Chapter 11: All the Right Moves

AN: Holy ghost, a new chapter! I've had this thing sitting on my computer in various stages of completion for probably over a year now but I could never seem to get it finished. It didn't help that shortly after chapter ten was posted I started to watch Stargate: Atlantis and seeing all the fancy tech and flying cities made me scoff at what BSG had to offer. I had to stop myself a few times from wrapping this up by killing everybody on both sides off. Then I was hesitating because I really don't have an end in mind for this yet. I have most of my ideas figured out for the rest of this season, in regards to Pegasus and New Kobol more specifically, but I'm not sure how I want to end it in terms of Earth. I didn't like how the show resolved that the Colonials are our ancestors and I'm leaning more towards them finding a planet full of natural born transgenics. So, please, if you have any ideas you'd like to see, tell me in your reviews. Anything will help, and hopefully it won't by 20 months before the next update. This chapter is a bit short but it says all I want it to so I hope you enjoy.

Karl leaned heavily against the Raptor's deck. After light show had ended the group had quickly left the Tomb and made their way back to the others. They were all anxious to leave Kobol after they'd seen the mysterious figures. The Three have been Called to protect the One. The words played through his mind in a loop. The Three. Who were they? The transgenics? It was possible. But it could be something else entirely- Cylon model 3, or any other random group of three individuals. And the One. Once again Karl was completely lost as to the significance. The only possibility for that one was his unborn child. Helo did not appreciate the fact that his daughter might possibly have some kind of destiny before she even took her first breath. And who were the Five? Were they human? Gods? Were they descendants of the original people from Kobol? Whoever they were, they were extremely advanced. The holograms or transportation device or whatever the hell they used to stage their little show had been impressive. It all sounded like something out of a bad movie and just made Karl's head ache.

Karl sighed and cracked his neck to clear his mind. He shouldn't worry about mysterious pseudo-religious messages right now. Helo had exactly three things to concern himself with: Keeping Sharon safe, adjusting to being outed as an X5, and fitting back in on Galactica. He hoped that the Commander would be re-instating his flight status sooner rather than later now that he knew his secret. That brought his mind back to Apollo. He couldn't believe Lee had hid his true nature from Kara for so long and neither had realized the other was not human. The Commander's son being in the same position as he and Kara could only be a good thing, to his thinking. Adama couldn't persecute the two of them and not do the same to Lee. It, hopefully, granted them amnesty against any members of the Fleet who would want them gone just for being other than human. It wouldn't surprise him if few people outside of Colonial One or Galactica's hulls ever found out. Helo knew full well that humans were easily swept up in mob mentality and the wrong person shouting about nonhumans could prove disastrous. At the very least Karl expected a short reprieve after the events on Kobol. The President and Commander would be discussing what to do next for a while, he knew so full decisions could take a while.

A slight bump brought Karl out of his thoughts as the Raptor was making its approach to Galactica. He glanced to his left and saw the Chief staring blankly at the other wall. When they'd all come out of the Tomb Tyrol had been sitting on the ground looking like he'd just seen a ghost while Racetrack and Crashdown hovered over him in worry. He'd insisted he was fine, however, just dizzy, and they'd all moved out. Now, though, Karl could see that something was clearly bothering the man. He nudged Tyrol with his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey, Chief, you alright?"

Tyrol swallowed nervously and nodded. "Yeah, Helo, I'm fine. Just feeling a little off, I guess."

"Maybe you should stop by and see Cottle when we get back. You might've picked up a bug or something down there, you don't want to get worse."

The Chief snorted bitterly. "If there's anything wrong with me Doc can't help. But I'm fine, Lieutenant."

The use of his rank meant the conversation was over and it coincided with the arrival on Galactica so Karl let it drop. Helo stood up and walked over to Sharon as the hatch opened. "Want me to walk you back?" he asked her, speaking of the holding cell Adama had put her in. "I don't know how often I'll be allowed to visit you, so it might be good to take advantage when we can…"

Sharon smiled softly at him. "I'd like that, Helo. I'll probably be busy the next few days anyways, giving intel and getting interrogated."

The word 'interrogated' made Karl wince and he whispered urgently to the Cylon. "Don't let them hurt you, Sharon. Tell them whatever you can, please. You need to stay healthy for the baby."

