White Water By Robert Hanczyk hanczykr@gmail.com From Commander Adama's Journals: It has been nearly two hectons (1) since the Galactica confronted and obliterated the Cylon Baseship. After the initial sectons of celebration, life on-board returned to "normal." There have been no further confrontations with the Cylons ever since. We are passing the first inhabited planet since the battle. If it was one of the descendent colonies from the travels of the Thirteenth Tribe, it is more advanced than any we have passed so far in our search for Earth. The people on this planet are very hospitable and willing to help us in any way possible even though they have not traveled in space for hundreds of yahrens and do not wish to resume space travel. They have openly welcomed any shore leave parties to visit and experience their cultures. Unlike Carillon, I have discovered no reason to not trust these people. I have granted leave to many of the people on board the Galactica, but will only send them in groups no larger than fifty people at any one time. I hope to send down as many as possible in what little time we have, but I also do not want the fleet to be undermanned in the event of an emergency. "Care to tell me what is inside there?" Starbuck asked Cassiopea as they stood before a small brown building. It was one level in height. From the looks of it, four average size rooms fitted inside. It had two windows facing them, but they could not see through them. They were also unable to read the sign hanging above the door for it was written in a tongue foreign to them. For once, Starbuck was not dressed in the typical colonial warrior uniform or his popular Triad attire. He was wearing a short sleeve, casually loose, white shirt and navy blue short leg pants. Sandals were the only protection for his feet. Cassiopea, who was wearing a one-piece, red, sleeveless suit reaching from her shoulders to her upper thighs, along with Sheba, who was wearing a short beige short sleeve shirt with matching short leg pants, laughed at Starbuck's request. They knew what was going to happen, but refused to let Starbuck or Apollo in on it. Rigel was standing next to Apollo. She was wearing a new type of clothing made on the Fitters Ship. It derived from a fiber found in the new plants grown on the Agro Ship. The light gray pants were very form fitting, yet not restricting to any leg movements, ending right below her knees. The red top was a long sleeve, V-neck with a new type of special support built in for a women's body. The material was very porous to allow a person's skin to breathe and stay cool while eliminating up to seventy percent of the sweat excreted. Rigel was able to do all her exercise floor routines just as well in it as her normal work-out clothing. She merely smiled and watched the small animal scurry around the base of a tree next to the building while Cassiopea and Sheba laughed. It was all she could do to restrain from laughing herself. Cassiopea had invited Rigel and her friend, Rellus, along. Rellus was a waiter in the officer's lounge aboard the Galactica. He was not able to gain leave in the early stages due to the overload of off duty personnel frequently relaxing in the lounge since the fleet entered orbit of the planet. A special monitor circuit was installed in the lounge to enable people to watch the Triad games and IFB broadcasts. This brought even more customers who were not able to obtain shuttle passes in to the lounge. Rigel did not want to leave without Rellus. They were still trying to become really acquainted having so few opportunities with conflicting work schedules. This was a good time for them to be together, but he insisted that she not pass up the opportunity. Apollo decided to change to subject slightly. He was also curious as to what was going to happen, but acted as if it did not really matter to him. "Have any challenges to put Blue Squadron head to head with Silver Spar Squadron again?" he asked Sheba. In the celebration following the successful destruction of the Cylon Baseship, Blue Squadron competed against Sliver Spar Squadron in a viper pilot game called Tailhook Landings in the officer's lounge. The competition was hot. The results were surprising.(2) "New challenges? What's the matter Apollo?" she asked with a sweet smile. "Still can't get over us beating you in the Tailhook Landings?" Apollo looked surprised. "That challenge? You were just lucky. We played it easy on you." "Easy? Apollo, we beat you then, and we'll beat you again whenever you're ready." "Okay," Cassiopea said, breaking up the contest before it developed. "Let's all go in and you'll really see what is going to happen." She took Starbuck's arm in her own. Sheba did the same with Apollo who held out his arm for Rigel. They walked over the rest of the hard ground, kicking up rocks in their wake, to the wooden door in the center of the building. Starbuck opened the large door to allow the others to enter first. If there was anything in there waiting for them, he'd be the last to confront it. Besides, he had to watch their backs as any good warrior would do. No telling if any danger was still lurking outside waiting for the best time to strike. Inside the door was a small room. A few paces from the door was a brown, wooden desk with several small, identical, black and white pads on it. Each pad had a writing stylus attached to it. Behind the desk was a door half the size of the one the party just entered, constructed of a wood derivative - more additives than wood. To the left was a dark brown, wooden bench large enough to accommodate three people. There was a picture of a river as wide across as the Galactica landing bay above it. On either side of the river laid rocks ranging in size from pebbles to boulders. Beside that was a tree covered hillside that would take about ten centons for a person to climb it. The hillside was as long as the river was wide in the picture. On the right side of the small room was a door, as large as the one they had entered. Apollo picked up one of the pads. It had something written on it in the foreign tongue. Even though this race was a descendent of the Thirteenth Tribe, over the thousands of yahrens they had been on this planet, their script was one of the most obvious differences between them and the people of the fleet. There were no similarities between it and the various scripts of the Twelve Colonies. He and the other four were unable to decipher it. A man suddenly appeared from behind the desk. He was the height of Apollo and Starbuck, a little heavier in weight. His long sleeve shirt and trousers were green. Around his neck was a red chain holding a bronzed tree leaf. "Hello and welcome to Lorel Highlands. I am Barron. If you each please sign the pad on the desk, I will take you to the next room where your adventure will begin." "What does it say on the pad?" Sheba politely asked as she picked one up and studied it. Barron replied, with a straight face, "It is a form saying you only hold yourself responsible for anything happening to you during your adventure." "I don't like this," Starbuck whispered as he began to take a step back towards the outside door. He reached down to where his laser blaster was usually holstered. Only then did he remember it was back on board the Galactica. What a shame. He felt so secure with it. "Starbuck! You'll have fun on this. Trust me." Cassiopea reached out and pulled Starbuck up to her side after she signed the pad. It almost turned into a yank when he held his ground. Apollo, Sheba and Rigel took turns signing a pad. "I'm with you, Starbuck," Apollo said. "I hope the girls know what they are doing." Rigel turned to Starbuck and Apollo and looked them dead in the face. "Must you two need clearance from me to proceed? As Cassiopea said, trust us. This is nothing compared to the cylons." Starbuck hesitantly picked up the pad. After staring at it uselessly for a centon, he signed it and slowly placed it back on the desktop. He did not like getting into something he did not know of. It just wasn't his style. These three ladies had something big in store for him and Apollo. They were relishing with the secrecy of it. He almost did not want to find out. The longer the wait, the less he liked the situation. "Thank you," Barron said. He picked up the five signed pads and placed them in a box underneath the desk. He closed and locked the box. "Now if you please proceed through that door," Barron gestured toward the door on his left and finished by saying, "Your adventure will begin." Barron quietly stepped through the smaller door behind the desk. Cassiopea opened the door to her right and walked through it followed by Starbuck, Sheba, Apollo and Rigel. Rigel closed the big door behind her. It was actually lighter than it appeared, almost as if it could close on its own. The room they entered was half the size of the building. The first thing they saw along the wall opposite the door were large, inflatable water floats. They were made of a strong, black rubber-like material designed to endure the roughest of waters. In the middle of the float, connecting the two sides, was a rubber bar as large in diameter as the sides of the float. Around the outside of the float were loopholes with a rope strung through them. The float comfortably seated eight people. There was one on the floor in front of the party. Inside of it were five paddles. Along the wall to the right of the door were rows of yellow life jackets. Beside the jackets, against the back wall, was the machine used to inflate the floats. It was a black metal box, waist high, with two small fans on top and an orange hose coming out of its one side. On the front of the box, half way up from the ground were ten lighted switches, each with some word above it in the native tongue. To the left of the door were rows of helmets. The rows ended where there was a large opening to the outside. The only thing visible outside the opening were trees with a large patch of dirt in between them and the entryway. "At least half the mystery is solved," Apollo said as he surveyed the room. "Yeah, we're going to be floating along some waterway, using only our strength to move the float," Starbuck replied rather dryly. Before Sheba began laughing, she quickly said, "At least there is some hope for you two." Cassiopea giggled. Rigel smiled. Apollo looked at Starbuck. Starbuck looked at Apollo and shrugged. They did not find any humor in this situation as the ladies were. "People, please." The laughter ceased. The five of them remained quiet. "To your right, you see the life jackets. Please take one and put it on. You will find its fit very tight. That is the way it is supposed to be. It will stretch a little once it becomes wet. Should you fall out of the float, the jacket will keep you at the water surface. If it is too loose, it may come off of you when you least expect it." "How reassuring," Starbuck murmured to himself. He went over and picked up two jackets. He handed one of them to Cassiopea. Rigel picked up two jackets and tossed them to Apollo and Sheba. Apollo snatched one out of the air with his quick reflexes. Sheba caught hers in one smooth motion. Rigel removed her jacket from the rack and began putting it on. As simple to put on as any jacket. However, connecting the clasps was a different story. Rigel had to pull really hard to even make the clasp ends touch. Apollo and Sheba were last to put on their jackets. "Tight? I can't breathe," Rigel protested as she fastened the top, front strap. "That is the way it should be. Remember, these will stretch slightly when they become wet." Barron continued in his briefing as Starbuck continued to squirm around in his jacket. Cassiopea took shallow breaths to ease the pain in her bosom. Apollo tugged at the bottom of his jacket as if it would reach closer to his waist. Sheba? She seemed to be the only one not complaining about the tight fit. "Inside the float, you see the paddles you will be using. At the one end, where you will place one hand, you wrap it around the T grip like this." Barron demonstrated the proper way to hold the paddle. The palm of his hand faced down the paddle arm as he wrapped his fingers around the T grip. "You must hold it this way to protect yourself from any backward motion of the paddle." Everyone reached down to pick up a paddle, keeping an eye on Barron. "Your other hand may be placed anywhere along the bottom half of the shaft. It will give you the stability and power you need to stroke. When you are going through the rapids..." "Rapids?!?" Starbuck interrupted. "Yes, rapids." "Surprise!" Cassiopea, Sheba and Rigel yelled in unison. "Another challenge." It was not a question. Apollo placed his paddle at his side. He gave Sheba the most serious stare she had ever seen. "Challenge? This shouldn't be a challenge to you, Apollo. Or you, Starbuck. You no doubt did this back at the academy." "Oh, I did this all right. Only about fifteen yahrens ago," Apollo told her. Cassiopea revealed her experience with floats. "Don't feel bad, Apollo. I did this once with a Sire on Piesca seven yahrens ago. It was quite - exhilarating." She looked over at Starbuck and queried with curiosity, "Starbuck?" He looked down at the ground and began rubbing his neck with his right hand. "I, uh, sort of missed out on this part. The teacher was so beautiful, she and I started talking about...Stuff...while the other cadets were out there. I took her out every night for the next ten sectons. I never did find out how old she was." The last sentence he said more to himself than anybody else. "Starbuck!" Cassiopea gasped in shock. "Aw, Cassi, I was young and naive back then," Starbuck replied bashfully. "Who said you still aren't naive?" Before Starbuck was able to answer, Rigel looked at him and said, "Don't worry, Sure Blast. This will be the first time for me. I saw the tapes on it. Everyone on them were certainly enjoying themselves. We'll have fun. Trust me." "May I finish your briefing now? Other people are waiting." Barron spoke out impatiently. He waited a few microns to have everyone's attention before proceeding. "Thank you. As I was saying, when you are going through the rapids, you must continue to row even if your paddle is not hitting water. It eventually will. This will help keep you inside the float. This paddle may also be used to pull in someone from out of the water. The person in the float holds the paddle end while the person in the water will try to grab the T grip. Do not try anything heroic when trying to help a person. Doing so may endanger your life as well as everyone else's in the float. "Whenever you are heading for a large rock, no matter how wrong it seems, lean in towards the rock. This will prevent a backwash of water from going under the float and flipping you. "In the event, you do fall out and are in fast moving water, you must make sure you are floating on your back and your feet are in front of you, with your toes out of the water. If your toes are not out of the water, your feet may become caught in between rocks in the shallow parts of the river. If this happens, and the water is flowing fast enough, you will be dragged under. If you are unable to break free, you will drown." "This is sounding better all the time," Starbuck interjected glancing over at Apollo. "Don't worry, sir. Of the thousands of people who do this every yahren, the last drowning occurred four yahren ago. There are plenty of other floats and kayakers out there who can assist you. Floating on your back will allow your back side to absorb the impact of rocks. This is also true for your legs being in front of you. Better to go over rapids feet first than head first. If you go head first, you may not like the results." Barron stopped for a centon to see if there were any questions or protests. He looked back at Starbuck who simply shook his head. Barron continued his briefing. "This course will take you about four centars to complete. There are several places along the way, where you can pull off to the side to rest yourselves before continuing. Here is a map to show you the best ways through each set of rapids. It is waterproof and will stick to the inside of the float. It would be wise for you to study this while you are waiting to enter the river. Any questions?" No one asked any. Barron finished his briefing. "Good. You may now pick up your float and carry it outside. To the left are white arrows for you to follow to your first stop before entering the water. Enjoy your adventure." With that, Barron bowed and went back through the small door to the desk room. Apollo looked around at his comrades. He walked to the front, left side of the float. "Starbuck, would you pick up that corner opposite of me? Sheba behind me? Cassiopea in front of Starbuck? Rigel, you can help wherever needed." Everyone walked around the float to take up their positions. They placed their paddles back in the float. Rigel stood a few steps back from Starbuck and Sheba. "Ready?" Apollo asked. "Ready as I'll ever be," Starbuck replied. "I am if your are, Captain," Sheba said to Apollo stressing the word, "Captain." Cassiopea nodded to Apollo. "Transferring control to water float carriers. Proceed when ready." Everyone laughed at Rigel's remark as they lifted the float and placed it on their shoulders. Apollo in particular allowed himself to have a hearty laugh. "Let's go." Apollo took the first step. Everyone followed in time with him. After exiting, they had to turn left. Ahead of them and slightly off to the left was a small field of grass, surrounded by a purple fence, with children playing inside. More trees were directly in front of them, as well as on their right. They had to take fifty paces before they came up to the first white arrow. The arrow, made of metal, was pinned to a tree at eye level. The path continued off to the front right and began descending down the hill. "Log on the left," Apollo called out as they were about to make a sharp right turn. "I see it," Sheba told him. Rigel moved up in between Starbuck and Sheba. Carefully she stepped ahead of them and placed herself in the center of the float. The bottom of the float slightly bounced off the top of her head. She raised her hands to hold the float as they rounded the turn. "Thanks, Rigel," Cassiopea said when she felt the weight lifting off her shoulder. "How much further?" Sheba asked as she put her left arm underneath the float's side to help relieve some weight on her shoulder. Starbuck did the same, trying not to lift the float too high for the women. "There's a left turn ahead. I can't see past that. Big rock on the right, Starbuck," Cassiopea warned him. "Yeah, I see it. Apollo, how are you doing up there?" "I'm fine. Begin turning left." He began feeling the float become heavier in weight. He put his left hand under the front corner of the float and moved his right hand back slightly to keep the float steady as they rounded the left turn. The float bounced in Rigel's hands. She side-stepped to the left to help take the weight. The left turn they were about to begin sloped down on the left side. Apollo and Sheba would be receiving the weight of the float while Cassiopea and Starbuck tried not to lose their hold on it. Beads of sweat formed on Apollo's forehead. One by one, they dropped onto his eyebrows to grow larger and slide down his face. As he was the first to enter the left turn, he stretched his right arm towards the center of the float to keep himself and it steady. He desperately wanted to wipe the sweat, but knew his hands and arms had to be used to hold the float. Rigel did not change her hold. The float continued to bounce on her. Cassiopea turned sideways and used both her hands to hold up her corner. She continued to reposition her hands to retain her hold. Sheba went down around the sloping left turn. She grimaced as the weight of the float pushed her down. Starbuck held onto his end as he was the last to enter the turn. He reached far under the float, palms up, fingers curled, pulling it towards him. Six paces later, they were straightened out again. In front of them, a man was standing in the center of the path. He had on a dark brown jacket with matching pants. His hat was a medium brown with a green ribbon going around it. "You may put the float on the ground," he said as the group approached him. "Let's do as the man says." Apollo started to lower his section. Rigel hurried out from underneath the float as the others were lowering their respective corners. Starbuck let out a sigh of relief when the float was no longer in his hands. His shirt didn't need the river water to make it wet. His sweat, plenty of it, saturated various areas. He stretched his arms above his head and behind him while falling into deep thought. The expression on his face became blank. Cassiopea, swinging her arms back and forth, brushed his chest with her fingertips. He never noticed. Sheba asked, "Rigel, would you pull my arms back?" "Sure." Sheba turned around so Rigel was facing her back. Rigel grabbed Sheba's upper arms and began to slowly pull them towards her, lifting them away from Sheba's back. She moved her hands to Sheba's elbows and continued the slow lift. Sheba made a few gruntle noises. When Sheba's elbows weren't moving back anymore, Rigel grabbed Sheba's hands and finished the pull. She held them in the final position for fifteen microns before letting go. "Ah. Thanks Rigel." "Your welcome." Rigel backed off a few paces and stretched her body. Apollo did a little arm stretching of his own and walked up to the man in front of them. "How much further until we reach the water?" "Directly after that right turn up there is the river shore. You'll be able to board your float there and practice as long as you need to in the water. The water pocket is a couple hundred metrons in diameter." "Thanks," Apollo told the man. The man nodded and remained standing in the center of the path with his arms crossed. Apollo returned to his friends. Cassiopea turned to Starbuck. She placed one hand on his chest with her other hand on his lower back. "Starbuck?" she called in a very deep, sexy voice. Starbuck was a little startled upon returning himself to the real world. "Huh?" was all he could say. "Are you okay?" He nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just preparing myself for the ride. I would have been much more relaxed about this if you told me back on the Galactica." "Aw, Starbuck..." Cassiopea caressed his face with her hand. "If I had told you, it wouldn't have been as fun to see your reaction down here." Sheba and Rigel let out a muffled giggle while Apollo looked away. "Very funny. You wouldn't have thought it funny if I did it to you." "You're a big boy, Starbuck. You can take it." Cassiopea smiled so sweetly at him, he almost blushed. She moved her arms so they were wrapped around his neck as she gave him a kiss. Her lips so full and soft pressed against his rough, salty lips. