Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Battlestar Galactica universe.

Note: I really tried to get this up sooner for you all, but life threw a few rocks at me this week. Thanks again for all your awesome reviews!

Wing and a Prayer
Part 11

By
N. J. Borba

Lee struggled to catch his breath, hunched over on hands and knees against the unforgiving concrete floor. The pain in his side was go great that he was sure they’d cracked or broken a few of his ribs. He slowly got up to his knees alone and watched as Leoben circled him. The harsh light in the small room was difficult to see through, especially after days, weeks, possibly months of being trapped inside the dark space.

“Where is Kara Thrace?” Leoben asked the same question, over and over.

And Lee replied the same as always. “I don’t know.”

“You’re lying,” the Cylon’s voice was calm, not betraying any sort of urgency.

Until recently it wouldn’t have been a lie, Lee thought as he tried to take a deep breath only to be rewarded by a shooting pain that seemed to touch every nerve sensor in his body. He remained on his knees, not allowing the machine to see him crumple completely in agony, though he wished to do just that. Leoben wasn’t the one who had gotten Lee into such a state. That was the work of Centurions and hooded NCP officers, as the Cylon’s seemed to be playing some sort of good cop/bad cop game with him.

“You can end all this, I don’t wish to see you suffer,” the Cylon seemed honest enough as he spoke. “I came to you because I know that your path is linked to hers. All you have to do is tell me where she is,” he implored.

Lee maintained his defiant stance even as he felt his body giving in a little bit more with each passing moment. At first he’d tried to keep track of the days but he’d quickly lost count as day and night could hardly be distinguished in the hole where they were keeping him. He couldn’t give up, though. He’d already let Kara down by wasting a years time in forgetting. He had to stay strong.

“Where is Kara Thrace?!” Leoben raised his voice in frustration for the first time, intrigued by the Human’s stamina.

“I don’t know,” Lee grinned, pleased at his ability to finally rill the machine. He mentally clawed at the recesses of his mind and Kara’s promise again filled his head with comfort. “If you don’t come back, I will hunt you down...” He’d been holding on to that hope since the day the Cylons had landed and tossed him into detention.

Leoben stopped pacing and crouched down in front of Lee. “It wasn’t meant to happen this way,” he spoke softly again. “I saw it, I saw her path laid out before me and this is wrong. Kara Thrace was meant to be here, it’s her destiny to lead us all to Earth. What changed?” he asked.

Still Lee didn’t budge. “I don’t know,” he repeated the same mantra. He watched the Cylon get up and move purposefully toward the door. The latch unlocked with a dim click and then Lee’s ears were filled by the familiar metallic thrum of a Centurion’s movements. Another, softer, set of footsteps joined the other as two shadows fell over him.

“We’ll start again when you’re ready to cooperate,” Leoben spoke as Lee watched him retreat into the hall.

He looked up to see one metal-head and one masked figure staring down at him. “I’ll count on it,” Lee whispered the words in reply to the Kara voice in his head, just before the first blow was landed.

xxx

Kara glanced out the window of her room as she lay in the bed that had been her and Lee’s for too short a time. She listened to the early morning thunder storm as it passed over the desert. Fat raindrops splattered against the window pane, rolling downward with the gentle push of gravity. Earth’s raindrop patterns were as various as the people of its planet.

She closed her eyes for a moment and remembered her first rainstorm on Earth. Sense memory carried her back to that night at the park like it had so many times just after Lee’s departure. The smell of him still lingered heavy in her nostrils, the sweetness of rain kissed Earth against the pungency of his sweaty neck as she’d suckled his skin. She couldn’t be sure but Kara had a good feeling that was the night their child had been conceived.

A small sound caught her attention and Kara willingly returned to reality. She glanced across the room and an unbidden smile spread across her face as she eyed the source of the noise. The other bed in the room had been replaced by a slightly smaller one with bars. Kara had to chuckle at that as she scrambled out of bed and moved to stand in front of the crib.

Her arms rested on the top rail as she leaned over and peered inside to find that the child was wide awake. “Morning, baby,” she whispered a greeting which instantly caused the girl to turn her head toward her mother’s voice. “How come you let me sleep in?” Kara reached out a hand and smoothed it over the girl’s tummy. A somewhat bashful, toothless grin was her reward. “If I didn’t know you were a girl, I’d swear you were an exact replica of your daddy.”