The woman nodded and they stepped out of the Raptor onto the deck. Unlike the other day there was plenty of traffic on the flight deck this time, and as more people caught sight of Sharon it got quieter and quieter. Helo held his head up and met the gaze of every crew-member they passed on their way to Sharon's cell. Once she was installed he picked up the phone to speak to her through the glass. "I'm going to go see Cottle now, I think."

"To tell him?" Sharon asked. "Is that a good idea?"

"I think so," Karl answered slowly. "I'll see how everything goes, when he knows I'm X5 before I mention your pregnancy. I'll need to try and make Kara go as well; even back at Manticore she hated the docs. But if we need to we'll get Lee to intervene. I don't want to have to lean on him all the time, though."

"Good luck, Helo. Stay safe."

Alec and his team made it back to the high school just as the yellow stained sky began to darken. It'd been a long day; the group had traveled to the other side of Delphi and taken out a new Cylon establishment. Of late they were noticing more skinjobs walking around, and now they seemed to be setting up shop in a more permanent way. It was becoming clear the Cylons intended the Colonies to be their new homes.

Alec stepped into the building they were using as headquarters to report in with Anders and the second he walked through the door he felt it. A soft buzzing making his skin tingle, and instinctively he breathed in deep, trying to scent out danger. A brief moment later and the familiar smell clicked in his soul and the pack he was carrying dropped to the ground as he blurred forward to the office. He burst through the door and was immediately assaulted by the sight before him. The woman was small, lithe, with dark brown hair and dark flashing eyes. Her black clothing was tight and did nothing to hide the athletic grace she possessed. Alec reached out and pulled her into his arms, grabbing her desperately. He ran his hands over her shoulders and brought them to the side of her face as he leaned in. His lips crashed into hers in a fierce move of relief, worry, and desperation.

Finally, they broke apart. "Max. I… I can't believe it. You're here. Oh Gods, Maxie."

She smiled brilliantly up at him. "I missed you, smart Alec."

He tugged her close again and breathed in her scent. Home. "How did you get here?"

Max's smile faded and Alec felt the shudder wrack her frame as she began to talk. "We… we'd just landed on Picon when the bombs started falling. Renfro was recalling everybody to the base. Biggs and I reported in and she sent us right back out with Riley to track down a few of the scientists. As soon as we cleared the perimeter the Cylons dropped a nuke right on top of headquarters. Everyone died, Alec. Everyone. Renfro… Cece, Zach, Joshua, Mole… everybody. Just like that."

Alec closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "Gods. I… I figured they were gone after what happened here, but… I thought they'd have had a chance to fight. Take some of the machines out with them. Dammit." He stepped back from Max but didn't remove his hands from her arms, needing the contact as he sat down on the desk. "What happened next?"

"We holed up. Went to the nearest Manticore bunker we could find and spent the next month there. I wanted to help, but Riley talked me out of it. There's nobody left on Picon. It's a radioactive wasteland now; much worse than anything here. No plants, no oceans… half the buildings were toppled. The radiation was so bad that everybody who wasn't flash burned was already half dead the next day. They screamed and cried for help but obviously no one could… it was horrible Alec." Max buried her face into Alec's chest as she shivered uncontrollably.

Instinctively Alec pulled her close again and stroked her back. "You're OK now, Maxie. It's gonna be OK."

"Yeah," she whispered into shirt. "It'll be OK."

"How… how'd you get off Picon, Max?"

She looked up and met his eyes. "Riley. A few weeks ago he stumbled on a hidden drive in the computer system. Manticore had a lot of shit hidden in there. Popped open a door at the back of our bolt hole to find an underground hanger. There was a prototype Raptor in there. It was pretty advanced but entirely un-programmed; Riley, Biggs and I had to set everything up by hand. That's what took so long. We left the hanger, spooled up the FTL and jumped away before the Raider patrols could spot us."

"You jumped in atmosphere? Max, that's dangerous!"

"For a normal ship, it is. Manticore made it possible with this model. Solved all the atmospheric displacement issues and everything. We could've jumped straight out of a Battlestar if we'd wanted to."

"Frak… that's impressive. I had no idea Manticore was doing engineering work."

