The story you are about to read is not to infringe on any
 preexisting copyrights. This is just for personal pleasure.

     For Many years, we have believed that there were other
intelligent life somewhere across the vastness of space, but
little do we know that other tribes of humans, at this very
moment, are struggling to survive. They have conquered many
perils, but their one mission is to find a planet that they
believed only existed in their myths, a planet known as
Earth.
     This fleet of humans have traveled far and through many
unimaginable terrors, but they remain confident that someday
soon, they will find Earth, led by the last of the BattleStars.

                    The Last Battlestar
                   by Joshua S. Richards
              Based on BattleStar Galactica
                     by Glen A. Larson

                       The Death Trap

     "Launch when ready." Commander Adama gave the command.
He had always had troubles seeing clearly through the red
light which now was lit through the whole Battlestar. He
watched the scanners as the vipers shot out from the
Galactica. Adama thought about the odds that these pilots
were up against, and only one thing came to his mind at that
moment, something that he caught himself saying at almost
every battle against the Cylons. "Lord help us." he mumbled
softly so no one would here him.

     The vipers launched out into space from the Galactica.
They gathered in routine battle formation, to get ready for
the soon to come battle with several Cylon fighters.
     "Here they come!" Starbuck announced, reading his
radar. Starbuck was all ready to kick some tin can butts
into another galaxy!
     "There must be at least thirty of them out there!"
Boomer exclaimed.
     "Well, there are fifteen of us, so I guess that means
we each take down two." Starbuck added another of his smart
replies. It was the only way he could hide his fear every
time he went out into battle. Even though he loved going out
in his viper and fighting for the Galactica, he was still
afraid that one day, he may not return to the Galactica.
Athena had said that he was "anxious" to get out into his
viper and fight the Cylons, but she didn't know that he was
afraid as well. He had learned that the best way to hide
your fears was to make jokes.
     "Starbuck is right." Apollo chimed in, not aware that
he meant it as a joke. "Besides, we were in worse odds than
this. This is easy compared to what we faced back at
Caprica." Apollo read his radar, feeling like his normal
optimistic self. The Cylon fighters were now entering into
firing range. They looked like waves of death ready to break
through anything that stood in it's way. "All vipers, turn
on your targeting sensors, and let's win one for the
Galactica!"
     "What doesn't make sense to me is how these Cylon
fighters made it all the way out here without a basestar."
Starbuck commented, knowing that Apollo would answer his
question.
     "The basestar or basestars must be staying out of
Galactica's scanning range, but let's not worry about that
right now. We have to stop these fighters from reaching the
fleet."
     One of the on coming Cylon fighters in the front line
of the heavy wave fired their lasers a few times to start
off the attack. The blasts just missed Starbuck's viper by
inches. "Wheew, that was too close for comfort." Starbuck
commented. "Let's see how you like it!" Starbuck pushed the
red fire button on his control stick, and his viper let out
several laser blasts. The laser blasts were heading straight
for the fighter who fired at him, but then it maneuvered
around the beam and flew back into their attack formation.
"Did you see that! The Cylons could never maneuver their
ships like that!" Starbuck exclaimed frantically.
     "I saw it." Apollo answered. "These must be new and
improved Centurions."
     "I swear, Apollo, your starting to sound like Starbuck
with each passing yahren." Boomer laughed. He needed to
laugh, or he would start getting nervous, and he hated being
nervous. "Let me give it a try." Boomer fired his lasers,
but the fighters all maneuvered around the beams, avoiding
being hit. "We have a definite problem here."
     "Wait, I have an idea that may work. Let's stay in
formation and fire simultaneously. They will never be able
to dodge all the blasts." Starbuck suggested.
     "You know, that very well may work." Apollo admitted.
"It's worth a shot. All vipers remain in battle formation
and open fire at the Cylon fleet!" All fifteen vipers open
fired at the wave of Cylon fighters. Just as they had hoped,
the fighters couldn't dodge all the blasts. Several were
hit, while a few tried to evade the beams but ended up
colliding with other fighters.
     "There are twenty remaining fighters." Boomer
reported., feeling a little relieved to have bettered the
odds before the actual dog fighting had actually began.
     "Let's break formation, and fight the rest of them off
individually." Apollo commanded. All the vipers
disassociated, half rolling off to the left and the other
half rolling off to the right before separating further.
     Starbuck looked down at his targeting scanner to see
when the fighter he was chasing would be in the target. As
soon as the computer bleeped, and the fighter on the scanner
blinked, Starbuck fired. The fighter tried to evade, but it
came too late, and the fighter became bright burning
electrical dust.
     Apollo had two in front of him. He opened fired at
them, trying to hit them both. He was successful in
destroying the right fighter, but the one on the left had
flown around him, and now he was the one being hunted down.
"Boomer, I have a fighter on my tail!"
     "I have him." Boomer said flying behind the fighter. He
open fired, and the fighter exploded.
     "Thanks." Apollo said.
     "I could use some help myself." Starbuck radioed. A
fighter was on his tail, and no matter what he did, he
couldn't shake it off. He even tried stopping his thrusters
and have the fighter fly past him, but this fighter was
definitely being piloted by more maneuverable centurions.
     "I'm on my way, Starbuck, hold on." Apollo said.
     Starbuck looked behind him where the Cylon fighter was
hot on his tail. Starbuck tried doing a roll off to the
right, but the fighter did the same, staying on him. "That
has to be a human piloting that thing." Starbuck said to
himself.
     The fighter fired. Starbuck tried to avoid the beam,
but he couldn't. The blast hit the top of his viper. At
first he thought that was it for him, but when he opened his
eyes, he knew he was still alive. Starbuck looked behind him
and saw the fighter that was chasing him destroyed.
"Starbuck are you all right?" Apollo's voice quickly came on
the internal comlink.
     "I'm a bit shaken up." Starbuck tried pulling up, but
the viper wasn't responding as fast as it was suppose to.
     "You're leaking fluid!" Apollo told him.
     "He must of hit my circuitry. I'm having trouble
controlling her. I have to get back to the Galactica."
Starbuck said.
     "Go ahead, we are almost done out here. Boomer, go with
him, just to make sure no Cylons follow." Apollo ordered.
     "Okay Starbuck, let's go." Boomer followed Starbuck
back toward the Galactica.
     "Hey, boomer, take a look at the damage for me, will
you?"
     Boomer flew slightly above Starbuck and looked down at
where the Cylons had hit him. The viper was sparking, the
circuitry was showing, and fluid was leaking our from the
wires. "You are one lucky warrior. I shouldn't be talking to
you right now."
     "That's what I was afraid of. Will you radio to the
Galactica for me, my external comlink is busted." Starbuck
looked down at his dashboard, where sparks were starting to
form in various places. He knew he had only a short time
before the whole viper would explode.
     "You got it."

     "Colonel Tigh, two colonial vipers are returning back
to the Galactica. One of them with major damage!" Omega
announced.
     "Colonel, I have Lieutenant Boomer on the comlink."
Athena called.
     Tigh walked to Athena's station to listen to the
conversation. "...Starbuck has been hit, and must land
immediately!"
     "This is Colonel Tigh, what is the situation here?"
     "Starbuck's communicator is damaged, and his viper is
leaking rapidly. His viper is starting to fall apart out
here!"
     Colonel Tigh looked up at Commander Adama who was
listening from his commander's chair. "Clear the landing
bay." he ordered.
     "Tell Lieutenant Starbuck to proceed to landing bay
alpha. You may land in landing bay beta"
     Athena stood up from her post and ran off the bridge.
She knew the seriousness of the situation, and she wanted to
be there to see if Starbuck was all right, but first she had
to tell Cassiopeia. Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh didn't
say anything. Another officer quickly took over her station.
The next few centons were was going to be very intense.
"Lord help him." Commander Adama whispered.

     Cassiopeia was heading for the medical center until
Athena nearly ran her over. "Come quickly!" she said, out of
breath. "Starbuck is going to make an emergency landing.
His viper has been damaged."
     "Is he okay?" she asked, with a nervous tone in her
voice.
     "I don't know." She admitted. "It's serious."

     Cassiopeia and Athena waited impatiently for the
elevator to touch ground. The landing bay was lighted by red
lights, which made it hard to see where they were going.
The crew was running in all directions, preparing for
Starbuck's crash landing.
     The elevator was a foot off the ground, but neither
women could wait any longer, they jumped off and headed to
where Starbuck was going to land, but one of the landing bay
crew wearing a protective helmet and ear plugs blocked them
from going much further. "Stay back."
     Cassiopeia didn't want to stay, just waiting was to
intense, but she and Athena had no choice in the matter.
They had to stand, watch, and hope for the best. Starbuck
was in a situation like this once before. He did just fine
landing after defending the Galactica at Caprica. He was
going to do fine here as well. Both women kept reminding
themselves of that fact, but it did little to calm their
fears over what might go wrong.
     One of the crew members yelled, "Here he comes!" The
two women looked out to the end of the dock and saw
Starbuck's fighter waggling out of control.
     "He's coming in like a missile." Athena whispered to
herself.
     Starbuck's viper slowly lowered, trying to make a
smooth landing, but what Starbuck didn't know was that his
landing gear had been damaged. The viper bounced on the
ground, spinning out of control, with sparks shooting up
from the scrapping of the two metals. The viper reflected
off the right wall and came to a stop just before reaching
the back wall of the landing bay.
     The whole landing bay crew ran to the wreckage. "Hurry,
the whole thing could go any micron!"
     Cassiopeia and Athena ran to the viper, standing behind
all the crew, so not to get in their way. They waited for
Starbuck to open the hatch, climb out of his viper and tell
everyone that he was okay, but the hatch wasn't opening.
"He's not coming out!" Athena said, getting even more
frantic. One of the crew climbed to the top of the wreckage.
He noticed that the window of the hatch had a spider web
shaped crack. It was obvious now what to expect. "He's
injured! His head nearly shattered the protective glass!"
     Both women were going crazy. It seemed that everyone
was taking there time and going slow. They wished they could
go up there, push him out of the way, and pull Starbuck out
of the viper themselves.
     The landing bay crew member force open the hatch. "He's
unconscious, but alive." the crew members that was on top of
the remains of the viper, said.
     The two women sighed with relief. Cassiopeia stepped
toward everyone. "I'm a nurse, get him down so I can scan
him."
     The crew member reached in and carefully slipped off
the helmet. He threw the helmet over the edge. The helmet
bounced on the metal ground, and rolled right in front of
Athena. She bent down and picked up the helmet. Her eyes
were full of terror, as she fixed her eyes on the helmet.
The top of the helmet had caved in deep. Starbuck was
seriously hurt! "Get him out, quickly!" Athena yelled.
     Another crew member climbed unto of the viper to help
his buddy free Starbuck. They unbuckled his harness and
slowly lifted him out of the cockpit. At the first look at
Starbuck, Athena gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
His whole face was painted in blood. Athena felt sick to her
stomach. She wanted to turn around in disgust. She could
never take the sight of blood. That was why she had turned
down the offer to study to become a nurse.
     As soon as the crew on the bottom had Starbuck's limp
body, they ran as far from the viper as possible. Athena
turned around to follow, but the wrecked viper exploded. The
force of the explosion threw Athena across the landing bay.
"Athena!" Cassiopeia screamed as she ran to her. She was
unconscious with blood on her forehead. Her face was dark
red with burns, and her uniform had burned marks and holes
in various places. "Someone help me get these two to the
medical center, quickly!" she said to whichever crew members
that were listening. Two men ran over, and started to lift
Athena up, and do as told. She ran back to Starbuck and did
a scan for any internal injuries. Unfortunately, he did have
a big problem. "His spine has been damaged. We need a
stretcher to get him out of here, without breaking his
back!"

     "Commander, Starbuck's viper exploded!" Colonel Tigh
called out. The news shocked the whole bridge.
     "Damage report?"
     "Landing bay Alpha is on fire. Our crew is trying to
put out the flames now." Tigh reported.
     "Was Starbuck in there?"
     "Negative sir, he had just been taken out before the
explosion."
     "Any casualties?" Commander Adama asked.
     "None sir, only several major injuries, and the rest
obtained minor injury." Tigh's eyes were full of regret as
he read the report back to Commander Adama. He didn't like
giving news like this to Adama, but he had to know.
"Commander, Athena took the blunt of the blast. She has been
taken to the medical center, listed in critical condition."
     The news had caught Adama off guard. He nearly fell
back into his seat. "Colonel Tigh, you have the bridge."
Commander Adama said rushing off the bridge, faster than
Tigh had ever seen.

     Telex verged upon the commander's high chair. Telex was
desirous to give his commander the excellent news.
"Commander, news has arrived from our spy on board the
Galactica!" Telex forgot to get his attention by stating the
normal centurion phrase.
     The thrown rotated around, to unveil Baltar sitting on
his thrown. Telex was proud to serve under Baltar. He has
been talked about amongst the Cylon race. Telex had done
research on Baltar's heir, before being captured by the
Galactica. He had another android, another one of his kind,
that had served him through his whole heir, but many times,
he tried to take the thrown away from Baltar, without him
even knowing it. Why Lucifer ever tried to replace a
excellent, and brilliant commander like he, Telex would
never know. "Report."
     "The Centurions are still in a ferocious battle with
Galactica's vipers. It is reported that one of colonial
fighters had to return back to the Galactica, and crashed
landed, causing minor damage to their landing bay. The
warrior is listed in critical condition."
     "Do you have a name?" Baltar asked.
     "The warrior is said to be named Lieutenant Starbuck, I
believe." Telex answered.
     Baltar broke out into an evil laugh. "This is too good
to be true. My plan is going better than I had planed. I
want a continuous update on Lieutenant Starbuck's condition.
Of all the warriors, we hit the one that will hurt the
Galactica."
     "By your command." Telex said, remembering to say it as
he was suppose to this time.
     "One more thing, Telex. Have the Centurions return back
to the basestar. I think we caught their attention more than
efficiently."
     "By your command." Telex bowed. He headed out of the
dark throne room.
     "You are doing a fine job, Telex; much better than
Lucifer ever did. If he wasn't the only assistant I had, I
would have had him shut off."
     "Why, thank you, Commander." Telex turned back around
and left the Commanders room.
     Baltar was pleased. Everything was working perfectly.
If Lucifer hadn't spent so much time questioning is orders,
the Galactica would have been destroyed by now. Telex was
much more obedient than Lucifer was. If he ever saw Lucifer
again, he had vowed to disassemble him limb from limb. By
now, he would have command of his old basestar.
     Baltar considered himself very lucky. Only three
sectons after Adama abandoned him on an isolated planet, he
was found by Telex, who had command of this Basestar. He
didn't know about what had happen, and probably doesn't know
that he should not have command of a basestar, and he
planned for Telex never to find out. Telex has given his
chair to Baltar whole heartedly, which was unusual for a
Cylon, but he didn't care. This was his time to make up from
all his mistakes. What better way is there to make up for
ones past mistakes than by Capturing Adama and having him
work for the Cylons. The thought just made him laugh out
loud.

     Apollo fired his lasers destroying another Cylon
fighter. The remaining fighters, turned around and flew back
in the direction they had come. "They're retreating!" Apollo
heard Sheba's voice on the comlink.
     Apollo sighed with relief. They had almost broken
through to the Galactica. This victorious feeling was rudely
interrupted by remembering about what had happened to
Starbuck. "Let's bring it back to the Galactica."
     The vipers quit chasing the fleeing Cylons and rolled
off to the right, and turned back toward the Galactica.

