Battlestar Galactica: Two For Twilly 
Virtual Second Season, Episode 3
By Eric Paddon
Epaddon@aol.com

                    Battlestar Galactica: Two For Twilly

                          Chapter One

     "Red Squadron patrol, all core systems now transferred to you, you
are go for launch."
     "Copy, core command, we are off and running," Boomer said with a
wry air as his finger came down on the turbo button that sent his viper
down the launch tube and out into the black.  A half micron after he
launched, Sheba did the same and immediately pulled up alongside him.
     "Course plotted to examine delta sweep of our general Epsilon 22
heading," Sheba said. "Locked in and on automatic heading."
     "Affirmative that," Boomer said. "And with that, we can now sit
back and barring the appearance of any Cylons or other surprises we
don't want to see, just relax and shoot the breeze."  He paused. "If
you feel up to it, that is."
     The deputy leader of Red Squadron chuckled. "Don't worry, Boomer,
I don't plan on the silent treatment this time."
     "That's good," Red Leader said. "The last couple sectans, it's
been a lot easier to do patrols with you."
     He could hear the wry edge enter her voice. "Too many good things
going for me, I guess."
     Boomer found himself grinning.  Sheba had given him all the
confirmation he needed that at long last, things had become serious
between her and Apollo.  And it was one development that made him happy
for the both of them.  Happy that Apollo was branching out of the shell
he'd been in ever since the death of his wife, Serina, and happy that
with Sheba it was making her much more loose and relaxed when it came
to doing patrol duties.  And since Sheba's designation as Deputy Leader
of Red Squadron meant that she was always to be paired with Boomer (in
the same way that Starbuck, as Deputy Leader of Blue Squadron was
always paired with Apollo), seeing her loose and relaxed suited Boomer
just fine.
     He had enough sense of decorum to not push her any further on that
point.  It was one thing for Cassiopeia or a female pilot like Dietra
or Brie to do that, but not him.  There were some barriers between male
and female pilots that needed to be maintained even in the best working
relationships, from his standpoint.
     "This patrol for instance," Sheba went on. "I've been looking
forward to it all day, because it meant that we were detached from any
further oversight on the Spica.  Another cycle on that miserable hulk
would have had me ready for the Nuthouse."
     "You and me both," Boomer admitted. "Before I stepped aboard that
ship, the worst smell I could ever remember in my life was..." he
then trailed off.
     "Come on Boomer, I can take it."
     "Okay," he chuckled. "Just picture a livestock slaughterhouse that
had not lived up to Colonial Inspection Standards on a hot summer day
during a power failure causing all coolant systems to go into shutdown
mode.  There used to be one of those a few hundred metrones from where
I grew up and on a day when all those elements came together, I thought
I was going to die."
     "Hmm, that actually wasn't as bad as I thought it might," Sheba
glanced at her scanner which showed all clear.  "But then again, having
to pitch in to help dismantle a sanitation ship and then make
arrangements for which ship in the Fleet can compensate for the
workload the Spica was doing, is the kind of duty I thought only those
on report got assigned to."
     "I guess we all have to put up with that kind of felgercarb sooner
or later in our careers."
     The conversation continued for another thirty centons, before
Sheba looked ahead and saw her field of vision blur to almost nothing.
     "Boomer, I've got an ion dust cloud dead ahead.  Nothing serious,
but it's blocking our field of vision for Epsilon 22 heading."
     "We'll have to penetrate it directly," Red Leader said. "Increase
turbos and let's go through her as quickly as we can."
     "Copy."
     The two vipers hit their turbos and within microns, they had
pierced the swirling cloud, and then exited out the other side.  As
soon as they emerged, they found themselves instinctively raising their
hands to shield their eyes.
     "Whoa!"  Sheba exclaimed. "I can barely see a thing!"
     "Me too," Boomer kept his head down. "Take a quick scan and then
execute full 180 degree turn  back to the Galactica.  This patrol just
came to an end!"
     

     Two centars later, both Adama and Tigh were going over the
information from Red Patrol on the command deck level of the bridge.
     "No question about it," the executive officer said. "Class A
mega-star right smack in the middle of our path.  Pulsating out to such
a wide perimeter, it would take us a sectan to track our way around it
before picking up our regular Epsilon 22 heading again."
     "This is one of the most rare phenomenons in the universe."  There
was an edge of awe in Adama's voice. "A Class A mega-star such as this
actually makes something like the Nova Madagon seem cold and impersonal
by comparison."
     "True," Tigh nodded. "From what I remember, something of this
magnitude was never actually charted in Colonial space.  It was
only...theoretical."
     Adama continued to stare at the recorded image in fascination.
"In all my yahrens in space, I don't think I've ever seen anything to
surpass the beauty and grandeur of something like this."
     The executive officer decided he needed to stress a more practical
tone as a counterweight to the commander's awed reaction.  "The bottom
line, sir, is it's still potentially deadly for us and all ships in the
Fleet if we don't head away from it.  The gravity field of something
this big could pull us straight into the inferno at that sun's core."
     "True," the commander nodded. "Quite true.  And yet..." he
trailed off.
     "Yes?"
     "Tigh," Adama was staring at the image with a more thoughtful
expression. "What if instead of veering away from that thing and taking
needless time to pick up our main heading again, we decided to use the
power of that mega-star properly?"
     The executive officer raised an eyebrow, and then slowly he began
to nod in understanding.  "The slingshot effect?"
     "Yes," Adama said. "We use the pull of the gravity field to
accelerate our speed until we reach escape velocity.  We then break
loose, and then get thrust back out along our primary heading at a much
higher rate of speed."  He turned to Tigh. "And in the process, we put
some more distance between us and that star system where we destroyed
the baseship.  After two sectans, I think the Cylons at the very least
have started to conduct a search to find out what happened to it.  At
the very least, we'll make up for all that time we've lost slowing down
to do the salvage operation on the Spica."
     "Of course," Tigh agreed. "But the question that remains is, are
all our ships capable of going through that slingshot effect without
compromising their structural integrity?"
     "Get Wilker and his whole staff working on that immediately.  I
want an answer to that question in no more than a centar."
     "Yes sir," Tigh nodded and moved off to carry out the order. 
Adama descended the steps to the lower level, and came over to Omega's
station.
     "Commander," the Bridge Officer said. "Report from Maintenance
Chief Shadrach says that he can close down operations on the Spica
anytime now.  She's just about picked clean of all usable material."
     "His timing is impeccable," Adama said. "We're going to have to
cut the Spica loose before the cycle is out so we can handle
slingshotting past that mega-star."  He paused. "Did Security ever find
anything more of interest?"
     "No sir," Omega shook his head. "Colonial Security made a sweep of
all remaining private compartments.  Nothing more than that one stash
of jewels from the initial find."
     At that point, Tigh rejoined the commander.  "Wilker says he can
have the computations ready in half a centar."
     "Good.  For all his annoying habits, Wilker always knows how to
throw himself into an assignment," he led the executive officer away
from Omega, indicating that he wanted no one else to hear their
conversation.  "Security says they found nothing else aboard the
Spica."
     "I'm not surprised," Tigh said. "This Dravius, whoever he is, must
have looted them from somewhere on Virgon before he boarded the Spica."
     "It seems logical," Adama said. "And yet...I keep wondering if it
means the tip of something bigger that we haven't stumbled onto yet."
     "We'll probably never know unless Council Security can find him. 
Unless he's hidden himself aboard the Galactica, he's under their
jurisdiction now."
     "And I don't have much confidence in Council Security's ability to
find him, as you can imagine," Adama grunted.  "For now, it's going to
have to go on the backburner as a priority.  All our attention has to
be on getting past the mega-star."
     "Commander," Athena called over. "Message from Chief Twilly aboard
the agroship."
     Adama raised an eyebrow.  Since finishing his assignment aboard
the Spica several days ago, the engineer had gone straight over to the
agroship to perform another inspection of the ship's propulsion
systems.  It was not the first time Twilly had done this over the last
yahren, and the amount of seemingly excessive inspection work that the
engineer had performed on perhaps the most vital support ship in the
Fleet, had made Adama feel just a trifle skittish.  Then again, Twilly
had the best mind of any engineer he'd ever known.  The man had to know
what he was doing.
     The commander flicked the switch on his console, where he could
see the boyish, angular face of Twilly staring back at him.
     "Yes, Twilly?"
     "Commander, I thought you needed to hear this directly from me. 
The agroship's navigational diode is in worse shape then I figured. 
Practically corroding underneath the surface. I'll need a replacement
part brought over."
     Adama wanted to slap himself on the side of his head, as though it
would wake him up.  "Twilly, you've been performing your inspection for
the last three cycles and you only noticed this today?"
     "Commander, I was only making my final check before closing down
operations and just noticed it now.  I didn't have reason to check the
diode out sooner because it is relatively recent."
     "Well what could cause it to start deteriorating that fast?"
     "Could be related to all the excess condensation and humidity that
gets into the vents from the hydroponics area, sir."
     Adama rubbed his chin.  It did sound plausible, but still...
     "Very well, Chief.  We'll have one over within a few centars."
     He then shut off the com-line and turned to Tigh in disgust. "If
we weren't so pressed for time with this new situation with the
mega-star, I'd probably look for another engineer to get a second
opinion on that report."
     "Twilly's reputation precedes him," Tigh said. "I can't imagine
any other engineer in the Fleet challenging his findings."
     "I guess not," Adama grunted. "Tigh, do we even have any spare
navigational diodes aboard, or are they all aboard the Celestra?"
     "A smaller stock, but we should have at least one as a safety
measure for our own components."
     The commander looked back at the scanner where the data about the
mega-star was visible.  Now, instead of being awed, his expression was
grim.
     "We'll have to take the risk of sending our own spare diode over. 
The last thing I need is to have the agro-ship on the verge of breaking
down before we have to do this slingshot maneuver."
     "Do you want Security or Warriors to handle the transfer?"
     "Security's been overworked enough with this Dravius business,"
Adama said. "Notify Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck,
immediately."


     Cassiopeia found herself unable to pry her eyes from the
micro-magnifier.  Even though she'd been a med-tech for almost a yahren
now, there was something about seeing the tiny particles inside the
human body magnified to this level that never ceased to fascinate her.
     When you get down to it, there's as much endlessness in the human
body as there is in all the reaches of space, she thought.
     "Cassie!" 
     The blonde-tech looked up and saw the unusually giddy expression
of her fellow med-tech, Zeena, making her way across the Life Station
toward her.  Immediately, Cassie knew that something out of the
ordinary was afoot.  Zeena, a simple, slightly plain but not
unattractive girl of twenty-five was ordinarily a painfully shy and
introverted person who never showed this much emotion.
     "Hi Zeena," she said cheerily. "What's up?"
     "You won't believe this!" she came over to her. "I got word from
Fleet Personnel today that my transfer request to hydroponics has been
approved!"
     Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding."
     "I'm not!  At long last, I can say goodbye to the world of
medicine and go back to what I always wanted to do.  Hydroponics
farming!"
     "That's quite a shift," Cassiopeia tried not to sound too
exuberant.  She'd always thought Zeena was a competent med-tech, and
didn't like the thought of seeing her go.  "Are you really sure making
this kind of change in designation is best for you?"
     "I grew up on a hydroponics farm on Virgon.  I've always known
this was the kind of work I was cut out for.  It's just that the Agro
Ship always said they were fully staffed as it was in hydroponics, and
didn't need any new support members."
     "I guess they've changed their minds then," Cassiopeia said, and
then put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Zeena, are you sure you're
not doing this just because Twilly's been making the Agro Ship his
second home of late?"
     Zeena, who had been married to Twilly for six yahrens grew quiet,
and the familiar, introverted expression came over her.  "It's...a
factor.  I'll admit that.  I might not have pushed so hard for this, if
he hadn't been doing so much work there.  Twilly's hardly ever aboard
the Galactica anymore it seems.  But...I know I can do this kind of
work, Cassie.  I really want to do it."
     The blonde med-tech finally allowed herself a smile.  "All right
then.  If you're sure of that, then I'm happy for you.  When do you
transfer over?"
     "As soon as I can," Zeena said. "Cassie, I was wondering if you
could help me gather my gear from my quarters and bring it down to
Alpha Bay?"
     She patted her friend's shoulder. "It'll be my pleasure."


     "Okay, Captain.  All packed and sealed."
     Apollo hesitated slightly. "Okay, move it out."
     The two technicians took hold of the crate marked in bold letters
'Navigational Diode' and began to move toward the auxiliary turbo lift
that led to Alpha Bay.  Apollo and Starbuck followed in line behind
them.
     The captain then felt his heart skip a beat, when he saw one of
the technicians carrying the crate stumble and nearly lose hold of it.
     "Hey, take it easy, for sagan's sake!  You drop that thing and
you can end up damaging its inner components, and there are no other
spares left aboard the Galactica."
     The second technician glanced sheepishly at Apollo. "Sorry,
Captain."
     As they resumed walking toward the turbo lift, Starbuck gave
Apollo a gentle nudge. "Hey come on, what's the worst thing that could
happen if it did break?  Knowing Twilly, you could smash that thing
into a million pieces and he'd have it working again in five centons."
     "I do know Twilly," Apollo pointed out. "And a lot better than
you know him, since he was in my graduating class at the Academy in the
Engineering Division.  And I had to see firsthand how even his mind
could wander at times."
     "Really?" Starbuck lifted an eyebrow. "The boy genius of
Engineering screwed up?  This I've got to hear."
     "Triplex energizer class.  Standard part of the curriculum for
everyone from all divisions."  Apollo said. "Twilly almost blew the
Academy off the face of Caprica because he installed them backwards."
     Starbuck shook his head in amazement. "You're kidding.  An
elementary mistake like that?"
     "Well...Twilly's mind at the time wasn't on his work."  Apollo
glanced wryly at his friend. "Twilly had something of a reputation for
juggling multiple relationships at once, and it usually led to some
messy results.  Like on that one occasion when both his girlfriends
found out about each other and put him in such a daze, that's why he
installed the energizers backwards."
     "I had no idea Twilly had that kind of reputation!" Starbuck said,
"I might have asked him for some pointers."
     Apollo chuckled. "They wouldn't have helped you, believe me. 
Twilly's habit with women only led to trouble at every corner.  You at
least, knew how to keep things more...stable."
     "He must have had some reputation."
     "Starbuck, compared to Twilly, you are an Otori Sect priest.  At
least the Twilly that I had to put up with, back then."
     "I would hope so," Starbuck said. "Cassie's good friends with his
wife."
     "Yeah, I've met her a few times.  Always struck me as funny that
ultimately Twilly would marry a sweet, gentle girl like she is."
     The turbo lift came to a stop and the technicians carrying the
crate stepped out onto the tarmac toward a nearby shuttle.  As the two
warriors followed, they noticed Cassiopeia and Zeena emerging from the
other lift on the other side of the landing bay.
     "Well, isn't that a coincidence," Starbuck said. "Hey!" he waved
to them.
     "Hi, Starbuck," Cassiopeia smiled as they came over to each other,
"I was just helping to see Zeena off."
     "Really?" the blonde warrior asked. "Where to?"
     "I've transferred to the hydroponics division aboard the Agro
Ship," Zeena was beaming. "Not only is this the kind of designation
I've always wanted, but I'll get a chance to drop in on Twilly for the
first time in a few sectans."
     "I can imagine, given how he wraps himself up in his work," Apollo
said and pointed to the technicians who were loading the crate onto the
shuttle. "We're actually delivering that navigational diode personally
to him."
     "Perfect," Cassiopeia said as she loaded some of Zeena's gear
aboard. "You can make it a foursome for lunch over there."
     "So does Twilly know about the good news?" Apollo asked
     "No," Zeena shook her head. "He doesn't even know I put in for a
transfer request!  I wanted to surprise him if it actually happened."
     "I can't wait to see the look on his face," Starbuck grinned.