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her waist, suddenly feeling so much more relaxed. His legs felt weak. Starbuck pulled Cassi closer, made their bodies press harder together to hold for eternity. Apollo had turned back around as Cassiopea and Starbuck kissed. He quickly looked at Sheba and turned to Rigel. "Ah, Rigel," he stuttered, "What do you think of all this?" She walked around the float to the front, placing her hand on Cassiopea's shoulder as she passed them. Cassi never noticed. Rigel looked around at the trees, and the curious animals in them. She stretched her arms above her head, reaching as high as she could. Rigel spoke in a soft voice at first. "It feels so peaceful here." Raising her voice to convey a strong commitment, "I'm ready to take it all on." "Maybe we should put you in a viper cockpit," Apollo retorted. "Apollo!?!," Sheba reprimanded him sternly. Apollo held up his hand to Sheba. "I was only joking." "Of course you were," Sheba nodded unconvincingly. "Of course you were." "Apollo, you'd be lost without me clearing you for launch." "I suppose I would." He let out a laugh. Cassiopea and Starbuck had let go of each other and backed off slightly towards the trees, but remaining within reach of the float. They curiously watched the exchange between the other three. Any tension previously visible in Starbuck's face and shoulders had dissolved. Rigel was filled with energy anxiously waiting to enter the water. Sheba appeared as if she were ready to take on a few cylons in hand-to-hand combat. Apollo? He simply stood there not feeling sure how much he should let himself enjoy the experience they were about to have. Boxey would be okay. No need to worry about him. The fleet had no immediate threat to worry about. His father and sister were doing just fine. So why was he feeling uneasy? Maybe it was a fluke. His friends were here. The surrounding area was full of life and peace. He should be as happy as he was when playing Triad. The simple fact was Apollo did not want to open himself up to having fun. He almost felt totally useless down here. If he were up on the Rising Star playing Triad, he'd be able to quickly respond to any threat. But down here, he did not know what the waters were going to be like. He did not know how long they would be on the river, or even what to be prepared for other than staying in the float and paddling. Apollo was not in total control of the situation as he was used to being. Even in the most dangerous of situations, he always felt control. It was not with him here. That was what made Apollo uneasy. He just wasn't as jumpy as Starbuck had been. The path guard spoke, "Attention, people. It is your turn to proceed down to the water." When they all turned to him, he turned 90 degrees left, stepped back out of the way, waved his left arm towards the path and slightly bowed. "This is it. Let's go." They resumed their positions around the float. As Apollo bent down to lift it, the others followed suit. Once the float was up on their shoulders, Rigel moved underneath it to the center and slightly off to the right. They began walking in unison along the dirt path, through the tall trees, past the guard, to the last turn they would make before meeting the river. The river filled with rocks and white water rapids awaited its next victims. Down on the shore area, the land was comprised of black dirt and yellow sand with pebbles laying here and there. It was softer for the feet than the path leading down from the building. Apollo led them to the water edge and placed the float on the ground. He looked around at them, the river, trees all around, and the attractive lady dressed in a one piece, yellow water suit. Her blond hair flowed in waves down to her midback. She had a small whistle hanging from a string around her neck. Next to her was a full size chair carved out of stone with no cushions on it. A yellow cylinder connected to a ten metron long rope was located on the seat of the stone chair. The lady looked back at him and his group. "This is it. Make sure all loose articles are secure. Everything will become wet. I have a water tight bag if you need it to protect anything. Once you're on board the float, you'll have ample time to familiarize yourselves with it and find the best way to secure your feet. There is some room between the inflated sides and the floor. For the people in the front, it will be best for you to have one foot under the bow of the float, and your other tucked underneath you. For the people in the back, the same footing goes for you except you use the center tube. Whoever is sitting on the stern, place one foot under each side. "There are two sets of rapids you really have to be ready for. One is called Big Rock. It is the eighth major rapid set you will encounter. You must head straight for the rock on the left and ride it through. The other major rapid is Double Hydraulics. It is the second one after Big Rock. Make sure you follow your map and have all your strength for these two major rapids. Other than that, enjoy your trip." "Starbuck?" Apollo called. "Yo?" "Why don't you guide the float in? I'll push from back here." Apollo stepped to the back of the float. "Right." Starbuck stepped up to the front. He turned and looked to the lady. "Are there any dangerous creatures in this water?" She gave Starbuck a very wicked smile. "None have been reported by the people who have made it through the course." Starbuck's mouth dropped as he continued to stare at her. Cassiopea shook her head. He asked, "Are you saying not everyone makes it through?" Cassiopea rolled her eyes and walked up behind Starbuck and said, "My hero," with heavy sarcasm. "That's right. Not everyone makes it through." The lady intentionally left out the fact of tired people abandoning their floats and walking back to the Put-in or the Take-Out points. She knew the water only had little foshers in it. Hardly anything to be concerned about. But why tell anyone? Let them find out for themselves. When Starbuck glanced over at Apollo, the lady gave Cassiopea a wink. Cassi received the unspoken message. "Would you go in?" Apollo asked Starbuck. Cassiopea started to slowly nudge Starbuck towards the water. She had one hand on his back and the other on his arm. She pushed him gently until he made his feet move. "Come on, Starbuck. At least, there won't be any cylons in there," Sheba told him. "You ladies are certainly impatient to get me in the water. Do you have any more surprises for me?" Starbuck asked as he looked around at the four ladies. He took one step closer. His foot was as close to the water as could be without stepping in. Little waves of water washed up over his foot. "No, Lieutenant," Rigel answered. "Just get in and go." "Sir," the lady addressed him, "You really must enter now. Other people are waiting." Starbuck held up his hands in surrender. "Okay. Okay. I'm going in." Apollo nodded his head and squatted down to push the float. Starbuck put his right foot in first. The soft, loose sand under the water wasted no time swirling up and around his foot. He put the other foot in and carefully started pulling the float in. When the float was half way in the water, Apollo asked Cassi to hop in and take the front section. Once she was in and seated on the front right, Apollo motioned for Rigel to hop on next. She sat down in the rear half, diagonally from Cassiopea. Apollo boarded next and sat behind Cassiopea. Sheba stepped in and sat in the back center. Starbuck was last. He pulled himself up out of the water to sit on the front left beside Cassiopea. "Okay everyone, start paddling." Taking Apollo's cue, they put their paddles over their respective sides of the float, into the water and started stroking them along. "I'll work on the steering from back here," Sheba informed them. Apollo made a suggestion. "Don't stroke too hard. Save your strength." The float began turning to the left as it slowly moved across the water. "Stroke back on the right. Forward stroke on the left," Sheba called out. Cassiopea and Apollo began to back stroke their paddles. The float turned to the right. "Forward stroke everyone." Apollo looked back at Sheba. "Make the commands short. Back right for the right side to stroke backwards. Back left for the left side to stroke backwards." "Okay." The float began turning to the left again in between its wobbles. "Back left," Sheba called. Rigel started stroking backwards. Starbuck stroked forward one more time before stroking backwards out of synch with Rigel. "No, back right," Apollo corrected. "Sorry." Sheba corrected herself, "Back right." Starbuck and Rigel began to stroke forward and Cassiopea and Apollo back stroked. Starbuck was still out of synch and knocked paddles with Rigel's a few times. "All forward." Ten strokes later, the float was halfway across the calm water pocket. Again, it began to turn to the left. "Sheba, quit turning us," Apollo shouted. "I'm not turning us." "Everyone stop." They all stopped their paddles on Apollo's orders. The float continued to drift until the water slowed it to a stop. "Someone is putting too much power into their stroke." "That may be me, Apollo," Starbuck said as he looked at Cassiopea, then Apollo. "We're also out of synch," Sheba informed them. "Okay. Everyone try to keep glancing to at least two other strokes and keep in time with them," Apollo pleaded. Everyone nodded. "Let's head for the bigger rock on the other shore. Go." They placed their paddles in the water and started stroking. The float wavered a little left and right on its way to the other side of the water pocket. Cassiopea was a half stroke behind Apollo. She stopped for two of Apollo's strokes in order to resume in time with him. Sheba tried to keep it straight and added a few strokes of her own behind Rigel to move them forward. Starbuck yelled out, "Shallow rock on the left." "Back right." Starbuck and Rigel continued their forward stroke while Cassiopea and Apollo back stroked. They back stroked one too many times. "Back left one stroke." Sheba stopped paddling and used her paddle as a rudder. Cassiopea had one more back stroke. Apollo went forward. Starbuck also continued forward while Rigel stroked back once. Rigel added enough power in her one back stroke to compensate for Starbuck not doing his one backstroke. They avoided the rock rather sloppily. A few more strokes placed them at the other shore. They all stopped. "I think we need a little more practice," Starbuck said. Cassiopea nodded. "I agree." Apollo looked around them. The Put-In point was behind them. No one else had yet appeared at the shore with their float. To their right were waterfalls. To their left was the beginning of the rapids. It appeared their best course would be to paddle towards the falls. From there, they would be able to place themselves in a good position to start the course run assuming they could work as a team. According to the map, the first rapids were directly following the first right turn after the Put-In. Apollo pointed over towards the falls. "Let's head towards the falls. About halfway, we can stop and turn unless we need to proceed further. From there, we have the long straight-away before entering the first turn and the rapids." Sheba looked down at the map to see how the rapids were laid out. The first area was called The Loop. After the first set of rapids, the river turned right. The second set of rapids would be hit when the river began to straighten out. After that was a straight stretch with four more sets of rapids. As far as she could tell from the map, there did not appear to be any room for resting until after the last rapids in the set of four. She saw no better course of action. "Looks good to me. I think it would be good for us to rest and regroup ourselves after this first set of six rapids." Sheba traced her finger along the map so the others could follow her. "Let's move on it," Rigel said. "No sense in delaying our destiny," Starbuck said somberly. "You'll do just fine." Cassiopea leaned over to pull at his arm and give him a quick kiss of assurance on the cheek. Sheba resumed command. "Put your paddles in. Forward left. Back right. Forward left. Back right." Her voice portrayed authority. It came across as not one to be questioned. Everyone placed their paddles in the water. Starbuck and Rigel stroked forward. Cassiopea and Apollo stroked backward. Sheba held her paddle in position to help the float turn. The float turned right on its axis towards the falls. "Everyone forward. Stroke...........Stroke...........Stroke." "Apollo? See those rocks in front of us?" Starbuck asked his friend. "Yeah, I see them." "Good. Five cubits says we can't make it through without touching them." Apollo protested the wager. "Starbuck, you know we won't. That's not a fair bet." "Just trying to liven up the situation." "Let's try to keep this thing straight," Sheba barked. "Back left." "Oops. Sorry." Starbuck put the wager aside for the centon. Instead of trying to stop his paddle and move it backwards against the water, he simply stopped the motion to see what happened. The float had enough speed for Starbuck's stopped paddle to still make it turn and save some of his energy. "All forward." Starbuck obeyed Sheba's call and began stroking forward again. He'll have to keep the stop motion in mind. It may be very useful down the river. He also had to remember to keep the paddle in motion while going through the rapids. "Should we go through the rocks, Apollo?" Sheba asked. "Yes." They were approaching the opening between the two rocks at an angle. If they continued to move straight, they would have to bank hard left at the opening to make it through. Sheba took this into consideration. They have to be prepared for all sorts of encounters with the rocks. Making a sharp turn would be good practice even if the water was calm. Apollo was also thinking about their current approach. "Back right." "No, Apollo," Sheba countered. "All forward." "Sheba, we have to turn and line ourselves up to go between those rocks." "I know what I'm doing. All forward." Starbuck looked at Cassiopea. She returned his look. They both kept paddling forward. Sheba was "supposed" to be the captain. "Back right," Apollo yelled again. Cassiopea wasn't sure if she should forward or backward stroke. "No! All forward," Sheba refuted. She kept her paddle perpendicular to the rear of the float. "Trust me, Apollo." There wasn't any more time for arguments. They were at the rock opening. Almost simultaneously, Apollo and Sheba called out, "Back left." Starbuck quickly stopped his paddle motion and left it still in the water. Rigel picked her paddle up out of the water and finished off the forward motion before putting it back in and back stroking. Sheba turned her paddle to the left side of the float. It began veering left. Two left backstrokes later, it was turned enough to pass through the rocks without becoming hung up on either one. "All forward," Sheba told them. It required four forward strokes to pull them through the rocks against the very mild current, which started and would grow stronger as they approached the falls. CRACK. Starbuck's paddle slapped against the one rock. It did not deter their progress however outside of a glance from everyone in Starbuck's direction. He gave a mean stare to the rock for blocking his paddle. How dare it have such audacity. They cleared the rocks and continued to stroke. Once Apollo felt they were clear enough to maneuver without drifting back into the rocks, he ordered All Stop. Everyone stopped and pulled their paddles out of the water into the float. "Ah, Apollo. You said it wasn't a fair wager. You would have won." "That was luck, Starbuck." Rigel did not think so. "I think it was more than that. We are becoming a little more coordinated. We just have to know who is the captain." Sheba rested her paddle on her lap. "I am the captain. That's why I'm back here." "But I can see more than you," replied Apollo. "I only have to look past Cassiopea. You have to look past all four of us." "I can still see what is ahead better than you. I also have more experience at this." Cassiopea shook her head. This may turn out to be a very long trip if these two continued fighting as to who was captain. Starbuck let out a deep breath of air. He did not want this trip to become any worse than it already was. He still was not totally comfortable with doing this. Rigel reached her hands in the cool water. It helped relieved the feeling the wooden arm of the paddle had on her hands. She shook her hands around under the water before lifting them out. Apollo wasn't usually one to give in, but Sheba did have a point. She had done this more times and more recently than he had. He'd allow her to call the strokes for awhile. If she was putting them in more danger than need be, he'll call them. "Fine. You call the strokes." "Good," she said. "We're starting to drift backwards. Let's turn this thing around and hit the first rapids." "Ouch," exclaimed Starbuck "What's wrong?" Rigel asked him. "I don't like how she said the word 'hit.' " "Sorry. How about when we ride the first rapids." Starbuck nodded his head and felt a little relieved albeit not much. "That sounds better." The first set of rapids was fairly easy to navigate. Coming out of the first right turn, along the left bank were three large boulders with a float size pocket in between each one. Two medium sized rocks and a smaller one were positioned to form a line in the middle of the river. Running parallel to the left bank was another row of smaller to medium sized rocks. In between the rows of rocks were two fairly straight aisles. These were the only passages for a float to pass through safely. They entered the first turn of the river. No matter how much they tried, their float was drifting sideways towards the left bank. Sheba saw the huge boulder directly in front of them. They had to veer away from it. However, from the pull of the current, they would not easily make a sharp right to stay close to the right bank. They also had to be careful not to become hung up on the rocks in the middle of the river. The float was exiting the right turn. It was time to make a decision. "Back right." She yelled to be heard clearly over the sounds of paddling and the water rapids. Apollo did not question Sheba's call this time. He began backstroking his paddle. Cassiopea repeated the call in a much lower tone to confirm she heard it correctly. She paddled backwards. Rigel and Starbuck kept their forward motions, still not quite in synch. Water was splashing up at Rigel and Apollo, but it did not hinder their performance. The float began turning to the right. "Good," Sheba said. "Back right. Back right." They were not going to clash with the big boulder on the left nor would they sideswipe the medium sized rocks in the middle. "All forward, NOW! HARD!" Sheba skirted over behind Rigel to add power on the left side of the float. It would help keep them pushed away from the big boulders along the left bank. Down once. Down twice. Third dip. Water splashed everywhere. It was really making the five of them wet from head to toe and slowly filling the bottom of the float. Their feet were half submerged. They were not clear of the first rapids yet. "Keep going forward. Paddle. Paddle. Paddle." They cleared the second boulder on the left side, but they had to turn slightly to clear the last one. The next rapid they went down was bigger than the first three dips. They could feel some rocks brushing the underside of their float, but did not hang up on any. A small wave washed over the side of the float on to Starbuck, Rigel and Sheba when the float hit the bottom of the rapid. "Back right once." Apollo and Cassiopea did so. "Forward left hard. Forward right." The float pushed water against the last boulder which bounced off it and hit Starbuck, Rigel and Sheba again. One more rapid to go down over in this set. It was smaller than the one they just rode, but there were more splashes. Water bounced off of everything. Starbuck was furiously paddling even when his paddle was not touching the water. Cassiopea and he went down the last rapid, hit the bottom and leveled out. Rigel and Apollo followed. Sheba held on so she didn't flip out. They cleared the last boulder and were safe for now. The water level in the float was over their ankles. Apollo yelled out, "Back right. Head for the shore." Sheba hopped back to the middle rear of the float with her paddle behind her to help in the turn. The current wanted them to stay in the middle of the river. "No! Back left! Back left!" Sheba countered. She could see the left bank was closer than the right. "Paddle harder," Apollo shouted. It required ten full, hard strokes to pull them off the main current and in to the shore area. When Starbuck saw how shallow the water was in front of the float, he laid his paddle down and jumped out into the water to pull the float in by hand. The water went up to his knees. He reached out to the left center of the float to pull the float's whole side up against the bank. Apollo hopped out of his side. He sank in the water to his waist. He helped Starbuck secure the float. "Okay, Apollo. You don't have to push anymore," Starbuck informed his friend. Apollo waded his way around the float to stand up on the land. Starbuck simply sat down in the water. It was so cool to his body, he would be happy to remain there for the next five