Max snorted contemptuously. "That's because Renfro didn't see fit to tell us shit, Alec. You know that. She had her hand in everything and anything she could get a hold of. Genetics, engineering, the corporate sector- not that any of it made a damn bit of difference in the end. Anyway," Max continued with her story. "We jumped into orbit around Caprica, saw that it was still habitable, if only just, jumped again and popped out right over Delphi. There were only toasters in the city so we went to ground as quick as possible. Landed in the middle of the quad here to a nice welcoming committee, and, well. Here we are."

Alec looked up in alarm. "They didn't follow you in, did they? Max, we can't stand up to an aerial ass-"

"Relax, Alec. I'm not stupid. We were clean."

"OK. OK, good." He nodded his head. "Yeah, that's good. Damn. I still can't believe you're here, though. I… I gave up hope for a while, Max. I gave up."

Max reached up and ran a hand soothingly over Alec's barcode. "Doesn't matter. You're back now. I'm back now. We're together."

Adama couldn't stop his hand from coming up and smacking his forehead. He sighed heavily and looked back up at the three officers in front of him. It was… quite a revelation that Kara and Helo were both X5's like Lee. In Kara's case it explained a lot; her near-supernatural skill in the cockpit, high level of competence in war tactics, and especially her extreme reluctance to speak of her past. Bill had always suspected an abusive childhood, but a decade of torture followed by several years in hiding also put the young woman's behaviors into clarity all too well. Finally, Adama cleared his throat and met the gaze of the three transgenics before speaking. "It seems you've been holding out on me, Starbuck."

The woman gave a slight wince but otherwise remained stoic. "Yes, sir." She replied evenly.

"Can't say I blame you."

All three of the soldiers in front of him did a double take at Adama's words. Lee glanced at Kara and Helo and then prompted Bill with a quizzical "Dad?"

Adama gave them a slight smile. "What, did you expect me to be mad? Kara, Karl, I understand why you didn't tell me. Really. I may wish you could have, but you had no idea I wouldn't have turned you in to the brass." He frowned. "In fact, I can't honestly say that I definitely would or wouldn't have if I'd heard orders asking for your detainment. So, better safe than sorry. The real question for right now, is, what are we going to do with you?"

"I'm… not sure what you mean by that, sir," Kara started uncertainly.

"Well, now we know that we have three individuals who are capable of doing much more than ordinary soldiers," He held up a hand at the indignant remark he could see coming out of Lee's mouth. "I'm not trying to say I'm gonna work you to the bone, just that I know that during missions I'll be able to ask a bit more of you than I normally would. It's good that you all work well together, preliminary reports from Kobol say that unanimously." He changed tracks abruptly. "Lieutenant, are you qualified to fly Vipers?"

Helo wasn't startled by the question. "Yes, sir"

"If I assume that you have the same innate piloting ability as Apollo and Starbuck, why is it that you ended up flying Raptors?"

"To be honest, sir, I just liked them better. Smoother, less cramped. And," he hesitated. "also I enjoyed being able to talk to the co-pilot, sir."

Helo's co-pilot had been Boomer for the past two years. Bill fought down the shiver of disgust the memory of the sleeper agent wanted to induce. "Understood. Unfortunately, that's going to have to change for a while, as we've got more than enough qualified Raptor personnel. We are lacking pilots skilled enough to fly Vipers, though. There's nobody capable of keeping up with Apollo and Starbuck, so I'm assuming the same can be said for you. With that in mind I'd like you three to work out a system where you act as a trio instead of using traditional wing-mates. I feel together you could do significant amounts of damage in a dog fight."

Kara smirked as her eyes lit up. 'Well sir, I definitely think I can whip these two scrubs into shape so they can keep up with me."

Lee snorted and rolled his eyes. "Starbuck you may be the superior pilot but try not to forget who here is the superior officer. Which means I can stick you on kitchen duty until we reach Earth if I decide to."

Bill closed his eyes and held up a hand to stop the remark he could see Kara getting ready to make. "Yes, yes you're all bad motherfrakers, I get it." He lowered his voice and muttered "And Carolanne wondered why I never wanted a housecat."