     At that very instant, Chief Twilly was enjoying a meal located in
the rear section of the Agro Ship, where an artificial lake surrounded
by a wide variety of plants and trees conducive to a water environment
comprised a key section of the ship's layout.  It was possible to come
here, and feel the illusion of being in a cool, mountain lake retreat
area from one of the twelve worlds, with the illusion shattered only by
the glass dome ceiling high above that allowed the star-lit blackness
of space to shine through.
     But the Engineering Chief, who had come here after his
conversation with Adama requesting the navigational diode, was not
alone.  He was in fact, passionately embracing a stunningly beautiful
brunette woman of twenty-four.
     "Mmmm, Twilly, can we get back to the food now?" she said between
kisses.
     "Who needs food?" he leered at her. "I feel quite satisfied as it
is."
     She let go of him and let out a sigh. "I wish I could say the same
thing."
     "Oh come on Gayla," he protested. "You've had me all to yourself
for the last four cycles, and in all likelihood I can wrangle out a few
more.  When was the last time we had all this time together
uninterrupted?"
     She looked him in the eye. "Twilly, I'd like to always be
uninterrupted.  Why don't you just transfer here to the Agro Ship
permanently?  Then you wouldn't have to always find excuses to get
the Commander to assign you over here for maintenance jobs you really
don't have to do."
     "I'll apply for it the first chance I get.  I promise," he put his
arms around her again.  Gayla had the most athletically trim figure
he'd ever seen on a woman, and it had always lent her an almost
aggressive kind of allure.  The total opposite from the gentle
passiveness of Zeena (whom Gayla thankfully knew nothing about, and
vice versa, which was how it had been for the last five yahrens, and
would hopefully stay that way permanently).
     Her expression told him right away that she wasn't satisfied with
his promise. "That's what you said the last time you were over here. 
At the rate you're going, you're never going to get off the Galactica."
     "Look, the commander probably wouldn't let me transfer over here
anyway.  He needs me, not just because I'm the only gyro specialist on
the Galactica, but because he can also send me on any other important
jobs, like that freighter we had to dismantle.  I tell you how I led
that operation almost singlehandedly?"
     "Yes you did, and I don't need to hear it again," her tone grew
cold. "Twilly, I love you.  But this is getting to the point where I
almost think you really don't want to find a way for us to be together
permanently.  Maybe you can escape from that with your work and all the
jobs the Commander assigns you, but for me, it's driving me into the
Nuthouse."
     "Hey, I said I'd do what I can about it," Twilly kissed her again,
"Gayla, I love you.  You mean everything to me.  Don't you know that?"
     His tender way of speaking always had an effect on her and she
smiled. "Yes, Twilly I do.  But...try to make a bigger effort, will
you?"
     A unicom announcement then filled the chamber. "Attention.  Chief
Twilly report to Landing Bay immediately."
     "I guess the spare part from the Galactica's arrived," Twilly got
to his feet. "Gayla, we'll talk about this later.  I promise."
     "I hope so," she said as she allowed herself one more kiss and
then walked away toward the compartment door that would take her back
to her duty station.
     The engineer then let out a sigh of relief as he headed toward the
door on the other side, which would take him to the Landing Bay.



     "Wilker just telecommed his report, Commander," Tigh said. "All
ships in the Fleet are capable of withstanding a slingshot maneuver
around the star."
     "Good," Adama nodded. "That means we can proceed."  He looked at
the main view screen, which was already starting to show a hazy view. 
The ion dust cloud that obscured the mega-star from view, now filled
the screen.  "We should penetrate the dust cloud in another few
centars, and then once we emerge on the other side, we have to seal all
viewports and make sure that those who need to keep them open have
special eye-shields in place."
     "Athena's passed the word to all captains to have their gear in
place for when its needed."
     "Then I suppose the only other item on the agenda is jettisoning
the Spica and having a patrol scuttle her.  We don't dare take the risk
of letting the hulk drift in space to be found one day by the Cylons
and give them the slightest hint as to which direction we've taken."
     "It shouldn't require more than two or three vipers to do it."
     "Agreed."
     "Commander," Athena looked over at her father. "Sergeant Castor of
Colonial Security on vid-com."
     "Thank you, Athena," Adama went over and flicked the switch.  The
muscular security guard looked as if he'd been working double shifts of
late, which he had.
     "Commander, just wanted to give you an update on that smuggling
matter we uncovered on the Spica.  No leads as to where that Dravius
vanished, it just concerns the items we did find."
     "Yes?"
     "Sir, we've been studying those jewels quite extensively and it
looks like some of them might have originally come from an Antiquities
Museum in the Colonies.  It might be a good idea if we had a specialist
or historian take a look at them and see if he can place exactly where
they came from."
     The Commander nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea, Sergeant.  Go
through Fleet Personnel Records and find out who the most qualified
person in Antiquities is, and let him go through those impounded items. 
Make sure it's done under constant supervision by Security though."
     "Yes sir, we'll get to that."  The screen went blank as the
security guard terminated the conversation.
     "Still want to dig deeper on that?" Tigh asked with bemusement.
     "Might as well," Adama shrugged. "At the very least, if it turns
out we've recovered some rare treasures from our past, it gives us a
tangible legacy to leave to our descendants."
     "Commander," Omega reported. "The Spica's hatches are secure and
she's ready to be jettisoned."
     "Very well," the Commander said. "Execute!"
     The bridge officer pressed the switch on his console, and with
that, the bolts that connected the gutted hull to the battlestar
exploded and it began to drift aimlessly away from the Galactica.
     "Notify Silver Spar group to launch and scuttle her," Adama said,
"As soon as they're recovered, close down all interfleet shuttle and
viper activity until after we're past the mega-star."
     "Yes sir."
     "Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck might not be back from the
Agro Ship before that flight suspension order goes into effect," Tigh
noted.
     Adama smiled thinly. "If they have to stay aboard the Agro Ship
until then, I'm sure they'll find ways to occupy themselves."


     Throughout the shuttle flight from the Galactica to the Agro Ship,
Zeena found herself unable to contain her enthusiasm.  Even though
neither Apollo and Starbuck were that well-acquainted with Twilly's
wife, they still knew enough to realize how this open exuberance was
quite out of character for her.
     This really means a lot to her, Apollo thought.  The chance to try
and make something better of a marital relationship.  I hope it
succeeds.
     Almost immediately, Apollo found his thoughts drifting back to
Sheba, and the questions he had begun to ponder in the last two sectans
about their future.  So far, they had enjoyed several more dates since
the first one aboard the Rising Star, but both of them knew that many
large steps had still not been taken.  Their relationship had now
reached a point where they could be open about how they felt each
other, and could even allow some physical displays of affection between
them, but there were other things that they both knew they were still
putting off.  And nothing loomed larger than the matter of Boxey. 
After two sectans since they had first raised the subject in their date
aboard the Rising Star, Apollo had still not arranged a meeting between
his son and Sheba, so that Boxey might get to know her better and
develop an impression of her.  And while Sheba had continued to express
a desire to meet the little boy, she had not pressed him on it.
     Am I afraid of what might happen if Boxey has a negative reaction? 
he thought.  Afraid of having to deal with a potentially bad situation,
where I have to choose between my son's feelings and what I need and
want?
     He was sure he already knew the answer to that question, and he
also knew the reason why he had to dread the possibility of a negative
reaction by Boxey to a new woman in his father's life.  That emotional
conversation they'd shared just after Serina's death, which had been so
critical to getting Boxey to accept that his mother was gone, had
seemingly left Boxey oblivious to the desire for a new permanent
mother-figure in his life.  Trying to make Boxey accept a new kind of
adjustment to his life, where he might wonder if his father was trying
to forget about Serina for good, conceivably could be more difficult a
task for Apollo then his opening up about Sheba after so many sectars
had been.
     "Hey Alpha Shuttle, this is Silver Spar Leader.  Mind altering
your course so you're out of our return heading to the Galactica?"
     Bojay's voice on his headset snapped Apollo out of his thoughts.
     "Uh...sorry, Silver Spar Leader.  Adjusting course to put us well
clear of your group.  What are you out for anyway?"
     "Scuttling the Spica.  We just needed one shot from the three of
us and she went up in a nice little harmless explosion.  Not bad doing
some fun target practice for a change, if I do say so myself."
     "Okay, but it doesn't earn your group a round of drinks from us,
Bojay," Starbuck cut in as he adjusted his headset. "Catch you later."
     "Will do."
     Apollo, now refocused on the task at hand, changed frequencies to
contact the Agro Ship.  "Alpha Shuttle to Agro One.  Request clearance
for landing immediately."
     Immediately, a middle aged female voice filled the cockpit. "Alpha
Shuttle, this is Captain Demeter.  We've been expecting you.  Our scan
shows you coming right down the pipe.  You'll cross the outer marker in
one centon, and it's a straight-on path from there."
     "Thank you, Captain," Apollo said. "Is Chief Twilly waiting to
meet us?"
     "He's been summoned and should be there already."
     Starbuck turned around and grinned at a beaming Zeena. "Won't be
long now and he's going to get the surprise of his life."

                         Chapter Two

     As soon as Twilly arrived in the Landing Bay to meet the shuttle,
he saw that he was not the only one waiting for it.  Standing off to
one side, with arms folded, was the one man who made all decisions on
the Agro Ship not related to flying it.
     "Hello, Carmichael," he said. "Expecting something?"
     The small man who had once been deputy Agriculture Minister of
Gemon and was now Chief of Operations for the Agro Ship glanced at him. 
"I've got a new staff member arriving on that shuttle.  Hydroponics
team, I think."
     "Oh, really?"  Twilly lifted an eyebrow.  "I didn't know Gayla had
asked for any tech support."
     "Well, she put in a request to add a new hydroponics tech a few
sectans ago, and when I found an old request from someone aboard the
Galactica who wanted to transfer to the division, I decided to do it."
     "Extra help never hurts."
     The shuttle then entered the Landing Bay and came to a stop.  Both
Carmichael and Twilly watched as the hatch door opened and they saw
Apollo and Starbuck emerge first.  Twilly felt pleasantly surprised to
see two men from the Galactica he knew well, and then frowned as he saw
the sheepish expression on Starbuck's face.
     "Hi guys, glad they assigned you for this," Twilly said,
"Navigational diode there?"
     "Yep," Starbuck was now grinning. "And that's not all we brought
over."
     "Oh?" the engineer raised an eyebrow. "What else?"
     The two warriors then motioned their heads toward the open hatch,
and then suddenly Zeena emerged, dashing up to her husband and
impulsively throwing her arms around him.
     "Oh, Twilly it's so good to see you, she said as she hugged him.
     Apollo and Starbuck were both watching, waiting to see Twilly's
reaction.  And immediately, they found themselves surprised to see an
expression on the engineer's face that neither of them had expected.
     "Apollo," Starbuck whispered. "He almost looks like he swallowed a
hand detonator."
     "You're right," a warning light was going off inside Apollo's
head. "And you know, there's something I recognize about that look. 
From the Academy days."
     "So," Zeena relaxed her hold on her husband and looked him in the
eye for the first time. "Have you got anything to say?"
     Twilly managed to shake himself out of his near catatonic state of
bewilderment. "I...ah... don't know what to say, Zeena.  What...what
brings you here?"
     "Excuse me," Carmichael came over. "Are you the new hydroponics
tech?"
     Zeena looked over at the Operations Chief. "Yes, I am."
     Oh my God, Twilly thought with more horror then he'd ever known in
his life.  It took all his energy and strength to keep that horror from
showing on his face.  Instead, he managed to keep his expression at a
bewildered and surprised level.
     "Hydroponics?  What happened to medicine?"
     She was slightly taken aback by his less than enthused reaction,
"Come on Twilly.  You know I've always wanted to go back to that kind
of work.  Any way, we'll finally get a chance to spend some real time
with each other!" she then hugged him again and kissed him on the
cheek.
     Twilly absently patted her. "Yeah...that's wonderful.  We'll need
to get caught up on... things."  Inside, he felt the need to hang his
head in the nearest turboflush.
     "Well I'm sorry to break up this little reunion, but you need to
report to me immediately, Zeena," Carmichael said. "Follow me to
Operations and then I'll introduce you to your immediate supervisor,
Gayla."
     "Okay," Zeena reluctantly let go of her husband.  "We'll get
together later and finally get caught up on things!"
     "Yeah," Twilly managed a weak smile. "We sure will."
     She waved to him and then followed Carmichael out.  As soon as
they were gone, Twilly felt his muscles sag and his head lower as
though a giant weight had been placed on him.
     "Hey ah...Twilly?" Apollo gently tapped him on the shoulder. "You
okay?"
     The engineer jumped as though he'd had a shock go through his
body. "Oh!  Ah...yeah, Apollo.  Yeah, everything's fine."
     Apollo decided to be blunt. "Twilly, you're talking to us.  You
can save us a lot of time by giving it to us straight, whatever it is." 
He then lowered his tone. "This is reminding me of a certain morning
before triplex energizer class, if you catch my meaning."
     "Ah..." Twilly started and then got no further, his mouth hanging
slightly open.  "You see..."
     "Twilly," Apollo said pointedly. "I take it that Zeena's arrival
upset a rather delicate arrangement you have here on the Agro Ship?"
     The engineer cleared his throat. "Well...it's a long story."
     "Only if you want it to be," Starbuck said. "This is really
sounding fascinating, if you ask me."
     "Yeah, well um..."
     Before Twilly could go any further, the compartment door opened
and the engineer felt his sickness increase when he saw Gayla
approaching him.
     "Oh Twilly, I'm glad you're still here!" she came up to him and
threw her arms about him. "I just wanted to apologize for giving you
the brush-off.  It's been bothering me for the last centar."
     Apollo and Starbuck traded glances with each other.  There was
amazement on the blonde warrior's face, and a knowing nod on the
black-haired captain's.
     "Um...Gayla, this is Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck from
the Galactica.  Apollo and I were in the same graduating class at the
Academy."
     Gayla let go of Twilly and smiled at the two warriors. "It's great
to meet you.  I've never met any of Twilly's friends from the Galactica
before."
     Starbuck decided to make a subtle attempt at humor. "Well, then
we're even.  We've never met you before either."
     There was no reaction from Apollo or Twilly to the lieutenant's
weak joke.  Instead, Apollo chimed in. "But I do think Twilly was just
going to tell us about you.  Right Twilly?"
     For the first time, the engineer showed a burst of energy. "Oh,
right!  Right."
     "Well there's really not much to tell," Gayla said. "We met when
Twilly was performing maintenance work on this ship five yahrens ago,
when we were getting a refit on Caprica.  We spent a lot of time
together, we fell in love, and----"
     "And that's about it," Twilly hastily interjected, hoping she
wouldn't go any further.  But to no avail.
     "And it's been almost five yahrens now, since we were married."
     Apollo felt his eyeballs bulge in their sockets, as did Starbuck. 
He had been prepared to accept anything involving Twilly and multiple
relationships but this was totally unexpected.  If what Gayla said was
true, then Twilly had committed the crime of dual sealing, which had
been banned from Colonial law more than two thousand yahrens ago.
     "You're...sealed?" Starbuck barely managed to get the words out.
     "You didn't know?" Gayla frowned.
     "No," Apollo shook his head and kept his tone matter-of-fact. "We
didn't."
     Twilly cleared his throat again. "We really haven't seen much of
each other.  I never had the chance to tell them.  You work alongside
people and for the most part, you just never get to talk about your
personal life."
     "Quite true, Twilly, quite true," Apollo said, fighting to keep
all traces of sarcasm in his voice suppressed.
     "Well, I'm sure we can get caught up on things later.  Anyway, I
just wanted to stop by and make-up for earlier today, Twilly.  You do
forgive me, don't you?" Gayla looked into his eyes.
     "Sure Gayla," Twilly said as he kissed her on the cheek. "Why
don't you head over to the bar and we can all have a drink?  I need
to help unload this spare part first."
     "Okay, I think I can stay away from my duty station for a centar
at least," Gayla beamed. "See you all at the bar!"
     The three men said nothing as Gayla walked away and disappeared
into the next compartment.  It gave Starbuck time to realize that of
the two women, Gayla was by far the more attractive one, with an
outgoing personality that Zeena had never possessed.
     Boy, and I thought I was a heel for juggling Athena and Aurora and
then Athena and Cassiopeia, he thought.  Now I feel like an angel by
comparison.
     "So ah... Twilly," Apollo touched the engineer's shoulder. "You
mind explaining this?"
     "What's to explain?" Twilly said, feeling trapped. "She's my
wife."
     "And so is Zeena," Apollo added a forceful edge to his voice. 
"And you realize of course that she's been assigned to this ship."
     "I know," he nodded, the sick expression returning to his face,
"And why did it have to be hydroponics?  Gayla runs that section!  
There's no way to keep them from meeting."  He looked at the two
warriors. "You've got to help me."
     "Oh no," Apollo shook his head. "This isn't the Academy, Twilly. 
This is the real world, and you know that dual sealing violates every
moral and legal code in all of Colonial jurisprudence!"
     "Okay, okay I made a mistake and I'll correct it.  I promise!" the
desperation was becoming obvious in Twilly. "But for now, you've got to
find some way of taking Zeena back to the Galactica with you.  Before
she ever meets Gayla."
     "Not a chance," Apollo said. "She's been assigned here
permanently.  Talk to Carmichael if you want someone to do your dirty
work for you, but not us!"
     "Twilly," Starbuck decided to sound a more sympathetic tone,
"There's only one thing you can do.  That's break one of the seals."
     "I can't do that!" the engineer suddenly became indignant. "Don't
you understand?  I love them both!"
     "No, I don't understand," Apollo said coldly. "I think it's the
most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life.  And the fact that
you've been doing this for yahrens, since long before the Holocaust,
only makes it more sick!"
     "Oh frack," Twilly lowered his head, looking like a whipped
daggit. "Frack, felgercarb and shit."
     "In the meantime, suppose we do something out of the ordinary for
a change like some simple work?"  Apollo's tone grew cold. "What's say
we unload that diode, Chief, and then join your bride in the bar?"
     The engineer weakly nodded. "Yeah."
     As Apollo and Starbuck entered the shuttle to grab hold of the
crate, the blonde warrior shook his head in a mixture of amazement and
disdain, but with an edge of admiration that he couldn't help but feel.
     "You know Apollo," Starbuck said. "Twilly is by far the dumbest
brilliant person I've ever met."
     "I totally agree," Apollo said as he and Starbuck lifted the
crate. "Get set for some real fireworks to begin."


