FicWad

III

General Trevor and Captain Mathers were finding things much more peaceful on the other side of the Colonial System on Aerilon. By the end of the second day, they had personally found more than two-hundred people who had come out of the woodwork, quite literally, in Goath, and the other smaller hamlets in the area. For now, they were the only team on Goath, but more were to descend in the next forty-eight hours in the smaller hamlets around the planet. Aerilon had never had large cities-Goath itself had only contained around seventy thousand inhabitants at its zenith, and since it had looked tidied up, it was the best place to start.

Several leaders had emerged to speak for the natives. The first was a man who looked to be in his early fifties as counted on Earth, who went by the name of Maris Pride, a stocky man who stood about six feet even and looked like he could play linebacker in the NFL.

A younger woman had also emerged among the throng. She looked to be around thirty-five, and stood about five-three, just like Cory Mathers. Larna Flock was a well-spoken, seemingly very intelligent lady, and was a natural at speaking for the others. Another leader seemed to be a young, tall, lean lad in his twenties named Gerrod Prence. He was quieter but seemed to be another intelligent, well-spoken person.

Gaius Baltar had come down to join the group. Like General Trevor, he was a native and wanted to speak to these descendants of his birthplace.

On the third day with the residents, with the other two days being used for everyone to get comfortable with each other, they began talking in earnest. Gaius started the dialogue.

"As I said, I was born here on Aerilon, just outside of Cuffle's Breath Wash, quite a long time ago."

There was still some lingering suspicion, but Maris Pride seemed to recognize a fellow native, "So, Gaius, you left from here when the bombs fell?"

"No, actually, I was on Caprica when the attack began", he said honestly, "I was doing research in Caprica City, and was able to get out on a Raptor that took me to the Battlestar Galactica."

"So, you ran away with the rest?", Gerrod Prence eyed him, with more suspicion than the older man.

"If you want to call it that, lad", General Trevor spoke up, "We didn't look at it that way, to be honest", he continued, "The Cylons were nuking everything, and some of us were lucky enough to get to Galactica."

"So, where have all our Battlestars been for all these years", Larna Flock inquired, without any hint of accusation. "I mean you've been gone for years."

This time Gaius spoke up after a hush had fallen over the members of the Fleet who were in earshot. "By the end of the day of the attack, there was one Battlestar left", he said, remembering that chaos that he had helped unleash, "The rest were destroyed almost immediately."

"A second Battlestar did survive, but we didn't find that out for several years", the General added, "The Pegasus survived, but was destroyed not long after saving many of the survivors from Galactica and the handful of civilian ships that managed to escape."

Maris jumped back into the fascinating conversation, "So you're back here on Galactica, is that correct?"

Another pause from the members of The Fleet.

"No, Galactica was destroyed many years ago in another War", Gaius said as carefully as he could, "We arrived on the Battlestar Laura Roslin."

That name was met with a blank star from Maris, who wasn't just a pup, or not even born, like the other two, when the Holocaust had descended, "Who the blazes is Laura Roslin, and why does she have a ship named after her?"

Gaius smiled briefly. He felt it was time to let a little more of the story out and in a unique way. "That is going to take quite a while to explain", and he turned to Captain Cory Mathers. The Earth natives had not spoken yet, and for obvious reasons, but Gaius felt this was the time to introduce a new voice. "Captain Mathers", he began in English, "why don't you recount the story from what you know of the history-and in your own language, if you please?"

The use of a completely alien tongue had startled his guests, who recoiled. Gaius raised his hands towards them, "My friends, don't be afraid, but it's time we tell you more about what is going on." And he smiled at Sundown.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

The Governor was sitting in a comfortable chair, as relaxed as he could be since this was the first time he was trying this. Sitting across from him was Doctor Elaine Beazos, who was a Clinical Psychologist. The nightmares hadn't ended, so Justin Bond was finally taking his wife's advice.

He just hadn't told Judith that that was what he was doing.

He had told her that he had fleet business on the DSE Gandhi, and, indeed, he did have some to take care of. But he had also made an appointment to see the good Doctor in regards to the nightmare's he was still having involving Kara.

"Governor Bond, thank you for coming and visiting me", the forty-two-year-old woman said to him with a smile, "How can I be of service to you today?"