     Adama rushed into the medical center. It all was too
familiar to him. He had once been in this room after an
operation that he needed to survive to stop the internal
bleeding. This was also the room where Dr. Salik had all the
warriors who were infected with that virus in carbonation
in. The room looked much larger without those contraptions.
He saw Athena laying on the bed. Her face and shoulder were
dark red, and blistered. Her arms, which laid out above the
glittering silver cover. Her arms had obtained minor cuts
and bruises. Cassiopeia had placed the folded clothes that
Athena was wearing on her desk.
     "How is she doing?" he walked up to Athena's side
hoping that she was awake, but much to his disappointment,
she was still unconscious.
     "She has second degree burns throughout most of her
upper body, but she should pull out." Cassiopeia handed
Athena's uniform shirt to Adama. "Take a look at what the
explosion did to her uniform, and you will know the extent
of her burns."
     Adama unfolded his daughters uniform shirt and saw that
it holes and tears through the front of her shirt. Most of
the front, which use to be blue, was now black. "My god!" he
said in horror.
     "Athena took the blunt of the explosion." Cassiopeia
informed the Commander, giving him all the information that
Dr. Salik had given him.
     "Daddy?" Athena called out weakly.
     Adama turned and stood next to his daughter who was
looking up at him. He gently held her once smooth hand in
his. "I'm here, Athena."
     Athena grimaced in pain; her whole body felt like it
was on fire. "It hurts, Daddy."
     "I know, my daughter. Just hold in there, and you'll be
back on your feet in no time."
     "Starbuck...is he all right?"
     "I'm sure he's fine. I'll go see him right now." Adama
comforted his daughter.
     Adama walked a foot or two from her bed, and looked
around. Cassiopeia was at the other end of the room,
treating someone, which he assumed must be Starbuck. He
slowly headed over to see Starbuck, but when Cassiopeia
stepped to the side, when she saw Adama coming over to
visit, he stopped and gasped. Starbuck's face was covered in
blood, which Cassiopeia was starting to clean off. Even with
some of it cleaned off, he still looked horrible. "What is
his condition?" Adama asked.
     Cassiopeia motioned for the Commander to come close so
she could whisper something to him. "I moved him this far
from Athena so she wouldn't be able to see him. She needs to
stay calm right now. As for Starbuck..." the sadness in her
facial expression was clearly seen by Adama. "Dr. Salik
won't know for sure if he'll survive or not until he
awakens. If he does live, he may suffer a major result, his
backbone has been damaged. There is no way to tell what
affect it will cause until he wakes up."
     "How are you doing? I know you and Lt. Starbuck are
rather close."
     "I'm trying to be professional about this. I'm trying
to hold back my emotions so I can take care of Athena and
Starbuck, but it's not easy."
     "It must be difficult. Keep me informed on their
conditions. I will be back shortly to visit again." Adama
walked over to Athena to say good-bye to her.
     "How is he?"
     "Lt. Starbuck is doing fine." This was the first time
he found himself lying to one of his own flesh and blood. He
had never lied to his children before. The closest he came
was not telling Apollo about a plan to keep back all the
warriors from his award ceremony at the planet they found
shortly after escaping the holocaust. "You just lay back and
get some rest."
     Athena did as her father told here. She allowed her
eyes to shut to get some sleep. Commander Adama headed for
the doors. As soon as Adama had left, Cassiopeia heard
Starbuck make a grunt. She ran anxiously to his side,
holding his hand in hers, just like Adama did with Athena.
     "Where am I?" Starbuck's eyes slowly opened, sensitive
to the bright light in the room.
     "Your back on the Galactica."
     "Then I'm not dead, unless this is hell." Starbuck
tried to grin, but a cut near his lip made it too painful.
     Cassiopeia smiled. ""How are you feeling?"
     "Like I just came back from doing battle with ten
basestars." Starbuck made a funny face.
     "What is it?"
     Starbuck shook his head. "Nothing much. It just feels
funny when you can't feel your legs, that's all."
     "You can't feel your legs?" Cassiopeia didn't like what
she was hearing. The emotion that she was fighting, and had
left when he awakened, returned.
     "Yes, but that's normal for a warrior who has been
through the same thing as I have, isn't it?"
     Cassiopeia didn't answer. She lifted the glittering
silver cover above his ankles, revealing his bare feet.
     "It is usual, isn't it?" Starbuck repeated. He began to
have a sinking feeling in his stomach from the way she was
acting.
     "Did you feel anything?" Cassiopeia asked looked up
above his feet.
     Starbuck looked down toward his feet at her. "Feel
what?"
     "I just pricked your foot." She was starting to lose
control of her emotions.
     "Maybe you didn't do it hard enough. My feet never has
been that sensitive."
     "Starbuck, I pricked you just enough for your foot to
bleed a little." Tears strolled down her face.
     "Wait," Starbuck used all his strength to sit up. "Are
you telling me that I am Paralyzed?"
     "Oh, Starbuck." Looking into Starbuck's face,
Cassiopeia's emotion exploded, and she ran out of the
medical center, weeping. Starbuck took that as an answer
that he didn't want to hear. He laid back down on the bed.
Across the room, Athena's eyes opened and tears strolled
down her eyes. She had heard the whole conversation. She
quietly began weeping to herself.

     Apollo climbed out of his viper, and met Sheba and
Boomer just out of the landing bay. "Okay, he's here, what's
the news?" Sheba asked Boomer impatiently.
     "What news?" Apollo asked confused. He hated walking
into a middle of a conversation.
     "Starbuck's landing didn't go well at all. He crashed,
which is why the other landing bay was closed down. His
viper exploded."
     "Is he..."Apollo started feeling that the worse had
happened. From Sheba's face, she felt the same thing.
     "Starbuck is alive, the crew got him out before the
explosion, but last I heard, he was in critical condition,
but there is more." Boomer sighed knowing what Apollo's
reaction was going to be.
     "More?" Apollo looked at Boomer, suspiciously.
     "Your sister was in the landing bay during the
explosion. She took the blunt of the blast."
     "Oh god, no. Athena!" Apollo ran through the halls of
the Galactica, followed by Sheba and Boomer.

     Just as they reached the medical center, the door slid
open and out jetted Cassiopeia in tears. The three colonial
warriors entered the medical center. Boomer and Sheba first
visited Starbuck, while Apollo first rushed to his sister's
side. "Hey Sis, how are you doing?"
     "Oh Apollo!" she reached for his hand.
     Apollo had never seen her this broken up, and he
doubted that the pain would be doing this to her. "Hey,
what's the matter?"
     She gently rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears.
"It's Starbuck. I have to see Starbuck!"
     "I'll roll your bed over to him." When Athena agreed,
Apollo pushed her next to Starbuck's bed.
     When Starbuck saw Athena in a bed, badly burned, next
to him, he sat up almost in shock. "Athena?" he said,
puzzled. "What happened to you?"
     "Nevermind about me, Starbuck, I'll heal, but tell them
your condition." she looked upon him with sad eyes.
     "You heard?"
     Athena nodded painfully. "I'm sorry, Starbuck."
     "Starbuck, what is she talking about?" Apollo stood in
front of him looking down at him as he usually did when
Starbuck had done something that wasn't really smart.
     "It's only a minor condition, but I seem to be
paralyzed. Did you bring my box of cigars with you by any
chance?" he quickly asked hoping that they missed what he
had said, but it didn't help at all.
     Apollo didn't take to well to the news at all. "What do
you mean that it is only a minor condition!" Apollo said
angrily.
     "It is minor." Starbuck proclaimed looking at him with
his "I am innocent" look. "I could always be stuck in coma,
and I wouldn't survive something like that. Do you think you
could bring over my box next time you visit?"
     "How can you joke at a time like this!" Apollo growled.
No one in the room has ever seen him this angry. "You'll
never be able to walk, or even go out in patrols anymore!"
     "Well, thanks for pointing that out, Captain!" Starbuck
emphasized "Captain" to show that he was hurt by what he had
said. "I never knew what being paralyzed was all about!"
     "You make stupid jokes during the most serious times
and circumstances. Can't you take anything seriously, just
for once!" Apollo stormed out of the medical room.
     "I'll go talk to him." Sheba said turning around and
ran to catch up with Apollo.
     Feeling like he had just been stabbed through the heart
with a Cylon sword, he laid back down, without another word,
staring upward like a zombie. "Don't listen to him,
Starbuck. He had absolutely no right to say such things."
Athena would have reached over to lay a hand on him, but she
was to far away.
     Starbuck remained painfully silent. For the first time
Athena and Boomer could remember, Starbuck remained silent,
and deeply hurt. The hurt was easily seen in his facial
expression. "Hey, are you all right?" Boomer asked, starting
to get concerned for his crippled buddy.
     "I would like to be alone right now," were the only
words he spoke.
     "Sure thing." Boomer said. He walked behind Athena's
bed and rolled her back across the room, where other beds
would block her view from looking at Starbuck. Athena said
nothing. She watched Starbuck for as long as she could,
continuing to stare at the ceiling. She was concerned for
her former boyfriend. Even for the short time they were
going steady, she had never seen Starbuck hurt so much.

     "Apollo, wait!" Sheba called out angrily, making it
sound almost like a command.
     Apollo stopped for Sheba to catch up. He wanted to hear
what she was going to say to him. She looked straight up at
him, not caring that he was her Captain. "How dare you say
such things to Starbuck. Do you realize how much you just
hurt your best friend?"
     "Me? Starbuck is the one who isn't accepting the truth
of his condition." Apollo wasn't expecting her to back
Starbuck up this much.
     "It sounded to me that he understands his condition.
That's not the problem here."
     "He can't take things seriously, and it hurts me to see
it. How can he joke around with something this serious?"
     "Believe it or not, Apollo, he is scared to death right
now, and you just reminded him of the one thing that he is
terrified of!"
     "He sure didn't sound terrified to me!"
     Sheba looked angrily at Apollo. "If you have looked
into his eyes, you would see it. All of us are afraid of
something, and all of us control our fear in different ways.
You challenge the fear, just like your father. Starbuck
hides it and tries to forget about it by making his smart
remarks. All of us are different, and handles their fear
differently, Apollo. You just reminded of something he
didn't want to think about." Apollo's anger turned into
shame. He knew that Sheba was right. He did hurt Starbuck
because of his selfishness, the one thing he didn't know he
had in him. "Think about it!" Sheba walked off. What she had
said to him stuck with him. He walked to his quarters to
think about what had just happened.

     "Enter!" Adama called out from his desk. He expected to
see Colonel Tigh, but when the door slid open, much to his
surprise, Cassiopeia slowly walked in. From the looks of her
face, Adama knew that she had been crying. "Oh Commander!"
she shook her head, wanting to break out in tears again.
"It's Starbuck!"
     "Is he okay?" Adama looked up from his work. Hearing
his name would catch anyone's attention and think about the
horror that he had just been through.
     "No, he's paralyzed. He can't move his legs!" She
sniffled.
     "Oh god." Adama wasn't ready for the bad news as he had
thought. "I'm extremely sorry. How is he taking it?" Adama
was now on his feet, walked around his desk and placed a
hand of support on her shoulder.
     "I Don't know, I didn't stay long enough. I couldn't
hold my emotions in anymore. I know I'm suppose to be calm
as a nurse but..."
     "If we were as calm as you think you should be, we
wouldn't be human. We'd be almost as bad as the Cylons."
     "Thanks, Commander." Cassiopeia said, feeling a little
better about releasing her inner feelings.
     "Since you and Starbuck are close, I think you should
know that the council has decided to award Lt. Starbuck the
Purple Sage award."
     "Really?" Cassiopeia started to feel a little better
after hearing the good news.
     "I think maybe you should be the one to tell him. It
may lighten his spirits a little." Adama suggested.
     "I will." she said, sneaking a smile in her sadness.
     A beep came from one of Adama's machines on his desk.
He pushed the red button on the visual comlink, and Colonel
Tigh's face appeared in the small round screen. "Adama
here."
     "Commander, I think you should report to the bridge,
immediately. We are approaching something that you might
want to take a look at."
     "Understood, I'm on my way. Adama out." Adama pushed
the green button and the screen went black. "I'm afraid that
I must go, but I want to pay Lt. Starbuck a visit when I go
see Athena. Give him my best wishes." Adama apologized as he
walked out of his quarters. Cassiopeia followed him out and
starting heading toward the medical center.

     Commander Adama had no idea what his best man was going
to tell him. He couldn't tell if it was going to be bad or
good, from his face. He had walked to the bridge, and on his
left, Colonel Tigh was looking on the radar board. Adama
stepped up to him looking unto the radar board. "Report."
     "Commander, we are detecting a planet that we will be
passing. It fits the descriptions, according to the myths,
of Earth." Tigh turned to face the commander.
     "Can it actually be that after all the yahrens of
traveling, we have finally found Earth?" Adama's hopes were
starting to rise.
     Colonel Tigh didn't want to brake his rising hope, but
he didn't want him to get too exited as of yet. "Commander,
the map that Boxey drew out, and Lt. Starbuck nearly agreed
with both showed other planets that we will run into before
reaching Earth, all of them, uninhabited. We have passed no
other planets."
     "Are you saying that the planet we are approaching is
not Earth?"
     "We are to far to be certain. We will be able to scan
the planet in about one centar."
     "Keep me updated on any information you find on the
planet. Meanwhile, pass the word around to all warriors and
officers, in one hundred and fifty centons, the council will
be awarding Lt. Starbuck the Purple Sage award."
     "How is Lt. Starbuck doing anyway, commander?" Colonel
Tigh asked. He has not left the bridge for over five
centares, and he was always the last one to receive all the
personal news.
     "I have just received sad news, that he may never walk
again. He seems to be crippled. I promised to visit him,
while visiting Athena."
     "It's a shame, Starbuck was one of the finest fighter
in the fleet."
     "I know." Adama agreed. "He deserves this award for his
tremendous sacrifice for protecting the Galactica." Adama
left the bridge, a little more slower than he had arrived.

     Cassiopeia entered the medical center and checked up on
Athena's condition. For an old battlestar, the Galactica had
incredible medical technology. The glittering silver sheet
covering Athena, not only was to cover her, but it was
helping her burns heal more quickly. When she saw Athena,
she had more strength. She was sitting up, but her face
stayed blistered up. "You seem to be doing better."
     "My strength is returning." she told her.
     "That's a good sign." Cassiopeia said positively. "At
this rate, you'll be able to leave here in forty centons,
but I suggest you refrain from returning to duty for at
least twenty-four centares. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll
go check up on Starbuck."
     "Cassiopeia," Athena motioned with her finger to come
close. Cassiopeia walked closer so she could talk low.
"Starbuck is very hurt right now, and I'm really concerned.
My brother had said some cruel things to him."
     "I have some news that might cheer him up." Cassiopeia
walked across the room and stood next to his bed. "Starbuck,
I have some great news for you. Commander Adama says that
you are to be awarded the Purple Sage award!" Cassiopeia
smiled.
     Starbuck's emotions unchanged. "Great," he responded
less than enthusiastically.
     "I heard about what happened while I was gone. What
ever Apollo said, don't listen to him."
     "Cassiopeia, would you stroll me to the launching bay.
I would like to look at a viper." Starbuck went from staring
from the ceiling to turning towards her.
     "You got it. I'll take you right now!" she hoped what
ever the reason he had, that he would start cheering up. It
was dangerous for Starbuck to be depressed when he was
crippled. Who knows what might happen.

     The launching bay was totally empty and quite.
Cassiopeia strolled Starbuck next to the nearest viper.
Starbuck sat up and stared at the viper in it's launch tube.
"I have something for you." She handed him his damaged
helmet. "I just thought you might want it."
     "Can I be alone for a centon."
     "Sure." Cassiopeia walked to the back of the launching
bay, and watched him from the back. She was worried, she has
never seen Starbuck this depressed, It almost scared her.
     Starbuck looked at the damaged helmet in his hands.
Anger began to fill his heart. He looked up at the viper,
and he grew even more angry. He stared at the viper, a viper
that he would never again be able to fly for the rest of his
life. He never again will be able to go on patrol with
Apollo! With frustration, he threw his damaged helmet at the
viper. The helmet bounced off the nose of the viper and
rolled somewhere he couldn't see. Cassiopeia was about to
walk up to Starbuck to calm him down, but she saw Apollo,
walk out from the other side of the viper, holding the
helmet that Starbuck had thrown. She left the launching bay
and waited outside, figuring that they should be alone.
     "I think you dropped something."
     "Keep it! I'll never fly again!" Starbuck snapped. Not
only was he angry at Apollo, but at his condition. All the
things he enjoyed doing was taken away from him. It just
wasn't fair!
     "You should say such things. You'll walk again, and
we'll be back out there doing more patrols together. Just
you wait and see."
     "Face it, Apollo, I'm crippled for life, I'll never be
able to walk again! You even said so while yelling at me
about not taking my condition seriously, well let me tell
you, I do! I am scared to death right now, and I hate it! I
hate being scared!"
     "You're right, I had no right to say the things I did.
I am extremely sorry. Don't listen to what I said, listen to
what I am now telling you. It's all right to feel fear, it's
natural. All of us handle fear the same way. I, like my
father, likes to take on fear in a head on fight. You don't
like to feel fear, so you joke about it, and that's all
right. I guess I was upset that you weren't taking on you
fear like me. No matter how you decide to handle your fear
from now on, I nor anyone has a right to tell you how to
handle it. That is for you to decide." From the looks of
Starbuck's eyes, he was calming down. Now all Apollo had to
do was get a smile back on his face, and have him start
making his wise cracking remarks again. "Here, I brought you
something."
     Apollo handed him a wooden thin box, which Starbuck
recognized immediately. "My cigars!" He grabbed one from
inside, unwrapped it, stuck it in his mouth, and lighted the
end with his lighter.
     "Hey, you did ask me to bring it to you." Apollo
smiled. "Friends?" Apollo stretched out his hand.
     "You betcha!" Starbuck shook his hands, with a smile
returning to his face.