     "Penetrating the ion dust cloud, Commander," Omega reported. "All
personnel have eye-shields at ready."
     "Good.  Positive shield for now."
     "Commander," Athena said. "All ships except the Agro Ship have
moved into formation to begin acceleration as soon as we're on the
other side of the cloud and begin feeling it's gravity pull."
     "What's the hold-up with them?" Adama's brow knotted. "Haven't
Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Starbuck arrived with the navigational
diode?"
     "Yes sir, Captain Demeter says they landed a few centons ago, but
they need time to unload it and have their maintenance staff bring it
down to be ready for installation.  They need about a half centar
before they get started on that."
     Adama consulted his chronometer. "And we begin acceleration in
about two centars.  Let's hope that diode is in place by the time
acceleration commences."


     As maintenance workers took charge of the crate containing the
navigational diode and moved it down to the Engine Room compartment,
Apollo, Starbuck and a shaken Twilly had retreated to the ship's lounge
area, where Gayla was waiting.  Starbuck's eyes widened when she saw
her smoking a cigarello, which only further indicated how bold and
outgoing she had to be, since the sight of a woman smoking was a rarity
nowadays.
     No sooner did they seat themselves however, when Gayla found
herself called away by a unicom announcement.  
     "Attention.  Specialist Gayla is required to meet with Operations
Chief Carmichael in Agro Dome #1 immediately."
     "Frack," Gayla said, as though the word came naturally to her, and
crushed the cigarello in a tray.  "Just when I thought he'd spend today
cutting me some slack."
     "Don't worry, Gayla," Apollo was still trying to hide the sarcasm
from his tone. "I'm sure we'll be able to open up about a lot of things
later on."
     "Catch you later!" she smiled and left the room.
     "Oh God," Twilly moaned. "If Carmichael wants to see her, then
that means he's going to introduce Zeena to her.  We've got to stop
that."  He half rose from the table but Apollo grabbed him by the wrist
and pulled him back down.
     "Oh no you don't.  If they meet, so be it.  In the meantime, you
start opening up and fast."
     Twilly sagged in his chair and downed a glass of Sagitarian
whiskey. "Five yahrens ago, I got assigned to maintenance operations
with all class 1 agro-ships in the Inner Colonies.  That meant leaving
Zeena back on Virgon for half a yahren at a time.  It got real lonesome
after a while until I met Gayla.  At first, both of us were just
looking for someone to be with...to combat the loneliness...but one
thing kind of led to another and...well since I was spending a lot of
time with Gayla anyway when were both on and off-duty...things just
sort of happened.  Besides, I never thought there'd be any chance of
the two meeting."
     "Right," Apollo said dryly. "But you know something Twilly, I
think there was more to it than that.  The chance to have two women in
different parts of the star system, each one different from the other. 
Even I can tell that they're not alike except for their hair color."
     Twilly blushed. "Well...yeah.  I mean...Zeena's the kind you
feel settled with at home.  She's loyal and looks after your needs, and
Gayla...she's kind of a bit more wild.  With Gayla, you can do all
the things you'd never think of doing with Zeena."
     "What's this 'you' felgercarb?" Apollo rolled his eyes. "Stop
trying to use semantics to evade the issue, Twilly."
     "What I don't understand is how you were able to keep this up
after the Holocaust."  Starbuck found it impossible to match Apollo's
judgmental tone.  There was one part of him that still found the whole
thing fascinating.
     "Well...I kind of caught a lucky break with that.  I...was with
Zeena on Virgon the night that happened and we were evacuated to the
Galactica and assigned there.  It wasn't until later that I found out
that Gayla was among the survivors too and working on the Agro Ship,
and when I realized that she was permanently assigned here, and Zeena
was settling in as a med-tech, I kind of figured that...we could
continue the old arrangement."
     "Correction Twilly, you weren't lucky," Apollo said, not letting
up.  "Just being overly self-centered."  He paused. "And I'm really
beginning to wonder just how legitimate most of these repair jobs
you've done the last six sectars on this ship really were."
     The engineer's red expression deepened. "I...needed some excuse
to come over here and see Gayla."
     "At the risk to the safety of one of the most important ships in
the Fleet?" Apollo was now really angry.  "Twilly, now we're going
beyond dual sealing, we're talking about conduct that conceivably
jeopardizes the ability of our people to survive!"  He paused. "Does
that navigational diode really need fixing?"
     He shook his head. "It's too late.  I already disconnected the
existing one and cracked it's relay rods.  This new one has to go on."
     "Great," the captain rolled his eyes. "You're a real piece of
work, Twilly.  And you should feel fortunate that we go back a ways or
I might be considering having you brought up on some serious charges."
     Panic entered Twilly's face. "Apollo, you wouldn't do that!"
     "No," Apollo shook his head. "But just to make sure that I keep my
word on that, what say we head down to Agro Dome #1 and you get a
chance to tell both Zeena and Gayla about this before they find out
from each other."
     Twilly now seemed on the verge of falling out of his seat. "No. 
Oh, Lords of Kobol no, I can't do that."
     "Attention."  The unicom filled the lounge. "Chief Twilly to the
nearest telecom immediately."
     The engineer didn't move from his seat.  His eyes were glazed in
an almost catatonic stare.
     "Hey Twilly," Starbuck nudged him. "You're being paged."
     "They know," he whispered. "They know."
     Apollo rose from his chair and went over to the telecom unit near
the entrance.  "This is Captain Apollo.  Chief Twilly's been detained. 
I can pass on the message to him."
     "This is Captain Demeter," the middle aged female voice said. "I
just received word from the Galactica that they want work accelerated
on that navigational diode immediately.  The Fleet's going into
acceleration in another ninety centons to get around the mega-star."
     Apollo glanced over at Twilly, who remained frozen in his
position. "We'll get on that now, Captain."
     "Good.  Commander Adama's getting a bit impatient, and frankly, so
am I."
     Apollo hung up and came over to the table, where he grabbed Twilly
by the shoulder of his jumpsuit and pulled him up.
     "Okay, Chief," he said sarcastically. "Back to work."


     "Here it is," Corporal Lomas said as he directed the middle-aged
man named Herodotus to the table at the back of the Operations Center
for Colonial Security.  The contents of what had been impounded from
the Spica lay neatly spread out on the table.  Altogether, more than
fifty items, each shining brightly under the overhead lights.
     "Lords of Kobol..." Herodotus's jaw dropped open.  "You found
all...this?"
     "Yeah, in one crate aboard the sanitation ship Spica after it
exploded."
     "Incredible," the former curator of the Libran Museum of
Antiquities looked as if he were seeing an apparition. "Absolutely
incredible."
     "You can take as much time as you want to look these pieces over. 
We just need to have one of our men supervising you at all times, and
then you can make your report."
     The scholar turned around and smiled ironically. "Corporal, I
don't need to look them over.  I know exactly what those pieces are and
where they came from originally, right down to the last detail."


     As soon as they arrived in the Agro Ship's Gyro Navigational
Compartment, located within the overall Engineering section of the
massive craft, Apollo and Starbuck could right away tell that Twilly's
mind was still far away from the task at hand.
     "There's the diode," Starbuck pointed to the object that now lay
on top of the crate it had been packed in.  "Do you need help
installing it?"
     Twilly was still gazing off into nowhere. "I need help with Gayla
and Zeena."
     "Twilly, I'm only going to say this for the millionth time.  There
isn't time for that."  Apollo jabbed him in the side. "Now get to work
before I have to start pointing my pistol at you to do it."
     Twilly turned to face Apollo and the two warriors could now see
tears in the engineer's eyes for the first time.  "God, don't you
understand?  How can I work when my whole life is about to explode?"
He seemed on the verge of a breakdown.  "That's what's going to happen
as soon as they get together, unless you do something to help me. 
Please!"
     Starbuck finally spoke up. "Okay, Twilly, okay!" he said.  "I can
get down to operations and intercept one of them before they have a
chance to start talking to each other.  Chances are, Carmichael's just
getting them introduced on a professional level only and not giving
them time to share personal info.  I'll take one of them back to Agro
Dome #1."
     Apollo's head bolted toward Starbuck in disbelief. "Starbuck, what
are you----"
     Before the captain could go further, Twilly was already shaking
Starbuck's hand in gratitude. "Thank you, Starbuck, thank you!  And
then?"
     "Then you come to the Dome and explain things to whichever one
happens to be there."
     All his immediate elation faded. "No!"
     "It'll be okay," Starbuck said. "I'll be there to give you moral
support."
     "Starbuck!" Apollo protested, but his friend waved his hand
impatiently to indicate silence.
     "Then after you're done there, you go to the Lounge, because
that's where Apollo will have the other waiting for you."
     "Now wait a centon!" Apollo had had enough. "I am not getting
involved, and no one is doing anything until this diode gets installed,
now!"
     "That's exactly what Twilly will be doing, while we head Gayla and
Zeena off," Starbuck said. "Once that's done, Twilly has the best
opportunity to explain things to them.  Right, Twilly?"
     For the first time, an air of resignation came over the engineer. 
He slowly made his way over to the crate and gently lifted the diode,
as though sizing it up for installation.
     "Okay," for the first time his voice was calm. "Just get to them
before they start talking to each other."
     "We'll be waiting for you," Starbuck said as he began to lead
Apollo out into the main Engineering Room.  Once Twilly was no longer
in earshot, Apollo gave his friend the coldest stare he'd ever given
him.
     "You know, I can have you on report for what you just did?"
     "I know," Starbuck grinned. "But did you notice how it got him to
start working on the diode, which is the first order of business?"  
     Light dawned on Apollo and he shook his head in amazement. "I'll
never figure you out sometimes, Starbuck."
     "Well, sometimes you just have to have a certain touch," the
blonde warrior kept grinning. "Come on, let's keep our end of the
bargain and intercept those two."


     As soon as Gayla arrived in the Main Operations Center, she could
already see Carmichael waiting with Zeena.
     "Glad you came, Gayla," the Operations Chief said. "This is your
new hydroponics tech, Zeena.  Just transferred over from the
Galactica."
     Gayla came over and shook hands with Zeena. "It's about time.  You
have no idea how long we've needed someone new in that area."
     "I'm glad to be on the team," Zeena was beaming. "My background
was in hydroponics, though it's been a few yahrens since I did some
actual hands-on work in that area."
     "I'm sure it'll all come back to you in no time."  Gayla returned
the smile. "You had a chance to settle in, yet?"
     "No, I'm afraid not."
     "In that case, why don't you go to your quarters and unpack your
gear?  You can report for duty in about a centar from now," she
glanced over at Carmichael. "If that of course seems reasonable to you,
sir."
     "Perfectly," the Operations Chief leaned back in his chair. "Just
so long as you start work at some point today.  We need to step up
production levels to meet our shipment quotas as quickly as possible."
     "I understand, sir.  I just hope before I can do that, I can take
care of some personal business first," Zeena said.
     "Oh?" Gayla lifted an eyebrow. "What personal business would you
have here?"
     "Well you see----"
     At that instant, the door slid open and Starbuck entered the
Operations room.  "Ah!  I see you two got to meet each other."
     "Hi, Starbuck," Zeena said. "Do you know Gayla?"
     "Yeah, we've met in the landing bay," Starbuck said hurriedly,
realizing that he needed to act fast.  "Apollo and I finished
delivering our load and we wondered if you needed help with anything
else?"
     "Just unloading my gear----"
     "Well, perfect!  Perfect!  Glad to lend an extra hand.  You
see, we're cooped up here on the Agro Ship until after we get past the
mega-star and we need to do all we can to try to kill some time.  So
what's say you lead me there and I can pitch in, right?"
     "Well-" But before she could finish, Starbuck had grabbed her by
the arm and pulled her out of the room altogether, leaving both Gayla
and Carmichael in a state of slight bewilderment.
     "I wonder what that was all about" the Operations Chief dryly
shook his head.
     "Maybe that's the personal business she was talking about," Gayla
mused. "She left the Galactica to get away from him, and he doesn't
want to let go."


     Starbuck had dragged Zeena halfway down the corridor, when she
finally shook herself loose. "Starbuck, for sagan's sake stop!  
What's with you?"
     "Sorry, I just needed to get you out of there quick," the
lieutenant said. "You see...Twilly needs to see you in Agro Dome #1 as
soon as he's done installing the diode.  I didn't want to say that in
there----"
     "Well you've already got them asking questions!" Zeena felt
embarrassed. "I ought to go back and explain to them----"
     "Oh no, no, don't do that!" Starbuck shook his head. "It's
personal stuff that Twilly needs to discuss.  He doesn't want anyone
else to know about it."
     She looked at him suspiciously. "Well...okay.  I'll wait there
for him.  I do want to get a chance to finally talk with him now that
I'm here."
     "And he can't wait to do it too," Starbuck said as he led her down
the corridor toward the turbo lift. "Believe me."
     As soon as they disappeared from view, Apollo gently poked his
head around the corridor and collected his breath as he made his way
toward the Operations Center.
     How do I always get dragged into these things by him? he wondered. 
If it isn't a scheme for Pyramid, it has to be something like this.
     He decided not to intrude, and that it was better to wait for
Gayla to emerge.  Three centons went by before she finally did.
     "Captain!" Gayla said with surprise. "Do you know your friend was
just here?"
     "Was he?" Apollo feigned ignorance. "I'd wondered where he'd gone
off to.  Anyway, I just thought you might want to head back to the
Lounge to finish that drink, and we can wait for Twilly to get done
with his duties."
     "Fine by me," she said.  "I always enjoy the chance to go to the
Lounge, especially when Twilly will be there too."
     "Won't be long, I can assure you," Apollo said as he followed her
down the corridor and then gazed skyward and rolled his eyes.


