Chapter 15: Names

'Learn their names,'

His father had said, on the way to work one day, an eternity ago,

'When you're a Partner, you're the boss, the people who work for you-they'll obey you no matter what. If you learn their names, treat them as people, not instruments of your will, they'll work harder, do better, trust you to know what to do when the chips are down.'

'What if I don't want to be a lawyer, Dad?' Asked twelve year old Will, gazing longingly at a painstakingly accurate model of a Caprican Cobra proudly displayed above the fireplace.

'You are an Adama. Be whoever you want to be. I'll support your decision every step of the way-assuming it isn't something like murder, or arson-

Young Will smirked, an uncommon look for the normally solemn boy,

'How about insurance fraud, Dad? You didn't mention that-"

'Yet.' His father winked at him, ruffled his hair. 'Finish your breakfast, and get your ass over to school. I don't want another tardy notice.' He held up his hand-'I don't care how good the book was.'

Will began shoveling down cereal faster. 'yessir,' he said, with his mouth full.

BIRNHAM QUADRANT

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CIC

The (relative) peace and quiet the Colonials had been enjoying for the past several weeks came to an abrupt end. War was here again, and duty shoved her rude little head into thoughts of friends, lovers, and breakfast.

"Sir!" Dee exclaimed, "Transmission from Cloud Nine- It's the Captain."

Bill nodded and picked up the phone, which seemed to weigh more than it had at any time since he'd thought Lee was dead,

"Galactica Actual, Go ahead, Capt. Astor-"

An older woman's voice filled the handset;

"Admiral, my security detail found the nuke. It's located in a critical structural point near the dome and propulsion unit. Like that'll matter when it goes off." She added sarcastically.

"When it goes off?"

"Security has reported a buildup of radioactive isotopes. We estimate eight minutes, at the most, until detonation."

"Order an evacuation, and stand by we've got an EOD team-"

"Already done, Admiral, but we won't be able to get more than half of the people off in time, and your Bomb Boys won't get there fast enough either. Call them off, and get everyone the frak away from us…"

Bill nodded at Dee, and she bent to her work.

"Warnings transmitted."

Gaeta looked up from his console,

"Admiral, Cloud Nine is moving at maximum thrust- away from the Fleet."

"Thank you, Mr. Gaeta. Prepare to coordinate SAR teams post-initiation."

"Sir"

Bill took a deep breath, and refrained from rubbing his face. It would not do for the last Admiral of the Colonial Fleet to look upset or tired.

He picked up the handset again.

"Captain Astor- Linda, I'm not going to tell you to evacuate. I know the Captain goes down with her ship. I will say that you and your people have done an excellent job, and ask you if you have any last requests."

Ragged breathing came from over the line.

"Yeah Bill, I do- Save whoever you can, kill the bastards that did this. Slowly. And remember us.

"Count on it. Go with the gods."

She snorted, "Come on, Bill, you don't believe any of that crap."

"Yeah, but you do."

Dee spoke up,

"Fifth shuttle in line reports it has reached minimum safe distance line. About one third of the escape pods are currently beyond it." "Pegasus reports her SAR teams are prepped and ready.

"Very good, Petty Officer. Keep me updated." Mr. Gaeta, estimated time 'till detonation?"

The young man checked his board, "Two minutes, Admiral."

Bill turned to Dualla.

"Get me Fleetwide."

The young woman made the necessary connections, and nodded, "You're on, sir."

Bill raised the intercom to his mouth,

"This is the Admiral. Terrorists in league with the Cylons have activated a nuclear device aboard the Cloud Nine. It will detonate in a couple of minutes. Her captain has removed the ship from the fleet for our safety, and is currently evacuating it. Many people will not make it off. I ask that you give aid and comfort to those who do. We will remember them, and we will have justice for those who have been murdered here today.

So say we all."

He put the microphone down, and yet his last four words resounded.

So say we all.

It echoed around the CIC, through the halls of the aging Battlestar, through the fleet. It wasn't a cry of hope, a hope that they would find Earth and other humans, and everything would be alright again, because they had, and it wasn't

So say we all.

Nor was it an affirmation of survival, pride at having beaten the odds and stayed breathing for another day.

So say we all.

This was the sound of a people pushed into a corner, and resigned to fight until their last breath, for justice, for vengeance, for the Gods. This was the distilled venom of an angry people who were going out fighting.

So say we all.

Bill felt more than heard the explosion, the hiss of static from his channel to the expanding ball of dust and gas that was formerly the luxury liner Cloud Nine. He saw Gaeta's board light up, met the young man's determined stare and nodded.

So say we all.

And the Old Man, who wanted nothing more than to rest, to let someone else carry the weight for a while, began to coordinate the rescue of the survivors with his son aboard the Pegasus.