     Adama returned to the medical room and found Starbuck
and Cassiopeia not in the room. Adama walked to the right
side of the medical room where Athena was laying on her
medical bed, trying to stay covered under the Silver
glittering sheet. "How are you feeling?"
     "Better. The treatment is working. I am anxious to get
out of here."
     Adama chuckled. "Soon, my dear. Soon you will be able
to walk out of this room. Anyway, where's Lt. Starbuck."
Adama almost called him plain old Starbuck, which he didn't
want to catch himself doing. Just calling him by his name
would mean that he had a good friendship with him, and he
didn't want one with Starbuck. He's too wild and never
serious. He's always causing mischief.
     "Cassiopeia took him out for a stroll. Daddy, I'm
con..."
     She was interrupted by Apollo pushing Starbuck back
into the room followed by Cassiopeia. "Excuse me for a
Centon." Apollo said to Starbuck. He walked up to his sister
who was beginning to look better than before, and had heard
his rudeness. "Athena, I think I owe you an apology for
earlier as well. The news of Starbuck's condition hit me
hard. I know that's no excuse for..."
     "I understand" Athena smiled. "I'm just glad to see you
two friends again, and that Starbuck is feeling better."
     "You know me, I can't live without my jokes." Starbuck
added.
     Adama wanted to ask what had happen between Starbuck
and his son, but he decided just to let it slide. "Lt.
Starbuck. I heard about the bad news, I'm sorry."
     "Thanks, Commander. My luck has been down lately, but
I've been meaning to work on that."
     "Well, your luck may start going up today. Has
Cassiopeia told you about the award?"
     "She did, and believe me I am deeply honored. I never
would have expected to get such a high honor."
     "What award?" Apollo asked.
     "In forty-five centons, Lt. Starbuck is going to be
awarded the Purple Sage award. The council had called a
`emergency' gathering and said that they heard about the
accident and wanted to honor him. I don't know how they knew
that you were going to be paralyzed, but it doesn't really
matter much."
     "The council of twelve, talking about me? Now, I'm
really flattered."
     "Good going, Starbuck." Apollo slapped him on his
shoulder. "It's an award well deserved."
     "I agreed with the council whole heartedly, which may
never again happen. This is history in itself."
     Everyone tried to stifle a laugh, but for the most
part, they failed miserably.
     "What? What's so funny?" Adama asked dumbfoundingly.
     "The way you said that. You are beginning to talk like
Starbuck." Apollo laughed.
     Adama was not known to talk sarcastically like
Starbuck. Adama after thinking a second caught on to what he
had said and found that Apollo was right. Adama's eyes
looked upward. "Oh lord, I better get out here." Adama
marched straight out of the medical center. As soon as the
door slid shut, all four of them broke out in laughter.

     Telex walked like a robotic zombie, to stand before
Baltar, sitting in the high chair. He stood in the middle of
the spotlight where he could be seen. The throne room was
very dark, and this light was placed on the ceiling to shine
down to show how superior the commander of the basestar was.
In this case, the commander was Baltar. The chair spun
around, and Baltar looked down upon his favorite Cylon
assistant. His arms rested on both arms of the chair, with
his hands over the edge of the arms, which caused his hands
to point downward to the floor.
     "By your command." Telex repeated the all too famous
Cylon quote. Baltar always wanted to know who was
responsible for programming these androids to say this
overused statement. It was getting very annoying.
     "Report." Baltar commanded. His room echoed his
superior sounding voice to sound almost like a god.
     "Lt. Starbuck's condition has been confirmed. He is
unable to walk, and is believed never to be able to do so
again."
     Baltar nearly broke out laughing. "This is too good to
be true. My plan is going better than I have expected."
     "Forgive me, sire, but I don't believe I follow you
logic." Telex apologized.
     That is what Baltar liked about Telex. The android
nearly worshipped him and would do anything for him.
Lucifer, on the other hand, always gotten on his nerves and
blamed him on all the failures in trying to destroy the
Galactica. "It's quite all right, Telex. Let me explain.
Just in case Adama isn't fooled that the planet is not
Earth, this will get them to go down to the planet. When
they see Toltron's advanced medical technology, they'll
bring Starbuck down, and try to heal him."
     "If I may ask, what if Adama doesn't go down to the
planet, himself? He surly won't betray his fleet for one
colonial warrior."
     "Oh, He'll go down. He may not want to admit it but he
cares for Starbuck just as if he was another son of his. No,
he'll go down, and when he does, and we capture he and
Starbuck, the victory will be as good as ours. It's all
quite simple, actually." It had passed Telex, but with that
last remark, Baltar boasted his superiority over him.
     "Ahhh, I see your reasoning now, and I must say, it is
a stroke of genius. You are an excellent commander."
     "Why thank you, Telex. That is very kind of you."
Baltar said impressed by the complement. "Telex, send down
several centurions to make sure that the humans have the
equipment to heal Starbuck. Also, prepare a shuttle for the
both of us. We are going down to the planet. That is where
all the action will be."
     "By your command." Telex turned and exited out of the
room to complete his assigned tasks.
     Baltar laughed to himself. "Soon, Adama. Soon I will
have my revenge for stranding me on an isolated planet.
Soon, Adama."

     "What is it, Colonel?" Adama entered the bridge. The
thought came to him that he had spent less time on the
bridge in the past twenty-four sectares than during the time
when they had first escaped the Cylon holocaust back on
their home planets.
     Tigh was standing by the commanders chair, where there
was a computer which he had been doing some work on until
Adama had arrived to the bridge. "We have completed a scan
on the planet. I am sorry to report, this planet is not the
Earth that we have been searching for." Tigh reported with
great sorrow, but not letting it show on the outside. He had
hopped just as much as Adama did, that it was, but it just
wasn't meant to be.
     "What is the name of the planet?" Adama asked.
     "Toltron, Commander," Tigh answered. "and it is
inhabited by humans."
     "A planet, this far from Caprica, inhabited by humans?"
Adama couldn't understand it. No other ship could have
survived everything that had been waiting for them. The idea
of it was almost impossible.
     "That is kind of far, for any other Caprican's to
make," the Colonel agreed.
     "Exactly! What if they are humans that have migrated
from Earth?" Adama's hopes were again reaching it's peak.
     "That would leave us with several questions and a few
options to make about our journey." Tigh commented.
     "Yes, it would. We could stay here, and reside here on
Toltron, or continue our journey to Earth."
     "If I may add, Commander, why would they migrate from
Earth unless they were having problems of their own?"
     "Quite right." Adama agreed. "More questions for us to
answer, but right now, we have an award ceremony to hold in
thirty centons. After the ceremony, we will make any
decisions that need to be made."

     "Do we have to do this, Cassie?" Starbuck pleaded. He
felt stupid wearing his workout shorts with all his friends
watching him exercise a part of his body which he couldn't
even move. He had in fact never stepped into this weight
room before. The room had every that a person could need to
exercise every muscle in their body.
     "If you want any chance of walking again, you must
exercise your legs." Apollo answered for Cassiopeia,
standing next to him.
     "Apollo's right, Starbuck," she told him. She stood up,
after putting on electronic weight braces around his ankle,
and setting them for one mason. [ 1 mason = 1 pound] With a
remote control, these weight braces can reach over one
hundred masons each!
     "What is the point of this if I can't even move my
legs?"
     "Exercising them will try to build sensitivity for your
legs, and also builds strength in them. If you ever feel
your legs again, you will have to learn how to walk again,
because you'll have no strength in them to support yourself.
Now, just sit there, I'm going to move your legs up and
down. If you start to feel anything, tell me."
     "Trust me, you'll know if I feel anything." Starbuck
confirmed sarcastically.
     Athena entered the weight room. Her face was still dark
red of burns, but the blisters were slowly starting to heal.
Apollo sauntered up to his sister. "How are you doing?" he
placed both hands on both of her shoulders, showing that he
was concerned for his little sister.
     "Better," she answered.
     "Athena! you are suppose to be at your bunk resting!"
Cassiopeia protested.
     "I have had more than enough rest. I wanted to see how
Starbuck was doing," she answered her protest.
     "I am doing just dandy." Starbuck said sarcastically.
"I figured that I should get some exercise before the award
ceremony."
     "The ceremony takes place in thirty centons." Athena
reminded.
     "I guess that means my exercise will just have to wait,
what a shame."
     Cassiopeia stood up. "Fine, I guess it can wait until
after the ceremony."
     That wasn't the response he was hoping for. "I'm
looking forward to it," he lied.
     "Let's go back to the bunking area and I help you get
your uniform on." Apollo offered.
     "Thanks. I want to get out of these shorts, I hate
them!" Starbuck lifted his legs unto his bed that was
borrowed from the medical center, and Apollo pushed Starbuck
out of the weight room.
     Cassiopeia walked up to Athena. "This is no life for a
warrior like Starbuck. In only time, he's going to be
depressed or angry over this whole thing."
     "What can we do to help him?" Athena asked.
     "There's nothing we can do besides hope that he doesn't
start doing anything crazy," she answered.
     "What do you mean, crazy?"
     "I mean, trying to hurt himself. I pray that I'm wrong,
but it is common between people who become paralyzed in
accidents."
     "Starbuck wouldn't do anything like that?" Athena
protested, but the truth was that she didn't know if he
would or would not try to hurt himself.
     "I hope your right." Cassiopeia commented.

     Starbuck sat on his own bunk It felt much better than
riding on the medical bed. Apollo had helped him put on his
ceremonial uniform, which included his dark brown cape that
was tied around his neck by a golden chain. Apollo had
changed into his ceremonial uniform as well, after stopping
off to his quarters and changing there.
     "May I come in?" Cassiopeia called out from the
entrance, closing her eyes so she wouldn't see him changing.
     "Sure, I'm all changed." Starbuck said, not looking
back.
     "I figured that you wouldn't want to stay on these
moving cots, so I though you would rather ride in one of
these." Cassiopeia opened her eyes and walked up to
Starbuck's bunks, bringing in a hover chair.
     "Yes, Thank you Cassie!" Starbuck said totally
surprised by the simple gift. "When I was little, and when
one of my relatives were paralyzed and always used one of
these, I always wanted to ride in one. I guess this is my
chance, after thirty yahrens or so.
     "I'll help you in." Apollo helped him slide from the
bunk, into his hover chair. Starbuck pushed the forward
button and his hover chair moved forward. "I love it! I'll
never have to walk across the Galactica again!" he turned
around and hovered back.
     Boxey came walking in to join his father, Starbuck and
Cassiopeia, even "Hi, Starbuck!"
     "Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?"
     "Fine." he replied, happy to see him out of the medical
center.
     "Hop on, Boxey, and we'll fly through space through our
viper, and chase some Cylons on the way to the award
ceremony. How about it?" Starbuck offered, knowing that the
kid wanted to be a fighter pilot just like his father.
     "Yea!" Boxey shouted with joy. Boxey climbed onto the
chair.
     "Permission to take off, Captain?" Starbuck looked up
to Boxey's father.
     Apollo smiled. "Be sure you are there in five centons,
the ceremony starts in ten."
     "Yippee!" Boxey again shouted. "Thanks Dad!"
     "Yea, thanks Dad." Starbuck joked. "Here we go!"
Starbuck and Boxey hovered out of the bunking area. At the
door, Muffy barked as they turned right out of the bunking
area. The last thing Apollo heard Starbuck say was, "It
looks like we got a daggit on our tail!" Cassiopeia and
Apollo couldn't help but laugh.
     "I'm glad to see Starbuck feeling better again."
Cassiopeia commented.
     "I think he's taking everything pretty well," Apollo
agreed.
     "If it's all right with you, Apollo, I think Boxey
should spend some quality time with Starbuck, so Starbuck
could stay cheerful. The last thing we want is for him to
start suffering from depression."
     "That's fine with me. I don't think Boxey will object
to it."

     Adama and Colonel Tigh were walking, all ready in their
uniforms, talking about the planet that they were
approaching. They had all ready past the room where the
celebration was taken place, but Adama wanted to pick
something up at his quarters first.
     "I'll bring that up at the ceremony. I'm sure
Lieutenant Starbuck will be glad to hear the good news."
Adama said. Just as they finished talking about him,
Starbuck came hovering toward them in a hover chair, with
Boxey in his laps making laser firing noises.
     "Hi Grandpa! Uncle Starbuck and I are in a viper,
chasing down the Cylons!" Boxey informed his grandfather as
they raced past them. Following them was Muffy the daggit,
trying to keep up, barking in the excitement of the moment.
     "As a colonel, I thought I have seen everything, but
this is something you don't see everyday." Tigh commented.
     "Indeed." Adama agreed looking back at what had just
passed them by.

      The room was huge, holding every warrior and officers
on the Galactica. They sat in folded seats. In front of the
crowd was a wide stand. In the front of the stand, was the
podium where Adama was in the progress of giving his speech.
Behind the podium were a row of chairs, where all the
important officers and warriors sat, including Apollo,
Colonel Tigh, and the council members, who all sat toward
the left of the row. Starbuck had his hoverchair at the
right end, sitting next to Apollo. In between Apollo and
Colonel Tigh, was an empty chair where Adama had sat. "We
are here to award a warrior who has sacrificed many things
for the cause of this voyage, but recently he has sacrificed
something that we all take for granted..."
     Starbuck leaned over to whisper something to Apollo, as
Adama continued describing him. "Are you sure he isn't
describing someone else?"
     Apollo smiled. It was true though, When one needed to
describe someone like Starbuck, the words his father were
using wouldn't come to mind.
     "...This is why the council has decided to award
Lieutenant Starbuck, the Purple Sage award."
     The crowd gave a standing novation as Adama walked up
to Starbuck, and pinned the award on his uniform just above
his heart. He shook Starbuck's hand, and headed back up to
the podium. Starbuck had wished he could stand up and except
his award and wave to the crowd, but that was impossible. As
soon as the crowd died down, Adama continued his speech.
"For this kind of sacrifice, there is usually never a way to
pay back the individual, but there is something we can do in
this case."
     Everybody's attention was focused on Adama. Including
Starbuck's. "We are approaching a human populated planet. If
this works out, our journey may be coming to an end." The
warriors and officers started to talk amongst themselves,
unable to believe the news they were hearing. "What has
caught my attention, is that this planet has advanced
medical technology. What I intend to do is to see if this
planet will be advanced enough that the human race can
continue to grow on this planet. While down there, Starbuck
if your interested, you can go down with the team that I
will assign, where the civilians might be able to heal you."
This news took Starbuck by surprise. He couldn't think of
anything to say. "This is your choice, and your choice only
if you wish to join the team." Adama addressed Starbuck.
     There was no doubt what Starbuck's answer was going to
be. "I want to go!" Starbuck said.
     "Then in one sectar, you will join the team to leave
the Galactica. The following I want to go down with you:
Captain Apollo, Lt. Sheba, Nurse Cassiopeia, and a few other
warriors, that Apollo will choose, and myself."

     Telex approached the throne, to give an update on what
is going on in the Galactica that was being sent over by a
spy that they were threatening his family, if he didn't
cooperate with them. "By your command."
     Baltar's chair turned, so he could face Telex. "Speak."
     "Our spy has attended an award ceremony for Lieutenant
Starbuck. He reports that Adama will be joining the party to
Toltron."
     "See, what did I tell you? I knew Adama would go down.
He has been trapped on board the Galactica for several
yahrens. Everything is going exactly as planned."
     "I would say so." Telex agreed. "The party leaves the
Galactica in one Sectar. Should I have our new advanced
centurion models meet them?"
     "No. I want them to get use to the place first."
     "By your command." Telex replied. He turned and left
the throne room.
     Baltar climbed down from his high chair, he felt like
taking a walk. This room was built just like any basestar,
but when the sliding doors opened for him, outside was a
totally new place. The walls, ceiling, and roof was made of
stone, just like a medieval castle. Two centurions were
marching through the halls of the castle that they were
setup in. As the centurion guards saw Baltar coming, they
stopped and stood straight. "By your command."
     "As you were centurions," he commanded. The two
centurions continued marching. Baltar walked down the hall
and into a room which homed a gigantic gun pointing out of a
hole in the brick ceiling. Baltar approached the centurion
who had command over the gun.
      The centurion stopped what he was doing and stood up
straight. "By your command."
     "Is the pulsar gun completed?"
     "The pulsar gun will be completed in approximately
three sectares."
     "Excellent. Continue working on it. I would like to
have the gun completed in two and a half sectares. This gun
is my backup if all else fails. How about the advanced
centurion models?"
     "Over two hundred are produced a sectar," the centurion
responded.
     "Excellent." Baltar was very pleased with the progress
made. Victory for the Cylons was inevitable.