The baby looked away from her mother and up at the objects orbiting her head. Kara reached out and tapped the shiny silver one, causing it to bump into the other ones, which made them all sway. The little girl giggled appreciatively and Kara found herself grinning again. She figured her daughter was the only baby around with a cigarette lighter dangling over her crib.

She grasped the lighter, running her thumb over the etched letters. Kara was surprised they hadn’t withered away by now, considering how many times she’d taken part in the ritual. After tossing her ring and dog tag away, the lighter had become a new talisman. She’d kept it close for months, carrying it in her pocket every day until her daughter had been born. Kara didn’t need the material reminder of Lee as much, now that she had a living, breathing one to take care of.

The lighter clicked against the other items that Helo had crafted into a mobile for his favorite little munchkin. Kara grasped the mini Viper model and looked down at her daughter. “That’s mommy’s favorite,” she informed the girl. “Viper Mark-E. The ‘E’ stands for Earth, which is the planet you were born on. This Viper has stealth capability and another secret weapon. I evened the playing field a little and made the Mark-E the first Viper with an FTL drive. That was no easy task but the Human’s of Earth seem to want the best of everything so we all managed to make it work.”

Kara looked down at the baby who appeared confused by her ramble of words. There was even a little furrow in her brow that reminded Kara so much of Lee and the old man. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” she shook her head and touched another one of the tiny ships. “This one is mommy’s newest ship. It’s the first original Earth/Colonial collaborative design project. It’s also Earth’s first deep space flight vessel and that makes is pretty special.”

The girl’s furrow softened as she regarded her mother, listening to her voice. “I decided to name it the Jupiter. You’ll understand why, some day when you’re older and learn about the history of how the Colonial people came to find Earth.” Kara had learned plenty about Earth in the past year, taking it upon herself to be knowledgeable about every bit of history she could get her hands on.

She’d read hundred’s of books, mostly focusing on space exploration, politics and religion. The later had her reading a whole host of religious documentation including something called The Bible, another titled The Koran and many others. The only thing she’d really been able to discern from all of her reading was that Earth seemed to have room for a variety of people and religious beliefs. They’d fought numerous wars over their varied lifestyles yet they still managed to live together on one planet. The Colonial and Cylon people had the vastness of twelve planets and hadn’t been able to do the same.

The baby grew bored by her mother’s words and flipped herself over onto her stomach. It was a trick she’d learned a few months back. But as Kara watched the girl now she noticed the baby was trying to push herself up with her tiny arms. Kara’s heart tightened with the realization that the child would be crawling before she knew it. Then there would be walking and talking. “Hey, don’t be so quick to grow up,” she warned.

It was funny to think that a year ago she’d adamantly not wanted kids, and now she was telling her daughter not to grow up. But Kara realized it had more to do with Lee than herself. “Your daddy is missing too much,” she sighed. Knowing that Lee had agreed to their no kids plan made her pause a moment, but Kara figured if she’d come around to the idea then surely Lee would as well.

Kara walked across the room and snatched up her sketchbook, the one Lee had presented to her on the day of their picnic. There was a pencil tucked inside and she took the two items in hand as she settled on the floor in front of her daughter’s crib. She flipped through the pages to find the next blank one. But as she flipped, Kara revisited some of the past. Lee’s fish art was still in the front of the book and she’d shown it to their little girl on several occasions.

It was followed by numerous drawings and paintings that Kara had done over the past year of life on Earth. There were some self portraits of her in various stages of pregnancy and a few nature scenes as well as ship design concepts. But most of the pictures reflected the first months of baby Adama’s life. Kara took pencil to paper now and started to render the newest endeavors of their child as she rocked back and forth and pushed her little body up as far as she could before flopping back against the mattress.

The girl quickly tired of her new trick and turned crabby as morning truly dawned outside their window. The sun was slowly replacing storm clouds and Kara knew it was going to be another warm day. Even rolling into fall as they were, the weather was still quite toasty in the desert. “I see the allure of doing push-ups in hack has faded,” Kara joked as she discarded her notebook and plucked the child out of her baby prison.