The Governor went over the details of the nightmares. He gave her the background about what Kara had gone through so many years ago; he recounted his visit to the site of the Viper Cockpit, and the emotional toll it had taken on him. The nightmares themselves were all pretty much the same, with only the beginning of the dreams sometimes being different. But they always ended up with him looking at his adopted daughter in the cockpit of a Viper that was breaking apart, and with the same voice from Hell at the end before he woke up.

Doctor Beazos took notes while the Governor was speaking. He had tried to be as dispassionate as he could when going over the nightmares, but the Doctor could see and sense the raw emotion that the man felt when these nightmares occurred.

This was strictly a get-to-know session, and the Doctor wanted to go over all the Governor had told her before they had another session. But she did have a few questions.

"Do you think these nightmares are affecting your ability to govern, sir?" She asked, quite clinically.

"No, I don't think they have", Justin Bond answered honestly, "I've had these nightmares for over a year, and from what I can tell, it hasn't. My wife knows about the nightmares; as do Kara, Admiral Adama and Admiral Baltar. And I've asked them all to keep any eye on how I'm doing."

"And no complaints from them so far?"

Justin Bond smiled in spite of himself, "Oh, I imagine they complain about me in some manner, but as far as my fitness as Governor, they say they haven't noticed anything."

"They don't happen every night, correct?"

"No, Doctor, they don't", he continued, "and on those nights I get a very good night's sleep. But on the nights I get the nightmares..." his voice trailed off. Those had been nights where he couldn't sleep much.

"OK, Mr. Bond", she said, concluding the first session, "I've got some data here to work with. First meetings are always like this, just finding out what the problem is, then in our later sessions, we'll go into trying to get you over these nightmares."

Justin Bond rose from his seat, "I thank you Doctor Beazos, I really do", he said gratefully, "trust me, I want to get rid of these damn things."

"I know you do, sir", she smiled, "but one thing I can already determine about you regarding all this, is you care very much for your Daughter."

He smiled and nodded, "Yes, I do. I care for all my children. This is just something I've never dealt with before, and it has shaken me."

"And that's why we're both here", she said with a final smile, "I'll see you soon, sir."
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Gaius Baltar and Sundown had been talking to the leaders of the natives that they had discovered for a few days now. They seemed healthy enough, and all had gone through basic physicals from Gaius and other Doctor's in The Fleet. Radiation levels within the inhabitants were a little high, but not dangerously so. Readings from the crops and cities that had been observed also indicated that the levels were not dangerous. The radiation had apparently run its course. This planet was definitely habitable once again.

They had gained enough of the trust of the three leaders that Gaius felt they were about ready to take the next step in revealing what had happened in the intervening years. Cory Mathers had only recited the flight away from The Colonies, until just before the Battle with The Colonies. Gaius helped fill in the blanks, as even though anyone involved with UED was fluent in the chronology of events, Gaius could give that "I was there" touch. Now, he wanted to go further.

After breakfast on the fourth morning, Maris Pride, Larna Flock and Gerrod Prence met with Gaius, General Trevor and Captain Mathers.

General Trevor started the conversation, "Again, we thank you for your hospitality, folks", he smiled, "that breakfast sure beats food on the ship.", which made everyone smile and laugh. "There's a lot we still need to let you know about. We've only revealed part of what has happened, and that's been for a reason."

Larna spoke up first, "I understand, General, I have a feeling we're going to hear even more things that will be, well, interesting?"

"That's an understatement, Ms. Flock", Gaius said with a sardonic grin.

"Gaius", Trevor turned to him, "you have the honors."

Gaius took up where Mathers had left off the day before. He told them about the battle with The Colony, and Galactica's desperate jump away, and then he opened up to his hosts about what happened after that.

"When we came out of the jump, we found ourselves in a Solar System that consisted of nine planets and one sun", he said, remembering that incredible day, "And we discovered that the third closest planet to the sun was inhabited."

The guests didn't react in shock, but he definitely had their rapt attention.

"We sent out a Raptor to monitor any video images from the planet, and we made an astounding discovery", he turned and looked at Sundown, who hadn't spoken yet. "The inhabitants were human, almost identical to us."