     Through most of the trip down to Toltron, Starbuck
hadn't said a word. He looked like he was deep in thought.
Finally, Cassiopeia noticed his silence and spoke out. "Are
you all right, Starbuck?"
     "Huh?" Starbuck turned his head to look at Cassiopeia,
who broke him away from his thoughts.
     "Are you all right? You haven't said a word since you
got on this shuttle."
     "Oh yea, I'm fine," was all Starbuck said when he
returned back to his thoughts.
     Cassiopeia look at him, worriedly. She hoped that his
depression wasn't starting to settle in. Life would be so
miserable for Starbuck if he lived always being depressed.
     "Buckle up back there..." Apollo called back from the
pilot seat in the front. "Were about to land."
     Cassiopeia buckled her seat belt, and looked at
Starbuck to see if he did the same. He was still deep in his
thoughts, and he didn't hear Apollo's warning.
     "Starbuck!" Cassiopeia called, a little loudly to get
his attention.
     "Yea?" Starbuck looked at Cassiopeia as if he didn't
know what he had done.
     "Buckle your belt! We're about to land."
     "Oh, okay." Starbuck did as instructed and returned to
his thinking. Cassiopeia sighed, and decided to leave him
alone and hope he breaks out of it himself.
     The shuttle started to shake a little as it slowly
lowered to the ground. Not even the shaking broke Starbuck's
thinking. The shuttle made a soft landing, and the engine
shut off. Apollo and Sheba left the front and joined
everybody who was just starting to stand up. Apollo walked
up to Starbuck who was sitting in the first seat of the row
racing the hatch. There was another row of seats connected
to that row by the backs, for the passengers to face the
other side of the ship, who no longer was in his deep
thinking, and looked up at Apollo. "Starbuck, maybe it's a
good idea that you stayed in hear until we know it's safe.
There is no way you could defend yourself, if we were
attacked."
     "I guess I don't have a choice." Starbuck complained.
     Cassiopeia brought the hover chair that was beside him
on his right in front of him, and helped him slid out of his
seat, down into his hover chair. "I'll stay in with you."
Cassiopeia volunteered.
     Apollo walked up to his father. "I think it's a good
idea if you did the same, just for precaution."
     "Agreed." Adama said.
     "Everybody else, let's see what's out there. It's dark
outside, so be on the alert!" Apollo warned. He lowered the
hatch. He walked down the ramp, followed by Sheba, and the
rest of the warriors. Not many people were outside. From
what Apollo could see from the lights, the village looked
old. It didn't look like a technically advanced culture. The
buildings were made of white stones and the roads were all
dirt roads, with occasional patches of grass scattered
around. The village looked like Caprica, in the early
yahrens, from what the history books described.
     There was a white stoned barrier, protecting the
village, but with an opening where a gate was suppose to be,
but it looked like it had been taken down. The wall was just
small enough to see the tops of the one story buildings. As
you entered through where the gate was suppose to be, the
roads were made of white stone. In the village there was no
empty space, or no grass, trees or anything besides white
stone. Outside of the walls, were nothing but dust. It was
impossible how deep the village went.
     One man ran out of the village and up to them
excitedly. No one saw where he had come from so they all
kept their hands on their lasers. "New humans! This is
great! Welcome to Toltron!" he greeted in a childlike tone.
     All the warriors released their lasers, knowing that
this man couldn't cause any harm. "Thank you." Apollo
answered for the group. He was going to give his name, but
the man starting talking first.
     "It's been so long since humans from out of the tribe
have visited our planet! Excuse the fact that there are no
welcoming crowds here to greet you, you have come in our
late hours. Everybody is starting to eat supper or going to
bed. Tomorrow, though, you will be crowded by almost the
whole village, and they will give you the proper Toltronian
welcome!"
     "I am Captain Apollo, and this is Lieutenant Sheba."
Apollo introduced
     "Welcome to Toltron," the stranger shook her hand, and
almost treated her like a queen.
     "These are some of our warriors, and let me get the
commander and one of my best friends. Father! Starbuck! It's
safe to come out!" Apollo called out.
     Adama, wearing his blue and silver uniform with his
commander emblem connecting the ends of his blue cape,
keeping it from falling off, walked down the ramp, followed
by Cassiopeia and Starbuck hovering down the ramp in his
hover chair. The stranger walked up to Adama. "You must be
the Commander! Your the only one wearing a different
uniform."
     "You are correct. I am Commander Adama of the
Battlestar Galactica."
     "Battlestar?" the stranger looked at him strangely. He
had never heard of such a ship.
     "It's a colonial warship." Adama informed him.
     "Wait, your colonial? All of you?" His eyes widen as if
he was taken by surprise.
     "Yes." Adama responded, not knowing where this was
going to lead.
     "You must live down by Caprica!"
     "That's our home planet! Do you know of Caprica?"
Apollo asked walking up to the stranger.
     "Yes I do," he answered calmly. "and boy, are you going
to be taken up in a loop once I tell you some information
about us, but right now let me introduce myself, I am
Kornel. Tomorrow, I will show you around the planet, but
tonight, let me invite you to my house for supper, and we
can exchange some interesting facts!"
     "That will be greatly appreciated." Adama said
thankfully.
     Kornel saw s warrior in a hover chair, so he walked up
to him. "If I heard your friend correctly, you must be
Starbuck."
     "That I am." Starbuck answered.
     "I hope you don't mind me asking, but it looks like you
have been in a accident."
     "Yes I have. I became paralyzed making a crash
landing." Starbuck told him.
     "Being paralyzed is not fun, I should know, I use to be
crippled myself."
     "Is it true then?" Cassiopeia asked excitedly. "You can
heal people who are paralyzed?"
     Kornel laughed. "Yes, and by the sound of it you must
be the nurse of your ship, and lucky for you Starbuck, that
you have her as a close friend." Kornel smiled.
     Starbuck was astonished how he knew that he and Cassie
was close. "Yes, I am." Starbuck said proudly. Touched by
the way Starbuck had answered him, she held his hand in
hers. "May I ask you how you know we were close?"
     "It doesn't take a genius to figure something like that
out. You two have walked out of the shuttle close together,
and how you two are now standing next to each other. I can
almost read you body language, I excel at reading
information that people don't even know that they are giving
off.
     "Well tomorrow during our tour we will show you our
advanced medical technology, and even give you some tips and
some technology of ours to bring back for you medical
center. Plus, if you would like, Starbuck, we can show all
of you how our technology works by doing a demonstration, by
healing you."
     "You don't know how happy I will be if I could walk
again," Starbuck thanked.
      "Well then, now that I have met everyone, follow me to
my house, and your invited to share my wife's excellent
cooking."
     "We thank you for your gracious offer, and accept with
great pleasure." Adama said.
     "Excellent! Follow me!"

     Telex approached Baltar, who had been walking around
the base, instead of sitting on his throne. Before Telex
could speak, Baltar raised a finger. "Just report, please."
      "By your command. As you have so accurately predicted,
Commander Adama and Lieutenant Starbuck along with several
other colonial warriors have landed."
     "Excellent." Baltar complimented. "We attack at
sunrise. I want three centurions to be ready to go out into
the village. Late tonight, they will kill any warrior
protecting the shuttle, silently, and stay inside, and
destroy it when I give the order for the attack to begin."
Baltar commanded.
     "By your command." Telex responded.

     Everybody sat at the table eating the meal that
Kornel's wife, Trixie, had prepared. Kornel started the
conversation. "Have you all heard about the ancient tribe of
Atlantis?"
     "Of course, the mythical thirteenth colony of humans,
believed to have traveled to Earth." Adama answered his
question.
     "Mythical? Has that what we have become to the twelve
tribes?" Kornel asked in shame.
     "Wait, are you saying that everybody on this planet are
from the thirteenth tribe?" Apollo asked in disbelief. Had
they actually found the legendary thirteenth colony of
humans?
     "Let me explain. Long time ago, the human tribe of
Atlantis was searching for the planet, that they thought was
only true in their myths, known as Earth. Some members of
the tribe grew tired of going on this endless journey."
     "Very much like what we are experiencing." Adama added.
     "So the members who were tired of traveling stayed
behind and lived on this planet of Toltron, which was
uninhabited before they have arrived. Those members of the
tribe that had stayed behind, are our ancestors." Kornel
concluded his story.
     "How about the rest of the tribe, that continued their
journey for the planet Earth?" Sheba asked.
     "Well, they continued." There were a few chuckles
around the table, including himself.
     "No, I mean did they ever find Earth?"
     "Yes, they have found Earth. They have radioed back to
us, and said that were going to build a city for themselves,
and call it the city of Atlantis. For some reason, a natural
disaster destroyed the whole city of Atlantis. Some kind of
flood that lasted over a month, are some of the rumors."
     "What's a month?" Adama asked.
     "That's right, you don't know Earth's time terms. I'll
try to explain the complex time keeping in a few seconds.
     "If Earth has a complex time system, they must be
advanced enough to protect the fleet." Apollo chimed in.
     "Am I safe to assume that you are also looking for this
Earth?" Kornel asked.
     "Yes. That is our only hope of surviving." Adama
answered.
     "Then you might be happy to hear, that in colonial
time, you should be there in one yahren."
     Everybody at the table laughed and cheered at the great
news. After the many yahrens of traveling, they were close
to Earth. The journey was almost at an end. "You said that
you will tell us Earth's time keeping methods and terms?"
Adama wanted to know all about Earth, before they arrived.
Most likely, the Galactica will continue the journey for one
last yahren, to reach the planet Earth.
     Cassiopeia was distracted from hearing the question, by
noticing that Starbuck was not at the table. She looked
around for a micron. She looked out the doorway, with no
door, to outside and found him parked outside looking up at
the stars. She excused herself from the table and sneaked
outside to join Starbuck. "Hey, did you hear? Our journey is
almost complete!"
     "I heard." Starbuck said unenthusiastically. He didn't
even look down at her.
     "Are you all right, Starbuck? You have seemed depressed
ever since the ceremony."
     "I've been thinking about things." Starbuck admitted.
Finally starting a decent conversation with her or anyone
else for that matter.
     "Thinking about what?"
     "About the last several sectares. I almost died today."
     "But you didn't, and that's all that matters."
Cassiopeia placed a hand of support on his shoulder.
     "It's not that." Starbuck told her.
     "Then, what is it?"
     Starbuck let out a sigh. "What if I did die today, or
for that matter died right now? I have so many things in my
life that I have to settle before I die." Starbuck, for the
first time, looked her straight in her eyes.
     "What do you need to settle?"
     "Our relationship, for one." Starbuck had decided to
talk about now. This was a hard topic for Starbuck to talk
about, but he knew that it had to be done, if he was to
settle anything in his lifetime.
     "What about it?"
     "If I died right now, I don't think that I'd be happy
with where I left our relationship." Cassiopeia was touched
that Starbuck had finally decided to talk about their
relationship, something that she had wanted to do for awhile
now. Starbuck always hid behind a bush, and didn't ever want
to talk about being serious. "There's only one thing that
would make me happy right now dealing with our
relationship."
     "What is it?" Cassiopeia asked.
     "Cassie, will you marry me?" The question had taken her
by surprise. She never expected to hear those words come out
of Starbuck's mouth. A tear strolled down her face, but this
wasn't a tear of sadness, but a tear of joy. Starbuck
continued to explain. "I love you Cassie, and I'm tired or
wasting my life without making a commitment with you. I want
to stop wasting my life. I want to be your husband and I
want to raise small little boys and teach them how to fly a
viper or play pyramid. I want you to be my wife."
     Cassie smiled as she leaned down and hugged him. "Yes,
Starbuck. I want to marry you, too."
     "Hey, what are you two doing out here alone? You're
missing out on a good conversation." Apollo walked out of
the building, followed by Sheba, and Adama, who all were
concerned about Starbuck, unaware of their intrusion on a
very special moment.
     "I'm sorry if I scared you. I needed to get away and
think to myself." Starbuck apologized.
     "We are all here for you, Starbuck. We know what you
must be going through is not easy. Just remember, soon you
will be able to live normally again." Apollo patted Starbuck
on the shoulder.
     "Yea, I know." Starbuck said.
     "Tell them, Starbuck." Cassiopeia urged him, nudging
his shoulder.
     "Well, I have decided to settle down for once and make
a commitment, and Cassie and I have decided to get married."
     "It's about time!" Apollo's said joyfully, slapping him
on the back.
     "Congratulations, Cassie." Sheba and Cassiopeia hugged,
while Adama shook Starbuck's hand.
     "I must agree with my son. Your two's marriage is well
over due. Congratulation!"
     "Thank you commander."
     "It's starting to get late, why don't we all go back in
and get some rest. We have a lot to do tomorrow." Kornel
suggested, hating to break up the joyous occasion.
     "Quite right." Adama agreed. "We all had a very
stressful day, a little rest will do us all a little good
right now."
     Everybody agreed and followed Kornel back inside, so he
could show them where they would be sleeping.

     Telex stood before Baltar once again. Baltar, sitting
back in his thrown looked down at Telex. "Yes, Telex?"
     "The party is staying overnight in one of the
Toltronian's house. Wouldn't now be a better time to attack,
while they are all asleep?"
     "Yes, it would be easier, but no. We wait till
sunrise."
     "I apologize but I can't seem to understand the logic
of your strategy."
     "I want Adama and the Galactica to witness the
holocaust of the rest of the race of man, before destroying
her and the fleet."
     "If I am allowed to say so, that strategy is very
risky, and we may fail in capturing Commander Adama."
     "That is why I have commanded for three centurions to
be ready to take over the shuttle. When I give the command,
the shuttle will explode, trapping the Galactican visitors.
If something happens to go wrong, my pulsar gun will erase
all mistakes, and destroy the Galactica and the fleet."
     "That is an outstanding plan, if I may say so myself."
Telex commented.
     "I knew you would like it. Send out the three
centurions. They are being sent on a one way mission, but we
still have enough advanced centurion models to eliminate
everybody on this planet."
     "By your command." Telex responded.
     "And then, program all centurions that will be sent out
tomorrow, to kill all humans, but stun only Commander Adama,
and Starbuck. I want to end his life here at the base, to
resolve a personal grudge."
     "By your command."

     Colonial Warrior, Starcom, stood in front of the
shuttle that had brought he and the others to the planet. It
was his shift to make sure the ship wasn't stolen, damaged,
or sabotaged in any way, shape, or form. It was a quiet
night, not one person was outside.
     Starcom heard a twig snap, which made him snap up into
attention, and his laser in his hand. "Who's there?" he said
in a low tone. Someone was out there with him.
     He stepped forward to try to look around for anyone. a
centurion had sneaked up behind the unknowing victim, with a
sword in hand. Starcom turned around, and before he could
scream to warn everybody. his life came to a quick and
abrupt end when the centurion soldier slashed him with his
sword.
     Two other centurion soldiers walked out as the dead
guard hit the ground. "Bring him into the shuttle," one of
the two centurions commanded.
     The centurion that had slain the colonial warrior put
away his sword. He opened the hatch and dragged the body in
by the arms. The other two centurions entered the shuttle,
closing the hatch behind them.

     The morning sun shinning in his face awakened Starbuck
from his sleep. He was not use to being awakened by
sunlight. At first, he had though that he was on board the
Galactica, but the sun scratched that idea. Starbuck sat up
and looked around at the strange setting that surrounded
him. For a floor made of stone, he was very comfortable last
night!
     Starbuck wanted to stand up and walk outside and look
around the village, city, or whatever they were in, but he
had forgotten that he was paralyzed. Right next to him was
his hover chair. He reminded himself that today was the day
he was going to walk again. He pulled himself onto the
chair. He hovered himself to the window in the room he slept
in with all other warriors who must be awake. Outside there
were thousands of people everywhere. There were more people
outside than what this village looked like it could house.
The sun brought out the village's beauty. It was more
beautiful that he could have imagined. The Toltronians were
wearing white and red wrap around clothing. The men had
their head covered with white clothes that went down to
their shoulders, with a golden head band keeping the cloth
on. Women had nothing on their head. They were wearing for
the most part white and gold dresses, which went down all
the way to the ground.
     "Good morning!" Cassiopeia walked up to him and kissed
him on the forehead. The events last night were apparently
still fresh in her mind. "Today is the big day!"
     "Yes it is. The day that I don't need to use this hover
chair again." Starbuck agreed.
     "I though you `always' wanted to ride in one of these?"
Cassiopeia smiled.
     "That was before. After spending the rest of the day in
it, I changed my mind." Starbuck defended himself.
     "Well, it doesn't matter. Soon you'll be able to walk,
and stand at our wedding."
     "We haven't planned out our wedding yet, have we?"
Starbuck remembered.
     "We don't have to do it right now. Everybody is up and
all ready to get swamped by the villager. You have been dead
asleep for over ten sectares, I haven't seen you so tired
before." Cassiopeia stated.
     "Well, yesterday was a big day. Anyway, would you call
Apollo in here so he can help me get into my uniform. I'll
be out in a few centons."
     "I'll help you. I am a nurse you know, and besides I'm
going to be your wife soon." Cassiopeia pointed out.
     "Why not?" Starbuck agreed with her idea. "I hope your
strong."