centons. Cassiopea laid her paddle on top of Starbuck's in the middle of the float. "That was fun," she said. She had a little enthusiasm in her voice. "It was?" Starbuck asked. "Of course it was," Rigel answered. She certainly enjoyed their ride through the first rapids. "We made it through without hitting the boulders." After taking in what they had done, Cassiopea's voice had some excitement in it with the enthusiasm. "Surprisingly," Starbuck retorted in disbelief. "Oh, lighten up," Cassiopea shot back. "You heard the lady," Sheba added. "Lighten up." With that, she splashed him in the face with some water. If she could do it to him, he could return the "favor." A splashing battle ensued between them. Starbuck made a bowl out of his hands and pushed the water at Sheba in small waves. Sheba used one hand to hold on to the float. Her other hand was curved up as she quickly scooped water at Starbuck repeatedly. "Hey! Don't put anymore water in here," Rigel pleaded, "unless you want to bail it all out." She poured a container full of water directly in front of Starbuck. He received the drops bouncing off the water surface. "Three on one. Just what I need." Apollo had walked down the shore from the float to see what he could of the next set of rapids. He saw three big boulders surrounded by smaller sized ones making the left side of the river impassable. They would have to go for the one and only pathway right of the center. There were rocks on both sides, high and low flat tops. From his vantage point, he was not able to tell how many rapids were in between the rocks. The white water rapids blended together to fool the human eye. He stood and stared, digesting all the information he could, especially the flow of the rapids' water. "Hey, Apollo!" Sheba shouted. He did not seem to hear her. She called out again a little bit louder than a shout, "Apollo!!!" "Yeah?" "Come on back over." "In a centon." He continued to stare at the next set of rapids. "What's gotten into him?" Sheba asked the others. "Probably recovering from what we went through," Starbuck told her. "He doesn't know what he's missing though. It sure is cool sitting here." Cassiopea gave him a serious warning. "Stay under there too long and you may experience hypothermia." "Does this mean you don't want to come in?" he asked. "I'll just stay right here." Apollo carefully walked his way over the rocky shore back over to the float. Initially, he looked up the hill. There were certainly plenty of trees. According to the map, there was a path up there, but he couldn't see how high up it was. He turned around to look at his comrades. "I think we should start the next set of rapids. Don't want to waste too much time sitting here." "Aye, sir," Sheba acknowledged sarcastically. Starbuck used the float to help him stand up. It wobbled some under the force of his weight. Rigel had finished bailing out most of the water. There was a thin layer remaining on the black rubber floor. "After you." Starbuck gestured for Apollo to get in on his side. Apollo carefully climbed in. Rigel moved from the center rail to her side. Sheba sat up on the back. Cassiopea had not moved from her spot the whole time they were at the shore. When everyone was seated, Starbuck climbed onto his side, picked up his paddle and used it to push off the shore rocks. Cassiopea and the others picked up theirs waiting to start. "For the next set," Apollo told them, "we have to go over to the other bank. We'll have to paddle hard to keep from arriving prematurely." "Start stroking everyone." Sheba moved behind Rigel again to add the extra push on that side. They worked hard, but the current made them drift diagonally. The water was a tough foe. Apollo, looking between Rigel and Starbuck, foresaw what was going to happen. They were going to miss the opening and ram the rocks. "Back left, once." "No," Sheba protested. "Back right twice and we'll pull ourselves against the current enough to get us to the other side." "We don't have enough time for that. Back left." Starbuck looked at Cassiopea. She shrugged as best she could while still paddling forward. Starbuck rolled his eyes and kept on working. Rigel felt it was time for her to step in. If she didn't, who knew how long it would take to go through each rapid. "Starbuck, Cassiopea, stroke hard! Sheba, get to the other side and hold your paddle in while Apollo and I continue to stroke. FORWARD, Captain!" Sheba bounced her way along the back side to sit behind Apollo. She put her paddle in the water and held it firmly. Starbuck and Cassiopea put all their strength into their strokes. Since Starbuck was stronger than Cassiopea, he was pulling the front of the float slowly to the left. Water kicked up off the end of Starbuck's paddle every time it broke the surface. The splashes mostly hit Rigel's arms. A few times though, she received it right in her face. Sheba's paddle helped keep the turn gradual. She tried to keep it back far enough so Apollo would not knock it with his paddle, yet not too far away from her side making it less effective. When the time was right, Rigel yelled, "BACK LEFT! BACK LEFT!" The float quickly turned left to head down the first rapid. "All forward. Stroke....... Stroke....... Stroke......." They went over the first rapid. Cassiopea's corner went down a micron before Starbuck's corner. The backwash of water hit him in the chest. Starbuck stopped and pulled his paddle up enough so it didn't hit the rock directly beside him. When he was clear of the rock, he kept staring at the water way in front instead of resuming his paddling. Rigel only picked up her paddle long enough so she could put it on the other side of the rock. They started drifting to the left when going over the second rapid. The drop was three-quarters of a metron in height. They hit the rock at the bottom hard enough to throw Starbuck in the center of the float. He held onto his paddle while the others continued to stroke. As soon as he felt them level out, Starbuck struggled to sit back up on the side. Struggle he did. The force of the water against the float knocked him down. Gritting his teeth, Starbuck was determined to sit back up on the side. He focused on where he would be sitting. He heard and saw nothing but that point. With a burst of energy, he pushed himself to that point. His chest landed on the point. Being off the float floor, it was fairly easy to pull himself up the rest of the way and sit properly on the float side with his feet anchored under the front and side. "Back right! Back right!" Apollo shouted. They didn't have time to really prepare for the next set of rapids. "All forward!" "Rock dead ahead!" Starbuck yelled. He started to paddle again. "Back right!" Sheba ordered. Too late. They hit the flat rock barely breaking the water surface. It went underneath the float and stopped them dead. "Back right! Back right!" Sheba called out while stroking forward. Apollo did not think that was a wise move. "No! Back left." "Would someone make up my mind? I don't want to be stuck here all secton." Cassiopea was not happy with the situation. None of them were. This trip was not going to be a happy one if Apollo and Sheba kept fighting as to who was the captain of the float. There could only be one captain. Sheba changed her mind and suggested, "Bounce forward. Everyone move up to the very front and bounce forward." She pulled her paddle in and dropped it to the side. She threw herself forward to the middle tube. Sheba was laying down on it, doing a push-up type motion throwing her weight forward as much as she could without flipping over the tube. Apollo slid forward and put his right leg in the front half of the float, rocking himself back and forth. The float wobbled back and forth. Rigel moved up behind Starbuck and shook as hard as she could. Slowly, ever so slowly, they wiggled themselves off the rock. They bounced once and were floating towards the left bank. Rigel and Apollo were able to resume their positions in the rear half of the float and paddle forward. Sheba was not. There was a big rock directly in front of them. It wanted to meet the float and its workers on a personal side. "Everyone, lean in to the rock!" Apollo shouted. Cassiopea moved next to Starbuck. Rigel sat right behind him as Apollo stepped into the front center behind Cassiopea. Sheba was only able to lay where she was. The float bounced into the rock and came to a stop. "Resume paddling. Backwards. Pull us away. Paddle. Paddle." They stroked as hard as they could to pull themselves against the current away from the rock. "Back Right. Back Right." They had to make the front of the float go over the rapid first. The float was turning right to a 45 degree angle with the rapids. Starbuck went over first. The water backwash knocked him into the center of the float. Sheba was lucky he did not hit her in the face. "Keep paddling forward. Don't Stop!" Rigel's paddle kicked water everywhere. She had to paddle fast and hard for her and Starbuck. As Starbuck fought to sit back on the side, Apollo stopped paddling only long enough to yank Sheba by her arm off the bottom of the float. To him, she weighed no more than a paddle. The follow-through motion of the yank slammed her against the back of the float. Once he let go, Sheba pushed herself up, reached over to pick up her paddle and went to work. Starbuck and Cassiopea looked ahead to the next set of rapids. They saw another float in front of them. They didn't see where it came from, but noticed it was riding down along the side of the left bank. Starbuck pointed. "Let's follow them." Cassiopea nodded. They kept stroking forward to follow its path. There were rocks scattered from the right bank almost all the way over to the left bank. The only way they would clear this one would be to ride the left shoreline down as Starbuck and Cassiopea were trying to do. Starbuck paddled forward while Cassiopea paddled backwards. Cassiopea had the sense to tell the others, "Back right once." The float turned enough to keep from ramming up onto the shoreline. Sheba picked up on Cassiopea's cue. "Apollo back. Cassiopea forward. Starbuck, don't stroke too hard. Rigel, you're doing good." Apollo yelled, "Cassiopea, back." He didn't want to work for nothing by stroking backward and upset the balance with Cassiopea's strokes. He did not take into consideration, his strokes were more powerful than hers when he wanted them to be. "No! Cassiopea continue forward," Sheba shouted stubbornly. There were not any rapids to ride over but there was a big rock jetting out from the shoreline they were riding down. No time for them to turn. "Everyone, lean into the rock." Sheba hopped up to the middle rail. She planted her left foot in front of it, her right foot behind it. Rigel quickly moved up to Starbuck and held onto him as Apollo moved in between Starbuck and Cassiopea. With three of them moving, the float wobbled almost too much. Had it gone any further, Apollo, Sheba and/or Rigel may have fallen into the cool water. They leaned into the rock. Starbuck tilted his upper body back into Apollo enough to keep his body from slapping the big rock. The float bounced off it once and followed the current back out towards the center of the river. Everyone inside had to steady themselves. Only two more sets of rapids were in The Loop. "Hurry," Sheba pleaded. "Get back to your places." The next set of rapids had rocks scattered far enough apart so they would not be too hazardous to pass. The float in front of them went straight down the middle. To follow that float, they had to keep paddling the float diagonally to reach the center of the river before turning into the rapids. Four minor rapids formed a diamond along the right bank with a medium sized rock in the middle. Traveling down the middle of the river would place them over one minor rapid before meeting the major rapid at the end spanning almost the entire width of the river. "Back left twice," Sheba told them. "No," Apollo countered, "only once." "TWICE!" By the time Rigel and Starbuck finished their two back strokes, the float passed the entrance rocks and was going over the first rapid. Even though it was small, they went over with a big splash. The water had been pushed by their float against the rock at the diamond's center and bounced off back at them. The float momentum increased. "Keep paddling!" The current carried them quickly to the last rapid in the set. By traveling down the center, they missed the rapids on the right. The last rapid though, they would not miss. There were many flat rocks forming the rapid. It was possible for them to be hung up on the edge before going over if they did not move fast enough. Starbuck's corner hit the edge first. He felt the rocks rub along the underside of the float. "Paddle, Starbuck," Apollo yelled. There was almost nothing for Starbuck to paddle in. Apollo pushed harder. Sheba reached over the side behind Rigel and paddled as hard as she could. Sheba, Rigel and Apollo felt the rocks pass underneath and they finally made it over. The float took off away from the rapids. Starbuck fell into the center of the float yet again. "Starbuck, this is no time for sitting in the water. Get back in position." This was meant as a joke from Sheba. It did, however, have the serious tone to it. Starbuck did not want to sit back up on the side, but knew he had no choice. With a pull, he dragged himself up against the side of the float and used a burst of energy to sit back up on the side. It seemed the only one on his side today was Apollo for what it was worth. It was bad enough for the ladies to team up against him. But for the rapids to insist he be pushed onto the float floor was more than he desired. They were not ready to go through the last set of rapids. Strung across the river from side to side were boulders and rocks of all sizes. In the first wall, there was a small opening to the left center. Directly on the other side of the opening was a smaller wall. Once they passed the first wall, they would have to turn right or left to avoid colliding with it. The set finished off with four large rocks forming three rapids side by side. Going over any one of those three would bring them out into the open water where a long, gentle flowing river offered them plenty of opportunities to rest, mingle and practice their stroke. "Back right. Back right," Apollo yelled so they would not collide with the first wall. The had to organize themselves before tackling this set of rapids. "Forward hard left. Forward hard right. Get us to the shore!" Fighting the down river pull of the current, they quickly pulled themselves to the shoreline. Starbuck the anchor man hopped out of the float to hold it there, but did not sit down as he had done at their last stop. Apollo pointed to the wall of rocks. "Everyone look. That little opening is what we have to aim for." Doing a quick calculation in his head, he saw if they entered at an acute angle to the rock wall, they "should" be able to reach the other shore line without clashing against the rocks too many times. Sheba looked over the map. Before Apollo was able to say what he was thinking, she said it for him. "We have to aim straight for that opening from where we are. We have to keep paddling straight to the other shore line to avoid hitting the second wall." Apollo interrupter her. "We also have to make sure we don't fall over the rapids on our side. Anchor yourselves in really well no matter how much it may hurt. Starbuck...try not to fall off the side again. You have to stay in the float. All of us have to stay in the float." Sheba stepped back in before Apollo could continue. "After we pass the second wall, we have to stroke back right to turn ourselves straight for the last rapid." Starbuck was shaking his head back and forth. They needed one captain, not two. Unfortunately, as a novice, he was not capable of filling that position. He still was not sure of when to make the necessary moves. Instead, he asked, "Who's going to call the strokes?" Sheba looked at Apollo. Apollo looked at Sheba. Who was going to call the strokes? "I am!" Sheba sternly said. "That's why I'm sitting back here. Apollo, you can't sit back here because you have to stroke." She had a point. "Okay. You make the calls. After this, we're going to rest." "Fine with me. Paddles in." "I'll be listening to you, Sheba," Cassiopea informed her. Starbuck climbed back into the float, sat down and put his paddle in the water. Everyone else was ready. He began his stroke. The others followed. They slowly pulled themselves away from the shore, but not fast enough. He may not know how to do the turns, but he did know they had to go faster. "Power stroke everyone!" As they pulled themselves toward the opening, they felt the water splashing off the rocks on their right. The water was a turbulent force; it drove them to stroke harder. Starbuck really put the end of his paddle deep under the water and pushed with all his strength. The float turned slightly to the left each time he did it. Cassiopea's corner entered the opening first. It was not a high rapid, so they smoothly flowed over it on a diagonal. "Stroke hard and fast," Apollo shouted. Water was flying in all directions between the two rock walls. Waves bobbed up and down everywhere. The float went over one rock barely reaching the water surface. No one noticed it until it was too late. It slowed the float enough so the water started turning them backwards. "Back Right! Back Right!" Sheba yelled. She leaned over behind Apollo and began back stroking on that side. They were turning forward again, but they were also approaching the three side-by-side rapids. The float was at a forty-five degree angle with the shore. They were not going to turn any more before riding the last rapid. "Everyone forward. Stroke......Stroke......Stroke......" Sheba ordered as well as she could from her leaning position. While everyone else began stroking forward, she continued to stroke back. She had to try and turn them a little more to hit the rapid head on. Cassiopea's corner went down first. Starbuck next. Their combined weight along with nothing underneath them made them drop fast and pulled the float even harder over the rapid. Starbuck and Cassiopea hit the lower water surface simultaneously while the back half began to come down the face of the rapid. Sheba slid into the center. She couldn't hold herself back. Her feet stopped at the middle rail. Her knees bent as the rest of her body pushed forward. She was lying on her back on the floor of the float with water waving back and forth over her face. Rigel leaned herself back keeping her left foot anchored as far underneath the center tube as she could. Apollo bounced once on the float's side, but he didn't fall off. They were through the last rapid. Sheba had to really wiggle herself around on the floor of the float so she could sit up. Rigel tried to help Sheba to no avail. She did not have enough strength. The river was gently turning to the right. High above was a bridge with people looking down at them. Sheba did not have time to see if it was anyone she knew from the Galactica. "Keep stroking forward," Apollo called out. "We have to get away from the rapids." While the other four were busy paddling, Sheba tried to pull herself out of the water and to the rear of the float. The sloshing water refused to let her do it. There was nothing outside of Rigel's or Apollo's legs for her to grab onto and pull. They passed under the bridge and headed straight for the right bank. Oops. They would not be stopping yet. There were a few more minor rapids to cover. Luckily, they were nothing like what they just went through. "Back left, once," Apollo told Starbuck and Rigel. They began turning away from the minor rapids on the right. "Back left, again." The front of the float was facing the left bank. They had to continue to paddle to reach it. One stroke, two strokes was not enough. Once they were close enough to the shore, Apollo jumped out into the water bringing his paddle with him. He pushed the float up against the shore before dropping the paddle into the water in the float. Starbuck released his paddle and stepped out to hold the float while the three ladies all climbed out onto the shore. "Starbuck, you want to help flip this?" Apollo asked. "Yeah. What side?" "I'll come over there and help you." Apollo carefully waded around to stand beside Starbuck where the water was only up to mid-calf muscle. Apollo bent over while Starbuck squatted down to lift. They did not bother to remove the paddles. "One, two, three." No matter how hard they tried to lift it, they only pushed the other side of the float out into the river. "Let's try the other side," Apollo said. Starbuck nodded in agreement. The shore rocks would stop it from moving and perhaps aid in the flip. Apollo waded around one side, Starbuck the other. They met in the center with the water up to their thighs. "One, two, three." This attempt at lifting it was no better than the first. They only succeeded in sloshing the water around inside the float. It was simply too heavy to lift with all the water in it. Cassiopea walked around on the shore, stretching her legs. She watched the futile attempts to flip the water out of the float and walked back down over the rocks to the float. "I'll start bailing out the water." Starbuck acknowledged her volunteering. "Good. Apollo, you want to try and push this up on the rocks?" "Yeah. One, two, three. Push." They successfully pushed the float up on the rocks far enough so it would not drift back out to the main flow of the river. Cassiopea stepped in, sat on the middle rail, picked up the bailing container and began bailing out the water. Apollo waded around and walked up onto the dry, rocky land. Starbuck stayed where he was. His upper waist was against the float to hold it in place. He made a cup out of his hands and started to quickly scoop the water off to the side. Cassiopea rolled her eyes and said, "Starbuck, that's not going to help." "Yes, it will." He was hurt for her to think he was wasting his time. "The more I splash out, the less you have to bail." "Starbuck," she plainly said, "What you do in twenty or thirty splashes, I