The three leaders did react to that. They had noticed something different about the young woman who spoke the funny language, but they hadn't been sure. But the enunciation of this finding did startle them.

Maris then continued the exchange, "And, if I'm correct, this beautiful young lady here", he tilted his head towards Cory Mathers, "Is from that planet?"

"Yes, she is." Gaius nodded solemnly in confirmation, "Cory, tell them a little about yourself through me."

"Yes, uh", she began nervously in English, "My name is Captain Cory Mathers, I am a native of the Planet Earth..."

She was about to continue when Gerrod Prence interrupted, "Earth? Wait a moment, Doctor, but didn't you say you found 'Earth' along the journey, and that it was abandoned and the cities destroyed."

"That is true", he confirmed, "the planet was what we knew of in our legends as 'Earth', but the planet full of Human Beings we discovered call their planet 'Earth' as well", he then smiled, "Trust me, it was all quite confusing to us at the time."

Larna thought she had put the pieces together, "So, these Humans on the Earth that the Captain is from came from this other Earth?"

General Trevor spoke up this time, feeling he needed to break this news to them, "It's possible somewhere in the past, people from the first Earth ended up on the second one, but there's one problem with that conclusion, as we found out.'

"And what is that, General?", Gerrod asked.

"The first Earth, that was destroyed? We found a lot of skeletal remains throughout the planet. We estimated the place was destroyed about two thousand years ago. But not a single inhabitant whose remains we studied were human. They looked like us exactly, but they weren't human."

That stunned the three leaders into momentary silence, not even Gerrod could speak for a moment. Finally, Maris spoke the words that he really didn't want to speak, "So, who in the name of the gods were they."

Trevor sighed, then looked directly at the three, "They were Cylons."

Again, there was dead silence, as those words tried to penetrate the minds of the three people representing their people.

"Cy...Cylons?", Larna finally spoke, with dread on her face, "But they're machines. We made them centuries ago!"

"Correct", Gaius interjected, "But somewhere in the past, the Cylons became capable of making Humanoid beings, and the original Earth was populated with both Humanoid and mechanical Cylons. It will take a long time to explain that one."

"And, what was worse", the General continued, "is that a few of them, just before the destruction of the planet, had developed 'resurrection' technology, and there were seven different Cylon 'models' that could die, as it were, and be reborn, if a resurrection ship was close enough."

That set off five minutes of hysterics among the three leaders. General Trevor informed them that, as far as they knew, Galactica and Pegasus had destroyed all the Resurrection ships. "So, the few that are left, are quite mortal now."

"How many is a 'few', Doctor?", Gerrod inquired archly.

He told them about Galen, Leoben, Athena and the Sixes, of which there were still more than a few left back on Earth.

"And they're mortal?", Larna followed up.

"Yes, quite", Gaius said, then looking at Trevor with a look that clearly said You tell them about Caprica, please?

"Yes. One of them is a Rear-Admiral with United Earth Defense-that's the organization that sprang up after we arrived at the second Earth. That one has been in charge of building the new fleet; one is a former Lieutenant in The Colonial Fleet, and is married to another Admiral, who is human, and who has his own Battlestar near Earth, one has become kind of a recluse, wandering the world, studying Earth's religions, and the last one, there are several of her left-maybe a half-dozen, but one is an Admiral piloting one of the ships above us-and her name is Admiral Caprica Baltar."

The three swung their looks at Gaius, "You married a thing?", Larna said with disgust.

"No, I married a person, Larna", Gaius said reasonably, "a person who turned her back on the Cylons and has supported Humanity ever since. She was even a key figure in the Earth-Cylon War."

"The what?" Maris jaw almost hit the ground.

"Yes, you heard me right", and Gaius turned to Captain Mathers again, "Cory, I think it would be instructive if you pick up the story from there."
___________________________________________________________________________________________

On Caprica, General Grayson and Captain Bond had finally found two women who volunteered to give them information. What they found out was frightening.

The leader was a young lady, probably in her early thirties, named Blythe Chedra. She hadn't had any formal education, as she was born around the time of The Holocaust, but had one of those minds that naturally had commons sense embedded within her.

Grayson went into some more details, "So you're saying this group is holed up in the Caprican Mountain Range, East of the city?"