     "Here come the two lovebirds now!" Sheba announced as
Cassiopeia and Starbuck entered the room.
     "Hi guys." Starbuck was embarrassed from all the
attention he was getting just because he and Cassiopeia were
getting married.
     Adama approached Starbuck with a burdened heart. "May I
have a quick micron to talk to you?"
     "Sure, Commander." Starbuck looked up at Cassiopeia.
"Go on without me, Cassie. I'll catch up."
     Cassiopeia joined her friends who mainly wanted to know
her feelings about the marriage and all the details. Adama
sighed, saying what he was about to say was going to be
hard. "I've been wanting to say certain things that's been
on my mind for quite some time now to you. I haven't had the
courage to say what I am about to say to you right now."
     "What is it, Commander?"
     Adama swallowed and took a deep breath. "You are one of
the best pilots in the fleet, and besides that, my son and
daughter are very fond of you. You and Apollo have been best
of friends for many yahrens now. I don't know why it has
taken me so long to say this to you this, but I think of you
as another son of mine, and I love you as if you were such.
I pray to the lords of Kobal that everything works out
today. When you were in critical condition from the
accident, I didn't want to admit it, but I was full of
sorrow just as much as I had felt when I had lost my
youngest son Zac. I just wanted to let you to know that I
consider you as part of my family, and you will always be
loved by us."
     "Thanks commander. That means a lot to me. I haven't
felt so much love in all my life." Starbuck admitted. "Not
including all the girls that I had hit on all my life, even
though those days are now officially over for me."
     "I'm glad to hear it. Let's go join the others and go
get ready to meet the villagers, and get ready for the tour
around the village." Adama walked with Starbuck back where
everybody was hanging. Cassiopeia stood next to Starbuck,
and they held each others hand like newlyweds.
     "Everybody is here and ready! Let us start our tour!"
Kornel announced. He led everybody outside, where as soon as
the crowd saw them in their colonial uniforms, they started
gathering around them, just like Kornel had predicted. "Yes!
These are the colonial warriors who have traveled from
Caprica, that the machines have made peace with!"
     What Kornel said hit Adama hard. He tugged on his arm.
"Who are you referring to as `machines'?"
     "They are an advanced machine race known as the
Cylons."
     "The Cylons!" Adam nearly keeled over when he heard
what Kornel had said. "You have been tricked! The Cylons
only wants to exterminate all humans! They are responsible
for the destruction of Caprica! There was no peace!"

     Baltar listened to the conversation from the new long
range videolink. "I think that they have heard enough. Let
the holocaust begin." Baltar commanded, with an evil grin on
his face.
     "By your command." Telex said.

     "Apollo, prepare the shuttle, we have to leave right
now! Kornel, I suggest you and everybody on this planet get
on as many shuttles you have and come with us, before it's
too late." Commander Adama suggested.
     An explosion caught everybody's attention. When they
turned to face the explosion, they realized it was the
Galactican shuttle that exploded. Everybody pointed up to
the sky as Cylon fighters flown above the village, firing
upon the helpless villagers. The crowd started running in
all directions trying to find safety from the attack, but
the village was catching on fire. Apollo, Sheba, Starbuck,
and the two remaining warriors pulled out their lasers as
centurion soldiers entered the village, shooting at all
running men, women, and children. The colonial warriors all
fired at the invading centurions, but more kept on replacing
the ones that they have destroyed, plus more.
     "We're outnumbered!" Apollo screamed over to his
father.
     The village was now in total chaos. Cassiopeia saw
Starbuck firing at the Centurions that were coming close,
but there was to many of them for him to shoot down by
himself. "Starbuck, get back here with us!" she called.
Either Starbuck didn't hear her or didn't listen. a laser
beam had struck his hover chair, which started short
circuiting, and threw Starbuck out of the chair. The laser
fell out of his hand with the impact on the ground, making
him totally defenseless. The centurion soldiers began
surrounding Starbuck until Cassiopeia couldn't see him
anymore. "Starbuck, No!" She screamed in horror, as she
watched them pick him up and carry him away.
     While watching as they took the man she loved away, she
failed to see a centurion that had sneaked up from behind
her. "Cassie! Look out!" Sheba warned, but her warning came
to late. The centurion fired his laser rifle, hitting her
straight in the back. Sheba shot the centurion, and it fell
to the ground, shutting off from the damage.
     Sheba knelt down by Cassiopeia and felt for a pulse.
Her pulse was very faint. Kornel bend down besides Sheba. "I
have a hideout that will keep us safe from the Cylons!"
     "Take Cassie Down! I am going to go to Apollo. Bring
the Commander down to safety as well!"
     Kornel nodded, as he picked up Cassiopeia and started
running around looking for the Commander. He was staying by
Apollo, who was trying his best to protect his father. A
rouge laser beam hit Apollo in the arm, and fell to the
ground. "Apollo!" Adama went to bend down, to see if his son
was all right, but a centurion , that have came up from
behind, stunned Adama, and he went down, unconscious. The
centurion pick up Adama and carried him away, ignoring the
injured warrior. Kornel had no choice but leave Apollo, and
take Cassiopeia to the hideout, and come back for him.
     Sheba ran to reach Apollo, but a Cylon fighter started
firing down at her. She jumped to dodge the lasers. The
lasers missed her by inches, and the fighter, continued to
fire at other targets. Sheba forced herself up, and ran to
Apollo, who was unconscious when she got there. She fired at
the centurions who were scattered to kill any human they
found. Kornel returned to Sheba. "Come on! We have to get to
safety!" he pleaded.
     "I have to rescue the Commander!" Sheba said.
     "It's too late, he's their prisoner now! If you want
any chance to save him, we must get to safety, now!" Kornel
told her.
     She knew Kornel was right. The human race all depended
on her to survive. "Okay, take Apollo, and I'll follow you!"
     Kornel gently lifted Apollo, and started carrying him
to the hideout, as Sheba followed, shooting at any centurion
that looked their way. Kornel led Sheba back to his house,
which was on fire. "Are you crazy! We'll burn to death!"
     "Trust me!" Kornel said.
     Sheba looked at the burning house, which looked like it
would collapse any second. They evaded the flames, while
entering the house. The smoke was think, and deadly, but
Kornel stopped near the front door, and opened a secret door
on the floor. Kornel coughed, as the smoke began to fill his
lungs. "Down here, quickly!"
     As Sheba took small breaths, to inhale as little of the
black smoke as possible, she hopped down the door, followed
by Kornel with Apollo in his hands. Sheba closed the door
behind him, and all the smoke was gone, as well as the
sounds of death and destruction. They were now in a thin
stairway the went right down. The walls were not made of
white stone, but of metal! The steps were the only things
made of stone. They walked down the stairs, which took them
straight into a room, with bags, that looked like sand bags,
that were originally stacked, but looked like now they were
knocked down, and now were laying in a messy pile. On the
left, were boxes of mechanisms. There were boxes of wires
and parts, from computers that came up only a foot to some
that were as tall as the room. That area was a blooming
mess, and no one besides Kornel could make anything out of
those contraptions. At the end of the room, was another
section, partly separated by wall, which was incomplete in
the middle. Sheba could see more sacks by the door, and more
that were covered by the wall. Kornel laid Apollo on the
sacks which were actually filled with grain and wheat, for
emergency food supply. Kornel stood up and shook his head in
disbelief. "How could we have been so naive?"
     "It's not your fault. Caprica was fooled the same way."
     "Those stupid tin cans lied! They killed my wife!"
     "I'm sorry, Kornel. The Cylons are ruthless and
uncaring. That is what makes them so dangerous." Sheba
placed a hand on his shoulder to show support for the
incredible loss that he had suffered.
     "Kornel shook his head. "Why am I being so selfish, you
have two injured friends that needs help. I'll take a look
at Cassiopeia, and you see how bad Apollo's wound is."
Kornel walked toward the door, but turned right and walked
behind the wall, out of her sight.
     Sheba went over and knelt by Apollo, by the sacks on
the right of the main section of the room. He had been hit
in the shoulder. The wound was minor, but it would make him
ill as a side affect. Sheba held his right hand in both of
her hands. Their relationship was just starting to get
somewhere. He was just starting to get over Serina's death,
and now this happens! It just wasn't fair!
     Kornel approached Sheba with a mournful look on his
face. "I think you should go see her."
     "Is she all right?" Sheba stood up and faced him.
     "No. She is conscious, but she's not going to pull
through. She's dying."
     Sheba's eyes began to water, as more bad news came at
her at full force. When was this all going to end?
     "You go see her, and I'll try to fix up an old fashion
comlink so we can contact your Battlestar."
     Sheba walked toward the door and turned right. Just a
few feet ahead of her was Cassiopeia laying an a pile of
sacks just like Apollo. Sheba knelt down beside her dying
friend. "Hi." she tried to smile.
     "It's not fair, Sheba!" Cassiopeia cried weakly. "We
were so close to being together."
     "At least your the only woman who Starbuck even
considered to give up his lifestyle for." Sheba tried to
comfort her.
     "You've always been a good friend, and we both loved
your father. If he is alive out there, and you ever see him
again, tell him that he had a special part of my heart, but
Starbuck is the one I truly loved."
     "I will." Sheba began breaking out in tears. She wiped
her face of her tears, but only more came out to replace the
ones she wiped away.
     "And tell Starbuck, if he's still alive, that he was
the only man for me, and that I love him." With her final
three words drifting away, she fell into a forever deep
sleep.
     Sheba leaned her head on Cassiopeia's head and wept for
her fallen friend. Kornel stopped from what he was doing and
walked up to Sheba and placed his hand on her back,
returning the support that she had given him just a few
Earth seconds ago. He had just discovered the damage that
the Cylons did, and that had sadden him even more. The whole
planet was attacked, and ninety-nine point eight percent of
the population of Toltron have been killed. "Everything is
going to be all right. Just you wait and see," Kornel lied,
knowing full well that everything was not going to be all
right, after what they have just been through.
     "No!" she cried, looking up at him. "Everything is not
going to be all right! The human race has just been
eliminated. The Cylons have won!"
     "We can't give up hope." Kornel told her. "That's all
that the human race has to survive on."

     "Colonel! The whole planet is under heavy Cylon
attack!" Rigel jumped from his post and yelled while running
up to Tigh. The news shocked the whole bridge, as the
thought sunk into their minds.
     "Radio to the Commander..."
     "It's too late, Colonel. Their ship was destroyed. The
city is all ready in flames. The whole planet has been
destroyed in less than five centons." Omega reported from
her station.
     "Casualties, Rigel?" Tigh asked, not sure if he really
wanted to know.
     "Over one million humans have been killed. That's
ninety-nine point eight percent of the whole population!"
     "Dear lord." Tigh said to himself. There were no words
that could accurately describe the terror and the sadness
everyone felt. They have just bared witness to the second,
and most likely the last holocaust of the human race. There
must be a way that the Commander and the crew could have
survived, but unfortunately, he was going to have to make a
decision that he hated to make. "Go straight ahead, maximum
speed. We have to get out of here, immediately!"
     "But how about the Commander, Captain Apollo, and
Lieutenant Starbuck?" Omega spoke out in her soft voice for
the first time in her career. She had never spoken out of
turn before, but no normal human have ever seen and two
holocaust.
     "I am aware of that, but the human race must survive.
Cylon basestars will arrive in any micron, to attack the
fleet!"
     "Too late, Colonel! A basestar is approaching, straight
in front of us, and one behind us!" Athena reported, looking
onto Rigel's station, and reading the information from his
computer.
     "We're trapped!" Tigh said angrily. He hated being in
no win situations. "Raise the shield!" This was going to be
a long day.

     Two centurion guards, one carrying the crippled
warrior, Starbuck, and the other forcing Commander Adama to
walk forward entered the thrown room. It was just like the
thrown room in a basestar, from what Starbuck remembered
from being captured when taking a shuttle when Serina was
suppose to be Apollo's wingman, instead of himself.
     The centurion dropped Starbuck on the hard metal floor.
"Ouch! Take it easy, will ya!"
     The centurion responded in one word. "Silence."
     The thrown rotated, revealing the one face neither men
expected to ever see again. Adama's rage took the better of
him, and he started to charge at the hated man, but the two
centurions pulled him back. "Baltar!"
     "Hello, old friend." Baltar grinned.
     "You not only sell out the human race, you destroy it
as well! I wish I could go up there and rip your lungs out!"
Adama lashed out.
     "Temper, temper." Baltar warned. "I don't think I have
ever seen you so disturbed before."
     "You haven't seen anything yet, Baltar!"
     "You are quite right, Adama. For several sectares, I
saw nothing but desert on the isolated planet that you have
left me on, which you called freedom! It is I who should be
angry! You left me out to die!" Baltar said angrily.
     "For all your crimes, death would have been a suitable
punishment." Adama returned.
     "Well, that doesn't really matter now. It's time to
move on."
     "And destroy the Galactica?" Adama finished. "No matter
how hard you try our desperation and will to survive will
always keep the human race alive. You of all people should
know that. I don't think you deserve the right to call
yourself a human being!"
     "Watch the insults, Adama," Baltar looked down at Adama
in a serious face, showing that he was starting to get
angry. "or it may result in an early execution of your
Lieutenant Starbuck. Besides, I am not going to destroy the
Galactica, you are Adama."
     "I'll die before I help you defeat the human race!"
     "Resistance is futile. One of the new technologies that
we have picked up from Toltron is called the brain
scrambler. It will force you to work for the Cylons. Soon,
you'll know what it's like to be as heartless as I am. Take
him to the scrambler, and put our colonial warrior here in
the dungeon for eventual execution.." Baltar commanded the
centurion guards.
     "By your command." The two guards took the two of them
out of the throne room to where Baltar as commanded to take
them.

     "Neither basestar have fired or launched any fighters
for over two sectares!" Tigh said to himself confusingly.
"They must be holding us for something, but for what?"
     "Colonel, a third basestar is approaching." Omega told
Tigh over from his station.
     "Three's a crowd." Tigh mumbled one of Starbuck's
sayings.
     "Colonel, the third basestar is trying to make
contact!" Athena called him over from her external
communication station.
     Tigh walked across the bridge to stand behind Athena to
look at the comlink to see who was trying to contact them.
Never had a basestar ever tried to communicate with the
basestar. Much to his and Athena's surprise as much as
horror, Adama's face appeared on the comlink.
     "Commander?"
     "Father?" Athena said confusingly.
     "Yes, this is Adama."
     "What's going on?" Tigh asked, not sure exactly what to
ask. He felt very disoriented seeing Adama on the other
side.
     "You will surrender the Galactica immediately, and be
prepared to be boarded, or be destroyed. You have forty
centons to respond." The screen went blank, along with any
hopes of the fleet ever reaching the planet Earth.