     "All personnel are to don eye-shields immediately!" Adama ordered,
"We will be raising our shield in exactly twenty microns."
     A flurry of activity went on throughout the Bridge as each member
donned the protective gear.  Adama checked his chronometer and then
gave the order.
     "Negative shield!"
     The bridge shield opened and immediately a warm red light filled
the bridge interior, deeper than the red glow of an alert.  Everyone on
the Bridge found themselves looking at the screen, filled with a sense
of awe at the sight of something no one from the Colonies had ever seen
before other than in theoretical animation displays.
     "That's probably the most beautiful natural phenomena I've ever
seen in my life."  Even Tigh was impressed, which never came easy for
the executive officer.
     "It is magnificent." Adama nodded. "And like all magnificent
wonders in the universe, capable of doing good to those who respect her
power, and capable of destroying those who don't."
     One level down, Rigel was glancing over at Omega and suppressing a
chuckle.
     "You know," she said. "Those eye-shields actually make you look
better."
     The Bridge Officer glanced over at the woman he had dated many
times in the last yahren, yet never felt the courage to carry on a
deeper relationship with, even though it was something he wanted to do.
     "I wish I could say the same for you," he returned her joshing
tone. "Now I understand all those stories about why feminine vanity led
to the near elimination of spectacles and shields as a way of improving
defective vision."
     Rigel decided not to hold back her chuckle any longer and went
back to the readings on her terminal.
     "Commander," she turned around. "All ships are in place except for
Agro Ship.  The rest of the Fleet's just about overtaken her now."
     Above, Adama let out an exasperated sigh.  "This is taking much
longer than I would have liked."
     "Not much else we can do at this point though," Tigh noted.
     "I guess not," The commander grunted.  "No other choice but to
wait it out and for the rest of the Fleet to proceed."  He came over to
the railing and looked back down at Rigel. "Estimated time to
acceleration?"
     "Forty five centons from now."
     "Thank you."
     "Commander," Athena turned around. "Colonial Security Operations
on vid-com."
     Adama went over and answered it.  Corporal Lomas' face filled the
screen.
     "Commander, do you think you could spare a few centons and come
down to Operations?"
     "Things are pretty busy up here, Corporal," Adama said. "What's
happened?"
     "That Antiquities scholar arrived and he's identified where those
items from the Spica came from."
     "I'll be happy to read his report after the situation is over,
Corporal," Adama said.  "Right now, I just don't have the time."
     "I see," Lomas decided it wasn't wise to challenge the Commander. 
"Well...I guess it can wait until then."
     Adama immediately sensed the reluctance in the Security Guard's
voice and it strangely had the effect of softening him.  "Corporal,
would it take no more than ten centons?  I could allow myself that
much."
     "Absolutely, sir."  Lomas felt relieved.  "It's...really an
unexpected development."
     "I'm on my way," Adama turned to Tigh. "Colonel, I'll be back in
twenty centons." 


     As soon as they arrived in the Agro Dome, Starbuck found he had to
start monopolizing the conversation in order to keep Zeena from having
second thoughts and leaving.  For more than ten centons, he found
himself droning on with stories about his combat exploits, and
wondering when Twilly was going to finally show up and let him off the
hook.
     "...and then when the Cylon thought he had me lined up in his
sights, I pulled a maneuver that must have made their brain circuits
jump right out of their helmets before I blasted them to spacedust,
and-----"
     An increasingly bored Zeena gently cut him off. "Starbuck, this is
all very interesting, but when is Twilly going to show up?"
     "Soon, soon," Starbuck said hastily. "Just give him some time with
the diode.  It's not the easiest operation to perform, even for a
genius like him."
     "Well okay," she said. "But if he's going to take awhile, then I
should probably just unpack my gear in my quarters, and report for
duty."
     "Oh no, you shouldn't do that!" Starbuck had to take her by the
arm again to keep her from leaving. "Wait until you clear the air with
Twilly first before you start working."
     "Well, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to do that."  She shook
herself loose.  "And Starbuck, I'm frankly feeling a bit hungry.  I'm
going to go grab a bit in the Lounge."
     Uh-oh, Starbuck thought.  Right were Apollo's taken Gayla!  Now
he had just an inkling of what had to be going through Twilly's mind
right now.
     "No, I wouldn't bother going all the way over there!" he said. "If
you're hungry, you can just grab something from the nearest consumables
station."
     "They're closed," she looked at him dubiously.
     "Oh well in that case," he motioned to one of the fruit trees
behind them. "You can always sample some of the stuff that grows right
here."
     "Starbuck, that's against regulations!"  she was beginning to
think the lieutenant had lost his mind.  "Now if Twilly shows up, he
can telecom me in the Lounge and then come right over, but I'm heading
there now."
     And then, she turned and ran out of the Dome area.  Starbuck shook
his head and then decided he had no choice but to follow her.


     "...Twilly is all business on the job, but once he's off-duty he
really knows how to let loose," Gayla was saying as she took another
puff on a cigarello.  "That's what I love about him.  I don't think I
ever would have done something as ordinary as get sealed because I used
to think you couldn't be wild and daring in a marital relationship, but
he proved me wrong."
     The more Apollo listened, the more distasteful he was finding
everything.  Once again, he found himself fighting to keep what he was
thinking inside from showing on his face.
     She threw him a look that some men would have found coyly
seductive, but not in Apollo's case.  "So are you sealed, Apollo?"
     "No," Apollo said flatly, not wanting to say anything else.
     "Well-" she stopped as her gaze wandered to the entrance. "Well,
there's my new assistant.  Guess she got away from Starbuck."
     Apollo glanced over and saw Zeena headed for the self-service line
where crewmen helped themselves to whatever food was available.  She
picked up a tray and began to slowly place several different items
onto a plate.
     As Zeena continued to make her way through the line, Starbuck
entered the lounge, slightly out of breath.  Right away, Apollo could
tell that Starbuck's scheme to help Twilly out had met with the same
success as one of his systems for playing Pyramid.
     "I knew it," Gayla observed wryly. "Zeena must have transferred
here just to get away from him."
     Apollo looked quizzically at her. "That's what you think?"
     "Seems logical," she shrugged as she crushed her cigarello out and
tossed her head back.  "Zeena said she had a personal matter to deal
with, and then the next thing you knew there he was barging into
Operations dragging her out.  That Starbuck must be a total equinian
astrum when it comes to relationships."
     Now, for the first time, Apollo was letting himself see the humor
of the whole situation, especially if it meant some jokes at Starbuck's
expense.  He allowed himself the faintest smile.  "He's been known to
be that way some of the time."
     Starbuck, still somewhat out of breath, made his way over to the
table. "Ah...Hi.  Anybody see Twilly?"
     "He hasn't arrived yet," Apollo said flatly. "So in that case, he
probably hasn't left Engineering, right?"
     "Right," Starbuck slowly nodded and faintly cocked his head toward
the self-service line where Zeena was almost finished filling her tray.
     "So," Apollo leaned back in his chair. "What shall we do then?"
     "I don't know," Starbuck sat down in one of the other two empty
chairs at the table.  "Just wait until he finishes with the diode,
right?"
     "Right," Apollo nodded. "And not push things further."
     "Mind if I join you?"
     Gayla looked up at Zeena, who was holding her tray. "Go right
ahead.  If that is, you don't mind the company."  She motioned toward
Starbuck.
     "No, not a bit." Zeena said. "It would have been nicer to eat with
my husband on my first day here, but this will be fine."
     "Oh, I didn't know you were married," Gayla was surprised, since
it meant all of her suppositions had just been proved wrong.
     "Yes, he's----"
     "Here, let me help you with that," Starbuck abruptly rose as if to
pull out the chair for Zeena.  Instead, he deliberately stumbled and
collided with her, causing her to flip the tray towards her, which left
all the contents of what she'd just gathered from the self-service line
clinging to her clothing.
     "Oh good Lords of Kobol, I'm sorry!" Starbuck said hastily as he
grabbed a napkin and wiped at her shoulders. "I don't know how I could
have been so clumsy."
     "Forget it, Starbuck, forget it," she said hastily, brushing his
hand away as she eyed her ruined clothing in horror. "I'd...better
just go to my quarters and change.  And...I can find that myself, if
you don't mind."
     "Sure, sure go right ahead.  Sorry."
     Zeena dropped her empty tray to the floor and left the Lounge,
absently wiping at her shoulders in a futile gesture.
     "I'm glad to hear she's married," Gayla said as she lit another
cigarello. "I actually thought she was trying to escape a broken
relationship with you, Lieutenant,"
     Starbuck looked up and chuckled. "Oh you did?  Well, I can tell
you ah..."
     "Gayla," she threw him another of those coy, seductive glances,
and Starbuck found himself impressed.
     "Gayla.  Well, no, I've never gone out with Zeena before,
but...I think you'll find you can relate to a lot of what she's gone
through, once you get to know her."
     "We'll be working so much together, I imagine I'll get to know
everything about her."  She took a puff and then checked her
chronometer.  "How long does it take to install one diode?"
     "Shouldn't take this long," Apollo rose from his chair. "I'm going
down to check on his progress.  Starbuck, you come with me."
     "Well, ah, we shouldn't leave Gayla here alone, should we?"
     "Forget it," Gayla took another puff and then crushed it again,
"I've waited long enough.  I think I'll go down and help Zeena settle
in.  She could use some support after the shock you just put her
through."
     "Yeah, but----" Starbuck started, but stopped when Apollo grabbed
his arm and firmly shook his head no.
     "See you around," Gayla rose and walked out.
     "Oh boy, that didn't work at all.  Now what happens when Twilly's
finished?" Starbuck groaned.
     "You know something, Starbuck?" Apollo said coldly as he got to
his feet. "I don't give a daggit's felgercarb what happens with this. 
All I want to make sure of, is if that diode is in place and this ship
can start moving!  And then as far as I'm concerned, Twilly is on
his own for the rest of his life."
     "Yeah, I guess it serves him right," Starbuck sighed.  "Okay
buddy, let's go."

     
     When Adama entered the Security Operations Center, he saw Lomas
and the man called Herodotus waiting for him.
     "Commander, this is Professor Herodotus.  He teaches classes in
Colonial history aboard the University Ship and used to be curator of
the Libran Antiquities Museum."
     "Professor," Adama shook hands with the middle-aged man.  "I'm
told you know where this...cargo we found originally came from."
     "Indeed I do, Commander," Herodotus said as he went over to the
table.  "This hoard represents one-fourth of what was taken in the
greatest theft of Colonial ancient treasures."
     Adama frowned. "What do you mean?"
     Herodotus smiled. "Five yahrens ago, Commander, the Libran Museum
of Antiquities was robbed.  More than two hundred of the most precious,
most valuable objects pertaining to Libran history simply vanished in
the dead of night.  The result of an elaborately planned theft that we
were never able to solve."
     The commander's eyes widened.  He had a vague recollection of
reading a news journal story about the theft and commenting to Ila
about how tragic it had been, but since it didn't pertain to the kind
of history he was interested in, he had never read more about the
robbery.
     "Professor," he said calmly. "You're certain these pieces are part
of the stolen collection?"
     "There is no question of it, Commander."  Herodotus picked up a
jeweled tiara lined with green, red and gold gems.  "This is the
ceremonial tiara of Nefer III, queen of Libra during the early third
millennium."  He turned it over. "It still has the museum's inventory
mark that my predecessor placed on it twenty yahrens ago.  I handled it
more than a dozen times myself before the theft."
     "Incredible," Adama shook his head, and then frowned. "But...how
could all these objects from Libra have ended up on a sanitation ship
that was based on Virgon before the Destruction?"
     "I imagine that whoever had possession of these aboard the Spica,
was somehow connected to the original theft and had fled to Virgon to
elude the authorities."
     "How many people were part of the theft?" Adama found this
fascinating.  "And were their identities known?"
     "No," Herodotus shook his head. "All we knew was that several
people were involved, and since none of the objects ever turned up on
the black market for sale before the Destruction, it seemed likely that
these were stolen for the benefit of an eccentric collector who wanted
to have them for himself."
     "I see," the Commander nodded and turned to the Security Guard. 
"You do have holopics of Dravius to circulate, don't you?"
     "Only some blurry ones taken off a vid-com monitor, but we have
some."
     "As soon as things stabilize once we're past the mega-star, I want
you and Sergeant Castor to meet with Council Security officials to
coordinate a joint search operation."  Adama was firm. "I want this
Dravius found, and I want to see if this leads us to some more answers
about the original theft.  It could very well be that the rest of what
was stolen may be somewhere else in the Fleet."  He eyed the legacies
of Colonial history on the table. "We need all of this back, and we
need it to preserve something of where we came from, for our
descendants benefit."

                         Chapter Three

     When Adama returned to the Bridge, remembering to don his
eyeshields once again before entering, he could see that the intensity
of the mega-star had only increased.
     "Twenty centons to commencement of hyper-acceleration," Tigh
reported.
     Adama joined him on the upper level. "Status report on the Agro
Ship?"
     "Indications are the diode is installed, but she'll need more time
to start moving at regular speed and catch up to the rest of us.  In
all likelihood, she'll be delayed in her approach to acceleration."
     Adama let out an exasperated sigh. "Not what I wanted to hear, but
I suppose it could have been worse.  Keep me informed on anything more
that happens there."


     Once she reached her quarters, Zeena immediately changed out of
her ruined clothes and donned a regulation jumpsuit that she'd need for
her hydroponics duties.  She then took out a hologram cube from one of
her packs and absently decided to play it.  Immediately, Twilly's
smiling face became visible in the message he'd sent her two yahrens
before on their anniversary.
     "Happy Anniversary, Zeena," Twilly said in the filtered sounding
voice that was always the result of the hologram encryption process,
"I'll always love you and take care of you darling.  I'm looking
forward to getting home soon."
     Zeena was still smiling at the cube even after the image faded
when she heard the door chime sound.  "Come in."
     The door slid open and Gayla entered. "Hi," her superior said. "I
thought I'd see if you'd settled in okay after Starbuck gave you that
rude little shock."
     "It was nothing," Zeena shrugged. "I didn't care much for that
outfit anyway."
     "Someone else here?" she looked around.
     "No."  Zeena frowned and then realized what she meant. "Oh, you
must have heard my hologram.  An old anniversary gift from my husband. 
I'm still hoping I can see him before the cycle ends."
     "Your husband's here on the Agro Ship?"
     "A lot of the time it seems like," Zeena said. "He's a gyro
specialist."
     Gayla wasn't sure she'd heard her right. "He's a what?"
     "A gyro specialist.  You know----"
     "I know what a gyro specialist is," Gayla's tone had grown deathly
serious.  "But there's only one person I know with that designation
aboard the Agro Ship."
     "Then you must know him!  His name is Twilly."
     At that instant, Gayla felt every muscle in her body lock into one
position.  She was unable to say a word.
     "Here, let me show you,"  Zeena said, still oblivious to her
reaction as she activated the hologram again.  Once again, Twilly's
face and voice expressing love for his wife Zeena, filled the room. 
Only this time, in full view of Gayla as well.
     Five centons later, a seething Gayla and a now distraught Zeena
were both storming down the corridor in the direction of the
Engineering Section.