do in one bail." "So be it. Let's just keep doing it. The more we do it, the quicker the float will be emptied. Then we can relax." Cassiopea simply nodded as she continued to bail and Starbuck continued to scoop with his hands. Rigel finished stretching her legs and sat on a rock. She began to stretch her arms and back. Sheba was standing next to Apollo, but he was staring off into the distance down the river. She put her arms around him, but he did not seem to notice. He simply walked away from her. "Apollo, where are you going?" "To scout the area. I'll be back shortly." He walked down along the shore following the river leaving Sheba standing there alone. She walked over to sit next to Rigel. "I don't get what's with him. This is the second rest and the second time he's checking out the area," she said to Rigel. "I think he's nervous and has to walk it off." "Really?" Rigel nodded. "Could be. It was our idea for this trip, not his. He didn't want to be mean and refuse to come along once he found out." "You also have to consider, like you, he's a squadron leader. Always feels he has to be on the look out for trouble. Everything is his responsibility." Rigel decided to change the subject to take Sheba's mind off of Apollo. "Look at all the trees. They are so relaxing. The leaves jiggling in the wind." "And look at the little boy down there splashing water everywhere." They both started laughing as Cassiopea was casually filling up the container with water and dumping it over the side while Starbuck kept scooping it out and throwing it onto the rocks along the shore. Cassiopea looked away down the river trying hard not to laugh out loud. He certainly did seem to be enjoying himself. "Typical boy," Rigel softly said. They heard splashing out on the river. Another float had passed through the last set of rapids and under the high bridge. Cassiopea looked over her shoulder. Starbuck stopped his hand scooping and turned around. The float on the river had four guys in it. They were laughing, having a jolly old time using the paddles to splash each other with more water, slapping hands on backs, and pushing each other. When they noticed Starbuck and the three ladies, they held their paddles up high in the air and let out a manly battle cry. Sheba and Rigel stood in unison and waved their hands high in the air at the men. In return, they whistled at the ladies. Cassiopea gave a small wave. Starbuck made a fist, shook it back and forth high in the air and let out his own victory cry. The men in the float drifted out of sight still hollering and splashing. "See Starbuck. They're having fun," Cassiopea said. "They've probably done this a hundred times." "Doesn't mean you can't have fun?" "Really?" He scooped up another handful of water and threw it at her. It hit Cassiopea's life jacket. "Starbuck, Starbuck..." She dumped the container of water she was holding over his head. "I don't believe you did that." "Believe it." To top it off, she rubbed her hand back and forth in his hair. He didn't even look that bad after sleeping for seven centars. Starbuck's hair stood on end above his ears. The hair on the top of his head was more or less flat except for this one twisted and curled lock. Sheba and Rigel turned away to hide their faces laughing. They did not hide the sound of it. Starbuck heard it loud and clear. "Why don't you two come down here and take a swim," he slyly requested. "No thanks, hot shot," Sheba answered. "We'll stay up here and soak up the sun while we have a chance." "Yeah," Rigel said. "You fly boys and girls get to go down on planets while people like me are stuck up on the battlestar. Give me a break. I'm enjoying this as much as I can." Cassiopea patted him on the shoulder. "Out done again by the women. Starbuck, honey, you better give it up." "It does seem the odds are not exactly in my favor today." He shook his head back and forth refusing to believe the women got him again. His chance would come. He just had to wait for it to present itself. Cassiopea and Starbuck continued to bail out the water while Rigel and Sheba continued their girl talk. Apollo was still out of sight. "Do you feel bad about Rellus not being able to make it?" Sheba asked out of curiosity. Rigel looked off at the trees across the river for a few microns before answering, "I guess I do. I know he has to stay. Even if I sat in the lounge instead of coming here, I still wouldn't have been able to talk with him much at all. They're really keeping him busy." Rigel's voice lowered in volume and lost the joy it had a centon before. Sheba struck a wrong note. Rigel stared distantly at the trees, but did not really see them. It was a stare beyond the trees putting Rigel in her own, secluded world for a centon. Sheba changed the subject to try and liven Rigel back up. "Is he going to be ready to challenge Apollo and Starbuck again in Triad?" Rigel snapped back to reality. "Oh sure," Rigel said with glee. So much for the wrong note. "Loki and him really practice hard when they have a chance. Starbuck and Apollo better watch out. I think Rellus and Loki will have a few surprises for them." "You know it's awfully hard to pull anything on them. Starbuck and Apollo are good at predicting opponents' moves. That's what makes them so hard to beat." "We'll see. I really think Rellus and Loki will beat your boyfriend and his pal." Starbuck looked up from his scooping. "I heard that. Your boyfriend better think twice before beating me and Apollo. We were playing it easy on them last time. Didn't want them to feel too bad." "Uh-Huh," Sheba responded not believing a word of it. No matter how strongly she felt for Apollo, she knew he was not invincible. Rellus and Loki made Apollo and Starbuck work extra hard. They only lost against the champs by one point. Rigel gave Starbuck a serious glare. "Really. If you make it through this trip, we'll see how tough you can be - Lieutenant!" She stressed "Lieutenant" before easing up and laughing. "So when's the match?" Sheba asked when their laughing subsided. "Probably whenever we leave orbit and things settle down. Right now, everyone is more interested in obtaining leave passes than sitting and watching Triad. Before I left, the bridge was receiving so many calls, we had to channel them elsewhere for Col. Tigh to review them when he has time." More splashes and yells were heard. Starbuck and Cassiopea turned to look for the source. The voices sounded familiar. The source would come into view in a few microns. Rigel and Sheba stood up attempting to see over the rocks. Soon enough, the people were seen. Boomer, Deitra, Greenbean and Bree floated into view. Starbuck yelled, "Hey Boomer! Over here!" They all looked over to the shore from their float. "Turn!" Greenbean yelled from his front left corner of the float. "Bree, paddle backwards." Bree and Greenbean stroked back to turn the float. As soon as they were pointing at Cassiopea and Starbuck, they all stroked hard starting to go against the current to make it to the shore. Starbuck reached out and grabbed the rope on the side of their float and pulled them in. "Nice to see some friendly faces," Starbuck said. "Did the girls trick you into this too?" Boomer shook his head and said, "Nope. You and Apollo were the only ones in for a surprise." Boomer searched the area for Apollo, but could not find him. "Where is Apollo?" Sheba answered that question. "He's off 'scouting' the area. He went down that way." She pointed down the river. "Been enjoying riding the rapids?" Bree asked. "Us three ladies have," Rigel responded. "I don't know about the guys." "It's been.....okay," Starbuck told her. "If we ever figure out who is the real captain and know what to do, it may turn out to be fun." "Who's the captain supposed to be?" Deitra asked. "I am," Sheba stated. "So what's the problem?" "Apollo has also been making the calls opposite of Sheba's," Cassiopea replied. "Oh." "How did you know about this?" Starbuck asked Boomer. "How did I know? Sheba asked me about it after she talked to Bojay." "Bojay knew about it?" "Starbuck, buddy, the whole ship knows about this," Boomer said before breaking into a laugh with Deitra, Bree and Greenbean. "The whole ship?" Starbuck asked dumbfounded. "Actually, the whole fleet probably knows by know," Greenbean told him. "Yeah. Zara probably told them," Deitra said. "She came running to me in the women's quarters. I had to ask Boomer about it." "And Zara will be waiting to interview you and Apollo once you're back on board. She was so excited about how everyone would want to see this. She was saying something about pushing up the IFB ratings and her pay." Starbuck did not find any humor in this at all. He looked down at his reflection in the water. "I'll get you for this, Boomer. I'll make sure you're there for Zara to interview." "She's not interested in me. I decided to take this rapid ride to keep an eye on you. When Deitra told me about it, I asked her if she was interested. She asked Bree. Bree asked Greenbean..." "Terrific!" Starbuck exclaimed. "What's terrific?" Apollo asked as he appeared on the side opposite of where he left. "Apollo!" Sheba said. Starbuck told him, "Oh, it's just the whole fleet knows about this little surprise on us and Zara is waiting to interview us." Apollo walked over the last few rocks and stood next to Rigel. "Hello Boomer, Deitra, Bree, Greenbean. The whole fleet?" Sheba walked around Rigel so she could wrap her arms around Apollo. She spoke in a childish tone, "Don't worry about it. Everyone will forget about it once they come down here." Even though her and Apollo were touching, she tried to pull him closer. He didn't seem to register her presence. She squeezed him a little more; he was not going to continue acting like this. Finally, he placed his arm around her shoulders. Sheba felt his muscles loosen up a little, but he did not relax. "Starbuck?" "Yes?" "Would you push us over towards the shore?" Boomer asked. "Sure." Starbuck pushed his float with Cassiopea over to the left, further up against the rocks. It was much lighter, but still had water waiting to be emptied. He slowly placed the front of Boomer's float against the shore and held it. Boomer and Greenbean disembarked first and helped Bree and Deitra out. They climbed around the rocks stretching themselves. Cassiopea dumped out the last couple containers of water. "The last thing I need is for Zara to be interviewing me." Greenbean had a suggestion. "You could strap her to the front of your viper and send her down the launch tube." He also disliked Zara. One time, when Greenbean was on a long range patrol, he lost his wingman fighting cylons. It was a two on twelve situation. They blasted the cylons out of the sky. Three Raiders were left. Greenbean went after one. Salmoneus chased the other. They never saw the Raider come up behind Salmoneus and shoot the fatal blow. The long trip back to the Galactica was hard enough for Greenbean to handle. Zara heard about it when she was tapped into bridge communications. She chased him around the ship for the next two sectons trying to do a story on how badly he was hurt. By the end of the second secton, Greenbean was so enraged, he wanted to put Zara in front of a Cylon ground patrol. Starbuck's face lit up. He rubbed his chin and began thinking on how he would trick Zara into entering the launch bay. That would be the easy part. The plan began to form in his mind. "That's not a bad idea." "I was only joking, Starbuck." "I'm not." Starbuck continued laying out the plan. The pieces fit together. 'HEADLINES: TOP IFB NEWS. IFB broadcaster, Zara, met her unduly death today. She was mercilessly bound and gagged to the front of a viper and sent down the launch tube. No one was piloting the viper. It seemed to be a drone they use for target practice. We have no suspects at this time. Council Security is investigating the matter.' And Council Security personnel were really incompetent when it came to fleet security. They would not know a Cylon threat if it was standing right in front of them. With Reese as the head of Council Security, they would never discover who did it. Cassiopea watched the different expressions on Starbuck's face. She could tell what was going on in his mind. She gave Starbuck a look of displeasure. He never talked like that unless he was referring to the Cylons. He never killed a person in his life. Stun a person, yes, but killing... He had a hard enough time when he lost any member of his patrol. "Starbuck, you wouldn't do that," she said. "Why not?" he asked. "You told me during the secton of the awards ceremony when Zara was everywhere she could be, she got you in the landing bay while you were waiting for Chameleon." (3) "But I played her off. Chameleon cleverly snuck away." Starbuck let go of Boomer's float, reached for Cassiopea and pulled her to him. With his arm wrapped around her hips, he asked, "You didn't want to take her to Life Center and slice her up with a laser scalpel?" "STARBUCK!" Cassiopea said in shock. "I would never even think of doing something like that." "You wouldn't?" "No! I'd send her to a civilian ship. That would teach her a lesson." "Sure would," Bree said. "They would tear her apart and eat her for dinner." Greenbean disagreed and said, "Na. Daggits wouldn't even eat her meat." They all broke out into a round of laughter. All of them except Apollo. He was being too serious for the occasion. Instead of enjoying this, he was treating it as if it was a mission. It was almost as if he did not trust the people on this planet. Or maybe he felt some danger around them. That would explain why he kept 'scouting' the area. But this planet was not Carillon, not even remotely similar to it or anything like it. These people were descendants of the Thirteenth Tribe. "No one will be strapped to a viper and shot down the launch tubes while I'm in command of the squadrons. And no one will be sent to civilian ships for mass assault," Apollo told them matter-of-factly. Sheba pushed herself away from him and met him face to face. She was not going to put up with this from Apollo anymore. She crossed her arms, looked him dead in the eye, and said, "Apollo, you really know how to take all the fun out of it." He told her, "It's our job to protect the civilians. Whether we like the people or not is irrelevant." "And?!?" Sheba began tapping her foot. She kept her eyes locked on his and would not flinch. "And we'll send her down the river on a float if she really wants to know how we felt." The corners of his lips went up to a grin. He did have a sense of humor after all. Sheba stepped closer. Another step put her face very close to his. She would not let down on her stare into his eyes. Apollo lost his grin. The laughter had stopped. Rigel stepped back from Apollo and Sheba. Everyone looked on to see what was going to happen. Her foot began tapping on his. A few more microns passed. She uncrossed her arms, quickly threw them around him and met his lips with hers. Everyone cheered and followed suit. Starbuck kissed Cassiopea. Boomer and Deitra's lips met, but only for a micron. Bree kissed Greenbean on the cheek and hugged him. Rigel was all by herself until Apollo and Sheba reached out and pulled her in. Apollo kissed her on one cheek. Sheba kissed her on the other. Everyone fell quiet. Apollo kissed a person other than his son. Okay. A kiss with Sheba was not all that surprisingly. But Rigel? Whoa! Apollo kissed Rigel. Even though it was only on the cheek, it happened. Good for him. Apollo showed he was not entirely in a shell anymore. It may have been because Sheba was there and also kissed Rigel. Those two were friends. But Apollo? Everyone cheered again. Apollo was red in the face, but he continued to laugh with the rest of them. Rigel was blushing. To be kissed by Captain Apollo was unimaginable. It was not in his character. When all the jubilation died down, Apollo had bad news for everyone. "Starbuck, Cassiopea, Sheba, Rigel." They all turned to look at him. "It's time for us to leave." "But we just got here," Bree said. "And we've been here for fifteen centons. If we keep making long rest stops, this will be a eight centar trip instead of four. Since we know you're here..." Apollo was addressing Boomer, Deitra, Greenbean and Bree. "...I'm sure we'll keep meeting up." Boomer stated, "I'll make sure of it." "I'm sure you will." Cassiopea had moved back to her position on the float. Starbuck was staying right where he was to hold the float for the others to board. Sheba and Apollo began to walk towards the float, but suddenly stopped when Rigel made her stand. "As of this centon, I am now the captain of this float. Starbuck, you will retain your position in the front left. Apollo, you will be seated beside Starbuck in the front. We need you two men in the front to provide power when we need it at a more even rate. Cassiopea, your place will be behind Apollo since you're already on that side. Sheba, you'll be behind Starbuck. I will take up the rear and make the calls. We will act as a uniform team and make the most out of the rest of our journey. Any questions?" As soon as everyone pulled their dropped jaws off the ground, they boarded the float. Apollo walked over the rocks and stepped in the front half. "I'm going to make you a viper pilot yet." "No you're not. Get in the boat and man you paddle, Captain." Sheba leaned on Starbuck to steady herself as she slid into her place. "Way to go, Rigel. You certainly make Apollo worry." Rigel taking over as captain was not as much a shock to Sheba. Rigel had already shown she knew what to do. It also absolved the contradictory calls between Apollo and Sheba. "Worry? Not at all," Apollo protested. "I think we should give her a chance at being captain of this float. This is a joint venture after all." Sheba dared to say, "Better not fill this boat with too much Felgercarb." Starbuck rotated the float for Rigel to step in and sit in the rear. Once she was ready, he waded over to the side. "Everyone ready?" he asked. With a nod of heads, he pushed the float away from the shore. Clear of the rocks, he pulled himself out of the water over the side of the float. The water was reluctant to let go of him, but he won the battle. Starbuck's wet clothes clung to him revealing his body's true form. Not that Sheba and Rigel had already seen him many times in his Triad uniform. And Cassiopea, well... Starbuck took his position in the front left of the float. "Paddles in. Stroke...... Stroke...... Stroke...... Stroke...... Back left twice...... Stroke...... Stroke...... Stroke......" They were on their way down the river running fairly smoothly under Rigel's guidance. Everyone kept in time with her calls. There was no confusion when it came to making turns to follow the river or avoid rocks. The float accelerated more rapidly than it had at any point in The Loop. Most of all, everyone, including Starbuck, was more relaxed in doing their share of work to kept the float in motion. After a centar and a half of coasting down the tamer portion of the river, riding through a level two horseshoe-shaped rapid, playing bumper floats and water battles with Boomer's float, and a couple of water bailings, they approached one of the two most difficult rapids on this course, Big Rock. Big Rock was positioned directly in the heart of a 95§ left turn in the river. The main boulder marking the entry of the rapids and giving name to the set of rapids was beside the left bank of the river. A man was standing atop the boulder directing floaters as they approached the entryway hoping to insure their best passage through the rapids. Across from it was a peninsula of assorted rocks and weeds extending a third of the way across the river towards the entry boulder. Some people had already anchored their floats on the up-river side of the peninsula and were standing along the peninsula of rocks to study the rapids. Others in floats were stationed along the right and left banks far enough from the rapids entry not to be pulled in, but close enough to watch others attack the rapids. A few kayakers were spread out along the river offering assistance where needed. Rigel decided to follow suit and survey the rapids before attempting to go through them. None of them had ever been here. The uniform movement they acquired over the tame river under her guidance was not enough to stab these rapids blindly. They had to make sure they were ready and knew what waited ahead. There was an area on the side of the peninsula facing them where they could secure the float and join the others in studying the rapids. One float of people was moving away from the right bank across river to the left bank. "We're going to head for the peninsula. Aim for the area behind that float crossing the river. Back right twice, then hard forward. Be on the lookout for those other floats along the shore." Apollo and Cassiopea back stroked twice. Apollo used all his strength in his forward motions. Starbuck also stroked hard. That's why the men were up front - to provide equal power on both sides and use their strength to pull them out of any situations they might encounter along the river rapids. From the look of determination on Starbuck's face, a stranger might think he was fighting for his life. That would not be far from the truth with Big Rock and Double Hydraulics, the meanest, unmerciful rapids the river had to offer. Quickly passing behind the float crossing the river, they sped by the shored floats on the right to the open area on the peninsula. Rigel had made the correct calls - again. "Starbuck. Apollo. Stop stroking. Pull out your paddles." Rigel said. She positioned her paddle in a vertical line in the water to act as a brake. They were ten metrons from the peninsula. "Cassiopea and Sheba, stop stroking, but keep your paddles in the water." The other two women followed Rigel's orders. The float slowed even more as the water became shallower and dragged on the motionless paddles. Cassiopea's paddle knocked along the river bottom. She turned her attention to the water instead of the peninsula. Watching the water depth, she kept her paddle right above the rocks along the river bottom so it did not catch on any of them. They