     Sheba had bandage Apollo's wound and placed a damp
cloth over his sweating forehead. Nothing else could be done
until Apollo was well, and ready to take command again. They
have been in this hideout for over four sectares. The room
just seemed to get smaller and smaller, or at least it
seemed like it did. At least they had enough food. Apollo
was laying on a pile of sacks full of grain, which Kornel
said could last one yahren. From the corner of her eye, she
saw two men holding Cassiopeia's body, as they brought her a
few feet from where she had been laying to the door. Two
things raced through her head at that moment: the fact that
they have survived this deadly invasion, and the fact that
they were going to take her friend's corpse somewhere. She
found that to be more important at that time. "Hey!" Sheba
called, while standing up. "What are you doing?" She tried
to be calm about it, but she didn't do a good job hiding her
anger.
     "Don't worry." Kornel came up from behind Sheba. "These
two are my friends. We are taking your female friend into
another room. There is something that I want them to try."
Kornel didn't want to tell Sheba what he was doing, he
didn't want her hopes to rise, just in case what he was
going to attempt failed.
     "No one is doing any tests on Cassiopeia!"
     "Trust me, Sheba. I know what I'm doing, and I promise
you, we are not doing any tests on her." Kornel told her.
     "Then what are you going to do?" Sheba knew that he was
trying to gain her trust, but after all that just happened,
she didn't know if she could trust someone whom she didn't
even know.
     "I can't tell you right now, but right now, I need for
you to trust me. If I knew where my wife's body was, I would
be doing the same thing with here." Bringing up the death of
his wife, brought back the stinging pain, but he had to get
her trust him somehow, or neither of them would come out of
this whole mess alive. "I know how you feel, but you must
believe me, I wouldn't do anything to your friend, that I
wouldn't do to my wife."
     Sheba realized that the death of his wife must be real
painful for him. Something inside her spoke out into her
mind telling her to trust him. "Okay." She answered.
     "Sheba" Apollo's hoarsely voice called out for her.
When she heard him calling for her, she immediately jetted
over to his side. "I'm here, Apollo," she responded, holding
his right hand between her two hands.
     "Where are we?" He looked up at her. He didn't
recognize anything around him, but he knew this couldn't be
any Cylon basestar. He saw that he was laying a sacks of
something, maybe wheat or grain, he couldn't tell.
     "We're underground, hiding from the Cylons." She
answered, happy to see him awake.
     Apollo noticed, that he didn't hear any voices that he
knew, in fact, he didn't hear any voices at all. The room
sounded empty, but he was to weak to look. "Where is
everybody?"
     Sheba knew that she was going to have to go through the
pain again to tell Apollo what had happened to the team.
"Well, Starbuck was captured and taken away by the Cylons,
and Cassie...she just passed away."
     "Oh geese!" Apollo said in sadness and disgust. He was
looking forward to seeing his best friend tie the knot, but
that was impossible now. "How about my father?"
     "The Commander has been captured, as well. It's just
you, me, and Kornel and his two friends."
     "I think I got it!" Kornel announced, after working on
the old comlink for nearly thirty centons.
     "What is he trying to do?"
     "Kornel is trying to establish communication with the
Galactica." Sheba said, looking back at Kornel, watching him
set up the comlink. She saw him working with a computer that
as a foot tall, with the front and back slanted inward,
almost like a triangle shaped computer with a flat top. On
the right was the screen, and the left had several buttons.
There were so many wires sticking up from the old comlink,
it was impossible to tell where they came from. Apollo tried
to sit up to see what Kornel was doing, but Sheba had kept
him from doing so. "Stay down, you need to rest."
     "But I can't just lay here and do nothing, I'm the
captain..."
     "And an injured one at that," Sheba reminded him. "And
a injured captain can not save anyone when he can't even
save himself. Just stay down, and rest." Sheba said standing
up. She joined him at the comlink that he had fixed, or he
hoped he did.
     "Let's give it a try."

     "Colonel, we are picking up a message from Toltron!!"
Athena called excitedly. She knew it was her brother and the
crew, she just knew it!
     Colonel Tigh rushed over to her station, feeling the
same way. When he arrived, on the screen was a man that he
had never seen before. He obviously had to be a human from
Toltron, but he did recognize the female next to him. It was
Lieutenant Sheba. "Lieutenant Sheba, thank heavens you are
all right!" He said. "Where is everyone else?"
     Once again, Sheba had the painful duty of reporting the
casualties. Each time she went through the list, her heart
was even more broken up than the last. "Captain Apollo is
here, but suffered a minor injury, Lieutenant Starbuck has
been captured by the Cylons..." This next one hurt her the
most. "Cassiopeia, I'm afraid, has just died."
     Athena gasped at the grave news. Tears strolled down
from her eyes in sorrow for the loss of her friend. Despite
them both liking the same man, she had kind of liked her,
their relationship was probably very much like the
relationship was with Starbuck and Commander Cain, from what
she had seen. She knew that Commander Cain liked him, they
were similar in many ways.
     Sheba continued her report. "And Commander Adama has
been captured by the Cylons as well."
     "I don't know what happened down there, but at this
very moment, Commander Adama is in command of a Cylon
basestar, and wants us to surrender the Galactica." Tigh
informed her, not sure if it was a smart idea to tell this
in front of a civilian.
     "Oh no, they're using it!" Kornel said in disgust.
     "Using what?" Tigh leaned down on the counter and
looked straight at the stranger that was with the
Lieutenant.
     "The brain scrambler. We use it for people who lived
poor and desperate lives and wanted to start over in life.
It compresses your memories and fills your mind with new
ones. Right now, by what you are describing, Commander Adama
is not in control of himself. They have filled his head with
the memories of being a Cylon commander." Kornel explained
to the Colonel.
     "We have an emergency up here. We are trapped by three
basestars, and I'm afraid that there is no hope for us. You
must find away to take any survivors of this holocaust and
get them to Earth." Tigh said, sorrowfully. He hated saying
it, but at the looks of how everything was going, it looked
like it was going to happen, the end of the Galactica, and
the colonial fleet.
     "Colonel, we can't just give up, just like that!" Sheba
burst out in protest.
     "If the Galactica doesn't surrender, they will destroy
us anyway. There is no escaping from them this time. You
must save yourselves."
     "Colonel," Kornel interrupted Sheba before she could
say anything else. "There is no possible way for us to
survive on our own, in what little transportation we have
left. We will starve to death before we could even reach
Earth. I have a plan, a risky one, that may be our only hope
of coming out of this alive, plus we will be able to rescue
Starbuck and the Commander."
     "I'm listening." Tigh looked at him suspiciously.
     "First, what you do not know, is that there is a
cloaked pulsar gun down on this planet. Unfortunately, the
cloaking device they have was a gift from us to them, when
we were tricked to believe that they were friendly. If my
plan works out, the pulsar gun will not be able to get a
clear shot at any of your ships, plus will result in
Starbuck's and the Commander's rescue. What Sheba and I will
do is sneak into the basestars, rescue them, and somehow
lure one of the basestars in front of the gun's fire."
     "Now how are you suppose to do all that?" Tigh asked.
     "I would tell you, Colonel, but time is very limited.
We must start right away, but I will tell you, that it will
be very hard for them to discover us." Kornel told him.
     "Very well then, but I'm telling you if something goes
wrong with rescuing the Commander, abort the mission, and
complete the rest of the task. We can't risk one man for the
whole fleet, no matter how important he is." Tigh didn't
like thinking about them leaving Adama in the hands of the
Cylons, but Adama would have wanted it this way.
     "Understood, sir." Kornel said.
     "May the lords of Kobal be with you." Tigh said.
     "Thank you, Colonel." The screen went blank.
     Sheba held her questions for this moment. "How are we
suppose to sneak on board the basestars?"
     "I'm going to drag in two dead centurions inside, and
I'm going to take all the wiring out, and we will put them
on." Kornel answered.
     "And how about our voices?" Sheba pointed out. "They'll
know instantaneously that we're not centurion guards by our
voices!"
     "That will be no problem." Kornel comforted her. He
handed her some kind of brace that was connected to a
button, connected by a wire. "Put the brace around your
neck, push the button, and say, `By your command."
     Sheba did as he had instructed, figuring that it
wouldn't hurt to do what he said. As soon as she had it
wrapped around her neck, with a miniature speaker leaning
against the front of her neck, she pushed the button, and
spoke those all too familiar saying between the Cylons. To
her amazement, she noticed that she had sounded exactly like
a robotic centurion. She turned the device off, so she could
speak in her normal voice. "I sounded exactly like a
centurion soldier!"
     "These.." he pulled out a second brace just like hers.
"Are what I call voice changers. It changes anyone's voice:
male, female, and children to sound like a centurion. I knew
a kid that loved how they talked, so I made these, hoping to
give it to him today, but I guess that's not possible now."
Kornel said sadly. Not only did he lose a wife, but a
godson. He wanted to forget about the horror that was around
him. "I'll go outside and drag two dead Cylons down."
     "Be careful." Sheba warned him. He was the only one who
would be able to pull off this mission.
     "I don't like it." Apollo gave his opinion from across
the room. "It's suicide!"
     Sheba knelt by his side. "I have to do this, Apollo.
You're too ill to be of much help, and this is the only
chance the human race has to survive this ordeal."
     "I know, but I still don't like it." Apollo admitted.
"I'm afraid of loosing you just like I lost Serina."
     Those words caught Sheba's attention. A tear formed in
her eye. At long last, he was opening up and letting her in
his life, something he was afraid to do ever since his wife
was killed back at Kobal. It was enough to make her want to
promise him that she wouldn't go. "Apollo, I would stay here
with you if I could, but the human race depends on this. I
promise you, I will return." She held his hand in hers
again. That was one promise that she hoped that she would be
able to keep.

     Baltar sat on his throne, silently celebrating his long
awaited victory of the Galactica, and it was all due to
himself. He would be highly looked upon by the imperious
leader, and who knows what rewards will be given to him by
the Empire.
     "Baltar, I have some distressing news for you." Telex
marched into the throne room.
     "What is it, Telex?" Baltar wondered what news he could
bring. There was no way the Galactica could escape their
fate this time.
     "Adama has not yet destroyed the Galactica. He has
given them less than a sectar to surrender the ship. He
plans to capture the Galactica!"
     "So, what's so bad about that?" Baltar asked, not sure
of where this was coming from. He was starting to sound a
bit like Lucifer.
     "He can easily turn and destroy all three basestars,
and us!" Telex had the familiar fear in his voice, which
Lucifer had as well.
     "Adama will not turn. He has been reformed and now
works for the Cylon empire."
     "I apologize for my agitation, but why bother capturing
the Galactica? We can destroy the whole fleet right now!"
     "Adama's having fun with them. I give him my full
trust, that is why I have given him full command of that
basestar. He can do whatever he wants to, destroy the
Galactica, or capture it, it's all the same. You don't trust
him, do you?" Baltar grinned. These form of Cylons say that
they are not programmed to feel such emotions as jealousness
and suspiciousness, but from what Baltar has seen, someone
had programmed them to do so.
     "I apologize again, but no, I do not trust Adama."
     At least Telex was truthful about his feelings. Lucifer
always denied them, and it only had gotten on his nerves."
Let me prove to you his worthiness. Order the other two
basestars to the other side of the planet, leaving Adama
alone with his former friends."
     "That is a very illogical thing to do. That can give
the Galactica an easy victory!" Telex warned Baltar, even
though he knew that Baltar's mind was made up. There was no
way ever to change his mind once he is determined to have
something done the way he wanted to see it done.
     "Do it! The Galactica will try to outsmart Adama and
escape, and then you'll see how loyal Adama is to the
empire."
     "By your command." There was no use continuing this
pointless argument.
     "One more thing, Telex. Prepare a fighter with two
centurions to escort me back to my basestar. I want you to
stay here, follow my orders to execute Lieutenant Starbuck,
when I give it, and make sure everything goes well with the
pulsar gun, if we even need it, but at this point, I would
think we wouldn't."
     "By your command." Telex repeated, turning around and
went out to complete his new assigned tasks.

     Councilor Tomek walked through the empty hallways of
the Galactica. The situation that they were now facing had
the whole ship in a panic, and were all afraid to leave
their quarters. Council Tomek stopped in front of a door,
which slid open when he stood in front of it's path. He
looked to his left and his right, to see if anyone was
watching. When he saw that the ghost was clear, he walked
all the way inside. Inside, was a small room, with computers
stretched out on all the walls. The room was pretty dark,
with a bluish tint.
     One officer, with his head gear on, stood up in
attention when he saw the council member. "Step out of the
communication room for a second please."
     "I'm sorry, sir, but I am not allowed..."
     Councilor Tomek looked angry at the young officer.
"Step outside of this room, or I'll decrease you in rank!"
     The young, inexperienced officer, confused about what
to do in this situation, did as the Councilor had commanded.
Tomek, after he was alone, walked up to the Comlink, and
activated it. On screen was Baltar's evil face that he hated
with every inch of fiber in him. "Well, if it isn't
Councilor Tomek, has anyone suspected your deeds as of yet?"
     "You lied to me, Baltar! You said you wouldn't hurt my
great ancestors if I reported all information to you, so you
can capture the Galactica!"
     "Who says that I didn't? Maybe I have them safely in my
basestar, being properly taken care of." Baltar lied to his
spy. He had no real intentions of letting his ancestors live
through his brilliantly formed plan.

     Boomer was heading to the officer's lounge, to fight
off this feeling of uselessness, when he saw a young officer
standing out in the halls, with his head gear on. With that
in view, Boomer instantly knew that he was suppose to be in
the communication room. "Why are you not in the
communication room, officer?" Boomer asked.
     "A council member asked me to step outside for a
minute, and he went in himself, Lieutenant," the officer
answered, standing in attention.
     "No one is allowed in the room, without you being in
there as well, no matter what chain of command they are in."
Boomer informed, the officer, who was clearly only a cadet.
"I'll handle this." Boomer said, entering the communication
room.
     He saw the council member talking in the comlink. This
was totally against regulations! Boomer pulled the council
member away from the comlink, and saw Baltar's face on
screen. "Baltar!" Boomer growled with anger. The screen
immediately turned blank. Boomer looked at the council
member with utter anger. "You betrayed us!" He walked toward
the council member, forcing him to step backwards.
     "I can explain this! "Tomek said, more like begged. He
knew that he was in trouble and there was no hiding behind
his command.
     Boomer zipped out his laser gun and pointed it at
Tomek. "So this is how the Cylon trap worked without any
flaws! You are responsible for Cassie's death, and most of
all Starbuck's and Commander Adama's capture!"
     "Baltar threatened to kill my great ancestors on
Toltron before he was taken to the isolated planet! I
couldn't take a chance with their lives!"
     "Well, it ended up in their deaths anyway! Councilor or
not, I'm placing you under arrest for high treason toward
the human race. It's time I let Colonel Tigh deal with you,
since he may be our next Commander! Get going!" Boomer
forced the ex-council member to the bridge, where Colonel
Tigh would deal with his crime.

     "Colonel, the two basestars are leaving!" Omega yelled
over to Tigh from his station.
     Tigh began thinking that they might have found a flaw
in their plans, but he found that hard to believe. There had
to be a more logical explanation for this move on the Cylons
part.
     "Colonel!" Boomer called, pushing the council member
forward.
     Without looking back, Tigh raised his hand. "Not now,
Lieutenant."
     "This is important, sir."
     Tigh turned around and saw Councilor Tomek, who was
apparently been put under arrest by Boomer. "Lieutenant,
what's going on here?"
     "Council Tomek, here, kicked a young cadet out of the
communication's room, and made contact with Baltar."
     "Baltar?" Tigh couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I
thought we abandoned him on a isolated planet!"
     "He was dropped of to a planet which cloaked a Cylon
basestar. It's one of the Cylons new inventions, I guess."
The Council reported to Tigh.
     "Then we have a battle of revenge here. He want's to
take us alive for his pleasure." Tigh added, finally
figuring out what has been going on in the past sectar.
"Lieutenant, place him in the prison barge until the Council
of Twelve can hold a trial for his crimes." Tigh told
Boomer.
     "Yes, sir. Come on, Tomek." Boomer was glad to get rid
of scum like him. In his opinion, Tomek was just as bad as
Baltar!

     Baltar sat at his throne, not really caring that his
spy had been caught. He didn't need him anymore. The victory
had already been promised to him. In fact, his pulsar gun
might have been a waist of cubits and efforts to build it.
Baltar stood up and walked down the stairs to his throne,
and headed for the launching bay, where Telex should have
set up a transportation for him to return to his basestar.

     The Cylon costume for Sheba was very tight in her upper
body, mostly due to her breasts. The Cylons obviously
thought that males were superior than females. She held her
helmet in her hands. She then realized that she had never
seen a female Cylon before.
     "Now, I've added an air vent in the top of the helmet,
so it is not detectable. It should allow you to be able to
breath, and to cool you off a little. I've also put eye
holes slightly below the red beaming Cylon eye so we can see
what's in front of us. They should be small enough so they
do not see them. Centurions have very poor eye sight. They
always go by a computerized target lock mechanism, somewhere
on the back."
     "Okay." Sheba responded, looking at what he had just
talked about.
     " We must try to walk like androids, and talk like they
would talk, because if a centurion suspects something wrong
with another centurion, they would blast it, and send it for
repairs. They take no chances in allowing any humans to
sneak in." Kornel continued to brief Sheba on what it is
they were about to do.
     "Understood." Sheba replied.
     "Let's turn on our voice changer." The two of them
activated their voice changer, and put on their helmets.
Sheba turned over to Apollo. "How do I look?" She said in
her new centurion voice.
     "I feel like I have been captured by two Cylons,"
Apollo commented.
     "Excellent!" Kornel said with joy. "This very well may
work!"
     "I never thought that I would be attracted to a
centurion let along even like a centurion," Apollo joked.
     Sheba in her very uncomfortable centurion armor,
shrugged. Just seeing a centurion do that kind of motion
made Apollo chuckle.