     By the time Starbuck and Apollo arrived, they saw Twilly sitting
on the floor, holding a laser welder, a look of defeat in him.
     "Well?" Apollo said impatiently.
     "It's in," he didn't look up at them for a centon, and when he
did, the first thing he asked. "So what happened?  Didn't you head
them off?"
     "No, we didn't," Apollo's tone grew cold. "And you know what
Twilly?  From here on in, you're on your own.  Of course there is the
matter of reviewing all the other worthless maintenance jobs you've
performed on this ship in the last six sectars that I know isn't going
to sit well with the Commander.  You won't end up in the Prison Barge,
but you are going to get some serious disciplinary action for this."
     "I'd almost welcome the Prison Barge at this point," he looked at
the floor again. "I guess...everything I'd hoped and wanted is over."
     "You never should have wanted it in the first place," Apollo said,
not letting up.
     Suddenly the compartment door slid open, and Gayla stormed in with
all the fury she could summon in her eyes.  Behind her, still crying
was Zeena.
     "Oh boy," Starbuck said. "Let the fireworks begin!"
     "Looks like you've got company, Twilly," Apollo said. "Start
talking, now!"
     "You lousy little, lying piece of felgercarb!" Gayla shouted as
she tried to force her way past Starbuck toward Twilly, who was only
now getting to his feet, the inactive welder still in his right hand. 
"For five yahrens, you two timing son of an Orion klarn, you told me
you loved me and cared for me, while you carried on with her?"  She
angrily motioned toward Zeena, who seemed on the point of collapse.
     "I do care, Gayla!" Twilly said, which only made Zeena's crying
intensify. "That is...I care for you both!  Listen, I can
explain..."
     "No more explaining!" Gayla was still struggling to get by
Starbuck, who now had to lock his arms around her shoulders. "Just let
me at you, and I'll rip you into a million pieces!"
     "Feels like she could do it!" Starbuck said as he kept hold of
her, but knew he couldn't do it for long.
     Apollo came up in front of her. "Now listen to me!  You are
going to calm down, right now.  If you want to make a scene with
Twilly, you'll do it somewhere else, but not in this room.  You
understand?"
     "Shove your authority, Captain!" Gayla spat as she still tried to
struggle free. "Just let me at him!"
     Slowly, Twilly began to back away from them, not turning around.
     "Sheesh, she makes Cylons seem less dangerous," Starbuck could now
feel his arms cramping.  Finally, the pain became too great and Gayla
broke loose from his hold.  With intense fury raging in her eyes she
charged toward the engineer.
     Feeling the panic increase, especially as he could see the wild
look in her, Twilly began to race backwards.  But because he wasn't
concentrating on what lay in front of him, or on the sides, he never
saw the steps that led back down to the Main Engine Room.
     Twilly's right foot abruptly hit air and he stumbled.  He hurled
away the welder and grabbed for the railing to keep from falling ten
feet to the deck below.
     "Watch it!" Apollo shouted.  
     Gayla ducked as the laser welder sailed over her head and slammed
against a side panel lining the corridor.  And then, to everyone's
horror, they saw the impact knock the welder into an on position.  A
jet of red laser fire abruptly shot toward the other side of the
corridor toward the row of instrument panels that lined it.
     "Get that thing secure!" Apollo shouted as Starbuck dashed toward
the dangerously out of control instrument.  But before the lieutenant
could grab it, the instrument's streak of laser fire had managed to cut
through several of the instrument boxes lining the corridor wall.
     As Starbuck grabbed the welder and managed to hurriedly click it
to an off-setting, he and everyone else lost their bearings as the
Agroship suddenly lurched violently to the right and the overhead
lights abruptly went out.


     The Agroship's sudden lurch was also felt on the bridge, sending
all of the personnel tumbling to the floor, including Captain Demeter. 
Feeling the wind knocked out of her, she had to struggle back to her
feet, as the alert siren filled the room.
     "What happened?"
     "Starboard gyro failure!" the executive officer managed to shout,
"We're out of control!"


     Aboard the Bridge, Adama found himself checking his wrist
chronometer every few microns, as he felt the anxiousness increase. 
Soon, the Galactica would begin accelerating to initiate the slingshot
maneuver.
     "Seventeen centons to acceleration," Omega reported.
     Abruptly, Athena turned around in her chair. "Commander!  
Emergency situation with the Agroship!  She's gone off course!"
     Adama and Tigh hurried over to her station and looked down at the
monitor.  Underneath the protective shields, both Adama's and Tigh's
eyes widened in horror.
     "Good Lord," the executive officer whispered. "That heading's
going to take them straight into the mega-star!"
     "Raise them immediately!" Adama barked. "I want a full report
before we go to acceleration!"


     For several microns, there was only blackness in the corridor. 
Combined with the sudden heavy list to starboard, the effect was the
most terrifying Apollo could ever remember in his life.
     Then, the red emergency lights snapped on, and he was able to
struggle to his feet and resume some initiative.
     "Starbuck!  Get a reading off that panel, fast!"
     The lieutenant got back to his feet and looked at it. 
"Twenty-three degree list and getting worse!  If we go to forty-five,
we'll never recover!"
     Apollo managed to grab a telecom unit that had remained fixed to
the wall. "Bridge!  This is Captain Apollo in gyro navigation section! 
You've got to get this list corrected, fast!"
     "That's what we're trying to do, Captain!" Demeter's impatient
voice crackled back. "Indication is that we've lost the starboard gyro
stabilizer.  I'm killing the port gyros immediately so we can
compensate!"
     "Captain, wait!" Apollo said, as he did some quick mental
calculations. "That's not going to work----"
     But before he could continue, he heard the sound of the still
active port gyros start to shut down, and then everyone in the corridor
found themselves sliding further toward the starboard side.
     "Captain, you've got to keep the remaining gyros going!" Apollo
shouted as he almost lost his grip on the telecom. "The gravity from
the mega-star throws all the normal calculations out the window.  Cut
all thrusters instead to zero power!"
     There was a fraction of hesitation from the other end, but then
the captain gave the order to the executive officer. "Cut all thrusters
to zero power!" a pause and then she was back on the telecom line. "All
right, Captain, now what?"
     "Rotate starboard thruster for positive vertical thrust.  We'll
use that to correct our list."
     "Understood.  Starboard thruster rotating now!"
     Several microns went by.  Down the corridor, Twilly was groaning
slightly as he got back to his feet, his face still a dazed look of
confusion.  A chastened Gayla was backing up toward the rear of the
compartment, where Zeena remained huddled in quiet panic.
     "Okay, Captain.  Starboard thruster rotated and locked.  Going to
full ignition now!"
     Apollo looked over at Starbuck. "Starbuck, keep your eye on that
gauge."
     Several microns passed as the lieutenant kept his eyes locked on
the list reading.  "Forty-two.  Forty-three..." he sucked in his
breath. "Forty-three.  Forty-two.  She's coming back!  She's coming
back!" his voice built up in excited relief.
     "The Lords be praised," Apollo sighed with relief as he adjusted
his footing on the floor, now that an even keel was returning.
"Captain, it worked."
     "Doesn't solve our bigger problem though," Demeter grunted. "We're
level, but with the starboard gyro stabilizer gone, we're drifting off
course toward that mega-star and we can't change the heading until that
gets fixed and I have port and starboard gyros back."
     "We'll get to that immediately, Apollo said as he hung up the
telecom and with an angry look, made his way down to where Twilly was. 
The engineer still had the same dazed, faraway look as though he were
oblivious to what had just happened.
     "Twilly," Apollo said in a low whisper, but with an edge of
menace. "Check the starboard gyro stabilizer, now."
     There was no response from Twilly.  Apollo grabbed him by the
shoulder.
     "Did you hear me?" he raised his voice slightly.
     The engineer's eyes blinked. "Huh?" he glanced at Apollo.
     "I said check the starboard gyro stabilizer now!" the captain's
voice built up to a shout.  "And if you don't get your head out of your
astrum and start getting to work, then so help me Twilly, I'm going to
do to you what both of them would like to do you so fast----"
     "Uh, right!  Right!"  For the first time some life came back to
the engineer's face as he stumbled over to check the damaged instrument
panels.
     Apollo turned around and looked to the other end of the
compartment, where both Gayla and Zeena remained silent.
     "Get out of here," he said quietly, but with a good deal of
authority. "Now.  I don't want any more distractions, do you hear me?"
     "Understood, Captain," Gayla's voice was normal now, a total
contrast to the wild fury she'd shown just centons earlier.  "We might
as well report to our station in hydroponics.  Agreed?" she turned to
Zeena, who only now had managed to stop crying.
     "Agreed," Zeena muttered.  As they turned to go she felt the need
to finally say something. "We'll talk about this later, Twilly!  You
can be sure of that!"
     Her words seemed to take all the life out of Twilly again.  As
soon as they were gone, Apollo noticed the engineer sagging in defeat
once again, the faraway look returning to his face.
     "Not fair," he whispered. "They're gonna spend all that time
talking without giving me a chance to explain things-----"
     Seething, Apollo almost felt his hand reaching for his laser
pistol.  An alarmed Starbuck stepped in front and swatted his hand
away.
     "Take it easy, buddy," Starbuck said. "If you shoot him, who's
going to fix this?"
     Slowly, Apollo took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. 
Still, he could use the threat of a laser pistol at his forehead, even
if I'd never actually go so far as to pull the trigger."
     "See what I mean?" Starbuck smirked, deciding that some humor was
needed to relieve the tension. "You always were the kind of daggit with
a worse bark than bite."
     "Yeah," Apollo nodded and stepped up to Twilly, feeling much
calmer now.  "Well?  Status report?"
     "Uh, yeah," Twilly said. "The ah...stabilizer is out.  Needs
replacing."
     "We know that," Apollo decided to be sarcastic rather than
threatening. "You can replace that, right?"
     "Oh yeah.  Yeah, no problem, there are spare stabilizers for port
and starboard gyros in the Maintenance Compartment.  Apart from that,"
he shrugged. "Shouldn't be too difficult to get this moving again."
     "Boy, that's a relief, the way this looks..." Starbuck started
as he glanced at the damaged panels for a closer look, and then his
eyes widened in horror. "Oh, frack," he whispered.
     "What?" Apollo's head darted toward him. "What is it?"
     "Twilly!" the fury that Apollo had shown earlier had now seemingly
transferred to Starbuck. "Did you lose your vision or something?  The
centrifugal stabilizer is gone too!  If we don't get that fixed then
replacing the starboard gyro stabilizer is worthless.  The ship will
shake apart the micron we try to bring full power back!"
     "Okay, okay!" Twilly said hastily. "Then we just need to pull this
out and replace the centrifugal stabilizer, then the starboard gyro
stabilizer and we'll be set.  Except..." he trailed off.
     "Except what?" the fury was now returning to Apollo's eyes.
     "Um..." Twilly looked down. "The Galactica has all the spare
centrifugal stabilizers."
     Apollo turned and dashed back down the compartment, snatching the
telecom off the wall as fast as he could.


     It took only one centon for Apollo to relay word to Captain
Demeter, and for her in turn to relay the same information to the
Galactica.  As soon as Adama had finished the conversation with the
Agroship's captain, he urgently checked his wrist chronometer.
     "We have exactly eleven centons to get a shuttle loaded with a
centrifugal stabilizer and off this ship before we begin acceleration." 
he said bluntly to Tigh. "Don't waste a micron on that!"
     "Yes sir!" the executive officer dashed over to the other side of
the bridge.


     Boomer and Sheba were both off-duty in the Officers Club, when the
urgent telecom from Colonel Tigh arrived.  It took less than one centon
for the senior leaders of Red Squadron to put down their tankards and
sprint toward the shuttle launch bay as fast as they could go.
     They arrived, slightly out of breath, and just in time to see Fire
Chief Jorda and Maintenance Chief Shadrach frantically motioning two
technicians to load the spare centrifugal stabilizer aboard.
     "Come on!" the maintenance chief waved his hands. "We've got just
seven centons.  Hurry!"
     "You can tell the Colonel we've arrived," Boomer said as he and
Sheba drew up alongside the section chiefs. "We can be underway as soon
as you've got that thing secure."
     "We lucked out on a spare being easily accessible," Jorda grunted,
"If it had been piled up in the back of the Maintenance Compartment, it
might have taken a centar to unload."
     Finally, the two technicians emerged from the shuttle. "It's
secure!" one of them said.
     "Okay," Boomer nodded. "Let's get going."
     "Wait!" Shadrach protested. "Your eyeshields!  Don't you have
any?"
     "Uh-oh," Sheba said. "No, we don't."
     Jorda abruptly whistled to get the attention of several other
technicians.  "Eyeshields!  We need them now!"
     Two of them sprinted over and hurriedly handed them to the two
warriors.  Immediately, they slipped them on, still fumbling with them
slightly as they entered the shuttle and quickly got themselves seated.
     "Five centons to spare," Boomer said as he attached his safety
harness and began powering up the internal systems. "I do think we're
to be congratulated."
     "That's just phase one," Sheba said, and there was no mistaking
the edge of concern in her voice.  "Now it's getting this thing over
to the Agroship before it's too late."
     Boomer glanced over at her, knowing immediately what was on her
mind.
     "Relax," he said gently. "We're just making it possible for them
to owe us one for a change."
     It had a disarming effect on Sheba and she managed a weak smile as
Boomer maneuvered the shuttle into position.  When the shuttle launched
and was clear of the Galactica, there were still three centons left
before the battlestar would begin its acceleration.


     "Shuttle is away and proceeding for the Agroship," Rigel reported.
     "Thank God," Adama sighed. "If we'd already begun acceleration,
there might have been no chance of getting a shuttle back to them in
time."
     "We'll end up losing contact with them as soon as we begin
acceleration," Tigh pointed out. "Even when they fix the stabilizer,
the Agroship will still have to catch up with us."
     "They have the programmed coordinates.  I'm not worried about
that," he said, and then glanced at Tigh, refusing to show any signs of
outward emotion.  "The only enemy they face now is whether they have
enough time to get that part fixed before they go straight into the
sun."
     Tigh grimly nodded. "True.  But at least they do have the Fleet's
best expert in those kind of systems aboard, so that should count for
something."