were five metrons from the peninsula and still slowing. "Starbuck, put your paddle end right below the surface. Apollo, lay down your paddle and prepare to jump out and hold us once we reach shore." Apollo nodded. Starbuck kept his attention of the peninsula and placed half of the paddle end into the river. They were at a comfortably slow pace. When the float was only a metron away from the peninsula shore, Apollo jumped out into the shallow water and pulled the float to the shore. Starbuck withdrew his paddle from the water and placed it in the float before jumping out. "Good work, team," Rigel complemented them. "You're not such a bad captain," Sheba told her. "No, she's not," Apollo agreed. "We might make you a behind-the-lines squadron coordinator." "Apollo, what do you think I do? Eat mushies after clearing you for launch. Like I said, you need me. I program in all the flight paths for you guys and girls to get you from the Galactica to the battle anticipating the predictable Cylon flight patterns. I keep you from crashing into each other after launch and head in the right direction for battle. That's why I'm always on duty during red alerts. You can't make it without me." "Point noted, float captain," Apollo submitted. "I'll make sure you're officially recognized for it." "Too bad you can't do their ground attacks. Give me less bodies to patch up, especially yours, Starbuck." Starbuck looked at his lover with a very straight face. He would affectionately grab her if she were in reach. "You love to take care of my body." Cassiopea was ready for that remark. She replied, "I love to have your body in one piece, preferably one uninjured piece. It's better to hold you that way." Sheba, legs crossed and arms folded, and Rigel, legs stretched out in front of her with her hands resting on the back of the float, let out some "Ooo's" for Cassiopea's parry. Apollo turned his attention to the river and examined the rapids area. There were too many tall, slim rocks and weeds blocking his view. Same problem when he tried to look down river. All he could see in that direction were the trees peeking over the rocks and a small hill in front of him. His mind blocked out the match between Cassiopea and Starbuck. "At least you get to know me inside and out when I'm injured." Rigel and Sheba gave some "Aah's" for Starbuck's jab. "The inside of your body is not what makes you. Surgery doesn't show me Starbuck, the man, just Starbuck, the body. You have to be conscious so I can see Starbuck, the man." Sheba cheered, "Tocuhe." "What good am I without my body? I need both me and my body to be Starbuck." He pointed at her and shook his finger up and down. He had her this time. Rigel and Sheba turned to Cassiopea anxiously awaiting her response. "Only if you're alive. A dead Starbuck is a useless Starbuck." She got him and she got him good. Sheba and Rigel applauded Cassiopea as victor of the duel. Starbuck shook his head. He was defeated again by a woman. This was not his secton. To make it worse, Cassiopea crossed her arms and showed she was very satisfied with herself. Rigel patted Cassiopea on the shoulder. Sheba reached over to touch her right thumb with Cassiopea's right thumb. It was a small gesture between them meaning "Congratulations" more or less. They also did it whenever Starbuck and Apollo scored a point in Triad. Apollo was still staring off down river. He had taken a couple steps to stand atop a knee-high rock so he could see down river a little better and not leave the people he was with. At least he was not going to leave them just yet. Starbuck had to walk over to Apollo and shake him to bring him out of his hypnotic trance-like state. "Apollo. Apollo! Hello Apollo!" "Huh?" "Are we going to walk over there?" Starbuck asked and pointed in the direction of where others were standing examining the rapids. "Yes. Let's go over there." It sounded like an android response. He stepped down off the rock and left Starbuck and the ladies behind. Sheba hurried off the float after Apollo. Cassiopea stepped off and stood next to Starbuck waiting for Rigel. After Rigel carefully climbed out of the float, Starbuck pulled it further up on shore to prevent it from drifting away. It would need to be drained again before they left. The water level was ankle deep. Any deeper meant disaster. The three of them followed the path Apollo and Sheba took to the rapids viewing area. Walking over to the viewing area was not easy. Most of the rocks were off-white and light gray in color. There was no order to the placement of pebbles, rocks and boulders. Some stepping stones wobbled when walked on. Others did not budge. A few wet, very smooth rocks were as slippery as ice. Tiny pockets of water were scattered in between the rocks. A third of the way to the viewing area, a stream no wider than a person's hand ran from somewhere near the shore over to the river. Weeds and tall, thin plants had pushed their way in between the rocks to reach as high as they could. A thick tree root was exposed, reaching out to the constant, river water supply. Starbuck took the lead. He hiked confidently over the rocks seeming to know where to place his feet without thinking. He moved slowly to keep Cassiopea and Rigel close. Cassiopea slipped on a wet, smooth faced rock. Starbuck reached out to grab her arm and keep her steady. Rigel placed her hands on Cassiopea's hips until she showed she recovered her footing. Five steps later, Rigel lost balance. Thanks to the boulder on her left, she planted her hand on its side to prevent falling. It was another fifteen, carefully placed steps through the treacherous terrain until they were able to stand beside Sheba and Apollo. A float with four people was advancing to the entrance of Big Rock rapids. They were ten metrons from the shore line, not heading for the entryway boulder. The man standing on top of the boulder, dressed in a bright yellow shirt with matching short leg pants and a red hat, yelled at them to move closer to the shore. He frantically waved his arms in the direction of the shore. When the people in the float finally paid attention to him, they did not have much time to correct their course. Another twenty microns they would be over the rapids. They desperately tried to turn the float to the shore. A few strokes did it, but they had only fifteen microns left. The front of the float was facing the shore, but it was at a 45ø angle to the rapids. The man on the boulder screamed at them to straighten out. If they did not, the float would spin on its front end axis making the rear of the float go over the rapids first. Rear end over first meant catastrophe. They had to straighten out. The two women in the rear half turned themselves around to face the rear of the float and began stroking as hard as the could to slow the approach. It gave the men in the front an extra five microns to straighten against the water current. The man on the front right dug his paddle deep into the water and backstroked. His one powerful backstroke straightened them enough to face the boulder. Ten microns remaining. The women turned themselves again to face the front of the float. The woman on the back left lost her footing in the turn and fell into the middle of the float. The other three were in no position to help her. They had to keep their paddles in motion. Five microns until the rapids. She had her arms draped over the side, but could not pull herself up. She held on tight. The float was at the boulder. The water current forced the water to hit the boulder hard and send it off to the right over the rapids. The float followed suit. It slowly turned to the right, but not enough. The two people on the right of the float had to backstroke. The front fell over the face of the first rapids. It hit hard on the water below. As the back end went over the rapids, the lady in the middle of the float was pushed forward despite her effort to hold on. She was squished into a lump against the middle tube of the float. There was a large rock behind the boulder on the lower water level. It wasn't even a quarter the size of the boulder. The float had to be turned more to the and closer to the center of the river before the river banked hard left. The man in the front left of the float used his paddle to push off the rock behind the boulder while the two on the right continued their chaotic stroking. Four rocks strewn across the river formed three side-by-side rapids. The float went over the middle rapid barely missing the rock awaiting it on the right. The worst of the rapids set was over. The woman who was still sitting on the side of the float helped her friend off the bottom of the float. Once the other woman was seated on the side, she joined in the effort to turn the float left as the river banked hard left. In the middle of the turn was a rock on the left and a minor rapid on the right. They went between the two but were unable to avoid the rapid at the end of the sharp turn. The front left corner went over first. A wave pushed the man sitting there off the side onto the floor of the float just as has happened forty microns before to the lady behind him. The other three maintained their positions dipping over the final rapid of the set. They were in the clear on their way to the shore to recover and bail out the water. Apollo, Starbuck, Cassiopea, Rigel and Sheba watched in awe witnessing how the floaters worked their way through the rapids. They no sooner turned their attention back to the entryway boulder when the next float with four people went through. This team had a much better time conquering the rapids. Their experience was evident. A kayaker was the next one through. She moved swiftly through the water to the boulder. The water banking off the boulder over the rapid carried her along like a feather floating on the water. Three microns after she was on the lower water level, the kayak rolled her underwater. Quickly she finished the roll on the kayak axis and was in the upright position. She held her paddle above her head and shook it a few times. Whether it was to stretch her arms, shake pain out of them, or rejoice, Apollo and them would never know. She pivoted on the center vertical axis of her kayak and finished the rapids. "Is everyone ready for this?" Apollo asked looking over his four comrades. "I'm certainly ready. Doesn't frighten me a bit," Sheba told him. "I'm also ready," Cassiopea joyfully said. "Looks like we'll have fun with this one. Starbuck?" "I'll live." "Let's get going then," Rigel suggested. She was excited and ready to take on any rapids. "Let's have some fun." "Fun? You call that fun?" "Yes, Starbuck, I call that fun. It will be thrilling. It will be exciting. You'll see." "I suppose I will." Rigel turned first to walk back to their float. Before they left, she would have to bail it - again. Sheba and Cassiopea followed her next speaking softly so Apollo and Starbuck would not hear them. Starbuck looked back at Apollo who was still staring at the rapids. "You coming?" "Yeah. I'll be there in a centon." Starbuck let him be and followed the ladies to their float. Apollo did not make the slightest move until they were well out of sight. Instead of following them, he walked to the side of the peninsula opposite the float. He stood and watched the rapids from the new angle for another two centons. Satisfied he had a good picture of them in his mind, he walked over to the shore. Over fallen leaves and hillside weeds, around one tree, stepped over a fallen one, climbed some larger rocks, Apollo walked further down river away from the float. He studied the rapids until he had them memorized. Searching the trees on the other side of the river, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Looking all around for any possible dangers, he found not a one. It was time to climb the mountain. Apollo did not want to travel too far down river on foot. It would be best for him to remain within a yell's distance of his float and his friends in case they needed him. He began the ascent being careful where he placed his feet. There was a rustling of leaves to his right. Instinctively, Apollo grabbed for a laser pistol he did not have. He quickly scanned the area around him, but found nothing. There were plenty of trees behind which anything could be hiding. There it was again. He searched the ground and still did not find the source. Carefully, Apollo took a few steps up river constantly searching for what was making the sound. It may have been nothing, just a little, harmless animal searching for food. But he dared not take a chance. It might have been a poisonous animal or someone waiting to jump him. Apollo had to be ready to protect himself by whatever means necessary. Walking past a few more trees, he felt a presence. Unable to tell what living organism caused the sensation. His heart was pounding. Blood pulsed heavily through his body. His mind raced a metron a micron. Something ran over his feet. Apollo looked down to see a creature no longer than his hand, no wider than his thumb. Its surface was a black, scaly substance. It had six legs, three on each side. Directly above its version of feet or paws was a circle of miniature spikes no doubt used for defensive purposes. Whatever it was, it made quick its escape from Apollo out of sight under a rock. It was time to breathe again. He shook his head and decided it was time to return to float. Rigel did not have to bail as she thought she would. Cassiopea borrowed a container from the people in the float next to her team's to bail out the water in the front half of the float. Sheba was bailing out water from the back half of the float. Rigel was granted a rest. She had bailed out enough on previous rest stops. Knowing what was in store for them on the two most difficult rapids along the river, she took time to stretch. It would be best for her to be limber and have no distracting pains. To be ready for anything was the best preparation for her. She walked into the tree area off the rock peninsula There was an area with more dirt than rocks just wide enough for her to do a split. She began with simple arm and leg stretches to ease the stiffness out of her muscles. Three centons of light stretching told her it was safe to do the really serious stretches. Starbuck, standing on the shore, had taken a fascination to watching Rigel stretch. He carried out some jokes with Cassi and Sheba on adding little foshers as mascots after the next fill of water in the float. Maybe even take some back for display in the Life Center or Science Lab. But he did keep his attention mostly on Rigel's ability to flex her body in such unimaginable positions. At least unimaginable for a man to do. Rigel sat on the ground. Her legs were in front of her with her feet together. Very slowly, she bent over, holding her feet, touching her head to her knees without a flinch. There was a grace to the way she did it. She held that position for ten microns before slowly straightening again. She repeated this two more times. Sitting straight-up with her legs still in front of her, Rigel split her legs side to side, again slowly, until they were almost in line with her shoulders. Left arm up in the air, she bent her upper body to the right. Held it for ten microns before sitting up, putting her right arm in the air and bending to the left. She repeated this twice. Cassiopea looked up at Starbuck and noticed his gaze on Rigel. When she looked at Rigel stretching, then glanced back at Starbuck, the wonderment in his face became apparent. She recalled a time when he talked about his running at the academy. He used to stretch until he was able to stand, feet together, and let his feet slide apart to the sides. He never did make it all the way to the floor, although he came real close. Other guys made fun of him, called him names. Eventually, he stopped. As a man, he never dreamed of doing what women can do with their bodies. No wonder he was fascinated in Rigel's stretches. After her side bends, Rigel placed one hand in front of her, one in back. Her legs were still split side to side. With practiced ease, she turned her upper body to the side and rolled into a split with her legs in front and behind her. Looking over to Starbuck, Rigel grinned and winked at him. Starbuck could be so gullible at times when dealing with women. She did a few more bends. Pain and stiffness left her body in humiliated defeat. It was time for Rigel to really show off. She stood up and stepped to the tree closest to her. Not quite what she needed. The next one over was very close to another tree. She walked over to it, leaned on the one tree and put her right foot above her head on the close neighbor tree. Still leaning on the one for support, Rigel pressed against the neighbor tree until she was in a full standing split. Held it for ten microns before repeating the split with her left foot above her head. "You-who. Starbuck," Cassiopea called him in a sweet voice to knock him out of his reverie. It wasn't until she threw a container of cold water at him when he snapped back to the real world. "Amazing. Simply amazing." "Ah, Starbuck? Where's Apollo?" Sheba asked him. "Still back at the place we left him as far as I know. Said he'd be here in a centon." Rigel walked back over to the float, carefully stepping over the rocky peninsula. "It's been almost ten centons." Sheba was becoming irritated at Apollo. Every rest he went off to "scout the area." She was hoping they would spend a little time together seeing how the rarely had a chance up in space. Somehow, at their next rest, she was not going to let him "scout the area." If he did, she was going with him. Either he was going to spend some time with her or she'll.....she'll do something to make him regret it. "Starbuck?" It was Rigel this time calling for his attention. "Yes?" "Hold my hands." She held out her hands, arms bent. Starbuck joined his hands with hers looking her in the eyes. Even after the rough work with the paddles, Rigel's hands were so soft. It sent a funny sensations through his body. Did he see a sparkle in Rigel's eyes? Probably. When he felt her pulling on his arms, he reflexively stiffened his muscles. The next thing he knew, her right calf muscle was resting on his shoulder. He looked over at her bare leg in astonishment. She had to stand on her tip toes and firmly hold his hands, but it was worth it. When he looked back at her, she made her lips meet his. Knowing she may never had another chance and didn't want her good friend, Cassiopea, to become too angry, Rigel held her lips against his until she felt him beginning to relax. It lasted only 3 microns. Quickly, she pulled away and let her right leg fall back down to its standing position. Releasing his hands, with a very big smile on her face, she said, "Thank you kind sir." Looking over to Cassiopea, she received a thumb's up. It was not often Cassiopea saw Starbuck with such an expression on his face. This was a centon to remember. Sheba also enjoyed seeing it. Did Rigel do the right thing? There was Rellus still up on the Galactica. They still did not know each other very well, but were trying. If he would he been able to come, none of this would have happened. Maybe the kiss on the cheek from Apollo and Sheba made Rigel's adrenaline rush. Maybe it was the joy of being off the Galactica. Actually, it was a combination of the two. They were all friends, especially her with Sheba and Cassi. Being friends with Sheba helped open up Apollo and accept Rigel for more than a bridge officer. Cassiopea approved of the quick kiss. It was all in good fun. Rigel did not have to worry. Apollo appeared out of the trees in the area where Rigel was stretching a few centons ago. The expression on his face was no lighter than it had been when they left him. Sheba attempted to lighten his mood a little. He could not continue returning to this seemingly unpleasant charade. He was laughing after they first met with Boomer, Bree, Deitra and Greenbean. He enjoyed the bumper floats and water battles with them. Why could he not continue to enjoy himself? Sheba called out to him. "Apollo, you just missed a once in a lifetime event. He still was not smiling. "What did I miss?" Cassiopea told the story. "Starbuck was watching Rigel stretch. When she had him dazzled, she came over, put her leg on his shoulder and kissed him." The laughter started. "Starbuck didn't know what hit him until it was too late." "Oh." Said it such a nonchalant way. "Guess you had to be here to see it," Sheba said disappointingly. In his typical air of command, Apollo stated, "Time to go. We'll go up river, cross over to the left bank and..." At this point, none of the other four were even smiling. Apollo finished off his statement with a sense of humor. "...show these rapids who is the boss." Sheba, Rigel, Starbuck and Cassiopea all cheered and felt their adrenaline go ballistic. Sheba climbed past Cassiopea in the float, out onto the shore and over to Apollo. She wrapped her arms around his waist and locked her hands together. He was not going to get away from her. "Apollo," she whispered in a sweet, pleading voice. "Yes?" Sheba locked lips with his. While still in the kiss, she moved her arms up his back, placing a hand on either upper half of his back. She pulled him even closer. Starbuck let out a long, low whistle. Unbelievable. Sheba used her lips to open up Apollo's. The tip of her tongue teased Apollo's tongue. He tensed at this unexpected turn of events. He had not experienced a kiss like this since... Since he was with Serina on Kobol standing among the temple ruins. Serina. Apollo had barely had time to really know her. Everything had gone by at turbo speed. To even think of sealing with her while his squadron was dying and his best friend captured by the cylons. Serina wanted them to marry then, before it was too late. Before all was lost. If they hadn't then, they never would have. Serina was killed on Kobol by a Cylon. Apollo could never get over it. He stayed inside his shell of sorrow instead of trying to move forward. There was time for mourning Serina's passing, but not as long as Apollo had. There was another woman who cared for him very much. At first, the