     "I can't stand it!" Colonel Tigh pounded on the
commander's chair. "We can't just stand here like sitting
mangooses!"
     "Sir, if I may suggest, there is only one remaining
basestar. We do have twenty centons left. We can attack by
the element of surprise again, and take her out while she's
off guard." Omega suggested from his post. He too was
getting very impatient about doing nothing to fight back.
     "We don't want to destroy the basestar. We don't want
to kill Adama!" Tigh reminded his bridge officer.
     "Sir, we can paralyze it long enough to get a rescue
team inside and rescue my father." Athena added to Omega's
idea.
     "It's too risky."
     Athena sat back at her post, and found her father's
face on the screen. "Colonel Tigh, he's on the comlink!"
Athena reported.
     Tigh ran up behind her, and looked down at Adama.
"Colonel, I know what you must be thinking of doing, I know
you well enough. Let me show you how serious I am about my
threat." The comlink turned blank before he could respond to
his idea.
     The basestar opened fire at the Galactica. The first
laser blast was a direct hit, very near the bridge. An
explosion from the back of the bridge caused all who were in
the bridge to fall off their seats. One bridge officer was
caught in the explosion, and was thrown across the bridge,
killing him instantly.
     Omega's station started short circuiting. He stood up
to avoid being burned by the sparks. Another hit near the
same area, caused a cross beam from the top of the bridge.
Omega saw it coming so he tried to jump out of it's falling
path, but he jumped too late, and cross beam landed on top
of him, pinning him down onto the ground.
     Rigel saw what had happened, and went to help her
fallen friend. She leaned down and with all her strength
tried to push the cross beam off Rigel. The beam was heavy,
but she was just strong enough to push it enough for her to
pull Omega away. Another explosion resulting from a third
hit near the same spot, threw Rigel a few feet, knocking her
out cold.
     Colonel Tigh struggled to his feet, to see the extent
of the damage on the bridge. There were two fires blazing
through the bridge, and many of the bridge officers were
either dead or unconscious. He started helping some of his
officers try to rescue one's that was threatened of being
killed, or dying.

     Dr. Wilker was working on a sensitive experiment until
the whole ship just started shaking violently. All his test
tubes and hand held gadgets fell of his table. His sensitive
experiment started to spark.
     "No no no!" he ran to try to put out the flames, but
they let out an explosion. The flames engulfed the poor
scientist, and the whole room was now on flames.

     Jolly fell of his bunk. "Ouch!" he sat up and realized
that the Galactica was being fired upon by the basestars
that surrounded them. Jolly ran out of the bunking area, all
ready in his uniform, and into a hallway which was filled
with piles of debris everywhere he could see.
     "Help!" Someone called in a very faint moan. Jolly
looked around and started digging where he had though he had
heard the cry for help. With luck, he uncovered Boomer's
upper part of his body.
     "Lieutenant, are you all right?" Jolly asked.
     "I'll be fine." Boomer replied. "I'll be able to pull
myself out the rest of the way. Check on Boxey in Captain
Apollo's quarters!"
     Jolly ran through the halls, jumping over cross beams,
rubble and dead warriors. Recently Apollo and Boxey had
moved into a private quarters on board the Galactica. Thank
goodness for that! Jolly stepped up to the door to Apollo's
living quarters, and the door slid open. Laying right in
front of the door, was the dead mechanical body of Muffy.
     "Boxey!" Jolly called out, hoping to hear a response.
He heard coughing across the room. He stepped over the dead
mechanical daggit, and over other junk, and found Boxey
hiding underneath his bed. When Boxey saw the warrior, he
started to climb out from underneath his bed. "Where's
Boomer?"
     "He'll be here shortly, he sent me to get you." Jolly
heard a creak from above them. A cross beam was hanging very
loosely from the ceiling, and looked like it was going to
fall any micron. "We have to get you out of this room!"
     "I'm scared!" Boxey said, too frightened to start
crying.
     "I'm scared too, big guy. We all are. Now, run out of
this room, quickly!
     Boxey did, and as the door slid open from detecting his
presence near the door, he stopped at the body of Muffy.
"Muffy!" Boxey screamed in childlike horror. With his
scream, the beam started falling.
     "Boxey, no!" Jolly ran and jumped at Boxey. He was able
to push Boxey out of the room, but at the cost of his own
life. The beam fell on top of him, killing him at impact.
     Boxey scream in horror again, as he saw what was the
bloody remains of the warrior. The doors slid closed as if
it knew to cover the mess from the view of this poor abused
child. When Boomer came running up to Boxey, he was crying
hysterically. "Where's the warrior I sent to fetch you?"
     Boxey didn't look up, as he continued to cry, and he
pointed to the door. Boomer stood in front of the door, and
the door slid open, showing him what had scared the child
half to death. The bloody mess was even too much for him to
handle. He turned around in disgust, and the door slid
closed again. Boomer knelt down and hugged the poor boy, who
has been through the unimaginable. "My Dad is dead, I know
it!" He cried out.
     "No he's not, Boxey. Don't say such things. He'll
return, along with your grandfather, and things will be
okay." Boomer said, even though deep inside, he knew that
things wouldn't be okay.

     Colonel Tigh ran up to Athena, who was trying to stay
conscience, by continuing her duties at her post. "Do we
still have communication with the basestar?"
     "Yes, sir." Athena said, wanting to allow the
unconsciousness to take her over.
     "Radio to Adama and tell him we surrender!"
     "Colonel!" Athena looked behind her at the superior
officer in shock that he had decided to give up just like
that.
     "Do it!" Colonel Tight commanded angrily.
     "Yes, sir."
     Adama's face appeared on the comlink screen. "I knew
you would see it my way, Colonel Tigh. You have one centar
to be prepared the landing bay Alpha for our arrival." The
screen went blank once again.
     "The landing bays haven't even been touched or affected
by the attack, Colonel. It's impossible for him not to know
that all ready!"
     "So why would Adama give us more time?"

     Sheba and Kornel looked over the boulder that they were
hiding behind at the front of the Cylon castle. The Castle
was very huge. It had a tower at each corner of the square
castle. "So, how do we get in?" Sheba looked over to Kornel.
     "We make up a good excuse, and hope they accept it."
     "And if they don't?"
     "We're dead."
     Sheba didn't like his answer too much. "Well, let's
get it over." Sheba said taking a deep breath to calm
herself down.
     The two of them stood up and started marching toward
the gate, hoping they got their march right, because the two
standing post centurions were looking straight at them. As
they came closer to the gate, one of the centurions stepped
away from his post. "Halt! All attacking ground troops have
reported back twenty-four centons ago. Report your absence."
     "We have found a secret hideout that the humanoids
tried to hide in from the attack. We stayed behind to
terminate the remaining humanoids." Kornel said, hoping he
was speaking the way they would talk.
     "Proceed." The centurion guard returned to his post.
     With relief, Kornel and Sheba entered the castle.
Inside of the castle was very dark, since there were no
windows, just torches on the walls. The ground were made of
uneven rocks, making it very hard to walk in their costumes.
"What's next?" Sheba whispered to Kornel. "Destroy the
pulsar gun?"
     "No. That won't be necessary. Next, we see if Starbuck
is imprisoned here, then we hijack a fighter and head toward
the basestar holding Adama."
     "How are we going to find the prison barge?" Sheba
asked, just starting to realize that all she was doing was
asking more and more questions.
     "Before the Cylons came, this was our castle. I know
where the prison barge is, it's on the opposite end of the
castle from the launching bay." Kornel answered. They
continued to walk through the stone hallways.
     One Cylon walked by, which was not a centurion. She had
never seen that kind of Cylon before. The Cylon walked with
a gold plated centurion. The Cylon was very slim and tall,
with a pointed head with blinking lights. "Baltar was very
wise to have Adama destroy the Galactica. I now see that he
can be trustworthy in completing this mission."
     Sheba held back her shock until after the Cylon and the
centurion were gone from sight. "Baltar! He's back!"
     "Who is Baltar?" Kornel asked.
     "He's a human, who sold out the human race back at
Caprica. He was responsible for the holocaust of all twelve
planets. He rose in power and became a commander of a
basestar."
     "I can't believe that a human was bought off by a race
of walking tin cans!"
     "Neither can I. I wasn't there during the holocaust,
Apollo told me the story."
     Kornel stopped short at a door that was made of metal,
unlike the stone walls and top and bottom. "This is the
prison barge." Kornel said. The door slid open for them as
they entered the prison barge. It was a dark and gloomy
dungeon. There were two cells on each side of the room.
There was Starbuck, chained to the wall, in a kneeling
position, in the far right cell. Two centurions stood next
to the helpless warrior. One, was holding Starbuck's head
down, showing the back of his neck, and the other one raised
a sword to cut his head off.
     "Halt! The commander wants the prisoner executed on his
basestar." Kornel said.
     "We have just received the command to execute the
colonial warrior by Baltar himself. You do not speak as a
centurion. You are intruders!" The centurion holding the
sword said, turning to face the two of them.
     Sheba pulled out her centurion laser rifle, and shot
down the two guards quickly, and deadly accuracy. Starbuck
looked up at them confused at what had just happend. "Now
there's something you don't see everyday. Tin cans firing
amongst themselves."
     Starbuck expected to hear one of the centurions to tell
him to be silent, but instead, one of them pulled of their
head, revealing Sheba.
     "Sheba!" Starbuck said in surprise. The other took off
his head, and he expected to see his best friend, Apollo,
but again he was wrong when Kornel was unveiled. "Kornel?
Where's Apollo?"
     "We'll explain later, now we have to go steal a fighter
and go rescue Commander Adama!" Kornel said.
     "This is freaky! I have two friends here with centurion
voices." Starbuck commented..
     "We are wearing voice changers." Sheba informed
Starbuck as she used the centurion sword to cut the chains
off Starbuck. He fell back, as if he didn't even have legs.
     "I'm going to have to carry you over my shoulder, like
a centurion would do." Kornel informed Starbuck.
     "Anything is better than being chained up in this
dungeon." Starbuck replied, rubbing his wrists.
     Kornel picked Starbuck up, and put him over his left
shoulder. "You're heavy for a man your size." Kornel said.
     "Who would have thought we would see a day when a
centurion soldier complained." Starbuck joked.
     Sheba helped put Kornel's helmet back on, then she put
hers on. "Let's go, we have a long walk ahead of us, and
little time to do it in." Sheba announced.

     They walked out of he dungeon and immediately ran into
two centurions, that were marching down the halls of the
castle. "Where are you taking the prisoner?"
     "We have been commanded to take him to the basestar, so
the commander can witness the colonial warrior's execution."
Sheba gave them the response this time.
     "Proceed."
     Sheba and Kornel, carrying Starbuck over his shoulder,
marched like centurions in the direction of the launching
bay, thankful of not being detected by these centurions.

     They made it to the entrance of the launching bay in
less than ten centons. The door slid open and they looked
forward at the tremendous sight of rows of fighters going
back for miles. They walked up to the nearest one, and
climbed the ladder into the Cylon fighter. Kornel sat
Starbuck down in the third seat, in the back. "Sheba, you
pilot this thing, I have to set up some things." Kornel said
to Sheba as she entered the fighter. Kornel pulled out
several hand sized computers that he had hidden inside his
armor.
     "What are you going to do?" Sheba asked, sitting in the
pilot seat.
     "I am going to jam the comlinks of all the basestars,
so we can communicate with the Galactica without being
detected."
     "Sheesh, Dr. Wilker can learn a few things from you."
Starbuck commented.
     "You like that? Well the next thing I am doing is
jamming their radar so we can land on the basestar, without
them knowing it!"
     "I love this man! Well, not the way I love Cassie,
but..."
     Sheba took her helmet and looked over at Starbuck with
a tear in her eyes, for the painful reminder that Starbuck
had triggered.
     Starbuck saw her mournful face, and wanted to know what
he had said wrong. "What's wrong?" Starbuck didn't like the
way Sheba was looking at him.
     "Starbuck, during the holocaust, Cassiopeia was killed
by a Cylon. Her last words were that she would always love
you."
     Starbuck felt like his heart had just been ripped out
of his chest. He leaned back in his chair, and looked
downward to hide his face. Seeing Starbuck so broken up had
started making her cry. "I'm sorry, Starbuck."
     Starbuck gave it everything he got to try not to show
his emotion, but not with total success. "How about Apollo?"
     "He's alive, but he was hit in the arm, so he couldn't
go on this mission with us." Sheba said. She tried to calm
herself down, and wipe the tears from her eyes. She looked
over at Kornel, so she didn't have to look at Starbuck's
reaction, which made her want to cry. "How are we going to
get Apollo and your friends, back at the hideout?"
     "They have a hidden shuttle. After they see it's safe
to travel to the Galactica, and finished the thing I asked
them to do, they'll bring Apollo with them." Kornel said,
working with some wires that he had pulled out from the
Cylon radar system, and attaching them to one of his hand
held computer of some sort.
     "It sounds like you three have decided to join us on
our quest for Earth." Sheba commented.
     "We are. There's no where else for us to stay, and do.
It's now safe for us to take off."
     Sheba piloted the fighter off the landing pad, and out
toward the growing vastness of space. As they left Toltron's
atmosphere, they saw only one basestar and the Galactica,
which was blocking the view of the fleet in the backround
that saw what was happening and were staying as far as
possible from the danger. "The Galactica is on fire! They
were attacked!" Sheba exclaimed in horror. This nightmare
just wasn't willing to end!
     "We have capability to make contact with the Galactica.
Let's hope they can receive the message." Kornel said while
pushing several different color buttons on his palm sized
machine, which he had quickly hooked up to the fighter's
comlink. The screen that was attacked to it, showed Colonel
Tigh's face looking at them.
     "Sir, what happened?" Sheba asked.
     "Adama had attacked us until we surrendered. Adama has
given us a centar to prepare to be boarded."
     "That's not like the Cylons!" Sheba said in disbelief!
Something was definitely wrong! The Cylons were having too
much luck!
     "It sounds to me that the real Adama is influencing his
decisions, which may be even better than we have hoped for.
This would mean that they have misused the scrambler, and it
didn't fully do the trick. This means all we have to do his
knock him out, or put him to sleep, and he'll be back to
normal!" Kornel said, thrilled to see something go right for
a change, knowing that Sheba felt the same way, that
everything was just going against them.
     "Well, whatever your plan is, I hope your successful
and quick. You have twenty centons to complete your
missions."
     "That's all we are going to need." Kornel assured him.
He wasn't sure if that was true, but it was going to have to
be. The screen went blank. "This is it, do or die.
Reactivate your voice changer and let's get ready to land on
that basestar up there."
     Sheba did as instructed, and finished piloting into the
basestar. The closer they got, the more fear filled her
heart. She had never been this close to a basestar before.
As they entered in, she felt the feel of death all around
her. She slowly lowered the fighter in an empty space. As
soon as the fighter landed and shut off. Kornel and Sheba
stood up, to get ready to go find the Commander. Sheba
walked up to Starbuck and placed one hand on his shoulder.
"We'll be back shortly. I wish I could stay here with you, I
know how..."
     "Go. I'll be fine." Starbuck lied. He didn't want his
friends to see him emotional, because it was embarrassing.
He was almost ready to burst, only if they would leave!
     "Let's go rescue the Commander!" Kornel said. He and
Sheba climbed down the ladder, and out of the fighter. As
soon as they were gone, his emotions came pouring out. Tears
streamed down his face, like rain drops. He wept, to
himself, something he had not done for over fifteen yahrens,
but this was different than back then. Back then, he was
young, and all young kids cried for stupid reasons, but this
time, he had lost the woman that he had loved. The one woman
that changed his life, was now dead.