She changed the girl’s diaper and put her into a fresh outfit for the new day. When the baby began to root around at her chest, Kara knew that the call of hunger would need to be addressed. She’d been weaning the girl away from breastfeeding, due to the plan that she had in mind. But Kara hadn’t quite been able to let go of the ritual yet and late nights and mornings were usually still cause for nursing.

The two of them settled in on the bed and the littlest Adama happily suckled as Kara glanced out the window again. The raindrops were evaporating as sunlight came to kiss the glass. It seemed that no matter how bad the storm was, it always passed. She looked down at her daughter and remembered again how adamant she’d been about not wanting kids. Things hadn’t been easy at first and Kara was still certain she’d manage to screw up being a mother, but she couldn’t imagine life without the girl.

A soft knock sounded at the bedroom door and Karl stuck his head inside. “I thought I heard sounds of life in here,” he smiled. Then he noticed the tender scene between mother and daughter and felt bad for intruding. “I’ll come back later,” he pulled away.

He’d nearly shut the door all the way when Kara called out to him. “Stay,” she motioned him in. “We need to talk.”

Helo stepped inside fully and leaned against the doorframe. He folded his arms across his chest and grinned. “Starbuck, what is that?” he asked, glancing in the baby’s general direction.

“Well, Helo… this is a baby,” she pointed to the girl. “And this is a boob,” Kara chuckled, pointing out the other item as well.

He rolled his eyes at her, knowing that some days she couldn’t help opening her smart-ass mouth. Karl Agathon had gotten used to life with Kara Thrace but he feared baby Adama would grow up to be just as sassy as her mother. He wasn’t sure if the universe could handle two Starbuck’s. “I was talking about her outfit,” he spoke up again. “Did I go colorblind over night or is she wearing pink?”

“Your uncle Karl thinks he’s so funny,” Kara spoke to her daughter then looked up to her friend again. She shrugged. “I did give her a boy’s name; I figured she should have some girl things. Actually, Yuri’s wife sent it for her with a whole box of other clothes. To not use them would be rude, besides it saves me from having to shop for the kid.”

He nodded. “Right, because if it was up to you she’d go around in nothing but a diaper,” Helo noted.

“I still don’t see what’s wrong with that,” Kara replied. “Skin is a lot easier to get clean than baby puke stained clothes,” she concluded, thankful for the light moment before she dove into what was on her mind. “Helo, do you know what today is?”

“Ah, now time for the serious part of our conversation,” he replied, pretty certain he knew where she was headed. “I know it’s someone’s six month birthday. And I also know that someone else made a vow the day she was born that if Lee wasn’t back in six month’s time she’d be going to find him.”

“Glad you were paying attention,” she nodded.

“Certain things stick in the mind, and the day that little girl was born… well, that was quite memorable,” nearly as memorable as the birth of his own child, Helo recalled. Not for the first time, he envied what Kara held in her arms. But his thoughts quickly returned to the present. “Jupiter has been space worthy for weeks now, text flights are all completed. So, when do we leave?”

“Helo, I think you need to stay here with her,” Kara indicated the baby.

“I think you need to think again,” Helo quickly set her straight, standing at attention. “I’m going with you,” by the tone of his voice, the point was clearly not up for discussion. “Kara, I would have gone after Sharon a long time ago if it hadn’t been for you and the munchkin. I care about both of you very much and I respect your authority but I won’t stay behind this time.”

“And what about her?” she glanced down at the girl in her arms who had dozed off in the middle of her meal.

“Well, if you’re going and I’m going…” Helo shrugged. “Then I guess we need to fit one of Jupiter’s seats with a baby carrier,” he concluded, dead serious. “I think our only real hurdle in all this might be Mason and the UESA. That ship is half theirs, even more than half really,” Karl pointed out.

“I know,” Kara agreed, already resigning herself to the idea of taking her daughter along, as dangerous as that may be. She didn’t know how she would have barred being away from the child anyhow. “But I think I can handle Mason,” she confidently concluded.

xxx

“Absolutely not!”