"Yes, General", she confirmed, "they call themselves The Kingdom. Apparently, from what we've heard, they were born out of a group of ruffians that had taken over Caparica City about five years after the Cylons came", she noted with dispassion, "Apparently, about five years ago, the decided it wasn't enough just to control the remains there, so they organized, and went out hunting for men to be their, if you will, slaves."

"Slaves for what?", Nick Bond asked in fluid Caprican.

"To hunt for food, to do manual labor, to build up their stronghold in the mountains. And, also to sire children, since many of them lost the ability to reproduce after the poison that came out of the bombs."

Nick look at his General, "General, maybe we're missing something, but I've flown a Falcon and a Raptor over that area, and we've seen nothing.

"I'm not surprised", said Blythe, "they are barbarians, but they aren't stupid. They constructed a camouflage network that covers the entire area. And since there are forests as well as rocks on the mountains, it's very well concealed.

"Nick, can you go to the command tent and get in touch with Admiral Adama and the Governor about this?"

"Yes, sir", Nick saluted and hustled away.

Blythe gave the General a sideways glance, "That name, 'Adama', it sounds very familiar?", she said aloud. One of the other ladies in the group named Thea Breakers, who was in her fifties it seemed, turned her head around when hearing the words 'Adama'.

"Adama?", she almost yelled the name, "You mean the Adama who cowardly snuck away during The Holocaust on the Galactica?"

"Thea, what are you going on about?" Blythe stepped in to try and calm her down.

"Just like the other Battlestars, Galactica left us here to rot away, while they lived the high life gods-knows-where." She was red-faced and looked like she wanted to punch the General.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Breakers, but the Fleet didn't run away. With the exception of Galactica and Pegasus, every other Battlestar was destroyed the day of the attack."

Thea went from red-faced to a startled silence in an instant, "Wait, they destroyed all the Battlestars but two?", she had gone from the red face to ashen face.

"Yes, ma'am", the General said quietly. "Pegasus was destroyed in another Battle against The Cylons a few years later, but only Galactica survived until the end of its journey.

"And where did the journey end up?", Thea looked sideways at him, "You know, General, you don't quite look like a Colonial, and you speak a good Caprican, but I can tell it was learned. Just where did Galactica end up.

Grayson sighed, and then plunged into the complicated mess that was UED, "It's a long story, ladies, and we weren't quite ready to tell you all of that-our concern is all of you-but I guess now will do."
___________________________________________________________________________________________

IV

Lee Adama had informed both Governor Bond and Admiral Thrace-Bond about the original discovery that only women and children were being found on Caprica at the moment. But when Captain Nick Bond had relayed the information that they had discovered on the surface, he felt he needed a conference with Grayson, Commander Cross, Nick Bond, and the Governor and Kara.

The Fleet had left Earth with the hope that they wouldn't have to fire a shot in anger, but this was turning into something that could require a military response. Lee wasn't to that point yet. He needed more information from the surface, and he needed to counsel with the people he trusted most in this situation.

Kara had received the urgent summons from Lee, then called her father to tell her she would pick him up in her Raptor, then they would jump to Caprica. She did stop to say hello to her mother, then the Governor and the Admiral headed to join the William Adama.

Kara and Justin Bond were the last to arrive, and Lee and the other three met them in the "War Room" which was a stone's throw away from CIC, "Governor, Admiral", he said, getting up and shaking both their hands, "I'm sorry for the suddenness of the summons, but this goes beyond simply a scouting of the planet."

"No apologies needed, Lee", the Governor smiled at the younger man, "I told you when we split The Fleet that we could be here quickly if needed."

"Besides", Kara interjected, always ready to take a playful shot at her longtime friend, "It lets us second-guess your final decision, Admiral", but she added a wink to let him know that it was cool.

He laughed, "Well, that's what happens when your Top Dog, of course, I could always point at the Governor", he grinned at Justin Bond.

"Well, that puts me in my place", he said deadpan. Everyone had a brief laugh, which is what the Governor wanted. He knew this would be a serious skull session, but he wanted everyone as relaxed as possible.

"So, what's the latest, Admiral Adama?", the Governor brought the meeting around to the business at hand.

"So far, with the last report, we have found approximately fifteen thousand people throughout the Planet. The people we've located tell us there's plenty more, but there has been such fear over the last five to ten years there, that most are in hiding."

