gazed up at the lieutenant, her face beaming. "You're a good boy, a good boy! Such a sweet boy!" Starbuck burst out laughing, casting a glance at Carly, who was also smiling at Selia's obvious delight. "Is she always this way when happy?" he asked. "Yep. Always!" Starbuck turned back to the excited girl, who was still rambling on: "yes, you're a sweet boy! And I'm Selia, sweet Selia! And this is a sweet ship! I love this ship!" She patted the lieutenant's hand as she spoke and giggled. Starbuck would have given his lecture, but the girl didn't stop chanting, so he just grinned as he watched her and responded with, "Yes, you're a sweet girl. And this is a sweet ship!" "Starbuck." The lieutenant sighed and looked down to see Apollo standing next to Carly, hands on hips. "We really need to go," the captain said. "It's --" At that moment, the timer on Carly's chronometer started dinging. The teacher nodded to Apollo. "Yes, it's time for us to go, too. Selia! Time to go!" she called. Selia's chanting stop. Starbuck turned to help her out, noticing that her smile had vanished. He reached out his hand -- "No! Don't touch me! Don't hurt me!" Selia's sharp tone echoed through the quiet landing bay. Starbuck jerked his hand back, chiding himself for forgetting what Carly had said. "It's all right. I just want to help you down --" "No! Don't touch me! Don't look at me!" Selia's face, which had been so happy only a micron earlier, was now flushed and furrowed. "Don't touch me!" She banged her elbow against the top of the cockpit. "Whoa! Take it easy!" Starbuck suddenly had an image of the girl tumbling out in her anger. He held up his hands and backed down the ladder. "I won't touch you." "No! Don't look at me!" Selia threw her shoulder against the side of the cockpit. Carly, her face deeply concerned, brushed past the lieutenant as he stepped off the ladder and joined Apollo, Boomer, and Sheba. She climbed part way up to where Selia could see her, then stopped, saying nothing and keeping her distance as much as possible. But from the way she gripped the ladder, it was obvious to the warriors that she was ready to move on an instance's notice. From below, Starbuck could hear the girl banging against the inside of the viper as she continued to shout. He cringed, wondering what damage she was doing to both herself and his ship. After a few centons, Selia's tirade stopped, and the silence echoed through the bay. The warriors watched as Carly moved up the rest of the way. "Selia, take my hand." she said quietly but firmly. Starbuck watched, feeling unsettled and concerned, and feeling a growing appreciation for the challenges faced by both Selia and her teachers. Carly exuded a calm that he doubted that she actually felt, given the circumstances. "Selia," she said again, "Let's go." From the ground, the Starbuck could not see or hear the girl. He and the others watched, waiting, assuming that as Selia calmed, she would respond to her teacher. Carly waited patiently with hand held out. Then her eyes narrowed. "Frak!" She turned to the warriors, her eyes suddenly wide with fear. Starbuck felt his heart thump against his chest as his adrenaline surged. "She's having a seizure!" Carly whipped a comunit from out of a pocket and signaled for assistance with a speed and skill that told the warriors this was a practiced routine. Starbuck had scrambled up onto the nose of the viper before Carly had finished her call for help. He stared at the girl: her head was twisted to the left and her gaze locked upwards, eyelids blinking rapidly. And she was shaking, jerking. What little he knew about seizures flashed through his mind. What stood out that most was some statement that he had heard somewhere - that seizures looked worse than they actually were. However, as he read the fear on Carly's face, he doubted that was true in this case. The teacher was asking the girl questions, to which she slowly responded. A good sign, Starbuck figured. Then the answers stopped. "Mong!" whispered Carly. She scrambled to pull a hypo from the bag at her waist. "What do you need?" asked the lieutenant. He heard the sound of several people running towards them and glanced up to see a medical team headed towards the viper. They carried a stretcher and bulky medical gear. Carly didn't answer. Not yet. She pressed the hypo against the base of Selia's skull. Some sort of neuro stabilizer, no doubt. A micron later, the girl slumped down in the seat. "Help get her down!" Carly said, glancing at Starbuck, then hopping down out of the way as the three med techs reached the viper. The lieutenant slid over and carefully maneuvered the now unconscious girl out of the cockpit and into the arms of one of the medics. Within a centon, they had strapped her onto the stretcher, attached an array of sensor pads, and inserted an airway. He dropped down to the ground to stand next to Carly, who was watching intently. "She'll be all right, won't she?" he asked. For a moment, he wasn't sure the teacher had heard him. But then she said, "Maybe. Maybe." Carly turned eyes brimming with tears and deep concern. "She's so sensitive, compared to others who have seizures. For her, the effects are unpredictable. And she's prone to respiratory failure." The med techs were picking up the stretcher, preparing to take the girl out. Carly moved to follow. Starbuck put a hand on her arm to stop her. "You'll let us know how she is, won't you?" he said, a pleading tone to his voice. He could not yet process all that had happened in just about 20 centons. He had watched this girl, Selia, go from silent to contagiously happy to explosively angry to . . . fighting for her life. "I will," said Carly as she pulled free from the warrior. "I will. I promise. But I have to go now." And then she dashed off after the med techs. A micron later, the landing bay was silent once more. Starbuck stared at the blast doors behind which the med techs, Selia, and Carly had vanished. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Apollo beside him. "Come on," the captain said quietly. "We need to go." Right, go . . . thought Starbuck, still staring at the closed doors. Back to the Galactica, on with his duties. What was next? Oh, yeah. A break for midday meal before leading the newest batch of cadets on the laser range. And then a date with Cassie later. "Starbuck," Apollo said, his voice firm but soft, "Let's go. We'll have Rigel keep us infomed once we get back. Okay?" Starbuck switched his gaze to the captain. Apollo looked unsettled, too, but was ever the one who could remain professional and detached. He glanced at the others. Boomer was chewing his lip, and Sheba, tears glinting in her eyes, smiled weakly, then turned away, heading quickly towards her viper. "Yeah, gotta go," Starbuck said, finally. He felt numb. But with a deep, slow breath, he forced himself to move. Move on. On with his day. As if nothing had happened. He forced a smile and climbed up into his cockpit. Back into familiar routines. Helmet on. Preflight inspections. His cockpit seemed undamaged, he noted. Apollo's voice through the com unit broke the silence. They were cleared to launch. Starbuck completed the checklist and flipped the switches, feeling the comforting vibration as the engines hummed to life. "Ready to launch," he said, not a trace of emotion evident in his voice as he waited for Apollo to exit. He thumbed the turbos and eased his ship out of the landing bay, followed by Boomer and Sheba. Yeah, he would go on with his duties and his life. But as the scene played once more through his head - Selia staring. Selia smiling. Laughing and happy. Suddenly angry, lashing out. Then stiff and shaking and unresponsive . . . then strapped onto the stretcher and hustled out - he would not forget this experience any time soon. Nope. And he would not rest until he knew how things had played out. That was the worst part of it all. Until he heard from Carly or the doctor on the Orphan Ship, he had no idea if Selia was fine, or . . . He increased his ship's velocity to slightly above acceptable the intrafleet limits, ignoring the captain's admonitions. *** The End***