General Mason, newly appointed director of the United Earth Space Alliance, shook his head as he faced the headstrong captain. She was standing in the middle of the flight deck, feet planted in a warning stance even as a baby was strapped to her front in a small pack. He could see the little one’s head as it lolled to the left side, clearly asleep. Her two little feet stuck out below. Pale, soft baby skin was a contrast to all the metal ships in the hanger. He had to give the woman credit; she hadn’t slowed down or mellowed out much for having given birth six months previous. There was still a fire in her; a fire that had been much needed in regard to uniting the people of Earth.

“Something has happened,” Kara kept up her end of the argument as Helo and the other pilots stood nearby, pretending not to hear the entire conversation as they half-heartedly tinkered on their projects. “Lee should have been back by now and I’m going to find him. If I don’t get your permission I’ll take the ship regardless,” she declared.

“That ship is the property of the UESA and you will do no such thing,” he countered, fighting stubborn with stubborn.

“That ship, nor any of those Vipers…” Kara flung her arm out to indicate the row of silver ships that lined the port side of the hanger. “…none of them would exist if not for the design information we’ve provided you. It is in your own best interest to help find the fleet. Vipers are a hell of a flying machine and the small fleet that we’ve built here is a good start, but without Galactica and Pegasus, you don’t stand a chance.”

The general’s face tightened, recalling all the stories she’d told them about the Cylons and their ruthless campaigns. “And if you go and don’t come back, if the Cylon’s show up and we don’t have your leadership, we die anyway,” he countered.

“I’ve trained them well, sir. I’ve done the job you asked of me,” Kara spoke of her pilots and the other officers who she’d instilled with Colonial battle tactics. “And I will be coming back,” she unconsciously reached out and held on to one of her daughter’s feet. “I have a lot riding on this, sir. I need to know, I need to at least try.”

He caught the movement of her hand as it stroked the child’s foot. His heart went out to her. “I appreciate that this is personal, but…”

“But what if it was personal to you?” Kara didn’t let him finish. “What if it was your wife that was lost out there; what if it was your daughter or your grandson?” she tried to plea to his emotional side. The man had slowly let her into his life, inviting both she and Helo to family functions and serving as a father figure in Adama’s absence. He’d also become a confidant as they spent hours on end working closely together.

Mason’s jaw twitched as her emotionally packed words hit him. He knew her fire and devotion were both a strength and a weakness. It seemed though that the weakness part usually pertained to those who orbited her world. He had no doubt that the Adama men she spoke so highly of were as taken by her as he was.

“I’ll need to speak to the president but,” an idea was quickly forming in his head. “I think there might be a way for this to happen.”

xxx

Adama sat with hands folded in his lap, feeling like the lost child that he’d so often seen reflected in his son. He wondered how much of his own insecurity he’d pushed upon the boy over the years. The idea was quickly shaken from his head as he refocused on the present. Looking back now would not do Lee or the rest of the fleet any good.

“His last words sounded so confident. He seemed certain that Starbuck was alive and that she was on Earth,” he spoke to the woman beside him.

“What do you believe?” Sharon asked. For over a year he’d been coming to visit her. At first he’d simply stared at her through the glass, later he’d moved inside the cell and slowly they’d began to strike up conversation. Since the Cylons had arrived, he came every day. And each time she saw him he looked older than the day before.

“I want to believe in my son, I want to believe its all true,” Adama revealed. “But I’m still not sure,” he shook his head. “And I’m sitting here, wasting precious tactical time by asking a Cylon, a machine, for guidance…”

“You know I’m more than that,” Sharon took offense but betrayed none of the anger she felt in her tone. “I’ve overcome programming like a child overcomes adolescence. I’ve grown and learned. Instead of being told what the right thing is, I’ve managed to figure it out for myself. That makes me different than most of the Cylons. It makes me very Human.”

“Yes, it does,” he had to admit it was true, though he still didn’t understand how it was possible. But he was starting to realize that there would always be things in the universe that he didn’t understand. Adama had a feeling that was the true basis of faith, though he’d never been a very faithful man before.

“I also know what it’s like to be a parent, and what it means to lose a child,” her voice finally relayed emotion, a note of sorrow that was also very human in nature. “And I know that if my child was just within reach I would stop at nothing to figure out a way to get to her.” Sharon sympathized with his plight.

The old man bit his tongue, once again clamping down on the secret that Laura had asked him to keep. It ate at him but he pushed it aside for the moment, because there was no point in even bringing up the subject at the moment. “You truly believe you’ve been to Earth?”