"Any chance there could be some men hiding throughout the planet", Kara said intently.

General Grayson spoke to that point, "Yes, Admiral, we think there's a high probability of that.

The women we've talked to said many people took off to more remote areas of the planet", the General got up and went to a topographical map of the planet that had been projected on the the War Plan table.

He first pointed at The Caprican Mountains, some thirty miles East of that city, "Here's the general area of the stronghold, and he ran his fingers to the right side of the mountain range. "From what we can gather from the women we've talked to, and these are just estimates, the stronghold runs from around Granite Peak, Northward to around the Fromma Pass, which is some forty miles across. Again, these are rough guesses at this time."

"Lee", Governor Bond spoke up for the first time, "How tall are those mountains, especially from Granite to Fromma?" Lee moved around to the map.

"Granite is about seven thousand feet up, and Fromm is lower, about five thousand feet from sea level."

"So we're not talking Everest or the top peaks of the Rockies, right?" Nick Bond added his voice.

"Correct, Captain", Lee nodded at his CAG. "They're no slouches, but it would not be like going into the height of the Rockies, say west of Denver or Calgary."

The Governor turned to General Grayson, "I imagine you're already putting together some kind of plan to reconnoiter and narrow down the amount of territory these thugs own?"

"Yes, Governor Bond, we're already planning this", he nodded at his Governor, "I, Commander Cross, Captain Bond and my commanders are looking at both Ariel and on-the-ground recon." He looked over at Nick Bond, "Nick is putting together the airborne scouting, and I'm concentrating mostly on the ground movements."

"Will this hinder searching the rest of the planet, Lee?", it was Kara again, "I mean, so far on Aerilon, things are going smoothly. I can lend you some Raptors or Falcons if you need them?"

Lee shook his head, "No we're not at that point yet. If we have to launch any kind of air or ground campaign to get at these suckers, then I might, but that also depends on what you're dealing with at the time, Kara", and then he continued, "We still have more than enough Raptors, Falcons for air cover, and we won't run short of transports to take food and water to the surface unless things really get ugly." Kara nodded and jotted a note on her notepad. She had carried one of those pads with her since she had become the UED Military Liaison to then President Justin Bond, some twenty-six years ago. She felt almost naked without it when at a conference.

The Governor turned to his son, "Nick, how are the air recon plans coming?"

"Well dad...uh, I mean, Governor", which elicited smiles from the group, "Right now I'm looking to use about thirty Raptors for low-level recon, and perhaps about sixty Falcons for higher passes. As plans are now, I'll be manning a Raptor and leading the low-level surveillance."

Kara looked over at her "little brother", and in a reverse of what had happened before the two of them had taken a Raptor to scout Kepler 452b, Nick smiled and winked at his sister. Don't worry, big sister, I got this. Kara knew exactly what he was saying with that wink, and she allowed a small smile to cross her face.

"When do you see launching this op, Lee?", the Governor wanted more specifics at this point.

"We're thinking in about five days. We've obviously game-planned similar scenarios in training back on Earth and on the voyage over here, so once we get the details ironed out, we'll be good to go."

"Very good, Admiral Adama", Justin Bond said approvingly. "One more question, Lee."

"Anything, sir."

"Maybe you, the General, and Captain Bond take us to the surface to talk to some of the survivors?" They hadn't expected that, but no one was shocked. Justin Bond wasn't a micro-manager, but he did like to see for himself what was going down below, "Sorry, Brevin", he continued, "all you get to do is Command this lousy ship", he said with a sardonic grin at Lee's XO.

Again, it broke the tension with laughter.

"It's not a bad consolation prize, Governor", the young XO laughed in return, "I figure I'll get on the ground soon enough." With that everyone got up, Justin Bond went over to clasp the XO on the back as they both chuckled.

"Governor, if I may, when would you like to go, sir?" Lee inquired.

The Governor looked at his watch, which was set to Fleet Standard Time, which was Pacific Time back on Earth. "Well, it's 1830 now, so do you mind having us as your guests tonight, and going down, oh, say, 0800 tomorrow morning."

Lee broke out in a broad grin, "Governor, Admiral", he said looking at Kara, "it would be my honor. In fact, dinner's on me for this motley crew at 1930."