     The landing bay looked almost exactly like the
launching bay down at the castle, but with fewer fighters.
In fact Sheba could count them in her mind. Sheba and Kornel
left the launching bay and marched through the halls of the
basestar. Neither of them knew where they were going. They
could only hope that they take a right turn or go through a
right door. The halls were for the most part, not perfectly
straight, they were more of an arc, obviously because the
basestar was round. The metal to make these basestars, that
were on the ground, and on the walls were much better
quality than the Galactica. Most likely because the
Galactica was so much older than this basestar. The ground
was pure white metal, and the walls were too, for the most
part, but with many beams and designs unfamiliar to the two
humans.
     Two centurions marched in their direction. Seeing them
made Sheba jumpy. She was trained to shoot without thinking
as soon as centurion was in sight. A talent her father had
taught her. She felt weird just watching them pass her,
without shooting at her or even noticing her.
     The time was running out very quickly. They didn't have
much time to waist, as if the actually wanted to spend more
time here than they had to. Starbuck would know where to
find the bridge, or whatever the Cylons called that room.
Starbuck had been on many basestars. She knew of once that
he and Apollo had sneaked onto the basestar with Baltar's
fighter, and sabotaged their computers. Apollo told her
about the time, he went out in the viper because he was hurt
that he wasn't his wingman anymore, and he and Serina had
went out after him, and the Cylons captured him. Yes, he
would know exactly where to go, but now, he can't even walk
anymore!
     A gold plated centurion which she understood to hold a
leadership position over all the other centurions, walked
out from a door and walked past them. Kornel must also have
known about that golden centurion, when he pointed to the
door he had just come out of. The two of them turned, and
the door slid open for them. They were now in a room full of
computers and levers. No one was in the room at that moment.
The room looked close to the Galactica's control room, with
computers stretched out covering all of the lower half of
the walls. There was one set of computers in the middle of
the room, at an arc shaped station. Kornel knew that had to
be the main controls to the basestar.
     "This has to be the control room!" Kornel announced.
"This will be our last stop, after we rescue the Commander.
The throne room has to be near and that is where we'll most
likely find Commander Adama."
     Kornel and Sheba walked across the room, to the other
door. They found themselves walking into another hallway.
There was a door straight across from them. Kornel had a gut
feeling that they needed to go into through that door, and
he always trusted his instincts. Kornel pointed to the door,
telling Sheba what they were about to do.
     Sheba took a deep breath, as she followed Kornel
through the door. They now were in a dark circular room. The
room was lighted only by dimmed lights on the walls, and
spot lights shining down a bright white circle in the
middle. In front of them stood Adama, who hadn't noticed
them come in. He was walking around in concentration. Adama
finally looked up and saw the two centurions, and walked up
to them, waiting for one of them to say that annoying
phrase, but it never came.
     "Well?" Adama prompted. Kornel pointed his laser rifle
at Adama, which he had made sure earlier to set it for stun,
and shot Adama. Adama fell forward into Sheba's arms.
     "To the control room." Kornel spoke in his centurion
sounding voice. Kornel took Adama from Sheba, and carried
him over his shoulder, just like what he did with Starbuck.
His shoulder was starting to get sour from carrying two
heavy men on his shoulder.
     Sheba ran to the door, and looked out into the hall, to
make sure no guards were walking by. "It's clear!" Sheba
tried to whisper, but it was very hard to do so, with a
robotic voice. Kornel followed Sheba out the door, and back
into the control room straight across the hall. This time,
one centurion guard was in the room, doing whatever he was
told to do, at one of the five stations. The guard looked up
to see who had entered the control room, and saw two other
guards like himself, but they were carrying the commander
the way they carried prisoners. Before he could bring out
his laser rifle, Sheba shot the centurion.
     Kornel sat Adama down at a seat at one of the stations,
and quickly ripped off his helmet and deactivated his voice
changer. "These won't do us any good anymore." Kornel said
throwing the useless equipment across the room. Sheba
figured it was safe for her to do so as well, so she did the
same. "What are you going to do?" Sheba asked, feeling good
about having her normal human voice back.
     "I'm piloting this basestar on a crash course to
Toltron, aiming right at the pulsar gun, so they won't be
able to fire the gun. The explosion should destroy the two
hiding basestars, who shouldn't even know what is going on
yet."
     The door they had come through slid open and two
centurions entered the room, not knowing about the intruders
that were inside. The two guards ripped their riffles out
and fired at them. Sheba ducked, and fired back. Luckily she
was a good shot, and was able to shut down the two
centurions before they could hit either of them. "Hurry!
There's going to be more coming!"
     Kornel continued to pilot the basestar to the location
that he had wanted. "There!" Kornel picked up his rifle and
shot at all the computers in the control them, damaging them
beyond repair. He made sure that he didn't miss any parts of
the computers."

     "Sir! The base star is heading on a collision course
down to the planet!" Athena called out from Rigel's station.
     Colonial ran to the station after hearing the
outstanding report which sounded to much to hope for, but as
he watched the radar, he saw that Athena was right. The
basestar was going to collide into Toltron, causing a
tremendous explosion. "Turn us around one hundred and eighty
degrees, and get us far away from the planet as you can!"
Tigh ordered. "Negative shields!"

     Baltar sat back in his throne, enjoying the relaxation!
The destruction of the Galactica was at hand. No other
commander had ever come close to doing so. The Imperious
Leader was going to reward him well, and maybe give him a
high position in the Cylon government, where he will have
more power and authority than he could ever imagine.
     "By your command," the chief centurion broke his self
indulgent thought, quite urgently.
     What possible news could he be getting this late in the
process? "Speak, centurion."
     "Commander Adama's basestar is on a unrecoverable
collision course toward the location of the Pulsar gun."
     Baltar nearly fell off his thrown. "No." Baltar shook
his head in disbelief. "No no no no NO!" Baltar screamed
with all the strength he had. The skin on his face tightened
so that you could see his veins. It looked like his veins
were ready to break through. His head shook with all the
strength he put in his screaming. He pounded his throne,
almost breaking every bone in his head, but the pain didn't
bother him right then. "Curse you, Adama! CURSE YOU!"
Baltar's rage and his loud screaming nearly short circuited
the chief centurion. "Get us out of here, NOW!" Baltar said,
angrily. With all the screaming, he was quickly loosing his
voice.
     "By your command." The chief centurion was glad to
leave the room, and get away from the angry commander.
     "Next time Adama! Next time I won't fail! Next time,
you DIE!"

     "By your command." A golden plated centurion reported
to Telex.
     "Yes, what is it!" Telex said rudely. He was starting
to lose his patience with all this waiting around and doing
nothing.
     "Commander Adama's basestar is on a collision course
straight for us."
     "WHAT!" Telex anger and shock was easily seen in him,
even though he denied having those emotions. "Baltar's plan
was full proof!"
     "Apparently, not full enough." The centurion added.
     "What are we waiting for? Let's return back to our
basestar with Baltar!" Telex followed the centurion to the
launching bay. "Curse those colonial warriors!" Telex
snapped.

     "Let's book! We only have two and a half centons before
everything explodes!"
     Centurion soldiers began entering the control room,
with rifles in their hands, fully knowledgeable about the
intruders who had sent them on a final course. They, without
hesitance, opened fired. Kornel carried Adama, and they ran
out the door, barley being missed by a few laser blasts. The
centurions followed, and as Sheba looked back and fired back
at them, whatever soldiers she shot down, they were replaced
two times the fallen amount.
     "We have to move faster!" Kornel exclaimed, even though
he didn't think he could go much faster while carrying
someone weighing close to two hundred masons [ 1 Mason = 1
Pound].
     "The landing bay is right over there!" Sheba pointed
further down the hall.
     The centurions chasing the two colonial warriors
continued to miss their target. That was one advantage
humans had over the centurions. They had trouble shooting at
targets while chasing them down, where humans had better eye
sight, which made it easier for humans to hit the robots.
     Kornel and Sheba saw one unsuspecting centurion guard
standing at the door of the landing bay. Sheba quickly
turned around to shoot down the guard, and turned back
around to fire at the soldiers. They quickly ran into the
landing bay, with the doors sliding close behind them,
providing microns of protection from the Cylon's fire.
     Adama moaned, beginning to come back to the real world.
"There's our fighter!" Sheba called out. As they reached the
fighter, Sheba was the first one in, so she could take off
as soon as Kornel was inside with Commander Adama. The
centurion soldiers had started entering the landing bay as
Kornel was half way in the fighter. They fired one shot at
Kornel, but Kornel made it in, just less than a tenth of a
micron before he would have been hit. Kornel sat in the
copilot seat and looked out at the entrance into space. He
was glad that their landing bay was also a launching bay.
Most warships separated the two.
     The centurions opened fired at the fighter. "Get us out
of here!" Kornel exclaimed!
     Sheba piloted the fighter up and out of the basestar,
safe from the centurions, but now she had to pilot the
fighter far away from the explosion of the planet. Kornel
saw that the Galactica was back with the fleet, far enough
away from the explosion. Behind them, the planet started
glowing red, as the basestar crashed through the atmosphere,
and the both of them exploded, sending out millions of
burning space dust in all directions. The fighter shook from
the vibrations, but they had made it!
     Kornel turned on the comlink, and radioed the
Galactica, happy to finally have this nightmare over. A very
happy Colonel Tigh appeared on the screen. In the backround,
the bridge officers that were still on duty were cheering,
clapping and celebrating their victory!
     "Good job , you two! You two will be award the medal of
honor shortly when everything is back to normal on the
Galactica! Did you rescue Commander Adama?"
     "I'm right here." Adama called out, standing up next to
Starbuck. He had a major headache, which wouldn't go away,
which was the result of being shot with a stun gun.
     "Thank the lords of Kobal that you are all right,
Commander!"
     "It's all due to these two brave warriors here," Adama
said, placing a hand on both of their shoulders.
     "Apollo and the other Toltronians have arrived on the
Galactica." Tigh reported to Adama.
     "How is he?" Adama remembered about him being shot back
on the late Toltron.
     "Apollo is just fine, Commander. He's anxious to see
you again. He as well as all of us were worried about you."
     "How bad is the damage to the Galactica?" Adama
recalled having open fired on the Galactica.
     "All the fires have been put out, and our crew is in
the process of cleaning up. There was a fair amount of
damage to the bridge. We have also just received a list of
casualties which includes Lieutenant Jolly, and Dr. Wilker."
     "My god, what I have I done." Adama said sorrowfully.
     "It wasn't you who did it, Commander. It was the
Cylons. They put a Cylon mind in you, and there was no way
you could have stopped it."
     "I guess your right." Adama admitted, feeling a little
better.
     "You may land on landing bay Alpha. I'm glad to you're
back, Commander." Tigh said in conclusion.
     "So am I." Adama agreed. The comlink went blank.
     Sheba remembered about Starbuck, and how hard he had
taken the news of Cassiopeia's death. She looked over at
Kornel. "Can you take over?"
     Kornel knew what she was going to do. "Sure. Commander,
you can take my seat." The three of them switched places, so
Sheba could kneel besides Starbuck. He hadn't said a word
since getting off the basestar. "How are you doing?"
     "I've had better days." Starbuck admitted, grinned. "I
guess I have no luck when it comes to love."
     "What has happened?" Adama asked, wondering what they
were talking about. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good.
     "Cassiopeia was killed during the holocaust on
Toltron." Sheba informed Adama, bringing him up to date.
     "My god." Adama shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry
Starbuck." The same thing that had happend to his son
Apollo, just happend again with the man he considerd
another of his sons.
     "I'll survive, I hope." Starbuck said. "But I'll sure
miss her."

     Everybody gathered in the officer's lounge: Apollo,
with his arm in a sling, Adama back in his blue colonial
uniform, Colonel Tigh, Starbuck in a new hover chair, Athena
who was healing nicely from her burns, and Boxey who was
still broken hearted over the death of his mechanical
daggit, Muffy.
     "Welcome aboard the Battlestar Galactica, Kornel."
Adama finally gave Kornel an official greeting.
     "Thank you, Commander. I'm sure you'll find my friends
willing to become a warrior, or bridge officer, where ever
you need them."
     "That will be great of them!" Tigh commented. The
Galactica needed recruits where ever they could find them.
     "Since being here for the past few centares, I have
come up with a few surprises for certain individuals. First,
Boxey, your father told me that your little mechanical
daggit was killed?"
     "Yea." Boxey said sadly. "His name was Muffy."
     "Well, I guess you are going to have to think up of
another name." Kornel pointed at the doors, and Muffy came
scrambling in, followed by a second mechanical daggit, with
dark brown fur.
     "Muffy!" Boxey said with extreme joy. "And another
one?"
     Both daggits barked and the two daggits started
wrestling like little pups. "I tried fixing Muffy, knowing
how much he would want that particular daggit back, but I
gave up so I quickly managed to make a second daggit, with
the help of some of my inventions from Toltron. After
finishing the new daggit, Muffy came around, and now, here
they are." Kornel told the short story to everybody.
     "I think I'm going to call her, Toffet." Boxey
proclaimed. Everybody chuckled at the little boy's
enthusiasm.
     "Hey, Kornel..." Apollo said, holding Sheba next to him
with his good arm. "Thanks."
     "Not a problem. Finally, I have something special for
you, Starbuck."
     "Me?" Starbuck acted surprise, even though he was
hoping he would have a surprise for him. He figured that he
was going to heal him, so he could go out flying again.
     "Yea you. I have someone who's been dying to see you
again."
     The door to the officer's lounge slid open, and in
walked the last person in the galaxy he had ever expected to
see again. Everybody as well as Starbuck was in awe.
"Cassie!" Starbuck almost fell off his hover chair trying to
stand up.
     Cassiopeia ran to Starbuck, and knelt down and gave the
man she loved a hug.
     "After all that happened, I thought I never would see
you again!"
     "Me neither! Oh, Starbuck, I missed you so much!"
     "Let's get married right now!" Starbuck suggested. "I
don't want to lose you again!"
     "Yes." Cassiopeia smiled. "Let's get married."
     Cassiopeia stood back up, and everyone began welcoming
her back. Sheba walked up to Kornel. "How..."
     "One of my inventions of Toltron before it was
destroyed. The rest is my secret."
     "Hey, Kornel, did you by any chance save the technology
to heal me?" Starbuck asked. At that moment, it didn't
really matter if he did or not. He was happy as it was, to
have Cassiopeia again.
     "I'm sorry, Starbuck, but that was going to be
impossible. It wouldn't fit on the Galactica. I do have an
ingredient to make some medicine that might improve your
chances of walking, but it's still not a for sure thing. You
will need to exercise your legs and arms daily, if you want
any chance for it to work."
     Starbuck leaned back and sighed. "That's all I don't
want. Exercise."
     Everybody laughed, feeling good to be laughing and
having fun again.
     "What are we still doing here? Let's wed these two!"
Adama announced.

     Apollo watched as Adama conducted the marriage between
Starbuck and Cassiopeia. She looked beautiful in her wedding
dress. It reminded him of his marriage to Serina. He held
Sheba by his side. He was no longer haunted by her death. It
was time to get on with his life. He was sure that Serina
would have wanted it that way.
     "...I now pronounce you two, binded!" Adama finished
wrapping a silver chain around Starbuck's and Cassiopeia's
hand, binding them together. Cassiopeia leaned down and
their lips met.
     The whole room of warriors cheered for them, and Apollo
and Sheba approached the two newlyweds.
     "Congratulation you two." Apollo smiled, reaching out
for Starbucks hand.
     "Thanks." Starbuck shook his hand.
     "As a gift from my Son and I, we have found you two a
private quarters for you to stay, which is on the
Galactica." Adama announced to them. It was hard to find
private quarters on the Galactica. Apollo originally moved
to another ship with Serina, until his recent move back on
the Galactica.
     "Thank you, Commander." Starbuck said. For the first
time in his life, he was happy and settled. A new life had
just started, one that including Cassiopeia, forever.

     Baltar sat on his throne, thinking of what could have
possibly gone wrong. His plan was flawless!
     Telex entered the throne room, with a centurion guard
bringing in a human, who was sort of speaking, their
prisoner. Telex had been told by the chief centurion that
Baltar wanted to see him, but he couldn't understand why. So
he decided to bring him, while he sees him for the first
time since their separation.
     "Ah Telex!" Baltar grinned, looking down at his
companion. "You have survived! I was afraid that I had lost
you."
     "No, I'm alive, and sorry to report that this basestar
is the only survivor of the explosion."
     "More bad news, I think I've heard enough for one day!
We can't even find the Galactica, they have traveled beyond
our scanning range before we were capable of going after
them. That is why I have brought you in here, Dr. Kornel. Do
you have anything to report?"
     "The droid you told me to send out has been launched.
By now, the tracking system has found the Galactica, and
will race ahead of them. They should find it in around two
or three centares."
     "Excellent." Baltar said, pleased to hear the pleasant
report.
     "If I may ask, What is it your are planning?" Telex
asked curiously.
     "I have taken steps to start my next plan. We won't go
to the Galactica, the Galactica will come to us. When the
android brings us the Galactica, the first thing we do is
bring Adama in this room, where I will get the enjoyment of
watching his slow and painful execution. They are as good as
dead." Baltar chuckled just thinking about that time, and
could hardly wait. That was all there was keeping him away
from his victory, time.

     The last battlestar, battlestar Galactica, continues to
lead the only human survivors of the deadly Cylon holocaust
to a mythical planet known as earth.

     NOTE FROM AUTHOR: After watching most of the twenty
four episodes of BSG, I noticed that they never once
mentioned anything dealing with weight. Masons is a term
that I have created! Write to me if you are interested in
using it in writing your own short story. For personal
pleasure, I will be making a minor weighing system (Ex. 16
Robens[ounces] = 1 Mason). If you would like to use my
colonial weight measurements, I can give the colonial names
for certain weights, including Pounds, ounces, gallons,
quarts, and measurements like feet and inches. I will have a
not at end of all my stories when I use one of these terms."
Joshua S. Richards