     When Gayla and Zeena arrived in the hydroponics section of Agro
Dome #1, they saw an irritated Carmichael busily overseeing the
aftermath of the Agroship's dangerous list.
     "About time you two showed up," the Operations Chief said sourly.
"We had a lot of damage from that list when the water from half our
hydro lakes and tanks spilled out.  Start lending a hand to see what's
salvageable now!" he pointed angrily.
     Gayla nodded without saying anything and beckoned Zeena to follow. 
The two of them reached a set of upturned plants and decided to start
examining them.
     As they worked, Gayla finally broke the silence. "Well, I guess
this fix is partly my fault for charging after him."
     "No," Zeena shook her head. "I don't blame you.  If I had your
temper, I probably would have done the same thing.  Me...I tend to
just lose control with tears first."
     Gayla smiled faintly at her as she picked up some of the upturned
plants and put them in a tray.  "I guess you and I are different in so
many ways, and that's why dear Twilly felt the need to have us both."
     The way in which she spoke got through to Zeena, and for the first
time she felt a bonding of sorts with her.  "I guess."  She returned
the faint smile.  "What do you suppose we should do?"
     "From what I can see of you Zeena, you're too kind and decent a
woman to be stuck with a Sagitarian snake like him," Gayla said.  "But
believe me, I'm not suggesting that because I want him for myself.  Not
anymore."
     "I didn't think so," Zeena said, her smile more evident. "Maybe
you and I both don't deserve him and we can let him know that."
     Gayla placed the full tray on a ledge and extended her hand.
"Zeena, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

                         Chapter Four

     As soon as Apollo received word from Demeter that a shuttle from
the Galactica had been launched to bring over a new centrifugal
stabilizer, he had ordered Twilly to begin disassembling the damaged
one.  Once it was ready, the three of them would lift it out.
     "Sheesh," Starbuck wiped his brow and removed his jacket. "It's
starting to feel like a furnace in here."
     Apollo removed his as well. "We're getting closer to the
mega-star."
     "This makes me wish I was on Arcta in all that snow again," the
blonde lieutenant grunted as grabbed hold of one end of the damaged
stabilizer. "Okay, I'm ready."
     Apollo glanced over at Twilly, who was again propping himself
against the wall, his expression taking on that catatonic state of
despair once more.
     "Twilly, get over here and help us lift this out."
     The engineer blinked and stepped toward them.  Somewhat
halfheartedly, he took position in the mid-section, between Apollo and
Starbuck.
     "Okay," Apollo gritted his teeth as he gathered his strength. "On
three, lift.  One, two, three!"
     They began to pull, but there was no movement at all, and the pain
shot through Apollo's fingers so fast he immediately let go.
     "Ouch!" he blew on them. "Why doesn't it move?  You said it was
disassembled."
     "It is," Twilly muttered. "Unless...oh frack."
     "What?" Starbuck stepped toward him, his eyes blazing. "What now?"
     "The holding pin," Twilly stepped around Apollo and reached inside
where he gently unfastened a small pin. "Sorry."
     Starbuck exploded. "You know Twilly if you don't stop wallowing in
self-pity, you're going to get us all killed, and when I enlisted in
the Service, getting killed by an incompetent engineer wasn't my
definition of dying in the line of duty!"
     "Look, don't you understand?" Twilly was pleading again. "I need a
chance to explain things to them..."
     "You can do that later, after we make sure we'll all still be
alive!" Apollo retorted as he grabbed hold of the stabilizer's end once
again. "Now get back in position and let's lift this out, unless
there's something else you've forgotten."
     "No, that's it.  Really, it is."
     "Then, one, two, three, lift!"
     All of them let out grunts of exertion as they lifted the damaged
piece of equipment out.  Apollo and Starbuck could both sense that the
two of them were performing far greater exertion and lift than Twilly
was.
     When they dropped it to the ground, Starbuck felt ready to
collapse in relief.
     "Thank the Lords that's done with," he leaned against the railing.
"Now all we got to do is wait for the shuttle to land with the
replacement."
     Suddenly, Twilly's head darted up.  "Shuttle?"
     "The shuttle with the replacement centrifugal stabilizer," Apollo
said in exasperation. "The one we had to ask for to replace this piece
of junk, remember?"
     "Oh no!" Twilly shook his head vigorously. "We can't let a shuttle
land here!  Not with this damage.  Our weight's evenly balanced and
if we add to that, we'll start to roll out of control again!"
     Apollo's eyes widened in horror. "Why in Hades didn't you say this
before?"
     "I-" Twilly stammered. "I just..."
     Apollo grabbed him by the shoulders. "Some fracking genius, you
are, Twilly!" he shook him angrily. "Of all the fouled-up incompetent
people I've met, you win first prize!"
     He let go of him and raced over to the telecom. "Captain Demeter,"
he said quickly. "We have a new problem.  You've got to keep that
shuttle from landing on the Agroship!"


     "The Galactica's gone to acceleration," Sheba noted as she looked
down at the scanner and took her jacket off as she could feel the
effects of the heat. "That puts us out of contact with them for now."
     "Yeah," Boomer noted as he adjusted his eye-shields. "Too bad
there's no sophisticated heat shield on the Agro Ship since they need
to let the solar rays come through to help facilitate crop growth. 
It's going to be just as hot there as it is here."
     "Well if you're desperate to cool off, Boomer, you could always
step outside," Sheba quipped.
     Boomer returned it. "Cooling off is one thing, getting a deep
freeze is another."  He squinted through his eye-shields. "There she
is."
     They could see the Agroship come into their field of vision. 
Boomer adjusted the shuttle so that it was now on a straight heading
for the landing bay.
     "Agroship, this is Galactica shuttle.  Request immediate landing
clearance."
     There was no immediate response.
     "Agroship, this is Galactica shuttle.  Request immediate landing
clearance," Boomer repeated.
     Finally, Captain Demeter's voice came through. "That is a
negative, Galactica shuttle.  We can not give you clearance at this
time."
     "Why not?" Boomer frowned. "What's happened?"
     "New emergency situation.  We ask that for now you pull up
alongside and stand by for further instructions.  Captain Apollo will
provide more information later."
     Boomer and Sheba traded puzzled glances with each other.
     "I don't get it," Sheba said. "They need the replacement part now. 
It's only a centar before they'll be headed straight into the
mega-star."
     An edge of concern crept into Boomer's voice. "You're right," he
said. "And if there's something that's keeping us from landing, then
they'd better fix it quick, or else we'll be in the same predicament
since the Galactica is now outside our flight range."
     Sheba stiffened as she realized what he meant, and then said
nothing as she settled back in her chair.


     The interior heat in the engineering section now reached a point
where Starbuck felt compelled to undo the front of his tunic.  As he
stared at Twilly though, he wondered if it was the heat from the
mega-star, or the heat from his anger at the engineer that was
bothering him more.
     "Okay, Twilly," Apollo folded his arms and glared at him. "Here's
your chance to redeem yourself.  How do we get that centrifugal
stabilizer aboard when the shuttle can't land?"
     The engineer dimly shook his head. "You can't.  It's as simple as
that."
     "That's not acceptable!" the captain snapped. "Now what about
having a spacewalk transfer?  Suppose Starbuck or I go out through
the hatch, enter the shuttle through their rear compartment hatch and
retrieve the stabilizer that way?  The shuttle can stay alongside
all the time."
     "Um...well, even that adjustment in weight might make a
difference."
     "Oh come on!" Starbuck threw up his arms in disgust. "You're
trying to tell us that just having one person float out through the
hatch and coming back in on a ship this size is enough to disrupt all
these weight calculations?"
     "I...can't be sure," for the first time Twilly straightened
himself.  "You see...you'd have to depressurize the compartment leading
out beforehand, and then there's the problem of what will happen upon
repressurizing, when you've got something as big as that stabilizer
adding to the weight.  It may make a difference, it may not.  Obviously
the risk factor is smaller as opposed to the shuttle with all its
weight landing here, but...I'd say it's still there."
     "Well we don't seem to have too many other options, do we,
Twilly?" Apollo said coldly.  "Because if you don't come up with
another one in the next three centons, then I'm suiting up to make that
EVA transfer."
     "Um...just a centon," Twilly put his hand on his chin and looked
down.  As he silently contemplated the situation, Starbuck motioned
Apollo over.
     "You know what I think?" Starbuck said in a low whisper. "We may
have to get both of them back down here to boost his confidence."
     "Huh?" Apollo frowned. "Who are you talking about?"
     "Gayla and Zeena," Starbuck said. "Suppose we tell them that if
they're willing to forgive Twilly, it might boost his confidence and
get him out of his funk"
     "Starbuck, I am not dragging them back into this!" Apollo tried
not to raise his voice too loudly so Twilly could hear them.
     "We may not have any other choice," the blonde lieutenant's tone
was matter-of-fact.  "Face it, Apollo, it's probably going to come down
to him being the only one who can pull us out of the fire, no pun
intended."
     "I'm sure of that," Apollo said sourly. "Still----"
     Before the captain could go on, Twilly had come back over to them.
     "I just remembered something," Twilly said. "It's only a theory
but it might be less risky then doing an EVA transfer that could still
unbalance the ship."
     "We're listening," Apollo said.
     "The um...shuttles have their own centrifugal stabilizer units
built in.  They're about ten percent the size of what's used here, but
theoretically they work on the same principle."
     Apollo realized what he meant. "So you're saying we could use the
one from our own shuttle and jury-rig it into the systems here?"
     "I'm not sure," Twilly said. "It's...too small, and whether it'd
be enough for a ship this size."
     "Can you make it work?" Apollo raised his voice.
     "Well----" he shrugged absently.  "I can try...maybe get it to
work long enough so we can recover the shuttle and get the proper
stabilizer in place."
     Apollo glanced over at Starbuck. "Starbuck, what do you think?  
Do we try that, or do we do the EVA transfer?  Keep in mind that if
we try this and it doesn't work, there might not be enough time left to
try the EVA transfer."
     "I know," the brash warrior nodded grimly. "Still...I think
Twilly's on to something.  It might be a better idea if we try using
the shuttle stabilizer first and see if it can work long enough to get
our heading changed at least."
     "All right," Apollo said. "Let's get moving.  Twilly, you stand by
here."
     "I'm not going anywhere," the engineer mumbled as he lowered his
head and seemed to go back into his catatonic gaze at the floor.
     "Apollo," Starbuck said as soon as he and Apollo had turned the
corner and were out of Twilly's earshot. "The shuttle stabilizer's
small enough for you to carry.  I'm headed over to hydroponics and
getting Gayla and Zeena back down here.  Twilly's going to have to pull
all the stops to make this work, and if we don't boost his confidence,
he'll probably never get it done."
     The captain let out an exasperated sigh. "All right, Starbuck, but
so help me if this degenerates into another farce, don't be surprised
if I slap you with a demerit in your next evaluation."
     "Won't make any difference if it doesn't work," Starbuck smiled
mirthlessly. "If it becomes a farce, chances are we'll all be dead
before you can make that evaluation."
     How true, Apollo thought as he and Starbuck parted company on the
level that fanned out to the other sections of the Agroship.


     In the Hydroponics section, Gayla and Zeena found themselves
conversing quite easily as they continued to assess the damage caused
by the Agroship's earlier list.
     "...Never mentioned other women at all," Gayla said. "At least
never by name.  He did kind of give the impression that he liked having
a good time with women, but that it was always of the one-night in a
liberty port variety."
     "Just the opposite with me," Zeena said as she sifted her hands
through a container of dirt to make sure that no plant samples had been
buried. "He said that he was so wrapped up in his work that he never
had time to think about dating at all before he met me."
     Gayla let out a dry chuckle. "He sure is methodical, that's for
sure.  Knows just how to alter his persona in order to make the right
impression."
     "I think there's a medical term for that," Zeena removed her hands
from the container and wiped the dirt off. "Compartmentalization.  The
ability to be two different persons in effect, and never letting the
other intrude."  She found herself smiling mirthlessly. "If I were more
familiar with the medical terms, I would have stayed a med-tech on the
Galactica and we never would have found out about each other."
     "It has to have happened this way for a reason," Gayla said. "I've
always considered myself a devout skeptic, but...after this I'm
really wondering if there is some higher power that makes things happen
for a reason.  Causing this to happen so you and I both could see what
fools we've been."
     "I've been thinking the same," she looked at Gayla. "When this is
over, there'll have to be some kind of legal proceeding to settle this,
since my understanding is that double sealing is illegal and can result
in penalties being assessed."
     Gayla picked up her micro-computer and quickly punched in the
results of her latest survey. "Meaning Twilly could end up in the
Prison Barge?"  she sighed. "I'm probably a fool for saying this, but I
wouldn't want that to happen to him.  Twilly's not...well he doesn't
deserve something like that."
     "I agree," Zeena nodded. "We may not want to admit it, but...
there were some good centons with him for each of us.  Twilly's not
evil.  He doesn't belong on the Prison Barge with all the criminals."
     "After they let Baltar go, I'm beginning to wonder if they even
think criminals should stay on the Prison Barge," Gayla grunted. "What
did you think about that?"
     "Didn't like it one bit," Zeena admitted. "Still, I think the
Commander had his reasons."
     "I wonder.  A lot of that stuff I heard on the IFB after that
happened made some sense to me.  Maybe----"
     Before she could go on, they saw a sheepish Starbuck making his
way over to them.
     "Hi girls," Starbuck said cheerily. "Think maybe you could join me
down in Engineering?"
     "Starbuck, we're both pretty busy right now," Gayla said matter of
factly. "And I don't think either of our stomachs could take seeing
Twilly right now.  Right, Zeena?"
     "Right," she nodded and turned her attention to another tray of
plant samples.
     "Look," Starbuck decided to try a different tact. "This is pretty
serious.  Just let me explain."
     As soon as Starbuck was done, both of them were still looking at
him with dubious expressions.
     "Starbuck, for all his faults, Twilly is a professional.  He
doesn't need a kind word from either of us to get him to do his job,"
Gayla said.
     "I'm afraid you're wrong," Starbuck said. "The way he's acting, I
almost wonder if he'd welcome this ship sailing into the mega-star so
it can end what he now perceives to be his worthless life.  At the very
least, you can get him to stop thinking about that."
     Gayla let out a resigned sigh and looked at Zeena. "What do you
think?"
     "It's nauseating, but...maybe we should," Zeena shrugged. "It
couldn't possibly make things worse at this point."
     "I guess not," Gayla set her micro-computer down. "Okay, Starbuck. 
Lead the way."


     It only took Apollo several centons to take off the instrument
panel in the forward section of his own shuttle and then remove the
centrifugal stabilizer unit that was a perfect replica of the
Agroship's, other than being one-tenth the size.  Once he made sure it
was out, he set it down in the empty co-pilot's seat and switched on
the shuttle communications system.
     "Galactica shuttle, this is Captain Apollo, do you copy me?"
     "Copy you, Apollo," Boomer said. "Got a report for us?"
     Apollo was not surprised that Boomer would be handling this
mission.  But then, he felt a trace of alarm as he realized that if
Boomer had been sent over, then there was only one other person who
would have been picked to accompany him.
     He quickly pushed that thought out of his head and kept his tone
professional. "Yeah.  Right now, we're going to try and do some
jury-rigging with our own shuttle's centrifugal stabilizer in order to
get this ship safe enough for you to land and unload the big one.  Keep
your communications tied in to Captain Demeter on the bridge, and
she'll relay all our reports from Gyro Navigational section down in
Engineering."
     "Sounds like a tall order to get a big ship like this to function
with just a little shuttle's stabilizer," Boomer grunted.  "I hope
you've got someone on board who knows how to make that work."
     "Well, we've got Chief Twilly aboard, and you know all about his
reputation," Apollo said, not betraying any hint of what he really
felt about Twilly at that instant.
     "Yeah, I know," Boomer sighed.  "Okay Apollo, we'll stand by
alongside and wait.  But make it fast, because right now Sheba and I
have visions of jumping in the lake down in Hydroponics to cool off
once we're aboard."
     "Won't be long."  He paused as he felt the urge to say something
to Sheba at that moment, just to let her know that she was on his
mind.  But he knew that would be inappropriate, and so with reluctance
he decided it was time to sign off. "Stay tuned in to Alpha three
frequency and you'll get the word the instant it's safe to land."
     "Copy.  Standing by."


     As soon as Boomer finished the communication, he took off his
headset to wipe away the sweat that had formed underneath.  "I had no
idea how simple things like this could get so uncomfortable in all this
heat."
     "You and me both," Sheba said as she turned around in her seat to
face the rear of the shuttle, where the glare was less harsh. 
"But...if Apollo knows what has to be done, you can be sure he'll make
it work.  That's...practically his trademark."
     "Guess so," Boomer smiled wryly and glanced at her, wondering if
he should test the waters with a subtle remark.  "Not a bad quality,
right?"
     She faced him and returned the smile. "Not at all."