"It's a date", Kara spoke with an impish smile on her face.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Admiral Caprica Baltar wished that Admiral Thrace-Bond were around. But she had been called to the other side of the Colonial System to talk about the problems on Caprica. She didn't begrudge Kara that, but she really wanted to talk to her Boss at that moment.

After her husband and General Trevor had filled her in on the talk they had had with the three leaders they had found on Aerilon-about the Cylon Earth, the Battle at The Colony, the trip to Earth, the Earth-Cylon war, and so on, the leaders wanted to meet the two "alleged", as Gerrod Prence had said, Cylon Admirals.

Admiral Galen Tyrol was in charge of the Raptor/Falcon launch ships, and the missile ships that accompanied The Fleet on the journey. He did go back and forth between the split command, and fortunately, he was with the Aerilon group at the moment. He had summoned him to meet with Gaius, Commander Carrico, General Trevor and herself. Since Kara was on the other side of the mission, her XO wanted the meeting onboard the Laura Roslin.

Gaius recounted what had taken place in the conversation the day before, to get the XO up to speed. Even though Chase Carrico was junior to both the General and Caprica, he was, at this moment, The Boss of this half of the fleet until Admiral Thrace-Bond returned.

"So, that's basically it.", Gaius said in his opening statement, "To paraphrase from Scripture in the New Testament, I'd say we are burdened with a lot of Doubting Thomases."

"General Trevor", Commander Carrico looked at the Marine, "security concerns for Admirals Baltar and Admiral Tyrol if they go down to the surface?"

"Commander, you have my assurances that I will keep both of them safe at all time", he paused as Chase began to speak, "I know, Commander, you need to ask that question, and it's prudent to do so, but I will protect them with my life if I have to."

Both Galen and Caprica looked over at the man from Aerilon, and both thought just how far things had come for them and the other remaining Cylons since the journey to Earth. Such a thing could never have been imagined during that journey. A bloody coup attempt had been launched because of the presence of Cylons within The Fleet. Hell, he thought, there was a terrorist attack in New Caprica over the same thing five years earlier. Tyrol thought grimly to himself, Felix Gaeta and Narcho must be spinning their graves.

"Thank you, General", Galen spoke up, "We appreciate your support." Trevor knew what that meant, and while he had never walked in their Cylon shoes, he understood that, even now, thirty years after that mutiny, the remaining Cylons still harbored some fear of some humans, and he couldn't blame them. Like Galen, he thought about the mutiny and the attacks in New Caprica.

"The honor is mine, sirs", the General said, looking at both the Cylons, "Those days are gone among people with honor and dignity within this Fleet, and I'm quite sure we don't have anyone who doesn't fit that bill, sirs. All of our troops on the ground will protect you if the need arises."

"General, are there any reports there about people really being uneasy?" she asked, with that same lingering paranoia, "because that's the last thing I want."

"I understand, Admiral", the General smiled, "I just talked to Captain Mathers before our meeting and Sundown tells me the leaders and those who know of what was said are tense, but there's no sign of any type of mutinous activity among the natives."

As the Commander on the spot, even though he was below the rank of the two Admirals, Chase had to make the call in Kara's stead, "OK, General, I approve this, if both of you sirs have no problem going down there." Both Admirals felt the awkwardness in the XO's voice, giving orders to them, and Galen smiled.

"I'm fine with it", he looked at the XO, "sir." And a broad grin came over his face.

"Thank you Admiral Tyrol, it is kind of weird giving orders to superiors like this", he chuckled in spite of yourself.

"Right now, sir, you're The Boss, and we to take orders concerning The Fleet from you, until Starbuck comes back."

"General, you will take the two Admirals down to the surface at 0900 tomorrow morning. I will inform Admiral Tharce-Bond and the Governor of my decisions."

The other three stood up in unison, and they saluted the XO before he could do so first. "Thank you again, dismissed...uh, sirs", and they chuckled as they headed out.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a picture-perfect morning on Caprica, just outside the remains of Delphi. The Governor, Admiral Thrace-Bond, and Admiral Adama were escorted by General Grayson and Captain Nick Bond. They landed near the remains of the city. Eventually, The Fleet would have to deploy the ground vehicles like Jeeps and Armored Personnel Carriers, but that time had not arrived yet. They didn't want this looking like an invasion unless they found someone they had to fight.