friction between them was high. Commander's son versus Commander's daughter. You would have never thought anything would develop between them outside of being Colonial Warriors. Sheba lost touch with her father, the legendary Commander Cain, when he went up against three baseships. She had not heard from him since. She went threw a period of sorrow, but she accepted the fact she may never see her father again. Sheba also matured. She was no longer daddy's girl on a battlestar. She had to prove who she was and earn the respect on the Galactica unlike that which she was given aboard the Pegasus. Sheba opened up. And with due time, had grown fond of Apollo. Before Apollo and Starbuck flew a Cylon Raider to the Cylon Baseship to disable its scanner so the Galactica could attack and destroy it, Sheba confronted him in the Raider and told him how it was. How two people were too scared to show their feelings for one another. How they should give it a chance, do away with the refusal to avoid the inevitable. After that mission, Apollo realized he did really care for Sheba. And now it showed. Their lips were still locked. Their tongues having a lovers' duel. Starbuck wagered, "Two cubits says they'll hold it for two centons." "I'll see your two cubits and raise you one for three centons," Cassiopea bet against him. Rigel beat both of them. "Five cubits for five centons," she said. "You're on." Starbuck didn't think Sheba could hold a kiss with Apollo for that long. Ah, he moved his hand from Sheba's waist to her back. Maybe Apollo was not yet ready to unlock with Sheba. Starbuck started a chant with a clap. Cassiopea and Rigel joined in. So did the others in the nearby floats. For two and a half centons, Apollo and Sheba had their lips stuck on each other. When he began closing his lips, Sheba pulled hers away, but not by far and only long enough for Apollo's lips to finish closing. As soon as he did, she gave him the Seal of Approval kiss. Two and three-quarter centons. It was not until Sheba and Apollo let go of each other when the realized they had an audience. Apollo was still gasping for breath. Sheba's smile was bigger than it ever had been. She waved to everyone and received whistles, hollers, and cheers in return. Apollo was blood red in the face. "Looks like you won the wager, Cassi," Starbuck admitted in defeat. "What wager?" Apollo asked out of astonishment. "We wagered against how long Sheba could hold it out with you. I said two centons. Cassi said three. Rigel raised it to five." "Five centons?" Apollo was shocked. He never ever kissed a woman for that long. "Ooo, Rigel. You're pretty bold making that wager," Sheba told her. "I wanted to see it happen. It's about time you two throw away the wall between you." "She has a point," Cassiopea said. "I was going to put both of you in Quarantine until you faced the fact you are both made for each other." Apollo protested. "You can't hold me, a Squadron Leader, in Quarantine." "Try me," Cassiopea dared. "It's better than the brig. That's were Boomer and I were going to do," Starbuck joked with Apollo. "Lock you two away with each other. The brig would open you up real quick. I know." "Okay. I'll admit it now." Apollo finally conceded and faced the fact. "I do care very much for Sheba. It nagged me since our first encounter in the Officer's Lounge. We had more pressing matters at the time and I tried to ignore it. But now, I see what I've done wrong. Enough said. Let's get going. The rapids await us." He received a round of applause, not that it helped his blush disappear. Cassiopea returned the container back to the neighboring float. Rigel climbed in first since her position was furthest from shore. Sheba climbed in after Cassiopea moved to the back. Starbuck and Apollo waded into the water and pushed the float out far enough from shore to clear them from the shore and other floats for paddling. They climbed in. Rigel had her float in the water. Everyone else picked up their paddles, but only held them. "Paddles in." There was room on the left to turn. "Back left. Forward right. Back left. Forward right. Back left. Forward right." They rotated the float one hundred eighty degrees. "All forward. Stroke.....Stroke.....Stroke....." Her calls were filled with energy. Her voice spread the excitement. They were ready for Big Rock. They would conquer it. Nothing could stand in their way. Once they were along side of the left bank, Captain Rigel with her float and crew had to wait for another float to enter the rapids. That was good though. Watching it would show them what or what not to do from their new vantage point. The float was directed by the man atop the boulder to move a little closer to the bank. Heading directly for the face of the boulder, at the last micron, the float washed over the right side of it. The front of the float led the way. Its crew had no problems at all handling the rapids. "Couldn't be easier," Rigel gleefully said. "We're ready and we're going to show everyone else just how well us visitors from outer space can do." With nods and agreements from the other four, they went to work. "Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke....." Rigel had Apollo, Starbuck, Sheba and Cassiopea in almost perfect time. They also must have been on the correct approach line. The man on the boulder did not make one course correction motion to them. He simply nodded with his arms crossed. The float's speed was increasing with each stroke. When Starbuck realized how fast they were approaching the boulder, he almost decided to try and turn. He remembered though they had to aim for the boulder and they will be fine just like the float in front of them. In five microns they were there. The float rode the water current as it diverted off Big Rock to the right over the rapids. Water rushed in over the side of the float as it curled off the boulder. They easily went over the rapids, met with a large splash, and were heading directly for the middle of the river as they were supposed to be doing. "Back left once." The float was still traveling rather quickly towards the second rapids in the Big Rock set. Starbuck and Sheba were finishing their back stroke as the float went over the second rapids in perfect formation. As they dropped over, water bounced off rocks and jumped out of the river in front of them as if to make sure they were wet. Starbuck and Apollo received most of the splash from the front, but Sheba, Cassi and Rigel received their fair share from the sides. "Easy back left." The float had to make a gradual turn to pass between a medium sized rock, about the size of a person sitting on the water, and a rapid. "Back left twice. Don't stop paddling." According to the map, the safest passage for the last rapid in the Big Rock set was to the right of the rapid, not actually going over the main part, but squeezing between it and a larger rock than the one they just passed. Rigel's float turned a little too much to the left. There was not enough time to correct it. However they had enough speed to almost fly over the rapid. They were fortunate not to become hung up on any rocks. The contact with the lower level of water was a bit hard, but they flowed out of the set very nicely. Rigel yelled, "Great work. I knew we would do it." The river widened with a calmer flow of water than what the rapids offered. People in other floats and kayaks drifted along watching others finish the rapids. Apollo stopped his work. "Let's look back at what we did." Starbuck and the other three followed Apollo's cue. They casually drifted over towards the left bank. Starbuck looked back at Rigel and the rapids they just conquered. "I thought these were supposed to be hard." "They are," Sheba answered. "We worked well as a team and made it easy." "Did you have fun?" Cassiopea asked Starbuck. "I suppose so," he answered. His voice had no excitement or joy in it. It did show more exhaustion than anything. "You suppose so?" "Yeah, well, we really worked hard. There wasn't much time to enjoy the ride." "Don't you feel good about it now?" "I guess I do." Cassiopea looked up into the sky and rolled her eyes. Starbuck's blank expression had not changed. "How much more of these rapids do we have?" Sheba checked the map. "Six. We have one more between us and Double Hydraulics. After Double Hydraulics, one more tricky rapid, and three easier ones. Just hang in there, Hot Shot." "Easy for you to say," he retorted. "I'll be happy when we're finished." Cassiopea crossed her arms and shot him a mean look. "Haven't you had any fun yet?" "Yeah. The fun parts were when we were resting. I can't believe Rigel is so agile." "It takes practice and plenty of loosening," Rigel said. Cassiopea smiled even though she was a bit upset at Starbuck's earlier remarks. The situation had some light. "Starbuck. Starbuck. Starbuck. I'll have to teach you the medical wonders of a woman's body." "You mean there are some I don't know about?" Everyone laughed. They knew Starbuck had his fair share of women before Cassiopea. Even after he met her, his charm still wooed the women. Who was he to turn away a lady? But his heart was with her. She had waited for him to come to his senses. "Obviously. Rigel had you captured with her stretching." "And she made it look so easy." Rigel had a proposal for Starbuck. She knew he probably would not be able to resist it. "If you think that was something, you should come see me during my workouts. That is if you have any free time in your busy warrior schedule of viper patrols, Pyramid and Triad." "I'll have to make the time," he responded to her offer. Cassiopea slid up along the float side closer to Starbuck and rested her hands on his shoulders. She whispered into his ear, "Starbuck, dear. You do have much to learn. I know you're going to be surprised at what you don't know. By the time I'm through teaching you, you're going to know every bone in a woman's body." "And then some." Starbuck had lifted his previously unhappy demeanor. His body relaxed. His face lightened in color. Apollo even broke a laugh; that long kiss with Sheba had some positive affects on him. Sheba and Rigel let out some "Oouuuu's." Starbuck was still looking towards the rapids. He saw a float with some familiar faces come into view. He pointed in that direction. "Hey, look. It's Boomer's float." They all turned to see Boomer and Greenbean leading the float through the final Big Rock rapids. Everyone on Boomer's float was laughing as they went beside the final rapid. Starbuck forgot where he was and tried to stand in the float, but was quickly pulled back down thanks to Apollo's quick reflexes. The ladies started yelling and waving their arms. The float was rocking back and forth in the water. Bree noticed and pointed Boomer and Greenbean in the right direction. The guys paddled hard. Their float accelerated heading straight for Rigel's float. Starbuck knew the final result. It had happened too many times already. "I think they're going to ram us again." "They certainly are, but we will have a surprise this time." Apollo made sure his voice was down low enough so it wouldn't carry to Boomer and company. He looked around at his partners as he said, "When they're within five metrons of us, paddle down river as fast and hard as you can." He shook his finger in the air. "Don't give them time to turn. If we do it right, they'll pass right by us." Pointing to the bogey, "Watch. They're closing fast." With the down river current as an aid, Boomer's float was traveling a metron a micron. At ten metrons distance, they would reach Rigel's float in ten microns. "Now," Apollo said low, but hard. He and Starbuck quickly placed their paddles in the water and stroked with all their might while the girls stroked as fast as their arms would move. Boomer and Greenbean tried to adjust their course but did not have enough time to do so. The right side of their float brushed the rear of Rigel's float. "Thought you were going to win again, didn't you?" Starbuck asked them. "Ah, you got us this time, but we'll get you again. Count on it," Bree warned them. "I'm scared." Starbuck shivered his body a bit trying to appear scared, but yet not. Deitra threatened him. "You should be, Starbucky." She stressed that word, 'Starbucky.' Hands on her hips, she had the most serious, Don't-Mess-With-Me-Buster look. "You know us women warriors will beat your...ahem." She had cleared her throat instead of saying what she really wanted to say. "You were just lucky." "I call what we did a smart tactical move," Apollo said. "You would. That's why your the Captain of Blue Squadron - SIR." Greenbean had a note of sarcasm on the word "Sir" to make it funny. He hoped Apollo took it the right way as it was not intended to be a sign of insubordination. Apollo did laugh with everyone else except Starbuck. "Starbucky?" Starbuck looked at Cassiopea and repeated, "Starbucky? Do you believe she said that?" "Yes, I do - Starbucky!" "Did you like Big Rock?" Sheba asked. "Yup," Boomer replied with assurance. "It was the best one yet. I hope Double Hydraulics is even better." "We're ready for that one. We'll blow over it like we did with this one." Rigel sounded pretty sure of herself. Starbuck nodded even though he would still be happier had none of this happened. The strikes against him were outnumbering those in his favor. "My float and crew are ready for anything this river will give us. We're mean. We're tough. We're Parodas." On Caprica, before the Holocaust, children were always warned not to go out by themselves in the dark. Parodas were lurking in every dark corner waiting to kidnap little boys and girls. Good children tasted good. The Parodas would skewer and devour good boys and girls if the children were lucky. If the children were naughty ones... Well, there were many horrifying tales of what happened to naughty boys and girls. The most merciful one was being strung across the sky as Cylon interceptors. With any luck, when the Raiders came too close to the kids, they would be repelled by the naughty, reprehensible, atrocious children. Parodas were conquerors. Parodas were unstoppable. Parodas were the ultimate nightmare. "I think we're also ready," Greenbean added. "You can think?" Cassiopea asked. She used her paddle to splash water at Greenbean to see how ready he was. It hit him square in the face before he could react. His eyes opened wide. His mouth dropped open. Greenbean was shocked. The floats were not engaged in a water battle. Why should Cassiopea do that to him now? "That's wasn't nice." "And the river is?" she asked him. "The river doesn't pick who it wets." Greenbean picked up the container beside him in the float. It already had water in it. He just had to pour the water over Cassiopea's head. Her hair was soaked and messy as it was before Greenbean did what he did. Now, it lost any curl or wave left in it, dropping straight down on all sides, covering her face. She had to move the hair away from her eyes. Greenbean was really laughing at what he had done. Cassiopea had a smile, but it wasn't for what he had done. It was for what she was about to do. Her paddle was sitting in her lap. She quickly picked it up and knocked the T end of it into Greenbean's life jacket, almost pushing him overboard.. He wasn't laughing anymore, but everyone else was. "Are we going to race you to the next rapids?" Apollo asked Boomer. "I'm up for it. Deitra?" "We'll leave them in our wake, won't we Bree?" "We certainly will. They'll be looking for foshers to pull them." Greenbean finished it out. "And the foshers will swim far, far away." "We'll see about that," Starbuck said. "You will?" Boomer asked. He made a quick hand motion. Bree, Deitra, and Greenbean stuck in their paddles and began to backstroke. Boomer used his to push away from Rigel's float. "Right." Boomer and Deitra backstroked to turn their float down river. "GO! Come and catch us," Boomer yelled to the other float. Rigel resumed her duties as captain of the float. "Paddles in. Back right once. Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke....." The crew obeyed their float captain and were in pursuit of Boomer and his crew. Rigel did not stroke, but continued to use her paddle as the rudder to make slight turns when needed. At their current pace, they would reach Bottle of Ambrosia Rapids in five centons. This rapid set only had one rapid in the middle of the river between two boulders half the size of Big Rock. "Starbuck?" "Yeah?" "Don't use all your strength yet. We're catching up. When the front of our float is in line with the back of theirs, do your powerstroke." Apollo said all this while doing long strokes using some, but not all his power. "Yeah." "Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke....." Bree and Deitra kept looking back to mark their position in relation to Rigel's float. "They're closing in on us." The guys used a little more strength in their stroke while Apollo and Starbuck kept a steady rhythm. They continued to shorten the distance between them and Boomer's float. A flat rock was in the course line of Rigel's float. Boomer's float would run along side it. She had to have the float pass the rock on the left and stay out of Boomer's float wake as much as possible. "Back left quick. Stroke..... Stroke..... Back Right quick. Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke....." They successfully passed the rock and did not lose much distance. "Starbuck," Apollo called with some struggle, "Add a little more power." "Yeah." "Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke....." A centon's distance away, Rigel's float met up with Boomer's float. Starbuck and Apollo put as much power into their stroke as they could. Greenbean and Boomer struggled and pushed as hard as they were able to do, but it wasn't enough. If they had not used up their strength at the beginning... Too late to think about that now. Sheba and Cassiopea were gritting their teeth adding what power they had left. Deitra was trying. Bree was almost exhausted. Her face was blood red. Rigel smiled and waved at her opponents. Twenty strokes by Apollo and Starbuck placed them ahead of Boomer and Greenbean. They passed the first big boulder in Bottle of Ambrosia before Boomer and Greenbean. All of them except for Rigel collapsed over the sides of the float. "We did it. We definitely did it. Rest over people. We're drifting to the rapid." Starbuck looked up and saw what Rigel said was true. "Oh Frak," he cried in despair. Apollo was not too happy either. At least this was an easy rapid. They had time to rest after this one. According to the map, there was a big turn in the river and plenty of room before they started Double Hydraulics. Everyone saw the turn, but not beyond it. "Let's go, buddy. We'll pull through." Starbuck's response was a groan. Sheba and Cassiopea had no energy to contribute to the stroke. Rigel slid over behind Cassiopea and began to do a light stroke. "Cass, Sheba. You have to pretend to stroke. Just move your paddles." "Can I pretend in my head?" Sheba asked. "NO! Up. The rapid is almost here." Cassiopea pleaded, "Starbuck. Paddle for me." "Up Cass. You can rest in a centon," Rigel told her. Cassiopea and Sheba barely had time to sit up when they went over the rapid. Fortunately, the rapid was not high. They only had to be concerned about the boulders on either side of it. When they were clear, Starbuck and Apollo stopped stroking. They let their paddles drag in the water. Boomer's float was coming over, but no one in his float was paddling. They used their paddles to push off the boulders to keep them straight. Once they completed the rapid, Boomer and Greenbean let the float drift right up behind Rigel's float. There was a sandy island on the left bank blocked by three large rocks. Rigel saw that would be the best place to rest and be out of the way. "Look. A place to rest on the left. Come on. Back stroke left." Apollo nodded. Starbuck went limp until Apollo shook him. The men worked again to direct the float. Paddles in, they used what little energy remained in their bodies. They passed the three rocks on the up-river side of the island. Starbuck let himself slide off the side of the float into the shallow water. His legs had some strength left in them unlike his arms. He hung his arms over the side of the float and pulled it back with his legs against the sand. Rigel slid over the back to push the left side of the float against the shore and let Starbuck rest. Cassiopea, Sheba and Apollo remained in the float lying back as best they could without losing balance and falling into the river. The sun beat on their bodies, but they did not feel it at first. Boomer was using only one arm to move his paddle through the water. Greenbean leaned over the side and used his hands in slow motion. His paddle was in the float. The water current helped them slowly drift down river. Boomer's float went through the opening in the two rocks off the right bank and one rock against the island. After that, Boomer and Greenbean literally dragged their float to the island. Deitra and Bree were still too exhausted to offer any help. Boomer had barely enough strength left to plant his paddle in the river bed to act as an anchor for what it was worth. He laid one arm on the T end to help keep it and the float steady. Rigel was the only one with energy. She had a decision to make. She could either sit and wait or rub someone's muscles to perk him or her up with enough energy to rub someone else's muscles. The second choice was better, but whose muscles would Rigel message first? Cassiopea was the best choice since she was a Med Tech. She knew how to revitalize people. Rigel walked out of the water and sat on the shore next to Cassiopea. "Cass?" Rigel said in a soft whisper. "Cass?" The second time she dragged Cassiopea's name out a little longer making a three note song out of it. Cassiopea opened her eyes and rolled her head in the direction of Rigel's voice. "Come on, Cass. Sit up. I'll help." Cassiopea tried, but she was unable to move out of her position lying on her back on the side of the float. Her arms and legs remained limped, draped over the sides. Rigel began to rub Cassiopea's upper left arm with