She sighed. “We’ve had this conversation so many times and I keep giving you the same answer. I won’t reply this time, because I don’t really think that’s the question you want an answer to. You’re looking for me to tell you what to believe, but I can’t do that. That’s something you need to figure out yourself. Until you do, I don’t think you’ll be able to move forward.”

“If Lee trusted you, then maybe I should trust you.”

“Forget about Lee,” Sharon’s voice was emphatic. “Forget about what everyone else thinks and tell me what you think. The people of this fleet look to you for leadership, they put their trust in you every day. But the basis of your trust lies in the trust you put in others to help you. You can’t do this alone. If we’re going to rescue our people off New Caprica, we need a plan.”

“You would help?” he was still surprised, despite all the movements she’d already made to show her allegiance to the fleet.

“Yes,” there was no hesitation in her voice. “We all have a role to play in the history we are creating here. You’ve known your role for a while, Kara figured hers out. Now its time to let me play my role in all this,” Sharon noted. “And the sooner we get away from here, the sooner we get back to Earth,” she added. “I have family I’d like to see again too,” she let him know as her thoughts drifted to Helo.

At last Adama was finally able to see her as more than a machine, more than a mask of a young pilot he’d know that betrayed him. “You have my trust,” he finally revealed, conviction in his tone. He’d always been known to roll the hard six.

That was good enough for her. “Our biggest worry is Lee,” she began. “You said that according to Tigh and Anders’ correspondence, he is still being held. He knows the way to Earth. And if it’s true that he’s remembered and the Cylons figure that out, we could be in much bigger trouble than any of us realize. I know Lee is strong but they’ll find a way to get to him. You can be sure of that.”

xxx

The UESA vessel, Jupiter, was Earth’s long sought after answer to true space exploration. It was almost twice the size of a NASA STS, but more maneuverable. The ship contained the first gravity stabilizer of its kind, another hybrid of Earth and Colonial engineering. There was a forward cabin with a six-passenger capacity. It also had room to bunk those six in the aft chamber and a cargo hold which currently housed four Viper Mark-E ships. And the supply stores had enough water and rations to last a crew a month out in space.

Jupiter sat in Earth orbit now, waiting to make its first deep space flight. Helo was positioned as co-pilot with Kara at the controls. An expanse of stars lay before them as they closed in on the ISS, which had been their first introduction to the people of Earth a year and a half ago. “Captain Kara Thrace,” a voice crackled over Jupiter’s comm. system. “This is Commander Laika on the International Space Station.”

“I know who you are,” Kara smiled at the man’s formality. “But what are you doing up here, Commander? I didn’t think you were due for another sojourn until the end of the year?”

“I asked specifically to be here for today’s event,” Yuri replied. “It was I who first greeted you to this planet and I wanted it to be my voice to send you off again.”

Kara tried to keep a cap on her emotions as she listened to her friend speak. She’d been allowed a trip back to Russia and had stayed with him and his family. He’d been to southern California once when the UESA doctrine had been signed. And they’d forged the rest of their friendship via phone and email over the year. “I’ll be back, Commander,” she assured him with a slightly shaky voice.

“Yes, I believe you will,” he answered with confidence. “There is an old Earth saying I wish to leave you with. Fortune favors the bold.”

Helo and Starbuck exchanged a look of gratitude; both equally touched by the man’s words. “We have a saying as well. Good hunting,” Kara relayed the message.

“In that case, Captain,” Yuri replied. “Good hunting.” The line was closed after that. No more needed to be said between them.

Kara glanced over her shoulder and spotted her daughter fast asleep in the seat behind Helo. “Can you believe that? Her first trip into space and she’s decided to take a nap,” Kara laughed. “I think they gave me the wrong kid.”

“Oh no,” Helo shook his head. “She’s the right kid. Six months old and she’s already so comfortable in the seat of a ship that she’s sleeping. That’s an Adama/Thrace kid if ever there was one,” he laughed too, thankful for the ease of tension as they were about to take off.

Her laughter faded as she craned her neck to check on their other three passengers. “How about the rest of you, comfy enough back there?” Kara asked as she regarded them. Their young faces reflected a mixture of controlled fear and childlike excitement.