Helo laughed out loud as Lee and Kara sputtered indignantly but quit when only the other two were dismissed. The Commander watched him with a steady, if slightly curious gaze. Finally he spoke. "You are positive this Sharon will behave, Lieutenant? That she… loves you?"

Helo gave a firm nod and a "Yes, sir," in reply.

Again Adama just looked, searching for something Karl didn't know. After a brief eternity he sighed and removed his old fashioned reading glasses placing them on his desk. "I'd have called you a dammed fool for falling in love with a Cylon a couple of months ago, Lieutenant. Hell, I'd have most likely had you shot. Many people would have trouble with your coupling with a nonhuman being, but, with Lee as my son, Kara as good as a daughter and you one of the finest men I've ever served with that'd be an awfully hypocritical stance for me to take myself." The Commander paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Sharon, though, is not a transgenic. She is a Cylon. It takes a certain amount of faith and ignoring 40 years of deep set behavior to knowingly let one of them remain alive and somewhat comfortable on my ship. And her seeming to be non-threatening is only a small part of why I agreed. The biggest factor is you yourself, Lieutenant. I will allow you daily contact with Sharon because I know without a doubt, that if Sharon Valerii betrays this fleet, child or not, you will do your duty and end the threat. I am choosing to trust you in this. Do not take advantage of the situation and do not assume any additional liberties or there will be consequence. Remember that."

Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and former fifth year teacher and principal at Delphi's premier private academy, had woken up this morning to a life that, however soul destroying and bleak had at least made sense. She had a daily routine that was interrupted for only periods of sheer terror when the Cylons found them again or cautious hope when they stumbled on a possible location for more resources. It was the beginning of the week so she took one of the rare showers allowed with the water rationing, got dressed in one of her three business casual skirt suits (navy blue with a light blue collared shirt, luckily one of her favorites) and got ready for her scheduled meeting with Commander Adama.

Now, Laura liked Bill, very much so in fact, but the whole mutiny/coup de tat thing was bound to make things awkward between them for gods knew how long. She really wasn't looking forward to it. With that thought in mind she smiled brightly at Billy as he handed her her notepad and a granola bar and made her way into the conference room of Colonial One. Instead of the look of mild consternation she had expected to see on the Commander's face he wore a pensive mask that had just a touch of worry to it. Oh, he hid the worry well, but she would've been a poor politician and an even poorer teacher if she'd not been able to read the faces of the various pundits and miscreants sent to her office over the years.

With a polite smile and exchange of greetings Laura set her notepad down and prepared to speak of the aftermath of the mission to Kobol. "Well, Commander. All I can say in regards to the mission is it was… unexpected."

He gave a short nod. "Agreed. We expected to find signs left by the Thirteenth Tribe, but for those… beings to quote directly from the Sacred Scrolls was unexpected."

"It seemed to me that they were implying that they knew we would need to flee the Colonies one day. That's what I gathered about the reference to the cycle." She paused for a moment. "I have no idea what was meant in regards to 'the Three' or what 'One' they will be guiding. I do however remember a reference in the scrolls to a group of five demons, features obscured by blinding light, that offered the people of Kobol untold power and knowledge only for their gifts to destroy Kobolian civilization and ultimately lead to the exodus. Your thoughts?"

Incredibly, Adama seemed to squirm in his chair for a moment as Laura's gaze rested on his. "I… actually do have a guess, Madam President. It ties into something I wanted to share with you today. It's fairly… unusual and I'm not sure how you'll react but please believe me when I say there is nothing to worry about."

Despite the warning Laura couldn't help the trickle of unease that ran down her spine. With a nod she told Adama to continue. "Does Operation Manticore mean anything to you?" Thinking about it, Laura could only recall dim memories of a mythical beast but that was not likely what the Commander had in mind and she indicated she didn't know what he was talking about.

"I didn't think you would, so I'll give you a brief rundown on their mandate and it's relevance to our situation. Manticore was started several decades ago, just after the first war ended, and was funded by a number of private and military run companies. Just over 25 years ago I was approached by a man I'd served with in the Cylon war, Donald Lydecker. He knew Carolanne and I were having trouble getting pregnant and offered Manticore's assistance. I was skeptical but after he told me more, my wife and I gave them DNA samples and less than a year later we brought Lee home with us."