both of her hands. She could feel the heat of friction between them. Slowly, Cassiopea regained enough strength to sit up. Rigel rubbed energy into Cassiopea's right arm. Sheba had rolled over into the water on the bottom of the float. Boomer looked around and leaned back on his arm to keep the paddle in place. Greenbean was groaning. Deitra dropped her right leg into the water and laid on her tummy on the side of the float. Bree was sitting on the floor of the float with her head resting on her arm which was on her side of the float. They remained motionless for the next five centons absorbing the sun's heat. "I'm okay," Cassiopea whispered to Rigel. "I'll take care of Starbuck. Why don't you revive Sheba?" "Okay. Oh, Sheba. Time to come back to life." Rigel walked into the water over to Sheba. She began messaging Sheba's right arm. "Come on, Sheba." Rigel tapped her hand against Sheba's cheek. "No more resting. You have to sit up and move around. Sheba." Sheba was unresponsive outside of a few muscles spasms. Shaking her arm failed to move Sheba. Dropping cold water on Sheba's cheeks was useless. When all else fails, there was one thing almost guaranteed to bring a Colonial Warrior to alertness. To have its full affect, Rigel had to yell. "CYLON ATTACK!! TO YOUR VIPERS!" Sheba quickly sat up, received a head rush for doing so, and looked around in short, sudden movements. It took her a half centon to figure out there were no cylons. Starbuck and Apollo had also darted up into combat mode. They reached for holstered laser pistols that were not there. Cassiopea had to back away from Starbuck in case he should unknowing flail his arm around and hit her. She had only laid her hands on him when Rigel yelled, "STARBUCK! APOLLO! ALL CLEAR!" They continued to look around before the "All Clear" actually registered in their brains. The expressions on their faces told the story. They were not happy. "You didn't have to do that, Rigel," Starbuck scolded her. "Oh yes I did. All four of you were out. Cassiopea came to pretty easily, but Sheba was flat out exhausted. Since you two worked hardest, I knew it would be hard to revive you. They longer you stay down, the more you hurt when you begin moving. Your muscles will cramp. Doing this will keep you in less pain, make it easier to stretch and move, and still be ready for Double Hydraulics." "We didn't do that one yet?" Starbuck asked. He was rubbing a pain away in his head. The sudden alert and movements of his body gave him a head rush just as it had to Sheba. "No, Lieutenant. We just raced Boomer's float and beat them." "I heard that." It was a low grumble, but the voice clearly belonged to Boomer. Rigel hollered, "Get up over there. Otherwise you're going to regret it." Moans were the only response she received. Directed back at her crew, she said, "Let's go people. Out of the float and walk around. I need to bail us out so we can begin. Now out, Out, OUT!" She clapped her hands in a steady beat. "Move it. Splash cold water on your faces. That'll help. OUT!" Starbuck dragged himself over the side onto the shore. Cassiopea, as the least troubled, stepped out of the float and walked around the shore. Apollo let himself slide into the water. The cooler temperature certainly did make his muscles tingle after all the heat they absorbed from the sun. He was lucky his muscles did not go into shock. Sheba pulled herself over to the shore. Her leg muscles were refusing to respond to any brain commands. She had to use her arms to lift her legs over the side of the float and plant her feet on the shore. Rigel began to rub life back into one of Sheba's legs. Sheba rubbed her other leg until she was able to move them. With everyone out of the float, Rigel boarded and began bailing out the water. Apollo carefully paced back and forth in the water. Cassiopea tried to pick up Starbuck by his arm. With all the water weight on him, he was too heavy for her to pick up. Instead, she shook his arms until he began moving. Sheba crawled around on shore until she gained enough strength to stand. "Apollo, would you go make sure Boomer, Greenbean, Bree and Deitra are moving?" Rigel asked. "Sure." He waded around the large rock in the water over to Boomer's float. They were moving around in the float, trying to stretch their arms. Bree leaned over the side and splashed water in her face. She seemed to have the most life in her at the centon. "Do you have enough strength to finish this?" Apollo asked. Deitra put her hands on her hips. "Of course we do, Captain. We just need to rest for a few more centons. I won't be surprised when we depart before you." "Before me? You have plenty of water to bail out. Rigel's bailing ours. So don't be 'surprised' when we leave before you." Bree faced Apollo and asked, "How do you think you're going to do, sir, on the next rapids?" "We're ready for them. With Rigel calling the strokes, we'll do just fine." "You sound pretty sure of yourself for someone who hasn't done this since the academy," Boomer said. "We know what we're doing now." "Okay. If you say so." "You don't think so?" Apollo asked his friend. "You did do Big Rock fine. If you think you'll do Double Hydraulics fine, then who am I to argue? You know better than me." "We'll see you on the other side." "Of course you will." Apollo waded back over to his float. Passing Rigel, who almost dumped a container of water on him by accident, he looked into the float to see how much water remained. It was below Rigel's ankles. "A couple more centons," she reported. "Good. I'll make sure the others are ready." Apollo finished his wade around the float onto the shore. Cassiopea and Starbuck were standing and talking. Sheba was bouncing on the balls of her feet, waving her arms back and forth with what little energy she could muster. Slowly the life was coming back to her. Apollo asked, "Are we all ready to conquer Double Hydraulics?" Sheba ceased her bouncing and walked to Apollo. She placed her hands on his forearms. In a deep, sexy voice, she whispered into his ear, "How about we do some personal conquering first?" "Maybe I should take you up on that invitation..." "Maybe you should." "...in a nice, quiet cabin in the woods. I'll make sure we have a very nice fire crackling in the background..." "Ooh this is sounding good." "...with nothing to disturb us all night long except the sounds of the night sky." "Couldn't happen soon enough. We'll have a night to remember." Sheba's eyes were burning like wild fire, but sparkled like stars. "Cassi and I are ready." Apollo asked, "Are you?" "Let's just say I'll be happy when we're finished. We've been at this for how long? Three centars? Three and a half?" "Something like that," Sheba answered him. It was a little over four centars. She did not want to damper Starbuck's feelings anymore than they were. That race sure did take its tool on him. "Float's ready. We can leave now." Rigel dumped the last container of water into the river. She lifted her legs to rest them on the opposite side of the float. Before the others were able to board, she did some quick stretches without losing balance and falling over the side. Cassiopea cuddled up to Starbuck. "Don't worry. I'll make you feel better when this is all over." "Promise?" he asked. "Promise." It was sealed with a kiss. Sheba and Apollo were waiting at the float for Cassiopea and Starbuck. Rigel moved to her captain's position at the rear of the float. Cassiopea had to climb in next to take her seat in the right rear. Apollo took his place in the right front. Sheba climbed in to sit on the left rear half. Starbuck, as it seemed to have been a duty he volunteered to do, pushed the float away from the island, clear of the shallow water, before he climbed in to sit in the front left. The invincible voice of Captain Rigel spoke. "Paddles in. Transferring control to paddle crew." That remark earned some laughs. It lightened the spirit of the float crew. "Begin on call. Back right. Forward left." As a loyal crew, Apollo and Cassiopea back stroked while Starbuck and Sheba stroked forward. And as a loyal float, it turned clockwise before moving forward. As it cleared the large rock against the island, Rigel and her crew waved at their friends, Deitra, Bree, Boomer and Greenbean, who were still reviving themselves. Boomer and Greenbean were bailing out the water. Bree and Deitra were standing on the island shaking life back into their bodies. "All forward. Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke....." There was a gentle, ninety degree turn in the river. At the end of the turn, Double Hydraulics awaited. Over on the right bank of Double Hydraulics was a sandy island, similar to the one at Bottle of Ambrosia. At the heart of Double Hydraulics was the source for its name. From the center of the river over to the left bank were rocks forming a two metron high drop of water. From the force of the water, anyone caught in the receiving end of the water fall may be easily pulled under never to see the surface again in his or her lifetime. A float on the lower water level in this the area may become trapped near the rapids quickly filling with water from the fall of water. "Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke.....Liven Up People. We have rapids to Conquer!! Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke.....Battle the Waves. Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke.....Watch the rocks. Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke.....Ring out your socks. Stroke..... Stroke..... Stroke....." Starbuck double checked his foot, the one in the middle of the float. His other foot was anchored underneath the front of the float. Did he see wrinkles? Yes, he did. He's been in the water way too long. At least he thought so. "I'm not wearing socks." Cassiopea, Sheba and Rigel laughed at him. For Starbuck's sake, Apollo attempted to hold his in. He knew the wear was beginning to show on Starbuck. It was on all of them. "That was a joke, Lieutenant. Resume your strokes. We're about to hit the first rapids." Starbuck looked up and saw the first white water area lying in wait for the float. He resumed his paddling, checking to see if he was in synch with the other three. The river flowed faster. Starbuck glanced back at Sheba over his left shoulder when the float went over the rapids. Starbuck tilted over the side of the float. Cassiopea yelled at the top of her lungs, "STARBUCK!!!!!" Too late. Without both of his feet firmly anchored, he lost his balance and fell out of the float. The water current was gaining more strength as the distance to the heart of Double Hydraulics shortened by the centon. Starbuck's fall overboard was nothing major as he was able to grab onto the rope strung around the outside of the float. His paddle, however, had a mind of its own as it drifted down river away from the float. Apollo stopped paddling to give Starbuck a hand to pull him back in. Whatever weariness was in Starbuck's body before the fall had vanished. His adrenaline raced throughout his body giving him new life. "Are you okay, Starbuck?" Cassiopea asked. Her heart had stopped beating. Her lungs ceased movement when her lover fell over. It was not until after he was back in the float did she even dare to blink. "Besides being drenched again, I'm fine." "I'm glad you're still with us." Sheba moved up so she could pat him on the shoulder. He was almost like a brother to her. Starbuck saw his paddle swiftly drifting away from them. He extended his arm and pointed down river. "Let's go after that paddle before it gets away." Starbuck worried not about the ten cubits it would cost him for a lost paddle. He did know he needed a paddle. He knelt on the floor of the float and used his left hand as a substitute paddle. Apollo began a power stroke in pursuit of the missing paddle. Cassiopea and Sheba resumed their rhythm stroke until Cassi decided it was better if Starbuck had her paddle. "Starbuck. Take my paddle." She tossed her paddle to him. He caught it, sat up on the float side and began his power stroke. Even though he was out of synch with Apollo, they did gain speed in hot paddle pursuit. Rigel moved behind Cassiopea. She began using her paddle to move the float instead of turning it. In the process, she completely forgot about the map attached to the middle tube. The heart of Double Hydraulics was upon them. Rigel's float had moved towards the right bank following the lonely paddle. The bank was about five metrons away. Apollo noticed they were on the wrong side of the river. The water current was strong. The paddle vanished over the rapids. It was much too late for him and his friends to do anything but go over the highest part of the Double Hydraulics Rapids. The last thing Starbuck remembered was watching the paddle go over the rapids. The next thing he saw too close to his face for comfort was the flat face of a rock under water. Before he knew it, he was floating on his back. He never noticed the flip he did underwater. Were it not for the life jacket, he would have been dead. His head was leading the way down river. Sheba was thrown out of the float past Starbuck. Her face hit the water surface hard. Water found its way into her lungs. She skidded along the water surface, slowing to a relative stop. Her life jacket kept Sheba bobbing along on the surface. She fought against the water to roll over onto her back. Her head also guided her down river. Sheba's face was blood red as she gasped for air. Apollo did not drop straight into the water as Starbuck did. He also was not thrown as far as Sheba. He landed on the water surface on his side and instinctively rolled onto his back. Being somewhat dazed, he just floated down river behind and to the left of Starbuck. Rigel was whipped out of the float. She grabbed her life jacket as she sailed through the air. Her feet hit the water first. The drag slapped the front of her body hard on the water surface. It felt like she hit a stone wall. The angle at which Rigel hit the water, placed her four metrons to Starbuck's right. She tightly held on to her life jacket as she was pulled down river head first. Cassiopea's case was unique. Without a paddle when they went over the high rapids, holding on to the rope of the float was all she had been able to do. The float was caught in the turbulent waters at the base of the rapids with her underneath. Cassiopea had never released her grip on the rope when she fell out of her seat. With the bounce of the float at the bottom of the rapid's face, it landed on top of her. Water entered her lungs almost drowning her. She beat against the bottom of the float hoping to push it off of her body. Everything was dark. Cassiopea couldn't see nor breathe. Air was something Cassi was not afforded with the float bouncing against her face in the turbulent waters. Her head bounced off a rock. She kicked even more. What seemed to be an eternity only lasted fourteen microns. Somehow, Cassiopea did not know how, and she really did not care, the float no longer bounced on top of her. What she did know was she still could not breathe. Cassiopea coughed and coughed and coughed. She had to remove the water from her lungs. Starbuck orientated himself. With his toes pointing up, he looked for help. No kayakers were around them. Apollo was on his left. Cassiopea drifted even further away well beyond his reach on the other side of Apollo. Sheba floated far in front of him. Rigel was to his right. Starbuck thought of Cassiopea first. He must help her. With Apollo between him and Cassiopea, Starbuck would not reach her. He had to act fast, not wait around for help that may never arrive. Rolling onto his front, Starbuck swam his way to Apollo in a freestyle stroke. Only took six microns to do so since Apollo was so close. "Apollo! Get Cassiopea. She's having problems." He pointed to Cassiopea. Apollo saw her. "Okay." Apollo began to turn and swim to help Cassiopea. "Starbuck." That was Rigel who called him. He looked back to where Sheba floated. Her position was too far in front of him to reach. The least he could do was save Rigel. She did not have the strength to battle the river. Either did Sheba or Cassiopea for that matter. Cassi would be fine with Apollo's help. If anything happened to Sheba, he would never forgive himself. "I'm coming, Rigel. Hold on." Starbuck began freshly swimming as well as he could with the bulky life jacket around his upper body. It was not an easy feat. "I'm coming." He continued to swim to Rigel. The current pulled him down river. "I'm almost there." When he reached her, Starbuck locked his right arm with her left arm. "I got you. I'll get us over to the shore. Stay still." Connected with Rigel, he had to side stroke his way to the shore. It was a slow journey using only his right arm and his legs to pull them across the down river current. It granted them no mercy. He pulled and pulled and pulled. "We're getting there, Rigel. Don't worry." She remained quiet holding onto her life jacket. Starbuck continued swimming towards shore. There was a nice, small area inviting him over. "We're almost there." He continued to reassure Rigel as much as himself. Starbuck had strength he did not know about. The temperature of the water had no effect on his body. Nor did the current's pull down river. The only thing on Starbuck's mind was to put Rigel and himself on that shore. "A few more microns. We're there." Rigel unlocked her arm with Starbuck's. They sat on a large, flat rock which was under water. Their waists and legs were underwater, but that did not matter to them. Rigel and Starbuck were safe at the shore area. Apollo swam against the current to Cassiopea's side. Floating on her back, she was coughing out water. "Gotta swim. Get to the shore." Cassi continued to cough out water. She could not breathe. She never heard Apollo's words. He pushed her towards the shore battling the water current insisting they float down river to the next rapids. As with Starbuck, Apollo knew he had to swim to shore. Nothing else mattered except dry land. He urged Cassiopea to swim. Again, her response was coughs. His foot caught an underwater rock. It did not stop him. Determination pushed his survival instincts. There was an alcove ahead. Boulders as high as the ones on the opposite side of the river forming the rapid falls, formed a "C" shaped area with the opening facing its counterparts where the water flowed. The shore leading into the alcove angled down steeper than usual along the river. That became his goal. It offered protection from the current and the lowest shore area. Apollo pushed Cassiopea more and more. "Swim!" He wished she was able to help. The distance from the shore slowly decreased. Swimming diagonally up river against the current tested Apollo's strength. How long would he last? Not soon enough, they were at the shore in the alcove. Cassiopea continued to cough out water. Apollo walked out of the water helping Cassiopea do the same. When she was secure, he began pacing. Sheba was oblivious to everything, unable to see or breathe. A double kayak with a man and his wife waited eight metrons down river for her. They held their kayak in place as a barrier. With their right side facing Sheba, it guaranteed Sheba's stop. It was also safer for Sheba to float to them instead of them moving to her. The extra time granted preparation to receive Sheba and prevented any unnecessary accidents with the double kayak and her. As Sheba approached, the woman yelled for her. Sheba's ears contained too much water for her to hear. A male kayaker proceeded to collect the loose as they passed the double kayak. A second kayaker assisted him. Together, they carefully held the paddles as a bridge between the two kayaks and rowed to the closest, oversized, flat-topped boulder along the right shore. The couple in the double kayak prepared to grab Sheba. The man used his strength to keep position. His wife yelled to Sheba to hold up her hand. Sheba remained oblivious to this. Her mind was in turmoil not knowing quite what to do besides try to breathe. The lady reached out for Sheba to grab onto her without tipping the narrow double kayak. Sheba felt the grasp on her arm. She opened her eyes, but her vision was blurry. She barely made out the two figures. The lady in the kayak yelled, "Hold on to me." Her husband began to move the kayak to the right bank. The area beside the boulder where the paddles were placed, would be the best for Sheba. He paddled gently enough to not aggravate the problems Sheba had, but to swiftly take her to shore. Sheba released her grip on her life jacket and reached to hold the helping hand. They were there in two centons. The lady did her best to put Sheba up on the shallow part of the water. Sheba realized this and made an effort to get out of the water. Her vision cleared up to an extent. The rocks blurred on their edges. So did everything else. With a struggle, Sheba stood up in the shallow water and walked carefully up onto the shore. "Are you okay enough for us to leave you?" Sheba nodded. "Thanks," she gasped. "Your paddles are on the boulder." Sheba nodded again in acknowledgment and walked further away from the water, coughing to clear her lungs. The land rose enough to meet the backside, flat top of the boulder. She did not stop walking until she was next to paddles on the boulder. The surface was smooth and relatively horizontal. Sheba sat down next to the paddles. She brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. The sun became her best friend for the next few centons offering plenty of warmth. "How are you feeling?" Starbuck asked his float captain. "I'm fine now. I was helpless out there." "I wish I was able to help Sheba. She was too far ahead of me to do anything." "Don't worry. Look. She's over on the big boulder across the river." "I see her." Starbuck scanned the shoreline from Sheba up to the falls. He saw Cassiopea's head pop up from behind another large boulder area. Apollo was not in sight. He lifted his arm to point. "There's Cassi up some on the right of Sheba." "Yeah. That's her." "I don't see Apollo." "I do. He's below her in the alcove area. I see his back." Starbuck leaned over towards Rigel. He was barely able to make out a slice of Apollo standing in the shallow water of the alcove. Starbuck was very close. Rigel felt a little of his body heat sink into her skin, but the thought of any sensual contact with him did not pass through her mind. The water experience had been too overwhelming. She was happy to be sitting near the shore desiring nothing more. "What happened when we went over?" Starbuck asked. "You fell out and we all followed. I was last. I lost sight of Cassiopea. I don't care what they tell us at the Put-In, there is no way to float other than head first. I couldn't turn to put my feet first even with my life depending on it. The water pulled me too fast to do anything. Are you feeling okay?" "I'm fine, just a little tired. It wasn't too hard to swim. With the life jacket keeping me up, I knew I would save one of you." "Thanks again." "Don't mention it. I knew what I had to do. I didn't see any kayakers. Cassi was too far. Apollo can hold his own. I wanted to pull both you in, but Sheba was too far..." "Don't worry about it, Starbuck." Rigel put her arm around Starbuck's shoulders for comfort. "You did the best you could. We're here. I think we should sit up on the land. I'm getting cold in the water." "So am I. You have enough strength?" "Sure do." She stood. Starbuck followed. Four steps placed them on the shore. No one was around them. In fact, the whole shore area from the rapids on down was vacant of people. Floaters and kayakers scattered themselves around the river. Some people were on the opposite shore to Sheba's left. But Rigel and Starbuck were alone. Nothing to do but sit and wait to be rescued. "Boomer, isn't that Cassiopea and Apollo?" Boomer looked down the river at the island where Greenbean pointed. Sure enough it was them. He and Greenbean guided their float through the narrow opening between two rocks towards the alcove area where Apollo and Cassiopea were. Two kayakers were towing an empty float it. Bree asked, "They fell out, didn't they?" "Certainly looks that way," Boomer replied. "I hope they're okay." Deitra's voice had the most shakiness in it. She had a great deal of respect for her Captain as most of the viper pilots did. Since Boomer and her no longer hid their feelings for each other, whenever there was bad news, Deitra took on the worry of two people. She felt that would help keep extra weight off of Boomer's shoulders for him to act properly. Boomer knew it. When all was said and done, he and Deitra spent time alone in some dark corner of the Galactica. Even a shower stall where Boomer found peace gave them enough privacy to remove the worry from their hearts with the comfort of love.