     When Apollo returned to the Engineering section, he saw to his
dismay that Twilly, having been left alone all this time, had seemingly
retreated more and more into his shell of self-pity.
     "Hey," he motioned. "Get on your feet, Twilly and make this thing
work."
     The engineer looked up at him and frowned. "You think I can make
something as small as that work with these systems?"
     "This was your fracking idea, Twilly!" Apollo snapped, wondering
how much more his system could take.  "Now you take this thing and get
it hooked up to this ship's systems before I decide to find a more
appropriate place for it to go!"
     With a resigned air, Twilly got to his feet and took the device
from Apollo.  He began to idly look at the compartment where the
damaged centrifuge had been removed from, and then made a small
adjustment.
     Feeling his impatience rise, Apollo went over to the telecom,
"Bridge, this is Captain Apollo.  How much time do we have?"
     "Situation's deteriorating, Captain." Demeter's voice was blunt.
"I need propulsion back within the next thirty centons or else we'll
never break free of the mega-star's gravitational pull."
     "You'll get it.  I'll keep the line open, and make sure this relay
is patched through to the shuttle so I can talk directly to them."
     "Copy.  You're patched into them."
     "Boomer?"
     "Copy," Red Leader said. "Anything to report?"
     "We're starting the installation process now.  It shouldn't be too
long.  Stand by."
     Apollo set the telecom receiver down, without placing it on the
hook and came back to Twilly.
     "Well?"
     "Fracking impossible," Twilly muttered. "Just too small.  I
thought the design was bigger than this."
     Apollo began to seethe and was on the verge of grabbing him again,
when a familiar voice from behind called out. "Hey Twilly, you got some
company!"
     Apollo turned around and saw Starbuck entering the compartment,
followed by Gayla and Zeena.  The engineer though, was still staring
blankly at the instrument panel and didn't notice them.
     "Twilly," Apollo said gently. "You heard what he said?"
     "I don't want to talk to anybody," he muttered.
     "Not even us, Twilly?" Zeena spoke, which got him to look up and
take notice.  The sight of them only seemed to make him look more
depressed.
     "I see," Twilly sighed. "Came down here to rub it in and tell me
how no-good you think I am.  Well don't bother, because I know all
that.  I admit it."
     "Oh don't be hard on yourself, Twilly," Zeena said in the same
gentle tone she'd used many times before with him. "We forgive you. 
Really."
     "No you don't," he shook his head. "I...appreciate your trying
to cheer me up, but...we all know the truth about what a snake I am
for having deceived the both of you all these yahrens, and...I guess
nothing can change that, so...no point hashing things out any more. 
What's done is done.  Right?"
     Gayla stepped in front of Zeena, her expression more cold. "Maybe
so, Twilly.  But do you really care about the both of us?"
     He seemed surprised by the question. "Well...sure.  Of course I
do.  I...I love the both of you.  I always have, and I still do."
     "You've got a funny way of showing it," Gayla decided the gentle
approach would never work. "We're both about to die because you aren't
giving your all to fixing this ship!  Because if you don't do that,
we're dead!  And how'd you like that on your conscience for eternity
that you were more concerned about yourself than about what happened to
the two people you thought so much of, you were willing to defy the
Codes and marry us both?"
     Starbuck and Apollo were both tensing, wondering if this would be
enough to send Twilly over the brink completely.  The engineer was
visibly trembling.
     "Engineering?" Boomer's baffled voice came through over the open
telecom. "Apollo, what's going on down there?"
     Awkwardly, Apollo backed up and picked up the telecom. "Ah...fill
you in on that later, Boomer.  Just keep standing by for now."  He then
pressed the mute button which would keep them from hearing any more of
the conversation
     "You really think that?" the color was now returning to Twilly's
cheeks for the first time. "Look, I may have broken the codes, but both
of you know me enough to realize how much I've always felt about the
both of you and wouldn't let any harm come to either of you!"
     "Prove it then, Twilly," Zeena said. "Fix the stabilizer and save
the both of us.  Besides," she paused for effect, "You never know what
that might do when it comes to what happens after this is all over."
     Gayla turned to her, somewhat amazed that Zeena would have said
something like that, but she realized immediately why she had.  "Right,
Twilly," she turned back to face her husband and nodded. "That goes for
the both of us."
     Twilly seemed to straighten out for the first time and when he
turned back to the instrument panel, his bearing was at its most
professional.  The sight of Twilly throwing himself back into his work
was enough to make Starbuck feel the desire to light up a fumarello
with a satisfied grin.  Starbuck, you're still a genius, he thought to
himself.
     An anxious centon went by as Twilly hunched inside the instrument
compartment and made some adjustments with the small stabilizer. 
Seeing him attack the situation with a look that reminded Apollo of an
artist applying paint to canvas or a sculptor handling clay, was enough
to restore the captain's faith in Twilly's abilities as an engineer.
     "I'll be a-  That's it!" Twilly exclaimed.
     "What?"  Apollo darted forward. "You figured it out?"
     "Sure," Twilly looked up and grinned. "Reroute the drive laser
with a couple of half-pulse boosters and it can function perfect."
His grin faded. "But there is the problem of it becoming overloaded
too fast.  With the heat we're feeling already from the mega-star, I
wouldn't give it more than a few centons of time to function."
     "That's not enough," Apollo said. "We need at least five to ten
centons to get the shuttle aboard and then lug the main stabilizer down
here and get the Agroship back on a heading away from the mega-star."
     "Not to mention replacing the original starboard gyro stabilizer,"
Starbuck pointed out.
     "Well, that part's easy," Twilly said, his mind racing. "We cool
the centrifugal stabilizer set-up with boraton from the fire hoses and
keep the flow constant, and then we put the starboard gyro stabilizer
back in so we can bring back full navigational power to change our
heading.  Then we'll have all the time we need to replace the main
centrifugal stabilizer so we can have full power to catch up with the
Fleet."
     "Then let's get to it!"  Apollo barked. "Starbuck, get all the
boraton hoses here in Engineering brought in fast!  Gayla, Zeena, you
contact Carmichael and tell him I want all available technicians down
here to help pitch in!"
     It only took an instant for the others to nod and dash out of the
compartment at a full sprint.  Feeling his optimism return, Apollo went
back to the telecom to make his next report.


     Five centons later, Starbuck and two additional technicians had
arrived and had boraton hoses aimed at the instrument compartment where
Twilly was making the last delicate adjustments to the centrifugal
stabilizer.
     "Okay," the engineer said. "She's secure."
     "All right," Apollo said. "Twilly, once she's going, you and I
load the starboard gyro back in."  He picked up the telecom. "Bridge,
reactivate centrifugal stabilizer on my signal."
     "Better step things up, Captain," Demeter said. "We've got about
twenty centons to the point of no return, but already the heat's
starting to play havoc with our structural integrity."
     "Understood," Apollo nodded and set down the unit. "Okay, activate
boraton!"
     Starbuck and the two engineering technicians turned on the hoses
and immediately the thick fire coolant began to fill the instrument
compartment.
     "Activate power to centrifugal stabilizer!"
     Slowly, underneath the foam that poured over it, the centrifugal
stabilizer began to turn, giving off so much heat that almost
immediately, the majority of the coolant foam evaporated.
     "Keep it up!" Starbuck said. "Don't let it slacken for a micron!"
     "Okay," Apollo came over to where Twilly already had hold of one
end of the replacement starboard gyro stabilizer. "Now we can load this
in."
     The two of them needed only two centons to load the new part in
and for Twilly to make all the adjustments sealing it in place.
     "Captain Apollo!" Demeter's voice now came through over the ship's
unicom. "Temperature readings on centrifugal stabilizer already in
warning areas.  We won't be able to use it for too long."
     Apollo picked up the telecom. "It'll work long enough!  Now
stand by to restore power to all gyros, port and starboard.  And don't
bring them back slowly, go immediately to full thrust!"
     "Starboard gyro secured!" Twilly reported with crisp efficiency.
     "Activate!"  Apollo shouted. "Full thrust to gyros immediately,
and don't worry about the temperature reading on the centrifugal
stabilizer."
     Five microns later, there was a sudden groan throughout the
Agroship as the systems began to come back to life.  Ten microns later,
over the sound of the boraton hoses, the humming of the gyros were
distinct to everyone."
     "We're holding," Twilly felt his heart pounding with excitement. 
"The set-up works!"
     "Okay, Captain!" Demeter said. "We've got navigational power back. 
Turning immediately to new course heading, vector four, four seven."
     A jolt went through the ship causing Apollo, Starbuck and the
technicians to nearly lose their footing.
     "What's happening?" Apollo shouted into the telecom over the roar
of the boraton and the now active gyros.
     "Gravitational pull of the star's worse then we thought!" Demeter
said with alarm. "We're moving, but more slowly then I'd like.  Frack,
those readings on the centrifugal stabilizer are getting worse!"
     "Keep it going!  We can't shut down this jury-rig until we're out
of the gravitational pull free and clear!"
     "Might be asking too much, Captain," Demeter grunted.  "We weren't
built to handle this kind of strain."
     "Well either way, she's going to get it!" Apollo said. "Just keep
maintaining full thrust and get the shuttle aboard right now!"  He
glanced back at the instrument panel where even with the full flow of
boraton, clouds of smoke were rising, indicating just how overworked
the small stabilizer was in spite of the massive levels of coolant
being poured in.


     "Galactica shuttle, you are cleared to land immediately.  Bring
spare part to Engineering upon your arrival."
     "I'd have preferred you tell me to go jump in the lake, but thank
you anyway," Boomer said dryly as he finally maneuvered the shuttle out
of its holding pattern alongside the Agroship and reoriented it in
front of the landing bay.

     
     "Shuttle is aboard, Captain," Demeter reported. "Lieutenants
Boomer and Sheba are bringing the main centrifugal stabilizer part down
immediately."
     "Are we clear of that gravitational pull?"
     "Not enough for me to feel completely comfortable," the Agroship
Captain said. "At our present speed, we need at least five more centons
for me to bring us to a stop and then hold our position altogether
without being dragged back toward the mega-star."
     "We'll make it hold," Apollo said as he looked back at Starbuck
and the technicians, who were still training their boraton on the
compartment.
     Then, Apollo felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck when he
saw one of the boraton hoses slacken, and it's stream of coolant
trickle to a stop.
     "Frack!" he shouted. "What's happened?"
     The technician holding the now dead hose turned around and shook
his head. "Pressure levels difficult to maintain with all the heat
we're still feeling from the star!  We might see pressure for all the
hoses go out!"
     "Well until that happens, just keep the rest of these going, you
hear me?"
     Twilly came over to Apollo and grabbed him by the arm.
     "Apollo," he whispered. "If we lose another hose, it may break
down in just a matter of thirty microns.  You've got to stand by and
tell them to be ready to kill the power or else we'll be back to where
we started."
     Apollo was ready to trust Twilly's judgment completely again,
"Okay.  But only when another hose goes, and I'll tell them to kill the
power."
     The microns went on at an agonizingly slow pace for everyone in
the compartment, and for every one on the Agro Ship.  Apollo glanced at
his chronometer and saw that three centons had elapsed since his last
communication with the Bridge.
     Just then, everyone looked up as they heard the sound of the gyros
slow down to a halt and then Demeter's voice, now much calmer, filled
the unicom.
     "Attention.  We are now clear of the mega-star's gravitational
pull.  I repeat, we are clear of the mega-star's gravitational pull,
and have assumed holding position beyond its range.  All thrusters now
shutting down to allow for installation of main centrifugal stabilizer
unit."
     "Okay, kill the boraton!" Apollo ordered as he picked up the
telecom.  "And then get that jury-rig out so we can install the new
unit when it arrives."
     After conferring with the Agroship captain again, Apollo hung up
the telecom just in time to see Boomer and Sheba enter the compartment,
each of them disheveled and damp from heavy sweat, and holding the new
centrifugal stabilizer.
     "Hello," Boomer said deadpan. "We're from the Piscean Grill
Restaurant.  Which of you ordered the broiled fowler wings?"
     Apollo laughed. "Over here," he motioned. "There's a hungry
compartment that's not been satisfied with the small portions.  It
needs something bigger to settle its appetite."
     "You haven't missed a beat, Boomer," Starbuck grinned, as he wiped
away pieces of boraton foam that had clung to his body. "Red Squadron
always arrives for mopping up duty only."
     "Mopping up the mess you usually create, Bucko," Boomer said as he
and Sheba handed the unit over to Twilly and one of the other
technicians.
     Apollo decided he had to get in just one brief micron with Sheba
alone.  He gently put his arm around her and led her to the other end
of the corridor.
     "So," he said, "A bit harrowing out there?"
     "A bit," she admitted. "But the idleness was the part we hated
most.  Just sitting there not able to do anything until it was safe."
     "Yeah, I know what you mean," Apollo lowered his tone. "Look,
um...probably not a good time for me to mention this, but...we
really should take care of some business when we get back to the
Galactica about you meeting Boxey for the first time."
     "I was spending all that idle time thinking the same thing," Sheba
nodded. "In fact, I think we should take care of that first thing
tomorrow after his study cycle."
     "Agreed," Apollo smiled. "We'll...talk about the particulars on
our way back."
     "Apollo!" Starbuck called over. "We've got the new stabilizer in! 
You can tell Demeter she's ready to fire up now."
     The captain went over to the telecom. "Captain Demeter, you can
resume full power and get this Agroship back on its proper heading for
the rendezvous with the Fleet."
     "Activating thrusters now, Captain."
     The rumble went through everyone's feet as the Agroship began to
move and the sound of the gyros came to life.  For a centon, there was
only silence among the people gathered in the corridor, as they all
felt the need to wait for an official announcement.
     Finally, it came over the unicom.  "Attention.  We are now back on
our normal heading, and will accelerate in five centons for estimated
rendezvous with the Fleet in one centar."
     A cheer went up from everyone, as they now found it safe to
express their relief that the danger was now completely over.
     And Boomer and Starbuck both found themselves pleasantly surprised
to see that Apollo had chosen to express his relief by impulsively
hugging Sheba. 