Six grueling hours later the survivors had been transferred to crowded quarters aboard the other ships in the fleet, and some to empty bunks on the Battlestars.

PEGASUS WARDROOM

President. Admiral. Commander. The titles seemed to fill the room, demanding proper protocol at all times. The recent attack did nothing to lighten the tension, and yet, the three people at the table seemed as close as family. Two of them were. Sometimes.

Laura Roslin looked sad, unbeaten,

And really frakkin' pissed off.

"How many?"

Lee punched pressed the pad on the table, and a computerized tally sprang to life on the wall. Pegasus had been chosen for the meeting due to the advanced computer systems and starchart collections aboard. The irony was readily apparent, as was the toll of the tragedy on the three people present in the room.

Lee spoke up, "Aside from transient passengers using Cloud Nine as a transit hub throughout the fleet, her population had remained steady at around 6500 souls. 3845 made it off, around 2600-er-didn't.

"What is our current tactical situation?" asked Roslin

Bill spoke up,

"Baltar said the Alliance was sending a Sector fleet. I have people trying to pull an Order of Battle out of the CoreLink station Reynolds left us, but no luck so far. We're assuming it is on par with a Battlestar Group, which would leave us significantly outnumbered."

He took a breath, and Lee spoke up, they had become used to spelling each other in explanations to the military-uninitiated President;

"We can't leave yet, as the sabotaged FTL drives on several vessels still need to be repaired, and Serenity hasn't returned yet-Their next scheduled check in is in two days. We altered the emergency coordinates after the Adriatic was taken, but if we jump the Fleet now, we'd have to split up the two Battlestars to cover the unrepaired vessels, thus dividing our force and coverage. We have raptors out several hours travel on direct routes to these coordinates, which should provide warning of any threat moving at sublight."

"So we wait Admiral?" Roslin asked.

Bill and Lee nodded.

"Yes Madam President. We wait."

"Well, while we're waiting, I'm going to meet with Tom Zarek." She ignored their stupefied looks, and explained:

"I need a new Vice President to mobilize the people. Zarek is popular, and has a backchannel into several aspects of the Fleet, aspects I cannot be seen dealing with, but aspects which we have need of nonetheless, and-"

"And?" asked Bill.

Roslin gave a wry grin, "Something about keeping your enemies closer. The Vice Presidency is a position of tremendous prestige, but very little tangible power."

Lee raised his eyebrows, "Until you have an accident, of course."

She stared them,

So much alike, father and son. Not that I'll tell them anytime soon.

"Ensuring I avoid any 'accidents' is your job, Gentlemen, and the job of my security detail. They do well against attempted Coups as well. As do certain idealistic young Captains."

Laura winked.

"Good day, Gentlemen." Then she was gone.

The elder Adama rose and stretched, joints cracking. He walked over, and patted his son on the shoulder, signifying that rank could be dispensed with-for the moment.

"How are you holding up, Lee? Command everything you hoped for?"

Lee puffed up his cheeks and blew out a breath,

"Let's see-New quarters, deck layout, guilt tripping subordinates, Speeches, terrorists, nukes, and a whole new war. Seems as if life has gotten a whole lot more interesting."

Bill snorted, "May you live in interesting times- an ancient curse from one of Earth's larger nations, if I remember Companion Serra's words correctly."

"Is that all you remember about her?" asked Lee, grinning evilly.

"All I'll admit to remembering." His father shot back

"I'm glad you're taking this in stride Lee."

Then his smile vanished, and he looked his Lee in the eyes.

"Remember. The Command isn't about machines, poise or regulations. The ship, the bulkheads are secondary to what's in the ship. Command is about people-angry, scared, vulnerable people. If you learn their names, learn who they are, let them know you've got the situation handled, and they'll walk through Hades for you, confident as the day they graduated the Academy. Your job is to let them. To guide them through, even though you know that some of them aren't coming back.

Bill sighed, walked past his son, and opened the hatch.

Lee nodded goodbye. He didn't need to say anything.

"Learn their names, son."

Bill Adama left the wardroom.

Note to my readers:

Thank you all for your kind reviews, and being willing to give my first story the benefit of the doubt. Due to my academic schedule heating up, and continued writer's block regarding this story, I have decided to put it on hiatus. Consider it a midseason break, if you will. I am planning on taking a break on this story to give me more time to work on other things, as I feel I have run dry on ideas for this story. Rest assured, I will return to writing this, (I have as much fun writing it as you all doo reading it,) but for now, I may start other projects. As always, reviews and suggestions are welcome.

Suggestion: If anyone wants to do one-shots in this 'Verse' for characters I have neglected, (Gaeta, River, Simon, Cally, Tigh, etc,) let me know, and I'll see where I can fit them into the can fit into the story.

Stay tuned for other stories, and as Adama said-

"We'll be back"