(4) "So do I." They passed along side the biggest rapid of Double Hydraulics and turned into the alcove. The kayakers who returned the empty float to Apollo, untied the tow rope, waved and left. Cassiopea continued to cough out water. "Having some problems here?" When Boomer asked the question, he did it so nonchalantly to lighten the situation. Deep down, he was very concerned about his friends even though it did not surface. Deitra showed his and her concern. Apollo no longer paced. He looked from Boomer to Cassiopea, back over to Deitra, Bree, Greenbean, then down to the water shaking his head. "I suppose falling over the high rapids is a problem." Cassiopea's coughs stressed just how much of a problem they had. Her lungs were sore from all the coughing. She felt the water still clinging on the inside refusing to leave. Cassi had no desire to talk yet. "Starbuck, Sheba and Rigel?" "I don't know. I haven't seen them yet." Bree saw Starbuck and Rigel chatting on the other side of the river. Before they entered the alcove, Deitra saw Sheba sitting with paddles on a boulder. Greenbean watched as Cassiopea continued to cough and perpetually clear her throat. "Starbuck and Rigel seem fine. They're sitting on the shore over there talking - all by themselves." Bree pointed so the others were able to quickly locate the two, isolated floaters. "And Sheba is down on our side on a big boulder. I can't see her now, but she's there. I don't know about the rest of you." "I can't see her," Apollo replied. "Climb up on shore and look down. Trust me. She's there," Deitra said. Apollo walked out of the shallow water, over the rocks, up high enough to see out of the alcove. He spotted Sheba who did not appear to be too happy. Can't blame her for what she went through. What they all experienced was not exactly a happy one. They did survive. That was what was most important. Apollo still felt out of control with the situation. He was a captain and should have been more observant after Starbuck initially fell out of the float. It was up to him to make sure they finished the course without any more difficulties. Boomer asked Apollo, "How much longer are you going to stay here?" "Until Cassiopea's ready to leave. I'll go down to help Sheba with the paddles. After that, pick up Rigel and Starbuck and finish the course." "We'll stay close to you the rest of the way." "Thanks, Boomer." Apollo turned and began his careful walk to Sheba. Outside of the alcove on the shore, the land was very rocky. No shoreline existed as the land was raised over the waterline close to a metron, held back by large rocks too tall to see how far below the water floor they extended. Close to the rock edge, the land slanted at a steep angle, inviting anyone to fall into the water. Apollo had to climb further up the hill where the ground was more stable to walk on. Sheba was tired of sitting all by herself on the boulder; it was boring. She had cleared the water out of her lungs a couple centons ago, saw Starbuck and Rigel on the other side, and knew where Apollo and Cassiopea were. To her, it did not seem Apollo would be moving out within a reasonable time. So Sheba decided she was going to take the paddles to the float. At least there, she would be with the others until they left. This accident was not supposed to happen. They were all supposed to have a good time. It went pretty smoothly up until Double Hydraulics. Sheba lost her patience and wanted to finish the journey. With it behind her and the others, they had the remaining secton to enjoy. Her and Apollo still had a lovely, romantic night to look forward to after spending time with Boxey. More than likely, Boxey's night involved playing with all the other children in the dark woods, scaring each other until they ran out of energy. Her and Apollo would be alone. She yearned for that night in the cabin with the light of a fire and the warmth of Apollo. Sheba unwrapped her arms from around her legs. After collecting the paddles next to her, she stood. The paddles fell out of her arms. One almost slid off the smooth boulder surface back into the river. Sheba rolled her eyes and let out a big breath of air in frustration. She had enough problems already. Any more problems were not welcome. Sheba sat down next to the four paddles at her feet. She reached over. "Pick up one. Put it behind you. Carefully... Pick up one. Put it behind you. Again. One more time." Four paddles laid behind Sheba. One paddle, precariously close to the edge, tempted her, taunted her to come close, to retrieve it if she could or fall over the side. At any other time, she'd merely walk over and pick it up. This time, her body remained on its own edge. She told herself, 'Relax, Sheba. You're not going to fall in. You're just a little shaken.' If she used her foot to pull the paddle closer... 'Yeah, that's it.' She planted her open hands, palm down, flat against the boulder surface. Ever so carefully, she extended out her leg and lowered her foot on the paddle. Her reach was not quite far enough. Sheba slid a little closer towards the paddle. 'Got it. Big deal for nothing.' She pulled her foot close enough to her with the paddle under it so she could grab the paddle with her hand. With a toss of her hand, the paddle landed in the dirt behind the boulder. Sheba slid herself backwards, still in the seated position, until her body and the paddles were furthest from the water edge on top of the boulder. 'Get a hold of yourself.' Sheba pulled up her legs to her chest, closed her eyes and rested her head on her knees. The world around her disappeared as her mind entered a black void of its own. Everything in her mind vanished as if it never existed. There were no thoughts of her friends from the Pegasus or the Galactica, no battling against the cylons, or what remained of the journey through these rapids. Not even a picture of her father standing at the Pegasus command center full of pride existed in Sheba's mind. Her breathing became slow, deep breaths. Every muscle in her body obliterated any trace of tension. She was totally at peace with herself. Sheba remained in this state for two centons. When she returned to the real world, Sheba felt like a new woman ready to journey on with life. She stood up and looked around: trees across the river, people in floats and kayaks on the river, boulders such as the one she was standing on, Starbuck and Rigel sitting together on the opposite bank, the high part of Double Hydraulics... Yes, the part of the rapids they were not supposed to go over, but did and flipped out of their float. That was the past. Sheba almost could not believe it happened. When she turned left, Sheba saw Apollo carefully walking through the tress towards her. Time for her to leave this boulder and the water incident. "Apollo!" "Be there in a centon." Sheba walked around and collected the paddles into one pile behind the boulder while waiting for Apollo to reach her. When he was within reach, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Apollo returned the gesture without any hesitation. "It's so good to see you again." "Are you okay?" Apollo asked her. "I'll be just fine," she said looking up into his eyes. "Let's return to the float and go pick up Starbuck and Rigel." "I'm with you." Apollo picked up three paddles. Sheba grabbed the other two. He led the route back on the soft dirt, through the trees, over the stones, traveling further from the water than he had when he went to Sheba. The trees provided perfect support to prevent falls or stumbles. As they approached the alcove, Sheba hurried over to Cassiopea on the shore. Laying the paddles on the ground, she squatted next to Cassi and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "How are you feeling?" With some struggle, Cassiopea was able to respond between her labored breaths. "Like I've been bashed, mashed and stashed." "No whiplash?" Sheba cracked a slight smile trying to cheer up her friend. Apollo placed the paddles he carried in the float. He did not really pay any attention to the light conversation between the ladies. "Maybe some of that too We forget any?" Both of them had a small laugh before Cassiopea coughed again. Apollo returned to pick up the two paddles Sheba had carried and placed them in the float. "Cassiopea?" He turned to look at her. She looked at him. "Are you okay enough to move?" "I think so." "Good. Let's board and pick up the two missing members across the river." The ladies replied with a nod. Sheba stood first . She waited to see if Cassiopea required any help. Cassiopea stood quite well on her own. She was only having problems with breathing. The ladies resumed their positions in the float, the same ones they were in before the Double Hydraulics incident. Apollo pushed the float away from the shore and resumed his position in the front right corner. Boomer broke up the small conversation in his float and asked, "Apollo, do you want any of us to help you take the float across river?" "No, Boomer, but thanks. If you stay behind us as backup, I think we'll do okay." "We'll be on your tail." Apollo directed his attention back to his crew. All three of them had their paddles in their hands. "Sheba, follow on my cue, Cassiopea, you can keep resting." With Sheba in the corner opposite Apollo, there would strokes would be distributed evenly to keep the float straight on course for Rigel and Starbuck's location. Apollo began stroking. Sheba fell in time with him. When they were three metrons away, Boomer signaled his crew to begin. "Looks like we're being saved," Rigel said. "Sure does." Starbuck stood to stretch. Rigel followed. They waited for their friends to reach them. When their float was close, Starbuck walked down into the water to grab the float and hold it as he had done so many times already. "Good to see you two are doing fine," Apollo said. Rigel shook her head with a smile. "We had a splendid time over here. Cassi, Sheba, are you two okay?" "I'm fine," Sheba answered. "I'll be okay as soon as I can breathe easily." Starbuck softly said, "Cass." "Yes?" "I'll be the doctor tonight." Cassiopea nodded. Everyone in Boomer's float spoke simultaneously. They stopped before all the words became too scrambled for any understanding. Bree quickly asked, "Rigel, did Starbuck drive you crazy yet?" "No, he's been a good warrior today." Deitra acted astonished. "Starbuck? Good? That will be the secton." Greenbean asked, "You mean he didn't ask if you wanted warmed up or anything?" "Hey! I saved Rigel. I didn't pull any sly ones." "Easy, Starbuck. He's only kidding with you," Boomer said. "Yeah. I'm just anxious to finish this course." "We are all." Apollo wanted to finish this just as much as Starbuck. "Rigel, if you will take your seat, we'll be on our way." Rigel did so. Starbuck pushed out the float, climbed in and they were on their way. Boomer's float stayed within five to ten metrons the rest of the way through the course. There were no more water battles or races between the floats. In between the two stretches of gentle water between Double Hydraulics and the end, they did have some side by side float conversations. Cassiopea's breathing improved during the journey. Everyone else was well recovered from the bad experience. In a little over a centar, they were at the final set of rapids. After the last rapid in the set, they had to make a sharp left turn to make it to the Take-Out point. The Take-Out point was a triangle shaped shore line. Two of the sides were out in the water, but only one was approachable. The other side had trees and boulders blocking any access to it from up-river. The down-river side was big enough to accommodate four floats at most at any one time. It was imperative to step out of your float or kayak, empty the water as quickly as possible and pull the float or kayak up a fifty metron, curved path to the land shuttle waiting area. Zara and her cameraman, Zed, were waiting there. They saw Captain Apollo's and Lieutenant Boomer's floats, but Zara and Zed could not be seem by the floaters. When Zara and Zed first arrived, she had gone down to the shore line to ask others what the course was like, any particular dangers, and how they felt afterwards. She wanted to be prepared to ask Starbuck and Apollo the right questions. The other floaters and kayakers were perturbed at her for asking so many questions and standing in their way. At one point, a crew of floaters threatened to go right over her with their big float on their shoulders. Zara quickly moved back out of the way where Zed had been standing the whole time and remained there until the float she was waiting for came to the shore. Starbuck did not notice the IFB broadcaster until he had jumped out and pulled the float up far enough for the others to disembark. Zara wasted no time running down to him. Zed remained back and zoomed the camera in. The last thing he wanted is to make the good Captain and his crew mad or damage the camera. "Lieutenant." Zara stood directly in front of Starbuck. "Lieutenant Starbuck. How do you feel after being tricked into doing this by Med Tech Cassiopea?" Zara thrust the microphone in his face. Starbuck looked at her with a slight bit of confusion on his face, not to mention exhaustion. "Tricked?" Zara yanked the microphone back for her to ask her next question. She stepped quickly around the front of the float to stand in front of Apollo. "Captain Apollo. Are you angry at Lieutenant Sheba for scamming you?" She thrust the microphone in his face. "Sheba didn't scam..." Zara pulled the microphone away from Apollo before he was able to finish his response. She stepped around Apollo to confront Sheba. Rigel quickly moved away from the water up the dirt path far enough away from Zara to avoid this. "Lieutenant, are you happy about this trip?" "Yeah..." Zara pulled the microphone away from Sheba, turned and walked back up to stand in front of the float. Sheba's face turned red with anger at Zara's rudeness, but she bit her tongue for the micron. "There you have it. The initial reactions of the male viper pilots being tricked into doing this by their lovers. Stay Tuned for when we learn in detail, the experience of White Water Rapids." She paused ten microns with a smile on her face. "And cut." Zed turned off the camera. The light mounted on top of it went out. Zara turned around to face the team. Boomer and his crew pulled into the shore. They stayed in the float waiting for Zara to leave. "Captain, you and your crew have five centons to take your float up the ramp. You have to tidy yourselves to a more presentable appearance." Starbuck had enough of Zara already. Seeing her was enough, but for all this... "You want to learn of our experience?" "Of course I do," Zara answered unexpectantly. "Let me tell you a little about the experience. To fully understand and appreciate what it's like..." Starbuck scooped up Zara in his arms with ease. Zed mounted the camera on his shoulder and began recording. "Lieutenant Starbuck, what do you think you are doing?" "Wouldn't you like to know?" Starbuck's voice had so much slyness in it, he would have won an award for it. "Zed," Zara snapped, "Make sure you record all of this. I will not tolerate being treated like this. Lieutenant, you are in trouble." "Really?" Starbuck was not the least bit concerned about the situation. "Starbuck!" Cassiopea sternly said. Starbuck walked to the float with Zara slapping him on the shoulders and the back. He kicked the float off the shoreline. "Don't you dare put me in that disgusting thing," Zara warned him. "These are expensive clothes." Starbuck was not listening. Zed zoomed in on this. He saw what was going to happen to Zara and enjoyed it. Little did Zara know she would not be able to see what he was recording. Starbuck continued walking deeper into the water. The float was being pushed out deeper by Zara's body. When the water was up to Starbuck's waist, he dumped Zara into the float. Before she recovered, he pushed the float out deeper into the water. There were no paddles in the float. They were still laying on the shoreline. "Starbuck, put me back on the shore immediately. You can't do this to me." Starbuck's smile was from ear to ear. "Oh, but I am. You're going to learn the experience." He gave her one more big push to place the float in the water current. The float slowly drifted away. "Have fun." A round of applause began from the shore. It was not only the people from the Galactica, but other floaters and kayakers who witnessed what just happened. Starbuck walked back to his friends. Zara was still yelling at him. "Zed, are you recording all of this? Don't think you're going to get away with this Lieutenant. When Commander Adama see the tapes, he's going to put you in the brig. You're going to lose sectons of pay to replace this one-of-a-kind dress. And for the humiliation, you're really going to pay..." Starbuck was a bit puzzled. "Humiliation? Her? She does that all the time to her 'guests.' Zed, what do you think?" Still recording Zara's outrage on tape, he could not exactly shrug. "Sir, she won't ever see this tape. You see I 'ran out' of blank tape before this started. When I switched tapes, water, ah, water ruined the last tape. Such a shame she'll have nothing to back up her story. If you want this for your own viewing pleasure, sir, I will make sure you get it. Zara will never know about it." "Good man," Starbuck said. "What do you say, Apollo? When do you think we should 'rescue' her?" "Maybe in ten or fifteen centons. By then she should have herself worn out. If she doesn't turn around to see what's coming, she'll really be in for a ride." "Starbuck," Rigel said. "Yeah?" "You do know the float costs 649 cubits should it become lost or badly damaged." "649 cubits." Starbuck let out a long whistle. "That is quite a few long patrols." "I don't think you have to worry about it," Sheba assured him. "We'll get the float back. Hopefully, she won't be with it." "Are you hoping she falls out?" Apollo asked. "Oh no. Maybe some nice soul will take her to the shore and she will wonder around the woods for a couple of centons trying to find us or her way back. We have the float brought back and go on our way." Sheba was excited about her idea. "She'll not find us until we return to the Galactica. By then, it may be too late for her to do anything." "That's a good idea." Starbuck held up his right index finger. "I have thirty cubits." "Where?" Cassiopea asked. Starbuck unsnapped his life jacket. It was about time he free his chest from the burden. He reached in and pulled out a small pouch. "Here it is." "When did you stow that?" "Cass, you know I always come prepared. I'm sure someone will do us the favor." Apollo shook his head back and forth. "Starbuck, you never cease to amaze me." Boomer and his crew were out of their float. They walked over to stand with the others from the Galactica. Reunited, they all laughed, hugged and patted each other on the backs. Zara still floated down the river. Her voice was nothing but an unnoticed whisper to those at the Take-Out point. "I will make this story so big, they will nominate me as president of IFB. I'll tear you apart Starbuck. You'll be the loser of the fleet. No one will want any part of you....." THE END Disclaimer: This is not meant to infringe on any existing copyright laws. It is written purely for pleasure, not to make profit in any way, shape or form. 1 hecton = period of 100 sectons 2 From "Bragging Rights" by Fran Severn 3 "Tally of the Soul" by Fran Severn 4 "Tally of the Soul" by Fran Severn