                         Chapter Five

     As soon as Adama entered his quarters and took his seat behind his
desk, Apollo knew right away that his father was going to open with
some harsh words.  His look indicated nothing else.
     He glanced over at Twilly, who stood directly in front of the
commander's desk.  Zeena and Gayla sat off to one side, while Starbuck,
happy to be detached from the proceedings, stood relaxed at the back of
the room.  The engineer was at full attention, projecting nothing but
the most professional looking posture Apollo had ever seen.
     "Chief Twilly," Adama said quietly, but clearly with distaste. "I
have finished reading the preliminary report of Captain Apollo and
Lieutenant Starbuck.  I can only say that if I could summon words to
describe how I feel about your conduct, they would not be fit for
listening by any decent moral man."  He paused. "But my personal
feelings are not the issue, here.  The issue is to deal with all
matters relevant to Colonial jurisprudence.  Beginning with your
violation of the prohibition against double sealing, which was
abolished in all of the Colonies in 5190 by Council vote." He paused.
"As a native of Virgon, you are subject to the civil penalties which
state that one of the seals must be immediately dissolved in order to
avoid further charges of a criminal or civil nature from being filed
against you.  So the first question is, do you so stipulate to have one
of the seals dissolved?"
     "Yes sir," Twilly said without hesitation.
     "Very well," Adama leaned forward. "Which seal do you wish
dissolved?"
     In an instant, all of Twilly's newfound strength of the last eight
centars seemingly evaporated, and now the nervous, worried Twilly
suddenly returned, now that the moment of truth had arrived.
     "Um..." he stammered. "I..."
     "Commander," Gayla spoke up. "With all due respect, isn't this
something that Zeena and I should have some say in?"
     Adama turned his chair slightly to face the two women and smiled
thinly. "Technically, there is no such provision in the existing
statutes when it involves one man and two women, which I will freely
admit is an oversight that should have been corrected long ago, but
never was because I can not recall such a case as Twilly's being
brought before the authorities in all that time." He paused. "Under the
circumstances though, I will not consider myself bound by the letter of
the statute, and will happily take into account what your desires, and
those of Zeena are."
     "Thank you, Commander." Gayla stepped toward him, not looking at
Twilly. "My only desire is to never see Twilly again."
     Twilly's head darted toward her in surprise. "Gayla!  I
thought----"
     "Chief!" Adama barked, indicating he wanted him to stay silent,
and it caused the engineer to snap back to attention.  "Very well,
Gayla.  And you, Zeena?"
     When Zeena spoke, her tone was more gentle and she allowed herself
one glance of pity at Twilly.  "Commander, I want it understood that I
don't hate Twilly, and don't wish him any harm.  And that in our way,
we have both forgiven Twilly.  But...as the Book of the Word teaches
us, even forgiveness can not come without consequences.  And for both
of us, it's the consequence of a broken trust that can never be mended. 
That's why neither of us want to stay sealed to Twilly." She paused.
"Besides, the both of us wish to continue working together on the
Agroship, and we can both enjoy a more productive working relationship
by starting with a clean slate.  Just," she glanced at Twilly again,
"Just as I'm sure that Twilly would benefit from a clean slate in his
life."
     Adama leaned back in his chair, impressed. "Well spoken, Zeena."
He faced the engineer again. "Chief Twilly, under the state of martial
law that presently exists, I, as military commander, have the authority
to act as Overseer of any legal proceeding agreed to by all
participants.  Before I make my decision, will you so pledge your
acceptance of it?"
     "Yes sir," Twilly managed to mumble, feeling beaten at this point.
     "Very well," Adama rose from his chair. "The seals between Twilly
and Zeena, and Twilly and Gayla, are hereby dissolved.  In keeping with
the wishes of both Zeena and Gayla that there be no further
recriminations, Chief Twilly will not be obligated to pay any civil
penalties to either aggrieved party."
     "That's agreeable to us, Commander," Gayla said.
     "In that case, there is no need to discuss this matter any
further.  You two ladies are free to go, and you have my hopes and
prayers for happiness and peace in both of your lives."
     "Thank you, Commander," Zeena said.  She stopped to take one last
look at Twilly, recalling for only a micron the good times she had
known with him, before leaving the room.  Gayla though, left without
looking at him at all.
     Figures, Starbuck thought.  Zeena's the more sentimental one. 
Gayla though, will probably jump into a relationship with someone else
before the sectan's out.
     "There are other matters that concern you, Chief Twilly, that I
find more appalling then your double sealing," Adama resumed,
"Principally, the fact that for six sectars, you have abused your
position as a gyro specialist to perform unnecessary maintenance work
on one of the most critical ships in the Fleet, and as a result put the
lives of all of us at risk for the sole purpose of satisfying your
personal lusts and selfish desires.  Not only did this keep you from
more essential work in line with your needed expertise, it also was
directly the cause of the Fleet nearly losing the one ship that enables
a population of more than 70,000 to survive."  He paused for effect. "I
hope your mind can grapple with the ramifications of that, Chief
Twilly."
     "Commander," Twilly began. "I...have little to say in defense of
my own actions."
     "Correction, Chief," Adama now raised his voice for the first
time. "You have nothing to say in defense of your own actions, because
there is no defense for it.  Remember that!"  He sat back down and
lowered his tone. "Now the only question before me is whether or not I
recommend to Sire Solon that formal charges of a criminal nature be
brought against you.  Specifically, a charge of reckless endangerment
to the well-being of the Fleet."
     "Commander," Apollo spoke up for the first time. "If I may, I'd
like to say something on Chief Twilly's behalf.  It was his expertise
that enabled us to pinpoint the problems, and what needed to be done to
fix them.  I doubt very much that I or anyone else on the Agroship
would have thought of using a shuttle stabilizer as a stopgap.  And I
believe that Dr. Wilker will no doubt confirm that had my initial plan
of an EVA transfer been carried out, in all likelihood it would have
resulted in disaster."
     "Your points are well taken, Captain Apollo," Adama nodded. "But
there is still the fact that the problems existed because of Chief
Twilly's actions, and that it was only with considerable effort on your
part and Lieutenant Starbuck, that you got him to perform his duties
during a crisis."  He glanced at the engineer, who was now sweating
visibly.  Apollo wondered for the first time if his father was playing
a deliberate mind game with Twilly, trying to make the engineer feel
nervous for as long as possible.  It was a side of his father that
Apollo had never seen before, and only indicated how angry Adama had to
be over this.
     "Chief Twilly," Adama said with a finality that indicated he was
about to make his final decision.  "Because of the fact that your
expertise in gyro engineering is so essential to the functioning of
this Fleet, and because of the mitigating circumstances detailed by
Captain Apollo, I am willing to forego any filing of criminal charges,
provided that you agree to the following conditions.  Failure to comply
with them will result in immediate action that will lead to an
indictment.  Are you prepared now to follow these conditions?"
     "Yes sir!" Twilly was almost trembling now.
     "Good," the Commander nodded. "Number one.  You are forbidden to
ever visit the Agroship again, or to engage in any contact with Gayla
or Zeena, unless of course they have chosen to initiate contact with
you, which I highly doubt will ever happen.  Number two, whenever in
the course of your duties as a gyro specialist that requires your
presence on another ship, you are to be accompanied by close, personal
escort.  Hopefully that will prevent any repetition of this sort of
thing from happening again.  I of course, have no legal authority to
keep you from moving freely in the Fleet whenever you are on a lawful
furlon to recreational ships such as the Rising Star, but I will not
allow you to engage in any work activities aboard another ship again
without supervision.  Specifically, from one of your fellow engineers
who can make certain that any work you do is completely legitimate in
nature."
     For the first time, there was an air of relief in the engineer's
bearing, as though the worst had now passed for him.  The sudden change
was enough to make Starbuck frown slightly, but he shook it off
immediately.
     "Is that all, sir?" Twilly asked.
     "That is all," Adama said coldly. "And I meant what I said about
what I would do if you ever are found to be violating these terms."
     "I won't sir," Twilly said. "You have my word on that."
     "Very well.  You're dismissed."
     Twilly turned and left the room, with Starbuck following him out.
     Once they were alone, Apollo looked quizzically at his father,
"Father," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen you this angry before. 
I...almost got the feeling you wanted to come down more harshly on
him."
     "I did," Adama said with disgust. "What Twilly did offends me more
than you could possibly begin to imagine.  When I think of how I spent
so many yahrens away from your mother, not seeing her for nearly a
yahren at a time, and I think of how I learned to cope with the
loneliness by just remembering how much your mother meant to me, and
how much I loved her..." He shook his head, unable to go further,
"Thank the Lords there weren't any children involved in this.  Just
think of the kind of trauma a child born as the result of this kind of
set-up would go through, and the evil of what Twilly did is all the
more obvious."
     "So what stopped you from filing charges?" Apollo asked. "Not my
word in his behalf, I take."
     "No," his father shook his head. "Politics.  Pure politics.  I'm
still dealing with the fallout from Baltar's release, and can you
imagine the uproar I'd generate by having Twilly face more than twenty
yahrens in the Prison Barge over something like this?  Especially
with those mitigating factors you mentioned?  If I could release
Baltar because of the mitigating factors of his helping to destroy the
baseship, there's no way I could have a clear conscience holding
someone like Twilly to another standard."  He paused. "How many other
things will I have to compromise my standards on because of what I had
to do with Baltar?  That's the thing that has me even more
frightened, Apollo.  What sort of society are we going to become in the
long-haul?"  He rubbed his temples. "I need to be alone."
     "Of course," Apollo nodded, somewhat shaken by his father's
revelation that power politics was now guiding his actions.  It was a
total change from the way his father had always acted in the past.
     How heavy a toll would the demands of power politics ultimately
have on his father?  And on Colonial society in general?
     The questions were still troubling Apollo as he left the room and
he knew it would be a long time before any of them would be settled.


     "You want my opinion, Twilly, you got off lucky," Starbuck said as
he and the engineer walked down the corridor that led to the Officer's
Club.
     "You're right," the engineer said. "I...almost thought I would
end up in the Prison Barge, or have all my wages garnished.  This
way...it's probably for the best.  What kind of trouble can I get into
here on the Galactica?"
     "You might get a few dirty looks from Cassiopeia, given how
friendly she was with Zeena, but I'll make sure she doesn't rub it in
your face if you ever run into each other," Starbuck said.
     "Thanks," Twilly said. "And...Starbuck, thanks for helping out.  I
really appreciate what you and Apollo tried to do for me.  And
maybe...maybe some good can come out of it."
     "That's the spirit," Starbuck patted him on the book. "Now let's
head to the club, and maybe you can answer a few other questions about
your past that I'm just dying to know the answers to."
     Twilly's eyes caught sight of a public telecom booth, one of
several aboard the battlestar that enabled one to make a private
telecom to anyone aboard the Galactica or in the Fleet.
     "Um...Starbuck, why don't you get a table and order a Sagitarian
ale for me.  I...need to make a telecom.  Don't worry, it's not to the
Agroship."
     "Okay," Starbuck shrugged. "See you later, Twilly."
     As soon as the warrior had disappeared around the corner, Twilly
quietly stepped into the telecom booth and closed the door, making sure
that the privacy lock was in place.  No one passing through the
corridor would be able to hear anything he'd be saying.
     He picked up the telecom and punched in a number that he knew by
heart.  A male voice answered.
     "Rising Star Astral Lounge.  This is Chief Steward Zeibert."
     "Yes, I need to speak to a bar attendant who I believe is on duty
now.  Phaedra."
     "One centon," he could hear the shuffling of papers on the other
end. "Ah yes, she is on duty now.  Is this a personal emergency?"
     "Of a sort," Twilly said.  "She'll know."
     "Very well.  I'd rather not have her tie up this official line. 
Could you give me your extension and I'll have her call from a public
telecom booth?"
     "That'll be fine," Twilly said as he glanced at the numbers etched
into the main unit.  "Fleet extension Alpha three, one, nine, five,
five."
     "Thank you."
     Twilly hung up and took a deep breath of relief.  As far as he was
concerned, it was a miracle that this one other detail had never come
out, and now that it was all he had left, he had no intention of seeing
it taken from him as Gayla and Zeena had been.
     Damn the Codes anyway, he thought.
     Finally, he heard the telecom chime sound and he picked it up,
"Hello, Phaedra?"
     "It's about time you called," a young, feminine voice of
twenty-one snapped. "I haven't heard from you since Colonel Tigh cut in
on our last conversation two sectans ago."
     "Hey, it was a real emergency, Phaedra.  A ship exploded and I had
to oversee the demolition work.  We just finished up today."
     "You really love your work, don't you?"  There was bitterness in
her voice.  "Sometimes, I think you forget I'm your wife!"
     "Now how could I ever forget?" Twilly said gently. "Getting sealed
to you last sectar was the best thing that happened to me.  I can't
help it if the Commander thinks I'm indispensable."
     "I guess not," she sighed. "Maybe if I transferred to the
Galactica, things would be better for us?"
     "It wouldn't work," Twilly was emphatic. "I mean, let's face it,
Phaedra, you love the glamour of the Rising Star.  All the music, the
parties, the good food and drink.  You really think working shifts in
the Galactica Mess Hall or Officer's Club would be an improvement for
you?"
     "No," Phaedra admitted. "You're right, Twilly.  You know exactly
what I like and don't like."
     "You'd see more of the Galactica then me if you worked here,
especially the way the Commander runs me so ragged," Twilly said. "But
that just makes it better when I get a furlon and can spend all the
time with you and no one else on the Rising Star.  You know that, don't
you, baby?" his voice grew coy.
     She let out a sigh and he could easily picture her pretty face
smiling, just as she always did whenever he turned the charm into
overdrive with her.
     "You're so impossible, sometimes, Twilly," Phaedra said. "But I
guess that's why I love you so much, and why I'm glad I'm married to
you."
     "I'm going to build up some time for a big furlon real soon,"
Twilly said. "I'm going to do the kind of work that'll make the
Commander owe me some big favors for a change.  Believe me.  I just
wanted you to know that I love you, and I think about you all the
time."
     "I love you, Twilly," Phaedra said. "Don't take so long telecoming
me again."
     "I won't," he blew a kiss into the unit.  "Goodbye, baby."
     Twilly then hung up and as he walked down the corridor toward the
Officer's Club, he could feel the old spring coming back into his step
for the first time in a long while.


     In a public telecom booth in the Rising Star's Astral Lounge, the
beautiful, petite blonde of twenty-one named Phaedra, held onto the
dead unit for several microns, letting out a contented sigh as she
thought again of her husband and the tender words he'd just spoken to
her.  So lost was she in her happy thoughts that she didn't notice at
first the impatient tapping on the door outside.  Only when it
increased in tempo did she turn around.
     She found herself recoiling at the sight of the man tapping.  He
was slightly tall and thin, in his early forties with black hair and a
full, but not thick beard as if it had been grown only recently.  What
made Phaedra feel so instinctively scared, was how the man scowled so
unpleasantly at her, and how his brown eyes pierced like daggers being
thrown at her.
     "I'm sorry," Phaedra said as she opened the door and got to her
feet. "I didn't mean to keep you waiting.  I'm done."
     The man said nothing as he pushed past her and stepped into the
booth, slamming it hard.
     Phaedra immediately walked away as fast as she could go.
     Inside, the man picked up the unit and punched in a number that
had taken him two long sectans to find out.  Now that he had it, he was
determined to get in touch with the man it belonged to.
     "Hello?" a silky, aristocratic sounding voice that the man
immediately recognized, answered.
     "Hello," he said gruffly. "My name is Dravius.  You know who I
am."
     There was a brief pause, and then the aristocratic voice at the
other end chuckled.  "Of course.  I knew that sooner or later, I'd
probably be hearing from you.  I'm surprised it took you this long,
though.  It's been two sectans I believe, since your name was
officially listed by Colonial Security as someone they wished to
detain."
     "It took me two sectans to make sure my appearance was
sufficiently changed, and then to find out your telecom number so I
could contact you," Dravius said gruffly.  "And now that I've done
that, it's time for you and me to have a long talk about some important
matters."
     "I was not aware we had any important matters to discuss."
     "We most certainly do," he said. "When we were evacuated from the
Spica, Colonial Security was able to go through my personal belongings. 
That means my share of what you paid me to steal originally and
safeguard these last five yahrens has been discovered."
     "It is unfortunate," the voice conceded. "The tiara of Nefer III
was probably the most elegant item in the whole collection.  But at any
rate, it is of no consequence to me, nor is it of any consequence to me
as to what happens to you, Dravius.  You served your purpose for me,
and now you have failed.  In short, you are on your own."
     "I need your help!" Dravius raised his voice, glad that no one
could hear him through the soundproof doors out in the Lounge. "I've
been able to elude Colonial Security so far, but the Fleet is
ultimately a small place for me to hide.  After what I've done for you
these last five yahrens, taking part in the theft, and safeguarding
those items, and letting myself live in a stinking sanitation ship all
that time just to keep you protected, you owe me your help."
     "I owe you nothing, Dravius," the voice said with a dismissive,
contemptuous air.  "As you are no doubt aware, I have three other men
just like you, scattered elsewhere in this Fleet, who were your
compatriots in the theft, and who are safeguarding the remainder of the
Collection for me.  What they are more efficiently taking care of than
you did, is more than enough to keep me satisfied."
     Dravius felt himself seething with rage. "You have to help me!  
Or else----"
     "Or else, what?" he cut him off. "You'll talk to the authorities?
Sorry, my dear Dravius, but you lack one thing that could make such a
charge stick, and that is proof.  You don't know where your compatriots
are, just as they don't know where the others are, so there is no one
to corroborate any story you tell them.  And in light of the fact, that
I have found myself the beneficiary of some newfound popularity and
respect from the people, owing to the Commander's recent foolishness in
the matter of Baltar, who do you think is more apt to be believed by
the authorities?  Especially since there is the matter of the stolen
treasures in your possession, and your criminal background, which
hardly makes you a credible person in any sense of the word."
     Dravius wanted to yank the telecom unit out and smash the machine
into silence, but he also knew he could not call attention to himself. 
Instead, he squeezed it more tightly and breathed heavily as he tried
to think of something to say.
     "So in short, my dear Dravius," Sire Antipas said in triumph. "You
are quite alone.  But I'm sure you'll be enterprising enough to take
care of yourself and elude capture.  Oh, and one other thing.  Don't
bother telecoming me again, since I intend to change my access code
within the next centar, and you'll never be able to ferret it out like
you did this one.  It was nice to have known you, but such a pity that
you couldn't do a better job of safeguarding those precious treasures
than you could of stealing them.  I will do my best to learn from the
experience of your failure."
     There was a click indicating that the connection had been
terminated.  Dravius stared blankly at the unit for a centon before he
warily got to his feet and left the booth, quietly disappearing into
the Astral Lounge crowd.

********************************************************************

     Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last battlestar Galactica,
leads a ragtag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest-a shining planet,
called Earth.