Here Laura interjected. "Are you telling me the government was operating a secret breeding program?"

"Partially, yes," Bill admitted. "That's not even the beginning of it, though. Manticore's mandate was to find a way to replace the Cylons in terms of military assets for the Colonies."

"They… gods, are you saying they were making child soldiers?"

Adama confirmed frankly. "They were trying to create super-soldiers. And they succeeded. Lee is several times faster, stronger and infinitely smarter than any human alive. He makes Baltar look like a slobbering idiot. Granted that's not hard to do, but you get the point."

Despite her shock Laura heard herself speak again. "How exactly did they manage to do those things, Bill?"

"Animal DNA. They spliced bits of foreign DNA into each child's genetic makeup before the fertilized egg was implanted into a donor mother. Lee is something like 47% jungle cat on the genetic level."

Just when she thought she couldn't be more stunned. Captain Apollo, sweet little Lee who was by far her favorite member of the Fleet for his unwavering morality, was not human. He was… an alien. But does that matter? She started to ask herself. She'd always known Lee was an extraordinary officer and pilot, he'd mentioned being on the short list for promotion to Major despite being younger than thirty; even she knew that that was unheard of. Intellectually she knew nothing changed much; on a clinical level it was easy enough to equate to a friend having a surprising lineage. She'd dealt with that before, aids turning out to be the love children of some Senator or other. Lee's secret parent just happened to be a bit more unusual, to dramatically understate things. Unbidden an image of a leopard she'd seen years ago sunning itself in the Caprica zoo came to mind and she couldn't stop herself from putting Lee in it's place. The image was altogether ridiculous and as a snort escaped her involuntarily she knew she was OK with this.

With a smile she focused on Bill again, who breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't blame him, if she'd turned on his son things would have gotten immensely ugly. She sensed he wasn't quite finished with her though and said as much only to learn of Kara and Lieutenant Agathon being some of these transgenics as well. Would wonders ever cease she marveled. These three could be an excellent resource she knew. It also brought to mind the child growing within the Cylon, the only One-

Laura's mind screeched to a halt and she looked at Adama with wide eyes. "You think they are the three!" she exclaimed.

Biill nodded. "I do. Even if we have other X5's hiding in the fleet these three were the cream of the crop at Manticore. They'd be ideal to protect and guide. Especially a child born to one of them."

She exhaled sharply. "There goes any thought of getting rid of it, I suppose," she muttered. She didn't like this. She really didn't like this. "Alright Bill. I'm fine with these revelations so far, but in regards to the Cylon this only grants her a stay of execution until her child is born. It's clear we will need it and the father around but there is nothing about the mother in the message. Ah- hang on, I'm not finished. Sharon has the rest of her pregnancy to find a way to prove herself both useful and moderately trustworthy, but for the entire time I want her to stay in that cell, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Madam President," the Commander agreed. "I also wanted to ask your thoughts on this becoming public knowledge."

"I think that it's a terrible idea. The fleet is scared, they're already looking for Cylons everywhere, if they learn there are superhuman cat people running around their ships they will not handle it well. No, this is need to know, Bill. You should probably tell Colonel Tigh, and I'm going to tell Billy shortly, but other than that? No one. The Quorom will not hear of this for as long as possible "

Again Adama agreed wholeheartedly. With the mountain climbed the rest of the meeting went by quickly and the Commander made to leave. Laura had just one thing to say. "Commander, I wanted to thank you for trusting me with this. You didn't really have to- Lee is your son and I understand you wanting to protect him in spite of all his gifts. When you get back, tell him thank you for me, and tell him I expect to see my military liaison sometime this week."

Just outside the conference room, a woman sat quietly contemplating what she had just heard. The Commander and the President knew of nonhuman beings living freely onboard Galactica and were allowing it with no hesitation. She wasn't sure how exactly she felt about that, but she was sure it was not a good thing. The Sacred Scrolls said nothing about gene splicing, of course, but they did speak of the evils of mating with animals and the demons that would spring forth from their loins. This situation was much too close to that for her peace of mind. The Priestess Elosha stood from her chair and quietly made her way to her quarters. She had prayers to do, and, later, a visit to make. Brother Cavil could help her decide how best to deal with these abominations.