A squad commander caught sight of the VIP's and immediately came attention and bellowed "Ten-Hut! Governor Of The Fleet, Admirals Of The Fleet on deck!", and most of the soldiers and Marines in the area turned and snapped to attention. A few remained looking in other directions, just to make sure everything was cool."

"As you were, Captain", the Governor said warmly, shaking the man's hand, "SitRep, Captain?"

"Sir, all present and accounted, no problems to speak of, we do have a group of ladies here that would like an audience with you and the Admirals."

"Then lead the way, General Grayson", and the General took the point of the party. He filled in the three visitors about the woman. Along with Blythe Chedra, and Thea Breakers, who had stepped up a few days earlier as spokeswomen, a third woman named Channing Bree had also come forward. She looked to be in her forties and had a no-nonsense look about her.

"Ladies", General Grayson said in Caprican, "I'd like you to meet the Top Command of The Fleet: Governor Justin Bond, who is the Commander-In-Chief of our forces and head of the Civilian Government in The Fleet", he nodded at the ladies, "Admiral Lee Adama, the Commander-In-Chief of all military units in The Fleet", Thea looked over at Lee with a bit of annoyance, hearing the name Adama, but she had been mollified to a large extent after Grayson and Nick Bond had explained recent history, "And finally, Admiral Kara-Thrace Bond, second in command of our military, and Commander of the Battlestar Laura Roslin."

Blythe was faster on the uptake than the other two. She first looked at Justin Bond, then Nick Bond and then Kara, "You all have the same last name, yet...two of you seem to be from Earth, but you, my dear", she said looking at Kara, "look like a native of these worlds."

Kara smiled proudly, "You are correct, Ms. Chedra. I am the Governor's daughter, and the Captain's sister", she looked at both of them, "The Governor and our First Lady of The Fleet Adopted me to be their child just over twenty Earth years ago, during the Earth-Cylon War."

That did surprise the three ladies more than a little. "So", Channing Bree said coolly, "You weren't good enough to be a Colonial, eh? You had to become a family with these strangers?"

Kara looked momentarily like she would take our her sidearm and shoot the woman, but it was fleeting. She took that remark as a direct insult to her parents and her siblings. But the moment passed, and Lee thought to himself about the Kara of long ago and how far she had come.

He spoke up for Kara, "Ms. Breakers, with all due respect, from your point of view, they are strangers. From our point of view, being on Earth for most of our adult life, they are brothers and sisters in Humanity. Do we look slightly different, yes, but we're all Human."

He paused, then General Grayson rose in defense, "Ma'am, Governor Bond here was President of the strongest nation on Earth at one time; he was the voice of Humanity when The Colonial Fleet arrived; he made the first overtures to Admiral Adama and President Roslin upon their arrival; he again was the steel brace for Humanity during the Earth-Cylon War", and he concluded forcefully, "he made sure The Colonials got their own Nation on Earth, and it came out of a small part of his own nation. From the day Galactica arrived, this man was determined to first preserve Colonial ways and traditions on Earth, and after the War, he was the driving force to get our collective humanity back to The Colonies."

The Governor arched his eyes a little, and let a small smile cross his face.

"Ma'am", Lee Adama added, "that is all True. My father died in the Earth-Cylon War, and his family is like my second family. These people in front of you", he said looking at Grayson and the two Bond men, "are the best Humanity has to offer, be they from here or Earth."

The three women were quite for a moment, then Channing Bree spoke up with contrition in her voice, "Governor, Captain, Admiral", she looked at the three Bonds, "I apologize for my outburst. It was uncalled for. My only defense is that life here hasn't been very rosy here for a long time."

Kara stepped forward to Channing, "I understand, Channing, but understand, the Governor is the greatest Human Being I've ever known, and I thought that even before he adopted me. We've shown that Humanity can be one family, and that's why we're here."

Channing smiled this time, "I hope we can do the same here, Admiral Thrace-Bond, but it's going to take a lot of doing."

"Ma'am", Governor Bond finished for them, "that's why we're here: to make this a place worth living in again for Humanity."