Mason and the president had finally agreed to her launch of the Jupiter, but with the stipulation that she was to take on three Earth passengers from different UESA countries. All of them had been students of theirs. Pilots, Jun Mohri and Gavin Shepard were both quite skilled in basic Viper flight. And Lieutenant Susan Tereshkova had been at the top of Helo’s first Raptor class.

Kara looked to Tereshkova who was seated across from the baby. “If anything happens in route, you’re responsible for her,” Kara pointed a finger toward her sleeping daughter. “If there’s an accident and I’m up here trying to save our asses, you make sure she’s safe, understood?” she watched the woman nod. “If there’s a hull breach, you be sure and zip up her oxygen suite,” Kara didn’t let up. “If we come out of a dog fight and you’re conscious but she’s not… trust me, you’ll wish you were.”

“Starbuck, she understands. Stop scaring the poor girl,” Helo cut Kara off and got her to face forward again. “FTL drive is spun and ready. Waiting for your order, sir,” he prepped for their first jump.

Kara looked over her controls to find all systems checked out. “Houston, this is Jupiter,” she opened a comm. to the surface. “We are ready for our first FTL jump and will commence with clearance from Houston,” Kara sat at the ready.

Mason’s voice came in reply. “Jupiter, you are clear for jump,” there was a brief pause, then, “Safe journey, Houston out.”

She looked to Helo again, actually nervous for the first time ever in the cockpit of a ship. “On my mark…” Kara took a deep breath as she closed her eyes for a second and sent out a plea to the universe. Just please let us find them alive. She had faith that any other hurdle could be overcome. Resolve firmly slipped back into place as she opened her eyes and remembered her position of command aboard the Jupiter.

“3, 2, 1… Mark.”

xxx

Lee blinked several times as he slowly surfaced from a deep sleep. When he finally focused, he could see the distinct shapes of shadows as they danced across the wall in front of him. Light reflected off the gray concrete and he turned to discover a bank of windows to his right. He quickly realized that he wasn’t in his Cylon cell any longer. The second thing he noticed was that he was comfortable, very comfortable.

He felt around for the hard floor but found only a soft mattress at his fingertips. Lee sat up and looked down at the bed he’d been laying on. Questions instantly bombarded him. One hand went to his chest and ran its way down over his abdomen. There was no pain, no trouble in breathing or in stretching his muscles as he stood. His legs held his weight with no effort at all.

For a short time he wandered the odd surroundings, discovering it was a small studio type apartment. He found a wash room and stood before the mirror to access the damage from his captors, but was surprised to find none. There were no physical marks anywhere on his body. No bruises or blood, just the twisting design of Kara’s tattoo on his bicep.

“Where the frak am I?” he finally questioned as he entered the main room again. Lee made his way to the windows and glanced outside. That’s when he realized he was still in New Caprica’s main facility. The click of a lock caused him to turn his attention toward the top of the stairs where a door slid open.

Leoben appeared and Lee knew that he was still very much a prisoner, though he had no idea why his dirty cage had suddenly turned into a gilded one. Lee soon noticed that the Cylon wasn’t alone as he descended the stairs. There was a child in his arms; a little girl to be exact.

“I see you’re finally awake. That’s good,” Leoben spoke. “There’s someone I want you to meet,” he looked over at the girl who wore a shy smile on her face. “This surprise was meant for Kara, but she’s not here with us to share it. So I thought you should be the first to meet her. This is Kasey.”

The girl smiled at the mention of her name. “Hi,” she looked to Lee as she spoke, two fingers nervously playing at the edge of her mouth. They were finally pulled in as she playfully sucked on them.

Lee couldn’t help but smile at the child. She was beautiful, golden haired and eyes that shone with innocence. He hated to think about what she was doing with the Cylons. “What is this all about?” he finally asked, not able to contain his curiosity. One minute they were beating the shit out of him, the next he was completely healed and being introduced to a child. It made no sense at all.

“Like I told you before, I know your path is linked to Kara’s,” Leoben reminded him. “Which means your path is linked to this child. If you love Kara Thrace, which you obviously do by the way you’ve been protecting her… then surely you wouldn’t want anything to happen to this child.”

“Why?”

“Because, Kasey is Kara’s daughter.”

To be continued…